The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to Herbert Hill, 28 February 1817
“Keswick, Feb. 28. 1817,
“My dear Uncle,
“Your copies of Brazil are, I hope, by this time delivered
at the Doctor’s, and in a day or
two I shall send the third volume to the press; for if I should only get
through a single chapter before my journey, it will be so much gained. My
movements will be upon a wide scale. I purpose to start for London the second
week in April, and, if you are then in Hampshire, to run down to you for a
week, as soon as I have rested myself, and shaken hands with Bedford and Rickman; and on May-day, or as soon after as my companions can
be ready, I start with Senhouse, of
Netherhall, and my former compagnon de
voyage, Nash, for the
continent. From six weeks to two months is to be the length of our furlough,
during which we mean to get as far as Lago Maggiore and Milan, back over the
Alps a second time, and seeing as much as we can of Switzerland, to return by
way of the Rhine, and reach home as early as possible in July.
“I learn from to-day’s Courier that Brougham attacked me in the House of Commons. I hope this
affair will give no friend of mine any more vexation than it does me.
Immediately upon seeing the book advertised, I wrote to Wynn and to Turner, giving them the whole facts, and proposing to obtain an
injunction in Chancery. How they will determine I do not yet know. Perhaps, as
Brougham has thus ![]()
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given full
publicity to the thing, they may not think it advisable to proceed, but let it
rest, considering it, as it really is, of no importance. Men of this stamp, who
live in the perpetual fever of faction, are as little capable of disturbing my
tranquillity as they are of understanding it.
“I have just finished the notes and preface to the
Morte d’Arthur,
a thing well paid for. For the next Quarterly, I have to review Mariner’s Tonga Islands (including a good word for
our friend the Captain*), and to write
upon the Report of the Secret
Committees; but I shall fly from the text, and, saying as little as
may be upon the present, examine what are the causes which make men
discontented in this country, and what the means which may tend to heal this
foul gangrene in the body politic. Never was any paper so emasculated as my
last; and yet it was impossible to resent it, for it was done in compassion to
the weakness, the embarrassment, and the fears of the Ministry. They express
themselves much indebted to me. In reply to their intimations of a desire to
show their sense of this, I have pressed a wish that Tom be remembered when there is a promotion in
the navy. For myself, I want nothing, nor would I, indeed, accept anything.
They give me credit for a reasonable share of foresight, and perhaps wish that
my advice had been taken four years ago.
“God bless you!
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.
Henry Peter Brougham, first baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a founder of the
Edinburgh
Review in which he chastised Byron's
Hours of Idleness; he
defended Queen Caroline in her trial for adultery (1820), established the London University
(1828), and was appointed lord chancellor (1830).
James Burney (1750-1821)
The brother of Fanny Burney; he sailed with Captain Cook and wrote about his voyages, and
in later life was a friend of Charles Lamb and other literary people.
William Charles Mariner (1791-1853)
English seaman who spent four years living as a Polynesian in Tonga; he was afterwards a
stockbroker.
Edward Nash (1778-1821)
English painter who after spending time in India befriended Robert Southey and
accompanied him on his travels.
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.
Humphrey Senhouse (1773-1842)
Of Netherhall in Cumberland, the son of Humphrey Senhouse (d. 1814); in 1803 he married
Elizabeth Greaves and in 1826 was high sheriff of Cumberland. He was an antiquary and
friend of Robert Southey.
Henry Herbert Southey (1783-1865)
The younger brother of Robert Southey; educated at Edinburgh University, he was physician
to George IV, Gresham Professor of Medicine, and friend of Sir Walter Scott.
Thomas Southey (1777-1838)
The younger brother of Robert Southey; he was a naval captain (1811) and afterwards a
Customs officer. He published
A Chronological History of the West
Indies (1828).
Sharon Turner (1768-1847)
Attorney, historian, and writer for the
Quarterly Review; he wrote
History of the Anglo-Saxons, 4 vols (1799-1805).
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).
The Courier. (1792-1842). A London evening newspaper; the original proprietor was James Perry; Daniel Stuart, Peter
Street, and William Mudford were editors; among the contributors were Samuel Taylor
Coleridge and John Galt.
The Quarterly Review. (1809-1967). Published by John Murray, the
Quarterly was instigated by Walter
Scott as a Tory rival to the
Edinburgh Review. It was edited by
William Gifford to 1824, and by John Gibson Lockhart from 1826 to 1853.
Sir Thomas Malory (1415 c.-1471)
The byrth, lyf, and actes of Kyng Arthur; of his noble knyghtes of the Rounde
Table, theyr merveyllous enquestes and aduentures, thachyeuyng of the Sanc Greal; and in
the end le Morte Darthur, with the dolourous deth and departying out of thys worlde of them
al. 2 vols (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1817). Edited from the Caxton edition by Robert Southey.
