The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to George Taylor, 2 March 1832
“Keswick, March 3. 1832.
“My dear Sir,
“Your letter which I have this day received proposes
for my consideration a question of prudence,
* With reference to the offer he says, in a letter
to Mr. Bedford, after stating
that it is solely from prudential motives, he “deemed it right
to listen to the overture. It is not in the natural or fitting
coarse of things that I should be put in harness at an age when I
ought rather to be tamed oat to grass for the remainder of my
days.” |
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| 184 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 58. |
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which can be answered only when the particulars are made
known. At present I can say no more than that it is a matter in which my
inclinations shall not be allowed to have more than their due weight; but that
it must be no inconsiderable advantage which could induce me to alter my habits
of life, and divide the remainder of it between two places of abode; for though
not so rooted here as to be absolutely irremovable, I am leased to the spot, and my library also binds me to it. Perhaps no
consideration could induce me wholly to leave it; but Durham is an easy
distance, and periodical migrations, though attended with some discomfort,
would probably be wholesome for my family, and not hurtful to myself.
“But I will dismiss from my mind at present all
thoughts of this kind, and of the difficulties and objections on one side, and
on the other the plans which would readily present themselves to be sketched
and shaped. It would be losing time to think of these things now; only I may
say, that my estimate of what would be to be done goes far beyond Mr.
——’s. My consideration would be, not with how little
labour I might go through the functions of the Professorship, but how I might
best discharge them for the benefit of those whom I should have to address, and
for my own credit hereafter.
“Farewell, my dear Sir. Present our kind remembrances
to Mrs. Taylor, and believe me always
Yours, with great and sincere regard,
Robert Southey.”
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.
Jane Taylor [née Mills] (1770-1853)
The daughter of Henry Mills of Willington House and stepmother of Sir Henry Taylor; in
1818 she married George Taylor.
