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A professional author such as Robert Southey, who made his living by his pen, was frequently tempted to write for the sole purpose of financial gain, and more than once he did a pamphlet or book with only the briefest mention in his correspondence. It is, therefore, likely that some of his works may have escaped notice when there has been no reference to the work in his published correspondence, and when, in addition, he did not put his name upon the title-page.

In preparing an edition of Southey's unpublished correspondence, I have found allusions to two works of his not mentioned elsewhere: an edition of Don J. Ignatius Molina's The Geographical, Natural, and Civil History of Chili, London, 1809; and An Exposure of the Misrepresentations and Calumnies in Mr Marsh's Review of Sir George Barlow, London, 1813. To neither work can any claim for literary greatness be made, but as each represents an addition to the corpus of Southey's works a brief description of them is in order.

The Molina was a sheer bit of editorial routine undertaken at the request of Longman. On 10 August 1809 Southey wrote his uncle, the Reverend Herbert Hill:

Molina is translated by an American and printed in America. Longman sent it to me to know if it should be reprinted here, and I added the two Appendices and a few notes.

Again on 31 August 1809 he wrote to his uncle:

What I have done to Molina has been very little. I have only the first volume in the original and have seen none of the translations, which however the American translator, whoever he be, seems diligently to have examined. It seemed a proper place for abstracts from Agueros and Falkner, and accordingly there I placed them, with a few stray notes thro the volumes.

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An investigation of the Molina volumes bears out the implication in Southey's remarks that his work was perfunctory, but as he was always conscientious in whatever he undertook, he drew upon his extensive knowledge of South American history and provided an annotation from those authorities likely to prove illuminating. The English edition is a reprint of the translation printed at Middletown, Connecticut, for I. Ripley, in 1808, and attributed to "An American Gentleman," who actually was Richard Alsop (1761-1815), a resident of Middletown and one of the Hartford Wits.[1] To the English edition Southey contributed the following note (p. viii):

In addition to what is said above, the English Editor has to state, that he has, from documents in his possession, added a few occasional Notes, which are distinguished by the letters E.E. He has also subjoined, from Falkner's Description of Patagonia, a further elucidation of the language of the Auracanos; and two Appendixes, the first containing an Account of the Archipelago of Chiloe, from the Descripcion Historial of that Province, by P. F. Pedro Gonzales de Agueros, printed at Madrid, in 1791; and the second, an Account of the Native Tribes who inhabit the Southern Extremity of South America, extracted chiefly from Falkner's Work.

Notes so signed will be found on the following pages: Volume I, 31, 34, 37, 38, 66, 69, 99, 103, 116, 150, 151, 156, 158, 160, 191, 201, 226, 268, 273, 311, 313; Volume II, 26, 84, 85, 177, 217, 260, 275. The two appendices will be found in Volume II, 367-374, 375-385.

The bibliographical description of these volumes is as follows (copies at Yale, the Library of Congress, the London Library, and the British Museum; the copy with the half-title is in my own possession):

Volume I: pp. xx + 324, [a]2 b8, B-U8 X8 Y2. The first four leaves of each gathering are signed. Half-title: THE | HISTORY OF CHILI. | VOL. I. A map of Chili is inserted opposite the title-page.

Volume II: pp. xii + 388, a6, B-U8 X-Z,8 Aa-Bb8 Cc.2 As a3 is signed and there is only one leaf preceding it, I have assumed the presence of a1 (a half-title to correspond with that of the first volume). Both volumes have advertisements at the end. Pages 322-324 of Volume I consist of advertisements, p. 323 continuing one from p. 322. In Volume II, pp. 386-388 are likewise advertisements.

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The Barlow pamphlet is a more important piece of work. Southey's uncle, the Reverend Herbert Hill, the rector of Streatham, was a neighbor of the Barlow family, whom Southey had met upon his visits to the Hills. Sir George Hilaro Barlow, Bart. (1762-1847), soon after his appointment as governor-general of India in 1807 had been forced to put down a mutiny. Many of the cashiered officers on their return to England wrote pamphlets against the Barlow administration; he was recalled in 1812, Lord Minto was sent in his place, and the peerage which the King had been willing to grant Barlow was withheld. Charles Marsh's pamphlet, Review of Some Important Passages in the late Administration of Sir G. H. Barlow, Bart. at Madras (London, 1813), had particularly disturbed the Barlows, and it was against what they felt were Marsh's calumnies that they wished to vindicate Sir George's name. Through the mediation of Southey's uncle, it may be understood, his aid was sought. A long letter of Southey's to Mr Hill (21 May 1813) discusses the whole matter.

You know what I have written upon the Madras disturbances. The Carnatic Debts are not touched upon in that chapter. I had however gone thro all the papers concerning them which were laid before Parliament. My opinion was as much in favour of Sir G[eorge]. B[arlow]. in them as to the beginning of the business, as it was in the rebellion at the end. But in the progress I thought he acted in more than one instance, oppressively. You will believe me when I say that I should have been heartily glad to have thought him right throughout.

If however Marsh's book applies chiefly to the Carnatic Debts, there is no reason why I should decline to answer him upon that point: and upon the general question the necessity of suppressing the rebellious spirit of the army, and the vigour with which it was done, too much cannot be said in praise of the Government of Madras. I have therefore no other feeling of repugnance at undertaking this task than that it makes me feel, for the first time in my life, like one whose talents are for sale, and who write not because he has information to communicate, amusement to offer or opinions to enforce, but wholly and solely because he is paid for writing. In this there is something humiliating. But a feeling of pride ought not to stand in the way, if there be no stronger reason.

I know Marsh, and if we were Bedouin Arabs he would have a right to expect my protection, for he once ate bread and cheese and drank porter at some lodgings which I was occupying for a week in London. He came uninvited and unwelcome as well, and Wm Taylor in whose company he introduced himself would fain have been excused from bringing him, for Marsh is a worthless fellow. He was then going to India, and was not without fear of being shipt in a different direction, for among many dishonesties he had committed one which brought him within reach of the law, and I believe he had recourse to some shifts and stratagems to get safely on board.

Let me see the plan which is sketched out, that I may chew the cud upon it. The business of course must be kept secret, and if it will not occupy much time, it had better be done at Streatham, where any alterations may be made as soon as they are suggested, and no time lost in a distant correspondence.

On July 18th Southey added a few details in writing to his uncle:

The nature of the reply seems to be clearly chalked out, and my thorough knowledge of the character of the man who is to be answered gives me no little advantage. If you think my personal appearance at Streatham is not necessary, send me Marsh's book and the other documents. . . . Believe me I should be heartily glad to find reason for believing that Sir G. B. was as right in every part of his conduct as he was in the great points of dispute. Be this as it may, I shall know how to take the strong ground and to read Marsh a lecture upon subordination.

A few notes on the foregoing passages are necessary. Southey's phrase "what I have written upon the Madras disturbances" refers to his discussion of the very

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problem in the Edinburgh Annual Register, III, part I, 260-281 (Chapter 8), and his treatment of the matter there was so much in accord with what he was to say in the pamphlet that he needed to feel no qualms of conscience concerning the partisan stand he must take. A full, modern account of the troubles at Madras—and a defence of Barlow's action—will be found in Sir Alexander Cardew's The White Mutiny (London, 1929).

Southey's pamphlet quotes at great length from Marsh's work and answers his charges one by one. The composition is plainly Southey's—written in the straightforward, unaffected prose of his biographies, letters, and Quarterly Review articles. Marsh's pamphlet had been published after the matter was thought to be concluded, and Southey accuses Marsh of trying to reopen an old issue. Marsh's career is cited to his disadvantage, and the testimony of Lord Minto (Barlow's successor) is quoted in Barlow's favor.

Very occasionally the reader will find an idea that is especially characteristic of Southey but that has no particular connection with the controversy. Southey's opinion of the price paid by the Anglo-Indian for his fortune may serve as an illustration:

The British adventurer in India pays a dear price for the fortune of which he goes in search; he leaves his parents and his friends, and the companions of his youth; time passes on; they for whose sake he has eagerly looked on to the hour of his return, drop off; and in that state of mind which arises from remembrance, and sorrow, and hope delayed, he repines at his lot, and perhaps silently acknowledges that no accumulation of wealth can be an adequate recompence for the sacrifice of the best years of his life, and the best affections of the heart. (p. 15)

The bibliographical description of the pamphlet is as follows:

Pages ii + 130. P. 129 contains a list of Errata, and 130 a page of advertisements. [A]1 B-I8 [K]1. The first two leaves of each gathering are signed.

Copies are in the John Crerar Library in Chicago, the London Library, and in the British Museum. The Museum copy is bound in a volume with the title, Miscellanea by Robert Southey, but there is no note in the volume to indicate why the attribution was made. The other works of Southey in the volume are the complete set of the Flagellant, an edition of Wat Tyler, and his Letter to William Smith. The British Museum and London Library copies contain the leaf of errata and advertisements missing from the John Crerar copy.

Notes

[1]

See the Dictionary of American Biography (Alsop) and the Library of Congress Catalogue (Molina).