Coleridge, Sara (1802-1852). - Letter, from Rydal Mount, to Elizabeth Crumpe, at J.G. Crumpe's Esqre, Queen Anne Street, Liverpool, dated 15 and 19 April 1825. WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 9.

Rydal Mount

April 15 1825.

My dearest Elizabeth,

You must take my silence & the brevity of this letter as [[-?-]] proofs of the weak state of my poor eyes, & not accuse me in your own mind of want of friendship, which would be one of the most painful consequences to me of this miserable complaint, You will see by the date that I am now enjoying the society of our good friends the Wordsworths, - this is the first time I have been out of sight of Skiddaw since the few days I spent with you at this place on my return from the South; mama is with me and desires to be kindly remembered to you. Hartley would send some kind message I am sure if he knew of my writing:- on the strength of the friendly interest you have ever taken in his welfare I send you one of the papers containing the terms of the school he is to be engaged in: - you must understand, ma chere, that he will have nothing to do with the boarding part of the concern:- that would not be advisable for him for reasons that you will readily perceive from your knowledge of my dear brother's character, but which I cannot enter into a detail of here: he will retain his own classical pupils, and if he & his colleague will but go on steadily Mr: Wordsworth says they are fully competent to perform all they engage for. Hartley looks well, though he complains of being much fagged by the business of the school, not so much the teaching part as the keeping the boys in order, which he has not the art of doing, poor fellow! His cousin, John Coleridge, has now the Editorship of the Quarterly Review, and would be very glad to employ him in writing for it, but I fear he will not be able to avail

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himself of the privilege as much as could be wished; with spirits exhausted by the irksome employment of the day he is little disposed I dare say to sit down & write for a Review. Poor Derwent has been very unwell all this winter with a succession of colds, which of course have weakened him sadly; however he is now convalescent, & expects to be completely restored by genial summer weather: he has given up evening parties, but has a summer of kind & interesting friends at Plymouth: he has delivered a lecture at the Atheneum on the subject of Mr: Wordsworth's poetry, which has been highly applauded. Dear Edith is still in Town the last time she wrote she was paying a visit to her old friend Mrs: J. Stanger, (cidevant Calvert,) with whom she [and] Bertha return to Keswick in the middle of May: I am sorry to say that she begins to complain of uncomfortable health, & I fear her gaieties, late hours, & hot rooms begin to tell upon her at last, though she bore the first season in Town uncommonly well. Bertha is grown taller than her sister; I believe she is not far off your height my dear lofty friend. My Uncle Southey intends travelling in Holland with two of his friends the beginning of the summer, & most unluckily he will set out on his tour just about the time of his daughters' return. My cousin William Coleridge, now Bishop of Barbadoes, has met with a rapturous reception in that Island: H. Coleridge, who accompanied him as secretary, in his accounts to his family declares that it was the most overpowering scene possible thousands & ten thousands hailed them, some rolling, some screaming, some dancing; at length a band of fair blacks begun to sing "God bless the feet of our Bishop the good, he is come to marry us all, to marry us all, oh! happy Day! he is come to marry us all." Some other particulars are mentioned which you may have read in the journals of the day.

You will be sorry to hear that dear Dora is sadly plagued with tooth ache at this time, which deprives her of rest at night, and

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makes her look pale & languid: her appetite too is wretchedly bad, and in short she is by no means in good plight at this present time, though, to hear her talk, you would fancy there was little or nothing the matter with her. She looked the picture of health when she visited Keswick in the winter, and now though, not materially thinner, she has not the appearance of one in strong health. I hope my next accounts of her may be better. What a fine young woman Miss Harden is grown! She might be taken for Hygeia herself - I think - Her figure is fine, yet I think she was more elegant & interesting in appearance when she was less florid & full of flesh in person. Miss White is rather disimproved I think in person:- she is good natured, but that un-meaning simper would spoil the face of Venus herself. Miss E. Dowling spent the day here lately:- I am sorry to see that her health and spirits seem sadly wasted by the wear & tear of her wearisome avocations: the death of her father however contributes to put her out of sorts at present. She has learnt to sing lately, & gave us a number of Bishops' songs the other evening with much taste: - her voice is weak but very sweet & pleasing. Mr & Mrs Carr called here one day last week:- they are both estimable persons, when viewed separately, but seen as man & wife they are absurd enough. Mr: C. is a treasure, I am sure, to this place As a medical man his manner is against him, but the Wordsworths & other persons who have had experience of his good sense, & skill in his profession, have the highest opinion of both.

It is now high time to thank you for your long & interesting letter my dear friend; - would I could answer it as it deserves, but my poor unhappy eyes render me a most unsatisfactory correspondent. They are now so bad that I dare not look over your letter to see if there be any questions in it which require an answer, but one I recollect:- it related to Mr: May, & I must assure you that the vexations I alluded to in my last have nothing

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whatever to do with him - much disquietude & regret I have experienced on his account, & now, when ever the subject is recalled to my mind it gives me much pain - but all serious & permanent habitual sorrow on that score is over long since. My other griefs & anxieties I cannot enter upon now, indeed I think it would be good for neither of us to continue on such harassing themes: you, I sincerely hope, my dear friend, continue in as good spirits as you appeared to be when you last wrote to me:- I hope the worst is past with both of us. I heard with much regret that poor Sophia Lloyd has lately been much afflicted with dejection & lowness of spirits, such as her father has been a martyr to:- he, it is thought, will never become sane again. You must excuse this wretched scrawl, as eyes & pens are such as will not admit of good writing, & when those are so provokingly bad one's very intellects seem to become confused and dizzy from a sort of sympathy. The Chevalier Bayard is at last printed, after being a most tedious time in the press. Whether I shall spend the summer at Keswick at Highgate or Keswick depends upon the precarious state of poor Mrs: Gillman's health, but the winter I hope I shall pass in the society of my dear cousin Fanny Patteson, who, if she lives & does well, will be a mama by that time. If Edith's health and spirits are not improved by that time I shall be not a little uncomfortable at the idea of deserting her at that dull season for when the Calverts remove to town, which they will do in Autumn, we shall literally have no neighbours left. Mama is come to scold me for writing so long with my poor swelled eyes, and to bid me get ready to accompany her to Ambleside; - so I must bid you adieu, with many thanks for your last kind letter and remembrances to Mr & Mrs Crumpe & your dear sisters,

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entreating you to believe me your sincerest affectionate friend Sara Coleridge.

P.S. I am quite ashamed to send this detestable scrawl, but write it over again I cannot with my eyes in this state, & the opportunity of private conveyance tempted me to write when my eyes were in no state for the undertaking. Once more farewell.

April 19. I hear you purpose paying a visit to Scotland this summer and I hope either in going or returning you will spend some little time at Keswick. Does Julia Austey correspond with you or any of your family? She has been to Paris lately, & has written an amusing account of her travels [ ] dear Dora. Mrs Luff will make a pretty place of Fox Ghyll though it is to be apprehended she will spend more money than she at first calculated upon. John Wordsworth arrived to day from Whitehaven, where he has bathed all the flesh off his bones He is in the unenviable state, preparing for his examinations:- however he is I believe a stoic by nature & constitution, & takes that & all other things quietly: - happy temperament! Irritability is certainly often the concomitant of genius, though the bards of the present day are unwilling to allow this less honest than the Roman Poet who first made the remarks The Chapel bell is ring-

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ing for afternoon church, & I must lay down my pen. What a comfort it is to have so delightful a place of worship so near never to be kept from divine service by bad weather or inability to walk far. Good bye again my dear friend.

Monday Night. Mr & Mrs Carr have spent the evening here, & Mr: Wm. Jackson arrived to dinner: - he is looking very well: his brother has been severely indisposed but it is better now. John's examination does not take place for a year or more. I was in a mistake about it. A letter from my friend Mrs Stanger confirms the news of their visit to the North, but I am sorry to find that my cousins cannot return with them as old Mr: S. accompanies them. Edith complains of being unwell, & says that the least thing flurries her, as is always the case with persons in delicate health:- I hope Miss Louisa continues as strong as when she was with Mrs Leather in town. Poor Miss Crompton! She was an amiable & religious character: I ought to write to her sister but cannot summon resolution to do it at this time. I am doing what is very naughty writing by

candle light. Only think of Mrs: Robinsons having had three children since we saw each other here. Good night. (writing at 90 degrees)

Miss E. Crumpe

J.G. Crumpe's Esqre

Queen Anne Street

Liverpool.

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Object summary: WLMS A / Coleridge, Sara / 9