2937. Robert Southey to Thomas Southey, 11 March 1817

2937. Robert Southey to Thomas Southey, 11 March 1817⁠* 

11 March 1817

My dear Tom

In my last letter from Gifford he spoke of the good will of the Government towards me, & his belief that if there were any thing which I desired, they will gladly testify their sense of my deserts. I replied that I shall very gladly see it testified by including you in the next promotion. [1] 

If upon farther consideration you think one of these appointments is worth applying for, tell me so & I will write to Gifford & ask for it. [2]  My own opinion is that in no very long term they will find it cheaper to lower the duties on imported goods, than keep up an extensive establishment against the smugglers.

Tell G Taylor that Wm Taylor of Norwich has written a book upon synonims & complains to me in a letter this day received that Crabb has reprinted two thirds of it in his work – “almost without acknowledgement.” [3]  Intreat him to include Wm Taylor’s book in the same article, [4]  – it is published by Pople.

God bless you

RS.


Notes

* Address: Capt. Southey/ Warcop Hall/ near Brough
MS: MS untraced; text is taken from C. G. Martin, ‘Robert Southey: Two Unpublished Letters’, Notes and Queries, 14 (1967)
Previously published: C. G. Martin, ‘Robert Southey: Two Unpublished Letters’, Notes and Queries, 14 (1967), 295. BACK

[1] Tom Southey was a Captain in the Royal Navy, but he was on half-pay and had never commanded a ship. BACK

[2] Southey had probably offered to try and obtain an appointment for Tom Southey with the Board of Customs and Excise. BACK

[3] William Taylor’s English Synonimes Discriminated (1813) and George Crabb (1778–1851; DNB), Dictionary of English Synonymes (1816). Taylor’s letter to Southey appears not to have survived; Southey replied to it on 12 March 1817, Letter 2938. BACK

[4] George Taylor was possibly writing an article on Crabb’s book for the Quarterly Review, for which he was an occasional reviewer, and Southey was suggesting that this introduce a comparison with William Taylor’s earlier work. No such article appeared in the Quarterly. BACK

People mentioned

Gifford, William (1756–1826) (mentioned 2 times)
Taylor, William (1765–1836) (mentioned 2 times)
Taylor, George (1772–1851) (mentioned 1 time)

Places mentioned

Norwich (mentioned 1 time)