3993. Robert Southey to Grosvenor Charles Bedford, 31 March 1823

 

Address: To/ G.C. Bedford Esqre/ Exchequer/ Westminster
Stamped: KESWICK/ 298
Postmarks: E/ 3 AP 3/ 1823
Endorsement: 31 March 1823
MS: Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Eng. lett. c. 26. ALS; 4p.
Unpublished.

Keswick. 31 March 1823.
My dear G.

I have had in the course of my life three such twinges in the toe-major as you describe, – but which I have rather likened to having it injected with scalding water. This I have supposed to be a gouty affection, tho in my case there is no hereditary right to it, & as little personal pretension as in yours. Ask Osiris about it when he rises above your horizon next.

Your mem. concerning the clean sheets is accurate as far as it goes.

(1)

Proofs of the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).

You sent me afterwards as far as p.744. & it is the remaining sheets, together with the title page &c which I want, to make the set compleat, – otherwise all this is but waste paper.

The operation of nerving the horse

(2)

A neurectomy that was carried out as a last resort on horses with chronic foot pain.

is very curious. The analogous experiment of dividing a nerve to cure the tic doloreux

(3)

Tic douloureaux, or trigeminal neuralgia, is a disorder of the fifth cranial nerve and causes intense facial pain. Attempts to use surgery to relieve the condition had been made as early as 1748 but were unsuccessful.

– I believe has generally failed. We should know more about the nerves if some young Carlisle would make a voyage in a Whaler he would then find them upon a scale – which would enable him not only to ascertain their structure, but possibly to analyse their contents. – This reminds me of a friend

(4)

Unidentified.

of my brother Tom’s, who when he was upon such a voyage, made some whale-cheese. How his Right Honour would have delighted in toasting it!

You seem not to understand that the lithographic prints are Westalls.

(5)

A Series of Views of Spain and Portugal, to Illustrate Mr. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War; Drawn on Stone by W. Westall, A.R.A., from Sketches by General Hawker, Mr. Locker, Mr. Heaphy, &c. Part I, containing Eight Views, illustrating Vol. I (1823). These could be inserted into the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).

They have not been sent me, probably because Westall expects me in London. There however I can not possibly be before the month of May, – tho I am working now as hard as any government clerk who is making up accounts upon the motion of some such pest xx public-pest as Mr Hume.

(6)

Joseph Hume (1777–1855; DNB), a Scottish radical MP who was greatly disliked by Southey for his campaigns against government expenditure.

I am however now in the full current of composition,

(7)

Southey was writing The Book of the Church (1824).

making great way with the stream. This evening, as soon as this scrawl is dispatched I shall conclude all matters antecedent to Henry 8th,

(8)

Henry VIII (1491–1547; King of England 1509–1547; DNB). Southey had completed the first volume of The Book of the Church, 2 vols (London, 1824).

& it will be a pleasure to write the chapters which ensue.

If Gifford thinks proper I shall set about a paper upon Spanish & Portugueze affairs,

(9)

Southey did not write on this subject for the Quarterly Review at this time.

a subject upon which there can be no difference of opinion among persons who are really acquainted with the situation & character of the two nations, & capable of forming a just judgement upon a plain case. A letter which I received lately from Blanco White

(10)

Blanco White to Southey, 16 March 1823; see G. Martin Murphy and André Pons, ‘Further Letters of Blanco White to Robert Southey’, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 62 (1985), 357–372.

would have convinced me of this, had I been doubtful of it before. What you tell me of Gifford is all that I have heard of him. – We look now for the French blue

(11)

Bleu de France, a blue pigment used in painting. Bedford was supplying this for Edith May Southey’s use.

by every post, & thank you for it by anticipation. Remember me to Miss Page, & the Consumer of Snuff. We have had a week of delicious weather here which has just ended in gentle rain.

God bless you
RS.

Notes

1. Proofs of the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).[back]
2. A neurectomy that was carried out as a last resort on horses with chronic foot pain.[back]
3. Tic douloureaux, or trigeminal neuralgia, is a disorder of the fifth cranial nerve and causes intense facial pain. Attempts to use surgery to relieve the condition had been made as early as 1748 but were unsuccessful.[back]
4. Unidentified.[back]
5. A Series of Views of Spain and Portugal, to Illustrate Mr. Southey’s History of the Peninsular War; Drawn on Stone by W. Westall, A.R.A., from Sketches by General Hawker, Mr. Locker, Mr. Heaphy, &c. Part I, containing Eight Views, illustrating Vol. I (1823). These could be inserted into the first volume of Southey’s History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832).[back]
6. Joseph Hume (1777–1855; DNB), a Scottish radical MP who was greatly disliked by Southey for his campaigns against government expenditure.[back]
7. Southey was writing The Book of the Church (1824).[back]
8. Henry VIII (1491–1547; King of England 1509–1547; DNB). Southey had completed the first volume of The Book of the Church, 2 vols (London, 1824).[back]
9. Southey did not write on this subject for the Quarterly Review at this time.[back]
10. Blanco White to Southey, 16 March 1823; see G. Martin Murphy and André Pons, ‘Further Letters of Blanco White to Robert Southey’, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 62 (1985), 357–372.[back]
11. Bleu de France, a blue pigment used in painting. Bedford was supplying this for Edith May Southey’s use.[back]
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