men as Rickman, William Taylor, Wordsworth and Coleridge, the Scotch did certainly appear to me very pigmies—literatuli." Friendship might have slightly swayed his judgment; but there is no doubt, the great influence these writers possessed at that time, was owing more to the skill with which they directed their talent, than the talent itself. With minds highly cultivated and well disciplined, they were deficient in originality; clever in mastering the details of a subject, but at fault if higher faculties were needed; able men, indeed, but not the master spirits that they told the world they were.
Southey, in forwarding his objections to any alliance of the kind proposed, thus strongly reprobated the violent personalities that disgraced the conduct of that journal. "On subjects of moral or political importance, no man is more apt to speak in the very gall of bitterness than I am, and this habit is likely to go with me to the grave; but that sort of bitterness, in which he (Jeffrey) indulges, which tends directly to wound a man in his feelings, and injure him in his fame and fortune, appears to me utterly inexcusable. Now, though there would be no necessity that I should follow this example, yet every separate article in the 'Review' derives authority from the merit of all the others; and in this way, whatever of any merit I might insert there, would aid and abet opinions hostile to my own, and thus identify me with a system which I thoroughly disapprove. This is not said hastily. The emolument to be derived from writing at 10 guineas a sheet, Scotch measure, instead of £7, would be considerable; the pecuniary advantage, resulting from the different manner in which my future works would be handled, probably still more so. But my moral feelings must not be compromised." And in the following year, he expressed great pleasure on hearing that Sir Walter Scott had withdrawn his assistance from the periodical.
