3939. Robert Southey to Henry Herbert Southey, 21 December 1822

 

Address: To/ Dr Southey/ 15. Queen Anne Street/ Cavendish Square/ London
Stamped: KESWICK/ 298
Postmark: [partial] E/ DE/ 1822
Seal: red wax; design illegible
MS: Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, 1996.5.127. ALS; 4p.
Unpublished.

Keswick. 21 Dec. 1822.
My dear Harry

Yesterday I received an official letter from Sir Wm K.

(1)

Knighton had presented a copy of the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832) to George IV, to whom it was dedicated,

couched in the handsomest terms, – & to which, – xxx I dare say he will have told you, the King himself had added “entirely approved – GR” – What can I say to this, but in the words which John Kemble

(2)

John Philip Kemble (1757–1823; DNB), actor-manager from a famous theatrical family. He was manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden 1803–1817.

was instructed to use, – “Your M. is too gracious!” – It is however a mark of special mark <grace>, – & worth quite as much, in its way, as the thanks of Parliament to an officer. If Aunt Mary had been here it would have made her happy for the day. As it is Edith, & E May are the only persons who will know any thing about it; for were it to come to Toms knowledge, he would be taking some provoking step or other upon the presumption of my favour at court, such as writing to Knighton, & God knows who beside. He has played tricks of this kind which must make me much more upon my guard against him than I shall ever be against an enemy.

Of course there can be no occasion for me to write a formal letter of acknowledgement. In all matters of form I follow the maxim which as you may remember, is the first lesson instilled into my young ones – that “the least which is said, is the soonest mended,” & you can say to Sir Wm how much I am gratified &c –

I have persevered very dutifully in taking regular exercise, – twice a day to the Crag

(3)

Friars Crag, a short walk from the centre of Keswick.

being my shortest allowance, except in what may be called impossible weather. Certainly I perceive the good effect in increased appetite & muscular tone, – being free from my old complaint,

(4)

Southey’s rectal prolapse.

– & altogether in fine condition.

The regular course of my days at present is this, – a walk to the Crag before breakfast, – when if it be not too cold for holding the hands up, I take a book with me. After breakfast – a lesson in Ovid

(5)

Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–AD 17/18), Latin poet and author of Metamorphoses (AD 8).

with Bertha & Kate, in Phaedrus & the Grammar

(6)

Phaedrus (fl. 1st century), Fabulae Aesopiae, a Latin collection of fables, read together with a Latin Grammar.

with Bel, – in Tacitus

(7)

Publius Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56–117), Latin historian and author of Historiae and Annales.

with E. May, & in the Orlando Innamorato

(8)

Matteo Boiardo (1441–1494), Orlando Innamorato (1495).

with her, or in a Spanish Chronicle with her & Bertha, – these latter lessons alternating. Then I settle to my own work, be that what it may, till it is time for a second walk. – After dinner, E May comes up & I sit down with grammar & dictionary, like a schoolboy, doggedly to a lesson in Danish, for about three quarters of an hour – then take a nap on the sofa till tea. After tea comes letter writing (far too often) & steady work till supper; – & then with my punch, – or black-currant rum I take a portion of Dutch tragedy to conclude all. – Other reading comes in the odds & ends of time, – which are worth a great deal, when they are regularly carried to account. And thus the days pass on, – nulla dies sine lineâ,

(9)

‘No day without a line’, a common saying, derived from Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79), Naturalis Historia (AD 77–79), Book 35, paragraph 84, where he reported it as the practice of the painter Apelles of Cos (4th century BC).

– & none without some addition, or reparation of knowledge.

Your eldest niece is quite as industrious in her way as I am. Her fingers are never idle, – she is either at her music, her drawing, or her work, whenever she is not teaching the juniors something. And no part of the year seems to pass so rapidly with us, as the winter & spring when we see nobody, & one day is like another.

My friends of the Cymmrodorion have sent me the first Vol. of their Transactions.

(10)

Transactions of the Cymmrodorion, or Metropolitan Cambrian Institution (1822), no. 2829 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.

I shall probably write a paper upon Welsh antiquities ere long for the QR. & very likely, in compliance to a request made from the Brecon Branch, thro Wynn, manufacture an Ode for them in which I may touch upon every thing relating to Wales, except toasted cheese, & sheep-stealing.

(11)

Southey did not write either this paper for the Quarterly Review or this Ode.

Love to Louisa & Mrs G. My cattle are all well thank God

God bless you
RS.

Notes

1. Knighton had presented a copy of the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832) to George IV, to whom it was dedicated,[back]
2. John Philip Kemble (1757–1823; DNB), actor-manager from a famous theatrical family. He was manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden 1803–1817.[back]
3. Friars Crag, a short walk from the centre of Keswick.[back]
4. Southey’s rectal prolapse.[back]
5. Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–AD 17/18), Latin poet and author of Metamorphoses (AD 8).[back]
6. Phaedrus (fl. 1st century), Fabulae Aesopiae, a Latin collection of fables, read together with a Latin Grammar.[back]
7. Publius Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56–117), Latin historian and author of Historiae and Annales.[back]
8. Matteo Boiardo (1441–1494), Orlando Innamorato (1495).[back]
9. ‘No day without a line’, a common saying, derived from Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79), Naturalis Historia (AD 77–79), Book 35, paragraph 84, where he reported it as the practice of the painter Apelles of Cos (4th century BC).[back]
10. Transactions of the Cymmrodorion, or Metropolitan Cambrian Institution (1822), no. 2829 in the sale catalogue of Southey’s library.[back]
11. Southey did not write either this paper for the Quarterly Review or this Ode.[back]
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