514. Robert Southey to Joseph Cottle,
[c. 20 April 1800]
*
My dear Cottle
I begin with memorandums. pray let both
volumes of the Anthology [1] be left at George Dyers by
your brother,
for Rickman, one
large for Biddlecome. Burton. near Ringwood.
Our journey was safe but not without
accidents. at Plymouth I saw Mrs
Tucker, [2] who pressed us to dine with
much earnest kindness. I was glad of the opportunity to
introduce my brother Tom to her, as he has no acquaintance in
Plymouth. we arrived here on Friday night & found the
packet by which we wished to sail detained by the winds. the
winds still continues
unfavourable & we are watching it with deep anxiety.
A voyage is a serious thing , &
particularly an outward-bound voyage. the hope of departure
is never an exhilirating hope: inns are always comfortless,
& the wet weather that detains us at Falmouth, imprisons
us in the inn. dirt, noise, restlessness, expectation,
impatience – fine cordials for the spirits!
However I get on with Thalaba, [3]
from which I steal the time now given to you. Devonshire is
an ugly country. I have no patience with the cant of
travellers who so bepraise it. they have surely slept all
the way thro Somersetshire. its rivers are beautiful – very
very beautiful – but nothing else high hills all angled over
with hedges, & no trees – wide views & no object of
beauty.
I have heard a good story of Charles
Fox. [4] when his house <here> was
on fire & he found all efforts to save it useless – he
went up the next hill to make a drawing of the fire. the
best instance of philosophy I ever heard.
I have received letters from Rickman &
Coleridge. [5]
Coleridge talks of fleaing Sir Herbert
Croft – which may not be amiss.
God bless you. I shake you mentally by the
hand, & when we shake hands bodily, trust you will find
me a repaired animal with a head full of knowledge & a
trunk full of manuscripts.
Remember me to all friends whom you see. tell
Davy this is
such a vile county that nothing but its merit as his birth
place redeems it from my utter execration. I have found
nothing in it but roguery, restive-horses, & wet
weather. & neither pilchards, white ale, or squab pie
were to be found obtained.
Last night I dreamt Davy had killed himself by an explosion & the
misery I felt awoke me.
once more God bless you.
yrs affectionately
Robert Southey.
Notes
* Address: To/
Mr Cottle/ Gloucester Street/
Brunswic Square/ Single
Stamped:
FALMOUTH
Endorsements: Southey 1800; (111) 55; Falmouth
MS: Berg Collection, New York
Public Library
Previously published: Joseph Cottle,
Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and
Robert Southey (London, 1847), pp. 220–221
[in part; dated ‘1800’]; Adolfo Cabral (ed.),
Robert Southey: Journals of a Residence in
Portugal 1800-1801 and a Visit to France
1838 (Oxford, 1960), p. 74 [in part; dated
[c. 20 April 1800]]. BACK
[1]
Annual Anthology (1799)
and (1800). BACK
[2] Possibly
connected to the Mr Tucker with whom Southey lodged in
Exeter in autumn 1799; see Robert Southey to William
Taylor, [started before and continued on] 1 September
[1799], Letter 431. BACK
[3] The Islamic romance
Thalaba the Destroyer (1801). BACK
[4] Charles Fox
(1740?–1809; DNB), poet, orientalist and
artist. Southey retold this anecdote in his
Letters from England, 3 vols (London,
1807), I, p. 6. BACK
[5] Coleridge to Southey, [10] April 1800, E.L. Griggs
(ed.), The Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, 6 vols (Oxford, 1956–1971), I,
pp. 585–586. BACK
