"Pisa, November 16. 1821.
"There is here Mr. * *, an Irish genius, with whom we are
acquainted. He hath written a really _excellent_ Commentary on
Dante, full of new and true information, and much ingenuity. But
his verse is such as it hath pleased God to endue him withal.
Nevertheless, he is so firmly persuaded of its equal excellence,
that he won't divorce the Commentary from the traduction, as I
ventured delicately to hint,--not having the fear of Ireland before
my eyes, and upon the presumption of having shotten very well in
his presence (with common pistols too, not with my Manton's) the
day before.
"But he is eager to publish all, and must be gratified, though the
Reviewers will make him suffer more tortures than there are in his
original. Indeed, the _Notes_ are well worth publication; but he
insists upon the translation for company, so that they will come
out together, like Lady C * *t chaperoning Miss * *. I read a
letter of yours to him yesterday, and he begs me to write to you
about his Poeshie. He is really a good fellow, apparently, and I
dare say that his verse is very good Irish.
"Now, what shall we do for him? He says that he will risk part of
the expense with the publisher. He will never rest till he is
published and abused--for he has a high opinion of himself--and I
see nothing left but to gratify him, so as to have him abused as
little as possible; for I think it would kill him. You must write,
then, to Jeffrey to beg him _not_ to review him, and I will do the
same to Gifford, through Murray. Perhaps they might notice the
Comment without touching the text. But I doubt the dogs--the text
is too tempting. * *
"I have to thank you again, as I believe I did before, for your
opinion of 'Cain,' &c.
"You are right to allow ---- to settle the claim; but I do not see
why you should repay him out of your _legacy_--at least, not
yet.[68] If you _feel_ about it (as you are ticklish on such
points) pay him the interest now, and the principal when you are
strong in cash; or pay him by instalments; or pay him as I do my
creditors--that is, not till they make me.
"I address this to you at Paris, as you desire. Reply soon, and
believe me ever, &c.
"P.S. What I wrote to you about low spirits is, however, very true.
At present, owing to the climate, &c. (I can walk down into my
garden, and pluck my own oranges,--and, by the way, have got a
diarrhoea in consequence of indulging in this meridian luxury of
proprietorship,) my spirits are much better. You seem to think that
I could not have written the 'Vision,' &c. under the influence of
low spirits; but I think there you err.[69] A man's poetry is a
distinct faculty, or Soul, and has no more to do with the every-day
individual than the Inspiration with the Pythoness when removed
from her tripod."
[Footnote 68: Having discovered that, while I was abroad, a kind friend
had, without any communication with myself, placed at the disposal of
the person who acted for me a large sum for the discharge of this claim,
I thought it right to allow the money, thus generously destined, to be
employed as was intended, and then immediately repaid my friend out of
the sum given by Mr. Murray for the manuscript.
It may seem obtrusive, I fear, to enter into this sort of personal
details; but, without some few words of explanation, such passages as
the above would be unintelligible.]
[Footnote 69: My remark had been hasty and inconsiderate, and Lord
Byron's is the view borne out by all experience. Almost all the tragic
and gloomy writers have been, in social life, mirthful persons. The
author of the Night Thoughts was a "fellow of infinite jest;" and of the
pathetic Rowe, Pope says--"He would laugh all day long--he would do
nothing else but laugh."]
* * * * *
The correspondence which I am now about to insert, though long since
published by the gentleman with whom it originated[70], will, I have no
doubt, even by those already acquainted with all the circumstances, be
reperused with pleasure; as, among the many strange and affecting
incidents with which these pages abound, there is not one, perhaps, so
touching and singular as that to which the following letters refer.