The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to Henry Taylor, 3 May 1830
“May 3., 1830.
“My dear H. T.,
“Hone* might
have thriven if he had gone on as badly as he begun. But he was meant for
better things, and published, at a cost which could only be covered by a large
popular sale, more curious things than these penny purchasers were prepared
for; so in outmarching the march of intellect itself, he outran the constable
at the same time. His old sins averted from him one set of customers, and his
better mind indisposed others, who would have dealt with him for garbage and
such offal as goes to the swine trough of vulgar taste.
“Add to this that he has ten children, and his
embarrassments are accounted for. It is too likely that they will at last
break, not his spirit, but his constitution and his heart.
“I hold with Wilmot
Horton about emigration, and think Sadler erroneous in his opinions upon the law of primogeniture;
but, in the main, his book is a
most important one. He has trampled upon Malthus’s theory, proving its absurdity and falsehood,
* “By the by, I have bought Hone’s Every Day Book and his Table Book, and am sorry
I had not seen them before my Colloquies were printed, that I might have given him a
hearty good word there. I have not seen any miscellaneous books that
are so well worth having; brimful of curious matter, and with an
abundance of the very best woodcuts. Poor fellow, he outwent the march
of intellect; and I believe his unwearied and almost unparalleled
industry has ended in bankruptcy. I shall take the first opportunity of
noticing these books; perhaps it will be in Allan Cunningham’s periodical.”—To H. Taylor, Esq.
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| Ætat. 56. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 101 |
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and his own views of the law of population deduce from
facts, that it is what from feeling you would wish it to be. God bless you!
Allan Cunningham [Hidallan] (1784-1842)
Scottish poet and man of letters who contributed to both
Blackwood's and the
London Magazine; he was author of
Lives of the most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors, and
Architects (1829-33).
William Hone (1780-1842)
English bookseller, radical, and antiquary; he was an associate of Bentham, Mill, and
John Cam Hobhouse.
Sir Robert John Wilmot- Horton, third baronet (1784-1841)
Byron's cousin; he was MP for Newcastle under Lyme (1818-30), governor of Ceylon
(1831-37), and was Augusta Leigh's representative at the destruction of Byron's memoir; he
succeeded to his title in 1834.
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).
Michael Thomas Sadler (1780-1835)
Tory MP for Newark (1828-32) and political economist; largely self-educated, he was a
protectionist and paternalist who published
The Law of Population 2
vols, (1830).
Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886)
Poet, writer for the
Quarterly Review, and autobiographer; he was
author of the tragedy
Philip van Artevelde (1834).
The Day. (1809-1817). A daily newspaper edited by Eugenius Roche (1809-11), John Scott, and Robert Hogan; it
merged with the
New Times.
William Hone (1780-1842)
The Every Day Book, or, a Guide to the Year: describing the Popular
Amusements, Sports, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs, and Events, incident to the three hundred
and sixty-five Days in past and present Times. 2 vols (London: Wm. Tegg, 1826-1827). Originally published in weekly parts, 1825-26.
