The Prose Works of William Wordsworth Part 121

126. _No Pension sought_.

In the summer of 1842, Wordsworth resigned his office of Stamp Distributor; not, however, on a retiring pension, as has been sometimes a.s.serted. In a letter, dated March 2, 1840, and addressed to Lord Morpeth, he says, 'I never did seek or accept a pension from the present or any other administration, directly or indirectly.' But the duties, and also the emoluments, of the Distributors.h.i.+p were transferred to his son William, who had for some time acted as his deputy at Carlisle.[186]

127. _The Master of Trinity_.

LETTER TO A NEPHEW.

Rydal, Nov. 5. 1841.

MY DEAR C----,

Your father left us yesterday, having been just a week under our roof.

The weather was favourable, and he seemed to enjoy himself much. His muscular strength, as proved by the walks we took together, is great.

One day we were nearly four hours on foot, without resting, and he did not appear in the least fatigued.

[185] _Memoirs_, ii. 384-5.

[186] _Ibid._ ii. 387.

We all thought him looking well, and his mind appears as active as ever.

It was a great delight to us to see him here.

He was anxious to see Charles; he will reach Winchester this afternoon, I hope without injury. Yours, &c.

W. W.[187]

128. _Of Alston's Portrait of Coleridge_.

Poor Mr. Wade! From his own modest merits, and his long connection with Mr. Coleridge, and with my early Bristol remembrances, he was to me an interesting person. His desire to have my address must have risen, I think, from a wish to communicate with me upon the subject of Mr.

Alston's valuable portrait of Coleridge. Pray tell me what has, or is likely to, become of it. I care comparatively little about the matter, provided due care has been taken for its preservation, and in his native country. It would be a sad pity if the late owner's intention of sending it to America be fulfilled. It is the only likeness of the great original that ever gave me the least pleasure; and it is, in fact, most happily executed, as every one who has a distinct remembrance of what C.

was at that time must with delight acknowledge, and would be glad to certify.[188]

129. _Of Southey's Death_.

The papers will have informed you, before you receive this, of poor dear Southey's decease. He died yesterday morning about nine o'clock. Some little time since, he was seized with typhus fever, but he pa.s.sed away without any outward signs of pain, as gently as possible. We are, of course, not without sadness upon the occasion, notwithstanding there has been, for years, cause why all who knew and loved him should wish for his deliverance.[189]

130. _Tropical Scenery: Grace Darling: Southey, &c._

LETTER TO LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR WM. GOMM.[190]

[187] _Memoirs_, ii. 385.

[188] Extract of letter to John Peace, Esq., Dec. 12, 1842: _ibid._ ii.

390-1.

[189] Extract of letter to Nephew, March 22, 1843: _ibid._ ii. 391.

[190] The venerable and ill.u.s.trious soldier has only very recently died.

Within ten days of his death he wrote the present Editor tenderly and reverentially of Wordsworth. G.

Rydal Mount, March 24. 1843.

MY DEAR SIR WILLIAM,

Nothing should have prevented my answering your kind letter from the Cape, long ago, but the want of matter that seemed worth sending so far, unless I confined myself to what you must he well a.s.sured of, my sincere esteem and regard for yourself and Lady Gomm, and the expression of good wishes for your health and happiness. I am still in the same difficulty, but cannot defer writing longer, lest I should appear to myself unworthy of your friends.h.i.+p or respect.

You describe the beauties of Rio Janeiro in glowing colours, and your animated picture was rendered still more agreeable to me by the sight, which I had enjoyed a little before, of a panorama of the same scene, executed by a friend of mine, who in his youth studied at the Academy with a view to practise painting as a profession. He was a very promising young artist, but having a brother a Brazilian merchant, he changed his purpose and went to Rio, where he resided many years, and made a little fortune, which enabled him to purchase and build in c.u.mberland, where I saw his splendid portrait of that magnificent region. What an intricacy of waters, and what boldness and fantastic variety in the mountains! I suppose, taking the region as a whole, it is scarcely anywhere surpa.s.sed.

If the different quarters of the globe should ever become subject to one empire, Rio ought to be the metropolis, it is so favoured in every respect, and so admirably placed for intercourse with all the countries of the earth. Your approach to the Cape was under awful circ.u.mstances, and, with three great wrecks strewn along the coast of the bay, Lady Gomm's spirit and fort.i.tude, as described by you, are worthy of all admiration, and I am sure she will sympathise with the verses I send, to commemorate a n.o.ble exploit of one of her s.e.x. The inhumanity with which the s.h.i.+pwrecked were lately treated upon the French coast impelled me to place in contrast the conduct of an English woman and her parents under like circ.u.mstances, as it occurred some years ago. Almost immediately after I had composed my tribute to the memory of _Grace Darling_, I learnt that the Queen and Queen Dowager had both just subscribed towards the erection of a monument to record her heroism, upon the spot that witnessed it.

Of public news I say nothing, as you will hear everything from quarters more worthy of attention. I hope all goes on to your satisfaction, mainly so at least, in your new government, and that the disposition which you will have taken with you to benefit the people under your rule has not been, nor is likely to be, frustrated in any vexatious or painful degree.

Yesterday I went over to Keswick to attend the funeral of my excellent friend, Mr. Southey. His genius and abilities are well known to the world, and he was greatly valued for his generous disposition and moral excellence. His illness was long and afflicting; his mind almost extinguished years before the breath departed. Mr. Rogers I have not been in communication with since I saw you in London, but be a.s.sured I shall bear in memory your message, and deliver it, if he and I live to meet again. And now, my dear Sir Wm., repeating the united best good wishes of Mrs. W. and myself, for you and Lady Gomm, and for your safe return to your own country, I remain, in the hope of hearing from you again,

Most faithfully your much obliged, W. WORDSWORTH.

My nephew is still in the Ionian Islands.[191]

[191] _Memoirs_, ii. 392-4.

131. _Contemporary Poets: Southey's Death: 'The Excursion,' &c._

TO PROFESSOR REED.

Rydal Mount, March 27. 1843.

MY DEAR MR. REED,

You give me pleasure by the interest you take in the various pa.s.sages in which I speak of the poets, my contemporaries, who are no more: dear Southey, one of the most eminent, is just added to the list. A few days ago I went over to Keswick to attend his remains to their last earthly abode. For upwards of three years his mental faculties have been in a state of deplorable decay; and his powers of recognition, except very rarely and but for a moment, have been, during more than half that period, all but extinct. His bodily health was grievously impaired, and his medical attendant says that he must have died long since but for the very great strength of his natural const.i.tution. As to his literary remains, they must be very considerable, but, except his epistolary correspondence, more or less unfinished. His letters cannot but be very numerous, and, if carefully collected and judiciously selected, will, I doubt not, add greatly to his reputation. He had a fine talent for that species of composition, and took much delight in throwing off his mind in that way. Mr. Taylor, the dramatic author, is his literary executor.

Though I have written at great, and I fear tiresome, length, I will add a few words upon the wish you express that I would pay a tribute to the English poets of past ages, who never had the fame they are ent.i.tled to, and have long been almost entirely neglected. Had this been suggested to me earlier in life, or had it come into my thoughts, the thing in all probability would have been done. At present I cannot hope it will; but it may afford you some satisfaction to be told, that in the MS. poem upon my poetic education there is a whole book, of about 600 lines,[192]

upon my obligations to writers of imagination, and chiefly the poets, though I have not expressly named those to whom you allude, and for whom, and many others of their age, I have a high respect.

The character of the schoolmaster, about whom you inquire, had, like the 'Wanderer,' in 'The Excursion,' a solid foundation in fact and reality, but, like him, it was also, in some degree, a composition: I will not, and need not, call it an invention--it was no such thing; but were I to enter into details, I fear it would impair the effect of the whole upon your mind; nor could I do it to my own satisfaction. I send you, according to your wish, the additions to the 'Ecclesiastical Sonnets,'

and also the last poem from my pen. I threw it off two or three weeks ago, being in a great measure impelled to it by the desire I felt to do justice to the memory of a heroine, whose conduct presented, some time ago, a striking contrast to the inhumanity with which our countrymen, s.h.i.+pwrecked lately upon the French coast, have been treated.

Ever most faithfully yours, WM. WORDSWORTH.

I must request that 'Grace Darling' may not be reprinted. I should be much obliged if you will have the enclosed Sonnets copied and sent to Bishop Doane, who has not given me his address.