ROUSSEAU IN DERBYSHIRE.

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siastic and sensitive Rousseau during his residence in its immediate vicinity, and he is said to have planted many rare and curious seeds in this sequestered spot. At this time he lived chiefly at Wooton Hall, a retreat that was procured for him principally through the influence of the historian Hume. Rousseau lived in continual agitation and alarm. Plots and conspiracies, he supposed, were entered into and carried on against his personal safety and happiness in every country on the continent of Europe, and he sought an asylum in England from the imagined persecutions of imaginary enemies. In April, 1766, when Rousseau had just settled in Derbyshire, "Here," says he, "I have arrived at last at an agreeable and sequestered asylum, where I hope to breathe freely and at peace." But here he did not long remain "at peace;" he soon found cause of quarrel with those who were endeavouring to serve him, and in the month of April following he quitted his "agreeable and sequestered asylum," and returned to the Continent, heaping reproaches on his best friends. He was an unamiable, petulant, and angry man. The rent of the house in which he lived had been greatly reduced, to allure him into the country; his spirit revolted at this, and as soon as he heard of it he indignantly left the place. Whilst at Wooton Hall, he received a present of some bottles of choice foreign wine; this was a gift, and his pride would not permit him to taste it; he therefore left it in the house untouched, for the next comer. For some reason or other, or more probably for none, he had determined not to see Dr. Darwin. The Doctor, aware of his objections, placed himself on a terrace where Rousseau had to pass, and was examining a plant. "Rousseau," said he, "are you a botanist ?" They entered into conversation, and were intimate at once; but Rousseau, on reflection, imagined that this meeting was the result of contrivance, and the intimacy proceeded no farther. It was indeed impossible for any body to be on terms of friendship long with the eccentric and ill-humoured Jean Jacques Rousseau. Madame de Stäel, in her reflections on this strange man and his writings, has admirably depicted his character. "His faculties," she observes, were slow in their operation, but his heart was ardent: it was in consequence of his own meditations that he became impassioned: he discovered no sudden emotion, but all his feelings grew upon reflection. Sometimes he would with all his former affection; but if an exprespart with you

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RETURN FROM DOVE DALE TO HOPTON.

sion had escaped you which might bear an unfavourable construction, he would recollect it, examine it, — perhaps dwell upon it for a month, and conclude by a total breach with you. Hence it was that there was scarcely a possibility of undeceiving him, for the light which broke in upon him at once was not sufficient to efface the wrong impressions which had taken place so gradually in his mind: a word, a gesture, furnished him with matter of profound meditation; he connected the most trifling circumstances like so many mathematical propositions, and conceived his conclusions to be supported by the evidence of demonstration."

From the meadows, where we awhile reposed, we pursued the course of the Dove nearly two miles farther, through a deep vale, barren of wood, and, with one or two exceptions, devoid of beauty. We then left the margin of the stream, crossed the hills to the Ashbourne and Buxton road; and, leaving Tissington on our right, returned, by the way of Bradburn, to Hopton, and from thence to Wirksworth.

SECTION VII.

Visit to Ilam. - Vale of Ilam. - Ilam Hall, — interesting Apartment there. - Village Church.-Chantrey's Monument for the New Chapel. — Observations on Monumental Sculpture. Ancient Stone Cross in Ilam. View in Ilam Vale after a Rain-storm.- Congreve's Grotto. - Morning Scene. The rivers Hamps and Many fold. - Contemplated ImSecond Visit to Ilam.provements at Ilam. The New Hall. Intended Conservatory and Picture Gallery, &c.

DURING an excursion to Dove Dale in the autumn of 1820, I visited Ilam, one of the most romantic places in any part of the kingdom. On my way to this secluded spot, I passed along the road on the eastern side of Thorpe Cloud; and, approaching the mill where the river Dove emerges from Bunster Dale, I had a very pleasing view of Ilam Hall, nestled amongst woods, and environed with hills. This delightful place, which has long been celebrated for the beauty of its scenery, is the residence of Jesse Watts Russel, Esq. M. P. It is situated on the Staffordshire side of the river Dove, and therefore not properly an object for these excursions; but with those who visit Dove Dale, Ilam is always a point of attraction. Thorpe Cloud, one of the highest mountains of Derbyshire, stands like a mighty sentinel over its woods, gardens, groves, and meadows, that quietly repose in the deep hollow at its base. Its proximity to Dove Dale, the interesting and peculiar character of its scenery, and the pleasure it afforded me while I was an inmate of the hospitable mansion there, have induced me to give it a place amongst my observations on Derbyshire; nor is this, I hope, an unwarrantable trespass: it is merely crossing the river that separates the two counties, and enriching my excursions with both sides of the sweet dale, that is watered by the brilliant stream of the Dove.

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VALE OF ILAM. ILAM HALL.

The hills about Ilam Hall have a magnificent character; they are thrown together in irregular forms, and, with one exception only, in connected masses. Some of their steep acclivities are covered with wood; others, with a smooth glossy verdure; and in the space between them lies the sweet vale of Ilam. A village of a few houses only, scattered amongst trees; a country church, with a tower nearly covered with ivy; verdant meadows watered by a busy stream, every where sparkling with light—and on a gentle eminence, a venerable mansion rising out of, and backed with luxuriant foliage, are the principal features of this lovely spot, which is one of the most romantic little vales that nature ever formed. No glen in the Alps was ever more retired, or more delightful to behold. As I approached Ilam, and contemplated the landscape around me, I felt as if I had been treading on fairy ground. The parts were so beautiful, and so exquisitely combined, and the whole so rare and unexpected, that it seemed more like a scene of enchantment that might soon pass away, than any thing real and permanent. When this train of feeling had a little subsided, I entered the house, which I found a good commodious "building, made with hands," and the residence of the elegancies, as well as the comforts of life.

My readers must keep in recollection that I am now describing a visit to Ilam in the year 1820, a short time before the old hall was pulled down, and a more noble structure erected in its place. The principal entrance, agreeably to the fashion that once generally prevailed, was a square hall in the centre of the building, which communicated with the adjoining apartments: a massy old-fashioned fireplace, admirably adapted for winter, with a huge unlighted log of wood and some faggots in the grate, occupied nearly one side of the room; in a niche opposite, hung a Chinese gong, whose loud and sonorous sound summoned the company at Ilam to dinner: bows, arrows, and targets, a fine old organ, and some chairs of modern manufacture, completed the remaining part of the furniture of this apartment.

In the dining-room there were several good pictures, particularly a fine landscape by Gainsborough; a portrait of Mr. Watts Russell, by Sir William Beechey; an excellent and animated likeness of his Lady, by Phillips; and Hilton's admirable picture of "Una amongst the Satyrs," from Spenser's Fairy Queen.

INTERESTING APARTMENT AT ILAM.

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One apartment at Ilam powerfully interested my feelings, and I regretted to hear that it was destined to share the same fate as the other parts of the building. It was a Gothic chapel in miniature, which had been fitted up under the direction of Mrs. Watts Russell, and was alike a monument of her taste and her feeling: a library that occupied one part of it, represented the exterior of an organ; the windows were stained glass, in which the figures of Faith and Hope were beautifully painted; the wainscot and the furniture were carved oak; and the whole place together had the appearance of being set apart for devotional purposes. Over the door was an unadorned white marble tablet, inscribed― To MY FATHER. This simple inscription produced a series of images and associations of a pensive nature, with which all that is interesting and lovely in filial affection was intimately connected. To this place, sacred to pious uses only, did the daughter of the late David Pike Watts frequently retire, to muse on the being and character of her late excellent father, and hold communion with his departed spirit.

Within a few hundred yards of the front of Ilam Hall, is the village church, one of the most rural and pleasing objects that the place affords. The tower appears to be a structure of foliage, for the stone-work is so invested with ivy as to be almost entirely obscured with its verdant covering; and the dial of the clock is half buried amongst thickly entwined leaves. Ash, elder, and wild roses, of the most luxuriant growth and colour, flourish close around the walls of the church, and the adjoining burial-ground is covered with the richest verdure, amongst which a grey stone occasionally appears, inscribed to the memory of those who sleep beneath. No fence of stone marks the boundary line of this sequestered spot towards the house, it is open to the lawn, or only separated from it by an invisible fence: nearer the village, a hedge of hawthorn, intermingled with ash, divides it from the meadows of which it seems to be a part; and altogether, there is an air of great rural beauty and sanctified repose about the church at Ilam. During the time I was there, the workmen were excavating a vault on the north side, where a spacious Gothic chapel, communicating with the chancel, was intended to be erected. This place is to be the honoured receptacle of one of the finest works of CHANTREY monumental group to the memory of the late David Pike Watts.

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