SOUTHEY'S LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE. * THE third volume of Southey's memoirs

begins with the year 1806, when the poet had reached his thirty-second year, and ends with 1812. The period of life is one in which there are perhaps fewer changes save accidental or external changes than in any of the other decades that make up the threescore years and ten. Ily thirty, a man's mode of life is usually settled, his career opened, his opinions fixed, and his prosperity to win on a course already chalked out. At forty, he may have advanced, but it will mostly, we opine, have been a progressive advance : if he is to jump at once to distinction, the leap will have been made before he has arrived at thirty; if he is to rise by degrees, forty will not wit- ness his maturity. The volume before us illustrates this notion. Southey was steadily advancing as a littkrateur ; his services were in full de- mand by booksellers and editors ; but little addition was made to his fame, and nothing of very great consequence to his works. Fox, after professing a wish to serve him, considered the only two things Southey wished for as " too good for him." From " All the Talents " he got nothing till they were on the eve of departing ; when Grenville, on the urgency of Wynn, got him the pension of 2001. which was for a long time so fruitful a subject of reproach. By this, however, Southey gained nothing. Fees and income-tax reduced the 2001. to 1601. • which sum his friend and schoolfellow Mr. Wynn had allowed him as a basis for his literary pursuits, but which allowance Southey then resigned. The chief literary events of a new class were his edition of Kirke White, the publication of the Cid, and part of the History of Brazil ; his connexion as historio- grapher with Ballantyne's Annual Register, at the handsome salary of 4001. a year; and the commencement of the Quarterly Review. Not much light is thrown upon Southey's c.onaoxion with that work,—the most questionable transaction perhaps of his life, con- sidering how Gifford and Conning had " maufd " him in the Anti-.Taeobin. His friend Bedford of the Exchequer (who was also a friend of Gifford) applied to him to write for the new pe- riodical ; Southey, undertook the job, besides furnishing some hints for the conduct of the review. He also made a sort of oonfession of faith as to his principles. " You [Bedford] know my way of thinking upon most subjects. I despise all parties too much to be attached to any. I believe that this country must continue the war while Bonaparte is at the head of France, and while the system which he has perfected remains in force : I therefore, from my heart and soul, execrate and abominate the peacemongers. I am an enemy to any further concessions to the Catholics ; I am a friend to the Church Establish- ment. I wish for reform, because I cannot but see that all things are tend.- ing towards revolution, and nothing but reform can by any possibility pre- vent it The truth seems to be, that Southey looked upon public at- -backs as a lawyer or a politician looks at similar things—" no

personal." Habit and an excellent .opinion of himself dead

their effect (his self-laudation, and a disposition, like Mr. Bayes, to make "my play my touchstone" are more visible in,the present volume than before); nor does he seem to have had a very high standard of literary morals. Truth in his critical opinions appears. to have been sometimes postponed to other circumstances. Making- a business of literature, he carried it on in a very businesslike spirit, when the sale of his compositions was in question. As re- gards the composition itself he was conscientious. Besides his connexion with the Quarterly Review, other cir- cumstances brought him more towards the Tories. The criticisms of the Edinburgh did not particularly incline him towards that section of Whigs. The unpatriotic admiration of Bonaparte by the party—their opposition to the war—their depreciation of their countrymen—their exaggeration of the French power, and their cowardly advice to submit to it—still further alienated Southey from the side he had formerly taken; as in all these points he was. fanatically opposed to Whiggery. Their public estimate of the Spaniards was another ground of difference ; for Southey's literary studies, and, he says, his own observation, had imbued him with a most exalted idea of thepatriotism and chivalrous virtues of the Spaniards ; as he certainly declared from the outset that the Spanish war would work Napoleon's downfall. The riotous spirit of 1811-12, and the popular reception of Percival's assassination, with which event the volume closes, also rendered him yet more conser- vative after his own fashion. Much, too, may have been ascribed to him in the Quarterly Review which he did not write ; much that he wrote was altered by Gifford—" emasculated," Southey sometimes terms it; and his son says that he never altogether agreed with the opinions of the Review. At no period could the Quarterly Review be said fairly to represent my father's opinions, political or otherwise ; and great'iniustice was often done him both by imputing articles to him which he never wrote, and also by supposing that, in those known to be his, all his mind had appeared. The truth was, as his letters will show, that his views on most subjects, while from this time they gradually drew nearer to those of the Tory party, yet occasionally differed widely from them, and most certainly were never those of a blind, time-serving, and indiscriminating allegiance. In his contributions to the Quarterly Review these differences of opinion were broadly stated, and measures often recommended of a very different character to those which that party adopted. This might be, and probably was, sometimes done in a manner which admitted and perhaps required the editor's correction ; but it would seem that Gifford had a heavy and• hand in these matters ; and my father frequently and bitterly comp ' of the mutilation of his papers, and of their being tamed down to the measure of the politics the Review was intended to represent, and gauged often by Ministerial timidity." All which may be : but still we do not see the justification for Southey's joining a high Tory organ, conducted by the men " by

• The Life and Correspondence of the late Robert Southey. In six volumes. Edited by his Son, the Reverend Charles Cuthbert Southey. Volume III. Published by Longman and Co.

whom his.muse and morals-had-hem Maurd,!-onfor oontinning the roonnexion when it .exhibited a total: opposition ta..his views on all ;.points-amoral, political; literm.yi.tuid Waal. _Those Who remember 'm insolence of that ,publicataon..daring the, palmy days of ao- --ryism,- cannot be surprised:at. the odium this ,connexion

brought lami Southey,—edinmewhich in these niilk-an&water days of politics it is difficult tameasure.

From the absence:Of . striking events or _marked biographical -circumstances, this volume has not so much variety or.inte.rest. as '• its predecessors ;.but it.is very readable. .Southey's letters (of -which, the volume :chiefly _consists) paint his.; daily life . and ' labeturs,,tonch upon many subjects _in. literature. and politics that have for some the interest Of tradition, for others the stall greater attraction.of the days of :their youth ; while even. if the matter were less carious:than itis, -the reader would be_earried on byHouthey's unrivalled -style, and .by that perfect frankness of mind Which enables the reader to see every thought and emotion of "the writer. Bulky as the work will be we doubt whether it will `be found' too .long ; though' it Will not, .from. 'the. relation of _the editor to his subject, form a complete. narrative- of Southey's life, or a very unbiassed estimataof ins character.

Although:this volume is not so striking as its two predecessors,

' it abounds•with 'biographical indications. following is one- Southey's habits at,thhoty-two. ",&more thoroughly domestic man, or one more simple in his mode -of ;living,. it would be -Moult to picture ; and the habits into which -he settled vlaimeelf about'this time continued through life,. unbroken repilaritrand un- • -weeried industry being their -chief characteristics. Habitually an early . „riser he. never. ene-roaohed upon. the: hours-:of the night; and finding his highest pl easureand his recreation in.the very pursuits necessary for.earn- mmgg his daily bread, he was probably more continually employed than any ether writer of his generation. 'My actions,' he writes about this time to a friend, 'are as regular as those of -St. Dunstan's quoter-boys. Three pages . rof history after .breakfast (equivalent to five in small quarto printing) ; then to transcribe and copy- for the press, or to make my selections. and biogra- , phies, or what else:suits my humour till dinner-time; from dinner till tea I read, write letters, see the newspaper, and very often indulge in a siesta, 'for sleep-agrees with-me,-and I have a good substantial theory to prove that i.it must ; for as a man who -walks much-requires to 'sit down and rest him- siself,:so does the -brain if -it be the part most worked require its repose. Well, after tea, I go to poetry, and correct and rewrite and copy till I am .fired, and then turn to-anythmg else till supper. And this isany life;- which 'Pit be not a very merry one, as yet as happy as heart could wish. .At least I should think so if I had not.once been. happier ' • and I do. think so, except when .that recollection cornea upon-me. And then, when I cease-to be.cheer- ! ful, it is only to become contemplative, to feel at times a wish that I was in that state of existence which passes notaway ; and this:always ends in a new Impulse to proceed, that I may leave. some -durable monument and. some effi- . Ment good.u.d me.' " -Another account of his change of feeling and opinion in the same , Tear; 18Q6. "1 passed through Oxford two years ago, -and walked through. the town .ot four o'clock in the morning ; the place never before appeared to me half -”ab beautiful. Ilookad up at. my own windows, and, as you may well sup- ,',pose,: felt as-most people do when they think.of what changes time brings 3 about.

• 't If you have seen..or should see the Annual Review,- you- -may like to imowthat I have borne a great part in it thus far and I may refer you ' the: state of my opinions to the reviewals.Of the periodical accounts of the liBaptist Mission; vol. i,. of Malthils'a Essay cal Population; Miles's History-of ▪ the Methodists, and-the 'Transactions of the Missionary.-Soeiety, vol. it: and iii and of the Report of. the Society for-the' Suppression Of 'Vice, vol. iii. In 'other articles you may trace me from by family

recollections of-your -

likeness, by a knowledge-of Spanish literature, and by a love of liberty and • literature freely and warmly expressed. I was Ministerial under.Addington, rded his successor with the utmost indignation, . and. am .exceedingly Cavell pleased -at the ppresent changes. Time, you-say, moderates opinions as 1-.it- mellows wine. 'My views and hopes are certainly. 'altered, though•the heart and soul of my wishes continues the same. It as -the -world that has _changed, not I. I took the same- way in the afternoon that I did in the morning, but sunset and sunrise make a different scene. -If- I regret any- ithing-in my-own life-it is that I could not_take orders, for of all ways of life `,that would-have beet accorded with icy nature :- but I could not -get-in at .the door.

"In- other respects.time hairnet muchaltered me. Ism as thin-as ever, land to the. full us noisy : making a noise, in any way whatever an. animal pleasure with me, and the louder it is the better."

The following letter, in his private capacity, onthe Convention

of 'Cintra, is an example- of Southey's impulsive violence when " fairlyronsed; and it goes to .show.thatmueb of his-political fanati- -dam, when he had turnedTory, was temperament. :It should- be remarked however, that he takes a different view from-the politi- '_oian or mili—taryman,—a non-prudential.nd. non-associating view, :obviously impossible to men of affairsovho mean to "do business."

...Keswick, Oct. 15. 1808. "I have had a visit this morning from S— and C— upon the sub-

ject of this convention in Portugal. They, -and some of their friends, are - very desirous 'of twinging .before the country, in- some regular form, the

228111 iniquity of the business,—which has been lost sight of in-all the ad- vdresses,,-and of -rectifying public-opinion by showing it in its true light. s-L military inquiry may. or may not. convict Sir Hugh Dalrymple of military

unicanduct. This is the least. part-of his offence, and no legal proceedings

can attach to the heinous crime he has committed : the high-treason against s.ali moral feeling, in- recognizing 3unot by -his usurped title, :and deadening

that noble spirit from which and which only the redemption of Europe can ;possibly -premed; by :presuming to grant 'stipulations for the Portuguese which no Government ever pretended to have power to make for an nide- ; pendent ally,--covenanting for the impunity of the. traitors, and guarantee- :ang the safety of an army of ruffians, all of whom, without his intervention, :must soon have received . their righteous-reward from the hands of those

whom they had oppressed. Ile has steprd- in to save these wretches from -.the vengeance ofan injured people ; he has been dealing with them -as. fair and honourable- enemies, exchanging-compliments and visits, dining-with ..them in the palaces from which they had-driven the rightful lords, .and upon the plate which they had stolen. He, therefore, has abandoned-our -tvantage-groundi betrayed the cause of Spain and Portugal, and disclaimed AU far- as his authority extends the feelings which-the Spaniards are ineul- toiting,' and in which lie their strength 'and their salvation, by degrading into a common and petty war between soldier and soldier, that which is the e of a nation.agamst a :foreign usurper, a business of natural life and dent a =sof .virtue against-vice, light against.darkness, the good principle against the evil one."