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
riddle [1] – the tutor was to
be called private secretary, & then the Treasury paid
him. I am dull at these solutions – George Dyers two
last poems [2]
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 breeches [3] – you know the song &
my nankin trousers [4] 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
Unpublished.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
