“. . . . . Arthur
Aikin writes me, that 1200 of the Annual Review have sold of 2000 that were printed,
and that the demand continues unabated. He is in high spirits at its success,
and wishes me to come to London,—looking upon me, I suppose, as one of
his staff-officers—as, in fact, William
Taylor and I constitute his main strength. It is clear enough
that if I regarded pen-and-inkmanship solely as a trade, I might soon give in
an income of double the present amount; but I am looking forward to something
better, and will not be tempted from the pursuit in which I have so long and so
steadily persevered. . . . . This vile reviewing still birdlimes me; I do it
slower than any thing else—yawning over tiresome work; and parcel comes down
after parcel, so that I have
| Ætat. 29. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 251 |
“In the dark ages, medicine was in the hands of the Jews. Why was this? Am I right in supposing it was because they travelled, and brought with them the wisdom and experience, as well as folly, of the East? Christians could not travel safely; but Hebrew, like Arabic, was a passport, for synagogues and mosques were everywhere. A decree of the Lateran Council, that the sacrament should be first prescribed to the sick, seems levelled against Jew physicians.
“Have you read the Institutes of Menu, translated by Sir W. Jones? I should be very glad to see your corollaries from that book. Hindostan, indeed the whole of civilised Asia, puzzles me, and provokes me that we should have so few documents to reason from. As far as their history can be unravelled from fable, nothing is discoverable but the war of sects, not of religions; and how so ridiculous a religion should have been so blended with astronomy, how allegory should put on so ugly a mask, is a puzzle.
“. . . . . I am well, but have an ominous dimness of
sight at times, which makes me think of Tobin; that would
| 252 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 29. |
