"Ravenna, September 17. 1821.
"The enclosed lines[52], as you will directly perceive, are written
by the Rev. W.L.B * *. Of course it is for _him_ to deny them if
they are not.
"Believe me yours ever and most affectionately,
"B.
"P.S. Can you forgive this? It is only a reply to your lines
against my Italians. Of course I will _stand_ by my lines against
all men; but it is heart-breaking to see such things in a people as
the reception of that unredeemed * * * * * * in an oppressed
country. _Your_ apotheosis is now reduced to a level with his
welcome, and their gratitude to Grattan is cancelled by their
atrocious adulation of this, &c. &c. &c."
[Footnote 52: "The Irish Avatar." In this copy the following sentence
(taken from a letter of Curran, in the able Life of that true Irishman,
by his son) is prefixed as a motto to the Poem,--"And Ireland, like a
bastinadoed elephant, kneeling to receive the paltry rider."--_Letter of
Curran, Life_, vol. ii. p. 336. At the end of the verses are these
words:--"(Signed) W.L. B * *, M.A., and written with a view to a
Bishoprick."]
* * * * *