The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey
Robert Southey to Grosvenor C. Bedford, 16 August 1808
“Are you not half ready to suspect, Grosvenor, that I have foresworn letter
writing? I write as seldom to any of my friends as I do to you; and yet letters
of business and of common courtesy accumulate upon me so fast, that they
occasion a very considerable, and even inconvenient, expense of time;
especially to a man who, in the summer, is troubled with an influenza called
laziness, and all the year round with the much more troublesome disease of
poverty.
“It is not to be told how I rejoice at seeing my
friends the Spaniards and Portuguese proving themselves to the eyes of the
world to be what I have so long said they were. Huzza!
Santiago and St. George! Smite
them, as my Cid said, for the love of
charity.
“Grosvenor! the
most deserving of His Majesty’s pensioners thinketh of his
pension,—it is low water with him.
“Have you seen a defence, or rather eulogium, of Madoc, in the last Gentleman’s Magazine, by
Miss Seward? who preaches up its
praise wherever she goes.
“You will have the Cid in about a fortnight. The translations in
the appendix are by Frere, and they are,
without any exception, the most masterly I have seen. The introduction, to be
what it ought to be, and what I could have made it, would have required ![]()
| 166 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 34. |
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a volume to itself, for my reading is far more extensive
on these subjects than almost any person can suppose. It is a rapid
sketch,—just sufficient to introduce the Chronicle, by giving the reader
a summary view of the previous history and present state of Spain. The
Chronicle is well done; and the translation improves so much on the original,
by incorporating matter from other sources, as to be unique in its kind. There
is a good deal of miscellaneous matter brought together in the notes. The
intrinsic value of the work is of a very high order. Romance has nothing finer
than all the proceedings at Zamora, and poetry nothing superior to the living
pictures which you will find everywhere. The Cid’s speech at the Cortes is perfect eloquence of its
kind. If it be remembered that all this was written in all probability before
the year 1200 (certainly within half a century sooner or later), I think it
must be considered as one of the most curious and valuable specimens of early
literature,—certainly as the most beautiful, beyond all comparison.
“Tom has been
lucky in his admiralty appointment, being first in a flag-ship, the Dreadnought. He says, and very justly, that our troops
to Spain might have been conveyed in half the time, at half the expense, and
without any risk at all, by putting as many on board some of our large ships of
war as they could take (800 or 1000 they could carry very well), and letting
each ship make the best of her way to the port nearest the scene of action. A
convoy may be wind-bound for months, and any single transport which parts
company would fall to the first ![]()
| Ætat. 34. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 167 |
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privateer, whereas a
ship of the line could beat down, take advantage of every start of wind, and
defy all upon the ocean. There is very good sense in this. But transports imply
jobs, and every thing must be a job in England.
“Farewell! I am getting on with S. America.
“My son is the
oddest fellow in the world: I wish you could see his bright eyes. . . . .
“God bless you!
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.
Cid [Rodrigo D'Az de Vivar] (1030 c.-1099)
Spanish hero who defeated the Moors at Valencia; his deeds were recorded in the
twelfth-century
Poema de mio Cid and the play by Corneille.
John Hookham Frere (1769-1846)
English diplomat and poet; educated at Eton and Cambridge, he was envoy to Lisbon
(1800-02) and Madrid (1802-04, 1808-09); with Canning conducted the
The
Anti-Jacobin (1797-98); author of
Prospectus and Specimen of an
intended National Work, by William and Robert Whistlecraft (1817, 1818).
Anna Seward [the Swan of Lichfield] (1742-1809)
English poet, patron, and letter-writer; she was the center of a literary circle at
Lichfield. Her
Poetical Works, 3 vols (1810) were edited by Walter
Scott.
Thomas Southey (1777-1838)
The younger brother of Robert Southey; he was a naval captain (1811) and afterwards a
Customs officer. He published
A Chronological History of the West
Indies (1828).
The Gentleman's Magazine. (1731-1905). A monthly literary miscellany founded by Edward Cave; edited by John Nichols 1778-1826,
and John Bowyer Nichols 1826-1833.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
Madoc. (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, 1805). A verse romance relating the legendary adventures of a Welsh prince in Wales and
pre-Columbian America.
