3828. Robert Southey to Herbert Hill, 20 April 1822

 

Address: To/ The Reverend Herbert Hill/ Streatham/ Surry
Stamped: KESWICK/ 298
Postmarks: 10 o’Clock/ AP 23/ 1822 F Nn; E/ 23 AP 23/ 1822
Seal: red wax; design illegible
MS: Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, WC 216. ALS; 4p.
Previously published: John Wood Warter (ed.), Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey, 4 vols (London, 1856), III, pp. 303–304 [in part].

Keswick. 20 Apr. 1822

The Boswell whom you met at Longmans was Sir Alex’s

(1)

Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet (1775–1822; DNB), Scottish poet, bibliophile and MP for Plympton Erle 1816–1821. He attended Eton 1789–1792.

only brother, & died a few months ago, of habitual drinking,

(2)

James Boswell (1778–1822; DNB), lawyer, poet and literary scholar. He died on 24 February 1822. He had been appointed a Commissioner of Bankrupts in 1819.

as his father did before him.

(3)

James Boswell (1740–1795; DNB), diarist and biographer of Samuel Johnson (1709–1784; DNB).

Sir Alex. had just returned from the funeral, when he was called upon by his antagonist.

(4)

Alexander Boswell was mortally wounded on 26 March 1822 in a duel with James Stuart (1775–1849; DNB), lawyer, journalist and Whig supporter. Boswell had attacked Stuart vociferously in anonymous articles in the Tory newspaper the Glasgow Sentinel (1821–1823).

– Poor James Boswell was a thoroughly good-natured inoffensive man, of considerable talents. Malone left him his papers to compleat an edition of Shakespere, & after many years labour he published it last year.

(5)

Edmond Malone (1741–1812; DNB), Irish Shakesperean scholar and friend of the elder and younger James Boswell. The latter completed Malone’s The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators: Comprehending a Life of the Poet, and an Enlarged History of the Stage (1821).

– He had not long been made a Commissioner of Bankrupts, before which his means had been somewhat scanty I believe. I have lost in him, not a friend indeed, but a pleasant old acquaintance, whom I was always glad to meet, & of whose good will & good word I was always sure. We were schoolfellows, & when Wynn left school, & left a bed vacant in my room, I who became head boy of the house by his departure, chose xx xxxx Boswell to succeed him. A brother of Bedfords (poor Horace, – H. Walpoles

(6)

Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717–1797; DNB), writer, antiquarian and Whig politician.

godson) was at Westminster at the same time, – we used to call him Dr Johnson,

(7)

The nickname was a humorous comparison with Samuel Johnson (1709–84; DNB), author and lexicographer.

from an affectation he had of verbal criticism, which he supported by quoting Johnson always, – & I made Boswell write after my dictation some ridiculous anecdotes of him under this name, to be read for the amusement of the sixth form. Boswell enjoyed this as much as any one, tho he used to say it was a shame to make him mob his father, – & in latter years he delighted to tell the story, & tax me with tyrannizing over him. Horace was allowed to carry off the Memoirs, which he liked well enough himself to give to his brother, & I dare say Grosvenor has them at this day.

Boswell came here in 1815 to visit Lord Sunderlin (Malones brother) & was one of the party at our midnight bonfire on the summit of Skiddaw.

(8)

See Southey to Henry Herbert Southey, 23 August 1815, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Four, Letter 2649.

Alex. Boswell was an Etonian. I saw him once when he called in Deans Yard for his brother, – & indeed Bozzy’s conversation had made me at that time well-acquainted with all the Auchinleck family.

(9)

The Boswells’ estate and family home was at Auchinleck in Ayrshire.

This is the second fatal duel which has grown out of the licence of the press,

(10)

John Scott (1784–1821; DNB), editor of the London Magazine, was mortally wounded on 16 February 1821 in a duel with Jonathan Henry Christie (1792–1876) that was provoked by attacks on Scott in Blackwood’s Magazine.

both parties think neither party scruples at any slander which may injure or annoy its opponents, & the increase of duelling must be one consequence of this disgraceful system.

I will give Edward a letter ere long. Calligraphy is not xxx promoted at Westminster, – & yet I obtained some silver-pence for it there for what was called fair-shewings.

Edith-May I believe, will go to Harrogate next week, & I shall probably go to bring her home, which will be the extent of my travels this year. I had planned a journey thro Holland, if I could have afforded time & money, but that scheme must stand over till a more convenient season.

(11)

Southey visited Holland in 1825 and 1826.

Ostervalds friend

(12)

A German visitor, called Bielh; see Southey to Herbert Hill, 24 February 1822, Letter 3804. Jean Frédéric Ostervald (b. 1749) was a Swiss from Neuchatel and son of Frédéric Samuel Ostervald (1713–1795), publisher and founder of the Société Typographique de Neuchatel (STN). Ostervald was in Portugal in the 1790s and was secretary to the legation and chargé d’affaires at the British Embassy 1792–1793 while Robert Walpole (1736–1810; DNB), Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 1771–1800, was in Britain. Ostervald was an old friend of Herbert Hill and Southey had written to him during h…

will probably make his appearance here next month. You will not be able to deliver up your paintings to him, – for he is going to Russia instead of Manheim.

I had a visit lately from Gooden, who told me of Mr Sealy’s

(13)

Richard Sealy (c. 1752–1821), a Lisbon merchant and the father of Henry Herbert Southey’s first wife. He died at Lisbon on 11 July 1821.

secret marriage. – Wilberforce writes me word that the French are about to revive the Slave Trade, for the purpose of stocking Guiana with negroes

(14)

France had abolished the slave trade in 1815, but was not taking effective steps to enforce this ban. The French had regained French Guiana in 1817 after its occupation by Portuguese forces during the Napoleonic Wars. It retained slavery until 1848.

, – and also that they mean to attempt the conquest of S Domingo.

(15)

The French colony of St Domingue had become independent as Haiti in 1804, but France did not recognise this situation and there were constant rumours that a French expedition would be sent to reconquer Haiti.

If this latter xxx account be true, the intent must be to get rid of men who are dangerous at home; & this must be so obvious that I do not think it will be attempted. But I shall hear more of this from Clarkson, who will no doubt pass a day with me, on his way to Scotland this summer. He resided in this country when first I came into it. – The Brazilians will pay the full price for their share in the slave trade, if a civil war should break out in Brazil.

(16)

The slave trade to Brazil was not banned until 1831 (and not effectively until 1850).

Our love to my Aunt & the children

God bless you
RS.

Notes

1. Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet (1775–1822; DNB), Scottish poet, bibliophile and MP for Plympton Erle 1816–1821. He attended Eton 1789–1792.[back]
2. James Boswell (1778–1822; DNB), lawyer, poet and literary scholar. He died on 24 February 1822. He had been appointed a Commissioner of Bankrupts in 1819.[back]
3. James Boswell (1740–1795; DNB), diarist and biographer of Samuel Johnson (1709–1784; DNB).[back]
4. Alexander Boswell was mortally wounded on 26 March 1822 in a duel with James Stuart (1775–1849; DNB), lawyer, journalist and Whig supporter. Boswell had attacked Stuart vociferously in anonymous articles in the Tory newspaper the Glasgow Sentinel (1821–1823).[back]
5. Edmond Malone (1741–1812; DNB), Irish Shakesperean scholar and friend of the elder and younger James Boswell. The latter completed Malone’s The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare, with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators: Comprehending a Life of the Poet, and an Enlarged History of the Stage (1821).[back]
6. Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717–1797; DNB), writer, antiquarian and Whig politician.[back]
7. The nickname was a humorous comparison with Samuel Johnson (1709–84; DNB), author and lexicographer.[back]
8. See Southey to Henry Herbert Southey, 23 August 1815, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Four, Letter 2649.[back]
9. The Boswells’ estate and family home was at Auchinleck in Ayrshire.[back]
10. John Scott (1784–1821; DNB), editor of the London Magazine, was mortally wounded on 16 February 1821 in a duel with Jonathan Henry Christie (1792–1876) that was provoked by attacks on Scott in Blackwood’s Magazine.[back]
11. Southey visited Holland in 1825 and 1826.[back]
12. A German visitor, called Bielh; see Southey to Herbert Hill, 24 February 1822, Letter 3804. Jean Frédéric Ostervald (b. 1749) was a Swiss from Neuchatel and son of Frédéric Samuel Ostervald (1713–1795), publisher and founder of the Société Typographique de Neuchatel (STN). Ostervald was in Portugal in the 1790s and was secretary to the legation and chargé d’affaires at the British Embassy 1792–1793 while Robert Walpole (1736–1810; DNB), Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 1771–1800, was in Britain. Ostervald was an old friend of Herbert Hill and Southey had written to him during his continental journey in 1817. This letter had produced some correspondence with Ostervald’s nephew, Jean Baptist Isaac Harlé (1773–1854), a merchant at St Quentin; see Southey to Herbert Hill, 15 March 1818, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Five, Letter 3093.[back]
13. Richard Sealy (c. 1752–1821), a Lisbon merchant and the father of Henry Herbert Southey’s first wife. He died at Lisbon on 11 July 1821.[back]
14. France had abolished the slave trade in 1815, but was not taking effective steps to enforce this ban. The French had regained French Guiana in 1817 after its occupation by Portuguese forces during the Napoleonic Wars. It retained slavery until 1848.[back]
15. The French colony of St Domingue had become independent as Haiti in 1804, but France did not recognise this situation and there were constant rumours that a French expedition would be sent to reconquer Haiti.[back]
16. The slave trade to Brazil was not banned until 1831 (and not effectively until 1850).[back]
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