WORDSWORTH. 219 



could repeat the whole of " Childe Harold." But no one 

 so entirely seized each sympathy, and revealed to himself 

 so much of the inner world and of the wealth around us 

 everywhere as William Wordsworth. To the close of life, 

 if any line of the laureate was repeated, he could always 

 continue the quotation, and amongst all the devotees who 

 repaired to Bydal Mount, no one could be a more intense 

 admirer. Soon after his marriage, he spent a summer at 

 his brother's beautiful Elleray, and the first time that he 

 went to call on the poet, "his mind's father/'* he was so 

 nervous and excited that he would not allow Mrs Wilson 

 or any one to accompany him. A few days afterwards, 

 however, as the ladies were sitting in the drawing-room, 

 he rushed out exclaiming, "Wordsworth ! Wordsworth \" 

 and sure enough Wordsworth came across the lawn, and 

 entering by the open window, spent with them a long and 

 delightful day. The acquaintance thus begun lasted for 

 more than twenty years, and in the attractions which so 

 often drew Mr W T ilson to Westmoreland, one of the very 

 chiefest was the shrine of " The Excursion." 



When Mr Wilson published his "Voyage/' he sent 

 Wordsworth a copy. The reader will be amused by the 

 naivete of the criticism, which assumes that his corres- 

 pondent was not "practised in writing for the press." 

 Although so familiar with the living forms around him, 



* See page 92. 



