embarrassment to his admirers.  Stuart Andrews, in Robert Southey, argues that the Poet Laureate’s denunciation of global Catholicism is essential to understanding his life, works, and times. On this issue Southey was absolutely consistent—from his first visit to Lisbon in 1795 to his Colloquies published in 1829. Echoes of the debate have faded, but Southey’s partisan rhetoric reflects its intensity and reveals much about the religious culture and concern for English identity in this stormy period

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