"Poole's, Feb. 17, 1803.
My dear Wedgewood,
I do not know that I have anything to say that justifies me in troubling
you with the postage and perusal of this scrawl. I received a short and
kind letter from Josiah last night. He is named the sheriff. Poole, who
has received a very kind invitation from your brother John, in a letter
of last Monday, and which was repeated in last night's letter, goes with
me, I hope in the full persuasion that you will be there (at Cote-House)
before he be under the necessity of returning home. Poole is a very, very
good man, I like even his incorrigibility in little faults and
deficiencies. It looks like a wise determination of nature to let well
alone.
Are you not laying out a scheme which will throw your travelling in
Italy, into an unpleasant and unwholesome part of the year? From all I
can gather, you ought to leave this country at the first of April at the
latest. But no doubt you know these things better than I. If I do not go
with you, it is very probable we shall meet somewhere or other. At all
events you will know where I am, and I can come to you if you wish it.
And if I go with you, there will be this advantage, that you may drop me
where you like, if you should meet any Frenchman, Italian, or Swiss, whom
you liked, and who would be pleasant and profitable to you. But this we
can discuss at Gunville.
As to ----, I never doubted that he means to fulfil his engagements with
you, but he is one of those weak moralled men, with whom the meaning to
do a thing means nothing. He promises with ninety parts out of a hundred
of his whole heart, but there is always a stock of cold at the core that
transubstantiates the whole resolve into a lie.
I remain in comfortable health,--warm rooms, an old friend, and
tranquillity, are specifics for my complaints. With all my ups and downs
I have a deal of joyous feeling, and I would with gladness give a good
part of it to you, my dear friend. God grant that spring may come to you
with healing on her wings.
God bless you, my dear Wedgewood. I remain with most affectionate esteem,
and regular attachment, and good wishes. Yours ever,
S. T. Coleridge.
Thomas Wedgewood, Esq.
P. S. If Southey should send a couple of bottles, one of the red
sulphate, and one of the compound acids for me, will you be so good as to
bring them with you?"
"Stowey, Feb. 17, 1803.
My dear Wedgewood,
Last night I received a four ounce parcel letter, by the post, which
Poole and I concluded was the mistake or carelessness of the servant, who
had put the letter into the post office, instead of the coach office. I
should have been indignant, if dear Poole had not set me laughing. On
opening it, it contained my letter from Gunville, and a small parcel of
'Bang,' from Purkis. I will transcribe the parts of his letter which
relate to it.
'Brentford, Feb. 7, 1803.
My dear Coleridge,
I thank you for your letter, and am happy to be the means of obliging
you. Immediately on the receipt of yours, I wrote to Sir Joseph Banks,
who I verily believe is one of the most excellent and useful men of this
country, requesting a small quantity of Bang, and saying it was for the
use of Mr. T. Wedgewood. I yesterday received the parcel which I now
send, accompanied with a very kind letter, and as part of it will be
interesting to you and your friend, I will transcribe it. 'The Bang you
ask for is the powder of the leaves of a kind of hemp that grows in the
hot climates. It is prepared, and I believe used, in all parts of the
east, from Morocco to China. In Europe it is found to act very
differently on different constitutions. Some it elevates in the extreme;
others it renders torpid, and scarcely observant of any evil that may
befall them. In Barbary it is always taken, if it can be procured, by
criminals condemned to suffer amputation, and it is said, to enable those
miserables to bear the rough operations of an unfeeling executioner, more
than we Europeans can the keen knife of our most skilful chirurgeons.
This it may be necessary to have said to my friend Mr. T. Wedgewood, whom
I respect much, as his virtues deserve, and I know them well. I send a
small quantity only as I possess but little. If however, it is found to
agree, I will instantly forward the whole of my stock, and write without
delay to Barbary, from whence it came, for more.
Sir Joseph adds, in a postscript: 'It seems almost beyond a doubt, that
the Nepenthe was a preparation of the Bang, known to the Ancients'
* * * * *
Now I had better take the small parcel with me to Gunville; if I send it
by the post, besides the heavy expense, I cannot rely on the Stowey
carriers, who are a brace of as careless and dishonest rogues as ever had
claims on that article of the hemp and timber trade, called the gallows.
Indeed I verily believe that if all Stowey, Ward excepted, does not go to
hell, it will be by the supererogation of Poole's sense of
honesty.--Charitable!
We will have a fair trial of Bang. Do bring down some of the Hyoscyamine
pills, and I will give a fair trial of Opium, Henbane, and Nepenthe.
By-the-by I always considered Homer's account of the Nepenthe as a
_Banging_ lie.