Chapter VII · —The Giaour and Bride of Abydos (continued 2)

P. S. 2d.—

There

is an excellent review of Grimm's

Correspondence

and Madame de Staël in this No. of the

E[dinburgh] R[eview]

¹²

. Jeffrey, himself, was my critic last year; but this is, I believe, by another hand. I hope you are going on with your

grand coup

—pray do—or that damned Lucien Buonaparte will beat us all. I have seen much of his poem in MS., and he really surpasses every thing beneath Tasso. Hodgson is translating him

against

another bard. You and (I believe Rogers,) Scott, Gifford, and myself, are to be referred to as judges between the twain,—that is, if you accept the office. Conceive our different opinions! I think we, most of us (I am talking very impudently, you will think —

us

, indeed!) have a way of our own,—at least, you and Scott certainly have.

Byron

.

Footnote 1:

The fight, in which Harry Harmer, "the Coppersmith" (1784-1834), beat Jack Ford, took place at St. Nicholas, near Margate, August 23, 1813.

Francis Charles Seymour Conway, Earl of Yarmouth (1777-1842), succeeded his father as second Marquis of Hertford in 1822. The colossal libertinism and patrician splendour of his life inspired Disraeli to paint him as "Monmouth" in

Coningsby

, and Thackeray as "Steyne" in

Vanity Fair

. He married, in 1798, Maria Fagniani, claimed as a daughter by George Selwyn and by "Old Q.," and enriched by both. Yarmouth, as an intimate friend of the Regent, and the son of the Prince's female favourite, was the butt of Moore and the Whig satirists. Byron gibes at Yarmouth's red whiskers, which helped to gain him the name of "Red Herrings" in the

Waltz

, line 142,

note

1. Yarmouth, like Byron, patronized the fancy, and, like him also, was a frequenter of Manton's shooting-gallery in Davies Street; but there is no record of their being acquainted, though the house, which Byron occupied (13, Piccadilly Terrace) during his brief married life, was in the occupation of Lord Yarmouth before Byron took it from the Duchess of Devonshire.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Albert de Staël

"led an irregular life, and met a deplorable death at Doberan, a small city of the duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, a favourite resort in summer for bathing, gambling, etc. Some officers of the état-major of Bernadotte had gone to try their luck in this place of play and pleasure. They quarrelled over some louis, and a duel immediately ensued. I well remember that the Grand-Duke Paul of Mecklenburg-Schwerin told me he was there at the time, and, while walking with his tutors in the park, suddenly heard the clinking of swords in a neighbouring thicket. They ran to the place, and reached it just in time to see the head of Albert fall, cleft by one of those long and formidable sabres which were carried by the Prussian cavalry."

The above passage is quoted from the unpublished

Souvenirs

of M. Pictet de Sergy, given by A. Stevens in his

Life of Madame de Staël

, vol. ii. pp. 204, 205.

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Footnote 3:

Only special copies of books published in Edinburgh came to London by coach: the bulk was forwarded in Leith smacks.

In the

Edinburgh Review

for July, 1813, the

Giaour

was reviewed as a poem "full of spirit, character, and originality," and producing an effect at once "powerful and pathetic." But the reviewer considers that "energy of character and intensity of emotion... presented in combination with worthlessness and guilt," are "most powerful corrupters and perverters of our moral nature," and he deplores Byron's exclusive devotion to gloomy and revolting subjects.

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Footnote 4:

Francis Jeffrey (1773-1850) succeeded Sidney Smith as editor of the

Edinburgh Review

(founded 1802), and held the editorship till 1829. The first number of the

Review

, says Francis Horner, brought to light "the genius of that little man." During the first six years of its existence, he wrote upwards of seventy articles. At the same time, he was a successful lawyer. Called to the Scottish Bar in 1794, he became successively Dean of the Faculty of Advocates (1829), Lord Advocate (1830), and a Judge of the Court of Sessions (1834) with the title of Lord Jeffrey. He married, as his second wife, at New York, in October, 1813, Charlotte Wilkes, a grandniece of John Wilkes.

Jeffrey is described at considerable length by Ticknor, in a letter, dated February 8, 1814 (

Life of G. Ticknor

, vol. i. pp. 43-47):

"You are to imagine, then, before you a short, stout, little gentleman, about five and a half feet high, with a very red face, black hair, and black eyes. You are to suppose him to possess a very gay and animated countenance, and you are to see in him all the restlessness of a will-o'-wisp ... He enters a room with a countenance so satisfied, and a step so light and almost fantastic, that all your previous impressions of the dignity and severity of the Edinburgh Review are immediately put to flight ... It is not possible, however, to be long in his presence without understanding something of his real character, for the same promptness and assurance which mark his entrance into a room carry him at once into conversation. The moment a topic is suggested—no matter what or by whom—he comes forth, and the first thing you observe is his singular fluency," etc., etc.

By the side of this description may be set that given of Jeffrey by Francis Horner (

Life of Jeffrey

, 2nd edition, vol. i. p. 212):

"His manner is not at first pleasing; what is worse, it is of that cast which almost irresistibly impresses upon strangers the idea of levity and superficial talents. Yet there is not any man whose real character is so much the reverse."

The secret of his success, both as editor and critic, is that he made the

Review

the expression of the Whig character, both in its excellences and its limitations. A man of clear, discriminating mind, of cool and placid judgment, he refused to accept the existing state of things, was persuaded that it might be safely improved, saw the practical steps required, and had the courage of his convictions. He was suspicious of large principles, somewhat callous to enthusiasm or sentiment, intolerant of whatever was incapable of precise expression. His intellectual strength lay not in the possession of one great gift, but in the simultaneous exercise of several well-adjusted talents. His literary taste was correct; but it consisted rather in recognizing compliance with accepted rules of proved utility than in the readiness to appreciate novelties of thought and treatment. Hence his criticism, though useful for his time, has not endured beyond his day. It may be doubted whether more could be expected from a man who was eminently successful in addressing a jury. "He might not know his subject, but he knew his readers" (Bagehot's

Literary Studies

, vol. i. p. 30).

Byron, believing him to have been the author of the famous article on

Hours of Idleness

, attacked him bitterly in

English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers

; (lines 460-528). He afterwards recognized his error.

Don Juan

(Canto X. stanza xvi.) expresses his mature opinion of a critic who, whatever may have been his faults, was as absolutely honest as political prejudice would permit:

"And all our little feuds, at least all mine, Dear Jeffrey, once my most redoubted foe (As far as rhyme and criticism combine To make such puppets of us things below), Are over; Here's a health to 'Auld Lang Syne!' I do not know you, and may never know Your face—but you have acted, on the whole, Most nobly; and I own it from my soul."

Jeffrey reviewed

Childe Harold

in the

Edinburgh Review

, No. 38, art. 10; the

Giaour

, No. 42, art. 2; the

Corsair

and

Bride of Abydos

, No. 45, art. 9; Byron's

Poetry

, No. 54, art. I;

Manfred

, No. 56, art. 7;

Beppo

, No. 58, art. 2;

Marino Faliero

, No. 70, art. I; Byron's

Tragedies

, No. 72, art. 5.

return

Footnote 5:

Winifred Jenkins is the maid to Miss Tabitha Bramble, who marries Captain Lismahago, in Smollett's

Humphrey Clinker

.

return

Footnote 6:

Lord Foley and Scrope Davies.

return

Footnote 7:

G. F. Cooke (1755-1812), from 1794 to 1800 was the hero of the Dublin stage, with the exception of an interval, during which he served in the army. On October 31, 1800, he appeared at Covent Garden as "Richard III," and afterwards played such parts in tragedy as "Iago" and "Shylock" with great success. In comedy he was also a favourite, especially as "Kitely" in

Every Man in his Humour

, and "Sir Pertinax MacSycophant" in

The Man of the World

. His last appearance on the London stage was as "Falstaff," June 5, 1810. In that year he sailed for New York, and, September 26, 1812, died there from his "incorrigible habits of drinking."

Byron uses the word

scurra

, which generally means a "parasite," in its other sense of a "buffoon."

Memoirs of George Frederic Cooke, late of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden

, by W. Dunlap, in 2 vols., was published in 1813

return

Footnote 8:

The original edition of

Drunken Barnaby's Journal

, a small square volume, without date, was probably printed about 1650. The author was supposed to be Barnaby Harrington of Queen's College, Oxford. But Joseph Haslewood, whose edition (1818) is the best, attributed it to Richard Brathwait (circ. 1588-1673). The title of the second edition (1716) runs as follows:

Drunken Barnaby's Four Journeys to the North of England. In Latin and English Verse. Wittily and merrily (tho' near one hundred years ago) composed; found among some old musty books, that had a long time lain by in a corner; and now at last made publick. To which is added, Bessy Bell

.

"Drunken Barnaby" was also the burden of an old ballad quoted by Haslewood:

"Barnaby, Barnaby, thou'st been drinking, I can tell by thy nose, and thy eyes winking; Drunk at Richmond, drunk at Dover, Drunk at Newcastle, drunk all over. Hey, Barnaby! tak't for a warning, Be no more drunk, nor dry in a morning!"

return

Footnote 9:

"A Persian's Heav'n is easily made— 'Tis but black eyes and lemonade."

return

Footnote 10:

Pope's

Imitations of Horace

, Satire I line 6.

return

Footnote 11:

With Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster.

return

Footnote 2:

The review of Madame de Staël's

Germany

was by Mackintosh.

return

List of Letters

Contents

323—to John Murray

August 26, 1813.

Dear Sir,—I have looked over and corrected one proof, but not so carefully (God knows if you can read it through, but I can't) as to preclude your eye from discovering some

o

mission of mine or

com

mission of y'e Printer. If you have patience, look it over. Do you know any body who can

stop

—I mean

point

-commas, and so forth? for I am, I hear, a sad hand at your punctuation. I have, but with some difficulty,

not

added any more to this snake of a poem, which has been lengthening its rattles every month. It is now fearfully long, being more than a canto and a half of

C. H

., which contains but 882 lines per book, with all late additions inclusive.

The last lines Hodgson likes—it is not often he does —and when he don't, he tells me with great energy, and I fret and alter. I have thrown them in to soften the ferocity of our Infidel, and, for a dying man, have given him a good deal to say for himself.

Do you think you shall get hold of the

female

MS. you spoke of to day? if so, you will let me have a glimpse; but don't tell our

master

(not W's), or we shall be buffeted.

I was quite sorry to hear you say you stayed in town on my account, and I hope sincerely you did not mean so superfluous a piece of politeness.

Our

six

critiques!—they would have made half a

Quarterly

by themselves; but this is the age of criticism.

Ever yours,

B.

List of Letters

Contents

324—to Thomas Moore

August 28, 1813.

Ay,

my

dear Moore, "there

was

a time"—I have heard of your tricks, when "you was campaigning at the "King of Bohemy."

¹

I am much mistaken if, some fine London spring, about the year 1815, that time does not come again. After all, we must end in marriage; and I can conceive nothing more delightful than such a state in the country, reading the county newspaper, etc., and kissing one's wife's maid. Seriously, I would incorporate with any woman of decent demeanour to-morrow—that is, I would a month ago, but, at present, ——

Why

don't

you "parody that Ode?"—Do you think

²

I should be

tetchy?

or have you done it, and won't tell me?—

You

are quite right about Giamschid, and I have reduced it to a dissyllable within this half hour

³

.

I am

glad

to hear you talk of Richardson

⁴

, because it tells me what you won't—that you are going to beat Lucien. At least tell me how far you have proceeded. Do you think me less interested about your works, or less sincere than our friend Ruggiero? I am not—and never was. In

that

thing of mine, the

English Bards

, at the time when I was angry with all the world, I never "disparaged your parts," although I did not know you personally;—and have always regretted that you don't give us an

entire

work, and not sprinkle yourself in detached pieces—beautiful, I allow, and quite

alone

in our language, but still giving us a right to expect a

Shah Nameh

⁵

(is that the name?) as well as gazelles. Stick to the East;—the oracle, Staël, told me it was the only poetical policy. The North, South, and West, have all been exhausted; but from the East, we have nothing but Southey's unsaleables,—and these he has contrived to spoil, by adopting only their most outrageous fictions. His personages don't interest us, and yours will. You will have no competitor; and, if you had, you ought to be glad of it. The little I have done in that way is merely a "voice in the wilderness" for you; and if it has had any success, that also will prove that the public are orientalising, and pave the path for you.

I

have

been thinking of a story, grafted on the amours of a Peri and a mortal—something like, only more

philanthropical

than, Cazotte's

Diable Amoureux

⁶

.

It would require a good deal of poesy, and tenderness is not my forte. For

that

, and other reasons, I have given up the idea, and merely suggest it to you, because, in intervals of your greater work, I think it a subject you might make much of

⁷

.

If

you

want any more books, there is "Castellan's

Moeurs des Ottomans

," the best compendium of the kind I ever met with, in six small tomes

⁸

.

I

am

really taking a liberty by talking in this style to my "elders and my betters;"—pardon it, and don't

Rochefoucault

⁹

my motives.

Footnote 1:

Jerry Sneak, in Foote's

Mayor of Garratt

(act ii.), says to Major Sturgeon, "I heard of your tricks at the King of Bohemy."

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

"The Ode of Horace— 'Natis in usum lætitiæ,' etc.; some passages of which I told him might be parodied, in allusion to some of his late adventures: 'Quanta laboras in Charybdi! Digne puer meliore flammâ!'"

(Moore.)

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Footnote 3:

"In his first edition of The Giaour he had used this word as a trisyllable—'Bright as the gem of Giamschid'—but on my remarking to him, upon the authority of Richardson's Persian Dictionary, that this was incorrect, he altered it to 'Bright as the ruby of Giamschid.' On seeing this, however, I wrote to him, 'that, as the comparison of his heroine's eye to a "ruby" might unluckily call up the idea of its being bloodshot, he had better change the line to "Bright as the jewel of Giamschid;"' which he accordingly did in the following edition"

(Moore).

In the

Sháh Námeh

, Giamschid is the fourth sovereign of the ancient Persians, and ruled seven hundred years. His jewel was a green chrysolite, the reflection of which gives to the sky its blue-green colour. Byron probably changed to "ruby" on the authority of

Vathek

(p. 58, ed. 1856), where Beckford writes,

"Then all the riches this place contains, as well as the carbuncle of Giamschid, shall be hers."

return

cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 324

Footnote 4:

Moore's reference (see

note

1) to John Richardson's

Dictionary of Persian, Arabic, and English

(1777), suggests to Byron that Moore was at work on an Oriental poem, probably

Lalla Rookh

, which would surpass the

Charlemagne

of Lucien Buonaparte.

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Footnote 5:

The

Sháh Námeh

is a rhymed history of Persia, in which occurs the famous episode of Sohrab and Rustem. It was written in thirty years by Abul Kásim Firdausí, the last name being given to him by Sultan Mahmúd because he had shed over the court at Ghizni the delights of "Paradise." Firdausí is said to have lived about 950 to 1030. (See The

Sháh Námeh

, translated and abridged by James Atkinson.)

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Footnote 6:

Jacques Cazotte (1720-1792) wrote

La Patte du Chat

(1741);

Mille et une Fadaises

(1742);

Observations sur la lettre de Rousseau au sujet de la Musique Française

(1754); and other works.

Le Diable Amoureux

appeared in 1772. Cazotte escaped the September Massacres at the Abbaye in 1792, through the heroism of his daughter, but was executed on the twenty-fifth of the same month.

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Footnote 7:

"I had already, singularly enough, anticipated this suggestion, by making the daughter of a Peri the heroine of one of my stories, and detailing the love adventures of her aërial parent in an episode. In acquainting Lord Byron with this circumstance, in my answer to the above letter, I added, 'All I ask of your friendship is—not that you will abstain from Peris on my account, for that is too much to ask of human (or, at least, author's) nature—but that, whenever you mean to pay your addresses to any of these aërial ladies, you will, at once, tell me so, frankly and instantly, and let me, at least, have my choice whether I shall be desperate enough to go on, with such a rival, or at once surrender the whole race into your hands, and take, for the future, to Antediluvians with Mr. Montgomery'"

(Moore).

return

Footnote 8:

Brunet,

s.v.

"Breton de la Martinière," gives the title of the work:

Moeurs, usages costumes des Othomans, et abrégé de leur histoire

. Par A. L. Castellan, Paris, 1812.

return

Footnote 9:

Maxime LXXXV.:

"Nous nous persuadons souvent d'aimer les gens plus puissans que nous, et néanmoins c'est l'interêt seul qui produit notre amitié; nous ne nous donnons pas à eux pour le bien que nous leur voulons faire, mais pour celui que nous en voulons recevoir."

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List of Letters

Contents

325—to Thomas Moore

August—September, I mean—1, 1813.

I

send

you, begging your acceptance, Castellan, and three vols. on Turkish literature

¹

, not yet looked into. The

last

I

will

thank you to read, extract what you want, and return in a week, as they are lent to me by that brightest of Northern constellations, Mackintosh

²

,—amongst many other kind things into which India has warmed him; for I am sure your

home

Scotsman is of a less genial description.

Your Peri, my dear M., is sacred and inviolable; I have no idea of touching the hem of her petticoat. Your affectation of a dislike to encounter me is so flattering, that I begin to think myself a very fine fellow.

But

you are laughing at me—"Stap my vitals, Tam! thou art a very impudent person;"

³

and, if you are not laughing at me, you deserve to be laughed at. Seriously, what on earth can you, or have you, to dread from any poetical flesh breathing? It really puts me out of humour to hear you talk thus.

The Giaour

I have added to a good deal; but still in foolish fragments. It contains about 1200 lines, or rather more—now printing. You will allow me to send you a copy. You delight me much by telling me that I am in your good graces, and more particularly as to temper; for, unluckily, I have the reputation of a very bad one. But they say the devil is amusing when pleased, and I must have been more venomous than the old serpent, to have hissed or stung in your company. It may be, and would appear to a third person, an incredible thing, but I know

you

will believe me when I say, that I am as anxious for your success as one human being can be for another's,—as much as if I had never scribbled a line. Surely the field of fame is wide enough for all; and if it were not, I would not willingly rob my neighbour of a rood of it. Now you have a pretty property of some thousand acres there, and when you have passed your present Inclosure Bill, your income will be doubled, (there's a metaphor, worthy of a Templar, namely, pert and low,) while my wild common is too remote to incommode you, and quite incapable of such fertility. I

send

you (which return per post, as the printer would say) a curious letter from a friend of mine

⁴

, which will let you into the origin of

The Giaour

. Write soon.

Ever, dear Moore, yours most entirely, etc.

P.S.—This letter was written to me on account of a

different story

circulated by some gentlewomen of our acquaintance, a little too close to the text. The part erased contained merely some Turkish names, and circumstantial evidence of the girl's detection, not very important or decorous.

Footnote 1:

Giovanni Battista Toderini (1728-1799) published his work

Della Letteratura Turchesca

, at Venice in 1787. Brunet says, "Cet ouvrage curieux a été traduit en Français, par Cournand. Paris, 1789 (

De La Littérature des Turcs

)."

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

"Yes, his manner was cold; his shake of the hand came under the genus 'mortmain;' but his heart was overflowing with benevolence"

(Lady Holland's

Memoir of Sydney Smith

, 4th edition, vol. i. p. 440).

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Footnote 3:

A reminiscence of Sheridan's

Trip to Scarborough

(act v. sc. 2), itself borrowed from Vanbrugh's

Relapse

(act iv. sc. 6), in both of which passages Lord Foppington says, "Strike me dumb, Tam, thou art a very impudent fellow."

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Footnote 4:

The following is the letter to which Byron refers:

Albany, Monday, August 31, 1813. "My Dear Byron,—You have requested me to tell you all that I heard at Athens about the affair of that girl who was so near being put an end to while you were there; you have asked me to remember every circumstance, in the remotest degree relating to it, which I heard. In compliance with your wishes, I write to you all I heard, and I cannot imagine it to be very far from the fact, as the circumstances happened only a day or two before I arrived at Athens, and, consequently, was a matter of common conversation at the time. "The new governor, unaccustomed to have the same intercourse with the Christians as his predecessor, had, of course, the barbarous Turkish ideas with regard to women. In consequence, and in compliance with the strict letter of the Mohammedan law, he ordered this girl to be sewed up in a sack, and thrown into the sea—as is, indeed, quite customary at Constantinople. As you were returning from bathing in the Piræus, you met the procession going down to execute the sentence of the Waywode on this unhappy girl. Report continues to say, that on finding out what the object of their journey was, and who was the miserable sufferer, you immediately interfered; and on some delay in obeying your orders, you were obliged to inform the leader of the escort that force should make him comply; that, on further hesitation, you drew a pistol, and told him, that if he did not immediately obey your orders, and come back with you to the Aga's house, you would shoot him dead. On this the man turned about and went with you to the governor's house; here you succeeded, partly by personal threats, and partly by bribery and entreaty, in procuring her pardon, on condition of her leaving Athens. I was told that you then conveyed her in safety to the convent, and despatched her off at night to Thebes, where she found a safe asylum. Such is the story I heard, as nearly as I can recollect it at present. Should you wish to ask me any further questions about it, I shall be very ready and willing to answer them. I remain, my dear Byron, Yours very sincerely, Sligo.

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List of Letters

Contents

326—to James Wedderburn Webster

September 2nd, 1813.

My dear Webster,—

You

are just the same generous and I fear careless gentleman of the years of

indifferent

memory 1806—but I must not burthen you with my entire household. Joe

¹

is, I believe, necessary for the present as a fixture, to keep possession till every thing is arranged; and were it otherwise, you don't know what a perplexity he would prove—honest and faithful, but fearfully superannuated: now

this

I ought and do bear, but as he has not been fifty years in your family, it would be rather hard to convert your mansion into a hospital for decayed domestics. Rushton is, or may be made useful, and I am less

compunctious

on his account.

"

Will

I be Godfather?"

²

Yea, verily! I believe it is the only species of parentage I shall ever encounter, for all my acquaintance, Powerscourt, Jocelyn, yourself, Delawarr, Stanhope, with a long list of happy

etceteras

, are married; most of them my juniors too, and I as single and likely to remain so as, nay more than, if I were seventy.

If it is a

girl

why not also? Georgina, or even

Byron

will make a classical name for a spinster, if Mr. Richardson's

Sir Charles Grandison

is any authority in your estimation.

My ship is not settled. My passage in the

Boyne

was only for

one

Servant, and would not do, of course. You ask after the expense, a question no less interesting to the married than the single. Unless things are much altered, no establishment in the Mediterranean Countries could amount to the quarter of the expenditure requisite in England for the same or an inferior household.

I am interrupted, and have only time to offer my best thanks for all your good wishes and intentions, and to beg you will believe me,

Equally yours ever,

B.

P.S.—Rushton shall be sent on Saturday next.

Footnote 1:

Joseph Murray

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Webster's eldest son was christened "Byron Wedderburn." He died young, and when his father told Byron of the child's death, the godfather

"almost chuckled with joy or irony," and said, "Well, I cautioned you, and told you that my name would almost damn any thing or creature."

(

MS. note

by Wedderburn Webster.)

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List of Letters

Contents

327—to Thomas Moore

Sept. 5, 1813.

You need not tie yourself down to a day with Toderini, but send him at your leisure, having anatomised him into such annotations as you want; I do not believe that he has ever undergone that process before, which is the best reason for not sparing him now.

Rogers

has returned to town, but not yet recovered of the

Quarterly

. What fellows these reviewers are! "these bugs do fear us all."

¹

They made you fight, and me (the milkiest of men) a satirist, and will end by making Rogers madder than Ajax. I

have

been reading

Memory

again, the other day, and

Hope

together, and retain all my preference of the former

²

.

His elegance is really wonderful—there is no such thing as a vulgar line in his book.

What say you to Buonaparte? Remember, I back him against the field, barring catalepsy and the Elements. Nay, I almost wish him success against all countries but this,—were it only to choke the

Morning Post

, and his undutiful father-in-law, with that rebellious bastard of Scandinavian adoption, Bernadotte. Rogers wants me to go with him on a crusade to the Lakes, and to besiege you on our way. This last is a great temptation, but I fear it will not be in my power, unless you would go on with one of us somewhere—no matter where. It is too late for Matlock, but we might hit upon some scheme, high life or low,—the last would be much the best for amusement. I

am

so sick of the other, that I quite sigh for a cider-cellar

³

, or a cruise in a smuggler's sloop.

You cannot wish more than I do that the Fates were a little more accommodating to our parallel lines, which prolong

ad infinitum

without coming a jot nearer. I almost wish I were married, too—which is saying much. All my friends, seniors and juniors, are in for it, and ask me to be godfather,—the only species of parentage which, I believe, will ever come to my share in a lawful way; and, in an unlawful one, by the blessing of Lucina, we can never be certain,—though the parish may. I suppose I shall hear from you to-morrow. If not, this goes as it is; but I leave room for a P.S., in case any thing requires an answer.

Ever, etc.

No letter—

n'importe

. Rogers thinks the

Quarterly

will be at

me

this time; if so, it shall be a war of extermination—no

quarter

. From the youngest devil down to the oldest woman of that review, all shall perish by one fatal lampoon. The ties of nature shall be torn asunder, for I will not even spare my bookseller; nay, if one were to include readers also, all the better.

Footnote 1:

"Warwick was a bug that feared us all" (

Henry VI

., Part III. act v. se. 2).

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Byron quoted to Lady Blessington "some passages from the

Pleasures of Hope

, which he said was a poem full of beauties... 'The

Pleasures of Memory

is a very beautiful poem' (said Byron), 'harmonious, finished, and chaste; it contains not a single meretricious ornament'" (

Conversations

, pp. 352, 353).

return

Footnote 3:

No. 20, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, was a tavern called the

Cider Cellars

. Over the entrance was the motto,

Honos erit huic quoque homo

, supplied by Porson, who frequented the house. There Lord Campbell heard him "recite from memory to delighted listeners the whole of Anstey's

Pleader's Guide

" (

Lives of the Chief Justices

, vol. iii. p. 271, note). Mr. Wheatley, in

London Past and Present, sub voce

"Maiden Lane," says that the

"tavern continued to be frequented by young men, and 'much in vogue for devilled kidneys, oysters, and Welch rabbits, cigars, "goes" of brandy, and great supplies of London stout' (also for comic songs), till it was absorbed in the extensions of the Adelphi Theatre."

return

List of Letters

Contents

328—to Thomas Moore.

September 8, 1813.

I am sorry to see Toderini again so soon, for fear your scrupulous conscience should have prevented you from fully availing yourself of his spoils. By this coach I send you a copy of that awful pamphlet

The Giaour

, which has never procured me half so high a compliment as your modest alarm. You will (if inclined in an evening) perceive that I have added much in quantity,—a circumstance which may truly diminish your modesty upon the subject.

You stand certainly in great need of a "lift" with Mackintosh. My dear Moore, you strangely under-rate yourself. I should conceive it an affectation in any other; but I think I know you well enough to believe that you don't know your own value. However, 'tis a fault that generally mends; and, in your case, it really ought. I have heard him speak of you as highly as your wife could wish; and enough to give all your friends the jaundice.

Yesterday

I had a letter from

Ali Pacha!

brought by Dr. Holland, who is just returned from Albania

¹

. It is in Latin, and begins "Excellentissime

nec non

Carissime," and ends about a gun he wants made for him;—it is signed "Ali Vizir." What do you think he has been about? H.

tells

me that, last spring, he took a hostile town, where, forty-two years ago, his mother and sisters were treated as Miss Cunigunde

²

was by the Bulgarian cavalry. He takes the town, selects all the survivors of this exploit—children, grandchildren, etc. to the tune of six hundred, and has them shot before his face.

Recollect

, he spared the rest of the city, and confined himself to the Tarquin pedigree

³

,—which is more than I would. So much for "dearest friend."

Footnote 1:

See

Letters

, vol. i. p. 246 [Letter 131], and

note

[Footnote 1 of Letter 131]. Dr., afterwards Sir Henry, Holland (1788-1873) published his

Travels in the Ionian Islands, Albania, etc.

, in 1815.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Voltaire's

Candide

, ch. vii.:

"On ne vous a done pas violé? on ne vous a point fendu le ventre, comme le philosophe Pangloss me l'avait assuré? Si fait, dit la belle Cunégonde; mais on ne meurt pas toujours de ces deux accidents."

return

Footnote 3:

The "false Sextus... that wrought the deed of shame," and violated Lucretia.

return

List of Letters

Contents

329 —to Thomas Moore

Sept. 9, 1813.

I write to you from Mr. Murray's, and I may say, from Murray, who, if you are not predisposed in favour of any other publisher, would be happy to treat with you, at a fitting time, for your work. I can safely recommend him as fair, liberal, and attentive, and certainly, in point of reputation, he stands among the first of "the trade." I am sure he would do you justice. I have written to you so much lately, that you will be glad to see so little now.

Ever, etc., etc.

List of Letters

Contents

330—to James Wedderburn Webster

September 15th, 1813.

My dear Webster,—I shall not resist your second invitation, and shortly after the receipt of this you may expect me. You will excuse me from the races. As a guest I have no "antipathies" and few preferences.... You won't mind, however, my

not

dining with you—every day at least. When we meet, we can talk over our respective plans: mine is very short and simple; viz. to sail when I can get a passage. If I remained in England I should live in the Country, and of course in the vicinity of those whom I knew would be most agreeable.

I

did

not know that Jack's graven image

¹

was at Newstead. If it be, pray transfer it to Aston. It is my hope to see you so shortly, tomorrow or next day, that I will not now trouble you with my speculations.

Ever yours very faithfully,

Byron

.

P.S.—I don't know how I came to sign myself with the "i." It is the old spelling, and I sometimes slip into it. When I say I can't

dine

with you, I mean that sometimes I don't dine at all. Of course, when I do, I conform to all hours and domestic arrangements.

Footnote 1:

"Jack's graven image" means the portrait of John Jackson the pugilist.

return

List of Letters Contents

331—to the Hon. Augusta Leigh

[Wednesday], Sept'r. 15th, 1813.

My dear Augusta,—I joined my friend Scrope about 8, and before eleven we had swallowed six bottles of his burgundy and Claret, which left him very unwell and me rather feverish; we were

tête à tête

. I remained with him next day and set off last night for London, which I reached at three in the morning. Tonight I shall leave it again, perhaps for Aston or Newstead. I have not yet determined, nor does it much matter. As you perhaps care more on the subject than I do, I will tell you when I know myself.

When my departure is arranged, and I can get this long-evaded passage, you will be able to tell me whether I am to expect a visit or not, and I can come for or meet you as you think best. If you write, address to Bennet Street.

Yours very truly,

B.

List of Letters Contents

332—to John Murray

Sept. 15, 1813.

Dear Sir,—Will you pray enquire after any ship with a convoy

taking passengers

and get me one if possible? I mean not in a ship of war, but anything that may be

paid

for. I have a friend and 3 servants—Gibraltar or Minorca—or Zante.

Yours ever,

B.

List of Letters Contents

333—to James Wedderburn Webster

Stilton, September 25th, 1813.

My Dear W.,—Thus far can I "report progress," and as a solid token of my remembrance I send you a

cheese

of 13 lbs. to enable your digestion to go through the race week. It will go to night; pray let your retainers enquire after it. The date of this letter will account for so homely a present. On my arrival in town I will write more on our different concerns. In the mean time I wish you and yours all the gratification on Doncaster you can wish for yourselves.

My

love to the faithless Nettle

¹

(who I dare say is

wronging

me during my absence), and my best Compliments to all in your house who will receive them.

Ever, dear W., yours truly,

B.

Footnote 1:

A dog given by Webster to Byron. (

Note

by J. W. W.)

return to footnote mark

List of Letters Contents

334—to Sir James Mackintosh

Sept. 27, 1813.

Dear Sir James,—I was to have left London on Friday, but will certainly remain a day longer (and believe I

would a year

) to have the honour of meeting you. My best respects to Lady Mackintosh.

Ever your obliged and faithful servant,

Byron

.

List of Letters Contents

335—to Thomas Moore

September 27, 1813.

Thomas

Moore,—(Thou wilt never be called "

true

Thomas,"

¹

like he of Ercildoune,) why don't you write to me?—as you won't, I must. I was near you at Aston the other day, and hope I soon shall be again. If so, you must and shall meet me, and go to Matlock and elsewhere, and take what, in

flash

dialect, is poetically termed "a lark," with Rogers and me for accomplices. Yesterday, at Holland House, I was introduced to Southey—the best-looking bard I have seen for some time. To have that poet's head and shoulders, I would almost have written his Sapphics. He is certainly a prepossessing person to look on, and a man of talent, and all that, and—

there

is his eulogy.

—— read me

part

of a letter from you. By the foot of Pharaoh, I believe there was abuse, for he stopped short, so he did, after a fine saying about our correspondence, and

looked

—I wish I could revenge myself by attacking you, or by telling you that I have

had

to defend you—an agreeable way which one's friends have of recommending themselves by saying—"Ay, ay,

I

gave it Mr. Such-a-one for what he said about your being a plagiary, and a rake, and so on." But do you know that you are one of the very few whom I never have the satisfaction of hearing abused, but the reverse;—and do you suppose I will forgive

that

?

I have been in the country, and ran away from the Doncaster races.

It

is odd,—I was a visitor in the same house

²

which came to my sire as a residence with Lady Carmarthen (with whom he adulterated before his majority—by the by, remember

she

was not my mamma),—and they thrust me into an old room, with a nauseous picture over the chimney, which I should suppose my papa regarded with due respect, and which, inheriting the family taste, I looked upon with great satisfaction. I stayed a week with the family, and behaved very well—though the lady of the house is young, and religious, and pretty, and the master is my particular friend. I felt no wish for any thing but a poodle dog, which they kindly gave me. Now, for a man of my courses not even to have

coveted

, is a sign of great amendment.

Pray

pardon all this nonsense, and don't "snub me when I'm in spirits."

³

Ever yours,

BN.

Here's an impromptu for you by a "person of quality," written last week, on being reproached for low spirits:

When from the heart where Sorrow sits, Her dusky shadow mounts too high, And o'er the changing aspect flits, And clouds the brow, or fills the eye: Heed not that gloom, which soon shall sink; My Thoughts their dungeon know too well— Back to my breast the wanderers shrink, And bleed within their silent cell.

Footnote 1:

Thomas Learmont, of Ercildoune, called "Thomas the "Rhymer," is to reappear on earth when Shrove Tuesday and Good Friday change places. He sleeps beneath the Eildon Hills.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Aston Hall, Rotherham, at that time rented by J. Wedderburn Webster.

return

Footnote 3:

In

She Stoops to Conquer

(act ii.) Tony Lumpkin says,

"I wish you'd let me and my good alone, then—snubbing this way when I'm in spirits."

return

List of Letters Contents cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 210

336—to John Murray

Sept. 29, 1813.

Dear Sir,—Pray suspend the

proofs

for I am bitten again and have quantities for other parts of

The Giaour

.

Yours ever,

B.

P. S.—You shall have these in the course of the day.

List of Letters Contents

337—to James Wedderburn Webster

September 30th, 1813.

My dear Webster,—Thanks for your letter. I had answered it by

anticipation

last night, and this is but a postscript to my reply. My yesterday's contained some advice, which I now see you don't want, and hope you never will.

So! Petersham

¹

has

not

joined you. I pity the poor women. No one can properly repair such a deficiency; but rather than such a chasm should be left utterly unfathomable, I, even I, the most awkward of attendants and deplorable of danglers, would have been of your forlorn hope, on this expedition. Nothing but business, and the notion of my being utterly superfluous in so numerous a party, would have induced me to resign so soon my quiet apartments never interrupted but by the sound, or the more harmonious barking of Nettle, and clashing of billiard balls.

On Sunday I shall leave town and mean to join you immediately. I have not yet had my sister's answer to Lady Frances's very kind invitation, but expect it tomorrow. Pray

assure

Lady Frances that I never can forget the obligation conferred upon me in this respect, and I trust that even Lady Catherine

²

will, in this instance, not question my "stability."

I yesterday wrote you rather a long tirade about La Comptesse, but you seem in no immediate peril; I will therefore burn it. Yet I don't know why I should, as you may relapse: it shall e'en go.

I have been passing my time with Rogers and Sir James Mackintosh; and once at Holland House I met Southey; he is a person of very

epic

appearance, and has a fine head—as far as the outside goes, and wants nothing but taste to make the inside equally attractive.

Ever, my dear W., yours,

Biron.

P.S.—I read your letter thus: "the Countess is

miserable

" instead of which it is "

inexorable

" a very different thing. The best way is to let her alone; she must be a

diablesse

by what you told me. You have probably not

bid

high enough.

Now

you are not, perhaps, of my opinion; but I would not give the tithe of a Birmingham farthing for a woman who could or would be purchased, nor indeed for any woman

quoad mere woman

; that is to say, unless I loved her for something more than her sex. If she

loves

, a little

pique

is not amiss, nor even if she don't; the next thing to a woman's

love

in a man's favour is her

hatred

,—a seeming paradox but true. Get them once out of

indifference

and circumstance, and their passions will do wonders for a

dasher

which I suppose you are, though I seldom had the impudence or patience to follow them up.

Footnote 1:

Lord Petersham was one of the chief dandies of the day. Gronow in 1814 (

Reminiscences

, vol. i. p. 285) found him

"making a particular sort of blacking, which he said would eventually supersede every other."

His snuff-mixture was famous among tobacconists, and he gave his name to a fashionable great-coat. In his collection of snuff-boxes, one of the finest in England, he was supposed to have a box for every day in the year. Gronow (

ibid

.)

"heard him, on the occasion of a delightful old light-blue Sèvres box he was using being admired, say, in his lisping way, 'Yes, it is a nice summer box, but would not do for winter wear.'"

Lord Petersham, who never went out of doors before 6 p.m., was celebrated for his brown carriages, brown horses, brown harness, and brown liveries.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Lady Catherine Annesley, sister of Lady F. W. Webster, afterwards Lady John Somerset.

return

List of Letters Contents

338—to Francis Hodgson

October 1, 1813.

My Dear H.,—I leave town again for Aston on Sunday, but have messages for you. Lord Holland desired me repeatedly to bring you; he wants to know you much, and begged me to say so: you will like him. I had an invitation for you to dinner there this last Sunday, and Rogers is perpetually screaming because you don't call, and wanted you also to dine with him on Wednesday last. Yesterday we had Curran there—who is beyond all conception! and Mackintosh and the wits are to be seen at H. H. constantly, so that I think you would like their society. I will be a judge between you and the attorneo. So B[utler] may mention me to Lucien if he still adheres to his opinion. Pray let Rogers be one; he has the best taste extant. Bland's nuptials delight me; if I had the least hand in bringing them about it will be a subject of selfish satisfaction to me these three weeks. Desire Drury—if he loves me—to kick Dwyer thrice for frightening my horses with his flame-coloured whiskers last July. Let the kicks be hard, etc.

List of Letters Contents

339—to Thomas Moore

October 2, 1813.

You have not answered some six letters of mine. This, therefore, is my penultimate. I will write to you once more, but, after that—I swear by all the saints—I am silent and supercilious. I

have

met Curran

¹

at Holland House—he beats every body;—his imagination is beyond human, and his humour (it is difficult to define what is wit) perfect. Then he has fifty faces, and twice as many voices, when he mimics—I never met his equal. Now,

were

I a woman, and eke a virgin, that is the man I should make my Scamander

²

.

He is quite fascinating. Remember, I have met him but once; and you, who have known him long, may probably deduct from my panegyric. I almost fear to meet him again, lest the impression should be lowered. He talked a great deal about you—a theme never tiresome to me, nor any body else that I know. What a variety of expression he conjures into that naturally not very fine countenance of his! He absolutely changes it entirely. I have done—for I can't describe him, and you know him. On Sunday I return to Aston, where I shall not be far from you. Perhaps I shall hear from you in the mean time. Good night.

Saturday morn.—Your letter has cancelled all my anxieties. I did

not suspect

you in

earnest

. Modest again! Because I don't do a very shabby thing, it seems, I "don't fear your competition." If it were reduced to an alternative of preference, I

should

dread you, as much as Satan does Michael. But is there not room enough in our respective regions? Go on—it will soon be my turn to forgive. To-day I dine with Mackintosh and Mrs.

Stale

—as John Bull may be pleased to denominate Corinne—whom I saw last night, at Covent Garden, yawning over the humour of Falstaff.

The reputation of "gloom," if one's friends are not included in the

reputants

, is of great service; as it saves one from a legion of impertinents, in the shape of common-place acquaintance. But thou know'st I can be a right merry and conceited fellow, and rarely

larmoyant

.

Murray

shall reinstate your line forthwith

³

.

I believe the blunder in the motto was mine;—and yet I have, in general, a memory for you, and am sure it was rightly printed at first.

I do "blush" very often, if I may believe Ladies H. and M.;—but luckily, at present, no one sees me. Adieu.

Footnote 1:

Rogers (

Table-Talk, etc

., p. 161) regretted "that so little of Curran's brilliant talk has been preserved." John Philpot Curran (1750-1817), after accepting the Mastership of the Rolls in Ireland (1806), spent much of his time in England. He retired from the Bench, where he never shone, in 1814.

In Byron's

Detached Thoughts

(1821) occurs the following passage:

"I was much struck with the simplicity of Grattan's manners in private life. They were odd, but they were natural. Curran used to take him off, bowing to the very ground, and 'thanking God that he had no peculiarities of gesture or appearance,' in a way irresistibly ludicrous. Rogers used to call him a 'Sentimental Harlequin;' but Rogers backbites everybody, and Curran, who used to quiz his great friend Godwin to his very face, would hardly respect a fair mark of mimicry in another. To be sure, Curran was admirable! to hear his description of the examination of an Irish witness was next to hearing his own speeches; the latter I never heard, but I have the former."

Elsewhere (

ibid

.) he returns to the subject:

"Curran! Curran's the man who struck me most—such imagination! There never was anything like it, that ever I saw or heard of. His published life—his published speeches—give you no idea of the man; none at all. He was a Machine of imagination, as some one said that Piron was an 'Epigrammatic Machine.' I did not see a great deal of Curran,—only in 1813; but I met him at home (for he used to call on me), and in society, at Mackintosh's, Holland House, etc., etc. And he was wonderful, even to me, who had seen many remarkable men of the time."

The following notes on this passage are in the handwriting of Walter Scott:

"When Mathews first began to imitate Curran in Dublin—in society, I mean,—Curran sent for him and said, the moment he entered the room, 'Mr. Mathews, you are a first-rate artist, and, since you are to do my picture, pray allow me to give you a sitting.' Everyone knows how admirably Mathews succeeded in furnishing at last the portraiture begun under these circumstances. No one was more aware of the truth than Curran himself. In his latter and feeble days, he was riding in Hyde Park one morning, bowed down over the saddle and bitterly dejected in his air. Mathews happened to observe and saluted him. Curran stopped his horse for a moment, squeezed Charles by the hand, and said in that deep whisper which the comedian so exquisitely mimics, 'Don't speak to me, my dear Mathews; you are the only Curran now!'" "Did you know Curran?" asked Byron of Lady Blessington (Conversations, p. 176); "he was the most wonderful person I ever saw. In him was combined an imagination the most brilliant and profound, with a flexibility and wit that would have justified the observation applied to ——, that his heart was in his head."

Moore (

Journal, etc

., vol. i. p. 40) quotes a couplet by Mrs. Battier upon Curran, which "commemorates in a small compass two of his most striking peculiarities, namely, his very unprepossessing personal appearance, and his great success, notwithstanding, in pursuits of gallantry...:

"'For though his monkey face might fail to woo her, Yet, ah! his monkey tricks would quite undo her.'"

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

In the spurious letters of Æschines (Letter x.) is a passage which explains the allusion.

"It is the custom of maidens, on the eve of their marriage, to wash in the waters of the Scamander, and then to utter this almost sacred formula, 'Take, O Scamander, my virginity'

return

Footnote 3:

"The motto to The Giaour: One fatal remembrance—one sorrow that throws Its bleak shade alike o'er our joys and our woes,' etc. which is taken from one of the Irish Melodies, had been quoted by him incorrectly in the first editions of the poem" (Moore).

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List of Letters Contents

340—to John Murray

Stilton, Oct. 3, 1813.

Dear Sir,—I have just recollected an alteration you may make in the proof to be sent to Aston.—Among the lines on Hassan's Serai, not far from the beginning, is this:

Unmeet for Solitude to share.

Now to share implies more than

one

, and Solitude is a single gentlewoman; it must be thus:

For many a gilded chamber's there, Which Solitude might well forbear;

and so on.—My address is Aston Hall, Rotherham. Will you adopt this correction? and pray accept a cheese from me for your trouble.

Ever yours,

B.

P. S.—I leave this to your discretion; if any body thinks the old line a good one or the cheese a bad one, don't accept either. But, in that case, the word

share

is repeated soon after in the line:

To share the Master's "bread and salt;"

and must be altered to:

To break the Master's bread and salt.

This is not so well, though—confound it! If the old line stands, let the other run thus:

Nor there will weary traveller halt, To bless the sacred "bread and salt."

Note

.—To partake of food—to break bread and taste salt with your host—ensures the safety of the guest; even though an enemy, his person from that moment becomes sacred.

There is another additional note sent yesterday—on the Priest in the Confessional.

List of Letters Contents

341—to John Hanson

Nottingham, Octr. 10th, 1813.

Dear Sir,—I am disposed to advance a loan of £1000 to James Webster Wedderburne Webster, Esqre., of Aston Hall, York County, and request you will address to me

there a bond

and

judgement

to be signed by the said as soon as possible. Of Claughton's payments I know nothing further, and the demands on myself I know also; but W. is a very old friend of mine, and a man of property, and, as I can command the money, he shall have it. I do not at all wish to inconvenience you, and I also know that, when we balance accounts, it will be much in your favour; but if you could replace the sum at Hoare's from my advance of two thousand eight hundred in July, it would be a favour; or, still better, if C. makes further payments, which will render it unnecessary. Don't let the first part of the last sentence embarrass you at all; the last part about Claughton I would wish you to attend to. I have written this day—about his opening the cellar.

Pray send the bond and judgement to Aston as directed.

Ever, dear Sir,

B.

P. S.—Many, many thanks for your kind invitation; but it was too late. I was in this county before it arrived. My best remembrances to Mrs. H. and all the family.

List of Letters Contents

342—to the Hon. Augusta Leigh

[Sunday], October 10th, 1813.

My dearest Augusta,—I have only time to say that I am not in the least angry, and that my silence has merely arisen from several circumstances which I cannot now detail. I trust you are better, and will continue

best

. Ever, my dearest,

Yours,

B.

List of Letters Contents

343—to John Murray

Oct. 12, 1813.

Dear Sir,—You must look

The Giaour

again over carefully; there are a few lapses, particularly in the last page,—"I

know

'twas false; she could not die;" it was, and ought to be—"

knew

." Pray observe this and similar mistakes.

I

have

received and read the

British Review

¹

.

I really think the writer in most parts very right. The only mortifying thing is the accusation of imitation.

Crabbe's passage

I never saw; and Scott I no further meant to follow than in his

lyric

measure, which is Gray's, Milton's, and any one's who likes it.

The Giaour

is certainly a bad character, but not dangerous: and I think his fate and his feelings will meet with few proselytes. I shall be very glad to hear from or of you, when you please; but don't put yourself out of your way on my account.

Yours ever,

B.

Footnote 1:

The British Review

(No. ix.) criticized

The Giaour

severely (pp. 132-145). "Lord Byron," it says, "has had the bad taste to imitate Mr. Walter Scott" (p. 135). Further on (p. 139) it charges him with borrowing a simile from Crabbe's

Resentment

. The passage to which the reviewer alludes will be found in lines 11-16 of that poem:

"Those are like wax—apply them to the fire, Melting, they take th' impressions you desire: Easy to mould, and fashion as you please, And again moulded with an equal ease: Like smelted iron these the forms retain; But, once impress'd, will never melt again."

return to footnote mark

List of Letters Contents

344—to the Hon. Augusta Leigh

(Monday), Nov'r. 8th, 1813.

My Dearest Augusta,—I have only time to say that I shall write tomorrow, and that my present and long silence has been occasioned by a thousand things (with which

you

are not concerned). It is not L'y C. nor O.; but perhaps you may

guess

, and, if you do, do not tell.

You do not know what mischief your being with me might have prevented. You shall hear from me tomorrow; in the mean time don't be alarmed. I am in

no immediate

peril.

Believe me, ever yours,

B.

List of Letters Contents

345—to John Murray

(Nov. 12, 1813. With first proof of

Bride of Abydos

correct.)

Dear Sir,—I have looked over—corrected—and added—

all

of which you may do too—at least

certainly

the

two

first. There is more MS.

within

. Let me know tomorrow at your leisure

how

and

when

we shall proceed! It looks better than I thought at first.

Look over

again. I suspect some omissions on my part and on the printers'.

Yours ever,

B.

Always print "een" "even." I utterly abhor "een"—if it must be contracted, be it "ev'n."

List of Letters Contents

346—to William Gifford

November 12, 1813.

My Dear Sir,—I hope you will consider, when I venture on any request, that it is the reverse of a certain Dedication, and is addressed,

not

to "The Editor of the

Quarterly Review

" but to Mr. Gifford. You will understand this, and on that point I need trouble you no farther.

You have been good enough to look at a thing of mine in MS.—a Turkish story, and I should feel gratified if you would do it the same favour in its probationary state of printing. It was

written

, I cannot say for amusement, nor "obliged by hunger and request of friends,"

¹

but in a state of mind, from circumstances which occasionally occur to "us youth," that rendered it necessary for me to apply my mind to something, any thing but reality; and under this not very brilliant inspiration it was composed. Being done, and having at least diverted me from myself, I thought you would not perhaps be offended if Mr. Murray forwarded it to you. He has done so, and to apologise for his doing so a second time is the object of my present letter.

I beg you will

not

send me any answer. I assure you very sincerely I know your time to be occupied, and it is enough, more than enough, if you read; you are not to be bored with the fatigue of answers.

A word to Mr. Murray will be sufficient, and send it either to the flames or

"A hundred hawkers' load, On wings of wind to fly or fall abroad."

It

deserves

no better than the first, as the work of a week, and scribbled

stans pede in uno

²

, (by the by, the only foot I have to stand on); and I promise never to trouble you again under forty cantos, and a voyage between each. Believe me ever,

Your obliged and affectionate servant,

Byron

.

Footnote 1:

Pope,

Epistle to Arbuthnot

, l. 44.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Horace,

Sat

. 1. iv. 10.

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List of Letters Contents

347—to John Murray

Nov. 12, 1813.

Two friends of mine (Mr. Rogers and Mr. Sharpe) have advised me not to risk at present any single publication separately, for various reasons. As they have not seen the one in question, they can have no bias for or against the merits (if it has any) or the faults of the present subject of our conversation. You

say

all the last of

The Giaour

¹

are gone—at least out of your hands.

Now

, if you think of publishing any new edition with the last additions which have not yet been before the reader (I mean distinct from the two-volume publication), we can add "

The Bride of Abydos

," which will thus steal quietly into the world

²

: if liked, we can then throw off some copies for the purchasers of former "Giaours;" and, if not, I can omit it in any future publication. What think you? I really am no judge of those things; and, with all my natural partiality for one's own productions, I would rather follow any one's judgment than my own.

P. S.—Pray let me have the proofs. I sent

all

to-night. I have some alterations that I have thought of that I wish to make speedily. I hope the proof will be on separate pages, and not all huddled together on a mile-long, ballad-singing sheet, as those of

The Giaour

sometimes are: for then I can't read them distinctly.

Footnote 1:

In

Accepted Addresses; or, Premium Poetarum

, pp. 50-52 (1813),

Address

xvii. is from "Lord B——n to J. M——y, Book- seller." The address itself runs as follows:

"A Turkish tale I shall unfold, A sweeter tale was never told; But then the facts, I must allow, Are in the east not common now; Tho' in the 'olden time,' the scene My Goaour (sic) describes had often been. What is the cause! Perhaps the fair Are now more cautious than they were; Perhaps the Christians not so bold, So enterprising as of old. No matter what the cause may be, It is a subject fit for me. "Take my disjointed fragments then, The offspring of a willing pen. And give them to the public, pray, On or before the month of May. Yes, my disjointed fragments take, But do not ask how much they'll make. Perhaps not fifty pages—well, I in a little space can tell Th' adventures of an infidel; Of quantity I never boast, For quality's, approved of most. "It is a handsome sum to touch, Induces authors to write much; But in this much, alas! my friend, How little is there to commend. So, Mr. M——y, I disdain, To sacrifice my muse for gain. I wish it to be understood, The little which I write is good. "I do not like the quarto size, Th' octavo, therefore, I advise. Then do not, Mr. M——y, fail, To publish this, my Turkish Tale; For tho' the volume may be thin, A thousand readers it will win; And when my pages they explore, They'll gladly read them o'er and o'er; And all the ladies, I engage, With tears will moisten every page."

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

John Murray writes, in an undated letter to Byron,

"Mr. Canning returned the poem to-day with very warm expressions of delight. I told him your delicacy as to separate publication, of which he said you should remove every apprehension."

return

List of Letters Contents

348—to John Murray

Nov. 13, 1813.

Will you forward the letter to Mr. Gifford with the proof? There is an alteration I may make in Zuleika's speech, in second canto (the only one of

hers

in that canto). It is now thus:

And curse—if I could curse—the day.

It must be:

And mourn—I dare not curse—the day, That saw my solitary birth, etc., etc.

Ever yours,

B.

In the last MS. lines sent, instead of "living heart," correct to "quivering heart." It is in line 9th of the MS. passage.

Ever yours again,

List of Letters Contents

349—to John Murray

Alteration of a line in Canto 2nd. Instead of:

And tints to-morrow with a fancied ray

Print:

And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray;

Or,

And {gilds/tints} the hope of Morning with its ray;

Or,

And gilds to-morrow's hope with heavenly ray.

Dear Sir,—I wish you would ask Mr. G. which of them is best, or rather

not worst

.

Ever yours, B.

You can send the request contained in this at the same time with the

revise, after

I have seen the

said revise

.

List of Letters Contents

350—to John Murray

Nov. 13, 1813.

Certainly. Do you

suppose

that no one but the Galileans are acquainted with

Adam

, and

Eve

, and

Cain,

¹

and

Noah

?—Surely, I might have had Solomon, and Abraham, and David, and even Moses, or the other. When you know that

Zuleika

is the

Persian poetical

name for

Potiphar's

wife, on whom and Joseph there is a long poem in the Persian, this will not surprise you. If you want authority look at Jones, D'Herbelot,

Vathek

, or the notes to the

Arabian Nights

; and, if you think it necessary, model this into a

note

.

Alter, in the inscription, "the most affectionate respect," to "with every sentiment of regard and respect,"

Footnote 1:

"Some doubt had been expressed by Murray as to the propriety of his putting the name of Cain into the mouth of a Mussulman."

(Moore).

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List of Letters Contents

351—to John Murray

Nov. 14, 1813.

I send you a note for the

ignorant

, but I really wonder at finding

you

among them. I don't care one lump of Sugar for my

poetry

; but for my

costume

, and my

correctness

on those points (of which I think the

funeral

was a proof), I will combat lustily.

Yours ever,

B.

List of Letters Contents

352—to John Murray

November 15, 1813.

Dear Sir

,—Mr. Hodgson has looked over and

stopped

, or rather

pointed

, this revise, which must be the one to print from. He has also made some suggestions, with most of which I have complied, as he has always, for these ten years, been a very sincere, and by no means (at times) flattering critic of mine.

He

likes it (you will think

flatteringly

, in this instance) better than

The Giaour

, but doubts (and so do I) its being so popular; but, contrary to some others, advises a separate publication. On this we can easily decide. I confess I like the

double

form better. Hodgson says, it is

better versified

than any of the others; which is odd, if true, as it has cost me less time (though more

hours

at a time) than any attempt I ever made.

Yours ever, B.

P. S.—Do attend to the punctuation: I can't, for I don't know a comma—at least where to place one.

That Tory of a printer has omitted two lines of the opening, and

perhaps more

, which were in the MS. Will you, pray, give him a hint of accuracy? I have reinserted the 2, but they were in the manuscript, I can swear.

List of Letters Contents

353—to John Murray

November 17, 1813.

My Dear Sir,—

That

you and I may distinctly understand each other on a subject, which, like "the dreadful reckoning when men smile no more,"

¹

makes conversation not very pleasant, I think it as well to

write

a few lines on the topic.—Before I left town for Yorkshire, you said that you were ready and willing to give five hundred guineas for the copyright of

The Giaour

; and my answer was—from which I do not mean to recede—that we would discuss the point at Christmas. The new story may or may not succeed; the probability, under present circumstances, seems to be, that it may at least pay its expences—but even that remains to be proved, and till it is proved one way or the other, we will say nothing about it. Thus then be it: I will postpone all arrangement about it, and

The Giaour

also, till Easter, 1814; and you shall then, according to your own notions of fairness, make your own offer for the two. At

the

same time, I do not rate the last in my own estimation at half

The Giaour

; and according to your own notions of its worth and its success within the time mentioned, be the addition or deduction to or from whatever sum may be your proposal for the first, which has already had its success

²

.

My account with you since my last payment (which I believe cleared it off within five pounds) I presume has not

much

increased—but whatever it is have the goodness to send it to me—that I may at least meet you on even terms.

The pictures of Phillips I consider as

mine

, all three; and the one (not the Arnaut) of the two best is much at

your service

, if you will accept it as a present, from Yours very truly,

Biron

.

P. S.—The expence of engraving from the miniature send me in my account, as it was destroyed by my desire; and have the goodness to burn that detestable print from it immediately.

Footnote 1:

The What d'ye call't?

by John Gay (act ii. sc. 9):

"So comes a reckoning when the banquet's o'er, The dreadful reckoning, and men smile no more."

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Murray replies, November 18, 1813,

"I restore the Giaour to your Lordship entirely, and for it, the Bride of Abydos, and the miscellaneous poems intended to fill up the volume of the small edition, I beg leave to offer you the sum of One Thousand Guineas, and I shall be happy if you perceive that my estimation of your talents in my character of a man of business is not much under my admiration of them as a man."

return

List of Letters Contents

354—to John Murray

November 20, 1813.

More work for the

Row

. I am doing my best to beat "

The Giaour

"—

no

difficult task for any one but the author. Yours truly,

B.

List of Letters Contents

355—to John Murray

November 22, 1813.

Dear Sir

,—I have no time to

cross

-investigate, but I believe and hope all is right. I care less than you will believe about its success, but I can't survive a single

misprint

; it

choaks

me to see words misused by the Printers. Pray look over, in case of some eyesore escaping me. Ever yours, B.

P. S.—Send the earliest copies to Mr. Frere, Mr. Canning, Mr. Heber, Mr. Gifford, Lord Holland, Lady Melbourne (Whitehall), Lady C. L. (Brocket), Mr. Hodgson (Cambridge), Mr. Merivale, Mr. Ward, from the author.

List of Letters Contents

356—to John Murray

November 23, 1813.

Dear Sir

,—You wanted some

reflections

, and I send you

per Selim

(see his speech in Canto 2d, page 46.), eighteen lines in decent couplets, of a pensive, if not an

ethical

tendency. One more revise—poz. the

last

, if decently done—at any rate the

pen

ultimate. Mr.

Canning's

approbation (

if

he did approve) I need not say makes me proud

¹

.

As to printing, print as you will and how you will—by itself, if you like; but let me have a few copies in

sheets

.

Ever yours,

B.

Footnote 1:

Canning wrote the following note to Murray:

"I received the books, and, among them, The Bride of Abydos. It is very, very beautiful. Lord Byron (when I met him, one day, at dinner at Mr. Ward's) was so kind as to promise to give me a copy of it. I mention this, not to save my purchase, but because I should be really flattered by the present. I can now say that I have read enough of Mad. de Staël to be highly pleased and instructed by her. The second volume delights me particularly. I have not yet finished the third, but am taking it with me on my journey to Liverpool."

return

List of Letters Contents

357—to John Murray

November 24, 1813.

You must pardon me once more, as it is all for your good: it must be thus:

He makes a Solitude, and calls it Peace.

"

Makes

" is

closer

to the passage of Tacitus

¹

, from which the line is taken, and is, besides, a stronger word than "

leaves

."

Mark where his carnage and his conquests cease— He makes a Solitude, and calls it—peace.

You will perceive that the sense is now clearer, the "

He

" refers to "

Man

" in the preceding couplet.

Yours ever,

B.

Footnote 1:

"Solitudinem faciunt—pacem appellant."

Tacitus,

Agricola

, 30.

return to footnote mark

List of Letters Contents

358—to John Murray

November 27, 1813.

Dear Sir,—If you look over this carefully by the

last proof

with my corrections, it is probably right; this

you

can

do

as well or better;—I have not now time. The copies I mentioned to be sent to different friends last night, I should wish to be made up with the new Giaours, if it also is ready. If not, send

The Giaour

afterwards.

The

Morning Post

says

I

am the author of

Nourjahad¹!!

This comes of lending the drawings for their dresses; but it is not worth a

formal contradiction

. Besides, the criticisms on the

supposition

will, some of them, be quite amusing and furious. The

Orientalism

—which I hear is very splendid—of the Melodrame (whosever it is, and I am sure I don't know) is as good as an Advertisement for your Eastern Stories, by filling their heads with glitter. Yours ever, B.

P. S.—You will of course

say

the truth, that I am

not

the Melo-dramatist—if any one charges me in your presence with the performance.

Footnote 1:

The same charge is made in the

Satirist

(vol. xiii. p. 508).

Illusion, or the Trances of Nourjahad

, was acted at Drury Lane, November 25, 1813. It is described by Genest (

The English Stage

, vol. viii. p. 403) as "a Melo-dramatic spectacle in three acts by an anonymous author." "Nourjahad" was acted by Elliston; "Mandane," his wife, by Mrs. Horn.

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List of Letters Contents

359—to John Murray

November 28, 1813.

Dear Sir,—

Send

another copy (if not too much of a request) to Lady Holland of the

Journal

¹

, in my name, when you receive this; it is for

Earl Grey

—and I will relinquish my own. Also to Mr. Sharpe, Lady Holland, and Lady Caroline Lamb, copies of

The Bride

, as soon as convenient.

Ever yours,

Biron

.

P. S.—Mr. W. and myself still continue our purpose; but I shall not trouble you on any arrangement on the score of

The Giaour

and

The Bride

till our return,—or, at any rate, before

May

, 1814,—that is, six months from hence: and before that time you will be able to ascertain how far your offer may be a losing one: if so, you can deduct proportionably; and if not, I shall not at any rate allow you to go higher than your present proposal, which is very handsome, and more than fair.

I

have

had—but this must be

entre nous

—a very kind note, on the subject of

The Bride

, from Sir James Mackintosh, and an invitation to go there this evening, which it is now too late to accept

²

.

Footnote 1:

The Rev. John Eagles (1783-1855), scholar, artist, and contributor (1831-55) to

Blackwood's Magazine

, edited

The Journal of Llewellin Penrose, a Seaman

, which Murray published in 1815.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

"Lord Byron is the author of the day; six thousand of his Bride of Abydos have been sold within a month."

Sir James Mackintosh (

Life

, vol. ii. p. 271).

return

List of Letters Contents

360—to John Murray.

November 29, 1813.

Sunday—Monday morning—three o'clock—in my doublet and hose,—

swearing

.

Dear Sir,—I

send

you in time an Errata page, containing an omission of mine

¹

, which must be thus added, as it is too late for insertion in the text. The passage is an imitation altogether from Medea in Ovid, and is incomplete without these two lines. Pray let this be done, and directly; it is necessary, will add one page to your book (-

making

), and can do no harm, and is yet in time for the

public

. Answer me, thou Oracle, in the affirmative. You can send the loose pages to those who have copies already, if they like; but certainly to all the

Critical

copyholders.

Ever yours,

Biron

.

P. S.—I have got out of my bed (in which, however, I could not sleep, whether I had amended this or not), and so good morning. I am trying whether

De l'Allemagne

will act as an opiate, but I doubt it.

Footnote 1:

The Bride of Abydos

, Canto II. stanza xx. The lines were:

"Then, if my lip once murmurs, it must be No sigh for Safety, but a prayer for thee."

return to footnote mark

List of Letters Contents

361—to John Murray

November 29, 1813.

"

You have looked at it!

" to much purpose, to allow so stupid a blunder to stand; it is

not

"

courage

" but "

carnage

;" and if you don't want me to cut my own throat, see it altered.

I am very sorry to hear of the fall of Dresden.

List of Letters Contents

362—to John Murray

Nov. 29, 1813, Monday.

Dear Sir,—You will act as you please upon that point; but whether I go or stay, I shall not say another word on the subject till May—nor then, unless quite convenient to yourself. I have many things I wish to leave to your care, principally papers. The

vases

need not be now sent, as Mr. W. is gone to Scotland. You are right about the Er[rata] page; place it at the beginning. Mr.

Perry

is a little premature in his compliments

¹

: these may do harm by exciting expectation, and I think

we

ought to be above it—

though

I see the next paragraph is on the

Journal

²

, which makes me suspect

you

as the author of both.

Would it not have been as well to have said in 2 cantos in the advertisement? they will else think of

fragments

, a species of composition very well for

once

, like

one ruin

in a

view

; but one would not build a town of them.

The Bride

, such as it is, is my first

entire

composition of any length (except the Satire, and be damned to it), for

The Giaour

is but a string of passages, and

Childe Harold

is, and I rather think always will be, unconcluded. I return Mr. Hay's note, with thanks to him and you.

There

have

been some epigrams on Mr. W[ard]: one I see to-day

³

.

The first I did not see, but heard yesterday. The second seems very bad and Mr. P[erry] has placed it over

your

puff. I only hope that Mr. W. does not believe that I had any connection with either. The Regent is the only person on whom I ever expectorated an epigram, or ever should; and even if I were disposed that way, I like and value Mr. W. too well to allow my politics to contract into spleen, or to admire any thing intended to annoy him or his. You need not take the trouble to answer this, as I shall see you in the course of the afternoon.

Yours very truly, B.

P. S.—I have said this much about the epigrams, because I live so much in the

opposite camp

, and, from my post as an Engineer, might be suspected as the flinger of these hand Grenadoes; but with a worthy foe I am all for open war, and not this bush-fighting, and have [not] had, nor will have, any thing to do with it. I do not know the author.

Footnote 1:

In the

Morning Chronicle

, November 29, 1813, appeared the following paragraph:

"Lord Byron's muse is extremely fruitful. He has another poem coming out, entitled The Bride of Abydos, which is spoken of in terms of the highest encomium."

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Journal of Llewellin Penrose, a Seaman.

return

Footnote 3:

"Ward has no heart, they say; but I deny it;— He has a heart, and gets his speeches by it."

return

List of Letters Contents

363—to John Murray

Tuesday evening, Nov. 30, 1813.

Dear Sir,—For the sake of correctness, particularly in an Errata page, the alteration of the couplet I have just sent (half an hour ago) must take place, in spite of delay or cancel; let me see the

proof

early to-morrow. I found out

murmur

to be a neuter

verb

, and have been obliged to alter the line so as to make it a substantive, thus:

The deepest murmur of this life shall be No sigh for Safety, but a prayer for thee!

Don't send the copies to the

country

till this is all right.

Yours,

B.

List of Letters Contents

364—to Thomas Moore.

November 30, 1813.

Since I last wrote to you, much has occurred, good, bad, and indifferent,—not to make me forget you, but to prevent me from reminding you of one who, nevertheless, has often thought of you, and to whom

your

thoughts, in many a measure, have frequently been a consolation. We were once very near neighbours this autumn; and a good and bad neighbourhood it has proved to me.

Suffice

it to say, that your French quotation

¹

was confoundedly to the purpose,—though very

unexpectedly

pertinent, as you may imagine by what I

said

before, and my silence since.

However

, "Richard's himself again,"

²

and except all night and some part of the morning, I don't think very much about the matter.

All

convulsions

end with me in rhyme; and to solace my midnights, I have scribbled another Turkish story

³

—not a Fragment—which you will receive soon after this. It does not trench upon your kingdom in the least, and if it did, you would soon reduce me to my proper boundaries. You will think, and justly, that I run some risk of losing the little I have gained in fame, by this further experiment on public patience; but I have really ceased to care on that head. I

have

written this, and published it, for the sake of the

employment

,—to wring my thoughts from reality, and take refuge in "imaginings," however "horrible;"

⁴

and, as to success! those who succeed will console me for a failure—excepting yourself and one or two more, whom luckily I love too well to wish one leaf of their laurels a tint yellower. This is the work of a week, and will be the reading of an hour to you, or even less,—and so, let it go ——.

P.S.—Ward and I

talk

of going to Holland. I want to see how a Dutch canal looks after the Bosphorus. Pray respond.

Footnote 1:

Moore wrote to Byron in 1813 an undated letter, in which the following passage occurs:

"I am sorry I must wait till 'we are veterans' before you will open to me 'the story of your wandering life, wherein you find more hours due to repentance ... than time hath told you yet.' Is it so with you, or are you, like me, reprobate enough to look back with complacency on what you have done? I suppose repentance must bring up the rear with us all; but at present I should say with old Fontenelle, Si je recommençais ma carrière, je ferais tout ce que j'ai fait."

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Colley Cibber's

Richard III

, act v. sc. 3:

"Conscience, avaunt! Richard's himself again."

return

Footnote 3:

The Bride of Abydos

was published December, 1813.

return

Footnote 4:

"Horrible imaginings."

Macbeth

, act i. sc. 3.

return

List of Letters Contents

365—to Francis Hodgson

Nov'r—Dec'r 1st, 1813.

I

have

just heard that

Knapp

is acquainted with what I was but too happy in being enabled to do for you

¹

.

Now, my dear Hn., you, or Drury, must have told this, for, upon my own honour, not even to Scrope, nor to one soul, (Drury knew it before) have I said one syllable of the matter. So don't be out of humour with me about it, but you can't be more so than I am. I am, however, glad of one thing; if you ever conceived it to be in the least an obligation, this disclosure most fairly and fully releases you from it:

"To John I owe some obligation, But John unluckily thinks fit To publish it to all the nation, So John and I are more than quit."

And so there's an end of the matter.

Ward

wavers

a little about the Dutch, till matters are more sedative, and the French more sedentary.

The

Bride

will blush upon you in a day or two; there is

much

, at least a

little

addition. I am happy to say that Frere and Heber, and some other "good men and true," have been kind enough to adopt the same opinion that you did.

Pray write when you like, and believe me,

Ever yours,

Byron

.

P.S.—Murray has

offered

me a thousand guineas for the

two

(

Giaour

and

Bride

), and told M'e. de Stael that he had

paid

them to me!! I should be glad to be able to tell her so too. But the truth is, he would; but I thought the fair way was to decline it till May, and, at the end of 6 months, he can safely say whether he can afford it or not—without running any risk by Speculation. If he paid them now and lost by it, it would be hard. If he gains, it will be time enough when he has already funded his profits. But he needed not have told "

la Baronne

" such a devil of an uncalled for piece of—premature

truth

, perhaps—but, nevertheless, a

lie

in the mean time.

Footnote 1:

Hodgson, now engaged to Miss Tayler, was anxious to clear off his father's liabilities. Byron gave him from first to last the sum of £1500 for the purpose. Hodgson, in a letter to his uncle, thus describes the gift (

Memoir of Rev. F. Hodgson

, vol. i. pp. 268, 269):

"My noble-hearted friend, Lord Byron, after many offers of a similar kind, which I felt bound to refuse, has irresistibly in my present circumstances ... volunteered to pay all my debts, and within a few pounds it is done! Oh, if you knew (but you do know) the exultation of heart, aye, and of head too, I feel at being free from these depressing embarrassments, you would, as I do, bless my dearest friend and brother Byron."

return

List of Letters Contents cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Journal entry for December 1st, 1813

366—to John Murray

Dec. 2, 1813.

Dear Sir,—When you can, let the couplet enclosed be inserted either in the page, or in the Errata page. I trust it is in time for some of the copies. This alteration is in the same part—the page

but one

before the last correction sent.

Yours, etc.,

B.

P. S.—I am afraid, from all I hear, that people are rather inordinate in their expectations, which is very unlucky, but cannot now be helped. This comes of Mr. Perry and one's wise friends; but do not

you

wind

your

hopes of success to the same pitch, for fear of accidents, and I can assure you that my philosophy will stand the test very fairly; and I have done every thing to ensure you, at all events, from positive loss, which will be some satisfaction to both.

List of Letters Contents

367—to Leigh Hunt

4, Bennet St., Dec. 2, 1813.

My dear Sir,—Few things could be more welcome than your note, and on Saturday morning I will avail myself of your permission to thank you for it in person. My time has not been passed, since we met, either profitably or agreeably. A very short period after my last visit, an incident occurred with which, I fear, you are not unacquainted, as report, in many mouths and more than one paper, was busy with the topic. That, naturally, gave me much uneasiness. Then I nearly incurred a lawsuit on the sale of an estate; but that is now arranged: next—but why should I go on with a series of selfish and silly details? I merely wish to assure you that it was not the frivolous forgetfulness of a mind, occupied by what is called pleasure (

not

in the true sense of Epicurus), that kept me away; but a perception of my, then, unfitness to share the society of those whom I value and wish not to displease. I hate being

larmoyant

, and making a serious face among those who are cheerful.

It is my wish that our acquaintance, or, if you please to accept it, friendship, may be permanent. I have been lucky enough to preserve some friends from a very early period, and I hope, as I do not (at least now) select them lightly, I shall not lose them capriciously. I

have

a thorough esteem for that independence of spirit

¹

which you have maintained with sterling talent, and at the expense of some suffering. You have not, I trust, abandoned the poem you were composing, when Moore and I partook of your hospitality in the summer. I hope a time will come when he and I may be able to repay you in kind for the

latter

—for the rhyme, at least in

quantity

, you are in arrear to both.

Believe me, very truly and affectionately yours,

Byron.

Footnote 1:

The following is Leigh Hunt's answer:

"My dear Lord,—I need not tell you how much your second letter has gratified me, for I am apt to speak as sincerely as I think (you must suffer me to talk in this way after what you have been kind enough to say of my independence), and it always rejoices me to find that those whom I wish to regard will take me at my word. But I shall grow egotistical upon the strength of your Lordship's good opinion. I shall be heartily glad to see you on Saturday morning, and perhaps shall prevail upon you to take a luncheon with us at our dinner-time (3). The nature of your letter would have brought upon you a long answer, filled perhaps with an enthusiasm that might have made you smile; but I am keeping your servant in the cold, and so, among other good offices, you see what he has done for you. However, I would not make a light thing of so good a matter as I mean my enthusiasm to be, and intend, before I have done, that you shall have as sound a regard for it, as I have for the feelings on your Lordship's part that have called it forth. Yours, my dear Lord, most sincerely and cordially, Leigh Hunt. Surrey Jail, 2'd Dec'r., 1813."

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List of Letters Contents

368—to John Murray

Dec. 3, 1813.

I send you a

scratch

or

two

, the which

heal

.

The

Christian Observer

¹

is very savage, but certainly uncommonly well written—and quite uncomfortable at the naughtiness of book and author. I rather suspect you won't much like the

present

to be more moral, if it is to share also the usual fate of your virtuous volumes.

Let me see a proof of the

six

before

incorporation

.

Footnote 1:

The

Christian Observer

for November, 1813 (pp. 731-737) felt compelled to review

The Giaour

, because of its extraordinary popularity; but it found that some of the passages savoured "too much of Newgate and Bedlam for our expurgated pages." It acknowledged one obligation to Byron.

"He never attempts to deceive the world by representing the profligate as happy.... And his testimony is of the more value, as his situation in life must have permitted him to see the experiment tried under the most favourable circumstances. He has probably seen more than one example of young men of high birth, talents, and expectancies, ... sink under the burden of unsubdued tempers, licentious alliances, and ennervating indulgence.... He has seen all this; nay, perhaps—But we check our pen," etc., etc.

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List of Letters Contents

369—to John Murray

Dec. 3, 1813.

My dear Sir,—Look out the Encyclopedia article

Mecca

whether it is there or at

Medina

the Prophet is entombed, if at Medina the first lines of my alteration must run:

Blest as the call which from Medina's dome Invites Devotion to her Prophet's tomb, etc.

If at "Mecca" the lines may stand as before. Page 45, C°. 2nd,

Bride of Abydos

. Yours, B.

You will find this out either by Article

Mecca, Medina

or

Mahommed

. I have no book of reference by me.

List of Letters Contents

370—to John Murray

[No date.]

Did you look out? is it

Medina

or

Mecca

that contains the

holy

Sepulchre? don't make me blaspheme by your negligence. I have no books of reference or I would save you the trouble. I

blush

as a good Mussulman to have confused the point. Yours, B.