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SELECTIONS
FROM THE
LETTERS OE EGBERT SOUTHEY.
VOL. in
London :
Printed by Spottiswoode & Co.
New-8treet-Square.
SELECTIONS
FKOM THE
LETTERS OF ROBERT SOUTHEY,
&c. &c. &c.
EDITED BY HIS SON-IN-LAW
JOHN WOOD WARTER, B,D.
CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD;
VICAB OF WEST TARRING, SUSSEX.
Southey's Letters show his true Character."
Walter Savaoe Landor,
MS. Letter to Mrs. Southey, April 28. 1843.
IN FOUR VOLUMES.
VOL. ni.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, & ROBERTS.
1856.
nr.S
LETTERS
OF
ROBERT SOUTHEY.
To Miss Barker.
London, Nov, 9. 1815.
I AM afraid, Senliora, that the letters, which I wrote
from Brussels did not reach their destination, for
there is no allusion to them in those which we have
received from the Venerable * and the juvenile Moon.
One was a second letter of wonders, carrying us, if I re-
collect rightly, to Ghent. The other was to yourself,
and brought our history as far as Brussels. I found it
impossible to write anything more than my journal,
which occupied every minute I could spare, even on
those days when we were stationary. You know how
little leisure is to be obtained in a foreign country,
when your curiosity is always on the alert, and eyes and
ears both upon active service from morning till night.
You shall, however, have our whole history in due
form when we return. My journal is very full. That
portion which relates to the fields of battle I shall
extract, and affix either as preface or postscript to my
* This was Mrs. Coleridge's household name.
VOL. III. B
2 LETTERS OP 1815.
projected poem. The rest I may arrange and fill up at
leisure to leave among my papers. Here in London I
can find time for nothing ; and to make things worse,
the devil, who owes me an old grudge, has made me sit
to Philipps for a picture for Murray. I have in my
time been tormented in this manner so often, and to
such little purpose, that I am half tempted to suppose
the devil was the inventor of portrait painting.
To-day (Thursday) we are to see the Lord Mayor's
Show. It is raining, and will continue to rain. We go
in about an hour to Rickman's, to see tlie water part
of the pageant; then to Josiah Conder's in St. Paul's
Church Yard, to see the procession by land. To-morrow
for Streatham, between which place and Champion Hill
(Mrs. Gonne's) we shall remain till the Saturday of next
week : on that day we go to John May's, and return
from his house to London on the Monday ; then, after
four or, at the most, five days, we set off on our return,
for which we are all equally impatient. T am weary of
this continual movement and bustle, and long most
heartily to be once more at home and at work, — the
best kind of rest.
I have bought for the Mountain Marshal a cuirassier's
pistol from the spoil at Waterloo, and also a piece of
kick-man-jiggery from Aix-la-Chapelle, which, being a
very out of the way sort of thing, and pretending to be
useful, is more fit for the said Marshal than for anybody
else. There is as yet no news of any of my books.
There are some Dutch volumes among them (" Lives
of the Painters "), with heads by Houbracken : some of
the very finest of his works.
I am writing upon Herbert's desk, and I mend my
pen with Herbert's knife ; a knife of queer cut from
Namur, containing two blades and corkscrew, and steel
for striking fire to light his pipe, and an instrument for
picking the pipe : the latter will serve to untie parcels.
1815. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 3
and I have a flint from Waterloo with which he may
strike light when we want a fire by the lake side. We
have a friar apiece for Kate and Isabel, a friar on
horseback for Bertha, and two nuns who are to be dis-
posed of I know not how. Betty will be glad to hear
that I have been mindful of her commission, and bought
four sponges, taking Shedaw for my counsellor in the
choice. We are to spend one whole morning in shop-
ping before we leave London.
Whether I am one of those persons who know how
to spend and how to spare, is not for me to determine,
but I have been both spending and sparing more than I
wished. My gold has fled like chafl" before the wind.
You will lend me lOOZ. on my return, to set all straight,
as they say in Cumberland, and it will not be very long
before I shall be able to set that amount straight also.
" Roderick " is doing well, and has given me a good
lift ; its work is not done yet, and it may possibly set
us fairly afloat in smooth water. My Waterloo poem
will get me more credit than money. There is one
friend to whom I look for both — that emine7it physician
whose house Ireconnoitred at Doncaster* God bless you.
Love from all to all, and kisses as many as you please
to give to the kissable part of the family. The Doctor,
in particular, desires his remembrances. You must not
go to London this winter, and perhaps next year I may
accompany you to visit the ruins of Paris. I almost
expect a massacre of the aUied troops, and the destruc-
tion of that city.
The first Mina is in London, and I shall see him.
My letters need not be sent. Remember me to the
General and Mrs. Peachey. The other General (Mrs.
Coleridge's friend) I have seen; he is living with a
* " His premeditated work, ' Doctor Daniel Dove, of Doncaster'
■which was to have been dedicated to me.
" Mart Slade, nee Barker."
B 2
4 LETTERS OF 1815.
Jewish quack, wlio calls himself an Italian, the most
impudent of his fraternity. This fellow's name is on
the door, and I believe he lives upon the General,
whose credulity in such things amounts to absolute
insanity. Once more, God bless you. I long to sing
my bravura at home once more.
Yours affectionately.
Iv. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Streatham, Nov. 17. 1815.
My dear Grosvenor,
I have written a letter to Gifford, which I shall
not be able to despatch till to-morrow, when the proof
may accompany it. I hope he will show it you. What
effect it may produce Heaven knows. Bring with you
the sheets of the article, in their original state, when you
come to Queen Anne Street; they are become curious.
It is not unlikely that I may offend Croker by the man-
ner in which (without alluding to him) I have pointed
out the impolicy and injustice of his interpolations. If
it be so, so it may be. He may say what he pleases in
his own person, and call black white if he likes it, but it
is presuming too much to do this in mine. Fools that
these people are ! as if there were any living man who
is more disposed to render full justice to the Duke of
Wellington than I am, or who had equally the will and
the power to bestow upon him the highest and most
lasting praise. God bless you.
li. S.
1815. ROBERT SOUTHEY.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, 8fc.
Keswick, "Wednesday, Dec. 6. 1815.
We reached home to-day, after a safe journey;
the weather loo wet to be cold, so that we suffered little
other discomfort than that of fatigue. Edith May
grew better as we advanced further from London, and
I trust that her usual habits will soon restore her to her
usual health.*
I had no opportunity, when last we met, to tell you
what has passed concerning the " Quarterly Review." In
consequence of my letter to Gifford, which you saw, I
found that the interpolations came from no less a per-
sonage than the Duke himself, who thought proper,
through Croker, to make me his tool. I spoke as be-
came me upon the occasion ; insisted upon stopping the
press, carried my point, struck out the falsehoods which
had been inserted, and replaced what had been struck
out. Upon seeing the former part of the article (the
* The following lines are from the proem to the " Pilgrimage to
Waterloo " : —
" The young companion of our weary way
Found here the end desired of all her ills ;
She who in sickness pining many a day,
Hunger'd and thirsted for her native hills,
Forgetful now of suflerings past, and pain,
Rejoiced to see her own dear home again.
" Recover'd now, the home-sick mountaineer
Sate by the playmate of her infancy,
Her twin-like comrade S render'd doubly dear
For that long absence ; full of life was she,
With voluble discourse and eager mien.
Telling of all the wonders she had seen."
Mrs. Warter's " twin-like comrade " was poor Sara Coleridge.
B .0
6 LETTERS OF 1815.
proofs of which had not been sent me), I find a passage
interpolated about the Convention of Cintra, which is
contrary to my own expressed opinion. This I shall
resist, and insist upon it that nothing hereafter be in-
serted in any paper of mine without my consent ; other-
wise I will withdraw from the work. I had an inter-
view at the Admiralty after the business, and it was
curious to observe how carefully the subject was avoided,
and yet what concessions were made, and civilities
shown, in reference to it.
I shall be anxious to hear how your leg is going on.
My table is covered with letters.
I was much pleased with Mina, and shall get from
him a sketch of his own history. With Frere also I am
likely to have much correspondence. He has been a
very ill-used man, and is perfectly aware that I am
likely to prove his best friend. Of course he is able to
give me much information ; but I was much gratified
by finding that, on most points, the opinion which I
had previously formed was strengthened and confirmed
by what he communicated.
My love to my aunt and the bairn.
God bless you.
R. S.
To J. Neville White, Esq.
Keswick, Dec. 8. 1815.
My dear Neville,
You would hear of us from Nottingham, where
we met the kindest and warmest reception ; — that
after departing from your mother's house we broke
down in the streets you probably would not hear, for
1815. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 7
we went to the inn while our luggage was shifted to
another chaise, and no hurt was done. On the Tuesday
nicrht we reached Wordsworth's about seven o'clock ;
it would have been possible to have got home by ten,
but to have come in at night when the children were
asleep, would have been a cruel disappointment to
them and to us ! A return of this kind is a sort of
triumph for which daylight is required, and sunshine
also, if it could be had upon demand. So we slept at
Rydal, and the next morning made our appearance. I
need not say that it was a happy house that day. God
be thanked we found them all in health, and Edith had
improved in health every day after she left London.
My table was covered with letters ; and though I
fully intended to have told you of our safe arrival by
the first post, 1 had not fulfilled my intention when
the post hour came.
You loaded us with kindness in London, and added
largely to the treasures which we brought home for the
children, — treasures they may be called ; for things of
infinitely greater value would give them less delight in
riper years. I shall feel myself your debtor till you
have brought your sisters here ; or rather let me say,
you owe us this gratification ; and if your excellent
mother would be of the party, our gratification would
be the greater.
James was looking well. I wish I could assist him
in his search for a curacy.
It will be some days before I can, as it were, find my
way, and resume the broken thread of old employments.
At this moment I am up to the elbows in letters, these
I hasten to clear off, in the hope of this night begin-
ning my poem. God bless you. Remember me to
the Conders, and believe me, my dear Neville,
Yours most affectionately,
Robert Southey.
B 4
8 LETTERS OF 1815.
P. S. All liere, the old and the young, unite in the
kindest remembrances. Herbert has gone on faithfully
both with his Greek and German during my absence,
so as to have lost nothing. It is not possible that
any child could be more entirely after his father's own
heartr
To Captain Southey, M.N., St. Helen's.
Keswick, Dec. 20. 1815.
My dear Tom,
I want your help about the beginning of "Oliver
Newman." It must open with a funeral at sea. Do you
put shot in the coffin (when there is one), or fasten the
weights in any other manner ? And in what manner,
when the ceremony was to be performed with some re-
spect, would you hoist it over? and from what part of
the ship ? Give me all the technicals.
My plan is pretty well made out, and I believe my
mind is made up upon the choice of metre, which is
always a perplexing choice. It will be that of ^'Tha-^
laba." Blank verse might lead me into repetitions,
and rhyme will not do for a poem much of which must
be essentially dramatic.
Longman expects that the quarto " Roderick " will
be gone before a small edition can be ready; it is there-
fore in the press again. This was to be looked for; but
it will not have, and cannot have, a great sale. The
passion for novelty is soon satisfied, and the poem is of
far too high a cliaracter to become popular, till time has
made it so. It is like an acorn upon Latrigg now. The
thistles and the fern will shoot up faster, and put it out
of sight for a season, but the oak will strike root and
grow.
1815. ROBERT SOUTnEY. 9
Will you be glad or sorry to hear that I must write
an ode? I verily believed that the performance had
been dropped last year, and thought it was an act of
over-caution when I wrote last week to ask Croker
whether or not it was so. He told me last night that
though the custom ought to be abolished, it is not yet,
and therefore I must write one : and he holds out a
vague sort of prospect of its abolition, upon which very
little dependence can be placed. You may be sure I
care very little about this. An immediate and public
abolition of so idle a custom would reflect credit upon
the Prince, but as for me, it may very possibly be more
to my credit that it should continue ; for subjects can
never be wanting to a man who looks at public events
as I do, in their causes and consequences. So instead
of pesting the ode (that French word is better than
either our synonyme in c or in d), I set about it, formed
the plan immediately, and have to-day written thirty-
seven lines ; which, considering I had a liead-ache in the
morning, and took a humming dose of magnesia at two
o'clock to get rid of it, is pretty well
We had yesterday the most remarkable storm that
Mrs. Wilson or any person in Keswick can remember.
The wind was nearly due south, and it took up the
water of the lake, literally like dust : we could see it
beginning to rise far up under Brandelow, white as
smoke or as a morning mist, gathering and growing all
the way to the bottom of the lake, and there dispersed
as far as the tempest could carry it. Tlie report fi'om
the town was that " slates were flying about there like
crows"; and in fact the long sort of pent-house above
the Queen's Head is nearly unroofed. It still blows a
heavy gale.
The *' West Indies " you cannot complete without
going to London, and working at the public libraries
there, and this it will be worth while to do when you
10 LETTERS OF 1815.
have done all that can be done from the materials within
your reach. We must overhaul them when I come to
you.
Dec. 22)id. — My odeous job was finished yesterday,
thirteen stanzas in the rhymeless measure of the con-
gratulatory odes which Milton, after the Greeks, calls
Apolelymenon, — a good hard word for loose. I want a
name for the ode sadly ; but to call it merely from the
metre, Carmen Apolelymenon, would be such " A word
upon a title-page " as might well make the reader bless
himself. So I suppose it must simply be called an
ode. I dismiss the American War by a wish that it
may soon be at an end ; and, with a reference to the
memory of Washington, then turn to what are the
labours which befit this country in peace, launching out
upon the two great subjects of general education and
colonisation. I will get it franked to you if I can ....
Love to Sarah. God bless you.
Iv. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Dec. 25. 1815.
My dear Grosvenor,
I have been doggedly at work, and will torment
my unwilling Minerva no longer. Here are three
stanzas which are good enough for the fiddlers, and by
the time I shall have finished my poem, I may either
be able to complete this, or substitute something better
in its place. The " Pilgrimage " goes on to my liking.
I am at Brussels now, and another evening will bring
me to the Field of Battle; thus far, all is well, and
could not be otherwise : it remains to be seen how I
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 11
shall succeed when description is to be exchanged for
a moral and severe strain. As for making a poem iq^on
the battle, as you advise, it would be just as possible
to make a plum-pudding of it, for battles are as unfit
for poetry as they are for puddings ; and if you can
find a more dissimilar simile, you may substitute it as
more to the purpose.
I shall put my journal in such order as to make a
volume for posthumous publication, by which time it
will have greatly increased in value ; that is to say, it
will be worth much more as a post-obit than as a bill
at sight. My recollections help me now and then to
something which had been forgotten in its place ; and
I hear others from the two Ediths, in the course of
the many conversations upon our journey, which had
escaped my observation, or not occurred to it. Besides
this, I am reading about the countries which I saw,
and am become so curious about them, that my " Col-
lectanea Belgica " will amount to something considerable
by and by, both in extent and value. I meant to have
given you your letters in London, and behold they
remained in my trunk ; but I am not sorry for tliis.
li. S.
P. S. A merry Christmas to you.
To John Rickman, Esq.
Keswick, Jan. 12. 1816.
My dear Rickman,
It is Barrow who so perversely persists in dis-
crediting cannibalism, for no better reason than that lie
thinks his own preconceived opinion of more weight
12 LETTERS OF 1816
than the testimony of anybody else : this is strange
and provoking in a man of so much knowledge and so
much ability. It is curious, too, for he had expressed
this disbelief before in the same channel, and, after the
publication of my first volume, seemed to retract it.
Murray has a manuscript in his hands concerning the
Tongataboo Islands, which contains some pleasant stories
upon this subject, and upon savage life in general. I
have advised him by all means to publish it. It is one
of the most curious books of its kind, drawn up from
the account of a certain Mr. Mariner, who was spared
from the massacre of a ship's crew, being a lad, and had
lived among them several years. Wynn sent me once
an extract from an unprinted Welsh Chronicle written
in Latin : speaking of an invasion from Ireland, it said
that the leader was killed, and being a very fat man,
one of the Welsh chieftains had him for his share, and
made bacon of him ! I think the Latin words are, " i7i
carnem suillam condidit." Now whether for rashers, or
for lard, as unguents, the French surgeon in Brazil col-
lected human fat from the Tupinambas houcans* I know
not, but incline to believe in the rashers. It is a pity
that Barrow is not a Welshman, for the pleasure which
he would derive from this story.
God bless you.
Robert Southey.
* " Four forked stakes were driven into the ground, sticks were
laid across, and on this they rather dried than broiled the flesh.
This wooden frame was called the houcan ; food thus smoked and
dried was said to be buccaneered ; and hence the origin of the name
applied to that extraordinary race of freebooters who were so long
the scourge of the Spaniards in South Amei'ica." — History of
Brazil, vol. i. p. 207.
U16. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 13
To C. W. W. Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, Feb. 21. 1816.
My dear Wynn,
Since you heard from me last, my " Pilgrimage "
has never been off my desk, and I have not reached the
end of it, — such a snail's pace have I travelled. With
as boyish a heart as ever, I begin to have a grey head,
and many symptoms that the noonday of life is gone by.
In the year 1798 I once wrote 1200 lines in a week.
" Gualberto" made part of them ; the greater number of
the rest were in " Madoc." This I could not do now ;
and an increased fastidiousness, or sense of imperfection,
will not account for all, or even half, the differences ; the
inclination for the effort is wanting, which is a strong
indication that the power no longer exists.
I took the story of " Bless thy eyes" * from Bowdler's
book, with a strong suspicion, I confess, that the word
*' Bless " was put evangelice for a much more soldierlike
expression ; but I had no suspicion that eyes had been
substituted for noses, or I should certainly have restored
the true reading. In consequence of what was said of
the Convention of Cintra in the former number (where
my sentiments were suffered to stand), Sir Hew Dal-
rymple has sent me a long vindication through Murray,
I cannot reply to him as I sliould wish to do for his
courtesy, and must therefore take advantage of his
letters having come to me as an anonymous person, not
to reply to it at all. He is very fearful of what I shall
say in my history, and from this fear-it is impossible to
relieve him. This is an evil inseparable from the task
of writing contemporary history ; there are occasions
on which, be as cautious as you may, you must either
* I think the expression was, " Bless thy crooked nose." — C.W.W.
14 LETTERS OF 181C.
sacrifice truti), or wound the feelings of others. My
Spanish honours bring me into a curious dilemma : as
a member of their two Academies, I am expected to
send copies of whatever I may publish to each ; and
to do this with a history which will neither mince the
matter respecting the Holy Office nor Ferdinand
would be a direct insult. As for Ferdinand and the
Liberales, there is as much to be said in justification of
one as of the other : their constitution provided for
quarrelling with the puppet King at its head, and would
soon have ended by getting rid of him. It is not much
to be wondered at if he, who has just sense enough
to understand this thoroughly, and is, moreover, so
thorough a Catholic as to embroider petticoats* for the
Virgin, should have very little mercy upon men who
really are thorough Jacobinical Atheists, and who de-
clare that they would show no mercy if the power were
in their hands. This is a matter which I can judge
with entire impartiality ; for certainly, had I been born
a Spaniard, and bred under such a Government and
such a Church, the first wish of my heart would have
been to destroy both. In short, it is as fair a war be-
tween them, as between shark and sailor. It required
all Brougham's effrontery to take up this question.
While these men were acting against France, he never
spoke of them but with contempt.
Dr. Aikin announces " George III.," and I am to
review his work — an offer readily accepted on my part :
because what I shall then write will serve as the outline
of my own intended book. In this forthcoming number
I have a short paper upon a French account of Mas-
sena's campaign in Portugal ; and another upon Alfieri,
* See 2 Kings, xxiii. 7. So like is the superstition of one age
to another !
Tas Ka\\idi(ppoi' 'A0a-
rai'ar eV KpoK((fi ■iT(ir\(f> K. t. A. — EuR. JJeC, V. 464.
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 15
of little or no value. For the next I must exert myself
as my ways and means will require.
We have had an avalanche. I do not know whether
you saw Applethwaite when you were here, — a gill
under Skiddaw. An immense portion of snow came
rolling down, and brought with it a proportionate quan-
tity of wreck from the mountain, so as to bury the
stream for some hundred yards, and the water now
works its way under the mingled mass, or rather under
an arch of snow which is covered with wreck. This
arch has fallen in in many places, and the whole scene
is highly curious. You will receive my " Pilgrimage "
in the course of a month : I end it with a vision, which
enables me to speak of the political aspects, and of the
prospects of society, as I would wish to do. How I
like it myself, I shall better be able to say when it is
completed : the barometer of an author's own feelings
is liable to many variations. Bedford will tell you of
the prints, which will give the book a certain and per-
manent interest. I have made proper mention of Picton,
who, I think, may take place of Sir Henry Morgan, as
the Worthy of Wales. God bless you.
Yours very affectionately,
Robert Southey.
Messrs, Longman and Co.
Keswick, March 8. 1816.
My dear Sir,
I have two matters of business to propose for
your consideration. I believe I mentioned to you, in
town, the death of a young Cantabrigian, in whom I
had taken much interest. His papers (poems) are in
16 LETTERS OF 1816.
my hands, and, in my judgment, a selection from them
will do honour to his memory. They will not have the
religious interest of Kirke White's ** Remains," neither
do they display so much correctness ; but certainly
there is as much power and as much promise. In the
way of memoir, I do not know that there will be much
to say. He was the eldest of a very large family ; the
father a half-pay officer, in very straitened circum-
stances. Of course, the publication is with his appro-
bation ; but it remains to be seen what circumstances
of his son's short life he would choose to have stated.
Be that as it may, there will be enough of general
matter bearing upon the particular subject to make an
introduction. He was highly respected in his college,
and known enough at Cambridge to have excited some
interest there ; with this, and with my name, there can,
I think, be little risk in venturing one volume, the size
of K. White's ; the title, " The Remains of James
Dusautoy, late of Emmanuel College, Cambridge ; with
an Introduction, by R. S.," &c. My own judgment of
these papers is sanctioned by Wordsworth. Should you
be willing to undertake the publication, upon our usual
terms, I should wish you to communicate your assent
to Captain James Dusautoy, Totness, Devonshire, and
account with him for the eventual profits. I may hint to
you, that it is desirable the letter should be franked.
The second point of business relates to a volume of
" Travels in Brazil," by Henry Koster, a friend of mine
who resided six years in that country, and went to it
with the advantage of speaking Portuguese as his own
tongue, being an English-Lisboner by birth. The line
of his travels was from Pernambuco to Ceara, besides
occasional excursions, and a voyage to Maranham. The
manner of his narration is plain and unaffected ; and
the picture which it gives of the state of society in that
country is highly curious. In quantity, I should suppose
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 17
it would make such a volume as Mawe's ; and he has
some four or five drawings of costumes, which would
make good coloured prints. In the second sheet of
the " Pilgrimage" there are three stanzas* relating to
Kostcr and his travels. I did not know that he had any
intention of publishing them when those lines were
written ; but the quotation might have its use in an-
nouncing the book, and I should, of course, notice it
as soon as it appeared, in the " Quarterly."
Pople is printing the " Pilgrimage" much to my
satisfaction. The poem extends considerably beyond
my estimate, but will not be the worse for its length.
Believe me, yours very truly,
Robert Southey.
* I transcribe the stanzas, as the reader may not have the
" Pilgrimage " at hand : —
" A third, who from the Land of Lakes with me
Went out upon this pleasant pilgrimage,
Had sojourn'd long beyond the Atlantic Sea ;
Adventurous was his spirit, as his age ;
For he in far Brazil, through wood and waste,
Had travell'd many a day, and there his heart was placed,
" Wild region ! . . . happy if at night he found
The shelter of some rude Tapuya's shed ;
Else would he take his lodgment on the ground.
Or from the tree suspend his hardy bed ;
And sometimes starting at the jaguar's cries,
See through the murky night the prowler's eyes.
" And sometimes over thirsty deserts drear.
And sometimes over flooded plains he went ;
A joy it was his fire-side tales to hear,
And he a comrade to my heart's content ;
For he of what I most desired could tell,
And loved the Portugals because he knew them well."
Part I. i. 38.
VOL. III.
18 LETTERS OF 1816.
To John Richman, Esq.
Keswick, Jrarch 12. 1816.
My dear Rickman,
I have been reading Turner's " Tibet," having
felt my intellect hungry for it after what you said in
its praise. A good book, a strange country, and a
stranger people. I do not find any mention of the
proportion between the sexes, and this silence may seem
to infer that there is no visible disproportion; but on
the other hand, women being everywhere less abroad
than men, it may exist, without being obvious to a
traveller. I can account for the system of Polyandry *,
as he calls it, only in one way ; that among the first
settlers there was, from whatever cause, a paucity of
women, and that it originated in necessity. As, for
instance, it might have done at early Rome, if there
had been no Sabines within reach. Csesar found a
similar system here, — this island being peopled from
the continent. There will be always a great majority
of men among emigrants and colonists ; but if the
system thus began in an actual disproportion, that dis-
proportion (in the ordinary course of nature) would
continue the same, unless a supply were introduced
from without: to restore the natural equilibrium women
must be imported, not bred. In Tibet there seems to
be no importation.
Their Lama, like Apis, who is always the same, has
this advantage over other rulers, — rather, there is this
advantage in the fraud, that it gives them choice of the
subject; and that as an Apis was sure to be a fine ox,
* " In PInkerton's abominable collection of voyages is a compi-
lation about Tibet, copied from Astley's collection, and here it is
stated that the people say their custom of polyandry is necessary
because of the scarcity of women." — J. R.
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 19
SO will the Lama be chosen among the finest specimens
of the human infant. It is a book that gives one much
matter for speculation.
Have you read Elphinston's ^'Caubul"? The Affghans
are a fine people : of all the Easterlings, the Persians
are the worst.
Robert Southey.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, March 15. 1816.
My dear Grosvenor,
I shall attend to your remarks always, and profit
by them where I can. As for party, you need not fear
that. I have even done some little injustice to some of
my own political apprehensions in putting them into
the old man's mouth. But you will see that all this is
subordinate to the philosophical views developed at the
conclusion.
It will, perhaps, be convenient to prefix something
like an analysis of this part in the way of argument to
the poem. The tower upon the sand* is not emblematic
of ambition, but of philosophy built upon false prin-
ciples. The principles of the revolutionary leaders are
broadly stated in this part, as avowed by most of them,
and consistently acted upon by Bonaparte ; and in this
canto they are contrasted with the principles of duty.
In the next canto these arguments are advanced, which
would prove that no good has resulted from the con-
test, and that our victory has left the world worse than
it found it : and with these arguments as relating to
* " Its frail foundations upon sand were placed," &c.
Part II. " The Tower," § 9
02
20 LETTERS OF 1816.
Italy and Spain, and the domestic dangers, the old
gentleman takes his departure, leaving me more im-
pressed by them than it would have been agreeable to
acknowledge to one who, if he had been closely exa-
mined, might have been found guilty of a cloven foot
and a tail. In the third canto, which is far more
visionary, the purport is, that religion must be the
foundation of philosophy, which can never judge rightly
of human affairs unless the nature and destination of
man be felt and understood. The two points upon
which I rest are, that imperfection or disease is our
nature, which is called original sin (which I am very
far from understanding in a Calvinistic sense), and the
immortality of the soul. Upon these data, whatever
relates to individual man becomes clear and satisfactory;
and in the last canto this is applied : I then look at the
general course of history, consider the question of na-
tional degeneracy, and show that the degradation of
Europe, that is, of the only progressive part of the
world, would have resulted from Bonaparte's success.
Thence the immeasurable importance of this victory. All
this ought to be perspicuous, if I have explained myself
properly. I then proceed to show what England may
be, taking the fair side ; and this is a series of shifting
pictures looking on for centuries, far and wide ; and
taking care to say that it depends upon herself whether
they be realised or not. Then I shall wake, and con-
clude with a L'Envoy of rejoicing, in which the bonfire
upon old Skiddaw is not to be forgotten. I have got
on thirty-two stanzas with the last canto, and heartily
glad shall I be to see the end.
The plan is now before you ; it is precisely the
outline which I formed when my determination of
writing upon the subject was first made ; in the execu-
tion it has extended farther than I expected, and after
all, may very probably not be worth the time which it
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 21
has cost. The subject certainly would never have oc-
curred to me as one of choice. However, 1 am not out
of humour with it upon the whole, and shall be in
great glee when the pictures arrive.
What has GifFord done with my article about the
Frenchman with half a dozen initials ? He does not
mention it in his note : I take it for granted that it
stands over for the next number, and as he has chosen
that "Algiers" shall stand over too, I shall do less for
the number in consequence. If they go wrong about
Lord Elgin, it is not my fault : I suspect a design of
washing the blackamoor white, and cautioned them
against it.
Cyril Jackson's good word is worth something if it
gets abroad. I am greatly indebted to Cyril Jackson,
— to no man more. He refused to admit me at Christ
Church, as doubtless you remember, and this was the
most fortunate event in my life. Grosvenor, there
were more wigs than brains laid together about that
poor number of the " Flagellant ! "
God bless you,
R. S.
To John May, Esq.
April 17. 1816.
My dear Friend,
If you have seen Harry of late, you will antici-
pate the intelligence which a black seal announces. It
has pleased God to visit me with the severest of all
afflictions, by removing my son, — my only son, — who
was the very flower and crown of all my happiness ; for
never was man blest with a child more entirely after his
c 3
22 LETTEltS OF 1816.
own heart's desire. " The Lord hath given, the Lord
hath taken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord."
I am very thankful for having had him during ten
years. During those years he has been the joy of my
life ; and my deepest pleasure hereafter will be in the
sure and certain hope that this separation is only for a
time. I feel, also, that the removal is for his good ;
that he was perfectly fit for a better scene of existence :
he had learnt all of good that this world could teach
him, — all kind affections, all good feelings, all generous
hopes ; and he is gone before the world has sullied
his pure spirits, without a spot or stain, never having
known a thought of evil, never having felt a single
affliction. His life has been past in love, and he has
fallen asleep to wake in immortality.
In this frame of mind, you will believe that I am as
composed and as resigned as becomes a man and a
Christian ; but I am fully aware that in this place I
shall never be able to overcome the I'ecollections which
must everywhere haunt me. My morning walks, my
summer excursions on the lake, &c. &c., — all are asso-
ciated with him, who was my constant companion. I will
therefore, if it be possible, remove from Cumberland.
My lease expires in twelve months from this time. I
wish to be near London, and, if it may be, near you.
Harry will talk to you about this.
Edith has supported herself through this long and
severe trial with exemplary fortitude. I trust God will
support her now. For myself, it is a relief to know
that the worst is over. For full five weeks I have
never known an hour's peace of mind, perpetually
dreading this ; and even when I gave way to the hopes
with which others flattered me, it was hoping against
belief. His whole demeanour was, like his whole life,
almost beyond belief for calmness, collectedness, and
obedience.
1816. ROBERT SOUTHET. 23
Pray for us, my dear friend, that we may be sup-
ported in our affliction. My heart is strong, and 1 can
answer for controlling all outward excess of grief; but
I pray that my health may not fail me. I have many
ties to life, and am duly mindful of them at this hour.
God bless you. Yours most affectionately,
Robert Soutiiey.
The Rev. Herbert Hill, 8fc.
Keswick, April 22. 1816.
I OUGHT sooner to have written to you ; but ill
news always finds its way, and I was willing to shrink
from another repetition of the same tale. The affliction
which has befallen me is heavier than any person can
conceive, who had not seen the habits of my domestic
life ; how closely they were connected with the studies
and the amusement of the child whom I have lost, and
how he became as naturally my companion as I became
his playmate. There is but one source of consolation ;
but that source is all-sufficient, and I have drank of it
largely. My happiness can never again be what it has
been, yet will the difference be rather in kind than in
degree ; there will be less of earth about it, less that is
insecure and perishable. He was the main object of my
hopes ; those hopes have now no fears to alloy them
(for this calamity was always before my eyes), and at
this moment with a feeling of perfect resignation at his
removal, I thank God for having, during so many years,
blest me with a son who was, in every quality of dispo-
sition and intellect, entirely after my own heart. No
mother could possibly have behaved with more admir-
c 4
24 LETTERS OF 1816.
able fortitude than Edith did during the whole severe
trial. We are both as you would wish to see us under
such a dispensation, — resigned to the call of God, and
grateful for the blessings which we still possess ; bless-
ings such as fall to the lot of few.
I am very much reduced in body and in strength ;
but I am taking all care of myself, and a short time will
recruit me. I employ myself incessantly. I find not
only relief in mental exertion, but even pleasure.
God grant that you may never be visited with a
sorrow of this kind. My love to my aunt and the
children. I cannot love Edward more than I already
loved him ; but, as far as is possible, he will be to me
hereafter in the place of my son. God bless you.
R. S.
To Herbert Southey.*
Herbert ! having some spare time,
I will write to you in rhyme ;
For, though you perhaps suppose
That I should write to you in prose,
Rhyming Son, methinks, should rather
Hear in rhymes from rhyming Father.
* In the " Life and Correspondence," vol. iv. p. 16., Southey says
in a letter to G. C Bedford, " In his desk there are the few letters
which I had written to him in the joy of my heart. I will fold up
these and send them to you, that they may be preserved when I
am gone, in memory of him and of me."
" These letters," my brother-in-law observes in a note, " have
not come into my hands," nor have they into mine. The above
scrap, written on a bit of waste paper, I found amougbt the MSS.
of the late Mrs. Southey, marked " vehy rBECious."
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 25
And if I in verse declare
Wliere we've been, and where we are,
Such odd names I needs must bring in
As will prove my skill in singing ;
Skill, my son, which, you may guess,
It befits me to possess ; —
Me, who, living by the Greta,
Am his Majesty's Poeta !
At our outset, as you saw, son.
We for driver had James Lawson ;
Carefully did young James guide
Chaise and horse to Ambleside.
Loth we were, the truth to tell,
To leave a house we love so well ;
Yet we felt our spirits mend all
On the second stage to Kendal :
Thence we went to Kirkby Lonsdale.
(He, son, does not walk in bonds well
Who can make a name so ugly
Lito couplets come so snugly !)
Thence we went to Ligleton
When our first day's work was done.
Horses well upon their mettle
Carried us next day to Settle ;
After breakfast then we skipt on
Merrily as far as Skipton ;
Next a man, whose coat was motley.
Drove a pleasant stage to Ottley.
Thence a weary way proceeds
Up a heavy hill to Leeds.
CcBtera desunt.
26 LETTEKS OF 1816.
To C. W. Williams Wyiin, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, May 17. 1816.
My dear Wynn,
I am very glad you are satisfied with the " Pil-
grimage;" a work of such length can never be completed
without many fits of misgiving in the author, and to-
wards its close, when uneasy apprehensions from an-
other cause began to disquiet me, I more than once
wished that it had never been begun. To me the book
will ever remain a sad memento of the imcertainty of
human enjoyments ; and yet it is a satisfaction that the
poem exists, and will exist as long as my name shall be
remembered.
Emuling* is not my coinage; you will find the word
in Spenser.
The " Carmen Nuptiale " was half written two years
ago, and, by a piece of good luck, which could not have
been expected, is only by one word the worse for
altering. I had to turn the Belgic lion into a Saxon
one ; this male Simorg of ours most obligingly happen-
ing to have a lion for his supporter. Tell nobody this,
and nobody will perceive how much difierence the one
word makes. I myself think this far the best of my
minor poems. Nor am I afraid of being misunderstood
in the third stanza.
The stanza is not Spenser's ; he, I believe, has never
used it. It is the simplest form of stanza, and of the
most convenient length. A longer stanza, when the
same rhyme recurs more frequently, leads almost in-
evitably to a diffuser style than is at all times desirable.
* The word occurs in " Colin Clout's come home again : " —
" Yet, amuling my pipe, he took in hand
My pipe, before that (emuled of many,
And plaid thereon." — v. 72.
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 27
*' The Lay of the Laureate " is a good English name
for the " Carmen Nuptiale :" it is just such a poem as
those which were originally called " Lays," and though
I have put more of Robert Southey into it than many
persons may think proper (and you perhaps among
others), yet certainly the subject is one which R. S.
would never have chosen, but which the Laureate could
not with propriety let pass. Moreover, the two L's
alliterate well, and the beauty of the title-page will be
improved, because the title renders unnecessary the
introduction of the author's name.
The Waterloo men have got their medals, I see.
You and I and Alexander Davison have contributed to
this. This is not the first time that I have been oddly
classed with Alexander Davison. Poor WoodrufFe
Smith, of Stockwell, left 50/. each to Duppa, Alexander
Davison, Sir John Eames, their Lord Mayor, and R. S.,
as his four particular friends.
1 am afraid Wilson has acted from a very unworthy
feeling of personal resentment towards Lord Wellington
and his own Government. Wilson has been an ill-used
man. If I were called upon to say what particular act,
above all others, contributed to the success of our struggle
in the Peninsula, I think I should say, Wilson's advance
to Ciudad Rodrigo at the time when Sir J. Moore was
in full retreat; for that movement (beyond all doubt)
prevented the French from advancing upon Lisbon, and
the English from evacuating it, as they were ready to
do. I daresay Beresford is a better drill sergeant than
Wilson, and Wilson a better guerilla chief than regular
soldier ; but certainly his merits were never acknow-
ledged and rewarded as they might have been. No
weaker feeling than that of bitter resentment could
ever have made him, of all men, take so strong an
interest for Marshal Ney. My own feelings upon this
business are these : I would have seized Ney in his
28 LETTERS OF 1816.
flight, and delivered him to the executioner; but had
Lavalette come to me, I would have used every effort
to favour his escape ; I would not have plotted it, but
when he was out of prison, I could no more have
abstained from assisting him (there being no paramount
claims of eternal policy in his case, as there were in
Ney's), than I could from saving any human creature
from death, if it were in my power. But as for the
grounds on which B and H profess to have
acted, they and my Lord K ought to be cut for the
simples ; and if the operation were extended to some of
the opponents of the Alien Act, the sum total of folly
in the House of Commons would be reduced.
The French seem very lovingly disposed to cut each
other's throats, in which meritorious work I hope they
may prosper to their hearts' desire. A Bonapartian
La Vendee would be a spectacle for men and angels.
I mean good angels ; the devils would be too busily
engaged in it to have any leisure for looking on.
God bless you.
li. S.
To Wade Brown, Esq., Ludloiv.
Keswick, May 26. 1816.
My dear Sir,
You will easily excuse me for not having myself
informed you of our loss. It is the third which we have
sustained, but the sorrow is now different in kind as
well as in degree. The death of an infant seems re-
paired by the birth of another, and you lose in it more
of hope than of actual enjoyment ; yet God knows,
even then the heart is wounded in its tendcrest part.
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 29
But in our present case, the loss is irreparable. Were
there the probability of our having another son, I am
not sure that I should desire it; so infinitely unlikely
is it that he should resemble Herbert in those moral and
intellectual endowments which rendered him all that my
heart desired. No father was ever blest with a child
more entirely such as he would have prayed for, and
therefore it was that I always apprehended the calamity
which has befallen me : I could not help feeling that
when a creature of this kind came into the world, it
was not likely that he should be suffered to remain in
it ; he lived in it long enough to know all that was
good, — and nothing but what was good ; and he is re-
moved before a thought of evil has ever risen in his
heart, or a breath of impurity ever tainted his ears. ■
For ourselves, I hope we bear the visitation with
true submission to the unerring wisdom which has
appointed it. I have lost so many near and dear friends
that my thoughts have been long and habitually directed
toward the next world, as a point of hope, — as the place
where we are to meet again, and where we shall be se-
parated no more. Meantime, though the very head
and flower of all my earthly hopes and happiness is cut
off, I have abundant blessings left : for each and all of
these I am truly thankful ; but of all the blessings
which God has given me, this child, who is removed, is
the one which I slill prize the most. Most thankful I
am that I should have been favoured with such a son,
and most happy in the certain assurance that this pri-
vation is only for a time. But for this faith it is
scarcely possible that we should have supported the
blow. The illness was of six or eight weeks' continu-
ance ; there was hope till the last, — though from the
first in my own mind fear predominated. It was found
after death to be an accumulation of matter in the peri-
cardium. Part of my prayers were granted ; long as the
30 LETTERS OF 1816.
decline was, and total as the decay, it was attended
with the least possible suffering ; and at the end he fell
asleep. One word more, and I will have done with
this painful subject : — his whole behaviour was in this,
as in all his life, — beautiful.
I thank you, my dear Sir, for your very friendly letter.
My tears even now are not without some portion of de-
light — such is the power of religion.
Remember us most kindly to Mrs. Browne and your
daugliters,
And believe me
Very truly and affectionately yours,
Robert Southey.
To C. TV. Williams Wynn, Esq.^ M.P.
Keswick, July 2, 1816.
My dear Wynn,
Do not imagine that any circumstances would
ever render me indifferent to anything which concerned
your happiness. My state of mind, as it regards my
own loss, is what it should be, and admits of no repining
thought or feeling : least, of all occasions, would any
such feeling occur upon the present, — ^an event of which
I have so truly wislied to hear.
I hope to see you here. If I leave home this year,
it must be for a longer journey than to Wales. Bedford,
I think, must lose his mother ere long. She is not in
immediate danger, but she may be so at any moment ;
that she should recover, is nearly impossible, and any
day the disorder may assume a fatal character. When-
ever this event happens, if it be possible for me to get
from home, I should wish to go with Grosvenor for five
or six weeks to the Continent, — the best thing for him,
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 31
and which would be wholesome for me also. Duvin"-
my last trip I kept a minute journal ; and were I to go
through the rest of the Netherlands, the knowledge
wlu'ch I have acquired from books, and which I have the
means of obtaining in that country, would enable me to
make a volume that should do me no discredit, and
would pay the expense of my journey.
As to the mention of the Catholic Question, the cha-
racter of the poem rendered it indispensable. The
sovereign of this country has no more imperative duty
than that of preserving the institutions of the country.
That the Roman Catholics will ever succeed in buildino-
lip their own church here, I do not believe ; but they
may go a great way in assisting to pull our church
down, — and a church which is undermined, which is
battered in breach, and which has the dry rot to boot,
is in a bad way for durability. That you will carry the
question I take for granted, — from the total want of
activity in your opponents. You would not carry it if
most of the men who sit upon the woolsacks, were not
as soft as the wool which they sit on. The next demand
which the Catholics make is, for a Catholic Establish-
ment in Ireland; and upon the quarrel (into which
every Paddy Rampant will enter as into a crusade) you
will have a civil war ; — and if it be delayed till the
Bourbons feel safe upon their throne, you will find far
more danger from a Bourbon fomenting a Catholic Re-
bellion, than ever you did from a Directory instigating
a Republican one. The question will not, however,
be easily carried : this business in the South of France
has opened the eyes of the Dissenters, and you may
probably calculate upon some act of folly in the Irish.
GifTord is so connected with Canning that the " Quar-
terly " will probably be enlisted on that side ; in that
case I shall most likely publish a pamphlet upon the
subject.
32 LETTEKS OF 1816.
Though I cannot come to you at present (my fellow
traveller Nash, who made the drawings for me, is just
arrived), at some future time I hope to go over *' Ma-
doc's " ground, that I may improve the poem by inter-
weaving local descriptions. My race as a poet is nearly
run ; if I finish what I have begun, it is little likely
that I shall ever begin anything more. " Solve sene-
scentem ! " The hours which I might be able to spare
for such pursuits in declining life, would be better em-
ployed in correcting my former poems than in attempt-
ing anything more.
I have reviewed " M. Roche Jaquelein " for the next
numbers, and written a paper upon bettering the con-
dition of the poor. I am about to take Pinckard's
shallow book for a text, and write upon the West Indies.
My mind is reconciled to remaining here ; and having
worn out the first inclination of flying from the spot, in
all likelihood I shall never remove from it. I am per-
fectly at ease respecting the future circumstances of my
family ; were I to be removed immediately, there would
be a provision for them ; and if I live some few years,
it will be in my power to save money. All things con-
sidered, I have been singularly fortunate, nor shall I
ever be unmindful how much this has been owing to
you.
God bless you, my dear Wynn. Present my congra-
tulations to your wife, and believe me
Most affectionately yours,
Robert Southey.
1816. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 33
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Awg. 31. 181G.
My dear Grosvenor,
I begin to wish for solitude and long evenings —
winter it were needless to include in the wish, for we
have had it almost uninterruptedly since last Christmas.
I am weary of visitors, and want leisure. The Beau-
monts are here, and Rogers is here, — and the Lord
knows who have been here, — and more of the Lord
knows whose family are coming. Here is Glover in
town ; and the younger Westall and the Secretary of the
Bible Society have been here, and the King of Prussia's
librarian has been here : and what with one and an-
other, I am well nigh walked off my legs, and talked out
of my life. Am I the better for all this, you will ask?
Everybody will tell you that I am in good spirits; but
my spirits are not what they were, nor will they ever
again be. Hceret lateri !
I have begun this letter, forgetting that an unfinished
one has been lying in my desk ; so as I can frank this,
I will cut off the fragment. Gilford is at his old work
of castrating my reviews, against which I must resolutely
and decidedly remonstrate. He has likewise, without
ceremony or any apology whatever, wholly suppressed a
short article which I believe you saw, upon a French-
man's history of Massena's campaign in Portugal, and
which certainly has not been omitted. to make room for
better matter. It would be curious if I should be so
disgusted as to throw up the ''Review" at a time when
it pa3's me more liberally than I have ever before been
remunerated for any kind of labour. But I am strongly
disposed to suspect foul play with which Gilford is un-
acquainted. Judge for yourself: — Murray propounds
VOL. III. D
34 LETTERS OF 1816.
to me, among other subjects, a paper upon the West
Indies ; there is none which 1 am more competent to
treat : I accepted it, and intimated an intention of mak-
ing it conclude with refei'ence to the " Registry Bilh"
]\Iurray is well pleased, — collects abundant pamphlets,
takes it for granted that I must take part with the
planters and slave smugglers, because he *'took it for
granted that I should think differently from Messrs.
Jeffery and Brougham ;" and finding that on this point
(which is in effect the question of the Abolition) I agree
with them, he writes to solicit me, as a matter in which
his personal interest is deeply concerned, that I will
write upon any other subject. There are two modes of
accounting for this : he may have West Indian pro-
perty, or connections, and in that case have formed a
fool's opinion upon a mistaken notion of self-interest ;
or, he has submitted his Journal to some undue in-
fluence. I pretend not to say what money has been
lavished in purchasing newspapers, &c., yet he can
hardly have been so imprudent as to sell his Review,
and damn its character and his own, should the truth
be suspected. I, of course, have laid the subject aside ;
but as I made no secret of my intention to write
through that medium upon the question, I have warned
him to beware how he takes the other side.
Lord Byron calls him the Grand Murray. I have
preserved all his letters ; tlieir hints and their flattery
would amuse you much. When next you come to
Keswick, we will turn over these papers upon a rainy
day, and put them in some order.
By accident I have seen a number of the "Exa-
miner," containing a parody upon the " Proem to the
Lay :" I could not have desired it to be more silly, or
more stupid. You are included in it, nommatim^ as my
wise friend, in burlesquing the stanza wherein I say,
*' The friendship of the wise and good is mine." It is
181G. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 35
hardly worth while to allude to such attacks seriousl}' ;
but if you will send me back the chapters of " The Pro-
phet Jehephary," * I will alter and adapt them to the
present date, and secure their appearance in the " Cou-
rier " by sending them to Stuart myself.
Recover, if you can, the MSS. of my last two ar-
ticles. Remember me to all at home. God bless you.
R. S.
'^U 23oo!i of t|)c ^ropj^ct ^djcpljnvy.
CHAPTER I.
1. In those days, the men of the Party were sorely
troubled, for behold, none of those things were fulfilled
which had been written of by Jehephary the Proj^het, and
Peherri the Chroniclei", and Kawbit of the Black Guards.
2. And the spirit of melancholy possessed Jehephary the
Prophet, and he was tempted to destroy himself, for he
said : Wherefore should I live to see the triumph of mine
enemies ?
3. For the battle hath gone against us, and the Emperor
Napoleon hath been sent prisoner to the Lone Island ; and
King Joachim hath been shot ; and Marshal Ney, him also
have they slain !
4. And the Prince and his Ministers are honoured, for
their counsels have been blest : now, then, let me die, that
I may not beliold these things.
5. Then he revolved in his mind by what death he should
die : pistols he liked not since the affair of the Moor Thomas,
* As the " History of the Propliet Jehephary " lias got abroad
in diffei'ent shapes, it seems better to print it at once. There is
but one person hving whom it concerns, and he is too gifted and
too kindhearted to be hurt at a long-exploded squib.
The same objection may possibly be made to this as to the
" Ogliam Fi-agment ;" but Southey's reverence for the Bible, and
his humble piet}', are unimpeachable.
c 2
36 LETTERS OP 1816.
and poison might not have agreed with his complection,
and to have tried drowning would have been disregarding
one of tlie known laws of the constitution of things. So
he determined upon a rope.
6. And he sent for Brum the Scribe, whom he thought
that it behoved to die with, being his bosom friend and
counsellor, and one who was involved in the same dis-
grace.
7. Now when Brum the Scribe came into the chamber
of Jehephary the Prophet, he found him sitting disconso-
lately in a flannel robe, and a white nightcap.
8. Upon the table before him Vt^as the play of Cato, and
the last number of the Reekie Review, and a basin of water-
gruel, and two ropes coiled curiously.
9. His face was of the colour of brimstone, by reason of
the bile which was diffused through his whole frame, and
his beard was of a week's growth.
10. And Brum the Scribe accosted him, but Jehephary
the Prophet regarded him awhile mournfully and in silence;
and when he brake silence he said : Behold, we are become
a jest unto the people, and the laughing-stock of our
adversaries !
11. For the spirit whereby I prophecied hath deluded
me to mine own destruction.
12. I did prophecy concerning Spain that it should be
subdued, and concerning Portugal that it could not be
defended, and behold both countries have been delivered.
13. And concerning Russia I did prophecy that the
French should possess it : alas ! they left their bones
therein !
14. And I took up my prophecy concerning the Emperor
Napoleon, and said that his dominion should endure for
ever : but lo ! it hath passed away !
15. Moreover, I prophecied concerning Bullion that our
credit was destroyed, and see, it standeth firmer than
before.
16. Worthwordos also, whom I have already reviled,
riseth daily in rc))utc ; and so long as his name shall endure
with honour, mine will be remembered with it, only to
stink in the nostrils of posterity.
1810.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 37
1 7. And Sahouthy the Chief Poet, the man whom I most
hate, afflicteth me more than I can bear. I hear his praises,
and they are as poison in my ears.
18. He writeth notes which sting even like scorpions ;
for he collecteth the words of prophecy which I did utter,
and placeth beside each prophecy the event Avhich hath
proved it false.
19. He administereth unto me, quarterly, words that be
bitterer than wormwood. He setteth my malice at defiance,
and holdeth my commendation in scorn, so that I cannot
appease him with unction, as I did Lord Harold the
Giaour.
20. And the Reekie Review, the child of our bile and
of our brain, even thy child and mine, is fallen into con-
tempt. It is better to die tlian to endure this shame.
21. Forasmuch as it toucheth thee also, I have provided
two halters, one for thee, and one for me, that we may die
together. Do thou fasten the noose under my ear, and I
will fasten it under thine.
22. But Brum the Scribe made answer and said : Not so,
for there is yet hope for us, and to this we can but come at
last.
[Here endeth the First Chapter of the Book of the Pi'opbet
Jchepbary.]
CHAP. n.
1. True it is that while the Prince liveth I shall not be
Chief Justice, nor ■wilt thou be made Lord Advocate. But
the place of Enemy's Orator in the great council hath been
vacated by the death of our friend Whiteloaf ; and I have,
by means of certain influence, been appointed to fill it, so
that I may yet do the state some disservice.
2. Moreover, we have many friends. Are there not
PeheiTi the Chronicler, and Lee the Huntsman, and Kaw-
bit of the Black Guards, and Philip the Pythagorean, who
is called Syrr-itch-hardos, and Cahapel the Astronomer,
D 3
38 LETTERS OF 1816.
and Love-ill the Statesman, and him wliom the French call
ha Perruqiie Independente ?
3. Also wo have Surjami our colleague, and Shidnai the
jester.
4. The Lord of the Green-field hath forsaken us, and the
Marquis of the Down-lands walketh in his own way. But
the Grey Thane is with us, and Lord Harold the Giaour
Avhom thou hast anointed.
5. Moreover, Cahapel hath read the stars, and the aspects
portend change. On earth also there be comfortable signs.
There be those in France who would set the son of Philip
Egalite upon the throne.
6. Comfort thyself, therefore : sleep now, and take thy
rest ; and when sleep shall have refreshed thee, thou wilt
prophecy in his behalf.
7. And Jehcphary the Prophet was comforted ; but he
said that sleep had forsaken him, and that he had sought
relief from sleeping potions but in vain.
8. Then said Brum the Scribe, do thou lie down, and I
will minister unto thee that thou shalt sleep.
9. So Jehephary the Prophet laid him down, and
Brum the Scribe took up the Reekie Review, and began to
read unto him. The paper which he read was the composi-
tion of Surjami : and at the first page thereof Jehephary
the Prophet did yawn, and at the second he closed his eyes,
and at the third he fell asleep.
[Here endeth the Second Chapter of the Book of the Prophet
Jehephary.]
CHAP. III.
1. And Jehephary the Prophet dreamed a dream.
2. Behold it seemed unto him in his sleep that there was
a great uproar, and the men of the party triumphed, and
there was a new Government in the land.
3. And a ship was sent to bring the Emperor Napoleon
18 IG. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 39
from the Loue Island, and to carry out prisoners there in
his stead.
4. And the Bishops were put down, and the Church
Lands were confiscated, and the Tithes were abolished.
5. And high-mass was performed in St. Paul's ; and Duke
Goliath was present thereat, and Father Mac Burn'em
preached a sermon, and the words of his text were, ' Com-
pel them to come in.'
6. And the great church of Westminster was given to
the Methodists ; and Duke Hengist was present at their
service, and did give out the hymns : the Lord Mayor also
attended, and the mace was borne before him.
7. And a law was passed against paper money, and an-
other which was entitled. For the better security of the
Liberty of the Press ; and by the law it was made felony,
without benefit of clergy, to contradict anything that was
said in the Reekie Review, or to say anything which might
tend to bring the party into disrejDute.
8. Also there was a laAv made for the better encourajie-
ment of literature ; and by that law it was decreed that a
knowledge of Greek was not necessary for the learned
professions :
9. And that the Latin prosody should be reformed ac-
cording to the use of the High School at Edinburgh ; and
that the examples in the Gradus should be taken from the
Electa ex Tentaminibus.
10. And a law was enacted that there should be per-
petual peace for evermore ; but the operation of that law
was suspended for awhile, and war was declared against
the King of Spain, because of his treatment of the Spanisli
Protestants ;
11. And against the Prince of Brazil, because he had not
abolished the Slave Trade ; and against the King of Franco
because he was of the old family ;
12. And against the Emperor of Russia, and the Emperor
of Austria, and the King of Prussia, because they had
entered into an evangelical compact with each other, to the
manifest danger of the Christian Religion, the Turkish
Empire, the Balance of Power, and the Man in the Moon.
D 4
40 LETTERS OF 1816.
13. Then was there a high court of justice established,
and power was given vinto Jehephary the Prophet that he
should pass sentence upon his enemies.
14. So there were brought before him Kawp-helsiton
the Provost, and Sahouthy the Chief Poet, and Kahannin
who had been the King's minister, and Worthwordos, and
Giphardos, and Ivrokairos, and the Editor of the Times.
15. Then the heart of Jehephary the Prophet rejoiced
within him, and he called for the executioners and said :
Take these men, and let them bo hanged by the neck. And
he smiled for joy in his sleep.
16. But behold it seemed in his dream that Sahouthy the
Chief Poet reached out his arm, and plucked him down from
his seat, and setting him in the midst of the court, took him
between his two hands, and spun him round and round, like
as boys do spin a top :
1 7. And each of the men upon whom he had been sitting
in judgment drew forth a whip, and formed a circle round
him, and scourged him round and round. And Jehephary
the Prophet cried aloud and awoke with the agony thereof.
[Here cndeth the Third Chapter of the Book of the Prophet
Jehephary.]
CHAP. IV.
1. Now when it was seen that Jehephary the Prophet
waxed more and more melancholic, the Physicians Avcre sent
for, that they might consult concerning him, and see if they
could yield him relief.
2. And they enquired of him where the seat of his malady
lay: and he said that there was a weak part in his head, and
that if a strengthening plaister were applied to it, peradven-
ture he might be relieved.
.3. Then they desired that Spurzheimer the Professor
might be called ; and before he came a barber was sent for,
and the head was shaved carefully.
4. No sooner had Spurzheimer looked upon the skull of
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 41
the patient, than he started like a man who was greatly
amazed, and he exclaimed: A remarkable headj a remarkable
head, indeed : never before have I seen so remarkable a head !
And the countenance of the Professor brightened like that
of one who had discovered a treasure.
5. The first part which he remarked was the organ of
party: it was on the left side, and of such enormous size
that it occupied the whole space where the organ of patriot-
ism ought to have been found, and part of the organ of
veracity.
6. There Avas no organ of veracity ; there was no room
for it, because of the organ of party on one hand, and the
organ of malice on the other.
7. And behold as the Professor proceeded in the exami-
nation, he lifted up his hands in astonishment, and uttered
a German interjection of surprise.
8. And he called upon those who were present, and said,
see now behold this organ ! how beautifully it is marked,
how strongly it is charactered ! It is the organ of assurance ;
in all my observations I have never seen one like unto it for
bigness!
9. How decided it is ! how firm it appeareth ! Saying this,
he struck it with the nail of his forefinger, and the sound
which it gave was hollow, and as though it were of brass.
10. Where the organ of taste should have been there was
a depression of the head : and when the Professor touched
the depression with his finger, Jehephary the Prophet
shrunk and cried out, for it was a sore part.
11. Adjacent thereto was the organ of vanity, which re-
sembled a wen more than a projection of the skull : it was
so great, and, moreover, pulpy ; and this also was sore to
the touch.
12. And Jehephary the Prophet said.that blows had been
given him there by Giphardos, and by Kawp-helsiton the
Provost, and Sahouthy the Chief Poet. Moreover, there
was an old bruise on that part of the head which he had re-
ceived from Thelwallus the oi'ator.
13. Then said the Professor, this is the weak part : it is
here that the remedy must be applied.
14. And there were many opinions among the physicians ;
42 LETTERS OP 181C.
and when his friends saw that they differed among them-
selves, they delivered each their council.
lo. Shidnai the jester said that the best application would
be essence of damages, such as was sold at great price in
Westminster Hall.
16. But Brum the Scribe said that peradventure this
might not be had ; and that he had a soft part in his own
head, which he protected by means of a brazen case. Ah,
now, said the Professor, suffer me to examine it ! And when
Spurzheimer looked he found that the organ of discretion in
the head of Brum the Scribe was in a diseased state.
17. Then Archy the Constable spake, and advised that
Jchephary the Prophet should be anointed on the sore part
with oil of flattery. The physicians approved thereof. It
gave him ease during the application, but immediately after-
wards the soi'eness returned as before.
18. But behold while they Avere consulting what farther
should be done, an old woman who had been his nurse came
into the room, crying, Ah, well a day ! It is all in vain ! I
said it would be so ! It is too late for the operation !
19. And they asked her what operation? What! she
made answer. Do ye not know ? It is all because he has
never been cut for the simples.
[Here endeth the Fourth Chapter of the Book of the Prophet
Jehephary.]
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Sept. 7. 1816.
My dear Grosvenor,
I would fain give your two letters all the consi-
deration they deserve, so you shall have my first fresh
thoughts at present, and my maturer opinion when I
liave chewed the cud.
181C. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 43
So far as I can render any service towards upholding-
the existing Government (by which you will understand
I do not mean a mere Ministry, but the old English
order of things as by our Fathers established, and by
me to be, if possible, transmitted unimpaired), I am
ready to exert myself to the utmost, without regard to
any personal considerations. But in what manner I
could do this more effectually than I have for seven
years past been endeavouring to do it in the " Quar-
terly Review," and during four years of that time in the
" Edinburgh Annual Register," I cannot tell. To the
management of a journal (if any such thing be contem-
plated) I am not equal.
If a full exposition of the state of things, a full dis-
play of our danger, and a resolute appeal to the sound
part of the community should be thought likely to be
beneficial, I am ready to undertake the task, and to
perform it with all my heart, and with all my soul, and
with all my strength. The possible advantage is, that
such an appeal might strengthen the Government, and
enable them to do what I advised in 1812, and what
must he done if they would escape an attemjDt, at leasts
of a Jacobinical revolution, — that is, to curb the licen-
tiousness of the Press.* My remedy is to make trans-
portation the punishment for sedition, and thus to rid
the country of those who would set it on fire. I could
produce such a pamphlet as should startle the nation, if
exertion were made to circulate it : without such exer-
tion it would fail to do this. Burke's name was such
as to make thousands read his " Reflections " who were
incapable of understanding him. My name carries with
it no such charm, but all who read shall understand me.
It does not appear to me (at present) that it would
* Southey's opinion on this bead must always be rightly under-
stood. He did not wish to curb the Press, but its licentiousness.
44 LETTERS OF 1816,
be of any use to see Lord S or any of the persons
in power. I believe that an interview would tend to
abate their favourable opinion of my practical talents,
in whatever manner they might estimate me in other
respects. I am not a man of business, — I am not a man
of the world. They might be displeased ; 1 am certain
they would be disappointed. In the open field of con-
versation, there are five hundred men who might excel
me, or baffle me ; but at my post I defy the world.
The sum of this is, that if it be desired I will write
upon the state of the nation : taking it in all points of
view, looking the danger fairly in the face, and calling
upon the Government to act vigorously.
I am interrupted ; this, however, may suffice for to-
night.
R. S.
To John Rickman, Esq.
Keswick, Sept. 14. 1816.
My dear Rickman,
It would be inconvenient for me to leave home,
and very reluctant should I be to do it, yet it is most
likely that you will see me ere long : for I suppose
Lord L.'s desire of seeing me will be repeated. I have
stated the danger broadly, and as broadly affirmed, that
unless the licentiousness of the press be checked, nothing
(as far as my judgment can foresee) can preserve us
from revolution, and that in its most fearful shape.
There are ten pages in No. XVI. of the "Quarterly
lleview," which might have alarmed the Government at
that time, and perhaps would have done so, if they had
leisure to think of anything besides the war. I must
1816. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 45
say the same things again in a difFerent form, and go
through the whole causes which are hurrying us on to
anarchy. You must aid me with hints and corrections ;
you know I am ever willing to learn, and upon many
points properly distrustful of myself. But when I have
the facts and the knowledge, no man knows better how
to bring them out.
As to Owen, he is far gone in metaphysics, but
neither rogue nor madman. We must see Lanark
before we can fairly appreciate what he has done. In
his views of society he is an enthusiast, and most im-
prudently blurts them out, when they can answer no
possible purpose but that of raising an outcry against
him, and injuring him in every way. I myself have a
much stronger inclination to believe him right in the
opinion, that to a community of lands we must come at
last, than I should choose to avow ; but in my view of
things, it can only be arrived at as the result of the
greatest possible improvements in society : it is a little
in favour of this system that it is the point upon which
most Utopia-framers have agreed; and that it does not
necessarily debilitate the character is proved by Sparta,
the men of which were not men-children, but men
indeed. Let us leave this where it ought to be left, —
among good hopes and harmless speculations.
Manufactures are overdone, if a greater quantity of
goods are produced than can be consumed, — in other
words, if the supply exceeds the demand. This error,
I grant, corrects itself; but, in the meantime, it pro-
duces the evil under which we are now suffering: when
every nation manufactures for itself all that it is capable
of manufacturing, no danger of this kind will exist.
But it is obvious, that as we improve in machinery
(observe, I fully admit that it is an improveme7}t, — the
greatest of all improvements in society, to make brute
matter do the work of intellect), fewer hands are re-
46 LETTERS OF 1816.
quired, and that the market being already stocked,
every improvement which facilitates the production of
goods lessens the employment for workmen. Over
such things Government can have no control, but (as at
Lanark) the condition of the workmen may be bettered,
and when men are contented, they are good subjects.
Men like H., with an abstract love of evil, quoad evil,
are monsters. You will not rank me among the Basil
Montagues and mock humanit}' mongers, but, in ni}'
judgment, the best way to keep the poor in obedience
is to better their condition. We will talk over our
heresies, perfectly sure of agreeing upon what ought to
be tolerated, and the nonsense which is talked about
toleration.
God bless you.
Robert Southey.
To John May, Esq.
Keswick, Oct. 18. 1816.
My dear Friend,
Herewith I send you a draft upon Longman for
100/. at three days* siglit. The last twelve months have
proved highly advantageous to my raonied concerns, and
for the first time have made the balance of his accounts
in my favour. There is good reason for hoping that it
will continue so, and that it will not be long before I
shall be able to clear off my debt with you. "Roderick"
has produced for me above 500/. by three editions, and
the fourth will by this time have paid its expenses. Oi
the "Pilgrimage" 2000 were printed: they were all
sold in the course of two months, leaving me a profit of
1816. ROBEllT SOUTUEY, 47
215/. My account only comes up to midsummer, and
therefore does not include the " Carmen Nuptiale," of
the fate of which I know nothing ; — not, indeed, what
number was printed.
The prospect before me is very good. The produce
of my cun-ent publications may be reckoned at 200/. a
year certainly, not improbably at twice the sum ; and
Murray pays me so well for the " Quarterly," that I
hope there will be no occasion to trench much upon the
other fund for my household expenses. For some sub-
jects he offers me 100/. per article : such was that upon
the poor in the last number, and one upon foreign tra-
vellers in England which is designed for this, and which
I am busy in completing. I have no debt but the one
to you, and this I have great hopes of liquidating in the
course of another year ; for the next year is likely to be
a productive one. The preface to " Morte Darthur " (for
which I am reading much black letter, at some cost of
eyesight and no little expense of time) will give me
200/., and the second volume of " Brazil " about half as
much, a preposterous instance of the caprice upon which
a man of letters depends for his remuneration ! Perhaps
the average may be fair at last, but it is injurious as well
as ridiculous that I should derive my main support from
what other persons might do as well, and what might as
well not be done at all ; while for works of permanent
value and great labour, for which peculiar knowledge,
peculiar talents, and peculiar industry are required, the
profit which I obtain would scarcely exceed, and perhaps
not amount to, the expenses of the documents. This
volume will certainly be published at Christmas, and
though it will be less interesting than the concluding
volume, 1 think you will not be disappointed in its con-
tents. There will be no delay with the conclusion ; I
shall never lay it aside till it is completed, and the
printing will be pursued without interruption.
48 LETTEKS OF 1816.
I have written no verses till this week, when I re-
sumed the " Tale of Paraguay," which I may perhaps
finish for publication in the spring. There is another
subject nearer my heart, but I must refi'ain from it a
while longer. It has pleased God to support us merci-
fully under the severest of all privations, and it would
be sinful as well as in the last degree unwise, were I by
any means to foster feelings which it is my dut}', as far
as possible, to overcome.
The summer (if summer it may be called) has brought
with it more interruptions than usual, and unavoidably
robbed me of precious time which I could ill afford. I
am in consequence behindhand with many things, of
which my long silence towards you is one proof. Mr.
Walpole's memoir I shall resume upon the first inter-
val ; it is upon my conscience as the heaviest of all my
sins of omission. The " History of the War" would go
to press if the introductory chapter were finished: yet
for this, which is less than an article for the *' Review,"
I have not found time. When I have reviewed Koster's
book, I will abstain from minor articles, and dispose of
the time then gained to better purposes. Here is a
letter full of my own concerns ; but I will not apologise
to you.
I can enter fully into the feelings which your present
awful situation must excite. Wholesome they are, —
however painful. We must not envy those who are on
the threshold of our Father's house, but we may be
thankful that every day brings us nearer to it ourselves.
Meantime I labour diligently to acquire knowledge
which I may leave behind, and to treasure up affections
which I may bear with me.
Nash has made beautiful drawings of my four girls.
Your god-daughter is well, and comes on in all things
as I could wish her ; the others, thank God, and their
mother, are well also ; and my own health perhaps is
1816. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 49
better for the exercise which I have taken with my
various visitors.
We have gloomy prospects, of which it is easier to see
the causes than the consequences. I very much fear
that the efforts which are making to inflame the discon-
tents of a distressed people, will produce dreadful effects.
This is a wide subject, and I have no room to enter
upon it. Whatever I shall see during the dark season
is what I cannot tell. Possibly I may be called to town,
but it will be with much unwillingness on my part.
The winter is my working time ; in the summer I
follow the example of the grasshopper more than of
the ant.
Remember me most kindly to Mrs. May and your
daughters. Remember me also to John Coleridge, whom
I should be truly glad to see at Keswick.
God bless you.
R. S.
Messrs. Longman and Co.
Keswick, Dec. 14. 1816.
Dear Sir,
I have sent off the " S. Greaal" this day by
coach, carefully packed in a box, and with it the Italian
« Trystans," * the « Life of "Merlin," and the " British
Bibliographers," vol. i. I shall now be much obliged
to Mr. Laing for the " Perceval," which I will not
detain so long, but go through it without delay.
The " Morte Darthur" draws more largely from the
" S. Greaal" than from any other source that I have
* " According to the Cymric orthography of the name." — Pre-
face to " MoRTE Darthur," p. xv.
VOL. III. E
50 LETTERS OF 1816.
yet traced ; but upon this subject I purpose writing to
Mr. Douce, and will enclose the letter to you, as I
know not where to address him. He has great informa-
tion upon these subjects, and is liberal in communi-
cating it. There is a book by Davies, the Welch anti-
quarian, which I believe contains some speculations
about Arthur ; not his " Celtic Researches," but a
volume which he published afterwards. Pray let me
see it.
The set of the " Acta Sanctorum " has been com-
pleted for me, and Verbeest *, of Brussels, will draw
upon you for the payment — 500 francs. I do not know
in what condition the binding is ; but if it should stand
in need of repairs or lettering, have the goodness to
get them put in order. Mr. Vardon will give them a
passage to Newcastle. This is a work without which
no historical library can be complete ; I shall find it of
great importance in completing my " History of Por-
tugal." .... Yours, &c.
R. S.
* Southey took very much to Verbeest. In his journal, before
referred to, I find the following notice of him : —
" Verbeest, the bookseller — a very singular and striking man.
A more thorough sloven I never saw, and seldom or never a man
with a better and finer countenance. Frequent as my visits to him
were, I never happened to see him entirely dressed ; sometimes he
was without neckcloth, sometimes without stockings Ver-
beest is no ordinary bookseller. lie has a thorough love of books,
and he told me he would not exchange the pleasure which he
found in reading for any advantage of wealth or station," &c., &c.,
&C. — Tour in the Netherlands^ MSS. Journal, pp. 46, 47.
1817. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 51
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Jan. 20. 1817.
My dear Grosvenor,
The pantaloons {uglyisimi colons) arrived tins
day, with the paper and the verses of my brother poet,
the bellman ; but the Almanacks and the Lioness were
not forthcoming, to the great disappointment of the
eager expectants, who were looking on. The Almanacks
may come in Murray's next parcel, and the Lioness,
unless she weighs above two ounces (which I suppose
she will not), under one of Rickman's franks. It is
very strenuously inquired for.
I have made large additions to this article in the
" Quarterly," which I think may be called my papel
forte (a title, by the by, which you will not understand
till you have read my forthcoming volume of " Brazil").*
The new matter relates to the Spencean philanthropists,
Murray, at my desire, having got their publication for
me ; and to Cobbett, a chance paper or two of his
having fallen into my hands. You will see that I have
spoken very plainly upon many subjects, though not
upon all. Will GifFord, think you, let my proposal
stand for putting up boroughs to auction ? Windham
would have agreed with me in every single point.
What will they do with these rioters, if they are
found guilty ? I would not hang them, especially ;
it will make him an object of compassion ; and nothing
is so impolitic as to excite that feeling in behalf of
the enemies of Government. If he be found guilty
(which I am inclined to doubt from the nature of his
defence and the humour of the day), the offence is
* Papel forte, or strong memorial of Vieyra to Joam IV. — His-
tory of Brazil, vol. ii. p. •222.
E 2
52 LETTERS OF 1817.
capital ; but I would, as soon as possible, make it
known that the punishment should be commuted into
transportation for life, not waiting for popular feeling
to be expressed upon the subject. The man has been
made desperate by misery. I would treat him humanely,
save only that his going sliould be compulsory, and for
life ; he should go as a settler, be treated as such, and
encouraged to take his family with him. Governments
are never aware how much they may gain by affecting
this kind of generosity. Young W. should be hung,
without mercy, for shooting Piatt, unless a fair plea of
insanity could be made out.
Murray will send me down the article as soon as it is
printed ; the first part, showing the war to have been
popular, will, with certain additions, make the first
chapter of the book. The personal matter, which in
the " Review" is properly placed as well-timed, may be
discarded, and left to perish there. The paper will be
talked of, extracted into some of the newspapers, and
well railed at in others. Meantime Longman calls for
the preface to " Morte Darthur," and I am deep in the
" History of the Round Table." This head of mine is
Curiously furnished with separate assortments of matter.
T have just finished the second volume of " Brazil."
I am busy upon Sydenham's " Peninsular Papers," and
have other occupation, all as remote from each other as
the dead Arthur and the living one. The living
Arthur's connections are very civil to me, and look
anxiously for my book. I have a note to-night from
Richard Wellesley, who has sent me books, and offers
personal communication. I mean to say that he in-
vites me to ask iiim any questions respecting persons or
things within his knowledge. The papers which Sy-
denham has sent me are, some of them, in the strictest
sense of the term, confidential. They are in the highest
degree interesting.
1817. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 53
Nasli is returned to London. He is to send me a
frame for a prodigiously fine drawing of W. Westall's,
and your honour will pay him for it. Remember also
your own face, as soon as the proboscis shall have re-
turned to its natural dimensions, which I trust it has by
this time.
When I go to town, I shall not seek any interview
with the Noddles, because it would be perfectly useless.
Harry Inglis has made a sort of engagement for me to
meet Lord Sidmouth, at his house, with Wilberforce
(who has fiillen in friendship with me) of the party.
Wilberforce, I should tell you, is one of my curmud-
geons. Vide Ash's " Dictionary." This will end in a
good dinner ; but I would have the Noddles reminded,
whenever they speak well of my deserts, that I have a
brother in the navy, and desire nothing so much as pro-
motion for him.
Remember me to all at home. God bless you.
R. S.
To John Hickman, Esq.
Keswick, Jan. 21. 1817.
My dear Rickman,
The contents wait for the arrival of one more
proof.
Have you read Mariner's book, which so delights the
Capitaneus ? I saw it in manuscript, and only wish
Mariner had written it himself. It is absurd to suppose
that any people should, within the memory of man,
have begun to make war for the first time since they
were a people, in imitation of their neighbours. I
suspect also the poem, vol. i. p. o07. But in the main,
E 3
54 LETTERS OF 1817.
the book is and must be true, and an admirable picture
of savage man, — the animal being of a fine sort.
Did I tell you that I have a large cargo of papers
from Mr. Sydenham (Marquis Wellesley's friend) ? ||
Among other highly curious facts, I learn from them
that we sent arms and stores to Prussia as early as the
autumn of 1811 ; and I have Blucher's word for
it, that if the Walcheren army had landed in the north
of Germany, the whole Prussian force in disobedience
of their Government would have joined it.
I am now fairly behind the curtain with Lord Wel-
lington in all his operations, as far as to the end of
1812.
God bless you.
Robert Southey.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M. P.
Keswick, Jan. 27. 1817.
My dear Wynn,
If you were but in the Administration, instead of
out of it, there is but one question upon which there
would be a shade of difference between us. Just after
receiving your letter, I cut out the enclosed extract
from the ** Times." In discharging men from the army
and navy, it is possible that much private good might
be effected by a very easy arrangement in paying off a
regiment ; for instance, allowing those men who would
prefer remaining in the service to exchange with others
in a retained regiment who desire their discharge ; and
80 with ships. As for the newspaper story, the Lord
Mayor's language is very reprehensible, like the rest
1817. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 55
of his conduct ; but I am afraid there is some cause
for it. It is inserted in the " Times" for the sake of
doing mischief. Walter, the proprietor of that news-
paper, believes that neither the Ministry, nor the Oppo-
sition can stand, and that Hunt is about to be Lord of
the Ascendant ; he has therefore dismissed Stoddart,
who was for many years the editor, and the paper is be-
coming Jacobinical as fast as possible, in order to swim
with the stream. This turmoil may easily be allayed,
if Ministers have courage to act as they ought : and on
this your party would go with them. But I doubt their
courage, and I doubt their wisdom ; and if things are
suffered to go on, a bold push will certainly be made
for revolution. You will receive my second volume of
" Brazil " in two or three weeks : a book necessarily
unlike other histories in many respects. Some parts
will interest you much ; I am busy upon the third
volume, fully purposing (if I have health as well as life)
to bring it out in twelve months from this time, and
thus complete a work of extraordinary labour, the value
of which will not be appreciated by many readers in
this country. I could get more money by one month's
employment for the " Quarterly Review," than this
volume will produce me ; but on the other hand this is
for myself and for posterity.*
Have you read " Mariner's Tonga Islands " ? I had
the manuscript here : a singularly curious book.
I have been very much interested with the letters of
Sydenham who died lately — (I believe he married poor
* The Bishop of Guiana, who had returned to England to re-
cruit his wasted strength, happening to be in Worthing for the
winter, requested me to lend him the " History of the Brazils." He
read it over and over again (as I was informed ), and on returning
it, told me that he had never read so valuable and correct a work
in all its particulars and details. From one who had resided in
Guiana many years, this was a most valuable testimony. It must
always be the work of standard authority.
£ 4
56 LETTERS OF 1817.
Bunbury's widow) — written from Spain during the war.
They are among the papers which his brother has sent
me, through my brother Harry, who got acquainted with
him in attending Marquis Wellesley at Ramsgate. I saw
also many papers of Marquis Wellesley, Lord Welling-
ton, and Sir C. Stuart : all greatly to the credit of the
writers. This history of mine ought to be a good one,
the subject being so fine, and my materials so copious
and of such authenticity. I shall bring up about half a
volume to the press in April.
The " Morte Darthur " will be published soon. I have
collected a good many notes, and am now busy upon the
preface.
I look with more anxiety than usual for the meeting
of Parliament. Put a stop to the incendiary journals,
and all other evils will cure themselves ; but if you let
them go on unchecked, in no long time we must inevi-
tably come to mob law, or bayonet law. I have heard
no hint as to the intentions of Ministers, but I know
they are frightened : the less likely, therefore, are they
to act as they should do.
God bless you.
Yours most affectionately,
XV. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Jan. 29. 1817.
My dear Grosvenor,
I am neither surprised nor sorry at what you
tell me of the Prose-gelder's intentions. The more he
cuts out from the " Review," the more he leaves fresh
for the book ; and it is better that the strongest things
1817. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 57
should appear where they will be accompanied with
free language respecting the Anti-Jacobins and the
Noddles, and the great sinecures, than where these are
forbidden topics, and I seem rather to the reader as a
partisan, than as in truth I am and ought to appear.
1 have desii'ed Murray to send me the paper as soon as
it is printed ; but for fear he should not send it in Its
genuine state, do you secure for me the manuscript.
We may be quite sure that the boldest and best parts
are those which will be omitted.
My letters to you are such pure Meipseads that I
have seldom room or leisure for any but personal con-
cerns, and therefore it is that you have heard nothing
from me of Chauncey Townsend, who is, however, as
far as it is possible to judge by his verses and his letters,
a highly interesting youth. His poetry is of uncommon
promise ; and it is a great pleasure to me to hear from
him, though I can ill afford time for my part of the
correspondence ; being indeed too old, as well as too
busy, for the epistolary mood.
I knew you would be delighted with the drawing of
the two girls : yet there is one here of Edith *, sitting
on a mountain side, which I think is more beautiful,
and is, indeed, according to my perception, the perfect
ideal of innocence ; and the three younger ones over
my chimney are so delightfully grouped, that it is worth
while to come to Keswick for the sake of seeing the
picture. My blank verse poem will probably not be
printed while I live ; these drawings should one day
be engraved to accompany it, and that view which
Nash has made of the church may come in for the
frontispiece with my tombstone in the foreground.
We were very much attached to Nash. The children's
' ♦ This hangs now before me as I correct the proof in the draw-
ing-room at West Tarring.
58 LETTERS OP 1817
eyes sparkle with delight when they talk of him. I want
him to take a six weeks' run on the Continent with me
when I come to town, and then return with me to Kes-
wick. The " Torso " is an excellent thing: by the by,
this rich book is in such forwardness that, if you will
only come down this summer and spur me on, we will
have it ready for publication by Christmas. Poor Nash
is no caprice of Nature's : his deformity is the effect of
an accident when he was twelve years old. One of his
portraits of me is more like the Doctor. When I come
to town, I must contrive to have you meet Westall (the
younger), a man much to my liking, who, I hope, will
take up his abode at Keswick.
My book sleeps till the *' Review " arrives ; mean-
time I am busy upon the " Morte Darthur " (which
brought sweet remuneration), and upon the third volume
of "Brazil," which bringeth something sweeter still,
in the great pleasure which I take in it. On Tuesday
next I go with Edith, and Shedaw, and Bertha to
Netherhall for a week. When I return, it will be with
fresh appetite for Liber the Book, which may pro-
perly be called Liber, for free it shall be, as sure as I'm
a Dutchman. My brother Mynheers have sent me no
notification of the undeserved honour ; and of course
it appeareth not in my title-page, but such notification
shall be duly recorded.
1 have written a chapter concerning the pantaloons.*
And now God bless you.
R. S.
* See " The Doctor," &c., Intercliapter xx. p. 489., one
vol. edit.
1817. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 59
To Grosvenor C. Bedfordy Esq.
Feb. 22. 1817.
My dear Grosvenor,
I must go twelve miles to make this affidavit,
and of course cannot do so till Monday. The delay is
unlucky, but inevitable. I think this is the best mode
of proceeding. At any other time I could have let the
thing pass, and smiled at it. Oh, with what glee I
wrote it ; it was only a few days' work, three or four at
the utmost, as John Bunyan says, —
" It came from mine own heart, then to my head,
And thence into my fingers trickeled ;
Thence to my pen, from whence immediately
On paper I did dripple it daintily."
And this is an exact history of ray "Wat Tyler," whom
I used in those days to call my uncle Wat. I could
6nd in my heart to compose a drama upon the same
subject now, in my wiser mind, as a sort of penance,
had I but time. It is a rich subject : a little encourage-
ment would eg^ me on, and the inclination will perhaps
keep me sleepless in bed for some hours, turning and
tossing the materials in my mind. Would not this
make a curious finish to the story, if I were to follow
the impulse, and actually produce such an historical
drama as might stand beside " Roderick " ?
Give that poor fellow a farther two pounds for me
some little time hence, if you cannot help him in any
other way.
But I must have done, for the spirit moves me,
and I cannot rest till I have looked over the reign of
Richard II., and called thoughts to counsel upon the
60 LETTERS OF 18ir.
new scheme. If I had my old flux of the muse, it
might soon be done.
God bless you.
U.S.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, Feb. 23, 1817.
My dear Wynn,
The affidavit arrived on Saturday, and I must
go to Cockermouth to swear to it, so that it cannot be
returned till to-morrow's post. The enclosed will tell
you my brother's opinion ; he has more knowledge of
the world than most men, and I should willingly assent
to his advice, were it not highly probable that the pub-
lishers will force me to come forward at last, by putting
my name in the advertisement, as they did in a para-
graph in the " Morning Chronicle." Therefore, I think
it is better to act at once ; and, indeed, in all cases, the
manliest course is the best. But it rather staggers me
that both Turner and Rickman incline to Harry's way
of thinking. If you should alter yours, desire Turner,
by a note, not to proceed. I think you will remain in
the same mind, and in that belief shall send up the
affidavit.
How much could I say to you upon the subject of
your letter ? Muir's and Palmer's cases did harm,
because both parties were hardly used. They had not
deserved the punishment, especially Palmer, whose
case was a flagrant act of injustice. M. was justly
sentenced, but there was an appearance of wrong in not
allowing some of his challenges. Gilbert Wakefield's
book was not addressed to the mob. I think there is
1817. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 61
more clanger, if transportation were made the punish-
ment, that it would prevent convictions, than that the
power would be abused. But what else will stop the
evil? And if the evil be not stopped, ii jacquerie is
inevitable. Give the press full play, and. nothing can
prevent the Agrarians from raising the mob upon us.
They will swallow up all the feebler vermin, as the
committee tells us they are doing ; and as for stopping
them by force of reason, you might as well reason
against a steam-engine, or one of our mountain floods.
I groan over the cowardice of the Ministry. Every
concession will only provoke insult, contempt, and
farther demands. But they must be supported : the
choice is between them and Revolution ; and therefore
I was sorry that you had refused to be on the Finance
Committee. Indeed, this is no time for doing anything
which may increase their discredit.
If I were not too closely occupied, I would, by way
of penance, gird up my loins and take the subject of
" Wat Tyler " for an historical play, in which to put
forth all the powers I could bring to bear upon the
stoi'y. Plot is excused in such dramas, if interest can be
excited without one by the mere march of events. I
meant to have done this in 1797, but it was laid aside.
I have bought the first volume of the " Rerum Hiberni-
carum Scriptores," and have taken a great fancy to
O'Connor, notwithstanding the great O in his name.
Some of the parts which relate to your uncle, and to his
own situation at Stowe, are exceedingly fine. I hope
the work will proceed ; it is, indeed, a munificent ex-
ample of wisely directed patronage. The second volume
of " Brazil " is finished, and you will receive it in a
few days. I am busy upon the third ; and such is the
course of my life at present, that this employment
seems like playing truant from closer calls. Murray
offers me 150/. for two articles in each number. I
62 LETTERS OP 1817.
want tliis money from the next, and shall earn it in the
course of six weeks : the subjects are, ** Mariner's
Tonga Islands" (pray read the book) and the Reports
of the Committee. I must write the latter part of this
first, and leave the beginning till I see what is to be
done. The main part will be a sketch of the growth
and progress of political discontent in this country, and
the means of abating it. I shall aim at a conciliative
and persuasive tone, and avoid all personalities, while I
endeavour, totis virihus, to attack that spirit of party
which is the curse and the oppi'obrium of England.
God bless you, my dear Wynn.
li. S.
To John Hickman, Esq.
Keswick, March 2. 1817.
My dear Rickman,
It is quite impossible that I can find time for
any additional engagements, at any price whatever
which might be held out.
The sins of my youth are risen against me. Some
rascal has just published a piece of sedition written in
1794, and peppered like a turkey's gizzard. I have
written to Wynn to know whether it be better to
obtain an injunction, or let the brimstone burn out ; if
he advises the former, Sharon Turner will take the
necessary steps. The MS. was put into Ridgeway's
hands twenty-three years ago.
My " Papcl Forte " has been converted by the hand
of GifFord into a Papel Fraco {fiaccus fiaccidus). He
has, with more than his wonted skill, pruned out every-
thing of practical application, everything original, and
1817. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 63
everything that was most forcibly expressed ; in pity^ as
he says, to the terrors of Ministers !! !
I shall see you in April, and mean, God willing, to
see Switzerland and the Rhine in May and June, and
be home the first week in July, and ready for you in
August.
Remember me to Mrs. R. God bless you.
Robert Southey.
To a W. W. WTjnn, Esq.
Keswick, March 10, 1817.
My dear Wynn,
I am sorry your bill was lost, and a little vexed,
because with a little zeal on the part of those who ap-
proved it, it might have been carried. This, however,
is one of those reforms which is sure to be effected if
you persevere in bringing it forward. Our neighbours
in Westmoreland are already enjoying in rehearsal the
blessings of a contested election. One of the best men
in the county has been nearly killed by the Brougham
mob, and spits blood in consequence of the injury
which he received. Brougham's probability of success
arises from a cause which has been widely operating
over the whole of the kingdom, — the great multiplication
of freeholders by the enclosures, forty shilling voters,
good part of whom are in that hopeful state that they
would vote for Hone or Cobbett against Brougham, for
the same reason which will make them vote for Brougham
against Lowther. I am out of the circle of these petty
politics, and should regard them with perfect indiffer-
ence, if every symptom of the times did not indicate the
64 LETTERS OF 1817.
same disease. Nevertheless, I think the aspects on the
whole are improving.
Is the publication of the " Irish Historians" to be con-
tinued ? If it be not, I shall look upon the death of
the Marquis of Buckingham as the greatest loss that has
been sustained in our times. If it were completed as it
is begun, it would vie with any undertaking of the kind.
Ill as I can spare the time, and unfit as I am in many
respects for the task, I am strongly inclined to give
some account of it in the " Quarterly Review," merely
for the sake of calling the public attention to a work of
such importance, and which is sure to be neglected
without some such help : for this is the state of litera-
ture among us, and a vile state it is. If you were
Minister I should be laying plans before you for national
collections of this kind, and other works, which never
can be performed without public assistance. In these
things we are behindhand even with the Spaniards and
Portuguese.
You would be amused to see my table overlaid with
Methodism and Moravianism. I am going through the
whole set of the " Arminian Magazine." Tliis life of
Wesley is a more operose business than one who is not
acquainted with my habits would suppose. I am given
to works of supererogation, and could do nothing to my
own satisfaction if I did not take twice as much labour
as any other person would bestow upon it. In this case
it will be well bestowed. 1 am treating of a curious
part of history just at the right time, and in as fair a
temper as it could be possible to bring to such a sub-
ject. The materials are very copious, and very curious,
and the plan so arranged as to relieve that monotony
which you might perhaps apprehend.
I had a letter lately from Sir H. Bunbury, inviting
me to Suffolk to look over his papers about the war.
This invitation I must accept, not as a matter of incli-
1817. IIOBEIIT SOUTIIEY. 65
nation, but of duty in my vocation ; so most probably if
he can receive me at the fall of the leaf, I shall then
move from home. His materials will relate to the latter
years of the war. I wait for a French book, which
contains the details and official papers concerning the
imperial system of education. When this comes I shall
finish the introductory chapter, and go to press. The
introduction describes the moral and political state of
the Peninsula, France, and England.
I see no person during the winter except my own
family, and for weeks together do not stir beyond my
own garden ; the kitchen clock is not more regular in
its movements than my life, and scarcely more monoto-
nous, yet time never appeared to glide so swiftly. I
have often said that, live as long as we may, the first
twenty years of life are the longest half. There are in-
dications enough that I am on the downhill road; an
unwillingness to exertion of any kind is one, I fear that
a decay of sight is another ; as yet, however, it only re-
gards distant objects ; what is near I see as distinctly as
ever. God bless you, my dear Wynn.
lii. S.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, March 22. 1817.
My dear Wynn,
The matter has been carried against me by
direct perjury. Winterbottom I saw with Ridgeway
and Symonds, but never dreamt of him (a dissenting
minister *) as a publisher, farther than as he was con-
* "A dissenting minister of Pljmoutli." — MS. letter to Dr.
II. II. Soidhei/, 25th March, 1817.
VOL. III. r
66 LETTERS OF 1817.
nectecl with Symonds in his own hook ahout America.
Daniel Izaac Eaton I never saw in my hfe, — if I had it is
not possihle that I should have forgotten so notorious a
person. It runs strongly in my head that I have seen
an account of Winterhottom's death in the magazines;
and indeed it would surprise me less to find that some
villain should be found to personate him, than that he
should thus swear to what he knows to be false. How-
ever, there is no remedy.
I have great reason to complain of my counsel, ac-
cording to the newspaper's report, for humiliating me.
I acknowledge no toickedness in *' Wat Tyler," and feel
no shame for it, for it was written in the sincerity of
my heart * ; and if this were not expressed in one of
those letters to William Smith, certainly I should feel
it necessary to say it in some other form equally public.
The wickedness is in the present publication ; and the
Chancellor ought to have seen, if he chose to believe
the story of the gift (which is absolutely false), that
there was a condition on the receiver's part to publish
it, and that if anything could call for relief in a Court
of Equity, it was the publication of such a work after an
interval of three-and-twenty years, for the avowed pur-
poses of insulting and injuring the author. But the
Chancellor has believed the statement of their counsel,
and chooses totally to disregard the statement to which
1 have sworn. Ridgeway and Symonds 7iever rejected
the book. It was left with them by Lovcll, and when
I saw them they said, " We will publish it." My re-
collection is distinct. But it is time to have done with
the subject. I am only anxious now to see my second
letter to William Smith in the pajDcrs, because it will
* See the preface to it in the collected edition of his Poetical
Works, and " Life and Correspondence," vol. iv. p. 236.
1817. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 67
acquit me of the miserable folly imputed to me in
Shadwell's speech.
I have received a very kind letter from Wilberforce
on the occasion. There was an article in Tuesday's
" Courier," by Coleridge, upon the subject.
God bless you.
R. S.
To C. W. TV. Wtjnn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, March 26. 1817.
My dear Wynn,
I do not by any means regret the application to
Chancery : it was the straightforward course ; and the
question could not have been referred to a Court of
Law (being so plain a case) if a false defence had not
been set up, and supported by perjury. There is a
strong impression upon my mind that Winterbottom is
dead ; and it is much less improbable to me that a
fellow should have been found to swear falsely in his
name, than that he, — a dissenting minister, — a man who
was said to have undergone the same change in his
opinions as I have done, should in the first place be
guilty of so base an act as to publish the book, and then
to defend the act by a direct perjury. My magazines,
in which it appears to me that I have read of his death,
are unluckily forty miles off at the binder's. But I have
taken measures for ascertaining this matter ; and if it
should prove that my suspicions are well founded, the
transaction will assume a very different aspect from
what it now wears. Luckily, I have the rough draft of
my first letter, and shall therefore throw them both into
F 2
68 LETTERS OF 1817.
one : but this I will delay till I have satisfied myself
about Winterbottom.
A word or two about my intolerance. I recollect but
two persons of whom I have spoken with acrimony in
the true sense of the word. Whitbread in the "Regis-
ter," and Joseph Lancaster. In the first case, I was
treating of a leading politician, whose opinions would
have laid this country at Bonaparte's mercy. As for
my allusions to the *' Edinburgh Review," it would
surprise me much if I were censured for speaking as I
think upon that subject, abstaining, as I have uniformly
done, from anything in the way of personal defence
during fifteen years of continual attack on their part.
In the article which William Smith pulled out of his
pocket, I have called Hunt an incendiary for one of the
wickedest paragraphs that ever was written ; and I have
bestowed the same appellation upon Cobbett. Can any
man in his senses think these misapplied? And for the
passage which William Smith read (p. 227.), it neither
names any individual, nor alludes to any, but deals in
generals, relating to those metaphysicians who begin hy
denying the difference between right and wrong. Of
such men as myself there is plain mention (p. 2S7.), and
so far have I been from having ever sought to put my
former opinions in the shade, that they are placed in
broad daylight in the " Pilgrimage to Waterloo ; " nor
have I ever cancelled a line in my early poems on this
account. Tliey who blame me for intolerance should
remember the abuse which has been incessantly poured
upon me.
Wilberforce wrote me a very handsome letter upon
William Smith's conduct, saying that he felt as if he
liad to clear his own character from a stain, till he
assured me that he was not in the house at the time.
It will be unfortunate if I shall miss you on my
transit. I shall be in London (God willing) on the
1817. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 69
17th, pass a week with my uncle in Ilampsliirc, and
leave London for the Continent, if possible, on the 1st
of May. God bless you.
R. S.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M. P.
Easter-Sunday, April 6. 1817.
Where, my dear Wynn, are the proofs of this in-
tolerance of which you speak? I know not towards whom
I have been intolerant, except it be Bonaparte ; and I
believe he does not come within the field of your tole-
ration. The language of the " Edinburgh Register,"
while it was in my hands, is that of a man who felt
strongly and spoke plainly, but who made no difference
between Trojan and Tyrian. In the " Quarterly ' I have
rarely had anything to do with politics, except in the two
last numbers ; and the man who censures the last paper
must stand up for Hunt and Cobbett. You probably
know, better than I do myself, the manner in which I
have been assailed ever since I was made Laureate. Has
the intolerance been on my side ? This affair would
not have affected me more than the blowing of the
wind, if it had not made my wife seriously ill ; and
thus it has vexed me so much, that I could certainly
have challenged William Smith, if a sense of duty did
not withhold me.
I have been greatly harassed and interrupted about
the house which I inhabit ; a writ is issued against the
estate, and it will be sold in the course of the summer.
I would fain have put off my journey in consequence,
but I did not like to disappoint my companions ; and,
moreover, change of air, scenes, and circumstances is
i- 3
70 LETTERS OP 1817.
almost necessary for me. I have not recovered, and
never shall recover, last year's affliction ; and my worldly
IH'ospects are improving when I have no longer a heart
to enjoy them. Were it not for these children, I
should wish to be in yonder churchyard ; this world
has nothing to give me, and my heart, as well as my
hopes, are in the next.
God bless you, my dear Wynn.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
April 17. 1817.
My dear G.,
In the course of this business I have very often
had occasion to remember the apologue of the old man,
his son, and the ass : for by listening to everybody, I
am likely to please nobody, and myself least of all.
Wynn exhorts me most earnestly not to write arro-
gantly. Turner, I think, would not have me write at
all ; and perhaps this may be Rickman's opinion ; you
and the Doxter * say write, and Wordsworth and Sen-
house here think that I cannot express myself too
strongly.
You have the whole now ; and if you and your
chancellors, by which I mean Harry and Turner (and
Rickman, if you please) think it better that the whole
should be suppressed, so let it be. My anger has spent
itself, and I care not the turn of a straw. If on the
other hand you wish it to appear, I will in the proof
expunge certain passages that offend Wynn's sensitive-
* A familiar expression in these letters, applied to Dr. H. H.
Sou they.
1817. ROBERT SOUTKEY. 71
ness. I will smooth clown others so as to lessen their
asperity, but leave the whole edge ; and I will insert a
passage about public expenditure from their papers
which you have sent me. But I must tell you that
with this letter I close the business on my part. What-
ever reply may be attempted to it, I shall say nothing
more. I will waste no more time upon an affair which
did not from the beginning deserve from me the sacrifice
of a single hour.
The best answer which could have been made to him,
would have been to have reprinted certain of my papers
from the " Quarterly Review," together with certain
excerpts from the " Register : "or, better still, if I had
made a book, as was my first intention, instead of yield-
ing to Murray's suggestion, and frittering my materials
down to suit the purposes of his journal. After all, it
is of little consequence: as regards myself of none, and
as regards the country, things will take their course ; the
present ulcers will heal : the disease will continue in the
system. We shall go on upon a system of expedients,
living, as it were, from hand to mouth ; to-day with the
bug-bear of ruin before our eyes, to-morrow in a hey-day
of prosperity ; the evil may be indefinitely delayed, but
sooner or later come it must, unless adequate remedies
be applied, and for these the present race of statesmen
want either the courage or the power, or both.
After Saturday next direct to Warcop Hall, near
Brough, whither I go on Monday (this day week).
Harry will perhaps have told you that I have been
disturbed about this house, and am under the strange
temptation of buying the estate, without having a shilling
to pay for it. All this when w^e meet, which I trust
will be on the 24th. I hope the journey will do me
good, for I stand in need of change of air, place, and
circumstance.
May I be allowed a drab to travel in? And if not,
F 4
r2 LETTERS OF 1817.
what kind of lic/ht coat will Hyde* permit me to wear?
This is one of the first points to be determined on my
arrival. God bless you,
R. S.
To JVade Browne, Esq., Ludlow.
Keswick, Nov. 4. 1817.
My dear Sir,
After a long jojj,rney, and a succession of com-
pany since my return, I am at last quietly settled to my
winter's work, with the probability of as few interrup-
tions from without, as Bruin has when he rolls himself
up in his cave, and trusts to his paws till the spring.
You probably heard of my travels. My companions
were Mr. Senhouse of Netherhall (near Maryport), and
Mr. Nash, the artist who was with me at Waterloo.
Switzerland and the Alps were our object. We staid
five days at Paris, and then proceeded by way of Dijon
and Besan^on to Neufchatel, meaning to have crossed
Mount St. Gothard, and to have returned into Switzer-
land by the Simplon ; but finding that this pass was
not practicable for a carriage without taking it to pieces,
which involves a heavy expense, and, moreover, that it
was by no means advisable to enter upon it so early in
the year as the beginning of June, when the season also
happened to be remarkably backward, we changed our
route, and, visiting the Grande Chartreuse on the way,
entered Italy by way of Mount Cenis. This deviation
from our first purposed course, I regard as very fortu-
* This is that same Hyde the tailor from whom Horace Bedford
never could get a drah. " He could not carry it off," he said.
1817. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 73
nate : for we saw notliinti; finer than the Chartreuse :
indeed, in its kind it cannot be surpassed: and the
Mount Ccnis road, of" which it has not been the fasliion
to say anything, is much more strange and impressive
than the Simplon. As you advance up the valley of the
Maurienne, the Alps around are crumbling to pieces :
the Arc, which rushes down the valley with a force and
fury beyond anything which I had ever witnessed, carries
with it nearly as much earth, or rather decomposed
stone, as water; and the towns and villages on the way
are as ragged as the scenery about them. On the sum-
mit of Mount Cenis, where we breakfasted, I could have
fancied myself in Cumberland, had not richer flowers
been under my feet than our climate will produce.
There is a turn opposite the inn, with all the features
of our own mountain scenery. The first part of the
descent is more ruinous than anything on the Savoy
side. Indeed, the mountains are 'in so crumbling a
state, that it has been found necessary to abandon the
new line of road (only a year or two since it was made
at enormous expense), and follow the old line, and this
line leads you four times over the same waterfall ; one
turn is as closely under another as it can possibly be
made. But when you get beyond this desolation, where
you have nothing but masses of loose earth and perish-
ing stone on every side, the descent into Piedmont is
beyond description delightful. We went no farther
than Milan ; from thence to the Lakes of Como and
Lugano, then across the Lago Maggiore, and back by
the Simplon into Switzerland, turning aside on the way
for three days to visit the vale of Chamounix, and the
Mer de Glace.
My uncle's brother-in-law happened to be residing
with his family not far from Lausanne : this was a very
agreeable circumstance, and we halted with him two
nights on our way out, and four on our return. Having
74 LETTERS OF 1817.
reached Bern, we sent the carriage on to Zurich, and
struck into what is called the Oberland, making our way
as we could, sometimes by land, and sometimes by water,
on horseback or on foot. Thus we spent the most ad-
venturous ten days of our journey, and the most delight-
ful. From Zurich our way was to Schaff hausen and Do-
naueschingen, where the Danube rises : thence through
the Black Forest to Friburg in the Bi'isgau. We
crossed the Rhine to look at Strasburg, and returned the
same night into Germany ; and so by way of Heidelberg,
Manheim, and Frankfort, to Mentz ; then down the left
bank to Cologne, and so to Brussels, Lisle, and Calais.
The whole journey was the work of thirteen weeks,
about three of which we were stationary at different
places. I made a copious journal *, which was no slight
exertion, and my companions were very diligent with
the pencil ; so that few persons could have brought
back more.
I returned of a rich sun colour, and, according to all
my friends, with more flesh upon my bones than I took
out ; though I am sure that such a journey performed
in such a manner, would be an excellent recipe for one
who had some to spare. Certain it is that the continual
exercise, change of air, and excitement agreed ad-
mirably with me, to say nothing of the wine, which
everywhere about the Rhine is the true Amreeta, and
deserves to be called the "Liquor of Life,"
Believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours very sincerely,
Robert Southey.
* This journal is also before me ; and, as I hinted in vol. ii. p.
429., I should advise its being published as a Supplement to the
" Common Place Books."
1817. EGBERT SOUTIIEY. 75
To John Kenyon, Esq.
Keswick, Nov. 17. 1817.
My dear Sir,
I am truly obliged to you for the trouble you
have taken in procuring for me my old friend, Martin
DobrizhofTer, of whom I have been ten years vainly in
search. It will come in excellent time, just when I
shall be composing a chapter upon the " Equestrian
Tribes," the chief materials for which are taken from
this Jesuit, the most entertaining and most interesting
of all the missionary writers. The last volume of my
history is now in the press, and from this time forward,
it will form part of every day's business, till I shall
have completed this laborious work. Our journey was
prosperous in all points, without any accident of any
kind, or any apparent delay. In the Val de Triens, I
found your name written in pencil on the wainscot of
the little cabin in which travellers are entertained ; im-
mediately under it I pencilled my own and those of
my companions : and if any person finds as much
pleasure in seeing this memorial, as I did in seeing
yours, it may be reckoned among my successful wri-
tings. We entered Switzerland by Pontarlier and
Neufchatel, from thence to Lausanne, finding it too
early to cross St. Gothard ; then to Geneva, and turn-
ing aside from Chamberry to visit the Chartreuse (one
of the finest objects in our route), proceeded by
Mount Cenis to Turin and Milan. This was our far-
thest point. We were three days at Como, but went
no higher than the fork of the lake at Bellaggio, which
must certainly be the finest of all lake stations. Yet
as a lake, Lugano may perhaps be preferred to Como;
and the Maggiore, where we crossed from Laveno,
is equal to either. We returned to Switzerland by the
76 LETTERS OF 1817:
Simplon : magnificent as it is, it impressed me on the
whole not so much as the pass of Mount Cenis, which
nobody speaks of. Chamounix we took from Martigny,
going and returning by the Tete Noir. The Col de
Balm was not passable, and we returned to Martigny
because we were bound to Echichens, near Merges,
where I had some- friends to visit. We halted with
them three days — a very pleasant resting-place, — then
made for Berne, and, sending our carriage from that
city to Zurich, struck into the Oberland, where, at
Unterseen, Hans Roth was added to our company. On
our way home, we went a step out of the road to see
the Danube at Donaueschingen, then through the Black
Forest to Friburg ; looked at Strasburg, and returned
the same day to Kohl ; went into the dungeons of the
Secret Tribunal at Baden-Baden, and shuddered at
seeing the doors of solid stone a foot in thickness ;
Rastadt, Carlsruhe, Heidelberg, Manheim, Frankfort,
Mentz, Cologne, and so by Brussels and Lisle to Calais.
In Hans' book, wherein my doggerel* was written, were
* "A guide offered himself, and produced his book of recom-
mendations, — Jean Roth his name, and Blomfield among his re-
commenders." — MS. Journal.
The doggerel is not inserted in the Journal. I copy it from
Mrs. Warter's Album : —
" Written for Hans Roth, an Unterseen Guide, who conducted Mr.
Southey and his Companions on a Ten Days' Expedition.
" Hans Roth, by my troth,
Is an excellent guide ;
A joker, a smoker,
A 6f;avan beside ;
A geologician,
A metaphysician,
To search out how causes proceed.
A system inventor,
And an experlmentor.
Who raises i)otatoes from seed.
1817. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 77
some Latin verses which deserved to be copied. Very
probably they came from Blomfiekl, whose name was
among his testimonials, and though not written in the
same hand, certainly they are of English growtli, as you
will perceive : —
HANS LOQUITUR.
" Sum Rothius, parvai dux optimus Untersenae,
Quaque lacus inter surgunt mapalia bines :
Seu te findentem scopuloso vertice nubes
Gotthardum peragrare placet, seu florea mavis
Regna Rigi, aut fractum pileato culmine monlem
Omnia lustrabis Grail cognominis Alpcs
Auspicio ductuque meo : fert sive dolores
Dira Siappoia, aut fessis vko ivocral ■^(^tfiErXa,
Non ignarus ero, novi quge rupibus altis
Quajque in secretis crescunt convallibus herboe "
&c, &c. &c.
Present my compliments to your friend Mr. Ritchie,
for the letter which he forwarded to Geneva for me.
The ladies below stairs have desired me not to forfjet
their remembrances. Here is Ormathwaite to be let, and
Barrow, and the house which in your time was called
Mr. Marshall's : I will risk the one which you may like
He knoweth right well,
The forest and fell,
The Chalet and dwellers therein ;
The mountains, tlie fountains,
The ices, the prices,
Every town, every village and inn.
Take him for your guide,
He has often been tried,
And will always be useful when needed ;
You'll be merry together,
Tn foul or fair weather,
And shake hands at parting, as we did.
" Robert Soutijex."
78 LETTERS OP 1817.
best to remain vacant till you have finished your travels.
Let me hear from you sometimes, and fail not to say
\vhere a letter may find you upon your road. The Ge-
neral is on the Island, enjoying all the advantages of
solitude and retirement, and I daresay just now heartily
disposed to join in the complaint of the lover against
space and time, in reference to the limits of his island,
and the length of the day. God bless you.
Yours most truly,
Robert Southey.
P. S. I am sorry it should be reported (though no
person who knows either me or my manner of writing,
can believe the report) that I am the reviewer of Lady
Morgan's book. Her opinions are bad enough, but I
would rather have cut off my right hand than have
written anything so unmanly and disgraceful as that
criticism.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M. P.
Keswick, Nov. 20. 1817.
My dear Wynn,
Since Bedford left me, after his fraction of a
visit, I have, with very little interruption, kejit close to
my desk ; having, Heaven knows, heavy arrears of
business upon my hands. I have composed a paper for
the " Quarterly," upon Lopez de Vega, with some trans-
lations, and a good deal of curious matter, though
perhaps it may have cost me more time than it is worth.
This, however, goes to Mammon's account. There is
nothing else of mine in tlie number. I am thoroughly
disgusted, as I darcsav vou arc also, with the review of
1817. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 79
Lady Morgan's book : I would rather have cut off my
right liand than have written anything so unmanly and
so disgraceful ; and yet there are people who impute it
to me, perhaps as much from stupidity as malice.
This is the end of reviewing, hut the evil must be taken
with the good, in this, as in all things.
I am preparing to write upon the Report of the
Poor Committee, and have prepared myself for it by
good counsel. The Report is exceedingly able, so also
is Davison's pamphlet, though the scheme with which
it concludes is very objectionable. He would abolish
the poor rates at the end of ten years, giving notice
now, and making the abolition all at once. There is, I
think, great reason to apprehend that whatever is done
for getting rid of this cancer, will be made a handle by
the Cobbetts, Hunts, &c., and perhaps it will not be
done without some partial riots ; but to do it at once,
would ensure a general insurrection. A better plan
is to limit the assessment and lessen it gradually, eveiy
year a tenth less than the last for ten years ; this would
leave, at the end of that time, about one third of the
present assessment; and then the fitness of a farther
reduction might be considered. But I have a good deal
to say upon this subject, and, I hope, to good effect.
What a triumph it will be if the country can be eased
of this burthen, which otherwise must crush it.
We were, like everybody else, much shocked at the
death of the Princess, and the more so, because of the
temper in which we were found by the intelligence.
It so happened that our newspaper did not arrive
that day. When I went down to tea, young Edith, in
the gaiety of her heart, was expressing her impatience
to know the event, in the most playful and fantastic
way, and indulging; in this the more because of the
quiet and thoughtful mood in which I came from my
books. While I was smiling at her extravagance, and
80 LETTERS OF 1817.
the rest of the family were laughing, Dr. Bell came in,
who was then lodging in the town. He asked if we
had heard the news, and began to relate it in a lower
tone and more deliberate manner than usual : we did
not, however, apprehend the worst ; his voice faltered
in a slight degree when he came to it, and poor Edith
was instantly in tears. There is a great deal of dis-
gusting stuff in the " Courier " upon the occasion. It
will not surprise me if we should hear ere long of a
divorce, in which case obsolete laws will be more talked
of than they are in the abominable case of Thornton's.
In thinking over this unlucky event with a view to
writing anything upon the subject, I have almost re-
solved upon writing something of which the notion is
taken from Boethius. Instead of his Philosophia, I
shall bring in Sir Thomas More, and make the occa-
sion serve to introduce a view of the present circum-
stances of society with the impending changes, as com-
pared with the time of the Reformation. If I do this,
I shall noi do it heartily ; but I am disposed to like the
plan, as one in which some points of weighty consider-
ation might be brought forward with much propriety.
God bless you, my dear Wynn.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Nov. 26. 1817.
My dear Grosvenor,
It is so long since I have written to you, that
you will, I dare say, give me credit for having been very
busy the while ; and so, in truth, I have been, though
1817. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 81
not in the way Murraymagne would wish, or that you,
perhaps, expect ; for I have not been at work for the
next " Q, R.," nor have I yet attempted lo write ex
officio upon the dismal occasion which has put us all in
mourning ; — the only occasion, perhaps, in which a
public mourning ever carried with it so real a sense of
sorrow. As soon as you left us, I finished the paper
upon Lopez de Vega, of which merely the beginning
was written before. Then I set steadily to work upon
the " Brazil," and have been sedulously employed upon
it every morning from that time, with the full intention
(unless any unforeseen evil should prevent) of doing
something to it (however little) every day, till it is
completed. I have corrected four sheets, and hope to
keep the press going without intermission; the better
to effect this, I rise as soon as it is light, and transcribe
before breakfast. In the evenings I have paid off a heavy
score of epistolary debts ; and, with a truant disposition,
as if I had nothing to consult but the inclination of the
hour, have taken a good serious spell at the " Life of
Wesley," which bids very fair to be a singularly curious
book.
I would very, very fain be excused from any threno-
dial service, farther than what must needs be prepared
for the " Mus. Doc." But I see, from one or two pri-
vate letters, that it is looked for , and it is no use to
grumble at a task which I must not shrink from. In
thinking over the matter, which you may be sure I have
been doing (even in fact at the time when I would
willingly have persuaded myself that it was not a matter
of necessity to undertake the task), a notion laid strong
hold upon me, of producing something in distant imi-
tation of Boethius. In which, instead of his Philoso-
phia, I shoukl introduce Sir Thomas More ; and pass
from the ostensible occasion of the book, by an easy
transition, to a view of the prospect before us, compared
VOL. 111. G
82 LETTERS 01/ 1817.
with tliG State of things at the Reformation. An ob-
vious objection to this is, that I make use of an event
which ought to be my subject, merely as an introduc-
tion to something else. Perhaps this may be hand-
somely obviated by frequently recurring to it, and
bringing it again prominently forward at the end. You
will, perhaps, hardly comprehend my scheme, unless I
open it a little more fully. There would be a mixture
of verse as in Boethius ; but the bulk of the composi-
tion in prose, and in colloquy, between Sir T. More
and Meipsum. How he, of all persons, should think of
paying Meipsum a visit you must trust to me to explain ;
but you will at once perceive that no fitter personage
could be introduced, he having taken pretty much the
same view of afflxirs in his age as I do in mine. The
tone would, of course, be funereal, relieved by such
imaginative parts as the introduction of one from an-
other world would produce ; and the main object is to
show that we are rapidly approaching a crisis in society
(if, indeed, we have not actually reached it), as critical
as that which the restoration of letters and the dis-
covery of printing brought with them in the days of
Sir Thomas More : the extent about as much as a
long paper in the " Review," — a little volume from 150
to 200 pages. These digressions are not very con-
venient for one who has so many huge undertakings in
hand, and has to provide for Muiraymagne also. I
hojje you like his new title.
Oh, my books ! my books ! Pray ask Colnaghi if he
has heard anything from Discacciati about them ; that
if not, I may get Landor to inquire ; and if the larger
consignment from Brussels be not arrived, I must write
about them also.
Your pencils shall be looked after. The Grand
Dormouse returned on Monday from Senhouse's.
Wordsworth is gone to London on business. I have
1817. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 83
not heard from Sirius, Heaven knows when ; he might
as well be in his own star for anything I know of him.
Pulcheria is in great favour, and sends a purr to Narses,
her countryman. I liave put on my leathern jerkin for
tlie first time to day ; and yesterday I dined at the
Island, which, as I certainly shall not have another in-
vitation these six months, may perhaps (and how pos-
sibly ! ) be the last time I shall ever dine out. And the
wind is blowing; on the fells it is snowing; and the
torrents are flowing ; and the women are sewing ; and
the general is going; and the oats are still growing,
(tliey have got them so slow-in) ; and my nose wants
blowing; — so farewell, Mr. Bedford.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Dec. 17. 1817.
My dear G.,
Your letter falls in, even as I should wish it to do,
with my own inclinations. Public events, as you well
know, are things upon which, ex proprio motu, I should
never write a single verse, having a proper dislike to
such subjects. You have now the exercise-verses for the
" Mus. Doc. " : and so, till the next year's pepper-corn
rent becomes due, if I live so long, that score is dis-
charged.
The more I consider the matter about emancipating
myself from any engagement which subjects me to the
control of an editor, the more I perceive and feel the
fitness of so doing ; and, regarding it as I ought to do,
without any feeling of anger, I shall consult my own
perfect convenience in the matter, and leave the Mur-
G ?.
84 LETTERS OF 1817.
raymaLjne to discover that I find other modes of com-
position more agreeable, if not more profitable. Tant
mieux, for certain works which have been too long
shoved aside, by his egregious "Journal." I have done
a little of late to the *' Tale of Paraguay," and will
complete it forthwith for publication in the course of
the season ; and when this is done, the time which
would have been otherwise allotted to Reviews, will
suffice, in the course of twelve months, to carry me
through " Oliver Newman." I can calculate upon my-
self for these things. Certain, indeed, it is, that re-
viewing costs me full thrice the time that any other
species of composition does.
As for political affairs, I have nothing to do with
them now. The battle has been won. That indeed
was a cause for which, had it been needful, I would
have spent something more precious than ink. At
home there is an appearance of security for some
time to come, and, when I touch upon political topics,
it will be with a wider range and a larger view than
belongs to any temporary topics. I have abundant ma-
terials marked out for " Espriella's Second Travels ; "
and this, I have no doubt, will pay me to the full as
well in money as the " Review " of Albemarle Street
could do, and far better in reputation. This is the only
vehicle in which I could write with perfect freedom :
such is the advantage afforded by speaking sometimes in
an assumed character, sometimes through it, and leaving
it to the reader's sagacity to discover the one if he
can. God bless you.
R. S.
1818. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 85
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Jan. 6. 1818.
My dear G.,
I have two things to say to you, which would be
reason enough for beguming a letter, even if I were not
rather disposed at this time to pen-gossip with your
worship, than to go on working.
First, then, an accident (which, though it would not
require much time to tell it, would yet take up rather
too much to be told just now) induces me to resume
my *' Inscriptions." You, I believe, did not much like
what you saw of them ; but I am persuaded that, as
pieces of composition, they will more completely exhi-
bit my skill as an artist, than any other of ray poems.
Charles Taylor, whom I remember at Westminster,
was killed at Vimeiro. I knew nothing of him, and
never exchanged a word with him ; but he is the only
Westminster man who comes in my way, and for that
reason has a sort of double claim to a place in the
series. He was a Reading man, — -you have friends at
Reading, — can you by their means learn what his ser-
vices had been ? The sepulchral inscriptions are, of
course, epitaphs ; and the epitaph should be a brief
notice of all in a man's life which is worth noticing on
his monument. My intention is not to be in any hurry
with these poems, but to correct them at leisure, as
severely as possible, and print them after the " History"
is published, as an accompaniment, in the same form.
Secondly, I learn from Westall, that his brother has
a great desire to make drawings from my operas, —
more especially from my " Thalaba." However much
I might like this, my liking can be of no avail, and the
matter, of course, must rest between him and the Longi
Homines, who, I suspect, w ill be like deaf adders. They
u 3
86 LETTERS OF 1818.
will object that the poems are not new, and have no
gi'eat sale ; and, perhaps, tlie size in which they are
printed would be a serious objection to the artist. What
tlio Longi Homines should do, if they listened to him,
should be to print an edition of my poetical works col-
lectively in octavo, with the prints, ad libitum ; and to
have, in future, the separate edition of each in a smaller
size, and without notes, so as to get into circulation
among cheap books which are found in every country
shop, — a four-shilling " Roderick," for instance. This
would never interfere with the sale of the costlier form,
and would get into circulation when even the current
editions cannot. But the Longi Homines do not under-
stand their own trade : the Grand Murray does. Ne-
vertheless, I like the long man better than the great
man.
Yet, between ourselves, I cannot help suspecting
something very like a trick about the sale of Moore's
poem ; and the suspicion is not a comfortable one. A
sixth edition of *' Lalla Rookh " is advertised in the
course of eight months. " Roderick," in three years,
is only in the fourth. Now, I am perfectly certain it
is no feeling of vanity (and you know how I feel upon
such subjects well enough to believe me) which makes
me think there cannot, possibly, have been this differ-
ence in the sale. How, then, do I explain the fact ?
By an apprehension tliat there is a ruse de guerre in it,
— a stratagem of that war which one bookseller carries
on against another : that if I were to ask as large a
sum for a poem as Moore has obtained, they might
reply to me, " There is not the same sale to be ex-
pected." And this they would support by title-pages,
putting, probably, the name of a new edition to every
500, or possibly a smaller number (for *' Lulla Rookh"
cannot by possibility have had such a sale as is pre-
tended), while the first edition of " Roderick" was 500
1818. ROBERT SOUTnEY. 87
only at a time ; but the second, 1500 ; the third, 2000 ;
and the fourth, 2000.
You will do me a service if you will get from tlio
review-gelder as many more of my old manuscripts as
you can, and in future secure from him a set of proof-
sheets in their first state ; because the paper is always
printed before he sets about the work of emasculating
it. It is very easy for him to have an additional proof
struck off in that state; and then what I have taken the
trouble to write, and he is obliging enough to strike out
afterwards, will be preserved for use hereafter. I make
as large allowances as can be required for the manage-
ment to which editor and publisher may feel or fancy
themselves bound, but the striking out a sentence, or a
paragraph, because Mr. Gifford does not like it, and the
putting in one of his words or phrases when he happens
not to like one of mine, has the effect of putting my
forbearance to the proof. Once or twice I have written
to him pretty strongly in remonstrance ; then he flatters
and promises, and next time goes to work again like a
butcherly review-gelder, as he is.
If you happen to see Murray, I wish you would say
to him he sent me in liis last parcel, '• Le Getiie de la
Revolution, consideree dans V Education^ in two volumes.
It promises a third, which was to include all that related
to Bonaparte's reign, and was to be published in No-
vember last. This third volume is precisely the thing
I want for filling up the picture of France in the intro-
ductory chapter of the Peninsular War, and the sooner
I can have it for that purpose the better, for I really
long to be in the press. You can tell him this when
you chance to see him, which will be better than my
writing just now, when I am not in good humour with
him — feeling myself scurvily treated about the last
number, in more respects than one. But I do not mean
to give the slightest intimation of this displeasure,
G 4
88 LETTERS OF 1818.
either to him or the gelder ; for however much they
may look upon me as their tool, I shall make use of
them as mine.
God bless you. I am in excellent condition for
work. ;
R. S.
To John RicJcmariy Esq.
March 27. 1818.
My dear Rickman,
I have said something upon rogues and roguery
in a paper which is now in Gifford's hands, — upon the
fitness of mending the nets of the law, so that they may
not escape through the meshes as they now do ; and the
general question I have left for further discussion, being
fully aware of the whole combination against existing
institutions.
The next paper which I write will be upon the state
of the middle class, — the excess in the educated classes
rendering emigration as necessary as bleeding when the
habit indicates apoplexy ; the condition of women ; and
lastly and mainly, the abuse of the press, arising in a
great measure from this overflow of educated or rather
half educated men.
Brougham is speechifying through the villages of
Westmoreland ! !
Westall sees a great deal of talent in the sketches
from ** Thalaba." Wynn has taken them to Murray,
and he, I understand, likes them so well that he has
written to the artist concerning them.
I have a rich arrival of my books from Milan, and
am in a happy confusion with them.
1818. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 89
The Capitf .as has a book of mine concerning the
Isles of Chiloe. Beg him to send it to Murray for me.
Is there no existing law by which these Palace Yard
meetings can be prevented. Why are not the orators
brought to trial for sedition ? or rather, why is not
Fox's absurd bill repealed, and the law of libel placed
upon its proper grounds ? Oh, for more courage where
it is most wanting !
R. S.
To John Richnan, Esq.
Keswick, May 9. 1818.
My dear Rickman,
Thank you for your note upon the Ava* leprosy.
Kava this liquor is also called, and it is not a little re-
markable that the same preparation with the same name
should be found in Chili and in Brazil also, — though not,
I believe, made from the same root. What, therefore,
(the thought this instant occurs to me) if the saliva
should be the cause of the disease ? the secretion of one
human body taken into the system of another ? as the
transfusion of healthy blood, and the transplanting of a
sound tooth, have been known to prove fatal. There
is indeed in the Kava case a fermentation which must
be taken into the account.
I have heard to-day of a custom remembered in Kes-
* " The name of Ava is given to the root of the intoxicating
long pepper {Maa-opiper methysticum) which is chewed either in
the fresh or in the dried state, as the Indian chews his maize." —
Johnson's Chemistry of Common Life, vol. i. p. 310. See History
of Brazil, vol. iii. p. 890. notes.
90 LETTERS OP 1818.
wick, and still practised in Borrodale. A married cou-
ple, who have had no children, after a certain number
of years, are cowpclled by their neighbours to give what
we call a Fumbler's Feast, and entertain them with
sweet butter, caudle, and other such regalements as are
produced at lying-in visits, after the fashion of the
country. This they do sorely against the grain, the
company entertaining themselves at their expense in
every sense of the phrase.
Such a feast was exacted from (or inflicted upon) the
couple who live opposite Miss Barker's house last week.
R. S.
To a W. Willianis Wymi, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, June 7. 1818.
My dear Wynn,
1 thank you for Dr. O'Connor's letter, and am
very glad he can derive any pleasure from the expres-
sion of the high value which I set upon his labours, —
such labours having very little to remunerate them,
except the gratification which the employment itself
affords. Thank you also for the reports of the Copy-
right Committee. The part of this business which most
concerns me is, the term of years which the booksellers
seem willing to give up. Now in my case a prolongation
of the term is of much more consequence than the eleven
copies, for my books make their way slowly ; they have
a steady sale, and there will be a greater demand for
them in the first three or four years after my death than
there ever has been, or will be, in the same length of
time during my life. But the greater number of them
will then have become common property ; and the only
1818. ROBEUT SOUTIIEY. 91
means I can perceive of securing any advantage from
them to my children, is, by never publishing a single
improvement in any of them as long as I live, but re-
serving all corrections, alterations, and additions for a
posthumous edition.
I read Lamb's death in the newspaper, and thought
more of him, poor fellow, in consequence, than I had
done for the last four-and-twenty years. Do you re-
member Bean, who was in the remove with me ? He
had a good strong head, and an excellent heart. Two
or three years ago I called at his brother's to inquire
for him, and learnt that he was soon expected home
from India, to settle in England upon the money wdiich
he had saved as an army surgeon, and the half pay to
which from length of service he was entitled. Just
about that time he was murdered by some Malay boat-
men, for the regimental money which he was carrying
to one of the East Indian islands.* 'Tis a melancholy
thing when we have got more than halfway over Mirza's
bridge to look about us, and see how many of those who
set out with us on the passage have fallen short by the
way. I should have had real pleasure in meeting again
with Bean ; all that was good in him was of the perma-
nent kind. He had travelled widely, and would have come
home with an extensive knowledge of men and things.
Poor Lamb, on the contrary, had become a mere idle
heir of fortune, and not having his estates to manage
while his father lived, had not even that occupation to
keep him from frivolities. He was an old man at thirty,
and that too being of a family in which it is degeneracy
to die at an age short of fourscore. • Scarcely a week
passes in which I do not dream of Westminster, so
strong a hold have those years upon the mind.
You franked me a letter some time ago from General
* See Autobiography in " Life and Correspondence," vol. i. p.
156.
92 LETTERS OF 1818.
Crauford, which has led to a correspondence with liim.
He has sent me some observations upon the Spanisli
war, and among my "Inscriptions" which I have finished
was an epitapii for his brother, which I was glad to
communicate to him. I have written no poetry for
many months, nor shall I have leisure for any this year,
unless a much stronger inclination should arise for it
than I ever expect to feel. Before I set out for London
in November I must bring forth the last volume of
"Brazil," and the "Life of Wesley." Of the former
about a third is printed, of Wesley the sixth sheet (in
octavo) is lying on my table.
I may tell you that the office of librarian to the Ad-
vocate Library, at Edinburgh, was offered me the other
day, — 400/. a year, with the prospect of an increase,
and the labour of forming a catalogue. Few persons
would dislike such labour less, but I am better em-
ployed ; I do not love great cities ; I will not remove
farther from my friends (being already too far from
them), and having, God be thanked, no pecuniary anx-
ieties, I am contented where lam, and as I am; wanting
nothing, and wishing nothing. God bless you, my dear
Wynn.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford^ Esq.
June 19. 1818.
My dkar G.,
Thank you for having delivered the Saints out
of Purgatory. I now look daily to hear from the Grand
Dormouse that he has seen the beatified contents of
these ponderous cases, after which they will soon be
on their way to Keswick.
]818. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 93
The offer respeccting the Advocates' Library did not
require mucli consideration, coupled as it was with tlie
condition of making a catalogue, — an immense labour for
such a library, if it were performed as it ought to be.
If it had come without any such condition, it would have
unsettled me, as the emolument would have emanci-
pated me from all task-work for the rest of my life. I
have half a mind to enclose you my last letter from the
greatest of BibliopoleSj that you may form by it some
estimation of his conceit, which is as unmeasurable as
the heighth and depth of Seeva, in the Hindoo fable.
If you were to see the manner in which he exhorts me
*' to put my whole soul" into an article for his six shil-
ling " Review," you would breathe out a pious male-
diction upon his head, and cast his letter behind the
fire. Whosoever may compile from my papers, when the
booksellers have the pickings of my bones, will find rare
morsels in the correspondence of this great man !
My cold is in its seventh or eighth week, and makes
it painful to read aloud, — a great discomfort, for it is
my custom regularly to read a proof-sheet in this man-
ner tivice ; and this last polish is of material conse-
quence, and can be given in no other way. The eye
can do little without the ear.
Mrs. Peachey has sent me a new fashioned lamp for
my study, with a ground-glass hemisphere — a hand-
some affair, but I suspect less convenient than my soli-
tary mould candle, which can be carried about, is at
hand to seal letters, and, moreover, supplies a lip-salve,
as useful and much less offensive than any which comes
from the shop. I cannot, however, try this present till
we have darkness again. Our daylight here is con-
siderably longer than yours in London at this season.
Elmsley, I hear, means to go abroad again ; and, on
his return, to take a house at Oxford.
In the reviewal of " Evelyn's Memoirs " (part of
94 LETTERS OF 1818.
which goes to the grand castrator with this letter), I
have given Sir Richard Phillips a wipe which will
amuse you, if it be suffered to stand.
God bless you.
R. S.
To John Richnan, Esq.
Keswick, July, 1818.
My dear Rickman,
I have been cheAving the cud upon your letter.
The variety of my employments is such that it enables
me, at any time, to throw aside any train of uncomfort-
able thoughts arising from the ra ov/c icfi y/xlv. And
in the case of the Appleby orator, I should not have
thought of noticing him, had it not appeared a fair op-
portunity of doing local good by mauling him heartily.
I dare say you may, long ere this, have perceived in me
a promptness to act with decision, which sometimes
amounts to temerity, and often to imprudence; and, on
the other hand, a good portion of docility in submitting
to the advice of those whom I esteem and love. I may
probably send up another portion of the intended let-
ter, but very likely it will not go beyond your hands
and Bedford's.
On the other hand, if I thought that any real good
were to be done by a full representation of the state of
tilings, I would gird up my loins to the task. How
may this best be done ? In an anonymous volume, the
secret of which shall rest between you and me, to the
exclusion of all other persons, or in the character of
"Espriclla"? which has a greater advantage even than
tliat of concealment, because no one can draw the line
1818. IIOBEIIT SOUTHEY. 95
between what is said in tlie personated character, and
what is said through it.
At present, talis ornibus, I will work on through the
oj)us majus. I send now a portion of" very curious mat-
ter, — some of it collected from the papers which I
obtained from Coxe.
My great consignment of the Saints, &;c., is arrived,
and I am delightfully busy in arranging the shelves.
God bless you.
R. S.
To John Riclcman, Esq., S^-c.
Sept. 1. 1818.
My dear R,,
I have just read through *' Clarendon's History
of the Rebellion," and the result has been rather to
strengthen my hope in the conservative principles of
society. If anything could induce me to wish the
Whigs in power, it would be their certain interference
with the press, and the probability of their undoing the
mischief which Fox did by making the jury in cases of
libel judges of the law, as well as of the fact. Yet there
has been as much fault in the manner of enforcing the
law, as in the law itself. So much time has been suf-
fered to elapse between the commission of the offence
and the trial (as in Hone's case) that the culprit has had
full leisure to get up a theatrical defence, and the public
feeling of indignation has been worn out, and subsided
into indifference.
Thank you for your note about the Jerboa. I had
made the same guess, but suppressed it because of the
difficulty of explaining how the Jerboa should get
'J6 LETTERS OF 1818.
there; being neither known in Europe nor in America,
nor in those parts of Africa from whence any ship at
any time had ever touched upon the Island. However,
as your first thouj^ht coincided with mine, I have men-
tioned the likehhood and the difRculty. You see, I am
getting on well, and with matter which will be almost
as new to the Portuguese themselves as to the English.
This chapter will be a very curious one ; and the fol-
lowing one relates to the equestrian tribes. It is a
great pleasure to perceive the end of so long a work
fairly in view.
Can you send me the third Police, the Prison,
and the Endowed School Reports. I am about to
write upon the copyright question in the next "Quar-
terly ;" and also (taking the new churches for a text),
to put together my collectanea concerning the disposal
of the dead. God bless you.
R. S.
P. S. My brother Tom is coming at Lady-day to re-
side within an hour's walk of me, in the Vale of New-
lands, a very sweet place, where he has taken thirty
acres of land. This removal is in all respects desirable
for him and for me, and will at least double the quan-
tum of my yearly exercise.
To John Hickman, Esq., ^'C.
Sept. 7. 1818.
My dear R.,
I send the enclosed packet unsealed, that if you
have any curiosity for such things, you may see some of
John Wesley's epistles. They are perfectly worthless,
1818. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 97
except the last, and this is of some value, because it
touches upon a point of doctrine whicli he preached
very rashly during many years of his life, and this letter
was written only a few weeks before his death, when his
hand sliook so that he could scarcely write intelligibly.
The others are not the less characteristic for being so
entirely empty. By such missives and such hrothering
and sistering he kept up his influence among his people.
My Life of this extraordinary man will be a very curious
book.
We have entirely escaped the drought which you
seem to be suffering from in the South. Our fields are
beautifully green, and the gardens were never more
productive.
To-day you have had your Palace Yard meeting: bad
as juries are, I cannot think there could be any difficulty
in convicting Hunt of sedition, because the jury in all
likelihood would be Burdettites, and therefore disposed
to do him justice.
Wilberforce is in this countrv, and will soon be at
Keswick. God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, %c.
Keswick, Sept. 18. 1818,
I HAVE just turned over the leaves of the " Acta
Sanctorum:" the five or six first volumes I obtained
many years ago from a public library, and made good uso
of them. All the rest are new to me. The worthy editors
seem, a little like myself, never to have been content
with the enormous work which they had undertaken to
perform, but upon every possible opportunity to have
VOL. III. U
98 LETTERS OF 1818.
enlarged it by some gratuitous labour. Among these
supererogatory works is a very curious code of Majorca
laws, with a series of as curious engravings, from the
MS., exhibiting the whole household of the King of
Majorca in their costume and employments. It is in-
deed a singularly valuable body of historical and anti-
quarian research, certainly the most laborious work that
has ever yet been produced by any body of men. My
copy is a very fine one. The bookseller at Brussels
said it was the finest he had ever obtained. It belonged
to the Franciscan Recollets at Ghent. I shall make
great use of it in due time.
" Kehama" and "Roderick" are both at this time in
the press. The latter has done great things for me, —
that is to say, it has set me on the right side of Long-
man's books. Upon the whole, it has brought me not
less than 700^. It will take probably a full year's sale
before the new edition clears its expenses, but my " Life
of Wesley" will be out for the spring sale, and I hope
that will supply the deficiency ; and whenever I can
finish my tale of " Paraguay," I may calculate upon im-
mediately selling an edition of 2000. But in truth I
would willingly have done with poetry, and confine my-
self to those subjects for which I possess advantages that
are not likely soon to meet in any one person.
Wilberforce is expected in Keswick to-day, with his
wife and his sons and his daughters, and his sons'
friends, and his daughters' friends, and his men servants,
and his maid servants. Sir George and Lady Beaumont
are here. lie knew the country before I was born, and
passed a summer in it soon after his marriage, three-and-
forty years ago : and both he and Lady Beaumont enjoy
it as much now as ever they did. I expect a guest next
week, whom perhaps you may have heard the Doctor
niention ; his name is Chauncey Townsend, a youth with
every imaginable advantage that nature and fortune can
1818. ROBERT SOUTUEY 99
bestow. Old Townsend, the traveller, was his great
uncle ; from him he has acquired a taste for mineralogy,
and that taste will take me some tough walks among
the mountains.
We have had no drought in the North ; nothing could,
indeed, be more favourable than our weather, or finer than
our harvest. But I fear you will suffer dreadfully in the
spring. What is hecome of Blackstone, that he has
not yet made his appearance ? General Peachey is
looking out for him also, so that he will have a bed if
he should arrive at the same time with Chauncey
Townsend.
Lord Lowther drank tea with us last week, bringing
over Wordsworth to introduce him, for I had never seen
him before. The only other great person whom I have
seen was the Grand Murray himself, on his way to
Edinburgh. He, I believe, is the very grandest person-
age among mankind, now that there is no longer a
Grand Mo<rul. There ouscht to be an article of mine
upon Evelyn's " Journal " in his next number, and
another upon the means of improving the people. I
am about to write upon the Copyright Bill, and upon
the new churches. God bless you.
R. S.
To John Jiickman, Esq., 8fc.
■ October 5. 1818.
My dear R.,
Wilberforce has been with me this morning, to
the utter astonishment of all in the house who have yet
sctn him ; SMch a. siragglinri visitor, — he was longer a
going, going, going, than a bad bale of goods at an auc-
11
100 LETTERS OP 1818
tion ; and even when he began to go, he brought to at
the bookcase on the staircase, and again in the parlour,
to tlic utter despair of his wife, who resigns herself with
comical composure to all his comicalities. He will be
here during the week, and I shall do my best to
strengthen in him certain wholesome apprehensions
which he feels concerning the state of the press.
Dauncey, the counsel, is here also. I was very inti-
mate W'ith his wife (who has been dead many years) ;
indeed I was almost bred up with her. He is a tho-
roughly right-minded man.
I have at this time for a guest the only son of Hare
Townsend, who was, as you may remember, a great
ally of Burdett. I am glad to hear that this person is
evidently much changed of late, and begins to see
that under such mob leaders as Hone, Hunt, and Co.,
estates would be as much in danger as thrones and
churches.
I have two papers in the *' Quarterly Review," —
*' Evelyn's Memoirs," and the other which you recog-
nised, and which is the worse for not having been plan-
ned. I wrote the greater part thinking that your com-
munications might be inserted, and hence there is a
want of method about it, probably rather more than
wliat tliere always is in my meditations for Albemarle
Street. But I must dress to go dine at the Island.
God bless you.
R. S.
To John Hickman, Esq.
Oct. 10. 1818.
My dear R.,
I have been doing my best to impress uponWilber-
force's mind a sense of tlic real dangers of the country ;
1818. ROIJERT SOUTIIEY. 101
and I think if any feasible plan could be struck out, it
is very likely that he might be induced to act a very
useful part. What I propose is, that Fox's law of libel
should be repealed. He talked of the difficulty of doing
this ; and I told him that if some such measure were
not taken, and the licentiousness of the press effectually
curbed, — unless he and I made haste to our graves, we
should both be sent to the scaffold. He will not forget
this, and I shall take care to deepen the impression.
Dauncey, the counsel, has been here. I had much
talk with him upon these things, and found that he en-
tirely coincided with us, both as to the evil, and the
means of remedy ; and sure I am, that if a proper law
of libel were brought forward, and a proper punishment
for treason in its first stages, they would be carried in
spite of all clamour. Wynn would be an excellent man
to come forward on such an occasion ; but though he
knows the danger, I fear he would shrink from the re-
medy — not from any obloquy to which such a measure
would expose him.
If there were wisdom and courage enough to take up
this matter properly, I would undertake to prepai-e the
public by a full and forcible exposition of the danger.
Wilberforce is very well disposed as to forming an as-
sociation for the preservation, &c. Is it worth while to
instigate him to this ? I shall write to him after he has
left this country, and have great reason to suppose that
I can in some degree influence him. You see, I am
very far from despairing ; and, indeed, the worse things
grow, the more reason is there for exerting ourselves to
mend them. And you see I am not idle. The smaller
packet had better go straight to Pople's, without paying
a visit to Streatham ; it is an interpolation made just in
time. God bless you.
R. S.
H 3
102 LETTERS OF 1818.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Oct. 26. 1618.
My dear Grosvenor,
I certainly shall not quan-el with just Nemesis
and the other awful Powers of Vengeance, for any pu-
nishment which they may have inflicted upon two persons
who thought proper to go to Oswestry and the country
of the Welsh barbarians, when they might have come
to Keswick, where they would have had fine weather
and rare society to boot. I daresay you still smell like
Jacob when he personated his brother Esau ; unless,
indeed, there be a filthy odour of leeks to overpower
the hircine savour which you must have brought away
with you. Faugh ! You miserable men, to give up
Derwentwater, and Skiddaw, and Saddleback (over
which noble mountain I have walked this very day),
and Wastwater, (whither I would have gone with you,
ye wretches ! ) and Crummock, and Borrodale, and
Ulswater, &c. &c. &c. &;c. &c. &c. &c. &c. &c. &c. &c.,
for rain, and lumbago, and an Oswestry parsonage !
You might have laid in a stock of health for seven
years upon these blessed mountains, where there would
have been nothing between you and heaven. But you
must go to Wales, forsooth ! or to the Welsh border,
which is worse, as if you had been a couple of sheep-
stealers ! and so would keep company with Taffy ; or,
like rats, were unable to resist a bait of toasted cheese !
So much, by way of condolence !
Now for myself. You will conclude that I am in
tolerable health when you hear that I was on foot from
half-past ten this morning till six this evening, without
resting (more than a few minutes occasionally on a stone),
or any other food than a single apple. Tlic General was
my foot companion, and Chauncey Townsend was with
1818. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 103
US on horseback ; for he, poor fellow, has not strength
for such undertakings. He has been with me nearly a
month, and enjoys himself just as could be vviished. I
luive been out a good deal with him, though less than
if he had been a good pedestrian, and probably I may
be the better for it.
You will have seen my two papers in the last " Q. R."
The Alegistos thought proper, when he sent me 150/.
for them, to remind me that such prices could not be
afforded unless the articles produced a decided im-
pression, to observe that the latter part of Evelyn had
been approved, and to offer some hints respecting the
arrangement of such reviewals in future. I daresay my
answer would astonish him. It was written in thorough
good humour, and without expressing the slightest re-
sentment at such impertinence : in truth, I understand
his humour too well to feel anything except amusement
at it. But I told him that though his prices were very
liberal, it was nevertheless very plain that I was em-
ploying myself less profitably (of which I gave him con-
vincing proofs), and less worthily (which he will not
very easily comprehend), in writing for them than in
pursuing my own greater avocations ; and that, there-
fore, he must admit it to be a matter of prudence on
my part, when I should have executed the paper in
hand, to become only an occasional contributor to the
" Q-. R.," instead of a regular assistant, and that at long
intervals. He is chewing the cud upon this, and I
shall adhere to my purpose.
Therefore, when I have finished what I have in hand
for him for this next number, instead of supplying any-
thing for the following one, I shall complete my tale of
" Paraguay," which, with the help of some drawings from
Nash, will bring me about 300/., by an edition of 2000.
Then I shall go to my long-planned tale of "Oliver
Newman," and for this I will demand a price of the
II 4
104 LETTERS OF 1818.
Longmen. By the time that I reach the age of fifty, if
I should live so long, it is fit and proper that I should
have realised enough to emancipate myself from all the
drudgery of literature ; that is to say, from all such
writing as is performed merely for the sake of bread.
Herewith, I send you Ballantyne's promissory note,
— a lucky recovery of money which I had given up for
lost, though I am still a loser to the amount of as much
more. But this is the purchase-money of my share in that
" Register," for which I did such good yeoman-service.
Do you put it into proper hands to negotiate it ; and
when you have the proceeds, add to them from my next
payment as much as may suffice to buy in 300/. in the
31. per cents. I have 100/. already there, and shall
then be worth 12/. per annum. My incomings this
year are considerably less than the last. "Kehama"
and " Roderick" are reprinting, and will hardly pay
their expenses next year ; but I may look to " Wesley"
for something, though it will be little in proportion to
the time and labour bestowed upon the work.
These cares do not sit heavily upon me ; except, in-
deed, that my death (a much more likely event than his
own) would leave Tom to bear the whole penalty of his
rash marriage. A circumstance of a very different na-
ture affects me mucli more in my lieart of hearts. After
an interval of more than six years, I am likely to become
again a father; and you may well imagine what feelings
this must occasion, after the grievous loss which we
have sustained in those years, — a loss which I shall never
wholly overcome. This prospect, indeed, only makes me
feel more deeply how irreparable it is ; for, setting aside
the myriad or million chances against my having such
another son as that incomparable boy, it is but too
certain that I should neither have life nor heart ever
again to perform my duty by another in the same
manner.
1S18. ROBERT SOUTIIKY. 105
This will prevent me from leaving home till February
or March. Edith's spirits are, as you may suppose,
very much affected, and she suffers very much in her
bodily health. God bless you.
li. S.
To John Rickinany Esq.
Keswick, Nov. 1818.
My dear R.,
There is a mulatto now living in Pernambuco,
who was born in the service of Joam Fernandez Vieira,
and was six or seven years old at the time of his death ;
he cannot, therefore, be less than 145 years old. His
limbs are withered, his skin shrivelled, he has lost
almost all his teeth, and wanders in his discourse; but
he is erect, his eye bright, and his voice full and clear.
Koster has seen and conversed with him. He spoke of
something as having happened "just now;" which
phrase, when he was further questioned, he explained
to mean about fifty years ago.
Thank the Capitaneus for his " Memoir." I suspect
that some marine volcanoes have been the cause of this
dislocation of the ice ; and my ground for the suspicion
is that the fish have deserted the coast of Kamtschatka,
thereby occasioning, from want of other food, a helium
civile among the bears, and a helium plusquam civile of
the bears against the Russians and Kamtschatchans.
Barrow seems to have succeeded to Dalrymple as a
theorist at the Admiralty. I wonder the Congo ex-
pedition has not made him especially cautious of expos-
ing valuable lives to imminent danger.
R. S.
106 LETTERS OF 1819.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Jan. 1. 1819.
My dear G.,
Your pencils are on my chimney-piece, and the
next question is how to transport them to yours, for
they are of an unfrankable shape and texture; and at
this season of the year no opportunity of sending them
by a private hand is likely to occur ; and, unluckily,
it so happens that I never stood more in need of such
an opportunity.
I am very much obliged to Shields for his desire of
setting my verses to music, very much flattered, &;c. &c.;
and very much obliged to you for your solicitude about
them, and entirely of your opinion as to the said
verses, as far as regards their merit. You know I told
you that simple fiddling was not fit for them, — they
ought to be bum-fiddled ! But as for their giving of-
fence, God help the silly person who should be offended
at them ! They have no other fault than that of being
altogether good for nothing; and no other merit than
that of being entirely suitable to the subject; that is
to say, quite as common-place. I thought the subject
was no matter of choice, — the Queen's death coming
so close upon the end of the year. Otherwise it is most
likely I should have taken a general topic, and given a
lyrical sketch of the state of Europe, which might have
been a companion to that ode of mine, written four
years ago, wherewith I am well pleased. There is no
reason why I should not write such an ode still (except
that I am much better employed) ; but you, yourself,
say it cannot be in time, and so, in Cumberland
phrase, " I need not fash myself." I have done my
exercise ; a very bad one it is, I know ; but I do not
think it will be looked over ; and if it should, and they
1819. IIOBERT SOUTIIEY. 107
were to sconce me a quarter's salary for it, I can tell
them this, that I could get 251. in less time than it
would take me to make a better. Nevertheless, if any-
thing comes into a head, which is at present far too
much occupied to have room in it for stray fancies, I
will give the "Minerva" birth; and, peradventure, it
may do as well for next year as for this, if all parties
concerned should see another new year, and if Europe
continues for so long at peace. Shields is a goodnatured
man ; and, really, I will in future let him have my ex-
ercise in full time. He shall have it by the end of
November. At present I think we are completely out
of the scrape.
My dear Grosvenor, why do you speak in such terms
of Haydon ? who is, even by the acknowledgment of
those who dislike him most, a man of first-rate power
in his art. He may have done some foolish things, and
acted indiscreetly in others; but to speak of him with
contempt, and call him a coxcomb, is out of all reason.
He has long since broken off all connection with Leigh
Hunt on account of his mischievous opinions ; but I
have nothing to do with his friendships or his enmities.
I know him only as one of those painters who, if op-
portunity were given them, would place this country as
much above all others in that art, as we are in arms
and in poetry, and in the real enjoyments of life.
Nor do you speak in consonance with my feelings
concerning your friend Mr. Fielding, and James Fon-
taine. If the former is thinking more of the world to
come than of this, it Is not a mental dram-drinking to
which he has taken, but the only proper diet. Fon-
taine is not a dreamer, but a sober and rational in-
quirer into a subject of no trifling importance, inasmuch
as it involves the most reasonable objection to our esta-
blished creed. He has not written well, and, therefore,
will produce little or no effect. The book is far too
108 LETTERS OF 1819.
long, and wants method as well as condensation. But
he is right, and when I come to town I should like to
see him.
My house is dismally silent. Tantemagne * (a coin-
age this moment from the mint) went yesterday with
Sara and Shedaw to Rydal, where they will stay about
a fortnight. Talking of Tantemagne, I threaten her
sometimes that I will import an aimt-caiei' from Brazil.
I wrote lately to Wynn, urging him to stand in
Romilly's place, and put himself at the head of that
reform on the criminal laws which must be made, and
which he will conduct with more judgment and ujion
better principles than Sir Samuel. I do not want him
to be more in opposition than he is ; indeed, I would
far rather see him with the Government, and this he
knows. But I would have him more in the eyes of the
country, and here the way for him is open.
I suppose Murray will have to send me Mr. Butler's
book. We have an interchange of this kind, and are
upon the best terms with each other; — though he is
the most zealous defender of the Catholics (his own
persuasion), and I the most zealous opposer of that
abominable corruption of Christianity, and of the im-
pudent cry of Catholic Emancipation.
God bless you, and give you many a happy new year.
B/. S.
To IV alter Savage Landor, Esq.
Keswick, Jan. 3. 1819.
My dear Landor,
I procrastinated my intended letter too long,
till, upon the belief you would have left Como, I knew
* ]\Irs. ColeridffO.
1819. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 109
not where to direct, and Senlioiise, whom I desired to
obtain your address from your brother Robert, has not
written to me ; therefore I was doubly glad to receive
yours from Pisa. It came in eighteen days. My house
was purchased by a silversmith in Cockspur Street, a
native of Borrodale here. An injunction against the
sale was obtained in favour of the widow of a former
owner: the matter is in Chancer}' : the actual landlord
is in Carlisle jail, and I am paying rent to a mortgagee.
Disturbed in possession of the house I cannot be for
twelve years to come ; and as long as there is any liti-
gation, I am in no danger of being annoyed by cutting
up the grounds. Unless some such annoyance should
drive me away, in all likelihood I shall be settled here
for life. This is the sixteenth year of my residence :
and though there are some local objections, and some in-
convenience in the distance from London, I know not
where I could pitch my tent more to my satisfaction.
A better climate is not to be had without going out of
England ; and that cannot be done because of my pur-
suits, my books, and my family.
I was quite certain that you would appreciate Words-
worth justly. Nations, you say, are not proud of living
genius. They are proud of it only as far as they under-
stand it ; and the majorit}', being incapable of under-
standing it, can never admire it, till they take it upon
trust : so that two or three generations must pass before
the public affect to admire such poets as Milton and
Wordsworth. Of such men the world scarcely produces
one in a millennium ; — has it, indeed, ever produced
more than two ? for Shakspeare is of a different class.
But of all inferior degrees of poets no age and no
country was ever so prolific as our own : every season
produces some half dozen poems, not one of which ob-
tains the slightest attention, and any one of which would
110 LETTERS OP 1819.
liave the author celehvated above all contemporaries five-
and-tNventy years ago.
Let me know your movements, and how I may direct
a parcel to you in May, by which time the concluding
volume of " Brazil" will be finished, and the " Life of
Wesley ; " and I will put in something else to make them
the better worth their freight. The former contains
inuch curious matter, containing stages of society whicli
have hitherto obtained little notice, but are important
links in our knowledge of the history of man and of
society. The " Life of Wesley " is full of extraordinary
facts, and will carry you into another world as little like
the one with which you are conversant as if it were
another planet.
Since I returned from the Continent, I have never
been farther from home than Rydal. I have been
working on at these works, with my usual summer and
autumnal interruptions, and the usual expenditure of
time for the " Quarterly Review." The verses which I
have written are so few that they do not deserve to be
mentioned. As soon as these worlds are through the
press, I go to Tiondon, and put to press the " History
of the Peninsular War," of which good part is ready. I
suppose, we shall hear of a Cabinet revolution from that
poor country ! Anything I do not expect, nor do I
know what to wish for, where any change will too pro-
bably be but a change of evils. Some arrangement like
that at Lisbon, when Affonso VL was set aside for in-
capacity, is the most likely catastrophe, and the one
which would produce least mischief. Look where we
will through the civilised world, the materials for ex-
plosion seem ready ; and there is no exhilarating consi-
deration for one who has lived long enough to know
that order is the first thing needful in society. Here in
England a fair harvest and a flourishing trade give us a
surface of tranquillity. But all our institutions, civil
1819. IIOBERT SOUTIlEy. Ill
and religious, nay and whatever is sacred in public and
in private life, are continually attacked by the press in
every shape : by sapping, and mining, and by battering
in breach. On the other hand, there are powerful
counteracting causes at work, and in the struggle be-
tween good and evil, the destructive and conservative
principles, which this literally is, my faith and my con-
stitution are alike on the hopeful side.
When you have seen enough of Italy, I think you
will be more disposed to tarry awhile in Switzerland
than in any other part of the Continent ; if you can
forgive them for speaking French, an Englishman feels
more at home among the Swiss than with any other
people : the religion and their domestic character are
more like what he has been accustomed to ; and he
feels that he is breathing free air, whicli is a blessed
thing. I should hesitate between Bern and Lausanne.
Perhaps I may see you before you leave Italy. I dream
of seeing Rome before I die ; and should I live to carry
the " Peninsular War " through the press (the work of
two years from this time), I should endeavour to lay my
plans so as to enter Italy by the south of France late in
the autumn, and leave it in the spring by way of the
Tyrol. It is but a dream ; but one of those dreams
which bring about their own accomplishment.
God bless you with many and happy years.
R. S.
To J. Neville White, Esq.
Keswick, January 9. 1819.
My dear Neville,
Writing to you I find when I am in want of
anything, is like putting on Fortunatus's wishing-cap.
112 LETTERS OF 1819.
I cannot tell you liow mucli I was surprised and grati-
fied yesterday by the contents of your parcel. The
book arrived in the best time possible, to assist me with
materials in that part precisely where they are most
scanty and I was most deficient, and completely to
confirm the view which I had taken of the conduct of
the Jesuits in the most important part of the volume,
and indeed of the work. Dean Funes has a strong
Spanish antipathy for the Portuguese: except where
this feeling predominates, I find his opinions, both of
men and measures, to coincide with my own in every
important point, and this coincidence is so remarkable
as to be not a little gratifying to me.
I am truly rejoiced at what you say of yourself, your
prospects, and your intentions. You have a right to
look forward with hope, because you can look back with
satisfaction ; and where a man is thus situated with re-
spect to the past and the future, he may justly think
himself happy, and be thankful that he was born into
the world.
Condor's first volume is buried on my table under a
tremendous accumulation of Spanish, Portuguese, Ma-
nuscripts, and Methodism. I am ashamed of not hav-
ing yet read it, and written to him. I have gone some
way through the first volume. The book does him very
great credit, though I believe him to be radically wrong;
hatiyifj that, as the woman said, he may defy criticism.
You have exactly hit the blot. Here lies the truth :
what is vital and spiritual in religion, is compatible with
various forms, witii many imperfections and errors of
belief, and with much alloy of superstition ; and as it
is independent of all rational distinctions, it acts when
those distinctions are forgotten. The question is in
what manner can Governments best provide for the
religious instruction of the people, and how can they
best maintain those outward and visible forms, without
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 113
which (supposing them to be totally abandoned) the in-
ward and spiritual grace could no more exist, than our
life could exist on earth without the body in which it
resides. Now I affirm that it is just as much the duty
of a Government to establish a National Church, endow
it largely, and support it liberally, as it is for the
father of a family to train up his children in the way he
would have them go.
I am most exceedingly obliged to your friend Mr.
John M'Neile, and I beg you will tell him so when you
have an opportunity. I should not have known that
such a book was in existence, had it not been for the
Yankee Report, and nothing could have been more
opportune for me than its arrival. You know with
what solicitude I seek for documents upon every subject
on which I am employed, but you can hardly estimate
the great delight there is in obtaining them, when they
are not easily obtainable, and especially when they are
unexpected.
Mrs. Southey desires to be most kindly remembered.
Edith and Sara are with Mrs. Coleridge, at Words-
worth's, as happy as playfellows, jackasses, and fiddles,
can make them. These are the joys of their dancing
days !
God bless you, my dear Neville.
Yours most affectionately,
Robert Southey.
VOL. III.
114 LETTERS OF 1819.
To John Hickman, Esq., (§r.
Keswick, Jan. 25. 1819.
My dear R.,
Thank you for a succession of proof sheets, every
one of which operates upon me like the crack of a
whip in the air upon a willing horse. I have been
lucky enough, by means of Neville White, to get a
history of Buenos Ayres, Tucuman, and Paraguay, lately
printed at Buenos Ayres, which I first §.aw mentioned
in the "Report" of the Yankee Commissioners. No-
thing could arrive more opportunely ; it gives me
information where I most wanted it, and in the most
satisfactory manner confirms the view I had taken of
those points that are most disputed. In this work of
Funes' is the only account which has ever appeared of
the tremendous insurrection of the Peruvians under one
of the Inca blood in 1782-3. In two instances they
demolished the fortifications of a Spanish town by
bringing a 7-irer to bear upon them. It is very evident
to me, that if the Indians were as active and as powerful
now as they were forty years ago, the end of these civil
wars would be, that they would destroy the surviving
Spaniards, and lay the country waste ; but I suspect
that since the expulsion of the Jesuits, spirits have been
introduced among them freely, and that this has con-
tributed to destroy them, almost as much as their own
cursed practices of abortion and infanticide. The
Buenos Ayres historian, however, speaks of them as
still formidable.
God bless you.
£V. S.
1813. ROBERT SOUTIIET. 115
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Jan. 26. 1819.
Your " Aristotle " is here ; shall it be sent to you .''
There will be an opportunity ere long of enclosing
it in a parcel to Longman's.
Nothing could have answered more opportunely than
your letter this afternoon, for there came with it its
very best proof sheet, in which your story, if I had
remembered it, would have had its place. So it is
inserted just where it ought to be. By a great piece
of good fortune, Neville White has procured for me the
" History of Paraguay, Tucuman, and Buenos Ayres,
by Dr. Gregorio Funes, Dean of Cordova, in Tucuman."
Here I have a full Spanish account of all the trans-
actions of the respective Colonies, Rio Grande, South
Catalina, and the Uruagay provinces, which, with what
I find in the " Corografia Brazilica," will enable me to
bring down the series of public transactions without
any apparent chasm to the close of the histor}'. I am
going on, tooth and nail, with this one subject. If Dr.
Bell will let me, I shall send off more copy this night,
and to-morrow I expect to finish the chapter. Of all
these lives of Pombal, the one in manuscript is the
best; but the "Anedotti" contains most particulars
respecting the Jesuits. A certain George Moore, Esq.
has set forth a " Life," upon the strength of materials
supplied by his friend, the Marquis of Sligo; but in
what the materials have consisted, it would be difficult
to discover — Ex nihilo, 8^-c. The gentleman knows
nothing of Portugal, and as little as possible of Pombal.
1 perceive, that when I come to this part of the home
history, I shall not be able to proceed to my satisfac-
tion, unless I can obtain a complete collection of the
116 LETTERS OF 1819.
Alvaras*, Sec. during his administration. But this is
lookinjr far forward.
Your old acquaintance Ratton-|- will be of some use
in the next chapter. The work eventually grows under
my hands, and it may, possibly, still extend to four
chapters more; but after so much has been done, this
is nothing, and fifty pages in the volume more or less
are not to be regarded.
It is very gratifying to perceive that Turner, who has
had access to archives and manuscript histories, confirms
the view which I have taken of all transactions belonging
to my subject as well as his, except where the Portu-
guese are concerned. The only Spanish feeling which
he has retained seems to be a hearty hatred of his
neighbours; but in every other point I could not have
desired a more entire conformity. The most curious
part of his book is a history of tlie insurrection of the
Indians under one of the Inca blood during our Ame-
rican war. No details had ever before been published.
It is a dreadful story: the Peruvians displayed a degree
of talent very superior to my poor friends the Guaranics.
Twice when they were besieging Spanish towns, they
dammed up a river, and brought its waters to bear upon
the walls.
Gifibrd has postponed both my papers, which he was
very welcome to do. I shall do no more than I can
afford for the "(Quarterly Review" in future; and I
am very much disposed to think that if I get through
the subjects which have long been promised, my labours
will conclude with them. The index means nothing
more than that it will answer Murray's purpose to
publish it. The "E. R." sold the same at the end of
twenty volumes.
I have long expected that Scott would be baronetted;
* Sec History of BijizII, vol. iii. p. -io., note.
t Ibid, vol. iii. p. 553., note.
1819. ROBERT SOUTnEY. Il7
liis means are probably ample for a Scotch baronet,
(you remember the old stave, " A Gentleman of Wales,
a Knight of Cales," &c.) ; and if he be the author of the
** Novels "(as I am sure he is), no other man has ever
contributed so long and so largely to the amusement of
his contemporaries. You would like him much if you
knew him. He is a good-hearted man, frank, friendly,
generous, without a spark of envy in his nature, and
not in the slightest degree inflated by his extraordinary
success. As for myself, I know that I am in my voca-
tion, and all things considered, I believe that I am in
my place. Old George Wither's motto might almost
serve for mine, — " Nee haheo, nee careo, nee euro." " I
look for nothing in this world, I want for nothing, I
wish for nothing." I am too old to change my way of
life, even if I had ever been fit for any other ; and
with regard to the Court, if I had not been obliged to
kiss hands upon the appointment, the Prince would
never have seen his poet — Quid Rom(S faciam, &c,
Adanison the Newcastle lawyer, whom I usually call
A-dam-son of the Muses, is publishing a " Life of
Camoeris" in two volumes. A pretty life it will be!
He seems to be a very worthy and very simple sort of
man, with no more talents for literature than I have
for dancing, and yet an uncontrollable inclination for
it. 1 have an opportunity of sending for books to
Madrid, through Kinder, who has a mercantile concern
there ; and by that channel I shall endeavour to obtain
Lozano, Montoya, Xarque, and such other books as
are wanting to complete the Paraguay collection. If
that country were but safe, I have a strong desire to
visit it once more. There will be a good deal to add
in the " Brazilian History " whenever it may be re-
printed ; and though it is very possible that this may
not take place in my lifetime, I shall make the im-
provement as leisure may offer and materials occur.
I 3
118 LETTERS OF 1819.
Love to my aunt. It may be yet a month before I
have any domestic intelligence to communicate.
God bless you.
R. S.
To a IF. W. Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, Jan. 27. 1819,
My dear Wynn,
The cause of my wishing to ascertain whether I
was disqualified for voting at an election, either by my
pension or office, was simply this : Brougham has
placed these counties in a state of permanent warfare,
upon a scheme originally devised by Lord Stanhope for
the benefit of the county of Kent. Both parties are
buying up freeholds ; and being asked to give my assist-
ance in this way, I promised so to do, when I might
have 100/. which I could vest in Westmoreland land ;
but the opportunity occurred too soon ; and as I could
not be ready with the money, I did not choose to accept
a loan, for two valid reasons : the one an apprehension
that the money for which I should have stood indebted
to one with whom I am intimate enough to allow of
such a transaction, might have in reality been advanced
from a diflTerent quarter, and therefore, in case an
election had occurred before it was repaid, have ex-
posed me to an unpleasant feeling in tendering my vote ;
the other, a determination never to enter into an en-
gagement which it may be difficult or inconvenient for
me to fulfil, if I can possibly help it. For the greater
part of my yearly expenses must still be supplied by
the year's labour, and is therefore wholly contingent
upon the continuance of health, eye-sight, and the use
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 119
of my faculties, eitlier of which may fail me at any
moment.
It appears to me that you undervalue your own
weiglit in Parliament, and do not perhaps see the state
of the board so well as a looker-on. The great pieces
are cleared off, and you may come in, like a castle, to-
ward the end of tlie game. It appears to me that the
question of the criminal law cannot long be evaded ;
that ^Ministers will not take it into their own hands as
they ought to do, because they never have courage
enough, or foresight enough, to anticipate the public
feeling, and thereby to direct it ; but that they would
be glad to see it in your hands, rather than in those of
a thick and thin Oppositionist, to whom it would give
popularity at their expense, and by whom it certainly
will be taken up, if no better person steps forward.
Among the things to be desired, one, I think, is that
transportation should always be for life, and the gra-
dation of punishment be measured by the term for
which the convict was to be employed in public works.
I wish, too, seeing the constant increase of crime, that
from among the numbers of soldiers whom we have
discharged, a strong patrole had been formed, who
might have retained as much of their discipline as would
have been convenient, and been subjected to the civil
power. They would have been better employed in
preventing robberies and murders than in committing
them, which in too many instances will be the alter-
native.
I know not what has possessed Gifford and Murray
to postpone or set aside my paper upon the copyright
question ; the bill of fare indicates three or four sub-
jects which had certainly no very imperative claims for
preference, and one would have supposed Murray might
have had some regard to his own interest in thfe question.
I 4
120 LETTERS OF 1819.
There is nothing of mine in the number, and will be
very little hereafter, if I can by any means avoid it.
I need not say how much it gratified me to see the
manner in which you were spoken of by Canning the
other day ; and this is an indication, at least, of more
weight and character than you gave yourself credit for.
That the criminal laws will undergo some alteration,
and the prison discipline a thorough reform, is, I think,
certain. (It is odd enough that, in the " Edinburgh
Register," 1 should have wished to have our prisons
placed under the superintendence of the Quakers.)
But there remains a much more Herculean task, which
is to clear away the rubbish of law ; for in truth the
pedantry and chicanery, and the insufferable delays,
vexations, and expense of law, are among the first evils
of existing society — I had almost said the greatest.
One of the projects to which I look forward in the
summer is, that of taking up my old friend " Espriella,"
and putting together the facts and materials which have
occurred to me during the last ten years. That cha-
racter gives me the same license as a mask would do.
Did I send you the opening of " Oliver Newman."
in a small square size, so as to lie within the compass
of a common frank, or in half quatrain form ? In
whichever shape it was, you shall have the whole in
sequence as it proceeds. I am only in the third book.
The desire of finishing my " Brazil " is so strong upon
me, that I scarcely dream of anything else, now that
the end is in sight.
Has anything been done about looking for the Welsh
Indians ? I must confess that the more I know of the
country, the less likely does the chance of discovering
them appear. If a savage has at any time been met
with who spoke Welsh, I should be inclined to suspect
that he was a Welshman who had turned savage. There
are always deserters from civilisation : among them
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 121
Frencli, English, and Yankee; and why not now and
then a stray Welshman ?
The Spaniards have begun to publish a history of
their late war by a committee of officers at Madrid. I
have a French translation of the first volume, and it
appears to be exceedingly poor. Two odd circum-
stances relating to myself lead me to mention it now.
They boast of their materials, and give a list of them,
in which list my history appears before it is written. In
the body of the work they adopt an observation from
the "Edinburgh Annual Register," and speak of the
author as — " Un journaliste Anglais, aiissi connu par
V elegance de son style, que par la justesse de ses aper-
qus, et I'independance de ses idees." And the note
upon the passage refers to " Edingbourg Review, pre-
mier volume, premier partie." I suspect that the re-
ference is I'ight in the original, and that the French
translator has boldly made a conjectural emendation.
But putting Velegance out of the question, the praise is
worth having. This work will be of great advantage
to me. God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Friday, Feb. 10. 1819.
My dear G.,
Deliver the "Ode," if you please, to Shields,
and desire him to accommodate with music as little or
as much of it as he pleases. He will, probably, choose
the second and last stanza ; any but the first, which
is in its place in the poem, but could not be so at
Court.
122 LETTERS OP 1819.
Willi regard to your proposal, you seem not to have
considered the situation in which I should appear were
such a thing to take wind (as the phrase is), which
most assuredly it would, concerning the manner of the
ode in question. I cannot say that I think the
thing worth the additional waste of time which would
be required to defend it ; but for the fitness of ex-
pressing political opinions which are perfectly in unison
with those of the Prince and his Ministers, as pro-
nounced by him in his speech, and by them in the mea-
sures which they are now adopting, I can have no
doubt. My opinion is, that a New Year's ode should
always relate to public circumstances ; and a Birth Day
one to the person or family of the Prince to whom it is
addressed. When the latter comes upon me, I shall
lower the tone to the subject. As long as I can help
it, I will never suffer any of these compositions to get
abroad. This is, as far as I can, lessening the folly of
the custom, and preparing the way for its abolition ;
for you may be sure, it is generally supposed that I am
not called upon to write, as my predecessors were. If
I give the composer more trouble than poor Pye did, I
am sorry for it ; but I can no more write like Mr. Pye,
than Mr. Pye could write like me. The Pye crust and
mine were not made of the same materials. But I sup-
pose there can be no more difficulty in fitting my
rhythm to the fiddle, than there is setting an anthem.
I am not so much out of the world as you imagine ;
but know more of political intentions and opinions in
high places, without seeking it, than you would suspect,
and this from sundry quarters. And this reminds me
to tell you, that Brooksbank is acting very indiscreetly
in endeavouring to propagate his religious opinions by
very objectionable and offensive means : means, indeed,
so offensive, that I must notice them in the *' Q. R."
when T enlarge the paper upon " New Churches," as I
1819.
ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 123
am preparing to do. Of course, I shall not hint at him,
nor shall there be the slightest allusion which might imply
a knowledge of the offender ; but it is a strong case, and
should any measure be brought forward to prevent the
religion of the country from being insulted, it is very
likely to be mentioned from the Bench.
At present I am reviewing " Marlborough," and shall
send off the first portion to Gilford in a few days : and
I am going on with " Wesley" in good spirits, as I draw
within sight of the end. What you said about the
King set my thoughts at work ; I planned something
which, in the style of fiction, will more resemble Dante
than any other writer : of the manner I shall say no-
thing till there is a good specimen ready, which may
astonish and silence you ; at the same time I have
begun, and a)n in high good humour with the design
and the fashion of the workmanship.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Feb. 27. 1819.
My dear G.,
I intend to call my boy Cuthbert. If any one
asks why, it is reason enough that I like genuine
English names, and such as are peculiar, without being
fantastic. But you may, for your own satisfaction, find
the secret feeling that leads me to choose it in a legend
which Wordsworth has versified, as an inscription for
St. Herbert's Island. So, if you do not like the name
(which yet, for its own sake, deserves to be liked), do
not object to it.
12-1 LETTERS OF 1819k
I have seen Wilson's German account of me in the
newspapers. Can we wonder at the blunders and ex-
aggerations with which biography is filled ? Much per-
sonal opportunity of knowing me he has not had, for
I could not tolerate his manner of life enough to accept
the advances which he made towards an intimacy ; but
he must have heard enough of me from those who knew
me and my habits well; and yet in all that he says
about my allotment of time, there is no other foundation
of truth, than that when I could not afford to write
poetry at any other time, I wrote it before breakfast,
and counted it as so much gained from sleep. You
will easily suppose that neither flattery nor obloquy
have much effect upon one who has been so much ac-
customed to both. I am only sorry that he has spoken
in such absurd terms of my library, which is only ex-
traordinarily good in relation to the circumstances of
its possessor. The letter is Germanish enough, in all
conscience ; but he forgets his assumed character when
he represents me as making puns to a foreigner, which
would be throwing pearls before swine.
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, March 22. 1819.
I HAVE had a New Englander here lately from Lis-
bon. He tells me that the Academy have published
two more volumes of the " Chronicas Ineditas," — the
most Irish title, surely, that ever was affixed to a book !
Your opposite neighbour, Ant. Robeiro dos Santos,
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 125
died last 3'ear. Muller, also, is dead. Muller, it seems,
has translated that paper of mine upon Portuguese
Literature in the second number of the *' Q. R.," added
some notes to it, and printed it at Hamburgh for private
distribution in Portugal ; in his official capacity he
must have prohibited it. If I could have foreseen this,
the sketch should not have been so imperfect. Some
of the Portuguese, I hear, spoke of my " Brazil " with
great interest, — wondering how the materials could
possibly have been collected, and expressing a great
desire that it should be finished. They will wonder
much more when they see the last volume. My visitor
saw a "ood deal of John Bell, but little of the other
English. Verdier is living in a garret at Paris, without
his family, — poor, and broken-hearted.
This is the third New Englander who has visited me
within twelve months (I had met one, indeed, at Paris),
and two of them are by far the most accomplished and
intelligent travellers whom I have ever fallen in with.
This one is now returning home, after a four years'
absence, during which time he has been living in the
best society that France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Por-
tu"'al, and England, could boast. Another of them is
gone to Greece, meaning to visit Jerusalem and Egypt,
and probably to return by way of Constantinople and
Moscow. They have been buying books largely. One
of them has sent home 1000 volumes ffom Spain —
among them a good Catalan collection. Madrid, it
seems, is now the only place where books are to be
found. There are none at Seville, nor at Cadiz, nor at
Saragossa, nor at Barcelona ; and Ijisbon, which was so
good a place in our days, has been drained by English
purchasers. The famous archives of Simancas* have
* It was here that Plijlip II. ordered the archives of the kingdom
to be kept.
126 LETTERS OF 1819.
at last been put in order, and all the American papers
regularly arranged, from Columbus's first commission.
Among these, a very interesting document has come to
light; — a petition from Cervantes for a place in America,
with a detailed account of sus servicioS) at great length.
Montserrat, he tells me, is in no respect comparable to
Cintra for beauty or singularity. I was glad to hear
this. A masterly edition of the " Fuero Juzgo"* has
been published. I know a channel by which I can send
for this ; and by the same means I shall endeavour to
get a list of their new publications. The south of Spain
is dreadfully unsafe ; in many parts, there is no tra-
velling without an escort.
When I come to you at Worting, if you could get
your church supplied for one Sunday, I should very
much like to go round the Isle of Wight with you ;
starting from thence, it would l)e an easy excursion.
You have extracts from some Rio almanacks.
Where were those almanacks printed? It is said
in the " Correio Brazilierse," that there was no print-
ing-press in Brazil, till one was sent from England in
1808. I rather think there would be one for printing
almanacks and edicts, though it was not used for any
other purpose. My concluding chapter must be a sum-
mary view of Brazil at the time of the removal, and I
shall get to it in the course of a week. What a satis-
faction to be so near the end !
Your news respecting Walter Scott will be true ere
lonfT. He has received not less than fourscore thousand
pounds for his writings, and 70,000/. more have lately
fallen to his children by the death of his wife's brother.
But I very much fear that poor Scott will not long live
to enjoy his honour and his fortune. For the last two
or three years he has been subject to cramps in the
* I suppose tills to be the Jlccnpilacion de las LcT/es dp. las
Wm-Godos Espahnlcs. par J. A. Llorcute. IMiidiuJ, 17!)2.
1819. liOBEIlT SOUTIIEY. 127
Stomach — a disease which has proved fatal to several of
his family. My Yankee friend left him under one of
these seizures. They have already, in great measure,
broken him down ; so that he is said to have grown full
ten years older within the last two, and he is become
quite grey, though a light-haired man, who had not, I
think, a grey hair in his head four years ago, when I
saw him last. I am very sorry for this. Scott has none
of the bad parts of the Scotch character. He is a
warm-hearted, friendly, generous creature, and Fortune
for once did well when she gave him the golden pap-
spoon at his birth.
I, of the wooden spoon, am likel}^ to become popular
in New England by my next long poem. That poem
is now in a fair way. I have begun tlie fourth book ;
and always the further I get on a jouruey, the faster I
travel. I like the conception. I am not dissatisfied
with the execution, as far as it has gone. Love to my
aunt. God bless you.
R. S.
To Neville White, Esq., ^-c.
Keswick, Maixh 26. 1819
My dear Neville,
I had long entertained the hope of one day seeing
you in that situation which was so worthily filled in old
times by Sir Richard Whittington, of delightful memory,
and of going by your special invitation to the Lord
^Mayor's dinner, there to be dieted upon turtle and veni-
son, with all the exquisite &c.'s of the city^ And now
I must be content with turkey and tithe-pig in the
county of Norfolk ! See from what a height of expect-
ant ion your letter has thrown me down. Seriously, my
128 LETTERS OF 1819.
dear Neville, it seems to me like a dreamy — and that,
perhaps, because when the conduct of the lady's father
is looked at in the true point of view, there is more
good feeling in it, and good sense also, than are usually
met with in real life. It evinces a proper disregard of
money, and a right judgment of your principles and
disposition. On your part I can easily understand the
repugnance you would feel at giving up the fair esta-
blishment which you had formed for yourself, and in
which you had the reasonable prospect of acquiring an
honourable fortune. The sacrifice of pride (I use the
word in a good sense) which you have thus made is, I
doubt not, properly appreciated. Upon any other point
you should have a cheap dispensation for your samples,
if I were a Pope, and put such things to sale.
The change in the pursuits and habits of your life
will be very great, but you are not too old for it. But
when you enter upon your new studies, take heed that
you do not pursue them too closely, nor with too much
anxiety. You may, without much difficulty, acquire
as much as is necessary for your purpose. Do not be
anxious for going beyond this, lest you should injure
your health. You may push your studies afterwards
quietl}', and at leisure ; but be contented at first with
acquiring merely what is needful.
I send you half a letter rather than not write by re-
turn of post. The child is going on well, — the mother
not altogether as I could wish; but a little time, we
trust, will set everything to rights. I am closely em-
])loycd, and yet shall not be able to reach London
before the beginning of May. When do you leave it ?
and in wiiat part of the land of turkeys are you to be
fixed ? and at what college do you propose to enter ?
God bless you, my dear Neville.
Your afiectionate friend,
IIOBERT SOUTHEY.
1819. R0I5ERT SOUTIIEY. 129
To John Richnan, Esq., §'c.
Keswick, April 30. 1819.
My DEAR R.,
The chest of oranges occasioned a great deal of
speculation in this family ; there was no indication
whence it came, further than that Liverpool was the
place, but to whose good works it was to be set down we
could not devise. I wish Mrs. R. had seen the children
when it arrived. I was expecting a box of books from
Milan ; they called me down with news that it was come,
which to them was a great joy ; but their astonishment
when they discovered the contents would have made no
bad subject for a picture. The oranges were very good,
and part of them are still existing in the form of mar-
malade, the first specimen of my daughter Edith's manu-
factory in this kind.
A table of weights and measures at the end of the
book will save me the trouble of frequent calculations.
I never mean to use a foreign appellation in the text,
unless it has been previously explained, and has no
equivalent term in English, which must very often be
the case.
I am surprised at the delay of the " Review."
General Craufurd is going to send me the few papers
which remain of his brother's, who was killed at Ciudad
Rodrigo ; for the greater part were lost with his effects
after his death. God bless you.
R. S.
VOL. III. K
130 LETTERS OF 1819.
To Grostveywr C. Bedford, Esq.
Kopwlck, May 5. 1819.
My dear Grosvenor,
I can neither stir from home, nor do anything
else (except by fits of relief) till the " Brazil " is
finished ; and surely never did any task so grow under
the workman's hands. The reason of this is, that it was
utterly impossible to estimate the extent, because there
existed no pi*evious work by which I could measure my
scale, and see what lay before me. It was travelling in
an undiscovered country. The historical part is finished.
1 am half-way through the concluding chapter, which
gives a view of Brazil as it was in 1808, — a tremendous
chapter, both in length and labour. But I have the
satisfaction of knowing, now the task is so nearly com-
pleted, that there does not exist, in this or in any other
language, so full an account of any country from the
earliest times, of its rise, progress, geography, the man-
ner of its aborigines, and its actual state at the point of
time when the writer concludes, as I shall have pre-
pared of Brazil ; a country of which less was known
than of any other (Central Africa alone excepted) which
will soon be of the greatest commercial importance to
Great Britain, and is in a fair way of becoming the
greatest country of the New World, having, I think, as
much to hope as Yankee-land, and less to fear. There
is yet a month's work more, though 706 pages are
printed.
You are right concerning the monument. I ab/iomi-
nate allegory in stone. Chantrey is to make a bust of
Wordsworth for Sir George Beaumont. I saw his two
children in the exhibition, and preferred them to the
work of Canova in the same room.
Dr. Bell has sent me a very handsome barometer.
1819. ROBERT SOUTHEY, 131
This I mention because it has been vacillating a hair-
breadth about change for the last week, and the weather
all the while as fixed as Fate, whence I conclude that
Dollond, the maker, has been accustomed to make
weather glasses for the Opposition. I have nothing else
to tell you, except that lately I had a rat roasted for
supper, which was very good, though it would have
been better had the rat been not so young. It was
more like roasted pig than anything else. Shedaw
liked it much ; Sara thought it not amiss ; but as for
Mrs. C ', you should have seen her face when we
talked of it at breakfast.
It is a good thing for me that Tom is so near ; his
house is a gun-shot from that delightful heck in New-
lands wherein you and I have bathed ; and there I
shall bathe before this week is over, if the weather
continues as warm as it is now.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Messrs. Longman &■ Co.
Keswick, May 7. 1819.
Dear Sir,
A lucky misapprehension respecting new and
old Methodists has procured me some very interesting
information from your correspondent Mr. Keene, upon
a subject of which I had no knowledge before, and
which is of much importance to my work. I enclose a
letter which you will have the goodness to get franked
to him. In it I have explained to him what further
documents I require from Ireland.
k2
132 Letters or isio.
I hoped to have been in London at this time ; but
there has been a succession of illness in my family, and
the " History of Brazil " has grown under my hands
far beyond all calculation, owing to the richness of my
unprintcd documents, and to the materials which have
reached me while this volume has been in the press.
However, we are printing the last chapter, — a long
and very important one, — containing a full view of the
present state of Brazil. It would have been worth
100/. if I had transferred it to the " Quarterly Review."
But it is in its proper place, — the fit conclusion of a
work upon which my reputation hereafter may safely
rest.
" Nichols's Anecdotes " are such a huge store of ma-
terials, applicable to many works which I have in hand
and in mind, that I must keep them. Please to send
me the " Illustrations " which he has published as a
sequel, and that number of the " Pamphleteer," con-
taining Koster on the Slave Trade, which I must refer
to in my " View of Brazil."
I shall be getting once more on the wrong side of
your books ; for during the last half-year, the "Brazil"
has swallowed up almost all my labour, like a sinking
fund. But " Wesley " and the sale of *' Paraguay "
will bring me round ; and my long New England
poem is now in that state of forwardness that I begin
to calculate upon it.
Yours truly,
R. SOUTIIEY.
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 133
To Walter Savage Landur, Esq.
Keswick, May 7. 1819.
My dear Landor,
Your " Ode" has been put in the right course :
I found means of getting it delivered to the Swedish
Ambassador, and lie will transmit it to Sweden. This I
should have told you sooner, if I had been in spirits for
writing. It is now ten weeks since a son was born to
me, and it is only within the last three days that I
have been free from serious anxiety concerning his
mother. Now I begin to breathe, and hope all will be
well.
One of my brothers, a sea-captain, with a wife and
six children, is come to live within four miles of me, —
in Newlands, — between this place and Buttermere.
This adds much to my enjoyments, and gives me, more-
over, a motive to wholesome exercise which I might
otherwise not be sufficiently disposed to take. He has
some cows there upon poor land : and at the bottom of
his fields runs a beck, in which there is the most de-
licious bathing ; natural baths of all depths, and seats
where you may act the river god, and let the stream
flow under your arms, and over your shoulders ; no
luxury is like it in a hot summer's day ; and such days
are already beginning.
Wordsworth has just published a little poem, to the
tune of his " Idiot Boy," and of the same pitch, with
fine things in it, and a prologue which you will be
much pleased with. I told him what you said of his
poem, and he desires to send you this when an oppor-
tunity offers. It shall travel with my books, when
they are ready, but you must tell me how to direct
them. I am printing the last chapter of *' Brazil,"
containing a view of the state of the country at the
K 3
134 LETTERS OF 1819.
time when the history concludes; that is, when the
Court removed thither. Of the new states which are
rising in the world, I think Brazil is likely to be the
greatest. It is less likely to fall asunder than Yankee-
land ; and though the Brazilians are woefully behind
the Yankees in everything else, they have a sense of
honour generally prevailing among them, which the
Anglo-Americans seem to have renounced. Besides,
the tendency of Brazil at this time is towards improve-
ment in everything ; the tendency in America is to level
down everything to the dead flat of vulgar ignorance :
they wish to have no other Master of Arts than he who
has the " Ready Reckoner" at his finger's-end.
I have seen lately three young American travellers,
all singularly accomplished men, from New England ;
two of them, indeed, among the most accomplished men
in fine literature whom it was ever my fortune to meet.
But such men, who would do honour to Old England
(and for that reason regard the mother country with
admiration and reverence), are as rare in America as
men of old Roman virtues are in the country wherein
you are sojourning. Everything tends to make the
Americans merely ephemeral in their thoughts and feel-
ings. They have no classical learning, no ancestry, no
antiquities. Our French neighbours are fond of com-
paring us to the Carthaginians ; the parallel would suit
the Americans better, for their commercial, military,
and naval skill, their boundless ambition, and their
want of literature. New England is infinitely the best
part of America ; there the people are becoming more
English in their feelings ; and it is not a little singular,
that in that country the first attempt should be made
for introducing religious establishments.
1 have made some progress in my New England
poem, and like what I have done. The swarm of imi-
tative poets in this age is really surprising, and the
1819. KOBEUT SOUTHEY. 135
success with which they imitate their models would be
surprising also, if it did not prove that there can be no
great difficulty in producing what may be imitated so
well. Morbid feelings, atrocious principles, exagger-
ated characters, and instances of monstrous and disgust-
ing horror, make up the fashionable compound ; the
more un-English, un-Christian, and immoral, the better,
provided it be slavered over with a froth of philosophy. I
have fewer imitators than any other poet of any notoriety ;
the reason is, that I am less fashionable ; and, perhaps
also, that I am less a mannerist. To make up for this, I
am favoured with more abuse than all the rest col-
lectively. Wordsworth comes in for a very large share,
and very often we go together. If my name be found
in such company hereafter, it will be enough.
You are mentioned in a nevvspaper essay this week
(the " Westmoreland Gazette"), as the English poet
who most resembles Goethe, but as infinitely his supe-
rior. I do not know enough of Goethe to judge how
far this assertion may be right ; but a writer who esti-
mated you so justly must have been capable of estimat-
ing him. Oh, that you had been as incapable of writ-
ing Latin verse as i am ! God bless you.
xv. S.
Tu John Richnan, llnq., Jj-c.
Keswick, May 24. 1819.
My dear R.,
From three to four portions after this consign-
ment will bring me to the end of my long labour. And
then I set my face southward instanter. You see that
in this chapter I mix up general matter with statistic
K 4
136 LETTERS OF 1819.
detail for a double purpose : what is true of the pro-
vince whereof I am treating, may not be equally true of
every other, and it reheves the heavier matter. The
country altogether is in a curious state, but it is making
marvellous progress, and no other part of the world
requires so few or easy alterations in its institutions.
So the ghost of Bullion is risen, and playing the devil
•with the commerce of the country. We must build
walls again to run our heads against them. This is a
question upon which I go with Mr. Cropper and Lord
Stanhope, — bad company both, but better than Hunt,
Wooler, the BuUionists, and the Gregrees, — all acting
odd coalition against common sense and the practical
men. Whenever a question of political economy is
mixed up with abstractions and metaphysics, it is a
plain proof that he who makes the hodge-podge know^s
nothing about the matter. I look to much immediate
embarrassment in trade, produced by this measure, and
to be felt sorely in next year's revenue, by which time
things will be getting right again, and accommodate
themselves to the circumstances of the money market;
and I suppose, that when the experiment shall have
cost the bank 200,000/. or 300,000/. to enrich those
who trade in gold, the people will be satisfied that
whatever is said of a standard of value is sheer nonsense;
and, as Lord Stanhope maintained, that for a people in
our step of civilisation, gold is altogether unnecessary.
One thing, however, may be taken into the account,
which is not generally known. The Brazilian mines
as yet have only been scratched. They are now taking
means for working them, and in all likelihood they will
very soon be more productive than ever. With the
general question this has nothing to do, but it may
materially concern the Bank.
Remember nic to Mrs. R. We are going on better.
God blebs you.
R. S.
1819. KOBEIiT SOUTHEY. 137
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, July 31. 1819.
My dear G.,
When you go to Longman's, I wish you would
use your judgment in choosing a binding for the original
MSS. of the " History of Brazil," which is on its way
to town, in a parcel directed to Osiris. There are three
volumes of the " History," and two of collections for it,
in the quartain size. The collections contain a good
deal of matter which has not been incorporated, and
will therefore be of use hereafter. Whether there
will be any one to value this MSS. as an heir-loom,
God knows. There will, however, be those who would
prize it as a bequest; so I would have it dressed like
something which is likely to be preserved. You know
the value which I attach to this, the greatest of my
labours. I shall win by it certainly a wider and
perhaps a more lasting reputation, than by " Roderick"
or ** Kehama."
Wynn has told me of Lord Byron's dedication to me.
I have no intention at present of noticing it, if it sees
the light; but if it should sufficiently provoke me, you
may be assured that I will treat him with due severity,
as he deserves to be treated, and lay him open, in a
live dissection.
Poor Lloyd will send you a packet of papers to be
submitted to Gilford for admission or rejection, as he
may see fit. They are, I believe, reviews of some
recent poetical works. He may, very likely, be de-
ficient in a certain manner and method which is only
acquired by practice in what may be called public
writing; but in tact and acuteness of observation, he
excels most men, and there is a fervour and fluency in
his prose which is not often found in an Eugli5h writer?
138 LETTEiis or
1819.
— reniiuding one indeed of Rousseau and of Madame
de Stael. If GifFord should be struck by his specimens,
well ; if not, they will add but little to the litter of his
room, and no harm is done.
I expect a summons from Rickman about the 10th
of August, — from thence for six or eight days. Before
that time I shall have sent off the remainder of my
paper upon the " Monastic Orders," part of which will
tickle your fancy. How I long to take up that subject
upon a fair scale : 1 am quite certain it would make
one of the most curious books that ever was written.
Espriella goes with me to the Highlands, and having
that Journal to start with, I shall look to my old friend
for the ways and means of next year, for I have much
to say upon momentous subjects which could not be
brought forward in any other shape.
When you give directions about binding the MSS.
desire them also to bind a set of the "Brazil" for my
own library, and do you choose for it such a binding as
it befits the historiographer of the Tupinambas to have
for his own work : it ought, I think, to be as magnifi-
cent as the dress* of Manoel Felix, which you will find
faithfully described from his own manuscript, pp. 320.
and 327. of the last volume. God bless you.
R. S.
P. S. I hear that " Don Juan" is published without
the dedication. I should like to know who has sup-
pressed it, and why it has been suppressed.
* " It consisted of a full dress shirt, red silk stockings, breeches
of fine green cloth, a miner's jacket of crimson damask lined with
silk and laced with riband;*, morocco shoes, a wig, and a gold-
laced beaver hat, which had been worn at tlie espousals of D. Jose,
then Prince of Brazil." P. 320.
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIKY. 139
To John King, Esq.y Clifton^ Bristol.
Keswick, June 30. 1819.
My dear King,
You are the only friend I have in the world, who
never sends me a line to tell me of his goings on ; and it
so happens that I never by any accident happen to hear
of you through a third person. That you are very busy
I know, and so am I ; of my occupations indeed you
will very shortly receive a substantial proof; but before
I speak of that, let me tell what provocation induces me
to address you at this time.
A lady, for whom I am a good deal interested, is at
this time, and will be for three or four weeks more, re-
sident within a few doors of you. I have given her
reason to expect that you will call upon her as a friend
of mine ; and the reason why I have done so is this : —
she is an invalid, to what degree I know not, but I
know the value of your advice ; and to your attention
to a like i-equest of mine, Alstone acknowledges that he
is indebted for his life. America will one day bear
witness how well that life was worth saving ; and per-
haps this may be little less so, for this lady is unques-
tionably a woman of genius. My acquaintance with her
as yet has only been through the medium of pen, ink,
and paper; so you mtiy gratify my curiosity by telling
me what kind of personage she appears ; and I have only
to tell you that her name is Miss Bowles*, and that she
is at present at No. 19. in the Mali on a visit to some
relation.
And now a few words concerning myself: I have a
son, three months old, by name Charles Cuthbert, to
all appearance a strong and thriving infant. He had
* Miss Caroline Bowles, — the second Mrs. Southey.
140 LETTERS OF 1819.
very nearly cost his mother her life, and she has had
ever since the birth a succession of complaints, from
which she is not yet recovered, thou<rh I trust now con-
valescent. The four girls are well ; Edith as tall as her
mother. I am hard upon the close of my forty -fifth year,
and perceive in myself certain infirmities connected with
decay. My father reached only to forty-eight; my mother
only to fifty. What the length of my lease may be,
God knows, and I have no other solicitude about it than
to make the best use of it while it lasts. Six years would
enable me to complete all that I have begun.
One great work is drawing fast towards its completion.
The last chapter of my " History of Brazil " is far ad-
vanced in the press, and in the course of a month you
will receive the concluding volume; a work of prodigious
labour it has been, this volume especially, being drawn in
great part from manuscript materials. As soon as the
last sheet is printed, I set off for London, where I shall
remain from four to six weeks. Would that there were
any likelihood of meeting you there ! As soon as I re-
turn, the "History of the Peninsular War" goes to
press. Indeed, the main reason for which I leave home
is, to see some papers relating to it.
My brother Tom removed into my neighbourhood
this spring, and is now settled in Newlands, four miles
off : a most b'-autiful spot. He has six children !
Hartley Coleridge has lately obtained a fellowship at
Oriel.
The "Life of Wesley" stands still during my ab-
sence. It will be a very curious book. I have two
poems in hand : one a full length narrative, the scene in
New England ; the other will form a single small volume,
the scene in Paraguay ; the first in irregular rhyme,
passing into tlie dramatic form occasionally ; the second
in Spenser's stanza. I am tolerably satisfied with both
as far as they are advanced.
1819. ROBERT SOUTnEY. 141
"Write to me, and tell me of yourself and your family.
I hear about once a year from poor Cottle ; otherwise I
should have as little present connection with Bristol as
with the deserts of Arabia.
Remember me to Mrs. King,
And believe me always
Your affectionate friend,
Robert Southey.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, Sfc.
Keswick, Aug. 13. 1819.
I HAVE written a paper for the " Quarterly Review" in
the course of the last month, and got on some way with
the second volume of " Wesley," upon which I shall set,
tooth and nail, as soon as I return. If this book should
sell as it ought to do, which I am very far from expect-
ino", I may be tempted to add a third volume upon the
progress of Methodism from Wesley's death till the pre-
sent time. Soon after his death a schism took place
among his followers in England, because the minority
insisted upon having the sacrament administered by
their own unordained preachers, and admitting the
people to a full share in their chapel-government —
church-government I will not call it. It was not long
before the whole body in England chose to take the
first step. But recently a second schism has occurred
in Ireland, upon the opposite ground: the old Methodists
insist upon adhering to the Church of England in pur-
suance of Wesley's design, and they are likely by law
to eject the other from the meeting-houses. An oppor-
tunity this which might be made good use of, if the
142 LETTEP.S OF 1819.
Bishops had courage to think of embodying an irregular
force in their own defence.
"What a difference between this Bishop of London and
his predecessor! This appears to be one of the kindest
natured men in the world. He desires to introduce me
to Herbert Marsh when I come to London ; if Marsh
were as pugnacious in conversation as he is in his writ-
ings, he would be the very last person I should wish to
meet.
Have you heard that " Don Juan" came over with a de-
dication to me, in which Lord Castlereagh and I (being
hand and glove intimates I) were coupled together for
abuse as " the two Roberts." A fear of persecution
from the one Robert is supposed to be the reason why it
has been suppressed. Lord Byron might have done
well to remember that the other can write dedications
also ; and make his own cause good if it were needful,
in prose or rhyme, against a villain, as well as against a
slanderer.
Love to my aunt and the Orsini.
God bless you.
R. S.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, Oct. 13. 1819.
My dear Wynn,
My absence from home was longer than I had
expected : it reached into the seventh week. I went as
far north as Fleet Mound, and saw the wildest part of
the Highlands in crossing from Dingwall to Jeantown.
If these roads, bridges, and piers had been constructed
in France instead of Scotland, or if the canal had been
1819. ROBERT SOUTH EY. 143
one of Bonaparte's works, our newspapers would have
been full of their praises. 1 verily believe that no
Government in modern times ever did half so much for
the improvement of its dominions as has been done in
Scotland within tlie last fifteen years.
If Parliament should be convoked before Christmas,
I shall not see you till we meet in town. But I doubt
whether Ministers have courage to convoke it. Their
miserable imbecility, as you well know, is such that they
will make any concession, and endure any evil to obtain
a respite from the baiting which they undergo in the
House of Commons. Never was there a time when we
stood more in need of an efficient Minister, and never
was there a more irresolute head, nor a more disjointed
Administration ; none of the members having any con-
fidence in each other, nor in themselves, nor in the
Regent. And as for the Opposition, it is plain that they
would make common cause with the devil, for the sake
of annoying the Prince, and embarrassing the Govern-
ment. I know not which is most wonderful, the blind-
ness or the baseness of this besotted and suicidal party ;
but this I know, that should I ever be under the knife
of the Radical Reformers, it would be some satisfaction
to think how soon these abettors of all mischief would
be in the same situation.
Whatever the process may be, I do not doubt that
we shall lose part of our liberties in the upshot. The
abuse of liberty has always been punished by its loss.
This is the natural and just consequence. I would wil-
lingly submit at once to such restrictions of the press as
the times require, and give such power to the executors
as might enable it to meet and quell the danger. The
laws, as they are at present interpreted, seem only to pro-
tect those whom they ought to punish, and to intimidate
those whom they ought to protect.
When I was at Lisbon in the year 1800, there was
144 LETTERS OF 1819.
every human reason for expecting that the yellow fever
would be communicated to that city from Cadiz, so vio-
lent was the contagion, and so absurdly inefficient all
means that were taken for cutting it off. The people,
however, ate, drank, and were merry, and I among others
went on quietly with my usual pursuits, though I never
laid down at night, without thinking it likely that I
should hear the plague had appeared among us in the
morning. The present state of things reminds me of
what my feelings were then. This danger also may pass
away, and, in spite of all appearances, I cannot think it
can be in the order of Providence that a country like this
should be brought to ruin ; but it is upon this persuasion
that I rely, not upon the strength of the laws, the
measures of the Government, or the good sense of the
people.
My third volume has been provokingly delayed,
owing to the loss of a proof sheet. I knew nothing of
this dvu'ing my absence. I shall be able to improve the
book materially for a future edition ; though, very pos-
sibly, it may not be reprinted during my life. Be that
as it may, I shall carefully correct it, and insert as
much additional information as may come to my hands.
I have just received one manuscript from Brazil, and
another, which is said to be of considerable value, is on
the way to me.
I am not surprised at the difficulty you find in form-
ing a Welsh committee in London. The only qualified
person whom I can call to mind is Recs, the book-
seller's brother, who is a Unitarian minister. Sharon
Turner is either too much an invalid, or too much a
hypochondriac, to be capable of attendance. The diffi-
culty about the publicans* is comical enough, and not
* My lamented friend, Copley Fielding, one of the highest prin-
cipled men lately departed, once toW me that the great brewers,
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIEV. 145
easily to be got over. In Portugal two of the first
members of the Royal Academy were a barber, and a
man who kept a universal shop, more like a huckster's
than anything else ; and these men associated at the
Academy with nobles and princes of the blood. But
in Portugal a nobleman takes snuff with his servant,
and plays at cards with him. You must make your
bishops and judges patrons and presidents, and get the
work done without any more personal intercourse than
they are liable to in the ordinary course of business.
I shall now be getting on with " Oliver Newman."
Some parts of this poem will have the same kind of
interest for a New Englander that the first part of
" Madoc " has for a Welshman, who is conversant with
the history of this country. The fourth book in par-
ticular is of this kind. I allude in it to Roger Wil-
liams, who, take him for all in all, appears to me one of
the greatest worthies in Wales ; perhaps the greatest.
And who, by fair desert, is really entitled to that high
place in public opinion which William Penn has ob-
tained rather by accident than by right.*
Your godson is a fine creature, — large enough and
strong enough for one of the race of the giants. The
younger ones remember your roaring well. Their elder
sister is shot up till she is as tall as her mother.
Mr. Clive did not make his appearance. He pro-
bably heard at the inn that I was absent. I know not
what is become of Bedford. There is a paper of mine
and men of that class, were some of the artist's best friends. And
this calls to my mind that the morning after I had purchased the
MSS. of the Curse of Kehama, at the sale of Southey's library, a.
cheque was tendered to me for fifty guineas if I would part with it-
I naturally asked " Who offered such a sum ? " The answer wai^,
" I have no authority to mention the name, but it is one of
the GREAT BREWEKS ! "
* See Vol. II, p. 390. of these Letters.
VOL. III. L
146 LETTERS OF 1819.
about the Catacombs in the last " Quarterly," and I
have corrected for the next, the proofs of one upon the
Monastic Orders, written for the purpose of bringing
forward Braybrook House at the end. God bless you.
Yours affectionatel}^,
Iv. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, October 18. 1819.
In nomine Diaboli,
What is become of you?
I have a great mind to advertise you in the " Hue
and Cry " as lost, stolen, or strayed, with a description
of your person, taken from Nash's portrait down stairs,
and aided by Mrs. Coleridge's recollections.
Dumb beast is an expression of pity ; but dumb dog
is an appellation of reproach, of vituperation, and of
wrath ; and therefore do I dumb dog thee !
I will abuse thee through the whole Chris-cross row.
Abominable Base Bedford; Careless Correspondent ;
Detestable Dapple ; Evil Epistolist ; False Fellow ;
Grievous Grosvenor ; Hateful, Idle Jackanapes ; Kill-
crop ; Lazy Monster ; Nasty, Obstinate, Pitiful, Queer
Rasjcally Scarecrow ! Terrible Ugly Villain ; Wicked
Xecrable Y'sacre and Zany !
I could find in my heart to send for Mrs. Coleridge,
and ask her to help me to abuse you.
What ! is the manufactory of paper at a stand ? are
there no rags among the radicals to supply the mills ?
Has the dry season parched up all the ink in the South ?
O]-, have the geese and ganders entered into a resolu-
tion to grow no more quills, as the reformers have done
to drink no more gin ?
1819. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 147
Well, thought I at Glasgow, as there is no letter
from Bedford here, I shall find one when I reach home.
And I have been at home more than a fortnight, — and
whether Bedford is above ground or below, in England
or in France, or half seas over, I know no more than
the man in the moon.
It happens oddly enough that I am as much in the
dark about everybody else in London, and all my own
concerns there, as about you, — not having received a
single letter from thence since my return. I found a
parcel from Gifford, which was a month old. The date
gave me a good plea for declining to write a paper on
the state of affairs, as he wished me to do. Of what
use is it to prescribe drastics when a parcel of old women
are afraid to administer them ? And as for alteratives,
they may be given with better effect than another me-
dicine in the " Q. R." However, I have not been
idle. Lord Lonsdale has been with me about an Ad-
dress, and I have endeavoured to impress upon him the
necessity of two measures, — the repeal of Mr. Fox's
law of libel, and making transportation the punishment
of sedition and blasphemy. I told him also that there
would be no more difficulty in carrying whole measures
tlian half ones; the opposition will be just as violent
against one as against the other. The Address originated
here with Calvert and myself; but this is between
ourselves.
Monday^ Oct. 18. — I see by this day's paper that
Lord Somerville is dead. His life might have been
thought a better one than mine. Some years ago he
sold the property which is entailed upon me ; and I
believe it is not worth the trouble of litigation, to
say nothing of the expense. However, I must inquire
into it.
In justice to my daughter. Bertha, I must tell you
that when she heard my abecedarian interpretation of
L 2
148 LETTERS OF 1819.
your abominableness, she said it was a shame, and that
h was not riglit to send it. God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Oct. 27. 1819,
My dear G.,
I am really glad to see your handwriting once
more, after so long an interval, for I was beginning to
fear some mishap.
The history of the *' Address" (no doubt the one
which you have seen in the *' M. Chronicle") is some-
what curious, and would furnish no bad topic for that
amiable newspaper, if it knew all. The story is briefly
this: — James Brougham wrote to Calvert to join in
the requisition for a meeting to censure the massacre
at Manchester, &;c. Calvert not only refused to act
with his old party on this occasion, but came to me, ex-
pressed his desire that some counter-declaration might
be set on foot, and, in short, asked me to draw up an
"Address;" I did so, and sent it to Lord Lonsdale.
Lord Lonsdale rode over the next day, called on
Calvert, brought hiin on to me, and suggested some
alterations, which were of course made. lie then had
the " Address" printed and circulated. Tins was at
the end of the week. On Tuesday he called on me
again, on his way to Whitehaven, and asked me to
spend a day or two with him there, as he had been dis-
appointed of seeing me at Lowther when Prince Leo-
pold was there. So I promised to go the next day, for
1 had never been to Whitehaven, and was glad of the
opportunity of seeing it, while discharging a visit wliich
1819. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 149
had long been due. On the Wednesday morning came
a letter from Lord Lonsdale, enclosing one from Wal-
lace ; a wordy epistle, objecting to the " Address," as
too strong. Lord Lonsdale said he could not act in
opposition to the opinion of the only gentleman of the
county who was connected with the administration, and
had therefore withdi-awn mine ; but he should see me
in the course of the day. I went over accordingly, and
found that Wallace had produced an " Address" him-
self, which was substituted for mine. You know me
well enough to know that this was a matter of perfect
indifference to me ; so the thing was done, I cared not
who did it ; Lord Lonsdale, however, had the disagree-
able task of calling together more than fifty persons,
who had already signed the first paper, and making a
speech to them about the propriety of exchanging it for
another, in more guarded language. Lord Lonsdale is
a very sensible man, and one of the most obliging men.
Wallace is a pompous fellow, always swelling, like the
frog in the fable, and affecting to give himself an ap-
pearance of consequence by means which are quite
farcical. It is certain that some few persons, besides
himself, objected to the wording of my Address (ob-
serve, no one knew it to be mine except Lord Lons-
dale), but it would have passed, had it not been for
him ; his vanity was wounded ; and he did not stop to
recollect, that even if the first paper had been in some
points objectionable, it was better to retain it, than give
the enemy an advantage by withdrawing what had been
once put forth. But the truth is, that I had stated
nothing more than what is borne out by notorious facts
published in all the newspapers. And so far is the
manner of stating it from being objectionable, that
while I was at Whitehaven, there came a letter from
Becket, saying that it had been shown to tlie Privy
Council, and highly approved of. On my return, I
L 3
150 LETTERS OF 1819.
found a letter from Lord William Gordon (to whom I
liad sent a copy for his signature), dated at the Pavilion,
and saying he had good reason to think it would be most
graciously received by the Prince; and, lastly. Lord
Lonsdale has sent me a second note from Becket, say-
ing that this unlucky " Address" is thought to be the
best which has yet appeared. The end of all this will
be, that the mob journals in this country will harp
upon the subject till Parliament, or an insurrection in
the meantime, afford them a fresher topic. That T
shall get plentifully bespattered with abuse, if my part
in the business transpires (as I dare say it will) ; that
Wallace will undergo some quizzing, in London, from
Lord Lonsdale's friends, for having set aside a paper
which had at least the merit of attracting notice, to
substitute a lathery composition of his own ; and that
all this signifies nothing, hurts nobody, and will pre-
sently be forgotten. I should tell you, that while I
was at Whitehaven, a hand-bill, in abuse of the
first Address, was circulated, and that by Lord Lons-
dale's desire I took advantage of this hand-bill to
vindicate it. What I wrote was to appear in the
'' Cumberland Packet" of yesterday, under the signa-
ture of *' A. B. :" if I had the paper, I would send it
you, for it has some good things.
Government will carry all its measures without diffi-
culty. My fear is, that they will, with their usual irre-
solution, content themselves with half measures, when
they might carry whole ones just as well. And it will
not surprise me, should there be something like an ex-
plosion before the new laws can be passed. For my-
self, I am in good heart : the danger is now so close,
that I think I can see beyond it.
A circular letter about poor Page's family has reached
me by this day's post. Pay five pounds for me to the
subscription ; and, as you know Edmund Goodenough,
1819, EGBERT SOUTIIEY. 151
perhaps you will let him know that I have received the
letter ; and, in phrase as courteous as you please, that
I suppose no other answer is necessary. I am glad the
subscription has been opened, and you can bear witness
that the largest contribution upon the list is not likely
to be larger in proportion to the means of the giver
than mine.
When you have any money for me, I shall be glad
of it.
Henry ought to lie by. I know, that at Yarmouth
cod-liver oil is thought specific in cases of lumbago ;
but it is an infernal medicine in the mouth. I believe
I should follow the Indian fashion, and have myself
stewed in a vapour-bath.
You have got off well from your robbery. When
one has anything to do with ugly fellows in these days,
it is lucky to come off with one's life.
God bless you.
R. S.
To John Rickman, Esq.
Oct. 29. 1819.
My dear R.,
Thank you for the Parliamentary Proceedings.
I send you up a second Cumberland Address for Lord
William Gordon's signature. The first (which was
from my mint, and which you may have seen in the
papers as given with Mr. Brougham's comment at the
Kendal meeting) has been withdrawn, that Mr. Wallace
might substitute a lathery composition of his own ;
meantime, comically enough, the first had been {inter
nos) shown both to the Prince and to the Cabinet, and
L 4
152 LETTERS OF 1819.
pronounced to be the best which had yet been sent
forth. It had however been weakened at the conclu-
sion, whichj as it originally stood, ran thus : " Trusting
that if the existing laws be insufficient to curb the au-
dacious spirit of blasphemy and treason, new ones will
be adopted, consistent with the tenor of the constitu-
tion, and adapted to the exigencies of these distempered
times."
Lord Somerville's death will give me some trouble,
whether it will give me anything else Heaven knows.
Part of the property which he derived from his mother
was entailed upon my father and his heirs. Lord Somer-
ville sold this some years ago, and I have now to recover
it if I can. The elder line of the Southeys is extinct
in him, the name had been so for three generations. The
whole property which he inherited from his mother was
about a thousand a year; but how much of this I can
claim is to be gathered from the meaning of a will,
which has been pronounced to be one of the most un-
intelligible that ever came into a court of law.
By this time I trust you have received the completion
of my Opus Magnum. God bless you.
It. S.
To The Rev. Herbert Hill, 8{C.
Keswick, Oct. 30. 1819.
I HAD a great disappointment yesterday in Mr.
Burns's parcel : instead of containing a manuscript his-
tory of Para, its contents proved to be the " Corografica
Brazilica of Cayal," a copy of which you had previously
procured. The same package brought my third volume,
— a welcome sight as you may well suppose.
1819.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 153
Lord Somerville's death will give me some trouble,
and may very probably lead me into a lawsuit, which
of all things in the world I abhor the most. My poor
Aunt Mary is all alive with hope. I have a letter from
her by this post. She talks of different farms, worth in
all about a thousand a year ; but I have reason to believe,
from some inquiries which I made after John Southey's
death, that the only part of the property which was en-
tailed upon my father was some land about the house at
Fitzhead, and that held only for a lease of 99 years,
about half of which term must be expired. Unluckily
my extract from the will, with an opinion annexed to it,
which Turner got for me from Mr. Bell, is mislaid
among my multifarious papers. I have written to know
if the Doctor has one ; — if he has not, he must apply
to Doctors' Commons. Lord Somerville sold the pro-
perty some years ago, but, with respect to this part of it,
the purport of the will is explicit, and my remedy would
be an action against the tenant, whoever he may be.
Were I a single man I believe I should rather leave him
in quiet possession, than disturb myself with the trouble
and care which litigation must bring with it, to say
nothing of expenses which I can very ill afford.
My Aunt Mary has found out that her grandmother
was a relation of Locke, and bore the same name. She
seems pleased with this, as supposing that it will gratify
me to find so great a man in the family. But as I
happen to agree with Stillingfleet concerning Mr. Locke's
metaphysics, and with Dean Tucker concerning his
politics, all the respect I have for him is for his per-
sonal character. However it is pleasant to hear of
somebody between oneself and Adam who has left a
name.
I have been passing a few days with Lord liOnsdale
at Whitehaven. He is a remarkably obliging man, and
I feel quite at ease in his family. There is a comical
154 LETTERS OF 1819.
Story about the Cumberland Address. It originated
here, with my neighbour Calvert and myself. I sent it
to Lord Lonsdale, and he came over to me immediately,
suggested some trifling alterations, and then circulated
it. I am so little known in this country, that no sus-
picion was entertained of the hand from which it came,
and Mr. Wallace, who is very pompous and farcically im-
portant, being hurt that such a thing should come from
anybody except himself, objected to the form of the
Address, and produced one of his own in its stead, which
— he beingaPrivy Councillor — was of course adopted,
and the former one withdrawn. Meantime the first had
gone to London, had been shown, / believe, to the
Prince, and I know to the Privy Council, and had there
been pronounced to be the best which had yet appeared.
A more lathery composition than that which had been
substituted you never read. At Lord Lonsdale's desire
I wrote a newspaper vindication of the first, and I am
now, through the same channel, and under the same
signature of A. B., going to give B. a dressing such as
he deserves, for the manner in which he has misrepre-
sented it.
We are all in tolerable health. Love to my aunt
and the children. God bless you.
R. S.
To Dr. II. 11. Southey.
Keswick, Nov. 1. 1819.
My dear Harry,
I have a long letter from good Aunt Mary, who
expects that Lord Somerville's death has opened the
way for me to a comfortable inheritance, longs to show
1819. ROBERT SOUTDEY. 155
me the different farms, and hopes that I shall have
occasion to summon her to London, as the person best
acquainted with the circumstances of Canon Southey's
will.
My own persuasion is, that what I am entitled to is
so little as hardly to be worth contending for. The
whole property she estimates at about 1000/. a year.
I believe the remainder of one estate, held for 99 years,
is all that was entailed upon my father. It was the
most perplexed will that ever came before the lawyers.
However, I wish you would go to Doctors' Commons,
see the will, and obtain a copy of the whole, if neces-
sary, or of such parts of it as concern the property de-
vised to Lord Somerville, and entailed, in default of his
issue, upon the Southeys. Perhaps you had better
call upon Turner on the way, and consult with him, as,
if there are to be any law proceedings, I shall commit
myself with perfect confidence to his directions. Lord
Somerville, I know, sold the whole of his Somersetshire
property — some of it certainly with a bad title. But
I will enclose my aunt's letter, that you may see what
she says, and then you will know almost as much of the
matter as I do.
If my aunt sends the deed of trust for her money,
for our signatures, do you give it to Bedford, and desire
him, if he cannot obtain an official frank for it, to ask
Hickman so to do.
Philpotts has just sent me his " Letter to the Free-
holders." It is very well written. Lambton seems to
be doing all he can to earn for himself the character of
the most intemperate man in the House of Commons.
As the Opposition used to wish for just so much
national misfortune and disgrace as would bring them
into office, so I could find in my heart to wish for just
as much radical reform as would reach the roots of his
property, if the mischief could affect none but him, and
156 LETTERS OF 1819.
such as him. Concerning the immediate clanger, I have
as few fears as any man. Government will have the
active support of the Grenvilles and the acquiescence
of those Whigs who are not beyond the reach of helle-
bore. If there be an insurrection, which is likely
enough, it will, I tliink, be presently quelled. What
measures are intended by Ministers I do not know. I
dare say they will be strong enough to raise a great
uproar, and not strong enough to be of any permanent
advantage ; for if they suffer the press to be employed
against all our institutions, as it has been for some
years, no government, no institutions, can possibly
stand against it. Without some efficient restrictions
upon this engine of all evil, all other measures must be
nugatory. The evil will seem to be suspected just as
long as the Habeas Corpus, and no longer. Humanly
speaking, the prognosis is as unfavourable as it well can
be, though there is no immediate danger of political
dissolution ; but I have a comfortable reliance upon the
order of Providence, and, notwithstanding all appear-
ances, believe that we shall be saved in spite of our-
selves.
You will see that Aunt Mary claims kin with Locke
for us. I wish it had been somebody for whom I had
more respect.
I have got my third volume, and the M^ell-bound
MSS. What a satisfaction to see that work completed I
A proof of *• Wesley " is on the table. Love to Louisa
and Mrs. Gonne. God bless you.
R. S.
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 157
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, 6. Nov. 1819.
My dear Grosvenor,
The relationship between myself and Lord
Somerville was so remote, that I really do not know in
what degree of cousinship we stood to each other ;
but his mother was of Southey extraction, and on that
side I was his nearest kinsman. A certain Canon
Southey, of Fitzhead, in Somersetshire, bequeathed his
estates to him, in his childhood, as his nearest relation,
and entailed a part of them, in case of his dying with-
out issue, upon my father and his two brothers, and
their issue male. The whole estates are about a thou-
sand a year; whether the part which is entailed be
worth contending for is very doubtful. Lord Somer-
ville sold the whole. With this part he could not pos-
sibly convey a good title, unless he had had a son of age
to join with him in cutting off the entail. My action
would be against the present tenant — his against Lord
Somerville's representatives. I know just enough of
the business not to be disappointed if I am advised to
let it rest. It was a most miserable will, never out of
Chancery while my two uncles were living. Lord
Erskine had it brought before him, and exclaimed at
the name, for he remembered it when he was young at
the bar. I have desired Osiris to consult with Turner,
and as Turner may advise, so I shall do.
In the year 1790 or 1791, when my father was a
ruined man, a person called upon him, and offered
to treat with him for the purchase of his remainder.
My father was too angry at the proposal to inquire
who sent him. He always believed that his children
had tliis chance in the lottery of life, and 1 believe
158 LETTERS OF
I819«
common opinion in Somersetshire has always magnified
that chance much beyond its real value, if it be now of
any value.
To myself it is of very little consequence. My
habits of labour are so fixed, that whether I wrote for
a subsistence or not, I should be just as deeply en-
gaged in the press ; and the only difference would be
that I should give up reviewing, and become perfectly
indifferent to the sale of my books as a matter of profit.
I am older in constitution than in years, and older in
heart than in constitution ; and I believe that if it
were not for my children, I should not bestow even
the thought that a mere inquiry occasions concerning
any worldly inheritance. Six feet by three on the
NW. side of Crosthwaite Churchyard, will be a suffi-
cient estate for me.
Do not, however, imagine that I am out of spirits.
I may live to do good service ; and ten years more of
health and tranquillity would enable me, I dare aver to
you, to do more as an historian than has ever been done
by any man before me ; for I have great plans and
great preparations. God bless you.
R. S.
To John JlickmaUj Esq., 8fc.
Keswick, Nov. 15. 1819.
My dear R.,
I have hit upon the original meaning of Tag,
Rag, and Bobtail.
In Derricke's " Image of Ireland," written in Eliza-
betli's reign, are tliese lines: —
1819. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 159
" Eche knave will playe the cooke
To stande his Lorde in steede,
But Tagge and Ragge will equal be
When chiefest rebell feede."
And upon this passage there is a happy* marginal
note which says, " Master and man all one at eating of
meat." Tag therefore is the master, as wearing tagged
points ; Rag the man ; and Bobtail sayis doubt is the
dog.
Mrs. R. will please to give my gigantic remem-
brances to Willey the charioteer and Francofurte. I
e,rpose I shall soon be required to enclose a note of
thanks from Edith to Miss Emma.
I have had a pressing application from Murray le
Magne, to write de temporibus pro " Quarterly Re-
view," the said greatest of all journals being in danger
of appearing without anything upon the subject to the
great distress of the said greatest of all great men ! My
reply was that it was utterly impossible to undertake it
for want of time ; and I followed the decisive reply by
a protest against the castrating system which, in spite of
all promises to the contrary, the editor continues to
pursue : in nine instances out of ten without any con-
ceivable reason.
Who would have thought that G would have so
played the fool ! On the other hand, the Whigs in this
country are a good deal weakened ; some of the best
names which they used to boast, are affixed to Mr.
Wallace's Address. The opportunity is good, if there
were a Minister who knew how to use it.
Two ugly things in natural history have turned up :
if the account should be confirmed, — a fly in the pro-
vince of the Natchez (Louisiana), whose bite is deadly
* " A marginal note is seldom worth so much." — MS. Tour in
1817, p. 11., -where reference is made to the same proverb.
160 LETTERS OF 1819.
to horses ; and a bug in Persia, whose bite is deadly to
men. The latter is upon the authority of young Kotze-
bue, and he quotes the English at Tauris for it. But
it has the suspicious addition that it is deadly to
strangers only, and does not hurt the natives of the
places where it is found. I confess myself very un-
willing to believe these stories : such insects would
seem to disturb the order of creation as much as flying
dragons, or creatures which should possess wings with
the propensity and the strength of the lion or tiger.
The balance would be destroyed by the introduction of
such new powers into the system.
God bless you.
XV. S.
To John Richnariy Esq., ^c.
Keswick, Nov. 1819.
My dear R.,
John Murray has told Henry Taylor that the
King wished to have my Catholic paper in the " Quar-
terly Review" printed for separate circulation, and that
he (King John) replied to this intimated desire. No !
If the paper was to be circulated, let the number be
bought. What truth there may be in this, the two
kings best know ; but, I dare say, that if the one
sovereign had any such wish, his Ministers had not.
The Papists are playing the safe game : nunneries
they want, for the purpose of shutting up a daughter
whom they cannot otherwise dispose of; convents for
men, they do not (that is the laity), because sons take
care of themselves. Convents, however, would be less
mischievous to us than nunneries, because superstition
is more contagious among women than men ; and the
1819. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 161
objection which holds good against monks ought to
hold good against nuns as well, if what is sauce for the
gander should be sauce for the goose.
The other regulation which makes the titular pre-
lates drop their Irish titles, is very fit, and for that
reason very irritating ; but this irritation seems to be
completely dissembled. Once in, and we very soon see
those ulterior measures proposed in this behalf which
Mr. has hinted at, and those other inroads upon
the Church which the incomparable has an-
nounced.
God bless you,
li. S.
To John Rickman, Esq., S^c.
Keswick, Dec. 3. 1819.
My dear R.,
Thank you for the Parliamentary Proceedings
and the pamphlet. Badly as I thought of the Whigs,
they have on tliis occasion shown themselves at once
greater knaves and greater blockheads than I had ex-
])ected. The measures of Government are much as I
looked for — more efficient ones might have been carried
without exciting more opposition ; but Ministers are
safe from the strongest grounds that could be taken
against them. Why was not all this done three years
affo, when there was the same reason for it I The
eruption will be cured, but the body will remain dis-
eased. Of this I am convinced, that all governments
must be considered as imperfect which do not keep in
their own hands the direction of public instruction, and
the control of the press. This has always been required
in Utopian romance.
VOL. III. M
162 LETTEliS OF 1819.
I have been doing my task for the Court Fiddlers,
which goes inclosed ; and there is some danger that I
may lose my labour, by having done it too soon. When-
ever the king dies, 1 must do sometliing more than task
verses which are fit only to be fiddled ; and this present
claim has made me think about it in earnest, that I may
not be wholly unprepared. This will be an inconvenient
interruption ; but 1 have planned something which, tii
fallor, is capable of some eflfect ; which will be a good
deal out of the common, and in which I shall have an
opportunity of speaking vphat in Dahomey would be
called strong words.
I have some inscriptions in hand, which I shall send
you as soon as I can satisfy myself with them, and
through you to the Pontifex Maximus.
Giffbrd's illness, I suspect, was nothing more than
his constitutional want of health, — some temporary ex-
acerbation of an habitual disease. I find Government
have set on foot a weekly paper ; they would do better
to frame such laws as would put a stop to many of
these already in existence. An Act against Sunday
newspapers would have had much of this eflfect.
God bless you. Remember me to Mrs. R., Ann,
Franco, and the young giant.
R. S.
To a W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M.P.
My dear Wynn,
Keswick, Dec. II. 1819.
You are a happy man who can enjoy the busi-
ness as well as the leisure of life, and carry with you
temper and talents as well suited to the House of Com-
mons as to the retirement of Llangedwin. To one at a
1819. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 163
distance from the political cockpit, the times and the
measures of Government are more interesting than the
debates. The days are past when the speeches of oppo-
sition might be read with pleasure and advantage by
those who differed from the speakers in opinion, and
disapproved their conduct. Nothing is now left but the
cfall and bitterness of faction : instead of \o<Ac and elo-
quence, you have personalities and calumny, and the
place of argument is supplied by the hardihood which
advances again and again the same siiameless misrepre-
sentations. We shall not appear a very wise people in
the eyes of posterity. For what absurdity can be
greater than that of sacrificing the very end and purpose
of law to the formalities of law! The case of Shervviii
is a pregnant instance : here is a fellow publishing the
most direct excitations to assassination and rebellion,
openly, week after week, and with his name to every
paper: and yet we are told it is impossible to bring the
crime home to him ! There are fifty instances of tlie
same kind, wherein the guilt of the offender is notorious,
and is not even attempted to be denied ; and yet he
entrenches himself in quibbles, and technicalities, and
bids defiance to justice. If this be not iiropter legem^
legis perdere causas, I know not what it is.
I am satisfied with the measures of Government as
far as they go, and think the ministry right in not sus-
pending the Habeas Corpus ; — that would only have put
off a crisis, which will be moi'e dangerous the longer it
is delayed. The restrictions upon the press indeed are
not worth much ; but we may judge, .from the opposition
which is made to them, wliat a clamour would have
been raised against more efficient acts.
I have a good deal to say upon the prospects of
society. Whether the present ferment may subside
without an explosion, or not, there are great and in-
creasing difficulties before us, to the extent and magni-
M 2
164 LETTERS OF 1819.
tude of whicli I cannot shut my eyes. A strong
Government, a wise Administration, and a flourishing
trade might enable us to overcome them, to attain a state
of prosperity, and place things in such a train as might
promise to render that prosperity durable ; but we have
neither of these, nor any hope, nor any chance of ob-
taining them. These are uncomfortable thoughts.
Enough of them, therefore, for the present.
I have not heard immediately from Turner, concern-
ing my contingencies upon Lord Somerville's death, but
from other quarters I gather that his Lordship did all
he could to defeat them, and as, of course, he had good
legal advice for what he was doing, it is most likely that
he has been successful. If it should prove so, the
chance has never entered enough into my thoughts for
me to feel it as a disappointment : nor, indeed, would I,
as far as I myself am concerned, consent to purchase the
whole property at the cost of anxiety which a Chancery
suit would induce.
At this time of year I am left altogether without any
interruption from without. There is no chance of seeing
even a stray visitor, and I am as busy and as comfort-
able as a silkworm who is working upon his cone and
has just shut himself in from the external world. I am
reviewing Coxe's " Marlborougli," with much interest in
the subject, so much indeed that I should be very well
pleased to take it up upon a larger scale, and expand
it into a regular Life, which might be a companion to
tiiat of Nelson. My evenings arc given to " Wesley,"
witli which I am proceeding faster than the printer, and
somewhat the more rapidly because I am within sight
of the end. As soon as this is done, the " Peninsular
War" will become my main object, and I shall pursue
it steadily, and not take my hand off till it is carried
fairly through the press. As soon as " Wesley " and
"Marlborough" are done, and another paper for the
1819. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 165
" Quarterly Review," of which the " New Churches" are
the themes, I shall start for the South, and be about
two months in and near London. And then I must
accept Bunbury's invitation for the purpose of seeing
his papers. I may perhaps defer my departure a few
weeks for the sake of a more favourable season, and
leave home at the end of February, or the beginning of
March, with the intention of returning in May; for I
shall have a great deal to do with official papers in
London.
Not a line of poetry have I written since your last
packet. Your godson goes on well, thank God.
God bless you, my dear Wynn.
Yours affectionately,
R. S,
To a W. Williams Wynn, Esq.^ M.P.
Keswick, Dec. 24. 1819.
My dear Wynn,
You, no doubt, can tell me, what I have no
means of ascertaining here, whether " the noble and
elect Lady Huntingdon " was sister to the earl of Fer-
rers who was hanged ? She was daughter of Washing-
ton, Earl of Ferrers, and born in 1707. A taint of
insanity in the blood may, I think, fairly be presumed.
I am as yet no nearer the mark concerning my chance
of a Chancery suit. But this seems clear, that if I am
heir at law, my claim will be to the whole property,
if it was not in Lord Somerville's power to cut off that
claim. It appears by the will that he was christened
John Southey, which latter name he always thought
proper to drop, though he derived from it his best ex-
pectations at the time of his birth.
M 3
166 LETTERS OF 1819.
In reference to the opposition to the scheme of ba-
nishment or transportation, which is made on behalf of
the booksellers, an observation of some consequence
might be made relative to that trade. There are rogues
in all trades, but I do not know any other trade in
which a certain number of its members are rogues and
blackguards by profession, continually on the watch to
cheat the honourable booksellers by all the tricks of
piracy, to deceive the ignorant public by sending out
books under false names (Lord Byron's, Miss Edge-
worth's and T. Moore's have all been used thus), and,
as at this time, living by the sale of obscenity, blas-
phemy, and treason. Now it is not more reasonable for
Longman and Murray to object to an ignominious
punishment being enacted against such fellows as these
than it would be for the Lord Chancellor or the Chief
Justice to complain of the laws which set a knavish
attorney in the pillory. As for the danger which they
conceive to themselves, no bookseller ought to publish
anything of which he doubts, whether it be libellous or
not; for if there be a doubt, it is plain that the thing
ought not to be published. There is no chance, or
possibility, I might say, of the law affecting them in
any other way than by making them cautious.
The signal for a general insurrection was to be un-
derstood by the radicals at Carlisle, if the Manchester
mail did not arrive as usual on a certain day. This was
borrowed from the Irish in their rebellion. The magis-
trates were informed of this, and acted accordingly.
Fellows enough were on the look-out for the mail to
evince the truth of the information which had been
given. In such a case as this a stronger Government
would have stopped the mail. Were you not amused
at Brougham's complaining of misrepresentation. It
reminds me of the Devil, in an old dialogue of mine
between that personage and St. Anthony, complaining
J 819. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 167
how grievously he was calumniated and how ill he was
used by a scandalous world.
A merry Christmas to you, and God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, Dec. 31. 1819.
Dr.Wordsworth's story has not the slightest founda-
tion ; nor can I guess how it should have arisen, unless
it be that a paper of mine upon the " New Churches,"
which was printed a year ago, has been sent back to me
with a wish that I would enlarge it ; but there is not a
word about the Catholic question there. In truth I
should most gladly have entered into that question in
all its bearings long ago, if I had not known how im-
possible it was to obtain admission for opinions such as
mine upon the subject in the " Quarterly Review." I am
as little pleased as you can be with the manner in which
Gifford mutilates whatever is sent him, upon no imagi-
nable principle, as far as I can discover ; — in most cases,
for no other reason than that of indulging a habit which
he cannot help. He has repeatedly promised me that he
would not do it, and yet every one of my papers comes
forth castrated from under his hands. It would be a
great satisfaction to me if I could do without this
Review, and at present there seems to be some pro-
bability that my connection with it may be broken off,
however great the immediate inconveniences. Murray
has thought proper to send me a less sum for my last
paper than I choose to accept for it. I therefore sent
the draft back to GiiSbrd, from whom it came, treated
the matter as a mistake (as indeed at first I really sup-
M 4
16& LETTERS OF 1819.
posed it to be), and told him I expected 100/. Six
posts have elapsed, and I have received no reply. I
shall wait patiently, and let him chew the cud as long
as he pleases. But if the answer, when it comes, is not
wiiat it ought to be, the " Q. R." shall never receive
another communication from me. This will leave me
very much abroad for my ways and means at first.
However this is of no great consequence. I shall make
my way somehow or other, and probably more to my
own contentment at the end.
It is not unlikely that one of the first things which I
may undertake will be a little volume in the form of
dialogue, and in remote imitation of Boethius ; the
object you may perceive from the motto, — Respiee,
aspice, prospice ; and the interlocutors would be the
author and Sir Thomas More. Did you ever hear it
remarked that the print from Holbein's portrait of this
personage might have passed for your likeness ? I am
not the only person who has perceived it. I have a
good deal to say upon the dangers and prospects of
society, and have thought a good deal upon the parallel
circumstances of this age and of Henry VIII's. And
probably my frame of mind and way of thinking very
much resemble what Sir Thomas More's were in his
day.* The fiction would have the double advantage of
relieving the subject and allowing me to bring forward
views and opinions which it might not be advisable
directly to avow.
I will set about reading your " Oraisons Funebres "
forthwith, which I have never yet done ; and by the
time I have got through theni, the subject which you
propose will probably shape itself in my mind. I,
too, have been turning the same probable event in my
* I may venture to say that it is well worth any student of
history's while to consider well the " Life of Sir Thomas More,"
and to dwell soberly upon his " Utopia."
1819. ROBERT SOUXnEY. 169
mind as the theme for a Threnodia, and, indeed, liave
gone so far as to plan something more in the manner of
Dante than of any other poet. One of my plans, which
I have for some years looked forward to as a work
worthy of great pains, and likely to recompense the
labour bestowed upon it, is a view of the life of George
III. ; a work in which, avoiding all detail, because of
the almost immensity of the subject, I should seize the
prominent features and general results, trace things to
their causes, and look forward to their consequences.
Three, or perhaps four, octavo volumes would com-
prise it; this is a book for which a permanent demand
might be fairly expected.
At present I am finishing " Wesley's Life." I
thought to have completed this and two papers for the
" Q. R." (the « Life of Marlborough " and the « New
Churches ") by the end of Februar}'. This would have
provided my ways and means for the next half-year,
and then I should have started for London, via Ludlow,
at a season of the year when there would be no danger
of losing one's nose by the frost, or being lost in a snow
drift. " Wesley" will be finished in the course of Janu-
ary ; there is not much more to write, and of that only
one short part which will require much time. If Mur-
ray and I part company upon this occasion, as I rather
expect we shall, I shall give February to my tale of
" Paraguay:" a couple of months will carry that to its
close. It has gone on very slowly, one great reason of
which is that I cast it in the Spenserian stanza, which
stanza is exceedingly difficult for a man who is not
satisfied unless what he writes will bear the test of a
strict examination. Thirty years ago I could write it
as rapidly as any other measure ; and at that time I
planned and made some progress in a continuation of
the " Faerie Queen." The stanza, however, is per-
fectly adapted to the slow movement and thoughtful
170 LETTERS OF 1820.
cliaracter of the story, and I am entirely contented with
what is done.
The Duke of B. may thank you that I have not taken
advantage of Lord J.'s hook to play the Iconoclast, and
demolish one of the Whig idols.
Yesterday I received a curious paper from H. Koster,
containing details of the revenue and expenditure at
Para for a few years preceding the removal. The de-
ficit was very considerable, and Koster tells me that,
from what he can learn, it appears to have been so in
most of the Captaincies. Pernambuco is in a miserable
state ; such a system of vexation and oppression has
followed the insurrection, that any change would be for
the better, and it seems as if the court were besotted
to their own sure destruction. Koster is transcribing
for me an account of the insurrection in 1711, written
by one of the revolutionary party. No doubt it will
enable me to make some curious additions to that part
of the history.
I have lost in John Bull one of the few readers who
would have taken ahnost as much interest in reading
the book as I did in composing it. God bless you.
It. S.
To John Kenyon, Esq.
Keswick, Jan. 15. 1820.
My dear Kenyon,
Supposing that you will by this time be in
London, I was intending to write and thank you for
your company and your laver, when the loitering in-
tention was quickened into effect by some intelligence
which tliis day's post has brought. You will not have
forgotten the two remarkable letters from the anony-
mous writer who wished to entrust his papers to my
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 171
care after his death. I now learn that the unliappy
writer put an end to his life on New Year's Day, and
that on the day preceding he deposited the papers at
a house in town to await my directions. He proves to
have been Mr. E , a person well known to my
brother, and whom I once met at dinner, some years
ago, at Dr. Gooch's, and well remember as a mild,
melancholy, introspective man. Henry Robinson (a
friend of Wordsworth's and of mine) informs me of this,
and gives me a very singular and interesting account of
the deceased, with whom he had long been intimate.
He describes him as thoroughly virtuous, good, and
gentle-hearted ; but intense feeling, intense vanity, self-
centring thoughts, miserable metaphysics, and a morbid
temperament, combined to produce in him that sort of
insanity which is incurable by any human means. I
anticipate a melancholy task with his papers, but it may
possibly be an useful one. Cases of this kind are
seldom laid before the world either faithfully or chari-
tably. The same elements which made E an
utter disbeliever in everything which it is desirable to
believe and a suicide at last, would have made him a
saint in the middle ages of Monachism, or a martyr in
the age of the Reformation. And what should I have
been in those days ? A pilgrim to Jerusalem, a
chronicler (if I had learnt to write), and a maker of
verses.
If your brother is still at Vienna, will you ask him
if he can obtain any account — such, for instance, as
a German necrology or biographical dictionary may
supply — of my old friend Dobrizhoffer ; he was living
in 1784.* I have about three weeks' work to finish
" Wesley." The printer will be longer about his part ;
* My copy of Dobrizhoffer is the German translation by Kreil.
The two first volumes were printed in 1783, the third in 1784, and
his death is not mentioned.
172 LETTERS OP 1820.
but if he makes no unusual and unexpected delay a
copy will be left for you in Portland Place before you
see me in town.
The friends of order are sincfiiif? Te Deum too soon
for their victory over the Radicals. The disease is still
in the system, and stronger measures with regard to the
press must be adopted before it can be removed. The
necessary consequence of general education must be a
licensed press, that is, a press under the control of
government, so that nothing inflammatory, nothing
hostile to the existing institutions be suffered to ap-
pear ; and the alternative is, whether you will submit
to this to prevent revolution, or come to it through
revolution, and the military government in which re-
volution inevitably ends. The ladies below desire to
be kindly remembered. Write to me sometimes when
you have an idle hour, and believe me
Yours affectionately,
Robert Southey.
To Messrs. Longman ^ Co.
Keswick, Jan. 28. 1 820.
Dear Sir,
My tale of " Paraguay " will not be ready yet
With regard to the illustrations of my larger poems,
I am glad you think of them, because such things are
now become so customary that the poet who goes
without them might seem to hold but a low place in
public opinion ; a point which I care for only as it
may affect the sale of my works. Would it not be
worth while, as an experiment, to print one of my
poems with or without the notes, in a small cheap form,
like those little editions of Walker's, Suttaby's, &;c..
1820. ROBEllT SOUTIIEY. 173
which are found at every country bookseller's, however
small his stock ? I do not think it would lessen the
sale of the current editions, but that sufficient pur-
chasers would be found to give os. 6d. or 4<s. who
would never give 14*. I should like to try this ex-
periment with " Thalaba," that being of all my poems
ihe most likely to become popular, if it were in a
jiopular form. It would thus be placed within reach
of a whole class of customers, who never buy books till
they are lowered in price to their means; but this class
is numerous, and always on the increase, and is plainly
worth printing for, because so many books are printed
for it.*
I should expect that the third volume of " Brazil "
will get up with the second as soon as it is reviewed,
and thereby brought to the notice of persons who may
not see or not regard the advertisements. But as to
the first volume, many copies must, by the death of the
first possessors or other chances, have fallen into the
possession of persons who care nothing about books,
or have cfot into the hands of booksellers as odd
volumes, — a necessary evil arising from the lapse of
time between the first and last publication. I must
not, however, regret that so long a time elapsed, because
some of the most important materials for the last
volume did not come to light till that volume was half
through the press ; so that, had the work appeared
earlier, it must have been much more imperfect. Please
to lay a set by for me while one is to be had, and I will
choose a binding for it when I see you in March. The
only copy which I have is the one in which I am
making corrections and additions from such documents
as have come to my hands too late. It is a great satis-
* Here, as usual, Southey was ahead of the day. The cheap
publications he advocated in 1820, we are enjoying in 1856.
174 LETTERS OF 1820.
faction to me to find, from these latei* documents, that
in no one instance, wliere I have obtained subsequent
information, have I found myself erroneous in the views
which I had taken or the opinion which I had formed.
When the "History of Portugal" comes to be
printed, I will take care that the volumes shall follow
each other without delay. And for this reason I will
not put it to press (though more than half the work is
written in its first state) till the " History of the Pen-
insular War" is published.
Yours truly,
Robert Southey.
To John Rickman, Esq., ^c.
Keswick, Jan. 30. 1820.
My dear R.,
Thank you for the various bills. They will do
something, and afibrd good foundation for something
more efiicient when it is wanted, or rather when more
effective hands shall be at the helm.
I am sorry for the fire at New Lanark, and not
pleased at the ground which was taken for scouting the
])oor projector in Parliament. It looked too much
like seeking for an excuse to get rid of the motion,
instead of rejecting it upon broader grounds; for if the
want of religion were all, that might surely be supplied
by the parties who direct the experiment to be made.
Not that the question is fit for Parliament; but I
should like well to see a wealthy parish form such an
establishment for its paupers.
It is a good thing to see that the necessity for colo-
nisation seems now to be admitted as undeniable. I
1820. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 175
remember when Lord Liverpool protested against any
such policy, and held up America as a warning. This
too is a step gained. I shall take the first opportunity
of recommending Irish Catholic emigrants to go to
Brazil. We might aflTord the King of Portugal as
many cargoes of that live stock as he would choose to
send for: and it would be a delightful place for them,
the government being so lanient, as an Irish gentleman
once said of the Papal Government, that " you may kill
a man in the streets, and nobody takes the laist notice
of it." A sort of Paradise this for a wild Irishman,
especially too as it is the native land of the potatoe,
and there is no law against distillation.
Remember me to Mrs. R. and the children.
God bless you.
R. S.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, Feb. 6. 1820.
My dear Wynn,
As I have not the least wish to wait again upon
the leisure of a gentleman usher, I will hope that my
office may come under the benefit of Mr. Ponsonby's
bill. The mill, as you suppose, is at work : the event
did not take me altogether unprepared ; I had thought
of it with reference to my task, and was ready with as
much of a plan as usually serves me for beginning
with. A beginning I have now made. The matter
will bear more resemblance to Dante's cast of imasri-
nation than to that of any other writer. But, for the
mould in which it is cast, I am half afraid to tell you that
176 LETTERS OF 1820.
I am writing in hexameters, because you will lift up
both hands against such an experiment. But you will
instantly perceive that it is the form, and length, and
proportion of the metre, which must be taken from the
ancients, and not the laws of it. More than twenty
years ago I tried it, and produced about a hundred
lines: as soon as my ear became accustomed to it,
I found it not more difficult to compose than blank
verse. Without doing any violence to the language by
inversions, or requiring from the reader any knowledge
of what an hexameter is, to enable him to give it its
proper accentuation, but leaving that to follow (as in
any other kind of verse) from the natural and proper
pronunciation of the words, I find it a full and sonorous
measure, capable of great strength, great sweetness,
and great variety of movements. This you may rely
upon, that if the thoughts will support the measure,
the measure will support the thoughts. I hope it will
not much exceed three hundred lines ; but even this will
delay my movements two or three weeks longer than I
had intended.
My anticipations are of the same complexion as
yours, and yet I shall be one of the last to despair.
The tendency of the age is plainly towards revolution,
and that not in government alone, but in religion and
in the institutions of property. There are many pre-
servative principles at work ; and if the press were
curbed, 1 believe that we should weather the storm.
We are so duped by words and phrases in this country,
that no statesman ventures to speak out upon the evils
of the press, whatever he may think of them. Nothing,
however, can be more certain than that tlie press will
subvert everything, if more efficacious measures than
the late bills are not taken for restraining it. You see
Hone is at this time enriching himself by such things
as the " House that Jack built." That publication
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 177
ought to have been prosecuted immediately on its
appearance ; and if the existing laws were found inca-
pable of reaching a publication so thoroughly mis-
chievous as that, they would have been brought to the
reductio ad ahsurdum, and the necessity for a new one
would have been demonstrated. I have begun a series
of " Dialogues upon the Prospects of Society," in
which my aim is to collect as much light as I can from
the past. This age, like that of the Reformation,
seems to be one of the great climacterics of the world.
I make the comparison between them, and draw from
it what inferences appear legitimate.
I have no recollection of the letter which you speak
of; but I remember writing a paper upon the same
subject which was designed for the " Flagellant," and
can call to mind part of it that was singularly ignorant,
and part which had a condensed and pithy manner, that
carried with it as much promise as any of those verses
which I used to send you by the foolscapsheetful to Eton
about the same time. I entirely agree with you that
details of suicide and murder tend to excite imitation.
I have said something to this effect in the " Q. R.,"
and was well pleased to hear that opinion confirmed
while the paper was in the printer's hands by poor
Dauncey, whose judgment on such a subject was of
great value. This, too, is one evil of our press. But
in the case of E's. papers, he was so decidedly insane,
and his whole unhappiness so clearly the consequence
of his opinions, that I am much inclined to think the
exposure may have a good effect. If upon examining
the papers I should come to an opposite conclusion,
you may be well assured that no considerations should
induce me to be instrumental in publishing them.
If the time served, I should like to come upon your
election, and see you chaired. What a worthless book
has this Oliver Cromwell made; without one paper or
VOL. III. N
178 LETTERS OF 1820.
an anecdote of any importance that was not known
before. I am much disappointed, having sent for it
for the pleasure of writing a life of Old Nol.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Miss Barker.
Keswick, Feb. 10. 1820.
Dear Senhora,
I received your note yesterday in a frank from
Longman, which covered a proof sheet. For a very
long while I had been intending and intending to
write to you. You know some old divine has said that
Hell is paved with good intentions. But you know
also, that the longer I live the more I have to do.
Wesley is not finished yet. My part will be com-
pleted in the course of this month, and the printer
will not be long behind me. There is time, therefore,
for you to tell me how it may be sent from London,
and I will give directions for sending it with the last
volume of " Brazil." Perhaps the readiest way would
be to entrust it to the Paris diligence from London,
and direct it to your uncle. But you will let me know.
1 meant to have left home early in March. The
King's death will delay my departure two or three
weeks, for I must of course produce something on this
subject, and if I begin my journey before the poem is
finished, the funeral verses will come out just in time
for the coronation. You know how little inclination I
have to task my poor brains upon such hackneyed sub-
jects as this, especially too when every man, woman,
and child, who can grind a verse, is likely to be at
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 179
work upon it. However, if any person sets his verses
to the same tune as mine, I think I may very safely
say that 1 would consent to be hanged.
You probably know that Lord Somerville is dead,
and I believe you know that I was related to him. He
was my third cousin, and distant as this connection is,
it may possibly give me a right to a suit in Chancery
to recover property bequeathed to him and his issue
by his mother's uncle — a certain John Cannon Southey,
whose heir-at-law I am, in consequence of Lord So-
merville's demise. The old Cannon was but an old
blunderbuss, and made a most confused will. Lord S.
has done all he could to cut off my rights, and though
I believe the equity of the case is as clear as noonday,
the lav) may be very doubtful. The estates in ques-
tion amount to about a thousand a year. The matter
is in Turner's hands, and of course the best opinions
will be taken on the subject. You know as much
about it now as I do.
Now let me make you angry. A rascally bookseller
in London is at this time publishing, in sixpenny num-
bers, a Life of the King, by Robert Sout%, Esq. ;
printed for the Author. "Observe, to order Southy's
Life of the King, to avoid imposition." The rascal ex-
pects that by mispelling the name, he can evade the
law. Whether he can or not is one question, and whe-
ther it be worth my while to be at the expense of any
proceedings against him is another of equal importance,
which I shall leave Longman and Turner to decide.
But do not you think that a cart's tail might be wor-
thily employed upon this occasion ? With a little trou-
ble, I could work myself into a passion about this.
Miss Hutchinson is with us. The winter has tried
Mrs. Wilson sorely, and she will not stand such another
trial. It has been very severe, but the frost was never
accompanied with wind ; and though, the glass was never
K a
180 LETTERS OF 1820.
lower since we have been in this country, I have often
felt it much colder in the house. We are now enjoy-
ing a genial February.
The children, thank God, are well. I have made a
surprising progress in spoiling Cuthbert, He has long
since found out the attractions of the study, and would
look at pictures by the hour, if anybody would con-
tinue to exhibit. But I bear the bell as an exhibitor,
because on such occasions I speak the language of all
the birds in the air, and all the beasts in the field. He
has often had bilious attacks, and one very severe one.
At present he seems strong and healthy, just as sweet
a creature as can be, and as tyrannical as you would
wish to see him, — very forward with his tongue, and
backward with his feet. My brother Tom has another
child on the stocks !
We were much shocked, as you may suppose, at
hearing of Mr. Brewer's death. I heard at the same
time (,f Mr. Lewis's. But he was a man in years. Ed-
ward is here to day (Saturday the 12th), in excellent
health. All here desire their love. God bless you.
R. S.
To the Hev. Herbert Hill, ^-c.
Keswick, Feb. 18. 1820.
The King's death will of necessity delay my departure
from home till I can spin verses enough for the oc-
casion ; and the hearty dislike I have for more than
twenty years felt for writing verses upon occasional
topics makes this no easy task, especially since I have
learnt in perfection the art of writing with difficulty.
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 181
However, I had begun to think upon the subject when
the alarm was given in December, and had even just
made a beginning, for the sake of pitching the tune.
How tlie plan may turn out remains to be seen : it is
somewhat in the manner of Dante's invention ; not of
his style. The measure will be a nine days' wonder,
for I am writing in hexameters ; written, of course, by
accent not by quantity ; and (I think) so written that
they cannot in a single instance be possibly misread,
if read according to the natural pronunciation of the
words. I have composed about a hundred lines, which
may be, perhaps, a third of the whole. It is not more
difficult than blank verse, or if more difficult in some
respects, it affijrds greater facility in others; and it is a
full, sonorous, stately measure, capable of great variety,
great sweetness, and great strength. The pleasure of
making the experiment takes off the tedium of the
task ; and its success or failure will be so much a matter
of indifference, that when it is once sent into the
world I shall scarcely ever think of it again.
Another cause of delay has arisen since I began this
letter. Longman tells me he means to reprint the
first volume of the " Brazil," in order to make up the
sets; there being about 170 copies of the second and
third which would otherwise serve only for waste paper.
I had made a good many improvements in the first
volume, chiefly from " Jaboatam," and the "Valeroso
Lucideno ; " but there are others to make : in the first
place, Cazal has printed a letter to Emanuel from
Pedro Vaz de Caminha (who was in Cabral's fleet),
containing a minute account of the discovery. The
original is stated to be in the Torre do Tombo. At
first I suspected its authenticity, because it contains the
words sertoens, and inhame. The former I had sup-
posed to have been coined in Brazil, the latter to have
been of Tupi growth ; but I have since recollected that
N 3
182 LETTERS OF 1820.
sertoens is also used in Portuguese Africa, and that
inhame is as likely to be Angolan as Tupi, and has
indeed more of an Angolan physiognomy. It will take
me a few days to insert the substance of the letter,
which is of considerable length. This comes of course
in the first chapter, and must not be delayed. I have
other additions to make, but they will not be wanted
so soon. Lescarbot in his " Histoire de Nouvelle
France" (1606), has an account of Villegagnon's ex-
pedition. The substance of the " Relacoens Annuaes,"
of which we have only three volumes, is contained in a
" Histoire des choses plus memorahles advenues tant ez
Tildes Orientales, que autres pais de la descouverte des
Portugais, en Vestahlissement ^ progrez de la foy
Chrestienne" by the Jesuit Pierre du Jarric. Bordeaux,
1610 — 14; a book in three small quartos of solid con-
tents, which I long had had scent of before I found it
at Brussels. It was of sufficient reputation to be
translated into Latin. And, lastly, there is the " His-
tory of the AVest India Company," by Johannes de
Laet, out of which I am just Dutchman enough to pick
the meaning. But I may make room in my trunk for
De Laet and the Dictionary, and settle my affairs with
him at Streatham.
Most probably I shall not leave home before the
latter end of March ; and if Parliament is dissolved
soon I shall call at Wynnstay on my way, and halt a
few days with Wynn either there or at Llangedwin.
I reckon upon passing April and May in town ; taking
out ten days or a fortnight for work in Suffolk, upon
Sir H. Bunbury's papers, and some which have been
offered by Major Moore.
Do you know that a rascally London bookseller is
publishing Memoirs of the late King, in sixpenny
numbers, by Robert Sowihy, Esq.; "printed for the
Author." " Observe to order Southy's Life of the King,
1820. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 183
to avoid imposition." And as the practice of our laws
is, as far as possible to protect all rogues and criminals,
the fellow may do this with impunity, because he mis-
spells my name, and lies to the ear, not to the eye, —
or to the eye of the ignorant only.
Love to my aunt. God bless you.
R. S.
To John Kenyan, Esq.
Keswick, Feb. 21. 1820.
My dear Kenyon,
Immediately on the receipt of your letter the
order for the char was given and accepted, so that
I thought myself sure of executing the commission.
But I now learn that the fish would not be caught, and
that it was not thought advisable to catch them ; the
fish, the fishermen, and the fish potters being unani-
mously of opinion that this is not the season. The
proper months are October and November. Give me
any directions for that time and they shall be punctually
observed.
What a world of events since the date of your
letter, though it is scarcely a month old! A new King,
— an ugly question about the new Queen, — the pre-
parations for a new Parliament, which bring on a
relapse of the election fever before this part of England
has recovered from the ill blood which the last left
behind it, — and this assassination in France ! You will
be compelled sooner or later to agree with me con-
cerning the press, and you cannot be more unwilling
to come to that opinion than I have been. There will
be no security for governments to society till the
N 4
184 LETTERS OP 1820.
constituted autliorities all over Europe have the control
of the press. The question is, whether this shall be
conceded to an equitable government, which consults
the public good, and regards public opinion as the
means of preventing revolution ; or whether it will be
taken by the military Autocrat, who will put an end to
the series of massacres, proscriptions, and civil Wcirs,
which this miserable country must inevitably undergo
unless the press be curbed. We have no statesman
courageous enough to venture upon the remedy, though
I cannot believe any of our statesmen can be so blind
as not to understand the danger. What then is to
save us ? Perhaps a premature rebellion before the
army is corrupted. This is not so likely as it was
three months ago, when a day for the attempt was
fixed, and when any government but ours would have
caught the ringleaders in a trap. Perhaps some fright-
ful tragedy like this of the Due de Berri ; — and I will
own to you that such a thing would surprise me less in
this country than it has done in France : — it has
already been twice attempted ; once on the late King
— once on the Regent; and on both times because the
murderer missed his aim, the newspapers made a jest
of it ! Infatuated as we are, I believe that the shot
which should take effect would be fatal to our news-
paper press. I can imagine another means. It is
among my uncomfortable speculations, that a country
which has been so long without any visitation of pes-
tilence as England has been, has some right to expect
it ; so long a time never having elapsed without one
before ; and it being certain that we are not preserved
from it by any improvement in the healing art, nor by
any precautions, nor by any change in our climate.
It is a frightful thought, but it has occurred to me,
who believe in the moral government of the world
(and it has made an impression upon me), that Provi-
1820.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 185
dcnce may send pestilence among us, at once to punish
us and to preserve us from the only evil that would be
greater.
Do you know that John Hunter was of opinion that
our manufactories would engender for us some new
plague ? Specific diseases many of them produce ; but
as yet the only plague which they have generated is a
moral and political one. My departure for the south
is delayed for about a month ; chiefly because of the
King's death, I must produce some ex officio verses.
When you see them you will perceive that you have
influenced them in a very material point. All here
desire their kindest remembrances.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Dr. 11. H. Southeij.
Keswick, March 11. 1820.
My dear Harry,
We have lost poor Wilsey, and I have this day
seen her laid in the grave. She had for some time
been sinking gradually under the weight of seventy-
seven years. Her memory with regard to recent
occurrences was quite gone ; though, as usual in such
cases, it retained clearly all its early impressions. On
Monday, the 28th last, she walked as far as the church
with the children, and went down with them into the
vault of the Stephenson family, which the representative
of that family chooses to have opened whenever he
comes to Keswick, for the purpose, I suppose, of airing
his ancestors. So long a walk she had not taken for
186 LETTERS OF 1820.
many many weeks, but she came back in her usual
good spirits, and declared that she was not tired. The
next day she was as well as she had been during the
winter. On the Wednesday morning she fell in getting
out of bed, and grazed her forehead. She was found
when Mrs. C. and Edith went down to her much
shaken and in a tremulous state. However, she made
a good breakfast and walked about. But there was a
manifest change in her countenance, which one of the
maids had perceived before she fell out of bed ; and I
have no doubt that the fall was occasioned by a slight
stroke in the head. The head was inclined all that day
a little on one side, and she was, what they call in the
country, majjled; that is, confused in her intellect.
Edmundson saw her, and said that if she had been
younger or stronger he would have bled her, but in her
case bleeding might have produced death. She kept
up during the day, and was left when we went to bed
sleeping apparently well, and breathing naturally. One
of the maids, however, slept in the room wdth her, as,
indeed, she had always slept within call in case of
necessity during the winter. At one o'clock she awoke,
insisted that it was time to get up, and could not be
persuaded to the contrary, — dressed herself, and made
a good breakfast. Between six and seven we were
called ; she was very ill, and had had one or two fits,
and was then violently convulsed. When the con-
vulsion left her, her sight, hearing, and speech were
gone, Edmundson did not suppose she could have
lasted six hours, but she lived till the eighth day. The
convulsions returned more than once ; and while they
lasted she moaned like one in pain. But on the whole
there was little apparent suffering, and, I believe, no
return of intellect, certainly not of any of the senses
which she has lost. The extraordinary thing is, that
so feeble and exhausted a body should have continued
1820.
KOBEUT SOUTHEY. 187
to struggle with death so long, with no other sustenance
than now and then a teaspoonful of tea or coffee,
indeed little more than merely wetting the lips.
For some time she had been among our cares rather
than our comforts ; but her death makes a blank, and
both young and old will feel her loss ; for there never
lived a better creature : I never saw any one with a
more generous spirit, or a more affectionate heart.
She has left 201. to Hartley ; '20/. to Mr. Christian,
of the Strand, who was her foster brother ; and 5/. to
each of the children, Derwent and Sara Coleridge, and
Robert Lovell ; the rest of her money in legacies to
friends and distant cousins here of 51. and lOl.
It was gratifying to see how much interest her
illness excited among the respectable people of the
place ; those who had been taught to respect her by
their parents, and those who remembered her when she
was the handsomest young woman in Keswick, and
more " looked upon " than any of her contemporaries ;
her good conduct through life having been as re-
markable as her person was in her youth.
She had been beyond this circle of mountains, but
was never out of sight of them. Carlisle was the
farthest point of her travels, and there she had been
but once. The chance which brought me here con-
tributed very materially to the comfort of her age. We
have been here nearly seventeen years, Mrs. Coleridge
twenty, and in all that time I never knew her do an
unkind thing or say an unkind word.
Love to Louisa. I shall be glad to see the children :
the youngest will be old enough to be handled by male
hands. God bless you.
It. S.
188 LETTEUS OF 1820.
To John RicJcmarii Esq.
Keswick, March 27. 1820.
My dear R.,
I am very sorry for the news which your letter
communicates. Tlie improved state, as it is called, of
medical knowledge, is little more than a discovery of
our ignorance. And I suspect that we lose more by
want of faith in the patient, than we gain by any in-
crease of skill in the physician. Yet, I have a hope
that we shall one day discover the real nature of fever,
and by ascertaining the cause and seat of the disease,
understand how to remedy it.
Turner has sent me an unfavourable opinion upon
my claims. Twice in my life has the caprice of a tes-
tator cut me off from what the law would have given
me, if it had taken its course ; and now the law inter-
feres and cuts me off from what would have been given
me by a testator. It is, however, a clear gain to escape
a suit in Chancery, and the vexation which that would
have brought with it.
Brougham's advantage was through the creation of
new freeholds, chiefly enfranchisements made by Lord
Thanet. The Lowthers will beat him at this game
next time. Their popularity has much risen since the
former election.
You will have Wesley in a few days, and you will
see in it strange cases of the mind upon the body, and
again of the body upon the mind. Some I can under-
stand, but there are others which I cannot, and yet be-
lieve them I must, or give up all trust in human testi-
mony. I do not know whether I have employed my
time in tlie best way in composing this book, (for it
has been a work of considerable labour, so scattered
were the materials,) but it will show you the ways and
1820. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 189
feelings and notions of a set of people of whom most
readers will previously have known as little as they did
of the Tupinambas. God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, April 12. 1820.
My dear G.,
My "Vision of Judgement" is not finished. I have
made a fair transcript of it as far as it is written (260
lines), and may probably add something to it before my
departure. But I think it will not do for publication
at this time; because such an event as the King's death,
while it is recent, is too affecting and too solemn a re-
ality (in the present case) to be made the subject of a
fiction. This, you will say, I ought to have considered
before I began to write. Very true, but then I should
not have written upon the subject. For certain as it
was that everybody would be putting their wits in
requisition, I should not have chosen to send anything
into the world upon such an occasion unless it were
altogether different from all other compositions that
were to be expected.
If, however, my labour should be lost for the present
(and if the objection to its publication strikes any per-
son to whom I shall show it, as it does myself, I shall
certainly lay it aside), it will not be thrown away. The
metrical experiment which I have long been desirous of
making, has here been fairly made, and with complete
success. I have proved that hexameters may as well be
written in English as in German ; that they are in no
respect dissuited to the genius of our language ; and
190 LETTERS OF 1820.
that the measure is full, stately, and sonorous, capable
of great variety, great sweetness, and great strength.
I shall certainly finish the poem, that it may be ready
for publication after such lapse of time as may remove
the objection to its appearance.
I am now filling up the paper upon the Churches,
which I expect to dispatch by the next post ; this being
the ways and means upon which I have to count in
London. And I take work of the same kind to occupy
me at Streatham, that I may not be run short in the
summer. Wesley's life must sell better than I expect
it to do, if it balances my account with Longman, for I
am sadly on the wrong side of his ledger. I know not
whether you will attribute the perversity to me, or my
fortune, but a perversity in one or the other, or both,
there is. Twenty years ago when I would gladly have
written poems as fast as the printer could carry them
through the press, I must have starved if I had done
so, and during seven long years I wrote reviews at
seven pounds per sheet royal, because " Thalaba" and
*' Madoc" were lying in the publisher's warehouse.
Now poetry would pay me better than anything else,
but the inclination for it is gone ; and if it were not
with a view to profit, I do not believe that I should
ever finish either of the poems which I have begun, and
am quite certain that I should never have courage to
undertake another. That motive, however, is likely to
operate with increasing force as long as I live ; and as I
am likely, according to all human probability, to die in
the harness, I have only to hope that my strength may
not fail me till the last. God bless you.
R. S.
ISi'O. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 191
To the Rev. Neville JVhite, §'c.
Keswick, April 15. 1820.
My dear Neville,
My movements toward Norfolk must depend in
some degree upon the time when Sir H. Bunbury and
Major Moore can receive me. I shall write to them
from London, and propose to be with him in the last
week of May, or the first of June, which will allow
me either to come from his house to Cambridge at
your time, or to visit Cambridge first, and then pro-
ceed to him. At all events, I will be with you at
Norwich, though it can only be for a couple of days ;
and it is my full intention, if possible, to see you at
Cambridge also. I leave home on Monday, and shall
be ten days on the road to town. You shall hear from
thence as soon as my movements can be fixed.
Remember me to Tillbrook and Chauncey Townsend.
Tell the latter that at present I have no time to write
to him ; but that I hope to see him in the last week of
May, and that if he is in London before that time, he
will find me in Q. Ann Street.
One word of advice before I conclude. I was always
apprehensive that you would injure your health by too
much and too anxious an attention to your studies.
Take heed, or rather take warning, for the future.
The immediate object is effected. You have obtained
your ordination ; and now remember, that to become a
critical scholar requires the labour of half a life. Do
not aim, therefore, at what is impossible. Your object
is to be a useful clergyman, not a learned one ; to un-
dertake the cure of souls, not to engage in polemical
service, or nice disquisitions in philology. There is a
body of Divinity in our own language, such as I verily
believe is not to be paralleled in an}' other. Study
192 LETTERS OF 1820.
there and drink of the Scriptures, and be content with
as small a quantity of Greek and Latin as will suffice
to carry you through the academical forms. Your first
duty is to take care of your health, and you need not
be told that anxiety is a slow, sure poison.
God bless you.
Yours affectionately,
R. SOUTHEY.
To Miss Catherine Soutliey.
Streatham, Thursday, May 4. 1820.
My dear Kate,
Since I have been in London I have very often
wished that you, and Isabel, and Bertha were with me
for a little while, to see what a number of strange
things there are to be seen in this great overgrown
town. London is so large a place that if the whole
lake of Keswick, and the whole vale from the end of
the Lake to Bassenthwaite, and from Skiddaw and
Latrigg on one side to the foot of the mountains on the
other were covered with houses, altogether would not
make so great a city as London by one half. Think
then what a huge place it must be ; and all full of
streets, with no gardens or fields ; nothing to be seen
but buildings on every side, and stone pavements under
your feet, and such a smoky air overhead that you can
hardly see what a blue sky is. And then such a num-
ber of carts and carriages, going all day long through
the streets, and almost all night too; and such thou-
1820. ROBERT SOUTIIllY. 193
sands and ten thousands of people ; from morning till
night the great streets are as full as Keswick is upon
fair-day.
I arrived in London on May Day, which is a holiday
for the chimney sweepers. All the chimney sweepers,
little and great, on that day are dressed as fine as they
can make themselves, with ribbons of all colours, and
a great deal of gilding about them, and feathers in
their caps ; and they go about the streets with a wooden
thing in one hand (such as the churchwardens carry
about in the church to collect money for a brief), and
their brush in the other ; and with these they make a
clatter, and beg money from those who stop to look at
them. They have generally a green man in company
who is also called " Jack in the Bush," because he is
in the middle of a green bush, which covers him all
over, head and all, so that you can see nothing but his
feet, and he goes dancing with the rest. This bush is
ornamented with ribbons, and I have seen them in
former times half covered with bright pewter pots and
dishes, which it must have been a great fatigue to carry
about and dance under their weight, especially in a hot
day, and being so shut up from the air. This Jack in
the Bush is a comical sight, but I am sorry to say that it
does harm by frightening horses : a poor curate in the
adjoining parish of Tooting, the other day was thrown
in consequence under the wheels of a stage coach, and
it is not yet known whether he will recover from the
dreadful hurts which he received.
But how you would like to see these chimney
sweepers that are so very fine ! I have seen you and
Bell and Bertha look somewhat like them when you
had dressed yourselves up ; but you were never half so
fine, because you had no gilt finery about your clothes.
Moreover the sweeps beautify their faces in a re-
VOL. III. O
194 LETTERS OF 1820.
markablc manner. I will tell you how to do it if you
wish to be as fine as they are. You know their faces
are very smutty : they let the smut stay that they may
be known for chimney sweepers : therefore to be like
them you must first rub some soot upon your faces.
Next, you must rub some whiting upon your cheeks
and forehead, that there may be great white patches in
the middle of the smut ; and then upon the white you
must rub a little rose pink, and upon that again here
and there you must stick some beaten gold, so that the
face may be black and white, and purple, and gilt : if you
do this, you will then be as fine as so many chimney
sweepers on the first of May. I must not forget to
observe that the chimney sweepers make a feast with
the money which is given them ; and they are so fond
of their holiday that they make the first of May last
the whole of the week ; so you may tell Edith that her
birthday is not yet over in London.
If I were to describe the extraordinary things which
I have seen in the shops only while walking along the
streets, a whole letter would not afford sufficient room.
I will only tell you, that in one window I saw a great
many shaddocks, fresh from the West Indies, which
fruit is like an orange, but as big as Cuthbert's head ;
and that I saw two horns of the narwhale or sea-
unicorn, one on each side of a shop door.
I came here yesterday, and return to town to-morrow,
when I am to breakfast with Miss Wordsworth on the
way. There is no room here to tell you about your
little Welsh uncles, Alfred and Southey, nor about
your little Welsh aunt, Georgiana. It is Isabel's turn
to have the next letter, and then I will write all about
them, and about my little god-daughter. Bertha Vardon,
who is your rival for the love of Mr. Nash, and calls
him man mm. However, don't you be too jealous ; I
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 195
shall bring Mr. Nash home with me, and that will be a
great advantage for you
God bless you my dear child.
Your affectionate father,
Robert Southey.
To Miss Katherine Southey.
Cambridge, Sunday, May 28. 1820.
My dear Kate,
Your letter followed me to Cambridge, where I
received it this morning at breakfast, and a great com-
fort it was. For although all the intelligence which
came from home had been good, still I looked uneasily
for what the next post might bring. Had it not been
for this sort of anxiety, which you know nothing at all
about, I dare say I should have written some queer
letters to you and your sisters. But I am not so
comical a papa anywhere else as at home.
You, and Bell, and Bertha are all very good girls,
and have written me very nice letters, which have
pleased me very much. One or two of my friends who
know you all three, have seen your letters, and said
what good girls you were, and how nicely you wrote.
Nevertheless it will still be proper for me not to forget
that receipt which we used to talk about for the pickle.
You and Isabel, I dare say, remember it. Very soon
I shall begin buying the other things which I am to
bring home, such as the books, and the prayer books,
and the pretty things for Cuthbert. You may depend
upon my returning the last week in June, if it please
God that I continue well.
O 2
196 LETTERS OF 1820.
Among the comical things which I had to tell you
all, was how I went to St. Paul's Church, when a
sermon was preached for the benefit of the Children of
the Clergy, on which occasion there is the grandest
church music ever performed in tliese kingdoms : and
there was a fat lady before me very finely dressed in a
velvet pelisse ; but she sat so that I could see her
stumpy grey bristles under a brown wig, and could
not help seeing a dirty under petticoat through her
pocket-hole. Remember therefore when you are an
old maid, or an old wife, that you have your wig made
long enough to cover your poll, and that you never
wear dirty petticoats, either upper or under.
Yesterday I came here to dinner, and dined with
Mr. White. To-day I have been twice to church, first
to hear Dr. Clarke, the traveller, preach ; secondly, to
hear Mr. Benson, a brother of that lady with whom I
travelled in the coach from Keswick. He is a very
admirable preacher. Now I am going to dine with
Mr. Townsend, and there I shall meet Mr. Francis,
and Mr. Noel, and the Mr. Kennaway. To-morrow I
dine with Mr. Tillbrook; and go back to London on
Tuesday.
My Kate, do you know that I am taking it into
serious deliberation whether I shall or shall not be
made a Doctor ; and as it is said the woman who
deliberates is lost, so I begin to think that the man
who deliberates is likely to be Doctored. I have been
asked on the part of the Vice-Chancellor at Oxford if
it would be agreeable to me to accept of this honour;
and as it is to be conferred upon Lord Hill and the
Duke of Wellington at the same time, and, perhaps,
upon Sir Walter Scott, this sort of company certainly
tempts me. I shall not make up my mind without
consulting one or two friends ; some expense in money,
and about three days of precious time being to be
1820. ROBERT SOUTHET. 197
weighed aofainst what is of no other use or value than
as a mark of very high respect on the part of the
University.
Your dutiful father,
Robert Southey.
To Mrs. Hughes.*
July, 1820.
Dear Madam,
Since the arrival of your letter I have waited
patiently in expectation of Mr. Hughes's book ; looking
confidently for it in the first parcel which I should
receive from Murray. It reached me yesterday ; and
I have been very much amused and gratified in the
perusal. How enviable a talent does your son possess
of communicating what he wishes to the eye, as well
as to the understanding. As I do not know where to
address him, I enclose a letter of thanks under cover
to our friend, Mrs. Company's lord and master.
I hope you are not in London during this delightful
* The mother — the excellent mother, now departed, — of the
clever and witty John Hughes of Oriel (as he was called in my
Christ Church days), — that John Hughes, the author of "An Itine-
rary of Provence and the Rhone," the praise of which is in the
Introduction to Quentin Durward, where his friend Sir Walter
Scott speaks of him as a poet, a draughtsman, and a scholar. This
is that same John Hughes whose " Old Tom of Oxford's Affec-
tionate Condolence with the Ultras" is eulogized in the Doctob,
&c., where Southey says, " I request him to accept the assurance
of my high consideration and good will. I shake hands with him
mentally and cordially, and entreat hiiu to write more songs, such
as gladden the hearts of true Englishmen." Vol. iv. p. 384
o 3
198 LETTERS OF 1820.
season, which is what summer used to be in old times.
We had really an honest old English April this year,
with sunshine and warm showers; and an honest old
English May, such as to make the poetry of former
days intelligible. You appear to hope that old English
feelings may also be reviving. I wish they may ; but
I confess that I cannot think so. There are so many
disorganising and destroying principles at work, that
were it not for a reliance upon Providence, I should
say neither the Church of England nor the Monarchy
would last another half century.
The more however I apprehend tliis, the more I feel
the duty of making every exertion which may lead to
avert it.
!Mrs. Southey desires me to present her remem-
brances. I wish we could hear that you thought of
visiting the Lakes.
Believe me, dear madam, with great respect,
Your obliged and obedient servant,
Robert Southey.
To Messrs. Longman Sf Co.
Keswick, July 11. 1820.
Dear Sir,
The " History of Lope de Aguirre " is not
sent, because, in revising it, I want a " Spanish History
of Venezuela," by Oviedo *, which is referred to by
Depons and Humboldt, and which contains documents
concerning Aguirre not to be found elsewhere. This
* " Oviedo y Banos." Southey states in the preface to this
little volume, that after diligent inquiry he had not been able to
obtain it. He did so afterwards, as may be seen from the "Spanish
and Tortuguese Catalogue."
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 199
writer must not be confounded with an older historian
of the Indies, of the same name, whose work I possess.
Perhaps you can procure the book for me. I inquired
for it in vain in Mr. Gooden's collection, and in Lord
Holland's. My next application would have been to
Mr. Heber, if I had seen him during the latter part of
my stay in town, but we missed each otlier respectively.
I am going to send a parcel of his books directed to
your care.
The life of George Fox*, and the origin and progress
of Quakerism, would form as curious a book as the life
of Wesley. I wish you would collect materials for it,
that I may digest them, and proceed with the work as
leisure and inclination may serve. The Quakers I
know have cut out many things from George Fox's
Journal in the later editions, because they were
ashamed of them — it is essential, therefore, to procure
the first edition; and of Sewell's "History of the
Quakers" also, which I suspect has undergone a like
expurgation. When you can meet with these, secure
them ; meantime the current editions may serve ; one
of Sewell I have : send me that of Fox ; William Penn's
Works; Barclay's "Apology," and Gough's "History
of the Quakers." With these I can lay my foundations.
I see the arrangement of the book distinctly enough,
but not its extent — wliether one volume or two. There
are some books connected with the subject which must
necessarily be very rare. 1 will set down their titles as
I meet with them. It will be better not to an-'.ounce
the work till it is in forwardness
Yours, 8cc.
Robert Southey.
* The MSS. preparations for George Fox's Life are in ]Mis.s
Southey's hands.
o 4
200 LETTERS OF 1820.
To John Rickman, Esq., §v.
Keswick, July, 1820.
My dear R.,
I have opened one of the red-books with which
Mr. Phillips provided me, with notes multorum generum
from the Acta Sanctorum. Among them is an odd
passage which seems to imply that a sort of polyandri-
anism existed in Galloway as late as the twelfth century ;
perhaps, if it be so, the last remains of that system
which Caesar found among the Britons. It is very
certain that the Druidical religion existed till that time,
and much later, in Wales. Davies has proved this
beyond all controverting, by passages from the Welsh
poets, in his " Mythology of the Druids," which is
much the most curious book that has ever been written
upon Welsh affairs.
My intention is to begin the "Moral and Literary
History of England" with the English language; that
is, not to go farther back than the earliest extant com-
position in that language, except as far as a view of the
state of things at that commencement renders a sum-
mary retrospect unavoidable. If this were not a
necessary determination for me, as not understanding
Scixon, it would be a proper one on other accounts; as
tiic book is intended to be not for antiquarians and bib-
liographers, but for general readers. The collections
for it are made at leisure, at loose times — odds and ends
of time ; more matter of amusement and dissipation
than of business. I am busy in finishing the intro-
ductory chapter for the " Peninsular War."
Revolutions in Italy will do no harm in that country;
but if Austria should attempt to crush the revolutionary
spirit by arms, and France interfere, — which any French
Government, whether Bourbon's or Bonaparte's, would
1820.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 201
eagerly do when fair occasion invited, — then I know
not what would prevent a general war, except a general
explosion on the Continent, and that indeed seems
more than likely. The only hope then would be that
it might be so general as to preclude all possibility of
our interference, so they might then cut each other's
throats with fraternal hatred, and perhaps we might
grow wise by looking on. God bless you.
R. S.
To Messrs. Longman ^' Co.
Keswick, July 26. 1820.
Dear Sir,
This proposed work of Mr. James Henderson is
the book which I mentioned to you when I was last in
Paternoster Row. The author says, in his proposals,
that " little authentic intelligence (concerning Brazil)
has hitherto been published, and the accounts we have
of its discovery, colonization, divisions, government,
productions, are vague, and frequently contradictory."
He therefore promises to give " a genuine and well-
authenticated history from original documents." Now,
if when he wrote these proposals he knew nothing of
my work, it is plain that he must have known little of
what has been written concerning Brazil, and lived
little with persons who take any interest concerning its
history. If he did know of my history, or if, knowing
it as he now does, he continues to circulate the same
proposals, the language which it contains is exactly that
which a plagiarist would use who meant to make up
his own book by pillaging mine. Tliese remarks only
aflect the respectability of the author ; but as for his
202 LETTERS OF 1820.
works interfering with mine, it can do so no more than
an abridgment would do, which any nian has a right
to make (as the Liw stands), and wliich I have no doubt
this will prove to be in the whole historical part. In
fact, there is no other connected history of Brazil than
mine, either printed or in manuscript, and without the
assistance which he can derive from mine, and mine
only, he might as well ^^retend to write a history of
the moon.
There can be no reason why Mr. Clarkson should
not be applied to for any books which he may have it
in his power to lend me, being, as I am, upon familiar
and friendly terms with him. 1 believe I told you that
I have the second edition of " Sewell." The current
one of G. Fox's " Journal " (I apprehend there is
always one on sale) will answer my purposes to go on
with, only I must compare it with the first before the
work is completed, and wuth this and Gough I can
begin. Yours, &c.,
Robert Southey.
To a W. W. Wy7in, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, August 16. 1820.
My dear Wynn,
It seems very strange tliat the Duke of Glou-
cester should give you information of any projects or
intentions of mine. The state of the case is this :
Mrs. Hastings being very desirous that a life of her
husband should be written, and a selection made from
his papers, consulted Sir George Dallas about it, and
he proposed Sir James Mackintosh as a person of dis-
1820.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 203
tinguished talents, high reputation, and conversant with
Indian affairs, though there might be an objection to
him as being possibly disposed to think with Mr. Fox
on that as on other subjects. Mrs. Hastings, however,
desired that inquiry might be made whether I would
undertake it, because she knew what her husband's
opinion of me had been, and that he would have pre-
ferred me for such a task to any other person. Sir
Gr. Dallas spoke to Murray, and two or three days only
before I left town Murray asked me the question. I
saw at once the splendour of the subject, the extent
and variety of matter which it included, and in what
manner it might be arranged, and, having a vague know-
ledge of the leading facts of Hastings' life, but a great
admiration of his talents, and of all that I had heard
of him in his private character, and believing moreover
that he had been vilely persecuted, I expressed a willing-
ness to the business. My place in the mail was taken
at this time, and all my arrangements made accordingly.
On the morning of my departure, Murray went with
me to Sir G. Dallas's. There I learnt that the mate-
rials were as ample as could be desired, the most im-
portant being a journal which was kept by Hastings,
I believe, from the time when he first went to India.
Sir George afterwards called at my brother's, and left
Avord, written on her card, that Mrs. Hastings wished
particularly to see me the next day ; but this could
not be, for I had engagements at Birmingham, and was
to meet my Aunt Southey there on her way from
Taunton. So there the matter ended ; except that
Murray sent me down a parcel of books for preliminary
reading, and that I hold myself engaged to it as soon
as the *' History of the War " is completed.
I have no fear of the labour, and none of any
difficulty in writing with perfect integrity. If, in-
deed, I had any such apprehension, I would at once
204 LETTERS OF 1820.
decline tlie task. It is a noble subject, and admits in
perfection of that ornamental relief which it is always
delightful to meet with, and which I delight in intro-
ducing. If it extends to two quartos (as I suppose it
will), I shall have two thousand guineas. If things go
on quietly, and I live and do well, there is a fair
prospect of my realising five thousand pounds in the
next five years.
I am as little fond of prophesying evil as you are ;
mine, indeed, is a cheerful nature, and I hardly know
what it is to despond. With regard to the present
crisis, my best grounds of hope, indeed, is not of the
pleasantest kind, it being simply this : that as things
must be worse before they can be better, and that the
sooner the abscess breaks, the more strength will there
be in the constitution to struggle through the disease.
We are already under the tyranny of the Press,
and as that tyranny must inevitably destroy itself,
the question how much or how little evil we must
go through before that good end is arrived at, is a
momentous concern to the present generation. We
must hope the best, and do the best we can. In the
present filthy business I have only to wait the event,
and I shall be glad if the storm breaks while you are
far from the sphere of its action, for something as bad
as Lord G. Gordon's riots may reasonably be expected.
Bennet (the Wilts B.) Bill, which passed through both
Houses without a single observation on either side, and
perhaps was hardly known to the Ministers, certainly
not thought of by them, may prove the salvation of the
Government.
Your godson, thank God ! thrives as we could wish,
totters about with sufficient confidence and strength,
articulates half words, and makes himself perfectly un-
derstood by the help of looks and gestures. He is as
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 205
fine and hopeful a boy, of his age, as your Watkin, and
there is no saying more.
I saw Shadwell after leaving you. The Court of
King's Bench gave Lord Somerville full possession of
the estates, in direct opposition to the testator's in-
tention. Had he died intestate, I should still have
succeeded to the Southey estates, which remain unsold,
as his heir-at-law, but he has willed them away. So
be it. I can do without them. There would be a
decent provision for my family were I to die this night
— a few years would enable me to make it a good one.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Walter Savage Landor, Esq,
Keswick, August 14. 1820.
My dear Landor,
Ere this I trust you will have received Words-
worth's " Peter Bell," his " Waggoner," and his " Son-
nets on the River Dee," &c., the last volume of the
" History of Brazil," and the *' Life of Wesley." They
were detained some time for the chance that your bro-
ther Robert might have occasion to send anything in
the same package.
After having been nearly three months from home,
you may suppose with what pleasure 1 returned to my
own family, my own fire-side, and my own pursuits.
During my absence, to gratify others rather than myself,
I went to Oxford to receive an honorary degree. Ex-
cept that I passed through it twice in stage coaches —
once after the inhabitants \vere gone to bed, and once
206 LETTERS OF 1820.
after they had got up — I had not been there since I
left in 1794, with the intention of bidding farewell, not
to the University alone, but to England and to Europe,
and trying an Utopian scheme in the back settlements
of the United States. After the business of the theatre
was over I went into Christ Church Walk, and there
chewed the cud of remembrance. Except Phillimore, the
Professor of Law, I did not meet with one contemporary
of whom I had even the slightest knowledge. In the
evening, or rather at night, I dined in Balliol Hall with
the Master and Fellows, — all being so much my juniors
that the master himself did not enter the college till
some years after I had left it. There was no person
to recognise me but the porter, a poor fellow, who, in
my time, had served as hair dresser, and supplied the
college with fruit. His wife had been my laundress;
and the poor infirm old woman sat up till midnight,
that she might see me when I was let out.
Ill as you must think of the rabhle and of the Whigs,
who have long since proved that it is possible to be at
the same time odious and contemptible, you cannot but
marvel at the effect which the modern Messalina has
produced in London. Ballad singers go about the
streets proclaiming the Queen's title to the throne, and,
ill doggerel rhymes declaring that she shall speedily be
seated there, and reign by the people's free election.
There is every probability of a more tremendous explo-
sion than that which Lord George Gordon brought
about in our childhood ; and no reliance can be placed
upon the soldiers. For they are not only duped by the
devilish newspapers to believe that the Queen is an in-
nocent and injured woman, but they are infected by
the moral pestilence of the age, since the armies in
Spain and Naples have chose to interfere in state
aflairs. Before this letter can reach you the crisis will,
in all likelihood, have come on. It will be a trial
1820. ROBERT SOUTUEr. 207
between the Government, su^iported by the civil power
alone, and the mob, with the traitorous Whigs and the
Press on their side, — the troops being worse than doubt-
ful. Of course care is taken to send away sucli regi-
ments as have given the plainest indication of their
determination " to see the Queen through it," as they
express themselves. My comfort is that as things must
be worse before they can be better, the sooner the
abscess bursts the more strength there will be in the
constitution to turn off and struggle through the disease.
The only chance of getting safely through the affair is,
that the evidence against this woman may convince the
honest person who now believes her to be innocent ;
but as the villanous part of her partizans outnumber
the others ten times told, there is but a poor hope.
Being blessed with good spirits and cheerful opinions,
I have a habit of looking on with a resolute hope, how-
ever unfavourable may be the aspects. One of my oc-
cupations at this time is a series of dialogues, upon a
plan which was suggested by Boethius. The motto
will explain their object : it is in three words, which I
found somewhere quoted from St. Bernard, *' Respice,
ASPICE, PROSPiCE." I am going to press, quam celer-
rime, with the " History of the Peninsular War." In
poetry I have done little, but must take up those poems,
which have been so long in hand, in good earnest ere
long and go through with them. The difficulty of
Spenser's stanza has, I think, very much impeded my
progress in the " Tale of Paraguay," though with what
is done I am very much pleased myself.
My little boy is now a year and half old, as healthy,
as intelligent, and as good-natured as one could wish.
You will scarcely know London when you return to
it; that is if we have any such city left a few years
hence, which is rather doubtful, as one of our Catalines
have more than once intended to set it on fire in sundrv
208 LETTERS OF 1820.
places. "VVliat with pulling down narrow streets and
lanes, and building wide streets, circles, and Heaven
knows what, they are making it a very fine place ; and
when the inhabitants are brouglit to consume their
smoke in the fire, instead of letting it go up the chim-
ney, we shall have as clean (though not as clear) an
atmosphere as our neighbours on the Continent, which
was the case before pit coal came into use.
Direct the books to tlie care of Messrs. Longman,
Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, London, and they will
find their way to me. The duty is no object except
for voluminous works in folio. God bless you.
R. S.
To John Kenyan, Esq.
Keswick, August 19. 1820.
My dear Kenyon,
I have been very remiss in not having ere this
thanked you in the names of Edith and Sara, and the
three little girls, for the presents with which you have
loaded them. I owe you thanks also, on my own ac-
count, for some of the plcasantest hours which I spent
in London. You will readily suppose that I have been
both very busy and very idle since my return ; busy in
the regular course of things, and idle by inclination,
temptation, and course of season. The very sense of
being at rest after eleven weeks of perpetual excitement
and continual change of place and society, was in itself
a pleasure of high degree ; and then the comfort of
breathing fresh air without either dust or smoke, of
knowing that I had nowhere to go, and nothing to do
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 209
except what I chose to be doing ; no trouble for to-
day and no engagement for to-morrow. Christian, in
the " Pilgrim's Progress," when the burthen drops off
his back, is but a type of such a deliverance. I found
all well on my return, and, God be thanked, all have
continued so.
Cuthbert runs about the room and the garden, and
the greatest noise which I hear now is of my own
making, when I am exhibiting, for his edification, the
cries of London, in a book bought for that special pur-
pose, and amusing his ears as much as his eyes, or
turning over the leaves of " Bewick," and making more
sounds and stranger than were heard in Noah's ark
every day before the beasts were fed, another of my
domestic beatitudes. The other day I received a short
note from Everett, with two numbers of a review,
whereof he is the editor. To my great surprise the
review is violently Anti- Anglican, which I think must
proceed more from his coadjutors than himself. He
says, " I shall not think an apology for this necessary,
when I call to mind the language of certain English
journals respecting America." I shall tell him, in re-
ply, that none was needed, but that, certainly, if I
had the direction of a journal, nothing should appear
in it co7icerning America hut tvhat teas conciliating in its
spirit and tendency.
God bless you.
Robert Southey.
VOL. 111.
210 LETTERS OF 1820.
To Barnard Barton, Esq.
Keswick, Oct. 25. 1820.
My dear Sir,
I must be very unreasonable were I to feel
otherwise than gratified and obliged by a dedication
from one in whose poems there is so much to approve
and admire. I thank you for this mark of kindness,
and assure you that it is taken as it is meant.
It has accidentally come to my knowledge that a
brother of yours is married to the daughter of my worthy
and respected friend Mr. Woodruff Smith. When you
have an opportunity, it would oblige me if you would
recall me to her remembrance, by assuring her that I
have not forgotten the kindness which I so often expe-
rienced at her father's house.
Perhaps you may consider it an interesting piece of
literary news, to be informed that among my various
employments, one is that of collecting and arranging
materials for the "Life of George Fox, and the Rise
and Progress of the Quakers." You know enough of
my writings to understand that the consideration of
whom I may please or displease would not make me
turn aside from what I believed to be the right line. I
shall write fairly and freely, in the spirit of Christian
charity. My personal feelings are those of respect
toward the Society (such as it has been since its first
effervescence was spent), and of good will because of
many of its members whom I have known and esteemed.
Its history I shall relate with scrupulous fidelitj', and
discuss its tenets with no unfavourable or unfriendly
bias, neither dissembling my own opinion when it ac-
cords, nor when it differs with tliem. And perhaps I
may expose myself to more censure from others on
account of the agreement, than from them because of
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 211
the difference. But neither the one result nor the
other will in the slightest degree influence me ; my ob-
ject being to compose with all diligence and all possible
impartiality an important portion, not of ecclesiastical
history alone, but of the history of human opinions.
I will only add that in this work I shall have the op-
portunity which I wish for, of bearing my testimony to
the merit of your poems.
Believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours truly,
Robert Southey.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Nov. 6. 1820.
My dear G.,
Your letters have troubled me; and I should
have replied to the first of them without delay, if I had
not expected to receive the half notes, which I now
acknowledge and thank you for.
If it were at a better season of the year, I should
press you to make for yourself as long a vacation as
you could, and set off forthwith for Keswick, where I
would answer for putting you in good condition. But
in the month of November, when the paths are strewn
with the fallen leaves, the roads ancle deep in mire, and
the glass oscillating between rain and much rain, and
only getting up to change, for the sake of verifying its
accuracy by falling back again, — this prescription is not
applicable. Make up your mind however, and your
arrangements, to come with the cuckoo, or before him ;
and you will derive immediate benefit from such a reso-
p 2
212 LETTERS OF 1820.
lution. No little part of the happiness of this world
consists in expectation.
My dear Grosvenor, I am no ways inclined to con-
demn you, as you seem to imagine ; nor, like the shoe-
maker whom we went to see in Richter's picture, to
persuade you that the shoe fits, when you feel that it
pinches. Only let me say, that I should be as glad as
you could be to find myself in possession of a good in-
dependent fortune : and that we poor lacklands and
lackstocks who have to earn our livelihood, must en-
deavour to make the best of it. You are better off" at
this time than the King or his Prime Minister. If 1
were in town, I would give you as much of my time as
you would accept : that is, I would take my sneezes at
the Exchequer at noon, and dine with you and Miss
Page and the Master of the Rolls, as often as you would
let me make a fourth at your party. But as this cannot
be, let us, I entreat you, converse as well as we can,
at a distance ; and do not imagine yourself unfit for
correspondence, or suffer yourself to acquire a distaste
for it.
I have often, since my return from London, been
vexed, as well as disappointed, at not hearing from you
as usual. Your letters made up no small part of my
enjoyments. You are my only frequent and constant
correspondent, — the only person, with whom corre-
spondence has become a habit; with whom I can be
grave or nonsensical, to whom I can say quidlihet de
(juolibetf and make my lightest thoughts legible as they
rise.
I have many things to tell you of my own occupations,
anticipations, and concerns, when you are willing to
hear them. At present it will suflice to say, that we
are all tolerably well, and especially your godson, who
calls himself Cupn, and puts my aunt Mary in mind of
wliat 1 was five-and-forty years ago. Nash, who is on
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 213
his way to town, has made an excellent portrait of him ;
a tolerable miniature of my poetship ; and a double
miniature of Sara and Edith which you will be much
pleased with.
Farewell, i. e. fare better*
Yours as ever.
XV. S.
Messrs. Longman and Co.
Keswick, Nov. 8. 1820.
Dear Sir,
I have had a visit from Mrs. Fry upon the sub-
ject of George Fox, for my intention has made a stir
among the Quakers. The first wish (I think) was to
dissuade me from the undertaking ; but that being in
vain, every offer of assistance is made. I thought it
proper to show Mrs. Fry the introduction which I had
written, that she might see in what light I viewed the
subject, and that I should neither dissemble the errors
of the Society and its founder, nor detract from their
just merits. And having made it clearly understood
that I shall write with perfect freedom, as well as per-
fect sincerity, I shall avail myself without scruple of all
the advantages and facilities which are offered me.
I have alreadv got a number of useful books, among
''J o
others the second edition of G. Fox's. Journal, by which
I perceive that the language bas been altered in the
third, but I know that there are more important altera-
tions from the first. I am now master enough of the
subject to judge of the extent of the work as well as
* No doubt Southey had in his mind's eye the characters of
''Do-weli;' ''Do-bet" and "Do-best" of "Piers Ploughman's
Vision."
P 3
214 LETTERS OF 1820.
its distribution, and have no doubt of its making two
volumes, though they may be somewhat smaller than
" Wesley." Look out for me for Gough's " History of
the Quakers," (which I cannot proceed without), the
Lives of " Thomas Elwood," " Richard Davis," and
" Richard Claridge," Rutty's " History of Friends in
Ireland," Margaret Fox's " Journal," the *' Book of
Extracts," and J. W. Chiting's " Catalogue of Friends'
Books."
The first chapter must be a retrospective view of the
history of religious opinions and parties in England.
Prepared as I am for the subject, it will yet cost me a
good deal of reading. You must let me have Neal's
" History of the Puritans," the original work, (not the
abridgement in two volumes which was published a few
years ago); and a lately pubHshed volume about Non-
conformity in Wales, containing a Life of Vavasor
Powell.
That is a curious volume which you sent me of
" Tracts against the Quakers."
I see that the last edition of " Lardner " is to be had
for 61. 6s. ; please to send it me by waggon.
Yours very truly,
R. SOUTHEY.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Nov. 12. 1820,
My dear Grosvenor,
Your letter served as a cordial to counteract
the gloomy thoughts and feelings which the newspaper
has produced. Come here early in May, and I will
put you in good condition, body and mind. We will
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 215
go over the whole of the Land of Lakes, making a
complete tour of them ; and I will have a pair of
riding-breeches made for the nonce, to go on horseback
with you. We will have mountain parties, and such
tarn scenes as Nash will show you in his drawing.
Make your arrangements accordingly, and for me, I
will live upon the exercise in anticipation till you make
your appearance.
It is well that one has something to exhilai'ate one
in private life ; for otherwise there is very little either
at home or abroad which can be regarded with hope or
with complacency. I am heartily ashamed of the
English people, who have retained nothing of the old
English character, except physical courage, and extreme
credulity. Physical courage, I say, because there is
very little of the moral virtue left. We are, at this
time, under the tyranny of the Press ; and the men
who have the direction of public opinion, and thereby
of public affairs, are precisely the greatest rascals in the
country, the most profligate, and worst-principled ad-
venturers of the age. Things cannot continue thus,
and whatever course they may take, if you and I should
reach the age of three-score years and ten, we shall, in
all human probability, have outlived the English con-
stitution, and the liberties of England. The question
is not whether we shall escape from despotism, but
whether the process by which it is to be brought on
will be longer or shorter, more or less calamitous and
frightful. Li the present condition' of the world, I am
perfectly certain that no government can withstand the
influence of a free press ; the freedom of (he press is
incompatible with public security ; and yet we know
that the inevitable tendency of despotism is to degrade
mankind, and that without the wholesome influence of
the press, governments tend to despotism. But of
what use is it to anticipate evils, against which no
p 4
216 LETTERS OF 1820.
exertions can avail, till we have a resolute govern-
ment !
Gifford has now the whole article upon " Hunting-
ton " in his hands. I rely upon its insertion in the
next number, for paying my Christmas bills. For the
number after he may have a paper upon some Brazilian
travels, which will serve to introduce remarks upon the
state of that country, and its internal danger; and if
he assures me that a paper which Bowles sent him upon
that subject is not to be used, I will set about the
" Life of Oliver Cromwell." I should rather that
Bowles's were inserted, but think it not likely. Bowles
has been ill used in the " Quarterly Review," and is
now at war with it, having the right on his side.
Sad changes have taken place am.ong our cats since
you were here. 1 believe you remember Lord Nelson.
He became so wretched that it was an act of mercy to
put him in the river, and that service was rendered him
by poor Mrs. Wilson. Bona Fidelia reached a good
old age, and was found dead in the wood-house. There
then remained Madame Bianchi, who was Bona's
daughter, and Pulcheria, who was Madame's daughter.
These poor creatures, who lived with Mrs. Wilson, and
had possession of the chairs and the fire-side in her
kitchen, forsook the house the day that she had her
mortal seizure. They became almost wild. At length,
however, we got them to come into the house for food ;
and I had persuaded them to come to my call before I
left home in the spring. When 1 returned Madame
had disappeared (and has never been seen since), and
Pulcheria was in a miserable state, dying of some
disease which was then prevalent among the cats, and
very fatal to them. It was pitiable to see her; and
yet, in the hope of her recovery, I could not order an
end to be put to her lingering. But I was glad when
she was found dead. A visitor from the town, by
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 217
name Virgil, who haunted these premises, being pos-
sibly driven from his own, died here also. And thus
the old generation to which Bona Marietta, Sir Thomas
Dido, and Madame Catalini, had belonged, was extinct.
We have now only a young Othello, from Newlands :
he has the defect of being of a miserably small breed,
otherwise a worthy and promising cat, who has never
looked into a boot, and is safe from all such operators as
the editor of the " Quarterly Review." Sir, I shall be
very happy to introduce you to Othello. It is a good
name, not merely as expressing his complexion, but
because he will undoubtedly be as jealous as beseems
his Tomship. I trust he will be the founder of a new
dynasty, and that in a few generations black will be
the prevailing livery of the cats in Keswick.
Have you seen anything of Strachey ? Kemember
me to him when you do. God bless you.
R. S.
To C. W. Williams IVynn, Esq,
Keswick, Nov. 13. 1820.
My dear Wynn,
Cornelius Neale dedicated a tragedy called
"Mustapha" to me, some five or six years ago. I
afterwards breakfasted with him at the house of Josiah
Conder, proprietor, editor, and, at that time, pub-
lisher of the " Eclectic Review." Neal's father kept
the great china shop in St. Paul's Churchyard, by the
gateway leading to Doctors' Commons, and he himself
has married a daughter of John Mason Good. He is
a little, mild, religious man, with a great deal of poetical
feeling which he knows how to express ; not, I think
218 LETTERS OF 1820.
with much power of mind, but free from all prevailing
faults, either of manner or morals, in his writings.
Murray lias sent me the " Sketch Book," the author
of which I met in his room. It is a very pleasing
clever book. What the writer says concerning the
Indians is more creditable to his humanity than to his
judgement. It is quite an ex parte view of the
case. Philip of Pokanoket, with whom I shall make
you better acquainted than Irving seems to be, had
all the treachery of a true savage, as well as some of a
savage's virtues. His Indian name was Massasoit (not
Kawnacom) ; and the historical grounds of my poem
are, as Irving supposes, to be found in the main events
of what is called Philip's war.
I know not what to think of this termination of the
Queen's business, except that it is plain enough the
reign of terror has begun ; and where it is to end, God
knows ! The Queen's lawyers, as well as her radical
friends, have stuck at no means to serve her ; and
they have succeeded in deceiving some of the lords,
and in intimidating others, which, with the help of the
thorough-faced Opps, and a few rickety consciences,
has enabled them to obtain a most disgraceful triumph ;
disgraceful as affecting the character of the nation.
Never let us wonder again at the madness in the days
of Titus Gates, or of Dr. Sacheverel. The essential
spirit of faction* is the same in Wldg as in Tory, and
in all times. If Bergami was to come to England, I
should not wonder if they were to present him with
the freedom of the city, in a gold box. By the by,
one of the Italian worthies at the Lord Mayor's enter-
tainment has a reputation which would have entitled
him to stand for the office of Lord Horse in that re-
* Horace Walpole said, " I have a maxim, that the extinction
of party is, the origin of faction." See Letters, vol. ii. p. 213.,
" Southey's Common Place Book," 3rd series, p. 529.
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 219
markable city* of which no vestige now remains, and
no record will be transmitted to posterity.
The matter will not end here, even if the Queen
should be desirous, as probably she will be, of taking
her allowance, and returning to her continental in-
dulgences. The example of bearding the sovereign
and defying the laws has been set, and the possibility
of intimidating the legislature has been proved. The
question of the Liturgy will be taken up ; the ferment
will continue, and things will go on from bad to worse,
till the press has effected a thorough revolution, or till
Government has subdued the press. I fear that in
another century our constitution will be held up as a
warning for its defects, not as an object of admiration
for other nations. And I am as sure as it is possible
to feel concerning future events, that in the course of
fifty years (perhaps in less than half that time), there
will not be a free press in Europe.
King Mob demands an illumination here to-night, ac-
cording to the talloio-chandlers, and great disturbances
are threatened. In that case, my windows may suffer.
There is, however, no appearance of any stir as yet
(between seven and eight o'clock), and tallow-chandlers
are suspicious authorities in such matters.
There is a book advertised about New Britain,
which, from the advertisement, I suppose to be an
Utopian romance founded upon the story of " Madoc."
Do you know anything of it?
I have nearly finished another book of " Oliver New-
man," and shall take it up now in the hope of getting
over one of those difficult passages in which I stick for
a long time ; passages in which a reader discovers no
difficulty, but a writer feels the greatest.
I wish you could have given me a better account of
Mrs. Wynn. We are going on tolerably well. Your
* An allusion to the long-projected " Butleriana."
220 LETTERS OF 1820.
godson is as fine a creature as you could desire to see,
and begins to mispronounce mutilated words most
delightfully. Charles Cuthbert he makes into Cha-
Cupn.
God bless you.
R. S.
To C. W, Williams Wynn, Esq., 31. P.
Keswick, Nov. 28. 1820.
My dear Wynn,
Mrs. Hughes has sent me some squibs of her
son's writing, some of which are very good in their kind ;
and written me a letter therewith, to which, as in duty
bound, I have returned an answer. She is very indig-
nant about the Queen.
Bedford tells me I must not be surprised if farther
measures should, be taken in this detestable business ;
and at something of this kind the '• Courier" seems to
hint. On the other hand, I hear that Lord Grey is
heartily vexed at having given ministers an excuse for
not sending the bill to the H. of Commons, where it
would certainly have been thrown out on the first read-
ing. For, reckoning upon a like proportion of Whigs
and cowards in both houses, you would have the radical
members to aid them, and the greater numbers of mem-
bers for large towns, who, as they must either vote
with the riot or lose their seats at the next election,
would have found some specious excuse for obeying the
will of the rabble : ministers, therefore, no doubt would
gladly let the matter rest ; but this will not be in their
power. The Queen is in the hands of a gang (rather
than a party) who will go any lengths to bring about a
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 221
revolution, and she is ready enough to go all lengths
with them. So much the better if this accelerate the
crisis, for the longer that crisis is delayed, the more
perilous it will be.
I give you joy, however, and a two months' respite.
Your evenings will be more agreeably spent in Wales
than in Pandemonium. God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Dec. 21. 1820.
My dear Grosvenor,
Poor Hyde ! I am truly sorry to hear of his
death. My introduction to him by yon, in 1801, and
the scene which followed, when he denied the existence
of the coat on my back, being one of those things not
to be forgotten, but now no longer to be remembered
with the same kind of hilarity. By all means pay my
bill to the widow; and, if the business is continued on
her account, she shall have my custom, — a kind of debt
this which one owes to an honest man.
Now, concerning the Vision. You may growl as much
as you like. But before you begin to put on your cri-
tical cap, observe with respect to the metre, that I write
upon the postulate of using in the four first feet of the
verse, any foot of two or three syllables ; the English
liexameter in this respect bearing the same loose re-
semblance to the Latin, that the English heroic verse
of ten syllables does to the ancient Iambic verse, after
which it is sometimes called. This of course is to be
explained in tlie preface. I have tried the verse upon
222 LETTERS OF 1820.
ears enough to judge of its effect. Those persons who
were most inchned to disapprove were shaken in their
decided prejudice against it. Wynn, instead of ex-
claiming against the possibility of the design, objected
to the quantity of one or two syllables. Bowles pro-
tested against the attempt, and acknowledged its success
when he heard the first thirty lines. Wordsworth and
Barry Cornwall admit it to be a legitimate English
metre, noways unsuited to the language. You can
answer for its effect upon your own ears. No person
has thought it forced, or uncouth, or ludicrous. Recollect
I do not propose it as a better metre than blank verse,
any more tlian I should offer venison as a better thing
than turtle, but as something else, — there being room
for both. Let it be abused, I care not. I have wished
for more than twenty years * to make the experiment,
and the experiment reconciled me to a subject which I
should otherwise not willingly have taken up.
To whom shall I dedicate it ? Not to Elmsley, I
think, for the reason which you gave, and which I an-
ticipated. The great Peter, I hope, will pay me a visit
next summer ; and one of these days I will prefix his
name to something to which he will have no dislike.
When you have perused the whole, you will judge
whether there be anything in the matter which would
make a dedication to the King improper. If there be
not I should like to do it, because my blood is up, and
it would gratify me at this time to wear the King's
colours. Perpend this, if it is to be done. I suppose
it would be decorous to ask permission; and that 1 can
do through Lord Wm. Gordon, or Sir Wm. Knighton.
* Southey always used to say that, " one day or another some one
would build up a great name on the use of the hexameter verse."
I will not say that Longfellow has done this in his " Evangeline,"
but it is nevertheless a sweet poem.
1820. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 223
Siiould there be any unfitness, as perhaps there is, I
may very likely address it to Wordsworth.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Mrs. Hughes.
Keswick, Dec. 21. 1820.
My dear Madam,
I thank you for your letter and for the squibs.
Mr. Hughes has plenty of gunpowder and makes good
use of it. He will make himself felt as a Satirist, and
satire, under the direction of such principles as his,
mav do good service in these times ; otherwise there
are pleasanter paths in literature, which, for his own
sake, I should wish him to pursue. Indignation* will
make good poetry, but it leaves the mind in a heated
and uncomfortable state ; and poetry is of most ad-
vantage, both to the writer and reader (and especially
to the former) when it elevates us above the every-day
concerns and unworthy humours of the world. I shall
be very glad to see the productions of a different class
which you promise me. Meantime, as you have left
Amen Corner, let me know where I can direct to him
a poem, as soon as it comes out of the press, which I
have just sent to the printers.
I cannot tell you how much I was pleased with the
good, honest, warm, "Welsh loyalty of your letter. Our
Protestant missionaries have proved, in opposition to
their Romish predecessors, that the best helpmates they
* Southey alludes to the lines of Juvenal (Sat. i. v. 79.) —
" SI Natura negat, facit Indignatio versum,
Qualemcunque potest, quales ego, vel Cluvienus."
224 LETTERS OF 1821.
can take with them are their wives ; and you have per-
suaded me in like manner that a woman may be of as
much use in putting down evil opinions and diffusing
good ones, as a justice of the peace. It is for want of
zeal that we pei'ish.
As yet I have heard nothing of the society which you
mention. I perceive some objections to it, of which
the weightiest is its tending to relieve Government of
a responsibility and duty, from which it is too much
disposed to shrink. Objections, however, must be waived,
if there be a reasonable prospect of doing good. If we
do not curb the press, the press will destroy us ; and
this is a truism of which I have been endeavouring to
persuade the Government for the last ten years.
Mrs. S. desires her best regards. Present mine to
Dr. Hughes, and my young brother poet, and believe
me,
My dear Madam, yours obediently,
Robert Southey.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, Jan. 8. 1821.
The death of poor Nash * has given me, and indeed
my whole household, a severe shock, for he had been
with us so much that he seemed almost like one of the
family. It is little more than five years since I became
acquainted with him, and we had spent more than
twelve months of that time together, at home and
abroad. And the more we knew of him, the better we
loved him ; he was so sensible of any kindness, so
* " Edward Nash, my dear kind-hearted friend and fellow-
traveller, whose death has darkened some of the blithest and
flithest recollections of mj latter life." — Progress and Prospects
of Society, vol. i. p. 2.38.
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 225
thoroughly amiable, and bore his cross so meekly.
With regard to himself, his removal to a better state is
not to be regretted; but notwithstanding this considera-
tion, I fear it will be some time before my spirits re-
cover from the shock they have sustained. At my time
of life new friendships are rarely formed, and the man
of middle age who is richest in friends, can ill afford to
lose one of them.
Had it not been for this event, I should have given
you a cheerful account of our going-on. The weather
has been much less severe here than in the south. I
went on Tuesday to bring Edith May home from
Wordsworth's, and returned on Thursday ; and nothing
could be pleasanter than the weather, it quite recon-
ciled one to an English January.
Bedford takes his rides on Sunday, because his shop
is shut on that day, and he comes at an unlawful hour
to suit his ovvn dinner time. If you had seen him, he
would have told you that the hexameters are finished,
and have passed through his hands on their way to the
press. I am now busy upon the preface, in wliich I
have taken occasion incidentally to repay some of my
obligations to Lord Byron by a few comments on "Don
Juan." The odes which I wrote ex officio in December
1819 and December 1820, will be added, partly for the
sake of adding twenty pages to a thin book, and still
more because they will be well-timed, and are in their
way, me jiidice, the one very respectable, the other of a
higher order. I entitle them the " Warning Voice."
I received the four first proofs of the "Peninsular
War " on Christmas-day, and the printer has in his
hands copy enough for a dozen more.
There is nothing of mine in the " Quarterly Review,"
GifFord having prorogued my account of the " Sinner
Saved " till the next number. The number has not
reached me yet.
VOL. III. Q
226 LETTERS OF 1821.
Landor received from me the information of Sir C.
Wolseley's reference to him, and sent me his answer
that I might transmit it to the '' Courier." Tliis I did
not think proper to do, because, if I could have seen
Landor, or written to him in time, he would have
altered the temper of his letter. Parr, no doubt, sent
it to the " Times." But it is worth knowing, because
it is a specimen of radical veracity, that in his conver-
sation concerning their neighbour, the Princess at Como,
Wolseley never attempted to deny the notorious fact of
her whoredom, but used to justify it ! I know Robert
"Wolseley, his brother, who at different times spent
about eighteen months here. He was a very good man,
of melancholy temperament, who, having been bred to
the law, and afterwards in the militia, at the age of
three or four-and-forty, had a fancy for studying
Hebrew, took orders, and preached himself into a con-
sumption. The family principles were Oliverian modi-
fied in Robert into Whiggery.
Aunt Mary bears the winter well. Old age never
wore a happier appearance in woman than it does in
her ; and everybody who sees her remarks this. It is
delightful to see the enjoyment she has in amusing
Cuthbert, and letting him do with her whatever he
pleases. That drawing which you have seen is as ex-
cellent a likeness as ever was taken. Thank God, he
continues to thrive, and is as happy and as good-
humoured as he can be.
The difference of grammars at Westminster is not
so great a disadvantage as you seem to apprehend. My
love to the boys, not forgetting Alfred and the two
younger ones. Dr. Bell was here last month, wearing
wonderfully well.
God bless you.
R. S,
P. S. Longman would send the reprint of the " Car-
1821. EGBERT SOUTHEY. 227
mina " to the Doctor for you ; tlie postscript to the
notes is an excerpt from my half-finished letter to
Brougham.
To C. W. Williams Wtjnn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, Jan. II. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
I enclose a letter for Elmsley. I have some ob-
jections, which appear to me of considerable weight,
against the Constitutional Association. In the first
place, it is reversing the order of things — Government
is endangered by a devilish press, and instead of fairly
attacking an evil which it must control, or be destroyed
by it, it wishes to keep aloof, and leave individuals to
associate for its defence ; that is, we are to protect
Government instead of being protected by it.
Secondly, political associations in turbulent times
are very dangerous things. Clubs may be met by
clubs, anti-Jacobine by Jacobine — till we come to club
law.
Were it the system of the country, I should not ob-
ject to a police as severe as that of Alfred, which would
leave no man loose upon society ; but I do not like to
embody myself as a political Familiar, God knows,
from no fear of popular odium, nor with any wish to
shrink from responsibility or notice, if that were pos-
sible. That I have shown, and by God's blessing will
show ; but I do not like this mode of acting, because
Government can and ought to do all that is meant to
be done by this association.
Tell me what you think of this subject. I have
q2
228 LETTERS OF 1821.
had ca severe shock in the death of my poor little
friend Nash, who left us only in November, having
passed four months with us. Of the last five years we
had been companions, at home and abroad, more than
one ; and a more thoroughly amiable man I never
knew. How many pleasant recollections are turned to
** eysel and gall" * by the loss of an intimate friend!
God bless you.
Iv. S.
To Dr. H. H. Southey.
Keswick, Jan. 15. 1821.
My dear Harry,
I have been very much shocked at hearing of
poor Nash's death, the news of which was communicated
to me by his brother-in-law, who tells me that you were
called in to him, but too late. I had spent more than
one year out of the last five in company with him, at
home or abroad ; and here he had become so domesti-
cated that the children almost regarded him as one of
the family. His death, therefore, has cast a deep shade
* " Christe by crueltie
Was nayled upon a tree :
He paid a bitter pencion
For man's redemption :
He dranke eisel ^ and gall,
To redeme us withal."
Skelton's Colyn Clout.
' Eisile is, as is well known, the Anglo-Saxon word for vinegar.
So in German Essig, in Danish, Eddike.
1S21.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 229
over what were the sunniest recollections of my latter
years. Poor fellow ! he bore his cross so meekly that
it was impossible to know him well without becoming
greatly attached to him; and the more he was known,
the more highly he was valued.
I must write ere long to his brother-in-law about the
portraits which he, poor fellow ! took to London with
him to have them framed. You will be able to identify
them ; they were Cuthbert, my aunt Mary, Tom, and
one of those of Edith May, of which there were three,
little differing from each other. There are nine, and I
shall ask to have the others which he made of this
family for himself, — as things of no interest to others,
but valuable here. There is, moreover, my hack por-
trait, designed as the frontispiece to Dr. Dove, an in-
tention which must be given up now that the drawing
passes through other hands. I should very much like
also to have his little pocket book, full of sketches
which he made in his walks here.
The "Archaica" and "Heliconia" (six quarto vo-
lumes) went up in his trunk, when he wanted ballast ;
he was to send them to Longman's to bind for me, and
we cut off the covers, which lessened their bulk about a
fourth. I must inquire if they had been delivered to
Longman, and if not, must trouble you to recover them
for me.
Had it not been for this heavy loss, the new year
would have been opened cheerfully with me in many
respects, finding me well employed and in good heart
and hope. On Christmas-day I received the first
proofs of the " History of the War," and I am daily
expecting the first proof of the hexameters, which
make a poem of substantive length (above 600 lines)
divided into several sections. I shall not get much by
them except abuse, — which falls upon me with as little
annoyance as hailstones upon an umbrella. But they
Q 3
230 LETTERS OF 1821.
will be talked of, and there will be parties for and
against the metre ; but the practicability of the metre
is proved, and the credit of the attempt will be worth
having hereafter. I shall probably append to it, for the
sake of adding three sheets to a thin book, my odes of
the two last years, under the title of the " Warning
Voice ; " the first is very respectable, the second, ni
fallor, of a high order.
Westall has made six admirable dravi^ings to be en-
graved for my " Colloquies." He is to choose his own
engraver; and if the engraver does them justice, they will
be some of the most beautiful embellishments that were
ever appended to a book of octavo size. Murray has sent
them to me to look at. The view of this house, with
Newlands in the distance, will delight you, and so will
the three others which you will recognise. I am pro-
ceeding with those "Colloquies," and with the " Book
of the Church ; " so that you see I shall take the field
this season in great force. " Oliver Newman " also is
progressive ; 1 am now in the sixth book, and as the
mornings lengthen, shall get a spell at it before breakfast.
Tell Senhouse that I have received his " Dugdale "
from Netterhall. I am very glad he is returning to
this country. Elmsley talks of visiting me in July.
God bless you.
R. S.
To John Hickman, ^c.
Jan. 20. 1821.
My dear R.,
I have devised an hieroglyphic for a great Whig
landholder, — it is an elephant with a Dodo's head ; that
1821. ROBERT SOUTHET. 231
combination, 1 conceive, expressing the proportion be-
tween their power and their intellect.
My hexameters look well in print, and read well. I
am finishing the preface, and in three weeks you will
receive the book.
"Pandemonium"* will have opened when this reaches
you.
R. S.
To John Richnan. Esq., §^c.
Keswick, Jan. 27. 1821.
My dear R.,
I trouble you with my last enclosure for the
printer. In the course of a fortnight you will receive
the book. The hexameters have nothing uncouth in
their appearance, the type being adapted to their longi-
tude rather than to the size of the page ; and for their
effect upon the ear, it must be a stubborn prejudice that
maintains its ground against them. But a good pelting
shower of abuse I shall have sans doubt, having with
some ingenuity contrived to give matter, or pretext, of
offence to all parties, like a very Ishmaelite. For I
have neither placed Pitt nor Fox among the worthies
of the late reign ; and you may easily guess how that
* Lord Clarendon says, In writing under the head of 1641, —
" The short recess of parliament, though it was not much above
the space of a month, was yet a great refreshment to those who
had sat near a full year, mornings and afternoons, with little or
no intermission ; and in that warm region, where thunder and light-
ning icere made.''' — History of the Rebellion, book iv. vol. ii. p. 14.
8vo. 1826.
Q 4
232 LETTERS OF
1821.
sin of omission will be resented. Then in the preface
I have a passage, by no means weakly wordedj which my
worthy friends Lord Byron and Moore will take to
theniselves, as a set-off' in part, against some obligations
due to them. And I have written a dedication to the
King, with some doubt whether it may be proper to
print it, in point of form, because it touches upon the
state of the press ; and if this should be thought to
look as if I were appointing myself one of the King's
counsellors, I have given a discretionary power of throw-
ing it behind the fire ; but if there be no informality in
it, it will set the Whig and Jacobite swarm in motion.
These villains cannot hate me more than they do, and
I will lose no opportunity of making them feel me.
They shall find me by far the most formidable of their
antagonists. There is a page about the Opps (in the
*' Peninsular War "), now lying in the proof before me,
which you would enjoy.
Mrs. R. shall have more journals shortly, and a
quicker supply of it. My daughter Edith is at this
time transcribing something else for you ; I think it
will amuse you ; but you will see that it is not intended
to be shown to an Irishman, and that it comes prudently
in a handwriting which no person can recognise.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq
Keswick, Feb. 2. 1821.
My dear Grosvenor,
You have by this time learnt how readily I
acquiesced in the decision which you and Herries
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 233
passed upon the dedication. You will not regard the
trouble of the discussion ; neither do I regret the
time employed in composing it : the spirit moved me,
and I satisfied myself by writing according to my feel-
ings. There ended all my interest in the affair, for I
have lived long enough to know how little such things
are thought of by any but the writers themselves, and
to apply that knowledge to things of more pith and
moment than a dedication. How differently did I feel
on that Saturday when the first number of the *' Flagel-
lant " was published ! Though there ivas not a line of
my oiun in it, still I felt that I had taken the field, and
my own *' Alphonso " was not filled with higher hopes
and aspirations when first he put on the armour which
his father had worn in Wamba's wars. I have a most
vivid recollection of that day. The MS. of the "Vision"
was sent me with the proofs. You mentioned an in-
tention of preserving it, and thei'efore I have not
thrown the dirty and befingered leaves into the fire,
as otherwise I should have done. I have introduced
Hogarth and Wesley. Mr. Wilson's letter in reply to
mine having led me vehemently to suspect that the
document which impeached his character was an in-
vention of his wife's, I restored the lines which had
been struck out jyendente lite. The type is necessarily
small, but there is nothing uncouth in the appearance
of the page, nor of the lines — they look as well as blank
verse. I am looking daily for the notes and the preface,
with the intent of referring in the former to Westall's
views for the line of mountains, and the evening effect
described in the opening of the poem.
Concerning poor dear Nash's effects I know as little
as you do. Nothing has been said to me about the
drawings, which his family must know to be mine, and
therefore I must write about them. He told me once
that he either had left or intended to leave me two
234 LETTERS OF 1821.
splendid drawings, by Westall, of the Cave of Eleplmnta,
in India ; but I do not know whether he had made a
will. I have some reason to suspect that those who are
to share his property will not regret him so deeply and
so long as I shall do. God bless you.
R. S,
Messrs. Longman Sf Co.
Feb. 7. 1821.
Dear Sir,
I get no proof of the notes and preface to the
"Vision," and it is time to ask what is become of
them.
There is an entertaining account of my " Wesley " in
the last " Evangelical Magazine," in all respects worthy
of that enlightened journal. They set me down for a
book-maker, treat me with great contempt for my
ignorance of theology and ecclesiastical history, and
hint, at the close, that what I must expect for such a
book is — damnation.
Yours very truly,
R. SoUTHEY.
Messrs. Longman Sf Co.
Keswick, March 7. 1821.
Dear Sir,
Among the numerous applications which are
made to me for assistance, possible or impossible, upon
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 235
all kinds of subjects, one has just arrived on behalf of
a poor compositor, who believes that a recommendation
from you to any of your printers may obtain him em-
ployment, and thereby save his family from beggary
and ruin. His story is simply this : that, having been
employed twenty years in one office, he has been dis-
charged in consequence of the introduction of the
stereotype ; and because he is not known in any other
office, he cannot get employment.
How far any patronage of this kind is in your power,
I of course am ignorant ; but I cannot do otherwise
than thus state the matter to you. If you can thus assist
one who is represented to me as a worthy man, I dare
say you will, and in that case I will beg you to com-
municate your kind intention by a line to either of the
two Westalls, who are both very much interested about
him. His name is Christie. Believe me,
Yours very truly,
Robert Soutiiey.
To the Rev. Herbert Kill.
Keswick, March 14, 1821.
I blame myself for not having written to King
as soon as I knew you were gone to Bristol. It did
not occur to me till I received your letter ; and
indeed I was not sure that you had not returned, hear-
ing nothing of you either from Harry or Rickman.
If poor Danvers had been living, he would have been,
as he always was, useful in time of need, always ready
to perform any act of service and of kindness. If
King had received my letter in regular time, he might
236 LETTERS OF 1821.
have relieved you of some trouble during the last week
of your stay. A very mournful time you must have
passed. I assure you it was often in my thoughts.
If there be one spot upon this earth that I remember
with more feeling than any other, it is Ashton, such as
it was forty years ago, when those village lanes of which
you speak were in their beauty. The first time I ever
rode on horseback was when you carried me thither,
before you, from Bedminster.
Edward wrote me a very good letter, which pleased
me very much. Tell him that I shall be glad to hear
from him again, whenever he is disposed to write.
The " Vision " arrived here yesterday. There is a
provoking error in the first page, where the printer has
contrived to drop the final a in Glaramara. And in
the extract from Landor's "Essay," the word ac has
crept in, nonsensically. Landor has sent you a copy of
his volume, which has found its way to me, and must
wait for an opportunity of conveyance.
The dedication was a good one ; but I took an official
opinion concerning its etiquette, and, in conformity to
that opinion, struck out the part which, in the form of
compliment, conveyed a well-timed warning. The
metre will probably attract some notice, and possibly
occasion some discussion ^ro and con: the subject will
provoke some abuse, to which I am perfectly indifferent.
I do not expect that more than 500 copies will sell, but
I am glad the experiment has been made. It was my
intention to have printed two odes with it ; but finding
that there was no want of eking, and knowing that
short lines in a quarto page would have looked ridiculous
if printed in the same type as the hexameters, I laid
them aside.
*' Lope de Aguirres Adventures " are gone to the
printer, with considerable additions, such as were
necessary to make the story complete when it appeared
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 237
as a separate publication. It will form one volume,
like the *' Life of Nelson," in the small size. Murray's
printer proceeds very slowly with the " History." I
have corrected only thirteen sheets.
The " Correio Braziliense " is now become an inte-
resting work. My only hope for Portugal was that Uca-
legon's house might be burnt to the ground before the
flames extended there. Ferdinand, I think, can hardly
escape death, and Spain will be from one sea to another
the seat of a Spanish civil war, which will be plus quam
civile with a vengeance. What will become of Portugal
I cannot conjecture ; but it appears very likely that the
poor king, between his two stools, will come to the
ground. To-day's paper brings news of the explosion
at Para. The sure effect of revolution in Brazil will
be to divide that country among as many Artigases and
Aguirres as have ability to keep a regiment of ruffians
together. I do not see what can save the intei'ior from
this ; and the great maritime cities will probably run
the same course as Buenos Ayres. The end of these
things I shall not live to see ; but I have a good deal
to say upon the prospects of society, which I shall bring
forward in my " Colloquies."
Did I tell you that two translations of " Roderick "
have been published at Paris, and a third is talked of.
One of them has been sent me. If I wished to show
any young poet what images and expressions in the
poem had any peculiar propriety, it might be done by
telling him to mark everything which the translator had
either generalised or skipt. God bless you.
R. S.
238 LETTERS OF 1821.
To a W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, March 23. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
Your confession that you dislike the "Vision
of Judgment " less than you expected, is more grati-
fying to me than half the compliments that I shall re-
ceive ; for you know I anticipated from the beginning
your hearty disapproval. A great many of the persons
who usually write to me on such occasions are just
now waiting to see which way the wind of public
opinion will set in ; but, among the poets, I may call
for a division, and count a majority.
I am very much amused at your account of Murray
and the literaliste, and at their concern for my devoted
head. Lord Byron had deserved more than this at my
hands ; but what I have written proceeded from a
sense of duty, not from any personal resentment : if
any personal feeling existed it was a latent apprehension
that some undeserved censure might attach to me for
the scandalous silence of the " Quarterly Review "
concerning " Don Juan." As for Murray's anticipated
contest, I liave no itch for controversy, and will never
be drawn into one ; only, if Lord Byron provoke it, I
will read him a lecture somewhat more at length, and
such a one as will last quite as long as his lordship's
works.
My hope for Europe was that the Spanish revolution
would have reached its stage of blood soon enough to
deter all other nations from entering upon the same
course. My fears are now like yours, and perhaps
more for Germany (especially the Prussian States)
than for France and Brabant ; for if Germany were
sound, the spirit might once more be abated by force
of arms. Great part of the evil lias proceeded from
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 239
the English newspapers, from the language held in
Parliament, and from the foreign journals printed in
England — to these latter the movements in Portugal
and Brazil may directly be ascribed. If the Portu-
guese ambassadors had done their duty, they should
long ago have called upon this Government to send the
editors of those journals out of the country, by the
Alien Act, or at least have prosecuted them.
The Austrians say of themselves — " Nous sero7is les
derniers,'' looking upon the event as inevitable. Shall
we escape ? I should say, certainly not^ if I looked
merely at human causes, for here the tendency of
everything is to the utter overthrow of our institutions
— forgive me if I include the Catholic question among
the co-operating causes of destruction. But I have a
trust in Providence, and in that trust a cheering and
steady hope, which, if it rested upon any other found-
ation, would be utterly unreasonable.
My feelings upon this subject were expressed in the
last " New Year's Ode," which Bedford may perhaps
have shown you. If you have not seen it, I will send
it you, as it may be long before it gets to the press ;
and though I have no talent for lyrical composition, it
was written rapidly and earnestly.
I think you need not be alarmed at Watkin's ten-
dency to croup. There is a spurious form of the
disease which frequently recurs, and which is more
alarming than dangerous. I know this by experience.
I am reading, for the second time, Michaelis's " Com-
mentaries on the Laws of Moses," in an English trans-
lation — certainly one of the most able and important
books that I have ever perused. He wishes the intro-
duction of slavery as a punishment. This is very unlike
his usual sagacity, /or he seems to forget the effect which
slavery produces upon the master. God bless you.
R. S.
240 LETTERS OF 1821.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Aprils. 1821,
My dear G.,
The King has desired Sir William Knighton to
let me know that " he has read the ' Vision of Judg-
ment' twice, and that he is much gratified by the dedi-
cation, and pleased with the poem." Could you get a
copy sent with the despatches to our minister at Flo-
rence for Landor, who is at Pisa? I know not in what
other manner to transmit it to him, and this is one of
the uses of an ambassador. I once received at one time
three folios through the Spanish ambassador from Cadiz.
Landor has only seen the first paragraph, which I sent
him in a letter, and it has made him a convert to the
metre. This is no slight conquest, for except Wynn I had
looked upon him as the person among all my friends
least likely to be reconciled to it. But the verdict of
my peers is most decidedly in its favour.
Now to a more important subject. You were duly
apprised towards the end of the year of Othello's death.
Since that lamented event this house was cat-less, till
on Saturday, March 2'4., Mrs. Calvert, knowing how
grievously we were annoyed by rats, offered me what
she described as a fine full-grown black cat, who was
moreover a tom. She gave him an excellent character
in all points but one, which was that he was a most ex-
pert pigeon-catcher ; and as they had a pigeon house,
this propensity rendered it necessary to pass sentence
upon him either of transportation or of death. Moved
by compassion (his colour and his tomship also being
taken into consideration), I consented to give him an
asylum, and on the evening of that day here he came in
a sack.
You, Grosvenor, who are a philogalist, and therefore
1S21. ROBEKT SOUTHEY. 241
understand more of cat nature than has been ever at-
tained by the most profound naturalists, know how diffi-
cult it is to reconcile a cat to a new domicile. When
the sack was opened, the kitchen door, which leads into
the passage, was open also, and the cat disappeared ;
not indeed like a flash of lightning, but as fast as one, —
that is to say, for all purposes of a simile. There was
no chance of his making his way back to the pigeon-
house. He might have done this had he been carried
t.hiice the distance in any otlier direction; but in this
there was either a river to cross, or a part of the town
to pass, both of which were such obstacles to his travels
that we were quite sure all on this side of them was lo
him terra Incognita. Food, therefore, was placed where
he would be likely to find it in the night; and at the
unanimous desire of the children, I took upon myself
the charge of providing him with a name, for it is not
proper that a cat should remain without one. Taking
into consideration his complexion, as well as his sex,
my first thought was to call him Henrique Diaz, a name
which poor Koster would have approved, had he been
living to have heard it; but it presently occurred to me
that the Zombi * would be an appellation equally ap-
propriate and more dignified. The Zombi, therefore,
he was named.
It was soon ascertained that the Zombi had taken
possession of poor Wilsey's cellar, which being filled
with pea-sticks afforded him a secure hiding-place ; the
kitchen also of that part of t!ie house being forsaken, he
was in perfect quiet. Food was laid for him every day,
and the children waited impatiently for tlie time when
the Zombi would become acquainted with the house,
and suffer them to become acquainted with him. Once
* The title of the Chief of the Palmares negroes. See History
of Brazils, vol. iii. p. 24.
VOL. III. 11
242 LETTERS OF 1821.
or twice in the evening he was seen out of doors, and
it was known that he reconnoitred the premises in the
nisfht : hut in ohstinate retirement he continued from
Saturday till Saturday, seven days and nights, notwith-
standing all kind words were used to bring him out, as
if he had been determined to live and die a hermit.
But between four and five o'clock on the Sunday
morning, all who had ears to hear were awakened by
such screams as if the Zombi had been caught in a rat-
trap, or had met with some other excruciating accident.
You, Mr. Bedford, understand cats, and know very well
that a cat-solu is a very different thing from a duet ; and
that no person versed in their tongue can mistake their
expression of pain for anything else. The creature
seemed to be in agonies. A light was procured, that it
might be relieved if that were possible. Upon searching
the house, the Zombi was seen at the top of Wilsey's
stairs, from whence he disappeared, retreating to his
stronghold in the cellar; nor could any traces be dis-
covered of any hurt that could have befallen him, nor
has it since appeared that he had received any, so that
the cause of this nocturnal disturbance remains an im-
penetrable mystery.
Various have been our attempts to explain it. Some
of the women who measure the power of rats by their
own fears, would have it that he was bitten by a rat, or
by an association of rats ; but to this I indignantly re-
plied that in that case the ground would have been
strewn with their bodies, and that it would have been
the rats' cry, not the Zombi's, that would have been
heard. Dismissing, therefore, that impossible supposi-
tion, I submit to your consideration, in the form of
queries, the various possibilities which have occurred to
me, — all unsatisfactory, I confess, — requesting you to
assist me in my endeavour to find out the mystery of
this wonderful history, as it may truly be called. You
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 243
will be pleased to bear in mind that the Zombi was the
only cat concerned in the transaction : of that I am per-
fectly certain.
Now then, Grosvenor, —
1. Had he seen the devil ?
2. Was he making love to himself?
3. Was he engaged in single combat with himself?
4. Was he attempting to raise the devil by invoca-
tion?
5. Had he heard me sing, and was he attempting
(vainly) to imitate it ?
These queries, you will perceive, all proceed upon the
supposition that it was the Zombi who made the noise.
But I have further to ask, —
6. Was it the devil?
7. Was it Jeffery ? *
8. Were either of these personages tormenting the
Zombi?
I have only to add that from that time to this he
continues in the same obstinate retirement, and to assure
you that
I remain,
Mr. Bedford,
With the highest consideration,
Yours as ever,
Robert Southey.
P. S. One further query occurs while I am writing.
Sunday having been the first of the month —
9. Was he making April fools of us ?
R. S.f
* The explanation of this term is to be sought in the " Life of
Wesley," where he is described as " not a malicious goblin, but
one easily offended." See vol. i. p. 23., and notes, pp. 432 — 465,
2nd edit.
f " I admire your solution of Zombi's Notturno. Alas ! he has
gone beyond space once more, and has never returned. He is
R 2
244 LETTEHS OF 1821.
To a W. W. Wyniiy Esq., M.P.
April 4. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
I did not omit Henry V. from any remains of
prejudice, but because I wished not to lengthen a
muster roll which was likely to be too long, and is in-
deed disproportionate to the other parts of the poem.
Yet certainly I cannot agree with you in thinking that
Coeur de Lion might be displaced to make room for
him, for Richard must ever be one of the heroes of
romance. Madame de Stael told me she meant to
make him the hero of a prose epic. His taste for
Saracens' heads was something like that for Irish bacon
which prevailed in Wales about the same time, and be-
longed rather to the age than to the individual. But
Richard's, you know, was only a display to frighten the
Saracens, whereas the bacon was, no doubt, for use.
Barbarous customs kept their ground longer in this
island than historians seem to have observed. Did I
tell you that in Galloway something like the Poly-
andrian system of the ancient Britons appears to have
prevailed as late as the twelfth century ; so at least I
interpret a passage in the Acta Sanctorum.
vanished, without a hope of his re-appearance, or a vestige of him
remaining. We are promised to succeed hira a Black Tomling,
whom I have named Frester John — that hierarch being the most
remarkable black potentate whom I could call to mind. Long
live Prester John ! and may he be more fortunate than his prede-
cessors, Othello and Pulcheria." — MS. Letter from M. S. to G. C.
B., April 29. 1821.
" We expect Prester John shortly. The Zombi has completely
disappeared. We have a visitor whom I have named William
Rufus (of Lord Nelson's blood I doubt not) ; and there is a finer
one of the same complexion in the town, upon whom I have con-
ferred the name of Danuyr le Roux, — but you must read the old
romance of Gyron le Courtoys to know how great a hero Red
Danayr vr&s." — Ibid. 11th May, 1821.
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEy. 245
You speak of Davy in one of your letters. When
you saw him at Bristol, 1 was in habits of the greatest
intimacy with him. That intimacy has fallen off, less
from remoteness of place and dissimilarity of pursuits,
than because of the effect which high life and prosperity
liave produced upon him ; an effect which has been such,
that for many years I have felt more pain in his com-
pany, from remembering what he was, than any pleasure
to be derived from his conversation would compensate.
A great man most unquestionabl}^ he is in one line, but
in that line he would be even greater than he is, if the
world had less hold upon him. It has made him vain,
selfish, and sensual ; and weaned him from all his old
friends.
Old friends are the best of all possessions, and there
is nothing in this world which can supply their loss.
The King sends me word that he has read the " Vision
of Judgment " twice, is much gratified with the dedica-
tion, and pleased with the poem. The dedication was a
good one as it originally stood, for I had touched upon
the state of the press in a way which pleased myself
both as to the matter and the form. This was not
struck out from any fear of the obloquy which it would
provoke, but because I thought it might seem out of its
place, and as it were intruded where I had no business
to introduce it. Concerning the metre, I have the full
and entire concurrence of the poets whom I know, and
of the female readers. Nor indeed have I heard as yet
of any repugnance to it, except from .you, whom, as you
know, I expected to ride upon an insurmountable ob-
stacle ! *
I am now taking up the " Tale of Paraguay," with
the determination of going through with it, for the most
ursent of all reasons. And I shall have to send you ere
* An old Westminster aUusion, explained in Vol. II. p. 322.
R .3
246 LETTERS OF 1821.
long that " History of Lope de Agierre," which was in-
serted in the " Annual Register," reprinted in a little
volume, making the tliirty-fourth of my operas in that
size.
Is the second volume of the " Scriptores Rerum
Hibernicarum " published ? Whenever it is, I will, if I
possibly can, review it, in the hope of bringing it into
notice, or at least of giving to the editor that commen-
dation to which he is so fully entitled.
God bless you.
Yours affectionately,
XV. S.
To a W. W. Wynn, Esq., M. P.
April 6. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
The enclosed refuses an invitation to dine on the
third of May with the Literary Fund Society, for the
good reason that I intend to dine in Cumberland on that
day ; and a refusal to write verses for the said dinner,
for the equally good reason that I am too busy, and
have no talent for occasional poetry.
Another reason not less decisive might have been
added, if I had not borne in mind that the least which
is said is the soonest mended ! a maxim which I impress
upon my children when they hurt themselves in infancy,
as a charm to stop their crying. That reason is, that if
I wrote satire, there are few subjects on which I should
lay on the lash with so much severity as this worshipful
society, which, while it lauds itself as a joint-stock com-
pany of patronage, does in fact nothing more than re-
lieve literary pauperism by donations of five and of ten
pounds, which just serve to purchase a reprieve from the
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 247
sponging-house or the parish, and to prolong the pro-
cess of starving.
I could say much upon this subject, and upon the sort
of society which would really be beneficial to literature
and to the community. Whatever Dr. Johnson may
have said, the booksellers are not the best patrons of
literature. They must consider solely what is likely to
sell, not what deserves to be printed. The scheme for
an academy which has been published, is ridiculous ; but
academies are not in themselves bad things. In other
countries they have done a great deal, and there is a
great deal to be done in this, which will never be done
without one.
How much depends upon Austria at this moment !
A liberal policy might do wonders now, but the race of
statesmen is extinct. With evil on all sides, one has
nothing to hope for except tranquillity, and that sort
of melioration arising from the spirit of the age, which
was going on every day till the French Revolution
brought on an age of blood.
God bless you.
R/. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, April 30. 1821.
I HAVE a letter by this day's post from Knox, con-
cerning Edward, for whose interest he seems to feel as
warmly as I could wish him. He is of opinion that it
will be better not for him to stand out for Collesre next
year, because it will require cramming (an operation
which whether it be always beneficial he doubts ; I,
for my part, not doubting that it is always injurious),
11 4
248 LETTERS OF
1821.
and because of liis youth and gentleness of disposition.
His utmost efforts next year could not be expected
to bring liim in except among the four last; and
then, to use Knox's words, " a gentle, delicate boy
would be subjected to the severest part of a severe
discipline." The year after he would probably come in
very high. Knox must be the best judge of all this.
With regard to the discipline of which he speaks, it is
one of those evils which cry aloud for extirpation ; and
against which I should have cried aloud ere this, if it
were not for the temper of the times, when so many
persons would join in the cry for the purpose of mis-
chief. But the economy of our public schools stands
grievously in need of reform. Goodenough had an op-
portunity last year of breaking the tyranny which is
exercised in College, when a fla^rrant instance came
before him in the case of James Moore's case. But I
believe that, like most men who are connected with old
establishments, lie wishes to maintain things as they
are ; and the worse they are, the more does he feel it a
point of honour to maintain them.
One of the errors in our old school education is
exemplified in Edward's own case, for he is nearly two
years more forward than he would have been in the
regular course of the school ; boys usually entering the
fourth form from the age of thirteen to fourteen. If
njy dear Herbert had lived to reach that age, he would
have been advanced enough for the sixth form, and
have acquired as many modern languages as I could
have taught him, or learnt in teaching him. Yet his
lessons never employed more than three hours in the
day, and when he was with me they were as much
spurt as study ; so easily are these things acquired by
a willing and apt mind when it is led in the right
way.
I should have been very anxious to hear of the
1S21. ROBERT SOUTHEV. 249
cliilclrcn, if the Doctor had not written. Love to my
aunt. God bless you.
R. S.
To C. W. fV. Wynn, Esq., M. P.
Keswick, May 8. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
During the last year or year and a half that 1
was at Westminster, one imposition served me : after
it was given up and laid on the table, it was regularly
abstracted, either by myself or the "Ava^ avhpcov*, for
whom I performed the like service. And so it lasted,
till the appearance of the quartan migiit have betrayed
its history to an observant eye. Something like this I
have now good hope of effecting with my " Official
Odes." It was notified to Shield that one would be
required this year ; and one having been made ready
(which to him is really a serious labour, the mere
transcribing the music being a week's work for an indus-
trious copyist), he is plainly mortified. But it has not
been called for. I, on the other hand, am exceedingly
well pleased, meaning not to write anything else upon
St. George's Day as long as this can be kept in reserve.
I am very glad to hear that you are concerned with
the " Records," especially if it is likely to accelerate a
work so much wanted as that of a' Corpus Historicum.
What I fear is, that it will be very slowly performed,
which to a man who wishes to make use of it is a serious
consideration. These things are best done by an effi-
cient academy, when there are no monastic institutions,
or none who maintain a chai-acter for erudition. Such
* His friend Combe.
250 LETTERS OF
1821.
an academy might render very gi'eat service to British
literature ; but the scheme which was lately talked of
was absurd enough to make the very name ridiculous.
Do you know that the late * * * * *^ ^hjle
he was in office, transferred some very valuable papers
from the public records to his own possession? So
* * * * of the Record Office, assured me, with great
indignation, he having a proper sense of the value of
such things.
I should like to know what your *' Corpus " is to
comprehend, and how far you purpose to come down
with it. I hope the Saxon and Welsh remains may
be included, with literal Latin versions. You will
want more labourers than one. Palgrave should be
commander-in-chief, but he should have others under
^ini* God bless you.
R. S.
To John Jlickman, Esq., 8^-c.
Keswick, May 18. 1821.
My dear R.,
Thank you for the " Highland Road and Bridge
Report," the enormous labour of which I can very well
understand. The plans provoke me by the inconveni-
ence and ugliness of their economy. If we are too
poor to afford anything ornamental, they might at least
have been given upon plates the size of the page, as
many in each as that size would allow. The report
tells me of much that I did not know, and^pleasantly
reminds me of what I did.
I was about to ask you a question which you are
more likely than any other person to answer. Wlien
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 251
was slavery abolished in England? or was it ever abo-
lished by any specific act ? I find that a great many
villains emancipated themselves, during the wars of
York and Lancaster, by taking refuge in large towns,
and taking advantage of frequent changes of property,
and the general insecurity ; and I find that, when Holin-
shed compiled his '* Chronicles," any bondsman setting
foot in England became free, such being *' the privilege
of our country, by the especial grace of God and
bounty of our princes." But I do not find when this
became law or custom ; nor can I discover any time or
state of things when such an act was likely to have past.
The "Dialogues" (which I believe I have mentioned
to you) lead me to this enquiry, and indeed to every-
thing connected with the progress of society in England.
The progress of my Peninsular volumes depends now
upon the printer. I have corrected twenty-one sheets,
and expect that the first volume will be carried through
the press in the course of the autumn : whether it will
be published then, or detained till the whole is ready,
is as the bookseller thinks proper.
Poor King of Portugal and Brazil ! His coming to
Europe is, I have no doubt, a forlorn hope that he may
find an asylum in England. Were it not for Spain, the
business at Lisbon might be settled as easily as at
Naples.
I am glad you are satisfied with the "Vision" as a
metrical experiment, concerning which different opinions
reach me, — the most conclusive being that women
readily catch the rliythm and like it. The King took
notice of it in the best-natured way possible, by telling
my brother at the birthday that I had sent him a very
beautiful poem, and that he had read it with great
pleasure. The truth is, if I had not written something
out of the common way, I could not have written at all
upon such a subject.
252 LETTERS OF 1821.
The modern Oliver Cromwell is a person of that
•name who has lately published memoirs of his great
ancestor. I think old Nol himself could not have
made a worse book. Your belief in the ILIkcov makes
me the better pleased with having expressed ray own.
God bless you.
R. S.
P. S. Remember me, I pray you, to Mr. Telford
when you see him ; I live in hopes of seeing him here
one of these days.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, May 27. 1821.
There is an article in Lackington's Catalogue (No.
7825.) which I shoukl like you to look at, — it is a
large MS. concerning the negotiation at the Treaty of
the Pyrenees, in French, price two guineas, from Dr.
Laurence's collection. Portugal was so much con-
cerned in that treaty, that I should think this MS. must
be worth having ; and I would have ordered it im-
mediately, only that it is better not to buy a pig in a
poke, when there is any one who can be depended
upon (like little Stevens) for approving the pig.
This reminds me of my " History of Portugal," and,
by that connection, that Sir Charles Stuart sent a
message to me through Henry Wynn*, that he should be
glad if I would return his books if I had done with
them, not saying where the single book which I have
of his should be sent, nor thanking me for the " His-
tory of Brazil." I have only the " Valeroso liUci-
* The present Sir Henry W. W. Wynn. See Vol. II. p. '295.
1821. ROr.I':RT SOUTIIEY. 253
deno," which he sent by the post, and for which I
paid one guinea postage, sixteen having been charged
for it. This is not done with ; for 1 am using it in
improving my first volume, and have to take from it a
very interesting account of the Duke of Braganza's
mode of life at Villa Vicosa. When I have done this,
which shall be at my first convenient leisure, the book
shall be sent by some good opportunity to Harry's, for
your further direction. I shall not accompany it with
any letter of thanks to Sir Charles, because he did not
think proper to call upon me at Paris, where I made it
my first business to leave a card at his door.*
The " Correio Braziliense" is now become an inter-
esting work. Some of my acquaintance are in the
Cortes. Baeta is one of the moderate party, who are
for allowing a suspensive veto, as they call it, to the
crown ; and the poor Coinibra Professor of Botany of
Brotero, keeps out of the way upon ticklish questions,
wishing, no doubt, that he were quietly at home with
his plants. I look upon the King's return as a measure
of personal safety, that he may be within reach of our
protection, and perhaps of Austrian assistance. The
same troops which have quieted Naples may easily be
transported to Lisbon ; and, at all events, his life will be
safe at Lisbon. The proceedings of the Cortes are like
those in Spain at their first meeting, — unmethodical,
precipitate, metaphysical, and mischievous, good inten-
tions being frustrated by the ignorance and inexperience
of those who put themselves forward, and the task of
putting such a government to rights requiring abler
statesmen than could possibly grow up under it. The
work of demolition is likely to be very completely
done ; and if the King could find a minister like
* " Friday, May 16. — ^ly first business was to leave a card at Sir
C. Stuart's." — MS. Journal through France and Switzerland, lb 17.
254 LETTERS OF 1821.
Pomba], he might build up new institutions, as the new
city was built, the old one having been thrown down by
the earthquake. The end of these convulsions in Spain
I do not expect to live to see.
Two hundred pages of my "Peninsular War" are
printed. The little volume of " Aguirre's Adventures"
will soon be finished, and you will have it in the course
of two or three weeks. There is another episode in
American history which I think of composing for the
" Quarterly Review" ere long, — the last insurrections
of the Indians, under one of the Inca family, during the
American war. The only account which has ever been
published is in the " History of Buenos Ayres," by
Funes. At present I am finishing a life of Oliver
Cromwell for the *' Review." Murray allows me to
make use hereafter of any English lives which are writ-
ten for the "• Review," in a series of such lives, for
which he will pay me 500/. per volume, the intended
extent of the series being six octavo volumes.
God bless you.
R. S.
To John May, Esq.
Keswick, June 15. 1821.
My dear Friend,
The public news from Brazil has made me look
daily, with much anxiety, for tidings concerning you —
in what manner these revolutionary movements may
have affected your interests. As they have neither been
hasty nor unforeseen, I should hope there had been
time to extricate your property from the precarious
hands in which it was placed. But then I call to mind
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 255
how much easier it is to run into danger than to with-
draw from it, and that tottering governments are too
much alarmed and perplexed to pay much regard to
their engagements. On the other hand, it occurs to me
that the Government would endeavour to fulfil its en-
gagements to British subjects in preference to any
other, because the King's intention of returning to
Portugal must have, for one chief motive, the desire
of feeling himself within reach of British protection.
I think of writing a paper upon the state of Por-
tugal and Brazil, for the " Quarterly Review." The
separation of the two countries can hardly be prevented
now ; indeed, the wisest conduct could only have de-
layed it, and brought it about quickly and amicably
by a division of the kingdoms, fixing one son at Lisbon,
and the other branch at the Rio. But the tendency of
all commercial colonies is towards republicanism : the
foundations upon which monarchy rests are wanting.
It is to be expected that the Brazilians will form a
constitution in imitation of the American States, with-
out any regard to the difference of their habits, cha-
racter, and former institutions. Disputes and divisions
between the great captaincies will be the next step ;
and while the great cities undergo as many revolutions
as Buenos Ayres, the interior will be at the mercy of
troops of banditti as bad as the worst of the old Pau-
listas. I can see but one motive which may, perhaps,
alarm the revolutionary party, and possibly keep them
within some bounds — a fear of the negroes, who, in
case of civil war, ma}' renew, in most of the great
cities, the tragedy of St. Domingo.
The prospect in Portugal is not so bad. The revo-
lution there may be prevented from going the same
lengths as in Spain, by the situation of Lisbon, where
England would not suffer the King to be put to death.
256 LETTERS OF 1821.
and whither an Austrian force might be transported
from Naples, if the tlirone were in danger. The Por-
tuguese reformers appear to mistake the nature of the
political disease in that country, which was less in the
form of their government than in its corruptions and
the abuse of the laws. Had the laws been regularly
administered, they would not have had occasion to try
their hands at making a constitution.
I am bestowing great pains upon the first volume of
" Brazil," the reprinting of which will soon be finished.
A great many curious facts and details I have got at by
means of books and papers which have come to my
hands since its first publication, particularly from a
" History of the West Indian Company," in Dutch, by
Joannes de Laet. The additions which I have made
amount to a tenth of the volume, as far as the printing
has proceeded. Thirty sheets of the *' Peninsular
War" are printed. This is my main business at present,
and I must work the closer at it, having suspended it
lately to write a view of Oliver Crumweirs life for the
" Quarterly Review." This I have just finished, and
count upon its produce for my Midsummer bills. It is
a fine subject, but the limits of a review will not allow
room for doing it justice. One of these days I shall
enlarge it for insertion in the projected series of bio-
graphy.
Richmond must be at this time in full beauty ; so,
indeed, is Keswick. Summer is come at last, and the
delight of bathing draws me out of doors when nothing
else would. In this library of mine, I very often think
of yours as the only room which may fairly vie with it.
If we could but bring the two within a reasonable
distance of each other, it would add very much to my
enjoyments.
My uncle writes in good spirits, so that I hope he
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 257
has recovered from the effects of his long and miserable
confinement at Bristol. I hear a very good account of
his eldest son from Knox, the usher of his boarding
house, who, in kindness for me, takes more interest in,
and more pains with, him than money could purchase.
The boy has good talents, is not wanting in diligence,
and has the best possible disposition. It is a great
source of satisfaction to me that my uncle's children
promise so well. If it please God that he should live
to the age of his elder brother, he may by that
time see the three eldest so forward in the way of
life, that they will only have to proceed regularly in
the course before them.
You could not have fixed your son at a better college
than Exeter. Perhaps it has one advantage over Oriel
— that it does not hold itself quite so high. My old
friend and fellow collegian, Lightfoot, has lately placed
a son there, by Copplestone's advice, who could not find
room for him at Oriel ; that is, more suo, he preferred
somebody of more consequence to the son of an old
acquaintance in humble life. Your next care respect-
ing John will be the choice of a profession for him.
This is a very anxious subject. I shall be an old man
before it comes upon me, if my poor Cuthbert should
live to grow up, and if I should live to see — two con-
tingencies, each of which has the chances very much
against it. At present, thank God ! he thrives, and is
as happy as the day is long. The others are doing
well. Your goddaughter took the field to-day with a
sketch-book in proper form. Poor dear Nash was
always urging her to this. Have you got your portrait?
Thci-e is the beginning of a letter biographical in my
desk, the date whereof makes me ashamed. Re-
member me most kindly to Mrs. May and your daugh-
ters, and to John also if he be at home. The two
VOL. III. 8
258 LETTERS OF 1821.
Ediths desire me to present their remembrances. Pray
let me hear from you soon. God bless you.
Yours most affectionately,
R. SOUTHEY.
To the Rev. Neville While, ^c.
Keswick, June 21. 1821.
My bear Neville,
The copyright act as it now stands certainly ap-
plies to the "Remains;" the alteration in that act
having been intended as a favour to authors, and partly
also as a set-off against the hardship of exacting the
eleven copies. The "Remains" are your property as
long as you live, or either of your sisters, considering
the work as your joint property.
You have now to consider what materials there are
which may be published with the Illustrations. We
acted imprudently in adding anything after the first
edition ; nothing was gained by it, and the only effect
was to lessen the worth of the first edition, and expend
materials which might now have been turned to ac-
count. Did I not some years ago examine the MS.
volume in my possession with this view, and send you
what could be gleaned from it ? I seem to recollect
so, but am not certain.
With regard to the portrait of your excellent mo-
ther, there will come a time when both her portrait and
yours ought to accompany these *' Remains." The ob-
jection which you feel in one instance applies to both,
and long may it be before that objection shall cease to
exist.
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 259
It is a long while since I heard of Wm. Westall ;
but if he moves nortlivvarcl this year, he is very likely
to take Nottingham in his way, certainly could make it
so without any inconvenience.
Your weather, it seems, has been like ours, cold and
ungenial. I see by the papers that the season has been
equally unfavourable in France ; imless there be a
speedy change, the agriculturists will not have cause to
complain of a plentiful harvest this 3'ear as an aggra-
vation of their distresses. Here we are in great want
of rain. We had a few warm days last week, which 1
made the most of, and took a delicious bath every day
up the River Greta, about a mile and a half distant.
I am now closely employed upon the " History of
the Peninsular War," of which the thirty-second sheet
is now before me. It is a singularly interesting occu-
pation thus to record a series of events the progress of
which I watched so earnestly and anxiously ; and now,
with the whole before me, to observe wherein I judged
rightly at the time, and wherein the opinions which I
then formed were erroneous. I do not find tliat I was
mistaken upon any point of importance, except in ex-
pecting good from assembling the Cortes. The subject
is a noble one, and remarkably complete. With the se-
cond part of the tragedy I have nothing to do, and God
knows what the end will be, or who will live to see it.
Chancey Townsend wrote to me for your direction,
when he published his volume of poems, meaning, I be-
lieve, to send you a copy. You will be pleased with
many of them. They breathe a sweet strain of natural
feeling. There is a tale in Crabbe's manner, which is
very well told, but the story is of a kind which excites
nothing but pain in the perusal.
You -will doubtless form by degrees a clerical li-
brary. They are reprinting " Strype's Lives" at the
Clarendon Press. The writings of this very useful and
8 2
260 LETTERS OF 1821.
laborious man * contain tlie fullest account of whatever
concerns the Church of Ensrland from the commence-
ment of the Reformation to the beginning of James the
First's reign. We are promised also from the same
press a collection of South's works — a man of incompa-
rable powers of reasoning and strength of mind, and
whom I do not like the worse for his honest acrimony
against those who had stirred up these kingdoms to re-
bellion. Reginald Heber is publishing Jeremy Tay-
lor's works, the most eloquent of our divines, perhaps
of all our writers, — wise, and gentle, and amiable;
but as liable to be led astray by the warmth of his
fancy, as South was by the heat of his temper, though
in a different direction. They are, however, both safe
guides, and sound pillars of our Church ; for Taylor
errs only in accrediting too easily suspicious legends of
tbe early Romish church, and in admitting, what is and
must be mere supposition to assume, in his own nund
something like tlie consistency of belief. You know
what the late King said of the divines of that age, —
*' There tvere giants in those days.'" God bless you.
My dear Neville,
Yours most affectionately,
Robert Soutiiey.
To the Rev. Herbert Ilill
Keswick, July 2. 1821.
I HAVE the whole series of " Harris's Lives," — some
of the most worthless books they are that ever were
* " Good old John Strype, one of those humble and happy-
minded men who, by diligent labouring in the fields of literature,
find ^vllile they live an enjoyment from which time takes away
nolhing of its relish, and secure for themselves an honourable and
lasting remembrance in the gratitude of posterity." — Vindicice
Eccl. Anglican ce, p. 3C0.
1821. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 261
pufFed into reputation. The author, — if autlior he may
be called, — was a dissenting minister, and therefore
praised by his brethren, the reviewers of that day ; and
at that time, when few persons thought of consulting an
original writer, he obtained a character for research,
because he strung together, in the most unmethodical
and inconvenient manner possible, a heap of extracts
with little or no discrimination, and in the worst spirit
of his cast. My paper upon Cromwell's life is finished,
and the proofs returned to Murray. It is long for its
place, but too short by half for its subject.
Some anonymous person has written me a letter for
the purpose of telling me, seriously and civilly, that it
is my duty to — make a new version of the psalms, and
lay it before the King, to be by him approved and
appointed to be sung in churches ! ! My correspond-
ence extraordinary would make a curious volume.
Dibdin, with whom I have no other acquaintance
than that of having once dined with him at Longman's,
has very civilly sent me his "Bibliographical Tour,"
which is more beautifully embellished than any work I
ever saw. He prints one edition, and then destroys the
plates — a fashion which is worse than stupid. Ten
guineas is the price of the three volumes. Murray sent
me " Captain Parry's Voyage ; " and I have got from a
catalogue Bishop Racket's " Life of the Lord Keeper
Archbishop Williams." They have begun to publisli
Strype's "Lives at Oxford," and I have sent for those
which are advertised. I picked out lately from the
books of our late vicar a " History of the Convocation,"
" Whiston's Memoirs of Himself," and the " Christian
Directory of Father Persons " * (commonly called Par-
sons), which I shall put in as good a cover as this
country can make for it, it being at present too ragged
to be read.
* This volume was printed at Douay, 1650.
s 3
262 LETTERS OF 1821.
The Cortes have voted to turn the Franciscans out of
!Mafra, and jiot to put the Canons in. The convent
libraries, or what remains of them, will, I dare say,
soon be in the market ; and many books will then be
sold as waste paper for which I should be glad to pay
largely if it were within reach !
The printer gets on well with my History. If you
like to look at it in its progress, Bedford has the clean
sheets, which I shall not want till the close of the
volume. I wish Fi'ere were in England ; he promised
me papers which he always delayed to send, but I
should have had them now ; and by means of question-
ing, I could have obtained from him much satisfactory
information concerning individuals whom he knew, and
affairs in which he was engaged. If he comes home
this summer, he may yet be in time for me.
My annual cold is in great perfection at this time. I
am now trying a course of exercise for it, have walked
ten miles to-day, and mean to walk twenty to-morrow.
Mrs. Keenan is with us, sister of General M'Kinnon,
who was killed at Ciudad Rodrigo. A cart full of
females goes to-morrow to Buttermere, and I am the
footman of the party.
Love to my aunt and the children. I have some ex-
pectation of seeing Elmsley here this summer.
God bless you.
XV. S.
To Bernard Barton, Esq.
Keswick, July 9. 1821.
My dear Sir,
I had not leisure to reply to your former letter
when it arrived : a full reply to it, indeed, would re-
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 263
quire a dissertation rather than a letter. The influence
of tlie Holy Spirit is believed by all Christians, except
the Ultra-Socinians ; the more pious Socinians would
admit it, though under a diff'erent name. But the
question, " What is, and what is not, the effect of that
influence?" is precisely asking where, in religious cases,
reason ends and insanity begins. In all communities
of Christians there have been, and are, persons who
mistake their own imaginations for inspiration : and
that this was done in some cases by the early Qua-
kers, the present members of that society would not
deny.
It is always my custom to have a work long in my
thoughts before it is taken actually in hand, and to
collect materials, and let the plan digest while my main
occupation is upon some other subject, which has under-
gone the same slow but necessary process. At present
I am printing the " History of the Peninsular War," — •
a great work ; and it is probable that this is not the
only work which I shall bring out, before the " Life of
George Fox" becomes my immediate business. One
great advantage arising from this practice is, that much
in tlie mean time is collected in the course of otlier pur-
suits which would not have been found by a direct
search ; facts and observations of great importance fre-
quently occurring where the most diligent investigator
would never think of looking for them. The habit of
noting and arranging such memoranda is acquired gra-
dually, and can hardly be learnt . otherwise than by
experience.
So Bonaparte is now as dead as Caesar and Alexander !
I did not read the tidings of his death without a mourn-
ful feeling, which I am sure you also must have experi-
enced, and which I think you are likely as well as able to
express in verse. It is an event which will give vent to
s 4
264 LETTERS OP
1821,
many poems, but I see no one so likely as yourself to
touch the right strings. Farewell,
And believe me yours very truly,
Robert Southey,
P.S. I do not remember whether I told you that
Thomas Wilkinson, who is a collector of autographs,
showed me a specimen of George Fox's handwriting,
and told me it bore a remarkable resemblance to Mira-
beau's, — than whom it would not be possible to find a
man more unlike him in everything else.
To C. W. W. Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, August 19. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
Returning yesterday from a fortnight's visit at
Netherhall, I found on my chimney-piece a card with
these lines : —
" Southey, for thee, whom not one Muse neglects,
A quondam critic leaves his kind respects ;
Long us'd thy genius and thy worth to scan,
Who loves the Poet, fain would know the Man."
On the other side was the name of the Rev. Archdeacon
Nares. That name recalls many recollections, now more
than thirty years old, of which, in all human probability,
not a trace will remain on earth thirty years hence, —
the Bishopric, the Lord H., and that city which will
be more irrecoverably lost than Atlantis or the Ten
Tribes. He saw my aunt Mary, who introduced him
1821, ROBERT SOUTHEY. 265
to my den, wliich he pronounced a very comfortable
one, as in truth it is ; so comfortable, so every way
suited to my wants and wishes, that I have not a desire
beyond it.
Netherhall, where I have been with Mrs. Southey
and my eldest and youngest children, belongs to Sen-
house, my fellow-traveller in Switzerland. The tower
in which we slept was standing in Edward the Second's
reign, and some of his papers go back as far as the
reigns of Edward I., Henry III., — one as far as King
John. One of his family preached Charles the First's
coronation sermon, upon a text which was afterwards
noted as ominous. In the wars which ensued, the se-
cond of two sons served in the King's army. The eldest
brother died, and the parents then wished to recall the
survivoi", lest their line should be extinct ; but knowing,
or having found, that other means would not succeed,
they sent a faithful tenant of the family to persuade
him to return. The event was that this tenant remained
to take his chance in the same good cause. They were
at Marston Moor together, and at Naseby. There
Senhouse fell : his friend searched the field for his body,
and found him dreadfully cut, and with a fractured
skull, but still breathing. By timely care he was re-
covered, and lived to continue the race : the tenant had
his land enfranchised, and both properties are still in
the same lines. Senhouse's sword has the back notched
on each side, so as to form a double-toothed saw, to be
used as such I suppose, for in a sword of that shape,
made to cut and not to thrust with, this could not be
intended to make a worse wound. I never saw one of
the kind before.
My brother Henry writes me that Alexander the
Ventriloquist is looking for me with a letter of intro-
duction from a member of the Dutch Institute, whose
wife has translated " Roderick " into the language of
266 LETTERS or 1821,
the Hogen Mogen. When this Laker extraordinary
arrives, he ouglit to read me a specimen of the transla-
tion in his belly, to give it its full effect !
The Massachusetts' Historical Society have given me
another tail to my name, and one of my New England
acquaintances has sent me some good books of Ame-
rican growth, to assist in the progress of " O. Newman."
That poem is expected more eagerly in America than
in England. There are some very interesting and able
pa])ers in the " Transactions of the American Philoso-
phical Society," of which only one volume has been
published : they relate to the Indians ; and an anti-
quarian society has published the first volume of an
*' Archaologia Americana," in which is a minute account
of the encampments, mounds, &c., raised (in all likeli-
hood) by the Aztecas on their way to Mexico.
I have printed forty-two sheets of the " History of
the War." Mr. Clive offered me some materials, some
of which, no doubt, might be very useful to me, if I
knew what they were. I have lost my correspondents
in Spain and Brazil by death, and a great loss it is.
Heber has had my best word and wishes. His oppo-
nents have acted in a very unhandsome manner. My
brother, when he was a candidate for the Middlesex
Hospital, kept upon such courteous terms with his
opponent, as to obtain his assistance for the next trial,
and live with him from that time in terms of thorough
intimacy.
God bless you.
R. S.
P.S. August 20tli. Some Cathedrals of Sir T. Ac-
land's introducing dine with me to-day. That word
by a comical confusion, first between Collegian and
College, and then between College and Cathedral, has
been given by the people of this country to the Cam-
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 267
bridge men, whom a late fashion sends here in flights
to study during the long vacation. One of them, who
lodged at Clarke, the gardener's, had a' bill sent in
beginning, " Mr. Clarke's Cathedral to J. G." &c.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, August 31. 1821.
My dear Grosvenor,
'Ip ^ ^ tF T^P ^
That ever I should be worth 6251. in the Three
per cents ! Thank you for the trouble you have taken.
When you receive the dividend you may buy in another
50/. therewith.
While I was at Netherhall, Nares left a card here, with
some complimentary verses on the back. My aunt saw
him, and showed him this room, where he looked at the
books and pictures, and admired my habitat, and the
comforts which are collected about me. His London
address is written upon his card, so that I am bound to
a return of this civility when next I visit town.
I do not take "John Bull," and for these reasons:
1. Because Calvert and I take the " Guardian." 2.
Because I-jjer-se-I (if that compound be not as mongrel
in person as in language) take the "Westmoreland
Gazette," as it becomes me to do. 3. Because I hate
slander, and would have all newspapers that deal in
slander suppressed, if that were possible.
To-day I have completed my laborious correction
or, more strictly speaking, amplification of the first
volume of " Brazil," on which as much work has been
268 LETTERS OF 1821.
bestowed as would in another shape have been worth
200/., and here it will not produce me one farthing.
Health to your best-for-nothing cat ! Alas ! we are
catless and kittenless.
Senhouse gave me on my birthday a bottle of To-
kav, curious for its history. It was sent to his father
about forty years ago, by Baron Corry (a relation of
Isaac Corry 's), from Dantzic ; he had received it as a
present from Stanislaus, king of Poland (whose seal
was on the cork), and Stanislaus had it from the Em-
peror Joseph. And in this baronial, royal, and impe-
rial Tokay the healths of the king and his poet were
drunk.
There is a flavour of melancholy about all this which
makes it worth remembering.
I am more than sorry that you give up the thoughts
of seeing Skiddaw this year, and that Henry is out of
order. The journey would do him good.
God bless you.
R. S.
To a W. W. Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Sept. 1. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
Learning from you that the old "Avaf avBpcov
is still in the land of the living, I have done what
uncertainty upon that point has long withheld me from
doing — written to him. Poor fellow, were we ever to
.meet again (and yet I hope we shall), the first feeling
would bring tears into our eyes. An hour or two of
delightful reminiscences w^ould follow, and perhaps when
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 269
the old stock of sympathy was exhausted, we should be
at a loss for other topics, and perceive how widely we
have grown asunder.
I do not remember Dickins. Wintle I should have
guessed to be as little susceptible of change as the
Saracen's Head. But I should have thought the bride-
groom D'Oyley as little to be aged, — a badger you know
is always gray, — and he was an old fellow at school.
Barns claimed acquaintance with me at Oxford last
year; and I certainly should not have known him,
though when he named himself I recognised something
of his features.
Did you ever see a sword of Cromwell's age, having
the back of the blade hollow, and the hilt loaded with
quicksilvei', so as to give weight to the blow? — I forget
where I have seen an allusion to such a weapon — either
in Fuller, I think, or in Jeremy Taylor ; a clumsy
contrivance, and more likely to make the owner of the
sword wield it awkwardly than to give him any advan-
tage. The mention of J. Taylor reminds me of some
gross misprints in Reginald Heber's edition, which I
wish I had marked at the time, that he might have given
orders to cancel the leaves. A careful corrector of the
press is hardly now to be found in any printing office.
The octavo edition of Burke's works, which I possess,
is made in many places utterly unintelligible by its ex-
treme inaccuracy.
Have you seen the most laborious work that ever
proceeded from "Wales — Major Price's "Retrospect of
Mahommedan History," from Oriental authorities, in
four quarto volumes, printed at Brecknock ? From the
last volume I learn, what I could have forewarned him
of (had I known him) before he sent the first to the
press, — that there are not many persons, like myself,
who will purchase such a work.
I am going to Lowther in the course of this month,
270 LETTERS OP 1821.
and wish you were to be there. You shall have a por-
tion of " O. Newman " in two or three days.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Sep. 14. 1821.
Dear Stumparumper,
Don't rub your eyes at that word, Bedford, as if
you were slopy. The purport of this letter, which is
to be as precious as the punic scenes in Plautus, is to
give you some account (though but an imperfect ome)
of the language spoken in this house by , and
invented by her. I have carefully composed a vocabu-
lary of it by the help of her daughter and mine, having
my ivory tablets always ready when she is red-raggifying
in full confabulumpatus. True it is that she has called
us persecutorums, and great improprietors for perform-
ing this meritorious task, and has often told me not to
be such a stuposity ; threatening us sometimes that she
will never say anything that ends in lumpatus again ;
and sometimes that slie will play the very dunder; and
sometimes bidding us get away with our toadymidjer-
ings. And she asks me, how I can be such a Tom-
noddycum (though my name, as she knows, is Robert),
and calls me detesty, a mafFrum, a goffrum, a chatter-
pye, a sillycum, and a great mawkinfort.
But when she speaks of you it is with a kinder mean-
ing. You are not a vulgar urn, nor a great ovverum
govverum. The appellations which she has in store for
you are either words of direct endearment, or of that
1821. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 271
sort of objurgation which is the playfullest mood of
kindness. Thus you are a stumparumper, because you
are a shortycum ; and you are a vvattlykin, a tendrum, a
detestabumpus, and a figurumpus. These are the words
which come from her chapset when she speaks of you,
and you need not be told what they signifump.
I dare say you have set up a whickerandus at this,
and I hope you will not be dollatory in expressing the
satisfaction which you derive from knowing that you
are thus decidedly in her good graces. Perhaps you
may attempt an answer in the same strain, and show
yourself none of the little blunderums who deserve to
»be bangated, but an apt pupolion, which if you do, you
will deserve to be called as clever as De Diggle.
Great light has been thrown upon the philosophy of
language by Humboldt, the traveller, who, if we con-
sider the variety and the extent of his attainments, may
justly be considered as the most accomplished of living
men. Mr. Duponceau, of New York, is treading in his
steps. From their researches, and those of our coun-
trymen in India, it appears that there are two kinds of
languages essentially diiferent from those of Europe :
the monosyllabic, which prevails in China and the ad-
jacent countries ; and the polysynthetic, to which the
various languages of the American tribes belong. It is
much to be regretted that ****** i^ew lanoruao-e
is not in like manner investigated by some profound
philologist. ****** perhaps, by the application
of Kant's philosophy, might analyze and discover the
principles of its construction. I, though a diligent and
faithful observer, must confess that I have but little in-
sight into it. I can indeed partly guess why donkeys
are in the language called jacks, and why peck is a nose ;
why some part of an elephant's trunk is a griper, but
not why it is a snipe ; why nog is a lump, bungay a
bundle, and why trottlykins should stand for children's
272 LETTERS OF
1821.
feet ; but not why my feet and yours should be oppro-
briously termed hocksen and liormangorgs. So, too,
when I hear needles called novvgurs, ladies laduls, whis-
pering twistering, vinegar wiganar, and a mist fogo-
grum, or fogrogrum, I have some glimpse, though but
a glimpse, of the principle upon which these mologisms
are fabricated. I can perceive also the analogies by
which the new vocabulary is to be extended. For ex-
ample, pie being called pie-ie-ie, it follows that pud-
ding should be pudding-udding-udding. And a pew
being called pewdiddledo, to be consistent, we should
speak of the churchdiddledurch, the clerkdiddlederk,
and the parsondiddledarson, — only that this might ap-
pear disrespectful to the vicar.
But I should in vain seek to discover the rationale
of oilier parts of this speech, though I were to study
the subject till I were as tired as a dog's detested hinder.
And when I get at the meaning by asking an explana-
tion, still no clue to the derivation is afforded. Thus,
for instance, when it was said, " Don't roakin there," and
I desired to know what was intended by this prohibition,
the answer was "Everybody says roakin; " and when I
pressed for farther information, I was informed that
roaking was digging and grumping in a work-box. So,
too, on the way from Mrs. Calvert's one evening, I was
desired to stop till she bad gathered up her doddens,
and that word was interpreted to mean a plaid, a pair
of pattens, and an umbrella. If my foot happens to
touch her chair, I am told that anything whidgetting
the chair makes her miseraboble. If the children — the
childeroapusses I should say — are bangrampating about
the house, they are said to be rudderish and roughcum-
tathcrick. Cuthbert's mouth is called sometimes a
jabberumpeter, sometimes a towsalowset. When the
word comfortabuttle is used, I suppose it may be de-
signed to mean that there is comfort in a bottle. But
1S21. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 273
by what Imaginable process of language and association
snoutarumpetev can be, as she declares it to be, a short
way of calling mother, I am altogether unable to com-
prehend.
On one occasion, however, I was fortunate enough to
see this extraordinary language in the mint, if I may so
express myself, and in the very act of its coinage.
Speaking of a labourer, she said — "the thumper, the
what-d'ye-callder — the undoer, — I can't hit upon it, —
the cutter-up." These were the very words, received
and noted as they came fresh from the die ; and they
meant a man who was chopping wood.
I must now bring this letter to a conclusion. The
account indeed is very incomplete, but you may rely
upon its fidelity ; and though of necessity I have spelt
the words according to their pronunciation, I hope that
this has not occasioned any disvugurment, and that
none of them in reading will stick in your thrapple.
The subject cannot be so important to you as it is to
me who live in a house where this language is spoken,
and therefore have been obliged to pay attention to it.
Yet it will not appear altogether incurious, connected as
it is with the science of philology ; and perhaps your re-
gard for the inventor may give it a more than ordinary
interest in your eyes.
I remain, my dear Sir,
Your obedient humble servant,
JtiOBERT SOUTHEY.
P.S. I forgot to say that apple-dumple-dogs are
apple dumplings, and that Dogroggarum is a word of
reproach for a dog.
VOL. III.
274 LETTERS OF 1821.
To a W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, Sept. 29. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
Leverett is a real personage — Governor of New
England at that time — and believed to have been privy
to GofFe and Whalley's place of concealment, and instru-
mental in saving them. There is a most extraordinary
book called a " History of the Three Judges," by Dr.
Ezra Stiles, one of the last Presidents of Yale College.
Nothing more gossiping ever appeared in the " Gentle-
man's ISIagazine ;" and nothing more thoroughly ran-
corous could have been written by Hugh Peters himself.
And yet Ezra Stiles was a kind, simple-hearted creature,
to that the milk of his nature, and the vinegar and gall
of his prejudices, make the strangest compound in the
world. The book is valuable as a curiosity, and it has
given me many useful hints. " Leverett " is certainly
not a name that J. should have chosen, for the reason
Avhich you point out. Randolph, also, is an historical
character in very ill odour with the New Englanders.
I cannot call to mind my authority for the word
accoil, though I certainly used it in " Roderick " as an
authorised word : that is to say, it occurred to me as
such, and I had no suspicion that it might be otherwise.
Spenser, I know, uses the verb.* Ipecacuanha was in
use long before that age. The word is Brazilian ; and
the medical properties of the plant were known in
Europe soon after the discovery of the country where
it grows.
I have had a very pleasing letter from Combe, who
seems to have fallen into a peaceful and happy way of
life, which might be thought natural too for a younger
* " About the caudron many cookes accoyld
With hookes and ladles, as need did require."
The Faerie Quccne, II. ix. 30.
It is evidently derived from the Italian accogliere.
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 275
brother, if it were not unusual in these times. Ever
since he left the Temple he has lived in his brother's
house ; and there he is likely to continue, the main
value of one of the livings which have just been given
him being that it renders his residence there legal.
The preferment which you saw noticed in the news-
paper is from 300/. to 400/. a year ; and he had two
small perpetual curacies before, one of whicli was
given him by Hanning. He is not married, and speaks
of himself as leading a life of tranquil enjoyment in
ihe house where he was born, free from fat and the
gout, and not more altered than must be expected from
the wear and tear of time.
Your mention of Blake reminds me of his brother,
with whom I had that kind of familiarity which juxta-
position sometimes brings about, when he used to come
out of the shell and sit in the Fifth, where my station
was at that time. I should like to know what is
become of liim, and to meet him again.
Most of the shafts which are aimed at me are sine
ictu — unseen, unfelt. I have neither seen " Don
Juan," nor the *' Edinburgh " nor the "Eclectic" Re-
views- The latter is in able hands. The editor and
proprietor I know : his name is Conder. He is of
Puritanical extraction, and holds most of the opinions
which were in fashion under Cromwell — a thorough
Independent. He is a clever, clear-headed, good man.
Foster, the essayist, is one of his supporters ; and the
most violent political papers in the " Review " come
from him. Fine literature is either reviewed by
Conder himself, or by Montgomery, who is a Moravian.
I o-o to Lowther to-morrow for a few days. Perhaps
when I return I may take up " Oliver Newman " with
more spirit, because you like its progress.
God bless you.
R. S.
T 2
276 LETTEES OP 1821.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Oct. 8. 1821.
My dear G.,
Mackenzie, with his usual obligingness, has sent
me the details which I requested. They are very cre-
ditable to his zeal and activity, and with what I pre-
viously knew of the matter, will make one of the most
interesting pages in my history. *' He shall ask you,"
he says, "to let him peruse the first volume imme-
diately, because he expects, in a few weeks, to see
General Foy, who has the same task in hand." Let
him see the sheets if he wishes it. He may like to say
to General Foy that he has seen them ; and if he looks
over them, the mere act of turning over the leaves will
show him the scale and character of the work. I send
my note unsealed, that you may see what I have said
to him upon this subject.
Are you the better for the sea breezes ? I have been
passing a week at liowther, and having lamed myself
the first day by an unaccountable quarrel between my
boot and one of my toes, had good excuse for working
every morning afterwards among old books, of which
there are there good store. It is a pleasant house of
its kind to inhabit for a few days. The servants {mira-
bile dictu !) are perectly attentive to all the guests ; and
my acquaintance with the family is now of sufficient
standing to make me quite at case there. Lord L.
has for some years supplied me literally with game and
venison ; and now he has done me the greater service
of giving me free and full use of his library, which, at
this distance from all public collections, is a great
assistance.
I am sorry that my chance for a ctistle in Bohemia
is lost. There came to u)c, the other day, a letter from
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 277
some Mr. Samuel Simpson, of Liverpool, requesting a
few lines in my handwriting, " to fill one vacancy in
his collection of autographs, without which liis series
must ever remain most incomplete." I answered as
follows : —
Inasmuch as you. Sam. a descendant of Sim,
For collecting handwritings, have taken a whim,
And to me, Robert Southey, petition have made,
In a civil and nicely penn'd letter, post-paid,
That I to your album so gracious would be.
As to fiU up a page there appointed for me,
Five couplets I send you, by aid of the Nine —
They will cost you, in postage, a penny a line.
At Keswick, October the sixth, they were done.
One thousand, eight hundred, and twenty, and one.
God bless you.
R. S.
P.S. The name of the newly discovered language
(of which I have more to say hereafter) is the lingo
grande.
Mackenzie merely dates from London. I know not,
therefore, where to direct the enclosed note.
To The Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, Oct. 23. 1821.
In looking at " Warburton" to make a few memo-
randa before it should be packed up, I saw so much
which will be useful to me ere long, and which I should
T 3
278 LETTERS OF 1821.
feel the want of if it were not at hand, that I even re-
placed it on the shelf for the present. I have sent off
a parcel of duplicates, American and others, by waggon ;
they are worth the carriage ; and in " Abel's Travels "
is a picture of an ourang-outang, which may amuse
Alfred and Georgiana, and my namesake, if it does not
frighten them.
You will soon receive the revised volume of " Brazil."
Pope is now in the last chapter. The additional matter
adds nearly 100 pages to its bulk, and in full proportion
to its value. I have bestowed upon it as much labour
as would have brought me full 200/. had it been other-
wise directed : for this I shall never receive as many
pence. But it has been willingly and well bestowed,
and the worth of the book will one day be known.
Humboldt refers often to it in his last volume, and savs
that he finds its geographical statements very correct,
though I think he had only seen my first volume v.'hen
he wrote. He forms the same conclusion as I had done
respecting the Amazons; and it is also pleasant to find
that the notion which he advanced of Affuirres' havinjr
got to the sea by some other course than that of keep-
ing the stream of the Orellana (which I thouglit un-
founded and untenable) has been given up by him upon
reconsidering the subject.
Sir Charles Stuart's book is in the parcel. I never
had any other from him. I have the Villa- Vicosa part,
which is very curious. Indeed the book is altogether
so original and entertaining, that I should be very glad
to possess it.
I was at Lowther lately for six days ; and bad weather
during the whole time enabled me to make good use of
long mornings among old books. There is a most ex-
tensive collection there of tracts belonging to the ajje
of Charles I. and Oliver Cromwelh It is a magnificent
place, and I know enough of the family, and like them
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 279
well enough to be quite at ease there. The Duchess
of Marlborough was there part of the time ; and I was
detained beyond the time predetermined for my stay-
to meet the Dean of Carlisle, a much less agreeable man
than his predecessor.
My campaign is now fairly begun. Wordsworth and
his wife will interrupt it to-morrow, for a few days,
after which I see a long course of work before me.
424 pages of the " Peninsular War," are printed. I
am busy upon a Portuguese chapter, on the events
prior to Sir A. Wellesley's landing. It was necessary
to wait for a French book by General Thiebault, which
Murray's people neglected to send me in time. The
first volume will not get farther than the embarkation
from Corunna, that year containing more matter for
detail than any other two during the struggle. Lord
Frederick Bentinck (who married Lady Mary Lowther)
ofFtred me assistance from his brother, and from Lord
Hill. I do not know whether Murray intends to publish
the first volume as soon as it is ready, or to wait till the
work is completed ; most probably the former will be
his plan.
Philip Hewctt departed last week. He was upon as
intimate a footing here as he could desire, and took
his leave with regret. The unfixvourable weather pi'e-
vented sundry excursions which had been planned with
him. Another Philip was with him, who proved to be
nephew to Waterhouse's brother-in-law Prothcroe, the
late member for Bristol.
It is a long while since I heard either from you or
Henry. Indeed I should not have known of poor
Burn's departure, if John May had not mentioned it.
Senhouse and I talk of a journey to Holland in May
and June next. If it be effected, I must make Brussels
in the way, for the sake of Van Beest the bookseller.
We talk of reaching Muiistcr, viisiting Worms and
T 4
280 LETTERS OF 1821.
Spires, and taking Nancy and Rheims in the way back.
Though I can neither conveniently afford the time or
the cost, yet an excursion of this kind has such an
effect upon a constitution which stands in need of
bracing from time to time, that I shall most likely
determine upon it. A journey of six weeks or two
months every year would be of essential benefit to me,
if I could afford to take it ; but the works which I
have in progress will square my next year's accounts
well. What a blessing it is to possess a cheerful and
hopeful temper! I would not exchange it for the
largest estate in all England.
Wynn is likely to be in office as soon as any station
high enough for him can be opened. I hear tliis, not
from himself, but from Lord Lonsdale. Lord Granvillej
refusing office for himself, has asked it for W. Fre-
mantle and Frankland Lewis. The latter has an
appointment. The only difficulty concerning Wynn
is to find a place which gives him a seat in the Cabinet.
This I sliall be very glad of for his own sake. Ho has
a large family, and his fortune is not equal to his rank
in life The good which I can look to for myself is
the bare possibility of getting something for Tom.
Love to my aunt and the children. Go-l bless you.
R. S.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M.P.
Keswick, Nov. 5. 1821.
My pear Wynn,
Lord Frederick Bentinck, whom I met at
Lowther, proffered his services in obtaining materials
for me from Lord Hill and from his brother. I have
a letter from him to-day. Lord William Bentinck
will supply all the information and documents in his
power: but Lord Hill doubts whether he should be
1821.
ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 281
jastificd in so doing, as he acted the whole time in a
subordinate capacity. I suppose this is rather an ex-
cuse * tlian a reason ; perhaps he is afraid I might make
some indiscreet use of his name.
The time will come when works of this kind will be
written with the direct sanction and aid of government,
as voyages of discovery are now. For myself, I am glad
that time is not come yet, as, unquestionably, I can write
with much more freedom. But a notion has got abroad
that something like this is the case. An Italian wrote
to offer me a manuscript memorial of the Prince of the
Peace, in vindication of himself, as an important docu-
ment for my history — modestly asking 200 guineas
for it. A son of Scarlett's forwarded the proposal to
me ; and upon my expressing to him, in reply, my
sense of its folly and extravagance, young Scarlett said
that he, as well as his friend the Signor, took it for
granted government would be at the whole expense of
such a work. The only thing I ever wished to ask of
government, if there had been a likelihood of obtaining
it, was a set of their printed Records, which I cannot
afford to buy, and which I shall want for use. It was
to you that I applied to know if the thing were fea-
sible, without the least suspicion that you were any way
concerned. The answer is a good specimen of what
Gjovernment can do to assist an historian in his studies.
I have printed 421 pages of my first volume; and it
will be ready early in the spring. If the booksellers
pubhsh it before the whole is ready (which I suppose
they will). Lord Hill will see whether the book is of
such a character as that he would wish it to be as cor-
* I rather ibink not. Those who knew Lord Hill and the great
simplicity of his character will acquiesce in his own reason. The
poor of the parish in which he lived and died had always reason
to bless his name. I bear this testimony to his memory as a
Shropshire man.
282 LETTERS OF
1821.
rcct as possible in those parts wherein he is concerned.
It is not of much consequence ; for what was actually
done, of course I know; and in reality I have docu-
ments in such abundance that any additional ones will
be of more trouble than real utility. It would be a
matter of duty with me to examine all ; and the addi-
tional information which I could now give could not by
possibility be worth a tithe of the time which it would
cost. You will easily understand this. I have a dan-
gerous love of detail, and a desire of accuracy, which is
much more expensive (both in materials and time) than
I ought to afford.
My mornings at Lowther were spent among the
books — chiefly with tracts of Charles the First's age.
There I found the " Directory," which I remember you
told me once you had never seen, and which I had long-
looked for. It is, as the title imi^orts, a mere directory
— telling the preacher when he is to read, when to
expound, when to pray, and when to preach, but setting-
down no form of words, leaving that to his discretion ;
just as old Italian comedians had the story of their
drama given them, and were left to supply the dialogues
themselves. I found a great deal in this great collection
of pamphlets which one might look for in vain in Rush-
worth or Whitclock.
Murray will publish a collection of our " Historical
Memoirs." You must talk to him about it. It should
contain every thing wliich the intended "Corpus" does
not ; a point upon which I can give him no informa-
tion.
Barrow makes a great mistake in tlie " Q. R.," and
upon a subject with which he ought to be well ac-
quainted. 'I"he country between our possessions in
South Africa and the Portuguese, is not fertile as he
represents it (except in one part) ; and there are ac-
counts enough of it in the history of Portuguese ship-
1821.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 283
wrecks, Avliich I wonder he should not have known.
Tbe number is, I think, a bad one. There is a sermon
of Slillingileet's which might have been used with great
advantage in the paper upon Hone's wicked publication.
The last article is ill-designed, and clumsily executed.
Hunt's " Tasso " is reviewed by one of his friends ; —
ergo, the papers upon Italian literature in that Re-
view have all been empty and superficial.
Thus far I had written when your letter arrived.
For the first time, Gilford has printed a paper of mine
without mutilation, and I am responsible for it as it
stands, with a single exception, not unworthy of no-
tice. I had said that Hampden might have left behind
him a name scarcely inferior to Washington ; and he has
most absurdly altered this to a memorable name ! as \i
the name were not sufficiently memorable.
I am very much pleased with your remarks. The
scale upon which I wrote precluded detail. I had to
deal in results and general views, and meant all that the
words imply, in saying that, till the meeting of the Long
Parliament, it would be difficult to say which party be-
haved worse, and afforded most provocation and excuse
to the other ; yet it is so likely that others should im-
pute to want of candour what is solely owing to want of
space, that I am very much inclined to extend the paper,
as 1 did with the " Life of Nelson."
I will tell you what part you would have taken, had
you lived in those days. You would have acted with
the Parliament to a certain point, as Falkland did; you
would then have transferred your weight to the sinking-
scale, and died, as he did, honourably and wiUinghj in
the king's service.
About Laud I cannot altogether agree with you. Plis
foresight must be admitted as some cause for his se-
verity ; for the end and aim of the Puritans was clearly
foreseen af early as in Parker's time. The temper and
284 LETTERS OF 1821.
manners of tlie age take off much of the individual guilt
in acts of cruelty. When he cut off ears, the Parlia-
ment bored tongues ; and in his case, head and all were
taken. The charge of Popery excited most hatred
against him ; and that was infamously false. And for all
that he would have done in counteracting Calvinism, and
restoring the beauty of public worship (which was
also a prominent ciiarge against him), he was in my
judgment eminently meritorious. I found at Lowther
a pamphlet of Burton's concerning Laud's execution ;
the spirit of it was truly devilish.
The " Pari. History " is a book which I must buy
whenever I can afford it — if that should ever be the
case. There are parts of our history upon which I am
very imperfectly informed for want of it. But this is
not the case with Charles's reign, upon which I have
read largely and carefully. The only character of those
times upon which I can form no opinion, is Williams,
the Lord Keeper and Archbishop. What is your
opinion of him ? How I should like to talk, over these
things with you again, as in old times ! God bless you.
R. S.
P.S. I have lately proposed to Wordsworth that
we should institute a society for the suppression of
albums.
To John Rickman, Esq., Sfc.
Keswick, Nov 9. 1821.
My dear. R.,
I am glad you are pleased with the view which
I have taken of Cromwell's * history. Tlie subject has
* " I have been much cdlficd by reading your ' Croniwell ' In the
' Quarterly Heview.' I even allow that the ' Peninsular War '
1S21. llOBEliT SOUTHEY. 285
interested me so much (especially since I fell in at
Lowther with a large collection of tracts of that age)
that it will be Murray-Ie-magne's fault if I do not take
it upon a larger scale, and expand it into two such
volumes as the " Life of Nelson."
Rushworth, with all that affectation of liberality
which the anti-Churchman shows in prating about
" the Bible without comment," is a thorough party-
compiler — very careful as to wliat he supposes, and
careful in nothing else. There are several speeches and
papers, which he prints two or three times over. It is
a great pity that Nalson's collections (which were un-
dertaken to counteract the insidious tendency of his ex
parte statements) were not complete. Nalson quotes from
some IMemoirs by Manchester, which I think have never
been published, and ought to be brought to light.
There are some Memoirs of those times by Lady Fati-
shaw (wife of Sir Richard) in the possession of her
family. Seward published some specimens in iiis
" Anecdotes ; " and if the possessors should be in town
when next I visit it, I can obtain sight of the MS.
The "Peninsular War" has not been dormant the
while : fifty-three sheets are printed. I am now drawing
to the close of the longest, and one of the most interest-
ing, chapters in the volume, relating the events in Por-
tugal from the commencement of the insurrection in
Spain till Sir A. Wellesley's landing. The volume
will end with our embarkation from Corunna, the first
year of the war occupying necessarily more narration
ought notto grumble at such remora. When I was young, no book
was more in my hand than ' Kushworth ; ' so I became learned in
the history of his time, and am agreeably surprised to perceive
that you know more about it than I do. I am obliged to you for
settling the question of the Ei/cu»' BaaiKiKv,, and shall buy the book
forthwith. I was such an Olivcrian in my time at Oxford, as lo
have obtained the cognomen of old 'Nol ;' but I believe half my
zeal was feigned, to teaze certain Royalists." — J. R., MS. Letter.
286 LETTERS OP 1821.
than any other two. Erere's absence from England is
an evil to me : I should have profited more by corre-
spondence with him than from heaps of papers. The
volume will certainly be ready early in the spring, un-
less any illness should arrest my hand.
You will receive a copy of DobrizhofFer by desire of
the translator, who (be it known to you under the rose)
is Miss Sara Coleridge — an extraordinary proof of in-
dustry and self-acquired attainments. The history of
this publication is curious. I projected it for Derwent,
while he was spending two years as tutor in a private
family as a means of facilitating his way through the
University. His sister offered to assist him. He soon
grew tired of the task (the little which he did, indeed,
was not so accurate as hers, and far inferior in grace
and easiness of diction) ; and this indefatigable girl
went through with it. I am now about to review it, in
such a way, I hope, as may make the sale remunerate
her.
I think it is in Rushworth where 1 find that it was
declared to be law in Elizabeth's reign that a slave
could not exist in England. But I am now making my
notes from Rushworth, having borrowed a set from
Lowther. In books of English history, my library is
sadly deficient, the great collection being beyond my
reach. 1 have particularly felt the want of the " Parlia-
mentary History." Mr. Phillips's red books bear tes-
timony to the use I have made of accessible ma-
terials ; and, by God's blessing, 1 shall do good service
hereafter as an iconoclast in the temples of Whig
idolatry.
Now I return to Portugal. God bless you.
R. S.
1821. FtOBERT SOUTIIEY. 287
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, Dec. 8. 1821.
I WAS vexed at discovering that Landor's book had
heen overlooked when the parcel was made up. If,
however, there be in this place paper large enough for
such an enclosure, T will frank it with my next dis-
patches to Gifford, in the course of a week ; and he will
consign it to Bedford's care.
Two or three days ago I received a rich present from
Landor, — threescore volumes, of all sorts and kinds,
none that are without value, and some that are of con-
siderable worth. The only one connected with Portugal
is " Osorius de Nohilitate" 1542, printed at Lisbon.
There is the *' Speculum Historicale Vincentii Beloa-
censis,'^ 1494. A folio Terence, printed at Milan, with-
out a date, not 1 think later than 1500 ; a Milan Sallust,
1501; " Laurentii VaUensis Opus Elegantiarum Lin-
(juce Lat.''' 1487 — all folios; a great many volumes of
Italian poetry and modern Latin. One volume of
poems in the Genoese, and another in the Neapolitan
or Sicilian dialect, I know not which ; and an account of
the sacking of Rome in 1527, by Jacopo Buonaparte,
who was present, first printed in 1756 at Lucca," with
the false date of Cologne, and suppressed by the Aus-
trian influence, so that very few copies are extant. It
is a long while since I have had so miscellaneous a
cargo of varieties.
So the poor old Admiral never lived to receive his
Admiral's pay. I am reading Kotzebue's Voyage ;
and the thought often occurs that no man in this coun-
try will feel so much interest in it as he would have
done. About the same time I lost my friend at Lud-
low, Wade Brown, an excellent man, for whon) I had
288 LETTERS or 1821
a great regard, and in whose house I always found a
joyful welcome.
Knox must be the best judge of what is advisable for
Edward. The Greek examination for college is ex-
clusively in the epigrams.
That monkey is a great favourite with Cuthbert, who
looks at it every night on his way to bed, and says it is
very uggy ; and he tells me that when I am shaving I
am almost as uggy as that monkey.
The reprint of " Brazil" will be finished immediately.
I have only to receive the table of contents and preface,
which I expect every day. Heber has helped me to
some materials for improving the second volume ; he
lias given me one volume of the " Paraguay Annual
Letters," and lent me another, and Montoya's •' Con-
questa Espiritual." I also purchased at Edinburgh,
when I was there with Rickman, that volume concern-
ing Madagascar and Brazil, a copy of which once passed
through your hands at Lisbon. l"he part i-elating to
Brazil is a history of the recovery of Pernambuco by
Pierre Moreau, an adventurer in the Dutch service.
But there is a separate, and perhaps an enlarged, edi-
tion of this, which I saw in Buonaparte's libraiy at
Fontainebleau — unless it were the same book sepa-
rated from the Madagascar part.
You may have lieard of a history of Brazil by James
Henderson. He has thought proper to send me the
book. It is an account, and not a history, of the coun-
try, made up almost wholly from Cazal and the papers
in the " Patriotic," with what little information he
j)icked up in the country during a short stay there. The
prints are ill drawn, and worse executed upon stone.
He is a man of this country, without any education.
The book however is creditable to his industry, and not
discreditable in any point of view. Luckcock's book has
a great deal of interesting matter in it. I shall perhaps
1821. EOBEllT SOUTHEY. 289
make it the subject of a paper in the " Quarterly Re-
view." At present I am finishing a reviewal of Dobriz-
hoffer. My next subject is to be Adamson's *' Life of
Canioens."
The French are in good time supplying materials for
my " History of the War." There is an account of
Soult's campaigns in Portugal, recently published, — as
rascally a one as could be desired ; and one of a very
different description by Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr, con-
cerning his own campaign in Catalonia.
Marquis Wellesley is a fit man to civilise the Irish,
if the ministry here could be relied upon to support
him. I have been reading Spencer's "Dialogue on the
State of Ireland" this morning; and the country stands
as much in need of Roman civilisation now as it did in
his days. Such a people must be under military law,
or a permanent armed police, till they are fit for
anything.
I have to perform the disagreeable task of writing a
new year's ode, which must be about that miserable
country. If that subject had not occurred, I meant to
have written one which would have saved me the trouble
of ever writing another till that was called for. This I
did with the birthday.
My odes for the last two years are better than any-
thing that I ever expected to write in that form. On
the present occasion I go to the task with an ill will,
and with no anticipation of doing anything well. Love
to my aunt and the children. God bless you.
R. S.
VOL. III. U
290 LETTERS OF 1821.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., 31. P.
Keswick, Dec. 16. 1821.
My dear Wynn,
I am exceedingly glad to hear of your alliance
with Mrs. Company. It has indeed very long been my
wish to see you in office, because no man is more fit for
it ; and you have always had few principles and fewer
feelings in common with opposition. When I heard
the likelihood of your coming in some months ago, I
had supposed that you would probably be placed at the
head of your old department, in which case your name
would soon have been inserted above mine in Cobbett's
proscription list. You have a situation subject to none
of the same difficulties and invidiousness as that ; and
the voluminous documents with which you must become
acquainted will not be so appalling or irksome to you
as they would be to most persons.
But I am sorry to lose the intended " Cromwelliana."
However, I shall hope for them hereafter, and in the
most serviceable manner ; that is, in the way of com-
ment, before the book goes to press, or while it is on
its way through it. In my odds and ends of time, I
am laying in stores, with the full purpose of treating
the subject at length, and doing it all the justice that
can be done by unweariable diligence, and the sincere
desire of representing both men and actions in their
true colours.
I believe I can obtain access to Lady Fanshaw's
" Memoirs." I wish I could to those of (not by) the
Countess of Pembroke ; but they are in Lord Tiianet's
possession, and therefore not very likely to be accessible
to me. Manchester left memoirs which are quoted by
Nalson. If they have not been printed (and I think
they have not, or I should have seen some notice of
1821. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 291
tliem), in whose possession are they likely to he ?
They would be very important.
Rushworth is very imperfect, and exemplifies the sin
of omission in perfection; being, by means of that
single act, while he professes impartiality, one of the
most partial of compilers. There were great men in
those days. I have been very much interested in one
who was not a great man — but a very eloquent one —
Sir Edward Deering. I found the collection of his
speeches at Lowther, for publishing which he was so
tyrannically treated. God bless you.
R. S.
To John Richman, Esq., S^c.
Keswick, Dec. 19. 1821,
I HAVE just got through Strada's ''Decades," and
learnt a great deal from them. There are few books
which a military man might study with more ad-
vantage.
The foundation of two evils was laid in these Dutch
wars — French preponderance, and English republican-
ism ; Puritanism also owes, in great measure, its growth
to them.
The Prince of Parma (a man of consummate military
genius) was the first general who perceived the ad-
vantage of religious discipline in an army. I think
Gustavus imitated him in this point, and Cromwell
Gustavus.
The poverty of the Spanish Government, when most
flourishing, has surprised me. They might again and
again have recovered the whole of the Low Countries
V 2
292 LETTEES OF 1821.
if they had employed a little larger force, or kept the
force which they did employ in good order and good
humour, by paying them regularly.
There are several cases parallel to what happened to
us at Bergen op Zoom, where, in spite of fortifications,
the town was surprised, and the assailants, after having
overcome all the miHtary difficulties, were drawn out
by a window-and-street resistance.
I am now going to look through Aitzema, a Dutch
liistorian, whose work includes the history of Europe,
and of all other parts of the world with which the
powers of Europe had any intercourse at that time, —
from 1620 to the first year of William III. It consists
of eleven folios, each containing as much as three of
Rushworth's volumes ; abounding, like his, in state
papers, but connecting them by a full and regular nar-
rative ; and, in point of merit, about half way between
Rushworth and Thuanus — as much above the former as
below the latter. Here I shall find a great deal
concerning Cromwell's times.
We are living in perpetual storms. I think we have
not had two days together of calm weather since August.
The thermometer is hardly below the temperate point,
and the pansies, polyanthus', and primroses are in
blossom. So much rain has never, in my memory,
fallen within the same course of time. Yesterday we
had a long thunderstorm, and a great deal of hail.
We are going on well. My eldest daughter makes
such good progress in drawing, that she will make an
excellent fellow-traveller in that respect. Bertha reads
Ovid with me. The younger ones come forward as
could be wished, and Cuthbert thrives to my heart's
content. Remember us to Mrs. R. God bless you.
R. S.
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 293
To John Rickman, Esq.
Keswick, Jan. C. 182a.
My dear R.,
I send tills inclosure open, that you may see in
what manner I have dealt with Lord Byron, who may
now properly he called the Avenger of Abel. You
have, I hope, seen his attack. If he returns to it, I
have more stones from the brook, and my aim is sure.
There are works of his come over for publication
which are so bad (even after Don Juan), that Murray
will not touch them. This I hear from Gilford. If
need be, I shall have a grand opportunity of attacking
the rascally press in his person. Many new years, and
happy ones, to you and yours. God bless you.
li. S.
P.S. This will follow you, I suppose, into Sussex ;
but time is of no consequence. His attack has been
published in our " Broughamite Papers." They, I
suppose, will not insert my reply ; but I will take care
that his attack shall appear in the opposite paper with
it, having as much to gain by bringing them together as
he has to lose.
To the Itev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, Jan. 25. 1822.
I KNOW not how much longer the first volume of
" Brazil " is to remain in that limbo which is the inter-
mediate state of books after printing and before publi-
cation. Longman, however, is instructed to send you
two copies as soon as they are to be had. You will
find a sood deal of curious additional matter, and see
that my time was not misemployed in acquiring know-
u 3
294 LETTERS OP 1822.
ledge enough of Dutch to make my way through their
liuge, straightforward, and honest historical works.
Frere has deputed his brother Bartholomew to com-
municate with me concerning Spanish affairs. This
was done just in time. He will look over the proofs
to see if I need correction, or further information, whicli
it may be in his power to bestow ; and he has offered
Whittingham's services, who will get me some official
papers from Madrid. The 63rd proof is now on
my table. The two first proofs of the " Book of the
Church " are also before me. This is a work which
will unquestionably do good. Many young minds will
receive from it a right bias ; and it will bear with weight
upon the Catholic question the more effectually, be-
cause it is not in a controversial form.
William Westall, for whom I have a great regard,
means to engrave a series of views to accompany my
*' History of the War." I have sent him two of your
sketches, which apply to the first volume — the Puente
del Corzul, and the Bridge over the Ezlas, with Bene-
vente between the chalk hills ; the very spot where
Bonaparte was in danger of being made prisoner by
Lord Castlereagh's brother, and where Lefebvre Desnou-
ettes was taken. He has got (through Bedford) some
sketches from General Hawker, of which Maroao,
Guarda, and Cintra, will do for the first series, I wish
we could obtain views of Lisbon and Madrid, the Es-
curial, Aranjuez, Bayonne, Cordova, Jaen, Zaragoza,
Villa Vi9osa, Evora, Beja, Nazareth, and Leiria, for
that volume. That which you sent me of Madrid, by
Hawker, disappeared with many other things, while I
was without a resting-place. Have you a copy of it?
I hear from various quarters that my reply to Lord
Byron's blackguardism is producing the effect which was
intended upon others, however he may take it. I have
no desire to pursue the matter further, but, if need be.
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 295
I shall have no great reluctance to it ; there are plenty
of smooth stones in the brook, my arm is in good order,
and I am sure of my aim. These things in no degree
disturb me. I see some strong hand at Oxford has
taken up his *' Cain " (which I have not seen). If he
compels me to engage with him again, I will brand him
in such a manner as will exclude him from all society
in England in which character is considered to be a
necessary qualification. The truth is, he is desperate.
He has (I know) sent over for publication things more
atrocious than any which have yet appeared, and such
as none but the ames dainties of the trade will venture
to publish. Murray is upon a bed of thorns which he
has made for himself.
I am reviewing a " Life of Camoens." His bio-
graphers have taken very little brains to their task.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Jan. 26. 1822.
My dear G.,
I wish I had a good wager depending upon your
inability to guess what this letter contains. It is in-
tended to inform you that I have composed eight co-
nundrums, upon the names of as many Greek authors.
1. A woman's peculiarities.
2. Lady Diana highly perfumed.
3. A wandering young gentleman.
4. Lay your hand upon that part of your unutterable
garment where the flap of the pocket is, and ask what
part is this ?
5. Anna mv wife.
6. What happens if, when you are looking into the
glass, I look in it too ?
u 4
296 LETTERS OP 1822.
7. What a pair of turtle doves, offered for sale,
Avould say to Miss Page, if they could speak. It is
not every woman to whom they would say it.
8. A common plaything belonging to Henry and his
brother.
There, Grosvenor, considering that I have three proof-
sheets of " Kirke White " upon the table (two of which
are unread), and three of my own, all to be returned
by this post, and to write one note to Murray, and
another to GifFord, you will admit this communication
as a proof that any man can find time to play the fool
when he has a mind so to do.
And now I will give you the solutions, which you
need not look at if you choose to try your hand at un-
riddling-my-ree first : — 1. Her oddities. 2. Di odorous.
3. Stray beau. 4. Your hip it is. 5. My Nan dear.
6. I see us. 7. Polly buy us. 8. Harry s top and his.
God bless you.
R. S.
P.S. Srd Feb. 1822. — I have made three more
conundrums. Why is a man when he has been reading
too long in a book of small print, like one of the Pa-
triarchs ?
'dJ/JV sdfid siq asn^oag;
Which of the Roman emperors is most like the
beginning of an Ode ?
Wiiy may the letter P remind us of one of the worst
of men ?
•Q JiDdu aq o; pres aq iCeui ;i asnijaag;
I pray you admire the manner in which I have placed
the solution, so that you need not read it unless you
wish.
R. S.
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 297
To Bernard Barton^ Esq.
Keswick, Jan. 27. 1822.
My dear Sir,
I should have answered your letter yesterday, if
it had not found me with six proof-sheets on the table,
three of Kirke White's, and three of my own.
Both of your dedications are very good, — the second
very beautiful, though a little hurt by the alteration:
the alteration however is advisable ; not that it would
give offence, but that it is right to avoid any thing which
might maliciously be pointed out as offensive. The
volume cannot be presented more fitly than by Sir
Augustus Frazer. I have no doubt but that the king
will be gratified by it.
I was much pleased with the poet's lot, — no, not
with his lot ; but with the verses in which he describes
it. But, let me ask you, are you not pursuing your
studies intemperately, and to the danger of your
health ? To be writing " long after midnight," and
" with a miserable headache," is what no man can do
with impunity ; and what no pressure of business, no
ardour of composition, has ever made me do. I beseech
you remember the fate of Kirke White ; and remember
that if you sacrifice your health (not to say your life) in
the same manner, you will be held up in your own com-
munity as a warning, — not as an example for imita-
tion. The spirit which disturbed poor Scott of Am-
well in his last illness will fasten upon your name, and
your fate will be instanced to prove the inconsistency
of your pursuits with that sobriety and evenness of
mind which Quakerism requires, and is intended to
produce.
You will take this as it is meant, I am sure.
My friend, go early to bed ; and if you eat snppors,
298 LETTERS OF
1822.
read afterwards, but never compose, that you may He
down with a quiet intellect. There is an intellectual
as well as a religious peace of mind ; and without the
former be assured there can be no health for a poet.
God bless you.
Yours very truly,
Robert Southey.
To John RicTcman, Esq.
Feb. 1. 1822.
My dear R.,
I am carrying on an active peninsular corre-
spondence with Frere's brother, who was with him in
Spain, and at one time supplied his place there. It is
of more use to me than whole packets of official papers.
By asking questions concerning men and things, and
setting his recollection to work, I get at those master
facts by which difficulties are overlooked.
The new system in the public offices of promoting
men by merit, and not according to seniority, seems to
me just so much patronage given to the heads of those
departments, — a measure sure always to produce a feel-
ing of injustice, and in most cases, no doubt, with good
reason. The principle of regular succession is one
which satisfies everybody ; they know what they have
to expect when they enter the office, and go on con-
tentedly.
I am glad for his own sake that Wynn is in office,
but I do not anticipate any accession of strength or
popularity to the Government from its alliance with
the Grenvilles. Lord Grenville is in my judgment a
l)ad statesman, who has been wrong upon every ques-
tion of importance, except concerning the Radicals.
1822.
ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 299
A Jacquerie in Ireland, or a Patei'ie as it may be
called, will be near enough to have some effect as a
warning. You see even Lord Donoughmore cried out
for strong measures.
This cry against the resumption of cash payments is
a good specimen of our speechifyers' honesty. Some
few months ago my neighbour Calvert was talking upon
this subject with James Brougham (B.'s brother), and
he had the impudence to say the Whigs knew it to be
a mischievous measure, and forced it upon the ministers
for that reason. I believe him as to their rascality, but
not as to their foresight. God bless you.
R. S»
To the Rigid Hon. C. W. W. Wijnn, M.P.
Keswick, Feb. 27. 1822.
My dear Wynn,
You are now fairly on your bed of roses, and
Welshmen will look to India as their promised land,
even as Scotchmen did in the days of Dundas. May
Wales be as largely benefited by the wealth of the
East as Scotland has been, and may you live as long as
Lord Melville, remain in power longer, have it upon
better terms, and go out of the world as easily at last !
I was glad to see that Phillimore " partakes the
gale," and should have been glad if Strachey also had
been included, if he has any inclination for public life.
But probably he has not. It was not fortunate for
him that his interests lay in India. He might have ac-
quired an independence in his own country by more
congenial pursuits in less time, and have obtained that
happiness which is only to be found in domestic life.
You were not in the house when Mr. Hume made
one of his attacks upon you. There is something
300 LETTERS OP 1822.
ominous as well as disgraceful to the nation in the sort
of hostility with which opposition is now carried on.
Honourable warfare is at an end. The difference is no
longer upon fair political questions. A few members
aim at the worst end by the worst means, and others
assist in those means, some in error, some in malice,
and some to curry popular favour. Concessions to such
enemies are most unwise ; they are imputed always to
weakness, and provoke insults from those whom it is
wished to conciliate. It is equally unwise to let them
have the credit of bringing forward measures which are
in accord with public opinion, when that opinion hap-
pens to be right. Government should look for oppor-
tunities when to lead, and never suffer itself to be
forced.
But I am getting into a strain not altogether decorous
to a Cabinet minister. Let me therefore speak of my
own affairs. Grosvenor will ask you for two or three
potential franks to transmit the clean sheets of the
" Peninsular War," as far as they are printed. The
first volume is very far advanced in the press. I shall
have occasion to rewrite some pages upon fuller in-
formation which reached me too late : it relates to the
first operations in the South of Spain, and the first
communications between Castaiios and the Governor of
Gibraltar, Sir Hew Dalrymple. There is a besetting
sin in our Government, of whicli I have proof among
the papers in my possession, — a habit of leaving its
foreign agents without instructions, for the sake of
shifting off the responsibility.
You will perhaps think I have entered too much into
minute details in this volume: inclination I know leads
me to this ; this, however, will be thought a merit or a
fault according to the humour of the reader. I ain
sure you will find a good deal which has not been known
in this country before.
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 301
It will not be long before 1 shall send you a further
portion of " Oliver Newman ;" and when a little more
progress is made, it will become an object of some in-
terest to proceed with it to the end, for the sake of
realising a larger sum than I have ever been master of,
and thereby lessening a little (though but little) the
continued necessity of periodical labour. GifFord wished
me to have written a political article at this time. I
declined, not as shrinking from abuse (which some of
my acquaintance think me more disposed to provoke
than to shun), but because the agricultural question is
one which I do not understand, and what I have to say
upon the prospect of the country may better be said in
another form, when I can speak with perfect freedom.
The next number will contain a review of " Dobriz-
hoffer,'' the translation of which is the work of my
niece, Sara Coleridge. It was undertaken by her
younger brother before he went to Cambridge, to facili-
tate his ways and means there, and she offered to assist
him. This assistance ended in her doing the whole
except a very few sheets.
Bedford is in great trouble about his brother Henry,
who seems to have been very hardly used at the Ad-
miralty. Promotion by merit in public offices is, of
course, promotion by ftivour, and therefore much more
objectiouable than the old law of seniority : under that
law no man was discontented, no man aggrieved, and all
are in hope. God bless you.
Yours affectionately,
R. S.
302 LETTEES or 1822.
To Mr. Allan Cunningliam.
Keswick, April 8. 1822.
My dear Sir,
I received your little volume a few days ago. It
is sometimes convenient to thank an author for his book
before you have perused it; but in this case I chose to
read the book first, — knowing very well that I should
read it, as I have done, with great pleasure.
The first time I took up one of the London Maga-
zines (about fifteen months ago), I recognised your hand
there, and was not a little pleased at finding it. You
have now acquired for yourself a claim upon public
attention. Your powers have developed themselves,
and you have improved in the art of poetry, even more
than might have been expected, since I first saw a spe-
cimen of your compositions. You have only to go on
and prosper. But the more you rely upon yourself,
the better. Admiration naturally leads to imitation ;
but, by bearing another author too mucli in mind,
either in the choice of your story or the conception of
a character, you will do an injustice to yourself.
I like your dramatic language ; it is of the right
stamp — free and forcible. And the play is full of
poetry, without being overlaid by it.
I thank you sincerely for offering to send copies to
any of my friends. But this is too much for me to de-
sire. As far as my private voice can recommend it, it
shall not be wanting. I have no public one in such
cases, so false is the common opinion that I am actively
employed in criticising contemporary writers.
If at any time you should revisit your native country,
remember Keswick is in the way if you cross the Sol-
way, and only one stage out of it if you go round ;
and that I shall be heartily glad to see you.
1822. EGBERT SOUTIIEY. 303
Make my remembrances to Mr. Chantrey. His bust
of Wordsworth is full in my sight at this moment.
The more I consider it, the better it pleases me.
Farewell, my dear Sir, and believe me,
Yours, with sincere regard,
Robert Southey.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, April 20. 1822.
The Boswell whom you met at Longmans was Sir
Alexander's only brother, and died a few months ago.
Sir Alexander had just returned from the funeral, when
he was called upon by his antagonists. Poor James
Boswell was a thoroughly good-natured, inoffensive
man, of considerable talents. Malone left him his
papers to complete an edition of Shakspeare, and, after
many years' labour, he published it last year. He had
not long been made a Commissioner of Bankrupts, be-
fore which his means had been somewhat scanty, I
believe. I have lost in him, not a friend, indeed, but a
pleasant old acquaintance, whom I was always glad to
meet, and of whose good will and good word I was al-
ways sure. We were schoolfellows ; and when Wynn left
school, and left a bed vacant in my room, T, who became
head boy of the house by his departure, chose Boswell to
succeed him. A brother of Bedford's (poor Horace H.
Walpole's godson) was at Westminster at the same
time. We used to call him Dr. Johnson, from an affec-
tation he had of verbal criticism, which he supported
by quoting Johnson always : and I made Boswell write
after my dictation some ridiculous anecdotes of him,
under this name, to be read for the amusement of the
304 LETTERS OF 1822.
sixth form. Boswell enjoyed this as much as any one ;
though he used to say that it was a shame to make him
moh his father ; and in latter years he delighted to tell
the story, and tax me with tyrannising over him.
Horace was allowed to carry off the memoirs, which he
liked well enough to give to his brother, and, I dare
say, Grosvenor has them at this day.
Boswell came here in 1815 to visit Lord Sunderlin
(Malone's brother), and was one of the party at our
midnight bonfire on the summit of Skiddaw.
Alexander Boswell was an Etonian. I saw him once
when he called in Dean's Yard for his bi'other; and,
indeed, Bozzy's conversation had made me at that time
well acquainted with all the Auchinleck family. This is
the second fatal duel which has grown out of the license
of the press. Neither party scruples at any slander
which may injure or annoy its opponents, and the in-
crease of duelling must be one consequence of this dis-
graceful system.
Wilberforce writes me word that the French are
about to revive the Slave Trade for the purpose of
stocking Guiana with negroes, and also that they mean
to attempt the conquest of St. Domingo. If this latter
account be true, the intent must be to get rid of men
who are dangerous at home ; and this must be so ob-
vious, that I do not think it will be attempted. But I
shall hear more of this from Clarkson, who will no
doubt pass a day with me on his way to Scotland this
summer. He resided in this country when first I came
into it. The Brazilians will pay the full price for their
share in the slave trade, if a civil war should break out
in Brazil.
Our love to my aunt and the children.
God bless you.
R. S.
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 305
To Edith Maij Southey.
Keswick, May 7. 1822.
My dear E. May,
Fortune, I think, has fitted you with a phy-
sician to your taste. He has tabooed ham, vinegar,
red-herrings, and all fruits. But if the melancholy
Jaques were not a heretic, he would never have put
you to a trial so far beyond the strength of women. If
Eve, when she had the choice of the whole garden be-
sides (a garden, too, as rich in fruits as William Her-
bert's*, which you have been visiting, is in flowers),
could not refrain from the forbidden apple, how does he
suppose that a daughter of Eve can resist strawberries,
cherries, and currants, to say nothing of green goose-
berries and hard pears ?
Your second letter arrived to-day, and Sara has it at
Mrs. Calvert's, whither she is gone for the remainder
of the week. I have not much to tell you. The boat
is in the water, and looks very well; the pewf was painted
yesterday; your uncle Tom has lost a cow, in calf-bed ;
sundry rats have been taken ; I expect a parcel by the
next carrier, and your plant is as well as can be ex-
pected ; whereby you will understand that there is an
addition to its leaves. But this new leaf has been pro-
duced in a curious manner, — the stem proceeding from
the base of the youngest and largest of its three an-
cestors, and all the folded part from the mother, or
* Of SpofTortli, near Harrogate.
f I have had some dillicultj in making out this ; but as Mrs.
Warter tells me that her spencer stuck to the seat in church, on
her return from Harrogate, it is evidently pew ! Milton, by the
way, spelt the word " pue." In his " Considerations touching means
to remove Hirelings out of the Church" these remarkable words
occur : " His sheep oftentimes sit the while to as little purpose of
benefiting as the sheep in their pues at Smithfield." — Prose Worhsy
iii. p. 367. Ed. Pickering.
VOL. III. X
306 « LETTERS OF 1822.
middle one ; so that its genealogy is more puzzling than
the relationsliip between Dick and John.
I am glad you take so kindly to the waters, and that
they seem to agree with you so well. What a happy
quarter of an hour you must pass between the two
draughts ! I had forgotten to tell you, as part of the
domestic news, that I have laid hands, since your d.'-
parture, upon a larger and richer picture of Mukkens
than any which Cupn had ever seen before. Having told
you all that has happened, I believe I must now tell
you what has not. Pone is not gone ; Mr. Midgelcy is
not come ; Miss W * * * * is not married : Mr. F * * * is
not false, and a she-Friar will not be the same thing as
a Nun ; Mr. P * * * has made no proposals to ***** *
(by-the-by, if he has ever any children they will all be
pipkins) ; Sara has had no letter from "W * * *; I have not
yet heard from Mr. B. ; your mother, notwithstanding
her persevering search, has not found anything under the
bed at night; and I am neither younger, nor fatter,
nor quieter, nor graver, than when you departed for
Harrogate. O ye immortal Powers !
I would send you a noise, but I cannot tell how to
enclose it; but you may imagine one at breakfast-
time.
My movements will be determined by yours. If
Mr. Wordsworth goes with us, we shall travel in a
jaunting-car, which will bring us all back. If I go
alone, I shall follow your course to Skipton, and chaise
it, solo, from thence, which will be better than taking
the Penrith road, and sleeping the second night at Bo-
rough Bridge. I do not wish to be more than three
days at Harrogate, at the most.
Remember us to Miss II. and her sister, and so
God bless you.
Very magnificent daughter,
Yo EL Pa.
1822.. ROBERT SOUTHEl'. 307
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, May 8. 1822.
Can you find out in your Catalan books why the
Somatenes are so called ? I have taken them to be the
posse Comitatus, called out for the defence of the
country, and have some notion (a vague one) that their
name is derived from the bell which is rung to summon
them — -ds \i Somatene were eqiiivalent to tocsin; but
I cannot tell where I have read this. The derivation
of Miquelet I have found in Don Francisco Manoel,
but I think he never mentions the Somatenes ; and if
that be the case, it must be a name of later growth,
and therefore not to be met with in the old laws, but
the U7ide derivatur perhaps may. I bought at Turin a
French account of tlie struggle made by the Catalans
after they were so basely sacrificed at the Peace of
Utrecht. It is a vile book. The word is there ex-
plained twice, and in two different ways, which just
serves to show that the Frenchman chose to explain
what he did not understand. Mr. Butler, the Catholic
(Alban Butler's nephew), tells a good story of such
another Frenchman, who, being asked the difierence
between the Dryades and the Hamadryades, replied,
with great complacency, that it was exactly the same
as the difierence between " Les Eveques et les Arche-
veques."
John May talks of paying me a visit in June, though
his furlough will only extend to a clear fortnight.
There is no person whom I should be more glad to see,
except yourself. I shall get the first volume off" my
hands in the course of this month, having only to refit
two chapters, which are nearly written to my hands in
the " Edinburgh Annual Register," and to insert some
X 2
308 LETTERS OF 1822.
corrections from Sir H. Dairy mple's papers concerning
the post-communications with the Spaniards in Anda-
lusia. This is an awkward job, which I am afraid cannot
be done in any better way than by appending tliis new-
matter as corrections.
I think you had better not send the Duke of Buck-
ingham a copy of this book. It will be wormwood to
all his party. I have done nothing more in the first
volume than simply to characterise them in the intro-
ductory chapter ; but that sample shows what they have
to expect, when their conduct during the succeeding
years of the war is to be recorded. They tell me that,
in the late duel, when the Duke fired into the air, he
said it would be a shame to shoot at so-much-too-good-
a-mark as the Duke of Buckingliam.
It has long been apparent to me that we are rapidly
approaching a much more perilous crisis in societ}' than
that of the Reformation. The houses of Russell seem
to be stricken with a judicial blindness, or they would
see how impossible it is that they should keep in a
second convulsion what they gained in the first. A
Government, which on all occasions is compelled to be
directed by popular opinion, will soon find itself no
government at alU I do not dream of preserving our
liberties : the question is, how much will it be possible
to save from the wreck, and how long before we arrive
at that strong and armed government in which all
changes of this nature must end, and with which the
gradual but sure decay of the nation will begin. The
Catholic question may be staved off for a few sessions,
])ut it will be carried at last. Away goes the Test then ;
llie Dissenters get into tlie corporations, and the first
hungry and unprincipled minister sells the tithes, as
Pitt thought of doing. Parliamentary Reform is
become little more than a dispute concerning forms —
the real mischief is already efiTocted ; and popular
1822. UOBEliT SOUTIIEY. 3O0
clamour carries everything in Parliament, under a
ministry who cringe to their enemies, and betray their
friends ; a miserable crew, who divide their voices upon
the greatest question which can possibly come bc^fore
them, and who, for the sake of putting off a diiiiculty, or
even of escaping from a debate, are ready to say or
unsay, to do or to undo, anything.
We shall not be overturned and thrown over a pre-
cipice as they were in France ; our institutions have
prepared for us an inclined plane, on whicli we are de-
scending. God bless you.
XV. S.
To Bernard Barton.
Keswick, May 18. 1822.
My dear Sir,
Thank you for your volume, which I received
three hours ago — long enougli to have read the principal
poenij and a large portion of the minor ones. They
do you great credit. Nothing can be better than the
descriptive and sentimental parts. In the reasoning
ones you sometimes appear to me to have fallen into
Charles Lloyd's prosing vein. The verse, indeed, is
better than his, but the matter sometimes (though
rarely) like much of his later compositions, incapable
of deriving any advantage from metre. The seventh
stanza is the strongest example of this. On the other
hand, this is well compensated by many rich passages,
and a frequent felicity of expression.
Your poem, if it had suited your object so to have
treated it, might have derived farther interest from a
view of Bonaparte's system of policy, the end at which
he aimed, and the means which he used. 1 believe
X ri
310 LETTERS OF 1822.
that no other individual ever occasioned so much
\vretchedness and evil as the direct consequence of his
own will and pleasure. His partisans acknowledge that
the attempted usurpation of Spain was his sole act ; and
it was so palpably unjust, that the very generals who
served him in it condemn it without reserve. That
war in its progress and consequences has not cost so
little as a million of lives, and the account is far from
being closed.
You will not like Bonaparte the better, perhaps, if I
confess to you that, had it not been for him, I should
perhaps have assented to your general principle concern-
ing the unlawfulness of war, in its full extent. But
when I saw that he was endeavouring to establish a
military despotism throughout Europe, which, if not
successfully withstood abroad, must at last have reached
us upon our own shores, 1 considered him as a Philis-
tine, or a heathen, and went for doctrines, applicable
to the times, to the books of Judges and of Maccabees.
Nevertheless, I will fairly acknowledge that the
doctrine of non-resistance connected with non-obe-
dience, is the strong point of Quakerism ; and nothing
can be said against it, but that the time for its general
acceptance is not yet come. Would to God that it were
nearer than it appears to be !*
I am going to fetch my eldest daughter home from
Harrogate, whither she has gone for her health with
an acquaintance of yours, Miss Hutchinson, It is a
rare thing for me to leave home, but I shall not be
absent many days. Farewell, brother bard, and be-
lieve me.
Yours truly,
Robert Southey.
* We have but to repeat the same wishful prayer in 1 855 ! We
are not good enough yet for wars to cease in all the earth ! and
thousaudtj must yet stem the baptism oi" blood !
lii-22. IIOBEIIT SOUTUEV. 311
2'u Walter Savage Landor^ Esq.
Keswick, May 27. 1822.
My dear Landor,
I shall rejoice to see your " Dialogues." Mine
are consecutive, and will have nothing of that dramatic
variety of Vvhich you will make the most. My plan
grew out of Boethius, though it has since been so
modified, that the origin would not be suspected. The
personage who visits me is Sir Thomas More, as one
who recognises in me some dyspaUncfiy but more points
of agreement. This age is as climacteric as that in
which he lived ; in fact we are beginning now to per-
ceive the whole effects of the three great events of his
age — the invention of printing, the Reformation, and
the discovery of America. You see what a canvas I
have taken, if I can but fill up the sketch. By way of
relief, 1 introduce some of the dialogues with local
scenery, and perhaps I may insert some verses.
The first volume of my "History" is delayed by
the printer. My part is so nearly done, that it will be
finished before this reaches you. Give me in your next
a direction whither to send it. By that time 1 hope the
printer will nearly have done his work. The " Vision "
and some smaller things will go with it. Humboldt's
" Travels " (which you will read with great interest),
and two little volumes which Wordsworth sends you —
the one a series of sonnets ("Ecclesiastical Sketches"
he calls them), the other, poems which he produced
during a short tour on the Continent.
Tlie complaint in Wordsworth's eyes is a serious in-
convenience to him ; but it threatens nothing worse. 1
have been greatly alarmed about him this week, by
hearing that he had a dreadful fall from a hoise ; but
to-day we learn thai he is well. The horse ran away
X 4
312 LETTERS OF 1S22.
with him, and threw him against a walh His head was
cut, and bled profusely, which possibly prevented worse
consequences. Chantrey has made a noble bust of him.
Augustus Hare sliowed me yesterday what you had
written of Wordsworth in a letter to his brother. It is
a great pleasure to me when I meet with a person who
knows your writings, and can talk with me about them,
and about you.
You have, I suppose, seen or heard of the decorous
manner in which Lord Byron resented my comments
upon the satanic school of poetry, and of the manner
in which he introduced your name. I believe he will
take the advice I gave him in reply, and not meddle
with me again in prose.
We are going on in this country fast and quickly
towards Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary Re-
form ; both, 1 think, must, at no distant time, be carried,
and either one will suffice to overthrow our institutions.
The only question is whether the Church or State goes
first ; the trunk will not remain long upon one leg when
the other is lopt. The end, of course, must be a
stronger Government, though God only knows through
what evil it will be reached, and in what sacrifice it
must be purchased. In the days of Charles I. there
was some consolation in falling before the mighty: sucli
men as Pym, Hampden, Milton, &c. But to see the
work of ruin effected by such people as B * * * * * and
H * * *, C * * H * * * * and the house of R * * * *,
it is like seeing a temple pulled down by wretches who
could not have been thought worthy to carry a hod for
the masons at the building.
Would that the means for raising a fallen nation
were as efficacious, and as sure, as those which are em-
ployed for overthrowing the fabric of our greatness !
We might rticii look with more hope toward Spain,
Portugal, and the far mure degraded Italians; for in
1822. ROBEUT SOUTIIEY. 313
the two former countries the degradation lias been of
the State, not of the people. One day I hope you will
give us your recollections of Italy.
The French have not yet had enough of St. Do-
mingo. They have actually made an attempt to es-
tablish themselves in the Spanish part of the island ;
andit is said that they intend to restore the Slave Trade
openly, which they have always carried on in an under-
hand way. This is quite worthy of them. If they
send an army from Europe against the island, I hope it
will be numerous enough to give the pestilence full
scope. They are an incorrigible people, incapable of
any shame.
I am going on myself quietly and contentedly, with
no other disquietude than what arises from the occa-
sional illness of one or other of my children ; more
especially my little boy. He has just recovered from
a bilious attack, which is the disease in this country
most incident to children. But he is a fine, joyous
creature ; an object of the greatest hope — if I could
look upon him without fear. Yours will have the ad-
Vcintage of acquiring two languages at once, with equal
facility. God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
June 8. 1822.
My dear Grosvenou,
I received your letter with as much pleasure as
a man most desperately uncomfortable in his bodily
feelings could derive from anything. My catarrh of
this year deserves to be called a cat-a-mountain-arrh.
The extreme heat of the weather aggravates it. I s[)end
about halfmv time on the sofa, with niv ivcsshut, and
*
314 LETTERS OF 182:2.
the other half in blowing my nose. Nothing ails my
eyes but the weakness which this violent cold produces.
However my spirits are not a jot the worse, and Mrs.
Coleridge can bear testimony that I practise all varie-
ties of intonation in sneezing. She can testify also
that I never sneeze like a sneaker ! No ! I let the house,
and the town, and the mountain echoes hear me.
Oh ! Grosvenor, is it not a pity that two men who
love nonsense so cordially, and naturally, and hond-
Jidically, as you and I, should be three hundred miles
asunder ! For my part I insist upon it that there is no
sense so good as your honest genuine nonsense. Read,
for instance, a pamphlet of Mr. Ricardo's, or a treatise
of Dugald Stewart's, or a criticism upon it in the "Quar-
terly Review," — or an agricultural report from a com-
mittee of the House of Commons, with the evidence at
full length, or a debate upon the said report, — and
then tell me whether five minutes of the "Butler'''* is
not worth the whole existence of all the political econo-
mists, metaphysicians, and critics that ever consumed
time and paper ! Is the counsellor's, the bishop's, the
speaker's, the chancellor's wig so respectable a covering
for the head as the cap and bells ? Counsellors ? judges ?
bishops? speakers? chancellors? has there been ever any
lack of them ? any scarcity of heads to wear becomingly
their full-buckled honours ? But why have the cap and
bells disappeared from Court? Why — but because
these degenerate ages produce none worthy to succeed
to it. The King can confer dignity: he can create
knight, baronet, baron, viscount, earl, marquis, and
duke ; but he cannot create a FooL.f He can find
* This term has been explained before.
t Tlie autlior of " The Lust of the Old Squires,'" and the Last of
the Old Sfjuires himself, were evidently of the same opinion. See
Chap. XIV. of that work, — '■'■The Lust of the Old Squires' Luve uf
Anecdote and Humour" p. 145.
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 315
fellows by the dozen to talk sense, or what passes for it,
in the House of Commons, but where will he find one
who can talk nonsense to the purpose? And is tliere
any of his ministers who do him half so much service in
Parliament as a good fool would do there ?
For myself, I have the honour to be his Majesty's
poet, and I am also poet to my own son, — your god-
son, who says the reason why he has no tail is because
he is a small homo, and homos have no tails. In the
discharge of this latter office (tiie pleasanter of the two)
I have lately composed the following descriptive poem,
which I hope may please godfather as well as it pleases
godson.
" How does the water come down at Lowdore ? " &c. &c,
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev, Eerhert Hill, ^c.
Keswick, July 2. 1822,
Clemente Libertino is D. Francisco Manocl. I
have two copies of his book; the one a reprint at Madrid,
ill 1808, which speaks of the book (though thrice printed)
as of extraordinary rarity in Portugal as well as in
Spain. Rare in Portugal, however, it could not have
been, or you would not have had two copies. The new
edition has a life of the author. Here it was that I
found the Miquelets, when I read the book several
years ago. The Expediciom de las Catalanes is here.
To my great surprise I found this day that one of
Montaigne's "Essays" is an account of the Brazilian
savages, drawn up by him from the communications
of an ignorant man who had gone over with Ville-
gagnon. Among other things he gives two Tupinamba
songs in French : one of them is a sort of death song,
and turns upon that identical bravado which is given in
316 LETTERS OF
1822.
the poem of " Caramuru," as a feat occurring in Para,
and which I have noticed Vol. II. 641. There are
several curious things in this paper, which I shall fit
into their proper places. It is more than five-and-
twenty years since I read Montaigne in an old transla-
tion. I am now going through him in your small edi-
tion, having always some book at hand to take up iu
those fractions of time which would else run to waste.
What I said about your Chief, as you call him, and
the Peninsular War, arose wholly from the subject of
the work, as rendering it not an appropriate present to
one who is unhappily to be classed tra la i^erduta (jente.
But I should be very sorry if you did not make use of
as many copies of that, or any other work of mine, as
you like to dispose of. The volume is drawing near to
its close ; 672 pages are printed, and the printer has
had the conclusion more than a week in his hands. It
will somewhat exceed 800. I have written the preface,
and hesitate about the dedication. I have written two,
and when I have fitted the conclusion to a third, I
will send them to you — to choose.
William Westall lives out of the way,— 19, Morn-
iiigton Place, Hampstcad Road ; and it is very likely
that he may be on the road to the North. He sent me
two magnificent specimens of his Peninsula views, — the
Tagus at Villa Valha, and the town of Marvam. Con-
cerning the latter I have a fine story, quite in the spirit
of old Portuguese history ; but to introduce the former
I was obliged to drive a peg in on purpose.
Two Danish poets have very civilly sent me some of
their works. Oehlenschlager * and Ingemann are their
names. I am looking at that language. This is not
AVilL Oelilenscliliiger I was intimate, and his works are all
bcftn-c me. ln;,'emann was rarely in Copenhagen whilst I was there.
His talents may have been less, but his genius was more refined
than that of (Jehkusehliiirer.
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 317
supererogatory vvovlc, because I have long been accumu-
lating notes and materials for a history of Englisli man-
ners and literature, meaning to combine them.
Have you seen Leucadio Doblado (Blanco White's)
*' Letters from Spain? " They are very amusing. He
is writing " Memoirs of the Reign of Juan II."
Yesterday I received advice of a pi-esent of Yankee
books from my friend at Boston.
I am now pretty well recovered from the effects of
my annual cold, which this y; ar seemed disposed to
make a settlement on my chest, and laid me up for a
considerable time. A little brisk exercise will, I hope,
completely set me up ; and this I have in prospect. A
fellow collegian, whom I have not seen for eight-and-
twenty years, but with whom I have always kept up
some communication, is coming from Crediton, where
he keeps a school, to visit me during his holidays. I
expect him on Thursday or Friday, and truly glad shall
I be to see him, changed as we shall see each other.
John May also is coming, and lastly the Doctor. 1
shall be the better for all this rousing, and for the
mountain air, and for Lake exercise. My family, thank
God, are well ; and Edith May seems to have derived
the expected benefit from her stay at Harrogate.
Osterwald's friend has not made his second ap-
pearance.
I am now upon the " Book of the Church," which I
think you will be pleased with, and the Catholics
will not. It is long since they have had so hard a blow.
But I have harder in store for them.
Love to my aunt and the boys. I wish I could hear
that the unusual warmth of this summer had taken
away your rheumatism. God bless you.
R. S.
318 LETTERS OF 1822.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill.
Keswick, July 20. 1822.
Utrum Jiorum ? You need not return the paper ;
but let me know your opinion without delay.
I prefer the last.
The second would cost me about nine guineas in
court binding, which is a heavy tax upon dedications.
If, however, you prefer it, tliat to Lord Sidmouth, with
a little alteration, would be transferable to another
w ork.
Love to my aunt and the young ones. I have quite
got rid of my cold.
XV. o.
To the Memory
of
Spencer Perceval,
A Statesman,
Who, in the most arduous times,
With a right English spirit.
Defended the institutions and upheld the honour of his
country.
This work is inscribed
by
R. S.
To the King.
Sir,
It is with peculiar fitness, as well as pleasure,
that I inscribe to your Majesty a history of the most
glorious war recorded in the British annals.
When the Regency devolved into your hands, the
fortunes of our allies were at the lowest ebb, and
neither arts nor efforts were spared for making the
1822.
KOnERT SOU THEY. 319
spirit of this country sink with thcin. At that momen-
tous crisis everything, under Providence, depended upon
your single determination, and to that determination
Great Britain is beholden for its triumph, and Europe
for its deliverance.
To you, therefore, this faithful history is offered, as
a portion of the tribute which will always be paid to
the merits of a just, magnanimous, and splendid reign,
and as a proof of individual respect and gratitude from,
" Your Majesty's most dutiful subject and servant,
R. S.
To Lord Sidmouth.
In inscribing to your lordship this *' History of the
Peninsular War," I am actuated not less by private than
by public considerations.
I am one of the many persons who, at the beginning
of the French revolution, were deceived by its specious
promises. The error is not one upon which I look back
either with compunction or shame. It was connected
with generous feelings, and pursued with an utter
disregard of worldly interests. Youth, ignorance, and
an ardent mind, rendered me easy to be so deluded.
I believed that the war in which this country was
engaged against France was unjust in its commence-
ment, and iniquitous in its object ; and I was ill-
informed enough to suppose that popular governments
must needs be free, and that whenever such govern-
ments could be established, there, in the natural course
of things, the people would become virtuous and happy.
Thus prejudiced, I suffered myself to be persuaded
that the crimes of the revolution were caused by the
resistance which was opposed to it ; and when the cha-
racter of that revolution had so developed itself as to
320 LETTERS OF 1822.
make it evident tliat worse clanger was to be appre-
liended from rcbublican France than tliat from wliich
Europe had been delivered by tlie efforts of Great
Britain, and the consummate abilities of Marlborough,
still 1 thought a war vvliich in its origin had been
injurious, carried with it a sin from which no change of
circumstances in its progress could purify it.
This was my temper when the Peace of Amiens was
concluded, and there were many who partook in the
same erroneous feeling. No act of amnesty ever pro-
duced such conciliatory consequences as that Peace. It
restored in me the English feeling which had been
deadened; it placed me in sympathy with my country,
bringing me thus into that natural and healthy state
of mind upon, which time, and knowledge, and re-
flection, was sure to produce their proper and salutary
effect. Now that your lordship has retired from ad-
ministration, it may not be unpleasing to you, at the
close of a long and honourable career, to receive this
public and grateful acknowledgement.
The occasion which I have taken is a fitting one.
This work records the glorious termination of a war
commenced under your ministry with the full accord
of the nation, and in just reliance upon God and a
good cause. Throughout all the vicissitudes of that
long and eventful struggle, whether you were in or out
of power, there was no change in your conduct — your
heart and voice were always with your country. No
factious motives stand upon record against you ; no
malevolent opposition ; no opinion or sentiment which
you could wish to recall. Pursuing the same straight-
forward course at all times, you supported the honour
of Great Britain when you no longer directed its
counsels, and finally bore a part in those counsels when
the most arduous contest in which Great Britain ever
was engaged was brought to a triumphant close.
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 321
That your Lordship may long live to enjoy the appro-
bation of your own heart, and the esteem of all who
value as they ought the institutions of their country,
is the wish of him who subscribes himself, with sincere
respect, Your Lordship's humble servant,
R/. S.
To the Rev. Peter Elmsley*
Keswick, July 17. 1822.
My dear Elmsley,
I recommend to your kind offices one who comes
recommended to me in the highest terms, by Ticknor,
whom I think you are acquainted with. Dr. Channing
is said to be the most distinguished preacher in America.
His creed is Arian, his fortune large ; but he has de-
voted his life to ministerial duties, and almost spent
himself in them. More than this I need not say, for
his conversation, if he is fortunate enough to find you at
Oxford, will sufficiently recommend him. Farewell,
and believe me,
Yours affectionately,
Robert Southey.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, §-c.
Keswick, July 30. 1822.
D. Jose Maria's edition of the " Lusiad" is, I believe,
to be seen at Holland House, but only to be had from
the editor himself. An octavo edition, I think, was
published for sale. I have never seen either. The
want of F. y Sousa's edition was a deficiency which I
* I have vainly endeavoured to recover the correspondence
•with Elmsley, to whom Southey was greatly attached, and to
whom he dedicated the Book of the Church. This letter, not
being delivered, was returned.
VOL. III. Y
o22 LETTERS OF 1822.
felt much more ; his commentary must certainly contain
many things which I could have turned to good account.
I returned from Rydal to-day, not the worse for a
walk of fifteen miles, the last ten in the rain. A great
deal of exercise during the last three weeks has done
me great service, and when John May and his son ar-
rive I shall put them upon their mettle. Dr. Words-
worth is at Rydal, and inquired for you. I had some
conversation with him concerning Westminster. With-
out knowing that I had any immediate interest in the
question, he took some pains to show me that for a boy
of talents it would be more advantageous to be elected
off to Trinity College than to Christ Church. The
scholarship while it lasts (which is till the master's de-
gree is taken) is worth 40/. a year ; not much less there-
fore, according to his account, than a studentship. The
fellowships are 400/. or 500/. For these, indeed, a
Westminster scholar has only the same chance as other
scholars, but cceteris paribus there would be a wish to
prefer him. For one who chooses a college life, the
Christ Church destination would be obviously the best,
because the studentship there is everything ; but in any
other case Dr. W. is, perhaps, right in representing
the Cambridge chance as worth more than the Oxford
certainty.
We have been overrun with visitors since my return.
I found in Keswick my old acquaintance Sharpe, and
also Randolph of Roanoke*, so he styles himself upon
his card ; the Randolph who was considered as the head
of the Federal party in America, while any such party
* On liis return from St. Petersburg, I travelled with this re-
markable man, and had much conversation with him. I shall not
readily forget his kindness and attention ; but one might almost
see the blood of Pocohontas in his veins. Finding that I was well
up in the Latin poets, it was curious to hear him spout Lucan
against the waves of the North Sea, which we were crossing. INIy
impression was at the time that Lucan was the only Latin poet
he knew ; but T may be wrong.
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 323
existed. A singular but very interesting man, Sir John
Malcolm, breakfasted with me tliis morning, and Mr.
Duncan, a Scotch pastor, who first set the saving banks
on foot. Malcohn's herculean form is much shaken
since I saw him last, and well it may ; for during his
last five years' residence in India he did not spend three
months under a roof. But he is recovering, and his
spirits are as exuberant as ever. He is on his way to
London to publish a book, which, from the specimens
which he has shown me, must be a very curious one. It
is in substance, and perhaps in form also, the official
report of his Government.
Yesterday I had a letter from Westall, asking for the
sketch of Elvas. I thought he had been on his way
northwards, but business will detain him at home. I
send you his direction (19. Mornington Place, Hamp-
stead Road), that you may either send the sketch, or
take it, if you feel inclined to see what he has already
done. If you see him, ask him to show you a view in
Madeira (if he has it still in his possession), with the
platform before a Capuchin convert and the Bell. He
has seen New Holland, the East Indies and the West,
but considers Madeira as the most picturesque country
which he has yet visited.
I have followed your advice, and sent off dedication,
prefi\ce, &c., as soon as your letter arrived. Three
sheets will now complete the printer's work.
God bless you,
Iv. S.
To the Right Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, ALP.
Keswick, August 17. 1822.
My dear Wynn,
I am setting off, not very willingly, to meet
Canning at Mr. Bolton's, where he is expected to-
Y 2
32-i LETTERS OF 1822.
morrow, if his plans are not changed by Lord Lon-
donderry's unhappy death. It has often appeared
wonderful to me that any mind or body can endure the
perpetual wear and tear of ministerial business in
England. That business would be sufficient for any
human capacity, even without the House of Commons ;
and I am less surprised at an instance like this of over
excitement, than that instances of insanity so produced
are not more frequent, especially in minds which have
little or no religious principle to regulate them.
What a blessing is tranquillity ! I am so accustomed
to it, that any thing which interrupts my ordinary course
of life seems a change for the worse, and I do not even
leave home for a couple of days, on an occasion like this,
without reluctance. During the last month I have
taken a great deal of exercise, to the material improve-
ment of my health ; — first with my old friend Lightfoot,
and lately with John May. We have been mountain-
eering in all directions, and I shall have another week's
work of the same kind on my return. The sensible
strength which I have gained must compensate for a
loss of time which otherwise I could not afford.
My first volume of the war is finished ; the last
proof sheet is now on the table before me. I have
dedicated it to the King. Whether Murray means to
delay the publication till the winter I know not ; this is
his concern, and I am perfectly indifferent about it.
One of the first things which I shall do will be to re-
sume the " Tale of Paraguay," and go on with it reso-
lutely and doggedly till it is completed. This I must
do, because my ways and means require it.
But I am interrupted, and must close my dispatches.
God bless you.
xi. S.
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 325
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, Sfc.
Keswick, Aug. 31. 1822.
I AM now, after a succession of visitors, left awhile to
myself, — a good deal the better for the course of exer-
cise into which I have been led, and somewhat the worse
for the large subtraction thus made from time which
would otherwise have been bestowed upon my ways and
means. By the time this evil is remedied, the good I
suspect will be undone : good, however, it is, as long as
it lasts. My farthest stretch from home has been to
Mr. Bolton's, on Windermere ; whither I went to meet
Canning, and where I found Heber also. Heber has
since been here, and, upon looking over my Spanish
and Portuguese books, pronounced them a better col-
lection than any which he had seen, except his own ; —
much better than Murdoch's. If the channel which you
are now trying should prove a good one, there are se-
veral books which I shall be desirous of obtaining, —
among others, the " Agiologio Lusitano " of Cardoso,
the " Sermoens de P. Antonio das Chagas," and the
" Olras de S. Teresa," — of which Mal-lavado used to
have copies in abundance.
Among the many reasons which make me regret that
you would never be persuaded to travel thus far, one
is, that I should so have liked to show you the progress
which is made in the " History of Portugal." It is in
more forwardness than any work that I ever yet com-
mitted to the press; and, as soon as the " Peninsular
War " is finished, to the printer it will go. I have a
continuous narrative from the C. Henrique down to the
accession of Sebastian. A great deal is to be added in
transcribing it from materials, good part of which are
read}'. The Cardinal's reign, and the subsequent events
till Philip obtained possession of the kingdom, are
T 3
32G LETTERS OF 1S22.
written, and large collections made for the following
period.* You would be well pleased to see the order in
which all this is, and the battle array of my shelves,
where so many of your old acquaintance are stationed
in good company.
John May enjoyed his visit greatly. Dr. Bell is here ;
he rode off this morning with Edith May, and is just
returned, after a circuit of one and twenty miles with
her, — part of it the wildest road in this country. He
went, as usual, without a servant ; they had to lead
their horses themselves, and he opens the gate with all
the alacrity of a boy. So youthful an old man I never
before saw.
I have not heard from Harry concerning the Yankee
books which I desired him to inquire about. Randolph
of Roanoke has been here. But I had tlie vexation of
missing Telford, who arrived with Sir Henry Parnell
while I was at Mr. Bolton's. This was a great mortifi-
cation, inasmuch as I owe Telford every kind of friendly
attention, and like him heartily.
There is only one proof more of the first volume to
reach me, containing some additions which I have grafted
in their proper places, by cancelling two leaves. The
new matter is very curious, and was drawn from Sir
Hew Dalrymple's papers. Whether Murray will delay
the publication till the winter I cannot tell. I have
made a memorandum concerning Mr. Wither's copy,
and it will be duly sent you. Harry may take the
presentation copy to Court, if he thinks proper; and I
should think it would be worth his while to choose him-^
self upon the occasion. I wait only for some promised
papers from B. Frere, to begin with the second volume;
that is, with the printing of it. A large portion of the
* All these collections are in my possession. As a mercantile
speculation Messrs. Longman and Co. did not consider that the
puVjlication would answer. It bides its time.
1822. EGBERT SOUTHEY, 327
volume will be transferred from the "Edinburgh Annual
Register," without much alteration.
When you are prowling at the booksellers', or look-
ing over their catalogues, lay hold of Nalson's collection,
from the beginning of the Rebellion, if you see it, as I
think you may, at a low price. There are two volumes,
small folio. It is a collection made by Charles II.'s
command, to counteract the impression which Rush-
worth, by his insidious omissions, intended to produce,
and has, in fact, produced. Nalson's is much better, as
far as it goes. I have been working upon a copy which
I borrowed from Lowther ; the book is probably now
at a low price, but in all likelihood it will be very
considerably raised by what I shall one day say of it.
A Baltimore review of the " Life of Wesley " has
just been sent me, wherein it is affirmed that, beyond
all doubt, I constructed it upon the plan of Homer's
*' Iliad." And this is said seriously !
Goodenough, it is said, will be made Dean of Ch.-Ch.,
whenever they can promote the present Dean. I wish
Westminster were in the hands of a man who would
look into the mischievous system pursued in college;
where the bo3^s, through the slavery which they endure
at first, and the tyranny which they exercise afterwards,
rather lose ground than gain it. Dr. Wordsworth told
me he was equally surprised at the examination of the
juniors (those just elected), and of the seniors; the
former appearing to such advantage, the latter so
much below what they ought to have been. I explained
to him the cause. A good master rriight easily remedy
it. Love to my aunt and the boys.
God bless you.
R. S.
Y 4
328 LETTERS OF 1822.
To John Richnan, Esq., §'c.
Keswick, September 9. 1822.
My DEAR R.,
Such work as that of the population, in addition
to your other labours, is enough to break down any-
body. The objection to task-work is, tliat it tempts the
industrious to work beyond their strength ; and in intel-
lectual, over-exertion is worse than in bodily, labour.
I have spent a very idle summer, much to the advan-
tage of my health. A fellow collegian, for whom I
have a great regard, came to pass his Midsummer holi-
days with me, from Crediton, where he is master of the
grammar school. I began a course of exercise with
him, and persevered in it, much as it cost me for some
time, till at length the effect which I looked for was
produced ; and my constitution recovering its tone, I
became once more a sound man. John May came to
me just after Lightfoot's departure. I walked about a
hundred miles more with him, and am now in as good
trim for walking as any man of my years need be. This
I hope will last till I visit London, which I think of
doing as soon as the rigour of the winter shall be over.
My first volume is completed. I send back by this
post two cancels, in each of which insertions to the
amount of two pages have been nicely fitted; and with
these the printer will finish his part. The time for
publication rests with Murray, and I should not think
he will delay it till what is called the season, because
the demand for such a book cannot depend much upon
people being in or out of town. It is dedicated to the
King, briefly and becomingly. The Buonapartists and
the Whigs will be thoroughly exasperated. I have
only said enough of the latter to show them what they
may expect on the progress of the history, when they
.shall have full justice.
1822.
ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 329
I was invited to meet Canning at Mr. Bolton's. It
is the opinion of his friends tliat if he accepts office the
House of Commons will kill him in two or three years.
In reality, flesh and blood is not equal to such wear and
tear as is exacted from an English minister in these
times. I told him plainly that the present state of
thinsfs was a contest between wickedness and weakness,
and that there needed no spirit of prophecy to foresee
what the event must be. To my sore vexation, when I
returned from this short absence I found that Mr. Tel-
ford*, whom I had rather have seen than all the states-
men in Europe, had passed through Keswick. You may
suppose how this mortified me.
Blanco White has written an entertaining account of
what Spain was before the year 1808, under the name
of "Leucadio Doblado," which I interpreted as soon as
I saw it advertised. I mean to review his book, and
take that opportunity of putting the peninsular revolu-
tions in their proper light. Ferdinand, I think, can
hardly escape with life. The King of Portugal has a
better chance. But I see no end to the miseries of either
country, except under a strong and vigilant despotism,
itself the worst of all evils, anarchy excepted. Who
would not rather have lived in the days of Tiberius,
or Nero, than in those of Marius and Sylla? In Eu-
rope the tendency at this time is through one of these
evils to the other. God bless you. Remember me to
IMrs. R.
Rt S.
* A MS. journal of a visit to Scotland, in 1819, in company
with Rickman and Telford, now before me, shows how much he
was attached to this excellent man, whom I had the honour to
number amongst my actjuaintance.
330 LETTERS OF 1822.
To the Rev. Neville White, ^c.
Keswick, Sept. 1. 1822.
My dear Neville,
Taken up as I have been for the last two months
by a succession of guests and chance visitors, even to a
total suspension of all my customary and necessary em-
ployments, I would yet have found time for writing to
you if I had known of your father's decease. What,
however, could I have said more than your own feelings
and faith had suggested to you ! For the best of us,
when our lives are not of essential use to others, death
is better than life ; and it were weakness, indeed, to
desire for our friends a prolonged old age, when, in our
sober judgment, we should wish no such lot for our-
selves.
This, though a solemn event, is no evil. It was my
lot to lose both my parents when they were very little
older than I am at present, and, in the ordinary course
of nature, might have enjoyed many years of life.
Ja)nes's affection of the chest is not necessarily of
an alarming nature. I know at this time three in-
stances of persons who have repeatedly discharged large
quantities of blood from the lungs ; the ailment is of
many years' standing, and yet all three are good lives.
Solomon Pigott has written me a letter of remonstrance
upon the printed sheet which contains the circular of
his " Case." I have neither noticed the case, nor the
letter. With regard to the matter of his complaint, he
has provoked the treatment which he has received.
What became of the intended prints for this third
volume ? Let me know in time when it is proposed to
distribute these gleanings at their proper places, and I
will then alter the Memoir accordingly.
I congratulate you on your preferment ; its conveni-
ence is its value, and this to you is of the greatest.
1822. IIOBERT SOUTIIEY. 331
Moreover, it is a very gratifying proof of the estima-
tion in which you are held by the Dean and Chapter.
My brother told me of your transit through London.
You have now accomplished a great work in removing
your family, and in so doing it may reasonably be
hoped you have performed the last of a long series of
most important services. You are a happy man, Ne-
ville, and it is delightful to think, as my experience
shows me, that the best men are always the happiest.
Cuthbert has just been to wish me good night. He
is, I think, just as winning for his age as he was when
you and your good friends were so well pleased with
him. To-day, for the first time, and by his own earnest
desire, he has been to church. His sisters, thank God,
are well ; their mother is better than her usual health,
and I myself strengthened almost beyond my expecta-
tion by the brisk exercise which I have taken during
the last two months. An old college friend, Lightfoot
by name (master of Crediton school), whom I had not
seen since we parted when we both left Oxford eight
and twenty years ago, mustered up resolution to take
a longer journey than he had ever before accomplished,
for the sake of visiting me. He stayed with me as long
as his holidays would allow ; and I believe no men ever
met more cordially after so long a separation, or en-
joyed each other's society more. I shall never forget
the manner in which he first met me, nor the time in
which he said that having now seen me, he should re-
turn home and die in peace. We took many of the
walks which you and I performed together, and which
every year become dearer to me, for the recollection of
those friends with whom the scenery is now associated.
My old friend John May has also visited me for the
first time, and stayed with me three weeks. I am now
expecting my brother as soon as he can give himself a
fortnight's holiday from his profession.
332 LETTERS OF 1822.
A word or two more of my employments. The
first volume of the "Peninsular War" is completed.
Whether Murray will publish it now, or delay it till
the winter, rests with him. You will, of course, receive
a copy as soon as it appears. I have dedicated it to the
King. The book of the Church lingers, and I suspect
Murray has mislaid the last portion of manuscript. I
shall now take it up, and pursue it to the end.
God bless you, my dear Neville,
Yours affectionately,
Robert Southey.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Oct. 7. 1822.
My dear G.,
I very much approve your laudable curiosity to
know the precise meaning of that noble word horse-
mangandering. Before I tell you its application, you
must be informed of its origin and history. Be it
therefore known unto you that ***** *^ the whole
and sole inventor of the never-to-be-forgotten lingo
grande (in which, by-the-by, I purpose ere long to
compose a second epistle), thought proper one day to
call my daughter a great horsemangander, thinking, I
suppose, that that appellation contained as much un-
feminine meaning as could be put into any decent
compound. From this substantive the verb has been
formed to denote an operation performed by the said
daughter upon the said aunt, of which I was an aston-
ished spectator. The horsemangander — that is to say,
Edith May — being tall and strong, came behind the
person to be horsemangandered (to wit, ***** *)j
and took her round the waist, under the arms, then
jumped with her all the way from the kitchen into the
middle of the, parlour ; the motion of the horsemangan-
1822. ROBEUT SOUTHEY. 333
dered person at every jump being something like that
of a paviour's rammer, and all resistance impossible.
I do not mistranslate heau ideal when I write of the
fair ideal of a work of art, a human character, or a
commonwealth. I have no objection to Anglicise a
word from any language when we have no equivalent
for it, and would therefore write menagery, and
naivety ; but I have a very great objection to sec
written English interlarded with foreign phrases.*
God bless you.
li. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, 8fc.
Keswick, Oct. 14. 1822.
B. Frere has sent me a boxful of his brother's
papers. I have as many bundles fastened with red
tape before me as if I were at the head of a public
office, and am a great deal busier with them than if I
were paid two or three thousand a year for my work.
These papers will carry on my narrative very satisfac-
torily to the time when those which I had from M.
"Wellesley begin. But I shall very likely spring some
other mines when I come to town.
Sir Robert Inglis has given me the first and third
volumes of the " Chronicas de la Apostolica Provinica
de S. Gresrorio de Relifi^iosos descalzos de N. S. P.
S. Francisco en las Islas Philipinas, China, Japon,"
&c., printed in their convent at Manila, from whence
this imperfect set was brought by some curioso in
Sir W. Draper's expedition. Sir R. purchased them
the other day at the sale of a relation's books. The
first volume contains a fuller description of the Phi-
* I am often inclined to apply to such interlarders the words of
Moth in " Love's Labour Lost " : " They have been at a feast of
languages, and stolen the scraps." — Act v. sc. L.
334 LETTERS OF 1822.
lippincs than I have seen in any other work. There
is a great deal of curious matter in the book, as
indeed there is in almost all books of this kind. The
good matter is mingled in them as it is in our county
histories, and the rubbish is better worth taking.
I have also added to my stores the two volumes of
the earlier " Edda," published at Copenhagen in 1784
and 1818 ; a third is soon expected, to complete the
work.* Were it only for its copious glossaries, it would
be exceedingly curious; but the poems themselves are
of the most curious kind. At the same time I obtained
a *' Bibliotheca Danica." f I wish it had included
Swedish, as well as Norwegian and Icelandic authors.
Like you, it is not often that I meet with any one
who can enter into my pursuits. People come to look
at me as a live poet, little thinking how completely I
have ceased as such, and that I have as little inclina-
tion to write verses as to play at pottle or whip a top.
Now that I am left to myself and to my ordinary
habits, I take every night after supper, with my black-
currant rum (thanks be to your friend Hoblyn for in-
troducing me to that admirable tincture), a composing
dose of Dutch, looking through the huge work of Ait-
zema, from which I shall make no inconsiderable
gleanings. It is an invaluable repository of facts for
the greater part of the 17th century, and a great deal
which it contains is not to be found elsewhere.
The other day I finished the " Life of Philippe de
Mornay," better known among us by that name than
by his title of Du Plessis. The book is heavy, but it
* This appeared in 1828. I sent it to Soutliey from Copen-
hagen. Notbinjj extant is more curious than Sa3mund's " Edda."
The "Kibelungen Lied" is quite a secondary concern compared
with it, and Ossian a galimatias, and a schicurmereij.
f The '•'■ Litteratur Lexicon" by Nyerup and Kraft, I suppose,
is alluded to. It is a very useful book, printed at Copenhagen in
1820.
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 335
shows liow much intrigue was mixed up with the affairs
of the Huguenots, and Du Plessis himself seems to
have heen a perfect example of integrity. When I
come to you in the spring, I shall set upon you
•' Sully." By that time I shall have pretty nearly
finished the earlier " Memoirs," as far as my set goes.
Between ourselves, that journal, tlie *' Quarterly
Review," will be in great danger whenever Gifford
drops it, or drops off. It has got itself into deserved
disgrace by its silence, and its notice concerning Lord
Byron ; and many persons are offended, as 30U and I
have been, by its irritating papers concerning America,
and by the temper of its criticism. A new " Quar-
terly " has been thought of; and if an unfit person
were to succeed Gifford, or if his successor were to
commit the same faults, I have no doubt it would be
started. If I would undertake the management, a
bookseller of sufficient capital would move into the west
end of the town from the City, secure to me 500/. a
year, give me half the profits above that sum, whatever
they might be, and vest the copyright in me, and coad-
jutors enough are ready to bear a part. This has been
intimated to me for my consideration. I am not in-
clined to make so great a sacrifice of worthier pursuits
as would be required, and would much rather see the
existing " Quarterly Review " in the hands of an editor,
who would make it what it ought to be. Love to my
aunt. God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq,
Keswick, Oct. 18. 1822.
My dear Grosvenor,
Your letter gave me the greatest pleasure, en-
hanced by knowing that the promptitude and manner
336 LETTERS OF 1822.
in which a promotion so just and proper in itself has
been granted must have been oiving to Wynn* I never
doubted his hearty desire to be of real service to you,
whenever it should be in his power. Tell me the de-
signation of your office. Long may you live to fulfil
its duties, and to enjoy the remuneration to which you
w'ill be rightly entitled whenever you are weary of them,
and choose to amuse yourself in your own way for the
rest of your life.
Poor GifFord ! The state of his health must make
him think seriously of appointing a king of the Romans ;
and, between ourselves, neither he nor Murray -le-Magne
are aware of how much depends upon the choice. You
will not let what I am about to say to you go farther.
Murray has a great many enemies, especially in his
own trade ; and the " Quarterly Review " has disgusted
a great many persons who were by principle strongly
disposed to be its friends. They are offended by its
wretched inconsistency upon many points ; by criticisms
which are often as ill tempered and unmanly as they are
unjust ; and by its silence concerning Lord Byron, which
is not the less scandalous in such a journal, because
Murray is implicated with him in the disgrace which
must attach to every person concerned in bringing
forth *' Don Juan." In the event of GifFord's deces-
sion, or decease, a new " Quarterly Review " has been
talked of, unless he should be succeeded by a person
who would make the existing one what it ought to be
in point of consistency, and high, uncompromising prin-
ciple. That it may be started with advantage, A. is
ready to move to the west end of the town ; and I am
assured that if I would take the management, he would
secure me 500/. a year, give me half the profits above
that sum, whatever they might be, and vest the copy-
* "It was not." Note in G. C. B.'s handwritinjr.
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 337
right in me. Coadjutors on which I could rely, and
such as I should choose, are ready. This has been
comnuuiicated to me by John Coleridge. My wish is
that he should be Gilford's successor; and upon this
point I wrote to GifFord, as he has probably told you.
Should that arrangement take place, this scheme falls
to the ground at once ; otherwise — though it is by
no means likely that I should accede to it, so as to
change my residence and act as editor — it is very pro-
bable that it will be tried. And the " Quarterly Re-
view " might be as much shaken by it as the "Edin-
burgh " has been by the " Quarterly Review."
I have returned no answer to John Coleridge ; be-
cause, though it would be far more congenial to my
habits, desires, and feelings to withdraw from periodical
and temporary literature altogether, rather than engao-3
in it more deeply, still the prospect of a certain income
is not hastily to be rejected by one whose means are so
precarious as mine, at my age. Murray's conduct has
not been such as to make me feel bound to him in the
slightest degree ; and no future editor shall ever treat
my papers as GifFord has done.
Enough of tliis. Pray send me the remaining sheets
of my first volume, that I may get it put in boards,
and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing it complete, and in
a tangible shape. At j^resent I am working (hard as
any clerk in a public office after a motion for papers)
upon a boxful of papers from Frere ; all which I have
to read and exenterate, not to use so coarse a word as
gut. As soon as the task is performed, the second
volume will go on briskly. I am keeping up my course
of exercise in due obedience to Osiris. How should I
ever do this in a tame country ? To-day I have been
up Latrigg; yesterday, along the terrace which runs
under Skiddaw ; the day before, up Walla Woods, to
VOL. III. Z
338 LETTERS OP 1822.
the summit of the crag. The improvement in my
health is surprising. At present, indeedj I am once
more a sound man.
Thank God we are all well. I wish you could see
your god-son, the archbishop-in-rus. I am learning
Danish, and take a good dose of Dutch every night
after supper with my black-currant rum ; and I am as
noisy as ever — a sure sign that all within is well.
God bless you, my dear Grosvenor.
R. S.
To the R'lcjJit Hon. C. W. W, Wynn, M.P.
Keswick, Oct. 26. 1822.
My dear Wynn,
If the scheme for uniting Spain and Portugal
should take ell'ect, it is more likely to be under a repub-
lican than a kingly government. Such a termination I
thought likely at the commencement of these troubles
fourteen years ago, and thought it also the consumma-
tion to be wished, looking both upon the Bourbon and
and Braganzan races as effete ; thinking that such a con-
nection required no sacrifice of feeling on the part of
Portugal, and that when the general Government of
Spain was dissolved, a federal union of its respective
kingdoms, each retaining or modifying its own fueros *' ,
was the system into which they would most easily and
naturally fall. The aspects in Europe have so changed
since that time, and the republican spirit which was then
trampled under foot in France is now so rampant every
where, that I should be sorry to see the course of events
tending to that issue ; though, if the Peninsula alone
were concerned, it is perhaps that which might bring its
miseries soonest to an end. Eroles miglit oppose a
* i. e. charters .and iirivileges.
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 339
Braganzan King of Spain upon the same principle that
he opposed Joseph Buonaparte ; but the same feeling
might not induce liim to oppose a total change of go-
vernment, which added Portugal to Spain, and restored
to his own principality all its proud old privileges. I
think, if I were a Spaniard or a Portuguese, that this
would be my aim ; but as an Englishman, and regard-
ing the question as it would affect the whole of Europe
(where the tendency is certainly down the hill of demo-
cracy), I should grieve to see it.
My brother Henry, who sees a good deal of the Por-
tuf^uese in London, knows more of their views and noli-
tics than I do. They have in Joam VI. an easy man, of
good faith, whom they can govern, and whom they can
trust. Ferdinand is truly a wretch, unworthy of com-
passion, even in his present miserable condition. I wish
he had no brothers, for in that case I should heartily
assent to the fitness of shutting him up in a convent,
and giving the King of Portugal the crown in right of
his wife.
By us at least they must be left to themselves, and I
hope France will not interfere. Such interference may
be deeply injurious, in more ways than one. Suppose
it were successful, — Ferdinand would then hold his
authority only by the support of France, and the evil
which you apprehend, that of Spain's becoming in effect a
province of France *, would at once be brought about.
On the other hand, if a formidable resistance were made
by the aid of Portugal, the republican party would
thereby acquire the power of effecting their designs, and
when that train is fired, who can tell how far the explo-
sion will reach? The Portuguese have an efficient
army ; with British officers they would beattlie French;
* It is hardly necessary to refer to the policy of Louis riiilippe
— and his fall !
Z 2
340 LETTERS OF 1822.
without them I think they would have a fair chance.
But they would obtain adventurers from England as
easily as the South Americans have done. And how-
ever much the French King may wish to rid himself of
disaffected troops, he had better keep them in France,
and take his chance for fifty such conspiracies as Ber-
lin's, than engage them in another Peninsular war.
I have not seen the "Liberal," but a Leeds paper has
been sent me, containing an account of it, and including
among its extracts the description and behaviour of a
certain " varlet." He has certainly not offended me in
the way that the pious painter exasperated the Devil.
As for the slander, it is not worth an angry feeling, and
has not excited a painful or an uncomfortable one.
Other parts seem to be as disgusting as brutality and
impiety can make them.
I have been reviewing Gregoire's " Hist, des Sectes
Religieuses," and have left his account of the Theophi-
lanthropists to form part of another paper upon the
growth and prevalence of infidelity. If Gifford will let
me, I may probably touch upon the " Liberal" here,
and show Lord Byron that there can be no better pre-
paratory exercise for writing the memoirs of the Devil
than by attempting a sketch of his Lordship's own cha-
racter and conduct.
Of late I have been chiefly employed upon Frere's
papers, and have gone through about half of them. Sir
K. ^Vilson's correspondence amused me a good deal.
With what a humiliating feeling will he read what I
shall have to write concerning him, the right spirit with
which he acted, and the real services whicli he per-
formed, when in his own words his collar was making
for him hij that skilful neck-twister Napoleon. There
are several letters from Mayne, and very bad ones they
are. Doyle's I have not yet begun upon, but I have
seen a good many of his among Sir Hew Dalrymplc's
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 341
papers. Whittingham appears to have been very much
the ablest of our oflicers who were in the Spanish
service.
To day I have received an importation of American
books from Ticknor, the professor of modern langiiage
at Hurward College, one of the best informed men I
ever became acquainted with. There is among them
the " Idle Man," said to be the best of many imitations
of the " Sketch Book," a volume of " Travels to the
Sources of the Mississippi," and old Dr. Dwight's
" Travels in New England and New York," a posthu-
mous work in four full octavos. I have begun upon
this, and find in it a great deal of curious observation.
If GifTord had not taken that offensive and mischievous
tone in the "Review" concerning America, I could
have drawn up for him a very interesting paper from
this book. There is also " A New England Tale,"
curious as a picture of manners, and in itself very much
above mediocrity, but sadly injured by the introduc-
tion of a crazy woman in imitation of Walter Scott's
novels.
About Hastings's Life I have nothing to say, ex-
cept that they wish me to see a Mr. Baber before he
selects the papers which are to be put into my hands,
and that this Mr. Baber appears to have some very
injudicious notions about keeping back whatever relates
to Hastings's private history and character. This would
be unwise, even if the work to be compiled were a his-
tory of his administration, but especially one when it is
to be his life. However, for the sake of seeing him, I
must visit London early in the spring. I should have
done so without this matter of business, on account of
my uncle. His age is now such that the usual intervals
between my visits ought to be shortened. The two
poems are in statu quo, except that in my yesterday's
z 3
342 LETTERS OF 1822.
walk some improvement was made in the plan of
" Oliver Newman."
The " Book of the Church" is in the press, and will be
published before I set off for town, which will be at the
end of February, or early in March. God bless you.
R. S.
To the Bight Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, M.P.
Nov. 2. 1 822.
My dear Wynn,
Who should succeed Lord Liverpool if he were
about to retire, would be to me a matter of less interest
than who shall succeed poor Gilford as the editor of
the " Q. R.," in case of his death, or of his inability to
continue in that office. The latter probability he men-
tioned to me some weeks ago, and likewise how totally
at a loss he was where to look for one who might supply
his place. I mentioned John Coleridge to him, and
have mentioned him to Murray also. I have some
reason to think that GifFord inclines to my opinion, for
he has had a conversation with him upon the difficulties
of an editor's task, &c. ; and though he said nothing
which in any way committed himself, yet he would not
have entered upon that subject, and into it as he did, if
my suggestion had been totally dismissed. One thing
which he said was, that his successor must be a man in
whom the Government could feel confidence, because
of the assistance which they afforded in the way of do-
cuments from the public offices. And this leads me to
mention the subject to you.
There is no question about his abilities, acquire-
ments, habits, and principles; but he possesses, in an
eminent degree, discretion, a sound judgment, and a
1822. ROBERT SOUXnEY. 343
right feeling. I am sure he woukl never admit any-
thing which shoukl lower the Review, — nothing of that
mere insolence which has so often disgraced it, and
brought it down to the level of the " Edinburgh."
The choice is a matter of more consequence than
Murray is aware of. Murray is very much disliked by
the trade. They would delight in injuring him ; and
(this is between ourselves) the project of starting a new
•' Quarterly," upon the same principles, has been thought
of. I do not wish to see this, because it would weaken
the effect which the " Quarterly" now produces; and it is
better to have one efficient journal of this kind than to
divide its power. But if it were made unexceptionable
in its tone and temper, and consistent in its views, I am
sure its influence would be greatly increased. For
myself, it would be a great satisfaction to have an
editor who would not mutilate my papers without con-
sulting me.
But I must conclude. I have said this to you that
you may know what my wishes arc upon the subject, —
which, though not a matter of state, is one which, no
doubt, you will hear talked of; and in which, very
possibly, your opinion may have some weight.
God bless you.
R/. S.
To John Hickman, Esq.
Keswick, Nov. 3, 1822.
My dear R.,
My mornings for the last three weeks have been
pretty closely employed upon Frere's papers, which
will occupy a fortnight yet before I shall have got
through them. They gave me all the information of
z 4
344 LETTERS OF 1822.
■which I was in want for that stage of the war on which
my materials were most defective.
Poor GifTord's life is so precarious at this time, and
the probability of his being unable to conduct the
" Q. R.," even if he recovers, so great, that the question
of the succession becomes of some interest to me. I
wish John Coleridge to be the editor, — being a man
who unites in himself all the requisites, and with whom
I could act cordially. Unless I am very much mistaken,
the character of the Journal could be raised, and its
influence greatly increased, by the firm and consistent
language which it would hold under his management,
and the utter exclusion of such splenetic eiFusions as
often disgrace it now.
The " Liberal" is quite what it ought to be. If I
hated Lord Byron as deeply as he does me, I could not
wish it to be worse. It cannot, I think, reach a third
number, even if it proceeds to a second, and escapes
prosecution. They must be thorough-paced Whigs,
indeed, for whom it is not too bad ; and, moreover, his
Lordship and Leigh Hunt will quarrel ere long, and
break up the infernal firm.
We are going on well, thank God. Since my brother
left me, I have settled regularly to my winter occupa-
tions, and as regularly taken the daily exercise which he
pi'escribed. A summer's mountaineering has been of the
greatest benefit to mc, and I hope to keep in the same
good condition till you see me early in the spring.
Remember us most kindly to Mrs. R.
God bless you.
R. S.
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 345
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, §t.
Keswick, Nov. 17. 1822.
I HAVE got from an Edinburgh catalogue a little
book printed at Braga, 1624. " Musa Panegyrica in
Theodosiuni" is the title, and Miguel Pinto de Sousa
the author. Its rarity at least makes it worth a new
coat, and the contents appear to be curious, as showing
the strong feeling which at that time prevailed in favour
of the Braganzas.
By what I have learnt, I believe the scheme for
uniting Spain and Portugal under a Braganzan king-
would be regarded by our Government as desirable, if
it were feasible. In my opinion it cannot be brought
about. The Spaniards, who wish to get rid of their
wretched king (a wretch he is in both senses of the
word), have no wish to substitute any other in his place.
Arguelles told Mackenzie that he did not like the
English ; he wanted such English as those in Oliver
Cromwell's days. The scheme would be opposed both
b}' the Republicans, who are the dominant faction at
Madrid, by the Royalists, who are doubtless the great
majority of the nation, and by those persons who might
very willingly consign Ferdinand to a convent, provided
the order of succession were respected, and his brother
called to the throne in his stead ; a measure quite as
necessary here as it was supposed to be in the case of
Alfonso VI. And this, I think, would be the compro-
mise which foreign interference mitrht effect.
I am using my influence to get John Coleridge chosen
King of the Romans, upon the demise or abdication of
the Emperor Gifford. For poor Gifford himself, I
heartily wish he may live as long as he thinks life de-
sirable ; but I shall be very glad if he withdraws from
346 LETTERS OF 1822,
the " Review," and consigns it to a more temperate and
judicious editor, who will conduct it consistently, and in
a proper spirit. If J. Coleridge has it, it will no longer
blow hot and cold. It is very likely to pass into his
hands ; if it does, my papers will not be mutilated in
future, nor will they be postponed to a following num-
ber sometimes, when I have calculated upon their
appearance.
To have taken the management myself would, I
think, have been sacrificing more than I ought for an
increase of income, which, all things considered, must
have been rather nominal than real. A residence near
Tiondon would increase my expenditure one half at
least, and certainly cut off more than half my enjoy-
ments. The " Review " already consumes more time
than I like to bestow upon it; and the task of editing it
would consume a great deal more, much more unplea-
santly employed. Besides, no person can think less of
my qualifications for managing anything than I do
myself: the whole habits of my life have tended to foster
rather than correct an inaptitude and dislike to what-
ever has an appearance of business.
Writing not long ago to Murray in strong reprehen-
sion of the mischievous papers concerning America, I
told him "that if it had not been for those papers, I
could now have drawn up for him an interesting article
from some new American books." His High mightiness
requests that I would so do, " sliding, he says, as gently
as you can into the new tone, so as not to appear too
abrupt, and as j)reparatory to the proper feelings in
future." In truth, the "Review" has been wretchedly
mismanaged. What can be more pitiful than the whole
conduct concerning Lord Byron, — and this last miser-
able business of entering into a defence of Shakespeare,
and of the system of Providence against the author of
" Cain ? " It was quite proper that the " Liberal" and
1822.
K015ERT SOUTIIEY. 347
this tribute of adulation should make their appearance
at the same time.
We have been edified at church this morning with
the new marriage act, a production upon which I must
not congratulate Philliniore wi)en I see him next.
However, I believe that the troublesome and absurd
part of its enactments are none of his.
I am glad to hear from General Peachey that Mr.
Audrey keeps his situation. Bedford has lately succeeded
to the highest situation in his department of the Exche-
quer, after one-and-thirty years service for it. He has
got the prize for which he started, and it has made him
very happy for the present. God bless you.
To Dr. H. H. Southey.
Keswick, Nov. 25. 1822.
My dear Harry,
I do not recollect whether I have given you joy
of your son, or not ; for, without dwelling extravagantly
or madly upon the subject, where there is a fair prospect
that a child will be foirly set forward in the world, its
birth is a subject for congratulation. Besides, it is a
joyful change in a house when all is as well as can be
expected.
The letter for Sir William Knighton comes herewith.
Will you tell Murray where a copy can be directed to
Haygarth, to whom one is due for some materials
which he communicated.
If the King would make me a present of the publi-
cations of the Record Committee, they would be well
bestowed. I want too many costly books for my histo-
rical pursuits, and these are among them. Wherever
348 LETTERS OF 1822.
original documents are within my reach, I go to them,
and it is surprising how much I find there which has
"been overlooked. My gleanings are often worth more
than tlie harvest of those who have been before me.
S(;mething of this you will see in the " Book of the
Churcli," at whicii I have been chiefly employed since
your departure.
You must know more concerning the '' Q. K." at
this time than I do. A note from Murray some fort-
night ago let me know that he was well disposed to-
wards John Coleridge, and waited till he could talk
with Gifford upon the subject ; and I have heard nothing
since from any quarter. If he understood his own in-
terest, there could not be a moment's hesitation. What
with GifFord's indifference in all matters of taste (when,
if lie had any leaning, it was to the wrong side), with
his admission of mischievous articles such as those re-
lating to America, and of the Sermons of the Dean of
Westminster (to whom I ascribe the discourse on Lord
Byron in the last number), and what with the disgraceful
temper in which some of his own papers were written,
the " Review " must surely decline as rapidly as it had
risen.
There is a passage from my tender epistle quoted in
the last number. It is curious that that very passage
should have been originally tvritten for the " Beview"
and struck out of it by the editor.
I will tell you another anecdote. Lord Holland has
lately edited Sir Charles Hanbury William's " Poems."
They were put into my hands for that purpose in 1802,
and I refused to have any part in bringing them out,
because of their profligacy.
Your precepts have been observed as regularly as a
scries of dreadfully tempestuous weather would let
me, — at some expense of time, but with less effort, as
it became a habit. I was over the Dod some ten days
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 349
ago with Senhouse. The boat is now laid upon tlie
island, not having been used since your departure ; for
there literally has not been one day pleasant enough
for ffoins? on the water.
I should be very glad to hear of John Coleridge's
accession, which, if GifFord continues to be incapaci-
tated, cannot be deferred much longer. To-day I have
a letter from John May, dated Falmouth, ... it contains
a promise of strong beer, for which you know I liave a
weakness. Never was man more mistaken in his
prognosis tlian Chauncey Townsend's father, when he
supposed me to be a water-drinker. I have a proper
taste for all pleasant liquors, in their place and season,
— from bottled twopenny in the heat of summer, up to
the purest whiskey " unexcised by kings." But Rhenish
wine is best, and so Pindar would have said if he had
ever tasted it.
Our love to all. God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rkjht Hon, C. IF. IV. Wynn, M.P.
Keswick, Nov. 25. 1822.
My dear Wynn,
I am glad to see some " Cymmrodorion Transac-
tions" advertised, and shall send for the volume. What
a surprising difference there is between the Welsh and
Scandinavian poems! partly, because the Welsh were
divided toto ah orhe, while the northern nations were
more or less connected with it. I have felt this differ-
ence very strongly of late, while reading the second
volume of the " Edda," published, for the first time,
four years ago.
I am, indeed, gradually acquiring some insight into
350 LETTERS OF 1822.
the northern languages, the better to qualify myself for
writing a history of English literature and manners, —
subjects which, according to my present view, may best
be united as relieving and throwing light upon each
other. My notes have been accumulating for many
years.
Has O'Connor published his second volume ?
Foreign interference in the affairs of Spain would be
desirable, if it could be effectual — which I think it
could not be. Suppose a French army were to reach
Madrid, rescue Ferdinand, head and all, and re-establish
him as absolute king, or as a chartered one, I neither
see how he could support himself, nor who could sup-
port him ; for the country wovild continue in a state of
anarchy, and he would find himself without a revenue.
Spain can never be reduced to order till it has a strong
government; but such a government must be able to
maintain a strong army, and the resources by which
this should be done are absolutely dry.
You, I think, are among those persons who will feel
that it would have been unwise in me to have taken
Giflbrd's place. It would have given me a certain, in-
stead of a precarious, income ; but the discomfort of a
removal, the necessary increase of expenditure, and,
above all, the great sacrifice which must have been
made of worthier pursuits, would heavily have over-
balanced this advantage. This last consideration alone
would be decisive : John Coleridge is also a much
fitter man than I should have been ; he knows better
how to deal with men, and he has more discretion.
God bless you.
R. S.
1822. EGBERT SOUTllEY. 351
To the Right Hon. C. IF. W. Wynn, M.P.
Keswick, Dec 15, 1822.
My dear Wynn,
I shall be very much obliged to you both for
the " Cambro-Briton," ar.d the *' Cymmrodorion Trans-
actions." They may very likely afford me hints for the
ode which you desired, and which I am the more bound
to produce, having handled the Scotch, ex officio^ this
year, as (God forgive me !) I did the Irish the last.
You see I put my Welsh honours in my title-page, and
that my name has now a tolerably long tail.
How much it would have gratified me to have been
at your christening ! Old friends and old books are the
best things that this world affords (I like old wine also),
and in these I am richer than most men (the wine ex-
cepted). I have now known you, and Bedford, and
Strachey, four-and-thirty years. When I look at our
respective lots in life, yours and Dapple's are regularly
what they ought to be — mine, also, is what it should
be, though the course has been an erratic one.
Strachey, I think, might have been as well off in for-
tune, and better in other respects, if he had not spent
the best years of his life in India. Made for domestic
life as he is, he ought to have been a married man.
Elmsley is right in not sacrificing the enjoyment of
his books and his friends. I marvel that any man will
sacrifice a leisure which he is able to enjoy, except from
a sense of duty. Middleton is a great loss. That
establishment was made with too niggardly a hand, and
much more was required from Middleton than was any-
ways reasonable. If Elmsley had gone to India, I
should have had a large episcopal acquaintance. The
new Irish bishop, Jebb, is an acquaintance of mine,
and one for whom I have a very high respect.
352 LETTERS OF 1822.
I am looking through D'IsraeU's " New Curiosities."
He is a man whom I generally dine with when I visit
London. An oddly-furnished head he has, and an odd
sort of creature he is altogether; — thoroughly good-
natured, — the strangest mixture of information and
ignorance, cleverness and folly. Having ceased to be a
Jew himself, without becoming a Christian, he has,
happily for his children, allowed Sharon Turner to take
them quietly to Church and have them christened.
Of forthcoming books, there is none which I am so
desirous to see as Sir John Malcolm's, — part of which
he showed me when he was on his way to London in
the summer.
Dibdin has written to ask if I am willing to under-
take a continuation of Warton's " History of Poetry ; "
and I expect to receive proposals from the publisher,
whoever he may be. If they are such as may enable
me to draw off from reviewing, I shall be disposed to
accept them.
1 am learning Danish, and reading Dutch poetry.
That I should get a great deal from Dutch history you
will not wonder; but you will wonder that I should
get any thing from their poetry. I trace, however, old
Joshua Sylvester there, and, if I am not mistaken,
Milton also. God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford^ Esq.
Keswick, Dec. 7. 1822.
My dear Grosvenor,
You will deliver me from one of the evils
of this world, if you will send me some money.
It is a long while since I liave heard from you, or,
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 353
indeed, from any person in town. My last news of
poor Gifford was a report from my uncle that he was
still very ill; and the last notice I had of the " Quar-
terly Review," was in a letter from the Land's End, say-
ing it was all but settled that John Coleridge should
become the editor ; but this was good authority coming
from John ]\Iay, who is as intimate with him as I am
with you. However desirable it might be for me to
have obtained a certain income adequate to my expend-
iture (and, God knows, desirable it would be !), yet I
am perfectly satisfied that I decided rightly in not seek-
ing to obtain the editorship for myself; and of this, I
believe, the few persons by whose judgment I could
wish to have my own confirmed, agree with me. Just
now I am out of humour, because I am working at the
Ode, the motto for which ought always to be Odi. You
will see my description of Lodore enlarged and much
improved, in an eleemosynary volume edited by Joanna
Baillie, where you will see also some stanzas written for
Lady Lonsdale's album, placed where you will see them,
not by my own choice, but at Miss Baillie's desire. The
stanza is to my ear singularly pleasing, the verses not
discreditable, — the utmost that can be expected in com-
positions of this kind, which diflfer from compositions
only as a forced loan does from a tax. That family
shows me great civilities, which 1 acknowledge so much
less than I ought to do, in the way of visiting them, that
I was the more ready to show my sense of their atten-
tion in this manner.
I am getting on with the " Book of the Church,"
which said book must perform the service of carrying
me on my spring journey, and aiding largely the next
year's ways and means ; for I mean, if possible, to keep
the proceeds of the history untouched, that part ex-
cepted which will be adventured with Westall upon the
drawings from Roderick, — a secret (remember) whicli
VOL. III. A A
354 LETTERS OF 1822.
is strictly confined to you, no otlier person whatsoever
being acquainted with it by me.
If you do not visit me next summer, you ought never
to be forgiven. I quite long to have you here : there
are so many things which I should like to show you, and
which you would delight in seeing. Moreover, there
will be strong beer, worthy of the gods, and Lightfoot
is going to send me a cask of cider, which he makes, and
which I hope to drink, with great success. If it be as
good as himself, it cannot be better.
Remember me to Miss Page and Henry.
God bless you,
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, Dec. 15. 1822.
My dear Grosvenor,
Mackenzie enabled me to make the narrative of
Romana's escape as complete as you see it, — by deliver-
ing to me in writing what he related to me at Paris.*
To Sir Augustus Fraser I am obliged, through his
brother-in-law, Major Moor, for the largest body of
communications which I have been able to obtain, con-
sisting of a series of his letters describing the whole
progress of the army while he was with it from 1810 to
the end of the war, transcribed into a large volume,
with plans, &c., as at one time intended for publication,
— an intention, I believe, laid aside in part because of
the announcement of my undertaking. Certainly I
shall derive more advantage from these letters than
from any other series of documents. You will therefore
allow that both Sir Augustus (whom I have never seen)
and Major Moor (who transcribed the letters, and offered
them to me) arc richly entitled to this return. I think
* "Paris, May 19. 1817. Dined with Mackenzie," &c. —iW^".
Journal,
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 355
I mentioned in my list that both copies should be con-
signed to Longman's care, he being Moor's publisher.
Moor is author of the "Hindoo Pantheon," and of
course intimate with my friends Yamen, Seeva, &c.
Now for Herries. Though I am indebted to him for
many civilities, I should not, on that score alone, send
him a book which he would otherwise buy without hesi-
tation. But there are things relating to his own de-
partment, for which in the subsequent volumes I shall
want information from him.
My dear Grosvenor, more than half that eleemosynary
list consists of persons without whose aid the book could
not have been composed, e. g. Marquis Wellesley, Whit-
tingham, Frere and his brother, Sir Hew Dalrymple,
&c. &;c., and these as much belong to the charges of the
work, as the printer's or stationer's bill. From ten to
twelve copies stand on the score of private feeling, and
will be received either as acknowledgments for kindness,
or as memorials of friendship, carrying with them in
either case an ideal value, which you very well know
how to appreciate. I have, God knows, received a great
many acts of kindness, none of which I have ever for-
gotten. But I shall go out of the world on the debtor
side of this account at last, not for want of will, but of
means !
As for your own copy, pay me for it by giving me a
good portrait of yourself, in place of the ill hkeness
which poor Nash made !
God bless you,
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, 8{c.
Keswick, Dec. 17. 1822.
I HAD not forgotten Scheffer's " Swecia Literata ;"
but as that book is nearly a century and half old, I re-
A A 2
356 LETTERS OF 1822.
gretted that the Swedes and Danes should so much
" contempt" each other, as to jorevent the union of
their writers in one Bibliotheca. The Danish is not a
difficult language. I have been expecting for several
years the publication of the " Saxon Chronicle," which
is to have a grammar prefixed to it, meaning whenever
it came out to set about acquiring that language ; but
it seems I shall be a Dane first. If I were an idle man,
one of my amusements would be to fill the margin of
"Johnson's Dictionary." I find the Portuguese ^wa in
my Danish dictionary Arnme*, a nurse.
Augustus Hare, whom you may have seen at his
aunt's, Lady Jones's, told me as good a story of our old
acquaintance, St. Antonio, as could have been found in
Portugal. Some nobleman, I forget who, was travelling
with an Italian servant who had lived many years in his
service, and, arriving at Padua with an intention of im-
mediately proceeding on his journey, the servant de-
clared that he must stop awhile, even if he left his
master's service, to say his prayers to St. Antonio. The
master was attached to him, and humoured him, and,
hearing that his object was to pray that St. Antonio
would intercede with the Almighty for him, without
which he thought it impossible to be saved, asked him,
" What he had done during so many years in England?"
" Oh ! " he replied, *' when I am in England, I pray to
God to intercede for me with St. Antonio ! "
The " Acta S.S." exhibits a picture of St. Antonio's
loiKjue, as set in gold, among the many curious portraits
ejusdem generis which this marvellous work contains.
* It is Icelandic, also. See Rask's "Icelandic Dictionary," (poor
Rask, whom I followed to his grave !) and the Specimen Glossarii
to the "Edda," vol. ii. p. 562., ed. 4to. 1818. Erne, or Eame,
i. e. uncle, is from the same root, though we draw it from the
Anglo-Saxon. Spenser uses it after Chaucer :
" Whilst they were young, Cassibalane their erne
Was by the people chosen in their stead," &c.
The Faerie Queene, II. x. xlvii.
18-22. liOBERT SOUTUEY. 357
I am now writing that chapter in the " Book of tlie
Churcli," whicli contains a view of the Roman Catholic
system, such as you and I know it to be. It will make
some persons, 1 trust, open their eyes ; but if it does
not disabuse those who choose to be deceived, it will at
least have the good effect of preventing very many from
being deluded, through their entire ignorance of the
subject.
Dibdin wrote to me the other day, asking " If I
should like to continue ' Wartou's History of Poetry,'
which is about to be re-edited with laborious corrections
and notes ! " My answer expressed a willingness to
hear what the bookseller might have to propose. If his
terms should be such as they ought to be, Gilford will
see very little more of my work. But I must be largely
paid, or they must look to some other quarter.
This last week has been odiously employed ; but I am
not dissatisfied with the production. There are now
some half-dozen of these task poems by me which have
not seen the light, and which, one of these days, will do
me no discredit.
Ere this you will have received my Meya Bt/3/Vibi/.
The last chapter will bring to your recollection our
journey to Madrid. The description, p. 542., of Rolica
is from the journal which I made one-and-twenty years
ago, even with the reflection at the end, written at the
Caldas, while the impression was fresh. I am waiting
for a Spanish •' History of the War in Catalonia," to
put the second volume to press, as the first chapter
must contain the movements in that province from the
siege of Rosas to the relief of Barcelona.
In p. 371. there is a passage about General Spencer
which is erroneous. I followed printed despatches in
the Parliamentary Papers, so positive that I submitted
my own judgment to them, which, it appeared after-
wards, I ought not to have done ; for when Sir Hew
A A 3
358 LETTERS or
1822.
Dalrymple's papers arrived, I found, from his letters and
Lord Collingwood's, that this was half blunder, half
braggadocio," on the part of Spencer, who is a most
incapable man. Unluckily it would have cost two can-
cels to get rid of this single sentence ; and tliere was so
much expense and inconvenience in this, that (though
neither one nor the other would have fallen on myself)
I thought it best to let the matter pass, and correct it
silently in the future editions. I am not conscious of
any other error ; but there are two voluntary omissions:
the one an offer on the part of Louis XVIIL and his
family to the Junta of Seville, to serve in the Spanish
armies, which I thought it might do them some injury
at this time to make public ; the other concerns our
own government, and is a striking instance of the base-
ness with which in difficult cases it leaves its servants
without instructions, for the sake of loading them with
the responsibility of any failure that may ensue. The
fact is, that before the commencement of the movements
in Spain, and during the first movements, while Sir
Hew Dalrymple was in communication with Castanos ;
out of thirty-seven despatches, thirty-four of which re-
lated to these affairs, Lord Castlereagh only acknow-
ledged twoy and left him to act as he thought best, at
his own peril.
I am richly stored with materials for the rest of the
war, so that it will be smooth sailing to the end. Com-
pared to that of the Brazilian history, the labour seems
nothing. The second volume will come down to Mas-
sena's retreat, perhaps further. I got at Zurich a Ger-
man account of his campaign by a surgeon in his army.
I am just German enough to make it out.
Love to my aunt, the boys, and Georgiana.
God bless you,
R. S.
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 359
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq,
Keswick, Dec. 24. 1822.
^ Dear Stumparumper,
So long a time has elapsed since I sent you the
commencement of my remarks upon the peculiar lan-
guage spoken by (which I have denominated the
Lingo-Grande), that I fear you may suppose that I
have altogether neglected the subject. Yet such a
subject, as you must perceive, requires a great deal of
patient observation, as well as of attentive consideration ;
and were I to flustercumhurry over it, as if it were a
matter which could be undercumstood in a jifFump
(that is to say in a momper), this would be to do what
T have undertaken shabroonily, and you might shar-
tainly have reason to think me faffling and indiscruckt.
Upon my vurtz I have not dumdawdled with it, like a
dangleampeter ; which being interpreted in the same
lingo is an undecider, or an improvidentui", too idle
to explore the hurtch mine which he has had the for-
tune to discover. No, I must be a stupossum indeed
to act thus, as well as a slouwdowdelcum, or slowdo-
nothinger; and these are appellations which she has
never bestowed upon me ; though, perhaps, the un-
common richness, and even exuberance, of her language
has not been more strikingly displayed in anything
than in the variety of names which it has enabled her
to shower upon my devoted person.
I have been called poor Peecrack, Trumjieteerum,
King of the Jackus, Crackarum, Detestarum peter, a
Noisiton, a Shockrocket, Rascalk, and Rascalalker,
in addition to the pleasant appellations noticed in my
former epistle. And I cannot flatter myself that kind-
ness wears the mask of vituperation, while she is thus
addressing me, as it certainly does when she sends you
her hate, and calls you scarecrow. In your case there
A A 4
360 LETTERS OP 1822,
is a smile which plays about her towse ; and the look
belies the spoak, silently but expressively confessing it
to be a mere storck. But when one of these appella-
tives is discharged at me, there is no expression of
countenance to contradictorum it ; the mouth is stretched
longitudinally to utter it with force and vengeance ; out
it comes like a pole of thunder, and seems intended to
strike me dumb at least, if not absolutely to crunch me
to munch.
Did I ever show you a curious book published in
1785, with this title, " Letters of Literature, by Robert
Heron, Esq. ? " The copy in my possession (I beg par-
don of the collectors — penes me is the phrase) belonged
to Henry Kirke White, and was given to me by his
brother, as having his autograph upon the title-page.
Pinkerton was the author ; and the name which he as-
sumed at random happening to belong to an unlucky
writer who began his career shortly afterwards, the real
Robert Heron found himself in bad odour, owinff to
the prejudice which these very conceited and extrava-
gant letters had excited. But it is a very odd book, as
well as a most impudent one ; and the most curious
thing in it is a plan for improving the English language,
by altering its structure. For this purpose it was
seriously proposed by the said Pinkerton that the most
learned men in the three kingdoms should incorporate
themselves in an academy, publish a grammar and dic-
tionary of the improved English, and use it themselves
both in writing and discourse ; thus asserting what they
called their proper power over the mob, till the revo-
lution in our speech (for it was nothing else) should be
completely effected. The leading principles of his scheme
were to get rid of all sounds which were unpleasing to
his ear, to throw away the consonant at the end of a
certain class of words, add his favourite vowel o to it in
others, and form the plural of all nouns in a. As a
1822. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 361
specimen he has translated " Thea Visiona " of Mirza,
from the " Spectator," into his own improved language.
Buy the book if ever it falls in your way, for it is a
treasure.
I mention it now because I have compared the Pin-
kertonian lingo with the Lingo-Grande ; and it is
surprising how far below Pinkerton must be
placed in this department of genius. For example, he
would call the snuffers thea snuffera; with us they are
snufFumpers. Candles he would ask for by the name
of thea candela ; our inventress calls them candeels,
canddwls, candoals. He would call the bells thea bella ;
our bell is the bellabbity, when we are told to twyke it.
A gig with him would be giggo; here it is gidge,
euphonia gratia ; and in like manner bag, which he
would make baggo, is softened into badje. Then, how
poor are his doggo and foggo, when compared with our
dogroggarum and fogogrum or fogrogrum ! He would
say spasmea for spasms ; in our lingo they are spad-
delcoms. Lumbago he would leave unchanged, because
it terminates in the vowel which he so greatly affects ;
but here the word is ennobled into lumbaggarum, when
the inventress feels a pange resembling it. Puddles
he would call puddela ; with us they are pulkers, and
pillpulkers; and if it be a great, broad, sprawly, dis-
agreeable pillpulker, then it is denominated a pulker-
peeler. What would Pinkerton make of thimble, which
could equal thimblumb and thimbolion ? And what of
that lower region, the seat of frequent aches, which
could at once be so euphonious and so delicate as bel~
teerian ? Here, perhaps, she would exclaim forsham-
masum ! if she knew that I were writing that word ;
but how unjust should I be to her merits were I to
omit it !
The Pinkertonian scheme is inconvenient, as requir-
ing perpetual attention to its principles ; and, indeed,
362 LETTERS OF 1822.
I may venture to say that it is impracticable, because it
requires a total, and therefore an impossible, change in
the language of the country. But the Lingo-Grande
is not liable to such objections. It proposes not to
alter our dictionary, but to enlarge it ; not to re-con=
struct our mother tongue, but to adorn and beautify it,
— to enrich it with graces and elegances of speech, —
with flowers, — yea, rather, gems of language. The
Pinkertonian lingo displays no invention, whereas this
is eminently distinguished by its inventiveness. When
a word is wanted here there is no tarrying for rule or
reason, etymology or analogy. I do not mean to say
that some remote analogy, some recondite etymon, the
germ or seminal principle of the word, may not some-
times be discovered ; this is often the case, and such
vocables have a peculiar force. But quite as often the
neologism, if I may so express myself, is fatherless and
motherless, — a clear case of equivocal generation, an
arbitrary sound, a pure creation. Instances of both
kinds will be found in the examples which I am about
to adduce, and your discrimination will know how to
distinguish them.
If the weather is what she calls ramping and tearing,
this great inventress complains of its rampasity, and
says it is a toarampeter of a day. Should one of the
childereelions be poakun, and frumping, and rouking in
a work-badje, she tells them not to be dabdobbering
there, for it gives her a feeling of pokardkatur. Has
she been in dull company, she describes the conversa-
tion of such stupossums as drigdraggery. A brook she
calls the running splash. "When she takes a dose of
physic, she says it is to give her constitution a jerk ;
and if I sneeze in her presence she declares that it
makes all the addle come into her head. She objected
to a new bonnet one day as being glomboUical ! I
could not ascertain in what glombollicality consists, nor
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 363
would slie explain it to me. I believe it gratifies her
when she perceives that I cannot penetrate into the
signification of an uncommonly strange and difficult
neologism. She has left me till this hour entirely
unable even to guess at what is meant by spackwhan-
gular ; and if she does not accidentally betray the
meaning, I verily think I shall die in ignorance of it.
Drote and thrapple are the throat. The under jaw
is called the under jabbarum, uncle jabbarumpeter one
of the words for mouth (mouto in Mr. Pinkerton's
language). By-the-by she uses a tooth-broom. The
nose is poggarout. Stumper is the stomach ; crup-
pokur, the part which is accommodated with a saddle
when we ride. The feet are wattlykins and foottels-
toottels ; they are known also by other appellations,
some diminutive and endearing, others augmentative
and opprobrious, which were noticed in my former let-
ter. Every body else's legs are legrums, if not horman-
gogrums; but her own, for some reason which I can-
not divine, she calls her inconveniences ! I know that
it was formerly deemed indelicate in Portugal to speak
of legs by their own innocent name ; and they were
called, therefore, in all polite circles, the walkers, or the
goers ; as in some parts of Germany a petticoat used to
be called a consideration, and a pair of gouty shoes, a
pair of excellencies. One may understand this ; but I
cannot comprehend why she should call her legs her
inconveniences.
To get drunk is to tipsyficumpus. Her exclamations of
disappointment and fatigue may bear comparison with the
most imitative of the Greek interjections. Oi/xot and otot-
rojoL, surely, are not more expressive than ohdourm5u,
and ohdiddledowloo. I would not depreciate the Greek
words ; each is certainly a good mouthful and throat-
ful of lamentation. Yet those which I have adduced
in comparison with them from the Lingo-Grande ap-
364: LETTERS OF
1822.
pear to me to excel them in length and breadth of
dejection, — in the plerophory of uncomfortabuttelness
which they denote.
Instead of the second, she usually says the tvvootli.
Her sisters are generally called sters. Kincher, is a
child, gril a girl, oomper a woman. Cupids are de-
nominated kincherums, and petteldeloves. A child
just able to tottel about is a shortycuninuttofabunch.
If she speaks to an infant, she calls it noansdavara, or
tooshdenoany-tooshdeneedelnoodle-tooshdenidle. When
she is vexed with herself, she says she could tear
goarum, and is ready to go tarradiddle. I have heard
her threaten to c5dy her daughter, — an indefinite, and
liitherto inexplicable mode of punishment, by which,
no doubt, something very severe is intended. This is
only when her daughter is a gidditonian, or an ira-
prawnce, or if she assists me in compiling the precious
vocabulary which has enabled me to treat upon this
curious subject. At other times, she speaks of her as
a poor lassitudinarian thing. One of my daughters
has been favoured, at different times, with the name of
Scampalum, Scarcrok, Snoukarouker, Horsegodmarum-
pit, and Horsemangander. The collective females of
the family are called the porcaboarabumbels. Miss
Barker was seldom addressed by any other name than
that of Barkeerum-barkumpus-barkoop. Among other
observables, it ought to be noticed that she has peculiar
names for her domestic implements. One of her scis-
sors is called pex. ; another is peckrex ; a third is
bluestring; her work-box is pinkrinket ; her umbrella,
}iumpcrnell, or, brevitatis causa, numper. I hardly
need observe that there is a resemblance here to the
custom which prevailed in days of chivalry, of giving
swords, as well as horses, each its proper name. Thus,
Arthur had his Escalibon, Charlemagne his Joyeuse,
Roland his Durlindana, and ray Cid his Colada and
Tizona.
1822.
ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 265
I must observe, also, that some very singular, and to
me unaccountable, notions on natural history, are fre-
quently implied in her discourse ; which, when she is
questioned concerning them, she avows and maintains
with great consequence and pertinacity. She insists
upon it that stone and wood are the same thing ; that
all dogs, whether male or female, are of the masculine
gender, and all cats female ; and, to prove this last ex-
traordinary, and, as I may call it, preposterous assertion,
she tells me that I never call my son puss, though I do
call one of my daughters so, — choosing to overlook the
manner in which the little girl came to be so called, as
being christened Katharine, from whence, by easy and
natural steps, we got to Puss. But what is yet more
sino-ular, all things which she does not exactly like are
toads. Toads drop from her lips as they did from the
hair of the ill-natured fairy in the story-book, wlio
powdered with them. She applies the name to all
persons and all things, animate or inanimate, real or
notional, you or me, a cow or a cold, a flea or a fiddle-
stick, a book, a pen, a dance, a tune, the wind, the
weather, the day, whatever happens to displease her.
So general, indeed, is the use she makes of it, that one
might cdmost suppose it were derived from the Spanish
todo, which signifies all and everything, were it not that
she spells it as you here see it spelt, and explains it to
mean that poor, calumniated, persecuted, squat, squab
animal who is the frog's first cousin.
But it is time that this long letter should be concluded.
I will conclude it, therefore, with offering to your con-
sideration a thought which has occurred to me while
writing it. There is an hypothesis concerning the origin
of language, which (to use an Americanism) has been
advocated by some Hebricians and some Welsh anti-
quaries. It is, that the principal language was not re-
vealed to our first parents, but was " the result of a
366 LETTERS OF 1822.
natural aptitude in the organs of speech to utter cer-
tain definite articulations, according to the impulse of
man's internal emotions." A certain number of imita-
tions and significant radicals were thus produced, and
the rest being matters of combination and caprice, were,
of course, infinitely variable. Attempts have been made
to show that the principle may, at this time, be clearly
traced in the Welsh and Hebrew roots. For some sin-
gular and whimsical illustrations of this tlieory, I refer
you to Mr. Davies's " Celtic Researches," a book in
other respects, well worth reading, being full of Kimbric
learning. I have heard that the notion has been pursued
much farther by an ingenious, fanciful, and patient
German. He supposed that the characters of the He-
brew alphabet are of divine appointment, and carry
with them the proof of their superhuman origin, each
being so shaped as to represent the exact form which
the organs of speech assume in making the sound de-
noted by it. He is said to have spent a great many
years in pronouncing these letters with his back to the
light, a looking-glass before him, his mouth wide open,
and a pencil in his hand, to catch the likeness, and
finally succeeded in producing a series of anatomical
drawings to illustrate his hypothesis.
Something correlative, not to the German's notion,
but to the theory maintained by my brethi-en of the
Cymmrodorion, I remember to have heard more than
twenty years ago when dining, moi quatrieme, in com-
pany with Mr. Pettier. He was expatiating to Mr.
Coleridge and myself, for our edification, upon the
peculiar excellences of French poetry, and of the
French language as adapted for poetry. And he in-
stanced both in these three words from Racine, —
" Boi des rois-" words, he said, which no person could
pronounce properly, or hear properly pronounced,
without being sensible in himself of an expansion and
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 367
elevation of mind, corresponding to the expansion of
organs both of hearing and speech, sympathetic with
the sound, with the meaning of the words, and the
sublimity of the sentiment.
Now that great part of the vocabulary of the Lingo-
Grande is naturally formed, as these philosophers
suppose the principal roots to have been, appears cer-
tain ; the words evidently proceeding not from premedi-
tation, but from impulse, and an impatience of speech
which will not allow the utterance to wait till the
common and conventional term can be recollected.
Perhaps I might call it a peculiar imitation, — a talent
or genius, — a gifted nature, which rejects the con-
ventional term as inadequate to its conceptions, and
seeking words that burn for thoughts that breathe, brings
up from the depths of its own being the natural and
true vocable. There are several cases upon record of
persons who, under the influence of delirium or some
other derangement of the head, have spoken languages
which they had learned in childhood, but, through the
disuse of manyyea rs, had utterly forgotten, till oblite-
rated impressions in the sensorium were thus mys-
teriously restored.! I do not mean to reason upon such
cases as analogous, which, indeed, they are not, unless
I took up the opinion of pre-existence ; an opinion
which, in this sense, assuredly I do not think tenable.
My meaning, as you must already perceive, goes further.
Is it not possible that ******, when under an
irresistible impulse she utters these unpremeditated
words, may actually, though unconsciously, be speaking
the primal language itself? And if so, what a service
shall 1 have rendered to all future etymologists, such
as General Vallancey, Jacob Bryant, and Walter Whiter,
by these my humble and patient labours in collecting
■j- This was notoriously illustrated in the case of the great
Italian linotuist in his last sickness.
368 LETTERS OF 1822.
and preserving its precious fragments, thus most unex-
pectedly but most happily recovered ! Who knows
hut that some of these identical vocables may be dis-
covered in the Egyptian monuments, when Dr. Young
shall have succeeded (as I trust he will) in deciphering
them? or in the books of Adam himself, which the
royal historiographer, Dr. Stanier Clarke, upon the
testimony of the learned Kissaeus, believes to be at this
day in existence, though unhappily neither he nor
Kissaeus could tell exactly where they were to be
found !
And so-o-o.
Dear Miscumter Bedfordiddlededford,
I subcumscribe myself
Your sincumcere friendiddledend and serdiddledervant,
ROBCUMBERT SoUTHEYDIDDLEDOUTHEY,
Student in the Lingo-Grande, Graduate in But-
lerology, Professor of the science of Noncumsense-
diddledense, of sneezing and of vocal music, P. L. and
LL. D., &c., &c.
To C. W. Williams Wynn, Esq., M. P.
Keswick, Dec. 29. 1822.
My dear Wynn,
Your last frank covered a copy of the "Cymm-
nodorian Transactions," sent me by the secretary through
Bedford's hands. It is a creditable volume ; but by
much the most important paper is that which you com-
municated from Peter Roberts's papers. This is indeed
very curious, and seems to have been committed to a
very competent editor. I am very anxious that the
publication of the " Welsh Remains " should be fairly
completed, so that nothing which can be of any use to
1822. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 369
antiquaries, historians, or philologists, should be exposed
to the danger of being lost. When the " Cambro-Bri-
ton " reaches me I will put together a Saxon's view of
the subject for the " Quarterly Review." You should
send a qualified traveller to Bretagne to see what could
be recovered there.
By what I hear, it seems no easy thing to find a suc-
cessor for the Bishop of Calcutta. The constitution of
our Church is such that very few of its ministers are
willing to volunteer upon foreign service. I might have '
appointed a chaplain to Pernambuco four or five years
ago, if I had known where to find one ; the income was
400^ a year, with a house, and lOOZ. for his expenses
out. The person whom the Bishop of London found at
last was one of ruined fortunes, though of fair character.
The question of providing religious instruction, that is
of forming a Church establishment, for our new colo-
nies, is one which should be considered without delay,
as ultimately of the greatest importance. The want of
such establishments has been one main cause why colo-
nists in modern times have been so much more depraved
than the people from whom they spring, e. g. the Dutch
at Surinam and at the Cape. With regard to India
there are great difficulties no doubt; but it seems to me
that the best method would be to educate some of the
half-caste for the ministry there.
Many and happy returns of this season to you and
yours ! God bless you,
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, ^r.
Keswick, Dec. 30. 1822.
I AM glad you are satisfied with my proceedings in
the "Peninsular War." Sir William Knighton has
VOL. III. B B
370 LETTERS OF 1822.
written to me, expressing, by the King's command, his
satisfaction at receiving the book, and his estimation of
the usefuhiess and importance of my literary labours ;
this is said in terms sufficiently flattering, to wliich the
King has added, with his own hand, " Entirely approved,
G. R." This, I suppose, is a mark of special favour.
Bookseller will always be bookseller, and estimate
books merely by their sale. But I do not believe that
if the book had been published seven years ago, which
would have been seven years too soon, that fifty copies
more of it would have been sold. I have heard nothing
from Murray since its appearance, and little from any-
body else ; except that Sir Hew Dalrymple has thanked
me for his copy, and expressed himself much gratified by
the manner in which he is mentioned, at the same time
disclaiming any share in the censure conveyed in p. 583.,
saying that he never saw Junot, and did not enter Lis-
bon till the French had embarked. A Major Tomkin-
son, of the Light Dragoons, has also written to me, in
consequence of reading this volume, to offer me any
parts of his journal which I may wish to see. He
joined in 1809, and was in every battle with the Duke
till the end of the war, except that of Talavera, having
been left wounded at Porto. I have requested him to
let me see the whole journal.
It is not my fault that the second volume is not in
the press. I applied to Murray more than six months
ago to procure me a " History of the War in Catalonia,"
and a biographical work connected with it, both by the
same author : Luis de Oliveira (I think) is the name.
He served in that province, and is said to be a man of
great talents. The first chapter of this volume must
include the proceedings in Catalonia from the entrance
of Gouvion St. Cyr* and the siege of Rosas, to the de-
* See "Peninsular War," vol. ii. p. 35. &c.
1823. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 371
feat of the Spaniards and the breaking up the blockade
of Barcelona ; and, of course, I will not write this part,
till I can have these Spanish works before me. Then I
shall get on briskly, being fully provided with matter,
and having no difficulties of arrangement.
At present 1 am pursuing the " Book of the Church ; "
but I must very soon set about a paper for the *' Re-
view," — of all employments that which I like the least ;
but I cannot supply my current expenses without it.
Bedford is got to the head of his department in the
Exchequer. The situation ought to be a good one, for
the stamps upon his appointment come to 75/. Elmsley
noluit ejxiscOjpari at Calcutta, very wisely, though he
would have been the better for melting. I believe
there is some difficulty in finding a fit person to accept
that undesirable promotion. It is a banishment for
life, and they require as much personal exertions from
the bishop as a manufacturer docs from one of his
riders. A man must have the spirit of a missionary to
undertake it. A church in India they ought to have,
on every account, political as well as religious ; but, as
I have told Wynn, they can never supply it from this
country, and therefore ought to educate half-caste men
for it in India.
Our weather is severe. The report in Keswick,
which I have just heard, is that I have prophesied a
frost of thirteen weeks' continuance, and ice upon the
lake eighteen inches thick ! ! God bless you,
li. S.
To the Might Hon. C. W. W. Wynn^ M.P.
Keswick, Jan. 3. 1823.
My dear Wynn,
Thank you for the **' Cambro Briton," and for
your note.
D B
372 LETTERS OF 1823.
The mill is in good order, and the horse willing to
go on in his dail}'- rounds. I am as willing as old
Sward to die in harness, and should wear it as a
volunteer if I were not compelled to serve in the
ranks.
Poor Daniel says of himself in old age, —
" Time hath done to me this wrong,
To make me write too much and live too long."
My disposition is too cheerful a one to admit of a
fear that I may ever have occasion to apply these
melancholy lines to myself. The main thing, without
which I should have had anxious thoughts to keep me
waking, is secured, — a respectable provision for my
family. And if I should live a few years longer, in
possession of my health and faculties, there is a rea-
sonable prospect of accumulating enough to make me
independent of all periodical employment. The " Pe-
ninsular War " (which I trust you have received) is to
be the beginning of this. I made a most improvident
bargain nine years ago, instead of calculating upon
the rise of my own reputation, and accepted Murray's
offer of 1000 guineas for two volumes. Had we been
to make terms now he would have given me that sum
for each. I shall expect to be paid 1500 for the three;
and that I shall lay by.
Application has been made to me to continue "War-
ton's History of Poetry." I should have accepted the
offer if it would have enabled me to dispense with
reviewing; that being the only work to which I go
with reluctance, for it withdraws me from worthier
pursuits.
I have had a gracious message from the King through
Sir Wm. Knighton, with the special favour of having
it approved in the King's own hand.
What you tell me of the Indian College 1 am very
1823. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 373
glad to hear. If you were minister for our new colonies,
that subject interests me so much that I should almost
ask to be your secretary. We must have recourse to
colonisation extensively and upon system, or it will be
impossible to save our fabric of society from destruction.
And if provision is not made for a proper religious
establishment at first, it will be very difficult to intro-
duce it afterwards. In New Holland and Van Diemen's
Land we settle by occupancy, not by conquest; and
if we go wrong there it must be from inexperience and
error, not from any extraneous causes.
You would be well pleased with your godson, who
has as many promising qualities as I could desire to
see.
I am very incredulous concerning what is said of the
*' Welsh Paradise Lost." My old acquaintance William
Owen was one of Joanna Southcott's four and twenty
elders : full of Welsh information certainly he was, but
a muddier minded man I never met with. There is
abundant proof in his '' Dictionary" how loose and
inaccurate his knowledge of his own language is; and
I could almost as soon believe in Joanna Southcott
myself, as be persuaded that he has well translated
a book which I am very sure he does not understand.
God bless you,
R. S.
To the Bight Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, M.P.
Keswick, Jan. 25. 1823.
My dear Wynn,
I had talked over just such a plan of emigration
as this, last summer with Clarkson, who had shipped off
two or three families to Canada at the parish expense
n B 3
374 LETTERS OF 1823.
from liis owa parish, Playford, near Ipswich. The
parish were convinced that it was good economy to rid
themselves, by an immediate outlay, of an increasing
expense. This is a proof that the plan is practicable,
and likely to succeed : and in this case the parties went
without any promise of land, to seek their own mainte-
nance where industry is sure to find it.
Is not the proposed grant of 100 acres too large for
this class of persons ? This is boon enough for a farmer.
A discretionary power of allotment up to that amount
might, perhaps, be vested in the commissioners, accord-
ing to the character of the emigrants.
An outcry will be raised against it as a scheme for
transporting the poor; but it is not likely to do much
harm. Indeed, the views upon this subject which I
mean to bring forward in my " Dialogues " are, that,
while for age and infirmity more ought to be done than
our poor-laws ever have provided, if the country is
compelled to feed able-bodied paupers, it thereby ac-
quires the right of transporting them to any place where
that can be done at the easiest rate, or where the ne-
cessity for doing it may be removed.
In the case of orphans and bastards, this, I think,
might be acted upon now with good effect, both for the
children and the workhouses.
I hope and trust that provision will be made for a
clergyman in every township.
Your packet was dated on the wrong day. I con-
gratulated myself that this was not the case with the
" Cambro-Briton." Wiiy is it that other public offices
do not, like the Treasury, omit the date on their franks ?
It is perfectly useless where there is no limitation of
numbers, and Mr. Freeling never uses it himself.
Read " Elia,'' if the book has not fallen in your way.
It is by my old friend, Cliarles Lamb. There are some
things in it which will offend, and some which will pain
1823. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 375
you, as they do me ; but you will find in it a rich vein
of pure gold.
I am glad to sec that Arbuthnot leaves the Treasury
and that Herries goes there ; because I believe you will
exchange a most inefficient person for a very fit one.
You will not find any person to accept your bishopric
who has good hopes of advancement at home ; nor
easily a proper person, unless he has somewhat of a
missionary spirit. I think will not go, and doubt
whether his formal and cold manners would not unlit
him for it. His very approach benumbs one, like the
touch of a torpedo. God bless you,
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, S,-c.
Keswick, Jan. 26. 1823,
Can you tell me the Marques de Astorga's * names,
that is, what are the old families which centred in him ?
for I believe he was the representative of a great many,
and I should like what I have written concerning him
a great deal better if two or three of the noblest names
were introduced in it. The want of a Spanish Nobi-
liario, and of a topographical work, like tlie Corografia,
for Spain, sends me often to hunt through some score of
books, for what, after all, sometimes I cannot find. I
have contracted an uneasy habit of superfluous accuracy,
which is an expensive one by the consumption of time
that it occasions ; but if the fruit is not worth the cost,
it is nevertheless worth something.
I am proceeding with the second volume, in high
good humour with my work. "Whenever Murray pro-
* "A grandee of the highest class, and the representative of
some of the proudest names in Spanish history," &c. — Peninsular
War, vol. ii. p. 33.
I? 15 4
376 LETTERS OF 1823.
vides me with the " History of the Catalan War," it
shall go to press ; and if I were free from other calls, it
would be no difficulty for me with the preparations
which I have made, to bring out the volume in six
months, and the concluding one in six more. Murray
has not written to me since its publication: and the
only opinion concerning it, which has reached me from
a stranger, was in a letter of Lord Colchester's to Rick-
man, which Rickman sent me.
Trant has written to me, and volunteered some com-
munications which I shall be glad to receive, relating to
Soult's invasion. My second volume, I expect, will
come down to Massena's expulsion.
How do you bear this uncomfortable weather ? It is
now a fortnight since we have seen the face of the
earth; and strong easterly winds are prevailing, against
which no clothing is sufficient.
Government has a plan before it for assisting parishes
to relieve themselves of their able-bodied poor, by lend-
ing money to carry them to Canada. Wynn has sent
me the plan as it comes from the Colonial Office. The
money is to be repaid, with interest, from the poor-
rates, which upon every head so removed will find an
immediate saving of about four-fifths, while at the same
time the breed of paupers is diminished, and more work
left for the hands that remain. Clai-kson and I talked
of such a scheme last summer, and he had been acting
upon the same views in his own parish, which he had
persuaded to ship off two or three families.
Wynn, I think, will have some difficulty to dispose of
liis bishopric. Every person who has any hope of pre-
ferment at home, will say nolo episcojjari, when they are
proffered a mitre at Calcutta. I would recommend your
neighbour Dealtry, if I did not think it would be doing
both him and his parishioners an ill office. He might
very possibly think it his duty to go, if it were proposed
1823. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 377
to him ; and perhaps would bo more likely to think so,
because there would be a great sacrifice of ease and
comfort.
It is a good thing that Arbuthnot is removed from
the Treasury, and not less so that Herries is sent there,
— the man of all others most fit for that situation. He
will be as useful there as Arbuthnot has beenineflficient.
How he will succeed as a speaker, I do not know. But
he is an excellent man of business ; his views are sound,
and he has no want of decision or of firmness. He is
very intimate with Bedford, and I have known him
more than twenty years, upon such terms that I feel
myself bound to dine with him whenever I visit town.
It is gratifying to see how most of my friends and ac-
quaintance have, in so many diflferent lines, risen to
their proper stations ; and it is not the less gratifying
because I continue at the foot of Skiddaw, for that is
my proper station.
At present, thank God, we are all well, and going on
as usual, without any interruptions, one day like an-
other. To-day, indeed, has furnished an exception,
worthy of an extraordinary gazette, for a polecat was
caught in the back kitchen, in the rat-trap. It was in
high odour, the first I ever saw or smelt.
God bless you,
R. S.
To John Richnan, Esq., ^c.
Keswick, Feb. 1. 1823.
My dear R.,
Thank you for your letter, and for Lord Col-
chester's, which is as complimentary as the vainest author
could desire. It does not appear to me that I have in-
378 LETTERS OF 1823.
corporated more of the state papers than is necessary
for carrying on the narration and laying the whole ini-
quit}' fairly before the world; but I am aware that a
love of detail is my besetting sin, and that I should
have been better suited to the age had I lived when
men wrote folios.
The second volume will not be long in passing
through the press when I can get it in. But the first
chapter waits for some Spanish books relating to the
war in Catalonia, which Murray has been more than
twelve months getting for me. I am very rich in mate-
rials for it.
You told me that the Caledonian Canal was a sore
subject *, and something to that purport I heard from
Lord Lowther. This has prevented me from sending
some communications through you to Mr. Telford, lest
they should be ill-timed. They are two Inscriptions
for the Canal ; and my annual Ode, such being to the
praise and glory of Scotland, contains becoming men-
tion of him and Rennie. I have several of these Odes
now, which will do me no discredit when they see the
light.
I am glad of the alterations at the Treasury, but not
so glad that you have exchanged a quiet steady Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer for one who can be talked out
of any purpose, and is then ready to hang himself for
his folly ; for this is what I hear of him. Herries is a
man of business, with proper views, and with no want
of resolution. I think he is likely to make his way to
that situation in time. At present he could not be
better than where he is.
We killed a polecat last week ; and it is now matter
* On the failure of the Caledonian Canal," — not as a work of
art, but as a means of traffic, — it is quite worth while referring to
an article in the '■'■Edinburgh Review" January, 1856, — "The
Suez Canal."
1823.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 379
of doubt whether he ought to have been considered as
friend or enemy, his service against the rats being set
off against the poultry score. So, considering the Whigs
as rats, and Hunt, Cobbett, &c. as polecats, I am rather
disposed to be pleased with what the Radicals are doing
at this time. God bless you,
Iv. S>
To the Rev. Neville White, ^c.
Keswick, Feb. 2G. 1823.
My dear Neville,
The corrections, &c., will be in Longman's
hands before this reaches you. I have incorporated
part of the preface to the third volume, added the rest
of it after the "Life," and inserted in the "Life" some
things noted from the letters which were last in my
possession. The proofs are to be sent me, that I
may carefully revise the whole. One gap is left for
you to fill up with the name of the college at which
Almond was entered. I am heartily glad that the sup-
plementary volume has done its work so well. The
" Remains" have yet one stage to reach ; they must one
day be printed in a smaller form for the pocket, and for
popular sale.
You ask me concerning the affairs of Spain. Three
years ago, I dined at Mr. Butler's (the Catholic), when
his son-in-law. Colonel Stonor, who is a Spaniard, had
just received the first packet of pamphlets, proclama-
tions, and newspapers, after the Revolution had been
effected by the army. They called upon me to rejoice
with them, but 1 could not join in their exultation ; —
a bad government, indeed, had been overthrown, but a
better had not been substituted for it. The Constitu-
tion whicli the Cortes had formed, tended decidedly
(and designedly, also, no doubt) to bring about a de-
380 LETTERS OF 1823.
mocracy. I had always seen this tendency, and my
disapprobation was by no means diminished when I saw
it restored through the instrumentality of soldiers who
thought it better to stay at home and subvert the
Government, than obey its order by embarking for
America.
The Spanish Revolution has been occasioned not by
any desire of change on the part of the people, but by
the inability of the Government to pay its civil and mi-
litary establishments. Ferdinand returned to a ruined
kingdom, that is, ruined as to its finances : the colonies
from whence the main revenues had formerly been de-
rived were lost, and the mother-country in no condition
to support taxes, everything having been subverted.
The same cause would have overthrown the present
Government two years ago, if it had not been supported
by the loans which it raised in England, and which, in
all likelihood, will ruin all who have engaged in them.
Meantime, the manner in which they have robbed the
nobility and the Church of their property has offended
both these bodies : the kingdom is overrun with ban-
ditti ; the rabble in the large towns are become radicals,
made so by the Government itself; the great majority
of the nation detest the new order of things, but would
be passive under any order if they could; and the
braver spirits have taken arms against it.
The course which the Revolutionists have taken re-
sembles that of their French exemplars so closely that no
doubt can be entertained of" their going through the same
stages of regicide and massacre if left to themselves, un-
less the Royalists were strong enough to recover the
ascendency. And here a difficult question arises. Is it
expedient for France to interfere ? To question the
right of interference is absurd. If my next-door neigh-
bours were fighting, endeavouring to kill one another,
and likely, moreover, in their quarrel, to set fire to the
1823. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 381
house, it would be madness in me not to interfere, if I
could do it to any good purpose.
Therefore, if France were a power which could he
trusted, and would interfere as honourably as we did
when we rescued Spain from Buonaparte, I should ap-
prove its interference, and heartily wish it success. But
the French are a faithless nation : they have ever been
so, and, upon the first favourable opportunity, they
would gladly revive the wildest schemes of Louis XIV.
or Buonaparte. Even could we trust tliem, and their
conduct were to be as unexceptionable as I verily think
the grounds of their interference are, the question of
expediency is a very difficult one. When they get to
Madrid (which may be done without difficulty), the
work is far from being over. They may make a new
government, or restore the old despotism, but how is it
to be supported ? The old difficulty of the finances re-
curs ; and thus government will require, not our auxi-
liary troops to keep the country quiet, but loans to
maintain it, till credit and prosperity are restored.
France may have some reason to apprehend discontent
at home, and the explosion of her own combustibles, if
the struggle be prolonged ; or, to prevent this, it is not
improbable that she may be willing to provoke a war
with England, for which the Portuguese seem disposed
to give her a pretext. If they assist the Spaniards, and
the French, in consequence, invade Portugal, we can no
longer remain neutral.
Here, then, are two evils in prospect ; that France
may acquire such ascendency over Spain as Louis XIV.
aimed at, and that we may be drawn into a war, in
support of those very revolutionary opinions against
which we have struggled so long. And this is what the
Whigs desire. The very persons who would have had
us desert Spain and the Portuguese when they resisted
Buonaparte, arc now endeavouring to force us into a
382 LETTERS OF 1823.
war in tlieir behalf. Undoubtedly they hope that it
would end in a revolution at home by the embarrass-
ments which it would produce. In this they are greatly
deceived, for it would restore agricultural prosperity,
and give a new spur to our manufactures. But this
would be dearly purchased. Our policy is to preserve
peace and order wherever our influence extends.
I have written hastily, and may very possibly have
failed to make myself understood. The upshot is this ;
it is a struggle in Spain between two extremes which
are both so bad that one can hardly form a wish on
either side ; and that the one thing to be desired is,
that order should be restored there. If France were an
upright power, her interference would be desirable; —
being what she is, it is to be wished that the Peninsula
were left to itself.
It will be some eight or ten weeks before I see
you. All here are well, and all join in kind remem-
brances to your fireside and circle. God bless you.
Yours affectionately,
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, March 22. 1823.
My dear Grosvenor,
Suppose you were a young lady in the nineteenth
year of your age, very busy in preparing certain remem-
brances to be transmitted by a safe opportunity to her
distant friends, and that some of these remembrances
could not be finished for want of ultramarine, and
that one of your father's oldest and dearest friends,
liolding a high situation in his Majesty's Exchequer,
had promised to send you a cake of this indispensable
1823. KOBEllT SOUTHEY. 383
colour, under cover of an official frank, should not you
think that the whole business of the Exchequer, and all
things connected therewith, might be suspended, while
the said ultramarine was procured ?
Will you send me some vegetable marrow seeds under
the same cover ? and I will promise you that their pro-
duce shall be excellently cooked, when you come and
help me to drink Lightfoot's cider which is now upon
the road.
The Royal Irish Academy sent me the other day an-
other tail to my name, for the benefit of my next title-
page ; I am glad this was done after my Irish ode was
written, and before it has appeared in the world.
I have to-day received the proofs of my paper upon
the Theophilanthropists in France and the Rise and
Progress of Infidelity, and, of course, seen it for the
first time as a whole. What opinion may be formed of
it, I cannot foresee; but that with regard to individuals
it will do some of the good which was intended, I do
not doubt ; and, upon this first consecutive perusal, I am
glad that I have written it.
Gifford has not written to me since his recovery. It
is possible that he may not be in good humour with me
for endeavouring to procure a successor for him, though
it was in consequence of his expressing to me the neces-
sity of looking out for one. I certainly wish the journal
were in John Coleridge's hands, both for personal and
public considerations. The good which it might do is
grievously counteracted by the grass inconsistencies
which are now to be found in it, — its cruel and unmanly
injustice on some occasions, and its wretched cowardice
on others. I shall ask him if he will have an article
upon Spain and Portugal, — a question upon which lam
quite willing to take the field against all the Whigs in
the world. Oh, how I could trample upon them !
I mean to ask Murray to print a selection of my
384 LETTERS OF
1823.
papers, with restorations and revisions, in some such
arrangement as Essays, moral and poHtical, which would
fill two volumes ; there are many more of Essays, histo-
rical and ecclesiastical, and lastly critical and miscella-
neous, keeping each collection distinct, not to alarm the
public with too much at once. In this manner he might
put some money in my pocket and in his own. I should
include some papers from the " Annual Review," and
make up some from the "Edinburgh Annual Register."
God bless you,
R. S.
To John Rickman, Esq,, ^-c.
Keswick, March 25. 1823.
My dear Rickman,
I am trying my hand at some Inscriptions, more
vieo, in blank verse, one in honour of the Caledonian
Canal, and another of the Engineer. I shall try at a
third about the Highland Roads, though not in rivalry
of General Wade's ! You shall soon have them.
To-day I have heard of a remedy for the hooping
cough, practised at this time in this town : it is to pass
the child three times under the belly of an ass !
Can you send me the Agricultural and Commercial
Reports of last year? Gilford would have had me write
upon these subjects, but I did not think myself compe-
tent to it. The present distress is, I suppose, like other
cries of the same kind : one set of men are losing while
others gain in a like proportion ; and the loss happens
now to fall upon the most querulous and most powerful
part of the community ; more selfish than the commer-
cial interest they are not, but certainly nothing could
exceed the selfishness which they manifested in more
instances than one during the war.
1823. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 385
I have not heard from Wynn since he has been on
his bed of roses ; but I dare say he thinks not quite so
favourably of Grey Bennct's intentions and disposition
as he used to do.
The French Government, 1 hear, thinks itself
strengthened by these eruptions of disaffection. I
should think so too, if the adjoining states were tranquil
and contented. It is, however, a great point to have a
Ministry in France who are decidedly Royalists.
Do you remember the little man of the Irish Com-
missariat, who called upon me on behalf of certain cast-
off cavalry horses ? He dined with me last week, having
been turned off after six-and-twenty years' service. We
have had many humbugs in our days, but none so cruel
in its operation as this humbug of economy.
God bless you,
R. S.
P.S. If Mrs. R. has not seen a little volume of poems
called the ** Widow's Tale," I recomm.end it to her. It
comes from the New Forest ; the authoress is a Miss
Bowles, of Buckland, near Lymington.
To the Rev. Neville White, ^-c.
Keswick, April 18. 1823.
My dear Neville,
I did hope that I should have been on my travels
at this time ; but it is with me in most of my writings
as with one who builds a house, and finds when he is
in the middle of it that the cost thereof will exceed the
estimate twofold. My work grows under my hands ;
and whether it be the natural effect of increasing years,
or arises from any cause to which it might be more
agreeable to impute it, certain it is that I compose
VOL. III. C C
386 LETTERS OP 1823.
inuch more slowly than I was wont to when younger.
I shall not be able to leave home in less than a month
from this time ; and if it be equally convenient to you,
it will, I think, be rather more so to me, if I take
Norwich on my way home, in the middle of July.
This has been a severe season, and you are in the
coldest part of England. Next winter let me recom-
mend to you what I have used myself for many years —
a sleeved waistcoat of washing-leather. I believe no
other mode of clothing will protect the chest so well.
As soon as the cold weather sets in I take to it; and I
laid it aside for this year only last week.
My brother, the Captain, is on his way to Canada, to
form a judgment upon the spot, upon the expediency of
transplanting his family thither, in the spring of next
year, to a grant of lands. He departed on Wednesday
last. This business has occupied much of my time, and
will long continue to occupy too much of my thoughts.
Our climate is, in some respects, better than yours.
We have had three weeks of delightful weather, though
with easterly winds. The last two days there have
been slight rains, and to-day there is snow on the
mountains. From London I hear complaints of the cold,
and the want of sunshine.
You will see a paper of mine upon the Rise and
Progress of Infidelity, in the next " Q,. R." When
the new edition of " Baxter " is completed, I mean to
take that opportunity of drawing up an account of his
life. At present I am busy with "Cranmer" and his
fellow worthies. The Roman Catholics will not like
my book ; nor will it be more agreeable to the Dis-
senters. The chapter which is likely to produce most
impression will be that relating to the destruction of
the Church establishment during the great rebellion.
God bless you, my dear Neville,
Yours affectionately,
Robert Southey.
1823. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 387
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, ^c.
Keswick, April 27. 1823.
The principle of emulation is carried much too far in
modern education. Many men are absolutely killed by
it at the Universities ; and many more injure their con-
stitutions irreparably. No one with whom I have any
influence shall ever suffer from that cause. The habit
to be encouraged is that of placid diligence. What is
thus healthily acquired is retained, whereas the cram-
ming system hurts the digestion. My chief reason for
wishing that Edward may be elected to Oxford, is be-
cause they cram there less than at Cambridge.
I am not surprised at my aunt's determination con-
cerning Errol. Indeed, I rather expected it ; and yet,
as the thing would (I have no doubt) have been in my
power, it seemed proper to mention it.
It is well for us that in youth we do not see the
objections which exist to every profession in life ; if we
did, life might be at an end before we could venture to
make the choice. Edward's, I hope, will be made for the
Church. He will take a little Hebrew with him from
Westminster ; little enough, but still a foundation. I
shall advise him before he leaves school to master the
German grammai', which ten minutes a day would en-
able him to do. No person knows better than I do
what small gains amount to, in accumulations of this
kind. This language is of main importance in most
literary researches.
You will not wonder (knowing how prone, in Persian
phrase, my *' peri of the steed is to expatiate on the plain
of prolixity"*) that the Book of the Church is swelling
* The expression is from the " Bahar Daiiush, or Garden of
Knowledge," vol. i. p. 88. " Had exercised the steed of narriftion
c c 2
388 LETTERS OP 1823.
into two ordinary sized octavos. The fact is, that I
intended to deal in generals, but found as I went on
that it was the particulars which must give life and
effect to the composition. As far as it has gone I am
well satisfied with it. A view of the Papal system is
just printed, which is likely to produce a proper effect.
I do not quite see my way in the last chapter, but it
will open before me when I arrive at it. I think of
dedicating it to the Bishop of London.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Walter Savage Landor, Esq.
Keswick, May 8. 1823.
My dear Landor,
Your letter arrived this day, and yesterday I
received and answered one from Julius Harej-, concern-
ing your " Dialogues." The purport of his was to say
that Taylor (a man, I believe, very superior to most of
his trade,) demurred upon grounds of principle to cer-
tain passages, and had, after some previous correspond-
ence with him, proposed that I or Wordsworth should
see the proofs, and if we approved of what he con-
demned, he would be bound by our decision. Words-
worth is gone to the Netherlands, and I replied without
hesitation that I would most willingly take upon myself
this responsibility, and act for you in this matter as you
on the course of prolixity;" and p. 109.: "Further, the light-
footed steed of the peri has not found permission to proceed on the
plain of prolixity."
I I wrote to Archdeacon Hare after his last attack to ask if he
had any letters of Southey's. He was too weak to write, but Mrs.
Hare wrote for him, and said there were none. The letter alluded
to above is in my hands.
1823. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 389
would act by me ; taking care that wherever there was
an omission the place should be marked.
Longman was desired in December to send you my
own and Wordsworth's books, and " Humboldt's Tra-
vels." He has never told me by what vessel they were
sent, which he ought to have done, but they should
have reached you long ere this.
I long to see these " Dialogues." Upon the question
of Catholicism we shall entirely agree. There is a
chapter upon the subject in my forthcoming " Review
of our Ecclesiastical History ;" and whatever effect we
may produce upon those who are more than moderately
inclined to this base and grovelling superstition (as you
say Mr. Hare is), 1 think we shcill produce some upon
those who at present are less than moderately acquainted
with its real character. Yet I regret some of its parts.
Your specimen is delightful. Julius Hare, indeed,
speaks of the whole just in such terms as I should ex-
pect it to deserve. Upon one great question, that of
the improvement of nations through their governments,
I think that were I in Italy I should approach nearer to
you, and were you in England, or in America, you
would draw nearer to me. The struggle at present is
between two extremes, both so bad, that if a wish of
mine could incline the beam, I should not know in
which scale to cast it.
My first volume is wormwood to the Foxites, and not
more palatable to the worshippers of Mr. Pitt. I think
there is not one feeling expressed in it with whicli you
will not concur. The single opinion in which you are
likely to dissent from me is one which is derived from
observation, — in opposition to my wishes, — that old
despotisms can better be modified by a single will than
by a popular assembly ; and that in such countries as
Spain and Portugal, a despotic minister (like Pombal),
acting in conformity with the spirit of the age, is the
c c 3
390 LETTERS OF 1823.
reformer to be wished for. I would have governments
reformed, as Cranmer would in all points, and did in
most, reform the Church of England. But, let indi-
viduals and communities err as they may, it is apparent
that upon the great scale mankind are improving. But
this, too, may appear differently in Italy from what it
does in England.
I am glad to hear of your children. Till we become
parents we know not the treasures of our own nature,
and what we then discover may make us believe that
there are yet latent affections and faculties which another
state of existence may develop. My boy is now be-
ginning his fifth year, and is, thank God, flourishing
and promising as I could wish. My eldest daughter is
a young woman, taller than her mother. Time has set
his mark upon me, but lays his hand gently ; as yet he
has taken nothing from me but the inclination for writing
poetry, and threatens nothing at present but my grind-
ers, which he is attacking by regular approach, sapping
and mining. Last summer I was severely shaken by
an annual catarrh, which for many years has taken up
its quarters with me for the whole summer, and last year
effected a lodgement in my chest. Since it departed I
have used more exercise and a more generous diet, and
have kept in better condition during the winter than for
the last seven years.
My " Colloquies" have long been stationary. Yours
will give them a fillip. As far as they have proceeded
I am well pleased with them. My " Book of the Church "
will be published in about ten weeks, — perhaps in time
to be forwarded to you with your own book.
God bless you.
ii. S.
1823. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 391
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, May 11. 1823.
My dear Grosvenor,
I have been so eagerly at work since the seeds
arrived, that I did not even allow myself time to thank
you for them, though the act of writing to you is
always a sort of relaxation and refreshment. With re-
gard to these said quasheys (which, I believe, is their
name, — first cousins to the squash pumpkin), the best
way of dressing them is to stew them in cream. Young
cucumbers might be as good, but cucumbers are not so
easily raised. This gourd is raised with less trouble,
and produces much more abundantly than any other
culinary plant. One plant which we raised from your
last year's seeds produced a gourd which exceeded in
bitterness anything I ever tasted ; insomuch that I con-
cluded it at once to be the very identical fruit of
Zaccoum's bitter tree*, to eat of which, according to the
Mohammedans, is part of the punishment of the damned.
It is frightful to think of what I have to do before I
can start for London ! But I am in deep water, and
must swim for it. My *' Book of the Church" was in-
tended to be one duodecimo volume, — it will be two
octavos. I send off by this post the third sheet of the
second volume, and am 50 pages a-head of the printer,
six of my pages making one printed sheet. But I have
yet 100 pages to write — vce mihi! I should tliink
nothing of this, if I did not wish to be in town at this
* See Note from the " Koran" on the lines of Thalaba . —
" Belike he shall exchange to day
Ilis dainty Paradise,
For other dwelling, and its cups of joy
For the unallayable bitterness
Of Zaccoum's fruit accurst."
Book vii. 16., One Vol. Edit. p. 271.
c c 4
392 LETTERS OF 1823.
time, and were not in danger of wanting the produce
before it arises. The book, nevertheless, is a good ticket
in the wheel, — much more likely, I think, to produce
permanent profit than any which I have yet sent into
the world. If I were a clergyman, most certainly it
would make my fortune.
What do you think my daughter says? — that she
will wear in a brooch that relic of poor Snivel which I
have religiously preserved (now thirty years * ) ! — if
you or I will give her a very handsome one to wear it
in ; and she consents that on the inner side of the
brooch, locket, or shrine there be this inscription — Oh
RARE Snivel ! I have a lock of your hair which is of
the same date.
I have two barrels of cider in my cellar, and one of
strong beer, — thanks to Lightfoot and John May.
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Right Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, M.P.
Keswick, June 1. 1823.
My dear Wynn,
I thought to have seen you ere this, and now
begin to fear that when I reach London you may have
taken wing for Wales, if Mrs. Company can spare her
husband.
The turn of affairs in Spain would have pleased me
better had it been under a better man than O'Donnell.
If, however, it gives the French an excuse for marching
back again, Europe will have reason to be thankful.
As for the restoration of order in Spain, I see no pros-
* As I write this, poor Snivel's hair is before mejVrapped up in
the same identical piece of paper!
1823. ROBERT SOUTnEY. 393
pect of it. The habits of obedience and industry are
destroyed. Tliere must be a strong and settled govern-
ment before they can be restored ; and where is that
government to find revenues for its support? The
French invasion has done some good by giving the
opposition so happy an opportunity of exposing them-
selves.
I have got the nevi^ edition of Burnet, at your'sugges-
tion. The book pleases me less than it did when 1
first read it some ten or twelve years ago. I know not
whether it has been noticed that when Queen Mai'y
was thought to be pregnant, there was just the same
readiness and disposition to believe that a suppositious
child would be palmed upon the nation, as prevailed
at the birth of James's unhappy son. It struck me
forcibly in reading old John Fox (with whom I have
been busy of late), and I think something to the same
purport is in Holinshed also.
If a new museum is to be built, or a building for the
King's library, pray use your influence that it may be
made fireproof. A very trifling additional expense will
effect this.
I am sorry Reginald Heber accepted your bishop-
ric. So I dare say are all his friends ; and probably he
was in some degree influenced by feeling that he made
a sacrifice of his inclinations in so doing. I think he is
one of those men who, though altogether fit for the
situation, might yet have been more usefully employed
at home. There is an account of the first transactions
of the Portuguese in India, in one of the native lan-
guages, which I wish he could persuade somebody to
translate, in the "Asiatic Researches." The MSS., if
I remember rightly, are in possession of the missionaries
at Serampore. God bless you.
R. S.
P.S. Your godson, thank God, goes on well. I am
394 LETTERS OF 1823.
fighting against my annual catarrh, according to my
brother Henry's prescriptions. But the Doctor is too
far from his patient.
To the Right Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, M. P.
Keswick, June 17. 1823,
My dear Wynn,
********
It was of " Burnet's Own Times " that I spoke.
A most entertaining book it is, and undoubtedly a very
valuable one; but its value consists altogether in the
materials, which are sometimes somewhat the worse for
the workmanship.
Have you seen Sharon Turner's third volume ? The
York and Lancaster period is given better than by any
other author, — very much so. But he has hurried over
Henry the Seventh's reign.
I find in Strada that Leicester engaged to turn
Catholic, and bring over the kingdom if the Spanish
Court would further his design of marrying Elizabeth.
The letters of the Spanish ambassador, communicating
this to his government, were in Strada's hands.
The wisest thing which the Royalist Government in
Spain could do would be, to restore the Cortes accord-
ing to its ancient form. With this shadow of liberty
appearances might be saved, and an able ministry might
prepare the nation for substantial freedom, of which
they arc at this time incapable. In Portugal I know it
was not the absolute government which disgusted the
better order of men, and made their hearts revolt, but
the odious and scandalous perversion of justice, which
made every petty magistrate a tyrant. The fair adminis-
tration of the Iciws (which in the main were good) and
1823. ROBEllT SOUTHEY. 395
a Habeas Corjms Act would have remedied half the
evils in Portugal. Concerning Spain I cannot speak
with the same knowledge, but I believe that in this re-
spect what is true of the one country will for the most
part apply to the other. But supposing that wise admi-
nistrations could be formed in both countries (and what
a hopeless expectation is this !) where are they to find
revenues ? and how to be supported till national tran-
quillity, and with it industry and prosperity, can be
restored ? God bless you.
R. S.
To John Hickman, Esq., §'c.
Keswick, June 29. 1823.
My dear R.,
I am very much gratified at finding that the
inscriptions have pleased you, and am not a little sur-
prised, as well as pleased, by your intention of com-
mitting them to the lapidary.
My error was not in supposing Telford to have been
a Highlander (for I knew he was a townsman of
Mickle's, and of Sir J. Malcolm, as well as Pasley ; I
did not know that Herries was a Scotchman), but
in applying to Scotland in general the application
(which has often been given it) of the land of hills,
when in that situation the words should seem to denote
the Highlands, I have altered it thus: —
" Thus bylier son
Ennobled and enriched, in grateful pride
Scotland enrolls among her heritors
Of earthly immortality his name."*
The additional matter which you have suggested
* This was altered afterwards. See " Inscriptions for the Cale-
donian Canal," Poems, p. 181., One Vol. Edit.
396 LETTEliS OF
1823.
cannot be embodied in the other inscription, because
every sentence grows out of that which preceded it, and
there is no place where I could fit it in without a solu-
tion of continuity. This is my present opinion, after
having taken counsel with my pillow, and looked wist-
fully at the subject since. If it appears in the same
light to me to-morrow, I will j)lant what I cannot suc-
ceed in inserting as a graft, and make a third inscrip-
tion, noticing the principal features of the work, the
time and cost therein employed (if I can manage the
subject), and the civilising tendency of the labour as
contrasted with similar works in ancient times when
performed by slaves or prisoners. The position may
very fitly be designated by help of Glengarry, as you
suggest, and the two inscriptions be placed on the same
monument vis-a-vis, after the Irish fashion ; or the
former be transferred to Clachnacharry, as the mouth of
the glen on that side. God bless you.
To John Richnan,Esq., ^c.
Keswick, July 5. 1823.
My dear R.,
The inclosed inscription is but too long without
noticing any localities ; nor are they needful, as its
place on the summit level is sufiiciently designated. I
have mentioned the number of locks, the aqueducts,
culverts, inlets, and overfalls; the deepening of Loch
Orch, the ejectment served upon the rivers, and the
great difficulty at the eastern sea lock; these, I think,
are all the principal features and works, except the
raising the level of Loch Lochy. Inlet is the word I
have used, because I observe it in the reports ; other-
182.'5. ROBERT SOUTHET. 397
wise I think intake rather to be preferred, as more
peculiar, and bearing-, in its honest Dutch form of com-
position, a good ftimily reference to overfall. But do
you point out anything either for alteration, omission,
or insertion, and I will spare no pains in the correction.
I perceive that the words "mighty work" have found
their way into all three inscriptions. In the Banavie
one, therefore, it is altered to great attempt ; and
because of that alteration, in the line but one above,
instead of the name of the great Architect, I have sub-
stituted " The Architect's immortal name." But find
you fault wherever you can, and I also will very watch-
fully examine and amend.
If you stumble at the word "gyre" it is an autho-
rised word, and a Scotchman has no right to know that
it is not in common use in England. The main reason
for preferring it to " sweep," wliich would express the
meaning sufficiently well (though not so peculiarly), is,
that the word preceding ends with s, and would occasion
too marked a sihilance to be admitted without neces-
sity.
The application of poetry to such subjects as this,
recognised, you know, in the " Triads," is one of its
three utilities. I begun, long since, a series upon the
events of the "Peninsular War" (that is, those in
which our army was concerned), and the British officers
of distinction who fell in them. About half the series
is written, and I shall publish them when the " His-
tory" is completed.
I send you also an *' Ode to the Praise and Glory of
Scotland," for the sake of the sixth stanza. It needs
some further amendment before it sees the light. There
is a companion to it concerning Ireland, which contains
some wholesome truth ; but it ends lamely, because a
just foresight prevented me from winding it up with
any vaticination in praise of Marquis Wellesley.
398 LETTERS OF 1823,
My brother Henry's appointment is owing to Sir
William Knighton. They were intimate at Edinburgh.
He is now in the fair w^ay to fortune.
Does Peel know what he is doing in admitting the
Catholics to vote ? That whenever the scale is doubtful
here in the North, they will turn it in favour of the
oppo ? That in England they have increased sevenfold
in the last thirty years, being at this time more nume-
rous than the Methodists ? and that in the General
Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, their rapid increase
in the Highlands has been represented as the most im-
minent evil ? God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, Sfc.
Keswick, Aug. 19. 1823.
By this night's post I send Murray the first part of
an article upon Charles the Second's reign, for which the
new edition of Burnet gives occasion. The Portuguese
ambassador's relation supplies me with some curious
facts; and without entering into any detail, but treating
merely upon the changes in society which were going
on during that reign, the subject would afford matter
for three or four papers. You have added a drawing to
a strange account of an aerostatic machine in one of the
volumes of the " Papeis Politicos." I have found an
earlier account of the same kind, equally strange, in
Sylvius's continuation of Aitzema's " History." both
which I shall here bring forward. It is curious to ob-
serve how long men play with discoveries before they
perceive how to apply them !
In a fortnight I sliall have finished this Paper, and
a month more will finish my Ecclesiastical Subject ;
1823. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 399
my ways and means will then, I trust, be pretty well
provided for for some time to come, and I shall set forth
for London, bringing Edith May with me. She has
often been ailing this season, and is, I think, just in that
state of health in which good medical advice is likely to
be useful.
Landor tells me he has sent me a box of books,
about seventy volumes of all sorts, mostly very old ones.
I have desired Longman to look out for them at the Cus-
tom Plouse. The collection is a very curious one, and
heartily glad shall I be to see it arrive. He is living at
Florence, and urges me to visit him there, which I will
gladly do whenever I can afford time and means for
passing a winter in Italy. And this, I dare say, I shall
one day be able to accomplish.
I must endeavour to see if some of the Doctor's Por-
tuguese friends can procure the sermons of Padre Anto-
nio das Chagas. He was a man of extraordinary character
as well as great abilities, and I am sure that much will
be found there relating to the manners of his age. When
may we expect news of the Catalan history ? I should
be very impatient for it, and not a little provoked with
Murray, if I had not plenty of employment during the
delay.
Little by little I am getting an insight into the Teu-
tonic language, chiefly for the purpose of reading the
old German romances, and the poems of the Minne-
singers, and tracing their connection with the early
poetry of this country. I therefore take half an hour
of the " Saxon Chronicle " every night. Li all studies of
this kind a pupil or fellow student is the best teacher.
However, I find that I can get on alone, though neither
so fast nor so pleasantly. Edward should help me if
he was near enough. When he can command his hours
of leisure, I shall earnestly wish him to take up the
German grammar, and ground himself in that language.
400 LETTERS OP
1823.
after which the acquirement of any other will be mere
amusement to him. Nothing could be so gratifying to
me as to think that he would profit as much by my
collections as I have done, and am doing, by yours.
Love to my aunt and the children. God bless you.
R. S.
To John Rickman, Esq., Sfc,
Keswick, Sept 9. 1821.
My dear R.,
Among the many reasons which concurred in
delaying my reply to your last, the most important was,
that I had an opportunity of showing Wordsworth the
inscriptions.
You will see that I have made all the alterations
which you suggested. Menai certainly sounds better
than Menai. What the Welch pronunciation is I know
not. Gowalchmai * is strongly aspirated upon the X.
The inscription is improved by curtaihng it. The same
good effect is produced in the first by striking out the
lines to which you object concerning *' The Parent's glad
Return." With regard to the cry against expenditure,
I more than doubted whether the lines were properly
introduced there, and have therefore altered the passage.
It will be time enough, however, to send you the two
others in their corrected form hereafter. Glede is in
common use with us, and certainly a preferable word to
kite. Ger-falcon I take to be derived from the Arabic,
through the Spanish and Portuguese Glrafalte.
I am reading the '•' Saxon Chronicle." The poems
incorporated in it are much more difficult than the
prose ; but I must have more insight into the language
* " The old Gowalchmai's not degenerate child."
Mai>oc in Wales, &c., The Gorsedd. One Vol. Ed. p. 341.
1823. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 401
before I can explain the cause. When I shall have
finished this, I mean to begin upon the " Gothic Gos-
pels," and then to the " Edda." I shall then be able
to see what there is in the Minnesingers and the old
German metrical romances; and then I shall need no
further preparation for beginning the *' History of
English Manners and Literature," subjects which, I
think, may well be combined, because it is chiefly in the
latter that the former are preserved.
There is a rumour that Mr. Telford will be in this
part to plan the road across Alston Moor. If you have
an opportunity, pray tell him that I shall certainly not
be absent a single night from home till the beginning
of November. Last year I missed him, by accepting
an invitation to meet Mr. Canning ; and the vexation
which this gave me made me, I believe, less unwilling to
decline a similar invitation last week.
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Neville White, ^»c.
Keswick, Sept, 11. 1823.
My dear Neville,
I am very glad that the desire of introducing a
young officer to you puts an end to all reasons for
longer delaying a letter. Mr. Charles Malet, by whom
this will be delivered to you, is brother to Sir Alex-
ander Malet. His father, the late Sir Charles Malet,
was many years resident at Poonah, the Mahratta court,
at a time when the Mahrattas were the most formidable
power in Lidia. He was also uncle to General Peachey's
first wife, a woman for whom I had the highest esteem
and regard.* Her two sisters (old friends of mine) are
* " I thought of her whom I had so often seen plying her little
skiff upon that glassy water — the Lady of the Lake. It was like
VOL. III. D D
402 LETTERS OF 1823.
now inhabiting the Island with Lady Malet, the General
having lent it them for this season. And the young
officer (I have neglected to ask whether he be ensign
or lieutenant) having been removed from Ipswich to
Norwich, Lady Malet, who is a most estimable person,
is very thankful for so good an introduction as this
which I have offered for her son.
Now for my movements. Instead of seeing you in
the spring or summer, it will be in mid- winter. I set
out at the end of October with my daughter, Edith ;
and my intention is to make my western visits first, and
then escort her to your hospitable roof; making some
two days' halt at Cambridge on the way, and with
Clarkson (near Ipswich) on the way back. This will
hardly be before January has begun, at the latter end
of your Christmas festivities. My book of the Church
will precede me. I am now set-to to complete it, hav-
ing laid it aside for some time in order to be ready
with a paper for the next " Review."
You would recognise me in the last number, on the
growth of Infidelity, where, as usual, I have to com-
plain of injurious curtailments. When I see Murray,
I mean to make some arrangements with him for pub-
lishing a selection of my papers in a separate form ; and
then I shall restore what has been struck out (where it
can be recovered), and in other respects improve them.
The paper which I have just finished is on the reign of
Charles II., — the new edition of " Burnet's own Times "
giving occasion for it.
A singular and interesting person called on me about
a poet's dream, or a vision of romance to behold her, .... and
like a vision or a dream she has departed !
" O gentle Emma, o'er a lovelier form
Than thine, earth never closed ; nor e'er did Heaven
Receive a purer spirit from the world !"
Progress and Prospects of Society^ vol. i. p. 239.
1823. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 403
ten days ago, and told me that he had had some ac-
quaintance with you in the way of business formerly, —
Mr. Morrison of Fore Street.* He was bound to New
Lanark, with the intention of vesting 5000/. in the pro-
posed experiment of an Owenite Quadrangle, if what
he sees at Owen's own establishment should confirm
him in his present opinion of the scheme. I was ex-
ceedingly pleased with him. He talked to me about
the Free-thinking Christians, with whom Cokes, Thomp-
son, and Fearon are the chiefs of the synagogue. With
these persons he appeared to be intimate, and very
much to admire the society, on account of the strict
discipline which they observe, and the strict regularity
of conduct which they require from their members. A
clerk (Dillon by name) in whom he has great con-
fidence, is one of their preachers, or lecturers, and the
principal defender of their faith in their magazine. I
found, however, that Morrison was far from being satis-
fied with their creed. We had a good deal of conver-
sation on the subject ; and he took down from me the
title of some books which may assist the better ten-
dency of his own mind at this time. His place of
residence is Balham Hill, where I shall nrobably see
him, being within an easy walk of my uncle's house at
Streatham.
Hughes the traveller was here with his bride, early
in the season ; and Professor Sedgewick is now ham-
mering away in the heart of Skiddaw. We are now
enjoying fine weather, which is the. more delightful
after the long reign of St. Swithin. On Monday last
we had a grand party upon Causey Pike, the ascent of
which you will remember. We were thirteen persons
on the summit, and we dined by the side of the stream
below, where Mrs. Southey with Mrs. Coleridge and two
* Query. — Is tills the Mr. Morrison referred to in Raikes's
Journal ? vol. i. p. 11.
D D 2
404 LETTERS OF 1823.
Other ladies, who were not equal to the task of climbing
the mountain, waited for us. Cuthbert remained below
with his mother ; the other young ones scaled the height
like goats. To-day we have a lake party, and my
daughter, Edith, has cut out more expeditions for me,
against which I must not rebel, for if they impede my
pursuits they are conducive to my health.
There is a lady of our party to-day who has published
two volumes of poetry, which, if Mrs. White and your
sisters have not read, I would recommend to their
perusal. " Ellen Fitzarthur " is the title of one, " The
Widow's Tale " of the other. There is nothing in them
but what is good and beautiful. Miss Bowles has not
put her name to either. She is in very delicate health,
but, I hope, is deriving benefit from this wholesome air.
Remember us most kindly to all your circle, and tell
me how transplantation agrees with your excellent
mother. Your young ones, I hope, continue to thrive ;
I shall have great pleasure in seeing them. My little
Cuthbert is as happy as health, fine weather, and the
thoughts of making a fire for dinner by the side of the
lake can make him. God bless you, my dear Neville.
Yours affectionately,
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, ^c,
Keswick, Sept. 30, 1823.
A Hampshire acquaintance of yours is here, Mr.
Portal, with his wife and daughter. The young lady,
with her father, joined us yesterday in a caravan excur-
sion of one-and-twenty miles ; a caravan it may be called,
for the party consisted of nineteen persons, besides
three attendants, three carts, and five saddle-horses.
We dined on the pass between Buttermere and Borro-
dale, by one of our beautiful mountain-streams. The
1823. KOBEUT SOUTUEY. 405
pass itself always reminds me of a place between Ousera
and Thorn ar, where a large tabular fragment of rock is
shown as the " Mesa dos ladroens,^' onl}' that the moun-
tains here are considerably higher.
Murray sent me the " Q.. R." in a frank on Satur-
day. The reviewal of my first volume has all the out-
ward and visible marks of personal civility with regard
to the criticism at the end. I have not inserted the
whole of any state paper, but have given as much of
tliem as seemed necessary in their own words. The
legends, &c., to which the writer objects, as interrupt-
ing the narration, are introduced always to relieve it,
and as elucidating the character and feeling of the peo-
ple. And as for the arrangement of the Portuguese
insurrection, it only appears defective to him because
he is accustomed to consider Portugal in the lump, and
not to regard its separate provinces as he would do
those of Spain. I do not know who wrote the paper.
The last article is Blanco's ; a very good one it is.
Indeed, the number has none of the usual faults of the
•* Review," except that there is a worthless article upon
the worthless subject of Political Economy. I am
quite in the dark concerning the management of the
•' Review," having heard nothing from Gilford since the
commencement of his illness, except a complimentary
message upon the first part of my reviewal of Burnet,
which came with the proof sheets.
I must get another paper ready before I leave home,
for the most cogent of all reasons, and in fact I have
this day made a large stride in it. Dr. Dwight (poor
Humphrey's friend) aflTords me a good subject, and good
materials in his " Travels." The miscellaneous facts
supply matter for the first part of the paper, and his
political opinion and speculation text enough for the
remainder, in which 1 shall at the same time change the
tone of tlie " Review '" concerning America, and intro-
IJ D 3
406 LETTERS OF 1823.
duce some wholesome truths which it behoves both
countries to understand. As this requires no additional
reading, I shall not be long about it ; possibly I may
improve it in the proofs when I reach Streatham, where
I know you have the " Federalist." I shall probably
write the last chapter of the " Book of the Church"
with you, possibly the two last, as there is a strong
motive for not delaying my departure longer than the
first week in next month. Our friends on the Islands,
four in number, will then be journeying to London, and
if Edith May and I join them we shall fill two chaises,
which will be to the convenience of both parties. In
this case we shall travel leisurely, and see sights on our
way, both in the West Riding and in Derbyshire. At
Derby we must part, as, if Sir George Beaumont is at
Coleorton, I must pass a few days with him. The
Beaumonts are now old acquaintances of mine, and
they have known Edith from her earliest childhood.
Sir George has promised me a picture.
Oct. 10.
At length GifFord has written to me. He tells me
that he has promised to conduct the " Review," if he
can, to the 60th number, and then he will have done
with it, if he has life and strength to carry it so far.
A curious person spent an evening lately with me. J
He is a Somersetshire man, who, getting engaged as a I
shopman in a retail haberdasher's shop a few years ago, "
struck out a new plan of doing business, by which he
made the annual returns of the concern above a million,
and the profits from 30,000Z. to 40,000/., half ruining
thereby all the old-established houses in that line, com-
pelling them to act upon the same plan. He married
his master's daughter, and, at an age certainly not ex-
ceeding four or five-and-thirty, is at this moment worth
not less than 1 50,000/. The strangest part of the story
is, that he seems to have no love either for business or
1823. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 407
money. He was bred up as a Dissenter, and so became
of course a Radical, and in natural process an unbe-
liever. The success in life has cured him of Radicalism,
and a very inquiring mind has not allowed him to rest
in unbelief, and he is now on his " Pilgrim's Progress,"
having just got free from the Free-thinking Christians,
and in a mood which made him very willing to receive
a few hints from me concerning his journey. When I
have added that he was on his way to Owen, at Lanark,
to look at that establishment, and if he found it such as
Owen reports it, to vest 5,000^. in the projected ex-
periment of the Owenites' community, you will know
as much of this singular man as I do.
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Right Hon. C. W, W. TFynn, M.P.
Keswick, Oct. 31. 1823.
My dear Wynn,
The Portuguese Cortes met in one chamber.
The nobles, the higher clergy, secular and regular, the
judges, certain ministers, the governors of cities and
towns, and such iidalgos as had full power in their own
domains, had seats there. The commons consisted of
two deputies from every corporate town, and were some-
thing fewer than 200. How they were originally chosen
I do not know, whether by the municipal authorities, or
nominated by the immediate lord, as they were latterly
by the government; but certainly there was nothing
like a popular election. The principle of the Portu-
guese constitution is the very reverse of ours. The
power of making laws and imposing taxes is vested in
the King, but the consent of the Cortes is required.
The King is to advise with his counsellors, and the
Cortes to give a popular and legal sanction to the mea-
D D 4
408 LETTERS OF 1823.
sures of government. They have been disused since
the reign of Pedro II. I have a MS. of the proceed-
ings of that which was held in 1698, which was perhaps
the last ; but as yet I have neither had occasion to ascer-
tain this, nor to peruse it.
A minister of Pombal's capacity and courage would
find no other difficulty in setting Portugal to rights than
what the deficiency of revenue must occasion. Nothing
is required but to restore the ancient forms, and give
effect to good laws. The corruption of justice was the
crying evil in that kingdom. If this were remedied,
and the laws regularly enforced, Portugal would have
nothing to apprehend from the revolutionary party. It
was not against the principle of the government that
they revolted, but against the stagnation and putridity;
indeed, no words can be too strong to characterise its
abuses. The one thing which they should borrow from
us is the Habeas Corpus. I know nothing which would
be of so much importance to them. There is neither
public feeling nor sense of private honour to prevent
interference with the course of law. I rather wish than
hope there may be a minister who feels as he ought
upon this subject, and who will endeavour to supply
their place by the fear of punishment. My opinion of
the Portuguese is, that in their civil and their military
character they would be found of all people the most
easy to regenerate ; but there is as much to be done in
every department of the state as there was in the army.
I leave home on Monday next, and if the weather
(contrary to its present appearance) should allow us to
linger on the way, we shall not reach Sir G. Beaumont's
before that day week. With him we shall stay two or
three days, and then make the best of our way to town.
Most probably I shall arrive in Queen Anne Street on
the 15th.
Doyle has written to offer me papers which will be
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 409
very useful. My best information concerning the pro-
ceedings in Catalonia and Avagon, in the early part of
1809, have been derived from his correspondence with
Frere. I shall be glad if an opportunity offers of seeing
the Duke of Wellington partly for this reason, that the
want of any direct communication from him has been on
one occasion a disadvantage to me. Lord Frederick Ben-
tinck volunteered to procure papers for me from Lord
Hill, and Lord Hill refused upon the ground that he
had not the example of the Duke to make him feel
warranted in imparting them. God bless you.
R. S.
P.S. The Bishop of Limerick has invited me to visit
him. I shall wait till the next rebellion is over.
To the Rev. Neville White, Sfc.
Keswick, Feb. 19. 1824.
My dear Neville,
Here I am, once more at my desk, by my own
fire-side. My movements were all punctually performed,
as they had been pre-planned. I reached home on Sun-
day morning, without impediment or mishap of any
kind, and, thank God, found all well. Some little time
is required before I can fairly get into joint again, after
so complete a dislocation ; and I bring buck with me a
formidable accumulation of letters, which followed and
found me withersoever I went, and which it was not
possible for me to answer during so hurried a mode of
life.
I spoke about the piracy to Longman and Rees.
They argued the point like two lawyers; the former
taking my view of the question, the latter holding an
opinion that the rascals may shelter themselves under
410 LETTERS OF 1824.
the letter of the law. They promised to consult Tur-
nei", and do everything which could be done. I saw
Turner also, and told him in what manner I considered
the case. The matter will now be properly investi-
gated, — whether justly determined is another thing. It
sets upon the wording of the act ; and if words in law
will bear an acceptation by which villany can be covered,
and rogues escape punishment, that interpretation is the
one which the craft will give it, as if one of the main
uses of the law were to defeat justice.
They would have Doctored me at Cambridge if I
would have waited another day for it; but my engage-
ments were made in London, and feathers of this kind
are not worth having when fees are to be paid for
them ; a civil letter of thanks is price enough for them.
We had fine weather there, so that Edith saw the place
to advantage, and delighted with it she was ; though I
must tell you that when we drove into the town she
took St. John's for a prison. On the Thursday we
breakfasted with Tillbrook, and the coach took us up
at Peter House Gate. Charlesworth came to the coach
door at Ipswich as I was stepping into it. I was
pleased with the country about that place, and with
Bury also. By the hasty view I had of it it appeared
to be one of the prettiest country towns in England.
It was a disappointment to me not to see Mr. Sewell
in town, and thank him for his hospitality and kindness.
I wish there was a prospect of my being able to return
them here. You, however, I hope and trust, will re-
member that you have more than half promised to take
a course of mountain exercise and mountain air with
me early in the season, as the likeliest and best means
of recruiting your health, and fairly re-establishing it.
Mrs. Neville has given you leave of absence, and all
you have to do is to provide in time for your churches ;
set about that business without delay, and set off for
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 411
Keswick as soon as possible after the leaves begin to
open. You cannot fix a better time for your departure
than May-day. I am very confident that the air here,
and the continuous exercise, will be of more service to
you than any regimen or any remedies which could be
prescribed.
And now I must thank you and Mrs. Neville, and
Mr. and Mrs. Sewell, and your excellent mother and
sisters also, for the truly kind and gratifying reception
which you gave us at Norwich. Short and seldom as
such meetings are, they are nevertheless sunny spots in
life ; and henceforth, when I make one of my expedi-
tions to the south, I shall look upon it as part of my
business to strike eastward on the way. You are, and you
have deserved to be, a happy man, Neville. Only attend
to your health, to which nothing can be so injurious as
sitting and studying too much. You must resume, as
far as possible, those active habits to which you were
accustomed, or supply their place as you can by some
gymnastic exercises within doors, when it is not con-
venient to ride or walk. Come to me, and I will en-
deavour to put you in good condition.
My book appeared to be going ow, that is to say,
going off, well when I left town. I take my chance
for the profits, which appears to me more advisable
than it would have been to accept Murray's offer of
700 guineas for the copyright ; for if the work should
obtain a regular sale as a portion of English history,
containing what is nowhere else to. be found in one
succinct and continuous view, it may become a valuable
property. I proceed now with the " Peninsular War,"
and with the " Tale of Paraguay." The latter will now
be my main object till it is completed.
Remember me most kindly to all your circle, not
forgetting Miss Lingani, whose gentle and winning
countenance I remember with much pleasure, and my
412 LETTEKS OF 1824.
country woman, Miss Edmunds, herself a fair proof that
good things come from Somersetshire. I may send
Cuthbert's love to Mary- Anne, if she will not accept my
own, though, perhaps, she likes me better now I am at
a distance. Let me hear of you and yours. My god-
son, 1 hope, continues to go on well.
1 liad almost forgotten to tell you that Tillbrook will
secure a sizarship for Ebenezer Elliott at Peter House,
and do for him whatever else may be in his power. The
father is apprised of this, and I expect daily to hear
from him respecting the plan to be adopted till the
youth is qualified for college. God bless you, my
dear Neville.
Yours most affectionately,
Robert Southey.
To Edith May Southey,
Keswick, March 12. 1824.
My Dear E. May,
/ avi to give notice,
That the packages arrived on Tuesday last, and that the
tunic and trowsers produced a most extraordinary meta-
morphosis in Cuthbert. He declared that he must now
leave off all his childish ways. He kept his hands in
his pockets, as if that were the main purpose for which
hands were intended ; and having, unawares, given me a
kiss after tea, lie recollected himself, reddened to think
of the impropriety into which he had been betrayed,
and exclaimed, in a quick tone, half anger, half mortifi-
cation, " Oh, but I've left off kissing ! " For your com-
fort, however, I may assure you that the tunic and
trowsers are quietly put away for high days and holy-
days, and that he no longer insists upon the decorum
belonging to the degree which he has taken in apparel.
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 413
Montgomery's two volumes of " Prose, hy a Poet,"
were left behind. They had been lent to somebody, I
suppose. When they turn up, let them be sent to
Murray's, to come in one of his parcels. I have suc-
ceeded in stowing away the whole of this recent cargo,
and the books from Italy, without having any new
shelves, by converting four duodecimo shelves in the or-
gan-room into three octavo ones, and removing the duo-
decimo books into the passage, where some of the shelves
have been pieced, to make them hold a double row,^
octavos behind, sliorticums in front. Another change
has been, to fill the book-case on the lower landing-
place with bound books, which has very greatly im-
proved its appearance.
I wrote an account of the effect produced upon
Mrs. C. by the unpacking of the horn, in a letter to
Bedford, which you ought to see. You will let us
know when you are low in purse, and I will desire him
to supply you. I will supply you, also, with another
pack of autographs. By the by, if you were to get
yourself a little book, and transcribe into it these brief
extracts, from time to time, as they pass through your
hands, you would find yourself possessed, one of these
days, of a choice collection of sentences and maxims, and
I should have an additional reason for supplying you. *
Your drawing-books are likely to prove as useful as
you wished them to be. All three girls are getting on
well, and Bertha has made a hopeful attempt at co-
louring a butterfly. What shall I do for my wine-
* The advice was not followed, as will appear from the following
words written on the fly-leaf: — "This little book, begun by Edith
May Southey, remained much as it was till May, 1850. It then,
on my wife's birthday, the 1st of May, occurred to me to fill it
up ; and I have done so from my occasional and diversified reading
in difierent languages.'' One of these days it will make good
reading for the rail, in large type.
414 LETTERS OF 1824.
brewer this year ? I am, at this time, drinking your
currant wine, and I assure you, that some bottles,
marked with the ignominious name of puddle, might
have very well passed muster for Champagne. One-
third of the bottle was puddle, but the clear part was
as good as any Champagne I ever tasted ; the main dif-
ference, almost the only distinction, being, that it left
no unpleasant tang behind it.
Your mother, I suppose, has told you all the business
and news of the family. Sara is secretary for triangular*
affairs. The department of nonsense is all that is left
for me, and in that you shall hear from me officially
sometimes. My love to Mrs. Gonne and your aunt,
and my kind remembrances to Lady Malet, Miss C,
and Dame Elizabeth.
God bless you, my dear child,
It. S.
To Dr. H. H. Southey.
Keswick, April 26. 1824.
My dear Harry,
If Westall should deposit at your house a set of
the engravings for " Roderick," which I wish to send to
my Dutch translatress, will you have the goodness to
transmit them to Murray, whom I have intrusted to
pack them up with a copy of the " Book of the Church,"
and despatch the parcel. I had a note from him, the
other day, saying he had put a second edition of that
book to the press. Whether the engravings are pub-
lished 1 do not know.
I am profiting by the communication with Holland.
* This means the Doctor, &c., as may be seen by the diagram
on the front.
1824. ROBEIiT SOUTHEY. 415
A veiy well-informed Mr. Willem de Clercy shows a
great disposition to correspond with me, and answer
my enquiries de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis. Oh,
that I had such a correspondent at Lisbon, or at Madrid !
1 find him, however, very useful, and shall request
Murray forthwith to procure for me some German
works upon the Peninsular War, which he has pointed
out. You would be amused at his letters, which are
written in very odd English ; but I wish 1 could read
Dutch as well.
Bertha is to return to Palace Yard this day ; we have
just heard from her. She has been so unwell in Sussex
as to lie in bed one whole day and great part of the
next, — the effect, I suppose, of too much travelling and
excitement.
In reply to a question, how she liked the South
Downs ? her answer is, *' To tell the truth, I quite de-
spise them, they are just like little molehills." What
airs these young mountaineers give themselves ! When
she is a little older, she will understand that downs are
not to be compared with mountains, and learn to enjoy
any scenery that is really enjoyable, — and there is very
little natural scenery which is not so.*
Having given up all hope of getting Oiivares's " His-
tory of the War in Catalonia," I have to-day set upon
that part of my subject from such materials as I possess,
and the second volume, accordingly, will go to press in
a few days.
What will become of Portugal with such a creature
as D. Miguel for heir-apparent ! He seems very much
to resemble Affonso VI., if there be any truth in such
* It is just as her father predicted I This day, 7th Sept., 1 855,
on leaving West Tarring, as she looked from the Railway Station
on the chequered light and shade on Cissbury, she exclaimed,
" How beautiful are those Downs ! "
416 LETTERS OP 1824.
accounts as get into the newspapers. And his brother
in Brazil is of the same stamp. Did I tell you that one
of this Emperor's amusements is to ride negroes with
spurs? With regard both to the Braganzas and the
Spanish Bourbons, I fear Jupiter has determined to de-
stroy them ; for he has certainly taken away their senses !
A little encouragement would make me think se-
riously of a Book of the State, — tracing the course of
political events with the view of showing their effect
upon the condition and progress of society.
How is Louisa ? how are the children ? My love to
them. I wish you were all here to enjoy this delicious
weather. God bless you.
K/. S.
To the Right Hon, C. W. W. Wynn, M. P.
Keswick, May 8. 1824.
My dear Wynn,
I think you and Reginald Heber saw such of
my Inscriptions as were then written when I was at
Llangedwin. I send you one now which was finished a
few days ago, if finished that may be called which will
probably receive many corrections before it goes abroad.
The subject was Sir Harry Burrard's eldest son, one of
Sir J. Moore's aides-de-camp, whose horse was killed
under him by the General's side when he fell ; and
who, a few minutes afterwards, received his mortal
wound upon the same spot. What I ha%'e said of his
character is, from accounts written of him before his
death, by one of the chaplains (Owen, I think, his name)
to his mother.
There will be from thirty to forty of these Inscrip-
tions, and they will most likely make their appearance
when the " History of the War " is completed, in a
1824. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 417
quarto form to accompany it, for those who may like to
purchase verse as well as prose.
I think you will like the temper in which I have
spoken of America in the last " Q. R." GifFord could
not let it pass without making one offensive alteration.
I had spoken of the state of literature and science as
existing in New England, and he altered the sentence
so as to imply a suspicion that there was none there.
However, it must have gone very much against the grain
with him to insert the paper. The truth is, that he thinks
me too liberal, and Murray thinks me too bigoted.
The middle way, whatever it might have been for Phae-
ton, is not only the most difficult to keep on earth, but
the most dangerous, for you have enemies on both
sides.
I am reviewing " Hayley's Life," to pay my midsum-
mer bills. I have written some forty stanzas in the
" Tale of Paraguay," and have brought myself more into
the run of verse than 1 have been for many years.
My inclination would lead me strongly to think
about a view of our civil history down to the accession
of the House of Hanover, upon such a scale as the
*' Book of the Church," and to follow it with the " Age
of George III.," connecting them by an introductory
sketch of the two intermediate reigns. Had I been
made historiographer, with a becoming salary, I should
have earned my pay. God bless you.
R. S.
To Edith May Southey.
Keswick, May 17. 1824.
My dear E. May,
I have found one ! I have found one ! I did
not think there had been such a thing in the world, but
I have actually found one. Incredible as it may appear,
VOL. III. E E
418 LETTERS OF 1824.
what I am saying is literally and strictly true. You
should have been here to have seen and enjoyed the
discovery. J. wish you had ! and so we all wished —
Kate, and Isabel, and your cousin Sara. And we wished
for Bertha too, for Bertha would have enjoyed it. She
has often heard of it, but how it would have surprised
her to have seen it !
You are by this time dying with impatience to know
all about it: lohat it was? where \t wixs'i when it \\2Lst
how it was? — and you shall hear all. But we must
proceed methodically, lest your pleasure should be spoilt
by an abrupt and hurried disclosure. To do this pro-
perly, that is to say, with judgment, requires some con-
sideration ; and whether to begin with the What, or the
Where, or the When, or the Hoiv, is a matter of critical
difficulty, upon which more depends than any person
can well understand, who has never composed a book.
It has been a received maxim, since the days of
Horace, that an Epic poem should begin in the middle ;
though I deny the maxim, and have not observed it,
believing that the propriety of that rule, like most
others, depends very much upon circumstances. How
to begin, indeed, is the great difficulty in many cases.
In the present, I am inclined to think that postponing
the Quid-&\\\\y, and letting the Qvmnodo-shi^ follow the
C76i-ship (as it naturally would), the matter may best be
introduced by letting that good ship the Quando lead
the way.
When was it, then ? Quando ?
This day, I answer, being Monday, May the 17th,
1824, at ten o'clock in the forenoon. Now for the
whereness. Ubi ? Where was it ? A simple answer
will not suffice here, for this Ubi hath a double relation.
And when, in reply to its first and more general mean-
ing, I tell you it was in the study, the question still
remains to be answered in its second and special bearing.
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 419
1 then say it was in the first volume of the " Monu-
menta Boica."
My dear daughter, you know that book, and yet you
do not know it. I must, therefore, put you in the way
of recollecting it ; for it is necessary to the full enjoy-
ment of any story that you should understand it per-
fectly as you go on ; and I dare say you have felt this
at the opera. You have had the ** Monumenta Boica "
in 3'our hand, and made use of some of the volume ; but
I doubt whether you ever looked at the title-page, to see
what the work was. You may call it to mind, perhaps,
when I tell you where it stands in the library : in the
book-case which is between the windows, on the top
shelf, fourteen volumes of the foreign small quarto size,
— seven standing on one side of the middle division,
and seven on the other. You collected a few minor
monsters from it for the tea-caddy. It would be an
instructive story, were I to tell you how I saw this book
at Verbeyst's, on my first visit to Brussels, and did not
buy it, and repented that 1 had not bouglit it for two
years, till I went to Brussels again, and did what can
very seldom indeed be done, — repaid a fault of omission
by buying it. And I might also explain to you what
the book is, and wherein its value consists, and why I
find it singularly useful, and how many curious things
I have found in it, and am finding. But interesting as
this would be in itself, it would be improper to intro-
duce it here, because you are becoming impatient to
know what it was that I found in this book this morn-
ing; and I know how impertinent anything appears in
a story which is not essential to its progress or deve-
lopment, when curiosity is all agog and a magog, as
yours is at this time. So we will proceed to the How it
was, without any delay, let, liinderancc, impediment,
ambagiosity, circumlocution, or needless, superfluous
and unnecessary roundabout forms of speech; but
& \i 'A
420 LETTERS OF 1824.
plainly and briefly replying to the question, Quo-
mo do ?
As thus : I was showing Cuthbert the pictures in the
first volume, upon which I had been employed before
breakfast, and there I found it.
And now, in due order, comes the quiddity, the cream,
the kernel, the essence or quintessence. What was it?
Q^uid ? Quid Diaholus ?
I defy Diabolus himself to guess.
Something it was of which you have heard your aunt
Coleridge speak ; but which, till this day, I verily
thought had not existed either in Heaven above, nor in
the earth beneath, nor in the waters which are under
the earth.
It was not Moko.
It was not Jilkikker.
It was not Goarum.
It was not a detested Hinder.
But it was, — my dear Edith, guess what it was? I
have not defied you to guess, though I have defied
Diabolus.
" Here it is ! " I exclaimed, and, rising from my chair
with delight, carried it to your mother, who was at the
other end of the room. " Here it is," I cried, "look at
it ! " She did look at it ; she smiled, and she said, " There
it is, indeed! It really is one! Who would have
thought of seeing it ! "
«' Where is Mrs. Coleridge," I exclaimed, " where is
Mrs, Coleridge?" And Cuthbert, seeing how I was
pleased, clapped his little hands for joy.
I opened the door, went into the passage, and said,
" Mrs. Coleridge ? Where is Mrs. Coleridge? "
She was in her own room, and answered hastily,
«* Here I am ! What do you want ? "
I had spoken in a loud voice, that it might be heard
down stairs, or in the saints'* room, if in either place
* One of the down-stairs parlours at Greta Hall was called
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 421
she had happened to be ; but certainly not in a tone of
alarm. Alarmed, nevertheless, she was ; and I, innocent
as I waSj^yea, in this case more than innocent, — de-
serving far other treatment, my whole and sole intent
having been to give pleasure, — I, poor I, innocent,
meritorious, well-meaning I, received a severe repri-
mand for frightening her, and disturbing her nerves.
But I bore it meekly as Job, and more cheerfully.
That I was more cheerful than the man of Uz was
natural ; for he was in a sorrowful condition. But that
I should have been equally meek should be accounted
to my honour. And when you teach your children
(should you have any) that string of scriptural ques-
tions in which it is asked who was the most patient
man ? I think you ought to put that question in the
plural, or rather in the dual form, and teach the little
ones to reply. Job and their grandfather Southey.
Let me, if I can, describe the various expressions
which passed on this memorable occasion over your
aunt's countenance in rapid succession ; so rapid, indeed,
that one came on before the other had departed, and so
they mingled with and modified each other in a man-
ner, unutterable by words (I fear) and unconceivable to
any but those who are well acquainted with the person-
age in question.
First, then, it was an expression of dolorous alarm,
such as Le Brun ought to have painted : but such as
Manning never could have equalled, when, while Mrs.
Lloyd was keeping her room in child-bed, he and
Charles Lamb sate drinking punch in the room below
till three in the morning, — iManning acting Le Brun's
passions (punchified at the time), and Charles Lamb
(punchified also) roaring aloud and swearing, while the
tears ran down his cheeks, that it required more genius
" Paul,"— Peter (above) havuig been robbed to fill the book-
shelves.
E E 3
422 LETTERS OF 1824.
than even Shakspeare possessed to personate them so
well ; Charles Llojd the while (not punchified) praying
and entreating them to go to bed, and not disturb his
wife by the uproar they were making.
But when she perceived by my countenance and man-
ner that no misfortune had befallen, and that her alarm
was altogether groundless and unwarrantable, alarm was
succeeded by a yet more unwarrantable and groundless
anger, and then the expression became that of indig-
nation. Then it was that the eyes lightened and the
tongue thundered, and the cataracts of wrath were
opened upon my devoted head, and I — if I had not
been
" Integer vitae scelei'isque purus — "
how could I have endured the storm ? Strong in my
innocence, I endured it. Under the protection of con-
scious virtue, as of an umbrella, I bore the pelting of
that pitiless storm. And when the first gleam of better
weather appeared in a corner of the countenance, I held
forth the book, and said, *' I have found one ! Here it is !
Look at it!"
The cloud was still hanging on her brow ; there was
yet a lowering and lurid asjoect there, from which an-
other peal of thunder might have proceeded. But im-
patience was now passing into curiosity (an emotion
nearly allied to it), and the corners of the mouth, vvhicli
had been curved downward, gradually drew up into their
proper line. " What is it ? What is it ? " she said. " Let
me see ! " Perhaps that let ought here to be spelt with
a double t, thus — lett, that the emphasis with which
it was uttered might be made visible. Lett me see !
There was an angry as well as a curious impatience in
the quick and hurried pronunciation. But, —
" Last came joy's ecstatic trial."
1324. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 423
AVhcn I told her what it was, the face brightened into
an expression of scornful incredulity, and the corners of
the mouth curved up into an incipient smile, which
ripened into a short, loud, and honest ha-ha laugh, as I
displayed the book, and slie saw that it really was what
I said was there, what she had so often spoken of, and
what she had never expected to see, nor even dreamt of
seeing. Blessed be the herald that emblazoned it !
Blessed be the Counts of Rot in Bavaria who bore it
so many centuries ago ! Little did that herald, little
did those counts think what delight it would one day
occasion at Greta Hall, in the town of Keswick, parish
of Crossthwaite, ward of Allerdale, below Derwent,
county of Cumberland, kingdom of England, and island
of Great Britain. Little did the humble engraver who
engraved the plate, and in his humility did not mark it
with his modest name, — (a name which otherwise
should be recorded here) — little, I say, did he, — little
did the Academy of Sciences at Munich, who published
the book, little did they think that on Monday, the 17th
day of May, 1824, we should here, in this distant part
of the world, discover in it what till then we had always
deemed indiscoverable, — a thing existing only in Mrs.
Coleridge's creative imagination ; and that a young lady
at No. 16. York Place, Baker Street, Portman Square,
London, would be kept on the rack of impatience while
slie read through two whole sheets of letter-paper, in no
easy hand-writing, dying the while with curiosity to
know what it was.
It was then, — it was, yes it was
a L .
But it is a discovery which ought to enter at the eyes
as well as the ears, and therefore you shall see as well as
read what it was, in the enclosed paper, the seal of which
must not be broken, on pain of excommunication (as
E E 4
424
LETTERS OF
1824.
thereon indited), till the letter has been fairly read to
this point.
There you will find a L .
And so farewell,
From your dutiful father,
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, May 24. 1824.
My dear Grosvenor,
What should I do without the exchequer, or
rather, without the auditor thereof, who, of all per-
sonages, whether in rus or in urhe, is the one to whom I
most naturally write nonsense, talk nonsense, and look
for friendly offices ? I pray you, send Edith some
money. She has consignments to send home, and some
outlay to make for Bertha, besides her own expenses,
which (excellent manager and economist as she is) are
of necessity much greater than they would be here.
At present she seems to be heartily enjoying London,
which is made as agreeable to her as midnight parties
and dancing can make it. A little of this is very well ;
but I shall not be sorry when she takes leave of it, and
sets off for the Devonshire coast, to enjoy better air,
1824.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 425
keep better hours, and employ herself in quieter and
wholesomer pleasures. I wish she were coming home,
instead of travelling westward, for she is very much
missed here at all times, and will be still more so when
the marooning season begins — as it would do now,
were she with us. But it is better that she should take
this opportunity of going wherever inclination and oc-
casion lead her, when she is already so far on the way.
I wrote her a letter, the other day, concerning a fa-
vourite simile of Mrs. Coleridge's, which would amuse
you who know the parties. It led me heartily to wish
that you and I could spend a few weeks in absolute
idleness together, that we might write the " Butler's
Travels." What a noble chapter might be made con-
cerning the country in which all the creations of
heraldry are found ! Alas ! I am at this time brim full of
good, genuine, glorious nonsense, worth all the stupid
sense in the world, and worthy of living for ever ; and
behold, the dull employment with which I must drudg-
ingly and doggedly go on is, a reviewal of the " Life of
Hayley ; " in which, however, I have the satisfaction of
treating a gentleman, a scholar, and a generous-hearted
man as he ought to be treated. God bless you.
H. S.
To the Rev. Neville White.
Keswick, May 27. 1824.
My dear Neville,
I had heard from Edith of my little godson's
perilous state, and did not hke to write to you under
the uncertainty concerning him. Precarious as human
life always is, it is peculiarly so in infancy ; but, on the
other hand, recovery from the very brink of the grave
is much more frequent than it is in any other stage of
existence. To hope the best, and to be ready for the
worst, is our duty in this, as, indeed, in all other cases;
426 LETTERS OF
1824.
and it is a duty which you, I am sure, practise as well
as preach. I will hope for good tidings, and shall be
anxious to receive them.
Now to the business part of your letter. But first,
let me thank you for your good-will and exertions in
my brother's behalf, and say that any names which you
may j^rocure may be sent to me.
I should very well like to edit Sir T. Browne's
works, write a biographical introduction, and add such
Omniana notes as my stores may enable me to furnish.
That the speculation will answer to the publishers I am
not so sure as Hudson Gurney seems to be ; and this
you should say to Mr. Wilkin. But the London book-
sellers must be the best judges upon a question of re-
publication. I should be very far from allowing tliis
concerning a new work. As to terms, I had two hun-
dred guineas for editing the *' Morte Arthur," which
was what Longman offered, being the sum they were
to have given a certain person who was originally an-
nounced as editor, but left the book and the booksellers
in the lurch, for the sake of decamping with another
man's wife. So it is plain that in that sum nothing
was allowed for a good name, if mine was not estimated
at a better price than his. With that sum, however, I
should be content, because I do not think the specula-
tion could afford more ; though, if the risk rested with
London publishers, I woidd take all I could get, being
richly entitled so to do from them. When I add, that
I possess the folio edition of 1686 of Sir T.'s works, and
no other, and nothing else of his writings, I shall have
said all which, in this step of the business, it can be
necessary to say.
There is reasonable ground for hoping that a good
deal may be recovered. Tenison speaks of other brief
discourses, and of memorials which had been collected
for writing his life.
One thing, however, must be taken into account in
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 427
the terms. I had nothing to do vvitli correcting the
proofs of the " Morte Arthur; " and this is a matter of
more importance with Sir Thomas Browne, owing to
the peculiarity of his Language, than with any other
prose wiiter. Supposing that Wilkin means to print
the Avork himself, he must get some person who is a
scholar (and an ordinary one will not do) to revise the
sheets. The time which that task would require I can-
not afTord. Should this lead to any transmission of
materials, the Quaker volume may come and be re-
turned with them ; otherwise it may wait till I see
Norwich once more. Express, I pray you, my thanks
to its owner for this civility.
It was a gi'eat disappointment to us not to see you.
I had fully expected you, and wish very, very much
you could still come, persuaded as I am that it would
be greatly to your good.
My paper in the last '^ Q. R." was upon Dr. Dvvight's
*' Travels." There was nothing of mine in the preceding-
number. I am now reviewing " Hayley's Memoirs : "
a poor, insipid book ; but it has made me like the man,
and he deserves to be treated with respect and kindness.
God bless you, my dear Neville,
Yours affectionately,
Robert Southey.
To the Rev. Neville Wliite.
■ Keswick, June 24. 1824.
My dear Neville,
You see I judged rightly concerning the en-
couragement which Mr. Wilkin was likely to find from
the London booksellers. This is a subject on which
they are necessarily the best judges. A second edition
is not to be hoped for in a case like this, nor do I think
there is any reasonable expectation that so large an
edition as 1000 will sell. I advise him not to print
428 LETTERS Oi!'
1824.
more than 750, and tell Inm, further, tliat highly de-
sirable as such a collection is of this author's works, it
would be prudent not to venture more than 500.
The best service I can render him will be to review
the book, which of course is incompatible with editing
it. Edit it I ought not to do, unless I could allow to
the time and care necessary for doing it in a manner
creditable to myself. This I cannot give, and the
speculation cannot afford to purchase. Mr. Wilkin had
better take " Johnson's Life," to which Kippis's account
(if it contains much additional information) may be an-
nexed. Let him then arrange the works chronolo-
gically, with a brief notice affixed to each, when it was
first published, through how many editions it has passed,
and what edition has been follovv^ed in the reprint. And
if he is desirous of reducing the bulk of the work, throw
away all the annotations of other writers, except Sir
Kenelm Digby's remarks. All that remains will be to
take especial care that it be correctly printed, and state,
in a brief and modest preface, the motive for forming the
collection, the pains which have been taken in obtaining
unpublished papers, and the success with which that
search has been attended. The correspondence should
follow the life, if it be at all of a domestic and familiar
character ; but if it relates wholly (as is more likely) to
discursive subjects, such as were the object of his studies,
it had better then be placed at the end of the collection.
A review in the " Quarterly " will be of much greater
advantage to Mr. Wilkin than my name as editor could
be. What I should have written as a life, preface,
or introduction, may just as well be cast into that form.
I lose no time in replying to your letter, that he may
lose none in making his arrangements and beginning the
print. God bless you my dear friend.
Yours affectionately,
R. S.
1824.
ROBERT SOUTUEY. 429
To John May, Esq.
Keswick, June 27. 1824.
My dear Friend,
I had nearly forgotten to answer your question
concerning the hooks which elucidate our Ecclesiastical
History. The two works which profess to embrace
that subject exclusively are Fuller's and Jeremy Col-
lier's. The first will, I hope, be reprinted at the
Clarendon press * ; for, with all its manifold imperfec-
tions, it contains much matter for which no other autho-
rity can now be found, — the records of the Convocation
having been destroyed ; and it has, moreover, all the
inimitable charm of Fuller's manner. Collier is coarse
and clumsy, a bigot on the right side. It was necessary
that I should have both at hand, but you would find
upon investigation that I have drawn my materials
from other sources. Collier's lay open before me, and
Fuller's, 1 believe, only in the reign of James.
For facts relating to the History of the Church the
most curious books are Kennet's " Parochial Antiqui-
ties," and his " Case of Impropriations," H. Wharton's
*' Defence of Pluralities," and Stavely's " History of
Churches. " Bede " and the " Acta Sanctorum " were
my resources for the early history, with " William of
Malmsbury."
To my sorrow I had no original authorities for th
life of Becket, except such as are in the Appendix to
Lord Littleton's *' History." Berrington is the best his-
torian of those times ; indeed, much the fairest of all
the English Romanists in his writings.
We come now to Lewis's " Lives of Wickliffe and of
* It was reprinted at the Clarendon in 1845, in six vols. 8vo., and
the Rev. J. S. Brewer states, in his preface, that " a careful exa-
mination of Fuller's authorities with the statements made in his
narrative has ended in a result favourable to his industry, judg-
ment, and accuracy." — p. iv.
430 LETTERS OF 1824.
Bishop Pecock." I had also Baber's " Life of WickliflTe,"
prefixed to his "New Testament," and Fox's " Martyrs."
Then came the whole series of Strype's laborious
compilations, in which, I believe, nothing has escaped
me ; though in this work I have not made use of the
fiftieth part of my references to them, — Fox, Burnett,
and Dr. Wordsworth's " Ecclesiastical Biography ; "
Rushworth and Nalson (the former, I must observe, is
not known as he deserves to be for a great rogue ; but
he has perfectly convinced me that a writer may deserve
to be punished as severely for his sins of omission as
for direct falsehood); all the Lives of " Laud," Racket's
" Life of Archbishop WilHams," — a much more import-
ant book (in spite of its odd but very amusing style)
than it is generally known to be. A great deal has
been drawn from tracts published during the Civil
Wars, of which I found a rich collection at Lowther;
in short, from all Histories, Memoirs, &c. of all parties
on which I could lay hands. And I need not tell you
that any previous knowledge of monastic history was of
great use.
Everybody has cried out for references. I will give
them, as I find leisure for doing it, in some future
edition ; and I will do so for this reason, that when the
references are given, the reader who is diligent enough
to refer to them may see how faithfully I have repre-
sented the facts, and how completely the composition is
my own. God bless you. Robert Southey.
To Mrs. Hughes.
Keswick, July 4. 1824.
My dear Madam,
Your letter brought me the first and only intel-
ligence that I have received of Elmsley's death. His
place will not easily be filled at Oxford, and that walk
of letters which he had chosen ; but to his fi'iends it
1824. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 431
never can be supplied. For myself it is a loss which
will be perceived, whether I look backward or forward.
Many recollections which used to be cheerful ones, must
now change their character ; and I feel myself left with
one friend less in the world, at an age when we rarely
form new friendships, even if a new friend could ever
supply the place of an old one.
I have been very much confined to the house since
your departure, by that annual visitation of catarrh,
which was then upon me. It has now taken the form
of cough, which is usually its last stage ; but this year
the cough seems to be deeper, and take stronger hold
than it was wont. Next year, if it be possible for me
to break away from my employment, I will leave home
at the end of April, and try, as the only probable means
of escaping it, to make a journey of six or eight weeks
into Holland and the North of Germany, if I can find a
companion.
You were fortunate, while you were here, in the
weather ; but had you been a month later you would
have seen our wonder of wonders, which, though there
is nothing beautiful in it, is still very well worth seeing,
for I believe nothing of the kind has ever been observed
elsewhere.* What is called the Floating Island here,
made its appearance. By good fortune Sedgewick, the
Cambridge Professor of Geology, is here. I went with
him to reconnoitre it on Monday last, and yesterday he
investigated it thoroughly.
The bottom of the lake in that part (near Lodore) is
covered with aquatic plants, growing in a soft vegetable
mould, which is hardly a foot thick, and lies upon a
bed of peat; that bed is six feet in thickness, and rests
upon a stratum of fine white clay. From time to time
a quantity of gas is generated (whether in the peat, or
below it, remains to be discovered) which fills this peat,
* Perhaps Pliny the Younger alludes to a like island, lib. viii.
epist. XX.
432 LETTERS OF 1824.
till it becomes so buoyant that it is separated from the
clay, and then that part of the bottom of the lake floats
and rises to the surface. But so great was the accumu-
lation when this took place that it has made a rent in
the bottom some fifty yards long, and some six feet
deep. Upon probing, the gas came out freely, but not
so plentifully on the sides of this chasm as in anotlier
portion at some little distance ; where, instead of forcing
for itself a vent, the gas has puffed up the bottom in a
convex form. Then, when a pole is thrust down, the
air rushes out like a jet.
We had rain enough in the course of the week to
raise the lake full four feet. The convex part is there-
fore now under water ; and probably the two other
pieces, or the sides of the chasm, will soon subside.*
My young ones, thank God, are well, and Isabel's
face, which had been frightfully swoln, from an inflam-
mation of the ear, is recovering its usual dimensions.
Sara Coleridge is still complaining of her eyes, and talk-
ing of going to the South to have them cured ; but in
this family everything is talked of a long while before
it is done. My eldest daughter has deferred all account
of her visit to St. Paul's till she returns, as, having so
much to say, she dared not begin to write it. She
is now on her way to Devonshire. Last week she
met Mrs. Wynn at the Caledonian Ball, and thought
her looking very ill. She gives a good account of
Bertha, who spent the last week with her, and Bertha
gives good account of herself.
And now, my dear Madam, present our united re-
gards to Dr. Hughes, not forgetting mine to your son,
and believe me, Yours very truly,
Robert Southey.
*
An account of this Floating Island was drawn up for a second
series of the " Colloquies." The only printed copy is in my pos-
session — as far as I know. It was deposited with ine, to produce
in case of need.
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 433
To Mrs. Hughes.
Keswick, Aug. 12. 1824.
My dear Madam,
I am indebted to your report of Elmsley's death
for the pleasure which I felt, after speaking and think-
ing, and dreaming of him as dead, in hearing that he
was likely to recover ; a pleasure worth all the previous
pain, and of that kind indeed that I know nothing
which can be compared to it. When I was within reach
of Elmsley we saw a great deal of each other, and he
is one of those friends from whose society I have derived
not merely temporary enjoyment, but permanent benefit.
The chances of life have separated us for many years,
without in any degree weakening our mutual regard ;
and upon hearing of his death I felt that I had lost what
in declining years we can ill afford to part with, an
object of esteem and affection, — one of the friends of
my youth. Certainly I never received so much delight
from any letter, as from that which told me he was
alive and recovering. He is well enough to have left
Oxford for the house of his sister-in-law, near Croydon,
where Wynn and Bedford visited him about a fortnight
ago, and found him so confident of his own strength as
to talk of seeing Keswick this year as a possible thing.
Had I been less occupied I should have thanked you
for a prescription which looks as if it would have been
efficacious, — if I could have taken it. But in one re-
spect my constitution is an unlucky one (we talk about
constitutions you know, in politics and in medicine,
without knowing much about them) ; the smallest quan-
tity of laudanum deranges the action of the liver, and
totally suspends the course of the bile, and this of
course cannot be done with impunity. Therefore I
cannot venture upon any prescription which contains
VOL. III. F F
434 LETTERS OF 1824.
laudanum, though that medicine, and that alone, I
believe, would cut short this obstinate catarrhal afflic-
tion on its annual appearances. I am tolerably well
recovered now, though still with some remains of cough,
but it is uo longer attended with a feverish pulse ; and as
a proof that my strength has pretty well returned,! took
a six hours' walk this morning, and crossed Skiddaw, on
my return, at about three parts of its elevation.
You will not be displeased to hear that my second
volume is making good progress in the press, so that I
am once more in the receipt of proof sheets, which I
am lucky enough to regard as one of the pleasures of
life. As to a " Book of the State," there are some
weighty objections opposed to a very strong inclination.
In the first place, I have many works in hand (you
would think me a most rash and audacious man did you
know how many), and am this day fifty years old : it is
time, therefore, seriously to ask myself what upon the
common calculations of life I could possibly have time
to perform ; and secondly, were I to undertake such a
view of our civil histor)?, the Inconvenience of having no
great library within reach could only be obviated by an
outlay in books, which it would be very inconvenient
for me to aflTord ; for it has so happened that no man's
gains in this generation have been so little in proportion
to his reputation and his labour as mine.
I must not conclude without thanking you for setting
Sir Walter's pen in motion. He wrote me a very
friendly letter, to which I returned an immediate
answer.
All below unite in kind regards. The girls are in
expectation of the arrival of a Welsh uncle to-morrow
(a boy of fifteen from Westminster), whom they have
never seen. He is coming to pass his holiday with me,
and is at this time in the mail coach somewhere about
1824. ROP.KRT SOUTH EV. 435
Leming Lane. I have seldom seen a boy more after
my own heart.
Yours very truly,
Robert Southey.
To Edith May Southey.
Keswick, July 24. 1824.
My elegant Cygnet*,
By this time your Elegancy will be looking for
some news of the Swan and the Swan's nest. The
Swan has for a long time been in bad feather ; he is
now at last looking up and pluming himself once more;
and if your companions would but possess themselves of
some Veils, like those in the German story, and appoint
a meeting, he would be ready to take wing with them
for a flight among the mountains.
You are now in a good land, — a land flowing with
clouted cream and laver, which are better things than
milk and honey; a land of fish and of cyder, and where,
moreover, the strong beer is good ; a land also of squab
* The allusion is to some lines of Amelia Opie's, written by her
in Mrs. AVarter's Album on Southey's leaving Norwick, 30th Jan.
1824.
Too short was thy stay here, 'twas transient and sweet !
It was Hail ! and Farewell ! — yet 'twas pleasant to meet,
And see thee, fam'd Swan of the Derwent's fair tide
With that elegant cygnet that floats by thy side ;
Alas ! that thy visit, that long promis'd boon
Should be brief as the splendour of winter's chill noon !
But in one little week, quite exhausted and dry,
Is that cup of delight which thy presence filled high !
Yet still we with grateful emotion can say,
Though the draught was but shalloio, the wine was Tohmj !
Amelia Oni:.
F F 2
436 LETTERS OF 1824.
pie; a plentiful land, a good land, only not so good as
the neighbouring land of Somersetshire. I should not
like you to be settled in London by marriage, nor in
Ireland, nor in Scotland, nor in the fens of Lincoln-
shire, which, suitable as they are for water-fowl, are not
suitable for my cygnet. Devonshire or Somersetshire
would do better; or Gloucestershire, though inferior,
might do, — or Cornwall; but not the ugly middle of
England, nor the eastern counties. Love may be will-
ing enough to take up with spare diet, a meagre county,
and a raw air ; but plenty and a mild climate, and a
beautiful and good country, agree better with him ; and
you may depend upon it that there is no better diet for
love than what Devonshire affords. Miss Wood's grand-
mother, you know, gained a husband by a bowl of
cream. I remind you of it as a caution ; you are in a
land of cream, and wives, peradventure, may be won by
it as well as husbands; but if it should be so, I shall
not object to the country, — nay, I should prefer it to
most others, for I have still an inkling for the west.
Moreover, it is a good country for geese, and if for geese
it must be good for swans also, and therefore a good
country for a cygnet to settle in. Take care of swan-
hoppers. Rumpelstilzchenen has been very poorly, but
is now in tolerable health, llurlyburlybuss has not
been seen for some days. I have put on some new
striped trowsers to-day ; also I have a drab jacket, and
drab trowsers, not to mention the blue Pascoe which I
brought down. Think of the richness of my wardrobe.
Once more beware of swan-hoppers.
Your affectionate father,
The Swan.
P.S. Are you learning to swim ?
1824. ROBERT SOUTHET. 437
To Walter Savage Landor, Esq.
Keswick, Aug. 14. 1824.
My dear Landor,
I am so completely removed from what is called
literary society (which is at this time about the worst
society in the world) that not a breath of opinion con-
cerning your book has reached me, nor have I seen
anything which has been written concerning it, except
Julius Hare's paper in the " London Magazine." A
more striking book never issued from the press in these
kingdoms, nor one more certain of surviving the wreck
of its generation, and this not from the adventitious
importance of the subject, but from the excellence of
the workmanship ; for your prose is always, what the
most felicitous passages of your poetry are, as excellent
in the expression as in the conception.
My own " Colloquies " are now so far advanced, that
it will soon become my primary object to complete
them. They will contain a connected and extensive
view of our existing states of society, with all its erro-
neous evils ; and I hope the statement will be startling
enough to make some of our political men (I will not
call them statesmen) rub their eyes. You will feel in
the perusal, as I do, that where there is most difference
in our views, it is to be explained by the difference of
latitude between Tuscany and Cumberland. I should
agree more nearly with you in Florence, and at Keswick
you would find yourself more in sympathy with me.
By way of relieving the " Dialogues," I introduce some
of them, with descriptions of the scenery which lies within
the circuit of my usual walks ; half a dozen views of it,
admirably drawn by William Westall, are now in the
engraver's hands. The book will command notice, and
provoke hostility. One edition will sell; some of the
rising generation will be leavened by it, and iti the
F r .".
438 LETTERS OF
1824.
third and fourth generations its foresight will be proved,
and perhaps some of its effects may be seen.
The books you sent me were lucky enough to escape
all inquiry. I have been reading " Casaubon's Letters."
If my " Book of the Church " has reached you (as I
trust it has, with its companions), you will see that I
ought to have read these letters before ; you will per-
ceive also that the view which they have led you to take
of James's character very much accords with the opinion
that I have expressed concerning him.
My family, thank God, is going on well. The two
eldest girls are in the South, and greatly do I miss
them. My little boy is old enough to have begun upon
Latin grammar, and a happier creature does not at this
time exist upon tliis wide earth. It is in our power to
make children happy while they are children ; and yet
how generally is their happiness curtailed, and, as far as
nature will permit, destroyed by unwise restrictions and
the miserable discipline of our great schools in which
boys are bred up to the abuse of power. If Cuthbert
lives, and I have to instruct him, he will escape these
evils ; but how uncertain this must needs be I am fully
sensible. Last Thursday I completed the fiftieth year
of my age. My little boy is only in his sixth. I may
put him in the way which he should go, and direct him
ill it when I can accompany him no farther, but it is not
likely that 1 should see much of his progress.
Here in England we are in an extraordinary state of
quiescence, not a grievance is afloat, and few persons
ask themselves what is to become of the rising genera-
tion of educated men who can find no room in the three
professions, and for whose lives there is no demand, nor
what are to be the consequences of an unlimited and il-
limitable increase of capital, which even the bubble of fo-
reign loans does not appear to check, nor when the manu-
facturing system is to end, which breeds yahoos as fast as
1824. IIOBERT SOUTHEY. 439
they can be bred, and invents machinery to throw them
out of employ. One remarkable fact of general educa-
tion is beginning to show itself. Above fifty Weekly
Miscellanies are published in London at two pence and
three pence each, and it is much the smaller portion
that deal either in irreligion or in discontent ; the rest
are useful and amusing, and the sale is prodigious. This
is a good symptom among many evil ones,
I have been getting on with my *' Tale of Paraguay,"
and when I have once escaped from that most difficult
of all stanzas, I shall feel like a racer let loose.
God bless you,
R. S.
To John JiickmarL, Esq.
Keswick, Sept. 12. 1824.
My dear R.,
You have heard that I am engaged in an incre-
dible number of works. The booksellers are to blame
for something, announcing as an intention what has
merely been mentioned as a project for consideration ;
but the truth is twofold, to wit : first, that I have (and
am aware of having) a propensity for planning works
" of great pith and moment," which leads me to dream
of more than can ever by possibility be fulfilled ; and,
secondly, that in pursuing any one of my determined
engagements I am continually meeting with something
applicable to other schemes not yet in course of execu-
tion ; and in this way, while rearing one edifice, I collect
materials for others. It is not with me as it would be
if I had nothing to consider but how to employ my
time, either most worthily or most agreeably to my
own desires. While 1 have something before me to be
F F 4
440 LETTERS OF 1824.
pursued for its own sake, I must, of necessity, have
something in hand for the ways and means of the year —
something on the present sale of which I can rely. If
I have many irons in the fire, one reason, therefore, is
that tliere is a large pot to boil. Now, I have grounds
for believing that the part of my time which must be
devoted to this essential object could in no way be so
profitably employed as in sketching our Civil History,
with a view of showing the growth and progress of our
constitution, and treating those portions fairly and fear-
lessly concerning which the greatest prejudices prevail.
Three octavos would suffice for this, down to the death
of Anne ; and then I should think of following it up
with the age of George III., introduced by a brief
view of the two intermediate reigns.
The objection is what you point out, — the wide
course of reading wherein I should be tempted to dis-
course ; of that, however, I should not have much ap-
prehension, if I were provided with the books.
At present I am getting on well with my second
volume, and with certain minora^ the " Dialogues "
being one. God bless you.
R. S.
To Messrs. Longman §• Co,
Keswick, Sept. 25. 1824.
Dear Sir,
It is a long while since I have written to you,
and the reason has been that I have been otherwise
employed than in finishing the " Tale of Paraguay."
I am, however, far advanced in the third canto (four
being its extent), and il will be ready for the next
season.
1824. liOliEUT SOUTUEY. 441
The purport of my writinj^ now is to propose a re-
publication of Montluc's •' Commentaries," the book
wliich Henri said ought to be the soldier's Bible.
There is an old translation by Charles Cotton, the
angler and poet. Coming from such a man, it is likely
to be in a vein of genuine English. I would, however,
correct it where needful ; accompanying it with a pre-
face and notes, and take care of it afterwards in the
" Quarterly Review." It is the very best book of its
kind, and perhaps unequalled for the liveliness and
jia'ivete of its manner.
Thank you for " Spix " and " Martins"* — pupils of
Humboldt's school, but without his genius. Never-
theless, it is an interesting book, and to me pecu-
liarly so.
Pray be kind enough to pay G. Dyer my subscription
for his " Privileges of Cambridge," and to send in your
next parcel the second volume of *' May you like it,"
the Oxford edition of " Strype's Annals" (if it be
published), and Sir John Malcolm's " Central India."
Yours very truly,
Robert Southey.
P.S. As you sometimes reprint American books, I
xecommend Buckminster's "Sermons" to your con-
sideration. They are so striking and so good that they
could not fail of success. He was an Unitarian, but
his sermons must please all denominations. I lent them
two or three years ago to Richard Sharpe, and he liked
them so much tiiat he said he should get over a dozen
copies for his friends. I lent them to a clergyman, and
he preached one of them.
R. S.
* These Travels_ in' Brazil in the years 1817 toM 820 were
published this year in two vols. 8vo.
442 LETTERS OF 1824.
To the Rev. Neville White.
Keswick, Oct. 13. 1824.
My dear Neville,
First, let me thank you for offering to join me
in an expedition to Holland, when I may find it possible
to undertake one. Most truly shall I rejoice to have
such a companion. I am, however, under something
like a promise of going to Ireland, when I take flight
next May, in the hope of escaping from my annual
visitation, to visit the Bishop of Limerick, who came
hither about seven weeks ago with the hope of taking
me home with him. At that time I was not sufficiently
recovered to have ventured from home, even if it had
suited me on other accounts to have absented myself
from my desk. I am now, thank God, once more in
good health, and take a good deal of pains in the way
of exercise to keep myself so. The want of a com-
panion in these walks is supplied by a book, so that the
time is not wholly lost ; this habit is with me full five-
and-twenty years old, and I can read as well when
walking as at the fire-side.
Your newspaper amused me, though I was sorry to
see how eagerly an ill feeling seizes upon every oppor-
tunity of showing itself. The festival must have made
Norwich all alive, and will, I hope, be renewed as often
as is prudent. Perhaps there is no other mode of
bringing so many people together for the purpose of
enjoyment which is so entirely unexceptionable, even if
the charitable application of the money were not con-
sidered ; and this is a very disinterested opinion, from
one who has no faculty, and consequently no taste, for
music.
Mr. Amyott is an acquaintance of mine, and a very
obliging person he is. I am indebted to him for pro-
curing me some Peninsular information some years ago.
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 443
I am glad to hear Mr. Wilkin lias commenced printing,
and am very sure that I shall do him more service than
I could have done by becoming his editor. The matter
of my reviewing the work is settled.
You ask me concerning the " Methodist," I sent a
copy of the letter to the Bishop of London ; he thanked
me for it, and in a sensible reply observed upon the
difficulty of doing anything in the way of a formal ne-
gotiation. Meantime individual discretion might do
something, and he thought the Methodists might very
usefully be encouraged in the colonies, and perhaps in
Ireland also. I had a second communication from Mark
Robinson, who is a local preacher at Beverley. You
will, of course, understand that he knows nothing of my
laying the business before the Bishop. The second
letter related to the probability of the church Method-
ists separating from the Conference, and showed a great
tendency among them to split into parties. I am in-
clined to think that Methodism has in this country
reached the point in which the main body will not be
progressive in numbers, rather maintaining its popula-
tion than increasing it, and losing as many by defection
and schism as it acquires by proselytism and birth.
But this rather alters the nature of the danger to the
Establishment than diminishes it ; for every new sect
that branches off has a fresh principle of increase. I
asked Mark Robinson to direct me to information con-
cerning some of these sects, — the Ranters, &c., which
he has not yet done. If I could obtain sufficient docu-
ments, it is most likely that I should prepare a paper
on the subject. God bless you, my dear Neville.
Yours affectionately,
R. S.
444 LETTERS OF 1824.
To Mrs. Hughes.
Keswick, Oct. 15. 1824.
My dear Madam,
My employments, thank Heaven, are such that
they allow me to be always at leisure, and this is a
blessing which would compensate for more untoward
circumstances than have fallen to my lot ; so great a
one, indeed, that if I had sold my time for any official
situation, I verily believe I should have been as uncom-
fortable as poor Peter Schlemil when he had parted
with his shadow. But if I were busier than I am, or
ever shall be, it would always give me pleasure to re-
ceive a letter from you. I believe we can all of us find
time for what we like.
Dr. Hughes's kind present (for which I thank him
truly) will probably find a speedy conveyance from your
neighbours in the Row. The book will not be the less
welcome for Cuthbert's sake, who having some three
years ago, when Dr. Bell asked him whether he would
choose to be an archbishop or a carpenter, preferred the
archbishopric, verily looked upon Canterbury afterwards
as his allotted portion in this world, and used to talk
with great complacency of what he should do when he
came to live at Lambeth, when he was to liave more
books than his father. He was ill enough to make us
very anxious about a fortnight ago, with a bilious fever ;
but, thank God, he has perfectly recovered from it, and
at present we are all well. I have been somewhat seri-
ously an invalid during the summer ; the cough, how-
ever, has fairly departed ; and being once more in
tolerable condition, I am taking all dutiful pains to
keep myself so.
I had neither seen nor heard of the foolish apology
for Mrs. , which is enough to shame her out of
Quakerism. Without the aid of Cupid (who, however.
1824. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 445
has worked many conversions in both sexes) I can
account very satisfactorily for her becoming a Quaker.
She was bred nominally in Unitarianisni, and that, too,
of the laxest kind ; and it was but nominally, for her
father belonged to that sect only, because it was neces-
sary that a man in his profession should seem to be
of some religion. She grew up when revolutionary
opinions were taking their freest course, and in a city
where, I believe, they prevailed more than in any other
part of England. Some of her warmest admirers (and
no woman had more) were far gone in unbelief; they
were men of splendid talents, and, in other respects, of
great real worth. In fact, she lias always lived among
persons whose speculations were under no restraint, and
who, however much they differed among themselves,
agreed in that rooted dislike to the Establishment,
which is a bond of union between the darkest bigots of
Popery, the wildest fanatics, and the most thorough in-
fidels. In the state of mind which such circumstances
could hardly fail of producing upon a woman who had
always been flattered for her talents, but with a lively
fancy and a good heart, Mrs. , from a hfe of gaiety
in London, went, at the age of about forty-five, to nurse
her father, whom, in his old age, severe bodily infirmity
had awakened to some sense of \\\e projligacy of his past
life- The only persons, in her circle at Norwich, who
had any warmth of religious feeling, were Quakers; and
were you to know her " Quaker Abelard," you would
see that few " Eloisas " were to be trusted with him ;
but vviiatever her feelings towards him may be, she
wanted something more for her imagination and her
heart than the cold form and colder creed of Unita-
rianism can supply, and Quakerism has a great deal for
both : I believe she is sincere, and I like her well
enough even to excuse the verses which she has written
in Edith's " i\lbum." P>dith will tell you (for she must
446 LETTERS OF 1824.
not write) the ungracious return which they called
forth.
The " Peninsular War " is going on well in the press,
and I am prosing and versing in as good heart and with
as much good will as if all the world liked my verse and
prose as well as you are pleased to do.
I would fain do the " State some service ; " but I am
beginning to act upon the resolution of finishing what I
have begun/ and working up the materials — which so
large a part of my life has been spent in accumulating
— before I open any new foundations. Now that I am
half a hundred years old, it is time to wind up my ac-
counts.
Our kindest remembrances to Dr. Hughes, mine also
to Mr. H., and
Believe me, dear Madam,
Yours very sincerely,
Robert Southey.
Tu the Rev. Neville WJiite.
Keswick, Oct. 21. 1824
My dear Neville,
I received yesterday the frank containing your
letter and the first sheet of " Sir T. Browne." It can-
not be worth while to send that sheet back, as I have
no remarks to make upon it, further than to say that it
is in every respect what could be wished. Mr. Wilkin
seems to have taken infinite pains in collecting editions
and MSS., and nothing can be better than the printing.
It might be worth while to try whether or not the ap-
pearance would be improved by printing the notes in
columns.* I am inclined to think it would be pleasanter
for the eye where the type is so small, and also as dis-
* This hint was followed, and the notes are printed in double
columns.
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY, 447
tinguishirig them in a more marked manner from the
text. This might be tried upon a single page. I am
quite certain that in a folio the eye is less fatigued when
the page is divided into columns, than when it has to
move to and fro along a long line ; and the effect must
be the same in small printing upon an octavo page. A
man thinks of these things as he approaches the age at
which it becomes necessary for him to economise his
sight.
Having written so recently, I have nothing to add, ex-
cept to request tliat you will present my compliments
to Mr. Wilkin, and tell him I am very glad he has taken
the edition into his own hands, for I verily believe he
will bestow upon it more diligence than any other per-
son would or could have done. I have no memoranda
upon the subject which could be of any use to him, but
I will be of all the use I can when the work is pub-
lished, and with the least possible delay. I hope there
will be a portrait, and the name given in an autograph.
Our best remembrances to your fire-side and domestic
circle. God bless you, my dear Neville,
Yours affectionately,
Robert Southey.
To the Rev. Neville White.
Keswick, Oct. 28. 1824.
My dear Neville,
This case of the " Remains " is a flagi-ant
instance of what men will do who have no other prin-
ciple than the principle of trade, when the laws leave,
or offer them a loop-hole. The fellows who pirate that
work would rob you in the streets, or break open your
house, if they dared do it ; they have no sense of
honour, or of right and wrong to restrain them.
448 LETTERS OF 1824.
I would advise that your cheap edition be ir.'iie
better than the pirated ones, though it should sell for
six or seven shillings instead of four ; the type not be-
ing quite so small, nor the page quite so crowded.
Johnson published a small edition of Cowper in 1799,
in two volumes, which might be a good model ; and I
do not see why there should be any unwillingness to
say at once in the advertisement that the property of
the family having been invaded, it is necessary to state
that this is the only complete edition.
In a court of equity, conducted upon principles of
equity, I have no doubt that your cause would have
been good ; but the Court of Chancery has ceased to
be a Court of Equity, and pays as much deference to
the quirks and quibbles of law as the most profligate
advocate could desire.
The " Life " is yours till it shall have been pub-
lished twenty-eight years, and as much longer as I may
happen to live. In the course of nature, my dear
Neville, you are more likely to be called on for friendly
counsel in the arrangement of my affairs, after my de-
parture, than 1 am to perform the duties of guardian to
your son. Provide only against my incapacity for busi-
ness, and count upon me, as I do upon you, for the full
performance of all your wishes, to the best of my ability.
My mind is in no danger, Neville, from tension. It
never pursues any one object long enough to be
fatigued with it. When I read upon my walks, it is
not anything that requires deep attention ; it is some-
thing that amuses the intellect rather than exerts it,
and keeps it, perhaps, in a more quiescent state than it
might be if left to its own operations. The book is as a
companion with whom I can converse when I like ; and
as it is always some volume which is never taken up at
any other time, there is the wholesome recreation which
change; produces. Were you in the house with me for
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 449
a month, you would be convinced that I am anythintj
rather than a hard student.
Have you seen NichoU's " Arminianism and Cal-
vinism Compared ? " It is put together in a most un-
happy way, but is the most valuable contribution to
our ecclesiastical history that has ever fallen into my
hands.
I hope soon to have my " Colloquies " in the press.
They will set many persons talking, and some few
thinking. They will draw upon me a good load of
misrepresentation, calumny, and abuse, which you know
how much I regard; and if they do not succeed in
pointing out in what manner impending evils may be
averted, they will show, at least to future ages, that
they were not unforeseen. Our best wishes to all your
circle. God bless you, my dear friend.
Yours most affectionately,
R. SoUTHEY.
To Edith May Southey.
Keswick, Dec. 5. 1824.
My dear E. May,
I write rather because there is a frank goino- off
this evening, than for a better reason. However, I have
two things to say : one is, that I wish the doctor would
order for me two pair of strong shoes, which may come
in your box. (N. B. Take care this box be a little better
corded than the last, the corder whereof ought to have
been sent to the treading-mill.) Secondly, I advise you,
and everybody else who can do it, to hear Mr. Benson
preach at St. Giles's. He is so far the best preacher
I ever heard, as to admit of no comparison with any
other.
VOL. III. G G
450 LETTERS OF 1824.
Wordsworth is coming over to-morrow. I have not
seen him since my own return from the South.
You will probably, in the course of the week, see a
siveet billet of mine in the newspapers noticing a few lies
of Lord Byron, as published by his blunderbuss, Cap-
tain Medwin. I shall just say what is needful, and no
more.
I have accepted a letter of Pope's, for the sake of
transferring it to you. The handwriting is so like Miss
Tyler's, that I could have taken it for hers.
The third canto of the " Tale of Paraguay " is finished ;
and as I never so heartily desired to be at the end of any
other composition, whether in prose or in verse, I shall
not be long in getting through the remaining one.
Yesterday I received Dr. Wordsworth's book *, which
has for ever put the question to rest. It is impossible
for any investigation to be more complete, or more
conclusive. I have written in it, as a motto, Latimer's
saying, " Well, there is nothing hid but it shall be
opened."
And now, when I have told you that it is snorting
weather, and that I am about to write a paper, for the
*' Quarterly Review," upon the Church Missionary So-
ciety, I have no more to say farther than to send as
much love and as many kind remembrances as can be
inclosed in a frank, to be distributed at your discretion,
and to assure you that I remain,
Dear Madam,
With the profoundest respect,
Your most obedient humble servant,
Robert Southey.
P. S. Your mother, my governess, means to write
shortly about chains and I know not what.
* Who wrote EikCjv BairiXiKri ?
1824. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 451
To the Rev. Herbert Hill^ S^c.
Keswick, Dec. 6. 1824.
Dr. Wordsworth has just sent me his inquiry into
the question of who wrote " EiVcov Ba<TtXi/cr;?" a ques-
tion which would now be set for ever at rest, if there
were not a political feeling interested in withstanding
the truth. The book is in itself so beautiful, and of so
much importance in English history, that it was well
worth the labour of this minute investigation to establish
its authenticity. I expected his brotlier this morning,
but the weather has delayed his coming. I look for him,
therefore, to-morrow.
When I have added that a regimental record of the
2nd battalion of the 34th has been sent me by a retired
army surgeon, and that it contains a few matters of fact
which I might not have found elsewhere, you will have
heard all I have to relate ; unless it be that a "History
of the Peninsular War," under the Duke of Wellina--
ton's especial patronage, is coming forth, for the sake of
which the Duke refused to supply me with any materials.
He wished for a history which should be purely military:
therein he was right enough ; that is, it is quite proper
that such a one should be composed. But I am not so
sure that he is right in choosing to have the whole can-
vas for his own whole length portrait, instead of being
the prominent figure in an historical piece ; and I am
sure that I am in possession of many more of his most
confidential papers than he would ever have communi-
cated, even if he had professed to be most communica-
tive. The printer moves slowly ; but I am getting on
well. I must, however, turn my main attention pre-
sently to the Budget, which is no more to be overlooked
in private than in public affairs. My subject will be the
Church Missionary Society, and I shall probably find
matter enough for a paper in some preliminary views of
G o 2
452 LETTERS OF 1824.
the subject, and in what they are doing in New Zea-
land, without entering into their proceedings in other
quarters, reserving that for other opportunity. They
have large means at command, and are using them
wisely.
My niece is about to publish a translation of the
" Memoirs of the Chevalier Bayard."
I begin to read Danish with some facility ; that is,
such plain prose as I have hitherto attempted. But in
truth it is the easiest of all northern languages : and
the only difficulty lies in its copious vocabulary ; my
memory is not so retentive of words as it was in youth,
and perhaps it would have been stronger than it is if I
had ventured to rely upon it more than, for the sake of
accuracy, I thought expedient.
Murray, I hear, has advertised my " Colloquies" under
a wrong title ; a blunder which would not have hap-
pened if he had been more in communication with me.
It is of no consequence.
Love to my aunt and the children. God bless you.
Iv. S.
To the Rev. Neville White.
Keswick, Dec. 21. 1824.
My dear Neville,
I will not allow you to subscribe for more than
one copy, nor will I let your sister's name and your
brother James's be given in. A very serious objection
to this mode of publication is, that it leads those friends,
who are friends indeed, to tax themselves most unrea-
sonably. When these four copies are stricken off the
list, you will then have done more to serve me in this
matter than any other individual. And this I knew
you would do. For none of you, I thank God, are
among those persons with whom to be out of sight is to
be out of mind.
1824.
ROBERT SOUTHEY. 453
The person who has been expelled by the Conference
preachers at Beverley is, I have no doubt, the Mark
Robinson whose letter you saw ; but he has not com-
municated this affair to me, and I only know of it what
the newspapers have stated. Concerning the Irish
schism, some pamphlets were sent me some time ago by
a Dublin bookseller, who is one of the Church Method-
ists, — Martin Keene, I think, is his name ; and I have
had thought of making a paper in the " Q,. R." which
should comprise a brief history of Methodism from the
time of Wesley's death. If you remember, I obtained
" Kelham's Life," through your good offices, from Not-
tingham, where it was published. I have since got at
some of his writings, and am tolerably well informed
upon that schism. But there are one or two other
points on which I want information. Upon these I
applied to Mark Robinson, but he has not supplied me,
being, I suppose, wholly engrossed with his own affairs.
I suppose you have heard of the atrocious libel upon
me in the " Morning Chronicle," called forth by my
letter; in atrocity it exceeds everything of the kind
that I have ever seen. I have written to Turner, and
shall be guided by his opinion, whether to bring an
action against the publisher, founded upon the last
charge, and overlooking the other lies (foul and malig-
nant as they are) because they are nothing when com-
pared to this accusation of obscene impieties. I think
that at last I have found out on what it is founded, —
on some extracts from a Roman Catholic book of devo-
tions to the Virgin Mary, in the first volume of the
"Omniana."* It is my fortune, my dear Neville, to
have some of the best friends in the world, and some of
the most diabolical enemies ; and to despise the one as
heartily as I esteem and love the other.
* See Omniana, vol. i. p. 123. &c. :^
G G 3
454 LETTEKS OF 1824.
I noticed the advertisement, and hope it may be of
some use. But the only effectual way of checking this
rascally piracy must be by meeting it with a cheap
edition, which may be always upon sale in the provincial
towns. I should like to have some of my own poems
printed in that manner, — the only manner by which
anything can ever obtain a popular sale ; but the pub-
lisher would not like the immediate outlay, would
despise the small return, and not perceive the ultimate
advantage. So my books must wait for this till they
are set afloat in this form after my death, by the same
unprincipled spirit of trade which is now interfering
with the " Remains." A vile spirit it is, Neville !
You will never believe any advertisement concerning
my works unless it says, " This day is published."
Murray advertised my second volume for last month.
248 pages of it are printed, and it will extend to 800,
so you see how far it is from the conclusion. Were I
to pursue it uninterruptedly, my progress might be very
rapid, but this is never my practice ; if I did, it would
be apparent in the want of skill, gracefulness, and ani-
mation, which must always be betrayed when a writer
works in haste. So soon as my interest in the narrative
flags, or as I find any difliculty in connecting it or car-
rying it on, I lay it aside ; at present it is in good
progress. I am also advancing in the last canto of my
"Tale of Paraguay," which, to my great relief and
joy, will soon be finished ; and then I shall take up my
New England poem in good spirits, and pursue it vigo-
rously.
My daughters will return as soon after the beginning
of February as an opportunity of convoy may present
itself. We are beginning to look with some impatience
for that time. Did I tell you that my brother Henry has
bought a part of Watson Taylor's house in Harley Street,
which he is now dividing off and fitting up, that he may
1824, ROBERT SOUTHEY. 455
remove into it, having outgrown the house in Queen
Anne Street? God bless you, my dear Neville,
Yours most affectionately,
Robert Southey.
To John Ricknian, Esq.
Keswick, Dec. 26. 1824.
My dear R.,
I have had a letter from Dr. Stoddart, praying
me — almost in forma pauperis — to send him now and
then a letter for the new *' Times," and to let it be
known that I do so. I am very sorry that his paper is
in such poor repute as to put him upon this expedient
of correspondence, and to have not much hope that
this sort of correspondence will prove a better specu-
lation to him upon this scale than it did upon a larger
some years ago. No doubt you have heard from him
to the same effect. I have promised to help him occa-
sionally, in hoj)eless good will. His paper, in spite of
every possible advantage, is dying of the incurable dis-
ease of dulness. The only sure means of saving it would
be to put it into the hands of a new editor, which,
if he could bear to do it, he could not afford to do.
The " Quarterly Review " is at last consigned to
John Coleridge ; and Murray may thank me for having
provided him with an editor, for he knew not where to
find one. If any adequate person, supposed to be ade-
quate, could have been found, I am not without a sus-
picion that my recommendation would have stood in
J. C.'s way, both in Gifford's opinion and in Murray's ;
Gifford holding me to be too liberally inclined, and
Murray, on the other hand, entertaining as equal fear
of my bigotry. Both, therefore, would be disinclined
to an editor who would confide in me, and in whom I
G G 4
456 LETTERS OF 1824.
could confide. The change will be of serious advantage
to the " Review ;" and so far as that " Review " acts
upon the public, a very desirable one ; and, for myself,
I shall write with the better will, as being no longer
liable to capricious mutilations, nor in any danger of
hearing what I have said in one number purposely con-
tradicted in the next.
If the weather be as wet on the Continent as it is
with us, Holland will be in some danger of being
drowned.* I see they have called in Mr. Telford, at
Bath, in a case of this kind. What a noble way of
spending some fifty millions it would be to employ him
in taming the inundations of the Rhine and its tribu-
taries, and providing the snows of Switzerland with a
safe course to the German Sea. I shall be glad to hear
that Willey is quite recovered. God bless you.
R. S.
To Miss Edith May Southey.
Keswick, 1824.
My dear E. May,
It has often occurred to me of how much pre-
sent interest and future advantage it would be if a
domestic chronicle were duly kept in every respectable
family, comprising not only such events as are usually
registered in the blank leaf of the family bible, but
everything which concerns the interests of any of its
members ; and also all those great little affairs w:hich are
in private life what wars and changes of ministry are to
a nation. In the course of a few generations such a
record would be invaluable, and would justly be con-
sidered as the most precious of all heir-looms. Now,
though it is far too late in life for me to commence a
register of this kind, there is one portion of it which
* It was an ill wish to a Hollander, " That he should be un-
dammed in this world, and damn'd in the next."
1824.
KOBEKT SOUTHEY. 457
may be supplied by recollection, imperfectly, indeed,
but sufficiently to preserve from entire forgetfulness
things in themselves as worthy of remembrance as nine-
tenths of the battles, intrigues, broils, and mutations
whereof history is composed. And therefore I sit down
to compose, as faithfully as my memory enables me, a
chronicle of the great little events which have occurred
at Greta Hall since the birth of that daughter who was
declared to be as ugly as a Dodo.*
The top of the house at that time was flat, and co-
vered with pitched cloths and a slight sprinkHng of fine
gravel. One morning, about half an hour before our
usual time of rising, our bed-room door was opened,
and Mrs. C. said, " Don't be frightened, but get up as
fast as you can, — the house is on fire !" For the pur-
pose of stopping a flaw in the roof, a pitch-kettle had
been put on the fire in the back-kitchen, and had boiled
over. Luckily, help was at hand ; there was nothing
very combustible near, and the flame was presently ex-
tinguished.
One of the maids had a misfortune.
Derwent C, being then between three and four years
of age, swallowed seventeen shillings and sixpence for his
amusement. It was discovered by his telling his mother
that he had eaten her two yellow shillings. Mrs. C. came
in great alarm to communicate it to me and my brother
Henry, then a student of medicine, and doctor-in-rus.
I remarked that this was work for a gold-finder, and
the student in medicine offered to farm the patient at
half-a-crown a day, or sixpence a time, till the money
should be recovered, and, moreover, to be at all the
expense of recovering it. Her fears were considerably
relieved by this proposal, which, however, was not ac-
cepted. The money, after making the grand tour of
Derwcnt's interior, came into the world again next day.
* See 5M/)ro, Vol. I. p. 275.
458 LETTEKS OF 1824,
All the maids eloped because I had turned a man out
of the kitchen at eleven o'clock on the preceding night.
One of them was re-admitted on the petition of her
brother, and her own acknowledgment of her fault.
The wages of the other two, up to this day, were calcu-
lated and distributed to the poor as forfeited by their
misconduct.
I bought a donkey, and named him John. The gar-
den had not then been made, and when John was called
he would come galloping from the end of the field,
braying for joy, and put his head in at the parlour win-
dow for a piece of bread at breakfast — sometimes he
walked into the room for it. As it was not possible to
prevent the boys of this disorderly little town from
abusing this poor donkey, we were obliged to part with
it. Mr. Spcdding bought it, and a few years after-
wards it died a natural death in the churchyard ; but, I
apprehend, of disease, and not of old age.
Sara fell into the mill-race from a wooden bridge
which stood then on this side the forge. Young
Richardson took her out of the water, just as the race
had carried her into the river.
The great itch broke out in the family, being brought
by R. L. from school.
Sad news arrived that Dapper had been hanged for
sheep-stealing.
A tremendous wind forced open the front door in the
middle of the night, and the scene at shutting it would
have made a good subject for Bunbury.
Another misfortune among the maids.
A frost of four days, accompanied with fog and a
dead calm, produced the most beautiful rime I ever
beheld. Every branch, bough, and twig of every tree
was fringed with it, and it stood upon the boughs inch
long. No orchard in full blossom could be more beau-
tiful ; but it was like a scene of enchantment, — like a
1824. ROBEUT SOUTUEY. 459
grove of silver trees in a subterranean world, which had
alight of its own, — for neither sun nor sky were visible.
On the fifth day the sun prevailed, the fog brightened
and drew up, and in the course of two or three minutes
the wliole magical beauty of the scene had melted away.
But the sight while it lasted, and the sudden trans-
formation (more sudden than any natural change I ever
before witnessed, being indeed as complete as any scenic
change in a pantomime), were things never to be for-
gotten.
The flat roof being found very inconvenient because
it let the rain in, a slate one was put on. The large
timbers necessary for supporting it were carried up by
William Bowness, on his back, — the most surprising
and most fearful feat of strength I ever witnessed, for
the weight seemed enough to have broken the ladder
under him. I hardly need add that this Bowness was
the strongest man in Keswick.*
In the dead of the night we were awakened by hear-
ing the kitchen window, which is under our bed-room,
smashed in, and this was followed by a similar crash in
Mrs. Wilson's bed-room. This was the greatest little
event that ever befel us. In one minute all the house-
hold were in the long passage, each running to the
other to know what was the matter. I fired out of the
window, but in time only to let the culprit know that
fire-arms were kept ready. The next morning it was
ascertained that a salted leg of mutton had been used as
the instrument of mischief, pieces of the fat adhering to
the broken glass ; the frames as well as windows were
broken. We ascertained from which public-houses the
* Bowness was a man of humanity, and I insert the following
pleasing anecdote from the recollections of Mrs. Warter. On the
occasion here alluded to, his fellow workmen walled up a bird's
nest. The next morning before they came to work he had re-
turned and unplastered it He was either afraid to do so in their
presence, or knew it would be useless.
460 LETTERS OF 1824.
drunken rioters had sallied, but nothing more. The
magistrates however met, and the public-houses were
threatened unless they kept better hours. I sent the
crier round to give notice, that if any persons were
found late at night about these premises they must take
the co7isequences. Upon this was debated at the pub-
lic-houses whether or not Mr. S. has a right to shoot
anybody for coming about his house in the dark. I
heard of this notable discussion, and desired it might be
made known, that if anybody chose under such circum-
stances to stand fire I would stand the law.
I deterred Mrs. Coleridge a sure saus prendre vole at
quadrille by laying my finger upon one of my own
cards and cautioning her against rashness.
The Doctor-in-rus and I meaning to cross the Stake,
on our way to Charles Lloyd's, missed the pass, being
the first time either of us had attempted it ; we got
upon Bow Fell, agreed that he was a greater Bow than
Beau Nash, all to nothing, — or even Beau Brumraell ;
dined there with Duke Humphrey*, and got down into
Langdale by a chimney much worse and ten times as
long as that on Cawsey Pike.
On another occasion, descending one of the Borrodale
mountains, we came to a place where we were fain to
slide over a holly bush into a beck. N.B. We were in
thin summer pantaloons.
An owl one Sunday flew up and down the body of
the church during the greater part of the service.
The barn at Monkhall was burnt down. Sec. &c. &c.
Ccetera desunt.
* i. e. were dinnerless. Every one knows the allusion. In
Bishop Hall's Vllth Satire, it is asked, —
" Trow'st thou where he dined to-day ?
In sooth I saw him sit with Duke Humfray."
The readiest reference is the chapter (xli.) in Earle's Microcos-
mography.
1825. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 461
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, SfC.
Keswick, Jau. 7. 1823.
You will see, by a note in my third volume* (p. 48.),
that I have noticed the existence of the W in the Tupi
tongues ; but your letter made me refer to the passage,
and add a few words for the purpose of more fully ex-
pressing my meaning. Humboldt, I believe, has not
published more of his " Personal Narrative " than what
you have seen. Another volume is announced for
speedy publication by Longman ; and it has been no
small gratification to me to perceive that wherever he
touched upon the same subject, we came to the same
conclusion, except in two instances, in the one of which
I was right, and in the other wrong. I was right con-
cerning Aguirre's course, and Humboldt corrected his
error upon further consideration, without reference,
however, to my opinion, for he had not seen my narra-
tive of that expedition. 1 was wrong respecting Indian
poisons, and cancelled a leaf (p. 247.) in the reprint of
the first volume, for the purpose of correcting that
error upon his authority. You will see how I have
spoken of him, pp. 700, 70 L of the same volume.
I know not whether you have observed that Hum-
boldt is acquainted with " Ribeiro's Journal" only
through my references to it. This is evident, because
he supposes him to have been employed in the demar-
cation, whereas he was as Ouvidor, and his voyage was
made em visita e correiqao.
Humboldt was remarkably attentive to me at Paris.f
He sent me one of his books, gave me a short memo-
randum, which he thought it might be pleasant to
possess on my visit to the Alps ; and hearing me inquire
where and 's book was to be procured,
brought me a copy from one of those worthies the next
* i.e. of the History of the Brazils.
t MS. Journal, Tuesday, May 20th, 1817.
462 LETTERS OP 1825.
morning. An unlucky mistake was made by Longman's
people when, after the reprint of the first volume, I
desired them to send a set to Humboldt in my name.
Some months elapsed without any acknowledgment of
it ; and when the acknowledgment came, it was from
his brother, the other Baron Humboldt, at Berlin. The
books, however, though mis-sent, were not mis-bestowed.
Have you seen Mr. Butler's answer to my *' Book of
the Church ?" It is exactly such a book as I expected
from him ; and I can reply to it as eiFectually in a
preface as in a volume ; though a clergyman of in-
dustry and talent, who wishes to obtain and deserve
notice, need not desire a better opportunity for taking
the field. Murray has sent me, with this volume, Mrs.
BailHe's " View of Lisbon " — which I shall take as text
for a short paper in the next " Quarterly Review" —
and Lord J. Russell's " Memoirs of Europe from the
Peace of Utrecht." As far as I have read, it has raised
him considerably in my opinion, giving every open
proof of a good mind, though nowhere of a vigorous
or comprehensive one, yet I think strong enough to
work off a few favourite errors that are now floating
upon its surface. The introduction is crude and feeble,
and the plan so loose and disproportioned, that there is
no knowing to how many volumes it may extend.
Nevertheless, it is a creditable and hopeful production
for one in his station, and especially for one who has been
bred in so bad a school ; and if he were not in Parlia-
ment, and addicted to the vice of speaking there, I should
expect to see him outgrow all his erroneous opinions.
Croker dehorts me from visiting Ireland, from which
I do not need much dehortation, considering the aspect
in that miserable country. He says that he would not
ensure any man's life there for three months ; and that
if the leaders of the populace should choose to have a
rebellion, they may have a second edition of the Irish
1825. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 463
massacre to-morrow. I must, however, put myself in
motion in the month of May, for the chance of avert-
ing an annual visitation, which having been only trouble-
some for very many years, begins now to be serious. A
month or six weeks' travelling is what I want. If I
had a companion, I would make a tour in North Wales ;
but though few men spend more hours by themselves,
I have a mortal dislike to travelling alone.
Your weather, I hope, is better than ours ; we have,
however, this advantage here : that, when the weather
is good, it is worth having, and lights up for us scenes
that make amends for all the preceding gloom. But I
never remember to have passed four months with so
little sunshine as these last. God bless you.
R. S.
To Br. H. H. Southey.
Jan. 12. 1825.
My dear Harry,
If there is not a number of " Locker's Views in
Spain " lying astray at your house, I wish you would call
at Murray's and tell him that the eleventh number has
not been sent. It had better be delivered into Edith's
care, as they may not for some time be sending me a
parcel of fitting size to contain it. You will see by this
that the box arrived. E. May " did'nt think " of putting
in the direction the two little words by waggon ; and so,
according to knavish custom, the people at the office
sent it by coach.
Henry Taylor is laid up with jaundice at his lodgino-s,
9. Bolton Row, Piccadilly. So he tells me in a letter
two or three days ago. He wrote a prompt and proper
reply in the "Courier" to that rascally attack in the
" Morning Chronicle." But concerning that attack I
have now as satisfactory an account as could be desired.
The gentleman who made it has favoured me with an
464 IjETTERS of 1825.
anonymous letter, promising more of the same kind in
the "Morning Chronicle." In this letter he shows
himself to he a raving Irish Roman Catholic, and attacks
me as one of the Orange party, though all that I have
ever had to do with oranges has been with Portuguese
ones, or St. Michael's. If you have any curiosity to see
the letter, which is a master-piece of blackguardism, it is
now on its way to Bedford, via Wynn ; and it is almost
worth seeing, as a specimen of what the Irish friends of
the "Morning Chronicle" are.
I shall publish in reply to Mr. Butler a vindication
of the " Book of the Church," with proofs and illustra-
tions, a very easy and agreeable task, with all imaginable
respect and friendliness towards him, but putting forth
my strength against his cause.
There should be a squib of mine appearing about this
time in the "New Times," — the Megistotherion. It
would make my correspondent, Paddy Furioso, more
angry than he is if he knew where it came from, for I
have said that they have a beast of this genus in train-
ing in Ireland at this time, and that they give it nothing
to drink but whiskey and holy water, half-and-half.
I won't go to Ireland, lest I should be made a blessed
martyr ! Love to all. God bless you.
Iv. S.
"THE MEGISTOTHERION.
" A great deal has been written concerning the Beast in
the Apocalypse, and the number of the Beast ; and it is not
long since Captain Maitland, of the Royal Artillery, pub-
lished the Beast's portrait, though he omitted to state
whether it was drawn from the life. But there is another,
and scarcely less formidable animal, called the Megisto-
therion, which appears to be the connecting link between
this Beast and the Blatant Beast of Spenser ; and it is re-
markable, that though this animal has frequently been ex-
hibited, no description of it has yet been published. Nothing
more is known of its anatomy than that it has neither heart,
1825. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 465
bowels, nor brains ; but a monstrous swallow, and a stomach
that can digest anything.
" There never Avas a more vicious beast, nor one that had
more dangerous tricks, and yet it has been marvellously
submissive to those who knew hoAv^ to manage it. The first
man who ventured to bestride it was a capital rough rider,
with a wart on his cheek, and a fiery nose. lie rode it with
a martingale, and with spurs whose rowels were an inch
long ; he fairly broke it in, and made it pace at his pleasure,
and lie down or rise up at a word, and crouch before him :
but he was the only man who ever completely mastered it.
After his death it got loose, owing to the negligence of the
keepers. The next person who exhibited it was a wicked
Enchanter, who had studied in the Caves of Salamanca, and
who fed it as Busiris and Diomedes fed their horses, with
human flesh. After him came a comely person in a gown
and cassock, with an orthodox band and a flowing wig : he
was very well pleased with his seat, but would never have
thought of mounting, if he had not been encouraged and
helped up, and supported while he was there.
"When this person had dismounted the Beast took alonfi-
sleep, till it was wakened and ridden furiously by an ugly
fellow, who seemed to be looking all waj's at once. He rode
till he was tired, then quietly slid off, put on a comfortable
i-ed gown, and got into an easy carriage, which was ready
to receive him. A Scotch madman then got up, and made
the Beast as mad as himself. Away they Avent, galloping-
through the streets of London, the one spitting fire, and the
other strewing brimstone, till the city was in flames.
" Then came a person of dignified countenance and air,
and with the pride of birth and station in every gesture.
He rode it with a bridle of curious construction, for there
was no bit, Avhich was in order that all the mouths miirht
have their full cry ; but there were strings fastened to every
nose of the many-headed monster. He rode it in triumph
from Brentford to Palace Yard ; and in a second triumph
through the streets of Westminster. A third and grander
procession was prepared to make a display both of Beast and
Rider, from the Tower to Piccadilly. But the Beast insisted
VOL, III, n 11
46G LETTERS OF 1825.
that he should take up an Apothecary behind him ; and
upon this, desirous as he was to pursue the triumph, he
could not be induced to let the Galen partake ; and so he
withdrew in dudgeon. Wishing, however, to remain upon
a friendly footing with so serviceable an animal, he took
care afterwards to keep in its good graces by occasionally
tickling its ears, and from time to time currying its hide.
" The Beast was next brought out for a person altogether
different in manners and appearance from the last rider, in
whose face indeed he had once thrown dirt. But there was
this point of agreement between them, that they both ca-
ressed the Beast with the view of making the Beast serve
them. He made a poor business of his exhibition. Even
the Beast's feed was not paid for ; for which one of the
^Masters of the procession was delivered over to the bum-
bailiffs. Another shortly after, for an intention of feeding
the Beast with blood, was consigned to the hangman.
" Then came a grander day for the Megistotherion than
it had ever known before. A woman clothed in scarlet
landed from beyond sea, and was presently hoisted upon its
back by a great multitude of people. An Alderman rode
befoi-e her, and a Doctor of Divinity behind, and a Lawyer
on each side, for the Beast had a broad back. One of the
Lawyers wore a silk gown. The Doctor had a face like a
peony, and a wig like a cauliflower ; but so many scamps,
and demireps, and whole-i^eps crowded up on the crupper,
that he became ashamed of his company, slipped off, and
got out of the way.
" Since that time the Megistotherion has not been brought
out ; but it is reported that an animal of the same genus,
only much more ferocious, and bearing more resemblance
to the Bonassus, will shortly be exhibited in Ireland. A
terrible display of its fury may be expected, for the persons
Avho liavc it in their keeping give it no other drink than a
mixture of whiskey and holy-water, half-and-half. The
exhibition, therefore, will be higlily dangerous, and px'udcnt
people will do well to keep out of the way."
R. S.
1825. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 4G7
To the Rev. Neville White.
Keswick, Jan. 17. 1825.
My dear Neville,
Turner's advice is to let the libel alone, consider-
ing what the law is, or rather in what manner it is
administered. In this John Coleridge agrees with him,
after a regular consultation between them on the sub-
ject ; and I, of course, yield without hesitation or re-
luctance to their opinion, having no desire, for the sake
of public justice, to draw upon myself much anxiety
and probable vexation. An anonymous letter from the
libeller, written in the foulest language, and in the
most atrocious spirit, explains the cause of his viru-
lence, by showing that he is an Irish Roman Catholic ;
very possibly one of the agents in the pay of the
Catholic Association. Two answers to my "Book of
the Church " have reached me, — the one short and
abusive, by the Romish bishop Milner, under the ana-
gram of John Merlin ; the other more at length, and in
a becoming tone of controversy, by Mr. Butler. In
rejjly to the latter, and in a corresponding tone of cour-
tesy and personal respect, I shall publish a vindication
of the " Book of the Church," with proofs and illustra-
tions, wherein I shall follow up my blow.
You may see my letter in the last number of "Black-
wood's Magazine." The paper in the " Quarterly " is
not mine, nor have I anything in that number. Any
person may easily be deceived by style, but no one who
knows me as you do can well mistake my temper and
way of thinking upon such subjects.
1 am sorry to hear you talk of smarting in conscience,
and doubting the propriety of having entered the Church.
That doubt, Neville, arises more from the state of your
bodily health than from your understanding; a good
digestion would rid you of it. The step which you took
II u 2
468 LETTERS OF 1825.
was in conformity with your disposition, and in op-
position to your plain worldly interests, and if all our
clergy were but half as fit for their office, and half as
conscientious in discharging it, the Church would have
nothing to fear from its enemies. Do not, I beseech
you, give way to fancies of this kind. I wish I had two
good livings at my disposal, — you should have one and
James the other, and I should feel well satisfied with
myself for having so disposed of them.
The Quaker books will be very acceptable. I possess
only one of them, and that in so bad a state that I
shall be glad to substitute a better copy in its place ;
part of it having been destroyed by damp before it
came into my possession.
As to the *' Peninsular War," I believe you know it
was delayed in consequence of an impudent piece of
falsehood in the " New Monthly Magazine," — the Life
of a Spanish author, who was said to have served in
Catalonia during the war, and written the history of the
war in that province and memoirs of the most distin-
guished leaders in it. The life was signed John Mitford;
and this J. M. spoke of the Spanish author as one with
whom he had become acquainted and was in corre-
spondence. It would surprise you to hear what trouble
I took for the purpose of pi-ocuring these books, literally
suspending my second volume more than a year in
liopes of them, till at last I obtained full proof that no
such works were in such existence, nor any such author,
but that the whole was a fiction of this Mitford's.
Most truly and affectionately yours,
R. S.
To the Rev. Ilerhert Hill) ^c.
Keswick, Jan. 22. 1825.
I SUPPOSE that you have heard that the Catholic
Association in London have voted thanks to Milner and
1825. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 469
Mr. Butler for having refuted the calumnies heaped
upon the Catholic Church by Dr. Southey in his
" Book of the Church." They have been somewhat
premature, methinks, in decreeing a triumph before the
battle is won. I shall figure in the next " Index
Expurgatorius" as a heretic of the first class; and if
they could but deliver me over to the secular arm, I
should figure in a sanheniio too. But as things are it
is but a hrutum fulmen.
One answer to Butler's book is already advertised as
forthcoming. I think I told you that one of the bishops
(Durham I suspect) had advised a clergyman, who is an
acquaintance of Locker's, to undertake this task ; that
Locker wished him not to interfere with any possible
intention of mine, and that I wrote forthwith desiring
him to take his own course. Since then I have heard
from Murray, and find from him that the third edition
of the " Book of the Church " is nearly half printed
before I knew it was in the press. Of course it is im-
possible to give the references now. But as I have
begun to insert them for future use, I wish you would
look in Nalson's " Collections," and send me the re-
ferences for volume and page, for what I have said of
Prynne's acknowledgment in his old age, in my second
volume, p. SQS., for in " Nalson " I found it* ; but it was
in a book of Lord Lonsdale's, which has been sent back
to Lowther.
The book has sold very well, — 3000 copies of the
first edition, 1500 of the second, and Murray is printing
1500 now. Tills barking will be useful, and so will the
" Vindication " which I have begun, and which will
make a supplementary volume, including proofs and
llustrations. I will batter the walls of Babylon about
their ears. I am about to write to Brussels, in the
* The reference given is, Nalson, i. 798.
H 3
470 LETTERS OF 1825.
hope my friend the bookseller there may be alive, to
desire that he will get Wadding's work for me, and let
me know what other books of monastic history he
has in that prodigious repository of his. Verbeyst is
the king of the mal-lavados, and if I lived in London
instead of at Keswick, much as I dislike the sea, I would
have paid him a yearly visit.
There is something quite amusing in the effrontery
of these Roman Catholics; they fancy I know as little
of their history as they do themselves.
T did not tell you a piece of news relating to your-
self, which Mrs. Baillie reports in her letters from
Portugal, — that you lost your character in that country
by marrying after you left it.
I have given up all thoughts of going to Ireland till
the next Rebellion is over ; but travel I must as soon
as the summer commences, for there is no other chance
of escaping, or soon throwing off, my annual visitation.
The probability is, therefore, that you will see me at
that time in the course of my circuit.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Edith May Southey.
Keswick, Jan. 31, 1825.
My dear Daughter,
Sorry am I to inform you of the illness of his
Serene Highness the Archduke Rumpelstilzchen,
Marquis Macbum, Earl Tomlemagne, Baron Raticide,
Waouhler, and Skratsch. His Serene Highness is
afflicted v/ith the mange. One of the ladies of the
Kitchen first perceived that he was not in health ; and
as none of the king's physicians were within reach, they
consulted John Edmondson, who, upon hearing the
case, pronounced an unfavourable opinion, saying it was
1625. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 471
a disorder from which few recovered. Acting, however,
upon the maxim wliich, as you may remember, Grio*
exhibited in golden lettex's opposite to his rival's door —
'^ Dum vita spes" the son of Edmonds prescribed for
his Serene Highness that he was to be rubbed with a
certain mixture, and take daily a certain quantity of
brimstone ; and it was thought, after much consider-
ation, that this brimstone could best be taken in
boluses, four at a time, each containing about as much
as twelve pills.
The physicians would think his Serene Highness an
ugly patient, for he has no faith in physic, and he gives
no fees, to say nothing of the risk which there is in
feeling his pulse. The ladies of the Kitchen, however,
are so interested in his welfare, that they have taken
upon themselves the arduous task of administering the
medicine ; which is a matter of great difficulty and some
danger, for his Serene Highness rebels against it
strongly. Madam Betty takes him on her lap, and
holds his head ; Madam Mary holds his legs ; and
Madam Hannah stands ready with a bolus, which is
inserted when he opens his mouth for a mournful mew.
That painter who was called the Raffaelle of cats would
have found the scene a most worthy subject for his
pencil. I, who am historiographer to his Serene High-
ness, feel but too sensibly that I cannot do justice to
it in words. But I rejoice to add that the treatment
appears to be attended with success, and that a visible
improvement is observed in the patient.
* Grierson, a druggist of those days in Keswick, who, in a poem
of his own composing, called himself Grio. In the midst of a
fever panic —
" Grio stepped forth to do the public good,
And by his efforts saved the sinking brood.
The son of Edmonds saw with dire despair
Hundreds recover through the Druggist's care! "
H H 4
472 LETTERS OF 1825.
Tell your uncle that Butler in his book charges me
^vith representing, from Bellarmine, an opinion as his,
which Bellarmine only states in order to confute it;
that, not having the original, I took the passage on the
authority of South, in one of whose sermons it is
quoted, and of Barrow also ; that Butler's point-blank
assertion staggered me ; that I wrote to Mr. Hughes
to ascertain the point at Cambridge ; that he has tran-
scribed the whole chapter for me, and that now I have
only to hope Mr. Butler has written upon the autho-
rity of some of his Catholic friends ; for I should be
sincerely sorry to think he could be guilty of so gross
and audacious a misrepresentation. Towards him in-
dividually I wish to use all possible urbanity in my
reply ; but if I do not make minced-meat of his book
he shall be welcome to make minced-meat of me.
God bless you.
B/. S.
To Mrs. Hughes.
Keswick, Feb. 24. 1 825.
My dear Madam,
We thought of you through all that business
of the miserable Fauntleroy, and I remember making
up my mind to this opinion, that though men must
sometimes be hanged (and certainly few criminals de-
served it more than he did), yet that no government
ought to make the better parts of its subjects unhappy
by making the execution a matter of general annoyance.
The sentence should of course be public, but the ex-
ecution should not ; neither should the time when it
takes place be known. It should be performed within
the prison walls; when it was over a black flag hoisted
for the remainder of the day ; and then the funeral
should be public, and an appropriate sermon appointed
for it.
1825. ROBERT SOUTnEY. 473
My girls arc not returned, and if an opportunity of
convoy should not offer itself in the course of three or
four weeks, they may very likely wait till 1 call for
them, for as soon as May arrives I shall set out in the
hope of running away from my annual attack.
The new editor is the John Coleridge of whom I
spoke, and in whose hands I wished the " Review " to
be placed. One of his first purposes is to make peace
with America; and I told him he might expect some-
thing from Mr. Hughes.
You have sent me some fair words from Knight's
" Quarterly Magazine." I have only seen the first two
numbers of that journal; — the}' displeased me as much
by their dandiness as 's does by its blackguardism.
I hardly know which is the most ofiensive. We care not
for these vices when there is nothing spoilt by them ;
but when they degrade what might be good, and render
injurious what would otherwise be useful, then they
excite, in me at least, a strong sense of displeasure.
What you sent me I had neither seen nor heard of, nor
have I any notion from whence it comes. I should have
suspected Henry Coleridge, who is gone out with his
cousin, the Bishop of Barbadoes, if it were not that in
that case 1 am sure the number would have found its
way here. But to return to the fair words. I have
had so many fair words in my time, that if they would
butter parsnips (which it is well known they will not)
they would have been enough for the produce of ten
good acres ; and I have, on the other hand, had as many
foul ones as would certainly manure those acres. There
is as much abuse of me in print as would break the
back of an elephant, and as many lies as a brewer's
team could draw. And for absurdities, what think you
of an American critic (a D.D. at Baltimore) seriously
asserting and endeavouring to prove that the " Life of
Wesley " was written in imitation of — the " Iliad ! "
474 LETTERS OP 1825.
I have retained a good many childish tastes, Heaven
be thanked for it. I like gooseberry-pie as well as
ever I did, and sweetmeats and fruit; and can even eat
gingerbread, and am very ready to play the fool wher-
ever I feel myself sufficiently at home. And I like praise,
too ; but then it must be of the right kind, that is, it
must fit. A sentence of Kirke White's concerning
*' Thalaba " pleased me more than all the criticism I
ever saw upon my own writings : it was to the effect
that I appeared always to think of what was fitting to
be said, and of nothing else. A letter of Mrs. Piozzi
was shown me once, in which, speaking of my letter to
Wm. Smith, she said, " Oh, how I delight to see him
trample on his enemies ! " and that was worth all the
panegyric in the world.
You will see me before it is long trample upon the
Roman Catholics, as I am vindicating the " Book of
the Church ; " in doing which I shall, with all personal
courtesy to Mr. Butler, do to his book what he has en-
deavoured to do to mine — prove it to be one continued
tissue of sophistry and misstatement.
I have heard nothing of the Speaker's removal, ex-
cept what the papers say ; but I am inclined to think
there are reasons which might make him like to leave
this country. In that case would it not be considered
as descending the political ladder for our friend to pass
from the cabinet to the chair? That he would like it
better I have no doubt.
Cuthbert is six years old to-day ; and this day I have
finished the " Tale of Paraguay," which was begun five
years before he was born.
Present our kindest remembrances to Dr. Hughes,
and believe me.
Dear madam, yours faithfully,
11. SoUTIlEY.
1825. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 475
To the Rev. Neville fVhite.
Keswick, Feb. 27. 1825.
My dear Neville,
Once more I thank you for the Quaker books,
which are now safely arranged upon my shelves ; but
how am I to return that huge, ill-shaped fellow that
came in their company — the very ideal of an anti-
portable volume ? Looking through it has led me to
think that the Society for Promoting Christian Know-
ledge would do well were they to print, in chronological
order, a volume of select episcopal charges.* It would
be creditable to the Church, and incidentally useful in
affording materials for ecclesiastical history, as well as
directly so by the immediate object and tendency of
such discourses.
You asked me about my correspondence with Mark
Robinson. Two days ago I received a packet from him
containing the pamphlet which he has published with
his name (" Observations on the System of Wesleyan
Methodism"), and sundry other small tracts. Having,
in consequence of that pamphlet, been discarded by
the Connexion, he has set up the standard of Church
Methodism ; and the experiment will now be tried of
enlisting such a body in aid of the Church. Wrangham,
with whom he dined a few days before he wrote me,
went so far as to tell him that no clergyman would
incur the Archbishop of York's displeasure by counte-
nancing them. It seems he had communicated my
letters to Wrangham, and is disposed to accord more
weight to them, and to the wish expressed at the end of
my " Life of Wesley," than I should think they would
carry ; but the truth is, that the hierarchy will be very
* The lamented Hugh Rose wished to follow this suggestion of
Southey's, but the project fell to the ground ; I forget how.
476 LETTERS OF 1825.
glad of sucli auxiliaries, if they adhere to the principle
upon which they set out ; though it is not to be ex-
pected that any direct encouragement can be given till
proof is afforded that the Church Methodists steer clear
of the errors and extravagancies at which the others
have run headlong.
Mark Robinson is a sensible man. He is a draper at
Beverley, and the testimonials tojiis character are most
satisfactory. I shall probably see the regulations which
he is drawing up for the new society. I have told him
they may be very usefully employed in acting as cate-
chists in those extensive parishes where the clergyman
cannot possibly discharge this most important duty.
By preparing the children wherever they can gain
admittance, and bringing them at stated times, when
prepared for examination, to the Church, they would
render a very useful and acceptable service. They will
not intrude upon any of the sacerdotal functions ; they
will also require their members to attend the Church,
and will have no service in their own chapels during the
hours of Church service. The affair seems now to be
in such a shape, that I may enter upon it in the
" Quarterly Review."
Had tliese communications reached me two hours
earlier I should have mentioned them to the Bishop of
London*, to whom 1 had written that very day. But
I do not like to write to him expressly on this subject,
lest I should be thought fond of interfering in such
matters more than beseems me. My letter to him was
in reply to an offer which he had communicated of
books from Lambeth, if they would be useful in my
task of vindicating the " Book of the Church." Any
* Tlie late Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Ilowley, for whom
Southey had a great regard. I couhl wish to add my small tribute
to his meekness, and gentleness, and experience, and Christian
wisdom.
1825. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 477
influence which my opinion may possess in these
quarters would be destroyed if I were once supposed
to be a meddling person ; whereas, by going on in my
own course, and never going out of it, there is a pro-
bability of preparing the way for some good.
Those persons who so positively ascribed that paper
in the last " Quarterly Review " to me must have had
a worshipful opinion of me to think I would puff my-
self. By-the-bye, the *' damning tale " of the Non-
conformists, as it is there very properly called, which
the reviewer chooses to rest on my authority alone,
rests upon the very highest authority — that of Claren-
don himself (not in his " History," but in his own
life). It is therefore as certain as any historical fact
possibly can be.
I have nearly got rid of a cough which, though little
troublesome, has lasted long ; and I have also got rid
of the " Tale of Paraguay " at last. It was finished,
to my great joy, last Thursday. Our kindest remem-
brances to your own fireside and both your families.
God bless you, my dear Neville.
Yours affectionately,
R. SoUTHEY.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, S^c.
Keswick, March 6. 1825.
I AM going over to Wordsworth's to-morrow, for four
or five days ; over is the word, as the road crosses a
mountain ridge, where it divides the two counties.
Change of air and exercise will probably rid me of a
cough, which in a slight degree has continued since it
was left some weeks ago by an endemic and peculiar
kind of cold. INIost likely I shall return on Saturday.
Dr. Phillpotts writes to me that he means to answer
478 LETTERS OF 1825.
the theological part of Butler's book. It is by such
controversy that he made his way to a stall at Durham,
and afterwards to the living of Stanhope, of sufficient
value not to be tenable with that stall. Very probably
he has his eye upon something higher, which he is not
unlikely to attain. The Bishop of Durham has been
his patron thus far. He is a clever man, who knows
the world, and understands very well what he is about.
I have had a second note from the Bishop of London,
communicating an offer of books from Lambeth. Of
this I am not likely to avail myself here ; but I shall be
very glad to do so at Streatham. You need not appre-
hend that I shall be entangled in a long shirt ; 1 shall
most explicitly state that no replication will ever obtain
any further notice from me. Spin as many cobwebs as
they will, I shall leave to others the task of sweeping
them away. As for Mr. Butler, if men ahvays lay still
after they were slain, there would be an end of his
movements ; but there are some, you know, who even
after they are buried, and a stake driven through them,
choose to get up and play the vampire. I will have
nothing to do with vampires.
Did I tell you that the new Bishop of Chester * has
recommended my book in his charge.
I think of calling this supplementary volume " Vin-
dicise Ecclesiae Anglicanaj," and for the English part of
the title, '* The Book of the Church vindicated and
amplified." What is done of it I take with me to show
Wordsworth, and shall from thence send it off to
Murraylemagne. My Brussels bookseller I begin to
fear is dead, as I hear nothing from him. It will be
very unfortunate if he is, for I am grievously in want of
"Wadding," whose work is one of the most important
* The present Bishop of London, Dr. Blomfield, to whom I am
likewise indebted for kindness and courtesy.
1825. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 479
in Roman Catholic history, and contains vvliat is not to
be found elsewhere, — the history of the struggle be-
tween the more enthusiastic Observants and the Popes,
which was one great predisposing cause of the Reforma-
tion, and contributed very materially to its success.
There are only the three first volumes at Lambeth.
The whole series consist of seventeen.
I was disappointed in not getting two books from
Cochrane's catalogue, — Beausobre's *' History of the
Reformation," and Beza's " History of the Reformation
in France."
William Heathcote's succession has come in good
time ; not soon enough to spoil him, and quite early
enough for the full enjoyment of good fortune. He
may now make an auto-da-fe of his law books, and
turn his mind to tliose studies which will prepare him
better for the part which he may be called upon to take
in life. But were I in his place I should be disposed
to live to myself; for I know not any inducement that
could tempt me to take a part in public aifairs, espe-
cially seeing how they are conducted now, when men
who have the very best intentions are doing all they
can, in conjunction with those who have the very worst
(and make no secret of them), to ruin this country.
And ruin it they would if their ends were to be shaped
as they are rough-hewn.
You will be amused by Caldcleugh's " Travels."
What a portrait all these travellers give us of the Spanish
Independents ! And I have just read a ship-captain's
" Journal" (which wants a publisher), that gives, as far
as it goes, a more unfavourable likeness than all the
rest. God bless you.
R. S.
.180 LETIERS OF 1825.
To John Rickman, Esq.
Marcli 12. 1825.
My dear R.,
I returned from Wordsworth's this morning,
after a fom- days' visit, — a sort of holiday it was meant
to be ; but I found that side of the country covered
with snow, and was in consequence shut up in the liouse
half the time. I had been closely employed before in fin-
ishing a poem which had hung long and heavily on hand ;
and, moreover, in beginning a reply to Butler's feeble
sophistry, which is thoroughly Jesuitical in everything
except in its weakness and want of information : weak,
however, as it is, the Bisliop of London writes to tell
me it was making an impression upon persons who
ought to have known better (these were his words), and
to express a hope that I intended to answer it. And he
communicated an offer of books for that use from Lam-
beth. I am not unwilling to take this opportunity of
enlarging upon some points which are passed over or
slightly noticed in the " Book of the Church ;" and I
shall call my reply " Vindicice Eccl. Anglic ance ; the
Book of the Church vindicated and amplified."
Wordsworth was conversing some time ago with Lord
Lowthcr upon the efifect which the possible admission
of the Catholics into Parliament would have upon the
House of Commons. Lord Lowther (who is a man of
much more sense than those who know little of him
suppose) apprehended that it would produce more in
the House of Lords, *« where," he said, "a good deal of
mischief might arise from men in the decline of hfe
falling into the hands of a father-confessor and a French
mistress."
Upon this question Peel would find himself supported
by the country, if he appeared more confident; but
he seems as if he were cowed by Brougham. I never
1825. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 481
knew any speaker who might be so pulled down by the
press as Brougham, if any competent writer would
undertake the task of pointing out the fallacies of his
speech as regularly as they were made. Like a savage,
he fights with a tomahawk, and has neither shield nor
breastplate.
I have been writing to Bertha and her sister con-
cerning their return, wishing to have them home before
I start for the south; for my movements must be
timed witli relation to this object, which is to avert, if I
can, a periodical illness by travelling ; and setting out
about the middle of May. I could not look homeward
again till towards the end of June. And it is better
they should be with their mother during my absence,
who would otherwise feel very much deserted. All
accounts tell me that Bertha is very much improved, as
well as much grown.
Our kindest remembrances to Mrs. R. I shall re-
sume my transcript now that the " Tale of Ptiraguay"
is finished ; and that poem, when it makes its appear-
ance, will, I hope, excuse, as well as account, for the
interruption of it. God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, 8fc.
Keswick, March 22. 1825.
I GET no answer from Verbeyst (the Brussels book-
seller), and fear, therefore, that he is no longer in the
land of the living. This, though not so great a loss as
poor Bertrand was to us, is yet a loss which I shall feel.
If I could find a fitting companion, who would go with
me for three or four weeks to Holland, I should be
very much inclined to cross the water, and see what I
could find at Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Leyden. I
VOL. III. I I
482 LETTERS OF 1825.
am sadly in want of " Wadding," which, indeed, I have
reason to svippose is the most important book relating
to the Ecclesiastical History of the Middle Ages, or
rather that very interesting period between the suppres-
sion of the Albigenses and the appearance of Luther.
At present I am working on with the " Peninsular
War," as my business, and at interludes compounding
bitters for Mr. Butler, or what Tom D'Urfey might
have called " Pills to purge Popery." It was not till the
other day — for like you I had merely thumb-read his
book as a whole — that I discovered a notable passage
respecting myself. There is a story concerning Gardi-
ner's death, which I took from Fox, and which, it seems,
Lingard had maintained to be false, because the old
Duke of Norfolk is mentioned there by Fox, when he
had been dead some months. Butler supposes I knew
this ; says that on the appearance of my book it was
pointed out in the newspaper ; adds that, notwithstand-
ing this, I have retained it in the second edition, and
then wishes it may always remain there, as a specimen
of what credit is due to those writers who build on
Fox.
In the first place I have never yet seen that volume
of Lingard's. In the second, the story may be perfectly
true ; and Fox, in relating it after some lapse of years,
and having to speak of a Duke of Norfolk, may very
easily have called him by mistake the old Duke, as sup-
posing hirn to have been the pei'son meant. Thirdly, I
do not care whether it be true or not; the sole difference
that it could make to me being, whether I should retain
or strike out half a dozen lines. Lastly, I heard from
Wynn of the statement in the newspapers, and, in con-
sequence, struck the passage out. It is not in the second
edition, and Butler, therefore, asserts a direct falsehood
(for there can be no mistake in the matter) in saying that
it is. He must have trusted to the word of some rascally
IS25. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 483
Roman Catliolic, for I cannot believe he would have
the folly to commit so gross an offence, if he had taken
the trouble to ascertain the fact. But I have him every-
where so completely at my mercy, that I may very well
take credit for forbearance upon the point when I come
to it.
But as the Roman Catholics hate Fox as much as the
Philistines hated foxes in Samson's days, *' and for the
same reason," as Fuller says, "because they are annoyed
by his firebrands," I have been making notes to-day
for a life of him, as a chapter in these " Vindicias." And
in so doing I have found as strong a passage respecting
the tendency of Puritanism in a letter of his, as Parker
or Whitgift could have written ; though the Puritans
boast of him, and though in fact he was one of the first
Nonconformists. There are very good materials for a
chapter interesting in itself, pertinent to my subject,
and useful in its bearings.
If my stray sheep are at Streatham, tell Edith I sup-
pose she will ask General Peachey * to write some verses
in her Album, now that he has commenced poet. He
sent me a laudatory poem of his own composition last
week. The longer he lives the queerer he grows, which
is one sort of merit in my eyes. God bless you.
R. S.
To Grosvenor C. Bedford, Esq.
Keswick, March 30. 1825.
My dear G.,
There was nothing forced in the courteous man-
ner wherewith I began my reply to Mr. Butler. It was
* Southey bad the greatest regard for his old friend and
neighbour, and never speaks of him but with delight. I should
be sorry to forget his many attentions to myself.
I I 2
484 LETTERS OF 1825.
written bond fide, with all the feeling of personal good-
will which it expresses, and after so cursory a glance
through his book that I had not perceived in it some of
its most injurious and unwarrantable parts. As to what
regards myself personally, I know very well, as you do,
that those parts will afford occasion for insolent animad-
version at first from persons who, let the book be what
it might, would abuse it in any case ; and that hereafter
those very parts will be remembered and referred to
when the controversy is forgotten. But if you observe
how they are introduced, and to what they tend, you
will perceive with what effect they bear upon the cor-
ruptions of the Romish Church.
One of the worst mutilations that poor Giffbrd ever
inflicted upon any of my papers was when he struck
out a defence of the Great T, with which I had intro-
duced the reviewal of poor Henry Koster's " Travels."
I hope it may be found among the MSS. in your pos-
session, — for it was written playfully, and yet so as to
convey sound truth. Just look at " Hayley's Memoirs,"
and see what a mess he has made of it by writing his
own history in the third person instead of the first,
as if He were not quite as personal a pronoun as I.
In the second sheet, of which you will see a revise
(in consequence of a paragraph which must be inserted)
you will find that when the plural form might as well
be used I have substituted it in correcting the press.
And when you come to the biographical and historical
parts you will lose sight of the author altogether. By
and by, too, you will perceive that your Butler, when
left by forgetfulness four-and-twenty hours in the litho-
tomic machine, was but a type of my Butler under the
operations which he is destined to undergo.
If time allows I will write a few lines to Allan
Cunningham, under this cover, to thank him for a very
manly and becoming interference. As for my having
1825. ROHERT SOUTIIEY. 485
ofFended the Scotch, I am not conscious of having ever
printed an offensive reflection upon any people, except
one good-humoured sentence about the Welsh, which I
dare say you will remember, and which was written be-
cause I had in my mind's eye the very expression which
his Right Honour's* countenance would assume upon
reading it, — an expression produced by a contest be-
tween his half Welsh blood and the plenitude of his
good nature and friendly feelings.
You will see in my " Colloquies " that I have touched
more than once upon the subject of which you speak so
feelingl}'. We have a great loss in Elmsley, more even
than the learned will have. To them his place may be
supplied, but we have a friend the less in the world, and
that loss is always irreparable, like the loss of a liinb.
I shall be in town in May, but for a very short time,
— my business being to travel for health's sake. My
purpose is, if I succeed, as there's some prospect, in
finding a companion, to make a tour in Holland for
three or four weeks. This is neither convenient as it
regards my employments or my finances, but travel I
must, or I shall inevitably be invalided for a longer
time than this journey would require, even if the attack
were to leave me without any other injury.
I must now set about Reviewing for my ways and
means. God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev, Herbert Hill, 8fc.
Keswick, May 8. 1825.
In a day or two I shall have finished a paper for the
" Quarterly Review" of September, which is being well
beforehand. Did I tell you that I proposed " Montluc "
* Charles W. "VV. Wynn, — their mutual friend.
I I 3
486 LETTERS OF
1825.
to Murray, who, wiser in this than the Longmen, accepted
the proposal, and is now looking out for the translation.
It is the work of Charles Cotton, Izaak Walton's friend,
and pupil of the rod and line. He is almost one of the last
poets whose vein of language runs pure ; but I have not
seen this translation, and think it not unlikely that his
prose may require to be weeded from those colloquial-
isms with which Sir Roger L'Estrange debased the
written style of that age. Yet, as in L'Estrange's own
writings, these may easily be removed, and the vernacu-
lar rareness be preserved. If I meet with an old edition
of the original in my travels I shall, of course, secure it.
You may be sure I shall not leave any old book shop or
stall unexplored.
Six sheets of my " VindlciEe " are printed. There is
a book of Prynne's (I see in Rodd's catalogue) entitled
" Pleasant Purge for a Roman Catholic." Mine, I think,
is likely to prove a pleasant prophylactic. I am got
into an interesting field of history, and shall be able to
show that Saint Errantry was as conspicuous a feature in
our age as Knight Errantry in another; that there was
more of it, and that it was more influential. If Mabil-
lon's *' Benedictine Annals and Acts" should fall in
my way I shall be strongly tempted to buy them, unless
the price should be above my rccicli. Sometimes I con-
sole myself for the want of books by thinking that if all
which I wish for were within my reach I should extract
less from the perfunctory inspection of a great many
than from well searching those which I possess.
Edith, perhaps, told you that she was commissioned
to send me Thomas Jackson's works — from Cochrane
and Ilivington's catalogue. He was President of Corpus,
and died just before the Great Rebellion. I am half
through the second volume, and have seldom derived so
much solid satisfaction from any writer. There is not
one of our great divines (great as they truly were) in
1825. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 487
wliom there is more to admire, and less to wish awny.
It is in a treasury of sound wisdom, of which I verily
believe there is more to be found in some of our old
divines than in any other writers of any age or country.
If these writers were read as they ought to be, it
would be impossible for ministers to commit the grievous
errors which they are committing, as if in utter igno-
rance of the past, and utter recklessness of the future.
Some papers have turned up, where or how I know
not, nor why called the " North Papers," but they
corroborate Dr. Wordsworth's argument, by showing
that Gauden's own family never believed him to have
been the author of the " Icon." I have written in my
copy of Dr. W.'s book Latimer's saying, " Well, there
is nothing hid but it shall be opened." There is a com-
fort in thinking so. God bless you.
R. S.
To John Rickman, Esq., ^-c.
Keswick, May 16. 1825.
My dear R.,
I have to thank you not only for all your kind-
ness to Bertha, but for a friendly invitation communi-
cated this day by Mrs. Rickman. If you are in town
the early part of July I shall be very glad to accept it,
or if you should be at Portsmouth, to follow you there
for a few days.
My present movements are somewhat unsettled. I
meant to have started on Wednesday the 25th ; but
Bedford and Chantrey are somewhere in Scotland, and
may not improbably take me with them on their return.
A want of timely communication on the said Bedford's
part renders this somewhat doubtful. It cannot, how-
ever, make more than tvvo or three days' difference in
I I 4
488 LETTERS OF 1825.
my arrival. And my first walk in London will be
(instinctively almost now — for it has been for more than
thirty years) to the corner of Palace Yard. My dearest
associations with London will be destroyed whenever
your house and the Exchequer shall be pulled down.
I have begun my reply to Butler's book with some
reminiscences relating to that spot ; and the passage
(which I think you will like) is much the better in
composition for a quotation from the old " Dialogue of
the Exchequer," which I have borrowed from you. I
am making an odd book of this, and bringing forward in
it a great deal of curious matter.
You cannot have had time to look at Dr. Words-
worth's inquiry concerning the l^Ucov. A case of
special pleading was never more satisfactorily made out;
and since it was published some papers (called, I know
not why, the " North Papers ") have come to light, from
which it appears that Gauden had never imposed upon
his own family so as to make them believe him to have
been the author.
I am glad to see that Sir R. Inglis made a speech of
good matter upon this cursed Catholic question, — for
the point on which to rest is, that the Catholic system
is unchanged and unchangeable. The Romanists cannot
ho?id fide give up the points which in common sense
disqualify them for political power, without ceasing to
be Romanists. And as for those members who pretend
to have been convinced by the evidence of Doyle and
O'Connell, my life for it they may be converted to a
belief in Transubstantiation, if there was any immediate
convenience in their conversion. My charity does not
extend so far as to believe that any reasonable man
{huvibiif/fjahle as the animal is) can have been so hum-
bugged. I am anxious to see how the Bill will fare in
the Lords. If it be thrown out I shall yet hope (thanks
to the Duke of York) that the evil will be averted.
1825.
ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 489
Should it be carried, my opinion is, as the Bishop of
Limerick says in a letter to me, that we are only at the
beginning of troubles. You know, however, that I am
no despondent, but ready always to hope, and, where I
am able and know how, to act also.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Miss Bertha Soiithey.
Antwerp, June 22. 1825.
My dear Bertha,
Ik beklaage myzelve, and you will heklaage me
too, when you hear that I am lamed by a bug-bite, and
detained here in consequence. The bite is on 'the pig
which stayed at home" when the great pig went to mar-
ket. It is the same pig which was hurt by the shoe when
we walked up Latrigg, and which presently healed.
However, I suppose some disposition to inflammation
remained in the part. The bite took place either at
Bouchain or Mons, and was not troublesome till Sunday
evening, when I applied eau-de-Cologne. Monday I
travelled to Antwerp in a slipper, and with my foot up.
Yesterday and to-day I have been confined to the house
and poulticed. To-morrow I hope the evil will be
over, and that we may proceed. At present the poor
wolf is the wolf of Uz, and finds it dismal enough to be
shut up in an inn in a strange place, and where, for
want of a sofa or settee, he is disaccommodated with
three chairs. So you have all the bad news, if such
news can deserve to be called bad, serving only as a
little excuse for patience. The good news is that I
have got the books I wanted, and that my cold appears
to be effectually cured. Six days' travelling in the hot-
test weather put it to a sharp trial. I blew and sneezed
490 LETTERS OF 1825.
pretty well for part of the way, but by the end of the
journey it was exhausted, and I have not felt the slight-
est indication of it since. And I believe it to be cured,
because there are certain sensations which make me
always know when it is only suspended.
I bought at Brussels a cooler cap than my own, the
material of which is horse-hair, and which, if my gover-
ness will not let me wear it at Keswick, she may appear
in herself, or let E. May or you have it; and if every
body else scorns it, it will do for Aunt Lovell's woman.
But I must tell you that it is the very pink of the fashion
at Brussels, Brussels being the most fashionable place in
these parts. The weather is cooler, but continues fine.
No post for England leaves this city before Saturday
next. I shall, therefore, continue my letter when I
have more to say, and perhaps carry it on with me.
Ley den, Sunday, June 26.
Being assured that I might travel without injury to
my foot, if I only continued to poultice it, we set off on
Thursday from Antwerp, reached Breda that day, Rotter-
dam the next, and came to Lcyden last night, where
the first thing I had to do was to write to Mr. Bilder-
dijk, and request him to recommend me a surgeon. He
came immediately with one, by whose account, and by
my own feelings, I am now already thirty per cent, bet-
ter ; though it will be three or four days before I shall
be able to move, as there is a great sore. The inflam-
mation, however, is lessening just as it should do, and all
going on well. Mrs. B. has sent me a bundle of rags
and lint ; she is unwell herself at this time, and there-
fore I have not yet seen her. But it was quite a com-
fort to me to see her husband when I felt myself in
want of a surgeon. The surgeon, who speaks nothing
but Dutch, is surprisingly like my brother Harry, but
rather an older man. His manner is such that, even
1S25. ROBEUT SOUTIIEY. 491
without the character which Mr. B. gives of him as his
friend, I should have entire confidence in him. My
new friend Mr. Bilderdijk, for we were friends at first
sight, is seventy years of age, and would remind your
mother, both in figure, countenance, and manner, of poor
Admiral Burney, only that his dress is very neat. The
wife is twenty-four years younger. Should I like her
as much as I do him, my governess might perhaps have
greener feelings than would be agreeable. I can only
say at present that I am very curious to see her. He
understands English well, and speaks it, though it re-
quires great attention to follow him, owing sometimes
to pronunciation, sometimes to the want or the mis-
application of words. He came at eleven this morning,
and sat with me about two liours. In the evening he
is coming again. I find him a most agreeable and well
informed man, and by no means repent my journey to
Leyden, though I am laid by the leg here. The acci-
dent will shorten my journey and not prolong my ab-
sence. It was a disappointment to me not to find a
letter here, but perhaps the next post will bring one.
]\Iy cold is quite gone, and when I get upon my feet
again I shall be a sound man. My fellow travellers
are all very desirous of assisting me in any way, and I
take things quietly and cheerfully.
Monday.
My foot is going on as well as possible ; but as it
must of necessity confine me for some days to the house,
we have determined upon taking lodgings, to which
PIcnry Taylor will accompany me, while Neville White
and Malet extend their travels by running up the
Rhine to Mentz, rejoining us or not as may be found
expedient. Mrs. Bilderdijk will arrange our concerns.
I have not yet seen her, but I like her husband so
much that I am quite sure I shall regard this detention
402 LETTERS OP 1S25.
at Leyden as a fortunate circumstance when I get home,
however unlucky the cause. I suffer little or no pain
now, the inconvenience of having one leg always on a
chair is all. I am provided with books, and my time
will pass neither unpleasantly nor without profit. Indeed
by no other means could I possibly obtain so much in-
formation as by the society into which I am thus
thrown. You are to understand, therefore, that I am
in good health all over, except one toe and a piece of
the foot, and in good spirits, without any exception at
all. And so God bless you, one and all. I shall write
again in a few days ; but as I do not know when or how
the post goes, there may be delays, for which I am not
responsible. Once more, love to all, and God bless you.
R. S.
Written with the ruby pen.
To Br. H. H. Southey.
Amsterdam, July 16. 1825.
My dear Harry,
Here I am, sound of wind and limb, save and
excepting only just enough remains of a wound to
require a simple covering till the healing is complete.
But in truth I have had an escape from what might
have been a very serious affair. I suspect that the bug
of Bouchain (may the finger and thumb overtake him !)
found an ill disposition in the toe which he attacked,
left by that ulceration with which it arrived in London,
otherwise such a cause would hardly have produced
such effects. The foot, almost up to the ankle, was in
a fearful state of inflammation when I reached Leyden.
It began immediately to amend under Mr. Docra's
treatment (who, by-the-by, is more like you than any
of your brothers are); but it was not till after a fort-
1825. 140BERT SOUTIIEY. 493
night's confinement to the sofa that I was allowed to put
on a cloth shoe. That fortnight, past under Bilderdijk's
roof, was one of the pleasantest of my life. So extra-
ordinary a man, in all respects, I have seldom or never
met with ; and his wife is, in her sex and her sphere,
noways inferior to him, though without the slightest
eccentricity or display. Not that he has the latter in
any degree — the former in a very great one, but inci-
dentally only, in speaking English for my accommo-
dation ; for language so excellently amusing in every
possible respect, never before fell from mortal lips. It
was English in the main, with a pronunciation some-
times French, but generally Dutch, and with such an
intermingling of French, Dutch, and I^atin — sometimes
pure, sometimes Anglicised in termination (now and
then a little Spanish to boot), that at every word it was
an even chance to which vocabulary you must recur in
following him. I was presently at ease, and could not
anywhere have received more genuine and unremitting
kindness, than from father, mother, and child, in that
peculiar and almost insulated family.
Yesterday I left them and reached Amsterdam. I
have been at the book TFi?ickel this morning, and am
now expecting ****** to drink tea with
me, who is settled here as a missionary from the So-
ciety for converting the Jews. 3Ie7is sana in corpore
sano there certainly is not in his case. His com-
plexion is, to the last degree, pale, dyspeptic, and
melancholic, his eyes very much like those of a maniac.
This tendency has found a vent; but whether it will
serve the purpose of a safety-valve time must show.
At twelve years of age he was the finest boy I ever
beheld, and often have I spoken of him as such. A
paralytic stroke withered him in his youth; and in
passing from the dogmatical Atheism in which he was
bred up, he has gone completely to the opposite ex-
494 LETTERS OF
1825.
treme, and looks as if, in Homer's phrase, he was day
and night employed in " eating his dear heart."*
Here I have bought the Latin Glossary of Du-
cange, in six volumes, for ten guilders, which for this
portion of his works I suppose to be very cheap. I
have found here also the well-known, or rather much-
talked-of, volume of " Taliacotius." My purchases here
go to Leyden, there to join another and larger detach-
ment, which I hope will arrive in London almost as soon
as I shall. I send from thence one work of Durand
and Martene, in five folios, another in nine ; which,
with what I have at Keswick, will go fcir towards com-
pleting that important collection. I have got also that
edition of Erasmus's *' Epistles " for seven guilders for
which my uncle would have given thirty shillings in
London ; a good glossary of the Middle German
tongue ; another of the more Northern dialects ; some
rare and very valuable collections of media9val remains,
&c., — enough, in short, to require the assistance of
Glover when I get home, for supplying them with
shelves, to regale myself for two or three years, every
night after supper, and to furnish my arsenal for the
services in which I may be required to engage.
To-morrow we go for Utrecht. I hope on Saturday
to start in the steam-packet from Calais, or Dunkirk
(if there be one there), for London. In that case you
will see me that night. The journey has succeeded in
enabling me to throw off my cold as often as the hot
weather (excessive at this time) has renewed it ; and
though grievously annoyed by another infirmity till I
was laid prostrate by the accident on my foot, I have
felt no tendency towards it during the present week,
though I have been quite enough on my feet to have
• Ov ^vfi'bv Kar'iCujv, nurov ai'OpwTrojv aXieii'ojv,
" Ipse suum cor edens, hominum vestigia vitans."
IIoM. Jliad, Z. 202.
1825. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 495
brought it on had the relaxation continued. My
journey, therefore, will have answered, in all respects,
according to present experience.
I suppose you will, ere this, have seen Neville White
and Arthur Malet. Henry Taylor is with me ; and
though he lodged at the hotel during my confinement
at Leyden, seems not to regret that he stuck to the
wreck. We have both learnt more concerning the
country at Bilderdijk's than one could have done by
travelling through every corner of it. My stay in
London must be but very short. I shall go forthwith
to Streatham, then once down to Rickman's, and
return to start for Cumberland with the least possible
delay. Love to all. God bless you.
R. S.
To John May, Esq.
Utrecht, July 17. 1825.
My bEAR Friend,
You bespoke a letter from Franeker, and as I
could not go to Franeker to write it, your expectation
of receiving one was in some danger of being dis-
appointed. If you knew the might of the thermometer
in Utrecht at this time (seven in the evening), and if
there were any hygrometer which could ascertain the
degree of exudation now going on from every pore of
my not-at-this-time " too solid flesh," you would con-
sider it an act of heroic virtue in me, to have walked
from one chair to another for the purpose of taking
a penknife from my coat-pocket, mended a pen at
the window, and then mustered courage to begin an
epistle.
You will have heard of my mishap from Harley
Street. The consequences might have been very serious.
Such as they were they crippled me for three whole
400 LETTERS OF 1825.
weeks; and from June 25th to July 16th 1 was under
the surgeon's care. The wound is nearly healed, but
the limb is weakened, and every night the foot is
swollen, as it used to be after two nights' mail-coach
travelling. It will require care when I reach home,
and, I fear, may disable me from taking sufficient exer-
cise to keep my general system in the condition which
it has regained even during this confinement, and in
spite of it; for in all other respects I feel like a sound
man.
That confinement I cannot but regard as singularly
fortunate, unpleasant as the cause was. It threw me
upon the charity of Bilderdijk and his wife, two of the
best and most interesting people with whom it has ever
been my fortune to become acquainted. And no part
of my life ever passed away more rapidly, more profit-
ably, or more pleasantly, than while I was confined to
the sofa under this roof. I parted with them on Friday
with great regret, though not without a hope of seeing
them at Keswick, and a determination of revisiting them
at Leyden, should life and circumstances render it pos-
sible. Thursday I proceeded to Haarlem and Amster-
dam with Henry Taylor, who stuck by the wreck when
our party was broken up. We stayed one day in the
stinking city of Amsterdam (the noisiest as well as the
most stinking of all cities at this time), and came this
morning in the treckshut to Utrecht, a passage of eight
hours. Our places are taken in the diligence for Ant-
werp to-morrow, and by Saturday next we hope to be
in London.
I shall bring home a journal* which is all the better
* On a card inside the pocket of his MSS. diary of 182G, I
find these lines : —
" Amsterdam we reached by schooner,
And not liking, left the sooner :
Never city such a sink was,
Weak the drink was, strong the stink was."
1825. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 497
for my tarriancc at Leyden, though, peradventure, it
may be the worse for my laying it aside in order to
hurry through this letter. I have sent home seventy-
five goodly folios (Heaven send them a safe delivery at
Keswick) and about as many more volumes of smaller
calibre. It does me good to think of them, to antici-
pate the joy I shall have in receiving and arranging, and
the pleasure and profit in using them. Among them
are some of those vvliich I most wanted: — the first
edition of "Wadding," containing his whole works,
but not the supplements; Mabillon's " Annales," but
not his "Acta;" two of Durand and Martene's Col-
lections ; the Latin Glossary of Ducange; and some
other excellent books. I have seen some curious per-
sons, and heard many curious things ; I have eaten of
all Dutch dishes that were set before me, in unimagin-
able compounds and conjunctions; I have drunk of all
strong liquors that were set before me, and all weak
ones ; I have regaled upon cakes, the receipt for mak-
ing which is a state secret, entrusted only to the Burgo-
master of Deventer; I have been called Mynheer, and
also Master Soudey ; and, finally, I have been disturbed
after I had gone to bed, and as nearly to sleep as the
ever-to-be-execrated watchmen and doijs of Amsterdam
would permit, to receive a letter of reproof from the
missionary of the London Society for Converting the
Jews, for my intention of travelling by the trekschut
to Utrecht this morning, instead of tarrying a day to
hear him preach an extempore sermon. Since my
midnight arrest with Scnhor Aqua Casa at Lagos, this
is the most comical adventure that has befallen me.
Heaven send us cooler weather to-morrow, and thin
Dutchmen in the diligence ! I shall take the latter on
to Antwerp; and if I should find no scraps of time there
for adding to it, thus much will suflice for letting you
VOL. III. K K
498 LETTERS OF 1825.
know that I am in good health and in good spirits, but
desperately hot at this present writing. God bless you.
Yours affectionately,
Robert Southey.
To the Rigid Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, M.P.
Keswick, Aug. 30. 1825.
My dear Wynn,
I performed my journey without injury or mis-
hap of any kind, — except the loss of a hat, for which I
consoled myself in verse thus : —
I've lost my hat : well, let it go. Who minds it?
I only hope t'will fit the man that finds it.
And a good find he had, for it was a new one. Since
my return the erysipelas has shown itself more than
once, but always slightly ; and if the foot be not kept
up it soon becomes oidematous. It will probably be
long before I have the full use of it ; but it is not pain-
ful or otherwise troublesome, and confinement, either
partial or total, is no privation to me.
This, however, made it necessary for me to decline an
invitation to Storr's. I lost by it more than I was aware,
for Sir Walter dropped in there. He came over to see
me. We had not met for twelve years ; and I found
him, as might be expected, much aged and altered. He
looks older than he is. I should take him, by his ap-
pearance, for three score. I have promised to cross the
border and visit him ere long.
The Bishop of Chester* also spent an evening with
me since my return. He is a working bishop, as well
as a speaking one ; and makes the ceremony of confirm-
ation as impressive as it ought to be. Our bishop is a
* The present Bishop of London.
1825, ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 499
sleeping one, and tliis place has been sliamcfuliy neg-
lected. No confirmation has been held here within the
memory of man; and the bishop never holds one nearer
than eighteen miles, and then so seldom that nothing
can be more indecent than the crowded assembly, and
the manner in which the business is hurried through.*
I picked up at Bruges the " Vie et Revelations de la
Soeur Nativite" three volumes, printed for the first
time in 1817. It is a legend as monstrous and as im-
pious as any of the twelfth century, got up by a French
emigrant priest during the Revolution, with the sanc-
tion of Milner and other English Roman Catholics.
This is a great deal worse than Prince Hohenloh : for
his prayers may cure just as well as the tractors or
animal magnetism ; but here is a tissue of blasphemous
inventions, produced with a solemnity which makes one
shudder. I have not yet determined whether to re-
serve this for my "Vindiciae," or bring it forward in
the *' Quarterly Review."
Respecting poor Elmsley I shall probably take your
hint, and say something of him in a letter dedicating
the book to you. But this should not prevent us from
inserting something more at length in the " Quarterly
Review," where it will be more widely read. I have
printed about half a volume, and am going on in good
spirits and in good humour with my opponent, who,
when he deals with most unfairness, proceeds, I believe,
upon the faith of others. But it will surprise you to
* I hope the Indecency of Confirmations will be mended in due
course, and that some bishops who are regularly in London for the
season will not forget that there is such a place as the country,
and that they have a diocese to attend to. The convenience of
the rail has obviated the old hackneyed excuses, and I have seen too
many AVaggon Confirmations not to remember them with distress.
The article in the Times on the confirmation of the Princess was
entirely to the purpose. Happily, some bishops did not want the
hint.
K K 2
500 LETTERS OF 1S25.
see of what faithlessness he and his authorities have
been convicted.
My books are not yet arrived ; and I am looking for
tliem with some impatience, being in want of " Mabil-
lon's Annals." I shall have some very curious chapters
concerning monastic history.
Do you remember a passage which has often been
quoted from Cotton Mather *, as a specimen of his bigotry,
relating that Mrs. Hutchinson, who had been convicted
of thirty heresies, was shortly afterwards delivered of
thirty monsters ? The midwife's account of the birth
has just been published (for the first time) in " Win-
throp's Journal ;" and it proves to be a complete case of
one of the rarest occurrences in midwifery, — hydatids
in the os uteri. A copy of the book reached me lately
from Boston, having been drowned on the way in cross-
ing the liancaster sands, where the coach stuck, one
liorse was lost, and the American who was bringing it
to me had nearly been lost also.
Scott, like myself, has been very much struck by
your Pont-y-Cyssylltan Aqueduct, which he thinks
the most impressive work he has ever seen. The
Lisbon f Aqueduct, though higher, is far inferior in
effect. God bless you.
XV. S.
To John Hickman, Esq., §*c,
Keswick, Sept. 4. 1825.
My dear R.,
I am afraid it will be long before I shall have
the fair use of my legs again. Either the wound, or
* I will thank the reader to correct the mistake in Vol. IT. p.
264. I wonder how I overlooked it, as he is a great favourite, as
all oddities are, with me.
t See Vol. II. p. 232. of these Letters.
1S25.
liOBERT SOUTIIEY. 501
the erysipelas, has left much weakness in tlie foot. It
swells if I walk for half an hour, or if it is not kept
in a raised position the greater part of the day. Now,
as partial weakness is only to be overcome by gain-
ing general strength, and as general strength must be
diminished if air and exercise are not taken, how I am
to get rid of the infirmity Is not very clear.
It served me, however, as an apology for not going to
meet Mr. Canning at Storrs. I am not fond of visiting
at great houses, and meeting a great many strange faces.
Lowther is the only place of the kind to which I can
reconcile myself, because there are plenty of old books
there, and there is a kindness about Lady Lonsdale
which makes one think nothing about her rank, or
rather, which makes one like her in spite of her rank ;
for though nobility is an excellent thing in political
society, it is no recommendation to my liking.
I have been visited since my return by the Bishop of
Chester, Sir Walter Scott, and Mr. Canning, and more-
over by a certain musical prodigy called George AspuU.
George Airey is in Keswick, who was a prodigy of
another kind — one of the Jedidiah Buxton genus.
He has answered at Cambridge all the expectations
that were formed of him, and is now a fellow of Trinity.
I mean to obtain from him an opinion upon the scientific
attainments of Bede, concerning whoui I have said a
good deal in my " Vindiciae. "
Canning is looking well, and prolongs his stay at
Storrs because he finds the benefit of the air and
exercise. Scott I saw much altered in the course of
twelve or thirteen years, for it was so long since I had
seen him.
Thank you for the last " C. Canal Report." Upon
placing it in its volume, I perceive that I have not got
the 21st.
Tell Mr. Telford, when you see him, that Sir Walter S.
K K 3
502 LETTERS OF 1825.
is full of admiration for the Pont-y-Cyssyltan Aqueduct
wliich he saw for the first time on his way back from
Ireland, and which appeared to him (as it did to me)
the most impressive work of art he had ever seen.
God bless you,
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, S^c,
Keswick, Sept. 4. 1825.
V
The Bishop of Chester passed an evening with me about
a fortnight ago. He hoped my " Vindiciae" might be pub-
lished before the question was brought on next session,
and expressed a strong sense of the services I had done
by reminding the nation what the Romish religion is.
Every carrier's day, I am hoping for my books, and
every post for a proof-sheet.
I was invited to Storrs to meet Mr. Canning, but re-
turned for answer that it would not be prudent for me
to leave home. My foot swells if I walk half an hour,
or if I do not keep it up on the sofa the greater part of
the day. Whether this is the effect of erysipelas (which
leaves this tendency behind it) or of the weakness which
the profuse discharge produces, I cannot tell. But as
local weakness may best be remedied by improving the
general strength, I know not how I am to improve mine
while under this sort of half confinement to the house.
Canning called here a few days ago, and brought over
a renewed invitation. It is no disappointment for me
not to accept it, for I have little liking either for great
houses or great men.
Sir Walter also has paid me a flying visit ; and pro-
bably the next visit I shall pay will be across the border
to him. The distance is seventy or eighty miles ; but it
can only be got at by three stage-coaches, and therefore
1S25. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 503
it is easier to go to London. That journey is facili-
tated lately by an alteration in our mail. It now passes
through Keswick (southward bound) at half after five in
the afternoon, and so strait from Penrith.
I have been very much amused with the " History of
the Monastery of St. Gall," which occupies the greater
part of Goldastus's volume ('^ Alemannicarum Rerum
Scriptores aliquot vetusti "). The whole volume is ex-
ceedingly interesting. Some of the successive Lives,
being all written by authors of the House, let you more
into the manners of monastic life, or rather its feelings
and secrets, than any other document which I have yet
j)erused. My marks through the book are so numerous
that I am almost afraid to begin the task of making my
notes from them. What a store of such notes shall I
leave behind me.*
My two youngest girls are barking from morning till
night; Cuthbert has joined in the chorus ; and there is
some apprehension that this may be the commencement
of the hooping cough, though I am not of that opinion
myself. The rest of the household are well. Edith
May, since her return, has been busily employed in
superintending the getting up her mother's and sisters'
wardrobe. Bertha begins to look like herself again ; I
mean that we now see the old countenance, and not the
alteration which so long an absence had produced in it.
I bought at Bruges and brought home with me the
" Vie et Revelations de la Soeur Nativite " — an im-
posture as blasphemous and almost as gross as that of
** Maria de Agreda " — got up during the French Revolu-
tion, and published in 1817 by a certain Abbe Genet,
who was an emigrant priest here in England. It has
the approbation of Milner and other English Romanists.
It is a great piece of good fortune to have met with it
* See the extracts from Goldastus in the third series of the
Common Place Books, p. 335. &e.
K K 4
504 LETTERS OF 1825.
as I (lid by accident. I am inclined to think it will be
better to make an article upon it in the " Q. R." than
to keep it for my " Vindiciae ; " it will appear sooner, get
into wider circulation, and have more effect. They are
at their old tricks everywhere, and would go to work
again with fire and faggot if they could.
Love to my aunt and Alfred and Southey. God
bless you.
xi. S.
To Miss T)ora Wordsworth*
Keswick, 182o.
My Pretty,
Not to have behold you in little horse-waggon
come with Mademoiselle E. May, shall have been to
me cruel misappointment. I was on the speculation
for your coming all to-morning, and all morning before.
Truly it should compassion your soft heart to compre-
hend what I bear then, but it is not first time that I
have unfortune to sustain. Now to comfort me I take
pen to you ; also for moreover cause that I give you the
novels of this house.
This house, my Pretty, is grand house for cats. Cat
here just now have kitten ; so the young peoples here
make compliment to me of ask that I should appoint
name to kitten, that is to be same what, should kitten
be child, you call god-father, which in England I dis-
cover to be compliment of first water. Same fine com-
pliment I discover it to be accepted, when name of one
* This and the two following playful letters were written to
that bright and gifted creature, Wordsworth's only daughter.
She was one of the three in AVordsworth's Triad. Their several
names were, Dora Wordsworth, Sara Coleridge, and Edith May
Southey, now Mrs. Warter. Mrs. Warter has just informed me
that these Letters must be transferred to their several dates, under
1827— J. W. Warier.
1825. ROBEllT SOUTIIEY. 505
great person is appointed to child, or horse, or anything
that miglit be capable to have name : so to make ex-
ample there is stage coach called Sir Walter Scott : a
great gooseberry called Duke of Wellington : and superb
Bull called Shakespeare ; and little back I read in
gazette that one weathercock put upon one house in
Somerset county was made namesake to Sir Thomas
Lethbridge. True occasion then see I in this matter
for to liquidate in particle the duty which I indebted
am to my great patron and friend in Russia, with whom
I serve in that awful campaign terrible: my great friend
the Prince General Chaka-chicka-checka-chocka-choaka-
chowsky. So I appoint to kitten that name heroique.
Much blame to one your poets here, Mr. Soote, who
make song upon Moscow campaign, and where he so
many grand Russ name place in, not to have that.
Frenchman who was in the runaway of Moscow, should
take sick to-day, and perhaps be die, to hear that name.
I saw your kitten set up his eyes, and look, when that
name is put to him.
Young peoples here shall say that I convey too far
my gratitude in make such compliments to the Prince
General my friend, instead of to place upon kitten that
Russ name heroique, with which he and whole regiment
honorified me, by cause of what slaughter terrible in
that pursuance I was happy to make. It was charming
name that they compose for me, with significance so
beautiful, so true. I shall let you see, — Rogadogchog-
vrankovonterochopperslog, which to interpret shall be
Noble Butcher into collops who cut French rascal; for
all so much meaning it concludes. Pretty name, my
sweety, for one of your pigeon-turtles, if you please to
show tender compliment to me such way. And if you
desire to have name for your gold fish, you may appell
him after that false Pole Jamramtamdamkillibenowski-
douskifrowski, of who I shall some time tell you the
50G LETTERS OP 1825.
affiiglitful catastrophe, for then I encounter the most
uncommon of all my exploits. But I shall that history
conserve for next time.
Oh, my Pretty, it was compassion to me to hear of
what happen to you with the Bootsman at Manchester !
"What mercy that you fall into hands of Bootsman who
had so fine sentiment ! He is worth of sonnet from the
pen parental, which I think should make sonnet so well
in resentment of your melancholy state, as to honour of
good Bootsman. Such sonnet ought to be — and pic-
tures of Cruikshank. Aly Pretty, it put me in a laby-
rinth to see you at such critic time divide so much
discreetness with such valour ; for had you not recover
that indispensable raiment, you could not have pickled
yourself from not to seize one bad cold or rheumatism
in your voyage on the coach.
But now 1 must make finish in haste ; so, my Pretty,
adieu !
From your faithful old husband,
R. S.
To Miss Dora Wordsworth.
Keswick, 1825.
My dear young Wife,
You have made invention of surprising many of
my riddles, which show in you a profound genius, such
as becomes my young wife, and make me proud of
her beautiful talent. Now I shall explicate the two,
three, concerning which you have laboured your spirit
to no fruit.
A bill of fare, to be like Glover and his boy, must be
one into which carp enters.
I call my son father-in-law, when I say to him " So,
sir !" (socer).
1825. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 507
Mrs. is unlike a farmer who wishes to get rid
of his tares, because she wishes to get rid of her corn.
Also, I have made these more for your divertise-
ment: —
What king in the Bible was most like a woodman ?
Why is the cry of a ewe calling to her lamb like an
ancient kingdom in the east ?
Who in the bible is most like a man of straw ?
Which contributor to the "Keepsake" is like a
French insect ?
Some little girls are drawn up at school to be ex-
amined, and a question is going round which many of
them cannot answer ; why do they who think they can,
look at the mistress as if they were talking of a city
which is often mentioned both in sacred and profane
history ?
Why must Mr. Henry Coleridge, till he is married,
be like a man that has hanged himself? And why
should I be like one, also, if I were metamorphosed into
a woman ?
I do not use to make too much euloge of my own
glory, because of modest propriete ; but in the affair
of riddle, I think I may say that, if I was should have
been lived in the days of King Solomon, and the Queen
of Sheba should have hear of my spirit in the way of
riddle, I think, I sa}'', she should here come to pay visit
to me. Which if she was done, the kings of Abyssinia
from that time to this day they must be my posterity.
That is, always provided I must have not had you then
for my nice young wife, for then I would have resist, like
Joseph, all the Queen of Sheba's attractive courting.
No, ray pretty 1 never would I have become a perfidious
to you.
So much I love you, that if Venus was just now
come by in her caroche, drawn by turtle-pigeons, and I
might, could, apprehend one of these turtle-pigeons by
508 LETTERS OF
1825.
placing upon his queue pinch of salt, I would draw one
feather out from his pinion, with the which to make
pen, and write sweet billet of affection to you. My
faith, I believe that if I was applicate that pen to the
place where my heart knock, knock, knock, as the un-
liappy man who was all for love in the poem did, I
think that in my case, too, without to tap the skin, a
drop of my core's blood should ought come forth for me
to make such writing to you. Pardon you me, then,
that I use no better than vulgar ink !
I remain,
Your kind old husband,
Robert Sootee.
To Miss Dora Woi-dsworth.
Keswick, Sept, 18. 1825.
I AM desired to let my young wife know that her two
eldest daughters-in-law will be at Rydal Mount early
enough to dress for the ball.
To which I only add the pious imprecation, " Con-
found all balls ! " and that I am,
Dear young "Wife,
Your dutiful old husband,
ft. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, S,-c.
Keswick, Oct. 29. 1825.
Thank you for your references to Venema; they
will be of use, for I have only as yet consulted that
author occasionally, not having had leisure to go through
him. L'Enfunt's " Three Councils" and Erasmus's
1325. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 509
" Epistles" have made large drafts upon my reading
hours. I am nearly half through the latter, an enormous
hook, ahove 1000 pages. By what yousay of the smaller
volume, I suppose the selection must have heen made
upon some principle which excluded everything of much
value, for I have seldom been more interested. Gro-
tius's " Epistles " come next in course. They are nearly
equal in bulk, and the matter must be of equal interest;
but I apprehend that the eye will not travel quite as
smootlily through his syle as through the pleasant and
natural language of Erasmus.
You would perceive that the paper upon Bayard in
the last "Quarterly Review" is mine. That upon
Pope is by George Taylor, the father of my late fellow
traveller. John Coleridge reviewed my poem himself.
I have now upon my table the first proofs of a paper
upon the Waldenses, which will be finished on the day
that this reaches you.
A volume of "Vindicige" will soon be ready, 300
pages being printed. The employment is a very tempt-
ing one ; and I think that the book will amuse as well
as please you. I almost pity Mr. Butler ; for though
nothing can be written in better humour wherever he
is concerned, his arguments and his cause are treated
according to their deserts. I had thought of concluding
the volume by recasting, from the "Edinburgh Register,"
my argument concerning Catholic emancipation, which
the Bishop of Chester apprehended would be brought
again before Parliament next session ; but Lord Lons-
dale, who called on me last week, thinks otherwise, and
I wish to fire that shot where it may take effect.
The time will presently come when Edward's lot is
to be cast for Oxford or Cambridge. At Oxford, Elms-
ley would have been a valuable friend to him ; and for
this as well as other reasons, I greatly regret his loss.
Go where he will, I do not doubt of his well-doing ;
510 LETTERS OF 1825.
and I trust also that if the others get to New College,
they will not sink with that idleness which New College
has a reputation for producing. It is a great defect at
Oxford that there is no friendly intercourse between the
graduates and undergraduates : in this respect Cam-
bridge is greatly to be j)referred, — in others I give the
preference to Oxford ; but there are Oxford men who
see wherein their system is erroneous, and who may
probably succeed in bringing about a healthier state of
things. Keble did this ; Elmsley was doing it ; and
the son* of my old friend Lightfoot is likely to pursue
the same course. There cannot be a greater mistake
than to suppose that discipline is relaxed by this sort of
intercourse.
Your diocesan, like other diocesans, has no time for
defending the faith in the manner that I can defend it.
Circumstances have concurred with inclination to make
me more conversant with Roman Catholic history than
most men ; and circumstances have also rendered the
knowledge applicable to immediate use in these times.
What I acquired with different views, and very much
because it suited with a sort of intellectual taste for
garlic, laver and caviare, has turned out to be precisely
that kind of knowledge which was most wanted for
once more exposing an abominable superstition, which
is again beginning to act on the offensive, to be trou-
blesome and to be dangerous.
Do you see that Butler adventures a " Life of Eras-
mus"!! This must inevitably be so bad a book, that if
I were to review it (which I could do if any other person
had written it) I should break his heart.
li. S.
* John P. Lightfoot, D.D., the present rector of Exeter. I
liave received no further letters of his father's. lie was kind
enough to say he would send tliem if there were any.
1825. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 511
To the Rkjht Hon. C. W. W. Wynn, M.P.
Keswick, Nov. 20. 1825.
My dear Wynn,
I am drawing near the end of my " Vindiciee,"
at least to the end of one volume, which I shall send
out with such a sort of winding up that the subject
may or may not be resumed, as suits my own conveni-
ence. And I am disposed to introduce it in the manner
which you suggested, for reasons of propriety as well as
of feeling. When I have sketched what I would say,
you shall see it; and if there is anything concerning
Elmsley that you think should particularly be noticed,
I will work upon any hints that you may send me.
As for the book itself, it is not to be expected that
you will like it ; for, though it is written with such
perfect good temper towards Butler that for anything
upon that score we might meet upon our former terms,
I have carried the w-ar into the enemies' quarters, and
with a strong hand. You know the British Roman
Catholic Association passed a vote of thanks to Butler
and Milner for confuting my calumnies. I have there-
fore taken such opportunities as the subject presented
for proving upon the Romish Church those charges
which they are pleased to call calumnious.
It has been with the " Tale of Paraguay " as I ex-
pected it would be. The tale wants the interest of a
tale, and in that respect, therefore, may seem to be mis-
named. Few have liked it ; and those few like it much,
because it is in unison with their own feelings. The
reviewal of it was written by John Coleridge, who, by
the by, wrote that character of Brougham in the paper
upon the Mechanics' Institutes, which is said to have
pleased the Radicals. The paper upon Bayard is mine ;
and 1 shall have one in the next number upon Gilly's
visit to the Vaudois. I am now going to make an
512 LETTERS OF 1825.
article of the Life of Wolfe, though I believe there is
little of general interest in that life, except its last
glorious scene — certainly one of the finest in its kind.
Many years ago Murray sent me a collection of his
letters, to sec if a book could be made from them ; and
my opinion was that it could not. I hope the author
of the forthcoming work has had better materials.
The author, whoever he is, of the " English in Italy "
has sent me his book ; and "Tremaine" came to me in
the same anonymous manner. I cannot guess at either
writer. They are both good in their way ; though what is
done well in "Tremaine" is done better by Shelton, and
better still in the " Minute Philosophie" of Berkeley,
which is a masterpiece in its kind. My own " Collo-
quies " are in the press. The manner of them, when I
began to contemplate the subject, was suggested by
Boethius ; but this is not apparent, and the less so, be-
cause I gave up the intention of interspersing pieces of
poetry. I have taken great pains with what is written
of this book, not with the view of pleasing the public, or
any part of it, but with the sober desire of comparing
the past with the present, and stating fairly what there
is to fear and to hope in the progress of society. Mur-
ray can show you the prints which have been engraved
for the description parts ; they are very beautiful.
My foot is so much better that I hope there will be
little permanent injury sustained, — nothing more than
the adhesion of the skin to the tendons of the injured
toe.
My paper upon the Christian Missionary Society lias
given offence to the same persons who are displeased
with Reginald Heber's conduct, with whom I believe
myself to be in perfect accord upon these topics. The
appearance of the " British Critic" in its new form is
owing to an opinion that the " Quarterly " has become
too liberal. I am nut sorry for this, because in the
1825. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 513
main, both will be serving the same cause ; but I. wish,
with you, that the most zealous friends of the Church
partook more of the spirit in which it was founded. The
*' Quarterly " is of main importance to me, being my
chief source of income ; and while it is in the hands of
the present editor, I can depend upon the regular in-
sertion of my papers, which I could never do with
GifTord. Almost the only difference which time has
made in my habitual feelings is, that I sometimes feel
a degree of anxiety concerning my future means of sub-
sistence, which I was never sensible of in former years,
even when my fortunes were at the worst.
God bless you, my dear Wynn.
Yours most affectionately,
R. S.
To John Jlickman, Esq.
Keswick, Dec, 4. 1825.
My dear R.,
The last news I heard of you was that you were
going to see the Bayeux tapestry, — a valid and good
motive for crossing the water. If you executed that in-
tention, you would very much enjoy the novelty that
one meets with everywhere in a foreign country. That
part of France I have never seen, though it is very well
worth seeing. I should very much like to go through
Normandy and Britany, the latter province especially,
if I were master enough even of French to collect
Celtic traditions, of which there must be good store.
Meantime I have enjoyed myself at my desk, and
with my last purchases in the Low Countries. The
" Peninsular War," in which you express a friendly
interest, has been going on, so that the second volume
will appear in the spring, and the concluding one follow
VOL. III. L L
514 LETTERS OP - 1825.
it in the press without delay. I am finishing a volume
of " Vindiciao," meaning to publish it forthwith.
Having nothing to defend, my warfare is offensive
throughout, and I have attacked the Romanists every-
where in a way which will make them wish that they
and their advocate had let the " Book of the Church"
alone. The book will have variety, oddity, and re-
search to recommend it.
You would discover that the review of " Bayard's
Memoirs" in the last ** Q. R." was mine. In the next
I have a paper upon the Waldenses, good in this re-
spect, that it contains a clearer abstract of Manicheism
than is to be found elsewhere. I do not know for what
reason Murray has thought proper to change his editoi*.
His own story to John Coleridge has been plumply con-
tradicted to me by the only person who can contradict
it (Sir W. Scott) ; and he is so well aware that I shall
not like the change, that he has not yet written to me
upon the subject. The new editor, Scott's son-in-law,
is a person whom I know only by sight, and by charac-
ter which is twofold, — that which he earned for himself
in " Blackwood's Magazine," and that which Sir Walter
gives him. I lose, by the change, an editor whom I
knew, and on whom I could rely ; but I am released
from any motive for continuing to work at that occupa-
tion longer than my own convenience may render
necessary.
I have had great entertainment in going through
Erasmus's "Epistles," which contain, as one might ex-
pect, a great deal of English matter. It is amusing
to find that in his days it was thought an honour to be
a Cockney. Mr. Butler advertises a " Life of Erasmus,"
which he is about as well qualified to write as I should
be to write the Life of Roger Bacon or of Sir Isaac
Newton. For a sound scholar, and a man of diligent
research, the subject would be a most fortunate one.
1825. KOBERT SOUTHEY. 515
A course of epistolary reading is exceedingly pleasant
as supplemental to history, political as well as moral.
I liave gone through Casaubon's and Scaliger's with
great interest, and shall begin upon Hugo Grotius's
for my after-supper books, when I shall have gone
through tlie collection of Durand and Marteue, which
form my standing dessert at present.
God bless you.
R. S.
To Mrs. Hughes.
Keswick, Dec. G. 1825.
My dear Madam,
The generals which you have heard of us have
been of the most general ^ewMs; these exceptions being
to be made from the statement of our being all well, —
that I am still lame of one foot, and that my son, my
three younger daughters, and Sara Coleridge, are settled
in the whooping-cough for the winter. Bating these
things, with Bertha's tooth-ache, and Isabel's cold, and
Edith's sore throat, and a few other, &c. — why, thank
God, we are as well as can be expected. And as the
force of the whooping-cough has spent itself, and of the
tooth-ache also, and the sore throat is better, and
Isabel has been this day be-calomelled (which is her
sovereign remedy when her head and tongue indicate a
week of it), and I can bear a close shoe again, — why,
methinks, all is well, if not in the present tense, at least
in the future in rus.
My journey into Holland proved eflectual, as I hoped
it would, in getting rid of my old enemy for the season.
But — oh, ihdiibut! — my misfortunes in Holland, though
tiiey did not, like Tristram Shandy's, begin before I
was born, begun before I left England, — yes, before I
L L 2
516 LETTERS or
1825.
left home. I have them at this moment, not at my
finger's, but at my foot's end; and as you desire the
whole Iliad, why the whole Iliad you shall hear.
lU'vdd on this occasion it ought to be written, for an ill
story it is.
Be it known, then, to you, that two days before my
dejDarture from Keswick, at the end of May last, in
coming down Latrigg with the children, I suffered a
slight hurt from a disagreement between the shoe and
one of the joints at the end of my right foot. Though
one of the most peaceable persons in the world, and
careful ones, too, in such things, I cannot always suc-
ceed in keeping the peace there ; but a piece of paper
laid on in place of the old skin had always, heretofore,
sufficed till a new one was formed. Towards the close
of my journey to London, the foot swelled with tra-
velling, and the pressure at that part made it fester,
when it would otherwise have healed. A little rest in
London put all to rights, as it appeared. Over the
water I went, and proceeded to Douay, making that
place in my route for the dutiful purpose of seeing
where my twice or thrice great-grandfather. Sir Herbert
Croft, is buried, — the first of the name, who turned
Iloman Catholic, and died among the English Benedic-
tines. I had a mind to see his monument, but I might
as well have looked for Amandus and Amanda's at
Lyons; for when I got there, the church had been
gutted during the Revolution, and the crypt was full of
rubbish, and inaccessible. So I could do no more for
proving myself the most dutiful of twice or thrice great-
grandsons, than look at the outside of the ugly building
and the crypt-door.
Now, whether it were at Douay or at Bouchain, I
know not, but at one or other place, Satan, who took the
form of a flea in former times to annoy Saint Dominic,
took the worse form of a bug to annoy me. Whether
1825. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 517
it were so, or that by some instinct in a Roman Catholic
bug it knew me for a heretic of the first class, so it was,
that the said bug fixed upon that very joint for his
supper, which ill-fortune had, I suppose, rendered
tender and so to her liking. And to make short of a
long story, the excessive heat of the weather, and the
excitement of travelling, brought an inflammation there ;
and I reached Leyden in such a state that the conse-
quences might have been very serious if the evil had
gone on four-and- twenty hours longer. Then I lay
three weeks under a surgeon's hands. When I got back
to London, just as the wound was healing erysipelas ap-
peared there ; and though this was soon subdued, a
tendency to swell upon the slightest occasion still con-
tinues, and the joint will always be stiff.
Now I should tell you that Bilderdijk and his wife
(who translated "Roderick" into Dutch) took me into
their house at Leyden, and nursed me there ; and that
they are tvvo such people, that I never passed three
weeks of my life more to my heart's content. But it
would take a longer letter than this to contain all that
I could say of these most excellent and most remark-
able persons. I would gladly purchase two such friends
again at the same price, if it were possible that two
such could be found.
I sent home nine hundred-weight of goodly folios,
and here I am revelling upon them. Mr. Butler will
have the benefit in due time. A volume of "Vindicia9"
will very soon be finished, and published at the opening
of the session, without waiting for a second. It will be
an odd book, with much variety of matter, and, if I
complete the design, will contain a more regular expo-
sure of Roman Catholic villany than has ever yet ap-
peared. The "Peninsular War" will be published in
the spring; " Oliver Newman" takes long naps.
I have not seen the "Life of Sheridan," and now that
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518 LETTERS or 1825.
the " Quarterly" has changed its editor, I shall know
nothing more concerning it than what I may do in it
myself. I have had some correspondence with Sir Walter
concerning the changes.
Pray give me your receipt for erysipelas, an enemy
I have learnt to fear. My womankind join in kind
regards ; make mine to Dr. Hughes and your son, and
believe me, my dear Madam,
Yours very truly,
Robert Southey.
To John Richnan, Esq., Sfc,
Keswick, Dec. 19. 1825.
My DEAR R.,
Thank you (and your amanuensis also) for your
Journal, which reminds me of a great deal, and gives me
a good deal to think of. Few things, I believe, appear
more remarkable to an Englishman than the apparent
want of population in France, and the little travelling
everywhere on the Continent. Were you to land at
Calais, and travel to Petersburg, you would not meet
so many carriages on the whole way, as you would in
one day between London and Bath. More carriages
are to be seen in Holland than anywhere else where I
have been, — the remains of their old prosperity. Where
the population is, I cannot tell ; villages are few, there
seem to be no scattered houses, and the towns are
neither large nor numerous. I suspect that France has
not yet recovered from the Revolution and from Bona-
parte's war. When I was there in 1817, there was a
manifest and shocking deficiency of men between twenty
and forty years of age ; the generation which had be-
come capable of bearing arms during some five-and-
twenty years, seemed to have been swept away. There
1825. ROBERT SOUTnEY. 519
must surely have been a great excess of females at the
end of that time, after allowing largely for broken hearts,
and the deaths produced by misery of every kind.
I should like to know what causes can have thrown
the land into large farms ; it can neither have been spe-
culation, nor capital. There is a very full account of
the state of agriculture and the aariculturists in France
by Arthur Young, who travelled at the beginning of the
Revolution. I believe it is said that the Revolution
tended very greatly to improve it : how, I know not ;
but it is certain that you see no waste land in France.
With regard to the small quantity of animal food
consumed in France, their wiser cookery seems to bo
the chief cause ; plain boiling and roasting are wasteful
modes of preparing food. With them nothing is lost
in the form of steam or of pot-liquor; and the worst
parts of the meat serve as well for made dishes as the
best.
The Bayeux tapestry, then, is bas-relief in needle-
work. This sort of quilting work was in fashion for
veils, &c. two or three years ago, producing good effect
by the easiest process. The incorruptibility of linen I
do not understand. We find it becomes rotten by age,
whether it be exposed to the air (as in curtains), or laid
by in the form of table-cloths, &c. Is villanous bleach-
ing the sole cause of this ? Or, when rag is made into
paper, is this some chemical change in the process, as if
all that was corruptible were got rid of, and the resi-
due acquired the property of incorruptibility ?
Of late I have been reading largely in monkish chro-
nicles, to my great profit and entertainment. Glaber
I have read among others, who gives the fullest account
of that great famine which left behind it an appetite
for cannibalism.
I never knew before that the charge had been made
of prolonging Joan of Arc's sufferings, by the mode of
L L 4
520 LETTERS OF 1825.
execution. But I know that from the same circumstance
it has been attempted to show (with as little ground)
that it was only a mock execution. Her whole history
has been elaborately investigated not many years ago ;
but I know nothing more of the book than what Turner
has given us.
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, Sfc.
Keswick, Dec. 24. 1825.
The Bishop of Chester writes me word that Baynes,
in Paternoster Row, has just got over a convent library
from Flanders, where there are many books which he
thinks would be useful to me ; and he offers to inquire
for any that I may be in want of, as they are not yet
catalogued. I have requested him to see if there be a
history of the Dominicans there, either by Malvenda
in Latin, or Hernando Castello in Spanish, — with little
expectation of either. But if I had Fortunatus's cap,
or the seven-leagued boots, I would look out for myself,
with the certainty of finding good stores.
Of all the orders the Franciscans have done most for
their own history, and the Dominicans least. Among
the latter these two are the only general historians of
which I have scent ; the one in one folio only, the other
only in two.
I have written to expedite the printer's movements,
that a volume of the " Vindiciae" may be ready when
Parliament meets : 400 pages are printed, and I have
little more to do than to wind it up. I am now tooth
and nail upon the " Peninsular War," and running
through the Soeur de la Nativitc's "Revelations" for
1825. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 521
the "Quarterly Review," the new editor being desirous,
much to my satisfaction, of going as far against the
Roman Cathohcs as his tether will let him.
Having done with Erasmus's " Epistles," I have now
taken Martene and Durand's larger collection for my
dessert after supper, and a rich dessert it is. Among
other interesting things, there is a letter there written
by a bishop who was at the taking of Lisbon from the
Moors. There are three folios of charters and cor-
respondence, three of chronicles, and three of ecclesi-
astical matters, chiefly relating to the latter councils,
all rescued from the worms in the convents on the bor-
ders of France and Germany. I am just half way
through them, and then have another collection of five
volumes by the same industrious compilers in store.
They succeeded to Mabillon's papers and his pursuits.
Mabillou's "Acta of the Benedictine Saints" I have
still to procure, and then my preparations will be
tolerably complete.
There will be a paper of Copplestone's in the next
" Quarterly Review," upon that notable piece of hum-
bug — the London University, upon which, or rather
upon its promoters, I have bestowed a parenthesis in
ray "Vindiciae." Murray has not written to me since
the change of administration, feeling, no doubt, when-
ever he thinks of me in connection with that subject,
like a dog when he has his tail between his legs. He
has got himself sufficiently into disgrace with all par-
ties concerned.
My friend Senhouse looked in upon me yesterday on
his way home, after nearly three years' absence. I
shall probably pass a week with him in the course of
the winter. Would that his consignments from Italy
were arrived, as my " Wadding" is among them.
In making my notes to-day from a work of Mo-
sheim's, I find a book mentioned which I wish your
522 LETTERS OF 1826.
jackal, when he next goes upon a prowl, would inquire
for at Baj'nes's, though I have not much hope of finding
it, — " Opera M. Gulielmi de S. Amore," in quarto, one
vol., bearing date at Constance, 1632, but in reality
printed at Paris. Grotius's friend Cordesius edited it,
under the fictitious name of Joannes Aletophilus; and
as the Dominicans obtained a decree for prohibiting
and destroying it, it is exceedingly rare. But here I
believe more is to be found concerning the " Evange-
lium Sternum" than anywhere else; and here also is
some very important matter relating to the Mendicant
orders, whom he attacked and exposed in the height of
their power, God bless you.
Rr. S.
To John Rickman, Esq., §'c.
Keswick, Jan. 18. 1826.
My dear R.,
I sent off by this post the last portion of my
" Vindicise " to the press. This will give me a little
breathing time. You will find in it some curious ex-
posures of Romish impudence, and will see also in what
manner I can handle a flail, which, by the bye, was once
used as a very formidable weapon by Ziska's soldiers in
the Bohemian wars. They literally threshed their ene-
mies ; it was flail versus sword and buckler.
We are just beginning to thaw, having had the glass
at 12° two days ago. My young ones lament that they
can have no more skirling on the lake, — a motion some-
thing between skating and sliding, and originating in
the iron-shod clogs. Their coughs are wearing them-
selves out, not Ihem ; and will continue to keep slight
but pertinacious hold (like a cockchafer with one claw),
till the warm season returns. Did William escape the
182G. ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 523
whooping cough ? for it was from Dean's yard that ours
was imported.
An advertisement in the papers tells me that an
attempt is making to revolutionise the booksellers' trade,
as Morrison has done the haberdashers', — tempting pur-
chasers to one shop by cutting off all the intermediate
booksellers' profits, which are one third per cent. They
promise books at little more than half the ordinary price.
Murray and Constable seem to have anticipated some
such necessity for putting forth works at a cheaper rate.
The truth is, that the largest class of readers is now be-
ginning to be found in a lower stage of life.
Our kindest remembrances to Mrs. R., Bertha's more
especially ; she is preparing for a Christmas party this
evening, a mile and half from home.
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, ^c.
Keswick, Jan. 25. 1826.
To-day 1 sent back the proofs of a paper for the
"Quarterly Review," upon the "Life and Revelations
of Soeur de la Nativite," which Lockhart thinks must
produce no small effect if the Catholic question is re-
newed this next session. It is quite as bad as the worst
legend of the darkest ages ; and, as it was got up with the
approbation of the heads of the emigrant clergy in this
country and of their English brethren, Milner especially,
the exposure will be well timed. I have brought it
forward as a proof that the Roman Catholics are just as
bad in all respects as ever they were. My book will be
published before it ; I should think in the course of
three weeks, as there are but three, or, at the utmost,
four sheets to print. So I shall have two batteries in
action.
524 LETTERS OF 1826.
I got the other day from a Darhngton catalogue
Thevet's " France Antarctique," with some good wooden
cuts of my old friends, the Tupinambas. Some value
has been set upon the book, because it is ruled, in the
old fashion, with red ink. I bought also (it was a pig
in a poke) an Italian poem in manuscript, for the subject
sake — II Capitolo Fratesco. The manuscript is not old,
and ver}' well written ; the age of the poem I shall be
able better to guess at when I read it: probably it is
of the last half-century. From the little which 1 have
looked at, it promises well.
I have been reading Louis Bonaparte's" Documents"
respecting Holland. It is a curious exposure of his
brother's villany, and a still more curious display of his
own character. He has left a good name in Holland,
and very deservedly, for no man ever had better inten-
tions, or acted more uprightly in the most trying occa-
sions. There is the strongest admiration of his brother,
with the strongest disapprobation of his actions; and his
natural affection survives the worst usage.
I am now looking through Grotius's "Epistles ; " by
far the greater part are written while lie was in the ser-
vice of Sweden, and are therefore political. Something
1 shall get from them relating to Brazil, and probably
more concerning Portugal when I come to the year
1G40. But Grotius is not one of those writers who
tempt you to the regular perusal of a large folio closely
printed in double columns. He never writes perspicu-
ously, and rarely with any felicity either of thought or
expression. Still it is an important book, and I shall
collect a good deal from it, for various uses.
Our weather, though with extraordinary ups and downs
of the thermometer, is, and has been, the pleasantest
that I ever remember for January. In three days the
glass rose thirty degrees ; but the coldest weather was
without wind, the thaw without rain, and generally sun-
1826. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 525
shine enougli even to tempt me from the fireside. The
hike is still frozen. Mv j^irls are toocI shirlers — an
exercise you have not heard of in the South. Shirling
is neither sliding nor skating, but a sort of intermediate
motion, performed in the common clogs of this country,
which have irons on them like horse-shoes.
The last " Quarterly " has not reached me yet ; nor
have I had any communication with Murray since he
began his manoeuvres for changing the editor. He is
ashamed to write to me.
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Neville White, Sfc.
Keswick, Feb. 11. 1826,
My dear Neville,
Remember you, from this time forth, that if you
do not receive every book of mine as soon as it is pub-
lished, that the publisher is in fault; and I pray you
let me know it, that directions may be repeated accord-
ingly. Such neglect is not unfrequent. I know that I
have lost several books in this manner which were in-
tended for me ; and have reason to think that many of
my own, in like manner, have never reached their des-
tination. I forgot to tell you that my "Traveller's
Guide in the Low Countries " came back to me, in a
better livery than it was worth.
You will, 1 trust, see my " Vindiciae " in the course
of a fortnight. 1 expected the last proof this day. It is
not a defensive book, — for what had I to defend? but I
think it will make the Roman Catholics wish that
Mr. Butler had never attacked me ; and for his own
sake I wish so too, as it is very likely to keep him em-
broiled in controversy as long as he lives. I may, or
526 LETTERS OF
1826.
may not, complete the dissection of his book, as cir-
cumstances may render advisable. The employment
would neither be unpleasant nor useless ; still, it is not
exactly the employment which I should think best for
myself. However, if it be necessary, I shall not shrink
from the task. The most injurious parts of his book
are left untouched, and of course the strongest parts of
my reply would be to come ; but in what is done, there
is enough to demolish fifty such antagonists.
There has been an advertisement in the papers which
makes me guess that Morrison's principle is about to
be applied to the book-trade. Septimus Prowett is the
bookseller who is the agent in this new scheme, and he
promises books at little more than half the ordinary
price. This may, in its consequences, shake Paternoster
Row. How it will affect authors, remains to be seen.
They cannot, I think, be worse used than they are by
the existing race of publishers. Something ails that
race ; for nearly two years they have retrenched all
civilities in presenting any of their new publications :
there can be no other motive for this, than retrench-
ment.
I am not satisfied with these experiments in free
trade, which are making at all risks : on the contrary, I
incline to think that in certain things we must come by-
and-by to regulations for checking those unlimited sup-
plies which so far exceed the demand as to ruin the
manufacturer. Of this I am full}' persuaded, that the
manufacturing system cannot be carried on as it is at
present, without producing, in the course of half a cen-
tury at farthest, a more tremendous convulsion than
these kingdoms have ever yet sustained. It brings with
it in its train everytliing that is detestable and dread-
ful. I have some home truths to bring forward in my
" Colloquies " upon this and otlier subjects connected
with it.
1326. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 527
Two of my whoopers still favour us with a little
kennel-music, and will probably continue so to do till
the month of May. In other respects we are going on
well. I am trying cold water for my foot, pouring a
stream on it morning and night, and friction afterwards ;
what remains is a constant tendency to swell, not any
perceptible weakness in any other way ; but the foot is
plainly larger than the other, and I must have a larger
shoe made for it in future, unless the present system
should prove effectual.
Mr. Gurney's is a surprising book. I am not ac-
quainted with any other svhich contains so clear and
full and convincing a view of the evidences and doctrines
of Christianity. A clergyman would have well deserved
a bishopric for it. I think he extends the inspiration
of scripture further than is maintainable ; but if this be
(as I believe it to be) an error, it vitiates none of his argu-
ments; they remain in their full strength, though nothing
more than historical authenticity should be required for
the historical books. There is no man whom I should
so well like to see more of, and to know intimately.
You shall have some autographs ere long in a frank.
They are one of the plagues of my life ; and I cannot
conclude this letter better than by transcribing some
lines which I wrote, in " right, downright, sincere sin-
cerity," not long since, upon an application made through
Mrs. Opie's friend, Mr. Barber.
" Oh, for a lodge in some vast wilderness,
Some boundless contiguity of shade," —
Where these perpetual solicitations
For albums, and for autograph collectors,
Might never reach me more ! My ear is pain'd,
" My soul is sick with every day's" request
For scrap, or gem, or line, or signature.
From askers of all sliades of modesty.
Known or unknown, direct or round about,
528 LETTERS OF 1826.
Througli friend, or tlirough acquaintance's acquaintance,
In post-paid letter, or in barefaced call !
An Albophobia tlicy have brought upon me !
I shudder at the sight of a blank book ;
White paper makes me dangerous ; and if pen
Be forced into my hand, oh, then I rave
And vent my fury in mordacious verse I
God bless you, my dear Neville ; our best and kindest
remembrance to your whole circle.
Yours most affectionately,
R. S.
Messrs. Longman and Co.
Keswick, Feb. 14. 1826.
Dear Sir,
I send off this day the volumes of Chalmers'
collection, and the biographical notices, — one alone ex-
cepted, for which I have not the necessary materials.
As nearly as I can calculate, the pieces marked from the
following authors will extend to about 900 pages : —
Chaucer. Daniel.
Stephen Hawes. Drayton.
Skclton. Giles Fletcher.
Surrey. Phineas Fletcher.
Sackville. Browne.
Gascoigne. Wither.
Spenser. Davenant.
The pieces to be taken from Chalmers are marked
there. Hawes's " Pastime of Pleasure" is so scarce a
book, that it will, I suppose, be cheaper to have it tran-
scribed than to sacrifice a copy at the press. Surrey's
" Poems" should be printed from Dr. Nott's edition,
the whole of them. They will not exceed 30 pages.
1826.
ROBERT SOUTIIEY. 529
The wliole of Sackville's too, which, if not printed from
Hazlewood's " Mirror of Magistrates," should be cor-
rected by it. All the others are included in Chalmers
except Wither. His "Shepherd's Hunting" and his
"Motto" are what I mean to include; and I should
have been glad if there had been room for his ** Abuses
Stripped and Whipped." Wither's is the life which I
cannot write till I have other materials. It may be
done when I shall be in town in May next.
Room — room — room has been wanting. I coukl
give nothing of Spenser but the " Fairy Queen; " no-
thing of Phineas Fletcher but the "Purple Island;"
nothing of Brown but the '•' Britannia's Pastorals ; " and
only the " Nymphidia" of Drayton, besides his " Poly-
Olbion," with which poem the notes must not be
printed, for they take up about 50 pages. I have
selected the most remarkable pieces of the list, and
most remarkable writers, as far as the limits allowed ;
and more than this could not be done.
It will be most essential to have the press carefully
corrected, and by some person competent to the task ;
for Chalmers's collection, though not quite so bad as
Anderson's, is nevertheless infamously incorrect. Those
sheets which contain the biographical notices you must
let me see.
The two poems which are marked of Skel ton's
(" Colin Clout" and " Philip Sparrow") may very well
be printed in pages of three columns. I have punc-
tuated great part of one, and any person of common
understanding may complete the task.
It may be worth your while to consider whether a
similar volume, consisting wholly of sacred poets, would
not be likely to sell. In that case Giles Fletcher might
be struck out of the present list.
Yours very truly,
Robert Southey.
vol. iii. m m
530 LETTERS OF 182C.
To John Richnan, Esq., S^c.
Keswick, Feb. 28. 1826.
My dear R.,
You have got my book, I hope. Mr. Butler
may bless his stars that it breaks oiF before I came to
his worst and weakest parts, if one part be weaker than
others in so flimsy a web. I have a letter from him
explaining the notable mistake which is mentioned in
my preface. He says Murray told him there were no
alterations in the second edition. This fairly accounts
for the mistake, but is no excuse for his assuming that
I must have read a book which I believe was not pub-
lished when that part of the " Book of the Church "
was written, and that I must have seen a letter in the
"Morning Chronicle" which, but for a mere accident,
I should never have heard of.
I do not understand the question about Free Trade;
but I suppose that, like most other great questions,
there are degrees belonging to it which theorists are apt
to overlook. Tlie Quakers owe much of their prosperity
to their principle of dealing among themselves. Did I
ever tell you that the practice of travelling to take
orders originated with them, and by accident? Their
first itinerants found that the interests of the Spirit and
of the Ledger might very well accord. This is one of
the odd facts which I have met with in my Quaker-
reading.
But I am sure tlie Ministers are wrong in supposing
that the Country Circulation can be carried on with-
out small bills. And what fools must those persons be
who do not perceive that coining is an easier art than
forgery, and may be practised with more ease to a
greater extent.
I am now advancing fast towards the close of my
second volume of the " War ;" it will be off my hands
1826. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 531
in time for me to begin my course of travelling in IMay,
when T shall run up to London, and most probably go
into Wales with my last year's companion, Henry Tay-
lor, and his father.
My whoopers are nearly well. I wish I could say
the same of my foot; it is not painful, but it is not
always without some sensation of disease, and it requires
a larger shoe than the other. Otherwise I am in good
health, spirits, and activity.
Bertha's love and our kindest remembrances to Mrs.
Rickman. God bless you.
Iv. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hill, %c.
Keswick, March 10. 1826.
I DID not feel any impropriety in the vouchers which
are brought forward for my view of monastic virtue.
The story of St. Thomas Aquinas seemed necessary for
the history of his Girdle *, which is far too good a history
to be left in the Acta Sanctorum ; and St. Peter Da-
mian's saying bore so aptly upon it that it could not be
dispensed with. To make the Romanists ashamed of
themselves is perhaps impossible ; but it is doing some
good to make others ashamed for them. With such
antagonists, I could not help playing sometimes both
with them and the subject. A book wholly of strict
and severe ai'gument was not required, and would not
have been read. " They have Moses and the Prophets ; "
if they will not be convinced by Usher, Stillingfleet, and
BaiTovv, &c., nothing can be effected by that form of
controversy. I wished my book to be read, and there-
fore took the advantage which a running commentary
upon so loose a work as Butler's fairly afforded.
He wrote to me immediately on its appearance to
* See " Viudiciae Ecclesiae Anglicanas," p. 329., &c.
M ^r 2
532 LETTERS OP 1826.
confess and excuse tlie small mistake which I had
pointed out in my preface. " Murray," he says, " told
him there was no alteration in the second edition."
This is a fair excuse for not having examined the pas-
sage for himself, — none whatever for the implication
which his charge conveyed. How the book agrees with
his gizzard, I have not heard ; but if his digestion be as
good as his swallow, all will be well with him.
Your apuntamientos are all to the point. Some I
shall insert at once ; the " Decameron," odd as it may
seem, I have never read ; and if you can refer me to
the tale, it will save me a search to discover it. My
book is in some respects the better, and in others the
worse, for dealing almost exclusively with the better
known parts of their superstition, and with illustrations
which are almost trivial. This is the better, because
the proof is made clearer and more undeniable, as re-
lating to points which are popularly known ; but it has
prevented me from using more curious materials of
which 1 have a miser's store.
It would take such another volume to go through the
remaining half of Butler's book, and broil his other side
a la St. Lorenzo. But whether I shall mount the Per-
sian steed for another excursion upon the plain whither
he is sure to carry me, will depend upon the apparent
utility of such employment, as regarding both my own
advantage, and the state of public opinion. I shall not
in any way be influenced by anything which the Roman
Catholics may set forth in reply. One more volume of
" Vindicia)" would be required, and then two upon the
" Monastic Orders." And if anything could be done by
laying faithful information before such a public as the
press has produced in this country, an exposure of this
kind ought to lay the Catholic Question for the next
century.
Butler's second book shows that he is sore upon the
\ ^-
1826. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 533
charge of dlsingenuousness, which both Phillpotts and
Towusend have pressed upon him. It is miserably
futile ; but it will pass with his readers. The question,
I am told, will not be brought forward this session, be-
cause they are sensible that a strong feeling against them
has been excited through the country. It is a little dis-
creditable to Oxford that it could find no fitter repre-
sentative at this time than a person whom nobody has
ever heard of out of his own immediate circle ; I, for
one, never heard his name before. Sir Robert Inglis
ought to be their member, and I should think might be,
if he were not a little too conspicuous in the scheme for
converting the Jews, which Norris of Hackney has with
so much patience exposed, and which of all insane ways
for expending zeal and wasting money is certainly the
insanest.
Bedford has been very ill, and I am afraid is not re-
covering well from the attack. I neither like his own
account of himself, nor that which Wynn gives me.
Gooch has some notion of summering here, which I
fear will hardly take efiect. His paper in the " Quar-
terly Review " has done its work, and saved us, as far
as the continuance of necessary laws can do, from the
plague. Peel tells him that ministers are convinced by
it, and determined to act upon that conviction. So he
says he has saved the Parliament from the proper name
which you had bestowed upon it.
My illustration of Romish miracles, being wholly
confined to the assortment in " Bede," is very important.
I have a rich collection in store of facts having the most
unequivocal stamp of roguery ; to say nothing of those
in which either the story is a mere lie, or the alteration
lies between miracle and murder. I do not think any
work could be planned which could throw so much
light upon the Middle Ages as a view of the Monastic
Orders. I have been making my notes from Martene
SI H 3
534 LETTERS OF 1826.
and Durand's larger collection, which is an invaluable
storehouse. The mischief is, that the view continually
widens as you advance. I now want some other work
of Mabillon, and Dr. Achery's " Spicilegium," &c. In
short, I want such a library as neither my means can
compass, nor ray house hold. However, I have where-
with to do a great deal.
Love to my aunt. God bless you.
R. S.
To the Right Hon. C. W. W. TFpin, M.P.
March 21. 1826.
My dear Wynn,
Pray look at Butler's book (p. 211.), and see
what he says about my having inserted the story from
Fox, relating to Gardiner's death, as a specimen of his
candour.
In the first place, as I told the story after Fox, and
did not extract it from him in his own words, the omis-
sion of the word old was like that of many other words,
which there seemed no cause for retaining.
Secondly, I had never seen that volume of Lingard,
nor. indeed, have I yet seen it. I never saw the articles
in the newspapers, nor should I have heard of them
unless, as you will very well remember, you had men-
tioned it to me the very last time I saw you.
Thirdly, without caring whether the story be true or
not, neither you nor I can suppose that Fox invented it,
for he was a thoroughly religious and good man. Un-
doubtedly it was communicated to him ; and supposing
it to be true, either he or the people who related it to
him may very easily have supposed it related to the old
Duke of Norfolk, and not the young one.
Lastly, in consequence of that conversation with you.
* V
182G. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 535
I did what you would have expected me to do. I ex-
punged the story, and accordingly it is not in tlie
second edition, where Butler charges me with having
retained it, and infers from this how little reliance is to
be placed upon me.
This is quite as bad as his assertion respecting "Bel-
larmine," and when I read it, I really apprehended that
Murray must have mislaid my directions, or that they
had been lost at the printing-ofRce ; for I could not
suppose Mr. Butler capable of anything so thoroughly
dishonest. However, upon referring to the second edi-
tion, I had the satisfaction of finding that the passage
had been expunged. Both this statement and that about
" Bellarmine " he must have taken upon trust, and that
from some person not very scrupulous as to truth. But
as his book appeared to have made some impression
upon you (which I wonder at, seeing how shallow and
sophistical it is), I send you the refutation of the rough
charge in it, which would impeach my integrity were
it true.
I knoiv now the depth of his shallowness, — to use an
Hibernian flower of speech. My uncle's remark upon
it is perfectly just. He says, " His contradicting you,
and asserting that you have misstated facts, may be
answered in what Warburton said of one of his an-
tagonists, * It may be so, for all he knows about the
matter.' "
I expect the first proof of my "Vindicia?" in the
course of the week. When the work which it defends
was printing, I pleased myself with the thought of sur-
prising Elmsley with the dedication. Time is now every
year taking away old friends, and I am past the age for
making new ones. When I look around me now, " Ap-
parent rari nantes in gurgite vasto."
God bless you.
"' R. S.
M M 4
536 LETTERS OF 1826.
To John Ilickman, Esq., ^c.
Keswick, March 30. 1826.
My dear R.,
I hope the Easter holidays have been, in the
language of the saints, improved by you ; that is, that
you have profited by them to get that refreshment which
green fields and an open sky afibrd after long and close
attention to business in London. How you stand such
perpetual wear and tear of intellect is to me marvellous.
1 have a reputation for hard-working, but had this head
of mine been worked half as much, or half as intensely
as yours, it would have been under the sod long ere
this. My bow is never kept strung, and half its time
only with a loose string, which just serves for letting fly
a fool's bolt. Idleness and mirthfulness have done much
towards keeping me in working trim.
Turner writes as if he were in better health and
spirits than one should think possible from the way in
which he was going on two years ago, and the great
degree of bodily derangement under which he evidently
laboured at that time. It is marvellous to see sometimes
how a good hearty mind can keep a crazy body from
falling to pieces. He is busy upon " Henry VIII.'s
Ileign," and I am glad to find that he is disposed to
allow himself more space, and enter more into details
than he has usually done. With his industry, and,
what is of not less value, his tact for perceiving what
may be discovered, he has only to persuade himself that
what he has found worth knowing must be worth com-
municating also.
The King of Portugal has died in ill times. We
could have better spared any of his contemporary so-
vereigns ; that is, there is no other whose death could
be likely to produce so many untoward perplexities.
One knows not what may liappcn either at Lisbon or
V
1826. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 537
in Brazil. In Portugal there are the Queen's part}-,
ready to renew a system so bad that it furnishes an
apology, if not a cause, for any revolutionary projects ;
and there are the Revolutionists, who, on their part, are
just as incorrigible by experience, and as impenetrable
to reason. And in Brazil the Republican party is strong
enough for Buenos Ayres to rely upon it, and upon it
only, in the w^ar wherein that feeble state has engaged.
But that party could desire nothing more favourable to
their designs than the death of the king, which brings
the question of succession at once to issue. Supposing
the emperor renounces the right of inheritance to Por-
tugal for himself and his eldest son, — if that line failed,
the right would revert to the second son, whom he might
send to Lisbon (supposing he has one, which I believe
is the case), and the Republicans will very well know
what use to make of this interminable claim, for showing
that the only way effectually to cut it off is by setting-
up a popular government. The sure and immediate
consequence would be division, anarchy, and butcherly
civil wars.
A person in Leadenhall Street, to whom I write un-
der your cover, thinks he can obtain for me a sight of
Wesley's letters to his wife during a period of fifteen
years. I shall be very glad to peruse them ; Wesley's
married life being that of his history, which has been
most blackened by his enemies (his wife at their head),
and kept back in the shade by his encomiasts.
God bless you.
R. S.
To the Rev. Herbert Hilly §'c.
Keswick, April 9. 1826.
There is a good story in point to your extract from
the " Foreign Scenes," which I find in a very singular
538 LETTERS OF 1826.
book, " CEco7iomia moralis Clericorum duohus Tractatihiis
Carmine leonino hreviter ac lepicle descripta,'^ the work
of a Brabantine priest in the middle of the seventeenth
century. It is given in prose as illustrating the precept
in the verse. A fellow who had stolen a pig was en-
joined, in penance, to distribute five stivers to the poor,
and being well pleased at getting off so cheaply, he re-
plied that he would distribute ten. The confessor's
suspicions were awakened by this voluntary duplication,
and upon questioning his penitent, he forced from him
the avowal that there was another pig in the same sty
which he meant to take possession of upon the same
terms.
A digest of the evidence upon the state of Ireland
has been published by two Irish clergymen, with a very
able commentary, in which the practices and designs of
the Romish clergy in Ireland are exposed with great
effect. They have sent me the book, and one of them,
Mortimer O'Sullivan, with whose brother I have had
some correspondence, is coming here this summer to
visit a brother of Latouche, the Dublin banker. Dr.
Doyle, it seems, was educated at Coimbra. He could
not have attained a greater proficiency in the art of
equivocation if he had studied there in the days of the
Jesuits.
Murray has sent me the new volume of *' Discoveries
in Central Africa," where, though they have found men
in armour, there appear no vestiges of ancient civilisa-
tion. According to this account the huge lake, or fresh
water Caspian, at which the Niger flows, has no outlet.
Murray has shown some quackery about the engravings
in his advertisement. This is the most successful jour-
ney that has yet been made, and it cost the lives of two
of the party, and a third, who went afterwards to
Bornou, with the title of consul, has died also.
I see by the newspaper that Frederick Blackstone is
V
\
1826. ROBERT SOUTUEY. 539
married, and that Julius Hare has taken orders, which
I am glad to see, because he has knowledge and indus-
try and talents enough to distinguish himself greatly
and usefully. In promoting Van Mildert to Durham,
there seems a wish to make some amends for having
sent ********, ^s Sumner was to
be the new bishop, I wish Carlisle had fallen first. It
would be pleasant enough to have a bishop there with
whom I should like to be acquainted ; and Sumner is a
person who is intimate with several of my friends, and
whom I have often been on the point of meeting.
The Roman Catholics have been too wise to bring on
their question this session ; they feel that they have
lost ground in consequence of the stir which has been
excited, and their friends in Parliament have the fear of
a general election before their eyes. If I could have
been sure of this, it would have been better to have
kept back the exposure in the last " Review ;" however,
so flagrant and blasphemous a case will not soon be
forgotten, I have just sent ofFa paper upon '' Britton's
Cathedrals," which would not be worth the time it has
cost were it not for the money that it will bring.
As for the "Vindiciae," I know nothing of the sale,
and hear nothing of the book, except that Lockhart tells
me it has made the greatest sensation, which he has said
for the sake of saying it. I am now fairly reading the
" Santuario Mariano !" not for Mr. Butler's sake, but
for the historical matter which it contains, for the book
is very curious, and to me very amusing. I should have
looked at some of the Lisbon idols with more satisfac-
tion if I had been acquainted with their adventures, as
recorded in their extraordinary i(7o/ographical work. I
question whether what are commonly thought worthless
books are not better worth reading than what are com-
monly called good ones ; the latter generally disappoint
one, and in the former you are thankful for any inform-
540 LETTERS OP 1826.
ation or amusement which you may chance to find
there.
I will bring up the " Malagrida Drawings," and in-
quire concerning the expense of having them litho-
graphed. My departure will probably be in five weeks
from this time. I shall then have finished the second
volume of the '* War." God bless you.
R. S.
To John Richnan, Esq.
Keswick, April 10. 1826.
My dear R.,
I do not doubt that over-tension of mind has
been the primary cause of the evil, and probably some
obscure bodily derangement the proximate one. The
remedy is to be sought in change of circumstances,
scenes, and air. Change of air I believe to be in most
cases the most efficient of all remedies ; indeed, I feel
its eflfects myself always in increased appetite and im-
proved digestion, sounder sleep, and the rebracing of a
bodily frame, which at other times is sensibly relaxed.
Take a journey as soon as Parliament breaks up. I
shall see you in about five weeks from this time, and
will press this upon you. You want change and sun-
shine, and open air and motion, and that sort of occu-
pation which is amusement, and which can in no other
way be so surely attained as by travelling in a foreign
country.
The packet which comes herewith contains a note of
introduction to Turner, for Mr. Garnett, who is a
curate at Blackburn, and a very remarkable person.
He did not begin to learn Greek till he was twenty,
and he is now, I believe, acquainted with all the Eu-
ropean languages of Latin or Teutonic origin, and with
sundry Oriental ones. I do not know any other man
\
1826. ROBERT SOUXnEY. 541
who has read so much which you would not expect him
to have read. He is very likely to distinguish himself
in his vocation by exposing the abominable falsifications
of such men as Milner and Lingard, whom he has in-
dustry enough to ferret out through all their under-
ground ways. The Bishop of Chester knows him, and,
I hope, will give him some small preferment, on which
he may have leisure for turning his rare acquirements
to good use.
He was the schoolfellow and intimate friend of that
poor Ritchie who lost his life in one of the African
expeditions.
Murray has just sent me his recent volume of "African
Travels," from whence it appears that the great fresh
water lake into which the Niger flows has no outlet.
This at least is the traveller's conclusion. It is odd to
have found men in armour there, and yet not the
slightest vestige of any degree of civilisation beyond
what at present exists there. The Mahomedan religion,
which has done evil everywhere else, has certainly done
good in Africa. I wish the travellers could discover
something like an authentic history of its progress
there. There are some samples of negro poetry in tlie
book, which have more of the Biblical character than
anything that has been brought us from Persia or the
East. God bless you.
R. S.
To Miss Barker.
Keswick, April 30. 1826.
Dear Senhora,
I am the worst person in the world to advise
with upon any transactions with booksellers, having
been engaged with them some thirty years, and having
542 LETTERS OP 1826.
all that time been used by them like a goose, that is to
say, plucked at their mercy. This, however, I can tell
you, that, deal with them how you will, they will have
the lion's share, and no one can find it answer to publish
on his own account, except it be by subscription, when
his friends will take some trouble to assist him.
You had better let the major write to Murray, and pro-
pose the book to him. I shall see Murray in the course
of three weeks, and will then speak to him about it, and
take a place for it in the " Quarterly Review," which
will be giving it a hearty shove. The first thing necessary
is for him to announce the translation, lest some other
persons should get hold of it, which among so many
hungry booksellers and hungrier authors will certainly
be the case, unless this precaution be taken. As for
terms, Murray will (I dare say) either halve the profits
with you, or give a price, which will be something less
than the half would amount to, and this in either case,
when you come to re-halve it, will be little enough.
Nobody knows better than myself what cuttings, and
parings, and clippings, and loppings, and toppings, and
shearings, and clearings there are before the poor
author's share is to be measured off.
I have an excellent history to relate, in due place
and time, of a monk whose visual sight was so strength-
ened by special spiritual grace that he could see evil
spirits filling the air in swarms like midges. The whole
atmosphere, he says, is full of them. For my poor part
I think the midges the worse plague of the two, perad-
venture they may be these very devil-swarms in a tan-
gible form, making themselves seen and felt by us
meaner mortals, • — fiends in masquerade, who tempt
persons to say curse the midges, and to other acts of
impatience. This, however, is not to the purpose ;
what I mean to say is, that whether the air be full of
devils or not, the earth is full of rogues. We live in a
1826. ROBERT SOUTHEY. 543
trading country, where the spirit of trade rules, and
that spirit is a vile, selfish, money-getting spirit.
" Beggar my neighbour " is the game which every man
plays ; and the great art of trade is, to allow as little
profit as possible to those of whom you buy, and extort
as much as possible from those to whom you sell.
If a bookseller be worse than another ti'adesman, it is
because his dealings lie with a class of men who, not
being tradesmen, cannot deal with him upon his own
system and scale of morality.
Do not send your manuscripts to Mr. Rickman's, but
to my brother's, No. 1. Harley Street, a sure receiving-
house at all times ; whereas R. and his family may be
out of town.
I shall see you, please God, in June, very early
in the month, if on my way out; and by the 20th, if
on the way back, which point will be settled in London
when we come to plan our movements there over the
map.
I read Berkeley's " Treatise " more than thirty
years ago : it is one of those books which prove so
much, that you are sure all cannot be true, and tliere-
fore fall into a distrust of what is. However, it has
always left upon me a persuasion that tar-water must be
good for something.
I shall take some of your white salve with me (thank
you for it), as a precaution, and I shall take also, like
Mr. L., a camphor bag, but for a different purpose,
meaning to fasten it on the obnoxious foot at night, that
the scent may keep the enemy at a distance. It was not
a Dutch bug, Senhora, it was a French one.; Bonchain
orDouay being its birthplace, therefore certainly French,
and certainly Popish. Never again shall I be able to
snap the moveables upon that foot. I used to play a
duet upon the pedal instrument ; now it must be a solo !
The part is not thoroughly well, and for that reason I
544 LETTERS OP ROBERT SOUTHEY. 182G.
am at tliis moment less certain about my movements
than I could wish to be.
I wish I could read Dutch as well as I can read
French ; speak it I certainly could with much greater
readiness in a very little time, if I had ever patience to
set about learning any language in the right way. How-
ever, I have taken very kindlily to everything in Hol-
land, — place, people, books, language, eating, drinking ;
everything, except smoking and their abominable beds,
which for the enormity of bolsters and pillows are worse
than the French, and which are, moreover, laid in a box,
instead of being placed on a bedstead.
God bless you. Love from all. Remember us most
kindly to Mrs. Rickman. E. May is at Rydal. Cuth-
bert has just been reading with me a chapter in the
Dutch Bible.
R. S.
END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.
London:
Friutcrl by Si-orrrswoonE & Co.,
New-street- Siiuare.
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