The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part 1: 1791-1797 A Romantic Circles Electronic EditionSouthey, Robert, 1774-1843Lynda PrattRomantic CirclesGeneral Editor, Neil FraistatGeneral Editor, Steven E. JonesGeneral Editor, Carl StahmerTechnical EditorLaura Mandell2009-03-15rce42letterEEd.26.42Romantic Circles, http://www.rc.umd.edu, University of MarylandCollege Park, MDMarch 15, 2009
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Bodleian Library, MS Eng. Lett.
c. 22. Previously published: Kenneth Curry (ed.), New Letters
of Robert Southey, 2 vols (London and New York, 1965), I, pp.
15–20; Charles Cuthbert Southey (ed.), Life and Correspondence of
Robert Southey, 6 vols (London, 1849–1850), I, pp. 171–175 [in
part; as two separate letters dated 25 January and 12 February 1793,
respectively].
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.
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length.
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in brackets.
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42. Robert Southey to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, 25 January –8
[February] 1793Address: G C Bedford Esqr/ New Palace Yard/
WestminsterStamped: OXFORDPostmark: [partial] E/ 11/ 93
Watermarks: Figure of rampant lion holding a scimitar, and another figure;
crown with a circle with Lloyd written underneathEndorsement: 25
Janry 1793MS: Bodleian Library, MS Eng. Lett.
c. 22Previously published: Kenneth Curry (ed.), New Letters
of Robert Southey, 2 vols (London and New York, 1965), I, pp.
15–20; Charles Cuthbert Southey (ed.), Life and Correspondence of
Robert Southey, 6 vols (London, 1849–1850), I, pp. 171–175 [in
part; as two separate letters dated 25 January and 12 February 1793,
respectively].
Friday. Jany. 25th. <1793>
. such is the hour when I begin this letter when it
will be finished — is uncertain. expecting Wynn to drink tea with me every
moment I have not yet patience to wait without employment & know of none
more agreeable than this of writing to you — my Mentor whilst he prohibits my
writing much nevertheless allows an exception in your favour & believe
me I look upon it as one great proof of my own reformation or what ever title
you please to give when I can pass a whole week without composing one word. over
the pages of the philosophic TacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus (c. AD 56–c. AD 117), historian, whose works
include the Histories and the Annals. the hours of study pass rapidly as even those
which are devoted to my friends & I have not found as yet one hour which
I could wish to have employed otherwise this is saying very much in praise of a
collegiate life — but remember that a mind disposed to be happy will find
happiness everywhere & why we should not be happy is beyond my
philosophy to account for — HeraclitusHeraclitus of Ephesus (535–475 BC). Allegedly of a melancholy disposition,
he was later known as ‘the weeping philosopher’. certainly was a fool
& what is much more rare an unhappy one. I never yet met with any fool
who was not pleasd with the idea of his own sense but for your whimpering sages
let sentiment say what it will they are more possessed with Envy than
Wisdom.
Saturday. Feby 2. — now Bedford this is more than
you would do for me — quit your bed after only five hours rest — light a fire
& then write a letter — really I think it would not have tempted me to
rise unless assisted by these inducements. to-day I am going to walk to Abingdon
with three men of this college & having made the pious resolution (your
good health in a glass of red negus) of rising every morning at five to study
that the rest of the day may be at my own disposal I procured an alarm clock
& a tinder box. this morning was the first — I rose calld up a neighbour
& read about three hundred lines of Ho[MS obscured] found myself hungry
— the bread & cheese were calld in as auxiliaries & I made some
neg[MS obscured] as I spiced it my eye glanced over the board & the
assemblage seemed so curious that I laid all aside for your letter a Lexicon
Homer inkstand candles snuffers wine bread & cheese nutmeg grater
& hour glass. but I have given up time enough to my letter — the glass
runs fast & for once the expression is not merely figurative.
Friday 8th how rapidly does
Time hasten on when his wings are not clogged by Melancholy — perhaps no human
being ever more forcibly experienced this than myself —
often have I counted the hours with impatience when tired of Reflection
& all her unpleasant train I wished to forget myself in sleep. now I
allow but six hours to my bed & every morning before the watchman cries
past five my fire is kindled & my bed cold — this is practical
philosophy — but every thing is valued by comparison & when compared
with my neighbour I am no philosopher! Two years back Seward drank wine, eat butter
& sugar, now merely from the resolution of abridging the luxuries of
life water is his only drink — tea & dry bread his only breakfast. in
one who professed philosophy this would be only practising its tenets but it is
quite different with Seward. to the
most odd & uncommon appearance he adds manners which as they grow
accustomed are the most pleasing. at the age of fourteen he began learning
& the really useful knowledge which he possesses must be imputed to a
mind really desirous of improvement. do you not find your attention flag? said I
to him as he was studying HutchinsonsFrancis Hutcheson (1694–1746; DNB), whose Latin
works included Philosophiae Moralis Institutio
Compendiaria, Ethices et Jurisprudentiae Naturalis Elementa
Continens (1742). moral philosophy in Latin — if our
tutor would but make our study interesting we should pursue them with pleasure.
certainly we should he replied but I feel a pleasure even in studying this
because I know it is my duty. this I take to be true philosophy of that species
which tends to make mankind happy because it first makes them good. we had
verses here upon the 30th of Jany— to
the memory of Charles the martyrCharles
I (1600–1649; reigned 1625–1649) was executed on 30 January and subsequently
declared a saint by the Church of England. & it is a little
extraordinary that you should quote those very lines to poor LouisLouis XVI (1754–1793; reigned 1774–1792) was
executed on 21 January 1793. which I prefixed to my ode. ‘his virtues
plead like angels trumpet tongued against the deep damnationMacbeth, Act 1, scene
7, lines 19–20. of his taking off. the subject was as you must
suppose a very irksome one to me & more than once was I ready to
apostrophize Milton — prudence however prevailed & in pitying the man I
drew a viel over the faults of the monarch. with respect to the ill fated Louis
you cannot feel more repugnant to his death than I do but “non civium ardor
prava jubentium mente quatit solida?Horace (65–8 BC), Odes, Book 3, no. 3. The Latin
translates as: ‘is not shaken from his firm resolve by hot-headed citizens
urging him to do wrong’. to me it must matter little which way the
balance of power incline so my money & life be not thrown into the
scales — last night the revenues of the clergy were the subject of debate. SewardLewis contending that 200 per annum
was sufficient for the superior ranks & that they never ought to exceed
that or run lower than 100 — I supported & we had the best of the
argument — perhaps it was not a little enforced by our being all three designed
for the church. were I not convinced of the inutility of repeating them you
should have our arguments — but upon this subject I flatter myself that our
opinions coincide. meekness humility & temperance are the emblematic
virtues of Xtianity & whatever may be my opinion upon speculative points
of faith there is to me no human character so truly enviable as that of a true
Xtian — morose austerity & stern enthusiasm are the characteristics of
Superstition — but what is in reality more chearful or more happy than Religion
— I have in my own knowledge more than one instance of this & doubt not
but you have likewise. ought not therefore that wretch who stiles himself a
philosopher to be shunned like pestilence who because Xtianity has to him no
allurements seeks to deprive the miserable of their only remaining consolation?
what I have written are my real sentiments yet Dr V would call me an atheist
& the Dean of Ch Ch proscribes me as a pest of society — if I had no
other cause of grief than this would occasion I verily believe that Oxford would
not contain a happier being than RS.
the man who gaind the last English verse prize in Oxford has
since published two odes which he calls Songs of the Aboriginal BritainsGeorge Richards (c.
1767–1837; DNB), Songs of the
Aboriginal Bards of Britain (1792). — of these the Review
speaks very well & yet to me who as you know have written upon the same
plan these odes appear ill planned & ill executed — some metaphors are
good but young Wynns observation
is just that he should have mistaken the odes for burlesque. if I could write BA
& MA or DD after my name my odes would meet with commendation were I to
publish them unowned unpuffed & unassisted they would go to the grocers
shops. poor Chatterton! Thomas
Chatterton (1752–1770; DNB). often do I
think upon him & sometimes indulge the idea that had he been living he
might perhaps have been my friend —
the objection you start I think easily remedied — why not adapt
your metre (as MasonWilliam Mason
(1725–1797; DNB), ‘Musaeus: a Monody to the Memory
of Mr Pope, in Imitation of Milton's Lycidas’ (1744). has in Musæus)
to the bards you speak of? or supposing this scheme meets not your approbation
as it does not quite please me the ideas & many of the verses may be
preserved in an irregular ode & thus those lines which are weak may be
altered of the two best odes I have ever written this one contains about ten of
the original lines the other not one. I speak of Poetry & Contemplation.
perhaps there is vanity in thus exemplifying myself but you will excuse me
& a little vanity may be allowed to one who can boast of no other
recommendation than that of composition — yet Bedford I would not
exchange my black tassel & bombazeen gown with all it covers for the
handsomest gold & silk ones in the University. alls for the best says
Dr PanglossThe
sentiments of a character in Voltaire’s (1694–1778), Candide, ou l’Optimisme (1759). & had my
situation in life been more elevated I had probably been proud & vicious
— when Prudence very nearly allied to Necessity forbids from vice bad indeed
must be that man who can run counter to her dictates
I have written so rapidly that perhaps you will find some
difficulty in understanding me — but you know that when I am hurried on it is
not always I can attend to propriety of expression much less to kalography —
this word for instance is hot from the mint of my brain. do you not really think
that affluence & prosperity are dangerous blessings? occupied by variety
of pleasure & reclining upon the couch of happiness man is but too apt
to forget from whence those blessings flow. the enjoyments which his fortune
& rank bestow he looks upon as his own — whilst the liberal minded Xtian
who plucks a dinner of herbs pours out his gratitude to that God who supplies
them. I know not whether LucullusLucius
Licinius Lucullus (c. 110–57 BC), Roman consul and famed gourmet. was
a Stoic but surely FabriciusGaius
Fabricius (d. c. 270 BC), Roman hero, famed for honesty and
incorruptibility. & CincinnatusLucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (C5 BC), a Roman hero who,
according to tradition, was appointed Dictator in 458 BC. He routed the
invading Aeqians and then renounced public life. were religious. if I
continue in this stile you will fancy me about to turn devotee — for a being of
this class heaven never formed me — I can practise self denial for it is
attended with temporal advantages but the cup of martyrdom would prove too
bitter.
Charles Collins has been so busy
with his Lent verses that I see little of him — he is my monitor be you his — I
catch him frequently reading the Basia of Johannes SecundusJohannes Secundus (1511–1536), whose Liber Basiorum (Book of
Kisses) was published in 1541. — he pleads the elegance
of the composition but that will not atone for the whole tenor of the work. he
laughs at my admonitions I however follow his & am almost glad to behold
somethings of the fallability [MS obscured] nature in Collins. it reconciles me more to
myself. he seems to fear lest the little sleep I take should hurt me. this
apprehension is very friendly — when I find myself the worse it is but again to
return to the habits of Luxury whilst I do not I must think six hours rest
enough for Nature & a great deal to lose. you see I am grown an
oeconomist with regard to Time.
the sum you paid Ginger for me I
am unable to return at present. Bedford I blush whilst I
write but I ought to feel more unpleasantly could I hesitate to confess it. why
is there not some corner of the world where wealth is useless! or rather why was
not I like EmiliusBook 3 of
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), Émile (1762),
insisted that every male child should be taught a trade. taught a
trade! is humanity so very vicious that society cannot exist without so many
artificial distinctions linked together as we are in the great chain why should
the extremity of that chain be neglected. at this moment I could form the most
delightful theory of an island peopled by men who should be Xtians not
Philosopher. where Vice only should be contemptible Virtue only honourable.
where all should be convenient without luxury all satified without profusion —
but at the moment when Imagination is almost wrought up to delirium the ticking
of the clock or the howling of the wind reminds me what I am & I sigh to
part with so enchanting a delusion. if the Bounty mutineersThe mutiny on the ship HMS
Bounty in 1789. had not behaved so cruelly to their
officers I should have been the last to condemn them — Otaheitii independant of
its women had many inducements not only for the sailor but the philosopher. he
might cultivate his own ground & trust himself & friends for his
defence — he might be truly happy in himself & his happiness would be
increased by communicating it to others he might introduce the advantages
& yet avoid the vices of cultivated society.
I am again getting into my dreams & sober Reason has so
little to balance them that I can scarcely wake myself — where Ignorance is
Bliss tis folly to be wiseThomas Gray
(1716–1771; DNB), ‘Ode on a Distant Prospect of
Eton College’ (1747), lines 99–100. — we were once going to write a
paper upon this subject — alas poor Flagellant never am I alone but I always
recur to thee & wish for such a vehicle for thought — the ardent
sensibility of youth is not suited to the cold blooded & ungenerous
temper of mankind — theory & boyish sentiments are the epithets given to
the ebullition of an open & not naturally bad heart & success
must only hoped for in the beaten tract of prudence & dullness. I would
not at this moment give up the production of No 5Southey’s authorship, in the fifth issue
of The Flagellant (29 March 1792), of an essay
which claimed flogging was an invention of the devil and parodied the
Athanasian creed, caused a scandal and led ultimately to his expulsion from
Westminster School. for the highest title Europe could bestow — the
gem has cost me dear & I am proud to wear it.
I keep a daily journal for myself as an account of Time which I ought to be
strict in but this only destined for my own eye is uninteresting &
unimportant. BoswellBoswell (1740–1795;
DNB), biographer of Samuel Johnson (1709–1784;
DNB). might compile a few quartos from
the loose memorandums but they would tire the world more than he has already
done. twenty years hence this journal will be either a source of pleasure or of
regret, that is if I live twenty years & for life I have really a very
strong predilection. not from Shakesperes fearfully beautifull passage ay but to
die & go we know not whither? A
paraphrase of Measure for Measure, Act 3, scene 1,
line 117. but from the the hope that my life may be serviceable to my
family & happy to myself — if it be the longer live the better —
existence will be delightful & anticipation glorious. the idea of
meeting a different fate in another world is enough to overthrow every
atheistical doctrine. the very dreadful trials under which Virtue so often
labours must surely be only trials — Patience will withstand the pressure
& Faith will lead to Hope — Religion soothe every sorrow & make
the bed of Death a couch of felicity — make the contrast yourself — look at the
warrior the hypocrite & the libertine in their last moments &
reflection must strengthen every virtuous resolution — may I however practise
what I preach — let me have 200 a year & the comforts of domestic life
& my ambition aspires not farther.