2484. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 9 October 1814

2484. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 9 October 1814 ⁠* 

9. Oct. 1814

My dear R.

At length I have news from my buen Amigo [1]  D Manuel, who it seems is in high favour at court, much to his own satisfaction. He has sent me the statement of Escoiquiz (Ferdinands Tutor) concerning the business at Bayonne [2]  [MS torn] contains such some curious facts: & – a transcript of the Poema del Ferran G[MS torn] from a MSS in the Escurial, [3]  (– a metrical history of the 12 or 13 century): & he has also induced the Royal Academy [4]  to elect me an honorary Member, for which, under one of their covers, I have returned my due acknowledgements in form. Concerning present affairs he is altogether silent. But he invites me to Madrid, – & perhaps if I could find a fit companion I might be induced to spend three months next year in the peninsula, in acquiring topographical knowledge for my history, [5]  & seeing the actors chief actors in the war. Mina, [6]  Palafox [7]  &c &c –

I have <been> spending ten days from home, chiefly at Wordsworths, & am returned this afternoon to a world of occupations. Remember me to Mrs R., & plague on the public business for preventing your journey northward when the season has been so unusually fine.

God bless you

RS.

Notes

* Address: To/ John Rickman Esqre/ St Stephens Court/ New Palace Yard/ Westminster
Endorsement: RS./ 9 Octr. 1814
Stamped: KESWICK/ 298
Postmark: FREE/ 12 OC 12/ 1814
MS: Huntington Library, RS 233. ALS; 2p.
Unpublished. BACK

[1] ‘good friend’. BACK

[2] Juan Escoiquiz (1762–1820), whose Idea Sencilla de las Razones que Motivaron el Viage del Fernando VII a Bayona (1814) (‘Honest representation of the causes which inspired the journey of King Ferdinand VII to Bayonne’) had dealt with the meeting between his former pupil (Ferdinand VII (1784–1833; King of Spain 1808, 1813–1833) and Napoleon Bonaparte at Bayonne in April-May 1808. At the meeting, Ferdinand VII eventually abdicated, leaving the way open for French control of Spain. BACK

[3] The ‘Poem of Fernan Gonzalez’, a 13th-century account of the life of Fernando Gonzalez, Count of Castile 931–970. The poem survived in one 15th-century manuscript in the royal archive at the Escurial; see also Southey to John Hookham Frere, 16 January 1815, Letter 2545. BACK

[4] The Real Academia Espanola, founded 1713. It regulated the use of the Spanish language. BACK

[5] Southey’s three-volume History of the Peninsular War (1823–1832). BACK

[6] Francisco Espoz y Mina (1781–1836), general and commander of the guerrilleros of Navarre. BACK

[7] José Rebolledo de Palafox y Melzi (1780–1847), Spanish general, who in 1808 and 1809 commanded the defending forces at the first and second sieges of Zaragosa. BACK

Addressee

Rickman, John (1771–1840)

People mentioned

Wordsworth, William (1770–1850) (mentioned 1 time)
Rickman, Susannah (née Postlethwaite; d. 1836) (mentioned 1 time)
Abella, Manuel (1753–1817) (mentioned 1 time)
The Collected Letters of Robert Southey, Part Four
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