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diff --git a/10421.txt b/10421.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..14e0980 --- /dev/null +++ b/10421.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10936 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Life of Lord Byron, by John Galt + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: The Life of Lord Byron + +Author: John Galt + +Release Date: December 9, 2003 [eBook #10421] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF LORD BYRON*** + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +THE LIFE OF LORD BYRON + + + + +AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION + + + +My present task is one of considerable difficulty; but I have long +had a notion that some time or another it would fall to my lot to +perform it. I approach it, therefore, without apprehension, entirely +in consequence of having determined, to my own satisfaction, the +manner in which the biography of so singular and so richly endowed a +character as that of the late Lord Byron should be treated, but still +with no small degree of diffidence; for there is a wide difference +between determining a rule for one's self, and producing, according +to that rule, a work which shall please the public. + +It has happened, both with regard to the man and the poet, that from +the first time his name came before the public, there has been a +vehement and continual controversy concerning him; and the chief +difficulties of the task arise out of the heat with which the adverse +parties have maintained their respective opinions. The circumstances +in which he was placed, until his accession to the title and estates +of his ancestors, were not such as to prepare a boy that would be +father to a prudent or judicious man. Nor, according to the history +of his family, was his blood without a taint of sullenness, which +disqualified him from conciliating the good opinion of those whom his +innate superiority must have often prompted him to desire for +friends. He was branded, moreover, with a personal deformity; and +the grudge against Nature for inflicting this defect not only deeply +disturbed his happiness, but so generally affected his feelings as to +embitter them with a vindictive sentiment, so strong as, at times, to +exhibit the disagreeable energy of misanthropy. This was not all. +He enjoyed high rank, and was conscious of possessing great talents; +but his fortune was inadequate to his desires, and his talents were +not of an order to redeem the deficiencies of fortune. It likewise +so happened that while indulged by his only friend, his mother, to an +excess that impaired the manliness of his character, her conduct was +such as in no degree to merit the affection which her wayward +fondness inspired. + +It is impossible to reflect on the boyhood of Byron without regret. +There is not one point in it all which could, otherwise than with +pain, have affected a young mind of sensibility. His works bear +testimony, that, while his memory retained the impressions of early +youth, fresh and unfaded, there was a gloom and shadow upon them, +which proved how little they had been really joyous. + +The riper years of one so truly the nursling of pride, poverty, and +pain, could only be inconsistent, wild, and impassioned, even had his +temperament been moderate and well disciplined. But when it is +considered that in addition to all the awful influences of these +fatalities, for they can receive no lighter name, he possessed an +imagination of unbounded capacity--was inflamed with those +indescribable feelings which constitute, in the opinion of many, the +very elements of genius--fearfully quick in the discernment of the +darker qualities of character--and surrounded by temptation--his +career ceases to surprise. It would have been more wonderful had he +proved an amiable and well-conducted man, than the questionable and +extraordinary being who has alike provoked the malice and interested +the admiration of the world. + +Posterity, while acknowledging the eminence of his endowments, and +lamenting the habits which his unhappy circumstances induced, will +regard it as a curious phenomenon in the fortunes of the individual, +that the progress of his fame as a poet should have been so similar +to his history as a man. + +His first attempts, though displaying both originality and power, +were received with a contemptuous disdain, as cold and repulsive as +the penury and neglect which blighted the budding of his youth. The +unjust ridicule in the review of his first poems, excited in his +spirit a discontent as inveterate as the feeling which sprung from +his deformity: it affected, more or less, all his conceptions to +such a degree that he may be said to have hated the age which had +joined in the derision, as he cherished an antipathy against those +persons who looked curiously at his foot. Childe Harold, the most +triumphant of his works, was produced when the world was kindliest +disposed to set a just value on his talents; and his latter +productions, in which the faults of his taste appear the broadest, +were written when his errors as a man were harshest in the public +voice. + +These allusions to the incidents of a life full of contrarieties, and +a character so strange as to be almost mysterious, sufficiently show +the difficulties of the task I have undertaken. But the course I +intend to pursue will relieve me from the necessity of entering, in +any particular manner, upon those debatable points of his personal +conduct which have been so much discussed. I shall consider him, if +I can, as his character will be estimated when contemporary surmises +are forgotten, and when the monument he has raised to himself is +contemplated for its beauty and magnificence, without suggesting +recollections of the eccentricities of the builder. + +JOHN GALT. + + + +CHAPTER I + + + +Ancient Descent--Pedigree--Birth--Troubles of his Mother--Early +Education--Accession to the Title + +The English branch of the family of Byron came in with William the +Conqueror; and from that era they have continued to be reckoned among +the eminent families of the kingdom, under the names of Buron and +Biron. It was not until the reign of Henry II. that they began to +call themselves Byron, or de Byron. + +Although for upwards of seven hundred years distinguished for the +extent of their possessions, it does not appear, that, before the +time of Charles I., they ranked very highly among the heroic families +of the kingdom. + +Erneis and Ralph were the companions of the Conqueror; but +antiquaries and genealogists have not determined in what relation +they stood to each other. Erneis, who appears to have been the more +considerable personage of the two, held numerous manors in the +counties of York and Lincoln. In the Domesday Book, Ralph, the +direct ancestor of the poet, ranks high among the tenants of the +Crown, in Notts and Derbyshire; in the latter county he resided at +Horestan Castle, from which he took his title. One of the lords of +Horestan was a hostage for the payment of the ransom of Richard Coeur +de Lion; and in the time of Edward I., the possessions of his +descendants were augmented by the addition of the Manor of Rochdale, +in Lancashire. On what account this new grant was given has not been +ascertained; nor is it of importance that it should be. + +In the wars of the three Edwards, the de Byrons appeared with some +distinction; and they were also of note in the time of Henry V. Sir +John Byron joined Henry VII. on his landing at Milford, and fought +gallantly at the battle of Bosworth, against Richard III., for which +he was afterwards appointed Constable of Nottingham Castle and Warden +of Sherwood Forest. At his death, in 1488, he was succeeded by Sir +Nicholas, his brother, who, at the marriage of Arthur, Prince of +Wales, in 1501, was made one of the Knights of the Bath. + +Sir Nicholas died in 1540, leaving an only son, Sir John Byron, whom +Henry VIII. made Steward of Manchester and Rochdale, and Lieutenant +of the Forest of Sherwood. It was to him that, on the dissolution of +the monasteries, the church and priory of Newstead, in the county of +Nottingham, together with the manor and rectory of Papelwick, were +granted. The abbey from that period became the family seat, and +continued so until it was sold by the poet. + +Sir John Byron left Newstead and his other possessions to John Byron, +whom Collins and other writers have called his fourth, but who was in +fact his illegitimate son. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in +1579, and his eldest son, Sir Nicholas, served with distinction in +the wars of the Netherlands. When the great rebellion broke out +against Charles I., he was one of the earliest who armed in his +defence. After the battle of Edgehill, where he courageously +distinguished himself, he was made Governor of Chester, and gallantly +defended that city against the Parliamentary army. Sir John Byron, +the brother and heir of Sir Nicholas, was, at the coronation of James +I., made a Knight of the Bath. By his marriage with Anne, the eldest +daughter of Sir Richard Molyneux, he had eleven sons and a daughter. +The eldest served under his uncle in the Netherlands; and in the year +1641 was appointed by King Charles I., Governor of the Tower of +London. In this situation he became obnoxious to the refractory +spirits in the Parliament, and was in consequence ordered by the +Commons to answer at the bar of their House certain charges which the +sectaries alleged against him. But he refused to leave his post +without the king's command; and upon' this the Commons applied to the +Lords to join them in a petition to the king to remove him. The +Peers rejected the proposition. + +On the 24th October, 1643, Sir John Byron was created Lord Byron of +Rochdale, in the county of Lancaster, with remainder of the title to +his brothers, and their male issue, respectively. He was also made +Field-Marshal-General of all his Majesty's forces in Worcestershire, +Cheshire, Shropshire and North Wales: nor were these trusts and +honours unwon, for the Byrons, during the Civil War, were eminently +distinguished. At the battle of Newbury, seven of the brothers were +in the field, and all actively engaged. + +Sir Richard, the second brother of the first lord, was knighted by +Charles I. for his conduct at the battle of Edgehill, and appointed +Governor of Appleby Castle, in Westmorland, and afterwards of Newark, +which he defended with great honour. Sir Richard, on the death of +his brother, in 1652, succeeded to the peerage, and died in 1679. + +His eldest son, William, the third lord, married Elizabeth, the +daughter of Viscount Chaworth, of Ireland, by whom he had five sons, +four of whom died young. William, the fourth lord, his son, was +Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Prince George of Denmark, and married, +for his first wife, a daughter of the Earl of Bridgewater, who died +eleven weeks after their nuptials. His second wife was the daughter +of the Earl of Portland, by whom he had three sons, who all died +before their father. His third wife was Frances, daughter of Lord +Berkley, of Stratton, from whom the poet was descended. Her eldest +son, William, born in 1722, succeeded to the family honours on the +death of his father in 1736. He entered the naval service, and +became a lieutenant under Admiral Balchen. In the year 1763 he was +made Master of the Staghounds; and in 1765, he was sent to the Tower, +and tried before the House of Peers, for killing his relation and +neighbour, Mr Chaworth, in a duel fought at the Star and Garter +Tavern, in Pall-mall. + +This Lord William was naturally boisterous and vindictive. It +appeared in evidence that he insisted on fighting with Mr Chaworth in +the room where the quarrel commenced. They accordingly fought +without seconds by the dim light of a single candle; and, although Mr +Chaworth was the more skilful swordsman of the two, he received a +mortal wound; but he lived long enough to disclose some particulars +of the rencounter, which induced the coroner's jury to return a +verdict of wilful murder, and Lord Byron was tried for the crime. + +The trial took place in Westminster Hall, and the public curiosity +was so great that the Peers' tickets of admission were publicly sold +for six guineas each. It lasted two days, and at the conclusion he +was unanimously pronounced guilty of manslaughter. On being brought +up for judgment he pleaded his privilege and was discharged. It was +to this lord that the poet succeeded, for he died without leaving +issue. + +His brother, the grandfather of the poet, was the celebrated "Hardy +Byron"; or, as the sailors called him, "Foulweather Jack," whose +adventures and services are too well known to require any notice +here. He married the daughter of John Trevannion, Esq., of Carhais, +in the county of Cornwall, by whom he had two sons and three +daughters. John, the eldest, and the father of the poet, was born in +1751, educated at Westminster School, and afterwards placed in the +Guards, where his conduct became so irregular and profligate that his +father, the admiral, though a good-natured man, discarded him long +before his death. In 1778 he acquired extraordinary eclat by the +seduction of the Marchioness of Caermarthen, under circumstances +which have few parallels in the licentiousness of fashionable life. +The meanness with which he obliged his wretched victim to supply him +with money would have been disgraceful to the basest adulteries of +the cellar or garret. A divorce ensued, the guilty parties married; +but, within two years after, such was the brutal and vicious conduct +of Captain Byron, that the ill-fated lady died literally of a broken +heart, after having given birth to two daughters, one of whom still +survives. + +Captain Byron then married Miss Catharine Gordon, of Gight, a lady of +honourable descent, and of a respectable fortune for a Scottish +heiress, the only motive which this Don Juan had for forming the +connection. She was the mother of the poet. + +Although the Byrons have for so many ages been among the eminent +families of the realm, they have no claim to the distinction which +the poet has set up for them as warriors in Palestine, even though he +says-- + + +Near Ascalon's tow'rs John of Horestan slumbers; + + +for unless this refers to the Lord of Horestan, who was one of the +hostages for the ransom of Richard I., it will not be easy to +determine to whom he alludes; and it is possible that the poet has no +other authority for this legend than the tradition which he found +connected with two groups of heads on the old panels of Newstead. +Yet the account of them is vague and conjectural, for it was not +until ages after the Crusades that the abbey came into the possession +of the family; and it is not probable that the figures referred to +any transactions in Palestine, in which the Byrons were engaged, if +they were put up by the Byrons at all. They were probably placed in +their present situation while the building was in possession of the +Churchmen. + +One of the groups, consisting of a female and two Saracens, with eyes +earnestly fixed upon her, may have been the old favourite +ecclesiastical story of Susannah and the elders; the other, which +represents a Saracen with a European female between him and a +Christian soldier, is, perhaps, an ecclesiastical allegory, +descriptive of the Saracen and the Christian warrior contending for +the liberation of the Church. These sort of allegorical stories were +common among monastic ornaments, and the famous legend of St George +and the Dragon is one of them. + +Into the domestic circumstances of Captain and Mrs Byron it would be +impertinent to institute any particular investigation. They were +exactly such as might be expected from the sins and follies of the +most profligate libertine of the age. + +The fortune of Mrs Byron, consisting of various property, and +amounting to about 23,500 pounds, was all wasted in the space of two +years; at the end of which the unfortunate lady found herself in +possession of only 150 pounds per annum. + +Their means being thus exhausted she accompanied her husband in the +summer of 1786 to France, whence she returned to England at the close +of the year 1787, and on the 22nd of January, 1788, gave birth, in +Holles Street, London, to her first and only child, the poet. The +name of Gordon was added to that of his family in compliance with a +condition imposed by will on whomever should become the husband of +the heiress of Gight. The late Duke of Gordon and Colonel Duff, of +Fetteresso, were godfathers to the child. + +In the year 1790 Mrs Byron took up her residence in Aberdeen, where +she was soon after joined by Captain Byron, with whom she lived in +lodgings in Queen Street; but their reunion was comfortless, and a +separation soon took place. Still their rupture was not final, for +they occasionally visited and drank tea with each other. The Captain +also paid some attention to the boy, and had him, on one occasion, to +stay with him for a night, when he proved so troublesome that he was +sent home next day. + +Byron himself has said that he passed his boyhood at Marlodge, near +Aberdeen; but the statement is not correct; he visited, with his +mother, occasionally among their friends, and among other places +passed some time at Fetteresso, the seat of his godfather, Colonel +Duff. In 1796, after an attack of the scarlet fever, he passed some +time at Ballater, a summer resort for health and gaiety, about forty +miles up the Dee from Aberdeen. Although the circumstances of Mrs +Byron were at this period exceedingly straitened, she received a +visit from her husband, the object of which was to extort more money; +and he was so far successful, that she contrived to borrow a sum, +which enabled him to proceed to Valenciennes, where in the following +year he died, greatly to her relief and the gratification of all who +were connected with him. + +By her advances to Captain Byron, and the expenses she incurred in +furnishing the flat of the house she occupied after his death, Mrs +Byron fell into debt to the amount of 300 pounds, the interest on +which reduced her income to 135 pounds; but, much to her credit, she +contrived to live without increasing her embarrassments until the +death of her grandmother, when she received 1122 pounds, a sum which +had been set apart for the old gentlewoman's jointure, and which +enabled her to discharge her pecuniary obligations. + +Notwithstanding the manner in which this unfortunate lady was treated +by her husband, she always entertained for him a strong affection +insomuch that, when the intelligence of his death arrived, her grief +was loud and vehement. She was indeed a woman of quick feelings and +strong passions; and probably it was by the strength and sincerity of +her sensibility that she retained so long the affection of her son, +towards whom it cannot be doubted that her love was unaffected. In +the midst of the neglect and penury to which she was herself +subjected, she bestowed upon him all the care, the love and +watchfulness of the tenderest mother. + +In his fifth year, on the 19th of November, 1792, she sent him to a +day-school, where she paid about five shillings a quarter, the common +rate of the respectable day-schools at that time in Scotland. It was +kept by a Mr Bowers, whom Byron has described as a dapper, spruce +person, with whom he made no progress. How long he remained with Mr +Bowers is not mentioned, but by the day-book of the school it was at +least twelve months; for on the 19th of November of the following +year there is an entry of a guinea having been paid for him. + +From this school he was removed and placed with a Mr Ross, one of the +ministers of the city churches, and to whom he formed some +attachment, as he speaks of him with kindness, and describes him as a +devout, clever little man of mild manners, good-natured, and +painstaking. His third instructor was a serious, saturnine, kind +young man, named Paterson, the son of a shoemaker, but a good scholar +and a rigid Presbyterian. It is somewhat curious in the record which +Byron has made of his early years to observe the constant endeavour +with which he, the descendant of such a limitless pedigree and great +ancestors, attempts to magnify the condition of his mother's +circumstances. + +Paterson attended him until he went to the grammar-school, where his +character first began to be developed; and his schoolfellows, many of +whom are alive, still recollect him as a lively, warm-hearted, and +high-spirited boy, passionate and resentful, but withal affectionate +and companionable; this, however, is an opinion given of him after he +had become celebrated; for a very different impression has +unquestionably remained among some who carry their recollections back +to his childhood. By them he has been described as a malignant imp: +was often spoken of for his pranks by the worthy housewives of the +neighbourhood, as "Mrs Byron's crockit deevil," and generally +disliked for the deep vindictive anger he retained against those with +whom he happened to quarrel. + +By the death of William, the fifth lord, he succeeded to the estates +and titles in the year 1798; and in the autumn of that year, Mrs +Byron, with her son and a faithful servant of the name of Mary Gray, +left Aberdeen for Newstead. Previously to their departure, Mrs Byron +sold the furniture of her humble lodging, with the exception of her +little plate and scanty linen, which she took with her, and the whole +amount of the sale did not yield SEVENTY-FIVE POUNDS. + + + +CHAPTER II + + + +Moral Effects of local Scenery; a Peculiarity in Taste--Early Love-- +Impressions and Traditions + +Before I proceed to the regular narrative of the character and +adventures of Lord Byron, it seems necessary to consider the probable +effects of his residence, during his boyhood, in Scotland. It is +generally agreed, that while a schoolboy in Aberdeen, he evinced a +lively spirit, and sharpness enough to have equalled any of his +schoolfellows, had he given sufficient application. In the few +reminiscences preserved of his childhood, it is remarkable that he +appears in this period, commonly of innocence and playfulness, rarely +to have evinced any symptom of generous feeling. Silent rages, moody +sullenness, and revenge are the general characteristics of his +conduct as a boy. + +He was, undoubtedly, delicately susceptible of impressions from the +beauties of nature, for he retained recollections of the scenes which +interested his childish wonder, fresh and glowing, to his latest +days; nor have there been wanting plausible theories to ascribe the +formation of his poetical character to the contemplation of those +romantic scenes. But, whoever has attended to the influential causes +of character will reject such theories as shallow, and betraying +great ignorance of human nature. Genius of every kind belongs to +some innate temperament; it does not necessarily imply a particular +bent, because that may possibly be the effect of circumstances: but, +without question, the peculiar quality is inborn, and particular to +the individual. All hear and see much alike; but there is an +undefinable though wide difference between the ear of the musician, +or the eye of the painter, compared with the hearing and seeing +organs of ordinary men; and it is in something like that difference +in which genius consists. Genius is, however, an ingredient of mind +more easily described by its effects than by its qualities. It is as +the fragrance, independent of the freshness and complexion of the +rose; as the light on the cloud; as the bloom on the cheek of beauty, +of which the possessor is unconscious until the charm has been seen +by its influence on others; it is the internal golden flame of the +opal; a something which may be abstracted from the thing in which it +appears, without changing the quality of its substance, its form, or +its affinities. I am not, therefore, disposed to consider the idle +and reckless childhood of Byron as unfavourable to the development of +his genius; but, on the contrary, inclined to think, that the +indulgence of his mother, leaving him so much to the accidents of +undisciplined impression, was calculated to cherish associations +which rendered them, in the maturity of his powers, ingredients of +spell that ruled his memory. + +It is singular, and I am not aware it has been before noticed, that +with all his tender and impassioned apostrophes to beauty and love, +Byron has in no instance, not even in the freest passages of Don +Juan, associated either the one or the other with sensual images. +The extravagance of Shakespeare's Juliet, when she speaks of Romeo +being cut after his death into stars, that all the world may be in +love with night, is flame and ecstasy compared to the icy +metaphysical glitter of Byron's amorous allusions. The verses +beginning with + + +She walks in beauty like the light +Of eastern climes and starry skies, + + +are a perfect example of what I have conceived of his bodiless +admiration of beauty, and objectless enthusiasm of love. The +sentiment itself is unquestionably in the highest mood of the +intellectual sense of beauty; the simile is, however, anything but +such an image as the beauty of woman would suggest. It is only the +remembrance of some impression or imagination of the loveliness of a +twilight applied to an object that awakened the same abstract general +idea of beauty. The fancy which could conceive in its passion the +charms of a female to be like the glow of the evening, or the general +effect of the midnight stars, must have been enamoured of some +beautiful abstraction, rather than aught of flesh and blood. Poets +and lovers have compared the complexion of their mistresses to the +hues of the morning or of the evening, and their eyes to the dewdrops +and the stars; but it has no place in the feelings of man to think of +female charms in the sense of admiration which the beauties of the +morning or the evening awaken. It is to make the simile the +principal. Perhaps, however, it may be as well to defer the +criticism to which this peculiar characteristic of Byron's amatory +effusions gives rise, until we shall come to estimate his general +powers as a poet. There is upon the subject of love, no doubt, much +beautiful composition. throughout his works; but not one line in all +the thousands which shows a sexual feeling of female attraction--all +is vague and passionless, save in the delicious rhythm of the verse. + +But these remarks, though premature as criticisms, are not uncalled +for here, even while we are speaking of a child not more than ten +years old. Before Byron had attained that age, he describes himself +as having felt the passion. Dante is said as early as nine years old +to have fallen in love with Beatrice; Alfieri, who was himself +precocious in the passion, considered such early sensibility to be an +unerring sign of a soul formed for the fine arts; and Canova used to +say that he was in love when but five years old. But these +instances, however, prove nothing. Calf-love, as it is called in the +country, is common; and in Italy it may arise earlier than in the +bleak and barren regions of Lochynagar. This movement of juvenile +sentiment is not, however, love--that strong masculine avidity, +which, in its highest excitement, is unrestrained, by the laws alike +of God and man. In truth, the feeling of this kind of love is the +very reverse of the irrepressible passion it is a mean shrinking, +stealthy awe, and in no one of its symptoms, at least in none of +those which Byron describes, has it the slightest resemblance to that +bold energy which has prompted men to undertake the most improbable +adventures. + +He was not quite eight years old, when, according to his own account, +he formed an impassioned attachment to Mary Duff; and he gives the +following account of his recollection of her, nineteen years +afterwards. + +"I have been thinking lately a good deal of Mary Duff. How very odd +that I should have been so devotedly fond of that girl, at an age +when I could neither feel passion, nor know the meaning of the word +and the effect! My mother used always to rally me about this +childish amour, and at last, many years after, when I was sixteen, +she told me one day, 'O Byron, I have had a letter from Edinburgh, +and your old sweetheart, Mary Duff, is married to Mr C***.' And what +was my answer? I really cannot explain or account for my feelings at +that moment, but they nearly threw me into convulsions, and alarmed +my mother so much, that after I grew better she generally avoided the +subject--to ME--and contented herself with telling it to all her +acquaintance." But was this agitation the effect of natural feeling, +or of something in the manner in which his mother may have told the +news? He proceeds to inquire. "Now what could this be? I had never +seen her since her mother's faux pas at Aberdeen had been the cause +of her removal to her grandmother's at Banff. We were both the +merest children. I had, and have been, attached fifty times since +that period; yet I recollect all we said to each other, all our +caresses, her features, my restlessness, sleeplessness, my tormenting +my mother's maid to write for me to her, which she at last did to +quiet me. Poor Nancy thought I was wild, and, as I could not write +for myself, became my secretary. I remember too our walks, and the +happiness of sitting by Mary, in the children's apartment, at their +house, not far from the Plainstones, at Aberdeen, while her lesser +sister, Helen, played with the doll, and we sat gravely making love +in our own way. + +"How the deuce did all this occur so early? Where could it +originate? I certainly had no sexual ideas for years afterward, and +yet my misery, my love for that girl, were so violent, that I +sometimes doubt if I have ever been really attached since. Be that +as it may, hearing of her marriage, several years afterward, was as a +thunderstroke. It nearly choked me, to the horror of my mother, and +the astonishment and almost incredulity of everybody; and it is a +phenomenon in my existence, for I was not eight years old, which has +puzzled and will puzzle me to the latest hour of it. And, lately, I +know not why, the RECOLLECTION (NOT the attachment) has recurred as +forcibly as ever: I wonder if she can have the least remembrance of +it or me, or remember pitying her sister Helen, for not having an +admirer too. How very pretty is the perfect image of her in my +memory. Her dark brown hair and hazel eyes, her very dress--I should +be quite grieved to see her now. The reality, however beautiful, +would destroy, or at least confuse, the features of the lovely Peri, +which then existed in her, and still lives in my imagination, at the +distance of more than sixteen years." + +Such precocious and sympathetic affections are, as I have already +mentioned, common among children, and is something very different +from the love of riper years; but the extract is curious, and shows +how truly little and vague Byron's experience of the passion must +have been. In his recollection of the girl, be it observed, there is +no circumstance noticed which shows, however strong the mutual +sympathy, the slightest influence of particular attraction. He +recollects the colour of her hair, the hue of her eyes, her very +dress, and he remembers her as a Peri, a spirit; nor does it appear +that his sleepless restlessness, in which the thought of her was ever +uppermost, was produced by jealousy, or doubt, or fear, or any other +concomitant of the passion. + +There is another most important circumstance in what may be called +the Aberdonian epoch of Lord Byron's life. + +That Byron, in his boyhood, was possessed of lively sensibilities, is +sufficiently clear; that he enjoyed the advantage of indulging his +humour and temper without restraint, is not disputable; and that his +natural temperament made him sensible, in no ordinary degree, to the +beauties of nature, is also abundantly manifest in all his +productions; but it is surprising that this admiration of the +beauties of Nature is but an ingredient in Byron's poetry, and not +its most remarkable characteristic. Deep feelings of dissatisfaction +and disappointment are far more obvious; they constitute, indeed, the +very spirit of his works, and a spirit of such qualities is the least +of all likely to have arisen from the contemplation of magnificent +Nature, or to have been inspired by studying her storms or serenity; +for dissatisfaction and disappointment are the offspring of moral +experience, and have no natural association with the forms of +external things. The habit of associating morose sentiments with any +particular kind of scenery only shows that the sources of the +sullenness arose in similar visible circumstances. It is from these +premises I would infer, that the seeds of Byron's misanthropic +tendencies were implanted during the "silent rages" of his childhood, +and that the effect of mountain scenery, which continued so strong +upon him after he left Scotland, producing the sentiments with which +he has imbued his heroes in the wild circumstances in which he places +them, was mere reminiscence and association. For although the sullen +tone of his mind was not fully brought out until he wrote Childe +Harold, it is yet evident from his Hours of Idleness that he was +tuned to that key before he went abroad. The dark colouring of his +mind was plainly imbibed in a mountainous region, from sombre heaths, +and in the midst of rudeness and grandeur. He had no taste for more +cheerful images, and there are neither rural objects nor villagery in +the scenes he describes, but only loneness and the solemnity of +mountains. + +To those who are acquainted with the Scottish character, it is +unnecessary to suggest how very probable it is that Mrs Byron and her +associates were addicted to the oral legends of the district and of +her ancestors, and that the early fancy of the poet was nourished +with the shadowy descriptions in the tales o' the olden time;--at +last this is manifest, that although Byron shows little of the +melancholy and mourning of Ossian, he was yet evidently influenced by +some strong bias and congeniality of taste to brood and cogitate on +topics of the same character as those of that bard. Moreover, +besides the probability of his imagination having been early tinged +with the sullen hue of the local traditions, it is remarkable, that +the longest of his juvenile poems is an imitation of the manner of +the Homer of Morven. + +In addition to a natural temperament, kept in a state of continual +excitement, by unhappy domestic incidents, and the lurid legends of +the past, there were other causes in operation around the young poet +that could not but greatly affect the formation of his character. + +Descended of a distinguished family, counting among its ancestors the +fated line of the Scottish kings, and reduced almost to extreme +poverty, it is highly probable, both from the violence of her temper, +and the pride of blood, that Mrs Byron would complain of the almost +mendicant condition to which she was reduced, especially so long as +there was reason to fear that her son was not likely to succeed to +the family estates and dignity. Of his father's lineage few +traditions were perhaps preserved, compared with those of his +mother's family; but still enough was known to impress the +imagination. Mr Moore, struck with this circumstance, has remarked, +that "in reviewing the ancestors, both near and remote, of Lord +Byron, it cannot fail to be remarked how strikingly he combined in +his own nature some of the best, and perhaps worst qualities that lie +scattered through the various characters of his predecessors." But +still it is to his mother's traditions of her ancestors that I would +ascribe the conception of the dark and guilty beings which he +delighted to describe. And though it may be contended that there was +little in her conduct to exalt poetical sentiment, still there was a +great deal in her condition calculated to affect and impel an +impassioned disposition. I can imagine few situations more likely to +produce lasting recollections of interest and affection, than that in +which Mrs Byron, with her only child, was placed in Aberdeen. +Whatever might have been the violence of her temper, or the +improprieties of her after-life, the fond and mournful caresses with +which she used to hang over her lame and helpless orphan, must have +greatly contributed to the formation of that morbid sensibility which +became the chief characteristic of his life. At the same time, if it +did contribute to fill his days with anguish and anxieties, it also +undoubtedly assisted the development of his powers; and I am +therefore disposed to conclude, that although, with respect to the +character of the man, the time he spent in Aberdeen can only be +contemplated with pity, mingled with sorrow, still it must have been +richly fraught with incidents of inconceivable value to the genius of +the poet. + + + +CHAPTER III + + + +Arrival at Newstead--Find it in Ruins--The old Lord and his Beetles-- +The Earl of Carlisle becomes the Guardian of Byron--The Poet's acute +Sense of his own deformed Foot--His Mother consults a Fortune-teller + +Mrs Byron, on her arrival at Newstead Abbey with her son, found it +almost in a state of ruin. After the equivocal affair of the duel, +the old lord lived in absolute seclusion, detested by his tenantry, +at war with his neighbours, and deserted by all his family. He not +only suffered the abbey to fall into decay, but, as far as lay in his +power, alienated the land which should have kept it in repair, and +denuded the estate of the timber. Byron has described the conduct of +the morose peer in very strong terms:--"After his trial he shut +himself up at Newstead, and was in the habit of feeding crickets, +which were his only companions. He made them so tame that they used +to crawl over him, and, when they were too familiar, he whipped them +with a wisp of straw: at his death, it is said, they left the house +in a body." + +However this may have been, it is certain that Byron came to an +embarrassed inheritance, both as respected his property and the +character of his race; and, perhaps, though his genius suffered +nothing by the circumstance, it is to be regretted that he was still +left under the charge of his mother: a woman without judgment or +self-command; alternately spoiling her child by indulgence, +irritating him by her self-willed obstinacy, and, what was still +worse, amusing him by her violence, and disgusting him by fits of +inebriety. Sympathy for her misfortunes would be no sufficient +apology for concealing her defects; they undoubtedly had a material +influence on her son, and her appearance was often the subject of his +childish ridicule. She was a short and corpulent person. She rolled +in her gait, and would, in her rage, sometimes endeavour to catch him +for the purpose of inflicting punishment, while he would run round +the room, mocking her menaces and mimicking her motion. + +The greatest weakness in Lord Byron's character was a morbid +sensibility to his lameness. He felt it with as much vexation as if +it had been inflicted ignominy. One of the most striking passages in +some memoranda which he has left of his early days, is where, in +speaking of his own sensitiveness on the subject of his deformed +foot, he described the feeling of horror and humiliation that came +over him when his mother, in one of her fits of passion, called him a +"lame brat." + +The sense which Byron always retained of the innocent fault in his +foot was unmanly and excessive; for it was not greatly conspicuous, +and he had a mode of walking across a room by which it was scarcely +at all perceptible. I was several days on board the same ship with +him before I happened to discover the defect; it was indeed so well +concealed, that I was in doubt whether his lameness was the effect of +a temporary accident, or a malformation, until I asked Mr Hobhouse. + +On their arrival from Scotland, Byron was placed by his mother under +the care of an empirical pretender of the name of Lavender, at +Nottingham, who professed the cure of such cases; and that he might +not lose ground in his education, he was attended by a respectable +schoolmaster, Mr Rodgers, who read parts of Virgil and Cicero with +him. Of this gentleman he always entertained a kind remembrance. +Nor was his regard in this instance peculiar; for it may be said to +have been a distinguishing trait in his character, to recollect with +affection all who had been about him in his youth. The quack, +however, was an exception; whom (from having caused him to suffer +much pain, and whose pretensions, even young as he then was, he +detected) he delighted to expose. On one occasion, he scribbled down +on a sheet of paper, the letters of the alphabet at random, but in +the form of words and sentences, and placing them before Lavender, +asked him gravely, what language it was. "Italian," was the reply, +to the infinite amusement of the little satirist, who burst into a +triumphant laugh at the success of his stratagem. + +It is said that about this time the first symptom of his predilection +for rhyming showed itself. An elderly lady, a visitor to his mother, +had been indiscreet enough to give him some offence, and slights he +generally resented with more energy than they often deserved. This +venerable personage entertained a singular notion respecting the +soul, which she believed took its flight at death to the moon. One +day, after a repetition of her original contumely, he appeared before +his nurse in a violent rage, and complained vehemently of the old +lady, declaring that he could not bear the sight of her, and then he +broke out into the following doggerel, which he repeated over and +over, crowing with delight. + + +In Nottingham county, there lives at Swan-green, +As curs'd an old lady as ever was seen; +And when she does die, which I hope will be soon, +She firmly believes she will go to the moon. + + +Mrs Byron, by the accession of her son to the family honours and +estate, received no addition to her small income; and he, being a +minor, was unable to make any settlement upon her. A representation +of her case was made to Government, and in consequence she was placed +on the pension-list for 300 pounds a-year. + +Byron not having received any benefit from the Nottingham quack, was +removed to London, put under the care of Dr Bailey, and placed in the +school of Dr Glennie, at Dulwich; Mrs Byron herself took a house on +Sloan Terrace. Moderation in all athletic exercises was prescribed +to the boy, but Dr Glennie had some difficulty in restraining his +activity. He was quiet enough while in the house with the Doctor, +but no sooner was he released to play, than he showed as much +ambition to excel in violent exercises as the most robust youth of +the school; an ambition common to young persons who have the +misfortune to labour under bodily defects. + +While under the charge of Dr Glennie, he was playful, good-humoured, +and beloved by his companions; and addicted to reading history and +poetry far beyond the usual scope of his age. In these studies he +showed a predilection for the Scriptures; and certainly there are +many traces in his works which show that, whatever the laxity of his +religious principles may have been in after-life, he was not +unacquainted with the records and history of our religion. + +During this period, Mrs Byron often indiscreetly interfered with the +course of his education; and if his classical studies were in +consequence not so effectually conducted as they might have been, his +mind derived some of its best nutriment from the loose desultory +course of his reading. + +Among the books to which the boys at Dr Glennie's school had access +was a pamphlet containing the narrative of a shipwreck on the coast +of Arracan, filled with impressive descriptions. It had not +attracted much public attention, but it was a favourite with the +pupils, particularly with Byron, and furnished him afterwards with +the leading circumstances in the striking description of the +shipwreck in Don Juan. + +Although the rhymes upon the lunar lady of Notts are supposed to have +been the first twitter of his muse, he has said himself, "My first +dash into poetry was as early as 1800. It was the ebullition of a +passion for my first cousin, Margaret Parker. I was then about +twelve, she rather older, perhaps a year." And it is curious to +remark, that in his description of this beautiful girl there is the +same lack of animal admiration which we have noticed in all his +loves; he says of her:-- + +"I do not recollect scarcely anything equal to the transparent beauty +of my cousin, or to the sweetness of her temper, during the short +period of our intimacy: she looked as if she had been made out of a +rainbow, all beauty and peace." This is certainly poetically +expressed; but there was more true love in Pygmalion's passion for +his statue, and in the Parisian maiden's adoration of the Apollo. + +When he had been nearly two years under the tuition of Dr Glennie, he +was removed to Harrow, chiefly in consequence of his mother's +interference with his studies, and especially by withdrawing him +often from school. + +During the time he was under the care of Dr Glennie, he was more +amiable than at any other period of his life, a circumstance which +justifies the supposition, that, had he been left more to the +discipline of that respectable person, he would have proved a better +man; for, however much his heart afterwards became incrusted with the +leprosy of selfishness, at this period his feelings were warm and +kind. Towards his nurse he evinced uncommon affection, which he +cherished as long as she lived. He presented her with his watch, the +first he possessed, and also a full-length miniature of himself, when +he was only between seven and eight years old, representing him with +a profusion of curling locks, and in his hands a bow and arrow. The +sister of this woman had been his first nurse, and after he had left +Scotland he wrote to her, in a spirit which betokened a gentle and +sincere heart, informing her with much joy of a circumstance highly +important to himself. It was to tell her that at last he had got his +foot so far restored as to be able to put on a common boot, an event +which he was sure would give her great pleasure; to himself it is +difficult to imagine any incident which could have been more +gratifying. + +I dwell with satisfaction on these descriptions of his early +dispositions; for, although there are not wanting instances of +similar warm-heartedness in his later years, still he never formed +any attachments so pure and amiable after he went to Harrow. The +change of life came over him, and when the vegetable period of +boyhood was past, the animal passions mastered all the softer +affections of his character. + +In the summer of 1801 he accompanied his mother to Cheltenham, and +while he resided there the views of the Malvern hills recalled to his +memory his enjoyments amid the wilder scenery of Aberdeenshire. The +recollections were reimpressed on his heart and interwoven with his +strengthened feelings. But a boy gazing with emotion on the hills at +sunset, because they remind him of the mountains where he passed his +childhood, is no proof that he is already in heart and imagination a +poet. To suppose so is to mistake the materials for the building. + +The delight of Byron in contemplating the Malvern hills, was not +because they resembled the scenery of Lochynagar, but because they +awoke trains of thought and fancy, associated with recollections of +that scenery. The poesy of the feeling lay not in the beauty of the +objects, but in the moral effect of the traditions, to which these +objects served as talismans of the memory. The scene at sunset +reminded him of the Highlands, but it was those reminiscences which +similar scenes recalled, that constituted the impulse which gave life +and elevation to his reflections. There is not more poesy in the +sight of mountains than of plains; it is the local associations that +throw enchantment over all scenes, and resemblance that awakens them, +binding them to new connections: nor does this admit of much +controversy; for mountainous regions, however favourable to musical +feeling, are but little to poetical. + +The Welsh have no eminent bard; the Swiss have no renown as poets; +nor are the mountainous regions of Greece, nor of the Apennines, +celebrated for poetry. The Highlands of Scotland, save the equivocal +bastardy of Ossian, have produced no poet of any fame, and yet +mountainous countries abound in local legends, which would seem to be +at variance with this opinion, were it not certain, though I cannot +explain the cause, that local poetry, like local language or local +melody, is in proportion to the interest it awakens among the local +inhabitants, weak and ineffectual in its influence on the sentiments +of the general world. The "Rans de Vaches," the most celebrated of +all local airs, is tame and commonplace,--unmelodious, to all ears +but those of the Swiss "forlorn in a foreign land." + +While in Cheltenham, Mrs Byron consulted a fortune-teller respecting +the destinies of her son, and according to her feminine notions, she +was very cunning and guarded with the sybil, never suspecting that +she might have been previously known, and, unconscious to herself, an +object of interest to the spaewife. She endeavoured to pass herself +off as a maiden lady, and regarded it as no small testimony of the +wisdom of the oracle, that she declared her to be not only a married +woman, but the mother of a son who was lame. After such a marvellous +proof of second-sightedness, it may easily be conceived with what awe +and faith she listened to the prediction, that his life should be in +danger from poison before he was of age, and that he should be twice +married; the second time to a foreign lady. Whether it was this same +fortune-teller who foretold that he would, in his twenty-seventh +year, incur some great misfortune, is not certain; but, considering +his unhappy English marriage, and his subsequent Italian liaison with +the Countess Guiccioli, the marital prediction was not far from +receiving its accomplishment. The fact of his marriage taking place +in his twenty-seventh year, is at least a curious circumstance, and +has been noticed by himself with a sentiment of superstition. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + +Placed at Harrow--Progress there--Love for Miss Chaworth--His +Reading--Oratorical Powers + +In passing from the quiet academy of Dulwich Grove to the public +school of Harrow, the change must have been great to any boy--to +Byron it was punishment; and for the first year and a half he hated +the place. In the end, however, he rose to be a leader in all the +sports and mischiefs of his schoolfellows; but it never could be said +that he was a popular boy, however much he was distinguished for +spirit and bravery; for if he was not quarrelsome, he was sometimes +vindictive. Still it could not have been to any inveterate degree; +for, undoubtedly, in his younger years, he was susceptible of warm +impressions from gentle treatment, and his obstinacy and arbitrary +humour were perhaps more the effects of unrepressed habit than of +natural bias; they were the prickles which surrounded his genius in +the bud. + +At Harrow he acquired no distinction as a student; indeed, at no +period was he remarkable for steady application. Under Dr Glennie he +had made but little progress; and it was chiefly in consequence of +his backwardness that he was removed from his academy. When placed +with Dr Drury, it was with an intimation that he had a cleverness +about him, but that his education had been neglected. + +The early dislike which Byron felt towards the Earl of Carlisle is +abundantly well known, and he had the magnanimity to acknowledge that +it was in some respects unjust. But the antipathy was not all on one +side; nor will it be easy to parallel the conduct of the Earl with +that of any guardian. It is but justice, therefore, to Byron, to +make the public aware that the dislike began on the part of Lord +Carlisle, and originated in some distaste which he took to Mrs +Byron's manners, and at the trouble she sometimes gave him on account +of her son. + +Dr Drury, in his communication to Mr Moore respecting the early +history of Byron, mentions a singular circumstance as to this +subject, which we record with the more pleasure, because Byron has +been blamed, and has blamed himself, for his irreverence towards Lord +Carlisle, while it appears that the fault lay with the Earl. + +"After some continuance at Harrow," says Dr Drury, "and when the +powers of his mind had begun to expand, the late Lord Carlisle, his +relation, desired to see me in town. I waited on his Lordship. His +object was to inform me of Lord Byron's expectations of property when +he came of age, which he represented as contracted, and to inquire +respecting his abilities. On the former circumstance I made no +remark; as to the latter, I replied, 'He has talents, my Lord, which +will add lustre to his rank.' 'Indeed,' said his Lordship, with a +degree of surprise, that, according to my feelings, did not express +in it all the satisfaction I expected." + +Lord Carlisle had, indeed, much of the Byron humour in him. His +mother was a sister of the homicidal lord, and possessed some of the +family peculiarity: she was endowed with great talent, and in her +latter days she exhibited great singularity. She wrote beautiful +verses and piquant epigrams among others, there is a poetical +effusion of her pen addressed to Mrs Greville, on her Ode to +Indifference, which, at the time, was much admired, and has been, +with other poems of her Ladyship's, published in Pearch's collection. +After moving, for a long time, as one of the most brilliant orbs in +the sphere of fashion, she suddenly retired, and like her morose +brother, shut herself up from the world. While she lived in this +seclusion, she became an object of the sportive satire of the late Mr +Fox, who characterized her as + + +Carlisle, recluse in pride and rags. + + +I have heard a still coarser apostrophe by the same gentleman. It +seems they had quarrelled, and on his leaving her in the drawing- +room, she called after him, that he might go about his business, for +she did not care two skips of a louse for him. On coming to the +hall, finding paper and ink on the table, he wrote two lines in +answer, and sent it up to her Ladyship, to the effect that she always +spoke of what was running in her head. + +Byron has borne testimony to the merits of his guardian, her son, as +a tragic poet, by characterizing his publications as paper books. It +is, however, said that they nevertheless showed some talent, and that +The Father's Revenge, one of the tragedies, was submitted to the +judgment of Dr Johnson, who did not despise it. + +But to return to the progress of Byron at Harrow; it is certain that +notwithstanding the affectionate solicitude of Dr Drury to encourage +him, he never became an eminent scholar; at least, we have his own +testimony to that effect, in the fourth canto of Childe Harold; the +lines, however, in which that testimony stands recorded, are among +the weakest he ever penned. + + + May he who will his recollections rake + And quote in classic raptures, and awake + The hills with Latin echoes: I abhorr'd + Too much to conquer, for the poet's sake, + The drill'd, dull lesson forced down word by word, +In my repugnant youth with pleasure to record. + + +And, as an apology for the defect, he makes the following remarks in +a note subjoined:-- + +"I wish to express that we become tired of the task before we can +comprehend the beauty; that we learn by rote before we can get by +heart; that the freshness is worn away, and the future pleasure and +advantage deadened and destroyed by the didactic anticipation, at an +age when we can neither feel nor understand the power of +compositions, which it requires an acquaintance with life, as well as +Latin and Greek, to relish or to reason upon. For the same reason, +we never can be aware of the fulness of some of the finest passages +of Shakspeare ('To be, or not to be,' for instance), from the habit +of having them hammered into us at eight years old, as an exercise +not of mind but of memory; so that when we are old enough to enjoy +them, the taste is gone, and the appetite palled. In some parts of +the Continent, young persons are taught from mere common authors, and +do not read the best classics until their maturity. I certainly do +not speak on this point from any pique or aversion towards the place +of my education. I was not a slow or an idle boy; and I believe no +one could be more attached to Harrow than I have always been, and +with reason: a part of the time passed there was the happiest of my +life; and my preceptor, the Rev. Dr Joseph Drury, was the best and +worthiest friend I ever possessed; whose warnings I have remembered +but too well, though too late, when I have erred; and whose counsels +I have but followed when I have done well and wisely. If ever this +imperfect record of my feelings towards him should reach his eyes, +let it remind him of one who never thinks of him but with gratitude +and veneration; of one who would more gladly boast of having been his +pupil if, by more closely following his injunctions, he could reflect +any honour upon his instructor." + +Lord Byron, however, is not singular in his opinion of the inutility +of premature classical studies; and notwithstanding the able manner +in which the late Dean Vincent defended public education, we have +some notion that his reasoning upon this point will not be deemed +conclusive. Milton, says Dr Vincent, complained of the years that +were wasted in teaching the dead languages. Cowley also complained +that classical education taught words only and not things; and +Addison deemed it an inexpiable error, that boys with genius or +without were all to be bred poets indiscriminately. As far, then, as +respects the education of a poet, we should think that the names of +Milton, Cowley, Addison, and Byron would go well to settle the +question; especially when it is recollected how little Shakspeare was +indebted to the study of the classics, and that Burns knew nothing of +them at all. I do not, however, adopt the opinion as correct; +neither do I think that Dean Vincent took a right view of the +subject; for, as discipline, the study of the classics may be highly +useful, at the same time, the mere hammering of Greek and Latin into +English cannot be very conducive to the refinement of taste or the +exaltation of sentiment. Nor is there either common sense or correct +logic in the following observations made on the passage and note, +quoted by the anonymous author of Childe Harold's Monitor. + +"This doctrine of antipathies, contracted by the impatience of youth +against the noblest authors of antiquity, from the circumstance of +having been made the vehicle of early instruction, is a most +dangerous doctrine indeed; since it strikes at the root, not only of +all pure taste, but of all praiseworthy industry. It would, if acted +upon (as Harold by the mention of the Continental practice of using +inferior writers in the business of tuition would seem to recommend), +destroy the great source of the intellectual vigour of our +countrymen." + +This is, undoubtedly, assuming too much; for those who have objected +to the years "wasted" in teaching the dead languages, do not admit +that the labour of acquiring them either improves the taste or adds +to the vigour of the understanding; and, therefore, before the +soundness of the opinion of Milton, of Cowley, of Addison, and of +many other great men can be rejected, it falls on those who are of +Dean Vincent's opinion, and that of Childe Harold's Monitor, to prove +that the study of the learned languages is of so much primary +importance as they claim for it. + +But it appears that Byron's mind, during the early period of his +residence at Harrow, was occupied with another object than his +studies, and which may partly account for his inattention to them. +He fell in love with Mary Chaworth. "She was," he is represented to +have said, "several years older than myself, but at my age boys like +something older than themselves, as they do younger later in life. +Our estates adjoined, but owing to the unhappy circumstances of the +feud (the affair of the fatal duel), our families, as is generally +the case with neighbours, who happen to be near relations, were never +on terms of more than common civility, scarcely those. She was the +beau ideal of all that my youthful fancy could paint of the +beautiful! and I have taken all my fables about the celestial nature +of women from the perfection my imagination created in her. I say +created, for I found her, like the rest of the sex, anything but +angelic. I returned to Harrow, after my trip to Cheltenham, more +deeply enamoured than ever, and passed the next holidays at Newstead. +I now began to fancy myself a man, and to make love in earnest. Our +meetings were stolen ones, and my letters passed through the medium +of a confidant. A gate leading from Mr Chaworth's grounds to those +of my mother, was the place of our interviews, but the ardour was all +on my side; I was serious, she was volatile. She liked me as a +younger brother, and treated and laughed at me as a boy; she, +however, gave me her picture, and that was something to make verses +upon. Had I married Miss Chaworth, perhaps the whole tenor of my +life would have been different; she jilted me, however, but her +marriage proved anything but a happy one." It is to this attachment +that we are indebted for the beautiful poem of The Dream, and the +stanzas beginning + + +Oh, had my fate been joined to thine! + + +Although this love affair a little interfered with his Greek and +Latin, his time was not passed without some attention to reading. +Until he was eighteen years old, he had never seen a review; but his +general information was so extensive on modern topics, as to induce a +suspicion that he could only have collected so much information from +reviews, as he was never seen reading, but always idle, and in +mischief, or at play. He was, however, a devourer of books; he read +eating, read in bed, read when no one else read, and had perused all +sorts of books from the time he first could spell, but had never read +a review, and knew not what the name implied. + +It should be here noticed, that while he was at Harrow, his qualities +were rather oratorical than poetical; and if an opinion had then been +formed of the likely result of his character, the prognostication +would have led to the expectation of an orator. Altogether, his +conduct at Harrow indicated a clever, but not an extraordinary boy. +He formed a few friendships there, in which his attachment appears to +have been, in some instances, remarkable. The late Duke of Dorset +was his fag, and he was not considered a very hard taskmaster. He +certainly did not carry with him from Harrow any anticipation of that +splendid career he was destined to run as a poet. + + + +CHAPTER V + + + +Character at Harrow--Poetical Predilections--Byron at Cambridge--His +"Hours of Idleness" + +In reconsidering the four years which Byron spent at Harrow, while we +can clearly trace the development of the sensibilities of his +character, and an increased tension of his susceptibility, by which +impressions became more acute and delicate, it seems impossible not +to perceive by the records which he has himself left of his feelings, +that something morbid was induced upon them. Had he not afterwards +so magnificently distinguished himself as a poet, it is not probable +that he would have been recollected by his schoolfellows as having +been in any respect different from the common herd. His activity and +spirit, in their controversies and quarrels, were but the +outbreakings of that temperament which the discipline of riper years, +and the natural awe of the world, afterward reduced into his +hereditary cast of character, in which so much of sullenness and +misanthropy was exhibited. I cannot, however, think that there was +anything either in the nature of his pastimes, or his studies, +unfavourable to the formation of the poetical character. His +amusements were active; his reading, though without method, was yet +congenial to his impassioned imagination; and the phantom of an +enthusiastic attachment, of which Miss Chaworth was not the only +object (for it was altogether intellectual, and shared with others), +were circumstances calculated to open various sources of reflection, +and to concentrate the elements of an energetic and original mind. + +But it is no easy matter to sketch what may have been the outline of +a young poet's education. The supposition that poets must be +dreamers, because there is often much dreaminess in poesy, is a mere +hypothesis. Of all the professors of metaphysical discernment, poets +require the finest tact; and contemplation is with them a sign of +inward abstract reflection, more than of any process of mind by which +resemblance is traced, and associations awakened. There is no +account of any great poet, whose genius was of that dreamy +cartilaginous kind, which hath its being in haze, and draws its +nourishment from lights and shadows; which ponders over the mysteries +of trees, and interprets the oracles of babbling waters. They have +all been men--worldly men, different only from others in reasoning +more by feeling than induction. Directed by impulse, in a greater +degree than other men, poets are apt to be betrayed into actions +which make them singular, as compared by those who are less +imaginative; but the effects of earnestness should never be +confounded with the qualities of talent. + +No greater misconception has ever been obtruded upon the world as +philosophic criticism, than the theory of poets being the offspring +of "capering lambkins and cooing doves"; for they differ in no +respect from other men of high endowment, but in the single +circumstance of the objects to which their taste is attracted. The +most vigorous poets, those who have influenced longest and are most +quoted, have indeed been all men of great shrewdness of remark, and +anything but your chin-on-hand contemplators. To adduce many +instances is unnecessary. Are there any symptoms of the gelatinous +character of the effusions of the Lakers in the compositions of +Homer? The London Gazette does not tell us things more like facts +than the narratives of Homer, and it often states facts that are much +more like fictions than his most poetical inventions. So much is +this the case with the works of all the higher poets, that as they +recede from that worldly standard which is found in the Epics of +Homer, they sink in the scale of poets. In what does the inferiority +of Virgil, for example, consist, but in his having hatched fancies in +his contemplations which the calm mind rejects as absurdities. Then +Tasso, with his enchanted forests and his other improbabilities; are +they more than childish tales? tales, too, not in fancy to be +compared with those of that venerable dry-nurse, Mother Bunch. +Compare the poets that babble of green fields with those who deal in +the actions and passions of men, such as Shakspeare, and it must be +confessed that it is not those who have looked at external nature who +are the true poets, but those who have seen and considered most about +the business and bosom of man. It may be an advantage that a poet +should have the benefit of landscapes and storms, as children are the +better for country air and cow's milk; but the true scene of their +manly work and business is in the populous city. Inasmuch as Byron +was a lover of solitude, he was deficient as an observer of men. + +The barrenest portion, as to materials for biography, in the life of +this interesting man, is the period he spent at the University of +Cambridge. Like that of most young men, it is probable the major +part of his time was passed between the metropolis and the +university. Still it was in that period he composed the different +poems which make up the little volume of The Hours of Idleness; a +work which will ever be regarded, more by its consequences than its +importance, as of great influence on the character and career of the +poet. + +It has been supposed, I see not how justly, that there was +affectation in the title. It is probable that Byron intended no more +by it than to imply that its contents were sketches of leisure. This +is the less doubtful, as he was at that period particularly sensitive +concerning the opinion that might be entertained of his works. +Before he made the collection, many of the pieces had been +circulated, and he had gathered opinions as to their merits with a +degree of solicitude that can only be conceived by those who were +acquainted with the constantly excited sensibility of his mind. When +he did publish the collection, nothing appeared in the style and form +of the publication that indicated any arrogance of merit. On the +contrary, it was brought forward with a degree of diffidence, which, +if it did not deserve the epithet of modesty, could incur nothing +harsher than that of bashfulness. It was printed at the obscure +market-town press of Newark, was altogether a very homely, rustic +work, and no attempt was made to bespeak for it a good name from the +critics. It was truly an innocent affair and an unpretending +performance. But notwithstanding these, at least seeming, qualities +of young doubtfulness and timidity, they did not soften the austere +nature of the bleak and blighting criticism which was then +characteristic of Edinburgh. + +A copy was somehow communicated to one of the critics in that city, +and was reviewed by him in the Edinburgh Review in an article replete +with satire and insinuations calculated to prey upon the author's +feelings, while the injustice of the estimate which was made of his +talent and originality, could not but be as iron in his heart. Owing +to the deep and severe impression which it left, it ought to be +preserved in every memoir which treats of the development of his +genius and character; and for this reason I insert it entire, as one +of the most influential documents perhaps in the whole extent of +biography. + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + +Criticism of the "Edinburgh Review" + +"The poesy of this young lord belongs to the class which neither God +nor man are said to permit. Indeed we do not recollect to have seen +a quantity of verse with so few deviations in either direction from +that exact standard. His effusions are spread over a dead flat, and +can no more get above or below the level than if they were so much +stagnant water. As an extenuation of this offence, the noble author +is peculiarly forward in pleading minority. We have it in the title- +page, and on the very back of the volume; it follows his name like a +favourite part of his style. Much stress is laid upon it in the +preface; and the poems are connected with this general statement of +his case by particular dates, substantiating the age at which each +was written. Now, the law upon the point of minority we hold to be +perfectly clear. It is a plea available only to the defendant; no +plaintiff can offer it as a supplementary ground of action. Thus, if +any suit could be brought against Lord Byron, for the purpose of +compelling him to put into court a certain quantity of poetry, and if +judgment were given against him, it is highly probable that an +exception would be taken, were he to deliver FOR POETRY the contents +of this volume. To this he might plead MINORITY; but as he now makes +voluntary tender of the article, he hath no right to sue on that +ground for the price in good current praise, should the goods be +unmarketable. This is our view of the law on the point; and we dare +to say, so will it be ruled. Perhaps, however, in reality, all that +he tells us about his youth is rather with a view to increase our +wonder, than to soften our censures. He possibly means to say, 'See +how a minor can write! This poem was actually composed by a young +man of eighteen! and this by one of only sixteen!' But, alas, we all +remember the poetry of Cowley at ten, and Pope at twelve; and, so far +from hearing with any degree of surprise that very poor verses were +written by a youth from his leaving school to his leaving college +inclusive, we really believe this to be the most common of all +occurrences;--that it happens in the life of nine men in ten who are +educated in England, and that the tenth man writes better verse than +Lord Byron. + +"His other plea of privilege our author brings forward to waive it. +He certainly, however, does allude frequently to his family and +ancestors, sometimes in poetry, sometimes in notes; and while giving +up his claim on the score of rank, he takes care to remind us of Dr +Johnson's saying, that when a nobleman appears as an author, his +merit should be handsomely acknowledged. In truth, it is this +consideration only that induces us to give Lord Byron's poems a place +in our Review, besides our desire to counsel him, that he do +forthwith abandon poetry, and turn his talents, which are +considerable, and his opportunities, which are great, to better +account. + +"With this view we must beg leave seriously to assure him, that the +mere rhyming of the final syllable, even when accompanied by the +presence of a certain number of feet; nay, although (which does not +always happen) these feet should scan regularly, and have been all +counted upon the fingers, is not the whole art of poetry. We would +entreat him to believe that a certain portion of liveliness, somewhat +of fancy, is necessary to constitute a poem; and that a poem in the +present day, to be read, must contain at least one thought, even in a +little degree different from the ideas of former writers, or +differently expressed. We put it to his candour, whether there is +anything so deserving the name of poetry, in verses like the +following, written in 1806, and whether, if a youth of eighteen could +say anything so uninteresting to his ancestors, a youth of nineteen +should publish it: + + +Shades of heroes, farewell! your descendant, departing + From the seat of his ancestors, bids you adieu; +Abroad or at home, your remembrance imparting + New courage, he'll think upon glory and you. + +Though a tear dim his eye at this sad separation, + 'Tis nature, not fear, that excites his regret; +Far distant he goes with the same emulation, + The fame of his fathers he ne'er can forget. + +That fame and that memory still will he cherish, + He vows that he ne'er will disgrace your renown; +Like you will he live, or like you will he perish, + When decay'd, may he mingle his dust with your own. + + +"Now, we positively do assert, that there is nothing better than +these stanzas in the whole compass of the noble minor's volume. + +"Lord Byron should also have a care of attempting what the greatest +poets have done before him, for comparisons (as he must have had +occasion to see at his writing-master's) are odious. Gray's Ode to +Eton College should really have kept out the ten hobbling stanzas on +a distant view of the village and school at Harrow. + + +Where fancy yet joys to trace the resemblance + Of comrades in friendship or mischief allied, +How welcome to me your ne'er-fading remembrance, + Which rests in the bosom, though hope is denied. + + +"In like manner, the exquisite lines of Mr Rogers, On a Tear, might +have warned the noble author of these premises, and spared us a whole +dozen such stanzas as the following: + + + Mild charity's glow, + To us mortals below, +Shows the soul from barbarity clear; + Compassion will melt + Where the virtue is felt. +And its dew is diffused in a tear. + + The man doom'd to sail + With the blast of the gale, +Through billows Atlantic to steer, + As he bends o'er the wave, + Which may soon be his grave, +The green sparkles bright with a tear. + + +"And so of instances in which former poets had failed. Thus, we do +not think Lord Byron was made for translating, during his nonage, +Adrian's Address to his Soul, when Pope succeeded indifferently in +the attempt. If our readers, however, are of another opinion, they +may look at it. + + +Ah! gentle, fleeting, wav'ring sprite, + Friend and associate of this clay, + To what unknown region borne +Wilt thou now wing thy distant flight? + No more with wonted humour gay, + But pallid, cheerless, and forlorn. + + +"However, be this as it may, we fear his translations and imitations +are great favourities with Lord Byron. We have them of all kinds, +from Anacreon to Ossian; and, viewing them as school-exercises, they +may pass. Only, why print them after they have had their day and +served their turn? And why call the thing in p. 79 a translation, +where TWO words ([Greek]) of the original are expanded into four +lines, and the other thing in p. 81, where [Greek] is rendered by +means of six hobbling verses. As to his Ossian poesy, we are not +very good judges; being, in truth, so moderately skilled in that +species of composition, that we should, in all probability, be +criticising some bit of genuine Macpherson itself, were we to express +our opinion of Lord Byron's rhapsodies. If, then, the following +beginning of a Song of Bards is by his Lordship, we venture to object +to it, as far as we can comprehend it; 'What form rises on the roar +of clouds, whose dark ghost gleams on the red stream of tempests? +His voice rolls on the thunder; 'tis Oila, the brown chief of +Otchona. He was,' etc. After detaining this 'brown chief' some +time, the bards conclude by giving him their advice to 'raise his +fair locks'; then to 'spread them on the arch of the rainbow'; and to +'smile through the tears of the storm.' Of this kind of thing there +are no less than nine pages: and we can so far venture an opinion in +their favour, that they look very like Macpherson; and we are +positive they are pretty nearly as stupid and tiresome. + +"It is some sort of privilege of poets to be egotists; but they +should 'use it as not abusing it'; and particularly one who piques +himself (though, indeed, at the ripe age of nineteen) on being an +infant bard-- + + +The artless Helicon I boast is youth-- + + +should either not know, or should seem not to know, so much about his +own ancestry. Besides a poem, above cited, on the family-seat of the +Byrons, we have another of eleven pages on the selfsame subject, +introduced with an apology, 'he certainly had no intention of +inserting it,' but really 'the particular request of some friends,' +etc. etc. It concludes with five stanzas on himself, 'the last and +youngest of the noble line.' There is also a good deal about his +maternal ancestors, in a poem on Lachion-y-Gair, a mountain, where he +spent part of his youth, and might have learned that pibroach is not +a bagpipe, any more than a duet means a fiddle. + +"As the author has dedicated so large a part of his volume to +immortalize his employments at school and college, we cannot possibly +dismiss it without presenting the reader with a specimen of these +ingenious effusions. + +"In an ode, with a Greek motto, called Granta, we have the following +magnificent stanzas:-- + + +There, in apartments small and damp, + The candidate for college prizes +Sits poring by the midnight lamp, + Goes late to bed, yet early rises: + +Who reads false quantities in Seale, + Or puzzles o'er the deep triangle, +Depriv'd of many a wholesome meal, + In barbarous Latin doomed to wrangle. + +Renouncing every pleasing page + From authors of historic use; +Preferring to the letter'd sage + The square of the hypotenuse. +Still harmless are these occupations, + That hurt none but the hapless student, +Compared with other recreations + Which bring together the imprudent. + + +"We are sorry to hear so bad an account of the college-psalmody, as +is contained in the following attic stanzas + + +Our choir could scarcely be excused, + Even as a band of raw beginners; +All mercy now must be refused + To such a set of croaking sinners. + +If David, when his toils were ended, + Had heard these blockheads sing before him, +To us his psalms had ne'er descended-- + In furious mood he would have tore 'em. + + +"But whatever judgment may be passed on the poems of this noble +minor, it seems we must take them as we find them, and be content for +they are the last we shall ever have from him. He is at best, he +says, but an intruder into the groves of Parnassus; he never lived in +a garret, like thoroughbred poets, and though he once roved a +careless mountaineer in the Highlands of Scotland, he has not of late +enjoyed this advantage. Moreover, he expects no profit from his +publication; and whether it succeeds or not, it is highly improbable, +from his situation and pursuits, that he should again condescend to +become an author. Therefore, let us take what we get and be +thankful. What right have we poor devils to be nice? We are well +off to have got so much from a man of this lord's station, who does +not live in a garret, but has got the sway of Newstead Abbey. Again +we say, let us be thankful; and, with honest Sancho, bid God bless +the giver, nor look the gift-horse in the mouth." + + +The criticism is ascribed to Mr Francis Jeffrey, an eloquent member +of the Scottish bar, and who was at that time supposed to be the +editor of the Edinburgh Review. That it was neither just nor fair is +sufficiently evident, by the degree of care and artificial point with +which it has been drawn up. Had the poetry been as insignificant as +the critic affected to consider it, it would have argued little for +the judgment of Mr Jeffrey, to take so much pains on a work which he +considered worthless. But the world has no cause to repine at the +severity of his strictures, for they unquestionably had the effect of +kindling the indignation of Byron, and of instigating him to that +retaliation which he so spiritedly inflicted in his satire of English +Bards and Scotch Reviewers. + +It is amusing to compare the respective literary reputation of the +poet and the critic, as they are estimated by the public, now that +the one is dead, and the other dormant. The voice of all the age +acknowledges Byron to have been the greatest poetical genius of his +time. Mr Jeffrey, though still enjoying the renown of being a shrewd +and intelligent critic of the productions of others, has established +no right to the honour of being an original or eminent author. + +At the time when Byron published the satire alluded to, he had +obtained no other distinction than the college reputation of being a +clever, careless, dissipated student. But his dissipation was not +intense, nor did it ever become habitual. He affected to be much +more so than he was: his pretensions were moderated by +constitutional incapacity. His health was not vigorous; and his +delicacy defeated his endeavours to show that he inherited the +recklessness of his father. He affected extravagance and +eccentricity of conduct, without yielding much to the one, or +practising a great deal of the other. He was seeking notoriety; and +his attempts to obtain it gave more method to his pranks and follies +than belonged to the results of natural impulse and passion. He +evinced occasional instances of the generous spirit of youth; but +there was in them more of ostentation than of that discrimination +which dignifies kindness, and makes prodigality munificence. Nor +were his attachments towards those with whom he preferred to +associate, characterised by any nobler sentiment than self- +indulgence; he was attached, more from the pleasure he himself +received in their society, than from any reciprocal enjoyment they +had with him. As he became a man of the world, his early friends +dropped from him; although it is evident, by all the contemporary +records of his feelings, that he cherished for them a kind, and even +brotherly, affection. This secession, the common effect of the new +cares, hopes, interests, and wishes, which young men feel on entering +the world, Byron regarded as something analogous to desertion; and +the notion tainted his mind, and irritated that hereditary sullenness +of humour, which constituted an ingredient so remarkable in the +composition of his more mature character. + +An anecdote of this period, characteristic of his eccentricity, and +the means which he scrupled not to employ in indulging it, deserves +to be mentioned. + +In repairing Newstead Abbey, a skull was found in a secret niche of +the walls. It might have been that of the monk who haunted the +house, or of one of his own ancestors, or of some victim of the +morose race. It was converted into a goblet, and used at Odin-like +orgies. Though the affair was but a whim of youth, more odious than +poetical, it caused some talk, and raised around the extravagant host +the haze of a mystery, suggesting fantasies of irreligion and horror. +The inscription on the cup is not remarkable either for point or +poetry. + + +Start not, nor deem my spot fled; + In me behold the only skull +From which, unlike a living head, + Whatever flows is never dull. + +I liv'd, I lov'd, I quaff'd like thee; + I died, but earth my bones resign: +Fill up--thou canst not injure me, + The worm hath fouler lips than thine. + +Better to hold the sparkling grape + Than nurse the earth-worm's slimy brood, +And circle in the goblet's shape + The drink of gods than reptile's food. + +Where once my wit perchance hath shone, + In aid of others let me shine; +And when, alas, our brains are gone, + What nobler substitute than wine? + +Quaff while thou canst--another race, + When thou and thine like me are sped, +May rescue thee from earth's embrace, + And rhyme and revel with the dead. + +Why not? since through life's little day, + Our heads such sad effects produce; +Redeem'd from worms and wasting clay, + This chance is theirs, to be use. + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + +Effect of the Criticism in the "Edinburgh Review"--"English Bards and +Scotch Reviewers"--His Satiety--Intention to Travel--Publishes his +Satire--Takes his Seat in the House of Lords--Departs for Lisbon; +thence to Gibraltar + +The impression which the criticism of the Edinburgh Review produced +upon the juvenile poet was deep and envenomed. It stung his heart, +and prompted him to excess. But the paroxysms did not endure long; +strong volitions of revenge succeeded, and the grasps of his mind +were filled, as it were, with writhing adders. All the world knows, +that this unquenchable indignation found relief in the composition of +English Bards and Scotch Reviewers; a satire which, in many passages, +equals, in fervour and force, the most vigorous in the language. + +It was during the summer of 1808, while the poet was residing at +Newstead, that English Bards and Scotch Reviewers was principally +written. He bestowed more pains upon it than perhaps on any other of +his works; and, though different from them all, it still exhibits +strong indications of the misanthropy with which, after quitting +Cambridge, he became more and more possessed. It is painful to +reflect, in considering the splendid energy displayed in the poem, +that the unprovoked malice which directed him to make the satire so +general, was, perhaps, the main cause of that disposition to wither +his reputation, which was afterwards so fervently roused. He could +not but expect, that, in stigmatising with contempt and ridicule so +many persons by name, some of them would retaliate. Nor could he +complain of injustice if they did; for his attack was so wilful, that +the rage of it can only be explained by supposing he was instigated +to "the one fell swoop," by a resentful conviction, that his +impillory in the Edinburgh Review had amused them all. + +I do not conceive, that the generality of the satire can be well +extenuated; but I am not inclined to regard it as having been a very +heinous offence. The ability displayed in it is a sufficient +compensation. The beauty of the serpent's skin appeases the aversion +to its nature. Moreover, a toothless satire is verse without poetry- +-the most odious of all respectable things. + +But, without regard to the merits or delinquency of the poem, to the +acumen of its animadversions, or to the polish of the lines, it +possesses, in the biography of the author, a value of the most +interesting kind. It was the first burst of that dark, diseased +ichor, which afterwards coloured his effusions; the overflowing +suppuration of that satiety and loathing, which rendered Childe +Harold, in particular, so original, incomprehensible, and antisocial; +and bears testimony to the state of his feelings at that important +epoch, while he was yet upon the threshold of the world, and was +entering it with a sense of failure and humiliation, and premature +disgust. For, notwithstanding his unnecessary expositions concerning +his dissipation, it is beyond controversy, that at no time could it +be said he was a dissipated young man. That he indulged in +occasional excesses is true; but his habits were never libertine, nor +did his health or stamina permit him to be distinguished in +licentiousness. The declaration in which he first discloses his +sobriety, contains more truth than all his pretensions to his +father's qualities. "I took my gradations in the vices," says he, in +that remarkable confession, "with great promptitude, but they were +not to my taste; for my early passions, though violent in the +extreme, were concentrated, and hated division or spreading abroad. +I could have left or lost the whole world with or for that which I +loved; but, though my temperament was naturally burning, I could not +share in the common libertinism of the place and time without +disgust; and yet this very disgust, and my heart thrown back upon +itself, threw me into excesses perhaps more fatal than those from +which I shrunk, as fixing upon one at a time the passions, which, +spread among many, would have hurt only myself." This is vague and +metaphysical enough; but it bears corroborative intimations, that the +impression which he early made upon me was not incorrect. He was +vain of his experiments in profligacy, but they never grew to +habitude. + +While he was engaged in the composition of his satire, he formed a +plan of travelling; but there was a great shortcoming between the +intention and the performance. He first thought of Persia; he +afterwards resolved to sail for India; and had so far matured this +project, as to write for information to the Arabic professor at +Cambridge; and to his mother, who was not then with him at Newstead, +to inquire of a friend, who had resided in India, what things would +be necessary for the voyage. He formed his plan of travelling upon +different reasons from those which he afterward gave out, and which +have been imputed to him. He then thought that all men should in +some period of their lives travel; he had at that time no tie to +prevent him; he conceived that when he returned home he might be +induced to enter into political life, to which his having travelled +would be an advantage; and he wished to know the world by sight, and +to judge of men by experience. + +When his satire was ready for the press, he carried it with him to +London. He was then just come of age, or about to be so; and one of +his objects in this visit to the metropolis was, to take his seat in +the House of Lords before going abroad; but, in advancing to this +proud distinction, so soothing to the self-importance of youth, he +was destined to suffer a mortification which probably wounded him as +deeply as the sarcasms of the Edinburgh Review. Before the meeting +of Parliament, he wrote to his relation and guardian, the Earl of +Carlisle, to remind him that he should be of age at the commencement +of the Session, in the natural hope that his Lordship would make an +offer to introduce him to the House: but he was disappointed. He +only received a formal reply, acquainting him with the technical mode +of proceeding, and the etiquette to be observed on such occasions. +It is therefore not wonderful that he should have resented such +treatment; and he avenged it by those lines in his satire, for which +he afterwards expressed his regret in the third canto of Childe +Harold. + +Deserted by his guardian at a crisis so interesting, he was prevented +for some time from taking his seat in Parliament; being obliged to +procure affidavits in proof of his grandfather's marriage with Miss +Trevannion, which having taken place in a private chapel at Carhais, +no regular certificate of the ceremony could be produced. At length, +all the necessary evidence having been obtained, on the 13th of +March, 1809, he presented himself in the House of Lords alone--a +proceeding consonant to his character, for he was not so friendless +nor unknown, but that he might have procured some peer to have gone +with him. It, however, served to make his introduction remarkable. + +On entering the House, he is described to have appeared abashed and +pale: he passed the woolsack without looking round, and advanced to +the table where the proper officer was attending to administer the +oaths. When he had gone through them, the chancellor quitted his +seat, and went towards him with a smile, putting out his hand in a +friendly manner to welcome him, but he made a stiff bow, and only +touched with the tip of his fingers the chancellor's hand, who +immediately returned to his seat. Such is the account given of this +important incident by Mr Dallas, who went with him to the bar; but a +characteristic circumstance is wanting. When Lord Eldon advanced +with the cordiality described, he expressed with becoming courtesy +his regret that the rules of the House had obliged him to call for +the evidence of his grandfather's marriage.--"Your Lordship has done +your duty, and no more," was the cold reply, in the words of Tom +Thumb, and which probably was the cause of the marked manner of the +chancellor's cool return to his seat. + +The satire was published anonymously, and immediately attracted +attention; the sale was rapid, and a new edition being called for, +Byron revised it. The preparations for his travels being completed, +he then embarked in July of the same year, with Mr Hobhouse, for +Lisbon, and thence proceeded by the southern provinces of Spain to +Gibraltar. + +In the account of his adventures during this journey, he seems to +have felt, to an exaggerated degree, the hazards to which he was +exposed. But many of his descriptions are given with a bright pen. +That of Lisbon has always been admired for its justness, and the +mixture of force and familiarity. + + + What beauties doth Lisboa's port unfold! + Her image floating on that noble tide, + Which poets vainly pave with sands of gold, + But now whereon a thousand keels did ride, + Of mighty strength since Albion was allied, + And to the Lusians did her aid afford. + A nation swoln with ignorance and pride, + Who lick, yet loathe, the hand that waves the sword +To save them from the wrath of Gaul's unsparing lord. + + But whoso entereth within this town, + That sheening for celestial seems to be, + Disconsolate will wander up and down, + 'Mid many things unsightly strange to see, + For hut and palace show like filthily; + The dingy denizens are reared in dirt; + No personage of high or mean degree + Doth care for cleanness of surtout and shirt, +Though shent with Egypt's plague, unkempt, unwash'd, unhurt. + + +Considering the interest which he afterwards took in the affairs of +Greece, it is remarkable that he should have passed through Spain, at +the period he has described, without feeling any sympathy with the +spirit which then animated that nation. Intent, however, on his +travels, pressing onward to an unknown goal, he paused not to inquire +as to the earnestness of the patriotic zeal of the Spaniards, nor +once dreamed, even for adventure, of taking a part in their heroic +cause. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + +First Acquaintance with Byron--Embark together--The Voyage + +It was at Gibraltar that I first fell in with Lord Byron. I had +arrived there in the packet from England, in indifferent health, on +my way to Sicily. I had then no intention of travelling. I only +went a trip, intending to return home after spending a few weeks in +Malta, Sicily, and Sardinia; having, before my departure, entered +into the Society of Lincoln's Inn, with the design of studying the +law. + +At this time, my friend, the late Colonel Wright, of the artillery, +was secretary to the Governor; and during the short stay of the +packet at the Rock, he invited me to the hospitalities of his house, +and among other civilities gave me admission to the garrison library. + +The day, I well remember, was exceedingly sultry. The air was +sickly; and if the wind was not a sirocco, it was a withering +levanter--oppressive to the functions of life, and to an invalid +denying all exercise. Instead of rambling over the fortifications, I +was, in consequence, constrained to spend the hottest part of the day +in the library; and, while sitting there, a young man came in and +seated himself opposite to me at the table where I was reading. +Something in his appearance attracted my attention. His dress +indicated a Londoner of some fashion, partly by its neatness and +simplicity, with just so much of a peculiarity of style as served to +show, that although he belonged to the order of metropolitan beaux, +he was not altogether a common one. + +I thought his face not unknown to me; I began to conjecture where I +could have seen him; and, after an unobserved scrutiny, to speculate +both as to his character and vocation. His physiognomy was +prepossessing and intelligent, but ever and anon his brows lowered +and gathered; a habit, as I then thought, with a degree of +affectation in it, probably first assumed for picturesque effect and +energetic expression; but which I afterwards discovered was +undoubtedly the occasional scowl of some unpleasant reminiscence: it +was certainly disagreeable--forbidding--but still the general cast of +his features was impressed with elegance and character. + +At dinner, a large party assembled at Colonel Wright's; among others +the Countess of Westmorland, with Tom Sheridan and his beautiful +wife; and it happened that Sheridan, in relating the local news of +the morning, mentioned that Lord Byron and Mr Hobhouse had come in +from Spain, and were to proceed up the Mediterranean in the packet. +He was not acquainted with either. + +Hobhouse had, a short time before I left London,, published certain +translations and poems rather respectable in their way, and I had +seen the work, so that his name was not altogether strange to me. +Byron's was familiar--the Edinburgh Review had made it so, and still +more the satire of English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, but I was not +conscious of having seen the persons of either. + +On the following evening I embarked early, and soon after the two +travellers came on board; in one of whom I recognised the visitor to +the library, and he proved to be Lord Byron. In the little bustle +and process of embarking their luggage, his Lordship affected, as it +seemed to me, more aristocracy than befitted his years, or the +occasion; and I then thought of his singular scowl, and suspected him +of pride and irascibility. The impression that evening was not +agreeable, but it was interesting; and that forehead mark, the frown, +was calculated to awaken curiosity, and beget conjectures. + +Hobhouse, with more of the commoner, made himself one of the +passengers at once; but Byron held himself aloof, and sat on the +rail, leaning on the mizzen shrouds, inhaling, as it were, poetical +sympathy, from the gloomy Rock, then dark and stern in the twilight. +There was in all about him that evening much waywardness; he spoke +petulantly to Fletcher, his valet; and was evidently ill at ease with +himself, and fretful towards others. I thought he would turn out an +unsatisfactory shipmate; yet there was something redeeming in the +tones of his voice, when, some time after he had indulged his sullen +meditation, he again addressed Fletcher; so that, instead of finding +him ill-natured, I was soon convinced he was only capricious. + +Our passage to Sardinia was tardy, owing to calms; but, in other +respects, pleasant. About the third day Byron relented from his rapt +mood, as if he felt it was out of place, and became playful, and +disposed to contribute his fair proportion to the general endeavour +to wile away the tediousness of the dull voyage. Among other +expedients for that purpose, we had recourse to shooting at bottles. +Byron, I think, supplied the pistols, and was the best shot, but not +very pre-eminently so. In the calms, the jolly-boat was several +times lowered; and, on one of those occasions, his Lordship, with the +captain, caught a turtle--I rather think two--we likewise hooked a +shark, part of which was dressed for breakfast, and tasted, without +relish; your shark is but a cannibal dainty. + +As we approached the gulf, or bay, of Cagliari, in Sardinia, a strong +north wind came from the shore, and we had a whole disagreeable day +of tacking, but next morning, it was Sunday, we found ourselves at +anchor near the mole, where we landed. Byron, with the captain, rode +out some distance into the country, while I walked with Mr Hobhouse +about the town: we left our cards for the consul, and Mr Hill, the +ambassador, who invited us to dinner. In the evening we landed +again, to avail ourselves of the invitation; and, on this occasion, +Byron and his Pylades dressed themselves as aides-de-camp--a +circumstance which, at the time, did not tend to improve my +estimation of the solidity of the character of either. But such is +the force of habit: it appeared a less exceptionable affectation in +the young peer than in the commoner. + +Had we parted at Cagliari, it is probable that I should have retained +a much more favourable recollection of Mr Hobhouse than of Lord +Byron; for he was a cheerful companion, full of odd and droll +stories, which he told extremely well; he was also good-humoured and +intelligent--altogether an advantageous specimen of a well-educated +English gentleman. Moreover, I was at the time afflicted with a +nervous dejection, which the occasional exhilaration produced by his +anecdotes and college tales often materially dissipated, though, for +the most part, they were more after the manner and matter of Swift +than of Addison. + +Byron was, during the passage, in delicate health, and upon an +abstemious regimen. He rarely tasted wine, nor more than half a +glass, mingled with water, when he did. He ate little; no animal +food, but only bread and vegetables. He reminded me of the ghoul +that picked rice with a needle; for it was manifest, that he had not +acquired his knowledge of the world by always dining so sparely. If +my remembrance is not treacherous, he only spent one evening in the +cabin with us--the evening before we came to anchor at Cagliari; for, +when the lights were placed, he made himself a man forbid, took his +station on the railing between the pegs on which the sheets are +belayed and the shrouds, and there, for hours, sat in silence, +enamoured, it may be, of the moon. All these peculiarities, with his +caprices, and something inexplicable in the cast of his metaphysics, +while they served to awaken interest, contributed little to +conciliate esteem. He was often strangely rapt--it may have been +from his genius; and, had its grandeur and darkness been then +divulged, susceptible of explanation; but, at the time, it threw, as +it were, around him the sackcloth of penitence. Sitting amid the +shrouds and rattlins, in the tranquillity of the moonlight, churming +an inarticulate melody, he seemed almost apparitional, suggesting dim +reminiscences of him who shot the albatross. He was as a mystery in +a winding-sheet, crowned with a halo. + +The influence of the incomprehensible phantasma which hovered about +Lord Byron has been more or less felt by all who ever approached him. +That he sometimes came out of the cloud, and was familiar and +earthly, is true; but his dwelling was amid the murk and the mist, +and the home of his spirit in the abysm of the storm, and the hiding- +places of guilt. He was, at the time of which I am speaking, +scarcely two-and-twenty, and could claim no higher praise than having +written a clever worldly-minded satire; and yet it was impossible, +even then, to reflect on the bias of his mind, as it was revealed by +the casualties of conversation, without experiencing a presentiment, +that he was destined to execute some singular and ominous purpose. +The description he has given of Manfred in his youth was of himself. + + +My spirit walk'd not with the souls of men, +Nor look'd upon the earth with human eyes; +The thirst of their ambition was not mine; +The aim of their existence was not mine. +My joys, my griefs, my passions, and my powers, +Made me a stranger. Though I wore the form, +I had no sympathy with breathing flesh. +My joy was in the wilderness--to breathe +The difficult air of the iced mountain's top. +Where the birds dare not build, nor insect's wing +Flit o'er the herbless granite; or to plunge +Into the torrent, and to roll along +On the swift whirl of the new-breaking wave +Of river, stream, or ocean, in their flow-- +In these my early strength exulted; or +To follow through the night the moving moon, +The stars, and their development; or catch +The dazzling lightnings till my eyes grew dim; +Or to look listening on the scatter'd leaves, +While autumn winds were at their evening song;-- +These were my pastimes--and to be alone. +For if the beings, of whom I was one-- +Hating to be so--cross'd me in my path, +I felt myself degraded back to them, +And was all clay again. + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + +Dinner at the Ambassador's--Opera--Disaster of Byron at Malta--Mrs +Spencer Smith + +I shall always remember Cagliari with particular pleasure; for it so +happened that I formed there three of the most agreeable +acquaintances of my life, and one of them was with Lord Byron; for +although we had been eight days together, I yet could not previously +have accounted myself acquainted with his Lordship. + +After dinner, we all went to the theatre, which was that evening, on +account of some Court festival, brilliantly illuminated. The Royal +Family were present, and the opera was performed with more taste and +execution than I had expected to meet with in so remote a place, and +under the restrictions which rendered the intercourse with the +Continent then so difficult. Among other remarkable characters +pointed out to us was a nobleman in the pit, actually under the ban +of outlawry for murder. I have often wondered if the incident had +any effect on the creation of Lara; for we know not in what small +germs the conceptions of genius originate. + +But the most important occurrence of that evening arose from a +delicate observance of etiquette on the part of the ambassador. +After carrying us to his box, which was close to that of the Royal +Family, in order that we might see the members of it properly, he +retired with Lord Byron to another box, an inflection of manners to +propriety in the best possible taste--for the ambassador was +doubtless aware that his Lordship's rank would be known to the +audience, and I conceive that this little arrangement was adopted to +make his person also known, by showing him with distinction apart +from the other strangers. + +When the performance was over, Mr Hill came down with Lord Byron to +the gate of the upper town, where his Lordship, as we were taking +leave, thanked him with more elocution than was precisely requisite. +The style and formality of the speech amused Mr Hobhouse, as well as +others; and, when the minister retired, he began to rally his +Lordship on the subject. But Byron really fancied that he had +acquitted himself with grace and dignity, and took the jocularity of +his friend amiss--a little banter ensued--the poet became petulant, +and Mr Hobhouse walked on; while Byron, on account of his lameness, +and the roughness of the pavement, took hold of my arm, appealing to +me, if he could have said less, after the kind and hospitable +treatment we had all received. Of course, though I thought pretty +much as Mr Hobhouse did, I could not do otherwise than civilly +assent, especially as his Lordship's comfort, at the moment, seemed +in some degree dependent on being confirmed in the good opinion he +was desirous to entertain of his own courtesy. From that night I +evidently rose in his good graces; and, as he was always most +agreeable and interesting when familiar, it was worth my while to +advance, but by cautious circumvallations, into his intimacy; for his +uncertain temper made his favour precarious. + +The next morning, either owing to the relaxation of his abstinence, +which he could not probably well avoid amid the good things of the +ambassadorial table; or, what was, perhaps, less questionable, some +regret for his petulance towards his friend, he was indisposed, and +did not make his appearance till late in the evening. I rather +suspect, though there was no evidence of the fact, that Hobhouse +received any concession which he may have made with indulgence; for +he remarked to me, in a tone that implied both forbearance and +generosity of regard, that it was necessary to humour him like a +child. But, in whatever manner the reconciliation was accomplished, +the passengers partook of the blessings of the peace. Byron, during +the following day, as we were sailing along the picturesque shores of +Sicily, was in the highest spirits overflowing with glee, and +sparkling with quaint sentences. The champagne was uncorked and in +the finest condition. + +Having landed the mail at Girgenti, we stretched over to Malta, where +we arrived about noon next day--all the passengers, except Orestes +and Pylades, being eager to land, went on shore with the captain. +They remained behind for a reason--which an accidental expression of +Byron let out--much to my secret amusement; for I was aware they +would be disappointed, and the anticipation was relishing. They +expected--at least he did--a salute from the batteries, and sent +ashore notice to Sir Alexander Ball, the Governor, of his arrival; +but the guns were sulky, and evinced no respect of persons; so that +late in the afternoon, about the heel of the evening, the two +magnates were obliged to come on shore, and slip into the city +unnoticed and unknown. + +At this time Malta was in great prosperity. Her commerce was +flourishing; and the goodly clusters of its profits hung ripe and +rich at every door. The merchants were truly hospitable, and few +more so than Mr Chabot. As I had letters to him, he invited me to +dinner, along with several other friends previously engaged. In the +cool of the evening, as we were sitting at our wine, Lord Byron and +Mr Hobhouse were announced. His Lordship was in better spirits than +I had ever seen him. His appearance showed, as he entered the room, +that they had met with some adventure, and he chuckled with an inward +sense of enjoyment, not altogether without spleen--a kind of +malicious satisfaction--as his companion recounted with all becoming +gravity their woes and sufferings, as an apology for begging a bed +and morsel for the night. God forgive me! but I partook of Byron's +levity at the idea of personages so consequential wandering destitute +in the streets, seeking for lodgings, as it were, from door to door, +and rejected at all. + +Next day, however, they were accommodated by the Governor with an +agreeable house in the upper part of Valetta; and his Lordship, as +soon as they were domiciled, began to take lessons in Arabic from a +monk--I believe one of the librarians of the public library. His +whole time was not, however, devoted to study; for he formed an +acquaintance with Mrs Spencer Smith, the lady of the gentleman of +that name, who had been our resident minister at Constantinople: he +affected a passion for her; but it was only Platonic. She, however, +beguiled him of his valuable yellow diamond ring. She is the +Florence of Childe Harold, and merited the poetical embalmment, or +rather the amber immortalisation, she possesses there--being herself +a heroine. There was no exaggeration in saying that many incidents +of her life would appear improbable in fiction. Her adventures with +the Marquis de Salvo form one of the prettiest romances in the +Italian language; everything in her destiny was touched with +adventure: nor was it the least of her claims to sympathy that she +had incurred the special enmity of Napoleon. + +After remaining about three weeks at Malta, Byron embarked with his +friend in a brig of war, appointed to convoy a fleet of small +merchantmen to Prevesa. I had, about a fortnight before, passed over +with the packet on her return from Messina to Girgenti, and did not +fall in with them again till the following spring, when we met at +Athens. In the meantime, besides his Platonic dalliance with Mrs +Spencer Smith, Byron had involved himself in a quarrel with an +officer; but it was satisfactorily settled. + +His residence at Malta did not greatly interest him. The story of +its chivalrous masters made no impression on his imagination--none +that appears in his works--but it is not the less probable that the +remembrance of the place itself occupied a deep niche in his bosom: +for I have remarked, that he had a voluntary power of forgetfulness, +which, on more than one occasion, struck me as singular: and I am +led in consequence to think, that something unpleasant, connected +with this quarrel, may have been the cause of his suppression of all +direct allusion to the island. It was impossible that his +imagination could avoid the impulses of the spirit which haunts the +walls and ramparts of Malta; and the silence of his muse on a topic +so rich in romance, and so well calculated to awaken associations +concerning the knights, in unison with the ruminations of Childe +Harold, persuades me that there must have been some specific cause +for the omission. If it were nothing in the duel, I should be +inclined to say, notwithstanding the seeming improbability of the +notion, that it was owing to some curious modification of vindictive +spite. It might not be that Malta should receive no celebrity from +his pen; but assuredly he had met with something there which made him +resolute to forget the place. The question as to what it was, he +never answered the result would throw light into the labyrinths of +his character. + + + +CHAPTER X + + + +Sails from Malta to Prevesa--Lands at Patras--Sails again--Passes +Ithaca--Arrival at Prevesa + +It was on the 19th of September, 1809, that Byron sailed in the +Spider brig from Malta for Prevesa, and on the morning of the fourth +day after, he first saw the mountains of Greece; next day he landed +at Patras, and walked for some time among the currant grounds between +the town and the shore. Around him lay one of the noblest landscapes +in the world, and afar in the north-east rose the purple summits of +the Grecian mountains. + +Having re-embarked, the Spider proceeded towards her destination; the +poet not receiving much augmentation to his ideas of the grandeur of +the ancients, from the magnitude of their realms and states. Ithaca, +which he doubtless regarded with wonder and disappointment, as he +passed its cliffy shores, was then in the possession of the French. +In the course of a month after, the kingdom of Ulysses surrendered to +a British serjeant and seven men. + + + Childe Harold sail'd, and pass'd the barren spot, + Where sad Penelope o'erlook'd the wave; + And onward view'd the mount, not yet forgot. + The lover's refuge, and the Lesbian's grave. + But when he saw the evening star above + Leucadia's far-projecting rock of woe, + And hail'd the last resort of fruitless love, + He felt, or deem'd he felt, no common glow; + And as the stately vessel glided slow + Beneath the shadow of that ancient mount, + He watch'd the billows' melancholy flow, + And, sunk albeit in thought as he was wont-- +More placid seem'd his eye, and smooth his pallid front. + + +At seven in the evening, of the same day on which he passed Leucadia, +the vessel came to anchor off Prevesa. The day was wet and gloomy, +and the appearance of the town was little calculated to bespeak +cheerfulness. But the novelty in the costume and appearance of the +inhabitants and their dwellings, produced an immediate effect on the +imagination of Byron, and we can trace the vivid impression animating +and adorning his descriptions. + + + The wild Albanian, kirtled to his knee, + With shawl-girt head and ornamented gun, + And gold-embroider'd garments, fair to see; + The crimson-scarfed men of Macedon; + The Delhi with his cap of terror on, + And crooked glaive; the lively, supple Greek, + And swarthy Nubia's mutilated son; + The bearded Turk, that rarely deigns to speak, +Master of all around, too potent to be meek. + + +Having partaken of a consecutive dinner, dish after dish, with the +brother of the English consul, the travellers proceeded to visit the +Governor of the town: he resided within the enclosure of a fort, and +they were conducted towards him by a long gallery, open on one side, +and through several large unfurnished rooms. In the last of this +series, the Governor received them with the wonted solemn civility of +the Turks, and entertained them with pipes and coffee. Neither his +appearance, nor the style of the entertainment, were distinguished by +any display of Ottoman grandeur; he was seated on a sofa in the midst +of a group of shabby Albanian guards, who had but little reverence +for the greatness of the guests, as they sat down beside them, and +stared and laughed at their conversation with the Governor. + +But if the circumstances and aspect of the place derived no +importance from visible splendour, every object around was enriched +with stories and classical recollections. The battle of Actium was +fought within the gulf. + + + Ambracia's gulf behold, where once was lost + A world for woman--lovely, harmless thing! + In yonder rippling bay, their naval host + Did many a Roman chief and Asian king + To doubtful conflict, certain slaughter bring. + Look where the second Caesar's trophies rose! + Now, like the lands that rear'd them, withering; + Imperial monarchs doubling human woes! +God! was Thy globe ordained for such to win and lose? + + +Having inspected the ruins of Nicopolis, which are more remarkable +for their desultory extent and scattered remnants, than for any +remains of magnificence or of beauty, + + + Childe Harold pass'd o'er many a mount sublime, + Through lands scarce noticed in historic tales. + Yet in famed Attica such lovely dales + Are rarely seen; nor can fair Tempe boast + A charm they know not; loved Parnassus fails, + Though classic ground and consecrated most, +To match some spots that lurk within this lowering coast. + + +In this journey he was still accompanied by Mr Hobhouse. They had +provided themselves with a Greek to serve as a dragoman. With this +person they soon became dissatisfied, in consequence of their general +suspicion of Greek integrity, and because of the necessary influence +which such an appendage acquires in the exercise of his office. He +is the tongue and purse-bearer of his master; he procures him +lodging, food, horses, and all conveniences; must support his dignity +with the Turks--a difficult task in those days for a Greek--and his +manifold trusts demand that he should be not only active and +ingenious, but prompt and resolute. In the qualifications of this +essential servant, the travellers were not fortunate--he never lost +an opportunity of pilfering;--he was, however, zealous, bustling, and +talkative, and withal good-humoured; and, having his mind intent on +one object--making money--was never lazy nor drunken, negligent nor +unprepared. + +On the 1st of October they embarked, and sailed up the Gulf of +Salona, where they were shown into an empty barrack for lodgings. In +this habitation twelve Albanian soldiers and an officer were +quartered, who behaved towards them with civility. On their +entrance, the officer gave them pipes and coffee, and after they had +dined in their own apartment, he invited them to spend the evening +with him, and they condescended to partake of his hospitality. + +Such instances as these in ordinary biography would be without +interest; but when it is considered how firmly the impression of them +was retained in the mind of the poet, and how intimately they entered +into the substance of his reminiscences of Greece, they acquire +dignity, and become epochal in the history of the development of his +intellectual powers. + +"All the Albanians," says Mr Hobhouse, "strut very much when they +walk, projecting their chests, throwing back their heads, and moving +very slowly from side to side. Elmas (as the officer was called) had +this strut more than any man perhaps we saw afterwards; and as the +sight was then quite new to us, we could not help staring at the +magisterial and superlatively dignified air of a man with great holes +in his elbows, and looking altogether, as to his garment, like what +we call a bull-beggar." Mr Hobhouse describes him as a captain, but +by the number of men under him, he could have been of no higher rank +than serjeant. Captains are centurions. + +After supper, the officer washed his hands with soap, inviting the +travellers to do the same, for they had eaten a little with him; he +did not, however, give the soap, but put it on the floor with an air +so remarkable, as to induce Mr Hobhouse to inquire the meaning of it, +and he was informed that there is a superstition in Turkey against +giving soap: it is thought it will wash away love. + +Next day it rained, and the travellers were obliged to remain under +shelter. The evening was again spent with the soldiers, who did +their utmost to amuse them with Greek and Albanian songs and freaks +of jocularity. + +In the morning of the 3rd of October they set out for Arta, with ten +horses; four for themselves and servants, four for their luggage, and +two for two soldiers whom they were induced to take with them as +guards. Byron takes no notice of his visit to Arta in Childe Harold; +but Mr Hobhouse has given a minute account of the town. They met +there with nothing remarkable. + +The remainder of the journey to Joannina, the capital then of the +famous Ali Pasha, was rendered unpleasant by the wetness of the +weather; still it was impossible to pass through a country so +picturesque in its features, and rendered romantic by the traditions +of robberies and conflicts, without receiving impressions of that +kind of imagery which constitutes the embroidery on the vestment of +poetry. + +The first view of Joannina seen in the morning light, or glittering +in the setting sun, is lively and alluring. The houses, domes, and +minarets, shining through gardens of orange and lemon trees and +groves of cypresses; the lake, spreading its broad mirror at the foot +of the town, and the mountains rising abrupt around, all combined to +present a landscape new and beautiful. Indeed, where may be its +parallel? the lake was the Acherusian, Mount Pindus was in sight, and +the Elysian fields of mythology spread in the lovely plains over +which they passed in approaching the town. + +On entering Joannina, they were appalled by a spectacle +characteristic of the country. Opposite a butcher's shop, they +beheld hanging from the boughs of a tree a man's arm, with part of +the side torn from the body. How long is it since Temple Bar, in the +very heart of London, was adorned with the skulls of the Scottish +noblemen who were beheaded for their loyalty to the son and +representative of their ancient kings! + +The object of the visit to Joannina was to see Ali Pasha, in those +days the most celebrated Vizier in all the western provinces of the +Ottoman empire; but he was then at Tepellene. The luxury of resting, +however, in a capital, was not to be resisted, and they accordingly +suspended their journey until they had satisfied their curiosity with +an inspection of every object which merited attention. Of Joannina, +it may be said, they were almost the discoverers, so little was known +of it in England--I may say in Western Europe--previous to their +visit. + +The palace and establishment of Ali Pasha were of regal splendour, +combining with Oriental pomp the elegance of the Occident, and the +travellers were treated by the Vizier's officers with all the +courtesy due to the rank of Lord Byron, and every facility was +afforded them to prosecute their journey. The weather, however--the +season being far advanced--was wet and unsettled, and they suffered +more fatigue and annoyance than travellers for information or +pleasure should have had to encounter. + +The journey from Joannina to Zitza is among the happiest sketches in +the Pilgrimage of Childe Harold. + + + He pass'd bleak Pindus, Acherusia's lake, + And left the primal city of the land, + And onwards did his farther journey take + To greet Albania's chief, whose dread command + Is lawless law; for with a bloody hand + He sways a nation, turbulent and bold: + Yet here and there some daring mountain-band + Disdain his power, and from their rocky hold +Hurl their defiance far, nor yield unless to gold. + + Monastic Zitza! from thy shady brow, + Thou small, but favour'd spot of holy ground! + Where'er we gaze, above, around, below, + What rainbow tints, what magic charms are found; + Rock, river, forest, mountain, all abound; + And bluest skies that harmonize the whole. + Beneath, the distant torrent's rushing sound + Tells where the volumed cataract doth roll +Between those hanging rocks that shock yet please the soul. + + +In the course of this journey the poet happened to be alone with his +guides, when they lost their way during a tremendous thunderstorm, +and he has commemorated the circumstance in the spirited stanzas +beginning-- + + +Chill and mink is the nightly blast. + + + +CHAPTER XI + + + +Halt at Zitza--The River Acheron--Greek Wine--A Greek Chariot-- +Arrival at Tepellene--The Vizier's Palace + +The travellers, on their arrival at Zitza, went to the monastery to +solicit accommodation; and after some parley with one of the monks, +through a small grating in a door plated with iron, on which marks of +violence were visible, and which, before the country had been +tranquillised under the vigorous dominion of Ali Pasha, had been +frequently battered in vain by the robbers who then infested the +neighbourhood. The prior, a meek and lowly man, entertained them in +a warm chamber with grapes and a pleasant white wine, not trodden out +by the feet, as he informed them, but expressed by the hand. To this +gentle and kind host Byron alludes in his description of "Monastic +Zitza." + + + Amid the grove that crowns yon tufted hill, + Which, were it not for many a mountain nigh + Rising in lofty ranks, and loftier still, + Might well itself be deem'd of dignity; + The convent's white walls glisten fair on high: + Here dwells the caloyer, nor rude is he, + Nor niggard of his cheer; the passer-by + Is welcome still; nor heedless will he flee +From hence, if he delight kind Nature's sheen to see. + + +Having halted a night at Zitza, the travellers proceeded on their +journey next morning, by a road which led through the vineyards +around the villages, and the view from a barren hill, which they were +obliged to cross, is described with some of the most forcible touches +of the poet's pencil. + + + Dusky and huge, enlarging on the sight, + Nature's volcanic amphitheatre, + Chimera's Alps, extend from left to right; + Beneath, a living valley seems to stir. + Flocks play, trees wave, streams flow, the mountain fir + Nodding above; behold Black Acheron! + Once consecrated to the sepulchre. + Pluto! if this be hell I look upon, +Close shamed Elysium's gates; my shade shall seek for none! + + +The Acheron, which they crossed in this route, is now called the +Kalamas, a considerable stream, as large as the Avon at Bath but +towards the evening they had some cause to think the Acheron had not +lost all its original horror; for a dreadful thunderstorm came on, +accompanied with deluges of rain, which more than once nearly carried +away their luggage and horses. Byron himself does not notice this +incident in Childe Harold, nor even the adventure more terrific which +he met with alone in similar circumstances on the night before their +arrival at Zitza, when his guides lost their way in the defiles of +the mountains--adventures sufficiently disagreeable in the advent, +but full of poesy in the remembrance. + +The first halt, after leaving Zitza, was at the little village of +Mosure, where they were lodged in a miserable cabin, the residence of +a poor priest, who treated them with all the kindness his humble +means afforded. From this place they proceeded next morning through +a wild and savage country, interspersed with vineyards, to Delvinaki, +where it would seem they first met with genuine Greek wine, that is, +wine mixed with resin and lime--a more odious draught at the first +taste than any drug the apothecary mixes. Considering how much of +allegory entered into the composition of the Greek mythology, it is +probable that in representing the infant Bacchus holding a pine, the +ancient sculptors intended an impersonation of the circumstance of +resin being employed to preserve new wine. + +The travellers were now in Albania, the native region of Ali Pasha, +whom they expected to find at Libokavo; but on entering the town, +they were informed that he was further up the country at Tepellene, +or Tepalen, his native place. In their route from Libokavo to +Tepalen they met with no adventure, nor did they visit Argyro-castro, +which they saw some nine or ten miles off--a large city, supposed to +contain about twenty thousand inhabitants, chiefly Turks. When they +reached Cezarades, a distance of not more than nine miles, which had +taken them five hours to travel, they were agreeably accommodated for +the night in a neat cottage; and the Albanian landlord, in whose +demeanour they could discern none of that cringing, downcast, +sinister look which marked the degraded Greek, received them with a +hearty welcome. + +Next morning they resumed their journey, and halted one night more +before they reached Tepellene, in approaching which they met a +carriage, not inelegantly constructed after the German fashion, with +a man on the box driving four-in-hand, and two Albanian soldiers +standing on the footboard behind. They were floundering on at a trot +through mud and mire, boldly regardless of danger; but it seemed to +the English eyes of the travellers impossible that such a vehicle +should ever be able to reach Libokavo, to which it was bound. In due +time they crossed the river Laos, or Voioutza, which was then full, +and appeared both to Byron and his friend as broad as the Thames at +Westminster; after crossing it on a stone bridge, they came in sight +of Tepellene, when + + + The sun had sunk behind vast Tomerit, + And Laos, wide and fierce, came roaring by; + The shades of wonted night were gathering yet, + When down the steep banks, winding warily, + Childe Harold saw, like meteors in the sky, + The glittering minarets of Tepalen, + Whose walls o'erlook the stream; and drawing nigh, + He heard the busy hum of warrior-men +Swelling the breeze that sigh'd along the lengthening glen. + + +On their arrival, they proceeded at once to the residence of Ali +Pasha, an extensive rude pile, where they witnessed a scene, not +dissimilar to that which they might, perhaps, have beheld some +hundred years ago, in the castle-yard of a great feudal baron. +Soldiers, with their arms piled against the wall, were assembled in +different parts of the court, several horses, completely caparisoned, +were led about, others were neighing under the hands of the grooms; +and for the feast of the night, armed cooks were busy dressing kids +and sheep. The scene is described with the poet's liveliest pencil. + + + Richly caparison'd a ready row + Of armed horse, and many a warlike store, + Circled the wide extending court below; + Above, strange groups adorn'd the corridor, + And ofttimes through the area's echoing door, + Some high-capp'd Tartar spurr'd his steed away. + The Turk, the Greek, the Albanian, and the Moor + Here mingled in their many-hued array, +While the deep war-drum's sound announced the close of day. + + Some recline in groups, + Scanning the motley scene that varies round. + There some grave Moslem to devotion stoops, + And some that smoke, and some that play, are found. + Here the Albanian proudly treads the ground + Half-whispering, there the Greek is heard to prate. + Hark! from the mosque the nightly solemn sound; + The Muezzin's call doth shake the minaret. +"There is no god but God!--to prayer--lo, God is great!" + + +The peculiar quietness and ease with which the Mahommedans say their +prayers, struck the travellers as one of the most peculiar +characteristics which they had yet witnessed of that people. Some of +the graver sort began their devotions in the places where they were +sitting, undisturbed and unnoticed by those around them who were +otherwise engaged. The prayers last about ten minutes they are not +uttered aloud, but generally in a low voice, sometimes with only a +motion of the lips; and, whether performed in the public street or in +a room, attract no attention from the bystanders. Of more than a +hundred of the guards in the gallery of the Vizier's mansion at +Tepellene, not more than five or six were seen at prayers. The +Albanians are not reckoned strict Mahommedans; but no Turk, however +irreligious himself, ever disturbs the devotion of others. + +It was then the fast of Ramazan, and the travellers, during the +night, were annoyed with the perpetual noise of the carousal kept up +in the gallery, and by the drum, and the occasional voice of the +Muezzin. + + + Just at this season, Ramazani's fast + Through the long day its penance did maintain: + But when the lingering twilight hour was past, + Revel and feast assumed the rule again. + Now all was bustle, and the menial train + Prepared and spread the plenteous board within; + The vacant gallery now seem'd made in vain, + But from the chambers came the mingling din, +And page and slave, anon, were passing out and in. + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + +Audience appointed with Ali Pasha--Description of the Vizier's +Person--An Audience of the Vizier of the Morea + +The progress of no other poet's mind can be to clearly traced to +personal experience as that of Byron's. The minute details in the +Pilgrimage of Childe Harold are the observations of an actual +traveller. Had they been given in prose, they could not have been +less imbued with fiction. From this fidelity they possess a value +equal to the excellence of the poetry, and ensure for themselves an +interest as lasting as it is intense. When the manners and customs +of the inhabitants shall have been changed by time and the +vicissitudes of society, the scenery and the mountains will bear +testimony to the accuracy of Lord Byron's descriptions. + +The day after the travellers' arrival at Tepellene was fixed by the +Vizier for their first audience; and about noon, the time appointed, +an officer of the palace with a white wand announced to them that his +highness was ready to receive them, and accordingly they proceeded +from their own apartment, accompanied by the secretary of the Vizier, +and attended by their own dragoman. The usher of the white rod led +the way, and conducted them through a suite of meanly-furnished +apartments to the presence chamber. Ali when they entered was +standing, a courtesy of marked distinction from a Turk. As they +advanced towards him, he seated himself, and requested them to sit +near him. The room was spacious and handsomely fitted up, surrounded +by that species of continued sofa which the upholsterers call a +divan, covered with richly-embroidered velvet; in the middle of the +floor was a large marble basin, in which a fountain was playing. + + In marble-paved pavilion, where a spring + Of living water from the centre rose, + Whose bubbling did a genial freshness fling, + And soft voluptuous couches breathed repose, + ALI reclined; a man of war and woes. + Yet in his lineaments ye cannot trace, + While Gentleness her milder radiance throws + Along that aged, venerable face, +The deeds that lurk beneath and stain him with disgrace. + + It is not that yon hoary, lengthening beard, + Ill suits the passions that belong to youth; + Love conquers age--so Hafiz hath averr'd: + So sings the Teian, and he sings in sooth-- + But crimes that scorn the tender voice of Ruth, + Beseeming all men ill, but most the man + In years, have mark'd him with a tiger's tooth; + Blood follows blood, and through their mortal span, +In bloodier acts conclude those who with blood began. + + +When this was written Ali Pasha was still living; but the prediction +which it implies was soon after verified, and he closed his stern and +energetic life with a catastrophe worthy of its guilt and bravery. +He voluntarily perished by firing a powder-magazine, when surrounded, +beyond all chance of escape, by the troops of the Sultan his master, +whose authority he had long contemned. + +Mr Hobhouse describes him at this audience as a short fat man, about +five feet five inches in height; with a very pleasing face, fair and +round; and blue fair eyes, not settled into a Turkish gravity. His +beard was long and hoary, and such a one as any other Turk would have +been proud of; nevertheless, he, who was more occupied in attending +to his guests than himself, neither gazed at it, smelt it, nor +stroked it, according to the custom of his countrymen, when they seek +to fill up the pauses in conversation. He was not dressed with the +usual magnificence of dignitaries of his degree, except that his high +turban, composed of many small rolls, was of golden muslin, and his +yataghan studded with diamonds. + +He was civil and urbane in the entertainment of his guests, and +requested them to consider themselves as his children. It was on +this occasion he told Lord Byron, that he discovered his noble blood +by the smallness of his hands and ears: a remark which has become +proverbial, and is acknowledged not to be without truth in the +evidence of pedigree. + +The ceremonies on such visits are similar all over Turkey, among +personages of the same rank; and as Lord Byron has not described in +verse the details of what took place with him, it will not be +altogether obtrusive here to recapitulate what happened to myself +during a visit to Velhi Pasha, the son of Ali: he was then Vizier of +the Morea, and residing at Tripolizza. + +In the afternoon, about four o'clock, I set out for the seraglio with +Dr Teriano, the Vizier's physician, and the Vizier's Italian +secretary. The gate of the palace was not unlike the entrance to +some of the closes in Edinburgh, and the court within reminded me of +Smithfield, in London; but it was not surrounded by such lofty +buildings, nor in any degree of comparison so well constructed. We +ascended a ruinous staircase, which led to an open gallery, where +three or four hundred of the Vizier's Albanian guards were lounging. +In an antechamber, which opened from the gallery, a number of +officers were smoking, and in the middle, on the floor, two old Turks +were seriously engaged at chess. + +My name being sent in to the Vizier, a guard of ceremony was called, +and after they had arranged themselves in the presence chamber, I was +admitted. The doctor and the secretary having, in the meantime, +taken off their shoes, accompanied me in to act as interpreters. + +The presence chamber was about forty feet square, showy and handsome: +round the walls were placed sofas, which, from being covered with +scarlet, reminded me of the woolsacks in the House of Lords. In the +farthest corner of the room, elevated on a crimson velvet cushion, +sat the Vizier, wrapped in a superb pelisse: on his head was a vast +turban, in his belt a dagger, incrusted with jewels, and on the +little finger of his right hand he wore a solitaire as large as the +knob on the stopper of a vinegar-cruet, and which was said to have +cost two thousand five hundred pounds sterling. In his left hand he +held a string of small coral beads, a comboloio which he twisted +backwards and forwards during the greater part of the visit. On the +sofa beside him lay a pair of richly-ornamented London-made pistols. +At some distance, on the same sofa, but not on a cushion, sat Memet, +the Pasha of Napoli Romania, whose son was contracted in marriage to +the Vizier's daughter. On the floor, at the foot of this pasha, and +opposite to the Vizier, a secretary was writing despatches. These +were the only persons in the room who had the honour of being seated; +for, according to the etiquette of this viceregal court, those who +received the Vizier's pay were not allowed to sit down in his +presence. + +On my entrance, his highness motioned to me to sit beside him, and +through the medium of the interpreters began with some commonplace +courtly insignificancies, as a prelude to more interesting +conversation. In his manners I found him free and affable, with a +considerable tincture of humour and drollery. Among other questions, +he inquired if I had a wife: and being answered in the negative, he +replied to me himself in Italian, that I was a happy man, for he +found his very troublesome: considering their probable number, this +was not unlikely. Pipes and coffee were in the mean-time served. +The pipe presented to the Vizier was at least twelve feet long; the +mouth-piece was formed of a single block of amber, about the size of +an ordinary cucumber, and fastened to the shaft by a broad hoop of +gold, decorated with jewels. While the pipes and coffee were +distributing, a musical clock, which stood in a niche, began to play, +and continued doing so until this ceremony was over. The coffee was +literally a drop of dregs in a very small china cup, placed in a +golden socket. His highness was served with his coffee by Pasha Bey, +his generalissimo, a giant, with the tall crown of a dun-coloured +beaver-hat on his head. In returning the cup to him, the Vizier +elegantly eructed in his face. After the regale of the pipes and +coffee, the attendants withdrew, and his highness began a kind of +political discussion, in which, though making use of an interpreter, +he managed to convey his questions with delicacy and address. + +On my rising to retire, his highness informed me, with more polite +condescension than a Christian of a thousandth part of his authority +would have done, that during my stay at Tripolizza horses were at my +command, and guards who would accompany me to any part of the country +I might choose to visit. + +Next morning, he sent a complimentary message, importing, that he had +ordered dinner to be prepared at the doctor's for me and two of his +officers. The two officers were lively fellows; one of them in +particular seemed to have acquired, by instinct, a large share of the +ease and politeness of Christendom. The dinner surpassed all count +and reckoning, dish followed dish, till I began to fancy that the +cook either expected I would honour his highness's entertainment as +Caesar did the supper of Cicero, or supposed that the party were not +finite beings. During the course of this amazing service, the +principal singers and musicians of the seraglio arrived, and sung and +played several pieces of very sweet Turkish music. Among others was +a song composed by the late unfortunate Sultan Selim, the air of +which was pleasingly simple and pathetic. I had heard of the +Sultan's poetry before, a small collection of which has been printed. +It is said to be interesting and tender, consisting chiefly of little +sonnets, written after he was deposed; in which he contrasts the +tranquillity of his retirement with the perils and anxieties of his +former grandeur. After the songs, the servants of the officers, who +were Albanians, danced a Macedonian reel, in which they exhibited +several furious specimens of Highland agility. The officers then +took their leave, and I went to bed, equally gratified by the +hospitality of the Vizier and the incidents of the entertainment. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + + +The Effect of Ali Pasha's Character on Lord Byron--Sketch of the +Career of Ali, and the Perseverance with which he pursued the Objects +of his Ambition + +Although many traits and lineaments of Lord Byron's own character may +be traced in the portraits of his heroes, I have yet often thought +that Ali Pasha was the model from which he drew several of their most +remarkable features; and on this account it may be expedient to give +a sketch of that bold and stern personage--if I am correct in my +conjecture--and the reader can judge for himself when the picture is +before him--it would be a great defect, according to the plan of this +work, not to do so. + +Ali Pasha was born at Tepellene, about the year 1750. His father was +a pasha of two tails, but possessed of little influence. At his +death Ali succeeded to no inheritance but the house in which he was +born; and it was his boast, in the plenitude of his power, that he +began his fortune with sixty paras, about eighteen pence sterling, +and a musket. At that time the country was much infested with +cattle-stealers, and the flocks and herds of the neighbouring +villages were often plundered. + +Ali collected a few followers from among the retainers of his father, +made himself master, first of one village, then of another, amassed +money, increased his power, and at last found himself at the head of +a considerable body of Albanians, whom he paid by plunder; for he was +then only a great robber--the Rob Roy of Albania: in a word, one of +those independent freebooters who divide among themselves so much of +the riches and revenues of the Ottoman dominions. + +In following up this career, he met with many adventures and +reverses, but his course was still onwards, and uniformly +distinguished by enterprise and cruelty. His enemies expected no +mercy when vanquished in the field; and when accidentally seized in +private, they were treated with equal rigour. It is reported that he +even roasted alive on spits some of his most distinguished +adversaries. + +When he had collected money enough, he bought a pashalic; and being +invested with that dignity, he became still more eager to enlarge his +possessions. He continued in constant war with the neighbouring +pashas; and cultivating, by adroit agents, the most influential +interest at Constantinople, he finally obtained possession of +Joannina, and was confirmed pasha of the territory attached to it, by +an imperial firman. He then went to war with the pashas of Arta, of +Delvino, and of Ocrida, whom he subdued, together with that of +Triccala, and established a predominant influence over the agas of +Thessaly. The pasha of Vallona he poisoned in a bath at Sophia; and +strengthened his power by marrying his two sons, Mouctar and Velhi, +to the daughters of the successor and brother of the man whom he had +murdered. In The Bride of Abydos, Lord Byron describes the +assassination, but applies it to another party. + + +Reclined and feverish in the bath, +He, when the hunter's sport was up, +But little deem'd a brother's wrath +To quench his thirst had such a cup: +The bowl a bribed attendant bore-- +He drank one draught, nor needed more. + + +During this progression of his fortunes, he had been more than once +called upon to furnish his quota of troops to the imperial armies, +and had served at their head with distinction against the Russians. +He knew his countrymen, however, too well ever to trust himself at +Constantinople. It was reported that he had frequently been offered +some of the highest offices in the empire, but he always declined +them and sought for power only among the fastnesses of his native +region. Stories of the skill and courage with which he counteracted +several machinations to procure his head were current and popular +throughout the country, and among the Greeks in general he was +certainly regarded as inferior only to the Grand Vizier himself. But +though distrusting and distrusted, he always in the field fought for +the Sultan with great bravery, particularly against the famous rebel +Paswan Oglou. On his return from that war in 1798, he was, in +consequence, made a pasha of three tails, or vizier, and was more +than once offered the ultimate dignity of Grand Vizier, but he still +declined all the honours of the metropolis. The object of his +ambition was not temporary power, but to found a kingdom. + +He procured, however, pashalics for his two sons, the younger of +whom, Velhi, saved sufficient money in his first government to buy +the pashalic of the Morea, with the dignity of vizier, for which he +paid seventy-five thousand pounds sterling. His eldest son, Mouctar, +was of a more warlike turn, with less ambition than his brother. At +the epoch of which I am speaking, he supplied his father's place at +the head of the Albanians in the armies of the Sultan, in which he +greatly distinguished himself in the campaign of 1809 against the +Russians. + +The difficulties which Ali Pasha had to encounter in establishing his +ascendancy, did not arise so much from the opposition he met with +from the neighbouring pashas as from the nature of the people, and of +the country of which he was determined to make himself master. Many +of the plains and valleys which composed his dominions were occupied +by inhabitants who had been always in rebellion, and were never +entirely conquered by the Turks, such as the Chimeriotes, the +Sulliotes, and the nations living among the mountains adjacent to the +coast of the Ionian Sea. Besides this, the woods and hills of every +part of his dominions were in a great degree possessed by formidable +bands of robbers, who, recruited and protected by the villages, and +commanded by chiefs as brave and as enterprising as himself, laid +extensive tracts under contribution, burning and plundering +regardless of his jurisdiction. Against these he proceeded with the +most iron severity; they were burned, hanged, beheaded, and impaled, +in all parts of the country, until they were either exterminated or +expelled. + +A short time before the arrival of Lord Byron at Joannina, a large +body of insurgents who infested the mountains between that city and +Triccala, were defeated and dispersed by Mouctar Pasha, who cut to +pieces a hundred of them on the spot. These robbers had been headed +by a Greek priest, who, after the defeat, went to Constantinople and +procured a firman of protection, with which he ventured to return to +Joannina, where the Vizier invited him to a conference, and made him +a prisoner. In deference to the firman, Ali confined him in prison, +but used him well until a messenger could bring from Constantinople a +permission from the Porte to authorise him to do what he pleased with +the rebel. It was the arm of this man which Byron beheld suspended +from the bough on entering Joannina. + +By these vigorous measures, Ali Pasha rendered the greater part of +Albania and the contiguous districts safely accessible, which were +before overrun by bandits and freebooters; and consequently, by +opening the country to merchants, and securing their persons and +goods, not only increased his own revenues, but improved the +condition of his subjects. He built bridges over the rivers, raised +causeways over the marshes, opened roads, adorned the country and the +towns with new buildings, and by many salutary regulations, acted the +part of a just, though a merciless, prince. + +In private life he was no less distinguished for the same unmitigated +cruelty, but he afforded many examples of strong affection. The wife +of his son Mouctar was a great favourite with the old man. Upon +paying her a visit one morning, he found her in tears. He questioned +her several times as to the cause of her grief; she at last +reluctantly acknowledged that it arose from the diminution of her +husband's regard. He inquired if she thought he paid attention to +other women; the reply was in the affirmative; and she related that a +lady of the name of Phrosyne, the wife of a rich Jew, had beguiled +her of her husband's love; for she had seen at the bath, upon the +finger of Phrosyne, a rich ring, which had belonged to Mouctar, and +which she had often in vain entreated him to give to her. Ali +immediately ordered the lady to be seized, and to be tied up in a +sack, and cast into the lake. Various versions of this tragical tale +are met with in all parts of the country, and the fate of Phrosyne is +embodied in a ballad of touching pathos and melody. + +That the character of this intrepid and ruthless warrior made a deep +impression on the mind of Byron cannot be questioned. The scenes in +which he acted were, as the poet traversed the country, everywhere +around him; and his achievements, bloody, dark, and brave, had become +themes of song and admiration. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + + +Leave Joannina for Prevesa--Land at Fanari--Albania--Byron's +Character of the Inhabitants + +Having gratified their curiosity with an inspection of every object +of interest at Tepellene, the travellers returned Joannina, where +they again resided several days, partaking of the hospitality of the +principal inhabitants. On the 3rd of November they bade it adieu, +and returned to Salona, on the Golf of Arta; where, in consequence of +hearing that the inhabitants of Carnia were up in arms, that numerous +bands of robbers had descended from the mountains of Ziccola and +Agrapha, and had made their appearance on the other side of the gulf, +they resolved to proceed by water to Prevesa, and having presented an +order which they had received from Ali Pasha, for the use of his +galliot, she was immediately fitted out to convey them. In the +course of the voyage they suffered a great deal of alarm, ran some +risk, and were obliged to land on the mainland of Albania, in a bay +called Fanari, contiguous to the mountainous district of Sulli. +There they procured horses, and rode to Volondorako, a town belonging +to the Vizier, by the primate of which and his highness's garrison +they were received with all imaginable civility. Having passed the +night there, they departed in the morning, which, proving bright and +beautiful, afforded them interesting views of the steep romantic +environs of Sulli. + + + Land of Albania, where Iskander rose, + Theme of the young, and beacon of the wise, + And he his namesake whose oft-baffled foes + Shrunk from his deeds of chivalrous emprise; + Land of Albania! let me bend mine eyes + On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men! + The Cross descends, thy minarets arise, + And the pale crescent sparkles in the glen, +Through many a cypress grove within each city's ken. + + +Of the inhabitants of Albania--the Arnaouts or Albanese--Lord Byron +says they reminded him strongly of the Highlanders of Scotland, whom +they undoubtedly resemble in dress, figure, and manner of living. +"The very mountains seemed Caledonian with a kinder climate. The +kilt, though white, the spare active form, their dialect, Celtic in +its sound, and their hardy habits, all carried me back to Morven. No +nation are so detested and dreaded by their neighbours as the +Albanese; the Greeks hardly regard them as Christians, or the Turks +as Moslems, and in fact they are a mixture of both, and sometimes +neither. Their habits are predatory: all are armed, and the red- +shawled Arnaouts, the Montenegrins, Chimeriotes, and Gedges, are +treacherous; the others differ somewhat in garb, and essentially in +character. As far as my own experience goes, I can speak favourably. +I was attended by two, an infidel and a Mussulman, to Constantinople +and every other part of Turkey which came within my observations, and +men more faithful in peril and indefatigable in service are nowhere +to be found. The infidel was named Basilius, the Moslem Dervish +Tahiri; the former a man of middle age, and the latter about my own. +Basili was strictly charged by Ali Pasha in person to attend us, and +Dervish was one of fifty who accompanied us through the forests of +Acarnania, to the banks of the Achelous, and onward to Missolonghi. +There I took him into my own service, and never had occasion to +repent it until the moment of my departure. + +"When in 1810, after my friend, Mr Hobhouse, left me for England, I +was seized with a severe fever in the Morea, these men saved my life +by frightening away my physician, whose throat they threatened to cut +if I was not cured within a given time. To this consolatory +assurance of posthumous retribution, and a resolute refusal of Dr +Romanelli's prescriptions, I attributed my recovery. I had left my +last remaining English servant at Athens; my dragoman was as ill as +myself; and my poor Arnaouts nursed me with an attention which would +have done honour to civilization. + +"They had a variety of adventures, for the Moslem, Dervish, being a +remarkably handsome man, was always squabbling with the husbands of +Athens; insomuch that four of the principal Turks paid me a visit of +remonstrance at the convent, on the subject of his having taken a +woman to the bath--whom he had lawfully bought, however--a thing +quite contrary to etiquette. + +"Basili also was extremely gallant among his own persuasion, and had +the greatest veneration for the Church, mixed with the highest +contempt of Churchmen, whom he cuffed upon occasion in a most +heterodox manner. Yet he never passed a church without crossing +himself; and I remember the risk he ran on entering St Sophia, in +Stamboul, because it had once been a place of his worship. On +remonstrating with him on his inconsistent proceedings, he invariably +answered, 'Our church is holy, our priests are thieves'; and then he +crossed himself as usual, and boxed the ears of the first papas who +refused to assist in any required operation, as was always found to +be necessary where a priest had any influence with the Cogia Bashi of +his village. Indeed, a more abandoned race of miscreants cannot +exist than the lower orders of the Greek clergy. + +"When preparations were made for my return, my Albanians were +summoned to receive their pay. Basili took his with an awkward show +of regret at my intended departure, and marched away to his quarters +with his bag of piastres. I sent for Dervish, but for some time he +was not to be found; at last he entered just as Signor Logotheti, +father to the ci-devant Anglo-consul of Athens, and some other of my +Greek acquaintances, paid me a visit. Dervish took the money, but on +a sudden dashed it on the ground; and clasping his hands, which he +raised to his forehead, rushed out of the room weeping bitterly. +From that moment to the hour of my embarkation, he continued his +lamentations, and all our efforts to console him only produced this +answer, 'He leaves me.' Signor Logotheti, who never wept before for +anything less than the loss of a paras, melted; the padre of the +convent, my attendants, my visitors, and I verily believe that even +Sterne's foolish fat scullion would have left her fish-kettle to +sympathise with the unaffected and unexpected sorrow of this +barbarian. + +"For my part, when I remembered that a short time before my departure +from England, a noble and most intimate associate had excused himself +from taking leave of me, because he had to attend a relation 'to a +milliner's,' I felt no less surprised than humiliated by the present +occurrence and the past recollection. + +"The Albanians in general (I do not mean the cultivators of the earth +in the provinces, who have also that appellation, but the +mountaineers) have a fine cast of countenance; and the most beautiful +women I have ever beheld, in stature and in features, we saw +levelling the road broken down by the torrents between Delvinaki and +Libokavo. Their manner of walking is truly theatrical, but this +strut is probably the effect of the capote or cloak depending from +one shoulder. Their long hair reminds you of the Spartans, and their +courage in desultory warfare is unquestionable. Though they have +some cavalry among the Gedges, I never saw a good Arnaout horseman, +but on foot they are never to be subdued." + +The travellers having left Volondorako proceeded southward until they +came near to the seaside, and passing along the shore, under a castle +belonging to Ali Pasha, on the lofty summit of a steep rock, they at +last reached Nicopolis again, the ruins of which they revisited. + +On their arrival at Prevesa, they had no choice left but that of +crossing Carnia, and the country being, as already mentioned, overrun +with robbers, they provided themselves with a guard of thirty-seven +soldiers, and procured another galliot to take them down the Gulf of +Arta, to the place whence they were to commence their land journey. + +Having embarked, they continued sailing with very little wind until +they reached the fortress of Vonitza, where they waited all night for +the freshening of the morning breeze, with which they again set sail, +and about four o'clock in the afternoon arrived at Utraikee. + +At this place there was only a custom house and a barrack for troops +close to each other, and surrounded, except towards the water, by a +high wall. In the evening the gates were secured, and preparations +made for feeding their Albanian guards; a goat was killed and roasted +whole, and four fires were kindled in the yard, around which the +soldiers seated themselves in parties. After eating and drinking, +the greater part of them assembled at the largest of the fires, and, +while the travellers were themselves with the elders of the party +seated on the ground, danced round the blaze to their own songs, with +astonishing Highland energy. + + + Childe Harold at a little distance stood, + And view'd, but not displeased, the revelry, + Nor hated harmless mirth, however rude; + In sooth, it was no vulgar sight to see + Their barbarous, yet their not indecent glee; + And as the flames along their faces gleam'd, + Their gestures nimble, dark eyes flashing free, + The long wild locks that to their girdles stream'd, +While thus in concert they this lay half sang, half scream'd. + + + "I talk not of mercy, I talk not of fear; + He neither must know who would serve the vizier; + Since the days of our prophet, the crescent ne'er saw + A chief ever glorious like Ali Pashaw. + + + +CHAPTER XV + + + +Leave Utraikee--Dangerous Pass in the Woods--Catoona--Quarrel between +the Guard and Primate of the Village--Makala--Gouri--Missolonghi-- +Parnassus + +Having spent the night at Utraikee, Byron and his friend continued +their journey southward. The reports of the state of the country +induced them to take ten additional soldiers with them, as their road +for the first two hours lay through dangerous passes in the forest. +On approaching these places fifteen or twenty of the party walked +briskly on before, and when they had gone through the pass halted +until the travellers came up. In the woods two or three green spots +were discovered on the road-side, and on them Turkish tombstones, +generally under a clump of trees, and near a well or fountain. + +When they had passed the forest they reached an open country, whence +they sent back the ten men whom they had brought from Utraikee. They +then passed on to a village called Catoona, where they arrived by +noon. It was their intention to have proceeded farther that day, but +their progress was interrupted by an affair between their Albanian +guard and the primate of the village. As they were looking about, +while horses were collecting to carry their luggage, one of the +soldiers drew his sword at the primate, the Greek head magistrate; +guns were cocked, and in an instant, before either Lord Byron or Mr +Hobhouse could stop the affray, the primate, throwing off his shoes +and cloak, fled so precipitately that he rolled down the hill and +dislocated his shoulder. It was a long time before they could +persuade him to return to his house, where they lodged, and when he +did return he remarked that he cared comparatively little about his +shoulder to the loss of a purse with fifteen sequins, which had +dropped out of his pocket during the tumble. The hint was +understood. + +Catoona is inhabited by Greeks only, and is a rural, well-built +village. The primate's house was neatly fitted up with sofas. Upon +a knoll, in the middle of the village, stood a schoolhouse, and from +that spot the view was very extensive. To the west are lofty +mountains, ranging from north to south, near the coast; to the east a +grand romantic prospect in the distance, and in the foreground a +green valley, with a considerable river winding through a long line +of country. + +They had some difficulty in procuring horses at Catoona, and in +consequence were detained until past eleven o'clock the next morning, +and only travelled four hours that day to Makala, a well-built stone +village, containing about forty houses distinct from each other, and +inhabited by Greeks, who were a little above the condition of +peasants, being engaged in pasturage and a small wool-trade. + +The travellers were now in Carnia, where they found the inhabitants +much better lodged than in the Albanian villages. The house in which +they slept at this place resembled those old mansions which are to be +met with in the bottoms of the Wiltshire Downs. Two green courts, +one before and the other behind, were attached to it, and the whole +was surrounded by a high and thick wall, which shut out the prospect, +but was necessary in a country so frequently overrun by strong bands +of freebooters. + +From Makala they proceeded through the woods, and in the course of +their journey passed three new-made graves, which the Albanians +pointing at as they rode by, said they were "robbers." In the course +of the journey they had a distant view of the large town of Vraikore, +on the left bank of the Aspro, but they did not approach it, crossing +the river by a ferry to the village of Gouria, where they passed the +night. + +Leaving that place in the morning, they took an easterly direction, +and continued to ride across a plain of cornfields, near the banks of +the river, in a rich country; sometimes over stone causeways, and +between the hedges of gardens and olive-groves, until they were +stopped by the sea. This was that fruitful region formerly called +Paracheloitis, which, according to classic allegory, was drained or +torn from the river Achelous, by the perseverance of Hercules and +presented by him for a nuptial present to the daughter of Oeneus. + +The water at which they had now arrived was rather a salt marsh than +the sea, a shallow bay stretching from the mouth of the Gulf of +Lepanto into the land for several miles. Having dismissed their +horses, they passed over in boats to Natolico, a town which stood in +the water. Here they fell in with a hospitable Jew, who made himself +remembered by saying that he was honoured in their having partaken of +his little misery. + +Natolico, where they stayed for the night, was a well-built town; the +houses of timber, chiefly of two stories, and about six hundred in +number. Having sent on their baggage in boats, they themselves +proceeded to the town of Missolonghi, so celebrated since as having +suffered greatly during the recent rebellion of the Greeks, but more +particularly as the place where Lord Byron died. + +Missolonghi is situated on the south side of the salt marsh or +shallow, along the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, nearly +opposite to Patras. It is a dull, and I should think an unwholesome +place. The marsh, for miles on each side, has only from a foot to +two feet of water on it, but there is a channel for boats marked out +by perches. When I was there the weather was extremely wet, and I +had no other opportunity of seeing the character of the adjacent +country than during the intervals of the showers. It was green and +pastoral, with a short skirt of cultivation along the bottom of the +hills. + +Abrupt and rapid as the foregoing sketch of the journey through +Albania has been, it is evident from the novelty of its circumstances +that it could not be performed without leaving deep impressions on +the susceptible mind of the poet. It is impossible, I think, not to +allow that far more of the wildness and romantic gloom of his +imagination was derived from the incidents of this tour, than from +all the previous experience of his life. The scenes he visited, the +characters with whom he became familiar, and above all, the chartered +feelings, passions, and principles of the inhabitants, were greatly +calculated to supply his mind with rare and valuable poetical +materials. It is only in this respect that the details of his +travels are interesting.--Considered as constituting a portion of the +education of his genius, they are highly curious, and serve to show +how little, after all, of great invention is requisite to make +interesting and magnificent poetry. + +From Missolonghi the travellers passed over the Gulf of Corinth to +Patras, then a rude, half-ruined, open town with a fortress on the +top of a hill; and on the 4th of December, in the afternoon, they +proceeded towards Corinth, but halted at Vostizza, the ancient +AEgium, where they obtained their first view of Parnassus, on the +opposite side of the gulf; rising high above the other peaks of that +hilly region, and capped with snow. It probably was during this +first visit to Vostizza that the Address to Parnassus was suggested. + + + Oh, thou Parnassus! whom I now survey + Not in the frensy of a dreamer's eye, + Not in the fabled landscape of a lay, + But soaring snow-clad through thy native sky, + In the wild pomp of mountain majesty! + What marvel if I thus essay to sing? + The humblest of thy pilgrims passing by + Would gladly woo thine echoes with his string, +Though from thy heights no more one muse will wave her wing. + + Oft have I dream'd of thee! whose glorious name + Who knows not, knows not man's divinest lore; + And now I view thee, 'tis, alas! with shame + That I in feeblest accents must adore. + When I recount thy worshippers of yore + I tremble, and can only bend the knee; + Nor raise my voice, nor vainly dare to soar, + But gaze beneath thy cloudy canopy +In silent joy, to think at last I look on thee. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + + +Vostizza--Battle of Lepanto--Parnassus--Livadia--Cave at Trophonius-- +The Fountains of Oblivion and Memory--Chaeronea--Thebes--Athens + +Vostizza was then a considerable town, containing between three and +four thousand inhabitants, chiefly Greeks. It stands on a rising +ground on the Peloponnesian side of the Gulf of Corinth. I say +stands, but I know not if it has survived the war. The scenery +around it will always make it delightful, while the associations +connected with the Achaian League, and the important events which +have happened in the vicinity, will ever render the site interesting. +The battle of Lepanto, in which Cervantes lost his hand, was fought +within sight of it. + +What a strange thing is glory! Three hundred years ago all +Christendom rang with the battle of Lepanto, and yet it is already +probable that it will only be interesting to posterity as an incident +in the life of one of the private soldiers engaged in it. This is +certainly no very mournful reflection to one who is of opinion that +there is no permanent fame, but that which is obtained by adding to +the comforts and pleasures of mankind. Military transactions, after +their immediate effects cease to be felt, are little productive of +such a result. Not that I value military virtues the less by being +of this opinion; on the contrary, I am the more convinced of their +excellence. Burke has unguardedly said, 'that vice loses half its +malignity by losing its grossness'; but public virtue ceases to be +useful when it sickens at the calamities of necessary war. The +moment that nations become confident of security, they give way to +corruption. The evils and dangers of war seem as requisite for the +preservation of public morals as the laws themselves; at least it is +the melancholy moral of history, that when nations resolve to be +peaceful with respect to their neighbours, they begin to be vicious +with respect to themselves. But to return to the travellers. + +On the 14th of December they hired a boat with fourteen men and ten +oars, and sailed to Salona; thence they proceeded to Crisso, and rode +on to Delphi, ascending the mountain on horseback, by a steep, craggy +path towards the north-east. After scaling the side of Parnassus for +about an hour, they saw vast masses of rock, and fragments of stone, +piled in a perilous manner above them, with niches and sepulchres, +and relics, and remains on all sides. + +They visited and drank of Castalia, and the prophetic font, Cassotis; +but still, like every other traveller, they were disappointed. +Parnassus is an emblem of the fortune that attends the votaries of +the Muses, harsh, rugged, and barren. The woods that once waved on +Delphi's steep have all passed away, and may now be sought in vain. + +A few traces of terraces may yet be discovered--here and there the +stump of a column, while niches for receiving votive offerings are +numerous among the cliffs, but it is a lone and dismal place; +Desolation sits with Silence, and Ruin there is so decayed as to be +almost Oblivion. + +Parnassus is not so much a single mountain as the loftiest of a +range; the cloven summit appears most conspicuous when seen from the +south. The northern view is, however, more remarkable, for the cleft +is less distinguishable, and seven lower peaks suggest, in +contemplation with the summits, the fancy of so many seats of the +Muses. These peaks, nine in all, are the first of the hills which +receive the rising sun, and the last that in the evening part with +his light. + +From Delphi the travellers proceeded towards Livadia, passing in the +course of the journey the confluence of the three roads where OEdipus +slew his father, an event with its hideous train of fatalities which +could not be recollected by Byron on the spot, even after the tales +of guilt he had gathered in his Albanian journeys, without agitating +associations. + +At Livadia they remained the greater part of three days, during which +they examined with more than ordinary minuteness the cave of +Trophonius, and the streams of the Hercyna, composed of the mingled +waters of the two fountains of Oblivion and Memory. + +From Livadia, after visiting the battlefield of Chaeronea (the +birthplace of Plutarch), and also many of the almost innumerable +storied and consecrated spots in the neighbourhood, the travellers +proceeded to Thebes--a poor town, containing about five hundred +wooden houses, with two shabby mosques and four humble churches. The +only thing worthy of notice in it is a public clock, to which the +inhabitants direct the attention of strangers as proudly as if it +were indeed one of the wonders of the world. There they still affect +to show the fountain of Dirce and the ruins of the house of Pindar. +But it is unnecessary to describe the numberless relics of the famous +things of Greece, which every hour, as they approached towards +Athens, lay more and more in their way. Not that many remarkable +objects met their view; yet fragments of antiquity were often seen, +though many of them were probably brought far from the edifices to +which they had originally belonged; not for their beauty, or on +account of the veneration which the sight of them inspired, but +because they would burn into better lime than the coarser rock of the +hills. Nevertheless, abased and returned into rudeness as all things +were, the presence of Greece was felt, and Byron could not resist the +inspirations of her genius. + + + Fair Greece! sad relic of departed worth! + Immortal! though no more; though fallen, great; + Who now shall lead thy scatter'd children forth + And long-accustom'd bondage uncreate? + Not such thy Sons who whilom did await, + The hopeless warriors of a willing doom, + In bleak Thermopylae's sepulchral strait: + Oh! who that gallant spirit shall resume, +Leap from Eurotas' banks, and call thee from the tomb! + + +In the course of the afternoon of the day after they had left Thebes, +in attaining the summit of a mountain over which their road lay, the +travellers beheld Athens at a distance, rising loftily, crowned with +the Acropolis in the midst of the plain, the sea beyond, and the +misty hills of Egina blue in the distance. + +On a rugged rock rising abruptly on the right, near to the spot where +this interesting vista first opened, they beheld the remains of the +ancient walls of Phyle, a fortress which commanded one of the passes +from Baeotia into Attica, and famous as the retreat of the chief +patriots concerned in destroying the thirty tyrants of Athens. + + + Spirit of freedom! when on Phyle's brow + Thou sat'st with Thrasybulus and his train, + Couldst thou forebode the dismal hour which now + Dims the green beauties of thine Attic plain? + Not thirty tyrants now enforce the chain, + But every carle can lord it o'er thy land; + Nor rise thy sons, but idly rail in vain, + Trembling beneath the scourge of Turkish hand, +From birth till death enslaved; in word, in deed unmann'd. + + +Such was the condition in which the poet found the country as he +approached Athens; and although the spirit he invoked has reanimated +the dejected race he then beheld around him, the traveller who even +now revisits the country will still look in vain for that lofty mien +which characterises the children of liberty. The fetters of the +Greeks have been struck off, but the blains and excoriated marks of +slavery are still conspicuous upon them; the sinister eye, the +fawning voice, the skulking, crouching, base demeanour, time and many +conflicts only can efface. + +The first view of the city was fleeting and unsatisfactory; as the +travellers descended from the mountains the windings of the road +among the hills shut it out. Having passed the village of Casha, +they at last entered upon the slope, and thence into the plain of +Attica but the intervening heights and the trees kept the town +concealed, till a turn of the path brought it full again before them; +the Acropolis crowned with the ruins of the Parthenon--the Museum +hill--and the Monument of Philopappus-- + + + Ancient of Days--august Athena! where, + Where are thy men of might? thy grand in soul? + Gone--glimmering through the dreams of things that were: + First in the race that led to glory's goal, + They won, and pass'd away:--is this the whole? + A schoolboy's tale, the wonder of an hour! + The warrior's weapon, and the sophist's stole + Are sought in vain, and o'er each mouldering tower, +Dim with the mist of years, gray flits the shade of power. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + + +Athens--Byron's Character of the modern Athenians--Visit to Eleusis-- +Visit to the Caverns at Vary and Keratea--Lost in the Labyrinths of +the latter + +It has been justly remarked, that were there no other vestiges of the +ancient world in existence than those to be seen at Athens, they are +still sufficient of themselves to justify the admiration entertained +for the genius of Greece. It is not, however, so much on account of +their magnificence as of their exquisite beauty, that the fragments +obtain such idolatrous homage from the pilgrims to the shattered +shrines of antiquity. But Lord Byron had no feeling for art, perhaps +it would be more correct to say he affected none: still, Athens was +to him a text, a theme; and when the first rush of curiosity has been +satisfied, where else can the palled fancy find such a topic. + +To the mere antiquary, this celebrated city cannot but long continue +interesting, and to the classic enthusiast, just liberated from the +cloisters of his college, the scenery and the ruins may for a season +inspire delight. Philosophy may there point her moral apophthegms +with stronger emphasis, virtue receive new incitements to +perseverance, by reflecting on the honour which still attends the +memory of the ancient great, and patriotism there more pathetically +deplore the inevitable effects of individual corruption on public +glory; but to the man who seeks a solace from misfortune, or is "a- +weary of the sun"; how wretched, how solitary, how empty is Athens! + + + Yet to the remnants of thy splendour past + Shall pilgrims, pensive, but unwearied throng; + Long shall the voyager, with th' Ionian blast, + Hail the bright clime of battle and of song; + Long shall thy annals and immortal tongue + Fill with thy fame the youth of many a shore; + Boast of the aged! lesson of the young! + Which sages venerate and bards adore, +As Pallas and the Muse unveil their awful lore! + + +Of the existing race of Athenians Byron has observed, that they are +remarkable for their cunning: "Among the various foreigners resident +in Athens there was never a difference of opinion in their estimate +of the Greek character, though on all other topics they disputed with +great acrimony. M. Fauvel, the French consul, who has passed thirty +years at Athens, frequently declared in my hearing, that the Greeks +do not deserve to be emancipated, reasoning on the ground of their +national and individual depravity--while he forgot that such +depravity is to be attributed to causes which can only be removed by +the measures he reprobates. + +"M. Roque, a French merchant of respectability long settled in +Athens, asserted with the most amusing gravity, 'Sir, they are the +same canaille that existed in the days of Themistocles.' The +ancients banished Themistocles; the moderns cheat Monsieur Roque: +thus great men have ever been treated. + +"In short, all the Franks who are fixtures, and most of the +Englishmen, Germans, Danes, etc., of passage, came over by degrees to +their opinion, on much the same grounds that a Turk in England would +condemn the nation by wholesale, because he was wronged by his lackey +and overcharged by his washerwoman. Certainly, it was not a little +staggering when the Sieurs Fauvel and Lusieri, the two greatest +demagogues of the day, who divide between them the power of Pericles +and the popularity of Cleon, and puzzle the poor Waywode with +perpetual differences, agreed in the utter condemnation of the Greeks +in general, and of the Athenians in particular." + +I have quoted his Lordship thus particularly because after his +arrival at Athens he laid down his pen. Childe Harold there +disappears. Whether he had written the pilgrimage up to that point +at Athens I have not been able to ascertain; while I am inclined to +think it was so, as I recollect he told me there that he had then +described or was describing the reception he had met with at +Tepellene from Ali Pasha. + +After having halted some time at Athens, where they established their +headquarters, the travellers, when they had inspected the principal +antiquities of the city (those things which all travellers must +visit), made several excursions into the environs, and among other +places went to Eleusis. + +On the 13th of January they mounted earlier than usual, and set out +on that road which has the site of the Academy and the Colonos, the +retreat of OEdipus during his banishment, a little to the right; they +then entered the Olive Groves, crossed the Cephessus, and came to an +open, well-cultivated plain, extending on the left to the Piraeus and +the sea. Having ascended by a gentle acclivity through a pass, at +the distance of eight or ten miles from Athens, the ancient +Corydallus, now called Daphnerouni, they came, at the bottom of a +piney mountain, to the little monastery of Daphne, the appearance and +situation of which are in agreeable unison. The monastery was then +fast verging into that state of the uninhabitable picturesque so much +admired by young damsels and artists of a romantic vein. The pines +on the adjacent mountains hiss as they ever wave their boughs, and +somehow, such is the lonely aspect of the place, that their hissing +may be imagined to breathe satire against the pretensions of human +vanity. + +After passing through the hollow valley in which this monastic +habitation is situated, the road sharply turns round an elbow of the +mountain, and the Eleusinian plain opens immediately in front. It +is, however, for a plain, but of small dimensions. On the left is +the Island of Salamis, and the straits where the battle was fought; +but neither of it nor of the mysteries for which the Temple of Ceres +was for so many ages celebrated, has the poet given us description or +suggestion; and yet few topics among all his wild and wonderful +subjects were so likely to have furnished such "ample room, and verge +enough" to his fancy. + +The next excursion in any degree interesting, if a qualification of +that kind can be applied to excursions, in Attica, was to Cape +Colonna. Crossing the bed of the Ilissus and keeping nearer to Mount +Hymettus, the travellers arrived at Vary, a farm belonging to the +monastery of Agios Asomatos, and under the charge of a caloyer. Here +they stopped for the night, and being furnished with lights, and +attended by the caloyer's servant as a guide, they proceeded to +inspect the Paneum, or sculptured cavern in that neighbourhood, into +which they descended. Having satisfied their curiosity there, they +proceeded, in the morning, to Keratea, a small town containing about +two hundred and fifty houses, chiefly inhabited by rural Albanians. + +The wetness of the weather obliged them to remain several days at +Keratea, during which they took the opportunity of a few hours of +sunshine to ascend the mountain of Parne in quest of a cave of which +many wonderful things were reported in the country. Having found the +entrance, kindled their pine torches, and taken a supply of strips of +the same wood, they let themselves down through a narrow aperture; +creeping still farther down, they came into what seemed a large +subterranean hall, arched as it were with high cupolas of crystal, +and divided into long aisles by columns of glittering spar, in some +parts spread into wide horizontal chambers, in others terminated by +the dark mouths of deep and steep abysses receding into the interior +of the mountain. + +The travellers wandered from one grotto to another until they came to +a fountain of pure water, by the side of which they lingered some +time, till, observing that their torches were wasting, they resolved +to return; but after exploring the labyrinth for a few minutes, they +found themselves again close beside this mysterious spring. It was +not without reason they then became alarmed, for the guide confessed +with trepidation that he had forgotten the intricacies of the cave, +and knew not how to recover the outlet. + +Byron often described this adventure with spirit and humour, +magnifying both his own and his friend's terrors; and though, of +course, there was caricature in both, yet the distinction was +characteristic. Mr Hobhouse, being of a more solid disposition +naturally, could discern nothing but a grave cause for dread in being +thus lost in the bowels of the earth; Byron, however, described his +own anxiety as a species of excitement and titillation which moved +him to laughter. Their escape from starvation and being buried alive +was truly providential. + +While roaming in a state of despair from cave to cell; climbing up +narrow apertures; their last pine-torch fast consuming; totally +ignorant of their position, and all around darkness, they discovered, +as it were by accident, a ray of light gleaming towards them; they +hastened towards it, and arrived at the mouth of the cave. + +Although the poet has not made any use of this incident in +description, the actual experience which it gave him of what despair +is, could not but enrich his metaphysical store, and increase his +knowledge of terrible feelings; of the workings of the darkest and +dreadest anticipations--slow famishing death--cannibalism and the +rage of self-devouring hunger. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + + +Proceed from Keratea to Cape Colonna--Associations connected with the +Spot--Second-hearing of the Albanians--Journey to Marathon--Effect of +his Adventures on the Mind of the Poet--Return to Athens--I join the +Travellers there--Maid of Athens + +From Keratea the travellers proceeded to Cape Colonna, by the way of +Katapheke. The road was wild and rude, but the distant view of the +ruins of the temple of Minerva, standing on the loneliness of the +promontory, would have repaid them for the trouble, had the road been +even rougher. + +This once elegant edifice was of the Doric order, a hexastyle, the +columns twenty-seven feet in height. It was built entirely of white +marble, and esteemed one of the finest specimens of architecture. +The rocks on which the remains stand are celebrated alike by the +English and the Grecian muses; for it was amid them that Falconer +laid the scene of his Shipwreck; and the unequalled description of +the climate of Greece, in The Giaour, was probably inspired there, +although the poem was written in London. It was also here, but not +on this occasion, that the poet first became acquainted with the +Albanian belief in second-hearing, to which he alludes in the same +poem: + + + Deep in whose darkly-boding ear + The death-shot peal'd of murder near. + + +"This superstition of a second-hearing," says Lord Byron, "fell once +under my own observation. On my third journey to Cape Colonna, as we +passed through the defile that leads from the hamlet between Keratea +and Colonna, I observed Dervish Tahiri (one of his Albanian servants) +riding rather out of the path, and leaning his head upon his hand as +if in pain. I rode up and inquired. 'We are in peril!' he answered. +'What peril? we are not now in Albania, nor in the passes to Ephesus, +Missolonghi, or Lepanto; there are plenty of us well armed, and the +Choriotes have not courage to be thieves.'--'True, Affendi; but, +nevertheless, the shot is ringing in my ears.'--'The shot! not a +tophaike has been fired this morning.'--'I hear it, notwithstanding-- +bom--bom--as plainly as I hear your voice.'--'Bah.'--'As you please, +Affendi; if it is written, so will it be.' + +"I left this quick-eared predestinarian, and rode up to Basili, his +Christian compatriot, whose ears, though not at all prophetic, by no +means relished the intelligence. We all arrived at Colonna, remained +some hours, and returned leisurely, saying a variety of brilliant +things, in more languages than spoiled the building of Babel, upon +the mistaken seer; Romaic, Arnaout, Turkish, Italian, and English +were all exercised, in various conceits, upon the unfortunate +Mussulman. While we were contemplating the beautiful prospect, +Dervish was occupied about the columns. I thought he was deranged +into an antiquarian, and asked him if he had become a palaocastro +man. 'No,' said he, 'but these pillars will be useful in making a +stand' and added some remarks, which at least evinced his own belief +in his troublesome faculty of fore-hearing. + +"On our return to Athens we heard from Leone (a prisoner set on shore +some days after) of the intended attack of the Mainotes, with the +cause of its not taking place. I was at some pains to question the +man, and he described the dresses, arms, and marks of the horses of +our party so accurately, that, with other circumstances, we could not +doubt of his having been in 'villainous company,' and ourselves in a +bad neighbourhood. Dervish became a soothsayer for life, and I dare +say is now hearing more musketry than ever will be fired, to the +great refreshment of the Arnaouts of Berat and his native mountains. + +"In all Attica, if we except Athens itself, and Marathon," Byron +remarks, "there is no scene more interesting than Cape Colonna. To +the antiquary and artist, sixteen columns are an inexhaustible source +of observation and design; to the philosopher the supposed scene of +some of Plato's conversations will not be unwelcome; and the +traveller will be struck with the prospect over 'Isles that crown the +AEgean deep.' But, for an Englishman, Colonna has yet an additional +interest in being the actual spot of Falconer's Shipwreck. Pallas +and Plato are forgotten in the recollection of Falconer and Campbell. + + +"There, in the dead of night, by Donna's steep, +The seamen's cry was heard along the deep." + + +From the ruins of the temple the travellers returned to Keratea, by +the eastern coast of Attica, passing through that district of country +where the silver mines are situated; which, according to Sir George +Wheler, were worked with some success about a hundred and fifty years +ago. They then set out for Marathon, taking Rapthi in their way; +where, in the lesser port, on a steep rocky island, they beheld, from +a distance, the remains of a colossal statue. They did not, however, +actually inspect it, but it has been visited by other travellers, who +have described it to be of white marble, sedent on a pedestal. The +head and arms are broken off; but when entire, it is conjectured to +have been twelve feet in height. As they were passing round the +shore they heard the barking of dogs, and a shout from a shepherd, +and on looking round saw a large dun-coloured wolf, galloping slowly +through the bushes. + +Such incidents and circumstances, in the midst of the most romantic +scenery of the world, with wild and lawless companions, and a +constant sense of danger, were full of poetry, and undoubtedly +contributed to the formation of the peculiar taste of Byron's genius. +As it has been said of Salvator Rosa, the painter, that he derived +the characteristic savage force of his pencil from his youthful +adventures with banditti; it may be added of Byron, that much of his +most distinguished power was the result of his adventures as a +traveller in Greece. His mind and memory were filled with stores of +the fittest imagery, to supply becoming backgrounds and appendages, +to the characters and enterprises which he afterward depicted with +such truth of nature and poetical effect. + +After leaving Rapthi, keeping Mount Pentilicus on the left, the +travellers came in sight of the ever-celebrated Plain of Marathon. +The evening being advanced, they passed the barrow of the Athenian +slain unnoticed, but next morning they examined minutely the field of +battle, and fancied they had made antiquarian discoveries. In their +return to Athens they inspected the different objects of research and +fragments of antiquity, which still attract travellers, and with the +help of Chandler and Pausanias, endeavoured to determine the local +habitation and the name of many things, of which the traditions have +perished and the forms have relapsed into rock. + +Soon after their arrival at Athens, Mr Hobhouse left Lord Byron to +visit the Negropont, where he was absent some few days. I think he +had only been back three or four when I arrived from Zante. My visit +to Athens at that period was accidental. I had left Malta with the +intention of proceeding to Candia, by Specia, and Idra; but a +dreadful storm drove us up the Adriatic, as far as Valona; and in +returning, being becalmed off the Island of Zante, I landed there, +and allowed the ship, with my luggage, to proceed to her destination, +having been advised to go on by the Gulf of Corinth to Athens; from +which place, I was informed, there would be no difficulty in +recovering my trunks. + +In carrying this arrangement into effect, I was induced to go aside +from the direct route, and to visit Velhi Pasha, at Tripolizza, to +whom I had letters. Returning by Argos and Corinth, I crossed the +isthmus, and taking the road by Megara, reached Athens on the 20th of +February. In the course of this journey, I heard of two English +travellers being in the city; and on reaching the convent of the +Propaganda, where I had been advised to take up my lodgings, the +friar in charge of the house informed me of their names. Next +morning, Mr Hobhouse, having heard of my arrival, kindly called on +me, and I accompanied him to Lord Byron, who then lodged with the +widow of a Greek, who had been British Consul. She was, I believe, a +respectable person, with several daughters; one of whom has been +rendered more famous by his Lordship's verses than her degree of +beauty deserved. She was a pale and pensive-looking girl, with +regular Grecian features. Whether he really cherished any sincere +attachment to her I much doubt. I believe his passion was equally +innocent and poetical, though he spoke of buying her from her mother. +It was to this damsel that he addressed the stanzas beginning, + + Maid of Athens, ere we part, + Give, oh! give me back my heart. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + + +Occupation at Athens--Mount Pentilicus--We descend into the Caverns-- +Return to Athens--A Greek Contract of Marriage--Various Athenian and +Albanian Superstitions--Effect of their Impression on the Genius of +the Poet + +During his residence at Athens, Lord Byron made almost daily +excursions on horseback, chiefly for exercise and to see the +localities of celebrated spots. He affected to have no taste for the +arts, and he certainly took but little pleasure in the examination of +the ruins. + +The marble quarry of Mount Pentilicus, from which the materials for +the temples and principal edifices of Athens are supposed to have +been brought, was, in those days, one of the regular staple +curiosities of Greece. This quarry is a vast excavation in the side +of the hill; a drapery of woodbine hangs like the festoons of a +curtain over the entrance; the effect of which, seen from the +outside, is really worth looking at, but not worth the trouble of +riding three hours over a road of rude and rough fragments to see: +the interior is like that of any other cavern. To this place I one +day was induced to accompany the two travellers. + +We halted at a monastery close by the foot of the mountain, where we +procured a guide, and ate a repast of olives and fried eggs. Dr +Chandler says that the monks, or caloyers, of this convent are +summoned to prayers by a tune which is played on a piece of an iron +hoop; and, on the outside of the church, we certainly saw a piece of +crooked iron suspended. When struck, it uttered a bell-like sound, +by which the hour of prayer was announced. What sort of tune could +be played on such an instrument the doctor has judiciously left his +readers to imagine. + +When we reached the mouth of the grotto, by that "very bad track" +which the learned personage above mentioned clambered up, we saw the +ruins of the building which the doctor at first thought had been +possibly a hermit's cell; but which, upon more deliberate reflection, +he became of opinion "was designed, perhaps, for a sentinel to look +out, and regulate, by signals, the approach of the men and teams +employed in carrying marble to the city." This, we agreed, was a +very sagacious conjecture. It was, indeed, highly probable that +sentinels were appointed to regulate, by signals, the manoeuvres of +carts coming to fetch away stones. + +Having looked at the outside of the quarry, and the guide having +lighted candles, we entered into the interior, and beheld on all +sides what Dr Chandler saw, "chippings of marble." We then +descended, consecutively, into a hole, just wide enough to let a man +pass; and when we had descended far enough, we found ourselves in a +cell, or cave; it might be some ten or twelve feet square. Here we +stopped, and, like many others who had been there before us, +attempted to engrave our names. Mine was without success; Lord +Byron's was not much better; but Mr Hobhouse was making some progress +to immortality, when the blade of his knife snapped, or shutting +suddenly, cut his finger. These attempts having failed, we inscribed +our initials on the ceiling with the smoke of our candles. After +accomplishing this notable feat, we got as well out of the scrape as +we could, and returned to Athens by the village of Callandris. In +the evening, after dinner, as there happened to be a contract of +marriage performing in the neighbourhood, we went to see the +ceremony. + +Between the contract and espousal two years are generally permitted +to elapse among the Greeks in the course of which the bride, +according to the circumstances of her relations, prepares domestic +chattels for her future family. The affections are rarely consulted +on either side, for the mother of the bridegroom commonly arranges +the match for her son. In this case, the choice had been evidently +made according to the principle on which Mrs Primrose chose her +wedding gown; viz. for the qualities that would wear well. For the +bride was a stout household quean; her face painted with vermilion, +and her person arrayed in uncouth embroidered garments. +Unfortunately, we were disappointed of seeing the ceremony, as it was +over before we arrived. + +This incident led me to inquire particularly into the existing usages +and customs of the Athenians; and I find in the notes of my journal +of the evening of that day's adventures, a memorandum of a curious +practice among the Athenian maidens when they become anxious to get +husbands. On the first evening of the new moon, they put a little +honey, a little salt, and a piece of bread on a plate, which they +leave at a particular spot on the east bank of the Ilissus, near the +Stadium, and muttering some ancient words, to the effect that Fate +may send them a handsome young man, return home, and long for the +fulfilment of the charm. On mentioning this circumstance to the +travellers, one of them informed me, that above the spot where these +offerings are made, a statue of Venus, according to Pausanias, +formerly stood. It is, therefore, highly probable that what is now a +superstitious, was anciently a religious rite. + +At this period my fellow-passengers were full of their adventures in +Albania. The country was new, and the inhabitants had appeared to +them a bold and singular race. In addition to the characteristic +descriptions which I have extracted from Lord Byron's notes, as well +as Mr Hobhouse's travels, I am indebted to them, as well as to +others, for a number of memoranda obtained in conversation, which +they have themselves neglected to record, but which probably became +unconsciously mingled with the recollections of both; at least, I can +discern traces of them in different parts of the poet's works. + +The Albanians are a race of mountaineers, and it has been often +remarked that mountaineers, more than any other people, are attached +to their native land, while no other have so strong a thirst of +adventure. The affection which they cherish for the scenes of their +youth tends, perhaps, to excite their migratory spirit. For the +motive of their adventures is to procure the means of subsisting in +ease at home. + +This migratory humour is not, however, universal to the Albanians, +but applies only to those who go in quest of rural employment, and +who are found in a state of servitude among even the Greeks. It +deserves, however, to be noticed, that with the Greeks they rarely +ever mix or intermarry, and that they retain both their own national +dress and manners unchanged among them. Several of their customs are +singular. It is, for example, in vain to ask a light or any fire +from the houses of the Albanians after sunset, if the husband or head +of the family be still afield; a custom in which there is more of +police regulation than of superstition, as it interdicts a plausible +pretext for entering the cottages in the obscurity of twilight, when +the women are defenceless by the absence of the men. + +Some of their usages, with respect to births, baptisms, and burials, +are also curious. When the mother feels the fulness of time at hand, +the priestess of Lucina, the midwife, is duly summoned, and she comes +bearing in her hand a tripod, better known as a three-legged stool, +the uses of which are only revealed to the initiated. She is +received by the matronly friends of the mother, and begins the +mysteries by opening every lock and lid in the house. During this +ceremony the maiden females are excluded. + +The rites which succeed the baptism of a child are still more +recondite. Four or five days after the christening, the midwife +prepares, with her own mystical hands, certain savoury messes, +spreads a table, and places them on it. She then departs, and all +the family, leaving the door open, in silence retire to sleep. This +table is covered for the Miri of the child, an occult being, that is +supposed to have the care of its destiny. In the course of the +night, if the child is to be fortunate, the Miri comes and partakes +of the feast, generally in the shape of a cat; but if the Miri do not +come, nor taste of the food, the child is considered to have been +doomed to misfortune and misery; and no doubt the treatment it +afterwards receives is consonant to its evil predestination. + +The Albanians have, like the vulgar of all countries, a species of +hearth or household superstitions, distinct from their wild and +imperfect religion. They imagine that mankind, after death, become +voorthoolakases, and often pay visits to their friends and foes for +the same reasons, and in the same way, that our own country ghosts +walk abroad; and their visiting hour is, also, midnight. But the +collyvillory is another sort of personage. He delights in mischief +and pranks, and is, besides, a lewd and foul spirit; and, therefore, +very properly detested. He is let loose on the night of the +nativity, with licence for twelve nights to plague men's wives; at +which time some one of the family must keep wakeful vigil all the +livelong night, beside a clear and cheerful fire, otherwise this +naughty imp would pour such an aqueous stream on the hearth, that +fire could never be kindled there again. + +The Albanians are also pestered with another species of malignant +creatures; men and women whose gifts are followed by misfortunes, +whose eyes glimpse evil, and by whose touch the most prosperous +affairs are blasted. They work their malicious sorceries in the +dark, collect herbs of baleful influence; by the help of which, they +strike their enemies with palsy, and cattle with distemper. The +males are called maissi, and the females maissa--witches and +warlocks. + +Besides these curious superstitious peculiarities, they have among +them persons who pretend to know the character of approaching events +by hearing sounds which resemble those that shall accompany the +actual occurrence. Having, however, given Lord Byron's account of +the adventure of his servant Dervish, at Cape Colonna, it is +unnecessary to be more particular with the subject here. Indeed, but +for the great impression which everything about the Albanians made on +the mind of the poet, the insertion of these memoranda would be +irrelevant. They will, however, serve to elucidate several +allusions, not otherwise very clear, in those poems of which the +scenes are laid in Greece; and tend, in some measure, to confirm the +correctness of the opinion, that his genius is much more indebted to +facts and actual adventures, than to the force of his imagination. +Many things regarded in his most original productions, as fancies and +invention, may be traced to transactions in which he was himself a +spectator or an actor. The impress of experience is vivid upon them +all. + + + +CHAPTER XX + + + +Local Pleasures--Byron's Grecian Poems--His Departure from Athens-- +Description of Evening in "The Corsair"--The Opening of "The Giaour"- +-State of Patriotic Feeling then in Greece--Smyrna--Change in Lord +Byron's Manners + +The genii that preside over famous places have less influence on the +imagination than on the memory. The pleasures enjoyed on the spot +spring from the reminiscences of reading; and the subsequent +enjoyment derived from having visited celebrated scenes, comes again +from the remembrance of objects seen there, and the associations +connected with them. + +A residence at Athens, day after day, is but little more interesting +than in a common country town: but afterwards, in reading either of +the ancient or of the modern inhabitants, it is surprising to find +how much local knowledge the memory had unconsciously acquired on the +spot, arising from the variety of objects to which the attention had +been directed. + +The best of all Byron's works, the most racy and original, are +undoubtedly those which relate to Greece; but it is only travellers +who have visited the scenes that can appreciate them properly. In +them his peculiar style and faculty are most eminent; in all his +other productions, imitation, even mere translation may be often +traced, and though, without question, everything he touched became +transmuted into something more beautiful and precious, yet he was +never so masterly as in describing the scenery of Greece, and +Albanian manners. In a general estimate of his works, it may be +found that he has produced as fine or finer passages than any in his +Grecian poems; but their excellence, either as respects his own, or +the productions of others, is comparative. In the Grecian poems he +is only truly original; in them the excellence is all his own, and +they possess the rare and distinguished quality of being as true to +fact and nature, as they are brilliant in poetical expression. +Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is the most faithful descriptive poem +which has been written since the Odyssey; and the occasional scenes +introduced into the other poems, when the action is laid in Greece, +are equally vivid and glowing. + +When I saw him at Athens, the spring was still shrinking in the bud. +It was not until he returned from Constantinople in the following +autumn, that he saw the climate and country with those delightful +aspects which he has delineated with so much felicity in The Giaour +and The Corsair. It may, however, be mentioned, that the fine +description of a calm sunset, with which the third canto of The +Corsair opens, has always reminded me of the evening before his +departure from Athens, owing to the circumstance of my having, in the +course of the day, visited the spot which probably suggested the +scene described. + +It was the 4th of March, 1810; the Pylades sloop of war came that +morning into the Piraeus, and landed Dr Darwin, a son of the poet, +with his friend, Mr Galton, who had come out in her for a cruise. +Captain Ferguson, her commander, was so kind as to offer the English +then in Athens, viz., Lord Byron, Mr Hobhouse, and myself, a passage +to Smyrna. As I had not received my luggage from Specia, I could not +avail myself of the offer, but the other two did: I accompanied +Captain Ferguson, however, and Dr Darwin, in a walk to the Straits of +Salamis; the ship, in the meantime, after landing them, having been +moored there. + +It was one of those serene and cloudless days of the early spring, +when the first indications of leaf and blossom may just be discerned. +The islands slept, as it were, on their glassy couch, and a slight +dun haze hung upon the mountains, as if they too were drowsy. After +an easy walk of about two hours, passing through the olive groves, +and along the bottom of the hill on which Xerxes sat to view the +battle, we came opposite to a little cove near the ferry, and made a +signal to the ship for a boat. Having gone on board and partaken of +some refreshment, the boat then carried us back to the Piraeus, where +we landed, about an hour before sundown--all the wide landscape +presenting at the time the calm and genial tranquillity which is +almost experienced anew in reading these delicious lines: + + +Slow sinks more lovely e'er his race be run, +Along Morea's hills, the setting sun +Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright, +But one unclouded blaze of living light. +O'er the hush'd deep the yellow beam he throws, +Gilds the green wave that trembles as it flows. +On old Egina's rock, and Idra's isle, +The god of gladness sheds his parting smile; +O'er his own regions lingering, loves to shine, +Though there his altars are no more divine;-- +Descending fast, the mountain shadows kiss +Thy glorious gulf, unconquer'd Salamis! + +Their azure arches, through the long expanse, +More deeply purpled meet his mellowing glance, +And tenderest tints, along their summits driven, +Mark his gay course, and own the hues of heaven; +Till darkly shaded from the land and deep, +Behind his Delphian cliff he sinks to sleep. + + +The opening of The Giaour is a more general description, but the +locality is distinctly marked by reference to the tomb above the +rocks of the promontory, commonly said to be that of Themistocles; +and yet the scene included in it certainly is rather the view from +Cape Colonna, than from the heights of Munychia. + + +No breath of air to break the wave +That rolls below the Athenian's grave, +That tomb, which, gleaming o'er the cliff, +First greets the homeward-veering skiff, +High o'er the land he saved in vain-- +When shall such hero live again! + + +The environs of the Piraeus were indeed, at that time, well +calculated to inspire those mournful reflections with which the poet +introduces the Infidel's impassioned tale. The solitude, the relics, +the decay, and sad uses to which the pirate and the slave-dealer had +put the shores and waters so honoured by freedom, rendered a visit to +the Piraeus something near in feeling to a pilgrimage. + + + Such is the aspect of this shore, + 'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more! + So coldly sweet, so deadly fair, + We start, for soul is wanting there. + Hers is the loveliness in death, + That parts not quite with parting breath; + But beauty with that fearful bloom, + That hue which haunts it to the tomb, + Expression's last receding ray, + A gilded halo hov'ring round decay, + The farewell beam of feeling past away. +Spark of that flame, perchance of heavenly birth, +Which gleams, but warms no more its cherish'd earth. + + +At that time Lord Byron, if he did pity the condition of the Greeks, +evinced very little confidence in the resurrection of the nation, +even although symptoms of change and reanimation were here and there +perceptible, and could not have escaped his observation. Greece had +indeed been so long ruined, that even her desolation was then in a +state of decay. The new cycle in her fortunes had certainly not +commenced, but it was manifest, by many a sign, that the course of +the old was concluding, and that the whole country felt the assuring +auguries of undivulged renovation. The influence of that period did +not, however, penetrate the bosom of the poet; and when he first +quitted Athens, assuredly he cared as little about the destinies of +the Greeks, as he did for those of the Portuguese and Spaniards, when +he arrived at Gibraltar. + +About three weeks or a month after he had left Athens, I went by a +circuitous route to Smyrna, where I found him waiting with Mr +Hobhouse, to proceed with the Salsette frigate, then ordered to +Constantinople, to bring away Mr Adair, the ambassador. He had, in +the meantime, visited Ephesus, and acquired some knowledge of the +environs of Smyrna; but he appeared to have been less interested by +what he had seen there than by the adventures of his Albanian tour. +Perhaps I did him injustice, but I thought he was also, in that short +space, something changed, and not with improvement. Towards Mr +Hobhouse, he seemed less cordial, and was altogether, I should say, +having no better phrase to express what I would describe, more of a +Captain Grand than improved in his manners, and more disposed to hold +his own opinion than I had ever before observed in him. I was +particularly struck with this at dinner, on the day after my arrival. +We dined together with a large party at the consul's, and he seemed +inclined to exact a deference to his dogmas, that was more lordly +than philosophical. One of the naval officers present, I think the +captain of the Salsette, felt, as well as others, this overweening, +and announced a contrary opinion on some question connected with the +politics of the late Mr Pitt with so much firm good sense, that Lord +Byron was perceptibly rebuked by it, and became reserved, as if he +deemed that sullenness enhanced dignity. I never in the whole course +of my acquaintance saw him kithe so unfavourably as he did on that +occasion. In the course of the evening, however, he condescended to +thaw, and before the party broke up, his austerity began to leaf, and +hide its thorns under the influence of a relenting temperament. It +was, however, too evident--at least it was so to me--that without +intending wrong, or any offence, the unchecked humour of his temper +was, by its caprices, calculated to prevent him from ever gaining +that regard to which his talents and freer moods, independently of +his rank, ought to have entitled him. Such men become objects of +solicitude, but never of esteem. + +I was also on this occasion struck with another new phase in his +character; he seemed to be actuated by no purpose--he spoke no more +of passing "beyond Aurora and the Ganges," but seemed disposed to let +the current of chances carry him as it might. If he had any specific +object in view, it was something that made him hesitate between going +home and returning to Athens when he should have reached +Constantinople, now become the ultimate goal of his intended travels. +To what cause this sudden and singular change, both in demeanour and +design, was owing, I was on the point of saying, it would be +fruitless to conjecture; but a letter to his mother, written a few +days before my arrival at Smyrna, throws some light on the sources of +his unsatisfied state. He appears by it to have been disappointed of +letters and remittances from his agent, and says: + +"When I arrive at Constantinople, I shall determine whether to +proceed into Persia, or return--which latter I do not wish if I can +avoid it. But I have no intelligence from Mr H., and but one letter +from yourself. I shall stand in need of remittances, whether I +proceed or return. I have written to him repeatedly, that he may not +plead ignorance of my situation for neglect." + +Here is sufficient evidence that the cause of the undetermined state +of his mind, which struck me so forcibly, was owing to the +incertitude of his affairs at home; and it is easy to conceive that +the false dignity he assumed, and which seemed so like arrogance, was +the natural effect of the anxiety and embarrassment he suffered, and +of the apprehension of a person of his rank being, on account of his +remittances, exposed to require assistance among strangers. But as +the scope of my task relates more to the history of his mind, than of +his private affairs, I shall resume the narrative of his travels, in +which the curiosity of the reader ought to be more legitimately +interested. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + + +Smyrna--The Sport of the Djerid--Journey to Ephesus--The dead City-- +The desolate Country--The Ruins and Obliteration of the Temple--The +slight Impression of all on Byron + +The passage in the Pylades from Athens to Smyrna was performed +without accident or adventure. + +At Smyrna Lord Byron remained several days, and saw for the first +time the Turkish pastime of the Djerid, a species of tournament to +which he more than once alludes. I shall therefore describe the +amusement. + +The Musselim or Governor, with the chief agas of the city, mounted on +horses superbly caparisoned, and attended by slaves, meet, commonly +on Sunday morning, on their playground. Each of the riders is +furnished with one or two djerids, straight white sticks, a little +thinner than an umbrella-stick, less at one end than at the other and +about an ell in length, together with a thin cane crooked at the +head. The horsemen, perhaps a hundred in number, gallop about in as +narrow a space as possible, throwing the djerids at each other and +shouting. Each man then selects an opponent who has darted his +djerid or is for the moment without a weapon, and rushes furiously +towards him, screaming "Olloh! Olloh!" The other flies, looking +behind him, and the instant the dart is launched stoops downwards as +low as possible, or wields his horse with inconceivable rapidity, and +picking up a djerid with his cane, or taking one from a running +slave, pursues in his turn the enemy, who wheels on the instant he +darts his weapon. The greatest dexterity is requisite in these mimic +battles to avoid the concurrence of the "javelin-darting crowd," and +to escape the random blows of the flying djerids. + +Byron, having satisfied his curiosity with Smyrna, which is so like +every other Turkish town as to excite but little interest, set out +with Mr Hobhouse on the 13th of March, for Ephesus. As I soon after +passed along the same road, I shall here describe what I met with +myself in the course of the journey, it being probable that the +incidents were in few respects different from those which they +encountered. + +On ascending the heights after leaving Smyrna, the road was +remarkable in being formed of the broken relics of ancient edifices +partly macadamised. On the brow of the hill I met a numerous caravan +of camels coming from the interior of Asia. These ships of the +desert, variously loaded, were moving slowly to their port, and it +seemed to me as I rode past them, that the composed docile look of +the animals possessed a sort of domesticated grace which lessened the +effect of their deformity. + +A caravan, owing to the oriental dresses of the passengers and +attendants, with the numerous grotesque circumstances which it +presents to the stranger, affords an amusing spectacle. On the back +of one camel three or four children were squabbling in a basket; in +another cooking utensils were clattering; and from a crib on a third +a young camel looked forth inquiringly on the world: a long +desultory train of foot-passengers and cattle brought up the rear. + +On reaching the summit of the hills behind Smyrna the road lies +through fields and cotton-grounds, well cultivated and interspersed +with country houses. After an easy ride of three or four hours I +passed through the ruins of a considerable Turkish town, containing +four or five mosques, one of them, a handsome building, still entire; +about twenty houses or so might be described as tenantable, but only +a place of sepulchres could be more awful: it had been depopulated +by the plague--all was silent, and the streets were matted with thick +grass. In passing through an open space, which reminded me of a +market-place, I heard the cuckoo with an indescribable sensation of +pleasure mingled with solemnity. The sudden presence of a raven at a +bridal banquet could scarcely have been a greater phantasma. + +Proceeding briskly from this forsaken and dead city, I arrived in the +course of about half an hour at a coffee-house on the banks of a +small stream, where I partook of some refreshment in the shade of +three or four trees, on which several storks were conjugally building +their nests. While resting there, I became interested in their work, +and observed, that when any of their acquaintances happened to fly +past with a stick, they chattered a sort of How-d'ye-do to one +another. This civility was so uniformly and reciprocally performed, +that the politeness of the stork may be regarded as even less +disputable than its piety. + +The road from that coffee-house lies for a mile or two along the side +of a marshy lake, the environs of which are equally dreary and +barren; an extensive plain succeeds, on which I noticed several +broken columns of marble, and the evident traces of an ancient +causeway, which apparently led through the water. Near the extremity +of the lake was another small coffee-house, with a burial-ground and +a mosque near it; and about four or five miles beyond I passed a +spot, to which several Turks brought a coffinless corpse, and laid it +on the grass while they silently dug a grave to receive it. + +The road then ascended the hills on the south side of the plain, of +which the marshy lake was the centre, and passed through a tract of +country calculated to inspire only apprehension and melancholy. Not +a habitation nor vestige of living man was in sight, but several +cemeteries, with their dull funereal cypresses and tombstones served +to show that the country had once been inhabited. + +Just as the earliest stars began to twinkle I arrived at a third +coffee-house on the roadside, with a little mosque before it, a +spreading beech tree for travellers to recline under in the spring, +and a rude shed for them in showers or the more intense sunshine of +summer. Here I rested for the night, and in the morning at daybreak +resumed my journey. + +After a short ride I reached the borders of the plain of Ephesus, +across which I passed along a road rudely constructed, and raised +above the marsh, consisting of broken pillars, entablatures, and +inscriptions, at the end of which two other paths diverge; one +strikes off to the left, and leads over the Cayster by a bridge above +the castle of Aiasaluk--the other, leading to the right, or west, +goes directly to Scala Nuova, the ancient Neapolis. By the latter +Byron and his friend proceeded towards the ferry, which they crossed, +and where they found the river about the size of the Cam at +Cambridge, but more rapid and deeper. They then rode up the south +bank, and about three o'clock in the afternoon arrived at Aiasaluk, +the miserable village which now represents the city of Ephesus. + +Having put up their beds in a mean khan, the only one in the town, +they partook of some cold provisions which they had brought with them +on a stone seat by the side of a fountain, on an open green near to a +mosque, shaded with tall cypresses. During their repast a young Turk +approached the fountain, and after washing his feet and hands, +mounted a flat stone, placed evidently for the purpose on the top of +the wall surrounding the mosque, and devoutly said his prayers, +totally regardless of their appearance and operations. + +The remainder of the afternoon was spent in exploring the ruins of +Aiasaluk, and next morning they proceeded to examine those of the +castle, and the mouldering magnificence of Ephesus. The remains of +the celebrated temple of Diana, one of the wonders of the ancient +world, could not be satisfactorily traced; fragments of walls and +arches, which had been plated with marble, were all they could +discover, with many broken columns that had once been mighty in their +altitude and strength: several fragments were fifteen feet long, and +of enormous circumference. Such is the condition of that superb +edifice, which was, in its glory, four hundred and twenty feet long +by two hundred and twenty feet broad, and adorned with more than a +hundred and twenty columns sixty feet high. + +When the travellers had satisfied their curiosity, if that can be +called satisfaction which found no entire form, but saw only the +rubbish of desolation and the fragments of destruction, they returned +to Smyrna. + +The investigation of the ruins of Ephesus was doubtless interesting +at the time, but the visit produced no such impression on the mind of +Byron as might have been expected. He never directly refers to it in +his works: indeed, after Athens, the relics of Ephesus are things +but of small import, especially to an imagination which, like that of +the poet, required the action of living characters to awaken its +dormant sympathies. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + + +Embarks for Constantinople--Touches at Tenedos--Visits Alexandria-- +Trees--The Trojan Plain--Swims the Hellespont--Arrival at +Constantinople + +On the 11th of April Lord Byron embarked at Smyrna, in the Salsette +frigate for Constantinople. The wind was fair during the night, and +at half past six next morning, the ship was off the Sygean +promontory, the north end of the ancient Lesbos or Mitylene. Having +passed the headland, north of the little town of Baba, she came in +sight of Tenedos, where she anchored, and the poet went on shore to +view the island. + +The port was full of small craft, which in their voyage to the +Archipelago had put in to wait for a change of wind, and a crowd of +Turks belonging to these vessels were lounging about on the shore. +The town was then in ruins, having been burned to the ground by a +Russian squadron in the year 1807. + +Next morning, Byron, with a party of officers, left the ship to visit +the ruins of Alexandria Troas, and landed at an open port, about six +or seven miles to the south of where the Salsette was at anchor. The +spot near to where they disembarked was marked by several large +cannon-balls of granite; for the ruins of Alexandria have long +supplied the fortresses of the Dardanelles with these gigantic +missiles. + +They rambled some time through the shaggy woods, with which the +country is covered, and the first vestiges of antiquity which +attracted their attention were two large granite sarcophagi; a little +beyond they found two or three fragments of granite pillars, one of +them about twenty-five feet in length, and at least five in diameter. +Near these they saw arches of brick-work, and on the east of them +those magnificent remains, to which early travellers have given the +name of the palace of Priam, but which are, in fact, the ruins of +ancient baths. An earthquake in the course of the preceding winter +had thrown down large portions of them, and the internal divisions of +the edifice were, in consequence, choked with huge masses of mural +wrecks and marbles. + +The visitors entered the interior through a gap, and found themselves +in the midst of enormous ruins, enclosed on two sides by walls, +raised on arches, and by piles of ponderous fragments. The fallen +blocks were of vast dimensions, and showed that no cement had been +used in the construction--an evidence of their great antiquity. In +the midst of this crushed magnificence stood several lofty portals +and arches, pedestals of gigantic columns and broken steps and marble +cornices, heaped in desolate confusion. + +From these baths the distance to the sea is between two and three +miles--a gentle declivity covered with low woods, and partially +interspersed with spots of cultivated ground. On this slope the +ancient city of Alexandria Troas was built. On the north-west, part +of the walls, to the extent of a mile, may yet be traced; the remains +of a theatre are also still to be seen on the side of the hill +fronting the sea, commanding a view of Tenedos, Lemnos, and the whole +expanse of the AEgean. + +Having been conducted by the guide, whom they had brought with them +from Tenedos, to the principal antiquities of Alexandria Troas, the +visitors returned to the frigate, which immediately after got under +way. On the 14th of April she came to anchor about a mile and a half +from Cape Janissary, the Sygean promontory, where she remained about +a fortnight; during which ample opportunity was afforded to inspect +the plain of Troy, that scene of heroism, which, for three thousand +years, has attracted the attention and interested the feelings and +fancy of the civilized world. + +Whether Lord Byron entertained any doubt of Homer's Troy ever having +existed, is not very clear. It is probable, from the little he says +on the subject, that he took no interest in the question. For +although no traveller could enter with more sensibility into the +local associations of celebrated places, he yet never seemed to care +much about the visible features of antiquity, and was always more +inclined to indulge in reflections than to puzzle his learning with +dates or dimensions. His ruminations on the Troad, in Don Juan, +afford an instance of this, and are conceived in the very spirit of +Childe Harold. + + +And so great names are nothing more than nominal, + And love of glory's but an airy lust, +Too often in its fury overcoming all + Who would, as 'twere, identify their dust +From out the wide destruction which, entombing all, + Leaves nothing till the coming of the just, +Save change. I've stood upon Achilles' tomb, +And heard Troy doubted--time will doubt of Rome. + +The very generations of the dead + Are swept away, and tomb inherits tomb, +Until the memory of an age is fled, + And buried, sinks beneath its offspring's doom. +Where are the epitaphs our fathers read, + Save a few glean'd from the sepulchral gloom, +Which once named myriads, nameless, lie beneath, +And lose their own in universal death? + + +No task of curiosity can indeed be less satisfactory that the +examination of the sites of ancient cities; for the guides, not +content with leading the traveller to the spot, often attempt to +mislead his imagination, by directing his attention to circumstances +which they suppose to be evidence that verifies their traditions. +Thus, on the Trojan plain, several objects are still shown which are +described as the self-same mentioned in the Iliad. The wild fig- +trees, and the tomb of Ilus, are yet there--if the guides may be +credited. But they were seen with incredulous eyes by the poet; even +the tomb of Achilles appears to have been regarded by him with equal +scepticism; still his description of the scene around is striking, +and tinted with some of his happiest touches. + + +There on the green and village-cotted hill is + Flanked by the Hellespont, and by the sea, +Entomb'd the bravest of the brave, Achilles-- + They say so. Bryant says the contrary. +And farther downward tall and towering still is + The tumulus, of whom Heaven knows it may be, +Patroclus, Ajax, or Protesilaus,-- +All heroes, who, if living still, would slay us. + +High barrows without marble or a name, + A vast untill'd and mountain-skirted plain, +And Ida in the distance still the same, + And old Scamander, if 'tis he, remain; +The situation seems still form'd for fame, + A hundred thousand men might fight again +With ease. But where I sought for Ilion's walls +The quiet sheep feeds, and the tortoise crawls. + +Troops of untended horses; here and there + Some little hamlets, with new names uncouth, +Some shepherds unlike Paris, led to stare + A moment at the European youth, +Whom to the spot their schoolboy feelings bear; + A Turk with beads in hand and pipe in mouth, +Extremely taken with his own religion, +Are what I found there, but the devil a Phrygian. + + +It was during the time that the Salsette lay off Cape Janissary that +Lord Byron first undertook to swim across the Hellespont. Having +crossed from the castle of Chanak-Kalessi, in a boat manned by four +Turks, he landed at five o'clock in the evening half a mile above the +castle of Chelit-Bauri, where, with an officer of the frigate who +accompanied him, they began their enterprise, emulous of the renown +of Leander. At first they swam obliquely upwards, rather towards +Nagara Point than the Dardanelles, but notwithstanding their skill +and efforts they made little progress. Finding it useless to +struggle with {156} the current, they then turned and went with the +stream, still however endeavouring to cross. It was not until they +had been half an hour in the water, and found themselves in the +middle of the strait, about a mile and a half below the castles, that +they consented to be taken into the boat, which had followed them. +By that time the coldness of the water had so benumbed their limbs +that they were unable to stand, and were otherwise much exhausted. +The second attempt was made on the 3rd of May, when the weather was +warmer. They entered the water at the distance of a mile and a-half +above Chelit-Bauri, near a point of land on the western bank of the +Bay of Maito, and swam against the stream as before, but not for so +long a time. In less than half an hour they came floating down the +current close to the ship, which was then anchored at the +Dardanelles, and in passing her steered for the bay behind the +castle, which they soon succeeded in reaching, and landed about a +mile and a-half below the ship. Lord Byron has recorded that he +found the current very strong and the water cold; that some large +fish passed him in the middle of the channel, and though a little +chilled he was not fatigued, and performed the feat without much +difficulty, but not with impunity, for by the verses in which he +commemorated the exploit it appears he incurred the ague. + + +WRITTEN AFTER SWIMMING FROM SESTOS TO ABYDOS + + +If in the month of dark December + Leander who was nightly wont +(What maid will not the tale remember) + To cross thy stream, broad Hellespont, + +If when the wintry tempest roar'd + He sped to Hero nothing loath, +And thus of old thy current pour'd, + Fair Venus! how I pity both. + +For me, degenerate modern wretch, + Though in the genial month of May, +My dripping limbs I faintly stretch, + And think I've done a feat to-day. + +But since he crossed the rapid tide, + According to the doubtful story, +To woo, and--Lord knows what beside, + And swam for love as I for glory, + +'Twere hard to say who fared the best; + Sad mortals thus the gods still plague you; +He lost his labour, I my jest-- + For he was drown'd, and I've the ague. + + +"The whole distance," says his Lordship, "from the place whence we +started to our landing on the other side, including the length we +were carried by the current, was computed by those on board the +frigate at upwards of four English miles, though the actual breadth +is barely one. The rapidity of the current is such that no boat can +row directly across, and it may in some measure be estimated from the +circumstance of the whole distance being accomplished by one of the +parties in an hour and five, and by the other (Byron) in an hour and +ten minutes. The water was extremely cold from the melting of the +mountain snows. About three weeks before, in April, we had made an +attempt; but having ridden all the way from the Troad the same +morning, and the water being of an icy chilliness, we found it +necessary to postpone the completion till the frigate anchored below +the castles, when we swam the straits as just stated, entering a +considerable way above the European, and landing below the Asiatic +fort. Chevallier says that a young Jew swam the same distance for +his mistress; and Oliver mentions it having been done by a +Neapolitan; but our consul (at the Dardanelles), Tarragona, +remembered neither of these circumstances, and tried to dissuade us +from the attempt. A number of the Salsette's crew were known to have +accomplished a greater distance and the only thing that surprised me +was, that as doubts had been entertained of the truth of Leander's +story, no traveller had ever endeavoured to ascertain its +practicability." + +While the Salsette lay off the Dardanelles, Lord Byron saw the body +of a man who had been executed by being cast into the sea, floating +on the stream, moving to and fro with the tumbling of the water, +which gave to his arms the effect of scaring away several sea-fowl +that were hovering to devour. This incident he has strikingly +depicted in The Bride of Abydos. + + +The sea-birds shriek above the prey +O'er which their hungry beaks delay, +As shaken on his restless pillow, +His head heaves with the heaving billow; +That hand whose motion is not life, +Yet feebly seems to menace strife, +Flung by the tossing tide on high, + Then levell'd with the wave-- +What reeks it tho' that corse shall lie + Within a living grave. +The bird that tears that prostrate form +Hath only robb'd the meaner worm. +The only heart, the only eye, +That bled or wept to see him die, +Had seen those scatter'd limbs composed, + And mourned above his turban stone; +That heart hath burst--that eye was closed-- + Yea--closed before his own. + + +Between the Dardanelles and Constantinople no other adventure was +undertaken or befel the poet. On the 13th of May, the frigate came +to anchor at sunset, near the headland to the west of the Seraglio +Point; and when the night closed in, the silence and the darkness +were so complete "that we might have believed ourselves," says Mr +Hobhouse, "moored in the lonely cove of some desert island, and not +at the foot of a city which, from its vast extent and countless +population, is fondly imagined by its present masters to be worthy to +be called 'The Refuge of the World.'" + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + + +Constantinople--Description--The Dogs and the Dead--Landed at +Tophana--The Masterless Dogs--The Slave Market--The Seraglio--The +Defects in the Description + +The spot where the frigate came to anchor affords but an imperfect +view of the Ottoman capital. A few tall white minarets, and the +domes of the great mosques only are in sight, interspersed with trees +and mean masses of domestic buildings. In the distance, inland on +the left, the redoubted Castle of the Seven Towers is seen rising +above the gloomy walls; and, unlike every other European city, a +profound silence prevails over all. This remarkable characteristic +of Constantinople is owing to the very few wheel-carriages employed +in the city. In other respects the view around is lively, and in +fine weather quickened with innumerable objects in motion. In the +calmest days the rippling in the flow of the Bosphorus is like the +running of a river. In the fifth canto of Don Juan, Lord Byron has +seized the principal features, and delineated them with sparkling +effect. + + + The European with the Asian shore, + Sprinkled with palaces, the ocean stream + Here and there studded with a seventy-four, + Sophia's cupola with golden gleam; + The cypress groves; Olympus high and hoar; + The twelve isles, and the more than I could dream, +Far less describe, present the very view +Which charm'd the charming Mary Montague. + + +In the morning, when his Lordship left the ship, the wind blew +strongly from the north-east, and the rushing current of the +Bosphorus dashed with great violence against the rocky projections of +the shore, as the captain's boat was rowed against the stream. + + +The wind swept down the Euxine, and the wave +Broke foaming o'er the blue Symplegades. +'Tis a grand sight, from off the giant's grave, +To watch the progress of those rolling seas +Between the Bosphorus, as they lash and lave +Europe and Asia, you being quite at ease. + + +"The sensations produced by the state of the weather, and leaving a +comfortable cabin, were," says Mr Hobhouse, "in unison with the +impressions which we felt, when, passing under the palace of the +sultans, and gazing at the gloomy cypresses, which rise above the +walls, we saw two dogs gnawing a dead body." The description in The +Siege of Corinth of the dogs devouring the dead, owes its origin to +this incident of the dogs and the body under the walls of the +seraglio. + + +And he saw the lean dogs beneath the wall, +Hold o'er the dead their carnival. +Gorging and growling o'er carcase and limb, +They were too busy to bark at him. +From a Tartar's scull they had stripp'd the flesh, +As ye peel the fig when its fruit is fresh, +And their white tusks crunched on the whiter scull, +As it slipp'd through their jaws when their edge grew dull. +As they lazily mumbled the bones of the dead, +When they scarce could rise from the spot where they fed. +So well had they broken a lingering fast, +With those who had fallen for that night's repast. +And Alp knew by the turbans that rolled on the sand, +The foremost of these were the best of his band. +Crimson and green were the shawls of their wear, +And each scalp had a single long tuft of hair, +All the rest was shaven and bare. +The scalps were in the wild dogs' maw, +The hair was tangled round his jaw. +But close by the shore on the edge of the gulf, +There sat a vulture flapping a wolf, +Who had stolen from the hills but kept away, +Scared by the dogs from the human prey; +But he seized on his share of a steed that lay, +Pick'd by the birds on the sands of the bay. + + +This hideous picture is a striking instance of the uses to which +imaginative power may turn the slightest hint, and of horror +augmented till it reach that extreme point at which the ridiculous +commences. The whole compass of English poetry affords no parallel +to this passage. It even exceeds the celebrated catalogue of +dreadful things on the sacramental table in Tam O' Shanter. It is +true, that the revolting circumstances described by Byron are less +sublime in their associations than those of Burns, being mere visible +images, unconnected with ideas of guilt, and unlike + + +The knife a father's throat had mangled, +Which his ain son of life bereft: +The gray hairs yet stuck to the heft. + + +Nor is there in the vivid group of the vulture flapping the wolf, any +accessory to rouse stronger emotions, than those which are associated +with the sight of energy and courage, while the covert insinuation, +that the bird is actuated by some instigation of retribution in +pursuing the wolf for having run away with the bone, approaches the +very point and line where the horrible merges in the ludicrous. The +whole passage is fearfully distinct, and though in its circumstances, +as the poet himself says, "sickening," is yet an amazing display of +poetical power and high invention. + +The frigate sent the travellers on shore at Tophana, from which the +road ascends to Pera. Near this landing-place is a large fountain, +and around it a public stand of horses ready saddled, attended by +boys. On some of these Lord Byron and his friend, with the officers +who had accompanied them, mounted and rode up the steep hill, to the +principal Frank Hotel, in Pera, where they intended to lodge. In the +course of the ride their attention was attracted to the prodigious +number of masterless dogs which lounge and lurk about the corners of +the streets; a nuisance both dangerous and disagreeable, but which +the Turks not only tolerate but protect. It is no uncommon thing to +see a litter of puppies with their mother nestled in a mat placed on +purpose for them in a nook by some charitable Mussulman of the +neighbourhood; for notwithstanding their merciless military +practices, the Turks are pitiful-hearted Titans to dumb animals and +slaves. Constantinople has, however, been so often and so well +described, that it is unnecessary to notice its different objects of +curiosity here, except in so far as they have been contributory to +the stores of the poet. + +The slave market was of course not unvisited, but the description in +Don Juan is more indebted to the author's fancy, than any of those +other bright reflections of realities to which I have hitherto +directed the attention of the reader. The market now-a-days is in +truth very uninteresting; few slaves are ever to be seen in it, and +the place itself has an odious resemblance to Smithfield. I imagine, +therefore, that the trade in slaves is chiefly managed by private +bargaining. When there, I saw only two men for sale, whites, who +appeared very little concerned about their destination, certainly not +more than English rustics offering themselves for hire to the farmers +at a fair or market. Doubtless, there was a time when the slave +market of Constantinople presented a different spectacle, but the +trade itself has undergone a change--the Christians are now +interdicted from purchasing slaves. The luxury of the guilt is +reserved for the exclusive enjoyment of the Turks. Still, as a +description of things which may have been, Byron's market is probable +and curious. + + + A crowd of shivering slaves of every nation + And age and sex were in the market ranged, + Each busy with the merchant in his station. + Poor creatures, their good looks were sadly changed. + + All save the blacks seem'd jaded with vexation, + From friends, and home, and freedom far estranged. +The negroes more philosophy displayed, +Used to it no doubt, as eels are to be flayed. + + Like a backgammon board, the place was dotted + With whites and blacks in groups, on show for sale, + Though rather more irregularly spotted; + Some bought the jet, while others chose the pale. + + No lady e'er is ogled by a lover, + Horse by a black-leg, broadcloth by a tailor, + Fee by a counsel, felon by a jailer, + + As is a slave by his intended bidder. + 'Tis pleasant purchasing our fellow-creatures, + And all are to be sold, if you consider + Their passions, and are dext'rous, some by features + Are bought up, others by a warlike leader; + Some by a place, as tend their years or natures; +The most by ready cash, but all have prices, +From crowns to kicks, according to their vices. + + +The account of the interior of the seraglio in Don Juan is also only +probably correct, and may have been drawn in several particulars from +an inspection of some of the palaces, but the descriptions of the +imperial harem are entirely fanciful. I am persuaded, by different +circumstances, that Byron could not have been in those sacred +chambers of any of the seraglios. At the time I was in +Constantinople, only one of the imperial residences was accessible to +strangers, and it was unfurnished. The great seraglio was not +accessible beyond the courts, except in those apartments where the +Sultan receives his officers and visitors of state. Indeed, the +whole account of the customs and usages of the interior of the +seraglio, as described in Don Juan, can only be regarded as +inventions; and though the descriptions abound in picturesque beauty, +they have not that air of truth and fact about them which render the +pictures of Byron so generally valuable, independent of their +poetical excellence. In those he has given of the apartments of the +men, the liveliness and fidelity of his pencil cannot be denied; but +the Arabian tales and Vathek seem to have had more influence on his +fancy in describing the imperial harem, than a knowledge of actual +things and appearances. Not that the latter are inferior to the +former in beauty, or are without images and lineaments of graphic +distinctness, but they want that air of reality which constitutes the +singular excellence of his scenes drawn from nature; and there is a +vagueness in them which has the effect of making them obscure, and +even fantastical. Indeed, except when he paints from actual models, +from living persons and existing things, his superiority, at least +his originality, is not so obvious; and thus it happens, that his +gorgeous description of the sultan's seraglio is like a versified +passage of an Arabian tale, while the imagery of Childe Harold's +visit to Ali Pasha has all the freshness and life of an actual scene. +The following is, indeed, more like an imitation of Vathek, than +anything that has been seen, or is in existence. I quote it for the +contrast it affords to the visit referred to, and in illustration of +the distinction which should be made between beauties derived from +actual scenes and adventures, and compilations from memory and +imagination, which are supposed to display so much more of creative +invention. + + + And thus they parted, each by separate doors, + Raba led Juan onward, room by room, + Through glittering galleries and o'er marble floors, + Till a gigantic portal through the gloom + Haughty and huge along the distance towers, + And wafted far arose a rich perfume, +It seem'd as though they came upon a shrine, +For all was vast, still, fragrant, and divine. + + The giant door was broad and bright and high, + Of gilded bronze, and carved in curious guise; + Warriors thereon were battling furiously; + Here stalks the victor, there the vanquish'd lies; + There captives led in triumph droop the eye, + And in perspective many a squadron flies. +It seems the work of times before the line +Of Rome transplanted fell with Constantine. + + This massy portal stood at the wide close + Of a huge hall, and on its either side + Two little dwarfs, the least you could suppose, + Were sate, like ugly imps, as if allied + In mockery to the enormous gate which rose + O'er them in almost pyramidic pride. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + + +Dispute with the Ambassador--Reflections on Byron's Pride of Rank-- +Abandons his Oriental Travels--Re-embarks in the "Salsette"--The +Dagger Scene--Zea--Returns to Athens--Tour in the Morea--Dangerous +Illness--Return to Athens--The Adventure on which "The Giaour" is +founded + +Although Lord Byron remained two months in Constantinople, and +visited every object of interest and curiosity within and around it, +he yet brought away with him fewer poetical impressions than from any +other part of the Ottoman dominions; at least he has made less use in +his works of what he saw and learned there, than of the materials he +collected in other places. + +From whatever cause it arose, the self-abstraction which I had +noticed at Smyrna, was remarked about him while he was in the +capital, and the same jealousy of his rank was so nervously awake, +that it led him to attempt an obtrusion on the ambassadorial +etiquettes--which he probably regretted. + +It has grown into a custom, at Constantinople, when the foreign +ministers are admitted to audiences of ceremony with the Sultan, to +allow the subjects and travellers of their respective nations to +accompany them, both to swell the pomp of the spectacle, and to +gratify their curiosity. Mr Adair, our ambassador, for whom the +Salsette had been sent, had his audience of leave appointed soon +after Lord Byron's arrival, and his Lordship was particularly anxious +to occupy a station of distinction in the procession. The pretension +was ridiculous in itself, and showed less acquaintance with courtly +ceremonies than might have been expected in a person of his rank and +intelligence. Mr Adair assured him that he could obtain no +particular place; that in the arrangements for the ceremonial, only +the persons connected with the embassy could be considered, and that +the Turks neither acknowledged the precedence, nor could be requested +to consider the distinctions of our nobility. Byron, however, still +persisted, and the minister was obliged to refer him on the subject +to the Austrian Internuncio, a high authority in questions of +etiquette, whose opinion was decidedly against the pretension. + +The pride of rank was indeed one of the greatest weaknesses of Lord +Byron, and everything, even of the most accidental kind, which seemed +to come between the wind and his nobility, was repelled on the spot. +I recollect having some debate with him once respecting a pique of +etiquette, which happened between him and Sir William Drummond, +somewhere in Portugal or Spain. Sir William was at the time an +ambassador (not, however, I believe, in the country where the +incident occurred), and was on the point of taking precedence in +passing from one room to another, when Byron stepped in before him. +The action was undoubtedly rude on the part of his Lordship, even +though Sir William had presumed too far on his riband: to me it +seemed also wrong; for, by the custom of all nations from time +immemorial, ambassadors have been allowed their official rank in +passing through foreign countries, while peers in the same +circumstances claim no rank at all; even in our own colonies it has +been doubted if they may take precedence of the legislative +counsellors. But the rights of rank are best determined by the +heralds, and I have only to remark, that it is almost inconceivable +that such things should have so morbidly affected the sensibility of +Lord Byron; yet they certainly did so, and even to a ridiculous +degree. On one occasion, when he lodged in St James's Street, I +recollect him rating the footman for using a double knock in +accidental thoughtlessness. + +These little infirmities are, however, at most only calculated to +excite a smile; there is no turpitude in them, and they merit notice +but as indications of the humour of character. It was his Lordship's +foible to overrate his rank, to grudge his deformity beyond reason, +and to exaggerate the condition of his family and circumstances. But +the alloy of such small vanities, his caprice and feline temper, were +as vapour compared with the mass of rich and rare ore which +constituted the orb and nucleus of his brilliancy. + +He had not been long in Constantinople, when a change came over his +intentions; the journey to Persia was abandoned, and the dreams of +India were dissolved. The particular causes which produced this +change are not very apparent--but Mr Hobhouse was at the same time +directed to return home, and perhaps that circumstance had some +influence on his decision, which he communicated to his mother, +informing her, that he should probably return to Greece. As in that +letter he alludes to his embarrassment on account of remittances, it +is probable that the neglect of his agent, with respect to them, was +the main cause which induced him to determine on going no farther. + +Accordingly, on the 14th of July, he embarked with Mr Hobhouse and +the ambassador on board the Salsette. It was in the course of the +passage to the island of Zea, where he was put on shore, that one of +the most emphatic incidents of his life occurred; an incident which +throws a remarkable gleam into the springs and intricacies of his +character--more, perhaps, than anything which has yet been mentioned. + +One day, as he was walking the quarter-deck, he lifted an ataghan (it +might be one of the midshipmen's weapons), and unsheathing it, said, +contemplating the blade, "I should like to know how a person feels +after committing murder." By those who have inquiringly noticed the +extraordinary cast of his metaphysical associations, this dagger- +scene must be regarded as both impressive and solemn; although the +wish to know how a man felt after committing murder does not imply +any desire to perpetrate the crime. The feeling might be appreciated +by experiencing any actual degree of guilt; for it is not the deed-- +the sentiment which follows it makes the horror. But it is doing +injustice to suppose the expression of such a wish dictated by +desire. Lord Byron has been heard to express, in the eccentricity of +conversation, wishes for a more intense knowledge of remorse than +murder itself could give. There is, however, a wide and wild +difference between the curiosity that prompts the wish to know the +exactitude of any feeling or idea, and the direful passions that +instigate to guilty gratifications. + +Being landed, according to his request, with his valet, two +Albanians, and a Tartar, on the shore of Zea, it may be easily +conceived that he saw the ship depart with a feeling before unfelt. +It was the first time he was left companionless, and the scene around +was calculated to nourish stern fancies, even though there was not +much of suffering to be withstood. + +The landing-place in the port of Zea, I recollect distinctly. The +port itself is a small land-locked gulf, or, as the Scottish +Highlander would call it, a loch. The banks are rocky and +forbidding; the hills, which rise to the altitude of mountains, have, +in a long course of ages, been always inhabited by a civilized +people. Their precipitous sides are formed into innumerable +artificial terraces, the aspect of which, austere, ruinous, and +ancient, produces on the mind of the stranger a sense of the presence +of a greater antiquity than the sight of monuments of mere labour and +art. The town stands high upon the mountain, I counted on the lower +side of the road which leads to it forty-nine of those terraces at +one place under me, and on the opposite hills, in several places, +upwards of sixty. Whether Lord Byron ascended to the town is +doubtful. I have never heard him mention that he had; and I am +inclined to think that he proceeded at once to Athens by one of the +boats which frequent the harbour. + +At Athens he met an old fellow-collegian, the Marquis of Sligo, with +whom he soon after travelled as far as Corinth; the Marquis turning +off there for Tripolizza, while Byron went forward to Patras, where +he had some needful business to transact with the consul. He then +made the tour of the Morea, in the course of which he visited the +Vizier Velhi Pasha, by whom he was treated, as every other English +traveller of the time was, with great distinction and hospitality. + +Having occasion to go back to Patras, he was seized by the local +fever there, and reduced to death's door. On his recovery he +returned to Athens, where he found the Marquis, with Lady Hester +Stanhope, and Mr Bruce, afterward so celebrated for his adventures in +assisting the escape of the French General Lavalette. He took +possession of the apartments which I had occupied in the monastery, +and made them his home during the remainder of his residence in +Greece; but when I returned to Athens, in October, he was not there +himself. I found, however, his valet, Fletcher, in possession. + +There is no very clear account of the manner in which Lord Byron +employed himself after his return to Athens; but various intimations +in his correspondence show that during the winter his pen was not +idle. It would, however, be to neglect an important occurrence, not +to notice that during the time when he was at Athens alone, the +incident which he afterwards embodied in the impassioned fragments of +The Giaour came to pass; and to apprise the reader that the story is +founded on an adventure which happened to himself--he was, in fact, +the cause of the girl being condemned, and ordered to be sewn up in a +sack and thrown into the sea. + +One day, as he was returning from bathing in the Piraeus, he met the +procession going down to the shore to execute the sentence which the +Waywode had pronounced on the girl; and learning the object of the +ceremony, and who was the victim, he immediately interfered with +great resolution; for, on observing some hesitation on the part of +the leader of the escort to return with him to the Governor's house, +he drew a pistol and threatened to shoot him on the spot. The man +then turned about, and accompanied him back, when, partly by bribery +and entreaty, he succeeded in obtaining a pardon for her, on +condition that she was sent immediately out of the city. Byron +conveyed her to the monastery, and on the same night sent her off to +Thebes, where she found a safe asylum. + +With this affair, I may close his adventures in Greece; for, although +he remained several months subsequent at Athens, he was in a great +measure stationary. His health, which was never robust, was impaired +by the effects of the fever, which lingered about him; perhaps, too, +by the humiliating anxiety he suffered on account of the uncertainty +in his remittances. But however this may have been, it was fortunate +for his fame that he returned to England at the period he did, for +the climate of the Mediterranean was detrimental to his constitution. +The heat oppressed him so much as to be positive suffering, and +scarcely had he reached Malta on his way home, when he was visited +again with a tertian ague. + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + + +Arrival in London--Mr Dallas's Patronage--Arranges for the +Publication of "Childe Harold"--The Death of Mrs Byron--His Sorrow-- +His Affair with Mr Moore--Their Meeting at Mr Rogers's House, and +Friendship + +Lord Byron arrived in London about the middle of July, 1811, having +been absent a few days more than two years. The embarrassed +condition in which he found his affairs sufficiently explains the +dejection and uneasiness with which he was afflicted during the +latter part of his residence in Greece; and yet it was not such as +ought to have affected him so deeply, nor have I ever been able to +comprehend wherefore so much stress has been laid on his supposed +friendlessness. In respect both to it and to his ravelled fortune, a +great deal too much has been too often said; and the manliness of his +character has suffered by the puling. + +His correspondence shows that he had several friends to whom he was +much attached, and his disposition justifies the belief that, had he +not been well persuaded the attachment was reciprocal, he would not +have remained on terms of intimacy with them. And though for his +rank not rich, he was still able to maintain all its suitable +exhibition. The world could never regard as an object of compassion +or of sympathy an English noble, whose income was enough to support +his dignity among his peers, and whose poverty, however grievous to +his pride, caused only the privation of extravagance. But it cannot +be controverted, that there was an innate predilection in the mind of +Lord Byron to mystify everything about himself: he was actuated by a +passion to excite attention, and, like every other passion, it was +often indulged at the expense of propriety. He had the infirmity of +speaking, though vaguely, and in obscure hints and allusions, more of +his personal concerns than is commonly deemed consistent with a +correct estimate of the interest which mankind take in the cares of +one another. But he lived to feel and to rue the consequences: to +repent he could not, for the cause was in the very element of his +nature. It was a blemish as incurable as the deformity of his foot. + +On his arrival in London, his relation, Mr Dallas, called on him, and +in the course of their first brief conversation his Lordship +mentioned that he had written a paraphrase of Horace's Art of Poetry, +but said nothing then of Childe Harold, a circumstance which leads me +to suspect that he offered him the slighter work first, to enjoy his +surprise afterward at the greater. If so, the result answered the +intent. Mr Dallas carried home with him the paraphrase of Horace, +with which he was grievously disappointed; so much so, that on +meeting his Lordship again in the morning, and being reluctant to +speak of it as he really thought, he only expressed some surprise +that his noble friend should have produced nothing else during his +long absence. + +I can easily conceive the emphatic indifference, if my conjecture be +well founded, with which Lord Byron must have said to him, "I have +occasionally written short poems, besides a great many stanzas in +Spenser's measure, relative to the countries I have visited: they +are not worth troubling you with, but you shall have them all with +you, if you like." + +Childe Harold's Pilgrimage was accordingly placed in his hands; Mr +Dallas took it home, and was not slow in discovering its beauties, +for in the course of the same evening he despatched a note to his +Lordship, as fair a specimen of the style of an elderly patronising +gentleman as can well be imagined: "You have written," said he, "one +of the most delightful poems I ever read. If I wrote this in +flattery, I should deserve your contempt rather than your friendship. +I have been so fascinated with Childe Harold, that I have not been +able to lay it down; I would almost pledge my life on its advancing +the reputation of your poetical powers, and on its gaining you great +honour and regard, if you will do me the credit and favour of +attending to my suggestions." + +For some reason or another, Lord Byron, however, felt or feigned +great reluctance to publish Childe Harold. Possibly his repugnance +was dictated by diffidence, not with respect to its merits, but from +a consciousness that the hero of the poem exhibited traits and +resemblances of himself. It would indeed be injustice to his +judgment and taste, to suppose he was not sensible of the superiority +of the terse and energetic poetry which brightens and burns in every +stanza of the Pilgrimage, compared with the loose and sprawling +lines, and dull rhythm, of the paraphrase. It is true that he +alleged it had been condemned by a good critic--the only one who had +previously seen it--probably Mr Hobhouse, who was with him during the +time he was writing it; but still I cannot conceive he was so blind +to excellence, as to prefer in sincerity the other composition, which +was only an imitation. But the arguments of Mr Dallas prevailed and +in due season Childe Harold was prepared for the press. + +In the meantime, while busily engaged in his literary projects with +Mr Dallas, and in law affairs with his agent, he was suddenly +summoned to Newstead by the state of his mother's health: before he +had reached the Abbey she had breathed her last. The event deeply +affected him; he had not seen her since his return, and a +presentiment possessed her when they parted, that she was never to +see him again. + +Notwithstanding her violent temper and other unseemly conduct, her +affection for him had been so fond and dear, that he undoubtedly +returned it with unaffected sincerity; and from many casual and +incidental expressions which I have heard him employ concerning her, +I am persuaded that his filial love was not at any time even of an +ordinary kind. During her life he might feel uneasy respecting her, +apprehensive on account of her ungovernable passions and +indiscretions, but the manner in which he lamented her death, clearly +proves that the integrity of his affection had never been impaired. + +On the night after his arrival at the Abbey, the waiting-woman of Mrs +Byron, in passing the door of the room where the corpse lay, heard +the sound of some one sighing heavily within, and on entering found +his Lordship sitting in the dark beside the bed. She remonstrated +with him for so giving way to grief, when he burst into tears, and +exclaimed, "I had but one friend in the world, and she is gone." Of +the fervency of his sorrow I do therefore think there can be no +doubt; the very endeavour which he made to conceal it by +indifference, was a proof of its depth and anguish, though he +hazarded the strictures of the world by the indecorum of his conduct +on the occasion of the funeral. Having declined to follow the +remains himself, he stood looking from the hall door at the +procession, till the whole had moved away; and then, turning to one +of the servants, the only person left, he desired him to fetch the +sparring-gloves, and proceeded with him to his usual exercise. But +the scene was impressive, and spoke eloquently of a grieved heart; he +sparred in silence all the time, and the servant thought that he hit +harder than was his habit: at last he suddenly flung away the gloves +and retired to his own room. + +As soon as the funeral was over the publication of Childe Harold was +resumed, but it went slowly through the press. In the meantime, an +incident occurred to him which deserves to be noted--because it is +one of the most remarkable in his life, and has given rise to +consequences affecting his fame--with advantage. + +In English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, he had alluded, with provoking +pleasantry, to a meeting which had taken place at Chalk Farm some +years before, between Mr Jeffrey, the Edinburgh reviewer, and Mr +Moore, without recollecting, indeed without having heard, that Mr +Moore had explained, through the newspapers, what was alleged to have +been ridiculous in the affair. This revival of the subject, +especially as it called in question the truth of Mr Moore's +statement, obliged that gentleman to demand an explanation; but Lord +Byron, being abroad, did not receive this letter, and of course knew +not of its contents, so that, on his return, Mr Moore was induced to +address his Lordship again. The correspondence which ensued is +honourable to the spirit and feelings of both. + +Mr Moore, after referring to his first letter, restated the nature of +the insult which the passage in the note to the poem was calculated +to convey, adding, "It is now useless to speak of the steps with +which it was my intention to follow up that letter, the time which +has elapsed since then, though it has done away neither the injury +nor the feeling of it, has, in many respects, materially altered my +situation, and the only object I have now in writing to your +Lordship, is to preserve some consistency with that former letter, +and to prove to you that the injured feeling still exists, however +circumstances may compel me to be deaf to its dictates at present. +When I say 'injured feeling,' let me assure your Lordship that there +is not a single vindictive sentiment in my mind towards you; I mean +but to express that uneasiness under what I consider to be a charge +of falsehood, which must haunt a man of any feeling to his grave, +unless the insult be retracted, or atoned for, and which, if I did +not feel, I should indeed deserve far worse than your Lordship's +satire could inflict upon me." And he concluded by saying, that so +far from being influenced by any angry or resentful feeling, it would +give him sincere pleasure if, by any satisfactory explanation, his +Lordship would enable him to seek the honour of being ranked among +his acquaintance. + +The answer of Lord Byron was diplomatic but manly. He declared that +he never received Mr Moore's letter, and assured him that in whatever +part of the world it had reached him, he would have deemed it his +duty to return and answer it in person; that he knew nothing of the +advertisement to which Mr Moore had alluded, and consequently could +not have had the slightest idea of "giving the lie" to an address +which he had never seen. "When I put my name to the production," +said his Lordship, "which has occasioned this correspondence, I +became responsible to all whom it might concern, to explain where it +requires explanation, and where insufficiently or too sufficiently +explicit, at all events to satisfy; my situation leaves me no choice; +it rests with the injured and the angry to obtain reparation in their +own way. With regard to the passage in question, YOU were certainly +NOT the person towards whom I felt personally hostile: on the +contrary, my whole thoughts were engrossed by one whom I had reason +to consider as my worst literary enemy, nor could I foresee that his +former antagonist was about to become his champion. You do not +specify what you would wish to have done. I can neither retract nor +apologize for a charge of falsehood which I never advanced." + +In reply, Mr Moore commenced by acknowledging that his Lordship's +letter was upon the whole as satisfactory as he could expect; and +after alluding to specific circumstances in the case, concluded thus: +"As your Lordship does not show any wish to proceed beyond the rigid +formulary of explanation, it is not for me to make any farther +advances. We Irishmen, in business of this kind, seldom know any +medium between decided hostility and decided friendship. But as any +approaches towards the latter alternative must now depend entirely on +your Lordship, I have only to repeat that I am satisfied with your +letter." Here the correspondence would probably, with most people, +have been closed, but Lord Byron's sensibility was interested, and +would not let it rest. Accordingly, on the following day, he +rejoined: "Soon after my return to England, my friend Mr Hodgson +apprised me that a letter for me was in his possession; but a +domestic event hurrying me from London immediately after, the letter, +which may most probably be your own, is still unopened in his +keeping. If, on examination of the address, the similarity of the +handwriting should lead to such a conclusion, it shall be opened in +your presence, for the satisfaction of all parties. Mr H. is at +present out of town; on Friday I shall see him, and request him to +forward it to my address. With regard to the latter part of both +your letters, until the principal point was discussed between us, I +felt myself at a loss in what manner to reply. Was I to anticipate +friendship from one who conceived me to have charged him with +falsehood? were not advances under such circumstances to be +misconstrued, not perhaps by the person to whom they were addressed, +but by others? In my case such a step was impracticable. If you, +who conceived yourself to be the offended person, are satisfied that +you had no cause for offence, it will not be difficult to convince me +of it. My situation, as I have before stated, leaves me no choice. +I should have felt proud of your acquaintance had it commenced under +other circumstances, but it must rest with you to determine how far +it may proceed after so AUSPICIOUS a beginning." + +Mr Moore acknowledges that he was somewhat piqued at the manner in +which his efforts towards a more friendly understanding were +received, and hastened to close the correspondence by a short note, +saying that his Lordship had made him feel the imprudence he was +guilty of in wandering from the point immediately in discussion +between them. This drew immediately from Lord Byron the following +frank and openhearted reply: + +"You must excuse my troubling you once more upon this very unpleasant +subject. It would be a satisfaction to me, and I should think to +yourself, that the unopened letter in Mr Hodgson's possession +(supposing it to prove your own) should be returned in statu quo to +the writer, particularly as you expressed yourself 'not quite easy +under the manner in which I had dwelt on its miscarriage.' + +"A few words more and I shall not trouble you further. I felt, and +still feel, very much flattered by those parts of your correspondence +which held out the prospect of our becoming acquainted. If I did not +meet them, in the first instance, as perhaps I ought, let the +situation in which I was placed be my defence. You have NOW declared +yourself SATISFIED, and on that point we are no longer at issue. If, +therefore, you still retain any wish to do me the honour you hinted +at, I shall be most happy to meet you when, where, and how you +please, and I presume you will not attribute my saying thus much to +any unworthy motive." + +The result was a dinner at the house of Mr Rogers, the amiable and +celebrated author of The Pleasures of Memory, and the only guest +besides the two adversaries was Mr Campbell, author of The Pleasures +of Hope: a poetical group of four not easily to be matched, among +contemporaries in any age or country. + +The meeting could not but be interesting, and Mr Moore has described +the effect it had on himself with a felicitous warmth, which showed +how much he enjoyed the party, and was pleased with the friendship +that ensued. + +"Among the impressions," says he, "which this meeting left on me, +what I chiefly remember to have remarked was, the nobleness of his +air, his beauty, the gentleness of his voice and manners, and--what +was naturally not the least attraction--his marked kindness for +myself. Being in mourning for his mother, the colour as well of his +dress as of his glossy, curling, and picturesque hair, gave more +effect to the pure spiritual paleness of his features, in the +expression of which, when he spoke, there was a perpetual play of +lively thought, though melancholy was their habitual character when +in repose." + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + + +The Libel in "The Scourge"--The general Impression of his Character-- +Improvement in his Manners, as his Merit was acknowledgement by the +Public--His Address in Management--His first Speech in Parliament-- +The Publication of "Childe Harold"--Its Reception and Effect + +During the first winter after Lord Byron had returned to England, I +was frequently with him. Childe Harold was not then published; and +although the impression of his satire, English Bards and Scotch +Reviewers, was still strong upon the public, he could not well be +said to have been then a celebrated character. At that time the +strongest feeling by which he appeared to be actuated was indignation +against a writer in a scurrilous publication, called The Scourge; in +which he was not only treated with unjustifiable malignity, but +charged with being, as he told me himself, the illegitimate son of a +murderer. I had not read the work; but the writer who could make +such an absurd accusation, must have been strangely ignorant of the +very circumstances from which he derived the materials of his own +libel. When Lord Byron mentioned the subject to me, and that he was +consulting Sir Vickery Gibbs, with the intention of prosecuting the +publisher and the author, I advised him, as well as I could, to +desist, simply because the allegation referred to well-known +occurrences. His grand-uncle's duel with Mr. Chaworth, and the order +of the House of Peers to produce evidence of his grandfather's +marriage with Miss Trevannion; the facts of which being matter of +history and public record, superseded the necessity of any +proceeding. + +Knowing how deeply this affair agitated him at that time, I was not +surprised at the sequestration in which he held himself--and which +made those who were not acquainted with his shy and mystical nature, +apply to him the description of his own Lara: + + +The chief of Lara is return'd again, + +And why had Lara cross'd the bounding main?-- +Left by his sire too young such loss to know, +Lord of himself; that heritage of woe. +In him, inexplicably mix'd, appear'd +Much to be loved and hated, sought and fear'd, +Opinion varying o'er his hidden lot, +In praise or railing ne'er his name forgot. +His silence form'd a theme for others' prate; +They guess'd, they gazed, they fain would know his fate, +What had he been? what was he, thus unknown, +Who walk'd their world, his lineage only known? +A hater of his kind? yet some would say, +With them he could seem gay amid the gay; +But own'd that smile, if oft observed and near +Waned in its mirth and wither'd to a sneer; +That smile might reach his lip, but pass'd not by; +None e'er could trace its laughter to his eye: +Yet there was softness, too, in his regard, +At times a heart is not by nature hard. +But once perceived, his spirit seem'd to hide +Such weakness as unworthy of its pride, +And stretch'd itself as scorning to redeem +One doubt from others' half-withheld esteem; +In self-inflicted penance of a breast +Which tenderness might once have wrung from rest, +In vigilance of grief that would compel +The soul to hate for having loved too well. +There was in him a vital scorn of all, +As if the worst had fall'n which could befall. +He stood a stranger in this breathing world, +An erring spirit from another hurl'd; +A thing of dark imaginings, that shaped +By choice the perils he by chance escaped. + + +Such was Byron to common observance on his return. I recollect one +night meeting him at the Opera. Seeing me with a gentleman whom he +did not know, and to whom he was unknown, he addressed me in Italian, +and we continued to converse for some time in that language. My +friend, who in the meanwhile had been observing him with curiosity, +conceiving him to be a foreigner, inquired in the course of the +evening who he was, remarking that he had never seen a man with such +a Cain-like mark on the forehead before, alluding to that singular +scowl which struck me so forcibly when I first saw him, and which +appears to have made a stronger impression upon me than it did upon +many others. I never, in fact, could overcome entirely the prejudice +of the first impression, although I ought to have been gratified by +the friendship and confidence with which he always appeared disposed +to treat me. When Childe Harold was printed, he sent me a quarto +copy before the publication; a favour and distinction I have always +prized; and the copy which he gave me of The Bride of Abydos was one +he had prepared for a new edition, and which contains, in his own +writing, these six lines in no other copy: + + +Bless'd--as the Muezzin's strain from Mecca's wall +To pilgrims pure and prostrate at his call, +Soft--as the melody of youthful days +That steals the trembling tear of speechless praise, +Sweet--as his native song to exile's ears +Shall sound each tone thy long-loved voice endears. + + +He had not, it is true, at the period of which I am speaking, +gathered much of his fame; but the gale was rising--and though the +vessel was evidently yielding to the breeze, she was neither crank +nor unsteady. On the contrary, the more he became an object of +public interest, the less did he indulge his capricious humour. +About the time when The Bride of Abydos was published, he appeared +disposed to settle into a consistent character--especially after the +first sale of Newstead. Before that particular event, he was often +so disturbed in his mind, that he could not conceal his unhappiness, +and frequently spoke of leaving England for ever. + +Although few men were more under the impulses of passion than Lord +Byron, there was yet a curious kind of management about him which +showed that he was well aware how much of the world's favour was to +be won by it. Long before Childe Harold appeared, it was generally +known that he had a poem in the press, and various surmises to +stimulate curiosity were circulated concerning it: I do not say that +these were by his orders, or under his directions, but on one +occasion I did fancy that I could discern a touch of his own hand in +a paragraph in the Morning Post, in which he was mentioned as having +returned from an excursion into the interior of Africa; and when I +alluded to it, my suspicion was confirmed by his embarrassment. + +I mention this incident not in the spirit of detraction; for in the +paragraph there was nothing of puff, though certainly something of +oddity--but as a tint of character, indicative of the appetite for +distinction by which, about this period, he became so powerfully +incited, that at last it grew into a diseased crave, and to such a +degree, that were the figure allowable, it might be said, the mouth +being incapable of supplying adequate means to appease it--every pore +became another mouth greedy of nourishment. I am, however, hastening +on too fast. Lord Byron was, at that time, far indeed from being +ruled by any such inordinate passion; the fears, the timidity, and +bashfulness of young desire still clung to him, and he was throbbing +with doubt if he should be found worthy of the high prize for which +he was about to offer himself a candidate. The course he adopted on +the occasion, whether dictated by management, or the effect of +accident, was, however, well calculated to attract attention to his +debut as a public man. + +When Childe Harold was ready for publication, he determined to make +his first appearance as an orator in the House of Lords: the +occasion was judiciously chosen, being a debate on the Nottingham +frame-breaking bill; a subject on which it was natural to suppose he +possessed some local knowledge that might bear upon a question +directed so exclusively against transactions in his own county. He +prepared himself as the best orators do in their first essays, not +only by composing, but writing down, the whole of his speech +beforehand. The reception he met with was flattering; he was +complimented warmly by some of the speakers on his own side; but it +must be confessed that his debut was more showy than promising. It +lacked weight in metal, as was observed at the time, and the mode of +delivery was more like a schoolboy's recital than a masculine grapple +with an argument. It was, moreover, full of rhetorical +exaggerations, and disfigured with conceits. Still it scintillated +with talent, and justified the opinion that he was an extraordinary +young man, probably destined to distinction, though he might not be a +statesman. + +Mr Dallas gives a lively account of his elation on the occasion. +"When he left the great chamber," says that gentleman, "I went and +met him in the passage; he was glowing with success, and much +agitated. I had an umbrella in my right hand, not expecting that he +would put out his hand to me; in my haste to take it when offered, I +had advanced my left hand: 'What!' said he, 'give your friend your +left hand upon such an occasion?' I showed the cause, and +immediately changing the umbrella to the other, I gave him my right +hand, which he shook and pressed warmly. He was greatly elated, and +repeated some of the compliments which had been paid him, and +mentioned one or two of the peers who had desired to be introduced to +him. He concluded by saying, that he had, by his speech, given me +the best advertisement for Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." + +It is upon this latter circumstance, that I have ventured to state my +suspicion, that there was a degree of worldly management in making +his first appearance in the House of Lords, so immediately preceding +the publication of his poem. The speech was, indeed, a splendid +advertisement, but the greater and brighter merits of the poem soon +proved that it was not requisite, for the speech made no impression, +but the poem was at once hailed with delight and admiration. It +filled a vacancy in the public mind, which the excitement and +inflation arising from the mighty events of the age, had created. +The world, in its condition and circumstances, was prepared to +receive a work, so original, vigorous, and beautiful; and the +reception was such that there was no undue extravagance in the noble +author saying in his memorandum, "I awoke one morning and found +myself famous." + +But he was not to be allowed to revel in such triumphant success with +impunity. If the great spirits of the time were smitten with +astonishment at the splendour of the rising fire, the imps and elves +of malignity and malice fluttered their bat-wings in all directions. +Those whom the poet had afflicted in his satire, and who had remained +quietly crouching with lacerated shoulders in the hope that their +flagellation would be forgotten, and that the avenging demon who had +so punished their imbecility would pass away, were terrified from +their obscurity. They came like moths to the candle, and sarcasms in +the satire which had long been unheeded, in the belief that they +would soon be forgotten, were felt to have been barbed with +irremediable venom, when they beheld the avenger + + +Towering in his pride of place. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + + +Sketches of Character--His Friendly Dispositions--Introduce Prince K- +-to him--Our last Interview--His continued Kindness towards me-- +Instance of it to one of my Friends. + +For some time after the publication of Childe Harold, the noble +author appeared to more advantage than I ever afterwards saw him. He +was soothed by success; and the universal applause which attended his +poem seemed to make him think more kindly of the world, of which he +has too often complained, while it would be difficult to discover, in +his career and fortunes, that he had ever received any cause from it +to justify his complaint. + +At no time, I imagine, could it be said that Lord Byron was one of +those men who interest themselves in the concerns of others. He had +always too much to do with his own thoughts about himself, to afford +time for the consideration of aught that was lower in his affections. +But still he had many amiable fits, and at the particular period to +which I allude, he evinced a constancy in the disposition to oblige, +which proved how little self-control was wanting to have made him as +pleasant as he was uniformly interesting. I felt this towards myself +in a matter which had certainly the grace of condescension in it, at +the expense of some trouble to him. I then lived at the corner of +Bridge Street, Westminster, and in going to the House of Lords he +frequently stopped to inquire if I wanted a frank. His conversation, +at the same time, was of a milder vein, and with the single exception +of one day, while dining together at the St Alban's, it was light and +playful, as if gaiety had become its habitude. + +Perhaps I regarded him too curiously, and more than once it struck me +that he thought so. For at times, when he was in his comfortless +moods, he has talked of his affairs and perplexities as if I had been +much more acquainted with them than I had any opportunity of being. +But he was a subject for study, such as is rarely met with--at least, +he was so to me; for his weaknesses were as interesting as his +talents, and he often indulged in expressions which would have been +blemishes in the reflections of other men, but which in him often +proved the germs of philosophical imaginings. He was the least +qualified for any sort of business of all men I have ever known; so +skinless in sensibility as respected himself, and so distrustful in +his universal apprehensions of human nature, as respected others. It +was, indeed, a wild, though a beautiful, error of nature, to endow a +spirit with such discerning faculties, and yet render it unfit to +deal with mankind. But these reflections belong more properly to a +general estimate of his character, than to the immediate purpose +before me, which was principally to describe the happy effects which +the splendid reception of Childe Harold had on his feelings; effects +which, however, did not last long. He was gratified to the fullness +of his hopes; but the adulation was enjoyed to excess, and his +infirmities were aggravated by the surfeit. I did not, however, see +the progress of the change, as in the course of the summer I went to +Scotland, and soon after again abroad. But on my return, in the +following spring, it was very obvious. + +I found him, in one respect, greatly improved; there was more of a +formed character about him; he was evidently, at the first glance, +more mannered, or endeavouring to be so, and easier with the +proprieties of his rank; but he had risen in his own estimation above +the honours so willingly paid to his genius, and was again longing +for additional renown. Not content with being acknowledged as the +first poet of the age, and a respectable orator in the House of +Lords, he was aspiring to the eclat of a man of gallantry; so that +many of the most ungracious peculiarities of his temper, though +brought under better discipline, were again in full activity. + +Considering how much he was then caressed, I ought to have been proud +of the warmth with which he received me. I did not, however, so +often see him as in the previous year; for I was then on the eve of +my marriage, and I should not so soon, after my return to London, +have probably renewed my visits, but a foreign nobleman of the +highest rank, who had done me the honour to treat me as a friend, +came at that juncture to this country, and knowing I had been +acquainted with Lord Byron, he requested me to introduce him to his +Lordship. This rendered a visit preliminary to the introduction +necessary; and so long as my distinguished friend remained in town, +we again often met. But after he left the country my visits became +few and far between; owing to nothing but that change in a man's +pursuits and associates which is one among some of the evils of +matrimony. It is somewhat remarkable, that of the last visit I ever +paid him, he has made rather a particular memorandum. I remember +well, that it was in many respects an occasion not to be at once +forgotten; for, among other things, after lighter topics, he +explained to me a variety of tribulations in his affairs, and I urged +him, in consequence, to marry, with the frankness which his +confidence encouraged; subjoining certain items of other good advice +concerning a liaison which he was supposed to have formed, and which +Mr Moore does not appear to have known, though it was much talked of +at the time. + +During that visit the youthful peculiarities of his temper and +character showed all their original blemish. But, as usual, when +such was the case, he was often more interesting than when in his +discreeter moods. He gave me the copy of The Bride of Abydos, with a +very kind inscription on it, which I have already mentioned; but +still there was an impression on my mind that led me to believe he +could not have been very well pleased with some parts of my +counselling. This, however, appears not to have been the case; on +the contrary, the tone of his record breathes something of kindness; +and long after I received different reasons to believe his +recollection of me was warm and friendly. + +When he had retired to Genoa, I gave a gentleman a letter to him, +partly that I might hear something of his real way of life, and +partly in the hope of gratifying my friend by the sight of one of +whom he had heard so much. The reception from his Lordship was +flattering to me; and, as the account of it contains what I think a +characteristic picture, the reader will, I doubt not, be pleased to +see so much of it as may be made public without violating the decorum +which should always be observed in describing the incidents of +private intercourse, when the consent of all parties cannot be +obtained to the publication. + + +Edinburgh, June 3, 1830. + +"DEAR GALT,--Though I shall always retain a lively general +recollection of my agreeable interview with Lord Byron, at Genoa, in +May, 1823, so long a time has since elapsed that much of the aroma of +the pleasure has evaporated, and I can but recall generalities. At +that time there was an impression in Genoa that he was averse to +receive visits from Englishmen, and I was indeed advised not to think +of calling on him, as I might run the risk of meeting with a savage +reception. However, I resolved to send your note, and to the +surprise of every one the messenger brought a most polite answer, in +which, after expressing the satisfaction of hearing of his old friend +and fellow-traveller, he added that he would do himself the honour of +calling on me the next day, which he accordingly did; but owing to +the officious blundering of an Italian waiter, who mentioned I was at +dinner, his Lordship sent up his card with his compliments that he +would not deranger the party. I was determined, however, that he +should not escape me in this way, and drove out to his residence next +morning, when, upon his English valet taking up my name, I was +immediately admitted. + +"As every one forms a picture to himself of remarkable characters, I +had depicted his Lordship in my mind as a tall, sombre, Childe Harold +personage, tinctured somewhat with aristocratic hauteur. You may +therefore guess my surprise when the door opened, and I saw leaning +upon the lock, a light animated figure, rather petite than otherwise, +dressed in a nankeen hussar-braided jacket, trousers of the same +material, with a white waistcoat; his countenance pale but the +complexion clear and healthful, with the hair coming down in little +curls on each side of his fine forehead. + +"He came towards me with an easy cheerfulness of manner, and after +some preliminary inquiries concerning yourself, we entered into a +conversation which lasted two hours, in the course of which I felt +myself perfectly at ease, from his Lordship's natural and simple +manners; indeed, so much so, that, forgetting all my anticipations, I +found myself conversing with him with as fluent an intercourse of +mind as I ever experienced, even with yourself. + +"It is impossible for me at present to overtake a detail of what +passed, but as it produced a kind of scene, I may mention one +incident. + +"Having remarked that in a long course of desultory reading, I had +read most of what had been said by English travellers concerning +Italy; yet, on coming to it I found there was no country of which I +had less accurate notions: that among other things I was much struck +with the harshness of the language. He seemed to jerk at this, and +immediately observed, that perhaps in going rapidly through the +country, I might not have had many opportunities of hearing it +politely spoken. 'Now,' said he, 'there are supposed to be nineteen +dialects of the Italian language, and I shall let you hear a lady +speak the principal of them, who is considered to do it very well.' +I pricked up my ears at hearing this, as I considered it would afford +me an opportunity of seeing the far-famed Countess Guiccioli. His +Lordship immediately rose and left the apartment, returning in the +course of a minute or two leading in the lady, and while arranging +chairs for the trio, he said to me, 'I shall make her speak each of +the principal dialects, but you are not to mind how I pronounce, for +I do not speak Italian well.' After the scene had been performed he +resumed to me, 'Now what do you think?' To which I answered, that my +opinion still remained unaltered. He seemed at this to fall into a +little revery, and then said, abruptly, 'Why 'tis very odd, Moore +thought the same.' 'Does your Lordship mean Tom Moore?' 'Yes.' +'Ah, then, my Lord, I shall adhere with more pertinacity to my +opinion, when I hear that a man of his exquisite taste in poetry and +harmony was also of that opinion.' + +"You will be asking what I thought of the lady; I had certainly heard +much of her high personal attractions, but all I can say is, that in +my eyes her graces did not rank above mediocrity. They were youth, +plumpness, and good-nature." + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + + +A Miff with Lord Byron--Remarkable Coincidences--Plagiarisms of his +Lordship + +There is a curious note in the memoranda which Lord Byron kept in the +year 1813, that I should not pass unnoticed, because it refers to +myself, and moreover is characteristic of the excoriated sensibility +with which his Lordship felt everything that touched or affected him +or his. + +When I had read The Bride of Abydos, I wrote to him my opinion of it, +and mentioned that there was a remarkable coincidence in the story, +with a matter in which I had been interested. I have no copy of the +letter, and I forget the expressions employed, but Lord Byron seemed +to think they implied that he had taken the story from something of +mine. + +The note is: + +"Galt says there is a coincidence between the first part of The Bride +and some story of his, whether published or not, I know not, never +having seen it. He is almost the last person on whom any one would +commit literary larceny, and I am not conscious of any witting thefts +on any of the genus. As to originality, all pretensions are +ludicrous; there is nothing new under the sun." + +It is sufficiently clear that he was offended with what I had said, +and was somewhat excited. I have not been able at present to find +his answer to my letter, but it would appear by the subjoined that he +had written to me something which led me to imagine he was offended +at my observations, and that I had in consequence deprecated his +wrath. + +"Dec. 11, 1813. + +"MY DEAR GALT,--There was no offence--there COULD be none. I thought +it by no means impossible that we might have hit on something +similar, particularly as you are a dramatist, and was anxious to +assure you of the truth, viz. that I had not wittingly seized upon +plot, sentiment, or incident; and I am very glad that I have not in +any respect trenched upon your subjects. Something still more +singular is, that the FIRST part, where you have found a coincidence +in some events within your observations on LIFE, was DRAWN from +OBSERVATION of mine also, and I meant to have gone on with the story, +but on SECOND thoughts, I thought myself TWO CENTURIES at least too +late for the subject; which, though admitting of very powerful +feeling and description, yet is not adapted for this age, at least +this country. Though the finest works of the Greeks, one of +Schiller's and Alfieri's, in modern times, besides several of our OLD +(and best) dramatists, have been grounded on incidents of a similar +cast, I therefore altered it as you perceive, and in so doing have +weakened the whole, by interrupting the train of thought; and in +composition I do not think SECOND thoughts are the best, though +SECOND expressions may improve the first ideas. + +"I do not know how other men feel towards those they have met abroad, +but to me there seems a kind of tie established between all who have +met together in a foreign country, as if we had met in a state of +pre-existence, and were talking over a life that has ceased; but I +always look forward to renewing my travels; and though YOU, I think, +are now stationary, if I can at all forward your pursuits THERE as +well as here, I shall be truly glad in the opportunity. Ever yours +very sincerely, + +"B. + +"P.S. I believe I leave town for a day or two on Monday, but after +that I am always at home, and happy to see you till half-past two." + + +This letter was dated on Saturday, the 11th of December, 1813. On +Sunday, the 12th, he made the following other note in his memorandum +book: + +"By Galt's answer, I find it is some story in REAL life, and not any +work with which my late composition coincides. It is still more +singular, for mine is drawn from EXISTENCE also." + +The most amusing part of this little fracas is the denial of his +Lordship, as to pilfering the thoughts and fancies of others; for it +so happens, that the first passage of The Bride of Abydos, the poem +in question, is almost a literal and unacknowledged translation from +Goethe, which was pointed out in some of the periodicals soon after +the work was published. + +Then, as to his not thieving from me or mine, I believe the fact to +be as he has stated; but there are singular circumstances connected +with some of his other productions, of which the account is at least +curious. + +On leaving England I began to write a poem in the Spenserian measure. +It was called The Unknown, and was intended to describe, in narrating +the voyages and adventures of a pilgrim, who had embarked for the +Holy Land, the scenes I expected to visit. I was occasionally +engaged in this composition during the passage with Lord Byron from +Gibraltar to Malta, and he knew what I was about. In stating this, I +beg to be distinctly understood, as in no way whatever intending to +insinuate that this work had any influence on the composition of +Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, which Lord Byron began to write in +Albania; but it must be considered as something extraordinary, that +the two works should have been so similar in plan, and in the +structure of the verse. His Lordship never saw my attempt that I +know of, nor did I his poem until it was printed. It is needless to +add, that beyond the plan and verse there was no other similarity +between the two works; I wish there had been. + +His Lordship has published a poem, called The Curse of Minerva, the +subject of which is the vengeance of the goddess on Lord Elgin for +the rape of the Parthenon. It has so happened that I wrote at Athens +a burlesque poem on nearly the same subject (mine relates to the +vengeance of all the gods) which I called The Atheniad; the +manuscript was sent to his Lordship in Asia Minor, and returned to me +through Mr Hobhouse. His Curse of Minerva, I saw for the first time +in 1828, in Galignani's edition of his works. + +In The Giaour, which he published a short time before The Bride of +Abydos, he has this passage, descriptive of the anxiety with which +the mother of Hassan looks out for the arrival of her son: + + +The browsing camels' bells are tinkling-- + His mother look'd from her lattice high; +She saw the dews of eve besprinkling + The parterre green beneath her eye: +She saw the planets faintly twinkling-- + 'Tis twilight--sure his train is nigh. +She could not rest in the garden bower, +But gazed through the grate of his steepest tower: +Why comes he not--and his steeds are fleet-- +Nor shrink they from the summer heat? +Why sends not the bridegroom his promised gift; +Is his heart more cold or his barb less swift? + + +His Lordship was well read in the Bible, and the book of Judges, +chap. 5, and verse 28, has the following passage:-- + +"The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the +lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming; why tarry the wheels +of his chariot?" + +It was, indeed, an early trick of his Lordship to filch good things. +In the lamentation for Kirke White, in which he compares him to an +eagle wounded by an arrow feathered from his own wing, he says, + + +So the struck eagle, stretch'd upon the plain, +No more through rolling clouds to soar again, +View'd his own feather on the fatal dart +And winged the shaft that quivered in his heart. + + +The ancients have certainly stolen the best ideas of the moderns; +this very thought may be found in the works of that ancient-modern, +Waller: + + +That eagle's fate and mine are one, + Which on the shaft that made him die, +Espied a feather of his own + Wherewith he wont to soar on high. + + +His Lordship disdained to commit any larceny on me; and no doubt the +following passage from The Giaour is perfectly original: + + +It is as if the dead could feel +The icy worm around them steal; +And shudder as the reptiles creep +To revel o'er their rotting sleep, +Without the power to scare away +The cold consumers of their clay. + + +I do not claim any paternity in these lines: but not the most +judicious action of all my youth was to publish certain dramatic +sketches, and his Lordship had the printed book in his possession +long before The Giaour was published, and may have read the following +passage in a dream, which was intended to be very hideous: + + + Then did I hear around +The churme and chirruping of busy reptiles +At hideous banquet on the royal dead:-- +Full soon methought the loathsome epicures +Came thick on me, and underneath my shroud +I felt the many-foot and beetle creep, +And on my breast the cold worm coil and crawl. + + +However, I have said quite enough on this subject, both as respects +myself and his seeming plagiarisms, which might be multiplied to +legions. Such occasional accidental imitations are not things of +much importance. All poets, and authors in general, avail themselves +of their reading and knowledge to enhance the interest of their +works. It can only be considered as one of Lord Byron's spurts of +spleen, that he felt so much about a "coincidence," which ought not +to have disturbed him; but it may be thought by the notice taken of +it, that it disturbs myself more than it really does; and that it +would have been enough to have merely said--Perhaps, when some friend +is hereafter doing as indulgently for me, the same kind of task that +I have undertaken for Byron, there may be found among my memoranda +notes as little flattering to his Lordship, as those in his +concerning me. I hope, however, that friend will have more respect +for my memory than to imitate the taste of Mr Moore. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + + +Lord Byron in 1813--The Lady's Tragedy--Miss Milbanke--Growing +Uneasiness of Lord Byron's Mind--The Friar's Ghost--The Marriage--A +Member of the Drury Lane Committee--Embarrassed Affairs--The +Separation + +The year 1813 was perhaps the period of all Lord Byron's life in +which he was seen to most advantage. The fame of Childe Harold was +then in its brightest noon; and in that year he produced The Giaour +and The Bride of Abydos--compositions not only of equal power, but +even tinted with superior beauties. He was himself soothed by the +full enjoyment of his political rank and station; and though his +manners and character had not exactly answered to the stern and +stately imaginations which had been formed of his dispositions and +appearance, still he was acknowledged to be no common man, and his +company in consequence was eagerly courted. + +It forms no part of the plan of this work to repeat the gossip and +tattle of private society, but occurrences happened to Lord Byron +which engaged both, and some of them cannot well be passed over +unnoticed. One of these took place during the spring of this year, +and having been a subject of newspaper remark, it may with less +impropriety be mentioned than others which were more indecorously +made the topics of general discussion. The incident alluded to was +an extravagant scene enacted by a lady of high rank, at a rout given +by Lady Heathcote; in which, in revenge, as it was reported, for +having been rejected by Lord Byron, she made a suicidal attempt with +an instrument, which scarcely penetrated, if it could even inflict +any permanent mark on, the skin. + +The insane attachment of this eccentric lady to his Lordship was well +known; insane is the only epithet that can be applied to the actions +of a married woman, who, in the disguise of her page, flung herself +to a man, who, as she told a friend of mine, was ashamed to be in +love with her because she was not beautiful--an expression at once +curious and just, evincing a shrewd perception of the springs of his +Lordship's conduct, and the acuteness blended with frenzy and talent +which distinguished herself. Lord Byron unquestionably at that time +cared little for her. In showing me her picture, some two or three +days after the affair, and laughing at the absurdity of it, he +bestowed on her the endearing diminutive of vixen, with a hard- +hearted adjective that I judiciously omit. + +The immediate cause of this tragical flourish was never very well +understood; but in the course of the evening she had made several +attempts to fasten on his Lordship, and was shunned: certain it is, +she had not, like Burke in the House of Commons, premeditatedly +brought a dagger in her reticule, on purpose for the scene; but, +seeing herself an object of scorn, she seized the first weapon she +could find--some said a pair of scissors--others, more scandalously, +broken jelly-glass, and attempted an incision of the jugular, to the +consternation of all the dowagers, and the pathetic admiration of +every Miss who witnessed or heard of the rapture. + +Lord Byron at the time was in another room, talking with Prince K--, +when Lord P-- came, with a face full of consternation, and told them +what had happened. The cruel poet, instead of being agitated by the +tidings, or standing in the smallest degree in need of a smelling- +bottle, knitted his scowl, and said, with a contemptuous +indifference, "It is only a trick." All things considered, he was +perhaps not uncharitable; and a man of less vanity would have felt +pretty much as his Lordship appeared to do on the occasion. The +whole affair was eminently ridiculous; and what increased the +absurdity was a letter she addressed to a friend of mine on the +subject, and which he thought too good to be reserved only for his +own particular study. + +It was in this year that Lord Byron first proposed for Miss Milbanke; +having been urged by several of his friends to marry, that lady was +specially recommended to him for a wife. It has been alleged, that +he deeply resented her rejection of his proposal; and I doubt not, in +the first instance, his vanity may have been a little piqued; but as +he cherished no very animated attachment to her, and moreover, as she +enjoyed no celebrity in public opinion to make the rejection +important, the resentment was not, I am persuaded, either of an +intense or vindictive kind. On the contrary, he has borne testimony +to the respect in which he held her character and accomplishments; +and an incidental remark in his journal, "I shall be in love with her +again, if I don't take care," is proof enough that his anger was not +of a very fierce or long-lived kind. + +The account ascribed to him of his introduction to Miss Milbanke, and +the history of their attachment, ought not to be omitted, because it +serves to illustrate, in some degree, the state of his feelings +towards her, and is so probable, that I doubt not it is in the main +correct:-- + +"The first time of my seeing Miss Milbanke was at Lady ***'s. It was +a fatal day; and I remember, that in going upstairs I stumbled, and +remarked to Moore, who accompanied me, that it was a bad omen. I +ought to have taken the warning. On entering the room, I observed a +young lady more simply dressed than the rest of the assembly sitting +alone upon a sofa. I took her for a female companion, and asked if I +was right in my conjecture. 'She is a great heiress,' said he, in a +whisper, that became lower as he proceeded, 'you had better marry +her, and repair the old place, Newstead.' + +"There was something piquant, and what we term pretty, in Miss +Milbanke. Her features were small and feminine, though not regular. +She had the fairest skin imaginable. Her figure was perfect for her +height, and there was a simplicity, a retired modesty about her, +which was very characteristic, and formed a happy contrast to the +cold artificial formality and studied stiffness which is called +fashion. She interested me exceedingly. I became daily more +attached to her, and it ended in my making her a proposal, that was +rejected. Her refusal was couched in terms which could not offend +me. I was, besides, persuaded, that in declining my offer, she was +governed by the influence of her mother; and was the more confirmed +in my opinion, by her reviving our correspondence herself twelve +months after. The tenour of her letter was, that, although she could +not love me, she desired my friendship. Friendship is a dangerous +word for young ladies; it is love full-fledged, and waiting for a +fine day to fly." + +But Lord Byron possessed this sort of irrepressible predilections-- +was so much the agent of impulses, that he could not keep long in +unison with the world, or in harmony with his friends. Without +malice, or the instigation of any ill spirit, he was continually +provoking malignity and revenge. His verses on the Princess +Charlotte weeping, and his other merciless satire on her father, +begot him no friends, and armed the hatred of his enemies. There +was, indeed, something like ingratitude in the attack on the Regent, +for his Royal Highness had been particularly civil; had intimated a +wish to have him introduced to him; and Byron, fond of the +distinction, spoke of it with a sense of gratification. These +instances, as well as others, of gratuitous spleen, only justified +the misrepresentations which had been insinuated against himself, and +what was humour in his nature, was ascribed to vice in his +principles. + +Before the year was at an end, his popularity was evidently beginning +to wane: of this he was conscious himself, and braved the frequent +attacks on his character and genius with an affectation of +indifference, under which those who had at all observed the singular +associations of his recollections and ideas, must have discerned the +symptoms of a strange disease. He was tainted with a Herodian malady +of the mind: his thoughts were often hateful to himself; but there +was an ecstasy in the conception, as if delight could be mingled with +horror. I think, however, he struggled to master the fatality, and +that his resolution to marry was dictated by an honourable desire to +give hostages to society, against the wild wilfulness of his +imagination. + +It is a curious and a mystical fact, that at the period to which I am +alluding, and a very short time, only a little month, before he +successfully solicited the hand of Miss Milbanke, being at Newstead, +he fancied that he saw the ghost of the monk which is supposed to +haunt the abbey, and to make its ominous appearance when misfortune +or death impends over the master of the mansion.--The story of the +apparition in the sixteenth canto of Don Juan is derived from this +family legend, and Norman Abbey, in the thirteenth of the same poem, +is a rich and elaborate description of Newstead. + +After his proposal to Miss Milbanke had been accepted, a considerable +time, nearly three months, elapsed before the marriage was completed, +in consequence of the embarrassed condition in which, when the +necessary settlements were to be made, he found his affairs. This +state of things, with the previous unhappy controversy with himself, +and anger at the world, was ill-calculated to gladden his nuptials: +but, besides these real evils, his mind was awed with gloomy +presentiments, a shadow of some advancing misfortune darkened his +spirit, and the ceremony was performed with sacrificial feelings, and +those dark and chilling circumstances, which he has so touchingly +described in The Dream:-- + + + I saw him stand +Before an altar with a gentle bride; +Her face was fair, but was not that which made +The starlight of his boyhood:--as he stood +Even at the altar, o'er his brow there came +The self-same aspect, and the quivering shock +That in the antique oratory shook +His bosom in its solitude; and then-- +As in that hour--a moment o'er his face +The tablet of unutterable thoughts +Was traced--and then it faded as it came, +And he stood calm and quiet, and he spoke +The faltering vows, but heard not his own words, +And all things reeled around him: he could see +Not that which was, nor that which should have been-- +But the old mansion and the accustom'd hall, +And the remembered chambers, and the place, +The day, the hour, the sunshine and the shade, +All things pertaining to that place and hour. +And her, who was his destiny, came back, +And thrust themselves between him and the light. + + +This is very affectingly described; and his prose description bears +testimony to its correctness. "It had been predicted by Mrs Williams +that twenty-seven was to be a dangerous age for me. The fortune- +telling witch was right; it was destined to prove so. I shall never +forget the 2nd of January, 1815, Lady Byron was the only unconcerned +person present; Lady Noel, her mother, cried; I trembled like a leaf, +made the wrong responses, and after the ceremony called her Miss +Milbanke. + +"There is a singular history attached to the ring. The very day the +match was concluded a ring of my mother's, that had been lost, was +dug up by the gardener at Newstead. I thought it was sent on purpose +for the wedding; but my mother's marriage had not been a fortunate +one, and this ring was doomed to be the seal of an unhappier union +still. + +"After the ordeal was over, we set off for a country-scat of Sir +Ralph's (Lady B.'s father), and I was surprised at the arrangements +for the journey, and somewhat out of humour, to find the lady's maid +stuck between me and my bride. It was rather too early to assume the +husband; so I was forced to submit, but it was not with a very good +grace. I have been accused of saying, on getting into the carriage, +that I had married Lady Byron out of spite, and because she had +refused me twice. Though I was for a moment vexed at her prudery, or +whatever you may choose to call it, if I had made so uncavalier, not +to say brutal, a speech, I am convinced Lady Byron would instantly +have left the carriage to me and the maid. She had spirit enough to +have done so, and would properly have resented the affront. Our +honeymoon was not all sunshine; it had its clouds. + +"I was not so young when my father died, but that I perfectly +remember him, and had a very early horror of matrimony from the sight +of domestic broils: this feeling came over me very strongly at my +wedding. Something whispered me that I was sealing my own death- +warrant. I am a great believer in presentiments: Socrates's demon +was not a fiction; Monk Lewis had his monitor, and Napoleon many +warnings. At the last moment I would have retreated, could I have +done so; I called to mind a friend of mine, who had married a young, +beautiful, and rich girl, and yet was miserable; he had strongly +urged me against putting my neck in the same yoke." + +For some time after the marriage things went on in the usual +matrimonial routine, until he was chosen into the managing committee +of Drury Lane; an office in which, had he possessed the slightest +degree of talent for business, he might have done much good. It was +justly expected that the illiterate presumption which had so long +deterred poetical genius from approaching the stage, would have +shrunk abashed from before him; but he either felt not the importance +of the duty he had been called to perform, or, what is more probable, +yielding to the allurements of the moment, forgot that duty, in the +amusement which he derived from the talents and peculiarities of the +players. No situation could be more unfit for a man of his +temperament, than one which exposed him to form intimacies with +persons whose profession, almost necessarily, leads them to +undervalue the domestic virtues. + +It is said, that the course of life into which he was drawn after he +joined the managing committee of Drury Lane was not in unison with +the methodical habits of Lady Byron. But independently of outdoor +causes of connubial discontent and incompatibility of temper, their +domestic affairs were falling into confusion. + +"My income at this period," says Lord Byron, "was small, and somewhat +bespoken. We had a house in town, gave dinner-parties, had separate +carriages, and launched into every sort of extravagance. This could +not last long; my wife's ten thousand pounds soon melted away. I was +beset by duns, and at length an execution was levied, and the +bailiffs put in possession of the very beds we had to sleep on. This +was no very agreeable state of affairs, no very pleasant scene for +Lady Byron to witness; and it was agreed she should pay her father a +visit till the storm had blown over, and some arrangement had been +made with my creditors." From this visit her Ladyship never +returned; a separation took place; but too much has been said to the +world respecting it, and I have no taste for the subject. Whatever +was the immediate cause, the event itself was not of so rare a kind +as to deserve that the attention of the public should be indelicately +courted to it. + +Beyond all question, however, Lord Byron's notions of connubial +obligations were rather philosophical. "There are," said he to +Captain Parry, "so many undefinable and nameless, and not to be +named, causes of dislike, aversion, and disgust in the matrimonial +state, that it is always impossible for the public, or the friends of +the parties, to judge between man and wife. Theirs is a relation +about which nobody but themselves can form a correct idea, or have +any right to speak. As long as neither party commits gross injustice +towards the other; as long as neither the woman nor the man is guilty +of any offence which is injurious to the community; as long as the +husband provides for his offspring, and secures the public against +the dangers arising from their neglected education, or from the +charge of supporting them; by what right does it censure him for +ceasing to dwell under the same roof with a woman, who is to him, +because he knows her, while others do not, an object of loathing? +Can anything be more monstrous, than for the public voice to compel +individuals who dislike each other to continue their cohabitation? +This is at least the effect of its interfering with a relationship, +of which it has no possible means of judging. It does not indeed +drag a man to a woman's bed by physical force, but it does exert a +moral force continually and effectively to accomplish the same +purpose. Nobody can escape this force, but those who are too high or +those who are too low for public opinion to reach; or those +hypocrites who are, before others, the loudest in their approbation +of the empty and unmeaning forms of society, that they may securely +indulge all their propensities in secret." + +In the course of the conversation, in which he is represented to have +stated these opinions, he added what I have pleasure in quoting, +because the sentiments are generous in respect to his wife, and +strikingly characteristic of himself:-- + +"Lady Byron has a liberal mind, particularly as to religious +opinions: and I wish when I married her that I had possessed the +same command over myself that I now do. Had I possessed a little +more wisdom and more forbearance, we might have been happy. I +wished, when I was just married to have remained in the country, +particularly till my pecuniary embarrassments were over. I knew the +society of London; I knew the characters of many who are called +ladies, with whom Lady Byron would necessarily have to associate, and +I dreaded her contact with them. But I have too much of my mother +about me to be dictated to; I like freedom from constraint; I hate +artificial regulations: my conduct has always been dictated by my +own feelings, and Lady Byron was quite the creature of rules. She +was not permitted either to ride, or run, or walk, but as the +physician prescribed. She was not suffered to go out when I wished +to go: and then the old house was a mere ghost-house, I dreamed of +ghosts and thought of them waking. It was an existence I could not +support." Here Lord Byron broke off abruptly, saying, "I hate to +speak of my family affairs, though I have been compelled to talk +nonsense concerning them to some of my butterfly visitors, glad on +any terms to get rid of their importunities. I long to be again on +the mountains. I am fond of solitude, and should never talk +nonsense, if I always found plain men to talk to." + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + + +Reflections on his domestic Verses--Consideration of his Works--"The +Corsair"--Probabilities of the Character and Incidents of the Story-- +On the Difference between poetical Invention and moral Experience: +illustrated by the Difference between the Genius of Shakespeare and +that of Byron + +The task just concluded may disappoint the expectations of some of my +readers, but I would rather have said less than so much, could so +little have been allowed; for I have never been able to reconcile to +my notions of propriety, the exposure of domestic concerns which the +world has no right claim to know, and can only urge the plea of +curiosity for desiring to see explained. The scope of my undertaking +comprehends only the public and intellectual character of Lord Byron; +every word that I have found it necessary to say respecting his +private affairs has been set down with reluctance; nor should I have +touched so freely on his failings, but that the consequences have +deeply influenced his poetical conceptions. + +There is, however, one point connected with his conjugal differences +which cannot be overlooked, nor noticed without animadversion. He +was too active himself in bespeaking the public sympathy against his +lady. It is true that but for that error the world might never have +seen the verses written by him on the occasion; and perhaps it was +the friends who were about him at the time who ought chiefly to be +blamed for having given them circulation: but in saying this, I am +departing from the rule I had prescribed to myself, while I ought +only to have remarked that the compositions alluded to, both the +Fare-thee-well and the Anathema on Mrs Charlemont, are splendid +corroborations of the metaphysical fact which it is the main object +of this work to illustrate, namely, that Byron was only original and +truly great when he wrote from the dictates of his own breast, and +described from the suggestions of things he had seen. When his +imagination found not in his subject uses for the materials of his +experience, and opportunities to embody them, it seemed to be no +longer the same high and mysterious faculty that so ruled the tides +of the feelings of others. He then appeared a more ordinary poet---- +a skilful verse-maker. The necromancy which held the reader +spellbound became ineffectual; and the charm and the glory which +interested so intensely, and shone so radiantly on his configurations +from realities, all failed and faded; for his genius dealt not with +airy fancies, but had its power and dominion amid the living and the +local of the actual world. + +I shall now return to the consideration of his works, and the first +in order is The Corsair, published in 1814. He seems to have been +perfectly sensible that this beautiful composition was in his best +peculiar manner. It is indeed a pirate's isle, peopled with his own +creatures. + +It has been alleged that Lord Byron was indebted to Sir Walter +Scott's poem of Rokeby for the leading incidents of The Corsair, but +the resemblance is not to me very obvious: besides, the whole style +of the poem is so strikingly in his own manner, that even had he +borrowed the plan, it was only as a thread to string his own original +conceptions upon; the beauty and brilliancy of them could not be +borrowed, and are not imitations. + +There were two islands in the Archipelago, when Lord Byron was in +Greece, considered as the chief haunts of the pirates, Stampalia, and +a long narrow island between Cape Colonna and Zea. Jura also was a +little tainted in its reputation. I think, however, from the +description, that the pirate's isle of The Corsair is the island off +Cape Colonna. It is a rude, rocky mass. I know not to what +particular Coron, if there be more than one, the poet alludes; for +the Coron of the Morea is neighbour to, if not in, the Mainote +territory, a tract of country which never submitted to the Turks, and +was exempted from the jurisdiction of Mussulman officers by the +payment of an annual tribute. The Mainotes themselves are all +pirates and robbers. If it be in that Coron that Byron has placed +Seyd the pasha, it must be attributed to inadvertency. His Lordship +was never there, nor in any part of Maina; nor does he describe the +place, a circumstance which of itself goes far to prove the +inadvertency. It is, however, only in making it the seat of a +Turkish pasha that any error has been committed. In working out the +incidents of the poem where descriptions of scenery are given, they +relate chiefly to Athens and its neighbourhood. In themselves these +descriptions are executed with an exquisite felicity; but they are +brought in without any obvious reason wherefore. In fact, they +appear to have been written independently of the poem, and are +patched on "shreds of purple" which could have been spared. + +The character of Conrad the Corsair may be described as a combination +of the warrior of Albania and a naval officer--Childe Harold mingled +with the hero of The Giaour. + + + A man of loneliness and mystery, +Scarce seen to smile, and seldom heard to sigh; +Robust, but not Herculean, to the sight, +No giant frame sets forth his common height; +Yet in the whole, who paused to look again +Saw more than marks the crowd of vulgar men: +They gaze and marvel how, and still confess +That thus it is, but why they cannot guess. +Sun-burnt his cheek, his forehead high and pale, +The sable curls in wild profusion veil. +And oft perforce his rising lip reveals +The haughtier thought it curbs, but scarce conceals: +Though smooth his voice, and calm his general mien, +Still seems there something he would not have seen. +His features' deepening lines and varying hue +At times attracted, yet perplex'd the view, +As if within that murkiness of mind +Work'd feelings fearful, and yet undefined: +Such might he be that none could truly tell, +Too close inquiry his stern glance could quell. +There breathed but few whose aspect could defy +The full encounter of his searching eye; +He had the skill, when cunning gaze to seek +To probe his heart and watch his changing cheek, +At once the observer's purpose to espy, +And on himself roll back his scrutiny, +Lest he to Conrad rather should betray +Some secret thought, than drag that chief's to day. + +There was a laughing devil in his sneer +That raised emotions both of rage and fear; +And where his frown of hatred darkly fell +Hope withering fled, and mercy sigh'd, farewell. + + +It will be allowed that, in this portrait, some of the darker +features and harsher lineaments of Byron himself are very evident, +but with a more fixed sternness than belonged to him; for it was only +by fits that he could put on such severity. Conrad is, however, a +higher creation than any which he had previously described. Instead +of the listlessness of Childe Harold, he is active and enterprising; +such as the noble pilgrim would have been, but for the satiety which +had relaxed his energies. There is also about him a solemnity +different from the animation of the Giaour--a penitential despair +arising from a cause undisclosed. The Giaour, though wounded and +fettered, and laid in a dungeon, would not have felt as Conrad is +supposed to feel in that situation. The following bold and terrific +verses, descriptive of the maelstrom agitations of remorse, could not +have been appropriately applied to the despair of grief, the +predominant source of emotion in The Giaour. + + +There is a war, a chaos of the mind +When all its elements convulsed combined, +Lie dark and jarring with perturbed force, +And gnashing with impenitent remorse. +That juggling fiend who never spake before, +But cries, "I warn'd thee," when the deed is o'er; +Vain voice, the spirit burning, but unbent, +May writhe, rebel--the weak alone repent. + + +The character of Conrad is undoubtedly finely imagined; as the +painters would say, it is in the highest style of art, and brought +out with sublime effect; but still it is only another phase of the +same portentous meteor, that was nebulous in Childe Harold, and fiery +in The Giaour. To the safe and shop-resorting inhabitants of +Christendom, The Corsair seems to present many improbabilities; +nevertheless, it is true to nature, and in every part of the Levant +the traveller meets with individuals whose air and physiognomy remind +him of Conrad. The incidents of the story, also, so wild and +extravagant to the snug and legal notions of England, are not more in +keeping with the character, than they are in accordance with fact and +reality. The poet suffers immeasurable injustice, when it is +attempted to determine the probability of the wild scenes and wilder +adventurers of his tales, by the circumstances and characters of the +law-regulated system of our diurnal affairs. Probability is a +standard formed by experience, and it is not surprising that the +anchorets of libraries should object to the improbability of The +Corsair, and yet acknowledge the poetical power displayed in the +composition; for it is a work which could only have been written by +one who had himself seen or heard on the spot of transactions similar +to those he has described. No course of reading could have supplied +materials for a narration so faithfully descriptive of the accidents +to which an AEgean pirate is exposed as The Corsair. Had Lord Byron +never been out of England, the production of a work so appropriate in +reflection, so wild in spirit, and so bold in invention, as in that +case it would have been, would have entitled him to the highest +honours of original conception, or been rejected as extravagant; +considered as the result of things seen, and of probabilities +suggested, by transactions not uncommon in the region where his +genius gathered the ingredients of its sorceries, more than the half +of its merits disappear, while the other half brighten with the +lustre of truth. + +The manners, the actions, and the incidents were new to the English +mind; but to the inhabitant of the Levant they have long been +familiar, and the traveller who visits that region will hesitate to +admit that Lord Byron possessed those creative powers, and that +discernment of dark bosoms for which he is so much celebrated; +because he will see there how little of invention was necessary to +form such heroes as Conrad, and how much the actual traffic of life +and trade is constantly stimulating enterprise and bravery. But let +it not, therefore, be supposed, that I would undervalue either the +genius of the poet, or the merits of the poem, in saying so, for I do +think a higher faculty has been exerted in The Corsair than in Childe +Harold. In the latter, only actual things are described, freshly and +vigorously as they were seen, and feelings expressed eloquently as +they were felt; but in the former, the talent of combination has been +splendidly employed. The one is a view from nature, the other is a +composition both from nature and from history. + +Lara, which appeared soon after The Corsair, is an evident supplement +to it; the description of the hero corresponds in person and +character with Conrad; so that the remarks made on The Corsair apply, +in all respects, to Lara. The poem itself is perhaps, in elegance, +superior; but the descriptions are not so vivid, simply because they +are more indebted to imagination. There is one of them, however, in +which the lake and abbey of Newstead are dimly shadowed, equal in +sweetness and solemnity to anything the poet has ever written. + + +It was the night, and Lara's glassy stream +The stars are studding each with imaged beam: +So calm, the waters scarcely seem to stray, +And yet they glide, like happiness, away; +Reflecting far and fairy-like from high +The immortal lights that live along the sky; +Its banks are fringed with many a goodly tree, +And flowers the fairest that may feast the bee: +Such in her chaplet infant Dian wove, +And innocence would offer to her love; +These deck the shore, the waves their channel make +In windings bright and mazy, like the snake. +All was so still, so soft in earth and air, +You scarce would start to meet a spirit there, +Secure that naught of evil could delight +To walk in such a scene, in such a night! +It was a moment only for the good: +So Lara deemed: nor longer there he stood; +But turn'd in silence to his castle-gate: +Such scene his soul no more could contemplate: +Such scene reminded him of other days, +Of skies more cloudless, moons of purer blaze; +Of nights more soft and frequent, hearts that now-- +No, no! the storm may beat upon his brow +Unfelt, unsparing; but a night like this, +A night of beauty, mock'd such breast as his. + +He turn'd within his solitary hall, +And his high shadow shot along the wall: +There were the painted forms of other times-- +'Twas all they left of virtues or of crimes, +Save vague tradition; and the gloomy vaults +That hid their dust, their foibles, and their faults, +And half a column of the pompous page, +That speeds the spacious tale from age to age; +Where history's pen its praise or blame supplies +And lies like truth, and still most truly lies; +He wand'ring mused, and as the moonbeam shone +Through the dim lattice o'er the floor of stone, +And the high-fretted roof and saints that there +O'er Gothic windows knelt in pictured prayer; +Reflected in fantastic figures grew +Like life, but not like mortal life to view; +His bristling locks of sable, brow of gloom, +And the wide waving of his shaken plume +Glanced like a spectre's attributes, and gave +His aspect all that terror gives the grave. + + +That Byron wrote best when he wrote of himself and of his own, has +probably been already made sufficiently apparent. In this respect he +stands alone and apart from all other poets, and there will be +occasion to show, that this peculiarity extended much farther over +all his works, than merely to those which may be said to have +required him to be thus personal. The great distinction, indeed, of +his merit consists in that singularity. Shakspeare, in drawing the +materials of his dramas from tales and history has, with wonderful +art, given from his own invention and imagination the fittest and +most appropriate sentiments and language; and admiration at the +perfection with which he has accomplished this, can never be +exhausted. The difference between Byron and Shakspeare consists in +the curious accident, if it may be so called, by which the former was +placed in circumstances which taught him to feel in himself the very +sentiments that he has ascribed to his characters. Shakspeare +created the feelings of his, and with such excellence, that they are +not only probable to the situations, but give to the personifications +the individuality of living persons. Byron's are scarcely less so; +but with him there was no invention, only experience, and when he +attempts to express more than he has himself known, he is always +comparatively feeble. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + + + +Byron determines to reside abroad--Visits the Plain of Waterloo-- +State of his Feelings + +From different incidental expressions in his correspondence it is +sufficiently evident that Byron, before his marriage, intended to +reside abroad. In his letter to me of the 11th December, 1813, he +distinctly states this intention, and intimates that he then thought +of establishing his home in Greece. It is not therefore surprising +that, after his separation from Lady Byron, he should have determined +to carry this intention into effect; for at that period, besides the +calumny heaped upon him from all quarters, the embarrassment of his +affairs, and the retaliatory satire, all tended to force him into +exile; he had no longer any particular tie to bind him to England. + +On the 25th of April, 1816, he sailed for Ostend, and resumed the +composition of Childe Harold, it may be said, from the moment of his +embarkation. In it, however, there is no longer the fiction of an +imaginary character stalking like a shadow amid his descriptions and +reflections----he comes more decidedly forwards as the hero in his +own person. + +In passing to Brussels he visited the field of Waterloo, and the +slight sketch which he has given in the poem of that eventful +conflict is still the finest which has yet been written on the +subject. + +But the note of his visit to the field is of more importance to my +present purpose, inasmuch as it tends to illustrate the querulous +state of his own mind at the time. + +"I went on horseback twice over the field, comparing it with my +recollection of similar scenes. As a plain, Waterloo seems marked +out for the scene of some great action, though this may be mere +imagination. I have viewed with attention those of Platea, Troy, +Mantinea, Leuctra, Chaevronae, and Marathon, and the field round Mont +St Jean and Hugoumont appears to want little but a better cause and +that indefinable but impressive halo which the lapse of ages throws +around a celebrated spot, to vie in interest with any or all of +these, except perhaps the last-mentioned." + +The expression "a better cause," could only have been engendered in +mere waywardness; but throughout his reflections at this period a +peevish ill-will towards England is often manifested, as if he sought +to attract attention by exasperating the national pride; that pride +which he secretly flattered himself was to be augmented by his own +fame. + +I cannot, in tracing his travels through the third canto, test the +accuracy of his descriptions as in the former two; but as they are +all drawn from actual views they have the same vivid individuality +impressed upon them. Nothing can be more simple and affecting than +the following picture, nor less likely to be an imaginary scene: + + + By Coblentz, on a rise of gentle ground, + There is a small and simple pyramid, + Crowning the summit of the verdant mound; + Beneath its base are heroes' ashes hid, + Our enemies. And let not that forbid + Honour to Marceau, o'er whose early tomb + Tears, big tears, rush'd from the rough soldier's lid, + Lamenting and yet envying such a doom, +Falling for France, whose rights he battled to resume. + + +Perhaps few passages of descriptive poetry excel that in which +reference is made to the column of Avenches, the ancient Aventicum. +It combines with an image distinct and picturesque, poetical +associations full of the grave and moral breathings of olden forms +and hoary antiquity. + + + By a lone wall, a lonelier column rears + A gray and grief-worn aspect of old days: + 'Tis the last remnant of the wreck of years, + And looks as with the wild-bewilder'd gaze + Of one to stone converted by amaze, + Yet still with consciousness; and there it stands, + Making a marvel that it not decays, + When the coeval pride of human hands, +Levell'd Aventicum, hath strew'd her subject lands. + + +But the most remarkable quality in the third canto is the deep, low +bass of thought which runs through several passages, and which gives +to it, when considered with reference to the circumstances under +which it was written, the serious character of documentary evidence +as to the remorseful condition of the poet's mind. It would be, +after what has already been pointed out in brighter incidents, +affectation not to say, that these sad bursts of feeling and wild +paroxysms, bear strong indications of having been suggested by the +wreck of his domestic happiness, and dictated by contrition for the +part he had himself taken in the ruin. The following reflections on +the unguarded hour, are full of pathos and solemnity, amounting +almost to the deep and dreadful harmony of Manfred: + + + To fly from, need not be to hate, mankind; + All are not fit with them to stir and toil, + Nor is it discontent to keep the mind + Deep in its fountain, lest it overboil + In the hot throng, where we become the spoil + Of our infection, till too late and long + We may deplore and struggle with the coil, + In wretched interchange of wrong for wrong +'Midst a contentious world, striving where none are strong. + + There, in a moment, we may plunge our years + In fatal penitence, and in the blight + Of our own soul, turn all our blood to tears, + And colour things to come with hues of night; + The race of life becomes a hopeless flight + To those who walk in darkness: on the sea, + The boldest steer but where their ports invite; + But there are wanderers o'er eternity, +Whose bark drives on and on, and anchor'd ne'er shall be. + + +These sentiments are conceived in the mood of an awed spirit; they +breathe of sorrow and penitence. Of the weariness of satiety the +pilgrim no more complains; he is no longer despondent from +exhaustion, and the lost appetite of passion, but from the weight of +a burden which he cannot lay down; and he clings to visible objects, +as if from their nature he could extract a moral strength. + + + I live not in myself, but I become + Portion of that around me; and to me, + High mountains are a feeling, but the hum + Of human cities tortures: I can see + Nothing to loathe in nature, save to be + A link reluctant in a fleshly chain, + Class'd among creatures, where the soul can flee, + And with the sky, the peak, the heaving plain +Of ocean, or the stars, mingle, and not in vain. + + +These dim revelations of black and lowering thought are overshadowed +with a darker hue than sorrow alone could have cast. A consciousness +of sinful blame is evident amid them; and though the fantasies that +loom through the mystery, are not so hideous as the guilty reveries +in the weird caldron of Manfred's conscience, still they have an +awful resemblance to them. They are phantoms of the same murky +element, and, being more akin to fortitude than despair, prophesy not +of hereafter, but oracularly confess suffering. + +Manfred himself hath given vent to no finer horror than the oracle +that speaks in this magnificent stanza: + + + I have not loved the world, nor the world me; + I have not flatter'd its rank breath, nor bow'd + To its idolatries a patient knee-- + Nor coin'd my cheek to smiles--nor cried aloud + In worship of an echo;--in the crowd + They could not deem me one of such; I stood + Among them, but not of them; in a shroud + Of thoughts which were not of their thoughts, and still could, +Had I not filed my mind, which thus itself subdued. + + +There are times in life when all men feel their sympathies extinct, +and Lord Byron was evidently in that condition, when he penned these +remarkable lines; but independently of their striking beauty, the +scenery in which they were conceived deserves to be considered with +reference to the sentiment that pervades them. For it was amid the +same obscure ravines, pine-tufted precipices and falling waters of +the Alps, that he afterward placed the outcast Manfred--an additional +corroboration of the justness of the remarks which I ventured to +offer, in adverting to his ruminations in contemplating, while yet a +boy, the Malvern hills, as if they were the scenes of his impassioned +childhood. In "the palaces of nature," he first felt the +consciousness of having done some wrong, and when he would infuse +into another, albeit in a wilder degree, the feelings he had himself +felt, he recalled the images which had ministered to the cogitations +of his own contrition. But I shall have occasion to speak more of +this, when I come to consider the nature of the guilt and misery of +Manfred. + +That Manfred is the greatest of Byron's works will probably not be +disputed. It has more than the fatal mysticism of Macbeth, with the +satanic grandeur of the Paradise Lost, and the hero is placed in +circumstances, and amid scenes, which accord with the stupendous +features of his preternatural character. How then, it may be asked, +does this moral phantom, that has never been, bear any resemblance to +the poet himself? Must not, in this instance, the hypothesis which +assigns to Byron's heroes his own sentiments and feelings be +abandoned? I think not. In noticing the deep and solemn reflections +with which he was affected in ascending the Rhine, and which he has +embodied in the third canto of Childe Harold, I have already pointed +out a similarity in the tenour of the thoughts to those of Manfred, +as well as the striking acknowledgment of the "filed" mind. There +is, moreover, in the drama, the same distaste of the world which +Byron himself expressed when cogitating on the desolation of his +hearth, and the same contempt of the insufficiency of his genius and +renown to mitigate contrition--all in strange harmony with the same +magnificent objects of sight. Is not the opening soliloquy of +Manfred the very echo of the reflections on the Rhine? + + +My slumbers--if I slumber--are not sleep, +But a continuance of enduring thought, +Which then I can resist not; in my heart +There is a vigil, and these eyes but close +To look within--and yet I live and bear +The aspect and the form of breathing man. + + +But the following is more impressive: it is the very phrase he would +himself have employed to have spoken of the consequences of his fatal +marriage: + + +My in juries came down on those who lov'd me, +On those whom I best lov'd; I never quell'd +An enemy, save in my just defence-- +But my embrace was fatal. + + +He had not, indeed, been engaged in any duel of which the issue was +mortal; but he had been so far engaged with more than one, that he +could easily conceive what it would have been to have quelled an +enemy in just defence. But unless the reader can himself discern, by +his sympathies, that there is the resemblance I contend for, it is of +no use to multiply instances. I shall, therefore, give but one other +extract, which breathes the predominant spirit of all Byron 's works- +-that sad translation of the preacher's "vanity of vanities; all is +vanity!" + + + Look on me! there is an order +Of mortals on the earth, who do become +Old in their youth and die ere middle age, +Without the violence of warlike death; +Some perishing of pleasure--some of study-- +Some worn with toil--some of mere weariness-- +Some of disease--and some insanity-- +And some of wither'd or of broken hearts; +For this last is a malady which slays +More than are number'd in the lists of Fate; +Taking all shapes, and bearing many names. +Look upon me! for even of all these things +Have I partaken--and of all these things +One were enough; then wonder not that I +Am what I am, but that I ever was, +Or, having been, that I am still on earth. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + + + +Byron's Residence in Switzerland--Excursion to the Glaciers-- +"Manfred" founded on a magical Sacrifice, not on Guilt--Similarity +between Sentiments given to Manfred and those expressed by Lord Byron +in his own Person + +The account given by Captain Medwin of the manner in which Lord Byron +spent his time in Switzerland, has the raciness of his Lordship's own +quaintness, somewhat diluted. The reality of the conversations I +have heard questioned, but they relate in some instances to matters +not generally known, to the truth of several of which I can myself +bear witness; moreover they have much of the poet's peculiar modes of +thinking about them, though weakened in effect by the reporter. No +man can give a just representation of another who is not capable of +putting himself into the character of his original, and of thinking +with his power and intelligence. Still there are occasional touches +of merit in the feeble outlines of Captain Medwin, and with this +conviction it would be negligence not to avail myself of them. + +"Switzerland," said his Lordship, "is a country I have been satisfied +with seeing once; Turkey I could live in for ever. I never forget my +predilections: I was in a wretched state of health and worse spirits +when I was at Geneva; but quiet and the lake, better physicians than +Polidori, soon set me up. I never led so moral a life as during my +residence in that country; but I gained no credit by it. Where there +is mortification there ought to be reward. On the contrary, there is +no story so absurd that they did not invent at my cost. I was +watched by glasses on the opposite side of the lake, and by glasses, +too, that must have had very distorted optics; I was waylaid in my +evening drives. I believe they looked upon me as a man-monster. + +"I knew very few of the Genevese. Hentsh was very civil to me, and I +have a great respect for Sismondi. I was forced to return the +civilities of one of their professors by asking him and an old +gentleman, a friend of Gray's, to dine with me I had gone out to sail +early in the morning, and the wind prevented me from returning in +time for dinner. I understand that I offended them mortally. + +"Among our countrymen I made no new acquaintances; Shelley, Monk +Lewis, and Hobhouse were almost the only English people I saw. No +wonder; I showed a distaste for society at that time, and went little +among the Genevese; besides, I could not speak French. When I went +the tour of the lake with Shelley and Hobhouse, the boat was nearly +wrecked near the very spot where St Preux and Julia were in danger of +being drowned. It would have been classical to have been lost there, +but not agreeable." + +The third canto of Childe Harold, Manfred, and The Prisoner of +Chillon are the fruits of his travels up the Rhine and of his sojourn +in Switzerland. Of the first it is unnecessary to say more; but the +following extract from the poet's travelling memorandum-book, has +been supposed to contain the germ of the tragedy + +"September 22, 18 16.--Left Thun in a boat, which carried us the +length of the lake in three hours. The lake small, but the banks +fine; rocks down to the water's edge: landed at Newhouse; passed +Interlachen; entered upon a range of scenes beyond all description or +previous conception; passed a rock bearing an inscription; two +brothers, one murdered the other; just the place for it. After a +variety of windings, came to an enormous rock; arrived at the foot of +the mountain (the Jungfrau) glaciers; torrents, one of these nine +hundred feet, visible descent; lodge at the curate's; set out to see +the valley; heard an avalanche fall like thunder; glaciers; enormous +storm comes on thunder and lightning and hail, all in perfection and +beautiful. The torrent is in shape, curving over the rock, like the +tail of the white horse streaming in the wind, just as might be +conceived would be that of the pale horse on which Death is mounted +in the Apocalypse: it is neither mist nor water, but a something +between both; its immense height gives a wave, a curve, a spreading +here, a condensation there, wonderful, indescribable + +"September 23.--Ascent of the Wingren, the dent d'argent shining like +truth on one side, on the other the clouds rose from the opposite +valley, curling up perpendicular precipices like the foam of the +ocean of hell during a spring-tide. It was white and sulphury, and +immeasurably deep in appearance; the side we ascended was of course +not of so precipitous a nature; but on arriving at the summit, we +looked down on the other side upon a boiling sea of cloud dashing +against the crag on which we stood. Arrived at the Greenderwold, +mounted and rode to the higher glacier, twilight, but distinct, very +fine; glacier like a frozen hurricane; starlight beautiful; the whole +of the day was fine, and, in point of weather, as the day in which +Paradise was made. Passed whole woods of withered pines, all +withered, trunks stripped and lifeless, done by a single winter." + +Undoubtedly in these brief and abrupt but masterly touches, hints for +the scenery of Manfred may be discerned, but I can perceive nothing +in them which bears the least likelihood to their having influenced +the conception of that sublime work. + +There has always been from the first publication of Manfred, a +strange misapprehension with respect to it in the public mind. The +whole poem has been misunderstood, and the odious supposition that +ascribes the fearful mystery and remorse of a hero to a foul passion +for his sister, is probably one of those coarse imaginations which +have grown out of the calumnies and accusations heaped upon the +author. How can it have happened that none of the critics have +noticed that the story is derived from the human sacrifices supposed +to have been in use among the students of the black art? + +Manfred is represented as being actuated by an insatiable curiosity-- +a passion to know the forbidden secrets of the world. The scene +opens with him at his midnight studies--his lamp is almost burned +out--and he has been searching for knowledge and has not found it, +but only that + + +Sorrow is knowledge: they who know the most +Must mourn the deepest o'er the fatal truth, +The tree of knowledge is not that of life. +Philosophy and science and the springs +Of wonder, and the wisdom of the world +I have essayed, and in my mind there is, +A power to make these subject to itself. + + +He is engaged in calling spirits; and, as the incantation proceeds, +they obey his bidding, and ask him what he wants; he replies, +"forgetfulness." + + +FIRST SPIRIT + +Of what--of whom--and why? + +MANFRED + +Of that which is within me; read it there---- +Ye know it, and I cannot utter it. + +SPIRIT + +We can but give thee that which we possess;-- +Ask of us subjects, sovereignty, the power +O'er earth, the whole or portion, or a sign +Which shall control the elements, whereof +We are the dominators. Each and all-- +These shall be thine. + +MANFRED + + Oblivion, self oblivion-- +Can ye not wring from out the hidden realms +Ye offer so profusely, what I ask? + +SPIRIT + +It is not in our essence, in our skill, +But--thou may'st die. + +MANFRED + + Will death bestow it on me? + +SPIRIT + +We are immortal, and do not forget; +We are eternal, and to us the past +Is as the future, present. Art thou answer'd? + +MANFRED + +Ye mock me, but the power which brought ye here +Hath made you mine. Slaves! scoff not at my will; +The mind, the spirit, the Promethean spark, +The lightning of my being is as bright, +Pervading and far darting as your own, +And shall not yield to yours though coop'd in clay. +Answer, or I will teach you what I am. + +SPIRIT + +We answer as we answer'd. Our reply +Is even in thine own words. + +MANFRED + +Why say ye so? + +SPIRIT + +If, as thou say'st, thine essence be as ours, +We have replied in telling thee the thing +Mortals call death hath naught to do with us. + +MANFRED + +I then have call'd you from your realms in vain. + + +This impressive and original scene prepares the reader to wonder why +it is that Manfred is so desirous to drink of Lethe. He has acquired +dominion over spirits, and he finds, in the possession of the power, +that knowledge has only brought him sorrow. They tell him he is +immortal, and what he suffers is as inextinguishable as his own +being: why should he desire forgetfulness?--Has he not committed a +great secret sin? What is it?--He alludes to his sister, and in his +subsequent interview with the witch we gather a dreadful meaning +concerning her fate. Her blood has been shed, not by his hand nor in +punishment, but in the shadow and occultations of some unutterable +crime and mystery. + + +She was like me in lineaments; her eyes, +Her hair, her features, all to the very tone +Even of her voice, they said were like to mine, +But soften'd all and temper'd into beauty. +She had the same lone thoughts and wanderings, +The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind +To comprehend the universe; nor these +Alone, but with them gentler powers than mine, +Pity, and smiles, and tears, which I had not; +And tenderness--but that I had for her; +Humility, and that I never had: +Her faults were mine--her virtues were her own; +I lov'd her and--destroy'd her-- + +WITCH + +With thy hand? + +MANFRED + +Not with my hand, but heart, which broke her heart. +It gaz'd on mine, and withered. I have shed +Blood, but not hers, and yet her blood was shed;-- +I saw, and could not stanch it. + + +There is in this little scene, perhaps, the deepest pathos ever +expressed; but it is not of its beauty that I am treating; my object +in noticing it here is, that it may be considered in connection with +that where Manfred appears with his insatiate thirst of knowledge, +and manacled with guilt. It indicates that his sister, Astarte, had +been self-sacrificed in the pursuit of their magical knowledge. +Human sacrifices were supposed to be among the initiate propitiations +of the demons that have their purposes in magic--as well as compacts +signed with the blood of the self-sold. There was also a dark +Egyptian art, of which the knowledge and the efficacy could only be +obtained by the novitiate's procuring a voluntary victim--the dearest +object to himself and to whom he also was the dearest; {241} and the +primary spring of Byron's tragedy lies, I conceive, in a sacrifice of +that kind having been performed, without obtaining that happiness +which the votary expected would be found in the knowledge and power +purchased at such a price. His sister was sacrificed in vain. The +manner of the sacrifice is not divulged, but it is darkly intimated +to have been done amid the perturbations of something horrible. + + + Night after night for years +He hath pursued long vigils in this tower +Without a witness.--I have been within it-- +So have we all been ofttimes; but from it, +Or its contents, it were impossible +To draw conclusions absolute of aught +His studies tend to.--To be sure there is +One chamber where none enter--. . . +Count Manfred was, as now, within his tower: +How occupied--we know not--but with him, +The sole companion of his wanderings +And watchings--her--whom of all earthly things +That liv'd, the only thing he seem'd to love. + + +With admirable taste, and its thrilling augmentation of the horror, +the poet leaves the deed which was done in that unapproachable +chamber undivulged, while we are darkly taught, that within it lie +the relics or the ashes of the "one without a tomb." + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + + + +State of Byron in Switzerland--He goes to Venice--The fourth Canto of +"Childe Harold"--Rumination on his own Condition--Beppo--Lament of +Tasso--Curious Example of Byron's metaphysical Love + +The situation of Lord Byron in Switzerland was comfortless. He found +that "the montain palaces of Nature" afforded no asylum to a haunted +heart; he was ill at ease with himself, even dissatisfied that the +world had not done him enough of wrong to justify his misanthropy. + +Some expectation that his lady would repent of her part in the +separation probably induced him to linger in the vicinity of Geneva, +the thoroughfare of the travelling English, whom he affected to shun. +If it were so, he was disappointed, and, his hopes being frustrated, +he broke up the establishment he had formed there and crossed the +Alps. After visiting some of the celebrated scenes and places in the +north of Italy he passed on to Venice, where he domiciled himself for +a time. + +During his residence at Venice Lord Byron avoided as much as possible +any intercourse with his countrymen. This was perhaps in some degree +necessary, and it was natural in the state of his mind. He had +become an object of great public interest by his talents; the stories +connected with his domestic troubles had also increased his +notoriety, and in such circumstances he could not but shrink from the +inquisition of mere curiosity. But there was an insolence in the +tone with which he declares his "utter abhorrence of any contact with +the travelling English," that can neither be commended for its +spirit, nor palliated by any treatment he had suffered. Like +Coriolanus he may have banished his country, but he had not, like the +Roman, received provocation: on the contrary, he had been the +aggressor in the feuds with his literary adversaries; and there was a +serious accusation against his morals, or at least his manners, in +the circumstances under which Lady Byron withdrew from his house. It +was, however, his misfortune throughout life to form a wrong estimate +of himself in everything save in his poetical powers. + +A life in Venice is more monotonous than in any other great city; but +a man of genius carries with him everywhere a charm, which secures to +him both variety and enjoyment. Lord Byron had scarcely taken up his +abode in Venice, when he began the fourth canto of Childe Harold, +which he published early in the following year, and dedicated to his +indefatigable friend Mr Hobhouse by an epistle dated on the +anniversary of his marriage, "the most unfortunate day," as he says, +"of his past existence." + +In this canto he has indulged his excursive moralizing beyond even +the wide licence he took in the three preceding parts; but it bears +the impression of more reading and observation. Though not superior +in poetical energy, it is yet a higher work than any of them, and +something of a more resolved and masculine spirit pervades the +reflections, and endows, as it were, with thought and enthusiasm the +aspect of the things described. Of the merits of the descriptions, +as of real things, I am not qualified to judge: the transcripts from +the tablets of the author's bosom he has himself assured us are +faithful. + +"With regard to the conduct of the last canto, there will be found +less of the pilgrim than in any of the preceding, and that little +slightly, if at all, separated from the author speaking in his own +person. The fact is, that I had become weary of drawing a line, +which every one seemed determined not to perceive: like the Chinese, +in Goldsmith's Citizen of the World, whom nobody would believe to be +a Chinese, it was in vain that I asserted and imagined that I had +drawn a distinction between the author and the pilgrim; and the very +anxiety to preserve this difference, and the disappointment at +finding it unavailing, so far crushed my efforts in the composition, +that I determined to abandon it altogether--and have done so." + +This confession, though it may not have been wanted, gives a pathetic +emphasis to those passages in which the poet speaks of his own +feelings. That his mind was jarred, and out of joint, there is too +much reason to believe; but he had in some measure overcome the +misery that clung to him during the dismal time of his sojourn in +Switzerland, and the following passage, though breathing the sweet +and melancholy spirit of dejection, possesses a more generous vein of +nationality than is often met with in his works, even when the same +proud sentiment might have been more fitly expressed: + + + I've taught me other tongues--and in strange eyes + Have made me not a stranger; to the mind + Which is itself, no changes bring surprise, + Nor is it harsh to make or hard to find + A country with--aye, or without mankind. + Yet was I born where men are proud to be, + Not without cause; and should I leave behind + Th' inviolate island of the sage and free, +And seek me out a home by a remoter sea? + + Perhaps I lov'd it well, and should I lay + My ashes in a soil which is not mine, + My spirit shall resume it--if we may, + Unbodied, choose a sanctuary. I twine + My hopes of being remember'd in my line, + With my land's language; if too fond and far + These aspirations in their hope incline-- + If my fame should be as my fortunes are, +Of hasty growth and blight, and dull oblivion bar + + My name from out the temple where the dead + Are honour'd by the nations--let it be, + And light the laurels on a loftier head, + And be the Spartan's epitaph on me: + "Sparta had many a worthier son than he"; + Meantime I seek no sympathies, nor need; + The thorns which I have reap'd are of the tree + I planted--they have torn me--and I bleed: +I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed. + + +It will strike the reader as remarkable, that although the poet, in +the course of this canto, takes occasion to allude to Dante and +Tasso, in whose destinies there was a shadowy likeness of his own, +the rumination is mingled with less of himself than might have been +expected, especially when it is considered how much it was a habit +with him, to make his own feelings the basis and substratum of the +sentiments he ascribed to others. It has also more than once +surprised me that he has so seldom alluded to Alfieri, whom of all +poets, both in character and conduct, he most resembled; with this +difference, however, that Alfieri was possessed of affections equally +intense and durable, whereas the caprice of Byron made him uncertain +in his partialities, or what was the same in effect, made his friends +set less value on them than perhaps they were entitled to. + +Before Childe Harold was finished, an incident occurred which +suggested to Byron a poem of a very different kind to any he had yet +attempted:--without vouching for the exact truth of the anecdote, I +have been told, that he one day received by the mail a copy of +Whistlecraft's prospectus and specimen of an intended national work; +and, moved by its playfulness, immediately after reading it, began +Beppo, which he finished at a sitting. The facility with which he +composed renders the story not improbable; but, singular as it may +seem, the poem itself has the facetious flavour in it of his gaiety, +stronger than even his grave works have of his frowardness, commonly +believed to have been--I think, unjustly--the predominant mood of his +character. + +The Ode to Venice is also to be numbered among his compositions in +that city; a spirited and indignant effusion, full of his peculiar +lurid fire, and rich in a variety of impressive and original images. +But there is a still finer poem which belongs to this period of his +history, though written, I believe, before he reached Venice--The +Lament of Tasso: and I am led to notice it the more particularly, as +one of its noblest passages affords an illustration of the opinion +which I have early maintained--that Lord Byron's extraordinary +pretensions to the influence of love was but a metaphysical +conception of the passion. + + +It is no marvel--from my very birth +My soul was drunk with love, which did pervade +And mingle with whate'er I saw on earth; +Of objects all inanimate I made +Idols, and out of wild and lovely flowers, +And rocks whereby they grew, a paradise, +Where I did lay me down within the shade +Of waving trees, and dream'd uncounted hours. + + +It has been remarked by an anonymous author of Memoirs of Lord Byron, +a work written with considerable talent and acumen, that "this is so +far from being in character, that it is the very reverse; for whether +Tasso was in his senses or not, if his love was sincere, he would +have made the object of his affection the sole theme of his +meditation, instead of generalising his passion, and talking about +the original sympathies of his nature." In truth, no poet has better +described love than Byron has his own peculiar passion. + + + His love was passion's essence--as a tree + On fire by lightning; with ethereal flame + Kindled he was, and blasted; for to be + Thus enamour'd were in him the same. + But his was not the love of living dame, + Nor of the dead who rise upon our dreams, + But of ideal beauty, which became + In him existence, and o'erflowing teems +Along his burning page, distemper'd though it seems. + + +In tracing the course of Lord Byron's career, I have not deemed it at +all necessary to advert to the instances of his generosity, or to +conduct less pleasant to record. Enough has appeared to show that he +was neither deficient in warmth of heart nor in less amiable +feelings; but, upon the whole, it is not probable that either in his +charities or his pleasures he was greatly different from other young +men, though he undoubtedly had a wayward delight in magnifying his +excesses, not in what was to his credit, like most men, but in what +was calculated to do him no honour. More notoriety has been given to +an instance of lavish liberality at Venice, than the case deserved, +though it was unquestionably prompted by a charitable impulse. The +house of a shoemaker, near his Lordship's residence, in St Samuel, +was burned to the ground, with all it contained, by which the +proprietor was reduced to indigence. Byron not only caused a new but +a superior house to be erected, and also presented the sufferer with +a sum of money equal in value to the whole of his stock in trade and +furniture. I should endanger my reputation for impartiality if I did +not, as a fair set-off to this, also mention that it is said he +bought for five hundred crowns a baker's wife. There might be +charity in this, too. + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + + + +Removes to Ravenna--The Countess Guiccioli + +Although Lord Byron resided between two and three years at Venice, he +was never much attached to it. "To see a city die daily, as she +does," said he, "is a sad contemplation. I sought to distract my +mind from a sense of her desolation and my own solitude, by plunging +into a vortex that was anything but pleasure. When one gets into a +mill-stream, it is difficult to swim against it, and keep out of the +wheels." He became tired and disgusted with the life he led at +Venice, and was glad to turn his back on it. About the close of the +year 1819 he accordingly removed to Ravenna; but before I proceed to +speak of the works which he composed at Ravenna, it is necessary to +explain some particulars respecting a personal affair, the influence +of which on at least one of his productions is as striking as any of +the many instances already described upon others. I allude to the +intimacy which he formed with the young Countess Guiccioli. + +This lady, at the age of sixteen, was married to the Count, one of +the richest noblemen in Romagna, but far advanced in life. "From the +first," said Lord Byron, in his account of her, "they had separate +apartments, and she always called him, Sir! What could be expected +from such a preposterous connection. For some time she was an +Angiolina and he a Marino Faliero, a good old man; but young Italian +women are not satisfied with good old men, and the venerable Count +did not object to her availing herself of the privileges of her +country in selecting a cicisbeo; an Italian would have made it quite +agreeable: indeed, for some time he winked at our intimacy, but at +length made an exception against me, as a foreigner, a heretic, an +Englishman, and, what was worse than all, a Liberal. + +"He insisted--Teresa was as obstinate--her family took her part. +Catholics cannot get divorces; but to the scandal of all Romagna, the +matter was at last referred to the Pope, who ordered her a separate +maintenance on condition that she should reside under her father's +roof. All this was not agreeable, and at length I was forced to +smuggle her out of Ravenna, having discovered a plot laid with the +sanction of the legate, for shutting her up in a convent for life." + +The Countess Guiccioli was at this time about twenty, but she +appeared younger; her complexion was fair, with large, dark, +languishing eyes; and her auburn hair fell in great profusion of +natural ringlets over her shapely shoulders. Her features were not +so regular as in their expression pleasing, and there was an amiable +gentleness in her voice which was peculiarly interesting. Leigh +Hunt's account of her is not essentially dissimilar from any other +that I have either heard of or met with. He differs, however, in one +respect, from every other, in saying that her hair was YELLOW; but +considering the curiosity which this young lady has excited, perhaps +it may be as well to transcribe his description at length, especially +as he appears to have taken some pains on it, and more particularly +as her destiny seems at present to promise that the interest for her +is likely to be revived by another unhappy English connection. + +"Her appearance," says Mr Hunt, "might have reminded an English +spectator of Chaucer's heroine: + + +Yclothed was she, fresh for to devise, +Her yellow hair was braided in a tress +Behind her back, a yarde long I guess, +And in the garden (as the same uprist) +She walketh up and down, where as her list. + + +And then, as Dryden has it: + + +At every turn she made a little stand, +And thrust among the thorns her lily hand. + + +Madame Guiccioli, who was at that time about twenty, was handsome and +lady-like, with an agreeable manner, and a voice not partaking too +much of the Italian fervour to be gentle. She had just enough of it +to give her speaking a grace--none of her graces appeared entirely +free from art; nor, on the other hand, did they betray enough of it +to give you an ill opinion of her sincerity and good-humour . . . Her +hair was what the poet has described, or rather BLOND, with an +inclination to yellow; a very fair and delicate yellow, at all +events, and within the limits of the poetical. She had regular +features of the order properly called handsome, in distinction to +prettiness or piquancy; being well proportioned to one another, +large, rather than otherwise, but without coarseness, and more +harmonious than interesting. Her nose was the handsomest of the kind +I ever saw; and I have known her both smile very sweetly, and look +intelligently, when Lord Byron has said something kind to her. I +should not say, however, that she was a very intelligent person. +Both her wisdom and her want of wisdom were on the side of her +feelings, in which there was doubtless mingled a good deal of the +self-love natural to a flattered beauty. . . . In a word, Madame +Guiccioli was a kind of buxom parlour-boarder, compressing herself +artificially into dignity and elegance, and fancying she walked, in +the eyes of the whole world, a heroine by the side of a poet. When I +saw her at Monte Nero, near Leghorn, she was in a state of excitement +and exultation, and had really something of this look. At that time, +also, she looked no older than she was; in which respect, a rapid and +very singular change took place, to the surprise of everybody. In +the course of a few months she seemed to have lived as many years." + +This is not very perspicuous portraiture, nor does it show that Mr +Hunt was a very discerning observer of character. Lord Byron himself +is represented to have said, that extraordinary pains were taken with +her education: "Her conversation is lively without being frivolous; +without being learned, she has read all the best authors of her own +and the French language. She often conceals what she knows, from the +fear of being thought to know too much; possibly because she knows I +am not fond of blues. To use an expression of Jeffrey's, 'If she has +blue stockings, she contrives that her petticoats shall hide them.'" + +Lord Byron was at one time much attached to her; nor could it be +doubted that their affection was reciprocal; but in both, their union +outlived their affection, for before his departure to Greece his +attachment had perished, and he left her, as it is said, +notwithstanding the rank and opulence she had forsaken on his +account, without any provision. He had promised, it was reported, to +settle two thousand pounds on her, but he forgot the intention, or +died before it was carried into effect. {255} On her part, the +estrangement was of a different and curious kind--she had not come to +hate him, but she told a lady, the friend of a mutual acquaintance of +Lord Byron and mine, that she feared more than loved him. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + + + +Residence in Ravenna--The Carbonari--Byron's Part in their Plot--The +Murder of the military Commandant--The poetical Use of the Incident-- +"Marino Faliero"--Reflections--"The Prophecy of Dante" + +Lord Byron has said himself, that except Greece, he was never so +attached to any place in his life as to Ravenna. The peasantry he +thought the best people in the world, and their women the most +beautiful. "Those at Tivoli and Frescati," said he, "are mere +Sabines, coarse creatures, compared to the Romagnese. You may talk +of your English women; and it is true, that out of one hundred +Italian and English you will find thirty of the latter handsome; but +then there will be one Italian on the other side of the scale, who +will more than balance the deficit in numbers--one who, like the +Florence Venus, has no rival, and can have none in the North. I +found also at Ravenna much education and liberality of thinking among +the higher classes. The climate is delightful. I was not broken in +upon by society. Ravenna lies out of the way of travellers. I was +never tired of my rides in the pine forest: it breathes of the +Decameron; it is poetical ground. Francesca lived and Dante was +exiled and died at Ravenna. There is something inspiring in such an +air. + +"The people liked me as much as they hated the government. It is not +a little to say, I was popular with all the leaders of the +constitutional party. They knew that I came from a land of liberty, +and wished well to their cause. I would have espoused it, too, and +assisted them to shake off their fetters. They knew my character, +for I had been living two years at Venice, where many of the +Ravennese have houses. I did not, however, take part in their +intrigues, nor join in their political coteries; but I had a magazine +of one hundred stand of arms in the house, when everything was ripe +for revolt----a curse on Carignan's imbecility! I could have +pardoned him that, too, if he had not impeached his partisans. + +"The proscription was immense in Romagna, and embraced many of the +first nobles: almost all my friends, among the rest the Gambas (the +father and brother of the Countess Guiccioli), who took no part in +the affair, were included in it. They were exiled, and their +possessions confiscated. They knew that this must eventually drive +me out of the country. I did not follow them immediately: I was not +to be bullied--I had myself fallen under the eye of the government. +If they could have got sufficient proof they would have arrested me." + +The latter part of this declaration bears, in my opinion, indubitable +marks of being genuine. It has that magnifying mysticism about it +which more than any other quality characterized Lord Byron's +intimations concerning himself and his own affairs; but it is a +little clearer than I should have expected in the acknowledgment of +the part he was preparing to take in the insurrection. He does not +seem HERE to be sensible, that in confessing so much, he has +justified the jealousy with which he was regarded. + +"Shortly after the plot was discovered," he proceeds to say, "I +received several anonymous letters, advising me to discontinue my +forest rides; but I entertained no apprehensions of treachery, and +was more on horseback than ever. I never stir out without being well +armed, nor sleep without pistols. They knew that I never missed my +aim; perhaps this saved me." + +An event occurred at this time at Ravenna that made a deep impression +on Lord Byron. The commandant of the place, who, though suspected of +being secretly a Carbonaro, was too powerful a man to be arrested, +was assassinated opposite to his residence. The measures adopted to +screen the murderer proved, in the opinion of his Lordship, that the +assassination had taken place by order of the police, and that the +spot where it was perpetrated had been selected by choice. Byron at +the moment had his foot in the stirrup, and his horse started at the +report of the shot. On looking round he saw a man throw down a +carbine and run away, and another stretched on the pavement near him. +On hastening to the spot, he found it was the commandant; a crowd +collected, but no one offered any assistance. His Lordship directed +his servant to lift the bleeding body into the palace--he assisted +himself in the act, though it was represented to him that he might +incur the displeasure of the government--and the gentleman was +already dead. His adjutant followed the body into the house. "I +remember," says his Lordship, "his lamentation over him--'Poor devil +he would not have harmed a dog.'" + +It was from the murder of this commandant that the poet sketched the +scene of the assassination in the fifth canto of Don Juan. + + + The other evening ('twas on Friday last), + This is a fact, and no poetic fable-- + Just as my great coat was about me cast, + My hat and gloves still lying on the table, + I heard a shot--'twas eight o'clock scarce past, + And running out as fast as I was able, +I found the military commandant +Stretch'd in the street, and able scarce to pant. + + Poor fellow! for some reason, surely bad, + They had him slain with five slugs, and left him there + To perish on the pavement: so I had + Him borne into the house, and up the stair; +The man was gone: in some Italian quarrel +Kill'd by five bullets from an old gun-barrel. + + The scars of his old wounds were near his new, + Those honourable scars which bought him fame, + And horrid was the contrast to the view-- + But let me quit the theme, as such things claim + Perhaps ev'n more attention than is due + From me: I gazed (as oft I've gazed the same) +To try if I could wrench aught out of death +Which should confirm, or shake, or make a faith. + + +Whether Marino Faliero was written at Ravenna or completed there, I +have not ascertained, but it was planned at Venice, and as far back +as 1817. I believe this is considered about the most ordinary +performance of all Lord Byron's works; but if it is considered with +reference to the time in which it was written, it will probably be +found to contain many great and impressive passages. Has not the +latter part of the second scene in the first act reference to the +condition of Venice when his Lordship was there? And is not the +description which Israel Bertuccio gives of the conspirators +applicable to, as it was probably derived from, the Carbonari, with +whom there is reason to say Byron was himself disposed to take a +part? + + +Know, then, that there are met and sworn in secret +A band of brethren, valiant hearts and true; +Men who have proved all fortunes, and have long +Grieved over that of Venice, and have right +To do so; having served her in all climes, +And having rescued her from foreign foes, +Would do the same for those within her walls. +They are not numerous, nor yet too few +For their great purpose; they have arms, and means, +And hearts, and hopes, and faith, and patient courage. + + +This drama, to be properly appreciated, both in its taste and feeling +should be considered as addressed to the Italians of the epoch at +which it was written. Had it been written in the Italian instead of +the English language, and could have come out in any city of Italy, +the effect would have been prodigious. It is, indeed, a work not to +be estimated by the delineations of character nor the force of +passion expressed in it, but altogether by the apt and searching +sarcasm of the political allusions. Viewed with reference to the +time and place in which it was composed, it would probably deserve to +be ranked as a high and bold effort: simply as a drama, it may not +be entitled to rank above tragedies of the second or third class. +But I mean not to set my opinion of this work against that of the +public, the English public; all I contend for is, that it possesses +many passages of uncommon beauty, and that its chief tragic merit +consists in its political indignation; but above all, that is another +and a strong proof too, of what I have been endeavouring to show, +that the power of the poet consisted in giving vent to his own +feelings, and not, like his great brethren, or even his less, in the +invention of situations or of appropriate sentiments. It is, +perhaps, as it stands, not fit to succeed in representation; but it +is so rich in matter that it would not be a difficult task to make +out of little more than the third part a tragedy which would not +dishonour the English stage. + +I have never been able to understand why it has been so often +supposed that Lord Byron was actuated in the composition of his +different works by any other motive than enjoyment: perhaps no poet +had ever less of an ulterior purpose in his mind during the fits of +inspiration (for the epithet may be applied correctly to him and to +the moods in which he was accustomed to write) than this singular and +impassioned man. Those who imagine that he had any intention to +impair the reverence due to religion, or to weaken the hinges of +moral action, give him credit for far more design and prospective +purpose than he possessed. They could have known nothing of the man, +the main defect of whose character, in relation to everything, was in +having too little of the element or principle of purpose. He was a +thing of impulses, and to judge of what he either said or did, as the +results of predetermination, was not only to do the harshest +injustice, but to show a total ignorance of his character. His whole +fault, the darkest course of those flights and deviations from +propriety which have drawn upon him the severest animadversion, lay +in the unbridled state of his impulses. He felt, but never reasoned. +I am led to make these observations by noticing the ungracious, or, +more justly, the illiberal spirit in which The Prophecy of Dante, +which was published with the Marino Faliero, has been treated by the +anonymous author of Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Lord Byron. + +Of The Prophecy of Dante I am no particular admirer. It contains, +unquestionably, stanzas of resounding energy, but the general verse +of the poem is as harsh and abrupt as the clink and clang of the +cymbal; moreover, even for a prophecy, it is too obscure, and though +it possesses abstractedly too many fine thoughts, and too much of the +combustion of heroic passion to be regarded as a failure, yet it will +never be popular. It is a quarry, however, of very precious poetical +expression. + +It was written at Ravenna, and at the suggestion of the Guiccioli, to +whom it is dedicated in a sonnet, prettily but inharmoniously turned. +Like all his other best performances, this rugged but masterly +composition draws its highest interest from himself and his own +feelings, and can only be rightly appreciated by observing how fitly +many of the bitter breathings of Dante apply to his own exiled and +outcast condition. For, however much he was himself the author of +his own banishment, he felt when he wrote these haughty verses that +he had been sometimes shunned. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + + + +The Tragedy of "Sardanapalus" considered, with Reference to Lord +Byron's own Circumstances--"Cain" + +Among the mental enjoyments which endeared Ravenna to Lord Byron, the +composition of Sardanapalus may be reckoned the chief. It seems to +have been conceived in a happier mood than any of all his other +works; for, even while it inculcates the dangers of voluptuous +indulgence, it breathes the very essence of benevolence and +philosophy. Pleasure takes so much of the character of virtue in it, +that but for the moral taught by the consequences, enjoyment might be +mistaken for duty. I have never been able to satisfy myself in what +the resemblance consists, but from the first reading it has always +appeared to me that there was some elegant similarity between the +characters of Sardanapalus and Hamlet, and my inclination has +sometimes led me to imagine that the former was the nobler conception +of the two. + +The Assyrian monarch, like the Prince of Denmark, is highly endowed, +capable of the greatest undertakings; he is yet softened by a +philosophic indolence of nature that makes him undervalue the +enterprises of ambition, and all those objects in the attainment of +which so much of glory is supposed to consist. They are both alike +incapable of rousing themselves from the fond reveries of moral +theory, even when the strongest motives are presented to them. +Hamlet hesitates to act, though his father's spirit hath come from +death to incite him; and Sardanapalus derides the achievements that +had raised his ancestors to an equality with the gods. + + + Thou wouldst have me go +Forth as a conqueror.--By all the stars +Which the Chaldeans read! the restless slaves +Deserve that I should curse them with their wishes +And lead them forth to glory. + + +Again: + + +The ungrateful and ungracious slaves! they murmur +Because I have not shed their blood, nor led them +To dry into the deserts' dust by myriads, +Or whiten with their bones the banks of Ganges, +Nor decimated them with savage laws, +Nor sweated them to build up pyramids +Or Babylonian walls. + + +The nothingness of kingly greatness and national pride were never +before so finely contemned as by the voluptuous Assyrian, and were +the scorn not mitigated by the skilful intermixture of mercifulness +and philanthropy, the character would not be endurable. But when the +same voice which pronounced contempt on the toils of honour says, + + + Enough +For me if I can make my subjects feel +The weight of human misery less, + + +it is impossible to repress the liking which the humane spirit of +that thought is calculated to inspire. Nor is there any want of +dignity in Sardanapalus, even when lolling softest in his luxury. + + +Must I consume my life--this little life-- +In guarding against all may make it less! +It is not worth so much--It were to die +Before my hour to live in dread of death. . . . +Till now no drop of an Assyrian vein +Hath flow'd for me, nor hath the smallest coin +Of Nineveh's vast treasure e'er been lavish'd +On objects which could cost her sons a tear. +If then they hate me 'tis because I hate not, +If they rebel 'tis because I oppress not. + + +This is imagined in the true tone of Epicurean virtue, and it rises +to magnanimity when he adds in compassionate scorn, + + +Oh, men! ye must be ruled with scythes, not sceptres, +And mow'd down like the grass, else all we reap +Is rank abundance and a rotten harvest +Of discontents infecting the fair soil, +Making a desert of fertility. + + +But the graciousness in the conception of the character of +Sardanapalus, is not to be found only in these sentiments of his +meditations, but in all and every situation in which the character is +placed. When Salamenes bids him not sheath his sword-- + + +'Tis the sole sceptre left you now with safety, + + +the king replies-- + +"A heavy one;" and subjoins, as if to conceal his distaste for war, +by ascribing a dislike to the sword itself, + + +The hilt, too, hurts my hand. + + +It may be asked why I dwell so particularly on the character of +Sardanapalus. It is admitted that he is the most heroic of +voluptuaries, the most philosophical of the licentious. The first he +is undoubtedly, but he is not licentious; and in omitting to make him +so, the poet has prevented his readers from disliking his character +upon principle. It was a skilful stroke of art to do this; had it +been otherwise, and had there been no affection shown for the Ionian +slave, Sardanapalus would have engaged no sympathy. It is not, +however, with respect to the ability with which the character has +been imagined, nor to the poetry with which it is invested, that I +have so particularly made it a subject of criticism; it was to point +out how much in it Lord Byron has interwoven of his own best nature. + +At the time when he was occupied with this great work, he was +confessedly in the enjoyment of the happiest portion of his life. +The Guiccioli was to him a Myrrha, but the Carbonari were around, and +in the controversy, in which Sardanapalus is engaged, between the +obligations of his royalty and his inclinations for pleasure, we have +a vivid insight of the cogitation of the poet, whether to take a part +in the hazardous activity which they were preparing, or to remain in +the seclusion and festal repose of which he was then in possession. +The Assyrian is as much Lord Byron as Childe Harold was, and bears +his lineaments in as clear a likeness, as a voluptuary unsated could +do those of the emaciated victim of satiety. Over the whole drama, +and especially in some of the speeches of Sardanapalus, a great deal +of fine but irrelevant poetry and moral reflection has been profusely +spread; but were the piece adapted to the stage, these portions would +of course be omitted, and the character denuded of them would then +more fully justify the idea which I have formed of it, than it may +perhaps to many readers do at present, hidden as it is, both in shape +and contour, under an excess of ornament. + +That the character of Myrrha was also drawn from life, and that the +Guiccioli was the model, I have no doubt. She had, when most +enchanted by her passion for Byron--at the very time when the drama +was written--many sources of regret; and he was too keen an observer, +and of too jealous a nature, not to have marked every shade of change +in her appearance, and her every moment of melancholy reminiscence; +so that, even though she might never have given expression to her +sentiments, still such was her situation, that it could not but +furnish him with fit suggestions from which to fill up the moral +being of the Ionian slave. Were the character of Myrrha scanned with +this reference, while nothing could be discovered to detract from the +value of the composition, a great deal would be found to lessen the +merit of the poet's invention. He had with him the very being in +person whom he has depicted in the drama, of dispositions and +endowments greatly similar, and in circumstances in which she could +not but feel as Myrrha is supposed to have felt--and it must be +admitted, that he has applied the good fortune of that incident to a +beautiful purpose. + +This, however, is not all that the tragedy possesses of the author. +The character of Zarina is, perhaps, even still more strikingly drawn +from life. There are many touches in the scene with her which he +could not have imagined, without thinking of his own domestic +disasters. The first sentiment she utters is truly conceived in the +very frame and temper in which Byron must have wished his lady to +think of himself, and he could not embody it without feeling THAT-- + + + How many a year has pass'd, +Though we are still so young, since we have met +Which I have borne in widowhood of heart. + + +The following delicate expression has reference to his having left +his daughter with her mother, and unfolds more of his secret feelings +on the subject than anything he has expressed more ostentatiously +elsewhere: + + +I wish'd to thank you, that you have not divided +My heart from all that's left it now to love. + + +And what Sardanapalus says of his children is not less applicable to +Byron, and is true: + + + Deem not +I have not done you justice: rather make them +Resemble your own line, than their own sire; +I trust them with you--to you. + + +And when Zarina says, + + + They ne'er +Shall know from me aught but what may honour +Their father's memory, + + +he puts in her mouth only a sentiment which he knew, if his wife +never expressed to him, she profoundly acknowledged in resolution to +herself. The whole of this scene is full of the most penetrating +pathos; and did the drama not contain, in every page, indubitable +evidence to me, that he has shadowed out in it himself his wife, and +his mistress, this little interview would prove a vast deal in +confirmation of the opinion so often expressed, that where his genius +was most in its element, it was when it dealt with his own +sensibilities and circumstances. It is impossible to read the +following speech, without a conviction that it was written at Lady +Byron: + + + My gentle, wrong'd Zarina! +I am the very slave of circumstance +And impulse--borne away with every breath! +Misplaced upon the throne--misplaced in life. +I know not what I could have been, but feel +I am not what I should be--let it end. +But take this with thee: if I was not form'd +To prize a love like thine--a mind like thine-- +Nor dote even on thy beauty--as I've doted +On lesser charms, for no cause save that such +Devotion was a duty, and I hated +All that look'd like a chain for me or others +(This even rebellion must avouch); yet hear +These words, perhaps among my last--that none +E'er valued more thy virtues, though he knew not +To profit by them. + + +At Ravenna Cain was also written; a dramatic poem, in some degree, +chiefly in its boldness, resembling the ancient mysteries of the +monasteries before the secular stage was established. This +performance, in point of conception, is of a sublime order. The +object of the poem is to illustrate the energy and the art of Lucifer +in accomplishing the ruin of the first-born. By an unfair +misconception, the arguments of Lucifer have been represented as the +sentiments of the author upon some imaginary warranty derived from +the exaggerated freedom of his life; and yet the moral tendency of +the reflections are framed in a mood of reverence as awful towards +Omnipotence as the austere divinity of Milton. It would be +presumption in me, however, to undertake the defence of any question +in theology; but I have not been sensible to the imputed impiety, +while I have felt in many passages influences that have their being +amid the shadows and twilights of "old religion"; + + + "Stupendous spirits +That mock the pride of man, and people space +With life and mystical predominance." + + +The morning hymns and worship with which the mystery opens are grave, +solemn, and scriptural, and the dialogue which follows with Cain is +no less so: his opinion of the tree of life is, I believe, orthodox; +but it is daringly expressed: indeed, all the sentiments ascribed to +Cain are but the questions of the sceptics. His description of the +approach of Lucifer would have shone in the Paradise Lost. + + + A shape like to the angels, +Yet of a sterner and a sadder aspect, +Of spiritual essence. Why do I quake? +Why should I fear him more than other spirits +Whom I see daily wave their fiery swords +Before the gates round which I linger oft +In twilight's hour, to catch a glimpse of those +Gardens which are my just inheritance, +Ere the night closes o'er the inhibited walls, +And the immortal trees which overtop +The cherubim-defended battlements? +I shrink not from these, the fire-arm'd angels; +Why should I quail from him who now approaches? +Yet he seems mightier far than them, nor less +Beauteous; and yet not all as beautiful +As he hath been, or might be: sorrow seems +Half of his immortality. + + +There is something spiritually fine in this conception of the terror +or presentiment of coming evil. The poet rises to the sublime in +making Lucifer first inspire Cain with the knowledge of his +immortality--a portion of truth which hath the efficacy of falsehood +upon the victim; for Cain, feeling himself already unhappy, knowing +that his being cannot be abridged, has the less scruple to desire to +be as Lucifer, "mighty." The whole speech of Lucifer, beginning, + + +Souls who dare use their immortality, + + +is truly satanic; a daring and dreadful description given by +everlasting despair of the Deity. + +But, notwithstanding its manifold immeasurable imaginations, Cain is +only a polemical controversy, the doctrines of which might have been +better discussed in the pulpit of a college chapel. As a poem it is +greatly unequal; many passages consist of mere metaphysical +disquisition, but there are others of wonderful scope and energy. It +is a thing of doubts and dreams and reveries--dim and beautiful, yet +withal full of terrors. The understanding finds nothing tangible; +but amid dread and solemnity, sees only a shapen darkness with +eloquent gestures. It is an argument invested with the language of +oracles and omens, conceived in some religious trance, and addressed +to spirits. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + + +Removal to Pisa--The Lanfranchi Palace--Affair with the Guard at +Pisa--Removal to Monte Nero--Junction with Mr Hunt--Mr Shelley's +Letter + +The unhappy distrusts and political jealousies of the times obliged +Lord Byron, with the Gambas, the family of the Guiccioli, to remove +from Ravenna to Pisa. In this compulsion he had no cause to +complain; a foreigner meddling with the politics of the country in +which he was only accidentally resident, could expect no deferential +consideration from the government. It has nothing to do with the +question whether his Lordship was right or wrong in his principles. +The government was in the possession of the power, and in self- +defence he could expect no other course towards him than what he did +experience. He was admonished to retreat: he did so. Could he have +done otherwise, he would not. He would have used the Austrian +authority as ill as he was made to feel it did him. + +In the autumn of 1821, Lord Byron removed from Ravenna to Pisa, where +he hired the Lanfranchi palace for a year--one of those massy marble +piles which appear + + +"So old, as if they had for ever stood-- +So strong, as if they would for ever stand!" + + +Both in aspect and character it was interesting to the boding fancies +of the noble tenant. It is said to have been constructed from a +design of Michael Angelo; and in the grandeur of its features +exhibits a bold and colossal style not unworthy of his genius. + +The Lanfranchi family, in the time of Dante, were distinguished in +the factions of those days, and one of them has received his meed of +immortality from the poet, as the persecutor of Ugolino. They are +now extinct, and their traditionary reputation is illustrated by the +popular belief in the neighbourhood, that their ghosts are restless, +and still haunt their former gloomy and gigantic habitation. + +The building was too vast for the establishment of Lord Byron, and he +occupied only the first floor. + +The life he led at this period was dull and unvaried. Billiards, +conversations, reading, and occasionally writing, constituted the +regular business of the day. In the cool of the afternoon, he +sometimes went out in his carriage, oftener on horseback, and +generally amused himself with pistol practice at a five-paul piece. +He dined at half an hour after sunset, and then drove to Count +Gamba's, where he passed several hours with the Countess Guiccioli, +who at that time still resided with her father. On his return he +read or wrote till the night was far spent, or rather till the +morning was come again, sipping at intervals spirits diluted with +water, as medicine to counteract some nephritic disorder to which he +considered himself liable. + +Notwithstanding the tranquillity of this course of life, he was +accidentally engaged in a transaction which threatened unpleasant +consequences, and had a material effect on his comfort. On the 21st +of March, 1822, as he was returning from his usual ride, in company +with several of his friends, a hussar officer, at full speed, dashed +through the party, and violently jostled one of them. Lord Byron, +with his characteristic impetuosity, instantly pushed forwards, and +the rest followed, and overtook the hussar. His Lordship inquired +what he meant by the insult; but for answer, received the grossest +abuse: on which he and one of his companions gave their cards, and +passed on. The officer followed, hallooing, and threatening with his +hand on his sabre. They were now near the Paggia gate. During this +altercation, a common artilleryman interfered, and called out to the +hussar, "Why don't you arrest them?--command us to arrest them." +Upon which the officer gave the word to the guard at the gate. His +Lordship, hearing the order, spurred his horse, and one of his party +doing the same, they succeeded in forcing their way through the +soldiers, while the gate was closed on the rest of the party, with +whom an outrageous scuffle ensued. + +Lord Byron, on reaching his palace, gave directions to inform the +police, and, not seeing his companions coming up, rode back towards +the gate. On his way the hussar met him, and said, "Are you +satisfied?"--"No: tell me your name!"--"Serjeant-major Masi." One +of his Lordship's servants, who at this moment joined them, seized +the hussar's horse by the bridle, but his master commanded him to let +it go. The hussar then spurred his horse through the crowd, which by +this time had collected in front of the Lanfranchi palace, and in the +attempt was wounded by a pitchfork. Several of the servants were +arrested, and imprisoned: and, during the investigation of the +affair before the police, Lord Byron's house was surrounded by the +dragoons belonging to Serjeant-major Masi's troop, who threatened to +force the doors. The result upon these particulars was not just; all +Lord Byron's Italian servants were banished from Pisa; and with them +the father and brother of the Guiccioli, who had no concern whatever +in the affair. Lord Byron himself was also advised to quit the town, +and, as the Countess accompanied her father, he soon after joined +them at Leghorn, and passed six weeks at Monte Nero, a country house +in the vicinity of that city. + +It was during his Lordship's residence at Monte Nero, that an event +took place--his junction with Mr Leigh Hunt--which had some effect +both on his literary and his moral reputation. Previous to his +departure from England, there had been some intercourse between them- +-Byron had been introduced by Moore to Hunt, when the latter was +suffering imprisonment for the indiscretion of his pen, and by his +civility had encouraged him, perhaps, into some degree of +forgetfulness as to their respective situations in society.--Mr Hunt +at no period of their acquaintance appears to have been sufficiently +sensible that a man of positive rank has it always in his power, +without giving anything like such a degree of offence as may be +resented otherwise than by estrangement, to inflict mortification, +and, in consequence, presumed too much to an equality with his +Lordship--at least this is the impression his conduct made upon me, +from the familiarity of his dedicatory epistle prefixed to Rimini to +their riding out at Pisa together dressed alike--"We had blue frock- +coats, white waistcoats and trousers, and velvet caps, a la Raphael, +and cut a gallant figure." I do not discover on the part of Lord +Byron, that his Lordship ever forgot his rank; nor was he a personage +likely to do so; in saying, therefore, that Mr Hunt presumed upon his +condescension, I judge entirely by his own statement of facts. I am +not undertaking a defence of his lordship, for the manner in which he +acted towards Mr Hunt, because it appears to me to have been, in many +respects, mean; but I do think there was an original error, a +misconception of himself on the part of Mr Hunt, that drew down about +him a degree of humiliation that he might, by more self-respect, have +avoided. However, I shall endeavour to give as correct a summary of +the whole affair as the materials before me will justify. + +The occasion of Hunt's removal to Italy will be best explained by +quoting the letter from his friend Shelley, by which he was induced +to take that obviously imprudent step. + + +"Pisa, Aug. 26, 1821. + +"MY DEAREST FRIEND,--Since I last wrote to you, I have been on a +visit to Lord Byron at Ravenna. The result of this visit was a +determination on his part to come and live at Pisa, and I have taken +the finest palace on the Lung' Arno for him. But the material part +of my visit consists in a message which he desires me to give you, +and which I think ought to add to your determination--for such a one +I hope you have formed--of restoring your shattered health and +spirits by a migration to these 'regions mild, of calm and serene +air.' + +"He proposes that you should come, and go shares with him and me in a +periodical work to be conducted here, in which each of the +contracting parties should publish all their original compositions, +and share the profits. He proposed it to Moore, but for some reason +it was never brought to bear. There can be no doubt that the profits +of any scheme in which you and Lord Byron engage must, for various +yet co-operating reasons, be very great. As to myself, I am, for the +present, only a sort of link between you and him, until you can know +each other, and effectuate the arrangement; since (to intrust you +with a secret, which for your sake I withhold from Lord Byron) +nothing would induce me to share in the profits, and still less in +the borrowed splendour of such a partnership. You and he, in +different manners, would be equal, and would bring in a different +manner, but in the same proportion, equal stocks of reputation and +success. Do not let my frankness with you, nor my belief that you +deserve it more than Lord Byron, have the effect of deterring you +from assuming a station in modern literature, which the universal +voice of my contemporaries forbids me either to stoop or aspire to. +I am, and I desire to be, nothing. + +"I did not ask Lord Byron to assist me in sending a remittance for +your journey; because there are men, however excellent, from whom we +would never receive an obligation in the worldly sense of the word; +and I am as jealous for my friend as for myself. I, as you know, +have it not; but I suppose that at last I shall make up an impudent +face, and ask Horace Smith to add to the many obligations he has +conferred on me. I know I need only ask." . . . + + +Now, before proceeding farther, it seems from this epistle, and there +is no reason to question Shelley's veracity, that Lord Byron was the +projector of The Liberal; that Hunt's political notoriety was +mistaken for literary reputation, and that there was a sad lack of +common sense in the whole scheme. + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + + + +Mr Hunt arrives in Italy--Meeting with Lord Byron--Tumults in the +House--Arrangements for Mr Hunt's Family---Extent of his Obligations +to Lord Byron--Their Copartnery--Meanness of the whole Business + +On receiving Mr Shelley's letter, Mr Hunt prepared to avail himself +of the invitation which he was the more easily enabled to do, as his +friend, notwithstanding what he had intimated, borrowed two hundred +pounds from Lord Byron, and remitted to him. He reached Leghorn soon +after his Lordship had taken up his temporary residence at Monte +Nero. + +The meeting with his Lordship was in so many respects remarkable, +that the details of it cannot well be omitted. The day was very hot; +and when Hunt reached the house he found the hottest-looking +habitation he had ever seen. Not content with having a red wash over +it, the red was the most unseasonable of all reds--a salmon-colour; +but the greatest of all heats was within. + +Lord Byron was grown so fat that he scarcely knew him; and was +dressed in a loose nankeen jacket and white trousers, his neckcloth +open, and his hair in thin ringlets about his throat; altogether +presenting a very different aspect from the compact, energetic, and +curly-headed person whom Hunt had known in England. + +His Lordship took the stranger into an inner room, and introduced him +to a young lady who was in a state of great agitation. This was the +Guiccioli; presently her brother also, in great agitation, entered, +having his arm in a sling. This scene and confusion had arisen from +a quarrel among the servants, in which the young Count, having +interfered, had been stabbed. He was very angry, the Countess was +more so, and would not listen to the comments of Lord Byron, who was +for making light of the matter. Indeed, it looked somewhat serious, +for though the stab was not much, the inflicter threatened more, and +was at that time revengefully keeping watch, with knotted brows, +under the portico, with the avowed intention of assaulting the first +person who issued forth. He was a sinister-looking, meager caitiff, +with a red cap--gaunt, ugly, and unshaven; his appearance altogether +more squalid and miserable than Englishmen would conceive it possible +to find in such an establishment. An end, however, was put to the +tragedy by the fellow throwing himself on a bench, and bursting into +tears--wailing and asking pardon for his offence, and perfecting his +penitence by requesting Lord Byron to kiss him in token of +forgiveness. In the end, however, he was dismissed; and it being +arranged that Mr Hunt should move his family to apartments in the +Lanfranchi palace at Pisa, that gentleman returned to Leghorn. + +The account which Mr Hunt has given, in his memoir of Lord Byron, is +evidently written under offended feeling; and, in consequence, though +he does not appear to have been much indebted to the munificence of +his Lordship, the tendency is to make his readers sensible that he +was, if not ill used, disappointed. The Casa Lanfranchi was a huge +and gaunt building, capable, without inconvenience or intermixture, +of accommodating several families. It was, therefore, not a great +favour in his Lordship, considering that he had invited Mr Hunt from +England, to become a partner with him in a speculation purely +commercial, to permit him to occupy the ground-floor or flat, as it +would be called in Scotland. The apartments being empty, furniture +was necessary, and the plainest was provided; good of its kind and +respectable, it yet could not have cost a great deal. It was chosen +by Mr Shelley, who intended to make a present of it to Mr Hunt; but +when the apartments were fitted up, Lord Byron insisted upon paying +the account, and to that extent Mr Hunt incurred a pecuniary +obligation to his Lordship. The two hundred pounds already mentioned +was a debt to Mr Shelley, who borrowed the money from Lord Byron. + +Soon after Mr Hunt's family were settled in their new lodgings, +Shelley returned to Leghorn, with the intention of taking a sea +excursion--in the course of which he was lost: Lord Byron knowing +how much Hunt was dependent on that gentleman, immediately offered +him the command of his purse, and requested to be considered as +standing in the place of Shelley, his particular friend. This was +both gentlemanly and generous, and the offer was accepted, but with +feelings neither just nor gracious: "Stern necessity and a large +family compelled me," says Mr Hunt, "and during our residence at Pisa +I had from him, or rather from his steward, to whom he always sent me +for the money, and who doled it out to me as if my disgraces were +being counted, the sum of seventy pounds." + +"This sum," he adds, "together with the payment of our expenses when +we accompanied him from Pisa to Genoa, and thirty pounds with which +he enabled us subsequently to go from Genoa to Florence, was all the +money I ever received from Lord Byron, exclusive of the two hundred +pounds, which, in the first instance, he made a debt of Mr Shelley, +by taking his bond."--The whole extent of the pecuniary obligation +appears certainly not to have exceeded five hundred pounds; no great +sum--but little or great, the manner in which it was recollected +reflects no credit either on the head or heart of the debtor. + +Mr Hunt, in extenuation of the bitterness with which he has spoken on +the subject, says, that "Lord Byron made no scruple of talking very +freely of me and mine." It may, therefore, be possible, that Mr Hunt +had cause for his resentment, and to feel the humiliation of being +under obligations to a mean man; at the same time Lord Byron, on his +side, may upon experience have found equal reason to repent of his +connection with Mr Hunt. And it is certain that each has sought to +justify, both to himself and to the world, the rupture of a +copartnery which ought never to have been formed. But his Lordship's +conduct is the least justifiable. He had allured Hunt to Italy with +flattering hopes; he had a perfect knowledge of his hampered +circumstances, and he was thoroughly aware that, until their +speculation became productive, he must support him. To the extent of +about five hundred pounds he did so: a trifle, considering the +glittering anticipations of their scheme. + +Viewing their copartnery, however, as a mere commercial speculation, +his Lordship's advance could not be regarded as liberal, and no +modification of the term munificence or patronage could be applied to +it. But, unless he had harassed Hunt for the repayment of the money, +which does not appear to have been the case, nor could he morally, +perhaps even legally, have done so, that gentleman had no cause to +complain. The joint adventure was a failure, and except a little +repining on the part of the one for the loss of his advance, and of +grudging on that of the other for the waste of his time, no sharper +feeling ought to have arisen between them. But vanity was mingled +with their golden dreams. Lord Byron mistook Hunt's political +notoriety for literary reputation, and Mr Hunt thought it was a fine +thing to be chum and partner with so renowned a lord. After all, +however, the worst which can be said of it is, that formed in +weakness it could produce only vexation. + +But the dissolution of the vapour with which both parties were so +intoxicated, and which led to their quarrel, might have occasioned +only amusement to the world, had it not left an ignoble stigma on the +character of Lord Byron, and given cause to every admirer of his +genius to deplore, that he should have so forgotten his dignity and +fame. + +There is no disputing the fact, that his Lordship, in conceiving the +plan of The Liberal, was actuated by sordid motives, and of the +basest kind, inasmuch as it was intended that the popularity of the +work should rest upon satire; or, in other words, on the ability to +be displayed by it in the art of detraction. Being disappointed in +his hopes of profit, he shuffled out of the concern as meanly as any +higgler could have done who had found himself in a profitless +business with a disreputable partner. There is no disguising this +unvarnished truth; and though his friends did well in getting the +connection ended as quickly as possible, they could not eradicate the +original sin of the transaction, nor extinguish the consequences +which it of necessity entailed. Let me not, however, be +misunderstood: my objection to the conduct of Byron does not lie +against the wish to turn his extraordinary talents to profitable +account, but to the mode in which he proposed to, and did, employ +them. Whether Mr Hunt was or was not a fit copartner for one of his +Lordship's rank and celebrity, I do not undertake to judge; but any +individual was good enough for that vile prostitution of his genius, +to which, in an unguarded hour, he submitted for money. Indeed, it +would be doing injustice to compare the motives of Mr Hunt in the +business with those by which Lord Byron was infatuated. He put +nothing to hazard; happen what might, he could not be otherwise than +a gainer; for if profit failed, it could not be denied that the +"foremost" poet of all the age had discerned in him either the +promise or the existence of merit, which he was desirous of +associating with his own. This advantage Mr Hunt did gain by the +connection; and it is his own fault that he cannot be recollected as +the associate of Byron, but only as having attempted to deface his +monument. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + + + +Mr Shelley--Sketch of his Life--His Death--The Burning of his Body, +and the Return of the Mourners + +It has been my study in writing these sketches to introduce as few +names as the nature of the work would admit of; but Lord Byron +connected himself with persons who had claims to public consideration +on account of their talents; and, without affectation, it is not easy +to avoid taking notice of his intimacy with some of them, especially, +if in the course of it any circumstance came to pass which was in +itself remarkable, or likely to have produced an impression on his +Lordship's mind. His friendship with Mr Shelley, mentioned in the +preceding chapter, was an instance of this kind. + +That unfortunate gentleman was undoubtedly a man of genius--full of +ideal beauty and enthusiasm. And yet there was some defect in his +understanding by which he subjected himself to the accusation of +atheism. In his dispositions he is represented to have been ever +calm and amiable; and but for his metaphysical errors and reveries, +and a singular incapability of conceiving the existing state of +things as it practically affects the nature and condition of man, to +have possessed many of the gentlest qualities of humanity. He highly +admired the endowments of Lord Byron, and in return was esteemed by +his Lordship; but even had there been neither sympathy nor friendship +between them, his premature fate could not but have saddened Byron +with no common sorrow. + +Mr Shelley was some years younger than his noble friend; he was the +eldest son of Sir Timothy Shelley, Bart., of Castle Goring, Sussex. +At the age of thirteen he was sent to Eton, where he rarely mixed in +the common amusements of the other boys; but was of a shy, reserved +disposition, fond of solitude, and made few friends. He was not +distinguished for his proficiency in the regular studies of the +school; on the contrary, he neglected them for German and chemistry. +His abilities were superior, but deteriorated by eccentricity. At +the age of sixteen he was sent to the University of Oxford, where he +soon distinguished himself by publishing a pamphlet, under the absurd +and world-defying title of The Necessity of Atheism; for which he was +expelled from the University. + +The event proved fatal to his prospects in life; and the treatment he +received from his family was too harsh to win him from error. His +father, however, in a short time relented, and he was received home; +but he took so little trouble to conciliate the esteem of his +friends, that he found the house uncomfortable, and left it. He then +went to London; where he eloped with a young lady to Gretna Green. +Their united ages amounted to thirty-two; and the match being deemed +unsuitable to his rank and prospects, it so exasperated his father, +that he broke off all communication with him. + +After their marriage the young couple resided some time in Edinburgh. +They then passed over to Ireland, which being in a state of +disturbance, Shelley took a part in politics, more reasonable than +might have been expected. He inculcated moderation. + +About this tune he became devoted to the cultivation of his poetical +talents; but his works were sullied with the erroneous inductions of +an understanding which, inasmuch as he regarded all the existing +world in the wrong, must be considered as having been either +shattered or defective. + +His rash marriage proved, of course, an unhappy one. After the birth +of two children, a separation, by mutual consent, took place, and Mrs +Shelley committed suicide. + +He then married a daughter of Mr Godwin, the author of Caleb +Williams, and they resided for some time at Great Marlow, in +Buckinghamshire, much respected for their charity. In the meantime, +his irreligious opinions had attracted public notice, and, in +consequence of his unsatisfactory notions of the Deity, his children, +probably at the instance of his father, were taken from him by a +decree of the Lord Chancellor: an event which, with increasing +pecuniary embarrassments, induced him to quit England, with the +intention of never returning. + +Being in Switzerland when Lord Byron, after his domestic +tribulations, arrived at Geneva, they became acquainted. He then +crossed the Alps, and again at Venice renewed his friendship with his +Lordship; he thence passed to Rome, where he resided some time; and +after visiting Naples, fixed his permanent residence in Tuscany. His +acquirements were constantly augmenting, and he was without question +an accomplished person. He was, however, more of a metaphysician +than a poet, though there are splendid specimens of poetical thought +in his works. As a man, he was objected to only on account of his +speculative opinions; for he possessed many amiable qualities, was +just in his intentions, and generous to excess. + +When he had seen Mr Hunt established in the Casa Lanfranchi with Lord +Byron at Pisa, Mr Shelley returned to Leghorn, for the purpose of +taking a sea excursion; an amusement to which he was much attached. +During a violent storm the boat was swamped, and the party on board +were all drowned. Their bodies were, however, afterwards cast on +shore; Mr Shelley's was found near Via Reggio, and, being greatly +decomposed, and unfit to be removed, it was determined to reduce the +remains to ashes, that they might be carried to a place of sepulture. +Accordingly preparations were made for the burning. + +Wood in abundance was found on the shore, consisting of old trees and +the wreck of vessels: the spot itself was well suited for the +ceremony. The magnificent bay of Spezzia was on the right, and +Leghorn on the left, at equal distances of about two-and-twenty +miles. The headlands project boldly far into the sea; in front lie +several islands, and behind dark forests and the cliffy Apennines. +Nothing was omitted that could exalt and dignify the mournful rites +with the associations of classic antiquity; frankincense and wine +were not forgotten. The weather was serene and beautiful, and the +pacified ocean was silent, as the flame rose with extraordinary +brightness. Lord Byron was present; but he should himself have +described the scene and what he felt. + +These antique obsequies were undoubtedly affecting; but the return of +the mourners from the burning is the most appalling orgia, without +the horror of crime, of which I have ever heard. When the duty was +done, and the ashes collected, they dined and drank much together, +and bursting from the calm mastery with which they had repressed +their feelings during the solemnity, gave way to frantic exultation. +They were all drunk; they sang, they shouted, and their barouche was +driven like a whirlwind through the forest. I can conceive nothing +descriptive of the demoniac revelry of that flight, but scraps of the +dead man's own song of Faust, Mephistophiles, and Ignis Fatuus, in +alternate chorus. + + +The limits of the sphere of dream, + The bounds of true and false are past; +Lead us on, thou wand'ring Gleam; + Lead us onwards, far and fast, +To the wide, the desert waste. + +But see how swift, advance and shift, + Trees behind trees--row by row, +Now clift by clift, rocks bend and lift, + Their frowning foreheads as we go; +The giant-snouted crags, ho! ho! + How they snort, and how they blow. +Honour her to whom honour is due, +Old mother Baubo, honour to you. +An able sow with old Baubo upon her +Is worthy of glory and worthy of honour. + +The way is wide, the way is long, +But what is that for a Bedlam throng? +Some on a ram, and some on a prong, +On poles and on broomsticks we flutter along. + +Every trough will be boat enough, +With a rag for a sail, we can sweep through the sky. +Who flies not to-night, when means he to fly? + + + +CHAPTER XL + + + +"The Two Foscari"--"Werner"--"The Deformed Transformed"--"Don Juan"-- +"The Liberal"--Removes from Pisa to Genoa + +I have never heard exactly where the tragedy of The Two Foscari was +written: that it was imagined in Venice is probable. The subject +is, perhaps, not very fit for a drama, for it has no action; but it +is rich in tragic materials, revenge and affection, and the +composition is full of the peculiar stuff of the poet's own mind. +The exulting sadness with which Jacopo Foscari looks in the first +scene from the window, on the Adriatic, is Byron himself recalling +his enjoyment of the sea. + + + How many a time have I +Cloven with arm still lustier, heart more daring, +The wave all roughen'd: with a swimmer's stroke +Flinging the billows back from my drench'd hair, +And laughing from my lip th' audacious brine +Which kiss'd it like a wine-cup. + + +The whole passage, both prelude and remainder, glows with the +delicious recollections of laying and revelling in the summer waves. +But the exile's feeling is no less beautifully given and appropriate +to the author's condition, far more so, indeed, than to that of +Jacopo Foscari. + + + Had I gone forth +From my own land, like the old patriarchs, seeking +Another region with their flocks and herds; +Had I been cast out like the Jews from Zion, +Or like our fathers driven by Attila +From fertile Italy to barren islets, +I would have given some tears to my late country, +And many thoughts; but afterward address'd +Myself to those about me, to create +A new home and first state. + + +What follows is still more pathetic: + + + Ay--we but hear +Of the survivors' toil in their new lands, +Their numbers and success; but who can number +The hearts which broke in silence of that parting, +Or after their departure; of that malady {291a} +Which calls up green and native fields to view +From the rough deep with such identity +To the poor exile's fever'd eye, that he +Can scarcely be restrained from treading them? +That melody {291b} which out of tones and tunes +Collects such pastime for the ling'ring sorrow +Of the sad mountaineer, when far away +From his snow-canopy of cliffs and clouds, +That he feeds on the sweet but poisonous thought +And dies.--You call this weakness! It is strength, +I say--the parent of all honest feeling: +He who loves not his country can love nothing. + +MARINA + +Obey her then, 'tis she that puts thee forth. + +JACOPO FOSCARI + +Ay, there it is. 'Tis like a mother's curse +Upon my soul--the mark is set upon me. +The exiles you speak of went forth by nations; +Their hands upheld each other by the way; +Their tents were pitch'd together--I'm alone-- + Ah, you never yet +Were far away from Venice--never saw +Her beautiful towers in the receding distance, +While every furrow of the vessel's track +Seem'd ploughing deep into your heart; you never +Saw day go down upon your native spires +So calmly with its gold and crimson glory, +And after dreaming a disturbed vision +Of them and theirs, awoke and found them not. + + +All this speaks of the voluntary exile's own regrets, and awakens +sympathy for the anguish which pride concealed, but unable to +repress, gave vent to in the imagined sufferings of one that was to +him as Hecuba. + +It was at Pisa that Werner, or The Inheritance, a tragedy, was +written, or at least completed. It is taken entirely from the +German's tale, Kruitzner, published many years before, by one of the +Miss Lees, in their Canterbury Tales. So far back as 1815, Byron +began a drama upon the same subject, and nearly completed an act when +he was interrupted. "I have adopted," he says himself, "the +characters, plan, and even the language of many parts of this story"; +an acknowledgment which exempts it from that kind of criticism to +which his principal works are herein subjected. + +But The Deformed Transformed, which was also written at Pisa, is, +though confessedly an imitation of Goethe's Faust, substantially an +original work. In the opinion of Mr Moore, it probably owes +something to the author's painful sensibility to the defect in his +own foot; an accident which must, from the acuteness with which he +felt it, have essentially contributed to enable him to comprehend and +to express the envy of those afflicted with irremediable exceptions +to the ordinary course of fortune, or who have been amerced by nature +of their fair proportions. But save only a part of the first scene, +the sketch will not rank among the felicitous works of the poet. It +was intended to be a satire--probably, at least--but it is only a +fragment--a failure. + +Hitherto I have not noticed Don Juan otherwise than incidentally. It +was commenced in Venice, and afterward continued at intervals to the +end of the sixteenth canto, until the author left Pisa, when it was +not resumed, at least no more has been published. Strong objections +have been made to its moral tendency; but, in the opinion of many, it +is the poet's masterpiece, and undoubtedly it displays all the +variety of his powers, combined with a quaint playfulness not found +to an equal degree in any other of his works. The serious and +pathetic portions are exquisitely beautiful; the descriptive have all +the distinctness of the best pictures in Childe Harold, and are, +moreover, generally drawn from nature, while the satire is for the +most part curiously associated and sparklingly witty. The characters +are sketched with amazing firmness and freedom, and though sometimes +grotesque, are yet not often overcharged. It is professedly an epic +poem, but it may be more properly described as a poetical novel. Nor +can it be said to inculcate any particular moral, or to do more than +unmantle the decorum of society. Bold and buoyant throughout, it +exhibits a free irreverent knowledge of the world, laughing or +mocking as the thought serves, in the most unexpected antitheses to +the proprieties of time, place, and circumstance. + +The object of the poem is to describe the progress of a libertine +through life, not an unprincipled prodigal, whose profligacy, growing +with his growth, and strengthening with his strength, passes from +voluptuous indulgence into the sordid sensuality of systematic +debauchery, but a young gentleman, who, whirled by the vigour and +vivacity of his animal spirits into a world of adventures, in which +his stars are chiefly in fault for his liaisons, settles at last into +an honourable lawgiver, a moral speaker on divorce bills, and +possibly a subscriber to the Society for the Suppression of Vice. +The author has not completed his design, but such appears to have +been the drift of it, affording ample opportunities to unveil the +foibles and follies of all sorts of men--and women too. It is +generally supposed to contain much of the author's own experience, +but still, with all its riant knowledge of bowers and boudoirs, it is +deficient as a true limning of the world, by showing man as if he +were always ruled by one predominant appetite. + +In the character of Donna Inez and Don Jose, it has been imagined +that Lord Byron has sketched himself and his lady. It may be so; and +if it were, he had by that time got pretty well over the lachrymation +of their parting. It is no longer doubtful that the twenty-seventh +stanza records a biographical fact, and the thirty-sixth his own +feelings, when, + + +Poor fellow! he had many things to wound him, +Let's own, since it can do no good on earth; +It was a trying moment that which found him +Standing alone beside his desolate hearth, +Where all his household gods lay shiver'd round him: +No choice was left his feelings or his pride, +Save death or Doctors' Commons. + + +It has been already mentioned, that while the poet was at Dr +Glennie's academy at Dulwich, he read an account of a shipwreck, +which has been supposed to have furnished some of the most striking +incidents in the description of the disastrous voyage in the second +canto in Don Juan. I have not seen that work; but whatever Lord +Byron may have found in it suitable to his purpose, he has +undoubtedly made good use of his grandfather's adventures. The +incident of the spaniel is related by the admiral. + +In the licence of Don Juan, the author seems to have considered that +his wonted accuracy might be dispensed with. + +The description of Haidee applies to an Albanian, not a Greek girl. +The splendour of her father's house is altogether preposterous; and +the island has no resemblance to those of the Cyclades. With the +exception of Zea, his Lordship, however, did not visit them. Some +degree of error and unlike description, runs indeed through the whole +of the still life around the portrait of Haidee. The fete which +Lambro discovers on his return, is, however, prettily described; and +the dance is as perfect as true. + + +And farther on a group of Grecian girls, +The first and tallest her white kerchief waving, +Were strung together like a row of pearls, +Link'd hand in hand and dancing; each too having +Down her white neck long floating auburn curls. +Their leader sang, and bounded to her song, +With choral step and voice, the virgin throng. + + +The account of Lambro proceeding to the house is poetically imagined; +and, in his character, may be traced a vivid likeness of Ali Pasha, +and happy illustrative allusions to the adventures of that chief. + +The fourth canto was written at Ravenna; it is so said within itself; +and the description of Dante's sepulchre there may be quoted for its +truth, and the sweet modulation of the moral reflection interwoven +with it. + + +I pass each day where Dante's bones are laid; +A little cupola, more neat than solemn, +Protects his dust; but reverence here is paid +To the bard's tomb and not the warrior's column. +The time must come when both alike decay'd, +The chieftain's trophy and the poet's volume +Will sink where lie the songs and wars of earth, +Before Pelides' death or Homer's birth. + + +The fifth canto was also written in Ravenna. But it is not my +intention to analyze this eccentric and meandering poem; a +composition which cannot be well estimated by extracts. Without, +therefore, dwelling at greater length on its variety and merits. I +would only observe that the general accuracy of the poet's +descriptions is verified by that of the scenes in which Juan is +placed in England, a point the reader may determine for himself; +while the vagueness of the parts derived from books, or sketched from +fancy, as contrasted with them, justifies the opinion, that invention +was not the most eminent faculty of Byron, either in scenes or in +characters. Of the demerits of the poem it is only necessary to +remark, that it has been proscribed on account of its immorality; +perhaps, however, there was more of prudery than of equity in the +decision, at least it is liable to be so considered, so long as +reprints are permitted of the older dramatists, with all their +unpruned licentiousness. + +But the wheels of Byron's destiny were now hurrying. Both in the +conception and composition of Don Juan he evinced an increasing +disregard of the world's opinion; and the project of The Liberal was +still more fatal to his reputation. Not only were the invidious eyes +of bigotry now eagerly fixed upon his conduct, but those of +admiration were saddened and turned away from him. His principles, +which would have been more correctly designated as paradoxes, were +objects of jealousy to the Tuscan Government; and it has been already +seen that there was a disorderliness about the Casa Lanfranchi which +attracted the attention of the police. His situation in Pisa became, +in consequence, irksome; and he resolved to remove to Genoa, an +intention which he carried into effect about the end of September, +1822, at which period his thoughts began to gravitate towards Greece. +Having attained to the summit of his literary eminence, he grew +ambitious of trying fortune in another field of adventure. + +In all the migrations of Lord Byron there was ever something +grotesque and desultory. In moving from Ravenna to Pisa, his caravan +consisted of seven servants, five carriages, nine horses, a monkey, a +bulldog, and a mastiff, two cats, three peafowl, a harem of hens, +books, saddles, and firearms, with a chaos of furniture nor was the +exodus less fantastical; for in addition to all his own clanjamphry, +he had Mr Hunt's miscellaneous assemblage of chattels and chattery +and little ones. + + + +CHAPTER XLI + + + +Genoa--Change in the Manners of Lord Byron--Residence at the Casa +Saluzzi--"The Liberal"--Remarks on the Poet's Works in general and on +Hunt's Strictures on his Character + +Previously to their arrival at Genoa, a house had been taken for Lord +Byron and the Guiccioli in Albaro, a pleasant village on a hill, in +the vicinity of the city; it was the Casa Saluzzi, and I have been +told, that during the time he resided there, he seemed to enjoy a +more uniform and temperate gaiety than in any former period of his +life. There might have been less of sentiment in his felicity, than +when he lived at Ravenna, as he seldom wrote poetry, but he appeared +to some of his occasional visitors, who knew him in London, to have +become more agreeable and manly. I may add, at the risk of sarcasm +for the vanity, that in proof of his mellowed temper towards me, +besides the kind frankness with which he received my friend, as +already mentioned, he sent me word, by the Earl of Blesinton, that he +had read my novel of The Entail three times, and thought the old +Leddy Grippy one of the most living-like heroines he had ever met +with. This was the more agreeable, as I had heard within the same +week, that Sir Walter Scott had done and said nearly the same thing. +Half the compliment from two such men would be something to be proud +of. + +Lord Byron's residence at Albaro was separate from that of Mr Hunt, +and, in consequence, they were more rarely together than when +domiciled under the same roof as at Pisa. Indeed, by this time, if +one may take Mr Hunt's own account of the matter, they appear to have +become pretty well tired of each other. He had found out that a peer +is, as a friend, but as a plebeian, and a great poet not always a +high-minded man. His Lordship had, on his part, discovered that +something more than smartness or ingenuity is necessary to protect +patronage from familiarity. Perhaps intimate acquaintance had also +tended to enable him to appreciate, with greater accuracy, the +meretricious genius and artificial tastes of his copartner in The +Liberal. It is certain that he laughed at his affected admiration of +landscapes, and considered his descriptions of scenery as drawn from +pictures. + +One day, as a friend of mine was conversing with his Lordship at the +Casa Saluzzi, on the moral impressions of magnificent scenery, he +happened to remark that he thought the view of the Alps in the +evening, from Turin, the sublimest scene he had ever beheld. "It is +impossible," said he, "at such a time, when all the west is golden +and glowing behind them, to contemplate such vast masses of the Deity +without being awed into rest, and forgetting such things as man and +his follies."--"Hunt," said his Lordship, smiling, "has no perception +of the sublimity of Alpine scenery; he calls a mountain a great +impostor." + +In the mean time the materials for the first number of The Liberal +had been transmitted to London, where the manuscript of The Vision of +Judgment was already, and something of its quality known. All his +Lordship's friends were disturbed at the idea of the publication. +They did not like the connection he had formed with Mr Shelley--they +liked still less the copartnery with Mr Hunt. With the justice or +injustice of these dislikes I have nothing to do. It is an +historical fact that they existed, and became motives with those who +deemed themselves the custodiers of his Lordship's fame, to seek a +dissolution of the association. + +The first number of The Liberal, containing The Vision of Judgment, +was received soon after the copartnery had established themselves at +Genoa, accompanied with hopes and fears. Much good could not be +anticipated from a work which outraged the loyal and decorous +sentiments of the nation towards the memory of George III. To the +second number Lord Byron contributed the Heaven and Earth, a sacred +drama, which has been much misrepresented in consequence of its +fraternity with Don Juan and The Vision of Judgment; for it contains +no expression to which religion can object, nor breathes a thought at +variance with the Genesis. The history of literature affords no +instance of a condemnation less justifiable, on the plea of +profanity, than that of this Mystery. That it abounds in literary +blemishes, both of plan and language, and that there are harsh +jangles and discords in the verse, is not disputed; but still it +abounds in a grave patriarchal spirit, and is echo to the oracles of +Adam and Melchisedek. It may not be worthy of Lord Byron's genius, +but it does him no dishonour, and contains passages which accord with +the solemn diapasons of ancient devotion. The disgust which The +Vision of Judgment had produced, rendered it easy to persuade the +world that there was impiety in the Heaven and Earth, although, in +point of fact, it may be described as hallowed with the Scriptural +theology of Milton. The objections to its literary defects were +magnified into sins against worship and religion. + +The Liberal stopped with the fourth number, I believe. It +disappointed not merely literary men in general, but even the most +special admirers of the talents of the contributors. The main defect +of the work was a lack of knowledge. Neither in style nor genius, +nor even in general ability, was it wanting; but where it showed +learning it was not of a kind in which the age took much interest. +Moreover, the manner and cast of thinking of all the writers in it +were familiar to the public, and they were too few in number to +variegate their pages with sufficient novelty. But the main cause of +the failure was the antipathy formed and fostered against it before +it appeared. It was cried down, and it must be acknowledged that it +did not much deserve a better fate. + +With The Liberal I shall close my observations on the works of Lord +Byron. They are too voluminous to be examined even in the brief and +sketchy manner in which I have considered those which are deemed the +principal. Besides, they are not, like them, all characteristic of +the author, though possessing great similarity in style and thought +to one another. Nor would such general criticism accord with the +plan of this work. Lord Byron was not always thinking of himself; +like other authors, he sometimes wrote from imaginary circumstances; +and often fancied both situations and feelings which had no reference +to his own, nor to his experience. But were the matter deserving of +the research, I am persuaded, that with Mr Moore's work, and the +poet's original journals, notes, and letters, innumerable additions +might be made to the list of passages which the incidents of his own +life dictated. + +The abandonment of The Liberal closed his Lordship's connection with +Mr Hunt; their friendship, if such ever really existed, was ended +long before. It is to be regretted that Byron has not given some +account of it himself; for the manner in which he is represented to +have acted towards his unfortunate partner, renders another version +of the tale desirable. At the same time--and I am not one of those +who are disposed to magnify the faults and infirmities of Byron--I +fear there is no excess of truth in Hunt's opinion of him. I judge +by an account which Lord Byron gave himself to a mutual friend, who +did not, however, see the treatment in exactly the same light as that +in which it appeared to me. But, while I cannot regard his +Lordship's conduct as otherwise than unworthy, still the pains which +Mr Hunt has taken to elaborate his character and dispositions into +every modification of weakness, almost justifies us in thinking that +he was treated according to his deserts. Byron had at least the +manners of a gentleman, and though not a judicious knowledge of the +world, he yet possessed prudence enough not to be always unguarded. +Mr Hunt informs us, that when he joined his Lordship at Leghorn, his +own health was impaired, and that his disease rather increased than +diminished during his residence at Pisa and Genoa; to say nothing of +the effect which the loss of his friend had on him, and the +disappointment he suffered in The Liberal; some excuse may, +therefore, be made for him. In such a condition, misapprehensions +were natural; jocularity might be mistaken for sarcasm, and caprice +felt as insolence. + + + +CHAPTER XLII + + + +Lord Byron resolves to join the Greeks--Arrives at Cephalonia--Greek +Factions--Sends Emissaries to the Grecian Chiefs--Writes to London +about the Loan--To Mavrocordato on the Dissensions--Embarks at lest +for Missolonghi + +While The Liberal was halting onward to its natural doom, the +attention of Lord Byron was attracted towards the struggles of +Greece. + +In that country his genius was first effectually developed; his name +was associated with many of its most romantic scenes, and the cause +was popular with all the educated and refined of Europe. He had +formed besides a personal attachment to the land, and perhaps many of +his most agreeable local associations were fixed amid the ruins of +Greece, and in her desolated valleys. The name is indeed alone +calculated to awaken the noblest feelings of humanity. The spirit of +her poets, the wisdom and the heroism of her worthies; whatever is +splendid in genius, unparalleled in art, glorious in arms, and wise +in philosophy, is associated in their highest excellence with that +beautiful region. + +Had Lord Byron never been in Greece, he was, undoubtedly, one of +those men whom the resurrection of her spirit was likeliest to +interest; but he was not also one fitted to do her cause much +service. His innate indolence, his sedentary habits, and that all- +engrossing consideration for himself, which, in every situation, +marred his best impulses, were shackles upon the practice of the +stern bravery in himself which he has so well expressed in his works. + +It was expected when he sailed for Greece, nor was the expectation +unreasonable with those who believe imagination and passion to be of +the same element, that the enthusiasm which flamed so highly in his +verse was the spirit of action, and would prompt him to undertake +some great enterprise. But he was only an artist; he could describe +bold adventures and represent high feeling, as other gifted +individuals give eloquence to canvas and activity to marble; but he +did not possess the wisdom necessary for the instruction of councils. +I do, therefore, venture to say, that in embarking for Greece, he was +not entirely influenced by such exoterical motives as the love of +glory or the aspirations of heroism. His laurels had for some time +ceased to flourish, the sear and yellow, the mildew and decay, had +fallen upon them, and he was aware that the bright round of his fame +was ovalling from the full and showing the dim rough edge of waning. + +He was, moreover, tired of the Guiccioli, and again afflicted with a +desire for some new object with which to be in earnest. The Greek +cause seemed to offer this, and a better chance for distinction than +any other pursuit in which he could then engage. In the spring of +1823 he accordingly made preparations for transferring himself from +Genoa to Greece, and opened a correspondence with the leaders of the +insurrection, that the importance of his adhesion might be duly +appreciated. + +Greece, with a fair prospect of ultimate success, was at that time as +distracted in her councils as ever. Her arms had been victorious, +but the ancient jealousy of the Greek mind was unmitigated. The +third campaign had commenced, and yet no regular government had been +organized; the fiscal resources of the country were neglected: a +wild energy against the Ottomans was all that the Greeks could depend +on for continuing the war. + +Lord Byron arrived in Cephalonia about the middle of August, 1823, +where he fixed his residence for some time. This was prudent, but it +said nothing for that spirit of enterprise with which a man engaging +in such a cause, in such a country, and with such a people, ought to +have been actuated--especially after Marco Botzaris, one of the best +and most distinguished of the chiefs, had earnestly urged him to join +him at Missolonghi. I fear that I may not be able to do justice to +Byron's part in the affairs of Greece; but I shall try. He did not +disappoint me, for he only acted as might have been expected, from +his unsteady energies. Many, however, of his other friends longed in +vain to hear of that blaze of heroism, by which they anticipated that +his appearance in the field would be distinguished. + +Among his earliest proceedings was the equipment of forty Suliotes, +or Albanians, whom he sent to Marco Botzaris to assist in the defence +of Missolonghi. An adventurer of more daring would have gone with +them; and when the battle was over, in which Botzaris fell, he +transmitted bandages and medicines, of which he had brought a large +supply from Italy, and pecuniary succour, to the wounded. + +This was considerate, but there was too much consideration in all +that he did at this time, neither in unison with the impulses of his +natural character, nor consistent with the heroic enthusiasm with +which the admirers of his poetry imagined he was kindled. + +In the mean time he had offered to advance one thousand dollars a +month for the succour of Missolonghi and the troops with Marco +Botzaris; but the government, instead of accepting the offer, +intimated that they wished previously to confer with him, which he +interpreted into a desire to direct the expenditure of the money to +other purposes. In his opinion his Lordship was probably not +mistaken; but his own account of his feeling in the business does not +tend to exalt the magnanimity of his attachment to the cause: "I +will take care," says he, "that it is for the public cause, otherwise +I will not advance a para. The opposition say they want to cajole +me, and the party in power say the others wish to seduce me; so, +between the two, I have a difficult part to play; however, I will +have nothing to do with the factions, unless to reconcile them, if +possible." + +It is difficult to conceive that Lord Byron, "the searcher of dark +bosoms," could have expressed himself so weakly and with such vanity; +but the shadow of coming fate had already reached him, and his +judgment was suffering in the blight that had fallen on his +reputation. To think of the possibility of reconciling two Greek +factions, or any factions, implies a degree of ignorance of mankind, +which, unless it had been given in his Lordship's own writing, would +not have been credible; and as to having nothing to do with the +factions, for what purpose went he to Greece, unless it was to take a +part with one of them? I abstain from saying what I think of his +hesitation in going to the government instead of sending two of his +associated adventurers, Mr Trelawney and Mr Hamilton Brown, whom he +despatched to collect intelligence as to the real state of things, +substituting their judgment for his own. When the Hercules, the ship +he chartered to carry him to Greece, weighed anchor, he was committed +with the Greeks, and everything short of unequivocal folly he was +bound to have done with and for them. + +His two emissaries or envoys proceeded to Tripolizza, where they +found Colocotroni seated in the palace of the late vizier, Velhi +Pasha, in great power; the court-yard and galleries filled with armed +men in garrison, while there was no enemy at that time in the Morea +able to come against them! The Greek chieftains, like their classic +predecessors, though embarked in the same adventure, were personal +adversaries to each other. Colocotroni spoke of his compeer +Mavrocordato in the very language of Agamemnon, when he said that he +had declared to him, unless he desisted from his intrigues, he would +mount him on an ass and whip him out of the Morea; and that he had +only been restrained from doing so by the representation of his +friends, who thought it would injure their common cause. Such was +the spirit of the chiefs of the factions which Lord Byron thought it +not impossible to reconcile! + +At this time Missolonghi was in a critical state, being blockaded +both by land and sea; and the report of Trelawney to Lord Byron +concerning it, was calculated to rouse his Lordship to activity. +"There have been," says he, "thirty battles fought and won by the +late Marco Botzaris, and his gallant tribe of Suliotes, who are shut +up in Missolonghi. If it fall, Athens will be in danger, and +thousands of throats cut: a few thousand dollars would provide ships +to relieve it; a portion of this sum is raised, and I would coin my +heart to save this key of Greece." Bravely said! but deserving of +little attention. The fate of Missolonghi could have had no visible +effect on that of Athens. + +The distance between these two places is more than a hundred miles, +and Lord Byron was well acquainted with the local difficulties of the +intervening country; still it was a point to which the eyes of the +Greeks were all at that time directed; and Mavrocordato, then in +correspondence with Lord Byron, and who was endeavouring to collect a +fleet for the relief of the place, induced his Lordship to undertake +to provide the money necessary for the equipment of the fleet, to the +extent of twelve thousand pounds. It was on this occasion his +Lordship addressed a letter to the Greek chiefs, that deserves to be +quoted, for the sagacity with which it suggests what may be the +conduct of the great powers of Christendom. + +"I must frankly confess," says he, "that unless union and order are +confirmed, all hopes of a loan will be in vain, and all the +assistance which the Greeks could expect from abroad, an assistance +which might be neither trifling nor worthless, will be suspended or +destroyed; and what is worse, the great powers of Europe, of whom no +one was an enemy to Greece, but seemed inclined to favour her in +consenting to the establishment of an independent power, will be +persuaded that the Greeks are unable to govern themselves, and will, +perhaps, undertake to arrange your disorders in such a way, as to +blast the brightest hopes you indulge, and that are indulged by your +friends." + +In the meantime, Lord Byron was still at the villa he had hired in +Cephalonia, where his conduct was rather that of a spectator than an +ally. Colonel Stanhope, in a letter of the 26th of November, +describes him as having been there about three months, and spending +his time exactly as every one acquainted with his habits must have +expected. "The first six weeks he spent on board a merchant-vessel, +and seldom went on shore, except on business. Since that period he +has lived in a little villa in the country, in absolute retirement, +Count Gamba (brother to the Guiccioli) being his only companion."-- +Such, surely, was not exactly playing that part in the Greek cause +which he had taught the world to look for. It is true, that the +accounts received there of the Greek affairs were not then +favourable. Everybody concurred in representing the executive +government as devoid of public virtue, and actuated by avarice or +personal ambition. This intelligence was certainly not calculated to +increase Lord Byron's ardour, and may partly excuse the causes of his +personal inactivity. I say personal, because he had written to +London to accelerate the attempt to raise a loan, and, at the +suggestion of Colonel Stanhope, he addressed a letter to Mavrocordato +respecting the inevitable consequences of their calamitous +dissensions. The object of this letter was to induce a +reconciliation between the rival factions, or to throw the odium, of +having thwarted the loan, upon the Executive, and thereby to degrade +the members of it in the opinion of the people. "I am very uneasy," +said his Lordship to the prince, "at hearing that the dissensions of +Greece still continue; and at a moment when she might triumph over +everything in general, as she has triumphed in part. Greece is at +present placed between three measures; either to reconquer her +liberty, or to become a dependence of the sovereigns of Europe, or to +return to a Turkish province; she has already the choice only of +these three alternatives. Civil war is but a road which leads to the +two latter. If she is desirous of the fate of Wallachia and the +Crimea, she may obtain it TO-MORROW; if that of Italy, THE DAY AFTER. +But if she wishes to become TRULY GREECE, FREE AND INDEPENDENT, she +must resolve TO-DAY, or she will never again have the opportunity," +etc., etc. + +Meanwhile, the Greek people became impatient for Lord Byron to come +among them. They looked forward to his arrival as to the coming of a +Messiah. Three boats were successively despatched for him and two of +them returned, one after the other, without him. On the 29th of +December, 1823, however, his Lordship did at last embark. + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + + + +Lord Byron's Conversations on Religion with Dr Kennedy + +While Lord Byron was hesitating, in the Island of Cephalonia, about +proceeding to Greece, an occurrence took place, of which much has +been made. I allude to the acquaintance he formed with a Dr Kennedy, +the publication of whose conversations with him on religion has +attracted some degree of public attention. + +This gentleman was originally destined for the Scottish bar, but +afterwards became a student of medicine, and entering the medical +department of the army, happened to be stationed in Cephalonia when +Lord Byron arrived. He appears to have been a man of kind +dispositions, possessed of a better heart than judgment; in all +places wherever his duty bore him he took a lively interest in the +condition of the inhabitants, and was active, both in his official +and private capacity, to improve it. He had a taste for circulating +pious tracts, and zealously co-operated in distributing copies of the +Scriptures. + +Firmly settled, himself, in a conviction of the truth of +Christianity, he was eager to make converts to his views of the +doctrines; but whether he was exactly the kind of apostle to achieve +the conversion of Lord Byron may, perhaps, be doubted. His sincerity +and the disinterestedness of his endeavours would secure to him from +his Lordship an indulgent and even patient hearing. But I fear that +without some more effectual calling, the arguments he appears to have +employed were not likely to have made Lord Byron a proselyte. His +Lordship was so constituted in his mind, and by his temperament, that +nothing short of regeneration could have made him a Christian, +according to the gospel of Dr Kennedy. + +Lord Byron had but loose feelings in religion--scarcely any. His +sensibility and a slight constitutional leaning towards superstition +and omens showed that the sense of devotion was, however, alive and +awake within him; but with him religion was a sentiment, and the +convictions of the understanding had nothing whatever to do with his +creed. That he was deeply imbued with the essence of natural piety; +that he often felt the power and being of a God thrilling in all his +frame, and glowing in his bosom, I declare my thorough persuasion; +and that he believed in some of the tenets and in the philosophy of +Christianity, as they influence the spirit and conduct of men, I am +as little disposed to doubt; especially if those portions of his +works which only trend towards the subject, and which bear the +impression of fervour and earnestness, may be admitted as evidence. +But he was not a member of any particular church, and, without a +reconstruction of his mind and temperament, I venture to say, he +could not have become such; not in consequence, as too many have +represented, of any predilection, either of feeling or principle, +against Christianity, but entirely owing to an organic peculiarity of +mind. He reasoned on every topic by instinct, rather than by +induction or any process of logic; and could never be so convinced of +the truth or falsehood of an abstract proposition, as to feel it +affect the current of his actions. He may have assented to +arguments, without being sensible of their truth; merely because they +were not objectionable to his feelings at the time. And, in the same +manner, he may have disputed even fair inferences, from admitted +premises, if the state of his feelings happened to be indisposed to +the subject. I am persuaded, nevertheless, that to class him among +absolute infidels were to do injustice to his memory, and that he has +suffered uncharitably in the opinion of "the rigidly righteous," who, +because he had not attached himself to any particular sect or +congregation, assumed that he was an adversary to religion. To claim +for him any credit, as a pious man, would be absurd; but to suppose +he had not as deep an interest as other men "in his soul's health" +and welfare, was to impute to him a nature which cannot exist. +Being, altogether, a creature of impulses, he certainly could not be +ever employed in doxologies, or engaged in the logomachy of +churchmen; but he had the sentiment which at a tamer age might have +made him more ecclesiastical. There was as much truth as joke in the +expression, when he wrote, + + +I am myself a moderate Presbyterian. + + +A mind constituted like that of Lord Byron, was little susceptible of +impressions from the arguments of ordinary men. It was necessary +that Truth, in visiting him, should come arrayed in her solemnities, +and with Awe and Reverence for her precursors. Acknowledged +superiority, yea, celebrated wisdom, were indispensable, to bespeak +his sincere attention; and, without disparagement, it may be fairly +said, these were not the attributes of Dr Kennedy. On the contrary, +there was a taint of cant about him--perhaps he only acted like those +who have it--but still he was not exactly the dignitary to command +unaffected deference from the shrewd and irreverent author of Don +Juan. The result verified what ought to have been the anticipation. +The doctor's attempt to quicken Byron to a sense of grace failed; but +his Lordship treated him with politeness. The history of the affair +will, however, be more interesting than any reflections which it is +in my humble power to offer. + +Some of Dr Kennedy's acquaintances wished to hear him explain, in "a +logical and demonstrative manner, the evidences and doctrines of +Christianity"; and Lord Byron, hearing of the intended meeting, +desired to be present, and was accordingly invited. He attended; but +was not present at several others which followed; he however +intimated to the doctor, that he would be glad to converse with him, +and the invitation was accepted. "On religion," says the doctor, +"his Lordship was in general a hearer, proposing his difficulties and +objections with more fairness than could have been expected from one +under similar circumstances; and with so much candour, that they +often seemed to be proposed more for the purpose of procuring +information, or satisfactory answers, than from any other motive." + +At the first meeting, Dr Kennedy explained, becomingly, his views of +the subject, and that he had read every work against Christianity +which fell in his way. It was this consideration which had induced +him with such confidence to enter upon the discussion, knowing, on +the one hand, the strength of Christianity, and, on the other, the +weakness of its assailants. "To show you, therefore," said the +doctor, "the grounds on which I demand your attention to what I may +say on the nature and evidence of Christianity, I shall mention the +names of some of the authors whose works I have read or consulted." +When he had mentioned all these names, Lord Byron asked if he had +read Barrow's and Stillingfleet's works? The doctor replied, "I have +seen them, but I have not read them." + +After a disquisition, chiefly relative to the history of +Christianity, Dr Kennedy observed, "We must, on all occasions, but +more particularly in fair and logical discussions with sceptics, or +Deists, make a distinction between Christianity, as it is found in +the Scriptures, and the errors, abuses, and imperfections of +Christians themselves." To this his Lordship remarked, that he +always had taken care to make that distinction, as he knew enough of +Christianity to feel that it was both necessary and just. The doctor +remarked that the contrary was almost universally the case with those +who doubted or denied the truth of Christianity, and proceeded to +illustrate the statement. He then read a summary of the fundamental +doctrines of Christianity; but he had not proceeded far, when he +observed signs of impatience in Lord Byron, who inquired if these +sentiments accorded with the doctor's? and being answered they did, +and with those of all sound Christians, except in one or two minor +things, his Lordship rejoined, that he did not wish to hear the +opinions of others, whose writings he could read at any time, but +only his own. The doctor then read on till coming to the expression +"grace of God." His Lordship inquired, "What do you mean by grace?" +"The primary and fundamental meaning of the word," replied the +doctor, somewhat surprised at his ignorance (I quote his own +language), "is favour; though it varies according to the context to +express that disposition of God which leads Him to grant a favour, +the action of doing so, or the favour itself, or its effects on those +who receive it." The arrogance of the use of the term ignorance +here, requires no animadversion; but to suppose the greatest master, +then in existence, of the English language, not acquainted with the +meaning of the word, when he asked to be informed of the meaning +attached to it by the individual making use of it, gives us some +insight into the true character of the teacher. The doctor closed +the book, as he perceived that Lord Byron, as he says, had no +distinct conception of many of the words used; and his Lordship +subjoined, "What we want is, to be convinced that the Bible is true; +because if we can believe that, it will follow as a matter of course, +that we must believe all the doctrines it contains." + +The reply to this was to the effect, that the observation was partly +just; but though the strongest evidence were produced of the +Scriptures being the revealed will of God, they (his Lordship and +others present) would still remain unbelievers, unless they knew and +comprehended the doctrines contained in the Scriptures. This was not +conclusive, and Lord Byron replied, that they wished him to prove +that the Scriptures were the Word of God, which the doctor, with more +than apostolic simplicity, said that such was his object, but he +should like to know what they deemed the clearest course to follow +with that object in view. After some farther conversation--"No other +plan was proposed by them," says the doctor; and he adds, "they had +violated their engagement to hear me for twelve hours, for which I +had stipulated." This may, perhaps, satisfy the reader as to the +quality of the doctor's understanding; but as the subject, in its +bearing, touches Lord Byron's character, I shall proceed a little +farther into the marrow of the matter. + +The inculcation being finished for that evening, Lord Byron said, +that when he was young his mother brought him up strictly; and that +he had access to a great many theological works, and remembered that +he was particularly pleased with Barrow's writings, and that he also +went regularly to church. He declared that he was not an infidel, +who denied the Scriptures and wished to remain in unbelief; on the +contrary, he was desirous to believe, as he experienced no happiness +in having his religious opinions so unsteady and unfixed. But he +could not, he added, understand the Scriptures. "Those people who +conscientiously believe, I always have respected, and was always +disposed to trust in them more than in others." A desultory +conversation then ensued, respecting the language and translations of +the Scriptures; in the course of which his Lordship remarked, that +Scott, in his Commentary on the Bible, did not say that it was the +devil who tempted Eve, nor does the Bible say a word about the devil. +It is only said that the serpent spoke, and that it was the subtlest +of all the beasts of the field.--Will it be said that truth and +reason were served by Dr Kennedy's {319} answer? "As beasts have not +the faculty of speech, the just inference is, that the beast was only +an instrument made use of by some invisible and superior being. The +Scriptures accordingly tell us, that the devil is the father of lies- +-the lie made by the serpent to Eve being the first we have on +record; they call him also a murderer from the beginning, as he was +the cause of the sentence of death which was pronounced against Adam +and all his posterity; and still farther, to remove all doubt, and to +identify him as the agent who used the serpent as an instrument, he +is called the serpent--the devil." + +Lord Byron inquired what the doctor thought of the theory of +Warburton, that the Jews had no distinct idea of a future state? The +doctor acknowledged that he had often seen, but had never read The +Divine Legation. And yet, he added, had Warburton read his Bible +with more simplicity and attention, he would have enjoyed a more +solid and honourable fame. + +His Lordship then said, that one of the greatest difficulties he had +met with was the existence of so much pure and unmixed evil in the +world, and which he could not reconcile to the idea of a benevolent +Creator. The doctor set aside the question as to the origin of evil; +but granted the extensive existence of evil in the universe; to +remedy which, he said, the Gospel was proclaimed; and after some of +the customary commonplaces, he ascribed much of the existing evil to +the slackness of Christians in spreading the Gospel. + +"Is there not," said his Lordship, "some part of the New Testament +where it appears that the disciples were struck with the state of +physical evil, and made inquiries into the cause?"--"There are two +passages," was the reply. The disciples inquired, when they saw a +man who had been born blind, whether it was owing to his own or his +parents' sin?--and, after quoting the other instance, he concludes, +that moral and physical evil in individuals are not always a judgment +or punishment, but are intended to answer certain ends in the +government of the world. + +"Is there not," said his Lordship, "a prophecy in the New Testament +which it is alleged has not been fulfilled, although it was declared +that the end of the world would come before the generation then +existing should pass away?"--"The prediction," said Dr Kennedy, +"related to the destruction of Jerusalem, which certainly took place +within the time assigned; though some of the expressions descriptive +of the signs of that remarkable event are of such a nature as to +appear to apply to Christ's coming to judge the world at the end of +time." + +His Lordship then asked, if the doctor thought that there had been +fewer wars and persecutions, and less slaughter and misery, in the +world since the introduction of Christianity than before? The doctor +answered this by observing, that since Christianity inculcates peace +and good-will to all men, we must always separate pure religion from +the abuses of which its professors are guilty. + +Two other opinions were expressed by his Lordship in the +conversation. The doctor, in speaking of the sovereignty of God, had +alluded to the similitude of the potter and his clay; for his +Lordship said, if he were broken in pieces, he would say to the +potter, "Why do you treat me thus?" The other was an absurdity. It +was--if the whole world were going to hell, he would prefer going +with them than go alone to heaven. + +Such was the result of the first council of Cephalonia, if one may +venture the allusion. It is manifest, without saying much for Lord +Byron's ingenuity, that he was fully a match for the doctor, and that +he was not unacquainted with the subject under discussion. + +In the next conversation Lord Byron repeated, "I have no wish to +reject Christianity without investigation; on the contrary, I am very +desirous of believing. But I do not see very much the need of a +Saviour, nor the utility of prayer. Devotion is the affection of the +heart, and this I feel. When I view the wonders of creation, I bow +to the Majesty of Heaven; and when I feel the enjoyments of life, I +feel grateful to God for having bestowed them upon me." Upon this +some discussion arose, turning chiefly on the passage in the third +chapter of John, "Unless a man is converted, he cannot enter the +kingdom of Heaven"; which naturally led to an explanatory +interlocutor, concerning new birth, regeneration, etc.; and thence +diverged into the topics which had been the subject of the former +conversation. + +Among other things, Lord Byron inquired, "if the doctor really +thought that the devil appeared before God, as is mentioned in the +Book of Job, or is it only an allegorical or poetical mode of +speaking?"--The reply was, "I believe it in the strict and literal +meaning." + +"If it be received in a literal sense," said his Lordship, "it gives +me a much higher idea of the majesty, power, and wisdom of God, to +believe that the devils themselves are at His nod, and are subject to +His control, with as much ease as the elements of nature follow the +respective laws which His will has assigned them." + +This notion was characteristic, and the poetical feeling in which it +originated, when the doctor attempted to explain the doctrine of the +Manicheans, was still more distinctly developed; for his Lordship +again expressed how much the belief of the real appearance of Satan, +to hear and obey the commands of God, added to his views of the +grandeur and majesty of the Creator. + +This second conversation was more desultory than the first; religion +was brought in only incidentally, until his Lordship said, "I do not +reject the doctrines of Christianity; I want only sufficient proofs +of it, to take up the profession in earnest; and I do not believe +myself to be so bad a Christian as many of them who preach against me +with the greatest fury--many of whom I have never seen nor injured." + +"You have only to examine the causes which prevent you" (from being a +true believer), said the doctor, "and you will find they are futile, +and only tend to withhold you from the enjoyment of real happiness; +which at present it is impossible you can find." + +"What, then, you think me in a very bad way?" + +"I certainly think you are," was the reply; "and this I say, not on +my own authority, but on that of the Scriptures.--Your Lordship must +be converted, and must be reformed, before anything can be said of +you, except that you are bad, and in a bad way." + +"But," replied his Lordship, "I already believe in predestination, +which I know you believe, and in the depravity of the human heart in +general, and of my own in particular; thus you see there are two +points in which we agree. I shall get at the others by-and-by. You +cannot expect me to become a perfect Christian at once." + +And farther his Lordship subjoined: + +"Predestination appears to me just; from my own reflection and +experience, I am influenced in a way which is incomprehensible, and +am led to do things which I never intended; and if there is, as we +all admit, a Supreme Ruler of the universe; and if, as you say, he +has the actions of the devils, as well as of his own angels, +completely at his command, then those influences, or those +arrangements of circumstances, which lead us to do things against our +will, or with ill-will, must be also under his directions. But I +have never entered into the depths of the subject; I have contented +myself with believing that there is a predestination of events, and +that predestination depends on the will of God." + +Dr Kennedy, in speaking of this second conversation, bears testimony +to the respectfulness of his Lordship's attention. "There was +nothing in his manner which approached to levity, or anything that +indicated a wish to mock at religion; though, on the other hand, an +able dissembler would have done and said all that he did, with such +feelings and intentions." + +Subsequent to the second conversation, Dr Kennedy asked a gentleman +who was intimate with Lord Byron, if he really thought his Lordship +serious in his desire to hear religion explained. "Has he exhibited +any contempt or ridicule at what I have said?" This gentleman +assured him that he had never heard Byron allude to the subject in +any way which could induce him to suspect that he was merely amusing +himself. "But, on the contrary, he always names you with respect. I +do not, however, think you have made much impression on him: he is +just the same fellow as before. He says, he does not know what +religion you are of, for you neither adhere to creeds nor councils." + +It ought here to be noticed, as showing the general opinion +entertained of his Lordship with respect to these polemical +conversations, that the wits of the garrison made themselves merry +with what was going on. Some of them affected to believe, or did so, +that Lord Byron's wish to hear Dr Kennedy proceeded from a desire to +have an accurate idea of the opinions and manners of the Methodists, +in order that he might make Don Juan become one for a time, and so be +enabled to paint their conduct with greater accuracy. + +The third conversation took place soon after this comment had been +made on Lord Byron's conduct. The doctor inquired if his Lordship +had read any of the religious books he had sent. "I have looked," +replied Byron, "into Boston's Fourfold State, but I have not had time +to read it far: I am afraid it is too deep for me." + +Although there was no systematic design, on the part of Lord Byron, +to make Dr Kennedy subservient to any scheme of ridicule; yet it is +evident that he was not so serious as the doctor so meritoriously +desired. + +"I have begun," said his Lordship, "very fairly; I have given some of +your tracts to Fletcher (his valet), who is a good sort of man, but +still wants, like myself, some reformation; and I hope he will spread +them among the other servants, who require it still more. Bruno, the +physician, and Gamba, are busy, reading some of the Italian tracts; +and I hope it will have a good effect on them. The former is rather +too decided against it at present; and too much engaged with a spirit +of enthusiasm for his own profession, to attend to other subjects; +but we must have patience, and we shall see what has been the result. +I do not fail to read, from time to time, my Bible, though not, +perhaps, so much as I should." + +"Have you begun to pray that you may understand it?" + +"Not yet. I have not arrived at that pitch of faith yet; but it may +come by-and-by. You are in too great a hurry." + +His Lordship then went to a side-table, on which a great number of +books were ranged; and, taking hold of an octavo, gave it to the +doctor. It was Illustrations of the Moral Government of God, by E. +Smith, M.D., London. "The author," said he, "proves that the +punishment of hell is not eternal; it will have a termination." + +"The author," replied the doctor, "is, I suppose, one of the +Socinians; who, in a short time, will try to get rid of every +doctrine in the Bible. How did your Lordship get hold of this book?" + +"They sent it out to me from England, to make a convert of me, I +suppose. The arguments are strong, drawn from the Bible itself; and +by showing that a time will come when every intelligent creature +shall be supremely happy, and eternally so, it expunges that shocking +doctrine, that sin and misery will for ever exist under the +government of God, Whose highest attribute is love and goodness. To +my present apprehension, it would be a most desirable thing, could it +be proved that, alternately, all created beings were to be happy. +This would appear to be most consistent with the nature of God.--I +cannot yield to your doctrine of the eternal duration of punishment.- +-This author's opinion is more humane; and, I think, he supports it +very strongly from Scripture." + +The fourth conversation was still more desultory, being carried on at +table amid company; in the course of it Lord Byron, however, declared +"that he was so much of a believer as to be of opinion that there is +no contradiction in the Scriptures which cannot be reconciled by an +attentive consideration and comparison of passages." + +It is needless to remark that Lord Byron, in the course of these +conversations, was incapable of preserving a consistent seriousness. +The volatility of his humour was constantly leading him into +playfulness, and he never lost an opportunity of making a pun or +saying a quaint thing. "Do you know," said he to the doctor, "I am +nearly reconciled to St Paul; for he says there is no difference +between the Jews and the Greeks, and I am exactly of the same +opinion, for the character of both is equally vile." + +Upon the whole it must be conceded, that whatever was the degree of +Lord Byron's dubiety as to points of faith and doctrine, he could not +be accused of gross ignorance, nor described as animated by any +hostile feeling against religion. + +In this sketch of these conversations, I have restricted myself +chiefly to those points which related to his Lordship's own +sentiments and belief. It would have been inconsistent with the +concise limits of this work to have detailed the controversies. A +fair summary of what Byron did not believe, what he was disposed to +believe but had not satisfied himself with the evidence, and what he +did believe, seemed to be the task I ought to undertake. The result +confirmed the statement of his Lordship's religious condition, given +in the preliminary remarks which, I ought to mention, were written +before I looked into Dr Kennedy's book; and the statement is not +different from the estimate which the conversations warrant. It is +true that Lord Byron's part in the conversations is not very +characteristic; but the integrity of Dr Kennedy is a sufficient +assurance that they are substantially correct. + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + + + +Voyage to Cephalonia--Letter--Count Gamba's Address--Grateful +Feelings of the Turks--Endeavours of Lord Byron to mitigate the +Horrors of the War + +Lord Byron, after leaving Argostoli, on the 29th December, 1823, the +port of Cephalonia, sailed for Zante, where he took on board a +quantity of specie. Although the distance from Zante to Missolonghi +is but a few hours' sail, the voyage was yet not without adventures. +Missolonghi, as I have already mentioned, was then blockaded by the +Turks, and some address was necessary, on that account, to effect an +entrance, independent of the difficulties, at all times, of +navigating the canals which intersect the shallows. In the following +letter to Colonel Stanhope, his Lordship gives an account of what +took place. It is very characteristic; I shall therefore quote it. + + +"Scrofer, or some such name, on board a +Cephaloniate Mistice, Dec. 31, 1823. + + +"MY DEAR STANHOPE,--We are just arrived here--that is, part of my +people and I, with some things, etc., and which it may be as well not +to specify in a letter (which has a risk of being intercepted, +perhaps); but Gamba and my horses, negro, steward, and the press, and +all the committee things, also some eight thousand dollars of mine +(but never mind, we have more left--do you understand?) are taken by +the Turkish frigates; and my party and myself in another boat, have +had a narrow escape, last night (being close under their stern, and +hailed, but we would not answer, and bore away) as well as this +morning. Here we are, with sun and charming weather, within a pretty +little port enough; but whether our Turkish friends may not send in +their boats, and take us out (for we have no arms, except two +carbines and some pistols, and, I suspect, not more than four +fighting people on board), is another question; especially if we +remain long here, since we are blocked out of Missolonghi by the +direct entrance. You had better send my friend George Drake, and a +body of Suliotes, to escort us by land or by the canals, with all +convenient speed. Gamba and our Bombard are taken into Patras, I +suppose, and we must take a turn at the Turks to get them out. But +where the devil is the fleet gone? the Greek, I mean--leaving us to +get in without the least intimation to take heed that the Moslems +were out again. Make my respects to Mavrocordato, and say that I am +here at his disposal. I am uneasy at being here. We are very well.- +-Yours, etc. + +"N. B. + +"P.S. The Bombard was twelve miles out when taken; at least, so it +appeared to us (if taken she actually be, for it is not certain), and +we had to escape from another vessel that stood right in between us +and the port." + + +Colonel Stanhope on receiving this despatch, which was carried to him +by two of Lord Byron's servants, sent two armed boats, and a company +of Suliotes, to escort his Lordship to Missolonghi, where he arrived +on the 5th of January, and was received with military honours, and +the most enthusiastic demonstrations of popular joy. No mark of +respect which the Greeks could think of was omitted. The ships fired +a salute as he passed. Prince Mavrocordato, and all the authorities, +with the troops and the population, met him on his landing, and +accompanied him to the house which had been prepared for him, amid +the shouts of the multitude and the discharge of cannon. + +In the meantime, Count Gamba and his companions being taken before +Yusuff Pasha at Patras, expected to share the fate of certain +unfortunate prisoners whom that stern chief had sacrificed the +preceding year at Prevesa; and their fears would probably have been +realised but for the intrepid presence of mind displayed by the +Count, who, assuming a haughty style, accused the Ottoman captain of +the frigate of a breach of neutrality, in detaining a vessel under +English colours, and concluded by telling the Pasha that he might +expect the vengeance of the British Government in thus interrupting a +nobleman who was merely on his travels, and bound to Calamata. +Perhaps, however, another circumstance had quite as much influence +with the Pasha as this bravery. In the master of the vessel he +recognised a person who had saved his life in the Black Sea fifteen +years before, and in consequence not only consented to the vessel's +release, but treated the whole of the passengers with the utmost +attention, and even urged them to take a day's shooting in the +neighbourhood. + +The first measure which his Lordship attempted after his arrival, was +to mitigate the ferocity with which the war was carried on; one of +the objects, as he explained to my friend who visited him at Genoa, +which induced him to embark in the cause. And it happened that the +very day he reached the town was signalised by his rescuing a Turk +who had fallen into the hands of some Greek sailors. This man was +clothed by his Lordship's orders, and sent over to Patras; and soon +after Count Gamba's release, hearing that four other Turks were +prisoners in Missolonghi, he requested that they might be placed in +his hands, which was immediately granted. These he also sent to +Patras, with a letter addressed to Yusuff, expressing his hope that +the prisoners thence-forward taken on both sides would be treated +with humanity. This act was followed by another equally +praiseworthy. A Greek cruiser having captured a Turkish boat, in +which there was a number of passengers, chiefly women and children, +they were also placed at the disposal of his Lordship, at his +particular request. Captain Parry has given a description of the +scene between Lord Byron, and that multitude of mothers and children, +too interesting to be omitted here. "I was summoned to attend him, +and receive his orders that everything should be done which might +contribute to their comfort. He was seated on a cushion at the upper +end of the room, the women and children were standing before him with +their eyes fixed steadily on him; and on his right hand was his +interpreter, who was extracting from the women a narrative of their +sufferings. One of them, apparently about thirty years of age, +possessing great vivacity, and whose manners and dress, though she +was then dirty and disfigured, indicated that she was superior in +rank and condition to her companions, was spokeswoman for the whole. +I admired the good order the others preserved, never interfering with +the explanation, or interrupting the single speaker. I also admired +the rapid manner in which the interpreter explained everything they +said, so as to make it almost appear that there was but one speaker. +After a short time it was evident that what Lord Byron was hearing +affected his feelings; his countenance changed, his colour went and +came, and I thought he was ready to weep. But he had, on all +occasions, a ready and peculiar knack in turning conversation from +any disagreeable or unpleasant subject; and he had recourse to this +expedient. He rose up suddenly, and, turning round on his heel as +was his wont, he said something to his interpreter, who immediately +repeated it to the women. All eyes were immediately fixed on me; and +one of the party, a young and beautiful woman, spoke very warmly. +Lord Byron seemed satisfied, and said they might retire. The women +all slipped off their shoes in an instant, and, going up to his +Lordship, each in succession, accompanied by their children, kissed +his hand fervently, invoked, in the Turkish manner, a blessing, both +on his hand and heart, and then quitted the room. This was too much +for Lord Byron, and he turned his face away to conceal his emotion" + +A vessel was then hired, and the whole of them, to the number of +twenty-four, were sent to Prevesa, provided with every requisite for +their comfort during the passage. These instances of humanity +excited a sympathy among the Turks. The Governor of Prevesa thanked +his Lordship, and assured him that he would take care that equal +attention should be in future paid to the Greeks, who might fall into +his hands. + + + +CHAPTER XLV + + + +Proceedings at Missolonghi--Byron's Suliote Brigade--Their +Insubordination--Difference with Colonel Stanhope--Imbecility of the +Plans for the Independence of Greece + +The arrival of Lord Byron at Missolonghi was not only hailed as a new +era in the history of Greece, but as the beginning of a new cycle in +his own extraordinary life. His natural indolence disappeared; the +Sardanapalian sloth was thrown off, and he took a station in the van +of her efforts that bespoke heroic achievement. + +After paying the fleet, which indeed had only come out in the +expectation of receiving the arrears from the loan he had promised to +Mavrocordato, he resolved to form a brigade of Suliotes. Five +hundred of the remains of Marco Botzaris's gallant followers were +accordingly taken into his pay. "He burns with military ardour and +chivalry," says Colonel Stanhope, "and will proceed with the +expedition to Lepanto." But the expedition was delayed by causes +which ought to have been foreseen. + +The Suliotes, conceiving that in his Lordship they had found a patron +whose wealth and generosity were equally boundless, refused to quit +Missolonghi till their arrears were paid. Savage in the field, and +untamable in the city, they became insubordinate and mercenary; nor +was their conduct without excuse. They had long defended the town +with untired bravery; their families had been driven into it in the +most destitute condition; and all the hopes that had led them to take +up arms were still distant and prospective. Besides, Mavrocordato, +unlike the other Grecian captains, having no troops of his own, +affected to regard these mercenaries as allies, and was indulgent to +their excesses. The town was overawed by their turbulence, conflicts +took place in the street; riot and controversy everywhere prevailed, +and blood was shed. + +Lord Byron's undisciplined spirit could ill brook delay; he partook +of the general vehemence, and lost the power of discerning the +comparative importance both of measures and things. He was out of +his element; confusion thickened around him; his irritability grew +into passion; and there was the rush and haste, the oblivion and +alarm of fatality in all he undertook and suggested. + +One day, a party of German adventurers reached the fortress so +demoralized by hardships, that few of them were fit for service. It +was intended to form a corps of artillery, and these men were +destined for that branch of the service; but their condition was +such, that Stanhope doubted the practicability of carrying the +measure into effect at that time. He had promised to contribute a +hundred pounds to their equipment. Byron attributed the Colonel's +objections to reluctance to pay the money; and threatened him if it +were refused, with a punishment, new in Grecian war----to libel him +in the Greek Chronicle! a newspaper which Stanhope had recently +established. + +It is, however, not easy to give a correct view of the state of +affairs at that epoch in Missolonghi. All parties seem to have been +deplorably incompetent to understand the circumstances in which they +were placed;--the condition of the Greeks, and that their exigencies +required only physical and military means. They talked of newspapers +and types, and libels, as if the moral instruments of civil +exhortation were adequate to wrench the independence of Greece from +the bloody grasp of the Ottoman. No wonder that Byron, accustomed to +the management only of his own fancies, was fluttered amid the +conflicts of such riot and controversy. + +His situation at this period was indeed calculated to inspire pity. +Had he survived, it might, instead of awakening the derision of +history, have supplied to himself materials for another canto of Don +Juan. I shall select one instance of his afflictions. + +The captain of a British gun-brig came to Missolonghi to demand an +equivalent for an Ionian boat, which had been taken in the act of +going out of the Gulf of Lepanto, with provisions and arms. The +Greek fleet at that time blockading the port consisted of five brigs, +and the Turks had fourteen vessels of war in the gulf. The captain +maintained that the British Government recognised no blockade which +was not efficient, and that the efficiency depended on the numerical +superiority of cannon. On this principle he demanded restitution of +the property. Mavrocordato offered to submit the case to the +decision of the British Government, but the captain would only give +him four hours to consider. The indemnification was granted. + +Lord Byron conducted the business in behalf of the captain. In the +evening, conversing with Stanhope on the subject, the colonel said +the affair was conducted in a bullying manner. His Lordship started +into a passion and contended that law, justice, and equity had +nothing to do with politics. "That may be," replied Stanhope, "but I +will never lend myself to injustice." + +His Lordship then began to attack Jeremy Bentham. The colonel +complained of such illiberality, as to make personal attacks on that +gentleman before a friend who held him in high estimation. + +"I only attack his public principles," replied Byron, "which are mere +theories, but dangerous,--injurious to Spain, and calculated to do +great mischief in Greece." + +Stanhope vindicated Bentham, and said, "He possesses a truly British +heart; but your Lordship, after professing liberal principles from +boyhood, have, when called upon to act, proved yourself a Turk." + +"What proofs have you of this? + +"Your conduct in endeavouring to crush the press by declaiming +against it to Mavrocordato, and your general abuse of liberal +principles." + +"If I had held up my finger," retorted his Lordship, "I could have +crushed the press." + +"With all this power," said Stanhope, "which by the way you never +possessed, you went to the prince, and poisoned his ear." + +Lord Byron then disclaimed against the liberals. "What liberals?" +cried Stanhope. "Did you borrow your notions of freemen from the +Italians?" + +"No: from the Hunts, Cartwrights, and such." + +"And yet your Lordship presented Cartwright's Reform Bill, and aided +Hunt by praising his poetry and giving him the sale of your works." + +"You are worse than Wilson," exclaimed Byron, "and should quit the +army." + +"I am a mere soldier," replied Stanhope, "but never will I abandon my +principles. Our principles are diametrically opposite, so let us +avoid the subject. If Lord Byron acts up to his professions, he will +be the greatest, if not, the meanest of mankind." + +"My character," said his Lordship, "I hope, does not depend on your +assertions." + +"No: your genius has immortalized you. The worst will not deprive +you of fame." + +Lord Byron then rejoined, "Well; you shall see: judge of me by my +acts." And, bidding the colonel good night, who took up the light to +conduct him to the passage, he added, "What! hold up a light to a +Turk!" + +Such were the Franklins, the Washingtons, and the Hamiltons who +undertook the regeneration of Greece. + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + + + +Lord Byron appointed to the command of three thousand Men to besiege +Lepanto--The Siege abandoned for a Blockade--Advanced Guard ordered +to proceed--Lord Byron's first Illness--A Riot--He is urged to leave +Greece--The Expedition against Lepanto abandoned--Byron dejected--A +wild diplomatic Scheme + +Three days after the conversation related in the preceding chapter, +Byron was officially placed in the command of about three thousand +men, destined for the attack on Lepanto; but the Suliotes remained +refractory, and refused to quit their quarters; his Lordship, +however, employed an argument which proved effectual. He told them +that if they did not obey his commands, he would discharge them from +his service. + +But the impediments were not to be surmounted; in less than a week it +was formally reported to Byron that Missolonghi could not furnish the +means of undertaking the siege of Lepanto, upon which his Lordship +proposed that Lepanto should be only blockaded by two thousand men. +Before any actual step was, however, taken, two spies came in with a +report that the Albanians in garrison at Lepanto had seized the +citadel, and were determined to surrender it to his Lordship. Still +the expedition lingered; at last, on the 14th of February, six weeks +after Byron's arrival at Missolonghi, it was determined that an +advanced guard of three hundred soldiers, under the command of Count +Gamba, should march for Lepanto, and that Lord Byron, with the main +body, should follow. The Suliotes were, however, still exorbitant, +calling for fresh contributions for themselves and their families. +His troubles were increasing, and every new rush of the angry tide +rose nearer and nearer his heart; still his fortitude enabled him to +preserve an outward show of equanimity. But, on the very day after +the determination had been adopted, to send forward the advanced +guard, his constitution gave way. + +He was sitting in Colonel Stanhope's room, talking jestingly, +according to his wonted manner, with Captain Parry, when his eyes and +forehead occasionally discovered that he was agitated by strong +feelings. On a sudden he complained of a weakness in one of his +legs; he rose, but finding himself unable to walk, called for +assistance; he then fell into a violent nervous convulsion, and was +placed upon a bed: while the fit lasted, his face was hideously +distorted; but in the course of a few minutes the convulsion ceased, +and he began to recover his senses: his speech returned, and he soon +rose, apparently well. During the struggle his strength was +preternaturally augmented, and when it was over, he behaved with his +usual firmness. "I conceive," says Colonel Stanhope, "that this fit +was occasioned by over-excitement. The mind of Byron is like a +volcano; it is full of fire, wrath, and combustibles, and when this +matter comes to be strongly agitated, the explosion is dreadful. +With respect to the causes which produced the excess of feeling, they +are beyond my reach, except one great cause, the provoking conduct of +the Suliotes." + +A few days after this distressing incident, a new occurrence arose, +which materially disturbed the tranquillity of Byron. A Suliote, +accompanied by the son, a little boy, of Marco Botzaris, with another +man, walked into the Seraglio, a kind of citadel, which had been used +as a barrack for the Suliotes, and out of which they had been ejected +with difficulty, when it was required for the reception of stores and +the establishment of a laboratory. The sentinel ordered them back, +but the Suliote advanced. The sergeant of the guard, a German, +pushed him back. The Suliote struck the sergeant; they closed and +struggled. The Suliote drew his pistol; the German wrenched it from +him, and emptied the pan. At this moment a Swedish adventurer, +Captain Sass, seeing the quarrel, ordered the Suliote to be taken to +the guard-room. The Suliote would have departed, but the German +still held him. The Swede drew his sabre; the Suliote his other +pistol. The Swede struck him with the flat of his sword; the Suliote +unsheathed his ataghan, and nearly cut off the left arm of his +antagonist, and then shot him through the head. The other Suliotes +would not deliver up their comrade, for he was celebrated among them +for distinguished bravery. The workmen in the laboratory refused to +work: they required to be sent home to England, declaring, they had +come out to labour peaceably, and not to be exposed to assassination. +These untoward occurrences deeply vexed Byron, and there was no mind +of sufficient energy with him to control the increasing disorders. +But, though convinced, as indeed he had been persuaded from the +beginning in his own mind, that he could not render any assistance to +the cause beyond mitigating the ferocious spirit in which the war was +conducted, his pride and honour would not allow him to quit Greece. + +In a letter written soon after his first attack, he says, "I am a +good deal better, though of course weakly. The leeches took too much +blood from my temples the day after, and there was some difficulty in +stopping it; but I have been up daily, and out in boats or on +horseback. To-day I have taken a warm bath, and live as temperately +as can well be, without any liquid but water, and without any animal +food"; then adverting to the turbulences of the Suliotes, he adds, +"but I still hope better things, and will stand by the cause as long +as my health and circumstances will permit me to be supposed useful." +Subsequently, when pressed to leave the marshy and deleterious air of +Missolonghi, he replied, still more forcibly, "I cannot quit Greece +while there is a chance of my being of (even supposed) utility. +There is a stake worth millions such as I am, and while I can stand +at all I must stand by the cause. While I say this, I am aware of +the difficulties, and dissensions, and defects of the Greeks +themselves; but allowance must be made for them by all reasonable +people." + +After this attack of epilepsy Lord Byron because disinclined to +pursue his scheme against Lepanto. Indeed, it may be said that in +his circumstances it was impracticable; for although the Suliotes +repented of their insubordination, they yet had an objection to the +service, and said "they would not fight against stone walls." All +thought of the expedition was in consequence abandoned, and the +destinies of poor Byron were hastening to their consummation. He +began to complain! + +In speaking to Parry one day of the Greek Committee in London, he +said, "I have been grossly ill-treated by the Committee. In Italy Mr +Blaquiere, their agent, informed me that every requisite supply would +be forwarded with all despatch. I was disposed to come to Greece, +but I hastened my departure in consequence of earnest solicitations. +No time was to be lost, I was told, and Mr Blaquiere, instead of +waiting on me at his return from Greece, left a paltry note, which +gave me no information whatever. If ever I meet with him, I shall +not fail to mention my surprise at his conduct; but it has been all +of a piece. I wish the acting Committee had had some of the trouble +which has fallen on me since my arrival here: they would have been +more prompt in their proceedings, and would have known better what +the country stood in need of. They would not have delayed the +supplies a day nor have sent out German officers, poor fellows, to +starve at Missolonghi, but for my assistance. I am a plain man, and +cannot comprehend the use of printing-presses to a people who do not +read. Here the Committee have sent supplies of maps. I suppose that +I may teach the young mountaineers geography. Here are bugle-horns +without bugle-men, and it is a chance if we can find anybody in +Greece to blow them. Books are sent to people who want guns; they +ask for swords, and the Committee give them the lever of a printing- +press. + +"My future intentions," continued his Lordship, "as to Greece, may be +explained in a few words. I will remain here until she is secure +against the Turks, or till she has fallen under their power. All my +income shall be spent in her service; but, unless driven by some +great necessity, I will not touch a farthing of the sum intended for +my sister's children. Whatever I can accomplish with my income, and +my personal exertions, shall be cheerfully done. When Greece is +secure against external enemies, I will leave the Greeks to settle +their government as they like. One service more, and an eminent +service it will be, I think I may perform for them. You, Parry, +shall have a schooner built for me, or I will buy a vessel; the +Greeks shall invest me with the character of their ambassador, or +agent: I will go to the United States, and procure that free and +enlightened government to set the example of recognising the +federation of Greece as an independent state. This done, England +must follow the example, and then the fate of Greece will be +permanently fixed, and she will enter into all her rights as a member +of the great commonwealth of Christian Europe." + +This intention will, to all who have ever looked at the effects of +fortune on individuals, sufficiently show that Byron's part in the +world was nearly done. Had he lived, and recovered health, it might +have proved that he was then only in another lunation: his first was +when he passed from poesy to heroism. But as it was, it has only +served to show that his mind had suffered by the decadency of his +circumstances, and how much the idea of self-exaltation weakly +entered into all his plans. The business was secondary to the style +in which it should be performed. Building a vessel! why think of the +conveyance at all? as if the means of going to America were so scarce +that there might be difficulty in finding them. But his mind was +passing from him. The intention was unsound--a fantasy--a dream of +bravery in old age--begotten of the erroneous supposition that the +cabinets of Christendom would remain unconcerned spectators of the +triumph of the Greeks, or even of any very long procrastination of +their struggle. + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + + + +The last Illness and Death of Lord Byron--His last Poem + +Although in common parlance it may be said, that after the attack of +epilepsy Lord Byron's general health did not appear to have been +essentially impaired, the appearance was fallacious; his constitution +had received a vital shock, and the exciting causes, vexation and +confusion, continued to exasperate his irritation. + +On the 1st of March he complained of frequent vertigoes, which made +him feel as though he were intoxicated; but no effectual means were +taken to remove these portentous symptoms; and he regularly enjoyed +his daily exercise, sometimes in boats, but oftener on horseback. +His physician thought him convalescent; his mind, however, was in +constant excitement; it rested not even during sleep. + +On the 9th of April, while sailing, he was overtaken by the rain, and +got very wet: on his return home, he changed the whole of his dress; +but he had been too long in his wet clothes, and the stamina of his +constitution being shaken could not withstand the effects. In little +more than two hours he was seized with rigors, fever, and rheumatic +pains. During the night, however, he slept in his accustomed manner, +but in the morning he complained of pains and headache; still this +did not prevent him from going out on horseback in the afternoon--it +was for the last time. + +On returning home, he observed to one of the servants that the saddle +was not perfectly dry, from having been so wet the day before, and +that he thought it had made him worse. He soon after became affected +with almost constant shivering; sudorific medicines were +administered, and blood-letting proposed; but though he took the +drugs, he objected to the bleeding. Another physician was in +consequence called in to see if the rheumatic fever could be appeased +without the loss of blood. This doctor approved of the medicines +prescribed, and was not opposed to the opinion that bleeding was +necessary, but said it might be deferred till the next day. + +On the 11th he seemed rather better, but the medicines had produced +no effect. + +On the 12th he was confined to bed with fever, and his illness +appeared to be increasing; he was very low, and complained of not +having had any sleep during the night; but the medical gentlemen saw +no cause for alarm. Dr Bruno, his own physician, again proposed +bleeding; the stranger still, however, thought it might be deferred, +and Byron himself was opposed to it. "You will die," said Dr Bruno, +"if you do not allow yourself to be bled." "You wish to get the +reputation of curing my disease," replied his Lordship, "that is why +you tell me it is so serious; but I will not permit you to bleed me." + +On the 13th he sat up for some time, after a sleepless night, and +still complained of pain in his bones and head. + +On the 14th he also left his bed. The fever was less, but the +debility greater, and the pain in his head was undiminished. His +valet became alarmed, and, doubtful of the skill of the doctors +around him, entreated permission to send to Zante for an English +physician of greater reputation. His Lordship desired him to consult +the others, which he did, and they told him there was no occasion to +call in any person, as they hoped all would be well in a few days. + +His Lordship now began to doubt if his disease was understood, and +remarked repeatedly in the course of this day, that he was sure the +doctors did not understand it. "Then, my Lord," said Fletcher, his +valet, "have other advice." "They tell me," rejoined his Lordship, +"that it is only a common cold, which you know I have had a thousand +times." + +"I am sure you never had one of so serious a nature." + +"I think I never had." + +Fletcher then went again to the physicians, and repeated his +solicitations that the doctor in Zante might be sent for; but was +again assured that his master would be better in two or three days. + +At length, the doctor who had too easily consented to the +postponement of the bleeding, seeing the prognostications of Dr Bruno +more and more confirmed, urged the necessity of bleeding, and of no +longer delay. This convinced Byron, who was himself greatly averse +to the operation, that they did not understand his case. + +On the 15th his Lordship felt the pains abated, insomuch that he was +able to transact some business. + +On the 16th he wrote a letter, but towards the evening he became +worse, and a pound of blood was taken from him. Still the disease +was making progress, but Dr Bruno did not yet seem much alarmed; on +the contrary, he thought were more blood removed his recovery was +certain. Fletcher immediately told his master, urging him to comply +with the doctor's wishes. "I fear," said his Lordship, "they know +nothing about my disorder, but"--and he stretched out his arm--"here, +take my arm and do whatever you like." + +On the 17th his countenance was changed; during the night he had +become weaker, and a slight degree of delirium, in which he raved of +fighting, had come on. In the course of the day he was bled twice; +in the morning, and at two in the afternoon. The bleeding, on both +occasions, was followed by fainting fits. On this day he said to +Fletcher, "I cannot sleep, and you well know I have not been able to +sleep for more than a week. I know that a man can only be a certain +time without sleep, and then he must go mad, without anyone being +able to save him; and I would ten times sooner shoot myself than be +mad, for I am not afraid of dying--I am more fit to die than people +think." + +On the 18th his Lordship first began to dread that his fate was +inevitable. "I fear," said he to Fletcher, "you and Tita will be ill +by sitting up constantly, night and day"; and he appeared much +dissatisfied with his medical treatment. Fletcher again entreated +permission to send for Dr Thomas, at Zante: "Do so, but be quick," +said his Lordship, "I am sorry I did not let you do so before, as I +am sure they have mistaken my disease; write yourself, for I know +they would not like to see other doctors here." + +Not a moment was lost in executing the order, and on Fletcher +informing the doctors what he had done, they said it was right, as +they now began to be afraid themselves. "Have you sent?" said his +Lordship, when Fletcher returned to him.--"I have, my Lord." + +"You have done well, for I should like to know what is the matter +with me." + +From that time his Lordship grew every hour weaker and weaker; and he +had occasional flights of delirium. In the intervals he was, +however, quite self-possessed, and said to Fletcher, "I now begin to +think I am seriously ill; and in case I should be taken off suddenly, +I wish to give you several directions, which I hope you will be +particular in seeing executed." Fletcher in reply expressed his hope +that he would live many years, and execute them himself. "No, it is +now nearly over; I must tell you all without losing a moment." + +"Shall I go, my Lord, and fetch pen, ink, and paper. + +"Oh, my God! no, you will lose too much time, and I have it not to +spare, for my time is now short. Now pay attention--you will be +provided for." + +"I beseech you, my Lord, to proceed with things of more consequence." + +His Lordship then added, + +"Oh, my poor dear child!--my dear Ada!--My God! could I have but seen +her--give her my blessing--and my dear sister Augusta, and her +children--and you will go to Lady Byron and say--tell her everything- +-you are friends with her." + +He appeared to be greatly affected at this moment. His voice failed, +and only words could be caught at intervals; but he kept muttering +something very seriously for some time, and after raising his voice, +said, + +"Fletcher, now if you do not execute every order which I have given +you, I will torment you hereafter, if possible." + +This little speech is the last characteristic expression which +escaped from the dying man. He knew Fletcher's superstitious +tendency, and it cannot be questioned that the threat was the last +feeble flash of his prankfulness. The faithful valet replied in +consternation that he had not understood one word of what his +Lordship had been saying. + +"Oh! my God!" was the reply, "then all is lost, for it is now too +late! Can it be possible you have not understood me!" + +"No, my Lord; but I pray you to try and inform me once more." + +"How can I? it is now too late, and all is over." + +"Not our will, but God's be done," said Fletcher, and his Lordship +made another effort, saying, + +"Yes, not mine be done--but I will try"--and he made several attempts +to speak, but could only repeat two or three words at a time; such +as, + +"My wife! my child--my sister--you know all--you must say all--you +know my wishes"----The rest was unintelligible. + +A consultation with three other doctors, in addition to the two +physicians in regular attendance, was now held; and they appeared to +think the disease was changing from inflammatory diathesis to +languid, and ordered stimulants to be administered. Dr Bruno opposed +this with the greatest warmth; and pointed out that the symptoms were +those, not of an alteration in the disease, but of a fever flying to +the brain, which was violently attacked by it; and, that the +stimulants they proposed would kill more speedily than the disease +itself. While, on the other hand, by copious bleeding, and the +medicines that had been taken before, he might still be saved. The +other physicians, however, were of a different opinion; and then Dr +Bruno declared he would risk no farther responsibility. Peruvian +bark and wine were then administered. After taking these stimulants, +his Lordship expressed a wish to sleep. His last words were, "I must +sleep now"; and he composed himself accordingly, but never awoke +again. + +For four-and-twenty hours he continued in a state of lethargy, with +the rattles occasionally in his throat. At six o'clock in the +morning of the 19th, Fletcher, who was watching by his bed-side, saw +him open his eyes and then shut them, apparently without pain or +moving hand or foot. "My God!" exclaimed the faithful valet, "I fear +his Lordship is gone." The doctors felt his pulse--it was so. + + +After life's fitful fever he sleeps well. + + +But the fittest dirge is his own last lay, written on the day he +completed his thirty-sixth year, soon after his arrival at +Missolonghi, when his hopes of obtaining distinction in the Greek +cause were, perhaps, brightest; and yet it breathes of dejection +almost to boding. + + +'Tis time this heart should be unmoved + Since others it has ceased to move, +Yet though I cannot be beloved + Still let me love. + +My days are in the yellow leaf, + The flowers and fruits of love are gone, +The worm, the canker, and the grief + Are mine alone. + +The fire that in my bosom preys + Is like to some volcanic isle, +No torch is kindled at its blaze-- + A funeral pile. + +The hope, the fears, the jealous care, + Th' exalted portion of the pain, +And power of love I cannot share, + But wear the chain. + +But 'tis not here--it is not here-- + Such thoughts should shake my soul; nor now +Where glory seals the hero's bier, + Or binds his brow. + +The sword, the banner, and the field, + Glory and Greece around us see; +The Spartan borne upon his shield + Was not more free. + +Awake! not Greece--she is awake-- + Awake my spirit! think through whom +My life-blood tastes its parent lake, + And then strike home! + +I tread reviving passions down, + Unworthy manhood! Unto thee +Indifferent should the smile or frown + Of beauty be. + +If thou regrett'st thy youth, why live? + The land of honourable death +Is here, up to the field and give + Away thy breath. + +Seek out--less often sought than found-- + A soldier's grave--for thee the best +Then look around, and choose thy ground, + And take thy rest. + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + + + +The funeral Preparations and final Obsequies + +The death of Lord Byron was felt by all Greece as a national +misfortune. From the moment it was known that fears were entertained +for his life, the progress of the disease was watched with the +deepest anxiety and sorrow. On Easter Sunday, the day on which he +expired, thousands of the inhabitants of Missolonghi had assembled on +the spacious plain on the outside of the city, according to an +ancient custom, to exchange the salutations of the morning; but on +this occasion it was remarked, that instead of the wonted +congratulations, "Christ is risen," they inquired first, "How is Lord +Byron?" + +On the event being made known, the Provisional Government assembled, +and a proclamation, of which the following is a translation, was +issued + + +"Provisional Government of Western Greece. + +"The day of festivity and rejoicing is turned into one of sorrow and +morning. + +"The Lord Noel Byron departed this life at eleven {354} o'clock last +night, after an illness of ten days. His death was caused by an +inflammatory fever. Such was the effect of his Lordship's illness on +the public mind, that all classes had forgotten their usual +recreations of Easter, even before the afflicting event was +apprehended. + +"The loss of this illustrious individual is undoubtedly to be +deplored by all Greece; but it must be more especially a subject of +lamentation at Missolonghi, where his generosity has been so +conspicuously displayed, and of which he had become a citizen, with +the ulterior determination of participating in all the dangers of the +war. + +"Everybody is acquainted with the beneficent acts of his Lordship, +and none can cease to hail his name as that of a real benefactor. + +"Until, therefore, the final determination of the national Government +be known, and by virtue of the powers with which it has been pleased +to invest me, I hereby decree: + +"1st. To-morrow morning, at daylight, thirty-seven minute-guns shall +be fired from the grand battery, being the number which corresponds +with the age of the illustrious deceased. + +"2nd. All the public offices, even to the tribunals, are to remain +closed for three successive days. + +"3rd. All the shops, except those in which provisions or medicines +are sold, will also be shut; and it is strictly enjoined that every +species of public amusement and other demonstrations of festivity at +Easter may be suspended. + +"4th. A general mourning will be observed for twenty-one days. + +"5th. Prayers and a funeral service are to be offered up in all the +churches. + +"A. MAVROCORDATOS. +"GEORGIS PRAIDIS, Secretary. + +"Given at Missolonghi, this 19th of April, 1824." + + +The funeral oration was written and delivered on the occasion, by +Spiridion Tricoupi, and ordered by the government to be published. +No token of respect that reverence could suggest, or custom and +religion sanction, was omitted by the public authorities, nor by the +people. + +Lord Byron having omitted to give directions for the disposal of his +body, some difficulty arose about fixing the place of interment. But +after being embalmed it was sent, on the 2nd of May, to Zante, where +it was met by Lord Sidney Osborne, a relation of Lord Byron, by +marriage--the secretary of the senate at Corfu. + +It was the wish of Lord Sidney Osborne, and others, that the +interment should be in Zante; but the English opposed the proposition +in the most decided manner. It was then suggested that it should be +conveyed to Athens, and deposited in the temple of Theseus, or in the +Parthenon--Ulysses Odysseus, the Governor of Athens, having sent an +express to Missolonghi, to solicit the remains for that city; but, +before it arrived, they were already in Zante, and a vessel engaged +to carry them to London, in the expectation that they would be +deposited in Westminster Abbey or St Paul's. + +On the 25th of May, the Florida left Zante with the body, which +Colonel Stanhope accompanied; and on the 29th of June it reached the +Downs. After the ship was cleared from quarantine, Mr Hobhouse, with +his Lordship's solicitor, received it from Colonel Stanhope, and, by +their directions it was removed to the house of Sir E. Knatchbull, in +Westminster, where it lay in state several days. + +The dignitaries of the Abbey and of St Paul's having, as it was said, +refused permission to deposit the remains in either of these great +national receptacles of the illustrious dead, it was determined that +they should be laid in the ancestral vault of the Byrons. The +funeral, instead of being public, was in consequence private, and +attended by only a few select friends to Hucknell, a small village +about two miles from Newstead Abbey, in the church of which the vault +is situated; there the coffin was deposited, in conformity to a wish +early expressed by the poet, that his dust might be mingled with his +mother's. Yet, unmeet and plain as the solemnity was in its +circumstances, a remarkable incident gave it interest and +distinction: as it passed along the streets of London, a sailor was +observed walking uncovered near the hearse, and on being asked what +he was doing there, replied that he had served Lord Byron in the +Levant, and had come to pay his last respects to his remains; a +simple but emphatic testimony to the sincerity of that regard which +his Lordship often inspired, and which with more steadiness might +always have commanded. + +The coffin bears the following inscription: + + +LORD BYRON, OF ROCHDALE, +BORN IN LONDON, JANUARY 22, 1788; +DIED AT MISSOLONGHI, +IN WESTERN GREECE, +APRIL 19, 1824. + + +Beside the coffin the urn is placed, the inscription on which is, + + +Within this urn are deposited the heart, brains, etc. of the deceased +Lord Byron. + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + + + +The Character of Lord Byron + +My endeavour, in the foregoing pages, has been to give a general view +of the intellectual character of Lord Byron. It did not accord with +the plan to enter minutely into the details of his private life, +which I suspect was not greatly different from that of any other +person of his rank, not distinguished for particular severity of +manners. In some respects his Lordship was, no doubt, peculiar. He +possessed a vivacity of sensibility not common, and talents of a very +extraordinary kind. He was also distinguished for superior personal +elegance, particularly in his bust. The style and character of his +head were universally admired; but perhaps the beauty of his +physiognomy has been more highly spoken of than it really merited. +Its chief grace consisted, when he was in a gay humour, of a +liveliness which gave a joyous meaning to every articulation of the +muscles and features: when he was less agreeably disposed, the +expression was morose to a very repulsive degree. It is, however, +unnecessary to describe his personal character here. I have already +said enough incidentally, to explain my full opinion of it. In the +mass, I do not think it was calculated to attract much permanent +affection or esteem. In the detail it was the reverse: few men +possessed more companionable qualities than Lord Byron did +occasionally; and seen at intervals in those felicitous moments, I +imagine it would have been difficult to have said, that a more +interesting companion had been previously met with. But he was not +always in that fascinating state of pleasantry: he was as often +otherwise; and no two individuals could be more distinct from each +other than Byron in his gaiety and in his misanthropy. This +antithesis was the great cause of that diversity of opinion +concerning him, which has so much divided his friends and +adversaries. Of his character as a poet there can be no difference +of opinion, but only a difference in the degree of admiration. + +Excellence in talent, as in every other thing, is comparative; but +the universal republic of letters will acknowledge, that in energy of +expression and liveliness of imagery Byron had no equal in his own +time. Doubts, indeed, may be entertained, if in these high qualities +even Shakspeare himself was his superior. + +I am not disposed to think with many of those who rank the genius of +Byron almost as supreme, that he has shown less skill in the +construction of his plots, and the development of his tales, than +might have been expected from one so splendidly endowed; for it has +ever appeared to me that he has accomplished in them everything he +proposed to attain, and that in this consists one of his great +merits. His mind, fervid and impassioned, was in all his +compositions, except Don Juan, eagerly fixed on the catastrophe. He +ever held the goal full in view, and drove to it in the most +immediate manner. By this straightforward simplicity all the +interest which intricacy excites was of necessity disregarded. He is +therefore not treated justly when it is supposed that he might have +done better had he shown more art: the wonder is, that he should +have produced such magnificent effects with so little. He could not +have made the satiated and meditative Harold so darkling and +excursive, so lone, "aweary," and misanthropical, had he treated him +as the hero of a scholastic epic. The might of the poet in such +creations lay in the riches of his diction and in the felicity with +which he described feelings in relation to the aspect of scenes amid +the reminiscences with which the scenes themselves were associated. + +If in language and plan he be so excellent, it may be asked why +should he not be honoured with that pre-eminent niche in the temple +which so many in the world have by suffrage assigned to him? Simply +because, with all the life and beauty of his style, the vigour and +truth of his descriptions, the boldness of his conceptions, and the +reach of his vision in the dark abysses of passion, Lord Byron was +but imperfectly acquainted with human nature. He looked but on the +outside of man. No characteristic action distinguishes one of his +heroes from another, nor is there much dissimilarity in their +sentiments; they have no individuality; they stalk and pass in mist +and gloom, grim, ghastly, and portentous, mysterious shadows, +entities of the twilight, weird things like the sceptred effigies of +the unborn issue of Banquo. + +Combined with vast power, Lord Byron possessed, beyond all question, +the greatest degree of originality of any poet of this age. In this +rare quality he has no parallel in any age. All other poets and +inventive authors are measured in their excellence by the accuracy +with which they fit sentiments appropriate not only to the characters +they create, but to the situations in which they place them: the +works of Lord Byron display the opposite to this, and with the most +extraordinary splendour. He endows his creations with his own +qualities; he finds in the situations in which he places them only +opportunities to express what he has himself felt or suffered; and +yet he mixes so much probability in the circumstances, that they are +always eloquently proper. He does everything, as it were, the +reverse of other poets; in the air and sea, which have been in all +times the emblems of change and the similitudes of inconstancy, he +has discovered the very principles of permanency. The ocean in his +view, not by its vastness, its unfathomable depths, and its limitless +extent, becomes an image of deity, by its unchangeable character! + +The variety of his productions present a prodigious display of power. +In his short career he has entitled himself to be ranked in the first +class of the British poets for quantity alone. By Childe Harold, and +his other poems of the same mood, he has extended the scope of +feeling, made us acquainted with new trains of association, awakened +sympathies which few suspected themselves of possessing; and he has +laid open darker recesses in the bosom than were previously supposed +to exist. The deep and dreadful caverns of remorse had long been +explored but he was the first to visit the bottomless pit of satiety. + +The delineation of that Promethean fortitude which defied conscience, +as he has shown it in Manfred, is his greatest achievement. The +terrific fables of Marlowe and of Goethe, in their respective +versions of the legend of Faustus, had disclosed the utmost writhings +which remorse in the fiercest of its torments can express; but what +are those Laocoon agonies to the sublime serenity of Manfred. In the +power, the originality, and the genius combined, of that unexampled +performance, Lord Byron has placed himself on an equality with +Milton. The Satan of the Paradise Lost is animated by motives, and +dignified by an eternal enterprise. He hath purposes of infinite +prospect to perform, and an immeasurable ambition to satisfy. +Manfred hath neither purpose nor ambition, nor any desire that seeks +gratification. He hath done a deed which severs him from hope, as +everlastingly as the apostacy with the angels has done Satan. He +acknowledges no contrition to bespeak commiseration, he complains of +no wrong to justify revenge, for he feels none; he despises sympathy, +and almost glories in his perdition. + +The creation of such a character is in the sublimest degree of +originality; to give it appropriate thoughts and feelings required +powers worthy of the conception; and to make it susceptible of being +contemplated as within the scope and range of human sympathy, places +Byron above all his contemporaries and antecedents. Milton has +described in Satan the greatest of human passions, supernatural +attributes, directed to immortal intents, and stung with +inextinguishable revenge; but Satan is only a dilatation of man. +Manfred is loftier, and worse than Satan; he has conquered +punishment, having within himself a greater than hell can inflict. +There is a fearful mystery in this conception; it is only by solemnly +questioning the spirits that lurk within the dark metaphors in which +Manfred expresses himself, that the hideous secrets of the character +can be conjectured. + +But although in intellectual power, and in creative originality, +Byron is entitled to stand on the highest peak of the mountain, his +verse is often so harsh, and his language so obscure, that in the +power of delighting he is only a poet of the second class. He had +all the talent and the means requisite to embody his conceptions in a +manner worthy of their might and majesty; his treasury was rich in +everything rare and beautiful for illustration, but he possessed not +the instinct requisite to guide him in the selection of the things +necessary to the inspiration of delight:--he could give his statue +life and beauty, and warmth, and motion, and eloquence, but not a +tuneful voice. + +Some curious metaphysicians, in their subtle criticism, have said +that Don Juan was but the bright side of Childe Harold, and that all +its most brilliant imagery was similar to that of which the dark and +the shadows were delineated in his other works. It may be so. And, +without question, a great similarity runs through everything that has +come from the poet's pen; but it is a family resemblance, the progeny +are all like one another; but where are those who are like them? I +know of no author in prose or rhyme, in the English language, with +whom Byron can be compared. Imitators of his manner there will be +often and many, but he will ever remain one of the few whom the world +acknowledges are alike supreme, and yet unlike each other--epochal +characters, who mark extraordinary periods in history. + +Raphael is the only man of pre-eminence whose career can be compared +with that of Byron; at an age when the genius of most men is but in +the dawning, they had both attained their meridian of glory, and they +both died so early, that it may be said they were lent to the world +only to show the height to which the mind may ascend when time shall +be allowed to accomplish the full cultivations of such extraordinary +endowments. + + + +Footnotes: + +{156} I.e., against. + +{241} The sacrifice of Antinous by the emperor Adrian is supposed to +have been a sacrifice of that kind. Dion Cassius says, that Adrian, +who had applied himself to the study of magic, being deceived by the +principles of that black Egyptian art into a belief that he would be +rendered immortal by a voluntary human sacrifice to the infernal +gods, accepted the offer which Antinous made of himself. + +I have somewhere met with a commentary on this to the following +effect: + +The Christian religion, in the time of Adrian, was rapidly spreading +throughout the empire, and the doctrine of gaining eternal life by +the expiatory offering was openly preached. The Egyptian priests, +who pretended to be in possession of all knowledge, affected to be +acquainted with this mystery also. The emperor was, by his taste and +his vices, attached to the old religion; but he trembled at the +truths disclosed by the revelation; and in this state of +apprehension, his thirst of knowledge and his fears led him to +consult the priests of Osiris and Isis; and they impressed him with a +notion that the infernal deities would be appeased by the sacrifice +of a human being dear to him, and who loved him so entirely as to lay +down his life for him. Antinous, moved by the anxiety of his +imperial master, when all others had refused, consented to sacrifice +himself; and it was for this devotion that Adrian caused his memory +to be hallowed with religious rites. + +{255} Mr Hobhouse has assured me that this information is not +correct. "I happen," says he, "to know that Lord Byron offered to +give the Guiccioli a sum of money outright, or to leave it to her by +his will. I also happen to know that the lady would not hear of any +such present or provision; for I have a letter in which Lord Byron +extols her disinterestedness, and mentions that he has met with a +similar refusal from another female. As to the being in destitute +circumstances, I cannot believe it; for Count Gamba, her brother, +whom I knew very well after Lord Byron's death, never made any +complaint or mention of such a fact: add to which, I know a +maintenance was provided for her by her husband, in consequence of a +law process, before the death of Lord Byron." + +{291a} The calenture. + +{291b} The Swiss air. + +{319} The doctor evidently makes a mistake in confounding Sir +William Hamilton with Sir William Drummond. + +{354} Fletcher's narrative implies at six that evening, the 19th +April, 1824. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF LORD BYRON*** + + +******* This file should be named 10421.txt or 10421.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/2/10421 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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