Coleridge, Sara (1802-1852). - Letter, from Hampstead, to Elizabeth Wardell (nee Crumpe), at Chester, dated 2 November 1831.WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 29.

Hampstead

Novbr 2nd 1831.

My dear Friend

At last an opportunity occurs of sending the M.S. of my dear brother's Prometheus, which you have gratified us by evincing some value for; You will be pleased to hear that the accounts of & from him have always been satisfactory of late; my cousins at Keswick often mention his being in good society in his neighbourhood, & good Miss Wordsworth seems to think that he is regular in his conduct & in some degree industrious which is a great comfort. Mama had a nice letter from him lately - it was a mixture, as usual, of deep feeling, & playfulness. His last Article in Blackwood I think would doubly interest you - both on account of the spirit with which it is written, & the mention it makes of poor Mr: Green, whose characteristics as an artist are cleverly sketched. I see his name to six or seven Articles in the Winter's Wreath, but I have not yet obtained a sight of them. I cannot afford to buy Annuals and they are seldom lent out like less shewy books. I hope my dear Elizabeth you received a letter from me in which I thanked you for sending me Mrs: Park's very useful publication. I now begin to wish very much to hear how you are going on, how Mr: Wardell is, and whether your nursery is flourishing as for-

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merly. What sort of a Child is the younger baby? Pray write as soon as you can; & give me all particulars on these subjects.

About ten days ago Henry and I returned from a six weeks visit to Ottery - we had left our dear babe under the care of his kind grandmama, but though she of course is a fully competent deputy, & my nurse trustworthy & satisfactory in all points, it was long ere I could summon resolution to part from my darling: he had been warmly invited to accompany us, but I knew my Aunt Coleridge had a host of children and servants already under her roof. Our brother John and his family being at Heath's [Couch], & this added to my objection to long hurried journies for a teething child made me resolve to leave him at home. I enjoyed myself in Devonshire as much as I could do in his absence, & our stay was prolonged beyond what I had bargained for when I first consented to go. I had a good deal of trouble with the weaning though I did it as gradually as possible; the child never seemed to miss it at all - he was between 10 & 11 months old, but it was long ere I could get rid of the usual milky stream, & I was obliged to live very low & use other methods which did not suit me. In Devonshire however I was quite strong and well, & was glad to form an acquaintance with Frank Coleridge's nice

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wife and family, who occupy a pretty Cottage, five minutes walk from Heath's [Couch]. Frank has five children - as handsome & flourishing a group as I ever saw - The youngest, about five weeks old, was christened during our stay at Ottery - James Coleridge came from his pretty residence in Cornwall to perform the ceremony, and we had a very merry party at the Cottage in honour of the event. Henry went to Lawhitton to visit his brother James but I did not like to set foot in Cornwall for fear of enraging Derwent & Mary, who had warmly urged my visiting them this year & would have been outrageous at my entering their county without proceeding to them. The only excursion I made was to [Marychair] to visit my cousin George who has built a most commodious & elegant parsonage in that retired living, and whose lot seems to be cast in a goodly land, for the country round him his most lovely - the sea views from Teignmouth to Torquay are varied & beautiful, & Babbicombe bay is particularly sweet and rememberable. The neighbourhood of Ottery I explored thoroughly during my stay there, & I had much interested in seeing the old haunts of my father & of my husband in their early boyhood;

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It is a delightful spot for our children & I should much enjoy taking my little boy there next year, but the long journey is the difficulty, and my Aunt has her house generally overstocked with grand children during the Summer Vacation. My Aunt accompanied us [[-?-]] on our return; as we passed through Salisbury Plain I had an opportunity of seeing Stone henge - a wondrous & majestic pile. We left her at Eton where she is visiting her son Edward - one of the Masters of that noble school. He married a daughter of Dr [Heate] the head master; & has two pretty children - one a baby - he lost by cholera during an excursion in the Highlands. Both parents were absent & rambling about in such a manner that the news of the poor infants death did not reach them till it had been consigned to the grave several days - You may imagine the shock to both of them - they have not yet quite recovered their usual good spirits On our return we found our darling Herbert in excellent health and able to walk alone after a tottering fashion: he now can walk very well across the room & round the table, but he would continue run his head against some pillar or post if some

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one was not at hand to snatch him away & he is not fond of turning round without a hand to stay his little uncertain steps: he is now about his fourth double tooth, & never was there I believe a more healthy comfortable child than he has been from his birth to the present hour. His beauty I cannot boast of - but to go with an almost bald head would be trying to that of most folks - We think him too old to wear caps - they were troublesome, & keep the head warmer than is desirable, but he really has scarce hair enough to cover the nakedness of his poor little [pate]. How is your baby off in this respect!

We have had nice letters lately from my dear cousins at gretahall - Edith is n[] a visit [][Cruile] Meole near Shrewsbury; this [] of Mr: & Mrs: Warter the parents of her []. He is still at Copenhagen and delight- [] tituation in Sir H. Wynn's family, [[?]][] ation from his betrothed. Dora has [] of her visit to Abbotsford - how [] sidence of the Tillbrooks in Ivy Cot- [] be to her! They say Mrs: T. has a char- [] & is looking beautiful herself. Do you [] ought of Mrs: John Wordsworth? Whether she is [] to be a mama & so forth? I believe I told

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you of Derwent & Mary's visit to Hampstead last June and how much I was delighted with the latter. Their little boy is now three years old: I hear he is a charming child & very pretty. I hope your next letter will contain a better account than you last gave of poor dear Louisa; pray remember [] kindly to her & to all your family. My [] has been very ill lately - he suffered dreadfully [] the cholera of the season. When I last saw him [] in his better way & quite in good spirits.

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P.S. Now I am going to ask you a housekeeping question - it relates to that nice [mode] of dressing beef to [eat] like [here] which you gave me the receipt of. In our small way we could not well dispose of a very large sirloin & the butcher here would not sell the [[?]] of this joint separately; the Inside of the Rump however he is willing to cut for us & he says this will answer as well - do you think this is the case and do you soak the meat in port wine vinegar before it is dressed or only serve it with a port wine gravy? You will excuse the question as you have given me advice before on such subjects. How many pounds do you order for this dish?

My dear mother I found looking particularly well on my return from Devonshire.

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unites with me in kindest regards to yourself and Mr: Wardell & I remain my dearest Elizabeth Your truly attached friend Sara Coleridge.

<S. Coleridge 2d Nov. 1831>

Mrs: Wardell

Chester -

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Object summary: WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 29