CROSSES

[Illustration:  (At Eyam.)]

[Illustration:  (At Wheston.)]

[Illustration:  (Beauchief Abbey.)]

Mr. Rhodes, the elegant topographer of the Peak, observes, “there are but few individuals in this country, possessing the means and the opportunities of travel, who have not, either from curiosity or some other motive, visited the Peak of Derbyshire.”  This remark is correct; and to it we may add, that the “few” who have not personally visited the Peak, have become familiar with its wonders through the pencils of artists, or the graphic pens of accomplished tourists.  Yet their attractions are not of that general character which delights an untravelled eye:  they belong rather to the wonderful than what is, in common parlance, the beautiful.  Mr. Rhodes says, “Travellers accustomed to well-wooded and highly-cultivated scenes only, have frequently expressed a feeling bordering on disgust, at the bleak and barren appearance of the mountains in the Peak of Derbyshire; but to the man whose taste is unsophisticated by a fondness for artificial adornments, they possess superior interest, and impart more pleasing sensations.  Remotely seen, they are often beautiful; many of their forms, even when near, are decidedly good; and in distance, the features of rudeness, by which they are occasionally marked, are softened down into general and sometimes harmonious masses.  The graceful and long-continued outline which they present, the breadth of light and shadow that spreads over their extended surfaces, and the delightful colouring with which they are often invested, never fail to attract the attention of the picturesque traveller.”

Our present road, however, lies through the dales rather than the mountainous portion of this district.  To enjoy the picturesque variety of the former we must leave the cloud-capped peaks, and ramble with the reader through “cultivated meadows, luxuriant foliage, steep heathy hills, and craggy rocks, while the eye is enchanted with brilliant streams.”  Such indeed is the character of the dales, especially those through which the Derwent, the Dove, and the Wye meander.  Hitherto we have but adverted to the natural beauties of the country; although they are checkered with many mouldering relics of “hoar antiquity”—­many crumbling memorials of ages long past, reminding us of the nothingness of man’s labours, yet harmonizing most happily with the feelings inspired by the natural sublimities of the scene.  By such associations, the decaying glories of art lend even a charm to ever flourishing nature!