4270. Robert Southey to Neville White, 28 October 1824

 

MS: MS untraced; text is taken from John Wood Warter (ed.), Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey, 4 vols (London, 1856)
Previously published: John Wood Warter (ed.), Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey, 4 vols (London, 1856), III, pp. 447–449.

Keswick, Oct. 28. 1824.
My dear Neville,

This case of the “Remains” is a flagrant instance of what men will do who have no other principle than the principle of trade, when the laws leave, or offer them a loop–hole. The fellows who pirate that work would rob you in the streets, or break open your house, if they dared do it; they have no sense of honour, or of right and wrong to restrain them.

(1)

Pirated copies of Henry Kirke White’s poems and parts of the Remains of Henry Kirke White (1807) were becoming common at this time. In 1823–1824, unauthorised versions were published by the firms of Jones & Company, Orlando Hodgson, a congerie led by W. Baynes and Son, and A. Robertson and Co.

I would advise that your cheap edition be made better than the pirated ones, though it should sell for six or seven shillings instead of four; the type not being quite so small, nor the page quite so crowded. Johnson published a small edition of Cowper in 1799, in two volumes, which might be a good model;

(2)

William Cowper (1731–1800; DNB), Poems (1799), no. 748 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. The publisher was Joseph Johnson (1738–1809; DNB).

and I do not see why there should be any unwillingness to say at once in the advertisement that the property of the family having been invaded, it is necessary to state that this is the only complete edition.

(3)

Longman issued a one-volume, eleventh edition of the Remains in 1825 at a price of 5 shillings. Moreover, Longman’s advertisements for the tenth edition (1823) may have taken up Southey’s suggestion as they began to state: ‘The property of the Family having been invaded, it is necessary to state that this is the only Edition that contains the Life by Mr. Southey, and the whole of the contents of the 3d vol.’ (The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts and Sciences, 410 (27 November 1824) p. 767).

In a court of equity, conducted upon principles of equity, I have no doubt that your cause would have been good; but the Court of Chancery has ceased to be a Court of Equity, and pays as much deference to the quirks and quibbles of law as the most profligate advocate could desire.

(4)

The Court of Chancery applied ideas of equity, rather than being strictly bound by the precedents of the common law. Southey’s cynicism about the court was probably influenced by its refusal to grant an injunction against the pirated publication of Wat Tyler (1817).

The “Life” is yours till it shall have been published twenty–eight years, and as much longer as I may happen to live.

(5)

Southey’s ‘Life’ of Kirke White, the most recent version of which appeared in The Remains of Henry Kirke White, 2 vols (London, 1823), pp. [v]–lxviii. The Copyright Act (1814) gave Southey the copyright in this work for 28 years, or his lifetime, if longer.

In the course of nature, my dear Neville, you are more likely to be called on for friendly counsel in the arrangement of my affairs, after my departure, than I am to perform the duties of guardian to your son.

(6)

Family histories, such as The Homes and Haunts of Henry Kirke White; with some account of the family of White, of Nottingham and Norfolk (London and Nottingham, 1908), p. 260, suggest that Neville White’s first son, christened Henry Kirke White (d. 1849), was born in 1821, but this information may be inaccurate, as Southey stood as godfather to him in January 1824.

Provide only against my incapacity for business, and count upon me, as I do upon you, for the full performance of all your wishes, to the best of my ability.

My mind is in no danger, Neville, from tension. It never pursues any one object long enough to be fatigued with it. When I read upon my walks, it is not anything that requires deep attention; it is something that amuses the intellect rather than exerts it, and keeps it, perhaps, in a more quiescent state than it might be if left to its own operations. The book is as a companion with whom I can converse when I like; and as it is always some volume which is never taken up at any other time, there is the wholesome recreation which change produces. Were you in the house with me for a month, you would be convinced that I am anything rather than a hard student.

Have you seen Nicholl’s “Arminianism and Calvinism Compared?”

(7)

James Nichols (1785–1861; DNB), Calvinism and Arminianism Compared in their Principles and Tendency (1824), no. 2032 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

It is put together in a most unhappy way, but is the most valuable contribution to our ecclesiastical history that has ever fallen into my hands.

I hope soon to have my “Colloquies” in the press.

(8)

Southey’s Sir Thomas More: or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society (1829).

They will set many persons talking, and some few thinking. They will draw upon me a good load of misrepresentation, calumny, and abuse, which you know how much I regard; and if they do not succeed in pointing out in what manner impending evils may be averted, they will show, at least to future ages, that they were not unforeseen. Our best wishes to all your circle. God bless you, my dear friend.

Yours most affectionately,
R. SOUTHEY.

Notes

1. Pirated copies of Henry Kirke White’s poems and parts of the Remains of Henry Kirke White (1807) were becoming common at this time. In 1823–1824, unauthorised versions were published by the firms of Jones & Company, Orlando Hodgson, a congerie led by W. Baynes and Son, and A. Robertson and Co.[back]
2. William Cowper (1731–1800; DNB), Poems (1799), no. 748 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library. The publisher was Joseph Johnson (1738–1809; DNB).[back]
3. Longman issued a one-volume, eleventh edition of the Remains in 1825 at a price of 5 shillings. Moreover, Longman’s advertisements for the tenth edition (1823) may have taken up Southey’s suggestion as they began to state: ‘The property of the Family having been invaded, it is necessary to state that this is the only Edition that contains the Life by Mr. Southey, and the whole of the contents of the 3d vol.’ (The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts and Sciences, 410 (27 November 1824) p. 767).[back]
4. The Court of Chancery applied ideas of equity, rather than being strictly bound by the precedents of the common law. Southey’s cynicism about the court was probably influenced by its refusal to grant an injunction against the pirated publication of Wat Tyler (1817).[back]
5. Southey’s ‘Life’ of Kirke White, the most recent version of which appeared in The Remains of Henry Kirke White, 2 vols (London, 1823), pp. [v]–lxviii. The Copyright Act (1814) gave Southey the copyright in this work for 28 years, or his lifetime, if longer.[back]
6. Family histories, such as The Homes and Haunts of Henry Kirke White; with some account of the family of White, of Nottingham and Norfolk (London and Nottingham, 1908), p. 260, suggest that Neville White’s first son, christened Henry Kirke White (d. 1849), was born in 1821, but this information may be inaccurate, as Southey stood as godfather to him in January 1824.[back]
7. James Nichols (1785–1861; DNB), Calvinism and Arminianism Compared in their Principles and Tendency (1824), no. 2032 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
8. Southey’s Sir Thomas More: or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society (1829).[back]
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