3956. Robert Southey to [Edward Littleton, Lord Hatherton], 24 January 1823

 

MS: Staffordshire Record Office, D260/M/F/27/1/99. ALS; 2p.
Unpublished.

Keswick. 24 Jany. 1823
My Dear Sir

I am much obliged to you for mentioning the “General Orders”.

(1)

A collection of the orders issued during the Peninsular War by the Duke of Wellington. Several of his senior officers possessed full or partial copies, but they were not published until 1832.

The volume was put into my hands when I was last in town, & I shall have the use of the copy which was then shown me.

It is very gratifying to me to learn your favourable opinion of my work,

(2)

Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).

as far as it has proceeded. The King has been pleased to accept it in the most gracious manner, signifying in his own hand his approbation of the very flattering terms in which Sir Wm Knighton made known to me its acceptance.

(3)

See Southey to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, 20 December 1822, Letter 3937.

That it has been faithfully & carefully composed, in a right English spirit, I know, – with what success it must be for others to determine.

I desired that a copy might be sent to Marquis Wellesley.

(4)

Littleton was married to Hyacinthe Mary (1789?–1849), the illegitimate daughter of Marquess Wellesley.

In the subsequent volumes I profit largely by the light derived from his papers. This very day I have been employed upon some Spanish documents kindly lent me by Mr R. Wellesley.

(5)

Richard Wellesley (1787–1831), son of Marquess Wellesley, and intermittently an MP 1810–1826; see Southey to John Murray, 21 October 1821, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3741.

– The second volume would not be long in following the first, if I were not waiting for a Spanish history of the events in Catalonia.

(6)

Southey had read John Mitford’s ‘On Spanish Literature, with some Account of Francisco de Olivarez’, New Monthly Magazine, 10 (October 1818), 221–223. It mentioned Olivarez’s Account of the War in Catalonia (1815) in four volumes, published at Seville, 1815; Anecdotes of Chiefs Employed in the Catalan War (1816); and Memoirs of the Spanish Monarchy to the Abdication of Charles 4 & the Usurpation of Joseph Bonaparte (1816). Southey had already asked Murray to try and acquire them; see Southey to John Murray: 10 July 1820, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3509; 27 Februa…

- I am truly glad to see the efficient plan for the relief of the poor-rates which is now under consideration.

(7)

Parliament had voted £30,000 in 1822 to finance the settlement of poor Irish families in Upper Canada. Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton (1784–1841; DNB), Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1821–1828 was eager to extend this idea and produced ‘An Outline of a Plan of Emigration to Upper Canada’ in January 1823. He proposed that parishes all over the United Kingdom should be able to mortgage their poor rates in order to repay loans from the government, which would finance sending the parishes’ paupers to Canada. Each family would receive 100 acres of land.

Colonization is the only possible cure for this tremendous disease in the body politic.

I remain
Dear Sir
Your obliged & obedient servant
Robert Southey.

Notes

1. A collection of the orders issued during the Peninsular War by the Duke of Wellington. Several of his senior officers possessed full or partial copies, but they were not published until 1832.[back]
2. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).[back]
3. See Southey to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, 20 December 1822, Letter 3937.[back]
4. Littleton was married to Hyacinthe Mary (1789?–1849), the illegitimate daughter of Marquess Wellesley.[back]
5. Richard Wellesley (1787–1831), son of Marquess Wellesley, and intermittently an MP 1810–1826; see Southey to John Murray, 21 October 1821, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3741.[back]
6. Southey had read John Mitford’s ‘On Spanish Literature, with some Account of Francisco de Olivarez’, New Monthly Magazine, 10 (October 1818), 221–223. It mentioned Olivarez’s Account of the War in Catalonia (1815) in four volumes, published at Seville, 1815; Anecdotes of Chiefs Employed in the Catalan War (1816); and Memoirs of the Spanish Monarchy to the Abdication of Charles 4 & the Usurpation of Joseph Bonaparte (1816). Southey had already asked Murray to try and acquire them; see Southey to John Murray: 10 July 1820, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3509; 27 February 1821, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3641; 11 June 1821, The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3693; and 27 July 1822, Letter 3877; and 1 November [1822], Letter 3911. His request was fruitless, because none of these works seem to exist.[back]
7. Parliament had voted £30,000 in 1822 to finance the settlement of poor Irish families in Upper Canada. Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton (1784–1841; DNB), Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1821–1828 was eager to extend this idea and produced ‘An Outline of a Plan of Emigration to Upper Canada’ in January 1823. He proposed that parishes all over the United Kingdom should be able to mortgage their poor rates in order to repay loans from the government, which would finance sending the parishes’ paupers to Canada. Each family would receive 100 acres of land.[back]
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