3944. Robert Southey to [Edward Hawke Locker], 31 December 1822

 

MS: Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester, Robert Southey Papers A.S727. ALS; 3p.
Previously published: W. A. Speck, ‘Robert Southey’s Letters to Edward Hawke Locker’, Huntington Library Quarterly, 62.1–2 (1999), 157–159 [in part, closing salutation omitted].

Keswick. 31 Dec. 1822.
My dear Sir

There is an apology due to you on my part respecting Wm Westall & your sketches.

(1)

Westall was preparing A Series of Views of Spain and Portugal, to Illustrate Mr. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War; Drawn on Stone by W. Westall, A.R.A., from Sketches by General Hawker, Mr. Locker, Mr. Heaphy, &c. Part I, containing Eight Views, illustrating Vol. I (1823). These could be inserted into the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).

I ought to have written to you before he called, & so I meant to have done, & so undoubtedly he supposed I had done. But procrastination is the besetting sin of one who has so many calls upon him for letters as I have, & so many engagements which leave him little time for them. – I am greatly obliged to you for what you have done, & feel the service to him as a kindness to myself. I am very anxious that he may succeed in a speculation which I know he has undertaken mainly from his regard for me & a hope that he may rendering me some advantage by it. In that opinion he has taken upon himself a risque which the booksellers did not chuse to adventure. I am therefore bound to facilitate his object as far as I can; & moreover he is a man whom I esteem very highly for his genius, disposition, principles & conduct. He mentioned to me the subjects which you had shewn him: – if you can spare him that of Tarragona

(2)

Tarragona is a port in Catalonia. It was the scene of a successful siege by French forces in May–June 1811.

in addition to those upon which he is at work, I shall be glad & thankful: – but of course you will not do this if it in any way interferes with your own engagements.

Thank you for your Report,

(3)

Report on Inspecting the Estates of Greenwich Hospital in the counties of Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland by Edward Hawke Locker, F.R.S., Secretary to the Institution (1822). Greenwich Hospital owned much land around the town of Keswick.

which I have read with much interest, & as you desire, have put out of sight for the present. The more I know of the manner in which estates belonging to public bodies are managed, the more desirous I am that the statute of mortmain should be repealed.

(4)

The Statutes of Mortmain (1279 and 1290) restricted the ability of individuals to leave land in perpetuity to a corporation such as the Church. They were not finally repealed until the Charities Act (1960).

I am sorry for the demise of the Plain Englishman,

(5)

Locker had founded The Plain Englishman (1820–1823), a popular miscellany of conservative and Anglican views.

– & wonder that such a sale should not have covered its expenses. The Society in B. Buildings

(6)

The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (founded 1698), an Anglican charity that supported Christian literature and education. It was often known as the Society in Bartlett’s Buildings, from its headquarters in Holborn, London.

should set on foot a work of this kind; – they might afford to undersell any other journal, & yet not find it a losing concern. It is a thing very well worth their consideration. At present it appears to me that the enormous power which that Society possesses, is so directed as to produce a miserably inadequate return of good.

I am more sorry at what you say respecting the Life of the King.

(7)

It was widely advertised in 1820–1821 that Murray would publish ‘The Personal History of King George III. Undertaken with the Assistance of, and in Communication with Persons Officially Connected with the Late King, and Dedicated by Express Permission to His Present Majesty’ by Locker, but the work never appeared. It would have been a life of George III (1738–1820; King of Great Britain 1760–1820; DNB).

I have repeatedly expressed <said> both to Murray & Gifford that Government may much more effectually be served by a Journal which while it supports it in the main, honestly expresses a difference of opinion wherever it is felt, than by a partizan thro thick & thin. But in your case there is even a blinder timidity than that which shrinks from the most friendly animadversion. It is sheer weakness to with hold political disclosures which are due to history as well as to the dead, – & which can produce no possible evil.

Men in office appear to catch this pitiable imbecillity. There is an Ode among my Minor Poems, written ex officio in December 1814, which I xxx was advised to withdraw because it spoke honourably of Washington.

(8)

As Poet Laureate, Southey was required to write a New Year’s ode. He had originally intended ‘Ode, Written in December 1814’ to fulfill this duty for 1815, but had abandoned his plan on Bedford’s and Croker’s advice. It was published in Minor Poems, 3 vols (London, 1815), II, pp. [225]–238. Lines 10–12 of the poem complimented George Washington (1732–1799; President of the United States 1789–1797) as ‘A light for after times!’

But judging of Kings more worthily than those who are about their persons, I was not deterred from introducing Washington as I have done in a poem dedicated & presented to the King.

(9)

A Vision of Judgement (1821), Canto 6, lines 14–50 presented a very favourable picture of George Washington, whose ‘place was with ancient sages and heroes’ (line 21).

– & of that poem the King twice expressed his satisfaction.

(10)

George IV expressed his gratitude for A Vision of Judgement (1821) through Sir William Knighton, who had presented the book to the King; see Southey to Knighton, 30 March 1821, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3661; and to Henry Herbert Southey, when George IV encountered Southey’s brother at a levée; see Southey to John Rickman, 18 May 1821, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3687.

– Upon occasion of this volume of the Peninsular War, he has directed Sir Wm Knighton to write me a very handsome letter, – & written upon the letter – entirely approved – GR.” -

(11)

Southey had dedicated his History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832) to George IV. For the King’s approbation, see Southey to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, 20 December 1822, Letter 3937.

It was my intention to have transcribed for your Plain Englishman some of my annual Odes, which have the merit of being well intended, & are not carelessly written. – See the effect of procrastination!

(12)

Southey’s New Year’s ode for January 1817, ‘Ode on the Battle of Algiers’, did appear in The Plain Englishman, 3 (1823), pp. 427–428. Those for January 1820 and January 1821, ‘The Warning Voice: Ode I and Ode II’ appeared in Locker’s subsequent publication, The Englishman’s Library: Comprising a Series of Historical, Biographical and National Information (London, 1824), pp. 381–389.

You once gave me hopes of obtaining Mr Bouchers Sermons.

(13)

Jonathan Boucher (1738–1804; DNB), an Anglican clergyman and close friend of George Washington, who left America in 1775 because he opposed the American Revolution. His A View of the Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution (1797) comprised annotated versions of thirteen sermons that Boucher preached in America 1763–1775.

They would be useful to me at this time, when I am making notes for a paper which is intended to bring the QR. round to a proper tone concerning America.

(14)

Southey’s review of Timothy Dwight (1752–1817), Travels in New-England and New-York (1821–1822), no. 881 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library in Quarterly Review, 30 (October 1823), 1–40, published 17 April 1824.

I have always protested against the temper in which that country has been treated, as unwise, impolitic, & in every point of view indefensable: – & at last my representations have produced some effect.

Present our kind regards to Mrs Locker, & believe me

My dear Sir
Yours faithfully
Robert Southey

Notes

1. Westall was preparing A Series of Views of Spain and Portugal, to Illustrate Mr. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War; Drawn on Stone by W. Westall, A.R.A., from Sketches by General Hawker, Mr. Locker, Mr. Heaphy, &c. Part I, containing Eight Views, illustrating Vol. I (1823). These could be inserted into the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).[back]
2. Tarragona is a port in Catalonia. It was the scene of a successful siege by French forces in May–June 1811.[back]
3. Report on Inspecting the Estates of Greenwich Hospital in the counties of Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland by Edward Hawke Locker, F.R.S., Secretary to the Institution (1822). Greenwich Hospital owned much land around the town of Keswick.[back]
4. The Statutes of Mortmain (1279 and 1290) restricted the ability of individuals to leave land in perpetuity to a corporation such as the Church. They were not finally repealed until the Charities Act (1960).[back]
5. Locker had founded The Plain Englishman (1820–1823), a popular miscellany of conservative and Anglican views.[back]
6. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (founded 1698), an Anglican charity that supported Christian literature and education. It was often known as the Society in Bartlett’s Buildings, from its headquarters in Holborn, London.[back]
7. It was widely advertised in 1820–1821 that Murray would publish ‘The Personal History of King George III. Undertaken with the Assistance of, and in Communication with Persons Officially Connected with the Late King, and Dedicated by Express Permission to His Present Majesty’ by Locker, but the work never appeared. It would have been a life of George III (1738–1820; King of Great Britain 1760–1820; DNB).[back]
8. As Poet Laureate, Southey was required to write a New Year’s ode. He had originally intended ‘Ode, Written in December 1814’ to fulfill this duty for 1815, but had abandoned his plan on Bedford’s and Croker’s advice. It was published in Minor Poems, 3 vols (London, 1815), II, pp. [225]–238. Lines 10–12 of the poem complimented George Washington (1732–1799; President of the United States 1789–1797) as ‘A light for after times!’[back]
9. A Vision of Judgement (1821), Canto 6, lines 14–50 presented a very favourable picture of George Washington, whose ‘place was with ancient sages and heroes’ (line 21).[back]
10. George IV expressed his gratitude for A Vision of Judgement (1821) through Sir William Knighton, who had presented the book to the King; see Southey to Knighton, 30 March 1821, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3661; and to Henry Herbert Southey, when George IV encountered Southey’s brother at a levée; see Southey to John Rickman, 18 May 1821, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3687.[back]
11. Southey had dedicated his History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832) to George IV. For the King’s approbation, see Southey to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, 20 December 1822, Letter 3937.[back]
12. Southey’s New Year’s ode for January 1817, ‘Ode on the Battle of Algiers’, did appear in The Plain Englishman, 3 (1823), pp. 427–428. Those for January 1820 and January 1821, ‘The Warning Voice: Ode I and Ode II’ appeared in Locker’s subsequent publication, The Englishman’s Library: Comprising a Series of Historical, Biographical and National Information (London, 1824), pp. 381–389.[back]
13. Jonathan Boucher (1738–1804; DNB), an Anglican clergyman and close friend of George Washington, who left America in 1775 because he opposed the American Revolution. His A View of the Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution (1797) comprised annotated versions of thirteen sermons that Boucher preached in America 1763–1775.[back]
14. Southey’s review of Timothy Dwight (1752–1817), Travels in New-England and New-York (1821–1822), no. 881 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library in Quarterly Review, 30 (October 1823), 1–40, published 17 April 1824.[back]
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