geographically, but commercially.--It
is forty miles within the manufacturing circle, passing southward, and
from forty to sixty miles around, there is the most industrious space on
the globe; while no one can think about Derby, without associating the
names of Darwin, in poetry and philosophy; of Wright, in painting; and of
the Strutts, as the patrons of all the useful and elegant arts. I entered
Derby, therefore, with agreeable associations, and they have since been
realized.

Taken altogether, Derby is a medium town, between a manufacturing and a
genteel one. This, in variety, is an advantage, for while the
manufacturers are improved in manners, gentility is more substantial. It
is neither wholly vulgar, like some places, nor poor and proud, like
others. For its size, it is a rich town. I was told, there are five or
six persons in it worth L100,000. and upwards, each, and as many more
worth 30 or L40,000. In most country towns there are fewer such, but
Derby is fortunate in its geographical and natural position, and in the
prudence of its genius and industry.

_Cotton Spinning_.

I proceeded to Belper, eight miles, to view the superb establishment of
the Messrs. Strutt, as cotton spinners. The excellent road, which
continues to Matlock, and the north, lay through the most delightfully
variegated country which I had seen since I left Hertfordshire. The
village of Duffield, in a valley of the Derwent, with houses on the steep
eastern bank, and woods to the top, is one of the prettiest to be seen.
On crossing the river, I beheld long lines of cottages, built for the
residence of the families employed in Messrs. Strutts' smaller factory at
Melford. Passing this, the extensive but straggling and picturesque town
of Belper, covered the eastern hill. What remains of the old town, is not
a tithe of the present one, and the whole is now supported by Messrs.
Strutts' gigantic mills.

I approached these with mingled pleasure and astonishment. A manufactory,
in such hands, presented none of the usual drawbacks on one's feelings.
They never discharge their workmen; and good conduct is a life interest
in comfort! The picturesque beauty of the situation, the height and
extent of the buildings, and the increase of the busy throng, as I
entered the yard, was exhilarating. The effect grew as I approached, for
the distance of two or three hundred yards, the noise, produced by the
united rattling of thousands of small wheels, was l