[TO MR. KETCHUM.]

"LONDON, July 23, 1839.

MY DEAR SIR: I am quite obliged to you for your letter by the Liverpool, which I received yesterday. I propose to send this by the return of the same ship. I send you a newspaper containing an account of the proceedings of the Oxford agricultural dinner, and enclosed in the paper you will find a memorandum of some corrections in the publication of my remarks. If those remarks should be published in New York, I wish these corrections might be attended to: some of them are important. I believe I may say my remarks were well received at the time, and have been read with satisfaction. I could not, with decency, extend them. There were, I knew, to be a great many speeches, and I had no right but to a little time. Besides, Lord Spencer's remarks, in proposing the toast, did not make a wider opening.

"Some gentlemen here are apparently desirous that I should have an opportunity of saying something publicly in London. Among others, I think Lord Lyndhurst and Lord Brougham; but it is difficult to find an occasion in which a foreigner can with propriety do more than return thanks in a very general manner. I do not mean to transgress on propriety for the sake of talking.

"I must say that the good people have treated me with great kindness. Their hospitality is unbounded, and I find nothing cold or stiff in their manners—at least not more than is observed among ourselves. There may be exceptions, but I think I may say this is a general truth. The thing in England most prejudiced against the United States is the press. Its ignorance of us is shocking, and it is increased by such absurdities as the travellers publish, to which stock of absurdities, I am sorry to say, Captain Marryat is making an abundant addition. In general, the Whigs know more and think better of America than the Tories. This is undeniable. Yet my intercourse, I think, is as much with the Conservatives as the Whigs. I have several invitations to pass time in the country, after Parliament is prorogued. Two or three of these I have agreed to accept. Lord Lansdowne and the Earl of Radnor have invited us, who live in the south, the Duke of Rutland, Sir Henry Halford, Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord Lonsdale, etc., who live in the north.

"I mention names, even in. such a way as this, only to you and Curtis, and a few others, for I am dreadfully afraid of something getting into the papers on the other side. This fear of publication is a most despotic restraint upon the freedom of correspondence.

"I see very few American newspapers, and therefore learn what is going on only by letters. I follow your good advice, and say nothing in my correspondence upon topics which now agitate people at home. I am more and more content with my own position in regard to these questions.

"You will write me, I trust, by every conveyance, and believe me, always, with regard, "Yours truly,

"DANIEL WEBSTER."1

The journey to the north began about the first of August. The course was first through the lake country, thence from Penrith to Lowther Castle, the magnificent seat of the Lonsdales, and thence into Scotland.

[TO MR. TICKNOR.]

"LOWTHER CASTLE, August 21, 1839.

"MY DEAR SIR: You will be glad to hear that we have found time to get a snatch at the scenery of the lakes, with which you are so well acquainted, and which Mrs. Ticknor and yourself have so lately visited. We thought of you often as we had 'Scarboro' Fell,' 'Helvellyn,' or 'Skiddaw,' before us. We have not run the beauty of this scenery into the details, with the spirit of professed tourists, but have seen enough to convince us that there is much of beauty and something of sublimity in it. Mountain, dale, and lake, altogether, are interesting and striking in a very high degree. They are striking to us who have seen higher mountains and broader lakes. Mr. Wordsworth, in his description of the lakes, has said, with very great truth, I think, that sublimity in these things does not depend entirely either on form or size, but much, also, on the position and relation of objects, and their capability of being strongly influenced by the changes of light and shade. He might have added, I think, that a certain unexpected disproportion-a sudden starting up of these rough and bold mountains, hanging over the sweet and tranquil lakes below in the forms and with the frowns of giants-produces a considerable part of the effect.

"But, although we have enjoyed the scene much, some things have been inauspicious. We did not see Wordsworth, as he was not at home, and, although not far off, we did not find it convenient to wait his return. We regretted this the more, as we had the pleasure of making his acquaintance in London, where we met him several times, and were delighted with

1 Mr. Webster's habits of observation embraced more things than those of any other person whom I have ever known. While in London, he made a full list of prices of all articles for the table, including meats, fish, poultry, fruit, wine, etc., etc. The paper ends with the following memorandum: "The salmon, genThe salmon, generally, is excellent: I like it far better than the turbot. Beef, mutton, and poultry are no better than our own. Cooks

not so good as Nancy. London dinners all alike. Extra professional cooks going about, as with us. Turbot sells variously from 5s. to 25s. a fish, according to season. Cod from 1s. to 2s. 6d. a slice of one pound or one pound and a quarter. Mrs. Webster holds halibut much better than turbot or sole: she despises the red mullet. House-lamb is a lamb whose mother is kept on dry food: this makes the meat white."

him; so that we were better able to estimate the amount of our loss in missing him at Ambleside. He had been written to, to meet us here, but had a complaint in his eyes which prevented him from accepting the invitation. You will notice that he has lately received an LL. D. from Oxford. The same honor was conferred at the same time (the Commemoration) on the Earl of Ripon and other distinguished persons, and those persons were cheered with some heartiness as their names were announced, but when Wordsworth's was proclaimed the theatre rang with the most tempestuous applause. Among the Oxonians, genius and poetry carried it, all hollow, over power and politics. Probably, too, there existed not only high regard for his private worth and the good tendency of his writings, but a feeling that injury had been done him long ago in a certain quarter.

“Nor did we see Southey. He was married, as you will have seen, about two months ago; and, though low spirits be not, of course, the common consequence of such enterprises, yet, if post hoc, ergo propter hoc, be good logic, his case is an exception to the general rule. He has been quite sad and melancholy ever since he became the happy bridegroom. Our friends in London advised us not to call on him; but, in fact, he was not at Keswick. I left your letter, hoping it might gladden his heart to hear from you when he returned. Finally, we have had bad weather for our visits here. Clouds, mist, and pouring rain, have constituted the succession of atmospheric operations. However, we had great amends the afternoon we entered Keswick, when the sun came out in a happy moment, and poured a flood of light on the green dale and the smooth lake, and showed us Skiddaw, veiled only with a transparent wreath of mist around his brow. So much for the country of the lakes, which we have truly very much enjoyed.

"We came to this place on an invitation received in London, and have been most hospitably and kindly entertained. You know all about Lowther Castle. One may safely say of it what Mr. Mason said of his house in Portsmouth—that it is a comfortable shelter against the weather. We go hence to Scotland, not to the tournament, and expect to see Mr. Lockhart somewhere near the Falls of Clyde. Our route will be from Glasgow to Edinburgh, perhaps with a little intermediate bend northward, and then to London along the north road. We have not time to see any thing as it ought to be seen. Yesterday we heard of the arrival of Edward and Mr. Appleton in London, by the British Queen.

“Adieu, my dear sir. Make my particular remembrances to Mrs. Ticknor, to whom, as well as to yourself, the ladies desire to transmit their regards. Remember me, also, to Mr. Guild and Mr. Dwight, and their families. Say to Mr. Guild that I do not forget I am a farmer, and therefore look at cattle and turnip-fields. This is a bright day, and the harvest needs many such. For a fortnight the weather has been shockingly cold and wet.

"I am, dear sir, very truly, yours always,

"DAN'L WEBSTER."

[TO MR. JAUDON, LONDON.']

"STIRLING, September 1, 1839.

"MY DEAR SIR: We arrived here yesterday from Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine; beautiful objects, which we should have enjoyed more in better weather. After writing you, finding ourselves at Glasgow, Tuesday morning, twenty-five miles from Eglintoun, it was concluded that we would drive over and look on for a little time, but not present ourselves as guests, according to our invitation, for ball and banquet. We did so. You have learned that the whole affair was spoiled by the rain, so that ball and banquet there was none for anybody. We returned immediately to Glasgow, and thence by steamboat into the country of the little lakes above mentioned. I should admire to go far to the north and see the main frame of the Highland world, but that time and circumstance do not allow. We go to Edinburgh to-morrow, and shall stay there until I hear from you. It is possible you may have letters for us from America. Please forward, if any. I will call for your communications at the post-office, Edinburgh, as I do not know at what hotel we shall be.

"This Stirling is an interesting spot. The views from the castle are of the best I have seen. The valley through which the Forth winds is very rich, and you see the course of the river for many miles. On the north the highland mountains, on the east Edinburgh Castle, distant thirtyfive miles, present themselves.

“Remember us all to Mrs. Jaudon. For my part, I confess I begin to be willing to get back to London.

“Yours, always truly,

[TO MRS. LINDSLEY.2]

"D. WEBSTER.”

STIRLING, SCOTLAND, September 6, 1839.

“DEAR MRS. LINDSLEY: We have passed rather rapidly through some of the lake scenery in Scotland. Many have seen this, and many have described it. Since Walter Scott's 'Lady of the Lake,' all have felt a new interest in this part of Scotland, and now, since steamboats are on every lake and river where there is water enough to float them, crowds follow crowds, through the whole travelling season, all along the common track. This takes off much of the romance and much of the interest. All travel together, and everybody is in a prodigious hurry. The inns are all crowded, the carriages are all crammed, and the decks of the steamboats covered with a mass of men and women, each with a guide-book in his hand, learning what to admire! The scenery in itself is truly beautiful, and I have learned enough to know, I think, how one should travel in order to enjoy

1 A banker in London, formerly cashier of the Bank of the United States.

2 His cousin, wife of Dr. Lindsley, of Washington.

it. The great majority of travellers only wish to 'get on.' The first inquiry is, how soon they can get to a place; the next, how soon they can get away from it. They incur the expense of the journey, I believe, more for the sake of having the power of saying afterward that they have seen sights than from any other motive. If I could go through this lake region at leisure, and with one friend of discernment, taste, and feeling, I should experience, I am sure, the greatest possible delight.

"You leave Glasgow in a steamboat, go down the Clyde fourteen miles, and then come to Dumbarton Castle, a huge rock five or six hundred feet high, not connected with any other high land, and with a fortress at the top. At the base of this is the mouth of the little river Leven or Leiven, and on its banks the village of Dumbarton. Here you take a coach and drive northward up this little river five miles, and then arrive at the lower or south end of Loch Lomond. The river is the outlet of the lake, and the valley which it makes from the lake to its mouth in the Clyde, at Dumbarton, is called the vale, or dale, of Dumbarton, and is uncommonly beautiful. From the south end of the lake you proceed northward up the lake, at first winding about among a great many pretty islands, this being by much the widest part of the lake. When you get up ten or fifteen miles, the lake contracts, the mountains Ben Lomond on your right and Ben Ima on your left press close down to the lake, and hang over it in a very striking and picturesque manner.

"The mountains are not contiguous ridges, but a succession of distinct and irregular hills, rising sometimes 2,500 or 2,800 feet, some of them coming close down to the lake, others receding from it; some appearing to stop your way, so that, till you get quite to their foot, you do not see how the loch can find its course any farther. The whole lake is perhaps about thirty miles long. If you are bound to Loch Katrine, you stop on the shore of Loch Lomond on its eastern side, five miles before you reach its head. The head of Loch Katrine then lies due east from you, five miles distant, a high mountain-ridge of moorlands intervening. Over this ridge, there being no carriage-road, you pass on a pony, and some Highlander carries your luggage. The passage is no way difficult to those accustomed to ride, but the great rush of tourists renders it uncertain whether you will find ponies ready. This is another reason against travelling in a crowd. If I were here with any one companion, you know we could walk over the mountain and moralize by the way. Arrived at the upper or west end of Loch Katrine, you are received into a row-boat and taken down the lake. This lake is narrow, is ten miles long, and I need not say exquisitely beautiful. The brightness of the water, the infinite variety in the slopes and in the surface of the surrounding mountains, cliffs, crags, and the ten thousand hues of light and shade produced by the shining of an evening sun on such a various and grotesque assemblage of objects, give to the whole scene an effect not perhaps anywhere to be surpassed.

"Half way down the lake, or thereabouts, you enter the 'Trosachs,' or 'bristled' passage—that is, a passage made rough by pointed, high-rising,