My dear Harry
After my last information you will not be
surprized at learning my Mothers
death. it was happily easy. Carlisle has
attended her ever since her arrival – but no skill could
avail.
You will be shocked at this event. to us who
have borne all the preparations & seen all – it was most
desirable. the funeral will be early on Friday. it hurts me
that I cannot send her to the grave of her family. [1]
God bless you Harry. I
am glad that you were not here. a death bed is bad enough
for a stranger to witness – you could only have given &
received pain.
I must not omit that in the whole illness
there has she displayed
a calmness – a suppression of complaint – a tenderness
towards all around her quite accordant with her whole life.
it is a heavy loss – I did not know how severe the blow was
– till it came –
God bless you
yrs very affectionately
Robert Southey.
Jan
y. 6 .
1802.
her release was yesterday afternoon.
Notes
* Address: Mr H. H.
Southey / with Mr P. Martineau /
Norwich
Postmark: CJA/ 1802/ 6
MS: Bodleian
Library, MS Don. d. 3
Unpublished. BACK
[1] Margaret Southey died
in London, far away from her family’s ancestral burial
place at Ashton, Somerset (now a suburb of Bristol).
Ashton was also where Southey’s father, two brothers and
three sisters (who had all died in childhood), and
cousin, Margaret Hill, were interred. BACK
