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 Mandell2009-03-15rce39letterEEd.26.39Romantic Circles, http://www.rc.umd.edu, University of MarylandCollege Park, MDMarch 15, 2009
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. Previously published: Roland Baughman, ‘Southey the Schoolboy’, Huntington Library Quarterly, 7 (1944), 266–269 [verse section in
part; prose in full; where it is dated 13 January 1793].
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
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39. Robert Southey to Charles Collins, 12 [–13]
January [1793]Address: Charles Collins Esqre/ Maize Hill/ Greenwich/ near/
London/ Single SheetStamped: BRISTOLPostmark: JA/ 14/ 93Seal: [partial] Black wax, design obscuredEndorsement: —
Not answered —MS: Huntington Library, HM 44800. ALS; 4p.Previously published: Roland Baughman, ‘Southey the Schoolboy’, Huntington Library Quarterly, 7 (1944), 266–269 [verse section in part; prose in full; where it is dated 13
January 1793].Saturday. Jany 12.Bristol.
1
Farewell to Westminster — my friend is gone The bands that held me once so close — no more.Shivering at morn no more I wait for JohnPossibly a reference to the ringing
of a bell. The bell tower at Westminster Abbey (next door to Westminster School) contained a bell dedicated to ‘John Whitmell’
and his family, and Southey could be referring to this. At stated hour to send me to my lore.Farewell the seat of Pedantry & Pride Where well-wiggd Folly fills the elbowd chair Where stern Intolerance glows with monstrous stareWrapt in himself & scorns the world beside Farewell to impositions & the rod Farewell Constraint & Shame — Falshood farewell & Dodd
2
When Persecution erst upreard the cry Devils & Doctors set their wits gainst meWhen Bishops sage cried out on Blasphemy And met in council issued their decree.When stern Injustice calld the aid of LawVincent stoopd down with league with Egerton And Fraud & Force bid luckless me be goneWhilst Prosecution strove to strike with awe Poor I could do no more than grow resignd I went — but left my friends my better part behind
3
Those friends are gone — broke is the scanty chain That linkd me where I learnt to suffer wrong.CombeLamb — depart & you alone remain A little while — then quit the unheeded throngFarewell to Westminster. yet still my soul Parts with reluctance from the scene belovd Where every bliss of social joy I provdWhere wont the weeks & months unheeded roll Where oft Injustice’ power I wont defy For Dodd was oft unjust & oft rebellious I.
4
The stolen walk — the secret porter pot The exercise for supper laid asideThe pudding with such care & trouble got Made with such pains & eaten with such pride —The noise I us’d to make but never hear The wise precaution of the bolted door These days are past — these occupations oerAbsent far absent every scene so dear Early I rise nor wish to go astray When least commanded still the most disposd to obey.
5
Soon shall we meet — ere yet with beard all hoar Gemmd with the crystals of the chilly yearOld February comes with snow white oer And eye distilling down the humid tear —To other seats of classic lore we go Seats that high-mounted on her mouldring throne Mist clad Antiquity still calls her ownMore liberal then are these? more wise? ah no For Precedent his chains oer Genius flings And Pedantry binds down & Custom clips his wings
6
Long while in monkish cowl & amis clad Had Ignorance maintaind despotic reignBarbarian Pride & brutal Courage bad And Slaughters ills disgracd all England plainTrue the bold Minstrel felt the kindling glow Of native genius full pervade his frame Wild Inspiration caught the glorious flameAnd bid in Valors praise the numbers flow Amid the trophied hall he struck the lyre But with the parent Bard the unwritten strains expire.
7
The savage forests of the fruitful North Pregnant with future Empires destind seedsPourd oer this isle her pirate offspring forth. Blood marks its path as on the storm proceeds.The sacred abbeys walls no more reverd Reverd no more the heavn-devoted maid Heaven listless sees nor lends the savior aidDestruction round with reeking jaws appeard Aloft supreme the rav’nous raven flies Nor England dares resist — for who opposed dies.
8
OdduneOddune, Earl of Devonshire at the time of Alfred the Great’s exile on
the Isle of Athelney and a symbol of continuing English resistance to Danish invaders. He defeated the Danish leader, Hubba, and
captured his ‘enchanted’ raven standard. See David Hume, The History of England, From the Invasion of Julius
Caesar to the Accession of Henry VII, 2 vols (London, 1762), I, p. 57. alone amid the sedge grown isle Graspt in despair his blood-yrusted armsHe mournd the monarch lost nor knew the while Where hid an AlfredAlfred the Great (848/9–899; reigned 871–899; DNB), King of Wessex and of the Anglo-Saxons. from the wars alarms —But weak the covering of the peasants dress The rustic labor or the smoaky cot His friends his subjects are not yet forgotNor feels he for his country’s woes the less He grasps the harp the hostile tents among With piercing eye he goes & pours the tide of song.
9
Stript of the covering — stern the King appears — Flows thro the festive camp the sanguine floodThe proud Dane dies ere kno conscious why he fears Drenchd are the Ravens plumes in Danish bloodThe feast of Slaughter & of Fame is oer And Alfred turns to more ennobling deeds His daring pland the glorious plan areedsAnd bids the fabric rise of future lore On Isis’ banks he bids the pile arise And (how unlike a King!) wishd all his subjects wise.
10
Great Alfred died — & Ignorance again Seizd on unhappy Albions state still faintBeneath the lustful EdgarsEdgar (943–975; reigned 959–975; DNB), patron of St Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. Southey’s description of his ‘lustful’ nature is drawn from
David Hume, The History of England, From the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Accession of Henry VII, 2
vols (London, 1762), I, pp. 85–86. pious reign And him whom Apathy enrolld a saint.Edward the Confessor (c. 1005–1066;
reigned 1042–1066; DNB). He was canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1161.The BastardWilliam I, the Conqueror (1027/8–1087; reigned 1066–1087; DNB), nicknamed the ‘Bastard’, as he was the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy
(1000-1035). comes — the bold bad man succeeds Stern browd Oppression stretchd his iron sway The chieftains fall the vassal race obeyScience but languishes when Freedom bleeds Oer Europe spreads Devotions mad alarms The frantic HermitPeter the Hermit (d. 1115), a key figure in preaching the
first crusade. calls & Europe flies to arms
11
Long time had Oxford slowly drudgd along Oer holy fathers & the comments wiseAnd schoolmen livd in leading others wrong And Popes bid Reason see with Peters eyesTo rear the second seat of mystic lore When BaliolBalliol College, Oxford, founded in c. 1263 by John Balliol and
his wife Dervorguilla of Galloway. The ‘servile’ kinsman is their son John Balliol (c. 1250–1313; King of Scots 1292–1295; DNB), the preferred candidate of the English King Edward I (1239–1307; reigned 1272–1307; DNB) for the vacant Scottish throne. to increase her number came Baliol disgracd by kinsmans servile nameWho stoopt a tyrant conqueror to adore But why my friend need we for founders care What matters me his race when I shall soon be there.
12
Soon soon shall I be there — nor there with me Social my friends shall pass each live long hourNo more as erst our studies shall agree Thus burst by iron hand of lawful power.Thee — Wolseys fabric proudChrist Church, Oxford, founded (as Cardinal
College) by Thomas Wolsey (1470/71–1530; DNB) in 1524, and refounded by Henry VIII (1491–1547; reigned
1509–47; DNB) in 1546. receives — a fane Of mighty magnitude & pompous state That loud exclaims with Fortunes smile elateScowling contemptuous — ‘hence away profane. Yet tho’ rejected still must I revere The spot where many a friend inhabits still so dear.
13
If in this seat of Learning still we find Pedantic Precedent assert his reignAnd tame Conformity enslave the mind How useless Science — Knowledge too how vain!Yet there will Prejudice enslave the man — Sits the old Dean & give the formal nod That stern rejects who durst despise the rodAnd whom the Doctor stild Republican. Republican! yet things like these can seed Plato’s dreams divine — a BrutusEither Lucius Junius Brutus, the man
credited with expelling the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, in 510 BC, or Marcus Junius Brutus (85–42 BC), one of the
assassins of Julius Caesar (100/102–44). glorious deed
14
Een at the word I feel my soul expand The fire of Freedom kindles every vien —Ah why should Fortune thus restrain my hand Why stern Necessity thus bind thy chain?Man must submit to heavn — to heavn alone. Whilst then Oppression shrinks with wild dismay Whilst France & Freedom urge their fiery wayAnd Terror hover round each tyrant throneCollins — at Oxford must we wait serene And view with anxious eyes the progress of the scene.
15
Ah look my friend — behold the black robd crew That stalk thro Oxfords street in well wiggd prideWith all their Orthodoxity in view For Folly & Submission dignified.List to the solemn sad sepulchral sound Breathd from the pulpit on each public day That sends the hearers half awake away —Where are the mighty fruits of Oxford found Lie they in dull declamatory lore As pious fathers breathd in stupid zeal before?
16
Turn now your eyes where oer JamappesThe battle of Jemappes, 6 November
1792, saw the defeat of the Austrians and their allies by the French General Charles-Francois Dumouriez (17391823). Both sides
sustained heavy casualties. red plain The Ravens raise the dismal yell of joyChartres — MontpensierLouis-Philippe (1773–1850; King of France 1830–1848),
Duc de Chartres, was the eldest son of Louis Philippe, Duc d’Orléans (1747–1793). Chartres fought in the Jemappes campaign and
was a close friend of General Dumouriez, defecting to the Austrians with him in 1793. Montpensier: Antoine Philippe d’Orléans
(1775–1807), Duc de Montpensier, younger brother of the Duc de Chartres. strewd the field with slain Oppressions chieftains fell before a boy —Yet did not antique college boast his name Yet did not Customs chains avail to bind Or Doctord boobies strive to dull his mindA woman traind them in the path of Fame A Woman taught them every ill to face To fight in Freedoms cause — to adorn the human race!
17
BrulerckIdentified by Roland Baughman, ‘Southey the Schoolboy’, Huntington Library Quarterly, 7 (1944), 268 n. 22, as a phonetic rendering of ‘Brulart’. i.e. Stéphanie
Félicité Ducrest de St-Aubin (1746–1830), Comtesse de Genlis, the wife of Charles-Alexis Brulart (1737–1793), Marquis de Silery.
She had supervised the education of the children of the Duc d’Orléans and was said to have followed the educational precepts set
out in Rousseau’s (1712–1778) Émile (1762). how must thy soul those scenes despise Where mouldering colleges in frowning mienAppear to chill the soul & frown it wise. Where Learning’s fabrics wide oerspread the sceneYet where true Learning banishd far away Mid musty volumes Pedantry elate Forbids the banishd Muse approach her stateProhibits Reformation near her sway, Where AthanasiusThe Greek theologian Athanasius (293–373), after whom the
later Athanasian Creed was named. & the Right Divine With thousand follies more support her mouldering shrine.
18
But Reason dawns around — her morning ray Breaks forth illuming from the clouds of nightThe opposing shadows slowly melt away And Hope looks on to unremitted light.Science expands her plumes — her eagle eye Fearless pervades the mists that round await Where sits her rival in collegiate stateBefore her glance the mantle fades away Eer long shall Precedents false arts be vain And universal Freedom claim his equal reign.
19
Already France has reard the immortal pile Where Ferneys sageVoltaire, François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), French
writer and philosophe, purchased a substantial estate at Ferney in 1758. is husht in deaths repose
—Where laid no more amid the unhallowed isle The MAN of NATURE rests from all his woes —Bend down from heaven Rousseau thy laurelld head Survey with ecstasy this glorious sight The sparks of Freedom fire the increasing lightOer Europe see the glowing flames are spread See Reason spurn the stately throne of Pride Thy own Emilius see in Chartres verified.
20
Come then my friend — together let us go And drag awhile the stern pedantic chainCreep in the beaten tract of science slow And toil contented in the falling reign.The hour will come these chains will be no more Meantime together let us pass the day Together with the hastening hours to stayWhilst we peruse the sages volumes oer In spite of Prejudice thus learn to see And study Natures book — despite of Pedantry.
Parvum in Multo.A commonplace saying, which translates as ‘little in
much’.
———
Sunday morning.
I deferrd answering your last letter in daily expectation of receiving that from Oxford whither I wrote requesting Wynn to forward it. he had left the place & mine did not reach him till it had
followed him all over the country. the grand reflections of the first Historian — the philosophic TacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus (c. AD 56–c. 117), historian. His works include the Histories and
the Annals. are not totally despised even in the University — I enquired at Baliol what were the studies & received for answer the present were the Alcibiades of
PlatoAlcibiades I and II, dialogues attributed to Plato (427–348 BC). the annals of Tacitus & the
elements of EuclidEuclid of Alexandria (dates uncertain, between 325 and 250 BC),
mathematician. His work includes the Elements. — it appears almost miraculous (if in this period
anything is to be wondered that) that such monastic institutions, which still in spite of reformation bear so many marks of the old
leaven should maintain their ground — look indeed at the whole system of modern education from the nursery to the college & tell me
if any thing can be supposed more contradictory to Reason & to Nature? we have seen what are the advantages of
public education perhaps it has been my lot to observe more in the boarding houses — you have seen the effects & I have beheld the
causes — morality is not conceived essential at present in the eye of fashion — that of Reason will look upon it as the basis of every
virtue & every accomplishment — what however can be more destructive than the contagion of bad example? nemo repente fuit
turpissimusJuvenal (fl. AD late C1 and early C2), Satire 2, line
83. The Latin translates as ‘No one ever became utterly abominable overnight’. — when we once have learnt to behold vice
without abhorrence we soon practise it with indifference. public schools (say their advocates) give a knowledge of the world; but it
would nor require more argument than these wise men of the world are masters of, to persuade me that
driving a hackney coach drinking two bottles & frequenting “the mercenary retailers of iniquity”Southey is quoting a letter written by Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770; DNB) to a Mr.
Clayfield, as published in William Barrett (1727?–1789; DNB), The History and Antiquities
of the City of Bristol (Bristol, 1789), p. 647. constitute that knowledge. & yet what other modern knowledge
is to be attained at Westminster [MS torn] the studies pursued there are of the manners of the dead — with their customs & language
we are expected [MS torn] be intimate — improvement in our native tongue you know Vincent wishes not. public schools undoubtedly a[MS
torn] excellently adapted to such hopeful heirs as are destined to possess ample fortunes & consequently st[MS torn] in no need of
science. yet severely as I really reprobate them, many many happy hours have I passed in Deans Yard & shall ever look back to the
two last years without experiencing any unpleasing sensation from the retrospect. the present mode of private education will be equally
unable to bear investigat[MS torn] it will be perhaps more destructive if meant to end with the University — perhaps no one point has
been less understood — it is more to be wondered at that so many are good than that the number of the profligate is so great. whether
or not man has the stain of original sin I leave to theologians & metaphysicians. that education tends to give it him I do not even
doubt. Rousseaus plan is too visionary — it supposes such unremitted attention in the tutor & such natural virtue in the pupil that
I doubt its practability of this however when we read EmiliusJean-Jacques Rousseau’s Émile (1762). (an occupation I look forward to with pleasure) we will freely determine. Madame Brulerck
(late Genlis) appears to me to have struck out a path equally new & excellent — the Emilius of L Homme de la Nature existed only in
his imagination. but the two sons of Phillipe Egalitè are living proofs of her capacity. See
note [12] for the ‘two sons’. Philippe Egalite: Louis-Philippe-Joseph, Duc d’Orleans (1747–1793), a distant cousin of Louis XVI
(1754–1793; reigned 1774–1792) and early supporter of the French Revolution. Elected as a deputy to the National Convention in
September 1792, he voted for the execution of the king. In 1793, after his son (the Duc de Chartres) defected to the Austrians, he
was imprisoned and executed during the Terror.
every booby will answer an attempt at reformation with this is very well in theory — but how are we rest contented of
its impractability without every giving it a trial — <a> experience is the only certain guide & Experience tells us that
modern education is bad.
on Friday next I depart for Oxford & shall perhaps be settled before you come. if however upon your arrival you
will give me one line at Baliol I will be with you immediately & be of what service I
can.
I shall write to Bedford before I go relative to my
books — I have spent eleven years already at various school & at this hour know not the languages with your accuracy — your example
here is a proof of Rousseaus judgement. perhaps I may waste as many years more at college — thus goes the prime of life in attaining
knowledge which will not serve to protract its end — we toil on & at last find on a death bed how ignorant we are of every thing.
what is God said HieroHiero I, tyrant of Syracuse (478–467 BC), asked the poet, Simonides of
Ceos (556–468 BC), ‘What is god?’ and Simonides finally replied ‘The longer I think on the subject the farther I seem from making it
out’. you know the answer.
I have read all JuvenalDecimus Junius Juvenalis (fl. AD late C1 and early C2),
satirist. with pleasure it is a manly stile more adapted to me than the sly sarcasms of HoraceQuintus Horatius Flaccus (65–8 BC), author of the Epodes, Satires, Odes and Epistles.
but I have no time for more church is ready & I go to hear a sermon very probably about right divine sedition & impiety which
last are always linked together in the pulpit.