690. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 4 July [1802]*
Dear Rickman
I received yours & its contents duly, & consider myself paid off. at last I have found out the riddle1 – the tutor was to be called private secretary, & then the Treasury paid him. I am dull at these solutions – George Dyers two last poems2 passed me for pure nonsense. twas all dark to my owl eyes till blind Tobin saw the meaning.
So now if I can get an appointment abroad I shall be thankful – if not – I shall be contented. a light heart & a thin pair of breeches3 – you know the song & my nankin trousers4 may be included under the generic name. I have invested John May with full powers to procure me a house about Richmond – not without certain fears that xx what I require will not easily be found. rent & taxes not to exceed £40. a small garden. near a market but not in a town – & not so close to a turnpike as to annoy either me or my cabbages.
My brother Tom is in England – he was to be paid off yesterday – & I expect him here as soon as the coach can bring him. poor fellow the first news he received was his mothers death.
God bless you – yrs – R Southey.
Sunday July 4. Kingsdown.
Notes
MS: Huntington Library, RS 23. ALS; 1p.
Unpublished. Back
1. The answer to the ‘riddle’ of why Isaac Corry had employed Southey as his secretary. Corry had wanted Southey to act as a tutor to his sons, and for the bill to be picked up by the state. Back
2. George Dyer’s ‘Funeral Procession of Polly Whitehead’ and ‘A Monody on the Death of Penelope Trotter’, in his Poems and Critical Essays, 2 vols (London, 1802), II, pp. 216-228 and 229-235. Back
3. Southey is quoting the popular song ‘How pleasant a Sailor’s life passes’, much reprinted in publications such as The Myrtle and Vine; Or, Complete Vocal Library, 4 vols (London, 1800), IV, pp. 53-54. Back
4. Trousers made from nankeen, a durable buff or yellow-coloured cloth. Back