1825. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 10 November 1810

1825. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 10 November 1810 ⁠* 

Thank you for your letter, & thank you for a bundle of Parl. Proc. I shall be very much the better for your comments on passing events, – & you will see by the 1809 volume [1]  that many things which I learnt from you have not been forgotten. About the Poor Laws I wish most earnestly you could find time to draw up an a paper yourself, [2]  – a text may easily be found for it. If this is impossible, give me your syllabus & I will do my best to fill it up.

It is an ill wind that blows nobody good. By virtue of this sudden meeting of Parliament, Robert Lovell, will get some money a fortnight sooner than xx he could have had for favour of G C Bedford. [3] 

RS.

Nov. 10. 1810


Notes

* Address: To/ John Rickman Esqr
Endorsement: From/ RS – / 10 Novr. 1810
MS: Huntington Library, RS 155. ALS; 2p.
Unpublished. BACK

[1] Edinburgh Annual Register, for 1809 (1811). BACK

[2] Rickman had a long-standing interest in this subject and in 1803 had supervised the Abstract of the Poor, a survey of the incidence of poverty and expenditure under the poor laws. He later co-authored an article with Southey on the poor law, Quarterly Review, 19 (April 1818), 79–118. BACK

[3] Possibly the earlier meeting of Parliament allowed Southey’s government pension to be paid sooner than usual. BACK

People mentioned