character is of equal importance; for letters are to them not symbols of names, but of things; when they write, they do not represent a sound, but delineate a form. This school I visited, and found some of the scholars waiting for their master, whom they are said to receive at his entrance with smiling countemances and sparkling eyes, delighted with the hope of new ideas. One of the young ladies had her slate before her, on which I wrote a question consisting of three figures, to be multiplied by two figures. She looked upon it, and quivering her fingers in a manner which I thought very pretty, but of which I know not whether it was art or play, multiplied the sum regularly in two lines, observing the decimal place; but did not add the two lines together, probably disdaining so easy an operation. I pointed at the place where the sum total should stand, and she noted it with such expedition as seemed to shew, that she had it only to write. It was pleasing to see one of the most desperate of human calamities capable of so much help: whatever enlarges hope will exalt courage; after having seen the deaf taught arithmetic, who would be afraid to cultivate the Hebrides? Such are the things which this journey has given me an opportunity of seeing, and such are the reflections which that sight has raised. Having passed my time almost wholly in cities, I may have been surprised by modes of life and appearances of of nature that are familiar to men of wider survey and more varied conversation. Novelty and ignorance must always be reciprocal, and I cannot but be conscious that my thoughts on national manners are the thoughts of one who has seen but little, EXCURSION TO THE LAKES, WITH A TOUR THROUGH PART OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND, IN 1773 AND 1774, BY W. HUTCHINSON. THE rapid progress of cultivation in the northern counties, assists the lapse of time in obliterating many remains of antiquity, and giving a new aspect to the face of nature. Mr. Hutchinson, animated by the example of travellers, who have described whatever is beautiful and curious, in foreign countries, felt the patriotic wish of noticing some of the most delightful scenes in his native island, and of rescuing some of its antiquities from oblivion, before their existence could be doubted. Inspired with these views, he made a summer's tour, during two successive years, and commenced his remarks at Bowes in Yorkshire. This place derives its chief importance from its antiquity, and the ruins of its castle, by some supposed to be of Roman construction, but more reasonably conjectured to have been built by Alan, earl of Richmond, in the reign of the Conqueror. VOL. II. Bowes Castle, situated near the old high street, is fifty-three feet high, and forms a square of eighty-one feet each way. It is built of hewn stone, of excellent workmanship, and the walls are cemented with lime mixed with small flints; but much of the external casing is stript off, and the whole is rapidly hastening to decay. This fortress is surrounded with a deep ditch, beyond which is an open area, or platform, and the hill, on whose brink it stands, has a swift descent to the river Greta. There are evident traces of Roman works within its precincts; and most probabl the present castle was founded on the site of one much more ancient. The remains of a bath and its aqueduct, now wholly in ruins," and overgrown with weeds and brambles, are still indicated to travellers. A late inclosure of some common lands belonging to Bowes, brought to light an ancient aqueduct, which conveyed the water two miles, from a place called Levarpool, to the castle. Antiquaries have hitherto fixed the ancient Lavatræ at Bowes, that place corresponding with the distances set out in the Itinerary; but our author seems to think, that the site may have been near Levarpool, particularly as some adjoining lands still bear the name of Lavartree, or Laretree; there, however, on examination, they found only ancient stone quarries of vast capacity. Great numbers of Roman coins have been discovered at Bowes, which mark its former celebrity. Several sorts of earthen vessels, of the red kind, have also been dug up at this place; and Camden says, he saw an altar to the honour of Adrian, in the church, charged with the subsequent inscription, which is now lost: IMP CESARI DIVI TRAJANI PARTHICI max filio NO AUG. PONT. MAXIM. CUS 1-P. P.-COH. 1III, F- Sir Robert Cotton obtained from hence an altar, from the inscription on which it appeared, that whilst Virius Lupus ruled as lieutenant-general and proprætor of Britain, under Severus, the emperor, the first cohort of the Thracians lay here in garri son, for whose use he restored the baths. Sir Ro bert caused this curious monumental record to be removed to Connington. The ancient custom of Thorotoll is still preserved here, though the fortress is no longer maintained, nor applicable to any beneficial purpose to the neighbourhood, which was the original excuse for an imposition, now become grievous to the public. Advancing towards Westmoreland, the sad scene of sterility they were obliged to behold, was, in some degree, relieved by rising inclosures, and some attempts at cultivation, though the soil and climate seem to preclude industry from the hope of reaping her natural rewards. About two miles from Bowes is that singular curiosity, called God's Bridge, a natural arch of lime. stone, sixteen feet in span, beneath which the Greta precipitates its waters. The path, formed on the crown of this rock, is about twenty feet wide, and is the common carriage road. After the river has passed this bridge, it soon sinks for the space of half a mile, and breaks out again through the cavities of the rocks. Some contracted meadows fringe the river, and the plough. share begins to mark the traces of industry on the skirts of the desert. As they advanced on their journey, Spittle, an ancient hospital, caught their eye, and behind it rose Stainmore. A dreary prospect of naked hills, rugged and deformed, every where surrounded them, yet here and there a few plots of grass relieved the uniformity of the steril scene, and now and then a little rill cheered the solitary dell. Near the turnpike-house, on Stainmore, they saw a cylindrical stone, which appears to have been a Roman guide post, but its inscription is almost obliterated. Soon after they approached Roy Cross, the boundary between Yorkshire and Westmoreland, and said by Boethius to have been erected at the time William the Conqueror granted Cumberland to the Scots, on condition that they should pay homage for the same, and not engage in any measures inimical to the crown of England. This cross stands within the remains of a large intrenchment, through which the turnpike road now passes. Its form is an oblong square, with two openings on every side of the square, defended by a mound of earth placed in the front of each pass. History is almost wholly silent in respect to this intrenchment, and conjecture is left to fix its origin and use. As it lies on the Roman road, it might be referred to that nation; but the singularity of the passes and mounds, which guard them, by no means corresponds with their usual mode of fortifying a camp. From the conflicts that took place previous to the cession of Cumberland, it is likely that the northern English, or the Normans, may have encamped here, or perhaps converted a Ro man station to their use. However this may be, Hollingshed's Chronicle informs us, that the cross was certainly erected in consequence of a compact between William the Conqueror and Malcolm king of Scotland, and that it bore the image of the |