“I thank you for your letter, and, in consequence of
it, immediately transcribed the Carmen, and sent it to Mr.
Croker. It had never occurred to me that anything of an official
character could be attached to it, or that any other reserve was necessary than
that of not saying anything which might be offensive to the Government; e.g., in 1808 the Poet Laureat would be expected not to
write in praise of Mrs. Clarke and the
resignation of the Duke of York. I dare say
you are right, and I am prepared to expect a letter from Mr.
Croker, advising the suppression of anything discourteous
towards Bonaparte. In that case, I shall,
probably, add something to that part of the poem respecting Hanover and Hol-
| Ætat. 40. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 53 |
“As for the Morning Chronicle, I defy the devil and all his works. My malice has —— and —— for its objects, and the stanza was intended as a peg upon which to hang certain extracts from the Edinburgh Review, and a remark upon the happy vein of prophecy which these worthies have displayed. With respect to attacks from that quarter, I shall be abused of course, and if there is a certain portion of abuse to be bestowed upon anybody, it may better fall upon me than almost any other person; for, in the first place, I shall see very little of it, and, in the next, care no farther for what I may happen to see than just mentally to acknowledge myself as so much in debt. . . . .
