Southey did not come to the Lakes till 1803, and the
records of his correspondence only begin therefore from that date. Mr.
Cottle's _Reminiscences_ are here a blank; Charles Lamb's
correspondence yields little; and though De Quincey has plenty to say
about this period in his characteristic fashion, it must have been
based upon pure gossip, as he cites no authorities, and did not himself
make Coleridge's acquaintance till six years afterwards. This, however,
is at least certain, that his gloomy accounts of his own health begin
from a period at which his satisfaction with his new abode was still as
fresh as ever. The house which he had taken, now historic as the
residence of two famous Englishmen, enjoyed a truly beautiful situation
and the command of a most noble view. It stood in the vale of
Derwentwater, on the bank of the river Greta, and about a mile from the
lake. When Coleridge first entered it, it was uncompleted, and an
arrangement was made by which, after completion, it was to be divided
between the tenant and the landlord, a Mr. Jackson. As it turned out,
however, the then completed portion was shared by them in common, the
other portion, and eventually the whole, being afterwards occupied by
Southey.
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