Henry Crabb Robinson,Bury St Edmunds, to Angelina Georgina Burdett-Cootts, Hesketh House, Torquay, Devon, 28 February 1860. 

Dear Miss Cootts

       I felt quite ashamed of myself when I read in the Times of the death of my brother You had recently said to me very kindly when about to set out for Torquay – [“]You will let us hear from you sometimes,” And as you had formerly expressed interest in the effect this long protracted life had on my movement, I ought not to have to let you learn its occurrence from a public journal – But when the news arrived with an intimation that my presence was not desired for the present I was in a state of mental weakness which I look back on, seeking a sort of explanation, for what I cannot account,– with a mortified spirit – I could resolve on nothing, do nothing, and recollect nothing – It would be affectation to ascribe this – malaise – to grief –

      For the departure of a man of advanced years (in his 91st) of blameless life – not of high intellectual vigour, but of sound practical sense – who never utterd a mot to be quoted and admired – nor gave the judgement of a fool to be ridiculed – And who enjoyed the respect of his fellow citizens – Those who [f. 34v] knew him most intimately, loved him best – Discharging the duties of his life among his fellow men – It is in this respect alone I presume to speak of him – The one we are authorised to judge of – A cloud had been cast over him for many years – And he was hardly known to the rising and just risen generation –

       Such a death, as a friend wrote to me, is “rather a solemn than a sorrowful event” And I do not say that to this event I ascribe even merely the encrease of those unpleasant incidents concerning which you recommended a medical professor who did not promise to effect a cure or do more than point out the most likely means of checking the irregularities of an ill-conditioned stomach – not justifying alarm or excusing indifference –

       I may remain a week longer, but I cannot say how long it is most likely for me to stay – My niece will be looking about for a suitable residence during the summer And I shall endeavour in like manner to find how I can best smooth the descent of life – Every Octogenarian can say that his days are fallen into the “sere and yellow leaf” tho’ the frightful accompaniments of these memorable words live only in his memory – among the precious stores of poetic diction

        [f. 35r] In the mean while I cannot but feel that this is an age awfully menacing – The dangers are manifold – And there is a complicity in their number and seeming opposition that seems to render them inextrible [sic] Wordsworth concludes one of his sonnets written during the menace of invasion under Nap: 1. assures us of victory provided our government consists of men

                        “Who do not judge of danger which they fear”

                         “And honour which they do not understand”

His series of political sonnets are one of the noblest collection of philosophico-heroic poems ever brought before the eye of a great nation – bent on noble & heroic actions – You may strip his Sonnets of their poetry – Even the caput mortuum in reference to poetic imagination, becomes a gem of wisdom    

       But I am taking great liberties with your precious time in writing so long a time – And ought not to indulge in this dreamy mood

       I hope Mrs Brown’s health is perfectly restored And that you are both in a condition to enjoy the singularly beautiful retreat for an ungenial Season – When I have the pleasure of meeting you both again, I hope to be better able than I was a few weeks since to enjoy the congenial hilarity of your society.

                                     &c &c &c                                            

                                                truly your’s

                                                             H. C. Robinson

Miss B: Cootts –

Postmark; Torquay FE 39 60. Letter and envelope framed in black. 

Text: Add. MS. 85291, fols. 34-35, British Library.