2388. Robert Southey to
[Walter Savage Landor](people.html#LandorWalterSavage),
9 March
1814Address: To/ Walter Savage Landor Esqre/
Swansea./ Single
Stamped: KESWICK/ 298
MS: National Art Library, London, MS Forster 48 G.31 2/22–23
Previously
published: Charles Cuthbert Southey (ed.), Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey, 6 vols (London,
1849–1850), IV, pp. 60–61 [in part]. 13. What follows is a draft of the thirteenth book of Roderick,
the Last of the Goths (1814).
That aweful silence still endured, when one Who to the northern entrance of the vale Had turned his casual eye, exclaimd, the Moors! For from the forest verge a troop were seen Hastening toward Pedro’s hall. Their forward speed Was checkd when they beheld his banner spread, And saw his ordered spears in prompt array Marshalld to meet their coming. But the pride Of power & insolence of long command Pricked on their chief presumptuous. We are come Late for prevention, cried the haughty Moor But never time more fit for punishment! These unbelieving slaves must feel & know Their masters arm! – on faithful Musselmen On – on, & hew down the rebellious dogs. Then as he spurrd his steed Allah is great Mohammed is his prophet, he exclaimd And led the charge. Count Pedro met the Chief In full career: he bore him from his horse A full spears length upon the lance transfixd, Then leaving in his breast the mortal shaft Past on, & breaking thro the turbaned files Opened a path. Pelayo who that day Fought in the ranks afoot, for other war Yet unequipped, pursued & smote the foe; But ever on Alphonso at his side Retained a watchful eye, The gallant boy Gave his gold sword that hour its earliest taste Of Moorish blood, – that sword whose hungry edge Thro the fair course of all his perilous life From that auspicious day, was fed so well Cheap was the victory now for Spain atchieved; For the first fervour of their zeal inspired The mountaineers, – the presence of their chiefs, The sight of all dear objects, all dear ties. The air they breathd, the soil wherein they trod, Duty, devotion, faith & hope & joy. And little had the misbelievers ween d In such impetuous onset to receive A greeting deadly as their own intent; Victims they thought to find, not men prepard And eager for the fight; their confidence Therefore gave way to wonder, & dismay Effected what astonishment began. Scattered before the impetuous mountaineers Buckler & spear & scymitar they dropt As in precipitate rout they fled before The Asturian sword. The vales & hills & rocks Received their blood, & where they fell the wolves At evening found them. From the fight apart Two Africans had stood who held in charge Count Eudon. When they saw their countrymen Falter, give way & fly before the foe, One turn d toward him with malignant rage, And saying, Infidel thou shalt not live To join their triumph, aim d against his neck The moony falchions point. His comrade rais’d A hasty hand, & turn d its edge aside, Yet so that oer the shoulder glancing down It scarrd him as it past. The murderous Moor Not tarrying to secure his vengeance fled, While he of milder mood at Eudons feet Fell & embraced his knees. The conqueror Who found them thus withheld at Eudons voice His wrathful hand, & led them to his Lord
Count Pedro & Alphonso & the Prince Stood on a little rocky eminence Which overlooked the vale. Pedro had put His helmet off, & with sonorous horn Blew the recall, – for well he knew what thoughts Calm as the Prince appeard & undisturbed; Lay underneath his silent fortitude, And that at this eventful juncture speed Imported more than vengeance. Thrice he sent The long-resounding signal forth, which rung From hill to hill, reechoing far & wide. Slow & unwillingly his men obeyed, The swelling horns reiterated call, Repining that a single foe escaped The retribution of that righteous hour. With lingering step reluctant from the chase They turn d, – their veins full swoln, their sinews strung For battle still, their hearts unsatisfied; Their swords were dripping still with Moorish gore, And where they wiped their reeking brows, the stain Of Moorish blood was left. But when they came Where Pedro with Alphonso at his side Stood to behold their coming, then they prest All emulous with gratulation round, Extolling for his deeds that day display d The noble boy. Oh when had Heaven, they said With such especial favour manifest Illustrated a first essay in arms! They blest the father from whose loins he sprung The mother at whose happy breast he fed; And prayed that their young heros fields might be Many, & all like this. Thus they indulged The honest heart, exuberant of love, When that loquacious joy at once was checkd For Eudon & the Moor were led before Count Pedro. Both came fearfully & pale, But with a different fear; the African Felt at this crisis of his destiny Such apprehension as without reproach Might blanch a soldiers cheek, when life & death Hang on anothers will, & helplessly He must abide the issue. But the thoughts Which quaild Count Eudons heart & made his limbs Quiver, were of his own unworthiness, Old enmity, & that he stood in power Of hated & hereditary foes. I came not with them willingly, – he cried, Addressing Pedro & the Prince at once, Rolling from each to each his restless eyes Aghast, – the Moor can tell I had no choice, They forced me from my Castle; – in the fight They would have slain me, – see I bleed – the Moor Can witness that a Moorish scymitar Inflicted this; – he saved me from worse hurt, – I did come in arms, – he knows it all, – Speak man, & let the truth be known to clear My innocence. Thus as he ceased with fear And rapid utterance panting open mouthd, Count Pedro half represt a mournful smile Wherein compassion seemed to mitigate His deep contempt. Methinks, said he, the Moor Might with more reason look himself to find An intercessor, than be called upon To play the pleaders part. Didst thou then save The Baron from thy comrades? Let my Lord Shew mercy to me, said the Musselman As I am free from falsehood. We were left, I & another, holding him in charge; – My fellow would have slain him when he saw How the fight fard, – I turn’d the scymitar Aside, & trust that life will be the meed For life by me preserved. Nor shall thy trust Rejoind the Count, be vain. Say farther now From whence ye came, – your orders what, – what force In Gegio, & if others like yourselves Are in the field. The African replied, We came from Gegio, ordered to secure This Baron on the way, & seek thee here To bear thee hence in bonds. A messenger From Cordoba, whose speed denoted well He came with urgent tidings, was the cause Of this our sudden movement. We went forth Three hundred men; an equal force was sent To Cangas, on like errand as I ween: Four hundred in the city then were left. If other force be moving from the south I know not, – save that all appearances Denote alarm & vigilance. The Prince Fix’d upon Eudon then his eye severe. Baron, he said, the die of war is cast. What part art thou prepared to take – against Or with the oppressor? Not against my friends, Not against you, the irresolute wretch replied Hasty, yet faltering in his fearful speech But have ye weighed it well? – it is not yet Too late, – their numbers, – their victorious force Which hath already trodden in the dust The Sceptre of the Goths: – the throne destroyed Our towns subdued, – our country over-run The people to the yoke of their new Lords Resignd in peace. – Can I not mediate Were it not better thro my agency To gain such terms, – such honourable terms
Terms! cried Pelayo, cutting short at once That dastard speech, & checking ere it grew Too powerful for restraint the incipient rage Which in indignant murmurs breathing round Rose like a gathering storm; – learn thou what terms Asturias this day speaking by my voice Doth constitute to be the law between Thee & thy country! Our portentous age As with an earthquakes desolating force Hath loosened & disjointed the whole frame Of social order, & she calls not now For service with the voice of sovereign will That which was common duty in old times Becomes an arduous glorious virtue now, And every one as between Hell & Heaven In free election, must be left to chuse Asturias asks not of thee to partake The cup which we have pledged; she claims from none The dauntless fortitude, the mind resolved Which only God cangive; – therefore such peace As thou canst find where all around is war She leaves thee to enjoy. But think not Count That because thou art weak one valiant arm, One generous spirit must be lost to Spain! The vassal owes no service to the Lord Who to his country doth acknowledge none. The summons which thou hast not heart to give I & Count Pedro over thy domains Will send abroad; the vassals who were thine Will fight beneath our banners, & our wants Shall from thy lands, as from a patrimony Which hath reverted to the common stock Be fed. – Such tribute too as to the Moors Thou renderest we will take; it is the price Which in this land for weakness must be paid While evil stars prevail. And mark me Chief! Fear is a treacherous counsellor. I know Thou thinkest that beneath his horses hoofs The Moor will trample our poor numbers down. But join not in contempt of us & Heaven His multitudes! for if thou shouldst be found Against this country, on the nearest tree Thy recreant bones shall rattle in the wind When the crows have left them bare! The Baron stood Trembling with mingled feelings: every joint Was loosened; every fibre of his flesh Thrilld, & from every pore effused cold sweat Clung on his quivering limbs: shame forced it forth Envy & inward consciousness, & fear, Predominant, which stifled in his heart Hatred & rage. Before his livid lips Could shape to utterance their essayed reply Compassionately Pedro interposed. Go Baron, to the Castle, said the Count There let thy wounds be lookd to, & consult Thy better mind at leisure. Let this Moor Attend upon thee there, & when thou wilt Follow thy fortune. – To Pelayo then He turn’d, & saying, all too long O Prince Hath this unlookd for conflict held thee here, – He bade his gallant men begin to march.
Flushd with success, & in auspicious hour The mountaineers set forth. Blessings & prayers Pursued them at their parting, & the tears Which fell, were tears of fervour, not of grief. The Sun was verging to the western slope Of Heaven, – but they till midnight travelled on; Renewing then at early dawn their way They hold their unremitting course from morn Till latest eve, such urgent cause impelld; And night had closed around, when to the vale Where Sella in her ampler bed receives Pionia’s stream they came. Massive & black Pelayo’s castle there was seen, its lines And battlements against the deep blue sky Distinct in solid darkness visible. No light is in the tower. Eager to know The worst & with that fatal certainty To terminate intolerable dread He spurrd his courser forward. – All his fears Too surely are fulfilld, for open stand The doors, & mournfully at times a dog Fills with his howling the deserted hall A moment overcome with wretchedness Silent Pelayo stood; recovering then, Lord God, resigned he cried, thy will be done! ____
[Keswick](places.html#Keswick).March 9. 1814The Letters of CalvusLetters Addressed to Lord Liverpool: And the Parliament on the Preliminaries of Peace (1814), published under
the pseudonym ‘Calvus’. Landor’s pamphlet demanded that Napoleon be deprived of all his power, preferably his life, and that
France at least be stripped of all territory acquired since the French Revolution. The Letters were modelled on
Junius’s. Landor had originally sent 3 of the letters to the Courier. He then prepared them for separate
publication, adding a fourth letter. The Courier eventually published part of this fourth letter on 12 January
1814. will probably arrive in my next booksellers parcel, – Did you see my ode in the Courier beginning Who calls for
peace at this momentous hour, it grew out of the castrations of the Carmen Triumphale, wherein I xxx could not say all
I wished & wanted to say, – because a sort of official character attached to it.
Southey’s first official poem as Poet Laureate was extremely controversial and much altered prior to publication. In
particular, five stanzas were considered by Croker and Rickman to be inflammatory. Southey bowed to pressure and
deleted them from the version published as Carmen Triumphale in a quarto of 30 pages on 1 January 1814. He incorporated
the deleted stanzas into an ‘Ode Written During the Negotiations with Bonaparte’ (‘Who counsels peace’), published in the
Courier, 3 February 1814. For five years I have been preaching the policy, the duty, the necessity of
put declaring Buonaparte under the Ban of Human Nature, – & if this had been done in 1808, when the Bayonne
iniquity In April-May 1808 Napoleon summoned both Charles IV (1748–1819; King of Spain
1788–1808), who had just abdicated as King of Spain, and his son Ferdinand VII (1784–1833; King of Spain 1808, 1813–1833), to
Bayonne, allegedly to mediate between them. In fact he persuaded Ferdinand to abdicate in favour of his father and Charles to
abdicate in favour of Napoleon’s elder brother, who thus became Joseph I (1768–1844; King of Spain 1808–1813). was
fresh in the feelings of the public, I believe that the Emperor xxxx of Austria, wretch as he is, could never have
given him his daughter in marriage; Francis I (1768–1835; Holy Roman Emperor 1792–1806;
Emperor of Austria 1804–1835), whose daughter Marie-Louise (1791–1847) became Napoleon’s second wife on 11 March 1810.
– be that as it may Spain & Portugal would have joined us in the declaration, the terms of our alliance would have been never
to make peace with him, & France knowing this would ere then have delivered herself from him. My present hope is, that he will
require terms of peace to which the allies will not consent, – a little success is likely enough to inflate him, – for the wretch
is equally incapable of bearing prosperous or adverse fortune. As for the Bourbons I do not wish to see them restored, – unless
there was no other means of effecting his overthrow. Restorations are bad things, when the expulsion has taken place from internal
causes, & not by foreign force. They have been a detestable race, & the adversity which they have undergone is not of that
kind which renovates the intellect or calls xx into life the virtues which royalty has stiffled. I used to think that
the Revolution would not have done its work till the houses of Austria & Bourbon were both destroyed, a consummation the
history of both houses has taught me devoutly to wish for. Did I ever tell you Hofer The
Tyrolean patriot Andreas Hofer (1767–1810), executed for his leadership of a failed rebellion against France’s ally,
Bavaria. got himself arrested under a false t name & thrown into prison at Vienna, & that he was
actually turned out of the asylum by the Austrian Government. If any member of that Government escapes the halter sword
or the halter there will be a lack of justice in this world, which will require some expence of brimstone in the next to balance
the account. The fact is one of the most damnable in human history, – but a fact it is, tho it has not got abroad. Adair The politician and diplomat Sir Robert Adair (1763–1855; DNB), who had been
posted to Vienna from 1806–1809. told it me.
I shall rejoice to see your Idyllia. Landor had announced his intention to
print his Latin poems privately, under the title Idyllia Heroun atque Herodium. The printer is treading
close on my heels, & keeping me close to work with this poem.Roderick, the Last of the Goths (1814). – I shall probably send you two sections more in a few days
RS.