The road to Chesterfield is pretty. Sheffield was full as dirty and offensive as before. Slept at Penistone, a small village and bad inn quite out of the high road. Got out and looked at the Castle of Skipton, a valuable estate annexed to which belongs to Thanet. Got late in the evening to Lowood Inn, by the side of Windermere. I was not well in the night. [Sidenote: WORDSWORTH] _Wednesday._--Sent an invitation to Wordsworth, one of the Lake poets, to come and dine, or visit us in the evening. He came. He is much superior to his writings, and his conversation is even beyond his abilities. I should almost fear he is disposed to apply his talents more towards making himself a _vigorous conversationist_ in the style of our friend Sharp,[303] than to improve his style of composition. He is preparing a manual to guide travellers in their tour amongst the Lakes. He holds some opinions on picturesque subjects with which I completely differ, especially as to the effects produced by _white_ houses on the sides of the hills; to my taste they produce a cheerful effect. He, on the contrary, would brown, or even black-work them; he maintained his opinion with a considerable degree of ingenuity. His objection was chiefly grounded upon the distances being confounded by the glare of white. He seems well read in his provincial history. On Thursday, after stopping to see a very feeble cascade at Sr. Daniel Le Fleming’s, we reached Keswick to dinner. We found Southey, who had accepted our invitation. He is full of genius and poetical enthusiasm. His _History of Portugal_ is suspended in order that he may publish, by way of prefatory discourse, a _Life of the Cid_, which he is translating from an old Chronicle, and unfortunately into the style and language of the Bible. He has already made that experiment in his translation of _Amadis de Gaul_, and of his _History of Portugal_; to suit the curiosity of the day, he is going to publish the colonial part first.[304] This may be profitable, and the spirit of it obtained him from Whishaw the name of ‘Voulgar Tradesman.’ In the evening we visited his family; I was curious to see his interior. His house is excellent and beautifully situated. He seems much beloved by a numerous domestic circle of connections and friends; he is surrounded by heaps of old and valuable Spanish books. On Friday we set off to profit by the hospitality of Ld. Thanet, who offered us the comfort and repose of Appleby. We passed by Ullswater, but only saw the upper part of the Lake, which, from all accounts, is very inferior in beauty to the view a few miles lower. From Pooley Bridge we drove through a very fine country to Appleby. On our road we got out to see Brougham Hall, a very beautiful place belonging to Mr. Brougham’s father. The view from the terrace is quite magnificent; the family have not inhabited the house for many years, and it is falling fast into decay. [Sidenote: APPLEBY CASTLE]