The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part 2: 1798-1803 A Romantic Circles Electronic Edition Southey, Robert, 1774-1843 Lynda Pratt Romantic Circles General Editor, Neil Fraistat General Editor, Steven E. Jones Technical Editor Laura Mandell 2011-08-15 rce737 letterEEd.26.728 Romantic Circles, http://www.rc.umd.edu, University of Maryland College Park, MD August 15, 2011

Material from the Romantic Circles Website may not be downloaded, reproduced or disseminated in any manner without authorization unless it is for purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, and/or classroom use as provided by the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended.

Unless otherwise noted, all Pages and Resources mounted on Romantic Circles are copyrighted by the author/editor and may be shared only in accordance with the Fair Use provisions of U.S. copyright law. Except as expressly permitted by this statement, redistribution or republication in any medium requires express prior written consent from the author/editors and advance notification of Romantic Circles. Any requests for authorization should be forwarded to Romantic Circles:>

Romantic Circles c/o Professor Neil Fraistat Department of English University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 fraistat@umd.edu

By their use of these texts and images, users agree to the following conditions: These texts and images may not be used for any commercial purpose without prior written permission from Romantic Circles. These texts and images may not be re-distributed in any forms other than their current ones.

Users are not permitted to download these texts and images in order to mount them on their own servers. It is not in our interest or that of our users to have uncontrolled subsets of our holdings available elsewhere on the Internet. We make corrections and additions to our edited resources on a continual basis, and we want the most current text to be the only one generally available to all Internet users. Institutions can, of course, make a link to the copies at Romantic Circles, subject to our conditions of use.

Huntington Library, RS 28. Previously published: Kenneth Curry (ed.), New Letters of Robert Southey, 2 vols (London and New York, 1965), I, pp. 293-295 [in part].

These letters were edited with the assistance of Carol Bolton, Tim Fulford and Ian Packer

For permission to publish the text of MSS in their possession, the editor wishes to thank the Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University; Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations; the Bodleian Library Oxford University; the British Library; Boston Public Library; the Syndics of Cambridge University Library; the Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge; Haverford College, Connecticut; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Hornby Library, Liverpool Libraries and Information Services; the Houghton Library, Harvard University; the John Rylands Library, Manchester; the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas; Luton Museum (Bedfordshire County Council); Massachusetts Historical Society; McGill University Library; the National Library of Scotland; the Newberry Library, Chicago; the New York Public Library (Pforzheimer Collections); the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York; the Public Record Offices of Bedford, Suffolk (Bury St Edmunds) and Northumberland, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge; the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne; the Trustees of the William Salt Library, Stafford, the Wisbech and Fenland Museum; the University of Virginia Library.

A research grant from the British Academy made much of the archival work possible, as did support from the English Department of Nottingham Trent University.

All quotation marks and apostrophes have been changed: " for “," for ”, ' for ‘, and ' for ’.

Any dashes occurring in line breaks have been removed.

Because of web browser variability, all hyphens have been typed on the U.S. keyboard.

Dashes have been rendered as a variable number of hyphens to give a more exact rendering of their length.

Southey's spelling has not been regularized.

Writing in other hands appearing on these manuscripts has been indicated as such, the content recorded in brackets.

& has been used for the ampersand sign.

£ has been used for £, the pound sign

All other characters, those with accents, non-breaking spaces, etc., have been encoded in HTML entity decimals.

 NINES categories for Genre and Material Form at http://www.performantsoftware.com/nines_wiki/index.php/Submitting_RDF#.3Cnines:genre.3E on 2009-02-26 Architecture Artifacts Bibliography Collection Criticism Letters Drama Life Writing Politics Folklore Ephemera Fiction History Leisure Manuscript Reference Works Humor Education Music nonfiction Paratext Perodical Philosphy Photograph Citation Family Life Poetry Religion Review Visual Art Translation Travel Book History Law Southey Letters: Biographies Southey Letters: Places Laura Mandell XSLT Transforming after latest corrections Laura Mandell XSLT Transforming Averill Buchanan corrections from proofing Averill Buchanan Part II added
728. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 18 October 1802 Address: [partial] Esqr / hens Court/ Palace Yard/ WestminsterPostmarks: B/ OCT 19/ 1802; [partial] 122/ BRISTOL/ 80Endorsement: RS/ Oct. 14./ 1802MS: Huntington Library, RS 28Previously published: Kenneth Curry (ed.), New Letters of Robert Southey, 2 vols (London and New York, 1965), I, pp. 293-295 [in part].

The Scriptores Rerum HispanicarumRobert Beale (1541-1601; DNB), Rerum Hispanicarum Scriptores (1579), no. 1420 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. Rickman had mistaken an unidentified English translation for this work in Latin. But Southey was wrong in thinking Beale’s work had the title Hispania Illustrata. This book of 1604 was by the Belgian Jesuit, Andeas Schottus (1552-1629). is a Latin book – (the English may come too as a make weight – it is useful in way – one of the many works of the most indefatigable translator I remember) – about the same size as the English one– in a yellowish rough calf binding – the only book which I possess so bound. I believe its first title is Hispania Illustrata. but you will ascertain it by the odd circumstance that it was compiled from the Library Roberti Beli Angli. the following will fill the box. I underline those which I should prefer if they will fit equally well.

Portugueze Dictionary – a thick 4to all in Portugueze.Possibly Bernardo de Lima (dates unknown), Diccionario da Lingua Portugueza (1783), no. 3503 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Estatutos de Coimbra. Estatutos da Universidade de Coimbra (1772-1773), no. 3197 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. folio. – Estatutos da Ordem de Christo.Fernando De Moraes (fl. 1717), Diffiniçoens e Estatutos dos Cavalleyros e Freyres da Ordem de Jesu Christo (1717), no. 3592 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. folio. I believe both in parchment & lean.

Catalogo das Rainhas de Portugal. Jose Barbosa Machado (c. 1688-c. 1770), Catalogo Cronologico, Historico e Genealogico, e Critico das Rainhas de Portugal (1727), no. 3233 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. a thin folio & lettered. the four duodecemos in blue paper that came to pieces in their former carriage being Vida de S. Francisco Xavier by Lucena.Joao de Lucena (1549-1600), Historia da Vida do S. Francisco de Xavier (1788), no. 3412 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

Hist. de los Ordenes Militares Francisco Caro de Torres (c. 1560-1630), Historia de las Ordenes Militares de Santiago, Calatrava, y Alcantara (1629), no. 3327 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. – a thin parchment folio. Historia MaritimaBernardo Gomes de Brito (1688-1759), Historia Tragico-Maritima (1735), no. 3476 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. – 3 of the small quarto size – bound a la Portugueze & in good plight. a curious book – being the history of all the shipwrecks of their Indian vessels, collected from those who escaped the wreck & regularly published for the use of others. – these will probably suffice but I will add a few more titles for security –

Frey Gerundio.Jose Francisco de Isla (1703-1781), Historia del Famoso Predicador Fray Gerundio de Campazas (1770), no. 3496 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. 2 small 4to. Flores de Espana.Antonio Sousa de Macedo (1606-1682), Flores de Espana, Excellencias de Portugal (1737), no. 3792 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. X folio. thin. Hist. Insulana.Antonio Cordeiro (1641-1722), Historia Insulana das Ilhas a Portugal Sugeytas no Oceano Occidental (1717), no. 3363 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. folio parchment. the papers of the Portugueze Academy Memorias de Litteratura Portugueza, pela Academia Real das Sciencas de Lisboa (1792-1796), no. 3532 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. – 5 or 6 small 4to clumsily half bound in Morocco that has been pressed smooth & so spoilt. two of the same family Memorias de Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa (1797-1799), no. 3302 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. a little taller whose names I remember not – but they are ax commentaries upon the Law of Portugal – bound like the last – except that the Binder had English Letters & Rules for the back.

I would have the twenty quartos of the Xxx Hist Genealogica,Antonio Caetano de Sousa (1674-1759), Historia Genealogica da Casa Real Portugeza (1735-1748), no. 3738 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. but they will weigh plaguily heavy – & it is wiser to wait till they may be shipped for Neath – if my treaty take effect.

You mistake my Circ. Xtmas. I do not hastily publish, nor till after the last finish so far as my next journey to Portugal be concerned in it. but I thank you for your offer of a home in London. I shall not move willingly – & see no probability of any business to call me – but if it should you will make me the less reluctant to obey.

Vincent & I did not part on good terms. I received my xx indeed he sent me away <off> & you may smile at the effect it produced – I parodied Shenstone.

He frownd with scholastical sway – I could scarcely my freedom discern – So sternly he sent me away I thought that he bade me return.A parody of William Shenstone (1714-1763; DNB), ‘Pastoral Ballad, in Four Parts. Written in 1743’, lines 37-40; Southey had previously sent this to Thomas Davis Lamb, [c. 31 July 1792], The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part 1, Letter 20, and (a slightly different version) to Charles Collins [begun 4 June 1792], The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part 1, Letter 12.

I was to blame – but less than he was, the punishment exceeded the offence – & Vincent never used me well – because I was the son of a country tradesman. this was less felt by me than it was seen by others – but there were palpable & shameful instances – for I was perhaps the most regular in my conduct of all who were under him. my feelings towards him have changed materially since his book in defence of public schools.William Vincent, A Defence of Public Education (1801) had robustly refuted allegations about the lack of religious education in public schools. I forgave him all private ill will – & could have shaken him by the hand for it. the NearchusWilliam Vincent, The Voyage of Nearchus from the Indus to the Euphrates (1797). The ‘other book’ was The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1800-1805). is a middling thing – & the other book less than middling – so says my Uncle – a man of more than middling intellect & information. – Vincent wanted to make me a Latin poet – & I had sense enough to follow my own instinct.

Lamb I hear has been at Keswick this summer. xxxx conjugal rixationQuarrelling between Samuel Taylor and Sara Coleridge. of which he speaks would not have affected me – indeed my presence would have greatly repressed it – for I am the only man among his acquaintance to whom Coleridge does not complain of his wife – & that I think implies some merit on my part. it is all from his want of calculation, from that constant sacrifice to present impulse which marks his character & blasts the brightest talents that I have ever witnessed. I very much wished you to have seen him once. Lamb knows him better than most men – & I thoroughly know him – you would have given a fair first-sight opinion – because you would have looked thro the dazzle of conversation. Lamb says “the rogue has given me philtres to make me love him” King Henry IV, Part 1, Act 2, scene 2, lines 18-19 [adapted]. – I never feel so little satisfied with myself as when upon recollecting that my inclination to like him has always got the better of a judgement – felt at first sight – & deliberately & perpetually strengthened by every experience.

George the Second is in London, & George the First trying what he can do to serve him. characteristic situations! Danvers proposed a good tutorship here but the Second George thought it beneath him. poor fellow it is a most unhappy madness – by the by do you know a deaf Irish Member who is here with his children & a still deafer wife – a Mr Saunderson?Francis Saunderson (1754-1827), MP for County Cavan in the Irish Parliament 1788-1800, and the UK Parliament 1800-1806. He was so deaf he used an ear trumpet in the House of Commons. He was an Irish Whig, who had opposed the Irish administration and the Union of 1800. His wife was Anne White (d. 1845), of Miskin, Glamorgan. They had seven children. He seems a clever man if one could but talk to him without cracking ones lungs.

I have not learnt your rapid handwriting. mine oeconomizes paper – & therefore in letter writing becomes prodigal of time – this morning I have none to spare. remembrances from my household & from Danvers. – from me also to Lamb & his sister –

farewell. R. Southey. Oct. 18. 1802.