Ixxxviii RICHARD CLEASBY. 1841,42.

the coffin of my lamented brother, who was so cruelly snatched away from us in the very prime
of life.'

All this time Copeland was treating him, and at last, seeing his prescriptions did
little good, advised him to consult a physician. This he accordingly did, and called in
Dr. Seymour, who agreed with Copeland that ' a singing in his head and a numbness in
his left leg would end in paralysis/ but completely differed with him as to the means to
be taken to arrest the evil.

' He said immediate bleeding was necessary, and ordered me to lose 12 or 14 oz. of blood from
the arm; placed in prospect my losing some more by cupping next week, and gave hopes of a final
complete recovery. I was bled, and lost about 19 oz. from the right arm.'

After such drastic treatment it is not surprising that Cleasby's entries in his
Diaries for the rest of December, 1841, and the first ten days of January, 1842, are
limited to notices of the weather and the frost, which was very hard for England. On
the loth of that month he wrote to Pjeturson, announcing his mother's death and the
probability of his longer stay in England. As to Icelandic, he writes :

' Hvad De sige med Hensyn til Sivertsens Reise til Sverge er meget tilfredsstillende, thi hvis
Byttet er ikke saa stort dog er clet af megen Vigtighed at vide at man har, hvad der kan haves; om
de to fortrinligc Codices of Riddersagaerne i Stockholm viste Jeg alrede, thi da jcg ophold mig i
denne By i 1839, l^Qd J^eS gj^ore nogle Fac-similes derfra for en Dame i Wallis cler udgiver visse
Keltiske Sagaer som behandle de samme gjenstände; fra den vigtigc Pergament Codex imperial
Octav angaaende gudelige Ting og deslige haaber jeg i det mindste nogen Berigelse for Sprogct, og
vist ikke liden Fornöielse vil det skaffe mig at nærmcre omtale og undersöge disse Ting mcd vor
Ven Gislason og Dem. Det glædede mig meget at höre so gode Efterretninger om Gislasons
Helbred og saa at han var beskæftigt ved at conferere Haandskrifterne af Snorro ; denne Anmodning
paa Selskabets Side viser dets Önske at den nye Udgave skal node en udvalgt Text; der er blott
tilbage at önske at det vilde höre paa ham ved Hensyn til Orthographien ; naar han er færdig
dcrmed, i Fald der ikke proponeres ham nogct andet umittelbart Arbeidc, (sic) vil det være mig kjært
at han igjen tager fat paa Læsning of nogle utrykkcde Haandskrifter som Gretli, visse Máldagar etc.
hvilke vi omtalte förend jeg forlod Kjöbenhavn, og jegbede Dem at berette mig om naar han tænker
omtrent at vaere i Stand til at begynde, og jeg vil arrangere Penge-remiser igjennem Brandt ellcr
noget andet Hus indtil jcg selv viser mig igjen i Kjöbenhavn i Foraaret.'

After this letter, shewing the liveliest interest in Icelandic study, it is sad to read
that on the 24th of January Dr. Seymour ordered him to be cupped. ' Mr. Watkins,
of Saville Row, took 15 oz. of blood from the back of my neck, at half-past 9 o'clock
P.M.' A little later Copeland calls and orders his left leg to be bandaged with ' eight
vards of middle-breadth stocking-roller.'

On the loth of February it is a relief to find Cleasby leaving London to visit his
friend Robertson, Rector of Shorwell in the Isle of Wight. On the 28th he returns
to town, delighted with his excursion, and writes as follows to Pjeturson :

' Det glsedede mig at here at vor Ven Gislason for færdig med Snorro, og som jeg anseer
det for hans Fordeel at han beskæftiges paa Regjerings vei, finder jeg mig gjaerne i det Tab
af en Deel af hans Tienster, og dess lettere som De tilbyder Deres, og siger at De vil gaae ham
til Haandc og anvende nogle Timer dagligcn ; og jeg svarer ikke andet end at jcg önsker at
De ville begge begynde saa umittelbart som det cr Dem behageligt, va^lgende af de Haandskrifter som
jeg nævnde i mit sidste (brev) i saadan Orden son det kan synes Dem raadligst; paa Excerptcn-maade