1509. Robert Southey to Mary Matilda Betham, 19 September 1808 ⁠* 

The stones of which this house is built were not quarried when M^r Betham [1]  was at Keswick. But I can make him understand the spot on which it stands, & perhaps recall to his memory some persons whom he may long have forgotten.

He knows the Bridge over the Greta, at the end of the town. There is a little hill on the Keswick side the bridge, – the river flows behind it & makes a long sweep by High Hill & the old Quaker meeting. On that hill two houses under one roof have been built by William Jackson, a waggoner in your fathers time; – he has left the business for some years, & lives in the one, & I am his tenant in the other. A worthier hearted man never breathed than my Landlord, & his house keeper is as excellent a good woman. M^r Betham will remember her, – Molly Wilson, – the daughter of the Midwife. M^rs Wilson we call her, – our children call her Wilsy, & she spoils them more than they do her name.

Miss Betham I am sorry to say that whatever may <be> the case in the higher ranks, the breed of good women is growing scarce in the lower ones, & of this we have lamentable proof here in Cumberland. Manufactories furnish fine cloaths to the one sex and bad habits to the other: half the women girls die of consumption occasioned by cotton stockings & thin clothing; & for the other half, – there is scarcely ever a marriage which is not followed by a christening within the month. It is well the white sheet has been disused, – for otherwise clean sheets would be sometimes wanting in Keswick. An inactive clergyman, negligent magistrates, cotton mills & Lakers have ruined the morals of the place. The remote parts of the country have escaped this contagion, & there the peasantry are what one has dreamt of so often, & so seldom seen, a frank, friendly & independent happy & virtuous race.

Any part of the summer will be convenient to us to receive you, – I should however advise you to come as soon as you can after May day; for spring has almost has much variety as autumns, & what you will most enjoy will be the long & lovely evenings on the Lake. From my study I have the finest imaginable view of the Lake, Borrodale, & Newlands, – the river Greta, the Vale of Keswick & Basenthwaite in the distance to the right. Lodore can be distinctly seen after rain. The Greta passes behind the house, at the foot of our orchard, & Skiddaw reaches within half a mile of us on that side. Within doors you will see the best library that ever so poor a man possessed, contained, for the most part, in a room which seems to have the rare property of making all persons feel comfortably who come into it.

You will wonder that I make no mention of the picture. [2]  It has not yet reached us. My friend Rickman who had been entrusted to bring it with him comes next month. Edith is in great expectation, & I had once nearly disappointed her sadly. There came a packet inclosed in a parcel from Longmans which from its size & shape I verily supposed to be this picture, & in that belief was on the point of running to call her that she might see it opened. But liking to be sure of my good tidings I took a prudent peep & found the proof of a little map of Spain which has been engraved for my translation of the Chronicle of the Cid. [3] 

I see you have been feeling like a Spanish Lady, [4]  while these great & heart-awakening transactions are going on in that noble country. Oh what a resurrection of all that is great & ennobling have we lived to see! And if Bonaparte were ten times mightier than he is, here he would be foiled.

As for this rascally affair in Portugal, I would do as the Romans would have done; – refuse to satisfy terms so infamous, & deliver up the Generals who made them to the French, with halters round their necks. [5] 

yrs truly

Robert Southey.

Sep^t. 19. 1808. Keswick.