splendid effects of judicious daring, in the opposite and usual
course. Let this acknowledgment make my peace with the lovers of the
supernatural; and I am persuaded it will be admitted, that to you, as
a Master in that province of the art, the following Tale, whether from
contrast or congruity, is not an unappropriate offering. Accept it,
then, as a public testimony of affectionate admiration from one with
whose name yours has been often coupled (to use your own words) for
evil and for good; and believe me to be, with earnest wishes that life
and health may be granted you to complete the many important works in
which you are engaged, and with high respect, Most faithfully yours,

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH.

RYDAL MOUNT, April 7, 1819.


[Written at Alfoxden. Founded upon an anecdote which I read in a
newspaper, of an ass being found hanging his head over a canal in a
wretched posture. Upon examination a dead body was found in the water,
and proved to be the body of its master. The countenance, gait, and
figure of Peter were taken from a wild rover with whom I walked from
Builth, on the river Wye, downwards, nearly as far as the town of Hay.
He told me strange stories. It has always been a pleasure to me through
life, to catch at every opportunity that has occurred in my rambles of
becoming acquainted with this class of people. The number of Peter's
wives was taken from the trespasses, in this way, of a lawless creature,
who lived in the county of Durham, and used to be attended by many
women, sometimes not less than half a dozen, as disorderly as himself,
and a story went in the country that he had been heard to say, while
they were quarrelling, "Why can't ye be quiet, there's none so many of