was transient, but full of beauty, and we loitered about this picturesque spot until the rich sunny gleam, which had just "lighted up the storm," had passed away.

After a walk of another four or five miles, by the side of the Derwent, amongst high hills and overhanging woods, we reached Belper, a place which, within less than half a century, from a little village has become a populous and thriving town.

SECTION IX.

Recurrence to a former Visit to Belper.---Bridge Hill.---View of Belper from the Road to Heage.---Pentrich.---Revolutionists of 1817.---Roman Station on Pentrich Common.---Alfreton.---Hardwick Park.---Hardwick Hall and Picture Gallery.

I HAD been at Belper on a former occasion: it was the most southern point of my excursions, and the last place I visited within the mountainous districts of Derbyshire. I shall, therefore, in my present detail, follow the route I then pursued, and bring my various rambles in this interesting and picturesque county to a speedy termination. My remaining observations will therefore be brief. Belper is one of the most flourishing towns in Derbyshire: the old part of it, although not actually hidden amongst better and more modern erections, is but a very insignificant portion of the whole place. New buildings, with neat exteriors, flower gardens, orchards, and plantations, are fast spreading along the rising grounds on one side of the Derwent: on the other, is Bridge Hill, the residence of G. B. Strutt, Esq. most delightfully situated on an eminence that swells gracefully from the margin of the river, and commands an uninterrupted view of the many lovely spots and comfortable habitations that are scattered around his dwelling. When he arises in the morning---looks across the vale before him---contemplates the moral improvement---the rapid increase, and the present consequence of Belper; he may with fervent and

View of Belper from the Road to Heage.

105

honest exultation say, "blessed be the memory of my father; he has brought order and beauty out of rude and chaotic materials, and given richness and fertility to a once-neglected and barren waste:"

From Belper, my companion and myself had a long tract of country to traverse before we reached Alfreton, the next place where we intended to make a pause. We ascended the hill towards Heage, and having attained the summit, we turned to gaze upon the scene we were leaving before we proceeded on our journey. On our right and on our left, lay a long range of lofty eminences; before us, hills of great altitude and steep acclivity rose from the margin of the Derwent, which was seen winding through the valley far below. I remember to have passed these hills when they were nearly barren from their base to their highest elevations: I now beheld their lofty slopes every where cultivated, and the dales between beautifully wooded and adorned with buildings. What was once a little village only, had now become a populous town. The capacious valley in which Belper is situated, is the seat of great mechanical skill and commercial enterprise: a spirit of industry has moved over the face of it, and orchards and gardens, villas and plantations, have succeeded, and a wilderness of naked hills has been transformed into a paradise of beauty. Beholding such a scene as this, and contemplating the power that called its beautiful adornments into existence, I could bless the spirit of trade, and almost forget the consequences that result from the erection of immense factories, and the hardship of peopling them with children of both sexes as soon as they have passed the years of infancy, and making their pliant sinews and tender hands perform the work of adults, at a time when they should be either running wild about the fields, like nature's heirlings, or receiving lessons that might prepare

106

Brandreth and his Associates.

them for the society of their fellow creatures, and have a beneficial influence on their future lives.

About four miles from Belper we passed through Pentrich, a small village, but of some note in the local history of this district. During the wars between King Charles the First and the parliamentary forces of that period, Pentrich Common was the theatre of military operations, and in the year 1817 it was the scene of one of the most silly and absurd attempts that ever entered into the contemplation of men. Here, in the month of June, an infatuated rabble, nearly without arms and destitute of a leader, assembled together, for the purpose, as they avowed, of overturning the government of the country. Such conduct would really excite contempt, were not the consequences frequently of too serious a character to admit of such a feeling. These misguided men entertained the idea of progressively increasing their number by terror. As they proceeded, they demanded arms and men at every dwelling, and being denied admittance at a house in the vicinity of Pentrich Common, Brandreth, the reputed captain of this "set of lawless resolutes," shot a man who refused to accompany him in this mad expedition. More outrageous conduct never characterized the proceedings of any body of men, however hardened and atrocious they had previously been. The scheme ended, as all such attempts generally do, in the speedy dispersion of the force collected, and the consequent punishment of the most active. About forty of these revolutionists were convicted at the ensuing Derby assizes. Brandreth, the murderer of the man at Mrs. Hepworth's house, was executed, as he richly deserved two of his less culpable associates shared the same fate, and the greater part of the others, who had pleaded guilty, were transported.

Roman Station on Pentrich Common.

107 It is impossible to think of this transaction without reverting to the generally disturbed state of the country when the South Winfield and Pentrich men undertook their hazardous expedition, and the vile means that were resorted to to organize disaffection and foment disturbances. The agents in this wicked business were far more reprehensible than the men whom they misled: they were labouring under many privations---their sufferings had made them desperate---and prepared them for the commission of crime and outrage. Under such circumstances, it was worse than cruel to send spies and informers among them, to make them rebels, that they might be punished for being so.

On Pentrich Common, the scene of a Roman encampment may be traced its form is nearly square, and the indications of a double vallum, by which it is distinguished, are not yet entirely obliterated. This is supposed to have been the first Roman station north of Little Chester, from whence it is only twelve miles distant. The Rev. Mr. Pegge, the antiquary, in his observations on the Roman roads in Derbyshire, has fixed the intermediate establishment between Little Chester and Chesterfield, at, or near to, Higham; but this supposition divides the distance very unequally it is therefore more probable, that Pentrich Common was the site of this middle station, and the present remains there favour the opinion.

Another two miles walk brought us to ALFRETON, a small market town, said to have been founded by Alfred the Great, and originally called ALFRED-TOWN, a tradition which is countenanced by Camden himself. It is indeed pretended that King Alfred once resided here, and some individuals, fond of making discoveries, are ingenious enough

A