Coleridge, Sara (1802-1852). - Letter, from Greta Hall, to Elizabeth Crumpe, at J.G. Crumpe's Esqre, Solicitor, Liverpool, dated 12 November 1820. WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 3

Greta hall

November 12 1820.

My dear Miss Elizabeth

This first leisure moment which I have enjoyed for a very long time, & which has not been obtained, I assure you, without dint of previous diligence, I devote to the agreeable task of endeavouring to redeem my character with you as a correspondent, and amuse you with a little account of some of those summer excursions, which, by helping to fill up my time, have been partly the cause of my losing it. Almost the pleasantest expedition we have had this year was one in which the Cathedrals, to whom you made such a wicked allusion in your letter, had no share; it was taken by my cousin, & myself, in company with Mrs Peachy, & her eldest son, with whom we breakfasted at the island, & after being rowed by the latter to Derwent Bay, walked to the end of Newlands, where, by the side of a little brook, that glittered in the sun like liquid silver, & formed itself here & there into beautiful cascades, we ascended a high mountain at the extremity of the vale, whose summit rewarded us for our labour in scaling it's rugged sides with one of the grandest views

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I ever beheld; the sea in the distance, - Buttermere lake just beneath us, and "a tumultuous waste of huge hill tops" all around, presented a most glorious combination, from which when we turned our eyes to the other side of the fell, they met with horrible chasms, enough to make any but such experienced mountaineers but ourselves, shudder with affright. Another excursion that we took in a much larger party, was to Bowscale tarn, a place famed for being the residence of two immortal fish; Mr Nash was so much struck with the contrast presented by the gay coloured cloaks, & shawls of the ladies & the white jackets, & straw hats of the gentlemen, to the sombre hue of the little lake, & the wall of rocks by which it is surrounded that he made a coloured drawing of the scene, & has given "to one brief moment caught from fleeting time the appropriate calm of blest eternity." As for our own lovely lake, I never was so well acquainted with it before this year, for we have visited every creek & corner of it in the Collegians' four oared boat, chaperoned of course, by some elder person, mama, or Mrs Peachy: the last farewell row was indeed a delightful one: Genl.& Mrs P. sat at one end of the boat, Edith & I at the other. Mr: Henry steered, & the two Mr Kennaways, and Noels, each took an oar: the sun shone chearfully, the air was warm, & impelled by these practised rowers the vessel shot along the surface of the water, with the utmost velocity; we visited the salt springs, & landed at a little nameless isle, which Mr: Kennaway christened Edith's isle, an un-

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common piece of gallantry for a youth of this rude age, in which these pretty little attentions to ladies seem quite out of fashion.

Amongst the Keswick beaux of this summer was a young gentleman of the name of Vardon, who said he had travelled with you in the coach: the parents of this youth, my uncle & aunt had become acquainted with in their continental tour, which induced them to make him an inmate here during the whole of his stay; he slept at lodgings, but dined & spent the rest of the day with us; had he gone to the Ambleside ball, I should have complied with his request of recommending him to you, or one of your sisters for a partner, for he is a very genteel young man, or rather boy, & has been used to very fashionable society. Miss Stanger is rather more agreeable in manners than she used to be, & is grown extremely partial to Scotch scenery, society literature &c. she was very angry with the Cambridge gentlemen for hunting the rabbits on St Herbert's island; declaring like Jaques, that they were "tyrants, usurpers & what's worse," "to fright the animals, & kill them up, in their assigned, & native dwelling place" We have just parted with a young lady who resides with Capt Southey's family in Newlands, a niece of Mr. B. Wilbraham, member for Dover, and cousin of Lord Alvanley a dear crony of Lord Byron, & "almost as good- for nothing, & as agreeable as himself," according to Miss W.'s account. She is an enthousiastic admirer of my uncle, & quite a madcap. She is at variance with her family, I believe, which is the reason of her living from home. Mr Lynn, our new clergyman's preaching gives

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universal satisfaction: I met him once at dinner at Genl P.'s and thought him very good natured, & agreeable man: his wife, a daughter of the Bishop of Carlisle, is a handsome woman, about five and thirty, and wears a crimson velvet pelisse, which will make all her husband's parishioners ashamed of their plaids, and duffils: she has kindly offered to play duets with Edith & me, which will be of service to us I hope: she is very ill at present, but not dangerously it is to be hoped, for the sake of her eleven children. The only distinguished characters we have seen this year are Mr Procter, alias Barry Cornwall, author that sweet poem the Sicilian story, Marcian Colonna, &c. & Mrs. Fry, the benevolent inspector of prisons, an intelligent, & rather eloquent Quaker, with a commanding person, and agreeable face; she came to confer with my uncle, upon a life, which he intends writing, of the founder of her sect. Edith is at Rydal at present, with Miss H. she says she has been riding about with Mr Barber, whom she would like better if he wasn't quite such a Radical, & Queenite; by the bye, two of the Collegians whom we know are sons of that Sir G. Noel, whose name is so often in the papers of late. I hope your sister Louisa will derive benefit from her visit to the Isle of Man; pray give my love to her when you write. Derwent is comfortably settled at Cambridge, & seems delighted with his cousin Henry; we hear from Mr W. Jackson, who has taken the most friendly interest in poor Hartleys misfortunes, that my father has been at Oxford, but what is the result of his visit we do not yet know. Were you not shocked to hear of poor Miss Rankine's death? Pray remember me in the kindest manner to your whole circle, & believe me your ever affectionate S.C. Your removal to Liverpool must be a great pleasure to your brothers, to whom I beg to

be remembered. (writing at 90 degrees)

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The Senhouses do not go through Liverpool, so I must endeavour to get some other conveyance for this letter, which I have opened to tell you about our dear friends the Wordsworths, who have been in great danger in attempting to cross: they were obliged to put back, after having given up all for lost, & returned to Boulogne, to the great joy of Miss Barker, who, they say, sits in her arm chair, with her screen behind her back, & receives visitors almost all day long; but that her return to Cumberland appears quite out of the question, for My dear Miss Elizabeth, saving money in such a place as that is a mere chimera. We expect on Saturday to see some friends of ours, (Mr: Senhouse, & his family,) who will probably pass through Liverpool; if they should, it will be a good opportunity of sending this letter, which has swelled to such a size, that I begin to fear you will think the perusal of it quite a task. I have just received a letter from dear Derwent, wherein, after expressing his opinion upon Mr: Townsend, Mr: Noel, & various of our Cambridge acquaintance, he communicates the pleasing intelligence of his having been declared Scholar of St John's, "a distinction," says he, "which I almost despaired of attaining, as the examination turns on my weakest point, Latin composition: what the pecuniary advantage is I know not: but a trifle, - the credit is the thing." I feel sure that both your brothers, as well as your-

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self, will be pleased to hear of this early piece of good fortune of my brother: I wish I had any to communicate in another quarter. How strangely this tedious business of the Queen has terminated! yesterday evening we were in bodily fear of having our windows broken, for refusing to comply with the popular feeling in illuminating; we escaped however. My brother, in his letter cautions me against politics, but I think he would hardly call this an infringement upon his charge, as I have refrained from expressing any opinion on the subject. Mr: Nash, who spent the summer with us, left us about a fortnight ago: he contributed not a little to enliven our fireside, while we had the pleasure of his society: in the evening he generally accompanied the piano with his voice, or flute, & his portfolio was a constant source of amusement: he drew our little darling Cuthbert, surrounded with his play things; took a picture of my cousin for her god-father Mr: May, & made an ivory miniature of both her and myself, besides innumerable pretty sketches, & groupes in the style of Mr: Harden, whose talents in that way he thinks very highly of: I hear from Miss Hutchinson that you are coming to Brathay in the Spring, but I fear you will not turn your steps towards Keswick. We were much shocked to hear of the death of Mr: H. Koster, as well for his own sake, as for that of his family: the Miss Kosters, I suppose you know, have set up a school in Cheshire, but how they succeed we have not yet heard. Have you seen the beautiful Mary Bardswell lately? or the

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enthousiastic Miss Ritchie? To the latter, when you see her, I beg to be remembered. You perhaps may have heard that my friend Miss Caroline Crompton is going to be married: I sincerely wish her all imaginable happiness, for she is a most amiable young woman, & has an excellent understanding: she is no every day character I assure you.

I have just finished reading a sweet pathetic poem, Ellen Fitzarthur; the authoress is a literary protegée of my uncle's, which made me particularly interested about it. The sketch book by Geoffry Crayon, is a very amusing publication; have you seen it? Shelley's Cenci is a most horrid production, & the Prometheus unbound is a strange wild poem, but very beautiful. Have you read the Abbot? & do you think there is any truth in the story of their being written by Scot's sister-in-law? They say that Sir Walter is going to exchange his Baronetcy for a still higher title: surely the king must take him to be the author of the famous novels, or why such a profusion of [] Tell Sophia how much Edith regretted her absence from Allan-bank, when she went into that neighbourhood: Dorothy, when she quits school, will miss her I'm sure. We have had a great deal of music this year. Mrs Peachy brought down with her those beautiful airs which I have had the pleasure of hearing Miss Crumpe sing; I mean Flow on thou shining river, The Evening bells, Oh come to me, &c. Miss Wilbraham sings Oh pescator del onda, & Love's young dream, very pleasingly. I hope Miss Mary is in her best way at present, pray give my love to her, & with kindest remembrances, in which

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mama begs leave to join, to Mrs: Crumpe, & all the rest of your family, believe me once more, my dear Miss Elizabeth, your very affectionate friend Sara Coleridge. P.S. I hope you'll write soon. Edith is enjoying herself very much at Rydal: at Miss Pritchard's she met Herbert White's reputed lover, Miss Carlton; "a very beautiful, & sweet young lady, who sings delightfully." Fanny White she doesn't much admire. She says that in the night of the illumination Mrs: Harden made Miss White & Miss Dixon fire pistols over the bon-fire Catherine Senhouse the young lady with us at present has just recovered from the small pox, which she took after vaccination, which seems to be no longer any security against infection; for similar cases are now become frightfully frequent even after inoculation for the small-pox

Once more allow me to subscribe myself your very affectionate Sara Coleridge. (writing at 90 degrees)

Miss E. Crumpe

J.G. Crumpe's Esqre

Solicitor

Liverpool

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Object summary: WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 3