767. Robert Southey to [John May], 27 March 1803*
My dear friend
This is the twelfth day since the date of your last letter, & I have day by day been expecting tidings from you, each day with more uneasiness than the last.1
We have had sickness at home meantime. this contagion2 has reached us – I was somewhat severely attacked – our servant3 – Tom – Edith & the child have all had their share – & we are all recovered or on the recovery. but it has seized an old Lady here whom for years I have loved as tho she had been of my own family – the mother of my friend Danvers – & she is hopelessly ill – there is no possibility of her recovery.
I shall fear to receive a letter from you – but do give me a line.
God bless you – & yours – R Southey.
March 27. Sunday. 1803.
Notes
Watermark: VG /1794
MS: Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and
Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester, Robert Southey Papers
A.S727. ALS; 1p.
Unpublished. Back
1. John May’s son, Richard May, had died on 21 February 1803, aged 10 days, and his wife, Susanna Frances Livius (1767-1830) was seriously ill. Back
2. The influenza epidemic of 1803 claimed many lives, particularly in England and France, and was the subject of a satirical print by Temple West (fl. 1803), An Address of Thanks from the Faculty to the Right Hon.ble Mr. Influenzy for His Kind Visit to this Country (1803). Back
3. Unidentified. Back