“It is not often that I allow myself to wish the accidents of fortune had been more in my favour, and that I were in possession of that property which, in the just ordinary course of things, ought to have devolved upon me; but I cannot help feeling that wish now.
“By this post I write to Bedford, desiring that he will transfer to you 625l. in the three-per-cents. I wish it was more, and that
I had more at command in any way. I shall in the spring, if I am paid for the
first volume of my history as soon as it is finished. One hundred I should, at
all events,
| Ætat. 47. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 103 |
“One word more. I entreat you break away from business if it be possible, as early in the spring as you can, and put yourself in the mail for this place. Though you cannot leave your anxieties behind you, yet you may, by means of change of air and scene, be assisted in bearing them, and lay in here a store of pleasant recollections, which in all moods of mind are wholesome.
“I cannot write to you about indifferent things, troubled as you needs must be, and sympathising as I must do with you. Yet I trust that you now know the extent of the evil; and that when this storm is weathered, there may be prosperity and comfort in store for one who so eminently deserves them.
“God bless you, my dear friend!
