Thursday. 29 Oct. 1801.
My dear Wynn
For the last eight months there has been
hardly past a single Sunday in which I have not been among
the persons prayed for in the Litany as travellers by land
or by water. on Sunday next you will remember me in your
“We beseech thee to hear us” [1] – as being in the mail coach. Monday I
expect to be in London.
I saw little in the land of potatoes, &
did nothing that is Secretarianly speaking. Mr
Corry was in the hurry & bustle of removal –
so I got half thro the first book of Madoc [2] in correction, & began a copy for you.
One discovery I made which may please you. the
Patricians [3] are the noblest of nations by
descent. all other people sprung from the loins of Adam. but
the Irish are descended from the Sirloins of Pasiphaes
paramour. [4] they claim Cretan origin, [5] & who shall dispute it? The
exportation of Irish cattle being now permitted [6] I have brought over a
few fresh Bulls for you.
____
We go right to Bedfords lodgings – just to house ourselves on
arrival. I have yet no clear conception of how I am to be
employed – in the way of common business there seems to have
been no want of me – it looks as if I were to read for him
& talk with him – his manners are pleasant, & I
should suspect him of more abilities than Abbot [7] seems to possess. he mentioned your
letter – & spoke of you in a way which gave me much
pleasure.
____
I have never mentioned to you the Peace. [8] – & is not
this vile wickedness about Toussaint [9]
& the slave trade? – if they do not surprize him I trust
that by the blessing of God & the help of the yellow
fever he will defend St Domingo
successfully against all the power of France. [10]
Clarkson was
here yesterday. the good man who ruined his health &
sacrificed two thirds of his fortune in the surprizing
exertions he made for the abolition. he said your
Uncles [11] heart was in the business. If the ministry here lend any
open aid to France against the negroes – it will perhaps
bring the question on again – that young Jenkinson [12] must be a shallow – hard hearted
man.
Has the Bishop of St
Giles’s [13] taken Sir Herbert
Croft for his chaplain & secretary? – the
review of Thalaba [14] smells strongly of that reverend Baronet.
I wish it could be ascertained.
God bless you –
R Southey
Keswick.
Notes
* Address: To/ C W Williams Wynn Esqr M.P./ Lincolns Inn/
London
Stamped: KESWICK
Postmark: E/ NO/ 2/
1801
Endorsement: Oct. 29 1801
MS: National
Library of Wales, MS 4811D
Previously published:
Kenneth Curry (ed.), New Letters of Robert
Southey, 2 vols (London and New York, 1965),
I, pp. 253-254. BACK
[1] In the Litany of the Church
of England Book of Common Prayer (1662),
to be repeated every Sunday, the congregation responds
with ‘We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord’ to the
priest’s prayers. One of these is ‘That it may please
thee to preserve all that travel by land or
water’. BACK
[2] Southey had completed a
version of Madoc in 1797-1799 and was
revising it for publication. It did not appear until
1805. BACK
[3] The
Irish, as followers of St Patrick, 5th-century patron
saint of Ireland; but also a play on the word for Roman
aristocrats. BACK
[4] In
Greek mythology, the bull, Taurus. Pasiphae, Queen of
Crete, fell in love with him and their child was the
Minotaur. BACK
[5] See, for instance, Geoffrey
Keating (c. 1569-c. 1644; DNB), A
General History of Ireland (London, 1738),
pp. 185-199. BACK
[6] The Act of Union between
Great Britain and Ireland (1800) had created a customs
union between the two countries, gradually allowing the
free movement of all goods. BACK
[7] Charles Abbot, Lord
Colchester (1757-1829; DNB), Chief
Secretary for Ireland 1801-1802, The Speaker
1802-1817. BACK
[8] Britain and France had
signed ‘Preliminary Articles of Peace’ on 1 October
1801. This was effectively a ceasefire to allow
negotiations for a full treaty. BACK
[9] Toussaint L’Ouverture (1743-1803), leader
of the revolution in the French colony of Haiti against
slavery; effective ruler of the country 1796-1802, and
of the whole island of Hispaniola 1801-1802. Accounts of
the new constitution that Toussaint had promulgated
(e.g. in Bell’s Weekly Messenger, 11
October 1801) suggested that it might allow the
continued importation of slaves from Africa. BACK
[10] France’s preliminary peace
with Britain, signed on 1 October 1801, allowed it to
prepare an expedition, which sailed on 14 December 1801,
to re-conquer Haiti. BACK
[11] William
Grenville, 1st Lord Grenville (1759-1834;
DNB), Foreign Secretary 1791-1801,
Prime Minister 1806-1807. BACK
[12] Robert Jenkinson,
Lord Hawkesbury (2nd Earl of Liverpool from 1808)
(1770-1828; DNB), Foreign Secretary
1801-1804, Home Secretary 1804-1806, 1807-1809,
Secretary of State for War 1809-1812, Prime Minister
1812-1827. BACK
[14]
British Critic, 18 (September 1801),
pp. 309-310. The review was anonymous and a sustained
attack on ‘this complete monument of vile and depraved
taste’. BACK
