The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to John May, 13 October 1817
“Keswick, Oct. 13. 1817.
“My dear Friend,
“The notion of writing again that letter which the
rascal Louis destroyed at Geneva, has, I verily believe,
prevented me from beginning one in the natural order of things. I can place
myself at Thebes or at Athens on every occasion, dive into Padalon, or scale
Mount Calasay*; but to remember what I then wrote, further than the journal you
![]()
![]()
| Ætat. 43. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 279 |
![]()
have seen might remind me of the facts, Is beyond my
power. Let us see, however, what can be done, with as little repetition as
possible, of what you have taken the trouble to decipher. In speaking of Paris,
I probably might have remarked what an out-of-door life is led by the
inhabitants, and how prodigiously busy those people are who have nothing to do.
There is more stir and bustle than in London, and of a very different
character. In London they bear the stamp of business. You see that the crowds
who pass by you in Cheapside have something to do, and something to think of;
and in Paris you see as clearly, that restlessness and dissipation bring people
into the street because they have nothing to do at home. I should think France
decidedly inferior to England in beauty of country: yet I did not find the
scenery altogether so uninteresting as I had been taught to expect. Picardy has
much historical interest to an Englishman, and perhaps the recollection of
great events makes me enjoy scenes which might else have been insipid. For I
thought of the struggle between Burgundy and France; and in tracts where there
was little more than earth and sky to be seen, I remembered that that same
earth had been trodden by our countrymen before the battles of Cressy and
Agincourt, and that that same sky had seen their victory. The towns, also, have
many interesting antiquities, where an antiquarian or artist would find enough
to employ him. The rivers have a magnitude and majesty to be found in few
English streams. On the other hand, there is a want of wood or of variety of
wood. Poplars give a sameness to the ![]()
| 280 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 43. |
![]()
scene, and a sort of
sickly colouring, very different from the deep foliage of our oaks and elms.
The very general custom of housing the cattle is unfavourable to the appearance
of the country; there is a want of life, and motion, and sound. I believe,
also, that there are fewer birds than in England. I scarcely remember to have
seen a crow or a bird of prey. The most beautiful part of France which we saw
(except the Jura country, which has a Swiss character), was French Flanders,
which is indeed exceedingly beautiful. The country from Lisle to St. Omers may
vie with the richest parts of England. John
Awdry was much disappointed with the South of France; perhaps
this was because he entered it from Switzerland and Savoy; but the features, as
he described them, were naturally unfavourable. The country upon the Loire has
been much extolled. Landor told me it
had the same fault which I had observed in other parts,—a pale and
monotonous colouring from the poplars, which was not relieved by vineyards, and
in summer, by sands which the river then left bare. We came upon a fine country
as we approached Besançon. The air of the Jura mountains seemed congenial to
me; and If I did not look upon the people with some partiality because they
were mountaineers, they were a better race in many respects than the natives of
Burgundy and Champagne. Were I to visit Switzerland again, I should wish to see
more of the Jura. I do not think that a traveller can enter Switzerland in any
better direction than by way of Pontarlier and Neufchatel. If the wine of this
latter territory could reach Eng-![]()
| Ætat. 43. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 281 |
![]()
land, I should think it
would have a great sale, for it has the flavour of Burgundy and the body of
port. If the duties are lowered (as I understand they are likely to be), it
will find its way by the Rhine. . . . .
“If the general use of tea could be introduced, it
might prove a general benefit. A French breakfast has neither the comfort nor
the domestic character of an English one; it is had better at a
restaurateur’s or an hotel than at home. But domestic habits are what are
wanting in France; and if it were the fashion to drink tea, they would be very
much promoted by it. In Morocco, tea is gradually superseding the use of
coffee. I do not know why it is so little liked upon the continent of Europe,
when among us it has become one of the first necessaries of life. We tried it
sometimes, but scarcely ever with success; and it is curious enough that we
never on any occasion met with cream, except at Chalets in Switzerland, which
is famous for it. Neither in France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, or the
Netherlands, rich in dairies as all these countries are, do the inhabitants
ever appear to use it. Perhaps I described the lakes of Neufchatel and Geneva
in my last letter, and the abominable odour of the great city of Calvinism.
“Since my return we have had much company, and, in
consequence, I have been led into much idleness.* Winter is now setting in:
although the weather continues fine, the days are shortening fast; long
evenings will confine me to my desk, and the retirement
* His friend Mr.
Bedford had been passing some weeks at Keswick to their
great mutual enjoyment; and Mr.
Rickman had also been there for a short time. |
![]()
![]()
| 282 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 43. |
![]()
which this place affords during the dark season is such,
that I am in no danger of being disturbed. At present, I am finishing a paper upon Lope de Vega for the next Quarterly, and preparing the first chapter of the
Peninsular War for
the press.
Believe me, yours most affectionately,
Robert Southey.”
John Awdry (1766-1844)
Of Notton House, Chippenham in Wiltshire; educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he was a
magistrate and deputy-lieutenant for Wiltshire.
Grosvenor Charles Bedford (1773-1839)
The son of Horace Walpole's correspondent Charles Bedford; he was auditor of the
Exchequer and a friend of Robert Southey who contributed to several of Southey's
publications.
Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864)
English poet and man of letters, author of the epic
Gebir (1798)
and
Imaginary Conversations (1824-29). He resided in Italy from 1815
to 1835.
John Rickman (1771-1840)
Educated at Magdalen Hall and Lincoln College, Oxford, he was statistician and clerk to
the House of Commons and an early friend of Charles Lamb and Robert Southey.
Lope Félix de Vega Carpio (1562-1635)
Spanish poet and playwright who claimed to have written 1500 plays, of which several
hundred exist.
The Quarterly Review. (1809-1967). Published by John Murray, the
Quarterly was instigated by Walter
Scott as a Tory rival to the
Edinburgh Review. It was edited by
William Gifford to 1824, and by John Gibson Lockhart from 1826 to 1853.
