3941. Robert Southey to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, 29 December 1822

 

MS: Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Eng. lett. c. 26. ALS; 3p.
Unpublished.

Keswick 29 Dec. 1822.
My dear G.

I have made search & can find no such paper as you think you recollect. I believe there never was such one: & am confirmed in this belief by what I find in a letter to Edith written the morning after my installation

(1)

Southey to Edith Southey, 5 November 1813, Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Four, Letter 2324.

– to wit, – “a good old Gentleman Usher by name Wortham, or Worthan,

(2)

Hale Young Wortham (1747–1820), First Gentleman Usher and Daily Waiter on His Majesty.

a worthy sort of a fat old man in a wig & a bag, & a snuff-coloured full dress with cut steel buttons & a sword administered an oath, in which I swore to reveal all treasons which might come to my knowledge, & to obey the Lord Chamberlain upon the Kings service, & in his stead the vice chamberlain.”

(3)

Francis Charles Seymour-Conway (1777–1842; DNB), who, as heir to the Marquessate of Hertford, held the courtesy title of Lord Yarmouth. He was a close friend of the Prince Regent, who appointed him to the post of Vice-Chamberlain in 1812. The Lord Chamberlain was his father, the Marquess of Hertford.

– Hence I infer that I had seen the said Gentleman Usher write his name at the office. But if any paper had been given me, it would have been deposited either with the letter from which this extract is taken, or with my appointments to the Spanish Academy &c.

(4)

Southey had been made a Member of the Royal Spanish Academy in 1814.

– I am therefore as certain as I well can be that that no such is in existence.

Miss Walker

(5)

Possibly Anne Walker (1781–1854) of Gilgarran House, sister and heir of William Walker (d. 1819). In 1825 she married Captain James Robertson, of the Royal Navy (d. 1858), who took the name Robertson-Walker.

reports flatteringly of the rural Deans hair. His very Reverence has not inherited my curls. His hair has only a slight turn after it has been wetted, – but there is nothing episcopal in its appearance even then. He is however in all respects a worthy godson, & makes a very favourable impression upon all who are acquainted with him: I wish you could hear some of our conversations concerning the primacy.

I have had a very civil letter from Sir Hew Dalrymple, – in which he disclaims all share in the censure at p. 583.

(6)

Southey’s History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (London, 1823–1832), I, p. 583, in which Southey had condemned British officers for socialising with their French counterparts after the Convention of Cintra (1808). Given the war crimes that the French had perpetrated in Portugal, this was to Southey ‘a moral fault, as well as a political error.’

I am glad of this disclaimer, as it shows that the justice of the censure is felt. There is no person whom, judging from his official correspondence, I am led to respect more highly that Sir Hew. One of the few facts which I deemed it expedient to withhold from this generation is one which would have shewn how entirely & scandalously he was left to act without instructions in the first communications with the Spaniards. Lord Castlereagh

(7)

Robert Stewart, Viscount Castelreagh (1769–1822; DNB), Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1807–1809, Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons 1812–1822.

only acknowledged two of his dispatches out of 37, – 34 of which related to the affairs of Spain, the most important subject at that time, which could be brought before his department.

A Major Tomkinson

(8)

William Tomkinson (1790–1872) joined the 16th Light Dragoons as a cornet in 1808 and served in Spain 1809–1813. He was a Captain at Waterloo (1815). His diary was later published as The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaign, 1809–1815 (1894).

of the Light Dragoons, who served with the Duke from 1809 to the end of the war, & was in every action with him (except Talavera)

(9)

The Battle of Talavera, 27–28 July 1809, in which Anglo-Spanish forces compelled the French army to withdraw. Tomkinson had been seriously wounded at the Battle of the Douro on 11 May 1809 and so missed Talavera.

has written (upon reading my first volume) to offer me the use of his journal.

I send you an epistle, which if I had foreseen its length, should have been made into two. It will amuse you if you are in the humour for it.

(10)

Robert Southey to [Grosvenor Charles Bedford], 24 December 1822, Letter 3940.

A merry Christmas to you, & a happy new year –
God bless you
RS.

Notes

1. Southey to Edith Southey, 5 November 1813, Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Four, Letter 2324.[back]
2. Hale Young Wortham (1747–1820), First Gentleman Usher and Daily Waiter on His Majesty.[back]
3. Francis Charles Seymour-Conway (1777–1842; DNB), who, as heir to the Marquessate of Hertford, held the courtesy title of Lord Yarmouth. He was a close friend of the Prince Regent, who appointed him to the post of Vice-Chamberlain in 1812. The Lord Chamberlain was his father, the Marquess of Hertford.[back]
4. Southey had been made a Member of the Royal Spanish Academy in 1814.[back]
5. Possibly Anne Walker (1781–1854) of Gilgarran House, sister and heir of William Walker (d. 1819). In 1825 she married Captain James Robertson, of the Royal Navy (d. 1858), who took the name Robertson-Walker.[back]
6. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (London, 1823–1832), I, p. 583, in which Southey had condemned British officers for socialising with their French counterparts after the Convention of Cintra (1808). Given the war crimes that the French had perpetrated in Portugal, this was to Southey ‘a moral fault, as well as a political error.’[back]
7. Robert Stewart, Viscount Castelreagh (1769–1822; DNB), Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1807–1809, Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons 1812–1822.[back]
8. William Tomkinson (1790–1872) joined the 16th Light Dragoons as a cornet in 1808 and served in Spain 1809–1813. He was a Captain at Waterloo (1815). His diary was later published as The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaign, 1809–1815 (1894).[back]
9. The Battle of Talavera, 27–28 July 1809, in which Anglo-Spanish forces compelled the French army to withdraw. Tomkinson had been seriously wounded at the Battle of the Douro on 11 May 1809 and so missed Talavera.[back]
10. Robert Southey to [Grosvenor Charles Bedford], 24 December 1822, Letter 3940.[back]
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