The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to Grosvenor C. Bedford, 28 December 1831
“You have taken a wise man’s view of the
prospect before you: only in one point, I think you anticipate something worse
than is at all likely to happen; for it is by no means likely, that your
retiring allowance will be so niggardly, as to impose upon you the necessity of
any retrenchment. I shall be sorry when this vile measure is carried into
effect, believing, upon your judgment, that it is a bad measure in itself; but
I should be sorry for it, as a mere change, unless there were some great and
certain good to arise from it; and even then I should be sorry, for the sake of
the poor old Exchequer itself, and my more than forty years’ acquaintance
with it. But for your sake, certainly, if your future allotment depended upon
my will, your harness should be taken off, and to grass you should go for the
rest of your life; but with a comfortable shed for winter and bad weather, and
plenty of good winter food there, and warm litter. Whatever becomes of the
Exchequer, this would be my wish for you. The latter years of life ought to be
our own; by the time we reach the threshold of old age, the cares of the world
have had from us all that ought to be exacted for them. . . . .
“You ought, by this time, to have received my Essays, reprinted from the
Quarterly Review, and ![]()
| Ætat. 57. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 171 |
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the Edinburgh
Annual Register; and with the passages restored, which poor
Gifford cut out, that is, where I
was lucky enough to recover either the MSS. or the proofs. Except the
dedication to Sir Robert Inglis, they
contain nothing that will be new to you; but you will like to have them thus
collected; and when you are cutting the leaves open, you will see many proofs
of melancholy foresight. My intention was, if these volumes should obtain a
tolerable sale, to follow them with similar volumes ecclesiastical, historical,
literary, and miscellaneous, about eight or ten of which my stores would
supply. But in the present state of things an encouraging sale is not to be
expected, especially for a book containing the most unpopular opinions
expressed in the strongest language in which I could convey them.
“At present, thank God, we are all in tolerable
health, and in good spirits: these you know, never fail me. Your godson is a tall fellow, nearly as tall, and
only some months younger than I was, when you first saw me across the school,
little thinking at the time what you and I should be to each other in after
years.
“God bless you, my dear G. My
love to Miss Page and your brother, and
as many new years to you all as may be happy ones. The Smoaker* is desired to accept the assurances of their high
consideration from the Cattery of Cats’ Eden.
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.
William Gifford (1756-1826)
Poet, scholar, and editor who began as a shoemaker's apprentice; after Oxford he
published
The Baviad (1794),
The Maeviad
(1795), and
The Satires of Juvenal translated (1802) before becoming
the founding editor of the
Quarterly Review (1809-24).
Sir Robert Harry Inglis, second baronet (1786-1855)
The son of Sir Hugh Inglis, educated at Winchester, Christ Church, Oxford, and Lincoln's
Inn; he was a Tory MP for Dundalk (1824-26), Ripon (1828-29), and Oxford University
(1829-54), and president of the Literary Club.
Mary Page (1837 fl.)
The cousin of Grosvenor Bedford and member of his household; Robert Southey knew her from
1791.
Charles Cuthbert Southey (1819-1888)
Son of Robert Southey whose
Life and Correspondence (1849-1850) he
edited. Educated at Queen's College, Oxford, he was curate of Plumbland in Cumberland,
vicar of Kingsbury Episcopi, Somerset (1855-79) and Askham, near Penrith (1885).
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.
