702. Robert Southey to Charles Biddlecombe, 3 August 1802*
My dear friend
Your letter inclosing the Bills1 has just arrived – & I write in haste to acknowledge & thank you & Mr Coleman2 – for this – & a thousand other acts of kindness
I do not know where the lines3 you enquire about are to be found. perhaps among Butlers Remains4 – that is likely enough – perhaps a scrap designed for some unwritten book of Hudibras.5 more likely still that they may be a proverb – a common sense truism in doggerel rhyme.
Sir Francis Burdetts6 is indeed an important success. it was the test of public opinion in the most important part of the kingdom.
My brother Tom is onshore. he is at Taunton at present – or he would join in remembrances with Edith & myself. we are both well – & what is better – in a few weeks I have the prospect of an increase in family.7
believe me yours thankfully & truly Robert Southey. Tuesday August 3. 1802.
Notes
Address: To/ Charles Biddlecombe Esqr/ Burton/ Ringwood/
Postmark: [partial] 122/ BRISTOL/ AUG
MS: Berg Collection, New York Public Library. ALS; 2p.
Unpublished. Back
1. Money raised by the sale of the goods the Southeys had left behind in Burton. Back
2. Unidentified; presumably an acquaintance of Southey from his residence at Burton. Back
3. Biddlecombe’s letter has not survived, so the lines cannot be identified. Back
4. Samuel Butler (c. 1613-1680; DNB). Two volumes of his Genuine Remains appeared in 1759. Back
5. Butler’s Hudibras (1663-1678). Back
6. Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (1770-1844; DNB), had been elected as an MP for Middlesex on 13 July 1802. He was the most outspoken radical in the House of Commons, and his election for a constituency with such a large electorate was taken as a sign of public discontent with the government. Back
7. Margaret Edith Southey was born on 31 August 1802. Back