The discovery of Dr. Bell affords marvellous facilities for carrying this into effect; and it is impossible to over-rate the benefit which might accrue to humanity from the universal application of this simple engine under an enlightened and conscientious government.--W. W. (1814).
[Footnote LJ: _The Hurricane, a Theosophical and Western Eclogue, etc._, by William Gilbert, London, 1797. Compare Wordsworth's notes to _The Brothers_.--ED.]
[Footnote LK: In this edition, it finds a more appropriate place in the _Prose Works_.--ED.]
The grave of James Patrick,--the pedlar whose character and habits gave rise to "The Wanderer" of _The Excursion_,--may still be seen in the church-yard within the town of Kendal. The following extract from the _Papers, Letters, and Journals of William Pearson_, edited by his widow, and printed in London, in 1863, for private circulation, refers to Patrick. "He" (_i.e._ William Pearson) "sometimes went to Kendal on Sundays, in order to worship with Unitarians, in the old Presbyterian _meeting-house_. This quiet secluded building, though situated in the heart of the town, is overshadowed by trees, beneath which rest many worthies of departed times: one of whom, James Patrick, was the prototype of 'The Wanderer' of _The Excursion_. A plain mural slab, outside the east wall of the chapel--which was his spiritual home--bears the following inscription:--
NEAR THIS PLACE ARE BURIED JOHN PATRICK OF BARNARD CASTLE, WHO DIED MAY 10TH, 1753, AGED 51 YEARS; MARGARET, THE DAUGHTER OF JAMES AND MARY PATRICK, WHO DIED NOVEMBER 26TH, 1767, IN HER INFANCY; JAMES PATRICK OF KENDAL, WHO DIED MARCH 2D, 1787, AGED 71 YEARS.
"When staying in Kendal, with his friend Mr. Thomas Cookson, Mr. Wordsworth himself was an occasional worshipper, along with the family, at this chapel; and thus became acquainted with the minister, the Reverend John Harrison, and with one of his congregation, the well-known blind mathematician and botanist, Mr. John Gough, with the delineation of whose remarkable powers and character the poet has enriched his _Excursion_; and in turn, has, by the touch of his genius, imparted to them a lustre that will not fade, whilst English Literature shall endure." (p. 13).