HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS IN THE LAKE DISTRICT.
Highways and Byways in the Lake District. By A. G. Bradley, Illustrations by Joseph Pennell. (Macmillan and Co. 62 )- Though Mr. Bradley begins by saying that the lack of historical events and traditions in the Lake District made this book difficult to write, he has succeeded in giving us a pleasant and interesting account of the scenery and the people. One naturally expects to find a good deal about Wordsworth, Coleridge, De Quincey, Southey, and "Christopher North," and Mr. Bradley gives us many interesting stories and "characteristic impressions!' of these men. The account of Brougham Castle and the Cliffords is curious, and is a good commentary on Wordsworth's poem. This is what Anne Countess of l'embroke said of the "Shepherd Lord" a century after :—" He was a plain man and lived for the most part a country life, and came seldom to Court or London ; but when he was called thither to sit as a Peer of the realm, he behaved himself wisely, and like a good English gentleman." There is a tendency in Mr. Pennell's pictures to become mere expressions ef style and manner. The style may be gool, even brilliant at times, but it is not enough ; there is something wanting.
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