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diff --git a/8901-h/8901-h.htm b/8901-h/8901-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7689da8 --- /dev/null +++ b/8901-h/8901-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17428 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Byron's Letters and Journals, vol. 1</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<meta name="keywords" content="Byron, letters, epistolatory, poetry, literature, English Literature, bibliography, e-book, Public Doman, free e-book"> + +<meta name="description" content="The Letters and Journals of George Gordon, Lord Byron, a new, revised and enlarged edition, with illustrations, volume 1 now available in html form, as a free download from Project Gutenberg"> + +<style type="text/css"> +body {background:#ffff99; margin:10%; text-align:justify} +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {color:#A82C28} +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and +Journals, Vol. 1, by Lord Byron + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and Journals, Vol. 1 + +Author: Lord Byron + +Editor: Roland E. Prothero + +Posting Date: February 22, 2015 [EBook #8901] +Release Date: September, 2005 +First Posted: August 22, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYRON, LETTERS AND JOURNALS, VOL 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>Byron's <i>Letter and Journals</i></h1><br> +<br> +<b>Volume 1<br> + + +<br> +<br> +Part of <i>Byron's Works</i><br> +<br> +a New, Revised and Enlarged Edition, +with Illustrations.<br> +<br> + + +This volume edited by + +Rowland E. Prothero<br> +<br> +1898</b><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<p><b><a name="toc">Table of Contents</a></b></p> +<ul> +<li><a href="#introduction">Preface</a></li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li><a href="#section2">Chapter I — Childhood and School</a></li> +<li><a href="#section3">Chapter II — Cambridge and Juvenile Poems</a></li> +<li><a href="#section4">Chapter III — English Bards and Scotch Reviewers</a></li> +<li><a href="#section5">Chapter IV — Travels in Albania, Greece etc. — Death of Mrs. Byron</a></li> +</ul> +<ul> +<li><a href="#section6">Appendix I — Review of Wordsworth's Poems</a></li> +<li><a href="#section7">Appendix II — Article from the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, For January, 1808</a></li> +<li><a href="#section8">Appendix III — Review of Gell's <i>Geography of Ithaca</i>, and <i>Itinerary Of Greece</i></a></li> +</ul> + + +<h2><a name="introduction">Preface</a></h2> +<br> +Two great collections of Byron's letters have been already printed. In +Moore's <i>Life</i>, which appeared in 1830, 561 were given. These, in +FitzGreene Halleck's American edition of Byron's <i>Works</i>, published +in 1847, were increased to 635. The first volume of a third collection, +edited by Mr. W. E. Henley, appeared early in 1897. A comparison of the +number of letters contained in these three collections down to August +22, 1811, shows that Moore prints 61, Halleck 78, and Mr. Henley 88. In +other words, the edition of 1897, which was the most complete so far as +it goes, added 27 letters to that of 1830, and 10 to that of 1847. But +it should be remembered that by far the greater part of the material +added by Halleck and Mr. Henley was seen and rejected by Moore.<br> +<br> +The present edition, down to August 22, 1811, prints 168 letters, or an +addition of 107 to Moore, 90 to Halleck, and 80 to Mr. Henley. Of this +additional matter considerably more than two-thirds was inaccessible to +Moore in 1830.<br> +<br> +In preparing this volume for the press, use has been also made of a mass +of material, bearing more or less directly on Byron's life, which was +accumulated by the grandfather and father of Mr. Murray. The notes thus +contain, it is believed, many details of biographical interest, which +are now for the first time published.<br> +<br> +It is necessary to make these comparisons, in order to define the +position which this edition claims to hold with regard to its +predecessors. On the other hand, no one can regret more sincerely than +myself — no one has more cause to regret — the circumstances which placed +this wealth of new material in my hands rather than in those of the true +poet and brilliant critic, who, to enthusiasm for Byron, and wide +acquaintance with the literature and social life of the day, adds the +rarer gift of giving life and significance to bygone events or trivial +details by unconsciously interesting his readers in his own living +personality.<br> +<br> +Byron's letters appeal on three special grounds to all lovers of English +literature. They offer the most suggestive commentary on his poetry; +they give the truest portrait of the man; they possess, at their best, +in their ease, freshness, and racy vigour, a very high literary value.<br> +<br> +The present volume, which covers the period from 1798 to August, 1811, +includes the letters written Lord Byron from his eleventh to his +twenty-third year. They therefore illustrate the composition of his +youthful poetry, of <i>English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i>, and of +the first two cantos of <i>Childe Harold</i>. They carry his history +down to the eve of that morning in March, 1812, when he awoke and found +himself famous — in a degree and to an extent which to the present +generation seem almost incomprehensible.<br> +<br> +If the letters were selected for their literary value alone, it is +probable that very few of those contained in the present volume would +find a place in a collection formed on this principle. But biographical +interest also demands consideration, and, in the case of Byron, this +claim is peculiarly strong. He has for years suffered much from the +suppression of the material on which a just estimate of his life may be +formed. It is difficult not to regret the destruction of the +<i>Memoirs</i>, in which he himself intended his history to be told. +Their loss cannot be replaced; but their best substitute is found in his +letters. Through them a truer conception of Byron can be formed than any +impression which is derived from Dallas, Leigh Hunt, Medwin, or even +Moore. It therefore seems only fair to Byron, that they should be +allowed, as far as possible, to interpret his career. For other reasons +also it appears to me too late, or too soon, to publish only those +letters which possess a high literary value. The real motive of such a +selection would probably be misread, and thus further misconceptions of +Byron's character would be encouraged.<br> +<br> +With one exception, therefore, the whole of the available material has +been published. The exception consists of some of the business letters +written by Byron to his solicitor. Enough of these have been printed to +indicate the pecuniary difficulties which undoubtedly influenced his +life and character; but it was not considered necessary to publish the +whole series. Men of genius ask money from their lawyers in the same +language, and with the same arguments, as the most ordinary persons.<br> +<br> +The picture which the letters give of Byron, is, it is believed, unique +in its completeness, while the portrait has the additional value of +being painted by his own hand. Byron's career lends itself only too +easily to that method of treatment, which dashes off a likeness by +vigorous strokes with a full brush, seizing with false emphasis on some +salient feature, and revelling in striking contrasts of light and shade. +But the style here adopted by the unconscious artist is rather that in +which Richardson the novelist painted his pathetic picture of Clarissa +Harlowe. With slow, laborious touches, with delicate gradations of +colour, sometimes with almost tedious minuteness and iteration, the +gradual growth of a strangely composite character is presented, +surrounded by the influences which controlled or moulded its +development, and traced through all the varieties of its rapidly +changing moods. Written, as Byron wrote, with habitual exaggeration, and +on the impulse of the moment, his letters correct one another, and, from +this point of view, every letter contained in the volume adds something +to the truth and completeness of the portrait.<br> +<br> +Round the central figure of Byron are grouped his relations and friends, +and two of the most interesting features in the volume are the strength +of his family affections, and the width, if not the depth, of his +capacity for friendship. His father died when the child was only three +years old. But a bundle of his letters, written from Valenciennes to his +sister, Mrs. Leigh, in 1790-91, still exists, to attest, with startling +plainness of speech, the strength of the tendencies which John Byron +transmitted to his son. The following extract contains the father's only +allusion to the boy:- + +<blockquote>"Valenciennes, Feb. 16, 1791.<br> +<br> + Have you never received any letters from me by way of Bologne? I have + sent two. For God's sake send me some, as I have a great deal to pay. + With regard to Mrs. Byron, I am glad she writes to you. She is very + amiable at a distance; but I defy you and all the Apostles to live + with her two months, for, if any body could live with her, it was me. + <i>Mais jeu de Mains, jeu de Vilains</i>. For my son, I am happy to + hear he is well; but for his walking, 'tis impossible, as he is + club-footed.</blockquote> + +Between his mother and himself, in spite of frequent and violent +collisions, there existed a real affection, while the warmth of his love +for his half-sister Augusta, who had much of her brother's power of +winning affection, lost nothing in its permanence from the rarity of +their personal intercourse. Outside the family circle, the volume +introduces the only two men among his contemporaries who remained his +lifelong friends. In his affection for Lord Clare, whom he very rarely +saw after leaving school, there was a tinge of romance, and in him Byron +seems to have personified the best memories of an idealized Harrow. In +Hobhouse he found at once the truest and the most intimate of his +friends, a man whom he both liked and respected, and to whose opinion +and judgment he repeatedly deferred. On Hobhouse's side, the sentiment +which induced him, eminently sensible and practical as he was, to +treasure the nosegay which Byron had given him, long after it was +withered, shows how attractive must have been the personality of the +donor.<br> +<br> +Without the <i>Dictionary of National Biography</i>, the labour of +preparing the letters for the press would be trebled. Both in the facts +which it supplies, and in the sources of information which it suggests, +it is an invaluable aid.<br> +<br> +In conclusion, I desire to express my special obligations to Lord +Lovelace and Mr. Richard Edgcumbe, who have read the greater part of the +proofs, and to both of whom I am indebted for several useful +suggestions.<br> +<br> +<b>R. E. Prothero.</b><br> +<br> +March, 1898.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#toc">Contents</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h2><a name="section1">List of Letters</a></h2> +<br> +<table summary="List of Letters" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5"> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><b>number</b></td> + <td><b>date</b></td> + <td><b>address</b></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1798</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>1</td> + <td>Nov. 8</td> + <td><a href="#L1">To Mrs. Parker</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1799</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>2</td> + <td>March 13</td> + <td><a href="#L2">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>3</td> + <td>undated</td> + <td><a href="#L3">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1803</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>4</td> + <td>May 1</td> + <td><a href="#L4">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>5</td> + <td>June 23</td> + <td><a href="#L5">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>6</td> + <td>Sept.</td> + <td><a href="#L6">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1804</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>7</td> + <td>March 22</td> + <td><a href="#L7">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>8</td> + <td>March 26</td> + <td><a href="#L8">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>9</td> + <td>April 2</td> + <td><a href="#L9">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>10</td> + <td>April 9</td> + <td><a href="#L10">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp2">11</a></td> + <td>April 18</td> + <td><a href="#L11">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>12</td> + <td>August 29</td> + <td><a href="#L12">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>13</td> + <td>October 25</td> + <td><a href="#L13">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>14</td> + <td>Nov. 2</td> + <td><a href="#L14">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>15</td> + <td>Nov. 11</td> + <td><a href="#L15">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>16</td> + <td>Nov. 17</td> + <td><a href="#L16">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>17</td> + <td>Nov. 21</td> + <td><a href="#L17">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>18</td> + <td>Dec. 1</td> + <td><a href="#L18">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1805</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>19</td> + <td>Jan. 30</td> + <td><a href="#L19">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>20</td> + <td>April 4</td> + <td><a href="#L20">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>21</td> + <td>April 15</td> + <td><a href="#L21">To Hargreaves Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>22</td> + <td>April 20</td> + <td><a href="#L22">To Hargreaves Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>23</td> + <td>April 23</td> + <td><a href="#L23">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>24</td> + <td>April 25</td> + <td><a href="#L24">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>25</td> + <td>May 11</td> + <td><a href="#L25">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>26</td> + <td>June 5</td> + <td><a href="#L26">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp3">27</a></td> + <td>June 27</td> + <td><a href="#L27">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>28</td> + <td>July 2</td> + <td><a href="#L28">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>29</td> + <td>July 8</td> + <td><a href="#L29">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>30</td> + <td>August 4</td> + <td><a href="#L30">To Charles O. Gordon</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>31</td> + <td>August 6</td> + <td><a href="#L31">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>32</td> + <td>August 10</td> + <td><a href="#L32">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>33</td> + <td>August 14</td> + <td><a href="#L33">To Charles O. Gordon</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>34</td> + <td>August 19</td> + <td><a href="#L34">To Hargreaves Hanson</a> </td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>35</td> + <td>undated</td> + <td><a href="#L35">To Hargreaves Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>36</td> + <td>Oct. 25</td> + <td><a href="#L36">To Hargreaves Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>37</td> + <td>Oct. 26</td> + <td><a href="#L37">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>38</td> + <td>Nov. 6</td> + <td><a href="#L38">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>39</td> + <td>Nov. 12</td> + <td><a href="#L39">To Hargreaves Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>40</td> + <td>Nov. 23</td> + <td><a href="#L40">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>41</td> + <td>Nov. 30</td> + <td><a href="#L41">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>42</td> + <td>Dec. 4</td> + <td><a href="#L42">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>43</td> + <td>Dec. 13</td> + <td><a href="#L43">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp4">44</a></td> + <td>Dec. 26</td> + <td><a href="#L44">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>45</td> + <td>Dec. 27</td> + <td><a href="#L45">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1806</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>46</td> + <td>Jan. 7</td> + <td><a href="#L46">To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>47</td> + <td>Feb. 26</td> + <td><a href="#L47">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>48</td> + <td>March 3</td> + <td><a href="#L48">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>49</td> + <td>March 10</td> + <td><a href="#L49">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>50</td> + <td>March 25</td> + <td><a href="#L50">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>51</td> + <td>May 16</td> + <td><a href="#L51">To Henry Angelo</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>52</td> + <td>August 9</td> + <td><a href="#L52">To John M.B. Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>53</td> + <td>August 10</td> + <td><a href="#L53">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>54</td> + <td>August 10</td> + <td><a href="#L54">To John M.B. Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>55</td> + <td>August 16</td> + <td><a href="#L55">To John M.B. Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>56</td> + <td>August 18</td> + <td><a href="#L56">To John M.B. Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>57</td> + <td>August 26</td> + <td><a href="#L57">To John M.B. Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>58</td> + <td>undated</td> + <td><a href="#L58">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>59</td> + <td>Dec. 7</td> + <td><a href="#L59">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1807</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>60</td> + <td>Jan. 12</td> + <td><a href="#L60">To J. Ridge</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp5">61</a></td> + <td>Jan. 13</td> + <td><a href="#L61">To John M. B. Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>62</td> + <td>Jan. 31</td> + <td><a href="#L62">To Captain John Leacroft</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>63</td> + <td>Feb. 4</td> + <td><a href="#L63">To Captain John Leacroft</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>64</td> + <td>Feb. 4</td> + <td><a href="#L64">To Captain John Leacroft</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>65</td> + <td>Feb. 6</td> + <td><a href="#L65">To the Earl of Clare</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>66</td> + <td>Feb. 8</td> + <td><a href="#L66">To Mrs. Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>67</td> + <td>March 6</td> + <td><a href="#L67">To William Bankes</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>68</td> + <td>undated</td> + <td><a href="#L68">To William Bankes</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>69</td> + <td>undated</td> + <td><a href="#L69">To — — Falkner</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>70</td> + <td>April 2</td> + <td><a href="#L70">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>71</td> + <td>April</td> + <td><a href="#L71">To John M. B. Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>72</td> + <td>April 19</td> + <td><a href="#L72">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>73</td> + <td>June 11</td> + <td><a href="#L73">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>74</td> + <td>June 30</td> + <td><a href="#L74">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>75</td> + <td>July 5</td> + <td><a href="#L75">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>76</td> + <td>July 13</td> + <td><a href="#L76">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>77</td> + <td>July 20</td> + <td><a href="#L77">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp6">78</a></td> + <td>Aug. 2</td> + <td><a href="#L78">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>79</td> + <td>Aug. 11</td> + <td><a href="#L79">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>80</td> + <td>Oct. 19</td> + <td><a href="#L80">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>81</td> + <td>Oct. 26</td> + <td><a href="#L81">To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>82</td> + <td>Nov. 20</td> + <td><a href="#L82">To J. Ridge</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>83</td> + <td>Dec. 2</td> + <td><a href="#L83">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>84</td> + <td>Nov. 9 (1820)</td> + <td><a href="#L84">To John Murray</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1808</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>85</td> + <td>Jan. 13</td> + <td><a href="#L85">To Henry Drury</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>86</td> + <td>Jan. 16</td> + <td><a href="#L86">To John Cam Hobhouse</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>87</td> + <td>Jan. 20</td> + <td><a href="#L87">To Robert Charles Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>88</td> + <td>Jan. 21</td> + <td><a href="#L88">To Robert Charles Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>89</td> + <td>Jan. 25</td> + <td><a href="#L89">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>90</td> + <td>Jan. 25</td> + <td><a href="#L90">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>91</td> + <td>Feb. 2</td> + <td><a href="#L91">To James De Bathe</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>92</td> + <td>Feb. 11</td> + <td><a href="#L92">To William Harness</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>93</td> + <td>Feb. 21</td> + <td><a href="#L93">To J. Ridge</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp7">94</a></td> + <td>Feb. 26</td> + <td><a href="#L94">To the Rev. John Becher</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>95</td> + <td>March 28</td> + <td><a href="#L95">To the Rev. John Becher</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>96</td> + <td>April 26</td> + <td><a href="#L96">To the Hon. Augusta Leigh</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>97</td> + <td>Sept. 14</td> + <td><a href="#L97">To the Rev. John Becher</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>98</td> + <td>Sept. 18</td> + <td><a href="#L98">To John Jackson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>99</td> + <td>Oct. 4</td> + <td><a href="#L99">To John Jackson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>100</td> + <td>Oct. 7</td> + <td><a href="#L100">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>101</td> + <td>Nov. 2</td> + <td><a href="#L101">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>102</td> + <td>Nov. 3</td> + <td><a href="#L102">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>103</td> + <td>Nov. 18</td> + <td><a href="#L103">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>104</td> + <td>Nov. 27</td> + <td><a href="#L104">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>105</td> + <td>Nov. 30</td> + <td><a href="#L105">To the Hon. Augusta Leigh</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>106</td> + <td>Dec. 14</td> + <td><a href="#L106">To the Hon. Augusta Leigh</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>107</td> + <td>Dec. 17</td> + <td><a href="#L107">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>108</td> + <td>Dec. 17</td> + <td><a href="#L108">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1809</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>109</td> + <td>Jan. 15</td> + <td><a href="#L109">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp8">110</a></td> + <td>Jan. 25</td> + <td><a href="#L110">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>111</td> + <td>Feb. 7</td> + <td><a href="#L111">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>112</td> + <td>Feb. 11</td> + <td><a href="#L112">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>113</td> + <td>Feb. 12</td> + <td><a href="#L113">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>114</td> + <td>Feb. 16</td> + <td><a href="#L114">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>115</td> + <td>Feb. 19</td> + <td><a href="#L115">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>116</td> + <td>Feb. 22</td> + <td><a href="#L116">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>117</td> + <td>March 6</td> + <td><a href="#L117">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>118</td> + <td>March 18</td> + <td><a href="#L118">To William Harness</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>119</td> + <td>undated</td> + <td><a href="#L119">To William Bankes</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>120</td> + <td>April 25</td> + <td><a href="#L120">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>121</td> + <td>April 26</td> + <td><a href="#L121">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>122</td> + <td>May 15</td> + <td><a href="#L122">To the Rev. R. Lowe</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>123</td> + <td>June 22</td> + <td><a href="#L123">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>124</td> + <td>June 28</td> + <td><a href="#L124">To the Rev. Henry Drury</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>125</td> + <td>June 25-30</td> + <td><a href="#L125">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>126</td> + <td>July 16</td> + <td><a href="#L126">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp9">127</a></td> + <td>August 6</td> + <td><a href="#L127">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>128</td> + <td>August 11</td> + <td><a href="#L128">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>129</td> + <td>August 15</td> + <td><a href="#L129">To Mr. Rushton</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>130</td> + <td>Sept. 15</td> + <td><a href="#L130">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>131</td> + <td>Nov. 12</td> + <td><a href="#L131">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1810</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>132</td> + <td>March 19</td> + <td><a href="#L132">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>133</td> + <td>April 9</td> + <td><a href="#L133">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>134</td> + <td>April 10</td> + <td><a href="#L134">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>135</td> + <td>April 17</td> + <td><a href="#L135">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>136</td> + <td>May 3</td> + <td><a href="#L136">To Henry Drury</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>137</td> + <td>May 5</td> + <td><a href="#L137">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>138</td> + <td>May 18</td> + <td><a href="#L138">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>139</td> + <td>May 24</td> + <td><a href="#L139">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>140</td> + <td>June 17</td> + <td><a href="#L140">To Henry Drury</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>141</td> + <td>June 28</td> + <td><a href="#L141">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>142</td> + <td>July 1</td> + <td><a href="#L142">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp10">143</a></td> + <td>July 4</td> + <td><a href="#L143">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>144</td> + <td>July 25</td> + <td><a href="#L144">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>145</td> + <td>July 27</td> + <td><a href="#L145">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>146</td> + <td>July 30</td> + <td><a href="#L146">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>147</td> + <td>Oct. 2</td> + <td><a href="#L147">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>148</td> + <td>Oct. 3</td> + <td><a href="#L148">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>149</td> + <td>Oct. 4</td> + <td><a href="#L149">To John Cam Hobhouse</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>150</td> + <td>Nov. 14</td> + <td><a href="#L150">To Francis Hodgson</a> </td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b><span style="color: #00CC66;">1811</span></b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>151</td> + <td>Jan. 14</td> + <td><a href="#L151">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>152</td> + <td>Feb. 28</td> + <td><a href="#L152">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>153</td> + <td>June 25</td> + <td><a href="#L153">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>154</td> + <td>June 28</td> + <td><a href="#L154">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>155</td> + <td>June 29</td> + <td><a href="#L155">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>156</td> + <td>July 17</td> + <td><a href="#L156">To Henry Drury</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>157</td> + <td>July 23</td> + <td><a href="#L157">To his Mother</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>158</td> + <td>July 30</td> + <td><a href="#L158">To William Miller</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><a name="lp11">159</a></td> + <td>Aug. 2</td> + <td><a href="#L159">To John M. B. Pigot</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>160</td> + <td>Aug. 4</td> + <td><a href="#L160">To John Hanson</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>161</td> + <td>Aug. 7</td> + <td><a href="#L161">To Scrope Berdmore Davies</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>162</td> + <td>Aug. 12</td> + <td><a href="#L162">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>163</td> + <td>Aug. 12</td> + <td><a href="#L163">To — — Bolton</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>164</td> + <td>Aug. 16</td> + <td><a href="#L164">To — — Bolton</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>165</td> + <td>Aug. 20</td> + <td><a href="#L165">To — — Bolton</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>166</td> + <td>Aug. 21</td> + <td><a href="#L166">To the Hon. Augusta Leigh</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>167</td> + <td>Aug. 21</td> + <td><a href="#L167">To R. C. Dallas</a></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>168</td> + <td>Aug. 22</td> + <td><a href="#L168">To Francis Hodgson</a></td> +</tr> +</table><br> +<br> +<hr> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="section2">Chapter 1 — Childhood and School</a></h2> +<br> +<b>1788—1805</b><br> +<br> +Catherine Gordon of Gight (1765-1811), afterwards Mrs. Byron, and mother +of the poet, was descended on the paternal side from Sir William Gordon +of Gight, the third son, by Annabella Stewart, daughter of James I of +Scotland, of George, second Earl of Huntly, Chancellor of Scotland +(1498-1502), and Lord-Lieutenant of the North from 1491 to his death in +1507. The owners of Gight, now a ruin, once a feudal stronghold, were a +hot-headed, hasty-handed race, sufficiently notable to be commemorated +by Thomas the Rhymer, and to leave their mark in the traditions of +Aberdeenshire. In the seventh generation from Sir William Gordon, the +property passed to an heiress, Mary Gordon. By her marriage with +Alexander Davidson of Newton, who assumed the name of Gordon, she had a +son Alexander, Mrs. Byron's grandfather, who married Margaret Duff of +Craigston, a cousin of the first Earl of Fife. Their eldest son, George, +the fifth of the Gordons of Gight who bore that name, married Catherine +Innes of Rosieburn, and by her became the father of Catherine Gordon, +born in 1765, afterwards Mrs. Byron. Both her parents dying early, +Catherine Gordon was brought up at Banff by her grandmother, commonly +called Lady Gight, a penurious, illiterate woman, who, however, was +careful that her granddaughter was better educated than herself. Thus, +for the second time, Gight, which, with other property, was worth +between £23,000 and £24,000, passed to an heiress.<br> +<br> +Miss Catherine Gordon had her full share of feminine vanity. At the age +of thirty-five she was a stout, dumpy, coarse-looking woman, awkward in +her movements, provincial in her accent and manner. But as her son was +vain of his personal appearance, and especially of his hands, neck, and +ears, so she, when other charms had vanished, clung to her pride in her +arms and hands. She exhausted the patience of Stewartson the artist, who +in 1806, after forty sittings, painted her portrait, by her anxiety to +have a particular turn in her elbow exhibited in the most pleasing +light. Of her ancestry she was, to use her son's expression, as "proud +as Lucifer," looked down upon the Byron family, and regarded the Duke of +Gordon as an inferior member of her clan. In later life, at any rate, +her temper was ungovernable; her language, when excited, unrestrained; +her love of gossip insatiable. Capricious in her moods, she flew from +one extreme to the other, passing, for the slightest cause, from +passionate affection to equally passionate resentment. How far these +defects were produced, as they certainly were aggravated, by her +husband's ill treatment and her hard struggle with poverty, it is +impossible to say. She had many good qualities. She bore her ruin, as +her letters show, with good sense, dignity, and composure. She lived on +a miserable pittance without running into debt; she pinched herself in +order to give her son a liberal supply of money; she was warm-hearted +and generous to those in distress. She adored her scamp of a husband, +and, in her own way, was a devoted mother. In politics she affected +democratic opinions, took in the <i>Morning Chronicle_</i> and paid for it, +as is shown by a bill sent in after her death, at the rate of £4 17s. +6d. for the half-year — no small deduction from her narrow income. She +was fond of books, subscribed to the Southwell Book Club, copied +passages which struck her in the course of her reading, collected all +the criticisms on her son's poetry, made shrewd remarks upon them +herself (Moore's <i>Journal and Correspondence</i>, vol. v. p. 295), and +corresponded with her friends on literary subjects.<br> +<br> +In 1785 Miss Catherine Gordon was at Bath, where, it may be mentioned, +her father had, some years before, committed suicide. There she met, and +there, on May 13, 1785, in the parish church of St. Michael, as the +register shows, she married Captain John Byron.<br> +<br> +Captain John Byron (1755-91), born at Plymouth, was the eldest son of +Admiral the Hon. John Byron (1723-86) — known in the Royal Navy as "Hardy +Byron" or "Foul-weather Jack" — by his marriage (1748) with Sophia +Trevanion of Carhais, in Cornwall. The admiral, next brother to William, +fifth Lord Byron, was a distinguished naval officer, whose <i>Narrative</i> +of his shipwreck in the <i>Wager</i> was published in 1768, and whose <i>Voyage +round the World</i> in the <i>Dolphin</i> was described by "an officer in the +said ship" in 1767. His eldest son, John Byron, educated at Westminster +and a French Military Academy, entered the Guards and served in America. +A gambler, a spendthrift, a profligate scamp, disowned by his father, he +in 1778 ran away with, and in 1779 married, Lady Carmarthen, wife of +Francis, afterwards fifth Duke of Leeds, née Lady Amelia d'Arcy, only +child and heiress of the last Earl of Holderness, and Baroness Conyers +in her own right.<br> +<br> +Captain Byron and his wife lived in Paris, where were born to them a son +and a daughter, both of whom died in infancy, and Augusta, born 1783, +the poet's half-sister, who subsequently married her first cousin, +Colonel George Leigh. In 1784 Lady Conyers died, and Captain Byron +returned to England, a widower, over head and ears in debt, and in +search of an heiress.<br> +<br> +It was a rhyme in Aberdeenshire — + +<blockquote> "When the heron leaves the tree,<br> + The laird of Gight shall landless be."</blockquote> + +Tradition has it that, at the marriage of Catherine Gordon with "mad +Jack Byron," the heronry at Gight passed over to Kelly or Haddo, the +property of the Earl of Aberdeen. "The land itself will not be long in +following," said his lordship, and so it proved. For a few months Mrs. +Byron Gordon — for her husband assumed the name, and by this title her +Scottish friends always addressed her — lived at Gight. But the ready +money, the outlying lands, the rights of fishery, the timber, failed to +liquidate Captain Byron's debts, and in 1786 Gight itself was sold to +Lord Aberdeen for £17,850. Mrs. Byron Gordon found herself, at the end +of eighteen months, stripped of her property, and reduced to the income +derived from £4200, subject to an annuity payable to her grandmother. +She bore the reverse with a composure which shows her to have been a +woman of no ordinary courage. Her letters on the subject are sensible, +not ill-expressed, and, considering the circumstances in which they were +written, give a favourable impression of her character.<br> +<br> +The wreck of their fortunes compelled Mrs. Byron Gordon and her husband +to retire to France. At the beginning of 1788 she had returned to +London, and on January 22, 1788, at 16, Holles Street (since numbered +24, and now destroyed), in the back drawing-room of the first floor, +gave birth to her only child, George Gordon, afterwards sixth Lord +Byron. Hanson gives the names of the nurse, Mrs. Mills, the man-midwife, +Mr. Combe, the doctor, Dr. Denman, who attended Mrs. Byron at her +confinement. Dallas was, therefore, mistaken in his supposition that the +poet was born at Dover. The child was baptized in London on February 29, +1788, as is proved by the register of the parish of Marylebone.<br> +<br> +Shortly after the birth of her son, Mrs. Byron settled in Aberdeen, +where she lived for upwards of eight years. During her stay there, in +the summer of 1791, her husband died at Valenciennes. In the year 1794, +by the death of his cousin William John Byron (1772-94) from a wound +received at the siege of Calvi, in Corsica, her son became the heir to +his great-uncle, the "wicked Lord Byron" (William, fifth Lord Byron, +1722-98), and a solicitor named Hanson was appointed to protect the +boy's interests. From Aberdeen Mrs. Byron kept up a correspondence with +her sister-in-law, Frances Leigh (<i>née</i> Byron), wife of General Charles +Leigh, to whom, in a letter, dated March 27, 1791, she speaks of her son +as "very well, and really a charming boy." Writing again to Mrs. Leigh, +December 8, 1794, she says, + + <blockquote> "I think myself much obliged to you for +being so interested for George; you may be sure I would do anything I +could for my son, but I really don't see what can be done for him in +that case. You say you are afraid Lord B. will dispose of the estates +that are left, if he can; if he has it in his power, nobody can prevent +him from selling them; if he has not, no one will buy them from him. You +know Lord Byron. Do you think he will do anything for George, or be at +any expense to give him a proper education; or, if he wish to do it, is +his present fortune such a one that he could spare anything out of it? +You know how poor I am, not that I mean to ask him to do anything for +him, that is to say, to be of any expense on his account." </blockquote> + +If any +application was made to the boy's great-uncle, it was unsuccessful. On +May 19, 1798, Lord Byron died, and Hanson informed Mrs. Byron that her +son had succeeded to the title and estates. At the end of the summer of +that year, the little Lord Byron, with his mother and the nurse May +Gray, reached Newstead, and, within a few weeks from their arrival, his +first letter was written. His letters to his mother, it may be observed, +are always addressed to "the Honourable Mrs. Byron," a title to which +she had no claim. + + +<br> +<p><a href="#toc">Contents</a><br> +<a href="#f92">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 72</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L1"></a>1. to Mrs. Parker<a href="#f1"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Nov. 8th, 1798.<br> +<br> + Dear Madam, — My Mamma being unable to write herself desires I will let + you know that the potatoes are now ready and you are welcome to them + whenever you please.<br> +<br> + She begs you will ask Mrs. Parkyns if she would wish the poney to go + round by Nottingham or to go home the nearest way as it is now quite + well but too small to carry me.<br> +<br> + I have sent a young Rabbit which I beg Miss Frances will accept off + and which I promised to send before. My Mamma desires her best + compliments to you all in which I join.<br> +<br> + + I am, Dear Aunt, yours sincerely,<br> +<br> + <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> + I hope you will excuse all blunders as it is the first + letter I ever wrote.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f1"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This letter, the first that Byron wrote, was written when he +was ten years and ten months old. It is preserved in the Library +of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a facsimile is given by Elze, in +his <i>Life of Lord Byron</i>.<br> +<br> +It is apparently addressed to his aunt, Mrs. Parker. Charlotte +Augusta Byron, daughter of Admiral the Hon. John Byron, married +Christopher Parker (1761-1804), Vice-Admiral 1804, the son of +Admiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Parker, Bart. (1721-1811). Her +son, who, on the death of his grandfather, succeeded to the baronetcy +as Sir Peter Parker, second Bart. (1786-1814), commanded H.M.S. +<i>Menelaus</i>, and was killed in an attack on a body of American +militia encamped near Baltimore. (See Byron's <i>Elegy on the +Death of Sir Peter Parker</i>, and his letter to Moore, October 7, 1814.) Her daughter Margaret, one of Byron's early loves, inspired, +as he says, his "first dash into poetry" (see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i, p. 5, +<i>note</i> 1).<br> +<a href="#L1">return to footnote mark</a> + +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L2">2 — to his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Nottingham, 13 March, 1799.<br> +<br> + <a name="fr2">Dear</a> Mama, — I am very glad to hear you are well. I am so myself, thank + God; upon my word I did not expect so long a Letter from you; however + I will answer it as well as I can. Mrs. Parkyns and the rest are well + and are much obliged to you for the present. Mr. Rogers<a href="#f2"><sup>1</sup></a> could + attend me every night at a separate hour from the Miss Parkynses, and + I am astonished you do not acquiesce in this Scheme which would keep + me in Mind of what I have almost entirely forgot. I recommend this to + you because, if some plan of this kind is not adopted, I shall be + called, or rather branded with the name of a dunce, which you know I + could never bear. I beg you will consider this plan seriously and I + will lend it all the assistance in my power. I shall be very glad to + see the Letter you talk of, and I have time just to say I hope every + body is well at Newstead,<br> +<br> + And remain, your affectionate Son,<br> +<br> + <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> + <a name="fr3">P.S</a>. — Pray let me know when you are to send in the Horses to go to + Newstead. May<a href="#f3"><sup>2</sup></a> desires her Duty and I also expect an answer by the + miller.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f2"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Dummer Rogers, "Teacher of French, English, Latin, and +"Mathematicks," was, according to <i>Notes and Queries</i> (4th series, +vol. iii. p. 561), an American loyalist, pensioned by the English +Government. He lived at Hen Cross, Nottingham, when Byron +was staying in that city, partly with Mrs. Parkyns, partly at Mr. +Gill's, in St. James's Lane, to be attended by a man named Lavender, +"trussmaker to the general hospital," who had some local reputation +for the treatment of misshapen limbs. Lavender, in 1814 (<i>Nottingham Directory</i> for 1814), appears as a "surgeon." Rogers, who read +parts of Virgil and Cicero with Byron, represents him as, for his age, +a fair scholar. He was often, during his lessons, in violent pain, from the position in which his foot was kept; and Rogers one day +said to him, "It makes me uncomfortable, my Lord, to see you +sitting there in such pain as I know you must be suffering." "Never +mind, Mr. Rogers," answered the boy; "you shall not see any signs +of it in <i>me</i>." Many years after, when in the neighbourhood of +Nottingham, Byron sent a kind message to his old instructor, bidding +the bearer tell him that he could still recite twenty verses of +Virgil which he had read with Rogers when suffering torture all +the time.<br> +<a href="#fr2">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f8">cross-reference: return to footnote of Letter 4</a><br> + +<br> +<a name="f3"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> +Byron's nurse, who had accompanied him from Aberdeen (see +p. 10, <a href="#f7"><i>note</i></a> 1).<br> +<a href="#fr3">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L3"></a>3 — to John Hanson<a href="#f4"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +<a name="fr5"><b>Sir</b></a>, — I am not a little disappointed at your Stay, for this last week I +expected you every hour; but, however, I beg it as a favour that you +will come up soon from Newstead as the Holidays commence in three weeks +Time. I congratulate you on Capt. Hanson's<a href="#f5"><sup>2</sup></a> being appointed commander +of The <i>Brazen</i> Sloop of War, and I congratulate myself on Lord +Portsmouth's<a href="#f6"><sup>3</sup></a> Marriage, hoping his Lady, when he and I meet next, +will keep him in a little better order. The manner I knew that Capt. +Hanson was appointed Commander of the Ship before mentioned was this. I +saw it in the public Paper, and now, since you are going to Newstead, I +beg if you meet Gray<a href="#f7"><sup>4</sup></a> send her a packing as fast as possible, and +give my Compliments to Mrs. Hanson and to all my comrades of the +Battalions in and out upon different Stations,<br> +<br> +And remain, your little friend,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +I forgot to tell you how I was. I am at present very well and my foot +goes but indifferently; I cannot perceive any alteration.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f4"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> John Hanson, of 6, Chancery Lane, a well-known London +solicitor, was introduced to the Byron family by an Aberdeenshire friend +of Mrs. Byron, Mr. Farquhar, a member of Parliament, and a civilian +practising in Doctors' Commons. The acquaintance began in January, 1788, +with Byron's birth, for the midwife and the nurse were recommended by +Mrs. Hanson. Six years later, Hanson was employed by Mrs. +Byron to watch the interests of her son, who in 1794 had become +heir-presumptive to his great-uncle. It was Hanson who, in the summer of +1798, communicated the news of the death of Lord Byron to Mrs. Byron, +and with his wife received her and her son at Newstead. From that time +till the close of the minority, Hanson was intimately associated with +Byron, both as a man of business and a friend. He selected Dr. Glennie's +school for the boy, persuaded Lord Carlisle to become his guardian, +introduced the ward to Lord Carlisle, and entered him at Harrow. It was +at his house in Earl's Court that Byron, for five years, spent a +considerable part of his successive holidays. There he made acquaintance +with Hanson's children — his sons Charles, Hargreaves (his contemporary +at Harrow), and Newton, and his daughter, Mary Anne, who subsequently +(March 7, 1814) married the Earl of Portsmouth, Byron giving her away. +This letter was written by Byron a few weeks after he had gone to school +at Dr. Glennie's, in Lordship Lane, Dulwich. He remained there from +August, 1799, to April, 1801.<br> +<br> +In a letter to Mrs. Byron, dated September 1, 1799, Hanson describes Dr. +Glennie's "Academy," where he had shortly before left the boy:— + + <blockquote> "I left my entertaining companion with Mr. Glennie last Thursday week, + and I have since learnt from him that he is very comfortable and likes + the situation. His schoolfellows are very fine youths, and their + deportment does very great credit to their Preceptor. I succeeded in + getting Lord Byron a separate room, and I am persuaded the greatest + attention will be paid to him. Mr. Glennie is a Scotchman, has + travelled a great deal, and seems every way qualified for his present + situation."</blockquote> +<a href="#L3">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f5"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Captain James Hanson, R.N., was the brother of John Hanson +to whom the letter is written. Byron was born with a caul, prized by +sailors as a preservative from drowning. The caul was sold by Mrs. +Mills, the nurse who attended Mrs. Byron in January, 1788, to Captain +Hanson. In January, 1800, Captain Hanson, in command of H.M.S. +<i>Brazen</i>, had captured a French vessel, which he sent to Portsmouth +with a prize crew. On the 26th of the month, while shorthanded, he was +caught in a storm off Newhaven. The <i>Brazen</i> foundered, and Captain +Hanson with all his men, except one, were drowned.<br> +<a href="#fr5">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f6"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> In the late autumn of 1799 Lord Portsmouth was staying with +the Hansons before his marriage (November 23, 1799) with Miss Norton, +sister of Lord Grantley. In rough play he pinched Byron's ear; the boy +picked up a conch shell which was lying on the ground, and hurled it at +Lord Portsmouth's head, missing it by a hair's breadth, and smashing the +glass behind. In vain Mrs. Hanson tried to make the peace by saying that +Byron did not mean the missile for Lord Portsmouth. "But I <i>did</i> +mean it!" he reiterated; "I will teach a fool of an earl to pinch +another noble's ear."<br> +<a href="#fr5">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f7"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> The following extract from a letter written by Hanson to +Mrs. Byron (September 1, 1799) places the character of Byron's nurse in +a different light to that which is given in Moore's <i>Life</i>:— + + <blockquote> "I assure you, Madam, I should not have taken the liberty to have + interfered in your domestic Arrangements, had I not thought it + absolutely necessary to apprize you of the proceedings of your + Servant, Mrs. Gray; her conduct towards your son while at Nottingham + was shocking, and I was persuaded you needed but a hint of it to + dismiss her. Mrs. Parkyns, when I saw her, said something to me about + her; but when I found from dispassionate persons at Nottingham, it was + the general Topic of conversation, it would have ill become me to have + remained silent.<br> +<br> + My honourable little companion, tho' disposed to retain his feelings, + could not refrain, from the harsh usage he had received at her hands, + from complaining to me, and such is his dread of the Woman that I + really believe he would forego the satisfaction of seeing you if he + thought he was to meet her again. He told me that she was perpetually + beating him, and that his bones sometimes ached from it; that she + brought all sorts of Company of the very lowest Description into his + apartments; that she was out late at nights, and he was frequently + left to put himself to bed; that she would take the Chaise-boys into + the Chaise with her, and stopped at every little Ale-house to drink + with them. But, Madam, this is not all; she has even — traduced + yourself.<br> +<br> + I entertain a very great affection for Lord Byron, and I trust I shall + not be considered solely in my professional character, but as his + Friend. I introduced him to my Friends, Lord Grantley and his Brother + General Norton, who were vastly taken with him, as indeed are every + one. And I should be mortified in the highest degree to see the + honourable feelings of my little fellow exposed to insult by the + inordinate Indiscretions of any Servant. He has Ability and a + quickness of Conception, and a correct Discrimination that is seldom + seen in a youth, and he is a fit associate of men, and choice indeed + must be the Company that is selected for him."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr5">return</a><br> +<a href="#f3">cross-reference: return to footnote of Letter 2</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L4">4 — to his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Harrow-on-the-Hill, Sunday, May 1st, 1803.<br> +<br> +<b><a name="fr8">My</a> Dear Mother</b>, — I received your Letter the other day. And am happy to +hear you are well. I hope you will find Newstead in as favorable a state +as you can wish. I wish you would write to Sheldrake to tell him to make +haste with my shoes<a href="#f8"><sup>1</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr9">I</a> am sorry to say that Mr. Henry Drury<a href="#f9"><sup>2</sup></a> has behaved himself to me in +a manner I neither <i>can</i> nor <i>will bear</i>. He has seized now an +opportunity of showing his resentment towards me. To day in church I was +talking to a Boy who was sitting next me; <i>that</i> perhaps was not right, +but hear what followed. After Church he spoke not a word to me, but he +took this Boy to his pupil room, where he abused me in a most violent +manner, called me <i>blackguard</i>, said he <i>would</i> and <i>could</i> have me +expelled from the School, and bade me thank his <i>Charity</i> that +<i>prevented</i> him; this was the Message he sent me, to which I shall +return no answer, but submit my case to <i>you</i> and those you may think +<i>fit</i> to <i>consult</i>. Is this fit usage for any body? had I <i>stole</i> or +behaved in the most <i>abominable</i> way to him, his language could not have +been more outrageous. What must the boys think of me to hear such a +Message ordered to be delivered to me by a <i>Master</i>? Better let him take +away my life than ruin my <i>Character</i>. My Conscience acquits me of ever +<i>meriting</i> expulsion at this School; I have been <i>idle</i> and I certainly +ought not to talk in church, but I have never done a mean action at this +School to him or <i>any one</i>. If I had done anything so <i>heinous</i>, why +should he allow me to stay at the School? Why should he himself be so +<i>criminal</i> as to overlook faults which merit the <i>appellation</i> of a +<i>blackguard</i>? If he had had it in his power to have me expelled, he +would long ago have <i>done</i> it; as it is, he has done <i>worse</i>. If I am +treated in this Manner, I will not stay at this School. I write you that +I will not as yet appeal to Dr. Drury; his Son's influence is more than +mine and <i>justice</i> would be <i>refused</i> me. Remember I told you, when I +<i>left</i> you at <i>Bath</i>, that he would seize every means and opportunity of +revenge, not for leaving him so much as the mortification he suffered, +because I begged you to let me leave him. If I had been the Blackguard +he talks of, why did he not of his own accord refuse to keep me as his +<i>pupil</i>? You know Dr. Drury's first letter, in it were these Words: "My +son and Lord Byron have had some Disagreements; but I hope that his +future behaviour will render a change of Tutors unnecessary." Last Term +I was here but a short time, and though he endeavoured, he could find +nothing to abuse me in. Among other things I forgot to tell you he said +he had a great mind to expel the Boy for speaking to me, and that if he +ever again spoke to me he would expel him. Let him explain his meaning; +he abused me, but he neither did nor can mention anything bad of me, +further than what every boy else in the School has done. I fear him not; +but let him explain his meaning; 'tis all I ask. I beg you will write to +Dr. Drury to let him know what I have said. He has behaved to me, as +also Mr. Evans, very kindly. If you do not take notice of this, I will +leave the School myself; but I am sure <i>you</i> will not see me <i>ill +treated</i>; better that I should suffer anything than this. I believe +you will be tired by this time of reading my letter, but, if you love +me, you will now show it. Pray write me immediately. I shall ever +remain, Your affectionate Son, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Hargreaves Hanson desires his love to you and hopes you are very +well. I am not in want of any Money so will not ask you for any. God +bless, bless you.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f8"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Byron appears to have suffered from what would now be +described as infantile paralysis, which affected the inner muscles +of the right leg and foot, and rendered him permanently lame. +Before leaving London for Aberdeen, Mrs. Byron consulted John +Hunter, who, in correspondence with Dr. Livingstone of Aberdeen, +advised her as to the treatment of her son. Writing, May 31, 1791, +to Mrs. Leigh, she says, "George's foot turns inward, and it is the +right foot; he walks quite on the side of his foot." In 1798 the +child was placed under the care of Lavender (see p. 7, <a href="#f2"><i>note</i></a> 1) at +Nottingham, doubtless on the recommendation of his aunt. In July, +1799, he was taken to London, in order to consult Dr. Baillie. +From July, 1799, till the end of 1802, he was attended by Baillie +in consultation with Dr. Laurie of 2, Bartholomew's Close. Special +appliances were made for the boy, under their superintendence, +by a scientific bootmaker named Sheldrake, in the Strand. In +<i>The Lancet</i> for 1827-8 (vol. ii. p. 779) Mr. T. Sheldrake describes +"Lord Byron's case," giving an illustration of the foot. His +account does not tally, in some respects, with that taken from contemporary +letters, and his sketch represents the left not the right leg. +But the nature and extent of Byron's lameness have been the subject +of a curious variety of opinion. Lady Blessington, Moore, Gait, +the Contessa Albrizzi, never knew which foot was deformed. Jackson, +the boxer, thought it was the <i>left</i> foot. Trelawney says that +it proceeded from a contraction of the back sinews, and that the +<i>right</i> foot was most distorted. The lasts from which his shoes +were made by Swift, the Southwell bootmaker, are preserved in +the Nottingham Museum, and in both the foot is perfect in shape. +The last pair of shoes modelled on them were made May 7, 1807. +Mrs. Leigh Hunt says that the <i>left</i> foot was shrunken, but was not a club-foot. Stendhal says the <i>right</i> foot. Thorwaldsen indicates the <i>left</i> foot. Dr. James Millingen, who inspected the feet after the poet's death, says that there was a malformation of the <i>left</i> foot and leg, and that he was born club-footed. Two surgical boots are in the possession of Mr. Murray, made for Byron as a child; both are for the <i>right</i> foot, ankle, and leg, and, assuming that they were made to fit the foot, they are too long and thin for a club-foot. Both at Dulwich and at Harrow, Byron was frequently seen by Laurie, whom Mrs. Byron paid, as she once complained in a letter to Laurie, "at the rate of £150 a year." It is difficult to see what more could have been done for the boy, and the explanation of the failure to effect a cure is probably to be found in the following extracts from two of Laurie's letters to Mrs. Byron. The first is dated December 7, 1801:— + + <blockquote> "Agreeable to your desire, I waited on Lord Byron at Harrow, and I + think it proper to inform you that I found his foot in a much worse + state than when I last saw it, — the shoe entirely wet through and the + brace round his ancle quite loose. I much fear his extreme inattention + will counteract every exertion on my part to make him better. I have + only to add that with proper care and bandaging, his foot may still be + greatly recovered; but any delay further than the present vacation + would render it folly to undertake it."</blockquote> + +The second letter is dated October 2, 1802. In it Laurie complains +that the boy had spent several days in London without seeing him, and +adds — + + <blockquote>"I cannot help lamenting he has so little sense of the Benefit he has + already received as to be so apparently neglectful."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr8">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f9"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> For Henry Drury (afterwards an intimate friend of Byron) +and his father, the Head-master of Harrow, see p. 41, <a href="#f30"><i>note</i></a> 2.<br> +<br> +When Byron went to Harrow, in April, 1801, he was placed in Henry +Drury's house. But in January, 1803, he refused to go back to school +unless he was removed from Drury's care. He was in consequence placed at +Evans's house. Dr. Drury, writing to explain the new arrangement, says, +in a letter to Hanson, dated February 4, 1803 — + +<blockquote> "The reason why Lord Byron wishes for this change arises from the + repeated complaints of Mr. Henry Drury respecting his Inattention to + Business, and his propensity to make others laugh and disregard their + Employments as much as himself. On this subject I have had many very + serious conversations with him, and though Mr. H. D. had repeatedly + requested me to withdraw him from his Tuition, yet, relying on my own + remonstrances and arguments to rectify his Error, and on his own + reflection to confirm him in what is right, I was unwilling to accede + to my son's wishes. Lord Byron has now made the request himself; I am + glad it has been made, as he thereby imposes on himself an additional + responsibility, and encourages me to hope that by this change he + intends to lay aside all that negligence and those Childish Practices + which were the cause of former complaints."</blockquote> + +Fresh troubles soon arose, as Byron's letter indicates. Hanson forwarded +the boy's complaint to Dr. Drury, from whom he received the following +answer, dated May 15, 1803:- + + <blockquote> "The Perusal of the inclosed has allowed me to inquire into the whole + Matter, and to relieve your young friend's Mind from any uneasy + impression it might have sustained from a hasty word I fairly confess. + I am sorry it was ever uttered; but certainly it was never intended to + make so deep a wound as his letter intimates.<br> +<br> + "I may truly say, without any parade of words, that I am deeply + interested in Lord Byron's welfare. He possesses, as his letter + proves, a mind that feels, and that can discriminate reasonably on + points in which it conceives itself injured. When I look forward to + the Possibility of the exercise of his Talents hereafter, and his + supplying the Deficiencies of fortune by the exertion of his abilities + and by application, I feel particularly hurt to see him idle, and + negligent, and apparently indifferent to the great object to be + pursued. This event, and the conversations which have passed between + us relative to it, will probably awaken in his mind a greater degree + of emulation, and make him studious of acquiring Distinction among his + Schoolfellows, as well as of securing to himself the affectionate + regard of his Instructors."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr9">return</a><br> +<a href="#f133">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 85</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L5">5 — to his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Harrow-on-the-Hill, June 23rd, 6th, 8th, 30th, 1803.<br> +<br> + My dear Mother, — I am much obliged to you for the Money you sent me. I + have already wrote to you several times about writing to Sheldrake: I + wish you would write to him, or Mr. Hanson to call on him, to tell him + to make an Instrument for my leg immediately, as I want one, rather. I + have been placed in a higher form in this School to day, and Dr. Drury + and I go on very well; write soon, my Dear Mother.<br> +<br> + I remain, your affectionate Son,<br> +<br> + <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L6"></a>6 — to his Mother<a href="#f10"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Southwell, [Sept. 1803].<br> +<br> +<b><a name="fr11">My</a> Dear Mother</b>, — I have sent Mealey<a href="#f11"><sup>2</sup></a> to day to you, before William +came, but now I shall write myself. I <i>promise</i> you, upon my <i>honour</i>, I +will come over tomorrow in the <i>Afternoon</i>. I was not wishing to resist +your <i>Commands</i>, and really seriously intended coming over tomorrow, +ever since I received your last Letter; you know as well as I do that it +is not your Company I dislike, but the place you reside in. I know it is +time to go to Harrow. It will make me <i>unhappy</i>; but I will <i>obey</i>. I +only desire, entreat, this one day, and on my <i>honour</i> I will be over +tomorrow in the evening or afternoon. I am sorry you disapprove my +Companions, who, however, are the first this County affords, and my +equals in most respects; but I will be permitted to chuse for myself. I +shall never interfere in your's and I desire you will not molest me in +mine. If you grant me this favour, and allow me this one day unmolested, +you will eternally oblige your<br> +<br> +Unhappy Son,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> + +I shall attempt to offer no excuse as you do not desire one. I only +entreat you as a Governor, not as a Mother, to allow me this one day. +Those that I most love live in this County; therefore in the name of +Mercy I entreat this one day to take leave, and then I will join you +again at Southwell to prepare to go to a place where — I will write no +more; it would only incense you. Adieu. Tomorrow I come.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f10"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This letter is endorsed by Hanson, "Lord Byron to his +mother, "1803." In September, 1803, at the end of the summer holidays, +Byron did not return to Harrow. Dr. Drury asked the reason, received no +reply, and, on October 4, applied to Hanson for an explanation. Hanson's +inquiry drew from Mrs. Byron, on October 30, the following answer, with +which was enclosed the above letter from Byron:— + + <blockquote> "You may well be surprized, and so may Dr. Drury, that Byron is not + returned to Harrow. But the Truth is, I cannot get him to return to + school, though I have done all in my power for six weeks past. He has + no indisposition that I know of, but love, desperate love, the <i>worst</i> + of all <i>maladies</i> in my opinion. In short, the Boy is distractedly in + love with Miss Chaworth, and he has not been with me three weeks all + the time he has been in this county, but spent all his time at + Annesley.<br> +<br> + If my son was of a proper age and the lady <i>disengaged</i>, it is the + last of all connexions that I would wish to take place; it has given + me much uneasiness. To prevent all trouble in future, I am determined + he shall not come here again till Easter; therefore I beg you will + find some proper situation for him at the next Holydays. I don't care + what I pay. I wish Dr. Drury would keep him.<br> +<br> + I shall go over to Newstead to-morrow and make a <i>last effort</i> to get + him to Town."</blockquote> + +The effort, if made, failed. On November 7, 1803, Mrs. Byron wrote +again:— + + <blockquote> "Byron is really so unhappy that I have agreed, much against my + inclination, to let him remain in this County till after the next + Holydays."</blockquote> + +It was not till January, 1804, that Byron returned to Harrow.<br> +<br> +Miss Mary Anne Chaworth, the object of Byron's passion, was then living +with her mother, Mrs. Clarke, at Annesley, near Newstead (see <i>Poems</i>, +vol. i. p. 189, and <i>note</i> 1). The grand-niece of the Mr. Chaworth who +was killed in a duel by William, fifth Lord Byron, on January 26, 1765 +(<i>Annual Register</i>, 1765, pp. 208-212; and <i>State Trials</i>, vol. xix. pp. +1178-1236), and the heiress of Annesley, she married, in August, 1805, +John Musters, by whom she had a daughter, born in 1806. (See "Well! thou +art happy!" <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. p. 277; see also, for other allusions to +Mrs. Chaworth Musters, <i>ibid</i>., pp. 210, 239, 282, 285; and "The Dream" +of July, 1816.) In Byron's memorandum-book, he describes a visit which +he paid to Matlock with Miss Chaworth's mother, her stepfather Mr. +Clarke, some friends, + +<blockquote>"and <i>my</i> M. A. C. Alas! why do I say MY? Our +union would have healed feuds in which blood had been shed by our +fathers, — it would have joined lands broad and rich, it would have +joined at least <i>one</i> heart, and two persons not ill matched in years +(she is two years my elder) and — and — and — <i>what</i> has been the +result?"</blockquote> + +(<i>Life</i>, p. 27).<br> +<br> +Mrs. Musters, after an unhappy married life, died in February, 1832, at +Wiverton Hall, near Nottingham.<br> +<br> +The connection between the families of Chaworth and Byron came through +the marriage of William, third Lord Byron (died 1695), with Elizabeth +Chaworth (died 1683), daughter of George Chaworth, created (1627) +Viscount Chaworth of Armagh (Thoroton's <i>Nottinghamshire</i>, vol. i. p. +198).<br> +<a href="#L6">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f11"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Owen Mealey, the steward at Newstead.<br> +<a href="#fr11">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L7"></a>7 — to the Hon. Augusta Byron<a href="#f12"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +[At 63, Portland Place, London.]<br> +<br> +Burgage Manor, [Thursday], March 22d, 1804.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr13">Although</a>, My ever Dear Augusta, I have hitherto appeared remiss in +replying to your kind and affectionate letters; yet I hope you will not +attribute my neglect to a want of affection, but rather to a shyness +naturally inherent in my Disposition. I will now endeavour as amply as +lies in my power to repay your kindness, and for the Future I hope you +will consider me not only as <i>a Brother</i> but as your warmest and most +affectionate <i>Friend</i>, and if ever Circumstances should require it your +<i>protector</i>. Recollect, My Dearest Sister, that you are <i>the nearest +relation</i> I have in <i>the world both by the ties of Blood</i> and +<i>affection</i>. If there is anything in which I can serve you, you have +only to mention it; Trust to your Brother, and be assured he will never +betray your confidence. When You see my Cousin and future Brother George +Leigh<a href="#f13"><sup>2</sup></a>, tell him that I already consider him as my Friend, for +whoever is beloved by you, my amiable Sister, will always be equally +Dear to me.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr14">I</a> arrived here today at 2 o'clock after a fatiguing Journey, I found my +Mother perfectly well. She desires to be kindly remembered to you; as +she is just now Gone out to an assembly, I have taken the first +opportunity to write to you, I hope she will not return immediately; for +if she was to take it into her head to peruse my epistle, there is one +part of it which would produce from her a panegyric on <i>a friend of +yours</i>, not at all agreeable to me, and I fancy, <i>not particularly +delightful to you</i>. If you see Lord Sidney Osborne<a href="#f14"><sup>3</sup></a> I beg you will +remember me to him; I fancy he has almost forgot me by this time, for it +is rather more than a year Since I had the pleasure of Seeing him. — Also +remember me to poor old Murray<a href="#f15"><sup>4</sup></a>; tell him we will see that something +is to be done for him, for <i>while I live he shall never be abandoned In +his old Age</i>. Write to me Soon, my Dear Augusta, And do not forget to +love me, In the meantime, I remain, more than words can express, your +ever sincere, affectionate<br> +<br> +Brother and Friend,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. Do not forget to knit the purse you promised me, Adieu my beloved +Sister.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f12"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The Hon. Augusta Byron, Byron's half-sister (January, +1783—November, 1851), was the daughter of Captain John Byron by his +first wife, Amelia d'Arcy (died 1784), only child of the last Earl of +Holderness, Baroness Conyers in her own right, the divorced wife of +Francis, Marquis of Carmarthen, subsequently fifth Duke of Leeds. After +the return of Captain and Mrs. Byron to London early in 1788, she was +brought up by her grandmother, the Countess of Holderness. When the +latter died, Augusta Byron divided her time between her half-sister, +Lady Mary Osborne, who married, July 16, 1801, Lord Pelham, subsequently +(1805) Earl of Chichester; her half-brother George, who succeeded his +father as sixth Duke of Leeds in 1799; her cousin, the Earl of Carlisle; +and General and Mrs. Harcourt. From their houses her letters during the +period 1803-7 are written. In 1807 she married her first cousin, Colonel +George Leigh of the Tenth Dragoons, the son of General Charles Leigh, by +Frances, daughter of Admiral the Hon. John Byron. By her husband, who +was a friend of the Prince Regent and well known in society, she was the +mother of seven children. Their home was at Newmarket, till, in April, +1818, they were granted apartments in Flag Court, St. James's Palace, +where she died in November, 1851.<br> +<br> +Augusta Byron seems scarcely to have seen her brother between his +infancy and 1802. Lady Holderness and Mrs. Byron were not on friendly +terms, and it was not till the former's death that any intimacy was +renewed between the brother and sister. Writing on October 18, 1801, to +Augusta Byron, Mrs. Byron says, in allusion to the death of Lady +Holderness, + + <blockquote>"As I wish to bury what is past in <i>oblivion</i>, I shall +avoid all reflections on a person now no more; my opinion of yourself I +have suspended for some years; the time is now arrived when I shall form +a very <i>decided</i> one. I take up my pen now, however, to condole +with you on the melancholy event that has happened, to offer you every +consolation in my power, to assure you of the inalterable regard and +friendship of myself and son. We will be extremely happy if ever we can be of any service to you, now or at any future period. +I take it upon me to answer for him; although he knows so little of you, +he often mentions you to me in the most affectionate manner, indeed the +goodness of his heart and amiable disposition is such that your being +his sister, had he never seen you, would be a sufficient claim upon him +and ensure you every attention in his power to bestow.<br> +<br> + Ah, Augusta, need I assure you that you will ever be dear to me as the + Daughter of the man I tenderly loved, as the sister of my beloved, my + darling Boy, and I take God to witness you <i>once</i> was dear to me on + your own account, and may be so <i>again</i>. I still recollect with a + degree of horror the many <i>sleepless</i> nights, and days of <i>agony</i>, I + have passed by your bedside drowned in tears, while you lay insensible + and at the gates of death. Your recovery certainly was wonderful, and + thank God I did my duty. These days you cannot remember, but I never + will forget them ... Your brother is at Harrow School, and, if you wish + to see him, I have now no desire to keep you asunder."</blockquote> + +From 1802 till Byron's death, Augusta took in him the interest of an +elder sister. Writing to Hanson (June 17, 1804), she says — + +<blockquote> "Pray write me a line and mention all you hear of my dear Brother: he + was a most delightful correspondent while he remained in + Nottinghamshire: but I can't obtain a single line from Harrow. I was + much struck with his <i>general improvement</i>; it was beyond the + expectations raised by what you had told me, and his letters gave me + the most excellent opinion of both his <i>Head</i> and <i>Heart</i>."</blockquote> + +<a name="cr2">In</a> this tone the letters are continued (see extracts <a href="#cr1">p. 39</a>; <a href="#f33">p. 45, +<i>note</i> 1</a>; and p. 97, <a href="#f64"><i>note</i></a> 1).<br> +<br> +From the end of 1805, with some interruptions, and less regularity, the +correspondence between brother and sister was maintained to the end of +Byron's life. To Augusta, then Mrs. Leigh, Byron sent a presentation +copy of <i>Childe Harold</i>, with the inscription: + +<blockquote> "To Augusta, my dearest sister, and my best friend, who has ever loved + me much better than I deserved, this volume is presented by her + father's son and most affectionate brother." </blockquote> + +She was the god-mother of Byron's daughter Augusta Ada, born December +10, 1815. In January, 1816, when Lady Byron was still with her husband, +she writes of and to Mrs. Leigh: + +<blockquote> "In this at least, I <i>am</i> 'truth itself,' when I say that, whatever + the situation may be, there is no one whose society is dearer to me, + or can contribute more to my happiness." </blockquote> + +Lady Byron left Byron on January 15, 1816. Writing to Mrs. Leigh from +Kirby Mallory, she speaks of her as her "best comforter," notices her +absolute unselfishness, and says that Augusta's presence in Byron's +house in Piccadilly is her "great comfort" (Lady Byron's letters to Mrs. +Leigh, January 16 and January 23, 1816, quoted in the <i>Quarterly Review</i> +for October, 1869, p. 414). Through Mrs. Leigh passed many +communications between Byron and Lady Byron after the separation. To +her, Byron, in 1816 and 1817, wrote the two sets of "Stanzas to +Augusta," the "Epistle to Augusta," and the Journal of his journey +through the Alps, "which contains all the germs of <i>Manfred</i> (letter to +Murray, August, 1817). She was in his thoughts on the Rhine, and in the +third canto of <i>Childe Harold</i>:— + +<blockquote>"But one thing want these banks of Rhine,<br> +Thy gentle hand to clasp in mine."</blockquote> + +To her he was writing a letter at Missolonghi (February 23, 1824), which +he did not live to finish, "My dearest Augusta, I received a few days +ago your and Lady Byron's report of Ada's health." He carried with him +everywhere the pocket Bible which she had given him. "I have a Bible," +he told Dr. Kennedy (<i>Conversations</i>), "which my sister gave me, who is +an excellent woman, and I read it very often." His last articulate words +were "My sister — my child." + +Several volumes of Mrs. Leigh's commonplace books are in existence, +filled with extracts mostly on religious topics. She was, wrote the late +Earl Stanhope, in a letter quoted in the <i>Quarterly Review</i> (October, +1869, p. 421), "very fond" of talking about Byron. + + "She was," he continues, "extremely unprepossessing in her person and + appearance — more like a nun than anything, and never can have had the + least pretension to beauty. I thought her shy and sensitive to a fault + in her mind and character." + +Frances, Lady Shelley, who died in January, 1873, and was intimately +acquainted with Byron and his contemporaries, speaks of her as a "Dowdy-Goody." + + <blockquote> "I have seen," she writes<a href="#f734"><span style="color: #663300;"><sup>A</sup></span></a> , "a great deal of Mrs. Leigh + (Augusta), having passed some days with her and Colonel Leigh, for my + husband's shooting near Newmarket, when Lord Byron was in the house, + and, as she told me, was writing <i>The Corsair</i>, to my great + astonishment, for it was a wretched small house, full of her + ill-trained children, who were always running up and down stairs, and + going into 'uncle's' bedroom, where he remained all the morning."</blockquote> + +<a name="f734"><span style="color: #663300;">Sub-Footnote A:</span> </a>see <i>Quarterly Review</i>, October, 1869, p. + 421, quoting from a letter signed E. M. U., which appeared in the + <i>Times</i> for September II, 1869<br> +<a href="#L7">return to letter</a><br> +<a href="#f259">cross-reference: return to Footnote 5 of Letter 141</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f13"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> See preceding <a href="#f12">note</a>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f14"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Francis, fifth Duke of Leeds, married, October 14, 1788, as +his second wife, Miss Catherine Anguish, by whom he had two +children: the eldest, a son, Sydney Godolphin Osborne, was born +December 16, 1789.<br> +<a href="#fr14">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f15"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Joe Murray had been for many years in the employment of +William, fifth Lord Byron. At his master's death, in 1798, he was +taken into the service of the Duke of Leeds. + +<blockquote>"I saw poor Joseph Murray the other night," writes Augusta +Byron to Hanson (June 17, 1804), "who wishes me particularly to +apply to Col. Leigh, to get him into some City Charity which the +Prince of Wales is at the head of.<br> +<br> +I cannot understand what he means, nor can any body else, and +therefore, as he said he was advised by you, I think it better to +apply to you on the subject. I'm sure Col. Leigh would be happy +to oblige him; but in general he dislikes <i>asking favours</i> of the +<i>Prince</i>, and this present moment is a bad one to chuse for the +purpose, as H.R.H. is so much taken up with <i>public affairs</i>. I +am very anxious about poor Joseph, and would almost do anything +to serve him. I fear he is too old and infirm to go to service +again."</blockquote> + +Three years later (March 19, 1807), Augusta Byron writes again +to Hanson:— + + <blockquote> "I have just had a pitiful note from poor old Murray, telling me of + his dismissal from the Duchess of Leeds; but he says he does not leave + her till June. I therefore hope something may in the mean time be done + for him. He requests me to write word of it to my Brother. I shall + certainly comply with his wishes, and send <i>two lines</i> on that subject + to Southwell, where I conclude he is."</blockquote> + +Byron made Murray an allowance of £20 a year (see <a href="#L83">Letter 83</a>), took him, +as soon as he could, into his service, and was careful, as he promises, +to provide that he should not be "abandoned in his old age." His +affection for Murray is marked by the postscript to the <a href="#L123">letter</a> to Mrs. +Byron of June 22, 1809 (see also <i>Life</i>, pp. 74, 121); as also by his +draft will of 1811, in which he leaves Murray £50 a year for life.<br> +<a href="#fr14">return</a><br> +<a href="#f117">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 83</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L8">8 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[63, Portland Place, London.]<br> +<br> +Southwell, March 26th, 1804.<br> +<br> +I received your affectionate letter, my ever Dear Sister, yesterday and +I now hasten to comply with your injunction by answering it as soon as +possible. Not, my Dear Girl, that it can be in the least irksome to me +to write to you, on the Contrary it will always prove my Greatest +pleasure, but I am sorry that I am afraid my correspondence will not +prove the most entertaining, for I have nothing that I can relate to +you, except my affection for you, which I can never sufficiently +express, therefore I should tire you, before I had half satisfied +myself. Ah, How unhappy I have hitherto been in being so long separated +from so amiable a Sister! but fortune has now sufficiently atoned by +discovering to me a relation whom I love, a Friend in whom I can +confide. In both these lights, my Dear Augusta, I shall ever look upon +you, and I hope you will never find your Brother unworthy of your +affection and Friendship.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr16">I</a> am as you may imagine a little dull here; not being on terms of +intimacy with Lord Grey<a href="#f16"><sup>1</sup></a> I avoid Newstead, and my resources of +amusement are Books, and writing to my Augusta, which, wherever I am, +will always constitute my Greatest pleasure. I am not reconciled to Lord +Grey, <i>and I never will</i>. He was once my <i>Greatest Friend</i>, my reasons +for ceasing that Friendship are such as I cannot explain, not even to +you, my Dear Sister, (although were they to be made known to any body, +you would be the first) but they will ever remain hidden in my own +breast.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr17">They</a> are Good ones, however, for although I am <i>violent</i> I am not +<i>capricious</i> in my <i>attachments</i>. My mother disapproves of my +quarrelling with him, but if she knew the cause (which she never will +know) She would reproach me no more. He Has forfeited all <i>title to my +esteem</i>, but I hold him in too much <i>contempt</i> ever <i>to hate him</i>. My +mother desires to be kindly remembered to you. I shall soon be in town +to resume my studies at Harrow; I will certainly call upon you in my way +up. Present my respects to Mrs. Harcourt<a href="#f17"><sup>2</sup></a>; I am Glad to hear that I +am in her Good Graces for I shall always esteem her on account of her +behaviour to you, my Dear Girl. Pray tell me If you see Lord S. Osborne, +and how he is; what little I know of him I like very much and If we were +better acquainted I doubt not I should like him still better. Do not +forget to tell me how Murray is. As to your Future prospects, my Dear +Girl, <i>may they be happy</i>! I am sure you deserve Happiness and if <i>you</i> +do not meet with it I shall begin to think it is "a bad world we live +in." Write to me soon. I am impatient to hear from you. God bless you, +My amiable Augusta, I remain,<br> +<br> +Your ever affectionate Brother and Friend,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f16"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Henry, third Earl of Sussex, died in 1799, when the earldom +lapsed. He was, however, succeeded in the ancient barony of Grey de +Ruthyn by his daughter's son, Henry Edward, twentieth Baron Grey de +Ruthyn (1780-1810), to whom Newstead was let. + + <blockquote> "I am glad," writes Mrs. Byron to Hanson, March 10, 1803, "that + Newstead is well let. I cannot find Lord Grey de Ruthin's Title in the + Peerage of England, Ireland, or Scotland. I suppose he is a <i>new</i> + Peer." </blockquote> + +Lord Grey de Ruthyn married, in 1809, Anna Maria, daughter of William +Kelham, of Ryton-upon-Dunsmore, Warwick. (See postscript to Byron's <a href="#L128">Letter</a> to his +mother, August 11, 1809.) The lease of Newstead terminated in April, +1808.<br> +<a href="#fr16">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f34">cross-reference: return to footnote of Letter 15</a><br> +<a href="#f222">cross-reference: return to Footnote 7 of Letter 128</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f17"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Probably the wife of General the Hon. William Harcourt +(1742-1830), who distinguished himself in the War of American +Independence, succeeded his only brother in 1809 as third (and last) +Earl Harcourt, was created a field-marshal in 1821, and died in 1830. He +married, in 1778, Mary, daughter of the Rev. William Danby, and widow of +Thomas Lockhart. She died in 1833.<br> +<a href="#fr17">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L9">9 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[At General Harcourt's, St. Leonard's Hill, Windsor, Berkshire.]<br> +<br> +Burgage Manor, April 2d, 1804.<br> +<br> + +I received your present, my beloved Augusta, which was very acceptable, +not that it will be of any use as a token of remembrance, No, my +affection for you will never permit me to forget you.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr18">I</a> am afraid, my Dear Girl, that you will be absent when I am in town. I +cannot exactly say when I return to Harrow, but however it will be in a +very short time. I hope you were entertained by Sir Wm. Fawcet's funeral +on Saturday<a href="#f18"><sup>1</sup></a>. Though I should imagine such spectacles rather +calculated to excite Gloomy ideas. But I believe <i>your motive was not +quite of so mournful a cast</i>.<br> +<br> +You tell me that you are tired of London. I am rather surprised to hear +that, for I thought the Gaieties of the Metropolis were particularly +pleasing to <i>young ladies</i>. For my part I detest it; the smoke and the +noise feel particularly unpleasant; but however it is preferable to this +horrid place, where I am oppressed with <i>ennui</i>, and have no amusement +of any kind, except the conversation of my mother, which is sometimes +very <i>edifying</i>, but not always very <i>agreeable</i>. There are very few +books of any kind that are either instructive or amusing, no society but +old parsons and old Maids; — I shoot a Good deal; but, thank God, I have +not so far lost my reason as to make shooting my only amusement. There +are indeed some of my neighbours whose only pleasures consist in field +sports, but in other respects they are only one degree removed from the +brute creation.<br> +<br> +These however I endeavour not to imitate, but I sincerely wish for the +company of a few friends about my own age to soften the austerity of the +scene. I am an absolute Hermit; in a short time my Gravity which is +increased by my solitude will qualify me for an Archbishoprick; I really +begin to think that I should become a mitre amazingly well. You tell me +to write to you when I have nothing better to do; I am sure writing to +you, my Dear Sister, must ever form my Greatest pleasure, but especially +so, at this time. Your letters and those of one of my Harrow friends +form my only resources for driving away <i>dull care</i>. For Godsake write +me a letter as long as may fill <i>twenty sheets</i> of paper, recollect it +is my only pleasure, if you won't Give me twenty sheets, at least send +me as long an epistle as you can and as soon as possible; there will be +time for me to receive one more Letter at Southwell, and as soon as I +Get to Harrow I will write to you. Excuse my not writing more, my Dear +Augusta, for I am sure you will be sufficiently tired of reading this +complaining narrative. God bless you, my beloved Sister. Adieu.<br> +<br> +I remain your sincere and affectionate<br> +<br> +Friend and Brother,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>. + +Remember me kindly to Mrs. Harcourt.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f18"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> General the Right Hon. Sir William Fawcett, K.B. (1728-1804), Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, Adjutant-General (1778-1797), and Governor of Chelsea Hospital (1796-1804), died at his +house in Great George Street, Westminster, March 22, 1804. He +had served during the rebellion of 1745, and distinguished himself +during the Seven Years' War, where he was aide-de-camp first to +General Elliot, and afterwards to the Marquis of Granby. An +excellent linguist, he translated from the French, <i>Reveries: or +Memoirs upon the Art of War, by Field-Marshal Count Saxe</i> (1757); +and from the German, <i>Regulations for the Prussian Cavalry</i> (1757), +<i>Regulations for the Prussian Infantry</i>, and <i>The Prussian Tacticks</i> +(1759). His military and diplomatic services were commemorated +by a magnificent funeral on Saturday, March 31, 1804. The body +was carried through the streets from Westminster to the chapel of +Chelsea Hospital, the Prince Regent, the Duke of Clarence, and +the Duke of Kent following the hearse, and eight general officers +acting as pall-bearers.<br> +<a href="#fr18">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#section1">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L10">10 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[At General Harcourt's, St. Leonard's Hill, Windsor, Berkshire.]<br><br> + +Burgage Manor, April 9th, 1804.<br><br> + +A thousand thanks, my dear and Beloved Augusta, for your affectionate +Letter, and so ready compliance with the request of a peevish and +fretful Brother; it acted as a cordial on my drooping spirits and for a +while dispelled the Gloom which envelopes me in this uncomfortable +place. You see what power your letters have over me, so I hope you will +be liberal in your epistolary consolation.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr19">You</a> will address your next letter to Harrow as I set out from Southwell +on Wednesday, and am sorry that I cannot contrive to be with you, as I +must resume my studies at Harrow directly. If I speak in public at all, +it will not be till the latter end of June or the beginning of July. You +are right in your conjecture for I feel not a little nervous in the +anticipation <i>of my Debut</i><a href="#f19"><sup>1</sup></a> as <i>an orator</i>. By the bye, I do not +dislike Harrow. I find <i>ways</i> and <i>means</i> to amuse <i>myself very +pleasantly</i> there; the friend, whose correspondence I find so amusing, +is an old sporting companion of mine, whose recitals of Shooting and +Hunting expeditions are amusing to me as having often been his companion +in them, and I hope to be so still oftener.<br> +<br> +My mother Gives a <i>party</i> to night at which the principal <i>Southwell +Belles</i> will be present, with one of which, although I don't as yet know +whom I shall so far <i>honour, having never seen them</i>, I intend to <i>fall +violently</i> in love; it will serve as an amusement <i>pour passer le temps</i> +and it will at least have the charm of novelty to recommend it, then you +know in the course of a few weeks I shall be quite <i>au désespoir</i>, shoot +myself and Go out of the world with <i>éclat</i>, and my History will furnish +materials for a pretty little Romance which shall be entitled and +denominated the loves of Lord B. and the cruel and Inconstant Sigismunda +Cunegunda Bridgetina, etc., etc., Princess of Terra Incognita.<br> +<br> +Don't you think that I have a very good Knack for <i>novel writing</i>? I +have Just this minute been called away from writing to you by two +Gentlemen who have given me an invitation to go over to Screveton, a +village a few miles off, and spend a few days; but however I shall not +accept it, so you will continue to address your letters to Harrow as +usual. Write to me as soon as possible and give me a long letter. +Remember me to Mrs. Harcourt and all who enquire after me. Continue to +love me and believe me,<br> +<br> +Your truly affectionate Brother and Friend,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — My Mother's love to you, Adieu.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f19"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Mrs. Byron, writing to Hanson, July 24, 1804, says, + + <blockquote> "I was informed by a Gentleman yesterday that he had been at Harrow + and heard him speaking, and that he acquitted himself uncommonly + well." </blockquote> + +Byron's name occurs in three of the Harrow speech-bills — July 5, 1804; +June 6, 1805; and July 4, 1805. The three bills are printed below:— <br> +<br> + + +<table summary="Harrow speeches" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5"> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><b>Harrow School Public Speeches</b></td> + <td></td> + <td><b>1. July 5, 1804.</b></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Erskine, Maj.</td> + <td>Cæsar</td> + <td>ex Sallustio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Sinclair</td> + <td>Cato</td> + <td>ex Sallustio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Long</td> + <td>C. Canuleius ad Pleb.</td> + <td>ex Livia</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Molloy, Sr.</td> + <td>The Country Box</td> + <td>Lloyd</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>Latinus</td> + <td>Ex Virgilio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Leeke</td> + <td>Drances</td> + <td>Ex Virgilio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Peel, Sr.</td> + <td>Turnus</td> + <td>Ex Virgilio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Chaplin</td> + <td>Henry V to his soldiers</td> + <td>Shakespear</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Clayton</td> + <td>Micispa ad Jugurtham</td> + <td>ex Sullustia</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Rowley</td> + <td>Germanicus moriens</td> + <td>ex Tacito</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Grenside, Sr. </td> + <td>General Wolfe to his soldiers</td> + <td>Enfield</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Morant, Sr.</td> + <td>Dido</td> + <td>Ex Virgilio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Mr.Calthorpe, Sr.</td> + <td>In Catilinam</td> + <td>Ex Cicerone</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Lloyd, Sr.</td> + <td>The Ghost</td> + <td>Shakespear</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Mr. Powys</td> + <td>Tiresias</td> + <td>Ex Horatio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Sir Thomas Acland</td> + <td>The Boil'd Pig</td> + <td>Wesley</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Leveson Gower</td> + <td>Ad Antonium</td> + <td>Ex Cicerone</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Drury, Max</td> + <td>Earl of Strafford</td> + <td>Hume</td> +</tr> +</table><br> +<br> +<b>2. June 6, 1805.</b><br> +<br> +<a name="fr20">There</a> were no Speeches for May, 1805. Dr. Butler came to Harrow this +year, after the Easter Holiday. — G.B.<a href="#f20"><span style="color: #663300;"><sup>A</sup></span></a><br> + +<table summary="Harrow speeches 2" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5"> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Daveton</td> + <td>Canulcius</td> + <td>Ex Livio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Farrer, Sr.</td> + <td>Medea</td> + <td>Ex Ovidio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Long</td> + <td>Caractacus</td> + <td>Mason</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Rogers</td> + <td>Manlius</td> + <td>Ex Sallustio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Molloy</td> + <td>Micipsa</td> + <td>Ex Sallustio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>Zanga</td> + <td>Young</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Drury, Sr.</td> + <td>Memmius</td> + <td>Ex Sallustio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Hoare</td> + <td>Ajax</td> + <td>Ex Ovidio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>East</td> + <td>Ulysses</td> + <td>Ex Ovidio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Leeke</td> + <td>The Passions: an Ode</td> + <td>Collins</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Calvert, Sr.</td> + <td>Galgacus</td> + <td>Ex Tacito</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Bazett</td> + <td>Catilina ad Consp.</td> + <td>Ex Sallustio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Franks, Sr.</td> + <td>Antony</td> + <td>Shakespeare</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Wildman, Maj.</td> + <td>Sat. ix, Lib. i</td> + <td>Ex Horatio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Lloyd, Sr.</td> + <td>The Bard: an Ode</td> + <td>Gray</td> +</tr> +</table><br> +<br> +<b>3. July 4, 1805.</b><br> + +<table summary="Harrow speeches 3" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5"> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Lyon</td> + <td>Piso ad Milites</td> + <td>Ex Tacito</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>East</td> + <td>Cato</td> + <td>Addison</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Saumerez</td> + <td>Drances</td> + <td>Ex Virgilio, <i>Æn.</i> xi</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Annesley</td> + <td>Turnus</td> + <td>Ex Virgilio, <i>Æn.</i> xi</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Calvert</td> + <td>Lord Strafford's Defence</td> + <td>Hume</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Erskine, Sr.</td> + <td>Achilles</td> + <td>Ex Homero,<i> Il.</i> xvi</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Bazett</td> + <td>York</td> + <td>Shakespeare</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Harrington</td> + <td>Camillus</td> + <td>Ex Livio.</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Leeke</td> + <td>Ode to the Passions</td> + <td>Collins</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Sneyd</td> + <td>Electra</td> + <td>Ex Sophocle</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Long</td> + <td>Satan's Soliloquy</td> + <td>Milton, <i>P.L.</i>, b. iv</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Gibson</td> + <td>Brutus</td> + <td>Ex Lucano</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Drury, Sr.</td> + <td>Cato</td> + <td>Ex Lucano</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>Lear</td> + <td>Shakespeare</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Hoare</td> + <td>Otho ad Milites</td> + <td>Ex Livio</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Wildman</td> + <td>Caractacus</td> + <td>Mason</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Franks</td> + <td>Wolsey</td> + <td>Shakespeare</td> +</tr> +</table><br> +Of Byron's oratorical powers, Dr. Drury, Head-master of Harrow, formed a +high opinion.<br> +<br> +"The upper part of the school," he writes (see <i>Life</i>, p. 20), composed +declamations, which, after a revisal by the tutors, were submitted to +the master. To him the authors repeated them, that they might be +improved in manner and action, before their public delivery. I certainly +was much pleased with Lord Byron's attitude, gesture, and delivery, as +well as with his composition. All who spoke on that day adhered, as +usual, to the letter of their composition, as, in the earlier part of +his delivery, did Lord Byron; but, to my surprise, he suddenly diverged +from the written composition, with a boldness and rapidity sufficient to +alarm me, lest he should fail in memory as to the conclusion. There was +no failure; he came round to the close of his composition without +discovering any impediment and irregularity on the whole. I questioned +him why he had altered his declamation. He declared he had made no +alteration, and did not know, in speaking, that he had deviated from it +one letter. I believed him; and, from a knowledge of his temperament, am +convinced that, fully impressed with the sense and substance of the +subject, he was hurried on to expressions and colourings more striking +than what his pen had expressed." + + <blockquote> "My qualities," says Byron, in one of his note-books (quoted by Moore, + <i>Life</i>, p. 20), "were much more oratorical and martial than poetical; + and Dr. Drury, my grand patron (our head-master), had a great notion + that I should turn out an orator, from my fluency, my turbulence, my + voice, my copiousness of declamation, and my action. I remember that + my first declamation astonished him into some unwonted (for he was + economical of such) and sudden compliments before the declaimers at + our first rehearsal."</blockquote> + +For his subjects Byron chose passages expressive of vehement passion, +such as Lear's address to the storm, or the speech of Zanga over the +body of Alonzo, from Young's tragedy <i>The Revenge</i>. Zanga's character +and speech are famous in history from their application to Benjamin +Franklin, in Wedderburn's speech before the Privy Council (January, +1774) on the Whately Letters (Stanhope's <i>History of England</i>, vol. v. +p. 327, ed. 1853):— + + <blockquote> "I forg'd the letter, and dispos'd the picture,<br> + I hated, I despis'd, and I destroy."</blockquote> + +<a name="f20"><span style="color: #663300;">Sub-Footnote A:</span> </a>Note, in Dr. G. Butler's writing, in the bound volume of +Speech-Bills presented by him to the Harrow School Library.<br> +<a href="#fr20">return to footnote</a><br> +<a href="#fr19">return to letter</a><br> +<a href="#f46">cross-reference: return to Footnote of Letter 28</a><br> +<a href="#f49">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 31</a><br> +<a href="#f158">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 97</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L11">11 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +Burgage Manor, August 18th, 1804.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dearest Augusta,</b> — I seize this interval of my <i>amiable</i> mother's +absence this afternoon, again to inform you, or rather to desire to be +informed by you, of what is going on. For my own part I can send nothing +to amuse you, excepting a repetition of my complaints against my +tormentor, whose <i>diabolical</i> disposition (pardon me for staining my +paper with so harsh a word) seems to increase with age, and to acquire +new force with Time. The more I see of her the more my dislike augments; +nor can I so entirely conquer the appearance of it, as to prevent her +from perceiving my opinion; this, so far from calming the Gale, blows it +into a <i>hurricane</i>, which threatens to destroy everything, till +exhausted by its own violence, it is lulled into a sullen torpor, which, +after a short period, is again roused into fresh and revived phrenzy, to +me most terrible, and to every other Spectator astonishing. She then +declares that she plainly sees I hate her, that I am leagued with her +bitter enemies, viz. Yourself, L'd C[arlisle] and Mr. H[anson], and, as +I never Dissemble or contradict her, we are all <i>honoured</i> with a +multiplicity of epithets, too <i>numerous</i>, and some of them too <i>gross</i>, +to be repeated. In this society, and in this amusing and instructive +manner, have I dragged out a weary fortnight, and am condemned to pass +another or three weeks as happily as the former. No captive Negro, or +Prisoner of war, ever looked forward to their emancipation, and return +to Liberty with more Joy, and with more lingering expectation, than I do +to my escape from this maternal bondage, and this accursed place, which +is the region of dullness itself, and more stupid than the banks of +Lethe, though it possesses contrary qualities to the river of oblivion, +as the detested scenes I now witness, make me regret the happier ones +already passed, and wish their restoration.<br> +<br> +Such Augusta is the happy life I now lead, such my <i>amusements</i>. I +wander about hating everything I behold, and if I remained here a few +months longer, I should become, what with <i>envy, spleen and all +uncharitableness</i>, a complete <i>misanthrope</i>, but notwithstanding this,<br> +<br> +Believe me, Dearest Augusta, ever yours, etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L12"></a>12 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot<a href="#f21"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Burgage Manor, August 29, 1804.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr22">I</a> received the arms, my dear Miss Pigot, and am very much obliged to you +for the trouble you have taken. It is impossible I should have any fault +to find with them. The sight of the drawings gives me great pleasure for +a double reason, — in the first place, they will ornament my books, in +the next, they convince me that <i>you</i> have not entirely <i>forgot</i> me. I +am, however, sorry you do not return sooner — you have already been gone +an <i>age</i>. I perhaps may have taken my departure for London before +you come back; but, however, I will hope not. Do not overlook my +watch-riband and purse, as I wish to carry them with me. Your note was +given me by Harry<a href="#f22"><sup>2</sup></a>, at the play, whither I attended Miss Leacroft<a href="#f23"><sup>3</sup></a>, and Dr. S — — ; and now I have sat down to answer it before I go to +bed. If I am at Southwell when you return, — and I sincerely hope you +will soon, for I very much regret your absence, — I shall be happy to +hear you sing my favourite, "The Maid of Lodi."<a href="#f24"><sup>4</sup></a> My mother, together +with myself, desires to be affectionately remembered to Mrs. Pigot, and, +believe me, my dear Miss Pigot, I remain, your affectionate friend,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — If you think proper to send me any answer to this, I shall be +extremely happy to receive it. Adieu.<br> +<br> +P.S.2d. — As you say you are a novice in the art of knitting, I hope it +don't give you too much trouble. Go on <i>slowly</i>, but surely. Once +more, adieu.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f21"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Elizabeth Bridget Pigot lived with her mother and two brothers +on Southwell Green, in a house opposite Burgage Manor. Miss +Pigot thus describes her first meeting with Byron (<i>Life</i>, p. 32):— + + <blockquote>"The first time I was introduced to him was at a party at his + mother's, when he was so shy that she was forced to send for him three + times before she could persuade him to come into the drawing-room, to + play with the young people at a round game. He was then a fat, bashful + boy, with his hair combed straight over his forehead, and extremely + like a miniature picture that his mother had painted by M. de + Chambruland. The next morning Mrs. Byron brought him to call at our + house, when he still continued shy and formal in his manner. The + conversation turned upon Cheltenham, where we had been staying, the + amusements there, the plays, etc.; and I mentioned that I had seen the + character of Gabriel Lackbrain very well performed. His mother getting + up to go, he accompanied her, making a formal bow, and I, in allusion + to the play, said, 'Good-by, Gaby.' His countenance lighted up, his + handsome mouth displayed a broad grin, all his shyness vanished, never + to return, and, upon his mother's saying, 'Come, Byron, are you + ready?' — no, she might go by herself, he would stay and talk a little + longer; and from that moment he used to come in and go out at all + hours, as it pleased him, and in our house considered himself + perfectly at home."</blockquote> + +The character of "Gabriel Lackbrain," mentioned above, occurs in <i>Life</i>, +a comedy by F. Reynolds. It was at Byron's suggestion that Moore, when +preparing the <i>Life</i>, applied to Miss Pigot for letters. On January 22, +1828, he was taken to call on her and her mother by the Rev. John +Becher. + + "Their reception of me most cordial and flattering; made me sit in the + chair which Byron used to sit in, and remarked, as a singularity, that + this was the poor fellow's birthday; he would to-day have been forty. + On parting with Mrs. Pigot, a fine, intelligent old lady, who has been + bedridden for years, she kissed my hand most affectionately, and said + that, much as she had always admired me as a poet, it was as the + friend of Byron she valued and loved me ... Her affection, indeed, to + his memory is unbounded, and she seems unwilling to allow that he had + a single fault ... Miss Pigot in the evening, with his letters, which + interested me exceedingly; some written when he was quite a boy, and + the bad spelling and scrambling handwriting delightful; spelling, + indeed, was a very late accomplishment with him" + +(<i>Diary of Thomas Moore</i>, vol. v. p. 249). (See "To Eliza," <i>Poems</i>, +vol. i. pp.47-49; see also the lines "To M. S. G.," <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. +79, 80; see for the lines which Byron wrote in her copy of Burns, +<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 233, 234.)<br> +<br> +<a name="cr3">Miss</a> Pigot died at Southwell in 1866, her brother John (see <a href="#L52">letter</a> of +August 9, 1806, p. 100, <i>note</i> 3) in 1871. Her brother Henry, whom Byron +used to call his grandson, died October 28, 1830, a captain in the 23rd +Native Infantry in the service of the East India Company.<br> +<a href="#f22">[cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 12]</a><br> +<br> +The following undated note (1810) from Mrs. Pigot to Mrs. Byron +illustrates the enthusiastic interest with which the Pigots followed +Byron's career:— + +<blockquote> "Indeed, my dear Mrs. Byron, you have given me a very <i>great treat</i> in + sending me <i>English Bards</i> to look at; you know how very highly I + thought of the <i>first</i> edition, and this is certainly much improved; + indeed, I do not think anybody but Lord Byron could (in these our + days) have produced such a work, for it has all the fire of ancient + genius. I have always been accustomed to tell you my thoughts most + sincerely, and I cannot say that I like that addition to the part + where <i>Bowles</i> is mentioned; it wants that <i>brilliant spirit</i> which + almost invariably accompanies Lord B.'s writings. Maurice, too, and + his granite weight of leaves, is in truth a heavy comparison. But I + turn with pleasure from these specks in the sun to notice 'Vice and + folly, Greville and Argyle;' it is <i>most admirable</i>: the <i>same pen</i> + may <i>equal</i>, but I think it is not in the power of human abilities to + <i>exceed</i> it. As to Lord Carlisle, I think he well deserves the Note + Lord B. has put in; I am <i>very much</i> pleased with it, and the little + word <i>Amen</i> at the end, gives a point <i>indescribably good</i>. The whole + of the conclusion is excellent, and the Postscript I think must + entertain everybody except <i>Jeffrey</i>. I hope the poor Bear is well; I + wish you could make him understand that he is <i>immortalized</i>, for, if + <i>four-leg'd Bears</i> have any vanity, it would certainly delight him. + Walter Scott, too (I really do not mean to call him a Bear), will be + highly gratified: the compliment to him is very elegant: in short, I + look upon it as a most <i>highly finished</i> work, and Lord Byron has + certainly taken the Palm from <i>all our</i> Poets ... A good account of + yourself I assure you will always give the most sincere pleasure to my + dear Mrs. Byron's very affectionate friend, Margt. Pigot. Elizabeth + begs her compts."</blockquote> +<a href="#L12">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f69">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 52</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f22"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Henry Pigot. (See p. 33 [above], <a href="#cr3"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr22">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f23"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Miss Julia Leacroft, daughter of a neighbour, Mr. John +Leacroft. (See lines "To Lesbia," <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 41-43.) The +private theatricals in September, 1806 (see p. 117, <a href="#f81"><i>note</i></a> 3), were +held at Mr. Leacroft's house. Later, Captain Leacroft expostulated with +Byron on his attentions to his sister, and, according to Moore, +threatened to call him out. Byron was ready to meet him; but afterwards, +on consulting Becher, resolved never to go near the house +again. — <i>Prose and Verse of Thomas Moore</i>, edited by Richard Herne +Shepherd (London, 1878), p. 420. (But see Letters <a href="#L62">62</a>, <a href="#L63">63</a>, <a href="#L64">64</a>.)<br> +<a href="#fr22">return</a><br> +<a href="#f77">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 62</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f24"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> By Dibdin, set to music by Shield. (See Moore's +<i>Life</i>, p. 33.) Byron's love for simple ballad music lasted +throughout his life. As a boy at Harrow, he was famous for the vigour +with which he sang "This Bottle's the Sun of our Table" at Mother +Barnard's. He liked the Welsh air "Mary Anne," sung by Miss Chaworth; +the songs in <i>The Duenna</i>; "When Time who steals our Years away," +which he sang with Miss Pigot; or "Robin Adair," in which he was +accompanied by Miss Hanson on her harp. + +<blockquote>"It is very odd," he said to +Miss Pigot, "I sing much better to your playing than to any one else's."<br> +<br> +"That is," she answered, "because I play to your singing."</blockquote> + +Moore +(<i>Journal and Correspondence</i>, vol. v. pp. 295, 296), speaking of +"Byron's chanting method of repeating poetry," says that "it is the men +who have the worst ears for music that <i>sing</i> out poetry in this +manner, having no nice perception of the difference there ought to be +between animated reading and <i>chant</i>." Rogers (<i>Table-Talk, +etc.</i>, pp. 224, 225) expresses the same opinion, when he says, "I can +discover from a poet's versification whether or not he has an ear for +music. To instance poets of the present day:— from Bowles's and Moore's, +I should know that they had fine ears for music; from Southey's, +Wordsworth's, and Byron's, that they had no ears for it."<br> +<a href="#fr22">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L13">13 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.]<br> +<br> +Harrow-on-the-Hill, October 25th, 1804.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr25">My</a> dear Augusta, — In compliance with your wishes, as well as gratitude +for your affectionate letter, I proceed as soon as possible to answer +it; I am glad to hear that <i>any body</i> gives a good account of me; +but from the quarter you mention, I should imagine it was exaggerated. +That you are unhappy, my dear Sister, makes me so also; were it in my +power to relieve your sorrows you would soon recover your spirits; as it +is, I sympathize better than you yourself expect. But really, after all +(pardon me my dear Sister), I feel a little inclined to laugh at you, +for love, in my humble opinion, is utter nonsense, a mere jargon of +compliments, romance, and deceit; now, for my part, had I fifty +mistresses, I should in the course of a fortnight, forget them all, and, +if by any chance I ever recollected one, should laugh at it as a dream, +and bless my stars, for delivering me from the hands of the little +mischievous Blind God. <a name="fr25">Can't</a> you drive this Cousin<a href="#f25"><sup>1</sup></a> of ours out of +your pretty little head (for as to <i>hearts</i> I think they are out of +the question), <a name="fr26">or</a> if you are so far gone, why don't you give old +L'Harpagon<a href="#f26"><sup>2</sup></a> (I mean the General) the slip, and take a trip to +Scotland, you are now pretty near the Borders. <a name="fr27">Be</a> sure to Remember me to +my formal Guardy Lord Carlisle<a href="#f27"><sup>3</sup></a>, whose magisterial presence I have not +been into for some years, nor have I any ambition to attain so great an +honour. As to your favourite Lady Gertrude, I don't remember her; pray, +is she handsome? I dare say she is, for although they are a +<i>disagreeable, formal, stiff</i> Generation, yet they have by no means +plain <i>persons</i>, I remember Lady Cawdor was a sweet, pretty woman; +pray, does your sentimental Gertrude resemble her? I have heard that the +duchess of Rutland was handsome also, but we will say nothing about her +temper, as I hate Scandal.<br> +<br> +Adieu, my pretty Sister, forgive my levity, write soon, and God bless +you.<br> +<br> +I remain, your very affectionate Brother,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — I left my mother at Southwell, some time since, in a monstrous pet +with you for not writing. I am sorry to say the old lady and myself +don't agree like lambs in a meadow, but I believe it is all my own +fault, I am rather too fidgety, which my precise mama objects to, we +differ, then argue, and to my shame be it spoken fall out a <i>little</i>, +however after a storm comes a calm; <a name="fr28">what's</a> become of our aunt the +amiable antiquated Sophia<a href="#f28"><sup>4</sup></a>? is she yet in the land of the living, or +does she sing psalms with the <i>Blessed</i> in the other world. Adieu. +I am happy enough and Comfortable here. <a name="fr29">My</a> friends are not numerous, but +select; among them I rank as the principal Lord Delawarr<a href="#f29"><sup>5</sup></a>, who is very +amiable and my particular friend; do you know the family at all? Lady +Delawarr is frequently in town, perhaps you may have seen her; if she +resembles her son she is the most amiable woman in Europe. I have plenty +of acquaintances, but I reckon them as mere Blanks. Adieu, my dear +Augusta.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f25"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Colonel George Leigh.<br> +<a href="#fr25">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f26"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> General Leigh, father of the colonel. Both Harpagon and +Cléante (<i>L'Avare</i>) wish to marry Mariane; but the miser prefers +his casket to the lady, who therefore marries Cléante.<br> +<a href="#fr26">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f27"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Frederick Howard, fifth Earl of Carlisle (1748-1825), was, +on his mother's side, connected with the Byron family. The Hon. Isabella +Byron (1721-1795), daughter of the fourth Lord Byron, married, in 1742, +Henry, fourth Earl of Carlisle. She subsequently, after the death of +Lord Carlisle (1758), married, as her second husband, Sir William +Musgrave. She was a woman of considerable ability, and apparently, in +later life, of eccentric habits — a "recluse in pride and rags." She was +the reputed writer of some published poetry, and of <i>Maxims addressed +to Young Ladies</i>. Some of these maxims might have been of use to her +grand-nephew: "Habituate yourself to that way of life most agreeable to +the person to whom you are united; be content in retirement, or with +society, in town, or country." Her <i>Answer</i> to Mrs. Greville's ode +on <i>Indifference</i> has more of the neck-or-nothing temper of the +Byrons:— + + <blockquote>"Is that your wish, to lose all sense<br> + In dull lethargic ease,<br> + And wrapt in cold indifference,<br> + But half be pleased or please?<br> + ...<br> + It never shall be my desire<br> + To bear a heart unmov'd,<br> + To feel by halves the gen'rous fire,<br> + Or be but half belov'd.<br> + <br> + Let me drink deep the dang'rous cup,<br> + In hopes the prize to gain,<br> + Nor tamely give the pleasure up<br> + For fear to share the pain.<br> + <br> + Give me, whatever I possess,<br> + To know and feel it all;<br> + When youth and love no more can bless,<br> + Let death obey my call."</blockquote> + +Lady Carlisle's son, Frederick, who was educated at Eton and Cambridge, +succeeded his father as fifth Earl of Carlisle, in 1758, when he was ten +years old. After leaving Cambridge, he started on a continental tour +with two Eton friends — Lord FitzWilliam and Charles James Fox. A lively +letter-writer, his correspondence with his friend George Selwyn, while +in Italy, shows him to have been a young man of wit, feeling, and taste. +It is curious to notice that, at Rome, he singles out, like his cousin +in <i>Childe Harold</i> or <i>Manfred</i>, as the most striking objects, the +general aspect of the "marbled "wilderness," the moonlight view of the +amphitheatre, the Laocoon, the Belvedere Apollo, and the group of Niobe +and her daughters. One other taste he shared with Byron — he was a lover +of dogs, and "Rover" was his constant companion abroad.<br> +<br> +Lord Carlisle returned to England in 1769. Like Fox, he was a prodigious +dandy. They "once travelled from Paris to Lyons for the express purpose +of buying waistcoats; and during the whole journey they talked of +nothing else" (<i>Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers</i>, pp. 73, 74). Already well +known in London society, Carlisle was a close friend of George Selwyn, a +familiar figure at White's and Brookes's, an inveterate gambler, an +adorer of Lady Sarah Bunbury, who, as Lady Sarah Lennox, had won the +heart of George III. The flirtation provoked from Lord Holland an +adaptation of <i>Lydia, dic per omnes</i>:— + + <blockquote> "Sally, Sally, don't deny,<br> + But, for God's sake, tell me why<br> + You have flirted so, to spoil<br> + That once lively youth, Carlisle?<br> + He used to mount while it was dark;<br> + Now he lies in bed till noon,<br> + And, you not meeting in the park,<br> + Thinks that he gets up too soon," etc.</blockquote> + +In 1770 Lord Carlisle married Lady Margaret Leveson Gower, a beautiful +and charming woman. "Everybody," writes Lord Holland to George Selwyn +(May 2, 1770), "says it is impossible not to admire Lady Carlisle." But +matrimony did not at once steady his character. For the next few +years — though in 1773 he published a volume of <i>Poems</i> — his pursuits +were mainly those of a young man of fashion, and he impoverished himself +at the gaming-table. From 1777 onwards, however, his life took a more +serious turn. In that year he became Treasurer of the Household, and was +sworn a member of the Privy Council. In 1778 he was the chief of the +three commissioners sent out by Lord North to negotiate with the United +States. There he declined a challenge from Lafayette, provoked by +reflections on the French court and nation, which he had issued with his +fellow-commissioners in their political capacity. In 1779 he was +nominated Lord-Lieutenant of Yorkshire, and First Lord of Trade and +Plantations. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1780 to 1782, and +held the post of Lord Privy Seal in the Duke of Portland's +administration of 1783. Till the outbreak of the French Revolutionary +wars, he was an opponent of Pitt; but after 1792 he consistently +supported the Government.<br> +<br> +Carlisle was a collector of pictures, statuary, and works of art. He was +also a writer of verse, tragedies, and pamphlets; but, in literature, +his admirable letters are his best claim to be remembered. One of his +two tragedies, <i>The Father's Revenge</i> (1783), was praised by +Walpole, and received the guarded approval of Dr. Johnson. His published +poetry consisted of an ode on the death of Gray, verses on that of Lord +Nelson, "Lines for the Monument of a favourite Spaniel," an address to +Sir Joshua Reynolds, and translations from Dante. The first two poems +provoked Richard Tickell to write the <i>Wreath of Fashion</i> (1780). +"The following lines," says Tickell, in his "Advertisement," were +"occasioned by the Author's having lately studied, with infinite +attention, several fashionable productions in the <i>Sentimental</i> +stile.... For example, A Noble Author has lately published his works, +which consist of <i>three</i> compositions: <i>one</i> an Ode upon the +death of Mr. Gray; the two others upon the death of his Lordship's +<i>Spaniel</i>." + + <blockquote> "Here, placid <i>Carlisle</i> breathes his gentle line,<br> + Or haply, gen'rous <i>Hare</i>, re-echoes thine.<br> + Soft flows the lay: as when, with tears, He paid<br> + The last sad honours to his — — — Spaniel's shade!<br> + And lo! he grasps the badge of wit, a wand;<br> + He waves it thrice and <i>Storer</i> is at hand."</blockquote> + +His contemporaries seem to have thought that his poetry, weak though it +was, was indebted to his Eton friends, "the Hare with many friends," and +Antony Storer. The latter's name is linked with that of Carlisle in +another satire, <i>Pandolfo Attonito</i>:— + + <blockquote> "Fall'n though I am, I ne'er shall mourn,<br> + Like the dark Peer on Storer's urn,"</blockquote> + +where a note refers to "Antony Storer, formerly Member for Morpeth +(<i>as some persons</i> near Carlisle and Castle Howard <i>may possibly +recollect</i>), a gentleman well known in the circles of fashion and +polite literature." Carlisle's name occurs in many of the satires of the +day on literary subjects. <i>The Shade of Pope</i> (ii. 191, 192) says — + + <blockquote> "Carlisle is lost with Gillies in surprize,<br> + As Lysias charms soft Jersey's classic eyes;"</blockquote> + +and in the <i>Pursuits of Literature</i> (Dialogue ii. line 234), a note to +the line — + + <blockquote> "While lyric Carlisle purrs o'er love transformed,"</blockquote> + +again associates his name with that of Lady Jersey.<br> +<br> +In 1799 Lord Carlisle was persuaded by Hanson to become Byron's +guardian, in order to facilitate legal proceedings for the recovery of +the Rochdale property, illegally sold by William, fifth Lord Byron. He +was introduced to his ward by Hanson, who took the boy to Grosvenor Place, to see his guardian and consult Dr. Baillie in July, +1799. He seemed anxious to befriend the boy; but Byron was eager, as +Hanson notes, to leave the house. When Mrs. Byron, in 1800, was anxious +to remove her son from Dr. Glennie's care, Carlisle exercised his +authority, and forbade the schoolmaster to give him up to his mother. He +probably, on this occasion, experienced Mrs. Byron's temper, for Augusta +Byron, writing to Hanson (November 18, 1804), says that he dreaded +"having any concern whatever with Mrs. Byron." <a name="cr1">Byron</a> does not seem to +have met his guardian again till January, 1805, when Augusta Byron +writes to Hanson: + +<blockquote>"I hear from Lady Gertrude Howard that Lord Carlisle +was <i>very much</i> pleased with my brother, and I am sure, from what +he said to me at Castle Howard, is disposed to show him all the kindness +and attention in his power. I know you are so partial to Byron and so +much interested in all that concerns him, that you will rejoice almost +as much as I do that his acquaintance with Lord C. is renewed. In the +mean time it is a great comfort for me to think that he has spent his +Holydays so comfortably and so much to his wishes. You will easily +believe that he is a <i>very great favourite of mine</i>, and I may add +the more I see and hear of him, the more I <i>must</i> love and esteem +him."</blockquote> + +It may be doubted whether Carlisle ever saw the dedication of <i>Hours +of Idleness</i>. Augusta Byron, in a letter to Hanson of February 7, +1807, says, + +<blockquote>"I return you my Brother's poems with many Thanks. Mrs. B. +has had the attention to send me 2 copies. I like some of them very +much: but you will laugh when I tell you I have never had courage to +shew them to Lord Carlisle for fear of his disapproving others."</blockquote> + +The +years 1806-7, spent at Southwell, as his sister says, "in idleness and +ill humour with the whole World," were not the most creditable of +Byron's life, and Carlisle's efforts to make him return to Cambridge +failed. It is, moreover, certain that in 1809 Carlisle was ill; it is +also probable that at a time when the scandal of Mary Anne Clarke and +the Duke of York threatened to come before the House of Lords, he was +unwilling to connect himself in public with a cousin of whom he knew no +good, and of whose political views he was ignorant. These causes may +have combined to produce the coldly formal letter, in which he told +Byron the course of procedure to be adopted in taking his seat in the +House of Lords, and ignored the young man's wish that his cousin and +guardian should introduce him. (For Byron's attack upon Carlisle, and +his subsequent admission of having done him "some wrong," see <i>English +Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i>, lines 723-740; and <i>Childe +Harold</i>, Canto III. stanzas xxix., xxx.)<br> +<br> +It is possible that the "paralytic puling" may have been suggested by +the "placid purring" of previous satirists. In March, 1814, his sister +Augusta was trying hard to persuade Byron, as he notes in his Diary, + +<blockquote> "to +make it up with Carlisle. I have refused <i>every</i> body else, but I +can't deny her anything, though I had as leif 'drink up Eisel — eat a +crocodile.'"</blockquote> + +Lord Carlisle had three daughters: the eldest, Lady Caroline Isabella +Howard, married, in 1789, John, first Lord Cawdor, and died in 1848; the +second, Lady Elizabeth, married, in 1799, John Henry, fifth Duke of +Rutland, and died in 1825; the third, Lady Gertrude, married, in 1806, +William Sloane Stanley, of Paultons, Hants, and died in 1870.<br> +<a href="#fr27">return</a><br> +<a href="#cr2">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 7</a><br> +<a href="#f182">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 110</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f28"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> No "Aunt Sophia" appears in the pedigree; but his +grandmother was Sophia Trevanion, who married, in 1748, the Hon. John +Byron, afterwards Admiral Byron. Mrs. Byron knew Dr. Johnson well, and +she and Miss Burney were the only two friends who, as Mrs. Piozzi (then +Mrs. Thrale) thought, might regret her departure from Streatham in 1782 +(<i>Life and Writings of Mrs. Piozzi</i>, vol. i. p. 171). "Mrs. Byron, who +really loves me," says Mrs. Piozzi (<i>ibid</i>., p. 125), "was disgusted at +Miss Burney's carriage to me." In August, 1820, Mrs. Piozzi writes to a +Miss Willoughby, to tell her + +<blockquote>"what wonders Lord Byron is come home to +do, for I see his arrival in the paper. His grandmother was my intimate +friend, a Cornish lady, Sophia Trevanion, wife to the Admiral, <i>pour ses +péchés</i>, and we called her Mrs. B<i>i</i>ron always, after the French +fashion" </blockquote> + +(<i>Life and Writings, etc.</i>, vol. ii. pp. 456, 457)' Mrs. Byron +died at Bath in 1790.<br> +<a href="#fr28">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f29"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> Lady Delawarr, widow of John Richard, fourth Earl Delawarr, +whom she married in 1783, died in 1826. Her only son, George +John, fifth earl, succeeded his father in 1795. He went from Harrow +to Brasenose College, Oxford; married, in 1813, Lady Elizabeth +Sackville; was Lord Chamberlain 1858-9; and died in 1869. He +was the "Euryalus" of "Childish Recollections" (see <i>Poems</i>, +vol. i. p. 100; and lines "To George, Earl of Delawarr," <i>ibid.</i>, +p. 126).<br> +<a href="#fr29">return</a><br> +<a href="#f79">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 65</a><br> +<a href="#f150">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 93</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L14">14 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +Friday, November 2d, 1804.<br> +<br> +This morning, my dear Augusta, I received your affectionate letter, and +it reached me at a time when I wanted consolation, not however of your +kind for I am not yet old enough or Goose enough to be in love; no, my +sorrows are of a different nature, though more calculated to provoke +risibility than excite compassion. You must know, Sister of mine, that I +am the most unlucky wight in Harrow, perhaps in Christendom, and am no +sooner out of one scrape than into another. <a name="fr30">And</a> to day, this very +morning, I had a thundering Jobation from our Good Doctor<a href="#f30"><sup>1</sup></a>, which +deranged my <i>nervous system</i>, for at least five minutes. But +notwithstanding He and I now and then disagree, yet upon the whole we +are very good friends, for there is so much of the Gentleman, so much +mildness, and nothing of pedantry in his character, that I cannot help +liking him, and will remember his instructions with gratitude as long as +I live. He leaves Harrow soon, <i>apropos</i>, so do I. This quitting +will be a considerable loss to the school. He is the best master we ever +had, and at the same time respected and feared; greatly will he be +regretted by all who know him. You tell me you don't know my friend L'd +Delawarr; he is considerably younger than me, but the most good +tempered, amiable, clever fellow in the universe. To all which he adds +the quality (a good one in the eyes of women) of being remarkably +handsome, almost too much so for a boy. He is at present very low in the +school, not owing to his want of ability, but to his years. I am nearly +at the top of it; by the rules of our Seminary he is under my power, but +he is too goodnatured ever to offend me, and I like him too well ever to +exert my authority over him. If ever you should meet, and chance to know +him, take notice of him on my account.<br> +<br> +You say that you shall write to the Dowager Soon; her address is at +Southwell, <i>that</i> I need hardly inform you. Now, Augusta, I am +going to tell you a secret, perhaps I shall appear undutiful to you, +but, believe me, my affection for you is founded on a more firm basis. +My mother has lately behaved to me in such an eccentric manner, that so +far from feeling the affection of a Son, it is with difficulty I can +restrain my dislike. Not that I can complain of want of liberality; no, +She always supplies me with as much money as I can spend, and more than +most boys hope for or desire. But with all this she is so hasty, so +impatient, that I dread the approach of the holidays, more than most +boys do their return from them. In former days she spoilt me; now she is +altered to the contrary; for the most trifling thing, she upbraids me in +a most outrageous manner, and all our disputes have been lately +heightened by my one with that object of my cordial, deliberate +detestation, Lord Grey de Ruthyn. She wishes me to explain my reasons +for disliking him, which I will never do; would I do it to any one, be +assured you, my dear Augusta, would be the first who would know them. +She also insists on my being reconciled to him, and once she let drop +such an odd expression that I was half inclined to believe the dowager +was in love with him. But I hope not, for he is the most disagreeable +person (in my opinion) that exists. He called once during my last +vacation; she threatened, stormed, begged me to make it up, "he himself +loved me, and wished it;" but my reason was so excellent — that neither +had effect, nor would I speak or stay in the same room, till he took his +departure. No doubt this appears odd; but was my reason known, which it +never will be if I can help it, I should be justified in my conduct. Now +if I am to be tormented with her and him in this style, I cannot submit +to it. You, Augusta, are the only relation I have who treats me as a +friend; if you too desert me, I have nobody I can love but Delawarr. If +it was not for his sake, Harrow would be a desert, and I should dislike +staying at it. You desire me to burn your epistles; indeed I cannot do +that, but I will take care that They shall be invisible. If you burn any +of mine, I shall be <i>monstrous angry</i>; take care of them till we +meet.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr31">Delawarr</a><a href="#f31"><sup>2</sup></a> and myself are in a manner connected, for one of our +forefathers in Charles the 1st's time married into their family. +<a name="fr32">Hartington</a><a href="#f32"><sup>3</sup></a>, whom you enquire after, is on very good terms with me, +nothing more, he is of a soft milky disposition, and of a happy apathy +of temper which defies the softer emotions, and is insensible of ill +treatment; so much for him. Don't betray me to the Dowager. I should +like to know your Lady Gertrude, as you and her are so great Friends. +Adieu, my Sister, write. From<br> +<br> +[Signature, etc., cut out.]<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f30"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The Rev. Joseph Drury, D.D. (1750-1834), educated at +Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge, was appointed an +Assistant-master at Harrow before he was one and twenty. He was +Head-master from 1784 to 1805. In that year he retired, and till his +death in 1834 lived at Cockwood, in Devonshire, where he devoted +himself to farming. The following statement by Dr. Drury illustrates +Byron's respect for his Head-master (<i>Life</i>, p. 20):— + + <blockquote> "After my retreat from Harrow, I received from him two very + affectionate letters. In my occasional visits subsequently to London, + when he had fascinated the public with his productions, I demanded of + him, why, as in <i>duty bound</i>, he had sent none to me? 'Because,' + said he, 'you are the only man I never wish to read them;' but in a + few moments, he added, 'What do you think of the <i>Corsair</i>?'"</blockquote> + +Dr. Drury married Louisa Heath, sister of the Rev. Benjamin Heath, his +predecessor in the Head-mastership. They had four children, all of whom +have some connection with Byron's life. + +<ol type="1"> +<li>Henry Joseph Drury +(1778-1841), educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge (Fellow), +Assistant-master at Harrow School, married (December 20, 1808) Ann +Caroline Tayler, and had a numerous family. Mrs. Drury's sister married +the Rev. F. Hodgson (see page 195, <a href="#f165"><i>note</i></a> 1).</li> +<li>Benjamin Heath +Drury (1782-1835), educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge +(Fellow), Assistant-master at Eton.</li> +<li>Charles Drury (1788-1869), +educated at Harrow and Queen's College, Oxford (Fellow).</li> +<li>Louisa +Heath Drury (1787-1873) married John Herman Merivale.</li> +</ol> + +Dr. Drury's brother, Mark Drury, the Lower Master at Harrow, was the +candidate whom Byron supported for the Head-mastership.<br> +<a href="#fr30">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f9">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 4</a><br> +<a href="#f133">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 85</a><br> +<a href="#f166">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 102</a><br> +<a href="#f176">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 108</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f31"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Thomas, third Lord Delawarr, Captain-general of all the +Colonies planted or to be planted in Virginia, died in 1618. His fourth +daughter, Cecilie, widow of Sir Francis Bindlose, married Sir John +Byron, created Lord Byron by Charles I. His fifth daughter, Lucy, +married Sir Robert Byron, brother to Lord Byron. But the first Lord +Byron left no heirs, and the title descended to his brother, Richard +Byron, from whom the poet was descended.<br> +<a href="#fr31">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f32"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> William Spencer, Marquis of Hartington +(1790-1858), succeeded his father as sixth Duke of Devonshire in 1811, +and died unmarried. His sister, Georgiana Dorothy, married, in 1801, +Lord Carlisle's eldest son.<br> +<a href="#fr32">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L15">15 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +Harrow, Saturday, 11th Novr, 1804.<br> +<br> + +<a name="fr33">I</a> thought, my dear Augusta<a href="#f33"><sup>1</sup></a>, that your opinion of my <i>meek mamma</i> +would coincide with mine; Her temper is so variable, and, when inflamed, +so furious, that I dread our meeting; not but I dare say, that I am +troublesome enough, but I always endeavour to be as dutiful as possible. +<a name="fr34">She</a> is so very strenuous, and so tormenting in her entreaties and +commands, with regard to my reconciliation, with that detestable Lord G.<a href="#f34"><sup>2</sup></a> that I suppose she has a penchant for his Lordship; but I am +confident that he does not return it, for he rather dislikes her than +otherwise, at least as far as I can judge. But she has an excellent +opinion of her personal attractions, sinks her age a good six years, +avers that when I was born she was only eighteen, when you, my dear +Sister, know as well as I know that she was of age when she married my +father, and that I was not born for three years afterwards. But vanity +is the weakness of <i>your sex</i>, — and these are mere foibles that I +have related to you, and, provided she never molested me, I should look +upon them as follies very excusable in a woman. <br> +<br> +But I am now coming to +what must shock you, as much as it does me, when she has occasion to +lecture me (not very seldom you will think no doubt) she does not do it +in a manner that commands respect, and in an impressive style. No! did +she do that, I should amend my faults with pleasure, and dread to offend +a kind though just mother. But she flies into a fit of phrenzy, upbraids +me as if I was the most undutiful wretch in existence, rakes up the +ashes of my <i>father</i>, abuses him, says I shall be a true Byrrone, +which is the worst epithet she can invent. Am I to call this woman +mother? Because by nature's law she has authority over me, am I to be +trampled upon in this manner? am I to be goaded with insult, loaded with +obloquy, and suffer my feelings to be outraged on the most trivial +occasions? I owe her respect as a Son, But I renounce her as a Friend. +What an example does she shew me! I hope in God I shall never follow it. +I have not told you all, nor can I; I respect you as a female, nor, +although I ought to confide in you as a Sister, will I shock you with +the repetition of Scenes, which you may judge of by the Sample I have +given you, and which to all but you are buried in oblivion. Would they +were so in my mind! I am afraid they never will. And can I, my dear +Sister, look up to this mother, with that respect, that affection I +ought? Am I to be eternally subjected to her caprice? I hope not — ; +indeed a few short years will emancipate me from the Shackles I now +wear, and then perhaps she will govern her passion better than at +present. <br> +<br> +You mistake me, if you think I dislike Lord Carlisle; I respect +him, and might like him did I know him better. For him too my mother has +an antipathy, why I know not. I am afraid he could be but of little use +to me, in separating me from her, which she would oppose with all her +might; but I dare say he would assist me if he could, so I take the will +for the Deed, and am obliged to him in exactly the same manner as if he +succeeded in his efforts. <br> +<br> +I am in great hopes, that at Christmas I shall +be with Mr. Hanson during the vacation, I shall do all I can to avoid a +visit to my mother wherever she is. It is the first duty of a parent, to +impress precepts of obedience in their children, but her method is so +violent, so capricious, that the patience of Job, the versatility of a +member of the House of Commons could not support it. I revere Dr. Drury +much more than I do her, yet he is never violent, never outrageous: I +dread offending him, not however through fear, but the respect I bear +him makes me unhappy when I am under his displeasure. My mother's +precepts, never convey instruction, never fix upon my mind; to be sure +they are calculated, to inculcate obedience, so are chains, and +tortures, but though they may restrain for a time, the mind revolts from +such treatment. Not that Mrs. Byron ever injures my <i>sacred</i> +person. I am rather too old for that, but her words are of that rough +texture, which offend more than personal ill usage. "A talkative woman +is like an Adder's tongue," so says one of the prophets, but which I +can't tell, and very likely you don't wish to know, but he was a true +one whoever he was.<br> +<br> +The postage of your letters, My dear Augusta, don't fall upon me; but if +they did, it would make no difference, for I am Generally in cash, and +should think the trifle I paid for your epistles the best laid out I +ever spent in my life. Write Soon. Remember me to Lord Carlisle, and, +believe me, I ever am<br> +<br> +Your affectionate Brother and Friend,<br> +<br> +<b>Byrone</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f33"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> In consequence of this letter, Augusta Byron wrote as +follows to Hanson, and Byron spent the Christmas holidays of 1804 with +his solicitor:— + +<blockquote> "Castle Howard, Nov. 18, 1804. + + "My Dear Sir, — I am afraid you will think I presume almost too much + upon the kind permission you have so often given me of applying to you + about my Brother's concerns. The reason that induces me now to do so + is his having lately written me several Letters containing the most + extraordinary accounts of his Mother's conduct towards him and + complaints of the uncomfortable Situation he is in during the Holidays + when with her. All this you will easily imagine has more <i>vexed</i> than + <i>surprized</i> me. I am quite unhappy about him, and wish I could in any + way remedy the grievances he confides to me. I wished, as the most + likely means of doing this, to mention the subject to Lord Carlisle, + who has always expressed the greatest interest about Byron and also + shewn me the greatest Kindness. Finding that he did <i>not object</i> to + it, I yesterday had some conversation with Lord C. on the subject, and + it is partly by his advice and wishes that I trouble you with this + Letter. He authorized me to tell you that, if you would allow my + Brother to spend the next vacation with you (which <i>he</i> seems + <i>strongly</i> to wish), that it would put it into his power to see more + of him and shew him more attention than he has hitherto, being + withheld from doing so from the dread of having any concern whatever + with Mrs. Byron.<br> +<br> + I need hardly add that it is almost <b>my</b> first wish that this should be + accomplished. I am sure you are of my opinion that it is now of the + greatest consequence to Byron to secure the friendship of Lord C., the + only relation he has who possesses the <i>Will</i> and <i>power</i> to be of use + to him. I think the Letters he writes me <i>quite perfect</i> and he does + not express one sentiment or idea I should wish different; he tells me + he is soon to leave Harrow, but does not say where he is to go. I + conclude to Oxford or Cambridge. Pray be so good as to write me a + few lines on this subject.<br> +<br> + I trust entirely to the interest and friendship you have ever so + kindly expressed for my Brother, for <i>my Forgiveness</i>. Of course you + will not mention to Mrs. B. having heard from me, as she would only + accuse me of wishing to estrange her Son from her, which would be very + far from being the case further than his Happiness and comfort are + concerned in it. My opinion is that <i>as</i> they cannot agree, they had + better be separated, for such eternal Scenes of wrangling are enough + to spoil the very best temper and Disposition in the universe. I shall + hope to hear from you soon, my dear sir, and remain, Most sincerely + yours, <b>Augusta Byron</b>."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr33">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#cr2">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 7</a> +<br><br> + +<br> +<a name="f34"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Lord Grey de Ruthyn. (See p. 23, <a href="#f16"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr34">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L16">16 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.]<br> +<br> +Harrow-on-the-Hill, Novr., Saturday, 17th, 1804.<br> +<br> +I am glad to hear, My dear Sister, that you like Castle Howard so well, +I have no doubt what you say is true and that Lord C. is much more +amiable than he has been represented to me. Never having been much with +him and always hearing him reviled, it was hardly possible I should have +conceived a very <i>great friendship</i> for his L'dship. My mother, you +inform me, commends my <i>amiable disposition</i> and <i>good +understanding;</i> if she does this to you, it is a great deal more than +I ever hear myself, for the one or the other is always found fault with, +and I am told to copy the <i>excellent pattern</i> which I see before me +in <i>herself.</i> You have got an invitation too, you may accept it if +you please, but if you value your own comfort, and like a pleasant +situation, I advise you to avoid Southwell. — I thank you, My dear +Augusta, for your readiness to assist me, and will in some manner avail +myself of it; I do not however wish to be separated from <i>her</i> +entirely, but not to be so much with her as I hitherto have been, for I +do believe she likes me; she manifests that in many instances, +particularly with regard to money, which I never want, and have as much +as I desire. But her conduct is so strange, her caprices so impossible +to be complied with, her passions so outrageous, that the evil quite +overbalances her <i>agreeable qualities.</i> Amongst other things I +forgot to mention a most <i>ungovernable appetite</i> for Scandal, which +she never can govern, and employs most of her time abroad, in displaying +the faults, and censuring the foibles, of her acquaintance; therefore I +do not wonder, that my precious Aunt, comes in for her share of +encomiums; This however is nothing to what happens when my conduct +admits of animadversion; "then comes the tug of war." My whole family +from the conquest are upbraided! myself abused, and I am told that what +little accomplishments I possess either in mind or body are derived from +her and <i>her alone.</i><br> +<br> +When I leave Harrow I know not; that depends on her nod; I like it very +well. The master Dr. Drury, is the most amiable <i>clergyman</i> I ever +knew; he unites the Gentleman with the Scholar, without affectation or +pedantry, what little I have learnt I owe to him alone, nor is it his +fault that it was not more. I shall always remember his instructions +with Gratitude, and cherish a hope that it may one day be in my power to +repay the numerous obligations, I am under; to him or some of his +family.<br> +<br> +Our holidays come on in about a fortnight. I however have not mentioned +that to my mother, nor do I intend it; but if I can, I shall contrive to +evade going to Southwell. Depend upon it I will not approach her for +some time to come if It is in my power to avoid it, but she must not +know, that it is my wish to be absent. I hope you will excuse my sending +so short a letter, but the Bell has just rung to summon us together. +Write Soon, and believe me, Ever your affectionate Brother, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +I am afraid you will have some difficulty in decyphering my epistles, +but <i>that</i> I know you will excuse. Adieu. Remember me to Lord +Carlisle.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L17">17 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.] <br> +<br> +Harrow-on-the-Hill, Novr. 21st, +1804.<br> +<br> + +<b>My Dearest Augusta</b>, — This morning I received your by no means unwelcome +epistle, and thinking it demands an immediate answer, once more take up +my pen to employ it in your service. There is no necessity for my mother +to know anything of my intentions, till the time approaches; and when it +does come, Mr. H. has only to write her a note saying, that, as I could +not accept the invitation he gave me last holidays, he imagined I might +do it now; to this she surely can make no objections; but, if she +entertained the slightest idea of my making any complaint of her very +<i>lenient</i> treatment, the scene that would ensue beggars all power +of description. You may have some little idea of it, from what I have +told you, and what you yourself know.<br> +<br> +I wrote to you the other day; but you make no mention of receiving my +letter in yours of the 18th inst. It is however of little importance, +containing merely a recapitulation of circumstances which I have before +detailed at full length.<br> +<br> +To Lord Carlisle make my warmest acknowledgements. I feel more +gratitude, than my feelings can well express; I am truly obliged to him +for his endeavours, and am perfectly satisfied with your explanation of +his reserve, though I was hitherto afraid it might proceed from personal +dislike. I have some idea that I leave Harrow these holidays. The Dr., +whose character I gave you in my last, leaves the mastership at Easter. +Who his successor may be I know not, but he will not be a better I am +confident. You inform me that you intend to visit my mother, then you +will have an opportunity of seeing what I have described, and hearing a +great <i>deal of Scandal.</i> She does not trouble me much with +epistolary communications; when I do receive them, they are very +concise, and much to the purpose. However I will do her the justice to +say that she behaves, or rather means, well, and is in some respects +very kind, though her manners are not the most conciliating. She +likewise expresses a great deal of affection for you, but disapproves +your marriage, wishes to know my opinion of it, and complains that you +are negligent and do not write to her or care about her. How far her +opinion of your love for her is well grounded, you best know. I again +request you will return my sincere thanks to Lord Carlisle, and for the +future I shall consider him as more my friend than I have hitherto been +taught to think. I have more reasons than one, to wish to avoid going to +Notts, for there I should be obliged to associate with Lord G. whom I +detest, his manners being unlike those of a Gentleman, and the +information to be derived from him but little except about shooting, +which I do not intend to devote my life to. Besides, I have a particular +reason for not liking him. Pray write to me soon. Adieu, my Dear +Augusta.<br> +<br> +I remain, your affectionate Brother, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L18"></a>18 — to John Hanson<a href="#f35"><sup>1</sup></a></h3> +<br> +Saturday, Dec. 1st, 1804.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Sir</b>, — Our vacation commences on the 5th of this Month, when I +propose to myself the pleasure of spending the Holidays at your House, +if it is not too great an Inconvenience. I tell you fairly, that at +Southwell I should have nothing in the World to do, but play at cards +and listen to the edifying Conversation of old Maids, two things which +do not at all suit my inclinations. In my Mother's last Letter I find +that my poney and pointers are not yet procured, and that Lord Grey is +still at Newstead. The former I should be very dull at such a place as +Southwell without; the latter is still more disagreeable to be with. I +presume he goes on in the old way, — quarrelling with the farmers, and +stretching his judicial powers (he being now in the commission) to the +utmost, becoming a torment to himself, and a pest to all around him. — I +am glad you approve of my Gun, feeling myself happy, that it has been +tried by so <i>distinguished</i> a <i>Sportsman</i>.<br> +<br> +I hope your Campaigns against the Partridges and the rest of the +feathered Tribe have been attended with no serious +Consequences — <i>trifling accidents</i> such as the top of a few fingers +and a Thumb, you <i>Gentlemen</i> of the <i>city</i> being used to, of +course occasion no interruption to your field sports.<br> +<br> +Your Accommodation I have no doubt I shall be perfectly satisfied with, +only do exterminate that <i>vile Generation</i> of <i>Bugs</i> which +nearly ate me up the last Time I <i>sojourned</i> at your House. After +undergoing the Purgatory of Harrow <i>board</i> and <i>Lodging</i> for +three Months I shall not be <i>particular</i> or exorbitant in my +demands.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr36">Pray</a> give my best Compliments to Mrs. Hanson and the now +<i>quilldriving</i> Hargreaves<a href="#f36"><sup>2</sup></a>. Till I see you, I remain, Yours, +etc., <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f35"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Byron spent the Christmas holidays of 1804-5 with the +Hansons. He gave Hanson to understand that it was his wish to leave the +school, and that Dr. Drury agreed with him in the decision. Hanson, +after consulting Lord Carlisle, wrote to Drury, urging that Byron was +too young to leave the school. Drury's reply, dated December 29, 1804, +gave a different colour to the matter. + + <blockquote>"Your letter," he writes, "supposes that Lord Byron was desirous to + leave school, and that I acquiesced in his Wish: but I must do him the + Justice to observe that <i>the wish originated with me.</i> During his + last residence at Harrow his conduct gave me much trouble and + uneasiness; and as two of his Associates were to leave me at + Christmas, I certainly suggested to him <i>my wish</i> that he might + be placed under the care of some private Tutor previously to his + admission to either of the Universities. This I did no less with a + view to the forming of his mind and manners, than to my own comfort; + and I am fully convinced that if such a situation can be procured for + his Lordship, it will be much more advantageous for him than a longer + residence at school, where his animal spirits and want of judgment may + induce him to do wrong, whilst his age and person must prevent his + Instructors from treating him in some respects as a schoolboy. If we + part now, we may entertain affectionate dispositions towards each + other, and his Lordship will have left the school with credit; as my + dissatisfactions were expressed to him only privately, and in such a + manner as not to affect his public situation in the school."</blockquote> + +Finally, however, Dr. Drury, yielding to the appeal of Lord Carlisle and +Hanson, allowed the boy to return to Harrow, and Byron remained at the +school till July, 1805, the last three months being passed under the +rule of Dr. Butler.<br> +<a href="#L18">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f36"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Hargreaves Hanson, second son of John Hanson, had just left +Harrow, and was articled as a pupil in his father's business. He died in +1811, at the age of 23.<br> +<a href="#fr36">return</a><br> +<a href="#f301">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 161</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L19">19 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +6, Chancery Lane, Wednesday, 30th Jany., 1805.<br> +<br> +I have delayed writing to you so long, My dearest Augusta, from +ignorance of your residence, not knowing whether you <i>graced</i> +Castle Howard, or Kireton with your <i>presence.</i> The instant Mr. +H[anson] informed me where you was, I prepared to address you, and you +have but just forestalled my intention. And now, I scarcely know what to +begin with; I have so many things, to tell you. I wish to God, that we +were together, for It is impossible that I can confine all I have got to +say in an epistle, without I was to follow your example, and fill eleven +pages, as I was informed, by my <i>proficiency</i> in <i>the art of +magic,</i> that you sometimes send that <i>number</i> to <i>Lady +Gertrude.</i><br> +<br> +To begin with an article of <i>grand importance;</i> I on Saturday dined +with Lord Carlisle, and on further acquaintance I like them all very +much. Amongst other circumstances, I heard of your <i>boldness</i> as a +<i>Rider,</i> especially one anecdote about your horse carrying you into +the stable <i>perforce.</i> I should have admired amazingly to have seen +your progress, provided you met with no accident. I hope you recollect +the circumstance, and know what I allude to; else, you may think that I +am <i>soaring</i> into the <i>Regions of Romance.</i> I wish you to +corroborate my account in your next, and inform me whether my +information was correct.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr37">I</a> think your friend Lady G. is a sweet girl. If your taste in <i>love</i>, is +as good as it is in <i>friendship</i>, I shall think you a <i>very discerning +little Gentlewoman</i>. His Lordship too improves upon further +acquaintance, Her Ladyship I always liked, but of the Junior part of the +family Frederick<a href="#f37"><sup>1</sup></a> is my favourite. I believe with regard to my future +destination, that I return to Harrow until June, and then I'm off for +the university. Could I have found Room there, I was to have gone +immediately.<br> +<br> +I have contrived to pass the holidays with Mr. and Mrs. Hanson, to whom +I am greatly obliged for their hospitality. You are now within a days +journey of my <i>amiable Mama</i>. If you wish your spirits <i>raised</i>, or +rather <i>roused</i>, I would recommend you to pass a week or two with her. +However I daresay she would behave very well to <i>you</i>, for you do not +know her disposition so well as I do. I return you, my dear Girl, a +thousand thanks for hinting to Mr. H. and Lord C. my uncomfortable +situation, I shall always remember it with gratitude, as a most +<i>essential service</i>. I rather think that, if you were any time with my +mother, she would bore you about your marriage which she <i>disapproves</i> +of, as much for the sake of finding fault as any thing, for that is her +favourite amusement. At any rate she would be very inquisitive, for she +was always tormenting me about it, and, if you told her any thing, she +might very possibly divulge it; I therefore advise you, <i>when you see +her</i> to say nothing, or as little, about it, as you can help. If you +make haste, you can answer this <i>well written</i> epistle by return of +post, for I wish again to hear from you immediately; you need not fill +<i>eleven pages, nine</i> will be sufficient; but whether it contains nine +pages or nine lines, it will always be most welcome, my beloved Sister, +to Your affectionate Brother and Friend, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f37"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The Hon. Frederick Howard, third son of Lord Carlisle, the +"young, gallant Howard" of <i>Childe Harold</i> (Canto III. stanzas xxix., +xxx.; see Byron's note), was killed at Waterloo. "The best of his race," +says Byron, in a letter to Moore, July 7, 1815.<br> +<a href="#fr37">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f310">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 166</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L20">20 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[London], Thursday, 4th April, 1805.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dearest Augusta</b>, — You certainly have excellent reasons for complaint +against my want of punctuality in our correspondence; but, as it does +not proceed from want of affection, but an idle disposition, you will, I +hope, accept my excuses. I am afraid, however, that when I shall take up +my pen, you will not be greatly <i>edified</i> or <i>amused</i>, especially at +present, since, I sit down in very bad spirits, out of humour with +myself, and all the world, except <i>you</i>. I left Harrow yesterday, and am +now at Mr. Hanson's till Sunday morning, when I depart for +Nottinghamshire, to pay a visit to my <i>mother</i>, with whom I shall remain +for a week or two, when I return to town, and from thence to Harrow, +until July, when I take my departure for the university, but which I am +as yet undecided. Mr. H. Recommends Cambridge; Ld. Carlisle allows me to +chuse for myself, and I must own I prefer Oxford. But, I am not +violently bent upon it, and whichever is determined upon will meet with +my concurrence. — This is the outline of my plans for the next 6 months.<br> +<br> + +I am Glad that you are Going to pay his <i>Lordship</i> a visit, as I shall +have an opportunity of seeing you on my return to town, a pleasure, +which, as I have been long debarred of it, will be doubly felt after so +long a separation. My visit to the Dowager does not promise me all the +happiness I could wish; however, it must be gone through, as it is some +time since I have seen her. It shall be as short as possible. I shall +expect to find a letter from you, when I come down, as I wish to know +when you go to town, and how long you remain there. <a name="fr38">If</a> you stay till The +middle of next month, you may have an opportunity of hearing me speak, +as the first day of our <i>Harrow orations</i> occurs in May. My friend +Delawarr<a href="#f38"><sup>1</sup></a>, (as you observed) danced with the little Princess, nor did +I in the least <i>envy</i> him the honour. I presume you have heard That Dr. +Drury leaves Harrow this Easter, and That, as a memorial of our +Gratitude for his long services, The scholars presented him with plate +to the amount of 330 Guineas.<br> +<br> +I hope you will excuse this <i>Hypocondriac</i> epistle, as I never was in +such low spirits in my life. Adieu, my Dearest Sister, and believe me,<br> +<br> +Your ever affectionate though negligent Brother, <b>Byron</b>.<br><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f38"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> On February 25,1805, their Majesties gave a magnificent +"house-warming" at Windsor Castle. + + <blockquote> "The expenditure," says the <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i> for 1805 (part + i. pp. 262-264), "cannot have cost less than £50,000. The floor of the + ball-room, instead of being chalked, was painted with most fanciful + and appropriate devices by an eminent artist." The "little Princess" + Charlotte of Wales, we are told, left the Castle at half-past nine.</blockquote> +<a href="#fr38">return to footnote mark</a> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L21">21 — To Hargreaves Hanson.</a></h3> +<br> +Burgage Manor, Southwell, Notts, 15 April, 1805.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Hargreaves</b>, — As I have been unable to return to Town with your +father, I must request, that you will take care of my Books, and a +parcel which I expect from my Taylor's, and, as I understand you are +going to pay Farleigh a visit, I would be obliged to you to leave them +under the care of one of the Clerks, or a Servant, who may inform me +where to find them. I shall be in Town on Wednesday the 24th at +furthest, when I shall not hope to see you, or wish it; not but what I +should be glad of your <i>entertaining and loquacious Society</i>, but as I +think you will be more amused at Farleigh, it would be selfish in me to +wish that you should forego the pleasures of contemplating <i>pigs</i>, +<i>poultry</i>, <i>pork</i>, <i>pease</i>, and <i>potatoes</i> together, with other Rural +Delights, for my Company. Much pleasure may you find in your excursion +and I dare say, when you have exchanged <i>pleadings</i> for <i>ploughshares</i> +and <i>fleecing clients</i> for <i>feeding flocks</i>, you will be in no hurry to +resume your Law Functions.<br> +<br> +Remember me to your Father and Mother and the Juniors, and if you should +find it convenient to dispatch a note in answer to this epistle, it will +afford great pleasure to<br> +<br> +Yours very sincerely and affectionately,<br> +<br> +<b><i>Byron</i></b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — It is hardly necessary to inform you that I am heartily tired of +Southwell, for I am at this minute experiencing those delights which I +have recapitulated to you and which are more entertaining to be +<i>talked</i> of at a distance than enjoyed at Home. I allude to the +Eloquence of a <i>near relation</i> of mine, which is as remarkable as your +<i>taciturnity</i>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L22">22 — To Hargreaves Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Burgage Manor, April 20, 1805.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr39">Dear</a> Hargreaves, — Dr. Butler<a href="#f39"><sup>1</sup></a>, our new Master, has thought proper to +postpone our Meeting till the 8th of May, which obliges me to delay my +return to Town for one week, so that instead of Wednesday the 24th I +shall not arrive in London till the 1st of May, on which Day (If I live) +I shall certainly be in town, where I hope to have the pleasure of +seeing you. I shall remain with you only a week, as we are all to return +to the very day, on account of the prolongation of our Holidays. +However, if you shall previous to that period take a <i>jaunt</i> into Hants, +I beg you will leave my <i>valuables</i>, etc., etc., in the care of one of +the <i>Gentlemen</i> of your office, as that <i>Razor faced Villain</i>, James, +might perhaps take the Liberty of walking off with a suit. <a name="fr40">I</a> have heard +several times from Tattersall<a href="#f40"><sup>2</sup></a> and it is very probable we may see him +on my return. I beg you will excuse this short epistle as my time is at +present rather taken up, and Believe Me,<br> +<br> +Yours very sincerely,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f39"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The Rev. George Butler (1774-1853), who was Senior Wrangler +(1794), succeeded Dr. Drury as Head-master of Harrow School in April, +1805. He was then Fellow, tutor, and classical lecturer at Sydney Sussex +College, Cambridge. From affection to Dr. Drury, Byron supported the +candidature of his brother, Mark Drury, and avenged himself on Butler +for the defeat of his candidate by the lines on "Pomposus" (see <i>Poems</i>, +vol. i. pp. 16, 17, "On a Change of Masters," etc.; and pp. 84-106, +"Childish Recollections"). At a later period he became reconciled to +Butler, who knew the Continent well, was an excellent linguist, and gave +him valuable advice for his foreign tour in 1809-11. Butler resigned the +Head-mastership of Harrow in April, 1824, and retired to a country +living. In 1842 he was appointed to the Deanery of Peterborough, where +he died in 1853.]<br> +<a href="#fr39">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f83">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 67</a><br> +<a href="#f134">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 85</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f40"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> John Cecil Tattersall entered Harrow in May, 1801. He was +the "Davus" of "Childish Recollections" (<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 97, 98, +and <i>notes</i>). He went from Harrow to Christ Church, Oxford, took +orders, and died December 8, 1812.<br> +<a href="#fr40">return</a><br> +<a href="#f135">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 85</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L23">23 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[The Earl of Carlisle's, Grosvenor Place, London.] <br> +<br> +Burgage Manor, April +23d, 1805.<br> +<br> + +<b>My Dearest Augusta</b>, — I presume by this time, that you are safely arrived +at the Earl's, at least I <i>hope</i> so; nor shall I feel myself perfectly +easy, till I have the pleasure of hearing from yourself of your safety. +I myself shall set out for town this day (Tuesday) week, and intend +waiting upon you on Thursday at farthest; in the mean time I must +console myself as well as I can; and I am sure, no unhappy mortal ever +required much more consolation than I do at present. You as well as +myself know the <i>sweet</i> and <i>amiable</i> temper of a certain personage to +whom I am nearly related; of <i>course</i>, the pleasure I have enjoyed +during my vacation, (although it has been greater than I expected) yet +has not been so <i>superabundant</i> as to make me wish to stay a day longer +than I can avoid. However, notwithstanding the dullness of the place, +and certain <i>unpleasant things</i> that occur In a family not a hundred +miles distant from Southwell, I contrived to pass my time in peace, till +to day, when unhappily, In a most inadvertent manner, I said that +Southwell was not <i>peculiarly</i> to my taste; but however, I merely +expressed this in common conversation, without speaking disrespectfully +of the <i>sweet</i> town; (which, between you and I, I wish was swallowed up +by an earthquake, provided my <i>Eloquent mother</i> was not in it). <a name="fr41">No</a> +sooner had the unlucky sentence, which I believe was prompted by my evil +Genius, escaped my lips, than I was treated with an Oration in the +<i>ancient style</i>, which I have often so <i>pathetically</i> described to you, +unequalled by any thing of <i>modern</i> or <i>antique</i> date; nay the +<i>Philippics</i> against Lord Melville<a href="#f41"><sup>1</sup></a> were nothing to it; one would +really Imagine, to have heard the <i>Good Lady</i>, that I was a most +<i>treasonable culprit</i>, but thank St. Peter, after undergoing this +<i>Purgatory</i> for the last hour, it is at length blown over, and I have +sat down under these <i>pleasing impressions</i> to address you, so that I am +afraid my epistle will not be the most entertaining. I assure you upon +my <i>honour</i>, jesting apart, I have never been so <i>scurrilously</i>, and +<i>violently</i> abused by any person, as by that woman, whom I think I am to +call mother, by that being who gave me birth, to whom I ought to look up +with veneration and respect, but whom I am sorry I cannot love or +admire. Within one little hour, I have not only heard myself, but have +heard my <i>whole family</i>, by the father's side, <i>stigmatized</i> in terms +that the <i>blackest malevolence</i> would perhaps shrink from, and that too +in words you would be shocked to hear. Such, Augusta, such is my mother; +<i>my mother!</i> I disclaim her from this time, and although I cannot help +treating her with respect, I cannot reverence, as I ought to do, that +parent who by her outrageous conduct forfeits all title to filial +affection. To you, Augusta, I must look up, as my nearest relation, to +you I must confide what I cannot mention to others, and I am sure you +will pity me; but I entreat you to keep this a secret, nor expose that +unhappy failing of this woman, which I must bear with patience. I would +be very sorry to have it discovered, as I have only one week more, for +the present. In the mean time you may write to me with the greatest +safety, as she would not open any of my letters, even from you. I +entreat then that you will favour me with an answer to this. I hope +however to have the pleasure of seeing you on the day appointed, but If +you could contrive any way that I may avoid being asked to dinner by L'd +C. I would be obliged to you, as I hate strangers. Adieu, my Beloved +Sister,<br> +<br> +I remain ever yours,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f41"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Henry Dundas (1742-1811), created Viscount Melville in +1802, Lord Advocate (1775-83), made himself useful to Lord North's +Government as a shrewd, hard-working man of business, a ready +speaker — in broad Scotch, and a consummate election agent. For twenty +years he was the right-hand man of Pitt — + + <blockquote> "Too proud from pilfered greatness to descend,<br> + Too humble not to call Dundas his friend."</blockquote> + +Not only was he Pitt's political colleague, but in private life his boon +companion. A well-known epigram commemorates in a dialogue their +convivial habits — + + <blockquote> <i>Pitt</i>. "I cannot see the Speaker, Hal; can you?"<br> +<br> + + <i>Dundas</i>. "Not see the Speaker, Billy? I see two."</blockquote> + +Melville, for a long series of years, held important political posts. He +was Treasurer of the Navy (1782-1800); member of the Board of Control +for India (1784-1802) and President (1790-1802); Home Secretary +(1791-94); Secretary of War (1794-1801); First Lord of the Admiralty +(1804-5). In 1802 a Commission had been appointed to examine into the +accounts of the naval department for the past twenty years, and, in +consequence of their tenth report, a series of resolutions were moved in +the House of Commons (April, 1805) against Melville. The voting was +even — 216 for and 216 against; the resolutions were carried by the +casting vote of Speaker Abbott. + +<blockquote> "Pitt was overcome; his friend was +ruined. At the sound of the Speaker's voice, the Prime Minister crushed +his hat over his brows to hide the tears that poured over his cheeks: he +pushed in haste out of the House. Some of his opponents, I am ashamed to +say, thrust themselves near, 'to see how Billy took it.'"</blockquote> + +(Mark Boyd's +<i>Reminiscences of Fifty Years</i>, p. 404.) Melville, who was heard at the +bar of the House of Commons in his own defence, was impeached before the +House of Lords (June 26, 1805) of high crimes and misdemeanours. At the +close of the proceedings, which began in Westminster Hall on April 29, +1806, Melville was acquitted on all the charges. Whitbread took the +leading part in the impeachment. See <i>All the Talents: a Satirical +Poem</i>, by Polypus (E. S. Barrett) — + + <blockquote> "Rough as his porter, bitter as his barm, + He sacrificed his fame to M — lv — lle's harm."</blockquote> + + Dialogue ii.<br> +<a href="#fr41">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L24">24 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[The Earl of Carlisle's, Grosvenor Place, London.] <br> +<br> +Burgage Manor, +Southwell, Friday, April 25th, 1805.<br> +<br> +My dearest Augusta, — Thank God, I believe I shall be in town on +Wednesday next, and at last relieved from those <i>agreeable amusements</i>, +I described to you in my last. I return you and Lady G. many thanks for +your <i>benediction</i>, nor do I doubt its efficacy as it is bestowed by +<i>two such Angelic beings</i>; but as I am afraid my <i>profane blessing</i> +would but expedite your road to <i>Purgatory</i>, instead of <i>Salvation</i>, you +must be content with my best wishes in return, since the <i>unhallowed +adjurations</i> of a mere mortal would be of no effect. <a name="fr42">You</a> say, you are +sick of the Installation<a href="#f42"><sup>1</sup></a>; and that L'd C. was not present; I however +saw his name in the <i>Morning Post</i>, as one of the Knights Companions. I +indeed expected that <i>you</i> would have been present at the Ceremony.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr43">I</a> have seen this young Roscius<a href="#f43"><sup>2</sup></a> several times at the hazard of my +life, from the <i>affectionate squeezes</i> of the surrounding crowd. I think +him tolerable in some characters, but by no means equal to the +ridiculous praises showered upon him by <i>John Bull</i>.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr44">I</a> am afraid that my stay in town ceases after the 10th. I should not +continue it so long, as we meet on the 8th at Harrow, But, I remain on +purpose to hear our <i>Sapient</i> and <i>noble Legislators</i> of Both Houses +debate on the Catholic Question<a href="#f44"><sup>3</sup></a>, as I have no doubt there will be +many <i>nonsensical</i>, and some <i>Clever</i> things said on the occasion. I am +extremely glad that you <i>sport</i> an audience Chamber for the Benefit of +your <i>modest</i> visitors, amongst whom I have the <i>honour</i> to reckon +myself: I shall certainly be most happy again to see you, +notwithstanding my <i>wise</i> and <i>Good</i> mother (who is at this minute +thundering against Somebody or other below in the Dining Room), has +interdicted my visiting at his <i>Lordship's</i> house, with the threat of +her malediction, in case of disobedience, as she says he has behaved +very ill to her; the truth of this I much doubt, nor should the orders +of all the mothers (especially such mothers) in the world, prevent me +from seeing my Beloved Sister after so long an Absence. I beg you will +forgive this <i>well written epistle</i>, for I write in a great Hurry, and, +believe me, with the greatest impatience again to behold you, your<br> +<br> +Attached Brother and [Friend,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>].<br> +<br> +P.S. — By the bye Lady G. ought not to complain of your writing a +<i>decent</i> long letter to me, since I remember your <i>11 Pages</i> to her, at +which I did not make the least complaint, but submitted like a <i>meek +Lamb</i> to the innovation of my privileges, for nobody <i>ought</i> to have had +so long an epistle but my <i>most excellent Self</i>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f42"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> On St. George's Day, April 23, 1805, seven Knights were +installed at Windsor as Knights of the Garter, each in turn being +invested with the surcoat, girdle, and sword. The new Knights were the +Dukes of Rutland and Beaufort; the Marquis of Abercorn; the Earls of +Chesterfield, Pembroke, and Winchilsea; and, by proxy, the Earl of +Hardwicke.<br> +<br> +Lady Louisa Strangways, writing to her sister, Lady Harriet Frampton, on +April 24, 1805 (<i>Journal of Mary Frampton</i>, p. 129), says, + + <blockquote>"I was full +dressed for seventeen hours yesterday, and sat in one spot for seven, +which is enough to tire any one who enjoyed what was going on, which I +did not. I saw them walk to St. George's Chapel, which was the best +part, as it did not last long ... Their dresses were very magnificent. +The Knights, before they were installed, were in white and silver, like +the old pictures of Henry VIII., and afterwards they had a purple mantle +put on. They had immense plumes of ostrich feathers, with a heron's +feather in the middle."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr42">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f43"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> William Henry West Betty (1791-1874), the "Young Roscius," +made his first appearance on the stage at Belfast, in 1803, in the part +of "Osman," in Hill's <i>Zara;</i> and on December 1, 1804, at Covent Garden, +as "Selim" disguised as "Achmet," in Browne's <i>Barbarossa</i>. In the +winter season of 1804-5, when he appeared at Covent Garden and Drury +Lane, such crowds collected to see him, that the military were called +out to preserve order. Leslie (<i>Autobiographical Recollections</i>, vol. i +p. 218) speaks of him as a boy "of handsome features and graceful +manners, with a charming voice." Fox, who saw him in <i>Hamlet</i>, said, +"This is finer than Garrick" (<i>Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers</i>, p. 88). +Northcote (<i>Conversations</i>, p. 23) spoke of his acting as "a beautiful +effusion of natural sensibility; and then that graceful play of the +limbs in youth gave such an advantage over every one about him." + + <blockquote>"Young +Roscius's premature powers," writes Mrs. Piozzi, February 21, 1805, +"attract universal attention, and I suppose that if less than an angel +had told <i>his</i> parents that a bulletin of that child's health should be +necessary to quiet the anxiety of a metropolis for his safety, they +would not have believed the prediction" </blockquote> + +(<i>Life and Writings of Mrs. +Piozzi</i>, vol. ii. p. 263). In society he was the universal topic of +conversation, and he commanded a salary of £50 a night, at a time when +John Kemble was paid £37 16<i>s</i>. a week (<i>Life of Frederick Reynolds</i>, +vol. ii. p. 364). + + <blockquote> "When," writes Mrs. Byron of her son to Hanson (December 8, 1804), "he + goes to see the Young Roscius, I hope he will take care of himself in + the crowd, and not go alone." </blockquote> + +Betty lost his attractiveness with the growth of his beard. Byron's +opinion of the merits of the youthful prodigy became that of the general +public; but not till the actor had made a large fortune. He retired from +the stage in 1824.<br> +<a href="#fr43">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f44"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> On March 25, 1805, petitions were presented by Lord +Grenville in the House of Lords, and Fox in the House of Commons, +calling the attention of the country to the claims of the Roman +Catholics, and praying their relief from their disabilities, civil, +naval, and military. On Friday, May 10, Lord Grenville moved, in the +Upper House, for a committee of the whole House to consider the +petition. At six o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, May 14, the motion +was negatived by a division of 178 against 49. On Monday, May 13, Fox, +in the Lower House, made a similar motion, which was negatived, at five +o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, May 15, by a division of 336 +against 126. Byron, on April 21, 1812, in the second of his three +Parliamentary speeches, supported the relief of the Roman Catholics.<br> +<a href="#fr44">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L25">25 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Harrow-on-the-Hill, 11 May, 1805.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr45">Dear</a> Sir, — As you promised to cash my Draft on the Day that I left your +house, and as you was only prevented by the Bankers being shut up, I +will be very much obliged to you to <i>give the ready</i> to this old +Girl, Mother Barnard<a href="#f45"><sup>1</sup></a>, who will either present herself or send a +Messenger, as she demurs on its being not payable till the 25th of June. +Believe me, Sir, by doing this you will greatly oblige<br> +<br> +Yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f45"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Mother Barnard was the keeper of the "tuck-shop" at Harrow.<br> +<a href="#fr45">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp2">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L26">26 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[The Earl of Carlisle's, Grosvenor Place, London.] <br> +<br> +[Harrow, Wednesday, +June 5, 1805.]<br> +<br> +My Dearest Augusta, — At last you have a <i>decent</i> specimen of the +dowager's talents for epistles in the <i>furioso</i> style. You are now +freed from the <i>shackles</i> of her correspondence, and when I revisit +her, I shall be bored with long stories of your <i>ingratitude</i>, +etc., etc. She is as I have before declared certainly mad (to say she +was in her senses, would be condemning her as a Criminal), her conduct +is a <i>happy</i> compound of derangement and Folly. I had the other day +an epistle from her; not a word was mentioned about you, but I had some +of the usual <i>compliments</i> on my own account. I am now about to +answer her letter, though I shall scarcely have patience, to treat her +with civility, far less with affection, that was almost over before, and +this has given the finishing stroke to <i>filial</i>, which now gives +way to <i>fraternal</i> duty. Believe me, dearest Augusta, not ten +thousand <i>such</i> mothers, or indeed any mothers, Could induce me to +give you up. — No, No, as the dowager says in that rare epistle which +now lies before me, "the time has been, but that is past <i>long since</i>," +and nothing now can influence your <i>pretty sort of a brother</i> +(bad as he is) to forget that he is your <i>Brother</i>. Our first Speech day +will be over ere this reaches you, but against the 2d you shall have +timely notice. — I am glad to hear your illness is not of a Serious +nature; <i>young Ladies</i> ought not to throw themselves in to the fidgets +about a trifling delay of 9 or 10 years; age brings experience and when +you in the flower of youth, between 40 and 50, shall then marry, you +will no doubt say that I am a <i>wise man</i>, and that the later one makes +one's self miserable with the matrimonial clog, the better. Adieu, my +dearest Augusta, I bestow my <i>patriarchal blessing</i> on you and Lady G. +and remain,<br> +<br> +[Signature cut out.]<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L27">27 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Harrow-on-the-Hill, 27 June, 1805.<br> +<br> +Dear Sir, — I will be in Town on Saturday Morning, but it is absolutely +necessary for me to return to Harrow on Tuesday or Wednesday, as +Thursday is our 2d Speechday and Butler says he cannot dispense with my +Presence on that Day. I thank you for your Compliment in the Beginning +of your Letter, and with the Hope of seeing you and Hargreaves well on +Saturday,<br> +<br> +I remain, yours, etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L28">28 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Address cut out], Tuesday, July 2d, 1805.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr46">My</a> dearest Augusta, — I am just returned from Cambridge, where I have +been to enter myself at Trinity College. — Thursday is our Speechday at +Harrow, and as I forgot to remind you of its approach, previous to our +first declamation<a href="#f46"><sup>1</sup></a>, I have given you <i>timely</i> notice this time. If you +intend doing me the <i>honour</i> of attending, I would recommend you not to +come without a Gentleman, as I shall be too much engaged all the morning +to take care of you, and I should not imagine you would admire +<i>stalking</i> about by yourself. You had better be there by 12 o'clock as +we begin at 1, and I should like to procure you a good place; Harrow is +11 miles from town, it will just make a <i>comfortable</i> mornings drive for +you. I don't know how you are to come, but for <i>Godsake</i> bring as few +women with you as possible. I would wish you to Write me an answer +immediately, that I may know on Thursday morning, whether you will drive +over or not, and I will arrange my other engagements accordingly. I +<i>beg</i>, <i>Madam</i>, you may make your appearance in one of his Lordships +most <i>dashing</i> carriages, as our Harrow <i>etiquette</i>, admits of nothing +but the most <i>superb</i> vehicles, on our Grand <i>Festivals</i>. In the mean +time, believe me, dearest Augusta,<br> +<br> +Your affectionate Brother,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f46"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Mrs. Byron, writing to Hanson (June 25, 1805), says, "The +"fame of Byron's oratory has reached Southwell" (see page 27, <a href="#f19"><i>note</i></a> 1).<br> +<a href="#fr46">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L29">29 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Harrow, 8 July, 1805.<br> +<br> +My dear Sir, — I have just received a Letter from my Mother, in which she +talks of coming to Town about the <i>commencement</i> of our Holidays. If she +does, it will be impossible for me to call on <i>my Sister</i>, previous to +my leaving it, and at the same time I cannot conceive what the Deuce she +can want at this season in London. I have written to tell her that my +Holidays commence on the 6th of August, but however, July the 1st is the +proper day. — I beg that if you cannot find some means to keep her in the +Country that you at least will connive at this deception which I can +palliate, and then I shall be down in the country before she knows where +I am. My reasons for this are, that I do <i>not wish</i> to be detained in +Town so uncomfortably as I know I shall be if I remain with her; that <i>I +do wish</i> to see my Sister; and in the next place she can just as well +come to Town after my return to Notts, as I don't desire to be dragged +about according to her caprice, and there are some other causes I think +unnecessary to be now mentioned. If you will only contrive by settling +this business (if it is in your power), or if that is impossible, not +mention anything about the day our Holidays commence, of which you can +be easily supposed not to be informed. If, I repeat, you can by any +means prevent this Mother from executing her purposes, believe me, you +will greatly oblige<br> +<br> +Yours truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L30"></a>30 — To Charles O. Gordon<a href="#f47"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Burgage Manor, Southwell, Notts, August 4, 1805.<br> +<br> +Although I am greatly afraid, my Dearest Gordon, that you will not +receive this epistle till you return from Abergeldie, (as your letter +stated that you would be at Ledbury on Thursday next) yet, that is not +my fault, for I have not deferred answering yours a moment, and, as I +have just now concluded my Journey, my first, and, I trust you will +believe me when I say, most pleasing occupation will be to write to you.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr48">We</a> have played the Eton and were most confoundedly beat<a href="#f48"><sup>2</sup></a>; however it +was some comfort to me that I got 11 notches the 1st Innings and 7 the +2nd, which was more than any of our side except Brockman & Ipswich could +contrive to hit. After the match we dined together, and were extremely +friendly, not a single discordant word was uttered by either party. To +be sure, we were most of us rather drunk and went together to the +Haymarket Theatre, where we kicked up a row, As you may suppose, when so +many Harrovians & Etonians met at one place; I was one of seven in a +single hackney, 4 Eton and 3 Harrow, and then we all got into the same +box, and the consequence was that such a devil of a noise arose that +none of our neighbours could hear a word of the drama, at which, not +being <i>highly delighted</i>, they began to quarrel with us, and we nearly +came to a <i>battle royal</i>. How I got home after the play God knows. I +hardly recollect, as my brain was so much confused by the heat, the row, +and the wine I drank, that I could not remember in the morning how I +found my way to bed.<br> +<br> +The rain was so incessant in the evening that we could hardly get our +Jarveys, which was the cause of so many being stowed into one. I saw +young Twilt, your brother, with Malet, and saw also an old schoolfellow +of mine whom I had not beheld for six years, but he was not the one whom +you were so good as to enquire after for me, and for which I return you +my sincere thanks. I set off last night at eight o'clock to my mother's, +and am just arrived this afternoon, and have not delayed a second in +thanking you for so soon fulfilling my request that you would correspond +with me. My address at Cambridge will be Trinity College, but I shall +not go there till the 20th of October. You may continue to direct your +letters here, when I go to Hampshire which will not be till you have +returned to Harrow. I will send my address previous to my departure from +my mother's. I agree with you in the hope that we shall continue our +correspondence for a long time. I trust, my dearest friend, that it will +only be interrupted by our being some time or other in the same place or +under the same roof, as, when I have finished my <i>Classical Labour</i>, and +my minority is expired, I shall expect you to be a frequent visitor to +Newstead Abbey, my seat in this county which is about 12 miles from my +mother's house where I now am. There I can show you plenty of hunting, +shooting and fishing, and be assured no one ever will be more welcome +guest than yourself — nor is there any one whose correspondence can give +me more pleasure, or whose friendship yield me greater delight than +yours, sweet, dearest Charles, believe me, will always be the sentiments +of<br> +<br> +Yours most affectionately,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f47"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This and <a href="#L33">Letter 33</a> are written to Byron's Harrow friend, +Charles Gordon, one of his "juniors and favourites," whom he "spoilt by +indulgence." Gordon, who was the son of David Gordon of Abergeldie, died +in 1829.<br> +<a href="#L30">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f48"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Byron's reputation as a cricketer rests on this match +between Eton and Harrow. It was played on the old cricket ground in +Dorset Square, August 2, 1805, and ended in a victory for Eton by an +innings and two runs. The score is thus given by Lillywhite, in his +<i>Cricket Scores and Biographies of Celebrated Cricketers from 1745 to +1826</i> (vol. i. pp. 319, 320) — <br> +<br> +<table summary="EH cricket scoresheet" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5"> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><b>HARROW</b></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><b>First Innings</b></td> + <td></td> + <td><b>Second Innings</b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Lord Ipswich</td> + <td>b. Carter</td> + <td>10</td> + <td>b. Heaton</td> + <td>21</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>T. Farrer, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Carter</td> + <td>7</td> + <td>c. Bradley</td> + <td>3</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>T. Drury, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Carter</td> + <td>0</td> + <td>st. Heaton</td> + <td>6</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Bolton, Esq.</td> + <td>run out</td> + <td>2</td> + <td>b. Heaton</td> + <td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>C. Lloyd, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Carter</td> + <td>0</td> + <td>b. Carter</td> + <td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>A. Shakespeare, Esq.</td> + <td>st. Heaton</td> + <td>8</td> + <td>run out</td> + <td>5</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>c Barnard</td> + <td>7</td> + <td>b. Carter</td> + <td>2</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Hon. T. Erskine</td> + <td>b. Carter</td> + <td>4</td> + <td>b. Heaton</td> + <td>8</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>W. Brockman, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Heaton</td> + <td>9</td> + <td>b. Heaton</td> + <td>10</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>E. Stanley, Esq.</td> + <td>not out</td> + <td>3</td> + <td>c. Canning</td> + <td>7</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Asheton, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Carter</td> + <td>3</td> + <td>not out</td> + <td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><i>Byes</i></td> + <td>2</td> + <td><i>Byes</i></td> + <td>3</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Totals</i></td> + <td></td> + <td><b>55</b></td> + <td></td> + <td><b>65</b></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><b>ETON</b></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Heaton, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Lloyd</td> + <td>0</td> +</tr> + +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Slingsby, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Shakespeare</td> + <td>29</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Carter, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Shakespeare</td> + <td>3</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Farhill, Esq.</td> + <td>c. Lloyd</td> + <td>6</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Canning, Esq.</td> + <td>c. Farrer</td> + <td>12</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Camplin, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Ipswich</td> + <td>42</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Bradley, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Lloyd</td> + <td>16</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Barnard, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Shakespeare</td> + <td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Barnard, Esq.</td> + <td>not out</td> + <td>3</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Kaye, Esq.</td> + <td>b. Byron</td> + <td>7</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>—— Dover, esq.</td> + <td>c. Bolton</td> + <td>4</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td></td> + <td><i>Byes</i></td> + <td>0</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Total</i></td> + <td></td> + <td><b>122</b></td> +</tr> +</table><br> +<br> + +At this match Lord Stratford de Redcliffe remembers seeing a +"moody-looking boy" dismissed for a small score. The boy was Byron. But +the moment is not favourable to expression of countenance.<br> +<a href="#fr48">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L31">31 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.] <br> +<br> +Burgage Manor, August 6th, 1805.<br> +<br> +Well, my dearest Augusta, here I am, once more situated at my mother's +house, which together with its <i>inmate</i> is as <i>agreeable</i> as ever. I am +at this moment <i>vis à vis</i> and Téte à téte with that amiable personage, +who is, whilst I am writing, pouring forth complaints against your +<i>ingratitude</i>, giving me many oblique hints that I ought not to +correspond with you, and concluding with an interdiction that if you +ever after the expiration of my minority are invited to my residence, +<i>she</i> will no longer condescend to grace it with her <i>Imperial</i> +presence. You may figure to yourself, for your amusement, my solemn +countenance on the occasion, and the <i>meek Lamblike</i> demeanour of her +Ladyship, which, contrasted with my <i>Saintlike visage</i>, forms a +<i>striking family painting</i>, whilst in the back ground, the portraits of +my Great Grandfather and Grandmother, suspended in their frames, seem to +look with an eye of pity on their <i>unfortunate descendant</i>, whose +<i>worth</i> and <i>accomplishments</i> deserve a milder fate. <br> +<br> +I am to remain in +this <i>Garden</i> of <i>Eden</i> one month, I do not indeed reside at Cambridge +till October, but I set out for Hampshire in September where I shall be +on a visit till the commencement of the term. In the mean time, Augusta, +your <i>sympathetic</i> correspondence must be some alleviation to my +sorrows, which however are too ludicrous for me to regard them very +seriously; but they are <i>really</i> more <i>uncomfortable</i> than <i>amusing</i>.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr49">I</a> +presume you were rather surprised not to see my <i>consequential</i> name in +the papers<a href="#f49"><sup>1</sup></a> amongst the orators of our 2nd speech day, but +unfortunately some wit who had formerly been at Harrow, suppressed the +merits of Long<a href="#f50"><sup>2</sup></a>, Farrer<a href="#f51"><sup>3</sup></a> and myself, who were always supposed to +take the Lead in Harrow eloquence, and by way of a <i>hoax</i> thought +proper to insert a panegyric on those speakers who were really and truly +allowed to have rather disgraced than distinguished themselves, of +course for the <i>wit</i> of the thing, the best were left out and the +worst inserted, which accounts for the <i>Gothic omission</i> of my +<i>superior talents.</i> Perhaps it was done with a view to weaken our +vanity, which might be too much raised by the flattering paragraphs +bestowed on our performance the 1st speechday; be that as it may, we +were omitted in the account of the 2nd, to the astonishment of all +Harrow. These are <i>disappointments</i> we <i>great men</i> are liable +to, and we must learn to bear them with philosophy, especially when they +arise from attempts at wit. I was indeed very ill at that time, and +after I had finished my speech was so overcome by the exertion that I +was obliged to quit the room. I had caught cold by sleeping in damp +sheets which was the cause of my indisposition. However I am now +perfectly recovered, and live in hopes of being emancipated from the +slavery of Burgage manor. But Believe me, Dearest Augusta, whether well +or ill,<br> +<br> +I always am your affect. Brother,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f49"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See page 27, <a href="#f19">note</a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr49">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f50"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Edward Noel Long, son of E. B. Long of Hampton Lodge, +Surrey, the "Cleon" of "Childish Recollections" (<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. +101, 102), entered Harrow in April, 1801. He went with Byron to Trinity +College, Cambridge, and till the end of the summer of 1806 was his most +intimate friend. + +<blockquote>"We were," says Byron, in his Diary (<i>Life</i>, p. 31), +"rival swimmers, fond of riding, reading, and of conviviality. Our +evenings we passed in music (he was musical, and played on more than one +instrument — flute and violoncello), in which I was audience; and I think +that our chief beverage was soda-water. In the day we rode, bathed, and +lounged, reading occasionally. I remember our buying, with vast +alacrity, Moore's new quarto (in 1806), and reading it together in the +evenings. ... <i>His</i> friendship, and a violent though pure passion — which +held me at the same period — were the then romance of the most romantic +period of my life."</blockquote> + +Long was Byron's companion at Littlehampton in +August, 1806. In 1807 he entered the Guards, served with distinction in +the expedition to Copenhagen, and was drowned early in 1809, "on his +passage to Lisbon with his regiment in the <i>St. George</i> transport, which +was run foul of in the night by another transport" (<i>Life</i>, p. 31. See +also Byron's lines "To Edward Noel Long, Esq.," <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. +184-188).<br> +<a href="#fr49">return</a><br> +<a href="#f121">cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 84</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f51"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Thomas Farrer entered Harrow in April, 1801. He played in +Byron's XI against Eton, on the ground in Dorset Square, on August 2, +1805.<br> +<a href="#fr49">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a><br> +<a href="#toc">Contents</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h2><a name="section3">Chapter II — Cambridge and Juvenile Poems</a></h2> +<br> +<b>1805-1808.</b><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<h3><a name="L32">32 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.] Burgage Manor, August 10th, 1805. + + +I have at last succeeded, my dearest Augusta, in pacifying the dowager, +and mollifying that <i>piece</i> of <i>flint</i> which the good Lady denominates +her heart. She now has condescended to send you her <i>love</i>, although +with many comments on the occasion, and many compliments to herself. But +to me she still continues to be a torment, and I doubt not would +continue so till the end of my life. However this is the last time she +ever will have an opportunity, as, when I go to college, I shall employ +my vacations either in town; or during the summer I intend making a tour +through the Highlands, and to Visit the Hebrides with a party of my +friends, whom I have engaged for the purpose. This my old preceptor +Drury recommended as the most improving way of employing my Summer +Vacation, and I have now an additional reason for following his advice, +as I by that means will avoid the society of this woman, whose +detestable temper destroys every Idea of domestic comfort. It is a happy +thing that she is my mother and not my wife, so that I can rid myself of +her when I please, and indeed, if she goes on in the style that she has +done for this last week that I have been with her, I shall quit her +before the month I was to drag out in her company, is expired, and place +myself any where, rather than remain with such a vixen. <a name="fr52">As</a> I am to have +a very handsome allowance<a href="#f52"><sup>1</sup></a>, which does not deprive her of a sixpence, +since there is an addition made from my fortune by the Chancellor for +the purpose, I shall be perfectly independent of her, and, as she has +long since trampled upon, and harrowed up every affectionate tie, It is +my serious determination never again to visit, or be upon any friendly +terms with her. This I owe to myself, and to my own comfort, as well as +Justice to the memory of my nearest relations, who have been most +shamefully libelled by this female <i>Tisiphom</i>, a name which your +<i>Ladyship</i> will recollect to have belonged to one of the Furies. +You need not take the precaution of writing in so enigmatical a style in +your next, as, bad as the woman is, she would not dare to open any +letter addressed to me from you. Whenever you can find time to write, +believe me, your epistles will be productive of the greatest pleasure, +to your<br> +<br> +Affectionate Brother,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f52"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> During Byron's schooldays, Mrs. Byron received £500 a year +from the Court of Chancery for his education. When he went to Cambridge, +she gave up this allowance to her son, and the expenditure of a certain +sum was sanctioned by Chancery for furniture, clothes, plate, etc. At +the same time, Mrs. Byron applied for an allowance of £200 a year, but +in 1807 the allowance had not been granted. Her pension, it may be +added, most irregularly paid at all times, was reduced to £200 a year. +Writing to Hanson (September 23, 1805), she says, + + <blockquote>"I give up the five +hundred a year to my son, and you will supply him with money +accordingly. The two hundred a year addition I shall reserve for myself; +nor can I do with less, as my house will always be a home for my son +whenever he chooses to come to it."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr52">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f58">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 38</a><br> +<br><br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L33">33 — To Charles O. Gordon</a></h3> +<br> +Burgage Manor, August 14, 1805.<br> +<br> +Believe me, my dearest Charles, no letter from you can ever be +unentertaining or dull, at least to me; on the contrary they will always +be productive of the highest pleasure as often as you think proper to +gratify me by your correspondence. My answer to your first was addressed +to Ledbury; and I fear you will not receive it till you return from your +tour, which I hope may answer your expectation in every respect; I +recollect some years ago passing near Abergeldie on an excursion through +the Highlands, it was at that time a most beautiful place.<br> +<br> +I suppose you will soon have a view of the eternal snows that summit the +top of Lachin y Gair, which towers so magnificently above the rest of +our <i>Northern Alps</i>. I still remember with pleasure the admiration which +filled my mind, when I first beheld it, and further on the dark frowning +mountains which rise near Invercauld, together with the romantic rocks +that overshadow Mar Lodge, a seat of Lord Fife's, and the cataract of +the Dee, which dashes down the declivity with impetuous violence in the +grounds adjoining to the House. All these I presume you will soon see, +so that it is unnecessary for me to expatiate on the subject. I +sincerely wish that every happiness may attend you in your progress. <a name="fr53">I</a> +have given you an account of our match in my epistle to Herefordshire. +We unfortunately lost it. I got 11 notches the first innings and 7 the +2nd, making 18 in all, which was more runs than any of our side (except +Ipswich) could make. Brockman also scored 18. We were very <i>convivial</i> +in the evening<a href="#f53"><sup>1</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f53"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Here the letter, which is printed from a copy made by the +Rev. W. Harness (see page 177, <a href="#f148"><i>note</i></a> 1), comes to an end.<br> +<a href="#fr53">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f47">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 30</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L34">34 — To Hargreaves Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +<a name="fr54">My</a> Dear Hargreaves, — You may depend upon my Observance of your father's +Invitation to Farleigh<a href="#f54"><sup>1</sup></a> in September, where I hope we shall be the +cause of much destruction to the feathered Tribe and great Amusement to +ourselves. <a name="fr55">The</a> Lancashire Trial<a href="#f55"><sup>2</sup></a> comes on very soon, and Mr. Hanson +will come down by Nottingham; perhaps, I may then have a chance of +seeing him; at all events, I shall probably accompany him on his way +back; as I hope his Health is by this time perfectly reestablished, and +will not require a journey to Harrowgate. I shall not as you justly +conjecture have any occasion for my <i>Chapeau de Bras</i>, as there is +nobody in the Neighbourhood who would be worth the trouble of wearing +it, when I went to their parties. I am uncommonly dull at this place, as +you may easily imagine, nor do I think I shall have much Amusement till +the commencement of the shooting season. I shall expect (when you next +write) an account of your military preparations, to repel the Invader of +our Isle whenever he makes the attempt. — <i>You</i> will doubtless acquire +<i>great Glory</i> on the occasion, and in expectation of hearing of your +Warlike Exploits,<br> +<br> +I remain, yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f54"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Hanson had property at Farleigh, near Basingstoke.<br> +<a href="#fr54">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f55"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> The Rochdale property of the Byron family had been +illegally sold by William, fifth Lord Byron. Proceedings were taken to +recover the property; but fresh points arose at every stage, and +eventually Byron, unable to wait longer, sold Newstead.<br> +<a href="#fr55">return</a><br> +<a href="#f72">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 57</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L35">35 — To Hargreaves Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Burgage Manor.<br> +<br> +My Dear Hargeaves, — I would be obliged to you, if you would write to +your father, and enquire — what time it will be most convenient for him +to receive my visit, and I will come to Town immediately to the time +appointed and accompany you to the <i>Rural Shades</i> and <i>Fertile +Fields</i> of Hants. You must excuse the laconic Style of my Epistle as +this place is damned dull and I have nothing to relate, but believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L36">36 — To Hargreaves Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Trinity Coll., October 25, 1805.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr56">Dear</a> Hargreaves, — I presume your father has by this time informed you of +our safe Arrival here<a href="#f56"><sup>1</sup></a>. I can as yet hardly form an Opinion in favour, +or against the College, but as soon as I am settled you shall have an +account. I wish you to pack up carefully — & send immediately the +remainder of my books, and also my <i>Stocks</i> which were left in +Chancery Lane. <i>Mon Chapeau de Bras</i> take care of till Winter +extends his Icy Reign and I shall visit the Metropolis. Tell your father +that I am getting in the furniture he spoke of, but shall defer papering +and painting till the Recess. The sooner you execute my <i>commands</i> the +better. Beware of Mr. Terry,<br> +<br> +And believe me, yours faithfully,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +The Bills for Furniture I shall send to Mr. H., your worthy papa, +according to his <i>particular Desire</i>. The Cambridge Coach sets off from +the White Horse, Fetter Lane.<br><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f56"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Byron entered Trinity on July 1, 1805; but he did not go +into residence till the following October. His tutors were the Rev. +Thomas Jones (1756-1807), who was Senior Tutor from 1787 till his death +in 1807, and the Rev. George Frederick Tavell (B.A., 1792; M.A., 1795), +to whom Byron alludes in <i>Hints from Horace</i>, lines 228-230:— + +<blockquote>"Unlucky Tavell! doom'd to daily cares<br> +By pugilistic pupils, and by bears!"</blockquote> +<a href="#fr56">return</a><br> +<a href="#f125">cross-reference: return to Footnote 8 of Letter 87</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L37">37 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Trinity Coll., Oct. 26, 1805.<br> +<br> +Dear Sir, — I will be obliged to you to order me down 4 Dozen of +Wine — Port, Sherry, Claret, and Madeira, one dozen of each. I have got +part of my furniture in, and begin to admire a College life. Yesterday +my appearance in the Hall in my State Robes was <i>Superb</i>, but +uncomfortable to my <i>Diffidence</i>. You may order the Saddle, etc., etc., +for "Oateater" as soon as you please and I will pay for them.<br> +<br> +I remain, Sir, yours truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Give Hargreaves a hint to be expeditious in his sending my +<i>Valuables</i> which I begin to want. Your Cook had the Impudence to charge +my Servant 15 Shillings for 5 Days provision which I think is +exorbitant; but I hear that in <i>Town</i> it is but reasonable. Pray is it +the custom to allow your Servants 3/6 per Diem, in London? I will thank +you for Information on the Subject.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L38">38 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Castle Howard, near Malton, Yorkshire.]<br> +<br> +Trin. Coll. [Wednesday], Novr. 6th, 1805.<br> +<br> +My dear Augusta, — As might be supposed I like a College Life extremely, +especially as I have escaped the Trammels or rather <i>Fetters</i> of my +domestic Tyrant Mrs. Byron, who continued to plague me during my visit +in July and September. I am now most pleasantly situated in +<i>Super</i>excellent Rooms, flanked on one side by my Tutor, on the other by +an old Fellow, both of whom are rather checks upon my <i>vivacity</i>. I am +allowed 500 a year, a Servant and Horse, so Feel as independent as a +German Prince who coins his own Cash, or a Cherokee Chief who coins no +Cash at all, but enjoys what is more precious, Liberty. I talk in +raptures of that <i>Goddess</i> because my amiable Mama was so despotic. I am +afraid the Specimens I have lately given her of my Spirit, and +determination to submit to no more unreasonable demands, (or the insults +which follow a refusal to obey her implicitly whether right or wrong,) +have given high offence, as <a name="fr57">I</a> had a most <i>fiery</i> Letter from the <i>Court</i> +at <i>Southwell</i> on Tuesday, because I would not turn off my Servant, +(whom I had not the least reason to distrust, and who had an excellent +Character from his last Master) at her suggestion, from some caprice she +had taken into her head<a href="#f57"><sup>1</sup></a>. I sent back to the Epistle, which was +couched in <i>elegant</i> terms, a severe answer, which so nettled her +Ladyship, that after reading it, she returned it in a Cover without +deigning a Syllable in return.<br> +<br> +The Letter and my answer you shall behold when you next see me, that you +may judge of the Comparative merits of Each. I shall let her go on in +the <i>Heroics</i>, till she cools, without taking the least notice. Her +Behaviour to me for the last two Years neither merits my respect, nor +deserves my affection. I am comfortable here, and having one of the best +allowances in College, go on Gaily, but not extravagantly. <a name="fr58">I</a> need +scarcely inform you that I am not the least obliged to Mrs. B. for it, +as it comes off my property, and She refused to fit out a single thing +for me from her own pocket<a href="#f58"><sup>2</sup></a>; my Furniture is paid for, & she has +moreover a handsome addition made to her own income, which I do not in +the least regret, as I would wish her to be happy, but by <i>no means</i> to +live with me in <i>person</i>. The sweets of her society I have already drunk +to the last dregs, I hope we shall meet on more affectionate Terms, or +meet no more.<br> +<br> +But why do I say <i>meet?</i> her temper precludes every idea of happiness, +and therefore in future I shall avoid her <i>hospitable</i> mansion, though +she has the folly to suppose She is to be mistress of my house when <a name="fr59"></a>I +come of <span style="color: #555555;">age</span><a href="#f59"><sup>3</sup></a>. I must apologize to you for the <span style="color: #555555;">dullness?</span> of this +letter, but to tell you the <span style="color: #555555;">truth the effects</span> of last nights Claret +have no<span style="color: #555555;">t gone</span> out of my head, as I supped with a large party. I +suppose that Fool Hanson in his <i>vulgar</i> Idiom, by the word Jolly did +not mean Fat, but High Spirits, for so far from increasing I have lost +one pound in a fortnight as I find by being regularly weighed.<br> +<br> +Adieu, Dearest Augusta.<br> +<br> +[Signature cut out.]<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f57"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The servant, Byron's valet Frank, was accused of obtaining +money on false pretences from a Nottingham tradesman, and Mrs. +Byron informed her son of the charge. Frank was afterwards transported. +(See <a href="#L65">letter</a> to Lord Clare, February 6, 1807; and <a href="#L72">letter</a> to +Hanson, April 19, 1807.)<br> +<a href="#fr57">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f80">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 65</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f58"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> See page 76, <a href="#f52"><i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr58">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f59"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Words in <span style="color: #555555;">grey</span> were cut out of the text with the seal.<br> +<a href="#fr59">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L39">39 — To Hargreaves Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +<b>Dear Hargreaves</b>, — Return my Thanks to your father for the +<i>Expedition</i> he has used in filling my <i>Cellar</i>.<br> +<br> +He deserves commendation for the <i>Attention</i> he paid to my Request. +The Time of "Oateater's" Journey approaches; I presume he means to +repair his Neglect by Punctuality in this Respect. However, no +<i>Trinity Ale</i> will be forthcoming, till I have broached the +promised <i>Falernum.</i> <br> +<br> +College improves in every thing but Learning. +Nobody here seems to look into an Author, ancient or modern, if they can +avoid it. The Muses, poor Devils, are totally neglected, except by a few +Musty old <i>Sophs</i> and <i>Fellows</i>, who, however agreeable they +may be to <i>Minerva</i>, are perfect Antidotes to the <i>Graces.</i> +Even I (great as is my <i>inclination</i> for Knowledge) am carried away +by the Tide, having only supped at Home twice since I saw your father, +and have more engagements on my Hands for a week to come. Still my Tutor +and I go on extremely well and for the first three weeks of my life I +have not involved myself in any Scrape of Consequence. <br> +<br> +I have News for +you which I bear with <i>Christian</i> Resignation and without any +<i>violent Transports</i> of <i>Grief.</i> My Mother (whose diabolical +Temper you well know) has taken it into her <i>Sagacious</i> Head to +quarrel with me her <i>dutiful Son.</i> She has such a Devil of a +Disposition, that she cannot be quiet, though there are fourscore miles +between us, which I wish were lengthened to 400. The Cause too frivolous +to require taking up your time to read or mine to write. At last in +answer to a <i>Furious Epistle</i> I returned a <i>Sarcastick</i> +Answer, which so incensed the <i>Amiable Dowager</i> that my Letter was +sent back without her deigning a Line in the cover. When I next see you, +you shall behold her Letter and my Answer, which will amuse you as they +both contain fiery Philippics. I must request you will write +immediately, that I may be informed when my Servant shall convey +"Oateater" from London; the 20th was the appointed; but I wish to hear +further from your father. I hope all the family are in a convalescent +State. I shall see you at Christmas (if I live) as I propose passing the +Vacation, which is only a Month, in London.<br> +<br> +Believe me, Mr. Terry, your's Truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> + +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L40">40 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Trin. Coll. Cambridge, Novr. 23, 1805.<br> +<br> +Dear Sir, — Your Advice was good but I have not determined whether I +shall follow it; <a name="fr60">this</a> Place is the <i>Devil</i> or at least his principal +residence. They call it the University, but any other Appellation would +have suited it much better, for Study is the last pursuit of the +Society; the Master<a href="#f60"><sup>1</sup></a> eats, drinks, and sleeps, the Fellows<a href="#f61"><sup>2</sup></a> <i>Drink, dispute and pun</i>; the Employment of the Under graduates you will +probably conjecture without my description. I sit down to write with a +Head confused with Dissipation which, tho' I hate, I cannot avoid.<br> +<br> +I have only supped at Home 3 times since my Arrival, and my table is +constantly covered with invitations, after all I am the most <i>steady</i> +Man in College, nor have I got into many Scrapes, and none of +consequence. Whenever you appoint a day my Servant shall come up for +"Oateater," and as the Time of paying my Bills now approaches, the +remaining £50 will be very <i>agreeable</i>. You need not make any deduction +as I shall want most of it; I will settle with you for the Saddle and +Accoutrements <i>next</i> quarter. The Upholsterer's Bill will not be sent in +yet as my rooms are to be papered and painted at Xmas when I will +procure them. No Furniture has been got except what was absolutely +necessary including some Decanters and Wine Glasses.<br> +<br> +Your Cook certainly deceived you, as I know my Servant was in Town 5 +days, and she stated 4. I have yet had no reason to distrust him, but we +will examine the affair when I come to Town when I intend lodging at +Mrs. Massingbird's. My Mother and I have quarrelled, which I bear with +the <i>patience</i> of a Philosopher; custom reconciles me to everything.<br> +<br> +In the Hope that Mrs. H. and the <i>Battalion</i> are in good Health.<br> +<br> +I remain, Sir, etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f60"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> William Lort Mansel (1753-1820), Master of Trinity +(1798-1820), Bishop of Bristol (1808-1820), was the chief wit of +Cambridge in his day, and the author of many neat epigrams. "I wish," +said Rogers (<i>Table-Talk</i>, etc., p. 60), "somebody would collect all the +Epigrams written by Dr. Mansel; they are remarkably neat and clever." +Beloe, in <i>The Sexagenarian</i> (vol. i. p. 98), speaks of Mansel as "a +young man remarkable for his personal confidence, for his wit and +humour, and, above all, for his gallantries." Apparently, on the same +somewhat unreliable authority, he was, as Master, a severe +disciplinarian, and extremely tenacious of his dignity (i. p. 99).<br> +<a href="#fr60">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f67">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 51</a><br> +<a href="#cr5">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 58</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f61"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Byron probably refers to Richard Porson (1759-1808), +Professor of Greek (1792-1808). The son of the parish clerk of Bacton +and Earl Ruston, in Norfolk, Porson was entered, by the kindness of +friends, on the foundation of Eton College (1774-1778). At Trinity, +Cambridge, he became a Scholar in 1780, and a Fellow (1782-1792). In +1792, as he could not conscientiously take orders, he vacated his +Fellowship, but was elected Professor of Greek. When Byron was at +Cambridge, Porson's health and powers were failing. Silent and reserved, +except in the society of his friends, a sloven in his person, he had +probably taken to drink as a cure for sleeplessness. In a note to the +<i>Pursuits of Literature</i> (Dialogue iv. lines 508-516), +<blockquote> + "What," asks the author, J. T. Mathias, himself a Fellow of Trinity, + "is mere genius without a regulated life! To show the deformity of + vice to the rising hopes of the country, the policy of ancient Sparta + exhibited an inebriated slave."</blockquote> + +Yet Porson's fine love of truth and genius for textual criticism make +him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, name in British +scholarship. Porson married, in 1795, Mrs. Lunan, sister of Mr. Perry, +the editor of the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, for which he frequently wrote. In +the <i>Shade of Alexander Pope</i>, Mathias again attacks him as "Dogmatic +Bardolph in his nuptial noose." Porson's wife died shortly after their +marriage. His controversial method was merciless. Of his <i>Letters to +Archdeacon Travis</i>, Green (<i>Lover of Literature</i>, p. 213) says that + + <blockquote> "he +dandles Travis as a tyger would a fawn: and appears only to reserve him +alive, for a time, that he may gratify his appetite for sport, before he +consigns his feeble prey, by a rougher squeeze, to destruction."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr60">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L41">41 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Trinity College, Cambridge, Novr. 30, 1805.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr62">Sir</a>, — After the contents of your Epistle, you will probably be less +surprized at my answer, than I have been at many points of yours<a href="#f62"><sup>1</sup></a>; +never was I more astonished than at the perusal, for I confess I +expected very different treatment. Your <i>indirect</i> charge of Dissipation +does not affect me, nor do I fear the strictest inquiry into my conduct; +neither here nor at <i>Harrow</i> have I disgraced myself, the "Metropolis" +and the "Cloisters" are alike unconscious of my Debauchery, and on the +plains of <i>merry Sherwood</i> I have experienced <i>Misery</i> alone; in July I +visited them for the last time.<br> +<br> +Mrs. Byron and myself are now totally separated, injured by her, I +sought refuge with Strangers, too late I see my error, for how was +kindness to be expected from <i>others</i>, when denied by a <i>parent</i>? In +you, Sir, I imagined I had found an Instructor; for your advice I thank +you; the Hospitality of yourself and Mrs. H. on many occasions I shall +always gratefully remember, for I am not of opinion that even present +Injustice can cancel past obligations.<br> +<br> +Before I proceed, it will be necessary to say a few words concerning +Mrs. Byron; you hinted a probability of her appearance at Trinity; the +instant I hear of her arrival I quit Cambridge, though <i>Rustication</i> or +<i>Expulsion</i> be the consequence. Many a weary week of <i>torment</i> have I +passed with her, nor have I forgot the insulting <i>Epithets</i> with which +myself, my <i>Sister</i>, my <i>father</i> and my <i>Family</i> have been repeatedly +reviled.<br> +<br> +To return to you, Sir, though I feel obliged by your Hospitality, etc., +etc., in the present instance I have been completely deceived. When I +came down to College, and even previous to that period I stipulated that +not only my Furniture, but even my Gowns and Books, should be paid for +that I might set out free from <i>Debt</i>. Now with all the <i>Sang Froid</i> of +your profession you tell me, that not only I shall not be permitted to +repair my rooms (which was at first agreed to) but that I shall not even +be indemnified for my present expence. In one word, hear my +determination. I will <i>never</i> pay for them out of my allowance, and the +Disgrace will not attach to me but to <i>those</i> by whom I have been +deceived. Still, Sir, not even the Shadow of dishonour shall reflect on +<i>my</i> Name, for I will see that the Bills are discharged; whether by you +or not is to me indifferent, so that the men I employ are not the +victims of my Imprudence or your Duplicity. I have ordered nothing +extravagant; every man in College is allowed to fit up his rooms; mine +are secured to me during my residence which will probably be some time, +and in rendering them decent I am more praiseworthy than culpable. The +Money I requested was but a secondary consideration; as a <i>Lawyer</i> you +were not obliged to advance it till due; as a <i>Friend</i> the request might +have been complied with. When it is required at Xmas I shall expect the +demand will be answered. In the course of my letter I perhaps have +expressed more asperity than I intended, it is my nature to feel warmly, +nor shall any consideration of interest or Fear ever deter me from +giving vent to my Sentiments, when injured, whether by a Sovereign or a +Subject.<br> +<br> +I remain, etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f62"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The quarrel arose from Byron misunderstanding a letter from +Hanson on the subject of the allowance made by the Court of Chancery for +his furniture.<br> +<a href="#fr62">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L42">42 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Trin. Coll. Cambridge, Dec. 4, 1805.<br> +<br> +Sir, — In charging you with downright <i>Duplicity</i> I wronged you, nor do I +hesitate to atone for an Injury which I feel I have committed, or add to +my Fault by the Vindication of an expression dictated by Resentment, an +<i>expression</i> which deserves Censure, and demands the apology I now +offer; for I think that Disposition indeed <i>mean</i> which adds Obstinacy +to Insult, by attempting the Palliation of unmerited Invective from the +mistaken principle of disdaining the Avowal of even <i>self convicted</i> +Error. In regard to the other <i>Declarations</i> my Sentiments remain +<i>unaltered;</i> the event will shew whether my Prediction is false. I know +Mrs. Byron too well to imagine that she would part with a <i>Sous</i>, and if +by some <i>Miracle</i> she was prevailed upon, the <i>Details</i> of her +<i>Generosity</i> in allowing me part of my <i>own property</i> would be +continually <i>thundered</i> in my ears, or <i>launched</i> in the <i>Lightening</i> of +her letters, so that I had rather encounter the Evils of Embarrassment +than lie under an obligation to one who would continually reproach me +with her Benevolence, as if her Charity had been extended to a +<i>Stranger</i> to the Detriment of her own Fortune. My opinion is perhaps +harsh for a Son, but it is justified by experience, it is confirmed by +<i>Facts</i>, it was generated by oppression, it has been nourished by +Injury. To you, Sir, I attach no Blame. I am too much indebted to your +kindness to retain my anger for a length of Time, that <i>Kindness</i> which, +by a forcible contrast, has taught me to spurn the <i>Ties</i> of <i>Blood</i> +unless strengthened by proper and gentle Treatment. I declare upon my +honor that the Horror of entering Mrs. Byron's House has of late years +been so implanted in my Soul, that I dreaded the approach of the +Vacations as the <i>Harbingers</i> of <i>Misery</i>. My letters to my Sister, +written during my residence at Southwell, would prove my Assertion. With +my kind remembrances to Mrs. H. and Hargreaves,<br> +<br> +I remain, Sir, yours truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp3">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L43">43 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Trin. Coll. Cambridge, Dec. 13, 1805. + +<b>Dear Sir</b>, — I return you my Thanks for the remaining £50 which came in +extremely <i>apropos</i>, and on my visit to Town about the 19th will give +you a regular receipt. In your Extenuation of Mrs. Byron's Conduct you +use as a <i>plea</i>, that, by her being my Mother, greater allowance ought +to be made for those <i>little</i> Traits in her Disposition, so much more +<i>energetic</i> than <i>elegant</i>. I am afraid, (however good your intention) +that you have added to rather than diminished my Dislike, for +independent of the moral Obligations she is under to <i>protect, cherish</i>, +and <i>instruct</i> her <i>offspring</i>, what can be expected of that Man's heart +and understanding who has continually (from Childhood to Maturity) +beheld so pernicious an Example? His nearest relation is the first +person he is taught to revere as his Guide and Instructor; the +perversion of Temper before him leads to a corruption of his own, and +when that is depraved, vice quickly becomes habitual, and, though timely +Severity may sometimes be necessary & justifiable, surely a peevish +harassing System of Torment is by no means commendable, & when that is +interrupted by ridiculous Indulgence, the only purpose answered is to +soften the feelings for a moment which are soon after to be doubly +wounded by the recal of accustomed Harshness. I will now give this +disagreeable Subject to the <i>Winds</i>. I conclude by observing that I am +the more confirmed in my opinion of the Futility of Natural Ties, unless +supported not only by Attachment but <i>affectionate</i> and <i>prudent</i> +Behaviour.<br> +<br> +Tell Mrs. H. that the predicted alteration in my Manners and Habits has +not taken place. I am still the Schoolboy and as great a <i>Rattle</i> as +ever, and between ourselves College is not the place to improve either +Morals or Income.<br> +<br> +I am, Sir, yours truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L44">44 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> + [<span style="color: #555555;">Cas</span>tle Howard, <span style="color: #555555;">ne</span>ar Malton, Yorkshire.]<br> +<br> + + 16, Piccadilly, [Thursday], Decr. 26th, 1805.<br> +<br> + My dearest Augusta, — By the Date of my Letter you will perceive that I + have taken up my Residence in the metropolis, where I presume we shall + behold you in the latter end of January. I sincerely hope you will make + your appearance at that Time, as I have some subjects to discuss with + you, which I do not wish to communicate in my Epistle.<br> +<br> + The Dowager has thought proper to solicit a reconciliation which in some + measure I have agreed to; still there is a coolness which I do not feel + inclined to <i>thaw</i>, as terms of Civility are the only resource against + her impertinent and unjust proceedings with which you are already + acquainted.<br> +<br> + Town is not very full and the weather has been so unpropitious that I + have not been able to make use of my Horses above twice since my + arrival. I hope your everlasting negotiation with the Father of your + <i>Intended</i> is near a conclusion in <i>some</i> manner; if you do not hurry a + little, you will be verging into the "<i>Vale of Years</i>," and, though you + may be blest with Sons and daughters, you will never live to see your + <i>Grandchildren</i>.<br> +<br> + When convenient, favour me with an Answer and believe me,<br> +<br> + [Signature cut out.]<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L45">45 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Castle Howar<span style="color: #555555;">d</span>, neat Malto<span style="color: #555555;">n</span>, Yorkshire.] 16, Piccadilly, <span style="color: #555555;">Friday</span>, +Decr. 27th, 1805.<br> +<br> +My Dear Augusta, — You will doubtless be surprised to see a second +epistle so close upon the arrival of the first, (especially as it is not +my custom) but the Business I mentioned rather mysteriously in my last +compels me again to proceed. But before I disclose it, I must require +the most inviolable Secrecy, for if ever I find that it has transpired, +all confidence, all Friendship between us has concluded. I do not mean +this exordium as a threat to induce you to comply with my request but +merely (whether you accede or not) to keep it a Secret. And although +your compliance would essentially oblige me, yet, believe me, my esteem +will not be diminished by your Refusal; nor shall I suffer a complaint +to escape. The Affair is briefly thus; like all other young men just let +loose, and especially one as I am, freed from the worse than bondage of +my maternal home, I have been extravagant, and consequently am in want +of Money. You will probably now imagine that I am going to apply to you +for some. No, if you would offer me thousands, I declare solemnly that I +would without hesitation refuse, nor would I accept them were I in +danger of Starvation. All I expect or wish is, that you will be joint +Security with me for a few Hundreds a person (one of the money lending +tribe) has offered to advance in case I can bring forward any collateral +guarantee that he will not be a loser, the reason of this requisition is +my being a Minor, and might refuse to discharge a debt contracted in my +non-age. If I live till the period of my minority expires, you cannot +doubt my paying, as I have property to the amount of 100 times the sum I +am about to raise; if, as I think rather probable, a pistol or a Fever +cuts short the thread of my existence, you will receive half the <i>Dross</i> +saved since I was ten years old, and can be no great loser by +discharging a debt of 7 or £800 from as many thousands. It is far from +my Breast to exact any promise from you that would be detrimental, or +tend to lower me in your opinion. If you suppose this leads to either of +those consequences, forgive my impertinence and bury it in oblivion. I +have many Friends, most of them in the same predicament with myself; to +those who are not, I am too proud to apply, for I hate obligation; my +Relations you know I <i>detest</i>; who then is there that I can address on +the subject but yourself? to you therefore I appeal, and if I am +disappointed, at least let me not be tormented by the advice of +Guardians, and let silence rule your Resolution. I know you will think +me foolish, if not criminal; but tell me so yourself, and do not +rehearse my failings to others, no, not even to that proud Grandee the +Earl, who, whatever his qualities may be, is certainly not amiable, and +that Chattering puppy Hanson would make still less allowance for the +foibles of a Boy. I am now trying the experiment, whether a woman can +retain a secret; let me not be deceived. If you have the least doubt of +my integrity, or that you run too great a Risk, do not hesitate in your +refusal. Adieu. I expect an answer with impatience, believe me, whether +you accede or not,<br> +<br> +[Signature cut out.]<br> +<br> +P.S. — I apologize for the numerous errors probably enveloped in this +cover; the temper of my mind at present, and the hurry I have written +in, must plead for pardon. Adieu.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L46">46 — Hon. Augusta Byron</a></h3> +<br> +[Castle Howard, near Malton, Yorkshire.]<br> +<br> +16, Piccadilly, <span style="color: #555555;">Tuesday</span>, January 7th, 1805.<br> +<br> +<span style="color: #990099;">[In another hand]</span> — 6.<br> +<br> +My dearest Augusta, — Your efforts to reanimate my sinking spirits will, +I am afraid, fail in their effect, for my melancholy proceeds from a +very different cause to that which you assign, as, my nerves were always +of the strongest texture. — I will not however pretend to say I possess +that <i>Gaieté de Coeur</i> which formerly distinguished me, but as the +diminution of it arises from what you could not alleviate, and might +possibly be painful, you will excuse the Disclosure. Suffice it to know, +that it cannot spring from Indisposition, as my Health was never more +firmly established than now, nor from the subject on which I lately +wrote, as that is in a promising Train, and even were it otherwise, the +Failure would not lead to Despair. You know me too well to think it is +<i>Love</i>; & I have had no quarrel or dissention with Friend or enemy, you +may therefore be easy, since no unpleasant consequence will be produced +from the present Sombre cast of my Temper. I fear the Business will not +be concluded before your arrival in Town, when we will settle it +together, as by the 20th these <i>sordid Bloodsuckers</i> who have agreed to +furnish the Sum, will have drawn up the Bond. Believe me, my dearest +Sister, it never entered in to my head, that you either could or would +propose to antic<span style="color: #555555;">ipate</span> my application to others, by a P<span style="color: #555555;">resent +from?</span> yourself; I and I only will be <span style="color: #555555;">injured</span> by my own +extravagance, nor would I have wished you to take the least concern, had +any other means been open for extrication. As it is, I hope you will +excuse my Impertinence, or if you feel an inclination to retreat, do not +let affection for me counterbalance prudence.<br> +<br> +[Signature cut out.]<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L47">47 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +16, Piccadilly, Febry. 26, 1806.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother, — Notwithstanding your sage and economical advice I have +paid my <i>Harrow</i> Debts, as I can better afford to wait for the Money +than the poor Devils who were my creditors. I have also discharged my +college Bills amounting to £231, — £75 of which I shall trouble Hanson to +repay, being for Furniture, and as my allowance is £500 per annum, I do +not chuse to lose the overplus as it makes only £125 per Quarter. <a name="fr63">I</a> +happen to have a few hundreds in ready Cash by me<a href="#f63"><sup>1</sup></a>, so I have paid the +accounts; but I find it inconvenient to remain at College, not for the +expence, as I could live on my allowance (only I am naturally +extravagant); however the mode of going on does not suit my +constitution. Improvement at an English University to a Man of Rank is, +you know, impossible, and the very Idea <i>ridiculous</i>. Now I sincerely +desire to finish my Education and, having been sometime at Cambridge, +the Credit of the University is as much attached to my Name, as if I had +pursued my Studies <i>there</i> for a Century; but, believe me, it is nothing +more than a Name, which is already acquired. I can now leave it with +Honour, as I have paid everything, & wish to pass a couple of years +abroad, where I am certain of employing my time to far more advantage +and at much less expence, than at our English Seminaries. 'Tis true I +cannot enter France; but Germany and the Courts of Berlin, Vienna & +Petersburg are still open, I shall lay the Plan before Hanson & Lord C. +I presume you will all agree, and if you do not, I will, if possible, +get away without your Consent, though I should admire it more in the +regular manner & with a Tutor of your furnishing. This is my project, at +present I wish <i>you</i> to be silent to Hanson about it. Let me have your +Answer. I intend remaining in Town a Month longer, when perhaps I shall +bring my Horses and myself down to your residence in that <i>execrable</i> +Kennel. I hope you have engaged a Man Servant, else it will be +impossible for me to visit you, since my Servant must attend chiefly to +his horses; at the same Time you must cut an indifferent Figure with +only maids in your habitation.<br> +<br> +I remain, your's,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f63"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> + + <blockquote> "The Bills," writes Mrs. Byron to Hanson (January 11, 1806), "are + coming in thick upon me to double the amount I expected; he went and + ordered just what he pleased here, at Nottingham, and in London. + However, it is of no use to say anything about it, and I beg you will + take no notice. I am determined to have everything clear within the + year, if possible."</blockquote> + +Again she writes (March 1, 1806): + + <blockquote> "I beg you will not mention to my son, having heard from me, but try + to get out of him his reason for wishing to leave England, and where + he got the money. I much fear he has fallen into bad hands, not only + in regard to Money Matters, but in other respects. My idea is that he + has inveigled himself with some woman that he wishes to get rid of and + finds it difficult. But whatever it is, he must be got out of it."</blockquote> + +Again (March 4, 1806): + + <blockquote> "That Boy will be the death of me, and drive me mad! I never will + consent to his going Abroad. Where can he get Hundreds? Has he got + into the hands of Moneylenders? He has no feeling, no Heart. This I + have long known; he has behaved as ill as possible to me for years + back. This bitter Truth I can no longer conceal: it is wrung from me + by <i>heart-rending agony</i>. I am well rewarded. I came to + Nottinghamshire to please him, and now he hates it. He knows that I am + doing everything in my power to pay his Debts, and he writes to me + about hiring servants!"</blockquote> + +Once more (April 24, 1806): + + <blockquote> "Lord Byron has given £31 10s. to Pitt's statue. He has also bought a + Carriage, which he says was intended for me, which I <i>refused</i> to + accept of, being in hopes it would stop his having one."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr63">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L48">48 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +16, Piccadilly, March 3, 1806.<br> +<br> +Sir, — I called at your House in Chancery Lane yesterday Evening, as I +expected you would have been in Town, but was disappointed. If +convenient, I should be glad to see you on Wednesday Morning about one +o'Clock, as I wish for your advice on some Business. On Saturday one of +my Horses threw me; I was stunned for a short time, but soon recovered +and suffered no material <i>Injury</i>; the accident happened on the Harrow +Road. I have paid Jones's Bill amounting to £231.4.5 of which I expect +to be reimbursed £75 for Furniture. I have got his Bankers' receipt and +the account ready for your Inspection. <a name="fr64">I</a> now owe nothing at Cambridge; +but shall not return this Term<a href="#f64"><sup>1</sup></a>, as I have been extremely +<i>unwell</i>, and at the same time can stay where I am at much less +Expence and <i>equal Improvement</i>. I wish to consult you on several +Subjects and expect you will pay me a visit on Wednesday; in the mean +time,<br> +<br> +I remain, yours, etc., <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f64"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Lectures began on February 5, 1806, as is stated on the +College bills, sent in by Mr. Jones, the Senior Tutor of Trinity. But +Byron preferred to remain in London. Augusta Byron writes to Hanson +(March 7, 1806) — — + + <blockquote>"I trouble you again in consequence of some conversation I had last + night with Lord Carlisle about my Brother. He expressed himself to me + as kindly on that subject as on all others, and though he says it may + not be productive of any good, and that he may be only <i>able to join + his lamentations</i> with yours, he should like to talk to you and try + if anything can be done. I was much surprized and vexed to see my + Brother a week ago at the Play, as I think he ought to be employing + his time more profitably at Cambridge."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr64">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#cr2">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 7</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L49">49 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +<b>Sir</b>, — As in all probability you will not make your appearance tomorrow I +must disclose by Letter the Business I intended to have discussed at our +interview. — We know each other sufficiently to render Apology +unnecessary. I shall therefore without further Prelude proceed to the +Subject in Question. You are not ignorant, that I have lately lived at +considerable Expence, to support which my allotted Income by the +<i>sapient</i> Court of Chancery is inadequate. — I confess I have +borrowed a trifling sum and now wish to raise £500 to discharge some +Debts I have contracted; my approaching Quarter will bring me £200 due +from my Allowance, and if you can procure me the other £300 at a +moderate Interest, it will save 100 per cent I must pay my <i>Israelite</i> +for the same purpose. — You see by this I have an <i>excellent</i> Idea of +Œconomy even in my Extravagance by being willing to pay as little Money +as possible, for the Cash must be disbursed <i>somewhere</i> or <i>somehow</i>, +and if you decline (as in prudence I tell you fairly you ought), the +<i>Tribe</i> of <i>Levi</i> will be my <i>dernier resort</i>. However I thought proper +to make this Experiment with very slender hopes of success indeed, since +Recourse to the <i>Law</i> is at best a <i>desperate</i> effort. I have now laid +open my affairs to you without Disguise and Stated the Facts as they +appear, declining all Comments, or the use of any Sophistry to palliate +my application, or urge my request. All I desire is a speedy Answer, +whether successful or not.<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours truly, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L50">50 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +16, Piccadilly, 25th March, 1806.<br> +<br> +<b>Sir</b>, — Your last Letter, as I expected, contained much advice, but no +Money. I could have excused the former unaccompanied by the latter, +since any one thinks himself capable of giving that, but very few chuse +to own themselves competent to the other. I do not now write to urge a +2nd Request, one Denial is sufficient. I only require what is my right. +This is Lady Day. £125 is due for my last Quarter, and £75 for my +expenditure in Furniture at Cambridge and I will thank you to remit.<br> +<br> +The Court of Chancery may perhaps put in Force your Threat. I have +always understood it formed a Sanction for legal plunderers to protract +the Decision of Justice from year to year, till weary of spoil it at +length condescended to give Sentence, but I never yet understood even +its unhallowed Hands preyed upon the Orphan it was bound to protect. Be +it so, only let me have your answer.<br> +<br> +I remain, etc., etc., <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L51"></a>51 — To Henry Angelo<a href="#f65"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Trinity College, Cambridge, May 16, 1806.<br> +<br> +<b>Sir</b>, — <a name="fr66">You</a> cannot be more indignant, at the insolent and unmerited +conduct of Mr. Mortlock<a href="#f66"><sup>2</sup></a>, than those who authorised you to request +his permission. However we do not yet despair of gaining our point, and +every effort shall be made to remove the obstacles, which at present +prevent the execution of our project. <a name="fr67">I</a> yesterday waited on the Master +of this College<a href="#f67"><sup>3</sup></a>, who, having a personal dispute with the Mayor, +declined interfering, but recommended an application to the Vice +Chancellor, whose authority is paramount in the University. <a name="fr68">I</a> shall +communicate this to Lord Altamount<a href="#f68"><sup>4</sup></a>, and we will endeavour to bend the +obstinacy of the <i>upstart</i> magistrate, who seems to be equally deficient +in justice and common civility. On my arrival in town, which will take +place in a few days, you will see me at Albany Buildings, when we will +discuss the subject further. Present my remembrance to the Messrs. +Angelo, junior, and believe me, we will yet <i>humble</i> this <i>impertinent +bourgeois</i>.<br> +<br> +I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f65"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Henry Angelo, the famous fencing-master, was at the head of +his profession for nearly forty years. His position was recognized at +least as early as 1787, when he published <i>The School of Fencing</i>, and +fenced, with the Chevalier de St. George and other celebrities, before +the Prince of Wales at Carlton House. In 1806 he was travelling down +every other week to Cambridge, as he states in his <i>Pic Nic</i> (1837), to +visit his pupils. He had made Byron's acquaintance at Harrow by teaching +him to fence, and in later years had many bouts with him with the foils, +single-sticks, and Highland broadsword. His <i>Reminiscences</i> (1830), +together with his <i>Pic Nic</i>, contain numerous anecdotes of Byron, to +whom he seems to have been sincerely attached. In 1806 he had several +rooms in London for the use of his pupils. One of these was at 13, Bond +Street, which he shared with Gentleman Jackson, the pugilist and +ex-champion. In Cruikshank's picture of the room (Pierce Egan's <i>Life in +London</i>, p. 254), two fencers have unmasked and stopped their bout to +see Jackson spar with Corinthian Tom. Angelo contributed an article on +fencing to Sir John Sinclair's <i>Code of Health and Longevity</i>, vol. ii. +p. 163.<br> +<br> +Angelo, who retired from London in 1821, and lived near Bath, was in +1806 at the height of his reputation. An old Etonian (1767), he knew +every one in London; had dined at the same table with the Prince of +Wales, acted with Lord Barrymore, sung comic songs with Dibdin, punned +with Bannister and Colman, fished at Benham on the invitation of the +Margravine of Anspach, played the flute to Lady Melfort's accompaniment +on the piano, and claimed his share of the table-talk at the Keep Line +Club. Nearly every celebrity of the day, from Lord Sidmouth and Lord +Liverpool to Kean and Macready, was his pupil.<br> +<a href="#L51">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f159">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 98</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f66"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Mr. Mortlock, the Mayor of Cambridge, is thus mentioned in +a letter from S. T. Coleridge to Southey, dated September 26, 1794: "All +last night I was obliged to listen to the damned chatter of "Mortlock, +our mayor, a fellow that would certainly be a pantisocrat were his head +and heart as highly illuminated as his face. In the tropical latitude +of this fellow's nose was I obliged to fry" (<i>Letters of S. T. +Coleridge</i> (1895), vol. i. p. 87).<br> +<a href="#fr66">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f67"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> William Lort Mansel, Master of Trinity, and Bishop of +Bristol. (See page 84, <a href="#f60"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr67">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f68"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Howe Peter Browne, Lord Altamont (1788-1845), of Jesus +College, succeeded his father in 1809 as second Marquis of Sligo. Byron +spent some time with him at Athens in 1810. Lord Sligo's letter on the +origin of the <i>Giaour</i> is quoted by Moore (<i>Life</i>, p. 178). (See also +page 289, <a href="#f265"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr68">return</a><br> +<a href="#f264">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 144</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L52"></a>52 — To John M. B. Pigot<a href="#f69"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +16, Piccadilly, August 9, 1806.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Pigot</b>, — Many thanks for your amusing narrative of the last +proceedings of my amiable Alecto, who now begins to feel the effects of +her folly. I have just received a penitential epistle, to which, +apprehensive of pursuit, I have despatched a moderate answer, with a +<i>kind</i> of promise to return in a fortnight; — this, however (<i>entre +nous</i>), I never mean to fulfil. Her soft warblings must have delighted +her auditors, her higher notes being particularly musical, and on a calm +moonlight evening would be heard to great advantage. Had I been present +as a spectator, nothing would have pleased me more; but to have come +forward as one of the <i>dramatis personae</i> — St. Dominic defend me from +such a scene! Seriously, your mother has laid me under great +obligations, and you, with the rest of your family, merit my warmest +thanks for your kind connivance at my escape from "Mrs. Byron +<i>furiosa</i>."<br> +<br> +Oh! for the pen of Ariosto to rehearse, in epic, the scolding of that +momentous eve, — or rather, let me invoke the shade of Dante to inspire +me, for none but the author of the Inferno could properly preside over +such an attempt. But, perhaps, where the pen might fail, the pencil +would succeed. What a group! — Mrs. B. the principal figure; you cramming +your ears with cotton, as the only antidote to total deafness; Mrs. — — +in vain endeavouring to mitigate the wrath of the lioness robbed of her +whelp; and last, though not least, Elizabeth and <i>Wousky</i>, — wonderful to +relate! — both deprived of their parts of speech, and bringing up the +rear in mute astonishment. How did S. B. receive the intelligence? How +many <i>puns</i> did he utter on so <i>facetious</i> an event? In your next inform +me on this point, and what excuse you made to A. You are probably, by +this time, tired of deciphering this hieroglyphical letter; — like Tony +Lumpkin, you will pronounce mine to be "a damned up and down hand." All +Southwell, without doubt, is involved in amazement. <i>Apropos</i>, how does +my blue-eyed nun, the fair ——? Is she <i>"robed in sable garb of woe?"</i><br> +<br> +Here I remain at least a week or ten days; previous to my departure you +shall receive my address, but what it will be I have not determined. My +lodgings must be kept secret from Mrs. B. You may present my compliments +to her, and say any attempt to pursue me will fail, as I have taken +measures to retreat immediately to Portsmouth, on the first intimation +of her removal from Southwell. You may add, I have proceeded to a +friend's house in the country, there to remain a fortnight.<br> +<br> +I have now <i>blotted</i> (I must not say written) a complete double letter, +and in return shall expect a <i>monstrous budget</i>. Without doubt, the +dames of Southwell reprobate the pernicious example I have shown, and +tremble lest their <i>babes</i> should disobey their mandates, and quit, in +dudgeon, their mammas on any grievance. Adieu. When you begin your next, +drop the "lordship," and put "Byron" in its place.<br> +<br> +Believe me yours, etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f69"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> J. M. B. Pigot, eldest brother of Miss E. B. Pigot (see +<a href="#L12">Letter</a> of August 29, 1804, page 32, <a href="#f21"><i>note</i></a> 1). To him Byron addressed +his "Reply" (<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 53-56) and verses "To the Sighing +Strephon" (<i>Ibid</i>., pp. 63-66). In 1805-6 Pigot was studying medicine at +Edinburgh, and in his vacations saw much of Byron. He died at +Ruddington, Notts., November 26, 1871, aged 86. It would appear that +Byron had, with the connivance of the Pigots, escaped to London, after a +quarrel with his mother; but the caution to keep his lodgings secret +gives a theatrical air to the letter, as the rooms, kept by Mrs. +Massingberd, were originally taken by Mrs. Byron, and often occupied by +her, and she was at the time corresponding with Hanson about her son's +debt to Mrs. Massingberd, who seems to have been both landlady and +money-lender to Byron.<br> +<a href="#L52">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f21">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 12</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + + +<h3><a name="L53">53 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +London, August 10, 1806.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Bridget</b>, — As I have already troubled your brother with more than +he will find pleasure in deciphering, you are the next to whom I shall +assign the employment of perusing this second epistle. You will perceive +from my first, that no idea of Mrs. B.'s arrival had disturbed me at the +time it was written; <i>not</i> so the present, since the appearance of a +note from the <i>illustrious cause</i> of my <i>sudden decampment</i> has driven +the "natural ruby from my cheeks," and completely blanched my woebegone +countenance. This gunpowder intimation of her arrival (confound her +activity!) breathes less of terror and dismay than you will probably +imagine, from the volcanic temperament of her ladyship; and concludes +with the comfortable assurance of <i>present motion</i> being prevented by +the fatigue of her journey, for which my <i>blessings</i> are due to the +rough roads and restive quadrupeds of his Majesty's highways. As I have +not the smallest inclination to be chased round the country, I shall +e'en make a merit of necessity; and since, like Macbeth, "they've tied +me to the stake, I cannot fly," I shall imitate that valorous tyrant, +and bear-like fight the "course," all escape being precluded. I can now +engage with less disadvantage, having drawn the enemy from her +intrenchments, though, like the <i>prototype</i> to whom I have compared +myself, with an excellent chance of being knocked on the head. However, +"lay on Macduff", and "damned be he who first cries, Hold, enough."<br> +<br> +I shall remain in town for, at least, a week, and expect to hear from +<i>you</i> before its expiration. <a name="fr70">I</a> presume the printer has brought you the +offspring of my <i>poetic mania</i><a href="#f70"><sup>1</sup></a>. Remember in the first line to read +"<i>loud</i> the winds whistle," instead of "round," which that blockhead +Ridge had inserted by mistake, and makes nonsense of the whole stanza. +Addio! — Now to encounter my <i>Hydra</i>.<br> +<br> +Yours ever.<br><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f70"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Byron's first volume of verse was now in the press. The +line to which he alludes is the first line of the poem, "On Leaving +Newstead Abbey" (<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 1-4). It now runs — + + <blockquote>"Through thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle."</blockquote> + +(For the bibliography of his early poems, see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i., +Bibliographical Note; and <b>vol. vi</b>., Appendix.) The first collection +(<i>Fugitive Pieces</i>, printed by S. and J. Ridge, Newark, 4to, 1806) was +destroyed, with the exception of two copies, by the advice of the Rev. +J. T. Becher (see page 182, <a href="#f152"><i>note</i></a> 1). The second collection (<i>Poems on +Various Occasions</i>, printed by S. and J. Ridge, Newark, 12mo, 1807) was +published anonymously. It is to this edition that Letters <a href="#L60">60</a>, <a href="#L61">61</a>, <a href="#L65">65</a>, +<a href="#L67">67</a>, <a href="#L68">68</a>, <a href="#L69">69</a>, <a href="#L70">70</a>, refer.<br> +<br> +In the summer of 1807, <i>Poems on Various Occasions</i> was superseded by +the third collection, called <i>Hours of Idleness</i> (printed by S. and J. +Ridge, Newark, 12mo, 1807), published with the author's name. To this +edition Letters <a href="#L76">76</a> and <a href="#L78">78</a> refer. <i>Hours of Idleness</i> was reviewed by +Lord Brougham (<i>Notes from a Diary</i>, by Sir M. E. Grant Duff, vol. ii. +p. 189) in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> for January, 1808.<br> +<br> +The fourth and final collection, entitled <i>Poems Original and +Translated</i> (printed by S. and J. Ridge, Newark, 12mo, 1808), was +dedicated to the Earl of Carlisle.<br> +<a href="#fr70">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f75">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 61</a><br> +<a href="#f102">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 76</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L54">54 — To John M. B. Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +London, Sunday, midnight, August 10, 1806.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr71">Dear</a> Pigot, — This <i>astonishing</i> packet will, doubtless, amaze you; but +having an idle hour this evening, I wrote the enclosed stanzas<a href="#f71"><sup>1</sup></a>, which +I request you will deliver to Ridge, to be printed <i>separate</i> from my +other compositions, as you will perceive them to be improper for the +perusal of ladies; of course, none of the females of your family must +see them. I offer 1000 apologies for the trouble I have given you in +this and other instances.<br> +<br> +Yours truly.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f71"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> These are probably some silly lines "To Mary," written in +the erotic style of Moore's early verse. To the same Mary, of whom +nothing is known, are addressed the lines "To Mary, on receiving her +Picture" (<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 32, 33).<br> +<a href="#fr71">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L55">55 — To John M. B. Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +Piccadilly, August 16, 1806.<br> +<br> +I cannot exactly say with Caesar, "Veni, vidi, vici:" however, the most +important part of his laconic account of success applies to my present +situation; for, though Mrs. Byron took the <i>trouble</i> of "<i>coming</i>," and +"<i>seeing</i>," yet your humble servant proved the <i>victor</i>. After an +obstinate engagement of some hours, in which we suffered considerable +damage, from the quickness of the enemy's fire, they at length retired +in confusion, leaving behind the artillery, field equipage, and some +prisoners: their defeat is decisive for the present campaign. To speak +more intelligibly, Mrs. B. returns immediately, but I proceed, with all +my laurels, to Worthing, on the Sussex coast; to which place you will +address (to be left at the post office) your next epistle. By the +enclosure of a second <i>gingle of rhyme</i>, you will probably conceive my +muse to be <i>vastly prolific</i>; her inserted production was brought forth +a few years ago, and found by accident on Thursday among some old +papers. I have recopied it, and, adding the proper date, request that it +may be printed with the rest of the family. I thought your sentiments on +the last bantling would coincide with mine, but it was impossible to +give it any other garb, being founded on <i>facts</i>. My stay at Worthing +will not exceed three weeks, and you may <i>possibly</i> behold me again at +Southwell the middle of September.<br> +<br> +Will you desire Ridge to suspend the printing of my poems till he hears +further from me, as I have determined to give them a new form entirely? +This prohibition does not extend to the two last pieces I have sent with +my letters to you. You will excuse the <i>dull vanity</i> of this epistle, as +my brain is a <i>chaos</i> of absurd images, and full of business, +preparations, and projects.<br> +<br> +I shall expect an answer with impatience; — believe me, there is nothing +at this moment could give me greater delight than your letter.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L56">56 — To John M. B. Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +London, August 18, 1806.<br> +<br> +I am just on the point of setting off for Worthing, and write merely to +request you will send that <i>idle scoundrel Charles</i> with my horses +immediately; tell him I am excessively provoked he has not made his +appearance before, or written to inform me of the cause of his delay, +particularly as I supplied him with money for his journey. On <i>no</i> +pretext is he to postpone his <i>march</i> one day longer; and if, in +obedience to the caprices of Mrs. B. (who, I presume, is again spreading +desolation through her little monarchy), he thinks proper to disregard +my positive orders, I shall not, in future, consider him as my servant. +He must bring the surgeon's bill with him, which I will discharge +immediately on receiving it. Nor can I conceive the reason of his not +acquainting Frank with the state of my unfortunate quadrupeds. Dear +Pigot, forgive this <i>petulant</i> effusion, and attribute it to the idle +conduct of that <i>precious</i> rascal, who, instead of obeying my +injunctions, is sauntering through the streets of that <i>political +Pandemonium</i>, Nottingham. Present my remembrance to your family and the +Leacrofts, and believe me, etc.<br> +<br> +P.S. — I delegate to <i>you</i> the unpleasant task of despatching him on his +journey — Mrs. B.'s orders to the contrary are not to be attended to: he +is to proceed first to London, and then to Worthing, without delay. +Every thing I have <i>left</i> must be sent to London. My <i>Poetics you</i> will +<i>pack up</i> for the same place, and not even reserve a copy for yourself +and sister, as I am about to give them an <i>entire new form</i>: when they +are complete, you shall have the <i>first fruits</i>. Mrs. B. on no account +is to <i>see</i> or touch them. Adieu.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L57">57 — To John M. B. Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +Little Hampton, August 26, 1806.<br> +<br> +I this morning received your epistle, which I was obliged to send for to +Worthing, whence I have removed to this place, on the same coast, about +eight miles distant from the former. <a name="fr72">You</a> will probably not be displeased +with this letter, when it informs you that I am £30,000 richer than I +was at our parting, having just received intelligence from my lawyer +that a cause has been gained at Lancaster assizes<a href="#f72"><sup>1</sup></a>, which will be +worth that sum by the time I come of age. Mrs. B. is, doubtless, +acquainted of this acquisition, though not apprised of its exact +<i>value</i>, of which she had better be ignorant; for her behaviour under +any sudden piece of favourable intelligence, is, if possible, more +ridiculous than her detestable conduct on the most trifling +circumstances of an unpleasant nature. You may give my compliments to +her, and say that her detaining my servant's things shall only lengthen +my absence: for unless they are immediately despatched to 16, +Piccadilly, together with those which have been so long delayed, +belonging to myself, she shall never again behold my <i>radiant +countenance</i> illuminating her gloomy mansion. If they are sent, I may +probably appear in less than two years from the date of my present +epistle.<br> +<br> +Metrical compliment is an ample reward for my strains: you are one of +the few votaries of Apollo who unite the sciences over which that deity +presides. I wish you to send my poems to my lodgings in London +immediately, as I have several alterations and some additions to make; +<i>every</i> copy must be sent, as I am about to <i>amend</i> them, and you shall +soon behold them in all their glory. I hope you have kept them from that +upas tree, that antidote to the arts, Mrs. B. <i>Entre nous</i>, — you may +expect to see me soon. Adieu.<br> +<br> +Yours ever.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f72"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Byron was disappointed in his expectations. Fresh legal +difficulties arose, and Newstead had to be sold before they were settled +(see page 78, <a href="#f55">note</a> 2).<br> +<a href="#fr72">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L58"></a>58 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot<a href="#f73"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +My Dear Bridget, — I have only just dismounted from my <i>Pegasus</i>, which +has prevented me from descending to <i>plain prose</i> in an epistle of +greater length to your <i>fair</i> self. You regretted, in a former letter, +that my poems were not more extensive; I now for your satisfaction +announce that I have nearly doubled them, partly by the discovery of +some I conceived to be lost, and partly by some new productions. We +shall meet on Wednesday next; till then, believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours affectionately,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Your brother John is seized with a poetic mania, and is now +rhyming away at the rate of three lines <i>per hour</i> — so much for +<i>inspiration</i>! Adieu!<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f73"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This letter was written about September, 1806, from +Harrogate, where Byron had gone with John Pigot. It forms the conclusion +of a longer letter, written by Pigot to his sister, from which Moore +quotes (<i>Life</i>, p. 37) the following passage:— + + <blockquote> "Harrowgate is still extremely full; Wednesday (to-day) is our + ball-night, and I meditate going into the room for an hour, although I + am by no means fond of strange faces. Lord B., you know, is even more + shy than myself; but for an hour this evening I will shake it off ... + How do our theatricals proceed? Lord Byron can say <i>all</i> his part, and + I <i>most</i> of mine. He certainly acts it inimitably. Lord B. is now + <i>poetising</i>, and, since he has been here, has written some very pretty + verses ['To a Beautiful Quaker,' see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 38-41]. He + is very good in trying to amuse me as much as possible, but it is not + in my nature to be happy without either female society or study ... + There are many pleasant rides about here, which I have taken in + company with Bo'swain, who, with Brighton, is universally admired. + <i>You</i> must read this to Mrs. B., as it is a little <i>Tony Lumpkinish</i>. + Lord B. desires some space left: therefore, with respect to all the + comedians <i>elect</i>, believe me," etc., etc.</blockquote> + + +(<a name="cr4">For</a> the theatricals to which Mr. Pigot alludes, see page 117, <a href="#f81"><i>note</i></a> +3.) Brighton, it may be added, was one of Byron's horses; the other was +called Sultan. Bo'swain was the dog to which Byron addressed the +well-known epitaph (see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 280, 281, and <i>note</i> 1).<br> +<br> +Moore also quotes Pigot's recollections of the visit to Harrogate +(<i>Life</i>, pp. 37, 38). + + <blockquote> "We, I remember, went in Lord Byron's own carriage, with post-horses; + and he sent his groom with two saddle-horses, and a beautifully + formed, very ferocious, bull-mastiff, called Nelson, to meet us there. + Boatswain went by the side of his valet Frank on the box, with us. + + "The bull-dog, Nelson, always wore a muzzle, and was occasionally sent + for into our private room, when the muzzle was taken off, much to my + annoyance, and he and his master amused themselves with throwing the + room into disorder. There was always a jealous feud between this + Nelson and Boatswain; and whenever he latter came into the room while + the former was there, they instantly seized each other; and then, + Byron, myself, Frank, and all the waiters that could be found, were + vigorously engaged in parting them, — which was in general only + effected by thrusting poker and tongs into the mouths of each. But, + one day, Nelson unfortunately escaped out of the room without his + muzzle, and going into the stable-yard fastened upon the throat of a + horse from which he could not be disengaged. The stable-boys ran in + alarm to find Frank, who taking one of his Lord's Wogdon's pistols, + always kept loaded in his room, shot poor Nelson through the head, to + the great regret of Byron.<br> +<br> + "We were at the Crown Inn, at Low Harrowgate. We always dined in the + public room, but retired very soon after dinner to our private one; + for Byron was no more a friend to drinking than myself. We lived + retired, and made few acquaintance; for he was naturally shy, <i>very</i> + shy; which people who did not know him mistook for pride. While at + Harrowgate he accidentally met with Professor Hailstone from + Cambridge, and appeared much delighted to see him. The professor was + at Upper Harrowgate: we called upon him one evening to take him to the + theatre, I think, — and Lord Byron sent his carriage for him, another + time, to a ball at the Granby. This desire to show attention to one of + the professors of his college is a proof that, though he might choose + to satirise the mode of education in the university, and to abuse the + antiquated regulations and restrictions to which undergraduates are + subjected, he had yet a due discrimination in his respect for the + individuals who belonged to it. I have always, indeed, heard him speak + in high terms of praise of Hailstone, as well as of his master, Bishop + Mansel, of Trinity College, and of others whose names I have now + forgotten.<br> +<br> + "Few people understood Byron; but I know that he had naturally a kind + and feeling heart, and that there was not a single spark of malice in + his composition."</blockquote> + +Professor Hailstone was Woodwardian Professor of Geology (1788-1818). +(<a name="cr5">For</a> Bishop Mansel, see page 84, <a href="#f60"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#L58">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp4">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L59"></a>59 — To John Hanson<a href="#f74"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Southwell, Dec. 7th, 1806.<br> +<br> +Sir, — A Letter to Mrs. Byron has just arrived which states, from what +"you have <i>heard</i> of the Tenor of my Letters," you will not put up with +Insult. I presume this means (for I will not be positive on what is +rather ambiguously expressed) that some offence to you has been conveyed +in the above mentioned Epistles. If you will peruse the papers in +question, you will discover that the <i>person</i> insulted is not +<i>yourself</i>, or any one of your "<i>Connections</i>." On Mr. B.'s apology, I +have expressed my opinion in a Letter to your Son, if any +Misrepresentation has taken place, it must be those "Connections" to +whom I am to pay such Deference, & whose conduct to me has deserved such +<i>ample respect</i>. I must now beg leave to observe in turn, that I am +by no means disposed to bear Insult, &, be the consequences what they +may, I will always declare, in plain and explicit Terms, my Grievance, +nor will I overlook the slightest Mark of disrespect, & silently brood +over affronts from a mean and interested dread of Injury to my person or +property. The former I have Strength and resolution to protect; the +latter is too trifling by its Loss to occasion a moments Uneasiness.<br> +<br> +Though not conversant with the methodical & dilatory arrangements of Law +or Business, I know enough of Justice to direct my conduct by the +principles of Equity, nor can I reconcile the "Insolence of office" to +her regulations or forget in an Instant a poignant Affront.<br> +<br> +But enough of this Dispute. You will perceive my Sentiments on the +Subject, in my correspondence with Mr. B. and Mr. H. Junior. In future +to prevent a repetition and altercation I shall advise; but as, even +then, some Demur may take place, I wish to be informed, if the equitable +Court of Chancery, whose paternal care of their Ward can never be +sufficiently commended, have determined, in the great Flow of parental +Affection, to withhold their beneficent Support, till I return to "Alma Mater" (i. e.) Cambridge. Your Information on this point will oblige, +as a College life is neither conducive to my Improvement, nor suitable +to my Inclination. As to the reverse of the Rochdale Trial, I received +the News of Success without confidence or exultation; I now sustain the +Loss without repining. My Expectations from <i>Law</i> were never very +sanguine.<br> +<br> +I remain, yr very obedt. sert.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f74"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Hanson's partner, Birch, the "Mr. B." of the letter, seems to have irritated Byron by withholding the income allotted +to him by the Court of Chancery for his education at Cambridge. The +attempt to compel his return to Trinity by cutting off the supplies, +failed. He did not appear again at Cambridge till the summer term of +1807.<br> +<a href="#L59">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L60">60 — To J. Ridge</a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's Hotel, Albemarle Street, Jany. 12, 1807.<br> +<br> +Mr. Ridge, — I understand from some of my friends, that several of the +papers are in the habit of publishing extracts from my volume, +particularly the <i>Morning Herald</i>. I cannot say for my own part I have +observed this, but I am assured it is so. The thing is of no consequence +to me, except that I dislike it. But it is to you, and as publisher you +should put a stop to it. The <i>Morning Herald</i> is the paper; of course +you cannot address any other, as I am sure I have seen nothing of the +kind in mine. You will act upon this as you think proper, and proceed +with the 2d. Edition as you please. I am in no hurry, and I still think +you were <i>premature</i> in undertaking it.<br> +<br> +Etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Present a copy of the <i>Antijacobin</i> therein to Mrs. Byron.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L61">61 — To John M. B. Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +Southwell, Jan. 13, 1807.<br> +<br> +I ought to begin with <i>sundry</i> apologies, for my own negligence, but the +variety of my avocations in <i>prose</i> and <i>verse</i> must plead my excuse. +With this epistle you will receive a volume of all my <i>Juvenilia</i>, +published since your departure: it is of considerably greater size than +the <i>copy</i> in your possession, which I beg you will destroy, as the +present is much more complete. <a name="fr75">That</a> <i>unlucky</i> poem to my poor Mary<a href="#f75"><sup>1</sup></a> +has been the cause of some animadversion from <i>ladies in years</i>. I have +not printed it in this collection, in consequence of my being pronounced +a most <i>profligate sinner</i>, in short, a "<i>young Moore</i>,"<a href="#f76"><sup>2</sup></a> by — — — , +your — — friend. I believe, in general, they have been favourably +received, and surely the age of their author will preclude <i>severe</i> +criticism. The adventures of my life from sixteen to nineteen, and the +dissipation into which I have been thrown in London, have given a +voluptuous tint to my ideas; but the occasions which called forth my +muse could hardly admit any other colouring. This volume is <i>vastly</i> +correct and miraculously chaste. Apropos, talking of love, ...<br> +<br> +...<br> +<br> +If you can find leisure to answer this farrago of unconnected nonsense, +you need not doubt what gratification will accrue from your reply to +yours ever, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f75"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See page 104, <a href="#f70"><i>note</i></a> 2.<br> +<a href="#fr75">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f76"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Thomas Moore (1779-1852) had already published <i>Anacreon</i> +(1800), <i>The Poetical Works of the late Thomas Little</i> (1801), and +<i>Odes, Epistles, and other Poems</i> (1806). In all, especially in the +second, the poetry was of an erotic character. + +<blockquote>"So heartily," said +Rogers (<i>Table-Talk, etc.</i>, pp. 281, 282), "has Moore repented of having +published <i>Little's Poems</i>, that I have seen him shed tears — tears of +deep contrition — when we were talking of them. Young ladies read his +<i>Lalla Rookh</i> without being aware (I presume) of the grossness of <i>The +Veiled Prophet</i>. These lines by Mr. Sneyd are amusing enough — + + <blockquote>"'<i>Lalla Rookh</i><br> + Is a naughty book<br> + By Tommy Moore,<br> + Who has written four,<br> + Each warmer<br> + Than the former.<br> + So the most recent<br> + Is the least decent.'"</blockquote></blockquote> +<a href="#fr75">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L62"></a>62 — To Captain John Leacroft<a href="#f77"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +January 31, 1807.<br> +<br> +Sir, — Upon serious reflection on the conversation we last night held, I +am concerned to say, that the only effectual method to crash the +animadversions of officious malevolence, is by my declining all future +intercourse with those whom my acquaintance has unintentionally injured. +At the same time I must observe that I do not form this resolution from +any resentment at your representation, which was temperate and +gentlemanly, but from a thorough conviction that the desirable end can +be attained by no other line of conduct.<br> +<br> +I beg leave to return my thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Leacroft, for the +attention and hospitality I have always experienced, of which I shall +ever retain a grateful remembrance.<br> +<br> +So much to them; with your permission, I must add a few words for +myself. You will be sensible, that a coolness between families, hitherto +remarkable for their intimacy, cannot remain unobserved in a town, whose +inhabitants are notorious for officious curiosity; that the causes for +our separation will be mis-represented I have little doubt; if, +therefore, I discover that such misrepresentation does take place, I +shall call upon you, to unite with myself in making a serious example of +those <i>men</i>, be they <i>who</i> they may, that dare to cast an aspersion on +the character I am sacrificing my own comfort to protect.<br> +<br> +If, on the other hand, they imagine, that my conduct is the consequence +of intimidation, from my conference with you, I must require a further +explanation of what passed between us on the subject, as, however +careful I am of your Sister's honour, I am equally tenacious of my own.<br> +<br> +I do not wish this to be misconstrued into any desire to quarrel; it is +what I shall endeavour to avoid; but, as a young man very lately entered +into the world, I feel compelled to state, that I can permit no +suspicion to be attached to my name with impunity.<br> +<br> +I have the honour to remain,<br> +<br> +Your very obedient Servant,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f77"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This and the two following letters refer to a quarrel +between Byron and the Leacroft family, which arose from his attentions +to Miss Julia Leacroft. Moore's statement, that Captain Leacroft, the +lady's brother (see page 34, <a href="#f23"><i>note</i></a> 2), sent a challenge to Byron, who +was at first inclined to accept it, is inaccurate. But it is possible +that Byron was acting on the advice of the Rev. J. T. Becher, when he +decided, in order to prevent misunderstanding, to break off his +acquaintance with the Leacrofts absolutely.<br> +<a href="#L62">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f23">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 12</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L63">63 — To Captain John Leacroft</a></h3> +<br> +February 4th, 1807.<br> +<br> +Sir, — I have just received your note, which conveys all that can be said +on the subject. I can easily conceive your feelings must have been +irritated in the course of the affair. I am sorry that I have been the +unintentional cause of so disagreeable a business. The line of conduct, +however painful to myself, which I have adopted, is the only effectual +method to prevent the remarks of a <i>meddling world</i>. I therefore again +take my leave for the last time. I repeat, that, though the intercourse, +from which I have derived so many hours of happiness, is for ever +interrupted, the remembrance can never be effaced from the bosom of<br> +<br> +Your very obedient Servant,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> + +<a href="#f23">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 12</a><br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L64">64 — To Captain John Leacroft</a></h3> +<br> +February 4th, 1807.<br> +<br> +Sir, — I am concerned to be obliged again to trouble you, as I had hoped +that our conversations had terminated amicably. Your good Father, it +seems, has desired otherwise; he has just sent a most <i>agreeable</i> +epistle, in which I am honoured with the appellations of +<i>unfeeling</i> and ungrateful. But as the consequences of all this +must ultimately fall on you and myself, I merely write this to apprise +you that the dispute is not of my seeking, and that, if we must cut each +other's throats to please our relations, you will do me the justice to +say it is from no <i>personal</i> animosity between us, or from any +insult on my part, that such <i>disagreeable</i> events (for I am not so +much enamoured of quarrels as to call them <i>pleasant</i>) have arisen.<br> +<br> +I remain, your's, etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> + +<a href="#f23">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 12</a> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L65"></a>65 — To the Earl of Clare<a href="#f78"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Southwell, Notts, February 6, 1807.<br> +<br> +My Dearest Clare, — Were I to make all the apologies necessary to atone +for my late negligence, you would justly say you had received a petition +instead of a letter, as it would be filled with prayers for forgiveness; +but instead of this, I will acknowledge my <i>sins</i> at once, and I trust +to your friendship and generosity rather than to my own excuses. Though +my health is not perfectly re-established, I am out of all danger, and +have recovered every thing but my spirits, which are subject to +depression. <a name="fr79">You</a> will be astonished to hear I have lately written to +Delawarr<a href="#f79"><sup>2</sup></a>, for the purpose of explaining (as far as possible without +involving some <i>old friends</i> of mine in the business) the cause of my +behaviour to him during my last residence at Harrow (nearly two years +ago), which you will recollect was rather "<i>en cavalier</i>." Since that +period, I have discovered he was treated with injustice both by those +who misrepresented his conduct, and by me in consequence of their +suggestions. I have therefore made all the reparation in my power, by +apologizing for my mistake, though with very faint hopes of success; +indeed I never expected any answer, but desired one for form's sake; +<i>that</i> has not yet arrived, and most probably never will. However, I +have <i>eased</i> my own <i>conscience</i> by the atonement, which is humiliating +enough to one of my disposition; yet I could not have slept satisfied +with the reflection of having, <i>even unintentionally</i>, injured any +individual. I have done all that could be done to repair the injury, and +there the affair must end. Whether we renew our intimacy or not is of +very trivial consequence.<br> +<br> +My time has lately been much occupied with very different pursuits. <a name="fr80">I</a> +have been <i>transporting</i> a servant<a href="#f80"><sup>3</sup></a>, who cheated me, — rather a +disagreeable event; — performing in private theatricals<a href="#f81"><sup>4</sup></a>; — publishing +a volume of poems (at the request of my friends, for their perusal); + — making love, — and taking physic. The two last amusements have not had +the best effect in the world; for my attentions have been divided +amongst so many fair damsels, and the drugs I swallow are of such +variety in their composition, that between Venus and Æsculapius I am +harassed to death. However, I have still leisure to devote some hours to +the recollections of past, regretted friendships, and in the interval to +take the advantage of the moment, to assure you how much I am, and ever +will be, my dearest Clare,<br> +<br> +Your truly attached and sincere<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f78"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> John Fitzgibbon (1792-1851), son of the first Earl of +Clare, by his wife Anne Whaley, succeeded his father as second Earl in +January, 1802. A schoolfellow of Byron's at Harrow, he was the "Lycus" +of "Childish Recollections," and one of his dearest friends. Clare, +after leaving Harrow, went to a private tutor, the Rev. Mr. Smith, at +Woodnesborough, near Sandwich. There he formed so close a friendship +with Lord John Russell as to provoke Byron's jealousy (<i>Life</i>, p. +21). Clare was at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A. 1812); Byron at Trinity, +Cambridge. They rarely met after leaving Harrow. Their meeting on the +road between Imola and Bologna in 1821, + + <blockquote> "annihilated for a moment," says Byron (see <i>Life</i>, p. 540; + <i>Detached Thoughts</i>, November 5, 1821), "all the years between + the present time and the days of Harrow. We were but five minutes + together, and on the public road; but I hardly recollect an hour of my + existence which could be weighed against them. Of all I have ever + known, he has always been the least altered in everything from the + excellent qualities and kind affections which attached me to him so + strongly at school. I should hardly have thought it possible for + society (or the world, as it is called) to leave a being with so + little of the leaven of bad passions. I do not speak from personal + experience only, but from all I have ever heard of him from others, + during absence and distance."</blockquote> + +Lord Clare was Governor of Bombay from 1830 to 1834.<br> +<a href="#L65">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f79"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> See page 41,<a href="#f29"> <i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr79">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f80"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> See page 81, <a href="#f57"><i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr80">return</a><br> +<a href="#f57">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 38</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f81"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> In the theatricals, which took place at Southwell in the +autumn of 1806, Byron was the chief mover. A letter received by Mr. +Pigot, quoted by Moore (<i>Life</i>, p. 38), shows how eagerly his return +from Harrogate was expected:— + +<blockquote> "Tell Lord Byron that, if any accident should retard his return, his + mother desires he will write to her, as she shall be <i>miserable</i> if he + does not arrive the day he fixes. Mr. W. B. has written a card to Mrs. + H. to offer for the character of 'Henry Woodville,' — Mr. and Mrs. + — — not approving of their son's taking a part in the play: but I + believe he will persist in it. Mr. G. W. says, that sooner than the + party should be disappointed, <i>he</i> will take any + part, — sing — dance — in short, do any thing to oblige. Till Lord Byron + returns, nothing can be done; and positively he must not be later than + Tuesday or Wednesday."</blockquote> + +A full account of the theatricals is given in a manuscript written by +Miss Bristoe, one of the performers. Two plays were represented, +<ol type="1"> +<li>Cumberland's <i>Wheel of Fortune</i> and</li> +<li>Allingham's <i>Weathercock</i>.</li> +</ol> +The following were the respective casts:— <br> +<br> + + +<table summary="cast list" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5"> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><b>1.</b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Penruddock</i></td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Sir David Daw</i></td> + <td>Mr. C. Becher</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Woodville</i></td> + <td>Captain Lightfoot</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Sydenham</i></td> + <td>Mr. Pigot</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Henry Woodville</i></td> + <td>Mr. H. Houson</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Mrs. Woodville</i></td> + <td>Miss Bristoe</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Emily Tempest</i></td> + <td>Miss J. Leacroft</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Dame Dunckley</i></td> + <td>Miss Leacroft</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Weazel</i></td> + <td>Mr. G. Wylde</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Jenkins</i></td> + <td>Mr. G. Heathcote<br> + <br> + </td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><b>2.</b></td> + <td></td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Tristram Fickle</i></td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Old Fickle</i></td> + <td>Mr. Pigot</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Briefwit</i></td> + <td>Captain Lightfoot</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>Sneer</td> + <td>Mr. R. Leacroft</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Variella</i></td> + <td>Miss Bristoe</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Ready</i></td> + <td>Miss Leacroft</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Gardener</i></td> + <td>Mr. C. Becher</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td><i>Barber</i></td> + <td>Mr. G. Wylde</td> +</tr> +</table> + +Between the two plays, a member of the Southwell choir sang "The Death +of Abercrombie." The brave General, attended by two aides-de-camp, all +three in the costume of the Southwell volunteers, appeared on the stage, +and the General, sinking into the outstretched arms of his two friends, +warbled out his dying words in a style which convulsed Byron with +laughter.<br> +<br> +The play itself nearly came to an untimely conclusion. Captain Lightfoot +screwed his failing courage to the sticking point by several glasses of +wine, with the result that, being a very abstemious man, he became +tipsy. But "restoratives were administered," and he went through his +part with credit. Byron, who was the star of the company, repeatedly +brought down the house by his acting.<br> +<br> +(For Byron's Prologue to <i>The Wheel of Fortune</i>, see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. +pp. 45, 46.) Moore's account of the epilogue, written by the Rev. J. T. +Becher, and spoken by Byron, is erroneous. Only one word gave any +opportunity for mimicry. It occurs in the lines — + +<blockquote>"Tempest becalmed forgets his blust'ring rage,<br> +He calls Dame Dunckley 'sister' off the stage."</blockquote> + +In pronouncing the word "sister," Byron "took off exactly the voice and +manner of Mr. R. Leacroft."<br> +<a href="#fr80">return</a><br> +<a href="#f23">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 12</a><br> +<a href="#cr4">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 58</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L66">66 — To Mrs. Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Southwell, Feb. 8, 1807.<br> +<br> +Dear Madam, — Having understood from Mrs. Byron that Mr. Hanson is in a +very indifferent State of Health, I have taken the Liberty of addressing +you on the Subject.<br> +<br> +Though the <i>Governor</i> & <i>I</i> have lately not been on the <i>best</i> of +<i>Terms</i>, yet I should be extremely sorry to learn he was in Danger, and +I trust <i>he</i> and <i>I</i> will live to have many more <i>Squabbles</i> in <i>this +world</i>, before we <i>finally make peace</i> in the next. If therefore you can +favor me with any <i>salutary</i> Intelligence of the <i>aforesaid</i> Gentleman, +believe me, nothing will be more acceptable to<br> +<br> +Yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Remember me to all the family now in <i>Garrison</i>, particularly my +old Friend Harriet.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L67"></a>67 — To William Bankes<a href="#f82"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Southwell, March 6, 1807.<br> +<br> +Dear Bankes, — Your critique is valuable for many reasons: in the first +place, it is the only one in which flattery has borne so slight a part; +in the <i>next</i>, I am <i>cloyed</i> with insipid compliments. I have a better +opinion of your judgment and ability than your <i>feelings</i>. Accept my +most sincere thanks for your kind decision, not less welcome, because +totally unexpected. With regard to a more exact estimate, I need not +remind you how few of the <i>best poems</i>, in our language, will stand the +test of <i>minute</i> or <i>verbal</i> criticism: it can, therefore, hardly be +expected the effusions of a boy (and most of these pieces have been +produced at an early period) can derive much merit either from the +subject or composition. Many of them were written under great depression +of spirits, and during severe indisposition:— hence the gloomy turn of +the ideas. We coincide in opinion that the "<i>poësies érotiques</i>" are the +most exceptionable; they were, however, grateful to the <i>deities</i>, on +whose altars they were offered — more I seek not.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr83">The</a> portrait of Pomposus<a href="#f83"><sup>2</sup></a> was drawn at Harrow, after a <i>long +sitting</i>; this accounts for the resemblance, or rather the <i>caricatura</i>. +He is <i>your</i> friend, he <i>never was mine</i> — for both our sakes I shall be +silent on this head. <a name="fr84">The</a> <i>collegiate</i> rhymes<a href="#f84"><sup>3</sup></a> are not personal — one +of the notes may appear so, but could not be omitted. I have little +doubt they will be deservedly abused — a just punishment for my unfilial +treatment of so excellent an Alma Mater. <a name="fr85">I</a> sent you no copy, lest <i>we</i> +should be placed in the situation of <i>Gil Blas</i> and the <i>Archbishop</i> of +Grenada<a href="#f85"><sup>4</sup></a>; though running some hazard from the experiment, I wished +your <i>verdict</i> to be unbiassed. Had my "<i>Libellus</i>" been presented +previous to your letter, it would have appeared a species of bribe to +purchase compliment. I feel no hesitation in saying, I was more anxious +to hear your critique, however severe, than the praises of the +<i>million</i>. <a name="fr86">On</a> the same day I was honoured with the encomiums of +<i>Mackenzie</i>, the celebrated author of the <i>Man of Feeling</i><a href="#f86"><sup>5</sup></a> +Whether <i>his</i> approbation or <i>yours</i> elated me most, I cannot +decide.<br> +<br> +You will receive my <i>Juvenilia</i>, — at least all yet published. I +have a large volume in manuscript, which may in part appear hereafter; +at present I have neither time nor inclination to prepare it for the +press. In the spring I shall return to Trinity, to dismantle my rooms, +and bid you a final adieu. The <i>Cam</i> will not be much increased by +my <i>tears</i> on the occasion. Your further remarks, however +<i>caustic</i> or bitter, to a palate vitiated with the <i>sweets of +adulation</i>, will be of service. Johnson has shown us <i>that no +poetry</i> is perfect; but to correct mine would be an Herculean labour. +In fact I never looked beyond the moment of composition, and published +merely at the request of my friends. Notwithstanding so much has been +said concerning the "Genus irritabile vatum," we shall never quarrel on +the subject — poetic fame is by no means the "acme" of my wishes. — Adieu. +Yours ever,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f82"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> William John Bankes, of Kingston Lacy, Dorsetshire, was +Byron's friend, possibly at Harrow, though his name does not occur in +the school lists, certainly at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A. 1808). +He represented Truro from 1810 to 1812, when he left England on his +Eastern travels. At Philæ he discovered an obelisk, the geometrical +elevation and inscriptions of which he published in 1820. In Mesopotamia +he encountered John Silk Buckingham, whom he afterwards charged with +making use of his notes in his <i>Travels</i>, a statement, found to be +libellous, which (October 19, 1826) cost Bankes £400 in damages. He also +travelled with Giovanni Finati, a native of Ferrara, who, under the +assumed name of Mahomet, made the campaigns against the Wahabees for the +recovery of Mecca and Medina. Finati's Italian <i>Narrative</i> was +translated by Bankes, to whom it is dedicated by his "attached and +faithful servant Hadjee Mahomet," and published in 1830. In 1822 Bankes +was elected M.P. for Cambridge University, but lost his seat to Sir J. +Copley in 1826. At a bye-election in 1827, he was again unsuccessful. +His candidature gave occasion to Macaulay's squib, which appeared in the +<i>Times</i> for May 14, 1827, <i>A Country Clergyman's Trip to Cambridge</i>. + + <blockquote> "A letter — and free — bring it here:<br> + I have no correspondent who franks.<br> + No! Yes! Can it be? Why, my dear,<br> + 'Tis our glorious, our Protestant Bankes.<br> + <br> + 'Dear Sir as I know your desire<br> + That the Church should receive due protection,<br> + I humbly presume to require<br> + Your aid at the Cambridge election,'"etc., etc.</blockquote> + +Bankes subsequently represented Marlborough (1829-1832) and Dorsetshire +(1833-1834). He was Byron's "collegiate pastor, and master and patron," +"ruled the roast" at Trinity, "or, rather, the <i>roasting</i>, and was +father of all mischief" (Byron to Murray, October 12, 1820). "William +Bankes," Byron told Lady Blessington (<i>Conversations</i>, p. 172), "is +another of my early friends. He is very clever, very original, and has +a fund of information: he is also very good-natured, but he is not much +of a flatterer." Bankes died at Venice in 1855.<br> +<a href="#L67">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f120">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 84</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f83"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Dr. Butler, Head-master of Harrow. (See page 58, <a href="#f39"><i>note</i></a> +1.)<br> +<a href="#fr83">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f84"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> "Thoughts suggested by a College Examination" (<i>Poems</i>, +vol. i. pp. 28-31); and "Granta, A Medley" (<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 56-62).<br> +<a href="#fr84">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f85"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Alluding to <i>Gil Blas</i>, bk. vii. chap, iv., where Gil Blas +ventures to criticize the Archbishop's work, and is dismissed for his +candour. + +<blockquote>"Adieu, monsieur Gil Blas; Je vous souhaite toutes sortes de +prosperités, avec un peu plus de goût."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr85">return</a><br> +<a href="#f296">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 158</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f86"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> The praise was worth having. Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831) +was not only the author of the lackadaisical <i>Man of Feeling</i>, but +in real life a shrewd, hard-headed man. As a novelist, he wrote <i>The +Man of Feeling</i> (1771), <i>The Man of Honour</i> (1773), and <i>Julia +de Roubigne</i> (1777). As a playwright, he produced four plays, none of +which succeeded. As an essayist, he contributed to the <i>Mirror</i> +(1779-80) and the <i>Lounger</i> (1785-86). As a political writer, he +supported Pitt, and was rewarded by the comptrollership of taxes. An +original member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, many of his papers +appear in its <i>Transactions</i>. In Edinburgh society he was "the life +of the company," a connecting link on the literary side between David +Hume, Walter Scott, and Lord Cockburn, and in all matters of sport a +fund of anecdotes and reminiscences.<br> +<a href="#fr86">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L68"></a>68 — To William Bankes<a href="#f87"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +For my own part, I have suffered severely in the decease of my two +greatest friends, the only beings I ever loved (females excepted); I am +therefore a solitary animal, miserable enough, and so perfectly a +citizen of the world, that whether I pass my days in Great Britain or +Kamschatka, is to me a matter of perfect indifference. I cannot evince +greater respect for your alteration than by immediately adopting +it — this shall be done in the next edition. I am sorry your remarks are +not more frequent, as I am certain they would be equally beneficial. +<a name="fr88">Since</a> my last, I have received two critical opinions from Edinburgh, +both too flattering for me to detail. One is from Lord Woodhouselee<a href="#f88"><sup>2</sup></a>, +at the head of the Scotch literati, and a most <i>voluminous</i> writer (his +last work is a <i>Life</i> of Lord Kaimes); the other from Mackenzie, who +sent his decision a second time, more at length. I am not personally +acquainted with either of these gentlemen, nor ever requested their +sentiments on the subject: their praise is voluntary, and transmitted +through the medium of a friend, at whose house they read the +productions.<br> +<br> +Contrary to my former intention, I am now preparing a volume for the +public at large: my amatory pieces will be exchanged, and others +substituted in their place. The whole will be considerably enlarged, and +appear the latter end of May. This is a hazardous experiment; but want +of better employment, the encouragement I have met with, and my own +vanity, induce me to stand the test, though not without <i>sundry +palpitations</i>. The book will circulate fast enough in this country from +mere curiosity; what I prin — — ...<br> +<br> +<i>[letter incomplete]</i><br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f87"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This fragment refers, like the previous letter, to Byron's +volume of verse, <i>Poems on Various Occasions</i>.<br> +<a href="#L68">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f88"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, one of the +Senators of the College of Justice in Scotland, and a friend of Robert +Burns. Besides the <i>Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Hon. Henry +Home of Kames</i> (1807), he published <i>Elements of General History</i> +(1801), <i>Essay on the Principles of Translation</i>, etc. He died in 1813. +His <i>Universal History</i>, in six vols., appeared in 1834.<br> +<a href="#fr88">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L69"></a>69 — To — — Falkner<a href="#f89"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Sir, — The volume of little pieces which accompanies this, would have +been presented before, had I not been apprehensive that Miss Falkner's +indisposition might render some trifles unwelcome. There are some errors +of the printer which I have not had time to correct in the collection: +you have it thus, with "all its imperfections on its head," a heavy +weight, when joined with the faults of its author. Such <i>Juvenilia</i>, as +they can claim no great degree of approbation, I may venture to hope, +will also escape the severity of uncalled for, though perhaps <i>not</i> +undeserved, criticism.<br> +<br> +They were written on many and various occasions, and are now published +merely for the perusal of a friendly circle. Believe me, sir, if they +afford the slightest amusement to yourself and the rest of my <i>social</i> +readers, I shall have gathered all the <i>bays</i> I ever wish to adorn the +head of yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f89"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Mrs. Byron's landlord at Burgage Manor.<br> +<a href="#L69">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L70">70 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +[Farleigh House, Basingstoke, Hants.]<br> +<br> +Southwell, April 2nd, 1807.<br> +<br> +Dear Sir, — Before I proceed in Reply to the other parts of your Epistle, +allow me to congratulate you on the <i>Accession</i> of <i>Dignity</i> and +<i>profit</i>, which will doubtless accrue, from your official appointment.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr90">You</a> was fortunate in obtaining Possession at so critical a period; your +Patrons "exeunt omnes."<a href="#f90"><sup>1</sup></a> I trust they will soon supersede the +Cyphers, their successors. The Reestablishment of your Health is another +happy event, and, though <i>secondary</i> in my <i>Statement</i>, is by no means +so in my <i>Wishes</i>. As to our Feuds, they are purely <i>official</i>, the +natural consequence of our relative Situations, but as little connected +with <i>personal animosity</i>, as the <i>Florid Declamations</i> of +<i>parliamentary</i> Demagogues. I return you my thanks for your favorable +opinion of my muse; I have lately been honoured with many very +flattering literary critiques, from men of high Reputation in the +Sciences, particularly Lord Woodhouselee and Henry Mackenzie, both +<i>Scots</i> and of great Eminence as Authors themselves. I have received +also some most favorable Testimonies from <i>Cambridge</i>. This you will +<i>marvel</i> at, as indeed I did myself. Encouraged by these and several +other Encomiums, I am about to publish a Volume at large; this will be +very different from the present; the amatory effusions, not to be +wondered at from the <i>dissipated</i> Life I have led, will be cut out, and +others substituted. I coincide with you in opinion that the <i>Poet</i> +yields to the <i>orator</i>; but as nothing can be done in the latter +capacity till the Expiration of my <i>Minority</i>, the former occupies my +present attention, and both <i>ancients</i> and <i>moderns</i> have declared that +the two pursuits are so nearly similar as to require in a great measure +the same Talents, and he who excels in the one, would on application +succeed in the other. Lyttleton, Glover, and Young (who was a celebrated +Preacher and a Bard) are instances of the kind. <i>Sheridan & Fox</i> also; +<i>these</i> are <i>great Names</i>. I may imitate, I can never equal them.<br> +<br> +You speak of the <i>Charms</i> of Southwell; the <i>Place</i> I <i>abhor</i>. The Fact +is I remain here because I can appear no where else, being <i>completely +done</i> up. <i>Wine</i> and <i>Women</i> have <i>dished</i> your <i>humble Servant</i>, not a +<i>Sou</i> to be <i>had</i>; all <i>over</i>; condemned to exist (I cannot say live) at +this <i>Crater</i> of Dullness till my <i>Lease</i> of <i>Infancy</i> expires. To +appear at Cambridge is impossible; no money even to pay my College +expences. You will be surprized to hear I am grown <i>very thin</i>; however +it is the <i>Fact</i>, so much so, that the people here think I am <i>going</i>. I +have lost 18 LB in my weight, that is one Stone & 4 pounds since +January, this was ascertained last Wednesday, on account of a <i>Bet</i> with +an acquaintance. However don't be alarmed; I have taken every means to +accomplish the end, by violent exercise and Fasting, as I found myself +too plump. I shall continue my Exertions, having no other amusement; I +wear <i>seven</i> Waistcoats and a great Coat, run, and play at cricket in +this Dress, till quite exhausted by excessive perspiration, use the Hip +Bath daily; eat only a quarter of a pound of Butcher's Meat in 24 hours, +no Suppers or Breakfast, only one Meal a Day; drink no malt liquor, but +a little Wine, and take Physic occasionally. By these means my <i>Ribs</i> +display Skin of no great Thickness, & my Clothes have been taken in +nearly <i>half a yard</i>. Do you believe me now?<br> +<br> +Adieu. Remembrance to Spouse and the Acorns.<br> +<br> +Yours ever,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f90"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> In March, 1807, George III demanded from the Coalition +Ministry a written pledge that they would propose no further concessions +to the Roman Catholics. They refused to give it, and the Tories, with +the Duke of Portland as their nominal head, were recalled to the +Government.<br> +<a href="#fr90">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L71">71 — To John M. B. Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +Southwell, April, 1807.<br> +<br> +My Dear Pigot, — Allow me to congratulate you on the success of your +first examination — "<i>Courage</i>, mon ami." The title of Doctor will do +wonders with the damsels. I shall most probably be in Essex or London +when you arrive at this damned place, where I am detained by the +publication of my <i>rhymes</i>.<br> +<br> +Adieu. — Believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr91">P.S</a>. — Since we met, I have reduced myself by violent exercise, <i>much</i> +physic, and <i>hot</i> bathing, from 14 stone 6 lb. to 12 stone 7 lb. In all +I have lost 27 pounds<a href="#f91"><sup>1</sup></a>. Bravo! — what say you?<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f91"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The following extract is taken from a ledger in the +possession of Messrs. Merry, of St. James's Street, S.W.:— <br> +<br> +<table summary="weight" border="0" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5"> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>1806</td> + <td>January 4</td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>(boots, no hat)</td> + <td>13 st.</td> + <td>12 lbs.</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>1807</td> + <td>July 8</td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>(shoes)</td> + <td>10 st.</td> + <td>13 lbs.</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>1807</td> + <td>July 23</td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>(shoes)</td> + <td>11 st.</td> + <td>0 lbs.</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>1807</td> + <td>August 13</td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>(shoes)</td> + <td>10 st.</td> + <td>11 1/2 lbs.</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>1808</td> + <td>May 27</td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>(shoes)</td> + <td>11 st.</td> + <td>1 lb.</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>1809</td> + <td>June 10</td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>(shoes)</td> + <td>11 st.</td> + <td>5 3/4 lbs.</td> +</tr> +<tr align="left" valign="top"> + <td>1811</td> + <td>July 15</td> + <td>Lord Byron</td> + <td>(shoes)</td> + <td>9 st.</td> + <td>11 1/2 lbs.</td> +</tr> +</table><br> +<br> + +<a href="#fr91">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f264">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 144</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L72">72 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +[6, Chancery Lane, Temple Bar, London.]<br> +<br> +Southwell, 19 April, 1807.<br> +<br> +Sir, — My last was an Epistle "<i>entre nous</i>;" <i>this</i> is a <i>Letter</i> of +<i>Business</i>, Of course the <i>formalities</i> of <i>official communication</i> must +be attended to. From lying under pecuniary difficulties, I shall draw +for the Quarter due the 25th June, in a short Time. You will recollect I +was to receive £100 for the Expence of Furniture, etc., at Cambridge. I +placed in your possession accounts to amount and then I have received +£70, for which I believe you have my Receipt. This extra £25 or £30 +(though the Bills are long ago discharged from my own purse) I should +not have troubled you for, had not my present Situation rendered even +that Trifle of some Consequence. I have therefore to request that my +Draft for £150, instead of £125 the simple Quarter, may be honoured, but +think it necessary to apprize you previous to its appearance, and indeed +to request an early Answer, as I had one Draft returned by Mistake from +your <i>House</i>, some Months past. I have no Inclination to be placed in a +similar Dilemma.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr92">I</a> lent Mrs. B. <i>£60</i> last year; of this I have never received a Sou and +in all probability never shall. I do not mention the circumstance as any +Reproach on that worthy and lamblike Dame<a href="#f92"><sup>1</sup></a>, but merely to show you +how affairs stand. 'Tis true myself and two Servants lodge in the House, +but my Horses, etc., and their expences are defrayed by your humble +Sert. I quit Cambridge in July, and shall have considerable payments to +make at that period; for this purpose I must sell my <i>Steeds</i>. I paid +Jones in January £150, £38 to my Stable Keeper, £21 to my wine Merchant, +£20 to a <i>Lawyer</i> for the prosecution of a Scoundrel, a late Servant. In +short I have done all I can, but am now completely <i>done</i> up.<br> +<br> +Your answer will oblige<br> +<br> +Yours, etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f92"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Mrs. Byron, on the other hand, tells a different story. + + <blockquote> "Lord Byron," she writes to Hanson (March 19, 1807), "has now been with +me seven months, with two Men Servants, for which I have never received +one farthing, as he requires the five hundred a year for himself. +Therefore it is impossible I can keep him and them out of my small +income of four hundred a year, — two in Scotland [Mrs. Gordon of Gight +(see <a href="#section2">Chapter I</a> p. 4) was dead], and the pension is now reduced to two +hundred a year. But if the "Court allows the additional two hundred, I +shall be perfectly satisfied.<br> +<br> +"I do not know what to say about Byron's returning to Cambridge. When he +was there, I believe he did nothing but drink, gamble, and spend money."</blockquote> + +A month later (April 29, 1807), she consults Hanson about raising £1000 +by a loan from Mrs. Parkyns on her security. <blockquote>"Byron from their last +letter gave up all hopes of getting the money, and behaved very well on +the occasion, and proposed selling his Horses and plans of Œconomy that +I much fear will be laid aside if the Money is procured. My only motive +for wishing it was to keep him clear of the Jews; but at present he does +not seem at all disposed to have anything to do with them, even if he is +disappointed in this resource. I wish to act for the best: but God knows +what is for the best."</blockquote> + +Eventually money was provided on Mrs. Byron's security (see Letters of +<a href="#L117">March 6</a> and <a href="#L121">April 26</a>, 1809), and he resided at Trinity for a few days at +the end of the May term, 1807.<br><br> + +<a href="#fr92">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f57">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 38</a> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L73">73 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></h3> +<br> + June 11, 1807.<br> +<br> + Dear Queen Bess, — <i>Savage</i> ought to be <i>immortal</i>: — though not a + <i>thorough-bred bull-dog</i>, he is the finest puppy I ever <i>saw</i>, and + will answer much better; in his great and manifold kindness he has + already bitten my fingers, and disturbed the <i>gravity</i> of old + Boatswain, who is <i>grievously discomposed</i>. I wish to be informed what + he <i>costs</i>, his <i>expenses</i>, etc., etc., that I may indemnify Mr. + G — — . <a name="fr93">My</a> thanks are <i>all</i> I can give for the trouble he has taken, + make a <i>long speech</i>, and conclude it with 1 2 3 4 5 6 7<a href="#f93"><sup>1</sup></a>. I am out + of practice, so <i>deputize</i> you as a legate, — <i>ambassador</i> would not do + in a matter concerning the <i>Pope</i>, which I presume this must, as the + <i>whole</i> turns upon a <i>Bull</i>.<br> +<br> + Yours,<br> +<br> + <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> + P.S. — I write in bed.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f93"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> He here alludes to an odd fancy or trick of his +own; — whenever he was at a loss for something to say, he used always to +gabble over "1 2 3 4 5 6 7" (Moore).<br> +<a href="#fr93">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L74">74 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +Cambridge, June 30, 1807.<br> +<br> +"<a name="fr94">Better</a> late than never, Pal,"<a href="#f94"><sup>1</sup></a> is a saying of which you know the +origin, and as it is applicable on the present occasion, you will excuse +its conspicuous place in the front of my epistle. I am almost +superannuated here. My old friends (with the exception of a very few) +all departed, and I am preparing to follow them, but remain till Monday +to be present at three <i>Oratorios</i>, two <i>Concerts</i>, a <i>Fair</i>, and a +Ball. I find I am not only <i>thinner</i> but <i>taller</i> by an inch since my +last visit. I was obliged to tell every body my <i>name</i>, nobody having +the least recollection of my <i>visage</i>, or person. <a name="fr95">Even</a> the hero of <i>my +Cornelian</i><a href="#f95"><sup>2</sup></a> (who is now sitting <i>vis-à-vis</i> reading a volume of my +<i>Poetics</i>) passed me in Trinity walks without recognising me in the +least, and was thunderstruck at the alteration which had taken place in +my countenance, etc., etc. Some say I look <i>better</i>, others <i>worse</i>, but +all agree I am <i>thinner</i>, — more I do not require. <a name="fr96">I</a> have lost two pounds +in my weight since I left your <i>cursed</i>, <i>detestable</i>, and <i>abhorred</i> +abode of <i>scandal</i>, where, excepting yourself and John Becher<a href="#f96"><sup>3</sup></a>, I care +not if the whole race were consigned to the <i>Pit of Acheron</i>, which I +would visit in person rather than contaminate my <i>sandals</i> with the +polluted dust of Southwell. <i>Seriously</i>, unless obliged by the +<i>emptiness</i> of my purse to revisit Mrs. B., you will see me no more.<br> +<br> +On Monday I depart for London. I quit Cambridge with little regret, +because our <i>set</i> are <i>vanished</i>, and my <i>musical protégé</i> before +mentioned has left the choir, and is stationed in a mercantile house of +considerable eminence in the metropolis. You may have heard me observe +he is exactly to an hour two years younger than myself. I found him +grown considerably, and as you will suppose, very glad to see his former +<i>Patron</i>. He is nearly my height, very <i>thin</i>, very fair complexion, +dark eyes, and light locks. My opinion of his mind you already know; — I +hope I shall never have occasion to change it. Every body here conceives +me to be an <i>invalid</i>. The University at present is very gay from the +fètes of divers kinds. I supped out last night, but eat (or ate) +nothing, sipped a bottle of claret, went to bed at two, and rose at +eight. I have commenced early rising, and find it agrees with me. <a name="fr97">The</a> +Masters and the Fellows all very <i>polite</i>, but look a little <i>askance</i> + — don't much admire <i>lampoons</i><a href="#f97"><sup>4</sup></a> — truth always disagreeable.<br> +<br> +Write, and tell me how the inhabitants of your <i>Menagerie</i> go <i>on</i>, and +if my publication goes <i>off</i> well: do the quadrupeds <i>growl</i>? Apropos, +my bull-dog is deceased — "Flesh both of cur and man is grass." Address +your answer to Cambridge. If I am gone, it will be forwarded. <a name="fr98">Sad</a> news +just arrived — Russians beat<a href="#f98"><sup>5</sup></a> — a bad set, eat nothing but <i>oil</i>, +consequently must melt before a <i>hard fire</i>. I get awkward in my +academic habiliments for want of practice. Got up in a window to hear +the oratorio at St. Mary's, popped down in the middle of the <i>Messiah</i>, +tore a <i>woeful</i> rent in the back of my best black silk gown, and damaged +an egregious pair of breeches. Mem. — never tumble from a church window +during service. Adieu, dear — — ! do not remember me to any body:— to +<i>forget</i> and be forgotten by the people of Southwell is all I aspire to.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f94"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The allusion is to the farce <i>Better Late than Never</i> +(attributed to Miles Peter Andrews, but really, according to Reynolds +(<i>Life</i>, vol. ii. pp. 79, 80), by himself, Topham, and Andrews), in +which Pallet, an artist, is a prominent character. It was played at +Drury Lane for the first time October 17, 1790, with Kemble as "Saville" +and Mrs. Jordan as "Augusta."<br> +<a href="#fr94">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f95"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> "The hero of <i>my Cornelian</i>" was a Cambridge chorister named Edleston, whose life, as +Harness has recorded in a MS. note, Byron saved from drowning. This +began their acquaintance. (See Byron's lines on "The Cornelian," +<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. 66-67.) Edleston died of consumption in May, 1811. +Byron, writing to Mrs. Pigot, gives the following account of his death:— + + <blockquote> "Cambridge, Oct. 28, 1811.<br> +<br> + Dear Madam, — I am about to write to you on a silly subject, and yet I + cannot well do otherwise. You may remember a <i>cornelian</i>, which some + years ago I consigned to Miss Pigot, indeed <i>gave</i> to her, and now I + am going to make the most selfish and rude of requests. The person who + gave it to me, when I was very young, is <i>dead</i>, and though a long + time has elapsed since we met, as it was the only memorial I possessed + of that person (in whom I was very much interested), it has acquired a + value by this event I could have wished it never to have borne in my + eyes. If, therefore, Miss Pigot should have preserved it, I must, + under these circumstances, beg her to excuse my requesting it to be + transmitted to me at No. 8, St. James's Street, London, and I will + replace it by something she may remember me by equally well. As she + was always so kind as to feel interested in the fate of him that + formed the subject of our conversation, you may tell her that the + giver of that cornelian died in May last of a consumption, at the age + of twenty-one, making the sixth, within four months, of friends and + relatives that I have lost between May and the end of August.<br> +<br> + "Believe me, dear Madam, yours very sincerely,<br> +<br> + "<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> + "P.S. — I go to London to-morrow."</blockquote> + +The cornelian heart was, of course, returned, and Lord Byron, at the +same time, reminded that he had left it with Miss Pigot as a deposit, +<i>not</i> a gift (Moore).<br> +<a href="#fr95">return</a><br> +<a href="#f301">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 161</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f96"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> See page 182, <a href="#f152"><i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr96">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f97"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> See "Thoughts suggested by a College Examination" (<i>Poems</i>, +vol. i. pp. 28-31), also "Granta: a Medley" (<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. +56-62).<br> +<a href="#fr97">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f98"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> The Battle of Friedland, June 15, 1807. This is almost the +first allusion that Byron makes to the war.<br> +<a href="#fr98">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L75">75 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +Trin. Coll. Camb. July 5, 1807.<br> +<br> +Since my last letter I have determined to reside <i>another year</i> at +Granta, as my rooms, etc., etc., are finished in great style, several +old friends come up again, and many new acquaintances made; consequently +my inclination leads me forward, and I shall return to college in +October if still <i>alive</i>. My life here has been one continued routine of +dissipation — out at different places every day, engaged to more dinners, +etc., etc., than my <i>stay</i> would permit me to fulfil. At this moment I +write with a bottle of claret in my <i>head</i> and <i>tears</i> in my <i>eyes</i>; for +I have just parted with my "<i>Cornelian</i>" who spent the evening with me. +As it was our last interview, I postponed my engagement to devote the +hours of the <i>Sabbath</i> to friendship:— Edleston and I have separated for +the present, and my mind is a chaos of hope and sorrow. To-morrow I set +out for London: you will address your answer to "Gordon's Hotel, +Albemarle Street," where I <i>sojourn</i> during my visit to the metropolis.<br> +<br> +I rejoice to hear you are interested in my <i>protégé</i>; he has been my +<i>almost constant</i> associate since October, 1805, when I entered Trinity +College. His <i>voice</i> first attracted my attention, his <i>countenance</i> +fixed it, and his <i>manners</i> attached me to him for ever. He departs for +a <i>mercantile house</i> in <i>town</i> in October, and we shall probably not +meet till the expiration of my minority, when I shall leave to his +decision either entering as a <i>partner</i> through my interest, or residing +with me altogether. Of course he would in his present frame of mind +prefer the <i>latter</i>, but he may alter his opinion previous to that +period; — however, he shall have his choice. I certainly love him more +than any human being, and neither time nor distance have had the least +effect on my (in general) changeable disposition. <a name="fr99">In</a> short, we shall, +put <i>Lady E. Butler</i> and <i>Miss Ponsonby</i><a href="#f99"><sup>1</sup></a> to the blush, <i>Pylades</i> and <i>Orestes</i> out of countenance, and want nothing but a catastrophe like <i>Nisus</i> and <i>Euryalus</i>, to give <i>Jonathan</i> and <i>David</i> the "go by." He +certainly is perhaps more attached to <i>me</i> than even I am in return. +During the whole of my residence at Cambridge we met every day, summer +and winter, without passing <i>one</i> tiresome moment, and separated each +time with increasing reluctance. I hope you will one day see us +together. He is the only being I esteem, though I <i>like</i> many.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr100">The</a> Marquis of Tavistock<a href="#f100"><sup>2</sup></a> was down the other day; I supped with him +at his tutor's — entirely a Whig party. The opposition muster strong here +now, and Lord Hartington, the Duke of Leinster, etc., etc., are to join +us in October, so every thing will be <i>splendid</i>. The <i>music</i> is all +over at present. Met with another "<i>accidency</i>" — upset a butter-boat in +the lap of a lady — look'd very <i>blue</i> — <i>spectators</i> grinned — "curse +'em!" Apropos, sorry to say, been <i>drunk</i> every day, and not quite +<i>sober</i> yet — however, touch no meat, nothing but fish, soup, and +vegetables, consequently it does me no harm — sad dogs all the <i>Cantabs</i>. +Mem. — <i>we mean</i> to reform next January. This place is a <i>monotony of +endless variety</i> — like it — hate Southwell. Has Ridge sold well? or do +the ancients demur? What ladies have bought?<br> +<br> +<a name="fr101">Saw</a> a girl at St. Mary's the image of Anne — — <a href="#f101"><sup>3</sup></a>, thought it was +her — all in the wrong — the lady stared, so did I — I <i>blushed</i>, so did <i>not</i> the lady, — sad thing — wish women had <i>more modesty</i>. Talking of +women, puts me in mind of my terrier Fanny — how is she? Got a headache, +must go to bed, up early in the morning to travel. My <i>protégé</i> +breakfasts with me; parting spoils my appetite — excepting from +Southwell. Mem. <i>I hate Southwell</i>.<br> +<br> +Yours, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f99"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Lady Eleanor Butler (c. 1745-1829), sister of the +seventeenth Earl of Ormonde, and Sarah Ponsonby (circ. 1755-1831), +cousin of the Earl of Bessborough, were the two "Ladies of the Vale," or +"Ladies of Llangollen." About the year 1779 they settled in a cottage at +Plasnewydd, in the Vale of Llangollen, where they lived, with their +maidservant, Mary Caryll, for upwards of half a century. They are +buried, with their servant, in the churchyard of Plasnewydd, under a +triangular pyramid. Though they had withdrawn from the world, they +watched its proceedings with the keenest interest. + + <blockquote> "If," writes Mrs. Piozzi, from Brynbella, July 9, 1796, "Mr. Bunbury's + <i>Little Gray Man</i> is printed, do send it hither; the ladies at + Llangollen are dying for it. They like those old Scandinavian tales + and the imitations of them exceedingly; and tell me about the prince + and princess of <i>this</i> loyal country, one province of which alone had + disgraced itself" </blockquote> + +(<i>Life and Writings of Mrs. Piozzi</i>, vol. ii. p. 234). Nor did they +despise the theatre. Charles Mathews (<i>Memoirs</i>, vol. iii. pp. 150, +151), writing from Oswestry, September 4, 1820, says, + + <blockquote> "The dear inseparable inimitables, Lady Butler and Miss Ponsonby, were + in the boxes here on Friday. They came twelve miles from Llangollen, + and returned, as they never sleep from home. Oh, such curiosities! I + was nearly convulsed.... As they are seated, there is not one point to + distinguish them from men; the dressing and powdering of the hair; + their well-starched neckcloths; the upper part of their habits, which + they always wear, even at a dinner-party, made precisely like men's + coats; and regular black beaver men's hats. They looked exactly like + two respectable superannuated old clergymen.... I was highly + flattered, as they never were in the theatre before." </blockquote> + +Among the many people who visited them in their retreat, and have left +descriptions of them, are Madame de Genlis, De Quincey, Prince +Pückler-Muskau. Their friendships were sung by Sotheby and Anne Seward, +and their cottage was depicted by Pennant. + +<blockquote>"It is very singular," writes +John Murray, August 24, 1829, to his son (<i>Memoir of John Murray</i>, vol. +ii. p. 304), + + "that the ladies, intending to <i>retire</i> from the world, absolutely + brought all the world to visit them, for after a few years of + seclusion their strange story was the universal subject of + conversation, and there has been no person of rank, talent, and + importance in any way who did not procure introductions to them."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr99">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f100"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Lord Tavistock's experience at Cambridge resembled that of +Byron. He had received only a "pretended education," and the Duke of +Bedford had come to the conclusion that "nothing was learned at English +Universities." "Tavistock left Cambridge in May," Lord J. Russell notes +in his Diary for 1808, "having been there in supposition two years" +(Walpole's <i>Life of Lord John Russell</i>, vol. i. pp. 44 and 35).<br> +<a href="#fr100">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f101"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Probably Miss Anne Houson, daughter of the Rev. Henry +Houson of Southwell. She married the Rev. Luke Jackson, died December +25, 1821, and is buried at Hucknall Torkard. (For verses addressed to +her, see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 70-2, 244-45, 246-47, 251-52, 253.)<br> +<a href="#fr101">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L76">76 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +Gordon's Hotel, July 13, 1807.<br> +<br> +You write most excellent epistles — a fig for other correspondents, with +their nonsensical apologies for "<i>knowing nought about it</i>" — you send me +a delightful budget. I am here in a perpetual vortex of dissipation +(very pleasant for all that), and, strange to tell, I get thinner, being +now below eleven stone considerably. Stay in town a <i>month</i>, perhaps six +weeks, trip into Essex, and then, as a favour, <i>irradiate</i> Southwell for +three days with the light of my countenance; but nothing shall ever make +me <i>reside</i> there again. I positively return to Cambridge in October; we +are to be uncommonly gay, or in truth I should <i>cut</i> the University. An +extraordinary circumstance occurred to me at Cambridge; a girl so very +like — — made her appearance, that nothing but the most <i>minute +inspection</i> could have undeceived me. I wish I had asked if <i>she</i> had +ever been at H — — <br> +<br> +<a name="fr102">What</a> the devil would Ridge have? is not fifty in a fortnight, before the +advertisements, a sufficient sale<a href="#f102"><sup>1</sup></a>? I hear many of the London +booksellers have them, and Crosby<a href="#f103"><sup>2</sup></a> has sent copies to the principal +watering places. Are they liked or not in Southwell? <br> +... <br> +I wish +Boatswain had <i>swallowed</i> Damon! How is Bran? by the immortal gods, Bran +ought to be a <i>Count</i> of the <i>Holy Roman Empire</i>.<br> +<br> +The intelligence of London cannot be interesting to you, who have +rusticated all your life — the annals of routs riots, balls and +boxing-matches, cards and crim. cons., parliamentary discussion, +political details, masquerades, mechanics, Argyle Street Institution and +aquatic races, love and lotteries, Brookes's and Buonaparte, +opera-singers and oratorios, wine, women, wax-work, and weathercocks, +can't accord with your <i>insulated</i> ideas of decorum and other <i>silly +expressions</i> not inserted in <i>our vocabulary</i>.<br> +<br> +Oh! Southwell, Southwell, how I rejoice to have left thee, and how I +curse the heavy hours I dragged along, for so many months, among the +Mohawks who inhabit your kraals! — However, one thing I do not regret, +which is having <i>pared off</i> a sufficient quantity of flesh to enable me +to slip into "an eel-skin," and vie with the <i>slim</i> beaux of modern +times; though I am sorry to say, it seems to be the mode amongst +<i>gentlemen</i> to grow <i>fat</i>, and I am told I am at least fourteen pound +below the fashion. However, I <i>decrease</i> instead of enlarging, which is +extraordinary, as <i>violent</i> exercise in London is impracticable; but I +attribute the <i>phenomenon</i> to our <i>evening squeezes</i> at public and +private parties. I heard from Ridge this morning (the 14th, my letter +was begun yesterday): he says the poems go on as well as can be wished; +the seventy-five sent to town are circulated, and a demand for fifty +more complied with, the day he dated his epistle, though the +advertisements are not yet half published. Adieu.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr104">P.S</a>. — Lord Carlisle, on receiving my poems, sent, before he opened the +book, a tolerably handsome letter<a href="#f104"><sup>3</sup></a>:— I have not heard from him since. +His opinions I neither know nor care about: if he is the least insolent, +I shall enrol him with <i>Butler</i> and the other worthies. He is in +Yorkshire, poor man! and very ill! He said he had not had time to read +the contents, but thought it necessary to acknowledge the receipt of the +volume immediately. Perhaps the Earl "<i>bears no brother near the +throne" — if so</i>, I will make his <i>sceptre</i> totter <i>in his +hands</i>. — Adieu!<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f102"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> : This is probably the third collection of early verse, +<i>Hours of Idleness</i>, the first collection published with Byron's name +(see page 104, <a href="#f70"><i>note</i></a> 1).<br> +<a href="#fr102">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f103"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> B. Crosby & Co., of Stationers' Court, were the London +agents of Ridge, the Newark bookseller. Crosby was also the publisher of +a magazine called <i>Monthly Literary Recreations</i>, in which (July, 1807) +appeared a highly laudatory notice of <i>Hours of Idleness</i>, and Byron's +review of Wordsworth's <i>Poems</i> (2 vols. 1807. See <a href="#section6">Appendix I</a>), and his +"Stanzas to Jessy" (see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 234-236). These lines were +enclosed with the following letter, addressed to "Mr. Crosby, +Stationers' Court:" — + + <blockquote> "July 21, 1807. + + Sir, — I have sent according to my promise some Stanzas for + <i>Literary Recreations</i>. The insertion I leave to the option of the + Editors. They have never appeared before. I should wish to + know whether they are admitted or not, and when the work will + appear, as I am desirous of a copy.<br> +<br> + Etc., etc.,<br> +<br> + <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> + P.S. — Send your answer when convenient."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr102">return</a><br> +<a href="#f106">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 78</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f104"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> + + <blockquote>"My Dear Lord, — Your letter of yesterday found me an invalid, and + unable to do justice to your poems by a dilligent [<i>sic</i>] perusal of + them. In the meantime I take the first occasion to thank you for + sending them to me, and to express a sincere satisfaction in finding + you employ your leisure in such occupations. Be not disconcerted if + the reception of your works should not be that you may have a right to + look for from the public. Persevere, whatever that reception may be, + and tho' the Public maybe found very fastidious, ... you will stand + better with the world than others who only pursue their studies in + Bond St. or at Tatershall's.<br> +<br> + Believe me to be, yours most sincerely,<br> +<br> + <b>Carlisle</b>.<br> +<br> + July 8th, 1807."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr104">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp5">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L77">77 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +July 20th, 1807.<br> +<br> +Sir, — Your proposal to make Mrs. Byron my <i>Treasurer</i> is very kind, +but does not meet with my approbation. Mrs. Byron has already made more +<i>free</i> with my <i>funds</i> than suits my convenience & I do not +chuse to expose her to the Danger of Temptation.<br> +<br> +Things will therefore stand as they are; the remedy would be worse than +the Disease.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr105">I</a> wish you would order your Drafts payable to me and not Mrs. B. This is +worse than Hannibal Higgins<a href="#f105"><sup>1</sup></a>; who the Devil could suppose that any +Body would have mistaken him for a <i>real personage?</i> & what earthly +consequence could it be whether the Blank in the Draft was filled up +with <i>Wilkins, Tomkyns, Simkins, Wiggins, Spriggins, Jiggins</i>, or +<i>Higgins?</i> If I had put in <i>James Johnson</i> you would not have +demurred, & why object to Hannibal Higgins? particularly after his +<i>respectable Endorsements</i>. As to Business, I make no pretensions +to a Knowledge of any thing but a Greek Grammer or a Racing Calendar; +but if the <i>Quintessence</i> of information on that head consists in +unnecessary & unpleasant delays, explanations, rebuffs, retorts, +repartees, & recriminations, the House of H. & B. stands pre-eminent in +the profession, as from the Bottom of his Soul testifies<br> +<br> +Yours, etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S — Will you dine with me on Sunday Tête a Tête at six o'clock? I +should be happy to see you before, but my Engagements will not permit +me, as on Wednesday I go to the House. I shall have Hargreaves & his +Brother on some day after you; I don't like to annoy Children with the +<i>formal</i> Faces of <i>legal</i> papas.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f105"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The point of the allusion is that Byron had endorsed one of +Hanson's drafts with the name of "Hannibal Higgins," and had +been solemnly warned of the consequences of so tampering with the +dignity of the law.<br> +<a href="#fr105">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L78">78 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.</a></h3> +<br> +August 2, 1807.<br> +<br> +London begins to disgorge its contents — town is empty — consequently I +can scribble at leisure, as occupations are less numerous. In a +fortnight I shall depart to fulfil a country engagement; but expect two +epistles from you previous to that period. Ridge does not proceed +rapidly in Notts — very possible. In town things wear a more promising +aspect, and a man whose works are praised by <i>reviewers</i>, admired by +<i>duchesses</i>, and sold by every bookseller of the metropolis, does not +dedicate much consideration to <i>rustic readers</i>. <a name="fr106">I</a> have now a review +before me, entitled <i>Literary Recreations</i><a href="#f106"><sup>1</sup></a> where my <i>hardship</i> is +applauded far beyond my deserts. I know nothing of the critic, but think +<i>him</i> a very discerning gentleman, and <i>myself</i> a devilish <i>clever</i> +fellow. His critique pleases me particularly, because it is of great +length, and a proper quantum of censure is administered, just to give an +agreeable <i>relish</i> to the praise. You know I hate insipid, unqualified, +common-place compliment. If you would wish to see it, order the 13th +Number of <i>Literary Recreations</i> for the last month. I assure you I have +not the most distant idea of the writer of the article — it is printed in +a periodical publication — and though I have written a paper (a review of +Wordsworth), which appears in the same work, I am ignorant of every +other person concerned in it — even the editor, whose name I have not +heard. <a name="fr107">My</a> cousin, Lord Alexander Gordon, who resided in the same hotel, +told me his mother, her Grace of Gordon<a href="#f107"><sup>2</sup></a>, requested he would +introduce my <i>Poetical</i> Lordship to her <i>Highness</i>, as she had bought my +volume, admired it exceedingly, in common with the rest of the +fashionable world, and wished to claim her relationship with the author. +I was unluckily engaged on an excursion for some days afterwards; and, +as the Duchess was on the eve of departing for Scotland, I have +postponed my introduction till the winter, when I shall favour the lady, +<i>whose taste I shall not dispute</i>, with my most sublime and edifying +conversation. She is now in the Highlands, and Alexander took his +departure, a few days ago, for the same <i>blessed</i> seat of "<i>dark rolling +winds</i>."<br> +<br> +Crosby, my London publisher, has disposed of his second importation, and +has sent to Ridge for a <i>third</i> — at least so he says. In every +bookseller's window I see my <i>own name</i>, and <i>say nothing</i>, +but enjoy my fame in secret. My last reviewer kindly requests me to +alter my determination of writing no more: and "A Friend to the Cause +of Literature" begs I will <i>gratify</i> the <i>public</i> with some +new work "at no very distant period." Who would not be a bard? — that is +to say, if all critics would be so polite. However, the others will pay +me off, I doubt not, for this <i>gentle</i> encouragement. If so, have +at 'em? <a name="fr108">By</a> the by, I have written at my intervals of leisure, after two +in the morning, 380 lines in blank verse, of Bosworth Field. I have +luckily got Hutton's account<a href="#f108"><sup>3</sup></a>. I shall extend the poem to eight or ten +books, and shall have finished it in a year. Whether it will be +published or not must depend on circumstances. So much for +<i>egotism!</i> My <i>laurels</i> have turned my brain, but the +<i>cooling acids</i> of forthcoming criticism will probably restore me +to <i>modesty</i>.<br> +<br> +Southwell is a damned place — I have done with it — at least in all +probability; excepting yourself, I esteem no one within its precincts. +You were my only <i>rational</i> companion; and in plain truth, I had +more respect for you than the whole <i>bevy</i>, with whose foibles I +amused myself in compliance with their prevailing propensities. You gave +yourself more trouble with me and my manuscripts than a thousand +<i>dolls</i> would have done.<br> +<br> +Believe me, I have not forgotten your good nature in <i>this circle</i> +of <i>sin</i>, and one day I trust I shall be able to evince my +gratitude. Adieu.<br> +<br> +Yours, etc.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Remember me to Dr. P.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f106"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See page 137, <a href="#f103"><i>note</i></a> 2.<br> +<a href="#fr106">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f107"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> The Duchess of Gordon (1748-1812), <i>née</i> Jean Maxwell of +Monreith, daughter of Sir W. Maxwell, Bart., married in 1767 the Duke of +Gordon. The most successful matchmaker of the age, she married three of +her daughters to three dukes — Manchester, Richmond, and Bedford. A +fourth daughter was Lady Mandalina Sinclair, afterwards, by a second +marriage, Lady Mandalina Palmer. A fifth was married to Lord Cornwallis +(see the extraordinary story told in the <i>Recollections of Samuel +Rogers</i>, pp. 145-146). According to Wraxall (<i>Posthumous Memoirs</i>, vol. +ii. p. 319), she schemed to secure Pitt for her daughter Lady Charlotte, +and Eugène Beauharnais for Lady Georgiana, afterwards Duchess of +Bedford. Cyrus Redding (<i>Memoirs of William Beckford</i>, vol. ii. pp. +337-339) describes her attack upon the owner of Fonthill, where she +stayed upwards of a week, magnificently entertained, without once seeing +the wary master of the house.<br> +<br> +She was also the social leader of the Tories, and her house in Pall +Mall, rented from the Duke of Buckingham, was the meeting-place of the +party. Malcontents accused her of using her power tyrannically:— + + <blockquote> "Not Gordon's broad and brawny Grace,<br> + The last new Woman in the Place<br> + With more contempt could blast."<br> + <i>Pandolfo Attonito</i>.</blockquote> + + (1800).<br> +Lord Alexander Gordon died in 1808.<br> +<a href="#fr107">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f108"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> William Hutton (1723-1815), a Birmingham bookseller, who +took to literature and became a voluminous writer of poems, and of +topographical works which still have their value. In his <i>Trip to +Redcar and Coatham</i> (Preface, p. vi.) he says, + +<blockquote>"I took up my pen +at the advanced age of fifty-six ... I drove the quill thirty +years, during which time I wrote and published thirty books."</blockquote> + +<i>The Battle of Bosworth Field</i> was published in 1788. A new +edition, with additions by John Nichols, appeared in 1813. Byron's +poem was never published.<br> +<a href="#fr108">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L79">79 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +London, August 11, 1807.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr109">On</a> Sunday next I set off for the Highlands<a href="#f109"><sup>1</sup></a>. A friend of mine +accompanies me in my carriage to Edinburgh. There we shall leave it, and +proceed in a <i>tandem</i> (a species of open carriage) though the +western passes to Inverary, where we shall purchase <i>shelties</i>, to +enable us to view places inaccessible to <i>vehicular conveyances</i>. +On the coast we shall hire a vessel, and visit the most remarkable of +the Hebrides; and, if we have time and favourable weather, mean to sail +as far as Iceland, only 300 miles from the northern extremity of +Caledonia, to peep at <i>Hecla</i>. This last intention you will keep a +secret, as my nice <i>mamma</i> would imagine I was on a Voyage of +<i>Discovery</i>, and raised the accustomed <i>maternal warwhoop</i>.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr110">Last</a> week I swam in the Thames from Lambeth through the two bridges, +Westminster and Blackfriars, a distance, including the different turns +and tracks made on the way, of three miles<a href="#f110"><sup>2</sup></a>! You see I am in +excellent training in case of a <i>squall</i> at sea. I mean to collect +all the Erse traditions, poems, etc., etc., and translate, or expand the +subject to fill a volume, which may appear next spring under the +denomination of <i>"The Highland Harp"</i> or some title equally +<i>picturesque</i>. Of Bosworth Field, one book is finished, another +just began. It will be a work of three or four years, and most probably +never <i>conclude</i>. What would you say to some stanzas on Mount +Hecla? they would be written at least with <i>fire</i>. How is the +immortal Bran? and the Phoenix of canine quadrupeds, Boatswain? I have +lately purchased a thorough-bred bull-dog, worthy to be the coadjutor of +the aforesaid celestials — his name is <i>Smut!</i> + +<blockquote>"Bear it, ye breezes, +on your <i>balmy</i> wings."</blockquote> + +Write to me before I set off, I conjure you, by the fifth rib of your +grandfather. Ridge goes on well with the books — I thought that worthy +had not done much in the country. In town they have been very +successful; Carpenter (Moore's publisher) told me a few days ago they +sold all their's immediately, and had several enquiries made since, +which, from the books being gone, they could not supply. The Duke of +York, the Marchioness of Headfort, the Duchess of Gordon, etc., etc., +were among the purchasers; and Crosby says the circulation will be still +more extensive in the winter, the summer season being very bad for a +sale, as most people are absent from London. However, they have gone off +extremely well altogether. I shall pass very near you on my journey +through Newark, but cannot approach. Don't tell this to Mrs. B, who +supposes I travel a different road. If you have a letter, order it to be +left at Ridge's shop, where I shall call, or the post-office, Newark, +about six or eight in the evening. If your brother would ride over, I +should be devilish glad to see him — he can return the same night, or sup +with us and go home the next morning — the Kingston Arms is my inn. +Adieu.<br> +<br> +Yours ever,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f109"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This projected trip to the Highlands, mentioned in his +letter to Augusta Byron of August 30, 1805, seems to have become a joke +among Byron's friends. Moore quotes (<i>Life</i>, p. 56) a letter +written by Miss Pigot to her brother: + + <blockquote> "How can you ask if Lord B. is going to visit the Highlands in the + summer? Why, don't <i>you</i> know that he never knows his own mind + for ten minutes together? I tell him he is as fickle as the winds, and + as uncertain as the waves."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr109">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f110"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> + + <blockquote> "The first time I saw Lord Byron," says Leigh Hunt (<i>Lord Byron and + his Contemporaries</i>, p. 1), "he was rehearsing the part of Leander, + under the auspices of Mr. Jackson the prize-fighter. It was in the + river Thames, before he went to Greece. I had been bathing, and was + standing on the floating machine adjusting my clothes, when I noticed + a respectable-looking manly person who was eyeing something at a + distance. This was Mr. Jackson waiting for his pupil. The latter was + swimming with somebody for a wager."</blockquote> + +On this occasion, however, Hunt only saw "his Lordship's head bob up and +down in the water, like a "buoy."<br> +<a href="#fr110">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L80">80 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's Hotel, October 19th, 1807.<br> +<br> +Dear Hanson, — I will thank you to disburse the quarter due as soon as +possible, for I am at this moment contemplating with woeful visage, one +<i>solitary Guinea, two bad sixpences</i> and a shilling, being +<i>all</i> the <i>cash</i> at present in possession of<br> +<br> +Yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L81">81 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot</a></h3> +<br> +Trinity College, Cambridge, October 26, 1807.<br> +<br> +My Dear Elizabeth, — Fatigued with sitting up till four in the morning +for the last two days at hazard, I take up my pen to inquire how your +highness and the rest of my female acquaintance at the seat of +archiepiscopal grandeur go on. I know I deserve a scolding for my +negligence in not writing more frequently; but racing up and down the +country for these last three months, how was it possible to fulfil the +duties of a correspondent? Fixed at last for six weeks, I write, as +<i>thin</i> as ever (not having gained an ounce since my reduction), and +rather in better humour; — but, after all, Southwell was a detestable +residence. Thank St. Dominica, I have done with it: I have been twice +within eight miles of it, but could not prevail on myself to +<i>suffocate</i> in its heavy atmosphere. This place is wretched +enough — a villainous chaos of din and drunkenness, nothing but hazard +and burgundy, hunting, mathematics, and Newmarket, riot and racing. Yet +it is a paradise compared with the eternal dulness of Southwell. Oh! the +misery of doing nothing but make <i>love, enemies</i>, and +<i>verses</i>.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr111">Next</a> January (but this is <i>entre nous only</i>, and pray let it be so, +or my maternal persecutor will be throwing her tomahawk at any of my +curious projects,) I am going to <i>sea</i> for four or five months, +with my cousin Captain Bettesworth<a href="#f111"><sup>1</sup></a>, who commands the <i>Tartar</i>, +the finest frigate in the navy. I have seen most scenes, and wish to +look at a naval life. We are going probably to the Mediterranean, or to +the West Indies, or — to the devil; and if there is a possibility of +taking me to the latter, Bettesworth will do it; for he has received +four and twenty wounds in different places, and at this moment possesses +a letter from the late Lord Nelson, stating Bettesworth as the only +officer in the navy who had more wounds than himself.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr112">I</a> have got a new friend, the finest in the world, a <i>tame bear</i><a href="#f112"><sup>2</sup></a>. +When I brought him here, they asked me what I meant to do with him, and +my reply was, "he should <i>sit for a fellowship.</i>" Sherard will +explain the meaning of the sentence, if it is ambiguous. This answer +delighted them not. We have several parties here, and this evening a +large assortment of jockeys, gamblers, boxers, authors, parsons, and +poets, sup with me, — a precious mixture, but they go on well together; +and for me, I am a <i>spice</i> of every thing except a jockey; by the +bye, I was dismounted again the other day.<br> +<br> +Thank your brother in my name for his treatise. <a name="fr113">I</a> have written 214 pages +of a novel — one poem of 380 lines<a href="#f113"><sup>3</sup></a>, to be published (without my name) +in a few weeks, with notes, — 560 lines of Bosworth Field, and 250 lines +of another poem in rhyme, besides half a dozen smaller pieces. The poem +to be published is a Satire. <a name="fr114"><i>Apropos</i></a>, I have been praised to the +skies in the <i>Critical Review</i><a href="#f114"><sup>4</sup></a>, and abused greatly in another +publication<a href="#f115"><sup>5</sup></a>. So much the better, they tell me, for the sale of the +book: it keeps up controversy, and prevents it being forgotten. Besides, +the first men of all ages have had their share, nor do the humblest +escape; — so I bear it like a philosopher. It is odd two opposite +critiques came out on the same day, and out of five pages of abuse, my +censor only quotes <i>two lines</i> from different poems, in support of his +opinion. Now, the proper way to <i>cut up</i>, is to quote long passages, and +make them appear absurd, because simple allegation is no proof. On the +other hand, there are seven pages of praise, and more than <i>my modesty</i> will allow said on the subject. Adieu.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Write, write, write!!!<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f111"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> George Edmund Byron Bettesworth (1780-1808), as lieutenant +of the <i>Centaur</i>, was wounded (1804) in the capture of the +<i>Curieux</i>. In command of the latter vessel he captured the <i>Dame Ernouf</i> (1805), and was again wounded. He was made a post-captain in +the latter year, when he brought home despatches from Nelson at Antigua, +announcing Villeneuve's return to Europe. He was killed off Bergen in +1808, while in command of the <i>Tartar</i>. Captain Bettesworth, whose +father assumed the name of Bettesworth in addition to that of Trevanion, +married, in 1807, Lady Alethea Grey, daughter of Earl Grey. Through his +grandmother, Sophia Trevanion, Byron was Captain Bettesworth's cousin.<br> +<a href="#fr111">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f112"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> See <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. p. 406. <br> +<a href="#fr112">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f113"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> This poem, printed in book form, but not published, under +the title of <i>British Bards</i>, is the foundation of <i>English +Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i>. The MS. is in the possession of Mr. +Murray.<br> +<a href="#fr113">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f114"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> For September, 1807. In noticing the Elegy on Newstead +Abbey, the writer says, "We could not but hail, with something of +prophetic rapture, the hope conveyed in the closing stanza:— + + <blockquote> "'Haply thy sun, emerging, yet may shine,<br> + Thee to irradiate with meridian ray.'"</blockquote> +<a href="#fr114">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f115"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> The first number of <i>The Satirist: A Monthly Meteor</i> +(October, 1807).<br> +<a href="#fr114">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L82">82 — To J. Ridge</a></h3> +<br> +Trinity College, Cambridge, November 20, 1807.<br> +<br> +Sir, — I am happy to hear every thing goes on so well, and I presume you +will soon commence, though I am still of opinion the first Edition had +better be entirely sold, before you risk the printing of a second. <a name="fr116">As</a> +Curly recommends fine wove Foolscap, let it be used, and I will order a +design in London for a plate, my own portrait would perhaps be best, but +as that would take up so long a time in completing we will substitute +probably a view of Harrow<a href="#f116"><sup>1</sup></a>, or Newstead in its stead.<br> +<br> +You will omit the poems mentioned below: + + + <blockquote> Stanzas on a view of Harrow.<br> + To a Quaker.<br> + The First Kiss of Love.<br> + College Examinations.<br> + Lines to the Rev. J. T. Becher. +</blockquote> + +To be inserted, not exactly in the place, but in different parts of the +volume, I will send you five poems never yet published. Two of tolerable +length, at least much longer than any of the above, which are ordered to +be omitted.<br> +<br> +Mention in your answer when you would like to receive the manuscripts +that they may be sent. By the bye, I must have the proofs of the +Manuscripts sent to Cambridge as they occur; the proofs from the printed +copy you can manage with care, if Mr. Becher will assist you. Attend to +the list of <i>Errata</i>, that we may not have a <i>Second Edition</i> +of them also.<br> +<br> +The Preface we have done with, perhaps I may send an Advertisement, a +dedication shall be forthcoming in due Season.<br> +<br> +You will send a proof of the first Sheet for Inspection, and soon too, +for I am about to set out for London next week. If I remain there any +time, I shall apprize you where to send the Manuscript Proofs.<br> +<br> +Do you think the others will be sold before the next are ready, what +says Curly? remember I have advised you not to risk it a second time, +and it is not too late to retract. However, you must abide by your own +discretion:<br> +<br> +Etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — You will print from the Copy I sent you with the alterations, pray +attend to these, and be careful of mistakes. In my last I gave you +directions concerning the Title page and Mottoes.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f116"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> A view of Harrow was given.<br> +<a href="#fr116">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L83">83 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Trin. Coll., Cambridge, Dec. 2nd, 1807.<br> +<br> +My Dear Sir, — I hope to take my New Years Day dinner with you <i>en +famille</i>. Tell Hargreaves I will bring his Blackstones, and shall +have no objection to see my Daniel's <i>Field Sports</i>, if they have +not escaped his recollection. — I certainly wish the expiration of my +minority as much as you do, though for a reason more nearly affecting my +magisterial person at this moment, namely, the want of twenty pounds, +for no spendthrift peer, or unlucky poet, was ever less indebted to +<i>Cash</i> than George Gordon is at present, or is more likely to +continue in the same predicament. — My present quarter due on the 25th +was drawn long ago, and I must be obliged to you for the loan of twenty +on my next, to be deducted when the whole becomes tangible, that is, +probably, some months after it is exhausted. <a name="fr117">Reserve</a> Murray's +quarter<a href="#f117"><sup>1</sup></a>, of course, and I shall have just £100 to receive at +Easter, but if the risk of my demand is too great, inform me, that I may +if possible convert my Title into cash, though I am afraid twenty pounds +will be too much to ask as Times go, if I were an Earl ... but a Barony +must fetch ten, perhaps fifteen, and that is something when we have not +as many pence. Your answer will oblige<br> +<br> +Yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Remember me to Mrs. H. in particular, and the family in general.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f117"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Joe Murray. (See page 21, <a href="#f15"><i>note</i></a> 3.)<br> +<a href="#fr117">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f15">cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 7</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L84"></a>84 — To John Murray<a href="#f118"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Ravenna, 9bre 19, 1820.<br> +<br> +W<a name="fr119"></a>hat you said of the late Charles Skinner Matthews<a href="#f119"><sup>2</sup></a> has set me to my +recollections; but I have not been able to turn up any thing which would +do for the purposed Memoir of his brother, — even if he had previously +done enough during his life to sanction the introduction of anecdotes so +merely personal. He was, however, a very extraordinary man, and would +have been a great one. No one ever succeeded in a more surpassing degree +than he did as far as he went. He was indolent, too; but whenever he +stripped, he overthrew all antagonists. His conquests will be found +registered at Cambridge, particularly his <i>Downing</i> one, which was +hotly and highly contested, and yet easily <i>won</i>. Hobhouse was his +most intimate friend, and can tell you more of him than any man. <a name="fr120">William</a> +Bankes<a href="#f120"><sup>3</sup></a> also a great deal. I myself recollect more of his oddities +than of his academical qualities, for we lived most together at a very +idle period of <i>my</i> life. When I went up to Trinity, in 1805, at +the age of seventeen and a half, I was miserable and untoward to a +degree. I was wretched at leaving Harrow, to which I had become attached +during the two last years of my stay there; wretched at going to +Cambridge instead of Oxford (there were no rooms vacant at +Christchurch); wretched from some private domestic circumstances of +different kinds, and consequently about as unsocial as a wolf taken from +the troop. <a name="fr121">So</a> that, although I knew Matthews, and met him often <i>then</i> at Bankes's, (who was my collegiate pastor, and master, and patron,) and +at Rhode's, Milnes's, Price's, Dick's, Macnamara's, Farrell's, Gally +Knight's, and others of that <i>set</i> of contemporaries, yet I was neither +intimate with him nor with any one else, except my old schoolfellow +Edward Long<a href="#f121"><sup>4</sup></a> (with whom I used to pass the day in riding and +swimming), and William Bankes, who was good-naturedly tolerant of my +ferocities. + +<a name="fr122">It</a> was not till 1807, after I had been upwards of a year away from +Cambridge, to which I had returned again to <i>reside</i> for my degree, that +I became one of Matthews's familiars, by means of Hobhouse<a href="#f122"><sup>5</sup></a>, who, +after hating me for two years, because I wore a <i>white hat</i>, and a <i>grey</i> coat, and rode a <i>grey</i> horse (as he says himself), took me into +his good graces because I had written some poetry. I had always lived a +good deal, and got drunk occasionally, in their company — but now we +became really friends in a morning. Matthews, however, was not at this +period resident in College. I met <i>him</i> chiefly in London, and at +uncertain periods at Cambridge. Hobhouse, in the mean time, did great +things: he founded the Cambridge "Whig Club" (which he seems to have +forgotten), and the "Amicable Society," which was dissolved in +consequence of the members constantly quarrelling, and made himself very +popular with "us youth," and no less formidable to all tutors, +professors, and heads of Colleges. William Bankes was gone; while he +stayed, he ruled the roast — or rather the <i>roasting</i> — and was father of +all mischiefs.<br> +<br> +Matthews and I, meeting in London, and elsewhere, became great cronies. +He was not good tempered — nor am I — but with a little tact his temper +was manageable, and I thought him so superior a man, that I was willing +to sacrifice something to his humours, which were often, at the same +time, amusing and provoking. What became of his <i>papers</i> (and he +certainly had many), at the time of his death, was never known. I +mention this by the way, fearing to skip it over, and <i>as</i> he +<i>wrote</i> remarkably well, both in Latin and English. <a name="fr123">We</a> went down to +Newstead together<a href="#f123"><sup>6</sup></a>, where I had got a famous cellar, and +<i>Monks'</i> dresses from a masquerade warehouse. <a name="fr124">We</a> were a company of +some seven or eight, with an occasional neighbour or so for visiters, +and used to sit up late in our friars' dresses, drinking burgundy, +claret, champagne, and what not, out of the <i>skull-cup</i>, and all +sorts of glasses, and buffooning all round the house, in our conventual +garments<a href="#f124"><sup>7</sup></a>. Matthews always denominated me "the Abbot," and never +called me by any other name in his good humours, to the day of his +death. The harmony of these our symposia was somewhat interrupted, a few +days after our assembling, by Matthews's threatening to throw Hobhouse +out of a <i>window</i>, in consequence of I know not what commerce of +jokes ending in this epigram. Hobhouse came to me and said, that "his +respect and regard for me as host would not permit him to call out any +of my guests, and that he should go to town next morning." He did. It +was in vain that I represented to him that the window was not high, and +that the turf under it was particularly soft. Away he went.<br> +<br> +Matthews and myself had travelled down from London together, talking all +the way incessantly upon one single topic. When we got to Loughborough, +I know not what chasm had made us diverge for a moment to some other +subject, at which he was indignant. "Come," said he, "don't let us break +through — let us go on as we began, to our journey's end;" and so he +continued, and was as entertaining as ever to the very end. <a name="fr125">He</a> had +previously occupied, during my year's absence from Cambridge, my rooms +in Trinity, with the furniture; and Jones<a href="#f125"><sup>8</sup></a>, the tutor, in his odd way, +had said, on putting him in, + +<blockquote>"Mr. Matthews, I recommend to your +attention not to damage any of the moveables, for Lord Byron, Sir, is a +young man of <i>tumultuous passions</i>." </blockquote> + +Matthews was delighted with +this; and whenever anybody came to visit him, begged them to handle the +very door with caution; and used to repeat Jones's admonition in his +tone and manner. There was a large mirror in the room, on which he +remarked, "that he thought his friends were grown uncommonly assiduous +in coming to <i>see him</i>, but he soon discovered that they only came +to <i>see themselves</i>." Jones's phrase of "<i>tumultuous +passions</i>" and the whole scene, had put him into such good humour, +that I verily believe that I owed to it a portion of his good graces.<br> +<br> +When at Newstead, somebody by accident rubbed against one of his white +silk stockings, one day before dinner; of course the gentleman +apologised. + +<blockquote>"Sir," answered Matthews, "it may be all very well for you, +who have a great many silk stockings, to dirty other people's; but to +me, who have only this <i>one pair</i>, which I have put on in honour of +the Abbot here, no apology can compensate for such carelessness; +besides, the expense of washing." </blockquote> + +He had the same sort of droll sardonic +way about every thing. A wild Irishman, named Farrell, one evening began +to say something at a large supper at Cambridge, Matthews roared out +"Silence!" and then, pointing to Farrell, cried out, in the words of the +oracle, "Orson is endowed with reason." You may easily suppose that +Orson lost what reason he had acquired, on hearing this compliment. When +Hobhouse published his volume of poems, the <i>Miscellany</i> (which Matthews +would call the "<i>Miss-sell-any</i>"), all that could be drawn from him was, +that the preface was "extremely like <i>Walsh</i>." <a name="fr126">Hobhouse</a> thought this at +first a compliment; but we never could make out what it was<a href="#f126"><sup>9</sup></a>, for all +we know of <i>Walsh</i> is his Ode to King William<a href="#f127"><sup>10</sup></a>, and Pope's epithet of +"<i>knowing Walsh</i>."<a href="#f128"><sup>11</sup></a> When the Newstead party broke up for London, +Hobhouse and Matthews, who were the greatest friends possible, agreed, +for a whim, to <i>walk together</i> to town. They quarrelled by the way, and +actually walked the latter half of the journey, occasionally passing and +repassing, without speaking. When Matthews had got to Highgate, he had +spent all his money but three-pence halfpenny, and determined to spend +that also in a pint of beer, which I believe he was drinking before a +public-house, as Hobhouse passed him (still without speaking) for the +last time on their route. They were reconciled in London again.<br> +<br> +One of Matthews's passions was "the fancy;" and he sparred uncommonly +well. But he always got beaten in rows, or combats with the bare fist. +I<a name="fr129"></a>n swimming, too, he swam well; but with <i>effort</i> and <i>labour</i>, and <i>too +high</i> out of the water; so that Scrope Davies<a href="#f129"><sup>12</sup></a> and myself, of whom he +was therein somewhat emulous, always told him that he would be drowned +if ever he came to a difficult pass in the water. He was so; but surely +Scrope and myself would have been most heartily glad that + + <blockquote> "the Dean had lived,<br> + And our prediction proved a lie."</blockquote> + +His head was uncommonly handsome, very like what <i>Pope's</i> was in his +youth.<br> +<br> +His voice, and laugh, and features, are strongly resembled by his +brother Henry's, if Henry be <i>he</i> of <i>King's College</i>. <a name="fr130">His</a> passion for +boxing was so great, that he actually wanted me to match him with +Dogherty<a href="#f130"><sup>13</sup></a> (whom I had backed and made the match for against Tom +Belcher<a href="#f131"><sup>14</sup></a>), and I saw them spar together at my own lodgings with the +gloves on. As he was bent upon it, I would have backed Dogherty to +please him, but the match went off. It was of course to have been a +private fight, in a private room.<br> +<br> +On one occasion, being too late to go home and dress, he was equipped by +a friend (Mr. Baillie, I believe,) in a magnificently fashionable and +somewhat exaggerated shirt and neckcloth. He proceeded to the Opera, and +took his station in Fop's Alley. During the interval between the opera +and the ballet, an acquaintance took his station by him and saluted him: + +<blockquote>"Come round," said Matthews, "come round."<br> +<br> +"Why should I come round?" +said the other; "you have only to turn your head — I am close by +you."<br> +<br> +"That is exactly what I cannot do," said Matthews; "don't you see +the state I am in?" </blockquote> + +pointing to his buckram shirt collar and inflexible +cravat, — and there he stood with his head always in the same +perpendicular position during the whole spectacle.<br> +<br> +One evening, after dining together, as we were going to the Opera, I +happened to have a spare Opera ticket (as subscriber to a box), and +presented it to Matthews. + +<blockquote>"Now, sir," said he to Hobhouse afterwards, +"this I call <i>courteous</i> in the Abbot — another man would never have +thought that I might do better with half a guinea than throw it to a +door-keeper; — but here is a man not only asks me to dinner, but gives me +a ticket for the theatre." </blockquote> + +These were only his oddities, for no man was +more liberal, or more honourable in all his doings and dealings, than +Matthews. He gave Hobhouse and me, before we set out for Constantinople, +a most splendid entertainment, to which we did ample justice. One of his +fancies was dining at all sorts of out-of-the-way places. Somebody +popped upon him in I know not what coffee-house in the Strand — and what +do you think was the attraction? Why, that he paid a shilling (I think) +to <i>dine with his hat on</i>. This he called his "<i>hat</i> house," and used to +boast of the comfort of being covered at meal times.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr132">When</a> Sir Henry Smith<a href="#f132"><sup>15</sup></a> was expelled from Cambridge for a row with a +tradesman named "Hiron," Matthews solaced himself with shouting under +Hiron's windows every evening, + +<blockquote>"Ah me! what perils do environ<br> +The man who meddles with <i>hot Hiron</i>."</blockquote> + +He was also of that band of profane scoffers who, under the auspices of + — — , used to rouse Lort Mansel (late Bishop of Bristol) from his +slumbers in the lodge of Trinity; and when he appeared at the window +foaming with wrath, and crying out, "I know you, gentlemen, I know you!" +were wont to reply, "We beseech thee to hear us, good Lort!" — "Good Lort +deliver us!" (Lort was his Christian name.) As he was very free in his +speculations upon all kinds of subjects, although by no means either +dissolute or intemperate in his conduct, and as I was no less +independent, our conversation and correspondence used to alarm our +friend Hobhouse to a considerable degree.<br> +<br> +You must be almost tired of my packets, which will have cost a mint of +postage.<br> +<br> +Salute Gifford and all my friends.<br> +<br> +Yours, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f118"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This letter, though written twelve years later, belongs to the +Cambridge period of Byron's life. It is therefore introduced here. +(For John Murray, see <a href="#f311"><i>note</i></a> to <a href="#L167">letter</a> to R. C. Dallas of August +21, 1811.)<br> +<a href="#L84">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f119"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Charles Skinner Matthews was known at Eton as Matthews +<i>major</i>, his <i>minor</i> being his brother Henry, the author of +<i>The Diary of an Invalid</i>, afterwards a Judge in the Supreme Court +of Ceylon, who died in 1828. They were the sons of John Matthews of +Belmont, Herefordshire, M.P. for that county (1802-6). C. S. Matthews +became a Scholar of Trinity, Cambridge; Ninth Wrangler in 1805; First +Members' Prizeman in 1807; Fellow of Downing in 1808. He was drowned in +the Cam in August, 1811. He at the time contemplated standing as Member +for the University of Cambridge. For a description of the accident, see +letter from Henry Drury to Francis Hodgson (<i>Life of the Rev. Francis +Hodgson</i>, vol. i. pp. 182-185). In the note to <i>Childe Harold</i>, +Canto I. stanza xci., Byron speaks of Matthews: + + <blockquote>"I should have ventured a verse to the memory of the late Charles + Skinner Matthews, Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge, were he not + too much above all praise of mine. His powers of mind, shown in the + attainment of greater honours, against the ablest candidates, than + those of any graduate on record at Cambridge, have sufficiently + established his fame on the spot where it was acquired; while his + softer qualities live in the recollection of friends who loved him too + well to envy his superiority."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr119">return</a><br> +<a href="#f300">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 161</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f120"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> See page 120, <a href="#f82"><i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr120">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f121"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> See page 73, <a href="#f50"><i>note</i></a> 2.<br> +<a href="#fr121">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f122"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> See page 163, <a href="#f136a"><i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr122">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f123"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> Of this visit to Newstead, Matthews wrote the following account +to his sister:— + + <blockquote> "London, May 22, 1809. + + My Dear — — , — I must begin with giving you a few particulars of the + singular place which I have lately quitted.<br> +<br> + Newstead Abbey is situate 136 miles from London, — four on this side + Mansfield. It is so fine a piece of antiquity, that I should think + there must be a description, and, perhaps, a picture of it in Grose. + The ancestors of its present owner came into possession of it at the + time of the dissolution of the monasteries, — but the building itself + is of a much earlier date. Though sadly fallen to decay, it is still + completely an <i>abbey</i>, and most part of it is still standing in the + same state as when it was first built. There are two tiers of + cloisters, with a variety of cells and rooms about them, which, though + not inhabited, nor in an inhabitable state, might easily be made so; + and many of the original rooms, amongst which is a fine stone hall, + are still in use. Of the abbey church only one end remains; and the + old kitchen, with a long range of apartments, is reduced to a heap of + rubbish. Leading from the abbey to the modern part of the habitation + is a noble room, seventy feet in length, and twenty-three in breadth; + but every part of the house displays neglect and decay, save those + which the present Lord has lately fitted up.<br> +<br> + The house and gardens are entirely surrounded by a wall with + battlements. In front is a large lake, bordered here and there with + castellated buildings, the chief of which stands on an eminence at the + further extremity of it. Fancy all this surrounded with bleak and + barren hills, with scarce a tree to be seen for miles, except a + solitary clump or two, and you will have some idea of Newstead. For + the late Lord, being at enmity with his son, to whom the estate was + secured by entail, resolved, out of spite to the same, that the estate + should descend to him in as miserable a plight as he could possibly + reduce it to; for which cause, he took no care of the mansion, and + fell to lopping of every tree he could lay his hands on, so furiously, + that he reduced immense tracts of woodland country to the desolate + state I have just described. However, his son died before him, so that + all his rage was thrown away.<br> +<br> + So much for the place, concerning which I have thrown together these + few particulars, meaning my account to be, like the place itself, + without any order or connection. But if the place itself appear rather + strange to you, the ways of the inhabitants will not appear much less + so. Ascend, then, with me the hall steps, that I may introduce you to + my Lord and his visitants. But have a care how you proceed; be mindful + to go there in broad daylight, and with your eyes about you. For, + should you make any blunder, — should you go to the right of the hall + steps, you are laid hold of by a bear; and should you go to the left, + your case is still worse, for you run full against a wolf! — Nor, when + you have attained the door, is your danger over; for the hall being + decayed, and therefore standing in need of repair, a bevy of inmates + are very probably banging at one end of it with their pistols; so that + if you enter without giving loud notice of your approach, you have + only escaped the wolf and the bear to expire by the pistol-shots of + the merry monks of Newstead.<br> +<br> + Our party consisted of Lord Byron and four others, and was, now and + then, increased by the presence of a neighbouring parson. As for our + way of living, the order of the day was generally this:— for + breakfast we had no set hour, but each suited his own convenience, + — everything remaining on the table till the whole party had done; + though had one wished to breakfast at the early hour of ten, one would + have been rather lucky to find any of the servants up. Our average + hour of rising was one. I, who generally got up between eleven and + twelve, was always, — even when an invalid, — the first of the party, + and was esteemed a prodigy of early rising. It was frequently past two + before the breakfast party broke up. Then, for the amusements of the + morning, there was reading, fencing, single-stick, or shuttle-cock, in + the great room; practising with pistols in the hall; + walking — riding — cricket — sailing on the lake, playing with the bear, + or teasing the wolf. Between seven and eight we dined; and our evening + lasted from that time till one, two, or three in the morning. The + evening diversions may be easily conceived.<br> +<br> + I must not omit the custom of handing round, after dinner, on the + removal of the cloth, a human skull filled with burgundy. After + revelling on choice viands, and the finest wines of France, we + adjourned to tea, where we amused ourselves with reading, or improving + conversation, — each, according to his fancy, — and, after sandwiches, + etc., retired to rest. A set of monkish dresses, which had been + provided, with all the proper apparatus of crosses, beads, tonsures, + etc., often gave a variety to our appearance, and to our pursuits.<br> +<br> + "You may easily imagine how chagrined I was at being ill nearly the + first half of the time I was there. But I was led into a very + different reflection from that of Dr. Swift, who left Pope's house + without ceremony, and afterwards informed him, by letter, that it was + impossible for two sick friends to live together; for I found my + shivering and invalid frame so perpetually annoyed by the thoughtless + and tumultuous health of every one about me, that I heartily wished + every soul in the house to be as ill as myself.<br> +<br> + "The journey back I performed on foot, together with another of the + guests. We walked about twenty-five miles a day; but were a week on + the road, from being detained by the rain. So here I close my account + of an expedition which has somewhat extended my knowledge of this + country. And where do you think I am going next? To + Constantinople! — at least, such an excursion has been proposed to me. + Lord B. and another friend of mine are going thither next month, and + have asked me to join the party; but it seems to be but a wild scheme, + and requires twice thinking upon.<br> +<br> + "Addio, my dear I., yours very affectionately, C. S. MATTHEWS."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr123">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f124"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 7:</span></a> A joke, related by Hobhouse, reminds us of the youth of the +party. In the Long Gallery at Newstead was placed a stone coffin, +from which, as he passed down the Gallery at night, he heard a +groan proceeding. On going nearer, a cowled figure rose from the +coffin and blew out the candle. It was Matthews.<br> +<a href="#fr124">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f125"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 8:</span></a> The Rev. Thomas Jones. (See page 79, <a href="#f56"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr125">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f126"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 9:</span></a> The only thing remarkable about Walsh's preface is that +Dr. Johnson praises it as "very judicious," but is, at the same time, +silent respecting the poems to which it is prefixed (Moore).<br> +<a href="#fr126">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f127"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 10:</span></a> No "Ode" under this title is to be found in Walsh's <i>Poems</i>. +Byron had, no doubt, in mind <i>The Golden Age Restored</i> — a composition in +which, says Dr. Johnson, "there was something of humour, while the facts +were recent; but it now strikes no longer."<br> +<a href="#fr126">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f128"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 11:</span></a> + + <blockquote> " — — Granville the polite,<br> + And <i>knowing Walsh</i>, would tell me I could write."<br> +<br> +"About fifteen," says Pope, "I got acquainted with Mr. Walsh. He used to +encourage me much, and tell me, that there was one way left of +excelling: for though we had several great poets, we never had any one +great poet that was correct; and he desired me to make that my study and +aim" </blockquote> +(Spence's <i>Anecdotes</i>, edit. 1820, p. 280).<br> +<a href="#fr126">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f129"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 12:</span></a> See page 165, <a href="#f137"><i>note</i></a> 2.<br> +<a href="#fr129">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f130"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 13:</span></a> Dan Dogherty, Irish champion (1806-11), came into notice as +a pugilist in 1806. He was beaten by Belcher in April, 1808, near +the Rubbing House on Epsom Downs, and again on the Curragh +of Kildare, in 1813, in thirty-five minutes, after twenty-six rounds.<br> +<a href="#fr130">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f131"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 14:</span></a> Tom Belcher (1783-1854), younger brother of Jem Belcher +the champion, fought and won his first fight in London, in 1804, +against Warr. The fight took place in Tothill Fields, Westminster. +Twice beaten by Dutch Sam (Elias Samuel), in 1806 and 1807, he +never held the championship, which a man of his height (5 ft. 9 ins.) +and weight (10 st. 12 lbs.) could scarcely hope to win. But he +repeatedly established the superiority of art over strength, and was +one of the most popular and respectable pugilists of the day. Under his management the Castle Tavern at Holborn, in which he succeeded +Gregson (page 207, <a href="#f177"><i>note</i></a> l), was the head-quarters of pugilism.<br> +<a href="#fr130">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f132"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 15:</span></a> Sir Henry Smyth, Baronet, of Trinity Hall, A.M. 1805, was +found between eleven and twelve at night, on May 11, 1805, "inciting to a +disturbance" at the shop of a Mrs. Thrower on Market Hill. Other members +of the University seem to have been equally guilty. The sentence of the +Vice-Chancellor and Heads was "that he be suspended from his degree and +banished from the University." The others were admonished only; so it +was clearly considered that Smyth was the ring-leader.<br> +<a href="#fr132">return</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#f136a">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 86</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L85"></a>85 — To Henry Drury<a href="#f133"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's Hotel, Jan. 13, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dear Sir, — Though the stupidity of my servants, or the porter of the +house, in not showing you up stairs (where I should have joined you +directly), prevented me the pleasure of seeing you yesterday, I hoped to +meet you at some public place in the evening. However, my stars decreed +otherwise, as they generally do, when I have any favour to request of +them. I think you would have been surprised at my figure, for, since our +last meeting, I am reduced four stone in weight. I then weighed fourteen +stone seven pound, and now only <i>ten stone and a half</i>. I have disposed +of my <i>superfluities</i> by means of hard exercise and abstinence.<br> +<br> +Should your Harrow engagements allow you to visit town between this and +February, I shall be most happy to see you in Albemarle Street. If I am +not so fortunate, I shall endeavour to join you for an afternoon at +Harrow, though, I fear, your cellar will by no means contribute to my +cure. <a name="fr134">As</a> for my worthy preceptor, Dr. B.<a href="#f134"><sup>2</sup></a>, our encounter would by no +means prevent the <i>mutual endearments</i> he and I were wont to lavish on +each other. <a name="fr135">We</a> have only spoken once since my departure from Harrow in +1805, and then he politely told Tatersall<a href="#f135"><sup>3</sup></a> I was not a proper +associate for his pupils. This was long before my strictures in verse; +but, in plain <i>prose</i>, had I been some years older, I should have held +my tongue on his perfections. But, being laid on my back, when that +schoolboy thing was written — or rather dictated — expecting to rise no +more, my physician having taken his sixteenth fee, and I his +prescription, I could not quit this earth without leaving a memento of +my constant attachment to Butler in gratitude for his manifold good +offices.<br> +<br> +I meant to have been down in July; but thinking my appearance, +immediately after the publication, would be construed into an insult, I +directed my steps elsewhere. Besides, I heard that some of the boys had +got hold of my <i>Libellus</i>, contrary to my wishes certainly, for I never +transmitted a single copy till October, when I gave one to a boy, since +gone, after repeated importunities. You will, I trust, pardon this +egotism. As you had touched on the subject I thought some explanation +necessary. <a name="fr136">Defence</a> I shall not attempt, <i>Hic murus aheneus esto, nil +conscire sibi</i> — and "so on" (as Lord Baltimore<a href="#f136"><sup>4</sup></a> said on his trial for +a rape) — I have been so long at Trinity as to forget the conclusion of +the line; but though I cannot finish my quotation, I will my letter, and +entreat you to believe me, gratefully and affectionately, etc.<br> +<br> +P.S. — I will not lay a tax on your time by requiring an answer, lest you +say, as Butler said to Tatersall (when I had written his reverence an +impudent epistle on the expression before mentioned), viz. "that I +wanted to draw him into a correspondence."<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f133"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See page 12, <a href="#f9"><i>note</i></a> 1 ; and page 41, <a href="#f30"><i>note</i></a> 2.<br> +<a href="#L85">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f134"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Dr. Butler, Head-master of Harrow (see page 58, <a href="#f39"><i>note</i></a> 1).<br> +<a href="#fr134">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f135"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> See page 59, <a href="#f40"><i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr135">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f136"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Francis Calvert, seventh Lord Baltimore (1731-1771), was +charged with decoying a young milliner, named Sarah Woodcock, to his +house, and with rape. On February 12, 1768, he was committed for trial +at the Spring assizes, was tried at Kingston, March 26, 1768, and +acquitted. The story is the subject of a romance, <i>Injured Innocence; or +the Rape of Sarah Woodcock;</i> A Tale, by S. J., Esq., of Magdalen +College, Oxford. New York (no date). + +<blockquote>"I thank God," Lord Baltimore is +reported to have said, "that I have had firmness and resolution to meet +my accusers face to face, and provoke an enquiry into my conduct, <i>Hic +murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi</i>" </blockquote> + +(<i>Ann. Register</i> for 1768, p. +234). His body lay in state at Exeter Change, previous to its interment +at Epsom (Leigh Hunt's <i>The Town</i>, edit. 1893, p. 191).<br> +<a href="#fr136">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L86"></a>86 — To John Cam Hobhouse<a href="#f136a"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts, January 16, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dear Hobhouse, — <a name="fr137">I</a> do not know how the <i>dens</i>-descended Davies<a href="#f137"><sup>2</sup></a> +came to mention his having received a copy of my epistle to you, but I +addressed him and you on the same evening, and being much incensed at +the account I had received from Wallace, I communicated the contents to +the Birdmore, though without any of that malice wherewith you charge me. +I shall leave my card at Batts, and hope to see you in your progress to +the North.<br> +<br> +I have lately discovered Scrope's genealogy to be ennobled by a +collateral tie with the Beardmore, Chirurgeon and Dentist to Royalty, +and that the town of Southwell contains cousins of Scrope's, who +disowned them (I grieve to speak it) on visiting that city in my +society.<br> +<br> +How I found this out I will disclose, the first time "we three meet +again." But why did he conceal his lineage? "Ah, my dear H., it was +<i>cruel</i>, it was <i>insulting</i>, it was <i>unnecessary</i>."<br> +<br> +I have (notwithstanding your kind invitation to Wallace) been alone +since the 8th of December; nothing of moment has occurred since our +anniversary row. I shall be in London on the 19th; there are to be oxen +roasted and sheep boiled on the 22nd, with ale and uproar for the +mobility; a feast is also providing for the tenantry. For my own part, I +shall know as little of the matter as a corpse of the funeral solemnized +in its honour.<br> +<br> +A letter addressed to Reddish's will find me. <a name="fr138">I</a> still intend publishing +the <i>Bards</i>, but I have altered a good deal of the "Body of the Book," +added and interpolated, with some excisions; your lines still stand<a href="#f138"><sup>3</sup></a>, +and in all there will appear 624 lines.<br> +<br> +I should like much to see your Essay upon Entrails: is there any +honorary token of silver gilt? any cups, or pounds sterling attached to +the prize, besides glory? I expect to see you with a medal suspended +from your button-hole, like a Croix de St. Louis.<br> +<br> +Fletcher's father is deceased, and has left his son tway cottages, value +ten pounds per annum. I know not how it is, but Fletch., though only the +third brother, conceives himself entitled to all the estates of the +defunct, and I have recommended him to a lawyer, who, I fear, will +triumph in the spoils of this ancient family. A Birthday Ode has been +addressed to me by a country schoolmaster, in which I am likened to the +Sun, or Sol, as he classically saith; the people of Newstead are +compared to Laplanders. I am said to be a Baron, and a Byron, the truth +of which is indisputable. Feronia is again to reign (she must have some +woods to govern first), but it is altogether a very pleasant +performance, and the author is as superior to Pye, as George Gordon to +George Guelph. To be sure some of the lines are too short, but then, to +make amends, the Alexandrines have from fifteen to seventeen syllables, +so we may call them Alexandrines the great.<br> +<br> +I shall be glad to hear from you, and beg you to believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f136a"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> John Cam Hobhouse (1786-1869), created in 1851 Baron +Broughton de Gyfford, was the eldest son of Mr. Benjamin Hobhouse, +created a baronet in 1812, and M.P. (from 1797 to 1818) successively for +Bletchingley, Grampound, and Hindon. From a school at Bristol, John Cam +Hobhouse was sent to Westminster, and thence to Trinity, Cambridge, +where he won (1808) the Hulsean Prize for an essay on "Sacrifices," and +made acquaintance with Byron, as related in <a href="#L84">Letter 84</a>. In 1809 he +published a poetical miscellany, consisting of sixty-five pieces, under +the title of <i>Imitations and Translations from the Ancient and Modern +Classics, together with original Poems never before published</i> (London, +1809, 8vo). (For Byron's nine contributions, see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i., +Bibliographical Note.) In 1809-10 he was Byron's travelling companion +abroad (see <i>A Journey through Albania, etc.</i> London, 1813, 4to).<br> +<br> +In 1813 he travelled with Douglas Kinnaird in Sweden, Germany, Austria, +and Italy; in 1814 he was at Paris with the allied armies; and in April, +1815, was there again till the second Napoleonic war broke out, +returning to witness the second restoration of the Bourbons (see his +<i>Letters — written by an Englishman resident in Paris, etc.</i> Anon., +London, 1816, 2 vols., 8vo). During 1814 he was much with Byron in +London. He notes going with him to Drury Lane, and being introduced with +him to Kean (May 19); dining with him at Lord Tavistock's (June 4); +dining with him at Douglas Kinnaird's, to meet Kean (December 14). He +was Byron's best man at his marriage at Seaham (January 2, 1815), and it +was to him that the bride said, "If I am not happy, it will be my own +fault." He was the last person who shook hands with Byron on Dover pier, +when the latter left England in 1816. Later in the same year he was with +him at the Villa Diodati, on the Lake of Geneva, and travelled with him +to Venice. To him Byron dedicated <i>The Siege of Corinth</i>, In the next +year he was again with Byron in the Villa La Mira on the banks of the +Brenta, and at Venice, where he prepared the commentary on the fourth +canto of <i>Childe Harold</i>, which Byron dedicated to him. Part of the +notes were published separately (<i>Historical Illustrations, etc.</i> London, 1818, 8vo). In 1818 Hobhouse stood for Westminster, but was +defeated by George Lamb, the representative of the official Whigs. He +was an original member of "The Rota Club," afterwards known as +"Harrington's," to which Michael Bruce, Douglas Kinnaird, Scrope Davies, +and others belonged, and which Byron, writing from Italy, expressed a +wish to join. He had now embarked on political life. His pamphlet, <i>A +Defence of the People</i> (1819), was followed in the same year by <i>A +Trifling Mistake</i>, which was declared by the House of Commons to be a +breach of privilege. In consequence, he was committed to Newgate. The +death of George III., and the dissolution of Parliament, set him free. +He contested Westminster, won the seat with Sir Francis Burdett as his +colleague, and represented it for thirteen years. He took the part of +Queen Caroline against the Government. At the Queen's funeral (August 7, +1821) he attended the procession which escorted her body (August 13) +from Brandenburg House to Harwich, and saw the coffin placed upon the +vessel.<br> +<br> +His political career was long, independent, useful, and distinguished, +and he specially associated himself with such questions as the +shortening of the hours for infant labour, the opening up of +metropolitan vestries, and the subject of parliamentary reform. In 1832 +he was made a Privy Councillor, and became Secretary at War in Lord +Grey's Ministry. This post, finding himself unable to effect essential +reforms at the War Office, he exchanged for that of Secretary for +Ireland (1833); but he resigned both his office and his seat a few weeks +later, being opposed to the Government on a question of taxation. In +1834 he joined Lord Melbourne's Government as First Commissioner of +Woods and Forests, with a seat in the Cabinet. In Lord Melbourne's +second administration, and again in Lord J. Russell's Government of +1846, he was President of the Board of Control. On his retirement from +public life, in 1852, he received high recognition of his official +services from the Queen, who conferred on him the Grand Cross of the +Bath and a peerage. Hobhouse was present at Her Majesty's first Council, +and is said to have originated the phrase, "Her Majesty's Opposition."<br> +<br> +In 1822 he travelled in Italy (see <i>Italy: Remarks made in Several +Visits from the Year 1816 to 1834</i>, London, 1859, 2 vols., 8vo). There, +on September 20, at Pisa, he for the last time saw Byron, whose parting +words were, "Hobhouse, you should never have come, or you should never +go." In July, 1824, when Byron's body was brought home, he boarded the +<i>Florida</i> in Sandgate Creek, and took charge of the funeral ceremonies +from Westminster Stairs to the interment at Hucknall Torkard. He +prepared an article for the <i>Quarterly Review</i>, exposing the absurdities +of Medwin's <i>Conversations</i> and of Dallas's <i>Recollections</i>; but, owing +to difficulties with Southey, it was not published. It was the substance +of this article which afterwards appeared in the <i>Westminster Review</i> in +1825. In 1830 he wrote, but, by Lord Holland's advice, withheld, a +refutation of the charges made against the dead poet as to his +separation from Lady Byron. He has, however, left on record that it was +not fear which induced Byron to agree to the separation, but that, on +the contrary, he was ready to "go into court."<br> +<br> +The staunchest of Byron's friends, Hobhouse was also the most sensible +and candid. As such Byron valued him. Talking to Lady Blessington at +Genoa, in 1823, he said (<i>Conversations</i>, p. 93) that Hobhouse was + +<blockquote>"the +most impartial, or perhaps," added he, "<i>unpartial</i>, of my friends; he +always told me my faults, but I must do him the justice to add, that he +told them to <i>me</i>, and not to others." </blockquote> + +On another occasion he said (p. +172), + +<blockquote>"If friendship, as most people imagine, consists in telling one +truth — unvarnished, unadorned truth — he is indeed a friend: yet, hang +it, I must be candid, and say I have had many other, and more agreeable, +proofs of Hobhouse's friendship than the truths he always told me; but +the fact is, I wanted him to sugar them over a little with flattery, as +nurses do the physic given to children; and he never would, and +therefore I have never felt quite content with him, though, <i>au fond</i>, I +respect him the more for his candour, while I respect myself very much +less for my weakness in disliking it."</blockquote> +<a href="#L86">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f122">cross-reference: return to Footnote 5 of Letter 84</a><br> +<a href="#f200">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 120</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f137"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Scrope Berdmore Davies (1783-1852), born at Horsley, in +Gloucestershire, was educated at Eton, and King's College, Cambridge, +where he was admitted a Scholar in July, 1802, and a Fellow in July, +1805. In 1803 he was awarded by the Provost of Eton the Belham +Scholarship, given to those Scholars of King's who had behaved well at +Eton, and held it till 1816. A witty companion, with "a dry caustic +manner, and an irresistible stammer" (<i>Life of Rev, F. Hodgson</i>, vol. i +p. 204), Davies was, during the Regency and afterwards, a popular member +of fashionable society. A daring gambler and shrewd calculator, he at +one time won heavily at the gaming-tables. On June 10, 1814, as he told +Hobhouse, he won £6065 at Watier's Club at Macao. Captain Cronow, in his +<i>Reminiscences</i> (ed. 1860, vol. i. pp. 93-96), sketches him among +"Golden Ball" Hughes, "King" Allen, and other dandies. But luck turned +against him, and he retired, poverty-stricken and almost dependent upon +his Fellowship, to Paris, where he died, May 23, 1852. It was supposed +he had for many years occupied himself with writing his recollections of +his friends. But the notes, if they were ever written, have disappeared.<br> +<br> +Byron, who hated obligations, as he himself says, counted Davies as a +friend, though not on the same plane as Hobhouse. He borrowed from +Davies £4800 before he left England in 1809, repaid him in 1814, and +dedicated to him his <i>Parisina</i>. In his <i>MS. Journal</i> (<i>Life</i>, pp. 129, +130) he says, + +<blockquote>"One of the cleverest men I ever knew, in conversation, +was Scrope Berdmore Davies. Hobhouse is also very good in that line, +though it is of less consequence to a man who has other ways of showing +his talents than in company. Scrope was always ready, and often +witty — Hobhouse was witty, but not always so ready, being more +diffident."</blockquote> + +Byron appointed him one of the executors of his will of 1811. In his <i>Journal</i> for March 28, 1814 (<i>Life</i>, p. 234), occurs this entry: + +<blockquote>"Yesterday, dined tête à tête at the Cocoa with Scrope Davies — sat from +six till midnight — drank between us one bottle of champagne and six of +claret, neither of which wines ever affect me. Offered to take Scrope +home in my carriage; but he was tipsy and pious, and I was obliged to +leave him on his knees praying to I know not what purpose or pagod. No +headach, nor sickness, that night, nor to-day. Got up, if anything, +earlier than usual — sparred with Jackson <i>ad sudorem</i>, and have been +much better in health than for many days. I have heard nothing more from +Scrope."</blockquote> + +Scrope Davies visited Byron at the Villa Diodati, in 1816, and brought +back with him <i>Childe Harold</i>, canto iii. On his return he gave evidence +in the case of <i>Byron v. Johnson</i>, before the Lord Chancellor, November +28, 1816, when an injunction was obtained to restrain Johnson from +publishing a volume containing <i>Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage +to the Holy Land</i>, and other works, which he professed to have bought +from Byron for £500.<br> +<br> +According to Gronow (<i>Reminiscences</i>, vol. i. p. 153, 154), Scrope +Davies, asked to give his private opinion of Byron, said that he +considered him + +<blockquote>"very agreeable and clever, but vain, overbearing, +suspicious, and jealous. Byron hated Palmerston, but liked Peel, and +thought that the whole world ought to be constantly employed in admiring +his poetry and himself."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr137">return</a><br> +<a href="#f129">cross-reference: return to Footnote 12 of Letter 83</a><br> +<a href="#f253">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 140</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f138"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> For Hobhouse's lines on Bowles, see <i>English Bards, etc.</i>, +line 384, and <i>note</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr138">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L87"></a>87 — To Robert Charles Dallas<a href="#f139"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's Hotel, Albemarle Street, Jan. 20, 1808.<br> +<br> +Sir, — Your letter was not received till this morning, I presume from +being addressed to me in Notts., where I have not resided since last +June; and as the date is the 6th, you will excuse the delay of my +answer.<br> +<br> +If the little volume you mention has given pleasure to the author of <i>Percival</i> and <i>Aubrey</i>, I am sufficiently repaid by his praise. Though +our periodical censors have been uncommonly lenient, I confess a tribute +from a man of acknowledged genius is still more flattering. But I am +afraid I should forfeit all claim to candour, if I did not decline such +praise as I do not deserve; and this is, I am sorry to say, the case in +the present instance.<br> +<br> +My compositions speak for themselves, and must stand or fall by their +own worth or demerit: <i>thus far</i> I feel highly gratified by your +favourable opinion. But my pretensions to virtue are unluckily so few, +that though I should be happy to merit, I cannot accept, your applause +in that respect. <a name="fr140">One</a> passage in your letter struck me forcibly: you +mention the two Lords Lyttleton<a href="#f140"><sup>2</sup></a> in the manner they respectively +deserve, and will be surprised to hear the person who is now addressing +you has been frequently compared to the <i>latter</i>. I know I am injuring +myself in your esteem by this avowal, but the circumstance was so +remarkable from your observation, that I cannot help relating the fact. +The events of my short life have been of so singular a nature, that, +though the pride commonly called honour has, and I trust ever will, +prevent me from disgracing my name by a mean or cowardly action, I have +been already held up as the votary of licentiousness, and the disciple +of infidelity. How far justice may have dictated this accusation, I +cannot pretend to say; but, like the <i>gentleman</i> to whom my religious +friends, in the warmth of their charity, have already devoted me, I am +made worse than I really am. However, to quit myself (the worst theme I +could pitch upon), and return to my poems, I cannot sufficiently express +my thanks, and I hope I shall some day have an opportunity of rendering +them in person. A second edition is now in the press, with some +additions and considerable omissions; you will allow me to present you +with a copy. <a name="fr141">The</a> <i>Critical</i><a href="#f141"><sup>3</sup></a>, <i>Monthly</i><a href="#f142"><sup>4</sup></a>, and <i>Anti-Jacobin<a href="#f143"><sup>5</sup></a> +Reviews</i> have been very indulgent; but the <i>Eclectic</i><a href="#f144"><sup>6</sup></a> has pronounced +a furious Philippic, not against the <i>book</i> but the <i>author</i>, where you +will find all I have mentioned asserted by a reverend divine who wrote +the critique.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr145">Your</a> name and connection with our family have been long known to me, and +I hope your person will be not less so: you will find me an excellent +compound of a "Brainless" and a "Stanhope."<a href="#f145"><sup>7</sup></a> I am afraid you will +hardly be able to read this, for my hand is almost as bad as my +character; but you will find me, as legibly as possible,<br> +<br> +Your obliged and obedient servant,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f139"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Robert Charles Dallas (1754-1842), born in Jamaica and +educated in Scotland, read law at the Inner Temple. About 1775 he +returned to Jamaica to look after his property and take up a lucrative +appointment. Three years later he returned to England, married, and took +his wife back with him to the West Indies. His wife's health compelled +him to return to Europe, and he lived for some time in France. At the +outbreak of the Revolution he emigrated to America; but finally settled +down to literary work in England. His first publication (1797) was +<i>Miscellaneous Writings consisting of Poems; Lucretia, a Tragedy; and +Moral Essays, with a Vocabulary of the Passions</i>. He translated a number +of French books bearing on the French Revolution, by Bertrand de +Moleville, Mallet du Pan, Hue, and Joseph Weber; also a work on +Volcanoes by the Abbé Ordinaire, and an historical novel by Madame de +Genlis, <i>The Siege of Rochelle</i>. He wrote a number of novels, among them +<i>Percival, or Nature Vindicated</i> (1801); <i>Aubrey: a Novel</i> (1804); <i>The +Morlands; Tales illustrative of the Simple and Surprising</i> (1805); <i>The +Knights; Tales illustrative of the Marvellous</i> (1808). Later (1819 and +1823) he published two volumes of poems. He says (preface to <i>Percival</i>, +p. ix.) that his object is "to improve the heart, as well as to please +the fancy, and to be the auxiliary of the Divine and the Moralist." He +is one of the writers, others being "Gleaner" Pratt and Lord Carlisle, +"whose writings" (<i>Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Percival +Stockdale</i>, 1809, vol. i. Preface, p. xvi.) "dart through the general +fog of our literary dulness." Stockdale further says of him that he was +"a man of a most affectionate and virtuous mind. He has had the moral +honour, in several novels, to exert his talents, which were worthy of +their glorious cause, in the service of good conduct and religion."<br> +<br> +Dallas's sister, Henrietta Charlotte, married George Anson Byron, the +son of Admiral the Hon. John Byron, and was therefore Byron's aunt by +marriage. On the score of this connection, Dallas introduced himself to +Byron by complimenting him, in a letter dated January 6, 1808, on his +<i>Hours of Idleness</i>. A well-meaning, self-satisfied, dull, industrious +man, he gave Byron excellent moral advice, to which the latter responded +as the <i>fanfaron de ses vices</i>, evidently with great amusement to +himself. <i>English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i> was brought out under +Dallas's auspices, as well as <i>Childe Harold</i> and <i>The Corsair</i>, the +profits of which Byron made over to him. Dallas distrusted his own +literary judgment in the matter of Byron's verse, and consulted Walter +Wright, the author of Horæ Ioniæ, about the prospects of <i>Childe +Harold</i>. + +<blockquote>"I have told him," said Wright, "that I have no doubt this will +succeed. Lord Byron had offered him before some translations from +Horace, which I told him would never sell, and he did not take them"</blockquote> +(<i>Diary of H. Crabb Robinson</i>, vol. i. pp. 29, 30). + +The connection between Dallas and Byron practically ended in 1814. The +publication of Dallas's <i>Recollections of the Life of Lord Byron from +the Year</i> 1808 <i>to the end of</i> 1814 was stopped by a decree obtained by +Byron's executors, in the Court of Chancery, August 23, 1824. But the +book was published by the writer's son, the Rev. A. R. C. Dallas.<br> +<a href="#L87">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f270">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 148</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f140"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Byron refers to the following passage in Dallas's letter of +January 6, 1808: + + <blockquote> "A spirit that brings to my mind another noble author, who was not + only a fine poet, orator, and historian, but one of the closest + reasoners we have on the truth of that religion, of which forgiveness + is a prominent principle: the great and the good Lord Lyttelton, whose + fame will never die. His son, to whom he had transmitted genius but + not virtue, sparkled for a moment, and went out like a falling star, + and with him the title became extinct. He was the victim of inordinate + passions, and he will be heard of in this world only by those who read + the English Peerage" </blockquote> + +(<i>Correspondence of Lord Byron</i>, p. 20, the suppressed edition).<br> +<br> +Dallas was, of course, aware that Byron's predecessor in the title, +William, fifth Lord Byron, was known as the "wicked Lord Byron." George, +first Lord Lyttelton (1709-1773), to whom Pope refers (<i>Imitations of +Horace</i>, bk. i. Ep. i. 1. 30) as + + <blockquote> "Still true to virtue, and as warm as true,"</blockquote> + +was a voluminous writer in prose and verse, but owed his political +importance to his family connection with Chatham, Temple, and George +Grenville. Horace Walpole calls him a "wise moppet" (<i>Letters</i>, vol. ii. +p. 28, ed. Cunningham), and repeatedly sneers at his dulness. His son +Thomas, second Lord Lyttelton (1744-1779), the "wicked Lord Lyttelton," +appears in W. Combe's <i>Diaboliad</i> as the + + <blockquote> "Peer of words,<br> + Well known, — and honour'd in the House of Lords, — <br> + Whose Eloquence all Parallel defies!"</blockquote> + +who claims the throne of Hell as the worst of living men. His <i>Poems by +a Young Nobleman lately deceased</i> (published in 1780, after his death) +may have helped Dallas in his allusion. He was the hero and the victim +of the famous ghost story which Dr. Johnson was "willing to believe."<br> +<a href="#fr140">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f141"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> <i>The Critical Review</i> (3rd series, vol. xii. pp. 47-53) +specially praises lines "On Leaving Newstead Abbey" and "Childish +Recollections."<br> +<a href="#fr141">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f142"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> In <i>Monthly Literary Recreations</i> (July, 1807, pp. 67-71), +"Childish Recollections" and "The Tear" are particularly commended. + +<blockquote>"As +friends to the cause of literature, we have thought proper not to +disguise our opinion of his powers, that we might alter his +determination, and lead him once more to the Castalian fount."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr141">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f143"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> <i>The Anti-Jacobin Review</i> (December, 1807, pp. 407, 408) +says that the poems + +<blockquote>"exhibit strong proofs of genius, accompanied by a +lively but chastened imagination, a classical taste, and a benevolent +heart."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr141">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f144"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> <i>The Eclectic Review</i> (vol. iii. part ii. pp. 989-993) +begins its review thus: + +<blockquote>"The notice we take of this publication regards +the author rather than the book; the book is a collection of juvenile +pieces, some of very moderate merit, and others of very questionable +morality; but the author is a <i>nobleman</i>!"</blockquote> +<a href="#fr141">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f145"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 7:</span></a> Characters in the novel called <i>Percival</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr145">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L88">88 — To Robert Charles Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's, January 21, 1808.<br> +<br> +Sir, — Whenever leisure and inclination permit me the pleasure of a +visit, I shall feel truly gratified in a personal acquaintance with one +whose mind has been long known to me in his writings.<br> +<br> +You are so far correct in your conjecture, that I am a member of the +University of Cambridge, where I shall take my degree of A.M. this term; +but were reasoning, eloquence, or virtue, the objects of my search, +Granta is not their metropolis, nor is the place of her situation an "El +Dorado," far less an Utopia. The intellects of her children are as +stagnant as her Cam, and their pursuits limited to the church — not of +Christ, but of the nearest benefice.<br> +<br> +As to my reading, I believe I may aver, without hyperbole, it has been +tolerably extensive in the historical department; so that few nations +exist, or have existed, with whose records I am not in some degree +acquainted, from Herodotus down to Gibbon. Of the classics, I know about +as much as most school-boys after a discipline of thirteen years; <a name="fr146">of</a> the +law of the land as much as enables me to keep "within the statute" — to +use the poacher's vocabulary. I did study the "Spirit of Laws"<a href="#f146"><sup>1</sup></a> and +the Law of Nations; but when I saw the latter violated every month, I +gave up my attempts at so useless an accomplishment:— of geography, I +have seen more land on maps than I should wish to traverse on foot; — of +mathematics, enough to give me the headach without clearing the part +affected; — of philosophy, astronomy, and metaphysics, more than I can +comprehend; and of common sense so little, that I mean to leave a +Byronian prize at each of our "Almæ Matres" for the first +discovery, — though I rather fear that of the longitude will precede it.<br> +<br> +I once thought myself a philosopher, and talked nonsense with great +decorum: I defied pain, and preached up equanimity. For some time this +did very well, for no one was in <i>pain</i> for me but my friends, and none +lost their patience but my hearers. At last, a fall from my horse +convinced me bodily suffering was an evil; and the worst of an argument +overset my maxims and my temper at the same moment: so I quitted Zeno +for Aristippus, and conceive that pleasure constitutes the <img src="images/BLG1.gif" width="76" height="17" alt="Greek (transliterated): to kalon">.<br> +<br> +In morality, I prefer Confucius to the Ten Commandments, and Socrates to +St. Paul (though the two latter agree in their opinion of marriage). In +religion, I favour the Catholic emancipation, but do not acknowledge the +Pope; and I have refused to take the sacrament, because I do not think +eating bread or drinking wine from the hand of an earthly vicar will +make me an inheritor of heaven. I hold virtue, in general, or the +virtues severally, to be only in the disposition, each a <i>feeling</i>, not +a principle. I believe truth the prime attribute of the Deity, and death +an eternal sleep, at least of the body. You have here a brief compendium +of the sentiments of the <i>wicked</i> George, Lord Byron; and, till I get a +new suit, you will perceive I am badly cloathed.<br> +<br> +I remain yours, etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f146"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> In Byron's "List of historical writers whose works I have +perused in different languages" (<i>Life</i>, pp. 46, 47), occurs the name of +Montesquieu. It is to his <i>Esprit des Lois</i> that Byron refers.<br> +<a href="#fr146">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L89">89 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's, January 25th, 1808.<br> +<br> +Sir, — The picture I have drawn of my finances is unfortunately a true +one, and I find the colours may be heightened but not improved by +time. — I have inclosed the receipt, and return my thanks for the loan, +which shall be repaid the first opportunity. In the concluding part of +my last I gave my reasons for not troubling you with my society at +present, but when I can either communicate or receive pleasure, I shall +not be long absent.<br> +<br> +Yrs., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — I have received a letter from Whitehead, of course you know the +contents, and must act as you think proper.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L90">90 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's, January 25th, 1808.<br> +<br> +Dear Sir, — Some time ago I gave Mitchell the sadler [<i>sic</i>] a letter for +you, requesting his bill might be paid from the Balance of the Quarter +you obliged me by advancing. If he has received this you will further +oblige me by paying what remains, I believe somewhere about five pounds, +if so much.<br> +<br> +You will confer a favour upon me by the loan of twenty. I will endeavour +to repay it next week, as I have immediate occasion for that sum, and I +should not require it of you could I obtain it elsewhere.<br> +<br> +I am now in my one and twentieth year, and cannot command as many +pounds. To Cambridge I cannot go without paying my bills, and at present +I could as soon compass the National Debt; in London I must not remain, +nor shall I, when I can procure a trifle to take me out of it. Home I +have none; and if there was a possibility of getting out of the Country, +I would gladly avail myself of it. But even that is denied me, my Debts +amount to three thousand, three hundred to Jews, eight hundred to Mrs. +B. of Nottingham, to coachmaker and other tradesmen a thousand more, and +these must be much increased, before they are lessened.<br> +<br> +Such is the prospect before me, which is by no means brightened by +ill-health. I would have called on you, but I have neither spirits to +enliven myself or others, or inclination to bring a gloomy face to spoil +a group of happy ones. I remain,<br> +<br> +Your obliged and obedt. sert.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Your answer to the former part will oblige, as I shall be reduced +to a most unpleasant dilemma if it does not arrive.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L91"></a>91 — To James De Bathe<a href="#f147"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's Hotel, February 2d, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dear De Bathe, — Last Night I saw your Father and Brother, the former +I have not the pleasure of knowing, but the latter informed me <i>you</i> came to Town on <i>Saturday</i> and returned <i>yesterday</i>.<br> +<br> +I have received a pressing Invitation from Henry Drury to pay him a +visit; in his Letter he mentions a very old <i>Friend</i> of yours, who told +him he would join my party, if I could inform him on what day I meant to +go over. This Friend you will readily conclude to be a Lord <i>B</i>.; but +not the one who now addresses you. Shall I bring him to you? and insure +a welcome for myself which perhaps might not otherwise be the case. This +will not be for a Fortnight to come. I am waiting for Long, who is now +at Chatham, when he arrives we shall probably drive down and dine with +Drury.<br> +<br> +I confess Harrow has lost most of its charms for me. I do not know if +Delawarr is still there; but, with the exception of yourself and the +Earl, I shall find myself among Strangers. Long has a Brother at +Butler's, and all his predilections remain in full force; mine are +weakened, if not destroyed, and though I can safely say, I never knew a +Friend out of Harrow, I question whether I have one left in it. You +leave Harrow in July; may I ask what is your future Destination?<br> +<br> +In January <i>1809</i> I shall be twenty one & in the Spring of the same year +proceed abroad, not on the usual Tour, but a route of a more extensive +Description. What say you? are you disposed for a view of the +Peloponnesus and a voyage through the Archipelago? I am merely in jest +with regard to you, but very serious with regard to my own Intention +which is fixed on the <i>Pilgrimage</i>, unless some political view or +accident induce me to postpone it. Adieu! if you have Leisure, I shall +be as happy to hear from you, as I would have been to have <i>seen</i> you. +Believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f147"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Sir James Wynne De Bathe (1792-1828) succeeded his father +as second baronet, February 22, 1808. + +<blockquote>"Clare, Dorset, Charles Gordon, De +Bathe, Claridge, and John Wingfield, were my juniors and favourites, +whom I spoilt by indulgence" </blockquote> + +(<i>Life</i>, p. 21). De Bathe's name does not +appear in the Harrow School lists. A Captain De Bathe interested himself +in the case of Medora Leigh in 1843 (see Charles Mackay's <i>Medora +Leigh</i>, pp. 92, 93, and elsewhere in the volume).<br> +<a href="#L91">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L92"></a>92 — To William Harness<a href="#f148"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's Hotel, Albemarle Street, Feb. II, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dear Harness, — As I had no opportunity of returning my verbal thanks, +I trust you will accept my written acknowledgments for the compliment +you were pleased to pay some production of my unlucky muse last +November, — I am induced to do this not less from the pleasure I feel in +the praise of an old schoolfellow, than from justice to you, for I had +heard the story with some slight variations. <a name="fr149">Indeed</a>, when we met this +morning, Wingfield<a href="#f149"><sup>2</sup></a> had not undeceived me; but he will tell you that +I displayed no resentment in mentioning what I had heard, though I was +not sorry to discover the truth. Perhaps you hardly recollect, some +years ago, a short, though, for the time, a warm friendship between us. +Why it was not of longer duration I know not. I have still a gift of +yours in my possession, that must always prevent me from forgetting it. +I also remember being favoured with the perusal of many of your +compositions, and several other circumstances very pleasant in their +day, which I will not force upon your memory, but entreat you to believe +me, with much regret at their short continuance, and a hope they are not +irrevocable,<br> +<br> +Yours very sincerely, etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f148"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> William Harness (1790-1869), son of Dr. J. Harness, Commissioner +of the Transport Board, was educated at Harrow and Christ's +College, Cambridge. Ordained in 1812, he was, from 1823 to 1826, +Curate at Hampstead. + + <blockquote> "I could quiz you heartily," writes Mrs. Franklin to Miss Mitford + (September 6, 1824), "for having told me in three successive letters + of Mr. Harness's chapel at Hampstead. I understand he now lives a very + retired life"</blockquote> + +(<i>The Friendships of Mary Russell Mitford</i>, vol. i. p. 61). From 1826 to +1844 he was Incumbent of Regent Square Chapel; Minister of Brompton +Chapel (1844-47); Perpetual Curate (1849-69) of All Saints', +Knightsbridge, which he built from subscriptions raised by himself. He +is described by Crabb Robinson (<i>Diary</i>, vol. iii. p. 212) as + +<blockquote> "a clergyman with Oxford propensities, and a worshipper of the heathen + Muses as well as of the Christian Graces;" </blockquote> + +and again (iii. 326), as + + <blockquote>"a man of taste, of High Church principles and liberal in spirit."</blockquote> + +Miss Mitford (<i>The Friendships of Mary Russell Mitford</i>, vol. ii. p. +289) writes that + +<blockquote>"he has neither Catholic nor Puseyite tendencies, — only it is a large and liberal mind like Bishop Stanley's, believing good + men and good Christians may exist among Papists, and will be as safe + there as if they were Protestants." </blockquote> + +Again (vol. ii. p. 295) she says of him: + + <blockquote> "Besides his varied accomplishments, and his admirable goodness and + kindness, he has all sorts of amusing peculiarities. With a temper + never known to fail, an indulgence the largest, a tenderness as of a + woman, he has the habit of talking like a cynic! and with more + learning, ancient and modern, and a wider grasp of literature than + almost any one I know, professes to read nothing and care for nothing + but 'Shakespeare and the Bible.' He is the finest reader of both that + I ever heard. His preaching, which has been so much admired, is too + rapid, but his reading the prayers is perfection. The best parish + priest in London, and the truest Christian." </blockquote> + +Miss Mitford's praise may be exaggerated; but she had known Harness for +a lifetime.<br> +<br> +Harness edited <i>Shakespeare</i> (1825, 8 vols.), as well as <i>Massinger</i> +(1830) and <i>Ford</i> (1831); wrote for the <i>Quarterly</i> and <i>Blackwood</i>; and +published a number of sermons, including <i>The Wrath of Cain</i>, <i>A Boyle +Lecture</i> (1822). He wrote <i>The Life of Mary Russell Mitford</i> (1870), in +collaboration with the Rev. A. G. L'Estrange, whose <i>Life of the Rev. W. +Harness</i> is the chief authority for his career.<br> +<br> +His friendship with Byron began at Harrow (<i>Life</i>, pp. 23, 24), where +Byron, who was older than Harness, took pity upon his lameness and +weakness, and protected him from the bullies of the school. At a later +period they became estranged, as is shown by the following letter from +Byron to Harness (<i>Life</i>, pp. 24, 25):— + + <blockquote> "We both seem perfectly to recollect, with a mixture of pleasure and + regret, the hours we once passed together, and I assure you, most + sincerely, they are numbered among the happiest of my brief chronicle + of enjoyment. I am now <i>getting into years</i>, that is to say, I was + <i>twenty</i> a month ago, and another year will send me into the world to + run my career of folly with the rest. I was then just fourteen, — you + were almost the first of my Harrow friends, certainly the <i>first</i> in + my esteem, if not in date; but an absence from Harrow for some time, + shortly after, and new connections on your side, and the difference in + our conduct (an advantage decidedly in your favour) from that + turbulent and riotous disposition of mine, which impelled me into + every species of mischief, — all these circumstances combined to + destroy an intimacy, which affection urged me to continue, and memory + compels me to regret. But there is not a circumstance attending that + period, hardly a sentence we exchanged, which is not impressed on my + mind at this moment. I need not say more, — this assurance alone must + convince you, had I considered them as trivial, they would have been + less indelible. How well I recollect the perusal of your 'first + flights'! There is another circumstance you do not know; — the <i>first + lines</i> I ever attempted at Harrow were addressed to <i>you</i>. You were to + have seen them; but Sinclair had the copy in his possession when we + went home; — and, on our return, we were <i>strangers</i>. They were + destroyed, and certainly no great loss; but you will perceive from + this circumstance my opinions at an age when we cannot be hypocrites.<br> +<br> + I have dwelt longer on this theme than I intended, and I shall now + conclude with what I ought to have begun. We were once friends, — nay, + we have always been so, for our separation was the effect of chance, + not of dissension. I do not know how far our destinations in life may + throw us together, but if opportunity and inclination allow you to + waste a thought on such a hare-brained being as myself, you will find + me at least sincere, and not so bigoted to my faults as to involve + others in the consequences. Will you sometimes write to me? I do not + ask it often; and, if we meet, let us be what we <i>should</i> be, and what + we <i>were</i>."</blockquote> + +The following is Harness's own account of the circumstances in which +<a href="#L92">Letter 92</a> was written:— + + <blockquote> "A coolness afterwards arose, which Byron alludes to in the first of + the accompanying letters, and we never spoke during the last year of + his remaining at school, nor till after the publication of his <i>Hours + of Idleness</i>. Lord Byron was then at Cambridge; I, in one of the upper + forms, at Harrow. In an English theme I happened to quote from the + volume, and mention it with praise. It was reported to Byron that I + had, on the contrary, spoken slightingly of his work and of himself, + for the purpose of conciliating the favour of Dr. Butler, the master, + who had been severely satirised in one of the poems. Wingfield, who + was afterwards Lord Powerscourt, a mutual friend of Byron and myself, + disabused him of the error into which he had been led, and this was + the occasion of the first letter of the collection. Our intimacy was + renewed, and continued from that time till his going abroad. Whatever + faults Lord Byron might have had towards others, to myself he was + always uniformly affectionate. I have many slights and neglects + towards him to reproach myself with; but I cannot call to mind a + single instance of caprice or unkindness, in the whole course of our + friendship, to allege against him."</blockquote> + +<a name="cr6">In</a> December, 1811, Harness paid Byron a visit at Newstead, the only +other guest being Francis Hodgson, who, like Harness, was not then +ordained. He thus describes the visit (<i>Life of the Rev. Francis +Hodgson</i>, vol. i. pp. 219-221}:— + + <blockquote> "When Byron returned, with the MS. of the first two cantos of <i>Childe + Harold</i> in his portmanteau, I paid him a visit at Newstead. It was + winter — dark, dreary weather — the snow upon the ground; and a + straggling, gloomy, depressive, partially inhabited place the Abbey + was. Those rooms, however, which had been fitted up for residence were + so comfortably appointed, glowing with crimson hangings, and cheerful + with capacious fires, that one soon lost the melancholy feeling of + being domiciled in the wing of an extensive ruin. Many tales are + related or fabled of the orgies which, in the poet's early youth, had + made clamorous these ancient halls of the Byrons. I can only say that + nothing in the shape of riot or excess occurred when I was there. The + only other visitor was Dr. Hodgson, the translator of <i>Juvenal</i>, and + nothing could be more quiet and regular than the course of our days. + Byron was retouching, as the sheets passed through the press, the + stanzas of <i>Childe Harold</i>. Hodgson was at work in getting out the + ensuing number of the <i>Monthly Review</i>, of which he was principal + editor. I was reading for my degree. When we met, our general talk was + of poets and poetry — of who could or who could not write; but it + occasionally rose into very serious discussions on religion. Byron, + from his early education in Scotland, had been taught to identify the + principles of Christianity with the extreme dogmas of Calvinism. His + mind had thus imbibed a most miserable prejudice, which appeared to be + the only obstacle to his hearty acceptance of the Gospel. Of this + error we were most anxious to disabuse him. The chief weight of the + argument rested with Hodgson, who was older, a good deal, than myself. + I cannot even now — at a distance of more than fifty years — recall + those conversations without a deep feeling of admiration for the + judicious zeal and affectionate earnestness (often speaking with tears + in his eyes) which Dr. Hodgson evinced in his advocacy of the truth. + The only difference, except perhaps in the subjects talked about, + between our life at Newstead Abbey and that of the great families + around us, was the hours we kept. It was, as I have said, winter, and + the days were cold; and, as nothing tempted us to rise early, we got + up late. This flung the routine of the day rather backward, and we did + not go early to bed. My visit to Newstead lasted about three weeks, + when I returned to Cambridge to take my degree."</blockquote> + +To Harness Byron intended to dedicate <i>Childe Harold</i>, but feared to do +so, "lest it should injure him in his profession."<br> +<a href="#L92">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f53">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 33</a><br> +<a href="#f165">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 102</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f149"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Three Wingfields, sons of Lord Powerscourt, entered Harrow +in February, 1801. The Hon. Richard Wingfield succeeded his father as +fifth Viscount Powerscourt in 1809, and died in 1823. Edward became a +clergyman and died of cholera in 1825; John, Byron's friend, the +"Alonzo" of "Childish Recollections" entered the Coldstream Guards, and +died of fever at Coimbra, May 14, 1811. + +<blockquote>"Of all human beings, I was +perhaps at one time most attached to poor Wingfield, who died at +Coimbra, 1811, before I returned to England" </blockquote> + +(<i>Life</i>, p. 21). To his +memory Byron wrote the lines in <i>Childe Harold</i>, Canto I stanza xci.<br> +<a href="#fr149">return</a><br> +<a href="#f301">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 161</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp6">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L93">93 — To J. Ridge</a></h3> +<br> +[Mr. Ridge, Newark.]<br> +<br> +Dorant's Hotel, February 21st, 1808.<br> +<br> +Mr. Ridge, — Something has occurred which will make considerable +alteration in my new volume. <a name="fr150">You</a> must <i>go back</i> and <i>cut out</i> the whole <i>poem</i> of <i>Childish Recollections</i><a href="#f150"><sup>1</sup></a>. Of course you will be surprized +at this, and perhaps displeased, but it must be <i>done</i>. I cannot help +its detaining you a <i>month</i> longer, but there will be enough in the +volume without it, and as I am now reconciled to Dr. Butler I cannot +allow my satire to appear against him, nor can I alter that part +relating to him without spoiling the whole. You will therefore omit the +whole poem. Send me an <i>immediate</i> answer to this letter but <i>obey</i> the +directions. It is better that my reputation should suffer as a poet by +the omission than as a man of honour by the insertion.<br> +<br> +Etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f150"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> For "Childish Recollections," see <i>Poems</i>, vol.i. p.101. A +previous letter, written to Ridge from Dorant's Hotel, January 9, 1808, +illustrates the rapidity with which Byron's moods changed. In this case, +the lines on "Euryalus" (Lord Delawarr: see page 41, <a href="#f29"><i>note</i></a> 1) were to +be omitted:— + + <blockquote>"Mr. Ridge, — In Childish Recollections omit the whole character of + <i>Euryalus</i>, and insert instead the lines to <i>Florio</i> as a part of the + poem, and send me a proof in due course.<br> +<br> + "Etc. etc.,<br> +<br> + "<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> + "P.S. — The first line of the passage to be omitted begins 'Shall fair + Euryalus,' etc., and ends at 'Toil for more;' omit the <i>whole</i>."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr150">return to footnote mark</a> + +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a><br> +<p><a href="#toc">Contents</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h2><a name="section4">Chapter III — <i>ENGLISH BARDS, AND SCOTCH REVIEWERS</i></a></h2> +<br> +<b>1808-1809</b> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L94"></a>94 — To the Rev. John Becher<a href="#f151"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's Hotel, Feb. 26, 1808.<br> +<br> +<br> + <b>My Dear Becher</b>, — Now for Apollo. I am happy that you still retain your + predilection, and that the public allow me some share of praise. <a name="fr152">I</a> am + of so much importance that a most violent attack is preparing for me + in the next number of the <i>Edinburgh Review</i><a href="#f152"><sup>2</sup></a>. This I had from the + authority of a friend who has seen the proof and manuscript of the + critique. You know the system of the Edinburgh gentlemen is universal + attack. They praise none; and neither the public nor the author + expects praise from them. It is, however, something to be noticed, as + they profess to pass judgment only on works requiring the public + attention. You will see this when it comes out; — it is, I understand, + of the most unmerciful description; but I am aware of it, and hope + <i>you</i> will not be hurt by its severity.<br> +<br> + Tell Mrs. Byron not to be out of humour with them, and to prepare her + mind for the greatest hostility on their part. It will do no injury + whatever, and I trust her mind will not be ruffled. <a name="fr153">They</a> defeat their + object by indiscriminate abuse, and they never praise except the + partisans of Lord Holland and Co<a href="#f153"><sup>3</sup></a>. <a name="fr154">It</a> is nothing to be abused when + Southey, Moore, Lauderdale, Strangford, and Payne Knight, share the + same fate<a href="#f154"><sup>4</sup></a>.<br> +<br> + I am sorry — but "Childish Recollections" must be suppressed during + this edition. I have altered, at your suggestion, the <i>obnoxious + allusions</i> in the sixth stanza of my last ode.<br> +<br> + And now, my dear Becher, I must return my best acknowledgments for the + interest you have taken in me and my poetical bantlings, and I shall + ever be proud to show how much I esteem the <i>advice</i> and the + <i>adviser</i>.<br> +<br> + Believe me, most truly, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f151"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The Rev. John Thomas Becher (1770-1848), educated at +Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford, was appointed Vicar of Rumpton, +Notts., and Midsomer Norton, 1801; Prebendary of Southwell in 1818; and +chairman of Newark Quarter Sessions in 1816. In all matters relating to +the condition of the poor he made himself an acknowledged authority. He +was the originator of a house of correction, a Friendly Society, and a +workhouse at Southwell. He was one of the "supervisors" appointed to +organize the Milbank Penitentiary, which was opened in June, 1816. On +Friendly Societies he published three works (1824, 1825, and 1826), in +which, <i>inter alia</i>, he sought to prove that labourers, paying sixpence +a week from the time they were twenty, could secure not only sick-pay, +but an annuity of five shillings a week at the age of sixty-five. His +<i>Anti-Pauper System</i> (1828) pointed to indoor relief as the true cure to +pauperism. It was by Becher's advice that Byron destroyed his <i>Fugitive +Pieces</i>. No one who has read the silly verses which Becher condemned, +can doubt that the counsel was wise (see Byron's Lines to Becher, +<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 112-114, 114-116, 247- 251). The following are the +lines in which Becher expostulated with Byron on the mischievous +tendency of his verses:— + + <blockquote> "Say, Byron! why compel me to deplore<br> + Talents designed for choice poetic lore,<br> + Deigning to varnish scenes, that shun the day,<br> + With guilty lustre, and with amorous lay?<br> + Forbear to taint the Virgin's spotless mind,<br> + In Power though mighty, be in Mercy kind,<br> + Bid the chaste Muse diffuse her hallowed light,<br> + So shall thy Page enkindle pure delight,<br> + Enhance thy native worth, and proudly twine,<br> + With Britain's Honors, those that are divine."</blockquote> +<a href="#L94">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f152"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> See, for the Review itself, <a href="#section7">Appendix II</a>. + +<blockquote>"As an author," +writes Byron to Hobhouse, February 27, 1808, "I am cut to atoms by the +<i>E — — - Review;</i> it is just out, and has completely demolished my +little fabric of fame. This is rather scurvy treatment for a Whig +Review; but politics and poetry are different things, and I am no adept +in either. I therefore submit in silence." </blockquote> + +Among the less sentimental +effects of this Review upon Byron's mind, he used to mention that, on +the day he read it, he drank three bottles of claret to his own share +after dinner; that nothing, however, relieved him till he had given vent +to his indignation in rhyme, and that "after the first twenty lines, he +felt himself considerably better" (Moore, <i>Life</i>, p. 69). + + <blockquote> "I was sitting with Charles Lamb," H. Crabb Robinson told De Morgan, + "when Wordsworth came in, with fume in his countenance and the + <i>Edinburgh Review</i> in his hand. + + <blockquote> 'I have no patience with these + Reviewers,' he said; 'here is a young man, a lord, and a minor, it + appears, who publishes a little volume of poetry; and these fellows + attack him, as if no one may write poetry unless he lives in a garret. + The young man will do something, if he goes on.' </blockquote> + +When I became + acquainted with Lady Byron, I told her this story, and she said, + +<blockquote>'Ah! + if Byron had known that, he would never have attacked Wordsworth. He + once went out to dinner where Wordsworth was to be; when he came home, + I said, <br> +<br> +"Well, how did the young poet get on with the old one?" <br> +<br> +"To + tell you the truth," said he, "I had but one feeling from the + beginning of the visit to the end — <i>reverence!</i>"'"</blockquote></blockquote> + +(<i>Diary,</i> iii. 488.)<br> +<a href="#fr152">return</a><br> +<a href="#f70">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 53</a><br> +<a href="#f96">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 74</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f153"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> That is to say, the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> praised only +Whigs. Henry Richard Vassall Fox, third Lord Holland (1773-1840), the +"nephew of Fox, and friend of Grey," married, in 1797, Elizabeth +Vassall, the divorced wife of Sir Godfrey Webster. He held the office of +Lord Privy Seal in the Ministry of All the Talents (October, 1806, to +March, 1807). During the long exclusion of the Whigs from office +(1807-32), when there seemed as little chance of a Whig Administration +as of "a thaw in Nova Zembla," Holland, in the House of Lords, supported +Catholic Emancipation, advocated the emancipation of slaves, opposed the +detention of Napoleon as a prisoner of war, and moved the abolition of +capital punishment for minor offences. From November, 1830, to his +death, with brief intervals, he was Chancellor of the Duchy of +Lancaster, in the administrations of Lord Grey and of Lord Melbourne. +Outside the House he kept the party together by his great social gifts. +An admirable talker, <i>raconteur</i>, and mimic, with a wit's relish +for wit, the charm of his good temper was irresistible. + + <blockquote> "In my whole experience of our race," said Lord Brougham, "I never saw + such a temper, nor anything that at all resembled it" </blockquote> + +(<i>Statesmen of the +Time of George III</i>., ed. 1843, 3rd series, p. 341). Greville speaks of + + <blockquote> "his imperturbable temper, unflagging vivacity and spirit, his + inexhaustible fund of anecdote, extensive information, sprightly wit"</blockquote> + +(<i>Memoirs</i>, iii. 446). Leslie, in his <i>Autobiographical Recollections</i> +(vol. i. p. 100), adds the tribute that + + <blockquote> "he was, without any exception, the very best-tempered man I have ever + known."</blockquote> + +Lord John Russell (preface to vol. vi. of the <i>Life of Thomas +Moore</i>) says that + +<blockquote>"he won without seeming to court, instructed without seeming to teach, +and he amused without labouring to be witty." </blockquote> + +George Ticknor (<i>Life</i>, +vol. i. p. 264) + + <blockquote> "never met a man who so disarms opposition in discussion, as I have + often seen him, without yielding an iota, merely by the unpretending + simplicity and sincerity of his manner."</blockquote> + +Sydney Smith (<i>Memoir of the Rev. Sydney Smith</i>, chap. x. p. 187) +considered that his + + <blockquote>"career was one great, incessant, and unrewarded effort to resist + oppression, promote justice, and restrain the abuse of power. He had + an invincible hatred of tyranny and oppression, and the most ardent + love of public happiness and attachment to public rights."</blockquote> + +A lover of art, a scholar, a linguist, he wrote memoirs, satires, and +verses, collected materials for a life of his uncle, Charles James Fox, +and translated both from the Spanish and Italian. His <i>Account of the +Life and Writings of Lope Felix de Vega Carpio</i> (1806) was reviewed +favourably by the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> for October, 1806. Byron attacked +him in <i>English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i> (lines 540-559, and +<i>notes</i>), on the supposition that Lord Holland had instigated the +article in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> on <i>Hours of Idleness</i> (January, +1808). In 1812, learning his mistake, and hearing from Rogers that Lord +and Lady Holland desired the satire to be withdrawn, he gave orders that +the whole impression should be burned (see <i>Introduction to English +Sards, and Scotch Reviewers, Poems,</i> vol. i. p. 294). In his <i>Journal</i> +(November 17, 1813) he writes, + +<blockquote> "I have had a most kind letter from Lord Holland on <i>The Bride of + Abydos,</i> which he likes, and so does Lady H. This is very good-natured + in both, from whom I do not deserve any quarter. Yet I <i>did</i> think at + the time, that my cause of enmity proceeded from Holland House, and am + glad I was wrong, and wish I had not been in such a hurry with that + confounded Satire, of which I would suppress even the memory; but + people, now they can't get it, make a fuss, I verily believe out of + contradiction."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr153">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f154"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> In the early numbers of the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> reviews were +published of Southey's <i>Thalaba</i> and <i>Madoc;</i> of Moore's <i>Odes of +Anacreon</i> and <i>Poems;</i> of Lord Lauderdale's <i>Inquiry into the +Nature and Origin of Public Wealth;</i> of Lord Strangford's <i>Translations +from Camoëns;</i> of Payne Knight's <i>Principles of Taste.</i><br> +<a href="#fr154">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L95">95 — To the Rev. John Becher.</a></h3> +<br> +Dorant's, March 28, 1808.<br> +<br> +I have lately received a copy of the new edition from Ridge, and it is +high time for me to return my best thanks to you for the trouble you +have taken in the superintendence. This I do most sincerely, and only +regret that Ridge has not seconded you as I could wish, — at least, in +the bindings, paper, etc., of the copy he sent to me. Perhaps those for +the public may be more respectable in such articles.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr155">You</a> have seen the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, of course. I regret that Mrs. +Byron is so much annoyed. For my own part, these "paper bullets of the +brain" have only taught me to stand fire; and, as I have been lucky +enough upon the whole, my repose and appetite are not discomposed. +Pratt<a href="#f155"><sup>1</sup></a>, the gleaner, author, poet, etc., etc., addressed a long +rhyming epistle to me on the subject, by way of consolation; but it was +not well done, so I do not send it, though the name of the man might +make it go down. The <i>E. Rs</i>. have not performed their task well; at least +the literati tell me this; and I think <i>I</i> could write a more +sarcastic critique on <i>myself</i> than any yet published. For +instance, instead of the remark, — ill-natured enough, but not +keen, — about Macpherson, I (quoad reviewers) could have said, + +<blockquote>"<a name="fr156">Alas</a>, +this imitation only proves the assertion of Dr. Johnson, that many men, +women, and <i>children</i>, could write such poetry as Ossian's."<a href="#f156"><sup>2</sup></a></blockquote> + +I am <i>thin</i> and in exercise. During the spring or summer I trust we +shall meet. I hear Lord Ruthyn leaves Newstead in April. As soon as he +quits it for ever, I wish much you would take a ride over, survey the +mansion, and give me your candid opinion on the most advisable mode of +proceeding with regard to the <i>house</i>. <i>Entre nous</i>, I am +cursedly dipped; my debts, <i>every</i> thing inclusive, will be nine or +ten thousand before I am twenty-one. But I have reason to think my +property will turn out better than general expectation may conceive. Of +Newstead I have little hope or care; but Hanson, my agent, intimated my +Lancashire property was worth three Newsteads. I believe we have it +hollow; though the defendants are protracting the surrender, if +possible, till after my majority, for the purpose of forming some +arrangement with me, thinking I shall probably prefer a sum in hand to a +reversion. Newstead I may <i>sell</i>; — perhaps I will not, — though of +that more anon. I will come down in May or June.<br> +<br> +Yours most truly, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f155"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Samuel Jackson Pratt (1749-1814), actor, itinerant lecturer, +poet of the Cruscan school, tragedian, and novelist, published a +large number of volumes. His <i>Gleanings</i> in England, Holland, +Wales, and Westphalia attained some reputation. His <i>Sympathy, +a Poem</i> (1788) passed through several editions. His stage-name, as +well as his <i>nom de plume</i>, was Courtney Melmoth. He was the +discoverer and patron of the cobbler-poet, Blacket (see also <i>English +Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i>, line 319, <i>note</i> 2).<br> +<a href="#fr155">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f285">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 154</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f156"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> "Dr. Johnson's reply to the friend who asked him if any man +<i>living</i> could have written such a book, is well known: 'Yes, sir; +many men, many women, and many children.' I inquired of him +myself if this story was authentic, and he said it was" (Mrs. Piozzi, +<i>Johnsoniana</i>, p. 84). — [Moore.]<br> +<a href="#fr156">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L96">96 — To the Hon. Augusta Leigh</a></h3> +<br> +[Six Mile Bottom, Newmarket, Cambridge.]<br> +<br> +Dorant's, [Tuesday], April 26th, 1808.<br> +<br> +My dear Augusta, — I regret being compelled to trouble you again, but it +is necessary I should request you will inform Col. Leigh, if the P's +consent is not obtained in a few days, it will be of little service to +Mr. Wallace, who is ordered to join the 17th in ten days, the Regiment +is stationed in the East Indies, and, as he has already served there +nine years, he is unwilling to return. I shall feel particularly obliged +by Col. Leigh's interference, as I think from his influence the Prince's +consent might be obtained. I am not much in the habit of asking favours, +or pressing exertion, but, on this occasion, my wish to save Wallace +must plead my excuse.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr157">I</a> have been introduced to Julia Byron<a href="#f157"><sup>1</sup></a> by Trevannion at the Opera; +she is pretty, but I do not admire her; there is too much Byron in her +countenance, I hear she is clever, a very great defect in a woman, who +becomes conceited in course; altogether I have not much inclination to +improve the acquaintance.<br> +<br> +I have seen my old friend George<a href="#f157"><sup>1</sup></a>, who will prove the best of the +family, and will one day be Lord B. I do not much care how soon.<br> +<br> +Pray name my nephew after his uncle; it must be a nephew, (I <i>won't</i> +have a <i>niece</i>,) I will make him my <i>heir,</i> for I shall never marry, +unless I am ruined, and then his <i>inheritance</i> would not be great.<br> +<br> +George will have the title and his <i>laurels;</i> my property, (if any is +left in five years time,) I can leave to whom I please, and your son +shall be the legatee. Adieu.<br> +<br> +Yours ever,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f157"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> George Anson Byron, R.N. (1758-1793), second son of Admiral +the Hon. John Byron, by his wife Sophia Trevanion, and brother of +Byron's father, married Henrietta Charlotte Dallas, by whom he had a +son, George, who was at this time in the Royal Navy, and in 1824 +succeeded as seventh Lord Byron; and a daughter, Julia Byron, who +married, in 1817, the Rev. Robert Heath. Of his cousin George, Byron +writes in his <i>Journal</i> for November 30, 1813 (<i>Life</i>, p. 209): + +<blockquote>"I like +George much more than most people like their heirs. He is a fine fellow, +and every inch a sailor."</blockquote> + +Again on December 1, 1813, he says, + +<blockquote>"I hope he +will be an admiral, and, perhaps, Lord Byron into the bargain. If he +would but marry, I would engage never to marry myself, or cut him out of +the heirship."</blockquote> + +George Anson Byron and his wife both died in 1793.<br> +<a href="#fr157">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L97">97 — To the Rev. John Becher</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., Sept. 14, 1808.<br> +<br> +My dear Becher, — I am much obliged to you for your inquiries, and shall +profit by them accordingly. <a name="fr158">I</a> am going to get up a play here; the hall +will constitute a most admirable theatre. I have settled the <i>dram. +pers.,</i> and can do without ladies, as I have some young friends who will +make tolerable substitutes for females, and we only want three male +characters, beside Mr. Hobhouse and myself, for the play we have fixed +on, which will be the <i>Revenge</i><a href="#f158"><sup>1</sup></a>. Pray direct Nicholson the carpenter +to come over to me immediately, and inform me what day you will dine and +pass the night here.<br> +<br> +Believe me, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f158"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Young's tragedy (1721), from which one of Byron's Harrow +speeches in the character of "Zanga" was taken (see page 27, <a href="#f19"><i>note</i></a> 1).<br> +<a href="#fr158">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L98"></a>98 — To John Jackson<a href="#f159"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +N. A., Notts., September 18, 1808.<br> +<br> +Dear Jack, — I wish you would inform me what has been done by Jekyll, at +No. 40, Sloane Square, concerning the pony I returned as unsound.<br> +<br> +I have also to request you will call on Louch at Brompton, and inquire +what the devil he meant by sending such an insolent letter to me at +Brighton; and at the same time tell him I by no means can comply with +the charge he has made for things pretended to be damaged.<br> +<br> +Ambrose behaved most scandalously about the pony. You may tell Jekyll if +he does not refund the money, I shall put the affair into my lawyer's +hands. Five and twenty guineas is a sound price for a pony, and by God, +if it costs me five hundred pounds, I will make an example of Mr. +Jekyll, and that immediately, unless the cash is returned.<br> +<br> +Believe me, dear Jack, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f159"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> John Jackson (1769-1845), better known as "Gentleman" +Jackson, was champion of England from 1795 to 1803. His three fights +were against Fewterel (1788), George Ingleston (1789), and Mendoza +(1795). In his fight at Ingatestone with "George the Brewer," he slipped +on the wet stage, and, falling, dislocated his ankle and broke his leg. +His fight with Mendoza at Hornchurch, Essex, was decided in nine rounds. +At the end of the third round "the odds rose two to one on Mendoza." In +the fifth, Jackson "seized hold of his opponent by the hair, and served +him out in that defenceless state till he fell to the ground." The fight +was practically over, and the odds at once turned in favour of Jackson, +who thenceforward had matters all his own way. Even if Mendoza had worn +a wig, he probably would have succumbed to Jackson, who was a more +powerful man with a longer reach, and as scientific, though not so +ornamental, a boxer. In 1803 Jackson retired from the ring. + + <blockquote> "I can see him now" (<i>Pugilistica,</i> vol. i. 98), "as I saw him in '84, + walking down Holborn Hill towards Smithfield. He had on a scarlet coat + worked in gold at the button-holes, ruffles, and frill of fine lace, a + small white stock, no collar (they were not then invented), a looped + hat with a broad black band, buff knee-breeches, and long silk + strings, striped white silk stockings, pumps, and paste buckles; his + waistcoat was pale blue satin, sprigged with white. It was impossible + to look on his fine ample chest, his noble shoulders, his waist, (if + anything too small,) his large, but not too large hips, ... his limbs, + his balustrade calf and beautifully turned, but not over delicate + ankle, his firm foot, and peculiarly small hand, without thinking that + nature had sent him on earth as a model. On he went at a good five + miles and a half an hour, the envy of all men, and the admiration of + all women."</blockquote> + +His rooms at 13, Bond Street, became the head-quarters of the Pugilistic +Club, with whose initials, P.C., the ropes and stakes at prize-rings +were marked (see page 99, <a href="#f65"><i>note</i></a> 1; and Pierce Egan's <i>Life in London</i>, +pp. 252-254). From 1803 to 1824, when he retired from the profession, he +was, as Pierce Egan says of him (p. 254), unrivalled as "a teacher of +the Art of <i>self-defence.</i>" His character stood high. "From the highest +to the lowest person in the Sporting World, his <i>decision</i> is law." + + <blockquote>"This gentleman," says Moore, in a note to <i>Tom Crib's Memorial to + Congress</i> (p. 13), "as he well deserves to be called, from the + correctness of his conduct and the peculiar urbanity of his manners, + forms that useful link between the amateurs and the professors of + pugilism, which, when broken, it will be difficult, if not wholly + impossible, to replace." </blockquote> + +He was Byron's guest at Cambridge, Newstead, and Brighton; received from +him many letters; and is described by him, in a note to <i>Don Juan</i> +(Canto XI. stanza xix.), as "my old friend and corporeal pastor and +master." Jackson's monument in Brompton Cemetery, a couchant lion and a +mourning athlete, was subscribed for "by several noblemen and gentlemen, +to record their admiration of one whose excellence of heart and +incorruptible worth endeared him to all who knew him."<br> +<a href="#L98">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L99">99 — To John Jackson</a></h3> +<br> +N. A., Notts., October 4, 1808.<br> +<br> +You will make as good a bargain as possible with this Master Jekyll, if +he is not a gentleman. If he is a <i>gentleman</i>, inform me, for I shall +take very different steps. If he is not, you must get what you can of +the money, for I have too much business on hand at present to commence +an action. Besides, Ambrose is the man who ought to refund, — but I have +done with him. You can settle with L. out of the balance, and dispose of +the bidets, etc., as you best can.<br> +<br> +I should be very glad to see you here; but the house is filled with +workmen, and undergoing a thorough repair. I hope, however, to be more +fortunate before many months have elapsed.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr160">If</a> you see Bold Webster<a href="#f160"><sup>1</sup></a>, remember me to him, and tell him I have to +regret Sydney, who has perished, I fear, in my rabbit warren, for we +have seen nothing of him for the last fortnight. Adieu<a href="#f161"><sup>2</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +Believe me, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f160"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Sir Godfrey Vassal Webster (1788-1836).<br> +<a href="#fr160">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f161"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> A third letter to Jackson, written from Newstead, December +12, 1808, runs as follows:— + + <blockquote> "My Dear Jack, — You will get the greyhound from the owner at any + price, and as many more of the same breed (male or female) as you can + collect.<br> +<br> + "Tell D'Egville his dress shall be returned — I am obliged to him for + the pattern. I am sorry you should have so much trouble, but I was not + aware of the difficulty of procuring the animals in question. I + shall have finished part of my mansion in a few weeks, and, if you can + pay me a visit at Christmas, I shall be very glad to see you.<br> +<br> + Believe me, etc."</blockquote> + +In a bill, for 1808, sent in to Byron by Messrs. Finn and Johnson, +tailors, of Nottingham, appears the following item: "Masquerade Jackett +with belt and rich Turban, £11:9:6." This is probably the dress made +from d'Egville's pattern.<br> +<br> +James d'Egville learned dancing from Gaetano Vestris, well known at the +Court of Frederick the Great, and from Gardel, the Court teacher of +Marie Antoinette. He, his brother Louis, and his sister Madame Michau, +were the most famous teachers of the day in England. The real name of +the family was Hervey; that of d'Egville was assumed for professional +purposes. James d'Egville enjoyed a great reputation, both as an actor +and a dancer, in Paris and London. He was Acting-Manager and Director of +the King's Theatre (October, 1807, to January, 1808), but was dismissed, +owing to a disagreement between the managers, in the course of which he +was accused of French proclivities and republican principles (see +Waters's <i>Opera-Glass</i>, pp. 133-145). A man of taste and cultivation, he +produced some musical extravaganzas and ballets; <i>e. g. Don Quichotte ou +les Noces de Gamache, L'Elèvement d'Adonis, The Rape of Dejanira</i>, etc.<br> +<br> +A coloured print, in the possession of his great-nephew, Mr. Louis +d'Egville, represents him, with Deshayes, in one of his most successful +appearances, the ballet-pantomime of <i>Achille et Deidamie</i>. He was an +enthusiastic sportsman.<br> +<a href="#fr160">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L100">100 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts, October 7, 1808.<br> +<br> +Dear Madam, — I have no beds for the Hansons or any body else at present. +The Hansons sleep at Mansfield. <a name="fr162">I</a> do not know that I resemble Jean +Jacques Rousseau<a href="#f162"><sup>1</sup></a>. I have no ambition to be like so illustrious a +madman — but this I know, that I shall live in my own manner, and as +much alone as possible. When my rooms are ready I shall be glad to see +you: at present it would be improper, and uncomfortable to both parties. +You can hardly object to my rendering my mansion habitable, +notwithstanding my departure for Persia in March (or May at farthest), +since <i>you</i> will be <i>tenant</i> till my return; and in case of +any accident (for I have already arranged my will to be drawn up the +moment I am twenty-one), I have taken care you shall have the house and +manor for <i>life</i>, besides a sufficient income. So you see my +improvements are not entirely selfish. <a name="fr163">As</a> I have a friend here, we will +go to the Infirmary Ball on the 12th; we will drink tea with Mrs. Byron<a href="#f163"><sup>2</sup></a> at eight o'clock, and expect to see you at the ball. If that lady +will allow us a couple of rooms to dress in, we shall be highly obliged: + — if we are at the ball by ten or eleven, it will be time enough, and we +shall return to Newstead about three or four. Adieu.<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f162"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> In Byron's <i>Detached Thoughts</i>, quoted by Moore (<i>Life</i>, p. +72), he thus refers to the comparison with Rousseau:— + + <blockquote> "My mother, before I was twenty, would have it that I was like + Rousseau, and Madame de Stael used to say so too in 1813, and the + <i>Edinburgh Review</i> has something of the sort in its critique on the + fourth canto of <i>Childe Harold</i>. I can't see any point of + resemblance:— he wrote prose, I verse: he was of the people; I of the + aristocracy: he was a philosopher; I am none: he published his first + work at forty; I mine at eighteen: his first essay brought him + universal applause; mine the contrary: he married his housekeeper; I + could not keep house with my wife: he thought all the world in a plot + against him; my little world seems to think me in a plot against it, + if I may judge by their abuse in print and coterie: he liked botany; I + like flowers, herbs, and trees, but know nothing of their pedigrees: + he wrote music; I limit my knowledge of it to what I catch by + <i>ear</i> — I never could learn any thing by <i>study</i>, not even a + <i>language</i> — it was all by rote and ear, and memory: he had a + <i>bad</i> memory; I <i>had</i>, at least, an excellent one (ask + Hodgson the poet — a good judge, for he has an astonishing one): he + wrote with hesitation and care; I with rapidity, and rarely with + pains: <i>he</i> could never ride, nor swim, nor 'was cunning of + fence;' <i>I</i> am an excellent swimmer, a decent, though not at all + a dashing, rider, (having staved in a rib at eighteen, in the course + of scampering,) and was sufficient of fence, particularly of the + Highland broadsword, — not a bad boxer, when I could keep my temper, + which was difficult, but which I strove to do ever since I knocked + down Mr. Purling, and put his knee-pan out (with the gloves on), in + Angelo's and Jackson's rooms in 1806, during the sparring, — and I was, + besides, a very fair cricketer, — one of the Harrow eleven, when we + played against Eton in 1805. Besides, Rousseau's way of life, his + country, his manners, his whole character, were so very different, + that I am at a loss to conceive how such a comparison could have + arisen, as it has done three several times, and all in rather a + remarkable manner. I forgot to say that <i>he</i> was also + short-sighted, and that hitherto my eyes have been the contrary, to + such a degree that, in the largest theatre of Bologna, I distinguished + and read some busts and inscriptions, painted near the stage, from a + box so distant and so <i>darkly</i> lighted, that none of the company + (composed of young and very bright-eyed people, some of them in the + same box,) could make out a letter, and thought it was a trick, though + I had never been in that theatre before.<br> +<br> + "Altogether, I think myself justified in thinking the comparison not + well founded. I don't say this out of pique, for Rousseau was a great + man; and the thing, if true, were flattering enough; — but I have no + idea of being pleased with the chimera."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr162">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f163"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> The Hon. Mrs. George Byron, <i>née</i> Frances Levett, +Byron's great-aunt, widow of the Hon. George Byron, fourth brother of +William, fifth Lord Byron.<br> +<a href="#fr163">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L101">101 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, November 2, 1808.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Mother</b>, — If you please, we will forget the things you mention. I +have no desire to remember them. When my rooms are finished, I shall be +happy to see you; as I tell but the truth, you will not suspect me of +evasion. I am furnishing the house more for you than myself, and I shall +establish you in it before I sail for India, which I expect to do in +March, if nothing particularly obstructive occurs. I am now fitting up +the <i>green</i> drawing-room; the red for a bed-room, and the rooms +over as sleeping-rooms. They will be soon completed; — at least I hope +so.<br> +<br> +I wish you would inquire of Major Watson (who is an old Indian) what +things will be necessary to provide for my voyage. <a name="fr164">I</a> have already +procured a friend to write to the Arabic Professor at Cambridge<a href="#f164"><sup>1</sup></a>, for +some information I am anxious to procure. I can easily get letters from +government to the ambassadors, consuls, etc., and also to the governors +at Calcutta and Madras. I shall place my property and my will in the +hands of trustees till my return, and I mean to appoint you one. From +Hanson I have heard nothing — when I do, you shall have the particulars.<br> +<br> +After all, you must own my project is not a bad one. If I do not travel +now, I never shall, and all men should one day or other. I have at +present no connections to keep me at home; no wife, or unprovided +sisters, brothers, etc. I shall take care of you, and when I return I +may possibly become a politician. A few years' knowledge of other +countries than our own will not incapacitate me for that part. If we see +no nation but our own, we do not give mankind a fair chance; — it is from +<i>experience</i>, not books, we ought to judge of them. There is nothing +like inspection, and trusting to our own senses.<br> +<br> +Yours, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f164"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The Rev. John Palmer, Fellow of St. John's, Adam's +Professor of Arabic (1804-19).<br> +<a href="#fr164">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L102"></a>102 — To Francis Hodgson<a href="#f165"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., Nov. 3, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dear Hodgson, — I expected to have heard ere this the event of your +interview with the mysterious Mr. Haynes, my volunteer correspondent; +however, as I had no business to trouble you with the adjustment of my +concerns with that illustrious stranger, I have no right to complain of +your silence.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr166">You</a> have of course seen Drury<a href="#f166"><sup>2</sup></a>, in all the pleasing palpitations of +anticipated wedlock. Well! he has still something to look forward to, +and his present extacies are certainly enviable. "Peace be with him and +with his spirit," and his flesh also, at least just now ...<br> +<br> +Hobhouse and your humble are still here. Hobhouse hunts, etc., and I do +nothing; we dined the other day with a neighbouring Esquire (not Collet +of Staines), and regretted your absence, as the Bouquet of Staines was +scarcely to be compared to our last "feast of reason." You know, +laughing is the sign of a rational animal; so says Dr. Smollett. I think +so, too, but unluckily my spirits don't always keep pace with my +opinions. <a name="fr167">I</a> had not so much scope for risibility the other day as I +could have wished, for I was seated near a woman, to whom, when a boy, I +was as much attached as boys generally are, and more than a man should +be<a href="#f167"><sup>3</sup></a>. I knew this before I went, and was determined to be valiant, and +converse with <i>sang froid</i>; but instead I forgot my valour and my +nonchalance, and never opened my lips even to laugh, far less to speak, +and the lady was almost as absurd as myself, which made both the object +of more observation than if we had conducted ourselves with easy +indifference. You will think all this great nonsense; if you had seen +it, you would have thought it still more ridiculous. What fools we are! +We cry for a plaything, which, like children, we are never satisfied +with till we break open, though like them we cannot get rid of it by +putting it in the fire.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr168">I</a> have tried for Gifford's <i>Epistle to Pindar</i><a href="#f168"><sup>4</sup></a>, and the bookseller +says the copies were cut up for <i>waste paper;</i> if you can procure +me a copy I shall be much obliged. Adieu!<br> +<br> +Believe me, my dear Sir, yours ever sincerely,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f165"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Francis Hodgson (1781-1852), educated at Eton (1794-99) +and at King's College, Cambridge, Scholar (1799), Fellow (1802), +hesitated between literature and the bar as his profession. For +three years he was a private tutor, for one (1806) a master at Eton. +In 1807 he became a resident tutor at King's. It was not till 1812 +that he decided to take orders. Two years later he married Miss +Tayler, a sister of Mrs. Henry Drury, and took a country curacy. +In 1816 he was given the Eton living of Bakewell, in Derbyshire, +became Archdeacon of Derby in 1836, and in 1840 Provost of Eton. +At Eton he died December 29, 1852.<br> +<br> +Hodgson's literary facility was extraordinary. He rhymed with an ease which almost rivals that of Byron, and from 1807 to 1818 +he poured out quantities of verse, English and Latin, original and +translated, besides writing articles for the <i>Quarterly</i>, the <i>Monthly</i>, +and the <i>Critical</i> Reviews. He published his <i>Translation of Juvenal</i> +in 1807, in which he was assisted by Drury and Merivale; <i>Lady +Jane Grey, a Tale; and other Poems</i> (1809); <i>Sir Edgar, a Tale</i> +(1810); <i>Leaves of Laurel</i> (1812); <i>Charlemagne, an Epic Poem</i> +(1815), translated from the original of Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of +Canino, by S. Butler and Francis Hodgson; <i>The Friends, a Poem +in Four Books; Mythology for Versification</i> (1831); <i>A Charge, as +Archdeacon of Derby</i> (1837); <i>Sermons</i> (1846); and other works.<br> +<br> +His acquaintance with Byron began in 1807, when Byron was +meditating <i>British Bards</i>, and Hodgson, provoked by a review of +his <i>Juvenal</i> in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, was composing his <i>Gentle +Alterative prepared for the Reviewers</i>, which appears on pp. 56, 57 +of <i>Lady Jane Grey</i>. There are some curious points of resemblance +between the two poems, though Hodgson's lines can hardly be +compared for force and sting to <i>English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i>. +Like Byron (see <i>English Bards, etc</i>., line 513, <i>note</i> 7), he makes +merry over the blunder of the <i>Edinburgh</i> reviewer, who, in an +article on Payne Knight's <i>Principles of Taste</i>, severely criticized +some Greek lines which he attributed to Knight, but which, in fact, +were by Pindar:— + +<blockquote>"And when he frown'd on Kn — 's erroneous Greek, +Bad him in Pindar's page that error seek."</blockquote> + +Like Byron also, he attributes the blunder to Hallam, and speaks +of "Hallam's baffled art." The article was written by Lord +Holland's physician, Dr. Allen, who, according to Sydney Smith, +had "the creed of a philosopher and the legs of a clergyman." +Like Byron also (see <i>English Bards, etc</i>., line 820), he appeals to +Gifford, who was an old family friend, to return to the fray:— + +<blockquote>"Oh! for that voice, whose cadence loud and strong<br> +Drove Delia Crusca from the field of song — <br> +And with a force that guiltier fools should feel,<br> +Rack'd a vain butterfly on Satire's wheel."</blockquote> + +In a note appended to the words in his satire — "Like clowns detest +nobility" — he refers to the <i>Edinburgh's</i> treatment of Byron's verse.<br> +<br> +The link thus established between Byron and Hodgson grew +stronger for the next few years. Hodgson suppressed Moore's +challenge to the author of <i>English Bards</i>; was Byron's guest at +Newstead (see page 179, in <a href="#cr6"><i>note</i></a>); pleaded with him on the subject +of religion; translated his lines, "I would I were a careless child," +into Latin verse (<i>Lady Jane Grey</i>, p. 94); addressed him in poetry, +as, for instance, in the "Lines to a Friend going abroad" (<i>Sir +Edgar</i>, p. 173). Byron, on his side, seems to have been sincerely attached to Hodgson, to whom he left, by his first will (1811), +one-third +of his personal goods, and in 1813 gave £1000 to enable him +to marry. Hodgson corresponded with Mrs. Leigh and with Miss +Milbanke, afterwards Lady Byron, endeavoured to heal the breach +between husband and wife, and was one of the mourners at Hucknall +Torkard Church.<br> +<br> +In Haydon's <i>Table-Talk</i> (vol. ii pp. 367-8) is recorded a conversation +with Hobhouse on the subject of Hodgson. Haydon's account +of Hobhouse's words is confused; but he definitely asserts that +Hodgson's life was dissipated, and insinuates that he perverted +Byron's character. Part of the explanation is probably this: Hodgson's +friend, the Rev. Robert Bland, kept a mistress, described as a +woman of great personal and mental attraction. He asked Hodgson, +during his absence on the Continent, to visit the lady and send +him frequent news of her. Hodgson did so, with the result that, +at Bland's return, the lady refused to see him. When Byron came +back from his Eastern tour, he received a frantic letter from Bland, +telling him that Hodgson had stolen her love. To this Byron refers +in his letter to Harness, December 15, 1811, and probably told an +embellished story to Hobhouse. But Hodgson himself warmly +repudiated the charge; and there is no reason to think that his +version of the affair is not the truth.<br> +<a href="#L102">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f30">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 14</a><br> +<a href="#f246">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 137</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f166"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> The Rev. Henry Drury married, December 20, 1808, Ann +Caroline, daughter of Archdale Wilson Tayler, of Boreham Wood, +Herts. Their five sons were all educated at Harrow: Henry, +Archdeacon of Wilts and editor of <i>Arundines Cami</i> (1841); Byron, +Vice-Admiral R.N.; Benjamin Heath, Vice-President of Caius +College, Cambridge; Heber, Colonel in the Madras Army; Charles +Curtis, General of the Bengal Staff Corps (see also page 41, +<a href="#f30"><i>note</i></a> 2).<br> +<a href="#fr166">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f167"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Mrs. Chaworth Musters (see Byron's lines, "Well! thou art +happy," <i>Poems</i>, vol. i. pp. 277-279).<br> +<a href="#fr167">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f168"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> William Gifford (1756-1826), a self-taught scholar, first a +ploughboy, then boy on board a Brixham coaster, afterwards shoemaker's +apprentice, was sent by friends to Exeter College, Oxford +(1779-81). In the <i>Baviad</i> (1794) and the <i>Mæviad</i> (1795) he +attacked many of the smaller writers of the day, who were either +silly, like the Delia Cruscan school, or discreditable, like Williams, +who wrote as "Anthony Pasquin." In his <i>Epistle to Peter Pindar</i> +(1800) he succeeds in laying bare the true character of John Wolcot. +As editor of the <i>Anti-Jacobin, or Weekly Examiner</i> (November, 1797, +to July, 1798), he supported the political views of Canning and his +friends. As editor of the <i>Quarterly Review</i>, from its foundation +(February, 1809) to his resignation in September, 1824, he did +yeoman's service to sound literature by his good sense and adherence +to the best models. It was a period when all criticism was narrow, +and, to some degree, warped by political prejudice. In these +respects, Gifford's work may not have risen above — it certainly did +not fall below — the highest standard of contemporary criticism. +His editions of <i>Massinger</i> (1805), which superseded that of Monck +Mason and Davies (1765), of <i>Ben Jonson</i> (1816), of <i>Ford</i> (1827), are valuable. To his translation of <i>Juvenal</i> (1802) is prefixed his +autobiography. His translation of <i>Persius</i> appeared in 1821. To +Gifford, Byron usually paid the utmost deference. + +<blockquote>"Any suggestion +of yours, even if it were conveyed," he writes to him, in 1813, +"in the less tender text of the <i>Baviad,</i> or a Monk Mason note to +Massinger, would be obeyed." </blockquote> + +See also his letter (September 7, +1811), in which he calls Gifford his "Magnus Apollo," and values +his praise above the gems of Samarcand. + +<blockquote>"He was," says Sir +Walter Scott (<i>Diary,</i> January 18, 1827), "a little man, dumpled +up together, and so ill-made as to seem almost deformed, but +with a singular expression of talent in his countenance."</blockquote> + +Byron +was attracted to Gifford, partly by his devotion to the classical +models of literature, partly by the outspoken frankness of his literary +criticism, partly also, perhaps, by his physical deformity.<br> +<a href="#fr168">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L103">103 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., November 18th, 1808.<br> +<br> +Dear Sir, — I am truly glad to hear your health is reinstated. As for my +affairs I am sure you will do your best, and, though I should be glad to +get rid of my Lancashire property for an equivalent in money, I shall +not take any steps of that nature without good advice and mature +consideration.<br> +<br> +I am (as I have already told you) going abroad in the spring; for this I +have many reasons. In the first place, I wish to study India and Asiatic +policy and manners. I am young, tolerably vigorous, abstemious in my way +of living; I have no pleasure in fashionable dissipation, and I am +determined to take a wider field than is customary with travellers. If I +return, my judgment will be more mature, and I shall still be young +enough for politics. With regard to expence, travelling through the East +is rather inconvenient than expensive: it is not like the tour of +Europe, you undergo hardship, but incur little hazard of spending money. +If I live here I must have my house in town, a separate house for Mrs. +Byron; I must keep horses, etc., etc. When I go abroad I place Mrs. +Byron at Newstead (there is one great expence saved), I have no horses +to keep. A voyage to India will take me six months, and if I had a dozen +attendants cannot cost me five hundred pounds; and you will agree with +me that a like term of months in England would lead me into four times +that expenditure. I have written to Government for letters and +permission of the Company, so you see I am <i>serious.</i><br> +<br> +You honour my debts; they amount to perhaps twelve thousand pounds, and +I shall require perhaps three or four thousand at setting out, with +credit on a Bengal agent. This you must manage for me. If my resources +are not adequate to the supply I must <i>sell</i>, but <i>not +Newstead.</i> I will at least transmit that to the next Lord. My debts +must be paid, if possible, in February. I shall leave my affairs to the +care of <i>trustees</i>, of whom, with your acquiescence, I shall +<i>name you</i> one, Mr. Parker another, and two more, on whom I am not +yet determined.<br> +<br> +Pray let me hear from you soon. Remember me to Mrs. Hanson, whom I hope +to see on her return. Present my best respects to the young lady, and +believe me, etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L104">104 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., Nov. 27, 1808.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr169">My</a> Dear Sir, — Boatswain<a href="#f169"><sup>1</sup></a> is to be buried in a vault waiting for +myself. I have also written an epitaph, which I would send, were it not +for two reasons: one is, that it is too long for a letter; and the +other, that I hope you will some day read it on the spot where it will +be engraved.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr170">You</a> discomfort me with the intelligence of the real orthodoxy of the +Arch-fiend's name<a href="#f170"><sup>2</sup></a>, but alas! it must stand with me at present; if +ever I have an opportunity of correcting, I shall liken him to Geoffrey +of Monmouth, a noted liar in his way, and perhaps a more correct +prototype than the Carnifex of James II.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr171">I</a> do not think the composition of your poem "a sufficing reason" for not +keeping your promise of a Christmas visit. Why not come? I will never +disturb you in your moments of inspiration; and if you wish to collect +any materials for the <i>scenery</i>?<a href="#f171"><sup>3</sup></a>, Hardwicke (where Mary was confined +for several years) is not eight miles distant, and, independent of the +interest you must take in it as her vindicator, is a most beautiful and +venerable object of curiosity. I shall take it very ill if you do not +come; my mansion is improving in comfort, and, when you require +solitude, I shall have an apartment devoted to the purpose of receiving +your poetical reveries.<br> +<br> +I have heard from our Drury; he says little of the Row, which I regret: +indeed I would have sacrificed much to have contributed in any way (as a +schoolboy) to its consummation; but Butler survives, and thirteen boys +have been expelled in vain. Davies is not here, but Hobhouse hunts as +usual, and your humble servant "drags at each remove a lengthened +chain." <a name="fr172">I</a> have heard from his Grace of Portland<a href="#f172"><sup>4</sup></a> on the subject of my +expedition: he talks of difficulties; by the gods! if he throws any in +my way I will next session ring such a peal in his ears, + +<blockquote><a name="fr173">That</a> he shall wish the fiery Dane<br> + Had rather been his guest again<a href="#f173"><sup>5</sup></a>.</blockquote> + +You do not tell me if Gifford is really my commentator: it is too good +to be true, for I know nothing would gratify my vanity so much as the +reality; even the idea is too precious to part with.<br> +<br> +I shall expect you here; let me have no more excuses. Hobhouse desires +his best remembrance. We are now lingering over our evening potations. I +have extended my letter further than I ought, and beg you will excuse +it; <a name="fr174">on</a> the opposite page I send you some stanzas<a href="#f174"><sup>6</sup></a> I wrote off on +being questioned by a former flame as to my motives for quitting this +country. You are the first reader. Hobhouse hates everything of the +kind, therefore I do not show them to him. Adieu!<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours very sincerely,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f169"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Boatswain, the Newfoundland dog, died November 18, 1808. +(For Byron's inscriptions in prose and verse, see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i p. +280.)<br> +<a href="#fr169">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f170"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Byron at first thought that Jeffrey, the editor of the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, spelt his name in the same way as the Judge Jeffreys +of the Bloody Assizes. He probably writes "orthodoxy" for "orthography" +as a joke. (See the lines quoted from <i>British Bards</i> in notes to <i>English. Bards, etc.</i>, line 439, <i>note</i> 2.)<br> +<a href="#fr170">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f171"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> It is stated that Hodgson was writing a poem on Mary Queen +of Scots (<i>Life of Rev. Francis Hodgson</i>, vol. i p. 107). No such poem +was apparently ever published. In Hodgson's <i>Lady Jane Grey</i>, Queen Mary +of England plays a part; hence, possibly, the mistake.<br> +<a href="#fr171">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f172"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Byron asked the Duke of Portland to procure him "permission +from the E. I. Directors to pass through their settlements." The duke +replied, in effect, that Byron trespassed on his time and patience. So +Byron at least took his answer (see <i>English Bards, and Scotch +Reviewers,</i> line 1016 and <i>note</i> 2).<br> +<a href="#fr172">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f173"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> <i>Marmion</i>, Canto II. stanza xxxi.<br> +<a href="#fr173">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f174"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> See stanzas "To a Lady on being asked my Reason for +Quitting England in the Spring" (<i>Poems</i>, vol. i. p. 282).<br> +<a href="#fr174">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L105">105 — To the Hon. Augusta Leigh</a></h3> +<br> +[Ld. Chichester's, Stratton Street, London.]<br> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., [Wednesday], Novr. 30th, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dearest Augusta, — I return you my best thanks for making me an uncle, +and forgive the sex this time; but the next <i>must</i> be a nephew. You +will be happy to hear my Lancashire property is likely to prove +extremely valuable; indeed my pecuniary affairs are altogether far +superior to my expectations or any other person's. If I would +<i>sell</i>, my income would probably be six thousand per annum; but I +will not part at least with Newstead, or indeed with the other, which is +of a nature to increase in value yearly. I am living here <i>alone</i>, +which suits my inclinations better than society of any kind. Mrs. Byron +I have shaken off for two years, and I shall not resume her yoke in +future, I am afraid my disposition will suffer in your estimation; but I +never can forgive that woman, or breathe in comfort under the same roof.<br> +<br> +I am a very unlucky fellow, for I think I had naturally not a bad heart; +but it has been so bent, twisted, and trampled on, that it has now +become as hard as a Highlander's heelpiece.<br> +<br> +I do not know that much alteration has taken place in my person, except +that I am grown much thinner, and somewhat taller! I saw Col. Leigh at +Brighton in July, where I should have been glad to have seen you; I only +know your husband by sight, though I am acquainted with many of the +Tenth. Indeed my relations are those whom I know the least, and in most +instances, I am not very anxious to improve the acquaintance. I hope you +are quite recovered, I shall be in town in January to take my seat, and +will call, if convenient; let me hear from you before.<br> +<br> +[Signature cut off, and over the page is, in Mrs. Leigh's writing, this +endorsement: "Sent to Miss Alderson to go to Germany, May 29th, 1843."]<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L106">106 — To the Hon. Augusta Leigh</a></h3> +<br> +[Ld. Chichester's, Stratton Street, London.]<br> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., Decr. 14th, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dearest Augusta, — When I stated in my last, that my intercourse with +the world had hardened my heart, I did not mean from any matrimonial +disappointment, no, I have been guilty of many absurdities, but I hope +in God I shall always escape that worst of evils, Marriage. I have no +doubt there are exceptions, and of course include you amongst them, but +you will recollect, that "<i>exceptions only prove the Rule</i>."<br> +<br> +I live here much in my own manner, that is, <i>alone</i>, for I could +not bear the company of my best friend, above a month; there is such a +sameness in mankind upon the whole, and they grow so much more +disgusting every day, that, were it not for a portion of Ambition, and a +conviction that in times like the present we ought to perform our +respective duties, I should live here all my life, in unvaried Solitude. +I have been visited by all our Nobility and Gentry; but I return no +visits. Joseph Murray is at the head of my household, poor honest +fellow! I should be a great Brute, if I had not provided for him in the +manner most congenial to his own feelings, and to mine. I have several +horses, and a considerable establishment, but I am not addicted to +hunting or shooting. I hate all field sports, though a few years since I +was a tolerable adept in the <i>polite</i> arts of Foxhunting, Hawking, +Boxing, etc., etc. My Library is rather extensive, (and as you perhaps +know) I am a mighty Scribbler; I flatter myself I have made some +improvements in Newstead, and, as I am independent, I am happy, as far +as any person unfortunate enough to be born into this world, can be said +to be so.<br> +<br> +I shall be glad to hear from you when convenient, and beg you to believe +me,<br> +<br> +Very sincerely yours,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L107">107 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., Dec. 17, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dear Sir, — I regret the contents of your letter as I think we shall +be thrown on our backs from the delay. I do not know if our best method +would not be to compromise if possible, as you know the state of my +affairs will not be much bettered by a protracted and possibly +unsuccessful litigation. However, I am and have been so much in the dark +during the whole transaction that I am not a competent judge of the most +expedient measures. <a name="fr175">I</a> suppose it will end in my marrying a <i>Golden +Dolly</i><a href="#f175"><sup>1</sup></a> or blowing my brains out; it does not much matter which, +the remedies are nearly alike. I shall be glad to hear from you further +on the business. I suppose now it will be still more difficult to come +to any terms. Have you seen Mrs. Massingberd, and have you arranged my +Israelitish accounts? Pray remember me to Mrs. Hanson, to Harriet, and +all the family, female and male.<br> +<br> +Believe me also, yours very sincerely,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f175"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Mrs. Byron also advised his marriage with an heiress. The +following passage is taken from her letter to Hanson, January 30, 1809:— + + <blockquote> "I was sorry I could not see you here. Byron told me he intended to + put his servants on Board Wages at Newstead. I was very sorry to hear + of the great expence the Newstead <i>fête</i> would put him to. I can + see nothing but the Road to Ruin in all this, which grieves me to the + heart and makes me still worse than I would otherwise be (unless, + indeed, Coal Mines turn to Gold Mines), or that he mends his fortune + in the old and usual way by marrying a Woman with two or three hundred + thousand pounds. I have no doubt of his being a great speaker and a + celebrated public character, and <i>all</i> that; but that <i>won't add</i> to + his fortune, but bring on more expenses on him, and there is nothing + to be had in this country to make a man rich in his line of life."</blockquote> + +In another letter to Hanson, dated March 4, 1809, she returns to the +same subject:— + + <blockquote> "I have had a very dismal letter from my son, informing me that he is + <i>ruined</i>. He wishes to borrow my money. This I shall be very ready to + oblige him in, on such security as you approve. As it is my <i>all</i>, + this is very necessary, and I am sure he would not wish to have it on + any other terms. It cannot be paid up, however, under six months' + notice. I wish he would take the debt of a thousand pounds, that I + have been security for, on himself, and pay about eighty pounds he + owes here.<br> +<br> + I wish to God he would exert himself and retrieve his affairs. He + must marry a Woman of <i>fortune</i> this spring; love matches is all + nonsense. Let him make use of the Talents God has given him. He is an + English Peer, and has all the privileges of that situation. What is + this about proving his grandfather's marriage? I thought it had been + in Lancashire. If it was not, it surely easily can be proved. Is + nothing going forward concerning the Rochdale Property? I am sure, if + I was Lord Byron, I would sell no estates to pay Jews; I only would + pay what was lawful. Pray answer the note immediately, and answer all + my questions concerning lending the money, the Rochdale property, and + why B. don't or can't take his seat, which is very hard, and very + provoking.<br> +<br> + I am, Dear Sir, yours sincerely,<br> +<br> + <b>C. G. Byron</b>."</blockquote> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L108">108 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., Dec. 17, 1808.<br> +<br> +My Dear Hodgson, — <a name="fr176">I</a> have just received your letter, and one from B. +Drury<a href="#f176"><sup>1</sup></a>, which I would send, were it not too bulky to despatch within +a sheet of paper; but I must impart the contents and consign the answer +to your care. In the first place, I cannot address the answer to him, +because the epistle is without date or direction; and in the next, the +contents are so singular that I can scarce believe my optics, "which are +made the fools of the other senses, or else worth all the rest."<br> +<br> +A few weeks ago, I wrote to our friend Harry Drury of facetious memory, +to request he would prevail on his brother at Eton to receive the son of +a citizen in London well known unto me as a pupil; the family having +been particularly polite during the short time I was with them, induced +me to this application. "<a name="fr177">Now</a> mark what follows," as somebody or Southey +sublimely saith: on this day, the 17th December, arrives an epistle +signed B. Drury, containing not the smallest reference to tuition or +<i>in</i>tuition, but a <i>petition</i> for <i>Robert Gregson</i><a href="#f177"><sup>2</sup></a>, of pugilistic +notoriety, now in bondage for certain paltry pounds sterling, and liable +to take up his everlasting abode in Banco Regis. Had this letter been +from any of my <i>lay</i> acquaintance, or, in short, from anyone but +the gentleman whose signature it bears, I should have marvelled not. If +Drury is serious, I congratulate pugilism on the acquisition of such a +patron, and shall be happy to advance any sum necessary for the +liberation of the captive Gregson; but I certainly hope to be certified +from you or some reputable housekeeper of the fact, before I write to +Drury on the subject. When I say the <i>fact</i>, I mean of the +<i>letter</i> being written by <i>Drury</i>, not having any doubt as to +the authenticity of the statement. The letter is now before me, and I +keep it for your perusal. When I hear from you I shall address my answer +to him, under <i>your care</i>; for as it is now the vacation at Eton, +and the letter is without <i>time</i> or <i>place</i>, I cannot venture +to consign my sentiments on so <i>momentous</i> a <i>concern</i> to +chance.<br> +<br> +To you, my dear Hodgson, I have not much to say. If you can make it +convenient or pleasant to trust yourself here, be assured it will be +both to me.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f176"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Benjamin Heath Drury (1782-1835), second son of the +Headmaster of Harrow (see page 41, <a href="#f30"><i>note</i></a> 2), was a Fellow of King's +College, Cambridge, and Assistant-master at Eton. Gronow +(<i>Reminiscences</i>, vol. i. pp. 209 and 233} says that Drury was +"passionately devoted to theatricals," and, with his friend Knapp, +frequently drove up to London after school-hours to sup with Edmund Kean +and Arnold at Drury Lane or the Hummums in Covent Garden. On one +occasion they took with them Lord Eldon's son, then a school-boy at +Eton. After supper the party were "run in" by the watchmen, and bailed +out at Bow Street by the Lord Chancellor's secretary.<br> +<a href="#fr176">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f177"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Bob Gregson (1778-1824), the big-boned, burly landlord of +the Castle, Holborn, known as "Bob's Chop-house," was a familiar figure +in the sporting world. When captain of the Liverpool and Wigan Packet, +he established his reputation in Lancashire as a fighter. He stood 6 +feet 1-1/2 inches in height, and weighed 15 stone 6 pounds. But, in +spite of the eulogies of Pierce Egan — a low-caste Irishman, who was +first a compositor, then a comedian, and afterwards a newspaper reporter +(see Grantley Berkeley's <i>My Life and Recollections</i>, vol. i pp. 107, +108) — Gregson had no science, and depended only on his strength, +courage, and endurance. He was beaten by Gully at Six Mile Bottom in +1807, and again in 1808 at Markyate Street; also by Tom Cribb at Moulsey +Hurst in 1808 (<i>Pugilistica</i>, vol. i pp. 237-241). Failing as landlord +of the Castle, he set up a school of boxing at Dublin, where he +afterwards kept "the Punch House," in Moor Street. He died at Liverpool +in 1824. According to Egan (<i>Boxiana</i>, vol. i. pp. 357, 358), +Gregson "united Pugilism with Poetry." On this claim he adopted the +letters "P.P." after his name. Egan gives some of his doggerel among +"Prime Chaunts for the Fancy" (<i>Ibid</i>., p. 358). Moore, in <i>Tom +Crib's Memorial to Congress</i>, attributes to him his "Lines to Miss +Grace Maddox" (pp. 75-77); "Ya-Hip, my Hearties!" (pp. 80-83); and "The +Annual Pill" (pp. 84-86).<br> +<a href="#fr177">return</a><br> +<a href="#f131">cross-reference: return to Footnote 14 of Letter 84</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp7">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L109">109 — To John Hanson.</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Jan. 15th, 1809.<br> +<br> +My Dear Sir, — <a name="fr178">I</a> am much obliged by your kind invitation, but I wish you, +if possible, to be here on the 22nd<a href="#f178"><sup>1</sup></a>. Your presence will be of great +service, everything is prepared for your reception exactly as if I +remained, and I think Hargreaves will be gratified by the appearance of +the place, and the humours of the day. I shall on the first opportunity +pay my respects to your family, and though I will not trespass on your +hospitality on the 22nd, my obligation is not less for your agreeable +offer, which on any other occasion would be immediately accepted, but I +wish you much to be present at the festivities, and I hope you will add +Charles to the party. <a name="fr179">Consider</a>, as the Courtier says in the tragedy of +<i>Tom Thumb</i><a href="#f179"><sup>2</sup></a> — + + <blockquote>"This is a day; your Majesties may boast of it,<br> + And since it never can come o'er, 'tis fit you make the most of it."</blockquote> + +<a name="fr180">I</a> shall take my seat as soon as circumstances will admit. I have not yet +chosen my side in politics, nor shall I hastily commit myself with +professions, or pledge my support to any men or measures, but though I +shall not run headlong into opposition, I will studiously avoid a +connection with ministry. I cannot say that my opinion is strongly in +favour of either party<a href="#f180"><sup>3</sup></a>; on the one side we have the late underlings +of Pitt, possessing all his ill fortune, without his talents; this may +render their failure more excusable, but will not diminish the public +contempt; on the other, we have the ill-assorted fragments of a worn-out +minority; Mr. Windham with his coat <i>twice</i> turned, and my Lord +Grenville who perhaps has more sense than he can make good use of; +between the two and the shuttlecock of both, a Sidmouth, and the general +<i>football</i> Sir F. Burdett, kicked at by all, and owned by none.<br> +<br> +I shall stand aloof, speak what I think, but not often, nor too soon. I +will preserve my independence, if possible, but if involved with a +party, I will take care not to be the <i>last</i> or <i>least</i> in the ranks. As +to <i>patriotism</i>, the word is obsolete, perhaps improperly, so, for all +men in the Country are patriots, knowing that their own existence must +stand or fall with the Constitution, yet everybody thinks he could alter +it for the better, and govern a people, who are in fact easily governed, +but always claim the privilege of grumbling. So much for Politics, of +which I at present know little and care less; bye and bye, I shall use +the senatorial privilege of talking, and indeed in such times, and in +such a crew, it must be difficult to hold one's tongue.<br> +<br> +Believe me, etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f178"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Byron's coming of age was celebrated at Newstead on January +22, 1809.<br> +<a href="#fr178">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f179"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> See O'Hara's acting version of Fielding's <i>Tom Thumb the +Great</i>, act i. sc. I — +<blockquote> + "<i>Doodle</i>. A Day we never saw before;<br> + A Day of fun and drollery.<br> + <br> + <i>Noodle</i>. That you may say,<br> + Their Majesties may boast of it;<br> + And since it never can come more,<br> + 'Tis fit they make the most of it."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr179">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f180"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Lord Grenville (1759-1834) became First Lord of the +Treasury; Lord Sidmouth, Lord Privy Seal; and William Windham, Secretary +for War, in February, 1806. They, with Fox and his friends, formed the +administration of "All the Talents," which in March, 1807, fell over the +Roman Catholic question. They were succeeded by the Duke of Portland's +Ministry, which included the "late underlings of Pitt," — Perceval, +Canning, Dundas, etc. "Weathercock" Windham, in the Ministry of "All the +Talents," was responsible for the conduct of a war which, as leader of +the so-called "New Opposition," he had vigorously opposed. Sir Francis +Burdett's zeal for Parliamentary Reform involved him in hostility to +both Whigs and Tories, who had combined to exclude him from Parliament +after his election for Middlesex (1802-6). In 1807 he had been elected +for Westminster.<br> +<a href="#fr180">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L110">110 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +Reddish's Hotel, Jan. 25, 1809.<br> +<br> +My Dear Sir, — <a name="fr181">My</a> only reason for not adopting your lines is because they +are <i>your</i> lines<a href="#f181"><sup>1</sup></a>. You will recollect that Lady Wortley Montague said +to Pope: "No touching, for the good will be given to you, and the bad +attributed to me." I am determined it shall be all my own, except such +alterations as may be absolutely required; but I am much obliged by the +trouble you have taken, and your good opinion.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr182">The</a> couplet on Lord C.<a href="#f182"><sup>2</sup></a> may be scratched out and the following +inserted: + +<blockquote>Roscommon! Sheffield! with your spirits fled, <br> + No future laurels deck a noble head. <br> + Nor e'en a hackney'd Muse will deign to smile <br> + On minor Byron, nor mature Carlisle.</blockquote> + +This will answer the purpose of concealment. <a name="fr183">Now</a> for some couplets on +Mr. Crabbe<a href="#f183"><sup>3</sup></a>, which you may place after "Gifford, Sotheby, M'Niel:" + +<blockquote>There be who say, in these enlightened days, <br> + That splendid lies are all the Poet's praise; <br> + That strained invention, ever on the wing,<br> + Alone impels the modern Bard to sing. <br> + 'Tis true that all who rhyme, nay, all who write, <br> + Shrink from that fatal word to genius, trite: <br> + Yet Truth will sometimes lend her noblest fires, <br> + And decorate the verse herself inspires. <br> + This fact in Virtue's name let Crabbe attest; <br> + Though Nature's sternest painter, yet the best.</blockquote> + +<a name="fr184">I</a> am sorry to differ with you with regard to the title<a href="#f184"><sup>4</sup></a>, but I mean +to retain it with this addition: <i>The <span style="color: #555555;">British [the word "British" is +struck through]</span> English Bards and Scotch Reviewers</i>; and if we call it a +<i>Satire</i>, it will obviate the objection, as the Bards also were Welch. +Your title is too humorous; — and as I know a little of — — , I wish not +to embroil myself with him, though I do not commend his treatment +of — — . I shall be glad to hear from you or see you, and beg you to +believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours very sincerely,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f181"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Dallas (January 24, 1809) takes "the liberty of sending you +some two dozen lines," etc.<br> +<a href="#fr181">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f182"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> The couplet on Lord Carlisle, as it stood in <i>British Bards</i>, +was — + + <blockquote>"On one alone Apollo deigns to smile,<br> + And crowns a new Roscommon in Carlisle."</blockquote> + +(See <i>English Bards, etc</i>., lines 723, <i>et seqq</i>.; see also line 927, +<i>note</i> 2. For Lord Carlisle, see page 36, <a href="#f27"><i>note</i></a> 2.)<br> +<a href="#fr182">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f183"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> For "Gifford, Sotheby, Macneil," see <i>English Bards, etc</i>., +line 818, and <i>notes</i>. Dallas had written (January 24, 1809), + +<blockquote>"I am +sorry you have not found a place among the genuine sons of Apollo for +Crabbe, who, in spite of something bordering on servility in his +dedication, may surely rank with some you have admitted to his temple"</blockquote> +(see <i>English Bards, etc</i>., lines 849-858).<br> +<a href="#fr183">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f184"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Dallas suggested as a title, <i>The Parish Poor of +Parnassus</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr184">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L111">111 — To R. C. Dallas.</a></h3> +<br> +February 7, 1809.<br><br> + +My Dear Sir, — <a name="fr185">Suppose</a> we have this couplet — + +<blockquote>Though sweet the sound, disdain a borrow'd tone,<br> +Resign Achaia's lyre, and strike your own<a href="#f185"><sup>1</sup></a>:</blockquote> + +or, +<blockquote>Though soft the echo, scorn a borrow'd tone,<br> +Resign Achaia's lyre, and strike your own.</blockquote> + +<a name="fr186">So</a> much for your admonition; but my note of notes, my +solitary pun<a href="#f186"><sup>2</sup></a>, must not be given up — no, rather + +<blockquote>"Let mightiest of all the beasts of chace<br> +That roam in woody Caledon"</blockquote> + +come against me; my annotation must stand.<br> +<br> +We shall never sell a thousand; then why print so many? Did you receive +my yesterday's note? I am troubling you, but I am apprehensive some of +the lines are omitted by your young amanuensis, to whom, however, I am +infinitely obliged.<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f185"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Dallas (February 6, 1809) objected to the rhyme in the +couplet:— + + <blockquote>"Translation's servile work at length disown,<br> + And quit Achaia's Muse to court your own."</blockquote> + +(For the corrected couplet, see <i>English Bards, etc</i>., lines 889, 890.)<br> +<a href="#fr185">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f186"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> See <i>English Bards, etc.</i>, line 1016, <i>note</i> 2.<br> +<a href="#fr186">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L112">112 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +February 11, 1809.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr187">I</a> wish you to call, if possible, as I have some alterations +to suggest as to the part about Brougham<a href="#f187"><sup>1</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +B.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f187"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See <i>ibid</i>., line 524, <i>note</i> 2.<br> +<a href="#fr187">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L113">113 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +February 12, 1809.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr188">Excuse</a> the trouble, but I have added two lines which +are necessary to complete the poetical character of Lord +Carlisle<a href="#f188"><sup>1</sup></a>. + +<blockquote>..........in his age<br> +His scenes alone had damn'd our singing stage;<br> +But Managers for once cried, "hold, enough!"<br> +Nor drugg'd their audience with the tragic stuff!</blockquote> + +Yours, etc.,<br> +<br> +B.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f188"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See <i>ibid</i>., lines 733-736. Another letter, written +February 15, 1809, runs as follows:— + + <blockquote> "I wish you much to call on me, about <i>One</i>, not later, if convenient, + as I have some thirty or forty lines for addition.<br> +<br> + Believe me, etc.,<br> +<br> + B."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr188">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L114">114 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +February 16, 1809.<br> +<br> +<i>Ecce iterum Crispinus!</i> — <a name="fr189">I</a> send you some lines to be +placed after "Gifford, Sotheby, M'Niel."<a href="#f189"><sup>1</sup></a> Pray call tomorrow +any time before two, and<br> +<br> +Believe me, etc.,<br> +<br> +B.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Print soon, or I shall overflow with more rhyme.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f189"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See <i>English Bards, etc.</i>, lines 819-830.<br> +<a href="#fr189">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L115">115 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +February 19, 1809.<br> +<br> + + I enclose some lines to be inserted, the first six after "Lords too + are bards," etc., or rather immediately following the line: + + <blockquote> "Ah! who would take their titles with their rhymes."</blockquote> + + <a name="fr190">The</a> four next will wind up the panegyric on Lord Carlisle, and come + after "tragic stuff."<a href="#f190"><sup>1</sup></a><br> +<br> + Yours truly. + + <blockquote>In these our times with daily wonders big,<br> + A letter'd Peer is like a letter'd Pig:<br> + Both know their alphabet, but who from thence<br> + Infers that Peers or Pigs have manly sense?<br> + Still less that such should woo the graceful Nine?<br> + Parnassus was not made for Lords and Swine.<br> + Roscommon, Sheffield, etc., etc.<br> + ...<br> + ... tragic stuff.<br> + Yet at their judgment let his Lordship laugh,<br> + And case his volumes in congenial calf:<br> + Yes, doff that covering where morocco shines,<br> + "And hang a calf-skin on those recreant" lines.</blockquote><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f190"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See <i>ibid</i>., lines 736-740.<br> +<a href="#fr190">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L116">116 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +February 22, 1809.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr191">A</a> cut at the opera. — <i>Ecce signum!</i> from last night's +observation, and inuendos against the Society for the +Suppression of Vice<a href="#f191"><sup>1</sup></a>. <a name="fr192">The</a> lines will come well in after +the couplets concerning Naldi and Catalani<a href="#f192"><sup>2</sup></a>!<br> +<br> +Yours truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f191"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See <i>English Bards, etc.</i>, lines 618-631, <i>note</i> 1, for the +"cut at the opera." The piece which provoked the outburst was <i>I +Villegiatori Rezzani</i>, at the King's Theatre, February 21, 1809. +Guiseppe Naldi (1770-1820) made his <i>début</i> in London, at the King's +Theatre, in April, 1806. (For further details, see <i>English Bards, +etc.</i>, line 613, <i>note</i> 2.) Angelica Catalani, born at Sinigaglia, in +1779, or, according to some authorities, 1785, came out at Venice, in an +opera by Nasolini. She sang in many capitals of Europe, married at +Lisbon a French officer named Vallabrègue, and came to London in +October, 1806. The salary paid her was a cause of the O. P. riots at +Covent Garden in 1809, when one of the cries was, "No foreigners! No +Catalani!" A series of caricatures, one set by Isaac Cruikshank, and +several medals, commemorate the riots. Madame Catalani died at Paris in +1849.<br> +<a href="#fr191">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f192"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> See <i>English Bards, etc.</i>, lines 632-637.<br> +<a href="#fr192">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L117">117 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +8, St. James's Street, March 6, 1809.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother, — <a name="fr193">My</a> last letter was written under great depression of +spirits from poor Falkland's death<a href="#f193"><sup>1</sup></a>, who has left without a shilling +four children and his wife. I have been endeavouring to assist them, +which, God knows, I cannot do as I could wish, for my own embarrassments +and the many claims upon me from other quarters.<br> +<br> +What you say is all very true: come what may, <i>Newstead</i> and I <i>stand</i> +or fall together. I have now lived on the spot, I have fixed my heart +upon it, and no pressure, present or future, shall induce me to barter +the last vestige of our inheritance. I have that pride within me which +will enable me to support difficulties. I can endure privations; but +could I obtain in exchange for Newstead Abbey the first fortune in the +country, I would reject the proposition. Set your mind at ease on that +score; Mr. Hanson talks like a man of business on the subject, — I feel +like a man of honour, and I will not sell Newstead.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr194">I</a> shall get my seat<a href="#f194"><sup>2</sup></a> on the return of the affidavits from Carhais, in +Cornwall, and will do something in the House soon: I must dash, or it is +all over. My Satire must be kept secret for a <i>month</i>; after that you +may say what you please on the subject. Lord Carlisle has used me +infamously, and refused to state any particulars of my family to the +Chancellor. I have <i>lashed</i> him in my rhymes, and perhaps his lordship +may regret not being more conciliatory. They tell me it will have a +sale; I hope so, for the bookseller has behaved well, as far as +publishing well goes.<br> +<br> +Believe me, etc.<br> +<br> +P.S. — <a name="fr195">You</a> shall have a mortgage on one of the farms<a href="#f195"><sup>3</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f193"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Captain Charles John Cary, R.N., succeeded his brother +Thomas in 1796 as ninth Lord Falkland. He married, in 1803, Miss Anton, +the daughter of a West India merchant. He had been recently dismissed +from his ship "on account of some irregularities arising from too free a +circulation of the bottle." But he had received a promise of being +reinstated, and, in high spirits at the prospect, dined one evening in +March, 1809, at Stevens's Coffeehouse, in Bond Street. There he applied +to Mr. Powell an offensive nickname. "He lost his life for a joke, and +one too he did not make himself" (Medwin, <i>Conversations</i>, ed. 1825, p. +66). A challenge resulted. The parties met on Goldar's Green, and +Falkland, mortally wounded, died two days later in Powell's house in +Devonshire Place, on March 7, 1809. (<i>Annual Register</i>, vol. li. pp. +449, 450.) For a more detailed account, see <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i> for +March, 1809. Both accounts give March 7 as the date of Falkland's death. +A posthumous child was born to Lady Falkland. Byron stood godfather, and +gave £500 at the christening.<br> +<a href="#fr193">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f194"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Byron took his seat in the House of Lords, March 13, 1809. +The delay was caused by the difficulty of proving the marriage of +Admiral the Hon. John Byron with Miss Sophia Trevanion in the private +chapel of Carhais. Probably Carlisle neither possessed nor withheld any +information.<br> +<a href="#fr194">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f195"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Byron had borrowed £1000 for his return to Cambridge in +1807: £200 from Messrs. Wylde and Co., bankers, of Southwell; and the +remainder from the Misses Parkyns, and his great-aunt, the Hon. Mrs. +George Byron. For this debt his mother made herself liable. No mortgage +was given (see page 221, <a href="#f201"><i>note</i></a> 2).<br> +<a href="#fr195">return</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#f92">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 72</a><br><br> + +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L118">118 — To William Harness</a></h3> +<br> +8, St. James's Street, March 18, 1809.<br> +<br> +There was no necessity for your excuses: if you have time and +inclination to write, "for what we receive, the Lord make us +thankful," — if I do not hear from you, I console myself with the idea +that you are much more agreeably employed.<br> +<br> +I send down to you by this post a certain Satire lately published, and +in return for the three and sixpence expenditure upon it, only beg that +if you should guess the author, you will keep his name secret; at least +for the present. <a name="fr196">London</a> is full of the Duke's business<a href="#f196"><sup>1</sup></a>. The Commons +have been at it these last three nights, and are not yet come to a +decision. I do not know if the affair will be brought before our House, +unless in the shape of an impeachment. If it makes its appearance in a +debatable form, I believe I shall be tempted to say something on the +subject. — <a name="fr197">I</a> am glad to hear you like Cambridge: firstly, because, to +know that you are happy is pleasant to one who wishes you all possible +sublunary enjoyment; and, secondly, I admire the morality of the +sentiment. <i>Alma Mater</i> was to me <i>injusta noverca</i>; and the old beldam +only gave me my M.A. degree because she could not avoid it<a href="#f197"><sup>2</sup></a>. — You +know what a farce a noble Cantab. must perform.<br> +<br> +I am going abroad, if possible, in the spring, and before I depart I am +collecting the pictures of my most intimate school-fellows; I have +already a few, and shall want yours, or my cabinet will be incomplete. <a name="fr198">I</a> +have employed one of the first miniature painters<a href="#f198"><sup>3</sup></a> of the day to take +them, of course, at my own expense, as I never allow my acquaintance to +incur the least expenditure to gratify a whim of mine. To mention this +may seem indelicate; but when I tell you a friend of ours first refused +to sit, under the idea that he was to disburse on the occasion, you will +see that it is necessary to state these preliminaries to prevent the +recurrence of any similar mistake. I shall see you in time, and will +carry you to the <i>limner</i>. It will be a tax on your patience for a +week; but pray excuse it, as it is possible the resemblance may be the +sole trace I shall be able to preserve of our past friendship and +acquaintance. Just now it seems foolish enough; but in a few years, when +some of us are dead, and others are separated by inevitable +circumstances, it will be a kind of satisfaction to retain in these +images of the living the idea of our former selves, and, to contemplate, +in the resemblances of the dead, all that remains of judgment, feeling, +and a host of passions. But all this will be dull enough for you, and so +good night; and, to end my chapter, or rather my homily,<br> +<br> +Believe me, my dear H., yours most affectionately,<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f196"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> This was the inquiry into the charges made by Colonel +Gwyllym Wardle, M.P. for Okehampton (1807-12), against the Duke of York +and his mistress, Mary Ann Clarke. The inquiry began January 27, 1809, +and ended March 20, 1809, with the duke's resignation, the Commons +having previously (March 17) acquitted him of "personal connivance and +corruption."<br> +<br> +The case has passed into literature. Wardle, the valorous Dowler, and +Lowten, Mr. Perker's clerk, had all figured in the trial before they +played their parts in <i>Pickwick</i>. Wardle, who was a colonel of the Welsh +Fusiliers ("Wynne's Lambs") had fought at Vinegar Hill. After losing his +seat, he took a farm between Tunbridge Wells and Rochester, from which +he fled to escape his creditors, and died at Florence, November 30, +1834, aged seventy-two.<br> +<a href="#fr196">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f197"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Byron took his M.A. degree, July 4, 1808. In another letter +to Harness, dated February, 1809, he says, + +<blockquote>"I do not know how you and +Alma Mater agree. I was but an untoward child myself, and I believe the +good lady and her brat were equally rejoiced when I was weaned, and if I +obtained her benediction at parting, it was, at best, equivocal."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr197">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f198"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> George Sanders (1774-1846) painted miniatures, made +watercolour copies of continental master-pieces, and afterwards became a +portrait-painter in oils. He painted several portraits of Byron, two of +which have been often engraved.<br> +<a href="#fr198">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L119">119 — To William Bankes</a></h3> +<br> +Twelve o'clock, Friday night.<br> +<br> +My Dear Bankes, — <a name="fr199">I</a> have just received your note; believe me I regret +most sincerely that I was not fortunate enough to see it before, as I +need not repeat to you that your conversation for half an hour would +have been much more agreeable to me than gambling<a href="#f199"><sup>1</sup></a> or drinking, or +any other fashionable mode of passing an evening abroad or at home. — I +really am very sorry that I went out previous to the arrival of your +despatch: in future pray let me hear from you before six, and whatever +my engagements may be, I will always postpone them. — Believe me, with +that deference which I have always from my childhood paid to your +<i>talents</i>, and with somewhat a better opinion of your heart than I +have hitherto entertained,<br> +<br> +Yours ever, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f199"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> + + <blockquote>"I learn with delight," writes Hobhouse from Cambridge, May 12, 1808, + "from Scrope Davies, that you have totally given up dice. To be sure + you must give it up; for you to be seen every night in the very vilest + company in town — could anything be more shocking, anything more unfit? + I speak feelingly on this occasion, <i>non ignara mali miseris, + &c.</i> I know of nothing that should bribe me to be present once more + at such horrible scenes. Perhaps 'tis as well that we are both + acquainted with the extent of the evil, that we may be the more + earnest in abstaining from it. You shall henceforth be <i>Diis + animosus hostis</i>."</blockquote> + +Moore quotes (<i>Life</i>, p. 86) the following extract from Byron's +<i>Journal</i>:— + + <blockquote> "I have a notion that gamblers are as happy as many people, being + always <i>excited</i>. Women, wine, fame, the table, — even ambition, + <i>sate</i> now and then; but every turn of the card and cast of the + dice keeps the gamester alive: besides, one can game ten times longer + than one can do any thing else. I was very fond of it when young, that + is to say, of hazard, for I hate all <i>card</i> games, — even faro. + When macco (or whatever they spell it) was introduced, I gave up the + whole thing, for I loved and missed the <i>rattle</i> and <i>dash</i> + of the box and dice, and the glorious uncertainty, not only of good + luck or bad luck, but of <i>any luck at all</i>, as one had sometimes + to throw <i>often</i> to decide at all. I have thrown as many as + fourteen mains running, and carried off all the cash upon the table + occasionally; but I had no coolness, or judgment, or calculation. It + was the delight of the thing that pleased me. Upon the whole, I left + off in time, without being much a winner or loser. Since + one-and-twenty years of age I played but little, and then never above + a hundred, or two, or three."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr199">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L120">120 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +April 25, 1809.<br> +<br> +Dear Sir, — I am just arrived at Batt's Hotel, Jermyn Street, St. +James's, from Newstead, and shall be very glad to see you when +convenient or agreeable. <a name="fr200">Hobhouse</a> is on his way up to town, full of +printing resolution<a href="#f200"><sup>1</sup></a>, and proof against criticism. — Believe me, with +great sincerity,<br> +<br> +Yours truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f200"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> See page 163, <a href="#f136a"><i>note</i></a> 1. Hobhouse's miscellany was +published in 1809, under the title of <i>Imitations and Translations +from the Antient and Modern Classics: Together with Original Poems never +before published</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr200">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L121">121 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Batt's Hotel, Jermyn Street, April 26th, 1809.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Sir</b>, — <a name="fr201">I</a> wish to know before I make my final effort elsewhere, if +you can or cannot assist me in raising a sum of money on fair and +equitable terms and immediately<a href="#f201"><sup>1</sup></a>. I called twice this morning, and +beg you will favour me with an answer when convenient. I hope all your +family are well. I should like to see them together before my departure.<br> +<br> +The Court of Chancery it seems will not pay the money, of which indeed I +do not know the precise amount; the Duke of Portland will not pay his +debt, and with the Rochdale property nothing is done. — My debts are +daily increasing, and it is with difficulty I can command a shilling. As +soon as possible I shall get quit of this country, but I wish to do +justice to my creditors (though I do not like their importunity), and +particularly to my securities, for their annuities must be paid off +soon, or the interest will swallow up everything. Come what may, in +every shape and in any shape, I can meet ruin, but I will never sell +Newstead; the Abbey and I shall stand or fall together, and, were my +head as grey and defenceless as the Arch of the Priory, I would abide by +this resolution. The whole of my wishes are summed up in this; procure +me, either of my own or borrowed of others, three thousand pounds, and +place two in Hammersley's hands for letters of credit at Constantinople; +if possible sell Rochdale in my absence, pay off these annuities and my +debts, and with the little that remains do as you will, but allow me to +depart from this cursed country, and I promise to turn Mussulman, rather +than return to it. Believe me to be,<br> +<br> +Yours truly, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Is my will finished? I should like to sign it while I have +anything to leave.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f201"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Money was obtained, partly by means of a life insurance +effected with the Provident Institution. The medical report, signed by +Benjamin Hutchinson, F.R.C.S., London, states that Hutchinson had +attended Byron for the last four or five years; that he was, when last +seen by Hutchinson, in very good health; that he never was afflicted +with any serious malady; that he was sober and temperate; that he +"sometimes used much exercise, and at others was of a studious and +sedentary turn;" and thus concludes: "I do believe that he possesses an +unimpaired, healthy constitution, and I am not aware of any circumstance +which may be considered as tending to shorten his life."<br> +<br> +Mrs. Byron (April 9, 1809) begs Hanson to see that Byron gave some +security for the thousand pounds for which she was bound. She adds: +"There is some Trades People at Nottingham that will be completely +ruined if he does not pay them, which I would not have happen for the +whole world." No security seems to have been given, and the tradesmen +remained unpaid. Mrs. Byron's death was doubtless accelerated by anxiety +from these causes.<br> +<a href="#fr201">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f195">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 117</a><br> +<br> +<a href="#f92">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 22</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L122"></a>122 — To the Rev. R. Lowe<a href="#f202"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +8, St. James Street, May 15, 1809.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Sir</b>, — I have just been informed that a report is circulating in +Notts of an intention on my part to sell Newstead, which is rather +unfortunate, as I have just tied the property up in such a manner as to +prevent the practicability, even if my inclination led me to dispose of +it. But as such a report may render my tenants uncomfortable, I will +feel very much obliged if you will be good enough to contradict the +rumour, should it come to your ears, on my authority. <a name="fr203">I</a> rather +conjecture it has arisen from the sale of some copyholds of mine in +Norfolk<a href="#f203"><sup>2</sup></a>. I sail for Gibraltar in June, and thence to Malta when, of +course, you shall have the promised detail. I saw your friend Thornhill +last night, who spoke of you as a friend ought to do. Excuse this +trouble, and believe me to be, with great sincerity,<br> +<br> +Yours affectionately, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f202"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The Rev. Robert Lowe was some years older than Byron, and +had known him intimately at Southwell in his early youth. Miss Pigot was +a cousin of Mr. Lowe, as was also the Rev. J. T. Becher of Southwell. +Mrs. Chaworth Musters, who contributed this letter to <i>The Life and +Letters of Viscount Sherbrooke</i> (vol. i. p. 46), adds that her +grandfather was, naturally, excessively annoyed at having been made the +mouthpiece of an untruth, and that the coolness which arose in +consequence lasted up to the end of Byron's life. There can, however, be +no doubt that Byron made the statement in all sincerity.<br> +<a href="#L122">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f203"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> At Wymondham.<br> +<a href="#fr203">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a><br> +<p><a href="#toc">Contents</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h2><a name="section5">Chapter IV — Travels in Albania, Greece, etc. — Death of Mrs. +Byron</a></h2> +<br> +<b>1809-1811</b><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> + +<h3><a name="L123">123 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Falmouth, June 22, 1809.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Mother</b>, — I am about to sail in a few days; probably before this +reaches you. Fletcher begged so hard, that I have continued him in my +service. If he does not behave well abroad, I will send him back in a +<i>transport</i>. <a name="fr204">I</a> have a German servant (who has been with Mr. +Wilbraham in Persia before, and was strongly recommended to me by Dr. +Butler, of Harrow), Robert and William<a href="#f204"><sup>1</sup></a>; they constitute my whole +suite. I have letters in plenty:— you shall hear from me at the +different ports I touch upon; but you must not be alarmed if my letters +miscarry. The Continent is in a fine state — an insurrection has broken +out at Paris, and the Austrians are beating Buonaparte — the Tyrolese +have risen.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr205">There</a> is a picture of me in oil, to be sent down to Newstead soon<a href="#f205"><sup>2</sup></a>. + — I wish the Miss Pigots had something better to do than carry my +miniatures to Nottingham to copy. Now they have done it, you may ask +them to copy the others, which are greater favourites than my own. As to +money matters, I am ruined — at least till Rochdale is sold; and if that +does not turn out well, I shall enter into the Austrian or Russian +service — perhaps the Turkish, if I like their manners. The world is all +before me, and I leave England without regret, and without a wish to +revisit any thing it contains, except <i>yourself</i>, and your present +residence.<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours ever sincerely.<br> +<br> +P.S. — <a name="fr206">Pray</a> tell Mr. Rushton his son is well, and doing well; so is +Murray<a href="#f206"><sup>3</sup></a>, indeed better than I ever saw him; he will be back in about +a month. I ought to add the leaving Murray to my few regrets, as his age +perhaps will prevent my seeing him again. Robert I take with me; I like +him, because, like myself, he seems a friendless animal.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f204"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Robert Rushton and William Fletcher, the "little page" and +"staunch yeoman" of Childe Harold's "Good Night," Canto I. stanza xiii.<br> +<a href="#fr204">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f205"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> By George Sanders.<br> +<a href="#fr205">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f206"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> "Joe" Murray was sent back from Gibraltar, and with him +returned the homesick Robert Rushton.<br> +<a href="#fr206">return</a><br> +<a href="#f15">cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 7</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L124">124 — To the Rev. Henry Drury</a></h3> +<br> +Falmouth, June 28, 1809.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Drury</b>, — We sail to-morrow in the Lisbon packet, having been +detained till now by the lack of wind, and other necessaries. These +being at last procured, by this time tomorrow evening we shall be +embarked on the vide vorld of vaters, vor all the vorld like Robinson +Crusoe. The Malta vessel not sailing for some weeks, we have determined +to go by way of Lisbon, and, as my servants term it, to see "that there +"<i>Portingale</i>" — thence to Cadiz and Gibraltar, and so on our old +route to Malta and Constantinople, if so be that Captain Kidd, our +gallant, or rather gallows, commander, understands plain sailing and +Mercator, and takes us on a voyage all according to the chart.<br> +<br> +Will you tell Dr. Butler that I have taken the treasure of a servant, +Friese, the native of Prussia Proper, into my service from his +recommendation? He has been all among the Worshippers of Fire in Persia, +and has seen Persepolis and all that.<br> +<br> +Hobhouse has made woundy preparations for a book on his return; 100 +pens, two gallons of Japan Ink, and several volumes of best blank, is no +bad provision for a discerning public. I have laid down my pen, but have +promised to contribute a chapter on the state of morals, and a further +treatise on the same to be intituled "..., <i>Simplified,... or Proved +to be Praiseworthy from Ancient Authors and Modern Practice.</i>"<br> +<br> +Hobhouse further hopes to indemnify himself in Turkey for a life of +exemplary chastity at home. Pray buy his <i>Missellingany</i>, as the +Printer's Devil calls it. I suppose it is in print by this time. +Providence has interposed in our favour with a fair wind to carry us out +of its reach, or he would have hired a Faqui to translate it into the +Turcoman lingo. + +<blockquote>"<a name="fr207">The</a> cock is crowing,<br> +I must be going,<br> +And can no more."</blockquote> + +<i>Ghost of Gaffer Thumb</i><a href="#f207"><sup>1</sup></a>.<br> +Adieu. — Believe me, etc., etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f207"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> In Fielding's burlesque tragedy, <i>The Tragedy of Tragedies; +or the Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great</i>(1730), occur the +lines — + + <blockquote>"Arthur, beware; I must this moment hence,<br> + Not frighted by your voice, but by the cock's."</blockquote> + +The burlesque was altered by Kane O'Hara, and published as performed at +the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, in 1805. In this prompt-book version (act +i) appear the lines quoted by Byron. + + <blockquote> "<i>Ghost</i>. Grizzle's Rebellion,<br> + What need I tell you on?<br> + Or by a red cow<br> + Tom Thumb devoured?<br><br> + + (<i>cock crows</i>) <br> +<br> +Hark the cock crowing!<br> + I must be going:<br> + I can no more {<i>vanishes</i>}."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr207">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f280">cross-reference: return to Footnote 7 of Letter 149</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L125">125 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Falmouth, June 25, 1809.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Hodgson</b>, — Before this reaches you, Hobhouse, two officers' +wives, three children, two waiting-maids, ditto subalterns for the +troops, three Portuguese esquires and domestics, in all nineteen souls, +will have sailed in the Lisbon packet, with the noble Captain Kidd, a +gallant commander as ever smuggled an anker of right Nantz.<br> +<br> +We are going to Lisbon first, because the Malta packet has sailed, d'ye +see? — <a name="fr208">from</a> Lisbon to Gibraltar, Malta, Constantinople, and "all that," +as Orator Henley said, when he put the Church, and "all that," in +danger<a href="#f208"><sup>1</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +This town of Falmouth, as you will partly conjecture, is no great ways +from the sea. It is defended on the sea-side by tway castles, St. Maws +and Pendennis, extremely well calculated for annoying every body except +an enemy. St. Maws is garrisoned by an able-bodied person of fourscore, +a widower. He has the whole command and sole management of six most +unmanageable pieces of ordnance, admirably adapted for the destruction +of Pendennis, a like tower of strength on the opposite side of the +Channel. We have seen St. Maws, but Pendennis they will not let us +behold, save at a distance, because Hobhouse and I are suspected of +having already taken St. Maws by a coup de main.<br> +<br> +The town contains many Quakers and salt fish — the oysters have a taste +of copper, owing to the soil of a mining country — the women (blessed be +the Corporation therefor!) are flogged at the cart's tail when they pick +and steal, as happened to one of the fair sex yesterday noon. She was +pertinacious in her behaviour, and damned the mayor.<br> +<br> +This is all I know of Falmouth. <a name="fr209">Nothing</a> occurred of note in our way +down, except that on Hartford Bridge we changed horses at an inn, where +the great — —, Beckford<a href="#f209"><sup>2</sup></a>, sojourned for the night. We tried in +vain to see the martyr of prejudice, but could not. <a name="fr210">What</a> we thought +singular, though you perhaps will not, was that Ld Courtney<a href="#f210"><sup>3</sup></a> +travelled the same night on the same road, only one stage <i>behind</i> +him.<br> +<br> +Hodgson, remember me to the Drury, and remember me to yourself when +drunk. I am not worth a sober thought. Look to my satire at Cawthorn's, +Cockspur Street, and look to the <i>Miscellany</i> of the Hobhouse. It +has pleased Providence to interfere in behalf of a suffering public by +giving him a sprained wrist, so that he cannot write, and there is a +cessation of ink-shed.<br> +<br> +I don't know when I can write again, because it depends on that +experienced navigator, Captain Kidd, and the "stormy winds that (don't) +blow" at this season. I leave England without regret — I shall return to +it without pleasure. <a name="fr211">I</a> am like Adam, the first convict sentenced to +transportation, but I have no Eve, and have eaten no apple but what was +sour as a crab; — and thus ends my first chapter. Adieu<a href="#f211"><sup>4</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +Yours, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f208"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Henley, in one of his publications entitled <i>Oratory +Transactions</i>, engaged + + <blockquote> "to execute singly what would sprain a dozen of modern doctors of the + tribe of Issachar — to write, read, and study twelve hours a day, and + yet appear as untouched by the yoke as if he never wore it — to teach + in one year what schools or universities teach in five;" and he + furthermore pledged himself to persevere in his bold scheme until he + had "put the church, — and all that — , in danger."</blockquote> + +(Moore).<br> +<a href="#fr208">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f209"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> William Beckford (1760-1844), son of Chatham's friend who +was twice Lord Mayor of London, at the age of eleven succeeded it is +said, to a million of ready money and a hundred thousand a year. Before +he was seventeen he wrote his <i>Biographical Memoirs of Extraordinary +Painters</i>, designed as a satire on the <i>Vies des Peintres +Flamands</i>, (<i>Memoirs of William Beckford</i>, by Cyrus Redding, +vol. i. p. 96.) His travels (1777-82) in Switzerland, the Low Countries, +and Italy are described in his <i>Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and +Incidents, in a series of letters from various parts of Europe</i>, +published anonymously in 1783, and reprinted, with additions and +omissions, in 1834 and 1840. In the previous year he had written +<i>Vathek</i> in French, in "three days and two nights," without, as he +says, taking off his clothes; "the severe application made me very ill." This statement, if made by Beckford, as Redding implies, is +untrue. Evidence exists to prove that <i>Vathek</i> was a careful and +elaborate composition. The book was published with his name in 1787; but +a translation, made and printed without his leave, had already (1784) +appeared, and was often mistaken for the original. In 1783 he married +Lady Margaret Gordon, with whom he lived in Switzerland till her death +in 1786. One of his two daughters — he had no son — became Mrs. Orde, the +other the Duchess of Hamilton. From 1787 to 1791, and again from 1794 to +1796, he visited Portugal and Spain, and to this period belong his +<i>Sketches of Spain and Portugal</i> (1834), and his <i>Recollections +of an Excursion to the Monasteries of Alobaca and Batalha</i> +(1835). Between his two visits to Portugal, on the last of which he +occupied the retreat at Cintra celebrated by Byron (<i>Childe +Harold</i>, Canto I. stanzas xviii.-xxii.), he saw the destruction of +the Bastille, bought Gibbon's library at Lausanne (in 1796), and, +shutting himself up in it "for six weeks, from early in the morning +until night, only now and then taking "a ride," read himself "nearly +blind" (Cyrus Redding's "Recollections of the Author of Vathek," <i>New +Monthly Magazine</i>, vol. lxxi. p. 307). He also wrote two burlesque +novels, to ridicule, it is said, those written by his sister, Mrs. +Henry: <i>Azemia; a Descriptive and Sentimental Novel. By Jacquetta +Agneta Mariana Jenks of Bellgrove Priory in Wales</i> (1796); and +<i>Modern Novel- Writing, or the Elegant Enthusiast. By the Rt. Hon. +Lady Harriet Marlow</i>(1797). He represented Wells from 1784 to 1790, +and Hindon from 1806 to 1820; but took no part in political life. He was +now settled at Fonthill (1796-1822), absorbed in collecting books, +pictures, and engravings, laying out the grounds, indulging his +architectural extravagances, and shutting himself and his palace out +from the world by a gigantic wall. When Rogers visited him at Fonthill, +and arrived at the gate, he was told that neither his servant nor his +horses could be admitted, but that Mr. Beckford's attendants and horses +would be at his service (<i>Recollections of the Table-Talk of Samuel +Rogers</i>, p. 217). Beckford had been taught music by Mozart, and +Rogers says (<i>ibid</i>.) that "in the evening Beckford would amuse us +by reading one of his unpublished works; or he would extemporize on the +pianoforte, producing the most novel and charming melodies."<br> +<br> +In 1822 his gigantic fortune had dwindled; he was in embarrassed +circumstances; Fonthill and most of its contents were sold, and Beckford +settled in Lansdowne Terrace, Bath, where he still collected books and +works of art, laid out the grounds, and built the tower on Lansdowne +Hill, which are now the property of the city. At Bath he died in 1844.<br> +<br> +<i>Vathek</i> is a masterpiece, which, as an Eastern tale, is unrivalled +in European literature. + + <blockquote> "For correctness of costume," says Byron, in one +of his diaries, "beauty of description, and power of imagination, it far +surpasses all European imitations; and bears such marks of originality, +that those who have visited the East will find some difficulty in +believing it to be a translation. As an Eastern tale, even +<i>Rasselas</i> must bow before it: his 'Happy Valley' will not bear a +comparison with the Hall of Eblis." </blockquote> + +Beckford's letters are, in their +way, equally masterpieces, and, like <i>Vathek</i>, have the appearance +of being struck off without labour. Reprinted, as their writer says +(Preface to the edition of 1840), because "some justly admired +Authors... condescended to glean a few stray thoughts from these +letters," they suggest, in some respects, comparison with Byron's own +work. There is the same prodigality of power, the same simple nervous +style, the same vein of melancholy, the same cynical contempt for +mankind. In both writers there is a passionate feeling for the grander +aspects of nature, though Beckford was also thrilled, as Byron was not, +by the beauties of art. In both there are similar inconsistencies and +incongruities of temperament, and the same vein of reckless +self-indulgence appears to run by the side of nobler enthusiasms. In +both there is a taste for Oriental magnificence, which, in Beckford, was +to some degree corrected by his artistic perceptions. Both, finally, +described not so much the objects they saw, as the impression which +those objects produced on themselves, and thus steeped their pictures, +clear and vivid though they are, in an atmosphere of their own +personality.<br> +<a href="#fr209">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f210"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> William, third Viscount Courtenay, died unmarried in 1835, +and with him the viscountcy became extinct. In 1831 he proved before +Parliament his title to the earldom of Devon, which passed at his death +to a cousin, William, tenth Earl of Devon (1777- 1859).<br> +<a href="#fr210">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f211"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> In this letter the following verses were enclosed:— <br> +<br> + +"Falmouth Roads, June 30, 1809. + + <blockquote> "Huzza! Hodgson, we are going,<br> + Our embargo's off at last;<br> + Favourable breezes blowing<br> + Bend the canvass o'er the mast.<br> + From aloft the signal's streaming,<br> + Hark! the farewell gun is fired,<br> + Women screeching, tars blaspheming,<br> + Tell us that our time's expired.<br> + Here's a rascal<br> + Come to task all,<br> + Prying from the Custom-house;<br> + Trunks unpacking,<br> + Cases cracking,<br> + Not a corner for a mouse<br> + 'Scapes unsearch'd amid the racket,<br> + Ere we sail on board the Packet. <br> + <br> + Now our boatmen quit their mooring,<br> + And all hands must ply the oar;<br> + Baggage from the quay is lowering,<br> + We're impatient — push from shore.<br> + 'Have a care! that case holds liquor — <br> + Stop the boat — I'm sick — oh Lord!'<br> + 'Sick, ma'am, damme, you'll be sicker<br> + Ere you've been an hour on board.'<br> + Thus are screaming<br> + Men and women,<br> + Gemmen, ladies, servants, Jacks;<br> + Here entangling,<br> + All are wrangling,<br> + Stuck together close as wax.-<br> + Such the general noise and racket,<br> + Ere we reach the Lisbon Packet.<br> + <br> + Now we've reach'd her, lo! the captain,<br> + Gallant Kidd, commands the crew;<br> + Passengers their berths are clapt in,<br> + Some to grumble, some to spew.<br> + 'Hey day! call you that a cabin?<br> + Why 'tis hardly three feet square;<br> + Not enough to stow Queen Mab in — <br> + Who the deuce can harbour there?'<br> + 'Who, sir? plenty — <br> + Nobles twenty — <br> + Did at once my vessel fill' — <br> + 'Did they? Jesus,<br> + How you squeeze us!<br> + Would to God they did so still:<br> + Then I'd 'scape the heat and racket,<br> + Of the good ship, Lisbon Packet.'<br> + <br> + Fletcher! Murray! Bob! where are you?<br> + Stretch'd along the deck like logs — <br> + Bear a hand, you jolly tar you!<br> + Here's a rope's end for the dogs.<br> + Hobhouse muttering fearful curses,<br> + As the hatchway down he rolls;<br> + Now his breakfast, now his verses,<br> + Vomits forth — and damns our souls.<br> + 'Here's a stanza<br> + On Braganza — <br> + Help!' — 'A couplet?' — 'No, a cup<br> + Of warm water.' — <br> + 'What's the matter?'<br> + 'Zounds! my liver's coming up;<br> + I shall not survive the racket<br> + Of this brutal Lisbon Packet.'<br> + <br> + Now at length we're off for Turkey,<br> + Lord knows when we shall come back!<br> + Breezes foul and tempests murky<br> + May unship us in a crack.<br> + But, since life at most a jest is,<br> + As philosophers allow,<br> + Still to laugh by far the best is,<br> + Then laugh on — as I do now.<br> + Laugh at all things,<br> + Great and small things,<br> + Sick or well, at sea or shore;<br> + While we're quaffing,<br> + Let's have laughing — <br> + Who the devil cares for more? — <br> + Some good wine! and who would lack it,<br> + Ev'n on board the Lisbon Packet?<br> + <br> + "<b>Byron</b>."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr211">return</a> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp8">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L126">126 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Lisbon, July 16, 1809.<br> +<br> +Thus far have we pursued our route, and seen all sorts of marvellous +sights, palaces, convents, etc.; — which, being to be heard in my friend +Hobhouse's forthcoming <i>Book of Travels</i>, I shall not anticipate by +smuggling any account whatsoever to you in a private and clandestine +manner. I must just observe, that the village of Cintra in Estremadura +is the most beautiful, perhaps, in the world.<br> +<br> +I am very happy here, because I loves oranges, and talks bad Latin to +the monks, who understand it, as it is like their own, — and I goes into +society (with my pocket-pistols), and I swims in the Tagus all across at +once, and I rides on an ass or a mule, and swears Portuguese, and have +got a diarrhoea and bites from the mosquitoes. But what of that? Comfort +must not be expected by folks that go a pleasuring.<br> +<br> +When the Portuguese are pertinacious, I say <i>Carracho!</i> — the great +oath of the grandees, that very well supplies the place of +"Damme," — and, when dissatisfied with my neighbour, I pronounce him +<i>Ambra di merdo</i>. With these two phrases, and a third, <i>Avra +louro</i>, which signifieth "Get an ass," I am universally understood to +be a person of degree and a master of languages. How merrily we lives +that travellers be! — if we had food and raiment. But, in sober sadness, +any thing is better than England, and I am infinitely amused with my +pilgrimage as far as it has gone.<br> +<br> +To-morrow we start to ride post near 400 miles as far as Gibraltar, +where we embark for Melita and Byzantium. A letter to Malta will find +me, or to be forwarded, if I am absent. Pray embrace the Drury and +Dwyer, and all the Ephesians you encounter. I am writing with Butler's +donative pencil, which makes my bad hand worse. Excuse illegibility.<br> +<br> +Hodgson! send me the news, and the deaths and defeats and capital crimes +and the misfortunes of one's friends; and let us hear of literary +matters, and the controversies and the criticisms. All this will be +pleasant — <i>Suave mari magno</i>, etc. Talking of that, I have been +sea-sick, and sick of the sea. Adieu.<br> +<br> +Yours faithfully, etc.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L127">127 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Gibraltar, August 6, 1809.<br> +<br> +I have just arrived at this place after a journey through Portugal, and +a part of Spain, of nearly 500 miles. We left Lisbon and travelled on +horseback to Seville and Cadiz, and thence in the <i>Hyperion</i> +frigate to Gibraltar. The horses are excellent — we rode seventy miles a +day. Eggs and wine, and hard beds, are all the accommodation we found, +and, in such torrid weather, quite enough. My health is better than in +England.<br> +<br> +Seville is a fine town, and the Sierra Morena, part of which we crossed, +a very sufficient mountain; but damn description, it is always +disgusting. <a name="fr212">Cadiz</a>, sweet Cadiz<a href="#f212"><sup>1</sup></a>! — it is the first spot in the +creation. The beauty of its streets and mansions is only excelled by the +loveliness of its inhabitants. For, with all national prejudice, I must +confess the women of Cadiz are as far superior to the English women in +beauty as the Spaniards are inferior to the English in every quality +that dignifies the name of man. Just as I began to know the principal +persons of the city, I was obliged to sail.<br> +<br> +You will not expect a long letter after my riding so far "on hollow +pampered jades of Asia." Talking of Asia puts me in mind of Africa, +which is within five miles of my present residence. I am going over +before I go on to Constantinople.<br> +<br> +Cadiz is a complete Cythera. Many of the grandees who have left Madrid +during the troubles reside there, and I do believe it is the prettiest +and cleanest town in Europe. London is filthy in the comparison. The +Spanish women are all alike, their education the same. The wife of a +duke is, in information, as the wife of a peasant, — the wife of peasant, +in manner, equal to a duchess. Certainly they are fascinating; but their +minds have only one idea, and the business of their lives is intrigue.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr213">I</a> have seen Sir John Carr<a href="#f213"><sup>2</sup></a> at Seville and Cadiz, and, like Swift's +barber, have been down on my knees to beg he would not put me into black +and white<a href="#f214"><sup>3</sup></a>. <a name="fr215">Pray</a> remember me<a href="#f215"><sup>4</sup></a>. to the Drurys and the Davies, and all of +that stamp who are yet extant. Send me a letter and news to Malta. My +next epistle shall be from Mount Caucasus or Mount Sion. I shall return +to Spain before I see England, for I am enamoured of the country. Adieu, +and believe me, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f212"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> In <i>Childe Harold</i> (Canto I., after stanza lxxxiv.), +instead of the song "To Inez," Byron originally wrote the song beginning + + <blockquote> "Oh never talk again to me<br> + Of northern climes and British ladies,<br> + It has not been your lot to see,<br> + Like me, the lovely girl of Cadiz."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr212">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f213"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Sir John Carr (1772-1832), a native of Devonshire, and a +barrister of the Middle Temple, was knighted by the Duke of Bedford as +Viceroy of Ireland about 1807. He published <i>The Fury of Discord, a +Poem</i> (1803); <i>The Sea-side Hero, a Drama in 3 Acts</i> (1804); and +<i>Poems</i>(1809). But he is best known by his travels, which gained +him the nickname of "Jaunting Carr," and considerable profit. <i>The +Stranger in France</i> (1803) was bought by Johnson for £100. <i>A +Northern Summer, or Travels round the Baltic, etc.</i>(1805), <i>The +Stranger in Ireland</i> (1806), and <i>A Tour through Holland</i>(1807), +were bought for £500, £700, and £600 respectively by Sir Richard +Phillips, who, but for the ridicule cast upon Carr by Edward Dubois (in +<i>My Pocket Book; or Hints for a Ryhte Merrie and Conceited Tour in +Quarto, to be called "The Stranger in Ireland in 1805," by a Knight +Errant</i>), would have given £600 for his <i>Caledonian Sketches</i> +(1808). In spite, however, of this proof of damages, the jury found, in +Carr's action against Messrs. Hood and Sharpe, the publishers of <i>My +Pocket Book</i>, that the criticism was fair and justifiable (1808). +Carr published, in 1811, his <i>Descriptive Travels in the Southern and +Eastern Parts of Spain</i>, without mentioning Byron's name. Byron +concluded his MS. of <i>Childe Harold</i>, Canto I. with three stanzas +on "Green Erin's Knight and Europe's Wandering Star" (see, for the +lines, <i>Childe Harold</i>, at the end of Canto I.). In letter vii. of +<i>Intercepted Letters; or the Twopenny Post-bag</i>, by Thomas Brown +the Younger (1813), occur the following lines:— + + <blockquote> "Since the Chevalier C — rr took to marrying lately,<br> + The Trade is in want of a <i>Traveller</i> greatly — <br> + No job, Sir, more easy — your <i>Country</i> once plann'd,<br> + A month aboard ship and a fortnight on land<br> + Puts your Quarto of Travels, Sir, clean out of hand."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr213">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f214"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> + + <blockquote> "Once stopping at an inn at Dundalk, the Dean was so much amused with + a prating barber, that rather than be alone he invited him to dinner. + The fellow was rejoiced at this unexpected honour, and being dressed + out in his best apparel came to the inn, first inquiring of the groom + what the clergyman's name was who had so kindly invited him. 'What the + vengeance!' said the servant,' don't you know Dean Swift?' At which + the barber turned pale, and, running into the house, fell upon his + knees and intreated the Dean 'not to put him into print; for that he + was a poor barber, had a large family to maintain, and if his + reverence put him into black and white he should lose all his + customers.' Swift laughed heartily at the poor fellow's simplicity, + bade him sit down and eat his dinner in peace, for he assured him he + would neither put him nor his wife in print."</blockquote> + +Sheridan's <i>Life of Swift</i>. — (Moore).<br> +<a href="#fr213">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f215"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> <blockquote> + +"This sort of passage," says the Rev. Francis Hodgson, in a +note on his copy of this letter, "constantly occurs in his +correspondence. Nor was his interest confined to mere remembrances and +inquiries after health. Were it possible to state <i>all</i> he has done +for numerous friends, he would appear amiable indeed. For myself, I am +bound to acknowledge, in the fullest and warmest manner, his most +generous and well-timed aid; and, were my poor friend Bland alive, he +would as gladly bear the like testimony; — though I have most reason, of +all men, to do so "</blockquote> + +(Moore).<br> +<a href="#fr215">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L128">128 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Gibraltar, August 11th, 1809.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother,-I have been so much occupied since my departure from +England, that till I could address you at length I have forborne writing +altogether. As I have now passed through Portugal, and a considerable +part of Spain, and have leisure at this place, I shall endeavour to give +you a short detail of my movements.<br> +<br> +We sailed from Falmouth on the 2nd of July, reached Lisbon after a very +favourable passage of four days and a half, and took up our abode in +that city. It has been often described without being worthy of +description; for, except the view from the Tagus, which is beautiful, +and some fine churches and convents, it contains little but filthy +streets, and more filthy inhabitants. <a name="fr216">To</a> make amends for this, the +village of Cintra, about fifteen miles from the capital, is, perhaps in +every respect, the most delightful in Europe; it contains beauties of +every description, natural and artificial. Palaces and gardens rising in +the midst of rocks, cataracts, and precipices; convents on stupendous +heights — a distant view of the sea and the Tagus; and, besides (though +that is a secondary consideration), is remarkable as the scene of Sir +Hew Dalrymple's Convention<a href="#f216"><sup>1</sup></a>. It unites in itself all the wildness of +the western highlands, with the verdure of the south of France. Near +this place, about ten miles to the right, is the palace of Mafra, the +boast of Portugal, as it might be of any other country, in point of +magnificence without elegance. There is a convent annexed; the monks, +who possess large revenues, are courteous enough, and understand Latin, +so that we had a long conversation: they have a large library, and asked +me if the <i>English</i> had <i>any books</i> in their country?<br> +<br> +I sent my baggage, and part of the servants, by sea to Gibraltar, and +travelled on horseback from Aldea Galbega (the first stage from Lisbon, +which is only accessible by water) to Seville (one of the most famous +cities in Spain), where the Government called the Junta is now held. The +distance to Seville is nearly four hundred miles, and to Cadiz almost +ninety farther towards the coast. I had orders from the governments, and +every possible accommodation on the road, as an English nobleman, in an +English uniform, is a very respectable personage in Spain at present. +The horses are remarkably good, and the roads (I assure you upon my +honour, for you will hardly believe it) very far superior to the best +English roads, without the smallest toll or turnpike. You will suppose +this when I rode post to Seville, in four days, through this parching +country in the midst of summer, without fatigue or annoyance.<br> +<br> +Seville is a beautiful town; though the streets are narrow, they are +clean. We lodged in the house of two Spanish unmarried ladies, who +possess <i>six</i> houses in Seville, and gave me a curious specimen of +Spanish manners. They are women of character, and the eldest a fine +woman, the youngest pretty, but not so good a figure as Donna Josepha. +The freedom of manner, which is general here, astonished me not a +little; and in the course of further observation, I find that reserve is +not the characteristic of the Spanish belles, who are, in general, very +handsome, with large black eyes, and very fine forms. The eldest +honoured your <i>unworthy</i> son with very particular attention, +embracing him with great tenderness at parting (I was there but three +days), after cutting off a lock of his hair, and presenting him with one +of her own, about three feet in length, which I send, and beg you will +retain till my return. Her last words were, <i>Adios, tu hermoso! me +gusto mucho</i> — "Adieu, you pretty fellow! you please me much." She +offered me a share of her apartment, which my <i>virtue</i> induced me +to decline; she laughed, and said I had some English <i>amante</i> +(lover), and added that she was going to be married to an officer in the +Spanish army.<br> +<br> +I left Seville, and rode on to Cadiz, through a beautiful country. At +<i>Xeres</i>, where the sherry we drink is made, I met a great +merchant — a Mr. Gordon of Scotland — who was extremely polite, and +favoured me with the inspection of his vaults and cellars, so that I +quaffed at the fountain head.<br> +<br> +Cadiz, sweet Cadiz, is the most delightful town I ever beheld, very +different from our English cities in every respect except cleanliness +(and it is as clean as London), but still beautiful, and full of the +finest women in Spain, the Cadiz belles being the Lancashire witches of +their land. Just as I was introduced and began to like the grandees, I +was forced to leave it for this cursed place; but before I return to +England I will visit it again. <a name="fr217">The</a> night before I left it, I sat in the +box at the opera with Admiral Cordova's family<a href="#f217"><sup>2</sup></a>; he is the commander +whom Lord St. Vincent defeated in 1797, and has an aged wife and a fine +daughter, Sennorita Cordova. The girl is very pretty, in the Spanish +style; in my opinion, by no means inferior to the English in charms, and +certainly superior in fascination. Long black hair, dark languishing +eyes, <i>clear</i> olive complexions, and forms more graceful in motion +than can be conceived by an Englishman used to the drowsy, listless air +of his countrywomen, added to the most becoming dress, and, at the same +time, the most decent in the world, render a Spanish beauty +irresistible.<br> +<br> +I beg leave to observe that intrigue here is the business of life; when +a woman marries she throws off all restraint, but I believe their +conduct is chaste enough before. If you make a proposal, which in +England will bring a box on the ear from the meekest of virgins, to a +Spanish girl, she thanks you for the honour you intend her, and replies, +"Wait till I am married, and I shall be too happy." This is literally +and strictly true.<br> +<br> +Miss Cordova and her little brother understood a little French, and, +after regretting my ignorance of the Spanish, she proposed to become my +preceptress in that language. I could only reply by a low bow, and +express my regret that I quitted Cadiz too soon to permit me to make the +progress which would doubtless attend my studies under so charming a +directress. I was standing at the back of the box, which resembles our +Opera boxes, (the theatre is large and finely decorated, the music +admirable,) in the manner which Englishmen generally adopt, for fear of +incommoding the ladies in front, when this fair Spaniard dispossessed an +old woman (an aunt or a duenna) of her chair, and commanded me to be +seated next herself, at a tolerable distance from her mamma. At the +close of the performance I withdrew, and was lounging with a party of +men in the passage, when, <i>en passant</i>, the lady turned round and called +me, and I had the honour of attending her to the admiral's mansion. <a name="fr218">I</a> +have an invitation on my return to Cadiz, which I shall accept if I +repass through the country on my return from Asia<a href="#f218"><sup>3</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +I have met Sir John Carr, Knight Errant, at Seville and Cadiz. He is a +pleasant man. I like the Spaniards much. <a name="fr219">You</a> have heard of the battle +near Madrid<a href="#f219"><sup>4</sup></a>, and in England they would call it a victory — a pretty +victory! Two hundred officers and five thousand men killed, all English, +and the French in as great force as ever. I should have joined the army, +but we have no time to lose before we get up the Mediterranean and +Archipelago. I am going over to Africa tomorrow; it is only six miles +from this fortress. My next stage is Cagliari in Sardinia, where I shall +be presented to His Majesty. I have a most superb uniform as a court +dress, indispensable in travelling.<br> +<br> +<i>August 13.</i> — <a name="fr220">I</a> have not yet been to Africa — the wind is contrary — but I +dined yesterday at Algesiras, with Lady Westmorland<a href="#f220"><sup>5</sup></a>, where I met +General Castanos, the celebrated Spanish leader in the late and present +war. To-day I dine with him. He has offered me letters to Tetuan in +Barbary, for the principal Moors, and I am to have the house for a few +days of one of the great men, which was intended for Lady W., whose +health will not permit her to cross the Straits.<br> +<br> +<i>August 15.</i> — <a name="fr221">I</a> could not dine with Castanos<a href="#f221"><sup>6</sup></a> yesterday, but this +afternoon I had that honour. He is pleasant and, for aught I know to the +contrary, clever. I cannot go to Barbary. The Malta packet sails +to-morrow, and myself in it. Admiral Purvis, with whom I dined at Cadiz, +gave me a passage in a frigate to Gibraltar, but we have no ship of war +destined for Malta at present. The packets sail fast, and have good +accommodation. You shall hear from me on our route.<br> +<br> +Joe Murray delivers this; I have sent him and the boy back. Pray show +the lad kindness, as he is my great favourite; I would have taken him +on. And say this to his father, who may otherwise think he has behaved +ill. I hope this will find you well. Believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours ever sincerely,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr222">P.S</a>. — So Lord G — — <a href="#f222"><sup>7</sup></a> is married to a rustic. Well done! If I wed, I +will bring home a Sultana, with half a dozen cities for a dowry, and +reconcile you to an Ottoman daughter-in-law, with a bushel of pearls not +larger than ostrich eggs, or smaller than walnuts.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f216"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Sir Hew Whitefoord Dalrymple (1750-1830) took command of +the British forces in the Peninsular War, August 22, 1808, and signed +the Convention of Cintra (August 31), by which Junot, whom Sir Arthur +Wellesley had defeated at Vimeira, evacuated Portugal, and surrendered +Elvas and Lisbon. The Convention was approved by a court of general +officers ordered to sit at Chelsea Hospital; but Dalrymple never again +obtained a command.<br> +<br> +The so-called Convention of Cintra was signed at the palace of the +Marquis de Marialva, thirty miles distant.<br> +<a href="#fr216">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f217"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Admiral Cordova commanded the Spanish Fleet, defeated, +February 14, 1797, off Cape St. Vincent, by Sir John Jervis, afterwards +Earl St. Vincent.<br> +<a href="#fr217">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f218"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> To these adventures in his hasty passage through Spain +Byron briefly alludes in the early part of his <i>Memoranda.</i> + + <blockquote>"For some time," he said, "I went on prosperously both as a linguist + and a lover, till at length the lady took a fancy to a ring which I + wore, and set her heart on my giving it to her, as a pledge of my + sincerity. This, however, could not be:— any thing but the ring, I + declared, was at her service, and much more than its value, — but the + ring itself I had made a vow never to give away." The young Spaniard + grew angry as the contention went on, and it was not long before the + lover became angry also; till, at length, the affair ended by their + separating. "Soon after this," said he, "I sailed for Malta, and there + parted with both my heart and ring."</blockquote> + +(<i>Life</i>, p.93). He also alludes to the incident in <i>Don Juan</i>, Canto II, +stanza clxiv.- + + <blockquote> "'Tis pleasing to be school'd in a strange tongue<br> + By female lips and eyes — that is, I mean,<br> + When both the teacher and the taught are young,<br> + As was the case, at least, where I have been," </blockquote> + +etc.<br> +<a href="#fr218">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f219"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> The battle of Talavera, July 27 and 28, 1809, in which Sir +Arthur Wellesley defeated Marshal Victor. In Cuesta's despatch to the +Spanish Government, dated Seville, August 7, the British loss is +mentioned as 260 officers and 5000 men.<br> +<a href="#fr219">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f220"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> Lady Westmorland, <i>nee</i> Jane Saunders, daughter of Dr. R. +H. Saunders, married, in 1800, as his second wife, John, tenth Earl of +Westmorland (1759-1841). At her house Lady Caroline Lamb refused to be +introduced to Byron (<i>Life of Lord Melbourne,</i> vol. i. p.103).<br> +<a href="#fr220">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f221"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> General Francisco de Castanos, Duke of Baylen (1758-1852) +defeated General Dupont at Baylen in 1808, and distinguished himself at +Vittoria in 1813. He was guardian to Queen Isabella in 1843.<br> +<a href="#fr221">return</a><br><br> +<br> +<a name="f222"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 7:</span></a> Lord Grey de Ruthyn. (See page 23, <a href="#f16"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr222">return</a><br> +<a href="#f16">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 8</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L129">129 — To Mr. Rushton.</a></h3> +<br> +Gibraltar, August 15, 1809.<br> +<br> +Mr. Rushton, — I have sent Robert home with Mr. Murray, because the +country which I am about to travel through is in a state which renders +it unsafe, particularly for one so young. I allow you to deduct +five-and-twenty pounds a year for his education for three years, +provided I do not return before that time, and I desire he may be +considered as in my service. Let every care be taken of him, and let him +be sent to school. In case of my death I have provided enough in my will +to render him independent. He has behaved extremely well, and has +travelled a great deal for the time of his absence. Deduct the expense +of his education from your rent.<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L130">130 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Malta, September 15, 1809.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother, — Though I have a very short time to spare, being to sail +immediately for Greece, I cannot avoid taking an opportunity of telling +you that I am well. <a name="fr223">I</a> have been in Malta<a href="#f223"><sup>1</sup></a> a short time, and have +found the inhabitants hospitable and pleasant.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr224">This</a> letter is committed to the charge of a very extraordinary woman, +whom you have doubtless heard of, Mrs. Spencer Smith, of whose escape +the Marquis de Salvo published a narrative a few years ago<a href="#f224"><sup>2</sup></a>. She has +since been shipwrecked, and her life has been from its commencement so +fertile in remarkable incidents, that in a romance they would appear +improbable. She was born at Constantinople, where her father, Baron +Herbert, was Austrian Ambassador; married unhappily, yet has never been +impeached in point of character; excited the vengeance of Buonaparte by +a part in some conspiracy; several times risked her life; and is not yet +twenty-five. She is here on her way to England, to join her husband, +being obliged to leave Trieste, where she was paying a visit to her +mother, by the approach of the French, and embarks soon in a ship of +war. Since my arrival here, I have had scarcely any other companion. I +have found her very pretty, very accomplished, and extremely eccentric. +Buonaparte is even now so incensed against her, that her life would be +in some danger if she were taken prisoner a second time.<br> +<br> +You have seen Murray and Robert by this time, and received my letter. +Little has happened since that date. I have touched at Cagliari in +Sardinia, and at Girgenti in Sicily, and embark to-morrow for Patras, +from whence I proceed to Yanina, where Ali Pacha holds his court. So I +shall soon be among the Mussulmans. Adieu. Believe me, with sincerity, +yours ever,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f223"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> At Gibraltar, John Galt, who was travelling for his health, +met Byron, whom he did not know by sight, but by whose appearance he was +attracted. + + <blockquote>"His dress indicated a Londoner of some fashion, partly by its + neatness and simplicity, with just so much of a peculiarity of style + as served to show that, although he belonged to the order of + metropolitan beaux, he was not altogether a common one ... His + physiognomy was prepossessing and intelligent, but ever and anon his + brows lowered and gathered — a habit, as I then thought, with a degree + of affectation in it, probably first assumed for picturesque effect + and energetic expression, but which I afterwards discovered was + undoubtedly the scowl of some unpleasant reminiscence; it was + certainly disagreeable, forbidding, but still the general cast of his + features was impressed with elegance and character."</blockquote> + +Afterwards Galt was a fellow-passenger on board the packet from +Gibraltar to Malta. + + <blockquote> "In the little bustle and process of embarking their luggage, his + Lordship affected, as it seemed to me, more aristocracy than befitted + his years, or the occasion; and then I thought of his singular scowl, + and suspected him of pride and irascibility. The impression that + evening was not agreeable, but it was interesting; and that forehead + mark, the frown, was calculated to awaken curiosity, and beget + conjectures ... Byron held himself aloof, and sat on the rail, leaning + on the mizzen shrouds, inhaling, as it were, poetical sympathy from + the gloomy rock, then dark and stern in the twilight. There was, in + all about him that evening, much waywardness. He spoke petulantly to + Fletcher, his valet, and was evidently ill at ease with himself, and + fretful towards others. I thought he would turn out an unsatisfactory + shipmate; yet there was something redeeming in the tones of his voice, + and when, some time after having indulged his sullen meditation he + again addressed Fletcher; so that, instead of finding him ill-natured, + I was soon convinced he was only capricious."</blockquote> + +On the voyage, + + <blockquote>"about the third day, Byron relented from his rapt mood, as if he felt + it was out of place, and became playful, and disposed to contribute + his fair proportion to the general endeavour to while away the + tediousness of the dull voyage." </blockquote> + +But yet throughout the whole passage, + + <blockquote> "if," says Galt, "my remembrance is not treacherous, he only spent one + evening in the cabin with us — the evening before we came to anchor at + Cagliari; for, when the lights were placed, he made himself a man + forbid, took his station on the railing, between the pegs on which the + sheets are belayed and the shrouds, and there, for hours, sat in + silence, enamoured, it may be, of the moon. All these peculiarities, + with his caprices, and something inexplicable in the cast of his + metaphysics, while they served to awaken interest, contributed little + to conciliate esteem. He was often strangely rapt — it may have been + from his genius; and, had its grandeur and darkness been then + divulged, susceptible of explanation; but, at the time, it threw, as + it were, around him the sackcloth of penitence. Sitting amid the + shrouds and rattlings, in the tranquillity of the moonlight, churning + an inarticulate melody, he seemed almost apparitional, suggesting dim + reminiscences of him who shot the albatross" </blockquote> + +(Galt's <i>Life of Byron</i>, pp. 57-61).<br> +<a href="#fr223">return</a><br> +<a href="#f278">cross-reference: return to Footnote 5 of Letter 149</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f224"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Byron's "new Calypso." Mrs. Spencer Smith (born about 1785) +was the daughter of Baron Herbert, Austrian Ambassador at +Constantinople, wife of Spencer Smith, the British Minister at +Stuttgart, and sister-in-law of Sir Sidney Smith, the hero of Acre. In +1805 she was staying, for her health, at the baths of Valdagno, near +Vicenza, when the Napoleonic wars overspread Northern Italy, and she +took refuge with her sister, the Countess Attems, at Venice. In 1806 +General Lauriston took over the government of the city in the name of +Napoleon, and M. de La Garde was appointed Prefect of the Police. A few +days after their arrival, on April 18, Mrs. Smith was arrested, and, +guarded by <i>gendarmes</i>, conveyed towards the Italian frontier, to be +confined, as La Garde told a Sicilian nobleman, the Marquis de Salvo, at +Valenciennes. Mrs. Smith's beauty and impending fate deeply impressed +the marquis, who determined to rescue her. The prisoner and her guard +had reached Brescia, and were lodged at the <i>Albergo delle due Torre</i>, +The opportunity seemed favourable. Once across the Guarda Lake, and in +the passes of Tyrol, it would be easy to reach Styria. The marquis made +his arrangements — hired two boats, one for the fugitives, the other for +their post-chaise and horses; procured for Mrs. Smith a boy's dress, as +a disguise; made a ladder long enough to reach her window in the inn, +and succeeded in making known his plan to the prisoner. The escape was +effected; but all along the road the danger continued, for their way lay +through a country which was practically French territory. It was not +till they reached Gratz, and Mrs. Smith was under the roof of her +sister, the Countess Strassoldo, that she was safe. The story is told in +detail by the Marquis de Salvo, in his <i>Travels in the Year 1806 from +Italy to England</i> (1807), and by the Duchesse d'Abrantes (<i>Mémoires</i>, +vol. xv. pp. 1-74).<br> +<br> +To Mrs. Spencer Smith are addressed the "Lines to Florence," the +"Stanzas composed during a Thunderstorm" (near Zitza, in October, 1809), +and stanzas xxx.-xxxii. of the second canto of <i>Childe Harold</i>. The +Duchesse d'Abrantés (<i>Mémoires</i>, vol. xv. pp. 4, 5) thus describes her: + + <blockquote>"Une jeune femme, dont la délicate et elégante tournure, la peau + blanche et diaphane, les cheveux blonds, les mouvemens onduleux, toute + une tournure impossible à décrire autrement qu'en disant qu'elle était + de toutes les créatures la plus gracieuse, lui donnaient l'aspect + d'une de ces apparitions amenées par un rêve heureux... il y avail de + la Sylphide en elle. Sa vue excessivement basse n'etait qu'un charme + de plus."</blockquote> + +Moore (<i>Life</i>, p. 95) thinks that Byron was less in love with Mrs. +Smith than with his recollection of her. According to Gait (<i>Life of +Byron</i>, p. 66), + + <blockquote>"he affected a passion for her, but it was only Platonic. She, + however, beguiled him of his valuable yellow diamond ring."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr224">return</a><br> +<a href="#f245">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 137</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L131">131 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> + +Prevesa, November 12, 1809.<br> +<br> +My Dear Mother, — I have now been some time in Turkey: this place is on +the coast, but I have traversed the interior of the province of Albania +on a visit to the Pacha. I left Malta in the <i>Spider,</i> a brig of war, on +the 21st of September, and arrived in eight days at Prevesa. I thence +have been about 150 miles, as far as Tepaleen, his Highness's country +palace, where I stayed three days. <a name="fr225">The</a> name of the Pacha is <i>Ali</i><a href="#f225"><sup>1</sup></a> +and he is considered a man of the first abilities: he governs the whole +of Albania (the ancient Illyricum), Epirus, and part of Macedonia. <a name="fr226">His</a> +son, Vely Pacha<a href="#f226"><sup>2</sup></a>, to whom he has given me letters, governs the Morea, +and has great influence in Egypt; in short, he is one of the most +powerful men in the Ottoman empire. When I reached Yanina, the capital, +after a journey of three days over the mountains, through a country of +the most picturesque beauty, I found that Ali Pacha was with his army in +Illyricum, besieging Ibrahim Pacha in the castle of Berat. He had heard +that an Englishman of rank was in his dominions, and had left orders in +Yanina with the commandant to provide a house, and supply me with every +kind of necessary <i>gratis</i>; and, though I have been allowed to make +presents to the slaves, etc., I have not been permitted to pay for a +single article of household consumption.<br> +<br> +I rode out on the vizier's horses, and saw the palaces of himself and +grandsons: they are splendid, but too much ornamented with silk and +gold. <a name="fr227">I</a> then went over the mountains through Zitza<a href="#f227"><sup>3</sup></a>, a village with a +Greek monastery (where I slept on my return), in the most beautiful +situation (always excepting Cintra, in Portugal) I ever beheld. In nine +days I reached Tepaleen. Our journey was much prolonged by the torrents +that had fallen from the mountains, and intersected the roads. <a name="fr228">I</a> shall +never forget the singular scene on entering Tepaleen at five in the +afternoon, as the sun was going down. It brought to my mind (with some +change of <i>dress</i>, however) Scott's description of Branksome Castle in +his <i>Lay</i>, and the feudal system<a href="#f228"><sup>4</sup></a>. The Albanians, in their dresses, +(the most magnificent in the world, consisting of a long <i>white kilt</i>, +gold-worked cloak, crimson velvet gold-laced jacket and waistcoat, +silver-mounted pistols and daggers,) the Tartars with their high caps, +the Turks in their vast pelisses and turbans, the soldiers and black +slaves with the horses, the former in groups in an immense large open +gallery in front of the palace, the latter placed in a kind of cloister +below it, two hundred steeds ready caparisoned to move in a moment, +couriers entering or passing out with the despatches, the kettle-drums +beating, boys calling the hour from the minaret of the mosque, +altogether, with the singular appearance of the building itself, formed +a new and delightful spectacle to a stranger. I was conducted to a very +handsome apartment, and my health inquired after by the vizier's +secretary, <i>à-la-mode Turque</i>!<br> +<br> +The next day I was introduced to Ali Pacha. I was dressed in a full suit +of staff uniform, with a very magnificent sabre, etc. The vizier +received me in a large room paved with marble; a fountain was playing in +the centre; the apartment was surrounded by scarlet ottomans. He +received me standing, a wonderful compliment from a Mussulman, and made +me sit down on his right hand. I have a Greek interpreter for general +use, but a physician of Ali's named Femlario, who understands Latin, +acted for me on this occasion. His first question was, why, at so early +an age, I left my country? — (the Turks have no idea of travelling for +amusement). <a name="fr229">He</a> then said, the English minister, Captain Leake<a href="#f229"><sup>5</sup></a>, had +told him I was of a great family, and desired his respects to my mother; +which I now, in the name of Ali Pacha, present to you. He said he was +certain I was a man of birth, because I had small ears, curling hair, +and little white hands, and expressed himself pleased with my appearance +and garb. He told me to consider him as a father whilst I was in Turkey, +and said he looked on me as his son. Indeed, he treated me like a child, +sending me almonds and sugared sherbet, fruit and sweetmeats, twenty +times a day. He begged me to visit him often, and at night, when he was +at leisure. I then, after coffee and pipes, retired for the first time. +I saw him thrice afterwards. It is singular that the Turks, who have no +hereditary dignities, and few great families, except the Sultans, pay so +much respect to birth; for I found my pedigree more regarded than my +title.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr230">To-day</a> I saw the remains of the town of Actium<a href="#f230"><sup>6</sup></a>, near which Antony +lost the world, in a small bay, where two frigates could hardly +manoeuvre: a broken wall is the sole remnant. On another part of the +gulf stand the ruins of Nicopolis, built by Augustus in honour of his +victory. Last night I was at a Greek marriage; but this and a thousand +things more I have neither time nor <i>space</i> to describe.<br> +<br> +His highness is sixty years old, very fat, and not tall, but with a fine +face, light blue eyes, and a white beard; his manner is very kind, and +at the same time he possesses that dignity which I find universal +amongst the Turks. He has the appearance of anything but his real +character, for he is a remorseless tyrant, guilty of the most horrible +cruelties, very brave, and so good a general that they call him the +Mahometan Buonaparte. Napoleon has twice offered to make him King of +Epirus, but he prefers the English interest, and abhors the French, as +he himself told me. He is of so much consequence, that he is much +courted by both, the Albanians being the most warlike subjects of the +Sultan, though Ali is only nominally dependent on the Porte; he has been +a mighty warrior, but is as barbarous as he is successful, roasting +rebels, etc., etc. Buonaparte sent him a snuff-box with his picture. He +said the snuff-box was very well, but the picture he could excuse, as he +neither liked it nor the original. His ideas of judging of a man's birth +from ears, hands, etc., were curious enough. To me he was, indeed, a +father, giving me letters, guards, and every possible accommodation. Our +next conversations were of war and travelling, politics and England. He +called my Albanian soldier, who attends me, and told him to protect me +at all hazard; his name is Viseillie, and, like all the Albanians, he is +brave, rigidly honest, and faithful; but they are cruel, though not +treacherous, and have several vices but no meannesses. They are, +perhaps, the most beautiful race, in point of countenance, in the world; +their women are sometimes handsome also, but they are treated like +slaves, <i>beaten</i>, and, in short, complete beasts of burden; they plough, +dig, and sow. I found them carrying wood, and actually repairing the +highways. The men are all soldiers, and war and the chase their sole +occupations. The women are the labourers, which after all is no great +hardship in so delightful a climate. Yesterday, the 11th of November, I +bathed in the sea; to-day is so hot that I am writing in a shady room of +the English consul's, with three doors wide open, no fire, or even +<i>fireplace</i>, in the house, except for culinary purposes.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr231">I</a> am going to-morrow, with a guard of fifty men, to Patras in the Morea, +and thence to Athens, where I shall winter<a href="#f231"><sup>7</sup></a>. Two days ago I was +nearly lost in a Turkish ship of war, owing to the ignorance of the +captain and crew, though the storm was not violent. Fletcher yelled +after his wife, the Greeks called on all the saints, the Mussulmans on +Alla; the captain burst into tears and ran below deck, telling us to +call on God; the sails were split, the main-yard shivered, the wind +blowing fresh, the night setting in, and all our chance was to make +Corfu, which is in possession of the French, or (as Fletcher +pathetically termed it) "a watery grave." I did what I could to console +Fletcher, but finding him incorrigible, wrapped myself up in my Albanian +capote (an immense cloak), and lay down on deck to wait the worst. I +have learnt to philosophise in my travels; and if I had not, complaint +was useless. Luckily the wind abated, and only drove us on the coast of +Suli, on the main land, where we landed, and proceeded, by the help of +the natives, to Prevesa again; but I shall not trust Turkish sailors in +future, though the Pacha had ordered one of his own galliots to take me +to Patras. I am therefore going as far as Missolonghi by land, and there +have only to cross a small gulf to get to Patras.<br> +<br> +Fletcher's next epistle will be full of marvels. We were one night lost +for nine hours in the mountains in a thunder-storm, and since nearly +wrecked. In both cases Fletcher was sorely bewildered, from +apprehensions of famine and banditti in the first, and drowning in the +second instance. His eyes were a little hurt by the lightning, or crying +(I don't know which), but are now recovered. When you write, address to +me at Mr. Strané's, English consul, Patras, Morea.<br> +<br> +I could tell you I know not how many incidents that I think would amuse +you, but they crowd on my mind as much as they would swell my paper, and +I can neither arrange them in the one, nor put them down on the other, +except in the greatest confusion. I like the Albanians much; they are +not all Turks; some tribes are Christians. But their religion makes +little difference in their manner or conduct. They are esteemed the best +troops in the Turkish service. I lived on my route, two days at once, +and three days again, in a barrack at Salora, and never found soldiers +so tolerable, though I have been in the garrisons of Gibraltar and +Malta, and seen Spanish, French, Sicilian, and British troops in +abundance. I have had nothing stolen, and was always welcome to their +provision and milk. Not a week ago an Albanian chief, (every village has +its chief, who is called Primate,) after helping us out of the Turkish +galley in her distress, feeding us, and lodging my suite, consisting of +Fletcher, a Greek, two Athenians, a Greek priest, and my companion, Mr. +Hobhouse, refused any compensation but a written paper stating that I +was well received; and when I pressed him to accept a few sequins, "No," +he replied; "I wish you to love me, not to pay me." These are his words.<br> +<br> +It is astonishing how far money goes in this country. <a name="fr232">While</a> I was in the +capital I had nothing to pay by the vizier's order; but since, though I +have generally had sixteen horses, and generally six or seven men, the +expense has not been <i>half</i> as much as staying only three weeks in +Malta, though Sir A. Ball<a href="#f232"><sup>8</sup></a>, the governor, gave me a house for +nothing, and I had only <i>one servant</i>. By the by, I expect Hanson to +remit regularly; for I am not about to stay in this province for ever. +Let him write to me at Mr. Strané's, English consul, Patras. The fact +is, the fertility of the plains is wonderful, and specie is scarce, +which makes this remarkable cheapness. I am going to Athens, to study +modern Greek, which differs much from the ancient, though radically +similar. I have no desire to return to England, nor shall I, unless +compelled by absolute want, and Hanson's neglect; but I shall not enter +into Asia for a year or two, as I have much to see in Greece, and I may +perhaps cross into Africa, at least the Egyptian part. Fletcher, like +all Englishmen, is very much dissatisfied, though a little reconciled to +the Turks by a present of eighty piastres from the vizier, which, if you +consider every thing, and the value of specie here, is nearly worth ten +guineas English. He has suffered nothing but from cold, heat, and +vermin, which those who lie in cottages and cross mountains in a cold +country must undergo, and of which I have equally partaken with himself; +but he is not valiant, and is afraid of robbers and tempests. I have no +one to be remembered to in England, and wish to hear nothing from it, +but that you are well, and a letter or two on business from Hanson, whom +you may tell to write. I will write when I can, and beg you to believe +me,<br> +<br> +Your affectionate son,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — I have some very "magnifiques" Albanian dresses, the only +expensive articles in this country. They cost fifty guineas each, and +have so much gold, they would cost in England two hundred. <a name="fr233">I</a> have been +introduced to Hussein Bey<a href="#f233"><sup>9</sup></a>, and Mahmout Pacha<a href="#f233"><sup>9</sup></a>, both little boys, +grandchildren of Ali, at Yanina; they are totally unlike our lads, have +painted complexions like rouged dowagers, large black eyes, and features +perfectly regular. They are the prettiest little animals I ever saw, and +are broken into the court ceremonies already. The Turkish salute is a +slight inclination of the head, with the hand on the heart; intimates +always kiss. Mahmout is ten years old, and hopes to see me again; we are +friends without understanding each other, like many other folks, though +from a different cause. He has given me a letter to his father in the +Morea, to whom I have also letters from Ali Pacha.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f225"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Ali Pasha (1741-1822) was born in Albania, at Tepeleni, a +town 75 miles north of Janina, of which his father was governor. This +"Mahometan Buonaparte," or "Rob Roy of Albania," made himself the +supreme ruler of Epirus and Albania, acquired a predominance over the +Agas of Thessaly, and pushed his troops to the frontiers of ancient +Attica (see Raumer's <i>Historisches Taschenbuch,</i> pp. 87-175). A +merciless and unscrupulous tyrant, he was also a fine soldier and a born +administrator. Intriguing now with the Porte, now with Buonaparte, now +with the English, using the rival despots of the country against each +other, hand in glove with the brigands while commanding the police for +their suppression, he extended his power by using conflicting interests +to aggrandize himself. The Venetian possessions on the eastern shores of +the Adriatic, which had passed in 1797 to France, by the treaty of Campo +Formio, were wrested from the French by Ali, who defeated General La +Salsette (1798) in the plains of Nicopolis, and, with the exception of +Parga, seized and held the principal towns in the name of the Sultan. +Byron speaks of his "aged venerable face" in <i>Childe Harold</i> (Canto II. +stanza lxii.; see also stanza xlvii.), and of the delicacy of his hand +in <i>Don Juan</i> (Canto IV. stanza xlv.), and finds in his treatment of +"Giaffir, Pacha of Argyro Castro or Scutari (I am not sure which)," the +material for stanzas xiv., xv. of Canto II. of <i>The Bride of Abydos</i>. +Hobhouse (<i>Journey through Albania</i>, edit. 1854, vol. i pp. 96, 97) +describes Ali as + +<blockquote>"a short man, about five feet five inches in height, +and very fat, though not particularly corpulent. He had a very pleasing +face, fair and round, with blue quick eyes, not at all settled into a +Turkish gravity. His beard was long and white, and such a one as any +other Turk would have been proud of; though he, who was more taken up +with his guests than himself, did not continue looking at it, nor +smelling and stroking it, as is usually the custom of his country-men, +to fill up the pauses of conversation."</blockquote> + +Dr. (afterwards Sir Henry) Holland, in his <i>Travels in the Ionian Isles, +Albania, Thessaly, and Greece in</i> 1812-13, pp. 125, 126 (1815), gives an +account of his first interview with Ali: + +<blockquote>"Were I to attempt a +description of Ali, I should speak of his face as large and full; the +forehead remarkably broad and open, and traced by many deep +furrows; the eye penetrating, yet not expressive of ferocity; the nose +handsome and well formed; the mouth and lower part of the face +concealed, except when speaking, by his mustachios and the long beard +which flows over his breast. His complexion is somewhat lighter than +that usual among the Turks, and his general appearance does not indicate +more than his actual age ... The neck is short and thick, the figure +corpulent and unwieldy; his stature I had afterwards the means of +ascertaining to be about five feet nine inches. The general character +and expression of the countenance are unquestionably fine, and the +forehead especially is a striking and majestic feature. Much of the +talent of the man may be inferred from his exterior; the moral +qualities, however, may not equally be determined in this way; and to +the casual observation of the stranger I can conceive from my own +experience, that nothing may appear but what is open, placid, and +alluring. Opportunities were afterwards afforded me of looking beneath +this exterior of expression; it is the fire of a stove burning fiercely +under a smooth and polished surface.... The inquiries he made respecting +our journey to Joannina, gave us the opportunity of complimenting him on +the excellent police of his dominions, and the attention he has paid to +his roads. I mentioned to him generally Lord Byron's poetical +description of Albania, the interest it had excited in England, and Mr. +Hobhouse's intended publication of his travels in the same country. He +seemed pleased with these circumstances, and stated his recollection of +Lord Byron."</blockquote> + +Dr. Holland brought back to England a letter to Byron from +Ali (see Letter to Moore, September 8, 1813). + +A further account of Ali, together with a portrait, will be found in +Hughes's <i>Travels in Sicily, etc.</i> (pp. 446-449). He again (1813) "asked +with much apparent interest respecting Lord Byron." At the close of the +Napoleonic struggle, the interest of this country was excited by the +resistance of Parga to his arms, especially as, during the late war, the +Pargiotes had received the protection of Great Britain. After the fall +of Parga (1819), Ali's power roused the jealousy of the Sultan, and it +was partly in consequence of his open defiance of the Porte, that +insurrections broke out in Wallachia, and that Ypsilanti proclaimed +himself the liberator of Greece. The Turkish troops, under Kurchid +Pasha, gradually overpowered Ali, and, at the end of 1821, shut him up +in his citadel of Janina. In the following January he surrendered, and +was at first treated with respect. But on February 5, 1822, Ali was +informed that the Sultan demanded his head. His answer was to fire his +pistol at the messenger. In the fray that followed he was killed. +Another and better account (Walsh's <i>Narrative of a Journey from +Constantinople to England</i>, p. 62) says that he was stabbed in the back +as he was bowing to the departing messenger, who had solemnly assured +him of the Sultan's pardon and favour. His head was cut off, sent to +Constantinople, and fixed on the grand gate of the Seraglio, with the +sentence of death by its side. Recently fresh interest has been aroused +in Ali by the publication of Mr. Bain's translation of Maurus Jókai's +semi-historical novel <i>Janicsárok végnapjai</i>, under the title of <i>The +Lion of Janina</i> (1897).<br> +<a href="#fr225">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f226"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Veli Pasha was the son of Ali by a daughter of Coul Pasha, +the governor of Berat, in whose army Ali had served as a young man. He +was married (1798) to a daughter of Ibrahim Pasha, who had succeeded +Coul Pasha in the pashalik of Berat. The war with Ibrahim, to which +Byron alludes, ended in his defeat, and the transference of his pashalik +to Ali. Veli, at this time Vizier of the Morea, resided at Tripolizza, +when he was visited by Galt, who describes him as sitting + +<blockquote>"on a crimson +velvet cushion, wrapped in a superb pelisse; on his head was a vast +turban, in his belt a dagger encrusted with jewels, and on the little +finger of his right hand he wore a solitaire which was said to have cost +two thousand five hundred pounds sterling. In his left hand he held a +string of small coral beads, a comboloio which he twisted backwards and +forwards during the greater part of the visit." "In his manners," says +Galt, "I found him free and urbane, with a considerable tincture of +humour and drollery"</blockquote> + +(<i>Life of Byron</i>, p. 83). Hobhouse (<i>Journey through +Albania, etc.</i>, vol. i. p. 193) says, + +<blockquote>"The Vizier, for he is a Pasha of +three tails, is a lively young man; and besides the Albanian, Greek, and +Turkish languages, speaks Italian — an accomplishment not possessed, I +should think, by any other man of his high rank in Turkey. It is +reported that he, as well as his father, is preparing, in case of the +overthrow of the Ottoman power, to establish an independent +sovereignty." </blockquote> + +Veli, in his father's struggle with the Sultan, betrayed +Prevesa to the Turks. He was executed in 1822, and is buried at the +Silivria Gate of Constantinople.<br> +<a href="#fr226">return</a><br> +<a href="#f266">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 146</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f227"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> For "monastic Zitza," see <i>Childe Harold</i>, Canto II. stanza +xlviii., and Byron's <i>note</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr227">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f228"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> See <i>Lay of the Last Minstrel</i>, canto i.<br> +<a href="#fr228">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f229"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> William Martin Leake (1777-1860) received his commission as +second lieutenant in the artillery in 1794, became a captain in 1799, +major in 1809, and lieutenant-colonel in 1813. His professional life, up +to 1815, was spent abroad, chiefly at Constantinople, in Egypt, or in +various parts of European Turkey. In 1808 he had been sent by the +British Government with stores of artillery, ammunition, and Congreve +rockets, to Ali, Pasha of Albania, and he remained at Preveza, or +Janina, as the representative of Great Britain, till 1810. During his +travels he collected the vases, gems, bronzes, marbles, and coins now +placed in the British Museum, and in the Fitzwilliam Museum at +Cambridge. At the same time, he accumulated the materials which, during +his literary life (1815-59), he embodied in numerous books. Of these the +more important are — <i>The Topography of Athens</i> (1821); <i>Journal of a +Tour in Asia Minor</i> (1824); <i>An Historical Outline of the Greek +Revolution</i> (1825); <i>Travels in the Morea</i> (1830); <i>Travels in Northern +Greece</i> (1835); <i>Numismata Hellenica</i> (1854-59). As a diplomatist he was +remarkably successful; but his reputation mainly rests on his +topographical works. With his antiquarian labours Byron would have had +little sympathy; but Leake was also a warm-hearted advocate of the +Christian population of Greece against their Turkish rulers.<br> +<a href="#fr229">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f230"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> The battle of Actium (B.C. 31) was fought at the entrance +of the Gulf of Arta, and Nicopolis, the city of victory, the +<i>Palaio-Kastro</i> of the modern Greek, was founded by Augustus on an +isthmus connecting Prevesa with the mainland to commemorate his triumph. +Leake (<i>Travels in Northern Greece</i>, vol. i. p. 175) identifies Actium +with Punda (<img src="images/BLG2.gif" width="35" height="20" alt="Greek (transliterated: aktae">, "the head of a promontory") on the headland +opposite Prevesa (see <i>Childe Harold</i>, Canto II. stanza xlv.).<br> +<a href="#fr230">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f231"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 7:</span></a> "Upon Parnassus going to the fountain of Delphi (Castri) in +1809," writes Byron, in his <i>Diary</i> for 1821 (<i>Life</i>, pp. 99, 100), + +<blockquote>"I +saw a flight of twelve eagles (H. says they were vultures — at least in +conversation), and I seized the omen. On the day before I composed the +lines to Parnassus (in <i>Childe Harold</i>), and, on beholding the birds, +had a hope that Apollo had accepted my homage. I have at least had the +name and fame of a poet during the poetical part of life (from twenty to +thirty); — whether it will <i>last</i> is another matter."</blockquote> + +(For the lines to +Parnassus, see <i>Childe Harold</i>, Canto I. stanzas lx.-lxii.) To this +journey belongs another incident, recorded by Byron. + +<blockquote> "The last bird I +ever fired at was an eaglet, on the shore of the Gulf of Lepanto, near +Vostizza. It was only wounded, and I tried to save it, — the eye was so +bright. But it pined, and died in a few days; and I never did since, and +never will, attempt the death of another bird."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr231">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f232"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 8:</span></a> Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander John Ball (1757-1809), who +belonged to a Gloucestershire family, entered the navy, inspired by +<i>Robinson Crusoe</i>. A lieutenant in 1778, he distinguished himself with +Rodney in 1782 (post-captain, 1783; rear-admiral, 1805), and at the +battle of the Nile, when he commanded the <i>Alexander</i>. Nelson had no +liking for Ball until the latter saved the dismasted <i>Vanguard</i> from +going on shore by taking her in tow. Henceforward they were friends, and +Nelson spoke of him as one of his "three right arms." By his skill in +blockading Valetta (1798-1800), Ball was the hero of the siege of Malta, +and (June 6, 1801) was created a baronet for his services, and received +the Order of Merit from Ferdinand IV of Naples. When Byron met him, +Ball was "His Majesty's Civil Commissioner for the Island of Malta and +its Dependencies, and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Order of St. +John." S.T. Coleridge, who was with him as secretary from May, 1804, to +October, 1805, wrote enthusiastically of him in his letters, and in <i>The +Friend</i> (3rd edit., vol. i. essay i., and vol. iii. pp. 226-301). But +his picture of the admiral would have been more definite had he +remembered the spirit of the remark (quoted in <i>The Friend</i>) which Ball +once made to him: + +<blockquote>"The distinction is just, and, now I understand you, +abundantly obvious; but hardly worth the trouble of your inventing a +puzzle of words to make it appear otherwise."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr232">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f233"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 9:</span></a> Hussein Bey, then a boy of ten years old, son of Mouctar +Pasha, the eldest son of Ali, in after years (1820-22) remained faithful +to his grandfather, when his father, uncles, and cousin had gone over to +the Sultan, and held Tepeleni for Ali in his last struggle against the +Turks. Mahomet Pasha, son of Veli Pasha, second son of Ali, though only +twelve years old, was already in possession of a pashalik. In Ali's +contest with Turkey, he betrayed Parga to the Sultan, and persuaded his +father to surrender Prevesa. He was, however, rewarded for his treachery +by execution, and is among the five members of his family who lie buried +at the Silivria Gate at Constantinople (Walsh's <i>Narrative</i>, p. 67).<br> +<a href="#fr233">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L132">132 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Smyrna, March 19, 1810.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Mother</b>, — I cannot write you a long letter; but as I know you will +not be sorry to receive any intelligence of my movements, pray accept +what I can give. I have traversed the greatest part of Greece, besides +Epirus, etc., etc., resided ten weeks at Athens, and am now on the +Asiatic side on my way to Constantinople. <a name="fr234">I</a> have just returned from +viewing the ruins of Ephesus, a day's journey from Smyrna<a href="#f234"><sup>1</sup></a>. I presume +you have received a long letter I wrote from Albania, with an account of +my reception by the Pacha of the Province.<br> +<br> +When I arrive at Constantinople, I shall determine whether to proceed +into Persia or return, which latter I do not wish, if I can avoid it. +But I have no intelligence from Mr. Hanson, and but one letter from +yourself. I shall stand in need of remittances whether I proceed or +return. I have written to him repeatedly, that he may not plead +ignorance of my situation for neglect. I can give you no account of any +thing, for I have not time or opportunity, the frigate sailing +immediately. Indeed the further I go the more my laziness increases, and +my aversion to letter-writing becomes more confirmed. I have written to +no one but to yourself and Mr. Hanson, and these are communications of +business and duty rather than of inclination.<br> +<br> +Fletcher is very much disgusted with his fatigues, though he has +undergone nothing that I have not shared. He is a poor creature; indeed +English servants are detestable travellers. I have, besides him, two +Albanian soldiers and a Greek interpreter; all excellent in their way. +Greece, particularly in the vicinity of Athens, is +delightful; — cloudless skies and lovely landscapes. But I must reserve +all account of my adventures till we meet. I keep no journal, but my +friend Hobhouse scribbles incessantly. Pray take care of Murray and +Robert, and tell the boy it is the most fortunate thing for him that he +did not accompany me to Turkey. Consider this as merely a notice of my +safety, and believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours, etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f234"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> It was at Smyrna that the two first cantos of <i>Childe +Harold</i> were completed. To his original MS. of the poem is prefixed the +following memorandum:— + + <blockquote>"Byron, Ioannina in Albania.<br> + Begun October 31st, 1809;<br> + Concluded Canto 2d, Smyrna,<br> + March 28th, 1810.<br> + <br> + — <b>Byron</b>."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr234">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L133">133 — To his Mother.</a></h3> +<br> +Smyrna, April 9, 1810.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother, — I know you will be glad to hear from me: I wish I could +say I am equally delighted to write. However, there is no great loss in +my scribbles, except to the portmanteau-makers, who, I suppose, will get +all by and by.<br> +<br> +Nobody but yourself asks me about my creed, — what I am, am not, etc., +etc. If I were to begin <i>explaining</i>, God knows where I should leave +off; so we will say no more about that, if you please.<br> +<br> +I am no "good soul," and not an atheist, but an English gentleman, I +hope, who loves his mother, mankind, and his country. I have not time to +write more at present, and beg you to believe me,<br> +<br> +Ever yours, etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S.-Are the Miss — — anxiously expecting my arrival and contributions +to their gossip and <i>rhymes</i>, which are about as bad as they can be?<br> +<br> +B.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L134">134 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Smyrna, April 10, 1810.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother, — To-morrow, or this evening, I sail for Constantinople in +the <i>Salsette</i> frigate, of thirty-six guns. <a name="fr235">She</a> returns to England with +our ambassador<a href="#f235"><sup>1</sup></a>, whom she is going up on purpose to receive. I have +written to you short letters from Athens, Smyrna, and a long one from +Albania. I have not yet mustered courage for a second large epistle, and +you must not be angry, since I take all opportunities of apprizing you +of my safety; but even that is an effort, writing is so irksome.<br> +<br> +I have been traversing Greece, and Epirus, Illyria, etc., etc., and you +see by my date, have got into Asia. I have made but one excursion lately +to the ruins of Ephesus. Malta is the rendez-vous of my letters, so +address to that island. <a name="fr236">Mr</a>. Hanson has not written, though I wished to +hear of the Norfolk sale<a href="#f236"><sup>2</sup></a>, the Lancashire law-suit, etc., etc., I am +anxiously expecting fresh remittances. <a name="fr237">I</a> believe you will like +Nottinghamshire, at least my share of it<a href="#f237"><sup>3</sup></a>. Pray accept my good wishes +in lieu of a long letter, and believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours sincerely and affectionately,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f235"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Robert (afterwards the Right Hon. Sir Robert) Adair (1763-1855), son of Sergeant-Surgeon Adair and Lady Caroline Keppel, described +by an Austrian aristocrat as "le fils du plus grand <i>Seigneur d'Angleterre</i>," was educated at Westminster and the University of +Gottingen. At the latter place Adair, always, as his kinsman Lord +Albemarle said of him, "an enthusiastic admirer of the fair sex" +(<i>Recollections</i>, vol. i. p. 229), fell in love with his tutor's +daughter. He did not, however, marry "Sweet Matilda Pottingen," but +Angélique Gabrielle, daughter of the Marquis d'Hazincourt. He is +supposed to have contributed to the <i>Rolliad</i>; and the "Dedication to +Sir Lloyd Kenyon," "Margaret Nicholson" (<i>Political Eclogues</i>, p. 207), +and the "Song of Scrutina" (<i>Probationary Odes</i>, p. 285), have been +attributed to him. He, however, denied (Moore's <i>Journal and +Correspondence</i>, vol. ii. p. 304) that he wrote any part of the +<i>Rolliad</i>. A Whig, and an intimate friend and follower of Fox, he was in +1791 at St. Petersburg, where the Tories believed that he had been sent +by his chief on "half a mission" to intrigue with Russia against Pitt. +The charge was published by Dr. Pretyman, Bishop of Winchester, in his +<i>Life of Pitt</i> (1821), who may have wished to pay off old scores, and to +retaliate on one of the reputed authors of the <i>Rolliad</i> for the +"Pretymaniana," and was answered in <i>Two Letters from Mr. Adair to the +Bishop of Winchester</i>. It is to this accusation that Ellis and Frere, in +the <i>Anti-Jacobin</i>, refer in "A Bit of an Ode to Mr. Fox" (<i>Poetry of +the Anti-Jacobin</i>, edit. 1854, pp. 71-73):— + + <blockquote>"I mount, I mount into the sky,<br> + Sweet bird, to <i>Petersburg</i> I'll fly,<br> + Or, if you bid, to <i>Paris</i>.<br> + Fresh missions of the <i>Fox</i> and <i>Goose</i><br> + Successful <i>Treaties</i> may produce,<br> + Though Pitt in all miscarries."</blockquote> + +Sir James Mackintosh, speaking of the story, told Moore (<i>Journals and +Correspondence</i>, vol. iv. p. 267) that a private letter from Adair, +reporting his conversations with a high official in St. Petersburg, fell +into the hands of the British Government; that some members of the +Council were desirous of taking proceedings upon it; but that Lord +Grenville and Pitt threatened to resign, if any use was made of such a +document so obtained. (See also the "Translation of a Letter from +Bawba-Dara-Adul-Phoola," etc. — <i>i. e.</i> "Bob Adair, a dull fool" — in the +<i>Anti-Jacobin</i>, p. 208.) Adair was in 1806 sent by Fox as Ambassador to +Vienna, and in 1809 was appointed by Canning Ambassador Extraordinary at +Constantinople, where, with Stratford Canning as his secretary, he +negotiated the Treaty of the Dardanelles. For his services, on his +return in 1810, he was made a K.C.B. He was subsequently (1831-35) +employed on a mission to the Low Countries, when war appeared imminent +between William, Prince of Orange and King Leopold. He was afterwards +sworn a member of the Privy Council, and received a pension. George +Ticknor (<i>Life</i>, vol. i. p. 269), who met him at Woburn in 1819, speaks +of his great conversational charms, and Moore (<i>Journals and +Correspondence</i>, vol. vii. p. 216) describes him, in 1838, as a man +"from whom one gets, now and then, an agreeable whiff of the days of +Fox, Tickell, and Sheridan." Many years after Fox's death, Adair was at +a fête at Chiswick House. "'In which room,' he asked of Samuel Rogers, +'did Fox expire?' 'In this very room,' I replied. Immediately, Adair +burst into tears with a vehemence of grief such as I hardly ever saw +exhibited by a man" (<i>Recollections of the Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers</i>, +p. 97).<br> +<a href="#fr235">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f248">cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 137</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f236"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> The sale of Wymondham and other property in Norfolk, which +had come to him through his great-uncle.<br> +<a href="#fr236">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f237"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Probably an allusion to his mother leaving Burgage Manor +and taking up her residence at Newstead.<br> +<a href="#fr237">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L135">135 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +<i>Salsette Frigate, off the Dardanelles</i>, April 17, 1810.<br> +<br> +Dear Madam, — I write at anchor (on our way to Constantinople) off the +Troad, which I traversed ten days ago. All the remains of Troy are the +tombs of her destroyers, amongst which I saw that of Antilochus from my +cabin window. These are large mounds of earth, like the barrows of the +Danes in your island. There are several monuments, about twelve miles +distant, of the Alexandrian Troas, which I also examined, but by no +means to be compared with the remnants of Athens and Ephesus. This will +be sent in a ship of war, bound with despatches for Malta. In a few days +we shall be at Constantinople, barring accidents. I have also written +from Smyrna, and shall, from time to time, transmit short accounts of my +movements, but I feel totally unequal to long letters.<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours very sincerely,<br> +<br> + +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — No accounts from Hanson!!! Do not complain of short letters; I +write to nobody but yourself and Mr. H.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L136">136 — To Henry Drury</a></h3> +<br> +<i>Salsette</i> frigate, May 3, 1810.<br> +<br> +My Dear Drury, — When I left England, nearly a year ago, you requested me +to write to you — I will do so. I have crossed Portugal, traversed the +south of Spain, visited Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, and thence passed into +Turkey, where I am still wandering. I first landed in Albania, the +ancient Epirus, where we penetrated as far as Mount Tomarit — excellently +treated by the chief Ali Pacha, — and, after journeying through Illyria, +Chaonia, etc., crossed the Gulf of Actium, with a guard of fifty +Albanians, and passed the Achelous in our route through Acarnania and +Ætolia. We stopped a short time in the Morea, crossed the Gulf of +Lepanto, and landed at the foot of Parnassus; — saw all that Delphi +retains, and so on to Thebes and Athens, at which last we remained ten +weeks.<br> +<br> +His Majesty's ship, <i>Pylades</i>, brought us to Smyrna; but not before we +had topographised Attica, including, of course, Marathon and the Sunian +promontory. From Smyrna to the Troad (which we visited when at anchor, +for a fortnight, off the tomb of Antilochus) was our next stage; and now +we are in the Dardanelles, waiting for a wind to proceed to +Constantinople.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr238">This</a> morning I <i>swam</i> from <i>Sestos</i> to <i>Abydos</i><a href="#f238"><sup>1</sup></a>. The immediate +distance is not above a mile, but the current renders it hazardous; — so +much so that I doubt whether Leander's conjugal affection must not have +been a little chilled in his passage to Paradise. I attempted it a week +ago, and failed, — owing to the north wind, and the wonderful rapidity of +the tide, — though I have been from my childhood a strong swimmer. But, +this morning being calmer, I succeeded, and crossed the "broad +Hellespont" in an hour and ten minutes.<br> +<br> +Well, my dear sir, I have left my home, and seen part of Africa and +Asia, and a tolerable portion of Europe. I have been with generals and +admirals, princes and pashas, governors and ungovernables, — but I have +not time or paper to expatiate. I wish to let you know that I live with +a friendly remembrance of you, and a hope to meet you again; and if I do +this as shortly as possible, attribute it to any thing but +forgetfulness.<br> +<br> +Greece, ancient and modern, you know too well to require description. +Albania, indeed, I have seen more of than any Englishman (except a Mr. +Leake), for it is a country rarely visited, from the savage character of +the natives, though abounding in more natural beauties than the +classical regions of Greece, — which, however, are still eminently +beautiful, particularly Delphi and Cape Colonna in Attica. Yet these are +nothing to parts of Illyria and Epirus, where places without a name, and +rivers not laid down in maps, may, one day, when more known, be justly +esteemed superior subjects, for the pencil and the pen, to the dry ditch +of the Ilissus and the bogs of Boeotia.<br> +<br> +The Troad is a fine field for conjecture and snipe-shooting, and a good +sportsman and an ingenious scholar may exercise their feet and faculties +to great advantage upon the spot; — or, if they prefer riding, lose their +way (as I did) in a cursed quagmire of the Scamander, who wriggles about +as if the Dardan virgins still offered their wonted tribute. The only +vestige of Troy, or her destroyers, are the barrows supposed to contain +the carcasses of Achilles, Antilochus, Ajax, etc.; — but Mount Ida is +still in high feather, though the shepherds are now-a-days not much like +Ganymede. <a name="fr239">But</a> why should I say more of these things? are they not +written in the <i>Boke</i> of <i>Gell</i><a href="#f239"><sup>2</sup></a>? and has not Hobhouse got a journal? +I keep none, as I have renounced scribbling.<br> +<br> +I see not much difference between ourselves and the Turks, save that we +have — — and they have none — that they have long dresses, and we short, +and that we talk much, and they little. They are sensible people. Ali +Pacha told me he was sure I was a man of rank, because I had <i>small +ears</i> and <i>hands</i>, and <i>curling hair</i>. By the by, I speak the Romaic, or +modern Greek, tolerably. It does not differ from the ancient dialects so +much as you would conceive; but the pronunciation is diametrically +opposite. Of verse, except in rhyme, they have no idea.<br> +<br> +I like the Greeks, who are plausible rascals, — with all the Turkish +vices, without their courage. However, some are brave, and all are +beautiful, very much resembling the busts of Alcibiades; — the women not +quite so handsome. I can swear in Turkish; but, except one horrible +oath, and "pimp," and "bread," and "water," I have got no great +vocabulary in that language. They are extremely polite to strangers of +any rank, properly protected; and as I have two servants and two +soldiers, we get on with great éclat. We have been occasionally in +danger of thieves, and once of shipwreck, — but always escaped.<br> +<br> +Of Spain I sent some account to our Hodgson, but have subsequently +written to no one, save notes to relations and lawyers, to keep them out +of my premises. I mean to give up all connection, on my return, with +many of my best friends — as I supposed them — and to snarl all my life. +But I hope to have one good-humoured laugh with you, and to embrace +Dwyer, and pledge Hodgson, before I commence cynicism.<br> +<br> +Tell Dr. Butler I am now writing with the gold pen he gave me before I +left England, which is the reason my scrawl is more unintelligible than +usual. I have been at Athens, and seen plenty of these reeds for +scribbling, some of which he refused to bestow upon me, because +topographic Gell had brought them from Attica. But I will not +describe, — no — you must be satisfied with simple detail till my return, +and then we will unfold the floodgates of colloquy. I am in a thirty-six +gun frigate, going up to fetch Bob Adair from Constantinople, who will +have the honour to carry this letter.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr240">And</a> so Hobhouse's <i>boke</i> is out<a href="#f240"><sup>3</sup></a>, with some sentimental sing-song of +my own to fill up, — and how does it take, eh? and where the devil is the +second edition of my Satire, with additions? and my name on the title +page? and more lines tagged to the end, with a new exordium and what +not, hot from my anvil before I cleared the Channel? The Mediterranean +and the Atlantic roll between me and criticism; and the thunders of the +Hyperborean Review are deafened by the roar of the Hellespont.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr241">Remember</a> me to Claridge<a href="#f241"><sup>4</sup></a>, if not translated to college, and present +to Hodgson assurances of my high consideration. Now, you will ask, what +shall I do next? and I answer, I do not know. I may return in a few +months, but I have intents and projects after visiting Constantinople. +Hobhouse, however, will probably be back in September.<br> +<br> +On the 2d of July we have left Albion one year — <i>oblitus meorum +obliviscendus et illis</i>. <a name="fr242">I</a> was sick of my own country, and not much +prepossessed in favour of any other; but I "drag on my chain" without +"lengthening it at each remove."<a href="#f242"><sup>5</sup></a> I <a name="fr243">am</a> like the Jolly Miller, caring +for nobody, and not cared for<a href="#f243"><sup>6</sup></a>. All countries are much the same in my +eyes. I smoke, and stare at mountains, and twirl my mustachios very +independently. I miss no comforts, and the musquitoes that rack the +morbid frame of H. have, luckily for me, little effect on mine, because +I live more temperately.<br> +<br> +I omitted Ephesus in my catalogue, which I visited during my sojourn at +Smyrna; but the Temple has almost perished, and St. Paul need not +trouble himself to epistolise the present brood of Ephesians, who have +converted a large church built entirely of marble into a mosque, and I +don't know that the edifice looks the worse for it.<br> +<br> +My paper is full, and my ink ebbing — good afternoon! If you address to +me at Malta, the letter will be forwarded wherever I may be. H. greets +you; he pines for his poetry, — at least, some tidings of it. <a name="fr244">I</a> almost +forgot to tell you that I am dying for love of three Greek girls at +Athens, sisters. I lived in the same house. Teresa, Mariana, and +Katinka<a href="#f244"><sup>7</sup></a>, are the names of these divinities, — all of them under +fifteen.<br> +<br> +Your <img src="images/BLG3.gif" width="160" height="24" alt="Greek (transliterated): tapeinotatos doulos"> <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f238"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Byron made two attempts to swim across the Hellespont from +Abydos to Sestos. The first, April 16, failed; the second, May 3, in +warmer weather, succeeded. + + <blockquote> "Byron was one hour and ten minutes in the water; his companion, Mr. + Ekenhead, five minutes less ... My fellow-traveller had before made a + more perilous, but less celebrated, passage; for I recollect that, + when we were in Portugal, he swam from Old Lisbon to Belem Castle, + and, having to contend with a tide and counter-current, the wind + blowing freshly, was but little less than two hours in crossing the + river" </blockquote> + +(Hobhouse, <i>Travels in Albania</i>, etc., vol. ii. p. 195). In Hobhouse's +journal, Byron made the following note: + + <blockquote> "The whole distance E. and myself swam was more than four miles — the + current very strong and cold — some large fish near us when half + across — we were not fatigued, but a little chilled — did it with little + difficulty. — May 26, 1810. <b>Byron</b>."</blockquote> + +Of his feat Byron was always proud. See the "Lines Written after +Swimming from Sestos to Abydos" ("by the by, from Abydos to Sestos would +have been more correct"), and <i>Don Juan</i>, Canto II. stanza cv.:— + + <blockquote> "A better swimmer you could scarce see ever;<br> + He could, perhaps, have pass'd the Hellespont,<br> + As once (a feat on which ourselves we prided)<br> + Leander, Mr. Ekenhead, and I did."</blockquote> + +In a note to the "Lines Written after Swimming from Sestos to Abydos," Byron writes, + + <blockquote>"Chevalier says that a young Jew swam the same distance for his + mistress; and Oliver mentions its having been done by a Neapolitan; + but our consul, Tarragona, remembered neither of these circumstances, + and tried to dissuade us from the attempt. A number of the + <i>Salsette</i>'s crew were known to have accomplished a greater distance; + and the only thing that surprised me was that, as doubts had been + entertained of the truth of Leander's story, no traveller had ever + endeavoured to ascertain its practicability."</blockquote> + +Lieutenant Ekenhead, of the Marines, was afterwards killed by a fall +from the fortifications of Malta.<br> +<a href="#fr238">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f239"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Sir William Gell (1777-1836) published the <i>Topography of +Troy</i> (1804); <i>Geography and Antiquities of Ithaca</i> (1807); the +<i>Itinerary of Greece</i> (1810); and many other subsequent works. (For +Byron's review of <i>Ithaca</i> and <i>Greece</i>, in the <i>Monthly Review</i> for +August, 1811, see <a href="#section8">Appendix III</a>.) In the MS. of <i>English Bards, and +Scotch Reviewers</i> (line 1034) he called him "coxcomb Gell;" but, having +made his personal acquaintance before the Satire was printed, he changed +the epithet to "classic." After seeing the country himself, he again +altered the epithet — + +<blockquote> "Of Dardan tours let Dilettanti tell,<br> + I leave topography to rapid Gell."</blockquote> + +To these lines is appended the following note: + + <blockquote> "'Rapid,' indeed! He topographised and typographised King Priam's + dominions in three days! I called him 'classic' before I saw the + Troad, but since have learned better than to tack to his name what + don't belong to it."</blockquote> + +To this passage Byron, in 1816, added the further expression of his +opinion, that "Gell's survey was hasty and superficial." One of two +suppressed stanzas in <i>Childe Harold</i> (Canto II. stanza xiii.) refers to +Gell and his works:— + + <blockquote>"Or will the gentle Dilettanti crew<br> + Now delegate the task to digging Gell?<br> + That mighty limner of a bird's-eye view,<br> + How like to Nature let his volumes tell;<br> + Who can with him the folio's limits swell<br> + With all the Author saw, or said he saw?<br> + Who can topographise or delve so well?<br> + No boaster he, nor impudent and raw,<br> + His pencil, pen, and shade, alike without a flaw."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr239">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f240"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> <i>Imitations and Translations from the Ancient and Modern +Classics, etc.</i> (London, 1809, 8vo). Of the sixty-five pieces, nine were +by Byron (see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i, Bibliographical note; and vol. vi, +Bibliographical note). The second and enlarged edition of <i>English +Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i>, with Byron's name attached, appeared in +October, 1809.<br> +<a href="#fr240">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f241"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Two boys of this name, sons of J. Claridge, of Sevenoaks, +entered Harrow School in April, 1805. George became a. solicitor, and +died at Sevenoaks in 1841; John (afterwards Sir John) went to Christ +Church, Oxford, became a barrister, and died in 1868. John Claridge +seems to have been one of Byron's "juniors and favourites," whom he +"spoilt by indulgence."<br> +<a href="#fr241">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f242"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> + +<blockquote> "Still to my brother turns with ceaseless pain,<br> + And drags at each remove a lengthening chain."</blockquote> + +<b>Goldsmith's</b> Traveller, lines 9, 10.<br> +<a href="#fr242">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f243"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> The allusion is to the familiar lines inserted by Isaac +Bickerstaffe in <i>Love in a Village</i> (1762), act i. sc. 3 — + + <blockquote>"There was a jolly miller once,<br> + Liv'd on the river Dee;<br> + He work'd and sung from morn till night;<br> + No lark more blithe than he.<br> + <br> + "And this the burden of his song,<br> + For ever us'd to be — <br> + I care for nobody, not I,<br> + If no one cares for me."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr243">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f244"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 7:</span></a> + + <blockquote> "During our stay at Athens," writes Hobhouse (<i>Travels in Albania, + etc.</i>, vol. i. pp. 242, 243), "we occupied two houses separated from + each other only by a single wall, through which we opened a doorway. + One of them belongs to a Greek lady, whose name is Theodora Macri, the + daughter of the late English Vice-Consul, and who has to show many + letters of recommendation left in her hands by several English + travellers. Her lodgings consisted of a sitting-room and two bedrooms, + opening into a court-yard where there were five or six lemon-trees, + from which, during our residence in the place, was plucked the fruit + that seasoned the pilaf and other national dishes served up at our + frugal table."</blockquote> + +The beauty of the Greek women is transient. Hughes (<i>Travels +in Sicily, etc.</i>, vol. i. p. 254, published in 1820) speaks of the three +daughters of Madame Macri as "the <i>belles</i> of Athens." Of Theresa, +the eldest, he says that "her countenance was extremely interesting, +and her eye retained much of its wonted brilliancy; but the roses +had already deserted the cheek, and we observed the remains only +of that loveliness which elicited such strains from an impassioned +poet." Walsh, in his <i>Narrative of a Resident in Constantinople</i> +(vol. i p. 122), speaks of Theresa Macri, the "Maid of Athens," +whom he saw in 1821, as "still very elegant in her person, and +gentle and ladylike in her manners," but adds that "she has +lost all pretensions to beauty, and has a countenance singularly +marked by hopeless sadness." On the other hand, Williams, in +his <i>Travels in Italy, etc.</i> (vol. ii. pp. 290, 291), speaks, in 1820, +with an artist's enthusiasm, of the beauty of the three daughters of +Theodora Macri. He quotes from the "Visitors' Book," to which +Hobhouse alludes, four lines written by Byron in answer to an +anonymous versifier — + + <blockquote> "This modest bard, like many a bard unknown,<br> + Rhymes on our names, but wisely hides his own;<br> + But yet, whoe'er he be, to say no worse,<br> + His name would bring more credit than his verse."</blockquote> + +Theresa and Mariana Macri were dark; Katinka was fair. The latter name +Byron uses as that of the fair Georgian in <i>Don Juan</i> (Canto VI. stanza +xli.). + + <blockquote> "It was," says Moore, "if I recollect right, in making love to one of + these girls that he had recourse to an act of courtship often + practised in that country; — namely, giving himself a wound across the + breast with his dagger. The young Athenian, by his own account, looked + on very coolly during the operation, considering it a fit tribute to + her beauty, but in no degree moved to gratitude."</blockquote> + +Theresa, sometimes called Thyrza, Macri married an Englishman named +Black, employed in H.M.'s Consular service at Missolonghi. She survived +her husband, and fell into great poverty. Finlay, the historian of +Greece, made an appeal on her behalf, which obtained the support of the +leading members of Athenian society, including M. Charilaus Tricoupi, +for some time Prime Minister at Athens, the son of Spiridion +Tricoupi — Byron's intimate friend. In the <i>New York Times</i> for October +22, 1875, Mr. Anthony Martelaus, United States Consular Agent at Athens, +describes Mrs. Black, whom he visited in August, 1875, as "a tall old +lady, with features inspiring reverence, and showing that at a time past +she was a beautiful woman." Theresa Black died October 15, 1875, aged 80 +years. (See letters to the <i>Times</i>, October 25 and October 27, 1875, by +Richard Edgcumbe and Neocles Mussabini respectively.)<br> +<a href="#fr244">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L137">137 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +<i>Salsette</i> frigate, in the Dardanelles, off Abydos, May 5, 1810.<br> +<br> +I am on my way to Constantinople, after a tour through Greece, Epirus, +etc., and part of Asia Minor, some particulars of which I have just +communicated to our friend and host, H. Drury. With these, then, I shall +not trouble you; but as you will perhaps be pleased to hear that I am +well, etc., I take the opportunity of our ambassador's return to forward +the few lines I have time to despatch. We have undergone some +inconveniences, and incurred partial perils, but no events worthy of +communication, unless you will deem it one that two days ago I swam from +Sestos to Abydos. <a name="fr245">This</a>, with a few alarms from robbers, and some danger +of shipwreck in a Turkish galliot six months ago, a visit to a Pacha, a +passion for a married woman at Malta<a href="#f245"><sup>1</sup></a>, a challenge to an officer, an +attachment to three Greek girls at Athens, with a great deal of +buffoonery and fine prospects, form all that has distinguished my +progress since my departure from Spain.<br> +<br> +Hobhouse rhymes and journalises; I stare and do nothing — unless smoking +can be deemed an active amusement. The Turks take too much care of their +women to permit them to be scrutinised; but I have lived a good deal +with the Greeks, whose modern dialect I can converse in enough for my +purposes. With the Turks I have also some male acquaintances — female +society is out of the question. I have been very well treated by the +Pachas and Governors, and have no complaint to make of any kind. +Hobhouse will one day inform you of all our adventures — were I to +attempt the recital, neither <i>my</i> paper nor <i>your</i> patience would hold +out during the operation.<br> +<br> +Nobody, save yourself, has written to me since I left England; but +indeed I did not request it. I except my relations, who write quite as +often as I wish. Of Hobhouse's volume I know nothing, except that it is +out; and of my second edition I do not even know <i>that</i>, and certainly +do not, at this distance, interest myself in the matter. <a name="fr246">I</a> hope you and +Bland<a href="#f246"><sup>2</sup></a> roll down the stream of sale with rapidity.<br> +<br> +Of my return I cannot positively speak, but think it probable Hobhouse +will precede me in that respect. We have been very nearly one year +abroad. I should wish to gaze away another, at least, in these evergreen +climates; but I fear business, law business, the worst of employments, +will recall me previous to that period, if not very quickly. If so, you +shall have due notice.<br> +<br> +I hope you will find me an altered personage, — I do not mean in body, +but in manner, for I begin to find out that nothing but virtue will do +in this damned world. I am tolerably sick of vice, which I have tried in +its agreeable varieties, and mean, on my return, to cut all my dissolute +acquaintance, leave off wine and carnal company, and betake myself to +politics and decorum. I am very serious and cynical, and a good deal +disposed to moralise; but fortunately for you the coming homily is cut +off by default of pen and defection of paper.<br> +<br> +Good morrow! If you write, address to me at Malta, whence your letters +will be forwarded. You need not remember me to any body, but believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours with all faith,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +Constantinople, May 15, 1810.<br> +<br> +P.S. — My dear H., — The date of my postscript "will prate to you of my +whereabouts." <a name="fr247">We</a> anchored between the Seven Towers and the Seraglio on +the 13th, and yesterday settled ashore<a href="#f247"><sup>3</sup></a>. <a name="fr248">The</a> ambassador<a href="#f248"><sup>4</sup></a> is laid +up; <a name="fr249">but</a> the secretary<a href="#f249"><sup>5</sup></a> does the honours of the palace, and we have a +general invitation to his palace. In a short time he has his leave of +audience, and we accompany him in our uniforms to the Sultan, etc., and +<a name="fr250">in</a> a few days I am to visit the Captain Pacha with the commander of our +frigate<a href="#f250"><sup>6</sup></a>. I have seen enough of their Pashas already; but I wish to +have a view of the Sultan, the last of the Ottoman race.<br> +<br> +Of Constantinople you have Gibbon's description, very correct as far as +I have seen. The mosques I shall have a firman to visit. I shall most +probably (<i>Deo volente</i>), after a full inspection of Stamboul, bend +my course homewards; but this is uncertain. I have seen the most +interesting parts, particularly Albania, where few Franks have ever +been, and all the most celebrated ruins of Greece and Ionia.<br> +<br> +Of England I know nothing, hear nothing, and can find no person better +informed on the subject than myself. I this moment drink your health in +a bumper of hock; Hobhouse fills and empties to the same; do you and +Drury pledge us in a pint of any liquid you please — vinegar will bear +the nearest resemblance to that which I have just swallowed to your +name; but when we meet again the draught shall be mended and the wine +also.<br> +<br> +Yours ever,<br> +<br> +B.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f245"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Mrs. Spencer Smith (see page 244, <a href="#f224"><i>note</i></a> i). + + <blockquote>"In the mean time," writes Galt, who was at Malta with him, "besides + his "Platonic dalliance with Mrs. Spencer Smith, Byron had involved + himself in a quarrel with an officer; but it was satisfactorily + settled"</blockquote> + + (<i>Life of Byron</i>, p. 67).<br> +<a href="#fr245">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f246"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> The Rev. Robert Bland (1780-1825), the son of a well-known +London doctor, educated at Harrow and Pembroke College, Cambridge, was +an assistant-master at Harrow when Byron was a schoolboy. There he +became one of a "social club or circle," to which belonged J. Herman +Merivale, Hodgson, Henry Drury, Denman (afterwards Lord Chief Justice), +Charles Pepys (afterwards Lord Chancellor), Launcelot Shadwell +(afterwards Vice-Chancellor), Walford (afterwards Solicitor to the +Customs), and Paley, a son of the archdeacon. A good singer, an amusing +companion, and a clever, impulsive, eccentric creature, he was nicknamed +by his friends "Don Hyperbolo" for his humorous extravagances. Some of +his letters, together with a sketch of his life, are given in the <i>Life +of the Rev. Francis Hodgson</i>, vol. i pp. 226-250. In the <i>Monthly +Magazine</i> for March, 1805, he and Merivale began to publish a series of +translations from the Greek minor poets and epigrammatists, which were +afterwards collected, with additions by Denman, Hodgson, Drury, and +others, and published (1806) under the title of <i>Translations, chiefly +from the Greek Anthology, with Tales and Miscellaneous Poems</i>. Bland and +Merivale (1779-1844) are addressed by Byron (<i>English Bards, and Scotch +Reviewers</i>, lines 881-890) as "associate bards," and adjured to "resign +Achaia's lyre, and strike your own." The two friends also collaborated +in the <i>Collections from the Greek Anthology</i> (1813), and <i>A Collection +of the most Beautiful Poems of the Minor Poets of Greece</i> (1813). Bland +also published two volumes of original verse: <i>Edwy and Elgiva</i> (1808), +and <i>The Four Slaves of Cythera, a Poetical Romance</i> (1809). Several +generations of schoolboys have learned to write Latin verse from his +<i>Elements of Latin Hexameters and Pentameters</i>. A lover of France, and +of the French nation and of French acting, he spoke the language like a +native, travelled in disguise over the countries occupied by Napoleon's +armies, and (1813) published, in collaboration with Miss Plumptre, a +translation of the <i>Memoirs</i> of Baron Grimm and Diderot. He was +appointed Chaplain at Amsterdam, whence he returned in 1811. (For the +circumstances of his quarrel with Hodgson, see page 195, <a href="#f165"><i>note</i></a> 1.) He +was successively Curate of Prittlewell and Kenilworth. At the latter +place, where he eked out a scanty income by taking pupils, he died in +1825 from breaking a blood-vessel.<br> +<a href="#fr246">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f247"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Byron and Hobhouse landed on May 14, and rode to their inn. + + <blockquote> "This," says Hobhouse (<i>Travels in Albania, etc.</i>, vol. ii pp. 216, + 217), "was situated at the corner of the main street of Pera, here + four ways meet, all of which were not less mean and dirty than the + lanes of Wapping. The hotel, however (kept by a Mons. Marchand), was a + very comfortable mansion, containing many chambers handsomely + furnished, and a large billiard-room, which is the resort of all the + idle young men of the place. Our dinners there were better served, and + composed of meats more to the English taste, than we had seen at any + tavern since our departure from Falmouth; and the butter of Belgrade + (perfectly fresh, though not of a proper consistency) was a delicacy + to which we had long been unaccustomed. The best London porter, and + nearly every species of wine, except port, were also to be procured in + any quantity. To this eulogy cannot be added the material + recommendation of cheapness."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr247">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f248"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Robert Adair. (See page 260, <a href="#f235"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr248">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f249"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> Stratford Canning, afterwards Lord Stratford de Redcliffe.<br> +<a href="#fr249">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f250"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> Captain Bathurst, and the officers of the <i>Salsette</i>, +anxious to see the arsenal and the Turkish fleet, paid a visit with +Byron to Ali, the Capudan-Pasha, or Lord High Admiral. + +<blockquote>"He was," writes +Hobhouse (<i>Travels in Albania, etc.</i>, vol. ii. p. 279), "in his kiosk of +audience at Divan-Hane, a splendid chamber, surrounded by his +attendants, and, contrary to custom, received us sitting. He is reported +to be a ferocious character, and certainly had the appearance of being +so."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr250">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L138">138 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Constantinople, May 18, 1810.<br> +<br> +Dear Madam, — I arrived here in an English frigate from Smyrna a few days +ago, without any events worth mentioning, except landing to view the +plains of Troy, and afterwards, when we were at anchor in the +Dardanelles, <i>swimming</i> from Sestos to Abydos, in imitation of +Monsieur Leander, whose story you, no doubt, know too well for me to add +anything on the subject except that I crossed the Hellespont without so +good a motive for the undertaking. As I am just going to visit the +Captain-Pacha, you will excuse the brevity of my letter. When Mr. Adair +takes leave I am to see the Sultan and the mosques, etc.<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours ever,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L139">139 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Constantinople, May 24, 1810.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother, — I wrote to you very shortly the other day on my arrival +here, and, as another opportunity avails, take up my pen again, that the +frequency of my letters may atone for their brevity. Pray did you ever +receive a picture of me in oil by <i>Sanders</i> in <i>Vigo Lane</i>, London? (a +noted limner); if not, write for it immediately; it was paid for, except +the frame (if frame there be), before I left England. I believe I +mentioned to you in my last that my only notable exploit lately has been +swimming from Sestos to Abydos in humble imitation of <i>Leander</i>, of +amorous memory; though I had no <i>Hero</i> to receive me on the other shore +of the Hellespont.<br> +<br> +Of Constantinople you have of course read fifty descriptions by sundry +travellers, which are in general so correct that I have nothing to add +on the subject. When our ambassador takes his leave I shall accompany +him to see the Sultan, and afterwards probably return to Greece. I have +heard nothing of Mr. H — — , but one remittance without any letter from +that legal gentleman. If you have occasion for any pecuniary supply, +pray use my funds as far as they <i>go</i>, without reserve; and lest there +should not be enough, in my next to Mr. H — — I will direct him to +advance any sum you want, leaving at your discretion how much, in the +present state of my affairs, you may think proper to require.<br> +<br> +I have already seen the most interesting part of Turkey in Europe and +Asia Minor, but shall not proceed further till I hear from England. In +the mean time I shall expect occasional supplies, according to +circumstances, and shall pass my summer amongst my friends the Greeks of +the Morea. You will direct to Malta, where my letters are forwarded.<br> +<br> +And believe me, with great sincerity, yours ever,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — Fletcher is well. Pray take care of my boy Robert and the old man +Murray. It is fortunate they returned; neither the youth of the one nor +the age of the other would have suited the changes of climate and +fatigue of travelling.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L140">140 — To Henry Drury</a></h3> +<br> +Constantinople, June 17, 1810.<br> +<br> + +<a name="fr251">Though</a> I wrote to you so recently, I break in upon you again to +congratulate you on a child being born<a href="#f251"><sup>1</sup></a>, as a letter from Hodgson +apprizes me of that event, in which I rejoice.<br> +<br> +I am just come from an expedition through the Bosphorus to the Black Sea +and the Cyanean Symplegades, up which last I scrambled with as great +risk as ever the Argonauts escaped in their hoy. <a name="fr252">You</a> remember the +beginning of the nurse's dole in the <i>Medea</i>, of which I beg you to take +the following translation, done on the summit:— + + + <blockquote> "Oh how I wish that an embargo<br> + Had kept in port the good ship Argo!<br> + Who, still unlaunched from Grecian docks,<br> + Had never passed the Azure rocks;<br> + But now I fear her trip will be a<br> + Damned business for my Miss Medea, etc., etc.,"<a href="#f252"><sup>2</sup></a></blockquote> + +as it very nearly was to me; — for, had not this sublime passage been in +my head, I should never have dreamed of ascending the said rocks, and +bruising my carcass in honour of the ancients.<br> +<br> +I have now sat on the Cyaneans, swam from Sestos to Abydos (as I +trumpeted in my last), and, after passing through the Morea again, shall +set sail for Santa Maura, and toss myself from the Leucadian +promontory; — surviving which operation, I shall probably join you in +England. Hobhouse, who will deliver this, is bound straight for these +parts; and, as he is bursting with his travels, I shall not anticipate +his narratives, but merely beg you not to believe one word he says, but +reserve your ear for me, if you have any desire to be acquainted with +the truth.<br> +<br> +I am bound for Athens once more, and thence to the Morea; but my stay +depends so much on my caprice, that I can say nothing of its probable +duration. I have been out a year already, and may stay another; but I am +quicksilver, and say nothing positively. We are all very much occupied +doing nothing, at present. We have seen every thing but the mosques, +which we are to view with a firman on Tuesday next. But of these and +other sundries let H. relate, with this proviso, that <i>I</i> am to be +referred to for authenticity; and I beg leave to contradict all those +things whereon he lays particular stress. But, if he soars at any time +into wit, I give you leave to applaud, because that is necessarily +stolen from his fellow-pilgrim. <a name="fr253">Tell</a> Davies<a href="#f253"><sup>3</sup></a> that Hobhouse has made +excellent use of his best jokes in many of his Majesty's ships of war; +but add, also, that I always took care to restore them to the right +owner; in consequence of which he (Davies) is no less famous by water +than by land, and reigns unrivalled in the cabin as in the "Cocoa Tree."<a href="#f254"><sup>4</sup></a><br> +<br> +<a name="fr255">And</a> Hodgson has been publishing more poesy — I wish he would send me his +<i>Sir Edgar</i>,<a href="#f255"><sup>5</sup></a> and Bland's <i>Anthology</i>, to Malta, where they +will be forwarded. In my last, which I hope you received, I gave an +outline of the ground we have covered. If you have not been overtaken by +this despatch, Hobhouse's tongue is at your service. Remember me to +Dwyer, who owes me eleven guineas. Tell him to put them in my banker's +hands at Gibraltar or Constantinople. I believe he paid them once, but +that goes for nothing, as it was an annuity.<br> +<br> +I wish you would write. I have heard from Hodgson frequently. Malta is +my post-office. <a name="fr256a">I</a> mean to be with you by next Montem. You remember the +last, — I hope for such another; but after having swam across the "broad +Hellespont," I disdain Datchett<a href="#f256a"><sup>6</sup></a>. Good afternoon!<br> +<br> +I am yours, very sincerely,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f251"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Henry Drury, afterwards Archdeacon of Wilts.<br> +<a href="#fr251">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f252"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Euripides, <i>Medea</i>, lines 1-7 — <br><br> + + +<img src="images/BLG4.gif" width="406" height="164" align="bottom" alt="Greek (transliterated): Eith _ophel Argous mae diaptasthai skaphos + Kolch_on es aian kuaneas Symplaegadas, + maed en napaisi Paeliou pedein pote + tmaetheisa peukae, maed eretm_osai cheras + andr_on ariste_on, oi to pagchryson deros + Pelia metaelthon ou gar an despoin emae + Maedeia pyrgous gaes epleus I_olkias k.t.l."><br><br> + + +<a href="#fr252">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f253"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> For Scrope Berdmore Davies, see page 165, <a href="#f137"><i>note</i></a> 2.<br> +<a href="#fr253">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f254"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> "The Cocoa Tree," now 64, St. James's Street, formerly in +Pall Mall, was, in the reign of Queen Anne, the Tory Chocolate House. It +became a club about 1745, and was then regarded as the headquarters of +the Jacobites. Probably for this reason Gibbon, whose father professed +Jacobite opinions, belonged to it on coming to live in London (see his +journal for November, 1762, and his letter to his stepmother, January +18, 1766: "The Cocoa Tree serves "now and then to take off an idle +hour"). Byron was a member.<br> +<a href="#fr253">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f255"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> Hodgson's <i>Sir Edgar</i> was published in 1810.<br> +<a href="#fr255">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f256a"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> Alluding to his having swum across the Thames with Henry +Drury, after the Montem, to see how many times they could make the +passage backwards and forwards without touching land. In this trial +Byron was the conqueror.<br> +<a href="#fr256a">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L141">141 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Constantinople, June 28, 1810.<br> +<br> +My dear Mother, — I regret to perceive by your last letter that several +of mine have not arrived, particularly a very long one written in +November last from Albania, where I was on a visit to the Pacha of that +province. Fletcher has also written to his spouse perpetually.<br> +<br> +Mr. Hobhouse, who will forward or deliver this, and is on his return to +England, can inform you of our different movements, but I am very +uncertain as to my own return. He will probably be down in Notts, some +time or other; but Fletcher, whom I send back as an incumbrance (English +servants are sad travellers), will supply his place in the interim, and +describe our travels, which have been tolerably extensive.<br> +<br> +I have written twice briefly from this capital, from Smyrna, from Athens +and other parts of Greece; from Albania, the Pacha of which province +desired his respects to my mother, and said he was sure I was a man of +high birth because I had small ears, curling hair, and white hands!!! He +was very kind to me, begged me to consider him as a father, and gave me +a guard of forty soldiers through the forests of Acarnania. But of this +and other circumstances I have written to you at large, and yet hope you +will receive my letters.<br> +<br> +I remember Mahmout Pacha, the grandson of Ali Pacha, at Yanina, (a +little fellow of ten years of age, with large black eyes, which our +ladies would purchase at any price, and those regular features which +distinguish the Turks,) asked me how I came to travel so young, without +anybody to take care of me. This question was put by the little man with +all the gravity of threescore. I cannot now write copiously; I have only +time to tell you that I have passed many a fatiguing, but never a +tedious moment; and all that I am afraid of is that I shall contract a +gypsy like wandering disposition, which will make home tiresome to me: +this, I am told, is very common with men in the habit of peregrination, +and, indeed, I feel it so. On the 3rd of May I swam from <i>Sestos</i> +to <i>Abydos</i>. You know the story of Leander, but I had no +<i>Hero</i> to receive me at landing.<br> +<br> +I also passed a fortnight on the Troad. The tombs of Achilles and +Æsyetes still exist in large barrows, similar to those you have +doubtless seen in the North. <a name="fr256">The</a> other day I was at Belgrade (a village +in these environs), to see the house built on the same site as Lady Mary +Wortley's<a href="#f256"><sup>1</sup></a>. By-the-by, her ladyship, as far as I can judge, has lied, +but not half so much as any other woman would have done in the same +situation.<br> +<br> +I have been in all the principal mosques by the virtue of a firman: this +is a favor rarely permitted to Infidels, but the ambassador's departure +obtained it for us. I have been up the Bosphorus into the Black Sea, +round the walls of the city, and, indeed, I know more of it by sight +than I do of London. I hope to amuse you some winter's evening with the +details, but at present you must excuse me; — I am not able to write long +letters in June. I return to spend my summer in Greece. I write often, +but you must not be alarmed when you do not receive my letters; consider +we have no regular post farther than Malta, where I beg you will in +future send your letters, and not to this city.<br> +<br> +Fletcher is a poor creature, and requires comforts that I can dispense +with. He is very sick of his travels, but you must not believe his +account of the country. He sighs for ale, and idleness, and a wife, and +the devil knows what besides. I have not been disappointed or disgusted. +I have lived with the highest and the lowest. I have been for days in a +Pacha's palace, and have passed many a night in a cowhouse, and I find +the people inoffensive and kind. I have also passed some time with the +principal Greeks in the Morea and Livadia, and, though inferior to the +Turks, they are better than the Spaniards, who, in their turn, excel the +Portuguese. <a name="fr257">Of</a> Constantinople you will find many descriptions in +different travels; but Lady Mary Wortley errs strangely when she says, +"St. Paul's would cut a strange figure by St. Sophia's."<a href="#f257"><sup>2</sup></a> I have +been in both, surveyed them inside and out attentively. St. Sophia's is +undoubtedly the most interesting from its immense antiquity, and the +circumstance of all the Greek emperors, from Justinian, having been +crowned there, and several murdered at the altar, besides the Turkish +Sultans who attend it regularly. But it is inferior in beauty and size +to some of the mosques, particularly "Soleyman," etc., and not to be +mentioned in the same page with St. Paul's (I speak like a <i>Cockney</i>). +However, I prefer the Gothic cathedral of Seville to St. Paul's, St. +Sophia's, and any religious building I have ever seen.<br> +<br> +The walls of the Seraglio are like the walls of Newstead gardens, only +higher, and much in the same <i>order</i>; but the ride by the walls of the +city, on the land side, is beautiful. Imagine four miles of immense +triple battlements, covered with ivy, surmounted with 218 towers, and, +on the other side of the road, Turkish burying-grounds (the loveliest +spots on earth), full of enormous cypresses. I have seen the ruins of +Athens, of Ephesus, and Delphi. <a name="fr258">I</a> have traversed great part of Turkey, +and many other parts of Europe, and some of Asia; but I never beheld a +work of nature or art which yielded an impression like the prospect on +each side from the Seven Towers to the end of the Golden Horn<a href="#f258"><sup>3</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +Now for England. I am glad to hear of the progress of <i>English Bards</i>, +etc. Of course, you observed I have made great additions to the new +edition. Have you received my picture from Sanders, Vigo Lane, London? +It was finished and paid for long before I left England: pray, send for +it. You seem to be a mighty reader of magazines: where do you pick up +all this intelligence, quotations, etc., etc.? <a name="fr259">Though</a> I was happy to +obtain my seat without the assistance of Lord Carlisle, I had no +measures to keep with a man who declined interfering as my relation on +that occasion, and I have done with him, though I regret distressing +Mrs. Leigh<a href="#f259"><sup>4</sup></a>, poor thing! — I hope she is happy.<br> +<br> +It is my opinion that Mr. B — — ought to marry Miss R — — . Our first +duty is not to do evil; but, alas! that is impossible: our next is to +repair it, if in our power. The girl is his equal: if she were his +inferior, a sum of money and provision for the child would be some, +though a poor, compensation: as it is, he should marry her. I will have +no gay deceivers on my estate, and I shall not allow my tenants a +privilege I do not permit myself — <i>that</i> of debauching each other's +daughters. God knows, I have been guilty of many excesses; but, as I +have laid down a resolution to reform, and lately kept it, I expect this +Lothario to follow the example, and begin by restoring this girl to +society, or, by the beard of my father! he shall hear of it. Pray take +some notice of Robert, who will miss his master; poor boy, he was very +unwilling to return. I trust you are well and happy. It will be a +pleasure to hear from you.<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours very sincerely,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — How is Joe Murray?<br> +<br> +P.S. — I open my letter again to tell you that Fletcher having petitioned +to accompany me into the Morea, I have taken him with me, contrary to +the intention expressed in my letter.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f256"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Lady Mary describes the village of Belgrade in a letter to +Pope, dated June 17, 1717 (<i>Letters</i>, edit. 1893, vol. i. pp. 331-333). +But Walsh (<i>Narrative of a Residence in Constantinople</i>, vol. ii +108, 109), who visited Belgrade in 1821, says that no trace of her +description was then to be seen — no view of the Black Sea, no +houses of the wealthy Christians, no fountains, and no fruit-trees. +"The very tradition" of the house, which had disappeared before +Dallaway visited Belgrade in 1794, had perished.<br> +<a href="#fr256">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f257"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Lady Mary does not compare St. Paul's with St. Sophia's, +but with the mosque of the Valide, + +<blockquote>"the largest of all, built entirely +of marble, the most prodigious, and, I think, the most beautiful +structure I ever saw, be it spoken to the honour of our sex, for it was +founded by the mother of Mahomet IV. Between friends, St. Paul's Church +would make a pitiful figure near it" </blockquote> + +(<i>Letters</i>, vol. i. p. 356).<br> +<a href="#fr257">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f258"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> <blockquote> "The European with the Asian shore<br> + Sprinkled with palaces; the ocean stream<br> + Here and there studded with a seventy-four;<br> + Sophia's cupola with golden gleam;<br> + The cypress groves; Olympus high and hoar;<br> + The twelve isles, and the more than I could dream,<br> + Far less describe, present the very view<br> + Which charm'd the charming Mary Montagu."</blockquote> + +<i>Don Juan</i>, Canto V stanza 3.<br> +<a href="#fr258">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f259"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> For Mrs. Leigh, <i>née</i> Augusta Byron, see page 18, +<a href="#f12"><i>note</i></a> 1. +<br> +<a href="#fr259">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp9">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L142">142 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Constantinople, July 1, 1810.<br> +<br> +My dear Mother, — I have no wish to forget those who have any claim upon +me, and shall be glad of the good wishes of R — — when he can express +them in person, which it seems will be at some very indefinite date. I +shall perhaps essay a speech or <i>two</i> in the House when I return, but I +am not ambitious of a parliamentary career, which is of all things the +most degrading and unthankful. If I could by my own efforts inculcate +the truth, that a man is not intended for a despot or a machine, but as +an individual of a community, and fit for the society of kings, so long +as he does not trespass on the laws or rebel against just governments, I +might attempt to found a new Utopia; but as matters are at present, in +course you will not expect me to sacrifice my health or self to your or +anyone's ambition.<br> +<br> +To quit this new idea for something you will understand better, how are +Miss R's, the W's, and Mr. R's blue bastards? for I suppose he will not +deny their <i>authorship</i>, which was, to say the least, imprudent and +immoral. Poor Miss — — : if he does not marry, and marry her speedily, he +shall be no tenant of mine from the day that I set foot on English +shores.<br> +<br> +I am glad you have received my portrait from Sanders. It does not +<i>flatter</i> me, I think, but the subject is a bad one, and I must even do +as Fletcher does over his Greek wines — make a face and hope for better. +What you told me of — — is not <i>true</i>, which I regret for your sake and +your gossip-seeking neighbours, whom present with my good wishes, and +believe me,<br> +<br> +Yours, etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L143">143 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Constantinople, July 4, 1810.<br> +<br> +My Dear Hodgson, — Twice have I written — once in answer to your last, and +a former letter when I arrived here in May. That I may have nothing to +reproach myself with, I will write once more — a very superfluous task, +seeing that Hobhouse is bound for your parts full of talk and +wonderment. My first letter went by an ambassadorial express; my second +by the <i>Black John</i> lugger; my third will be conveyed by Cam, the +miscellanist.<br> +<br> +I shall begin by telling you, having only told it you twice before, that +I swam from Sestos to Abydos. I do this that you may be impressed with +proper respect for me, the performer; for I plume myself on this +achievement more than I could possibly do on any kind of glory, +political, poetical, or rhetorical. Having told you this, I will tell +you nothing more, because it would be cruel to curtail Cam's narrative, +which, by-the-by, you must not believe till confirmed by me, the +eye-witness. I promise myself much pleasure from contradicting the +greatest part of it. He has been plaguily pleased by the intelligence +contained in your last to me respecting the reviews of his hymns. I +refreshed him with that paragraph immediately, together with the tidings +of my own third edition, which added to his recreation. But then he has +had a letter from a Lincoln's Inn Bencher, full of praise of his +harpings, and vituperation of the other contributions to his +<i>Missellingany</i>, which that sagacious person is pleased to say must +have been put in as <b>Foils</b> (<i>horresco referens!</i>); furthermore he adds +that Cam "is a genuine pupil of Dryden," concluding with a comparison +rather to the disadvantage of Pope.<br> +<br> +I have written to Drury by Hobhouse; a letter is also from me on its way +to England intended for that matrimonial man. Before it is very long, I +hope we shall again be together; the moment I set out for England you +shall have intelligence, that we may meet as soon as possible. Next week +the frigate sails with Adair; I am for Greece, Hobhouse for England. <a name="fr261">A</a> +year together on the 2nd July since we sailed from Falmouth. I have +known a hundred instances of men setting out in couples, but not one of +a similar return. Aberdeen's<a href="#f261"><sup>1</sup></a> party split; several voyagers at +present have done the same. I am confident that twelve months of any +given individual is perfect ipecacuanha.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr262">The</a> Russians and Turks are at it<a href="#f262"><sup>2</sup></a>, and the Sultan in person is soon +to head the army. The Captain Pasha cuts off heads every day, and a +Frenchman's ears; the last is a serious affair. By-the-by I like the +Pashas in general. Ali Pasha called me his son, desired his compliments +to my mother, and said he was sure I was a man of birth, because I had +"small ears and curling hair." He is Pasha of Albania six hundred miles +off, where I was in October — a fine portly person. His grandson Mahmout, +a little fellow ten years old, with large black eyes as big as pigeon's +eggs, and all the gravity of sixty, asked me what I did travelling so +young without a <i>Lala</i> (tutor)?<br> +<br> +Good night, dear H. I have crammed my paper, and crave your indulgence. +Write to me at Malta. I am, with all sincerity,<br> +<br> +Yours affectionately,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f261"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> George Hamilton Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen (1784-1860), +afterwards Prime Minister (1852-55), succeeded his grandfather as fourth +earl in 1801. Grandson of the purchaser of Mrs. Byron's old home of +Gight, and writer of an article in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> (July, 1805) +on Gell's <i>Topography of Troy,</i> he has a place in <i>English Bards, and +Scotch Reviewers</i> (lines 508, 509). He also appears as "sullen +Aberdeen," in a suppressed stanza of <i>Childe Harold</i>, Canto II., which +in the MS. follows stanza xiii., among those who + + <blockquote> " — — pilfer all the Pilgrim loves to see,<br> + All that yet consecrates the fading scene."</blockquote> + +After leaving Harrow, and before entering St. John's College, Cambridge, +he spent two years (1801-3) in Greece. On his return he founded the +Athenian Society, and became President of the Society of Antiquaries +from 1812 to 1846. It may be added that he was Foreign Secretary when +the Porte acknowledged the independence of Greece by the Treaty of +Adrianople (1829).<br> +<a href="#fr261">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f262"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> In this war, the scene of which lay chiefly in Wallachia, +Bosnia, Bulgaria, and Servia, the main episodes were the two battles of +Rustchuk (July 4 and October 14, 1811), the recapture of Silistria by +the Russians, and the Convention of Giurgevo between the contending +forces (October 28, 1811).<br> +<a href="#fr262">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L144">144 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Athens, July 25, 1810.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother, — I have arrived here in four days from Constantinople, +which is considered as singularly quick, particularly for the season of +the year. <a name="fr263">I</a> left Constantinople with Adair, at whose adieux of leave I +saw Sultan Mahmout<a href="#f263"><sup>1</sup></a>, and obtained a firman to visit the mosques, of +which I gave you a description in my last letter, now voyaging to +England in the <i>Salsette</i> frigate, in which I visited the plains of Troy +and Constantinople. Your northern gentry can have no conception of a +Greek summer; which, however, is a perfect frost compared with Malta and +Gibraltar, where I reposed myself in the shade last year, after a gentle +gallop of four hundred miles, without intermission, through Portugal and +Spain. You see, by my date, that I am at Athens again, a place which I +think I prefer, upon the whole, to any I have seen.<br> +<br> +My next movement is to-morrow into the Morea, where I shall probably +remain a month or two, and then return to winter here, if I do not +change my plans, which, however, are very variable, as you may suppose; +but none of them verge to England.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr264">The</a> Marquis of Sligo<a href="#f264"><sup>2</sup></a>, my old fellow-collegian, is here, and wishes +to accompany me into the Morea. We shall go together for that purpose; +but I am woefully sick of travelling companions, after a year's +experience of Mr. Hobhouse, who is on his way to Great Britain. Lord S. +will afterwards pursue his way to the capital; and Lord B., having seen +all the wonders in that quarter, will let you know what he does next, of +which at present he is not quite certain. Malta is my perpetual +post-office, from which my letters are forwarded to all parts of the +habitable globe:— by the bye, I have now been in Asia, Africa, and the +east of Europe, and, indeed, made the most of my time, without hurrying +over the most interesting scenes of the ancient world. Fletcher, after +having been toasted and roasted, and baked, and grilled, and eaten by +all sorts of creeping things, begins to philosophise, is grown a refined +as well as a resigned character, and promises at his return to become an +ornament to his own parish, and a very prominent person in the future +family pedigree of the Fletchers, who I take to be Goths by their +accomplishments, Greeks by their acuteness, and ancient Saxons by their +appetite. He (Fletcher) begs leave to send half-a-dozen sighs to Sally +his spouse, and wonders (though I do not) that his ill-written and worse +spelt letters have never come to hand; as for that matter, there is no +great loss in either of our letters, saving and except that I wish you +to know we are well, and warm enough at this present writing, God knows. +You must not expect long letters at present, for they are written with +the sweat of my brow, I assure you. It is rather singular that Mr. +Hanson has not written a syllable since my departure. Your letters I +have mostly received as well as others; from which I conjecture that the +man of law is either angry or busy.<br> +<br> +I trust you like Newstead, and agree with your neighbours; but you know +<i>you</i> are a <i>vixen</i> — is not that a dutiful appellation? Pray, take care +of my books and several boxes of papers in the hands of Joseph; and pray +leave me a few bottles of champagne to drink, for I am very +thirsty; — but I do not insist on the last article, without you like it. +I suppose you have your house full of silly women, prating scandalous +things. Have you ever received my picture in oil from Sanders, London? +It has been paid for these sixteen months: why do you not get it? My +suite, consisting of two Turks, two Greeks, a Lutheran, and the +nondescript, Fletcher, are making so much noise, that I am glad to sign +myself<br> +<br> +Yours, etc., etc.,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f263"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> On July 10, 1810, the British ambassador, Robert Adair, had +his audience of Sultan Mahmoud II, and on the 14th the <i>Salsette</i> set +sail. She touched at the island of Zea to land Byron, who thence made +his way to Athens.<br> +<br> +It was in making war against Mahmoud II, the conqueror of Ali Pasha and +the destroyer of the Janissaries, that Byron lost his life. The +following description of the Sultan is given by Hobhouse (<i>Travels in +Albania, etc.,</i> vol. ii. pp. 364, 365):— + + <blockquote> "The chamber was small and dark, or rather illumined with a gloomy + artificial light, reflected from the ornaments of silver, pearls, and + other white brilliants, with which it is thickly studded on every side + and on the roof. The throne, which is supposed the richest in the + world, is like a four-posted bed, but of a dazzling splendour; the + lower part formed of burnished silver and pearls, and the canopy and + supporters encrusted with jewels. It is in an awkward position, being + in one corner of the room, and close to a fireplace.<br> +<br> + "Sultan Mahmoud was placed in the middle of the throne, with his feet + upon the ground, which, notwithstanding the common form of squatting + upon the hams, seems the seat of ceremony. He was dressed in a robe of + yellow satin, with a broad border of the darkest sable; his dagger, + and an ornament on his breast, were covered with diamonds; the front + of his white and blue turban shone with a large treble sprig of + diamonds, which served as a buckle to a high, straight plume of + bird-of-paradise feathers. He, for the most part, kept a hand on each + knee, and neither moved his body nor head, but rolled his eyes from + side to side, without fixing them for an instant upon the ambassador + or any other person present. Occasionally he stroked and turned up his + beard, displaying a milk-white hand glittering with diamond rings. His + eyebrows, eyes, and beard, being of a glossy jet black, did not appear + natural, but added to that indescribable majesty which it would be + difficult for any but an Oriental sovereign to assume; his face was + pale, and regularly formed, except that his nose (contrary to the + usual form of that feature in the Ottoman princes) was slightly turned + up and pointed; his whole physiognomy was mild and benevolent, but + expressive and full of dignity. He appeared of a short and small + stature, and about thirty years old, which is somewhat more than his + actual age." +</blockquote> +Byron, at the audience, claimed some precedence in the procession as a +peer. On May 23, 1819, Moore sat at dinner next to Stratford Canning +(afterwards Lord Stratford de Redcliffe), who + + <blockquote> "gave a ludicrous account +of Lord Byron's insisting upon taking precedence of the <i>corps +diplomatique</i> in a procession at Constantinople (when Canning was +secretary), and upon Adair's refusing it, limping, with as much swagger +as he could muster, up the hall, cocking a foreign military hat on his +head. He found, however, he was wrong, and wrote a very frank letter +acknowledging it, and offering to take his station anywhere"</blockquote> (<i>Journals, +etc., of Thomas Moore</i>, vol. ii. p. 313).<br> +<br> +An incident of the voyage from Constantinople to Zea is mentioned by +Moore (<i>Life</i>, p. 110). Picking up a Turkish dagger on the deck, Byron +looked at the blade, and then, before replacing it in the sheath, was +overheard to say to himself, "I should like to know how a person feels +after committing a murder." In <i>Firmilian; a Spasmodic Tragedy</i> (scene +ix.) the sentiment is parodied. Firmilian determines to murder his +friend, in order to shriek "delirious at the taste of sin!" He had +already blown up a church full of people; but — + + <blockquote> "I must have<br> + A more potential draught of guilt than this<br> + With more of wormwood in it!...<br> + ...<br> + Courage, Firmilian! for the hour has come<br> + When thou canst know atrocity indeed,<br> + By smiting him that was thy dearest friend.<br> + And think not that he dies a vulgar death — <br> + 'Tis poetry demands the sacrifice!"</blockquote> + +And he hurls Haverillo from the summit of the Pillar of St. Simeon +Stylites.<br> +<a href="#fr263">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f264"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> For Lord Sligo, see page 100, <a href="#f68"><i>note</i></a> 2. Lord Sligo was at +Athens with a 12-gun brig and a crew of fifty men. At Athens, also, were +Lady Hester Stanhope and Michael Bruce, on their way through European +Turkey. As the party were passing the Piraeus, they saw a man jump from +the mole-head into the sea. Lord Sligo, recognizing the bather as Byron, +called to him to dress and join them. Thus began what Byron, in his +Memoranda, speaks of as "the most delightful acquaintance which I formed +in Greece." From Lord Sligo Moore heard the following stories:— <br> +<br> +Weakened and thinned by his illness at Patras, Byron returned to Athens. +There, standing one day before a looking-glass, he said to Lord Sligo, +"How pale I look! I should like, I think, to die of a consumption." "Why +of a consumption?" asked his friend. "Because then," he answered, "the +women would all say, 'See that poor Byron — how interesting he looks in +dying!'"<br> +<br> +He often spoke of his mother to Lord Sligo, who thought that his feeling +towards her was little short of aversion. "Some time or "other," he +said, "I will tell you why I feel thus towards her." A few days after, +when they were bathing together in the Gulf of Lepanto, pointing to his +naked leg and foot, he exclaimed, + + <blockquote>"Look there! It is to her false delicacy at my birth I owe that + deformity; and yet as long as I can remember, she has never ceased to + taunt and reproach me with it. Even a few days before we parted, for + the last time, on my leaving England, she, in one of her fits of + passion, uttered an imprecation upon me, praying that I might prove as + ill formed in mind as I am in body!"</blockquote> + +Relics of ancient art only appealed to Byron's imagination among their +original and natural surroundings. For collections and collectors he had +a contempt which, like everything he thought or felt, was unreservedly +expressed. Lord Sligo wished to spend some money in digging for +antiquities, and Byron offered to act as his agent, and to see the money +honestly applied. "You may safely trust <i>me</i>" he said; "I am no +dilettante. Your connoisseurs are all thieves; but I care too little for +these things ever to steal them."<br> +<br> +His system of thinning himself, which he had begun before he left +England, was continued abroad. While at Athens, where he stayed at the +Franciscan Convent, he took a Turkish bath three times a week, his usual +drink being vinegar and water, and his food seldom more than a little +rice. The result was that, when he returned to England, he weighed only +9 stone 11-1/2 lbs. (see page 127, <a href="#f91"><i>note</i></a> 1).<br> +<br> +Moore's account of the "cordial friendship" between Byron and Lady +Hester Stanhope requires modification. Lady Hester (see page 302, <a href="#f275"><i>note</i></a> +I) thus referred in after-life to her meeting with Byron, if her +physician's recollection is to be trusted (<i>Memoirs</i>, by Dr. Meryon, +vol. iii. pp. 218, 219) — + + <blockquote> "'I think he was a strange character: his generosity was for a motive, + his avarice for a motive; one time he was mopish, and nobody was to + speak to him; another, he was for being jocular with everybody. Then + he was a sort of Don Quixote, fighting with the police for a woman of + the town; and then he wanted to make himself something great ... At + Athens I saw nothing in him but a well-bred man, like many others; + for, as for poetry, it is easy enough to write verses; and as for the + thoughts, who knows where he got them? ... He had a great deal of vice + in his looks — his eyes set close together, and a contracted brow — so' + (imitating it). 'Oh, Lord! I am sure he was not a liberal man, + whatever else he might be. The only good thing about his looks was + this part' (drawing her hand under the cheek down the front of her + neck), 'and the curl on his forehead.'"</blockquote> + +Michael Bruce, with the help of Sir Robert Wilson and Capt. Hutchinson, +assisted Count Lavallette to escape from Paris in January, 1816. For an +account, see Wilson's intercepted letter to Lord Grey (<i>Memoires du +Comte Lavallette</i>, vol. ii. p. 132) and the story of their trial, +conviction, and sentence before the Assize Court of the Department of +the Seine (April 22-24, 1816), given in the <i>Annual Register</i> for 1816, +pp. 329-336.<br> +<a href="#fr264">return</a><br> +<a href="#f68">cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 51</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L145">145 — To his Mother.</a></h3> +<br> +Athens, July 27, 1810.<br> +<br> +Dear Mother, — I write again in case you have not received my letters. +To-day I go into the Morea, which will, I trust, be colder than this +place, where I have tarried in the expectation of obtaining rest. Sligo +has very kindly proposed a union of our forces for the occasion, which +will be perhaps as uncomfortable to him as to myself, judging from +previous experience, which, however, may be explained by my own +irritability and hurry.<br> +<br> +At Constantinople I visited the Mosques, plains, and grandees of that +place, which, in my opinion, cannot be compared with Athens and its +neighbourhood; indeed I know of no Turkish scenery to equal this, which +would be civilised and Celtic enough with a little alteration in +situation and inhabitants. An usual custom here, as at Cadiz, is to part +with wives, daughters, etc., for a trifling present of gold or English +arms (which the Greeks set a high value upon). The women are generally +of the middle height, with Turkish eyes, straight hair, and clear olive +complexion, but are not nearly so amorous as the Spanish belles, whom I +have described to you in former letters. I have some feats to boast of +when I return, which is undesired and undesirable — I always except you +from my complaints, and hope you will expect me with the same delight +that I anticipate meeting you. You can have no conception of Lord S.'s +ecstasy when I informed him of my probable movements. The man is well +enough and sensible enough by himself; but the swarm of attendants, +Turks, Greeks, Englishmen that he carries with him, makes his society, +or rather theirs, an intolerable annoyance. If you will read this letter +to — — , you may imagine in what capacity I believe you excel.<br> +<br> +Before I left England I promised to give my silver-mounted whip (in your +chamber) to Charles. Present it to him, poor boy, for I should not like +him to suppose me as unfaithful as his <i>amante</i>, who, by the way is no +better than she should be, and no great loss to himself or his family. +Hobhouse is silent, and has, I suppose, not yet returned; indeed, like +myself, he appears to love the world better than England, and the Devil +more than either, who I regret is not present to be informed of this. Do +not fail, if you see him (Hobhouse, I mean), to repeat it, and the +assurance that I am to him, with yourself,<br> +<br> +Ever affectionately,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L146">146 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Patras, July 30, 1810.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Madam</b>, — In four days from Constantinople, with a favourable wind, I +arrived in the frigate at the island of Teos, from whence I took a boat +to Athens, where I met my friend the Marquis of Sligo, who expressed a +wish to proceed with me as far as Corinth. At Corinth we separated, he +for Tripolitza, I for Patras, where I had some business with the consul, +Mr. Strané, in whose house I now write. He has rendered me every service +in his power since I quitted Malta on my way to Constantinople, whence I +have written to you twice or thrice. <a name="fr266">In</a> a few days I visit the Pacha<a href="#f266"><sup>1</sup></a> +at Tripolitza, make the tour of the Morea, and return again to Athens, +which at present is my head-quarters. The heat is at present intense. In +England, if it reaches 98° you are all on fire: the other day, in +travelling between Athens and Megara, the thermometer was at 125°!!! Yet +I feel no inconvenience; of course I am much bronzed, but I live +temperately, and never enjoyed better health.<br> +<br> +Before I left Constantinople, I saw the Sultan (with Mr. Adair), and the +interior of the mosques, things which rarely happen to travellers. Mr. +Hobhouse is gone to England: I am in no hurry to return, but have no +particular communications for your country, except my surprise at Mr. +Hanson's silence, and my desire that he will remit regularly. I suppose +some arrangement has been made with regard to Wymondham and Rochdale. +Malta is my post-office, or to Mr. Strané, consul-general, Patras, +Morea. You complain of my silence — I have written twenty or thirty times +within the last year: never less than twice a month, and often more. If +my letters do not arrive, you must not conclude that we are eaten, or +that there is war, or a pestilence, or famine: neither must you credit +silly reports, which I dare say you have in Notts., as usual. I am very +well, and neither more nor less happy than I usually am; except that I +am very glad to be once more alone, for I was sick of my companion, — +not that he was a bad one, but because my nature leads me to solitude, +and that every day adds to this disposition. If I chose, here are many +men who would wish to join me — one wants me to go to Egypt, another to +Asia, of which I have seen enough. The greater part of Greece is already +my own, so that I shall only go over my old ground, and look upon my old +seas and mountains, the only acquaintances I ever found improve upon me.<br> +<br> +I have a tolerable suite, a Tartar, two Albanians, an interpreter, +besides Fletcher; but in this country these are easily maintained. Adair +received me wonderfully well, and indeed I have no complaints against +any one. Hospitality here is necessary, for inns are not. I have lived +in the houses of Greeks, Turks, Italians, and English — to-day in a +palace, to-morrow in a cow-house; this day with a Pacha, the next with a +shepherd. I shall continue to write briefly, but frequently, and am glad +to hear from you; but you fill your letters with things from the papers, +as if English papers were not found all over the world. I have at this +moment a dozen before me. Pray take care of my books, and believe me, my +dear mother,<br> +<br> +Yours very faithfully,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f266"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> For Veli Pasha, see page 248, <a href="#f226"><i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr266">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L147">147 — To his Mother.</a></h3> +<br> +Patras, October 2, 1810.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Madam</b>, — It is now several months since I have received any +communication from you; but at this I am not surprised, nor indeed have +I any complaint to make, since you have written frequently, for which I +thank you; but I very much condemn Mr. Hanson, who has not taken the +smallest notice of my many letters, nor of my request before I left +England, which I sailed from on this very day <i>fifteen</i> months ago. Thus +one year and a quarter have passed away, without my receiving the least +intelligence on the state of my affairs, and they were not in a posture +to admit of neglect; and I do conceive and declare that Mr. Hanson has +acted negligently and culpably in not apprising me of his proceedings; I +will also add uncivilly. His letters, were there any, could not easily +miscarry; the communications with the Levant are slow, but tolerably +secure, at least as far as Malta, and there I left directions which I +know would be observed.<br> +<br> +I have written to you several times from Constantinople and Smyrna. <a name="fr267">You</a> +will perceive by my date I am returned into the Morea<a href="#f267"><sup>1</sup></a>, of which I +have been making the tour, and visiting the Pacha, who gave me a fine +horse, and paid me all possible honours and attention. I have now seen a +good portion of Turkey in Europe, and Asia Minor, and shall remain at +Athens, and in the vicinity, till I hear from England.<br> +<br> +I have punctually obeyed your injunctions of writing frequently, but I +shall not pretend to describe countries which have been already amply +treated of. I believe before this time Mr. Hobhouse will have arrived in +England, and he brings letters from me, written at Constantinople. In +these I mention having seen the Sultan and the mosques, and that I swam +from Sestos to Abydos, an exploit of which I take care to boast.<br> +<br> +I am here on business at present, but Athens is my head-quarters, where +I am very pleasantly situated in a Franciscan convent. Believe me to be, +with great sincerity, yours very affectionately,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> + + +P.S. — Fletcher is well, and discontented as usual; his wife don't write, +at least her scrawls have not arrived. You will address to Malta. Pray +have you never received my picture in oil from Sanders, Vigo Lane, +London?<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f267"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> In a note upon the Advertisement prefixed to his <i>Siege of +Corinth</i>, Byron says, + + <blockquote> "I visited all three (Tripolitza, Napoli, and Argos) in 1810-11, and, + in the course of journeying through the country, from my first arrival + in 1809, I crossed the Isthmus eight times in my way from Attica to + the Morea, over the mountains, or in the other direction, when passing + from the Gulf of Athens to that of Lepanto."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr267">return to footnote mark</a> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L148">148 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Patras, Morea, October 3, 1810.<br> +<br> +As I have just escaped from a physician and a fever, which confined me +five days to bed, you won't expect much <i>allegrezza</i> in the ensuing +letter. In this place there is an indigenous distemper, which when the +wind blows from the Gulf of Corinth (as it does five months out of six), +attacks great and small, and makes woful work with visiters. Here be +also two physicians, one of whom trusts to his genius (never having +studied) — the other to a campaign of eighteen months against the sick of +Otranto, which he made in his youth with great effect.<br> +<br> +When I was seized with my disorder, I protested against both these +assassins; — but what can a helpless, feverish, toast-and-watered poor +wretch do? In spite of my teeth and tongue, the English consul, my +Tartar, Albanians, dragoman, forced a physician upon me, and in three +days vomited and glystered me to the last gasp. In this state I made my +epitaph — take it:— + + <blockquote> Youth, Nature, and relenting Jove,<br> + To keep my lamp <i>in</i> strongly strove:<br> + But Romanelli was so stout,<br> + He beat all three — and <i>blew</i> it <i>out</i>.</blockquote> + +But Nature and Jove, being piqued at my doubts, did, in fact, at last, +beat Romanelli, and here I am, well but weakly, at your service.<br> +<br> +Since I left Constantinople, I have made a tour of the Morea, and +visited Veley Pacha, who paid me great honours, and gave me a pretty +stallion. H. is doubtless in England before even the date of this +letter:— he bears a despatch from me to your bardship. He writes to me +from Malta, and requests my journal, if I keep one. I have none, or he +should have it; but I have replied in a consolatory and exhortatory +epistle, praying him to abate three and sixpence in the price of his +next boke, seeing that half a guinea is a price not to be given for any +thing save an opera ticket.<br> +<br> +As for England, it is long since I have heard from it. Every one at all +connected with my concerns is asleep, and you are my only correspondent, +agents excepted. I have really no friends in the world; though all my +old school companions are gone forth into that world, and walk about +there in monstrous disguises, in the garb of guardsmen, lawyers, +parsons, fine gentlemen, and such other masquerade dresses. So, I here +shake hands and cut with all these busy people, none of whom write to +me. Indeed I ask it not; — and here I am, a poor traveller and heathenish +philosopher, who hath perambulated the greatest part of the Levant, and +seen a great quantity of very improvable land and sea, and, after all, +am no better than when I set out — Lord help me!<br> +<br> +I have been out fifteen months this very day, and I believe my concerns +will draw me to England soon; but of this I will apprise you regularly +from Malta. <a name="fr268">On</a> all points Hobhouse will inform you, if you are curious +as to our adventures<a href="#f268"><sup>1</sup></a>. I have seen some old English papers up to the +15th of May. <a name="fr269">I</a> see the <i>Lady of the Lake</i><a href="#f269"><sup>2</sup></a> advertised. Of course it is +in his old ballad style, and pretty. After all, Scott is the best of +them. The end of all scribblement is to amuse, and he certainly succeeds +there. I long to read his new romance.<br> +<br> +And how does <i>Sir Edgar</i>? and your friend Bland? I suppose you are +involved in some literary squabble. The only way is to despise all +brothers of the quill. I suppose you won't allow me to be an author, but +I contemn you all, you dogs! — I do.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr270">You</a> don't know Dallas, do you? He had a farce<a href="#f270"><sup>3</sup></a> ready for the stage +before I left England, and asked me for a prologue, which I promised, +but sailed in such a hurry I never penned a couplet. I am afraid to ask +after his drama, for fear it should be damned — Lord forgive me for using +such a word! but the pit, Sir, you know the pit — they will do those +things in spite of merit. I remember this farce from a curious +circumstance. <a name="fr271">When</a> Drury Lane<a href="#f271"><sup>4</sup></a> was burnt to the ground, by which +accident Sheridan and his son lost the few remaining shillings they were +worth, what doth my friend Dallas do? <a name="fr272">Why</a>, before the fire was out, he +writes a note to Tom Sheridan<a href="#f272"><sup>5</sup></a>, the manager of this combustible +concern, to inquire whether this farce was not converted into fuel with +about two thousand other unactable manuscripts, which of course were in +great peril, if not actually consumed. Now was not this +characteristic? — the ruling passions of Pope are nothing to it. <a name="fr273">Whilst</a> +the poor distracted manager was bewailing the loss of a building only +worth £300,000., together with some twenty thousand pounds of rags and +tinsel in the tiring rooms, Bluebeard's elephants<a href="#f273"><sup>6</sup></a>, and all that — in +comes a note from a scorching author, requiring at his hands two acts +and odd scenes of a farce!!<br> +<br> +Dear H., remind Drury that I am his well-wisher, and let Scrope Davies +be well affected towards me. I look forward to meeting you at Newstead, +and renewing our old champagne evenings with all the glee of +anticipation. I have written by every opportunity, and expect responses +as regular as those of the liturgy, and somewhat longer. As it is +impossible for a man in his senses to hope for happy days, let us at +least look forward to merry ones, which come nearest to the other in +appearance, if not in reality; and in such expectations I remain, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f268"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Hobhouse, writing to Byron from Malta, July 31, 1810, says, + + <blockquote> "Mrs. Bruce picked out a pretty picture of a woman in a fashionable + dress in Ackerman's <i>Repository</i>, and observed it was vastly like Lord + Byron. I give you warning of this, for fear you should make another + conquest and return to England without a curl upon your head. Surely + the ladies copy Delilah when they crop their lovers after this fashion. + + <blockquote> 'Successful youth! why mourn thy ravish'd hair,<br> + Since each lost lock bespeaks a conquer'd fair,<br> + And young and old conspire to make thee bare?'</blockquote> + + This makes me think of my poor <i>Miscellany</i>, which is quite dead, if + indeed that can be said to be dead which was never alive; not a soul + knows, or knowing will speak of it." Again, July 15, 1811, he writes: + "The <i>Miscellany</i> is so damned that my friends make it a point of + politeness not to mention it ever to me."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr268">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f269"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> <i>The Lady of the Lake</i> was published in May, 1810.<br> +<a href="#fr269">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f270"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> For Dallas, see page 168, <a href="#f139"><i>note 1</i></a>. His farce, entitled, +<i>Not at Home</i>, was acted at the Lyceum, by the Drury Lane Company, in +November, 1809. It was afterwards printed, with a prologue (intended to +have been spoken) written by Walter Rodwell Wright, author of <i>Horæ +Ionicæ</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr270">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f271"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> Drury Lane Theatre, burned down in 1791, and reopened in +1794, was again destroyed by fire on February 24, 1809.<br> +<a href="#fr271">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f272"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> Thomas Sheridan (1775-1817), originally in the army, was at +this time assisting his father, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, as manager of +Drury Lane Theatre. His <i>Bonduca</i> was played at Covent Garden in May, +1808. He married, in 1805, Caroline Henrietta Callender, who was "more +beautiful than anybody but her daughters," afterwards Mrs. Norton, the +Duchess of Somerset, and Lady Dufferin. He died at the Cape of Good Hope +in 1817. "Tom Sheridan and his beautiful wife" were at Gibraltar in +1809, when Byron and Hobhouse landed on the Rock, and, as Galt states +(<i>Life of Byron</i>, p. 58), brought the news to Lady Westmorland of their +arrival. (See <i>English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i>, lines 572, 573, and +<i>note</i> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr272">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f273"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> <i>Bluebeard, or Female Curiosity</i>, by George Colman the +Younger (1762-1836), was being acted at Drury Lane in January, 1809. +"Bluebeard's elephants" were wicker-work constructions. It was at Covent +Garden that the first live elephant was introduced two years later. +Johnstone, the machinist employed at Drury Lane, famous for the +construction of wooden children, wicker-work lions, and paste-board +swans, was present with a friend. + + <blockquote>"Among the attractions of this Christmas foolery, a <i>real</i> elephant + was introduced.... The friend, who sat close to Johnstone, jogged his + elbow, whispering, 'This is a bitter bad job for Drury! Why, the + elephant's <i>alive</i>! He'll carry all before him, and beat you hollow. + What do you think on't, eh?' 'Think on't?' said Johnstone, in a tone + of utmost contempt, 'I should be very sorry if I couldn't make a much + better elephant than that, at any time'"</blockquote> + +(George Colman the Younger, <i>Random Records</i>, vol. i. pp. 228, 229).<br> +<a href="#fr273">return</a> +<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L149">149 — To John Cam Hobhouse</a></h3> +<br> +Patras, Morea, October 4th, 1810.<br> +<br> +<b>My</b> Dear Hobhouse, — <a name="fr274">I</a> wrote to you two days ago, but the weather and my +friend Strané's conversation being much the same, and my ally Nicola<a href="#f274"><sup>1</sup></a> +in bed with a fever, I think I may as well talk to you, the rather, as +you can't answer me, and excite my wrath with impertinent observations, +at least for three months to come.<br> +<br> +I will try not to say the same things I have set down in my other letter +of the 2nd, but I can't promise, as my poor head is still giddy with my +late fever.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr275">I</a> saw the Lady Hesther Stanhope<a href="#f275"><sup>2</sup></a> at Athens, and do not admire "that +dangerous thing a female wit." She told me (take her own words) that she +had given you a good set-down at Malta, in some disputation about the +Navy; from this, of course, I readily inferred the contrary, or in the +words of an <i>acquaintance</i> of ours, that "you had the best of it."<br> +<br> +She evinced a similar disposition to <i>argufy</i> with me, which I avoided +by either laughing or yielding. I despise the sex too much to squabble +with them, and I rather wonder you should allow a woman to draw you into +a contest, in which, however, I am sure you had the advantage, she +abuses you so bitterly.<br> +<br> +I have seen too little of the Lady to form any decisive opinion, but I +have discovered nothing different from other she-things, except a great +disregard of received notions in her conversation as well as conduct. I +don't know whether this will recommend her to our sex, but I am sure it +won't to her own. She is going on to Constantinople.<br> +<br> +Ali Pacha is in a scrape. Ibrahim Pacha and the Pacha of Scutari have +come down upon him with 20,000 Gegdes and Albanians, retaken Berat, and +threaten Tepaleni. Adam Bey is dead, Vely Pacha was on his way to the +Danube, but has gone off suddenly to Yanina, and all Albania is in an +uproar.<br> +<br> +The mountains we crossed last year are the scene of warfare, and there +is nothing but carnage and cutting of throats. In my other letter I +mentioned that Vely had given me a fine horse. On my late visit he +received me with great pomp, standing, conducted me to the door with his +arm round my waist, and a variety of civilities, invited me to meet him +at Larissa and see his army, which I should have accepted, had not this +rupture with Ibrahim taken place. Sultan Mahmout is in a phrenzy because +Vely has not joined the army. We have a report here, that the Russians +have beaten the Turks and taken Muchtar Pacha prisoner, but it is a +Greek Bazaar rumour and not to be believed.<br> +<br> +I have now treated you with a dish of Turkish politics. <a name="fr276">You</a> have by this +time gotten into England, and your ears and mouth are full of "Reform +Burdett, Gale Jones<a href="#f276"><sup>3</sup></a>, minority, last night's division, dissolution of +Parliament, battle in Portugal," and all the cream of forty newspapers.<br> +<br> +In my t'other letter, to which I am perpetually obliged to refer, I have +offered some moving topics on the head of your <i>Miscellany</i>, the +neglect of which I attribute to the half guinea annexed as the +indispensable equivalent for the said volume.<br> +<br> +Now I do hope, notwithstanding that exorbitant demand, that on your +return you will find it selling, or, what is better, sold, in +consequence of which you will be able to face the public with your new +volume, if that intention still subsists.<br> +<br> +My journal, did I keep one, should be yours. As it is I can only offer +my sincere wishes for your success, if you will believe it possible for +a brother scribbler to be sincere on such an occasion.<br> +<br> +Will you execute a commission for me? <a name="fr277">Lord</a> Sligo tells me it was the +intention of Miller<a href="#f277"><sup>4</sup></a> in Albemarle Street to send by him a letter to +me, which he stated to be of consequence. Now I have no concern with Mr. +M. except a bill which I hope is paid before this time; will you visit +the said M. and if it be a pecuniary matter, refer him to Hanson, and if +not, tell me what he means, or forward his letter.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr278">I</a> have just received an epistle from Galt<a href="#f278"><sup>5</sup></a>, with a Candist poem, +which it seems I am to forward to you. This I would willingly do, but it +is too large for a letter, and too small for a parcel, and besides +appears to be damned nonsense, from all which considerations I will +deliver it in person. It is entitled the "Fair Shepherdess," or rather +"Herdswoman;" if you don't like the translation take the original title +"<img src="images/BLG5.gif" width="114" height="25" alt="Greek (transliterated): hae boskopoula">." Galt also writes something +not very intelligible about a "Spartan State paper" which by his account +is everything but Laconic. Now the said Sparta having some years ceased +to be a state, what the devil does he mean by a paper? he also adds +mysteriously that the <i>affair</i> not being concluded, he cannot at +present apply for it.<br> +<br> +Now, Hobhouse, are you mad? or is he? Are these documents for Longman & +Co.? Spartan state papers! and Cretan rhymes! indeed these circumstances +super-added to his house at Mycone (whither I am invited) and his Levant +wines, make me suspect his sanity. Athens is at present infested with +English people, but they are moving, <i>Dio bendetto!</i> I am returning +to pass a month or two; I think the spring will see me in England, but +do not let this transpire, nor cease to urge the most dilatory of +mortals, Hanson. I have some idea of purchasing the Island of Ithaca; I +suppose you will add me to the Levant lunatics. I shall be glad to hear +from your Signoria of your welfare, politics, and literature.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr279">Your</a> last letter closes pathetically with a postscript about a nosegay<a href="#f279"><sup>6</sup></a>; I advise you to introduce that into your next sentimental novel. I +am sure I did not suspect you of any fine feelings, and I believe you +were laughing, but you are welcome.<br> +<br> +<i>Vale</i>; "<a name="fr280">I</a> can no more," like Lord Grizzle<a href="#f280"><sup>7</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +Yours,<br> +<br> +<img src="images/BLG6.gif" width="74" height="25" alt="Greek (transliterated): Mpair_on"><br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f274"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Nicolo Giraud, from whom Byron was learning Italian.<br> +<a href="#fr274">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f275"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Hobhouse had written to Byron, speaking of Lady Hester +Stanhope "as the most superior woman, as Bruce says, of all the world." +The daughter of Pitt's favourite sister, Lady Hester (1776-1839) was her +uncle's constant companion (1803-6). In character she resembled her +grandfather far more than her uncle, who owed his cool judgment to the +Grenville blood. Lady Hester inherited the overweening pride, +generosity, courage, and fervent heat of the "Great Commoner," as well +as his indomitable will. Like him, she despised difficulties, and +ignored the word "impossibility." Her romantic ideas were also combined +with keen insight into character, and much practical sagacity. These +were the qualities which made her for many years a power among the wild +tribes of Lebanon, with whom she was in 1810 proceeding to take up her +abode (1813-39).<br> +<a href="#fr275">return</a><br> +<a href="#f264">cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 144</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f276"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Sir Francis Burdett (1770-1844), a lifelong friend of Lady +Hester Stanhope, was afterwards Hobhouse's colleague as M.P. for +Westminster (1820-33). He was committed to the Tower in +1810 for publishing a speech which he delivered in the House of +Commons in defence of John Gale Jones, whom the House (February, +1810) had sent to Newgate for a breach of privilege. Sir Francis +refused to obey the warrant, and told the sergeant-at-arms that he +would not go unless taken by force. His refusal led to riots near his +house (77, Piccadilly), in which the Horse Guards, or "Oxford +Blues" as they were called, gained the name of "Piccadilly +Butchers" (Lord Albemarle's <i>Recollections</i>, vol. i. pp. 317, 318).<br> +<a href="#fr276">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f277"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> See page 319, <a href="#f295"><i>note</i></a> 2.<br> +<a href="#fr277">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f278"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> John Galt (1779-1839), the novelist, was at this time +endeavouring to establish a place of business at Mycone, in the Greek +Archipelago. He published in 1812 his <i>Voyages and Travels in the +Years</i> 1809, 1810, 1811. (For his meeting with Byron at Gibraltar, +see page 243, <a href="#f223"><i>note i</i></a>.)<br> +<a href="#fr278">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f279"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 6:</span></a> Hobhouse's letter to Byron of July 31, 1810, ends with the +following postscript:— + +<blockquote>"I kept the half of your little nosegay till it +withered entirely, and even then I could not bear to throw it away. I +can't account for this, nor can you either, I dare say."</blockquote> +<a href="#fr279">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f280"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 7:</span></a> Lord Grizzle, in Fielding's <i>Tom Thumb</i>, is the first +peer in the Court of King Arthur, who, jealous of Tom Thumb and in love +with the Princess Huncamunca, turns traitor, and is run through the body +by Tom Thumb. It is the ghost, not Grizzle, who says, "I can no more." +(See page 226, <a href="#f207"><i>note</i></a> 1.)<br> +<a href="#fr280">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L150">150 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Athens, November 14, 1810.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Hodgson</b>, — This will arrive with an English servant whom I send +homewards with some papers of consequence. I have been journeying in +different parts of Greece for these last four months, and you may expect +me in England somewhere about April, but this is very dubious. Hobhouse +you have doubtless seen; he went home in August to arrange materials for +a tour he talks of publishing. You will find him well and +scribbling — that is, scribbling if well, and well if scribbling.<br> +<br> +I suppose you have a score of new works, all of which I hope to see +flourishing, with a hecatomb of reviews. <i>My</i> works are likely to +have a powerful effect with a vengeance, as I hear of divers angry +people, whom it is proper I should shoot at, by way of satisfaction. Be +it so, the same impulse which made "Otho a warrior" will make me one +also. My domestic affairs being moreover considerably deranged, my +appetite for travelling pretty well satiated with my late +peregrinations, my various hopes in this world almost extinct, and not +very brilliant in the next, I trust I shall go through the process with +a creditable <i>sang froid</i> and not disgrace a line of cut-throat +ancestors.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr281">I</a> regret in one of your letters to hear you talk of domestic +embarrassments<a href="#f281"><sup>1</sup></a>, indeed I am at present very well calculated to +sympathise with you on that point. I suppose I must take to +dram-drinking as a <i>succedaneum</i> for philosophy, though as I am +happily not married, I have very little occasion for either just yet.<br> +<br> +Talking of marriage puts me in mind of Drury, who I suppose has a dozen +children by this time, all fine fretful brats; I will never forgive +Matrimony for having spoiled such an excellent Bachelor. If anybody +honours my name with an inquiry tell them of "my whereabouts" and write +if you like it. I am living alone in the Franciscan monastery with one +"fri<i>ar</i>" (a Capuchin of course) and one "fri<i>er</i>" (a +bandy-legged Turkish cook), two Albanian savages, a Tartar, and a +Dragoman. My only Englishman departs with this and other letters. The +day before yesterday the Waywode (or Governor of Athens) with the Mufti +of Thebes (a sort of Mussulman Bishop) supped here and made themselves +beastly with raw rum, and the Padré of the convent being as drunk as +<i>we</i>, my <i>Attic</i> feast went off with great <i>éclat</i>. I +have had a present of a stallion from the Pacha of the Morea. I caught a +fever going to Olympia. I was blown ashore on the Island of Salamis, in +my way to Corinth through the Gulf of Ægina. I have kicked an Athenian +postmaster, <a name="fr282">I</a> have a friendship with the French consul<a href="#f282"><sup>2</sup></a> and an +Italian painter, and am on good terms with five Teutones and Cimbri, +Danes and Germans<a href="#f282"><sup>2</sup></a>, who are travelling for an Academy. Vale!<br> +<br> +Yours, <img src="images/BLG6.gif" width="74" height="25" alt="Greek (transliterated): Mpair_on"><a href="#f283"><sup>3</sup></a><br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f281"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Hodgson's father, Rector of Barwick-in-Elmet, Yorkshire, +died in October, 1810, heavily in debt. Francis Hodgson undertook +to satisfy the claims of his father's creditors (<i>Life of the Rev. Francis +Hodgson</i>, vol. i. pp. 147, 148).<br> +<a href="#fr281">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f282"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> M. Fauriel, the French Consul: Lusieri, an Italian artist +employed by Lord Elgin; Nicolo Giraud, from whom Byron learned Italian, +and to whose sister Lusieri proposed; Baron Haller, a Bavarian +<i>savant</i>; and Dr. Bronstett, of Copenhagen, were among his friends +at Athens.<br> +<a href="#fr282">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f283"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> The signature represents "Byron" in modern Greek, Μπ [Greek: Mp] being the correct transliteration of 'B'.<br> +<a href="#fr282">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L151">151 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Athens, January 14, 1811.<br> +<br> +My Dear Madam, — I seize an occasion to write as usual, shortly, but +frequently, as the arrival of letters, where there exists no regular +communication, is, of course, very precarious. I have lately made +several small tours of some hundred or two miles about the Morea, +Attica, etc., as I have finished my grand giro by the Troad, +Constantinople, etc., and am returned down again to Athens. I believe I +have mentioned to you more than once that I swam (in imitation of +Leander, though without his lady) across the Hellespont, from Sestos to +Abydos. Of this, and all other particulars, Fletcher, whom I have sent +home with papers, etc., will apprise you. I cannot find that he is any +loss; being tolerably master of the Italian and modern Greek languages, +which last I am also studying with a master, I can order and discourse +more than enough for a reasonable man. Besides, the perpetual +lamentations after beef and beer, the stupid, bigoted contempt for every +thing foreign, and insurmountable incapacity of acquiring even a few +words of any language, rendered him, like all other English servants, an +incumbrance. I do assure you, the plague of speaking for him, the +comforts he required (more than myself by far), the pilaws (a Turkish +dish of rice and meat) which he could not eat, the wines which he could +not drink, the beds where he could not sleep, and the long list of +calamities, such as stumbling horses, want of <i>tea!!!</i> etc., which +assailed him, would have made a lasting source of laughter to a +spectator, and inconvenience to a master. After all, the man is honest +enough, and, in Christendom, capable enough; but in Turkey, Lord forgive +me! my Albanian soldiers, my Tartars and Jannissary, worked for him and +us too, as my friend Hobhouse can testify.<br> +<br> +It is probable I may steer homewards in spring; but to enable me to do +that, I must have remittances. My own funds would have lasted me very +well; but I was obliged to assist a friend, who, I know, will pay me; +but, in the mean time, I am out of pocket. At present, I do not care to +venture a winter's voyage, even if I were otherwise tired of travelling; +but I am so convinced of the advantages of looking at mankind instead of +reading about them, and the bitter effects of staying at home with all +the narrow prejudices of an islander, that I think there should be a law +amongst us, to set our young men abroad, for a term, among the few +allies our wars have left us.<br> +<br> +Here I see and have conversed with French, Italians, Germans, Danes, +Greeks, Turks, Americans, etc., etc., etc.; and without losing sight of +my own, I can judge of the countries and manners of others. Where I see +the superiority of England (which, by the by, we are a good deal +mistaken about in many things), I am pleased, and where I find her +inferior, I am at least enlightened. Now, I might have stayed, smoked in +your towns, or fogged in your country, a century, without being sure of +this, and without acquiring any thing more useful or amusing at home. I +keep no journal, nor have I any intention of scribbling my travels. I +have done with authorship, and if, in my last production, I have +convinced the critics or the world I was something more than they took +me for, I am satisfied; nor will I hazard <i>that reputation</i> by a +future effort. It is true I have some others in manuscript, but I leave +them for those who come after me; and, if deemed worth publishing, they +may serve to prolong my memory when I myself shall cease to remember. I +have a famous Bavarian artist taking some views of Athens, etc., etc., +for me. This will be better than scribbling, a disease I hope myself +cured of. I hope, on my return, to lead a quiet, recluse life, but God +knows and does best for us all; at least, so they say, and I have +nothing to object, as, on the whole, I have no reason to complain of my +lot. I am convinced, however, that men do more harm to themselves than +ever the devil could do to them. I trust this will find you well, and as +happy as we can be; you will, at least, be pleased to hear I am so, and<br> +<br> +Yours ever.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L152">152 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Athens, February 28, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Madam</b>, — As I have received a firman for Egypt, etc., I shall +proceed to that quarter in the spring, and I beg you will state to Mr. +Hanson that it is necessary to [send] further remittances. On the +subject of Newstead, I answer as before, <i>No</i>. If it is necessary +to sell, sell Rochdale. Fletcher will have arrived by this time with my +letters to that purport. I will tell you fairly, I have, in the first +place, no opinion of funded property; if, by any particular +circumstances, I shall be led to adopt such a determination, I will, at +all events, pass my life abroad, as my only tie to England is Newstead, +and, that once gone, neither interest nor inclination lead me northward. +Competence in your country is ample wealth in the East, such is the +difference in the value of money and the abundance of the necessaries of +life; and I feel myself so much a citizen of the world, that the spot +where I can enjoy a delicious climate, and every luxury, at a less +expense than a common college life in England, will always be a country +to me; and such are in fact the shores of the Archipelago. This then is +the alternative — if I preserve Newstead, I return; if I sell it, I stay +away. I have had no letters since yours of June, but I have written +several times, and shall continue, as usual, on the same plan.<br> +<br> +Believe me, yours ever, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — I shall most likely see you in the course of the summer, but, of +course, at such a distance, I cannot specify any particular month.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L153">153 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +<i>Volage</i> frigate, at sea, June 25, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>Dear Mother</b>, — This letter, which will be forwarded on our arrival at +Portsmouth, probably about the 4th of July, is begun about twenty-three +days after our departure from Malta. I have just been two years (to a +day, on the 2d of July) absent from England, and I return to it with +much the same feelings which prevailed on my departure, viz. +indifference; but within that apathy I certainly do not comprise +yourself, as I will prove by every means in my power. You will be good +enough to get my apartments ready at Newstead; but don't disturb +yourself, on any account, particularly mine, nor consider me in any +other light than as a visiter. I must only inform you that for a long +time I have been restricted to an entire vegetable diet, neither fish +nor flesh coming within my regimen; so I expect a powerful stock of +potatoes, greens, and biscuit; I drink no wine. I have two servants, +middle-aged men, and both Greeks. It is my intention to proceed first to +town, to see Mr. Hanson, and thence to Newstead, on my way to Rochdale. +I have only to beg you will not forget my diet, which it is very +necessary for me to observe. I am well in health, as I have generally +been, with the exception of two agues, both of which I quickly got over.<br> +<br> +My plans will so much depend on circumstances, that I shall not venture +to lay down an opinion on the subject. My prospects are not very +promising, but I suppose we shall wrestle through life like our +neighbours; <a name="fr284">indeed</a>, by Hanson's last advices, I have some apprehension +of finding Newstead dismantled by Messrs. Brothers<a href="#f284"><sup>1</sup></a>, etc., and he +seems determined to force me into selling it, but he will be baffled. I +don't suppose I shall be much pestered with visiters; but if I am, you +must receive them, for I am determined to have nobody breaking in upon +my retirement: you know that I never was fond of society, and I am less +so than before. I have brought you a shawl, and a quantity of attar of +roses, but these I must smuggle, if possible. I trust to find my library +in tolerable order.<br> +<br> +Fletcher is no doubt arrived. I shall separate the mill from Mr. B — 's +farm, for his son is too gay a deceiver to inherit both, and place +Fletcher in it, who has served me faithfully, and whose wife is a good +woman; besides, it is necessary to sober young Mr. B — , or he will +people the parish with bastards. In a word, if he had seduced a +dairy-maid, he might have found something like an apology; but the girl +is his equal, and in high life or low life reparation is made in such +circumstances. But I shall not interfere further than (like Buonaparte) +by dismembering Mr. B.'s <i>kingdom</i>, and erecting part of it into a +principality for field-marshal Fletcher! I hope you govern my little +<i>empire</i> and its sad load of national debt with a wary hand. To +drop my metaphor, I beg leave to subscribe myself<br> +<br> +Yours ever, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. July 14. — This letter was written to be sent from Portsmouth, but, +on arriving there, the squadron was ordered to the Nore, from whence I +shall forward it. This I have not done before, supposing you might be +alarmed by the interval mentioned in the letter being longer than +expected between our arrival in port and my appearance at Newstead.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f284"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Brothers, an upholsterer of Nottingham, had put in an execution +at Newstead for £1600.<br> +<a href="#fr284">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L154">154 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +<i>Volage</i> Frigate, at sea, June 28, 1811.<br> +<br> +After two years' absence (to a day, on the 2d of July, before which we +shall not arrive at Portsmouth), I am retracing my way to England. I +have, as you know, spent the greater part of that period in Turkey, +except two months in Spain and Portugal, which were then accessible. I +have seen every thing most remarkable in Turkey, particularly the Troad, +Greece, Constantinople, and Albania, into which last region very few +have penetrated so high as Hobhouse and myself. I don't know that I have +done anything to distinguish me from other voyagers, unless you will +reckon my swimming from Sestos to Abydos, on May 3d, 1810, a tolerable +feat for a <i>modern</i>.<br> +<br> +I am coming back with little prospect of pleasure at home, and with a +body a little shaken by one or two smart fevers, but a spirit I hope yet +unbroken. My affairs, it seems, are considerably involved, and much +business must be done with lawyers, colliers, farmers, and creditors. +Now this, to a man who hates bustle as he hates a bishop, is a serious +concern. But enough of my home department.<br> +<br> +I find I have been scolding Cawthorn without a cause, as I found two +parcels with two letters from you on my return to Malta. By these it +appears you have not received a letter from Constantinople, addressed to +Longman's, but it was of no consequence.<br> +<br> +My Satire, it seems, is in a fourth edition, a success rather above the +middling run, but not much for a production which, from its topics, must +be temporary, and of course be successful at first, or not at all. At +this period, when I can think and act more coolly, I regret that I have +written it, though I shall probably find it forgotten by all except +those whom it has offended. My friend Hobhouse's <i>Miscellany</i> has +not succeeded; but he himself writes so good-humouredly on the subject, +I don't know whether to laugh or cry with him. He met with your son at +Cadiz, of whom he speaks highly.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr285">Yours</a> and Pratt's<a href="#f285"><sup>1</sup></a> <i>protégé</i>, Blacket<a href="#f286"><sup>2</sup></a>, the cobbler, is dead, +in spite of his rhymes, and is probably one of the instances where death +has saved a man from damnation. You were the ruin of that poor fellow +amongst you: had it not been for his patrons, he might now have been in +very good plight, shoe- (not verse-) making; but you have made him +immortal with a vengeance. I write this, supposing poetry, patronage, +and strong waters, to have been the death of him. <a name="fr287">If</a> you are in town in +or about the beginning of July, you will find me at Dorant's, in +Albemarle Street, glad to see you<a href="#f287"><sup>3</sup></a>. I have an imitation of Horace's +<i>Art of Poetry</i> ready for Cawthorn, but don't let that deter you, for I +sha'n't inflict it upon you. You know I never read my rhymes to +visiters. I shall quit town in a few days for Notts., and thence to +Rochdale. I shall send this the moment we arrive in harbour, that is a +week hence.<br> +<br> +Yours ever sincerely, <b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f285"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> For Pratt, see page 186, <a href="#f155"><i>note</i></a> 1.<br> +<a href="#fr285">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f286"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Joseph Blacket (1786-1810) has his place in <i>English +Bards</i> (lines 765, 798) and <i>Hints from Horace</i> (line 734). The +son of a labourer, and himself by trade a cobbler, he wrote verses in +which Pratt saw signs of genius. A volume of his poetry was published in +1809, under the title of <i>Specimens</i>, edited by Pratt. Among those +who befriended him were Elliston the actor, Dallas, and Miss Milbanke, +afterwards Lady Byron (see <i>English Bards</i>, lines 770, and +<i>note</i> 1). His <i>Remains</i> were collected and published by Pratt +in 1811 for the benefit of Blacket's orphan daughter, with a dedication +to "the Duchess of Leeds, Lady Milbanke and family" (see <a href="#fr312">page 337</a>, and +<i>Hints from Horace</i>, line 734, and Byron's <i>note</i>). In the +suppressed edition of Dallas's <i>Correspondence of Lord Byron</i> (pp. +127, 128) occurs the following passage, from which, if Dallas's grammar +is to be trusted, it seems that the famous epitaph on Blacket was not +Byron's composition. Dallas <blockquote>'"was persuaded by Mr. Pratt's warmth to see +some sparkling of genius in the effusions of this young man (Blacket). +It was upon this that Lord Byron and a young friend of his were +sometimes playful in conversation, and in writing to me. <br> +<br> +I see,' says +the latter, 'that Blacket the Son of Crispin and Apollo is dead.' +Looking into Boswell's <i>Life of Johnson</i> the other day, I saw, 'We were +talking about the famous Mr. Wordsworth, the poetical Shoemaker.' Now, I +never before heard that there had been a Mr. Wordsworth a Poet, a +Shoemaker, or a famous man; and I dare say you have never heard of him. +Thus it will be with Bloomfield and Blackett — their names two years +after their death will be found neither on the rolls of Curriers' Hall +nor of Parnassus. Who would think that anybody would be such a blockhead +as to sin against an express proverb, <i>Ne sutor ultra crepidam</i>? + + <blockquote>'But spare him, ye Critics, his follies are past,<br> + For the Cobler is come, as he ought, to his <i>last</i>.'</blockquote> + +Which two lines, with a scratch under <i>last</i>, to show where the joke +lies, I beg that you will prevail on Miss Milbanke to have inserted on +the tomb of her departed Blacket." </blockquote>It should be added that the +shoemaking poet was not Wordsworth, but Woodhouse.<br> +<a href="#fr285">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f287"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Dallas called on Byron at Reddish's Hotel, St. James's +Street, July 15, 1811, and received from him the MS. of <i>Hints from +Horace</i>. Byron finished the work March 12, 1811, at the Franciscan +Convent at Athens, where he found a copy of the <i>De Arte Poeticâ</i>. +(<i>Hints from Horace</i> were not, however, published till 1831.) On July 16 +Dallas called again, and expressed surprise that Byron had written +nothing else. Byron then produced out of his trunk <i>Childe Harold's +Pilgrimage</i>, saying, "They are not worth troubling you with, but you +shall have them all with you if you like." He was as reluctant to +publish <i>Childe Harold</i> as he was eager to publish <i>Hints from Horace</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr287">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L155">155 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +<i>Volage</i> Frigate, at sea, June 29, 1811.<br> +<br> +In a week, with a fair wind, we shall be at Portsmouth, and on the 2d of +July I shall have completed (to a day) two years of peregrination, from +which I am returning with as little emotion as I set out. I think, upon +the whole, I was more grieved at leaving Greece than England, which I am +impatient to see, simply because I am tired of a long voyage.<br> +<br> +Indeed, my prospects are not very pleasant. Embarrassed in my private +affairs, indifferent to public, solitary without the wish to be social, +with a body a little enfeebled by a succession of fevers, but a spirit I +trust, yet unbroken, I am returning <i>home</i> without a hope, and almost +without a desire. The first thing I shall have to encounter will be a +lawyer, the next a creditor, then colliers, farmers, surveyors, and all +the agreeable attachments to estates out of repair, and contested +coal-pits. In short, I am sick and sorry, and when I have a little +repaired my irreparable affairs, away I shall march, either to campaign +in Spain, or back again to the East, where I can at least have cloudless +skies and a cessation from impertinence.<br> +<br> +I trust to meet, or see you, in town, or at Newstead, whenever you can +make it convenient — I suppose you are in love and in poetry as usual. +<a name="fr288">That</a> husband, H. Drury, has never written to me, albeit I have sent him +more than one letter; — but I dare say the poor man has a family, and of +course all his cares are confined to his circle. + + <blockquote> "For children fresh expenses yet,<br> + And Dicky now for school is fit."<br> + <br> + <b>Warton</b><a href="#f288"><sup>1</sup></a>.<br> +</blockquote> +If you see him, tell him I have a letter for him from Tucker, a +regimental chirurgeon and friend of his, who prescribed for me, — — and +is a very worthy man, but too fond of hard words. I should be too late +for a speech-day, or I should probably go down to Harrow. I regretted +very much in Greece having omitted to carry the <i>Anthology</i> with me — I +mean Bland and Merivale's. — What has <i>Sir Edgar</i> done? And the +<i>Imitations and Translations</i> — where are they? I suppose you don't mean +to let the public off so easily, but charge them home with a quarto. <a name="fr289">For</a> +me, I am "sick of fops, and poesy, and prate," and shall leave the +"whole Castalian state" to Bufo, or any body else<a href="#f289"><sup>2</sup></a>. But you are a +sentimental and sensibilitous person, and will rhyme to the end of the +chapter. Howbeit, I have written some 4000 lines, of one kind or +another, on my travels.<br> +<br> +I need not repeat that I shall be happy to see you. I shall be in town +about the 8th, at Dorant's Hotel, in Albemarle Street, and proceed in a +few days to Notts., and thence to Rochdale on business.<br> +<br> +I am, here and there, yours, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f288"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Warton's <i>Progress of Discontent</i>, lines 109, 110.<br> +<a href="#fr288">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f289"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> + + <blockquote>"But sick of fops, and poetry, and prate,<br> + To Bufo left the whole Castalian state."</blockquote> + +Pope, <i>Prologue to the Satires</i>, lines 229, 230.<br> +<a href="#fr289">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L156">156 — To Henry Drury</a></h3> +<br> +<i>Volage</i> frigate, off Ushant, July 17, 1811.<br> +<br> +My Dear Drury, — After two years' absence (on the 2d) and some odd days, +I am approaching your country. The day of our arrival you will see by +the outside date of my letter. <a name="fr290">At</a> present, we are becalmed comfortably, +close to Brest Harbour; — I have never been so near it since I left Duck +Puddle<a href="#f290"><sup>1</sup></a>. We left Malta thirty-four days ago, and have had a tedious +passage of it. You will either see or hear from or of me, soon after the +receipt of this, as I pass through town to repair my irreparable +affairs; and thence I want to go to Notts. and raise rents, and to +Lanes. and sell collieries, and back to London and pay debts, — for it +seems I shall neither have coals nor comfort till I go down to Rochdale +in person.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr291">I</a> have brought home some marbles for Hobhouse; — for myself, four +ancient Athenian skulls<a href="#f291"><sup>2</sup></a>, dug out of sarcophagi — a phial of Attic +hemlock<a href="#f292"><sup>3</sup></a> — four live tortoises — a greyhound (died on the +passage) — two live Greek servants, one an Athenian, t'other a <i>Yaniote</i>, +who can speak nothing but Romaic and Italian — and <i>myself</i>, as Moses in +the <i>Vicar of Wakefield</i> says, <i>slily</i><a href="#f293"><sup>4</sup></a> and I may say it too, for I +have as little cause to boast of my expedition as he had of his to the +fair.<br> +<br> +I wrote to you from the Cyanean Rocks to tell you I had swam from Sestos +to Abydos — have you received my letter? Hobhouse went to England to fish +up his <i>Miscellany,</i> which foundered (so he tells me) in the Gulph of +Lethe. I daresay it capsized with the vile goods of his contributory +friends, for his own share was very portable. However, I hope he will +either weigh up or set sail with a fresh cargo, and a luckier vessel. +Hodgson, I suppose, is four deep by this time. What would he have given +to have seen, like me, the <i>real Parnassus,</i> where I robbed the Bishop +of Chrisso of a book of geography! — but this I only call plagiarism, as +it was done within an hour's ride of Delphi.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f290"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The swimming-bath at Harrow.<br> +<a href="#fr290">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f291"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Given afterwards to Sir Walter Scott.<br> +<a href="#fr291">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f292"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> At present in the possession of Mr. Murray.<br> +<a href="#fr291">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f293"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> + + <blockquote> "'Welcome, welcome, Moses! Well, my boy, what have you brought us from + the fair?'<br> +<br> + 'I have brought you <i>myself</i>,' cried Moses, with a sly look, and + resting the box on the dresser."</blockquote> + +<i>Vicar of Wakefield</i>, ch. xii.<br> +<a href="#fr291">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L157">157 — To his Mother</a></h3> +<br> +Reddish's Hotel, St. James's Street, London, July 23, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Madam</b>, — I am only detained by Mr. Hanson to sign some copyhold +papers, and will give you timely notice of my approach. <a name="fr294">It</a> is with great +reluctance I remain in town<a href="#f294"><sup>1</sup></a>. I shall pay a short visit as we go on +to Lancashire on Rochdale business. I shall attend to your directions, +of course, and am, with great respect, yours ever,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +P.S. — You will consider Newstead as your house, not mine; and me only as +a visiter.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f294"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> On his way to London, Byron paid a visit, at Sittingbourne, +to Hobhouse, who was with his Militia Regiment, and under orders for +Ireland. He also stayed with H. Drury, at Harrow, for two or three days.<br> +<a href="#fr294">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp10">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L158"></a>158 — To William Miller<a href="#f295"><span style="font-size: 70%;"><sup>1</sup></span></a></h3> +<br> +Reddish's Hotel, July 30th, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>Sir</b>, — I am perfectly aware of the justice of your remarks, and am +convinced that, if ever the poem is published, the same objections will +be made in much stronger terms. But as it was intended to be a poem on +<i>Ariosto's plan,</i> that <i>is</i> to <i>say</i> on <i>no plan</i> at all, and, as is +usual in similar cases, having a predilection for the worst passages, I +shall retain those parts, though I cannot venture to defend them. Under +these circumstances I regret that you decline the publication, on my own +account, as I think the book would have done better in your hands; the +pecuniary part, you know, I have nothing to do with. <a name="fr296">But</a> I can perfectly +conceive, and indeed <i>approve</i> your reasons, and assure you my +sensations are not <i>Archiepiscopal</i><a href="#f296"><sup>2</sup></a> enough as yet to regard the +rejection of my Homilies.<br> +<br> +I am, Sir, your very obed't humble serv't,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f295"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> William Miller (1769-1844), son of Thomas Miller, +bookseller, of Bungay (see Beloe's <i>Sexagenarian,</i> 2nd edit., vol. ii +pp. 253, 254), served his apprenticeship in Hookham's publishing house. +In 1790 he set up for himself as a bookselling publisher in Bond Street. +From 1804 onwards his place of business was at 50, Albemarle Street. But +in September, 1812, he sold his stock, copyrights, good will, and lease +to John Murray, and retired to a country farm in Hertfordshire. He +declined to publish <i>Childe Harold,</i> on the grounds that it contained +"sceptical stanzas," and attacked Lord Elgin as a plunderer. But on the +latter point, Byron, who was in serious earnest, was not likely to give +way. In Beloe's <i>Sexagenarian</i> (vol. ii pp. 270, 271), Miller is +described as + +<blockquote>"the splendid bookseller," who "was enabled to retire to +tranquillity and independence long before the decline of life, or +infirmities of age, rendered it necessary to do so. He was highly +respectable, but could drive a hard bargain with a poor author, as well +as any of his fraternity."</blockquote> +<a href="#L158">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f277">cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 149</a><br> +<a href="#f311">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 167</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f296"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Alluding to Gil Blas and the Archbishop of Grenada (see +page 121, <a href="#f85"><i>note</i></a> 3).<br> +<a href="#fr296">return</a> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L159">159 — To John M. B. Pigot.</a></h3> +<br> +Newport Pagnell, August 2, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Doctor</b>, — My poor mother died yesterday! and I am on my way from +town to attend her to the family vault. <a name="fr297">I</a> heard <i>one</i> day of her +illness, the <i>next</i> of her death<a href="#f297"><sup>1</sup></a>. Thank God her last moments were +most tranquil. I am told she was in little pain, and not aware of her +situation. <a name="fr298">I</a> now feel the truth of Mr. Gray's observation, "That we can +only have <i>one</i> mother."<a href="#f298"><sup>2</sup></a> Peace be with her! I have to thank you for +your expressions of regard; and as in six weeks I shall be in Lancashire +on business, I may extend to Liverpool and Chester, — at least I shall +endeavour.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr299">If</a> it will be any satisfaction, I have to inform you that in November +next the Editor of the <i>Scourge</i><a href="#f299"><sup>3</sup></a> will be tried for two different +libels on the late Mrs. B. and myself (the decease of Mrs. B. makes no +difference in the proceedings); and as he is guilty, by his very foolish +and unfounded assertion of a breach of privilege, he will be prosecuted +with the utmost rigour.<br> +<br> +I inform you of this, as you seem interested in the affair, which is now +in the hands of the Attorney-general.<br> +<br> +I shall remain at Newstead the greater part of this month, where I shall +be happy to hear from you, after my two years' absence in the East.<br> +<br> +I am, dear Pigot, yours very truly,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f297"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> On the night after his arrival at Newstead, Mrs. Byron's +maid, passing the room where the body lay, heard a heavy sigh from +within. Entering the room, she found Byron sitting in the dark beside +the bed. When she spoke to him, he burst into tears, and exclaimed, + + <blockquote>"Oh, Mrs. By, I had but one friend in the world, and she is gone!"</blockquote> + +On the day of the funeral he refused to follow the corpse to the grave, +but watched the procession move away from the door of Newstead; then, +turning to Rushton, bade him bring the gloves, and began his usual +sparring exercise. Only his silence, abstraction, and unusual violence +betrayed to his antagonist, says Moore (<i>Life</i>, p. 128), the state of +his feelings.<br> +<a href="#fr297">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f298"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> + + <blockquote> "I had discovered a thing very little known, which is, that in one's + whole life one can never have more than a single mother. You may think + this is obvious, and (what you call) a trite observation. You are a + green gosling! I was at the same age (very near) as wise as you, and + yet I never discovered this (with full evidence and conviction, I + mean) till it was too late. It is thirteen years ago, ... and every + day I live it sinks deeper into my heart."</blockquote> + +Gray to Nicholls, <i>Works</i>, vol. i. p. 482.<br> +<a href="#fr298">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f299"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> One of Byron's first acts on returning to England was to +buy a copy of the <i>Scourge</i>, In Ridgway's bill for books supplied from +Piccadilly to Byron on July 24, 1811, is a copy of the <i>Scourge</i> at +2<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. Hewson Clarke (1787-1832) was entered at Emanuel College, +Cambridge, apparently as a sizar, in 1806. Obliged to leave the +University before he had taken his degree, he supported himself in +London by his pen. He wrote two historical works — a continuation of +Hume's <i>History of England</i> (1832), and an <i>Impartial History of the +Naval, etc., Events in Europe</i> from the French Revolution to the Peace +of 1815. It was, however, as a journalist that he came into collision +with Byron. In the <i>Satirist</i>, a monthly magazine, illustrated with +coloured cartoons, three attacks were made on Byron, which he attributed +to Clarke: +<ol type="1"> + +<li>October, 1807 (vol. i pp. 77-81), a review of <i>Hours of Idleness</i>;</li> + +<li>June, 1808 (vol. ii p. 368), verses on "Lord B — n to his Bear. To +the tune of 'Lo chin y gair;'"</li> + +<li>August, 1808 (vol. iii pp. 78-86), a review of <i>Poems Original and +Translated</i>. </li> +</ol> + +Byron's reply was the passage in <i>English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers</i> +(lines 973-980; see also the notes), where Clarke is described as + + <blockquote>"A would-be satirist, a hired Buffoon,<br> + A monthly scribbler of some low Lampoon," etc.;</blockquote> + +and also the Postscript to the second edition (see <i>Poems</i>, vol. i p. +382). In the <i>Scourge</i> for March, 1811 (vol. i. pp. 191, <i>et seqq</i>.}, +appeared an article headed "Lord Byron," in which the alleged libel +occurred. + + <blockquote> "We are unacquainted," says the article, "with any act of cowardice + that can be compared with that of keeping a libel <i>ready cut and + dried</i> till some favourable opportunity enable its author to disperse + it without the hazard of personal responsibility, and under + circumstances which deprive the injured party of every means of + reparation ... He confined the knowledge of his lampoon, therefore, to + the circle of his own immediate friends, and left it to be given to + the public as soon as he should have bid adieu to the shores of + Britain. Whether his voyage was in reality no further than to Paris, + in search of the proofs of his own legitimacy, or, as he asserts, to + 'Afric's coasts, and Calpe's adverse height', was of little + consequence to Mr. Clarke, who felt that to recriminate during his + absence would be unworthy of his character ... Considering the two + parties not as writers, but as men, Mr. Clarke might confidently + appeal to the knowledge and opinion of the whole university; but a + character like his disdains comparison with that of his noble + calumniator; a temper unruffled by malignant passions, a mind superior + to vicissitude, are gifts for which the pride of doubtful birth, and + the temporary possession of Newstead Abbey are contemptible + equivalents ...<br> +<br> + "It may be reasonably asked whether to be a denizen of Berwick- + upon-Tweed be more disgraceful than to be the illegitimate descendant + of a murderer; whether to labour in an honourable profession for the + peace and competence of maturer age be less worthy of praise than to + waste the property of others in vulgar debauchery; whether to be the + offspring of parents whose only crime is their want of title, be not + as honourable as to be the son of a profligate father, and a mother + whose days and nights are spent in the delirium of drunkenness; and, + finally, whether to deserve the kindness of his own college, to obtain + its prizes, and to prepare himself for any examination that might + entitle him to share the highest honours which the university can + bestow, be less indicative of talent and virtue than to be held up to + the derision and contempt of his fellow-students, as a scribbler of + doggerel and a bear-leader; to be hated for malignity of temper and + repulsiveness of manners, and shunned by every man who did not want to + be considered a profligate without wit, and trifling without elegance. + ... We ... shall neither expose the infamy of his uncle, the + indiscretions of his mother, nor his personal follies and + embarrassments. But let him not again obtrude himself on our attention + as a moralist, etc."</blockquote> + +The Attorney-General, Sir Vicary Gibbs, gave his opinion against legal +proceedings, on the two grounds that a considerable time had elapsed +since the publication, and Byron himself had provoked the attack.<br> +<a href="#fr299">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L160">160 — To John Hanson</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, August 4th, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dear Sir,</b> — The <i>Earl</i> of Huntley and the Lady <i>Jean</i> Stewart, +daughter of James 1st, of Scotland were the progenitors of Mrs. Byron. I +think it would be as well to be correct in the statement. Every thing is +doing that can be done, plainly yet decently, for the interment.<br> +<br> +When you favour me with your company, be kind enough to bring down my +carriage from Messrs. Baxter's & Co., Long Acre. I have written to them, +and beg you will come down in it, as I cannot travel conveniently or +properly without it. I trust that the decease of Mrs. B. will not +interrupt the prosecution of the Editor of the Magazine, less for the +mere punishment of the rascal, than to set the question at rest, which, +with the ignorant & weak-minded, might leave a wrong impression. I will +have no stain on the Memory of my Mother; with a very large portion of +foibles and irritability, she was without a <i>vice</i> (and in these days +that is much). The laws of my country shall do her and me justice in the +first instance; but, if they were deficient, the laws of modern Honour +should decide. Cost what it may, Gold or blood, I will pursue to the +last the cowardly calumniator of an absent man and a defenceless woman.<br> +<br> +The effects of the deceased are sealed and untouched. I have sent for +her agent, Mr. Bolton, to ascertain the proper steps and nothing shall +be done precipitately. I understand her jewels and clothes are of +considerable value. I shall write to you again soon, and in the +meantime, with my most particular remembrance to Mrs. Hanson, my regards +to Charles, and my <i>respects</i> to the young ladies, I am, Dear Sir,<br> +<br> +Your very sincere and obliged servant,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L161">161 — To Scrope Berdmore Davies</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, August 7, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>My Dearest Davies</b>, — <a name="fr300">Some</a> curse hangs over me and mine. My mother lies a +corpse in this house; one of my best friends is drowned in a ditch<a href="#f300"><sup>1</sup></a>. +What can I say, or think, or do? I received a letter from him the day +before yesterday. My dear Scrope, if you can spare a moment, do come +down to me — I want a friend. Matthews's last letter was written on +<i>Friday</i>. — on Saturday he was not. In ability, who was like Matthews? +How did we all shrink before him? You do me but justice in saying, I +would have risked my paltry existence to have preserved his. This very +evening did I mean to write, inviting him, as I invite you, my very dear +friend, to visit me. God forgive — — for his apathy! What will our poor +Hobhouse feel? His letters breathe but of Matthews. <a name="fr301">Come</a> to me, Scrope, +I am almost desolate — left almost alone in the world<a href="#f301"><sup>2</sup></a> — I had but you, +and H., and M., and let me enjoy the survivors whilst I can. Poor M., in +his letter of Friday, speaks of his intended contest for Cambridge, and +a speedy journey to London. Write or come, but come if you can, or one +or both.<br> +<br> +Yours ever.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f300"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> Charles Skinner Matthews (see page 150, <a href="#f119"><i>note</i></a> 3). <br> +<a href="#fr300">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f301"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> In 1811 Byron had lost, besides his mother and Matthews +(August), his Harrow friend Wingfield (see page 180, <a href="#f149"><i>note</i></a> 1), +Hargreaves Hanson (see page 54, <a href="#f36"><i>note</i></a> 1), and Edleston (see page 130, +<a href="#f95"><i>note</i></a> 3).<br> +<a href="#fr301">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L162">162 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, Notts., August 12, 1811.<br> +<br> +Peace be with the dead! Regret cannot wake them. With a sigh to the +departed, let us resume the dull business of life, in the certainty that +we also shall have our repose. Besides her who gave me being, I have +lost more than one who made that being tolerable. — The best friend of my +friend Hobhouse, Matthews, a man of the first talents, and also not the +worst of my narrow circle, has perished miserably in the muddy waves of +the Cam, always fatal to genius:— my poor school-fellow, Wingfield, at +Coimbra — within a month; and whilst I had heard from <i>all three,</i> but +not seen <i>one.</i> Matthews wrote to me the very day before his death; and +though I feel for his fate, <a name="fr302">I</a> am still more anxious for Hobhouse, who, I +very much fear, will hardly retain his senses: his letters to me since +the event have been most incoherent<a href="#f302"><sup>1</sup></a>. But let this pass; we shall all +one day pass along with the rest — the world is too full of such things, +and our very sorrow is selfish.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr303">I</a> received a letter from you, which my late occupations prevented me +from duly noticing<a href="#f303"><sup>2</sup></a>. — I hope your friends and family will long hold +together. I shall be glad to hear from you, on business, on commonplace, +or any thing, or nothing — but death — I am already too familiar with the +dead. It is strange that I look on the skulls which stand beside me (I +have always had <i>four</i> in my study) without emotion, but I cannot strip +the features of those I have known of their fleshy covering, even in +idea, without a hideous sensation; but the worms are less +ceremonious. — Surely, the Romans did well when they burned the dead. — I +shall be happy to hear from you, and am,<br> +<br> +Yours, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f302"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> + + <blockquote> "Just," writes Hobhouse to Byron, in an undated letter from Dover, "as + I was preparing to condole with you on your severe misfortune, an + event has taken place, the details of which you will find in the + enclosed letter from S. Davies. I am totally unable to say one word on + the subject. He was my oldest friend, and, though quite unworthy of + his attachment, I believe that I was an object of his regard.<br> +<br> + "I now fear that I have not been sufficiently at all times just and + kind to him. Return me this fatal letter, and pray add, if it is but + one line, a few words of your own."</blockquote> + +A second letter, dated August 8, 1811, is as follows:— + + <blockquote> "<b>My Dear Byron</b>, — To-morrow morning we sail for Cork. It is with + difficulty I bring myself to talk of my paltry concerns, but I cannot + refuse giving you such information as may enable me to hear from one + of the friends that I have still left. Pray do give me a line; nothing + is more selfish than sorrow. His great and unrivalled talents were + observable by all, his kindness was known to his friends. You + recollect how affectionately he shook my hand at parting. It was the + last time you ever saw him — did you think it would be the last? But + three days before his death he told me in a letter that he had heard + from you. On Friday he wrote to me again, and on Saturday — alas, alas! + we are not stocks or stones, — every word of our friend Davies' letter + still pierces me to the soul — such a man and such a death! I would + that he had not been so minute in his horrid details. Oh, my dear + Byron, do write to me; I am very, very sick at heart indeed, and, + after various efforts to write upon my own concerns, I still revert to + the same melancholy subject. I wrote to Cawthorn to-day, but knew not + what I said to him; half my incitement to finish that task is for ever + gone. I can neither have his assistance during my labour, his comfort + if I should fail, nor his congratulation if I should succeed. Forgive + me, I do not forget you — but I cannot but remember him.<br> +<br> + Ever your obliged and faithful, <b>John C. Hobhouse</b>."</blockquote> + +Byron had apparently suggested that Hobhouse should write some brief +record of his friend. Hobhouse replies from Enniscorthy, September 13, +1811:— + + <blockquote> "The melancholy subject of your last, in spite of every effort, + perpetually recurs to me. It is indeed a hard science to forget, + though I cannot but think that it is the wisest and indeed the only + remedy for grief. I should be quite incapable every way of doing what + you mention, and I could not even set about such a melancholy task + with spirit or prospect of success. The thing may be better done by a + person less interested than myself in so cruel a catastrophe. Whatever + you say in your book will be well said, and do credit both to your + heart and head; how much would it have gratified him who shall ne'er + hear it!"</blockquote> +<a href="#fr302">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f303"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Dallas had written on July 29 to protest, on six grounds +which he gives (<i>Correspondence of Lord Byron</i>, pp. 151-153), "against +the sceptical stanzas" of <i>Childe Harold</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr303">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L163">163 — To — — Bolton</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, August 12, 1811.<br> +<br> +Sir, — I enclose a rough draught of my intended will which I beg to have +drawn up as soon as possible, in the firmest manner. The alterations are +principally made in consequence of the death of Mrs. Byron. I have only +to request that it may be got ready in a short time, and have the honour +to be,<br> +<br> +Your most obedient, humble servant,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> + +Newstead Abbey, August 12, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>Directions for the Contents of a Will to be Drawn Up Immediately</b>.<br> +<br> +The estate of Newstead to be entailed (subject to certain deductions) on +George Anson Byron, heir-at-law, or whoever may be the heir-at-law on +the death of Lord B. The Rochdale property to be sold in part or the +whole, according to the debts and legacies of the present Lord B.<br> +<br> +To Nicolo Giraud of Athens, subject of France, but born in Greece, the +sum of seven thousand pounds sterling, to be paid from the sale of such +parts of Rochdale, Newstead, or elsewhere, as may enable the said Nicolo +Giraud (resident at Athens and Malta in the year 1810) to receive the +above sum on his attaining the age of twenty-one years.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr304">To</a> William Fletcher, Joseph Murray, and Demetrius Zograffo<a href="#f304"><sup>1</sup></a> (native of +Greece), servants, the sum of fifty pounds pr. ann. each, for their +natural lives. To Wm. Fletcher, the Mill at Newstead, on condition that +he payeth rent, but not subject to the caprice of the landlord. To Rt. +Rushton the sum of fifty pounds per ann. for life, and a further sum of +one thousand pounds on attaining the age of twenty-five years.<br> +<br> +To Jn. Hanson, Esq. the sum of two thousand pounds sterling.<br> +<br> +The claims of S. B. Davies, Esq. to be satisfied on proving the amount +of the same.<br> +<br> +The body of Lord B. to be buried in the vault of the garden of Newstead, +without any ceremony or burial-service whatever, or any inscription, +save his name and age. His dog not to be removed from the said vault.<br> +<br> +My library and furniture of every description to my friends Jn. Cam +Hobhouse, Esq., and S. B. Davies, Esq., my executors. <a name="fr305">In</a> case of their +decease, the Rev. J. Becher, of Southwell, Notts., and R. C. Dallas, +Esq., of Mortlake, Surrey, to be executors<a href="#f305"><sup>2</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr306">The</a> produce of the sale of Wymondham in Norfolk, and the late Mrs. B.'s +Scotch property<a href="#f306"><sup>3</sup></a>, to be appropriated in aid of the payment of debts +and legacies.<br> +<br> +This is the last will and testament of me, the Rt. Honble George Gordon, +Lord Byron, Baron Byron of Rochdale, in the county of Lancaster. — I +desire that my body may be buried in the vault of the garden of +Newstead, without any ceremony or burial-service whatever, and that no +inscription, save my name and age, be written on the tomb or tablet; and +it is my will that my faithful dog may not be removed from the said +vault. To the performance of this my particular desire, I rely on the +attention of my executors hereinafter named.<br> +<br> +<i><a name="fr307">It</a> is submitted to Lord Byron whether this clause relative to the +funeral had not better be omitted. The substance of it can be given in +a letter from his Lordship to the executors, and accompany the will; and +the will may state that the funeral shall be performed in such manner as +his Lordship may by letter direct, and, in default of any such letter, +then at the discretion of his executors</i><a href="#f307"><sup>4</sup></a>.<br> +<br> +It must stand.<br> +<br> +B.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr308">I</a> do hereby specifically order and direct that all the claims of the +said S. B. Davies upon me shall be fully paid and satisfied as soon as +conveniently may be after my decease, on his proving <span style="color: #555555;">by vouchers, or +otherwise, to the satisfaction of my executors hereinafter named</span><a href="#f308"><sup>5</sup></a> +the amount thereof, and the correctness of the same.<br> +<br> +<i>If Mr, Davies has any unsettled claims upon Lord Byron, that +circumstance is a reason for his not being appointed executor; each +executor having an opportunity of paying himself his own debt without +consulting his co-executors.</i><br> +<br> +So much the better — if possible, let him be an executor.<br> +<br> +B.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f304"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> + +<blockquote>"If the papers lie not (which they generally do), Demetrius +Zograffo of Athens is at the head of the Athenian part of the Greek +insurrection. He was my servant in 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, at different +intervals of those years (for I left him in Greece when I went to +Constantinople), and accompanied me to England in 1811: he returned to +Greece, spring, 1812. He was a clever, but not <i>apparently</i> an +enterprising man; but circumstances make men. His two sons (<i>then</i> +infants) were named Miltiades and Alcibiades: may the omen be +happy!"</blockquote> + +Byron's MS. Journal, quoted by Moore, <i>Life</i>, p. 131.<br> +<a href="#fr304">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f305"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> In the clause enumerating the names and places of abode of +the executors, the solicitor had left blanks for the Christian names of +these gentlemen, and Lord Byron, having filled up all but that of +Dallas, writes in the margin, "I forget the Christian name of Dallas + — cut him out."<br> +<a href="#fr305">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f306"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> On the death of Mrs. Byron, the sum of £4200, the remains +of the price of the estate of Gight were paid over to Byron by her +trustee.<br> +<a href="#fr306">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f307"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> The passages printed <i>in italics</i> are suggestions made by the +solicitors.<br> +<a href="#fr307">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f308"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> Over the words <span style="color: #555555;">printed in grey</span>, Byron drew his pen.<br> +<a href="#fr308">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L164">164 — To — — Bolton</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, August 16, 1811.<br> +<br> +<b>Sir</b>, — I have answered the queries on the margin. I wish Mr. Davies's +claims to be most fully allowed, and, further, that he be one of my +executors. I wish the will to be made in a manner to prevent all +discussion, if possible, after my decease; and this I leave to you as a +professional gentleman.<br> +<br> +With regard to the few and simple directions for the disposal of my +<i>carcass</i>, I must have them implicitly fulfilled, as they will, at +least, prevent trouble and expense; — and (what would be of little +consequence to me, but may quiet the conscience of the survivors) the +garden is <i>consecrated</i> ground. These directions are copied +verbatim from my former will; the alterations in other parts have arisen +from the death of Mrs. B. I have the honour to be,<br> +<br> +Your most obedient, humble servant,<br> +<br> +<b>Byron</b>.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L166">166 — To the Hon. Augusta Leigh</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, August 21st, 1811.<br> +<br> +My Dear Sister, — I ought to have answered your letter before, but when +did I ever do any-thing that I ought?<br> +<br> +I am losing my relatives & you are adding to the number of yours; but +which is best, God knows; — besides poor Mrs. Byron, I have been +deprived by death of two most particular friends within little more than +a month; but as all observations on such subjects are superfluous and +unavailing, I leave the dead to their rest, and return to the dull +business of life, which however presents nothing very pleasant to me +either in prospect or retrospection.<br> +<br> +I hear you have been increasing his Majesty's Subjects, which in these +times of War and tribulation is really patriotic. <a name="fr309">Notwithstanding</a> +Malthus<a href="#f309"><sup>1</sup></a> tells us that, were it not for Battle, Murder, and Sudden +death, we should be overstocked, I think we have latterly had a +redundance of these national benefits, and therefore I give you all +credit for your matronly behaviour.<br> +<br> +I believe you know that for upwards of two years I have been rambling +round the Archipelago, and am returned just in time to know that I might +as well have staid away for any good I ever have done, or am likely to +do at home, and so, as soon as I have somewhat <i>repaired</i> my +<i>irreparable</i> affairs I shall een go abroad again, for I am +heartily sick of your climate and every thing it <i>rains</i> upon, +always save and except <i>yourself</i> as in <i>duty bound</i>.<br> +<br> +I should be glad to see you here (as I think you have never seen the +place) if you could make it convenient. Murray is still like a Rock, and +will probably outlast some six Lords Byron, though in his 75th Autumn. I +took him with me to Portugal & sent him round by sea to Gibraltar whilst +I rode through the Interior of Spain, which was then (1809) accessible.<br> +<br> +You say you have much to communicate to me, let us have it by all means, +as I am utterly at a loss to guess; whatever it may be it will meet with +due attention.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr310">Your</a> trusty and well beloved cousin F. Howard<a href="#f310"><sup>2</sup></a> is married to a Miss +Somebody, I wish him joy on your account, and on his own, though +speaking generally I do not affect that Brood.<br> +<br> +By the bye, I shall marry, if I can find any thing inclined to barter +money for rank within six months; after which I shall return to my +friends the Turks.<br> +<br> +In the interim I am, Dear Madam,<br> +<br> +[Signature cut out.]<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f309"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> The Rev. T. R. Malthus (1766-1834) published, in 1798, his <i>Essay on the Principle of Population</i>.<br> +<a href="#fr309">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f310"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> The Hon. Frederick Howard (see page 55, <a href="#f37"><i>note</i></a> 1) married, +August 6, 1811, Frances Susan Lambton, only daughter of William +Lambton, formerly M.P. for Durham.<br> +<a href="#fr310">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h3><a name="L167">167 — To R. C. Dallas</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead, August 21, 1811.<br> +<br> +Your letter gives me credit for more acute feelings than I possess; for +though I feel tolerably miserable, yet I am at the same time subject to +a kind of hysterical merriment, or rather laughter without merriment, +which I can neither account for nor conquer, and yet I do not feel +relieved by it; but an indifferent person would think me in excellent +spirits. "We must forget these things," and have recourse to our old +selfish comforts, or rather comfortable selfishness.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr311">I</a> do not think I shall return to London immediately, and shall therefore +accept freely what is offered courteously — your mediation between me +and Murray<a href="#f311"><sup>1</sup></a>. I don't think my name will answer the purpose, and you +must be aware that my plaguy Satire will bring the north and south Grub +Streets down upon the <i>Pilgrimage</i>; — but, nevertheless, if Murray +makes a point of it, and you coincide with him, I will do it daringly; +so let it be entitled "<i>By the author of English Bards and Scotch +Reviewers</i>." My remarks on the Romaic, etc., once intended to accompany +the <i>Hints from Horace</i>, shall go along with the other, as being +indeed more appropriate; also the smaller poems now in my possession, +with a few selected from those published in Hobhouse's +<i>Miscellany</i>. I have found amongst my poor mother's papers all my +letters from the East, and one in particular of some length from +Albania. From this, if necessary, I can work up a note or two on that +subject. As I kept no journal, the letters written on the spot are the +best. But of this anon, when we have definitively arranged.<br> +<br> +Has Murray shown the work to any one? He may — but I will have no traps +for applause. Of course there are little things I would wish to alter, +and perhaps the two stanzas of a buffooning cast on London's Sunday are +as well left out. I much wish to avoid identifying Childe Harold's +character with mine, and that, in sooth, is my second objection to my +name appearing in the title-page. When you have made arrangements as to +time, size, type, etc., favour me with a reply. I am giving you an +universe of trouble, which thanks cannot atone for. I made a kind of +prose apology for my scepticism at the head of the MS., which, on +recollection, is so much more like an attack than a defence, that, +haply, it might better be omitted — perpend, pronounce. After all, I fear +Murray will be in a scrape with the orthodox; but I cannot help it, +though I wish him well through it. As for me, "I have supped full of +criticism," and I don't think that the "most dismal treatise" will stir +and rouse my "fell of hair" till "Birnam wood do come to Dunsinane."<br> +<br> +I shall continue to write at intervals, and hope you will pay me in +kind. <a name="fr312">How</a> does Pratt get on, or rather get off, Joe Blackett's +posthumous stock? You killed that poor man amongst you, in spite of your +Ionian friend<a href="#f312"><sup>2</sup></a> and myself, who would have saved him from Pratt, +poetry, present poverty, and posthumous oblivion. Cruel patronage! to +ruin a man at his calling; but then he is a divine subject for +subscription and biography; and Pratt, who makes the most of his +dedications, has inscribed the volume to no less than five families of +distinction.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr313">I</a> am sorry you don't like Harry White<a href="#f313"><sup>3</sup></a>: with a great deal of cant, +which in him was sincere (indeed it killed him as you killed Joe +Blackett), certes there is poesy and genius. I don't say this on account +of my simile and rhymes; but surely he was beyond all the Bloomfields<a href="#f314"><sup>4</sup></a> and Blacketts, and their collateral cobblers, whom Lofft<a href="#f315"><sup>5</sup></a> and +Pratt have or may kidnap from their calling into the service of the +trade. You must excuse my flippancy, for I am writing I know not what, +to escape from myself. Hobhouse is gone to Ireland. Mr. Davies has been +here on his way to Harrowgate.<br> +<br> +You did not know Matthews: he was a man of the most astonishing powers, +as he sufficiently proved at Cambridge, by carrying off more prizes and +fellowships, against the ablest candidates, than any other graduate on +record; but a most decided atheist, indeed noxiously so, for he +proclaimed his principles in all societies. I knew him well, and feel a +loss not easily to be supplied to myself — to Hobhouse never. Let me hear +from you, and<br> +<br> +Believe me, etc.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f311"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> In 1793 John Murray the first (born 1745) died, leaving a +widow, two daughters, and one son, John Murray the second (1778-1843), +then a boy of fifteen. The bookselling and publishing business at 32, +Fleet Street, which the first John Murray had purchased in 1768 from +William Sandby, was for two years carried on by the chief assistant, +Samuel Highley. From 1795, when John Murray the second joined it, it was +conducted as a partnership, under the title of Murray and Highley. But +in 1803 John Murray cancelled the partnership, and started for himself +at 32, Fleet Street. Relieved from a timorous partner, he at once +displayed his shrewdness, energy, and literary enthusiasm. He rapidly +became, as Byron called him, "the <img src="images/BLG7.gif" width="41" height="20" alt="Greek (transliterated): Anax"> of Publishers," or, as he +was nicknamed, "The Emperor of the West." In February, 1809, he had +launched the <i>Quarterly Review</i>; in March, 1812, he published +<i>Childe Harold</i>; in the following September, he moved to 50, +Albemarle Street, the lease of which, with the stock, good will, and +copyrights, he purchased from William Miller (see page 319, <a href="#f295"><i>note</i></a> +2). The remarkable position which the second John Murray created for +himself, has two aspects, one commercial, the other social. He was not +only the publisher, but the friend, of the most distinguished men of the +day; and he was both by reason, partly of his honourable character, +partly of his personal attractiveness. Sir Walter Scott, writing, +October 30, 1828, to Lockhart, speaks of Murray in words which sum up +his character: + +<blockquote>"By all means do what the Emperor says. He is what +Emperor Nap was not, 'much a gentleman.'" </blockquote> + +Murray was the first to +divorce the business of publishing from that of selling books; the first +to see, as he wrote to Sir Walter Scott, October 13, 1825 (<i>A +Publisher and his Friends</i>, vol. ii. p. 199), that + +<blockquote>"the business of a +publishing bookseller is not in his shop, or even his connection, but in +his brains." </blockquote> + +Quick-tempered and warm-hearted, he was endowed with a +strong sense of humour, and a gift of felicitous expression, which made +him at once an admirable talker and an excellent letter-writer, and +enabled him to hold his own among the noted wits and brilliant men of +letters whom he gathered under his roof. A man of ideas more than a man +of business, of enterprise rather than of calculation, he was always on +the watch for new writers and new openings. But his imagination and +impulsive temperament were checked by his fine taste for sound +literature, and controlled by high principles in matters of trade. Thus +he was saved from those disastrous speculations which involved Scott in +ruin, and might otherwise have appealed with fatal force to his own +sanguine nature. His close relations with Byron, which began in 1811, +and lasted till the poet's death, are set forth in the numerous letters +which follow, and were never embittered even when he refused to continue +the publication of <i>Don Juan</i>. Their names are inseparably +associated in the history of literature. A generous paymaster, he was +also an hospitable host. Round him gathers much of the literary history +of a half-century which includes such names as those of Scott, Byron, +Southey, Coleridge, Hallam, Milman, Mahon, Carlyle, Grote, Benjamin +Disraeli, Sir Robert Peel, Canning, and Mr. Gladstone. His literary +dinners were famous, and his drawing-room was the rallying-place of all +that was witty and agreeable in society. At the same time, he was the +acknowledged head of the publishing trade, unswerving in the rectitude +of his commercial dealings, and in the maintenance of the honourable +traditions of his most distinguished predecessors, as well as sincere in +his enthusiasm for English letters.<br> +<a href="#fr311">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<a href="#f118">cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 84</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f312"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Walter Rodwell Wright, author of <i>Horæ Ionicæ, a Poem +descriptive of the Ionian Islands, and part of the adjacent coast of +Greece,</i> (1809), had been Consul-General of the Seven Islands. On +his return he became Recorder of Bury St. Edmund's. He was +subsequently President of the Court of Appeals in Malta, where he +died in 1826. (See Byron's address to him in <i>English Bards, and +Scotch Reviewers</i>, lines 877-880.)<br> +<a href="#fr312">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f313"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> Henry Kirke White (1785-1806) published <i>Clifton Grove</i> and +other poems in 1803. He died at Cambridge in 1806. His +<i>Remains</i> were published by Southey in 1807. (See <i>English Bards, +and Scotch Reviewers</i>, lines 831-848, and <i>note</i> 2.)<br> +<a href="#fr313">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f314"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> The three brothers, George Bloomfield, a shoemaker, Nathaniel, +a tailor, and Robert, also a shoemaker, were the sons of a +tailor at Honington, in Suffolk, whose wife kept the village school. +(For further details as to George and Nathaniel, see <i>English Bards, +and Scotch Reviewers</i>, lines 765-798, and <i>notes</i>.)<br> +<br> +Robert Bloomfield (1766-1823) achieved a success with his +<i>Farmer's Boy</i> (1800), of which thousands of copies were sold in +England, and which was translated into French and Italian. But +however creditable the lines may have been to the author, Byron's +opinion of the merits of the poet was the true one. Bloomfield's +subsequent volumes, of which there were seven, were inferior to <i>The +Farmer's Boy</i>. <i>Good Tidings, or News from the Farm</i> (1804), is perhaps the best known. A collected edition of Bloomfield's <i>Works</i> was published in 1824.<br> +<a href="#fr313">return</a><br> +<a href="#f286">cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 154</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f315"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> Capel Lofft (1751-1824), educated at Eton and Cambridge, +was called to the Bar in 1775. Succeeding in 1781 to the family +estates near Bury St. Edmund's, he lived for some years at Troston +Hall. Crabb Robinson (<i>Diary</i>, vol. i. p. 29) describes him, in +1795, as + +<blockquote>"a gentleman of good family and estate — an author on an +infinity of subjects; his books were on Law, History, Poetry, +Antiquities, Divinity, and Politics. He was then an acting magistrate, +having abandoned the profession of the Bar. He was one +of the numerous answerers of Burke; and, in spite of a feeble +voice and other disadvantages, was an eloquent speaker." </blockquote> + +His +boyish figure, slovenly dress, and involved sentences were well known +on the platforms where he advocated parliamentary reform. On +May 17, 1784, Johnson dined at Mr. Dilly's. Among the guests +was + +<blockquote>"Mr. Capel Lofft, who, though a most zealous Whig, has a +mind so full of learning and knowledge, and so much in exercise +in various exertions, and withal so much liberality, that the +stupendous powers of the literary Goliath, though they did not +frighten this little David of popular spirit, could not but excite his +admiration."</blockquote> + +Lofft held strong opinions in favour of the French +Revolution, which he admired. He, "Godwin, and Thelwall are +the only three persons I know (except Hazlitt) who grieve at +the late events;" so writes Crabb Robinson, after the battle of +Waterloo (<i>Diary</i>, vol. i. p. 491). He published numerous works +on law and politics, besides four volumes of poetry: <i>The Praises of +Poetry, a Poem</i> (1775); <i>Eudosia, or a Poem on the Universe</i> (1781); <i>The first and second Georgics of Virgil</i> (in blank verse, 1803); +<i>Laura, or an Anthology of Sonnets</i> (1814). He also edited Milton's +<i>Paradise Lost</i>. In November, 1798, Lofft read the manuscript of +<i>The Farmer's Boy</i>, written by Robert Bloomfield in a London +garret, where he worked as a shoemaker. Interested in the poem +and the Suffolk poet, Lofft had it published in 1800, with cuts by +Bewick, and a preface by himself.<br> +<a href="#fr313">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a></p> +<hr><br><br> +<h3><a name="L168">168 — To Francis Hodgson</a></h3> +<br> +Newstead Abbey, August 22, 1811.<br> +<br> +You may have heard of the sudden death of my mother, and poor Matthews, +which, with that of Wingfield (of which I was not fully aware till just +before I left town, and indeed hardly believed it,) has made a sad chasm +in my connections. Indeed the blows followed each other so rapidly that +I am yet stupid from the shock; and though I do eat, and drink, and +talk, and even laugh, at times, yet I can hardly persuade myself that I +am awake, did not every morning convince me mournfully to the +contrary. — I shall now wave the subject, — the dead are at rest, and none +but the dead can be so.<br> +<br> +You will feel for poor Hobhouse, — Matthews was the "god of his +idolatry;" and if intellect could exalt a man above his fellows, no one +could refuse him preeminence. I knew him most intimately, and valued him +proportionably; but I am recurring — so let us talk of life and the +living.<br> +<br> +<a name="fr316">If</a> you should feel a disposition to come here, you will find "beef and a +sea-coal fire," and not ungenerous wine. Whether Otway's two other +requisites for an Englishman or not, I cannot tell, but probably one of +them<a href="#f316"><sup>1</sup></a>. — Let me know when I may expect you, that I may tell you when I +go and when return. I have not yet been to Lancs. Davies has been here, +and has invited me to Cambridge for a week in October, so that, +peradventure, we may encounter glass to glass. His gaiety (death cannot +mar it) has done me service; but, after all, ours was a hollow laughter.<br> +<br> +You will write to me? I am solitary, and I never felt solitude irksome +before. Your anxiety about the critique on — — 's book is amusing; as it +was anonymous, certes it was of little consequence: I wish it had +produced a little more confusion, being a lover of literary malice. Are +you doing nothing? writing nothing? printing nothing? why not your +Satire on Methodism? the subject (supposing the public to be blind to +merit) would do wonders. Besides, it would be as well for a destined +deacon to prove his orthodoxy. — It really would give me pleasure to see +you properly appreciated. I say <i>really</i>, as, being an author, my +humanity might be suspected.<br> +<br> +Believe me, dear H., yours always.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f316"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> + + <blockquote>"Give but an Englishman his whore and ease,<br> + Beef and a sea-coal fire, he's yours for ever."</blockquote> + +<i>Venice Preserved</i>, act ii. sc. 3.<br> +<a href="#fr316">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#lp11">List of Letters</a><br> +<a href="#toc">Contents</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + + +<h2><a name="section6">APPENDIX I —REVIEW OF WORDSWORTH'S POEMS</a></h2> +<br> +<b>2 VOLS. 1807.<br> +<br> +(From <i>Monthly Literary Recreations</i> for July, 1807.)</b><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +The volumes before us are by the author of Lyric Ballads, a collection +which has not undeservedly met with a considerable share of public +applause. The characteristics of Mr. Wordsworth'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 — + +<blockquote>Another year! another deadly blow!<br> +Another mighty empire overthrown!<br> +And we are left, or shall be left, alone — <br> +The last that dares to struggle with the foe.<br> +'Tis well! — from this day forward we shall know<br> +That in ourselves our safety must be sought,<br> +That by our own right-hands it must be wrought;<br> +That we must stand unprop'd, or be laid low.<br> +O dastard! whom such foretaste doth not cheer!<br> +We shall exult, if they who rule the land<br> +Be men who hold its many blessings dear,<br> +Wise, upright, valiant, not a venal band,<br> +Who are to judge of danger which they fear,<br> +And honour which they do not understand.</blockquote> + +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 the writer: the following lines from the last are in +his first style:— + +<blockquote>"Ah! little doth the young one dream,<br> +When full of play and childish cares,<br> +What power hath e'en his wildest scream,<br> +Heard by his mother unawares:<br> +He knows it not, he cannot guess:<br> +Years to a mother bring distress,<br> +But do not make her love the less."</blockquote> + +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"? + +<blockquote>"The cock is crowing,<br> +The stream is flowing,<br> +The small birds twitter,<br> +The lake doth glitter,<br> +The green field sleeps in the sun;<br> +The oldest and youngest,<br> +Are at work with the strongest;<br> +The cattle are grazing,<br> +Their heads never raising,<br> +There are forty feeding like one.<br> +Like an army defeated,<br> +The snow hath retreated,<br> +And now doth fare ill,<br> +On the top of the bare hill."</blockquote> + +"The ploughboy is whooping anon, anon," etc., etc., 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 + +<blockquote>"Hey de diddle,<br> +The cat and the fiddle:<br> +The cow jump'd over the moon,<br> +The little dog laugh'd to see such sport,<br> +And the dish ran away with the spoon."</blockquote> + +On the whole, however, with the exception of the above, and other +<b>Innocent</b> 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 Wordsworth is +more qualified to excel.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#toc">Contents</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + + +<h2><a name="section7">APPENDIX II —ARTICLE FROM THE EDINBURGH REVIEW</a></h2> +<br> +<b>for January, 1808</b><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<i>Hours of Idleness; a Series of Poems, original and translated. <br> +By George Gordon, Lord Byron, a Minor</i>. 8vo, +pp. 200. <i>Newark</i>, 1807.<br> +<br> +The poesy of this young lord belongs to the class which neither gods nor +men are said to permit. Indeed, we do not recollect to have seen a +quantity of verse with so few deviations in either direction from that +exact standard. His effusions are spread over a dead flat, and can no +more get above or below the level, than if they were so much stagnant +water. As an extenuation of this offence, the noble author is peculiarly +forward in pleading minority. We have it in the title-page, and on the +very back of the volume; it follows his name like a favourite part of +his <i>style</i>. Much stress is laid upon it in the preface; and the +poems are connected with this general statement of his case, by +particular dates, substantiating the age at which each was written. Now, +the law upon the point of minority we hold to be perfectly clear. It is +a plea available only to the defendant; no plaintiff can offer it as a +supplementary ground of action. Thus, if any suit could be brought +against Lord Byron, for the purpose of compelling him to put into court +a certain quantity of poetry, and if judgment were given against him, it +is highly probable that an exception would be taken, were he to deliver +<i>for poetry</i> the contents of this volume. To this he might plead +<i> minority</i>; but, as he now makes voluntary tender of the article, +he hath no right to sue, on that ground, for the price in good current +praise, should the goods be unmarketable,<br> +<br> +This is our view of the law on the point; and, we dare to say, so will +it be ruled. Perhaps, however, in reality, all that he tells us about +his youth is rather with a view to increase our wonder than to soften +our censures. He possibly means to say, "See how a minor can write! This +poem was actually composed by a young man of eighteen, and this by one +of only sixteen!" But, alas! We all remember the poetry of Cowley at +ten, and Pope at twelve; and so far from hearing, with any degree of +surprise, that very poor verses were written by a youth from his leaving +school to his leaving college, inclusive, we really believe this to be +the most common of all occurrences; that it happens in the life of nine +men in ten who are educated in England; and that the tenth man writes +better verse than Lord Byron.<br> +<br> +His other plea of privilege our author rather brings forward in order to +waive it. He certainly, however, does allude frequently to his family +and ancestry — sometimes in poetry, sometimes in notes; and, while giving +up his claim on the score of rank, he takes care to remember us of Dr. +Johnson's saying, that when a nobleman appears as an author, his merit +should be handsomely acknowledged. In truth, it is this consideration +only that induces us to give Lord Byron's poems a place in our review, +beside our desire to counsel him, that he do forthwith abandon poetry, +and turn his talents, which are considerable, and his opportunities, +which are great, to better account.<br> +<br> +With this view, we must beg leave seriously to assure him, that the mere +rhyming of the final syllable, even when accompanied by the presence of +a certain number of feet, — nay, although (which does not always happen) +those feet should scan regularly, and have been all counted accurately +upon the fingers, — is not the whole art of poetry. We would entreat him +to believe, that a certain portion of liveliness, somewhat of fancy, is +necessary to constitute a poem, and that a poem in the present day, to +be read, must contain at least one thought, either in a little degree +different from the ideas of former writers, or differently expressed. We +put it to his candour, whether there is any thing so deserving the name +of poetry in verses like the following, written in 1806; and whether, if +a youth of eighteen could say any thing so uninteresting to his +ancestors, a youth of nineteen should publish it; — + + <blockquote>"Shades of heroes, farewell! your descendant, departing<br> + From the seat of his ancestors, bids you adieu!<br> + Abroad or at home, your remembrance imparting<br> + New courage, he'll think upon glory and you.<br> + <br> + "Though a tear dim his eye at this sad separation,<br> + 'Tis nature, not fear, that excites his regret;<br> + Far distant he goes, with the same emulation;<br> + The fame of his fathers he ne'er can forget.<br> + <br> + "That fame, and that memory, still will he cherish;<br> + He vows that he ne'er will disgrace your renown;<br> + Like you will he live, or like you will he perish;<br> + When decay'd, may he mingle his dust with your own."</blockquote> + +Now, we positively do assert, that there is nothing better than these +stanzas in the whole compass of the noble minor's volume.<br> +<br> +Lord Byron should also have a care of attempting what the greatest poets +have done before him, for comparisons (as he must have had occasion to +see at his writing-master's) are odious. Gray's Ode on Eton College +should really have kept out the ten hobbling stanzas "On a distant View +of the Village and School of Harrow." + +<blockquote>"Where fancy yet joys to retrace the resemblance<br> + Of comrades, in friendship and mischief allied,<br> +How welcome to me your ne'er-fading remembrance,<br> + Which rests in the bosom, though hope is denied."</blockquote> + +In like manner, the exquisite lines of Mr. Rogers, "<i>On a Tear</i>," +might have warned the noble author off those premises, and spared us a +whole dozen such stanzas as the following:— + +<blockquote>"Mild Charity's glow, to us mortals below,<br> + Shows the soul from barbarity clear;<br> +Compassion will melt where this virtue is felt,<br> + And its dew is diffused in a Tear.<br><br> + +"The man doom'd to sail with the blast of the gale,<br> + Through billows Atlantic to steer,<br> +As he bends o'er the wave, which may soon be his grave,<br> + The green sparkles bright with a Tear."</blockquote> + +And so of instances in which former poets have failed. Thus we do not +think Lord Byron was made for translating, during his nonage, "Adrian's +Address to his Soul," when Pope succeeded so indifferently in the +attempt. If our readers, however, are of another opinion, they may look +at it. + +<blockquote>"Ah! gentle, fleeting, wavering sprite,<br> +Friend and associate of this clay!<br> + To what unknown region borne<br> +Wilt thou now wing thy distant flight?<br> +No more with wonted humour gay,<br> + But pallid, cheerless, and forlorn."</blockquote> + +However, be this as it may, we fear his translations and imitations are +great favourites with Lord Byron. We have them of all kinds, from +Anacreon to Ossian; and, viewing them as school exercises, they may +pass. Only, why print them after they have had their day and served +their turn? And why call the thing in p. 79 (see p. 380) a translation, +where <i>two</i> words <img src="images/BLG8.gif" width="96" height="23" alt="Greek (transliterated): thel_o legein"> of the original are +expanded into four lines, and the other thing in p. 81 (see +<i>ibid</i>.) where <img src="images/BLG9.gif" width="168" height="21" alt="Greek (transliterated): mesonuktiais poth h_orais"> is rendered +by means of six hobbling verses? As to his Ossianic poesy, we are not +very good judges, being in truth, so moderately skilled in that species +of composition, that we should, in all probability, be criticizing some +bit of the genuine Macpherson itself, were we to express our opinion of +Lord Byron's rhapsodies. If, then, the following beginning of a "Song of +Bards" is by his lordship, we venture to object to it, as far as we can +comprehend it. + +<blockquote>"What form rises on the roar of clouds? whose dark ghost +gleams on the red stream of tempests? His voice rolls on the thunder; +'tis Orla, the brown chief of Oithona. He was,"</blockquote> etc. After detaining +this "brown chief" some time, the bards conclude by giving him their +advice to "raise his fair locks;" then to "spread them on the arch of +the rainbow;" and to "smile through the tears of the storm." Of this +kind of thing there are no less than <i>nine</i> pages; and we can so +far venture an opinion in their favour, that they look very like +Macpherson; and we are positive they are pretty nearly as stupid and +tiresome.<br> +<br> +It is a sort of privilege of poets to be egotists; but they should "use +it as not abusing it;" and particularly one who piques himself (though +indeed at the ripe age of nineteen) on being "an infant bard," — ("The +artless Helicon I boast is youth") — should either not know, or should +seem not to know, so much about his own ancestry. Besides a poem above +cited, on the family seat of the Byrons, we have another of eleven +pages, on the self-same subject, introduced with an apology, "he +certainly had no intention of inserting it," but really "the particular +request of some friends," etc., etc. It concludes with five stanzas on +himself, "the last and youngest of a noble line." There is a good deal +also about his maternal ancestors, in a poem on Lachin y Gair, a +mountain where he spent part of his youth, and might have learnt that +pibroch is not a bagpipe, any more than duet means a fiddle.<br> +<br> +As the author has dedicated so large a part of his volume to immortalise +his employments at school and college, we cannot possibly dismiss it +without presenting the reader with a specimen of these ingenious +effusions. In an ode with a Greek motto, called "Granta," we have the +following magnificent stanzas:— + +<blockquote>There, in apartments small and damp,<br> + The candidate for college prizes,<br> +Sits poring by the midnight lamp,<br> + Goes late to bed, yet early rises.<br><br> + +Who reads false quantities in Sele,<br> + Or puzzles o'er the deep triangle,<br> +Deprived of many a wholesome meal,<br> + In barbarous Latin doom'd to wrangle:<br><br> + +Renouncing every pleasing page,<br> + From authors of historic use;<br> +Preferring to the letter'd sage,<br> + The square of the hypothenuse.<br><br> + +Still harmless are these occupations,<br> + That hurt none but the hapless student,<br> +Compared with other recreations,<br> + Which bring together the imprudent."</blockquote> + +We are sorry to hear so bad an account of the college psalmody as is +contained in the following Attic stanzas:— + +<blockquote>"Our choir would scarcely be excused<br> + Even as a band of raw beginners;<br> +All mercy now must be refused<br> + To such a set of croaking sinners.<br><br> + +If David, when his toils were ended,<br> + Had heard these blockheads sing before him,<br> +To us his psalms had ne'er descended:<br> + In furious mood he would have tore 'em! "</blockquote> + +But, whatever judgment may be passed on the poems of this noble minor, +it seems we must take them as we find them, and be content; for they are +the last we shall ever have from him. He is, at best, he says, but an +intruder into the groves of Parnassus: he never lived in a garret, like +thorough-bred poets; and "though he once roved a careless mountaineer +in the Highlands of Scotland," he has not of late enjoyed this +advantage. Moreover, he expects no profit from his publication; and, +whether it succeeds or not, "it is highly improbable, from his situation +and pursuits hereafter," that he should again condescend to become an +author. Therefore, let us take what we get, and be thankful. What right +have we poor devils to be nice? We are well off to have got so much from +a man of this lord's station, who does not live in a garret, but "has +the sway" of Newstead Abbey. Again, we say, let us be thankful; and, +with honest Sancho, bid God bless the giver, nor look the gift horse in +the mouth.<br> +<br> +<p><a href="#toc">Contents</a></p> +<hr><br><br> + +<h2><a name="section8">APPENDIX III —REVIEW OF GELL'S <i>GEOGRAPHY OF ITHACA</i>, AND <i>ITINERARY OF GREECE</i></a></h2> +<br> +<b>(From the <i>Monthly Review</i> for August, 1811.)</b><br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +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. <a name="fr317">Whatever</a> +difference of opinion may yet exist with regard to the success of the +several disputants in the famous Trojan controversy<a href="#f317"><sup>1</sup></a>, 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.<br> +<br> +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. <a name="fr318">The</a> +maps<a href="#f318"><sup>2</sup></a> 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.<br> +<br> +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 <i>Odyssey</i> has immortalized; for we really are +inclined to think that the author has established the identity of the +modern <i>Theaki</i> with the <i>Ithaca</i> 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:— + +<blockquote>"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 <i>Odyssey</i> 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 <i>Odyssey</i> is a mere poetical composition, unsupported by + history, and unconnected with the localities of any particular + situation.<br> +<br> + 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 an 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.<br> +<br> + 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.<br> +<br> + 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 <img src="images/BLG20.gif" width="65" height="18" alt="Greek (transliterated): IThAK_ON">. 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.<br> +<br> + "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."</blockquote> + +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. <a name="fr319">This</a> observation very nearly approaches to the use of that +monosyllable which Gibbon<a href="#f319"><sup>3</sup></a>, 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.<br> +<br> +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 Eumæus, the faithful +swineherd of Ulysses. — We shall take the liberty of adding to our +extracts from Mr. Gell some of the passages in Homer to which he +<i>refers</i> only, conceiving this to be the fairest method of exhibiting +the strength or the weakness of his argument. + +<blockquote>"Ulysses," he observes, +"came to the extremity of the isle to visit Eumæus, 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." +<br> +<br> +<img src="images/BLG10.gif" width="532" height="120" alt="Greek (transliterated): Kai tote dae r Odysaea kakos pothen aegage daim_on + Agrou ep eschatiaen, hothi d_omata naie sub_otaes + Enth aelthen philos uhios Odyssaeos theioio, + Ek Pylon aemathoentos i_on sun naei melainae. + + Odyssei _O."><br> +<br> +<img src="images/BLG11.gif" width="540" height="93" alt="Greek (transliterated): Autar epaen pr_otaen aktaen Ithakaes aphikaeai, + Naea men es polin otrunai kai pantas etairous + Autos de pr_otista sub_otaen eisaphikesthai, k.t.l. + + Odyssei O."></blockquote> + +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: + +<blockquote>"<a name="fr320">It</a> 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 ate the <i>sweet</i><a href="#f320"><sup>4</sup></a> acorns, and drank +the black water."<br> +<br> +<img src="images/BLG12.gif" width="515" height="96" alt="Greek (transliterated): Daeeis ton ge suessi paraemenon ai de nemontai + Par Korakos petrae, epi te kraenae Arethousae, + Esthousai balanon menoeikea, kai melan hud_or + Pinousai. + + Odyssei N."><br> +<br> +"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 south-east. 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 stalagmatic incrustation.<br> +<br> + 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 Eumæus 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 Eumæus, 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 Eumæus; for the goddess informs Ulysses that he should + find his faithful servant at or above the fount.<br> +<br> + "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 inquiries 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 Amarâthia.<br> +<br> + Convenience, as well as safety, seems to have pointed out the lofty + situation of Amarâthia 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 Eumæus 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.<br> +<br> + 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 Eumæus; 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.<br> +<br> + The stathmos of the good Eumæus 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 Eumæus. 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." +</blockquote> + +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:— + +<blockquote>"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 Signer 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 <img src="images/BLG14.gif" width="256" height="24" alt="Greek (transliterated): anestae o Christos, alaethinos o Theos"><img src="images/BLG15.gif" width="47" height="16" alt="see previous image">, + Christ is risen, the true God."</blockquote> + +In another passage, he continues this account as follows:— + +<blockquote>"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," </blockquote> + +etc., etc. This is rather too much for even the inflexible gravity of +our censorial muscles. When the author talks, with all the <i>reality</i> (if +we may use the expression) of a Lemprière, 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 <i>Odyssey</i>, 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 <i>Odyssey</i> +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, etc., etc.; +and, in confirmation of this hypothesis, he refers to the 10th +<i>Odyssey</i>, line 340. On examining his reference, we read — + +<blockquote><img src="images/BLG17.gif" width="429" height="31" alt="Greek (transliterated): Es thalamon t' ienai, kai saes epibaemenai eunaes"></blockquote> + +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.<br> +<br> +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 <i>Odyssey</i>. 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:— + +<blockquote>"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.<br> +<br> + "That Strabo had never visited this country is evident, not only from + his inaccurate account of it, but from his citation of Apollodorus and + Scepsius, whose relations are in direct opposition to each other on + the subject of Ithaca, as will be demonstrated on a future + opportunity." +</blockquote> + +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 <i>leap</i> of Sappho, and the <i>death</i> 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:— + +<blockquote>"It has been generally supposed that Corfu, or Corcyra, was the + Phæacia of Homer; but Sir Henry Englefield thinks the position of + that island inconsistent with the voyage of Ulysses as described in + the <i>Odyssey</i>. 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 (<i>Od</i>. 7. 112); as the + kingdom of Solomon was distinguished by twelve tribes under twelve + princes (1 Kings ch. 4), so that of Alcinous (<i>Od</i>. 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 (<i>Od</i>. 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 + Æthiopia to Ægæ, while he raised the tempest which threw Ulysses on + the coast of Phæacia; 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."</blockquote> + +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.<br> +<br> +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. — <i>Baron Bathi</i> would be a pretty title:— + +<blockquote>"<i>Hoc</i> Ithacus <i>velit, et magno mercentur Atridae</i>."<br> +<br> + <b>Virgil</b>.</blockquote> + +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.<br> +<br> +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. From 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 <i>Itinerary of Greece</i>, in which he thus expresses +himself:— + +<blockquote>"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.<br> +<br> + "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 by Krabata to Schoenochorio, and by the mills of Peali, + while every one is in some degree acquainted with the names of + Stymphalus, Nemea, Mycenæ, Lyrceia, Lerna, and Tegea?"</blockquote> + +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 <i>Augusta</i>, as apply to our Turkish guide in +modern Greece for a direction to Stymphalus, Nemea, Mycenæ, etc., etc. +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. Cell 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. + +<blockquote>"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, <i>and without the smallest danger of exciting +the jealousy of such a court as that of Turkey</i>, will be acknowledged +when we are no longer able to rectify the error." </blockquote> + +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.<br> +<br> +Mr. Gell apologizes 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 Mycenæ are indeed good likenesses of +their subject, and the first of them is unusually well executed; but the +general view of Mycenæ is not more than tolerable in any respect; and +the prospect of Larissa, etc., is barely equal to the former. The view +<i>from</i> 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, etc., 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, "<i>We</i> are at present as ignorant of Greece, as +of the interior of Africa." Surely not quite so ignorant; or several of +our Grecian <i>Mungo Parks</i> 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 <i>now</i> the most polished +city of "Greece," when we believe it to be the most barbarous, even to a +<a name="fr321">proverb</a> — + +<blockquote><img src="images/BLG18.gif" width="267" height="51" alt="Greek: _O Athaena, pr_otae ch_ora, + Ti gaidarous trepheis t_ora;"></blockquote> + +is a couplet of reproach <i>now</i> 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:— + +<blockquote><img src="images/BLG19.gif" width="320" height="27" alt="Greek: Deute paides t_on Hellaen_on, k.t.l."></blockquote> + +Iannina, the capital of Epirus, and the seat of Ali Pacha's government, +<i>is</i> 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 +<i>Molossia</i>, 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 +<i>court</i>; 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 <i>gold</i> 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 <i>in Greece</i> 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. — <br> +<br> +"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 Strané of Patras 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, <i>and not without reason</i>," etc. 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 <i>postillion</i> +"Menzilgi," he mistakes him for his betters; <i>Serrugees</i> are +postillions; <i>Menzilgis</i> 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.<br> +<br> +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 <i>capabilities</i>, 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 æra 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 <i>Itinerary</i>:— + +<blockquote>"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, Cleonæ, and Stymphalus. Mr. Hawkins + observed, that Phlius, the ruins of which still exist near Agios + Giorgios, lies in a direct line between Cleonæ 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.<br> +<br> + 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.<br> +<br> + 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 Sphæria 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 Piræus seem to have been nothing more + than little bays in the country between Corinth and Epidaurus. The + town called Athenæ, in Cynouria, by Pausanias, is called Anthena by + <i>Thucydides</i>, book 5. 41.<br> +<br> + 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 Malætas 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." +</blockquote> + + +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.<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr width="50%" align="left"><br> +<br> +<a name="f317"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 1:</span></a> 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 — "<i>Trojaque nunc slaves</i>" etc.<br> +<a href="#fr317">return to footnote mark</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f318"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 2:</span></a> Or, rather, <i>map</i>; 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.<br> +<a href="#fr318">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f319"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 3:</span></a> See his Vindication of the 15th and 16th chapters of the +<i>Decline and Fall, etc.</i><br> +<a href="#fr319">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f320"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 4:</span></a> "<i>Sweet</i> acorns." Does Mr. Gell translate from the Latin? +To avoid similar cause of mistake, <img src="images/BLG13.gif" width="70" height="18" alt="Greek: menoeikea"> should not be +rendered <i>suavem</i>, but <i>gratam</i>, as Barnes has given it.<br> +<a href="#fr320">return</a><br> +<br> +<br> +<a name="f321"><span style="color: #FF0000;">Footnote 5:</span></a> We write these lines from the <i>recitation</i> of the travellers to +whom we have alluded; but we cannot vouch for the correctness of +the Romaic.<br> +<a href="#fr321">return</a><br> +<br> +<p><a href="#toc">Contents</a></p> +<br><br> + +<br> +<br> +<b><i>End of Text</i></b> +<br> +<br> +<hr><br><br> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and +Journals, Vol. 1, by Lord Byron + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYRON, LETTERS AND JOURNALS, VOL 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 8901-h.htm or 8901-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/9/0/8901/ + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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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