“I have seldom taken up a pen with so little knowledge of what was to proceed from it as on this occasion; for after sleeping upon your letters, and thinking on them, and breakfasting upon them, I am at a loss how to reply or how to act. If it be necessary, I will certainly go to London. Do you, after what I may say, talk with Herries, and determine whether it be so. . . . .
“It is very obvious that a sense of danger has
occasioned this step. Look at my first Paper upon the Poor in the 16th Quarterly; had the ministry opened
their eyes four years ago, had they seen what was passing before their eyes,
the evil might then have been checked. The events of a successful war would
have enabled them to pursue a vigorous policy at home. It will be more
difficult now, and requires more courage. And less is to be done by
administering antidotes, than by preventing the dis-
| Ætat. 43. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 203 |
“In any way that may be thought desirable I will do my best; but alas, Grosvenor, what can I do that I have not been doing? A journal with the same object in view as the Anti-Jacobin, but conducted upon better principles, might be of service. I could contribute to it from a distance. But to you it must be obvious, that as my head and hands are not, like Kehama’s, multipliable at pleasure, I can exert myself only in one place at a time, and Government would gain nothing by transferring me from the Quarterly to anything else which they might be willing to launch. It may be said that the Q. R. is established; that this engine is at work, and will go on, and that it is desirable to have more engines than one. I admit this. . . . . In short, whatever ought to be done I am ready to do, and to do it fearlessly. The best thing seems to write a small book or large pamphlet upon the state of the nation.
“In all this I see nothing which would require a change of residence; that measure would induce a great sacrifice of feeling, of comfort, and of expense, and draw on a heavily increased expenditure. They would provide for this; but in what manner? A man is easily provided for who is in a profession, or is capable of holding any official character; this is not my case. . . . .
“You will understand that I will hasten to London
| 204 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 43. |
“It is better that I should write either to you or Herries a letter to be shown, than that I should show myself. Good may undoubtedly be done by exposing the anarchists, and awakening the sound part of the country to a sense of their danger. This I can do; but it will be of no avail unless it be followed by effective measures. . . . . The immediate distress can best be alleviated by finding employment for the poor. . . . . I am very desirous that Mr. Owen’s plan for employing paupers in agriculture should be tried: he writes like a madman, but his practice ought not to be confounded with his metaphysics; the experiment is worth trying, I do not doubt its success; and the consequences which he so foolishly anticipates will triumph should be regarded as the dreams of an enthusiast, not as reasons to deter Government from the most plausible means of abolishing the poor-rates which has been (or in my judgment can be) proposed. I have seen Owen, and talked with him at great length.
“God bless you!
