Chapter VI · —The Idol of Society—The Drury Lane Address—Second Speech in Parliament (continued 2)

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List of Letters

Contents

250—to Lord Holland

September 26, 1812.

You will think there is no end to my villanous emendations. The fifth and sixth lines I think to alter thus:

Ye who beheld—oh sight admired and mourn'd, Whose radiance mock'd the ruin it adorn'd;

because "night" is repeated the next line but one; and, as it now stands, the conclusion of the paragraph, "worthy him (Shakspeare) and

you

," appears to apply the "

you

" to those only who were out of bed and in Covent Garden market on the night of conflagration, instead of the audience or the discerning public at large, all of whom are intended to be comprised in that comprehensive and, I hope, comprehensible pronoun.

By the by, one of my corrections in the fair copy sent yesterday has dived into the bathos some sixty fathom:

When Garrick died, and Brinsley ceased to write.

Ceasing

to

live

is a much more serious concern, and ought not to be first; therefore I will let the old couplet stand, with its half rhymes "sought" and "wrote."

¹

Second thoughts in every thing are best, but, in rhyme, third and fourth don't come amiss. I am very anxious on this business, and I do hope that the very trouble I occasion you will plead its own excuse, and that it will tend to show my endeavour to make the most of the time allotted. I wish I had known it months ago, for in that case I had not left one line standing on another. I always scrawl in this way, and smooth as much as I can, but never sufficiently; and, latterly, I can weave a nine-line stanza faster than a couplet, for which measure I have not the cunning. When I began

Childe Harold

, I had never tried Spenser's measure, and now I cannot scribble in any other.

After

all, my dear Lord, if you can get a decent

Address

elsewhere, don't hesitate to put this aside

²

.

Why did you not trust your own Muse? I am very sure she would have been triumphant, and saved the Committee their trouble—"'tis a joyful one" to me, but I fear I shall not satisfy even myself. After the account you sent me, 'tis no compliment to say you would have beaten your candidates; but I mean that, in

that

case, there would have been no occasion for their being beaten at all.

There

are but two decent prologues in our tongue—Pope's to

Cato

³

—Johnson's to Drury-Lane

⁴

.

These

, with the epilogue to

The Distrest Mother

⁵

and, I think, one of Goldsmith's

⁶

, and a prologue of old Colman's to Beaumont and Fletcher's

Philaster

⁷

, are the best things of the kind we have.

P.S.—I am diluted to the throat with medicine for the stone; and Boisragon wants me to try a warm climate for the winter—but I won't.

Footnote 1:

"Such are the names that here your plaudits sought, When Garrick acted, and when Brinsley wrote."

At present the couplet stands thus:

"Dear are the days that made our annals bright, Ere Garrick fled, or Brinsley ceased to write."

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Footnote 2:

"I am almost ashamed," writes Lord Holland to Rogers, October 22, 1812 (Clayden's Rogers and his Contemporaries, vol. i. p. 115), "of having induced Lord Byron to write on so ungrateful a theme (ungrateful in all senses) as the opening of a theatre; he was so good-humoured, took so much pains, corrected so good-humouredly, and produced, as I thought and think, a prologue so superior to the common run of that sort of trumpery, that it is quite vexatious to see him attacked for it. Some part of it is a little too much laboured, and the whole too long; but surely it is good and poetical.... You cannot imagine how I grew to like Lord Byron in my critical intercourse with him, and how much I am convinced that your friendship and judgment have contributed to improve both his understanding and his happiness."

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Footnote 3:

Pope wrote the Prologue to Addison's

Cato

when it was acted at Drury Lane, April 13, 1713.

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Footnote 4:

Johnson wrote the Prologue when Garrick opened Drury Lane, September 15, 1747, with

The Merchant of Venice

. "It is," says Genest (

English Stage

, vol. iv. p. 231), "the best Prologue that was ever written." Johnson wrote the Prologue to Milton's

Comus

, played at Drury Lane, April 5, 1750; to Goldsmith's

Good-Natured Man

, played at Covent Garden, January 29, 1769; and to Hugh Kelly's

A Word to the Wise

, played at Drury Lane, March 3, 1770.

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Footnote 5:

The Distrest Mother

, adapted from Racine by Ambrose Philips, was first played at Drury Lane, March 17, 1712. Addison is supposed (Genest,

English Stage

, vol. ii. p. 496) to have written the epilogue.

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Footnote 6:

It is impossible to say to which of Goldsmith's epilogues Byron refers. A previous editor of Moore's

Life, etc

., identified it with his epilogue to Charlotte Lennox's unsuccessful comedy,

The Sister

, which was once played at Covent Garden, February 18, 1769, and then withdrawn.

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Footnote 7:

George Colman the Elder, who edited an edition of Beaumont and Fletcher (10 vols., 1778), wrote the prologue to

Philaster

, when it was produced at Drury Lane, October 8, 1763.

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List of Letters

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251—to Lord Holland

Sept. 27, 1812.

I

believe

this is the third scrawl since yesterday—all about epithets. I think the epithet "intellectual" won't convey the meaning I intend; and though I hate compounds, for the present I will try (

col' permesso

) the word "genius gifted patriots of our line"

¹

instead. Johnson has "many coloured life," a compound —— but they are always best avoided.

However

, it is the only one in ninety lines

²

, but will be happy to give way to a better. I am ashamed to intrude any more remembrances on Lady H. or letters upon you; but you are, fortunately for me, gifted with patience already too often tried by

Your etc., etc.,

Byron

.

Footnote 1:

This, as finally altered, stood thus:

"Immortal names emblazon'd on our line."

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Footnote 2:

Reduced to seventy-three lines.

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252—to Lord Holland

September 27, 1812.

I have just received your very kind letter, and hope you have met with a second copy corrected and addressed to Holland House,

with

some omissions and this new couplet,

As glared each rising flash¹, and ghastly shone The skies with lightnings awful as their own.

As to remarks, I can only say I will alter and acquiesce in any thing.

With

regard to the part which Whitbread

²

wishes to omit, I believe the

Address

will go off

quicker

without it, though, like the agility of the Hottentot, at the expense of its vigour. I leave to your choice entirely the different specimens of stucco-work; and a

brick

of your own will also much improve my Babylonish turret. I should like Elliston to have it, with your leave. "

Adorn

" and "mourn" are lawful rhymes in Pope's

Death of the Unfortunate Lady

.—Gray has "forlorn" and "mourn"—and "torn" and "mourn" are in Smollett's famous

Tears of Scotland

³

.

As there will probably be an outcry amongst the rejected, I hope the Committee will testify (if it be needful) that I sent in nothing to the congress whatever, with or without a name, as your Lordship well knows. All I have to do with it is with and through you; and though I, of course, wish to satisfy the audience, I do assure you my first object is to comply with your request, and in so doing to show the sense I have of the many obligations you have conferred upon me.

Yours ever,

B.

Footnote 1:

At present:

"As glared the volumed blaze."

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Footnote 2:

Samuel Whitbread (1758-1815) married, in 1789, Elizabeth, daughter of General Sir Charles Grey, created (1806) Earl Grey, and sister of the second Earl Grey, of Reform Bill fame. The son of a wealthy brewer, whose fortune he inherited, he entered Parliament as M.P. for Bedford in 1790. Raikes, in his

Journal

(vol. iv. PP. 50, 51), speaks of him, at the outset of his career, as a staunch Foxite, and "much remarked in society." Comparing him with his brother-in-law Grey, he says,

"Mr. Whitbread was a more steady character; his appearance was heavy; he was fond of agriculture, and was very plain and simple in his tastes. Both were reckoned good debaters in the House, but Grey was the most eloquent."

An independent Whig, and an advocate for peace with France, Whitbread supported Fox against Pitt throughout the Napoleonic War, strongly opposed its renewal after the return of the emperor from Elba, and interested himself in such measures as moderate Parliamentary reform, the amendment of the poor law, national education, and retrenchment of public expenditure. On April 8, 1805, he moved the resolutions which ended in the impeachment of Lord Melville, and took the lead in the inquiries, which were made, March, 1809, into the conduct of the Duke of York. He was a plain, business-like speaker, and a man of such unimpeachable integrity that Mr., afterwards Lord, Plunket, in a speech on the Roman Catholic claims, February 28, 1821, called him "the incorruptible sentinel of the constitution."

When he moved the articles of impeachment against Lord Melville, Canning scribbled the following impromptu parody of his speech (

Anecdotal History of the British Parliament

, p. 222):

"I'm like Archimedes for science and skill; I'm like a young prince going straight up a hill; I'm like—(with respect to the fair be it said)— I'm like a young lady just bringing to bed. If you ask why the 11th of June I remember Much better than April, or May, or November, On that day, my lords, with truth I assure ye, My sainted progenitor set up his brewery; On that day, in the morn, he began brewing beer; On that day, too, commenced his connubial career;] On that day he received and he issued his bills; On that day he cleared out all the cash from his tills; On that day he died, having finished his summing, And the angels all cried, 'Here's old Whitbread a-coming!' So that day still I hail with a smile and a sigh, For his beer with an E, and his bier with an I; And still on that day, in the hottest of weather, The whole Whitbread family dine all together.— So long as the beams of this house shall support The roof which o'ershades this respectable Court, Where Hastings was tried for oppressing the Hindoos; So long as that sun shall shine in at those windows, My name shall shine bright as my ancestor's shines, Mine recorded in journals, his blazoned on signs!"

An active member of Parliament, a large landed proprietor, the manager of his immense brewery in Chiswell Street, Whitbread also found time to reduce to order the chaotic concerns of Drury Lane Theatre. He was, with Lord Holland and Harvey Combe, responsible for the request to Byron to write an address, having first rejected his own address with its "poulterer's description of the Phœnix." He was fond of private theatricals, and Dibdin (

Reminiscences

, vol. ii. pp. 383, 384) gives the play-bill of an entertainment given by him at Southill. In the first play,

The Happy Return

, he took the part of "Margery;" and in the second,

Fatal Duplicity

, that of "Eglantine," a very young lady, loved by "Sir Buntybart" and "Sir Brandywine." In his capacity as manager of Drury Lane, Whitbread is represented by the author of

Accepted Addresses

(1813) as addressing "the M—s of H—d"—

"My Lord,— "As I now have the honour to be By Man'ging a Playhouse a double M.P., In this my address I think fit to complain Of certain encroachments on great Drury Lane," etc., etc.

Whitbread strongly supported the cause of the Princess of Wales. Miss Berry (

Journal

, vol. iii. p. 25) says that he dictated the letters which the Princess wrote to the Queen, who had desired that she should not attend the two drawing-rooms to be held in June, 1814. "They were good," she adds, "but too long, and sometimes marked by Whitbread's want of taste."

The strain of his multifarious activities affected both his health and his mind, and he committed suicide July 6, 1815.

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Footnote 3:

"By foreign hands thy humble grave adorn'd, By strangers honour'd, and by strangers mourn'd."

(Pope.)

"Stay, oh stay! nor thus forlorn, Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn."

(Gray.)

"Mourn, hapless Caledonia, mourn Thy banish'd peace, thy laurels torn."

(Smollett.)

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List of Letters

Contents

253—to John Murray

Cheltenham, September 27, 1812.

Dear Sir,—I sent in no

Address

whatever to the Committee; but out of nearly one hundred (this is

confidential

), none have been deemed worth acceptance; and in consequence of their

subsequent

application to

me

, I have written a prologue, which

has

been received, and will be spoken. The MS. is now in the hands of Lord Holland.

I write this merely to say, that (however it is received by the audience) you will publish it in the next edition of

Childe Harold

; and I only beg you at present to keep my name secret till you hear further from me, and as soon as possible I wish you to have a correct copy, to do with as you think proper.

I am, yours very truly,

Byron

.

P. S.—I should wish a few copies printed off

before

, that the Newspaper copies may be correct

after

the

delivery

.

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254—to Lord Holland

September 28, 1812.

Will this do better? The metaphor is more complete.

Till slowly ebb'd the {lava of the}/{spent volcanic} wave, And blackening ashes mark'd the Muse's grave.

If not, we will say "burning wave," and instead of "burning clime," in the line some couplets back, have "glowing."

Is

Whitbread

determined to castrate all my

cavalry

lines

¹

? I

don't

see why t'other house should be spared; besides it is the public, who ought to know better; and you recollect Johnson's was against similar buffooneries of Rich's—but, certes, I am not Johnson

²

.

Instead of "effects," say "labours"—"degenerate" will do, will it? Mr. Betty is no longer a babe, therefore the line cannot be personal.

Will

this do?

Till ebb'd the lava of {the burning}/{that molten} wave³

with "glowing dome," in case you prefer "burning" added to this "wave" metaphorical. The word "fiery pillar" was suggested by the "pillar of fire" in the book of

Exodus

, which went before the Israelites through the Red Sea. I once thought of saying "like Israel's pillar," and making it a simile, but I did not know,—the great temptation was leaving the epithet "fiery" for the supplementary wave. I want to work up that passage, as it is the only new ground us prologuizers can go upon:

This is the place where, if a poet Shined in description, he might show it.

If I part with the possibility of a future conflagration, we lessen the compliment to Shakspeare. However, we will e'en mend it thus:

Yes, it shall be—the magic of that name, That scorns the scythe of Time, the torch of Flame, On the same spot, etc., etc.

There—the deuce is in it, if that is not an improvement to Whitbread's content. Recollect, it is the "name," and not the "magic," that has a noble contempt for those same weapons. If it were the "magic," my metaphor would be somewhat of the maddest—so the "name" is the antecedent. But, my dear Lord, your patience is not quite so immortal—therefore, with many and sincere thanks, I am,

Yours ever most affectionately.

P.S.—I foresee there will be charges of partiality in the papers; but you know I sent in no

Address

; and glad both you and I must be that I did not, for, in that case, their plea had been plausible. I doubt the Pit will be testy; but conscious innocence (a novel and pleasing sensation) makes me bold.

Footnote 1:

The lines which were omitted by the Committee ran thus:

"Nay, lower still, the Drama yet deplores That late she deigned to crawl upon all-fours. When Richard roars in Bosworth for a horse, If you command, the steed must come in course. If you decree, the Stage must condescend To soothe the sickly taste we dare not mend. Blame not our judgment should we acquiesce, And gratify you more by showing less. Oh, since your Fiat stamps the Drama's laws, Forbear to mock us with misplaced applause; That public praise be ne'er again disgraced, From {brutes to man recall}/{babes and brutes redeem} a nation's taste; Then pride shall doubly nerve the actor's powers, When Reason's voice is echoed back by ours."

The last couplet but one was altered in a subsequent copy, thus:

"The past reproach let present scenes refute, Nor shift from man to babe, from babe to brute."

On February 18, 1811, at Covent Garden, a troop of horses were introduced in

Bluebeard

. For the manager, Juvenal's words, "

Lucri bonus est odor ex re Qualibet

" (

Sat

. xiv. 204) may have been true; but, as the dressing-room of the equine comedians was under the orchestra, the stench on the first night was to the audience intolerable. At the same theatre, April 29, 1811, the horses were again brought on the stage in Lewis's

Timour the Tartar

. At the same theatre, on the following December 26, a live elephant appeared. The novelty had, however, been anticipated in the Dublin Theatre during the season of 1771-72 (Genest's

English Stage

, vol. viii. p. 287). At the Haymarket, and Drury Lane, the introduction of live animals was ridiculed.

The Quadrupeds of Quedlinburgh

was given at the Haymarket, July 26, 1811, as a burlesque on

Timour the Tartar

and the horses. The Prologue, by Colman the Younger, attacks the passion for German plays and animal actors:

"Your taste, recover'd half from foreign quacks, Takes airings, now, on English horses' backs; While every modern bard may raise his name, If not on lasting praise, on stable fame."

At the Lyceum, during the season 1811-12,

Quadrupeds, or the Manager's Last Kick

, in which the tailors were mounted on asses and mules, was given by the Drury Lane Company with success. It was this introduction of animal performers which Byron wished to attack.

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cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 255

Footnote 2:

The following are the lines in Johnson's

Prologue

to which Byron refers:

"Then crush'd by rules, and weaken'd as refined, For years the power of Tragedy declined; From bard to bard the frigid caution crept, Till Declamation roared, whilst Passion slept. Yet still did Virtue deign the stage to tread, Philosophy remained though Nature fled. But forced, at length, her ancient reign to quit, She saw great Faustus lay the ghost of Wit; Exulting Folly hailed the joyous Day, And Pantomime and Song confirmed her sway. But who the coming changes can presage, And mark the future periods of the Stage? Perhaps if skill could distant times explore, New Behns, new Durfeys, yet remain in store; Perhaps, where Lear has raved, and Hamlet died, On flying cars new sorcerers may ride; Perhaps (for who can guess th' effects of chance?) Here Hunt may box, or Mahomet may dance."

John Rich (circ. 1682-1761) was the creator of pantomime in England, which he introduced at Lincoln's Inn Fields in April, 1716, and in which, under the stage name of Lun, he played the part of Harlequin. At Lincoln's Inn Fields, January 29, 1728, he produced

The Beggar's Opera

, which, after being refused at Drury Lane, made "Gay

rich

, and Rich

gay

." "Great Faustus" probably alludes to the war between the two theatres, and the rival productions of

Harlequin Dr. Faustus

at Drury Lane in 1723, and of

The Necromancer, or the History of Dr. Faustus

at Lincoln's Inn Fields in December of the same year. On December 7, 1732, Rich opened the new theatre at Covent Garden, of which he remained manager till his death in 1761.

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cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 255

Footnote 3:

The form of this couplet, as printed, is as follows:

"Till blackening ashes and lonely wall Usurp'd the Muse's realm, and mark'd her fall."

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255—to Lord Holland

September 28.

I have altered the

middle

couplet, so as I hope partly to do away with W.'s objection. I

do

think, in the present state of the stage, it had been unpardonable to pass over the horses and Miss Mudie

¹

, etc. As Betty is no longer a boy, how can this be applied to him? He is now to be judged as a man. If he acts still like a boy, the public will but be more ashamed of their blunder. I have, you see,

now

taken it for granted that these things are reformed. I confess, I wish that part of the

Address

to stand; but if W. is inexorable, e'en let it go. I have also new-cast the lines, and softened the hint of future combustion, and sent them off this morning. Will you have the goodness to add, or insert, the

approved

alterations as they arrive?

They

"come like shadows, so depart,"

²

occupy me, and, I fear, disturb you.

Do not let Mr. W. put his

Address

into Elliston's hands till you have settled on these alterations. E. will think it too long:—much depends on the speaking. I fear it will not bear much curtailing, without

chasms

in the sense.

It is certainly too long in the reading; but if Elliston exerts himself, such a favourite with the public will not be thought tedious.

I

should think it so, if

he

were not to speak it.

Yours ever, etc.

P.S.—On looking again, I doubt my idea of having obviated W.'s objection. To the other House allusion is

non sequitur

—but I wish to plead for this part, because the thing really is not to be passed over.

Many

afterpieces of the Lyceum by the

same company

have already attacked this "Augean

Stable

"—and Johnson, in his prologue against "Lunn" (the harlequin manager, Rich),— "Hunt,"—"Mahomet," etc. is surely a fair precedent

³

.

Footnote 1:

For

the horses, see p. 156,

note

1. Miss Mudie, another "Phenomenon," with whom the Covent Garden manager hoped to rival the success of Master Betty, was announced in the

Morning Post

, July 29, 1805, as the "Young Roscia of the Dublin Stage." She appeared at Covent Garden, November 23, 1805, in the part of "Peggy" in

The Country Girl

, Miss Brunton being "Alithea," C. Kemble "Harcourt," and Moody "Murray." Being hissed by the audience, she walked with great composure to the front of the stage, and said, as reported in the

Morning Post

(November 25, 1805)

"Ladies and gentlemen,—I know nothing I have done to offend you, and has set (sic) those who are sent here to hiss me; I will be very much obliged to you to turn them out."

This unfortunate speech made matters worse; the audience refused to hear her, and her part was finished by Miss Searle.

Miss Mudie was said to be only eight years old. But J. Kemble, being asked if she were really such a child, answered,

"Child! Why, sir, when I was a very young actor in the York Company, that little creature kept an inn at Tadcaster, and had a large family"

(Clark Russell's

Representative Actors

, p. 363,

note

2). The

Morning Post

(April 5, 1806) says that Miss Mudie afterwards joined a children's troupe in Leicester Place, where,

"though deservedly discountenanced at a great theatre, she will, no doubt, prove an acquisition to the infant establishment"

(Ashton's

Dawn of the XIXth Century in England

, pp. 333-336).

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Footnote 2:

Macbeth

, act iv. sc. 1.

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Footnote 3:

For

Lun, or Rich, see p. 157, end of

note

1 [Footnote 2]. Hunt, in the notes to Johnson's

Prologue

(Gilfillan's edition of Johnson's

Poestical Works

, p. 38), is said to be "a famous stage-boxer, Mahomet, a rope-dancer."

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256—to William Bankes

Cheltenham, September 28, 1812.

My Dear Bankes

,—When you point out to one how people can be intimate at the distance of some seventy leagues, I will plead guilty to your charge, and accept your farewell, but not

wittingly

, till you give me some better reason than my silence, which merely proceeded from a notion founded on your own declaration of

old

, that you hated writing and receiving letters. Besides, how was I to find out a man of many residences? If I had addressed you

now

, it had been to your borough, where I must have conjectured you were amongst your constituents. So now, in despite of Mr. N. and Lady W., you shall be as "much better" as the Hexham post-office will allow me to make you. I do assure you I am much indebted to you for thinking of me at all, and can't spare you even from amongst the superabundance of friends with whom you suppose me surrounded.

You

heard that Newstead

¹

is sold—the sum £140,000; sixty to remain in mortgage on the estate for three years, paying interest, of course. Rochdale is also likely to do well—so my worldly matters are mending. I have been here some time drinking the waters, simply because there are waters to drink, and they are very medicinal, and sufficiently disgusting.

In

a few days I set out for Lord Jersey's

²

, but return here, where I am quite alone, go out very little, and enjoy in its fullest extent the

dolce far niente

. What you are about I cannot guess, even from your date;—not dauncing to the sound of the gitourney in the Halls of the Lowthers? one of whom is here, ill, poor thing, with a phthisic. I heard that you passed through here (at the sordid inn where I first alighted) the very day before I arrived in these parts.

We

had a very pleasant set here; at first the Jerseys, Melbournes

³

, Cowpers

⁴

, and Hollands, but all gone; and the only persons I know are the Rawdons

⁵

and Oxfords

⁶

, with some later acquaintances of less brilliant descent.

But I do not trouble them much; and as for your rooms and your assemblies "they are not dreamed of in our philosophy!!"—

Did

you read of a sad accident in the Wye t'other day

⁷

? A dozen drowned; and Mr. Rossoe, a corpulent gentleman, preserved by a boat-hook or an eel-spear, begged, when he heard his wife was saved —no—

lost

—to be thrown in again!!—as if he could not have thrown himself in, had he wished it; but this passes for a trait of sensibility. What strange beings men are, in and out of the Wye!

I have to ask you a thousand pardons for not fulfilling some orders before I left town; but if you knew all the cursed entanglements I

had

to wade through, it would be unnecessary to beg your forgiveness.—

When

will Parliament (the new one) meet

⁸

?—in sixty days, on account of Ireland, I presume: the Irish election will demand a longer period for completion than the constitutional allotment. Yours, of course, is safe, and all your side of the question. Salamanca is the ministerial watchword, and all will go well with you. I hope you will speak more frequently, I am sure at least you

ought

, and it will be expected. I see Portman means to stand again. Good night.

Ever yours most affectionately,

Footnote 1:

Newstead was put up at Garraway's in the autumn of 1812; but only £90,000 were bid, and the property was therefore withdrawn. Subsequently it was privately sold to a Mr. Claughton, who found himself unable to complete the purchase, and forfeited £25,000 on the contract. Newstead was eventually sold, in November, 1817, to Colonel Wildman, Byron's Harrow schoolfellow, for £94,500.

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Footnote 2:

For Lady Jersey, see p. 112,

note

1. The following passage, from Byron's

Detached Thoughts

, gives an account of the party at Middleton:

"In 1812 at Middelton (Lord Jersey's), amongst a goodly company of Lords, Ladies, and wits, etc., there was poor old Vice Leach, the lawyer, attempting to play off the fine gentleman. His first exhibition, an attempt on horseback, I think, to escort the women—God knows where—in the month of November, ended in a fit of the Lumbago—as Lord Ogleby says, 'a grievous enemy to Gallantry and address'—and if he could have but heard Lady Jersey quizzing him (as I did) next day for the cause of his malady, I don't think that he would have turned a 'Squire of dames' in a hurry again. He seemed to me the greatest fool (in that line) I ever saw. This was the last I saw of old Vice Leach, except in town, where he was creeping into assemblies, and trying to look young—and gentlemanly. Erskine too!—Erskine was there—good but intolerable. He jested, he talked, he did everything admirably, but then he would be applauded for the same thing twice over. He would read his own verses, his own paragraphs, and tell his own story again and again; and then 'the trial by Jury!!!'—I almost wished it abolished, for I sate next him at dinner, and, as I had read his published speeches, there was no occasion to repeat them to me. Chester (the fox-hunter), surnamed 'Cheek Chester,' and I sweated the Claret, being the only two who did so. Cheek, who loves his bottle, and had no notion of meeting with a 'bonvivant' in a scribbler, in making my eulogy to somebody one evening, summed it up in 'by G-d, he drinks like a Man!'"

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Footnote 3:

Sir Peniston Lamb, created an Irish baron as Lord Melbourne in 1770, an Irish viscount in 1780, and an English peer in 1815, married, in 1769, Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke, of Halnaby, Yorkshire, one of the cleverest and most beautiful women of the day. Horace Walpole, writing to Mason, May 12, 1778, mentions her when she was at the height of her beauty.

"On Tuesday," he says, "I supped, after the opera, at Mrs. Meynel's with a set of the most fashionable company, which, take notice, I very seldom do now, as I certainly am not of the age to mix often with young people. Lady Melbourne was standing before the fire, and adjusting her feathers in the glass. Says she, 'Lord, they say the stocks will blow up! That will be very comical.'"

Greville (

Memoirs

, ed. 1888, vol. vi. p. 248) associates her name with that of Lord Egremont. Reynolds painted her with her eldest son in his well-known picture

Maternal Affection

. Her second son, William, afterwards Prime Minister, used to say,

"Ah! my mother was a most remarkable woman; not merely clever and engaging, but the most sagacious woman I ever knew"

(

Memoirs of Viscount Melbourne

, vol. i. p. 135). Lady Melbourne, whom Byron spoke of as

"the best, the kindest, and ablest female I have ever known, old or young,"

died in 1818, her husband in 1828. He thus described her to Lady Blessington (

Conversations

, p. 225):

"Lady M., who might have been my mother, excited an interest in my feelings that few young women have been able to awaken. She was a charming person—a sort of modern Aspasia, uniting the energy of a man's mind with the delicacy and tenderness of a woman's. She wrote and spoke admirably, because she felt admirably. Envy, malice, hatred, or uncharitableness, found no place in her feelings. She had all of philosophy, save its moroseness, and all of nature, save its defects and general faiblesse; or if some portion of faiblesse attached to her, it only served to render her more forbearing to the errors of others. I have often thought, that, with a little more youth, Lady M. might have turned my head, at all events she often turned my heart, by bringing me back to mild feelings, when the demon passion was strong within me. Her mind and heart were as fresh as if only sixteen summers had flown over her, instead of four times that number."

return

Footnote 4:

Peter, fifth Earl Cowper (1778-1837), married, in 1805 Emily Mary Lamb, daughter of Lord Melbourne; she married, secondly, in 1839, Lord Palmerston.

return

Footnote 5:

Francis Rawdon, second Earl of Moira (1754-1826), created Lord Rawdon (1783), and Marquis of Hastings (1817), married, in 1804, the Countess of Loudoun.

return

Footnote 6:

Edward Harley (1773-1848) succeeded his uncle as fifth Earl of Oxford in 1790, and married, in 1794, Jane Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. James Scott, Vicar of Itchin, Hants. It is probably of Lady Oxford, whose picture was painted by Hoppner, that Byron spoke to Lady Blessington (

Conversations

, p. 255),

"Even now the autumnal charms of Lady —— are remembered by me with more than admiration. She resembled a landscape by Claude Lorraine, with a setting sun, her beauties enhanced by the knowledge that they were shedding their last dying beams, which threw a radiance around. A woman... is only grateful for her first and last conquest. The first of poor dear Lady ——'s was achieved before I entered on this world of care; but the last, I do flatter myself, was reserved for me, and a bonne bouche it was."

The following passage certainly relates to Lady Oxford:

"There was a lady at that time," said Byron (Medwin's Conversations, pp. 93, 94), "double my own age, the mother of several children who were perfect angels, with whom I had formed a liaison that continued without interruption for eight months. The autumn of a beauty like her's is preferable to the spring in others. She told me she was never in love till she was thirty; and I thought myself so with her when she was forty. I never felt a stronger passion; which she returned with equal ardour.... She had been sacrificed, almost before she was a woman, to one whose mind and body were equally contemptible in the scale of creation; and on whom she bestowed a numerous family, to which the law gave him the right to be called father. Strange as it may seem, she gained (as all women do) an influence over me so strong, that I had great difficulty in breaking with her, even when I knew she had been inconstant to me: and once was on the point of going abroad with her, and narrowly escaped this folly."

To be near the Oxfords at Eywood, in Herefordshire, Byron took Kinsham Court, a dower-house of the family, where Bishop Harley died in 1788. At one time, as is evident from his correspondence with Hanson, he was bent on going abroad with Lady Oxford. In the end he only accompanied her to Portsmouth. Of Lady Oxford, Uvedale Price wrote thus to Rogers (Clayden,

Rogers and his Contemporaries

, vol. i. pp. 397, 398):

"This is a melancholy subject"—[the death, by consumption of Lord Aberdeen's children]—"and I must go to another. Poor Lady Oxford! I had heard with great concern of her dangerous illness, but hoped she might get through it, and was much, very much grieved to hear that it had ended fatally. I had, as you know, lived a great deal with her from the time she came into this country, immediately after her marriage; but for some years past, since she went abroad, had scarcely had any correspondence or intercourse with her, till I met her in town last spring. I then saw her twice, and both times she seemed so overjoyed to see an old friend, and expressed her joy so naturally and cordially, that I felt no less overjoyed at seeing her after so long an absence. She talked, with great satisfaction, of our meeting for a longer time this next spring, little thinking of an eternal separation. There could not, in all respects, be a more ill-matched pair than herself and Lord Oxford, or a stronger instance of the cruel sports of Venus, or, rather, of Hymen: 'Cui placet impares Formas atque animos sub juga ahenea Sævo mittere cum joco.' It has been said that she was, in some measure, forced into the match. Had she been united to a man whom she had loved, esteemed, and respected, she herself might have been generally respected and esteemed, as well as loved; but in her situation, to keep clear of all misconduct required a strong mind or a cold heart; perhaps both, and she had neither. Her failings were in no small degree the effect of circumstances; her amiable qualities all her own. There was something about her, in spite of her errors, remarkably attaching, and that something was not merely her beauty. 'Kindness has resistless charms,' and she was full of affectionate kindness to those she loved, whether as friends or as lovers. As a friend, I always found her the same, never at all changeful or capricious. As I am not a very rigid moralist, and am extremely open to kindness, 'I could have better spared a better woman.'"

return

cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 300

Footnote 7:

An account of the accident is given in the Chronicle of the

Annual Register

, September 21, 1812. The party consisted of ten people, three of whom were saved. Among those rescued was Mr. Rothery—not Rossoe, as Byron gives it.

return

Footnote 8:

The new Parliament met November 30, 1812. Wellington won the battle of Salamanca on the previous July 22.

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List of Letters

Contents

257—to Lord Holland

September 29, 1812.

Shakespeare

certainly ceased to reign in

one

of his kingdoms, as George III. did in America, and George IV.

¹

may in Ireland? Now, we have nothing to do out of our own realms, and when the monarchy was gone, his majesty had but a barren sceptre. I have

cut away

, you will see, and altered, but make it what you please;

only

I do implore, for my

own

gratification, one lash on those accursed quadrupeds—"a long shot, Sir Lucius, if you love me."

²

I have altered "wave," etc., and the "fire," and so forth for the timid.

Let me hear from you when convenient, and believe me, etc.

P.S.—Do let

that

stand, and cut out elsewhere. I shall choke, if we must overlook their damned menagerie.

Footnote 1:

Some objection, it appears, had been made to the passage, "and Shakspeare

ceased to reign

."

return

Footnote 2:

Bob Acres, in

The Rivals

(act v. se. 3), says, "A long shot, Sir Lucius, if you love me."

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List of Letters

Contents

258—to Lord Holland

September 30, 1812.

I

send

you the most I can make of it; for I am not so well as I was, and find I "pull in resolution."

¹

I wish much to see you, and will be at Tetbury by twelve on Saturday; and from thence I go on to Lord Jersey's. It is impossible not to allude to the degraded state of the Stage, but I have lightened

it

, and endeavoured to obviate your

other

objections.

There

is a new couplet for Sheridan, allusive to his Monody

²

. All the alterations I have marked thus ],—as you will see by comparison with the other copy. I have cudgelled my brains with the greatest willingness, and only wish I had more time to have done better.

You

will find a sort of clap-trap laudatory couplet inserted for the quiet of the Committee

³

, and I have added, towards the end, the couplet you were pleased to

like

. The whole Address is seventy-three lines, still perhaps too long; and, if shortened, you will save time, but, I fear, a little of what I meant for sense also.

With myriads of thanks, I am ever, etc.

My sixteenth edition of respects to Lady H.—How she must laugh at all this!

I wish Murray, my publisher, to print off some copies as soon as your Lordship returns to town—it will ensure correctness in the papers afterwards.

Footnote 1:

Macbeth

, act v. sc. 5.

return

Footnote 2:

Sheridan's

Monody on Garrick

.

return

Footnote 3:

The Committee of Selection consisted, says the

Satirist

(November 1, 1812, p. 395),

"of one peer and two commoners, one poet and two prosers, one Lord and two Brewers; and the only points in which they coincided were in being all three parliament men, all three politicians, all three in opposition to the Government of the country. Their names, as we understand, were Vassal Holland, Samuel Whitbread, and Harvey Christian Combe."

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Contents

259—to Lord Holland

Far be from him that hour which asks in vain Tears such as flow for Garrick in his strain;

or

,

Far be that hour that vainly asks in turn Such verse for him as {crown'd his/wept o'er} Garrick's urn.

September 30, 1812.

Will you

choose

between these added to the lines on Sheridan

¹

?

I think they will wind up the panegyric, and agree with the train of thought preceding them.

Now, one word as to the Committee—how could they resolve on a rough copy of an

Address

never sent in, unless you had been good enough to retain in memory, or on paper, the thing they have been good enough to adopt? By the by, the circumstances of the case should make the Committee less

avidus gloriæ

, for all praise of them would look plaguy suspicious. If necessary to be stated at all, the simple facts bear them out. They surely had a right to act as they pleased. My sole object is one which, I trust, my whole conduct has shown; viz. that I did nothing insidious—sent in no Address

whatever

—but, when applied to, did my best for them and myself; but, above all, that there was no undue partiality, which will be what the rejected will endeavour to make out. Fortunately—most fortunately—I sent in no lines on the occasion. For I am sure that had they, in that case, been preferred, it would have been asserted that

I

was known, and owed the preference to private friendship. This is what we shall probably have to encounter; but, if once spoken and approved, we sha'n't be much embarrassed by their brilliant conjectures; and, as to criticism, an

old

author, like an old bull, grows cooler (or ought) at every baiting.

The only thing would be to avoid a party on the night of delivery—afterwards, the more the better, and the whole transaction inevitably tends to a good deal of discussion.

Murray

tells me there are myriads of ironical Addresses

²

ready—

some

, in imitation of what is called

my style

. If they are as good as the

Probationary Odes

³

, or Hawkins's

Pipe of Tobacco

⁴

, it will not be bad fun for the imitated. Ever, etc.

Footnote 1:

These added lines, as may be seen by reference to the printed Address, were not retained.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Probably the reference is to

Rejected Addresses, or the New Theatrum Poetarum

(1812), by James (1775-1839) and Horace (1779-1849) Smith. "Cui Bono?" the parody on Byron, is the joint composition of James and Horace. The manuscript was offered to Murray for £20, but declined by him. It was afterwards published by John Miller, of Bow Street, Covent Garden, who also published

Horace in London

.

return

Footnote 3:

Probationary Odes

, which generally forms, with

Political Eclogues

, the third portion of the

Rolliad

, is really distinct from that work. It is the result of an imaginary contest for the laureate-ship. Each candidate was to deliver a "Probationary Birthday Ode," and among the candidates are Dr. Pretyman, Archbishop Markham, Thomas and Joseph Warton, Sir Cecil Wray, Sir Joseph Mawbey, Henry Dundas, Lord Thurlow, and other Tories of the day. The plan of the work is said to have been suggested by Joseph Richardson (1755-1803), who wrote Odes iv. (Sir Richard Hill) and xix. (Lord Mountmorres).

return

Footnote 4:

In Praise of a Pipe of Tobacco

(1736), written by Isaac Hawkins Browne (1705-1760), was an ode in imitation of Swift, Pope, Thomson, and other contemporary poets. Browne represented Wenlock in the Whig interest in the Parliaments of 1744 and 1747. Johnson spoke of him (Boswell,

Johnson

, April 5, 1775) as "one of the first wits of this country," who "got into Parliament, and never opened his mouth."

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List of Letters

Contents

260—to Lord Holland

October 2, 1812.

A copy of this

still altered

is sent by the post, but this will arrive first. It must be "humbler"—"

yet aspiring

" does away the modesty, and, after all,

truth is truth

. Besides, there is a puff direct altered, to please your

plaguy renters

.

I shall be at Tetbury by 12 or 1—but send this for you to ponder over. There are several little things marked thus / altered for your perusal. I have dismounted the cavalry, and, I hope, arranged to your general satisfaction.

Ever, etc.

At Tetbury by noon.—I hope, after it is sent, there will be no more elisions. It is not now so long—73 lines—two less than allotted. I will alter all Committee objections, but I hope you won't permit

Elliston

to have any

voice

whatever,—except in speaking it.

List of Letters

Contents

261—to John Murray

Cheltenham, Oct. 12, 1812.

Dear Sir

,—I

have

a

very strong objection

to the engraving of the portrait

¹

, and request that it may, on no account, be prefixed; but let

all

the proofs be burnt, and the plate broken. I will be at the expense which has been incurred; it is but fair that

I

should, since I cannot permit the publication. I beg, as a particular favour, that you will lose no time in having this done, for which I have reasons that I will state when I see you. Forgive all the trouble I have occasioned you.

I

have

received no account of the reception of the

Address

²

, but see it is vituperated in the papers, which does not much embarrass an

old author

. I leave it to your own judgment to add it, or not, to your next edition when required. Pray comply

strictly

with my wishes as to the engraving, and believe me, etc.

Yours very truly,

Byron

.

P.S.—Favour me with an answer, as I shall not be easy until I hear that the

proofs

, etc., are destroyed. I

hear

that the

Satirist

has reviewed

Childe Harold

³

, in what manner I need not ask; but I wish to know if the old personalities are revived? I have a better reason for asking this than any that merely concerns myself; but in publications of that kind, others, particularly female names, are sometimes introduced.

Byron

.

Footnote 1:

A miniature by Sanders. Besides this miniature, Sanders had also painted a full-length of Byron, from which the portrait prefixed to the quarto edition of Moore's

Life

is engraved. In reference to the latter picture, Byron says, in a note to Rogers,

"If you think the picture you saw at Murray's worth your acceptance, it is yours; and you may put a glove or mask on it, if you like"

(Moore).

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

On Saturday, October 10, Drury Lane reopened with

The Devil to Pay

and

Hamlet

. Then, after the whole body of actors had sung "God save the King" and "Rule, Britannia," Elliston delivered Byron's address.

return

Footnote 3:

The Satirist, a Monthly Meteor

(see

Letters

, vol. i. p. 321,

note

3 [Footnote 3 of Letter 159]), ran from October, 1807, to 1814. Up to 1812 it was the property of George Manners, who sold it in that year to W. Jerdan. It reviewed

Childe Harold

in October, 1812 (pp. 344-358); and again in December of the same year (pp. 542-550). In the first of the two notices, the

Satirist

quotes the "judgment of our predecessors," that unless Byron "improved wonderfully, he could never be a poet," and continues thus:

"It is with unaffected satisfaction we find that he has improved wonderfully, and that he is a poet. Indeed, when we consider the comparatively short interval which has elapsed, and contrast the character of his recent with that of his early work, we confess ourselves astonished at the intellectual progress which Lord Byron has made, and are happy to hold him up as another example of the extraordinary effects of study and cultivation, even on minds apparently of the most unpromising description."

The reviewer severely condemns the morbid bitterness of the poet's thought and feeling, but yet affirms that the poems

"abound with beautiful imagery, clothed in a diction free, forcible, and various. Childe Harold, although avowedly a fragment, contains many fragments which would do honour to any poet, of any period, in any country."

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Contents

262—to Lord Holland.

Cheltenham, Oct. 14, 1812.

My Dear Lord

,—I

perceive

that the papers, yea, even Perry's

¹

, are somewhat ruffled at the injudicious preference of the Committee. My friend Perry has, indeed,

et tu, Brute

-d me rather scurvily, for which I will send him, for the

Morning Chronicle

, the next epigram I scribble, as a token of my full forgiveness.

Do the Committee mean to enter into no explanation of their proceedings? You must see there is a leaning towards a charge of partiality. You will, at least, acquit me of any great anxiety to push myself before so many elder and better anonymous, to whom the twenty guineas (which I take to be about two thousand pounds

Bank

currency) and the honour would have been equally welcome. "Honour," I see, "hath skill in paragraph-writing."

I wish to know how it went off at the second reading, and whether any one has had the grace to give it a glance of approbation. I have seen no paper but Perry's and two Sunday ones. Perry is severe, and the others silent. If, however, you and your Committee are not now dissatisfied with your own judgments, I shall not much embarrass myself about the brilliant remarks of the journals. My own opinion upon it is what it always was, perhaps pretty near that of the public.

Believe me, my dear Lord, etc., etc.

P.S.—My best respects to Lady H., whose smiles will be very consolatory, even at this distance.

Footnote 1:

James Perry (1756-1821) purchased, in 1789, the

Morning Chronicle

, originally established by Woodfall in 1769. In Perry's hands the paper became the leading organ of the Whigs. He was the first editor to introduce a succession of parliamentary reporters. He gathered round him a remarkable staff of contributors, including Ricardo, Sir James Mackintosh, Porson (who married his sister), Charles Lamb, Sheridan, Coleridge, Hazlitt, Lord Campbell, Moore, Campbell, Byron, and Burns. The

Morning Chronicle

(October 12, 1812) says:

"Mr. Elliston then came forward and delivered the following Prize Address. We cannot boast of the eloquence of the delivery. It was neither gracefully nor correctly recited. The merits of the production itself we submit to the criticism of our readers. We cannot suppose that it was selected as the most poetical composition of all the scores that were submitted to the Committee. But, perhaps by its tenor, by its allusions to the fire, to Garrick, to Siddons, and to Sheridan, it was thought most applicable to the occasion, notwithstanding its being in parts unmusical, and in general tame."

Again (October 14), in a notice of

Rejected Addresses

, the

Morning Chronicle

returns to the subject:

"A wag has already published a small volume of Addresses rejected, in which, with admirable wit, all the poets of the day are assembled, contesting for the Prize Address at Drury Lane. And certainly he has assigned to the pen of Lord B. a superior poem to that which has gained the prize."

The Address was also severely handled in

A Critique on the Address written by Lord Byron, which was Spoken at the opening of the New Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, October

10, 1812. By Lord—— (London, no date). The author is "astonished at the glaring faults and general insipidity" of the address, and, after a detailed criticism, concludes that "public indignation" will sympathize with the rejected poets, and "pursue the rival patrons and the rival bard."

Rogers, writing to Moore, October 22, 1812 (

Memoirs, etc., of Thomas Moore

, vol. viii. p. 123), says,

"Poor Byron! what I hear and read of his prologue makes me very angry. Of such value is public favour! So a man is to be tried by a copy of verses thrown off perhaps at hazard, and invitâ Minervâ!"

return to footnote mark

List of Letters

Contents

263—to John Hanson

Cheltenham, Octr. 18th, 1812.

Dear Sir,—With perfect confidence in you I sign the note; but is not Claughton's delay very strange? let us take care what we are about. I answered his letter, which I enclose to you, very

cautiously;

the wines and China, etc., I will not demur much upon; but the

vase

and cup (not the

skull cup

) and some little coffee things brought from the East, or made for the purpose of containing relics brought from thence, I will not part with, and if he refuses to ratify, I will take such steps as the Law will allow on the form of the contract for compelling him to ratify it.

Pray write. I am invited to Lord O.'s and Lord H.'s; but if you wish very much to meet me I can come to town.

I suppose the tythe purchase will be made in my name.

What

is to be done with Deardon?

¹

Mrs

. M[assingberd]

²

is dead, and I would wish something settled for the Daughter who is still responsible. Will you give a glance into that business, and if possible first settle something about the Annuities.

I shall perhaps draw within a £100 next week, but I will delay for your answer on C.'s business.

Ever yours, sincerely and affectionately,

Byron

.

My love to all the family.

I wish to do something for young Rushton, if practicable at

Rochdale

; if not, think of some situation where he might occupy himself to avoid Idleness, in the mean time.

Footnote 1:

Deardon was the lessee of the Rochdale coal-pits.

"When Mr. France was here," writes Mrs. Byron to Hanson, July 13, 1811 (Kölbing's Englische Studien, vol. xxv. p. I53), "he told me there had been an injunction procured to prevent Deardin from working the Coal Pits that was in dispute between Lord Byron and him, but since France was here, there has been a Man from Lancashire who says they are worked by Deardin the same as ever. I also heard that the Person you sent down to take an account of the Coals was bribed by Deardin, and did not give an account of half of what was got."

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

For Mrs. Massingberd, see

Letters

, vol. i. p. 100, at end of

note

3 [Footnote 1 of Letter 52]. Byron's pecuniary transactions, though not unimportant in their influence on his career, are difficult to unravel. The following statement, in his own handwriting, with regard to the Annuities was apparently prepared for some legal proceedings, and is dated January 16, 1812:

"Lord Byron, to the best of his knowledge and recollection, in Dec., 1805-January, 1806 applied to King, in consequence of an advertisement in the papers, who acquainted Lord Byron that his minority prevented all money transactions without the security of competent persons. Through Mr. K. he became acquainted with Mr. Dellevelly, another of the tribe of Israel, and subsequently with a Mr. Howard of Golden Square. "After many delays, during which Lord B. had interviews with Howard, once, he thinks, in Golden Square, but more frequently in Piccadilly, Mrs. M[assingberd] agreed to become security jointly with her daughter. Lord B. knows Howard's person perfectly well, has not seen him subsequent to the transaction, but recollects Howard's mentioning to him that he, Lord B., was acting imprudently, stating that he made it a rule to advise young men against such proceedings. Lord B. recollects, on the day on which the money was paid, that he remained in the next room till the papers were signed, Mrs. M[assingberd] having stated that the parties wished him to be kept out of sight during the business, and wished to avoid even mentioning his name. Mrs. M[assingberd] deducted the interest for two years and a half, and £100 for Howard's papers."

Two other Annuities were effected, in both of which Mrs. Massingberd figured as a security, and in one the manager of Dorant's Hotel. It was the interest on these minority loans which crippled Byron. Two were still unpaid in 1817.

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Contents

264—to John Murray

Cheltenham, Oct. 18, 1812,

Dear Sir,—

Will

you have the goodness to get this Parody of a peculiar kind

¹

(for all the first lines are

Busby's

entire), inserted in several of the papers (

correctly

—and copied

correctly; my hand

is difficult)—particularly the

Morning Chronicle

? Tell Mr. Perry I forgive him all he has said, and may say against

my address

, but he will allow me to deal with the Doctor—(

audi alteram partem

)—and not

betray

me. I cannot think what has befallen Mr. Perry, for of yore we were very good friends;—but no matter, only get this inserted.

I have a poem on Waltzing for

you

, of which I make

you

a present; but it must be anonymous. It is in the old style of

English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers

.

Ever yours,

Byron

.

P. S.—

With

the next edition of

Childe Harold

you may print the first fifty or a hundred opening lines of the

Curse of Minerva

²

down to the couplet beginning

Mortal ('twas thus she spake), etc.

Of course, the moment the Satire begins, there you will stop, and the opening is the best part.

Footnote 1:

The

Parenthetical Address

, "By Dr. Plagiary," is a parody by Byron of Dr, Busby's

Address

, the original of which will be found in the

Genuine Rejected Addresses

, as well as parodied in

Rejected Addresses

("Architectural Atoms"). On October 14 young Busby forced his way on to the stage of Drury Lane, attempted to recite his father's address, and was taken into custody. On the next night, Dr. Busby, speaking from one of the boxes, obtained a hearing for his son, who could not, however, make his voice heard in the theatre. Then another "rejected" author tried to recite his composition, but was hooted down. Order was restored by Raymond reminding the audience that the Chamberlain's licence was necessary for all stage speeches. To the failure of the younger Busby (himself a competitor and the author of an "Unalogue" of fifty-six lines) to make himself heard, Byron alludes in the stage direction to the

Parenthetical Address

—"to be spoken in an inarticulate voice by Master P." The

Parenthetical Address

appeared in the

Morning Chronicle

for October 23, 1812. In the same issue was printed a long statement by Dr. Busby, in which, after paying a compliment to Byron's "poetical genius," he insisted that the Committee of Drury Lane had broken faith by not choosing one of the addresses sent in by competitors. (See references to Dr. Busby in

Poems

, vol. i. pp. 481 and 485,

note

1.) Dr. Thomas Busby (1755-1838) composed the music for Holcroft's

Tale of Mystery

, the first musical melodrama produced on the English stage (Covent Garden, November 13, 1802). He was for some time assistant editor of the

Morning Post

, and Parliamentary reporter for the

London Courant

; wrote on musical subjects, taught languages and music, and translated Lucretius into rhymed verse (1813).

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

The Curse of Minerva,

written at Athens, in 1811, was not published as a whole till 1828. But the first fifty-four lines appeared in Canto III of

The Corsair

(1814). (See

The Curse of Minerva:

Introductory note,

Poems,

1898, vol. i. p. 453.)

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Contents

265—to Robert Rushton

Cheltenham, Oct. 18th, 1812.

Robert,—I hope you continue as much as possible to apply yourself to

Accounts

and Land-Measurement, etc. Whatever change may take place about Newstead, there will be none as to you and Mr. Murray. It is intended to place you in a situation in Rochdale for which your pursuance of the Studies I recommend will best fit you. Let me hear from you; is your health improved since I was last at the Abbey? In the mean time, if any accident occur to me, you are provided for in my will, and if not, you will always find in your Master a sincere Friend.

B.

List of Letters

Contents

266—to John Murray

Oct. 19, 1812.

Dear Sir,—Many thanks, but I

must

pay the

damage

, and will thank you to tell me the amount for the engraving. I think the

Rejected Addresses

by far the best thing of the kind since the

Rolliad

, and wish

you

had published them. Tell the author "I forgive him, were be twenty times our satirist;" and think his imitations not at all inferior to the famous ones of Hawkins Browne. He must be a man of very lively wit, and much less scurrilous than Wits often are: altogether, I very much admire the performance, and wish it all success. The

Satirist

has taken a

new

tone, as you will see: we have now, I think, finished with

C. H.'s

critics. I have in

hand

a

Satire

on

Waltzing

, which you must publish anonymously: it is not long, not quite 200 lines, but will make a very small boarded pamphlet. In a few days you shall have it.

Ever yours,

Byron

.

P.S.—The editor of the

Satirist

almost ought to be thanked for his revocation; it is done handsomely, after five years' warfare.

List of Letters

Contents

267—to John Hanson

Octr. 22d, 1812.

Dear Sir

,—I enclose you Mr. C[laughton]'s letter, from which you yourself will judge of my own. I insisted on the

contract

, and said,

if

I gave up the wines, etc., it would be as a

gift

. He admits the validity, as you perceive. I told him that

I

wished to avoid raising difficulties and in all respects to fulfil the bargain.

I am going to Lord Oxford's,

Eywood, Presteigne, Hereford

. In my way back I will take Farleigh, if you are not returned to London before.

I wish to take a small

house

for the winter any where not remote from St. James's. Will you arrange this for me?—and think of young Rushton, whom I promised to provide for, and must begin to think of it; he might be a

sub

-Tythe

collector

, or a Bailiff to our agent at Rochdale, or many other things. He has had a fair education and was well disposed; at all events, he must no longer remain in idleness.

Let the Mule be sold and the dogs.

Pray let me hear from you when convenient, and

Believe me, ever yours truly,

Byron

.

My best remembrances to all.

I shall draw for

fifty

this week.

Is anything done about Miss M[assingberd]? You have not mentioned her.

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268—to John Murray

Oct. 23, 1812.

Dear Sir

,—Thanks, as usual. You go on boldly; but have a care of

glutting

the public, who have by this time had enough of

C. H.

Waltz

shall be prepared. It is rather above 200 lines, with an introductory letter to the Publisher. I think of publishing, with

C. H.

, the opening lines of the

Curse of Minerva

, as far as the first speech of Pallas,—because some of the readers like that part better than any I have ever written; and as it contains nothing to affect the subject of the subsequent portion, it will find a place as a

descriptive fragment

.

The

plate

is

broken

? between ourselves, it was unlike the picture; and besides, upon the whole, the frontispiece of an author's visage is but a paltry exhibition. At all events,

this

would have been no recommendation to the book. I am sure Sanders would not have

survived

the engraving. By the by, the

picture

may remain with

you

or

him

(which you please), till my return. The

one

of two remaining copies is at your service till I can give you a

better

; the other must be

burned peremptorily

. Again, do not forget that I have an account with you, and

that

this is

included

. I give you too much

Trouble

to allow you to incur

Expense

also.

You best know how far this "Address Riot" will affect the future sale of

C. H.

I like the volume of "

rejected A.

" better and better. The other parody which Perry has received is

mine

also (I believe). It is Dr. Busby's speech versified. You are removing to Albemarle Street, I find, and I rejoice that we shall be nearer neighbours. I am going to Lord Oxford's, but letters here will be forwarded. When at leisure, all communications from you will be willingly received by the humblest of your scribes.

Did

Mr. Ward write the review of H. Tooke's Life

¹

? It is excellent.

Yours ever,

B.

Footnote 1:

See

Quarterly Review

, vol. vii. p. 313. The article alluded to was written by the Hon. J. W. Ward, afterwards Earl of Dudley.

return to footnote mark

List of Letters

Contents

269—to John Hanson

Eywood, Presteign, Hereford, Octr. 31st, 1812.

Dear Sir

,—

The

inclosed bill

¹

will convince you how anxious I must be for the payment of Claughton's first instalment; though it has been sent in without due notice, I cannot blame Mr. Davies who must feel very anxious to get rid of the business. Press C., and let me have an answer whenever you can to this Place.

Yours ever,

B.

P.S.—I am at

Lord Oxford's

, Eywood, as above.

Footnote 1:

The bill was Byron's for £1500, and the enclosure ran as follows:

"Lord Byron. A Bill for £1500, drawn by Scrope B. Davies, lies due at Sir James Esdaile and Co's., No. 21, Lombard-Street. All Drafts intended for the Payment of Bills, to be brought before Half past Three o'Clock. Please to call between 3 and Five o'Clock."

The same day Byron writes a second letter to Hanson:

"Do pray press Claughton, as Mr. D.'s business must be settled at all events. I send you his letter, and I am more uncomfortable than I can possibly express myself upon the subject. Pray write."

return to footnote mark

List of Letters

Contents

270—to John Hanson

Presteign, Novr. 8th, 1812.

Dear Sir

,—Not being able (and to-day being Sunday also) to procure a stamp, as the Post town is very remote, I must request this letter to be considered as an Order for paying fifteen hundred pounds to S. B. Davies, Esq., and the same sum to your own account for the Tythe purchase. Mr. D.'s receipt can be indorsed on the bond.

I shall be in London the latter end of the week. I set out from this place on the 12th. As to Mr. C., the Law must decide between us; I shall abide by the Contract. Your answer will not reach me in time, so do not write to me while here.

Pray

let Mr. D. be paid and you also—come what may

¹

. I always foresaw that C. would

shirk;

but he did it with his eyes open. What question can arise as to the title? has it never been examined? I never heard of it before, and surely, in all our law suits, that question must have come to issue.

I hope we shall meet in town. I will wait on you the moment I arrive.

My best respects to your family; believe me,

Ever yours sincerely,

Byron

.

Footnote 1:

Byron was prepared to make some sacrifices to extricate himself from debt, or go abroad. The following letter to Hanson is dated December 10, 1812:

"Dear Sir,—I have to request that you will pay the bearer (my Groom) the wages due to him (12 pds. 10s.), and dismiss him immediately, as I have given up my horses, and place the sum to my account. Ever yours, Byron."

Four days later, December 14, 1812, he writes again to Hanson—

"Dear Sir,—I request your attention to the enclosed. See what can be done with Howard, and urge Claughton. If this kind of thing continues, I must quit a country which my debts render uninhabitable, notwithstanding every sacrifice on my part. Yours ever, B."

return to footnote mark

List of Letters

Contents

271—to John Hanson

Presteign, Novr. 16th, 1812.

Dear Sir

,—The floods having rendered the road impassable, I am detained here, but trust by the latter end of the week to proceed to Cheltenham, where I shall expect a letter from you to tell me if I am wanted in town.

I shall not be in time for the Prince's address; but I wish you to write down for my

Parliamentary

robes (Mrs. Chaworth had them, at least Mrs. Clarke the mother); though I rather think those were the Coronation and not the House robes. At least enquire.

I hope Mr. D. is paid; and, if Mr. C. demurs, we must bring an action according to Contract.

I trust you are well, and well doing in my behalf and your own.

Ever yours most sincerely,

B.

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Contents

272—to John Murray

Cheltenham, November 22, 1812.

Dear Sir

,—On my return here from Lord Oxford's, I found your obliging note, and will thank you to retain the letters, and any other subsequent ones to the same address, till I arrive in town to claim them, which will probably be in a few days. I have in charge a curious and very long MS. poem, written by Lord Brooke (the

friend

of Sir

Philip Sidney

), which I wish to submit to the inspection of Mr. Gifford, with the following queries: —first, whether it has ever been published, and secondly (if not), whether it is worth publication? It is from Lord Oxford's Library, and must have escaped or been overlooked amongst the MSS. of the Harleian Miscellany. The writing is Lord Brooke's, except a different hand towards the close. It is very long, and in the six-line stanza. It is not for me to hazard an opinion upon its merits; but I would take the Liberty, if not too troublesome, to submit it to Mr. Gifford's judgment, which, from his excellent edition of Massinger, I should conceive to be as decisive on the writings of that age as on those of our own.

Now

for a less agreeable and important topic.—How came Mr. Mac-Somebody

¹

, without consulting you or me, to prefix the Address to his volume of "

dejected addresses?"

Is not this somewhat larcenous? I think the ceremony of leave might have been asked, though I have no objection to the thing itself; and leave the "hundred and eleven" to tire themselves with "base comparisons." I should think the ingenuous public tolerably sick of the subject, and, except the parodies, I have not interfered, nor shall;

indeed

I did not know that Dr. Busby had published his apologetical letter and postscript

²

, or I should have recalled them. But, I confess, I looked upon his conduct in a different light before its appearance. I

see

some mountebank has taken Alderman Birch's name

³

to vituperate the Doctor; he had much better have pilfered his pastry, which I should imagine the more valuable ingredient—at least for a Puff. —

Pray

secure me a copy of Woodfall's new

Junius

⁴

,

and believe me,

Dear Sir, yours very sincerely,

B.

Footnote 1:

B. McMillan.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

This probably refers to Busby's apologetic letter in the

Morning Chronicle

for October 23, 1812.

return

Footnote 3:

Alderman Birch was a pastry-cook in Cornhill.

return

Footnote 4:

In the Catalogue of Byron's books, sold April 5, 1816, appear two copies of

Junius

:

"Junius's Letters, 2 vol. russia, 1806."

"Junius's Letters, by Woodfall, 3 vol., Large Paper, 1812."

return

List of Letters

Contents

273—to William Bankes

December 26, [1812].

The multitude of your recommendations has already superseded my humble endeavours to be of use to you; and, indeed, most of my principal friends are returned, Leake from Joannina, Canning and Adair from the city of the Faithful, and at Smyrna no letter is necessary, as the consuls are always willing to do every thing for personages of respectability. I have sent you

three

; one to Gibraltar, which, though of no great necessity, will, perhaps, put you on a more intimate footing with a very pleasant family there. You will very soon find out that a man of any consequence has very little occasion for any letters but to ministers and bankers, and of them we have already plenty, I will be sworn.

It is by no means improbable that I shall go in the spring; and if you will fix any place of rendezvous about August, I will

write

or

join

you.—When in Albania, I wish you would inquire after Dervise Tahiri and Vascillie (or Bazil), and make my respects to the viziers, both there and in the Morea. If you mention my name to Suleyman of Thebes, I think it will not hurt you; if I had my dragoman, or wrote Turkish, I could have given you letters of

real service;

but to the English they are hardly requisite, and the Greeks themselves can be of little advantage. Liston

¹

you

know

already, and I do not, as he was not then minister. Mind you visit Ephesus and the Troad, and let me hear from you when you please. I believe G. Forresti is now at Yanina; but if not, whoever is there will be too happy to assist you. Be particular about

firmauns;

never allow yourself to be bullied, for you are better protected in Turkey than any where; trust not the Greeks; and take some knicknackeries for

presents—watches, pistols,

etc., etc., to the Beys and Pachas. If you find one Demetrius, at Athens or elsewhere, I can recommend him as a good dragoman. I hope to join you, however; but you will find swarms of English now in the Levant.

Believe me, etc.

Footnote 1:

Robert Liston, afterwards Sir Robert Liston (1742-1836), succeeded Adair as Ambassador at Constantinople in 1811.

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274—to John Murray.

Eywood, Presteign, January 8, 1813.

Dear Sir,—You have been imposed upon by a letter forged in my name to obtain the picture left in your possession.

This

I know by the confession of the culprit

¹

and as she is a woman (and of rank), with whom I have unfortunately been too much connected, you will for the present say very little about it; but if you have the letter

retain

it—write to me the particulars. You will also be more cautious in future, and not allow anything of mine to pass from your hands without my

Seal

as well as Signature.

I have not been in town, nor have written to you since I left it. So I presume the forgery was a skilful performance.—I shall endeavour to get back the picture by fair means, if possible.

Yours ever,

Byron

.

P. S.—Keep the letter if you have it. I did not receive your parcel, and it is now too late to send it on, as I shall be in town on the 17th.

The

delinquent

is one of the first families in this kingdom; but, as Dogberry says, this is "flat burglary."

²

Favour me with an answer. I hear I am scolded in the

Quarterly;

but you and it are already forgiven. I suppose that made you bashful about sending it.

Footnote 1:

The culprit was Lady Caroline Lamb, who imitated Byron's handwriting with remarkable skill.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Much Ado about Nothing

, act iv. sc. 2.

return

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Contents

275—to Francis Hodgson

February 3, 1813.

My Dear Hodgson,—I will join you in any bond for the money you require, be it that or a larger sum. With regard to security, as Newstead is in a sort of abeyance between sale and purchase, and my Lancashire property very unsettled, I do not know how far I can give more than personal security, but what I can I will. At any rate you can try, and as the sum is not very considerable, the chances are favourable. I hear nothing of my own concerns, but expect a letter daily. Let me hear from you where you are and will be this month. I am a great admirer of the

R. A.

[

Rejected Addresses

], though I have had so great a share in the cause of their publication,

and

I like the

C. H.

[

Childe Harold

] imitation one of the best

¹

. Lady Oxford has heard me talk much of you as a relative of the Cokes, etc., and desires me to say she would be happy to have the pleasure of your acquaintance. You must come and see me at K[insham]. I am sure you would like

all

here if you knew them.

The "Agnus" is furious.

You

can have no idea of the horrible and absurd things she has said and done

²

since (really from the best motives) I withdrew my homage. "

Great

pleasure" is, certes, my object, but "

why brief

, Mr. Wild?"

³

I cannot answer for the future, but the past is pretty secure; and in it I can number the last two months as worthy of the gods in

Lucretius.

I cannot review in the "

Monthly;

" in fact I can just now do nothing, at least with a pen; and I really think the days of Authorship are over with me altogether. I

hear

and rejoice in Eland's and Merivale's intentions

⁴

.

Murray

has grown great, and has got him new premises in the fashionable part of the town

⁵

.

We live here so shut out of the

monde

that I have nothing of general import to communicate, and fill this up with a "happy new year," and drink to you and Drury.

Ever yours, dear H., B.

I have no intention of continuing "

Childe Harold.

" There are a few additions in the "body of the book" of description, which will merely add to the number of pages in the next edition. I have taken Kinsham Court.

The

business of last summer I broke off

⁶

, and now the amusement of the gentle fair is writing letters literally threatening my life, and much in the style of "Miss Mathews" in "

Amelia

," or "Lucy" in the "

Beggar's Opera

." Such is the reward of restoring a woman to her family, who are treating her with the greatest kindness, and with whom I am on good terms. I am still in

palatia Circes

, and, being no Ulysses, cannot tell into what animal I may be converted; as you are aware of the turn of both parties, your conjectures will be very correct, I daresay, and, seriously, I am very much

attached

. She has had her share of the denunciations of the brilliant Phryne, and regards them as much as I do. I hope you will visit me at K. which will not be ready before spring, and I am very sure you would like my neighbours if you knew them. If

you

come down now to Kington

⁷

, pray come and see me.

Footnote 1:

"Byron often talks of the authors of the Rejected Addresses, and always in terms of unqualified praise. He says that the imitations, unlike all other imitations, are full of genius. 'Parodies,' he said, 'always give a bad impression of the original, but in the Rejected Addresses the reverse was the fact;' and he quoted the second and third stanzas, in imitation of himself, as admirable, and just what he could have wished to write on a similar subject"

(Lady Blessington's

Conversations

, p. 134).

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

"The Bessboroughs," writes Lady H. Leveson Gower to Lady G. Morpeth, September 12, 1812 (Letters of Harriet, Countess Granville, vol. i. pp. 40, 41), "have been unpacked about a couple of hours. My aunt looks stout and well, but poor Caroline most terribly the contrary. She is worn to the bone, as pale as death and her eyes starting out of her head. She seems indeed in a sad way, alternately in tearing spirits and in tears. I hate her character, her feelings, and herself when I am away from her, but she interests me when I am with her, and to see her poor careworn face is dismal, in spite of reason and speculation upon her extraordinary conduct. She appears to me in a state very (little) short of insanity, and my aunt describes it as at times having been decidedly so."

return

Footnote 3:

The context and allusion seem to require another word than "

brief

;" but the sentence is written as printed. In Fielding's

Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild

(Bk. III. chap. viii.) and in

"a dialogue matrimonial, which passed between Jonathan Wild, Esquire, and Laetitia his wife" (née Laetitia Snap), "Laetitia asks, 'But pray, Mr. Wild, why b—ch? Why did you suffer such a word to escape you?'"

return

Footnote 4:

The republication of the

Anthology

return

Footnote 5:

Murray's removal from 32, Fleet Street, to 50, Albemaile Street.

return

Footnote 6:

With Lady Caroline Lamb.

return

Footnote 7:

Near Lower Moor, the residence of Hodgson's relatives, the Cokes.

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List of Letters

Contents

276—to John Hanson

3d Feb'y, 1813.

Dear Sir,—

Will

you forward the inclosed immediately to Corbet, whose address I do not exactly remember? It is of consequence, relative to a foolish woman

¹

I never saw, who fancies I want to marry her.

Yours ever, B.

P. S.—I wish you would see Corbet and talk to him about it, for she plagues my soul out with her damned letters.

Footnote 1:

The lady in question seems to have been Lady Falkland (see

Letters

, vol. 1, p. 216,

note

1 [Footnote 1 of Letter 117], and

the letter dated March 5, 1813

.

return to footnote mark

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Contents

277—to John Murray

February 20, 1813.

Dear Sir,—

In

"

Horace in London

"

¹

I perceive some stanzas on Lord Elgin in which (waving the kind compliment to myself

²

) I heartily concur. I wish I had the pleasure of Mr. Smith's acquaintance, as I could communicate the curious anecdote you read in Mr. T.'s letter. If he would like it, he can have the

substance

for his second Edition; if not, I shall add it to

our

next, though I think we already have enough of Lord Elgin.

What I have read of this work seems admirably done. My praise, however, is not much worth the Author's having; but you may thank him in my name for

his

. The idea is new—we have excellent imitations of the Satires, etc. by Pope; but I remember but one imitative Ode in his works, and

none

any where else. I

can

hardly suppose that

they

have lost any fame by the fate of the Farce

³

; but even should this be the case, the present publication will again place them on their pinnacle.

Yours truly,

B.

Footnote 1:

Horace in London; consisting of Imitations of the First Two Books of the Odes of Horace

, by James and Horace Smith (1813), was a collection of imitations, the best of which are by James Smith, republished from Hill's

Monthly Mirror

, where they originally appeared.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

In Book 1. ode xv. of

Horace in London

, entitled "The Parthenon," Minerva thus speaks:

"All who behold my mutilated pile Shall brand its ravager with classic rage, And soon a titled bard from Britain's Isle, Thy country's praise and suffrage shall engage, And fire with Athens' wrongs an angry age!"

return

Footnote 3:

Horace Smith's unsuccessful comedy,

First Impressions; or, Trade in the West

, was performed at Drury Lane. The prologue, spoken by Powell, beseeches a judgment from the audience:

"Such as mild Justice might herself dispense, To Inexperience and a First Offence."

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278—to Robert Rushton

4, Bennet Street, St. James's, Feb. 24th, 1813.

I feel rather surprised to have heard nothing from you or your father in answer to Fletcher's last letter. I wish to know whether you intend taking a share in a farm with your brother, or prefer to wait for some other situation in Lancashire;—the first will be the best, because, at your time of life, it is highly improper to remain idle. If this

marriage

which is spoken of for you is at all advantageous, I can have no objection; but I should suppose, after being in my service from your infancy, you will at least let me know the name of your

intended

, and her expectations. If at all respectable, nothing can be better for your settlement in life, and a proper provision will be made for you; at all events let me hear something on the subject, for, as I have some intention of leaving England in the Summer, I wish to make my arrangements with regard to yourself before that period. As you and Mr. Murray have not received any money for some time, if you will draw on

me

for

fifty

pounds (payable at Messrs. Hoare's, Bankers, Fleet Street), and tell Mr. J[oseph] Murray to draw for the

same sum

on his

own

account, both will be paid by me.

Etc., etc.,

B.

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279—to John Hanson

F'y. 27th, 1813.

Dear Sir,—I have called several times, and you may suppose am very anxious to hear something from or of Mr. Claughton.

It is my determination, on account of a malady to which I am subject, and for other weighty reasons, to go abroad again almost immediately. To this you will object; but, as my intention cannot be altered, I have only to request that you will assist me as far as in your power to make the necessary arrangements.

I have every confidence in you, and will leave the fullest powers to act in my absence. If this man still hesitates, I must sell my part of Rochdale for what it will bring, even at a loss, and fight him out about Newstead; without this, I have no funds to go on with, and I do not wish to incur further debts if possible.

Pray favour me with a short reply to this, and say when I can see you. Excuse me to Mrs. H. for my non-appearance last night; I was detained in the H. of L. till too late to dress for her party. Compliments to all.

Ever yours,

B.

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280—to John Hanson

March 1st, 1813.

Dear Sir,—I am sorry that I could not call today but will tomorrow. Your objections I anticipated and can only repeat that I cannot act otherwise; so pray hasten some arrangement—for with, or without, I must go.

A person told me yesterday there was one who would give within £10,000 of C.'s price and take the title as it was. C. is a fool or is shuffling.

Think of what I said about

Rochdale

, for I will sell it for what I can get, and will not stay three months longer in this country. I again repeat I will leave all with full powers to you. I commend your objection which is a proof of an honourable mind—which however I did not need to convince me of your character. If you have any news send a few lines.

Ever yours,

BN.

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281—to——Corbet

Mh. 5th, 1813.

Dear Sir,—Lady F[alkland?] has returned by Mr. Hanson the only two letters I ever wrote her, both some time ago, and neither containing the least allusion which could make any person suppose that I had any intention further than regards the children of her husband. My servant returned the packet and letter of yesterday at the moment of receiving them; by her letter to Mr. H. it should seem they have not been redelivered. I am sorry for this, but it is not my fault, and they ought never to have been sent. After her Ladyship's mistakes, so often repeated, you will not blame me for declining all further interference in her affairs, and I rely much upon your word in contradicting her foolish assertions, and most absurd imaginations. She now says that "I need not leave the country on her account." How the devil she knew that I was about to leave it I cannot guess; but, however, for the first time she has

dreamed

right. But

her

being the cause is still more ludicrous than the rest. First, she would have it that I returned here for love of a woman I

never saw

, and now that I am going, for the same whom I

have never seen

, and certainly never wished, nor wish, to see! The maddest

consistency

I ever heard of. I trust that she has regained her senses, as she tells Mr. H. she will not scribble any more, which will also save

you

from the troublesome correspondence of

Your obliged and obedient servant,

Byron

.

List of Letters

Contents cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 276

282—to John Hanson

March 6th, 1813.

Dear Sir,—I must be ready in April at whatever risk,—at whatever loss. You will therefore advertize Rochdale; if you decline this, I will sell it for what it will bring, even though but a few thousand pounds.

With regard to Claughton, I shall only say that, if he knew the ruin,—the misery, he occasions by his delay, he would be sorry for his conduct, and I only hope that he and I may not meet, or I shall say something he will not like to hear. I have called often. I shall call today at three or between three and four; again and again, I can only beg of you to forward my plans, for here no power on earth shall make me remain six weeks longer.

Ever yours,

B.

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283—to Charles Hanson

Mh. 24th, 1813.

My Dear Charles,—This is very evasive and dissatisfactory. What is to be done I cannot tell, but your father had better see his letter and this of mine. A long litigation neither suits my inclination nor circumstances; it were better to take back the estate, and raise it to what it will bear, which must be at least double, to dismantle the house and sell the materials, and sell Rochdale. Something I must determine on and that quickly. I want to go abroad immediately; it is utterly impossible for me to remain here; every thing I have done to extricate myself has been useless. Your father said "

sell

;" I have sold, and see what has become of it! If I go to Law with this fellow, after five years litigation at the present depreciation of money, the

price

will not be worth the

property

; besides how much of it will be spent in the contest! and how am I to live in the interim? Every day land rises and money falls. I shall tell Mr. Cn. he is a

scoundrel

, and have done with him, and I only hope he will have spirit enough to resent the appellation, and defend his own rascally conduct. In the interim of his delay in his journey, I shall leave town; on Sunday I shall set out for Herefordshire, from whence, when wanted, I will return.

Pray tell your father to get the money on Rochdale, or I must sell it directly. I must be ready by the last week in

May

, and am consequently pressed for time.

I go first to Cagliari in Sardinia, and on to the Levant.

Believe me, dear Charles,

Yours truly,

B.

List of Letters

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284—to Samuel Rogers¹

March 25, 1813.

I enclose you a draft for the usurious interest due to Lord B[oringdon]'s

protégé

;—I also could wish you would state thus much for me to his Lordship. Though the transaction speaks plainly in itself for the borrower's folly and the lender's usury, it never was my intention to

quash

the demand, as I

legally

might, nor to withhold payment of principal, or, perhaps, even

unlawful

interest. You know what my situation has been, and what it is. I have parted with an estate (which has been in my family for nearly three hundred years, and was never disgraced by being in possession of a

lawyer

, a

churchman

, or a

woman

, during that period,) to liquidate this and similar demands; and the payment of the purchase is still withheld, and may be, perhaps, for years. If, therefore, I am under the necessity of making those persons

wait

for their money, (which, considering the terms, they can afford to suffer,) it is my misfortune.

When I arrived at majority in 1809,1 offered my own security on

legal

interest, and it was refused.

Now

, I will not accede to this. This man I may have seen, but I have no recollection of the names of any parties but the

agents

and the securities. The moment I can, it is assuredly my intention to pay my debts. This person's case may be a hard one; but, under all circumstances, what is mine? I could not foresee that the purchaser of my estate was to demur in paying for it.

I am glad it happens to be in my power so far to accommodate my Israelite, and only wish I could do as much for the rest of the Twelve Tribes.

Ever yours, dear R.,

BN.

Footnote 1:

The following was Rogers's reply:

"Friday Morning. "My Dearest Byron,—I have just received your note, but I will not execute your Commission; and, moreover, I will tell Lord Boringdon that I refused to do it. I know your situation; and I should never sleep again, if by any interference of mine, for by so harsh a word I must call it, you should be led by your generosity, your pride, or any other noble motive, to do more than you are called upon to do. "I mentioned the thing to Lord Holland last night, and he entirely agreed with me, that you are not called upon to do it. The Principal and the legal interest are all that these extortioners are entitled to; and, you must forgive me, but I will not do as you require. I shall keep the draft till I see you. "Yours ever and ever, "Saml. Rogers."