Coleridge, Sara (1802-1852). - Letter, from Hampstead, to Elizabeth Wardell (nee Crumpe), at Bank, Chester, dated October 1834. WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 34

Hampstead

October 1834

My dearest Elizabeth

It is long since I have written to you or heard from you, but often have I wished to do the latter, and my so long delaying to do the first has partly proceeded from weakness and partly from the agitating events which my letter must treat upon. Of course you have heard that my beloved and revered Father was taken from us this summer: he had long been declining yet we did not expect to lose him by so short a last illness, & though his sufferings & infirmities were great his mind was so lively & youthful that in his presence few persons could think that his dissolution was near at hand. We first heard of his danger on Sunday & on Friday - July the 25th he died in a state of coma about 6 o clock in the morning in the sight of his faithful friend Mr Green. My brother had not been sent for, because the medical men thought the agitation of such interviews ought not to be encountered by him, his state being very peculiar; and mama and I were content with his blessing brought to us by Henry who bade him farewell on Sunday. His faculties were clear & vigorous to the last; he said that he hoped by the manner of his death to evidence the sincerity of his Faith & truly he did so; a few hours before his death he repeated to his dear friend Green a part of his religious Philosophy which he was anxious to have accurately recorded, and so considerate & benevolent was he in this last stage of his life, when his bodily sufferings were most severe, that he sate up in bed, and was supported by his attendant, who had ever nursed him with disinterested affection, to pen a few lines strongly recommending her to the care of his family; which dying request has been well attended to by all of his name. A few out of his many attached & revering friends attended his remains to the grave, & that body which did him such grievous wrong was laid in its final resting place in Highgate Church yard; After the burial Mr Green the executor read aloud his most affecting Will, & was much overcome in performing his task. What little my poor Father had to leave, (a Policy of Assurance worth £2560) of course became my mother's; rings with his hair were left to Mr: Poole of Stowey,Mr Charles Lamb Miss Hutchinson, & three other friends, & my Uncle & Mr Wordsworth were spoken of in terms of regard & respect. Mr Green has the entire disposal of my Father's manuscripts which are considerable though I fear in a very unfinished state. The philosophical part he will himself arrange for publication, but my husband Mr Julian Hare of Cambridge & his Curate Mr Sterling have been requested by him to prepare some other portions of his literary remains for the press. Henry has some notices of his own respecting my father which will appear by & by - But they have nothing to do with the MSS. in the hands of Mr Green. No man can have been more widely regretted than my beloved than my dear Father has been, and our feelings of sorrow have been soothed by the happy circumstances of his deathbed, & by many valuable tributes to his memory by valuable persons, & noble testimonies borne by those who knew him well to his worth & attaching qualities. Mrs Gillman in one of her ardent notes written since her bereavement (both she & Mr Gillman as well as Mr Green bewail his loss with no ordinary sorrow) speaks of his many Christian qualities, his heavenly mindedness, his care not to give offence Yet his conscientious unworldliness in speaking the truth whenever duty required his doing so; "to do good was his constant desire, his earnest prayer"; his temper & patience in suffering she

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often speaks of as Angelic: and during his last illness she sent a note to his room expressing in fervent language the blessing which his residence under her roof had been to her & hers: My husband too was greatly attached to him & deeply sensible of his good & great qualities; Mrs: Gillman will testify that he was ever loving & respectfully attentive to my father & it is not a little that would satisfy her on this score. Mr Poole of Stowey came to see him a few months before his death: he expressed astonishment to us at the unabated vigour of his powers, & said he should have considered it a misfortune indeed if that "wonderful man" had died before he had seen & heard him once more.

The Periodicals have been busy in bringing out criticism of his writings & attempts at sketches of his life; the last extremely incorrect as you may imagine. It is very wrong in Mr: Dequincey to publish so many personal details respecting my Parents in Tait's Magazine: his account is eloquently written & does justice, in most particulars to my Father's genius & to the benevolence of his nature, but there are many mis-statements in it, & a false colouring is cast over all that part which relates to domestic matters; but my dear friend is it not unjustifiable in any man to expose the recesses of a friend's home to the general gaze-? & what person of delicate feeling can bear to see the characters of those near & dear to them commented upon in print? Mr Dequincey has shown little dignity in exhibiting himself as an Opium Eater, and des-cribing so many passages of his life which are calculated neither to do himself credit nor his readers any good for the amusement of the public; but we may do what we will with our own; this new sort of personality is at the expense of his neighbours: however I believe poor man he will stoop to almost anything which will put a few guineas into his pocket with the least possible trouble to himself, & enable him to descend from his upper story in [[?]] whence I am told he can never stir save on a Sunday for fear of falling into the clutches of a creditor: I was also told, (but there may have been some mistake in the matter, for I well know how incorrect these hearsay reports generally are) - that his wife is gone home in ill health, & that his little Maggy manages all her papa's domestic concerns. She & the other children are sensible & good looking but have no regular education & are brought up in a sad shifting way; allowed to sit up late, to help themselves to laudanum & so forth: "How can you keep your eyes open Maggy?" said a gentleman to the little girl, "when you are kept up so late?" "O, we get a laudan an opium pill & that makes us quite brisk & lively." However she added that this would have been displeasing to Papa - had he known of it.

My dear Elizabeth I hope you will not wait for a frank but will give me a particular account of yourself & all belonging to you - as soon as ever you have time. Your last letter was very satisfactory upon the whole, & I hope by this time your renovation is complete. Your dear children I long to see and compare with my own chicks - but why do I talk of such a thing when I know well that our [tiddlers] must be so far exceeded by your young ones - by the offspring of the lofty Elizabeth, in size and fine-ness? Our Herby however is rather tall of his age notwithstanding my invisibility, as poor Hartley used to call it. Edith used to say that no child of mine would be perceptible by

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the naked eye, till it had attained its second Birthday. She expects a little Warter before Christmas I fear she must be very very anxious at present about her poor mother's health; change of scene, which should have been tried long ago, will I hope produced the desired effect, & it is not improbable that ere long she may see her dear daughter at Tarring. Long dwelling upon unhappy reflections, the loss of some of her children & the parting with others, has been gradually undermining her health; but her constitution is good in the main & I trust she will yet be restored. Cuthbert is to be prepared for College by his brother in law at Tarring. I heard from Mrs: Dr Southey that the Parsonage is a very nice house & furnished with great taste; the garden is pretty & flourishing & all within & without is comfortable and economically elegant. Warter we all like very much - he is a most affectionate creature, has good abilities and first rate principles: his manners are peculiar & about them there is a difference of opinion, as is ever the case about matters of taste; he is earnest & zealous in his profession & anxious that Edith should be a pattern pastor's wife, which she has ability & inclination to be, but I fear strength may fail, if she has a family, for [[-?-]][executing] all that she may be desirous of doing both in & out of doors. She is often over-fatigued - so her Aunt says - although, upon the whole she is really very well for a person under her circumstances. But I know you will be anxious to hear of my health - I wish I could give you a more satisfactory account of it than I am able to do. I suffered much while I was in the family way last Autumn - many persons thought my health would be restored by the event but it has only increased my weakness. In January I was confined, nearly two months before the time; my little twins died at the end of two days, after they had been baptised by the names of Berkeley & Florence. The weakness of body & spirits for three months after my confinement was dreadful - since that time I have been very gradually advancing - my rest at night is greatly improved, & if I keep quiet I am much more tranquil & cheerful than during the first part of my illness; but I am extremely weak in the back & cannot walk or even sit up for more than a few minutes at a time. Many persons think the spine itself must be diseased, & though I felt convinced that this was not the case to satisfy others I submitted to an examination by a clever surgeon together with Mr Gillman; both declared that the bone & spinal chord were perfectly uninjured & that the weakness is purely nervous - The nerves of the spine want their natural energy having sympathized with the general derangement of the system. All the medical men think I have a good chance of being restored to my former powers either suddenly, or gradually; but I really do not think that it is of any use to try further medical aid - in cases like mine one grain of nature is worth all the world of medical art, & many nervous patients are said to have been restored by this or that clever Doctor, when in reality the native forces of the constitution rose up & did the work - You cant imagine how many medical men have been pointed out to me as conquering heroes over this complaint; their success I imagine depends upon the time when they commence their operations.

I hope you have good news of Mrs. Hervey & that Mrs: Jackson has a little respite from the maternal labours How much Sophia must be prized at home; how will her parents ever bear to part with her even to the most deserving of suitors? My kind regards to

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her, to Mr & Mrs Crumpe & your brothers. I hope you will write soon by post & tell me all about them, yourself Mr Wardell & your children. Any letter is a treat to me - confined & secluded as I am but an account of you dear Elizabeth, & other old friends known to us both is a greater one than I can express. I wished for a larger sheet of paper, which was not at hand. If I crossed the scrawl would be illegible, & you will excuse I mean dispense with a longer well penned letter, when you consider my weakness & that I write in an awkward posture lying on my back. My husband has just returned from visiting his parents, who are both declining in health, & from revising North Wilts. He has also paid a short visit to my brother at Helleston; whom he found enjoying health & tolerable share of prosperity. He is able to live genteelly, but he works early & late & has a good deal of care on his mind. His wife though not strong is now well upon the whole, & almost as pretty as ever. The little Derwent is a lively manly, very affectionate child & talks Cornish in rather too great perfection. He has very fine eyes, but Henry does not agree with those who reckon him handsome. His papa is much beloved & respected, & his mama a very popular young parson's wife. They are anxious that Hartley should reside near them, but for many reasons we hope he will remain at Grasmere. Poor dear fellow! I can only write in the old strain about him. His weaknesses & his striking & attaching qualities are just as observable as ever. Mama I am sorry to say is weak & nervous, though in spite of many uneasy sensations wonderfully active & fresh looking for her age. My dear children are healthy upon the whole & I think Herbert will be fond of books. I shall be glad when my sister Fanny (Judge Patteson's wife) returns from the Country. I see more of her than any one else out of my own household. She has a very fine family. How thankful I am that Miss Wordsworth is getting

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so much better. We thought Miss Hutchinson looking very well when she was staying with Mrs: Gee. I wish Dora would be persuaded to visit her Southern friends for her own health's sake & their satisfaction. Janetta appears to be much stronger than she was & Mrs: Gee is full of energy and her school prospers Julia Hobson has indifferent health but very good spirits She seems well & happily married but has no child.

Mama is very anxious about my Aunt's health - but we have good hopes that we shall soon hear of a favourable change My Uncle supports All his troubles & trials like a Christian Philosopher. Mama unites with me in best regards to yourself and Mr Wardell. She has often described your little girl to me. I remain my dearest Elizabeth Ever your attached friend Sara Coleridge

The restoration of your health is a blessed circumstance for which we have felt truly thankful.

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<Sara Coleridge 13 Oct 1834>

Mrs: Wardell

Bank

Chester

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Object summary: WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 34