His
family of four sons and two daughters were brought up on Republican
principles; independence of thought and action was encouraged; no "shams"
tolerated. They are scattered far and wide: Martha, the younger
daughter, sleeps in the Protestant cemetery at Brussels; Mary is in New
Zealand; Mr. T. is dead. And so life and death have dispersed the circle
of "violent Radicals and Dissenters" into which, twenty years ago, the
little, quiet, resolute clergyman's daughter was received, and by whom
she was truly loved and honoured.
January and February of 1837 had passed away, and still there was no
reply from Southey. Probably she had lost expectation and almost hope
when at length, in the beginning of March, she received the letter
inserted in Mr. C. C. Southey's life of his Father, vol. iv. p. 327.
After accounting for his delay in replying to hers by the fact of a long
absence from home, during which his letters had accumulated, whence "it
has lain unanswered till the last of a numerous file, not from disrespect
or indifference to its contents, but because in truth it is not an easy
task to answer it, nor a pleasant one to cast a damp over the high
spirits and the generous desires of youth," he goes on to say: "What you
are I can only infer from your letter, which appears to be written in
sincerity, though I may suspect that you have used a fictitious
signature.
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