Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries
Joanna Baillie to Samuel Rogers, 2 February [1832]
‘Hampstead: Friday, 2nd Febry. [1832].
‘My dear Mr.
Rogers,—You once called me, and not very long ago, an
ungrateful hussey, and I remember it the better because I really thought I
deserved it. But whether I did or not, when I tell you now that I have read
Sir John
Herschell’s book twice, or rather three times over,
have been the better for it both in understanding and heart, and mean to read
parts of it again ere long, you will not repent having bestowed it upon me. And
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| 78 | ROGERS AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES | |
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now I mean to thank you for another obligation that
you are not so well aware of. Do you remember when I told you, a good while
since, of my intention of looking over all my works to correct them for an
edition to be published after my decease, should it be called for, and you
giving me a hint never to let a which stand where a that might serve the purpose, to prefer the words while to whilst, among to amongst, &c.? I
acquiesced in all this most readily, throwing as much scorn upon the rejected
expressions as anybody would do, and with all the ease of one who from natural
taste had always avoided them. If you do, you will guess what has been my
surprise and mortification to find through whole pages of even my last dramas,
“whiches,” “whilsts,” and “amongsts,”
&c., where they need not have been, in abundance. Well; I have profited by
your hint, though I was not aware that I needed it at the time when it was
given, and now I thank you for it very sincerely. I cannot imagine how I came
to make this mistake, if it has not been that, in writing songs, I have often
rejected the words in question because they do not sound well in singing. I
have very lately finished my corrections, and now all my literary tasks are
finished. It is time they should, and more serious thoughts fill up their room,
or ought to do.
‘I hear of your sister from time to time by our neighbours here, and of
yourself now and then. I hope you continue to brave this variable winter with
impunity. We hear also that your nephew continues to recover, though more
slowly than his friends could wish. Being so young a man gives one confidence
in the progress he ![]()
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makes. My
sister and I are both confined to
the house, but with no very great ailments to complain of. We both unite in all
kind wishes and regards to you and Miss Rogers.
‘Very truly and gratefully yours,
Agnes Baillie (1760-1861)
The daughter of the Scottish cleric James Baillie and elder sister of the poet Joanna
Baillie with whom she lived in Hampstead for many decades.
Joanna Baillie (1762-1851)
Scottish poet and dramatist whose
Plays on the Passions
(1798-1812) were much admired, especially the gothic
De Montfort,
produced at Drury Lane in 1800.
Samuel Rogers (1763-1855)
English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular
Pleasures of Memory (1792),
Columbus (1810),
Jaqueline (1814), and
Italy (1822-28).
Sarah Rogers (1772-1855)
Of Regent's Park. the younger sister of the poet Samuel Rogers; she lived with her
brother Henry in Highbury Terrace.
