The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to Grosvenor C. Bedford, 17 November 1808
“You have taken what I said a little too seriously;
that is, you have given it more thought than it de-![]()
| 186 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 34. |
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served. The case stands thus: you wish to serve the public, ministers wish to
serve themselves; and so it happens that, just at this time, the two objects
are the same. I am very willing to travel with them as far as we are going the
same way, and, when our roads separate, shall of course leave them. Meantime,
that suppression which there certainly will be upon certain points is of little
consequence to me, who shall have nothing to do with those points. Murray has sent me materials for the missionary article, in which
Gifford wishes me to enter upon the
subject generally. My intent was to have confined myself to the Hindoo
question; but I am master of the whole subject, and will therefore take the
wider view. There are three reviewals of mine upon this very topic in the three
first Annuals, and these were the
first which ever appeared concerning them. I am strong here, and shall do well,
God willing; yet how much better could I do if nobody but Robert Southey were
responsible for the opinions expressed.
“I know from Walter
Scott that he reviews the
Cid; it is not a text for entering directly upon the present Spanish
affairs, though a fine one for touching upon them. Two things are required for
the review of that book which will not be found in one person—a knowledge
of Spanish literature, and of the manners of chivalry, so as to estimate the
comparative value of my Chronicle. The
latter knowledge Scott possesses better than any body
else.
“About Cevallos
you best know your own stock of materials. Authors may be divided into silk-![]()
| Ætat. 34. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 187 |
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worms and spiders,—those who spin because they are
full, and those who spin because they are empty. It is not likely that there
are any facts of importance which are not known to the public; and, indeed, if
I undertook the task, I should have little to do with the past history of these transactions, but state as summarily and strongly
as I could what the conduct of France had been; hold up the war as a crusade on
the part of us and the Spaniards (I love and vindicate the Crusades); show why
I expected this from their character, and also why I now expect in full faith a
glorious termination at last, though prepared to hear of heavy reverses for a
time, possibly the recoronation of Joseph at
Madrid. Finally, I would represent the thought of peace with Bonaparte as high treason against all honourable
feelings, and all liberty. Of the Spanish frigates I would say nothing; would
to God that they who issued orders for their capture were buried in the deep
with them! There is a sort of methodical writing, carrying with it an air of
official imposingness which does better in such cases than better things
(though I would not be supposed to imply that it necessarily excludes them);
and of this style I should guess that Herries is master.
“Elmsley may be
applied to, and, I think, with success. As for Davy, I know not whether the prize which he received from
Bonaparte sticks to his fingers or no;
I would sooner have cut mine off than accepted it. It is likely to co-operate
with some of his Royal Institution associates in making him cry out for peace:
yet Davy’s heart is sound at the core, ![]()
| 188 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 34. |
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and his all-grasping, all-commanding genius must have
redeemed him. The best channel to him is through Sotheby, a man on whom you may calculate. I am particularly
anxious that my hint about Poole should
be adopted. One article from him about the poor will be worth its weight in
gold. I hope Malthus will not be a
contributor. By that first book moral restraint was pronounced impracticable;
by his second it is relied upon as his remedy for the poors’ rates, which
are to be abolished to prevent the poor from marrying; and moral restraint and
the parson are to render them contented in celibacy. His main principle is that
God makes men and women faster than He can feed them, and he calls upon
government to stop the breed. As if we did not at this moment want men for our
battles! Rickman’s name should
stand in the place of his. Rickman has tenfold his
knowledge and his ability. There is no man living equal to
Rickman upon the subject of political economy. He,
too, is a Crusader as to this war. Malthus will prove a
peacemonger.
“It would attract much notice, and carry with it much
recommendation, if an account of the Welsh Archæology could be procured.
Turner may be asked for it; I am
afraid he is too busy: William Owen,
alas! is one of Joanna Southcote’s
four-and-twenty elders; and Bard
Williams is, God knows where, and nothing is to be got out of
him except by word of mouth. There is, however, the chance of
Turner; there is Davies of
Olveston, the author of![]()
| Ætat. 34. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 189 |
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the Celtic Researches; there is
Wynn’s Welshman—Peter Roberts.
“Farewell! I finish my Annualising in a few days, and
shall then set about the Missions.
“God bless you!
“Let not Gifford suppose me a troublesome man to deal with,
pertinacious about trifles, or standing upon punctilios of authorship. No,
Grosvenor, I am a quiet,
patient, easy-going hack of the mule breed; regular as clockwork in my
pace, sure-footed, bearing the burden which is laid on me, and only
obstinate in choosing my own path. If Gifford could
see me by this fireside where, like Nicodemus, one
candle suffices me in a large room, he would see a man in a coat
‘still more threadbare than his own’ when he wrote
his ‘Imitation,’ working hard and getting little,—a bare
maintenance, and hardly that; writing poems and history for posterity with
his whole heart and soul; one daily progressive in learning, not so learned
as he is poor, not so poor as proud; not so proud as happy.
Grosvenor, there is not a lighter-hearted nor a
happier man upon the face of this wide world.
“Your godson thinks that I have nothing to do but to play with
him, and anybody who saw what reason he has for his opinion would be
disposed to agree with him. I wish you could see my beautiful boy!”
Grosvenor Charles Bedford (1773-1839)
The son of Horace Walpole's correspondent Charles Bedford; he was auditor of the
Exchequer and a friend of Robert Southey who contributed to several of Southey's
publications.
Pedro de Cevallos (1715-1778)
Spanish military governor and Viceroy of the Río de la Plata.
Edward Davies (1756-1831)
Scottish clergyman, poet, and antiquary; he published
The Mythology and
Rites of the British Druids (1809).
Sir Humphry Davy, baronet (1778-1829)
English chemist and physicist, inventor of the safety lamp; in Bristol he knew Cottle,
Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey; he was president of the Royal Society (1820).
Peter Elmsley (1774-1825)
Classical scholar educated at Christ Church, Oxford, who published in the
Edinburgh Review and
Quarterly Review.
Southey described him to W. S. Landor as “the fattest under-graduate in your time and
mine.”
William Gifford (1756-1826)
Poet, scholar, and editor who began as a shoemaker's apprentice; after Oxford he
published
The Baviad (1794),
The Maeviad
(1795), and
The Satires of Juvenal translated (1802) before becoming
the founding editor of the
Quarterly Review (1809-24).
John Charles Herries (1778-1855)
Educated at Cheam and Leipzig University, he was private secretary to Spencer Percival,
auditor of the civil list (1816), and MP for Harwich (1823-41) and Stamford
(1847-53).
Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834)
English political economist educated at Jesus College, Cambridge; he was author of
An Essay on the Principles of Population (1798; 1803).
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821)
Military leader, First Consul (1799), and Emperor of the French (1804), after his
abdication he was exiled to Elba (1814); after his defeat at Waterloo he was exiled to St.
Helena (1815).
Thomas Poole (1766-1837)
Of Nether Stowey; he was a farmer, tanner, and the early friend of Samuel Taylor
Coleridge.
William Owen Pughe (1759-1835)
Welsh poet, translator, antiquary and lexicographer; he was a follower of Joanna
Southcott.
John Rickman (1771-1840)
Educated at Magdalen Hall and Lincoln College, Oxford, he was statistician and clerk to
the House of Commons and an early friend of Charles Lamb and Robert Southey.
Peter Roberts (1760-1819)
Welsh clergyman and antiquary; he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he
afterwards worked as a private tutor; he published
Cambrian Popular
Antiquities (1815) and other works.
William Sotheby (1757-1833)
English man of letters; after Harrow he joined the dragoons, married well, and published
Poems (1790) and became a prolific poet and translator,
prominent in literary society.
Joanna Southcott (1750-1814)
English prophet and visionary, originally the daughter of a Devonshire farmer.
Sharon Turner (1768-1847)
Attorney, historian, and writer for the
Quarterly Review; he wrote
History of the Anglo-Saxons, 4 vols (1799-1805).
Edward Williams [Iolo Morganwg] (1747-1826)
Welsh poet and antiquary who followed Chatterton's example in forging manuscripts to
support his ideas about medieval history.
Charles Watkin Williams Wynn (1775-1850)
The son of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, fourth baronet; educated at Westminster and Christ
Church, Oxford, Robert Southey's friend and benefactor was a Whig MP for Old Sarum (1797)
and Montgomeryshire (1799-1850). He was president of the Board of Control (1822-28).
