“. . . . . Our bells are ringing as they ought to do; and I, after a burst of exhilaration at the day’s news*, am in a state of serious and thoughtful thankfulness for what, perhaps, ought to be considered as the greatest deliverance that civilised society has experienced since the defeat of the Moors by Charles Martel. I never feared or doubted the result; but if we had been thus thoroughly defeated in the first battle, the consequences would have been too fatal to think of with composure. Perhaps enough has been done to excite a revolt in Paris; but I have a strong impression, either upon my imagination or my judgment, that that city will suffer some part of its deserved chastisement. The cannon should be sent home and formed into a pillar to support a statue of Wellington in the centre of the largest square in London.
|
* Of the battle of Waterloo. |
| 118 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 40. |
“I am expecting the Review daily. Your hint respecting Marlborough does not accord with my own opinion of the subject. I could make nothing of a life of Marlborough. A battle can only be made tolerable in narration when it has something picturesque in its accidents, scene, &c. &c., which is not the case with any of Marlborough’s. The only part which I could make valuable would be what related to Louis XIV. and the peace of Utrecht. But if the Bibliopole of Albemarle Street were to propound sweet remuneration for the Egyptian story, he would do wisely. With all his sagacity, he turned a deaf ear to the most promising project which ever occurred to me—that of writing; the age of George III. This I will do whenever (if ever) I get free from the necessity of raising immediate supplies by temporary productions. The subject, as you may perceive, is nothing less than a view of the world during the most eventful half century of its annals,—not the history, but a philosophical summary, with reference to the causes and consequences of all these mighty revolutions. There never was a more splendid subject, and I have full confidence in my own capacity for treating it.
“Did I tell you of the Yankee’s pamphlet, to abuse me for
an article in the Quarterly which I did not write, and
(between ourselves) would not have written? He talks of my getting drunk with
my sack. One especial (and just) cause of anger is the expression that
‘Washington, we
believe, was an honest man;’ and I am reviled for this in
America, when I was consternating the Lord
Chamberlain by
| Ætat. 40. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 119 |
“God bless you!
