1044. Robert Southey to
[John May](people.html#MayJohn),
6 March 1805
Address: To/ John May Esqr/ Richmond/ Surry/ Single
Stamped:
KESWICK/ 298
Postmarks: E/ MAR9/ 1805; 10o’Clock/ MR.9/ 1805F.N.n
Endorsement: No. 109 1805/ Robert Southey/ Keswick 6th March/ recd.
9th do/ ansd. 2d Aug
MS: Harry Ransom
Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin. ALS; 4p.
Previously published: Charles Ramos (ed.), The Letters of Robert
Southey to John May: 1797–1838 (Austin, Texas, 1976), pp. 96–97.
March 6. 1805.
[Keswick](places.html#Keswick)
My dear friend
It is long since I have written to you. For Southey’s last letter to May, see
Southey to John May, 26 January 1805, Letter 1028. some symptoms meantime have appeared in [my little girl](people.html#SoutheyEdithMay) which very much alarmed us, they have however yielded to speedy
applications, & thank God, have wholly disappeared. Whether or no they were of the nature we dreaded, it is impossible to say, as
they went no farther. at present the child seems excellently well. still we shall have an anxious time till the teething is overpast,
& as she has only four as yet, it is a long time to look to. She almost walks, & begins to imitate sounds, having a vocabulary
of family names already.
It will be best to supply [Harry](people.html#SoutheyHenryHerbert) at the regular quarters:
one time being the same as another, & these being times of which every housekeeper has his regular mementos. – Evans Untraced. tells me that the tithes of Little Hereford for last year will not produce much more
than 100 £ & that he has written to [my Uncle](people.html#HillHerbertUncle) recommending measures to
make them more productive. Southey’s uncle Herbert Hill was the incumbent priest, and in
receipt of the living of Little Hereford, near Leominster Herefordshire, from 1800–1812. this is exclusive of the glebe, he
says, which probably may be sufficient to defray the charge of a curate.
I have had a melancholy interruption since my last to the usual course of my life. the Captain of the Abergavenny was
[Wordsworths](people.html#WordsworthWilliam) brother, & I have twice been over for some days to him
& his sister, who are nearly heartbroken by his dreadful fate. John Wordsworth (1772–1805),
captain of the East Indiaman, the Earl of Abergavenny, went down with his ship on the Shambles rocks off Portland
Bill, on 5 February 1805.
We have had news of [Coleridge](people.html#ColeridgeSamuelTaylor) which I believe [Mrs C.](people.html#FrickerSarah) has communicated to Ottery. Ottery
St. Mary, Devon, where Coleridge’s family lived. he is Secretary Confidential Secretary to Sir A. Ball Alexander John Ball, 1st Baronet (1757–1809; DNB): Rear Admiral who directed the
blockade of Malta (1798–1800). Coleridge wrote a biography of Ball in The Friend (1809–1810). See S. T. Coleridge,
The Friend, ed. Barbara E. Rooke, 2 vols (London and Princeton NJ, 1969), II, pp. 252–256, 287–294, 347–356,
359–369. & in that situation has apartments in the palace. Before this appointment took place, he had agreed at Sir A’s
request to go into Greece & up the Black Sea with Capt. Leake, Captain William Martin Leake
(1777–1860) of the Royal Artillery explored and mapped Greece and the Levant. A collector of Greek coins, he befriended Byron and
became Britain’s negotiator with Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas’ud ibn Agha (1769–1849) during the Napoleonic invasion of the Ottoman
empire. to purchase corn for government, but this is I think likely to prevent that scheme as he has been drawing up
memorials to government concerning the Neapolitan politics & the state of Sicily (where he has been), Coleridge discussed his impressions of Sicily and its ruling Neapolitan court in The Friend
(1809–1810). See S. T. Coleridge, The Friend, ed. Barbara E. Rooke, 2 vols (London and Princeton NJ, 1969), I, pp.
559–560, II, p. 99. & if any explanation or elucidation xxxx should be required, Sir Alexander would naturally
wish to have him at hand. his health is very materially improved.
Whether my book
Madoc (1805). be published or not you best know, as [Longman](people.html#LongmanThomas) has <my> directions to forward to you a copy, together with one for [my Uncle](people.html#HillHerbertUncle). My friends have so long expected its publication that for this month past I
have scarcely received a letter, – all waiting to receive it before they write. I have done my Annual work some weeks ago. Southey reviewed, in the Annual Review for 1804, 3 (1805): John Barrow (1764–1848;
DNB), An Account of Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa, in the years 1797 and 1798, including
Observations on the Geology & Geography, the Natural History ... and Sketches of the Various Tribes Surrounding the Cape of
Good Hope, Vol. II (1804), 22–33; Robert Percival (1765–1826), An Account of the Cape of Good Hope (1804),
34–41; Daniel Mackinnen (1767–1830), A Tour Through the British West Indies, in the years 1802 and 1803 giving a Particular
Account of the Bahama Islands (1804), 50–56; John Barrow, Travels in China: Containing Descriptions, Observations
and Comparisons Made and Collected in the Course of a Short Residence at the Imperial Palace of Yuen-min-yuen, and on a
Subsequent Journey from Pekin to Canton (1804), 69–83; Sir John Froissart’s Chronicles of England, France, and the
Adjoining Countries, from the Latter Part of the Reign of Edward II to the Coronation of Henry IV, trans. Thomas Johnes
(1748–1816; DNB) (1804), 189–194; George Heriot (1766–1844), The History of Canada, From its First Discovery:
Comprehending an Account of the Original Establishment of the Colony of Louisiana, 194–197; Part the First of An
Address to the Public from the Society for the Suppression of Vice, Instituted, in London, 1802, Setting Forth, with a List of
the Members, the Utility and Necessity of such an Institution, and its Claim to Public Support (1803), 225–231; Edward
Ledwich (1738–1823), The Antiquities of Ireland (1804), 398–413; Original Correspondence of Jean Jacques
Rousseau, with Mad. La Tour de Franqueville and M. Du Peyrou (1804), 485–488; Anna Seward, Memoirs of the Life of
Dr. Darwin, ... with Anecdotes of his Friends and Criticisms on his Writings (1804), 488–93; David Irving
(1778–1850), The Lives of the Scotish Poets; with Preliminary Dissertations on the Literary History of Scotland and the
Early Scotish Drama (1804), 493–499; Walter Scott, Sir Tristram: A Metrical Romance by Thomas of
Ercildoune (1804), 555–563; Charles Abraham Elton (1778–1853), Poems (1804), 564–565; William Day (dates
unknown), The Shepherd’s Boy: being Pastoral Tales (1804), 567–568; E. Warren (dates unknown), The Poet’s Day,
or, Imagination’s Ramble (1804), 568; Cupid turned Volunteer: in a Series of Prints, Designed by her Royal
Highness the Princess Elizabeth; and Engraved by W. N. Gardiner, B.A., with Poetical Illustrations by T. P [Thomas Park
(1758/9–1834; DNB)] (1804), 568–580; Thomas Green Fessenden (1771–1837), Original Poems (1804), 571;
John Blair Linn (1777–1805), The Powers of Genius (1801), 571; Thomas Clio Rickman (1761–1834; DNB),
An Ode in Celebration of the Emancipation of the Blacks of Saint Domingo, November 29, 1803 (1804), 572; Robert
Bloomfield, Good Tidings (1804), 574; William Robert Spencer (1770–1834; DNB), The Year of
Sorrow (1804), 574–575; British Purity: or, the World we Live in. A Poetic Tale, of Two Centuries…By Lory Lucian
and Jerry Juvenal, … Assisted by S. Scriblerus, etc. [pseud.] (1804), 575; William Falconer (1732–1769), The
Shipwreck (1804), ed., James Stanier Clarke (1766–1834; DNB), 577–580; William Tooke (1777–1863), ed.,
The Poetical Works of Charles Churchill: with Explanatory Notes and an Authentic Account of his Life (1804),
580–585; J. Amphlett (dates unknown), Invasion: a Descriptive and Satirical Poem (1804), 585; Joseph Jefferson
(1766–1824), Horae Poeticæ. Poems, Sacred, Moral and Descriptive (1804), 586–587; Alexander Campbell (1764–1824;
DNB), The Grampians Desolate, a Poem in Six Books (1804), 587–591; William Crowe (bap. 1745, d.
1829; DNB), Lewesdon Hill (1804), 593–594; John Finlay (1782–1810), Wallace, or, The Vale of
Ellerslie, and other Poems (1804), 594–596; Jessie Stewart (dates unknown), Ode to Dr. Thomas Percy
(1804), 597; John Belfour (1768–1842), Fables on Subjects Connected with Literature. Imitated from the Spanish of Don Tomas
de Yriarte (1804), 597–598; Transactions of the Missionary Society (1804), 621–634; Edward Davies
(1756–1831; DNB), Celtic Researches, on the Origin, Traditions, & Language, of the Ancient Britons; with
some Introductory Sketches, on Primitive Society (1804), 634–644; [Anon.] No Slaves - No Sugar: Containing New and
Irresistible Arguments in Favour of the African Trade by a Liverpool Merchant (1804), 644–648; William Tennant
(1758–1813), Indian Recreations, Consisting Chiefly of Strictures on the Domestic and Rural Economy of the Mahommedans and
Hindoos (1803), 658–670; John Gardiner (fl. 1758–1792), Essays Literary, Political and Economical (1804),
670–674; Richard Duppa, Heads from the Fresco Pictures of Raffaele in the Vatican (1802), 918–923. it falls
considerably short of the last years both in quantity & in interests, for neither of which deficiencies am I answerable, the
quantum being allotted me, & my business being to keep to my text. There is however an article upon Barrows Travels in Africa,
& another upon the Missionary Transactions in the same country which both contain some xx interesting matter. See note 10. I am endeavouring to procure accounts of what the Quakers have done in
converting the Indians. by the time I come to my History of the Monastic Orders Southey’s
planned, but never completed, ‘History of Monasticism’. I hope to acquire xx <a> full x knowledge
of this subject, & to be able to place it in a proper light.
Having thus cleared off my great poem, & my lot of journey-work, I have returned to the History Southey’s planned, but never completed, ‘History of Portugal’. with new strength & spirits,
& made considerable progress. The solid inches of manuscript are visibly increasing. I have cleared off the Fuero Viejo, No. 3387 of the sale catalogue of Southey’s library was D. Ignatius Jordan de Asso y del Rio
(1742–1804), and D. Miguel de Manuel y Rodriguez (fl. 1780), El Fuero Viejo de Castilla, con Notas Historicas, y
Legales (1771). the second code of laws, & am now labouring at the Partidas, No. 3610 of the sale catalogue of Southey’s library was Gregorio Lopez (1496/7–1560), Partidas (las Siete)
del Sabio Rey Don Alonso el Nono Glosadas (1789). – if English law had been one half so interesting, or one
fiftieth part so instructive I would have pushed hard for the bench. but such is the difference of studying for pleasure & for
profit, – & so much <more> delightful is it to be studying the history of past ages, than sacrificing ones intellect to the
petty disputes of our own. There is not perhaps any possible pursuit which could so compleately carry me out of my own generation as
that on which I am present engaged totis viribus & toto corde. Meaning ‘with my whole
strength and whole spirit’. – to be writing the history of past ages, with hopes fixed upon those which are to come. – In the
regular series of years I am arrived at 1525 – the fourth of Joam 3. John III (1502–1557; King
of Portugal and the Algarves 1521–1557). but at a later period I have the whole narrative written from the death of
Sebastian Sebastian I (1554–1578; King of Portugal and the Algarves 1557–1578). to
the conquest of the Terceras by the Spaniards, The Spanish conquest of Terceras in the Azores,
May 1583. which completed the subjection of the Kingdom. – Should any circumstances bring [my Uncle](people.html#HillHerbertUncle) to England, as the complection of Portuguese politics is at present of a very
gloomy cast, I shall perhaps put my first volume to press in the ensuing winter.
My last letter from [Tom](people.html#SoutheyTom) stated that he was well having then been a
month on board, in which time they had buried sixty! Thomas Southey’s new shipmates had been
hit by yellow fever. – I have since seen by a provincial paper
The Cumberland Pacquet and Ware’s Whitehaven Advertiser. that the Amelia in company with another vessel had
sent in some Spanish prizes, probably of little value, as they were not called rich. In
December 1804 HMS Amelia, of which Thomas Southey was a lieutenant, captured the Spanish brig Isabella and the ship Conception, both laden with wine and brandy, and the ship Commerce, laden with cotton. It was customary for naval officers to be allotted a share of the value of ‘prizes’ captured
in armed conflict. – Our remembrances to [Mrs May](people.html#MaySusannah) – God bless you
yrs very affectionately
RSouthey.