Letter from Dorothy Wordsworth, England, to Lady Beaumont, 1806 September: fragment of an autograph manuscript.

Relating news of Coleridge despite the fact that they have had no letter from him but have heard from his wife that Coleridge intends to return home on the 29th and plans to lecture in London in the winter; expressing her concerns for Coleridge's health and her wish that she "...would fain see him address the whole powers of his soul to some great work in prose or verse, of which the effect would be permanent, and not personal and transitory. I do not mean to say that much permanent good may not be produced by communicating knowledge by means of lectures, but a man is perpetually tempted to lower himself to his hearers to bring them into sympathy with him, and no one would be more likely to yield to such temptation than Coleridge; therefore at every period of his life the objection would have applied to his devoting himself to his employment; but at this present time it seems almost necessary that he should have one grand object before him which would turn his thoughts away in a steady course from his own unhappy lot, and so prevent petty irritations and distresses, and in the end produce a habit of reconcilement and submission;" discussing, at length, how ill-suited Coleridge and his wife are to one another but expressing her hope that Coleridge might return home and find some enjoyment with his wife and children; expressing her delight at the prospect of seeing her; saying "We think nothing will prevent our accepting your kind offer; for it is plain that Coleridge does not wish us to go to Keswick as he has not replied to that part of William's letter in which he spoke of our plans for the winter. We shall therefore prepare ourselves to be ready to set off at any time that you shall appoint, so as to be with you a few days before your departure from Coleorton; and happy indeed shall we be to turn our faces..." The final portion of the letter is missing.