810. Robert Southey to John Rickman,
20 July [1803]
*
July, 20.
Thank you for what you say about my scape-grace
brother. Tom could get him into his own ship, but that
would be a very bad thing for both. by a very circuitous
route I could perhaps get at Captain Markham, [1] but I already
have made use of that interest to appoint Tom, & to ask
a second favour thro persons with whom I have no intimacy
from a man whom I know not would be neither right nor
agreable. the upshot of all this is that if you can get him
rated I shall be very glad & feel myself debtor for one
service more. moreover there is a great fitness in sending a
lad to sea who is good for nothing ashore.
You will have seen by my letter which crossed
yours how puzzled I am about George the
Second, & what I think of the possibility of
making him understrap – by the by a most excellent verb of
yours. [2] it is a hopeless case. the
three Georges [3] make a grand triad of the
three unbelievable men – in spite of vexation I cannot help
laughing at his freaks & resolution to attempt some
literary work which shall neither require trouble or
exertion. [4] as
if he could go on as doubtless he begun by eating
gingerbread alphabets. [5]
RS.
Notes* Endorsement:
1803
MS: Huntington Library, RS
37
Unpublished. BACK [1] John Markham (1761-1827;
DNB), naval officer. Member of the
Board of Admiralty 1801-1804, 1806-1807, MP for
Portsmouth 1801-1818, 1820-1826. BACK [2] Rickman
had asked if Burnett might serve as an ‘understrap’ to
Southey in the ‘Bibliotheca Britannica’;
John Rickman to Southey, 18 July 1803, Huntington
Library, Rickman MSS. BACK [3] In the
Southey-Rickman correspondence, the first two George’s
were Dyer and Burnett. The identity of the third George
is unclear. One possibility is Southey’s brother-in-law
George
Fricker. BACK [4] Rickman
had reported Burnett’s wish to undertake ‘writing
literary things; such as may take no
trouble or attention’; John Rickman to Southey,
18 July 1803, Huntington Library, Rickman MSS. BACK [5]
The Renowned History of Giles
Gingerbread (1764), a chapbook that taught
children how to read through the story of a boy who was
fed letters made of gingerbread. BACK |
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