LIFE AT ELLERAY. 85 



Still as we gazed assumed a lovelier glow, 

 And seemed to send us looks of amity." 



The troublesome line was — 



"Softly embosoming another sky." 



In a letter I received from Dr. Blair, he says :— " ' The Friend ' 

 was going on at that time — Coleridge living at Wordsworth's — 

 Wordsworth making, and reading to us as he made them, the ' Son- 

 nets to the Tyrolese,' first given in ' The Friend ;' and from Elleray 

 that winter went ' Mathetes.'* I remember that De Quincey was 

 with us at the time. He may have given some suggestions besides, 

 but we certainly owed to him our signature." 



Of my father's poetic compositions during these years I shall 

 speak presently. I find in one of his commonplace-books some 

 unpublished verses, which may, however, be inserted here, if only 

 in illustration of what at this time was a frequent practice of 

 his, and continued to be indulged in for many years of his after 

 life, viz., the habit of walking in solitude during the hours of night. 

 In spite of his generally even flow of good spirits, and his lively 

 enjoyment of social pleasures, it seemed as if in the depths of his 

 heart he craved some influence more soothing and elevating than 

 even the most congenial companionship could afford. In these 

 silent hours, whether pacing among the hills, or resting in contem- 

 plation of the glories of the earth and sky, the solemnity of feeling 

 which was thus induced found natural expression in words of re- 

 ligious adoration. At the head of the lake stood the mansion of 

 Brathay, the property of Allan Harden, Esq. There, on his way for 

 a midnight ramble, did he often gain admittance, and, for some 

 time, hold converse with his friend, before taking his solitary way 

 to the mountains, within the deep shadows of which he would 

 wander for hours, engaged in what he appropriately calls 



"Midnight Adoration. 



"Beneath the full-orb'd moon, that bathed in light 

 The mellow : d verdure of Helvellyn's steep, 

 My spirit teeming with creations bright, 



I walked like one who wanders in his sleep 1 



* A letter on Education, the joint composition of Wilson and Blair, addressed to the editor of 

 " The Friend." 



