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diff --git a/14841.txt b/14841.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..af333c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/14841.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15293 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6 (of 6), by Thomas Moore + +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: Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6 (of 6) + With his Letters and Journals + +Author: Thomas Moore + +Release Date: January 30, 2005 [EBook #14841] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF LORD BYRON, VOL. 6 (OF 6) *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Leonard Johnson and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +LIFE +OF +LORD BYRON: + +WITH HIS LETTERS AND JOURNALS. + +BY THOMAS MOORE, ESQ. + +IN SIX VOLUMES.--VOL. VI. + +NEW EDITION. + +1854. + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. VI. + +LETTERS AND JOURNALS OF LORD BYRON, with NOTICES OF HIS LIFE, from +February, 1823, to his Death in April, 1824 + +APPENDIX + +MISCELLANEOUS PIECES IN PROSE. + +REVIEW OF WORDSWORTH'S POEMS. 1807 + +REVIEW OF GELL'S GEOGRAPHY OF ITHACA, AND ITINERARY OF GREECE. 1811 + +PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES. 1812, 1813 + +FRAGMENT. 1816 + +LETTER TO JOHN MURRAY, ESQ., ON THE REV. W.L. BOWLES'S STRICTURES ON +THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF POPE. 1821 + +OBSERVATIONS UPON "OBSERVATIONS" OF THE REV. W.L. BOWLES ON THE +POETICAL CHARACTER OF POPE; IN A SECOND LETTER TO JOHN MURRAY, ESQ. +1821 + + + + +NOTICES OF THE LIFE OF LORD BYRON. + + * * * * * + +LETTER 508. TO MR. MOORE. + +"Genoa, February 20. 1823. + +"My Dear Tom, + +"I must again refer you to those two letters addressed to you at +Passy before I read your speech in Galignani, &c., and which you do +not seem to have received.[1] + +[Footnote 1: I was never lucky enough to recover these two letters, +though frequent enquiries were made about them at the French +post-office.] + +"Of Hunt I see little--once a month or so, and then on his own +business, generally. You may easily suppose that I know too little of +Hampstead and his satellites to have much communion or community with +him. My whole present relation to him arose from Shelley's unexpected +wreck. You would not have had me leave him in the street with his +family, would you? and as to the other plan you mention, you forget +how it would _humiliate_ him--that his writings should be supposed to +be dead weight![1] Think a moment--he is perhaps the vainest man on +earth, at least his own friends say so pretty loudly; and if he were +in other circumstances, I might be tempted to take him down a peg; +but not now,--it would be cruel. It is a cursed business; but neither +the motive nor the means rest upon my conscience, and it happens that +he and his brother _have_ been so far benefited by the publication in +a pecuniary point of view. His brother is a steady, bold fellow, such +as _Prynne_, for example, and full of moral, and, I hear, physical +courage. + +[Footnote 1: The passage in one of my letters to which he here refers +shall be given presently.] + +"And _you_ are _really_ recanting, or softening to the clergy! It +will do little good for you--it is _you_, not the poem, they are at. +They will say they frightened you--forbid it, Ireland! + +"Yours ever, + +"N.B." + +Lord Byron had now, for some time, as may be collected from his +letters, begun to fancy that his reputation in England was on the +wane. The same thirst after fame, with the same sensitiveness to +every passing change of popular favour, which led Tasso at last to +look upon himself as the most despised of writers[1], had more than +once disposed Lord Byron, in the midst of all his triumphs, if not to +doubt their reality, at least to distrust their continuance; and +sometimes even, with that painful skill which sensibility supplies, +to extract out of the brightest tributes of success some omen of +future failure, or symptom of decline. New successes, however, still +came to dissipate these bodings of diffidence; nor was it till after +his unlucky coalition with Mr. Hunt in the Liberal, that any grounds +for such a suspicion of his having declined in public favour showed +themselves. + +[Footnote 1: In one of his letters this poet says:--"Non posso negare +che io mi doglio oltramisura di esser stato tanto disprezzato dal +mondo quanto non e altro scrittore di questo secolo." In another +letter, however, after complaining of being "perseguitato da molti +piu che non era convenevole," he adds, with a proud prescience of his +future fame, "Laonde stimo di poter mene ragionevolmente richiamare +alla posterita."] + +The chief inducements, on the part of Lord Byron, to this unworthy +alliance were, in the first place, a wish to second the kind views of +his friend Shelley in inviting Mr. Hunt to join him in Italy; and, in +the next, a desire to avail himself of the aid of one so experienced, +as an editor, in the favourite project he had now so long +contemplated, of a periodical work, in which all the various +offspring of his genius might be received fast as they sprung to +light. With such opinions, however, as he had long entertained of Mr. +Hunt's character and talents[1], the facility with which he now +admitted him--_not_ certainly to any degree of confidence or +intimacy, but to a declared fellowship of fame and interest in the +eyes of the world, is, I own, an inconsistency not easily to be +accounted for, and argued, at all events, a strong confidence in the +antidotal power of his own name to resist the ridicule of such an +association. + +[Footnote 1: See Letter 317. p. 103.] + +As long as Shelley lived, the regard which Lord Byron entertained for +him extended its influence also over his relations with his friend; +the suavity and good-breeding of Shelley interposing a sort of +softening medium in the way of those unpleasant collisions which +afterwards took place, and which, from what is known of both parties, +may be easily conceived to have been alike trying to the patience of +the patron and the vanity of the dependent. That even, however, +during the lifetime of their common friend, there had occurred some +of those humiliating misunderstandings which money +engenders,--humiliating on both sides, as if from the very nature of +the dross that gives rise to them,--will appear from the following +letter of Shelley's which I find among the papers in my hands. + + +TO LORD BYRON. + +"February 15. 1823. + +"My dear Lord Byron. + +"I enclose you a letter from Hunt, which annoys me on more than one +account. You will observe the postscript, and you know me well enough +to feel how painful a task is set me in commenting upon it. Hunt had +urged me more than once to ask you to lend him this money. My answer +consisted in sending him all I could spare, which I have now +literally done. Your kindness in fitting up a part of your own house +for his accommodation I sensibly felt, and willingly accepted from +you on his part, but, believe me, without the slightest intention of +imposing, or, if I could help it, allowing to be imposed, any heavier +task on your purse. As it has come to this in spite of my exertions, +I will not conceal from you the low ebb of my own money affairs in +the present moment,--that is, my absolute incapacity of assisting +Hunt farther. + +"I do not think poor Hunt's promise to pay in a given time is worth +very much; but mine is less subject to uncertainty, and I should be +happy to be responsible for any engagement he may have proposed to +you. I am so much annoyed by this subject that I hardly know what to +write, and much less what to say; and I have need of all your +indulgence in judging both my feelings and expressions. + +"I shall see you by and by. Believe me + +"Yours most faithfully and sincerely, + +"P.B. SHELLEY." + + +Of the book in which Mr. Hunt has thought it decent to revenge upon +the dead the pain of those obligations he had, in his hour of need, +accepted from the living, I am luckily saved from the distaste of +speaking at any length, by the utter and most deserved oblivion into +which his volume has fallen. Never, indeed, was the right feeling of +the world upon such subjects more creditably displayed than in the +reception given universally to that ungenerous book;--even those the +least disposed to think approvingly of Lord Byron having shrunk back +from such a corroboration of their own opinion as could be afforded +by one who did not blush to derive his authority, as an accuser, from +those facilities of observation which he had enjoyed by having been +sheltered and fed under the very roof of the man whom he maligned. + +With respect to the hostile feeling manifested in Mr. Hunt's work +towards myself, the sole revenge I shall take is, to lay before my +readers the passage in one of my letters which provoked it; and which +may claim, at least, the merit of not being a covert attack, as +throughout the whole of my remonstrances to Lord Byron on the subject +of his new literary allies, not a line did I ever write respecting +either Mr. Shelley or Mr. Hunt which I was not fully prepared, from +long knowledge of my correspondent, to find that he had instantly, +and as a matter of course, communicated to them. That this want of +retention was a fault in my noble friend, I am not inclined to deny; +but, being undisguised, it was easily guarded against, and, when +guarded against, harmless. Besides, such is the penalty generally to +be paid for frankness of character; and they who could have flattered +themselves that one so open about his own affairs as Lord Byron would +be much more discreet where the confidences of others were concerned, +would have had their own imprudence, not his, to blame for any injury +that their dependence upon his secrecy had brought on them. + +The following is the passage, which Lord Byron, as I take for +granted, showed to Mr. Hunt, and to which one of his letters to +myself (February 20.) refers:-- + +"I am most anxious to know that you mean to emerge out of the +Liberal. It grieves me to urge any thing so much against Hunt's +interest; but I should not hesitate to use the same language to +himself, were I near him. I would, if I were you, serve him in every +possible way but this--I would give him (if he would accept of it) +the profits of the same works, published separately--but I would +_not_ mix myself up in this way with others. I would _not_ become a +partner in this sort of miscellaneous '_pot au feu_,' where the bad +flavour of one ingredient is sure to taint all the rest. I would be, +if I were _you_, alone, single-handed, and, as such, invincible." + +While on the subject of Mr. Hunt, I shall avail myself of the +opportunity it affords me of introducing some portions of a letter +addressed to a friend of that gentleman by Lord Byron, in consequence +of an appeal made to the feelings of the latter on the score of his +professed "friendship" for Mr. Hunt. The avowals he here makes are, I +own, startling, and must be taken with more than the usual allowance, +not only for the particular mood of temper or spirits in which the +letter was written, but for the influence also of such slight casual +piques and resentments as might have been, just then, in their +darkening transit through his mind,--indisposing him, for the moment, +to those among his friends whom, in a sunnier mood, he would have +proclaimed as his most chosen and dearest. + + +LETTER 509. TO MRS. ----. + +"I presume that you, at least, know enough of me to be sure that I +could have no intention to insult Hunt's poverty. On the contrary, I +honour him for it; for I know what it is, having been as much +embarrassed as ever he was, without perceiving aught in it to +diminish an honourable man's self-respect. If you mean to say that, +had he been a wealthy man, I would have joined in this Journal, I +answer in the negative. * * * I engaged in the Journal from good-will +towards him, added to respect for his character, literary and +personal; and no less for his political courage, as well as regret +for his present circumstances: I did this in the hope that he might, +with the same aid from literary friends of literary contributions +(which is requisite for all journals of a mixed nature), render +himself independent. + +"I have always treated him, in our personal intercourse, with such +scrupulous delicacy, that I have forborne intruding advice which I +thought might be disagreeable, lest he should impute it to what is +called 'taking advantage of a man's situation.' + +"As to friendship, it is a propensity in which my genius is very +limited. I do not know the _male_ human being, except Lord Clare, the +friend of my infancy, for whom I feel any thing that deserves the +name. All my others are men-of-the-world friendships. I did not even +feel it for Shelley, however much I admired and esteemed him, so that +you see not even vanity could bribe me into it, for, of all men, +Shelley thought highest of my talents,--and, perhaps, of my +disposition. + +"I will do my duty by my intimates, upon the principle of doing as +you would be done by. I have done so, I trust, in most instances. I +may be pleased with their conversation--rejoice in their success--be +glad to do them service, or to receive their counsel and assistance +in return. But as for friends and friendship, I have (as I already +said) named the only remaining male for whom I feel any thing of the +kind, excepting, perhaps, Thomas Moore. I have had, and may have +still, a thousand friends, as they are called, in _life_, who are +like one's partners in the waltz of this world--not much remembered +when the ball is over, though very pleasant for the time. Habit, +business, and companionship in pleasure or in pain, are links of a +similar kind, and the same faith in politics is another." * * * + + +LETTER 510. TO LADY ----. + +"Genoa, March 28. 1823. + +"Mr. Hill is here: I dined with him on Saturday before last; and on +leaving his house at S. P. d'Arena, my carriage broke down. I walked +home, about three miles,--no very great feat of pedestrianism; but +either the coming out of hot rooms into a bleak wind chilled me, or +the walking up-hill to Albaro heated me, or something or other set me +wrong, and next day I had an inflammatory attack in the face, to +which I have been subject this winter for the first time, and I +suffered a good deal of pain, but no peril. My health is now much as +usual. Mr. Hill is, I believe, occupied with his diplomacy. I shall +give him your message when I see him again. + +"My name, I see in the papers, has been dragged into the unhappy +Portsmouth business, of which all that I know is very succinct. Mr. +H---- is my solicitor. I found him so when I was ten years old--at my +uncle's death--and he was continued in the management of my legal +business. He asked me, by a civil epistle, as an old acquaintance of +his family, to be present at the marriage of Miss H----. I went very +reluctantly, one misty morning (for I had been up at two balls all +night), to witness the ceremony, which I could not very well refuse +without affronting a man who had never offended me. I saw nothing +particular in the marriage. Of course I could not know the +preliminaries, except from what he said, not having been present at +the wooing, nor after it, for I walked home, and they went into the +country as soon as they had promised and vowed. Out of this simple +fact I hear the Debats de Paris has quoted Miss H. as 'autrefois tres +liee avec le celebre,' &c. &c. I am obliged to him for the celebrity, +but beg leave to decline the liaison, which is quite untrue; my +liaison was with the father, in the unsentimental shape of long +lawyers' bills, through the medium of which I have had to pay him ten +or twelve thousand pounds within these few years. She was not pretty, +and I suspect that the indefatigable Mr. A---- was (like all her +people) more attracted by her title than her charms. I regret very +much that I was present at the prologue to the happy state of +horse-whipping and black jobs, &c. &c.; but I could not foresee that +a man was to turn out mad, who had gone about the world for fifty +years, as competent to vote, and walk at large; nor did he seem to me +more insane than any other person going to be married. + +"I have no objection to be acquainted with the Marquis Palavicini, if +he wishes it. Lately I have gone little into society, English or +foreign, for I had seen all that was worth seeing in the former +before I left England, and at the time of life when I was more +disposed to like it; and of the latter I had a sufficiency in the +first few years of my residence in Switzerland, chiefly at Madame de +Stael's, where I went sometimes, till I grew tired of _conversazioni_ +and carnivals, with their appendages; and the bore is, that if you go +once, you are expected to be there daily, or rather nightly. I went +the round of the most noted soirees at Venice or elsewhere (where I +remained not any time) to the Benzona, and the Albrizzi, and the +Michelli, &c. &c. and to the Cardinals and the various potentates of +the Legation in Romagna, (that is, Ravenna,) and only receded for the +sake of quiet when I came into Tuscany. Besides, if I go into +society, I generally get, in the long run, into some scrape of some +kind or other, which don't occur in my solitude. However, I am pretty +well settled now, by time and temper, which is so far lucky, as it +prevents restlessness; but, as I said before, as an acquaintance of +yours, I will be ready and willing to know your friends. He may be a +sort of connection for aught I know; for a Palavicini, of _Bologna_, +I believe, married a distant relative of mine half a century ago. I +happen to know the fact, as he and his spouse had an annuity of five +hundred pounds on my uncle's property, which ceased at his demise; +though I recollect hearing they attempted, naturally enough, to make +it survive him. If I can do any thing for you here or elsewhere, pray +order, and be obeyed." + + +LETTER 511. TO MR. MOORE. + +"Genoa, April 2. 1823. + +"I have just seen some friends of yours, who paid me a visit +yesterday, which, in honour of them and of you, I returned +to-day;--as I reserve my bear-skin and teeth, and paws and claws, for +our enemies. + +"I have also seen Henry F----, Lord H----'s son, whom I had not +looked upon since I left him a pretty, mild boy, without a neckcloth, +in a jacket, and in delicate health, seven long years agone, at the +period of mine eclipse--the third, I believe, as I have generally one +every two or three years. I think that he has the softest and most +amiable expression of countenance I ever saw, and manners +correspondent. If to those he can add hereditary talents, he will +keep the name of F---- in all its freshness for half a century more, +I hope. I speak from a transient glimpse--but I love still to yield +to such impressions; for I have ever found that those I liked longest +and best, I took to at first sight; and I always liked that +boy--perhaps, in part, from some resemblance in the less fortunate +part of our destinies--I mean, to avoid mistakes, his lameness. But +there is this difference, that _he_ appears a halting angel, who has +tripped against a star; whilst I am _Le Diable Boiteux_,--a +soubriquet, which I marvel that, amongst their various _nominis +umbrae_, the Orthodox have not hit upon. + +"Your other allies, whom I have found very agreeable personages, are +Milor B---- and _epouse_, travelling with a very handsome companion, +in the shape of a 'French Count' (to use Farquhar's phrase in the +Beaux Stratagem), who has all the air of a _Cupidon dechaine_, and is +one of the few specimens I have seen of our ideal of a Frenchman +_before_ the Revolution--an old friend with a new face, upon whose +like I never thought that we should look again. Miladi seems highly +literary,--to which, and your honour's acquaintance with the family, +I attribute the pleasure of having seen them. She is also very +pretty, even in a morning,--a species of beauty on which the sun of +Italy does not shine so frequently as the chandelier. Certainly, +English-women wear better than their continental neighbours of the +same sex. M---- seems very good-natured, but is much tamed, since I +recollect him in all the glory of gems and snuff-boxes, and uniforms, +and theatricals, and speeches in our house--'I mean, of peers,'--(I +must refer you to Pope--who you don't read and won't appreciate--for +that quotation, which you must allow to be poetical,) and sitting to +Stroeling, the painter, (do you remember our visit, with Leckie, to +the German?) to be depicted as one of the heroes of Agincourt, 'with +his long sword, saddle, bridle, Whack fal de, &c. &c.' + +"I have been unwell--caught a cold and inflammation, which menaced a +conflagration, after dining with our ambassador, Monsieur Hill,--not +owing to the dinner, but my carriage broke down in the way home, and +I had to walk some miles, up hill partly, after hot rooms, in a very +bleak, windy evening, and over-hotted, or over-colded myself. I have +not been so robustious as formerly, ever since the last summer, when +I fell ill after a long swim in the Mediterranean, and have never +been quite right up to this present writing. I am thin,--perhaps +thinner than you saw me, when I was nearly transparent, in 1812,--and +am obliged to be moderate of my mouth; which, nevertheless, won't +prevent me (the gods willing) from dining with your friends the day +after to-morrow. + +"They give me a very good account of you, and of your nearly +'Emprisoned Angels.' But why did you change your title?--you will +regret this some day. The bigots are not to be conciliated; and, if +they were--are they worth it? I suspect that I am a more orthodox +Christian than you are; and, whenever I see a real Christian, either +in practice or in theory, (for I never yet found the man who could +produce either, when put to the proof,) I am his disciple. But, till +then, I cannot truckle to tithe-mongers,--nor can I imagine what has +made _you_ circumcise your Seraphs. + +"I have been far more persecuted than you, as you may judge by my +present decadence,--for I take it that I am as low in popularity and +book-selling as any writer can be. At least, so my friends assure +me--blessings on their benevolence! This they attribute to Hunt; but +they are wrong--it must be, partly at least, owing to myself; be it +so. As to Hunt, I prefer _not_ having turned him to starve in the +streets to any personal honour which might have accrued from such +genuine philanthropy. I really act upon principle in this matter, for +we have nothing much in common; and I cannot describe to you the +despairing sensation of trying to do something for a man who seems +incapable or unwilling to do any thing further for himself,--at +least, to the purpose. It is like pulling a man out of a river who +directly throws himself in again. For the last three or four years +Shelley assisted, and had once actually extricated him. I have since +his demise,--and even before,--done what I could: but it is not in my +power to make this permanent. I want Hunt to return to England, for +which I would furnish him with the means in comfort; and his +situation _there_, on the whole, is bettered, by the payment of a +portion of his debts, &c.; and he would be on the spot to continue +his Journal, or Journals, with his brother, who seems a sensible, +plain, sturdy, and enduring person." * * + +The new intimacy of which he here announces the commencement, and +which it was gratifying to me, as the common friend of all, to find +that he had formed, was a source of much pleasure to him during the +stay of his noble acquaintances at Genoa. So long, indeed, had he +persuaded himself that his countrymen abroad all regarded him in no +other light than as an outlaw or a show, that every new instance he +met of friendly reception from them was as much a surprise as +pleasure to him; and it was evident that to his mind the revival of +English associations and habitudes always brought with it a sense of +refreshment, like that of inhaling his native air. + +With the view of inducing these friends to prolong their stay at +Genoa, he suggested their taking a pretty villa called "Il Paradiso," +in the neighbourhood of his own, and accompanied them to look at it. +Upon that occasion it was that, on the lady expressing some +intentions of residing there, he produced the following impromptu, +which--but for the purpose of showing that he was not so "chary of +his fame" as to fear failing in such trifles--I should have thought +hardly worth transcribing. + + "Beneath ----'s eyes + The reclaim'd Paradise + Should be free as the former from evil; + But, if the new Eve + For an apple should grieve, + What mortal would not play the devil?"[1] + +[Footnote 1: The Genoese wits had already applied this threadbare +jest to himself. Taking it into their heads that this villa (which +was also, I believe, a Casa Saluzzo) had been the one fixed on for +his own residence, they said "Il Diavolo e ancora entrato in +Paradise."] + +Another copy of verses addressed by him to the same lady, whose +beauty and talent might well have claimed a warmer tribute from such +a pen, is yet too interesting, as descriptive of the premature +feeling of age now stealing upon him, to be omitted in these pages. + +"TO THE COUNTESS OF B----. + +1. + + "You have ask'd for a verse:--the request + In a rhymer 'twere strange to deny, + But my Hippocrene was but my breast, + And my feelings (its fountain) are dry. + +2. + + "Were I now as I was, I had sung + What Lawrence has painted so well; + But the strain would expire on my tongue, + And the theme is too soft for my shell. + +3. + + "I am ashes where once I was fire, + And the bard in my bosom is dead; + What I loved I _now_ merely admire, + And my heart is as grey as my head. + +4. + + "My life is not dated by years-- + There are _moments_ which act as a plough, + And there is not a furrow appears + But is deep in my soul as my brow. + +5. + + "Let the young and the brilliant aspire + To sing what I gaze on in vain; + For sorrow has torn from my lyre + The string which was worthy the strain. + +"B." + +The following letters written during the stay of this party at Genoa +will be found,--some of them at least,--not a little curious. + + +LETTER 512. TO THE EARL OF B----. + +"April 5. 1823. + +"My dear Lord, + +"How is your gout? or rather, how are you? I return the Count ----'s +Journal, which is a very extraordinary production[1], and of a most +melancholy truth in all that regards high life in England. I know, or +knew personally, most of the personages and societies which he +describes; and after reading his remarks, have the sensation fresh +upon me as if I had seen them yesterday. I would however plead in +behalf of some few exceptions, which I will mention by and by. The +most singular thing is, _how_ he should have penetrated _not_ the +_fact_, but the _mystery_ of the English ennui, at two-and-twenty. I +was about the same age when I made the same discovery, in almost +precisely the same circles,--(for there is scarcely a person +mentioned whom I did not see nightly or daily, and was acquainted +more or less intimately with most of them,)--but I never could have +described it so well. _Il faut etre Francais_, to effect this. + +[Footnote 1: In another letter to Lord B---- he says of this +gentleman, "he seems to have all the qualities requisite to have +figured in his brother-in-law's ancestor's Memoirs."] + +"But he ought also to have been in the country during the hunting +season, with 'a select party of distinguished guests,' as the papers +term it. He ought to have seen the gentlemen after dinner (on the +hunting days), and the soiree ensuing thereupon,--and the women +looking as if they had hunted, or rather been hunted; and I could +have wished that he had been at a dinner in town, which I recollect +at Lord C----'s--small, but select, and composed of the most amusing +people. The dessert was hardly on the table, when, out of twelve, I +counted _five asleep_; of that five, there were _Tierney_, Lord ----, +and Lord ---- --I forget the other two, but they were either wits or +orators--perhaps poets. + +"My residence in the East and in Italy has made me somewhat indulgent +of the siesta;--but then they set regularly about it in warm +countries, and perform it in solitude (or at most in a tete-a-tete +with a proper companion), and retire quietly to their rooms to get +out of the sun's way for an hour or two. + +"Altogether, your friend's Journal is a very formidable production. +Alas! our dearly beloved countrymen have only discovered that they +are tired, and not that they are tiresome; and I suspect that the +communication of the latter unpleasant verity will not be better +received than truths usually are. I have read the whole with great +attention and instruction. I am too good a patriot to say +_pleasure_--at least I won't say so, whatever I may think. I showed +it (I hope no breach of confidence) to a young Italian lady of rank, +_tres instruite_ also; and who passes, or passed, for being one of +the three most celebrated belles in the district of Italy, where her +family and connections resided in less troublesome times as to +politics, (which is not Genoa, by the way,) and she was delighted +with it, and says that she has derived a better notion of English +society from it than from all Madame de Stael's metaphysical +disputations on the same subject, in her work on the Revolution. I +beg that you will thank the young philosopher, and make my +compliments to Lady B. and her sister. + +"Believe me your very obliged and faithful + +"N. B. + +"P.S. There is a rumour in letters of some disturbance or complot in +the French Pyrenean army--generals suspected or dismissed, and +ministers of war travelling to see what's the matter. 'Marry (as +David says), this hath an angry favour.' + +"Tell Count ---- that some of the names are not quite intelligible, +especially of the clubs; he speaks of _Watts_--perhaps he is right, +but in my time _Watiers_ was the Dandy Club, of which (though no +dandy) I was a member, at the time too of its greatest glory, when +Brummell and Mildmay, Alvanley and Pierrepoint, gave the Dandy Balls; +and we (the club, that is,) got up the famous masquerade at +Burlington House and Garden, for Wellington. He does not speak of the +_Alfred_, which was the most _recherche_ and most tiresome of any, as +I know by being a member of that too." + + +LETTER 513. TO THE EARL OF B----. + +"April 6. 1823. + +"It _would_ be worse than idle, knowing, as I do, the utter +worthlessness of words on such occasions, in me to attempt to express +what I ought to feel, and do feel for the loss you have sustained[1]; +and I must thus dismiss the subject, for I dare not trust myself +further with it _for your_ sake, or for my own. I shall _endeavour_ +to see you as soon as it may not appear intrusive. Pray excuse the +levity of my yesterday's scrawl--I little thought under what +circumstances it would find you. + +[Footnote 1: The death of Lord B----'s son, which had been long +expected, but of which the account had just then arrived.] + +"I have received a very handsome and flattering note from Count ----. +He must excuse my apparent rudeness and real ignorance in replying to +it in English, through the medium of your kind interpretation. I +would not on any account deprive him of a production, of which I +really think more than I have even _said_, though you are good enough +not to be dissatisfied even with that; but whenever it is completed, +it would give me the greatest pleasure to have a _copy_--but _how_ to +keep it secret? literary secrets are like others. By changing the +names, or at least omitting several, and altering the circumstances +indicative of the writer's real station or situation, the author +would render it a most amusing publication. His countrymen have not +been treated, either in a literary or personal point of view, with +such deference in English recent works, as to lay him under any very +great national obligation of forbearance; and really the remarks are +so true and piquante, that I cannot bring myself to wish their +suppression; though, as Dangle says, 'He is _my_ friend,' many of +these personages 'were _my friends_, but much such friends as Dangle +and his allies. + +"I return you Dr. Parr's letter--I have met him at Payne Knight's and +elsewhere, and he did me the honour once to be a patron of mine, +although a great friend of the other branch of the House of Atreus, +and the Greek teacher (I believe) of my _moral_ Clytemnestra--I say +_moral_, because it is true, and is so useful to the virtuous, that +it enables them to do any thing without the aid of an AEgisthus. + +"I beg my compliments to Lady B., Miss P., and to your _Alfred_. I +think, since his Majesty of the same name, there has not been such a +learned surveyor of our Saxon society. + +"Ever yours most truly, N. B." + +"April 9. 1823. + +"P.S. I salute Miledi, Mademoiselle Mama, and the illustrious +Chevalier Count ----; who, I hope, will continue his history of 'his +own times.' There are some strange coincidences between a part of his +remarks and a certain work of mine, now in MS. in England, (I do not +mean the hermetically sealed Memoirs, but a continuation of certain +Cantos of a certain poem,) especially in _what_ a _man_ may do in +London with impunity while he is 'a la mode;' which I think it well +to state, that he may not suspect me of taking advantage of his +confidence. The observations are very general." + + +LETTER 514. TO THE EARL OF B----. + +"April 14. 1823. + +"I am truly sorry that I cannot accompany you in your ride this +morning, owing to a violent pain in my face, arising from a wart to +which I by medical advice applied a caustic. Whether I put too much, +I do not know, but the consequence is, that not only I have been put +to some pain, but the peccant part and its immediate environ are as +black as if the printer's devil had marked me for an author. As I do +not wish to frighten your horses, or their riders, I shall postpone +waiting upon you until six o'clock, when I hope to have subsided into +a more christian-like resemblance to my fellow-creatures. My +infliction has partially extended even to my fingers; for on trying +to get the black from off my upper lip at least, I have only +transfused a portion thereof to my right hand, and neither +lemon-juice nor eau de Cologne, nor any other eau, have been able as +yet to redeem it also from a more inky appearance than is either +proper or pleasant. But 'out, damn'd spot'--you may have perceived +something of the kind yesterday, for on my return, I saw that during +my visit it had increased, was increasing, and ought to be +diminished; and I could not help laughing at the figure I must have +cut before you. At any rate, I shall be with you at six, with the +advantage of twilight. + +Ever most truly, &c. + +"Eleven o'clock. + +"P.S. I wrote the above at three this morning. I regret to say that +the whole of the skin of about an _inch_ square above my upper lip +has come off, so that I cannot even shave or masticate, and I am +equally unfit to appear at your table, and to partake of its +hospitality. Will you therefore pardon me, and not mistake this +rueful excuse for a '_make-believe_,' as you will soon recognise +whenever I have the pleasure of meeting you again, and I will call +the moment I am, in the nursery phrase, 'fit to be seen.' Tell Lady +B. with my compliments, that I am rummaging my papers for a MS. +worthy of her acceptation. I have just seen the younger Count Gamba, +and as I cannot prevail on his infinite modesty to take the field +without me, I must take this piece of diffidence on myself also, and +beg your indulgence for both." + + +LETTER 515. TO THE COUNT ----. + +"April 22. 1823. + +"My dear Count ---- (if you will permit me to address you so +familiarly), you should be content with writing in your own language, +like Grammont, and succeeding in London as nobody has succeeded since +the days of Charles the Second and the records of Antonio Hamilton, +without deviating into our barbarous language,--which you understand +and write, however, much better than it deserves. + +"My 'approbation,' as you are pleased to term it, was very sincere, +but perhaps not very impartial; for, though I love my country, I do +not love my countrymen--at least, such as they now are. And, besides +the seduction of talent and wit in your work, I fear that to me there +was the attraction of vengeance. I have _seen_ and _felt_ much of +what you have described so well. I have known the persons, and the +re-unions so described,--(many of them, that is to say,) and the +portraits are so like that I cannot but admire the painter no less +than his performance. + +"But I am sorry for you; for if you are so well acquainted with life +at your age, what will become of you when the illusion is still more +dissipated? But never mind--_en avant!_--live while you can; and that +you may have the full enjoyment of the many advantages of youth, +talent, and figure, which you possess, is the wish of +an--Englishman,--I suppose, but it is no treason; for my mother was +Scotch, and my name and my family are both Norman; and as for myself, +I am of no country. As for my 'Works,' which you are pleased to +mention, let them go to the Devil, from whence (if you believe many +persons) they came. + +"I have the honour to be your obliged," &c. &c. + +During this period a circumstance occurred which shows, most +favourably for the better tendencies of his nature, how much allayed +and softened down his once angry feeling, upon the subject of his +matrimonial differences, had now grown. It has been seen that his +daughter Ada,--more especially since his late loss of the only tie of +blood which he could have a hope of attaching to himself,--had become +the fond and constant object of his thoughts; and it was but natural, +in a heart kindly as his was, that, dwelling thus with tenderness +upon the child, he should find himself insensibly subdued into a +gentler tone of feeling towards the mother. A gentleman, whose sister +was known to be the confidential friend of Lady Byron, happening at +this time to be at Genoa, and in the habit of visiting at the house +of the poet's new intimates, Lord Byron took one day an opportunity, +in conversing with Lady ----, to say, that she would render him an +essential kindness if, through the mediation of this gentleman and +his sister, she could procure for him from Lady Byron, what he had +long been most anxious to possess, a copy of her picture. It having +been represented to him, in the course of the same, or a similar +conversation, that Lady Byron was said by her friends to be in a +state of constant alarm lest he should come to England to claim his +daughter, or, in some other way, interfere with her, he professed his +readiness to give every assurance that might have the effect of +calming such apprehensions; and the following letter, in reference to +both these subjects, was soon after sent by him. + + +LETTER 516. TO THE COUNTESS OF B----. + +"May 3. 1823. + +"Dear Lady ----, + +"My request would be for a copy of the miniature of Lady B. which I +have seen in possession of the late Lady Noel, as I have no picture, +or indeed memorial of any kind of Lady B., as all her letters were in +her own possession before I left England, and we have had no +correspondence since--at least on her part. + +My message, with regard to the infant, is simply to this effect--that +in the event of any accident occurring to the mother, and my +remaining the survivor, it would be my wish to have her plans carried +into effect, both with regard to the education of the child, and the +person or persons under whose care Lady B. might be desirous that she +should be placed. It is not my intention to interfere with her in any +way on the subject during her life; and I presume that it would be +some consolation to her to know,(if she is in ill health, as I am +given to understand,) that in _no_ case would any thing be done, as +far as I am concerned, but in strict conformity with Lady B.'s own +wishes and intentions--left in what manner she thought proper. + +"Believe me, dear Lady B., your obliged," &c. + +This negotiation, of which I know not the results, nor whether, +indeed, it ever ended in any, led naturally and frequently to +conversations on the subject of his marriage,--a topic he was himself +always the first to turn to,--and the account which he then gave, as +well of the circumstances of the separation, as of his own entire +unconsciousness of the immediate causes that provoked it, was, I +find, exactly such as, upon every occasion when the subject presented +itself, he, with an air of sincerity in which it was impossible not +to confide, promulgated. "Of what really led to the separation (said +he, in the course of one of these conversations,) I declare to you +that, even at this moment, I am wholly ignorant; as Lady Byron would +never assign her motives, and has refused to answer my letters. I +have written to her repeatedly, and am still in the habit of doing +so. Some of these letters I have sent, and others I did not, simply +because I despaired of their doing any good. You may, however, see +some of them if you like;--they may serve to throw some light upon my +feelings." + +In a day or two after, accordingly, one of these withheld letters was +sent by him, enclosed in the following, to Lady ----. + + +LETTER 517. TO THE COUNTESS OF ----. + +"Albaro, May 6.1828. + +My dear Lady ----, + +I send you the letter which I had forgotten, and the book[1], which I +ought to have remembered. It contains (the book, I mean,) some +melancholy truths; though I believe that it is too triste a work ever +to have been popular. The first time I ever read it (not the edition +I send you,--for I got it since,) was at the desire of Madame de +Stael, who was supposed by the good-natured world to be the +heroine;--which she was not, however, and was furious at the +supposition. This occurred in Switzerland, in the summer of 1816, and +the last season in which I ever saw that celebrated person. + +[Footnote 1: Adolphe, by M. Benjamin Constant.] + +"I have a request to make to my friend Alfred (since he has not +disdained the title), viz. that he would condescend to add a _cap_ to +the gentleman in the jacket,--it would complete his costume,--and +smooth his brow, which is somewhat too inveterate a likeness of the +original, God help me!" + +"I did well to avoid the water-party,--_why_, is a mystery, which is +not less to be wondered at than all my other mysteries. Tell Milor +that I am deep in his MS., and will do him justice by a diligent +perusal." + +"The letter which I enclose I was prevented from sending by my +despair of its doing any good. I was perfectly sincere when I wrote +it, and am so still. But it is difficult for me to withstand the +thousand provocations on that subject, which both friends and foes +have for seven years been throwing in the way of a man whose feelings +were once quick, and whose temper was never patient. But 'returning +were as tedious as go o'er.' I feel this as much as ever Macbeth did; +and it is a dreary sensation, which at least avenges the real or +imaginary wrongs of one of the two unfortunate persons whom it +concerns." + +"But I am going to be gloomy;--so 'to bed, to bed.' Good night,--or +rather morning. One of the reasons why I wish to avoid society is, +that I can never sleep after it, and the pleasanter it has been the +less I rest." + +"Ever most truly," &c. &c. + +I shall now produce the enclosure contained in the above; and there +are few, I should think, of my readers who will not agree with me in +pronouncing, that if the author of the following letter had not +_right_ on his side, he had at least most of those good feelings +which are found in general to accompany it. + + +LETTER 518. TO LADY BYRON. + +(TO THE CARE OF THE HON. MRS. LEIGH, LONDON.) + +Pisa, November 17. 1821. + +I have to acknowledge the receipt of 'Ada's hair,'which is very soft +and pretty, and nearly as dark already as mine was at twelve years +old, if I may judge from what I recollect of some in Augusta's +possession, taken at that age. But it don't curl,--perhaps from its +being let grow. + +"I also thank you for the inscription of the date and name, and I +will tell you why;--I believe that they are the only two or three +words of your handwriting in my possession. For your letters I +returned, and except the two words, or rather the one word, +'Household,' written twice in an old account book, I have no other. I +burnt your last note, for two reasons:--firstly, it was written in a +style not very agreeable; and, secondly, I wished to take your word +without documents, which are the worldly resources of suspicious +people. + +I suppose that this note will reach you somewhere about Ada's +birthday--the 10th of December, I believe. She will then be six, so +that in about twelve more I shall have some chance of meeting +her;--perhaps sooner, if I am obliged to go to England by business or +otherwise. Recollect, however, one thing, either in distance or +nearness;--every day which keeps us asunder should, after so long a +period, rather soften our mutual feelings, which must always have one +rallying-point as long as our child exists, which I presume we both +hope will be long after either of her parents. + +The time which has elapsed since the separation has been considerably +more than the whole brief period of our union, and the not much +longer one of our prior acquaintance. We both made a bitter mistake; +but now it is over, and irrevocably so. For, at thirty-three on my +part, and a few years less on yours, though it is no very extended +period of life, still it is one when the habits and thought are +generally so formed as to admit of no modification; and as we could +not agree when younger, we should with difficulty do so now. + +I say all this, because I own to you, that, notwithstanding every +thing, I considered our re-union as not impossible for more than a +year after the separation;--but then I gave up the hope entirely and +for ever. But this very impossibility of re-union seems to me at +least a reason why, on all the few points of discussion which can +arise between us, we should preserve the courtesies of life, and as +much of its kindness as people who are never to meet may preserve +perhaps more easily than nearer connections. For my own part, I am +violent, but not malignant; for only fresh provocations can awaken my +resentments. To you, who are colder and more concentrated, I would +just hint, that you may sometimes mistake the depth of a cold anger +for dignity, and a worse feeling for duty. I assure you that I bear +you _now_ (whatever I may have done) no resentment whatever. +Remember, that _if you have injured me_ in aught, this forgiveness is +something; and that, if I have _injured you_, it is something more +still, if it be true, as the moralists say, that the most offending +are the least forgiving. + +"Whether the offence has been solely on my side, or reciprocal, or on +yours chiefly, I have ceased to reflect upon any but two +things,--viz. that you are the mother of my child, and that we shall +never meet again. I think if you also consider the two corresponding +points with reference to myself, it will be better for all three. + +"Yours ever, + +"NOEL BYRON." + + +It has been my plan, as must have been observed, wherever my +materials have furnished me with the means, to leave the subject of +my Memoir to relate his own story; and this object, during the two or +three years of his life just elapsed, I have been enabled by the rich +resources in my hands, with but few interruptions, to attain. Having +now, however, reached that point of his career from which a new start +was about to be taken by his excursive spirit, and a course, glorious +as it was brief and fatal, entered upon,--a moment of pause may be +permitted while we look back through the last few years, and for a +while dwell upon the spectacle, at once grand and painful, which his +life during that most unbridled period of his powers exhibited. + +In a state of unceasing excitement, both of heart and brain,--for +ever warring with the world's will, yet living but in the world's +breath,--with a genius taking upon itself all shapes, from Jove down +to Scapin, and a disposition veering with equal facility to all +points of the moral compass,--not even the ancient fancy of the +existence of two souls within one bosom would seem at all adequately +to account for the varieties, both of power and character, which the +course of his conduct and writings during these few feverish years +displayed. Without going back so far as the Fourth Canto of Childe +Harold, which one of his bitterest and ablest assailants has +pronounced to be, "in point of execution, the sublimest poetical +achievement of mortal pen," we have, in a similar strain of strength +and splendour, the Prophecy of Dante, Cain, the Mystery of Heaven and +Earth, Sardanapalus,--all produced during this wonderful period of +his genius. To these also are to be added four other dramatic pieces, +which, though the least successful of his compositions, have yet, as +Poems, few equals in our literature; while, in a more especial +degree, they illustrate the versatility of taste and power so +remarkable in him, as being founded, and to this very circumstance, +perhaps, owing their failure, on a severe classic model, the most +uncongenial to his own habits and temperament, and the most remote +from that bold, unshackled license which it had been the great +mission of his genius, throughout the whole realms of Mind, to +assert. + +In contrast to all these high-toned strains, and struck off during +the same fertile period, we find his Don Juan--in itself an epitome +of all the marvellous contrarieties of his character--the Vision of +Judgment, the Translation from Pulci, the Pamphlets on Pope, on the +British Review, on Blackwood,--together with a swarm of other light, +humorous trifles, all flashing forth carelessly from the same mind +that was, almost at the same moment, personating, with a port worthy +of such a presence, the mighty spirit of Dante, or following the dark +footsteps of Scepticism over the ruins of past worlds, with Cain. + +All this time, too, while occupied with these ideal creations, the +demands upon his active sympathies, in real life, were such as almost +any mind but his own would have found sufficient to engross its every +thought and feeling. An amour, not of that light, transient kind +which "goes without a burden," but, on the contrary, deep-rooted +enough to endure to the close of his days, employed as restlessly +with its first hopes and fears a portion of this period as with the +entanglements to which it led, political and domestic, it embarrassed +the remainder. Scarcely, indeed, had this disturbing passion begun to +calm, when a new source of excitement presented itself in that +conspiracy into which he flung himself so fearlessly, and which +ended, as we have seen, but in multiplying the objects of his +sympathy and protection, and driving him to a new change of home and +scene. + +When we consider all these distractions that beset him, taking into +account also the frequent derangement of his health, and the time and +temper he must have thrown away on the minute drudgery of watching +over every item of his household expenditure, the mind is lost in +almost incredulous astonishment at the wonders he was able to achieve +under such circumstances--at the variety and prodigality of power +with which, in the midst of such interruptions and hinderances, his +"bright soul broke out on every side," and not only held on its +course, unclogged, through all these difficulties, but even extracted +out of the very struggles and annoyances it encountered new nerve for +its strength, and new fuel for its fire. + +While thus at this period, more remarkably than at any other during +his life, the unparalleled versatility of his genius was unfolding +itself, those quick, cameleon-like changes of which his character, +too, was capable were, during the same time, most vividly, and in +strongest contrast, drawn out. To the world, and more especially to +England,--the scene at once of his glories and his wrongs,--he +presented himself in no other aspect than that of a stern, haughty +misanthrope, self-banished from the fellowship of men, and, most of +all, from that of Englishmen. The more genial and beautiful +inspirations of his muse were, in this point of view, looked upon but +as lucid intervals between the paroxysms of an inherent malignancy of +nature; and even the laughing effusions of his wit and humour got +credit for no other aim than that which Swift boasted of, as the end +of all his own labours, "to vex the world rather than divert it." + +How totally all this differed from the Byron of the social hour, they +who lived in familiar intercourse with him may be safely left to +tell. The sort of ferine reputation which he had acquired for himself +abroad prevented numbers, of course, of his countrymen, whom he would +have most cordially welcomed, from seeking his acquaintance. But, as +it was, no English gentleman ever approached him, with the common +forms of introduction, that did not come away at once surprised and +charmed by the kind courtesy and facility of his manners, the +unpretending play of his conversation, and, on a nearer intercourse, +the frank, youthful spirits, to the flow of which he gave way with +such a zest, as even to deceive some of those who best knew him into +the impression, that gaiety was after all the true bent of his +disposition. + +To these contrasts which he presented, as viewed publicly and +privately, is to be added also the fact, that, while braving the +world's ban so boldly, and asserting man's right to think for himself +with a freedom and even daringness unequalled, the original shyness +of his nature never ceased to hang about him; and while at a distance +he was regarded as a sort of autocrat in intellect, revelling in all +the confidence of his own great powers, a somewhat nearer observation +enabled a common acquaintance at Venice[1] to detect, under all this, +traces of that self-distrust and bashfulness which had marked him as +a boy, and which never entirely forsook him through the whole of his +career. + +[Footnote 1: The Countess Albrizzi--see her Sketch of his Character.] + +Still more singular, however, than this contradiction between the +public and private man,--a contradiction not unfrequent, and, in some +cases, more apparent than real, as depending upon the relative +position of the observer,--were those contrarieties and changes not +less startling, which his character so often exhibited, as compared +with itself. He who, at one moment, was seen intrenched in the most +absolute self-will, would, at the very next, be found all that was +docile and amenable. To-day, storming the world in its strong-holds, +as a misanthrope and satirist--to-morrow, learning, with implicit +obedience, to fold a shawl, as a Cavaliere--the same man who had so +obstinately refused to surrender, either to friendly remonstrance or +public outcry, a single line of Don Juan, at the mere request of a +gentle Donna agreed to cease it altogether; nor would venture to +resume this task (though the chief darling of his muse) till, with +some difficulty, he had obtained leave from the same ascendant +quarter. Who, indeed, is there that, without some previous clue to +his transformations, could have been at all prepared to recognise the +coarse libertine of Venice in that romantic and passionate lover who, +but a few months after, stood weeping before the fountain in the +garden at Bologna? or, who could have expected to find in the close +calculator of sequins and baiocchi, that generous champion of Liberty +whose whole fortune, whose very life itself were considered by him +but as trifling sacrifices for the advancement, but by a day, of her +cause? + +And here naturally our attention is drawn to the consideration of +another feature of his character, connected more intimately with the +bright epoch of his life now before us. Notwithstanding his strongly +marked prejudices in favour of rank and high birth, we have seen with +what ardour,--not only in fancy and theory, bet practically, as in +the case of the Italian Carbonari,--he embarked his sympathies +unreservedly on the current of every popular movement towards +freedom. Though of the sincerity of this zeal for liberty the seal +set upon it so solemnly by his death leaves us no room to doubt, a +question may fairly arise whether that general love of excitement, +let it flow from whatever source it might, by which, more or less, +every pursuit of his whole life was actuated, was not predominant +among the impulses that governed him in this; and, again, whether it +is not probable that, like Alfieri and other aristocratic lovers of +freedom, he would not ultimately have shrunk from the result of his +own equalising doctrines; and, though zealous enough in lowering +those _above_ his own level, rather recoil from the task of raising +up those who were _below_ it. + +With regard to the first point, it may be conceded, without deducting +much from his sincere zeal in the cause, that the gratification of +his thirst of fame, and, above all, perhaps, that supply of +excitement so necessary to him, to whet, as it were, the edge of his +self-wearing spirit, were not the least of the attractions and +incitements which a struggle under the banners of Freedom presented +to him. It is also but too certain that, destined as he was to +endless disenchantment, from that singular and painful union which +existed in his nature of the creative imagination that calls up +illusions, and the cool, searching sagacity that, at once, detects +their hollowness, he could not long have gone on, even in a path so +welcome to him, without finding the hopes with which his fancy had +strewed it withering away beneath him at every step. + +In politics, as in every other pursuit, his ambition was to be among +the first; nor would it have been from the want of a due appreciation +of all that is noblest and most disinterested in patriotism, that he +would ever have stooped his flight to any less worthy aim. The +following passage in one of his Journals will be remembered by the +reader:--"To be the first man _(not_ the Dictator), not the Sylla, +but the Washington, or Aristides, the leader in talent and truth, is +to be next to the Divinity." With such high and pure notions of +political eminence, he could not be otherwise than fastidious as to +the means of attaining it; nor can it be doubted that with the sort +of vulgar and sometimes sullied instruments which all popular leaders +must stoop to employ, his love of truth, his sense of honour, his +impatience of injustice, would have led him constantly into such +collisions as must have ended in repulsion and disgust; while the +companionship of those beneath him, a tax all demagogues must pay, +would, as soon as it had ceased to amuse his fancy for the new and +the ridiculous, have shocked his taste and mortified his pride. The +distaste with which, as appears from more than one of his letters, he +was disposed to view the personal, if not the political, attributes +of what is commonly called the Radical party in England, shows how +unsuited he was naturally to mix in that kind of popular fellowship +which, even to those far less aristocratic in their notions and +feelings, must be sufficiently trying. + +But, even granting that all these consequences might safely be +predicted as almost certain to result from his engaging in such a +career, it by no means the more necessarily follows that, _once_ +engaged, he would not have persevered in it consistently and +devotedly to the last; nor that, even if reduced to say, with Cicero, +"nil boni praeter causam," he could not have so far abstracted the +principle of the cause from its unworthy supporters as, at the same +time, to uphold the one and despise the others. Looking back, indeed, +from the advanced point where we are now arrived through the whole of +his past career, we cannot fail to observe, pervading all its +apparent changes and inconsistencies, an adherence to the original +bias of his nature, a general consistency in the main, however +shifting and contradictory the details, which had the effect of +preserving, from first to last, all his views and principles, upon +the great subjects that interested him through life, essentially +unchanged.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Colonel Stanhope, who saw clearly this leading character +of Byron's mind, has thus justly described it:--"Lord Byron's was a +versatile and still a stubborn mind; it wavered, but always returned +to certain fixed principles."] + +At the worst, therefore, though allowing that, from disappointment or +disgust, he might have been led to withdraw all personal +participation in such a cause, in no case would he have shown himself +a recreant to its principles; and though too proud to have ever +descended, like Egalite, into the ranks of the people, he would have +been far too consistent to pass, like Alfieri, into those of their +enemies. + +After the failure of those hopes with which he had so sanguinely +looked forward to the issue of the late struggle between Italy and +her rulers, it may be well conceived what a relief it was to him to +turn his eyes to Greece, where a spirit was now rising such as he had +himself imaged forth in dreams of song, but hardly could have even +dreamed that he should live to see it realised. His early travels in +that country had left a lasting impression on his mind; and whenever, +as I have before remarked, his fancy for a roving life returned, it +was to the regions about the "blue Olympus" he always fondly looked +back. Since his adoption of Italy as a home, this propensity had in a +great degree subsided. In addition to the sedatory effects of his new +domestic r, there had, at this time, grown upon him a degree of +inertness, or indisposition to change of residence, which, in the +instance of his departure from Ravenna, was with some difficulty +surmounted. + +The unsettled state of life he was from thenceforward thrown into, by +the precarious fortunes of those with whom he had connected himself, +conspired with one or two other causes to revive within him all his +former love of change and adventure; nor is it wonderful that to +Greece, as offering _both_ in their most exciting form, he should +turn eagerly his eyes, and at once kindle with a desire not only to +witness, but perhaps share in, the present triumphs of Liberty on +those very fields where he had already gathered for immortality such +memorials of her day long past. + +Among the causes that concurred with this sentiment to determine him +to the enterprise he now meditated, not the least powerful, +undoubtedly, was the supposition in his own mind that the high tide +of his poetical popularity had been for some time on the ebb. The +utter failure of the Liberal,--in which, splendid as were some of his +own contributions to it, there were yet others from his pen hardly to +be distinguished from the surrounding dross,--confirmed him fully in +the notion that he had at last wearied out his welcome with the +world; and, as the voice of fame had become almost as necessary to +him as the air he breathed, it was with a proud consciousness of the +yet untouched reserves of power within him he now saw that, if +arrived at the end of _one_ path of fame, there were yet others for +him to strike into, still more glorious. + +That some such vent for the resources of his mind had long been +contemplated by him appears from a letter of his to myself, in which +it will be recollected he says,--"If I live ten years longer, you +will see that it is not over with me. I don't mean in literature, for +that is nothing; and--it may seem odd enough to say--I do not think +it was my vocation. But you will see that I shall do something,--the +times and Fortune permitting,--that 'like the cosmogony of the world +will puzzle the philosophers of all ages.'" He then adds this but too +true and sad prognostic:--"But I doubt whether my constitution will +hold out." + +His zeal in the cause of Italy, whose past history and literature +seemed to call aloud for redress of her present vassalage and wrongs, +would have, no doubt, led him to the same chivalrous self-devotion in +her service, as he displayed afterwards in that of Greece. The +disappointing issue, however, of that brief struggle is but too well +known; and this sudden wreck of a cause so promising pained him the +more deeply from his knowledge of some of the brave and true hearts +embarked in it. The disgust, indeed, which that abortive effort left +behind, coupled with the opinion he had early formed of the +"hereditary bonds-men" of Greece, had kept him for some time in a +state of considerable doubt and misgiving as to their chances of ever +working out their own enfranchisement; nor was it till the spring of +this year, when, rather by the continuance of the struggle than by +its actual success, some confidence had begun to be inspired in the +trust-worthiness of the cause, that he had nearly made up his mind to +devote himself to its aid. The only difficulty that still remained to +retard or embarrass this resolution was the necessity it imposed of a +temporary separation from Madame Guiccioli, who was herself, as might +be expected, anxious to participate his perils, but whom it was +impossible he could think of exposing to the chances of a life, even +for men, so rude. + +At the beginning of the month of April he received a visit from Mr. +Blaquiere, who was then proceeding on a special mission to Greece, +for the purpose of procuring for the Committee lately formed in +London correct information as to the state and prospects of that +country. It was among the instructions of this gentleman that he +should touch at Genoa and communicate with Lord Byron; and the +following note will show how cordially the noble poet was disposed to +enter into all the objects of the Committee. + + +LETTER 519. TO MR. BLAQUIERE. + +"Albaro, April 5. 1823. + +"Dear Sir, + +"I shall be delighted to see you and your Greek friend, and the +sooner the better. I have been expecting you for some time,--you will +find me at home. I cannot express to you how much I feel interested +in the cause, and nothing but the hopes I entertained of witnessing +the liberation of Italy itself prevented me long ago from returning +to do what little I could, as an individual, in that land which it is +an honour even to have visited. + +"Ever yours truly, NOEL BYRON." + + +Soon after this interview with their agent, a more direct +communication on the subject was opened between his Lordship and the +Committee itself. + + +LETTER 520. TO MR. BOWRING. + +"Genoa, May 12. 1823 + +"Sir, + +"I have great pleasure in acknowledging your letter, and the honour +which the Committee have done me:--I shall endeavour to deserve their +confidence by every means in my power. My first wish is to go up into +the Levant in person, where I might be enabled to advance, if not the +cause, at least the means of obtaining information which the +Committee might be desirous of acting upon; and my former residence +in the country, my familiarity with the Italian language, (which is +there universally spoken, or at least to the same extent as French in +the more polished parts of the Continent,) and my _not_ total +ignorance of the Romaic, would afford me some advantages of +experience. To this project the only objection is of a domestic +nature, and I shall try to get over it;--if I fail in this, I must do +what I can where I am; but it will be always a source of regret to +me, to think that I might perhaps have done more for the cause on the +spot. + +"Our last information of Captain Blaquiere is from Ancona, where he +embarked with a fair wind for Corfu, on the 15th ult.; he is now +probably at his destination. My last letter _from_ him personally was +dated Rome; he had been refused a passport through the Neapolitan +territory, and returned to strike up through Romagna for +Ancona:--little time, however, appears to have been lost by the +delay. + +"The principal material wanted by the Greeks appears to be, first, a +park of field artillery--light, and fit for mountain-service; +secondly, gunpowder; thirdly, hospital or medical stores. The +readiest mode of transmission is, I hear, by Idra, addressed to Mr. +Negri, the minister. I meant to send up a certain quantity of the two +latter--no great deal--but enough for an individual to show his good +wishes for the Greek success,--but am pausing, because, in case I +should go myself, I can take them with me. I do not want to limit my +own contribution to this merely, but more especially, if I can get to +Greece myself, I should devote whatever resources I can muster of my +own, to advancing the great object. I am in correspondence with +Signor Nicolas Karrellas (well known to Mr. Hobhouse), who is now at +Pisa; but his latest advice merely stated, that the Greeks are at +present employed in organising their _internal_ government, and the +details of its administration: this would seem to indicate +_security_, but the war is however far from being terminated. + +"The Turks are an obstinate race, as all former wars have proved +them, and will return to the charge for years to come, even if +beaten, as it is to be hoped they will be. But in no case can the +labours of the Committee be said to be in vain; for in the event even +of the Greeks being subdued, and dispersed, the funds which could be +employed in succouring and gathering together the remnant, so as to +alleviate in part their distresses, and enable them to find or make a +country (as so many emigrants of other nations have been compelled to +do), would 'bless both those who gave and those who took,' as the +bounty both of justice and of mercy. + +"With regard to the formation of a brigade, (which Mr. Hobhouse hints +at in his short letter of this day's receipt, enclosing the one to +which I have the honour to reply,) I would presume to suggest--but +merely as an opinion, resulting rather from the melancholy experience +of the brigades embarked in the Columbian service than from any +experiment yet fairly tried in GREECE,--that the attention of the +Committee had better perhaps be directed to the employment of +_officers_ of experience than the enrolment of _raw British_ +soldiers, which latter are apt to be unruly, and not very +serviceable, in irregular warfare, by the side of foreigners. A small +body of good officers, especially artillery; an engineer, with +quantity (such as the Committee might deem requisite) of stores of +the nature which Captain Blaquiere indicated as most wanted, would, I +should conceive, be a highly useful accession. Officers, also, who +had previously served in the Mediterranean would be preferable, as +some knowledge of Italian is nearly indispensable. + +"It would also be as well that they should be aware, that they are +not going 'to rough it on a beef-steak and bottle of port,'--but that +Greece--never, of late years, very plentifully stocked for a +_mess_--is at present the country of all kinds of _privations_. This +remark may seem superfluous; but I have been led to it, by observing +that many _foreign_ officers, Italian, French, and even Germans +(but_fewer_ of the _latter_), have returned in disgust, imagining +either that they were going up to make a party of pleasure, or to +enjoy full pay, speedy promotion, and a very moderate degree of duty. +They complain, too, of having been ill received by the Government or +inhabitants; but numbers of these complainants were mere adventurers, +attracted by a hope of command and plunder, and disappointed of both. +Those Greeks I have seen strenuously deny the charge of +inhospitality, and declare that they shared their pittance to the +last crum with their foreign volunteers. + +"I need not suggest to the Committee the very great advantage which +must accrue to Great Britain from the success of the Greeks, and +their probable commercial relations with England in consequence; +because I feel persuaded that the first object of the Committee is +their EMANCIPATION, without any interested views. But the +consideration might weigh with the English people in general, in +their present passion for every kind of speculation,--they need not +cross the American seas, for one much better worth their while, and +nearer home. The resources even for an emigrant population, in the +Greek islands alone, are rarely to be paralleled; and the cheapness +of every kind of, not _only necessary_, but _luxury_, (that is to +say, _luxury_ of _nature_,) fruits, wine, oil, &c. in a state of +peace, are far beyond those of the Cape, and Van Dieman's Land, and +the other places of refuge, which the English people are searching +for over the waters. + +"I beg that the Committee will command me in any and every way. If I +am favoured with any instructions, I shall endeavour to obey them to +the letter, whether conformable to my own private opinion or not. I +beg leave to add, personally, my respect for the gentleman whom I +have the honour of addressing, + +"And am, Sir, your obliged, &c. + +"P.S. The best refutation of Gell will be the active exertions of the +Committee;--I am too warm a controversialist; and I suspect that if +Mr. Hobhouse have taken him in hand, there will be little occasion +for me to 'encumber him with help.' If I go up into the country, I +will endeavour to transmit as accurate and impartial an account as +circumstances will permit. + +"I shall write to Mr. Karrellas. I expect intelligence from Captain +Blaquiere, who has promised me some early intimation from the seat of +the Provisional Government. I gave him a letter of introduction to +Lord Sydney Osborne, at Corfu; but as Lord S. is in the government +service, of course his reception could only be a _cautious_ one." + + +LETTER 521. TO MR. BOWRING. + +"Genoa, May 21. 1823. + +"Sir, + +"I received yesterday the letter of the Committee, dated the 14th of +March. What has occasioned the delay, I know not. It was forwarded by +Mr. Galignani, from Paris, who stated that he had only had it in his +charge four days, and that it was delivered to him by a Mr. Grattan. +I need hardly say that I gladly accede to the proposition of the +Committee, and hold myself highly honoured by being deemed worthy to +be a member. I have also to return my thanks, particularly to +yourself, for the accompanying letter, which is extremely flattering. + +"Since I last wrote to you, through the medium of Mr. Hobhouse, I +have received and forwarded a letter from Captain Blaquiere to me, +from Corfu, which will show how he gets on. Yesterday I fell in with +two young Germans, survivors of General Normann's band. They arrived +at Genoa in the most deplorable state--without food--without a +soul--without shoes. The Austrians had sent them out of their +territory on their landing at Trieste; and they had been forced to +come down to Florence, and had travelled from Leghorn here, with four +Tuscan _livres_ (about three francs) in their pockets. I have given +them twenty Genoese scudi (about a hundred and thirty-three livres, +French money,) and new shoes, which will enable them to get to +Switzerland, where they say that they have friends. All that they +could raise in Genoa, besides, was thirty _sous_. They do not +complain of the Greeks, but say that they have suffered more since +their landing in Italy. + +"I tried their veracity, 1st, by their passports and papers; 2dly, by +topography, cross-questioning them about Arta, Argos, Athens, +Missolonghi, Corinth, c.; and, 3dly, in _Romaic_, of which I found +one of them, at least, knew more than I do. One of them (they are +both of good families) is a fine handsome young fellow of +three-and-twenty--a Wirtembergher, and has a look of _Sandt_ about +him--the other a Bavarian, older and flat-faced, and less ideal, but +a great, sturdy, soldier-like personage. The Wirtembergher was in the +action at Arta, where the Philhellenists were cut to pieces after +killing six hundred Turks, they themselves being only a hundred and +fifty in number, opposed to about six or seven thousand; only eight +escaped, and of them about three only survived; so that General +Normann 'posted his ragamuffins where they were well peppered--not +three of the hundred and fifty left alive--and they are for the +town's end for life.' + +"These two left Greece by the direction of the Greeks. When Churschid +Pacha over-run the Morea, the Greeks seem to have behaved well, in +wishing to save their allies, when they thought that the game was up +with themselves. This was in September last (1822): they wandered +from island to island, and got from Milo to Smyrna, where the French +consul gave them a passport, and a charitable captain a passage to +Ancona, whence they got to Trieste, and were turned back by the +Austrians. They complain only of the minister (who has always been an +indifferent character); say that the Greeks fight very well in their +own way, but were at _first_ afraid to _fire_ their own cannon--but +mended with practice. + +"Adolphe (the younger) commanded at Navarino for a short time; the +other, a more material person, 'the bold Bavarian in a luckless +hour,' seems chiefly to lament a fast of three days at Argos, and the +loss of twenty-five paras a day of pay in arrear, and some baggage at +Tripolitza; but takes his wounds, and marches, and battles in very +good part. Both are very simple, full of naivete, and quite +unpretending: they say the foreigners quarrelled among themselves, +particularly the French with the Germans, which produced duels. + +"The Greeks accept muskets, but throw away _bayonets_, and will _not_ +be disciplined. When these lads saw two Piedmontese regiments +yesterday, they said, 'Ah! if we had but _these_ two, we should have +cleared the Morea:' in that case the Piedmontese must have behaved +better than they did against the Austrians. They seem to lay great +stress upon a few regular troops--say that the Greeks have arms and +powder in plenty, but want victuals, hospital stores, and lint and +linen, &c. and money, very much. Altogether, it would be difficult to +show more practical philosophy than this remnant of our 'puir hill +folk' have done; they do not seem the least cast down, and their way +of presenting themselves was as simple and natural as could be. They +said, a Dane here had told them that an Englishman, friendly to the +Greek cause, was here, and that, as they were reduced to beg their +way home, they thought they might as well begin with me. I write in +haste to snatch the post. + +"Believe me, and truly, + +"Your obliged, &c. + +"P.S. I have, since I wrote this, seen them again. Count P. Gamba +asked them to breakfast. One of them means to publish his Journal of +the campaign. The Bavarian wonders a little that the Greeks are not +quite the same with them of the time of Themistocles, (they were not +then very tractable, by the by,) and at the difficulty of +disciplining them; but he is a 'bon homme' and a tactician, and a +little like Dugald Dalgetty, who would insist upon the erection of 'a +sconce on the hill of Drumsnab,' or whatever it was;--the other seems +to wonder at nothing." + + +LETTER 522. TO LADY ----. + +"May 17. 1823. + +"My voyage to Greece will depend upon the Greek Committee (in +England) partly, and partly on the instructions which some persons +now in Greece on a private mission may be pleased to send me. I am a +member, lately elected, of the said Committee; and my object in going +up would be to do any little good in my power;--but as there are some +_pros_ and _cons_ on the subject, with regard to how far the +intervention of strangers may be advisable, I know no more than I +tell you; but we shall probably hear something soon from England and +Greece, which may be more decisive. + +"With regard to the late person (Lord Londonderry), whom you hear +that I have attacked, I can only say that a bad minister's memory is +as much an object of investigation as his conduct while alive,--for +his measures do not die with him like a private individual's notions. +He is a matter of _history_; and, wherever I find a tyrant or a +villain, _I will mark him._ I attacked him no more than I had been +wont to do. As to the Liberal,--it was a publication set up for the +advantage of a persecuted author and a very worthy man. But it was +foolish in me to engage in it; and so it has turned out--for I have +hurt myself without doing much good to those for whose benefit it was +intended. + +"Do _not defend_ me--it will never do--you will only make _yourself_ +enemies. + +"Mine are neither to be diminished nor softened, but they may be +overthrown; and there are events which may occur, less improbable +than those which have happened in our time, that may reverse the +present state of things--_nous verrons_. + +"I send you this gossip that you may laugh at it, which is all it is +good for, if it is even good for so much. I shall be delighted to see +you again; but it will be melancholy, should it be only for a moment. + +"Ever yours, N. B." + + +It being now decided that Lord Byron should proceed forthwith to +Greece, all the necessary preparations for his departure were +hastened. One of his first steps was to write to Mr. Trelawney, who +was then at Rome, to request that he would accompany him. "You must +have heard," he says, "that I am going to Greece--why do you not come +to me? I can do nothing without you, and am exceedingly anxious to +see you. Pray, come, for I am at last determined to go to Greece:--it +is the only place I was ever contented in. I am serious; and did not +write before, as I might have given you a journey for nothing. They +all say I can be of use to Greece; I do not know how--nor do they; +but, at all events, let us go." + +A physician, acquainted with surgery, being considered a necessary +part of his suite, he requested of his own medical attendant at +Genoa, Dr. Alexander, to provide him with such a person; and, on the +recommendation of this gentleman, Dr. Bruno, a young man who had just +left the university with considerable reputation, was engaged. Among +other preparations for his expedition, he ordered three splendid +helmets to be made,--with his never forgotten crest engraved upon +them,--for himself and the two friends who were to accompany him. In +this little circumstance, which in England (where the ridiculous is +so much better understood than the heroic) excited some sneers at the +time, we have one of the many instances that occur amusingly through +his life, to confirm the quaint but, as applied to him, true +observation, that "the child is father to the man;"--the +characteristics of these two periods of life being in him so +anomalously transposed, that while the passions and ripened views of +the man developed themselves in his boyhood, so the easily pleased +fancies and vanities of the boy were for ever breaking out among the +most serious moments of his manhood. The same schoolboy whom we +found, at the beginning of the first volume, boasting of his +intention to raise, at some future time, a troop of horse in black +armour, to be called Byron's Blacks, was now seen trying on with +delight his fine crested helmet, and anticipating the deeds of glory +he was to achieve under its plumes. + +At the end of May a letter arrived from Mr. Blaquiere communicating +to him very favourable intelligence, and requesting that he would as +much as possible hasten his departure, as he was now anxiously looked +for, and would be of the greatest service. However encouraging this +summons, and though Lord Byron, thus called upon from all sides, had +now determined to give freely the aid which all deemed so essential, +it is plain from his letters that, in the cool, sagacious view which +he himself took of the whole subject, so far from agreeing with these +enthusiasts in their high estimate of his personal services, he had +not yet even been able to perceive any definite way in which those +services could, with any prospect of permanent utility, be applied. + +For an insight into the true state of his mind at this crisis, the +following observations of one who watched him with eyes quickened by +anxiety will be found, perhaps, to afford the clearest and most +certain clue. "At this time," says the Contessa Guiccioli, "Lord +Byron again turned his thoughts to Greece; and, excited on every side +by a thousand combining circumstances, found himself, almost before +he had time to form a decision, or well know what he was doing, +obliged to set out for that country. But, notwithstanding his +affection for those regions,--notwithstanding the consciousness of +his own moral energies, which made him say always that 'a man ought +to do something more for society than write verses,'--notwithstanding +the attraction which the object of this voyage must necessarily have +for his noble mind, and that, moreover, he was resolved to return to +Italy within a few months,--notwithstanding all this, every person +who was near him at the time can bear witness to the struggle which +his mind underwent (however much he endeavoured to hide it), as the +period fixed for his departure approached."[1] + +[Footnote 1: "Fu allora che Lord Byron rivolse i suoi pensieri alla +Grecia; e stimolato poi da ogni parte per mille combinazioni egli si +trovo quasi senza averlo deciso, e senza saperlo, obbligato di +partire per la Grecia. Ma, non ostante il suo affetto per quelle +contrade,--non ostante il sentimento delle sue forze morali che gli +faceva dire sempre 'che un uomo e obbligato a fare per la societa +qualche cosa di piu che dei versi,--non ostante le attrative che +doveva avere pel nobile suo animo l'oggetto di que viaggio,--e non +ostante che egli fosse determinato di ritornare in Italia fra non +molti mesi,--pure in quale combattimento si trovasse il suo cuore +mentre si avvanzava l'epoca della sua parenza (sebbene cercasse +occultarlo) ognuno che lo ha avvicinato allora puu dirlo."] + +In addition to the vagueness which this want of any defined object so +unsatisfactorily threw round the enterprise before him, he had also a +sort of ominous presentiment--natural, perhaps, to one of his +temperament under such circumstances--that he was but fulfilling his +own doom in this expedition, and should die in Greece. On the evening +before the departure of his friends, Lord and Lady B----, from Genoa, +he called upon them for the purpose of taking leave, and sat +conversing for some time. He was evidently in low spirits, and after +expressing his regret that they should leave Genoa before his own +time of sailing, proceeded to speak of his intended voyage in a tone +full of despondence. "Here," said he, "we are all now together--but +when, and where, shall we meet again? I have a sort of boding that we +see each other for the last time; as something tells me I shall never +again return from Greece." Having continued a little longer in this +melancholy strain, he leaned his head upon the arm of the sofa on +which they were seated, and, bursting into tears, wept for some +minutes with uncontrollable feeling. Though he had been talking only +with Lady B----, all who were present in the room observed, and were +affected by his emotion, while he himself, apparently ashamed of his +weakness, endeavoured to turn off attention from it by some ironical +remark, spoken with a sort of hysterical laugh, upon the effects of +"nervousness." + +He had, previous to this conversation, presented to each of the party +some little farewell gift--a book to one, a print from his bust by +Bartolini to another, and to Lady B---- a copy of his Armenian +Grammar, which had some manuscript remarks of his own on the leaves. +In now parting with her, having begged, as a memorial, some trifle +which she had worn, the lady gave him one of her rings; in return for +which he took a pin from his breast, containing a small cameo of +Napoleon, which he said had long been his companion, and presented it +to her Ladyship. + +The next day Lady B---- received from him the following note. + + +TO THE COUNTESS OF B----. + +"Albaro, June 2. 1823. + +"My dear Lady B----, 'I am _superstitious_, and have recollected that +memorials with a _point_ are of less fortunate augury; I will, +therefore, request you to accept, instead of the _pin_, the enclosed +chain, which is of so slight a value that you need not hesitate. As +you wished for something _worn_, I can only say, that it has been +worn oftener and longer than the other. It is of Venetian +manufacture; and the only peculiarity about it is, that it could only +be obtained at or from Venice. At Genoa they have none of the same +kind. I also enclose a ring, which I would wish _Alfred_ to keep; it +is too large to _wear_; but is formed of _lava_, and so far adapted +to the fire of his years and character. You will perhaps have the +goodness to acknowledge the receipt of this note, and send back the +pin (for good luck's sake), which I shall value much more for having +been a night in your custody. + +"Ever and faithfully your obliged, &c. + +"P.S. I hope your _nerves_ are well to-day, and will continue to +flourish." + + +In the mean time the preparations for his romantic expedition were in +progress. With the aid of his banker and very sincere friend, Mr. +Barry, of Genoa, he was enabled to raise the large sums of money +necessary for his supply;--10,000 crowns in specie, and 40,000 crowns +in bills of exchange, being the amount of what he took with him, and +a portion of this having been raised upon his furniture and books, on +which Mr. Barry, as I understand, advanced a sum far beyond their +worth. An English brig, the Hercules, had been freighted to convey +himself and his suite, which consisted, at this time, of Count Gamba, +Mr. Trelawney, Dr. Bruno, and eight domestics. There were also aboard +five horses, sufficient arms and ammunition for the use of his own +party, two one-pounders belonging to his schooner, the Bolivar, which +he had left at Genoa, and medicine enough for the supply of a +thousand men for a year. + +The following letter to the Secretary of the Greek Committee +announces his approaching departure. + + +LETTER 523. TO MR. BOWRING. + +"July 7. 1823. + +"We sail on the 12th for Greece.--I have had a letter from Mr, +Blaquiere, too long for present transcription, but very satisfactory. +The Greek Government expects me without delay. + +"In conformity to the desires of Mr. B. and other correspondents in +Greece, I have to suggest, with all deference to the Committee, that +a remittance of even '_ten thousand pounds only_' (Mr. B.'s +expression) would be of the greatest service to the Greek Government +at present. I have also to recommend strongly the attempt of a loan, +for which there will be offered a sufficient security by deputies now +on their way to England. In the mean time, I hope that the Committee +will be enabled to do something effectual. + +"For my own part, I mean to carry up, in cash or credits, above +eight, and nearly nine thousand pounds sterling, which I am enabled +to do by funds I have in Italy, and credits in England. Of this sum I +must necessarily reserve a portion for the subsistence of myself and +suite; the rest I am willing to apply in the manner which seems most +likely to be useful to the cause--having of course some guarantee or +assurance, that it will not be misapplied to any individual +speculation. + +"If I remain in Greece, which will mainly depend upon the presumed +probable utility of my presence there, and of the opinion of the +Greeks themselves as to its propriety--in short, if I am welcome to +them, I shall continue, during my residence at least, to apply such +portions of my income, present and future, as may forward the +object--that is to say, what I can spare for that purpose. Privations +I can, or at least could once bear--abstinence I am accustomed +to--and as to fatigue, I was once a tolerable traveller. What I may +be now, I cannot tell--but I will try. + +"I await the commands of the Committee--Address to Genoa--the letters +will be forwarded me, wherever I may be, by my bankers, Messrs. Webb +and Barry. It would have given me pleasure to have had some more +_defined_ instructions before I went, but these, of course, rest at +the option of the Committee. + +I have the honour to be, + +"Yours obediently, &c. + +"P.S. Great anxiety is expressed for a printing press and types, &c. +I have not the time to provide them, but recommend this to the notice +of the Committee. I presume the types must, partly at least, be +_Greek_: they wish to publish papers, and perhaps a Journal, probably +in Romaic, with Italian translations." + + +All was now ready; and on the 13th of July himself and his whole +party slept on board the Hercules. About sunrise the next morning +they succeeded in clearing the port; but there was little wind, and +they remained in sight of Genoa the whole day. The night was a bright +moonlight, but the wind had become stormy and adverse, and they were, +for a short time, in serious danger. Lord Byron, who remained on deck +during the storm, was employed anxiously, with the aid of such of his +suite as were not disabled by sea-sickness from helping him in +preventing further mischief to the horses, which, having been badly +secured, had broken loose and injured each other. After making head +against the wind for three or four hours, the captain was at last +obliged to steer back to Genoa, and re-entered the port at six in the +morning. On landing again, after this unpromising commencement of his +voyage, Lord Byron (says Count Gamba) "appeared thoughtful, and +remarked that he considered a bad beginning a favourable omen." + +It has been already, I believe, mentioned that, among the +superstitions in which he chose to indulge, the supposed unluckiness +of Friday, as a day for the commencement of any work, was one by +which he, almost always, allowed himself to be influenced. Soon after +his arrival at Pisa, a lady of his acquaintance happening to meet him +on the road from her house as she was herself returning thither, and +supposing that he had been to make her a visit, requested that he +would go back with her. "I have not been to your house," he answered; +"for, just before I got to the door, I remembered that it was Friday; +and, not liking to make my first visit on a Friday, I turned back." +It is even related of him that he once sent away a Genoese tailor who +brought him home a new coat on the same ominous day. + +With all this, strange to say, he set sail for Greece on a +Friday:--and though, by those who have any leaning to this +superstitious fancy, the result maybe thought but too sadly +confirmatory of the omen, it is plain that either the influence of +the superstition over his own mind was slight, or, in the excitement +of self-devotion under which he now acted, was forgotten, In truth, +notwithstanding his encouraging speech to Count Gamba, the +forewarning he now felt of his approaching doom seems to have been +far too deep and serious to need the aid of any such accessory. +Having expressed a wish, on relanding, to visit his own palace, which +he had left to the care of Mr. Barry during his absence, and from +which Madame Guiccioli had early that morning departed, he now +proceeded thither, accompanied by Count Gamba alone. "His +conversation," says this gentleman, "was somewhat melancholy on our +way to Albaro: he spoke much of his past life, and of the uncertainty +of the future. 'Where,' said he, 'shall we be in a year?'--It looked +(adds his friend) like a melancholy foreboding; for, on the same day, +of the same month, in the next year, he was carried to the tomb of +his ancestors." + +It took nearly the whole of the day to repair the damages of their +vessel; and the greater part of this interval was passed by Lord +Byron, in company with Mr. Barry, at some gardens near the city. Here +his conversation, as this gentleman informs me, took the same gloomy +turn. That he had not fixed to go to England, in preference, seemed +one of his deep regrets; and so hopeless were the views he expressed +of the whole enterprise before him, that, as it appeared to Mr. +Barry, nothing but a devoted sense of duty and honour could have +determined him to persist in it. + +In the evening of that day they set sail;--and now, fairly launched +in the cause, and disengaged, as it were, from his former state of +existence, the natural power of his spirit to shake off pressure, +whether from within or without, began instantly to display itself. +According to the report of one of his fellow-voyagers, though so +clouded while on shore, no sooner did he find himself, once more, +bounding over the waters, than all the light and life of his better +nature shone forth. In the breeze that now bore him towards his +beloved Greece, the voice of his youth seemed again to speak. Before +the titles of hero, of benefactor, to which he now aspired, that of +poet, however pre-eminent, faded into nothing. His love of freedom, +his generosity, his thirst for the new and adventurous,--all were +re-awakened; and even the bodings that still lingered at the bottom +of his heart but made the course before him more precious from his +consciousness of its brevity, and from the high and self-ennobling +resolution he had now taken to turn what yet remained of it +gloriously to account. + + "Parte, e porta un desio d'eterna ed alma + Gloria che a nobil cuor e sferza e sprone; + A magnanime imprese intenta ha l'alma, + Ed _insolite cose oprar_ dispone. + Gir fra i nemici--_ivi o cipresso o palma_ + Acquistar." + +After a passage of five days, they reached Leghorn, at which place it +was thought necessary to touch, for the purpose of taking on board a +supply of gunpowder, and other English goods, not to be had +elsewhere. + +It would have been the wish of Lord Byron, in the new path he had now +marked out for himself, to disconnect from his name, if possible, all +those poetical associations, which, by throwing a character of +romance over the step he was now taking, might have a tendency, as he +feared, to impair its practical utility; and it is, perhaps, hardly +saying too much for his sincere zeal in the cause to assert, that he +would willingly at this moment have sacrificed his whole fame, as +poet, for even the prospect of an equivalent renown, as +philanthropist and liberator. How vain, however, was the thought that +he could thus supersede his own glory, or cause the fame of the lyre +to be forgotten in that of the sword, was made manifest to him by a +mark of homage which reached him, while at Leghorn, from the hands of +one of the only two men of the age who could contend with him in the +universality of his literary fame. + +Already, as has been seen, an exchange of courtesies, founded upon +mutual admiration, had taken place between Lord Byron and the great +poet of Germany, Goethe. Of this intercourse between two such +men,--the former as brief a light in the world's eyes, as the latter +has been long and steadily luminous,--an account has been by the +venerable survivor put on record, which, as a fit preliminary to the +letter I am about to give, I shall here insert in as faithful a +translation as it has been in my power to procure. + + + +"GOETHE AND BYRON. + +"The German poet, who, down to the latest period of his long life, +had been always anxious to acknowledge the merits of his literary +predecessors and contemporaries, because he has always considered +this to be the surest means of cultivating his own powers, could not +but have his attention attracted to the great talent of the noble +Lord almost from his earliest appearance, and uninterruptedly watched +the progress of his mind throughout the great works which he +unceasingly produced. It was immediately perceived by him that the +public appreciation of his poetical merits kept pace with the rapid +succession of his writings. The joyful sympathy of others would have +been perfect, had not the poet, by a life marked by +self-dissatisfaction, and the indulgence of strong passions, +disturbed the enjoyment which his infinite genius produced. But his +German admirer was not led astray by this, or prevented from +following with close attention both his works and his life in all +their eccentricity. These astonished him the more, as he found in the +experience of past ages no element for the calculation of so +eccentric an orbit. + +"These endeavours of the German did not remain unknown to the +Englishman, of which his poems contain unambiguous proofs; and he +also availed himself of the means afforded by various travellers, to +forward some friendly salutation to his unknown admirer. At length a +manuscript Dedication of _Sardanapaius_, in the most complimentary +terms, was forwarded to him, with an obliging enquiry whether it +might be prefixed to the tragedy. The German, who, at his advanced +age, was conscious of his own powers and of their effects, could only +gratefully and modestly consider this Dedication as the expression of +an inexhaustible intellect, deeply feeling and creating its own +object. He was by no means dissatisfied when, after a long delay, +Sardanapaius appeared without the Dedication; and was made happy by +the possession of a fac-simile of it, engraved on stone, which he +considered a precious memorial. + +The noble Lord, however, did not abandon his purpose of proclaiming +to the world his valued kindness towards his German contemporary and +brother poet, a precious evidence of which was placed in front of the +tragedy of Werner. It will be readily believed, when so unhoped for +an honour was conferred upon the German poet,--one seldom experienced +in life, and that too from one himself so highly distinguished,--he +was by no means reluctant to express the high esteem and sympathising +sentiment with which his unsurpassed contemporary had inspired him. +The task was difficult, and was found the more so, the more it was +contemplated;--for what can be said of one whose unfathomable +qualities are not to be reached by words? But when a young gentleman, +Mr. Sterling, of pleasing person and excellent character, in the +spring of 1823, on a journey from Genoa to Weimar, delivered a few +lines under the hand of the great man as an introduction, and when +the report was soon after spread that the noble Peer was about to +direct his great mind and various power to deeds of sublime daring +beyond the ocean, there appeared to be no time left for further +delay, and the following lines were hastily written[1]:-- + +[Footnote 1: I insert the verses in the original language, as an +English version gives but a very imperfect notion of their meaning.] + + "Ein freundlich Wort kommt eines nach dem andern + Von Sueden her und bringt uns frohe Stunden; + Es ruft uns auf zum Edelsten zu wandern, + Nich ist der Geist, doch ist der Fuss gebunden. + + "Wie soil ich dem, den ich so lang begleitet, + Nun etwas Traulich's in die Ferne sagen? + Ihm der sich selbst im Innersten bestreitet, + Stark angewohnt das tiefste Weh zu tragen. + + "Wohl sey ihm doch, wenn er sich selbst empfindet! + Er wage selbst sich hoch beglueckt zu nennen, + Wenn Musenkraft die Schmerzen ueberwindet, + Und wie ich ihn erkannt moeg' er sich kennen. + +"The verses reached Genoa, but the excellent friend to whom they were +addressed was already gone, and to a distance, as it appeared, +inaccessible. Driven back, however, by storms, he landed at Leghorn, +where these cordial lines reached him just as he was about to embark, +on the 24th of July, 1823. He had barely time to answer by a +well-filled page, which the possessor has preserved among his most +precious papers, as the worthiest evidence of the connection that had +been formed. Affecting and delightful as was such a document, and +justifying the most lively hopes, it has acquired now the greatest, +though most painful value, from the untimely death of the lofty +writer, which adds a peculiar edge to the grief felt generally +throughout the whole moral and poetical world at his loss: for we +were warranted in hoping, that when his great deeds should have been +achieved, we might personally have greeted in him the pre-eminent +intellect, the happily acquired friend, and the most humane of +conquerors. At present we can only console ourselves with the +conviction that his country will at last recover from that violence +of invective and reproach which has been so long raised against him, +and will learn to understand that the dross and lees of the age and +the individual, out of which even the best have to elevate +themselves, are but perishable and transient, while the wonderful +glory to which he in the present and through all future ages has +elevated his country, will be as boundless in its splendour as it is +incalculable in its consequences. Nor can there be any doubt that the +nation, which can boast of so many great names, will class him among +the first of those through whom she has acquired such glory." + +The following is Lord Byron's answer to the communication above +mentioned from Goethe:-- + + +LETTER 524. TO GOETHE. + +"Leghorn, July 24. 1823. + +"Illustrious Sir, + +"I cannot thank you as you ought to be thanked for the lines which my +young friend, Mr. Sterling, sent me of yours; and it would but ill +become me to pretend to exchange verses with him who, for fifty +years, has been the undisputed sovereign of European literature. You +must therefore accept my most sincere acknowledgments in prose--and +in hasty prose too; for I am at present on my voyage to Greece once +more, and surrounded by hurry and bustle, which hardly allow a moment +even to gratitude and admiration to express themselves. + +"I sailed from Genoa some days ago, was driven back by a gale of +wind, and have since sailed again and arrived here, 'Leghorn,' this +morning, to receive on board some Greek passengers for their +struggling country. + +"Here also I found your lines and Mr. Sterling's letter; and I could +not have had a more favourable omen, a more agreeable surprise, than +a word of Goethe, written by his own hand. + +"I am returning to Greece, to see if I can be of any little use +there: if ever I come back, I will pay a visit to Weimar, to offer +the sincere homage of one of the many millions of your admirers. I +have the honour to be, ever and most, + +"Your obliged, + +"NOEL BYRON." + + +From Leghorn, where his Lordship was joined by Mr. Hamilton Browne, +he set sail on the 24th of July, and, after about ten days of most +favourable weather, cast anchor at Argostoli, the chief port of +Cephalonia. + +It had been thought expedient that Lord Byron should, with the view +of informing himself correctly respecting Greece, direct his course, +in the first instance, to one of the Ionian islands, from whence, as +from a post of observation, he might be able to ascertain the exact +position of affairs before he landed on the continent. For this +purpose it had been recommended that either Zante or Cephalonia +should be selected; and his choice was chiefly determined towards the +latter island by his knowledge of the talents and liberal feelings of +the Resident, Colonel Napier. Aware, however, that, in the yet +doubtful aspect of the foreign policy of England, his arrival thus on +an expedition so declaredly in aid of insurrection might have the +effect of embarrassing the existing authorities, he resolved to adopt +such a line of conduct as would be the least calculated either to +compromise or offend them. It was with this view he now thought it +prudent not to land at Argostoli, but to await on board his vessel +such information from the Government of Greece as should enable him +to decide upon his further movements. + +The arrival of a person so celebrated at Argostoli excited naturally +a lively sensation, as well among the Greeks as the English of that +place; and the first approaches towards intercourse between the +latter and their noble visiter were followed instantly, on both +sides, by that sort of agreeable surprise which, from the false +notions they had preconceived of each other, was to be expected. His +countrymen, who, from the exaggerated stories they had so often heard +of his misanthropy and especial horror of the English, expected their +courtesies to be received with a haughty, if not insulting coldness, +found, on the contrary, in all his demeanour a degree of open and +cheerful affability which, calculated, as it was, to charm under any +circumstances, was to them, expecting so much the reverse, peculiarly +fascinating;--while he, on his side, even still more sensitively +prepared, by a long course of brooding over his own fancies, for a +cold and reluctant reception from his countrymen, found himself +greeted at once with a welcome so cordial and respectful as not only +surprised and flattered, but, it was evident, sensibly touched him. +Among other hospitalities accepted by him was a dinner with the +officers of the garrison, at which, on his health being drunk, he is +reported to have said, in returning thanks, that "he was doubtful +whether he could express his sense of the obligation as he ought, +having been so long in the practice of speaking a foreign language +that it was with some difficulty he could convey the whole force of +what he felt in his own." + +Having despatched messengers to Corfu and Missolonghi in quest of +information, he resolved, while waiting their return, to employ his +time in a journey to Ithaca, which island is separated from that of +Cephalonia but by a narrow strait. On his way to Vathi, the chief +city of the island, to which place he had been invited, and his +journey hospitably facilitated, by the Resident, Captain Knox, he +paid a visit to the mountain-cave in which, according to tradition, +Ulysses deposited the presents of the Phaeacians. "Lord Byron (says +Count Gamba) ascended to the grotto, but the steepness and height +prevented him from reaching the remains of the Castle. I myself +experienced considerable difficulty in gaining it. Lord Byron sat +reading in the grotto, but fell asleep. I awoke him on my return, and +he said that I had interrupted dreams more pleasant than ever he had +before in his life." + +Though unchanged, since he first visited these regions, in his +preference of the wild charms of Nature to all the classic +associations of Art and History, he yet joined with much interest in +any pilgrimage to those places which tradition had sanctified. At the +Fountain of Arethusa, one of the spots of this kind which he visited, +a repast had been prepared for himself and his party by the Resident; +and at the School of Homer,--as some remains beyond Chioni are +called,--he met with an old refugee bishop, whom he had known +thirteen years before in Livadia, and with whom he now conversed of +those times, with a rapidity and freshness of recollection with which +the memory of the old bishop could but ill keep pace. Neither did the +traditional Baths of Penelope escape his research; and "however +sceptical (says a lady, who, soon after, followed his footsteps,) he +might have been as to these supposed localities, he never offended +the natives by any objection to the reality of their fancies. On the +contrary, his politeness and kindness won the respect and admiration +of all those Greek gentlemen who saw him; and to me they spoke of him +with enthusiasm." + +Those benevolent views by which, even more, perhaps, than by any +ambition of renown, he proved himself to be actuated in his present +course, had, during his short stay at Ithaca, opportunities of +disclosing themselves. On learning that a number of poor families had +fled thither from Scio, Patras, and other parts of Greece, he not +only presented to the Commandant three thousand piastres for their +relief, but by his generosity to one family in particular, which had +once been in a state of affluence at Patras, enabled them to repair +their circumstances and again live in comfort. "The eldest girl (says +the lady whom I have already quoted) became afterwards the mistress +of the school formed at Ithaca; and neither she, her sister, nor +mother, could ever speak of Lord Byron without the deepest feeling of +gratitude, and of regret for his too premature death." + +After occupying in this excursion about eight days, he had again +established himself on board the Hercules, when one of the messengers +whom he had despatched returned, bringing a letter to him from the +brave Marco Botzari, whom he had left among the mountains of Agrafa, +preparing for that attack in which he so gloriously fell. The +following are the terms in which this heroic chief wrote to Lord +Byron:-- + +"Your letter, and that of the venerable Ignazio, have filled me with +joy. Your Excellency is exactly the person of whom we stand in need. +Let nothing prevent you from coming into this part of Greece. The +enemy threatens us in great number; but, by the help of God and your +Excellency, they shall meet a suitable resistance. I shall have +something to do to-night against a corps of six or seven thousand +Albanians, encamped close to this place. The day after to-morrow I +will set out with a few chosen companions, to meet your Excellency. +Do not delay. I thank you for the good opinion you have of my +fellow-citizens, which God grant you will not find ill-founded; and I +thank you still more for the care you have so kindly taken of them. + +"Believe me," &c. + +In the expectation that Lord Byron would proceed forthwith to +Missolonghi, it had been the intention of Botzari, as the above +letter announces, to leave the army, and hasten, with a few of his +brother warriors, to receive their noble ally on his landing in a +manner worthy of the generous mission on which he came. The above +letter, however, preceded but by a few hours his death. That very +night he penetrated, with but a handful of followers, into the midst +of the enemy's camp, whose force was eight thousand strong, and after +leading his heroic band over heaps of dead, fell, at last, close to +the tent of the Pasha himself. + +The mention made in this brave Suliote's letter of Lord Byron's care +of his fellow-citizens refers to a popular act done recently by the +noble poet at Cephalonia, in taking into his pay, as a body-guard, +forty of this now homeless tribe. On finding, however, that for want +of employment they were becoming restless and turbulent, he +despatched them off soon after, armed and provisioned, to join in the +defence of Missolonghi, which was at that time besieged on one side +by a considerable force, and blockaded on the other by a Turkish +squadron. Already had he, with a view to the succour of this place, +made a generous offer to the Government, which he thus states himself +in one of his letters:--"I offered to advance a thousand dollars a +month for the succour of Missolonghi, and the Suliotes under Botzari +(since killed); but the Government have answered me, that they wish +to confer with me previously, which is in fact saying they wish me to +expend my money in some other direction. I will take care 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." + +In these last few sentences is described briefly the position in +which Lord Byron was now placed, and in which the coolness, +foresight, and self-possession he displayed sufficiently refute the +notion that even the highest powers of imagination, whatever effect +they may sometimes produce on the moral temperament, are at all +incompatible with the sound practical good sense, the steadily +balanced views, which the business of active life requires. + +The great difficulty, to an observer of the state of Greece at this +crisis, was to be able clearly to distinguish between what was real +and what was merely apparent in those tests by which the probability +of her future success or failure was to be judged. With a Government +little more than nominal, having neither authority nor resources, its +executive and legislative branches being openly at variance, and the +supplies that ought to fill its exchequer being intercepted by the +military Chiefs, who, as they were, in most places, collectors of the +revenue, were able to rob by authority;--with that curse of all +popular enterprises, a multiplicity of leaders, each selfishly +pursuing his own objects, and ready to make the sword the umpire of +their claims;--with a fleet furnished by private adventure, and +therefore precarious; and an army belonging rather to its Chiefs than +to the Government, and, accordingly, trusting more to plunder than to +pay;--with all these principles of mischief, and, as it would seem, +ruin at the very heart of the struggle, it had yet persevered, which +was in itself victory, through three trying campaigns; and at this +moment presented, in the midst of all its apparent weakness and +distraction, some elements of success which both accounted for what +had hitherto been effected, and gave a hope, with more favouring +circumstances, of something nobler yet to come. + +Besides the never-failing encouragement which the incapacity of their +enemies afforded them, the Greeks derived also from the geographical +conformation of their country those same advantages with which nature +had blessed their great ancestors, and which had contributed mainly +perhaps to the formation, as well as maintenance, of their high +national character. Islanders and mountaineers, they were, by their +very position, heirs to the blessings of freedom and commerce; nor +had the spirit of either, through all their long slavery and +sufferings, ever wholly died away. They had also, luckily, in a +political as well as religious point of view, preserved that sacred +line of distinction between themselves and their conquerors which a +fond fidelity to an ancient church could alone have maintained for +them;--keeping thus holily in reserve, against the hour of struggle, +that most stirring of all the excitements to which Freedom can appeal +when she points to her flame rising out of the censer of Religion. In +addition to these, and all the other moral advantages included in +them, for which the Greeks were indebted to their own nature and +position, is to be taken also into account the aid and sympathy they +had every right to expect from others, as soon as their exertions in +their own cause should justify the confidence that it would be +something more than the mere chivalry of generosity to assist +them.[1] + +[Footnote 1: For a clear and concise sketch of the state of Greece at +this crisis, executed with all that command of the subject which a +long residence in the country alone could give, see Colonel Leake's +"Historical Outline of the Greek Revolution."] + +Such seem to have been the chief features of hope which the state of +Greece, at this moment, presented. But though giving promise, +perhaps, of a lengthened continuance of the struggle, they, in that +very promise, postponed indefinitely the period of its success; and +checked and counteracted as were these auspicious appearances by the +manifold and inherent evils above enumerated,--by a consideration, +too, of the resources and obstinacy of the still powerful Turk, and +of the little favour with which it was at all probable that the +Courts of Europe would ever regard the attempt of any people, under +any circumstances, to be their own emancipators,--none, assuredly, +but a most sanguine spirit could indulge in the dream that Greece +would be able to work out her own liberation, or that aught, indeed, +but a fortuitous concurrence of political circumstances could ever +accomplish it. Like many other such contests between right and might, +it was a cause destined, all felt, to be successful, but at its own +ripe hour;--a cause which individuals might keep alive, but which +events, wholly independent of them, alone could accomplish, and +which, after the hearts, and hopes, and lives of all its bravest +defenders had been wasted upon it, would at last to other hands, and +even to other means than those contemplated by its first champions, +owe its completion. + +That Lord Byron, on a nearer view of the state of Greece, saw it much +in the light I have here regarded it in, his letters leave no room to +doubt. Neither was the impression he had early received of the Greeks +themselves at all improved by the present renewal of his acquaintance +with them. Though making full allowance for the causes that had +produced their degeneracy, he still saw that they were grossly +degenerate, and must be dealt with and counted upon accordingly. "I +am of St. Paul's opinion," said he, "that there is no difference +between Jews and Greeks,--the character of both being equally vile." +With such means and materials, the work of regeneration, he knew, +must be slow; and the hopelessness he therefore felt as to the +chances of ever connecting his name with any essential or permanent +benefit to Greece, gives to the sacrifice he now made of himself a +far more touching interest than had the consciousness of dying for +some great object been at once his incitement and reward. He but +looked upon himself,--to use a favourite illustration of his own,--as +one of the many waves that must break and die upon the shore, before +the tide they help to advance can reach its full mark. "What +signifies Self," was his generous thought, "if a single spark of that +which would be worthy of the past can be bequeathed unquenchedly to +the future?"[1] Such was the devoted feeling with which he embarked +in the cause of Italy; and these words, which, had they remained +_only_ words, the unjust world would have pronounced but an idle +boast, have now received from his whole course in Greece a practical +comment, which gives them all the right of truth to be engraved +solemnly on his tomb. + +[Footnote 1: _Diary of_ 1821.--The same distrustful and, as it turned +out, just view of the chances of success were taken by him also on +that occasion:--"I shall not," he says, "fall back;--though I don't +think them in force or heart sufficient to make much of it."] + +Though with so little hope of being able to serve signally the cause, +the task of at least lightening, by his interposition, some of the +manifold mischiefs that pressed upon it, might yet, he thought, be +within his reach. To convince the Government and the Chiefs of the +paralysing effect of their dissensions;--to inculcate that spirit of +union among themselves which alone could give strength against their +enemies;--to endeavour to humanise the feelings of the belligerents +on both sides, so as to take from the war that character of barbarism +which deterred the more civilised friends of freedom through Europe +from joining in it;--such were, in addition to the now essential aid +of his money, the great objects which he proposed to effect by his +interference; and to these he accordingly, with all the candour, +clear-sightedness, and courage which so pre-eminently distinguished +his great mind, applied himself. + +Aware that, to judge deliberately of the state of parties, he must +keep out of their vortex, and warned, by the very impatience and +rivalry with which the different chiefs courted his presence, of the +risk he should run by connecting himself with any, he resolved to +remain, for some time longer, in his station at Cephalonia, and there +avail himself of the facilities afforded by the position for +collecting information as to the real state of affairs, and +ascertaining in what quarter his own presence and money would be most +available. During the six weeks that had elapsed since his arrival at +Cephalonia, he had been living in the most comfortless manner, pent +up with pigs and poultry, on board the vessel which brought him. +Having now come, however, to the determination of prolonging his +stay, he decided also upon fixing his abode on shore; and, for the +sake of privacy, retired to a small village, called Metaxata, about +seven miles from Argostoli, where he continued to reside during the +remainder of his stay on the island. + +Before this change of residence, he had despatched Mr. Hamilton +Browne and Mr. Trelawney with a letter to the existing Government of +Greece, explanatory of his own views and those of the Committee whom +he represented; and it was not till a month after his removal to +Metaxata that intelligence from these gentlemen reached him. The +picture they gave of the state of the country was, in most respects, +confirmatory of what has already been described as his own view of +it;--incapacity and selfishness at the head of affairs, +disorganisation throughout the whole body politic, but still, with +all this, the heart of the nation sound, and bent on resistance. Nor +could he have failed to be struck with the close family resemblance +to the ancient race of the country which this picture +exhibited;--that great people, in the very midst of their own endless +dissensions, having been ever ready to face round in concert against +the foe. + +His Lordship's agents had been received with all due welcome by the +Government, who were most desirous that he should set out for the +Morea without delay; and pressing letters to the same purport, both +from the Legislative and Executive bodies, accompanied those which +reached him from Messrs. Browne and Trelawney. He was, however, +determined not to move till his own selected time, having seen +reason, the farther insight he obtained into their intrigues, to +congratulate himself but the more on his prudence in not plunging +into the maze without being first furnished with those guards against +deception which the information he was now acquiring supplied him. + +To give an idea, as briefly as possible, of the sort of conflicting +calls that were from various scenes of action, reaching him in his +retirement, it may be sufficient to mention that, while by Metaxa, +the present governor of Missolonghi, he was entreated earnestly to +hasten to the relief of that place, which the Turks were now +blockading both by land and by sea, the head of the military chiefs, +Colocotroni, was no less earnestly urging that he should present +himself at the approaching congress of Salamis, where, under the +dictation of these rude warriors, the affairs of the country were to +be settled,--while at the same time, from another quarter, the great +opponent of these chieftains, Mavrocordato, was, with more urgency, +as well as more ability than any, endeavouring to impress upon him +his own views, and imploring his presence at Hydra, whither he +himself had just been forced to retire. + +The mere knowledge, indeed, that a noble Englishman had arrived in +those regions, so unprepossessed by any party as to inspire a hope of +his alliance in all, and with money, by common rumour, as abundant as +the imaginations of the needy chose to make it, was, in itself, fully +sufficient, without any of the more elevated claims of his name, to +attract towards him all thoughts. "It is easier to conceive," says +Count Gamba, "than to relate the various means employed to engage him +in one faction or the other: letters, messengers, intrigues, and +recriminations,--nay, each faction had its agents exerting every art +to degrade its opponent." He then adds a circumstance strongly +illustrative of a peculiar feature in the noble poet's +character:--"He occupied himself in discovering the truth, hidden as +it was under these intrigues, and _amused himself in confronting the +agents of the different factions_." + +During all these occupations he went on pursuing his usual simple and +uniform course of life,--rising, however, for the despatch of +business, at an early hour, which showed how capable he was of +conquering even long habit when necessary. Though so much occupied, +too, he was, at all hours, accessible to visitors; and the facility +with which he allowed even the dullest people to break in upon him +was exemplified, I am told, strongly in the case of one of the +officers of the garrison, who, without being able to understand any +thing of the poet but his good-nature, used to say, whenever he found +his time hang heavily on his hands,--"I think I shall ride out and +have a little talk with Lord Byron." + +The person, however, whose visits appeared to give him most pleasure, +as well from the interest he took in the subject on which they +chiefly conversed, as from the opportunities, sometimes, of +pleasantry which the peculiarities of his visiter afforded him, was a +medical gentleman named Kennedy, who, from a strong sense of the +value of religion to himself, had taken up the benevolent task of +communicating his own light to others. The first origin of their +intercourse was an undertaking, on the part of this gentleman, to +convert to a firm belief in Christianity some rather sceptical +friends of his, then at Argostoli. Happening to hear of the meeting +appointed for this purpose, Lord Byron begged that he might be +allowed to attend, saying to the person through whom he conveyed his +request, "You know I am reckoned a black sheep,--yet, after all, not +so black as the world believes me." He had promised to convince Dr. +Kennedy that, "though wanting, perhaps, in faith, he at least had +patience:" but the process of so many hours of lecture,--no less than +twelve, without interruption, being stipulated for,--was a trial +beyond his strength; and, very early in the operation, as the Doctor +informs us, he began to show evident signs of a wish to exchange the +part of hearer for that of speaker. Notwithstanding this, however, +there was in all his deportment, both as listener and talker, such a +degree of courtesy, candour, and sincere readiness to be taught, as +excited interest, if not hope, for his future welfare in the good +Doctor; and though he never after attended the more numerous +meetings, his conferences, on the same subject, with Dr. Kennedy +alone, were not infrequent during the remainder of his stay at +Cephalonia. + +These curious conversations are now published; and to the value which +they possess as a simple and popular exposition of the chief +evidences of Christianity, is added the charm that must ever dwell +round the character of one of the interlocutors, and the almost +fearful interest attached to every word that, on such a subject, he +utters. In the course of the first conversation, it will be seen that +Lord Byron expressly disclaimed being one of those infidels "who deny +the Scriptures, and wish to remain in unbelief." On the contrary, he +professed himself "desirous to believe; as he experienced no +happiness in having his religious opinions so unfixed." He was +unable, however, he added, "to understand the Scriptures. Those who +conscientiously believed them he could always respect, and was always +disposed to trust in them more than in others; but he had met with so +many whose conduct differed from the principles which they professed, +and who seemed to profess those principles either because they were +paid to do so, or from some other motive which an intimate +acquaintance with their character would enable one to detect, that +altogether he had seen few, if any, whom he could rely upon as truly +and conscientiously believing the Scriptures." + +We may take for granted that these Conversations,--more especially +the first, from the number of persons present who would report the +proceedings,--excited considerable interest among the society of +Argostoli. It was said that Lord Byron had displayed such a profound +knowledge of the Scriptures as astonished, and even puzzled, the +polemic Doctor; while in all the eminent writers on theological +subjects he had shown himself far better versed than his more +pretending opponent. All this Dr. Kennedy strongly denies; and the +truth seems to be, that on neither side were there much stores of +theological learning. The confession of the lecturer himself, that he +had not read the works of Stillingfleet or Barrow, shows that, in his +researches after orthodoxy, he had not allowed himself any very +extensive range; while the alleged familiarity of Lord Byron with the +same authorities must be taken with a similar abatement of credence +and wonder to that which his own account of his youthful studies, +already given, requires;--a rapid eye and retentive memory having +enabled him, on this as on most other subjects, to catch, as it were, +the salient points on the surface of knowledge, and the recollections +he thus gathered being, perhaps, the livelier from his not having +encumbered himself with more. To any regular train of reasoning, even +on this his most favourite topic, it was not possible to lead him. He +would start objections to the arguments of others, and detect their +fallacies; but of any consecutive ratiocination on his own side he +seemed, if not incapable, impatient. In this, indeed, as in many +other peculiarities belonging to him,--his caprices, fits of weeping, +sudden affections and dislikes,--may be observed striking traces of a +feminine cast of character;--it being observable that the discursive +faculty is rarely exercised by women; but that nevertheless, by the +mere instinct of truth (as was the case with Lord Byron), they are +often enabled at once to light upon the very conclusion to which man, +through all the forms of reasoning, is, in the mean time, puzzling, +and, perhaps, losing his way:-- + + "And strikes each point with native force of mind, + While puzzled logic blunders far behind." + +Of the Scriptures, it is certain that Lord Byron was a frequent and +almost daily reader,--the small pocket Bible which, on his leaving +England, had been given him by his sister, being always near him. How +much, in addition to his natural solicitude on the subject of +religion, the taste of the poet influenced him in this line of study, +may be seen in his frequently expressed admiration of "the +ghost-scene," as he called it, in Samuel, and his comparison of this +supernatural appearance with the Mephistopheles of Goethe. In the +same manner, his imagination appears to have been much struck by the +notion of his lecturer, that the circumstance mentioned in Job of the +Almighty summoning Satan into his presence was to be interpreted, +not, as he thought, allegorically and poetically, but literally. More +than once we find him expressing to Dr. Kennedy "how much this 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." + +On the whole, the interest of these Conversations, as far as regards +Lord Byron, arises not so much from any new or certain lights they +supply us with on the subject of his religious opinions, as from the +evidence they afford of his amiable facility of intercourse, the +total absence of bigotry or prejudice from even his most favourite +notions, and--what may be accounted, perhaps, the next step in +conversion to belief itself--his disposition to believe. As far, +indeed, as a frank submission to the charge of being wrong may be +supposed to imply an advance on the road to being right, few persons, +it must be acknowledged, under a process of proselytism, ever showed +more of this desired symptom of change than Lord Byron. "I own," says +a witness to one of these conversations[1], "I felt astonished to +hear Lord Byron submit to lectures on his life, his vanity, and the +uselessness of his talents, which made me stare." + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Finlay.] + +As most persons will be tempted to refer to the work itself, there +are but one or two other opinions of his Lordship recorded in it +which I shall think necessary to notice here. A frequent question of +his to Dr. Kennedy was,--"What, then, you think me in a very bad +way?"--the usual answer to which being in the affirmative, he, on one +occasion, replied,--"I am now, however, in a fairer way. 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; but you cannot expect me to become +a perfect Christian at once." On the subject of Dr. Southwood's +amiable and, it is to be hoped for the sake of Christianity and the +human race, _orthodox_ work on "The Divine Government," he thus +spoke:--"I cannot decide the point; but to my present apprehension it +would be a most desirable thing could it be proved, that ultimately +all created beings were to be happy. This would appear to be most +consistent with God, whose power is omnipotent, and whose chief +attribute is Love. 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." + +I shall now insert, with such explanatory remarks as they may seem to +require, some of the letters, official as well as private, which his +Lordship wrote while at Cephalonia; and from which the reader may +collect, in a manner far more interesting than through the medium of +any narrative, a knowledge both of the events now passing in Greece, +and of the views and feelings with which they were regarded by Lord +Byron. + +To Madame Guiccioli he wrote frequently, but briefly, and, for the +first time, in English; adding always a few lines in her brother +Pietro's letters to her. The following are extracts. + + +"October 7. + +"Pietro has told you all the gossip of the island,--our earthquakes, +our politics, and present abode in a pretty village. As his opinions +and mine on the Greeks are nearly similar, I need say little on that +subject. I was a fool to come here; but, being here, I must see what +is to be done." + + +"October ----. + +"We are still in Cephalonia, waiting for news of a more accurate +description; for all is contradiction and division in the reports of +the state of the Greeks. I shall fulfil the object of my mission from +the Committee, and then return into Italy; for it does not seem +likely that, as an individual, I can be of use to them;--at least no +other foreigner has yet appeared to be so, nor does it seem likely +that any will be at present. + +"Pray be as cheerful and tranquil as you can; and be assured that +there is nothing here that can excite any thing but a wish to be with +you again,--though we are very kindly treated by the English here of +all descriptions. Of the Greeks, I can't say much good hitherto, and +I do not like to speak ill of them, though they do of one another." + + +"October 29. + +"You may be sure that the moment I can join you again, will be as +welcome to me as at any period of our recollection. There is nothing +very attractive here to divide my attention; but I must attend to the +Greek cause, both from honour and inclination. Messrs. B. and T. are +both in the Morea, where they have been very well received, and both +of them write in good spirits and hopes. I am anxious to hear how the +Spanish cause will be arranged, as I think it may have an influence +on the Greek contest. I wish that both were fairly and favourably +settled, that I might return to Italy, and talk over with you _our_, +or rather Pietro's adventures, some of which are rather amusing, as +also some of the incidents of our voyages and travels. But I reserve +them, in the hope that we may laugh over them together at no very +distant period." + + +LETTER 525. TO MR. BOWRING. + +"9bre 29. 1823. + +"This letter will be presented to you by Mr. Hamilton Browne, who +precedes or accompanies the Greek deputies. He is both capable and +desirous of rendering any service to the cause, and information to +the Committee. He has already been of considerable advantage to both, +of my own knowledge. Lord Archibald Hamilton, to whom he is related, +will add a weightier recommendation than mine. + +"Corinth is taken, and a Turkish squadron said to be beaten in the +Archipelago. The public progress of the Greeks is considerable, but +their internal dissensions still continue. On arriving at the seat of +Government, I shall endeavour to mitigate or extinguish them--though +neither is an easy task. I have remained here till now, partly in +expectation of the squadron in relief of Missolonghi, partly of Mr. +Parry's detachment, and partly to receive from Malta or Zante the sum +of four thousand pounds sterling, which I have advanced for the +payment of the expected squadron. The bills are negotiating, and will +be cashed in a short time, as they would have been immediately in any +other mart; but the miserable Ionian merchants have little money, and +no great credit, and are besides _politically shy_ on this occasion; +for although I had letters of Messrs. Webb (one of the strongest +houses of the Mediterranean), and also of Messrs. Ransom, there is no +business to be done on _fair_ terms except through English merchants. +These, however, have proved both able and willing,--and upright as +usual.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The English merchants whom he thus so justly describes, +are Messrs. Barff and Hancock, of Zante, whose conduct, not only in +the instance of Lord Byron, but throughout the whole Greek struggle, +has been uniformly most zealous and disinterested.] + +"Colonel Stanhope has arrived, and will proceed immediately; he shall +have my co-operation in all his endeavours: but, from every thing +that I can learn, the formation of a brigade at present will be +extremely difficult, to say the least of it. With regard to the +reception of foreigners,--at least of foreign officers,--I refer you +to a passage in Prince Mavrocordato's recent letter, a copy of which +is enclosed in my packet sent to the Deputies. It is my intention to +proceed by sea to Napoli di Romania as soon as I have arranged this +business for the Greeks themselves--I mean the advance of two hundred +thousand piastres for their fleet. + +"My time here has not been entirely lost,--as you will perceive by +some former documents that any advantage from my _then_ proceeding to +the Morea was doubtful. We have at last moved the Deputies, and I +have made a strong remonstrance on their divisions to Mavrocordato, +which, I understand, was forwarded by the Legislative to the Prince. +With a loan they _may_ do much, which is all that _I_, for particular +reasons, can say on the subject. + +"I regret to hear from Colonel Stanhope that the Committee have +exhausted their funds. Is it supposed that a brigade can be formed +without them? or that three thousand pounds would be sufficient? It +is true that money will go farther in Greece than in most countries; +but the regular force must be rendered a _national concern_, and paid +from a national fund; and neither individuals nor committees, at +least with the usual means of such as now exist, will find the +experiment practicable. + +"I beg once more to recommend my friend, Mr. Hamilton Browne, to whom +I have also personal obligations, for his exertions in the common +cause, and have the honour to be + +"Yours very truly." + +His remonstrance to Prince Mavrocordato, here mentioned, was +accompanied by another, addressed to the existing Government; and +Colonel Stanhope, who was about to proceed to Napoli and Argos, was +made the bearer of both. The wise and noble spirit that pervades +these two papers must, of itself, without any further comment, be +appreciated by all readers.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The originals of both are in Italian.] + + +LETTER 526. + +TO THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT OF GREECE. + +"Cephalonia, November 30. 1823. + +"The affair of the Loan, the expectations so long and vainly indulged +of the arrival of the Greek fleet, and the danger to which +Missolonghi is still exposed, have detained me here, and will still +detain me till some of them are removed. But when the money shall be +advanced for the fleet, I will start for the Morea; not knowing, +however, of what use my presence can be in the present state of +things. We have heard some rumours of new dissensions, nay, of the +existence of a civil war. With all my heart I pray that these reports +may be false or exaggerated, for I can imagine no calamity more +serious than this; and I must frankly confess, that unless union and +order are established, all hopes of a Loan will be vain; and all the +assistance which the Greeks could expect from abroad--an assistance +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 to favour her establishment of an +independent power, will be persuaded that the Greeks are unable to +govern themselves, and will, perhaps, themselves undertake to settle +your disorders in such a way as to blast the brightest hopes of +yourselves and of your friends. + +"Allow me to add, once for all,--I desire the well-being of Greece, +and nothing else; I will do all I can to secure it; but I cannot +consent, I never will consent, that the English public, or English +individuals, should be deceived as to the real state of Greek +affairs. The rest, Gentlemen, depends on you. You have fought +gloriously;--act honourably towards your fellow-citizens and the +world, and it will then no more be said, as has been repeated for two +thousand years with the Roman historians, that Philopoemen was the +last of the Grecians. Let not calumny itself (and it is difficult, I +own, to guard against it in so arduous a struggle,) compare the +patriot Greek, when resting from his labours, to the Turkish pacha, +whom his victories have exterminated. + +"I pray you to accept these my sentiments as a sincere proof of my +attachment to your real interests, and to believe that I am and +always shall be + +"Yours," &c. + + +LETTER 527. TO PRINCE MAVROCORDATO. + +"Cephalonia, Dec. 2. 1823. + +"Prince, + +"The present will be put into your hands by Colonel Stanhope, son of +Major-General the Earl of Harrington, &c. &c. He has arrived from +London in fifty days, after having visited all the Committees of +Germany. He is charged by our Committee to act in concert with me for +the liberation of Greece. I conceive that his name and his mission +will be a sufficient recommendation, without the necessity of any +other from a foreigner, although one who, in common with all Europe, +respects and admires the courage, the talents, and, above all, the +probity of Prince Mavrocordato. + +"I am very uneasy at hearing that the dissensions of Greece still +continue, and at a moment when she might triumph over every thing in +general, as she has already triumphed in part. Greece is, at present, +placed between three measures: either to reconquer her liberty, to +become a dependence of the sovereigns of Europe, or to return to a +Turkish province. She has 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 Walachia and the Crimea, she may +obtain it to-morrow; if of 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. + +"I am, with all respect, + +"Your Highness's obedient servant, + +"N. B. + +"P.S. Your Highness will already have known that I have sought to +fulfil the wishes of the Greek government, as much as it lay in my +power to do so: but I should wish that the fleet so long and so +vainly expected were arrived, or, at least, that it were on the way; +and especially that your Highness should approach these parts, either +on board the fleet, with a public mission, or in some other manner." + + +LETTER 528. TO MR. BOWRING. + +"10bre 7. 1823. + +"I confirm the above[1]: it is certainly my opinion that Mr. +Millingen is entitled to the same salary with Mr. Tindall, and his +service is likely to be harder. + +[Footnote 1: He here alludes to a letter, forwarded with his own, +from Mr. Millingen, who was about to join, in his medical capacity, +the Suliotes, near Fatras, and requested of the Committee an increase +of pay. This gentleman, having mentioned in his letter "that the +retreat of the Turks from before Missolonghi had rendered unnecessary +the appearance of the Greek fleet," Lord Byron, in a note on this +passage, says, "By the special providence of the Deity, the +Mussulmans were seized with a panic, and fled; but no thanks to the +fleet, which ought to have been here months ago, and has no excuse to +the contrary, lately--at least since I had the money ready to pay." + +On another passage, in which Mr. Millingen complains that his hope of +any remuneration from the Greeks has "turned out perfectly +chimerical," Lord Byron remarks, in a note, "and _will_ do so, till +they obtain a loan. They have not a rap, nor credit (in the islands) +to raise one. A medical man may succeed better than others; but all +these penniless officers had better have stayed at home. Much money +may not be required, but some must."] + +"I have written to you (as to Mr. Hobhouse _for_ your perusal) by +various opportunities, mostly private; also by the Deputies, and by +Mr. Hamilton Browne. + +"The public success of the Greeks has been considerable,--Corinth +taken, Missolonghi nearly safe, and some ships in the Archipelago +taken from the Turks; but there is not only dissension in the Morea, +but _civil war_, by the latest accounts[1]; to what extent we do not +yet know, but hope trifling. + +[Footnote 1: The Legislative and Executive bodies having been for +some time at variance, the latter had at length resorted to violence, +and some skirmishes had already taken place between the factions.] + +"For six weeks I have been expecting the fleet, _which has not +arrived_, though I have, at the request of the Greek Government, +advanced--that is, prepared, and have in hand two hundred thousand +piastres (deducting the commission and bankers' charges) of my own +monies to forward their projects. The Suliotes (now in Acarnania) are +very anxious that I should take them under my directions, and go over +and put things to rights in the Morea, which, without a force, seems +impracticable; and, really, though very reluctant (as my letters will +have shown you) to take such a measure, there seems hardly any milder +remedy. However, I will not do any thing rashly, and have only +continued here so long in the hope of seeing things reconciled, and +have done all in my power thereto. Had _I gone sooner, they would +have forced me into one party or other_, and I doubt as much now; but +we will do our best. + +"Yours," &c. + + + +LETTER 529. TO MR. BOWRING. + +"October 10. 1823. + +"Colonel Napier will present to you this letter. Of his military +character it were superfluous to speak: of his personal, I can say, +from my own knowledge, as well as from all public rumour or private +report, that it is as excellent as his military: in short, a better +or a braver man is not easily to be found. _He_ is our man to lead a +regular force, or to organise a national one for the Greeks. Ask the +army--ask any one. He is besides a personal friend of both Prince +Mavrocordato, Colonel Stanhope, and myself, and in such concord with +all three that we should all pull together--an indispensable, as well +as a rare point, especially in Greece at present. + +"To enable a regular force to be properly organised, it will be +requisite for the loan-holders to set apart at least 50,000_l_. +sterling for that particular purpose--perhaps more; but by so doing +they will guarantee their own monies, 'and make assurance doubly +sure.' They can appoint commissioners to see that part property +expended--and I recommend a similar precaution for the whole. + +"I hope that the deputies have arrived, as well as some of my various +despatches (chiefly addressed to Mr. Hobhouse) for the Committee. +Colonel Napier will tell you the recent special interposition of the +gods, in behalf of the Greeks--who seem to have no enemies in heaven +or on earth to be dreaded but their own tendency to discord amongst +themselves. But these, too, it is to be hoped, will be mitigated, and +then we can take the field on the offensive, instead of being reduced +to the _petite guerre_ of defending the same fortresses year after +year, and taking a few ships, and starving out a castle, and making +more fuss about them than Alexander in his cups, or Buonaparte in a +bulletin. Our friends have done something in the way of the +_Spartans_--(though not one tenth of what is told)--but have not yet +inherited _their_ style. + +"Believe me yours," &c. + + +LETTER 530 TO MR. BOWRING. + +"October 13. 1823. + +"Since I wrote to you on the 10th instant, the long-desired squadron +has arrived in the waters of Missolonghi and intercepted two Turkish +corvettes--ditto transports--destroying or taking all four--except +some of the crews escaped on shore in Ithaca--and an unarmed vessel, +with passengers, chased into a port on the opposite side of +Cephalonia. The Greeks had fourteen sail, the Turks _four_--but the +odds don't matter--the victory will make a very good _puff_, and be +of some advantage besides. I expect momentarily advices from Prince +Mavrocordato, who is on board, and has (I understand) despatches from +the Legislative for me; in consequence of which, after paying the +squadron, (for which I have prepared, and am preparing,) I shall +probably join him at sea or on shore. + +"I add the above communication to my letter by Col. Napier, who will +inform the Committee of every thing in detail much better than I can +do. + +"The mathematical, medical, and musical preparations of the Committee +have arrived, and in good condition, abating some damage from wet, +and some ditto from a portion of the letter-press being spilt in +landing--(I ought not to have omitted the press--but forgot it a +moment--excuse the same)--they are excellent of their kind, but till +we have an engineer and a trumpeter (we have chirurgeons already) +mere 'pearls to swine,' as the Greeks are quite ignorant of +mathematics, and have a bad ear for _our_ music. The maps, &c. I will +put into use for them, and take care that _all_ (with proper caution) +are turned to the intended uses of the Committee--but I refer you to +Colonel Napier, who will tell you, that much of your really valuable +supplies should be removed till proper persons arrive to adapt them +to actual service. + +"Believe me, my dear Sir, to be, &c. + +"P.S. _Private_--I have written to our friend Douglas Kinnaird on my +own matters, desiring him to send me out all the' further credits I +can command,--and I have a year's income, and the sale of a manor +besides, he tells me, before me,--for till the Greeks get _their_ +Loan, it is probable that I shall have to stand partly paymaster--as +far as I am 'good upon _Change_,' that is to say. I pray you to +repeat as much to _him_, and say that I must in the interim draw on +Messrs. Ransom most formidably. To say the truth, I do not grudge it +now the fellows have begun to fight _again_--and still more welcome +shall they be if they will go on. But they have had, or are to have, +some four thousand pounds (besides some private extraordinaries for +widows, orphans, refugees, and rascals of all descriptions,) of mine +at one 'swoop;' and it is to be expected the next will be at least as +much more. And how can I refuse it if they _will_ fight?--and +especially if I should happen ever to be in their company? I +therefore request and require that you should apprise my trusty and +trust-worthy trustee and banker, and crown and sheet-anchor, Douglas +Kinnaird the Honourable, that he prepare all monies of mine, +including the purchase money of Rochdale manor and mine income for +the year ensuing, A.D. 1824, to answer, or anticipate, any orders or +drafts of mine for the good cause, in good and lawful money of Great +Britain, &c. &c. May you live a thousand years I which is nine +hundred and ninety-nine longer than the Spanish Cortes' +Constitution." + + +LETTER 531. + +TO THE HON. MR. DOUGLAS KINNAIRD. + +"Cephalonia, December 23. 1823. + +"I shall be as saving of my purse and person as you recommend; but +you know that it is as well to be in readiness with one or both, in +the event of either being required. + +"I presume that some agreement has been concluded with Mr. Murray +about 'Werner.' Although the copyright should only be worth two or +three hundred pounds, I will tell you what can be done with them. For +three hundred pounds I can maintain in Greece, at more than the +_fullest pay_ of the Provisional Government, rations included, one +hundred armed men for _three months_. You may judge of this when I +tell you, that the four thousand pounds advanced by me to the Greeks +is likely to set a fleet and an army in motion for some months. + +"A Greek vessel has arrived from the squadron to convey me to +Missolonghi, where Mavrocordato now is, and has assumed the command, +so that I expect to embark immediately. Still address, however, to +Cephalonia, through Messrs. Welch and Barry of Genoa, as usual; and +get together all the means and credit of mine you can, to face the +war establishment, for it is 'in for a penny, in for a pound,' and I +must do all that I can for the ancients. + +"I have been labouring to reconcile these parties, and there is _now_ +some hope of succeeding. Their public affairs go on well. The Turks +have retreated from Acarnania without a battle, after a few fruitless +attempts on Anatoliko. Corinth is taken, and the Greeks have gained a +battle in the Archipelago. The squadron here, too, has taken a +Turkish corvette with some money and a cargo. In short, if they can +obtain a Loan, I am of opinion that matters will assume and preserve +a steady and favourable aspect for their independence. + +"In the mean time I stand paymaster, and what not; and lucky it is +that, from the nature of the warfare and of the country, the +resources even of an individual can be of a partial and temporary +service. + +"Colonel Stanhope is at Missolonghi. Probably we shall attempt Patras +next. The Suliotes, who are friends of mine, seem anxious to have me +with them, and so is Mavrocordato. If I can but succeed in +reconciling the two parties (and I have left no stone unturned), it +will be something; and if not, we roust go over to the Morea with the +Western Greeks--who are the bravest, and at present the strongest, +having beaten back the Turks--and try the effect of a little +_physical_ advice, should they persist in rejecting _moral_ +persuasion. + +"Once more recommending to you the reinforcement of my strong box and +credit from all lawful sources and resources of mine to their +practicable extent--for, after all, it is better playing at nations +than gaming at Almack's or Newmarket--and requesting you to write to +me as often as you can, + +"I remain ever," &c. + +The squadron, so long looked for, having made its appearance at last +in the waters of Missolonghi, and Mavrocordato, the only leader of +the cause worthy the name of statesman, having been appointed, with +full powers, to organise Western Greece, the fit moment for Lord +Byron's presence on the scene of action seemed to have arrived. The +anxiety, indeed, with which he was expected at Missolonghi was +intense, and can be best judged from the impatient language of the +letters written to hasten him. "I need not tell you, my Lord," says +Mavrocordato, "how much I long for your arrival, to what a pitch your +presence is desired by every body, or what a prosperous direction it +will give to all our affairs. Your counsels will be listened to like +oracles." Colonel Stanhope, with the same urgency, writes from +Missolonghi,--"The Greek ship sent for your Lordship has returned; +your arrival was anticipated, and the disappointment has been great +indeed. The Prince is in a state of anxiety, the Admiral looks +gloomy, and the sailors grumble aloud." He adds at the end, "I walked +along the streets this evening, and the people asked me after Lord +Byron !!!" In a Letter to the London Committee of the same date, +Colonel Stanhope says, "All are looking forward to Lord Byron's +arrival, as they would to the coming of the Messiah." + +Of this anxiety, no inconsiderable part is doubtless to be attributed +to their great impatience for the possession of the loan which he had +promised them, and on which they wholly depended for the payment of +the fleet--"Prince Mavrocordato and the Admiral (says the same +gentleman) are in a state of extreme perplexity: they, it seems, +relied on your loan for the payment of the fleet; that loan not +having been received, the sailors will depart immediately. This will +be a fatal event indeed, as it will place Missolonghi in a state of +blockade; and will prevent the Greek troops from acting against the +fortresses of Nepacto and Patras." + +In the mean time Lord Byron was preparing busily for his departure, +the postponement of which latterly had been, in a great measure, +owing to that repugnance to any new change of place which had lately +so much grown upon him, and which neither love, as we have seen, nor +ambition, could entirely conquer. There had been also considerable +pains taken by some of his friends at Argostoli to prevent his fixing +upon a place of residence so unhealthy as Missolonghi; and Mr. Muir, +a very able medical officer, on whose talents he had much dependence, +endeavoured most earnestly to dissuade him from such an imprudent +step. His mind, however, was made up,--the proximity of that port, in +some degree, tempting him,--and having hired, for himself and suite, +a light, fast-sailing vessel, called the Mistico, with a boat for +part of his baggage, and a larger vessel for the remainder, the +horses, &c. he was, on the 26th of December, ready to sail. The wind, +however, being contrary, he was detained two days longer, and in this +interval the following letters were written. + + +LETTER 532. TO MR. BOWRING. + +"10bre 26. 1823. + +"Little need be added to the enclosed, which arrived this day, except +that I embark to-morrow for Missolonghi. The intended operations are +detailed in the annexed documents. I have only to request that the +Committee will use every exertion to forward our views by all its +influence and credit. + +"I have also to request you _personally_ from myself to urge my +friend and trustee, Douglas Kinnaird (from whom I have not heard +these four months nearly), to forward to me all the resources of my +_own_ we can muster for the ensuing year; since it is no time to +menager _purse_, or, perhaps, _person_. I have advanced, and am +advancing, all that I have in hand, but I shall require all that can +be got together;--and (if Douglas has completed the sale of Rochdale, +_that _ and my year's income for next year ought to form a good round +sum,)--as you may perceive that there will be little cash of their +own amongst the Greeks (unless they get the Loan), it is the more +necessary that those of their friends who have any should risk it. + +"The supplies of the Committee are, some, useful, and all excellent +in their kind, but occasionally hardly _practical_ enough, in the +present state of Greece; for instance, the mathematical instruments +are thrown away--none of the Greeks know a problem from a poker--we +must conquer first, and plan afterwards. The use of the trumpets, +too, may be doubted, unless Constantinople were Jericho, for the +Helenists have no ears for bugles, and you must send us somebody to +listen to them. + +"We will do our best--and I pray you to stir your English hearts at +home to more _general_ exertion; for my part, I will stick by the +cause while a plank remains which can be _honourably_ clung to. If I +quit it, it will be by the Greeks' conduct, and not the Holy Allies +or holier Mussulmans--but let us hope better things. + +"Ever yours, N. B. + +"P.S. I am happy to say that Colonel Leicester Stanhope and myself +are acting in perfect harmony together--he is likely to be of great +service both to the cause and to the Committee, and is publicly as +well as personally a very valuable acquisition to our party on every +account. He came up (as they all do who have not been in the country +before) with some high-flown notions of the sixth form at Harrow or +Eton, &c.; but Col. Napier and I set him to rights on those points, +which is absolutely necessary to prevent disgust, or perhaps return; +but now we can set our shoulders _soberly_ to the _wheel_, without +quarrelling with the mud which may clog it occasionally. + +"I can assure you that Col. Napier and myself are as decided for the +cause as any German student of them all; but like men who have seen +the country and human life, there and elsewhere, we must be permitted +to view it in its truth, with its defects as well as beauties,--more +especially as success will remove the former _gradually_. N. B. + +"P.S. As much of this letter as you please is for the Committee, the +rest may be 'entre nous.'" + + +LETTER 533. TO MR. MOORE. + +"Cephalonia, December 27. 1823. + +"I received a letter from you some time ago. I have been too much +employed latterly to write as I could wish, and even now must write +in haste. + +"I embark for Missolonghi to join Mavrocordato in four-and-twenty +hours. The state of parties (but it were a long story) has kept me +here till _now_; but now that Mavrocordato (their Washington, or +their Kosciusko) is employed again, I can act with a _safe +conscience._ I carry money to pay the squadron, &c., and I have +influence with the Suliotes, _supposed _ sufficient to keep them in +harmony with some of the dissentients;--for there are plenty of +differences, but trifling. + +"It is imagined that we shall attempt either Patras or the castles on +the Straits; and it seems, by most accounts, that the Greeks, at any +rate, the Suliotes, who are in affinity with me of 'bread and +salt,'--expect that I should march with them, and--be it even so! If +any thing in the way of fever, fatigue, famine, or otherwise, should +cut short the middle age of a brother warbler,--like Garcilasso de la +Vega, Kleist, Korner, Joukoffsky[1] (a Russian nightingale--see +Bowring's Anthology), or Thersander, or,--or somebody else--but never +mind--I pray you to remember me in your 'smiles and wine.' + +[Footnote 1: One of the most celebrated of the living poets of +Russia, who fought at Borodino, and has commemorated that battle in a +poem of much celebrity among his countrymen.] + +"I have hopes that the cause will triumph; but whether it does or no, +still 'honour must be minded as strictly as milk diet,' I trust to +observe both, + +"Ever," &c. + +It is hardly necessary to direct the attention of the reader to the +sad, and but too true anticipation expressed in this letter--the last +but one I was ever to receive from my friend. Before we accompany him +to the closing scene of all his toils, I shall here, as briefly as +possible, give a selection from the many characteristic anecdotes +told of him, while at Cephalonia, where (to use the words of Colonel +Stanhope, in a letter from thence to the Greek committee,) he was +"beloved by Cephalonians, by English, and by Greeks;" and where, +approached as he was familiarly by persons of all classes and +countries, not an action, not a word is recorded of him that does not +bear honourable testimony to the benevolence and soundness of his +views, his ever ready but discriminating generosity, and the clear +insight, at once minute and comprehensive, which he had acquired into +the character and wants of the people and the cause he came to serve. +"Of all those who came to help the Greeks," says Colonel Napier, (a +person himself the most qualified to judge, as well from long local +knowledge, as from the acute, straightforward cast of his own mind,) +"I never knew one, except Lord Byron and Mr. Gordon, that seemed to +have justly estimated their character. All came expecting to find the +Peloponnesus filled with Plutarch's men, and all returned thinking +the inhabitants of Newgate more moral. Lord Byron judged them fairly: +he knew that half-civilised men are full of vices, and that great +allowance must be made for emancipated slaves. He, therefore, +proceeded, bridle in hand, not thinking them good, but hoping to make +them better."[1] + +[Footnote 1: A similar tribute was paid to him by Count Delladecima, +a gentleman of some literary acquirements, of whom he saw a good deal +at Cephalonia, and to whom he was attracted by that sympathy which +never failed to incline him towards those who laboured, like himself, +under any personal defects. "Of all the men," said this gentleman, +"whom I have had an opportunity of conversing with, on the means of +establishing the independence of Greece, and regenerating the +character of the natives, Lord Byron appears to entertain the most +enlightened and correct views."] + +In speaking of the foolish charge of avarice brought against Lord +Byron by some who resented thus his not suffering them to impose on +his generosity, Colonel Napier says, "I never knew a single instance +of it while he was here. I saw only a judicious generosity in all +that he did. He would not allow himself to be _robbed_, but he gave +profusely where he thought he was doing good. It was, indeed, because +he would not allow himself to be _fleeced_, that he was called stingy +by those who are always bent upon giving money from any purses but +their own. Lord Byron had no idea of this; and would turn sharply and +unexpectedly on those who thought their game sure. He gave a vast +deal of money to the Greeks in various ways." + +Among the objects of his bounty in this way were many poor refugee +Greeks from the Continent and the Isles. He not only relieved their +present distresses, but allotted a certain sum monthly to the most +destitute. "A list of these poor pensioners," says Dr. Kennedy, "was +given me by the nephew of Professor Bambas." + +One of the instances mentioned of his humanity while at Cephalonia +will show how prompt he was at the call of that feeling, and how +unworthy, sometimes, were the objects of it. A party of workmen +employed upon one of those fine roads projected by Colonel Napier +having imprudently excavated a high bank, the earth fell in, and +overwhelmed nearly a dozen persons; the news of which accident +instantly reaching Metaxata, Lord Byron despatched his physician +Bruno to the spot, and followed with Count Gamba, as soon as their +horses could be saddled. They found a crowd of women and children +wailing round the ruins; while the workmen, who had just dug out +three or four of their maimed companions, stood resting themselves +unconcernedly, as if nothing more was required of them; and to Lord +Byron's enquiry whether there were not still some other persons below +the earth, answered coolly that "they did not know, but believed that +there were." Enraged at this brutal indifference, he sprang from his +horse, and seizing a spade himself, began to dig with all his +strength; but it was not till after being threatened with the +horsewhip that any of the peasants could be brought to follow his +example. "I was not present at this scene myself," says Colonel +Napier, in the Notices with which he has favoured me, "but was told +that Lord Byron's attention seemed quite absorbed in the study of the +faces and gesticulations of those whose friends were missing. The +sorrow of the Greeks is, in appearance, very frantic, and they shriek +and howl, as in Ireland. + +It was in alluding to the above incident that the noble poet is +stated to have said that he had come out to the Islands prejudiced +against Sir T. Maitland's government of the Greeks: "but," he added, +"I have now changed my opinion. They are such barbarians, that if I +had the government of them, I would pave these very roads with them." + +While residing at Metaxata, he received an account of the illness of +his daughter Ada, which "made him anxious and melancholy (says Count +Gamba) for several days." Her indisposition he understood to have +been caused by a determination of blood to the head; and on his +remarking to Dr. Kennedy, as curious, that it was a complaint to +which he himself was subject, the physician replied, that he should +have been inclined to infer so, not only from his habits of intense +and irregular study, but from the present state of his eyes,--the +right eye appearing to be inflamed. I have mentioned this latter +circumstance as perhaps justifying the inference that there was in +Lord Byron's state of health at this moment a predisposition to the +complaint of which he afterwards died. To Dr. Kennedy he spoke +frequently of his wife and daughter, expressing the Strongest +affection for the latter, and respect towards the former, and while +declaring as usual his perfect ignorance of the causes of the +separation, professing himself fully disposed to welcome any prospect +of reconcilement. + +The anxiety with which, at all periods of his life, but particularly +at the present, he sought to repel the notion that, except when under +the actual inspiration of writing, he was at all influenced by +poetical associations, very frequently displayed itself. "You must +have been highly gratified (said a gentleman to him) by the classical +remains and recollections which you met with in your visit to +Ithaca."--"You quite mistake me," answered Lord Byron--"I have no +poetical humbug about me; I am too old for that. Ideas of that sort +are confined to rhyme." + +For the two days during which he was delayed by contrary winds, he +took up his abode at the house of Mr. Hancock, his banker, and passed +the greater part of the time in company with the English authorities +of the Island. At length the wind becoming fair, he prepared to +embark. "I called upon him to take leave," says Dr. Kennedy, "and +found him alone, reading Quentin Durward. He was, as usual, in good +spirits." In a few hours after the party set sail,--Lord Byron +himself on board the Mistico, and Count Gamba, with the horses and +heavy baggage, in the larger vessel, or Bombarda. After touching at +Zante, for the purpose of some pecuniary arrangements with Mr. Barff, +and taking on board a considerable sum of money in specie, they, on +the evening of the 29th, proceeded towards Missolonghi. Their last +accounts from that place having represented the Turkish fleet as +still in the Gulf of Lepanto, there appeared not the slightest +grounds for apprehending any interruption in their passage. Besides, +knowing that the Greek squadron was now at anchorage near the +entrance of the Gulf, they had little doubt of soon falling in with +some friendly vessel, either in search, or waiting for them. + +"We sailed together," says Count Gamba, in a highly picturesque and +affecting passage, "till after ten at night; the wind favourable--a +clear sky, the air fresh but not sharp. Our sailors sang alternately +patriotic songs, monotonous indeed, but to persons in our situation +extremely touching, and we took part in them. We were all, but Lord +Byron particularly, in excellent spirits. The Mistico sailed the +fastest. When the waves divided us, and our voices could no longer +reach each other, we made signals by firing pistols and +carabines--'To-morrow we meet at Missolonghi--to-morrow.' Thus, full +of confidence and spirits, we sailed along. At twelve we were out of +sight of each other." + +In waiting for the other vessel, having more than once shortened sail +for that purpose, the party on board the Mistico were upon the point +of being surprised into an encounter which might, in a moment, have +changed the future fortunes of Lord Byron. Two or three hours before +daybreak, while steering towards Missolonghi, they found themselves +close under the stern of a large vessel, which they at first took to +be Greek, but which, when within pistol shot, they discovered to be a +Turkish frigate. By good fortune, they were themselves, as it +appears, mistaken for a Greek brulot by the Turks, who therefore +feared to fire, but with loud shouts frequently hailed them, while +those on board Lord Byron's vessel maintained the most profound +silence; and even the dogs (as I have heard his Lordship's valet +mention), though they had never ceased to bark during the whole of +the night, did not utter, while within reach of the Turkish frigate, +a sound;--a no less lucky than a curious accident, as, from the +information the Turks had received of all the particulars of his +Lordship's departure from Zante, the harking of the dogs, at that +moment, would have been almost certain to betray him. Under the +favour of these circumstances, and the darkness, they were enabled to +bear away without further molestation, and took shelter among the +Scrofes, a cluster of rocks but a few hours' sail from Missolonghi. +From this place the following letter, remarkable, considering his +situation at the moment, for the light, careless tone that pervades +it, was despatched to Colonel Stanhope. + + +LETTER 534. + +TO THE HONOURABLE COLONEL STANHOPE. + +"Scrofer (or some such name), on board a +Cephaloniote Mistico, Dec. 31. 1823. + +"My dear Stanhope, + +"We are just arrived here, that is, part of my people and I, with +some things, &c., 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 the sun and clearing 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 (Draco), 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: not so much on my own account as +on that of a Greek boy with me, for you know what his fate would be; +and I would sooner cut him in pieces, and myself too, than have him +taken out by those barbarians. We are all very well. N. B. + +"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 between us and +the port." + +Finding that his position among the rocks of the Scrofes would be +untenable in the event of an attack by armed boats, he thought it +right to venture out again, and making all sail, got safe to +Dragomestri, a small sea-port town on the coast of Acarnania; from +whence the annexed letters to two of the most valued of his +Cephalonian friends were written. + + +LETTER 535. TO MR. MUIR. + +"Dragomestri, January 2. 1824. + +"My dear Muir, + +"I wish you many returns of the season, and happiness therewithal. +Gamba and the Bombard (there is a strong reason to believe) are +carried into Patras by a Turkish frigate, which we saw chase them at +dawn on the 31st: we had been close under the stern in the night, +believing her a Greek till within pistol shot, and only escaped by a +miracle of all the Saints (our captain says), and truly I am of his +opinion, for we should never have got away of ourselves. They were +signalising their consort with lights, and had illuminated the ship +between decks, and were shouting like a mob;--but then why did they +not fire? Perhaps they took us for a Greek brulot, and were afraid of +kindling us--they had no colours flying even at dawn nor after. + +"At daybreak my boat was on the coast, but the wind unfavourable for +_the port_;--a large vessel with the wind in her favour standing +between us and the Gulf, and another in chase of the Bombard about +twelve miles off, or so. Soon after they stood (_i.e._ the Bombard +and frigate) apparently towards Patras, and a Zantiote boat making +signals to us from the shore to get away. Away we went before the +wind, and ran into a creek called Scrofes, I believe, where I landed +Luke[1] and another (as Luke's life was in most danger), with some +money for themselves, and a letter for Stanhope, and sent them up the +country to Missolonghi, where they would be in safety, as the place +where we were could be assailed by armed boats in a moment, and Gamba +had all our arms except two carbines, a fowling-piece, and some +pistols. + +[Footnote 1: A Greek youth whom he had brought with him, in his +suite, from Cephalonia.] + +"In less than an hour the vessel in chase neared us, and we dashed +out again, and showing our stern (our boat sails very well), got in +before night to Dragomestri, where we now are. But where is the Greek +fleet? I don't know--do you? I told our master of the boat that I was +inclined to think the two large vessels (there were none else in +sight) Greeks. But he answered, 'They are too large--why don't they +show their colours?' and his account was confirmed, be it true or +false, by several boats which we met or passed, as we could not at +any rate have got in with that wind without beating about for a long +time; and as there was much property, and some lives to risk (the +boy's especially) without any means of defence, it was necessary to +let our boatmen have their own way. + +"I despatched yesterday another messenger to Missolonghi for an +escort, but we have yet no answer. We are here (those of my boat) for +the fifth day without taking our clothes off, and sleeping on deck in +all weathers, but are all very well, and in good spirits. It is to be +supposed that the Government will send, for their own sakes, an +escort, as I have 16,000 dollars on board, the greater part for their +service. I had (besides personal property to the amount of about 5000 +more) 8000 dollars in specie of my own, without reckoning the +Committee's stores, so that the Turks will have a good thing of it, +if the prize be good. + +"I regret the detention of Gamba, &c., but the rest we can make up +again; so tell Hancock to set my bills into cash as soon as possible, +and Corgialegno to prepare the remainder of my credit with Messrs. +Webb to be turned into monies. I shall remain here, unless something +extraordinary occurs, till Mavrocordato sends, and then go on, and +act according to circumstances. My respects to the two colonels, and +remembrances to all friends. Tell '_Ultima Anahse_'[1] that his +friend Raidi did not make his appearance with the brig, though I +think that he might as well have spoken with us _in_ or _off_ Zante, +to give us a gentle hint of what we had to expect. + +[Footnote 1: Count Delladecima, to whom he gives this name in +consequence of a habit which that gentleman had of using the phrase +"in ultima analise" frequently in conversation.] + +"Yours, ever affectionately, N. B. + +"P.S. Excuse my scrawl on account of the pen and the frosty morning +at daybreak. I write in haste, a boat starting for Kalamo. I do not +know whether the detention of the Bombard (if she be detained, for I +cannot swear to it, and I can only judge from appearances, and what +all these fellows say,) be an affair of the Government, and +neutrality, and &c.--but _she was stopped at least_ twelve miles +distant from any port, and had all her papers regular from _Zante _ +for _Kalamo_ and _we also_. I did not land at Zante, being anxious to +lose as little time as possible, but Sir F. S. came off to invite me, +&c. and every body was as kind as could be, even in Cephalonia." + + +LETTER 536. TO MR. C. HANCOCK. + +"Dragomestri, January 2. 1824. + +"Dear Sir 'Ancock[1],' + +[Footnote 1: This letter is, more properly, a postscript to one which +Dr. Bruno had, by his orders, written to Mr. Hancock, with some +particulars of their voyage; and the Doctor having begun his letter, +"Pregiat'mo. Sig'r. Ancock," Lord Byron thus parodies his mode of +address.] + +"Remember me to Dr. Muir and every body else. I have still the 16,000 +dollars with me, the rest were on board the Bombarda. Here we +are--the Bombarda taken, or at least missing, with all the Committee +stores, my friend Gamba, the horses, negro, bull-dog, steward, and +domestics, with all our implements of peace and war, also 8000 +dollars; but whether she will be lawful prize or no, is for the +decision of the Governor of the Seven Islands. I have written to Dr. +Muir, by way of Kalamo, with all particulars. We are in good +condition; and what with wind and weather, and being hunted or so, +little sleeping on deck, &c. are in tolerable seasoning for the +country and circumstances. But I foresee that we shall have occasion +for all the cash I can muster at Zante and elsewhere. Mr. Barff gave +us 8000 and odd dollars; so there is still a balance in my favour. We +are not quite certain that the vessels were Turkish which chased; but +there is strong presumption that they were, and no news to the +contrary. At Zante, every body, from the Resident downwards, were as +kind as could be, especially your worthy and courteous partner. + +"Tell our friends to keep up their spirits, and we may yet do well. I +disembarked the boy and another Greek, who were in most terrible +alarm--the boy, at least, from the Morea--on shore near Anatoliko, I +believe, which put them in safety; and, as for me and mine, we must +stick by our goods. + +"I hope that Gamba's detention will only be temporary. As for the +effects and monies, if we have them,--well; if otherwise, patience. I +wish you a happy new year, and all our friends the same. + +"Yours," &c. + +During these adventures of Lord Byron, Count Gamba, having been +brought to by the Turkish frigate, had been carried, with his +valuable charge, into Patras, where the Commander of the Turkish +fleet was stationed. Here, after an interview with the Pacha, by whom +he was treated, during his detention, most courteously, he had the +good fortune to procure the release of his vessel and freight; and, +on the 4th of January, reached Missolonghi. To his surprise, however, +he found that Lord Byron had not yet arrived; for,--as if everything +connected with this short voyage were doomed to deepen whatever ill +bodings there were already in his mind,--on his Lordship's departure +from Dragomestri, a violent gale of wind had come on; his vessel was +twice driven on the rocks in the passage of the Scrofes, and, from +the force of the wind, and the captain's ignorance of those shoals, +the danger was by all on board considered to be most serious. "On the +second time of striking," says Count Gamba, "the sailors, losing all +hope of saving the vessel, began to think of their own safety. But +Lord Byron persuaded them to remain; and by his firmness, and no +small share of nautical skill, got them out of danger, and thus saved +the vessel and several lives, with 25,000 dollars, the greater part +in specie." + +The wind still blowing right against their course to Missolonghi, +they again anchored between two of the numerous islets by which this +part of the coast is lined; and here Lord Byron, as well for +refreshment as ablution, found himself tempted into an indulgence +which, it is not improbable, may have had some share in producing the +fatal illness that followed. Having put off in a boat to a small rock +at some distance, he sent back a messenger for the nankeen trowsers +which he usually wore in bathing; and, though the sea was rough and +the night cold, it being then the 3d of January, swam back to the +vessel. "I am fully persuaded," says his valet, in relating this +imprudent freak, "that it injured my Lord's health. He certainly was +not taken ill at the time, but in the course of two or three days his +Lordship complained of a pain in all his bones, which continued, more +or less, to the time of his death." + +Setting sail again next morning with the hope of reaching Missolonghi +before sunset, they were still baffled by adverse winds, and, +arriving late at night in the port, did not land till the morning of +the 5th. + +The solicitude, in the mean time, of all at Missolonghi, knowing that +the Turkish fleet was out, and Lord Byron on his way, may without +difficulty be conceived, and is most livelily depicted in a letter +written during the suspense of that moment, by an eye-witness. "The +Turkish fleet," says Colonel Stanhope, "has ventured out, and is, at +this moment, blockading the port. Beyond these again are seen the +Greek ships, and among the rest the one that was sent for Lord Byron. +Whether he is on board or not is a question. You will allow that this +is an eventful day." Towards the end of the letter, he adds, "Lord +Byron's servants have just arrived; he himself will be here +to-morrow. If he had not come, we had need have prayed for fair +weather; for both fleet and army are hungry and inactive. Parry has +not appeared. Should he also arrive to-morrow, all Missolonghi will +go mad with pleasure." + +The reception their noble visiter experienced on his arrival was such +as, from the ardent eagerness with which he had been looked for, +might be expected. The whole population of the place crowded to the +shore to welcome him: the ships anchored off the fortress fired a +salute as he passed; and all the troops and dignitaries of the place, +civil and military, with the Prince Mavrocordato at their head, met +him on his landing, and accompanied him, amidst the mingled din of +shouts, wild music, and discharges of artillery, to the house that +had been prepared for him. "I cannot easily describe," says Count +Gamba, "the emotions which such a scene excited. I could scarcely +refrain from tears." + +After eight days of fatigue such as Lord Byron had endured, some +short interval of rest might fairly have been desired by him. But the +scene on which he had now entered was one that precluded all thoughts +of repose. He on whom the eyes and hopes of all others were centred, +could but little dream of indulging any care for himself. There were, +at this particular moment, too, collected within the precincts of +that town as great an abundance of the materials of unquiet and +misrule as had been ever brought together in so small a space. In +every quarter; both public and private, disorganisation and +dissatisfaction presented themselves. Of the fourteen brigs of war +which had come to the succour of Missolonghi, and which had for some +time actually protected it against a Turkish fleet double its number, +nine had already, hopeless of pay, returned to Hydra, while the +sailors of the remaining five, from the same cause of complaint, had +just quitted their ships, and were murmuring idly on shore. The +inhabitants, seeing themselves thus deserted or preyed upon by their +defenders, with a scarcity of provisions threatening them, and the +Turkish fleet before their eyes, were no less ready to break forth +into riot and revolt; while, at the same moment, to complete the +confusion, a General Assembly was on the point of being held in the +town, for the purpose of organising the forces of Western Greece, and +to this meeting all the wild mountain chiefs of the province, ripe, +of course, for dissension, were now flocking with their followers. +Mavrocordato himself, the President of the intended Congress, had +brought in his train no less than 5000 armed men, who were at this +moment in the town. Ill provided, too, with either pay or food by the +Government, this large military mob were but little less discontented +and destitute than the sailors; and in short, in every direction, the +entire population seems to have presented such a fermenting mass of +insubordination and discord as was far more likely to produce warfare +among themselves than with the enemy. + +Such was the state of affairs when Lord Byron arrived at +Missolonghi;--such the evils he had now to encounter, with the +formidable consciousness that to him, and him alone, all looked for +the removal of them. + +Of his proceedings during the first weeks after his arrival, the +following letters to Mr. Hancock (which by the great kindness of that +gentleman I am enabled to give) will, assisted by a few explanatory +notes, supply a sufficiently ample account. + + +LETTER 537. TO MR. CHARLES HANCOCK. + +"Missolonghi, January 13. 1824. + +"Dear Sir, + +"Many thanks for yours of the fifth; ditto to Muir for his. You will +have heard that Gamba and my vessel got out of the hands of the Turks +safe and intact; nobody knows well how or why, for there's a mystery +in the story somewhat melodramatic. Captain Valsamachi has, I take +it, spun a long yarn by this time in Argostoli. I attribute their +release entirely to Saint Dionisio, of Zante, and the Madonna of the +Rock, near Cephalonia. + +"The adventures of my separate luck were also not finished at +Dragomestri; we were conveyed out by some Greek gun-boats, and found +the Leonidas brig-of-war at sea to look after us. But blowing weather +coming on, we were driven on the rocks _twice_ in the passage of the +Scrofes, and the dollars had another narrow escape. Two thirds of the +crew got ashore over the bowsprit: the rocks were rugged enough, but +water very deep close in shore, so that she was, after much swearing +and some exertion, got off again, and away we went with a third of +our crew, leaving the rest on a desolate island, where they might +have been now, had not one of the gun-boats taken them off, for we +were in no condition to take them off again. + +"Tell Muir that Dr. Bruno did not show much fight on the occasion; +for besides stripping to his flannel waistcoat, and running about +like a rat in an emergency, when I was talking to a Greek boy (the +brother of the Greek girls in Argostoli), and telling him of the fact +that there was no danger for the passengers, whatever there might be +for the vessel, and assuring him that I could save both him and +myself without difficulty[1] (though he can't swim), as the water, +though deep, was not very rough,--the wind _not_ blowing _right_ on +shore (it was a blunder of the Greeks who missed stays),--the Doctor +exclaimed, 'Save _him_, indeed! by G--d! save _me_ rather--I'll be +first if I can'--a piece of egotism which he pronounced with such +emphatic simplicity as to set all who had leisure to hear him +laughing[2], and in a minute after the vessel drove off again after +striking twice. She sprung a small leak, but nothing further +happened, except that the captain was very nervous afterwards. + +[Footnote 1: He meant to have taken the boy on his shoulders and swum +with him to shore. This feat would have been but a repetition of one +of his early sports at Harrow; where it was a frequent practice of +his thus to mount one of the smaller boys on his shoulders, and, much +to the alarm of the urchin, dive with him into the water.] + +[Footnote 2: In the Doctor's own account this scene is described, as +might be expected, somewhat differently:--"Ma nel di lui passaggio +marittimo una fregata Turca insegui la di lui nave, obligandola di +ricoverarsi dentro le _Scrofes_, dove per l'impeto dei venti fu +gettata sopra i scogli: tutti i marinari dell' equipaggio saltarono a +terra per salvare la loro vita: Milord solo col di lui Medico Dottr. +Bruno rimasero sulla nave che ognuno vedeva colare a fondo: ma dopo +qualche tempo non essendosi visto che cio avveniva, le persone +fuggite a terra respinsero la nave nell' acque: ma il tempestoso mare +la ribasto una seconda volta contro i scogli, ed allora si aveva per +certo che la nave coll' illustre personaggio, una grande quantita di +denari, e molti preziosi effetti per i Greci anderebbero a fondo. +Tuttavia Lord Byron non si perturbo per nulla; anzi disse al di lui +medico che voleva gettarsi al nuoto onde raggiungere la spiaggia: +'Non abbandonate la nave finche abbiamo forze per direggerla: +allorche saremo coperti dall' acque, allora gettatevi pure, che io vi +salvo.'"] + +"To be brief, we had bad weather almost always, though not contrary; +slept on deck in the wet generally for seven or eight nights, but +never was in better health (I speak personally)--so much so that I +actually bathed for a quarter of an hour on the evening of the 4th +instant in the sea, (to kill the fleas, and other &c.) and was all +the better for it. + +"We were received at Missolonghi with all kinds of kindness and +honours; and the sight of the fleet saluting, &c. and the crowds and +different costumes, was really picturesque. We think of undertaking +an expedition soon, and I expect to be ordered with the Suliotes to +join the army. + +"All well at present. We found Gamba already arrived, and every thing +in good condition. Remember me to all friends. + +"Yours ever, N. B. + +"P.S. You will, I hope, use every exertion to realise the _assets_. +For besides what I have already advanced, I have undertaken to +maintain the Suliotes for a year, (and will accompany them either as +a Chief, or whichever is most agreeable to the Government,) besides +sundries. I do not understand Brown's '_letters of credit_.' I +neither gave nor ordered a letter of credit that I know of; and +though of course, if you have done it, I will be responsible, I was +not aware of any thing, except that I would have backed his bills, +which you said was unnecessary. As to _orders_--I ordered nothing but +some _red cloth_ and _oil cloths_, both of which I am ready to +receive; but if Gamba has exceeded my commission, _the other things +must be sent back, for I cannot permit any thing of the kind, nor +will_. The servants' journey will of course be paid for, though +_that_ is exorbitant. As for Brown's letter, I do not know any thing +more than I have said, and I really cannot defray the charges of half +Greece and the Frank adventurers besides. Mr. Barff must send us some +dollars soon, for the expenses fall on me for the present. + +"January 14. 1824. + +"P.S. Will you tell Saint (Jew) Geronimo Corgialegno that I mean to +draw for the balance of my credit with Messrs. Webb and Co. I shall +draw for two thousand dollars (that being about the amount, more or +less); but, to facilitate the business, I shall make the draft +payable also at Messrs. Ransom and Co., Pall-Mall East, London. I +believe I already showed you my letters, (but if not, I have them to +show,) by which, besides the credits now realising, you will have +perceived that I am not limited to any particular amount of credit +with my bankers. The Honourable Douglas, my friend and trustee, is a +principal partner in that house, and having the direction of my +affairs, is aware to what extent my present resources may go, and the +letters in question were from him. I can merely say, that within the +_current_ year, 1824, besides the money already advanced to the Greek +Government, and the credits now in your hands and your partner's (Mr. +Barff), which are all from the income of 1823, I have anticipated +nothing from that of the present year hitherto. I shall or ought to +have at my disposition upwards of one hundred thousand dollars, +(including my income, and the purchase-monies of a manor lately +sold,) and perhaps more, without infringing on my income for 1825, +and not including the remaining balance of 1823. + +Yours ever, N. B." + + +LETTER 538. TO MR. CHARLES HANCOCK. + +"Missolonghi, January 17, 1824. + +"I have answered, at some length, your obliging letter, and trust +that you have received my reply by means of Mr. Tindal. I will also +thank you to remind Mr. Tindal that I would thank him to furnish you, +on my account, with _an order of the Committee_ for one hundred +dollars, which I advanced to him on their account through Signor +Corgialegno's agency at Zante on his arrival in October, as it is but +fair that the said Committee should pay their own expenses. An order +will be sufficient, as the money might be inconvenient for Mr. T. at +present to disburse. + +"I have also advanced to Mr. Blackett the sum of fifty dollars,-which +I will thank Mr. Stevens to pay to you, on my account, from monies of +Mr. Blackett now in his hands. I have Mr. B.'s acknowledgment in +writing. + +"As the wants of the State here are still pressing, and there seems +very little specie stirring except mine, I will stand paymaster; and +must again request you and Mr. Barff to forward by a _safe _ channel +(if possible) all the dollars you can collect upon the bills now +negotiating. I have also written to Corgialegno for two thousand +dollars, being about the balance of my separate letter from Messrs. +Webb and Co., making the bills also payable at Ransom's in London. + +"Things are going on better, if not well; there is some order, and +considerable preparation. I expect to accompany the troops on an +expedition shortly, which makes me particularly anxious for the +remaining remittance, as 'money is the sinew of war,' and of peace, +too, as far as I can see, for I am sure there would be no peace here +without it. However, a little does go a good way, which is a comfort. +The Government of the Morea and of Candia have written to me for a +further advance from my own peculium of 20 or 30,000 dollars, to +which I demur for the present, (having undertaken to pay the Suliotes +as a free gift and other things already, besides the loan which I +have already advanced,) till I receive letters from England, which I +have reason to expect. + +"When the expected credits arrive, I hope that you will bear a hand, +otherwise I must have recourse to Malta, which will be losing time +and taking trouble; but I do not wish you to do more than is +perfectly agreeable to Mr. Barffand to yourself. I am very well, and +have no reason to be dissatisfied with my personal treatment, or with +the posture of public affairs--others must speak for themselves. +Yours ever and truly, &c. + +"P.S. Respects to Colonels Wright and Duffie, and the officers civil +and military; also to my friends Muir and Stevens particularly, and +to Delladecima." + + +LETTER 539. TO MR. CHARLES HANCOCK. + +"Missolonghi, January 19. 1824. + +"Since I wrote on the 17th, I have received a letter from Mr. +Stevens, enclosing an account from Corfu, which is so exaggerated in +price and quantity, that I am at a loss whether most to admire +Gamba's folly, or the merchant's knavery. All that _I_ requested +Gamba to order was red cloth enough to make a _jacket_, and some +oil-skin for trowsers, &c.--the latter has not been sent--the whole +could not have amounted to fifty dollars. The account is six hundred +and forty-five!!! I will guarantee Mr. Stevens against any loss, of +course, but I am not disposed to take the articles (which I never +ordered), nor to pay the amount. I will take one hundred dollars' +worth; the rest may be sent back, and I will make the merchant an +allowance of so much per-cent.; or, if that is not to be done, you +must sell the whole by auction at what price the things may fetch; +for I would rather incur the dead loss of _part_, than be encumbered +with a quantity of things, to me at present superfluous or useless. +Why, I could have maintained three hundred men for a month for the +sum in Western Greece. + +"When the dogs, and the dollars, and the negro; and the horses, fell +into the hands of the Turks, I acquiesced with patience, as you may +have perceived, because it was the work of the elements of war, or of +Providence: but this is a piece of mere human knavery or folly, or +both, and I neither can nor will submit to it.[1] I have occasion for +every dollar I can muster to keep the Greeks together, and I do not +grudge any expense for the cause; but to throw away as much as would +equip, or at least maintain, a corps of excellent ragamuffins with +arms in their hands, to furnish Gamba and the Doctor with blank bills +(see list), broad cloth, Hessian boots, and horsewhips (the _latter_ +I own that they have richly earned), is rather beyond my endurance, +though a pacific person, as all the world knows, or at least my +acquaintances. I pray you to try to help me out of this damnable +commercial speculation of Gamba's, for it is one of those pieces of +impudence or folly which I don't forgive him in a hurry. I will of +course see Stevens free of expense out of the transaction;--by the +way, the Greek of a Corfiote has thought proper to draw a bill, and +get it discounted at 24 dollars: if I had been there, it should have +been _protested_ also. + +[Footnote 1: We have here as striking an instance as could be adduced +of that peculiar feature of his character which shallow or malicious +observers have misrepresented as avarice, but which in reality was +the result of a strong sense of justice and fairness, and an +indignant impatience of being stultified or over-reached. Colonel +Stanhope, in referring to the circumstance mentioned above, has put +Lord Byron's angry feeling respecting it in the true light. + +"He was constantly attacking Count Gamba, sometimes, indeed, +playfully, but more often with the bitterest satire, for having +purchased for the use of his family, while in Greece, _500_ dollars' +worth of cloth. This he used to mention as an instance of the Count's +imprudence and extravagance. Lord Byron told me one day, with a tone +of great gravity, that this 500 dollars would have been most +serviceable in promoting the siege of Lepanto; and that he never +would, to the last moment of his existence, forgive Gamba, for having +squandered away his money in the purchase of cloth. No one will +suppose that Lord Byron could be serious in such a denunciation: he +entertained, in reality, the highest opinion of Conant Gamba, who, +both on account of his talents and devotedness to his friend, merited +his Lordship's esteem. As to Lord Byron's generosity, it is before +the world; he promised to devote his large income to the cause of +Greece, and he honestly acted up to his pledge."] + +"Mr. Blackett is here ill, and will soon set out for Cephalonia. He +came to me for some pills, and I gave him some reserved for +particular friends, and which I never knew any body recover from +under several months; but he is no better, and, what is odd, no +worse; and as the doctors have had no better success with him than I, +he goes to Argostoli, sick of the Greeks and of a constipation. + +"I must reiterate my request for _specie_, and that speedily, +otherwise public affairs will be at a standstill here. I have +undertaken to pay the Suliotes for a year, to advance in March 3000 +dollars, besides, to the Government for a balance due to the troops, +and some other smaller matters for the Germans, and the press, &c. +&c. &c.; so what with these, and the expenses of my suite, which, +though not extravagant, is expensive, with Gamba's d--d nonsense, I +shall have occasion for all the monies I can muster; and I have +credits wherewithal to face the undertakings, if realised, and expect +to have more soon. + +"Believe me ever and truly yours," &c. + +On the morning of the 22d of January, his birthday,--the last my poor +friend was ever fated to see,--he came from his bedroom into the +apartment where Colonel Stanhope and some others were assembled, and +said with a smile, "You were complaining the other day that I never +write any poetry now. This is my birthday, and I have just finished +something which, I think, is better than what I usually write." He +then produced to them those beautiful stanzas, which, though already +known to most readers, are far too affectingly associated with this +closing scene of his life to be omitted among its details. Taking +into consideration, indeed, every thing connected with these +verses,--the last tender aspirations of a loving spirit which they +breathe, the self-devotion to a noble cause which they so nobly +express, and that consciousness of a near grave glimmering sadly +through the whole,--there is perhaps no production within the range +of mere human composition round which the circumstances and feelings +under which it was written cast so touching an interest. + + +"JANUARY 22D. + +"ON THIS DAY I COMPLETE MY THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR. + +1. + "'Tis time this heart should be unmoved, + Since others it hath ceased to move; + Yet though I cannot be beloved, + Still let me love! + +2. + "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! + +3. + "The fire that on my bosom preys + Is lone as some volcanic isle; + No torch is kindled at its blaze-- + A funeral pile! + +4. + "The hope, the fear, the jealous care, + The exalted portion of the pain + And power of love, I cannot share, + But wear the chain. + +5. + "But 'tis not _thus_--and 'tis not _here_-- + Such thoughts should shake my soul, nor _now_, + Where glory decks the hero's bier, + Or binds his brow. + +6. + "The sword, the banner, and the field, + Glory and Greece, around roe see! + The Spartan, borne upon his shield, + Was not more free. + +7. + "Awake! (not Greece--she _is_ awake!) + Awake, my spirit! Think through _whom_ + Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake, + And then strike home! + +8. + "Tread those reviving passions down, + Unworthy manhood!--unto thee + Indifferent should the smile or frown + Of beauty be. + +9. + "If thou regret'st thy youth, _why live_? + The land of honourable death + Is here:--up to the field, and give + Away thy breath! + +10. + "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." + +"We perceived," says Count Gamba, "from these lines, as well as from +his daily conversations, that his ambition and his hope were +irrevocably fixed upon the glorious objects of his expedition to +Greece, and that he had made up his mind to 'return victorious, or +return no more.' Indeed, he often said to me, 'Others may do as they +please--they may go--but I stay here, _that is certain_.' The same +determination was expressed in his letters to his friends; and this +resolution was not unaccompanied with the very natural +presentiment--that he should never leave Greece alive. He one day +asked his faithful servant, Tita, whether he thought of returning to +Italy? 'Yes,' said Tita: 'if your Lordship goes, I go.' Lord Byron +smiled, and said, 'No, Tita, I shall never go back from +Greece--either the Turks, or the Greeks, or the climate, will prevent +that.'" + + +LETTER 540. TO MR. CHARLES HANCOCK. + +"Missolonghi, February 5. 1824. + +"Dr. Muir's letter and yours of the 23d reached me some days ago. +Tell Muir that I am glad of his promotion for his sake, and of his +remaining near us for all our sakes; though I cannot but regret Dr. +Kennedy's departure, which accounts for the previous earthquakes and +the present English weather in this climate. With all respect to my +medical pastor, I have to announce to him, that amongst other +fire-brands, our firemaster Parry (just landed) has disembarked an +elect blacksmith, intrusted with three hundred and twenty-two Greek +Testaments. I have given him all facilities in my power for his works +spiritual and temporal; and if he can settle matters as easily with +the Greek Archbishop and hierarchy, I trust that neither the heretic +nor the supposed sceptic will be accused of intolerance. + +"By the way, I met with the said Archbishop at Anatolico (where I +went by invitation of the Primates a few days ago, and was received +with a heavier cannonade than the Turks, probably,) for the second +time (I had known him here before); and he and P. Mavrocordato, and +the Chiefs and Primates and I, all dined together, and I thought the +metropolitan the merriest of the party, and a very good Christian for +all that. But Gamba (we got wet through on our way back) has been ill +with a fever and cholic; and Luke has been out of sorts too, and so +have some others of the people, and I have been very well,--except +that I caught cold yesterday, with swearing too much in the rain at +the Greeks, who would not bear a hand in landing the Committee +stores, and nearly spoiled our combustibles; but I turned out in +person, and made such a row as set them in motion, blaspheming at +them from the Government downwards, till they actually did _some_ +part of what they ought to have done several days before, and this is +esteemed, as it deserves to be, a wonder. + +"Tell Muir that, notwithstanding his remonstrances, which I receive +thankfully, it is perhaps best that I should advance with the troops; +for if we do not do something soon, we shall only have a third year +of defensive operations and another siege, and all that. We hear that +the Turks are coming down in force, and sooner than usual; and as +these fellows do mind me a little, it is the opinion that I should +go,--firstly, because they will sooner listen to a foreigner than one +of their own people, out of native jealousies; secondly, because the +Turks will sooner treat or capitulate (if such occasion should +happen) with a Frank than a Greek; and, thirdly, because nobody else +seems disposed to take the responsibility--Mavrocordato being very +busy here, the foreign military men too young or not of authority +enough to be obeyed by the natives, and the Chiefs (as aforesaid) +inclined to obey any one except, or rather than, one of their own +body. As for me, I am willing to do what I am bidden, and to follow +my instructions. I neither seek nor shun that nor any thing else they +may wish me to attempt: as for personal safety, besides that it ought +not to be a consideration, I take it that a man is on the whole as +safe in one place as another; and, after all, he had better end with +a bullet than bark in his body. If we are not taken off with the +sword, we are like to march off with an ague in this mud basket; and +to conclude with a very bad pun, to the ear rather than to the eye, +better _martially_ than _marsh-ally:_--the situation of Missolonghi +is not unknown to you. The dykes of Holland when broken down are the +Deserts of Arabia for dryness, in comparison. + +"And now for the sinews of war. I thank you and Mr. Barff for your +ready answers, which, next to ready money, is a pleasant thing. +Besides the assets and balance, and the relics of the Corgialegno +correspondence with Leghorn and Genoa, (I sold the dog flour, tell +him, but not at _his_ price,) I shall request and require, from the +beginning of March ensuing, about five thousand dollars every two +months, _i.e._, about twenty-five thousand within the current year, +at regular intervals, independent of the sums now negotiating. I can +show you documents to prove that these are considerably _within_ my +supplies for the year in more ways than one; but I do not like to +tell the Greeks exactly what I _could_ or would advance on an +emergency, because otherwise, they will double and triple their +demands, (a disposition that they have already sufficiently shown): +and though I am willing to do all I can _when_ necessary, yet I do +not see why they should not help a little; for they are not quite so +bare as they pretend to be by some accounts. + + +"February 7. 1824. + +"I have been interrupted by the arrival of Parry and afterwards by +the return of Hesketh, who has not brought an answer to my epistles, +which rather surprises me. You will write soon, I suppose. Parry +seems a fine rough subject, but will hardly be ready for the field +these three weeks; he and I will (I think) be able to draw +together,--at least, _I_ will not interfere with or contradict him in +his own department. He complains grievously of the mercantile and +_enthusymusy_ part of the Committee, but greatly praises Gordon and +Hume. Gordon _would_ have given three or four thousand pounds and +come out _himself_, but Kennedy or somebody else disgusted him, and +thus they have spoiled part of their subscription and cramped their +operations. Parry says B---- is a humbug, to which I say nothing. He +sorely laments the printing and civilising expenses, and wishes that +there was not a Sunday-school in the world, or _any_ school _here_ at +present, save and except always an academy for artilleryship. + +"He complained also of the cold, a little to my surprise; firstly, +because, there being no chimneys, I have used myself to do without +other warmth than the animal heat and one's cloak, in these parts; +and, secondly, because I should as soon have expected to hear a +volcano sneeze, as a firemaster (who is to burn a whole fleet) +exclaim against the atmosphere. I fully expected that his very +approach would have scorched up the town like the burning-glasses of +Archimedes. + +"Well, it seems that I am to be Commander-in-Chief, and the post is +by no means a sinecure, for we are not what Major Sturgeon calls 'a +set of the most amicable officers.' Whether we shall have 'a boxing +bout between Captain Sheers and the Colonel,' I cannot tell; but, +between Suliote chiefs, German barons, English volunteers, and +adventurers of all nations, we are likely to form as goodly an allied +army as ever quarrelled beneath the same banner. + + +"February 8. 1824. + +"Interrupted again by business yesterday, and it is time to conclude +my letter. I drew some time since on Mr. Barff for a thousand +dollars, to complete some money wanted by the Government. The said +Government got cash on that bill _here_, and at a profit; but the +very same fellow who gave it to them, after proposing to give me +money for other bills on Barff to the amount of thirteen hundred +dollars, either could not, or thought better of it. I had written to +Barff advising him, but had afterwards to write to tell him of the +fellow's having not come up to time. You must really send me the +balance soon. I have the artillerists and my Suliotes to pay, and +Heaven knows what besides; and as every thing depends upon +punctuality, all our operations will be at a standstill unless you +use despatch. I shall send to Mr. Barff or to you further bills on +England for three thousand pounds, to be negotiated as speedily as +you can. I have already stated here and formerly the sums I can +command at home within the year,--without including my credits, or +the bills already negotiated or negotiating, as Corgialegno's balance +of Mr. Webb's letter,--and my letters from my friends (received by +Mr. Parry's vessel) confirm what I have already stated. How much I +may require in the course of the year I can't tell, but I will take +care that it shall not exceed the means to supply it. Yours ever, +N.B. + +"P.S. I have had, by desire of a Mr. _Jerostati_, to draw on +Demetrius Delladecima (is it our friend in ultima analise?) to pay +the Committee expenses. I really do not understand what the Committee +mean by some of their freedoms. Parry and I get on very well +_hitherto_: how long this may last, Heaven knows, but I hope it will, +for a good deal for the Greek service depends upon it; but he has +already had some" _miffs_ with Col. S. and I do all I can to keep the +peace amongst them. However, Parry is a fine fellow, extremely +active, and of strong, sound, practical talents, by all accounts. +Enclosed are bills for three thousand pounds, drawn in the mode +directed (_i.e._ parcelled out in smaller bills). A good opportunity +occurring for Cephalonia to send letters on, I avail myself of it. +Remember me to Stevens and to all friends. Also my compliments and +every thing kind to the colonels and officers. + + +"February 9. 1824. + +"P.S. 2d or 3d. I have reason to expect a person from England +directed with papers (on business) for me to sign, somewhere in the +Islands, by and by: if such should arrive, would you forward him to +me by a safe conveyance, as the papers regard a transaction with +regard to the adjustment of a lawsuit, and a sum of several thousand +pounds, which I, or my bankers and trustees for me, may have to +receive (in England) in consequence. The time of the probable arrival +I cannot state, but the date of my letters is the 2d Nov. and I +suppose that he ought to arrive soon." + +How strong were the hopes which even those who watched him most +observingly conceived from the whole tenor of his conduct since his +arrival at Missolonghi, will appear from the following words of +Colonel Stanhope, in one of his letters to the Greek Committee:-- + +"Lord Byron possesses all the means of playing a great part in the +glorious revolution of Greece. He has talent; he professes liberal +principles; he has money, and is inspired with fervent and chivalrous +feelings. He has commenced his career by two good measures: 1st, by +recommending union, and declaring himself of no party; and, 2dly, by +taking five hundred Suliotes into pay, and acting as their chief. +These acts cannot fail to render his Lordship universally popular, +and proportionally powerful. Thus advantageously circumstanced, his +Lordship will have an opportunity of realising all his professions." + +That the inspirer, however, of these hopes was himself far from +participating in them is a fact manifest from all he said and wrote +on the subject, and but adds painfully to the interest which his +position at this moment excites. Too well, indeed, did he both +understand and feel the difficulties into which he was plunged to +deceive himself into any such sanguine delusions. In one only of the +objects to which he had looked forward with any hope,--that of +endeavouring to humanise, by his example, the system of warfare on +both sides,--had he yet been able to gratify himself. Not many days +after his arrival an opportunity, as we have seen, had been afforded +him of rescuing an unfortunate Turk out of the hands of some Greek +sailors; and, towards the end of the month, having learned that there +were a few Turkish prisoners in confinement at Missolonghi, he +requested of the Government to place them at his disposal, that he +might send them to Yussuff Pacha. In performing this act of humane +policy, he transmitted with the rescued captives the following +letter:-- + + +LETTER 541. + +TO HIS HIGHNESS YUSSUFF PACHA. + +"Missolonghi, January 23. 1824. + +"Highness! + +"A vessel, in which a friend and some domestics of mine were +embarked, was detained a few days ago, and released by order of your +Highness. I have now to thank you; not for liberating the vessel, +which, as carrying a neutral flag, and being under British +protection, no one had a right to detain; but for having treated my +friends with so much kindness while they were in your hands. + +"In the hope, therefore, that it may not be altogether displeasing to +your Highness, I have requested the governor of this place to release +four Turkish prisoners, and he has humanely consented to do so. I +lose no time, therefore, in sending them back, in order to make as +early a return as I could for your courtesy on the late occasion. +These prisoners are liberated without any conditions: but should the +circumstance find a place in your recollection, I venture to beg, +that your Highness will treat such Greeks as may henceforth fall into +your hands with humanity; more especially since the horrors of war +are sufficiently great in themselves, without being aggravated by +wanton cruelties on either side. NOEL BYRON." + +Another favourite and, as it appeared for some time, practicable +object, on which he had most ardently set his heart, was the intended +attack upon Lepanto--a fortified town[1] which, from its command of +the navigation of the Gulf of Corinth, is a position of the first +importance. "Lord Byron," says Colonel Stanhope, in a letter dated +January 14., "burns with military ardour and chivalry, and will +accompany the expedition to Lepanto." The delay of Parry, the +engineer, who had been for some months anxiously expected with the +supplies necessary for the formation of a brigade of artillery, had +hitherto paralysed the preparations for this important enterprise; +though, in the mean time, whatever little could be effected, without +his aid, had been put in progress both by the appointment of a +brigade of Suliotes to act under Lord Byron, and by the formation, at +the joint expense of his Lordship and Colonel Stanhope, of a small +corps of artillery. + +[Footnote 1: The ancient Naupactus, called Epacto by the modern +Greeks, and Lepauto by the Italians.] + +It was towards the latter end of January, as we have seen, that Lord +Byron received his regular commission from the Government, as +Commander of the expedition. In conferring upon him full powers, both +civil and military, they appointed, at the same time, a Military +Council to accompany him, composed of the most experienced Chieftains +of the army, with Nota Bozzari, the uncle of the famous warrior, at +their head. + +It had been expected that, among the stores sent with Parry, there +would be a supply of Congreve rockets,--an instrument of warfare of +which such wonders had been related to the Greeks as filled their +imaginations with the most absurd ideas of its powers. Their +disappointment, therefore, on finding that the engineer had come +unprovided with these missiles was excessive. Another hope, +too,--that of being enabled to complete an artillery corps by the +accession of those Germans who had been sent for into the Morea,--was +found almost equally fallacious; that body of men having, from the +death or retirement of those who originally composed it, nearly +dwindled away; and the few officers that now came to serve being, +from their fantastic notions of rank and etiquette, far more +troublesome than useful. In addition to these discouraging +circumstances, the five Speziot ships of war which had for some time +formed the sole protection of Missolonghi were now returned to their +home, and had left their places to be filled by the enemy's squadron. + +Perplexing as were all these difficulties in the way of the +expedition, a still more formidable embarrassment presented itself in +the turbulent and almost mutinous disposition of those Suliote troops +on whom he mainly depended for success in his undertaking. Presuming +as well upon his wealth and generosity as upon their own military +importance, these unruly warriors had never ceased to rise in the +extravagance of their demands upon him;--the wholly destitute and +homeless state of their families at this moment affording but too +well founded a pretext both for their exaction and discontent. Nor +were their leaders much more amenable to management than themselves. +"There were," says Count Gamba, "six heads of families among them, +all of whom had equal pretensions both by their birth and their +exploits; and none of whom would obey any one of his comrades." + +A serious riot to which, about the middle of January, these Suliotes +had given rise, and in which some lives were lost, had been a source +of much irritation and anxiety to Lord Byron, as well from the +ill-blood it was likely to engender between his troops and the +citizens, as from the little dependence it gave him encouragement to +place upon materials so unmanageable. Notwithstanding all this, +however, neither his eagerness nor his efforts for the accomplishment +of this sole personal object of his ambition ever relaxed a single +instant. To whatever little glory was to be won by the attack upon +Lepanto, he looked forward as his only reward for all the sacrifices +he was making. In his conversations with Count Gamba on the subject, +"though he joked a good deal," says this gentleman, "about his post +of 'Archistrategos,' or Commander in Chief, it was plain that the +romance and the peril of the undertaking were great allurements to +him." When we combine, indeed, his determination to stand, at all +hazards, by the cause, with the very faint hopes his sagacious mind +would let him indulge as to his power of serving it, I have little +doubt that the "soldier's grave" which, in his own beautiful verses, +he marked out for himself, was no idle dream of poetry; but that, on +the contrary, his "wish was father to the thought," and that to an +honourable death, in some such achievement as that of storming +Lepanto, he looked forward, not only as the sole means of redeeming +worthily the great pledge he had now given, but as the most signal +and lasting service that a name like his,--echoed, as it would then +be, among the watch-words of Liberty, from age to age,--could +bequeath to her cause. + +In the midst of these cares he was much gratified by the receipt of a +letter from an old friend of his, Andrea Londo, whom he had made +acquaintance with in his early travels in 1809, and who was at that +period a rich proprietor, under the Turks, in the Morca.[1] This +patriotic Greek was one of the foremost to raise the standard of the +Cross; and at the present moment stood distinguished among the +supporters of the Legislative Body and of the new national +Government. The following is a translation of Lord Byron's answer to +his letter. + +[Footnote 1: This brave Moriote, when Lord Byron first knew him, was +particularly boyish in his aspect and manners, but still cherished, +under this exterior, a mature spirit of patriotism which occasionally +broke forth; and the noble poet used to relate that, one day, while +they were playing at draughts together, on the name of Riga being +pronounced, Londo leaped from the table, and clapping violently his +hands, began singing the famous song of that ill-fated patriot:-- + + "Sons of the Greeks, arise! + The glorious hour's gone forth."] + + +LETTER 542. TO LONDO. + +"Dear Friend, + +"The sight of your handwriting gave me the greatest pleasure. Greece +has ever been for me, as it must be for all men of any feeling or +education, the promised land of valour, of the arts, and of liberty; +nor did the time I passed in my youth in travelling among her ruins +at all chill my affection for the birthplace of heroes. In addition +to this, I am bound to yourself by ties of friendship and gratitude +for the hospitality which I experienced from you during my stay in +that country, of which you are now become one of the first defenders +and ornaments. To see myself serving, by your side and under your +eyes, in the cause of Greece, will be to me one of the happiest +events of my life. In the mean time, with the hope of our again +meeting, + +"I am, as ever," &c. + +Among the less serious embarrassments of his position at this period, +may be mentioned the struggle maintained against him by his +colleague, Colonel Stanhope,--with a degree of conscientious +perseverance which, even while thwarted by it, he could not but +respect, on the subject of a Free Press, which it was one of the +favourite objects of his fellow-agent to bring instantly into +operation in all parts of Greece. On this important point their +opinions differed considerably; and the following report, by Colonel +Stanhope, of one of their many conversations on the subject, may be +taken as a fair and concise statement of their respective +views:--"Lord Byron said that he was an ardent friend of publicity +and the press: but that he feared it was not applicable to this +society in its present combustible state. I answered that I thought +it applicable to all countries, and essential here, in order to put +an end to the state of anarchy which at present prevailed. Lord B. +feared libels and licentiousness. I said that the object of a free +press was to check public licentiousness, and to expose libellers to +odium. Lord B. had mentioned his conversation with Mavrocordato[1] to +show that the Prince was not hostile to the press. I declared that I +knew him to be an enemy to the press, although he dared not openly to +avow it. His Lordship then said that he had not made up his mind +about the liberty of the press in Greece, but that he thought the +experiment worth trying." + +[Footnote 1: Lord Byron had, it seems, acknowledged, on the preceding +evening, his having remarked to Prince Blavrocordato that "if he were +in his situation, he would have placed the press under a censor;" to +which the Prince had replied, "No; the liberty of the press is +guaranteed by the Constitution."] + +That between two men, both eager in the service of one common cause, +there should arise a difference of opinion as to the _means_ of +serving it is but a natural result of the varieties of human +judgment, and detracts nothing from the zeal or sincerity of either. +But by those who do not suffer themselves to be carried away by a +theory, it will be conceded, I think, that the scruples professed by +Lord Byron, with respect to the expedience or safety of introducing +what is called a Free Press into a country so little advanced in +civilisation as Greece, were founded on just views of human nature +and practical good sense. To endeavour to force upon a state of +society, so unprepared for them, such full grown institutions; to +think of engrafting, at once, on an ignorant people the fruits of +long knowledge and cultivation,--of importing among them, ready made, +those advantages and blessings which no nation ever attained but by +its own working out, nor ever was fitted to enjoy but by having first +struggled for them; to harbour even a dream of the success of such an +experiment, implies a sanguineness almost incredible, and such as, +though, in the present instance, indulged by the political economist +and soldier, was, as we have seen, beyond the poet. + +The enthusiastic and, in many respects, well founded confidence with +which Colonel Stanhope appealed to the authority of Mr. Bentham on +most of the points at issue between himself and Lord Byron, was, from +that natural antipathy which seems to exist between political +economists and poets, but little sympathised in by the latter;--such +appeals being always met by him with those sallies of ridicule, which +he found the best-humoured vent for his impatience under argument, +and to which, notwithstanding the venerable name and services of Mr. +Bentham himself, the quackery of much that is promulgated by his +followers presented, it must be owned, ample scope. Romantic, indeed, +as was Lord Byron's sacrifice of himself to the cause of Greece, +there was in the views he took of the means of serving her not a +tinge of the unsubstantial or speculative. The grand practical task +of freeing her from her tyrants was his first and main object. He +knew that slavery was the great bar to knowledge, and must be broken +through before her light could come; that the work of the sword must +therefore precede that of the pen, and camps be the first schools of +freedom. + +With such sound and manly views of the true exigencies of the crisis, +it is not wonderful that he should view with impatience, and +something, perhaps, of contempt, all that premature apparatus of +printing-presses, pedagogues, &c. with which the Philhellenes of the +London Committee were, in their rage for "utilitarianism," +encumbering him. Nor were some of the correspondents of this body +much more solid in their speculations than themselves; one +intelligent gentleman having suggested, as a means of conferring +signal advantages on the cause, an alteration of the Greek alphabet. + +Though feeling, as strongly, perhaps, as Lord Byron, the importance +of the great object of their mission,--that of rousing and, what was +far more difficult, combining against the common foe the energies of +the country,--Colonel Stanhope was also one of those who thought that +the lights of their great master, Bentham, and the operations of a +press unrestrictedly free, were no less essential instruments towards +the advancement of the struggle; and in this opinion, as we have +seen, the poet and man of literature differed from the soldier. But +it was such a difference as, between men of frank and fair minds, may +arise without either reproach to themselves, or danger to their +cause,--a strife of opinion which; though maintained with heat, may +be remembered without bitterness, and which, in the present instance, +neither prevented Byron, at the close of one of their warmest +altercations, from exclaiming generously to his opponent, "Give me +that honest right hand," nor withheld the other from pouring forth, +at the grave of his colleague, a strain of eulogy[1] not the less +cordial for being discriminatingly shaded with censure, nor less +honourable to the illustrious dead for being the tribute of one who +had once manfully differed with him. + +[Footnote 1: Sketch of Lord Byron.--See Colonel Stanhope's "Greece in +1823, 1824," &c.] + +Towards the middle of February, the indefatigable activity of Mr. +Parry having brought the artillery brigade into such a state of +forwardness as to be almost ready for service, an inspection of the +Suliote corps took place, preparatory to the expedition; and after +much of the usual deception and unmanageableness on their part, every +obstacle appeared to be at length surmounted. It was agreed that they +should receive a month's pay in advance;--Count Gamba, with 300 of +their corps, as a vanguard, was to march next day and take up a +position under Lepanto, and Lord Byron with the main body and the +artillery was speedily to follow. + +New difficulties, however, were soon started by these untractable +mercenaries; and under the instigation, as was discovered afterwards, +of the great rival of Mavrocordato, Colocotroni, who had sent +emissaries into Missolonghi for the purpose of seducing them, they +now put forward their exactions in a new shape, by requiring of the +Government to appoint, out of their number, two generals, two +colonels, two captains, and inferior officers in the same +proportion:--"in short," says Count Gamba, "that, out of three or +four hundred actual Suliotes, there should be about one hundred and +fifty above the rank of common soldiers." The audacious dishonesty of +this demand,--beyond what he could have expected even from +Greeks,--roused all Lord Byron's rage, and he at once signified to +the whole body, through Count Gamba, that all negotiation between +them and himself was at an end; that he could no longer have any +confidence in persons so little true to their engagements; and that +though the relief which he had afforded to their families should +still be continued, all his agreements with them, as a body, must be +thenceforward void. + +It was on the 14th of February that this rupture with the Suliotes +took place; and though, on the following day, in consequence of the +full submission of their Chiefs, they were again received into his +Lordship's service on his own terms, the whole affair, combined with +the various other difficulties that now beset him, agitated his mind +considerably. He saw with pain that he should but place in peril both +the cause of Greece and his own character, by at all relying, in such +an enterprise, upon troops whom any intriguer could thus seduce from +their duty; and that, till some more regular force could be +organised, the expedition against Lepanto must be suspended. + +While these vexatious events were occurring, the interruption of his +accustomed exercise by the rains but increased the irritability that +such delays were calculated to excite; and the whole together, no +doubt, concurred with whatever predisposing tendencies were already +in his constitution, to bring on that convulsive fit,--the forerunner +of his death,--which, on the evening of the 15th of February, seized +him. He was sitting, at about eight o'clock, with only Mr. Parry and +Mr. Hesketh, in the apartment of Colonel Stanhope,--talking jestingly +upon one of his favourite topics, the differences between himself and +this latter gentleman, and saying that "he believed, after all, the +author's brigade would be ready before the soldier's printing-press." +There was an unusual flush in his face, and from the rapid changes of +his countenance it was manifest that he was suffering under some +nervous agitation. He then complained of being thirsty, and, calling +for some cider, drank of it; upon which, a still greater change being +observable over his features, he rose from his seat, but was unable +to walk, and, after staggering forward a step or two, fell into Mr. +Parry's arms. In another minute, his teeth were closed, his speech +and senses gone, and he was in strong convulsions. So violent, +indeed, were his struggles, that it required all the strength both of +Mr. Parry and his servant Tita to hold him during the fit. His face, +too, was much distorted; and, as he told Count Gamba afterwards, "so +intense were his sufferings during the convulsion, that, had it +lasted but a minute longer, he believed he must have died." The fit +was, however, as short as it was violent; in a few minutes his speech +and senses returned; his features, though still pale and haggard, +resumed their natural shape, and no effect remained from the attack +but excessive weakness. "As soon as he could speak," says Count +Gamba, "he showed himself perfectly free from all alarm; but he very +coolly asked whether his attack was likely to prove fatal. 'Let me +know,' he said; 'do not think I am afraid to die--I am not.'" + +This painful event had not occurred more than half an hour, when a +report was brought that the Suliotes were up in arms, and about to +attack the seraglio, for the purpose of seizing the magazines. +Instantly Lord Byron's friends ran to the arsenal; the artillery-men +were ordered under arms; the sentinels doubled, and the cannon loaded +and pointed on the approaches to the gates. Though the alarm proved +to be false, the very likelihood of such an attack shows sufficiently +how precarious was the state of Missolonghi at this moment, and in +what a scene of peril, confusion, and uncomfort, the now nearly +numbered days of England's poet were to close. + +On the following morning he was found to be better, but still pale +and weak, and complained much of a sensation of weight in his head. +The doctors, therefore, thought it right to apply leeches to his +temples; but found it difficult, on their removal, to stop the blood, +which continued to flow so copiously, that from exhaustion he +fainted. It must have been on this day that the scene thus described +by Colonel Stanhope occurred:-- + +"Soon after his dreadful paroxysm, when, faint with over-bleeding, he +was lying on his sick bed, with his whole nervous system completely +shaken, the mutinous Suliotes, covered with dirt and splendid +attires, broke into his apartment, brandishing their costly arms, and +loudly demanding their wild rights. Lord Byron, electrified by this +unexpected act, seemed to recover from his sickness; and the more the +Suliotes raged, the more his calm courage triumphed. The scene was +truly sublime." + +Another eye-witness, Count Gamba, bears similar testimony to the +presence of mind with which he fronted this and all other such +dangers. "It is impossible," says this gentleman, "to do justice to +the coolness and magnanimity which he displayed upon every trying +occasion. Upon trifling occasions he was certainly irritable; but the +aspect of danger calmed him in an instant, and restored to him the +free exercise of all the powers of his noble nature. A more undaunted +man in the hour of peril never breathed." + +The letters written by him during the few following weeks form, as +usual, the best record of his proceedings, and, besides the sad +interest they possess as being among the latest from his hand, are +also precious, as affording proof that neither illness nor +disappointment, neither a worn-out frame nor even a hopeless spirit, +could lead him for a moment to think of abandoning the great cause he +had espoused; while to the last, too, he preserved unbroken the +cheerful spring of his mind, his manly endurance of all ills that +affected but himself, and his ever-wakeful consideration for the +wants of others. + + +LETTER 543. TO MR. BARFF. + +"February 21. + +"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 since been up daily, and out in +boats of 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 +animal food. + +"Besides the four Turks sent to Patras, I have obtained the release +of four-and-twenty women and children, and sent them at my own +expense to Prevesa, that the English Consul-General may consign them +to their relations. I did this by their own desire. Matters here are +a little embroiled with the Suliotes and foreigners, &c., 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.[1] + +[Footnote 1: In a letter to the same gentleman, dated January 27., he +had already said, "I hope that things here will go on well some time +or other. I will stick by the cause as long as a cause exists--first +or second."] + +"I am obliged to support the Government here for the present." + +The prisoners mentioned in this letter as having been released by him +and sent to Prevesa, had been held in captivity at Missolonghi since +the beginning of the Revolution. The following was the letter which +he forwarded with them to the English Consul at Prevesa. + + +LETTER 544. TO MR. MAYER. + +"Sir, + +"Coming to Greece, one of my principal objects was to alleviate as +much as possible the miseries incident to a warfare so cruel as the +present. When the dictates of humanity are in question, I know no +difference between Turks and Greeks. It is enough that those who want +assistance are men, in order to claim the pity and protection of the +meanest pretender to humane feelings. I have found here twenty-four +Turks, including women and children, who have long pined in distress, +far from the means of support and the consolations of their home. The +Government has consigned them to me; I transmit them to Prevesa, +whither they desire to be sent. I hope you will not object to take +care that they may be restored to a place of safety, and that the +Governor of your town may accept of my present. The best recompense I +can hope for would be to find that I had inspired the Ottoman +commanders with the same sentiments towards those unhappy Greeks who +may hereafter fall into their hands. + +"I beg you to believe me," &c. + + +LETTER 545. + +TO THE HONOURABLE DOUGLAS KINNAIRD. + +"Missolonghi, February 21. 1824. + +"I have received yours of the 2d of November. It is essential that +the money should be paid, as I have drawn for it all, and more too, +to help the Greeks. Parry is here, and he and I agree very well; and +all is going on hopefully for the present, considering circumstances. + +"We shall have work this year, for the Turks are coming down in +force; and, as for me, I must stand by the cause. I shall shortly +march (according to orders) against Lepanto, with two thousand men. I +have been here some time, after some narrow escapes from the Turks, +and also from being ship-wrecked. We were twice upon the rocks; but +this you will have heard, truly or falsely, through other channels, +and I do not wish to bore you with a long story. + +"So far I have succeeded in supporting the Government of Western +Greece, which would otherwise have been dissolved. If you have +received the eleven thousand and odd pounds, these, with what I have +in hand, and my income for the current year, to say nothing of +contingencies, will, or might, enable me to keep the 'sinews of war' +properly strung. If the deputies be honest fellows, and obtain the +loan, they will repay the 4000,'. as agreed upon; and even then I +shall save little, or indeed less than little, since I am maintaining +nearly the whole machine--in this place, at least--at my own cost. +But let the Greeks only succeed, and I don't care for myself. + +"I have been very seriously unwell, but am getting better, and can +ride about again; so pray quiet our friends on that score. + +"It is not true that I ever _did, will, would, could, _ or _should_ +write a satire against Gifford, or a hair of his head. I always +considered him as my literary father, and myself as his 'prodigal +son;' and if I have allowed his 'fatted calf' to grow to an ox +before, he kills it on my return, it is only because I prefer beef to +veal. Yours," &c + + +LETTER 546. TO MR. BARFF. + +"February 23. + +"My health seems improving, especially from riding and the warm bath. +Six Englishmen will be soon in quarantine at Zante; they are +artificers[1], and have had enough of Greece in fourteen days. If you +could recommend them to a passage home, I would thank you; they are +good men enough, but do not quite understand the little discrepancies +in these countries, and are not used to see shooting and slashing in +a domestic quiet way, or (as it forms here) a part of housekeeping. + +[Footnote 1: The workmen who came out with Parry; and who, alarmed by +the scene of confusion and danger they found at Missolonghi, had +resolved to return home.] + +"If they should want any thing during their quarantine, you can +advance them not more than a dollar a day (amongst them) for that +period, to purchase them some little extras as comforts (as they are +quite out of their element). I cannot afford them more at present." + +The following letter to Mr. Murray,--which it is most gratifying to +have to produce, as the last completing link of a long friendship and +correspondence which had been but for a short time, and through the +fault only of others, interrupted,--contains such a summary of the +chief events now passing round Lord Byron, as, with the assistance of +a few notes, will render any more detailed narrative unnecessary. + + +LETTER 547. TO MR. MURRAY. + +"Missolonghi, February 25. 1824. + +"I have heard from Mr. Douglas Kinnaird that you state 'a report of a +satire on Mr. Gifford having arrived from Italy, _said_ to be written +by _me_! but that _you_ do not believe it.' I dare say you do not, +nor anybody else, I should think. Whoever asserts that I am the +author or abettor of any thing of the kind on Gifford lies in his +throat. If any such composition exists it is none of mine. _You_ know +as well as any body upon _whom_ I have or have not written; and _you_ +also know whether they do or did not deserve that same. And so much +for such matters. + +"You will perhaps be anxious to hear some news from this part of +Greece (which is the most liable to invasion); but you will hear +enough through public and private channels. I will, however, give you +the events of a week, mingling my own private peculiar with the +public; for we are here a little jumbled together at present. + +"On Sunday (the 15th, I believe,) I had a strong and sudden +convulsive attack, which left me speechless, though not +motionless--for some strong men could not hold me; but whether it was +epilepsy, catalepsy, cachexy, or apoplexy, or what other _exy _ or +_epsy_, the doctors have not decided; or whether it was spasmodic or +nervous, &c.; but it was very unpleasant, and nearly carried me off, +and all that. On Monday, they put leeches to my temples, no difficult +matter, but the blood could not be stopped till eleven at night (they +had gone too near the temporal artery for my temporal safety), and +neither styptic nor caustic would cauterise the orifice till after a +hundred attempts. + +"On Tuesday, a Turkish brig of war ran on shore. On Wednesday, great +preparations being made to attack her, though protected by her +consorts[1], the Turks burned her and retired to Patras. On Thursday +a quarrel ensued between the Suliotes and the Frank guard at the +arsenal: a Swedish officer[2] was killed, and a Suliote severely +wounded, and a general fight expected, and with some difficulty +prevented. On Friday, the officer was buried; and Captain Parry's +English artificers mutinied, under pretence that their lives are in +danger, and are for quitting the country:--they may.[3] + +[Footnote 1: "Early in the morning we prepared for our attack on the +brig. Lord Byron, notwithstanding his weakness, and an inflammation +that threatened his eyes, was most anxious to be of our party; but +the physicians would not suffer him to go."--COUNT GAMBA'S +_Narrative_. + +His Lordship had promised a reward for every Turk taken alive in the +proposed attack on this vessel.] + +[Footnote 2: Captain Sasse, an officer esteemed as one of the best +and bravest of the foreigners in the Greek service. "This," says +Colonel Stanhope, in a letter, February 18th, to the Committee, "is a +serious affair. The Suliotes have no country, no home for their +families; arrears of pay are owing to them; the people of Missolonghi +hate and pay them exorbitantly. Lord Byron, who was to have led them +to Lepanto, is much shaken by his fit, and will probably be obliged +to retire from Greece. In short, all our hopes in this quarter are +damped for the present. I am not a little fearful, too, that these +wild warriors will not forget the blood that has been spilt. I this +morning told Prince Mavrocordato and Lord Byron that they must come +to some resolution about compelling the Suliotes to quit the place."] + +[Footnote 3: This was a fresh, and, as may be conceived, serious +disappointment to Lord Byron. "The departure of these men," says +Count Gamba, "made us fear that our laboratory would come to nothing; +for, if we tried to supply the place of the artificers with native +Greeks, we should make but little progress.] + +"On Saturday we had the smartest shock of an earthquake which I +remember, (and I have felt thirty, slight or smart, at different +periods; they are common in the Mediterranean,) and the whole army +discharged their arms, upon the same principle that savages beat +drums, or howl, during an eclipse of the moon:--it was a rare scene +altogether--if you had but seen the English Johnnies, who had never +been out of a cockney workshop before!--or will again, if they can +help it--and on Sunday, we heard that the Vizier is come down to +Larissa, with one hundred and odd thousand men. + +"In coming here, I had two escapes, one from the Turks, _(one_ of my +vessels was taken, but afterwards released,) and the other from +shipwreck. We drove twice on the rocks near the Scrophes (islands +near the coast). + +"I have obtained from the Greeks the release of eight-and-twenty +Turkish prisoners, men, women, and children, and sent them to Patras +and Prevesa at my own charges. One little girl of nine years old, who +prefers remaining with me, I shall (if I live) send, with her mother, +probably, to Italy, or to England. Her name is Hato, or Hatagee. She +is a very pretty, lively child. All her brothers were killed by the +Greeks, and she herself and her mother merely spared by special +favour and owing to her extreme youth, she being then but five or six +years old. + +"My health is now better, and I ride about again. My office here is +no sinecure, so many parties and difficulties of every kind; but I +will do what I can. Prince Mavrocordato is an excellent person, and +does all in his power, but his situation is perplexing in the +extreme. Still we have great hopes of the success of the contest. You +will hear, however, more of public news from plenty of quarters; for +I have little time to write. + +"Believe me yours, &c. &c. N. BN." + +The fierce lawlessness of the Suliotes had now risen to such a height +that it became necessary, for the safety of the European population, +to get rid of them altogether; and, by some sacrifices on the part of +Lord Byron, this object was at length effected. The advance of a +month's pay by him, and the discharge of their arrears by the +Government, (the latter, too, with money lent for that purpose by the +same universal paymaster,) at length induced these rude warriors to +depart from the town, and with them vanished all hopes of the +expedition against Lepanto. + + +LETTER 548. TO MR. MOORE. + +"Missolonghi, Western Greece, March 4. 1824. + +"My dear Moore, + +"Your reproach is unfounded--I have received two letters from you, +and answered both previous to leaving Cephalonia. I have not been +'quiet' in an Ionian island, but much occupied with business,--as the +Greek deputies (if arrived) can tell you. Neither have I continued +'Don Juan,' nor any other poem. You go, as usual, I presume, by some +newspaper report or other.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Proceeding, as he here rightly supposes, upon newspaper +authority, I had in my letter made some allusion to his imputed +occupations, which, in his present sensitiveness on the subject of +authorship, did not at all please him. To this circumstance Count +Gamba alludes in a passage of his Narrative; where, after mentioning +a remark of Byron's, that "Poetry should only occupy the idle, and +that in more serious affairs it would be ridiculous," he adds-- +"----, at this time writing to him, said, that he had heard that +'instead of pursuing heroic and warlike adventures, he was residing +in a delightful villa, continuing Don Juan.' This offended him for +the moment, and he was sorry that such a mistaken judgment had been +formed of him." + +It is amusing to observe that, while thus anxious, and from a highly +noble motive, to throw his authorship into the shade while engaged in +so much more serious pursuits, it was yet an author's mode of revenge +that always occurred to him, when under the influence of any of these +passing resentments. Thus, when a little angry with Colonel Stanhope +one day, he exclaimed, "I will libel you in your own Chronicle;" and +in this brief burst of humour I was myself the means of provoking in +him, I have been told, on the authority of Count Gamba, that he swore +to "write a satire" upon me. + +Though the above letter shows how momentary was any little spleen he +may have felt, there not unfrequently, I own, comes over me a short +pang of regret to think that a feeling of displeasure, however +slight, should have been among the latest I awakened in him.] + +"When the proper moment to be of some use arrived, I came here; and +am told that my arrival (with some other circumstances) _has_ been +of, at least, temporary advantage to the cause. I had a narrow escape +from the Turks, and another from Shipwreck on my passage. On the 15th +(or 16th) of February I had an attack of apoplexy, or epilepsy,--the +physicians have not exactly decided which, but the alternative is +agreeable. My constitution, therefore, remains between the two +opinions, like Mahomet's sarcophagus between the magnets. All that I +can say is, that they nearly bled me to death, by placing the leeches +too near the temporal artery, so that the blood could with difficulty +be stopped, even with caustic, I am supposed to be getting better, +slowly, however. But my homilies will, I presume, for the future, be +like the Archbishop of Grenada's--in this case, 'I order you a +hundred ducats from my treasurer, and wish you a little more taste.' + +"For public matters I refer you to Colonel Stanhope's and Capt. +Parry's reports,--and to all other reports whatsoever. There is +plenty to do--war without, and tumult within--they 'kill a man a +week,' like Bob Acres in the country. Parry's artificers have gone +away in alarm, on account of a dispute in which some of the natives +and foreigners were engaged, and a Swede was killed, and a Suliote +wounded. In the middle of their fright there was a strong shock of an +earthquake; so, between that and the sword, they boomed off in a +hurry, in despite of all dissuasions to the contrary. A Turkish brig +run ashore, &c. &c. &c.[1] + +[Footnote 1: What I have omitted here is but a repetition of the +various particulars, respecting all that had happened since his +arrival, which have already been given in the letters to his other +correspondents.] + +"You, I presume, are either publishing or meditating that same. Let +me hear from and of you, and believe me, in all events, + +"Ever and affectionately yours, + +"N. B. + +"P.S. Tell Mr. Murray that I wrote to him the other day, and hope +that he has received, or will receive, the letter." + + +LETTER 549. TO DR. KENNEDY. + +"Missolonghi, March 4. 1824. + +"My dear Doctor, + +"I have to thank you for your two very kind letters, both received at +the same time, and one long after its date. I am not unaware of the +precarious state of my health, nor am, nor have been, deceived on +that subject. But it is proper that I should remain in Greece; and it +were better to die doing something than nothing. My presence here has +been supposed so far useful as to have prevented confusion from +becoming worse confounded, at least for the present. Should I become, +or be deemed useless or superfluous, I am ready to retire; but in the +interim I am not to consider personal consequences; the rest is in +the hands of Providence,--as indeed are all things. I shall, however, +observe your instructions, and indeed did so, as far as regards +abstinence, for some time past. + +"Besides the tracts, &c. which you have sent for distribution, one of +the English artificers (hight Brownbill, a tinman,) left to my charge +a number of Greek Testaments, which I will endeavour to distribute +properly. The Greeks complain that the translation is not correct, +nor in _good_ Romaic: Bambas can decide on that point. I am trying to +reconcile the clergy to the distribution, which (without due regard +to their hierarchy) they might contrive to impede or neutralise in +the effect, from their power over their people. Mr. Brownbill has +gone to the Islands, having some apprehension for his life, (not from +the priests, however,) and apparently preferring rather to be a saint +than a martyr, although his apprehensions of becoming the latter were +probably unfounded. All the English artificers accompanied him, +thinking themselves in danger on account of some troubles here, which +have apparently subsided. + +"I have been interrupted by a visit from Prince Mavrocordato and +others since I began this letter, and must close it hastily, for the +boat is announced as ready to sail. Your future convert, Hato, or +Hatagee, appears to me lively, and intelligent, and promising, and +possesses an interesting countenance. With regard to her disposition, +I can say little, but Millingen, who has the mother (who is a +middle-aged woman of good character) in his house as a domestic +(although their family was in good worldly circumstances previous to +the Revolution), speaks well of both, and he is to be relied on. As +far as I know, I have only seen the child a few times with her +mother, and what I have seen is favourable, or I should not take so +much interest in her behalf. If she turns out well, my idea would be +to send her to my daughter in England (if not to respectable persons +in Italy), and so to provide for her as to enable her to live with +reputation either singly or in marriage, if she arrive at maturity. I +will make proper arrangements about her expenses through Messrs. +Barff and Hancock, and the rest I leave to your discretion and to +Mrs. K.'s, with a great sense of obligation for your kindness in +undertaking her temporary superintendence. + +"Of public matters here, I have little to add to what you will +already have heard. We are going on as well as we can, and with the +hope and the endeavour to do better. Believe me, + +"Ever and truly," &c. + + +LETTER 550. TO MR. BARFF. + +"March 5. 1824. + +"If Sisseni[1] is sincere, he will be treated with, and well treated; +if he is not, the sin and the shame may lie at his own door. One +great object is to heal those internal dissensions for the future, +without exacting too rigorous an account of the past. Prince +Mavrocordato is of the same opinion, and whoever is disposed to act +fairly will be fairly dealt with. I _have_ heard a _good deal_ of +Sisseni, but not a _deal_ of _good_: however, I never judge from +report, particularly in a Revolution. _Personally_, I am rather +obliged to him, for he has been very hospitable to all friends of +mine who have passed through his district. You may therefore assure +him that any overture for the advantage of Greece and its internal +pacification will be readily and sincerely met _here_. I hardly think +that he would have ventured a deceitful proposition to me through +_you_, because he must be sure that in such a case it would +eventually be exposed. At any rate, the healing of these dissensions +is so important a point, that something must be risked to obtain it." + +[Footnote 1: This Sisseni, who was the _Capitano_ of the rich +district about Gastouni, and had for some time held out against the +general Government, was now, as appears by the above letter, making +overtures, through Mr. Barff, of adhesion. As a proof of his +sincerity, it was required by Lord Byron that he should surrender +into the hands of the Government the fortress of Chiarenza.] + + +LETTER 551. TO MR. BARFF. + +"March 10. + +"Enclosed is an answer to Mr. Parruca's letter, and I hope that you +will assure him from me, that I have done and am doing all I can to +re-unite the Greeks with the Greeks. + +"I am extremely obliged by your offer of your country house (as for +all other kindness) in case that my health should require my removal; +but I cannot quit Greece while there is a chance of my being of any +(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. When I +say this, I am at the same time aware of the difficulties and +dissensions and defects of the Greeks themselves; but allowance must +be made for them by all reasonable people. + +"My chief, indeed _nine tenths_ of my expenses here are solely in +advances to or on behalf of the Greeks[1], and objects connected with +their independence." + +[Footnote 1: "At this time (February 14th)," says Mr. Parry, who kept +the accounts of his Lordship's disbursements, "the expenses of Lord +Byron in the cause of the Greeks did not amount to less than two +thousand dollars per week in rations alone." In another place this +writer says, "The Greeks seemed to think he was a mine from which +they could extract gold at their pleasure. One person represented +that a supply of 20,000 dollars would save the island of Candia from +falling into the hands of the Pacha of Egypt; and there not being +that sum in hand, Lord Byron gave him authority to raise it if he +could in the Islands, and he would guarantee its repayment. I believe +this person did not succeed."] + +The letter of Parruca, to which the foregoing alludes, contained a +pressing invitation to Lord Byron to present himself in the +Peloponnesus, where, it was added, his influence would be sure to +bring about the Union of all parties. So general, indeed, was the +confidence placed in their noble ally, that, by every Chief of every +faction, he seems to have been regarded as the only rallying point +round which there was the slightest chance of their now split and +jarring interests being united. A far more flattering, as well as +more authorised, invitation soon after reached him, through an +express envoy, from the Chieftain, Colocotroni, recommending a +National Council, where his Lordship, it was proposed, should act as +mediator, and pledging this Chief himself and his followers to abide +by the result. To this application an answer was returned similar to +that which he sent to Parruca, and which was in terms as follows:-- + + +LETTER 552. TO SR. PARRUCA. + +"March 10. 1824. + +"Sir, + +"I have the honour of answering your letter. My first wish has always +been to bring the Greeks to agree amongst themselves. I came here by +the invitation of the Greek Government, and I do not think that I +ought to abandon Roumelia for the Peloponnesus until that Government +shall desire it; and the more so, as this part is exposed in a +greater degree to the enemy. Nevertheless, if my presence can really +be of any assistance in uniting two or more parties, I am ready to go +any where, either as a mediator, or, if necessary, as a hostage. In +these affairs I have neither private views, nor private dislike of +any individual, but the sincere wish of deserving the name of the +friend of your country, and of her patriots. I have the honour," &c. + + +LETTER 553. TO MR. CHARLES HANCOCK. + +"Missolonghi, March 10. 1824. + +"Sir, + +"I sent by Mr. J.M. Hodges a bill drawn on Signer C. Jerostatti for +three hundred and eighty-six pounds, on account of the Hon. the Greek +Committee, for carrying on the service at this place. But Count +Delladecima sent no more than two hundred dollars until he should +receive instructions from C. Jerostatti. Therefore I am obliged to +advance that sum to prevent a positive stop being put to the +Laboratory service at this place, &c. &c. + +"I beg you will mention this business to Count Delladecima, who has +the draft and every account, and that Mr. Barff, in conjunction with +yourself, will endeavour to arrange this money account, and, when +received, forward the same to Missolonghi. + +"I am, Sir, yours very truly. + +"So far is written by Captain Parry; but I see that I must continue +the letter myself. I understand little or nothing of the business, +saving and except that, like most of the present affairs here, it +will be at a stand-still if monies be not advanced, and there are few +here so disposed; so that I must take the chance, as usual. + +"You will see what can be done with Delladecima and Jerostatti, and +remit the sum, that we may have some quiet; for the Committee have +somehow embroiled their matters, or chosen Greek correspondents more +Grecian than ever the Greeks are wont to be. + +"Yours ever, NL. BN. + +"P.S. A thousand thanks to Muir for his cauliflower, the finest I +ever saw or tasted, and, I believe, the largest that ever grew out of +Paradise, or Scotland. I have written to quiet Dr. Kennedy about the +newspaper (with which I have nothing to do as a writer, please to +recollect and say). I told the fools of conductors that their motto +would play the devil; but, like all mountebanks, they persisted. +Gamba, who is any thing but _lucky_, had something to do with it; +and, as usual, the moment he had, matters went wrong. [1] It will be +better, perhaps, in time. But I write in haste, and have only time to +say, before the boat sails, that I am ever + +"Yours, N. BN. + +[Footnote 1: He had a notion that Count Gamba was destined to be +unfortunate,--that he was one of those ill-starred persons with whom +every thing goes wrong. In speaking of this newspaper to Parry, he +said, "I have subscribed to it to get rid of importunity, and, it may +be, keep Gamba out of mischief. At any rate, he can mar nothing that +is of less importance."] + +"P.S. Mr. Findlay is here, and has received his money." + + +LETTER 554. TO DR. KENNEDY. + +"Missolonghi, March 10. 1824. + +"Dear Sir, + +"You could not disapprove of the motto to the Telegraph more than I +did, and do; but this is the land of liberty, where most people do as +they please, and few as they ought. + +"I have not written, nor am inclined to write, for that or for any +other paper, but have suggested to them, over and over, a change of +the motto and style. However, I do not think that it will turn out +either an irreligious or a levelling publication, and they promise +due respect to both churches and things, _i.e._ the editors do. + +"If Bambas would write for the Greek Chronicle, he might have his own +price for articles. + +"There is a slight demur about Hato's voyage, her mother wishing to +go with her, which is quite natural, and I have not the heart to +refuse it; for even Mahomet made a law, that in the division of +captives, the child should never be separated from the mother. But +this may make a difference in the arrangement, although the poor +woman (who has lost half her family in the war) is, as I said, of +good character, and of mature age, so as to render her respectability +not liable to suspicion. She has heard, it seems, from Prevesa, that +her husband is no longer there. I have consigned your Bibles to Dr. +Meyer; and I hope that the said Doctor may justify your confidence; +nevertheless, I shall keep an eye upon him. You may depend upon my +giving the Society as fair play as Mr. Wilberforce himself would; and +any other commission for the good of Greece will meet with the same +attention on my part. + +"I am trying, with some hope of eventual success, to re-unite the +Greeks, especially as the Turks are expected in force, and that +shortly. We must meet them as we may, and fight it out as we can. + +"I rejoice to hear that your school prospers, and I assure you that +your good wishes are reciprocal. The weather is so much finer, that I +get a good deal of moderate exercise in boats and on horseback, and +am willing to hope that my health is not worse than when you kindly +wrote to me. Dr. Bruno can tell you that I adhere to your regimen, +and more, for I do not eat any meat, even fish. + +"Believe me ever, &c. + +"P.S. The mechanics (six in number) were all pretty much of the same +mind. Brownbill was but _one_. Perhaps they are less to blame than is +imagined, since Colonel Stanhope is said to have told them, '_that he +could not positively say their lives were safe.' _ I should like to +know _where_ our life _is_ safe, either here or any where else? With +regard to a place of safety, at least such hermetically sealed safety +as these persons appeared to desiderate, it is not to be found in +Greece, at any rate; but Missolonghi was supposed to be the place +where they would be useful, and their risk was no greater than that +of others." + + +LETTER 555. TO COLONEL STANHOPE. + +"Missolonghi, March 19. 1824. + +"My dear Stanhope, + +"Prince Mavrocordato and myself will go to Salona to meet Ulysses, +and you may be very sure that P.M. will accept any proposition for +the advantage of Greece. Parry is to answer for himself on his own +articles[1]: if I were to interfere with him, it would only stop the +whole progress of his exertion; and he is really doing all that can +be done without more aid from the Government. + +[Footnote 1: Colonel Stanhope had, at the instance of the Chief +Odysseus, written to request that some stores from the laboratory at +Missolonghi might be sent to Athens. Neither Prince Mavrocordato, +however, nor Lord Byron considered it prudent, at this time, to +weaken their means for defending Missolonghi, and accordingly sent +back by the messenger but a few barrels of powder.] + +"What can be spared will be sent; but I refer you to Captain +Humphries's report, and to Count Gamba's letter for details upon all +subjects. + +"In the hope of seeing you soon, and deferring much that will be to +be said till then, + +"Believe me ever, &c. + +"P.S. Your two letters (to me) are sent to Mr. Barff, as you desire. +Pray remember me particularly to Trelawney, whom I shall be very much +pleased to see again." + + +LETTER 556. TO MR. BARFF. + +"March 19. + +"As Count Mercati is under some apprehensions of a _direct_ answer to +_him_ personally on Greek affairs, I reply (as you authorised me) to +you, who will have the goodness to communicate to him the enclosed. +It is the joint answer of Prince Mavrocordato and of myself, to +Signor Georgio Sisseni's propositions. You may also add, both to him +and to Parruca, that I am perfectly sincere in desiring the most +amicable termination of their internal dissensions, and that I +believe P. Mavrocordato to be so also; otherwise I would not act with +him, or any other, whether native or foreigner. + +"If Lord Guilford is at Zante, or, if he is not, if Signor Tricupi is +there, you would oblige me by presenting my respects to one or both, +and by telling them, that from the very first I foretold to Col. +Stanhope and to P. Mavrocordato that a Greek newspaper (or indeed any +other) in _the present state_ of Greece might and probably _would_ +tend to much mischief and misconstruction, unless under some +restrictions, nor have I ever had any thing to do with either, as a +writer or otherwise, except as a pecuniary contributor to their +support in the outset, which I could not refuse to the earnest +request of the projectors. Col. Stanhope and myself had considerable +differences of opinion on this subject, and (what will appear +laughable enough) to such a degree, that he charged me with +_despotic_ principles, and I _him_ with ultra radicalism. + +"Dr. ----, the editor, with his unrestrained freedom of the press, +and who has the freedom to exercise an unlimited discretion,--not +allowing any article but his own and those like them to appear,--and +in declaiming against restrictions, cuts, carves, and restricts (as +they tell me) at his own will and pleasure. He is the author of an +article against Monarchy, of which he may have the advantage and +fame--but they (the editors) will get themselves into a scrape, if +they do not take care. + +"Of all petty tyrants, he is one of the pettiest, as are most +demagogues, that ever I knew. He is a Swiss by birth, and a Greek by +assumption, having married a wife and changed his religion. + +"I shall be very glad, and am extremely anxious for some favourable +result to the recent pacific overtures of the contending parties in +the Peloponnese." + + +LETTER 557. TO MR. BARFF. + +"March 23. + +"If the Greek deputies (as seems probable) have obtained the Loan, +the sums I have advanced may perhaps be repaid; but it would make no +great difference, as I should still spend that in the cause, and more +to boot--though I should hope to better purpose than paying off +arrears of fleets that sail away, and Suliotes that won't march, +which, they say, what has hitherto been advanced has been employed +in. But that was not my affair, but of those who had the disposal of +affairs, and I could not decently say to them, 'You shall do so and +so, because, &c. &c. &c.' + +"In a few days P. Mavrocordato and myself, with a considerable +escort, intend to proceed to Salona at the request of Ulysses and the +Chiefs of Eastern Greece, and take measures offensive and defensive +for the ensuing campaign. Mavrocordato is _almost _ recalled by the +_new_ Government to the Morea, (to take the lead, I rather think,) +and they have written to propose to me to go either to the Morea with +him, or to take the general direction of affairs in this +quarter--with General Londo, and any other I may choose, to form a +council. A. Londo is my old friend and acquaintance since we were +lads in Greece together. It would be difficult to give a positive +answer till the Salona meeting is over[1]; but I am willing to serve +them in any capacity they please, either commanding or commanded--it +is much the same to me, as long as I can be of any presumed use to +them. + +[Footnote 1: To this offer of the Government to appoint him +Governor-General of Greece, (that is, of the enfranchised part of the +continent, with the exception of the Morea and the Islands,) his +answer was, that "he was first going to Salona, and that afterwards +he would be at their commands; that he could have no difficulty in +accepting any office, provided he could persuade himself that any +good would result from it."] + +"Excuse haste; it is late, and I have been several hours on horseback +in a country so miry after the rains, that every hundred yards brings +you to a ditch, of whose depth, width, colour, and contents, both my +horses and their riders have brought away many tokens." + + +LETTER 558. TO ME. BARFF. + +"March 26. + +"Since your intelligence with regard to the Greek loan, P. +Mavrocordato has shown to me an extract from some correspondence of +his, by which it would appear that three commissioners are to be +named to see that the amount is placed in proper hands for the +service of the country, and that my name is amongst the number. Of +this, however, we have as yet only the report. + +"This commission is apparently named by the Committee or the +contracting parties in England. I am of opinion that such a +commission will be necessary, but the office will be both delicate +and difficult. The weather, which has lately been equinoctial, has +flooded the country, and will probably retard our proceeding to +Salona for some days, till the road becomes more practicable. + +"You were already apprised that P. Mavrocordato and myself had been +invited to a conference by Ulysses and the Chiefs of Eastern Greece. +I hear (and am indeed consulted on the subject) that in case the +remittance of the first advance of the Loan should not arrive +immediately, the Greek General Government mean to try to raise some +thousand dollars in the islands in the interim, to be repaid from the +earliest instalments on their arrival. What prospect of success they +may have, or on what conditions, you can tell better than me: I +suppose, if the Loan be confirmed, something might be done by them, +but subject of course to the usual terms. You can let them and me +know your opinion. There is an imperious necessity for some national +fund, and that speedily, otherwise what is to be done? The auxiliary +corps of about two hundred men, paid by me, are, I believe, the sole +regularly and properly furnished with the money, due to them weekly, +and the officers monthly. It is true that the Greek Government give +their rations; but we have had three mutinies, owing to the badness +of the bread, which neither native nor stranger could masticate (nor +dogs either), and there is still great difficulty in obtaining them +even provisions of any kind. + +"There is a dissension among the Germans about the conduct of the +agents of _their_ Committee, and an examination amongst themselves +instituted. What the result may be cannot be anticipated, except that +it will end in _a row_, of course, as usual. + +"The English are all very amicable as far as I know; we get on too +with the Greeks very tolerably, always making allowance for +circumstances; and we have no quarrels with the foreigners." + +During the month of March there occurred but little, besides what is +mentioned in these letters, that requires to be dwelt upon at any +length, or in detail. After the failure of his design against +Lepanto, the two great objects of his daily thoughts were, the +repairs of the fortifications of Missolonghi [1], and the formation +of a brigade;--the one, with a view to such defensive measures as +were alone likely to be called for during the present campaign; and +the other in preparation for those more active enterprises, which he +still fondly flattered himself he should undertake in the next. "He +looked forward (says Mr. Parry) for the recovery of his health and +spirits, to the return of the fine weather, and the commencement of +the campaign, when he proposed to take the field at the head of his +own brigade, and the troops which the Government of Greece were to +place under his orders." + +[Footnote 1: The generous zeal with which he applied himself to this +important object will be understood from the following +statement:--"On reporting to Lord Byron what I thought might be done, +he ordered me to draw up a plan for putting the fortifications in +thorough repair, and to accompany it with an estimate of the expense. +It was agreed that I should make the estimate only one third of what +I thought would be the actual expense; and if that third could be +procured from the magistrates, Lord Byron undertook secretly to pay +the remainder."] + +With that thanklessness which too often waits on disinterested +actions, it has been sometimes tauntingly remarked, and in quarters +from whence a more generous judgment might be expected [1], that, +after all, Lord Byron effected but little for Greece:--as if much +_could_ be effected by a single individual, and in so short a time, +for a cause which, fought as it has been almost incessantly through +the six years since his death, has required nothing less than the +intervention of all the great Powers of Europe to give it a chance of +success, and, even so, has not yet succeeded. That Byron himself was +under no delusion as to the importance of his own solitary aid,--that +he knew, in a struggle like this, there must be the same prodigality +of means towards one great end as is observable in the still grander +operations of nature, where individuals are as nothing in the tide of +events,--that such was his, at once, philosophic and melancholy view +of his own sacrifices, I have, I trust, clearly shown. But that, +during this short period of action, he did not do well and wisely all +that man could achieve in the time, and under the circumstances, is +an assertion which the noble facts here recorded fully and +triumphantly disprove. He knew that, placed as he was, his measures, +to be wise, must be prospective, and from the nature of the seeds +thus sown by him, the benefits that were to be expected must be +judged. To reconcile the rude chiefs to the Government and to each +other;--to infuse a spirit of humanity, by his example, into their +warfare;--to prepare the way for the employment of the expected Loan, +in a manner most calculated to call forth the resources of the +country;--to put the fortifications of Missolonghi in such a state of +repair as might, and eventually _did_, render it proof against the +besieger;--to prevent those infractions of neutrality, so tempting to +the Greeks, which brought their Government in collision with the +Ionian authorities[2], and to restrain all such license of the Press +as might indispose the Courts of Europe to their cause:--such were +the important objects which he had proposed to himself to accomplish, +and towards which, in this brief interval, and in the midst of such +dissensions and hinderances, he had already made considerable and +most promising progress. But it would be unjust to close even here +the bright catalogue of his services. It is, after all, _not_ with +the span of mortal life that the good achieved by a name immortal +ends. The charm acts into the future,--it is an auxiliary through all +time; and the inspiring example of Byron, as a martyr of liberty, is +for ever freshly embalmed in his glory as a poet. From the period of +his attack in February he had been, from time to time, indisposed; +and, more than once, had complained of vertigos, which made him feel, +he said, as if intoxicated. He was also frequently affected with +nervous sensations, with shiverings and tremors, which, though +apparently the effects of excessive debility, he himself attributed +to fulness of habit. Proceeding upon this notion, he had, ever since +his arrival in Greece, abstained almost wholly from animal food, and +ate of little else but dry toast, vegetables, and cheese. With the +same fear of becoming fat, which had in his young days haunted him, +he almost every morning measured himself round the wrist and waist, +and whenever he found these parts, as he thought, enlarged, took a +strong dose of medicine. + +[Footnote 1: Articles in the Times newspaper, Foreign Quarterly +Review, &c.] + +[Footnote 2: In a letter which he addressed to Lord Sidney Osborne, +enclosing one, on the subject of these infractions, from Prince +Mavrocordato to Sir T. Maitland, Lord Byron says,--"You must all be +persuaded how difficult it is, under existing circumstances, for the +Greeks to keep up discipline, however they may be all disposed to do +so, I am doing all I can to convince them of the necessity of the +strictest observance of the regulations of the Islands, and, I trust, +with some effect"] + +Exertions had, as we have seen, been made by his friends at +Cephalonia, to induce him, without delay, to return to that island, +and take measures, while there was yet time, for the re-establishment +of his health. "But these entreaties (says Count Gamba) produced just +the contrary effect; for in proportion as Byron thought his position +more perilous, he the more resolved upon remaining where he was." In +the midst of all this, too, the natural flow of his spirits in +society seldom deserted him; and whenever a trick upon any of his +attendants, or associates, suggested itself, he was as ready to play +the mischief-loving boy as ever. His engineer, Parry, having been +much alarmed by the earthquake they had experienced, and still +continuing in constant apprehension of its return, Lord Byron +contrived, as they were all sitting together one evening, to have +some barrels full of cannon-balls trundled through the room above +them; and laughed heartily, as he would have done when a Harrow boy, +at the ludicrous effect which this deception produced on the poor +frightened engineer. + +Every day, however, brought new trials both to his health and temper. +The constant rains had rendered the swamps of Missolonghi almost +impassable;--an alarm of plague, which, about the middle of March, +was circulated, made it prudent, for some time, to keep within doors; +and he was thus, week after week, deprived of his accustomed air and +exercise. The only recreation he had recourse to was that of playing +with his favourite dog, Lion; and, in the evening, going through the +exercise of drilling with his officers, or practising at +single-stick. + +At the same time, the demands upon his exertions, personal and +pecuniary, poured in from all sides, while the embarrassments of his +public position every day increased. The chief obstacle in the way of +his plan for the reconciliation of all parties had been the rivalry +so long existing between Mavrocordato and the Eastern Chiefs; and +this difficulty was now not a little heightened by the part taken by +Colonel Stanhope and Mr. Trelawney, who, having allied themselves +with Odysseus, the most powerful of these Chieftains, were +endeavouring actively to detach Lord Byron from Mavrocordato, and +enlist him in their own views. This schism was,--to say the least of +it,--ill-timed and unfortunate. For, as Prince Mavrocordato and Lord +Byron were now acting in complete harmony with the Government, a +co-operation of all the other English agents on the same side would +have had the effect of assuring a preponderance to this party (which +was that of the civil and commercial interests all through Greece), +that might, by strengthening the hands of the ruling power, have +afforded some hope of vigour and consistency in its movements. By +this division, however, the English lost their casting weight; and +not only marred whatever little chance they might have had of +extinguishing the dissensions of the Greeks, but exhibited, most +unseasonably, an example of dissension among themselves. + +The visit to Salona, in which, though distrustful of the intended +Military Congress, Mavrocordato had consented to accompany Lord +Byron, was, as the foregoing letters have mentioned, delayed by the +floods,--the river Fidari having become so swollen as not to be +fordable. In the mean time, dangers, both from within and without, +threatened Missolonghi. The Turkish fleet had again come forth from +the Gulf, while, in concert, it was apprehended, with this resumption +of the blockade, insurrectionary movements, instigated, as was +afterwards known, by the malcontents of the Morea, manifested +themselves formidably both in the town and its neighbourhood. The +first cause for alarm was the landing, in canoes, from Anatolico, of +a party of armed men, the followers of Cariascachi of that place, who +came to demand retribution from the people of Missolonghi for some +injury that, in a late affray, had been inflicted on one of their +clan. It was also rumoured that 300 Suliotes were marching upon the +town; and the following morning, news came that a party of these wild +warriors had actually seized upon Basiladi, a fortress that commands +the port of Missolonghi, while some of the soldiers of Cariascachi +had, in the course of the night, arrested two of the Primates, and +carried them to Anatolico. The tumult and indignation that this +intelligence produced was universal. All the shops were shut, and the +bazaars deserted. "Lord Byron," says Count Gamba, "ordered his troops +to continue under arms; but to preserve the strictest neutrality, +without mixing in any quarrel, either by actions or words." + +During this crisis, the weather had become sufficiently favourable to +admit of his paying the visit to Salona, which he had purposed. But, +as his departure at such a juncture might have the appearance of +abandoning Missolonghi, he resolved to wait the danger out. At this +time the following letters were written. + + +LETTER 559. TO MR. BARFF. + +"April 3. + +"There is a quarrel, not yet settled, between the citizens and some +of Cariascachi's people, which has already produced some blows. I +keep my people quite neutral; but have ordered them to be on their +guard. + +"Some days ago we had an Italian private soldier drummed out for +thieving. The German officers wanted to flog him; but I flatly +refused to permit the use of the stick or whip, and delivered him +over to the police.[1] Since then a Prussian officer rioted in his +lodgings; and I put him under arrest, according to the order. This, +it appears, did not please his German confederation: but I stuck by +my text; and have given them plainly to understand, that those who do +not choose to be amenable to the laws of the country and service, may +retire; but that in all that I have to do, I will see them obeyed by +foreigner or native. + +[Footnote 1: "Lord Byron declared that, as far as he was concerned, +no barbarous usages, however adopted even by some civilised people, +should be introduced into Greece; especially as such a mode of +punishment would disgust rather than reform. We hit upon an expedient +which favoured our military discipline: but it required not only all +Lord Byron's eloquence, but his authority, to prevail upon our +Germans to accede to it. The culprit had his uniform stripped off his +back, in presence of his comrades, and was afterwards marched through +the town with a label on his back, describing, both in Greek and +Italian, the nature of his offence; after which he was given up to +the regular police. This example of severity, tempered by a humane +spirit, produced the best effect upon our soldiers, as well as upon +the citizens of the town. But it was very near causing a most +disagreeable circumstance; for, in the course of the evening, some +very high words passed on the subject between three Englishmen, two +of them officers of our brigade, in consequence of which cards were +exchanged, and two duels were to have been fought the next morning. +Lord Byron did not hear of this till late at night: but he +immediately ordered me to arrest both parties, which I according did; +and, after some difficulty, prevailed on them to shake hands."--COUNT +GAMBA'S _Narrative_.] + +"I wish something was heard of the arrival of part of the Loan, for +there is a plentiful dearth of every thing at present." + + +LETTER 560. TO MR. BARFF. + +"April 6. + +"Since I wrote, we have had some tumult here with the citizens and +Cariascachi's people, and all are under arms, our boys and all. They +nearly fired on me and fifty of my lads[1], by mistake, as we were +taking our usual excursion into the country. To-day matters are +settled or subsiding; but, about an hour ago, the father-in-law of +the landlord of the house where I am lodged (one of the Primates the +said landlord is) was arrested for high treason. + +[Footnote 1: A corps of fifty Suliotes which he had, almost ever +since his arrival at Missolonghi, kept about him as a body-guard. A +large outer room of his house was appropriated to these troops; and +their carbines were suspended along the walls. "In this room (says +Mr. Parry), and among these rude soldiers, Lord Byron was accustomed +to walk a great deal, particularly in wet weather, accompanied by his +favourite dog, Lion." + +When he rode out, these fifty Suliotes attended him on foot; and +though they carried their carbines, "they were always," says the same +authority, "able to keep up with the horses at full speed. The +captain, and a certain number, preceded his Lordship, who rode +accompanied on one side by Count Gamba, and on the other by the Greek +interpreter. Behind him, also on horseback, came two of his +servants,--generally his black groom, and Tita,--both dressed like +the chasseurs usually seen behind the carriages of ambassadors, and +another division of his guard closed the cavalcade."--PARRY'S _Last +Days of Lord Byron_.] + +"They are in conclave still with Mavrocordato; and we have a number +of new faces from the hills, come to assist, they say. Gun-boats and +batteries all ready, &c. + +"The row has had one good effect--it has put them on the alert. What +is to become of the father-in-law, I do not know: nor what he has +done, exactly[1]: but + + "''Tis a very fine thing to be father-in-law + To a very magnificent three-tail'd bashaw,' + +as the man in Bluebeard says and sings. I wrote to you upon matters +at length, some days ago; the letter, or letters, you will receive +with this. We are desirous to hear more of the Loan; and it is some +time since I have had any letters (at least of an interesting +description) from England, excepting one of 4th February, from +Bowring (of no great importance). My latest dates are of 9bre, or of +the 6th 10bre, four months exactly. I hope you get on well in the +islands: here most of us are, or have been, more or less indisposed, +natives as well as foreigners." + +[Footnote 1: This man had, it seems, on his way from Ioannina, passed +by Anatolico, and held several conferences with Cariascachi. He had +long been suspected of being a spy; and the letters found upon him +confirmed the suspicion.] + + +LETTER 561. TO MR. BARFF. + +"April 7. + +"The Greeks here of the Government have been boring me for more +money.[1] As I have the brigade to maintain, and the campaign is +apparently now to open, and as I have already spent 30,000 dollars in +three months upon them in one way or another, and more especially as +their public loan has succeeded, so that they ought not to draw from +individuals at that rate, I have given them a refusal, and--as they +would not take _that,--another_ refusal in terms of considerable +sincerity. + +[Footnote 1: In consequence of the mutinous proceedings of +Cariascachi's people, most of the neighbouring chieftains hastened to +the assistance of the Government, and had already with this view +marched to Anatolico near 2000 men. But, however opportune the +arrival of such a force, they were a cause of fresh embarrassment, as +there was a total want of provisions for their daily maintenance. It +was in this emergency that the Governor, Primates, and Chieftains had +recourse, as here stated, to their usual source of supply.] + +"They wish now to try in the Islands for a few thousand dollars on +the ensuing Loan. If you can serve them, perhaps you will, (in the +way of information, at any rate,) and I will see that you have fair +play; but still I do not _advise_ you, except to act as you please. +Almost every thing depends upon the arrival, and the speedy arrival, +of a portion of the Loan to keep peace among themselves. If they can +but have sense to do this, I think that they will be a match and +better for any force that can be brought against them for the +present. We are all doing as well as we can." + +It will be perceived from these letters, that besides the great and +general interests of the cause, which were in themselves sufficient +to absorb all his thoughts, he was also met on every side, in the +details of his duty, by every possible variety of obstruction and +distraction that rapacity, turbulence, and treachery could throw in +his way. Such vexations, too, as would have been trying to the most +robust health, here fell upon a frame already marked out for death; +nor can we help feeling, while we contemplate this last scene of his +life, that, much as there is in it to admire, to wonder at, and glory +in, there is also much that awakens sad and most distressful +thoughts. In a situation more than any other calling for sympathy and +care, we see him cast among strangers and mercenaries, without either +nurse or friend;--the self-collectedness of woman being, as we shall +find, wanting for the former office, and the youth and inexperience +of Count Gamba unfitting him wholly for the other. The very firmness +with which a position so lone and disheartening was sustained, +serves, by interesting us more deeply in the man, to increase our +sympathy, till we almost forget admiration in pity, and half regret +that he should have been great at such a cost. + +The only circumstances that had for some time occurred to give him +pleasure were, as regarded public affairs, the news of the successful +progress of the Loan, and, in his personal relations, some favourable +intelligence which he had received, after a long interruption of +communication, respecting his sister and daughter. The former, he +learned, had been seriously indisposed at the very time of his own +fit, but had now entirely recovered. While delighted at this news, he +could not help, at the same time, remarking, with his usual tendency +to such superstitious feelings, how strange and striking was the +coincidence. + +To those who have, from his childhood, traced him through these +pages, it must be manifest, I think, that Lord Byron was not formed +to be long-lived. Whether from any hereditary defect in his +organisation,--as he himself, from the circumstance of both his +parents having died young, concluded,--or from those violent means he +so early took to counteract the natural tendency of his habit, and +reduce himself to thinness, he was, almost every year, as we have +seen, subject to attacks of indisposition, by more than one of which +his life was seriously endangered. The capricious course which he at +all times pursued respecting diet,--his long fastings, his expedients +for the allayment of hunger, his occasional excesses in the most +unwholesome food, and, during the latter part of his residence in +Italy, his indulgence in the use of spirituous beverages,--all this +could not be otherwise than hurtful and undermining to his health; +while his constant recourse to medicine,--daily, as it appears, and +in large quantities,--both evinced and, no doubt, increased the +derangement of his digestion. When to all this we add the wasteful +wear of spirits and strength from the slow corrosion of sensibility, +the warfare of the passions, and the workings of a mind that allowed +itself no sabbath, it is not to be wondered at that the vital +principle in him should so soon have burnt out, or that, at the age +of thirty-three, he should have had--as he himself drearily expresses +it--"an old feel." To feed the flame, the all-absorbing flame, of his +genius, the whole powers of his nature, physical as well as moral, +were sacrificed;--to present that grand and costly conflagration to +the world's eyes, in which, + + "Glittering, like a palace set on fire, + His glory, while it shone, but ruin'd him!"[1] + +[Footnote 1: Beaumont and Fletcher.] + +It was on the very day when, as I have mentioned, the intelligence of +his sister's recovery reached him, that, having been for the last +three or four days prevented from taking exercise by the rains, he +resolved, though the weather still looked threatening, to venture out +on horseback. Three miles from Missolonghi Count Gamba and himself +were overtaken by a heavy shower, and returned to the town walls wet +through and in a state of violent perspiration. It had been their +usual practice to dismount at the walls and return to their house in +a boat, but, on this day, Count Gamba, representing to Lord Byron how +dangerous it would be, warm as he then was, to sit exposed so long to +the rain in a boat, entreated of him to go back the whole way on +horseback. To this however, Lord Byron would not consent; but said, +laughingly, "I should make a pretty soldier indeed, if I were to care +for such a trifle." They accordingly dismounted and got into the boat +as usual. + +About two hours after his return home he was seized with a +shuddering, and complained of fever and rheumatic pains. "At eight +that evening," says Count Gamba, "I entered his room. He was lying on +a sofa restless and melancholy. He said to me, 'I suffer a great deal +of pain. I do not care for death, but these agonies I cannot bear.'" + +The following day he rose at his accustomed hour,--transacted +business, and was even able to take his ride in the olive woods, +accompanied, as usual, by his long train of Suliotes. He complained, +however, of perpetual shudderings, and had no appetite. On his return +home he remarked to Fletcher that his saddle, he thought, had not +been perfectly dried since yesterday's wetting, and that he felt +himself the worse for it. This was the last time he ever crossed the +threshold alive. In the evening Mr. Finlay and Mr. Millingen called +upon him. "He was at first (says the latter gentleman) gayer than +usual; but on a sudden became pensive." + +On the evening of the 11th his fever, which was pronounced to be +rheumatic, increased; and on the 12th he kept his bed all day, +complaining that he could not sleep, and taking no nourishment +whatever. The two following days, though the fever had apparently +diminished, he became still more weak, and suffered much from pains +in the head. + +It was not till the 14th that his physician, Dr. Bruno, finding the +sudorifics which he had hitherto employed to be unavailing, began to +urge upon his patient the necessity of being bled. Of this, however, +Lord Byron would not hear. He had evidently but little reliance on +his medical attendant; and from the specimens this young man has +since given of his intellect to the world, it is, indeed, +lamentable,--supposing skill to have been, at this moment, of any +avail,--that a life so precious should have been intrusted to such +ordinary hands. "It was on this day, I think," says Count Gamba, +"that, as I was sitting near him, on his sofa, he said to me, 'I was +afraid I was losing my memory, and, in order to try, I attempted to +repeat some Latin verses with the English translation, which I have +not endeavoured to recollect since I was at school. I remembered them +all except the last word of one of the hexameters.'" + +To the faithful Fletcher, the idea of his master's life being in +danger seems to have occurred some days before it struck either Count +Gamba or the physician. So little, according to his friend's +narrative, had such a suspicion crossed Lord Byron's own mind, that +he even expressed himself "rather glad of his fever, as it might cure +him of his tendency to epilepsy." To Fletcher, however, it appears, +he had professed, more than once, strong doubts as to the nature of +his complaint being so slight as the physician seemed to suppose it, +and on his servant renewing his entreaties that he would send for Dr. +Thomas to Zante, made no further opposition; though still, out of +consideration for those gentlemen, he referred him on the subject to +Dr. Bruno and Mr. Millingen. Whatever might have been the advantage +or satisfaction of this step, it was now rendered wholly impossible +by the weather,--such a hurricane blowing into the port that not a +ship could get out. The rain, too, descended in torrents, and between +the floods on the land-side and the sirocco from the sea, Missolonghi +was, for the moment, a pestilential prison. + +It was at this juncture that Mr. Millingen was, for the first time, +according to his own account, invited to attend Lord Byron in his +medical capacity,--his visit on the 10th being so little, as he +states, professional, that he did not even, on that occasion, feel +his Lordship's pulse. The great object for which he was now called +in, and rather, it would seem, by Fletcher than Dr. Bruno, was for +the purpose of joining his representations and remonstrances to +theirs, and prevailing upon the patient to suffer himself to be +bled,--an operation now become absolutely necessary from the increase +of the fever, and which Dr. Bruno had, for the last two days, urged +in vain. + +Holding gentleness to be, with a disposition like that of Byron, the +most effectual means of success, Mr. Millingen tried, as he himself +tells us, all that reasoning and persuasion could suggest towards +attaining his object. But his efforts were fruitless:--Lord Byron, +who had now become morbidly irritable, replied angrily, but still +with all his accustomed acuteness and spirit, to the physician's +observations. Of all his prejudices, he declared, the strongest was +that against bleeding. His mother had obtained from him a promise +never to consent to being bled; and whatever argument might be +produced, his aversion, he said, was stronger than reason. "Besides, +is it not," he asked, "asserted by Dr. Reid, in his Essays, that less +slaughter is effected by the lance than the lancet:--that minute +instrument of mighty mischief!" On Mr. Millingen observing that this +remark related to the treatment of nervous, but not of inflammatory +complaints, he rejoined, in an angry tone, "Who is nervous, if I am +not? And do not those other words of his, too, apply to my case, +where he says that drawing blood from a nervous patient is like +loosening the chords of a musical instrument, whose tones already +fail for want of sufficient tension? Even before this illness, you +yourself know how weak and irritable I had become;--and bleeding, by +increasing this state, will inevitably kill me. Do with me whatever +else you like, but bleed me you shall not. I have had several +inflammatory fevers in my life, and at an age when more robust and +plethoric: yet I got through them without bleeding. This time, also, +will I take my chance."[1] + +[Footnote 1: It was during the same, or some similar conversation, +that Dr. Bruno also reports him to have said, "If my hour is come, I +shall die, whether I lose my blood or keep it."] + +After much reasoning and repeated entreaties, Mr. Millingen at length +succeeded in obtaining from him a promise, that should he feel his +fever increase at night, he would allow Dr. Bruno to bleed him. + +During this day he had transacted business and received several +letters; particularly one that much pleased him from the Turkish +Governor, to whom he had sent the rescued prisoners, and who, in this +communication, thanked him for his humane interference, and requested +a repetition of it. + +In the evening he conversed a good deal with Parry, who remained some +hours by his bedside. "He sat up in his bed (says this officer), and +was then calm and collected. He talked with me on a variety of +subjects connected with himself and his family; he spoke of his +intentions as to Greece, his plans for the campaign, and what he +should ultimately do for that country. He spoke to me about my own +adventures. He spoke of death also with great composure; and though +he did not believe his end was so very near, there was something +about him so serious and so firm, so resigned and composed, so +different from any thing I had ever before seen in him, that my mind +misgave me, and at times foreboded his speedy dissolution." + +On revisiting his patient early next morning, Mr. Millingen learned +from him, that having passed, as he thought, on the whole, a better +night, he had not considered it necessary to ask Dr. Bruno to bleed +him. What followed, I shall, in justice to Mr. Millingen, give in his +own words.[1] "I thought it my duty now to put aside all +consideration of his feelings, and to declare solemnly to him, how +deeply I lamented to see him trifle thus with his life, and show so +little resolution. His pertinacious refusal had already, I said, +caused most precious time to be lost;--but few hours of hope now +remained, and, unless he submitted immediately to be bled, we could +not answer for the consequences. It was true, he cared not for life; +but who could assure him that, unless he changed his resolution, the +uncontrolled disease might not operate such disorganisation in his +system as utterly and for ever to deprive him of reason?--I had now +hit at last on the sensible chord; and, partly annoyed by our +importunities, partly persuaded, he cast at us both the fiercest +glance of vexation, and throwing out his arm, said, in the angriest +tone, 'There,--you are, I see, a d--d set of butchers,--take away as +much blood as you like, but have done with it.' + +[Footnote 1: MS.--This gentleman is, I understand, about to publish +the Narrative from which the above extract is taken.] + +"We seized the moment (adds Mr. Millingen), and drew about twenty +ounces. On coagulating, the blood presented a strong buffy coat; yet +the relief obtained did not correspond to the hopes we had formed, +and during the night the fever became stronger than it had been +hitherto. The restlessness and agitation increased, and the patient +spoke several times in an incoherent manner." + +On the following morning, the 17th, the bleeding was repeated; for, +although the rheumatic symptoms had been completely removed, the +appearances of inflammation on the brain were now hourly increasing. +Count Gamba, who had not for the last two days seen him, being +confined to his own apartment by a sprained ankle, now contrived to +reach his room. "His countenance," says this gentleman, "at once +awakened in me the most dreadful suspicions. He was very calm; he +talked to me in the kindest manner about my accident, but in a +hollow, sepulchral tone. 'Take care of your foot,' said he; 'I know +by experience how painful it must be.' I could not stay near his bed: +a flood of tears rushed into my eyes, and I was obliged to withdraw." +Neither Count Gamba, indeed, nor Fletcher, appear to have been +sufficiently masters of themselves to do much else than weep during +the remainder of this afflicting scene. + +In addition to the bleeding, which was repeated twice on the 17th, it +was thought right also to apply blisters to the soles of his feet. +"When on the point of putting them on," says Mr. Millingen, "Lord +Byron asked me whether it would answer the purpose to apply both on +the same leg. Guessing immediately the motive that led him to ask +this question, I told him that I would place them above the knees. +'Do so,' he replied." + +It is painful to dwell on such details,--but we are now approaching +the close. In addition to most of those sad varieties of wretchedness +which surround alike the grandest and humblest deathbeds, there was +also in the scene now passing around the dying Byron such a degree of +confusion and uncomfort as renders it doubly dreary to contemplate. +There having been no person invested, since his illness, with +authority over the household, neither order nor quiet was maintained +in his apartment. Most of the comforts necessary in such an illness +were wanting; and those around him, either unprepared for the danger, +were, like Bruno, when it came, bewildered by it; or, like the +kind-hearted Fletcher and Count Gamba, were by their feelings +rendered no less helpless. + +"In all the attendants," says Parry, "there was the officiousness of +zeal; but, owing to their ignorance of each other's language, their +zeal only added to the confusion. This circumstance, and the want of +common necessaries, made Lord Byron's apartment such a picture of +distress and even anguish during the two or three last days of his +life, as I never before beheld, and wish never again to witness." + +The 18th being Easter day,--a holiday which the Greeks celebrate by +firing off muskets and artillery,--it was apprehended that this noise +might be injurious to Lord Byron; and, as a means of attracting away +the crowd from the neighbourhood, the artillery brigade were marched +out by Parry, to exercise their guns at some distance from the town; +while, at the same time, the town-guard patrolled the streets, and +informing the people of the danger of their benefactor, entreated +them to preserve all possible quiet. + +About three o'clock in the afternoon, Lord Byron rose and went into +the adjoining room. He was able to walk across the chamber, leaning +on his servant Tita; and, when seated, asked for a book, which the +servant brought him. After reading, however, for a few minutes, he +found himself faint; and, again taking Tita's arm, tottered into the +next room, and returned to bed. + +At this time the physicians, becoming still more alarmed, expressed a +wish for a consultation; and proposed calling in, without delay, Dr. +Freiber, the medical assistant of Mr. Millingen, and Luca Vaya, a +Greek, the physician of Mavrocordato. On hea[r]ing this, Lord Byron +at first refused to see them; but being informed that Mavrocordato +advised it, he said,--"Very well, let them come; but let them look at +me and say nothing." This they promised, and were admitted; but when +one of them, on feeling his pulse, showed a wish to +speak--"Recollect," he said, "your promise, and go away." + +It was after this consultation of the physicians[1], that, as it +appeared to Count Gamba, Lord Byron was, for the first time, aware of +his approaching end. Mr. Millingen, Fletcher, and Tita had been +standing round his bed; but the two first, unable to restrain their +tears, left the room. Tita also wept; but, as Byron held his hand, +could not retire. He, however, turned away his face; while Byron, +looking at him steadily, said, half smiling, "Oh questa e una bella +scena!" He then seemed to reflect a moment, and exclaimed, "Call +Parry." Almost immediately afterwards, a fit of delirium ensued; and +he began to talk wildly, as if he were mounting a breach in an +assault,--calling out, half in English, half in Italian, +"Forwards--forwards--courage--follow my example," &c. &c. + +[Footnote 1: For Mr. Millingen's account of this consultation, see +Appendix.] + +On coming again to himself, he asked Fletcher, who had then returned +into the room, "whether he had sent for Dr. Thomas, as he desired?" +and the servant answering in the affirmative, he replied, "You have +done right, for I should like to know what is the matter with me." He +had, a short time before, with that kind consideration for those +about him which was one of the great sources of their lasting +attachment to him, said to Fletcher, "I am afraid you and Tita will +be ill with sitting up night and day." It was now evident that he +knew he was dying; and between his anxiety to make his servant +understand his last wishes, and the rapid failure of his powers of +utterance, a most painful scene ensued. On Fletcher asking whether he +should bring pen and paper to take down his words--"Oh no," he +replied--"there is no time--it is now nearly over. Go to my +sister--tell her--go to Lady Byron--you will see her, and say ----" +Here his voice faltered, and became gradually indistinct; +notwithstanding which he continued still to mutter to himself, for +nearly twenty minutes, with much earnestness of manner, but in such a +tone that only a few words could be distinguished. These, too, were +only names,--"Augusta,"--"Ada,"--"Hobhouse,"--"Kinnaird." He then +said, "Now, I have told you all." "My Lord," replied Fletcher, "I +have not understood a word your Lordship has been saying."--"Not +understand me?" exclaimed Lord Byron, with a look of the utmost +distress, "what a pity!--then it is too late; all is over."--"I hope +not," answered Fletcher; "but the Lord's will be done!"--"Yes, not +mine," said Byron. He then tried to utter a few words, of which none +were intelligible, except "my sister--my child." + +The decision adopted at the consultation had been, contrary to the +opinion of Mr. Millingen and Dr. Freiber, to administer to the +patient a strong antispasmodic potion, which, while it produced +sleep, but hastened perhaps death. In order to persuade him into +taking this draught, Mr. Parry was sent for[1], and, without any +difficulty, induced him to swallow a few mouthfuls. "When he took my +hand," says Parry, "I found his hands were deadly cold. With the +assistance of Tita I endeavoured gently to create a little warmth in +them; and also loosened the bandage which was tied round his head. +Till this was done he seemed in great pain, clenched his hands at +times, gnashed his teeth, and uttered the Italian exclamation of 'Ah +Christi!' He bore the loosening of the band passively, and, after it +was loosened, shed tears; then taking my hand again, uttered a faint +good night, and sunk into a slumber." + +[Footnote 1: From this circumstance, as well as from the terms in +which he is mentioned by Lord Byron, it is plain that this person +had, by his blunt, practical good sense, acquired far more influence +over his Lordship's mind than was possessed by any of the other +persons about him.] + +In about half an hour he again awoke, when a second dose of the +strong infusion was administered to him. "From those about him," says +Count Gamba, who was not able to bear this scene himself, "I +collected that, either at this time, or in his former interval of +reason, he could be understood to say--'Poor Greece!--poor town!--my +poor servants!' Also, 'Why was I not aware of this sooner?' and 'My +hour is come!--I do not care for death--but why did I not go home +before I came here?' At another time he said, 'There are things which +make the world dear to me _Io lascio qualche cosa di caro nel mondo_: +for the rest, I am content to die.' He spoke also of Greece, saying, +'I have given her my time, my means, my health--and now I give her my +life!--what could I do more?'"[1] + +[Footnote 1: It is but right to remind the reader, that for the +sayings here attributed to Lord Byron, however natural and probable +they may appear, there is not exactly the same authority of credible +witnesses by which all the other details I have given of his last +hours are supported.] + +It was about six o'clock on the evening of this day when he said, +"Now I shall go to sleep;" and then turning round fell into that +slumber from which he never awoke. For the next twenty-four hours he +lay incapable of either sense or motion,--with the exception of, now +and then, slight symptoms of suffocation, during which his servant +raised his head,--and at a quarter past six o'clock on the following +day, the 19th, he was seen to open his eyes and immediately shut them +again. The physicians felt his pulse--he was no more! + +To attempt to describe how the intelligence of this sad event struck +upon all hearts would be as difficult as it is superfluous. He, whom +the whole world was to mourn, had on the tears of Greece peculiar +claim,--for it was at her feet he now laid down the harvest of such a +life of fame. To the people of Missolonghi, who first felt the shock +that was soon to spread through all Europe, the event seemed almost +incredible. It was but the other day that he had come among them, +radiant with renown,--inspiring faith, by his very name, in those +miracles of success that were about to spring forth at the touch of +his ever-powerful genius. All this had now vanished like a short +dream:--nor can we wonder that the poor Greeks, to whom his coming +had been such a glory, and who, on the last evening of his life, +thronged the streets, enquiring as to his state, should regard the +thunder-storm which, at the moment he died, broke over the town, as a +signal of his doom, and, in their superstitious grief, cry to each +other, "The great man is gone!"[1] + +[Footnote 1: Parry's "Last Days of Lord Byron," p. 128.] + +Prince Mavrocordato, who of all best knew and felt the extent of his +country's loss, and who had to mourn doubly the friend of Greece and +of himself, on the evening of the 19th issued this melancholy +proclamation:-- + + +"PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF WESTERN GREECE. + +"ART. 1185. + +"The present day of festivity and rejoicing has become one of sorrow +and of mourning. The Lord Noel Byron departed this life at six +o'clock in the afternoon, after an illness of ten days; his death +being 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 even become a citizen, +with the further determination of participating in all the dangers of +the war. + +"Every body 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 will +be fired from the Grand Battery, being the number which corresponds +with the age of the illustrious deceased. + +"2d, All the public offices, even the tribunals, are to remain closed +for three successive days. + +"3d, 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, shall 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. + + (Signed) "A. MAVROCORDATO. + "GEORGE PRAIDIS, Secretary. + + "Given at Missolonghi, + this 19th day of April, 1824." + +Similar honours were paid to his memory at many other places through +Greece. At Salona, where the Congress had assembled, his soul was +prayed for in the Church; after which the whole garrison and the +citizens went out into the plain, where another religious ceremony +took place, under the shade of the olive trees. This being concluded, +the troops fired; and an oration, full of the warmest praise and +gratitude, was pronounced by the High Priest. + +When such was the veneration shown towards him by strangers, what +must have been the feelings of his near associates and attendants? +Let one speak for all:--"He died (says Count Gamba) in a strange +land, and amongst strangers; but more loved, more sincerely wept he +never could have been, wherever he had breathed his last. Such was +the attachment, mingled with a sort of reverence and enthusiasm, with +which he inspired those around him, that there was not one of us who +would not, for his sake, have willingly encountered any danger in the +world." + +Colonel Stanhope, whom the sad intelligence reached at Salona, thus +writes to the Committee:--"A courier has just arrived from the Chief +Scalza. Alas! all our fears are realised. The soul of Byron has taken +its last flight. England has lost her brightest genius, Greece her +noblest friend. To console them for the loss, he has left behind the +emanations of his splendid mind. If Byron had faults, he had +redeeming virtues too--he sacrificed his comfort, fortune, health, +and life, to the cause of an oppressed nation. Honoured be his +memory!" + +Mr. Trelawney, who was on his way to Missolonghi at the time, +describes as follows the manner in which he first heard of his +friend's death:--"With all my anxiety I could not get here before the +third day. It was the second, after having crossed the first great +torrent, that I met some soldiers from Missolonghi. I had let them +all pass me, ere I had resolution enough to enquire the news from +Missolonghi. I then rode back, and demanded of a straggler the news. +I heard nothing more than--Lord Byron is dead,--and I proceeded on in +gloomy silence." The writer adds, after detailing the particulars of +the poet's illness and death, "Your pardon, Stanhope, that I have +thus turned aside from the great cause in which I am embarked. But +this is no private grief. The world has lost its greatest man; I my +best friend." + +Among his servants the same feeling of sincere grief prevailed:--"I +have in my possession (says Mr. Hoppner, in the Notices with which he +has favoured me,) a letter written by his gondolier Tita, who had +accompanied him from Venice, giving an account to his parents of his +master's decease. Of this event the poor fellow speaks in the most +affecting manner, telling them that in Lord Byron he had lost a +father rather than a master; and expatiating upon the indulgence with +which he had always treated his domestics, and the care he expressed +for their comfort and welfare." + +His valet Fletcher, too, in a letter to Mr. Murray, announcing the +event, says, "Please to excuse all defects, for I scarcely know what +I either say or do; for, after twenty years' service with my Lord, he +was more to me than a father, and I am too much distressed to give +now a correct account of every particular." + +In speaking of the effect produced on the friends of Greece by this +event, Mr. Trelawney says,--"I think Byron's name was the great means +of getting the Loan. A Mr. Marshall, with 8000_l_. per annum, was as +far as Corfu, and turned back on hearing of Lord Byron's death. +Thousands of people were flocking here: some had arrived as far as +Corfu, and hearing of his death, confessed they came out to devote +their fortunes not to the Greeks, or from interest in the cause, but +to the noble poet; and the 'Pilgrim of Eternity[1]' having departed, +they turned back."[2] + +[Footnote 1: The title given by Shelley to Lord Byron in his Elegy on +the death of Keats. + + "The Pilgrim of Eternity, whose fame + Over his living head like Heaven is bent, + An early but enduring monument, + Came veiling all the lightnings of his song + In sorrow."] + +[Footnote 2: Parry, too, mentions an instance to the same +effect:--"While I was on the quarantine-house at Zante, a gentleman +called on me, and made numerous enquiries as to Lord Byron. He said +he was only one of fourteen English gentlemen, then at Ancona, who +had sent him on to obtain intelligence, and only waited his return to +come and join Lord Byron. They were to form a mounted guard for him, +and meant to devote their personal services and their incomes to the +Greek cause. On hearing of Lord Byron's death, however, they turned +back."] + +The funeral ceremony, which, on account of the rains, had been +postponed for a day, took place in the church of St. Nicholas, at +Missolonghi, on the 22d of April, and is thus feelingly described by +an eye-witness:-- + +"In the midst of his own brigade, of the troops of the Government, +and of the whole population, on the shoulders of the officers of his +corps, relieved occasionally by other Greeks, the most precious +portion of his honoured remains were carried to the church, where lie +the bodies of Marco Bozzari and of General Normann. There we laid +them down: the coffin was a rude, ill-constructed chest of wood; a +black mantle served for a pall; and over it we placed a helmet and a +sword, and a crown of laurel. But no funeral pomp could have left the +impression, nor spoken the feelings, of this simple ceremony. The +wretchedness and desolation of the place itself; the wild and +half-civilised warriors around us; their deep-felt, unaffected grief; +the fond recollections; the disappointed hopes; the anxieties and sad +presentiments which might be read on every countenance;--all +contributed to form a scene more moving, more truly affecting, than +perhaps was ever before witnessed round the grave of a great man. + +"When the funeral service was over, we left the bier in the middle of +the church, where it remained until the evening of the next day, and +was guarded by a detachment of his own brigade. The church was +crowded without cessation by those who came to honour and to regret +the benefactor of Greece. In the evening of the 23d, the bier was +privately carried back by his officers to his own house. The coffin +was not closed till the 29th of the month. Immediately after his +death, his countenance had an air of calmness, mingled with a +severity, that seemed gradually to soften; for when I took a last +look of him, the expression, at least to my eyes, was truly sublime." + +We have seen how decidedly, while in Italy, Lord Byron expressed his +repugnance to the idea of his remains resting upon English ground; +and the injunctions he so frequently gave to Mr. Hoppner on this +point show his wishes to have been,--at least, during that +period,--sincere. With one so changing, however, in his impulses, it +was not too much to take for granted that the far more cordial +feeling entertained by him towards his countrymen at Cephalonia would +have been followed by a correspondent change in this antipathy to +England as a last resting-place. It is, at all events, fortunate that +by no such spleen of the moment has his native country been deprived +of her natural right to enshrine within her own bosom one of the +noblest of her dead, and to atone for any wrong she may have +inflicted upon him, while living, by making his tomb a place of +pilgrimage for her sons through all ages. + +By Colonel Stanhope and others it was suggested that, as a tribute to +the land he celebrated and died for, his remains should be deposited +at Athens, in the Temple of Theseus; and the Chief Odysseus +despatched an express to Missolonghi to enforce this wish. On the +part of the town, too, in which he breathed his last, a similar +request had been made by the citizens; and it was thought advisable +so far to accede to their desires as to leave with them, for +interment, one of the vessels, in which his remains, after +embalmment, were enclosed. + +The first step taken, before any decision as to its ultimate +disposal, was to have the body conveyed to Zante; and every facility +having been afforded by the Resident, Sir Frederick Stoven, in +providing and sending transports to Missolonghi for that purpose, on +the morning of the 2d of May the remains were embarked, under a +mournful salute from the guns of the fortress:--"How different," says +Count Gamba, "from that which had welcomed the arrival of Byron only +four months ago!" + +At Zante, the determination was taken to send the body to England; +and the brig Florida, which had just arrived there with the first +instalment of the Loan, was engaged for the purpose. Mr. Blaquiere, +under whose care this first portion of the Loan had come, was also +the bearer of a Commission for the due management of its disposal in +Greece, in which Lord Byron was named as the principal Commissioner. +The same ship, however, that brought this honourable mark of +confidence was to return with him a corpse. To Colonel Stanhope, who +was then at Zante, on his way homeward, was intrusted the charge of +his illustrious colleague's remains; and on the 25th of May he +embarked with them on board the Florida for England. + +In the letter which, on his arrival in the Downs, June 29th, this +gentleman addressed to Lord Byron's executors, there is the following +passage:--"With respect to the funeral ceremony, I am of opinion that +his Lordship's family should be immediately consulted, and that +sanction should be obtained for the public burial of his body either +in the great Abbey or Cathedral of London." It has been asserted, and +I fear too truly, that on some intimation of the wish suggested in +this last sentence being conveyed to one of those Reverend persons +who have the honours of the Abbey at their disposal, such an answer +was returned as left but little doubt that a refusal would be the +result of any more regular application.[1] + +[Footnote 1: A former Dean of Westminster went so far, we know, in +his scruples as to exclude an epitaph from the Abbey, because it +contained the name of Milton:--"a name, in his opinion," says +Johnson, "too detestable to be read on the wall of a building +dedicated to devotion."--_Life of_ MILTON.] + +There is an anecdote told of the poet Hafiz, in Sir William Jones's +Life, which, in reporting this instance of illiberality, recurs +naturally to the memory. After the death of the great Persian bard, +some of the religious among his countrymen protested strongly against +allowing to him the right of sepulture, alleging, as their objection, +the licentiousness of his poetry. After much controversy, it was +agreed to leave the decision of the question to a mode of divination, +not uncommon among the Persians, which consisted in opening the +poet's book at random and taking the first verses that occurred. They +happened to be these:-- + + "Oh turn not coldly from the poet's bier, + Nor check the sacred drops by Pity given; + For though in sin his body slumbereth here, + His soul, absolved, already wings to heaven." + +These lines, says the legend, were looked upon as a divine decree; +the religionists no longer enforced their objections, and the remains +of the bard were left to take their quiet sleep by that "sweet bower +of Mosellay" which he had so often celebrated in his verses. + +Were our Byron's right of sepulture to be decided in the same manner, +how few are there of his pages, thus taken at hazard, that would not, +by some genial touch of sympathy with virtue, some glowing tribute to +the bright works of God, or some gush of natural devotion more +affecting than any homily, give him a title to admission into the +purest temple of which Christian Charity ever held the guardianship. + +Let the decision, however, of these Reverend authorities have been, +finally, what it might, it was the wish, as is understood, of Lord +Byron's dearest relative to have his remains laid in the family vault +at Hucknall, near Newstead. On being landed from the Florida, the +body had, under the direction of his Lordship's executors, Mr. +Hobhouse and Mr. Hanson, been removed to the house of Sir Edward +Knatchbull in Great George Street, Westminster, where it lay in state +during Friday and Saturday, the 9th and 10th of July, and on the +following Monday the funeral procession took place. Leaving +Westminster at eleven o'clock in the morning, attended by most of his +Lordship's personal friends and by the carriages of several persons +of rank, it proceeded through various streets of the metropolis +towards the North Road. At Pancras Church, the ceremonial of the +procession being at an end, the carriages returned; and the hearse +continued its way, by slow stages, to Nottingham. + +It was on Friday the 16th of July that, in the small village church +of Hucknall, the last duties were paid to the remains of Byron, by +depositing them, close to those of his mother, in the family vault. +Exactly on the same day of the same month in the preceding year, he +had said, it will be recollected, despondingly, to Count Gamba, +"Where shall we be in another year?" The gentleman to whom this +foreboding speech was addressed paid a visit, some months after the +interment, to Hucknall, and was much struck, as I have heard, on +approaching the village, by the strong likeness it seemed to him to +bear to his lost friend's melancholy deathplace, Missolonghi. + +On a tablet of white marble in the chancel of the Church of Hucknall +is the following inscription:-- + + IN THE VAULT BENEATH, + WHERE MANY OF HIS ANCESTORS AND HIS MOTHER ARE + BURIED, + LIE THE REMAINS OF + GEORGE GORDON NOEL BYRON, + LORD BYRON, OF ROCHDALE, + IN THE COUNTY OF LANCASTER, + THE AUTHOR OF "CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE." + HE WAS BORN IN LONDON ON THE + 22D OF JANUARY, 1788. + + HE DIED AT MISSOLONGHI, IN WESTERN GREECE, ON THE + 19TH OF APRIL, 1824, + ENGAGED IN THE GLORIOUS ATTEMPT TO RESTORE THAT + COUNTRY TO HER ANCIENT FREEDOM AND RENOWN. + + * * * * * + + HIS SISTER, THE HONOURABLE + AUGUSTA MARIA LEIGH, + PLACED THIS TABLET TO HIS MEMORY. + +From among the tributes that have been offered, in prose and verse, +and in almost every language of Europe, to his memory, I shall select +two which appear to me worthy of peculiar notice, as being, one of +them,--so far as my limited scholarship will allow me to judge,--a +simple and happy imitation of those laudatory inscriptions with which +the Greece of other times honoured the tombs of her heroes; and the +other as being the production of a pen, once engaged controversially +against Byron, but not the less ready, as these affecting verses +prove, to offer the homage of a manly sorrow and admiration at his +grave. + + +[Greek: + + Eis + Ton en te Helladi teleutesanta + Poieten + + * * * * * + + Ou to zen tanaon biou euklees oud' enarithmein + Arxaiax progonon eunxneon aretas + Ton d' eudaimonias moir' amphepei, hosper apanton + Aien aristeuon gignetai athanatos.-- + Eudeis oun su, teknon, xariton ear? ouk eti thallei + Akmaios meleon hedupnoon stephanos?-- + Alla teon, tripophete, moron penphousin Aphene, + Mousai, patris, Ares, Ellas, eleupheria.[1]] + +[Footnote 1: By John Williams, Esq.--The following translation of +this inscription will not be unacceptable to my readers:-- + + "Not length of life--not an illustrious birth, + Rich with the noblest blood of all the earth;-- + Nought can avail, save deeds of high emprize, + Our mortal being to immortalise. + + "Sweet child of song, thou deepest!--ne'er again + Shall swell the notes of thy melodious strain: + Yet, with thy country wailing o'er thy urn, + Pallas, the Muse, Mars, Greece, and Freedom mourn." + +H.H. JOY.] + + +"CHILDE HAROLD'S LAST PILGRIMAGE. + +"BY THE REV. W.L. BOWLES. + + "SO ENDS CHILDE HAROLD HIS LAST PILGRIMAGE!-- + Upon the shores of Greece he stood, and cried + 'LIBERTY!' and those shores, from age to age + Renown'd, and Sparta's woods and rocks replied + 'Liberty!' But a Spectre, at his side, + Stood mocking;--and its dart, uplifting high, + Smote him;--he sank to earth in life's fair pride: + SPARTA! thy rocks then heard another cry, + And old Ilissus sigh'd--'Die, generous exile, die!' + + "I will not ask sad Pity to deplore + His wayward errors, who thus early died; + Still less, CHILDE HAROLD, now thou art no more, + Will I say aught of genius misapplied; + Of the past shadows of thy spleen or pride:-- + But I will bid th' Arcadian cypress wave, + Pluck the green laurel from Peneus' side, + And pray thy spirit may such quiet have, + That not one thought unkind be murmur'd o'er thy grave. + + "SO HAROLD ENDS, IN GREECE, HIS PILGRIMAGE!-- + There fitly ending,--in that land renown'd, + Whose mighty genius lives in Glory's page,-- + He, on the Muses' consecrated ground, + Sinking to rest, while his young brows are bound + With their unfading wreath!--To bands of mirth, + No more in TEMPE let the pipe resound! + HAROLD, I follow to thy place of birth + The slow hearse--and thy LAST sad PILGRIMAGE on earth. + + "Slow moves the plumed hearse, the mourning train,-- + I mark the sad procession with a sigh, + Silently passing to that village fane, + Where, HAROLD, thy forefathers mouldering lie;-- + There sleeps THAT MOTHER, who with tearful eye, + Pondering the fortunes of thy early road, + Hung o'er the slumbers of thine infancy; + Her son, released from mortal labour's load, + Now comes to rest, with her, in the same still abode. + + "Bursting Death's silence--could that mother speak-- + (Speak when the earth was heap'd upon his head)-- + In thrilling, but with hollow accent weak, + She thus might give the welcome of the dead:-- + 'Here rest, my son, with me;--the dream is fled;-- + The motley mask and the great stir is o'er: + Welcome to me, and to this silent bed, + Where deep forgetfulness succeeds the roar + Of life, and fretting passions waste the heart no more.'" + +By his Lordship's Will, a copy of which will be found in the +Appendix, he bequeathed to his executors in trust for the benefit of +his sister, Mrs. Leigh, the monies arising from the sale of all his +real estates at Rochdale and elsewhere, together with such part of +his other property as was not settled upon Lady Byron and his +daughter Ada, to be by Mrs. Leigh enjoyed, free from her husband's +control, during her life, and, after her decease, to be inherited by +her children. + +We have now followed to its close a life which, brief as was its +span, may be said, perhaps, to have comprised within itself a greater +variety of those excitements and interest which spring out of the +deep workings of passion and of intellect than any that the pen of +biography has ever before commemorated. As there still remain among +the papers of my friend some curious gleanings which, though in the +abundance of our materials I have not hitherto found a place for +them, are too valuable towards the illustration of his character to +be lost, I shall here, in selecting them for the reader, avail myself +of the opportunity of trespassing, for the last time, on his patience +with a few general remarks. + +It must have been observed, throughout these pages, and by some, +perhaps, with disappointment, that into the character of Lord Byron, +as a poet, there has been little, if any, critical examination; but +that, content with expressing generally the delight which, in common +with all, I derive from his poetry, I have left the task of analysing +the sources from which this delight springs to others.[1] In thus +evading, if it must be so considered, one of my duties as a +biographer, I have been influenced no less by a sense of my own +inaptitude for the office of critic than by recollecting with what +assiduity, throughout the whole of the poet's career, every new +rising of his genius was watched from the great observatories of +Criticism, and the ever changing varieties of its course and +splendour tracked out and recorded with a degree of skill and +minuteness which has left but little for succeeding observers to +discover. It is, moreover, into the character and conduct of Lord +Byron, as a man, not distinct from, but forming, on the contrary, the +best illustration of his character, as a writer, that it has been the +more immediate purpose of these volumes to enquire; and if, in the +course of them, any satisfactory clue has been afforded to those +anomalies, moral and intellectual, which his life exhibited,--still +more, should it have been the effect of my humble labours to clear +away some of those mists that hung round my friend, and show him, in +most respects, as worthy of love as he was, in all, of admiration, +then will the chief and sole aim of this work have been accomplished. + +[Footnote 1: It may be making too light of criticism to say with Gray +that "even a bad verse is as good a thing or better than the best +observation that ever was made upon it;" but there are surely few +tasks that appear more thankless and superfluous than that of +following, as Criticism sometimes does, in the rear of victorious +genius (like the commentators on a field of Blenheim or of Waterloo), +and either labouring to point out to us _why_ it has triumphed, or +still more unprofitably contending that it _ought_ to have failed. +The well-known passage of La Bruyere, which even Voltaire's adulatory +application of it to some work of the King of Prussia has not spoiled +for use, puts, perhaps, in its true point of view the very +subordinate rank which Criticism must be content to occupy in the +train of successful Genius:--"Quand une lecture vous eleve l'esprit +et qu'elle vous inspire des sentimens nobles, ne cherehez pas une +autre regle pour juger de l'ouvrage; il est bon et fait de main de +l'ouvrier: La Critique, apres ca, peut s'exercer sur les petites +choses, relever quelques expressions, corriger des phrases, parler de +syntaxe," &c. &c.] + +Having devoted to this object so large a portion of my own share of +these pages, and, yet more fairly, enabled the world to form a +judgment for itself, by placing the man, in his own person, and +without disguise, before all eyes, there would seem to remain now but +an easy duty in summing up the various points of his character, and, +out of the features, already separately described, combining one +complete portrait. The task, however, is by no means so easy as it +may appear. There are few characters in which a near acquaintance +does not enable us to discover some one leading principle or passion +consistent enough in its operations to be taken confidently into +account in any estimate of the disposition in which they are found. +Like those points in the human face, or figure, to which all its +other proportions are referable, there is in most minds some one +governing influence, from which chiefly,--though, of course, biassed +on some occasions by others,--all its various impulses and tendencies +will be found to radiate. In Lord Byron, however, this sort of pivot +of character was almost wholly wanting. Governed as he was at +different moments by totally different passions, and impelled +sometimes, as during his short access of parsimony in Italy, by +springs of action never before developed in his nature, in him this +simple mode of tracing character to its sources must be often wholly +at fault; and if, as is not impossible, in trying to solve the +strange variances of his mind, I should myself be found to have +fallen into contradictions and inconsistencies, the extreme +difficulty of analysing, without dazzle or bewilderment, such an +unexampled complication of qualities must be admitted as my excuse. + +So various, indeed, and contradictory, were his attributes, both +moral and intellectual, that he may be pronounced to have been not +one, but many: nor would it be any great exaggeration of the truth to +say, that out of the mere partition of the properties of his single +mind a plurality of characters, all different and all vigorous, might +have been furnished. It was this multiform aspect exhibited by him +that led the world, during his short wondrous career, to compare him +with that medley host of personages, almost all differing from each +other, which he thus playfully enumerates in one of his Journals:-- + +"I have been thinking over, the other day, on the various +comparisons, good or evil, which I have seen published of myself in +different journals, English and foreign. This was suggested to me by +accidentally turning over a foreign one lately,--for I have made it a +rule latterly never to _search_ for any thing of the kind, but not to +avoid the perusal, if presented by chance. + +"To begin, then: I have seen myself compared, personally or +poetically, in English, French, _German_ (_as_ interpreted to me), +Italian, and Portuguese, within these nine years, to Rousseau, +Goethe, Young, Aretine, Timon of Athens, Dante, Petrarch, 'an +alabaster vase, lighted up within,' Satan, Shakspeare, Buonaparte, +Tiberius, AEschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Harlequin, the Clown, +Sternhold and Hopkins, to the phantasmagoria, to Henry the Eighth, to +Chenier, to Mirabeau, to young R. Dallas (the schoolboy), to Michael +Angelo, to Raphael, to a petit-maitre, to Diogenes, to Childe Harold, +to Lara, to the Count in Beppo, to Milton, to Pope, to Dryden, to +Burns, to Savage, to Chatterton, to 'oft have I heard of thee, my +Lord Biron,' in Shakspeare, to Churchill the poet, to Kean the actor, +to Alfieri, &c. &c. &c. + +"The likeness to Alfieri was asserted very seriously by an Italian +who had known him in his younger days. It of course related merely to +our apparent personal dispositions. He did not assert it to _me_ (for +we were not then good friends), but in society. + +"The object of so many contradictory comparisons must probably be +like something different from them all; but what _that_ is, is more +than _I_ know, or any body else." + +It would not be uninteresting, were there either space or time for +such a task, to take a review of the names of note in the preceding +list, and show in how many points, though differing so materially +among themselves, it might be found that each presented a striking +resemblance to Lord Byron. We have seen, for instance, that wrongs +and sufferings were, through life, the main sources of Byron's +inspiration. Where the hoof of the critic struck, the fountain was +first disclosed; and all the tramplings of the world afterwards but +forced out the stream stronger and brighter. The same obligations to +misfortune, the same debt to the "oppressor's wrong," for having +wrung out from bitter thoughts the pure essence of his genius, was +due no less deeply by Dante!--"quum illam sub amara cogitatione +excitatam, occulti divinique ingenii vim exacuerit et +inflammarit."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Paulus Jovius.--Bayle, too, says of him, "Il fit entrer +plus de feu et plus de force dans ses livres qu'il n'y en eut mis +s'il avoit joui d'une condition plus tranquille."] + +In that contempt for the world's opinion, which led Dante to exclaim, +"Lascia dir le genti," Lord Byron also bore a strong resemblance to +that poet,--though far more, it must be confessed, in profession than +reality. For, while scorn for the public voice was on his lips, the +keenest sensitiveness to its every breath was in his heart; and, as +if every feeling of his nature was to have some painful mixture in +it, together with the pride of Dante which led him to disdain public +opinion, he combined the susceptibility of Petrarch which placed him +shrinkingly at its mercy. + +His agreement, in some other features of character, with Petrarch, I +have already had occasion to remark[1]; and if it be true, as is +often surmised, that Byron's want of a due reverence for Shakspeare +arose from some latent and hardly conscious jealousy of that poet's +fame, a similar feeling is known to have existed in Petrarch towards +Dante; and the same reason assigned for it,--that from the living he +had nothing to fear, while before the shade of Dante he might have +reason to feel humbled,--is also not a little applicable[2] in the +case of Lord Byron. + +[Footnote 1: Some passages in Foscolo's Essay on Petrarch may be +applied, with equal truth, to Lord Byron.--For instance, "It was +hardly possible with Petrarch to write a sentence without portraying +himself"--"Petrarch, allured by the idea that his celebrity would +magnify into importance all the ordinary occurrences of his life, +satisfied the curiosity of the world," &c. &c.--and again, with still +more striking applicability,--"In Petrarch's letters, as well as in +his Poems and Treatises, we always identify the author with the man, +who felt himself irresistibly impelled to develope his own intense +feelings. Being endowed with almost all the noble, and with some of +the paltry passions of our nature, and having never attempted to +conceal them, he awakens us to reflection upon ourselves while we +contemplate in him a being of our own species, yet different from any +other, and whose originality excites even more sympathy than +admiration."] + +[Footnote 2: "II Petrarca poteva credere candidamente ch'ei non +pativa d'invidia solamente, perche fra tutti i viventi non v'era chi +non s'arretrasse per cedergli il passo alla prima gloria, ch'ei non +poteva sentirsi umiliato, fuorche dall' ombra di Dante."] + +Between the dispositions and habits of Alfieri and those of the noble +poet of England, no less remarkable coincidences might be traced; and +the sonnet in which the Italian dramatist professes to paint his own +character contains, in one comprehensive line, a portrait of the +versatile author of Don Juan,-- + + "Or stimandome Achille ed or Tersite." + +By the extract just given from his Journal, it will be perceived +that, in Byron's own opinion, a character which, like his, admitted +of so many contradictory comparisons, could not be otherwise than +wholly undefinable itself. It will be found, however, on reflection, +that this very versatility, which renders it so difficult to fix, +"ere it change," the fairy fabric of his character, is, in itself, +the true clue through all that fabric's mazes,--is in itself the +solution of whatever was most dazzling in his might or startling in +his levity, of all that most attracted and repelled, whether in his +life or his genius. A variety of powers almost boundless, and a pride +no less vast in displaying them,--a susceptibility of new impressions +and impulses, even beyond the usual allotment of genius, and an +uncontrolled impetuosity, as well from habit as temperament, in +yielding to them,--such were the two great and leading sources of all +that varied spectacle which his life exhibited; of that succession of +victories achieved by his genius, in almost every field of mind that +genius ever trod, and of all those sallies of character in every +shape and direction that unchecked feeling and dominant self-will +could dictate. + +It must be perceived by all endowed with quick powers of association +how constantly, when any particular thought or sentiment presents +itself to their minds, its very opposite, at the same moment, springs +up there also:--if any thing sublime occurs, its neighbour, the +ridiculous, is by its side;--across a bright view of the present or +the future, a dark one throws its shadow;--and, even in questions +respecting morals and conduct, all the reasonings and consequences +that may suggest themselves on the side of one of two opposite +courses will, in such minds, be instantly confronted by an array just +as cogent on the other. A mind of this structure,--and such, more or +less, are all those in which the reasoning is made subservient to the +imaginative faculty,--though enabled, by such rapid powers of +association, to multiply its resources without end, has need of the +constant exercise of a controlling judgment to keep its perceptions +pure and undisturbed between the contrasts it thus simultaneously +calls up; the obvious danger being that, where matters of taste are +concerned, the habit of forming such incongruous juxtapositions--as +that, for example, between the burlesque and sublime--should at last +vitiate the mind's relish for the nobler and higher quality; and +that, on the yet more important subject of morals, a facility in +finding reasons for every side of a question may end, if not in the +choice of the worst, at least in a sceptical indifference to all. + +In picturing to oneself so awful an event as a shipwreck, its many +horrors and perils are what alone offer themselves to ordinary +fancies. But the keen, versatile imagination of Byron could detect in +it far other details, and, at the same moment with all that is +fearful and appalling in such a scene, could bring together all that +is most ludicrous and low. That in this painful mixture he was but +too true to human nature, the testimony of De Retz (himself an +eye-witness of such an event) attests:--"Vous ne pouvez vous imaginer +(says the Cardinal) l'horreur d'une grande tempete;--vous en pouvez +imaginer aussi pen le ridicule." But, assuredly, a poet less +wantoning in the variety of his power, and less proud of displaying +it, would have paused ere he mixed up, thus mockingly, the +degradation of humanity with its sufferings, and, content to probe us +to the core with the miseries of our fellow-men, would have forborne +to wring from us, the next moment, a bitter smile at their baseness. + +To the moral sense so dangerous are the effects of this quality, that +it would hardly, perhaps, be generalising too widely to assert that +wheresoever great versatility of power exists, there will also be +found a tendency to versatility of principle. The poet Chatterton, in +whose soul the seeds of all that is good and bad in genius so +prematurely ripened, said, in the consciousness of this multiple +faculty, that he "held that man in contempt who could not write on +both sides of a question;" and it was by acting in accordance with +this principle himself that he brought one of the few stains upon his +name which a life so short afforded time to incur. Mirabeau, too, +when, in the legal warfare between his father and mother, he helped +to draw up for each the pleadings against the other, was influenced +less, no doubt, by the pleasure of mischief than by this pride of +talent, and lost sight of the unnatural perfidy of the task in the +adroitness with which he executed it. + +The quality which I have here denominated versatility, as applied to +_power_, Lord Byron has himself designated by the French word +"mobility," as applied to _feeling_ and _conduct_; and, in one of the +Cantos of Don Juan, has described happily some of its lighter +features. After telling us that his hero had begun to doubt, from the +great predominance of this quality in her, "how much of Adeline was +_real_," he says,-- + + "So well she acted, all and every part, + By turns,--with that vivacious versatility, + Which many people take for want of heart. + They err--'tis merely what is called mobility, + A thing of temperament and not of art, + Though seeming so, from its supposed facility; + And false--though true; for surely they're sincerest, + Who are strongly acted on by what is nearest." + +That he was fully aware not only of the abundance of this quality in +his own nature, but of the danger in which it placed consistency and +singleness of character, did not require the note on this passage, +where he calls it "an unhappy attribute," to assure us. The +consciousness, indeed, of his own natural tendency to yield thus to +every chance impression, and change with every passing impulse, was +not only for ever present in his mind, but,--aware as he was of the +suspicion of weakness attached by the world to any retractation or +abandonment of long professed opinions,--had the effect of keeping +him in that general line of consistency, on certain great subjects, +which, notwithstanding occasional fluctuations and contradictions as +to the details of these very subjects, he continued to preserve +throughout life. A passage from one of his manuscripts will show how +sagaciously he saw the necessity of guarding himself against his own +instability in this respect. "The world visits change of politics or +change of religion with a more severe censure than a mere difference +of opinion would appear to me to deserve. But there must be some +reason for this feeling;--and I think it is that these departures +from the earliest instilled ideas of our childhood, and from the line +of conduct chosen by us when we first enter into public life, have +been seen to have more mischievous results for society, and to prove +more weakness of mind than other actions, in themselves, more +immoral." + +The same distrust in his own steadiness, thus keeping alive in him a +conscientious self-watchfulness, concurred not a little, I have no +doubt, with the innate kindness of his nature, to preserve so +constant and unbroken the greater number of his attachments through +life;--some of them, as in the instance of his mother, owing +evidently more to a sense of duty than to real affection, the +consistency with which, so creditably to the strength of his +character, they were maintained. + +But while in these respects, as well as in the sort of task-like +perseverance with which the habits and amusements of his youth were +held fast by him, he succeeded in conquering the variableness and +love of novelty so natural to him, in all else that could engage his +mind, in all the excursions, whether of his reason or his fancy, he +gave way to this versatile humour without scruple or check,--taking +every shape in which genius could manifest its power, and +transferring himself to every region of thought where new conquests +were to be achieved. + +It was impossible but that such a range of will and power should be +abused. It was impossible that, among the spirits he invoked from all +quarters, those of darkness should not appear, at his bidding, with +those of light. And here the dangers of an energy so multifold, and +thus luxuriating in its own transformations, show themselves. To this +one great object of displaying power,--various, splendid, and +all-adorning power,--every other consideration and duty were but too +likely to be sacrificed. Let the advocate but display his eloquence +and art, no matter what the cause;--let the stamp of energy be but +left behind, no matter with what seal. _Could_ it have been expected +that from such a career no mischief would ensue, or that among these +cross-lights of imagination the moral vision could remain +undisturbed? _Is_ it to be at all wondered at that in the works of +one thus gifted and carried away, we should find,--wholly, too, +without any prepense design of corrupting on his side,--a false +splendour given to Vice to make it look like Virtue, and Evil too +often invested with a grandeur which belongs intrinsically but to +Good? + +Among the less serious ills flowing from this abuse of his great +versatile powers,--more especially as exhibited in his most +characteristic work, Don Juan,--it will be found that even the +strength and impressiveness of his poetry is sometimes not a little +injured by the capricious and desultory flights into which this +pliancy of wing allures him. It must be felt, indeed, by all readers +of that work, and particularly by those who, being gifted with but a +small portion of such ductility themselves, are unable to keep pace +with his changes, that the suddenness with which he passes from one +strain of sentiment to another,--from the frolic to the sad, from the +cynical to the tender,--begets a distrust in the sincerity of one or +both moods of mind which interferes with, if not chills, the sympathy +that a more natural transition would inspire. In general such a +suspicion would do him injustice; as, among the singular combinations +which his mind presented, that of uniting at once versatility and +depth of feeling was not the least remarkable. But, on the whole, +favourable as was all this quickness and variety of association to +the extension of the range and resources of his poetry, it may be +questioned whether a more select concentration of his powers would +not have afforded a still more grand and precious result. Had the +minds of Milton and Tasso been thus thrown open to the incursions of +light, ludicrous fancies, who can doubt that those solemn sanctuaries +of genius would have been as much injured as profaned by the +intrusion?--and it is at least a question whether, if Lord Byron had +not been so actively versatile, so totally under the dominion of + + "A fancy, like the air, most free, + And full of mutability," + +he would not have been less wonderful, perhaps, but more great. + +Nor was it only in his poetical creations that this love and power of +variety showed itself:--one of the most pervading weaknesses of his +life may be traced to the same fertile source. The pride of +personating every description of character, evil as well as good, +influenced but too much, as we have seen, his ambition, and, not a +little, his conduct; and as, in poetry, his own experience of the ill +effects of passion was made to minister materials to the workings of +his imagination, so, in return, his imagination supplied that dark +colouring under which he so often disguised his true aspect from the +world. To such a perverse length, indeed, did he carry this fancy for +self-defamation, that if (as sometimes, in his moments of gloom, he +persuaded himself,) there was any tendency to derangement in his +mental conformation[1], on this point alone could it be pronounced to +have manifested itself.[2] In the early part of my acquaintance with +him, when he most gave way to this humour,--for it was observable +afterwards, when the world joined in his own opinion of himself, he +rather shrunk from the echo,--I have known him more than once, as we +have sat together after dinner, and he was, at the time, perhaps, a +little under the influence of wine, to fall seriously into this sort +of dark and self-accusing mood, and throw out hints of his past life +with an air of gloom and mystery designed evidently to awaken +curiosity and interest. He was, however, too promptly alive to the +least approaches of ridicule not to perceive, on these occasions, +that the gravity of his hearer was only prevented from being +disturbed by an effort of politeness, and he accordingly never again +tried this romantic mystification upon me. From what I have known, +however, of his experiments upon more impressible listeners, I have +little doubt that, to produce effect at the moment, there is hardly +any crime so dark or desperate of which, in the excitement of thus +acting upon the imaginations of others, he would not have hinted that +he had been guilty; and it has sometimes occurred to me that the +occult cause of his lady's separation from him, round which herself +and her legal adviser have thrown such formidable mystery, may have +been nothing more, after all, than some imposture of this kind, some +dimly hinted confession of undefined horrors, which, though intended +by the relater but to mystify and surprise, the hearer so little +understood him as to take in sober seriousness. + +[Footnote 1: We have seen how often, in his Journals and Letters, +this suspicion of his own mental soundness is intimated. A similar +notion, with respect to himself, seems to have taken hold also of the +strong mind of Johnson, who, like Byron, too, was disposed to +attribute to an hereditary tinge that melancholy which, as he said, +"made him mad all his life, at least not sober." This peculiar +feature of Johnson's mind has, in the late new edition of Boswell's +Life of him, given rise to some remarks, pregnant with all the +editor's well known acuteness, which, as bearing on a point so +important in the history of the human intellect, will be found worthy +of all attention. + +In one of the many letters of Lord Byron to myself, which I have +thought right to omit, I find him tracing this supposed disturbance +of his own faculties to the marriage of Miss Chaworth;--"a marriage," +he says, "for which she sacrificed the prospects of two very ancient +families, and a heart which was hers from ten years old, and a head +which has never been quite right since."] + +[Footnote 2: In his Diary of 1814 there is a passage (vol. ii. page +270.) which I had preserved solely for the purpose of illustrating +this obliquity of his mind, intending, at the same time, to accompany +it with an explanatory note. From some inadvertence, however, the +note was omitted; and, thus left to itself, this piece of +mystification has, with the French readers of the work, I see, +succeeded most perfectly; there being no imaginable variety of murder +which the votaries of the new romantic school have not been busily +extracting out of the mystery of that passage.] + +This strange propensity with which the man was, as it were, +inoculated by the poet, re-acted back again upon his poetry, so as to +produce, in some of his delineations of character, that inconsistency +which has not unfrequently been noticed by his critics,--namely, the +junction of one or two lofty and shining virtues with "a thousand +crimes" altogether incompatible with them; this anomaly being, in +fact, accounted for by the two different sorts of ambition that +actuated him,--the natural one, of infusing into his personages those +high and kindly qualities he felt conscious of within himself, and +the artificial one, of investing them with those crimes which he so +boyishly wished imputed to him by the world. + +Independently, however, of any such efforts towards blackening his +own name, and even after he had learned from bitter experience the +rash folly of such a system, there was still, in the openness and +over-frankness of his nature, and that indulgence of impulse with +which he gave utterance to, if not acted upon, every chance +impression of the moment, more than sufficient to bring his +character, in all its least favourable lights, before the world. Who +is there, indeed, that could bear to be judged by even the best of +those unnumbered thoughts that course each other, like waves of the +sea, through our minds, passing away unuttered, and, for the most +part, even unowned by ourselves?--Yet to such a test was Byron's +character throughout his whole life exposed. As well from the +precipitance with which he gave way to every impulse as from the +passion he had for recording his own impressions, all those +heterogeneous thoughts, fantasies, and desires that, in other men's +minds, "come like shadows, so depart," were by him fixed and embodied +as they presented themselves, and, at once, taking a shape cognizable +by public opinion, either in his actions or his words, either in the +hasty letter of the moment, or the poem for all time, laid open such +a range of vulnerable points before his judges, as no one individual +perhaps ever before, of himself, presented. + +With such abundance and variety of materials for portraiture, it may +easily be conceived how two professed delineators of his character, +the one over partial and the other malicious, might,--the former, by +selecting only the fairer, and the latter only the darker, +features,--produce two portraits of Lord Byron, as much differing +from each other as they would both be, on the whole, unlike the +original. + +Of the utter powerlessness of retention with which he promulgated his +every thought and feeling,--more especially if at all connected with +the subject of self,--without allowing even a pause for the almost +instinctive consideration whether by such disclosures he might not be +conveying a calumnious impression of himself, a stronger instance +could hardly be given than is to be found in a conversation held by +him with Mr. Trelawney, as reported by this latter gentleman, when +they were on their way together to Greece. After some remarks on the +state of his own health[1], mental and bodily, he said, "I don't know +how it is, but I am so cowardly at times, that if, this morning, you +had come down and horsewhipped me, I should have submitted without +opposition. Why is this? If one of these fits come over me when we +are in Greece, what shall I do?"--"I told him (continues Mr. +Trelawney) that it was the excessive debility of his nerves. He said, +'Yes, and of my head, too. I was very heroic when I left Genoa, but, +like Acres, I feel my courage oozing out at my palms.'" + +[Footnote 1: "He often mentioned," says Mr. Trelawney, "that he +thought he should not live many years, and said that he would die in +Greece." This he told me at Cephalonia. He always seemed unmoved on +these occasions, perfectly indifferent as to when he died, only +saying that he could not bear pain. On our voyage we had been reading +with great attention the life and letters of Swift, edited by Scott, +and we almost daily, or rather nightly, talked them over; and he more +than once expressed his horror of existing in that state, and +expressed some fears that it would be his fate.] + +It will hardly, by those who know any thing of human nature, be +denied that such misgivings and heart-sinkings as are here described +may, under a similar depression of spirits, have found their way into +the thoughts of some of the gallantest hearts that ever +breathed;--but then, untold and unremembered, even by the sufferer +himself, they passed off with the passing infirmity that produced +them, leaving neither to truth to record them as proofs of want of +health, nor to calumny to fasten upon them a suspicion of want of +bravery. The assertion of some one that all men are by nature +cowardly would seem to be countenanced by the readiness with which +most men believe others so. "I have lived," says the Prince de Ligne, +"to hear Voltaire called a fool, and the great Frederick a coward." +The Duke of Marlborough in his own times, and Napoleon in ours, have +found persons not only to assert but believe the same charge against +them. After such glaring instances of the tendency of some minds to +view greatness only through an inverting medium, it need little +surprise us that Lord Byron's conduct in Greece should, on the same +principle, have engendered a similar insinuation against him; nor +should I have at all noticed the weak slander, but for the +opportunity which it affords me of endeavouring to point out what +appears to me the peculiar nature of the courage by which, on all +occasions that called for it, he so strikingly distinguished himself. + +Whatever virtue may be allowed to belong to personal courage, it is, +most assuredly, they who are endowed by nature with the liveliest +imaginations, and who have therefore most vividly and simultaneously +before their eyes all the remote and possible consequences of danger, +that are most deserving of whatever praise attends the exercise of +that virtue. A bravery of this kind, which springs more out of mind +than temperament,--or rather, perhaps, out of the conquest of the +former over the latter,--will naturally proportion its exertion to +the importance of the occasion; and the same person who is seen to +shrink with an almost feminine fear from ignoble and every-day +perils, may be found foremost in the very jaws of danger where honour +is to be either maintained or won. Nor does this remark apply only to +the imaginative class, of whom I am chiefly treating. By the same +calculating principle, it will be found that most men whose bravery +is the result not of temperament but reflection, are regulated in +their daring. The wise De Wit, though negligent of his life on great +occasions, was not ashamed, we are told, of dreading and avoiding +whatever endangered it on others. + +Of the apprehensiveness that attends quick imaginations, Lord Byron +had, of course, a considerable share, and in all situations of +ordinary peril gave way to it without reserve. I have seldom seen any +person, male or female, more timid in a carriage; and, in riding, his +preparation against accidents showed the same nervous and imaginative +fearfulness. "His bridle," says the late Lord B----, who rode +frequently with him at Genoa, "had, besides cavesson and martingale, +various reins; and whenever he came near a place where his horse was +likely to shy, he gathered up these said reins and fixed himself as +if he was going at a five-barred gate." None surely but the most +superficial or most prejudiced observers could ever seriously found +upon such indications of nervousness any conclusion against the real +courage of him who was subject to them. The poet Ariosto, who was, it +seems, a victim to the same fair-weather alarms,--who, when on +horseback, would alight at the least appearance of danger, and on the +water was particularly timorous,--could yet, in the action between +the Pope's vessels and the Duke of Ferrara's, fight like a lion; and +in the same manner the courage of Lord Byron, as all his companions +in peril testify, was of that noblest kind which rises with the +greatness of the occasion, and becomes but the more self-collected +and resisting, the more imminent the danger. + +In proposing to show that the distinctive properties of Lord Byron's +character, as well moral as literary, arose mainly from those two +great sources, the unexampled versatility of his powers and feelings, +and the facility with which he gave way to the impulses of both, it +had been my intention to pursue the subject still further in detail, +and to endeavour to trace throughout the various excellences and +defects, both of his poetry and his life, the operation of these two +dominant attributes of his nature. "No men," says Cowper, in speaking +of persons of a versatile turn of mind, "are better qualified for +companions in such a world as this than men of such temperament. +Every scene of life has two sides, a dark and a bright one; and the +mind that has an equal mixture of melancholy and vivacity is best of +all qualified for the contemplation of either." It would not be +difficult to show that to this readiness in reflecting all hues, +whether of the shadows or the lights of our variegated existence, +Lord Byron owed not only the great range of his influence as a poet, +but those powers of fascination which he possessed as a man. This +susceptibility, indeed, of immediate impressions, which in him was so +active, lent a charm, of all others the most attractive, to his +social intercourse, by giving to those who were, at the moment, +present, such ascendant influence, that they alone for the time +occupied all his thoughts and feelings, and brought whatever was most +agreeable in his nature into play.[1] + +[Footnote 1: In reference to his power of adapting himself to all +sorts of society, and taking upon himself all varieties of character, +I find a passage in one of my early letters to him (from Ireland) +which, though it might be expressed, perhaps, in better taste, is +worth citing for its truth:--"Though I have not written, I have +seldom ceased to think of you; for you are that sort of being whom +every thing, high or low, brings into one's mind. Whether I am with +the wise or the waggish, among poets or among pugilists, over the +book or over the bottle, you are sure to connect yourself +transcendently with all, and come 'armed for _every_ field' into my +memory."] + +So much did this extreme mobility,--this readiness to be "strongly +acted on by what was nearest,"--abound in his disposition, that, even +with the casual acquaintances of the hour, his heart was upon his +lips[1], and it depended wholly upon themselves whether they might +not become at once the depositories of every secret, if it might be +so called, of his whole life. That in this convergence of all the +powers of pleasing towards present objects, those absent should be +sometimes forgotten, or, what is worse, sacrificed to the reigning +desire of the moment, is unluckily one of the alloys attendant upon +persons of this temperament, which renders their fidelity, either as +lovers or confidants, not a little precarious. But of the charm which +such a disposition diffuses through the manner there can be but +little doubt,--and least of all among those who have ever felt its +influence in Lord Byron. Neither are the instances in which he has +been known to make imprudent disclosures of what had been said or +written by others of the persons with whom he was conversing to be +all set down to this rash overflow of the social hour. In his own +frankness of spirit, and hatred of all disguise, this practice, +pregnant as it was with inconvenience, and sometimes danger, in a +great degree originated. To confront the accused with the accuser +was, in such cases, his delight,--not only as a revenge for having +been made the medium of what men durst not say openly to each other, +but as a gratification of that love of small mischief which he had +retained from boyhood, and which the confusion that followed such +exposures was always sure to amuse. This habit, too, being, as I have +before remarked, well known to his friends, their sense of prudence, +if not their fairness, was put fully on its guard, and he himself was +spared the pain of hearing what he could not, without inflicting +still worse, repeat. + +[Footnote 1: It is curious to observe how, in all times, and all +countries, what is called the poetical temperament has, in the great +possessors, and victims, of that gift, produced similar effects. In +the following passage, the biographer of Tasso has, in painting that +poet, described Byron also:--"There are some persons of a sensibility +so powerful, that whoever happens to be with them is, at that moment, +to them the world: their hearts involuntarily open; they are prompted +by a strong desire to please; and they thus make confidants of their +sentiments people whom they in reality regard with indifference."] + +A most apt illustration of this point of his character is to be found +in an anecdote told of him by Parry, who, though himself the victim, +had the sense and good temper to perceive the source to which Byron's +conduct was to be traced. While the Turkish fleet was blockading +Missolonghi, his Lordship, one day, attended by Parry, proceeded in a +small punt, rowed by a boy, to the mouth of the harbour, while in a +large boat accompanying them were Prince Mavrocordato and his +attendants. In this situation, an indignant feeling of contempt and +impatience at the supineness of their Greek friends seized the +engineer, and he proceeded to vent this feeling to Lord Byron in no +very measured terms, pronouncing Prince Mavrocordato to be "an old +gentlewoman," and concluding, according to his own statement, with +the following words:--"If I were in their place, I should be in a +fever at the thought of my own incapacity and ignorance, and should +burn with impatience to attempt the destruction of those rascal +Turks. But the Greeks and the Turks are opponents worthy, by their +imbecility, of each other." + +"I had scarcely explained myself fully," adds Mr. Parry, "when his +Lordship ordered our boat to be placed alongside the other, and +actually related our whole conversation to the Prince. In doing it, +however, he took on himself the task of pacifying both the Prince and +me, and though I was at first very angry, and the Prince, I believe, +very much annoyed, he succeeded. Mavrocordato afterwards showed no +dissatisfaction with me, and I prized Lord Byron's regard too much, +to remain long displeased with a proceeding which was only an +unpleasant manner of reproving us both." + +Into these and other such branches from the main course of his +character, it might have been a task of some interest to +investigate,--certain as we should be that, even in the remotest and +narrowest of these windings, some of the brightness and strength of +the original current would be perceptible. Enough however has been, +perhaps, said to set other minds upon supplying what remains:--if the +track of analysis here opened be the true one, to follow it in its +further bearings will not be difficult. Already, indeed, I may be +thought by some readers to have occupied too large a portion of these +pages, not only in tracing out such "nice dependencies" and +gradations of my friend's character, but still more uselessly, as may +be conceived, in recording all the various habitudes and whims by +which the course of his every-day life was distinguished from that of +other people. That the critics of the day should think it due to +their own importance to object to trifles is naturally to be +expected; but that, in other times, such minute records of a Byron +will be read with interest, even such critics cannot doubt. To know +that Catiline walked with an agitated and uncertain gait is, by no +mean judge of human nature, deemed important as an indication of +character. But far less significant details will satisfy the +idolaters of genius. To be told that Tasso loved malmsey and thought +it favourable to poetic inspiration is a piece of intelligence, even +at the end of three centuries, not unwelcome; while a still more +amusing proof of the disposition of the world to remember little +things of the great is, that the poet Petrarch's excessive fondness +for turnips is one of the few traditions still preserved of him at +Arqua. + +The personal appearance of Lord Byron has been so frequently +described, both by pen and pencil, that were it not the bounden duty +of the biographer to attempt some such sketch, the task would seem +superfluous. Of his face, the beauty may be pronounced to have been +of the highest order, as combining at once regularity of features +with the most varied and interesting expression. The same facility, +indeed, of change observable in the movements of his mind was seen +also in the free play of his features, as the passing thoughts within +darkened or shone through them. + +His eyes, though of a light grey, were capable of all extremes of +expression, from the most joyous hilarity to the deepest sadness, +from the very sunshine of benevolence to the most concentrated scorn +or rage. Of this latter passion, I had once an opportunity of seeing +what fiery interpreters they could be, on my telling him, +thoughtlessly enough, that a friend of mine had said to me--"Beware +of Lord Byron; he will some day or other do something very +wicked."--"Was it man or woman said so?" he exclaimed, suddenly +turning round upon me with a look of such intense anger as, though it +lasted not an instant, could not easily be forgot, and of which no +better idea can be given than in the words of one who, speaking of +Chatterton's eyes, says that "fire rolled at the bottom of them." + +But it was in the mouth and chin that the great beauty as well as +expression of his fine countenance lay. "Many pictures have been +painted of him," says a fair critic of his features, "with various +success; but the excessive beauty of his lips escaped every painter +and sculptor. In their ceaseless play they represented every emotion, +whether pale with anger, curled in disdain, smiling in triumph, or +dimpled with archness and love." It would be injustice to the reader +not to borrow from the same pencil a few more touches of portraiture. +"This extreme facility of expression was sometimes painful, for I +have seen him look absolutely ugly--I have seen him look so hard and +cold, that you must hate him, and then, in a moment, brighter than +the sun, with such playful softness in his look, such affectionate +eagerness kindling in his eyes, and dimpling his lips into something +more sweet than a smile, that you forgot the man, the Lord Byron, in +the picture of beauty presented to you, and gazed with intense +curiosity--I had almost said--as if to satisfy yourself, that thus +looked the god of poetry, the god of the Vatican, when he conversed +with the sons and daughters of man." + +His head was remarkably small[1],--so much so as to be rather out of +proportion with his face. The forehead, though a little too narrow, +was high, and appeared more so from his having his hair (to preserve +it, as he said,) shaved over the temples; while the glossy, +dark-brown curls, clustering over his head, gave the finish to its +beauty. When to this is added, that his nose, though handsomely, was +rather thickly shaped, that his teeth were white and regular, and his +complexion colourless, as good an idea perhaps as it is in the power +of mere words to convey may be conceived of his features. + +[Footnote 1: "Several of us, one day," says Colonel Napier, "tried on +his hat, and in a party of twelve or fourteen, who were at dinner, +_not one_ could put it on, so exceedingly small was his head. My +servant, Thomas Wells, who had the smallest head in the 90th regiment +(so small that he could hardly get a cap to fit him), was the only +person who could put on Lord Byron's hat, and him it fitted +exactly."] + +In height he was, as he himself has informed us, five feet eight +inches and a half, and to the length of his limbs he attributed his +being such a good swimmer. His hands were very white, and--according +to his own notion of the size of hands as indicating +birth--aristocratically small. The lameness of his right foot[1], +though an obstacle to grace, but little impeded the activity of his +movements; and from this circumstance, as well as from the skill with +which the foot was disguised by means of long trowsers, it would be +difficult to conceive a defect of this kind less obtruding itself as +a deformity; while the diffidence which a constant consciousness of +the infirmity gave to his first approach and address made, in him, +even lameness a source of interest. + +[Footnote 1: In speaking of this lameness at the commencement of my +work, I forbore, both from my own doubts on the subject and the great +variance I found in the recollections of others, from stating in +_which_ of his feet this lameness existed. It will, indeed, with +difficulty be believed what uncertainty I found upon this point, even +among those most intimate with him. Mr. Hunt, in his book, states it +to have been the left foot that was deformed, and this, though +contrary to my own impression, and, as it appears also, to the fact, +was the opinion I found also of others who had been much in the habit +of living with him. On applying to his early friends at Southwell and +to the shoemaker of that town who worked for him, so little prepared +were they to answer with any certainty on the subject, that it was +only by recollecting that the lame foot "was the off one in going up +the street" they at last came to the conclusion that his right limb +was the one affected; and Mr. Jackson, his preceptor in pugilism, +was, in like manner, obliged to call to mind whether his noble pupil +was a right or left hand hitter before he could arrive at the same +decision.] + +In looking again into the Journal from which it was my intention to +give extracts, the following unconnected opinions, or rather +reveries, most of them on points connected with his religious +opinions, are all that I feel tempted to select. To an assertion in +the early part of this work, that "at no time of his life was Lord +Byron a confirmed unbeliever," it has been objected, that many +passages of his writings prove the direct contrary. This assumption, +however, as well as the interpretation of most of the passages +referred to in its support, proceed, as it appears to me, upon the +mistake, not uncommon in conversation, of confounding together the +meanings of the words unbeliever and sceptic,--the former implying +decision of opinion, and the latter only doubt. I have myself, I +find, not always kept the significations of the two words distinct, +and in one instance have so far fallen into the notion of these +objectors as to speak of Byron in his youth as "an unbelieving +school-boy," when the word "doubting" would have more truly expressed +my meaning. With this necessary explanation, I shall here repeat my +assertion; or rather--to clothe its substance in a different +form--shall say that Lord Byron was, to the last, a sceptic, which, +in itself, implies that he was, at no time, a confirmed unbeliever. + + * * * * * + +"If I were to live over again, I do not know what I would change in +my life, unless it were _for--not to have lived at all_.[1] All +history and experience, and the rest, teaches us that the good and +evil are pretty equally balanced in this existence, and that what is +most to be desired is an easy passage out of it. What can it give us +but years? and those have little of good but their ending. + +[Footnote 1: Swift "early adopted," says Sir Walter Scott, "the +custom of observing his birth-day, as a term, not of joy, but of +sorrow, and of reading, when it annually recurred, the striking +passage of Scripture, in which Job laments and execrates the day upon +which it was said in his father's house 'that a man-child was +born.'"--_Life of Swift._] + + * * * * * + +"Of the immortality of the soul it appears to me that there can be +little doubt, if we attend for a moment to the action of mind: it is +in perpetual activity. I used to doubt of it, but reflection has +taught me better. It acts also so very independent of body--in +dreams, for instance;--incoherently and _madly_, I grant you, but +still it is mind, and much more mind than when we are awake. Now that +this should not act _separately_, as well as jointly, who can +pronounce? The stoics, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, call the +present state 'a soul which drags a carcass,'--a heavy chain, to be +sure, but all chains being material may be shaken off. How far our +future life will be _individual_, or, rather, how far it will at all +resemble _our present_ existence, is another question; but that the +mind is eternal seems as probable as that the body is not so. Of +course I here venture upon the question without recurring to +revelation, which, however, is at least as rational a solution of it +as any other. A _material_ resurrection seems strange and even +absurd, except for purposes of punishment; and all punishment which +is to _revenge_ rather than _correct_ must be _morally wrong_; and +_when the world is at an end_, what moral or warning purpose _can_ +eternal tortures answer? Human passions have probably disfigured the +divine doctrines here;--but the whole thing is inscrutable. + + * * * * * + +"It is useless to tell me _not_ to _reason_, but to _believe._ You +might as well tell a man not to wake, but _sleep._ And then to +_bully_ with torments, and all that! I cannot help thinking that the +_menace_ of hell makes as many devils as the severe penal codes of +inhuman humanity make villains. + + * * * * * + +"Man is born _passionate_ of body, but with an innate though secret +tendency to the love of good in his main-spring of mind. But, God +help us all! it is at present a sad jar of atoms. + + * * * * * + +"Matter is eternal, always changing, but reproduced, and, as far as +we can comprehend eternity, eternal; and why not _mind_? Why should +not the mind act with and upon the universe, as portions of it act +upon, and with, the congregated dust called mankind? See how one man +acts upon himself and others, or upon multitudes! The same agency, in +a higher and purer degree, may act upon the stars, &c. ad infinitum. + + * * * * * + +"I have often been inclined to materialism in philosophy, but could +never bear its introduction into _Christianity_, which appears to me +essentially founded upon the _soul_. For this reason Priestley's +Christian Materialism always struck me as deadly. Believe the +resurrection of the _body_, if you will, but _not without_ a _soul_. +The deuce is in it, if after having had a soul, (as surely the +_mind_, or whatever you call it, _is,_) in this world, we must part +with it in the _next_, even for an immortal materiality! I own my +partiality for _spirit_. + + * * * * * + +"I am always most religious upon a sunshiny day, as if there was some +association between an internal approach to greater light and purity +and the kindler of this dark lantern of our external existence. + + * * * * * + +"The night is also a religious concern, and even more so when I +viewed the moon and stars through Herschell's telescope, and saw that +they were worlds. + + * * * * * + +"If, according to some speculations, you could prove the world many +thousand years older than the Mosaic chronology, or if you could get +rid of Adam and Eve, and the apple, and serpent, still, what is to be +put up in their stead? or how is the difficulty removed? Things must +have had a beginning, and what matters it _when_ or _how_? + + * * * * * + +"I sometimes think that _man_ may be the relic of some higher +material being wrecked in a former world, and degenerated in the +hardship and struggle through chaos into conformity, or something +like it,--as we see Laplanders, Esquimaux, &c. inferior in the +present state, as the elements become more inexorable. But even then +this higher pre-Adamite supposititious creation must have had an +origin and a _Creator_--for a _creation_ is a more natural +imagination than a fortuitous concourse of atoms: all things remount +to a fountain, though they may flow to an ocean. + + * * * * * + +"Plutarch says, in his Life of Lysander, that Aristotle observes +'that in general great geniuses are of a melancholy turn, and +instances Socrates, Plato, and Hercules (or Heraclitus), as examples, +and Lysander, though not while young, yet as inclined to it when +approaching towards age.' Whether I am a genius or not, I have been +called such by my friends as well as enemies, and in more countries +and languages than one, and also within a no very long period of +existence. Of my genius, I can say nothing, but of my melancholy, +that it is 'increasing, and ought to be diminished.' But how? + +"I take it that most men are so at bottom, but that it is only +remarked in the remarkable. The Duchesse de Broglio, in reply to a +remark of mine on the errors of clever people, said that 'they were +not worse than others, only, being more in view, more noted, +especially in all that could reduce them to the rest, or raise the +rest to them.' In 1816, this was. + +"In fact (I suppose that) if the follies of fools were all set down +like those of the wise, the wise (who seem at present only a better +sort of fools) would appear almost intelligent. + + * * * * * + +"It is singular how soon we lose the impression of what ceases to be +_constantly_ before us: a year impairs; a lustre obliterates. There +is little distinct left without an effort of memory. _Then_, indeed, +the lights are rekindled for a moment; but who can be sure that +imagination is not the torch-bearer? Let any man try at the end of +_ten_ years to bring before him the features, or the mind, or the +sayings, or the habits of his best friend, or his _greatest_ man, (I +mean his favourite, his Buonaparte, his this, that, or t'other,) and +he will be surprised at the extreme confusion of his ideas. I speak +confidently on this point, having always passed for one who had a +good, ay, an excellent memory. I except, indeed, our recollection of +womankind; there is no forgetting _them_ (and be d--d to them) any +more than any other remarkable era, such as 'the revolution,' or 'the +plague,' or 'the invasion,' or 'the comet,' or 'the war' of such and +such an epoch,--being the favourite dates of mankind who have so many +_blessings_ in their lot that they never make their calendars from +them, being too common. For instance, you see 'the great drought,' +'the Thames frozen over,' 'the seven years' war broke out,' 'the +English, or French, or Spanish revolution commenced,' 'the Lisbon +earthquake,' 'the Lima earthquake,' 'the earthquake of Calabria,' +'the plague of London,' ditto 'of Constantinople,' 'the sweating +sickness,' 'the yellow fever of Philadelphia,' &c. &c. &c.; but you +don't see 'the abundant harvest,' 'the fine summer,' 'the long +peace,' 'the wealthy speculation,' 'the wreckless voyage,' recorded +so emphatically! By the way, there has been a _thirty years' war_ and +a _seventy years' war_; was there ever a _seventy_ or a _thirty +years' peace_? or was there even a DAY'S _universal_ peace? except +perhaps in China, where they have found out the miserable happiness +of a stationary and unwarlike mediocrity. And is all this because +nature is niggard or savage? or mankind ungrateful? Let philosophers +decide. I am none. + + * * * * * + +"In general, I do not draw well with literary men; not that I dislike +them, but I never know what to say to them after I have praised their +last publication. There are several exceptions, to be sure, but then +they have either been men of the world, such as Scott and Moore, &c. +or visionaries out of it, such as Shelley, &c.: but your literary +every-day man and I never went well in company, especially your +foreigner, whom I never could abide; except Giordani, +and--and--and--(I really can't name any other)--I don't remember a +man amongst them whom I ever wished to see twice, except perhaps +Mezzophanti, who is a monster of languages, the Briareus of parts of +speech, a walking Polyglott and more, who ought to have existed at +the time of the Tower of Babel as universal interpreter. He is indeed +a marvel--unassuming, also. I tried him in all the tongues of which I +knew a single oath, (or adjuration to the gods against post-boys, +savages, Tartars, boatmen, sailors, pilots, gondoliers, muleteers, +camel-drivers, vetturini, post-masters, post-horses, post-houses, +post every thing,) and egad! he astounded me--even to my English. + + * * * * * + +"'No man would live his life over again,' is an old and true saying +which all can resolve for themselves. At the same time, there are +probably _moments_ in most men's lives which they would live over the +rest of life to _regain_. Else why do we live at all? because Hope +recurs to Memory, both false--but--but--but--but--and this _but_ +drags on till--what? I do not know; and who does? 'He that died o' +Wednesday.'" + + * * * * * + +In laying before the reader these last extracts from the papers in my +possession, it may be expected, perhaps, that I should say +something,--in addition to what has been already stated on this +subject,--respecting those Memoranda, or Memoirs, which, in the +exercise of the discretionary power given to me by my noble friend, I +placed, shortly after his death, at the disposal of his sister and +executor, and which they, from a sense of what they thought due to +his memory, consigned to the flames. As the circumstances, however, +connected with the surrender of that manuscript, besides requiring +much more detail than my present limits allow, do not, in any +respect, concern the character of Lord Byron, but affect solely my +own, it is not here, at least, that I feel myself called upon to +enter into an explanation of them. The world will, of course, +continue to think of that step as it pleases; but it is, after all, +on a man's _own_ opinion of his actions that his happiness chiefly +depends, and I can only say that, were I again placed in the same +circumstances, I would--even at ten times the pecuniary sacrifice +which my conduct then cost me--again act precisely in the same +manner. + +For the satisfaction of those whose regret at the loss of that +manuscript arises from some better motive than the mere +disappointment of a prurient curiosity, I shall here add, that on the +mysterious cause of the separation, it afforded no light +whatever;--that, while some of its details could never have been +published at all[1], and little, if any, of what it contained +personal towards others could have appeared till long after the +individuals concerned had left the scene, all that materially related +to Lord Byron himself was (as I well knew when I made that sacrifice) +to be found repeated in the various Journals and Memorandum-books, +which, though not all to be made use of, were, as the reader has seen +from the preceding pages, all preserved. + +[Footnote 1: This description applies only to the Second Part of the +Memoranda; there having been but little unfit for publication in the +First Part, which was, indeed, read, as is well known, by many of the +noble author's friends.] + +As far as suppression, indeed, is blamable, I have had, in the course +of this task, abundantly to answer for it; having, as the reader must +have perceived, withheld a large portion of my materials, to which +Lord Byron, no doubt, in his fearlessness of consequences, would have +wished to give publicity, but which, it is now more than probable, +will never meet the light. + +There remains little more to add. It has been remarked by Lord +Orford[1], as "strange, that the writing a man's life should in +general make the biographer become enamoured of his subject, whereas +one should think that the nicer disquisition one makes into the life +of any man, the less reason one should find to love or admire him." +On the contrary, may we not rather say that, as knowledge is ever the +parent of tolerance, the more insight we gain into the springs and +motives of a man's actions, the peculiar circumstances in which he +was placed, and the influences and temptations under which he acted, +the more allowance we may be inclined to make for his errors, and the +more approbation his virtues may extort from us? + +[Footnote 1: In speaking of Lord Herbert of Cherbury's Life of Henry +VIII.] + +The arduous task of being the biographer of Byron is one, at least, +on which I have not obtruded myself: the wish of my friend that I +should undertake that office having been more than once expressed, at +a time when none but a boding imagination like his could have +foreseen much chance of the sad honour devolving to me. If in some +instances I have consulted rather the spirit than the exact letter of +his injunctions, it was with the view solely of doing him more +justice than he would have done himself, there being no hands in +which his character could have been less safe than his own, nor any +greater wrong offered to his memory than the substitution of what he +affected to be for what he was. Of any partiality, however, beyond +what our mutual friendship accounts for and justifies, I am by no +means conscious; nor would it be in the power, indeed, of even the +most partial friend to allege any thing more convincingly favourable +of his character than is contained in the few simple facts with which +I shall here conclude,--that, through life, with all his faults, he +never lost a friend;--that those about him in his youth, whether as +companions, teachers, or servants, remained attached to him to the +last;--that the woman, to whom he gave the love of his maturer years, +idolises his name; and that, with a single unhappy exception, scarce +an instance is to be found of any one, once brought, however briefly, +into relations of amity with him, that did not feel towards him a +kind regard in life, and retain a fondness for his memory. + +I have now done with the subject, nor shall be easily tempted to +recur to it. Any mistakes or misstatements I may be proved to have +made shall be corrected;--any new facts which it is in the power of +others to produce will speak for themselves. To mere opinions I am +not called upon to pay attention--and still less to insinuations or +mysteries. I have here told what I myself know and think concerning +my friend; and now leave his character, moral as well as literary, to +the judgment of the world. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + * * * * * + +TWO EPISTLES FROM THE ARMENIAN VERSION. + +THE EPISTLE OF THE CORINTHIANS TO ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE.[1] + +1 STEPHEN[2], and the elders with him, Dabnus, Eubulus, Theophilus, +and Xinon, to Paul, our father and evangelist, and faithful master in +Jesus Christ, health.[3] + +2 Two men have come to Corinth, Simon by name, and Cleobus[4], who +vehemently disturb the faith of some with deceitful and corrupt +words; + +3 Of which words thou shouldst inform thyself: + +4 For neither have we heard such words from thee, nor from the other +apostles: + +5 But we know only that what we have heard from thee and from them, +that we have kept firmly. + +6 But in this chiefly has our Lord had compassion, that, whilst thou +art yet with us in the flesh, we are again about to hear from thee. + +7 Therefore do thou write to us, or come thyself amongst us quickly. + +8 We believe in the Lord, that, as it was revealed to Theonas, he +hath delivered thee from the hands of the unrighteous.[5] + +9 But these are the sinful words of these impure men, for thus do +they say and teach: + +10 That it behoves not to admit the Prophets.[6] + +11 Neither do they affirm the omnipotence of God: + +12 Neither do they affirm the resurrection of the flesh: + +13 Neither do they affirm that man was altogether created by God: + +14 Neither do they affirm that Jesus Christ was born in the flesh +from the Virgin Mary: + +15 Neither do they affirm that the world was the work of God, but of +some one of the angels. + +16 Therefore do thou make haste[7] to come amongst us. + +17 That this city of the Corinthians may remain without scandal. + +18 And that the folly of these men may be made manifest by an open +refutation. Fare thee well.[8] + +The deacons Thereptus and Tichus[9] received and conveyed this +Epistle to the city of the Philippians.[10] + +When Paul received the Epistle, although he was then in chains on +account of Stratonice[11], the wife of Apofolanus[12], yet, as it +were forgetting his bonds, he mourned over these words, and said, +weeping: "It were better for me to be dead, and with the Lord. For +while I am in this body, and hear the wretched words of such false +doctrine, behold, grief arises upon grief, and my trouble adds a +weight to my chains; when I behold this calamity, and progress of the +machinations of Satan, who searcheth to do wrong." + +And thus, with deep affliction, Paul composed his reply to the +Epistle.[13] + +[Footnote 1: Some MSS. have the title thus: _Epistle of Stephen the +Elder to Paul the Apostle, from the Corinthians_.] + +[Footnote 2: In the MSS. the marginal verses published by the +Whistons are wanting.] + +[Footnote 3: In some MSS. we find, _The elders Numenus, Eubulus, +Theophilus, and Nomeson, to Paul their brother, health_!] + +[Footnote 4: Others read, _There came certain men, ... and Clobeus, +who vehemently shake._] + +[Footnote 5: Some MSS. have, _We believe in the Lord, that his +presence was made manifest; and by this hath the Lord delivered as +from the hands of the unrighteous._] + +[Footnote 6: Others read, _To read the Prophets._] + +[Footnote 7: Some MSS. have, _Therefore, brother, do thou make +haste._] + +[Footnote 8: Others read, _Fare thee well in the Lord._] + +[Footnote 9: Some MSS. have, _The deacons Therepus and Techus_] + +[Footnote 10: The Whistons have, _To the city of Phoenicia_; but in +all the MSS. we find, _To the city of the Philippians._] + +[Footnote 11: Others read, _On account of Onotice._] + +[Footnote 12: The Whistons have, _Of Apollophanus_: but in all the +MSS. we read, _Apofolanus_.] + +[Footnote 13: In the text of this Epistle there are some other +variations in the words, but the sense is the same.] + + +EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS, [1] + +1 Paul, in bonds for Jesus Christ, disturbed by so many errors [2], +to his Corinthian brethren, health. + +2 I nothing marvel that the preachers of evil have made this +progress. + +3 For because the Lord Jesus is about to fulfil his coming, verily on +this account do certain men pervert and despise his words. + +4 But I, verily, from the beginning, have taught you that only which +I myself received from the former apostles, who always remained with +the Lord Jesus Christ. + +5 And I now say unto you, that the Lord Jesus Christ was born of the +Virgin Mary, who was of the seed of David, + +6 According to the annunciation of the Holy Ghost, sent to her by our +Father from heaven; + +7 That Jesus might be introduced into the world [3], and deliver our +flesh by his flesh, and that he might raise us up from the dead; + +8 As in this also he himself became the example: + +9 That it might be made manifest that man was created by the Father, + +10 He has not remained in perdition unsought [4]; + +11 But he is sought for, that he might be revived by adoption. + +12 For God, who is the Lord of all, the Father of our Lord Jesus +Christ, who made heaven and earth, sent, firstly, the Prophets to the +Jews: + +13 That he would absolve them from their sins, and bring them to his +judgment. + +14 Because he wished to save, firstly, the house of Israel, he +bestowed and poured forth his Spirit upon the Prophets; + +15 That they should, for a long time, preach the worship of God, and +the nativity of Christ. + +16 But he who was the prince of evil, when he wished to make himself +God, laid his hand upon them, + +17 And bound all men in sin,[5] + +18 Because the judgment of the world was approaching. + +19 But Almighty God, when he willed to justify, was unwilling to +abandon his creature; + +20 But when he saw his affliction, he had compassion upon him: + +21 And at the end of a time he sent the Holy Ghost into the Virgin +foretold by the Prophets. + +22 Who, believing readily [6], was made worthy to conceive, and bring +forth our Lord Jesus Christ. + +23 That from this perishable body, in which the evil spirit was +glorified, he should be cast out, and it should be made manifest + +24 That he was not God: For Jesus Christ, in his flesh, had recalled +and saved this perishable flesh, and drawn it into eternal life by +faith. + +25 Because in his body he would prepare a pure temple of justice for +all ages; + +26 In whom we also, when we believe, are saved. + +27 Therefore know ye that these men are not the children of justice, +but the children of wrath; + +28 Who turn away from themselves the compassion of God; + +29 Who say that neither the heavens nor the earth were altogether +works made by the hand of the Father of all things.[7] + +30 But these cursed men[8] have the doctrine of the serpent. + +31 But do ye, by the power of God, withdraw yourselves far from +these, and expel from amongst you the doctrine of the wicked. + +32 Because you are not the children of rebellion [9]; but the sons of +the beloved church. + +33 And on this account the time of the resurrection is preached to +all men. + +34 Therefore they who affirm that there is no resurrection of the +flesh, they indeed shall not be raised up to eternal life; + +35 But to judgment and condemnation shall the unbeliever arise in the +flesh: + +36 For to that body which denies the resurrection of the body, shall +be denied the resurrection: because such are found to refuse the +resurrection. + +37 But you also, Corinthians! have known, from the seeds of wheat, +and from other seeds, + +38 That one grain falls [10] dry into the earth, and within it first +dies, + +39 And afterwards rises again, by the will of the Lord, endued with +the same body: + +40 Neither indeed does it arise with the same simple body, but +manifold, and filled with blessing. + +41 But we produce the example not only from seeds, but from the +honourable bodies of men. [11] + +42 Ye have also known Jonas, the son of Amittai.[12] + +43 Because he delayed to preach to the Ninevites, he was swallowed up +in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights: + +44 And after three days God heard his supplication, and brought him +out of the deep abyss; + +45 Neither was any part of his body corrupted; neither was his +eyebrow bent down.[13] + +46 And how much more for you, oh men of little faith; + +47 If you believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, will he raise you up, +even as he himself hath arisen. + +48 If the bones of Elisha the prophet, falling upon the dead, revived +the dead, + +49 By how much more shall ye, who are supported by the flesh and the +blood and the Spirit of Christ, arise again on that day with a +perfect body? + +50 Elias the prophet, embracing the widow's son, raised him from the +dead: + +51 By how much more shall Jesus Christ revive you, on that day, with +a perfect body, even as he himself hath arisen? + +52 But if ye receive other things vainly [14], + +53 Henceforth no one shall cause me to travail; for I bear on my body +these fetters [15], + +54 To obtain Christ; and I suffer with patience these afflictions to +become worthy of the resurrection of the dead. + +55 And do each of you, having received the law from the hands of the +blessed Prophets and the holy gospel [16], firmly maintain it; + +56 To the end that you may be rewarded in the resurrection of the +dead, and the possession of the life eternal. + +57 But if any of ye, not believing, shall trespass, he shall be +judged with the misdoers, and punished with those who have false +belief. + +58 Because such are the generation of vipers, and the children of +dragons and basilisks. + +59 Drive far from amongst ye, and fly from such, with the aid of our +Lord Jesus Christ. + +60 And the peace and grace of the beloved Son be upon you.[17] Amen. + +_Done into English by me, January-February,_ 1817, _at the Convent of +San Lazaro, with the aid and exposition of the Armenian text by the +Father Paschal Aucher, Armenian Friar_. + + +BYRON. + +Venice, April 10, 1817. + +_I had also the Latin text, but it is in many places very corrupt, +and with great omissions_. + +[Footnote 1: Some MSS. have, _Paul's Epistle from prison, for the +instruction of the Corinthians_.] + +[Footnote 2: Others read, _Disturbed by various compunctions_.] + +[Footnote 3: Some MSS. have. _That Jesus might comfort the world_.] + +[Footnote 4: Others read, _He has not remained indifferent_.] + +[Footnote 5: Some MSS have, _Laid his hand, and then and all body +bound in sin_.] + +[Footnote 6: Others read, _Believing with a pure heart_.] + +[Footnote 7: Some MSS. have, _Of God the Father of all things._] + +[Footnote 8: Others read, _They curse themselves in this thing._] + +[Footnote 9: Others read, _Children of the disobedient._] + +[Footnote 10: Some MSS. have, _That one grain falls not dry into the +earth._] + +[Footnote 11: Others read, _But we have not only produced from seeds, +but from the honourable body of man._] + +[Footnote 12: Others read, _The son of Ematthius_.] + +[Footnote 13: Others add, _Nor did a hair of his body fall +therefrom_.] + +[Footnote 14: Some MSS. have, _Ye shall not receive other things in +vain_.] + +[Footnote 15: Others finished here thus, _Henceforth no one can +trouble me further, for I bear in my body the sufferings of Christ. +The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, my brethren. +Amen_.] + +[Footnote 16: Some MSS. have, _Of the holy evangelist_.] + +[Footnote 17: Others add, _Our Lord be with ye all. Amen_.] + + +REMARKS ON MR. MOORE'S LIFE OF LORD BYRON, BY LADY BYRON. + +"I have disregarded various publications in which facts within my own +knowledge have been grossly misrepresented; but I am called upon to +notice some of the erroneous statements proceeding from one who +claims to be considered as Lord Byron's confidential and authorised +friend. Domestic details ought not to be intruded on the public +attention: if, however, they _are_ so intruded, the persons affected +by them have a right to refute injurious charges. Mr. Moore has +promulgated his own impressions of private events in which I was most +nearly concerned, as if he possessed a competent knowledge of the +subject. Having survived Lord Byron, I feel increased reluctance to +advert to any circumstances connected with the period of my marriage; +nor is it now my intention to disclose them, further than may be +indispensably requisite for the end I have in view. Self-vindication +is not the motive which actuates me to make this appeal, and the +spirit of accusation is unmingled with it; but when the conduct of my +parents is brought forward in a disgraceful light, by the passages +selected from Lord Byron's letters, and by the remarks of his +biographer, I feel bound to justify their characters from imputations +which I _know_ to be false. The passages from Lord Byron's letters, +to which I refer, are the aspersion on my mother's character (vol. +iii. p. 206. last line):--'My child is very well, and flourishing, I +hear; but I must see also. I feel no disposition to resign it to the +_contagian of its grandmother's society_.' The assertion of her +dishonourable conduct in employing a spy (vol. iii. p. 202. l. 20, +&c.), 'A Mrs. C. (now a kind of housekeeper and _spy of Lady N_'s), +who, in her better days, was a washerwoman, is supposed to be--by the +learned--very much the occult cause of our domestic discrepancies.' +The seeming exculpation of myself, in the extract (vol. iii. p. +205.), with the words immediately following it,--'Her nearest +relatives are a ----;' where the blank clearly implies something too +offensive for publication. These passages tend to throw suspicion on +my parents, and give reason to ascribe the separation either to their +direct agency, or to that of 'officious spies' employed by them.[1] +From the following part of the narrative (vol. iii. p. 198.) it must +also be inferred that an undue influence was exercised by them for +the accomplishment of this purpose. 'It was in a few weeks after the +latter communication between us (Lord Byron and Mr. Moore), that Lady +Byron adopted the determination of parting from him. She had left +London at the latter end of January, on a visit to her father's +house, in Leicestershire, and Lord Byron was in a short time to +follow her. They had parted in the utmost kindness,--she wrote him a +letter full of playfulness and affection, on the road; and +immediately on her arrival at Kirkby Mallory, her father wrote to +acquaint Lord Byron that she would return to him no more.' In my +observations upon this statement, I shall, as far as possible, avoid +touching on any matters relating personally to Lord Byron and myself. +The facts are:--I left London for Kirkby Mallory, the residence of my +father and mother, on the 15th of January, 1816. Lord Byron had +signified to me in writing (Jan. 6th) his absolute desire that I +should leave London on the earliest day that I could conveniently +fix. It was not safe for me to undertake the fatigue of a journey +sooner than the 15th. Previously to my departure, it had been +strongly impressed on my mind, that Lord Byron was under the +influence of insanity. This opinion was derived in a great measure +from the communications made to me by his nearest relatives and +personal attendant, who had more opportunities than myself of +observing him during the latter part of my stay in town. It was even +represented to me that he was in danger of destroying himself. _With +the concurrence of his family_, I had consulted Dr. Baillie, as a +friend (Jan. 8th), respecting this supposed malady. On acquainting +him with the state of the case, and with Lord Byron's desire that I +should leave London, Dr. Baillie thought that my absence might be +advisable as an experiment, _assuming_ the fact of mental +derangement; for Dr. Baillie, not having had access to Lord Byron, +could not pronounce a positive opinion on that point. He enjoined, +that in correspondence with Lord Byron, I should avoid all but light +and soothing topics. Under these impressions, I left London, +determined to follow the advice given by Dr. Baillie. Whatever might +have been the nature of Lord Byron's conduct towards me from the time +of my marriage, yet, supposing him to be in a state of mental +alienation, it was not for _me_, nor for any person of common +humanity, to manifest, at that moment, a sense of injury. On the day +of my departure, and again on my arrival at Kirkby, Jan. 16th, I +wrote to Lord Byron in a kind and cheerful tone, according to those +medical directions. The last letter was circulated, and employed as a +pretext for the charge of my having been subsequently _influenced_ to +'desert[2]' my husband. It has been argued, that I parted from Lord +Byron in perfect harmony; that feelings, incompatible with any deep +sense of injury, had dictated the letter which I addressed to him; +and that my sentiments must have been changed by persuasion and +interference, when I was under the roof of my parents. These +assertions and inferences are wholly destitute of foundation. When I +arrived at Kirkby Mallory, my parents were unacquainted with the +existence of any causes likely to destroy my prospects of happiness; +and when I communicated to them the opinion which had been formed +concerning Lord Byron's state of mind, they were most anxious to +promote his restoration by every means in their power. They assured +those relations who were with him in London, that 'they would devote +their whole care and attention to the alleviation of his malady,' and +hoped to make the best arrangements for his comfort, if he could be +induced to visit them. With these intentions, my mother wrote on the +17th to Lord Byron, inviting him to Kirkby Mallory. She had always +treated him with an affectionate consideration and indulgence, which +extended to every little peculiarity of his feelings. Never did an +irritating word escape her lips in her whole intercourse with him. +The accounts given me after I left Lord Byron by the persons in +constant intercourse with him, added to those doubts which had before +transiently occurred to my mind, as to the reality of the alleged +disease, and the reports of his medical attendant, were far from +establishing the existence of any thing like lunacy. Under this +uncertainty, I deemed it right to communicate to my parents, that if +I were to consider Lord Byron's past conduct as that of a person of +sound mind, nothing could induce me to return to him. It therefore +appeared expedient, both to them and myself, to consult the ablest +advisers. For that object, and also to obtain still further +information respecting the appearances which seemed to indicate +mental derangement, my mother determined to go to London. She was +empowered by me to take legal opinions on a written statement of +mine, though I had then reasons for reserving a part of the case from +the knowledge even of my father and mother. Being convinced by the +result of these enquiries, and by the tenor of Lord Byron's +proceedings, that the notion of insanity was an illusion, I no longer +hesitated to authorise such measures as were necessary, in order to +secure me from being ever again placed in his power. Conformably with +this resolution, my father wrote to him on the 2d of February, to +propose an amicable separation. Lord Byron at first rejected this +proposal; but when it was distinctly notified to him, that if he +persisted in his refusal, recourse must be had to legal measures, he +agreed to sign a deed of separation. Upon applying to Dr. Lushington, +who was intimately acquainted with all the circumstances, to state in +writing what he recollected upon this subject, I received from him +the following letter, by which it will be manifest that my mother +cannot have been actuated by any hostile or ungenerous motives +towards Lord Byron. + +[Footnote 1: "The officious spies of his privacy," vol. iii. p. 211.] + +[Footnote 2: "The deserted husband," vol. iii. p. 212.] + + +"'My dear Lady Byron, + +"'I can rely upon the accuracy of my memory for the following +statement. I was originally consulted by Lady Noel on your behalf, +whilst you were in the country; the circumstances detailed by her +were such as justified a separation, but they were not of that +aggravated description as to render such a measure indispensable. On +Lady Noel's representation, I deemed a reconciliation with Lord Byron +practicable, and felt most sincerely a wish to aid in effecting it. +There was not on Lady Noel's part any exaggeration of the facts; nor, +so far as I could perceive, any determination to prevent a return to +Lord Byron: certainly none was expressed when I spoke of a +reconciliation. When you came to town in about a fortnight, or +perhaps more, after my first interview with Lady Noel, I was, for the +first time, informed by you of facts utterly unknown, as I have no +doubt, to Sir Ralph and Lady Noel. On receiving this additional +information, my opinion was entirely changed: I considered a +reconciliation impossible. I declared my opinion, and added, that if +such an idea should be entertained, I could not, either +professionally or otherwise, take any part towards effecting it. +Believe me, very faithfully yours, STEPH. LUSHINGTON. + +"'_Great George-street, Jan_. 31. 1830.' + +"I have only to observe, that if the statements on which my legal +advisers (the late Sir Samuel Komilly and Dr. Lushington) formed +their opinions were false, the responsibility and the odium should +rest with _me only_. I trust that the facts which I have here briefly +recapitulated will absolve my father and mother from all accusations +with regard to the part they took in the separation between Lord +Byron and myself. They neither originated, instigated, nor advised, +that separation; and they cannot be condemned for having afforded to +their daughter the assistance and protection which she claimed. There +is no other near relative to vindicate their memory from insult. I am +therefore compelled to break the silence which I had hoped always to +observe, and to solicit from the readers of Lord Byron's life an +impartial consideration of the testimony extorted from me. + +"A.I. NOEL BYRON. + +"_Hanger Hill, Feb_. 19. 1830." + + * * * * * + +LETTER OF MR. TURNER. + +_Referred to in_ vol. v. p. 129. + +"Eight months after the publication of my 'Tour in the Levant,' there +appeared in the London Magazine, and subsequently in most of the +newspapers, a letter from the late Lord Byron to Mr. Murray. + +"I naturally felt anxious at the time to meet a charge of error +brought against me in so direct a manner: but I thought, and friends +whom I consulted at the time thought with me, that I had better wait +for a more favourable opportunity than that afforded by the +newspapers of vindicating my opinion, which even so distinguished an +authority as the letter of Lord Byron left unshaken, and which, I +will venture to add, remains unshaken still. + +"I must ever deplore that I resisted my first impulse to reply +immediately. The hand of Death has snatched Lord Byron from his +kingdom of literature and poetry, and I can only guard myself from +the illiberal imputation of attacking the mighty dead, whose living +talent I should have trembled to encounter, by scrupulously confining +myself to such facts and illustrations as are strictly necessary to +save me from the charges of error, misrepresentation, and +presumptuousness, of which every writer must wish to prove himself +undeserving. + +"Lord Byron began by stating, 'The _tide_ was _not_ in our favour,' +and added, 'neither I nor any person on board the frigate had any +notion of a difference of the current on the Asiatic side; I never +heard of it till this moment.' His Lordship had probably forgotten +that Strabo distinctly describes the difference in the following +words;-- + +[Greek: 'Dio kai eupetesteron ek tes Sestou diairousi parallaxamenoi +mikron epi ton tes Herous purgon, kakeithen aphientes ta ploia +sumprattontos tou rhou pros ten peraiosin: Tois d' ex Abudou +peraioumenois parallakteon estin eis tanantia, okto pou stadious epi +purgon tina kat' antikru tes Sestou, epeita diairein plagion, kai me +teleos echousin enantion ton rhoun.'--] Ideoque _facilius a Sesto, +trajiciunt_ paululum deflexa navigatione ad Herus turrim, atque inde +_navigia dimittentes adjuvante etiam fluxu trajectum_. Qui ab Abydo +trajiciunt, in contrarium flectunt partem ad octo stadia ad turrim +quandam e regione Sesti: hinc _oblique_ trajiciunt, non _prorsus_ +contrario fluxu.'[1] + +[Footnote 1: "Strabo, book xiii. Oxford Edition."] + +"Here it is clearly asserted, that the current assists the crossing +from Sestos, and the words [Greek: 'aphientes ta ploia']--'_navigia +dimittentes_,'--'_letting the vessels go of themselves_,' prove how +considerable the assistance of the current was; while the words +[Greek: 'plagion']--'_oblique_,' and '[Greek: teleos],'--'_prorsus_,' +show distinctly that those who crossed from Abydos were obliged to do +so in an _oblique_ direction, or they would have the current +_entirely_ against them. + +"From this ancient authority, which, I own, appears to me +unanswerable, let us turn to the moderns. Baron de Tott, who, having +been for some time resident on the spot, employed as an engineer in +the construction of batteries, must be supposed well cognisant of the +subject, has expressed himself as follows:-- + +"'La surabondance des eaux que la Mer Noire recoit, et qu'elle ne +peut evaporer, versee dans la Mediterranee par le Bosphore de Thrace +et La Propontide, forme aux Dardanelles des courans si violens, que +souvent les batimens, toutes voiles dehors, out peine a les vaincre. +Les pilotes doivent encore observer, lorsque le vent suffit, de +diriger leur route de maniere a presenter le moins de resistance +possible a l'effort des eaux. On sent que cette etude a pour base la +direction des courans, qui, _renvoyes d'une points a l'autre,_ +forment des obstacles a la navigation, et feroient courir les plus +grands risques si l'on negligeoit ces connoissances +hydrographiques.'--_Memoires de_ TOTT, 3^{_me_} _Partie_. + +"To the above citations, I will add the opinion of Tournefort, who, +in his description of the strait, expresses with ridicule his +disbelief of the truth of Leander's exploit; and to show that the +latest travellers agree with the earlier, I will conclude my +quotation with a statement of Mr. Madden, who is just returned from +the spot. 'It was from the European side Lord Byron swam _with_ the +current, which runs about four miles an hour. But I believe he would +have found it totally impracticable to have crossed from Abydos to +Europe.'--MADDEN'S _Travels_, vol. i. + +"There are two other observations in Lord Byron's letter on which I +feel it necessary to remark. + +"'Mr. Turner says, "Whatever is thrown into the stream on this part +of the European bank _must_ arrive at the Asiatic shore." This is so +far from being the case, that it _must_ arrive in the Archipelago, if +left to the current, although a strong wind from the Asiatic[1] side +might have such an effect occasionally.' + +[Footnote 1: "This is evidently a mistake of the writer or printer. +His Lordship must here have meant a strong wind from the European +side, as no wind from the Asiatic side could have the effect of +driving an object to the Asiatic shore." + +I think it right to remark, that it is Mr. Turner himself who has +here originated the inaccuracy of which he accuses others; the words +used by Lord Byron being, _not_, as Mr. Turner says, "from the +Asiatic side," but "in the Asiatic direction."--T. M.] + +"Here Lord Byron is right, and I have no hesitation in confessing +that I was wrong. But I was wrong only in the letter of my remark, +not in the spirit of it. Any _thing_ thrown into the stream on the +European bank would be swept into the Archipelago, because, after +arriving so near the Asiatic-shore as to be almost, if not quite, +within a man's depth, it would be again floated off from the coast by +the current that is dashed from the Asiatic promontory. But this +would not affect a swimmer, who, being so near the land, would of +course, if he could not actually walk to it, reach it by a slight +effort. + +"Lord Byron adds, in his P.S. 'The strait is, however, not +extraordinarily wide, even where it broadens above and below the +forts.' From this statement I must venture to express my dissent, +with diffidence indeed, but with diffidence diminished by the ease +with which the fact may be established. The strait is widened so +considerably above the forts by the Bay of Maytos, and the bay +opposite to it on the Asiatic coast, that the distance to be passed +by a swimmer in crossing higher up would be, in my poor judgment, too +great for any one to accomplish from Asia to Europe, having such a +current to stem. + +"I conclude by expressing it as my humble opinion that no one is +bound to believe in the possibility of Leander's exploit, till the +passage has been performed by a swimmer, at least from Asia to +Europe. The sceptic is even entitled to exact, as the condition of +his belief, that the strait be crossed, as Leander crossed it, both +ways within at most fourteen hours. + +"W. TURNER." + + + +MR. MILLINGEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CONSULTATION. + +_Referred to in_ vol. vi. p. 209. + +As the account given by Mr. Millingen of this consultation differs +totally from that of Dr. Bruno, it is fit that the reader should have +it in Mr. Millingen's own words:-- + +"In the morning (18th) a consultation was proposed, to which Dr. +Lucca Vega and Dr. Freiber, my assistants, were invited. Dr. Bruno +and Lucca proposed having recourse to antispasmodics and other +remedies employed in the last stage of typhus. Freiber and I +maintained that they could only hasten the fatal termination, that +nothing could be more empirical than flying from one extreme to the +other; that if, as we all thought, the complaint was owing to the +metastasis of rheumatic inflammation, the existing symptoms only +depended on the rapid and extensive progress it had made in an organ +previously so weakened and irritable. Antiphlogistic means could +never prove hurtful in this case; they would become useless only if +disorganisation were already operated; but then, since all hopes were +gone, what means would not prove superfluous? We recommended the +application of numerous leeches to the temples, behind the ears, and +along the course of the jugular vein; a large blister between the +shoulders, and sinapisms to the feet, as affording, though feeble, +yet the last hopes of success. Dr. B., being the patient's physician, +had the casting vote, and prepared the antispasmodic potion which Dr. +Lucca and he had agreed upon; it was a strong infusion of valerian +and ether, &c. After its administration, the convulsive movement, the +delirium increased; but, notwithstanding my representations, a second +dose was given half an hour after. After articulating confusedly a +few broken phrases, the patient sunk shortly after into a comatose +sleep, which the next day terminated in death. He expired on the 19th +of April, at six o'clock in the afternoon." + + +THE WILL OF LORD BYRON. + +_Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury_. + +This is the last will and testament of me, George Gordon, Lord Byron, +Baron Byron, of Rochdale, in the county of Lancaster, as follows:--I +give and devise all that my manor or lordship of Rochdale, in the +said county of Lancaster, with all its rights, royalties, members, +and appurtenances, and all my lands, tenements, hereditaments, and +premises situate, lying, and being within the parish, manor, or +lordship of Rochdale aforesaid, and all other my estates, lands, +hereditaments, and premises whatsoever and wheresoever, unto my +friends John Cam Hobhouse, late of Trinity College, Cambridge, +Esquire, and John Hanson, of Chancery-lane, London, Esquire, to the +use and behoof of them, their heirs and assigns, upon trust that they +the said John Cam Hobhouse and John Hanson, and the survivor of them, +and the heirs and assigns of such survivor, do and shall, as soon as +conveniently may be after my decease, sell and dispose of all my said +manor and estates for the most money that can or may be had or gotten +for the same, either by private contract or public sale by auction, +and either together or in lots, as my said trustees shall think +proper; and for the facilitating such sale and sales, I do direct +that the receipt and receipts of my said trustees, and the survivor +of them, and the heirs and assigns of such survivor, shall be a good +and sufficient discharge, and good and sufficient discharges to the +purchaser or purchasers of my said estates, or any part or parts +thereof, for so much money as in such receipt or receipts shall be +expressed or acknowledged to be received; and that such purchaser or +purchasers, his, her, or their heirs and assigns, shall not +afterwards be in any manner answerable or accountable for such +purchase-monies, or be obliged to see to the application thereof: And +I do will and direct that my said trustees shall stand possessed of +the monies to arise by the sale of my said estates upon such trusts +and for such intents and purposes as I have hereinafter directed of +and concerning the same: And whereas I have by certain deeds of +conveyance made on my marriage with my present wife conveyed all my +manor and estate of Newstead, in the parishes of Newstead and Limby, +in the county of Nottingham, unto trustees, upon trust to sell the +same, and apply the sum of sixty thousand pounds, part of the money +to arise by such sale; upon the trusts of my marriage settlement: Now +I do hereby give and bequeath all the remainder of the purchase-money +to arise by sale of my said estate at Newstead, and all the whole of +the said sixty thousand pounds, or such part thereof as shall not +become vested and payable under the trusts of my said marriage +settlement, unto the said John Cam Hobhouse and John Hanson, their +executors, administrators, and assigns, upon such trusts and for such +ends, intents, and purposes as hereinafter directed of and concerning +the residue of my personal estate. I give and bequeath unto the said +John Cam Hobhouse and John Hanson, the sum of one thousand pounds +each, I give and bequeath all the rest, residue, and remainder of my +personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever unto the said John Cam +Hobhouse and John Hanson, their executors, administrators, and +assigns, upon trust that they, my said trustees and the survivor of +them, and the executors and administrators of such survivor, do and +shall stand possessed of all such rest and residue of my said +personal estate and the money to arise by sale of my real estates +hereinbefore devised to them for sale, and such of the monies to +arise by sale of my said estate at Newstead as I have power to +dispose of, after payment of my debts and legacies hereby given, upon +the trusts and for the ends, intents, and purposes hereinafter +mentioned and directed of and concerning the same, that is to say, +upon trust, that they my said trustees and the survivor of them, and +the executors and administrators of such survivor, do and shall lay +out and invest the same in the public stocks or funds, or upon +government or real security at interest, with power from time to time +to change, vary, and transpose such securities, and from time to time +during the life of my sister Augusta Mary Leigh, the wife of George +Leigh, Esquire, pay, receive, apply, and dispose of the interest, +dividends, and annual produce thereof, when and as the same shall +become due and payable, into the proper hands of the said Augusta +Mary Leigh, to and for her sole and separate use and benefit, free +from the control, debts, or engagements of her present or any future +husband, or unto such person or persons as she my said sister shall +from time to time, by any writing under her hand, notwithstanding her +present or any future coverture, and whether covert or sole, direct +or appoint; and from and immediately after the decease of my said +sister, then upon trust, that they my said trustees and the survivor +of them, his executors or administrators, do and shall assign and +transfer all my said personal estate and other the trust property +hereinbefore mentioned, or the stocks, funds, or securities wherein +or upon which the same shall or may be placed out or invested, unto +and among all and every the child and children of my said sister, if +more than one, in such parts, shares, and proportions, and to become +a vested interest, and to be paid and transferred at such time and +times, and in such manner, and with, under, and subject to such +provisions, conditions, and restrictions, as my said sister, at any +time during her life, whether covert or sole, by any deed or deeds, +instrument or instruments, in writing, with or without power of +revocation, to be sealed and delivered in the presence of two or more +credible witnesses, or by her last will and testament in writing, or +any writing of appointment in the nature of a will, shall direct or +appoint; and in default of any such appointment, or in case of the +death of my said sister in my lifetime, then upon trust that they my +said trustees and the survivor of them, his executors, +administrators, and assigns, do and shall assign and transfer all the +trust, property, and funds unto and among the children of my said +sister, if more than one, equally to be divided between them, share +and share alike, and if only one such child, then to such only child +the share and shares of such of them as shall be a son or sons, to be +paid and transferred unto him and them when and as he or they shall +respectively attain his or their age or ages of twenty-one years; and +the share and shares of such of them as shall be a daughter or +daughters, to be paid and transferred unto her or them when and as +she or they shall respectively attain her or their age or ages of +twenty-one years, or be married, which shall first happen; and in +case any of such children shall happen to die, being a son or sons, +before he or they shall attain the age of twenty-one years, or being +a daughter or daughters, before she or they shall attain the said age +of twenty-one, or be married; then it is my will and I do direct that +the share and shares of such of the said children as shall so die +shall go to the survivor or survivors of such children, with the +benefit of further accruer in case of the death of any such surviving +children before their shares shall become vested. And I do direct +that my said trustees shall pay and apply the interest and dividends +of each of the said children's shares in the said trust funds for +his, her, or their maintenance and education during their minorities, +notwithstanding their shares may not become vested interests, but +that such interest and dividends as shall not have been so applied +shall accumulate, and follow, and go over with the principal. And I +do nominate, constitute, and appoint the said John Cam Hobhouse and +John Hanson executors of this my will. And I do will and direct that +my said trustees shall not be answerable the one of them for the +other of them, or for the acts, deeds, receipts, or defaults of the +other of them, but each of them for his own acts, deeds, receipts, +and wilful defaults only, and that they my said trustees shall be +entitled to retain and deduct out of the monies which shall come to +their hands under the trusts aforesaid all such costs, charges, +damages, and expenses which they or any of them shall bear, pay, +sustain, or be put unto, in the execution and performance of the +trusts herein reposed in them. I make the above provision for my +sister and her children, in consequence of my dear wife Lady Byron, +and any children I may have, being otherwise amply provided for; and, +lastly, I do revoke all former wills by me at any time heretofore +made, and do declare this only to be my last will and testament. In +witness whereof, I have to this my last will, contained in three +sheets of paper, set my hand to the first two sheets thereof, and to +this third and last sheet my hand and seal this 29th day of July, in +the year of our Lord 1815. + +BYRON (L.S.) + +Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the said Lord Byron, the +testator, as and for his last will and testament, in the presence of +us, who, at his request, in his presence, and in the presence of each +other, have hereto subscribed our names as witnesses. + + THOMAS JONES MAWSE, + EDMUND GRIFFIN, + FREDERICK JERVIS, + Clerks to Mr. Hanson, Chancery-lane. + +CODICIL.--This is a Codicil to the last will and testament of me, the +Right Honourable George Gordon, Lord Byron. I give and bequeath unto +Allegra Biron, an infant of about twenty months old, by me brought +up, and now residing at Venice, the sum of five thousand pounds, +which I direct the executors of my said will to pay to her on her +attaining the age of twenty-one years, or on the day of her marriage, +on condition that she does not marry with a native of Great Britain, +which shall first happen. And I direct my said executors, as soon as +conveniently may be after my decease, to invest the said sum of five +thousand pounds upon government or real security, and to pay and +apply the annual income thereof in or towards the maintenance and +education of the said Allegra Biron until she attains her said age of +twenty-one years, or shall be married as aforesaid; but in case she +shall die before attaining the said age and without having been +married, then I direct the said sum of five thousand pounds to become +part of the residue of my personal estate, and in all other respects +I do confirm my said will, and declare this to be a codicil thereto. +In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Venice, +this 17th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1818, + +BYRON (L.S.) + +Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the said Lord Byron, as +and for a codicil to his will, in the presence of us, who, in his +presence, at his request, and in the presence of each other, have +subscribed our names as witnesses. + + NEWTON HANSON, + WILLIAM FLETCHER. + +Proved at London (with a Codicil), 6th of July, 1824, before the +Worshipful Stephen Lushington, Doctor of Laws, and surrogate, by the +oaths of John Cam Hobhouse and John Hanson, Esquires, the executors, +to whom administration was granted, having been first sworn duly to +administer. + + NATHANIEL GOSTLING, + GEORGE JENNER, + CHARLES DYNELEY, + Deputy Registrars. + + * * * * * + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS PIECES + +IN PROSE. + +REVIEW OF WORDSWORTH'S POEMS, + +2 Vols. 1807.[1] + +[Footnote 1: I have been a reviewer. In 1807, in a Magazine called +"Monthly Literary Recreations," I reviewed Wordsworth's trash of that +time. In the Monthly Review I wrote some articles which were +inserted. This was in the latter part of 1811.--BYRON.] + +(From "Monthly Literary Recreations," for August, 1807.) + +The volumes before us are by the author of Lyrical Ballads, a +collection which has not undeservedly met with a considerable share +of public applause. The characteristics of Mr. W.'s muse are simple +and flowing, though occasionally inharmonious verse, strong, and +sometimes irresistible appeals to the feelings, with unexceptionable +sentiments. Though the present work may not equal his former efforts, +many of the poems possess a native elegance, natural and unaffected, +totally devoid of the tinsel embellishments and abstract hyperboles +of several contemporary sonneteers. The last sonnet in the first +volume, p. 152., is perhaps the best, without any novelty in the +sentiments, which we hope are common to every Briton at the present +crisis; the force and expression is that of a genuine poet, feeling +as he writes:-- + + "Another year! another deadly blow! + Another mighty empire overthrown! + And we are left, or shall be left, alone-- + The last that dares to struggle with the foe. + 'Tis well!--from this day forward we shall know + That in ourselves our safety must be sought, + That by our own right-hands it must be wrought; + That we must stand unprop'd, or be laid low. + O dastard! whom such foretaste doth not cheer! + We shall exult, if they who rule the land + Be men who hold its many blessings dear, + Wise, upright, valiant, not a venal band, + Who are to judge of danger which they fear, + And honour which they do not understand." + +The song at the Feast of Brougham Castle, the Seven Sisters, the +Affliction of Margaret ---- of ----, possess all the beauties, and +few of the defects, of this writer: the following lines from the last +are in his first style:-- + + "Ah! little doth the young one dream + When full of play and childish cares, + What power hath e'en his wildest scream, + Heard by his mother unawares: + He knows it not, he cannot guess: + Years to a mother bring distress, + But do not make her love the less." + +The pieces least worthy of the author are those entitled "Moods of my +own Mind." We certainly wish these "Moods" had been less frequent, or +not permitted to occupy a place near works which only make their +deformity more obvious; when Mr. W. ceases to please, it is by +"abandoning" his mind to the most commonplace ideas, at the same time +clothing them in language not simple, but puerile. What will any +reader or auditor, out of the nursery, say to such namby-pamby as +"Lines written at the Foot of Brother's Bridge?" + + "The cock is crowing, + The stream is flowing, + The small birds twitter, + The lake doth glitter. + The green field sleeps in the sun; + The oldest and youngest, + Are at work with the strongest; + The cattle are grazing, + Their heads never raising, + There are forty feeding like one. + Like an army defeated, + The snow hath retreated, + And now doth fare ill, + On the top of the bare hill." + +"The plough-boy is whooping anon, anon," &c. &c. is in the same +exquisite measure. This appears to us neither more nor less than an +imitation of such minstrelsy as soothed our cries in the cradle, with +the shrill ditty of + + "Hey de diddle, + The cat and the fiddle: + The cow jump'd over the moon, + The little dog laugh'd to see such sport, + And the dish ran away with the spoon." + +On the whole, however, with the exception of the above, and other +INNOCENT odes of the same cast, we think these volumes display a +genius worthy of higher pursuits, and regret that Mr. W. confines his +muse to such trifling subjects. We trust his motto will be in future, +"Paulo majora canamus." Many, with inferior abilities, have acquired +a loftier seat on Parnassus, merely by attempting strains in which +Mr. Wordsworth is more qualified to excel.[1] + +[Footnote 1: This first attempt of Lord Byron at reviewing is +remarkable only as showing how plausibly he could assume the +established tone and phraseology of these minor judgment-seats of +criticism. If Mr. Wordsworth ever chanced to cast his eye over this +article, how little could he have expected that under that dull +prosaic mask lurked one who, in five short years from thence, would +rival even _him_ in poetry!--MOORE.] + + +REVIEW OF GELL'S GEOGRAPHY OF ITHACA, AND ITINERARY OF GREECE. + +(From the "Monthly Review" for August, 1811.) + +That laudable curiosity concerning the remains of classical +antiquity, which has of late years increased among our countrymen, is +in no traveller or author more conspicuous than in Mr. Gell. Whatever +difference of opinion may yet exist with regard to the success of the +several disputants in the famous Trojan controversy[1], or, indeed, +relating to the present author's merits as an inspector of the Troad, +it must universally be acknowledged that any work, which more +forcibly impresses on our imaginations the scenes of heroic action, +and the subjects of immortal song, possesses claims on the attention +of every scholar. + +[Footnote 1: We have it from the best authority that the venerable +leader of the Anti-Homeric sect, Jacob Bryant, several years before +his death, expressed regret for his ungrateful attempt to destroy +some of the most pleasing associations of our youthful studies. One +of his last wishes was--"_Trojaque nunc stares," &c._] + +Of the two works which now demand our report, we conceive the former +to be by far the most interesting to the reader, as the latter is +indisputably the most serviceable to the traveller. Excepting, +indeed, the running commentary which it contains on a number of +extracts from Pausanias and Strabo, it is, as the title imports, a +mere itinerary of Greece, or rather of Argolis only, in its present +circumstances. This being the case, surely it would have answered +every purpose of utility much better by being printed as a pocket +road-book of that part of the Morea; for a quarto is a very +unmanageable travelling companion. The maps[1] and drawings, we shall +be told, would not permit such an arrangement: but as to the +drawings, they are not in general to be admired as specimens of the +art; and several of them, as we have been assured by eye-witnesses of +the scenes which they describe, do not compensate for their +mediocrity in point of execution, by any extraordinary fidelity of +representation. Others, indeed, are more faithful, according to our +informants. The true reason, however, for this costly mode of +publication is in course to be found in a desire of gratifying the +public passion for large margins, and all the luxury of typography; +and we have before expressed our dissatisfaction with Mr. Gell's +aristocratical mode of communicating a species of knowledge, which +ought to be accessible to a much greater portion of classical +students than can at present acquire it by his means:--but, as such +expostulations are generally useless, we shall be thankful for what +we can obtain, and that in the manner in which Mr. Gell has chosen to +present it. + +[Footnote 1: Or, rather, _Map_; for we have only one in the volume, +and that is on too small a scale to give more than a general idea of +the relative position of places. The excuse about a larger map not +folding well is trifling; see, for instance, the author's own map of +Ithaca.] + +The former of these volumes, we have observed, is the most attractive +in the closet. It comprehends a very full survey of the far-famed +island which the hero of the Odyssey has immortalized; for we really +are inclined to think that the author has established the identity of +the modern _Theaki_ with the _Ithaca_ of Homer. At all events, if it +be an illusion, it is a very agreeable deception, and is effected by +an ingenious interpretation of the passages in Homer that are +supposed to be descriptive of the scenes which our traveller has +visited. We shall extract some of these adaptations of the ancient +picture to the modern scene, marking the points of resemblance which +appear to be strained and forced, as well as those which are more +easy and natural: but we must first insert some preliminary matter +from the opening chapter. + +The following passage conveys a sort of general sketch of the book, +which may give our readers a tolerably adequate notion of its +contents:-- + + "The present work may adduce, by a simple and correct survey + of the island, coincidences in its geography, in its natural + productions, and moral state, before unnoticed. Some will be + directly pointed out; the fancy or ingenuity of the reader may + be employed in tracing others; the mind familiar with the + imagery of the Odyssey will recognise with satisfaction the + scenes themselves; and this volume is offered to the public, + not entirely without hopes of vindicating the poem of Homer + from the scepticism of those critics who imagine that the + Odyssey is a mere poetical composition, unsupported by + history, and unconnected with the localities of any particular + situation. + + "Some have asserted that, in the comparison of places now + existing with the descriptions of Homer, we ought not to + expect coincidence in minute details; yet it seems only by + these that the kingdom of Ulysses, or any other, can be + identified, as, if such as idea be admitted, every small and + rocky island in the Ionian Sea, containing a good port, might, + with equal plausibility, assume the appellation of Ithaca. + + "The Venetian geographers have in a great degree contributed + to raise those doubts which have existed on the identity of + the modern with the ancient Ithaca, by giving, in their + charts, the name of Val di Compare to the island. That name + is, however, totally unknown in the country, where the isle is + invariably called Ithaca by the upper ranks, and Theaki by the + vulgar. The Venetians have equally corrupted the name of + almost every place in Greece; yet, as the natives of Epactos + or Naupactos never heard of Lepanto, those of Zacynthos of + Zante, or the Athenians of Settines, it would be as unfair to + rob Ithaca of its name, on such authority, as it would be to + assert that no such island existed, because no tolerable + representation of its form can be found in the Venetian + surveys. + + "The rare medals of the Island, of which three are represented + in the title-page, might be adduced as a proof that the name + of Ithaca was not lost during the reigns of the Roman + emperors. They have the head of Ulysses, recognised by the + pileum, or pointed cap, while the reverse of one presents the + figure of a cock, the emblem of his vigilance, with the legend + [Greek: ITHAKON]. A few of these medals are preserved in the + cabinets of the curious, and one also, with the cock, found in + the island, is in the possession of Signor Zavo, of Bathi. The + uppermost coin is in the collection of Dr. Hunter; the + second is copied from Newman, and the third is the property of + R.P. Knight, Esq. + + "Several inscriptions, which will be hereafter produced, will + tend to the confirmation of the idea that Ithaca was inhabited + about the time when the Romans were masters of Greece; yet + there is every reason to believe that few, if any, of the + present proprietors of the soil are descended from ancestors + who had long resided successively in the island. Even those + who lived, at the time of Ulysses, in Ithaca, seem to have + been on the point of emigrating to Argos, and no chief + remained, after the second in descent from that hero, worthy + of being recorded in history. It appears that the isle has + been twice colonised from Cephalonia in modern times, and I + was informed that a grant had been made by the Venetians, + entitling each settler in Ithaca to as much land as his + circumstances would enable him to cultivate." + +Mr. Gell then proceeds to invalidate the authority of previous +writers on the subject of Ithaca. Sir George Wheeler and M. le +Chevalier fall under his severe animadversion; and, indeed, according +to his account, neither of these gentlemen had visited the island, +and the description of the latter is "absolutely too absurd for +refutation." In another place, he speaks of M. le C. "disgracing a +work of such merit by the introduction of such fabrications;" again, +of the inaccuracy of the author's maps; and, lastly, of his inserting +an island at the southern entry of the Channel between Cephalonia and +Ithaca, which has no existence. This observation very nearly +approaches to the use of that monosyllable which Gibbon[1], without +expressing it, so adroitly applied to some assertion of his +antagonist, Mr. Davies. In truth, our traveller's words are rather +bitter towards his brother tourist: but we must conclude that their +justice warrants their severity. + +[Footnote 1: See his Vindication of the 15th and 16th chapters of the +_Decline and Fall_, &c.] + +In the second chapter, the author describes his landing in Ithaca, +and arrival at the rock Korax and the fountain Arethusa, as he +designates it with sufficient positiveness.--This rock, now known by +the name of Korax, or Koraka Petra, he contends to be the same with +that which Homer mentions as contiguous to the habitation of Eumaeus, +the faithful swine-herd of Ulysses.--We shall take the liberty of +adding to our extracts from Mr. Gell some of the passages in Homer to +which he _refers_ only, conceiving this to be the fairest method of +exhibiting the strength or the weakness of his argument. "Ulysses," +he observes, "came to the extremity of the isle to visit Eumusae, and +that extremity was the most southern; for Telemachus, coming from +Pylos, touched at the first south-eastern part of Ithaca with the +same intention." + + [Greek: Kai tote de r' Odusea kakos pothen egage daimon + Agrou ep' eschatien, hothi domata naie subotes; + Enth' elthen philos uios Odusseos theioio, + Ek Pulou emathoenios ion sun nei melaine; + Odussei O. + + Autar epen proten akten Ithakes aphikeai, + Nea men es polin otrunai kai panlas hetairous; + Autos de protisa suboten eisaphikesthai, + k.t.l. Odussei O.] + +These citations, we think, appear to justify the author in his +attempt to identify the situation of his rock and fountain with the +place of those mentioned by Homer. But let us now follow him in the +closer description of the scene.--After some account of the subjects +in the plate affixed, Mr. Gell remarks: "It is impossible to visit +this sequestered spot without being struck with the recollection of +the Fount of Arethusa and the Rock Korax, which the poet mentions in +the same line, adding, that there the swine eat the _sweet_[1] +acorns, and drank the black water." + +[Footnote 1: "_Sweet_ acorns." Does Mr. Gell translate from the +Latin? To avoid similar cause of mistake, [Greek: menoeikea] should +not be rendered _suavem_ but _gratam_, as Barnes has given it.] + + [Greek: Deeis ton ge suessi paremenon; ai de nemontai + Par Korakos petre, epi te krene Arethouse, + Esthousai balanon menoeikea, kai melan hudor + Pinousai; Odussei N.] + +"Having passed some time at the fountain, taken a drawing, and made +the necessary observations on the situation of the place, we +proceeded to an examination of the precipice, climbing over the +terraces above the source, among shady fig-trees, which, however, did +not prevent us from feeling the powerful effects of the mid-day sun. +After a short but fatiguing ascent, we arrived at the rock, which +extends in a vast perpendicular semicircle, beautifully fringed with +trees, facing to the southeast. Under the crag we found two caves of +inconsiderable extent, the entrance of one of which, not difficult of +access, is seen in the view of the fount. They are still the resort +of sheep and goats, and in one of them are small natural receptacles +for the water, covered by a stalagmitic incrustation. + +"These caves, being at the extremity of the curve formed by the +precipice, open toward the south, and present us with another +accompaniment of the fount of Arethusa, mentioned by the poet, who +informs us that the swineherd Eumaeus left his guests in the house, +whilst he, putting on a thick garment, went to sleep near the herd, +under the hollow of the rock, which sheltered him from the northern +blast. Now we know that the herd fed near the fount; for Minerva +tells Ulysses that he is to go first to Eumaeus, whom he should find +with the swine, near the rock Korax and the fount of Arethusa. As the +swine then fed at the fountain, so it is necessary that a cavern +should be found in its vicinity; and this seems to coincide, in +distance and situation, with that of the poem. Near the fount also +was the fold or stathmos of Eumaeus; for the goddess informs Ulysses +that he should find his faithful servant at or above the fount. + +"Now the hero meets the swineherd close to the fold, which was +consequently very near that source. At the top of the rock, and just +above the spot where the waterfall shoots down the precipice, is at +this day a stagni or pastoral dwelling, which the herdsmen of Ithaca +still inhabit, on account of the water necessary for their cattle. +One of these people walked on the verge of the precipice at the time +of our visit to the place, and seemed so anxious to know how we had +been conveyed to the spot, that his enquiries reminded us of a +question probably not uncommon in the days of Homer, who more than +once represents the Ithacences demanding of strangers what ship had +brought them to the island, it being evident they could not come on +foot. He told us that there was, on the summit where he stood, a +small cistern of water, and a kalybea, or shepherd's hut. There are +also vestiges of ancient habitations, and the place is now called +Amarathia. + +"Convenience, as well as safety, seems to have pointed out the lofty +situation of Amarathia as a fit place for the residence of the +herdsmen of this part of the island from the earliest ages. A small +source of water is a treasure in these climates; and if the +inhabitants of Ithaca now select a rugged and elevated spot, to +secure them from the robbers of the Echinades, it is to be +recollected that the Taphian pirates were not less formidable, even +in the days of Ulysses, and that a residence in a solitary part of +the island, far from the fortress, and close to a celebrated +fountain, must at all times have been dangerous, without some such +security as the rocks of Korax. Indeed, there can be no doubt that +the house of Eumaeus was on the top of the precipice; for Ulysses, in +order to evince the truth of his story to the swineherd, desires to +be thrown from the summit if his narration does not prove correct. + +"Near the bottom of the precipice is a curious natural gallery, about +seven feet high, which is expressed in the plate. It may be fairly +presumed, from the very remarkable coincidence between this place and +the Homeric account, that this was the scene designated by the poet +as the fountain of Arethusa, and the residence of Eumaeus; and, +perhaps, it would be impossible to find another spot which bears, at +this day, so strong a resemblance to a poetic description composed at +a period so very remote. There is no other fountain in this part of +the island, nor any rock which bears the slightest resemblance to the +Korax of Homer. + +"The stathmos of the good Eumaeus appears to have been little +different, either in use or construction, from the stagni and kalybea +of the present day. The poet expressly mentions that other herdsmen +drove their flocks into the city at sunset,--a custom which still +prevails throughout Greece during the winter, and that was the season +in which Ulysses visited Eumaeus. Yet Homer accounts for this +deviation from the prevailing custom, by observing that he had +retired from the city to avoid the suitors of Penelope. These +trifling occurrences afford a strong presumption that the Ithaca of +Homer was something more than the creature of his own fancy, as some +have supposed it; for though the grand outline of a fable may be +easily imagined, yet the consistent adaptation of minute incidents to +a long and elaborate falsehood is a task of the most arduous and +complicated nature." + +After this long extract, by which we have endeavoured to do justice +to Mr. Gell's argument, we cannot allow room for any farther +quotations of such extent; and we must offer a brief and imperfect +analysis of the remainder of the work. + +In the third chapter, the traveller arrives at the capital, and in +the fourth, he describes it in an agreeable manner. We select his +account of the mode of celebrating a Christian festival in the Greek +church:-- + + "We were present at the celebration of the feast of the + Ascension, when the citizens appeared in their gayest dresses, + and saluted each other in the streets with demonstrations of + pleasure. As we sate at breakfast in the house of Zignor Zavo, + we were suddenly roused by the discharge of a gun, succeeded + by a tremendous crash of pottery, which fell on the tiles, + steps, and pavements, in every direction. The bells of the + numerous churches commenced a most discordant jingle; colours + were hoisted on every mast in the port, and a general shout of + joy announced some great event. Our host informed us that the + feast of the Ascension was annually commemorated in this + manner at Bathi, the populace exclaiming [Greek: anese o + Chrisos, alethinos o Theos,] Christ is risen, the true God." + +In another passage, he continues this account as follows:--"In the +evening of the festival, the inhabitants danced before their houses; +and at one we saw the figure which is said to have been first used by +the youths and virgins of Delos, at the happy return of Theseus from +the expedition of the Cretan Labyrinth. It has now lost much of that +intricacy which was supposed to allude to the windings of the +habitation of the Minotaur," &c. &c. This is rather too much for even +the inflexible gravity of our censorial muscles. When the author +talks, with all the _reality_ (if we may use the expression) of a +Lempriere, on the stories of the fabulous ages, we cannot refrain +from indulging a momentary smile; nor can we seriously accompany him +in the learned architectural detail by which he endeavours to give +us, from the Odyssey, the ground-plot of the house of Ulysses.--of +which he actually offers a plan in drawing! "showing how the +description of the house of Ulysses in the Odyssey may be supposed to +correspond with the foundations yet visible on the hill of +Aito!"--Oh, Foote! Foote! why are you lost to such inviting subjects +for your ludicrous pencil!--In his account of this celebrated +mansion, Mr. Gell says, one side of the court seems to have been +occupied by the Thalamos, or sleeping apartments of the men, &c. &c.; +and, in confirmation of this hypothesis, he refers to the 10th +Odyssey, line 340. On examining his reference, we read, + + [Greek: Es thalamon t ienai, kai ses epibemenai eunes.] + +where Ulysses records an invitation which he received from Circe to +take a part of her bed. How this illustrates the above conjecture, we +are at a loss to divine: but we suppose that some numerical error has +occurred in the reference, as we have detected a trifling mistake or +two of the same nature. + +Mr. G. labours hard to identify the cave of Dexia near Bathi (the +capital of the island), with the grotto of the Nymphs described in +the 13th Odyssey. We are disposed to grant that he has succeeded: but +we cannot here enter into the proofs by which he supports his +opinion; and we can only extract one of the concluding sentences of +the chapter, which appears to us candid and judicious:-- + + "Whatever opinion may be formed as to the identity of the cave + of Dexia with the grotto of the Nymphs, it is fair to state, + that Strabo positively asserts that no such cave as that + described by Homer existed in his time, and that geographer + thought it better to assign a physical change, rather than + ignorance in Homer, to account for a difference which he + imagined to exist between the Ithaca of his time and that of + the poet. But Strabo, who was an uncommonly accurate observer + with respect to countries surveyed by himself, appears to have + been wretchedly misled by his informers on many occasions. + + "That Strabo had never visited this country is evident, not + only from his inaccurate account of it, but from his citation + of Appollodorus and Scepsius, whose relations are in direct + opposition to each other on the subject of Ithaca, as will be + demonstrated on a future opportunity." + +We must, however, observe that "demonstration" is a strong term.--In +his description of the Leucadian Promontory (of which we have a +pleasing representation in the plate), the author remarks that it is +"celebrated for the _leap_ of Sappho, and the _death_ of Artemisia." +From this variety in the expression, a reader would hardly conceive +that both the ladies perished in the same manner: in fact, the +sentence is as proper as it would be to talk of the decapitation of +Russell, and the death of Sidney. The view from this promontory +includes the island of Corfu; and the name suggests to Mr. Gell the +following note, which, though rather irrelevant, is of a curious +nature, and we therefore conclude our citations by transcribing it:-- + + "It has been generally supposed that Corfu, or Corcyra, was + the Phaeacia of Homer; but Sir Henry Englefield thinks the + position of that island inconsistent with the voyage of + Ulysses as described in the Odyssey. That gentleman has also + observed a number of such remarkable coincidences between the + courts of Alcinous and Solomon, that they may be thought + curious and interesting. Homer was familiar with the names of + Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt; and, as he lived about the time of + Solomon, it would not have been extraordinary if he had + introduced some account of the magnificence of that prince + into his poem. As Solomon was famous for wisdom, so the name + of Alcinous signifies strength of knowledge; as the gardens of + Solomon were celebrated, so are those of Alcinous (Od. + 7.112.); as the kingdom of Solomon was distinguished by twelve + tribes under twelve princes (1 Kings, ch. 4.), so that of + Alcinous (Od. 8. 390.) was ruled by an equal number; as the + throne of Solomon was supported by lions of gold (1 Kings, ch. + 10.), so that of Alcinous was placed on dogs of silver and + gold (Od, 7. 91.); as the fleets of Solomon were famous, so + were those of Alcinous. It is perhaps worthy of remark, that + Neptune sate on the mountains of the SOLYMI, as he returned + from AEthiopia to AEgae, while he raised the tempest which threw + Ulysses on the coast of Phaeacia; and that the Solymi of + Pamphylia are very considerably distant from the route.--The + suspicious character, also, which Nausicaa attributes to her + countryman agrees precisely with that which the Greeks and + Romans gave of the Jews." + +The seventh chapter contains a description of the Monastery of +Kathara, and several adjacent places. The eighth, among other +curiosities, fixes on an imaginary site for the Farm of Laertes: but +this is the agony of conjecture indeed!--and the ninth chapter +mentions another Monastery, and a rock still called the School of +Homer. Some sepulchral inscriptions of a very simple nature are +included.--The tenth and last chapter brings us round to the Port of +Schoenus, near Bathi; after we have completed, seemingly in a very +minute and accurate manner, the tour of the island. + +We can certainly recommend a perusal of this volume to every lover of +classical scene and story. If we may indulge the pleasing belief that +Homer sang of a real kingdom, and that Ulysses governed it, though we +discern many feeble links in Mr. Gell's chain of evidence, we are on +the whole induced to fancy that this is the Ithaca of the bard and of +the monarch. At all events, Mr. Gell has enabled every future +traveller to form a clearer judgment on the question than he could +have established without such a "Vade-mecum to Ithaca," or a "Have +with you, to the House of Ulysses," as the present. With Homer in his +pocket, and Gell on his sumpter-horse or mule, the Odyssean tourist +may now make a very classical and delightful excursion; and we doubt +not that the advantages accruing to the Ithacences, from the +increased number of travellers who will visit them in consequence of +Mr. Gell's account of their country, will induce them to confer on +that gentleman any heraldic honours which they may have to bestow, +should he ever look in upon them again.--_Baron Bathi _ would be a +pretty title:-- + + "_Hoc_ Ithacus _velit, et magno mercentur Atridae_."--Virgil. + +For ourselves, we confess that all our old Grecian feelings would be +alive on approaching the fountain of Melainudros, where, as the +tradition runs, or as the priests relate, Homer was restored to +sight. + +We now come to the "Grecian Patterson," or "Cary," which Mr. Gell has +begun to publish; and really he has carried the epic rule of +concealing the person of the author to as great a length as either of +the above-mentioned heroes of itinerary writ. We hear nothing of his +"hair-breadth 'scapes" by sea or land; and we do not even know, for +the greater part of his journey through Argolis, whether he relates +what he has seen or what he has heard. Prom other parts of the book, +we find the former to be the case: but, though there have been +tourists and "strangers" in other countries, who have kindly +permitted their readers to learn rather too much of their sweet +selves, yet it is possible to carry delicacy, or cautious silence, or +whatever it may be called, to the contrary extreme. We think that Mr. +Gell has fallen into this error, so opposite to that of his numerous +brethren. It is offensive, indeed, to be told what a man has eaten +for dinner, or how pathetic he was on certain occasions; but we like +to know that there is a being yet living who describes the scenes to +which he introduces us; and that it is not a mere translation from +Strabo or Pausanias which we are reading, or a commentary on those +authors. This reflection leads us to the concluding remark in Mr. +Gell's preface (by much the most interesting part of his book) to his +Itinerary of Greece, in which he thus expresses himself:-- + + "The confusion of the modern with the ancient names of places + in this volume is absolutely unavoidable; they are, however, + mentioned in such a manner, that the reader will soon be + accustomed to the indiscriminate use of them. The necessity of + applying the ancient appellations to the different routes, + will be evident from the total ignorance of the public on the + subject of the modern names, which, having never appeared in + print, are only known to the few individuals who have visited + the country. + + "What could appear less intelligible to the reader, or less + useful to the traveller, than a route from Chione and Zaracca + to Kutchukmadi, from thence to Krabata to Schoenochorio, and + by the mills of Peali, while every one is in some degree + acquainted with the names of Stymphalus, Nemea, Mycenae, + Lyrceia, Lerna, and Tegea?" + +Although this may be very true inasmuch as it relates to the reader, +yet to the traveller we must observe, in opposition to Mr. Gell, that +nothing can be less useful than the designation of his route +according to the ancient names. We might as well, and with as much +chance of arriving at the place of our destination, talk to a +Hounslow post-boy about making haste to _Augusta_, as apply to our +Turkish guide in modern Greece for a direction to Stymphalus, Nemea, +Mycenae, &c. &c. This is neither more nor less than classical +affectation; and it renders Mr. Gell's book of much more confined use +than it would otherwise have been:--but we have some other and more +important remarks to make on his general directions to Grecian +tourists; and we beg leave to assure our readers that they are +derived from travellers who have lately visited Greece. In the first +place, Mr. Gell is absolutely incautious enough to recommend an +interference on the part of English travellers with the Minister at +the Porte, in behalf of the Greeks. "The folly of such neglect (page +16. preface,) in many instances, where the emancipation of a district +might often be obtained by the present of a snuff-box or a watch, at +Constantinople, _and without the smallest danger of exciting the +jealousy of such a court as that of Turkey,_ will be acknowledged +when we are no longer able to rectify the error." We have every +reason to believe, on the contrary, that the folly of half a dozen +travellers, taking this advice, might bring us into a war. "Never +interfere with any thing of the kind," is a much sounder and more +political suggestion to all English travellers in Greece. + +Mr. Gell apologises for the introduction of "his panoramic designs," +as he calls them, on the score of the great difficulty of giving any +tolerable idea of the face of a country in writing, and the ease with +which a very accurate knowledge of it may be acquired by maps and +panoramic designs. We are informed that this is not the case with +many of these designs. The small scale of the single map we have +already censured; and we have hinted that some of the drawings are +not remarkable for correct resemblance of their originals. The two +nearer views of the Gate of the Lions at Mycenae are indeed good +likenesses of their subject, and the first of them is unusually well +executed; but the general view of Mycenae is not more than tolerable +in any respect; and the prospect of Larissa, &c. is barely equal to +the former. The view _from_ this last place is also indifferent; and +we are positively assured that there are no windows at Nauplia which +look like a box of dominos,--the idea suggested by Mr. Gell's plate. +We must not, however, be too severe on these picturesque bagatelles, +which, probably, were very hasty sketches; and the circumstances of +weather, &c. may have occasioned some difference in the appearance of +the same objects to different spectators. We shall therefore return +to Mr. Gell's preface; endeavouring to set him right in his +directions to travellers, where we think that he is erroneous, and +adding what appears to have been omitted. In his first sentence, he +makes an assertion which is by no means correct. He says, "_We_ are +at present as ignorant of Greece, as of the interior of Africa." +Surely not quite so ignorant; or several of our Grecian _Mungo Parks_ +have travelled in vain, and some very sumptuous works have been +published to no purpose! As we proceed, we find the author observing +that "Athens is _now_ the most polished city of Greece," when we +believe it to be the most barbarous, even to a proverb-- + + [Greek: O Athena, prote chora, + Ti gaidarous trepheis tora[1]?] + +[Footnote 1: We write these lines from the _recitation_ of the +travellers to whom we have alluded; but we cannot vouch for the +correctness of the Romaic.] + +is a couplet of reproach _now_ applied to this once famous city; +whose inhabitants seem little worthy of the inspiring call which was +addressed to them within these twenty years, by the celebrated +Riga:-- + + [Greek: Deute paides ton Ellenon--k.t.l.] + +Iannina, the capital of Epirus, and the seat of Ali Pacha's +government, _is_ in truth deserving of the honours which Mr. Gell has +improperly bestowed on degraded Athens. As to the correctness of the +remark concerning the fashion of wearing the hair cropped in +_Molossia,_ as Mr. Gell informs us, our authorities cannot depose: +but why will he use the classical term of Eleuthero-Lacones, when +that people are so much better known by their modern name of +Mainotes? "The court of the Pacha of Tripolizza" is said "to realise +the splendid visions of the Arabian Nights." This is true with regard +to the _court_: but surely the traveller ought to have added that the +city and palace are most miserable, and form an extraordinary +contrast to the splendour of the court.--Mr. Gell mentions _gold_ +mines in Greece: he should have specified their situation, as it +certainly is not universally known. When, also, he remarks that "the +first article of necessity _in Greece_ is a firman, or order from the +Sultan, permitting the traveller to pass unmolested," we are much +misinformed if he be right. On the contrary, we believe this to be +almost the only part of the Turkish dominions in which a firman is +not necessary; since the passport of the Pacha is absolute within his +territory (according to Mr. G.'s own admission), and much more +effectual than a firman.--"Money," he remarks, "is easily procured at +Salonica, or Patrass, where the English have Consuls." It is much +better procured, we understand, from the Turkish governors, who never +charge discount. The Consuls for the English are not of the most +magnanimous order of Greeks, and far from being so liberal, generally +speaking; although there are, in course, some exceptions, and Strune +of Patrass has been more honourably mentioned.--After having observed +that "horses seem the best mode of conveyance in Greece," Mr. Gell +proceeds: "Some travellers would prefer an English saddle; but a +saddle of this sort is always objected to by the owner of the horse, +_and not without reason_" &c. This, we learn, is far from being the +case; and, indeed, for a very simple reason, an English saddle must +seem to be preferable to one of the country, because it is much +lighter. When, too, Mr. Gell calls the _postilion_ "Menzilgi," he +mistakes him for his betters: _Serrugees_ are postilions; _Mensilgis_ +are postmasters.--Our traveller was fortunate in his Turks, who are +hired to walk by the side of the baggage-horses. They "are certain," +he says, "of performing their engagement without grumbling." We +apprehend that this is by no means certain:--but Mr. Gell is +perfectly right in preferring a Turk to a Greek for this purpose; and +in his general recommendation to take a Janissary on the tour: who, +we may add, should be suffered to act as he pleases, since nothing is +to be done by gentle means, or even by offers of money, at the places +of accommodation. A courier, to be sent on before to the place at +which the traveller intends to sleep, is indispensable to comfort: +but no tourist should be misled by the author's advice to suffer the +Greeks to gratify their curiosity, in permitting them to remain for +some time about him on his arrival at an inn. They should be removed +as soon as possible; for, as to the remark that "no stranger would +think of intruding when a room is pre-occupied," our informants were +not so well convinced of that fact. + +Though we have made the above exceptions to the accuracy of Mr. +Gell's information, we are most ready to do justice to the general +utility of his directions, and can certainly concede the praise which +he is desirous of obtaining,--namely, "of having facilitated the +researches of future travellers, by affording that local information +which it was before impossible to obtain." This book, indeed, is +absolutely necessary to any person who wishes to explore the Morea +advantageously; and we hope that Mr. Gell will continue his Itinerary +over that and over every other part of Greece. He allows that his +volume "is only calculated to become a book of reference, and not of +general entertainment:" but we do not see any reason against the +compatibility of both objects in a survey of the most celebrated +country of the ancient world. To that country, we trust, the +attention not only of our travellers, but of our legislators, will +hereafter be directed. The greatest caution will, indeed, be +required, as we have premised, in touching on so delicate a subject +as the amelioration of the possessions of an ally: but the field for +the exercise of political sagacity is wide and inviting in this +portion of the globe; and Mr. Gell, and all other writers who +interest us, however remotely, in its extraordinary _capabilities_, +deserve well of the British empire. We shall conclude by an extract +from the author's work: which, even if it fails of exciting that +general interest which we hope most earnestly it may attract, towards +its important subject, cannot, as he justly observes, "be entirely +uninteresting to the scholar;" since it is a work "which gives him a +faithful description of the remains of cities, the very existence of +which was doubtful, as they perished before the aera of authentic +history." The subjoined quotation is a good specimen of the author's +minuteness of research as a topographer; and we trust that the credit +which must accrue to him from the present performance will ensure the +completion of his Itinerary:-- + + "The inaccuracies of the maps of Anacharsis are in many + respects very glaring. The situation of Phlius is marked by + Strabo as surrounded by the territories of Sicyon, Argos, + Cleonae, and Stymphalus. Mr. Hawkins observed, that Phlius, the + ruins of which still exist near Agios Giorgios, lies in a + direct line between Cleonae and Stymphalus, and another from + Sicyon to Argos; so that Strabo was correct in saying that it + lay between those four towns; yet we see Phlius, in the map of + Argolis by M. Barbie du Bocage, placed ten miles to the north + of Stymphalus, contradicting both history and fact. D'Anville + is guilty of the same error. + + "M. du Bocage places a town named Phlius, and by him Phlionte, + on the point of land which forms the port of Drepano: there + are not at present any ruins there. The maps of D'Anville are + generally more correct than any others where + ancient geography is concerned. A mistake occurs on the + subject of Tiryns, and a place named by him Vathia, but of + which nothing can be understood. It is possible that Vathi, or + the profound valley, may be a name sometimes used for the + valley of Barbitsa, and that the place named by D'Anville + Claustra may be the outlet of that valley called Kleisoura, + which has a corresponding signification. + + "The city of Tiryns is also placed in two different positions, + once by its Greek name, and again as Tirynthus. The mistake + between the islands of Sphaeria and Calaura has been noticed in + page 135. The Pontinus, which D'Anville represents as a river, + and the Erasinus are equally ill placed in his map. There was + a place called Creopolis, somewhere toward Cynouria; but its + situation is not easily fixed. The ports called Bucephalium + and Piraeus seem to have been nothing more than little bays in + the country between Corinth and Epidaurus. The town called + Athenae, in Cynouria, by Pausanias, is called Anthena by + _Thucydides_, book 5. 41. + + "In general, the map of D'Anville will be found more accurate + than those which have been published since his time; indeed + the mistakes of that geographer are in general such as could + not be avoided without visiting the country. Two errors of + D'Anville may be mentioned, lest the opportunity of publishing + the itinerary of Arcadia should never occur. The first is, + that the rivers Malaetas and Mylaon, near Methydrium, are + represented as running toward the south, whereas they flow + northwards to the Ladon; and the second is, that the Aroanius, + which falls into the Erymanthus at Psophis, is represented as + flowing from the lake of Pheneos; a mistake which arises from + the ignorance of the ancients themselves who have written on + the subject. The fact is that the Ladon receives the waters of + the lakes of Orchomenos and Pheneos: but the Aroanius rises at + a spot not two hours distant from Psophis." + +In furtherance of our principal object in this critique, we have only +to add a wish that some of our Grecian tourists, among the fresh +articles of information concerning Greece which they have lately +imported, would turn their minds to the language of the country. So +strikingly similar to the ancient Greek is the modern Romaic as a +written language, and so dissimilar in sound, that even a few general +rules concerning pronunciation would be of most extensive use. + + + + +PARLIAMENTARY SPEECHES. + + * * * * * + +DEBATE ON THE FRAME-WORK BILL, IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS, FEBRUARY 27, 1812. + + +The order of the day for the second reading of this Bill being read, + +Lord BYRON rose, and (for the first time) addressed their Lordships +as follows:-- + +My Lords; the subject now submitted to your Lordships for the first +time, though new to the House, is by no means new to the country. I +believe it had occupied the serious thoughts of all descriptions of +persons, long before its introduction to the notice of that +legislature, whose interference alone could be of real service. As a +person in some degree connected with the suffering county, though a +stranger not only to this House in general, but to almost every +individual whose attention I presume to solicit, I must claim some +portion of your Lordships' indulgence, whilst I offer a few +observations on a question in which I confess myself deeply +interested. + +To enter into any detail of the riots would be superfluous: the House +is already aware that every outrage short of actual bloodshed has +been perpetrated, and that the proprietors of the Frames obnoxious to +the rioters, and all persons supposed to be connected with them, have +been liable to insult and violence. During the short time I recently +passed in Nottinghamshire, not twelve hours elapsed without some +fresh act of violence; and on the day I left the county I was +informed that forty Frames had been broken the preceding evening, as +usual, without resistance and without detection. + +Such was then the state of that county, and such I have reason to +believe it to be at this moment. But whilst these outrages must be +admitted to exist to an alarming extent, it cannot be denied that +they have arisen from circumstances of the most unparalleled +distress: the perseverance of these miserable men in their +proceedings, tends to prove that nothing but absolute want could have +driven a large, and once honest and industrious, body of the people, +into the commission of excesses so hazardous to themselves, their +families, and the community. At the time to which I allude, the town +and county were burdened with large detachments of the military; the +police was in motion, the magistrates assembled, yet all the +movements, civil and military, had led to--nothing. Not a single +instance had occurred of the apprehension of any real delinquent +actually taken in the fact, against whom there existed legal evidence +sufficient for conviction. But the police, however useless, were by +no means idle: several notorious delinquents had been detected; men, +liable to conviction, on the clearest evidence, of the capital crime +of poverty; men, who had been nefariously guilty of lawfully +begetting several children, whom, thanks to the times! they were +unable to maintain. Considerable injury has been done to the +proprietors of the improved Frames. These machines were to them an +advantage, inasmuch as they superseded the necessity of employing a +number of workmen, who were left in consequence to starve. By the +adoption of one species of Frame in particular, one man performed the +work of many, and the superfluous labourers were thrown out of +employment. Yet it is to be observed, that the work thus executed was +inferior in quality; not marketable at home, and merely hurried over +with a view to exportation. It was called, in the cant of the trade, +by the name of "Spider work." The rejected workmen, in the blindness +of their ignorance, instead of rejoicing at these improvements in +arts so beneficial to mankind, conceived themselves to be sacrificed +to improvements in mechanism. In the foolishness of their hearts they +imagined, that the maintenance and well doing of the industrious +poor, were objects of greater consequence than the enrichment of a +few individuals by any improvement, in the implements of trade, which +threw the workmen out of employment, and rendered the labourer +unworthy of his hire. And it must be confessed that although the +adoption of the enlarged machinery in that state of our commerce +which the country once boasted, might have been beneficial to the +master without being detrimental to the servant; yet, in the present +situation of our manufactures, rotting in warehouses, without a +prospect of exportation, with the demand for work and workmen equally +diminished, Frames of this description tend materially to aggravate +the distress and discontent of the disappointed sufferers. But the +real cause of these distresses and consequent disturbances lies +deeper. When we are told that these men are leagued together not only +for the destruction of their own comfort, but of their very means of +subsistence, can we forget that it is the bitter policy, the +destructive warfare of the last eighteen years, which has destroyed +their comfort, your comfort, all men's comfort? That policy, which, +originating with "great statesmen now no more," has survived the dead +to become a curse on the living, unto the third and fourth +generation! These men never destroyed their looms till they were +become useless, worse than useless; till they were become actual +impediments to their exertions in obtaining their daily bread. Can +you, then, wonder that in times like these, when bankruptcy, +convicted fraud, and imputed felony, are found in a station not far +beneath that of your Lordships, the lowest, though once most useful +portion of the people, should forget their duty in their distresses, +and become only less guilty than one of their representatives? But +while the exalted offender can find means to baffle the law, new +capital punishments must be devised, new snares of death must be +spread for the wretched mechanic, who is famished into guilt. These +men were willing to dig, but the spade was in other hands: they were +not ashamed to beg, but there was none to relieve them: their own +means of subsistence were cut off, all other employments +pre-occupied; and their excesses, however to be deplored and +condemned, can hardly be subject of surprise. + +It has been stated that the persons in the temporary possession of +frames connive at their destruction; if this be proved upon enquiry, +it were necessary that such material accessories to the crime should +be principles in the punishment. But I did hope, that any measure +proposed by his Majesty's government, for your Lordships' decision, +would have had conciliation for its basis; or, if that were hopeless, +that some previous enquiry, some deliberation would have been deemed +requisite; not that we should have been called at once without +examination, and without cause, to pass sentences by wholesale, and +sign death-warrants blindfold. But, admitting that these men had no +cause of complaint; that the grievances of them and their employers +were alike groundless; that they deserved the worst; what +inefficiency, what imbecility has been evinced in the method chosen +to reduce them! Why were the military called out to be made a mockery +of, if they were to be called out at all? As far as the difference of +seasons would permit, they have merely parodied the summer campaign +of Major Sturgeon; and, indeed, the whole proceedings, civil and +military, seemed on the model of those of the mayor and corporation +of Garratt.--Such marchings and counter-marchings! from Nottingham to +Bullwell, from Bullwell to Banford, from Banford to Mansfield! and +when at length the detachments arrived at their destination, in all +"the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war," they came just +in time to witness the mischief which had been done, and ascertain +the escape of the perpetrators, to collect the "_spolia opima_" in +the fragments of broken frames, and return to their quarters amidst +the derision of old women, and the hootings of children. Now, though, +in a free country, it were to be wished, that our military should +never be too formidable, at least to ourselves, I cannot see the +policy of placing them in situations where they can only be made +ridiculous. As the sword is the worst argument that can be used, so +should it be the last. In this instance it has been the first; but +providentially as yet only in the scabbard. The present measure will, +indeed, pluck it from the sheath; yet had proper meetings been held +in the earlier stages of these riots, had the grievances of these men +and their masters (for they also had their grievances) been fairly +weighed and justly examined, I do think that means might have been +devised to restore these workmen to their avocations, and +tranquillity to the county. At present the county suffers from the +double infliction of an idle military and a starving population. In +what state of apathy have we been plunged so long, that now for the +first time the house has been officially apprised of these +disturbances? All this has been transacting within 130 miles of +London, and yet we, "good easy men, have deemed full sure our +greatness was a ripening," and have sat down to enjoy our foreign +triumphs in the midst of domestic calamity. But all the cities you +have taken, all the armies which have retreated before your leaders, +are but paltry subjects of self-congratulation, if your land divides +against itself, and your dragoons and your executioners must be let +loose against your fellow-citizens.--You call these men a mob, +desperate, dangerous, and ignorant; and seem to think that the only +way to quiet the "_Bellua multorum capitum_" is to lop off a few of +its superfluous heads. But even a mob may be better reduced to reason +by a mixture of conciliation and firmness, than by additional +irritation and redoubled penalties. Are we aware of our obligations +to a mob? It is the mob that labour in your fields and serve in your +houses,--that man your navy, and recruit your army,--that have +enabled you to defy all the world, and can also defy you when neglect +and calamity have driven them to despair! You may call the people a +mob; but do not forget, that a mob too often speaks the sentiments of +the people. And here I must remark, with what alacrity you are +accustomed to fly to the succour of your distressed allies, leaving +the distressed of your own country to the care of Providence or--the +parish. When the Portuguese suffered under the retreat of the French, +every arm was stretched out, every hand was opened, from the rich +man's largess to the widow's mite, all was bestowed, to enable them +to rebuild their villages and replenish their granaries. And at this +moment, when thousands of misguided but most unfortunate +fellow-countrymen are struggling with the extremes of hardships and +hunger, as your charity began abroad it should end at home. A much +less sum, a tithe of the bounty bestowed on Portugal, even if those +men (which I cannot admit without enquiry) could not have been +restored to their employments, would have rendered unnecessary the +tender mercies of the bayonet and the gibbet. But doubtless our +friends have too many foreign claims to admit a prospect of domestic +relief; though never did such objects demand it. I have traversed the +seat of war in the Peninsula, I have been in some of the most +oppressed provinces of Turkey, but never under the most despotic of +infidel governments did I behold such squalid wretchedness as I have +seen since my return in the very heart of a Christian country. And +what are your remedies? After months of inaction, and months of +action worse than inactivity, at length comes forth the grand +specific, the never-failing nostrum of all state physicians, from the +days of Draco to the present time. After feeling the pulse and +shaking the head over the patient, prescribing the usual course of +warm water and bleeding, the warm water of your mawkish police, and +the lancets of your military, these convulsions must terminate in +death, the sure consummation of the prescriptions of all political +Sangrados. Setting aside the palpable injustice and the certain +inefficiency of the bill, are there not capital punishments +sufficient in your statutes? Is there not blood enough upon your +penal code, that more must be poured forth to ascend to Heaven and +testify against you? How will you carry the bill into effect? Can you +commit a whole county to their own prisons? Will you erect a gibbet +in every field, and hang up men like scarecrows? or will you proceed +(as you must to bring this measure into effect) by decimation? place +the county under martial law? depopulate and lay waste all around +you? and restore Sherwood Forest as an acceptable gift to the crown, +in its former condition of a royal chase and an asylum for outlaws? +Are these the remedies for a starving and desperate populace? Will +the famished wretch who has braved your bayonets be appalled by your +gibbets? When death is a relief, and the only relief it appears that +you will afford him, will he be dragooned into tranquillity? Will +that which could not be effected by your grenadiers, be accomplished +by your executioners? If you proceed by the forms of law, where is +your evidence? Those who have refused to impeach their accomplices, +when transportation only was the punishment, will hardly be tempted +to witness against them when death is the penalty. With all due +deference to the noble lords opposite, I think a little +investigation, some previous enquiry would induce even them to change +their purpose. That most favourite state measure, so marvellously +efficacious in many and recent instances, temporising, would not be +without its advantages in this. When a proposal is made to emancipate +or relieve, you hesitate, you deliberate for years, you temporise and +tamper with the minds of men; but a death-bill must be passed off +hand, without a thought of the consequences. Sure I am, from what I +have heard, and from what I have seen, that to pass the hill under +all the existing circumstances, without enquiry, without +deliberation, would only be to add injustice to irritation, and +barbarity to neglect. The framers of such a bill must be content to +inherit the honours of that Athenian lawgiver whose edicts were said +to be written not in ink but in blood. But suppose it past; suppose +one of these men, as I have seen them,--meagre with famine, sullen +with despair, careless of a life which your Lordships are perhaps +about to value at something less than the price of a +stocking-frame;--suppose this man surrounded by the children for whom +he is unable to procure bread at the hazard of his existence, about +to be torn for ever from a family which he lately supported in +peaceful industry, and which it is not his fault that he can no +longer so support;--suppose this man, and there are ten thousand such +from whom you may select your victims, dragged into court, to be +tried for this new offence, by this new law; still, there are two +things wanting to convict and condemn him; and these are, in my +opinion,--twelve butchers for a jury, and a Jefferies for a judge! + + + +DEBATE ON THE EARL OF DONOUGHMORE'S MOTION FOR A COMMITTEE ON THE +ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIMS, APRIL 21. 1812. + +Lord BYRON rose and said:-- + +My Lords,--The question before the House has been so frequently, +fully, and ably discussed, and never perhaps more ably than on this +night, that it would be difficult to adduce new arguments for or +against it. But with each discussion, difficulties have been removed, +objections have been canvassed and refuted, and some of the former +opponents of Catholic emancipation have at length conceded to the +expediency of relieving the petitioners. In conceding thus much, +however, a new objection is started; it is not the time, say they, or +it is an improper time, or there is time enough yet. In some degree I +concur with those who say, it is not the time exactly; that time is +passed; better had it been for the country, that the Catholics +possessed at this moment their proportion of our privileges, that +their nobles held their due weight in our councils, than that we +should be assembled to discuss their claims. It had indeed been +better-- + + "Non tempore tali + "Cogere concilium cum muros obsidet hostis." + +The enemy is without, and distress within. It is too late to cavil on +doctrinal points, when we must unite in defence of things more +important than the mere ceremonies of religion. It is indeed +singular, that we are called together to deliberate, not on the God +we adore, for in that we are agreed; not about the king we obey, for +to him we are loyal; but how far a difference in the ceremonials of +worship, how far believing not too little, but too much (the worst +that can be imputed to the Catholics), how far too much devotion to +their God may incapacitate our fellow-subjects from effectually +serving their king. + +Much has been said, within and without doors, of church and state, +and although those venerable words have been too often prostituted to +the most despicable of party purposes, we cannot hear them too often; +all, I presume, are the advocates of church and state,--the church of +Christ, and the state of Great Britain; but not a state of exclusion +and despotism, not an intolerant church, not a church militant, which +renders itself liable to the very objection urged against the Romish +communion, and in a greater degree, for the Catholic merely withholds +its spiritual benediction (and even that is doubtful), but our +church, or rather our churchmen, not only refuse to the Catholic +their spiritual grace, but all temporal blessings whatsoever. It was +an observation of the great Lord Peterborough, made within these +walls, or within the walls where the Lords then assembled, that he +was for a "parliamentary king and a parliamentary constitution, but +not a parliamentary God and a parliamentary religion." The interval +of a century has not weakened the force of the remark. It is indeed +time that we should leave off these petty cavils on frivolous points, +these Lilliputian sophistries, whether our "eggs are best broken at +the broad or narrow end." + +The opponents of the Catholics may be divided into two classes; those +who assert that the Catholics have too much already, and those who +allege that the lower orders, at least, have nothing more to require. +We are told by the former, that the Catholics never will be +contented: by the latter, that they are already too happy. The last +paradox is sufficiently refuted by the present as by all past +petitions; it might as well be said, that the negroes did not desire +to be emancipated, but this is an unfortunate comparison, for you +have already delivered them out of the house of bondage without any +petition on their part, but many from their task-masters to a +contrary effect; and for myself, when I consider this, I pity the +Catholic peasantry for not having the good fortune to be born black. +But the Catholics are contented, or at least ought to be, as we are +told; I shall, therefore, proceed to touch on a few of those +circumstances which so marvellously contribute to their exceeding +contentment. They are not allowed the free exercise of their religion +in the regular army; the Catholic soldier cannot absent himself from +the service of the Protestant clergyman, and unless he is quartered +in Ireland, or in Spain, where can he find eligible opportunities of +attending his own? The permission of Catholic chaplains to the Irish +militia regiments was conceded as a special favour, and not till +after years of remonstrance, although an act, passed in 1793, +established it as a right. But are the Catholics properly protected +in Ireland? Can the church purchase a rood of land whereon to erect a +chapel? No! all the places of worship are built on leases of trust or +sufferance from the laity, easily broken, and often betrayed. The +moment any irregular wish, any casual caprice of the benevolent +landlord meets with opposition, the doors are barred against the +congregation. This has happened continually, but in no instance more +glaringly, than at the town of Newton-Barry, in the county of +Wexford. The Catholics enjoying no regular chapel, as a temporary +expedient, hired two barns; which, being thrown into one, served for +public worship. At this time, there was quartered opposite to the +spot an officer whose mind appears to have been deeply imbued with +those prejudices which the Protestant petitions now on the table +prove to have been fortunately eradicated from the more rational +portion of the people; and when the Catholics were assembled on the +Sabbath as usual, in peace and good-will towards men, for the worship +of their God and yours, they found the chapel door closed, and were +told that if they did not immediately retire (and they were told this +by a yeoman officer and a magistrate), the riot act should be read, +and the assembly dispersed at the point of the bayonet! This was +complained of to the middle man of government, the secretary at the +castle in 1806, and the answer was (in lieu of redress), that he +would cause a letter to be written to the colonel, to prevent, if +possible, the recurrence of similar disturbances. Upon this fact, no +very great stress need be laid; but it tends to prove that while the +Catholic church has not power to purchase land for its chapels to +stand upon, the laws for its protection are of no avail. In the mean +time, the Catholics are at the mercy of every "pelting petty +officer," who may choose to play his "fantastic tricks before high +heaven," to insult his God, and injure his fellow-creatures. + +Every school-boy, any foot-boy (such have held commissions in our +service), any foot-boy who can exchange his shoulder-knot for an +epaulette, may perform all this and more against the Catholic by +virtue of that very authority delegated to him by his sovereign, for +the express purpose of defending his fellow subjects to the last drop +of his blood, without discrimination or distinction between Catholic +and Protestant. + +Have the Irish Catholics the full benefit of trial by jury? They have +not; they never can have until they are permitted to share the +privilege of serving as sheriffs and under-sheriffs. Of this a +striking example occurred at the last Enniskillen assizes. A yeoman +was arraigned for the murder of a Catholic named Macvournagh: three +respectable, uncontradicted witnesses deposed that they saw the +prisoner load, take aim, fire at, and kill the said Macvournagh. This +was properly commented on by the judge: but to the astonishment of +the bar, and indignation of the court, the Protestant jury acquitted +the accused. So glaring was the partiality, that Mr. Justice Osborne +felt it his duty to bind over the acquitted, but not absolved +assassin, in large recognizances; thus for a time taking away his +license to kill Catholics. + +Are the very laws passed in their favour observed? They are rendered +nugatory in trivial as in serious cases. By a late act, Catholic +chaplains are permitted in gaols, but in Fermanagh county the grand +jury lately persisted in presenting a suspended clergyman for the +office, thereby evading the statute, notwithstanding the most +pressing remonstrances of a most respectable magistrate, named +Fletcher, to the contrary. Such is law, such is justice, for the +happy, free, contented Catholic! + +It has been asked, in another place, Why do not the rich Catholics +endow foundations for the education of the priesthood? Why do you not +permit them to do so? Why are all such bequests subject to the +interference, the vexatious, arbitrary, peculating interference of +the Orange commissioners for charitable donations? + +As to Maynooth college, in no instance, except at the time of its +foundation, when a noble Lord (Camden), at the head of the Irish +administration, did appear to interest himself in its advancement; +and during the government of a noble Duke (Bedford), who, like his +ancestors, has ever been the friend of freedom and mankind, and who +has not so far adopted the selfish policy of the day as to exclude +the Catholics from the number of his fellow-creatures; with these +exceptions, in no instance has that institution been properly +encouraged. There was indeed a time when the Catholic clergy were +conciliated, while the Union was pending, that Union which could not +be carried without them, while their assistance was requisite in +procuring addresses from the Catholic counties; then they were +cajoled and caressed, feared and flattered, and given to understand +that "the Union would do every thing;" but the moment it was passed, +they were driven back with contempt into their former obscurity. + +In the conduct pursued towards Maynooth college, every thing is done +to irritate and perplex--every thing is done to efface the slightest +impression of gratitude from the Catholic mind; the very hay made +upon the lawn, the fat and tallow of the beef and mutton allowed, +must be paid for and accounted upon oath. It is true, this economy in +miniature cannot sufficiently be commended, particularly at a time +when only the insect defaulters of the Treasury, your Hunts and your +Chinnerys, when only those "gilded bugs" can escape the microscopic +eye of ministers. But when you come forward, session after session, +as your paltry pittance is wrung from you with wrangling and +reluctance, to boast of your liberality, well might the Catholic +exclaim, in the words of Prior:-- + + "To John I owe some obligation, + But John unluckily thinks fit + To publish it to all the nation, + So John and I are more than quit." + +Some persons have compared the Catholics to the beggar in Gil Bias: +who made them beggars? Who are enriched with the spoils of their +ancestors? And cannot you relieve the beggar when your fathers have +made him such? If you are disposed to relieve him at all, cannot you +do it without flinging your farthings in his face? As a contrast, +however, to this beggarly benevolence, let us look at the Protestant +Charter Schools; to them you have lately granted 41,000_l_.: thus are +they supported, and how are they recruited? Montesquieu observes on +the English constitution, that the model may be found in Tacitus, +where the historian describes the policy of the Germans, and adds, +"This beautiful system was taken from the woods;" so in speaking of +the charter schools, it may be observed, that this beautiful system +was taken from the gipsies. These schools are recruited in the same +manner as the Janissaries at the time of their enrolment under +Amurath, and the gipsies of the present day with stolen children, +with children decoyed and kidnapped from their Catholic connections +by their rich and powerful Protestant neighbours: this is notorious, +and one instance may suffice to show in what manner:--The sister of a +Mr. Carthy (a Catholic gentleman of very considerable property) died, +leaving two girls, who were immediately marked out as proselytes, and +conveyed to the charter school of Coolgreny; their uncle, on being +apprised of the fact, which took place during his absence, applied +for the restitution of his nieces, offering to settle an independence +on these his relations; his request was refused, and not till after +five years' struggle, and the interference of very high authority, +could this Catholic gentleman obtain back his nearest of kindred from +a charity charter school. In this manner are proselytes obtained, and +mingled with the offspring of such Protestants as may avail +themselves of the institution. And how are they taught? A catechism +is put into their hands, consisting of, I believe, forty-five pages, +in which are three questions relative to the Protestant religion; one +of these queries is, "Where was the Protestant religion before +Luther?" + +Answer, "In the Gospel." The remaining forty-four pages and a half +regard the damnable idolatry of Papists! + +Allow me to ask our spiritual pastors and masters, is this training +up a child in the way which he should go? Is this the religion of the +Gospel before the time of Luther? that religion which preaches "Peace +on earth, and glory to God?" Is it bringing up infants to be men or +devils? Better would it be to send them any where than teach them +such doctrines; better send them to those islands in the South Seas, +where they might more humanely learn to become cannibals; it would be +less disgusting that they were brought up to devour the dead, than +persecute the living. Schools do you call them? call them rather +dunghills, where the viper of intolerance deposits her young, that +when their teeth are cut and their poison is mature, they may issue +forth, filthy and venomous, to sting the Catholic. But are these the +doctrines of the Church of England, or of churchmen? No, the most +enlightened churchmen are of a different opinion. What says Paley? "I +perceive no reason why men of different religious persuasions should +not sit upon the same bench, deliberate in the same council, or fight +in the same ranks, as well as men of various religious opinions, upon +any controverted topic of natural history, philosophy, or ethics." It +may be answered, that Paley was not strictly orthodox; I know nothing +of his orthodoxy, but who will deny that he was an ornament to the +church, to human nature, to Christianity? + +I shall not dwell upon the grievance of tithes, so severely felt by +the peasantry, but it may be proper to observe, that there is an +addition to the burden, a per centage to the gatherer, whose interest +it thus becomes to rate them as highly as possible, and we know that +in many large livings in Ireland the only resident Protestants are +the tithe proctor and his family. + +Amongst many causes of irritation, too numerous for recapitulation, +there is one in the militia not to be passed over,--I mean the +existence of Orange lodges amongst the privates. Can the officers +deny this? And if such lodges do exist, do they, can they, tend to +promote harmony amongst the men, who are thus individually separated +in society, although mingled in the ranks? And is this general system +of persecution to be permitted; or is it to be believed that with +such a system the Catholics can or ought to be contented? If they +are, they belie human nature; they are then, indeed, unworthy to be +any thing but the slaves you have made them. The facts stated are +from most respectable authority, or I should not have dared in this +place, or any place, to hazard this avowal. If exaggerated, there are +plenty as willing, as I believe them to be unable, to disprove them. +Should it be objected that I never was in Ireland, I beg leave to +observe, that it is as easy to know something of Ireland without +having been there, as it appears with some to have been born, bred, +and cherished there, and yet remain ignorant of its best interests. + +But there are who assert that the Catholics have already been too +much indulged. See (cry they) what has been done: we have given them +one entire college, we allow them food and raiment, the full +enjoyment of the elements, and leave to fight for us as long as they +have limbs and lives to offer, and yet they are never to be +satisfied!--Generous and just declaimers! To this, and to this only, +amount the whole of your arguments, when stript of their sophistry. +Those personages remind me of a story of a certain drummer, who, +being called upon in the course of duty to administer punishment to a +friend tied to the halberts, was requested to flog high, he did--to +flog low, he did--to flog in the middle, he did,--high, low, down the +middle, and up again, but all in vain; the patient continued his +complaints with the most provoking pertinacity, until the drummer, +exhausted and angry, flung down his scourge, exclaiming, "The devil +burn you, there's no pleasing you, flog where one will!" Thus it is, +you have flogged the Catholic high, low, here, there, and every +where, and then you wonder he is not pleased. It is true that time, +experience, and that weariness which attends even the exercise of +barbarity, have taught you to flog a little more gently; but still +you continue to lay on the lash, and will so continue, till perhaps +the rod may be wrested from your hands, and applied to the backs of +yourselves and your posterity. + +It was said by somebody in a former debate, (I forget by whom, and am +not very anxious to remember,) if the Catholics are emancipated, why +not the Jews? If this sentiment was dictated by compassion for the +Jews, it might deserve attention, but as a sneer against the +Catholic, what is it but the language of Shylock transferred from his +daughter's marriage to Catholic emancipation-- + + "Would any of the tribe of Barabbas + Should have it rather than a Christian." + +I presume a Catholic is a Christian, even in the opinion of him whose +taste only can be called in question for his preference of the Jews. + +It is a remark often quoted of Dr. Johnson, (whom I take to be almost +as good authority as the gentle apostle of intolerance, Dr. +Duigenan,) that he who could entertain serious apprehensions of +danger to the church in these times, would have "cried fire in the +deluge." This is more than a metaphor; for a remnant of these +antediluvians appear actually to have come down to us, with fire in +their mouths and water in their brains, to disturb and perplex +mankind with their whimsical outcries. And as it is an infallible +symptom of that distressing malady with which I conceive them to be +afflicted (so any doctor will inform your Lordships), for the unhappy +invalids to perceive a flame perpetually flashing before their eyes, +particularly when their eyes are shut (as those of the persons to +whom I allude have long been), it is impossible to convince these +poor creatures, that the fire against which they are perpetually +warning us and themselves is nothing but an _ignis fatuus_ of their +own drivelling imaginations. What rhubarb, senna, or "what purgative +drug can scour that fancy thence?"--It is impossible, they are given +over, theirs is the true + + "Caput insanabile tribus Anticyris." + +These are your true Protestants. Like Bayle, who protested against +all sects whatsoever, so do they protest against Catholic petitions, +Protestant petitions, all redress, all that reason, humanity, policy, +justice, and common sense, can urge against the delusions of their +absurd delirium. These are the persons who reverse the fable of the +mountain that brought forth a mouse; they are the mice who conceive +themselves in labour with mountains. + +To return to the Catholics; suppose the Irish were actually contented +under their disabilities; suppose them capable of such a bull as not +to desire deliverance, ought we not to wish it for ourselves? Have we +nothing to gain by their emancipation? What resources have been +wasted? What talents have been lost by the selfish system of +exclusion? You already know the value of Irish aid; at this moment +the defence of England is intrusted to the Irish militia; at this +moment, while the starving people are rising in the fierceness of +despair, the Irish are faithful to their trust. But till equal energy +is imparted throughout by the extension of freedom, you cannot enjoy +the full benefit of the strength which you are glad to interpose +between you and destruction. Ireland has done much, but will do more. +At this moment the only triumph obtained through long years of +continental disaster has been achieved by an Irish general: it is +true he is not a Catholic; had he been so, we should have been +deprived of his exertions: but I presume no one will assert that his +religion would have impaired his talents or diminished his +patriotism; though, in that case, he must have conquered in the +ranks, for he never could have commanded an army. + +But he is fighting the battles of the Catholics abroad; his noble +brother has this night advocated their cause, with an eloquence which +I shall not depreciate by the humble tribute of my panegyric; whilst +a third of his kindred, as unlike as unequal, has been combating +against his Catholic brethren in Dublin, with circular letters, +edicts, proclamations, arrests, and dispersions;--all the vexatious +implements of petty warfare that could be wielded by the mercenary +guerillas of government, clad in the rusty armour of their obsolete +statutes. Your Lordships will, doubtless, divide new honours between +the Saviour of Portugal, and the Dispenser of Delegates. It is +singular, indeed, to observe the difference between our foreign and +domestic policy; if Catholic Spain, faithful Portugal, or the no less +Catholic and faithful king of the one Sicily, (of which, by the by, +you have lately deprived him,) stand in need of succour, away goes a +fleet and an army, an ambassador and a subsidy, sometimes to fight +pretty hardly, generally to negotiate very badly, and always to pay +very dearly for our Popish allies. But let four millions of +fellow-subjects pray for relief, who fight and pay and labour in your +behalf, they must be treated as aliens; and although their "father's +house has many mansions," there is no resting-place for them. Allow +me to ask, are you not fighting for the emancipation of Ferdinand +VII., who certainly is a fool, and, consequently, in all probability +a bigot? and have you more regard for a foreign sovereign than your +own fellow-subjects, who are not fools, for they know your interest +better than you know your own; who are not bigots, for they return +you good for evil; but who are in worse durance than the prison of a +usurper, inasmuch as the fetters of the mind are more galling than +those of the body? + +Upon the consequences of your not acceding to the claims of the +petitioners, I shall not expatiate; you know them, you will feel +them, and your children's children when you are passed away. Adieu to +that Union so called, as "_Lucus a non lucendo_," a Union from never +uniting, which in its first operation gave a death-blow to the +independence of Ireland, and in its last may be the cause of her +eternal separation from this country. If it must be called a Union, +it is the union of the shark with his prey; the spoiler swallows up +his victim, and thus they become one and indivisible. Thus has Great +Britain swallowed up the parliament, the constitution, the +independence of Ireland, and refuses to disgorge even a single +privilege, although for the relief of her swollen and distempered +body politic. + +And now, my Lords, before I sit down, will his Majesty's ministers +permit me to say a few words, not on their merits, for that would be +superfluous, but on the degree of estimation in which they are held +by the people of these realms? The esteem in which they are held has +been boasted of in a triumphant tone on a late occasion within these +walls, and a comparison instituted between their conduct and that of +noble lords on this side of the House. + +What portion of popularity may have fallen to the share of my noble +friends (if such I may presume to call them), I shall not pretend to +ascertain; but that of his Majesty's ministers it were vain to deny. +It is, to be sure, a little like the wind, "no one knows whence it +cometh or whither it goeth," but they feel it, they enjoy it, they +boast of it. Indeed, modest and unostentatious as they are, to what +part of the kingdom, even the most remote, can they flee to avoid the +triumph which pursues them? If they plunge into the midland counties, +there will they be greeted by the manufacturers, with spurned +petitions in their hands, and those halters round their necks +recently voted in their behalf, imploring blessings on the heads of +those who so simply, yet ingeniously, contrived to remove them from +their miseries in this to a better world. If they journey on to +Scotland, from Glasgow to Johnny Groats, every where will they +receive similar marks of approbation. If they take a trip from +Portpatrick to Donaghadee, there will they rush at once into the +embraces of four Catholic millions, to whom their vote of this night +is about to endear them for ever. When they return to the metropolis, +if they can pass under Temple Bar without unpleasant sensations at +the sight of the greedy niches over that ominous gateway, they cannot +escape the acclamations of the livery, and the more tremulous, but +not less sincere, applause, the blessings, "not loud but deep," of +bankrupt merchants and doubting stock-holders. If they look to the +army, what wreaths, not of laurel, but of nightshade, are preparing +for the heroes of Walcheren. It is true, there are few living +deponents left to testify to their merits on that occasion; but a +"cloud of witnesses" are gone above from that gallant army which they +so generously and piously despatched, to recruit the "noble army of +martyrs." + +What if in the course of this triumphal career (in which they will +gather as many pebbles as Caligula's army did on a similar triumph, +the prototype of their own,) they do not perceive any of those +memorials which a grateful people erect in honour of their +benefactors; what although not even a sign-post will condescend to +depose the Saracen's head in favour of the likeness of the conquerors +of Walcheren, they will not want a picture who can always have a +caricature; or regret the omission of a statue who will so often see +themselves exalted in effigy. But their popularity is not limited to +the narrow bounds of an island; there are other countries where their +measures, and above all, their conduct to the Catholics, must render +them preeminently popular. If they are beloved here, in France they +must be adored. There is no measure more repugnant to the designs and +feelings of Bonaparte than Catholic emancipation; no line of conduct +more propitious to his projects, than that which has been pursued, is +pursuing, and, I fear, will be pursued, towards Ireland. What is +England without Ireland, and what is Ireland without the Catholics? +It is on the basis of your tyranny Napoleon hopes to build his own. +So grateful must oppression of the Catholics be to his mind, that +doubtless (as he has lately permitted some renewal of intercourse) +the next cartel will convey to this country cargoes of seve-china and +blue ribands, (things in great request, and of equal value at this +moment,) blue ribands of the Legion of Honour for Dr. Duigenan and +his ministerial disciples. Such is that well-earned popularity, the +result of those extraordinary expeditions, so expensive to ourselves, +and so useless to our allies; of those singular enquiries, so +exculpatory to the accused and so dissatisfactory to the people; of +those paradoxical victories, so honourable, as we are told, to the +British name, and so destructive to the best interests of the British +nation: above all, such is the reward of a conduct pursued by +ministers towards the Catholics. + +I have to apologise to the House, who will, I trust, pardon one, not +often in the habit of intruding upon their indulgence, for so long +attempting to engage their attention. My most decided opinion is, as +my vote will be, in favour of the motion. + + * * * * * + +DEBATE ON MAJOR CARTWRIGHT'S PETITION, JUNE 1. 1813. + +Lord BYRON rose and said:-- + +My Lords,--The petition which I now hold for the purpose of +presenting to the House, is one which I humbly conceive requires the +particular attention of your Lordships, inasmuch as, though signed +but by a single individual, it contains statements which (if not +disproved) demand most serious investigation. The grievance of which +the petitioner complains is neither selfish nor imaginary. It is not +his own only, for it has been, and is still felt by numbers. No one +without these walls, nor indeed within, but may to-morrow be made +liable to the same insult and obstruction, in the discharge of an +imperious duty for the restoration of the true constitution of these +realms, by petitioning for reform in parliament. The petitioner, my +Lords, is a man whose long life has been spent in one unceasing +struggle for the liberty of the subject, against that undue influence +which has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished; and +whatever difference of opinion may exist as to his political tenets, +few will be found to question the integrity of his intentions. Even +now oppressed with years, and not exempt from the infirmities +attendant on his age, but still unimpaired in talent, and unshaken in +spirit--"_frangas non fleetes_"--he has received many a wound in the +combat against corruption; and the new grievance, the fresh insult of +which he complains, may inflict another scar, but no dishonour. The +petition is signed by John Cartwright, and it was in behalf of the +people and parliament, in the lawful pursuit of that reform in the +representation, which is the best service to be rendered both to +parliament and people, that he encountered the wanton outrage which +forms the subject-matter of his petition to your Lordships. It is +couched in firm, yet respectful language--in the language of a man, +not regardless of what is due to himself, but at the same time, I +trust, equally mindful of the deference to be paid to this House. The +petitioner states, amongst other matter of equal, if not greater +importance, to all who are British in their feelings, as well as +blood and birth, that on the 21st January, 1813, at Huddersfield, +himself and six other persons, who, on hearing of his arrival, had +waited on him merely as a testimony of respect, were seized by a +military and civil force, and kept in close custody for several +hours, subjected to gross and abusive insinuation from the commanding +officer, relative to the character of the petitioner; that he (the +petitioner) was finally carried before a magistrate, and not released +till an examination of his papers proved that there was not only no +just, but not even statutable charge against him; and that, +notwithstanding the promise and order from the presiding magistrates +of a copy of the warrant against your petitioner, it was afterwards +withheld on divers pretexts, and has never until this hour been +granted. The names and condition of the parties will be found in the +petition. To the other topics touched upon in the petition, I shall +not now advert, from a wish not to encroach upon the time of the +House; but I do most sincerely call the attention of your Lordships +to its general contents--it is in the cause of the parliament and +people that the rights of this venerable freeman have been violated, +and it is, in my opinion, the highest mark of respect that could be +paid to the House, that to your justice, rather than by appeal to any +inferior court, he now commits, himself. Whatever may be the fate of +his remonstrance, it is some satisfaction to me, though mixed with +regret for the occasion, that I have this opportunity of publicly +stating the obstruction to which the subject is liable, in the +prosecution of the most lawful and imperious of his duties, the +obtaining by petition reform in parliament. I have shortly stated his +complaint; the petitioner has more fully expressed it. Your Lordships +will, I hope, adopt some measure fully to protect and redress him, +and not him alone, but the whole body of the people, insulted and +aggrieved in his person, by the interposition of an abused civil, and +unlawful military force between them and their right of petition to +their own representatives. + +His Lordship then presented the petition from Major Cartwright, which +was read, complaining of the circumstances at Huddersfield, and of +interruptions given to the right of petitioning in several places in +the northern parts of the kingdom, and which his Lordship moved +should be laid on the table. + +Several lords having spoken on the question, + +Lord Byron replied, that he had, from motives of duty, presented this +petition to their Lordships' consideration. The noble Earl had +contended, that it was not a petition, but a speech; and that, as it +contained no prayer, it should not be received. What was the +necessity of a prayer? If that word were to be used in its proper +sense, their Lordships could not expect that any man should pray to +others. He had only to say, that the petition, though in some parts +expressed strongly perhaps, did not contain any improper mode of +address, but was couched in respectful language towards their +Lordships; he should therefore trust their Lordships would allow the +petition to be received. + + + + +A FRAGMENT.[1] + +[Footnote 1: During a week of rain at Diodati, in the summer of 1816, +the party having amused themselves with reading German ghost stories, +they agreed at last to write something in imitation of them. "You and +I," said Lord Byron to Mrs. Shelley, "will publish ours together." He +then began his tale of the Vampire; and, having the whole arranged in +his head, repeated to them a sketch of the story one evening;--but, +from the narrative being in prose, made but little progress in +filling up his outline. The most memorable result, indeed, of their +storytelling compact, was Mrs. Shelley's wild and powerful romance of +Frankenstein.--MOORE. + +"I began it," says Lord Byron, "in an old account book of Miss +Milbanke's, which I kept because it contains the word 'Household,' +written by her twice on the inside blank page of the covers; being +the only two scraps I have in the world in her writing, except her +name to the Deed of Separation."] + + +_June_ 17. 1816. + +In the year 17--, having for some time determined on a journey +through countries not hitherto much frequented by travellers, I set +out, accompanied by a friend, whom I shall designate by the name of +Augustus Darvell. He was a few years my elder, and a man of +considerable fortune and ancient family; advantages which an +extensive capacity prevented him alike from undervaluing or +overrating. Some peculiar circumstances in his private history had +rendered him to me an object of attention, of interest, and even of +regard, which neither the reserve of his manners, nor occasional +indications of an inquietude at times nearly approaching to +alienation of mind, could extinguish. + +I was yet young in life, which I had begun early; but my intimacy +with him was of a recent date: we had been educated at the same +schools and university; but his progress through these had preceded +mine, and he had been deeply initiated, into what is called the +world, while I was yet in my noviciate. While thus engaged, I heard +much both of his past and present life; and, although in these +accounts there were many and irreconcileable contradictions, I could +still gather from the whole that he was a being of no common order, +and one who, whatever pains he might take to avoid remark, would +still be remarkable. I had cultivated his acquaintance subsequently, +and endeavoured to obtain his friendship, but this last appeared to +be unattainable; whatever affections he might have possessed, seemed +now, some to have been extinguished, and others to be concentred: +that his feelings were acute, I had sufficient opportunities of +observing; for, although he could control, he could not altogether +disguise them: still he had a power of giving to one passion the +appearance of another, in such a manner that it was difficult to +define the nature of what was working within him; and the expressions +of his features would vary so rapidly, though slightly, that it was +useless to trace them to their sources. It was evident that he was a +prey to some cureless disquiet; but whether it arose from ambition, +love, remorse, grief, from one or all of these, or merely from a +morbid temperament akin to disease, I could not discover: there were +circumstances alleged, which might have justified the application to +each of these causes; but, as I have before said, these were so +contradictory and contradicted, that none could be fixed upon with +accuracy. Where there is mystery, it is generally supposed that there +must also be evil: I know not how this may be, but in him there +certainly was the one, though I could not ascertain the extent of the +other--and felt loth, as far as regarded himself, to believe in its +existence. My advances were received with sufficient coldness; but I +was young, and not easily discouraged, and at length succeeded in +obtaining, to a certain degree, that common-place intercourse and +moderate confidence of common and every-day concerns, created and +cemented by similarity of pursuit and frequency of meeting, which is +called intimacy, or friendship, according to the ideas of him who +uses those words to express them. + +Darvell had already travelled extensively; and to him I had applied +for information with regard to the conduct of my intended journey. It +was my secret wish that he might be prevailed on to accompany me; it +was also a probable hope, founded upon the shadowy restlessness which +I observed in him, and to which the animation which he appeared to +feel on such subjects, and his apparent indifference to all by which +he was more immediately surrounded, gave fresh strength. This wish I +first hinted, and then expressed: his answer, though I had partly +expected it, gave me all the pleasure of surprise--he consented; and, +after the requisite arrangement, we commenced our voyages. After +journeying through various countries of the south of Europe, our +attention was turned towards the East, according to our original +destination; and it was in my progress through those regions that the +incident occurred upon which will turn what I may have to relate. + +The constitution of Darvell, which must from his appearance have been +in early life more than usually robust, had been for some time +gradually giving way, without the intervention of any apparent +disease: he had neither cough nor hectic, yet he became daily more +enfeebled: his habits were temperate, and he neither declined nor +complained of fatigue; yet he was evidently wasting away: he became +more and more silent and sleepless, and at length so seriously +altered, that my alarm grew proportionate to what I conceived to be +his danger. + +We had determined, on our arrival at Smyrna, on an excursion to the +ruins of Ephesus and Sardis, from which I endeavoured to dissuade him +in his present state of indisposition--but in vain: there appeared to +be an oppression on his mind, and a solemnity in his manner, which +ill corresponded with his eagerness to proceed on what I regarded as +a mere party of pleasure, little suited to a valetudinarian; but I +opposed him no longer--and in a few days we set off together, +accompanied only by a serrugee and a single janizary. + +We had passed halfway towards the remains of Ephesus, leaving behind +us the more fertile environs of Smyrna, and were entering upon that +wild and tenantless track through the marshes and defiles which lead +to the few huts yet lingering over the broken columns of Diana--the +roofless walls of expelled Christianity, and the still more recent +but complete desolation of abandoned mosques--when the sudden and +rapid illness of my companion obliged us to halt at a Turkish +cemetery, the turbaned tombstones of which were the sole indication +that human life had ever been a sojourner in this wilderness. The +only caravansera we had seen was left some hours behind us, not a +vestige of a town or even cottage was within sight or hope, and this +"city of the dead" appeared to be the sole refuge for my unfortunate +friend, who seemed on the verge of becoming the last of its +inhabitants. + +In this situation, I looked round for a place where he might most +conveniently repose:--contrary to the usual aspect of Mahometan +burial-grounds, the cypresses were in this few in number, and these +thinly scattered over its extent: the tombstones were mostly fallen, +and worn with age:--upon one of the most considerable of these, and +beneath one of the most spreading trees, Darvell supported himself, +in a half-reclining posture, with great difficulty. He asked for +water. I had some doubts of our being able to find any, and prepared +to go in search of it with hesitating despondency: but he desired me +to remain; and turning to Suleiman, our janizary, who stood by us +smoking with great tranquillity, he said, "Suleiman, verbana su," +(_i.e._ bring some water,) and went on describing the spot where it +was to be found with great minuteness, at a small well for camels, a +few hundred yards to the right: the janizary obeyed. I said to +Darvell, "How did you know this?"--He replied, "From our situation; +you must perceive that this place was once inhabited, and could not +have been so without springs: I have also been here before." + +"You have been here before!--How came you never to mention this to +me? and what could you be doing in a place where no one would remain +a moment longer than they could help it?" + +To this question I received no answer. In the mean time Suleiman +returned with the water, leaving the serrugee and the horses at the +fountain. The quenching of his thirst had the appearance of reviving +him for a moment; and I conceived hopes of his being able to proceed, +or at least to return, and I urged the attempt. He was silent--and +appeared to be collecting his spirits for an effort to speak. He +began. + +"This is the end of my journey, and of my life;--I came here to die: +but I have a request to make, a command--for such my last words must +be.--You will observe it?" + +"Most certainly; but have better hopes." + +"I have no hopes, nor wishes, but this--conceal my death from every +human being." + +"I hope there will be no occasion; that you will recover, and----" + +"Peace!--it must be so: promise this." + +"I do." + +"Swear it, by all that"----He here dictated an oath of great +solemnity. + +"There is no occasion for this--I will observe your request; and to +doubt me is----" + +"It cannot be helped,--you must swear." + +I took the oath: it appeared to relieve him. He removed a seal ring +from his finger, on which were some Arabic characters, and presented +it to me. He proceeded-- + +"On the ninth day of the month, at noon precisely (what month you +please, but this must be the day), you must fling this ring into the +salt springs which run into the Bay of Eleusis: the day after, at the +same hour, you must repair to the ruins of the temple of Ceres, and +wait one hour." + +"Why?" + +"You will see." + +"The ninth day of the month, you say?" + +"The ninth." + +As I observed that the present was the ninth day of the month; his +countenance changed, and he paused. As he sat, evidently becoming +more feeble, a stork, with a snake in her beak, perched upon a +tombstone near us; and, without devouring her prey, appeared to be +steadfastly regarding us. I know not what impelled me to drive it +away, but the attempt was useless; she made a few circles in the air, +and returned exactly to the same spot. Darvell pointed to it, and +smiled: he spoke--I know not whether to himself or to me--but the +words were only, "'Tis well!" + +"What is well? what do you mean?" + +"No matter: you must bury me here this evening, and exactly where +that bird is now perched. You know the rest of my injunctions." + +He then proceeded to give me several directions as to the manner in +which his death might be best concealed. After these were finished, +he exclaimed, "You perceive that bird?" + +"Certainly." + +"And the serpent writhing in her beak?" + +"Doubtless: there is nothing uncommon in it; it is her natural prey. +But it is odd that she does not devour it." + +He smiled in a ghastly manner, and said, faintly, "It is not yet +time!" As he spoke, the stork flew away. My eyes followed it for a +moment--it could hardly be longer than ten might be counted. I felt +Darvell's weight, as it were, increase upon my shoulder, and, turning +to look upon his face, perceived that he was dead! + +I was shocked with the sudden certainty which could not be +mistaken--his countenance in a few minutes became nearly black. I +should have attributed so rapid a change to poison, had I not been +aware that he had no opportunity of receiving it unperceived. The day +was declining, the body was rapidly altering, and nothing remained +but to fulfil his request. With the aid of Suleiman's ataghan and my +own sabre, we scooped a shallow grave upon the spot which Darvell had +indicated: the earth easily gave way, having already received some +Mahometan tenant. We dug as deeply as the time permitted us, and +throwing the dry earth upon all that remained of the singular being +so lately departed, we cut a few sods of greener turf from the less +withered soil around us, and laid them upon his sepulchre. + +Between astonishment and grief, I was tearless. + + * * * * * + + + + +LETTER + +TO JOHN MURRAY, ESQ. ON THE REV. W.L. BOWLES'S STRICTURES ON THE LIFE +AND WRITINGS OF POPE. + + * * * * * + + "I'll play at _Bowls_ with the sun and moon."--OLD SONG. + + "My mither's auld, Sir, and she has rather forgotten hersel in + speaking to my Leddy, that canna weel bide to be contradickit, + (as I ken nobody likes it, if they could help themsels.)" + + TALES OF MY LANDLORD, _Old Mortality_, vol. ii. p. 163. + + * * * * * + +Ravenna, February 7. 1821. + +Dear Sir, + +In the different pamphlets which you have had the goodness to send +me, on the Pope and Bowles' controversy, I perceive that my name is +occasionally introduced by both parties. Mr. Bowles refers more than +once to what he is pleased to consider "a remarkable circumstance," +not only in his letter to Mr. Campbell, but in his reply to the +Quarterly. The Quarterly also and Mr. Gilchrist have conferred on me +the dangerous honour of a quotation; and Mr. Bowles indirectly makes +a kind of appeal to me personally, by saying, "Lord Byron, _if he +remembers_ the circumstance, will _witness_"--_(witness_ IN ITALICS, +an ominous character for a testimony at present). + +I shall not avail myself of a "non mi ricordo," even after so long a +residence in Italy;--I _do_ "remember the circumstance,"--and have no +reluctance to relate it (since called upon so to do), as correctly as +the distance of time and the impression of intervening events will +permit me. In the year 1812, more than three years after the +publication of "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," I had the honour +of meeting Mr. Bowles in the house of our venerable host of "Human +Life," &c. the last Argonaut of classic English poetry, and the +Nestor of our inferior race of living poets. Mr. Bowles calls this +"soon after" the publication; but to me three years appear a +considerable segment of the immortality of a modern poem. I recollect +nothing of "the rest of the company going into another room,"--nor, +though I well remember the topography of our host's elegant and +classically furnished mansion, could I swear to the very room where +the conversation occurred, though the "taking _down_ the poem" seems +to fix it in the library. Had it been "taken _up_" it would probably +have been in the drawing-room. I presume also that the "remarkable +circumstance" took place _after_ dinner; as I conceive that neither +Mr. Bowles's politeness nor appetite would have allowed him to detain +"the rest of the company" standing round their chairs in the "other +room," while we were discussing "the Woods of Madeira," instead of +circulating its vintage. Of Mr. Bowles's "good humour" I have a full +and not ungrateful recollection; as also of his gentlemanly manners +and agreeable conversation. I speak of the _whole_, and not of +particulars; for whether he did or did not use the precise words +printed in the pamphlet, I cannot say, nor could he with accuracy. Of +"the tone of seriousness" I certainly recollect nothing: on the +contrary, I thought Mr. Bowles rather disposed to treat the subject +lightly: for he said (I have no objection to be contradicted if +incorrect), that some of his good-natured friends had come to him and +exclaimed, "Eh! Bowles! how came you to make the Woods of Madeira?" +&c. &c. and that he had been at some pains and pulling down of the +poem to convince them that he had never made "the Woods" do any thing +of the kind. He was right, and _I was wrong,_ and have been wrong +still up to this acknowledgment; for I ought to have looked twice +before I wrote that which involved an inaccuracy capable of giving +pain. The fact was, that, although I had certainly before read "the +Spirit of Discovery," I took the quotation from the review. But the +mistake was mine, and not the _review's,_ which quoted the passage +correctly enough, I believe. I blundered--God knows how--into +attributing the tremors of the lovers to "the Woods of Madeira," by +which they were surrounded. And I hereby do fully and freely declare +and asseverate, that the Woods did _not_ tremble to a kiss, and that +the lovers did. I quote from memory-- + + ------"A kiss + Stole on the listening silence, &c. &c. + They [the lovers] trembled, even as if the power," &c. + +And if I had been aware that this declaration would have been in the +smallest degree satisfactory to Mr. Bowles, I should not have waited +nine years to make it, notwithstanding that "English Bards and Scotch +Reviewers" had been suppressed some time previously to my meeting him +at Mr. Rogers's. Our worthy host might indeed have told him as much, +as it was at his representation that I suppressed it. A new edition +of that lampoon was preparing for the press, when Mr. Rogers +represented to me, that "I was _now_ acquainted with many of the +persons mentioned in it, and with some on terms of intimacy;" and +that he knew "one family in particular to whom its suppression would +give pleasure." I did not hesitate one moment, it was cancelled +instantly; and it is no fault of mine that it has ever been +republished. When I left England, in April, 1816, with no very +violent intentions of troubling that country again, and amidst scenes +of various kinds to distract my attention,--almost my last act, I +believe, was to sign a power of attorney, to yourself, to prevent or +suppress any attempts (of which several had been made in Ireland) at +a republication. It is proper that I should state, that the persons +with whom I was subsequently acquainted, whose names had occurred in +that publication, were made my acquaintances at their own desire, or +through the unsought intervention of others. I never, to the best of +my knowledge, sought a personal introduction to any. Some of them to +this day I know only by correspondence; and with one of those it was +begun by myself, in consequence, however, of a polite verbal +communication from a third person. + +I have dwelt for an instant on these circumstances, because it has +sometimes been made a subject of bitter reproach to me to have +endeavoured to _suppress_ that satire. I never shrunk, as those who +know me know, from any personal consequences which could be attached +to its publication. Of its subsequent suppression, as I possessed the +copyright, I was the best judge and the sole master. The +circumstances which occasioned the suppression I have now stated; of +the motives, each must judge according to his candour or malignity. +Mr. Bowles does me the honour to talk of "noble mind," and "generous +magnanimity;" and all this because "the circumstance would have been +explained had not the book been suppressed." I see no "nobility of +mind" in an act of simple justice; and I hate the word +"_magnanimity,"_ because I have sometimes seen it applied to the +grossest of impostors by the greatest of fools; but I would have +"explained the circumstance," notwithstanding "the suppression of the +book," if Mr. Bowles had expressed any desire that I should. As the +"gallant Galbraith" says to "Baillie Jarvie," "Well, the devil take +the mistake, and all that occasioned it." I have had as great and +greater mistakes made about me personally and poetically, once a +month for these last ten years, and never cared very much about +correcting one or the other, at least after the first eight and forty +hours had gone over them. + +I must now, however, say a word or two about Pope, of whom you have +my opinion more at large in the unpublished letter _on_ or _to_ (for +I forget which) the editor of "Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine;"--and +here I doubt that Mr. Bowles will not approve of my sentiments. + +Although I regret having published "English Bards and Scotch +Reviewers," the part which I regret the least is that which regards +Mr. Bowles with reference to Pope. Whilst I was writing that +publication, in 1807 and 1808, Mr. Hobhouse was desirous that I +should express our mutual opinion of Pope, and of Mr. Bowles's +edition of his works. As I had completed my outline, and felt lazy, I +requested that _he_ would do so. He did it. His fourteen lines on +Bowles's Pope are in the first edition of "English Bards and Scotch +Reviewers;" and are quite as severe and much more poetical than my +own in the second. On reprinting the work, as I put my name to it, I +omitted Mr. Hobhouse's lines, and replaced them with my own, by which +the work gained less than Mr. Bowles. I have stated this in the +preface to the second edition. It is many years since I have read +that poem; but the Quarterly Review, Mr. Octavius Gilchrist, and Mr. +Bowles himself, have been so obliging as to refresh my memory, and +that of the public. I am grieved to say, that in reading over those +lines, I repent of their having so far fallen short of what I meant +to express upon the subject of Bowles's edition of Pope's Works. Mr. +Bowles says, that "Lord Byron _knows_ he does _not_ deserve this +character." I know no such thing. I have met Mr. Bowles occasionally, +in the best society in London; he appeared to me an amiable, +well-informed, and extremely able man. I desire nothing better than +to dine in company with such a mannered man every day in the week: +but of "his character" I know nothing personally; I can only speak to +his manners, and these have my warmest approbation. But I never judge +from manners, for I once had my pocket picked by the civilest +gentleman I ever met with; and one of the mildest persons I ever saw +was All Pacha. Of Mr. Bowles's "_character_" I will not do him the +_injustice_ to judge from the edition of Pope, if he prepared it +heedlessly; nor the _justice,_ should it be otherwise, because I +would neither become a literary executioner nor a personal one. Mr. +Bowles the individual, and Mr. Bowles the editor, appear the two most +opposite things imaginable. + + "And he himself one--antithesis." + +I won't say "vile," because it is harsh; nor "mistaken," because it +has two syllables too many: but every one must fill up the blank as +he pleases. + +What I saw of Mr. Bowles increased my surprise and regret that he +should ever have lent his talents to such a task. If he had been a +fool, there would have been some excuse for him; if he had been a +needy or a bad man, his conduct would have been intelligible: but he +is the opposite of all these; and thinking and feeling as I do of +Pope, to me the whole thing is unaccountable. However, I must call +things by their right names. I cannot call his edition of Pope a +"candid" work; and I still think that there is an affectation of that +quality not only in those volumes, but in the pamphlets lately +published. + + "Why _yet_ he doth _deny_ his prisoners." + +Mr. Bowles says, that "he has seen passages in his letters to Martha +Blount which were never published by me, and I _hope never will_ be +by others; which are so _gross_ as to imply the _grossest_ +licentiousness." Is this fair play? It may, or it may not be that +such passages exist; and that Pope, who was not a monk, although a +Catholic, may have occasionally sinned in word and deed with woman in +his youth: but is this a sufficient ground for such a sweeping +denunciation? Where is the unmarried Englishman of a certain rank of +life, who (provided he has not taken orders) has not to reproach +himself between the ages of sixteen and thirty with far more +licentiousness than has ever yet been traced to Pope? Pope lived in +the public eye from his youth upwards; he had all the dunces of his +own time for his enemies, and, I am sorry to say, some, who have not +the apology of dulness for detraction, since his death; and yet to +what do all their accumulated hints and charges amount?--to an +equivocal _liaison_ with Martha Blount, which might arise as much +from his infirmities as from his passions; to a hopeless flirtation +with Lady Mary W. Montagu; to a story of Cibber's; and to two or +three coarse passages in his works. _Who_ could come forth clearer +from an invidious inquest on a life of fifty-six years? Why are we to +be officiously reminded of such passages in his letters, provided +that they exist. Is Mr. Bowles aware to what such rummaging among +"letters" and "stories" might lead? I have myself seen a collection +of letters of another eminent, nay, pre-eminent, deceased poet, so +abominably gross, and elaborately coarse, that I do not believe that +they could be paralleled in our language. What is more strange, is, +that some of these are couched as _postscripts_ to his serious and +sentimental letters, to which are tacked either a piece of prose, or +some verses, of the most hyperbolical indecency. He himself says, +that if "obscenity (using a much coarser word) be the sin against the +Holy Ghost, he most certainly cannot be saved." These letters are in +existence, and have been seen by many besides myself; but would his +_editor_ have been "_candid_" in even alluding to them? Nothing would +have even provoked _me_, an indifferent spectator, to allude to them, +but this further attempt at the depreciation of Pope. + +What should we say to an editor of Addison, who cited the following +passage from Walpole's letters to George Montagu? "Dr. Young has +published a new book, &c. Mr. Addison sent for the young Earl of +Warwick, as he was dying, to show him in what peace a Christian could +die; unluckily he died of _brandy:_ nothing makes a Christian die in +peace like being maudlin! but don't say this in Gath where you are." +Suppose the editor introduced it with this preface: "One circumstance +is mentioned by Horace Walpole, which, if true, was indeed +_flagitious_. Walpole informs Montagu that Addison sent for the young +Earl of Warwick, when dying, to show him in what peace a Christian +could die; but unluckily he died drunk," &c. &c. Now, although there +might occur on the subsequent, or on the same page, a faint show of +disbelief, seasoned with the expression of "the _same candour_" (the +_same_ exactly as throughout the book), I should say that this editor +was either foolish or false to his trust; such a story ought not to +have been admitted, except for one brief mark of crushing +indignation, unless it were _completely proved._ Why the words "_if +true_?" that "_if"_ is not a peacemaker. Why talk of "Cibber's +testimony" to his licentiousness? to what does this amount? that Pope +when very young was _once_ decoyed by some noblemen and the player to +a house of carnal recreation. Mr. Bowles was not always a clergyman; +and when he was a very young man, was he never seduced into as much? +If I were in the humour for story-telling, and relating little +anecdotes, I could tell a much better story of Mr. Bowles than +Cibber's, upon much better authority, viz. that of Mr. Bowles +himself. It was not related by _him_ in my presence, but in that of a +third person, whom Mr. Bowles names oftener than once in the course +of his replies. This gentleman related it to me as a humorous and +witty anecdote; and so it was, whatever its other characteristics +might be. But should I, for a youthful frolic, brand Mr. Bowles with +a "libertine sort of love," or with "licentiousness?" is he the less +now a pious or a good man, for not having always been a priest? No +such thing; I am willing to believe him a good man, almost as good a +man as Pope, but no better. + +The truth is, that in these days the grand "_primum mobile"_ of +England is _cant;_ cant political, cant poetical, cant religious, +cant moral; but always cant, multiplied through all the varieties of +life. It is the fashion, and while it lasts will be too powerful for +those who can only exist by taking the tone of the time. I say +_cant,_ because it is a thing of words, without the smallest +influence upon human actions; the English being no wiser, no better, +and much poorer, and more divided amongst themselves, as well as far +less moral, than they were before the prevalence of this verbal +decorum. This hysterical horror of poor Pope's not very well +ascertained, and never fully proved amours (for even Cibber owns that +he prevented the somewhat perilous adventure in which Pope was +embarking) sounds very virtuous in a controversial pamphlet; but all +men of the world who know what life is, or at least what it was to +them in their youth, must laugh at such a ludicrous foundation of the +charge of "a libertine sort of love;" while the more serious will +look upon those who bring forward such charges upon an insulated fact +as fanatics or hypocrites, perhaps both. The two are sometimes +compounded in a happy mixture. + +Mr. Octavius Gilchrist speaks rather irreverently of a "second +tumbler of _hot_ white-wine negus." What does he mean? Is there any +harm in negus? or is it the worse for being _hot_? or does Mr. Bowles +drink negus? I had a better opinion of him. I hoped that whatever +wine he drank was neat; or, at least, that, like the ordinary in +Jonathan Wild, "he preferred _punch,_ the rather as there was nothing +against it in Scripture." I should be sorry to believe that Mr. +Bowles was fond of negus; it is such a "candid" liquor, so like a +wishy-washy compromise between the passion for wine and the propriety +of water. But different writers have divers tastes. Judge Blackstone +composed his "Commentaries" (he was a poet too in his youth) with a +bottle of port before him. Addison's conversation was not good for +much till he had taken a similar dose. Perhaps the prescription of +these two great men was not inferior to the very different one of a +soi-disant poet of this day, who, after wandering amongst the hills, +returns, goes to bed, and dictates his verses, being fed by a +by-stander with bread and butter during the operation. + +I now come to Mr. Bowles's "invariable principles of poetry." These +Mr. Bowles and some of his correspondents pronounce "unanswerable;" +and they are "unanswered," at least by Campbell, who seems to have +been astounded by the title. The sultan of the time being offered to +ally himself to a king of France because "he hated the word league;" +which proves that the Padishan understood French. Mr. Campbell has no +need of my alliance, nor shall I presume to offer it; but I do hate +that word "_invariable_." What is there of _human_, be it poetry, +philosophy, wit, wisdom, science, power, glory, mind, matter, life, +or death, which is "_invariable_?" Of course I put things divine out +of the question. Of all arrogant baptisms of a book, this title to a +pamphlet appears the most complacently conceited. It is Mr. +Campbell's part to answer the contents of this performance, and +especially to vindicate his own "Ship," which Mr. Bowles most +triumphantly proclaims to have struck to his very first fire. + + "Quoth he, there was a _Ship;_ + Now let me go, thou grey-haired loon, + Or my staff shall make thee skip." + +It is no affair of mine, but having once begun, (certainly not by my +own wish, but called upon by the frequent recurrence to my name in +the pamphlets,) I am like an Irishman in a "row," "any body's +customer." I shall therefore say a word or two on the "Ship." + +Mr. Bowles asserts that Campbell's "Ship of the Line" derives all its +poetry, not from "_art_," but from "_nature_." "Take away the waves, +the winds, the sun, &c. &c. _one_ will become a stripe of blue +bunting; and the other a piece of coarse canvass on three tall +poles." Very true; take away the "waves," "the winds," and there will +be no ship at all, not only for poetical, but for any other purpose; +and take away "the sun," and we must read Mr. Bowles's pamphlet by +candle-light. But the "poetry" of the "Ship" does _not_ depend on +"the waves," &c.; on the contrary, the "Ship of the Line" confers its +own poetry upon the waters, and heightens _theirs._ I do not deny, +that the "waves and winds," and above all "the sun," are highly +poetical; we know it to our cost, by the many descriptions of them in +verse: but if the waves bore only the foam upon their bosoms, if the +winds wafted only the sea-weed to the shore, if the sun shone neither +upon pyramids, nor fleets, nor fortresses, would its beams be equally +poetical? I think not: the poetry is at least reciprocal. Take away +"the Ship of the line" "swinging round" the "calm water," and the +calm water becomes a somewhat monotonous thing to look at, +particularly if not transparently _clear_; witness the thousands who +pass by without looking on it at all. What was it attracted the +thousands to the launch? they might have seen the poetical "calm +water" at Wapping, or in the "London Dock," or in the Paddington +Canal, or in a horse-pond, or in a slop-basin, or in any other vase. +They might have heard the poetical winds howling through the chinks +of a pigsty, or the garret window; they might have seen the sun +shining on a footman's livery, or on a brass warming pan; but could +the "calm water," or the "wind," or the "sun," make all, or any of +these "poetical?" I think not. Mr. Bowles admits "the Ship" to be +poetical, but only from those accessaries: now if they _confer_ +poetry so as to make one thing poetical, they would make other things +poetical; the more so, as Mr. Bowles calls a "ship of the line" +without them,--that is to say, its "masts and sails and +streamers,"--"blue bunting," and "coarse canvass," and "tall poles." +So they are; and porcelain is clay, and man is dust, and flesh is +grass, and yet the two latter at least are the subjects of much +poesy. + +Did Mr. Bowles ever gaze upon the sea? I presume that he has, at +least upon a sea-piece. Did any painter ever paint the sea _only_, +without the addition of a ship, boat, wreck, or some such adjunct? Is +the sea itself a more attractive, a more moral, a more poetical +object, with or without a vessel, breaking its vast but fatiguing +monotony? Is a storm more poetical without a ship? or, in the poem of +the Shipwreck, is it the storm or the ship which most interests? both +_much_ undoubtedly; but without the vessel, what should we care for +the tempest? It would sink into mere descriptive poetry, which in +itself was never esteemed a high order of that art. + +I look upon myself as entitled to talk of naval matters, at least to +poets:--with the exception of Walter Scott, Moore, and Southey, +perhaps, who have been voyagers, I have _swam_ more miles than all +the rest of them together now living ever _sailed_, and have lived +for months and months on shipboard; and, during the whole period of +my life abroad, have scarcely ever passed a month out of sight of the +ocean: besides being brought up from two years till ten on the brink +of it. I recollect, when anchored off Cape Sigeum in 1810, in an +English frigate, a violent squall coming on at sunset, so violent as +to make us imagine that the ship would part cable, or drive from her +anchorage. Mr. Hobhouse and myself, and some officers, had been up +the Dardanelles to Abydos, and were just returned in time. The aspect +of a storm in the Archipelago is as poetical as need be, the sea +being particularly short, dashing, and dangerous, and the navigation +intricate and broken by the isles and currents. Cape Sigeum, the +tumuli of the Troad, Lemnos, Tenedos, all added to the associations +of the time. But what seemed the most "_poetical_" of all at the +moment, were the numbers (about two hundred) of Greek and Turkish +craft, which were obliged to "cut and run" before the wind, from +their unsafe anchorage, some for Tenedos, some for other isles, some +for the main, and some it might be for eternity. The sight of these +little scudding vessels, darting over the foam in the twilight, now +appearing and now disappearing between the waves in the cloud of +night, with their peculiarly _white_ sails, (the Levant sails not +being of "_coarse canvass_," but of white cotton,) skimming along as +quickly, but less safely than the sea-mews which hovered over them; +their evident distress, their reduction to fluttering specks in the +distance, their crowded succession, their _littleness_, as contending +with the giant element, which made our stout forty-four's _teak_ +timbers (she was built in India) creak again; their aspect and their +motion, all struck me as something far more "poetical" than the mere +broad, brawling, shipless sea, and the sullen winds, could possibly +have been without them. + +The Euxine is a noble sea to look upon, and the port of +Constantinople the most beautiful of harbours, and yet I cannot but +think that the twenty sail of the line, some of one hundred and forty +guns, rendered it more "poetical" by day in the sun, and by night +perhaps still more, for the Turks illuminate their vessels of war in +a manner the most picturesque, and yet all this is _artificial_. As +for the Euxine, I stood upon the Symplegades--I stood by the broken +altar still exposed to the winds upon one of them--I felt all the +"_poetry_" of the situation, as I repeated the first lines of Medea; +but would not that "poetry" have been heightened by the _Argo_? It +was so even by the appearance of any merchant vessel arriving from +Odessa. But Mr. Bowles says, "Why bring your ship off the stocks?" +for no reason that I know, except that ships are built to be +launched. The water, &c. undoubtedly HEIGHTENS the poetical +associations, but it does not _make_ them; and the ship amply repays +the obligation: they aid each other; the water is more poetical with +the ship--the ship less so without the water. But even a ship laid up +in dock, is a grand and a poetical sight. Even an old boat, keel +upwards, wrecked upon the barren sand, is a "poetical" object, (and +Wordsworth, who made a poem about a washing tub and a blind boy, may +tell you so as well as I,) whilst a long extent of sand and unbroken +water, without the boat, would be as like dull prose as any pamphlet +lately published. + +What makes the poetry in the image of the "_marble waste of Tadmor_," +or Grainger's "Ode to Solitude," so much admired by Johnson? Is it +the "_marble_" or the "_waste,_" the _artificial_ or the _natural_ +object? The "waste" is like all other _wastes_; but the "_marble_" of +Palmyra makes the poetry of the passage as of the place. + +The beautiful but barren Hymettus, the whole coast of Attica, her +hills and mountains, Pentelicus, Anchesmus, Philopappus, &c. &c. are +in themselves poetical, and would be so if the name of Athens, of +Athenians, and her very ruins, were swept from the earth. But am I to +be told that the "nature" of Attica would be _more_ poetical without +the "art" of the Acropolis? of the Temple of Theseus? and of the +still all Greek and glorious monuments of her exquisitely artificial +genius? Ask the traveller what strikes him as most poetical, the +Parthenon, or the rock on which it stands? The COLUMNS of Cape +Colonna, or the Cape itself? The rocks at the foot of it, or the +recollection that Falconer's _ship_ was bulged upon them? There are a +thousand rocks and capes far more picturesque than those of the +Acropolis and Cape Sunium in themselves; what are they to a thousand +scenes in the wilder parts of Greece, of Asia Minor, Switzerland, or +even of Cintra in Portugal, or to many scenes of Italy, and the +Sierras of Spain? But it is the "_art_," the columns, the temples, +the wrecked vessel, which give them their antique and their modern +poetry, and not the spots themselves. Without them, the _spots_ of +earth would be unnoticed and unknown; buried, like Babylon and +Nineveh, in indistinct confusion, without poetry, as without +existence; but to whatever spot of earth these ruins were +transported, if they were _capable_ of transportation, like the +obelisk, and the sphinx, and the Memnon's head, _there_ they would +still exist in the perfection of their beauty, and in the pride of +their poetry. I opposed, and will ever oppose, the robbery of ruins +from Athens, to instruct the English in sculpture; but why did I do +so? The _ruins_ are as poetical in Piccadilly as they were in the +Parthenon; but the Parthenon and its rock are less so without them. +Such is the poetry of art. + +Mr. Bowles contends again that the pyramids of Egypt are poetical, +because of "the association with boundless deserts," and that a +"pyramid of the same dimensions" would not be sublime in "Lincoln's +Inn Fields:" not _so_ poetical certainly; but take away the +"pyramids," and what is the "_desert?"_ Take away Stone-henge from +Salisbury plain, and it is nothing more than Hounslow heath, or any +other unenclosed down. It appears to me that St. Peter's, the +Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Palatine, the Apollo, the Laocoon, the +Venus di Medicis, the Hercules, the dying Gladiator, the Moses of +Michael Angelo, and all the higher works of Canova, (I have already +spoken of those of ancient Greece, still extant in that country, or +transported to England,) are as _poetical_ as Mont Blanc or Mount +AEtna, perhaps still more so, as they are direct manifestations of +mind, and _presuppose_ poetry in their very conception; and have, +moreover, as being such, a something of actual life, which cannot +belong to any part of inanimate nature, unless we adopt the system of +Spinosa, that the world is the Deity. There can be nothing more +poetical in its aspect than the city of Venice: does this depend upon +the sea, or the canals?-- + + "The dirt and sea-weed whence proud Venice rose?" + +Is it the canal which runs between the palace and the prison, or the +"Bridge of Sighs," which connects them, that render it poetical? Is +it the "Canal Grande," or the Rialto which arches it, the churches +which tower over it, the palaces which line, and the gondolas which +glide over the waters, that render this city more poetical than Rome +itself? Mr. Bowles will say, perhaps, that the Rialto is but marble, +the palaces and churches only stone, and the gondolas a "coarse" +black cloth, thrown over some planks of carved wood, with a shining +bit of fantastically formed iron at the prow, "_without_" the water. +And I tell him that without these, the water would be nothing but a +clay-coloured ditch; and whoever says the contrary, deserves to be at +the bottom of that, where Pope's heroes are embraced by the mud +nymphs. There would be nothing to make the canal of Venice more +poetical than that of Paddington, were it not for the artificial +adjuncts above mentioned; although it is a perfectly natural canal, +formed by the sea, and the innumerable islands which constitute the +site of this extraordinary city. + +The very Cloaca of Tarquin at Rome are as poetical as Richmond Hill; +many will think more so: take away Rome, and leave the Tibur and the +seven hills, in the nature of Evander's time. Let Mr. Bowles, or Mr. +Wordsworth, or Mr. Southey, or any of the other "naturals," make a +poem upon them, and then see which is most poetical, their +production, or the commonest guide-book, which tells you the road +from St. Peter's to the Coliseum, and informs you what you will see +by the way. The ground interests in Virgil, because it _will_ be +_Rome_, and not because it is Evander's rural domain. + +Mr. Bowles then proceeds to press Homer into his service, in answer +to a remark of Mr. Campbell's, that "Homer was a great describer of +works of art." Mr. Bowles contends, that all his great power, even in +this, depends upon their connection with nature. The "shield of +Achilles derives its poetical interest from the subjects described on +it." And from what does the _spear_ of Achilles derive its interest? +and the helmet and the mail worn by Patroclus, and the celestial +armour, and the very brazen greaves of the well-booted Greeks? Is it +solely from the legs, and the back, and the breast, and the human +body, which they enclose? In that case, it would have been more +poetical to have made them fight naked; and Gulley and Gregson, as +being nearer to a state of nature, are more poetical boxing in a pair +of drawers than Hector and Achilles in radiant armour, and with +heroic weapons. + +Instead of the clash of helmets, and the rushing of chariots, and the +whizzing of spears, and the glancing of swords, and the cleaving of +shields, and the piercing of breast-plates, why not represent the +Greeks and Trojans like two savage tribes, tugging and tearing, and +kicking and biting, and gnashing, foaming, grinning, and gouging, in +all the poetry of martial nature, unencumbered with gross, prosaic, +artificial arms; an equal superfluity to the natural warrior, and his +natural poet. Is there any thing unpoetical in Ulysses striking the +horses of Rhesus with _his bow_ (having forgotten his thong), or +would Mr. Bowles have had him kick them with his foot, or smack them +with his hand, as being more unsophisticated? + +In Gray's Elegy, is there an image more striking than his "shapeless +sculpture?" Of sculpture in general, it may be observed, that it is +more poetical than nature itself, inasmuch as it represents and +bodies forth that ideal beauty and sublimity which is never to be +found in actual nature. This at least is the general opinion. But, +always excepting the Venus di Medicis, I differ from that opinion, at +least as far as regards female beauty; for the head of Lady +Charlemont (when I first saw her nine years ago) seemed to possess +all that sculpture could require for its ideal. I recollect seeing +something of the same kind in the head of an Albanian girl, who was +actually employed in mending a road in the mountains, and in some +Greek, and one or two Italian, faces. But of _sublimity_, I have +never seen any thing in human nature at all to approach the +expression of sculpture, either in the Apollo, the Moses, or other of +the sterner works of ancient or modern art. + +Let us examine a little further this "babble of green fields" and of +bare nature in general as superior to artificial imagery, for the +poetical purposes of the fine arts. In landscape painting, the great +artist does not give you a literal copy of a country, but he invents +and composes one. Nature, in her actual aspect, does not furnish him +with such existing scenes as he requires. Even where he presents you +with some famous city, or celebrated scene from mountain or other +nature, it must be taken from some particular point of view, and with +such light, and shade, and distance, &c. as serve not only to +heighten its beauties, but to shadow its deformities. The poetry of +nature alone, _exactly_ as she appears, is not sufficient to bear him +out. The very sky of his painting is not the _portrait_ of the sky of +nature; it is a composition of different _skies_, observed at +different times, and not the whole copied from any _particular_ day. +And why? Because nature is not lavish of her beauties; they are +widely scattered, and occasionally displayed, to be selected with +care, and gathered with difficulty. + +Of sculpture I have just spoken. It is the great scope of the +sculptor to heighten nature into heroic beauty, _i.e._ in plain +English, to surpass his model. When Canova forms a statue, he takes a +limb from one, a hand from another, a feature from a third, and a +shape, it may be, from a fourth, probably at the same time improving +upon all, as the Greek of old did in embodying his Venus. + +Ask a portrait painter to describe his agonies in accommodating the +faces with which nature and his sitters have crowded his +painting-room to the principles of his art: with the exception of +perhaps ten faces in as many millions, there is not one which he can +venture to give without shading much and adding more. Nature, +exactly, simply, barely nature, will make no great artist of any +kind, and least of all a poet--the most artificial, perhaps, of all +artists in his very essence. With regard to natural imagery, the +poets are obliged to take some of their best illustrations from +_art_. You say that a "fountain is as clear or clearer than _glass_" +to express its beauty:-- + + "O fons Bandusiae, splendidior vitro!" + +In the speech of Mark Antony, the body of Caesar is displayed, but so +also is his _mantle_:-- + + "You all do know this _mantle_," &c. + + * * * * * + + "Look! in this place ran Cassius' _dagger_ through." + +If the poet had said that Cassius had run his _fist_ through the rent +of the mantle, it would have had more of Mr. Bowles's "nature" to +help it; but the artificial _dagger_ is more poetical than any +natural _hand_ without it. In the sublime of sacred poetry, "Who is +this that cometh from Edom? with _dyed garments_ from Bozrah?" Would +"the comer" be poetical without his "_dyed garments?_" which strike +and startle the spectator, and identify the approaching object. + +The mother of Sisera is represented listening for the "_wheels of his +chariot_." Solomon, in his Song, compares the nose of his beloved to +"a tower," which to us appears an eastern exaggeration. If he had +said, that her stature was like that of a "tower's," it would have +been as poetical as if he had compared her to a tree. + + "The virtuous Marcia _towers_ above her sex," + +is an instance of an artificial image to express a _moral_ +superiority. But Solomon, it is probable, did not compare his +beloved's nose to a "tower" on account of its length, but of its +symmetry; and making allowance for eastern hyperbole, and the +difficulty of finding a discreet image for a female nose in nature, +it is perhaps as good a figure as any other. + +Art is _not_ inferior to nature for poetical purposes. What makes a +regiment of soldiers a more noble object of view than the same mass +of mob? Their arms, their dresses, their banners, and the _art_ and +artificial symmetry of their position and movements. A Highlander's +plaid, a Mussulman's turban, and a Roman toga, are more poetical than +the tattooed or untattooed buttocks of a New Sandwich savage, +although they were described by William Wordsworth himself like the +"idiot in his glory." + +I have seen as many mountains as most men, and more fleets than the +generality of landsmen; and, to my mind, a large convoy with a few +sail of the line to conduct them is as noble and as poetical a +prospect as all that inanimate nature can produce. I prefer the "mast +of some great ammiral," with all its tackle, to the Scotch fir or the +alpine tannen; and think that _more_ poetry _has been_ made out of +it. In what does the infinite superiority of "Falconer's Shipwreck" +over all other shipwrecks consist? In his admirable application of +the terms of his art; in a poet-sailor's description of the sailor's +fate. These _very terms_, by his application, make the strength and +reality of his poem. Why? because he was a poet, and in the hands of +a poet, _art_ will not be found less ornamental than nature. It is +precisely in general nature, and in stepping out of his element, that +Falconer fails; where he digresses to speak of ancient Greece, and +"such branches of learning." + +In Dyer's Grongar Hill, upon which his fame rests, the very +appearance of nature herself is moralised into an artificial image: + + "Thus is nature's _vesture_ wrought, + To instruct our wandering thought; + Thus she _dresses green and gay_, + To disperse our cares away." + +And here also we have the telescope; the misuse of which, from +Milton, has rendered Mr. Bowles so triumphant over Mr. Campbell:-- + + "So we mistake the future's face, + Eyed through Hope's deluding _glass_." + +And here a word en passant to Mr. Campbell:-- + + "As yon summits, soft and fair + Clad in colours of the air, + Which to those who journey near + Barren, brown, and rough appear, + Still we tread the same coarse way-- + The present's still a cloudy day." + +Is not this the original of the far-famed-- + + "'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, + And robes the mountain in its azure hue?" + +To return once more to the sea. Let any one look on the long wall of +Malamocco, which curbs the Adriatic, and pronounce between the sea +and its master. Surely that Roman work (I mean _Roman_ in conception +and performance), which says to the ocean, "Thus far shalt thou come, +and no further," and is obeyed, is not less sublime and poetical than +the angry waves which vainly break beneath it. + +Mr. Bowles makes the chief part of a ship's poesy depend upon the +"_wind:_" then why is a ship under sail more poetical than a hog in a +high wind? The hog is all nature, the ship is all art, "coarse +canvass," "blue bunting," and "tall poles;" both are violently acted +upon by the wind, tossed here and there, to and fro, and yet nothing +but excess of hunger could make me look upon the pig as the more +poetical of the two, and then only in the shape of a griskin. + +Will Mr. Bowles tell us that the poetry of an aqueduct consist in the +_water_ which it conveys? Let him look on that of Justinian, on those +of Rome, Constantinople, Lisbon, and Elvas, or even at the remains of +that in Attica. + +We are asked, "What makes the venerable towers of Westminster Abbey +more poetical, as objects, than the tower for the manufactory of +patent shot, surrounded by the same scenery?" I will answer--the +_architecture_. Turn Westminster Abbey, or Saint Paul's into a powder +magazine, their poetry, as objects, remains the same; the Parthenon +was actually converted into one by the Turks, during Morosini's +Venetian siege, and part of it destroyed in consequence. Cromwell's +dragoons stalled their steeds in Worcester cathedral; was it less +poetical as an object than before? Ask a foreigner on his approach to +London, what strikes him as the most poetical of the towers before +him: he will point out Saint Paul's and Westminster Abbey, without, +perhaps, knowing the names or associations of either, and pass over +the "tower for patent shot,"--not that, for any thing he knows to the +contrary, it might not be the mausoleum of a monarch, or a Waterloo +column, or a Trafalgar monument, but because its architecture is +obviously inferior. + +To the question, "Whether the description of a game of cards be as +poetical, supposing the execution of the artists equal, as a +description of a walk in a forest?" it may be answered, that the +_materials_ are certainly not equal; but that "the _artist_," who has +rendered the "game of cards poetical," is _by far the greater_ of the +two. But all this "ordering" of poets is purely arbitrary on the part +of Mr. Bowles. There may or may not be, in fact, different "orders" +of poetry, but the poet is always ranked according to his execution, +and not according to his branch of the art. + +Tragedy is one of the highest presumed orders. Hughes has written a +tragedy, and a very successful one; Fenton another; and Pope none. +Did any man, however,--will even Mr. Bowles himself,--rank Hughes and +Fenton as poets above _Pope_? Was even Addison (the author of Cato), +or Rowe (one of the higher order of dramatists as far as success +goes), or Young, or even Otway and Southerne, ever raised for a +moment to the same rank with Pope in the estimation of the reader or +the critic, before his death or since? If Mr. Bowles will contend for +classifications of this kind, let him recollect that descriptive +poetry has been ranked as among the lowest branches of the art, and +description as a mere ornament, but which should never form the +"subject" of a poem. The Italians, with the most poetical language, +and the most fastidious taste in Europe, possess now five _great_ +poets, they say, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, Tasso, and, lastly, +Alfieri[1]; and whom do they esteem one of the highest of these, and +some of them the very highest? Petrarch the _sonneteer_: it is true +that some of his Canzoni are _not less_ esteemed, but _not_ more; who +ever dreams of his Latin Africa? + +[Footnote 1: Of these there is one ranked with the others for his +SONNETS, and _two_ for compositions which belong to _no class_ at +all? Where is Dante? His poem is not an epic; then what is it? He +himself calls it a "divine comedy;" and why? This is more than all +his thousand commentators have been able to explain. Ariosto's is not +an _epic_ poem; and if poets are to be _classed_ according to the +_genus_ of their poetry, where is he to be placed? Of these five, +Tasso and Alfieri only come within Aristotle's arrangement, and Mr. +Bowles's class-book. But the whole position is false. Poets are +classed by the power of their performance, and not according to its +rank in a gradus. In the contrary case, the forgotten epic poets of +all countries would rank above Petrarch, Dante, Ariosto, Burns, Gray, +Dryden, and the highest names of various countries. Mr. Bowles's +title of "_invariable_ principles of poetry," is, perhaps, the most +arrogant ever prefixed to a volume. So far are the principles of +poetry from being "_invariable_," that they never were nor ever will +be settled. These "principles" mean nothing more than the +predilections of a particular age; and every age has its own, and a +different from its predecessor. It is now Homer, and now Virgil; once +Dryden, and since Walter Scott; now Corneille, and now Racine; now +Crebillon, now Voltaire. The Homerists and Virgilians in France +disputed for half a century. Not fifty years ago the Italians +neglected Dante--Bettinelli reproved Monti for reading "that +barbarian;" at present they adore him. Shakspeare and Milton have had +their rise, and they will have their decline. Already they have more +than once fluctuated, as must be the case with all the dramatists and +poets of a living language. This does not depend upon their merits, +but upon the ordinary vicissitudes of human opinions. Schlegel and +Madame de Stael have endeavoured also to reduce poetry to _two_ +systems, classical and romantic. The effect is only beginning.] + +Were Petrarch to be ranked according to the "order" of his +compositions, where would the best of sonnets place him? with Dante +and the others? no; but, as I have before said, the poet who +_executes_ best, is the highest, whatever his department, and will +ever be so rated in the world's esteem. + +Had Gray written nothing but his Elegy, high as he stands, I am not +sure that he would not stand higher; it is the corner-stone of his +glory: without it, his odes would be insufficient for his fame. The +depreciation of Pope is partly founded upon a false idea of the +dignity of his order of poetry, to which he has partly contributed by +the ingenuous boast, + + "That not in fancy's maze he wandered long, + But _stoop'd_ to truth, and moralised his song." + +He should have written "rose to truth." In my mind, the highest of +all poetry is ethical poetry, as the highest of all earthly objects +must be moral truth. Religion does not make a part of my subject; it +is something beyond human powers, and has failed in all human hands +except Milton's and Dante's, and even Dante's powers are involved in +his delineation of human passions, though in supernatural +circumstances. What made Socrates the greatest of men? His moral +truth--his ethics. What proved Jesus Christ the Son of God hardly +less than his miracles? His moral precepts. And if ethics have made a +philosopher the first of men, and have not been disdained as an +adjunct to his Gospel by the Deity himself, are we to be told that +ethical poetry, or didactic poetry, or by whatever name you term it, +whose object is to make men better and wiser, is not the _very first +order_ of poetry; and are we to be told this too by one of the +priesthood? It requires more mind, more wisdom, more power, than all +the "forests" that ever were "walked" for their "description," and +all the epics that ever were founded upon fields of battle. The +Georgics are indisputably, and, I believe, _undisputedly_ even a +finer poem than the AEneid. Virgil knew this; he did not order _them_ +to be burnt. + + "The proper study of mankind is man." + +It is the fashion of the day to lay great stress upon what they call +"imagination" and "invention," the two commonest of qualities: an +Irish peasant with a little whiskey in his head will imagine and +invent more than would furnish forth a modern poem. If Lucretius had +not been spoiled by the Epicurean system, we should have had a far +superior poem to any now in existence. As mere poetry, it is the +first of Latin poems. What then has ruined it? His ethics. Pope has +not this defect; his moral is as pure as his poetry is glorious. + +In speaking of artificial objects, I have omitted to touch upon one +which I will now mention. Cannon may be presumed to be as highly +poetical as art can make her objects. Mr. Bowles will, perhaps, tell +me that this is because they resemble that grand natural article of +sound in heaven, and simile upon earth--thunder. I shall be told +triumphantly, that Milton made sad work with his artillery, when he +armed his devils therewithal. He did so; and this artificial object +must have had much of the sublime to attract his attention for such a +conflict. He _has_ made an absurd use of it; but the absurdity +consists not in using _cannon_ against the angels of God, but any +_material_ weapon. The thunder of the clouds would have been as +ridiculous and vain in the hands of the devils, as the "villanous +saltpetre:" the angels were as impervious to the one as to the other. +The thunderbolts become sublime in the hands of the Almighty not as +such, but because _he_ deigns to use them as a means of repelling the +rebel spirits; but no one can attribute their defeat to this grand +piece of natural electricity: the Almighty willed, and they fell; his +word would have been enough; and Milton is as absurd, (and, in fact, +_blasphemous_,) in putting material lightnings into the hands of the +Godhead, as in giving him hands at all. + +The artillery of the demons was but the first step of his mistake, +the thunder the next, and it is a step lower. It would have been fit +for Jove, but not for Jehovah. The subject altogether was essentially +unpoetical; he has made more of it than another could, but it is +beyond him and all men. + +In a portion of his reply, Mr. Bowles asserts that Pope "envied +Phillips," because he quizzed his pastorals in the Guardian, in that +most admirable model of irony, his paper on the subject. If there was +any thing enviable about Phillips, it could hardly be his pastorals. +They were despicable, and Pope expressed his contempt. If Mr. +Fitzgerald published a volume of sonnets, or a "Spirit of Discovery," +or a "Missionary," and Mr. Bowles wrote in any periodical journal an +ironical paper upon them, would this be "envy?" The authors of the +"Rejected Addresses" have ridiculed the sixteen or twenty "first +living poets" of the day, but do they "envy" them? "Envy" writhes, it +don't laugh. The authors of the Rejected Addresses may despise some, +but they can hardly "envy" any of the persons whom they have +parodied; and Pope could have no more envied Phillips than he did +Welsted, or Theobald, or Smedley, or any other given hero of the +Dunciad. He could not have envied him, even had he himself _not_ been +the greatest poet of his age. Did Mr. Ings "_envy_" Mr. Phillips when +he asked him, "How came your Pyrrhus to drive oxen and say, I am +_goaded_ on by love?" This question silenced poor Phillips; but it no +more proceeded from "envy" than did Pope's ridicule. Did he envy +Swift? Did he envy Bolingbroke? Did he envy Gay the unparalleled +success of his "Beggar's Opera?" We may be answered that these were +his friends--true: but does _friendship_ prevent _envy_? Study the +first woman you meet with, or the first scribbler, let Mr. Bowles +himself (whom I acquit fully of such an odious quality) study some of +his own poetical intimates: the most envious man I ever heard of is a +poet, and a high one; besides, it is an _universal_ passion. +Goldsmith envied not only the puppets for their dancing, and broke +his shins in the attempt at rivalry, but was seriously angry because +two pretty women received more attention than he did. _This is envy;_ +but where does Pope show a sign of the passion? In that case Dryden +envied the hero of his Mac Flecknoe. Mr. Bowles compares, when and +where he can, Pope with Cowper--(the same Cowper whom in his edition +of Pope he laughs at for his attachment to an old woman, Mrs. Unwin; +search and you will find it; I remember the passage, though not the +page;) in particular he requotes Cowper's Dutch delineation of a +wood, drawn up, like a seedsman's catalogue[1], with an affected +imitation of Milton's style, as burlesque as the "Splendid Shilling." +These two writers, for Cowper is no poet, come into comparison in one +great work, the translation of Homer. Now, with all the great, and +manifest, and manifold, and reproved, and acknowledged, and +uncontroverted faults of Pope's translation, and all the scholarship, +and pains, and time, and trouble, and blank verse of the other, who +can ever read Cowper? and who will ever lay down Pope, unless for the +original? Pope's was "not Homer, it was Spondanus;" but Cowper's is +not Homer either, it is not even Cowper. As a child I first read +Pope's Homer with a rapture which no subsequent work could ever +afford, and children are not the worst judges of their own language. +As a boy I read Homer in the original, as we have all done, some of +us by force, and a few by favour; under which description I come is +nothing to the purpose, it is enough that I read him. As a man I have +tried to read Cowper's version, and I found it impossible. Has any +human reader ever succeeded? + +[Footnote 1: I will submit to Mr. Bowles's own judgment a passage +from another poem of Cowper's, to be compared with the same writer's +Sylvan Sampler. In the lines to Mary,-- + + "Thy _needles_, once a shining store, + For my sake restless heretofore, + Now rust disused, and shine no more, + My Mary," + +contain a simple, household, "_indoor_," artificial, and ordinary +image; I refer Mr. Bowles to the stanza, and ask if these three lines +about "_needles_" are not worth all the boasted twaddling about +trees, so triumphantly re-quoted? and yet, in _fact_, what do they +convey? A homely collection of images and ideas, associated with the +darning of stockings, and the hemming of shirts, and the mending of +breeches; but will any one deny that they are eminently poetical and +pathetic as addressed by Cowper to his nurse? The trash of trees +reminds me of a saying of Sheridan's. Soon after the "Rejected +Address" scene in 1812, I met Sheridan. In the course of dinner, he +said, "Lord Byron, did you know that, amongst the writers of +addresses, was Whitbread himself?" I answered by an enquiry of what +sort of an address he had made. "Of that," replied Sheridan, "I +remember little, except that there was a _phoenix_ in it."--"A +phoenix!! Well, how did he describe it?"--"_Like a poulterer_," +answered Sheridan: "it was green, and yellow, and red, and blue: he +did not let us off for a single feather." And just such as this +poulterer's account of a phoenix is Cowper's stick-picker's detail of +a wood, with all its petty minutiae of this, that, and the other.] + +And now that we have heard the Catholic repreached with envy, +duplicity, licentiousness, avarice--what was the Calvinist? He +attempted the most atrocious of crimes in the Christian code, viz. +suicide--and why? because he was to be examined whether he was fit +for an office which he seems to wish to have made a sinecure. His +connection with Mrs. Unwin was pure enough, for the old lady was +devout, and he was deranged; but why then is the infirm and then +elderly Pope to be reproved for his connection with Martha Blount: +Cowper was the almoner of Mrs. Throgmorton; but Pope's charities were +his own, and they were noble and extensive, far beyond his fortune's +warrant. Pope was the tolerant yet steady adherent of the most +bigoted of sects; and Cowper the most bigoted and despondent sectary +that ever anticipated damnation to himself or others. Is this harsh? +I know it is, and I do not assert it as my opinion of Cowper +_personally_, but to _show what might_ be said, with just as great an +appearance of truth and candour, as all the odium which has been +accumulated upon Pope in similar speculations. Cowper was a good man, +and lived at a fortunate time for his works. + +[Footnote: One more poetical instance of the power of art, and even +its _superiority_ over nature, in poetry; and I have done:--the bust +of _Antinous_! Is there any thing in nature like this marble, +excepting the Venus? Can there be more _poetry_ gathered into +existence than in that wonderful creation of perfect beauty? But the +poetry of this bust is in no respect derived from nature, nor from +any association of moral exaltedness; for what is there in common +with moral nature, and the male minion of Adrian? The very execution +is _not natural_, but _super_-natural, or rather _super-artificial,_ +for nature has never done so much. + +Away, then, with this cant about nature, and "invariable principles +of poetry!" A great artist will make a block of stone as sublime as a +mountain, and a good poet can imbue a pack of cards with more poetry +than inhabits the forests of America. It is the business and the +proof of a poet to give the lie to the proverb, and sometimes to +"_make a silken purse out of a sow's ear_;" and to conclude with +another homely proverb, "a good workman will not find fault with his +tools."] + +Mr. Bowles, apparently not relying entirely upon his own arguments, +has, in person or by proxy, brought forward the names of Southey and +Moore. Mr. Southey "agrees entirely with Mr. Bowles in his +_invariable_ principles of poetry." The least that Mr. Bowles can do +in return is to approve the "invariable principles of Mr. Southey." I +should have thought that the word "_invariable_" might have stuck in +Southey's throat, like Macbeth's "Amen!" I am sure it did in mine, +and I am not the least consistent of the two, at least as a voter. +Moore _(et tu, Brute!_) also approves, and a Mr. J. Scott. There is a +letter also of two lines from a gentleman in asterisks, who, it +seems, is a poet of "the highest rank:"--who _can_ this be? not my +friend, Sir Walter, surely. Campbell it can't be; Rogers it won't be. + + "You have _hit the nail in_ the head, and * * * * + [Pope, I presume] _on_ the head also. + + "I _remain_ yours, affectionately, + "(Five _Asterisks_.)" + +And in asterisks let him remain. Whoever this person may be, he +deserves, for such a judgment of Midas, that "the nail" which Mr. +Bowles has "hit _in_ the head," should he driven through his own +ears; I am sure that they are long enough. + +The attempt of the poetical populace of the present day to obtain an +ostracism against Pope is as easily accounted for as the Athenian's +shell against Aristides; they are tired of hearing him always called +"the Just." They are also fighting for life; for, if he maintains his +station, they will reach their own by falling. They have raised a +mosque by the side of a Grecian temple of the purest architecture; +and, more barbarous than the barbarians from whose practice I have +borrowed the figure, they are not contented with their own grotesque +edifice, unless they destroy the prior, and purely beautiful fabric +which preceded, and which shames them and theirs for ever and ever. I +shall be told that amongst those I _have_ been (or it may be, still +_am_) conspicuous--true, and I am ashamed of it. I _have_ been +amongst the builders of this Babel, attended by a confusion of +tongues, but _never_ amongst the envious destroyers of the classic +temple of our predecessor. I have loved and honoured the fame and +name of that illustrious and unrivalled man, far more than my own +paltry renown, and the trashy jingle of the crowd of "Schools" and +upstarts, who pretend to rival, or even surpass him. Sooner than a +single leaf should be torn from his laurel, it were better that all +which these men, and that I, as one of their set, have ever written, +should + + "Line trunks, clothe spice, or, fluttering in a row, + Befringe the rails of Bedlam, or Soho!" + +There are those who will believe this, and those who will not. You, +sir, know how far I am sincere, and whether my opinion, not only in +the short work intended for publication, and in private letters which +can never be published, has or has not been the same. I look upon +this as the declining age of English poetry; no regard for others, no +selfish feeling, can prevent me from seeing this, and expressing the +truth. There can be no worse sign for the taste of the times than the +depreciation of Pope. It would be better to receive for proof Mr. +Cobbett's rough but strong attack upon Shakspeare and Milton, than to +allow this smooth and "candid" undermining of the reputation of the +most _perfect_ of our poets, and the purest of our moralists. Of his +power in the _passions_, in description, in the mock heroic, I leave +others to descant. I take him on his strong ground as an _ethical_ +poet: in the former, none excel; in the mock heroic and the ethical, +none equal him; and in my mind, the latter is the highest of all +poetry, because it does that in _verse_, which the greatest of men +have wished to accomplish in prose. If the essence of poetry must be +a _lie_, throw it to the dogs, or banish it from your republic, as +Plato would have done. He who can reconcile poetry with truth and +wisdom, is the only true "_poet_" in its real sense, "the _maker_" +"the _creator_,"--why must this mean the "liar," the "feigner," the +"tale-teller?" A man may make and create better things than these. + +I shall not presume to say that Pope is as high a poet as Shakspeare +and Milton, though his enemy, Warton, places him immediately under +them.[1] I would no more say this than I would assert in the mosque +(once Saint Sophia's), that Socrates was a greater man than Mahomet. +But if I say that he is very near them, it is no more than has been +asserted of Burns, who is supposed + + "To rival all but Shakspeare's name below." + +[Footnote 1: If the opinions cited by Mr. Bowles, of Dr. Johnson +_against_ Pope, are to be taken as decisive authority, they will also +hold good against Gray, Milton, Swift, Thomson, and Dryden: in that +case what becomes of Gray's poetical, and Milton's moral character? +even of Milton's _poetical_ character, or, indeed, of _English_ +poetry in general? for Johnson strips many a leaf from every laurel. +Still Johnson's is the finest critical work extant, and can never be +read without instruction and delight.] + +I say nothing against this opinion. But of what "_order_," according +to the poetical aristocracy, are Burns's poems? There are his _opus +magnum_, "Tam O'Shanter," a _tale_; the Cotter's Saturday Night, a +descriptive sketch; some others in the same style: the rest are +songs. So much for the _rank_ of his _productions_; the _rank_ of +_Burns_ is the very first of his art. Of Pope I have expressed my +opinion elsewhere, as also of the effect which the present attempts +at poetry have had upon our literature. If any great national or +natural convulsion could or should overwhelm your country in such +sort, as to sweep Great Britain from the kingdoms of the earth, and +leave only that, after all, the most living of human things, a _dead +language_, to be studied and read, and imitated by the wise of future +and far generations, upon foreign shores; if your literature should +become the learning of mankind, divested of party cabals, temporary +fashions, and national pride and prejudice; an Englishman, anxious +that the posterity of strangers should know that there had been such +a thing as a British Epic and Tragedy, might wish for the +preservation of Shakspeare and Milton; but the surviving world would +snatch Pope from the wreck, and let the rest sink with the people. He +is the moral poet of all civilisation; and as such, let us hope that +he will one day be the national poet of mankind. He is the only poet +that never shocks; the only poet whose _faultlessness_ has been made +his reproach. Cast your eye over his productions; consider their +extent, and contemplate their variety:--pastoral, passion, mock +heroic, translation, satire, ethics,--all excellent, and often +perfect. If his great charm be his _melody_, how comes it that +foreigners adore him even in their diluted translations? But I have +made this letter too long. Give my compliments to Mr. Bowles. + +Yours ever, very truly, + +BYRON. + +_To John Murray, Esq_. + +_Post Scriptum_.--Long as this letter has grown, I find it necessary +to append a postscript; if possible, a short one. Mr. Bowles denies +that he has accused Pope of "a sordid money-getting passion;" but, he +adds, "if I had ever done so, I should be glad to find any testimony +that, might show he was _not_ so." This testimony he may find to his +heart's content in Spence and elsewhere. First, there is Martha +Blount, who, Mr. Bowles charitably says, "probably thought he did not +save enough for her, as legatee." Whatever she _thought_ upon this +point, her words are in Pope's favour. Then there is Alderman Barber; +see Spence's Anecdotes. There is Pope's cold answer to Halifax when +he proposed a pension; his behaviour to Craggs and to Addison upon +like occasions, and his own two lines-- + + "And, thanks to Homer, since I live and thrive, + Indebted to no prince or peer alive;" + +written when princes would have been proud to pension, and peers to +promote him, and when the whole army of dunces were in array against +him, and would have been but too happy to deprive him of this boast +of independence. But there is something a little more serious in Mr. +Bowles's declaration, that he "_would_ have spoken" of his "noble +generosity to the outcast Richard Savage," and other instances of a +compassionate and generous heart, "_had they occurred to his +recollection when he wrote_." What! is it come to this? Does Mr. +Bowles sit down to write a minute and laboured life and edition of a +great poet? Does he anatomise his character, moral and poetical? Does +he present us with his faults and with his foibles? Does he sneer at +his feelings, and doubt of his sincerity? Does he unfold his vanity +and duplicity? and then omit the good qualities which might, in part, +have "covered this multitude of sins?" and then plead that "_they did +not occur to his recollection_?" Is this the frame of mind and of +memory with which the illustrious dead are to be approached? If Mr. +Bowles, who must have had access to all the means of refreshing his +memory, did not recollect these facts, he is unfit for his task; but +if he _did_ recollect and omit them, I know not what he is fit for, +but I know what would be fit for him. Is the plea of "not +recollecting" such prominent facts to be admitted? Mr. Bowles has +been at a public school, and as I have been publicly educated also, I +can sympathise with his predilection. When we were in the third form +even, had we pleaded on the Monday morning, that we had not brought +up the Saturday's exercise, because "we had forgotten it," what would +have been the reply? And is an excuse, which would not be pardoned to +a schoolboy, to pass current in a matter which so nearly concerns the +fame of the first poet of his age, if not of his country? If Mr. +Bowles so readily forgets the virtues of others, why complain so +grievously that others have a better memory for his own faults? They +are but the faults of an author; while the virtues he omitted from +his catalogue are essential to the justice due to a man. + +Mr. Bowles appears, indeed, to be susceptible beyond the privilege of +authorship. There is a plaintive dedication to Mr. Gifford, in which +_he_ is made responsible for all the articles of the Quarterly. Mr. +Southey, it seems, "the most able and eloquent writer in that +Review," approves of Mr. Bowles's publication. Now it seems to me the +more impartial, that notwithstanding that "the great writer of the +Quarterly" entertains opinions opposite to the able article on +Spence, nevertheless that essay was permitted to appear. Is a review +to be devoted to the opinions of any _one_ man? + +Must it not vary according to circumstances, and according to the +subjects to be criticised? I fear that writers must take the sweets +and bitters of the public journals as they occur, and an author of so +long a standing as Mr. Bowles might have become accustomed to such +incidents; he might be angry, but not astonished. I have been +reviewed in the Quarterly almost as often as Mr. Bowles, and have had +as pleasant things said, and some _as unpleasant_, as could well be +pronounced. In the review of "The Fall of Jerusalem" it is stated, +that I have devoted "my powers, &c. to the worst parts of +Manicheism;" which, being interpreted, means that I worship the +devil. Now, I have neither written a reply, nor complained to +Gifford. I believe that I observed in a letter to you, that I thought +"that the critic might have praised Milman without finding it +necessary to abuse me;" but did I not add at the same time, or soon +after, (a propos, of the note in the book of Travels,) that I would +not, if it were even in my power, have a single line cancelled on my +account in that nor in any other publication? Of course, I reserve to +myself the privilege of response when necessary. Mr. Bowles seems in +a whimsical state about the author of the article on Spence. You know +very well that I am not in your confidence, nor in that of the +conductor of the journal. The moment I saw that article, I was +morally certain that I knew the author "by his style." You will tell +me that I do _not know_ him: that is all as it should be; keep the +secret, so shall I, though no one has ever intrusted it to me. He is +not the person whom Mr. Bowles denounces. Mr. Bowles's extreme +sensibility reminds me of a circumstance which occurred on board of a +frigate in which I was a passenger and guest of the captain's for a +considerable time. The surgeon on board, a very gentlemanly young +man, and remarkably able in his profession, wore a _wig_. Upon this +ornament he was extremely tenacious. As naval jests are sometimes a +little rough, his brother officers made occasional allusions to this +delicate appendage to the doctor's person. One day a young +lieutenant, in the course of a facetious discussion, said, "Suppose +now, doctor, I should take off your _hat_,"--"Sir," replied the +doctor, "I shall talk no longer with you; you grow _scurrilous_." He +would not even admit so near an approach as to the hat which +protected it. In like manner, if any body approaches Mr. Bowles's +laurels, even in his outside capacity of an _editor_, "they grow +_scurrilous_." You say that you are about to prepare an edition of +Pope; you cannot do better for your own credit as a publisher, nor +for the redemption of Pope from Mr. Bowles, and of the public taste +from rapid degeneracy. + + + + +OBSERVATIONS UPON "OBSERVATIONS" + + +A SECOND LETTER TO JOHN MURRAY, ESQ. ON THE REV. W.L. BOWLES'S +STRICTURES ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF POPE. + + * * * * * + +_Now first published_. + + * * * * * + +Ravenna, March 25. 1821. + +Dear Sir, + +In the further "Observations" of Mr. Bowles, in rejoinder to the +charges brought against his edition of Pope, it is to be regretted +that he has lost his temper. Whatever the language of his antagonists +may have been, I fear that his replies have afforded more pleasure to +them than to the public. That Mr. Bowles should not be pleased is +natural, whether right or wrong; but a temperate defence would have +answered his purpose in the former case--and, in the latter, no +defence, however violent, can tend to any thing but his discomfiture. +I have read over this third pamphlet, which you have been so obliging +as to send me, and shall venture a few observations, in addition to +those upon the previous controversy. + +Mr. Bowles sets out with repeating his "_confirmed conviction_," that +"what he said of the moral part of Pope's character was, generally +speaking, true; and that the principles of _poetical_ criticism which +he has laid down are _invariable_ and _invulnerable_," &c.; and that +he is the _more_ persuaded of this by the "_exaggerations_ of his +opponents." This is all very well, and highly natural and sincere. +Nobody ever expected that either Mr. Bowles, or any other author, +would be convinced of human fallibility in their own persons. But it +is nothing to the purpose--for it is not what Mr. Bowles thinks, but +what is to be thought of Pope, that is the question. It is what he +has asserted or insinuated against a name which is the patrimony of +posterity, that is to be tried; and Mr. Bowles, as a party, can be no +judge. The more _he_ is persuaded, the better for himself, if it give +him any pleasure; but he can only persuade others by the proofs +brought out in his defence. + +After these prefatory remarks of "conviction," &c. Mr. Bowles +proceeds to Mr. Gilchrist; whom he charges with "slang" and +"slander," besides a small subsidiary indictment of "abuse, +ignorance, malice," and so forth. Mr. Gilchrist has, indeed, shown +some anger; but it is an honest indignation, which rises up in +defence of the illustrious dead. It is a generous rage which +interposes between our ashes and their disturbers. There appears also +to have been some slight personal provocation. Mr. Gilchrist, with a +chivalrous disdain of the fury of an incensed poet, put his name to a +letter avowing the production of a former essay in defence of Pope, +and consequently of an attack upon Mr. Bowles. Mr. Bowles appears to +be angry with Mr. Gilchrist for four reasons:--firstly, because he +wrote an article in "The London Magazine;" secondly, because he +afterwards avowed it; thirdly, because he was the author of a still +more extended article in "The Quarterly Review;" and, fourthly, +because he was NOT the author of the said Quarterly article, and had +the audacity to disown it--for no earthly reason but because he had +NOT written it. + +Mr. Bowles declares, that "he will not enter into a particular +examination of the pamphlet," which by a _misnomer_ is called +"Gilchrist's Answer to Bowles," when it should have been called +"Gilchrist's Abuse of Bowles." On this error in the baptism of Mr. +Gilchrist's pamphlet, it may be observed, that an answer may be +abusive and yet no less an answer, though indisputably a temperate +one might be the better of the two: but if _abuse_ is to cancel all +pretensions to reply, what becomes of Mr. Bowles's answers to Mr. +Gilchrist? + +Mr. Bowles continues:--"But as Mr. Gilchrist derides my _peculiar +sensitiveness to criticism_, before I show how _destitute of truth is +this representation_, I will here explicitly declare the only +grounds," &c. &c. &c.--Mr. Bowles's sensibility in denying his +"sensitiveness to criticism" proves, perhaps, too much. But if he has +been so charged, and truly--what then? There is no moral turpitude in +such acuteness of feeling: it has been, and may be, combined with +many good and great qualities. Is Mr. Bowles a poet, or is he not? If +he be, he must, from his very essence, be sensitive to criticism; and +even if he be not, he need not be ashamed of the common repugnance to +being attacked. All that is to be wished is, that he had considered +how disagreeable a thing it is, before he assailed the greatest moral +poet of any age, or in any language. + +Pope himself "sleeps well,"--nothing can touch him further; but those +who love the honour of their country, the perfection of her +literature, the glory of her language--are not to be expected to +permit an atom of his dust to be stirred in his tomb, or a leaf to be +stripped from the laurel which grows over it. + +Mr. Bowles assigns several reasons why and when "an author is +justified in appealing to every _upright_ and _honourable_ mind in +the kingdom." If Mr. Bowles limits the perusal of his defence to the +"upright and honourable" only, I greatly fear that it will not be +extensively circulated. I should rather hope that some of the +downright and dishonest will read and be converted, or convicted. But +the whole of his reasoning is here superfluous--"_an author is +justified in appealing_," &c. when and why he pleases. Let him make +out a tolerable case, and few of his readers will quarrel with his +motives. + +Mr. Bowles "will now plainly set before the literary public all the +circumstances which have led to _his name_ and Mr. Gilchrist's being +brought together," &c. Courtesy requires, in speaking of others and +ourselves, that we should place the name of the former first--and not +"_Ego_ et Rex meus." Mr. Bowles should have written "Mr. Gilchrist's +name and his." + +This point he wishes "particularly to address to those _most +respectable characters_, who have the direction and management of the +periodical critical press." That the press may be, in some instances, +conducted by respectable characters is probable enough; but if they +are so, there is no occasion to tell them of it; and if they are not, +it is a base adulation. In either case, it looks like a kind of +flattery, by which those gentry are not very likely to be softened; +since it would be difficult to find two passages in fifteen pages +more at variance, than Mr. Bowles's prose at the beginning of this +pamphlet, and his verse at the end of it. In page 4. he speaks of +"those most respectable characters who have the direction, &c. of the +periodical press," and in page 10. we find-- + + "Ye _dark inquisitors_, a monk-like band, + Who o'er some shrinking victim-author stand, + A solemn, secret, and _vindictive brand, + Only_ terrific in your cowl and hood." + +And so on--to "bloody law" and "red scourges," with other similar +phrases, which may not be altogether agreeable to the above-mentioned +"most respectable characters." Mr. Bowles goes on, "I concluded my +observations in the last Pamphleteer with feelings _not unkind_ +towards Mr. Gilchrist, or" [it should be _nor_] "to the author of the +review of Spence, be he whom he might."--"I was in hopes, _as I have +always been ready to admit any errors_ I might have been led into, or +prejudice I might have entertained, that even Mr. Gilchrist might be +disposed to a more _amicable_ mode of discussing what I had advanced +in regard to Pope's moral character." As Major Sturgeon observes, +"There never was a set of more _amicable_ officers--with the +exception of a boxing-bout between Captain Shears and the Colonel." + +A page and a half--nay only a page before--Mr. Bowles re-affirms his +conviction, that "what he has said of Pope's moral character is +_(generally speaking) true,_ and that his "poetical principles are +_invariable_ and _invulnerable_." He has also published three +pamphlets,--ay, four of the same tenour,--and yet, with this +declaration and these declamations staring him and his adversaries in +the face, he speaks of his "readiness to admit errors or to abandon +prejudices!!!" His use of the word "amicable" reminds me of the Irish +Institution (which I have somewhere heard or read of) called the +"_Friendly_ Society," where the president always carried pistols in +his pocket, so that when one amicable gentleman knocked down another, +the difference might be adjusted on the spot, at the harmonious +distance of twelve paces. + +But Mr. Bowles "has since read a publication by him (Mr. Gilchrist) +containing such vulgar slander, affecting private life and +character," &c. &c.; and Mr. Gilchrist has also had the advantage of +reading a publication by Mr. Bowles sufficiently imbued with +personality; for one of the first and principal topics of reproach is +that he is a _grocer_, that he has a "pipe in his mouth, ledger-book, +green canisters, dingy shop-boy, half a hogshead of brown treacle," +&c. Nay, the same delicate raillery is upon the very title-page. When +controversy has once commenced upon this footing, as Dr. Johnson said +to Dr. Percy, "Sir, there is an end of politeness--we are to be as +rude as we please--Sir, you said that I was _short-sighted_." As a +man's profession is generally no more in his own power than his +person--both having been made out for him--it is hard that he should +be reproached with either, and still more that an honest calling +should be made a reproach. If there is any thing more honourable to +Mr. Gilchrist than another it is, that being engaged in commerce he +has had the taste, and found the leisure, to become so able a +proficient in the higher literature of his own and other countries. +Mr. Bowles, who will be proud to own Glover, Chatterton, Burns, and +Bloomfleld for his peers, should hardly have quarrelled with Mr. +Gilchrist for his critic. Mr. Gilchrist's station, however, which +might conduct him to the highest civic honours, and to boundless +wealth, has nothing to require apology; but even if it had, such a +reproach was not very gracious on the part of a clergyman, nor +graceful on that of a gentleman. The allusion to "_Christian_ +criticism" is not particularly happy, especially where Mr. Gilchrist +is accused of having "_set the first example of this mode in +Europe_." What _Pagan_ criticism may have been we know but little; +the names of Zoilus and Aristarchus survive, and the works of +Aristotle, Longinus, and Quintilian: but of "Christian criticism" we +have already had some specimens in the works of Philelphus, Poggius, +Scaliger, Milton, Salmasius, the Cruscanti (versus Tasso), the French +Academy (against the Cid), and the antagonists of Voltaire and of +Pope--to say nothing of some articles in most of the reviews, since +their earliest institution in the person of their respectable and +still prolific parent, "The Monthly." Why, then, is Mr. Gilchrist to +be singled out "as having set the first example?" A sole page of +Milton or Salmasius contains more abuse--rank, rancorous, +_unleavened_ abuse--than all that can be raked forth from the whole +works of many recent critics. There are some, indeed, who still keep +up the good old custom; but fewer English than foreign. It is a pity +that Mr. Bowles cannot witness some of the Italian controversies, or +become the subject of one. He would then look upon Mr. Gilchrist as a +panegyrist. + +In the long sentence quoted from the article in "The London +Magazine," there is one coarse image, the justice of whose +application I shall not pretend to determine:--"The pruriency with +which his nose is laid to the ground" is an expression which, whether +founded or not, might have been omitted. But the "anatomical +minuteness" appears to me justified even by Mr. Bowles's own +subsequent quotation. To the point:--"_Many facts_ tend to prove the +peculiar susceptibility of his passions; nor can we implicitly +believe that the connexion between him and Martha Blount was of a +nature so pure and innocent as his panegyrist Ruffhead would have us +believe," &c.--"At _no time_ could she have regarded _Pope +personally_ with attachment," &c.--"But the most extraordinary +circumstance in regard to his connexion with female society, was the +strange mixture of _indecent_ and even _profane_ levity which his +conduct and language often exhibited. The cause of this particularity +may be sought, perhaps, in his consciousness of physical defect, +which made him affect a character uncongenial, and a language +opposite to the truth."--If this is not "minute moral anatomy," I +should be glad to know what is! It is dissection in all its branches. +I shall, however, hazard a remark or two upon this quotation. + +To me it appears of no very great consequence whether Martha Blount +was or was not Pope's mistress, though I could have wished him a +better. She appears to have been a cold-hearted, interested, +ignorant, disagreeable woman, upon whom the tenderness of Pope's +heart in the desolation of his latter days was cast away, not knowing +whither to turn as he drew towards his premature old age, childless +and lonely,--like the needle which, approaching within a certain +distance of the pole, becomes helpless and useless, and, ceasing to +tremble, rusts. She seems to have been so totally unworthy of +tenderness, that it is an additional proof of the kindness of Pope's +heart to have been able to love such a being. But we must love +something. I agree with Mr. B. that _she_ "could at no time have +regarded _Pope personally_ with attachment," because she was +incapable of attachment; but I deny that Pope could not be regarded +with personal attachment by a worthier woman. It is not probable, +indeed, that a woman would have fallen in love with him as he walked +along the Mall, or in a box at the opera, nor from a balcony, nor in +a ball-room; but in society he seems to have been as amiable as +unassuming, and, with the greatest disadvantages of figure, his head +and face were remarkably handsome, especially his eyes. He was adored +by his friends--friends of the most opposite dispositions, ages, and +talents--by the old and wayward Wycherley, by the cynical Swift, the +rough Atterbury, the gentle Spence, the stern attorney-bishop +Warburton, the virtuous Berkeley, and the "cankered Bolingbroke." +Bolingbroke wept over him like a child; and Spence's description of +his last moments is at least as edifying as the more ostentatious +account of the deathbed of Addison. The soldier Peterborough and the +poet Gay, the witty Congreve and the laughing Rowe, the eccentric +Cromwell and the steady Bathurst, were all his intimates. The man who +could conciliate so many men of the most opposite description, not +one of whom but was a remarkable or a celebrated character, might +well have pretended to all the attachment which a reasonable man +would desire of an amiable woman. + +Pope, in fact, wherever he got it, appears to have understood the sex +well, Bolingbroke, "a judge of the subject," says Warton, thought his +"Epistle on the Characters of Women" his "masterpiece." And even with +respect to the grosser passion, which takes occasionally the name of +"_romantic_," accordingly as the degree of sentiment elevates it +above the definition of love by Buffon, it may be remarked, that it +does not always depend upon personal appearance, even in a woman. +Madame Cottin was a plain woman, and might have been virtuous, it may +be presumed, without much interruption. Virtuous she was, and the +consequences of this inveterate virtue were that two different +admirers (one an elderly gentleman) killed themselves in despair (see +Lady Morgan's "France"). I would not, however, recommend this rigour +to plain women in general, in the hope of securing the glory of two +suicides apiece. I believe that there are few men who, in the course +of their observations on life, may not have perceived that it is not +the greatest female beauty who forms the longest and the strongest +passions. + +But, apropos of Pope.--Voltaire tells us that the Marechal Luxembourg +(who had precisely Pope's figure) was not only somewhat too amatory +for a great man, but fortunate in his attachments. La Valiere, the +passion of Louis XIV., had an unsightly defect. The Princess of +Eboli, the mistress of Philip II. of Spain, and Maugiron, the minion +of Henry III. of France, had each of them lost an eye; and the famous +Latin epigram was written upon them, which has, I believe, been +either translated or imitated by Goldsmith:-- + + "Lumine Acon dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro, + Et potis est forma vincere uterque Deos; + Blande puer, lumen quod habes concede sorrori, + Sic tu caecus Amor, sic erit illa Venus." + +Wilkes, with his ugliness, used to say that "he was but a quarter of +an hour behind the handsomest man in England;" and this vaunt of his +is said not to have been disproved by circumstances. Swift, when +neither young, nor handsome, nor rich, nor even amiable, inspired the +two most extraordinary passions upon record, Vanessa's and Stella's. + + "Vanessa, aged scarce a score, + Sighs for a gown of _forty-four_." + +He requited them bitterly; for he seems to have broken the heart of +the one, and worn out that of the other; and he had his reward, for +he died a solitary idiot in the hands of servants. + +For my own part, I am of the opinion of Pausanias. that success in +love depends upon Fortune. "They particularly renounce Celestial +Venus, into whose temple, &c. &c. &c. I remember, too, to have seen a +building in AEgina in which there is a statue of Fortune, holding a +horn of Amalthea; and near her there is a winged Love. The meaning of +this is, that the success of men in love affairs depends more on the +assistance of Fortune than the charms of beauty. I am persuaded, too, +with Pindar (to whose opinion I submit in other particulars), that +Fortune is one of the Fates, and that in a certain respect she is +more powerful than her sisters."--See Pausanias, Achaics, book vii. +chap.26. p.246. Taylor's "Translation." + +Grimm has a remark of the same kind on the different destinies of the +younger Crebillon and Rousseau. The former writes a licentious novel, +and a young English girl of some fortune and family (a Miss +Strafford) runs away, and crosses the sea to marry him; while +Rousseau, the most tender and passionate of lovers, is obliged to +espouse his chambermaid. If I recollect rightly, this remark was also +repeated in the Edinburgh Review of Grimm's correspondence, seven or +eight years ago. + +In regard "to the strange mixture of indecent, and sometimes +_profane_ levity, which his conduct and language _often_ exhibited," +and which so much shocks Mr. Bowles, I object to the indefinite word +"_often_;" and in extenuation of the occasional occurrence of such +language it is to be recollected, that it was less the tone of +_Pope_, than the tone of the _time_. With the exception of the +correspondence of Pope and his friends, not many private letters of +the period have come down to us; but those, such as they are--a few +scattered scraps from Farquhar and others--are more indecent and +coarse than any thing in Pope's letters. The comedies of Congreve, +Vanbrugh, Farquhar, Cibber, &c., which naturally attempted to +represent the manners and conversation of private life, are decisive +upon this point; as are also some of Steele's papers, and even +Addison's. We all know what the conversation of Sir R. Walpole, for +seventeen years the prime minister of the country, was at his own +table, and his excuse for his licentious language, viz. "that every +body understood _that_, but few could talk rationally upon less +common topics." The refinement of latter days,--which is perhaps the +consequence of vice, which wishes to mask and soften itself, as much +as of virtuous civilisation,--had not yet made sufficient progress. +Even Johnson, in his "London," has two or three passages which cannot +be read aloud, and Addison's "Drummer" some indelicate allusions. + +The expression of Mr. Bowles, "his consciousness of physical defect," +is not very clear. It may mean deformity or debility. If it alludes +to Pope's deformity, it has been attempted to be shown that this was +no insuperable objection to his being beloved. If it alludes to +debility, as a consequence of Pope's peculiar conformation, I believe +that it is a physical and known fact that hump-backed persons are of +strong and vigorous passions. Several years ago, at Mr. Angelo's +fencing rooms, when I was a pupil of him and of Mr. Jackson, who had +the use of his rooms in Albany on the alternate days, I recollect a +gentleman named B--ll--gh--t, remarkable for his strength, and the +fineness of his figure. His skill was not inferior, for he could +stand up to the great Captain Barclay himself, with the muffles +on;--a task neither easy nor agreeable to a pugilistic aspirant. As +the by-standers were one day admiring his athletic proportions, he +remarked to us, that he had five brothers as tall and strong as +himself, and that their _father and mother were both crooked, and of +very small stature_;--I think he said, neither of them five feet +high. It would not be difficult to adduce similar instances; but I +abstain, because the subject is hardly refined enough for this +immaculate period, this moral millenium of expurgated editions in +books, manners, and royal trials of divorce. + +This laudable delicacy--this crying-out elegance of the day--reminds +me of a little circumstance which occurred when I was about eighteen +years of age. There was then (and there may be still) a famous French +"entremetteuse," who assisted young gentlemen in their youthful +pastimes. We had been acquainted for some time, when something +occurred in her line of business more than ordinary, and the refusal +was offered to me (and doubtless to many others), probably because I +was in cash at the moment, having taken up a decent sum from the +Jews, and not having spent much above half of it. The adventure on +the tapis, it seems, required some caution and circumspection. +Whether my venerable friend doubted my politeness I cannot tell; but +she sent me a letter couched in such English as a short residence of +sixteen years in England had enabled her to acquire. After several +precepts and instructions, the letter closed. But there was a +postscript. It contained these words:--"Remember, Milor, that +_delicaci ensure_ everi succes." The _delicacy_ of the day is +exactly, in all its circumstances, like that of this respectable +foreigner. "It ensures every _succes_," and is not a whit more moral +than, and not half so honourable as, the coarser candour of our less +polished ancestors. + +To return to Mr. Bowles. "If what is here extracted can excite in the +mind (I will not say of any 'layman', of any 'Christian', but) of any +_human being_," &c. &c. Is not Mr. Gilchrist a "human being?" Mr. +Bowles asks "whether in _attributing_ an article," &c. &c, "to the +critic, he had _any reason_ for distinguishing him with that +courtesy," &c. &c. But Mr. Bowles was wrong in "attributing the +article" to Mr. Gilchrist at all; and would not have been right in +calling him a dunce and a grocer, if he had written it. + +Mr. Bowles is here "peremptorily called upon to speak of a +circumstance which gives him the greatest pain,--the mention of a +letter he received from the editor of 'The London Magazine.'" Mr. +Bowles seems to have embroiled himself on all sides; whether by +editing, or replying, or attributing, or quoting,--it has been an +awkward affair for him. + +Poor Scott is now no more. In the exercise of his vocation, he +contrived at last to make himself the subject of a coroner's inquest. +But he died like a brave man, and he lived an able one. I knew him +personally, though slightly. Although several years my senior, we had +been schoolfellows together at the "grammar-schule" (or, as the +Aberdonians pronounce it, "_squeel_") of New Aberdeen. He did not +behave to me quite handsomely in his capacity of editor a few years +ago, but he was under no obligation to behave otherwise. The moment +was too tempting for many friends and for all enemies. At a time when +all my relations (save one) fell from me like leaves from the tree in +autumn winds, and my few friends became still fewer,--when the whole +periodical press (I mean the daily and weekly, _not_ the _literary_ +press) was let loose against me in every shape of reproach, with the +two strange exceptions (from their usual opposition) of "The Courier" +and "The Examiner,"--the paper of which Scott had the direction was +neither the last nor the least vituperative. Two years ago I met him +at Venice, when he was bowed in griefs by the loss of his son, and +had known, by experience, the bitterness of domestic privation. He +was then earnest with me to return to England; and on my telling him, +with a smile, that he was once of a different opinion, he replied to +me, 'that he and others had been greatly misled; and that some pains, +and rather extraordinary means, had been taken to excite them.' Scott +is no more, but there are more than one living who were present at +this dialogue. He was a man of very considerable talents, and of +great acquirements. He had made his way, as a literary character, +with high success, and in a few years. Poor fellow! I recollect his +joy at some appointment which he had obtained, or was to obtain, +through Sir James Mackintosh, and which prevented the further +extension (unless by a rapid run to Rome) of his travels in Italy. I +little thought to what it would conduct him. Peace be with him!--and +may all such other faults as are inevitable to humanity be as readily +forgiven him, as the little injury which he had done to one who +respected his talents, and regrets his loss. + +I pass over Mr. Bowles's page of explanation, upon the correspondence +between him and Mr. S----. It is of little importance in regard to +Pope, and contains merely a re-contradiction of a contradiction of +Mr. Gilchrist's. We now come to a point where Mr. Gilchrist has, +certainly, rather exaggerated matters; and, of course, Mr. Bowles +makes the most of it. Capital letters, like Kean's name, "large upon +the bills," are made use of six or seven times to express his sense +of the outrage. The charge is, indeed, very boldly made; but, like +"Ranold of the Mist's" practical joke of putting the bread and cheese +into a dead man's mouth, is, as Dugald Dalgetty says, "somewhat too +wild and salvage, besides wasting the good victuals." + +Mr. Gilchrist charges Mr. Bowles with "suggesting" that Pope +"attempted" to commit "a rape" upon Lady M. Wortley Montague. There +are two reasons why this could not be true. The first is, that like +the chaste Letitia's prevention of the intended ravishment by +Fireblood (in Jonathan Wild), it might have been impeded by a timely +compliance. The second is, that however this might be, Pope was +probably the less robust of the two; and (if the Lines on Sappho were +really intended for this lady) the asserted consequences of her +acquiescence in his wishes would have been a sufficient punishment. +The passage which Mr. Bowles quotes, however, insinuates nothing of +the kind: it merely charges her with encouragement, and him with +wishing to profit by it,--a slight attempt at seduction, and no more. +The phrase is, "a step beyond decorum." Any physical violence is so +abhorrent to human nature, that it recoils in cold blood from the +very idea. But, the seduction of a woman's mind as well as person is +not, perhaps, the least heinous sin of the two in morality. Dr. +Johnson commends a gentleman who having seduced a girl who said, "I +am afraid we have done wrong," replied, "Yes, we _have_ done +wrong,"--"for I would not _pervert_ her mind also." Othello would not +"kill Desdemona's _soul_." Mr. Bowles exculpates himself from Mr. +Gilchrist's charge; but it is by substituting another charge against +Pope. "A step beyond decorum," has a soft sound, but what does it +express? In all these cases, "ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute." +Has not the Scripture something upon "the lusting after a woman" +being no less criminal than the crime? "A step beyond decorum," in +short, any step beyond the instep, is a step from a precipice to the +lady who permits it. For the gentleman who makes it it is also rather +hazardous if he does not succeed, and still more so if he does. + +Mr. Bowles appeals to the "Christian reader!" upon this +"_Gilchristian_ criticism." Is not this play upon such words "a step +beyond decorum" in a clergyman? But I admit the temptation of a pun +to be irresistible. + +But "a hasty pamphlet was published, in which some personalities +respecting Mr. Gilchrist were suffered to appear." If Mr. Bowles will +write "hasty pamphlets," why is he so surprised on receiving short +answers? The grand grievance to which he perpetually returns is a +charge of "_hypochondriacism_," asserted or insinuated in the +Quarterly. I cannot conceive a man in perfect health being much +affected by such a charge, because his complexion and conduct must +amply refute it. But were it true, to what does it amount?--to an +impeachment of a liver complaint. "I will tell it to the world," +exclaimed the learned Smelfungus.--"You had better," said I, "tell it +to your physician." There is nothing dishonourable in such a +disorder, which is more peculiarly the malady of students. It has +been the complaint of the good, and the wise, and the witty, and even +of the gay. Regnard, the author of the last French comedy after +Moliere, was atrabilious; and Moliere himself, saturnine. Dr. +Johnson, Gray, and Burns, were all more or less affected by it +occasionally. It was the prelude to the more awful malady of Collins, +Cowper, Swift, and Smart; but it by no means follows that a partial +affliction of this disorder is to terminate like theirs. But even +were it so,-- + + "Nor best, nor wisest, are exempt from thee; + Folly--Folly's only free." PENROSE. + +If this be the criterion of exemption, Mr. Bowles's last two +pamphlets form a better certificate of sanity than a physician's. +Mendehlson and Bayle were at times so overcome with this depression, +as to be obliged to recur to seeing "puppet-shows, and counting tiles +upon the opposite houses," to divert themselves. Dr. Johnson at times +"would have given a limb to recover his spirits." Mr. Bowles, who is +(strange to say) fond of quoting Pope, may perhaps answer,-- + + "Go on, obliging creatures, let me see + All which disgrac'd my betters met in me." + +But the charge, such as it is, neither disgraces them nor him. It is +easily disproved if false; and even if proved true, has nothing in it +to make a man so very indignant. Mr. Bowles himself appears to be a +little ashamed of his "hasty pamphlet;" for he attempts to excuse it +by the "great provocation;" that is to say, by Mr. Bowles's supposing +that Mr. Gilchrist was the writer of the article in the Quarterly, +which he was _not_. + +"But, in extenuation, not only the _great_ provocation should be +remembered, but it ought to be said, that orders were sent to the +London booksellers, that the most direct personal passages should be +_omitted entirely_," &c. This is what the proverb calls "breaking a +head and giving a plaster;" but, in this instance, the plaster was +not spread in time, and Mr. Gilchrist does not seem at present +disposed to regard Mr. Bowles's courtesies like the rust of the spear +of Achilles, which had such "skill in surgery." + +But "Mr. Gilchrist has _no right_ to object, as the reader will see." +I am a reader, a "gentle reader," and I see nothing of the kind. Were +I in Mr. Gilchrist's place, I should object exceedingly to being +abused; firstly, for what I _did_ write, and, secondly, for what I +did _not_ write; merely because it is Mr. Bowles's will and pleasure +to be as angry with me for having written in the London Magazine, as +for not having written in the Quarterly Review. + +"Mr. Gilchrist has had ample revenge; for he has, in his answer, said +so and so," &c. &c. There is no great revenge in all this; and I +presume that nobody either seeks or wishes it. What revenge? Mr. +Bowles calls names, and he is answered. But Mr. Gilchrist and the +Quarterly Reviewer are not poets, nor pretenders to poetry; therefore +they can have no envy nor malice against Mr. Bowles: they have no +acquaintance with Mr. Bowles, and can have no personal pique; they do +not cross his path of life, nor he theirs. There is no political feud +between them. What, then, can be the motive of their discussion of +his deserts as an editor?--veneration for the genius of Pope, love +for his memory, and regard for the classic glory of their country. +Why would Mr. Bowles edite? Had he limited his honest endeavours to +poetry, very little would have been said upon the subject, and +nothing at all by his present antagonists. + +Mr. Bowles calls the pamphlet a "mud-cart," and the writer a +"scavenger." Afterward he asks, "Shall he fling dirt and receive +_rose-water_?" This metaphor, by the way, is taken from Marmontel's +Memoirs; who, lamenting to Chamfort the shedding of blood during the +French revolution, was answered, "Do you think that revolutions are +to be made with _rose-water_?" + +For my own part, I presume that "rose-water" would be infinitely more +graceful in the hands of Mr. Bowles than the substance which he has +substituted for that delicate liquid. It would also more confound his +adversary, supposing him a "scavenger." I remember, (and do you +remember, reader, that it was in my earliest youth, "Consule +Planco,")--on the morning of the great battle, (the second)--between +Gulley and Gregson,--_Cribb_, who was matched against Horton for the +second fight, on the same memorable day, awaking me (a lodger at the +inn in the next room) by a loud remonstrance to the waiter against +the abomination of his towels, which had been laid in _lavender_. +Cribb was a coal-heaver--and was much more discomfited by this +odoriferous effeminacy of fine linen, than by his adversary Horton, +whom, he "finished in style," though with some reluctance; for I +recollect that he said, "he disliked hurting him, he looked so +pretty,"--Horton being a very fine fresh-coloured young man. + +To return to "rose-water"--that is, to gentle means of rebuke. Does +Mr. Bowles know how to revenge himself upon a hackney-coachman, when +he has overcharged his fare? In case he should not, I will tell him. +It is of little use to call him "a rascal, a scoundrel, a thief, an +impostor, a blackguard, a villain, a raggamuffin, a--what you +please;" all that he is used to--it is his mother-tongue, and +probably his mother's. But look him steadily and quietly in the face, +and say--"Upon my word, I think you are the _ugliest fellow_ I ever +saw in my life," and he will instantly roll forth the brazen thunders +of the charioteer Salmoneus as follows:--"_Hugly_! what the h--ll are +_you_? _You_ a _gentleman_! Why ----!" So much easier it is to +_provoke_--and therefore to vindicate--(for passion punishes him who +_feels_ it more than those whom the passionate would excruciate)--by +a few quiet words the aggressor, than by retorting violently. The +"coals of fire" of the Scripture are _benefits_;--but they are not +the less "coals of _fire_." + +I pass over a page of quotation and reprobation--"Sin up to my +song"--"Oh let my little bark"--"Arcades ambo"--"Writer in the +Quarterly Review and himself"--"In-door avocations, indeed"--"King of +Brentford"--"One nosegay"--"Perennial nosegay"--"Oh Juvenes,"--and +the like. + +Page 12. produces "more reasons,"--(the task ought not to have been +difficult, for as yet there were none)--"to show why Mr. Bowles +attributed the critique in the Quarterly to Octavius Gilchrist." All +these "reasons" consist of _surmises_ of Mr. Bowles, upon the +presumed character of his opponent. "He did not suppose there could +exist a man in the kingdom so _impudent_, &c. &c. except Octavius +Gilchrist."--"He did not think there was a man in the kingdom who +would _pretend ignorance_, &c. &c. except Octavius Gilchrist."--"He +did not conceive that one man in the kingdom would utter such stupid +flippancy, &c. &c. except Octavius Gilchrist."--"He did not think +there was one man in the kingdom who, &c. &c. could so utterly show +his ignorance, _combined with conceit_, &c. as Octavius +Gilchrist."--"He did not believe there was a man in the kingdom so +perfect in Mr. Gilchrist's 'old lunes,'" &c. &c.--"He did not think +the _mean mind_ of any one in the kingdom," &c. and so on; always +beginning with "any one in the kingdom," and ending with "Octavius +Gilchrist," like the word in a catch. I am not "in the kingdom," and +have not been much in the kingdom since I was one and twenty, (about +five years in the whole, since I was of age,) and have no desire to +be in the kingdom again, whilst I breathe, nor to sleep there +afterwards; and I regret nothing more than having ever been "in the +kingdom" at all. But though no longer a man "in the kingdom," let me +hope that when I have ceased to exist, it may be said, as was +answered by the master of Clanronald's henchman, his day after the +battle of Sheriff-Muir, when he was found watching his chief's body. +He was asked, "who that was?" he replied--"it was a man yesterday." +And in this capacity, "in or out of the kingdom," I must own that I +participate in many of the objections urged by Mr. Gilchrist. I +participate in his love of Pope, and in his not understanding, and +occasionally finding fault with, the last editor of our last truly +great poet. + +One of the reproaches against Mr. Gilchrist is, that he is (it is +sneeringly said) an F. S. _A_. If it will give Mr. Bowles any +pleasure, I am not an F. S. A. but a Fellow of the Royal Society at +his service, in case there should be any thing in that association +also which may point a paragraph. + +"There are some other reasons," but "the author is now _not_ +unknown." Mr. Bowles has so totally exhausted himself upon Octavius +Gilchrist, that he has not a word left for the real quarterer of his +edition, although now "deterre." + +The following page refers to a mysterious charge of "duplicity, in +regard to the publication of Pope's letters." Till this charge is +made in proper form, we have nothing to do with it: Mr. Gilchrist +hints it--Mr. Bowles denies it; there it rests for the present. Mr. +Bowles professes his dislike to "Pope's duplicity, _not_ to Pope"--a +distinction apparently without a difference. However, I believe that +I understand him. We have a great dislike to Mr. Bowles's edition of +Pope, but _not_ to Mr. Bowles; nevertheless, he takes up the subject +as warmly as if it was personal. With regard to the fact of "Pope's +duplicity," it remains to be proved--like Mr. Bowles's benevolence +towards his memory. + +In page 14. we have a large assertion, that "the 'Eloisa' alone is +sufficient to convict him of _gross licentiousness_." Thus, out it +comes at last. Mr. Bowles _does_ accuse Pope of "_gross_ +licentiousness," and grounds the charge upon a poem. The +_licentiousness_ is a "grand peut-etre," according to the turn of the +times being. The grossness I deny. On the contrary, I do believe that +such a subject never was, nor ever could be, treated by any poet with +so much delicacy, mingled with, at the same time, such true and +intense passion. Is the "Atys" of Catullus _licentious_? No, nor even +gross; and yet Catullus is often a coarse writer. The subject is +nearly the same, except that Atys was the suicide of his manhood, and +Abelard the victim. + +The "licentiousness" of the story was _not_ Pope's,--it was a fact. +All that it had of gross, he has softened;--all that it had of +indelicate, he has purified;--all that it had of passionate, he has +beautified;--all that it had of holy, he has hallowed. Mr. Campbell +has admirably marked this in a few words (I quote from memory), in +drawing the distinction between Pope and Dryden, and pointing out +where Dryden was wanting "I fear," says he, "that had the subject of +'Eloisa' fallen into his (Dryden's) hands, that he would have given +us but a _coarse_ draft of her passion." Never was the delicacy of +Pope so much shown as in this poem. With the facts and the letters of +"Eloisa" he has done what no other mind but that of the best and +purest of poets could have accomplished with such materials. Ovid, +Sappho (in the Ode called hers)--all that we have of ancient, all +that we have of modern poetry, sinks into nothing compared with him +in this production. + +Let us hear no more of this trash about "licentiousness." Is not +"Anacreon" taught in our schools?--translated, praised, and edited? +Are not his Odes the amatory praises of a boy? Is not Sappho's Ode on +a girl? Is not this sublime and (according to Longinus) fierce love +for one of her own sex? And is not Phillips's translation of it in +the mouths of all your women? And are the English schools or the +English women the more corrupt for all this? When you have thrown the +ancients into the fire it will be time to denounce the moderns. +"Licentiousness!"--there is more real mischief and sapping +licentiousness in a single French prose novel, in a Moravian hymn, or +a German comedy, than in all the actual poetry that ever was penned, +or poured forth, since the rhapsodies of Orpheus. The sentimental +anatomy of Rousseau and Mad. de S. are far more formidable than any +quantity of verse. They are so, because they sap the principles, by +_reasoning_ upon the _passions_; whereas poetry is in itself passion, +and does not systematise. It assails, but does not argue; it may be +wrong, but it does not assume pretensions to Optimism. + +Mr. Bowles now has the goodness "to point out the difference between +a _traducer_ and him who sincerely states what he sincerely +believes." He might have spared himself the trouble. The one is a +liar, who lies knowingly; the other (I speak of a scandal-monger of +course) lies, charitably believing that he speaks truth, and very +sorry to find himself in falsehood;--because he + + "Would rather that the dean should die, + Than his prediction prove a lie." + +After a definition of a "traducer," which was quite superfluous +(though it is agreeable to learn that Mr. Bowles so well understands +the character), we are assured, that "he feels equally indifferent, +Mr. Gilchrist, for what your malice can invent, or your impudence +utter." This is indubitable; for it rests not only on Mr. Bowles's +assurance, but on that of Sir Fretful Plagiary, and nearly in the +same words,--"and I shall treat it with exactly the same calm +indifference and philosophical contempt, and so your servant." + +"One thing has given Mr. Bowles concern." It is "a passage which +might seem to reflect on the patronage a young man has received." +MIGHT seem!! The passage alluded to expresses, that if Mr. Gilchrist +be the reviewer of "a certain poet of nature," his praise and blame +are equally contemptible."--Mr. Bowles, who has a peculiarly +ambiguous style, where it suits him, comes off with a "_not_ to the +_poet_, but the critic," &c. In my humble opinion, the passage +referred to both. Had Mr. Bowles really meant fairly, he would have +said so from the first--he would have been eagerly transparent.--"A +certain poet of nature" is not the style of commendation. It is the +very prologue to the most scandalous paragraphs of the newspapers, +when + + "Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike." + +"A certain high personage,"--"a certain peeress,"--"a certain +illustrious foreigner,"--what do these words ever precede, but +defamation? Had he felt a spark of kindling kindness for John Clare, +he would have named him. There is a sneer in the sentence as it +stands. How a favourable review of a deserving poet can "rather +injure than promote his cause" is difficult to comprehend. The +article denounced is able and amiable, and it _has_ "served" the +poet, as far as poetry can be served by judicious and honest +criticism. + +With the two next paragraphs of Mr. Bowles's pamphlet it is pleasing +to concur. His mention of "Pennie," and his former patronage of +"Shoel," do him honour. I am not of those who may deny Mr. Bowles to +be a benevolent man. I merely assert, that he is not a candid editor. + +Mr. Bowles has been "a writer occasionally upwards of thirty years," +and never wrote one word in reply in his life "to criticisms, merely +_as_ criticisms." This is Mr. Lofty in Goldsmith's Good-natured Man; +"and I vow by all that's honourable, my resentment has never done the +men, as mere men, any manner of harm,--that is, _as mere men_." + +"The letter to the editor of the newspaper" is owned; but "it was not +on account of the criticism. It was because the criticism came down +in a frank _directed_ to Mrs. Bowles!!!"--(the italics and three +notes of admiration appended to Mrs. Bowles are copied verbatim from +the quotation), and Mr. Bowles was not displeased with the criticism, +but with the frank and the address. I agree with Mr. Bowles that the +intention was to annoy him; but I fear that this was answered by his +notice of the reception of the criticism. An anonymous letter-writer +has but one means of knowing the effect of his attack. In this he has +the superiority over the viper; he knows that his poison has taken +effect, when he hears the victim cry;--the adder is _deaf_. The best +reply to an anonymous intimation is to take no notice directly nor +indirectly. I wish Mr. Bowles could see only one or two of the +thousand which I have received in the course of a literary life, +which, though begun early, has not yet extended to a third part of +his existence as an author. I speak of _literary_ life only. Were I +to add _personal_, I might double the amount of _anonymous_ letters. +If he could but see the violence, the threats, the absurdity of the +whole thing, he would laugh, and so should I, and thus be both +gainers. + +To keep up the farce,--within the last month of this present writing +(1821), I have had my life threatened in the same way which menaced +Mr. Bowles's fame,--excepting that the anonymous denunciation was +addressed to the Cardinal Legate of Romagna, instead of to Mrs. +Bowles. The Cardinal is, I believe, the elder lady of the two. I +append the menace in all its barbaric but literal Italian, that Mr. +Bowles may be convinced; and as this is the only "promise to pay," +which the Italians ever keep, so my person has been at least as much +exposed to a "shot in the gloaming," from "John Heatherblutter" (see +Waverley), as ever Mr. Bowles's glory was from an editor. I am, +nevertheless, on horseback and lonely for some hours (_one_ of them +twilight) in the forest daily; and this, because it was my "custom in +the afternoon," and that I believe if the tyrant cannot escape amidst +his guards (should it be so written?), so the humbler individual +would find precautions useless. + +Mr. Bowles has here the humility to say, that "he must succumb; for +with Lord Byron turned against him, he has no chance,"--a declaration +of self-denial not much in unison with his "promise," five lines +afterwards, that "for every twenty-four lines quoted by Mr. +Gilchrist, or his friend, to greet him with as many from the +'Gilchrisiad';" but so much the better. Mr. Bowles has no reason to +"succumb" but to Mr. Bowles. As a poet, the author of "The +Missionary" may compete with the foremost of his cotemporaries. Let +it be recollected, that all my previous opinions of Mr. Bowles's +poetry were _written_ long before the publication of his last and +best poem; and that a poet's _last_ poem should be his best, is his +highest praise. But, however, he may duly and honourably rank with +his living rivals. There never was so complete a proof of the +superiority of Pope, as in the lines with which Mr. Bowles closes his +"_to be concluded in our next_." + +Mr. Bowles is avowedly the champion and the poet of nature. Art and +the arts are dragged, some before, and others behind his chariot. +Pope, where he deals with passion, and with the nature of the +naturals of the day, is allowed even by themselves to be sublime; but +they complain that too soon-- + + "He stoop'd to truth and moralised his song," + +and _there_ even _they_ allow him to be unrivalled. He has succeeded, +and even surpassed them, when he chose, in their own _pretended_ +province. Let us see what their Coryphaeus effects in Pope's. But it +is too pitiable, it is too melancholy, to see Mr. Bowles "_sinning_" +not "_up_" but "_down_" as a poet to his lowest depth as an editor. +By the way, Mr. Bowles is always quoting Pope. I grant that there is +no poet--not Shakspeare himself--who can be so often quoted, with +reference to life;--but his editor is so like the devil quoting +Scripture, that I could wish Mr. Bowles in his proper place, quoting +in the pulpit. + +And now for his lines. But it is painful--painful--to see such a +suicide, though at the shrine of Pope. I can't copy them all:-- + + "Shall the rank, loathsome miscreant of the age + Sit, like a night-mare, grinning o'er a page." + + "Whose pye-bald character so aptly suit + The two extremes of Bantam and of Brute, + Compound grotesque of sullenness and show, + The chattering magpie, and the croaking crow." + + "Whose heart contends with thy Saturnian head, + A root of hemlock, and a lump of lead. + Gilchrist proceed," &c. &c. + + "And thus stand forth, spite of thy venom'd foam, + To give thee _bite for bite_, or lash thee limping home." + +With regard to the last line, the only one upon which I shall venture +for fear of infection, I would advise Mr. Gilchrist to keep out of +the way of such reciprocal morsure--unless he has more faith in the +"Ormskirk medicine" than most people, or may wish to anticipate the +pension of the recent German professor, (I forget his name, but it is +advertised and full of consonants,) who presented his memoir of an +infallible remedy for the hydrophobia to the German diet last month, +coupled with the philanthropic condition of a large annuity, provided +that his cure cured. Let him begin with the editor of Pope, and +double his demand. + +Yours ever, + +BYRON. + + +_To John Murray, Esq_. + +P.S. Amongst the above-mentioned lines there occurs the following, +_applied_ to Pope-- + + "The assassin's vengeance, and the coward's lie." + +And Mr. Bowles persists that he is a well-wisher to Pope!!! He has, +then, edited an "assassin" and a "coward" wittingly, as well as +lovingly. In my former letter I have remarked upon the editor's +forgetfulness of Pope's benevolence. But where he mentions his faults +it is "with sorrow"--his tears drop, but they do not blot them out. +The "recording angel" differs from the recording clergyman. A fulsome +editor is pardonable though tiresome, like a panegyrical son whose +pious sincerity would demi-deify his father. But a detracting editor +is a paricide. He sins against the nature of his office, and +connection--he murders the life to come of his victim. If his author +is not worthy to be mentioned, do not edit at all: if he be, edit +honestly, and even flatteringly. The reader will forgive the weakness +in favour of mortality, and correct your adulation with a smile. But +to sit down "mingere in patrios cineres," as Mr. Bowles has done, +merits a reprobation so strong, that I am as incapable of expressing +as of ceasing to feel it. + + +_Further Addenda_. + +It is worthy of remark that, after all this outcry about "_in-door_ +nature" and "artificial images," Pope was the principal inventor of +that boast of the English, _Modern Gardening_. He divides this honour +with Milton. Hear Warton:--"It hence appears, that this _enchanting_ +art of modern gardening, in which this kingdom claims a preference +over every nation in Europe, chiefly owes _its origin_ and its +improvements to two great poets, Milton and _Pope_." + +Walpole (no friend to Pope) asserts that Pope formed _Kent's_ taste, +and that Kent was the artist to whom the English are chiefly indebted +for diffusing "a taste in laying out grounds." The design of the +Prince of Wales's garden was copied from _Pope's_ at Twickenham. +Warton applauds "his singular effort of art and taste, in impressing +so much variety and scenery on a spot of five acres." Pope was the +_first_ who ridiculed the "formal, French, Dutch, false and unnatural +taste in gardening," both in _prose_ and verse. (See, for the former, +"The Guardian.") + +"Pope has given not only some of our _first_ but _best_ rules and +observations on _Architecture_ and _Gardening_." (See Warton's Essay, +vol. ii. p. 237, &c. &c.) + +Now, is it not a shame, after this, to hear our Lakers in "Kendal +Green," and our Bucolical Cockneys, crying out (the latter in a +wilderness of bricks and mortar) about "Nature," and Pope's +"artificial in-door habits?" Pope had seen all of nature that +_England_ alone can supply. He was bred in Windsor Forest, and amidst +the beautiful scenery of Eton; he lived familiarly and frequently at +the country seats of Bathurst, Cobham, Burlington, Peterborough, +Digby, and Bolingbroke; amongst whose seats was to be numbered +_Stowe_. He made his own little "five acres" a model to princes, and +to the first of our artists who imitated nature. Warton thinks "that +the most engaging of _Kent_'s works was also planned on the model of +Pope's,--at least in the opening and retiring shades of Venus's +Vale." + +It is true that Pope was infirm and deformed; but he could walk, and +he could ride (he rode to Oxford from London at a stretch), and he +was famous for an exquisite eye. On a tree at Lord Bathurst's is +carved "Here Pope sang,"--he composed beneath it. Bolingbroke, in one +of his letters, represents them both writing in the hay-field. No +poet ever admired Nature more, or used her better, than Pope has +done, as I will undertake to prove from his works, _prose_ and +_verse_, if not anticipated in so easy and agreeable a labour. I +remember a passage in Walpole, somewhere, of a gentleman who wished +to give directions about some willows to a man who had long served +Pope in his grounds: "I understand, sir," he replied: "you would have +them hang down, sir, _somewhat poetical_." Now, if nothing existed +but this little anecdote, it would suffice to prove Pope's taste for +_Nature_, and the impression which he had made on a common-minded +man. But I have already quoted Warton and Walpole (_both_ his +enemies), and, were it necessary, I could amply quote Pope himself +for such tributes to _Nature_ as no poet of the present day has even +approached. + +His various excellence is really wonderful: architecture, painting, +_gardening_, all are alike subject to his genius. Be it remembered, +that English _gardening_ is the purposed perfectioning of niggard +_Nature_, and that without it England is but a hedge-and-ditch, +double-post-and-rail, Hounslow Heath and Clapham Common sort of +country, since the principal forests have been felled. It is, in +general, far from a picturesque country. The case is different with +Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; and I except also the lake counties and +Derbyshire, together with Eton, Windsor, and my own dear Harrow on +the Hill, and some spots near the coast. In the present rank +fertility of "great poets of the age," and "schools of poetry"--a +word which, like "schools of eloquence" and of "philosophy," is never +introduced till the decay of the art has increased with the number of +its professors--in the present day, then, there have sprung up two +sorts of Naturals;--the Lakers, who whine about Nature because they +live in Cumberland; and their _under-sect_ (which some one has +maliciously called the "Cockney School"), who are enthusiastical for +the country because they live in London. It is to be observed, that +the rustical founders are rather anxious to disclaim any connexion +with their metropolitan followers, whom they ungraciously review, and +call cockneys, atheists, foolish fellows, bad writers, and other hard +names not less ungrateful than unjust. I can understand the +pretensions of the aquatic gentlemen of Windermere to what Mr. Braham +terms "_entusumusy_," for lakes, and mountains, and daffodils, and +buttercups; but I should be glad to be apprised of the foundation of +the London propensities of their imitative brethren to the same "high +argument." Southey, Wordsworth, and Coleridge have rambled over half +Europe, and seen Nature in most of her varieties (although I think +that they have occasionally not used her very well); but what on +earth--of earth, and sea, and Nature--have the others seen? Not a +half, nor a tenth part so much as Pope. While they sneer at his +Windsor Forest, have they ever seen any thing of Windsor except its +_brick_? + +The most rural of these gentlemen is my friend Leigh Hunt, who lives +at Hampstead. I believe that I need not disclaim any personal or +poetical hostility against that gentleman. A more amiable man in +society I know not; nor (when he will allow his sense to prevail over +his sectarian principles) a better writer. When he was writing his +"Rimini," I was not the last to discover its beauties, long before it +was published. Even then I remonstrated against its vulgarisms; which +are the more extraordinary, because the author is any thing but a +vulgar man. Mr. Hunt's answer was, that he wrote them upon principle; +they made part of his "_system!!_" I then said no more. When a man +talks of his system, it is like a woman's talking of her _virtue_. I +let them talk on. Whether there are writers who could have written +"Rimini," as it might have been written, I know not; but Mr. Hunt is, +probably, the only poet who could have had the heart to spoil his own +Capo d'Opera. + +With the rest of his young people I have no acquaintance, except +through some things of theirs (which have been sent out without my +desire), and I confess that till I had read them I was not aware of +the full extent of human absurdity. Like Garrick's "Ode to +Shakspeare," _they "defy criticism_." These are of the personages who +decry Pope. One of them, a Mr. John Ketch, has written some lines +against him, of which it were better to be the subject than the +author. Mr. Hunt redeems himself by occasional beauties; but the rest +of these poor creatures seem so far gone that I would not "march +through Coventry with them, that's flat!" were I in Mr. Hunt's place. +To be sure, he has "led his ragamuffins where they will be well +peppered;" but a system-maker must receive all sorts of proselytes. +When they have really seen life--when they have felt it--when they +have travelled beyond the far distant boundaries of the wilds of +Middlesex--when they have overpassed the Alps of Highgate, and traced +to its sources the Nile of the New River--then, and not till then, +can it properly he permitted to them to despise Pope; who had, if not +_in Wales_, been _near_ it, when he described so beautifully the +"_artificial_" works of the Benefactor of Nature and mankind, the +"Man of Ross," whose picture, still suspended in the parlour of the +inn, I have so often contemplated with reverence for his memory, and +admiration of the poet, without whom even his own still existing good +works could hardly have preserved his honest renown. + +I would also observe to my friend Hunt, that I shall be very glad to +see him at Ravenna, not only for my sincere pleasure in his company, +and the advantage which a thousand miles or so of travel might +produce to a "natural" poet, but also to point out one or two little +things in "Rimini," which he probably would not have placed in his +opening to that poem, if he had ever seen Ravenna;--unless, indeed, +it made "part of his system!!" I must also crave his indulgence for +having spoken of his disciples--by no means an agreeable or +self-sought subject. If they had said nothing of _Pope_, they might +have remained "alone with their glory" for aught I should have said +or thought about them or their nonsense. But if they interfere with +the "little Nightingale" of Twickenham, they may find others who will +bear it--_I_ won't. Neither time, nor distance, nor grief, nor age, +can ever diminish my veneration for him, who is the great moral poet +of all times, of all climes, of all feelings, and of all stages of +existence. The delight of my boyhood, the study of my manhood, +perhaps (if allowed to me to attain it) he may be the consolation of +my age. His poetry is the Book of Life. Without canting, and yet +without neglecting religion, he has assembled all that a good and +great man can gather together of moral wisdom clothed in consummate +beauty. Sir William Temple observes, "that of all the members of +mankind that live within the compass of a thousand years, for one man +that is born capable of making a _great poet_, there may be a +_thousand_ born capable of making as great generals and ministers of +state as any in story." Here is a statesman's opinion of poetry: it +is honourable to him and to the art. Such a "poet of a thousand +years" was _Pope_. A thousand years will roll away before such +another can be hoped for in our literature. But it can _want_ +them--he himself is a literature. + +One word upon his so brutally abused translation of Homer. "Dr. +Clarke, whose critical exactness is well known, has _not been_ able +to point out above three or four mistakes _in the sense_ through the +whole Iliad. The real faults of the translation are of a different +kind." So says Warton, himself a scholar. It appears by this, then, +that he avoided the chief fault of a translator. As to its other +faults, they consist in his having made a beautiful English poem of a +sublime Greek one. It will always hold. Cowper and all the rest of +the blank pretenders may do their best and their worst: they will +never wrench Pope from the hands of a single reader of sense and +feeling. + +The grand distinction of the under forms of the new school of poets +is their _vulgarity_. By this I do not mean that they are _coarse_, +but "shabby-genteel," as it is termed. A man may be _coarse_ and yet +not _vulgar_, and the reverse. Burns is often coarse, but never +_vulgar_. Chatterton is never vulgar, nor Wordsworth, nor the higher +of the Lake school, though they treat of low life in all its +branches. It is in their _finery_ that the new under school are +_most_ vulgar, and they may be known by this at once; as what we +called at Harrow "a Sunday blood" might be easily distinguished from +a gentleman, although his clothes might be the better cut, and his +boots the best blackened, of the two;--probably because he made the +one, or cleaned the other, with his own hands. + +In the present case, I speak of writing, not of persons. Of the +latter, I know nothing; of the former, I judge as it is found. Of my +friend Hunt, I have already said, that he is any thing but vulgar in +his manners; and of his disciples, therefore, I will not judge of +their manners from their verses. They may be honourable and +_gentlemanly_ men, for what I know; but the latter quality is +studiously excluded from their publications. They remind me of Mr. +Smith and the Miss Broughtons at the Hampstead Assembly, in +"Evelina." In these things (in private life, at least,) I pretend to +some small experience; because, in the course of my youth, I have +seen a little of all sorts of society, from the Christian prince and +the Mussulman sultan and pacha, and the higher ranks of their +countries, down to the London boxer, the "_flash and the swell_," the +Spanish muleteer, the wandering Turkish dervise, the Scotch +highlander, and the Albanian robber;--to say nothing of the curious +varieties of Italian social life. Far be it from me to presume that +there ever was, or can be, such a thing as an _aristocracy_ of +_poets_; but there _is_ a nobility of thought and of style, open to +all stations, and derived partly from talent, and partly from +education,--which is to be found in Shakspeare, and Pope, and Burns, +no less than in Dante and Alfieri, but which is nowhere to be +perceived in the mock birds and bards of Mr. Hunt's little chorus. If +I were asked to define what this gentlemanliness is, I should say +that it is only to be defined by _examples_--of those who have it, +and those who have it not. In _life_, I should say that most +_military_ men have it, and few _naval_;--that several men of rank +have it, and few lawyers;--that it is more frequent among authors +than divines (when they are not pedants); that _fencing_-masters have +more of it than dancing-masters, and singers than players; and that +(if it be not an Irishism to say so) it is far more generally +diffused among women than among men. In poetry, as well as writing in +general, it will never _make_ entirely a poet or a poem; but neither +poet nor poem will ever be good for any thing without it. It is the +_salt_ of society, and the seasoning of composition. _Vulgarity_ is +far worse than downright _blackguardism_; for the latter comprehends +wit, humour, and strong sense at times; while the former is a sad +abortive attempt at all things, "signifying nothing." It does not +depend upon low themes, or even low language, for Fielding revels in +both;--but is he ever _vulgar_? No. You see the man of education, the +gentleman, and the scholar, sporting with his subject,--its master, +not its slave. Your vulgar writer is always most vulgar, the higher, +his subject; as the man who showed the menagerie at Pidcock's was +wont to say,--"This, gentlemen, is the _eagle_ of the _sun_, from +Archangel, in Russia; the _otterer_ it is, the _igherer_ he flies." +But to the proofs. It is a thing to be felt more than explained. Let +any man take up a volume of Mr. Hunt's subordinate writers, read (if +possible) a couple of pages, and pronounce for himself, if they +contain not the kind of writing which may be likened to +"shabby-genteel" in actual life. When he has done this, let him take +up Pope;--and when he has laid him down, take up the cockney +again--if he can. + + * * * * * + + _Note to the passage in page_ 396. _relative to Pope's + lines upon Lady Mary W. Montague_.] I think that I could + show, if necessary, that Lady Mary W. Montague was also + greatly to blame in that quarrel, _not_ for having + rejected, but for having encouraged him: but I would rather + decline the task--though she should have remembered her own + line, "_He comes too near, that comes to be denied_." I + admire her so much--her beauty, her talents--that I should do + this reluctantly. I, besides, am so attached to the very name + of _Mary_, that as Johnson once said, "If you called a + dog _Harvey_, I should love him;" so, if you were to call + a female of the same species "Mary," I should love it better + than others (biped or quadruped) of the same sex with a + different appellation. She was an extraordinary woman: she + could translate _Epictetus_, and yet write a song worthy + of Aristippus. The lines, + + "And when the long hours of the public are past, + And we meet, with champaigne and a chicken, at last, + May every fond pleasure that moment endear! + Be banish'd afar both discretion and fear! + Forgetting or scorning the airs of the crowd, + He may cease to be formal, and I to be proud, + Till," &c. &c. + + There, Mr. Bowles!--what say you to such a supper with such a + woman? and her own description too? Is not her "_champaigne + and chicken_" worth a forest or two? Is it not poetry? It + appears to me that this stanza contains the "_puree_" of + the whole philosophy of Epicurus:--I mean the _practical_ + philosophy of his school, not the precepts of the master; for + I have been too long at the university not to know that the + philosopher was himself a moderate man. But, after all, would + not some of us have been as great fools as Pope? For my part, + I wonder that, with his quick feelings, her coquetry, and his + disappointment, he did no more,--instead of writing some + lines, which are to be condemned if false, and regretted if + true. + + + + +INDEX. + + * * * * * + +The Roman letters refer to the Volume; the Arabic figures to the Page. + + * * * * * + +A. + +ABERDEEN, Mrs. Byron's residence at + the day school there at which Lord Byron was a pupil + his allusion to the localities of + affection of the people of, for his memory +Absence, consolations in +Abstinence, the sole remedy for plethora +Abydos, Lord Byron's swimming feat from Sestos to + See Bride of Abydos +Abyssinia, Lord Byron's project of visiting +Academical studies, effect of, on the imaginative faculty +Acerbi, Giuseppe +Acland, Mr., Lord Byron's school-fellow at Harrow +Acting, no immaterial sensuality so delightful +Actium, remains of the town of +Actors, an impracticable race +Ada + See Byron, Augusta-Ada +Adair, Robert, esq. +Adams, John, the Southwell carrier + Lord Byron's epitaph on +Addison, Joseph, his character as a poet + His conversation + His 'Drummer' +'Adolphe,' Benjamin Constant's +Adversity +'AEneid, the,' written for political purposes +AEschylus + His 'Prometheus' + His 'Seven before Thebes' +'Agathon,' Wieland's history of +Aglietti, Dr., MS. letters in his profession offered to Mr. Murray +Albania +Albanians, their character and manners +Alberoni, Cardinal +Albrizzi, Countess, some account of + Her conversazioni + Her 'Ritratti di Uomini Illustri' + Her portrait of Lord Byron +Alder, Mr +Alexander the Great, his exclamation to the Athenians +Alfieri, Vittorio, his description of his first love + Effect of the representation of his 'Mira' on Lord Byron + His conduct to his mother + His tomb in the church of Santa Croce + Coincidences between the disposition and habits of Lord Byron and + His 'Life' quoted +Alfred Club +Algarotti, Francesco, his treatment of Lady M.W. Montagu +Ali Pacha of Yanina, account of + Lord Byron's visit to + His letter in Latin to Lord Byron +Allegra (Lord Byron's natural daughter) + Her death + Inscription for a tablet to her memory +Allen, John, esq., a 'Helluo of books' +Althorp, Viscount +Alvanley (William Arden), second Lord +Ambrosian library at Milan, Lord Byron's visit to +'Americani,' patriotic society so called +Americans, their freedom acquired by firmness without excess +Amurath, Sultan +'Anastasius,' Mr. Hope's, his character +'Anatomy of Melancholy,' a most amusing medley of quotations and + classical anecdotes +Ancestry, pride of, one of the most decided features of Lord Byron's + character +Andalusian nobleman, adventures of a young +Animal food +Annesley, the residence of Miss Chaworth +Annesley, Mr., Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Anstey's 'Bath Guide' +'Anti-Byron,' a satire +Anti-Jacobin Review +Antiloctius, tomb of +Antinous, the bust of, super-natural +'Antiquary,' character of Scott's novel so called +'Antony and Cleopatra,' observations on the play of +Apollo Belvidere +Arethusa, fountain of, Lord Byron's visit to +Argenson, Marquis d', his advice to Voltaire +Argyle Institution +Ariosto, Lord Byron's imitation of + his portrait by Titian + Measure of his poetry + spared by the robber who had read his 'Orlando Furioso' + his courage +Aristides +Aristophanes, Mitchell's translation of +'Armageddon,' Townshend's poem so called +Armenian Convent of St. Lazarus + Language + Grammar +Art, not inferior to nature, for poetical purposes +Arts, gulf of +Ash, Thomas, author of 'The Book' + Lord Byron's generous conduct towards +Athens, Lord Byron's first visit to + account of the maid of +Atticus, Herodes +Aubonne +Augusta, stanzas to +Augustus Caesar, his times +'Auld lang syne' +Authors, an irritable set +Avarice +'Away, away, ye notes of woe' +'A year ago you swore,' &c. + + +B. + +Bacon, Lord, on the celibacy of men of genius + Inaccuracies in his Apophthegms +Baillie, Joanna, the only woman capable of writing tragedy +Baillie, Dr., Lord Byron put under his care +----, Dr. Matthew, consulted on Lord Byron's supposed insanity +Baillie 'Long' +Baillie, Mr. D. +Balgounie, brig of +Ballater, a residence of Lord Byron in his youth +Bandello, his history of Romeo and Juliet +Bankes, William, esq. + Letters to +Barbarossa, Aruck +Barber, J.T., the painter +Barff, Mr., Lord Byron's letters to, on the Greek cause +Barlow, Joel, character of his 'Columbiad' +Barnes, Thomas, esq. +Barry, Mr., the banker of Genoa +Bartley, George, the comedian +----, Mrs., the actress +Bartolini, the sculptor, his bust of Lord Byron +Bartorini, princess, her monument at Bologna +Bath, Lord Byron at +'Bath Guide,' Anstey's +Baths of Penelope, Lord Byron's visit to +'Baviad and Maeviad,' extinguishment of the Delia Cruscans by the +Bay of Biscay +Bayes, Mr., caricature of Dryden +Beattie, Dr., his 'Minstrel' +Beaumarchais, his singular good fortune +Beaumont, Sir George +Beauvais, Bishop of +Beccaria, anecdote of +Becher, Rev. John, Lord Byron's friend + His epilogue to the 'Wheel of Fortune' + His influence over Lord Byron + Letters to +Beckford, William, esq., his 'Tales' in continuation of 'Vathek' +Beggar's Opera,' Gay's, a St. Giles's lampoon +Behmen, Jacob, his reverses +Bellingham, Lord Byron present at his execution +Beloe, Rev. William, character of his 'Sexagenarian' +Bembo, Cardinal, amatory correspondence between Lucretia Borgia and +Benacus, the (now the Lago di Garda) +Bentham, Jeremy, quackery of his followers +Benzoni, Countess, her conversazioni + Some account of +'Beppo, a Venetian Story' + See also +Bergami, the Princess of Wales's courier and chamberlain +Bernadotte, Jean-Baptiste-Jules, King of Sweden +Berni, the father of the Beppo style of writing +Berry, Miss +'Bertram,' Mathurin's tragedy of +Bettesworth, Captain (cousin of Lord Byron), the only officer in the + navy who had more wounds than Lord Nelson +Betty, William Henry West (the young Roscius) +Beyle, M., his 'Histoire de la Peinture en Italie' + His account of an interview with Lord Byron at Milan +Bible, the, read through by Lord Byron before he was eight years old +Biography +'Bioscope, or Dial of Life,' Mr. Grenville Penn's +Birch, Alderman +Blackett, Joseph, the poetical cobbler + His posthumous writings +Blackstone, Judge, composed his Commentaries with a bottle of port + before him +Blackwood's Magazine +Blake, the fashionable tonsor +Bland, Rev. Robert +Blaquiere, Mr. +Bleeding, Lord Byron's prejudice against +Blessington, Earl of + Letters to +----, Countess of + Impromptu on her taking a villa called 'Il Paradiso' + Lines written at the request of + Letters to +Blinkensop, Rev. Mr., his Sermon on Christianity +Bloomfield, Nathaniel +----, Robert +Blount, Martha, Pope's attachment to +Blucher, Marshal +'BLUES, THE; a Literary Eclogue' +'Boatswain,' Lord Byron's favourite dog +Boisragon, Dr. +Bolivar, Simon +Bolder, Mr., Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Bologna, Lord Byron's visit to the cemetery of +Bolton, Mr., letters of Lord Byron to, respecting his will +Bonneval, Claudius Alexander, Count de +Bonstetten, M. +Books, list of, read by Lord Byron before the age of 15 +Borgia, Lucretia, her amatory correspondence with Cardinal Bembo +'Born in a garret +Borromean Islands +'Bosquet de Julie' +'Bosworth Field,' Lord Byron's projected epic entitled +Botzari, Marco, his letter to Lord Byron + His death +Bowers, Mr. (Lord Byron's school-master at Aberdeen) +Bowles, Rev. William Lisle, his controversy concerning Pope + His 'Spirit of Discovery,' + His 'invariable principles of poetry,' + His hypochondriacism + His 'Missionary,' + Lord Byron's 'Letter on his Strictures on the Life and Writings of + Pope,' + Lord Byron's 'Observations upon Observations; a Second Letter,' &c. +Bowring, Dr., Lord Byron's letters to, on the Greek cause, and his + intention to embark in it +Boxing +Bradshaw, Hon. Cavendish +Braham, John, the singer +Breme, Marquis de +'BRIDE OF ABYDOS; a Turkish Tale' +Bridge of Sighs at Venice, account of +Brientz, town and lake of +'Brig of Balgounie' +'British Critic' +'British Review' +----, 'my Grandmother's Review' + Lord Byron's letter to the editor +Broglie, Duchess of (daughter of Mad. de Stael), her character + Anecdote of + Her remark on the errors of clever people +Brooke, Lord (Sir Fulke Greville), account of a MS. poem by +Brougham, Henry, esq. (afterwards Lord Brougham and Vaux), a candidate + for Westminster against Sheridan +Broughton, the regicide, his monument at Vevay +Brown, Isaac Hawkins, his 'Pipe of Tobacco' + his 'lava buttons' +Browne, Sir Thomas, his 'Religio Medici' quoted +Bruce, Mr. +Brummell, William, esq. +Bruno, Dr., Lord Byron's medical attendant in Greece + Anecdote of +Brussels +Bryant, Jacob, on the existence of Troy +Brydges, Sir Egerton, his 'Letters on the Character and Poetical Genius + of Byron' + His 'Ruminator' +Buchanan, Rev. Dr. +Bucke, Rev. Charles +Buonaparte, Lucien, his 'Charlemagne' +----, Napoleon, one of the most extraordinary of men + that anakim of anarchy + poor little pagod + ode on his fall + fortune's favourite +Burdett, Sir Francis + His style of eloquence +Burgage Manor, Notts, the residence of Lord Byron +Burgess, Sir James Bland +Burke, Rt. Hon. Edmund, his oratory +Burns, Robert, his habit of reading at meals + His elegy on Maillie + 'What would he have been + His unpublished letters + His rank among poets + 'Often coarse, but never vulgar' +Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy,' 'a most amusing and instructive + medley' +Burun, Ralph de, mentioned in Doomsday Book +Busby, Dr., Dryden's reverential regard for +----, Thomas, Mus. Doct., his monologue on the opening of Drury Lane + Theatre + His translation of Lucretius +Butler, Dr. (headmaster at Harrow) + Reconciliation between Lord Byron and +BYRON, Sir John, the Little, with the great beard +----, Sir John, 1st Lord, his high and honourable services +----, Sir Richard, tribute to his valour and fidelity +----, Admiral John (the grand-father of the poet), his shipwreck + and sufferings +----, William, fifth Lord (grand-uncle of the poet) + His trial for killing Mr. Chaworth in a duel + His death + His eccentric and unsocial habits +BYRON, John (father of the poet), his elopement with Lady Carmarthen + His marriage with Miss Catherine Gordon + His death at Valenciennes +----, Mrs. (mother of the poet), descended from the Gordons of Gight + Vehemence of her feelings + Ballad on the occasion of her marriage + Her fortune + Separates from her husband + Her capricious excesses of fondness and of anger + Her death + Lord Byron's Letters to + See also +----, Honourable Augusta (sister of the poet) + See Leigh, Honourable Augusta +----, (GEORGE-GORDON-BYRON), sixth Lord-- + 1788. Born Jan. 22 + 1790--1791. Taken by his mother to Aberdeen + Impetuosity of his temper + Affectionate sweetness and playfulness of his disposition + The malformation of his foot a source of pain and uneasiness to him + His early acquaintance with the Sacred Writings + Instances of his quickness and energy + Death of his father + 1792--1795; Sent to a day-school at Aberdeen + His own account of the progress of his infantine studies + His sports and exercises + 1796--1797. Removed into the Highlands + His visits to Lachin-y-gair + First awakening of his poetic talent + His early love of mountain scenery + Attachment for Mary Duff + 1798. Succeeds to the title + Made a ward of Chancery, under the guardianship of the Earl of + Carlisle, and removed to Newstead + Placed under the care of an empiric at Nottingham for the cure of + his lameness + 1799. First symptom of a tendency towards rhyming + Removed to London, and put under the care of Dr. Baillie + Becomes the pupil of Dr. Glennie, at Dulwich + 1800-1804. His boyish love for his cousin, Margaret Parker + His 'first dash into poetry' + Is sent to Harrow + Notices of his school-life + His first Harrow verses + His school friendships + His mode of life as a schoolboy + Accompanies his mother to Bath + His early attachment to Miss Chaworth + Heads a 'rebelling' at Harrow + Passes the vacation at Southwell + 1805. Removed to Cambridge + His college friendships + 1806. Aug.-Nov., prepares a collection of his poems for the press + His visit to Harrowgate + Southwell private theatricals + Prints a volume of his poems; but, at the entreaty of Mr. Becher + commits the edition to the flames + 1807. Publishes 'Hours of Idleness' + List of historical writers whose works he had perused at the age + of nineteen + Reviews Wordsworth's Poems + Begins 'Bosworth Field,' an epic. Writes part of a novel + 1808. His early scepticism + Effect produced on his mind by the critique on 'Hours of Idleness,' + in the Edinburgh Review + Passes his time between the dissipations of London and Cambridge + Takes up his residence at Newstead + Forms the design of visiting India + Prepares 'English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,' for the press + 1809. His coming of age celebrated at Newstead + Takes his seat in the House of Lords + Loneliness of his position at this period + Sets out on his travels + State of mind in which he took leave of England + Visits Lisbon, Seville, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Malta, Prevesa, Zitza + Tepaleen + Is introduced to Ali Pacha + Begins 'Childe Harold' at Ioannina + Visits Actium, Nicopolis; nearly lost in a Turkish ship of war + proceeds through Acarnania and AEtolia towards the Morea + Reaches Missolonghi + Visits Patras, Vostizza, Mount Parnassus, Delphi, Lepanto, Thebes + Mount Cithaeron + Arrives, on Christmas-day, at Athens + 1810. Spends ten weeks in visiting the monuments of Athens; makes + excursions to several parts of Attica + The Maid of Athens + Leaves Athens for Smyrna + Visits ruins of Ephesus + Concludes, at Smyrna, the second canto of 'Childe Harold' + April, leaves Smyrna for Constantinople + Visits the Troad + Swims from Sestos to Abydos + May, arrives at Constantinople + June, expedition through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea + July + Aug.--Sept., makes a tour of the Morea + Returns to Athens + 1811. Writes 'Hints from Horace,' and 'Curse of Minerva.' + Returns to England + Effect of travel on the general character of his mind and + disposition + His first connection with Mr. Murray + Death of his mother + Of his college friends, Matthews and Wingfield + And of 'Thyrza' + Origin of his acquaintance with Mr. Moore + Act of generosity towards Mr. Hodgson + 1812. Feb. 27., makes his first speech in the House of Lords + Feb. 29., publishes the first and second cantos of 'Childe Harold,' + Presents the copyright of the poem to Mr. Dallas + Although far advanced in a fifth edition of 'English Bards,' + determines to commit it to the flames + Presented to the Prince Regent + Writes the Address for the opening of Drury Lane Theatre + 1813. April, brings out anonymously 'The Waltz' + May, publishes the 'Giaour' + His intercourse, through Mr. Moore, with Mr. Leigh Hunt + Makes preparations for a voyage to the East + Projects a journey to Abyssinia + Dec., publishes the 'Bride of Abydos' + Is an unsuccessful suitor for the hand of Miss Milbanke + 1814. Jan., publishes the 'Corsair' + April, writes 'Ode on the Fall of Napoleon Buonaparte' + Comes to the resolution, not only of writing no more, but of + suppressing all he had ever written + May, writes 'Lara;' makes a second proposal for the hand of Miss + Milbanke, and is accepted + Dec., writes 'Hebrew Melodies' + 1815. Jan 2., marries Miss Milbanke + April, becomes personally acquainted with Sir Walter Scott + May, becomes a member of the sub-committee of Drury Lane + theatre + Pressure of pecuniary embarrassments + 1816. Jan., Lady Byron adopts the resolution of separating from him + Samples of the abuse lavished on him + March, writes 'Fare thee well,' and 'A Sketch' + April, leaves England + His route--Brussels, Waterloo, &c. + Takes up his abode at the Campagne Diodati + Finishes, June 27, the third canto of 'Childe Harold' + Writes, June 28, 'The Prisoner of Chillon' + Writes + 'Darkness,' 'Epistle to Augusta,' 'Churchill's Grave,' + 'Prometheus,' 'Could I remount,' 'Sonnet to Lake Leman,' + and part of 'Manfred' + August, an unsuccessful negotiation for a domestic reconciliation + Sept., makes a tour of the Bernese Alps + His intercourse with Mr. Shelley + Oct., proceeds to Italy--route, Martiguy, the Simplon, Milan + Verona + Nov., takes up his residence at Venice + Marianna Segati + Studies the Armenian language + 1817. Feb., finishes 'Manfred' + March, translates from the Armenian, a correspondence between + St. Paul and the Corinthians + April + Makes a short visit to Rome, and writes there a new third act to + 'Manfred' + July, writes, at Venice, the fourth canto of 'Childe Harold' + Oct., writes 'Beppo' + 1818. The Fornarina, Margaritta Cogni + July, writes 'Ode on Venice' + Nov., finishes 'Mazeppa' + 1819. Jan., finishes second canto of 'Don Juan' + April, beginning of his acquaintance with the Countess Guiccioli + June, writes 'Stanzas to the Po' + Dec., completes the third and fourth cantos of 'Don Juan' + Removes to Ravenna + 1820. Jan., domesticated with Countess Guiccioli + Feb., translates first canto of the 'Morgante Maggiore' + March, finishes 'Prophecy of Dante' + Translates 'Francesa of Rimini' + And writes 'Observations upon an Article in Blackwood's + Magazine' + April--July, writes 'Marino Faliero' + Oct.--Nov., writes fifth canto of 'Don Juan' + 1821. Feb., writes 'Letter on the Rev. W.L. Bowles's Strictures on + the Life of Pope' + March, 'Second Letter,' &c. + May, finishes 'Sardanapalus' + July, 'The Two Foscari' + Sept., 'Cain' + Oct., writes 'Heaven and Earth, a Mystery' + and 'Vision of Judgment' + Removes to Pisa + 1822. Jan., finishes 'Werner' + Sept, removes to Genoa + His coalition with Hunt in the 'Liberal' + 1823. April, turns his views towards Greece + Receives a communication from the London committee + May, offers to proceed to Greece, and to devote his resources + to the object in view + Preparations for his departure + July 14., sails for Greece + Reaches Argostoli + Excursion to Ithaca + Waits, at Cephalonia, the arrival of the Greek fleet + His conversations on religion with Dr. Kennedy at Mataxata + His letters to Madame Guiccioli + His address to the Greek government + And remonstrance to Prince Mavrocordati + Testimonies to the benevolence and soundness of his views + Instances of his humanity and generosity while at Cephalonia + 1824. Jan. 5., arrives at Missolonghi + Writes 'Lines on completing my thirty-sixth year' + Intended attack upon Lepanto + Is made commander-in-chief of the expedition + Rupture with the Suliotes + The expedition suspended + His last illness + His death + His funeral + Inscription on his monument + His will + His person + His sensitiveness on the subject of his lameness + His abstemiousness + His habitual melancholy + His tendency to make the worst of his own obliquities + His generosity and kind-heartedness + His politics + His religious opinions + His tendency to superstition + Portraits of him +Byron, Lady + Her remarks on Mr. Moore's Life of Lord Byron + Lord Byron's letters to + ----, Honourable Augusta Ada + Byron, (George) seventh lord + ----, Eliza + ----, Henry + + +C. + +Cadiz, described +Caesar, Julius, his times +Cahir, Lady +'CAIN, a Mystery,' alleged blasphemies + See also +Caledonian meeting, 'Address intended to be recited at' +Calvert, Mr., Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Cambridge, Lord Byron's entry into Trinity College + A chaos of din and drunkenness + Lord Byron's distaste to +Camoens, distinguished himself in war +Campbell, Thomas, esq., his first introduction to Lord Byron + Coleridge lecturing against him + His 'Pleasures of Hope' + The best of judges + His unpublished poem on a scene in Germany + Inadvertencies in his 'Lives of the Poets' + His 'Gertrude of Wyoming' full of false scenery + See, also +Canning, Right Hon. George + His oratory +----, Sir Stratford, his poem entitled 'Buonaparte' +Canova + His early love +Cant, 'the grand primum mobile of England' +Cantemir, Demetrius, his 'History of the Ottoman Empire,' +Carlile, Richard, folly of his trial +Carlisle (Frederick Howard), fifth Earl of, becomes Lord Byron's + guardian + His alleged neglect of his ward + Proposed reconciliation between Lord Byron and +Caroline, Queen of England +Carmarthen, Marchioness of +Caro, Annibale, his translations from the classics +Carpenter, James, the bookseller +Carr, Sir John, the traveller +Cartwright, Major +Cary, Rev. Henry Francis, his translation of Dante +Castanos, General +Castellan, A.L., his 'Moeurs des Ottomans' +Castlereagh, Viscount, (Robert Stewart, Marquis of Londonderry) +Catholic emancipation +'Cato,' Pope's prologue to +Catullus, his 'Atys' not licentious +'Cavalier Servente' +Cawthorn, Mr., the bookseller +Caylus, Count de +'Cecilia,' Miss Burney's +Celibacy of eminent philosophers +Centlivre, Mrs., character of her comedies + Drove Congreve from the stage +'Cenci,' Shelley's +Chamouni, remarks on the scenery of +Charlemont, Lady, Lord Byron's admiration of +----, Mrs. +Charles the Fifth +Charlotte, the Princess, attacks upon Lord Byron in consequence of his + verses to + Death of +Chatham, Lord, a notice of + His oratory +Chatterton, Thomas, self-educated + Never vulgar +Chaucer, Geoffrey, character of his poetry +Chauncy, Captain +Chaworth, Mary Anne (afterwards Mrs. Musters), Lord Byron's early + attachment to + His last farewell of her + Her marriage + Interview with, after her marriage +Cheltenham, Lord Byron at +Childe Alarique +'CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE,' the poem commenced + first produced to Mr. Dallas + The author's false judgment concerning + Identification of Lord Byron's character with + Mr. Gifford's opinion of the poem + Preparations for publication + Its progress through the press + Mr. Moore's opinion + Its publication and instantaneous success + alleged resemblance to Marmion in it + The 3d Canto written + Progress of the 4th Canto + 2500 guineas asked for it + The translation confiscated in Italy + 'The sublimest poetical achievement of mortal pen' +Chillon, Castle of +'CHILLON, PRISONER OF +Christ, what proved him the Son of God +'Christabel', Lord Byron's admiration of +Cicero, Antony's treatment of +Cid +Cigars +Cintra, the most beautiful village in the world +Clare (John Fitzgibbon), Earl of +Clare, John, the poet +Clarens +Claridge, Mr. +'Clarissa Harlowe.' +Clarke, Rev. James Stanier, his 'Naufragia.' +Clarke, Hewson +Classical education +Claudian, the 'ultimus Romanorum.' +Claughton, Mr. +Clayton, Mr. +Clitumnus, the river +Clubs +Coates, Romeo, his Lothario +Cobbett, William +Cochrane, Lord +'Cockney school' of poetry +Cogni, Margarita (the Fornarina), story of +Coldham, Mr. +Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, esq., his 'Devil's Walk' + His 'Remorse' + His 'Zopolia' + His 'Biographia Literaria' + His 'Christabel' + Lord Byron's letters to + See also +Colman, George, esq., his prologue to 'Philaster' +----, George, jun., esq., parallel between Sheridan and +Colocotroni +Colonna, Cape + Columns of +Comedy more difficult to compose than Tragedy +Concanen, Mr. +Congreve, self-educated + His comedies + Driven from the stage by Mrs. Centlivre +Constance (a German lady) +Constant, Benjamin de, his 'Adolphe' +Constantinople, St. Sophia + The seraglio + The first sea view +Cooke, George Frederick, tragedian, an American Life of + The most natural of actors +Coolidge, Mr., of Boston +Copet +Cordova, Admiral +----, Sennorita +'Corinne,' notes written by Lord Byron in +Corinth +----, capture of + See 'SIEGE OF CORINTH.' +Cork, Countess of +Cornwall, Barry (Bryan Walter Proctor) +'CORSAIR, the; a Tale' +'Cosmopolite,' an amusing little volume full of French flippancy +Cotin, L'Abbe +Cottin, Madame +'Could I remount the river of my years' +'Courier' +Courtenay, John, esq., anecdotes of +Cowell, Mr. John, Letters to +Cowley, Abraham, his 'Essays' quoted + His character +Cowper, Earl +----, Countess +----, William, famous at cricket and football + His remark on the English system of education + His spaniel 'Beau' + An example of filial tenderness + 'No poet' + His translation of Homer +Crabbe, Rev. George, the just tribute to + His 'Resentment' + His quality as a poet + 'The father of present poesy' +Crebillon, the younger, his marriage +Cribb, Tom, the pugilist +Cricketing, one of Lord Byron's most favourite sports +'Critic,' Sheridan's, 'too good for a farce' +'Critical Review' +Croker, Right Hon. John Wilson, his query concerning the title of the + 'Bride of Abydos' + His 'guess' as to the origin of 'Beppo' + Lord Byron's letter to + His 'Boswell' quoted +Crosby, Benjamin +Crowe, Rev, William, his criticism in 'English Bards' +Curioni, Signor, singer +Curran, Right Hon. John Philpot, Lord Byron's enthusiastic praise +'Curse of Kebama' +'CURSE OF MINERVA' +Curzon, Mr. +Cuvier, Baron + + +D. + +Dallas, Robert Charles, commencement of his acquaintance with Lord + Byron + Childe Harold first shown to him + Copywright of the Corsair presented to him + His ingratitude + See also + Lord Byron's letters to +Dalrymple, Sir Hew +D'Alton, John, esq., his 'Dermid' +Dandies +Dante, his early passion for Beatrice + His infelicitous marriage + His poem celebrated long before his death + His popularity + His gentle feelings + Lord Byron's resemblance to + See also + 'PROPHECY OF' +D'Arblay, Madame (Miss Burney), 1000 guineas asked for one of her + novels + Her 'Cecilia' + See also +Darnley, death of, a fine subject for a drama +'DARKNESS' +Darwin, Dr. Erasmus, put down by the Anti-Jacobin +Davies, Scrope, esq. +Davy, Sir Humphry +Dawkins, Mr. +'DEAR DOCTOR, I have read your play' +Death +Death +De Bath, Lord +Deformity, an incentive to distinction +D'Egville, John, the ballet-master +Delaval, Sir Francis Blake +Delawarr (George-John West), fifth Earl +Delia, poetical epistle from, to Lord Byron +Delladecima, Count + His opinion of Lord Byron's conduct in Greece +Delphi, fountain of +Demetrius +Denham, his 'Cowper's Hill' +Dent de Jument +Dervish Tahiri, Lord Byron's faithful Arnaout guide +'Devil's Drive,' the +Devil's Walk,' Porson's +Devonshire, Duchess of (Lady Elizabeth Foster), her character of the + Roman government +'Diary of an Invalid,' Matthews's +Dibdin, Thomas, play-wright +Dick, Mr. +Diderot, his definition of sensibility +Digestion +Dioclesian +Dionysius at Corinth +D'Israeli, J., esq. his 'Essay on the Literary Character' + His 'Quarrels of Authors' + His remark on the effect of medicine upon the mind and spirits +'Distrest Mother,' excellence of the epilogue to +D'Ivernois, Sir Francis +Divorce +Dogs, fidelity of +-----, Lord Byron's fondness for + His epitaph on 'Boatswain' +Don, Brig of +Donegal, Lady +'DON JUAN,' a scene in it adapted from the 'Narrative of the Shipwreck + of the Juno + Commencement of the poem + The 1st canto finished + 50 copies to be printed privately + 2nd canto + 'Nonsensical prudery' against it + Mr. Murray in a fright about it + The papers not so fierce as was anticipated + Authorship to be kept anonymous + General outcry against the poem + Spurious 3rd cantos + Mr. Murray going to law + The author hurt but not frightened + A French lady's compliments + Third canto + The fifth canto hardly the beginning of the poem + The Countess Guiccioli's intercession for its discontinuance + Shelley's opinion of it + The poem all 'real life' + Errors of the press + Partiality of the Germans for + Permission from the Countess to continue it + Three more cantos + Another + The 'Quarterly' Review of the poem + An epitome of the author's character +Donna Bianca, or White Lady of Colalto the story of her supernatural + appearance +D'Orsay, Count + His 'Journal' + Lord Byron's letter to +Dorset (George-John Frederick), fourth Duke of + 'LINES occasioned by the death of' +Dorville, Mr +Dovedale, Lord Byron's eulogy of the scenery of +Dramatists, old English, 'full of gross faults' + 'Not good as models' +'DREAM,' The + The most mournful and picturesque story that ever came from the pen + and heart of man + 'One of the most interesting' of Lord Byron's poems +Dreams +Drummond, Sir William + His 'OEdipus Judaicus' +----, Mr., Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Drury, Rev. Henry, Lord Byron's letters to +----, Rev. Dr. Joseph, his account of Lord Byron's disposition and + capabilities while at Harrow + Lord Byron's character of + His retirement from the mastership of Harrow +Drury, Mark +Drury Lane Theatre + 'ADDRESS, spoken at the opening of' +Dryden, his praise of Oxford, at the expense of Cambridge + Eulogy of his 'Fables' by Lord Byron +'Duenna,' Lord Byron's partiality for the songs in +Duff, Colonel (Lord Byron's god-father) +----, Miss Mary (afterwards Mrs. Robert Cockburn), Lord Byron's + boyish attachment for +Dulwich, Lord Byron at school there +Dumont, M +Duncan, Mr., Lord Byron's writing-master at Aberdeen +Dwyer, Mr +Dyer's 'Grongar Hill' + + +E. + +Eagles, a flight of +Eboli, Princess of, epigram on her losing an eye +Eclectic Review +Eddleston, the Cambridge chorister, Lord Byron's protege +Edgecombe, Mr +Edgehill, Battle, seven brothers of the Byron family at +Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, esq., sketch of +----, Maria +Edinburgh Annual Register +Edinburgh Review + Its effect on the author + Its review of the 'Corsair' and 'Bride of Abydos' +Education, English system of +Elba, Isle of, Lord Byron's 'Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte' on his retreat + to +Eldon, Earl of + Anecdote of +Elgin, Earl of, severe treatment of + The 'Curse of Minerva' levelled against him +Ellice, Edward, esq., letter to +Ellis, George, esq. +Ellison, Lord Byron's school-fellow at Harrow +Elliston, Robert William, comedian, Lord Byron's wish that he should + speak his 'Address' at Drury Lane theatre +Eloquence, state of +Endurance, of more worth than talent +ENGLISH BARDS AND SCOTCH REVIEWERS, the groundwork laid before the + appearance of the critique in the 'Edinburgh Review' + Sent to Mr. Harness + Success of the satire + The author's regret in having written it + Refusal to republish it + Attempted publication of +Englishman, Otway's three requisites for an +Envy +Ephesus, ruins of +EPIGRAM on Moore's Operatic Farce, or Farcical Opera +Erskine, Lord, his eloquence + his famous pamphlet + See, also +Essex (George-Capel), fifth Earl of +Euxine, or Black Sea, description of +Ewing, Dr. +Exeter 'Change + + +F. + +Faber, Rev. George +Fainting, sensation of +Falconer, his 'Shipwreck' +Falkland (Lucius Gary), Viscount, killed in a duel by Mr. Powell +'Father of Light! Great God of Heaven!' +Falkner, Mr., Lord Byron's letter to, with a copy of his poems +Fall of Terni +Falmouth +Fame, first tidings of, to Lord Byron + See. also +'FARE THEE WELL, and if for ever' +Farrell, D., esq. +Fatalism +'Faust,' Goethe's +'Faustus,' Marlow's +Fawcett, John, comedian +'Fazio,' Milman's tragedy of +Fear +Ferrara, Lord Byron's visit to +Fersen, Count +Fidler, Ernest +Fielding, 'the prose Homer of human nature.' +Finlay, Kirkman, esq. +Fitzgerald, Lord Edward +----, William Thomas, esq., poetaster +Flemish school of painting +Fletcher, William (Lord Byron's valet) +Flood, Right Hon. Henry, his debut in the House of Commons +'Florence,' the lady addressed under this title in 'Childe Harold' + (Mrs., Spencer Smith) +Florence, Lord Byron's visits to the picture gallery +Foote, Miss, the actress (afterwards, Countess of Harrington), her + debut in the 'Child of Nature' +Forbes, Lady Adelaide +Forresti, G. +Forsyth, Joseph, esq., his 'Italy' +Fortune, Lord Byron attributed everything to + See, also +'Foscari, the Two; an Historical Tragedy' +Foscolo, Ugo + His 'Essay on Petrarch' +Fountain of Arethusa, Lord Byron's visit to +Fox, Right Hon. Charles James, notice of + poems + His Oratory +----, Henry +'Frament, A' +'FRANCESCA OF RIMINI; from the Inferno of Dante' +Francis, Sir Philip, the probable author of 'Junius' +'Frankenstein,' Mrs. Shelley's +Franklin, Benjamin +Frederick the Second, 'the only monarch worth recording in Prussian + annals' +Free press in Greece +Frere, Right Hon. John Hookham, his 'Whistlecraft' +Fribourg +Friday, supposed unluckiness of + + +G. + +Galignani, M. +Gait, John, esq., his life of Lord Byron + See, also +Gamba, Count Pietro, the Countess Guiccioli's letter to + Mr. Moore + His friendship with Lord Byron + His arrest at Ravenna + His notices of Lord Byron on his departure for Greece + Remarks on Lord Byron's death +Garrick, Sheridan's Monologue on +Gay, Madame Sophie +----, Mlle. Delphine +Gell, Sir William + Review of his 'Geography of Ithaca,' and 'Itinerary of Greece' +Geneva, Lake of +George the Third, granted a pension to Mrs. Byron +George the Fourth, his interview with Lord Byron + His indignation against 'Cain' + The 'Vault reflection' +'Georgics,' a finer poem than the AEneid +Germany and the Germans +Ghost, the Newstead +'Giaour, The; a Fragment of a Turkish Tale', the author's fears for it + First publication of, and its brilliant success + Additions to + The author's endeavours to 'beat' it + The story on which it is founded +Gibbon, Edward, esq., his remark on public schools + His acacia + His remark on his own History +Gifford, William, esq., his opinion of 'English Bards' + Lord Byron's disinclination that 'Childe Harold' should be shown to + him + Influence of his opinion on Lord Byron + And Jeffrey, monarch-makers in poetry and prose + The 'Bride of Abydos' submitted to + Lord Byron's letters to +Gilchrist, Octavius +Gillies, R.P., the author of 'Childe Alarique' +Giordani, Signor +Giorgione + His 'picture of his wife + His judgment of Solomon +Giraud, Nicolo, Lord Byron's Greek protege +'Glenarvon,' Lady Caroline Lamb's +Glenbervie (Sylvester Douglas), first Lord, his treatise on timber + His 'Ricciardetto' +Glennie, Dr. (Lord Byron's preceptor) + His account of his pupil's studies +Glover, Mrs., actress +Godwin, William, Lord Byron's munificence to +Goethe, his 'Kennst du das Land,' &c. imitated + His saying of Lord Byron + His 'Faust + His remarks on 'Manfred.' + Dedication of 'Marino Faliero' to + His 'Werther.' + His 'Giaour' story + Lord Byron's letter to + His tribute to the memory of Byron +Goetz, Countess +Gordon, Sir John, of Bogagicht +----, Sir William, grandson of James I., an ancestor of Lord Byron's +----, Duchess of +----, Mr. +----, Lord Alexander +----, Pryce, esq. +Gordons of Gight +Gower, Lord Granville Leveson (now Earl and Viscount Granville) +'Gradus ad Parnassum,' Lord Byron's triangular +Grafton (George Henry Fitzroy), fourth Duke of +Grainger, his 'Ode to Solitude.' +Grant, David, his 'Battles and War Pieces.' +Grattan, Right Hon. Henry, his oratory + Curran's mimicry of him +Gray, his description of Cambridge + His preference for his Latin poems + An example of filial tenderness + His 'Elegy.' +----, May (Lord Byron's nurse) +Greece, past and present condition of +Small extent of +Greek islands, resources for an emigrant population in +Greeks, character of the + Cause of the purity with which they wrote their own language +Gregson, the pugilist +Grenville (William Wyndham), Lord +Greville, Colonel, challenges Lord Byron for an insinuation in + 'English Bards.' +Grey, Charles (afterwards Earl Grey), his oratory + See also +Grey de Ruthven, Lord, Newstead Abbey let to him +Grillparzer, his tragedy of Sappho + Character of his writings +Grimaldi, Joseph, Covent Garden clown +Grimm, Baron + His 'Correspondence' as valuable as Muratori or Tiraboschi +Grindenwald, the +'Grongar Hill,' Dyer's +Guerrino, a picture of his at Milan +Guiccioli, Count +----, Countess, her first introduction to Lord Byron + attacked with fever + sincerity of Lord Byron's attachment to her + accompanies Lord Byron to Venice + disinterestedness of her conduct, and + returns with the Count to Ravenna + Lord Byron follows her + efforts for a separation + the Pope pronounces for it + the Countess retires to her father's villa + arrest of her father and brother + Shelley's opinion of her connexion with Lord Byron + her intercession for the discontinuance of Don Juan + Lord Byron's unwilling departure for Greece + his letters to the Countess from Greece + See also +Guildford, Earl of +Guinguene, P.L. +Gulley, John, the pugilist (in 1832 M. P. for Pontefract) + + +H. + +Hafiz, the oriental Anacreon +Hailstone, Professor +Hall, Captain Basil, Lord Byron's attention to + his letter to +Hamilton, Lady Dalrymple +Hancock, Charles, esq. + Lord Byron's letters to +Hannibal, saying of +Hanson, John, esq. (Lord Byron's solicitor) +----, Miss (afterwards Countess of Portsmouth) + Lord Byron's presence at her marriage +'Hardyknute,' the fine poem so called +Harrington, Earl of. See Stanhope +----, Countess of. See Foote +Harley, Lady Charlotte (the 'lanthe' to whom the first and second + cantos of 'Childe Harold' are dedicated) +----, Lady Jane +Harness, Rev. William + His sermons quoted + Lord Byron's letters to +Harris, his 'Philosophical Inquiries' +Harrow, Lord Byron's entrance at + his first Harrow verses + his magnanimity in behalf of his friend Peel + 'Byron's tomb' + his attachment to Harrow +Harrowby, Earl of +Harrowgate, Lord Byron's visit to +Hartington, Marquis of (afterwards sixth Duke of Devonshire) +Harvey, Mrs. Jane +Hatchard, Mr. John +Hawke (Edward Harvey), third Lord +Hay, Captain +Hayley, his 'Triumphs of Temper,' Lord Byron's eulogy of +Hayreddin +Hazlitt, William, his style +Headfort, Marchioness of +'HEBREW MELODIES' +Helen, 'LINES on Canova's bust of' +Hellespont, Lord Byron's swimming feat from Sestos to Abydos +Hemans, Mrs., her 'Restoration' + Character of her poetry +Henley, Orator +Herbert of Cherbury, Lord, his life much interested Lord Byron +Hero and Leander +Hill, Aaron +'Hills of Annesley, bleak and barren.' +'HINTS FROM HORACE,' written at Athens + first produced to Mr. Dallas + singular preference given by the author to them + See also +Hippopotamus at Exeter Change +Historians, list of, perused by Lord Byron at nineteen +Hoare, Mr., Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Hobbes, Thomas +Hobhouse, Right Hon. Henry +----, Right Hon. Sir John Cam, Bart., his 'Journey through + Albania' quoted + His 'Historical Notes to Childe Harold' +Hodgson, Rev. Francis, Lord Byron's well-timed assistance to + His 'Friends' + Lord Byron's letters to + See also +Hogg, James, the Ettrick shepherd +Holerott, Thomas, his 'Memoirs' +Holderness, Lady +Holland, Lord, the allusion to + commencement of Lord Byron's acquaintance with + his oratory + Lord Byron's letters to +Holland, Lady +----, Dr. +Holmes, Mr., the miniature painter +Homer, geography of, Visit to the school of +Hope, Thomas, esq., his 'Anastasius' +Hoppner, R B., esq., his account of Lord Byron's mode of life at + Venice + 'LINES on the birth of his son' + Lord Byron's letters to + see also +Horace, Lord Byron's early dislike to + Quoted +'Horace in London' + See 'Hints from Horace' +Horestan Castle, Derbyshire, held by Lord Byron's ancestors +'Horsae Ionicae +Homer, Francis, esq. +'HOURS OF IDLENESS,' first publication of + a review of + another in the 'Critical Review,' + furious philippic in the 'Eclectic' + Critique of the Edinburgh Review +Howard, Hon. Frederick +Hume, David, his Essays + His 'Treatise of Human Nature' +Hunt, John +----, Leigh, Lord Byron's first acquaintance with + Described + His 'Rimini' + His 'Foliage' + His 'Byron and some of his Contemporaries' + See also +Hunter, P., esq. +Hurd, Bishop, his remark on academical studies +Hutchinson, Colonel, his Memoirs +'Huzza! Hodgson, we are going' +Hymettus +Hypochondriacism + + +I + +Ida, mount +Imagination +Immortality of the soul +Improvisatore, account of one at Milan +'Ina,' Mrs. Wilmot's tragedy of +Inchbald, Mrs., her 'Simple Story' + Her 'Nature and Art' +Incledon, Charles, singer +'INEZ,' Stanzas to +Interlachen +Invention +Iris, the +'IRISH AVATAR' +Irving, Washington, esq. +Italian manners +Italians, bad translators, except from the classics +Italy, the only modern nation in Europe that has a poetical language +Ithaca, excursion to + + +J. + +Jackson, 'John, the professor of pugilism +Lord Byron's letters to +Jacobson, M. +'Jacqueline,' Mr. Rogers's +Jeffrey, Francis, esq., allusion to in 'English Bards' + his duel with Mr. Moore + his review of the 'Giaour' + his criticisms on Lord Byron's works + his review of Coleridge's 'Christabel' +Jersey, Earl of +----, Countess of +Jesus Christ +Job +Jocelyn, Lord, (afterwards Earl of Roden) +Johnson, Dr. + His prologue on opening Drury Lane theatre + His 'Vanity of Human Wishes' + His melancholy + His 'Lives of the Poets' + His 'London' + Lord Byron's high opinion of him +Jones, Mr., tutor at Cambridge +----, Richard, comedian +Jordan, Mrs., actress +Joukoffsky, the Russian poet +Joy, Henry, esq., his visit to Byron +Juliet's tomb + See Romeo +Julius Caesar, his times +Jungfrau, the +Junius's letters +'Juno,' shipwreck of the +Jura mountains +Juvenal + + +K. + +Kay, Mr., painter +Kayo, Sir Richard +Kean, Edmund, tragedian, his Richard the Third + Lord Byron's enthusiastic admiration of + Effect of his Sir Giles Over-reach on +Keats, John, his poems + Died through bursting a blood-vessel on reading the article on his + 'Endymion' in the Quarterly Review + His depreciation of Pope +Kelly, Miss, actress +Kemble, John Philip, esq., his Coriolanus + His Hamlet + Intreats Lord Byron to write a tragedy + His acting described + His Othello + His Iago +Kennedy, Dr., his 'Conversations on religion with Lord Byron in + Cephalonia' + Lord Byron's letters to +Kent, Mr., his taste in gardening formed by Pope +Kidd, Captain + Strange story related to Lord Byron by +Kien Long, his 'Ode to Tea' +Kinnaird, Hon. Douglas + Lord Byron's letters to +Klopstock +Knight, Galley, esq. + His 'Persian Tales' +Knox, Captain (British resident at Ithaca) +Kosciusko, General +Koran, sublime poetical passages in + + +L. + +La Bruytere +Lachin-y-gair +Lago Maggiore +Lake Leman +Lake School of Poetry +'Lakers,' the +'Lalla Rookh' +Lamartine, M. +Lamb, Hon. George +----, Lady Caroline + Her 'Glenarvon' +'LAMENT OF TASSO' +Lansdowne, (Henry Fitzmaurice Pitty), fourth Marquis of +'LAKA; a Tale' +Lauderdale, Earl of, his oratory +Laura, her portrait +La Valiere, Madame +Lavender, the Nottingham empiric +Lawrence, Sir Thomas +Leacroft, Mr. +----, Miss +Leake, Colonel + His 'Outlines of the Greek Revolution' +Leandor and Hero +Leckie, Gould Francis, esq. +Leigh, Mr., Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +----, Colonel +----, Hon. Augusta (Lord Byron's sister) +Leinster, Duke of +Leman, Lake +Le Man, Mr. +Leoni, Signor, his translation of Childe Harold +Lepanto, Gulf of +Lerici +Leveson-Gower, Lady Charlotte (afterwards Countess of Surrey) +Levis, Due de +Lewis, Matthew Gregory, esq. +'Liberal,' the +Liberty +Life +Likenesses +Lisbon +'Lisbon packet' +Liston, Sir Robert +----, John, comedian +Little's Poems +Liverpool, Earl of +Livy +Lloyd, Charles, esq. +Lobster nights, Pope's and Lord Byron's +Loch Leven +Locke, his treatise on education + His contempt for Oxford +Lockhart, J.G., esq., his 'Life of Burns' + His marriage with Miss Scott +----, Mrs. +Lodburgh, his 'Death Song' +Lofft, Capel +Londo, Andrea, the Greek patriot + Account of + Lord Byron's letter to +Londonderry (Robert Stewart), second Marquis of +Long, Edward Noel, esq., Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Long, Miss (afterwards Mrs. Long Pole Wellesley) +Longevity +Longmans, Messrs. +Love, 'Not the principal passion for tragedy.' + Success in, dependent on fortune + Woman's +Low spirits +Lowe, Sir Hudson +Lucretius +Luc, Jean Andre de +Ludlow, General, the regicide, his monument + His domal inscription +Lushington, Dr., his letter to Lady Byron +Lutzerode, Baron +Luxembourg, Marechal +Lyttleton, George, Lord. + Lord Byron compared to +----, Thomas, Lord + + +M. + +Machinery, effects of +Mackenzie, Henry, esq., his notice of Lord Byron's early poems +Mackintosh, Sir James, brightest of northern constellations + his review of Rogers in the Edinburgh Review + a rare instance of the union of very transcendent talent and great + good nature + his letter in the 'Morning Chronicle + high expectation of his promised history + strong impression made by him on Lord Byron +Macnamara, Arthur, esq. +Mafra, the palace of, the boast of Portugal +Mahomet +Maid of Athens + Account of +Maintenon, Madame + letters +Malamocco, wall of +'MANFRED; A DRAMATIC POEM,' finished + extracts sent to Mr. Murray + offered to him for 300 guineas + a sort of mad Drama; instructions for its title + the third act to be re-written + new third act sent to Mr. Murray + a critique on; omission of a line + critique of the 'Edinburgh Review + a menaced version of the poem + Goethe's remarks on +Mansel, Dr., Bishop of Bristol +Manton gun, Lord Byron's +'Manuel,' Mathurin's +Marden, Mrs., actress +Marianna Segati +'MARINO FALIERO, DOGE of VENICE; an Historical Tragedy.' Intention to + write the tragedy + commenced + advanced into the second act + completed + not intended for the stage + Mr. Gifford's opinion of it + a note to be introduced + the author's talent 'especially undramatic + a phrase to be altered + the poem not popular + lines to be introduced + reported representation of the play and its condemnation + a note for the next edition +Marlow, his 'Faustus.' +'Marmion.' +Marriage ceremony +Marriages, great cause of unhappy ones +'Mary,' Lord Byron's love for the name +---- of Aberdeen +Massaniello +Materialism +Mathews, Charles, comedian +Mathurin, Rev. Charles + His 'Bertram.' + His 'Manuel,' +Matlock, Lord Byron at +Matter +Matthews, John, esq., of Belmont, some account of +----, Charles Skinner, esq. + Lord Byron's account of + His visit to Newstead + Tributes to his memory +----, Henry, esq. + His 'Diary of an Invalid' + Account of +----, Rev. Arthur +Matthison, Frederic, his 'Letters from the Continent' +Maugiron, epigram on the loss of his eye +Mavrocordato, Prince + Lord Byron's letters to + Proclamation issued by him, on Lord Byron's death +Mawman, Joseph, bookseller +Mayfield, Mr. Moore's residence in Staffordshire +'MAZEPPA' +Medicine, effects of, on the mind and spirits +Medwin, Captain, his acquaintance with Lord Byron at Pisa +Meillerie +Melbourne, Lady +Mendelsohn, his habitual melancholy +Mengaldo, Chevalier +Merivale, J.H., esq. + His 'Roncesvalles' + His review of 'Grimm's Correspondence' + Lord Byron's letter to +Metastasio +Meyler, Richard, esq. +Mezzophanti, 'a monster of languages' +Milan cathedral + Ambrosian library at + Brera gallery + Napoleon's triumphal arch + State of society at +Milbanke, Sir Ralph +----, Lady. See Noel +----, Miss (afterwards Lady Byron) + See Byron +Miller, Rev. Dr., his 'Essay on Probabilities' +----, William, bookseller, refuses to publish Childe Harold +Millingen, Mr., His account of the consultation on Lord Byron's last + illness +Milman, Rev. Henry Hart, now Dean of St. Paul's, his 'Fazio' +Milnes, Robert, esq. +Milo +Milton, his imitation of Ariosto + His practice of dating his poems followed by Lord Byron + His dislike to Cambridge + His infelicitous marriage + His disregard of painting and sculpture + His politics kept him down + His 'material thunder.' +Mirabeau, his eloquence +'Mirra,' of Alfieri, effect of the representation of, on Lord Byron +Missiaglia, Venetian bookseller +Mistress, 'cannot be a friend +Mitchell, T., esq., his translation of Aristophanes +'Mobility' +Modern gardening, Pope the chief inventor of +Moira, Earl of (afterwards Marquis of Hastings) +Moliere +Moncada, Marquis +'Monk,' Lewis's, 'The philtered ideas of a jaded voluptuary' +Mont Blanc +Montague, Edward Wortley +----, Lady Mary Wortley, proposed Italian translation of her letters + and new life of + three pretty notes by her + Pope's lines on her +Montbovon +'Monthly Literary Recreations,' Lord Byron's review of Wordsworth's + poems in +Monti, his Aristodemo +----, account of +Moore, Thomas, esq., his prefaces to his 'Life of Lord Byron,' + His first acquaintance with Lord Byron + Duel between Mr. Jeffrey and + His person and manners described + His poetry + 'LINES on his last Operatic Farce or Farcical Opera' + His 'Lalla Rookh' + His 'Loves of the Angels' + Lord Byron's letters to + See also +Moore, Peter, esq. +Morgan, Lady + Her 'Italy' +----, Lord Byron's school-fellow at Harrow +'MORGANTE MAGGIORE, of Pulci.' translation of the first canto + commenced + finished + not a line to be omitted + the author's opinion of it +'Morning Post' +Morosini. his siege of Athens +Mosaic chronology +Mosti, Count +Mother, future conduct of a child dependent on the +Muir, Mr., letter to +Mule, Mrs., Lord Byron's housemaid +Mueller, the historian +Muloch, Muley + His 'Atheism answered' +Murat, Joachim, death of +Muratori +Murillo, Lord Byron's opinion of +Murray, John, esq, his first connection with Lord Byron + Childe Harold placed in his hands + shows the poem to Mr. Gifford + purchases the copyright + 'The [Greek: anax] of publishers' + recommended by Lord Byron to Mr. Moore as 'among the first of the + trade,' + offers 1000 guineas for the 'Giaour' and 'Bride of Abydos,' + Lord Byron's high compliment to + pays 1000 guineas for the 'Siege of Corinth' and 'Parisina' + the 'Mokanna' of publishers' + offers 1500 guineas for the 4th canto of 'Childe Harold' + poetical epistle to + 'Strahan, Tonson, Lintot, of the times' + conduct to Mr. Moore + Lord Byron's last letter to + letters and allusions to, _passim_ +Music, Lord Byron's love of simple + See, also +Musters, Mr. John, his marriage to Miss Chaworth +Musters, Mrs. + See Chaworth +'MY BOAT is on the shore' +'MY DEAR Mr. Murray' + + +N. + +Napier, Colonel + His testimony to the benevolence and soundness of Lord Byron's views + with regard to Greece +Naples, 'the second best sea view +Napoleon. See Buonaparte +Nathan, his 'Hebrew nasalities' +Nature +----, 'PRAYER of.' +'Naufragia,' Clarke's +Nelson, Southey's Life of +Nepean, Mr. +----, Sir Evan +Nerni +Newstead, granted by Henry VIII. to Sir John Byron +A prophecy of Mother Shipton's respecting +Let to Lord Grey de Ruthen +Lord Byron's affection for +Description of, and of the noble owner +Attempted sale of +Nicopolis, ruins of +Night +Nobility of thought and style defined +Noel, Lady +Norfolk (Charles Howard), twelfth Duke of +Nottingham frame breaking bill +----, Lord Byron's residence at +'Nourjahad,' a drama, falsely attributed to Lord Byron +Novels + + +O. + +Oak, the Byron +'ODE ON VENICE' +O'Donnovan, P.M., his 'Sir Proteus.' +'OH! banish care.' +'OH! Memory, torture me no more.' +O'Higgins, Mr., his Irish tragedy +Olympus +O'Neil, Miss, actress +Orators, only two thorough ones + 'Things of ages.' +Orchomenus +Orrery, Earl of, his Life of Swift quoted +Osborne, Lord Sidney +'Otello,' Rossini's +Otway, his three requisites for an Englishman +His 'Beividera.' +Ouchy +Owenson, Miss + See Morgan, Lady +Oxford, Gibbon's bitter recollections of + Dryden's praise of, at the expense of Cambridge +Oxford, Earl of +----, Countess of + +P. + +'PARISINA,' 1000 guineas offered for it and the 'Siege of Corinth,' by + Mr. Murray + Fancied resemblance between part of the poem and a similar scene in + 'Marmion.' +Parker, Sir Peter, stanzas written by Lord Byron on his death +----, Lady +----, Margaret, Lord Byron's boyish love for +Parkins, Miss Fanny +PARLIAMENT, Lord Byron's Speeches in +Parnassus, Lord Byron's visit to, and stanzas upon +Parr, Dr. +Parry, Captain +Parruca, Signor, letter to +Parthenon +Pasquali, Padre +Past, 'the best prophet of the future.' +Paterson, Mr. (Lord Byron's tutor at Aberdeen) +Patrons +Paul, St., translation from the Armenian, of correspondence between + the Corinthians and +Paul's, St., Cathedral, comparison with St. Sophia's +Pausanias, his 'Achaics' quoted +Payne, Thomas, bookseller +Peel, Right Hon. Sir Robert + Lord Byron's form-fellow at Harrow +----, William, Esq., one of Lord Byron's friends +Penelope, baths of, Lord Byron's visit to +Penn, Granville, esq., his 'Bioscope, or Dial of Life, explained +----, William, the founder of Quakerism +Perry, James, esq +Petersburgh +Petrarch, his literary and personal character interwoven + His severity to his daughter + In his youth a coxcomb + His portrait in the Manfrini palace + his popularity + See also +Phillips, Ambrose, his pastorals +----, S.M., esq +----, Thomas, esq., R.A +Philosophers, celibacy of eminent +Phoenix, Sheridan's story of the +Physic +Pictures +Pierce Plowman +Pigot, Miss + Account of her first acquaintance with Lord Byron + Lord Byron's letters to +Pigot, Dr + His account of Lord Byron's visit to Harrowgate + Lord Byron's letters to +Pigot, Mrs., Lord Byron's letter to +Pigot, family +Pindemonte, Ippolito, Lord Byron's portrait of +Pitt, Rt. Hon. William +Plagiarism +Players, an impracticable people +'Pleasures of Hope.' +'Pleasures of Memory.' +Plethora, abstinence the sole remedy for +Poetry, distasteful to Byron when a boy + When to be employed as the interpreter of feeling + Addiction to, whence resulting + New school of + 'The feeling of a former world and future' + Descriptive + Ethical, 'the highest of all + See also +Poets, self-educated ones + Lord Byron's list of celebrated poets of all nations + Unfitted for the calm affections and comforts of domestic life + Querulous and monotonous lives of + Female +See also +Polidori, Dr. + Some account of + Anecdotes of + His 'Vampire + His tragedy +Political consistency +Politics +Pomponius Atticus +Pope, Alexander, a self-educated poet +Lord Byron's enthusiastic admiration of +His youth and Byron's compared +An example of filial tenderness + His Prologue to Cato + His ineffable distance above all modern poets + The parent of real English poetry + Atrocious cant and nonsense about + The Christianity of English poetry + Ten times more poetry in his 'Essay on Man' than in the 'Excursion' + Keats' depreciation of + The most faultless of poets + His imagery + The greatest name in our poetry + His Essay upon Phillips's Pastorals a model of irony + The principal inventor of modern gardening + His 'Homer' + 'LETTER ON BOWLES'S STRICTURES ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF,' + SECOND LETTER + See, also +Porson, Professor, his 'Devil's Walk' + Lord Byron's recollection of +Portrait painter, agonies of a +Pouqueville, M. de +Powerscourt, Lord, one of Lord Byron's friends +Pratt, Samuel Jackson +Priestley, Dr., his Christian materialism +Prince Regent + Lord Byron's introduction to + See George IV. +Prior's Paulo Purgante +'PRISONER OF CHILLON' +Probabilities, Dr. Miller's Essay on +Probationary Odes +Prologues, 'only two decent ones in our language' +'PROMETHEUS,' of AEschylus +'PROPHECY OF DANTE +Prophets +Pulci, his 'Morgante Maggiore' + 'Sire of the half serious rhyme' +Punctuation + + +Q. + +Quarrels of Authors, D'Israeli's +Quarterly Review +'Quentin Durward' + + +R. + +Rae, John, comedian +Rainsford, Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Rancliffe, Lord +Raphael, his hair +Rashleigh, Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Ravenna +Raymond, James Grant, comedian +Reading, the love of +Regnard, his hypochondriacism +Reinagle, R.R., his chained eagle +'Rejected Addresses,' 'the best of the kind since the Rolliad,' +----, the Genuine +Republics +Reviewers +Reviews +Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 'not good in history' +Reynolds, J.H., his 'Safie' +'Ricciardetto,' Lord Glenbervie's translation of +Rice, Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Richardson, 'the vainest and luckiest of authors' +Riddel, Lady, her masquerade at Bath, at which Lord Byron appeared +Ridge, printer +Riga, the Greek patriot +Roberts, Mr. (editor of the British Review) +Robins, George, auctioneer +Robinson Crusoe, the first part said to be written by Lord Oxford +Rocca, M. de +Rochdale estate +Rochefoucault, 'always right' + Sayings of +Rogers, Samuel, esq., his 'Pleasures of Memory' + His 'Jacqueline' + 'The Tithonus of poetry' + 'The father of present poesy' + His Tribute to the memory of Lord Byron + Lord Byron's letters to + See also +----, Mr., of Nottingham (Lord Byron's Latin tutor) +Rokeby, Lord Byron's schoolfellow at Harrow +Roman Catholic religion +Romanelli, physician +Rome, 'the wonderful' + Finer than Greece +Romeo and Juliet, the story of +Rose, William Stewart, esq., his 'Animali' + His 'Lines to Lord Byron' +Rose glaciers +'Rose-water' +Ross, Rev. Mr. (Lord Byron's tutor at Aberdeen) +Rossini, his 'Otello' +Roscoe, Mr +Rossoe, Mr., story of +Roufigny, Abbe de +Rousseau, Jean Jacques, Lord Byron's resemblance to + Comparison between Lord Byron and + His marriage + His 'Heloise' + His 'Confessions' + Force and accuracy of his descriptions +Rowcroft, Mr +Royston, Lord Byron's school-fellow at Harrow +Rubens, his style +Rushton, Robert (the 'little page' in Childe Harold) + Lord Byron's letters to +'Ruminator,' the, by Sir Egerton Brydges +Rusponi, Countess +Russell, Lord John +Rycaut, his 'History of the Turks' first drew Lord Byron's attention + to the East + See, also + + +S. + +St. Lambert, his imitation of Thomson +Sanders, Mr., his portraits of Lord Byron +'Sappho,' of Grillparzer +'SARDANAPALUS,' outline of the Tragedy sketched + Four acts completed + The play finished + A disparagement of it +Sarrazin, General +Satan, Lord Byron's opinion of his real appearance to the Creator +'Satirist' +Scaligers, tomb of the +Scamander +Schiller, his 'Thirty years War' + His 'Robbers' + His 'Fiesco' + His 'Ghost-seer' +Schlegel, Frederick, his writings + Anecdotes of +'School for Scandal' +School of Homer, Lord Byron's visit to +Scotland, the impressions on Lord Byron's mind by the mountain scenery + of + Lord Byron 'Half a Scot by birth and bred a whole one' + 'A canny Scot till ten years' old' +Scott, Sir Walter, his dog 'Maida' + His 'Rokeby' + The 'monarch of Parnassus' + His 'Lives of the Novelists' + His 'Waverley' + His first acquaintance with Byron + His 'Antiquary' + His review of 'Childe Harold' in the Quarterly + His 'Tales of my Landlord' + 'The Ariosto of the North' + The first British poet titled for his talent + His 'Ivanhoe' + His 'Monastery' + His 'Abbot' + His imitators + The 'Scotch Fielding' + His countenance + His novels 'a new literature in themselves' + His 'Kenilworth' + His 'Life of Swift' + Lord Byron's letters to + See, also +Scott, Mr., of Aberdeen +----, Mr. Alexander +----, Mr. John +'Scotticisms' +Scriptures, Lord Byron's knowledge of the + See, also, Bible +'Scourge,' proceedings against the, for a libel on Mrs. Byron +Sculpture, the most artificial of the arts + Its superiority to painting + More poetical than nature +Secheron +Self-educated poets +Sensibility +Separation, miseries of +Seraglio at Constantinople, description of +Sestos +Settle, Elkanah, his 'Emperor of Morocco' +'Seven before Thebes' +Seville +Seward, Anne, her 'Life of Darwin' +'Sexagenarian,' Beloe's +'Shah Nameh,' the Persian Iliad +Shakspeare, his infelicitous marriage + 'The worst of models' + 'Will have his decline' +Sharp, William (the engraver, and disciple of Joanna Southcote) +Sharpe, Richard, esq. (the 'Conversationist') +Sheil, Richard, esq. +Sheldrake, Mr. +Shelley, Percy Bysshe, esq., his 'Queen Mab' + His portrait of Lord Byron + Particulars concerning + His visit to Lord Byron at Ravenna + His praise of Don Juan + Lord Byron's letters to + His letters to Lord Byron + See also +----, Mrs. + Her 'Frankenstein' + Lord Byron's letters to +Shepherd, Rev. John, his letter enclosing his wife's prayer on Lord + Byron's behalf + Lord Byron's answer +Sheridan, Right Hon. Richard Brinsley, anecdotes of + And Colman compared + His eloquence + His conversation + 'Whatever he did, was the best of its kind' + Defence of + His phoenix story + 'MONODY on the Death of' +'Shipwreck,' Falconer's +Shoel, Mr. +Shreikhorn +Shrewsbury, Earl of, his letter to Sir John Byron's grandson +Siddons, Mrs., her performance of the character of Isabella + Lord Byron's praise of + Effect of her acting at Edinburgh + An allusion to +'SIEGE OF CORINTH' +Sigeum, Cape +Simplon, the +Sinclair, George, esq., 'the prodigy' of Harrow School +Sirmium +'Sir Proteus,' a satirical ballad +'SKETCH,' a +Skull-cup +Slave trade +Slavery +Sligo, Marquis of + His letter on the origin of the 'Giaour' +Smart, Christopher +Smith, Sir Henry +----, Horace, esq., his 'Horace in London' +----, Mrs. Spencer. See 'Florence.' +----, Miss (afterwards Mrs. Oscar Byrne), dancer +Smyrna, Lord Byron's stay at +Smythe, Professor +Socrates +Sonnets, 'the most puling, petrifying, stupidly platonic compositions,' +Sorelli, his translation of Grillparzer's 'Sappho' + Sotheby, William, esq., his tragedies + his 'Ivan' accepted for Drury Lane Theatre + similarity of a passage in 'Ivan' to one in the 'Corsair' + a 'row' about 'Ivan' + the AEschylus of the age + his 'Orestes' + See also + Lord Byron's letters to +Southcote, Joanna +Southey, Robert, esq., LL.D., his person and manners + His prose and poetry + His 'Roderick' + his 'Curse of Kehama' + Lord Byron's intention to dedicate 'Don Juan' to him + his 'Joan of Arc' would have been better in rhyme + See also +Southwell, Notts, Lord Byron's residence at +Southwood, on the Divine Government +SPEECHES IN PARLIAMENT, Lord Byron's +Spence's Anecdotes (Singer's edition) +Spencer, Dowager Lady +----, William, esq. +----, Countess +Spenser, Edmund, his measure +Staeel, Madame de, her essay against suicide + Her 'De l'Allemagne' + Her personal appearance + Her death + Notes written by Lord Byron in her 'Corinne' + See also +Stafford, Marquis of (now Duke of Sutherland) +Stafford, Marchioness of (now Duchess of Sutherland) +Stanhope, Hon. Col. Leicester, (now Earl of Harrington) + his arrival in Greece to assist in effecting its liberation + His 'Greece in 1823-1824' + Lord Byron's letters to +----, Lady Hester, Lord Byron taken to task by +Steele, Sir Richard +Stella, Swift's +Sterne, his affected sensibility +Stephenson, Sir John +Stockhorn +Storm, aspect of one in the Archipelago +'STRAHAN, Tonson, Lintot of the times' +Strangford, Lord, his 'Camoens' +Strong, Mr., Lord Byron's school-fellow at Harrow +Stuart, Sir Charles (now Lord Stuart de Rothsay) +Suleyman, of Thebes +'Sunshiny day' +Supernatural appearances +Suppers + lobster nights +'Sweet Florence, could another ever share' +Swift, Dr. Jonathan + Similarity between the character of Lord Byron and + Gave away his copyrights + His Stella and Vanessa +Swoon, the sensation described +Sylla +Symplegades +Switzerland and the Swiss + + +T. + +Taaffe, Mr. + His 'Commentary on Dante' +Tahiri, Dervise +'Tales of my Landlord' +Tasso, an expert swordsman and dancer + an example of filial tenderness + his imprisonment + his popularity in his lifetime + remade the whole of his 'Jerusalem' + his sensitiveness to public favour + 'LAMENT of' +Tattersall, Rev. John Cecil (Lord Byron's school acquaintance) +Tavernier, the eastern traveller, his chateau at Aubonne +Tavistock, Marquis of +Taylor. John, esq., Lord Byron's letter to in respect of an allusion to +Lady Byron in the 'Sun' newspaper +Teeth +Temple, Sir William, his opinion of poetry +Tepaleen +Terni, Falls of +Terry, Daniel, comedian +Theatricals, private, at Southwell +Thirst +'This day of all our days has done' +Thomas of Ercildoune +Thompson, Mr. +Thomson, James, the poet, his 'Seasons' would have been better in + rhyme +Thorwaldsen, the sculptor, his bust of Lord Byron +'THOUGH the day of my destiny's o'er' +Thoun + 'THROUGH life's dull road, so dim and dirty' +Thurlow (Thomas Hovell Thurlow) second Lord +Thyrza +Tiberius +Tiraboschi +''Tis done and shivering in the gale.' + Lord Byron's stanzas to Mrs. Musters on leaving England +Titian, his portrait of Ariosto + His pictures at Florence +Toderinus, his 'Storia della Letteratura Turchesca' +Town life +Townshend, Rev. George, his 'Armageddon' +Travelling, Lord Byron's opinion of the advantages of +Travis, the Venetian Jew +Trelawney, Edward, esq. +Troad, the +Troy + Authenticity of the tale of +Tuite, Lady, her stanzas to Memory +Tally's 'Tripoli' +Turkey, women of +Turner, W., esq., his 'Tour in the Levant' +Twiss, Horace, esq. +Tyranny + + +U. + +Ulissipont +Unities, the +Usurers + + +V. + +Vacca, Dr. +Valentia, Lord (now Earl of Mountnorris) +Valiere, Madame la +'VAMPIRE, The, a Fragment' + Superstition +Vanbrugh, his comedies +Vanessa, Swift's +'Vanity of Human Wishes,' Johnson's +Vascillie +'Vathek' +'VAULT REFLECTIONS' +Velasquez +Veli Pacha +Venetian dialect +Venice, the gondolas + St. Mark's + Theatres + Women + Carnival + Morals and manners in + Nobility of + Riaito + Manfrini palace + Bridge of Sighs +'VENICE, Ode on' +Venus de Medici, more for admiration than love +Verona, how much Catullus, Claudian, and Shakspeare have done for it + Amphitheatre of + Juliet's tomb at + Tombs of the Scaligers +Versatility +Vestris, Italian comedian +Vevay +Vicar of Wakefield +Voltaire, gave away his copyrights + D'Argenson's advice to +Voluptuary +Vondel, the Dutch Shakspeare +Vostizza +Vulgarity of style + + +W. + +Waite, Mr. (Lord Byron's dentist) +Wales, Princess of (afterwards Queen Caroline) +Wallace, the Scottish chief +Wallace-nook +Walpole, Sir Robert, his conversation at table +'WALTZ, THE; an Apostrophic Hymn' + The authorship of it denied by Lord Byron +Ward, Hon. John William (afterwards Earl of Dudley), his review +of Horne Tooke's Life in the Quarterly + His style of speaking + Lord Byron's pun on + His review of Fox's Correspondence + Epigrams on +Warren, Sir John +Washington, George +Waterloo, Lord Byron's verses on the battle of +Wathen, Mr. +Watier's club +'Waverley,' character of +Way, William, esq. +Webster, Sir Godfrey +Webster, Wedderburn, esq. +'WEEP, daughter of a royal line' +Wellesley, Sir Arthur. See Wellington +----, Richard, esq. +Wellington, Duke of, 'the Scipio of our Hannibal' +Wengen Alps +Wentworth, Lord + 'WERNER; or, THE INHERITANCE; a Tragedy' + 'Werther,' Goethe's effects of + Mad. de Staeel's character of +West, Mr. (American artist), his conversations with Lord Byron +Westall, Richard, esq.. R.A. +Westminster Abbey +Westmoreland, Lady +Wetterhorn +'What matter the pangs' +'When man expelled from Eden's bowers' +'When Time, who steals our years away' +Whigs +'Whistlecraft' +Whitbread, Samuel, esq. + 'The Demosthenes of bad taste' +Whitby, Captain +White, Henry Kirke, esq. +----, Lydia +'White Lady of Avenel' +'White Lady of Colalto' +'Who killed John Keats?' +'Why, how now, saucy Tom?' +Wieland + His history of 'Agathon' + Resemblance between Byron and +Wilberforce, William, esq., his style of speaking + Personified by Sheridan +Wildman, Thomas, esq. +----, Colonel, present proprietor of Newstead +Wilkes, John, esq. +Will, Lord Byron's + His last +Williams, Captain +Williams, Mrs., the fortune-teller, her prediction concerning Byron +Wilmot, Mrs., her tragedy +Wilson, Professor +Windham, Right Hon. William +'WINDSOR POETICS' +Wingfield, Hon. John + His death +Women, society of + Cannot write tragedy + State of, under the ancient Greeks +Woodhouselee, Lord, his opinion of Lord Byron's early poems +Woolriche, Dr. +Wordsworth, William, esq., Lord Byron's review of his early poems + The allusion to + His 'Excursion' + His powers to do 'anything' + Influence of his poetry on Lord Byron + Never vulgar + See also +Wrangham, Rev. Francis +Wright, Walter Rodwell, esq., his 'Horae Ionicae' +Writers, tragic, generally mirthful persons + +Y. + +Yanina +York, Duke of +Young, Dr. E. +Yussuff, Pacha +Yverdun + +Z. + +Zitza +Zograffo, Demetrius + + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6 (of 6), by Thomas Moore + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF LORD BYRON, VOL. 6 (OF 6) *** + +***** This file should be named 14841.txt or 14841.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/8/4/14841/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Leonard Johnson and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +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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