My dear friend
Your letter inclosing the Bills [1] has
just arrived – & I write in haste to acknowledge &
thank you & Mr Coleman [2] –
for this – & a thousand other acts of kindness
I do not know where the lines [3] you
enquire about are to be found. perhaps among Butlers
Remains [4] – 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 Burdetts [6] 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
Unpublished.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
