forge not far distant, made it a singular
walk. . . In the evening walked alone down to the lake after sunset and
saw the solemn coloring of night draw on, the last gleam of sunshine
fading away on the hilltops, the deep serene of the waters, and the long
shadows of the mountains thrown across them till they nearly touched the
hithermost shore. At distance heard the murmur of many waterfalls not
audible in the day-time.[48] Wished for the moon, but she was dark to me
and silent, hid in her vacant inter-lunar cave."[49]

"It is only within a few years," wrote Joseph Warton in 1782, "that the
picturesque scenes of our own country, our lakes, mountains, cascades,
caverns, and castles, have been visited and described."[50] It was in
this very year that William Gilpin published his "Observations on the
River Wye," from notes taken upon a tour in 1770. This was the same year
when Gray made his tour of the Wye, and hearing that Gilpin had prepared
a description of the region, he borrowed and read his manuscript in June,
1771, a few weeks before his own death. These "Observations" were the
first of a series of volumes by Gilpin on the scenery of Great Britain,
composed in a poetic and somewhat over-luxuriant style, illustrated by
drawings in aquatinta, and all described on the title page as "Relative
chiefly to Picturesque Beauty." They had great success, and several of
them were translated into German and French.[51]

[1] "An Apology for Smectymnuus."

[2] Lines 162-168. See also "Mansus," 80-84.

[3] "What resounds
In fable or romance of Uther's son,
Begirt with British and Armoric knights;
And all who since, baptized or infidel,
Jousted in Aspramont, or Montalban,
Damasco, or Marocco, or Trebisond,
Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore
When Charlemain with all his peerage fell
By Fontarabbia."
--_Book I_, 579-587.

[4] "Faery damsels met in forest wide
By knights of Logres, or of Lyones,
Lancelot, or Pelleas, or Pellenore."
--_Book II_, 359-361.

[5] "Masson's Life of Milton," Vol. VI. P. 789

[6] "Essay on Pope," Vol. I. pp. 36-38 (5th edition). In the dedication
to Young, Warton says: "The Epistles (Pope's) on the Characters of Men
and Women, and your sprightly Satires, my good friend, are more
frequently perused and quoted than 'L'Allegro' and 'Il Penseroso' of
Milton."

[7] The Rev. Francis Peck, in his "New Memoirs of the Li