March 13. 99.
My dear Wynn
I was heartily rejoiced at your Uncles &
Brothers escape. [1] it never occurred to me till your
letter arrived that you might be mistaken for your brother.
− of Ediths
brother we have no account − & I have little
hope. − he was bound from Porto to Dublin & off both
coasts many vessels have been wrecked. What a life is a
Sailors!
I congratulate you on vacating Old Sarum [2] for a more respectable seat − &
the pauper [3] also is to be congratulated −
as I suppose he will cram another thirty pounds for your
successor.
As you are in Wales I have not sent my
Poems [4] to London for
you. would you have them sent by way of Shrewsbury with the
same directions as this Letter?
In the summer I must go [MS torn] to the sea
& should on all accounts prefer the coast of N[MS torn]
the distance, for which reason I think rather of [MS torn]
become a very weather-cock & feel these easte[MS torn]
sickly vegetable. I wish the coast of Arion [5] & [MS torn]
heights were nearer. mountain exercise & sea [MS torn]
brace me again − but at present I sadly want bracing.
The first act of Queen Mary [6] puzzles me.
I have the beginning − but the succeeding scenes do not
occur to please me.
Pray have you seen in the Courier a song for
the Prince of Wales Catch Club by Robert Southey Esq.! [7] there may be a maker of songs undoubtedly
by that name, but I wish he would contrive to distinguish
himself from me, who am not a maker of songs.
What think you of St
Januarias adopting the new principles. [8]
do you think the Archbishops
have not figured very respectably in this age of
revolution.
We are growling at the Income Bill. it is
better than the triple assessment − but framed with almost
inconceivable absurdity. [9] if you & I could but
change eyes how differently would the prospect [MS torn]
alike to both. the farmers like the bill for it does not
fall [MS torn]mmercial men growl the most, & those who
on [MS torn]ectably . it is particularly hard on those who
from [MS torn]y be saving something for a family. what will
be [MS torn]ures? there is need to fast & pray for a few
[MS torn] illumination to keep the people in good
humour.
God bless you −
yrs affectionately
R Southey
Notes
* MS: National Library of Wales, MS
4811D
Unpublished. BACK
[1] Wynn’s older brother, Sir Watkin Williams Wynn
(1772–1840; DNB), and uncle, Thomas
Grenville (1755–1846), had survived the shipwreck of the
Proserpine off Heligoland on 31
January 1799. BACK
[2] Wynn had been returned
unopposed as MP for Montgomeryshire on 14 March 1799. He
had previously represented the notorious rotten borough
of Old Sarum. BACK
[3] In his
‘Inscription. For a Monument at Old Sarum’,
Morning Post, 1 May 1799, Southey
claimed that the town only contained one old pauper, who
had the right to return two MPs. In fact, Old Sarum had
no inhabitants at all and the handful of electors were
all non-resident. BACK
[5] Arion was a legendary Greek
musician saved by dolphins when he jumped into the sea
to avoid being murdered by his ship’s crew. Southey
could, therefore, be referring to the coast of western
Greece, the site of the story. BACK
[6] Southey’s proposed tragedy,
set during the reign of Mary I (1516–1558; reigned
1553–1558; DNB). See Common-Place
Book, ed. John Wood Warter, 4 series
(London, 1849–1850), IV, pp. 190–192. BACK
[7] ‘On a Golden Cup, with
Embossed Figures, Dedicated to the God of Mirth by the
Harmonic Club’, Courier, 11 March
1799. BACK
[8] The reference is obscure. St
Januarius (d. c. 305?), Bishop of Benevento and martyr,
was the patron saint of Naples, which had become a
French client-republic in January 1799. A popular
conservative uprising followed, directed by Cardinal
Fabrizio Ruffo (1744–1827). Southey may be referring to
these events. BACK
[9] Income tax had been announced at the rate
of 10% for incomes over £200 pa in December 1798. This
replaced the ‘Triple Assessment’ of 1798, which had
increased existing taxes on houses, carriages etc. by
multiples of between two and five, depending on
taxpayers’ wealth. BACK
