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Southey: Two Unpublished Letters’, Notes and Queries, 14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Previously published: C. G. Martin, ‘Robert Southey: Two Unpublished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
