MATLOCK. 513 



point of interest is " Dorothy Vernon's Walk ; " for it has both ro- 

 mance and reality about it. Dorothy was the beautiful daughter 

 and heiress of the last Vernon. The son of the first Duke of Rut- 

 land fell so violently in love with her, when she was but eighteen, 

 that (his suit not being favored by her father) he lived some time 

 in the woods of Haddon, disguised as a gamekeeper ; and finally 

 (during a masked ball), eloped with the fair Dorothy, heiress of 

 Haddon, through the door from the long gallery, which leads down 

 to this walk. 



And this gives me the opportunity to say, that this marriage, of 

 course, brought Haddon Hall into the family of the Dukes of Rut- 

 land, who, for a time, inhabited it in great state ; but about a hun- 

 dred years ago abandoned it for their more modern residence 

 Belvoir Castle. Haddon Hall is, however, though uninhabited, 

 wisely prevented from falling into complete decay by the present 

 Duke of Rutland, and is open to the inspection of visitors at all 

 times. ' 



Matlock, considered the most picturesque spot in Derbyshire, is 

 in the ordinary route of travellers, but would, I think, disappoint 

 any one accustomed to the Hudson ; as would, indeed, any scenery 

 in England (I will except Wales) in point of picturesqueness. The 

 village of Matlock Bath is a watering-place, nestled in a pretty, 

 quiet dale, surrounded by rocky cliffs some 200 or 300 feet high. 

 Excellent walks, charmingly laid out and well kept, sparry caverns, 

 petrifying wells, with mineral springs, make up the attractions of 

 this rural neighborhood. The real beauty of Matlock, to my eyes 

 and it is the essentially English feature is in the luxuriance of the 

 vines and shrubbery that clamber over and en wreath every object 

 natural, artificial, and picturesque. A bare, rocky bank, unless it 

 has great magnitude or grandeur of outline, is hard and repulsive. 

 But let that same bank be covered with rich masses of ivy, and 

 overhung with verdure of luxuriant shrubs and trees, and what was 

 ugly and harsh is transformed into something exceedingly beautiful. 

 In this respect, both climate and culture conspire to make English 

 scenery of this character very captivating. The ivy springs up and 

 grows readily any where ; and the people, with an instinctive feel- 

 ing for rural expression, encourage this and other drapery, wherever 

 33 



