Chapter IV · — Travels in Albania, Greece, etc. — Death of Mrs. Byron (continued 3)

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.

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

Miscellany

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.

Yours

and Pratt's

¹

protégé

, Blacket

²

, 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.

If

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

³

. I have an imitation of Horace's

Art of Poetry

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.

Yours ever sincerely,

Byron

.

Footnote 1:

For Pratt, see page 186,

note

1.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Joseph Blacket (1786-1810) has his place in

English Bards

(lines 765, 798) and

Hints from Horace

(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

Specimens

, edited by Pratt. Among those who befriended him were Elliston the actor, Dallas, and Miss Milbanke, afterwards Lady Byron (see

English Bards

, lines 770, and

note

1). His

Remains

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

page 337

, and

Hints from Horace

, line 734, and Byron's

note

). In the suppressed edition of Dallas's

Correspondence of Lord Byron

(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

'"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. I see,' says the latter, 'that Blacket the Son of Crispin and Apollo is dead.' Looking into Boswell's Life of Johnson 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, Ne sutor ultra crepidam? 'But spare him, ye Critics, his follies are past, For the Cobler is come, as he ought, to his last.' Which two lines, with a scratch under last, 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."

It should be added that the shoemaking poet was not Wordsworth, but Woodhouse.

return

Footnote 3:

Dallas called on Byron at Reddish's Hotel, St. James's Street, July 15, 1811, and received from him the MS. of

Hints from Horace

. Byron finished the work March 12, 1811, at the Franciscan Convent at Athens, where he found a copy of the

De Arte Poeticâ

. (

Hints from Horace

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

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

, 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

Childe Harold

as he was eager to publish

Hints from Horace

.

return

List of Letters

155 — To Francis Hodgson

Volage

Frigate, at sea, June 29, 1811.

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.

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

home

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.

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.

That

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.

"For children fresh expenses yet, And Dicky now for school is fit." Warton¹.

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

Anthology

with me — I mean Bland and Merivale's. — What has

Sir Edgar

done? And the

Imitations and Translations

— where are they? I suppose you don't mean to let the public off so easily, but charge them home with a quarto.

For

me, I am "sick of fops, and poesy, and prate," and shall leave the "whole Castalian state" to Bufo, or any body else

²

. 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.

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.

I am, here and there, yours, etc.

Footnote 1:

Warton's

Progress of Discontent

, lines 109, 110.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

"But sick of fops, and poetry, and prate, To Bufo left the whole Castalian state."

Pope,

Prologue to the Satires

, lines 229, 230.

return

List of Letters

156 — To Henry Drury

Volage

frigate, off Ushant, July 17, 1811.

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.

At

present, we are becalmed comfortably, close to Brest Harbour; — I have never been so near it since I left Duck Puddle

¹

. 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.

I

have brought home some marbles for Hobhouse; — for myself, four ancient Athenian skulls

²

, dug out of sarcophagi — a phial of Attic hemlock

³

— four live tortoises — a greyhound (died on the passage) — two live Greek servants, one an Athenian, t'other a

Yaniote

, who can speak nothing but Romaic and Italian — and

myself

, as Moses in the

Vicar of Wakefield

says,

slily

⁴

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.

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

Miscellany,

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

real Parnassus,

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.

Footnote 1:

The swimming-bath at Harrow.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Given afterwards to Sir Walter Scott.

return

Footnote 3:

At present in the possession of Mr. Murray.

return

Footnote 4:

"'Welcome, welcome, Moses! Well, my boy, what have you brought us from the fair?' 'I have brought you myself,' cried Moses, with a sly look, and resting the box on the dresser."

Vicar of Wakefield

, ch. xii.

return

List of Letters

157 — To his Mother

Reddish's Hotel, St. James's Street, London, July 23, 1811.

My Dear Madam

, — I am only detained by Mr. Hanson to sign some copyhold papers, and will give you timely notice of my approach.

It

is with great reluctance I remain in town

¹

. 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,

Byron

.

P.S. — You will consider Newstead as your house, not mine; and me only as a visiter.

Footnote 1:

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.

return to footnote mark

List of Letters

158 — To William Miller¹

Reddish's Hotel, July 30th, 1811.

Sir

, — 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

Ariosto's plan,

that

is

to

say

on

no plan

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.

But

I can perfectly conceive, and indeed

approve

your reasons, and assure you my sensations are not

Archiepiscopal

²

enough as yet to regard the rejection of my Homilies.

I am, Sir, your very obed't humble serv't,

Byron

.

Footnote 1:

William Miller (1769-1844), son of Thomas Miller, bookseller, of Bungay (see Beloe's

Sexagenarian,

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

Childe Harold,

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

Sexagenarian

(vol. ii pp. 270, 271), Miller is described as

"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."

return to footnote mark

cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 149

cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 167

Footnote 2:

Alluding to Gil Blas and the Archbishop of Grenada (see page 121,

note

3).

return

List of Letters

159 — To John M. B. Pigot.

Newport Pagnell, August 2, 1811.

My Dear Doctor

, — My poor mother died yesterday! and I am on my way from town to attend her to the family vault.

I

heard

one

day of her illness, the

next

of her death

¹

. Thank God her last moments were most tranquil. I am told she was in little pain, and not aware of her situation.

I

now feel the truth of Mr. Gray's observation, "That we can only have

one

mother."

²

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.

If

it will be any satisfaction, I have to inform you that in November next the Editor of the

Scourge

³

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.

I inform you of this, as you seem interested in the affair, which is now in the hands of the Attorney-general.

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.

I am, dear Pigot, yours very truly,

Byron

.

Footnote 1:

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,

"Oh, Mrs. By, I had but one friend in the world, and she is gone!"

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 (

Life

, p. 128), the state of his feelings.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

"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."

Gray to Nicholls,

Works

, vol. i. p. 482.

return

Footnote 3:

One of Byron's first acts on returning to England was to buy a copy of the

Scourge

, In Ridgway's bill for books supplied from Piccadilly to Byron on July 24, 1811, is a copy of the

Scourge

at 2

s

. 6

d

. 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

History of England

(1832), and an

Impartial History of the Naval, etc., Events in Europe

from the French Revolution to the Peace of 1815. It was, however, as a journalist that he came into collision with Byron. In the

Satirist

, a monthly magazine, illustrated with coloured cartoons, three attacks were made on Byron, which he attributed to Clarke:

October, 1807 (vol. i pp. 77-81), a review of Hours of Idleness;

June, 1808 (vol. ii p. 368), verses on "Lord B — n to his Bear. To the tune of 'Lo chin y gair;'"

August, 1808 (vol. iii pp. 78-86), a review of Poems Original and Translated.

Byron's reply was the passage in

English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers

(lines 973-980; see also the notes), where Clarke is described as

"A would-be satirist, a hired Buffoon, A monthly scribbler of some low Lampoon," etc.;

and also the Postscript to the second edition (see

Poems

, vol. i p. 382). In the

Scourge

for March, 1811 (vol. i. pp. 191,

et seqq

.}, appeared an article headed "Lord Byron," in which the alleged libel occurred.

"We are unacquainted," says the article, "with any act of cowardice that can be compared with that of keeping a libel ready cut and dried 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 ... "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."

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.

return

List of Letters

160 — To John Hanson

Newstead Abbey, August 4th, 1811.

My Dear Sir,

— The

Earl

of Huntley and the Lady

Jean

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.

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

vice

(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.

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

respects

to the young ladies, I am, Dear Sir,

Your very sincere and obliged servant,

Byron

.

List of Letters

161 — To Scrope Berdmore Davies

Newstead Abbey, August 7, 1811.

My Dearest Davies

, —

Some

curse hangs over me and mine. My mother lies a corpse in this house; one of my best friends is drowned in a ditch

¹

. 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

Friday

. — 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.

Come

to me, Scrope, I am almost desolate — left almost alone in the world

²

— 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.

Yours ever.

Footnote 1:

Charles Skinner Matthews (see page 150,

note

3).

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

In 1811 Byron had lost, besides his mother and Matthews (August), his Harrow friend Wingfield (see page 180,

note

1), Hargreaves Hanson (see page 54,

note

1), and Edleston (see page 130,

note

3).

return

List of Letters

162 — To R. C. Dallas

Newstead Abbey, Notts., August 12, 1811.

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

all three,

but not seen

one.

Matthews wrote to me the very day before his death; and though I feel for his fate,

I

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

¹

. 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.

I

received a letter from you, which my late occupations prevented me from duly noticing

²

. — 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

four

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,

Yours, etc.

Footnote 1:

"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. "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."

A second letter, dated August 8, 1811, is as follows:—

"My Dear Byron, — 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. Ever your obliged and faithful, John C. Hobhouse."

Byron had apparently suggested that Hobhouse should write some brief record of his friend. Hobhouse replies from Enniscorthy, September 13, 1811:—

"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!"

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Dallas had written on July 29 to protest, on six grounds which he gives (

Correspondence of Lord Byron

, pp. 151-153), "against the sceptical stanzas" of

Childe Harold

.

return

List of Letters

163 — To — — Bolton

Newstead Abbey, August 12, 1811.

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,

Your most obedient, humble servant,

Byron

.

Newstead Abbey, August 12, 1811.

Directions for the Contents of a Will to be Drawn Up Immediately

.

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.

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.

To

William Fletcher, Joseph Murray, and Demetrius Zograffo

¹

(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.

To Jn. Hanson, Esq. the sum of two thousand pounds sterling.

The claims of S. B. Davies, Esq. to be satisfied on proving the amount of the same.

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.

My library and furniture of every description to my friends Jn. Cam Hobhouse, Esq., and S. B. Davies, Esq., my executors.

In

case of their decease, the Rev. J. Becher, of Southwell, Notts., and R. C. Dallas, Esq., of Mortlake, Surrey, to be executors

²

.

The

produce of the sale of Wymondham in Norfolk, and the late Mrs. B.'s Scotch property

³

, to be appropriated in aid of the payment of debts and legacies.

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.

It 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

⁴

.

It must stand.

B.

I

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

by vouchers, or otherwise, to the satisfaction of my executors hereinafter named

⁵

the amount thereof, and the correctness of the same.

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.

So much the better — if possible, let him be an executor.

B.

Footnote 1:

"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 apparently an enterprising man; but circumstances make men. His two sons (then infants) were named Miltiades and Alcibiades: may the omen be happy!"

Byron's MS. Journal, quoted by Moore,

Life

, p. 131.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

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."

return

Footnote 3:

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.

return

Footnote 4:

The passages printed

in italics

are suggestions made by the solicitors.

return

Footnote 5:

Over the words

printed in grey

, Byron drew his pen.

return

List of Letters

164 — To — — Bolton

Newstead Abbey, August 16, 1811.

Sir

, — 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.

With regard to the few and simple directions for the disposal of my

carcass

, 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

consecrated

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,

Your most obedient, humble servant,

Byron

.

List of Letters

166 — To the Hon. Augusta Leigh

Newstead Abbey, August 21st, 1811.

My Dear Sister, — I ought to have answered your letter before, but when did I ever do any-thing that I ought?

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.

I hear you have been increasing his Majesty's Subjects, which in these times of War and tribulation is really patriotic.

Notwithstanding

Malthus

¹

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.

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

repaired

my

irreparable

affairs I shall een go abroad again, for I am heartily sick of your climate and every thing it

rains

upon, always save and except

yourself

as in

duty bound

.

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.

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.

Your

trusty and well beloved cousin F. Howard

²

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.

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.

In the interim I am, Dear Madam,

[Signature cut out.]

Footnote 1:

The Rev. T. R. Malthus (1766-1834) published, in 1798, his

Essay on the Principle of Population

.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

The Hon. Frederick Howard (see page 55,

note

1) married, August 6, 1811, Frances Susan Lambton, only daughter of William Lambton, formerly M.P. for Durham.

return

List of Letters

167 — To R. C. Dallas

Newstead, August 21, 1811.

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.

I

do not think I shall return to London immediately, and shall therefore accept freely what is offered courteously — your mediation between me and Murray

¹

. 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

Pilgrimage

; — but, nevertheless, if Murray makes a point of it, and you coincide with him, I will do it daringly; so let it be entitled "

By the author of English Bards and Scotch Reviewers

." My remarks on the Romaic, etc., once intended to accompany the

Hints from Horace

, 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

Miscellany

. 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.

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."

I shall continue to write at intervals, and hope you will pay me in kind.

How

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

²

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.

I

am sorry you don't like Harry White

³

: 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

⁴

and Blacketts, and their collateral cobblers, whom Lofft

⁵

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.

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

Believe me, etc.

Footnote 1:

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

of Publishers," or, as he was nicknamed, "The Emperor of the West." In February, 1809, he had launched the

Quarterly Review

; in March, 1812, he published

Childe Harold

; 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,

note

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:

"By all means do what the Emperor says. He is what Emperor Nap was not, 'much a gentleman.'"

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 (

A Publisher and his Friends

, vol. ii. p. 199), that

"the business of a publishing bookseller is not in his shop, or even his connection, but in his brains."

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

Don Juan

. 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.

return to footnote mark

cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 84

Footnote 2:

Walter Rodwell Wright, author of

Horæ Ionicæ, a Poem descriptive of the Ionian Islands, and part of the adjacent coast of Greece,

(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

English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers

, lines 877-880.)

return

Footnote 3:

Henry Kirke White (1785-1806) published

Clifton Grove

and other poems in 1803. He died at Cambridge in 1806. His

Remains

were published by Southey in 1807. (See

English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers

, lines 831-848, and

note

2.)

return

Footnote 4:

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

English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers

, lines 765-798, and

notes

.)

Robert Bloomfield (1766-1823) achieved a success with his

Farmer's Boy

(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

The Farmer's Boy

.

Good Tidings, or News from the Farm

(1804), is perhaps the best known. A collected edition of Bloomfield's

Works

was published in 1824.

return

cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 154

Footnote 5:

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 (

Diary

, vol. i. p. 29) describes him, in 1795, as

"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."

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

"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."

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 (

Diary

, vol. i. p. 491). He published numerous works on law and politics, besides four volumes of poetry:

The Praises of Poetry, a Poem

(1775);

Eudosia, or a Poem on the Universe

(1781);

The first and second Georgics of Virgil

(in blank verse, 1803);

Laura, or an Anthology of Sonnets

(1814). He also edited Milton's

Paradise Lost

. In November, 1798, Lofft read the manuscript of

The Farmer's Boy

, 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.

return

List of Letters

168 — To Francis Hodgson

Newstead Abbey, August 22, 1811.

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.

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.

If

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

¹

. — 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.

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

really

, as, being an author, my humanity might be suspected.

Believe me, dear H., yours always.

Footnote 1:

"Give but an Englishman his whore and ease, Beef and a sea-coal fire, he's yours for ever."

Venice Preserved

, act ii. sc. 3.

return to footnote mark

List of Letters Contents