New-York tribune., 1874-09-04

tied capacity OF uninterrupted enjoyment. and that
nothing easier m imam hnsaSa .o M to draw upon parnsy
employ 1t only ON the puresI most natural ana most
them bY and demand more. but to detan them till
they had yielded him their utmost From ths ,h IN
part it came that the commonest sights OF ear'n
and sky-s fine Spring day, sunset even a g
chance traveller met on moor. any ordinary sorrow u
mans life-yieded 10 him amount Of imaginative IN
terest inconceiyable TO more mundane spirits Inc
simple healthfuness and strict frugality OF MS
hold life suited WELL and must have greatly assisted that
Wholesome frugality OF emotion when ne eferciseu'
The portraiture of the sister by De Quincy, who
made the acquaintance of the family In 1877, IS 100
striking to be omitted After speaking OF MIS-
Wordsworth, he continues:
Immediately behind her moved lady sr shorter
sshtT dIersnt ana po STn'p' her in pe1sonal
terstics could have been wished or,,ian tOr tao
brown: rarely in woman of English birth, had seen
determnate gypsy tan Her eyes were no. sU Snt
they were wild and startling. and hurried In ther mo
tion. Her was warm, and even ardent; s ner
sensbility seemed coDsttuonaly deep aud some SUD-
lie FIRE OF impassioned intellect apparently burned
within her, which-being alternately pushed forward
sfincfs Of her temperament and then Immediately
checked obedience 10 the decorum OF her sex anu ao
and her maideny condition-gave to her whole de-
meanor and TO her conversation air OF embarrass-
ment and OF sefo0Dnct, that was almost uisess
ing TO witness. Even her very utterance and enun-
citation often suffered point OF eearness and sead
ness from the agitation OF her excessive organic sens
bty. At times the selfcnunteracuon ana screaming
of her feelings caused her even TO stammer But the
greatest deductions frcn Miss WOrdsworh's attrac-
tions and from the exceeding interest whlch sur
rounded her. right Of her character OF her history,
and Of the relation which she fulfilled towards her
and other In her department ucn as her
STOPPING attitude when walkng, which gave an ul.
graceful character TO her appearance Wheh out Oi
"Her knowledge of literature was irregular and
norant OF many things; but what she knew and had
really mastered, lay where 1t could not be disurDed-n
the temple OF her own most ferVld hearL'
Ouincev's description of the home at GraSlnere
is Of equal interest
"a little semi-vestbule between two doors pre,
faced the entrance into what might ne cohsiaerea req
long square. not above eight and half feet high,
sixteen feet long and twelve orosdi NinSy very
with dark polished oak, slightly embellshed with
carving One window there Tas.a perfect ana unpre-
embOwered at almost every season OF the year with
roses. and in the summer and Aut1mn with proImsOn
o. jasmine and other fragrant shrubs From he ex9oer
ant uxuriance of the vegetation around IT, TINS WlnuOw
though tOeraby large dd not furnish very powerfn
light TO one who entered from the open air was
ushered up little flight of stairs fourteen IN all TO
little drawng-room, whatever the reader chooses to
call It, Wordsworth himself has described the fireplace
Of this room as his -, ,,,,,s,
IL was not fully seven inches hgh and in other
respects pretty nearly OF the dimensions as the
cess library of perhaps three hundred volumes, winch
seemed to cOnsecrate this room as the poets study and
"AbOut four o'clock 1t might be when we ar
rived At that hour in November the daylight soon de,
Tins with the Wordsworths under the simple rustic
system habits which they cherished then and for
twenty years after the most delightful meal OF the
day just dinner is in great cities, and for The same
reason because IL prolonged into meal of leisure
and conversation. That night found myself, about
eleven at night IN pretty bedroom about fourteen
the best in the house, and It illustrates the hosp
tality of my new friendslto mention that 1t was
breakfast in the little stngroom. No one was there,
glitering breakfast service Kettle boiled upon the
Ire q
~ rarely had seen so humble menaee (; and. con-
trasting dignity of the with this honorable pow
ery and this courageous avowa of IT. his utter absence
OF ali effort disguise the simple truth of the case,
| felt my admiration increased.
| Throughout the day, which rainy, the same
style of modest hospitality prevailed. Wordsworth and
his sister being of the party, walked ont in spite
of the rain, and made the circuit OF the two lakes,
| Grasmere and Its dependency Ryda walk OF about
On the third morning after my arrival in Grasmere,
/ found the whole family, except the two children,
prepared for the expedition across the mountains. /
had heard of horses and took for granted that
10 walk: however, at the moment OF starting,
carl-hc common farmers cart OF the country-made
its appearance, and the driver was a bonny young
woman of the vale. Accordingly we were all carted
along to the little town large village OF Ambeside,
three and half miles distant. our style OF travelling
occasOned no astonishmen on tue contrary we met
smiling sauation wherever we appeared; Miss Words
worth being as Observed the person most fanliary
the whole expenses of the flying coloques exchanged
with straggers on the road"
But the tender relationship between the poet and
his sister was doomed to interruption long before
the close of their lives by an event which, though
decatey vailed in the narrative of the editor was
perpetual sorrow more bitter even than death.
In the year 1929 she seized by illness,
which Frustrated her. body and mind that she never
recovered from it, The unceasng strain OF years had at
last worn out buOyant and ervid spirit She
had given herself to one work and that work was done
To IL may seem commonplace One-o live IN ana
for her brother, 10 do by him sisters duty With
original which, had she chosen to set up on her
own account, might have won for her high literary
fame she content to forget herself 10 merge all her
gifts and all her interests in those Of her
hrotbcr She Tins made him other and higher
than lie could have been had he stood alone, and
enabled him TO render better service TO the world than
whou her ministry he could have done. With this she
well content. Ii is sad 10 think that when the world
at last him for what he was, the great original
poet of this century. she who had helped to make him
almost past rejoicing in It, 1t is said that during
those latter he spoke OF her without his voice
being sensiby sOftened and saddened The return OF
the day when they two first came TO Grasmere was to
him solemn anniversary. Bat though so enieebled,
she st lived and survived her brother by nearly
five years. Her death took place at Rydal Mount III
January, 1856, at the OF eightythree. And now,
beside her brother and his wife aud others OF that house
the clear waters OF Rotha murmuring by.
The Journal of Miss Wordsworth, of which a large
part Of the volume consists is the record of tour
in Scotland in 1903 made by Wordsworth and the
writer in company with Coleridge. 1t was not in
tended for publication, but to be listened to by the
small family circle gathered round the Winter
fire." 1t is filed with details of their daily
painting OF any species Of fine writing. Although
the chief attractions of the work TO be found in
the personal and poetcal associations which it sug-
gess rather than in the character of its contents,
it cannot fail to be read with deep interest as
memorial of celebrated local scenes and prominent
literary landmarks