1196. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 27 June [1806]

1196. Robert Southey to John Rickman, 27 June [1806] ⁠* 

Dear Rickman

I heard that Mrs R. was ill [1]  – but not in a way to alarm me from Bedford – Since your note – indeed last evening came a letter from him in which he does not mention her. As ill news never fails to find it’s way, I conclude that this silence augurs well – but will pray you to tell me so yourself.

A certain Uncle of mine is just dead who if he had died intestate must have left large estates to me. Not dying intestate he has left every thing away. Good part goes to another Uncle, who is unmarried, & with whom I am on promising terms, – but his life is a better one than mine.

My seal is at Grasmere, but has not yet reached me. [2]  I wish I may like it as well as I do yours

God bless you –

RS.

Saturday 27 June.

Notes

* Endorsement: 1806
MS: Huntington Library, RS 91. ALS; 1p.
Unpublished.
Dating note: year from pencil endorsement possibly not by JR; RS gives ‘Saturday’ BACK

[1] Susannah Rickman had suffered a miscarriage shortly after Southey left London; see Southey to Mary Barker, 26 May 1806, Letter 1187. BACK

[2] Southey’s seal bore the motto ‘In Labour Rest’, borrowed from the sixteenth-century Spanish historian Esteban de Garibay (1533–1600), and engraved on his bookplate. BACK

Addressee

Rickman, John (1771–1840)

People mentioned

Southey, John Cannon (1743–1806) (mentioned 1 time)
Southey, Thomas [uncle] (1748–1811) (mentioned 1 time)
Rickman, Susannah (née Postlethwaite; d. 1836) (mentioned 1 time)
Bedford, Grosvenor Charles (1773–1839) (mentioned 1 time)

Places mentioned

Grasmere (Dove Cottage) (mentioned 1 time)
The Collected Letters of Robert Southey, Part Three
About this Page