741. Robert Southey to William Taylor,
6 December 1802
*
My dear friend
I thank you for your offer [1] & the wish which occasioned it –
& if there were not some thousand & one objections I
should heartily like to be your neighbour. if I should not
settle at Maes Gwyn
as is my hope & design, Hereford would probably become
my home – because my Uncle has a house there which is likely to
become vacant, & he wishes to have me & all our
joint books housed there till he comes over to join us. At
any rate I would not remove to an unreachable distance from
Herefordshire, where my presence may very probably be
necessary sometimes to look into his affairs. this is a
sufficient reason. I might add that periodical employment
would fetter me to one place, & tho I respect the
enjoyments of a vegetable or a zoophyte – I think nothing so
wretched as a bird in a cage – the will & the limbs for
motion – & yet barrd in!
I do not imagine that my Uncle
will approve of Harrys
entering at Cambridge – because the expence is certain – the
benefit very doubtful – none at all unless he should fix in
London. The College [2] exact from those who have never
graduated at either University an annual fine of 100 £. this
Dr Aikin paid – & that old woman Sir
W. Farquhar [3] still pays. My Uncle
had lost his best income
when the troops left Lisbon, & could not conveniently
now enable him to enter keep
terms – even if it were desirable.
Longman has
applied to me about his Review [4]
– & I shall write for it. they have sent me nothing yet.
a little I still do for the Critical – a very little – &
am going to be very civil (God forgive me!) to Mrs Opie. [5] You
may remember I talked with you about German reviewing for the Critical. In consequence
I spoke to Hamilton [6]
immediately after, & mentioning no name referred him to
certain articles which I knew to be yours. last week only
comes a letter to request your name & address – you will
of course hear from him. he pays me three guineas a sheet –
this is full as much as I deserve – for I do it like job
work. you have a fair right to demand as much as the
Monthly [7] paid you.
I hear an Edinburgh Review well spoken of.
they have been at Thalaba therein. [8] pauper Thalaba is
in the condition of Baxter’s Xtian, & wants a shove to
make him sell. [9]
farewell. I send you half a letter
rather than delay an answer to an affair of
business.
yrs truly
RS.
December 6. 1802.
Notes* Address: To/
Mr Wm Taylor
Junr/ Surry Street/ Norwich./
Single
Stamped: [illegible]
Postmark: [partial]
1802
Endorsement: 17 Jan
MS: Huntington Library,
HM 4836
Previously published: J. W. Robberds (ed.),
A Memoir of the Life and Writings of the Late
William Taylor of Norwich, 2 vols (London,
1843), I, pp. 436-437 [in part]. BACK [1] Taylor had offered Southey
the editorship of the new Norwich newspaper the
Iris (Taylor to Southey, 3 December
1802, J.W. Robberds (ed.), A Memoir of the Life
and Writings of the Late William Taylor of
Norwich, 2 vols (London, 1843), I, pp.
435-436). BACK [2] The Royal College of Physicians controlled who could
use the title of ‘physician’ in London. Only graduates
of Oxford or Cambridge could be Fellows of the Society.
Anybody who was not a graduate of these universities and
who the College approved to practice in London was
termed a Licentiate and had to pay a fee to the
College. BACK [3] Sir
Walter Farquhar, 1st baronet (1738-1819;
DNB), physician to many leading
politicians. BACK [5] Amelia Opie (1769-1853;
DNB), novelist and poet. BACK [6] Samuel Hamilton (fl. 1790s-1810s) who owned the
Critical Review 1799-1804. BACK [7] Taylor
had been a regular, salaried reviewer for the
Monthly Review between 1793 and
1799. BACK [8]
Edinburgh Review, 1
(October 1802), 63-83, carried Francis
Jeffrey’s hostile review of Thalaba the
Destroyer (1801). BACK [9]
An Effectual Shove to the Heavy-Arse
Christian (1768), wrongly attributed to
Richard Baxter (1615-1691; DNB); the
pamphlet’s author was the Welsh minister William Bunyan
(fl. 1760s). BACK |
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