3979. Robert Southey to Nicholas Lightfoot, 14 March 1823

 

Address: [in another hand] London Seventeenth March 1823/ The Revd / Nicholas Lightfoot/ Crediton/ Devon/ Free/ JRickman
Postmark: FREE/ 17 MR 17/ 1823
MS: Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Eng. lett. d. 110. ALS; 4p.
Unpublished.

Keswick. 14 March. 1823
My Dear Lightfoot

Thank you heartily for your liberal shipment,

(1)

Lightfoot had sent Southey two barrels of cider.

& may all the winds be favourable to the Zephyr

(2)

The Zephyr was the ship on which the cider was being conveyed from Devon to Liverpool. Zephyr was also the Greek god of the west wind.

that conveys it. We shall drink your health with great satisfaction when it arrives tho peradventure, considering the delays between this place & Liverpool, I may visit your roof before it is tasted.

Mrs Coleridge & her daughter are at this time at Ottery, for which place they left London about ten days ago.

Concerning my own movements, they depend upon the progress of the grey goose quill, – which has not the velocity that it possessed in younger years. I have six chapters of the Book of the Church

(3)

The Book of the Church, 2 vols (London, 1824), II, 1–528. In fact, the subjects Southey lists occupied seven chapters (chapters 12–18) and made up the entire second volume.

to write, upon the following subjects, – the Reformation, – the persecution under Q Mary, – the settlement of the Church, – its overthrow by the Puritans, – the preservation of our liberties by its means at the Revolution, – & a view of its history & condition from that time to the present.

(4)

Southey planned to deal with the Church of England’s break with Rome in the 1530s; the restoration of Catholicism under Mary I (1516–1558; Queen of England 1553–1558; DNB); the Church settlement of 1559; the Civil War and English Republic, 1642–1660; the Revolution of 1688; and a final overview – this last chapter was not written.

Wordsworth is about to enter his eldest son at Exeter, – next week I believe, but John Wordsworth

(5)

John Wordsworth entered New College, Oxford, in 1823. He had attended the local school at Ambleside, run by John Dawes.

will not reside till after the long vacation, when I shall provide him with credentials to your son. His name had been entered on the boards at Cambridge,

(6)

John Wordsworth matriculated at St John’s College, Cambridge, in 1820, but never took up his place.

but it was his own desire to be removed, & I think a wise one, as he had no liking for mathematics, & had a natural unwillingness to be measured by the same standard as his cousins Dr Wordsworths children, who have all been at public schools.

(7)

John Wordsworth (1805–1839) attended Winchester College (1820–1824) and Trinity College, Cambridge (1824–1828), becoming a Fellow of the College (1830) and a distinguished classical scholar; Charles Wordsworth (1806–1892; DNB) attended Harrow School and Christ Church, Oxford, after which he entered the Church and became Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane (1853–1892); Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885; DNB) attended Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge, and also entered the Church, ending his life as Bishop of Lincoln (1869–1885).

He is himself thoroughly steady, & right minded, of slow but sure capacity. I did not give this introduction to young May,

(8)

John May and his son, John May (1802–1879), visited Southey at Keswick 5 August–2 September 1822, overlapping with Lightfoot’s visit. The younger John May was a student at Exeter College, Oxford.

because he is volatile & light-minded, in great danger of being led into scrapes, & therefore I thought his acquaintance was not one of which John Lightfoot would be desirous.

When John begins to look about him, & consider the ways of life, he will probably perceive that there is no course by which he could so soon establish himself, with the prospect of acquiring a good independence before he reaches the middle of life, as by putting on the harness in your stead, – & you would wear it the more chearfully two or three <years> longer, having this transfer in view. – I noted the other day a passage in Michaelis

(9)

Johann David Michaelis (1717–1791), Einleitung in das Neu Testament, 4th edition (1788), translated by Herbert Marsh (1757–1839; DNB) as Introduction to the New Testament, 4 vols (Cambridge, 1793–1801), I, Part 1, pp. 177, 281–282.

– to be mentioned to you. He strongly advises that the Septuagint

(10)

The Greek translation of the Old Testament (3rd–2nd centuries BC).

should be introduced in schools for the use of those who are intended for orders: – as an indispensable means for obtaining a critical understanding of the Greek of the New Testament. – There is another hint of his which I may as well mention: – that it would be a useful exercise in Greek to have passages written (or printed) as they are in ancient monuments & inscriptions, (that is, – wholly in capital letters & without any division between the words,) & let the boys make them out.

You ask me about the Spaniards. Between two things so bad as the old despotism, & the present Cortes,

(11)

After a military revolt in 1820, royal absolutism had been replaced by the Constitution of 1812, but Spain was in some disarray and an invasion by France was imminent.

if a wish of mine could turn the beam, I should not know in which scale to throw it. The interference of the French is a question not of right, but of expediency. If the family of my next door neighbor are quarrelling to such a degree that there is danger not only of their murder, but of their setting the house on fire, I should certainly reduce them to peace & order, if I could, tho it were necessary to begin by knocking them down. The ruling party in Spain are a minority, ready to go all lengths in revolution. Arguelles,

(12)

Agustín Argüelles (1776–1844), a Spanish liberal politician. He was one of the architects of the Constitution of 1812 and was imprisoned by the absolutist regime in 1814–1820. After the 1820 revolution he was Minister of the Interior 1820–1821 and a deputy to the new Cortes 1822–1823.

one of the most celebrated of them, said last year to the Mr Mackenzie

(13)

Colin Alexander Mackenzie (?1778–1851), a wealthy Scot who was employed on a number of delicate diplomatic missions and may well have been a government spy. In 1815 he was appointed one of the Commissioners of Liquidation, Arbitration and Deposit, who adjudicated on claims by British citizens for loss of property against the French government. Southey had met him in Paris in May 1817 and Mackenzie had provided the information about his role in the evacuation of the Spanish Army of the North from Denmark that appeared in Southey’s History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (London, 1823–1832), I, pp…

(who is mentioned in my history) that he did not like Englishmen, such as Englishmen were now, he wanted them as they were in Oliver Cromwells

(14)

Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658; Lord Protector 1653–1658; DNB).

days. Mackenzie told me this.

It is no matter what becomes of Ferdinand,

(15)

Ferdinand VII (1784–1833; King of Spain 1808, 1813–1833). At this time he was a virtual prisoner of the liberal regime.

– a mere wretch, for in whom poverty of intellect is the only excuse that can be pleaded for the want of every generous & every noble quality. But it is most desirable than an end should be put to spoliation, & murder, & mob, law. That France can effect this is by no means certain. If she can, will xx she be content with doing it? I would not trust her, – but that we have the means of restraining her, & the other continental powers are sureties for her good behavior.

At present, thank God, we are all well, – & all unite in the kindest remembrances to you. Make my best wishes to Mrs Lightfoot, my godfather god-daughter & the rest of your family,

(16)

Nicholas Lightfoot married Bridget Prideaux (1768–1856) on 13 July 1801. Their children were: John Prideaux Lightfoot; Frances Jane Lightfoot (1806–1882), Southey’s god-daughter; Catherine Anne Lightfoot (1808–1898); Bridget Mary Lightfoot (1810–1889); Nicholas Francis Lightfoot (1811–1881), Vicar of Cadbury 1846–1855, Rector of Islip 1855–1881.

– & believe me my dear friend

Yours affectionately
Robert Southey

Your former letter brought with it an invitation from Sir T. Acland, but he will be in London, during my visit to Devonshire, – & after giving you a week, a single day is the utmost I can allow to any other person. My absence from home will be inevitably much longer that I can well afford.

Notes

1. Lightfoot had sent Southey two barrels of cider.[back]
2. The Zephyr was the ship on which the cider was being conveyed from Devon to Liverpool. Zephyr was also the Greek god of the west wind.[back]
3. The Book of the Church, 2 vols (London, 1824), II, 1–528. In fact, the subjects Southey lists occupied seven chapters (chapters 12–18) and made up the entire second volume.[back]
4. Southey planned to deal with the Church of England’s break with Rome in the 1530s; the restoration of Catholicism under Mary I (1516–1558; Queen of England 1553–1558; DNB); the Church settlement of 1559; the Civil War and English Republic, 1642–1660; the Revolution of 1688; and a final overview – this last chapter was not written.[back]
5. John Wordsworth entered New College, Oxford, in 1823. He had attended the local school at Ambleside, run by John Dawes.[back]
6. John Wordsworth matriculated at St John’s College, Cambridge, in 1820, but never took up his place.[back]
7. John Wordsworth (1805–1839) attended Winchester College (1820–1824) and Trinity College, Cambridge (1824–1828), becoming a Fellow of the College (1830) and a distinguished classical scholar; Charles Wordsworth (1806–1892; DNB) attended Harrow School and Christ Church, Oxford, after which he entered the Church and became Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane (1853–1892); Christopher Wordsworth (1807–1885; DNB) attended Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge, and also entered the Church, ending his life as Bishop of Lincoln (1869–1885).[back]
8. John May and his son, John May (1802–1879), visited Southey at Keswick 5 August–2 September 1822, overlapping with Lightfoot’s visit. The younger John May was a student at Exeter College, Oxford.[back]
9. Johann David Michaelis (1717–1791), Einleitung in das Neu Testament, 4th edition (1788), translated by Herbert Marsh (1757–1839; DNB) as Introduction to the New Testament, 4 vols (Cambridge, 1793–1801), I, Part 1, pp. 177, 281–282.[back]
10. The Greek translation of the Old Testament (3rd–2nd centuries BC).[back]
11. After a military revolt in 1820, royal absolutism had been replaced by the Constitution of 1812, but Spain was in some disarray and an invasion by France was imminent.[back]
12. Agustín Argüelles (1776–1844), a Spanish liberal politician. He was one of the architects of the Constitution of 1812 and was imprisoned by the absolutist regime in 1814–1820. After the 1820 revolution he was Minister of the Interior 1820–1821 and a deputy to the new Cortes 1822–1823.[back]
13. Colin Alexander Mackenzie (?1778–1851), a wealthy Scot who was employed on a number of delicate diplomatic missions and may well have been a government spy. In 1815 he was appointed one of the Commissioners of Liquidation, Arbitration and Deposit, who adjudicated on claims by British citizens for loss of property against the French government. Southey had met him in Paris in May 1817 and Mackenzie had provided the information about his role in the evacuation of the Spanish Army of the North from Denmark that appeared in Southey’s History of the Peninsular War, 3 vols (London, 1823–1832), I, pp. 657–658.[back]
14. Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658; Lord Protector 1653–1658; DNB).[back]
15. Ferdinand VII (1784–1833; King of Spain 1808, 1813–1833). At this time he was a virtual prisoner of the liberal regime.[back]
16. Nicholas Lightfoot married Bridget Prideaux (1768–1856) on 13 July 1801. Their children were: John Prideaux Lightfoot; Frances Jane Lightfoot (1806–1882), Southey’s god-daughter; Catherine Anne Lightfoot (1808–1898); Bridget Mary Lightfoot (1810–1889); Nicholas Francis Lightfoot (1811–1881), Vicar of Cadbury 1846–1855, Rector of Islip 1855–1881.[back]
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