'the philosophic poet', and Coleridge the 'poetic philosopher' which rendered their intellectual intercourse of mutual value; and the poet may, like Irving, have preferred to see an idea looming through the mist, to its too palpable display before him. Quitting, however, the realms of speculation, we may continue the progress of events at Grasmere, which about this time was agitated by an affecting tragedy, resulting in the death of George and Sarah Green, who were lost in the snow, when returning across the mountains from a sale in Langdale. Being detained late, they endeavoured to come down by a near track upon their lonely, desolate farm-house, at Blentarn Ghyll, in far Easedale, but were overtaken by a blinding storm of snow-drift. Voices were heard, late on in the night, which were afterwards believed to have been their calls for help; but as many persons attend these rustic sales to see their relations and friends who may be residing near, and on these occasions the cup goes freely round, and a general hospitality prevails, so that many are tempted to delay their departure, these sounds were at the time supposed to proceed from some of the more jovial loiterers on their homeward route. Meanwhile, through the long dreary wintry night, the children at Blentarn Ghyll, six in number, the eldest a girl only nine years old, sat anxiously waiting for the return of their parents. The continuance of the snow-storm on the following day, cut off all access to their neighbours, the nearest house being at a weary distance. Throughout this terrible emergency, the little nine-year old maiden, acted with all the care and forethought of a woman, providing for the wants of the younger children, attending to the cow, gathering in peat from the out-house, and, in a variety of ways, ad ding to the comfort of all around her. For two or three days this state of things continued, the storm raging without, and the difficulties of management increasing within. But at length, the snow somewhat subsiding and beginning to melt, showed the tops of the low stone walls, the course of the stream, and the direction of the road. Perceiving this, little Agnes took heart, and determined if possible to reach the nearest house. This she accomplished with difficulty, owing to the distance, and the road being still hard to find. Almost overcome with fatigue and grief, the poor little weeping girl told of their forlorn condition, and of her fears respecting her parents. Immediately, the terrible news spread through the vales of Grasmere and Easedale, and every man of every household started, on a preconcerted plan, to search the hills, taking with him his sagacious dogs. For four days they vainly pursued their anxious search, each night returning weary, care-worn, and disappointed; but on the fifth day, the bodies of their unfortunate neighbours were discovered. George Green was lying at the foot of a precipice over which he had fallen; - his wife Sarah was found on the summit wrapped in his great coat. It was conjectured that, having gone forward to reconnoitre the way, he became blinded by the sudden fury of the blast, and the thick falling of the snow, and had not perceived the precipice before him. Wordsworth was strongly moved by this incident, and interested himself in various ways for the orphan family, while his sister wrote a simple account of it, concluding with a fervid appeal to the benevolent. The funeral of the ill-fated pair was attended by all the vale, and the poet composed some memorial stanzas. The children were dispersed among various families, where their welfare was insured, the Wordsworths completing their own large share in the charity, by taking charge of one of them. Contributions were so freely poured in, (the list being headed by her majesty and three of the princesses), that an ample fund was speedily raised which might be applied to the future benefit of the bereaved family of the Greens of Blentarn Ghyll. In 1811, Wordsworth, finding a change of residence again imperative, removed to the parsonage at Grasmere. Here he had the misfortune to lose two children. One of them, Catherine, died suddenly, on the 4th June, 1812; and it was remembered that on the previous day, one of her brothers was heard to utter the words, 'In the morning it is green, and groweth up, but in the evening it is cut down, dried up and withered', quite unconscious how soon they were to be verified. The other of the two children, Thomas, was a boy of much promise, dutiful and affectionate, and out of tender love to his lost sister, would repair to the churchyard and sweep the leaves from her grave, that last resting-place which he was so soon to share. He died on the 1st December in the same year. -- The mournful reflections which thus saddened the family, were constantly renewed by the outlook which they had from the house to the church-yard, where the children were buried, and it became desirable to leave so depressing a locality. It happened, therefore, fortunately, that in the spring of 1813 they were able to obtain possession of Rydal Mount, so well known as the residence of Wordsworth for a period of thirtyseven years, and the place where he died, in 1850. No sooner was he settled at Rydal than he obtained, through the influence of the Earl of Lonsdale, the appointment of Distributor of Stamps in the County of Westmorland. He was relieved, however, from any active share in the duties of the post, by the services of a young clerk, named John Carter, who for a moderate salary, undertook the labours of the office. The poet's biographer makes grateful mention of the lengthened and faithful services of this official coadjutor, who, besides being well qualified to administer his affairs, was also a judicious corrector of the press, and a sound scholar. There is a playful passage in De Quincey's 'Selections Grave and Gay', the harmony of which is, perhaps, marred by a slight undertone of envy, in which he notices the singular good fortune of Wordsworth in all points of worldly prosperity, and referring to the crisis when he had to determine the future colour of his life, he goes on to say, 'Memorable it is that exactly in those critical moments when some decisive steps had first become necessary, there happened the first instance of Wordsworth's good luck, and equally memorable that at measured intervals throughout the long sequel of his life since then, a regular succession of similar, but superior, windfalls have fallen in, to sustain his expenditure, in exact concurrence with the growing claims upon his purse. A more fortunate man, I believe, does not exist than Wordsworth. The aid which now dropped from heaven, as it were, to enable him to range at will in paths of his own choosing, and came in the shape of a bequest from Raisley Calvert, a young man of good family, in Cumberland, who died about this time of pulmonary consumption. The sum left by Raisley Calvert was £900; and it was laid out in an annuity. This was the basis of Wordsworth's prosperity in life; and upon this he has built up, by a series of accessions, in which each step, taken separately for itself, seems perfectly natural, whilst the total result has undoubtedly something wonderful about it, the present goodly edifice of his fortunes. Next in the series came Lord Lonsdale's repayment of his predecessor's debt. Upon that, probably, it was that Wordsworth felt himself entitled to marry. 'Then, I believe, came some fortune with Miss Hutchinson; then that is, fourthly, some worthy uncle of the same lady was pleased to betake himself to a better world, leaving to various nieces, and especially to Mrs. Wordsworth, something or other, I forget what, but it was expressed by thousands of pounds. 'At this moment Wordsworth's family had begun to increase, and the worthy old uncle, like everybody else in Wordsworth's case, finding his property very clearly "wanted", felt how very indelicate it would look for him to stay any longer in this world; and so off he moved. But Wordsworth's family and the wants of that family still continued to increase; and the next person - viz., the fifth, who stood in the way, and must therefore have considered himself rapidly growing into a nuisance was the stamp-distributor for the county of Westmorland. About March, 1814,* I think it was, that this very comfortable situation was wanted. Probably it took a month for the news to reach him; because in April, and not before, feeling that he had received a proper notice to quit, he, good man (this stamp-distributor) like all the rest, distributed himself and his office into two different places - the latter * 1813. |