Canto I. stanza xci.]

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THE WORKS

OF

LORD BYRON.

A NEW, REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

Letters and Journals. Vol. I.

_____________________________

EDITED BY

ROWLAND E. PROTHERO.

1898.

PREFACE

Two great collections of Byron's letters have been already printed. In

Moore's 'Life', which appeared in 1830, 561 were given. These, in

FitzGreene Halleck's American edition of Byron's 'Works', published in

1847, were increased to 635. The first volume of a third collection,

edited by Mr. W. E. Henley, appeared early in 1897. A comparison of the

number of letters contained in these three collections down to August

22, 1811, shows that Moore prints 61, Halleck 78, and Mr. Henley 88. In

other words, the edition of 1897, which was the most complete so far as

it goes, added 27 letters to that of 1830, and 10 to that of 1847. But

it should be remembered that by far the greater part of the material

added by Halleck and Mr. Henley was seen and rejected by Moore.

The present edition, down to August 22, 1811, prints 168 letters, or an

addition of 107 to Moore, 90 to Halleck, and 80 to Mr. Henley. Of this

additional matter considerably more than two-thirds was inaccessible to

Moore in 1830.

In preparing this volume for the press, use has been also made of a mass

of material, bearing more or less directly on Byron's life, which was

accumulated by the grandfather and father of Mr. Murray. The notes thus

contain, it is believed, many details of biographical interest, which

are now for the first time published.

It is necessary to make these comparisons, in order to define the

position which this edition claims to hold with regard to its

predecessors. On the other hand, no one can regret more sincerely than

myself--no one has more cause to regret--the circumstances which placed

this wealth of new material in my hands rather than in those of the true

poet and brilliant critic, who, to enthusiasm for Byron, and wide

acquaintance with the literature and social life of the day, adds the

rarer gift of giving life and significance to bygone events or trivial

details by unconsciously interesting his readers in his own living

personality.

Byron's letters appeal on three special grounds to all lovers of English

literature. They offer the most suggestive commentary on his poetry;

they give the truest portrait of the man; they possess, at their best,

in their ease, freshness, and racy vigour, a very high literary value.

The present volume, which covers the period from 1798 to August, 1811,

includes the letters written Lord Byron from his eleventh to his

twenty-third year. They therefore illustrate the composition of his

youthful poetry, of 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers', and of the

first two cantos of 'Childe Harold'. They carry his history down to the

eve of that morning in March, 1812, when he awoke and found himself

famous--in a degree and to an extent which to the present generation

seem almost incomprehensible.

If the letters were selected for their literary value alone, it is

probable that very few of those contained in the present volume would

find a place in a collection formed on this principle. But biographical

interest also demands consideration, and, in the case of Byron, this

claim is peculiarly strong. He has for years suffered much from the

suppression of the material on which a just estimate of his life may be

formed. It is difficult not to regret the destruction of the 'Memoirs',

in which he himself intended his history to be told. Their loss cannot

be replaced; but their best substitute is found in his letters. Through

them a truer conception of Byron can be formed than any impression which

is derived from Dallas, Leigh Hunt, Medwin, or even Moore. It therefore

seems only fair to Byron, that they should be allowed, as far as

possible, to interpret his career. For other reasons also it appears to

me too late, or too soon, to publish only those letters which possess a

high literary value. The real motive of such a selection would probably

be misread, and thus further misconceptions of Byron's character would

be encouraged.

With one exception, therefore, the whole of the available material has

been published. The exception consists of some of the business letters

written by Byron to his solicitor. Enough of these have been printed to

indicate the pecuniary difficulties which undoubtedly influenced his

life and character; but it was not considered necessary to publish the

whole series. Men of genius ask money from their lawyers in the same

language, and with the same arguments, as the most ordinary persons.

The picture which the letters give of Byron, is, it is believed, unique

in its completeness, while the portrait has the additional value of

being painted by his own hand. Byron's career lends itself only too

easily to that method of treatment, which dashes off a likeness by

vigorous strokes with a full brush, seizing with false emphasis on some

salient feature, and revelling in striking contrasts of light and shade.

But the style here adopted by the unconscious artist is rather that in

which Richardson the novelist painted his pathetic picture of Clarissa

Harlowe. With slow, laborious touches, with delicate gradations of

colour, sometimes with almost tedious minuteness and iteration, the

gradual growth of a strangely composite character is presented,

surrounded by the influences which controlled or moulded its

development, and traced through all the varieties of its rapidly

changing moods. Written, as Byron wrote, with habitual exaggeration, and

on the impulse of the moment, his letters correct one another, and, from

this point of view, every letter contained in the volume adds something

to the truth and completeness of the portrait.

Round the central figure of Byron are grouped his relations and friends,

and two of the most interesting features in the volume are the strength

of his family affections, and the width, if not the depth, of his

capacity for friendship. His father died when the child was only three

years old. But a bundle of his letters, written from Valenciennes to his

sister, Mrs. Leigh, in 1790-91, still exists, to attest, with startling

plainness of speech, the strength of the tendencies which John Byron

transmitted to his son. The following extract contains the father's only

allusion to the boy:--

"Valenciennes, Feb. 16, 1791.

Have you never received any letters from me by way of Bologne? I have

sent two. For God's sake send me some, as I have a great deal to pay.

With regard to Mrs. Byron, I am glad she writes to you. She is very

amiable at a distance; but I defy you and all the Apostles to live

with her two months, for, if any body could live with her, it was me.

'Mais jeu de Mains, jeu de Vilains'. For my son, I am happy to hear he

is well; but for his walking, 'tis impossible, as he is club-footed."

Between his mother and himself, in spite of frequent and violent

collisions, there existed a real affection, while the warmth of his love

for his half-sister Augusta, who had much of her brother's power of

winning affection, lost nothing in its permanence from the rarity of

their personal intercourse. Outside the family circle, the volume

introduces the only two men among his contemporaries who remained his

lifelong friends. In his affection for Lord Clare, whom he very rarely

saw after leaving school, there was a tinge of romance, and in him Byron

seems to have personified the best memories of an idealized Harrow. In

Hobhouse he found at once the truest and the most intimate of his

friends, a man whom he both liked and respected, and to whose opinion

and judgment he repeatedly deferred. On Hobhouse's side, the sentiment

which induced him, eminently sensible and practical as he was, to

treasure the nosegay which Byron had given him, long after it was

withered, shows how attractive must have been the personality of the

donor.

Without the 'Dictionary of National Biography', the labour of preparing

the letters for the press would be trebled. Both in the facts which it

supplies, and in the sources of information which it suggests, it is an

invaluable aid.

In conclusion, I desire to express my special obligations to Lord

Lovelace and Mr. Richard Edgcumbe, who have read the greater part of the

proofs, and to both of whom I am indebted for several useful

suggestions.

R. E. PROTHERO.

March, 1898.

List of Letters

1798

1. Nov. 8. To Mrs. Parker

1799.

2. March 13. To his Mother

3. Undated. To John Hanson

1803.

4. May 1. To his Mother

5. June 23, To his Mother

6. Sept. To his Mother

1804.

7. March 22. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

8. March 26. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

9. April 2. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

10. April 9. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

11 Aug. 18. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

12. Aug. 29. To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot

13. Oct. 25. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

14. Nov. 2. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

15. Nov. 11. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

16. Nov. 17. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

17. Nov. 21. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

18. Dec. 1. To John Hanson

1805.

19. Jan. 30. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

20. April 4. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

21. April 15. To Hargreaves Hanson

22. April 20. To Hargreaves Hanson

23. April 23. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

24. April 25. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

25. May 11. To John Hanson

26. June 5. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

27. June 27. To John Hanson

28. July 2. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

29. July 8. To John Hanson

30. Aug. 4. To Charles O. Gordon

31. Aug. 6. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

32. Aug. 10. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

33. Aug. 14. To Charles O. Gordon.

34. Aug. 19. To Hargreaves Hanson

35. Undated. To Hargreaves Hanson

36. Oct. 25. To Hargreaves Hanson

37. Oct. 26. To John Hanson

38. Nov. 6. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

39. Nov. 12. To Hargreaves Hanson

40. Nov. 23. To John Hanson

41. Nov. 30. To John Hanson

42. Dec. 4. To John Hanson

43. Dec. 13. To John Hanson

44. Dec. 26. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

45. Dec. 27. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

1806

46. Jan. 7. To the Hon. Augusta Byron

47. Feb. 26. To his Mother

48. March 3. To John Hanson

49. March 10. To John Hanson

50. March 25. To John Hanson

51. May 16. To Henry Angelo

52. Aug. 9. To John M.B. Pigot

53. Aug. 10. To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot

54. Aug. 10. To John M.B. Pigot

55. Aug. 16. To John M.B. Pigot

56. Aug. 18. To John M.B. Pigot

57. Aug. 26. To John M. B. Pigot

58. Undated. To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot

59. Dec. 7. To John Hanson

1807.

60. Jan. 12. To J. Ridge

61. Jan. 13. To John M. B. Pigot

62. Jan. 31. To Captain John Leacroft

63. Feb. 4. " " "

64. Feb. 4. " " "

65. Feb. 6. To the Earl of Clare

66. Feb. 8. To Mrs. Hanson

67. March 6. To William Bankes

68. Undated. " "

69. Undated. To----Falkner

70. April 2. To John Hanson

71. April. To John M. B. Pigot

72. April 19. To John Hanson

73. June 11. To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot

74. June 30. " " "

75. July 5. " " "

76. July 13. " " "

77. July 20. To John Hanson

78. Aug. 2. To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot

79. Aug. 11. " " "

80. Oct. 19. To John Hanson

81. Oct. 26. To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot

82. Nov. 20. To J. Ridge

83. Dec. 2. To John Hanson

84. Nov. 9 (1820) To John Murray

1808.

85. Jan. 13. To Henry Drury

86. Jan. 16. To John Cam Hobhouse

87. Jan. 20. To Robert Charles Dallas

88. Jan. 21. " " "

89. Jan. 25. To John Hanson

90. Jan. 25. " "

91. Feb. 2. To James De Bathe

92. Feb. 11. To William Harness

93. Feb. 21. To J. Ridge

94. Feb. 26. To the Rev. John Becher

95. March 28. " " "

96. April 26. To the Hon. Augusta Leigh

97. Sept. 14. To the Rev. John Becher

98. Sept. 18. To John Jackson

99. Oct. 4. " "

100. Oct. 7. To his Mother

101. Nov. 2. " "

102. Nov. 3. To Francis Hodgson

103. Nov. 18. To John Hanson

104. Nov. 27. To Francis Hodgson

105. Nov. 30. To the Hon. Augusta Leigh

106. Dec. 14. " " "

107. Dec. 17. To John Hanson

108. Dec. 17. To Francis Hodgson

1809.

109. Jan. 15. To John Hanson

110. Jan. 25. To R. C. Dallas

111. Feb. 7. " " "

112. Feb. 11. " " "

113. Feb. 12. " " "

114. Feb. 16. " " "

115. Feb. 19. " " "

116. Feb. 22. " " "

117. March 6. To his Mother

118. March 18. To William Harness

119. Undated. To William Bankes

120. April 25. To R. C. Dallas

121. April 26. To John Hanson

122. May 15. To the Rev. R. Lowe

123. June 22. To his Mother

124. June 28. To the Rev. Henry Drury

125. June 25-30. To Francis Hodgson

126. July 16. " " "

127. Aug. 6. " " "

128. Aug. 11. To his Mother

129. Aug. 15. To Mr. Rushton

130. Sept. 15. To his Mother

131. Nov. 12. " " "

1810.

132. March 19. To his Mother

133. April 9. To his Mother

134. April I0. To his Mother

135. April 17. To his Mother

136. May 3. To Henry Drury

137. May 5. To Francis Hodgson

138. May 18. To his Mother

139. May 24. To his Mother

140. June 17. To Henry Drury

141. June 28. To his Mother

142. July 1. To his Mother

143. July 4. To Francis Hodgson

144. July 25. To his Mother

145. July 27. To his Mother

146. July 30. To his Mother

147. Oct. 2. To his Mother

148. Oct. 3. To Francis Hodgson

149. Oct. 4. To John Cam Hobhouse

150. Nov. 14. To Francis Hodgson

1811.

151. Jan. 14. To his Mother

I52. Feb. 28. To his Mother

153. June 25. To his Mother

154. June 28. To R. C. Dallas

155. June 29. To Francis Hodgson

156. July 17. To Henry Drury

157. July 23. To his Mother

158. July 30. To William Miller

159. Aug. 2. To John M. B. Pigot

160. Aug. 4. To John Hanson

161. Aug. 7. To Scrope Berdmore Davies

162. Aug. 12. To R. C. Dallas

163. Aug. 12. To----Bolton

164. Aug. 16. To----Bolton

165. Aug. 20. To----Bolton

166. Aug. 21. To the Hon. Augusta Leigh

167. Aug. 21. To R. C. Dallas

168. Aug. 22. To Francis Hodgson

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

I. CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL

II. CAMBRIDGE AND JUVENILE POEMS

III. ENGLISH BARDS, AND SCOTCH REVIEWERS

IV. TRAVELS IN ALBANIA, GREECE, ETC.--DEATH OF MRS. BYRON

APPENDIX I. REVIEW OF WORDSWORTH'S POEMS

APPENDIX II. ARTICLE FROM THE 'EDINBURGH REVIEW', FOR JANUARY, 1808

APPENDIX III. REVIEW OF GELL'S 'GEOGRAPHY OF ITHACA', AND 'ITINERARY OF

GREECE'

THE LETTERS OF LORD BYRON.

CHAPTER I.

1788-1805.

CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL.

Catherine Gordon of Gight (1765-1811), afterwards Mrs. Byron, and mother

of the poet, was descended on the paternal side from Sir William Gordon

of Gight, the third son, by Annabella Stewart, daughter of James I of

Scotland, of George, second Earl of Huntly, Chancellor of Scotland

(1498-1502), and Lord-Lieutenant of the North from 1491 to his death in

1507. The owners of Gight, now a ruin, once a feudal stronghold, were a

hot-headed, hasty-handed race, sufficiently notable to be commemorated

by Thomas the Rhymer, and to leave their mark in the traditions of

Aberdeenshire. In the seventh generation from Sir William Gordon, the

property passed to an heiress, Mary Gordon. By her marriage with

Alexander Davidson of Newton, who assumed the name of Gordon, she had a

son Alexander, Mrs. Byron's grandfather, who married Margaret Duff of

Craigston, a cousin of the first Earl of Fife. Their eldest son, George,

the fifth of the Gordons of Gight who bore that name, married Catherine

Innes of Rosieburn, and by her became the father of Catherine Gordon,

born in 1765, afterwards Mrs. Byron. Both her parents dying early,

Catherine Gordon was brought up at Banff by her grandmother, commonly

called Lady Gight, a penurious, illiterate woman, who, however, was

careful that her granddaughter was better educated than herself. Thus,

for the second time, Gight, which, with other property, was worth

between £23,000 and £24,000, passed to an heiress.

Miss Catherine Gordon had her full share of feminine vanity. At the age

of thirty-five she was a stout, dumpy, coarse-looking woman, awkward in

her movements, provincial in her accent and manner. But as her son was

vain of his personal appearance, and especially of his hands, neck, and

ears, so she, when other charms had vanished, clung to her pride in her

arms and hands. She exhausted the patience of Stewartson the artist, who

in 1806, after forty sittings, painted her portrait, by her anxiety to

have a particular turn in her elbow exhibited in the most pleasing

light. Of her ancestry she was, to use her son's expression, as "proud

as Lucifer," looked down upon the Byron family, and regarded the Duke of

Gordon as an inferior member of her clan. In later life, at any rate,

her temper was ungovernable; her language, when excited, unrestrained;

her love of gossip insatiable. Capricious in her moods, she flew from

one extreme to the other, passing, for the slightest cause, from

passionate affection to equally passionate resentment. How far these

defects were produced, as they certainly were aggravated, by her

husband's ill treatment and her hard struggle with poverty, it is

impossible to say. She had many good qualities. She bore her ruin, as

her letters show, with good sense, dignity, and composure. She lived on

a miserable pittance without running into debt; she pinched herself in

order to give her son a liberal supply of money; she was warm-hearted

and generous to those in distress. She adored her scamp of a husband,

and, in her own way, was a devoted mother. In politics she affected

democratic opinions, took in the 'Morning Chronicle', and paid for it,

as is shown by a bill sent in after her death, at the rate of £4 17s.

6d. for the half-year--no small deduction from her narrow income. She

was fond of books, subscribed to the Southwell Book Club, copied

passages which struck her in the course of her reading, collected all

the criticisms on her son's poetry, made shrewd remarks upon them

herself (Moore's 'Journal and Correspondence', vol. v. p. 295), and

corresponded with her friends on literary subjects.

In 1785 Miss Catherine Gordon was at Bath, where, it may be mentioned,

her father had, some years before, committed suicide. There she met, and

there, on May 13, 1785, in the parish church of St. Michael, as the

register shows, she married Captain John Byron.

Captain John Byron (1755-91), born at Plymouth, was the eldest son of

Admiral the Hon. John Byron (1723-86)--known in the Royal Navy as "Hardy

Byron" or "Foul-weather Jack"--by his marriage (1748) with Sophia

Trevanion of Carhais, in Cornwall. The admiral, next brother to William,

fifth Lord Byron, was a distinguished naval officer, whose 'Narrative'

of his shipwreck in the 'Wager' was published in 1768, and whose 'Voyage

round the World' in the 'Dolphin' was described by "an officer in the

said ship" in 1767. His eldest son, John Byron, educated at Westminster

and a French Military Academy, entered the Guards and served in America.

A gambler, a spendthrift, a profligate scamp, disowned by his father, he

in 1778 ran away with, and in 1779 married, Lady Carmarthen, wife of

Francis, afterwards fifth Duke of Leeds, née Lady Amelia d'Arcy, only

child and heiress of the last Earl of Holderness, and Baroness Conyers

in her own right.

Captain Byron and his wife lived in Paris, where were born to them a son

and a daughter, both of whom died in infancy, and Augusta, born 1783,

the poet's half-sister, who subsequently married her first cousin,

Colonel George Leigh. In 1784 Lady Conyers died, and Captain Byron

returned to England, a widower, over head and ears in debt, and in

search of an heiress.

It was a rhyme in Aberdeenshire--

"When the heron leaves the tree,

The laird of Gight shall landless be."

Tradition has it that, at the marriage of Catherine Gordon with "mad

Jack Byron," the heronry at Gight passed over to Kelly or Haddo, the

property of the Earl of Aberdeen. "The land itself will not be long in

following," said his lordship, and so it proved. For a few months Mrs.

Byron Gordon--for her husband assumed the name, and by this title her

Scottish friends always addressed her--lived at Gight. But the ready

money, the outlying lands, the rights of fishery, the timber, failed to

liquidate Captain Byron's debts, and in 1786 Gight itself was sold to

Lord Aberdeen for £17,850. Mrs. Byron Gordon found herself, at the end

of eighteen months, stripped of her property, and reduced to the income

derived from £4200, subject to an annuity payable to her grandmother.

She bore the reverse with a composure which shows her to have been a

woman of no ordinary courage. Her letters on the subject are sensible,

not ill-expressed, and, considering the circumstances in which they were

written, give a favourable impression of her character.

The wreck of their fortunes compelled Mrs. Byron Gordon and her husband

to retire to France. At the beginning of 1788 she had returned to

London, and on January 22, 1788, at 16, Holles Street (since numbered

24, and now destroyed), in the back drawing-room of the first floor,

gave birth to her only child, George Gordon, afterwards sixth Lord

Byron. Hanson gives the names of the nurse, Mrs. Mills, the man-midwife,

Mr. Combe, the doctor, Dr. Denman, who attended Mrs. Byron at her

confinement. Dallas was, therefore, mistaken in his supposition that the

poet was born at Dover. The child was baptized in London on February 29,

1788, as is proved by the register of the parish of Marylebone.

Shortly after the birth of her son, Mrs. Byron settled in Aberdeen,

where she lived for upwards of eight years. During her stay there, in

the summer of 1791, her husband died at Valenciennes. In the year 1794,

by the death of his cousin William John Byron (1772-94) from a wound

received at the siege of Calvi, in Corsica, her son became the heir to

his great-uncle, the "wicked Lord Byron" (William, fifth Lord Byron,

1722-98), and a solicitor named Hanson was appointed to protect the

boy's interests. From Aberdeen Mrs. Byron kept up a correspondence with

her sister-in-law, Frances Leigh ('née' Byron), wife of General Charles

Leigh, to whom, in a letter, dated March 27, 1791, she speaks of her son

as "very well, and really a charming boy." Writing again to Mrs. Leigh,

December 8, 1794, she says,

"I think myself much obliged to you for being so interested for

George; you may be sure I would do anything I could for my son, but I

really don't see what can be done for him in that case. You say you

are afraid Lord B. will dispose of the estates that are left, if he

can; if he has it in his power, nobody can prevent him from selling

them; if he has not, no one will buy them from him. You know Lord

Byron. Do you think he will do anything for George, or be at any

expense to give him a proper education; or, if he wish to do it, is

his present fortune such a one that he could spare anything out of it?

You know how poor I am, not that I mean to ask him to do anything for

him, that is to say, to be of any expense on his account."

If any application was made to the boy's great-uncle, it was

unsuccessful. On May 19, 1798, Lord Byron died, and Hanson informed Mrs.

Byron that her son had succeeded to the title and estates. At the end of

the summer of that year, the little Lord Byron, with his mother and the

nurse May Gray, reached Newstead, and, within a few weeks from their

arrival, his first letter was written. His letters to his mother, it may

be observed, are always addressed to "the Honourable Mrs. Byron," a

title to which she had no claim.

1.--To Mrs. Parker. [1]

Newstead Abbey, Nov. 8th, 1798.

Dear Madam,--My Mamma being unable to write herself desires I will let

you know that the potatoes are now ready and you are welcome to them

whenever you please.

She begs you will ask Mrs. Parkyns if she would wish the poney to go

round by Nottingham or to go home the nearest way as it is now quite

well but too small to carry me.

I have sent a young Rabbit which I beg Miss Frances will accept off

and which I promised to send before. My Mamma desires her best

compliments to you all in which I join.

I am, Dear Aunt, yours sincerely,

BYRON.

I hope you will excuse all blunders as it is the first letter I ever

wrote.

[Footnote 1: This letter, the first that Byron wrote, was written when

he was ten years and ten months old. It is preserved in the Library of

Trinity College, Cambridge, and a facsimile is given by Elze, in his

'Life of Lord Byron'.

It is apparently addressed to his aunt, Mrs. Parker. Charlotte Augusta

Byron, daughter of Admiral the Hon. John Byron, married Christopher

Parker (1761-1804), Vice-Admiral 1804, the son of Admiral of the Fleet

Sir Peter Parker, Bart. (1721-1811). Her son, who, on the death of his

grandfather, succeeded to the baronetcy as Sir Peter Parker, second

Bart. (1786-1814), commanded H.M.S. 'Menelaus', and was killed in an

attack on a body of American militia encamped near Baltimore. (See

Byron's "Elegy on the Death of Sir Peter Parker," and his letter to

Moore, October 7, 1814.) Her daughter Margaret, one of Byron's early

loves, inspired, as he says, his "first dash into poetry" (see 'Poems',

vol. i, p. 5, note 1).]

2.--To his Mother.

Nottingham, 13 March, 1799.

Dear Mama,--I am very glad to hear you are well. I am so myself, thank

God; upon my word I did not expect so long a Letter from you; however

I will answer it as well as I can. Mrs. Parkyns and the rest are well

and are much obliged to you for the present. Mr. Rogers [1] could

attend me every night at a separate hour from the Miss Parkynses, and

I am astonished you do not acquiesce in this Scheme which would keep

me in Mind of what I have almost entirely forgot. I recommend this to

you because, if some plan of this kind is not adopted, I shall be

called, or rather branded with the name of a dunce, which you know I

could never bear. I beg you will consider this plan seriously and I

will lend it all the assistance in my power. I shall be very glad to

see the Letter you talk of, and I have time just to say I hope every

body is well at Newstead,

And remain, your affectionate Son,

BYRON.

P.S.--Pray let me know when you are to send in the Horses to go to

Newstead. May [2] desires her Duty and I also expect an answer by the

miller.

[Footnote 1: Dummer Rogers, "Teacher of French, English, Latin, and

Mathematicks", was, according to 'Notes and Queries' (4th series, vol.

iii. p. 561), an American loyalist, pensioned by the English Government.

He lived at Hen Cross, Nottingham, when Byron was staying in that city,

partly with Mrs. Parkyns, partly at Mr. Gill's, in St. James's Lane, to

be attended by a man named Lavender, "trussmaker to the general

hospital", who had some local reputation for the treatment of misshapen

limbs. Lavender, in 1814 ('Nottingham Directory' for 1814), appears as a

"surgeon". Rogers, who read parts of Virgil and Cicero with Byron,

represents him as, for his age, a fair scholar. He was often, during his

lessons, in violent pain, from the position in which his foot was kept;

and Rogers one day said to him, "It makes me uncomfortable, my Lord, to

see you sitting there in such pain as I know you must be suffering".

"Never mind, Mr. Rogers," answered the boy; "you shall not see any signs

of it in _me_." Many years after, when in the neighbourhood of

Nottingham, Byron sent a kind message to his old instructor, bidding the

bearer tell him that he could still recite twenty verses of Virgil which

he had read with Rogers when suffering torture all the time.

[Footnote 2: Byron's nurse, who had accompanied him from Aberdeen (see

p. 10, note 1).]

3.--To John Hanson. [1]

SIR,--I am not a little disappointed at your Stay, for this last week

I expected you every hour; but, however, I beg it as a favour that you

will come up soon from Newstead as the Holidays commence in three

weeks Time. I congratulate you on Capt. Hanson's [1] being appointed

commander of The 'Brazen' Sloop of War, and I congratulate myself on

Lord Portsmouth's [2] Marriage, hoping his Lady, when he and I meet

next, will keep him in a little better order. The manner I knew that

Capt. Hanson was appointed Commander of the Ship before mentioned was

this. I saw it in the public Paper, and now, since you are going to

Newstead, I beg if you meet Gray [3] send her a packing as fast as

possible, and give my Compliments to Mrs. Hanson and to all my

comrades of the Battalions in and out upon different Stations,

And remain, your little friend,

BYRON.

I forgot to tell you how I was. I am at present very well and my foot

goes but indifferently; I cannot perceive any alteration.

[Footnote 1: John Hanson, of 6, Chancery Lane, a well-known London

solicitor, was introduced to the Byron family by an Aberdeenshire friend

of Mrs. Byron, Mr. Farquhar, a member of Parliament, and a civilian

practising in Doctors' Commons. The acquaintance began in January, 1788,

with Byron's birth, for the midwife and the nurse were recommended by

Mrs. Hanson. Six years later, Hanson was employed by Mrs. Byron to watch

the interests of her son, who in 1794 had become heir-presumptive to his

great-uncle. It was Hanson who, in the summer of 1798, communicated the

news of the death of Lord Byron to Mrs. Byron, and with his wife

received her and her son at Newstead. From that time till the close of

the minority, Hanson was intimately associated with Byron, both as a man

of business and a friend. He selected Dr. Glennie's school for the boy,

persuaded Lord Carlisle to become his guardian, introduced the ward to

Lord Carlisle, and entered him at Harrow. It was at his house in Earl's

Court that Byron, for five years, spent a considerable part of his

successive holidays. There he made acquaintance with Hanson's

children--his sons Charles, Hargreaves (his contemporary at Harrow), and

Newton, and his daughter, Mary Anne, who subsequently (March 7, 1814)

married the Earl of Portsmouth, Byron giving her away. This letter was

written by Byron a few weeks after he had gone to school at Dr.

Glennie's, in Lordship Lane, Dulwich. He remained there from August,

1799, to April, 1801.

In a letter to Mrs. Byron, dated September 1, 1799, Hanson describes Dr.

Glennie's "Academy," where he had shortly before left the boy:--

"I left my entertaining companion with Mr. Glennie last Thursday week,

and I have since learnt from him that he is very comfortable and likes

the situation. His schoolfellows are very fine youths, and their

deportment does very great credit to their Preceptor. I succeeded in

getting Lord Byron a separate room, and I am persuaded the greatest

attention will be paid to him. Mr. Glennie is a Scotchman, has

travelled a great deal, and seems every way qualified for his present

situation."

[Footnote 2: Captain James Hanson, R.N., was the brother of John Hanson

to whom the letter is written. Byron was born with a caul, prized by

sailors as a preservative from drowning. The caul was sold by Mrs.

Mills, the nurse who attended Mrs. Byron in January, 1788, to Captain

Hanson. In January, 1800, Captain Hanson, in command of H.M.S. 'Brazen',

had captured a French vessel, which he sent to Portsmouth with a prize

crew. On the 26th of the month, while shorthanded, he was caught in a

storm off Newhaven. The 'Brazen' foundered, and Captain Hanson with all

his men, except one, were drowned.]

[Footnote 3: In the late autumn of 1799 Lord Portsmouth was staying with

the Hansons before his marriage (November 23, 1799) with Miss Norton,

sister of Lord Grantley. In rough play he pinched Byron's ear; the boy

picked up a conch shell which was lying on the ground, and hurled it at

Lord Portsmouth's head, missing it by a hair's breadth, and smashing the

glass behind. In vain Mrs. Hanson tried to make the peace by saying that

Byron did not mean the missile for Lord Portsmouth. "But I 'did' mean

it!" he reiterated; "I will teach a fool of an earl to pinch another

noble's ear."]

[Footnote: 4. The following extract from a letter written by Hanson to

Mrs. Byron (September 1, 1799) places the character of Byron's nurse in

a different light to that which is given in Moore's 'Life':--

"I assure you, Madam, I should not have taken the liberty to have

interfered in your domestic Arrangements, had I not thought it

absolutely necessary to apprize you of the proceedings of your

Servant, Mrs. Gray; her conduct towards your son while at Nottingham

was shocking, and I was persuaded you needed but a hint of it to

dismiss her. Mrs. Parkyns, when I saw her, said something to me about

her; but when I found from dispassionate persons at Nottingham, it was

the general Topic of conversation, it would have ill become me to have

remained silent.

My honourable little companion, tho' disposed to retain his feelings,

could not refrain, from the harsh usage he had received at her hands,

from complaining to me, and such is his dread of the Woman that I

really believe he would forego the satisfaction of seeing you if he

thought he was to meet her again. He told me that she was perpetually

beating him, and that his bones sometimes ached from it; that she

brought all sorts of Company of the very lowest Description into his

apartments; that she was out late at nights, and he was frequently

left to put himself to bed; that she would take the Chaise-boys into

the Chaise with her, and stopped at every little Ale-house to drink

with them. But, Madam, this is not all; she has even----traduced

yourself.

I entertain a very great affection for Lord Byron, and I trust I shall

not be considered solely in my professional character, but as his

Friend. I introduced him to my Friends, Lord Grantley and his Brother

General Norton, who were vastly taken with him, as indeed are every

one. And I should be mortified in the highest degree to see the

honourable feelings of my little fellow exposed to insult by the

inordinate Indiscretions of any Servant. He has Ability and a

quickness of Conception, and a correct Discrimination that is seldom

seen in a youth, and he is a fit associate of men, and choice indeed

must be the Company that is selected for him."]

4.--To his Mother.

Harrow-on-the-Hill, Sunday, May 1st, 1803.

MY DEAR MOTHER,--I received your Letter the other day. And am happy to

hear you are well. I hope you will find Newstead in as favorable a

state as you can wish. I wish you would write to Sheldrake to tell him

to make haste with my shoes. [1]

I am sorry to say that Mr. Henry Drury [2] has behaved himself to me

in a manner I neither'can' nor 'will bear'. He has seized now an

opportunity of showing his resentment towards me. To day in church I

was talking to a Boy who was sitting next me; 'that' perhaps was not

right, but hear what followed. After Church he spoke not a word to me,

but he took this Boy to his pupil room, where he abused me in a most

violent manner, called me 'blackguard', said he 'would' and 'could'

have me expelled from the School, and bade me thank his 'Charity' that

'prevented' him; this was the Message he sent me, to which I shall

return no answer, but submit my case to 'you' and those you may think

'fit' to 'consult'. Is this fit usage for any body? had I 'stole' or

behaved in the most 'abominable' way to him, his language could not

have been more outrageous. What must the boys think of me to hear such

a Message ordered to be delivered to me by a 'Master'? Better let him

take away my life than ruin my 'Character'. My Conscience acquits me

of ever 'meriting' expulsion at this School; I have been 'idle' and I

certainly ought not to talk in church, but I have never done a mean

action at this School to him or 'any one'. If I had done anything so

'heinous', why should he allow me to stay at the School? Why should he

himself be so 'criminal' as to overlook faults which merit the

'appellation' of a 'blackguard'? If he had had it in his power to have

me expelled, he would long ago have 'done' it; as it is, he has done

'worse'. If I am treated in this Manner, I will not stay at this

School. I write you that I will not as yet appeal to Dr. Drury; his

Son's influence is more than mine and 'justice' would be 'refused' me.

Remember I told you, when I 'left' you at 'Bath', that he would seize

every means and opportunity of revenge, not for leaving him so much as

the mortification he suffered, because I begged you to let me leave

him. If I had been the Blackguard he talks of, why did he not of his

own accord refuse to keep me as his 'pupil'? You know Dr. Drury's

first letter, in it were these Words: "My son and Lord Byron have had

some Disagreements; but I hope that his future behaviour will render a

change of Tutors unnecessary." Last Term I was here but a short time,

and though he endeavoured, he could find nothing to abuse me in. Among

other things I forgot to tell you he said he had a great mind to expel

the Boy for speaking to me, and that if he ever again spoke to me he

would expel him. Let him explain his meaning; he abused me, but he

neither did nor can mention anything bad of me, further than what

every boy else in the School has done. I fear him not; but let him

explain his meaning; 'tis all I ask. I beg you will write to Dr. Drury

to let him know what I have said. He has behaved to me, as also Mr.

Evans, very kindly. If you do not take notice of this, I will leave

the School myself; but I am sure 'you' will not see me 'ill treated';

better that I should suffer anything than this. I believe you will be

tired by this time of reading my letter, but, if you love me, you will

now show it. Pray write me immediately. I shall ever remain, Your

affectionate Son, BYRON.

P.S.--Hargreaves Hanson desires his love to you and hopes you are very

well. I am not in want of any Money so will not ask you for any. God

bless, bless you.

[Footnote 1: Byron appears to have suffered from what would now be

described as infantile paralysis, which affected the inner muscles of

the right leg and foot, and rendered him permanently lame. Before

leaving London for Aberdeen, Mrs. Byron consulted John Hunter, who, in

correspondence with Dr. Livingstone of Aberdeen, advised her as to the

treatment of her son. Writing, May 31, 1791, to Mrs. Leigh, she says,

"George's foot turns inward, and it is the right foot; he walks quite on

the side of his foot." In 1798 the child was placed under the care of

Lavender (see p. 7, note 1) at Nottingham, doubtless on the

recommendation of his aunt. In July, 1799, he was taken to London, in

order to consult Dr. Baillie. From July, 1799, till the end of 1802, he

was attended by Baillie in consultation with Dr. Laurie of 2,

Bartholomew's Close. Special appliances were made for the boy, under

their superintendence, by a scientific bootmaker named Sheldrake, in the

Strand. In 'The Lancet' for 1827-8 (vol. ii. p. 779) Mr. T. Sheldrake

describes "Lord Byron's case," giving an illustration of the foot. His

account does not tally, in some respects, with that taken from

contemporary letters, and his sketch represents the left not the right

leg. But the nature and extent of Byron's lameness have been the subject

of a curious variety of opinion. Lady Blessington, Moore, Gait, the

Contessa Albrizzi, never knew which foot was deformed. Jackson, the

boxer, thought it was the 'left' foot. Trelawney says that it proceeded

from a contraction of the back sinews, and that the 'right' foot was

most distorted. The lasts from which his shoes were made by Swift, the

Southwell bootmaker, are preserved in the Nottingham Museum, and in both

the foot is perfect in shape. The last pair of shoes modelled on them

were made May 7, 1807. Mrs. Leigh Hunt says that the 'left' foot was

shrunken, but was not a club-foot. Stendhal says the 'right' foot.

Thorwaldsen indicates the 'left' foot. Dr. James Millingen, who

inspected the feet after the poet's death, says that there was a

malformation of the 'left' foot and leg, and that he was born

club-footed. Two surgical boots are in the possession of Mr. Murray,

made for Byron as a child; both are for the 'right' foot, ankle, and

leg, and, assuming that they were made to fit the foot, they are too

long and thin for a club-foot. Both at Dulwich and at Harrow, Byron was

frequently seen by Laurie, whom Mrs. Byron paid, as she once complained

in a letter to Laurie, "at the rate of £150 a year." It is difficult to

see what more could have been done for the boy, and the explanation of

the failure to effect a cure is probably to be found in the following

extracts from two of Laurie's letters to Mrs. Byron. The first is dated

December 7, 1801:--

"Agreeable to your desire, I waited on Lord Byron at Harrow, and I

think it proper to inform you that I found his foot in a much worse

state than when I last saw it,--the shoe entirely wet through and the

brace round his ancle quite loose. I much fear his extreme inattention

will counteract every exertion on my part to make him better. I have

only to add that with proper care and bandaging, his foot may still be

greatly recovered; but any delay further than the present vacation

would render it folly to undertake it."

The second letter is dated October 2, 1802. In it Laurie complains that

the boy had spent several days in London without seeing him, and adds--

"I cannot help lamenting he has so little sense of the Benefit he has

already received as to be so apparently neglectful."]

[Footnote 2: For Henry Drury (afterwards an intimate friend of Byron)

and his father, the Head-master of Harrow, see p. 41, note 2.

When Byron went to Harrow, in April, 1801, he was placed in Henry

Drury's house. But in January, 1803, he refused to go back to school

unless he was removed from Drury's care. He was in consequence placed at

Evans's house. Dr. Drury, writing to explain the new arrangement, says,

in a letter to Hanson, dated February 4, 1803--

"The reason why Lord Byron wishes for this change arises from the

repeated complaints of Mr. Henry Drury respecting his Inattention to

Business, and his propensity to make others laugh and disregard their

Employments as much as himself. On this subject I have had many very

serious conversations with him, and though Mr. H. D. had repeatedly

requested me to withdraw him from his Tuition, yet, relying on my own

remonstrances and arguments to rectify his Error, and on his own

reflection to confirm him in what is right, I was unwilling to accede

to my son's wishes. Lord Byron has now made the request himself; I am

glad it has been made, as he thereby imposes on himself an additional

responsibility, and encourages me to hope that by this change he

intends to lay aside all that negligence and those Childish Practices

which were the cause of former complaints."

Fresh troubles soon arose, as Byron's letter indicates. Hanson forwarded

the boy's complaint to Dr. Drury, from whom he received the following

answer, dated May 15, 1803:--

"The Perusal of the inclosed has allowed me to inquire into the whole

Matter, and to relieve your young friend's Mind from any uneasy

impression it might have sustained from a hasty word I fairly confess.

I am sorry it was ever uttered; but certainly it was never intended to

make so deep a wound as his letter intimates.

"I may truly say, without any parade of words, that I am deeply

interested in Lord Byron's welfare. He possesses, as his letter

proves, a mind that feels, and that can discriminate reasonably on

points in which it conceives itself injured. When I look forward to

the Possibility of the exercise of his Talents hereafter, and his

supplying the Deficiencies of fortune by the exertion of his abilities

and by application, I feel particularly hurt to see him idle, and

negligent, and apparently indifferent to the great object to be

pursued. This event, and the conversations which have passed between

us relative to it, will probably awaken in his mind a greater degree

of emulation, and make him studious of acquiring Distinction among his

Schoolfellows, as well as of securing to himself the affectionate

regard of his Instructors."]

5.--To his Mother.

Harrow-on-the-Hill, June 23rd, 6th, 8th, 30th, 1803.

My dear Mother,--I am much obliged to you for the Money you sent me. I

have already wrote to you several times about writing to Sheldrake: I

wish you would write to him, or Mr. Hanson to call on him, to tell him

to make an Instrument for my leg immediately, as I want one, rather. I

have been placed in a higher form in this School to day, and Dr. Drury

and I go on very well; write soon, my Dear Mother.

I remain, your affectionate Son,

BYRON.

6.--To his Mother. [1]

Southwell, [Sept. 1803].

MY DEAR MOTHER,--I have sent Mealey [2] to day to you, before William

came, but now I shall write myself. I _promise_ you, upon my _honour_,

I will come over tomorrow in the _Afternoon_. I was not wishing to

resist your _Commands_, and really seriously intended coming over

tomorrow, ever since I received your last Letter; you know as well as

I do that it is not your Company I dislike, but the place you reside

in. I know it is time to go to Harrow. It will make me _unhappy_; but

I will _obey_. I only desire, entreat, this one day, and on my

_honour_ I will be over tomorrow in the evening or afternoon. I am

sorry you disapprove my Companions, who, however, are the first this

County affords, and my equals in most respects; but I will be

permitted to chuse for myself. I shall never interfere in your's and I

desire you will not molest me in mine. If you grant me this favour,

and allow me this one day unmolested, you will eternally oblige your

Unhappy Son,

BYRON.

I shall attempt to offer no excuse as you do not desire one. I only

entreat you as a Governor, not as a Mother, to allow me this one day.

Those that I most love live in this County; therefore in the name of

Mercy I entreat this one day to take leave, and then I will join you

again at Southwell to prepare to go to a place where--I will write no

more; it would only incense you. Adieu. Tomorrow I come.

[Footnote 1: This letter is endorsed by Hanson, "Lord Byron to his

mother, "1803". In September, 1803, at the end of the summer holidays,

Byron did not return to Harrow. Dr. Drury asked the reason, received no

reply, and, on October 4, applied to Hanson for an explanation. Hanson's

inquiry drew from Mrs. Byron, on October 30, the following answer, with

which was enclosed the above letter from Byron:--

"You may well be surprized, and so may Dr. Drury, that Byron is not

returned to Harrow. But the Truth is, I cannot get him to return to

school, though I have done all in my power for six weeks past. He has

no indisposition that I know of, but love, desperate love, the 'worst'

of all 'maladies' in my opinion. In short, the Boy is distractedly in

love with Miss Chaworth, and he has not been with me three weeks all

the time he has been in this county, but spent all his time at

Annesley.

If my son was of a proper age and the lady 'disengaged', it is the

last of all connexions that I would wish to take place; it has given

me much uneasiness. To prevent all trouble in future, I am determined

he shall not come here again till Easter; therefore I beg you will

find some proper situation for him at the next Holydays. I don't care

what I pay. I wish Dr. Drury would keep him.

I shall go over to Newstead to-morrow and make a 'last effort' to get

him to Town."

The effort, if made, failed. On November 7, 1803, Mrs. Byron wrote

again:--

"Byron is really so unhappy that I have agreed, much against my

inclination, to let him remain in this County till after the next

Holydays."

It was not till January, 1804, that Byron returned to Harrow.

Miss Mary Anne Chaworth, the object of Byron's passion, was then living

with her mother, Mrs. Clarke, at Annesley, near Newstead (see 'Poems',

vol. i. p. 189, and note 1). The grand-niece of the Mr. Chaworth who

was killed in a duel by William, fifth Lord Byron, on January 26, 1765

('Annual Register', 1765, pp. 208-212; and 'State Trials', vol. xix. pp.

1178-1236), and the heiress of Annesley, she married, in August, 1805,

John Musters, by whom she had a daughter, born in 1806. (See "Well! thou

art happy!" 'Poems', vol. i. p. 277; see also, for other allusions to

Mrs. Chaworth Musters, 'ibid'., pp. 210, 239, 282, 285; and "The Dream"

of July, 1816.) In Byron's memorandum-book, he describes a visit which

he paid to Matlock with Miss Chaworth's mother, her stepfather Mr.

Clarke, some friends, "and 'my' M. A. C. Alas! why do I say MY? Our

union would have healed feuds in which blood had been shed by our

fathers,--it would have joined lands broad and rich, it would have

joined at least 'one' heart, and two persons not ill matched in years

(she is two years my elder) and--and--and--'what' has been the

result?" ('Life', p. 27).

Mrs. Musters, after an unhappy married life, died in February, 1832, at

Wiverton Hall, near Nottingham.

The connection between the families of Chaworth and Byron came through

the marriage of William, third Lord Byron (died 1695), with Elizabeth

Chaworth (died 1683), daughter of George Chaworth, created (1627)

Viscount Chaworth of Armagh (Thoroton's 'Nottinghamshire', vol. i. p.

198).]

[Footnote 2: Owen Mealey, the steward at Newstead.]

7.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron. [1]

[At 63, Portland Place, London.]

Burgage Manor, [Thursday], March 22d, 1804.

Although, My ever Dear Augusta, I have hitherto appeared remiss in

replying to your kind and affectionate letters; yet I hope you will

not attribute my neglect to a want of affection, but rather to a

shyness naturally inherent in my Disposition. I will now endeavour as

amply as lies in my power to repay your kindness, and for the Future I

hope you will consider me not only as _a Brother_ but as your warmest

and most affectionate _Friend_, and if ever Circumstances should

require it your _protector_. Recollect, My Dearest Sister, that you

are _the nearest relation_ I have in _the world both by the ties of

Blood_ and _affection_. If there is anything in which I can serve you,

you have only to mention it; Trust to your Brother, and be assured he

will never betray your confidence. When You see my Cousin and future

Brother George Leigh, [2] tell him that I already consider him as my

Friend, for whoever is beloved by you, my amiable Sister, will always

be equally Dear to me.

I arrived here today at 2 o'clock after a fatiguing Journey, I found

my Mother perfectly well. She desires to be kindly remembered to you;

as she is just now Gone out to an assembly, I have taken the first

opportunity to write to you, I hope she will not return immediately;

for if she was to take it into her head to peruse my epistle, there is

one part of it which would produce from her a panegyric on _a friend

of yours_, not at all agreeable to me, and I fancy, _not particularly

delightful to you_. If you see Lord Sidney Osborne [3] I beg you will

remember me to him; I fancy he has almost forgot me by this time, for

it is rather more than a year Since I had the pleasure of Seeing

him.--Also remember me to poor old Murray; [4] tell him we will see

that something is to be done for him, for _while I live he shall never

be abandoned In his old Age_. Write to me Soon, my Dear Augusta, And

do not forget to love me, In the meantime, I remain, more than words

can express, your ever sincere, affectionate

Brother and Friend,

BYRON.

P.S. Do not forget to knit the purse you promised me, Adieu my beloved

Sister.

[Footnote: 1. The Hon. Augusta Byron, Byron's half-sister (January,

1783-November, 1851), was the daughter of Captain John Byron by his

first wife, Amelia d'Arcy (died 1784), only child of the last Earl of

Holderness, Baroness Conyers in her own right, the divorced wife of

Francis, Marquis of Carmarthen, subsequently fifth Duke of Leeds. After

the return of Captain and Mrs. Byron to London early in 1788, she was

brought up by her grandmother, the Countess of Holderness. When the

latter died, Augusta Byron divided her time between her half-sister,

Lady Mary Osborne, who married, July 16, 1801, Lord Pelham, subsequently

(1805) Earl of Chichester; her half-brother George, who succeeded his

father as sixth Duke of Leeds in 1799; her cousin, the Earl of Carlisle;

and General and Mrs. Harcourt. From their houses her letters during the

period 1803-7 are written. In 1807 she married her first cousin, Colonel

George Leigh of the Tenth Dragoons, the son of General Charles Leigh, by

Frances, daughter of Admiral the Hon. John Byron. By her husband, who

was a friend of the Prince Regent and well known in society, she was the

mother of seven children. Their home was at Newmarket, till, in April,

1818, they were granted apartments in Flag Court, St. James's Palace,

where she died in November, 1851.

Augusta Byron seems scarcely to have seen her brother between his

infancy and 1802. Lady Holderness and Mrs. Byron were not on friendly

terms, and it was not till the former's death that any intimacy was

renewed between the brother and sister. Writing on October 18, 1801, to

Augusta Byron, Mrs. Byron says, in allusion to the death of Lady

Holderness,

"As I wish to bury what is past in _oblivion_, I shall avoid all

reflections on a person now no more; my opinion of yourself I have

suspended for some years; the time is now arrived when I shall form a

very _decided_ one. I take up my pen now, however, to condole with you

on the melancholy event that has happened, to offer you every

consolation in my power, to assure you of the inalterable regard and

friendship of myself and son. We will be extremely happy if ever we

can be of any service to you, now or at any future period. I take it

upon me to answer for him; although he knows so little of you, he

often mentions you to me in the most affectionate manner, indeed the

goodness of his heart and amiable disposition is such that your being

his sister, had he never seen you, would be a sufficient claim upon

him and ensure you every attention in his power to bestow.

Ah, Augusta, need I assure you that you will ever be dear to me as the

Daughter of the man I tenderly loved, as the sister of my beloved, my

darling Boy, and I take God to witness you _once_ was dear to me on

your own account, and may be so _again_. I still recollect with a

degree of horror the many _sleepless_ nights, and days of _agony_, I

have passed by your bedside drowned in tears, while you lay insensible

and at the gates of death. Your recovery certainly was wonderful, and

thank God I did my duty. These days you cannot remember, but I never

will forget them ... Your brother is at Harrow School, and, if you

wish to see him, I have now no desire to keep you asunder."

From 1802 till Byron's death, Augusta took in him the interest of an

elder sister. Writing to Hanson (June 17, 1804), she says--

"Pray write me a line and mention all you hear of my dear Brother: he

was a most delightful correspondent while he remained in

Nottinghamshire: but I can't obtain a single line from Harrow. I was

much struck with his _general improvement_; it was beyond the

expectations raised by what you had told me, and his letters gave me

the most excellent opinion of both his _Head_ and _Heart_."

In this tone the letters are continued (see extracts p. 39; p. 45,

note 1; and p. 97 [Letter 48], [Foot]note 1 [further down]).

From the end of 1805, with some interruptions, and less regularity, the

correspondence between brother and sister was maintained to the end of

Byron's life. To Augusta, then Mrs. Leigh, Byron sent a presentation

copy of 'Childe Harold', with the inscription:

"To Augusta, my dearest sister, and my best friend, who has ever loved

me much better than I deserved, this volume is presented by her

father's son and most affectionate brother."

She was the god-mother of Byron's daughter Augusta Ada, born December

10, 1815. In January, 1816, when Lady Byron was still with her husband,

she writes of and to Mrs. Leigh:

"In this at least, I _am_ 'truth itself,' when I say that, whatever

the situation may be, there is no one whose society is dearer to me,

or can contribute more to my happiness."

Lady Byron left Byron on January 15, 1816. Writing to Mrs. Leigh from

Kirby Mallory, she speaks of her as her "best comforter," notices her

absolute unselfishness, and says that Augusta's presence in Byron's

house in Piccadilly is her "great comfort" (Lady Byron's letters to Mrs.

Leigh, January 16 and January 23, 1816, quoted in the 'Quarterly Review'

for October, 1869, p. 414). Through Mrs. Leigh passed many

communications between Byron and Lady Byron after the separation. To

her, Byron, in 1816 and 1817, wrote the two sets of "Stanzas to

Augusta," the "Epistle to Augusta," and the Journal of his journey

through the Alps, "which contains all the germs of 'Manfred' (letter to

Murray, August, 1817). She was in his thoughts on the Rhine, and in the

third canto of 'Childe Harold':--

"But one thing want these banks of Rhine,

Thy gentle hand to clasp in mine."

To her he was writing a letter at Missolonghi (February 23, 1824), which

he did not live to finish, "My dearest Augusta, I received a few days

ago your and Lady Byron's report of Ada's health." He carried with him

everywhere the pocket Bible which she had given him. "I have a Bible,"

he told Dr. Kennedy ('Conversations'), "which my sister gave me, who is

an excellent woman, and I read it very often." His last articulate words

were "My sister--my child."

Several volumes of Mrs. Leigh's commonplace books are in existence,

filled with extracts mostly on religious topics. She was, wrote the late

Earl Stanhope, in a letter quoted in the 'Quarterly Review' (October,

1869, p. 421), "very fond" of talking about Byron.

"She was," he continues, "extremely unprepossessing in her person and

appearance--more like a nun than anything, and never can have had the

least pretension to beauty. I thought her shy and sensitive to a fault

in her mind and character."

Frances, Lady Shelley, who died in January, 1873, and was intimately

acquainted with Byron and his contemporaries, speaks of her as a

"Dowdy-Goody."

"I have seen," she writes

(see 'Quarterly Review', October, 1869, p. 421, quoting from

a letter signed E. M. U., which appeared in the 'Times' for September

II, 1869),

"a great deal of Mrs. Leigh (Augusta), having passed some days with

her and Colonel Leigh, for my husband's shooting near Newmarket, when

Lord Byron was in the house, and, as she told me, was writing 'The

Corsair', to my great astonishment, for it was a wretched small house,

full of her ill-trained children, who were always running up and down

stairs, and going into 'uncle's' bedroom, where he remained all the

morning."]

[Footnote 2: See preceding note.]

[Footnote 3: Francis, fifth Duke of Leeds, married, October 14, 1788, as

his second wife, Miss Catherine Anguish, by whom he had two children:

the eldest, a son, Sydney Godolphin Osborne, was born December 16,

1789.]

[Footnote 4: Joe Murray had been for many years in the employment of

William, fifth Lord Byron. At his master's death, in 1798, he was

taken into the service of the Duke of Leeds.

"I saw poor Joseph Murray the other night," writes Augusta Byron to

Hanson (June 17, 1804), "who wishes me particularly to apply to Col.

Leigh, to get him into some City Charity which the Prince of Wales is

at the head of.

I cannot understand what he means, nor can any body else, and

therefore, as he said he was advised by you, I think it better to

apply to you on the subject. I'm sure Col. Leigh would be happy to

oblige him; but in general he dislikes _asking favours_ of the

_Prince_, and this present moment is a bad one to chuse for the

purpose, as H.R.H. is so much taken up with _public affairs_. I am

very anxious about poor Joseph, and would almost do anything to serve

him. I fear he is too old and infirm to go to service again."

Three years later (March 19, 1807), Augusta Byron writes again

to Hanson:--

"I have just had a pitiful note from poor old Murray, telling me of

his dismissal from the Duchess of Leeds; but he says he does not leave

her till June. I therefore hope something may in the mean time be done

for him. He requests me to write word of it to my Brother. I shall

certainly comply with his wishes, and send _two lines_ on that subject

to Southwell, where I conclude he is."

Byron made Murray an allowance of £20 a year (see Letter 83), took him,

as soon as he could, into his service, and was careful, as he promises,

to provide that he should not be "abandoned in his old age." His

affection for Murray is marked by the postscript to the letter to Mrs.

Byron of June 22, 1809 (see also 'Life', pp. 74, 121); as also by his

draft will of 1811, in which he leaves Murray £50 a year for life.

8.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[63, Portland Place, London.]

Southwell, March 26th, 1804.

I received your affectionate letter, my ever Dear Sister, yesterday

and I now hasten to comply with your injunction by answering it as

soon as possible. Not, my Dear Girl, that it can be in the least

irksome to me to write to you, on the Contrary it will always prove my

Greatest pleasure, but I am sorry that I am afraid my correspondence

will not prove the most entertaining, for I have nothing that I can

relate to you, except my affection for you, which I can never

sufficiently express, therefore I should tire you, before I had half

satisfied myself. Ah, How unhappy I have hitherto been in being so

long separated from so amiable a Sister! but fortune has now

sufficiently atoned by discovering to me a relation whom I love, a

Friend in whom I can confide. In both these lights, my Dear Augusta, I

shall ever look upon you, and I hope you will never find your Brother

unworthy of your affection and Friendship.

I am as you may imagine a little dull here; not being on terms of

intimacy with Lord Grey [1] I avoid Newstead, and my resources of

amusement are Books, and writing to my Augusta, which, wherever I am,

will always constitute my Greatest pleasure. I am not reconciled to

Lord Grey, _and I never will_. He was once my _Greatest Friend_, my

reasons for ceasing that Friendship are such as I cannot explain, not

even to you, my Dear Sister, (although were they to be made known to

any body, you would be the first,) but they will ever remain hidden in

my own breast.

They are Good ones, however, for although I am _violent_ I am not

_capricious_ in my _attachments_. My mother disapproves of my

quarrelling with him, but if she knew the cause (which she never will

know,) She would reproach me no more. He Has forfeited all _title to

my esteem_, but I hold him in too much _contempt_ ever _to hate him_.

My mother desires to be kindly remembered to you. I shall soon be in

town to resume my studies at Harrow; I will certainly call upon you in

my way up. Present my respects to Mrs. Harcourt; [2] I am Glad to hear

that I am in her Good Graces for I shall always esteem her on account

of her behaviour to you, my Dear Girl. Pray tell me If you see Lord S.

Osborne, and how he is; what little I know of him I like very much and

If we were better acquainted I doubt not I should like him still

better. Do not forget to tell me how Murray is. As to your Future

prospects, my Dear Girl, _may they be happy_! I am sure you deserve

Happiness and if _you_ do not meet with it I shall begin to think it

is "a bad world we live in." Write to me soon. I am impatient to hear

from you. God bless you, My amiable Augusta, I remain,

Your ever affectionate Brother and Friend,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Henry, third Earl of Sussex, died in 1799, when the earldom

lapsed. He was, however, succeeded in the ancient barony of Grey de

Ruthyn by his daughter's son, Henry Edward, twentieth Baron Grey de

Ruthyn (1780-1810), to whom Newstead was let.

"I am glad," writes Mrs. Byron to Hanson, March 10, 1803, "that

Newstead is well let. I cannot find Lord Grey de Ruthin's Title in the

Peerage of England, Ireland, or Scotland. I suppose he is a _new_

Peer."

Lord Grey de Ruthyn married, in 1809, Anna Maria, daughter of William

Kelham, of Ryton-upon-Dunsmore, Warwick. (See postscript to Byron's

Letter to his mother, August 11, 1809.) The lease of Newstead terminated

in April, 1808.]

[Footnote 2: Probably the wife of General the Hon. William Harcourt

(1742-1830), who distinguished himself in the War of American

Independence, succeeded his only brother in 1809 as third (and last)

Earl Harcourt, was created a field-marshal in 1821, and died in 1830. He

married, in 1778, Mary, daughter of the Rev. William Danby, and widow of

Thomas Lockhart. She died in 1833.]

9.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[At General Harcourt's, St. Leonard's Hill, Windsor, Berkshire.]

Burgage Manor, April 2d, 1804.

I received your present, my beloved Augusta, which was very

acceptable, not that it will be of any use as a token of remembrance,

No, my affection for you will never permit me to forget you.

I am afraid, my Dear Girl, that you will be absent when I am in town.

I cannot exactly say when I return to Harrow, but however it will be

in a very short time. I hope you were entertained by Sir Wm. Fawcet's

funeral on Saturday. [1] Though I should imagine such spectacles rather

calculated to excite Gloomy ideas. But I believe _your motive was not

quite of so mournful a cast_.

You tell me that you are tired of London. I am rather surprised to

hear that, for I thought the Gaieties of the Metropolis were

particularly pleasing to _young ladies_. For my part I detest it; the

smoke and the noise feel particularly unpleasant; but however it is

preferable to this horrid place, where I am oppressed with _ennui_,

and have no amusement of any kind, except the conversation of my

mother, which is sometimes very _edifying_, but not always very

_agreeable_. There are very few books of any kind that are either

instructive or amusing, no society but old parsons and old Maids;--I

shoot a Good deal; but, thank God, I have not so far lost my reason as

to make shooting my only amusement. There are indeed some of my

neighbours whose only pleasures consist in field sports, but in other

respects they are only one degree removed from the brute creation.

These however I endeavour not to imitate, but I sincerely wish for the

company of a few friends about my own age to soften the austerity of

the scene. I am an absolute Hermit; in a short time my Gravity which

is increased by my solitude will qualify me for an Archbishoprick; I

really begin to think that I should become a mitre amazingly well. You

tell me to write to you when I have nothing better to do; I am sure

writing to you, my Dear Sister, must ever form my Greatest pleasure,

but especially so, at this time. Your letters and those of one of my

Harrow friends form my only resources for driving away _dull care_.

For Godsake write me a letter as long as may fill _twenty sheets_ of

paper, recollect it is my only pleasure, if you won't Give me twenty

sheets, at least send me as long an epistle as you can and as soon as

possible; there will be time for me to receive one more Letter at

Southwell, and as soon as I Get to Harrow I will write to you. Excuse

my not writing more, my Dear Augusta, for I am sure you will be

sufficiently tired of reading this complaining narrative. God bless

you, my beloved Sister. Adieu.

I remain your sincere and affectionate

Friend and Brother,

BYRON.

Remember me kindly to Mrs. Harcourt.

[Footnote 1: General the Right Hon. Sir William Fawcett, K.B.

(1728-1804), Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, Adjutant-General

(1778-1797), and Governor of Chelsea Hospital (1796-1804), died at his

house in Great George Street, Westminster, March 22, 1804. He had served

during the rebellion of 1745, and distinguished himself during the Seven

Years' War, where he was aide-de-camp first to General Elliot, and

afterwards to the Marquis of Granby. An excellent linguist, he

translated from the French, 'Reveries: or Memoirs upon the Art of War,

by Field-Marshal Count Saxe' (1757); and from the German, 'Regulations

for the Prussian Cavalry' (1757), 'Regulations for the Prussian

Infantry', and 'The Prussian Tacticks' (1759). His military and

diplomatic services were commemorated by a magnificent funeral on

Saturday, March 31, 1804. The body was carried through the streets from

Westminster to the chapel of Chelsea Hospital, the Prince Regent, the

Duke of Clarence, and the Duke of Kent following the hearse, and eight

general officers acting as pall-bearers.]

10.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[At General Harcourt's, St. Leonard's Hill, Windsor, Berkshire.]

Burgage Manor, April 9th, 1804.

A thousand thanks, my dear and Beloved Augusta, for your affectionate

Letter, and so ready compliance with the request of a peevish and

fretful Brother; it acted as a cordial on my drooping spirits and for

a while dispelled the Gloom which envelopes me in this uncomfortable

place. You see what power your letters have over me, so I hope you

will be liberal in your epistolary consolation.

You will address your next letter to Harrow as I set out from

Southwell on Wednesday, and am sorry that I cannot contrive to be with

you, as I must resume my studies at Harrow directly. If I speak in

public at all, it will not be till the latter end of June or the

beginning of July. You are right in your conjecture for I feel not a

little nervous in the anticipation _of my Debut_ [1] as _an orator_.

By the bye, I do not dislike Harrow. I find _ways_ and _means_ to

amuse _myself very pleasantly_ there; the friend, whose correspondence

I find so amusing, is an old sporting companion of mine, whose

recitals of Shooting and Hunting expeditions are amusing to me as

having often been his companion in them, and I hope to be so still

oftener.

My mother Gives a _party_ to night at which the principal _Southwell

Belles_ will be present, with one of which, although I don't as yet

know whom I shall so far _honour, having never seen them_, I intend to

_fall violently_ in love; it will serve as an amusement _pour passer

le temps_ and it will at least have the charm of novelty to recommend

it, then you know in the course of a few weeks I shall be quite _au

désespoir_, shoot myself and Go out of the world with _éclat_, and my

History will furnish materials for a pretty little Romance which shall

be entitled and denominated the loves of Lord B. and the cruel and

Inconstant Sigismunda Cunegunda Bridgetina, etc., etc., Princess of

Terra Incognita.

Don't you think that I have a very good Knack for _novel writing_? I

have Just this minute been called away from writing to you by two

Gentlemen who have given me an invitation to go over to Screveton, a

village a few miles off, and spend a few days; but however I shall not

accept it, so you will continue to address your letters to Harrow as

usual. Write to me as soon as possible and give me a long letter.

Remember me to Mrs. Harcourt and all who enquire after me. Continue to

love me and believe me,

Your truly affectionate Brother and Friend,

BYRON.

P.S.--My Mother's love to you, Adieu.

[Footnote 1: Mrs. Byron, writing to Hanson, July 24, 1804, says,

"I was informed by a Gentleman yesterday that he had been at Harrow

and heard him speaking, and that he acquitted himself uncommonly

well."

Byron's name occurs in three of the Harrow speech-bills--July 5, 1804;

June 6, 1805; and July 4, 1805. The three bills are printed below:--

HARROW SCHOOL PUBLIC SPEECHES.

1. JULY 5, 1804.

Erskine, Maj. Cæsar } Ex Sallustio.

Sinclair Cato }

Long C. Canuleius ad Pleb. Ex Livio.

Molloy, Sr. The Country Box Lloyd.

Lord Byron Latinus }

Leeke Drances } Ex Virgilio.

Peel, Sr. Turnus }

Chaplin Henry the Fifth to his Shakespear.

Soldiers

Clayton Micispa ad Jugurtham Ex Sallustio.

Rowley Germanicus moriens Ex Tacito.

Grenside, Sr. General Wolfe to his Enfield.

Soldiers

Morant, Sr. Dido Ex Virgilio.

Mr. Calthorpe, Sr. In Catilinam Ex Cicerone.

Lloyd, Sr. The Ghost Shakespear.

Mr. Powys Tiresias Ex Horatio.

Sir Thomas Acland The Boil'd Pig Wesley.

Leveson Gower Ad Antonium Ex Cicerone.

Drury, Max. Earl of Strafford Hume.

2. JUNE 6, 1805.

There were no Speeches for May, 1805. Dr. Butler came to Harrow this

year, after the Easter Holiday.--G.B. [1]

Doveton Canulcius Ex Livio.

Farrer, Sr. Medea Ex Ovidio.

Long Caractacus Mason.

Rogers Manlius Ex Sallustio.

Molloy Micipsa Ex Sallustio.

Lord Byron Zanga Young.

Drury, Sr. Memmius Ex Sallustio.

Hoare Ajax } Ex Ovidio.

East Ulysses }

Leeke The Passions: an Ode Collins.

Calvert, Sr. Galgacus Ex Tacito.

Bazett Catilina ad Consp. Ex Sallustio.

Franks, Sr. Antony Shakespeare.

Wildman, Majr. Sat. ix., Lib. i. Ex Horatio.

Lloyd, Sr. The Bard: an Ode Gray.

3. JULY 4, 1805.

Lyon Piso ad Milites Ex Tacito.

East Cato Addison.

Saumarez Drances } Ex Virgilio, _Æn._ xi

Annesley Turnus }

Calvert Lord Strafford's Hume.

Defence

Erskine, Sr. Achilles Ex Homero, _Il._ xvi

Bazett York Shakespeare.

Harrington Camillus Ex Livio.

Leeke Ode to the Passions Collins.

Sneyd Electra Ex Sophocle.

Long Satan's Soliloquy Milton, _P.L._, b. iv

Gibson Brutus } Ex Lucano.

Drury, Sr. Cato }

Lord Byron Lear Shakespeare.

Hoare Otho ad Milites Ex Livio.

Wildman Caractacus Mason.

Franks Wolsey Shakespeare.

Of Byron's oratorical powers, Dr. Drury, Head-master of Harrow, formed a

high opinion.

"The upper part of the school," he writes (see 'Life', p. 20), composed

declamations, which, after a revisal by the tutors, were submitted to

the master. To him the authors repeated them, that they might be

improved in manner and action, before their public delivery. I certainly

was much pleased with Lord Byron's attitude, gesture, and delivery, as

well as with his composition. All who spoke on that day adhered, as

usual, to the letter of their composition, as, in the earlier part of

his delivery, did Lord Byron; but, to my surprise, he suddenly diverged

from the written composition, with a boldness and rapidity sufficient to

alarm me, lest he should fail in memory as to the conclusion. There was

no failure; he came round to the close of his composition without

discovering any impediment and irregularity on the whole. I questioned

him why he had altered his declamation. He declared he had made no

alteration, and did not know, in speaking, that he had deviated from it

one letter. I believed him; and, from a knowledge of his temperament, am

convinced that, fully impressed with the sense and substance of the

subject, he was hurried on to expressions and colourings more striking

than what his pen had expressed."

"My qualities," says Byron, in one of his note-books (quoted by Moore,

'Life', p. 20), "were much more oratorical and martial than poetical;

and Dr. Drury, my grand patron (our head-master), had a great notion

that I should turn out an orator, from my fluency, my turbulence, my

voice, my copiousness of declamation, and my action. I remember that

my first declamation astonished him into some unwonted (for he was

economical of such) and sudden compliments before the declaimers at

our first rehearsal."

For his subjects Byron chose passages expressive of vehement passion,

such as Lear's address to the storm, or the speech of Zanga over the

body of Alonzo, from Young's tragedy 'The Revenge'. Zanga's character

and speech are famous in history from their application to Benjamin

Franklin, in Wedderburn's speech before the Privy Council (January,

1774) on the Whately Letters (Stanhope's 'History of England', vol. v.

p. 327, ed. 1853):--

"I forg'd the letter, and dispos'd the picture,

I hated, I despis'd, and I destroy."]

[Sub-Footnote A: Note, in Dr. G. Butler's writing, in the bound volume of

Speech-Bills presented by him to the Harrow School Library.]

11.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

Burgage Manor, August 18th, 1804.

MY DEAREST AUGUSTA,--I seize this interval of my _amiable_ mother's

absence this afternoon, again to inform you, or rather to desire to be

informed by you, of what is going on. For my own part I can send

nothing to amuse you, excepting a repetition of my complaints against

my tormentor, whose _diabolical_ disposition (pardon me for staining

my paper with so harsh a word) seems to increase with age, and to

acquire new force with Time. The more I see of her the more my dislike

augments; nor can I so entirely conquer the appearance of it, as to

prevent her from perceiving my opinion; this, so far from calming the

Gale, blows it into a _hurricane_, which threatens to destroy

everything, till exhausted by its own violence, it is lulled into a

sullen torpor, which, after a short period, is again roused into fresh

and revived phrenzy, to me most terrible, and to every other Spectator

astonishing. She then declares that she plainly sees I hate her, that

I am leagued with her bitter enemies, viz. Yourself, L'd C[arlisle]

and Mr. H[anson], and, as I never Dissemble or contradict her, we are

all _honoured_ with a multiplicity of epithets, too _numerous_, and

some of them too _gross_, to be repeated. In this society, and in this

amusing and instructive manner, have I dragged out a weary fortnight,

and am condemned to pass another or three weeks as happily as the

former. No captive Negro, or Prisoner of war, ever looked forward to

their emancipation, and return to Liberty with more Joy, and with more

lingering expectation, than I do to my escape from this maternal

bondage, and this accursed place, which is the region of dullness

itself, and more stupid than the banks of Lethe, though it possesses

contrary qualities to the river of oblivion, as the detested scenes I

now witness, make me regret the happier ones already passed, and wish

their restoration.

Such Augusta is the happy life I now lead, such my _amusements_. I

wander about hating everything I behold, and if I remained here a few

months longer, I should become, what with _envy, spleen and all

uncharitableness_, a complete _misanthrope_, but notwithstanding this,

Believe me, Dearest Augusta, ever yours, etc., etc.,

BYRON.

12.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot. [1]

Burgage Manor, August 29, 1804.

I received the arms, my dear Miss Pigot, and am very much obliged to

you for the trouble you have taken. It is impossible I should have any

fault to find with them. The sight of the drawings gives me great

pleasure for a double reason,--in the first place, they will ornament

my books, in the next, they convince me that _you_ have not entirely

_forgot_ me. I am, however, sorry you do not return sooner--you have

already been gone an _age_. I perhaps may have taken my departure for

London before you come back; but, however, I will hope not. Do not

overlook my watch-riband and purse, as I wish to carry them with me.

Your note was given me by Harry, [2] at the play, whither I attended

Miss Leacroft, [3] and Dr. S----; and now I have sat down to answer it

before I go to bed. If I am at Southwell when you return,--and I

sincerely hope you will soon, for I very much regret your absence,--I

shall be happy to hear you sing my favourite, "The Maid of Lodi." [4]

My mother, together with myself, desires to be affectionately

remembered to Mrs. Pigot, and, believe me, my dear Miss Pigot, I

remain, your affectionate friend,

BYRON.

P.S.--If you think proper to send me any answer to this, I shall be

extremely happy to receive it. Adieu.

P.S.2d.--As you say you are a novice in the art of knitting, I hope it

don't give you too much trouble. Go on _slowly_, but surely. Once

more, adieu.

[Footnote 1: Elizabeth Bridget Pigot lived with her mother and two

brothers on Southwell Green, in a house opposite Burgage Manor. Miss

Pigot thus describes her first meeting with Byron ('Life', p. 32):--

"The first time I was introduced to him was at a party at his

mother's, when he was so shy that she was forced to send for him three

times before she could persuade him to come into the drawing-room, to

play with the young people at a round game. He was then a fat, bashful

boy, with his hair combed straight over his forehead, and extremely

like a miniature picture that his mother had painted by M. de

Chambruland. The next morning Mrs. Byron brought him to call at our

house, when he still continued shy and formal in his manner. The

conversation turned upon Cheltenham, where we had been staying, the

amusements there, the plays, etc.; and I mentioned that I had seen the

character of Gabriel Lackbrain very well performed. His mother getting

up to go, he accompanied her, making a formal bow, and I, in allusion

to the play, said, 'Good-by, Gaby.' His countenance lighted up, his

handsome mouth displayed a broad grin, all his shyness vanished, never

to return, and, upon his mother's saying, 'Come, Byron, are you

ready?'--no, she might go by herself, he would stay and talk a little

longer; and from that moment he used to come in and go out at all

hours, as it pleased him, and in our house considered himself

perfectly at home."

The character of "Gabriel Lackbrain," mentioned above, occurs in 'Life',

a comedy by F. Reynolds. It was at Byron's suggestion that Moore, when

preparing the 'Life', applied to Miss Pigot for letters. On January 22,

1828, he was taken to call on her and her mother by the Rev. John

Becher.

"Their reception of me most cordial and flattering; made me sit in the

chair which Byron used to sit in, and remarked, as a singularity, that

this was the poor fellow's birthday; he would to-day have been forty.

On parting with Mrs. Pigot, a fine, intelligent old lady, who has been

bedridden for years, she kissed my hand most affectionately, and said

that, much as she had always admired me as a poet, it was as the

friend of Byron she valued and loved me ... Her affection, indeed, to

his memory is unbounded, and she seems unwilling to allow that he had

a single fault ... Miss Pigot in the evening, with his letters, which

interested me exceedingly; some written when he was quite a boy, and

the bad spelling and scrambling handwriting delightful; spelling,

indeed, was a very late accomplishment with him"

('Diary of Thomas Moore', vol. v. p. 249). (See "To Eliza," 'Poems',

vol. i. pp.47-49; see also the lines "To M. S. G.," 'Poems', vol. i. pp.

79, 80; see for the lines which Byron wrote in her copy of Burns,

'Poems', vol. i. pp. 233, 234.)

Miss Pigot died at Southwell in 1866, her brother John (see letter of

August 9, 1806, p. 100, note 3) in 1871. Her brother Henry, whom Byron

used to call his grandson, died October 28, 1830, a captain in the 23rd

Native Infantry in the service of the East India Company.

The following undated note (1810) from Mrs. Pigot to Mrs. Byron

illustrates the enthusiastic interest with which the Pigots followed

Byron's career:--

"Indeed, my dear Mrs. Byron, you have given me a very 'great treat' in

sending me 'English Bards' to look at; you know how very highly I

thought of the 'first' edition, and this is certainly much improved;

indeed, I do not think anybody but Lord Byron could (in these our

days) have produced such a work, for it has all the fire of ancient

genius. I have always been accustomed to tell you my thoughts most

sincerely, and I cannot say that I like that addition to the part

where 'Bowles' is mentioned; it wants that 'brilliant spirit' which

almost invariably accompanies Lord B.'s writings. Maurice, too, and

his granite weight of leaves, is in truth a heavy comparison. But I

turn with pleasure from these specks in the sun to notice 'Vice and

folly, Greville and Argyle;' it is 'most admirable': the 'same pen'

may 'equal', but I think it is not in the power of human abilities to

'exceed' it. As to Lord Carlisle, I think he well deserves the Note

Lord B. has put in; I am 'very much' pleased with it, and the little

word 'Amen' at the end, gives a point 'indescribably good'. The whole

of the conclusion is excellent, and the Postscript I think must

entertain everybody except 'Jeffrey'. I hope the poor Bear is well; I

wish you could make him understand that he is 'immortalized', for, if

'four-leg'd Bears' have any vanity, it would certainly delight him.

Walter Scott, too (I really do not mean to call him a Bear), will be

highly gratified: the compliment to him is very elegant: in short, I

look upon it as a most 'highly finished' work, and Lord Byron has

certainly taken the Palm from 'all our' Poets.... A good account of

yourself I assure you will always give the most sincere pleasure to my

dear Mrs. Byron's very affectionate friend, Margt. Pigot. Elizabeth

begs her compts."]

[Footnote 2: Henry Pigot. (See p. 33, note 1.)]

[Footnote 3: Miss Julia Leacroft, daughter of a neighbour, Mr. John

Leacroft. (See lines "To Lesbia," 'Poems', vol. i. pp. 41-43.) The

private theatricals in September, 1806 (see p. 117 [Letter 81],

[Foot]note 3 [4]), were held at Mr. Leacroft's house. Later, Captain

Leacroft expostulated with Byron on his attentions to his sister, and,

according to Moore, threatened to call him out. Byron was ready to meet

him; but afterwards, on consulting Becher, resolved never to go near the

house again.--'Prose and Verse of Thomas Moore', edited by Richard Herne

Shepherd (London, 1878), p. 420. (But see Letters 62, 63, 64.) ]

[Footnote 4: By Dibdin, set to music by Shield. (See Moore's 'Life', p.

33.) Byron's love for simple ballad music lasted throughout his life. As

a boy at Harrow, he was famous for the vigour with which he sang "This

Bottle's the Sun of our Table" at Mother Barnard's. He liked the Welsh

air "Mary Anne," sung by Miss Chaworth; the songs in 'The Duenna'; "When

Time who steals our Years away," which he sang with Miss Pigot; or

"Robin Adair," in which he was accompanied by Miss Hanson on her harp.

"It is very odd," he said to Miss Pigot, "I sing much better to your

playing than to any one else's."

"That is," she answered, "because I play to your singing."

Moore ('Journal and Correspondence', vol. v. pp. 295, 296), speaking of

"Byron's chanting method of repeating poetry," says that "it is the men

who have the worst ears for music that 'sing' out poetry in this manner,

having no nice perception of the difference there ought to be between

animated reading and 'chant'." Rogers ('Table-Talk, etc.', pp. 224, 225)

expresses the same opinion, when he says, "I can discover from a poet's

versification whether or not he has an ear for music. To instance poets

of the present day:--from Bowles's and Moore's, I should know that they

had fine ears for music; from Southey's, Wordsworth's, and Byron's, that

they had no ears for it."]

13.-To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.]

Harrow-on-the-Hill, October 25th, 1804.

My dear Augusta,--In compliance with your wishes, as well as gratitude

for your affectionate letter, I proceed as soon as possible to answer

it; I am glad to hear that _any body_ gives a good account of me; but

from the quarter you mention, I should imagine it was exaggerated.

That you are unhappy, my dear Sister, makes me so also; were it in my

power to relieve your sorrows you would soon recover your spirits; as

it is, I sympathize better than you yourself expect. But really, after

all (pardon me my dear Sister), I feel a little inclined to laugh at

you, for love, in my humble opinion, is utter nonsense, a mere jargon

of compliments, romance, and deceit; now, for my part, had I fifty

mistresses, I should in the course of a fortnight, forget them all,

and, if by any chance I ever recollected one, should laugh at it as a

dream, and bless my stars, for delivering me from the hands of the

little mischievous Blind God. Can't you drive this Cousin [1] of ours

out of your pretty little head (for as to _hearts_ I think they are

out of the question), or if you are so far gone, why don't you give

old L'Harpagon [2] (I mean the General) the slip, and take a trip to

Scotland, you are now pretty near the Borders. Be sure to Remember me

to my formal Guardy Lord Carlisle, [3] whose magisterial presence I

have not been into for some years, nor have I any ambition to attain

so great an honour. As to your favourite Lady Gertrude, I don't

remember her; pray, is she handsome? I dare say she is, for although

they are a _disagreeable, formal, stiff_ Generation, yet they have by

no means plain _persons_, I remember Lady Cawdor was a sweet, pretty

woman; pray, does your sentimental Gertrude resemble her? I have heard

that the duchess of Rutland was handsome also, but we will say nothing

about her temper, as I hate Scandal.

Adieu, my pretty Sister, forgive my levity, write soon, and God bless

you.

I remain, your very affectionate Brother,

BYRON.

P.S.--I left my mother at Southwell, some time since, in a monstrous

pet with you for not writing. I am sorry to say the old lady and

myself don't agree like lambs in a meadow, but I believe it is all my

own fault, I am rather too fidgety, which my precise mama objects to,

we differ, then argue, and to my shame be it spoken fall out a

_little_, however after a storm comes a calm; what's become of our

aunt the amiable antiquated Sophia? [4] is she yet in the land of the

living, or does she sing psalms with the _Blessed_ in the other world.

Adieu. I am happy enough and Comfortable here. My friends are not

numerous, but select; among them I rank as the principal Lord

Delawarr, [5] who is very amiable and my particular friend; do you

know the family at all? Lady Delawarr is frequently in town, perhaps

you may have seen her; if she resembles her son she is the most

amiable woman in Europe. I have plenty of acquaintances, but I reckon

them as mere Blanks. Adieu, my dear Augusta.

[Footnote 1: Colonel George Leigh.]

[Footnote 2: General Leigh, father of the colonel. Both Harpagon and

Cléante ('L'Avare') wish to marry Mariane; but the miser prefers his

casket to the lady, who therefore marries Cléante. ]

[Footnote 3: Frederick Howard, fifth Earl of Carlisle (1748-1825), was,

on his mother's side, connected with the Byron family. The Hon. Isabella

Byron (1721-1795), daughter of the fourth Lord Byron, married, in 1742,

Henry, fourth Earl of Carlisle. She subsequently, after the death of

Lord Carlisle (1758), married, as her second husband, Sir William

Musgrave. She was a woman of considerable ability, and apparently, in

later life, of eccentric habits--a "recluse in pride and rags." She was

the reputed writer of some published poetry, and of 'Maxims addressed to

Young Ladies'. Some of these maxims might have been of use to her

grand-nephew: "Habituate yourself to that way of life most agreeable to

the person to whom you are united; be content in retirement, or with

society, in town, or country." Her 'Answer' to Mrs. Greville's ode on

'Indifference' has more of the neck-or-nothing temper of the Byrons:--

"Is that your wish, to lose all sense

In dull lethargic ease,

And wrapt in cold indifference,

But half be pleased or please?

...

It never shall be my desire

To bear a heart unmov'd,

To feel by halves the gen'rous fire,

Or be but half belov'd.

Let me drink deep the dang'rous cup,

In hopes the prize to gain,

Nor tamely give the pleasure up

For fear to share the pain.

Give me, whatever I possess,

To know and feel it all;

When youth and love no more can bless,

Let death obey my call."

Lady Carlisle's son, Frederick, who was educated at Eton and Cambridge,

succeeded his father as fifth Earl of Carlisle, in 1758, when he was ten

years old. After leaving Cambridge, he started on a continental tour

with two Eton friends--Lord FitzWilliam and Charles James Fox. A lively

letter-writer, his correspondence with his friend George Selwyn, while

in Italy, shows him to have been a young man of wit, feeling, and taste.

It is curious to notice that, at Rome, he singles out, like his cousin

in 'Childe Harold' or 'Manfred', as the most striking objects, the

general aspect of the "marbled wilderness", the moonlight view of the

amphitheatre, the Laocoon, the Belvedere Apollo, and the group of Niobe

and her daughters. One other taste he shared with Byron--he was a lover

of dogs, and "Rover" was his constant companion abroad.

Lord Carlisle returned to England in 1769. Like Fox, he was a prodigious

dandy. They "once travelled from Paris to Lyons for the express purpose

of buying waistcoats; and during the whole journey they talked of

nothing else" ('Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers', pp. 73, 74). Already well

known in London society, Carlisle was a close friend of George Selwyn, a

familiar figure at White's and Brookes's, an inveterate gambler, an

adorer of Lady Sarah Bunbury, who, as Lady Sarah Lennox, had won the

heart of George III. The flirtation provoked from Lord Holland an

adaptation of 'Lydia, dic per omnes':--

"Sally, Sally, don't deny,

But, for God's sake, tell me why

You have flirted so, to spoil

That once lively youth, Carlisle?

He used to mount while it was dark;

Now he lies in bed till noon,

And, you not meeting in the park,

Thinks that he gets up too soon," etc.

In 1770 Lord Carlisle married Lady Margaret Leveson Gower, a beautiful

and charming woman. "Everybody," writes Lord Holland to George Selwyn

(May 2, 1770), "says it is impossible not to admire Lady Carlisle." But

matrimony did not at once steady his character. For the next few

years--though in 1773 he published a volume of 'Poems'--his pursuits

were mainly those of a young man of fashion, and he impoverished himself

at the gaming-table. From 1777 onwards, however, his life took a more

serious turn. In that year he became Treasurer of the Household, and was

sworn a member of the Privy Council. In 1778 he was the chief of the

three commissioners sent out by Lord North to negotiate with the United

States. There he declined a challenge from Lafayette, provoked by

reflections on the French court and nation, which he had issued with his

fellow-commissioners in their political capacity. In 1779 he was

nominated Lord-Lieutenant of Yorkshire, and First Lord of Trade and

Plantations. He was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1780 to 1782, and

held the post of Lord Privy Seal in the Duke of Portland's

administration of 1783. Till the outbreak of the French Revolutionary

wars, he was an opponent of Pitt; but after 1792 he consistently

supported the Government.

Carlisle was a collector of pictures, statuary, and works of art. He was

also a writer of verse, tragedies, and pamphlets; but, in literature,

his admirable letters are his best claim to be remembered. One of his

two tragedies, 'The Father's Revenge' (1783), was praised by Walpole,

and received the guarded approval of Dr. Johnson. His published poetry

consisted of an ode on the death of Gray, verses on that of Lord Nelson,

"Lines for the Monument of a favourite Spaniel," an address to Sir

Joshua Reynolds, and translations from Dante. The first two poems

provoked Richard Tickell to write the 'Wreath of Fashion' (1780). "The

following lines," says Tickell, in his "Advertisement," were "occasioned

by the Author's having lately studied, with infinite attention, several

fashionable productions in the 'Sentimental' stile.... For example, A

Noble Author has lately published his works, which consist of 'three'

compositions: 'one' an Ode upon the death of Mr. Gray; the two others

upon the death of his Lordship's 'Spaniel'."

"Here, placid 'Carlisle' breathes his gentle line,

Or haply, gen'rous 'Hare', re-echoes thine.

Soft flows the lay: as when, with tears, He paid

The last sad honours to his------Spaniel's shade!

And lo! he grasps the badge of wit, a wand;

He waves it thrice and 'Storer' is at hand."

His contemporaries seem to have thought that his poetry, weak though it

was, was indebted to his Eton friends, "the Hare with many friends," and

Antony Storer. The latter's name is linked with that of Carlisle in

another satire, 'Pandolfo Attonito':--

"Fall'n though I am, I ne'er shall mourn,

Like the dark Peer on Storer's urn,"

where a note refers to "Antony Storer, formerly Member for Morpeth ('as

some persons' near Carlisle and Castle Howard 'may possibly recollect'),

a gentleman well known in the circles of fashion and polite literature."

Carlisle's name occurs in many of the satires of the day on literary

subjects. 'The Shade of Pope' (ii. 191, 192) says--

"Carlisle is lost with Gillies in surprize,

As Lysias charms soft Jersey's classic eyes;"

and in the 'Pursuits of Literature' (Dialogue ii. line 234), a note to

the line--

"While lyric Carlisle purrs o'er love transformed,"

again associates his name with that of Lady Jersey.

In 1799 Lord Carlisle was persuaded by Hanson to become Byron's

guardian, in order to facilitate legal proceedings for the recovery of

the Rochdale property, illegally sold by William, fifth Lord Byron. He

was introduced to his ward by Hanson, who took the boy to Grosvenor

Place, to see his guardian and consult Dr. Baillie in July, 1799. He

seemed anxious to befriend the boy; but Byron was eager, as Hanson

notes, to leave the house. When Mrs. Byron, in 1800, was anxious to

remove her son from Dr. Glennie's care, Carlisle exercised his

authority, and forbade the schoolmaster to give him up to his mother. He

probably, on this occasion, experienced Mrs. Byron's temper, for Augusta

Byron, writing to Hanson (November 18, 1804), says that he dreaded

"having any concern whatever with Mrs. Byron." Byron does not seem to

have met his guardian again till January, 1805, when Augusta Byron

writes to Hanson:

"I hear from Lady Gertrude Howard that Lord Carlisle was 'very much'

pleased with my brother, and I am sure, from what he said to me at

Castle Howard, is disposed to show him all the kindness and attention

in his power. I know you are so partial to Byron and so much

interested in all that concerns him, that you will rejoice almost as

much as I do that his acquaintance with Lord C. is renewed. In the

mean time it is a great comfort for me to think that he has spent his

Holydays so comfortably and so much to his wishes. You will easily

believe that he is a 'very great favourite of mine', and I may add the

more I see and hear of him, the more I 'must' love and esteem him."

It may be doubted whether Carlisle ever saw the dedication of 'Hours of

Idleness'. Augusta Byron, in a letter to Hanson of February 7, 1807,

says,

"I return you my Brother's poems with many Thanks. Mrs. B. has had the

attention to send me 2 copies. I like some of them very much: but you

will laugh when I tell you I have never had courage to shew them to

Lord Carlisle for fear of his disapproving others."

The years 1806-7, spent at Southwell, as his sister says, "in idleness

and ill humour with the whole World," were not the most creditable of

Byron's life, and Carlisle's efforts to make him return to Cambridge

failed. It is, moreover, certain that in 1809 Carlisle was ill; it is

also probable that at a time when the scandal of Mary Anne Clarke and

the Duke of York threatened to come before the House of Lords, he was

unwilling to connect himself in public with a cousin of whom he knew no

good, and of whose political views he was ignorant. These causes may

have combined to produce the coldly formal letter, in which he told

Byron the course of procedure to be adopted in taking his seat in the

House of Lords, and ignored the young man's wish that his cousin and

guardian should introduce him. (For Byron's attack upon Carlisle, and

his subsequent admission of having done him "some wrong," see 'English

Bards, and Scotch Reviewers', lines 723-740; and 'Childe Harold', Canto

III. stanzas xxix., xxx.)

It is possible that the "paralytic puling" may have been suggested by

the "placid purring" of previous satirists. In March, 1814, his sister

Augusta was trying hard to persuade Byron, as he notes in his Diary,

"to make it up with Carlisle. I have refused 'every' body else, but I

can't deny her anything, though I had as leif 'drink up Eisel--eat a

crocodile.'"

Lord Carlisle had three daughters: the eldest, Lady Caroline Isabella

Howard, married, in 1789, John, first Lord Cawdor, and died in 1848; the

second, Lady Elizabeth, married, in 1799, John Henry, fifth Duke of

Rutland, and died in 1825; the third, Lady Gertrude, married, in 1806,

William Sloane Stanley, of Paultons, Hants, and died in 1870.]

[Footnote 4: No "Aunt Sophia" appears in the pedigree; but his

grandmother was Sophia Trevanion, who married, in 1748, the Hon. John

Byron, afterwards Admiral Byron. Mrs. Byron knew Dr. Johnson well, and

she and Miss Burney were the only two friends who, as Mrs. Piozzi (then

Mrs. Thrale) thought, might regret her departure from Streatham in 1782

('Life and Writings of Mrs. Piozzi', vol. i. p. 171). "Mrs. Byron, who

really loves me," says Mrs. Piozzi ('ibid.', p. 125), "was disgusted at

Miss Burney's carriage to me." In August, 1820, Mrs. Piozzi writes to a

Miss Willoughby, to tell her

"what wonders Lord Byron is come home to do, for I see his arrival in

the paper. His grandmother was my intimate friend, a Cornish lady,

Sophia Trevanion, wife to the Admiral, 'pour ses péchés', and we

called her Mrs. B_i_ron always, after the French fashion"

('Life and Writings, etc.', vol. ii. pp. 456, 457)' Mrs. Byron

died at Bath in 1790.]

[Footnote 5: Lady Delawarr, widow of John Richard, fourth Earl Delawarr,

whom she married in 1783, died in 1826. Her only son, George John, fifth

earl, succeeded his father in 1795. He went from Harrow to Brasenose

College, Oxford; married, in 1813, Lady Elizabeth Sackville; was Lord

Chamberlain 1858-9; and died in 1869. He was the "Euryalus" of "Childish

Recollections" (see 'Poems', vol. i. p. 100; and lines "To George, Earl

of Delawarr," 'ibid.', p. 126).]

14.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

Friday, November 2d, 1804.

This morning, my dear Augusta, I received your affectionate letter,

and it reached me at a time when I wanted consolation, not however of

your kind for I am not yet old enough or Goose enough to be in love;

no, my sorrows are of a different nature, though more calculated to

provoke risibility than excite compassion. You must know, Sister of

mine, that I am the most unlucky wight in Harrow, perhaps in

Christendom, and am no sooner out of one scrape than into another. And

to day, this very morning, I had a thundering Jobation from our Good

Doctor, [1] which deranged my _nervous system_, for at least five

minutes. But notwithstanding He and I now and then disagree, yet upon

the whole we are very good friends, for there is so much of the

Gentleman, so much mildness, and nothing of pedantry in his character,

that I cannot help liking him, and will remember his instructions with

gratitude as long as I live. He leaves Harrow soon, _apropos_, so do

I. This quitting will be a considerable loss to the school. He is the

best master we ever had, and at the same time respected and feared;

greatly will he be regretted by all who know him. You tell me you

don't know my friend L'd Delawarr; he is considerably younger than me,

but the most good tempered, amiable, clever fellow in the universe. To

all which he adds the quality (a good one in the eyes of women) of

being remarkably handsome, almost too much so for a boy. He is at

present very low in the school, not owing to his want of ability, but

to his years. I am nearly at the top of it; by the rules of our

Seminary he is under my power, but he is too goodnatured ever to

offend me, and I like him too well ever to exert my authority over

him. If ever you should meet, and chance to know him, take notice of

him on my account.

You say that you shall write to the Dowager Soon; her address is at

Southwell, _that_ I need hardly inform you. Now, Augusta, I am going

to tell you a secret, perhaps I shall appear undutiful to you, but,

believe me, my affection for you is founded on a more firm basis. My

mother has lately behaved to me in such an eccentric manner, that so

far from feeling the affection of a Son, it is with difficulty I can

restrain my dislike. Not that I can complain of want of liberality;

no, She always supplies me with as much money as I can spend, and more

than most boys hope for or desire. But with all this she is so hasty,

so impatient, that I dread the approach of the holidays, more than

most boys do their return from them. In former days she spoilt me; now

she is altered to the contrary; for the most trifling thing, she

upbraids me in a most outrageous manner, and all our disputes have

been lately heightened by my one with that object of my cordial,

deliberate detestation, Lord Grey de Ruthyn. She wishes me to explain

my reasons for disliking him, which I will never do; would I do it to

any one, be assured you, my dear Augusta, would be the first who would

know them. She also insists on my being reconciled to him, and once

she let drop such an odd expression that I was half inclined to

believe the dowager was in love with him. But I hope not, for he is

the most disagreeable person (in my opinion) that exists. He called

once during my last vacation; she threatened, stormed, begged me to

make it up, "he himself loved me, and wished it;" but my reason was so

excellent--that neither had effect, nor would I speak or stay in the

same room, till he took his departure. No doubt this appears odd; but

was my reason known, which it never will be if I can help it, I should

be justified in my conduct. Now if I am to be tormented with her and

him in this style, I cannot submit to it. You, Augusta, are the only

relation I have who treats me as a friend; if you too desert me, I

have nobody I can love but Delawarr. If it was not for his sake,

Harrow would be a desert, and I should dislike staying at it. You

desire me to burn your epistles; indeed I cannot do that, but I will

take care that They shall be invisible. If you burn any of mine, I

shall be _monstrous angry_; take care of them till we meet.

Delawarr [2] and myself are in a manner connected, for one of our

forefathers in Charles the 1st's time married into their family.

Hartington, [3] whom you enquire after, is on very good terms with me,

nothing more, he is of a soft milky disposition, and of a happy apathy

of temper which defies the softer emotions, and is insensible of ill

treatment; so much for him. Don't betray me to the Dowager. I should

like to know your Lady Gertrude, as you and her are so great Friends.

Adieu, my Sister, write. From

[Signature, etc., cut out.]

[Footnote 1: The Rev. Joseph Drury, D.D. (1750-1834), educated at

Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge, was appointed an

Assistant-master at Harrow before he was one and twenty. He was

Head-master from 1784 to 1805. In that year he retired, and till his

death in 1834 lived at Cockwood, in Devonshire, where he devoted himself

to farming. The following statement by Dr. Drury illustrates Byron's

respect for his Head-master ('Life', p. 20):--

"After my retreat from Harrow, I received from him two very affectionate

letters. In my occasional visits subsequently to London, when he had

fascinated the public with his productions, I demanded of him, why, as

in 'duty bound', he had sent none to me? 'Because,' said he, 'you are

the only man I never wish to read them;' but in a few moments, he added,

'What do you think of the 'Corsair'?'"

Dr. Drury married Louisa Heath, sister of the Rev. Benjamin Heath, his

predecessor in the Head-mastership. They had four children, all of whom

have some connection with Byron's life. (1) Henry Joseph Drury

(1778-1841), educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge (Fellow),

Assistant-master at Harrow School, married (December 20, 1808) Ann

Caroline Tayler, and had a numerous family. Mrs. Drury's sister married

the Rev. F. Hodgson (see page 195 [Letter 102], [Foot]note 1). (2)

Benjamin Heath Drury (1782-1835), educated at Eton and King's College,

Cambridge (Fellow), Assistant-master at Eton. (3) Charles Drury

(1788-1869), educated at Harrow and Queen's College, Oxford (Fellow).

(4) Louisa Heath Drury (1787-1873) married John Herman Merivale.

Dr. Drury's brother, Mark Drury, the Lower Master at Harrow, was the

candidate whom Byron supported for the Head-mastership.]

[Footnote 2: Thomas, third Lord Delawarr, Captain-general of all the

Colonies planted or to be planted in Virginia, died in 1618. His fourth

daughter, Cecilie, widow of Sir Francis Bindlose, married Sir John

Byron, created Lord Byron by Charles I. His fifth daughter, Lucy,

married Sir Robert Byron, brother to Lord Byron. But the first Lord

Byron left no heirs, and the title descended to his brother, Richard

Byron, from whom the poet was descended.]

[Footnote 3: William Spencer, Marquis of Hartington (1790-1858),

succeeded his father as sixth Duke of Devonshire in 1811, and died

unmarried. His sister, Georgiana Dorothy, married, in 1801, Lord

Carlisle's eldest son.]

15.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

Harrow, Saturday, 11th Novr, 1804.

I thought, my dear Augusta, [1] that your opinion of my _meek mamma_

would coincide with mine; Her temper is so variable, and, when

inflamed, so furious, that I dread our meeting; not but I dare say,

that I am troublesome enough, but I always endeavour to be as dutiful

as possible. She is so very strenuous, and so tormenting in her

entreaties and commands, with regard to my reconciliation, with that

detestable Lord G. [2] that I suppose she has a penchant for his

Lordship; but I am confident that he does not return it, for he rather

dislikes her than otherwise, at least as far as I can judge. But she

has an excellent opinion of her personal attractions, sinks her age a

good six years, avers that when I was born she was only eighteen, when

you, my dear Sister, know as well as I know that she was of age when

she married my father, and that I was not born for three years

afterwards. But vanity is the weakness of _your sex_,--and these are

mere foibles that I have related to you, and, provided she never

molested me, I should look upon them as follies very excusable in a

woman.

But I am now coming to what must shock you, as much as it does me,

when she has occasion to lecture me (not very seldom you will think no

doubt) she does not do it in a manner that commands respect, and in an

impressive style. No! did she do that, I should amend my faults with

pleasure, and dread to offend a kind though just mother. But she flies

into a fit of phrenzy, upbraids me as if I was the most undutiful

wretch in existence, rakes up the ashes of my _father_, abuses him,

says I shall be a true Byrrone, which is the worst epithet she can

invent. Am I to call this woman mother? Because by nature's law she

has authority over me, am I to be trampled upon in this manner? am I

to be goaded with insult, loaded with obloquy, and suffer my feelings

to be outraged on the most trivial occasions? I owe her respect as a

Son, But I renounce her as a Friend. What an example does she shew me!

I hope in God I shall never follow it. I have not told you all, nor

can I; I respect you as a female, nor, although I ought to confide in

you as a Sister, will I shock you with the repetition of Scenes, which

you may judge of by the Sample I have given you, and which to all but

you are buried in oblivion. Would they were so in my mind! I am afraid

they never will. And can I, my dear Sister, look up to this mother,

with that respect, that affection I ought? Am I to be eternally

subjected to her caprice? I hope not--; indeed a few short years will

emancipate me from the Shackles I now wear, and then perhaps she will

govern her passion better than at present.

You mistake me, if you think I dislike Lord Carlisle; I respect him,

and might like him did I know him better. For him too my mother has an

antipathy, why I know not. I am afraid he could be but of little use

to me, in separating me from her, which she would oppose with all her

might; but I dare say he would assist me if he could, so I take the

will for the Deed, and am obliged to him in exactly the same manner as

if he succeeded in his efforts.

I am in great hopes, that at Christmas I shall be with Mr. Hanson

during the vacation, I shall do all I can to avoid a visit to my

mother wherever she is. It is the first duty of a parent, to impress

precepts of obedience in their children, but her method is so violent,

so capricious, that the patience of Job, the versatility of a member

of the House of Commons could not support it. I revere Dr. Drury much

more than I do her, yet he is never violent, never outrageous: I dread

offending him, not however through fear, but the respect I bear him

makes me unhappy when I am under his displeasure. My mother's

precepts, never convey instruction, never fix upon my mind; to be sure

they are calculated, to inculcate obedience, so are chains, and

tortures, but though they may restrain for a time, the mind revolts

from such treatment. Not that Mrs. Byron ever injures my _sacred_

person. I am rather too old for that, but her words are of that rough

texture, which offend more than personal ill usage. "A talkative woman

is like an Adder's tongue," so says one of the prophets, but which I

can't tell, and very likely you don't wish to know, but he was a true

one whoever he was.

The postage of your letters, My dear Augusta, don't fall upon me; but

if they did, it would make no difference, for I am Generally in cash,

and should think the trifle I paid for your epistles the best laid out

I ever spent in my life. Write Soon. Remember me to Lord Carlisle,

and, believe me, I ever am

Your affectionate Brother and Friend,

BYRONE.

[Footnote 1: In consequence of this letter, Augusta Byron wrote as

follows to Hanson, and Byron spent the Christmas holidays of 1804 with

his solicitor:--

"Castle Howard, Nov. 18, 1804.

My Dear Sir,--I am afraid you will think I presume almost too much

upon the kind permission you have so often given me of applying to you

about my Brother's concerns. The reason that induces me now to do so

is his having lately written me several Letters containing the most

extraordinary accounts of his Mother's conduct towards him and

complaints of the uncomfortable Situation he is in during the Holidays

when with her. All this you will easily imagine has more _vexed_ than

_surprized_ me. I am quite unhappy about him, and wish I could in any

way remedy the grievances he confides to me. I wished, as the most

likely means of doing this, to mention the subject to Lord Carlisle,

who has always expressed the greatest interest about Byron and also

shewn me the greatest Kindness. Finding that he did _not object_ to

it, I yesterday had some conversation with Lord C. on the subject, and

it is partly by his advice and wishes that I trouble you with this

Letter. He authorized me to tell you that, if you would allow my

Brother to spend the next vacation with you (which _he_ seems

_strongly_ to wish), that it would put it into his power to see more

of him and shew him more attention than he has hitherto, being

withheld from doing so from the dread of having any concern whatever

with Mrs. Byron.

I need hardly add that it is almost MY first wish that this should be

accomplished. I am sure you are of my opinion that it is now of the

greatest consequence to Byron to secure the friendship of Lord C., the

only relation he has who possesses the _Will_ and _power_ to be of use

to him. I think the Letters he writes me _quite perfect_ and he does

not express one sentiment or idea I should wish different; he tells me

he is soon to leave Harrow, but does not say where he is to go. I

conclude to Oxford or Cambridge. Pray be so good as to write me a few

lines on this subject.

I trust entirely to the interest and friendship you have ever so

kindly expressed for my Brother, for _my Forgiveness_. Of course you

will not mention to Mrs. B. having heard from me, as she would only

accuse me of wishing to estrange her Son from her, which would be very

far from being the case further than his Happiness and comfort are

concerned in it. My opinion is that _as_ they cannot agree, they had

better be separated, for such eternal Scenes of wrangling are enough

to spoil the very best temper and Disposition in the universe. I shall

hope to hear from you soon, my dear sir, and remain, Most sincerely

yours, AUGUSTA BYRON."]

[Footnote 2: Lord Grey de Ruthyn. (See p. 23, note 1.)]

16.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.]

Harrow-on-the-Hill, Novr., Saturday, 17th, 1804.

I am glad to hear, My dear Sister, that you like Castle Howard so

well, I have no doubt what you say is true and that Lord C. is much

more amiable than he has been represented to me. Never having been

much with him and always hearing him reviled, it was hardly possible I

should have conceived a very _great friendship_ for his L'dship. My

mother, you inform me, commends my _amiable disposition_ and _good

understanding;_ if she does this to you, it is a great deal more than

I ever hear myself, for the one or the other is always found fault

with, and I am told to copy the _excellent pattern_ which I see before

me in _herself._ You have got an invitation too, you may accept it if

you please, but if you value your own comfort, and like a pleasant

situation, I advise you to avoid Southwell.--I thank you, My dear

Augusta, for your readiness to assist me, and will in some manner

avail myself of it; I do not however wish to be separated from _her_

entirely, but not to be so much with her as I hitherto have been, for

I do believe she likes me; she manifests that in many instances,

particularly with regard to money, which I never want, and have as

much as I desire. But her conduct is so strange, her caprices so

impossible to be complied with, her passions so outrageous, that the

evil quite overbalances her _agreeable qualities._ Amongst other

things I forgot to mention a most _ungovernable appetite_ for Scandal,

which she never can govern, and employs most of her time abroad, in

displaying the faults, and censuring the foibles, of her acquaintance;

therefore I do not wonder, that my precious Aunt, comes in for her

share of encomiums; This however is nothing to what happens when my

conduct admits of animadversion; "then comes the tug of war." My whole

family from the conquest are upbraided! myself abused, and I am told

that what little accomplishments I possess either in mind or body are

derived from her and _her alone._

When I leave Harrow I know not; that depends on her nod; I like it

very well. The master Dr. Drury, is the most amiable _clergyman_ I

ever knew; he unites the Gentleman with the Scholar, without

affectation or pedantry, what little I have learnt I owe to him alone,

nor is it his fault that it was not more. I shall always remember his

instructions with Gratitude, and cherish a hope that it may one day be

in my power to repay the numerous obligations, I am under; to him or

some of his family.

Our holidays come on in about a fortnight. I however have not

mentioned that to my mother, nor do I intend it; but if I can, I shall

contrive to evade going to Southwell. Depend upon it I will not

approach her for some time to come if It is in my power to avoid it,

but she must not know, that it is my wish to be absent. I hope you

will excuse my sending so short a letter, but the Bell has just rung

to summon us together. Write Soon, and believe me, Ever your

affectionate Brother, BYRON.

I am afraid you will have some difficulty in decyphering my epistles,

but _that_ I know you will excuse. Adieu. Remember me to Lord

Carlisle.

17.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.] Harrow-on-the-Hill, Novr. 21st,

1804.

MY DEAREST AUGUSTA,--This morning I received your by no means

unwelcome epistle, and thinking it demands an immediate answer, once

more take up my pen to employ it in your service. There is no

necessity for my mother to know anything of my intentions, till the

time approaches; and when it does come, Mr. H. has only to write her a

note saying, that, as I could not accept the invitation he gave me

last holidays, he imagined I might do it now; to this she surely can

make no objections; but, if she entertained the slightest idea of my

making any complaint of her very _lenient_ treatment, the scene that

would ensue beggars all power of description. You may have some little

idea of it, from what I have told you, and what you yourself know.

I wrote to you the other day; but you make no mention of receiving my

letter in yours of the 18th inst. It is however of little importance,

containing merely a recapitulation of circumstances which I have

before detailed at full length.

To Lord Carlisle make my warmest acknowledgements. I feel more

gratitude, than my feelings can well express; I am truly obliged to

him for his endeavours, and am perfectly satisfied with your

explanation of his reserve, though I was hitherto afraid it might

proceed from personal dislike. I have some idea that I leave Harrow

these holidays. The Dr., whose character I gave you in my last, leaves

the mastership at Easter. Who his successor may be I know not, but he

will not be a better I am confident. You inform me that you intend to

visit my mother, then you will have an opportunity of seeing what I

have described, and hearing a great _deal of Scandal_. She does not

trouble me much with epistolary communications; when I do receive

them, they are very concise, and much to the purpose. However I will

do her the justice to say that she behaves, or rather means, well, and

is in some respects very kind, though her manners are not the most

conciliating. She likewise expresses a great deal of affection for

you, but disapproves your marriage, wishes to know my opinion of it,

and complains that you are negligent and do not write to her or care

about her. How far her opinion of your love for her is well grounded,

you best know. I again request you will return my sincere thanks to

Lord Carlisle, and for the future I shall consider him as more my

friend than I have hitherto been taught to think. I have more reasons

than one, to wish to avoid going to Notts, for there I should be

obliged to associate with Lord G. whom I detest, his manners being

unlike those of a Gentleman, and the information to be derived from

him but little except about shooting, which I do not intend to devote

my life to. Besides, I have a particular reason for not liking him.

Pray write to me soon. Adieu, my Dear Augusta.

I remain, your affectionate Brother, BYRON.

18.-To John Hanson [1].

Saturday, Dec. 1st, 1804.

MY DEAR SIR,--Our vacation commences on the 5th of this Month, when I

propose to myself the pleasure of spending the Holidays at your House,

if it is not too great an Inconvenience. I tell you fairly, that at

Southwell I should have nothing in the World to do, but play at cards

and listen to the edifying Conversation of old Maids, two things which

do not at all suit my inclinations. In my Mother's last Letter I find

that my poney and pointers are not yet procured, and that Lord Grey is

still at Newstead. The former I should be very dull at such a place as

Southwell without; the latter is still more disagreeable to be with. I

presume he goes on in the old way,--quarrelling with the farmers, and

stretching his judicial powers (he being now in the commission) to the

utmost, becoming a torment to himself, and a pest to all around

him.--I am glad you approve of my Gun, feeling myself happy, that it

has been tried by so _distinguished_ a _Sportsman_.

I hope your Campaigns against the Partridges and the rest of the

feathered Tribe have been attended with no serious

Consequences--_trifling accidents_ such as the top of a few fingers

and a Thumb, you _Gentlemen_ of the _city_ being used to, of course

occasion no interruption to your field sports.

Your Accommodation I have no doubt I shall be perfectly satisfied

with, only do exterminate that _vile Generation_ of _Bugs_ which

nearly ate me up the last Time I _sojourned_ at your House. After

undergoing the Purgatory of Harrow _board_ and _Lodging_ for three

Months I shall not be _particular_ or exorbitant in my demands.

Pray give my best Compliments to Mrs. Hanson and the now

_quilldriving_ Hargreaves [2]. Till I see you, I remain, Yours, etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Byron spent the Christmas holidays of 1804-5 with the

Hansons. He gave Hanson to understand that it was his wish to leave the

school, and that Dr. Drury agreed with him in the decision. Hanson,

after consulting Lord Carlisle, wrote to Drury, urging that Byron was

too young to leave the school. Drury's reply, dated December 29, 1804,

gave a different colour to the matter.

"Your letter," he writes, "supposes that Lord Byron was desirous to

leave school, and that I acquiesced in his Wish: but I must do him the

Justice to observe that _the wish originated with me._ During his last

residence at Harrow his conduct gave me much trouble and uneasiness;

and as two of his Associates were to leave me at Christmas, I

certainly suggested to him _my wish_ that he might be placed under the

care of some private Tutor previously to his admission to either of

the Universities. This I did no less with a view to the forming of his

mind and manners, than to my own comfort; and I am fully convinced

that if such a situation can be procured for his Lordship, it will be

much more advantageous for him than a longer residence at school,

where his animal spirits and want of judgment may induce him to do

wrong, whilst his age and person must prevent his Instructors from

treating him in some respects as a schoolboy. If we part now, we may

entertain affectionate dispositions towards each other, and his

Lordship will have left the school with credit; as my dissatisfactions

were expressed to him only privately, and in such a manner as not to

affect his public situation in the school."

Finally, however, Dr. Drury, yielding to the appeal of Lord Carlisle and

Hanson, allowed the boy to return to Harrow, and Byron remained at the

school till July, 1805, the last three months being passed under the

rule of Dr. Butler.]

[Footnote 2: Hargreaves Hanson, second son of John Hanson, had just left

Harrow, and was articled as a pupil in his father's business. He died in

1811, at the age of 23.]

19.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

6, Chancery Lane, Wednesday, 30th Jany., 1805.

I have delayed writing to you so long, My dearest Augusta, from

ignorance of your residence, not knowing whether you _graced_ Castle

Howard, or Kireton with your _presence._ The instant Mr. H[anson]

informed me where you was, I prepared to address you, and you have but

just forestalled my intention. And now, I scarcely know what to begin

with; I have so many things, to tell you. I wish to God, that we were

together, for It is impossible that I can confine all I have got to

say in an epistle, without I was to follow your example, and fill

eleven pages, as I was informed, by my _proficiency_ in _the art of

magic,_ that you sometimes send that _number_ to _Lady Gertrude._

To begin with an article of _grand importance;_ I on Saturday dined

with Lord Carlisle, and on further acquaintance I like them all very

much. Amongst other circumstances, I heard of your _boldness_ as a

_Rider,_ especially one anecdote about your horse carrying you into

the stable _perforce._ I should have admired amazingly to have seen

your progress, provided you met with no accident. I hope you recollect

the circumstance, and know what I allude to; else, you may think that

I am _soaring_ into the _Regions of Romance._ I wish you to

corroborate my account in your next, and inform me whether my

information was correct.

I think your friend Lady G. is a sweet girl. If your taste in _love_,

is as good as it is in _friendship_, I shall think you a _very

discerning little Gentlewoman_. His Lordship too improves upon further

acquaintance, Her Ladyship I always liked, but of the Junior part of

the family Frederick [1] is my favourite. I believe with regard to my

future destination, that I return to Harrow until June, and then I'm

off for the university. Could I have found Room there, I was to have

gone immediately.

I have contrived to pass the holidays with Mr. and Mrs. Hanson, to

whom I am greatly obliged for their hospitality. You are now within a

days journey of my _amiable Mama_. If you wish your spirits _raised_,

or rather _roused_, I would recommend you to pass a week or two with

her. However I daresay she would behave very well to _you_, for you do

not know her disposition so well as I do. I return you, my dear Girl,

a thousand thanks for hinting to Mr. H. and Lord C. my uncomfortable

situation, I shall always remember it with gratitude, as a most

_essential service_. I rather think that, if you were any time with my

mother, she would bore you about your marriage which she _disapproves_

of, as much for the sake of finding fault as any thing, for that is

her favourite amusement. At any rate she would be very inquisitive,

for she was always tormenting me about it, and, if you told her any

thing, she might very possibly divulge it; I therefore advise you,

_when you see her_ to say nothing, or as little, about it, as you can

help. If you make haste, you can answer this _well written_ epistle by

return of post, for I wish again to hear from you immediately; you

need not fill _eleven pages, nine_ will be sufficient; but whether it

contains nine pages or nine lines, it will always be most welcome, my

beloved Sister, to Your affectionate Brother and Friend, BYRON.

[Footnote 1: The Hon. Frederick Howard, third son of Lord Carlisle, the

"young, gallant Howard" of _Childe Harold_ (Canto III. stanzas xxix,

xxx; see Byron's note), was killed at Waterloo. "The best of his race,"

says Byron, in a letter to Moore, July 7, 1815.]

20.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[London], Thursday, 4th April, 1805.

MY DEAREST AUGUSTA,--You certainly have excellent reasons for

complaint against my want of punctuality in our correspondence; but,

as it does not proceed from want of affection, but an idle

disposition, you will, I hope, accept my excuses. I am afraid,

however, that when I shall take up my pen, you will not be greatly

_edified_ or _amused_, especially at present, since, I sit down in

very bad spirits, out of humour with myself, and all the world, except

_you_. I left Harrow yesterday, and am now at Mr. Hanson's till Sunday

morning, when I depart for Nottinghamshire, to pay a visit to my

_mother_, with whom I shall remain for a week or two, when I return to

town, and from thence to Harrow, until July, when I take my departure

for the university, but which I am as yet undecided. Mr. H. Recommends

Cambridge; Ld. Carlisle allows me to chuse for myself, and I must own

I prefer Oxford. But, I am not violently bent upon it, and whichever

is determined upon will meet with my concurrence.--This is the outline

of my plans for the next 6 months.

I am Glad that you are Going to pay his _Lordship_ a visit, as I shall

have an opportunity of seeing you on my return to town, a pleasure,

which, as I have been long debarred of it, will be doubly felt after

so long a separation. My visit to the Dowager does not promise me all

the happiness I could wish; however, it must be gone through, as it is

some time since I have seen her. It shall be as short as possible. I

shall expect to find a letter from you, when I come down, as I wish to

know when you go to town, and how long you remain there. If you stay

till The middle of next month, you may have an opportunity of hearing

me speak, as the first day of our _Harrow orations_ occurs in May. My

friend Delawarr [1], (as you observed) danced with the little

Princess, nor did I in the least _envy_ him the honour. I presume you

have heard That Dr. Drury leaves Harrow this Easter, and That, as a

memorial of our Gratitude for his long services, The scholars

presented him with plate to the amount of 330 Guineas.

I hope you will excuse this _Hypocondriac_ epistle, as I never was in

such low spirits in my life. Adieu, my Dearest Sister, and believe me,

Your ever affectionate though negligent Brother, BYRON.

[Footnote 1: On February 25, 1805, their Majesties gave a magnificent

"house-warming" at Windsor Castle.

"The expenditure," says the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for 1805 (part

i. pp. 262-264), "cannot have cost less than £50,000. The floor of the

ball-room, instead of being chalked, was painted with most fanciful

and appropriate devices by an eminent artist." The "little Princess"

Charlotte of Wales, we are told, left the Castle at half-past nine.]

21.--To Hargreaves Hanson.

Burgage Manor, Southwell, Notts, 15 April, 1805.

DEAR HARGREAVES,--As I have been unable to return to Town with your

father, I must request, that you will take care of my Books, and a

parcel which I expect from my Taylor's, and, as I understand you are

going to pay Farleigh a visit, I would be obliged to you to leave them

under the care of one of the Clerks, or a Servant, who may inform me

where to find them. I shall be in Town on Wednesday the 24th at

furthest, when I shall not hope to see you, or wish it; not but what I

should be glad of your _entertaining and loquacious Society_, but as I

think you will be more amused at Farleigh, it would be selfish in me

to wish that you should forego the pleasures of contemplating _pigs_,

_poultry_, _pork_, _pease_, and _potatoes_ together, with other Rural

Delights, for my Company. Much pleasure may you find in your excursion

and I dare say, when you have exchanged _pleadings_ for _ploughshares_

and _fleecing clients_ for _feeding flocks_, you will be in no hurry

to resume your Law Functions.

Remember me to your Father and Mother and the Juniors, and if you

should find it convenient to dispatch a note in answer to this

epistle, it will afford great pleasure to

Yours very sincerely and affectionately,

BYRON.

P.S.--It is hardly necessary to inform you that I am heartily tired of

Southwell, for I am at this minute experiencing those delights which I

have recapitulated to you and which are more entertaining to be

_talked_ of at a distance than enjoyed at Home. I allude to the

Eloquence of a _near relation_ of mine, which is as remarkable as your

_taciturnity_.

22.--To Hargreaves Hanson.

Burgage Manor, April 20, 1805.

Dear Hargreaves,--Dr. Butler, [1] our new Master, has thought proper

to postpone our Meeting till the 8th of May, which obliges me to delay

my return to Town for one week, so that instead of Wednesday the 24th

I shall not arrive in London till the 1st of May, on which Day (If I

live) I shall certainly be in town, where I hope to have the pleasure

of seeing you. I shall remain with you only a week, as we are all to

return to the very day, on account of the prolongation of our

Holidays. However, if you shall previous to that period take a _jaunt_

into Hants, I beg you will leave my _valuables_, etc., etc., in the

care of one of the _Gentlemen_ of your office, as that _Razor faced

Villain_, James, might perhaps take the Liberty of walking off with a

suit. I have heard several times from Tattersall [2] and it is very

probable we may see him on my return. I beg you will excuse this short

epistle as my time is at present rather taken up, and Believe Me,

Yours very sincerely,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: The Rev. George Butler (1774-1853), who was Senior Wrangler

(1794), succeeded Dr. Drury as Head-master of Harrow School in April,

1805. He was then Fellow, tutor, and classical lecturer at Sydney Sussex

College, Cambridge. From affection to Dr. Drury, Byron supported the

candidature of his brother, Mark Drury, and avenged himself on Butler

for the defeat of his candidate by the lines on "Pomposus" (see 'Poems',

vol. i. pp. 16, 17, "On a Change of Masters," etc.; and pp. 84-106,

"Childish Recollections"). At a later period he became reconciled to

Butler, who knew the Continent well, was an excellent linguist, and gave

him valuable advice for his foreign tour in 1809-11. Butler resigned the

Head-mastership of Harrow in April, 1824, and retired to a country

living. In 1842 he was appointed to the Deanery of Peterborough, where

he died in 1853.]

[Footnote 2: John Cecil Tattersall entered Harrow in May, 1801. He was

the "Davus" of "Childish Recollections" ('Poems', vol. i. pp. 97, 98,

and notes). He went from Harrow to Christ Church, Oxford, took orders,

and died December 8, 1812.]

23.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[The Earl of Carlisle's, Grosvenor Place, London.] Burgage Manor,

April 23d, 1805.

MY DEAREST AUGUSTA,--I presume by this time, that you are safely

arrived at the Earl's, at least I _hope_ so; nor shall I feel myself

perfectly easy, till I have the pleasure of hearing from yourself of

your safety. I myself shall set out for town this day (Tuesday) week,

and intend waiting upon you on Thursday at farthest; in the mean time

I must console myself as well as I can; and I am sure, no unhappy

mortal ever required much more consolation than I do at present. You

as well as myself know the _sweet_ and _amiable_ temper of a certain

personage to whom I am nearly related; of _course_, the pleasure I

have enjoyed during my vacation, (although it has been greater than I

expected) yet has not been so _superabundant_ as to make me wish to

stay a day longer than I can avoid. However, notwithstanding the

dullness of the place, and certain _unpleasant things_ that occur In a

family not a hundred miles distant from Southwell, I contrived to pass

my time in peace, till to day, when unhappily, In a most inadvertent

manner, I said that Southwell was not _peculiarly_ to my taste; but

however, I merely expressed this in common conversation, without

speaking disrespectfully of the _sweet_ town; (which, between you and

I, I wish was swallowed up by an earthquake, provided my _Eloquent

mother_ was not in it). No sooner had the unlucky sentence, which I

believe was prompted by my evil Genius, escaped my lips, than I was

treated with an Oration in the _ancient style_, which I have often so

_pathetically_ described to you, unequalled by any thing of _modern_

or _antique_ date; nay the _Philippics_ against Lord Melville [1] were

nothing to it; one would really Imagine, to have heard the _Good

Lady_, that I was a most _treasonable culprit_, but thank St. Peter,

after undergoing this _Purgatory_ for the last hour, it is at length

blown over, and I have sat down under these _pleasing impressions_ to

address you, so that I am afraid my epistle will not be the most

entertaining. I assure you upon my _honour_, jesting apart, I have

never been so _scurrilously_, and _violently_ abused by any person, as

by that woman, whom I think I am to call mother, by that being who

gave me birth, to whom I ought to look up with veneration and respect,

but whom I am sorry I cannot love or admire. Within one little hour, I

have not only heard myself, but have heard my _whole family_, by the

father's side, _stigmatized_ in terms that the _blackest malevolence_

would perhaps shrink from, and that too in words you would be shocked

to hear. Such, Augusta, such is my mother; _my mother!_ I disclaim her

from this time, and although I cannot help treating her with respect,

I cannot reverence, as I ought to do, that parent who by her

outrageous conduct forfeits all title to filial affection. To you,

Augusta, I must look up, as my nearest relation, to you I must confide

what I cannot mention to others, and I am sure you will pity me; but I

entreat you to keep this a secret, nor expose that unhappy failing of

this woman, which I must bear with patience. I would be very sorry to

have it discovered, as I have only one week more, for the present. In

the mean time you may write to me with the greatest safety, as she

would not open any of my letters, even from you. I entreat then that

you will favour me with an answer to this. I hope however to have the

pleasure of seeing you on the day appointed, but If you could contrive

any way that I may avoid being asked to dinner by L'd C. I would be

obliged to you, as I hate strangers. Adieu, my Beloved Sister,

I remain ever yours,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Henry Dundas (1742-1811), created Viscount Melville in

1802, Lord Advocate (1775-83), made himself useful to Lord North's

Government as a shrewd, hard-working man of business, a ready

speaker--in broad Scotch, and a consummate election agent. For twenty

years he was the right-hand man of Pitt--

"Too proud from pilfered greatness to descend,

Too humble not to call Dundas his friend."

Not only was he Pitt's political colleague, but in private life his boon

companion. A well-known epigram commemorates in a dialogue their

convivial habits--

'Pitt'. "I cannot see the Speaker, Hal; can you?"

'Dundas'. "Not see the Speaker, Billy? I see two."

Melville, for a long series of years, held important political posts. He

was Treasurer of the Navy (1782-1800); member of the Board of Control

for India (1784-1802) and President (1790-1802); Home Secretary

(1791-94); Secretary of War (1794-1801); First Lord of the Admiralty

(1804-5). In 1802 a Commission had been appointed to examine into the

accounts of the naval department for the past twenty years, and, in

consequence of their tenth report, a series of resolutions were moved in

the House of Commons (April, 1805) against Melville. The voting was

even--216 for and 216 against; the resolutions were carried by the

casting vote of Speaker Abbott.

"Pitt was overcome; his friend was ruined. At the sound of the

Speaker's voice, the Prime Minister crushed his hat over his brows to

hide the tears that poured over his cheeks: he pushed in haste out of

the House. Some of his opponents, I am ashamed to say, thrust

themselves near, 'to see how Billy took it.'"

(Mark Boyd's 'Reminiscences of Fifty Years', p. 404.) Melville, who was

heard at the bar of the House of Commons in his own defence, was

impeached before the House of Lords (June 26, 1805) of high crimes and

misdemeanours. At the close of the proceedings, which began in

Westminster Hall on April 29, 1806, Melville was acquitted on all the

charges. Whitbread took the leading part in the impeachment. See 'All

the Talents: a Satirical Poem', by Polypus (E. S. Barrett)--

"Rough as his porter, bitter as his barm,

He sacrificed his fame to M--lv--lle's harm."

Dialogue ii.]

24.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[The Earl of Carlisle's, Grosvenor Place, London.] Burgage Manor,

Southwell, Friday, April 25th, 1805.

My dearest Augusta,--Thank God, I believe I shall be in town on

Wednesday next, and at last relieved from those _agreeable

amusements_, I described to you in my last. I return you and Lady G.

many thanks for your _benediction_, nor do I doubt its efficacy as it

is bestowed by _two such Angelic beings_; but as I am afraid my

_profane blessing_ would but expedite your road to _Purgatory_,

instead of _Salvation_, you must be content with my best wishes in

return, since the _unhallowed adjurations_ of a mere mortal would be

of no effect. You say, you are sick of the Installation; [1] and that

L'd C. was not present; I however saw his name in the _Morning Post_,

as one of the Knights Companions. I indeed expected that _you_ would

have been present at the Ceremony.

I have seen this young Roscius [2] several times at the hazard of my

life, from the _affectionate squeezes_ of the surrounding crowd. I

think him tolerable in some characters, but by no means equal to the

ridiculous praises showered upon him by _John Bull_.

I am afraid that my stay in town ceases after the 10th. I should not

continue it so long, as we meet on the 8th at Harrow, But, I remain on

purpose to hear our _Sapient_ and _noble Legislators_ of Both Houses

debate on the Catholic Question, [3] as I have no doubt there will be

many _nonsensical_, and some _Clever_ things said on the occasion. I

am extremely glad that you _sport_ an audience Chamber for the Benefit

of your _modest_ visitors, amongst whom I have the _honour_ to reckon

myself: I shall certainly be most happy again to see you,

notwithstanding my _wise_ and _Good_ mother (who is at this minute

thundering against Somebody or other below in the Dining Room), has

interdicted my visiting at his _Lordship's_ house, with the threat of

her malediction, in case of disobedience, as she says he has behaved

very ill to her; the truth of this I much doubt, nor should the orders

of all the mothers (especially such mothers) in the world, prevent me

from seeing my Beloved Sister after so long an Absence. I beg you will

forgive this _well written epistle_, for I write in a great Hurry,

and, believe me, with the greatest impatience again to behold you,

your

Attached Brother and [Friend,

BYRON].

P.S.--By the bye Lady G. ought not to complain of your writing a

_decent_ long letter to me, since I remember your _11 Pages_ to her,

at which I did not make the least complaint, but submitted like a

_meek Lamb_ to the innovation of my privileges, for nobody _ought_ to

have had so long an epistle but my _most excellent Self_.

[Footnote 1: On St. George's Day, April 23, 1805, seven Knights were

installed at Windsor as Knights of the Garter, each in turn being

invested with the surcoat, girdle, and sword. The new Knights were the

Dukes of Rutland and Beaufort; the Marquis of Abercorn; the Earls of

Chesterfield, Pembroke, and Winchilsea; and, by proxy, the Earl of

Hardwicke.

Lady Louisa Strangways, writing to her sister, Lady Harriet Frampton, on

April 24, 1805 ('Journal of Mary Frampton', p. 129), says, "I was full

dressed for seventeen hours yesterday, and sat in one spot for seven,

which is enough to tire any one who enjoyed what was going on, which I

did not. I saw them walk to St. George's Chapel, which was the best

part, as it did not last long ... Their dresses were very magnificent.

The Knights, before they were installed, were in white and silver, like

the old pictures of Henry VIII., and afterwards they had a purple mantle

put on. They had immense plumes of ostrich feathers, with a heron's

feather in the middle."]

[Footnote 2: William Henry West Betty (1791-1874), the "Young Roscius,"

made his first appearance on the stage at Belfast, in 1803, in the part

of "Osman," in Hill's 'Zara;' and on December 1, 1804, at Covent Garden,

as "Selim" disguised as "Achmet," in Browne's 'Barbarossa'. In the

winter season of 1804-5, when he appeared at Covent Garden and Drury

Lane, such crowds collected to see him, that the military were called

out to preserve order. Leslie ('Autobiographical Recollections', vol. i.

p. 218) speaks of him as a boy "of handsome features and graceful

manners, with a charming voice." Fox, who saw him in 'Hamlet', said,

"This is finer than Garrick" ('Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers', p. 88).

Northcote ('Conversations', p. 23) spoke of his acting as "a beautiful

effusion of natural sensibility; and then that graceful play of the

limbs in youth gave such an advantage over every one about him." "Young

Roscius's premature powers," writes Mrs. Piozzi, February 21, 1805,

"attract universal attention, and I suppose that if less than an angel

had told 'his' parents that a bulletin of that child's health should be

necessary to quiet the anxiety of a metropolis for his safety, they

would not have believed the prediction" ('Life and Writings of Mrs.

Piozzi', vol. ii. p. 263). In society he was the universal topic of

conversation, and he commanded a salary of £50 a night, at a time when

John Kemble was paid £37 16's'. a week ('Life of Frederick Reynolds',

vol. ii. p. 364).

"When," writes Mrs. Byron of her son to Hanson (December 8, 1804), "he

goes to see the Young Roscius, I hope he will take care of himself in

the crowd, and not go alone."

Betty lost his attractiveness with the growth of his beard. Byron's

opinion of the merits of the youthful prodigy became that of the general

public; but not till the actor had made a large fortune. He retired from

the stage in 1824.]

[Footnote 3: On March 25, 1805, petitions were presented by Lord

Grenville in the House of Lords, and Fox in the House of Commons,

calling the attention of the country to the claims of the Roman

Catholics, and praying their relief from their disabilities, civil,

naval, and military. On Friday, May 10, Lord Grenville moved, in the

Upper House, for a committee of the whole House to consider the

petition. At six o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, May 14, the motion

was negatived by a division of 178 against 49. On Monday, May 13, Fox,

in the Lower House, made a similar motion, which was negatived, at five

o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, May 15, by a division of 336

against 126. Byron, on April 21, 1812, in the second of his three

Parliamentary speeches, supported the relief of the Roman Catholics.]

25.--To John Hanson.

Harrow-on-the-Hill, 11 May, 1805.

Dear Sir,--As you promised to cash my Draft on the Day that I left

your house, and as you was only prevented by the Bankers being shut

up, I will be very much obliged to you to _give the ready_ to this old

Girl, Mother Barnard, [1] who will either present herself or send a

Messenger, as she demurs on its being not payable till the 25th of

June. Believe me, Sir, by doing this you will greatly oblige

Yours very truly,

BYRON.

[Footnote: 1. Mother Barnard was the keeper of the "tuck-shop" at

Harrow.]

26.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[The Earl of Carlisle's, Grosvenor Place, London.]

[Harrow, Wednesday, June 5, 1805.]

My Dearest Augusta,--At last you have a _decent_ specimen of the

dowager's talents for epistles in the _furioso_ style. You are now

freed from the _shackles_ of her correspondence, and when I revisit

her, I shall be bored with long stories of your _ingratitude_, etc.,

etc. She is as I have before declared certainly mad (to say she was in

her senses, would be condemning her as a Criminal), her conduct is a

_happy_ compound of derangement and Folly. I had the other day an

epistle from her; not a word was mentioned about you, but I had some

of the usual _compliments_ on my own account. I am now about to answer

her letter, though I shall scarcely have patience, to treat her with

civility, far less with affection, that was almost over before, and

this has given the finishing stroke to _filial_, which now gives way

to _fraternal_ duty. Believe me, dearest Augusta, not ten thousand

_such_ mothers, or indeed any mothers, Could induce me to give you

up.--No, No, as the dowager says in that rare epistle which now lies

before me, "the time has been, but that is past long since," and

nothing now can influence your _pretty_ _sort of_ a _brother_ (bad as

he is) to forget that he is your _Brother_. Our first Speech day will

be over ere this reaches you, but against the 2d you shall have timely

notice.--I am glad to hear your illness is not of a Serious nature;

_young Ladies_ ought not to throw themselves in to the fidgets about a

trifling delay of 9 or 10 years; age brings experience and when you in

the flower of youth, between 40 and 50, shall then marry, you will no

doubt say that I am a _wise man_, and that the later one makes one's

self miserable with the matrimonial clog, the better. Adieu, my

dearest Augusta, I bestow my _patriarchal blessing_ on you and Lady G.

and remain,

[Signature cut out.]

27.--To John Hanson.

Harrow-on-the-Hill, 27 June, 1805.

Dear Sir,--I will be in Town on Saturday Morning, but it is absolutely

necessary for me to return to Harrow on Tuesday or Wednesday, as

Thursday is our 2d Speechday and Butler says he cannot dispense with my

Presence on that Day. I thank you for your Compliment in the Beginning

of your Letter, and with the Hope of seeing you and Hargreaves well on

Saturday,

I remain, yours, etc., etc.,

BYRON.

28.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Address cut out], Tuesday, July 2d, 1805.

My dearest Augusta,--I am just returned from Cambridge, where I have

been to enter myself at Trinity College.--Thursday is our Speechday at

Harrow, and as I forgot to remind you of its approach, previous to our

first declamation, [1] I have given you _timely_ notice this time. If

you intend doing me the _honour_ of attending, I would recommend you

not to come without a Gentleman, as I shall be too much engaged all

the morning to take care of you, and I should not imagine you would

admire _stalking_ about by yourself. You had better be there by 12

o'clock as we begin at 1, and I should like to procure you a good

place; Harrow is 11 miles from town, it will just make a _comfortable_

mornings drive for you. I don't know how you are to come, but for

_Godsake_ bring as few women with you as possible. I would wish you to

Write me an answer immediately, that I may know on Thursday morning,

whether you will drive over or not, and I will arrange my other

engagements accordingly. I _beg_, _Madam_, you may make your

appearance in one of his Lordships most _dashing_ carriages, as our

Harrow _etiquette_, admits of nothing but the most _superb_ vehicles,

on our Grand _Festivals_. In the mean time, believe me, dearest

Augusta,

Your affectionate Brother,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Mrs. Byron, writing to Hanson (June 25, 1805), says, "The

fame of Byron's oratory has reached Southwell" (see page 27, note 1).]

29.--To John Hanson.

Harrow, 8 July, 1805.

My dear Sir,--I have just received a Letter from my Mother, in which

she talks of coming to Town about the _commencement_ of our Holidays.

If she does, it will be impossible for me to call on _my Sister_,

previous to my leaving it, and at the same time I cannot conceive what

the Deuce she can want at this season in London. I have written to

tell her that my Holidays commence on the 6th of August, but however,

July the 1st is the proper day.--I beg that if you cannot find some

means to keep her in the Country that you at least will connive at

this deception which I can palliate, and then I shall be down in the

country before she knows where I am. My reasons for this are, that I

do _not wish_ to be detained in Town so uncomfortably as I know I

shall be if I remain with her; that _I do wish_ to see my Sister; and

in the next place she can just as well come to Town after my return to

Notts, as I don't desire to be dragged about according to her caprice,

and there are some other causes I think unnecessary to be now

mentioned. If you will only contrive by settling this business (if it

is in your power), or if that is impossible, not mention anything

about the day our Holidays commence, of which you can be easily

supposed not to be informed. If, I repeat, you can by any means

prevent this Mother from executing her purposes, believe me, you will

greatly oblige

Yours truly,

BYRON.

30.--To Charles O. Gordon. [1]

Burgage Manor, Southwell, Notts, August 4, 1805.

Although I am greatly afraid, my Dearest Gordon, that you will not

receive this epistle till you return from Abergeldie, (as your letter

stated that you would be at Ledbury on Thursday next) yet, that is not

my fault, for I have not deferred answering yours a moment, and, as I

have just now concluded my Journey, my first, and, I trust you will

believe me when I say, most pleasing occupation will be to write to

you.

We have played the Eton and were most confoundedly beat; [2] however

it was some comfort to me that I got 11 notches the 1st Innings and 7

the 2nd, which was more than any of our side except Brockman & Ipswich

could contrive to hit. After the match we dined together, and were

extremely friendly, not a single discordant word was uttered by either

party. To be sure, we were most of us rather drunk and went together

to the Haymarket Theatre, where we kicked up a row, As you may

suppose, when so many Harrovians & Etonians met at one place; I was

one of seven in a single hackney, 4 Eton and 3 Harrow, and then we all

got into the same box, and the consequence was that such a devil of a

noise arose that none of our neighbours could hear a word of the

drama, at which, not being _highly delighted_, they began to quarrel

with us, and we nearly came to a _battle royal_. How I got home after

the play God knows. I hardly recollect, as my brain was so much

confused by the heat, the row, and the wine I drank, that I could not

remember in the morning how I found my way to bed.

The rain was so incessant in the evening that we could hardly get our

Jarveys, which was the cause of so many being stowed into one. I saw

young Twilt, your brother, with Malet, and saw also an old

schoolfellow of mine whom I had not beheld for six years, but he was

not the one whom you were so good as to enquire after for me, and for

which I return you my sincere thanks. I set off last night at eight

o'clock to my mother's, and am just arrived this afternoon, and have

not delayed a second in thanking you for so soon fulfilling my request

that you would correspond with me. My address at Cambridge will be

Trinity College, but I shall not go there till the 20th of October.

You may continue to direct your letters here, when I go to Hampshire

which will not be till you have returned to Harrow. I will send my

address previous to my departure from my mother's. I agree with you in

the hope that we shall continue our correspondence for a long time. I

trust, my dearest friend, that it will only be interrupted by our

being some time or other in the same place or under the same roof, as,

when I have finished my _Classical Labour_, and my minority is

expired, I shall expect you to be a frequent visitor to Newstead

Abbey, my seat in this county which is about 12 miles from my mother's

house where I now am. There I can show you plenty of hunting, shooting

and fishing, and be assured no one ever will be more welcome guest

than yourself--nor is there any one whose correspondence can give me

more pleasure, or whose friendship yield me greater delight than

yours, sweet, dearest Charles, believe me, will always be the

sentiments of

Yours most affectionately,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: This and Letter 33 are written to Byron's Harrow friend,

Charles Gordon, one of his "juniors and favourites," whom he "spoilt by

indulgence." Gordon, who was the son of David Gordon of Abergeldie, died

in 1829.]

[Footnote 2: Byron's reputation as a cricketer rests on this match

between Eton and Harrow. It was played on the old cricket ground in

Dorset Square, August 2, 1805, and ended in a victory for Eton by an

innings and two runs. The score is thus given by Lillywhite, in his

_Cricket Scores and Biographies of Celebrated Cricketers from 1745 to

1826_ (vol. i. pp. 319, 320)--

HARROW.

First Innings. Second Innings.

--------------------------------------------------------

Lord Ipswich, b Carter --10 b Heaton --21

T. Farrer, Esq., b Carter -- 7 c Bradley-- 3

T. Drury, Esq., b Carter -- 0 st Heaton-- 6

--Bolton, Esq., run out -- 2 b Heaton -- 0

C. Lloyd, Esq., b Carter -- 0 b Carter -- 0

A. Shakespeare, Esq., st Heaton-- 8 runout -- 5

Lord Byron, c Barnard-- 7 b Carter -- 2

Hon. T. Erskine, b Carter -- 4 b Heaton -- 8

W. Brockman, Esq., b Heaton -- 9 b Heaton --10

E. Stanley, Esq., not out -- 3 c Canning-- 7

--Asheton, Esq., b Carter -- 3 not out -- 0

Byes -- 2 Byes -- 3

-- --

55 65

ETON.

--------------------------------------------------------

--Heaton, Esq., b Lloyd -- 0

--Slingsby, Esq., b Shakespeare--29

--Carter, Esq., b Shakespeare-- 3

--Farhill, Esq., c Lloyd -- 6

--Canning, Esq., c Farrer --12

--Camplin, Esq., b Ipswich --42

--Bradley, Esq., b Lloyd --16

--Barnard, Esq., b Shakespeare-- 0

--Barnard, Esq., not out -- 3

--Kaye, Esq., b Byron -- 7

--Dover, Esq., c Bolton -- 4

Byes -- 0

--

122

At this match Lord Stratford de Redcliffe remembers seeing a

"moody-looking boy" dismissed for a small score. The boy was Byron. But

the moment is not favourable to expression of countenance.

31.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.] Burgage Manor, August 6th, 1805.

Well, my dearest Augusta, here I am, once more situated at my mother's

house, which together with its _inmate_ is as _agreeable_ as ever. I

am at this moment _vis à vis_ and Téte à téte with that amiable

personage, who is, whilst I am writing, pouring forth complaints

against your _ingratitude_, giving me many oblique hints that I ought

not to correspond with you, and concluding with an interdiction that

if you ever after the expiration of my minority are invited to my

residence, _she_ will no longer condescend to grace it with her

_Imperial_ presence. You may figure to yourself, for your amusement,

my solemn countenance on the occasion, and the _meek Lamblike_

demeanour of her Ladyship, which, contrasted with my _Saintlike

visage_, forms a _striking family painting_, whilst in the back

ground, the portraits of my Great Grandfather and Grandmother,

suspended in their frames, seem to look with an eye of pity on their

_unfortunate descendant_, whose _worth_ and _accomplishments_ deserve

a milder fate.

I am to remain in this _Garden_ of _Eden_ one month, I do not indeed

reside at Cambridge till October, but I set out for Hampshire in

September where I shall be on a visit till the commencement of the

term. In the mean time, Augusta, your _sympathetic_ correspondence

must be some alleviation to my sorrows, which however are too

ludicrous for me to regard them very seriously; but they are _really_

more _uncomfortable_ than _amusing_.

I presume you were rather surprised not to see my _consequential_ name

in the papers [1] amongst the orators of our 2nd speech day, but

unfortunately some wit who had formerly been at Harrow, suppressed the

merits of Long [2], Farrer [3] and myself, who were always supposed to

take the Lead in Harrow eloquence, and by way of a _hoax_ thought

proper to insert a panegyric on those speakers who were really and

truly allowed to have rather disgraced than distinguished themselves,

of course for the _wit_ of the thing, the best were left out and the

worst inserted, which accounts for the _Gothic omission_ of my

_superior talents._ Perhaps it was done with a view to weaken our

vanity, which might be too much raised by the flattering paragraphs

bestowed on our performance the 1st speechday; be that as it may, we

were omitted in the account of the 2nd, to the astonishment of all

Harrow. These are _disappointments_ we _great men_ are liable to, and

we must learn to bear them with philosophy, especially when they arise

from attempts at wit. I was indeed very ill at that time, and after I

had finished my speech was so overcome by the exertion that I was

obliged to quit the room. I had caught cold by sleeping in damp sheets

which was the cause of my indisposition. However I am now perfectly

recovered, and live in hopes of being emancipated from the slavery of

Burgage manor. But Believe me, Dearest Augusta, whether well or ill,

I always am your affect. Brother,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: See page 27, note 1.]

[Footnote 2: Edward Noel Long, son of E. B. Long of Hampton Lodge,

Surrey, the "Cleon" of "Childish Recollections" ('Poems', vol. i. pp.

101, 102), entered Harrow in April, 1801. He went with Byron to Trinity

College, Cambridge, and till the end of the summer of 1806 was his most

intimate friend.

"We were," says Byron, in his Diary ('Life', p. 31), "rival swimmers,

fond of riding, reading, and of conviviality. Our evenings we passed

in music (he was musical, and played on more than one

instrument--flute and violoncello), in which I was audience; and I

think that our chief beverage was soda-water. In the day we rode,

bathed, and lounged, reading occasionally. I remember our buying, with

vast alacrity, Moore's new quarto (in 1806), and reading it together

in the evenings. ... _His_ friendship, and a violent though pure

passion--which held me at the same period--were the then romance of

the most romantic period of my life."

Long was Byron's companion at Littlehampton in August, 1806. In 1807 he

entered the Guards, served with distinction in the expedition to

Copenhagen, and was drowned early in 1809, "on his passage to Lisbon

with his regiment in the 'St. George' transport, which was run foul of

in the night by another transport" ('Life', p. 31. See also Byron's lines

"To Edward Noel Long, Esq.," 'Poems', vol. i. pp. 184-188).]

[Footnote 3: Thomas Farrer entered Harrow in April, 1801. He played in

Byron's XI. against Eton, on the ground in Dorset Square, on August 2,

1805.]

CHAPTER II.

1805-1808.

CAMBRIDGE AND JUVENILE POEMS.

32.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.] Burgage Manor, August 10th, 1805.

I have at last succeeded, my dearest Augusta, in pacifying the

dowager, and mollifying that _piece_ of _flint_ which the good Lady

denominates her heart. She now has condescended to send you her

_love_, although with many comments on the occasion, and many

compliments to herself. But to me she still continues to be a torment,

and I doubt not would continue so till the end of my life. However

this is the last time she ever will have an opportunity, as, when I go

to college, I shall employ my vacations either in town; or during the

summer I intend making a tour through the Highlands, and to Visit the

Hebrides with a party of my friends, whom I have engaged for the

purpose. This my old preceptor Drury recommended as the most improving

way of employing my Summer Vacation, and I have now an additional

reason for following his advice, as I by that means will avoid the

society of this woman, whose detestable temper destroys every Idea of

domestic comfort. It is a happy thing that she is my mother and not my

wife, so that I can rid myself of her when I please, and indeed, if

she goes on in the style that she has done for this last week that I

have been with her, I shall quit her before the month I was to drag

out in her company, is expired, and place myself any where, rather

than remain with such a vixen. As I am to have a very handsome

allowance,[1] which does not deprive her of a sixpence, since there is

an addition made from my fortune by the Chancellor for the purpose, I

shall be perfectly independent of her, and, as she has long since

trampled upon, and harrowed up every affectionate tie, It is my

serious determination never again to visit, or be upon any friendly

terms with her. This I owe to myself, and to my own comfort, as well

as Justice to the memory of my nearest relations, who have been most

shamefully libelled by this female 'Tisiphom', a name which your

'Ladyship' will recollect to have belonged to one of the Furies.

You need not take the precaution of writing in so enigmatical a style

in your next, as, bad as the woman is, she would not dare to open any

letter addressed to me from you. Whenever you can find time to write,

believe me, your epistles will be productive of the greatest pleasure,

to your

Affectionate Brother,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: During Byron's schooldays, Mrs. Byron received £500 a year

from the Court of Chancery for his education. When he went to Cambridge,

she gave up this allowance to her son, and the expenditure of a certain

sum was sanctioned by Chancery for furniture, clothes, plate, etc. At

the same time, Mrs. Byron applied for an allowance of £200 a year, but

in 1807 the allowance had not been granted. Her pension, it may be

added, most irregularly paid at all times, was reduced to £200 a year.

Writing to Hanson (September 23, 1805), she says, "I give up the five

hundred a year to my son, and you will supply him with money

accordingly. The two hundred a year addition I shall reserve for myself;

nor can I do with less, as my house will always be a home for my son

whenever he chooses to come to it."]

33.--To Charles O. Gordon.

Burgage Manor, August 14, 1805.

Believe me, my dearest Charles, no letter from you can ever be

unentertaining or dull, at least to me; on the contrary they will

always be productive of the highest pleasure as often as you think

proper to gratify me by your correspondence. My answer to your first

was addressed to Ledbury; and I fear you will not receive it till you

return from your tour, which I hope may answer your expectation in

every respect; I recollect some years ago passing near Abergeldie on

an excursion through the Highlands, it was at that time a most

beautiful place.

I suppose you will soon have a view of the eternal snows that summit

the top of Lachin y Gair, which towers so magnificently above the rest

of our _Northern Alps_. I still remember with pleasure the admiration

which filled my mind, when I first beheld it, and further on the dark

frowning mountains which rise near Invercauld, together with the

romantic rocks that overshadow Mar Lodge, a seat of Lord Fife's, and

the cataract of the Dee, which dashes down the declivity with

impetuous violence in the grounds adjoining to the House. All these I

presume you will soon see, so that it is unnecessary for me to

expatiate on the subject. I sincerely wish that every happiness may

attend you in your progress. I have given you an account of our match

in my epistle to Herefordshire. We unfortunately lost it. I got 11

notches the first innings and 7 the 2nd, making 18 in all, which was

more runs than any of our side (except Ipswich) could make. Brockman

also scored 18. We were very _convivial_ in the evening.[1]

[Footnote 1: Here the letter, which is printed from a copy made by the

Rev. W. Harness (see page 177 [Letter 92], [Foot]note 1), comes to an

end.]

34.--To Hargreaves Hanson.

Burgage Manor, August 19th, 1805.

My Dear Hargreaves,--You may depend upon my Observance of your

father's Invitation to Farleigh [1] in September, where I hope we

shall be the cause of much destruction to the feathered Tribe and

great Amusement to ourselves. The Lancashire Trial [2] comes on very

soon, and Mr. Hanson will come down by Nottingham; perhaps, I may then

have a chance of seeing him; at all events, I shall probably accompany

him on his way back; as I hope his Health is by this time perfectly

reestablished, and will not require a journey to Harrowgate. I shall

not as you justly conjecture have any occasion for my _Chapeau de

Bras_, as there is nobody in the Neighbourhood who would be worth the

trouble of wearing it, when I went to their parties. I am uncommonly

dull at this place, as you may easily imagine, nor do I think I shall

have much Amusement till the commencement of the shooting season. I

shall expect (when you next write) an account of your military

preparations, to repel the Invader of our Isle whenever he makes the

attempt.--_You_ will doubtless acquire _great Glory_ on the occasion,

and in expectation of hearing of your Warlike Exploits,

I remain, yours very truly,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Hanson had property at Farleigh, near Basingstoke.]

[Footnote 2: The Rochdale property of the Byron family had been

illegally sold by William, fifth Lord Byron. Proceedings were taken to

recover the property; but fresh points arose at every stage, and

eventually Byron, unable to wait longer, sold Newstead.]

35.--To Hargreaves Hanson.

Burgage Manor.

My Dear Hargeaves,--I would be obliged to you, if you would write to

your father, and enquire--what time it will be most convenient for him

to receive my visit, and I will come to Town immediately to the time

appointed and accompany you to the _Rural Shades_ and _Fertile Fields_

of Hants. You must excuse the laconic Style of my Epistle as this place

is damned dull and I have nothing to relate, but believe me,

Yours truly,

BYRON.

36.--To Hargreaves Hanson.

Trinity Coll., October 25, 1805.

Dear Hargreaves,--I presume your father has by this time informed you

of our safe Arrival here. [1] I can as yet hardly form an Opinion in

favour, or against the College, but as soon as I am settled you shall

have an account. I wish you to pack up carefully--& send immediately

the remainder of my books, and also my _Stocks_ which were left in

Chancery Lane. _Mon Chapeau de Bras_ take care of till Winter extends

his Icy Reign and I shall visit the Metropolis. Tell your father that

I am getting in the furniture he spoke of, but shall defer papering

and painting till the Recess. The sooner you execute my _commands_ the

better. Beware of Mr. Terry,

And believe me, yours faithfully,

BYRON.

The Bills for Furniture I shall send to Mr. H., your worthy papa,

according to his _particular Desire_. The Cambridge Coach sets off

from the White Horse, Fetter Lane.

[Footnote 1: Byron entered Trinity on July 1, 1805; but he did not go

into residence till the following October. His tutors were the Rev.

Thomas Jones (1756-1807), who was Senior Tutor from 1787 till his death

in 1807, and the Rev. George Frederick Tavell (B.A., 1792; M.A., 1795),

to whom Byron alludes in 'Hints from Horace', lines 228-230:--

"Unlucky Tavell! doom'd to daily cares

By pugilistic pupils, and by bears!"]

37.--To John Hanson.

Trinity Coll., Oct. 26, 1805.

Dear Sir,--I will be obliged to you to order me down 4 Dozen of

Wine--Port, Sherry, Claret, and Madeira, one dozen of each. I have got

part of my furniture in, and begin to admire a College life. Yesterday

my appearance in the Hall in my State Robes was _Superb_, but

uncomfortable to my _Diffidence_. You may order the Saddle, etc., etc.,

for "Oateater" as soon as you please and I will pay for them.

I remain, Sir, yours truly,

BYRON.

P.S.--Give Hargreaves a hint to be expeditious in his sending my

_Valuables_ which I begin to want. Your Cook had the Impudence to charge

my Servant 15 Shillings for 5 Days provision which I think is

exorbitant; but I hear that in _Town_ it is but reasonable. Pray is it

the custom to allow your Servants 3/6 per Diem, in London? I will thank

you for Information on the Subject.

38.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Castle Howard, near Malton, Yorkshire.]

Trin. Coll. [Wednesday], Novr. 6th, 1805.

My dear Augusta,--As might be supposed I like a College Life

extremely, especially as I have escaped the Trammels or rather

_Fetters_ of my domestic Tyrant Mrs. Byron, who continued to plague me

during my visit in July and September. I am now most pleasantly

situated in _Super_excellent Rooms, flanked on one side by my Tutor,

on the other by an old Fellow, both of whom are rather checks upon my

_vivacity_. I am allowed 500 a year, a Servant and Horse, so Feel as

independent as a German Prince who coins his own Cash, or a Cherokee

Chief who coins no Cash at all, but enjoys what is more precious,

Liberty. I talk in raptures of that _Goddess_ because my amiable Mama

was so despotic. I am afraid the Specimens I have lately given her of

my Spirit, and determination to submit to no more unreasonable

demands, (or the insults which follow a refusal to obey her implicitly

whether right or wrong,) have given high offence, as I had a most

_fiery_ Letter from the _Court_ at _Southwell_ on Tuesday, because I

would not turn off my Servant, (whom I had not the least reason to

distrust, and who had an excellent Character from his last Master) at

her suggestion, from some caprice she had taken into her head. [1] I

sent back to the Epistle, which was couched in _elegant_ terms, a

severe answer, which so nettled her Ladyship, that after reading it,

she returned it in a Cover without deigning a Syllable in return.

The Letter and my answer you shall behold when you next see me, that

you may judge of the Comparative merits of Each. I shall let her go on

in the _Heroics_, till she cools, without taking the least notice. Her

Behaviour to me for the last two Years neither merits my respect, nor

deserves my affection. I am comfortable here, and having one of the

best allowances in College, go on Gaily, but not extravagantly. I need

scarcely inform you that I am not the least obliged to Mrs. B. for it,

as it comes off my property, and She refused to fit out a single thing

for me from her own pocket; [2] my Furniture is paid for, & she has

moreover a handsome addition made to her own income, which I do not in

the least regret, as I would wish her to be happy, but by _no means_

to live with me in _person_. The sweets of her society I have already

drunk to the last dregs, I hope we shall meet on more affectionate

Terms, or meet no more.

But why do I say _meet?_ her temper precludes every idea of happiness,

and therefore in future I shall avoid her _hospitable_ mansion, though

she has the folly to suppose She is to be mistress of my house when I

come of [age]. I must apologize to you for the [dullness?] of this

letter, but to tell you the [truth] [the effects] of last nights

Claret have no[t gone] out of my head, as I supped with a large party.

I suppose that Fool Hanson in his _vulgar_ Idiom, by the word Jolly

did not mean Fat, but High Spirits, for so far from increasing I have

lost one pound in a fortnight as I find by being regularly weighed.

Adieu, Dearest Augusta.

[Signature cut out.]

[NB: Words in square brackets were cut and torn out with the seal.]

[Footnote 1: The servant, Byron's valet Frank, was accused of obtaining

money on false pretences from a Nottingham tradesman, and Mrs.

Byron informed her son of the charge. Frank was afterwards transported.

(See letter to Lord Clare, February 6, 1807; and letter to

Hanson, April 19, 1807.)]

[Footnote 2: See page 76, note 1.]

39.--To Hargreaves Hanson.

Trinity Coll., Novr. 12th, 1805.

DEAR HARGREAVES,--Return my Thanks to your father for the _Expedition_

he has used in filling my _Cellar_.

He deserves commendation for the _Attention_ he paid to my Request.

The Time of "Oateater's" Journey approaches; I presume he means to

repair his Neglect by Punctuality in this Respect. However, no

_Trinity Ale_ will be forthcoming, till I have broached the promised

_Falernum._

College improves in every thing but Learning. Nobody here seems to

look into an Author, ancient or modern, if they can avoid it. The

Muses, poor Devils, are totally neglected, except by a few Musty old

_Sophs_ and _Fellows_, who, however agreeable they may be to

_Minerva_, are perfect Antidotes to the _Graces._ Even I (great as is

my _inclination_ for Knowledge) am carried away by the Tide, having

only supped at Home twice since I saw your father, and have more

engagements on my Hands for a week to come. Still my Tutor and I go on

extremely well and for the first three weeks of my life I have not

involved myself in any Scrape of Consequence.

I have News for you which I bear with _Christian_ Resignation and

without any _violent Transports_ of _Grief._ My Mother (whose

diabolical Temper you well know) has taken it into her _Sagacious_

Head to quarrel with me her _dutiful Son._ She has such a Devil of a

Disposition, that she cannot be quiet, though there are fourscore

miles between us, which I wish were lengthened to 400. The Cause too

frivolous to require taking up your time to read or mine to write. At

last in answer to a _Furious Epistle_ I returned a _Sarcastick_

Answer, which so incensed the _Amiable Dowager_ that my Letter was

sent back without her deigning a Line in the cover. When I next see

you, you shall behold her Letter and my Answer, which will amuse you

as they both contain fiery Philippics. I must request you will write

immediately, that I may be informed when my Servant shall convey

"Oateater" from London; the 20th was the appointed; but I wish to hear

further from your father. I hope all the family are in a convalescent

State. I shall see you at Christmas (if I live) as I propose passing

the Vacation, which is only a Month, in London.

Believe me, Mr. Terry, your's Truly,

BYRON.

40.--To John Hanson.

Trin. Coll. Cambridge, Novr. 23, 1805.

Dear Sir,--Your Advice was good but I have not determined whether I

shall follow it; this Place is the _Devil_ or at least his principal

residence. They call it the University, but any other Appellation

would have suited it much better, for Study is the last pursuit of the

Society; the Master [1] eats, drinks, and sleeps, the Fellows [2]

_Drink, dispute and pun_; the Employment of the Under graduates you

will probably conjecture without my description. I sit down to write

with a Head confused with Dissipation which, tho' I hate, I cannot

avoid.

I have only supped at Home 3 times since my Arrival, and my table is

constantly covered with invitations, after all I am the most _steady_

Man in College, nor have I got into many Scrapes, and none of

consequence. Whenever you appoint a day my Servant shall come up for

"Oateater," and as the Time of paying my Bills now approaches, the

remaining £50 will be very _agreeable_. You need not make any

deduction as I shall want most of it; I will settle with you for the

Saddle and Accoutrements _next_ quarter. The Upholsterer's Bill will

not be sent in yet as my rooms are to be papered and painted at Xmas

when I will procure them. No Furniture has been got except what was

absolutely necessary including some Decanters and Wine Glasses.

Your Cook certainly deceived you, as I know my Servant was in Town 5

days, and she stated 4. I have yet had no reason to distrust him, but

we will examine the affair when I come to Town when I intend lodging

at Mrs. Massingbird's. My Mother and I have quarrelled, which I bear

with the _patience_ of a Philosopher; custom reconciles me to

everything.

In the Hope that Mrs. H. and the _Battalion_ are in good Health.

I remain, Sir, etc., etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: William Lort Mansel (1753-1820), Master of Trinity

(1798-1820), Bishop of Bristol (1808-1820), was the chief wit of

Cambridge in his day, and the author of many neat epigrams. "I wish,"

said Rogers (_Table-Talk_, etc., p. 60), "somebody would collect all the

Epigrams written by Dr. Mansel; they are remarkably neat and clever."

Beloe, in _The Sexagenarian_ (vol. i. p. 98), speaks of Mansel as "a

young man remarkable for his personal confidence, for his wit and

humour, and, above all, for his gallantries." Apparently, on the same

somewhat unreliable authority, he was, as Master, a severe

disciplinarian, and extremely tenacious of his dignity (i. p. 99).]

[Footnote 2: Byron probably refers to Richard Porson (1759-1808),

Professor of Greek (1792-1808). The son of the parish clerk of Bacton

and Earl Ruston, in Norfolk, Porson was entered, by the kindness of

friends, on the foundation of Eton College (1774-1778). At Trinity,

Cambridge, he became a Scholar in 1780, and a Fellow (1782-1792). In

1792, as he could not conscientiously take orders, he vacated his

Fellowship, but was elected Professor of Greek. When Byron was at

Cambridge, Porson's health and powers were failing. Silent and reserved,

except in the society of his friends, a sloven in his person, he had

probably taken to drink as a cure for sleeplessness. In a note to the

_Pursuits of Literature_ (Dialogue iv. lines 508-516),

"What," asks the author, J. T. Mathias, himself a Fellow of Trinity,

"is mere genius without a regulated life! To show the deformity of

vice to the rising hopes of the country, the policy of ancient Sparta

exhibited an inebriated slave."

Yet Porson's fine love of truth and genius for textual criticism make

him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, name in British

scholarship. Porson married, in 1795, Mrs. Lunan, sister of Mr. Perry,

the editor of the 'Morning Chronicle', for which he frequently wrote. In

the 'Shade of Alexander Pope', Mathias again attacks him as "Dogmatic

Bardolph in his nuptial noose." Porson's wife died shortly after their

marriage. His controversial method was merciless. Of his 'Letters to

Archdeacon Travis', Green ('Lover of Literature', p. 213) says that

"he dandles Travis as a tyger would a fawn: and appears only to

reserve him alive, for a time, that he may gratify his appetite for

sport, before he consigns his feeble prey, by a rougher squeeze, to

destruction."]

41.--To John Hanson.

Trinity College, Cambridge, Novr. 30, 1805.

Sir,--After the contents of your Epistle, you will probably be less

surprized at my answer, than I have been at many points of yours; [1]

never was I more astonished than at the perusal, for I confess I

expected very different treatment. Your _indirect_ charge of

Dissipation does not affect me, nor do I fear the strictest inquiry

into my conduct; neither here nor at _Harrow_ have I disgraced myself,

the "Metropolis" and the "Cloisters" are alike unconscious of my

Debauchery, and on the plains of _merry Sherwood_ I have experienced

_Misery_ alone; in July I visited them for the last time.

Mrs. Byron and myself are now totally separated, injured by her, I

sought refuge with Strangers, too late I see my error, for how was

kindness to be expected from _others_, when denied by a _parent_? In

you, Sir, I imagined I had found an Instructor; for your advice I

thank you; the Hospitality of yourself and Mrs. H. on many occasions I

shall always gratefully remember, for I am not of opinion that even

present Injustice can cancel past obligations.

Before I proceed, it will be necessary to say a few words concerning

Mrs. Byron; you hinted a probability of her appearance at Trinity; the

instant I hear of her arrival I quit Cambridge, though _Rustication_

or _Expulsion_ be the consequence. Many a weary week of _torment_ have

I passed with her, nor have I forgot the insulting _Epithets_ with

which myself, my _Sister_, my _father_ and my _Family_ have been

repeatedly reviled.

To return to you, Sir, though I feel obliged by your Hospitality,

etc., etc., in the present instance I have been completely deceived.

When I came down to College, and even previous to that period I

stipulated that not only my Furniture, but even my Gowns and Books,

should be paid for that I might set out free from _Debt_. Now with all

the _Sang Froid_ of your profession you tell me, that not only I shall

not be permitted to repair my rooms (which was at first agreed to) but

that I shall not even be indemnified for my present expence. In one

word, hear my determination. I will _never_ pay for them out of my

allowance, and the Disgrace will not attach to me but to _those_ by

whom I have been deceived. Still, Sir, not even the Shadow of

dishonour shall reflect on _my_ Name, for I will see that the Bills

are discharged; whether by you or not is to me indifferent, so that

the men I employ are not the victims of my Imprudence or your

Duplicity. I have ordered nothing extravagant; every man in College is

allowed to fit up his rooms; mine are secured to me during my

residence which will probably be some time, and in rendering them

decent I am more praiseworthy than culpable. The Money I requested was

but a secondary consideration; as a _Lawyer_ you were not obliged to

advance it till due; as a _Friend_ the request might have been

complied with. When it is required at Xmas I shall expect the demand

will be answered. In the course of my letter I perhaps have expressed

more asperity than I intended, it is my nature to feel warmly, nor

shall any consideration of interest or Fear ever deter me from giving

vent to my Sentiments, when injured, whether by a Sovereign or a

Subject.

I remain, etc., etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: The quarrel arose from Byron misunderstanding a letter from

Hanson on the subject of the allowance made by the Court of Chancery for

his furniture.]

42.--To John Hanson.

Trin. Coll. Cambridge, Dec. 4, 1805.

Sir,--In charging you with downright _Duplicity_ I wronged you, nor do

I hesitate to atone for an Injury which I feel I have committed, or

add to my Fault by the Vindication of an expression dictated by

Resentment, an _expression_ which deserves Censure, and demands the

apology I now offer; for I think that Disposition indeed _mean_ which

adds Obstinacy to Insult, by attempting the Palliation of unmerited

Invective from the mistaken principle of disdaining the Avowal of even

_self convicted_ Error. In regard to the other _Declarations_ my

Sentiments remain _unaltered;_ the event will shew whether my

Prediction is false. I know Mrs. Byron too well to imagine that she

would part with a _Sous_, and if by some _Miracle_ she was prevailed

upon, the _Details_ of her _Generosity_ in allowing me part of my _own

property_ would be continually _thundered_ in my ears, or _launched_

in the _Lightening_ of her letters, so that I had rather encounter the

Evils of Embarrassment than lie under an obligation to one who would

continually reproach me with her Benevolence, as if her Charity had

been extended to a _Stranger_ to the Detriment of her own Fortune. My

opinion is perhaps harsh for a Son, but it is justified by experience,

it is confirmed by _Facts_, it was generated by oppression, it has

been nourished by Injury. To you, Sir, I attach no Blame. I am too

much indebted to your kindness to retain my anger for a length of

Time, that _Kindness_ which, by a forcible contrast, has taught me to

spurn the _Ties_ of _Blood_ unless strengthened by proper and gentle

Treatment. I declare upon my honor that the Horror of entering Mrs.

Byron's House has of late years been so implanted in my Soul, that I

dreaded the approach of the Vacations as the _Harbingers_ of _Misery_.

My letters to my Sister, written during my residence at Southwell,

would prove my Assertion. With my kind remembrances to Mrs. H. and

Hargreaves,

I remain, Sir, yours truly,

BYRON.

43.--To John Hanson.

Trin. Coll. Cambridge, Dec. 13, 1805.

DEAR SIR,--I return you my Thanks for the remaining £50 which came in

extremely _apropos_, and on my visit to Town about the 19th will give

you a regular receipt. In your Extenuation of Mrs. Byron's Conduct you

use as a _plea_, that, by her being my Mother, greater allowance ought

to be made for those _little_ Traits in her Disposition, so much more

_energetic_ than _elegant_. I am afraid, (however good your intention)

that you have added to rather than diminished my Dislike, for

independent of the moral Obligations she is under to _protect,

cherish_, and _instruct_ her _offspring_, what can be expected of that

Man's heart and understanding who has continually (from Childhood to

Maturity) beheld so pernicious an Example? His nearest relation is the

first person he is taught to revere as his Guide and Instructor; the

perversion of Temper before him leads to a corruption of his own, and

when that is depraved, vice quickly becomes habitual, and, though

timely Severity may sometimes be necessary & justifiable, surely a

peevish harassing System of Torment is by no means commendable, & when

that is interrupted by ridiculous Indulgence, the only purpose

answered is to soften the feelings for a moment which are soon after

to be doubly wounded by the recal of accustomed Harshness. I will now

give this disagreeable Subject to the _Winds_. I conclude by observing

that I am the more confirmed in my opinion of the Futility of Natural

Ties, unless supported not only by Attachment but _affectionate_ and

_prudent_ Behaviour.

Tell Mrs. H. that the predicted alteration in my Manners and Habits

has not taken place. I am still the Schoolboy and as great a _Rattle_

as ever, and between ourselves College is not the place to improve

either Morals or Income.

I am, Sir, yours truly,

BYRON.

44.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[[Cas]tle Howard, [ne]ar Malton, Yorkshire.]

16, Piccadilly, [Thursday], Decr. 26th, 1805.

My dearest Augusta,--By the Date of my Letter you will perceive that I

have taken up my Residence in the metropolis, where I presume we shall

behold you in the latter end of January. I sincerely hope you will

make your appearance at that Time, as I have some subjects to discuss

with you, which I do not wish to communicate in my Epistle.

The Dowager has thought proper to solicit a reconciliation which in

some measure I have agreed to; still there is a coolness which I do

not feel inclined to _thaw_, as terms of Civility are the only

resource against her impertinent and unjust proceedings with which you

are already acquainted.

Town is not very full and the weather has been so unpropitious that I

have not been able to make use of my Horses above twice since my

arrival. I hope your everlasting negotiation with the Father of your

_Intended_ is near a conclusion in _some_ manner; if you do not hurry

a little, you will be verging into the "_Vale of Years_," and, though

you may be blest with Sons and daughters, you will never live to see

your _Grandchildren_.

When convenient, favour me with an Answer and believe me,

[Signature cut out.]

45.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Castle Howar[d], neat Malto[n], Yorkshire.] 16, Piccadilly, [Friday],

Decr. 27th, 1805.

My Dear Augusta,--You will doubtless be surprised to see a second

epistle so close upon the arrival of the first, (especially as it is

not my custom) but the Business I mentioned rather mysteriously in my

last compels me again to proceed. But before I disclose it, I must

require the most inviolable Secrecy, for if ever I find that it has

transpired, all confidence, all Friendship between us has concluded. I

do not mean this exordium as a threat to induce you to comply with my

request but merely (whether you accede or not) to keep it a Secret.

And although your compliance would essentially oblige me, yet, believe

me, my esteem will not be diminished by your Refusal; nor shall I

suffer a complaint to escape. The Affair is briefly thus; like all

other young men just let loose, and especially one as I am, freed from

the worse than bondage of my maternal home, I have been extravagant,

and consequently am in want of Money. You will probably now imagine

that I am going to apply to you for some. No, if you would offer me

thousands, I declare solemnly that I would without hesitation refuse,

nor would I accept them were I in danger of Starvation. All I expect

or wish is, that you will be joint Security with me for a few Hundreds

a person (one of the money lending tribe) has offered to advance in

case I can bring forward any collateral guarantee that he will not be

a loser, the reason of this requisition is my being a Minor, and might

refuse to discharge a debt contracted in my non-age. If I live till

the period of my minority expires, you cannot doubt my paying, as I

have property to the amount of 100 times the sum I am about to raise;

if, as I think rather probable, a pistol or a Fever cuts short the

thread of my existence, you will receive half the _Dross_ saved since

I was ten years old, and can be no great loser by discharging a debt

of 7 or £800 from as many thousands. It is far from my Breast to exact

any promise from you that would be detrimental, or tend to lower me in

your opinion. If you suppose this leads to either of those

consequences, forgive my impertinence and bury it in oblivion. I have

many Friends, most of them in the same predicament with myself; to

those who are not, I am too proud to apply, for I hate obligation; my

Relations you know I _detest_; who then is there that I can address on

the subject but yourself? to you therefore I appeal, and if I am

disappointed, at least let me not be tormented by the advice of

Guardians, and let silence rule your Resolution. I know you will think

me foolish, if not criminal; but tell me so yourself, and do not

rehearse my failings to others, no, not even to that proud Grandee the

Earl, who, whatever his qualities may be, is certainly not amiable,

and that Chattering puppy Hanson would make still less allowance for

the foibles of a Boy. I am now trying the experiment, whether a woman

can retain a secret; let me not be deceived. If you have the least

doubt of my integrity, or that you run too great a Risk, do not

hesitate in your refusal. Adieu. I expect an answer with impatience,

believe me, whether you accede or not,

[Signature cut out.]

P.S.--I apologize for the numerous errors probably enveloped in this

cover; the temper of my mind at present, and the hurry I have written

in, must plead for pardon. Adieu.

46.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[Castle Howard, near Malton, Yorkshire.]

16, Piccadilly, [Tuesday], January 7th, 1805.

[In another hand]--6.

My dearest Augusta,--Your efforts to reanimate my sinking spirits

will, I am afraid, fail in their effect, for my melancholy proceeds

from a very different cause to that which you assign, as, my nerves

were always of the strongest texture.--I will not however pretend to

say I possess that _Gaieté de Coeur_ which formerly distinguished me,

but as the diminution of it arises from what you could not alleviate,

and might possibly be painful, you will excuse the Disclosure. Suffice

it to know, that it cannot spring from Indisposition, as my Health was

never more firmly established than now, nor from the subject on which

I lately wrote, as that is in a promising Train, and even were it

otherwise, the Failure would not lead to Despair. You know me too well

to think it is _Love_; & I have had no quarrel or dissention with

Friend or enemy, you may therefore be easy, since no unpleasant

consequence will be produced from the present Sombre cast of my

Temper. I fear the Business will not be concluded before your arrival

in Town, when we will settle it together, as by the 20th these _sordid

Bloodsuckers_ who have agreed to furnish the Sum, will have drawn up

the Bond. Believe me, my dearest Sister, it never entered in to my

head, that you either could or would propose to antic[ipate] my

application to others, by a P[resent from?] yourself; I and I only

will be [injured] by my own extravagance, nor would I have wished you

to take the least concern, had any other means been open for

extrication. As it is, I hope you will excuse my Impertinence, or if

you feel an inclination to retreat, do not let affection for me

counterbalance prudence.

[Signature cut out.]

[Footnote 1: Words in square brackets accidentally torn off the edge of

the paper, and conjecturally supplied.]

47.--To his Mother.

16, Piccadilly, Febry. 26, 1806.

Dear Mother,--Notwithstanding your sage and economical advice I have

paid my _Harrow_ Debts, as I can better afford to wait for the Money

than the poor Devils who were my creditors. I have also discharged my

college Bills amounting to £231,--£75 of which I shall trouble Hanson

to repay, being for Furniture, and as my allowance is £500 per annum,

I do not chuse to lose the overplus as it makes only £125 per Quarter.

I happen to have a few hundreds in ready Cash by me, [1] so I have

paid the accounts; but I find it inconvenient to remain at College,

not for the expence, as I could live on my allowance (only I am

naturally extravagant); however the mode of going on does not suit my

constitution. Improvement at an English University to a Man of Rank

is, you know, impossible, and the very Idea _ridiculous_. Now I

sincerely desire to finish my Education and, having been sometime at

Cambridge, the Credit of the University is as much attached to my

Name, as if I had pursued my Studies _there_ for a Century; but,

believe me, it is nothing more than a Name, which is already acquired.

I can now leave it with Honour, as I have paid everything, & wish to

pass a couple of years abroad, where I am certain of employing my time

to far more advantage and at much less expence, than at our English

Seminaries. 'Tis true I cannot enter France; but Germany and the

Courts of Berlin, Vienna & Petersburg are still open, I shall lay the

Plan before Hanson & Lord C. I presume you will all agree, and if you

do not, I will, if possible, get away without your Consent, though I

should admire it more in the regular manner & with a Tutor of your

furnishing. This is my project, at present I wish _you_ to be silent

to Hanson about it. Let me have your Answer. I intend remaining in

Town a Month longer, when perhaps I shall bring my Horses and myself

down to your residence in that _execrable_ Kennel. I hope you have

engaged a Man Servant, else it will be impossible for me to visit you,

since my Servant must attend chiefly to his horses; at the same Time

you must cut an indifferent Figure with only maids in your habitation.

I remain, your's,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1:

"The Bills," writes Mrs. Byron to Hanson (January 11, 1806), "are

coming in thick upon me to double the amount I expected; he went and

ordered just what he pleased here, at Nottingham, and in London.

However, it is of no use to say anything about it, and I beg you will

take no notice. I am determined to have everything clear within the

year, if possible."

Again she writes (March 1, 1806):

"I beg you will not mention to my son, having heard from me, but try

to get out of him his reason for wishing to leave England, and where

he got the money. I much fear he has fallen into bad hands, not only

in regard to Money Matters, but in other respects. My idea is that he

has inveigled himself with some woman that he wishes to get rid of and

finds it difficult. But whatever it is, he must be got out of it."

Again (March 4, 1806):

"That Boy will be the death of me, and drive me mad! I never will

consent to his going Abroad. Where can he get Hundreds? Has he got

into the hands of Moneylenders? He has no feeling, no Heart. This I

have long known; he has behaved as ill as possible to me for years

back. This bitter Truth I can no longer conceal: it is wrung from me

by _heart-rending agony_. I am well rewarded. I came to

Nottinghamshire to please him, and now he hates it. He knows that I am

doing everything in my power to pay his Debts, and he writes to me

about hiring servants!"

Once more (April 24, 1806):

"Lord Byron has given £31 10s. to Pitt's statue. He has also bought a

Carriage, which he says was intended for me, which I _refused_ to

accept of, being in hopes it would stop his having one."]

48.--To John Hanson.

16, Piccadilly, March 3, 1806.

Sir,--I called at your House in Chancery Lane yesterday Evening, as I

expected you would have been in Town, but was disappointed. If

convenient, I should be glad to see you on Wednesday Morning about one

o'Clock, as I wish for your advice on some Business. On Saturday one

of my Horses threw me; I was stunned for a short time, but soon

recovered and suffered no material _Injury_; the accident happened on

the Harrow Road. I have paid Jones's Bill amounting to £231.4.5 of

which I expect to be reimbursed £75 for Furniture. I have got his

Bankers' receipt and the account ready for your Inspection. I now owe

nothing at Cambridge; but shall not return this Term, [1] as I have

been extremely _unwell_, and at the same time can stay where I am at

much less Expence and _equal Improvement_. I wish to consult you on

several Subjects and expect you will pay me a visit on Wednesday; in

the mean time,

I remain, yours, etc., BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Lectures began on February 5, 1806, as is stated on the

College bills, sent in by Mr. Jones, the Senior Tutor of Trinity. But

Byron preferred to remain in London. Augusta Byron writes to Hanson

(March 7, 1806)----

"I trouble you again in consequence of some conversation I had last

night with Lord Carlisle about my Brother. He expressed himself to me

as kindly on that subject as on all others, and though he says it may

not be productive of any good, and that he may be only _able to join

his lamentations_ with yours, he should like to talk to you and try if

anything can be done. I was much surprized and vexed to see my Brother

a week ago at the Play, as I think he ought to be employing his time

more profitably at Cambridge."]

49.--To John Hanson.

16, Piccadilly, near Park Lane, 10th March, 1806.

SIR,--As in all probability you will not make your appearance tomorrow

I must disclose by Letter the Business I intended to have discussed at

our interview.--We know each other sufficiently to render Apology

unnecessary. I shall therefore without further Prelude proceed to the

Subject in Question. You are not ignorant, that I have lately lived at

considerable Expence, to support which my allotted Income by the

'sapient' Court of Chancery is inadequate.--I confess I have

borrowed a trifling sum and now wish to raise £500 to discharge some

Debts I have contracted; my approaching Quarter will bring me £200 due

from my Allowance, and if you can procure me the other £300 at a

moderate Interest, it will save 100 per cent I must pay my _Israelite_

for the same purpose.--You see by this I have an _excellent_ Idea of

Oeconomy even in my Extravagance by being willing to pay as little

Money as possible, for the Cash must be disbursed _somewhere_ or

_somehow_, and if you decline (as in prudence I tell you fairly you

ought), the _Tribe_ of _Levi_ will be my _dernier resort_. However I

thought proper to make this Experiment with very slender hopes of

success indeed, since Recourse to the _Law_ is at best a _desperate_

effort. I have now laid open my affairs to you without Disguise and

Stated the Facts as they appear, declining all Comments, or the use of

any Sophistry to palliate my application, or urge my request. All I

desire is a speedy Answer, whether successful or not.

Believe me, yours truly, BYRON.

50.--To John Hanson.

16, Piccadilly, 25th March, 1806.

SIR,--Your last Letter, as I expected, contained much advice, but no

Money. I could have excused the former unaccompanied by the latter,

since any one thinks himself capable of giving that, but very few

chuse to own themselves competent to the other. I do not now write to

urge a 2nd Request, one Denial is sufficient. I only require what is

my right. This is Lady Day. £125 is due for my last Quarter, and £75

for my expenditure in Furniture at Cambridge and I will thank you to

remit.

The Court of Chancery may perhaps put in Force your Threat. I have

always understood it formed a Sanction for legal plunderers to

protract the Decision of Justice from year to year, till weary of

spoil it at length condescended to give Sentence, but I never yet

understood even its unhallowed Hands preyed upon the Orphan it was

bound to protect. Be it so, only let me have your answer.

I remain, etc., etc., BYRON.

51.--To Henry Angelo. [1]

Trinity College, Cambridge, May 16, 1806.

SIR,--You cannot be more indignant, at the insolent and unmerited

conduct of Mr. Mortlock, [2] than those who authorised you to request

his permission. However we do not yet despair of gaining our point,

and every effort shall be made to remove the obstacles, which at

present prevent the execution of our project. I yesterday waited on

the Master of this College, [3] who, having a personal dispute with the

Mayor, declined interfering, but recommended an application to the

Vice Chancellor, whose authority is paramount in the University. I

shall communicate this to Lord Altamount,[4] and we will endeavour to

bend the obstinacy of the _upstart_ magistrate, who seems to be

equally deficient in justice and common civility. On my arrival in

town, which will take place in a few days, you will see me at Albany

Buildings, when we will discuss the subject further. Present my

remembrance to the Messrs. Angelo, junior, and believe me, we will yet

_humble_ this _impertinent bourgeois_.

I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Henry Angelo, the famous fencing-master, was at the head of

his profession for nearly forty years. His position was recognized at

least as early as 1787, when he published _The School of Fencing_, and

fenced, with the Chevalier de St. George and other celebrities, before

the Prince of Wales at Carlton House. In 1806 he was travelling down

every other week to Cambridge, as he states in his _Pic Nic_ (1837), to

visit his pupils. He had made Byron's acquaintance at Harrow by teaching

him to fence, and in later years had many bouts with him with the foils,

single-sticks, and Highland broadsword. His _Reminiscences_ (1830),

together with his _Pic Nic_, contain numerous anecdotes of Byron, to

whom he seems to have been sincerely attached. In 1806 he had several

rooms in London for the use of his pupils. One of these was at 13, Bond

Street, which he shared with Gentleman Jackson, the pugilist and

ex-champion. In Cruikshank's picture of the room (Pierce Egan's _Life in

London_, p. 254), two fencers have unmasked and stopped their bout to

see Jackson spar with Corinthian Tom. Angelo contributed an article on

fencing to Sir John Sinclair's _Code of Health and Longevity_, vol. ii.

p. 163.

Angelo, who retired from London in 1821, and lived near Bath, was in

1806 at the height of his reputation. An old Etonian (1767), he knew

every one in London; had dined at the same table with the Prince of

Wales, acted with Lord Barrymore, sung comic songs with Dibdin, punned

with Bannister and Colman, fished at Benham on the invitation of the

Margravine of Anspach, played the flute to Lady Melfort's accompaniment

on the piano, and claimed his share of the table-talk at the Keep Line

Club. Nearly every celebrity of the day, from Lord Sidmouth and Lord

Liverpool to Kean and Macready, was his pupil.]

[Footnote 2: Mr. Mortlock, the Mayor of Cambridge, is thus mentioned in

a letter from S. T. Coleridge to Southey, dated September 26, 1794: "All

last night I was obliged to listen to the damned chatter of "Mortlock,

our mayor, a fellow that would certainly be a pantisocrat "were his head

and heart as highly illuminated as his face. In the tropical latitude of

this fellow's nose was I obliged to fry" (_Letters of S. T. Coleridge_

(1895), vol. i. p. 87).]

[Footnote 3: William Lort Mansel, Master of Trinity, and Bishop of

Bristol. (See page 84 [Letter 40], [Foot]note 1.)]

[Footnote 4: Howe Peter Browne, Lord Altamont (1788-1845), of Jesus

College, succeeded his father in 1809 as second Marquis of Sligo. Byron

spent some time with him at Athens in 1810. Lord Sligo's letter on the

origin of the 'Giaour' is quoted by Moore ('Life', p. 178). (See also

page 289 [Letter 144], [Foot]note 1 [3].)]

52.--To John M. B. Pigot. [1]

16, Piccadilly, August 9, 1806.

MY DEAR PIGOT,--Many thanks for your amusing narrative of the last

proceedings of my amiable Alecto, who now begins to feel the effects

of her folly. I have just received a penitential epistle, to which,

apprehensive of pursuit, I have despatched a moderate answer, with a

_kind_ of promise to return in a fortnight;--this, however (_entre

nous_), I never mean to fulfil. Her soft warblings must have delighted

her auditors, her higher notes being particularly musical, and on a

calm moonlight evening would be heard to great advantage. Had I been

present as a spectator, nothing would have pleased me more; but to

have come forward as one of the _dramatis personae_--St. Dominic

defend me from such a scene! Seriously, your mother has laid me under

great obligations, and you, with the rest of your family, merit my

warmest thanks for your kind connivance at my escape from "Mrs. Byron

_furiosa_."

Oh! for the pen of Ariosto to rehearse, in epic, the scolding of that

momentous eve,--or rather, let me invoke the shade of Dante to inspire

me, for none but the author of the Inferno could properly preside over

such an attempt. But, perhaps, where the pen might fail, the pencil

would succeed. What a group!--Mrs. B. the principal figure; you

cramming your ears with cotton, as the only antidote to total

deafness; Mrs.----in vain endeavouring to mitigate the wrath of the

lioness robbed of her whelp; and last, though not least, Elizabeth and

_Wousky_,--wonderful to relate!--both deprived of their parts of

speech, and bringing up the rear in mute astonishment. How did S. B.

receive the intelligence? How many _puns_ did he utter on so

_facetious_ an event? In your next inform me on this point, and what

excuse you made to A. You are probably, by this time, tired of

deciphering this hieroglyphical letter;--like Tony Lumpkin, you will

pronounce mine to be "a damned up and down hand." All Southwell,

without doubt, is involved in amazement. _Apropos_, how does my

blue-eyed nun, the fair----? Is she "_robed in sable garb of woe?_"

Here I remain at least a week or ten days; previous to my departure

you shall receive my address, but what it will be I have not

determined. My lodgings must be kept secret from Mrs. B. You may

present my compliments to her, and say any attempt to pursue me will

fail, as I have taken measures to retreat immediately to Portsmouth,

on the first intimation of her removal from Southwell. You may add, I

have proceeded to a friend's house in the country, there to remain a

fortnight.

I have now _blotted_ (I must not say written) a complete double

letter, and in return shall expect a _monstrous budget_. Without

doubt, the dames of Southwell reprobate the pernicious example I have

shown, and tremble lest their _babes_ should disobey their mandates,

and quit, in dudgeon, their mammas on any grievance. Adieu. When you

begin your next, drop the "lordship," and put "Byron" in its place.

Believe me yours, etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: J. M. B. Pigot, eldest brother of Miss E. B. Pigot (see

Letter of August 29, 1804, page 32, note 1). To him Byron addressed

his "Reply" ('Poems', vol. i. pp. 53-56) and verses "To the Sighing

Strephon" ('Ibid'., pp. 63-66). In 1805-6 Pigot was studying medicine at

Edinburgh, and in his vacations saw much of Byron. He died at

Ruddington, Notts., November 26, 1871, aged 86. It would appear that

Byron had, with the connivance of the Pigots, escaped to London, after a

quarrel with his mother; but the caution to keep his lodgings secret

gives a theatrical air to the letter, as the rooms, kept by Mrs.

Massingberd, were originally taken by Mrs. Byron, and often occupied by

her, and she was at the time corresponding with Hanson about her son's

debt to Mrs. Massingberd, who seems to have been both landlady and

money-lender to Byron.]

53.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.

London, August 10, 1806.

MY DEAR BRIDGET,--As I have already troubled your brother with more

than he will find pleasure in deciphering, you are the next to whom I

shall assign the employment of perusing this second epistle. You will

perceive from my first, that no idea of Mrs. B.'s arrival had

disturbed me at the time it was written; _not_ so the present, since

the appearance of a note from the _illustrious cause_ of my _sudden

decampment_ has driven the "natural ruby from my cheeks," and

completely blanched my woebegone countenance. This gunpowder

intimation of her arrival (confound her activity!) breathes less of

terror and dismay than you will probably imagine, from the volcanic

temperament of her ladyship; and concludes with the comfortable

assurance of _present motion_ being prevented by the fatigue of her

journey, for which my _blessings_ are due to the rough roads and

restive quadrupeds of his Majesty's highways. As I have not the

smallest inclination to be chased round the country, I shall e'en make

a merit of necessity; and since, like Macbeth, "they've tied me to the

stake, I cannot fly," I shall imitate that valorous tyrant, and

bear-like fight the "course," all escape being precluded. I can now

engage with less disadvantage, having drawn the enemy from her

intrenchments, though, like the _prototype_ to whom I have compared

myself, with an excellent chance of being knocked on the head.

However, "lay on Macduff", and "damned be he who first cries, Hold,

enough."

I shall remain in town for, at least, a week, and expect to hear from

_you_ before its expiration. I presume the printer has brought you the

offspring of my _poetic mania_. [1] Remember in the first line to read

"_loud_ the winds whistle," instead of "round," which that blockhead

Ridge had inserted by mistake, and makes nonsense of the whole stanza.

Addio!--Now to encounter my _Hydra_.

Yours ever.

[Footnote 1: Byron's first volume of verse was now in the press. The

line to which he alludes is the first line of the poem, "On Leaving

Newstead Abbey" ('Poems', vol. i. pp. 1-4). It now runs--

"Through thy battlements, Newstead, the hollow winds whistle."

(For the bibliography of his early poems, see 'Poems', vol. i.,

Bibliographical Note; and vol. vi., Appendix.) The first collection

('Fugitive Pieces', printed by S. and J. Ridge, Newark, 4to, 1806) was

destroyed, with the exception of two copies, by the advice of the Rev.

J. T. Becher (see page 182 [Letter 94], [Foot]note 1 [2]). The second

collection ('Poems on Various Occasions', printed by S. and J. Ridge,

Newark, 12mo, 1807) was published anonymously. It is to this edition

that Letters 60, 61, 65, 67, 68, 69, 70, refer.

In the summer of 1807, 'Poems on Various Occasions' was superseded by

the third collection, called 'Hours of Idleness' (printed by S. and J.

Ridge, Newark, 12mo, 1807), published with the author's name. To this

edition Letters 76 and 78 refer. 'Hours of Idleness' was reviewed by

Lord Brougham ('Notes from a Diary', by Sir M. E. Grant Duff, vol. ii.

p. 189) in the 'Edinburgh Review' for January, 1808.

The fourth and final collection, entitled 'Poems Original and

Translated' (printed by S. and J. Ridge, Newark, 12mo, 1808), was

dedicated to the Earl of Carlisle.

54.--To John M. B. Pigot.

London, Sunday, midnight, August 10, 1806.

Dear Pigot,--This _astonishing_ packet will, doubtless, amaze you; but

having an idle hour this evening, I wrote the enclosed stanzas, [2]

which I request you will deliver to Ridge, to be printed _separate_

from my other compositions, as you will perceive them to be improper

for the perusal of ladies; of course, none of the females of your

family must see them. I offer 1000 apologies for the trouble I have

given you in this and other instances.

Yours truly.

[Footnote 1: These are probably some silly lines "To Mary," written in

the erotic style of Moore's early verse. To the same Mary, of whom

nothing is known, are addressed the lines "To Mary, on receiving her

Picture" ('Poems', vol. i. pp. 32, 33).]

55.--To John M. B. Pigot.

Piccadilly, August 16, 1806.

I cannot exactly say with Caesar, "Veni, vidi, vici:" however, the

most important part of his laconic account of success applies to my

present situation; for, though Mrs. Byron took the _trouble_ of

"_coming_," and "_seeing_," yet your humble servant proved the

_victor_. After an obstinate engagement of some hours, in which we

suffered considerable damage, from the quickness of the enemy's fire,

they at length retired in confusion, leaving behind the artillery,

field equipage, and some prisoners: their defeat is decisive for the

present campaign. To speak more intelligibly, Mrs. B. returns

immediately, but I proceed, with all my laurels, to Worthing, on the

Sussex coast; to which place you will address (to be left at the post

office) your next epistle. By the enclosure of a second _gingle of

rhyme_, you will probably conceive my muse to be _vastly prolific_;

her inserted production was brought forth a few years ago, and found

by accident on Thursday among some old papers. I have recopied it,

and, adding the proper date, request that it may be printed with the

rest of the family. I thought your sentiments on the last bantling

would coincide with mine, but it was impossible to give it any other

garb, being founded on _facts_. My stay at Worthing will not exceed

three weeks, and you may _possibly_ behold me again at Southwell the

middle of September.

Will you desire Ridge to suspend the printing of my poems till he

hears further from me, as I have determined to give them a new form

entirely? This prohibition does not extend to the two last pieces I

have sent with my letters to you. You will excuse the _dull vanity_ of

this epistle, as my brain is a _chaos_ of absurd images, and full of

business, preparations, and projects.

I shall expect an answer with impatience;--believe me, there is

nothing at this moment could give me greater delight than your letter.

56.--To John M. B. Pigot.

London, August 18, 1806.

I am just on the point of setting off for Worthing, and write merely

to request you will send that _idle scoundrel Charles_ with my horses

immediately; tell him I am excessively provoked he has not made his

appearance before, or written to inform me of the cause of his delay,

particularly as I supplied him with money for his journey. On _no_

pretext is he to postpone his _march_ one day longer; and if, in

obedience to the caprices of Mrs. B. (who, I presume, is again

spreading desolation through her little monarchy), he thinks proper to

disregard my positive orders, I shall not, in future, consider him as

my servant. He must bring the surgeon's bill with him, which I will

discharge immediately on receiving it. Nor can I conceive the reason

of his not acquainting Frank with the state of my unfortunate

quadrupeds. Dear Pigot, forgive this _petulant_ effusion, and

attribute it to the idle conduct of that _precious_ rascal, who,

instead of obeying my injunctions, is sauntering through the streets

of that _political Pandemonium_, Nottingham. Present my remembrance to

your family and the Leacrofts, and believe me, etc.

P.S.--I delegate to _you_ the unpleasant task of despatching him on

his journey--Mrs. B.'s orders to the contrary are not to be attended

to: he is to proceed first to London, and then to Worthing, without

delay. Every thing I have _left_ must be sent to London. My _Poetics

you_ will _pack up_ for the same place, and not even reserve a copy

for yourself and sister, as I am about to give them an _entire new

form_: when they are complete, you shall have the _first fruits_. Mrs.

B. on no account is to _see_ or touch them. Adieu.

57.--To John M. B. Pigot.

Little Hampton, August 26, 1806.

I this morning received your epistle, which I was obliged to send for

to Worthing, whence I have removed to this place, on the same coast,

about eight miles distant from the former. You will probably not be

displeased with this letter, when it informs you that I am £30,000

richer than I was at our parting, having just received intelligence

from my lawyer that a cause has been gained at Lancaster assizes, [1]

which will be worth that sum by the time I come of age. Mrs. B. is,

doubtless, acquainted of this acquisition, though not apprised of its

exact _value_, of which she had better be ignorant; for her behaviour

under any sudden piece of favourable intelligence, is, if possible,

more ridiculous than her detestable conduct on the most trifling

circumstances of an unpleasant nature. You may give my compliments to

her, and say that her detaining my servant's things shall only

lengthen my absence: for unless they are immediately despatched to 16,

Piccadilly, together with those which have been so long delayed,

belonging to myself, she shall never again behold my _radiant

countenance_ illuminating her gloomy mansion. If they are sent, I may

probably appear in less than two years from the date of my present

epistle.

Metrical compliment is an ample reward for my strains: you are one of

the few votaries of Apollo who unite the sciences over which that

deity presides. I wish you to send my poems to my lodgings in London

immediately, as I have several alterations and some additions to make;

_every_ copy must be sent, as I am about to _amend_ them, and you

shall soon behold them in all their glory. I hope you have kept them

from that upas tree, that antidote to the arts, Mrs. B. _Entre nous_,

--you may expect to see me soon. Adieu.

Yours ever.

[Footnote 1: Byron was disappointed in his expectations. Fresh legal

difficulties arose, and Newstead had to be sold before they were settled

(see page 78 [Letter 34], [Foot]note 2).]

58.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot. [1]

My Dear Bridget,--I have only just dismounted from my _Pegasus_, which

has prevented me from descending to _plain prose_ in an epistle of

greater length to your _fair_ self. You regretted, in a former letter,

that my poems were not more extensive; I now for your satisfaction

announce that I have nearly doubled them, partly by the discovery of

some I conceived to be lost, and partly by some new productions. We

shall meet on Wednesday next; till then, believe me,

Yours affectionately,

BYRON.

P.S.--Your brother John is seized with a poetic mania, and is now

rhyming away at the rate of three lines _per hour_--so much for

_inspiration_! Adieu!

[Footnote 1: This letter was written about September, 1806, from

Harrogate, where Byron had gone with John Pigot. It forms the conclusion

of a longer letter, written by Pigot to his sister, from which Moore

quotes ('Life', p. 37) the following passage:--

"Harrowgate is still extremely full; Wednesday (to-day) is our

ball-night, and I meditate going into the room for an hour, although I

am by no means fond of strange faces. Lord B., you know, is even more

shy than myself; but for an hour this evening I will shake it off....

How do our theatricals proceed? Lord Byron can say 'all' his part, and

I 'most' of mine. He certainly acts it inimitably. Lord B. is now

'poetising', and, since he has been here, has written some very pretty

verses ['To a Beautiful Quaker,' see 'Poems', vol. i. pp. 38-41]. He

is very good in trying to amuse me as much as possible, but it is not

in my nature to be happy without either female society or study....

There are many pleasant rides about here, which I have taken in

company with Bo'swain, who, with Brighton, is universally admired.

'You' must read this to Mrs. B., as it is a little 'Tony Lumpkinish'.

Lord B. desires some space left: therefore, with respect to all the

comedians 'elect', believe me," etc., etc.

(For the theatricals to which Mr. Pigot alludes, see page 117 [Letter

65], [Foot]note 3 [4].) Brighton, it may be added, was one of Byron's

horses; the other was called Sultan. Bo'swain was the dog to which Byron

addressed the well-known epitaph (see 'Poems', vol. i. pp. 280, 281, and

note 1).

Moore also quotes Pigot's recollections of the visit to Harrogate

('Life', pp. 37, 38).

"We, I remember, went in Lord Byron's own carriage, with post-horses;

and he sent his groom with two saddle-horses, and a beautifully

formed, very ferocious, bull-mastiff, called Nelson, to meet us there.

Boatswain went by the side of his valet Frank on the box, with us.

"The bull-dog, Nelson, always wore a muzzle, and was occasionally sent

for into our private room, when the muzzle was taken off, much to my

annoyance, and he and his master amused themselves with throwing the

room into disorder. There was always a jealous feud between this

Nelson and Boatswain; and whenever he latter came into the room while

the former was there, they instantly seized each other; and then,

Byron, myself, Frank, and all the waiters that could be found, were

vigorously engaged in parting them,--which was in general only

effected by thrusting poker and tongs into the mouths of each. But,

one day, Nelson unfortunately escaped out of the room without his

muzzle, and going into the stable-yard fastened upon the throat of a

horse from which he could not be disengaged. The stable-boys ran in

alarm to find Frank, who taking one of his Lord's Wogdon's pistols,

always kept loaded in his room, shot poor Nelson through the head, to

the great regret of Byron.

"We were at the Crown Inn, at Low Harrowgate. We always dined in the

public room, but retired very soon after dinner to our private one;

for Byron was no more a friend to drinking than myself. We lived

retired, and made few acquaintance; for he was naturally shy, 'very'

shy; which people who did not know him mistook for pride. While at

Harrowgate he accidentally met with Professor Hailstone from

Cambridge, and appeared much delighted to see him. The professor was

at Upper Harrowgate: we called upon him one evening to take him to the

theatre, I think,--and Lord Byron sent his carriage for him, another

time, to a ball at the Granby. This desire to show attention to one of

the professors of his college is a proof that, though he might choose

to satirise the mode of education in the university, and to abuse the

antiquated regulations and restrictions to which undergraduates are

subjected, he had yet a due discrimination in his respect for the

individuals who belonged to it. I have always, indeed, heard him speak

in high terms of praise of Hailstone, as well as of his master, Bishop

Mansel, of Trinity College, and of others whose names I have now

forgotten.

"Few people understood Byron; but I know that he had naturally a kind

and feeling heart, and that there was not a single spark of malice in

his composition."

Professor Hailstone was Woodwardian Professor of Geology (1788-1818).

(For Bishop Mansel, see page 84, note 1.)]

59.--To John Hanson. [1]

Southwell, Dec. 7th, 1806.

Sir,--A Letter to Mrs. Byron has just arrived which states, from what

"you have _heard_ of the Tenor of my Letters," you will not put up

with Insult. I presume this means (for I will not be positive on what

is rather ambiguously expressed) that some offence to you has been

conveyed in the above mentioned Epistles. If you will peruse the

papers in question, you will discover that the _person_ insulted is

not _yourself_, or any one of your "_Connections_." On Mr. B.'s

apology, I have expressed my opinion in a Letter to your Son, if any

Misrepresentation has taken place, it must be those "Connections" to

whom I am to pay such Deference, & whose conduct to me has deserved

such _ample respect_. I must now beg leave to observe in turn, that I

am by no means disposed to bear Insult, &, be the consequences what

they may, I will always declare, in plain and explicit Terms, my

Grievance, nor will I overlook the slightest Mark of disrespect, &

silently brood over affronts from a mean and interested dread of

Injury to my person or property. The former I have Strength and

resolution to protect; the latter is too trifling by its Loss to

occasion a moments Uneasiness.

Though not conversant with the methodical & dilatory arrangements of

Law or Business, I know enough of Justice to direct my conduct by the

principles of Equity, nor can I reconcile the "Insolence of office" to

her regulations or forget in an Instant a poignant Affront.

But enough of this Dispute. You will perceive my Sentiments on the

Subject, in my correspondence with Mr. B. and Mr. H. Junior. In future

to prevent a repetition and altercation I shall advise; but as, even

then, some Demur may take place, I wish to be informed, if the

equitable Court of Chancery, whose paternal care of their Ward can

never be sufficiently commended, have determined, in the great Flow of

parental Affection, to withhold their beneficent Support, till I

return to "Alma Mater" (i.e.) Cambridge. Your Information on this

point will oblige, as a College life is neither conducive to my

Improvement, nor suitable to my Inclination. As to the reverse of the

Rochdale Trial, I received the News of Success without confidence or

exultation; I now sustain the Loss without repining. My Expectations

from _Law_ were never very sanguine.

I remain, yr very obedt. sert.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Hanson's partner, Birch, the "Mr. B." of the letter, seems

to have irritated Byron by withholding the income allotted to him by the

Court of Chancery for his education at Cambridge. The attempt to compel

his return to Trinity by cutting off the supplies, failed. He did not

appear again at Cambridge till the summer term of 1807.]

60.--To J. Ridge.

Dorant's Hotel, Albemarle Street, Jany. 12, 1807.

Mr. Ridge,--I understand from some of my friends, that several of the

papers are in the habit of publishing extracts from my volume,

particularly the _Morning Herald_. I cannot say for my own part I have

observed this, but I am assured it is so. The thing is of no

consequence to me, except that I dislike it. But it is to you, and as

publisher you should put a stop to it. The _Morning Herald_ is the

paper; of course you cannot address any other, as I am sure I have

seen nothing of the kind in mine. You will act upon this as you think

proper, and proceed with the 2d. Edition as you please. I am in no

hurry, and I still think you were _premature_ in undertaking it.

Etc., etc.,

BYRON.

P.S.--Present a copy of the _Antijacobin_ therein to Mrs. Byron.

61.--To John M. B. Pigot.

Southwell, Jan. 13, 1807.

I ought to begin with _sundry_ apologies, for my own negligence, but

the variety of my avocations in _prose_ and _verse_ must plead my

excuse. With this epistle you will receive a volume of all my

_Juvenilia_, published since your departure: it is of considerably

greater size than the _copy_ in your possession, which I beg you will

destroy, as the present is much more complete. That _unlucky_ poem to

my poor Mary [1] has been the cause of some animadversion from _ladies

in years_. I have not printed it in this collection, in consequence of

my being pronounced a most _profligate sinner_, in short, a "_young

Moore_," [2] by------, your----friend. I believe, in general, they

have been favourably received, and surely the age of their author will

preclude _severe_ criticism. The adventures of my life from sixteen to

nineteen, and the dissipation into which I have been thrown in London,

have given a voluptuous tint to my ideas; but the occasions which

called forth my muse could hardly admit any other colouring. This

volume is _vastly_ correct and miraculously chaste. Apropos, talking

of love, ...

...

If you can find leisure to answer this farrago of unconnected

nonsense, you need not doubt what gratification will accrue from your

reply to yours ever, etc.

[Footnote 1: See page 104 [Letter 53], [Foot]note 2 [1].]

[Footnote 2: Thomas Moore (1779-1852) had already published 'Anacreon'

(1800), 'The Poetical Works of the late Thomas Little' (1801), and

'Odes, Epistles, and other Poems' (1806). In all, especially in the

second, the poetry was of an erotic character.

"So heartily," said Rogers ('Table-Talk, etc.', pp. 281, 282), "has

Moore repented of having published 'Little's Poems', that I have seen

him shed tears--tears of deep contrition--when we were talking of

them. Young ladies read his 'Lalla Rookh' without being aware (I

presume) of the grossness of 'The Veiled Prophet'. These lines by Mr.

Sneyd are amusing enough--

"''Lalla Rookh'

Is a naughty book

By Tommy Moore,

Who has written four,

Each warmer

Than the former.

So the most recent

Is the least decent.'"]

62.--To Captain John Leacroft. [1]

January 31, 1807.

Sir,--Upon serious reflection on the conversation we last night held,

I am concerned to say, that the only effectual method to crash the

animadversions of officious malevolence, is by my declining all future

intercourse with those whom my acquaintance has unintentionally

injured. At the same time I must observe that I do not form this

resolution from any resentment at your representation, which was

temperate and gentlemanly, but from a thorough conviction that the

desirable end can be attained by no other line of conduct.

I beg leave to return my thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Leacroft, for the

attention and hospitality I have always experienced, of which I shall

ever retain a grateful remembrance.

So much to them; with your permission, I must add a few words for

myself. You will be sensible, that a coolness between families,

hitherto remarkable for their intimacy, cannot remain unobserved in a

town, whose inhabitants are notorious for officious curiosity; that

the causes for our separation will be mis-represented I have little

doubt; if, therefore, I discover that such misrepresentation does take

place, I shall call upon you, to unite with myself in making a serious

example of those _men_, be they _who_ they may, that dare to cast an

aspersion on the character I am sacrificing my own comfort to protect.

If, on the other hand, they imagine, that my conduct is the

consequence of intimidation, from my conference with you, I must

require a further explanation of what passed between us on the

subject, as, however careful I am of your Sister's honour, I am

equally tenacious of my own.

I do not wish this to be misconstrued into any desire to quarrel; it

is what I shall endeavour to avoid; but, as a young man very lately

entered into the world, I feel compelled to state, that I can permit

no suspicion to be attached to my name with impunity.

I have the honour to remain,

Your very obedient Servant,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: This and the two following letters refer to a quarrel

between Byron and the Leacroft family, which arose from his attentions

to Miss Julia Leacroft. Moore's statement, that Captain Leacroft, the

lady's brother (see page 34 [Letter 12], [foot]note 3), sent a challenge

to Byron, who was at first inclined to accept it, is inaccurate. But it

is possible that Byron was acting on the advice of the Rev. J. T.

Becher, when he decided, in order to prevent misunderstanding, to break

off his acquaintance with the Leacrofts absolutely.]

63.--To Captain John Leacroft.

February 4th, 1807.

Sir,--I have just received your note, which conveys all that can be

said on the subject. I can easily conceive your feelings must have

been irritated in the course of the affair. I am sorry that I have

been the unintentional cause of so disagreeable a business. The line

of conduct, however painful to myself, which I have adopted, is the

only effectual method to prevent the remarks of a _meddling world_. I

therefore again take my leave for the last time. I repeat, that,

though the intercourse, from which I have derived so many hours of

happiness, is for ever interrupted, the remembrance can never be

effaced from the bosom of

Your very obedient Servant,

BYRON.

64.--To Captain John Leacroft.

February 4th, 1807.

Sir,--I am concerned to be obliged again to trouble you, as I had hoped

that our conversations had terminated amicably. Your good Father, it

seems, has desired otherwise; he has just sent a most _agreeable_

epistle, in which I am honoured with the appellations of _unfeeling_ and

ungrateful. But as the consequences of all this must ultimately fall on

you and myself, I merely write this to apprise you that the dispute is

not of my seeking, and that, if we must cut each other's throats to

please our relations, you will do me the justice to say it is from no

_personal_ animosity between us, or from any insult on my part, that

such _disagreeable_ events (for I am not so much enamoured of quarrels

as to call them _pleasant_) have arisen.

I remain, your's, etc.,

BYRON.

65.-To the Earl of Clare. [1]

Southwell, Notts, February 6, 1807.

My Dearest Clare,--Were I to make all the apologies necessary to atone

for my late negligence, you would justly say you had received a

petition instead of a letter, as it would be filled with prayers for

forgiveness; but instead of this, I will acknowledge my _sins_ at

once, and I trust to your friendship and generosity rather than to my

own excuses. Though my health is not perfectly re-established, I am

out of all danger, and have recovered every thing but my spirits,

which are subject to depression. You will be astonished to hear I have

lately written to Delawarr, [2] for the purpose of explaining (as far

as possible without involving some _old friends_ of mine in the

business) the cause of my behaviour to him during my last residence at

Harrow (nearly two years ago), which you will recollect was rather

"_en cavalier_." Since that period, I have discovered he was treated

with injustice both by those who misrepresented his conduct, and by me

in consequence of their suggestions. I have therefore made all the

reparation in my power, by apologizing for my mistake, though with

very faint hopes of success; indeed I never expected any answer, but

desired one for form's sake; _that_ has not yet arrived, and most

probably never will. However, I have _eased_ my own _conscience_ by

the atonement, which is humiliating enough to one of my disposition;

yet I could not have slept satisfied with the reflection of having,

_even unintentionally_, injured any individual. I have done all that

could be done to repair the injury, and there the affair must end.

Whether we renew our intimacy or not is of very trivial consequence.

My time has lately been much occupied with very different pursuits. I

have been _transporting_ a servant, [3] who cheated me,--rather a

disagreeable event;--performing in private theatricals;

[4]--publishing a volume of poems (at the request of my friends, for

their perusal);--making love,--and taking physic. The two last

amusements have not had the best effect in the world; for my

attentions have been divided amongst so many fair damsels, and the

drugs I swallow are of such variety in their composition, that between

Venus and Æsculapius I am harassed to death. However, I have still

leisure to devote some hours to the recollections of past, regretted

friendships, and in the interval to take the advantage of the moment,

to assure you how much I am, and ever will be, my dearest Clare,

Your truly attached and sincere

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: John Fitzgibbon (1792-1851), son of the first Earl of

Clare, by his wife Anne Whaley, succeeded his father as second Earl in

January, 1802. A schoolfellow of Byron's at Harrow, he was the "Lycus"

of "Childish Recollections," and one of his dearest friends. Clare,

after leaving Harrow, went to a private tutor, the Rev. Mr. Smith, at

Woodnesborough, near Sandwich. There he formed so close a friendship

with Lord John Russell as to provoke Byron's jealousy ('Life', p. 21).

Clare was at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A. 1812); Byron at Trinity,

Cambridge. They rarely met after leaving Harrow. Their meeting on the

road between Imola and Bologna in 1821,

"annihilated for a moment," says Byron (see 'Life', p. 540; 'Detached

Thoughts', November 5, 1821), "all the years between the present time

and the days of Harrow. We were but five minutes together, and on the

public road; but I hardly recollect an hour of my existence which

could be weighed against them. Of all I have ever known, he has always

been the least altered in everything from the excellent qualities and

kind affections which attached me to him so strongly at school. I

should hardly have thought it possible for society (or the world, as

it is called) to leave a being with so little of the leaven of bad

passions. I do not speak from personal experience only, but from all I

have ever heard of him from others, during absence and distance."

Lord Clare was Governor of Bombay from 1830 to 1834.]

[Footnote 2: See page 41 [Letter 14], note 1 [Footnote 5].]

[Footnote 3: See page 81 [Letter 38], [Foot]note 1.]

[Footnote 4: In the theatricals, which took place at Southwell in the

autumn of 1806, Byron was the chief mover. A letter received by Mr.

Pigot, quoted by Moore ('Life', p. 38), shows how eagerly his return

from Harrogate was expected:--

"Tell Lord Byron that, if any accident should retard his return, his

mother desires he will write to her, as she shall be 'miserable' if he

does not arrive the day he fixes. Mr. W. B. has written a card to Mrs.

H. to offer for the character of 'Henry Woodville,'--Mr. and Mrs.----

not approving of their son's taking a part in the play: but I believe

he will persist in it. Mr. G. W. says, that sooner than the party

should be disappointed, 'he' will take any part,--sing--dance--in

short, do any thing to oblige. Till Lord Byron returns, nothing can be

done; and positively he must not be later than Tuesday or Wednesday."

A full account of the theatricals is given in a manuscript written by

Miss Bristoe, one of the performers. Two plays were represented, (1)

Cumberland's 'Wheel of Fortune' and (2) Allingham's 'Weathercock'. The

following were the respective casts:--

(1) 'Penruddock', Lord Byron.

'Sir David Daw', Mr. C. Becher.

'Woodville', Captain Lightfoot.

'Sydenham', Mr. Pigot.

'Henry Woodville', Mr. H. Houson.

'Mrs. Woodville', Miss Bristoe.

'Emily Tempest', Miss J. Leacroft

'Dame Dunckley', Miss Leacroft.

'Weazel', Mr. G. Wylde.

'Jenkins', Mr. G. Heathcote.

(2) 'Tristram Fickle', Lord Byron.

'Old Fickle', Mr. Pigot.

'Briefwit', Captain Lightfoot.

'Sneer', Mr. R. Leacroft.

'Variella', Miss Bristoe.

'Ready', Miss Leacroft.

'Gardener', Mr. C. Becher.

'Barber', Mr. G. Wylde.

Between the two plays, a member of the Southwell choir sang "The Death

of Abercrombie." The brave General, attended by two aides-de-camp, all

three in the costume of the Southwell volunteers, appeared on the stage,

and the General, sinking into the outstretched arms of his two friends,

warbled out his dying words in a style which convulsed Byron with

laughter.

The play itself nearly came to an untimely conclusion. Captain Lightfoot

screwed his failing courage to the sticking point by several glasses of

wine, with the result that, being a very abstemious man, he became

tipsy. But "restoratives were administered," and he went through his

part with credit. Byron, who was the star of the company, repeatedly

brought down the house by his acting.

(For Byron's Prologue to 'The Wheel of Fortune', see 'Poems', vol. i.

pp. 45, 46.) Moore's account of the epilogue, written by the Rev. J. T.

Becher, and spoken by Byron, is erroneous. Only one word gave any

opportunity for mimicry. It occurs in the lines--

"Tempest becalmed forgets his blust'ring rage,

He calls Dame Dunckley 'sister' off the stage."

In pronouncing the word "sister," Byron "took off exactly the voice and

manner of Mr. R. Leacroft."]

66.--To Mrs. Hanson.

Southwell, Feb. 8, 1807.

Dear Madam,--Having understood from Mrs. Byron that Mr. Hanson is in a

very indifferent State of Health, I have taken the Liberty of

addressing you on the Subject.

Though the _Governor_ & _I_ have lately not been on the _best_ of

_Terms_, yet I should be extremely sorry to learn he was in Danger,

and I trust _he_ and _I_ will live to have many more _Squabbles_ in

_this world_, before we _finally make peace_ in the next. If therefore

you can favor me with any _salutary_ Intelligence of the _aforesaid_

Gentleman, believe me, nothing will be more acceptable to

Yours very truly,

BYRON.

P.S.--Remember me to all the family now in _Garrison_, particularly my

old Friend Harriet.

67.--To William Bankes. [1]

Southwell, March 6, 1807.

Dear Bankes,--Your critique is valuable for many reasons: in the first

place, it is the only one in which flattery has borne so slight a

part; in the _next_, I am _cloyed_ with insipid compliments. I have a

better opinion of your judgment and ability than your _feelings_.

Accept my most sincere thanks for your kind decision, not less

welcome, because totally unexpected. With regard to a more exact

estimate, I need not remind you how few of the _best poems_, in our

language, will stand the test of _minute_ or _verbal_ criticism: it

can, therefore, hardly be expected the effusions of a boy (and most of

these pieces have been produced at an early period) can derive much

merit either from the subject or composition. Many of them were

written under great depression of spirits, and during severe

indisposition:--hence the gloomy turn of the ideas. We coincide in

opinion that the "_poësies érotiques_" are the most exceptionable;

they were, however, grateful to the _deities_, on whose altars they

were offered--more I seek not.

The portrait of Pomposus [2] was drawn at Harrow, after a _long

sitting_; this accounts for the resemblance, or rather the

_caricatura_. He is _your_ friend, he _never was mine_--for both our

sakes I shall be silent on this head. The _collegiate_ rhymes [3] are

not personal--one of the notes may appear so, but could not be

omitted. I have little doubt they will be deservedly abused--a just

punishment for my unfilial treatment of so excellent an Alma Mater. I

sent you no copy, lest _we_ should be placed in the situation of _Gil

Blas_ and the _Archbishop_ of Grenada; [4] though running some hazard

from the experiment, I wished your _verdict_ to be unbiassed. Had my

"_Libellus_" been presented previous to your letter, it would have

appeared a species of bribe to purchase compliment. I feel no

hesitation in saying, I was more anxious to hear your critique,

however severe, than the praises of the _million_. On the same day I

was honoured with the encomiums of _Mackenzie_, the celebrated author

of the _Man of Feeling_ [5] Whether _his_ approbation or _yours_

elated me most, I cannot decide.

You will receive my _Juvenilia_,--at least all yet published. I have a

large volume in manuscript, which may in part appear hereafter; at

present I have neither time nor inclination to prepare it for the

press. In the spring I shall return to Trinity, to dismantle my rooms,

and bid you a final adieu. The _Cam_ will not be much increased by my

_tears_ on the occasion. Your further remarks, however _caustic_ or

bitter, to a palate vitiated with the _sweets of adulation_, will be

of service. Johnson has shown us _that no poetry_ is perfect; but to

correct mine would be an Herculean labour. In fact I never looked

beyond the moment of composition, and published merely at the request

of my friends. Notwithstanding so much has been said concerning the

"Genus irritabile vatum," we shall never quarrel on the

subject--poetic fame is by no means the "acme" of my wishes.--Adieu.

Yours ever,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: William John Bankes, of Kingston Lacy, Dorsetshire, was

Byron's friend, possibly at Harrow, though his name does not occur in

the school lists, certainly at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A. 1808).

He represented Truro from 1810 to 1812, when he left England on his

Eastern travels. At Philæ he discovered an obelisk, the geometrical

elevation and inscriptions of which he published in 1820. In Mesopotamia

he encountered John Silk Buckingham, whom he afterwards charged with

making use of his notes in his 'Travels', a statement, found to be

libellous, which (October 19, 1826) cost Bankes £400 in damages. He also

travelled with Giovanni Finati, a native of Ferrara, who, under the

assumed name of Mahomet, made the campaigns against the Wahabees for the

recovery of Mecca and Medina. Finati's Italian 'Narrative' was

translated by Bankes, to whom it is dedicated by his "attached and

faithful servant Hadjee Mahomet," and published in 1830. In 1822 Bankes

was elected M.P. for Cambridge University, but lost his seat to Sir J.

Copley in 1826. At a bye-election in 1827, he was again unsuccessful.

His candidature gave occasion to Macaulay's squib, which appeared in the

'Times' for May 14, 1827, 'A Country Clergyman's Trip to Cambridge'.

"A letter--and free--bring it here:

I have no correspondent who franks.

No! Yes! Can it be? Why, my dear,

'Tis our glorious, our Protestant Bankes.

'Dear Sir as I know your desire

That the Church should receive due protection,

I humbly presume to require

Your aid at the Cambridge election,'"etc., etc.

Bankes subsequently represented Marlborough (1829-1832) and Dorsetshire

(1833-1834). He was Byron's "collegiate pastor, and master and patron,"

"ruled the roast" at Trinity, "or, rather, the 'roasting', and was

father of all mischief" (Byron to Murray, October 12, 1820). "William

Bankes," Byron told Lady Blessington ('Conversations', p. 172), "is

another of my early friends. He is very clever, very original, and has

a fund of information: he is also very good-natured, but he is not much

of a flatterer." Bankes died at Venice in 1855.]

[Footnote 2: Dr. Butler, Head-master of Harrow. (See page 58 [Letter

22],[Foot]note 1.)]

[Footnote 3: "Thoughts suggested by a College Examination" ('Poems',

vol. i. pp. 28-31); and "Granta, A Medley" ('Poems', vol. i. pp. 56-62).]

[Footnote 4: Alluding to 'Gil Blas', bk. vii. chap, iv., where Gil Blas

ventures to criticize the Archbishop's work, and is dismissed for his

candour.

"Adieu, monsieur Gil Blas; Je vous souhaite toutes sortes de

prosperités, avec un peu plus de goût."]

[Footnote 5: The praise was worth having. Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831)

was not only the author of the lackadaisical 'Man of Feeling', but in

real life a shrewd, hard-headed man. As a novelist, he wrote 'The Man of

Feeling' (1771), 'The Man of Honour' (1773), and 'Julia de Roubigne'

(1777). As a playwright, he produced four plays, none of which

succeeded. As an essayist, he contributed to the 'Mirror' (1779-80) and

the 'Lounger' (1785-86). As a political writer, he supported Pitt, and

was rewarded by the comptrollership of taxes. An original member of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh, many of his papers appear in its

'Transactions'. In Edinburgh society he was "the life of the company," a

connecting link on the literary side between David Hume, Walter Scott,

and Lord Cockburn, and in all matters of sport a fund of anecdotes and

reminiscences.]

68.--To William Bankes. [1]

For my own part, I have suffered severely in the decease of my two

greatest friends, the only beings I ever loved (females excepted); I

am therefore a solitary animal, miserable enough, and so perfectly a

citizen of the world, that whether I pass my days in Great Britain or

Kamschatka, is to me a matter of perfect indifference. I cannot evince

greater respect for your alteration than by immediately adopting

it--this shall be done in the next edition. I am sorry your remarks

are not more frequent, as I am certain they would be equally

beneficial. Since my last, I have received two critical opinions from

Edinburgh, both too flattering for me to detail. One is from Lord

Woodhouselee, [2] at the head of the Scotch literati, and a most

_voluminous_ writer (his last work is a _Life_ of Lord Kaimes); the

other from Mackenzie, who sent his decision a second time, more at

length. I am not personally acquainted with either of these gentlemen,

nor ever requested their sentiments on the subject: their praise is

voluntary, and transmitted through the medium of a friend, at whose

house they read the productions.

Contrary to my former intention, I am now preparing a volume for the

public at large: my amatory pieces will be exchanged, and others

substituted in their place. The whole will be considerably enlarged,

and appear the latter end of May. This is a hazardous experiment; but

want of better employment, the encouragement I have met with, and my

own vanity, induce me to stand the test, though not without _sundry

palpitations_. The book will circulate fast enough in this country

from mere curiosity; what I prin----...

[letter incomplete]

[Footnote 1: This fragment refers, like the previous letter, to Byron's

volume of verse, 'Poems on Various Occasions'.]

[Footnote 2: Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee, one of the

Senators of the College of Justice in Scotland, and a friend of Robert

Burns. Besides the 'Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Hon. Henry

Home of Kames' (1807), he published 'Elements of General History'

(1801), 'Essay on the Principles of Translation', etc. He died in 1813.

His 'Universal History', in six vols., appeared in 1834.]

69.--To----Falkner. [1]

Sir,--The volume of little pieces which accompanies this, would have

been presented before, had I not been apprehensive that Miss Falkner's

indisposition might render some trifles unwelcome. There are some

errors of the printer which I have not had time to correct in the

collection: you have it thus, with "all its imperfections on its

head," a heavy weight, when joined with the faults of its author. Such

_Juvenilia_, as they can claim no great degree of approbation, I may

venture to hope, will also escape the severity of uncalled for, though

perhaps _not_ undeserved, criticism.

They were written on many and various occasions, and are now published

merely for the perusal of a friendly circle. Believe me, sir, if they

afford the slightest amusement to yourself and the rest of my _social_

readers, I shall have gathered all the _bays_ I ever wish to adorn the

head of yours very truly,

BYRON.

P.S.--I hope Miss F. is in a state of recovery.

[Footnote 1: Mrs. Byron's landlord at Burgage Manor.]

70.--To John Hanson.

[Farleigh House, Basingstoke, Hants.]

Southwell, April 2nd, 1807.

Dear Sir,--Before I proceed in Reply to the other parts of your

Epistle, allow me to congratulate you on the _Accession_ of _Dignity_

and _profit_, which will doubtless accrue, from your official

appointment.

You was fortunate in obtaining Possession at so critical a period;

your Patrons "exeunt omnes." [1] I trust they will soon supersede the

Cyphers, their successors. The Reestablishment of your Health is

another happy event, and, though _secondary_ in my _Statement_, is by

no means so in my _Wishes_. As to our Feuds, they are purely

_official_, the natural consequence of our relative Situations, but as

little connected with _personal animosity_, as the _Florid

Declamations_ of _parliamentary_ Demagogues. I return you my thanks

for your favorable opinion of my muse; I have lately been honoured

with many very flattering literary critiques, from men of high

Reputation in the Sciences, particularly Lord Woodhouselee and Henry

Mackenzie, both _Scots_ and of great Eminence as Authors themselves. I

have received also some most favorable Testimonies from _Cambridge_.

This you will _marvel_ at, as indeed I did myself. Encouraged by these

and several other Encomiums, I am about to publish a Volume at large;

this will be very different from the present; the amatory effusions,

not to be wondered at from the _dissipated_ Life I have led, will be

cut out, and others substituted. I coincide with you in opinion that

the _Poet_ yields to the _orator_; but as nothing can be done in the

latter capacity till the Expiration of my _Minority_, the former

occupies my present attention, and both _ancients_ and _moderns_ have

declared that the two pursuits are so nearly similar as to require in

a great measure the same Talents, and he who excels in the one, would

on application succeed in the other. Lyttleton, Glover, and Young (who

was a celebrated Preacher and a Bard) are instances of the kind.

_Sheridan & Fox_ also; _these_ are _great Names_. I may imitate, I can

never equal them.

You speak of the _Charms_ of Southwell; the _Place_ I _abhor_. The

Fact is I remain here because I can appear no where else, being

_completely done_ up. _Wine_ and _Women_ have _dished_ your _humble

Servant_, not a _Sou_ to be _had_; all _over_; condemned to exist (I

cannot say live) at this _Crater_ of Dullness till my _Lease_ of

_Infancy_ expires. To appear at Cambridge is impossible; no money even

to pay my College expences. You will be surprized to hear I am grown

_very thin_; however it is the _Fact_, so much so, that the people

here think I am _going_. I have lost 18 LB in my weight, that is one

Stone & 4 pounds since January, this was ascertained last Wednesday,

on account of a _Bet_ with an acquaintance. However don't be alarmed;

I have taken every means to accomplish the end, by violent exercise

and Fasting, as I found myself too plump. I shall continue my

Exertions, having no other amusement; I wear _seven_ Waistcoats and a

great Coat, run, and play at cricket in this Dress, till quite

exhausted by excessive perspiration, use the Hip Bath daily; eat only

a quarter of a pound of Butcher's Meat in 24 hours, no Suppers or

Breakfast, only one Meal a Day; drink no malt liquor, but a little

Wine, and take Physic occasionally. By these means my _Ribs_ display

Skin of no great Thickness, & my Clothes have been taken in nearly

_half a yard_. Do you believe me now?

Adieu. Remembrance to Spouse and the Acorns.

Yours ever,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: In March, 1807, George III demanded from the Coalition

Ministry a written pledge that they would propose no further concessions

to the Roman Catholics. They refused to give it, and the Tories, with

the Duke of Portland as their nominal head, were recalled to the

Government.]

71.--To John M. B. Pigot.

Southwell, April, 1807.

My Dear Pigot,--Allow me to congratulate you on the success of your

first examination--"_Courage_, mon ami." The title of Doctor will do

wonders with the damsels. I shall most probably be in Essex or London

when you arrive at this damned place, where I am detained by the

publication of my _rhymes_.

Adieu.--Believe me,

Yours very truly,

BYRON.

P.S.--Since we met, I have reduced myself by violent exercise, _much_

physic, and _hot_ bathing, from 14 stone 6 lb. to 12 stone 7 lb. In

all I have lost 27 pounds. [1] Bravo!--what say you?

[Footnote 1: The following extract is taken from a ledger in the

possession of Messrs. Merry, of St. James's Street, S.W.:--

"1806--January 4. Lord Byron (boots, no hat) 13 stone 12 lbs

1807--July 8. Lord Byron (shoes) 10 stone 13 lbs

1807--July 23. Lord Byron (shoes) 11 stone 0 lbs

1807--August 13. Lord Byron (shoes) 10 stone 11-1/2 lbs

1808--May 27. Lord Byron (shoes) 11 stone 1 lbs

1809--June 10. Lord Byron (shoes) 11 stone 5-3/4 lbs

1811--July 15. Lord Byron (shoes) 9 stone 11-1/2 lbs"]

72.--To John Hanson.

[6, Chancery Lane, Temple Bar, London.]

Southwell, 19 April, 1807.

Sir,--My last was an Epistle "_entre nous_;" _this_ is a _Letter_ of

_Business_, Of course the _formalities_ of _official communication_

must be attended to. From lying under pecuniary difficulties, I shall

draw for the Quarter due the 25th June, in a short Time. You will

recollect I was to receive £100 for the Expence of Furniture, etc., at

Cambridge. I placed in your possession accounts to amount and then I

have received £70, for which I believe you have my Receipt. This extra

£25 or £30 (though the Bills are long ago discharged from my own

purse) I should not have troubled you for, had not my present

Situation rendered even that Trifle of some Consequence. I have

therefore to request that my Draft for £150, instead of £125 the

simple Quarter, may be honoured, but think it necessary to apprize you

previous to its appearance, and indeed to request an early Answer, as

I had one Draft returned by Mistake from your _House_, some Months

past. I have no Inclination to be placed in a similar Dilemma.

I lent Mrs. B. _£60_ last year; of this I have never received a Sou and

in all probability never shall. I do not mention the circumstance as

any Reproach on that worthy and lamblike Dame, [1] but merely to show

you how affairs stand. 'Tis true myself and two Servants lodge in the

House, but my Horses, etc., and their expences are defrayed by your

humble Sert. I quit Cambridge in July, and shall have considerable

payments to make at that period; for this purpose I must sell my

_Steeds_. I paid Jones in January £150, £38 to my Stable Keeper, £21

to my wine Merchant, £20 to a _Lawyer_ for the prosecution of a

Scoundrel, a late Servant. In short I have done all I can, but am now

completely _done_ up.

Your answer will oblige

Yours, etc., etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Mrs. Byron, on the other hand, tells a different story.

"Lord Byron," she writes to Hanson (March 19, 1807), "has now been

with me seven months, with two Men Servants, for which I have never

received one farthing, as he requires the five hundred a year for

himself. Therefore it is impossible I can keep him and them out of my

small income of four hundred a year,--two in Scotland [Mrs. Gordon of

Gight (see Chapter I. p. 4) was dead], and the pension is now reduced

to two hundred a year. But if the Court allows the additional two

hundred, I shall be perfectly satisfied.

"I do not know what to say about Byron's returning to Cambridge. When

he was there, I believe he did nothing but drink, gamble, and spend

money."

A month later (April 29, 1807), she consults Hanson about raising £1000

by a loan from Mrs. Parkyns on her security.

"Byron from their last letter gave up all hopes of getting the money,

and behaved very well on the occasion, and proposed selling his Horses

and plans of OEconomy that I much fear will be laid aside if the Money

is procured. My only motive for wishing it was to keep him clear of

the Jews; but at present he does not seem at all disposed to have

anything to do with them, even if he is disappointed in this resource.

I wish to act for the best: but God knows what is for the best."

Eventually money was provided on Mrs. Byron's security (see Letters of

March 6 [Letter 117] and April 26 [Letter 121], 1809), and he resided at

Trinity for a few days at the end of the May term, 1807.

73.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.

June 11, 1807.

Dear Queen Bess,--_Savage_ ought to be _immortal_:--though not a

_thorough-bred bull-dog_, he is the finest puppy I ever _saw_, and

will answer much better; in his great and manifold kindness he has

already bitten my fingers, and disturbed the _gravity_ of old

Boatswain, who is _grievously discomposed_. I wish to be informed what

he _costs_, his _expenses_, etc., etc., that I may indemnify Mr.

G----. My thanks are _all_ I can give for the trouble he has taken,

make a _long speech_, and conclude it with 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. [1] I am out

of practice, so _deputize_ you as a legate,--_ambassador_ would not do

in a matter concerning the _Pope_, which I presume this must, as the

_whole_ turns upon a _Bull_.

Yours,

BYRON.

P.S.--I write in bed.

[Footnote 1: He here alludes to an odd fancy or trick of his own;

--whenever he was at a loss for something to say, he used always to

gabble over "1 2 3 4 5 6 7" (Moore).]

74.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.

Cambridge, June 30, 1807.

"Better late than never, Pal," [1] is a saying of which you know the

origin, and as it is applicable on the present occasion, you will

excuse its conspicuous place in the front of my epistle. I am almost

superannuated here. My old friends (with the exception of a very few)

all departed, and I am preparing to follow them, but remain till

Monday to be present at three _Oratorios_, two _Concerts_, a _Fair_,

and a Ball. I find I am not only _thinner_ but _taller_ by an inch

since my last visit. I was obliged to tell every body my _name_,

nobody having the least recollection of my _visage_, or person. Even

the hero of _my Cornelian_ [2] (who is now sitting _vis-à-vis_ reading

a volume of my _Poetics_) passed me in Trinity walks without

recognising me in the least, and was thunderstruck at the alteration

which had taken place in my countenance, etc., etc. Some say I look

_better_, others _worse_, but all agree I am _thinner_,--more I do not

require. I have lost two pounds in my weight since I left your

_cursed_, _detestable_, and _abhorred_ abode of _scandal_, where,

excepting yourself and John Becher, [3] I care not if the whole race

were consigned to the _Pit of Acheron_, which I would visit in person

rather than contaminate my _sandals_ with the polluted dust of

Southwell. _Seriously_, unless obliged by the _emptiness_ of my purse

to revisit Mrs. B., you will see me no more.

On Monday I depart for London. I quit Cambridge with little regret,

because our _set_ are _vanished_, and my _musical protégé_ before

mentioned has left the choir, and is stationed in a mercantile house

of considerable eminence in the metropolis. You may have heard me

observe he is exactly to an hour two years younger than myself. I

found him grown considerably, and as you will suppose, very glad to

see his former _Patron_. He is nearly my height, very _thin_, very

fair complexion, dark eyes, and light locks. My opinion of his mind

you already know;--I hope I shall never have occasion to change it.

Every body here conceives me to be an _invalid_. The University at

present is very gay from the fètes of divers kinds. I supped out last

night, but eat (or ate) nothing, sipped a bottle of claret, went to

bed at two, and rose at eight. I have commenced early rising, and find

it agrees with me. The Masters and the Fellows all very _polite_, but

look a little _askance_--don't much admire _lampoons_ [4]--truth

always disagreeable.

Write, and tell me how the inhabitants of your _Menagerie_ go _on_,

and if my publication goes _off_ well: do the quadrupeds _growl_?

Apropos, my bull-dog is deceased--"Flesh both of cur and man is

grass." Address your answer to Cambridge. If I am gone, it will be

forwarded. Sad news just arrived--Russians beat [5]--a bad set, eat

nothing but _oil_, consequently must melt before a _hard fire_. I get

awkward in my academic habiliments for want of practice. Got up in a

window to hear the oratorio at St. Mary's, popped down in the middle

of the _Messiah_, tore a _woeful_ rent in the back of my best black

silk gown, and damaged an egregious pair of breeches. Mem.--never

tumble from a church window during service. Adieu, dear----! do

not remember me to any body:--to _forget_ and be forgotten by the

people of Southwell is all I aspire to.

[Footnote 1: The allusion is to the farce _Better Late than Never_

(attributed to Miles Peter Andrews, but really, according to Reynolds

(_Life_, vol. ii. pp. 79, 80), by himself, Topham, and Andrews), in

which Pallet, an artist, is a prominent character. It was played at

Drury Lane for the first time October 17, 1790, with Kemble as "Saville"

and Mrs. Jordan as "Augusta."]

[Footnote 2: "The hero of _my Cornelian_" was a Cambridge chorister

named Edleston, whose life, as Harness has recorded in a MS. note, Byron

saved from drowning. This began their acquaintance. (See Byron's lines

on "The Cornelian," _Poems_, vol. i. 66-67.) Edleston died of

consumption in May, 1811. Byron, writing to Mrs. Pigot, gives the

following account of his death:--

"Cambridge, Oct. 28, 1811.

Dear Madam,--I am about to write to you on a silly subject, and yet I

cannot well do otherwise. You may remember a _cornelian_, which some

years ago I consigned to Miss Pigot, indeed _gave_ to her, and now I

am going to make the most selfish and rude of requests. The person who

gave it to me, when I was very young, is _dead_, and though a long

time has elapsed since we met, as it was the only memorial I possessed

of that person (in whom I was very much interested), it has acquired a

value by this event I could have wished it never to have borne in my

eyes. If, therefore, Miss Pigot should have preserved it, I must,

under these circumstances, beg her to excuse my requesting it to be

transmitted to me at No. 8, St. James's Street, London, and I will

replace it by something she may remember me by equally well. As she

was always so kind as to feel interested in the fate of him that

formed the subject of our conversation, you may tell her that the

giver of that cornelian died in May last of a consumption, at the age

of twenty-one, making the sixth, within four months, of friends and

relatives that I have lost between May and the end of August.

"Believe me, dear Madam, yours very sincerely,

"BYRON.

"P.S.--I go to London to-morrow."

The cornelian heart was, of course, returned, and Lord Byron, at the

same time, reminded that he had left it with Miss Pigot as a deposit,

_not_ a gift (Moore).]

[Footnote 3: See page 182 [Letter 94], [Foot]note 1 [2].]

[Footnote 4: See "Thoughts suggested by a College Examination" (_Poems_,

vol. i. pp. 28-31), also "Granta: a Medley" (_Poems_, vol. i. pp.

56-62).]

[Footnote 5: The Battle of Friedland, June 15, 1807. This is almost the

first allusion that Byron makes to the war.]

75.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.

Trin. Coll. Camb. July 5, 1807.

Since my last letter I have determined to reside _another year_ at

Granta, as my rooms, etc., etc., are finished in great style, several

old friends come up again, and many new acquaintances made;

consequently my inclination leads me forward, and I shall return to

college in October if still _alive_. My life here has been one

continued routine of dissipation--out at different places every day,

engaged to more dinners, etc., etc., than my _stay_ would permit me to

fulfil. At this moment I write with a bottle of claret in my _head_

and _tears_ in my _eyes_; for I have just parted with my "_Cornelian_"

who spent the evening with me. As it was our last interview, I

postponed my engagement to devote the hours of the _Sabbath_ to

friendship:--Edleston and I have separated for the present, and my

mind is a chaos of hope and sorrow. To-morrow I set out for London:

you will address your answer to "Gordon's Hotel, Albemarle Street,"

where I _sojourn_ during my visit to the metropolis.

I rejoice to hear you are interested in my _protégé_; he has been my

_almost constant_ associate since October, 1805, when I entered

Trinity College. His _voice_ first attracted my attention, his

_countenance_ fixed it, and his _manners_ attached me to him for ever.

He departs for a _mercantile house_ in _town_ in October, and we shall

probably not meet till the expiration of my minority, when I shall

leave to his decision either entering as a _partner_ through my

interest, or residing with me altogether. Of course he would in his

present frame of mind prefer the _latter_, but he may alter his

opinion previous to that period;--however, he shall have his choice.

I certainly love him more than any human being, and neither time nor

distance have had the least effect on my (in general) changeable

disposition. In short, we shall, put _Lady E. Butler_ and _Miss

Ponsonby_ [1] to the blush, _Pylades_ and _Orestes_ out of

countenance, and want nothing but a catastrophe like _Nisus_ and

_Euryalus_, to give _Jonathan_ and _David_ the "go by." He certainly

is perhaps more attached to _me_ than even I am in return. During the

whole of my residence at Cambridge we met every day, summer and

winter, without passing _one_ tiresome moment, and separated each time

with increasing reluctance. I hope you will one day see us together.

He is the only being I esteem, though I _like_ many.

The Marquis of Tavistock [2] was down the other day; I supped with him

at his tutor's--entirely a Whig party. The opposition muster strong

here now, and Lord Hartington, the Duke of Leinster, etc., etc., are

to join us in October, so every thing will be _splendid_. The _music_

is all over at present. Met with another "_accidency_"--upset a

butter-boat in the lap of a lady--look'd very _blue_--_spectators_

grinned--"curse 'em!" Apropos, sorry to say, been _drunk_ every day,

and not quite _sober_ yet--however, touch no meat, nothing but fish,

soup, and vegetables, consequently it does me no harm--sad dogs all

the _Cantabs_. Mem.--_we mean_ to reform next January. This place is a

_monotony of endless variety_--like it--hate Southwell. Has Ridge sold

well? or do the ancients demur? What ladies have bought?

Saw a girl at St. Mary's the image of Anne----, [3] thought it was

her--all in the wrong--the lady stared, so did I--I _blushed_, so did

_not_ the lady,--sad thing--wish women had _more modesty_. Talking of

women, puts me in mind of my terrier Fanny--how is she? Got a

headache, must go to bed, up early in the morning to travel. My

_protégé_ breakfasts with me; parting spoils my appetite--excepting

from Southwell. Mem. _I hate Southwell_.

Yours, etc.

[Footnote 1: Lady Eleanor Butler (c. 1745-1829), sister of the

seventeenth Earl of Ormonde, and Sarah Ponsonby (circ. 1755-1831),

cousin of the Earl of Bessborough, were the two "Ladies of the Vale," or

"Ladies of Llangollen." About the year 1779 they settled in a cottage at

Plasnewydd, in the Vale of Llangollen, where they lived, with their

maidservant, Mary Caryll, for upwards of half a century. They are

buried, with their servant, in the churchyard of Plasnewydd, under a

triangular pyramid. Though they had withdrawn from the world, they

watched its proceedings with the keenest interest.

"If," writes Mrs. Piozzi, from Brynbella, July 9, 1796, "Mr. Bunbury's

'Little Gray Man' is printed, do send it hither; the ladies at

Llangollen are dying for it. They like those old Scandinavian tales

and the imitations of them exceedingly; and tell me about the prince

and princess of 'this' loyal country, one province of which alone had

disgraced itself"

('Life and Writings of Mrs. Piozzi', vol. ii. p. 234). Nor did they

despise the theatre. Charles Mathews ('Memoirs', vol. iii. pp. 150,

151), writing from Oswestry, September 4, 1820, says,

"The dear inseparable inimitables, Lady Butler and Miss Ponsonby, were

in the boxes here on Friday. They came twelve miles from Llangollen,

and returned, as they never sleep from home. Oh, such curiosities! I

was nearly convulsed.... As they are seated, there is not one point to

distinguish them from men; the dressing and powdering of the hair;

their well-starched neckcloths; the upper part of their habits, which

they always wear, even at a dinner-party, made precisely like men's

coats; and regular black beaver men's hats. They looked exactly like

two respectable superannuated old clergymen.... I was highly

flattered, as they never were in the theatre before."

Among the many people who visited them in their retreat, and have left

descriptions of them, are Madame de Genlis, De Quincey, Prince

Pückler-Muskau. Their friendships were sung by Sotheby and Anne Seward,

and their cottage was depicted by Pennant.

"It is very singular," writes John Murray, August 24, 1829, to his son

('Memoir of John Murray', vol. ii. p. 304),

"that the ladies, intending to 'retire' from the world, absolutely

brought all the world to visit them, for after a few years of

seclusion their strange story was the universal subject of

conversation, and there has been no person of rank, talent, and

importance in any way who did not procure introductions to them."

[Footnote 2: Lord Tavistock's experience at Cambridge resembled that of

Byron. He had received only a "pretended education," and the Duke of

Bedford had come to the conclusion that "nothing was learned at English

Universities." "Tavistock left Cambridge in May," Lord J. Russell notes

in his Diary for 1808, "having been there in supposition two years"

(Walpole's 'Life of Lord John Russell', vol. i. pp. 44 and 35).]

[Footnote 3: Probably Miss Anne Houson, daughter of the Rev. Henry

Houson of Southwell. She married the Rev. Luke Jackson, died December

25, 1821, and is buried at Hucknall Torkard. (For verses addressed to

her, see 'Poems', vol. i. pp. 70-2, 244-45, 246-47, 251-52, 253.)]

76.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.

Gordon's Hotel, July 13, 1807.

You write most excellent epistles--a fig for other correspondents,

with their nonsensical apologies for "_knowing nought about it_"--you

send me a delightful budget. I am here in a perpetual vortex of

dissipation (very pleasant for all that), and, strange to tell, I get

thinner, being now below eleven stone considerably. Stay in town a

_month_, perhaps six weeks, trip into Essex, and then, as a favour,

_irradiate_ Southwell for three days with the light of my countenance;

but nothing shall ever make me _reside_ there again. I positively

return to Cambridge in October; we are to be uncommonly gay, or in

truth I should _cut_ the University. An extraordinary circumstance

occurred to me at Cambridge; a girl so very like----made her

appearance, that nothing but the most _minute inspection_ could have

undeceived me. I wish I had asked if _she_ had ever been at H----

What the devil would Ridge have? is not fifty in a fortnight, before

the advertisements, a sufficient sale? [1] I hear many of the London

booksellers have them, and Crosby [2] has sent copies to the principal

watering places. Are they liked or not in Southwell? ... I wish

Boatswain had _swallowed_ Damon! How is Bran? by the immortal gods,

Bran ought to be a _Count_ of the _Holy Roman Empire_.

The intelligence of London cannot be interesting to you, who have

rusticated all your life--the annals of routs riots, balls and

boxing-matches, cards and crim. cons., parliamentary discussion,

political details, masquerades, mechanics, Argyle Street Institution

and aquatic races, love and lotteries, Brookes's and Buonaparte,

opera-singers and oratorios, wine, women, wax-work, and weathercocks,

can't accord with your _insulated_ ideas of decorum and other _silly

expressions_ not inserted in _our vocabulary_.

Oh! Southwell, Southwell, how I rejoice to have left thee, and how I

curse the heavy hours I dragged along, for so many months, among the

Mohawks who inhabit your kraals!--However, one thing I do not regret,

which is having _pared off_ a sufficient quantity of flesh to enable

me to slip into "an eel-skin," and vie with the _slim_ beaux of modern

times; though I am sorry to say, it seems to be the mode amongst

_gentlemen_ to grow _fat_, and I am told I am at least fourteen pound

below the fashion. However, I _decrease_ instead of enlarging, which

is extraordinary, as _violent_ exercise in London is impracticable;

but I attribute the _phenomenon_ to our _evening squeezes_ at public

and private parties. I heard from Ridge this morning (the 14th, my

letter was begun yesterday): he says the poems go on as well as can be

wished; the seventy-five sent to town are circulated, and a demand for

fifty more complied with, the day he dated his epistle, though the

advertisements are not yet half published. Adieu.

P.S.--Lord Carlisle, on receiving my poems, sent, before he opened the

book, a tolerably handsome letter:[1]--I have not heard from him

since. His opinions I neither know nor care about: if he is the least

insolent, I shall enrol him with _Butler_ and the other worthies. He

is in Yorkshire, poor man! and very ill! He said he had not had time

to read the contents, but thought it necessary to acknowledge the

receipt of the volume immediately. Perhaps the Earl "_bears no brother

near the throne"--if so_, I will make his _sceptre_ totter _in his

hands_.--Adieu!

[Footnote 1: This is probably the third collection of early verse,

'Hours of Idleness', the first collection published with Byron's name

(see page 104 [Letter 53], [Foot]note 1).]

[Footnote 2: B. Crosby & Co., of Stationers' Court, were the London

agents of Ridge, the Newark bookseller. Crosby was also the publisher of

a magazine called 'Monthly Literary Recreations', in which (July, 1807)

appeared a highly laudatory notice of 'Hours of Idleness', and Byron's

review of Wordsworth's 'Poems' (2 vols. 1807. See Appendix I.), and his

"Stanzas to Jessy" (see 'Poems', vol. i. pp. 234-236). These lines were

enclosed with the following letter, addressed to "Mr. Crosby,

Stationers' Court:"--

"July 21, 1807.

Sir,--I have sent according to my promise some Stanzas for

'Literary Recreations'. The insertion I leave to the option of the

Editors. They have never appeared before. I should wish to

know whether they are admitted or not, and when the work will

appear, as I am desirous of a copy.

Etc., etc.,

BYRON.

P.S.--Send your answer when convenient."]

[Footnote 3:

"My Dear Lord,--Your letter of yesterday found me an invalid, and

unable to do justice to your poems by a dilligent ['sic'] perusal of

them. In the meantime I take the first occasion to thank you for

sending them to me, and to express a sincere satisfaction in finding

you employ your leisure in such occupations. Be not disconcerted if

the reception of your works should not be that you may have a right to

look for from the public. Persevere, whatever that reception may be,

and tho' the Public maybe found very fastidious, ... you will stand

better with the world than others who only pursue their studies in

Bond St. or at Tatershall's.

Believe me to be, yours most sincerely,

CARLISLE.

July 8th, 1807."]

77.--To John Hanson.

July 20th, 1807.

Sir,--Your proposal to make Mrs. Byron my _Treasurer_ is very kind,

but does not meet with my approbation. Mrs. Byron has already made

more _free_ with my _funds_ than suits my convenience & I do not chuse

to expose her to the Danger of Temptation.

Things will therefore stand as they are; the remedy would be worse

than the Disease.

I wish you would order your Drafts payable to me and not Mrs. B. This

is worse than Hannibal Higgins; [1] who the Devil could suppose that

any Body would have mistaken him for a _real personage?_ & what

earthly consequence could it be whether the Blank in the Draft was

filled up with _Wilkins, Tomkyns, Simkins, Wiggins, Spriggins,

Jiggins_, or _Higgins?_ If I had put in _James Johnson_ you would not

have demurred, & why object to Hannibal Higgins? particularly after

his _respectable Endorsements_. As to Business, I make no pretensions

to a Knowledge of any thing but a Greek Grammer or a Racing Calendar;

but if the _Quintessence_ of information on that head consists in

unnecessary & unpleasant delays, explanations, rebuffs, retorts,

repartees, & recriminations, the House of H.& B. stands pre-eminent in

the profession, as from the Bottom of his Soul testifies

Yours, etc., etc.,

BYRON.

P.S--Will you dine with me on Sunday Tête a Tête at six o'clock? I

should be happy to see you before, but my Engagements will not permit

me, as on Wednesday I go to the House. I shall have Hargreaves & his

Brother on some day after you; I don't like to annoy Children with the

_formal_ Faces of _legal_ papas.

[Footnote 1: The point of the allusion is that Byron had endorsed one of

Hanson's drafts with the name of "Hannibal Higgins," and had been

solemnly warned of the consequences of so tampering with the dignity of

the law.]

78.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.

August 2, 1807.

London begins to disgorge its contents--town is empty--consequently I

can scribble at leisure, as occupations are less numerous. In a

fortnight I shall depart to fulfil a country engagement; but expect

two epistles from you previous to that period. Ridge does not proceed

rapidly in Notts--very possible. In town things wear a more promising

aspect, and a man whose works are praised by _reviewers_, admired by

_duchesses_, and sold by every bookseller of the metropolis, does not

dedicate much consideration to _rustic readers_. I have now a review

before me, entitled _Literary Recreations_ [1] where my _hardship_ is

applauded far beyond my deserts. I know nothing of the critic, but

think _him_ a very discerning gentleman, and _myself_ a devilish

_clever_ fellow. His critique pleases me particularly, because it is

of great length, and a proper quantum of censure is administered, just

to give an agreeable _relish_ to the praise. You know I hate insipid,

unqualified, common-place compliment. If you would wish to see it,

order the 13th Number of _Literary Recreations_ for the last month. I

assure you I have not the most distant idea of the writer of the

article--it is printed in a periodical publication--and though I have

written a paper (a review of Wordsworth), which appears in the same

work, I am ignorant of every other person concerned in it--even the

editor, whose name I have not heard. My cousin, Lord Alexander Gordon,

who resided in the same hotel, told me his mother, her Grace of

Gordon, [2] requested he would introduce my _Poetical_ Lordship to her

_Highness_, as she had bought my volume, admired it exceedingly, in

common with the rest of the fashionable world, and wished to claim her

relationship with the author. I was unluckily engaged on an excursion

for some days afterwards; and, as the Duchess was on the eve of

departing for Scotland, I have postponed my introduction till the

winter, when I shall favour the lady, _whose taste I shall not

dispute_, with my most sublime and edifying conversation. She is now

in the Highlands, and Alexander took his departure, a few days ago,

for the same _blessed_ seat of "_dark rolling winds_."

Crosby, my London publisher, has disposed of his second importation,

and has sent to Ridge for a _third_--at least so he says. In every

bookseller's window I see my _own name_, and _say nothing_, but enjoy

my fame in secret. My last reviewer kindly requests me to alter my

determination of writing no more: and "A Friend to the Cause of

Literature" begs I will _gratify_ the _public_ with some new work "at

no very distant period." Who would not be a bard?--that is to say, if

all critics would be so polite. However, the others will pay me off, I

doubt not, for this _gentle_ encouragement. If so, have at 'em? By the

by, I have written at my intervals of leisure, after two in the

morning, 380 lines in blank verse, of Bosworth Field. I have luckily

got Hutton's account. [3] I shall extend the poem to eight or ten

books, and shall have finished it in a year. Whether it will be

published or not must depend on circumstances. So much for _egotism!_

My _laurels_ have turned my brain, but the _cooling acids_ of

forthcoming criticism will probably restore me to _modesty_.

Southwell is a damned place--I have done with it--at least in all

probability; excepting yourself, I esteem no one within its precincts.

You were my only _rational_ companion; and in plain truth, I had more

respect for you than the whole _bevy_, with whose foibles I amused

myself in compliance with their prevailing propensities. You gave

yourself more trouble with me and my manuscripts than a thousand

_dolls_ would have done.

Believe me, I have not forgotten your good nature in _this circle_ of

_sin_, and one day I trust I shall be able to evince my gratitude.

Adieu.

Yours, etc.

P.S.--Remember me to Dr. P.

[Footnote 1: See page 137 [Letter 76], [Foot]note 2.]

[Footnote 2: The Duchess of Gordon (1748-1812), 'née' Jean Maxwell of

Monreith, daughter of Sir W. Maxwell, Bart., married in 1767 the Duke of

Gordon. The most successful matchmaker of the age, she married three of

her daughters to three dukes--Manchester, Richmond, and Bedford. A

fourth daughter was Lady Mandalina Sinclair, afterwards, by a second

marriage, Lady Mandalina Palmer. A fifth was married to Lord Cornwallis

(see the extraordinary story told in the 'Recollections of Samuel

Rogers', pp. 145-146). According to Wraxall ('Posthumous Memoirs', vol.

ii. p. 319), she schemed to secure Pitt for her daughter Lady Charlotte,

and Eugène Beauharnais for Lady Georgiana, afterwards Duchess of

Bedford. Cyrus Redding ('Memoirs of William Beckford', vol. ii. pp.

337-339) describes her attack upon the owner of Fonthill, where she

stayed upwards of a week, magnificently entertained, without once seeing

the wary master of the house.

She was also the social leader of the Tories, and her house in Pall

Mall, rented from the Duke of Buckingham, was the meeting-place of the

party. Malcontents accused her of using her power tyrannically:--

"Not Gordon's broad and brawny Grace,

The last new Woman in the Place

With more contempt could blast."

'Pandolfo Attonito' (1800).

Lord Alexander Gordon died in 1808.]

[Footnote 3: William Hutton (1723-1815), a Birmingham bookseller, who

took to literature and became a voluminous writer of poems, and of

topographical works which still have their value. In his 'Trip to Redcar

and Coatham' (Preface, p. vi.) he says,

"I took up my pen at the advanced age of fifty-six ... I drove the

quill thirty years, during which time I wrote and published thirty

books."

'The Battle of Bosworth Field' was published in 1788. A new edition,

with additions by John Nichols, appeared in 1813. Byron's poem was never

published.]

79.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.

London, August 11, 1807.

On Sunday next I set off for the Highlands. [1] A friend of mine

accompanies me in my carriage to Edinburgh. There we shall leave it,

and proceed in a _tandem_ (a species of open carriage) though the

western passes to Inverary, where we shall purchase _shelties_, to

enable us to view places inaccessible to _vehicular conveyances_. On

the coast we shall hire a vessel, and visit the most remarkable of the

Hebrides; and, if we have time and favourable weather, mean to sail as

far as Iceland, only 300 miles from the northern extremity of

Caledonia, to peep at _Hecla_. This last intention you will keep a

secret, as my nice _mamma_ would imagine I was on a Voyage of

_Discovery_, and raised the accustomed _maternal warwhoop_.

Last week I swam in the Thames from Lambeth through the two bridges,

Westminster and Blackfriars, a distance, including the different turns

and tracks made on the way, of three miles! [2] You see I am in

excellent training in case of a _squall_ at sea. I mean to collect all

the Erse traditions, poems, etc., etc., and translate, or expand the

subject to fill a volume, which may appear next spring under the

denomination of _"The Highland "Harp"_ or some title equally

_picturesque_. Of Bosworth Field, one book is finished, another just

began. It will be a work of three or four years, and most probably

never _conclude_. What would you say to some stanzas on Mount Hecla?

they would be written at least with _fire_. How is the immortal Bran?

and the Phoenix of canine quadrupeds, Boatswain? I have lately

purchased a thorough-bred bull-dog, worthy to be the coadjutor of the

aforesaid celestials--his name is _Smut!_

"Bear it, ye breezes, on your _balmy_ wings."

Write to me before I set off, I conjure you, by the fifth rib of your

grandfather. Ridge goes on well with the books--I thought that worthy

had not done much in the country. In town they have been very

successful; Carpenter (Moore's publisher) told me a few days ago they

sold all their's immediately, and had several enquiries made since,

which, from the books being gone, they could not supply. The Duke of

York, the Marchioness of Headfort, the Duchess of Gordon, etc., etc.,

were among the purchasers; and Crosby says the circulation will be

still more extensive in the winter, the summer season being very bad

for a sale, as most people are absent from London. However, they have

gone off extremely well altogether. I shall pass very near you on my

journey through Newark, but cannot approach. Don't tell this to Mrs.

B, who supposes I travel a different road. If you have a letter, order

it to be left at Ridge's shop, where I shall call, or the post-office,

Newark, about six or eight in the evening. If your brother would ride

over, I should be devilish glad to see him--he can return the same

night, or sup with us and go home the next morning--the Kingston Arms

is my inn. Adieu.

Yours ever,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: This projected trip to the Highlands, mentioned in his

letter to Augusta Byron of August 30, 1805, seems to have become a joke

among Byron's friends. Moore quotes ('Life', p. 56) a letter written by

Miss Pigot to her brother:

"How can you ask if Lord B. is going to visit the Highlands in the

summer? Why, don't _you_ know that he never knows his own mind

for ten minutes together? I tell him he is as fickle as the winds, and

as uncertain as the waves."]

[Footnote 2:

"The first time I saw Lord Byron," says Leigh Hunt ('Lord Byron and

his Contemporaries', p. 1), "he was rehearsing the part of Leander,

under the auspices of Mr. Jackson the prize-fighter. It was in the

river Thames, before he went to Greece. I had been bathing, and was

standing on the floating machine adjusting my clothes, when I noticed

a respectable-looking manly person who was eyeing something at a

distance. This was Mr. Jackson waiting for his pupil. The latter was

swimming with somebody for a wager."

On this occasion, however, Hunt only saw "his Lordship's head bob up and

down in the water, like a "buoy."]

80.--To John Hanson.

Dorant's Hotel, October 19th, 1807.

Dear Hanson,--I will thank you to disburse the quarter due as soon as

possible, for I am at this moment contemplating with woeful visage,

one _solitary Guinea, two bad sixpences_ and a shilling, being _all_

the _cash_ at present in possession of

Yours very truly,

BYRON.

81.--To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot.

Trinity College, Cambridge, October 26, 1807.

My Dear Elizabeth,--Fatigued with sitting up till four in the morning

for the last two days at hazard, I take up my pen to inquire how your

highness and the rest of my female acquaintance at the seat of

archiepiscopal grandeur go on. I know I deserve a scolding for my

negligence in not writing more frequently; but racing up and down the

country for these last three months, how was it possible to fulfil the

duties of a correspondent? Fixed at last for six weeks, I write, as

_thin_ as ever (not having gained an ounce since my reduction), and

rather in better humour;--but, after all, Southwell was a detestable

residence. Thank St. Dominica, I have done with it: I have been twice

within eight miles of it, but could not prevail on myself to

_suffocate_ in its heavy atmosphere. This place is wretched enough--a

villainous chaos of din and drunkenness, nothing but hazard and

burgundy, hunting, mathematics, and Newmarket, riot and racing. Yet it

is a paradise compared with the eternal dulness of Southwell. Oh! the

misery of doing nothing but make _love, enemies_, and _verses_.

Next January (but this is _entre nous only_, and pray let it be so, or

my maternal persecutor will be throwing her tomahawk at any of my

curious projects,) I am going to _sea_ for four or five months, with

my cousin Captain Bettesworth, [1] who commands the _Tartar_, the

finest frigate in the navy. I have seen most scenes, and wish to look

at a naval life. We are going probably to the Mediterranean, or to the

West Indies, or--to the devil; and if there is a possibility of taking

me to the latter, Bettesworth will do it; for he has received four and

twenty wounds in different places, and at this moment possesses a

letter from the late Lord Nelson, stating Bettesworth as the only

officer in the navy who had more wounds than himself.

I have got a new friend, the finest in the world, a _tame bear_. [2]

When I brought him here, they asked me what I meant to do with him,

and my reply was, "he should _sit for a fellowship._" Sherard will

explain the meaning of the sentence, if it is ambiguous. This answer

delighted them not. We have several parties here, and this evening a

large assortment of jockeys, gamblers, boxers, authors, parsons, and

poets, sup with me,--a precious mixture, but they go on well together;

and for me, I am a _spice_ of every thing except a jockey; by the bye,

I was dismounted again the other day.

Thank your brother in my name for his treatise. I have written 214

pages of a novel--one poem of 380 lines, [3] to be published (without

my name) in a few weeks, with notes,--560 lines of Bosworth Field, and

250 lines of another poem in rhyme, besides half a dozen smaller

pieces. The poem to be published is a Satire. _Apropos_, I have been

praised to the skies in the _Critical Review_, [4] and abused greatly

in another publication. [5] So much the better, they tell me, for the

sale of the book: it keeps up controversy, and prevents it being

forgotten. Besides, the first men of all ages have had their share,

nor do the humblest escape;--so I bear it like a philosopher. It is

odd two opposite critiques came out on the same day, and out of five

pages of abuse, my censor only quotes _two lines_ from different

poems, in support of his opinion. Now, the proper way to _cut up_, is

to quote long passages, and make them appear absurd, because simple

allegation is no proof. On the other hand, there are seven pages of

praise, and more than _my modesty_ will allow said on the subject.

Adieu.

P.S.--Write, write, write!!!

[Footnote 1: George Edmund Byron Bettesworth (1780-1808), as lieutenant

of the 'Centaur', was wounded (1804) in the capture of the 'Curieux'. In

command of the latter vessel he captured the 'Dame Ernouf' (1805), and

was again wounded. He was made a post-captain in the latter year, when

he brought home despatches from Nelson at Antigua, announcing

Villeneuve's return to Europe. He was killed off Bergen in 1808, while

in command of the 'Tartar'. Captain Bettesworth, whose father assumed

the name of Bettesworth in addition to that of Trevanion, married, in

1807, Lady Alethea Grey, daughter of Earl Grey. Through his grandmother,

Sophia Trevanion, Byron was Captain Bettesworth's cousin.]

[Footnote 2: See 'Poems', vol. i. p. 406. ]

[Footnote 3: This poem, printed in book form, but not published, under

the title of 'British Bards', is the foundation of 'English Bards, and

Scotch Reviewers'. The MS. is in the possession of Mr. Murray.]

[Footnote 4: For September, 1807. In noticing the Elegy on Newstead

Abbey, the writer says, "We could not but hail, with something of

prophetic rapture, the hope conveyed in the closing stanza:--

"'Haply thy sun, emerging, yet may shine,

Thee to irradiate with meridian ray.'"]

[Footnote 5: The first number of 'The Satirist: A Monthly Meteor'

(October, 1807).]

82.--To J. Ridge.

Trinity College, Cambridge, November 20, 1807.

Sir,--I am happy to hear every thing goes on so well, and I presume

you will soon commence, though I am still of opinion the first Edition

had better be entirely sold, before you risk the printing of a second.

As Curly recommends fine wove Foolscap, let it be used, and I will

order a design in London for a plate, my own portrait would perhaps be

best, but as that would take up so long a time in completing we will

substitute probably a view of Harrow, [1] or Newstead in its stead.

You will omit the poems mentioned below:

Stanzas on a view of Harrow.

To a Quaker.

The First Kiss of Love.

College Examinations.

Lines to the Rev. J. T. Becher.

To be inserted, not exactly in the place, but in different parts of

the volume, I will send you five poems never yet published. Two of

tolerable length, at least much longer than any of the above, which

are ordered to be omitted.

Mention in your answer when you would like to receive the manuscripts

that they may be sent. By the bye, I must have the proofs of the

Manuscripts sent to Cambridge as they occur; the proofs from the

printed copy you can manage with care, if Mr. Becher will assist you.

Attend to the list of _Errata_, that we may not have a _Second

Edition_ of them also.

The Preface we have done with, perhaps I may send an Advertisement, a

dedication shall be forthcoming in due Season.

You will send a proof of the first Sheet for Inspection, and soon too,

for I am about to set out for London next week. If I remain there any

time, I shall apprize you where to send the Manuscript Proofs.

Do you think the others will be sold before the next are ready, what

says Curly? remember I have advised you not to risk it a second time,

and it is not too late to retract. However, you must abide by your own

discretion:

Etc., etc.,

BYRON.

P.S.--You will print from the Copy I sent you with the alterations,

pray attend to these, and be careful of mistakes. In my last I gave

you directions concerning the Title page and Mottoes.

[Footnote 1: A view of Harrow was given.]

83.--To John Hanson.

Trin. Coll., Cambridge, Dec. 2nd, 1807.

My Dear Sir,--I hope to take my New Years Day dinner with you _en

famille_. Tell Hargreaves I will bring his Blackstones, and shall have

no objection to see my Daniel's _Field Sports_, if they have not

escaped his recollection.--I certainly wish the expiration of my

minority as much as you do, though for a reason more nearly affecting

my magisterial person at this moment, namely, the want of twenty

pounds, for no spendthrift peer, or unlucky poet, was ever less

indebted to _Cash_ than George Gordon is at present, or is more likely

to continue in the same predicament.--My present quarter due on the

25th was drawn long ago, and I must be obliged to you for the loan of

twenty on my next, to be deducted when the whole becomes tangible,

that is, probably, some months after it is exhausted. Reserve Murray's

quarter, [1] of course, and I shall have just 100 _!_. to receive at

Easter, but if the risk of my demand is too great, inform me, that I

may if possible convert my Title into cash, though I am afraid twenty

pounds will be too much to ask as Times go, if I were an Earl ... but

a Barony must fetch ten, perhaps fifteen, and that is something when

we have not as many pence. Your answer will oblige

Yours very truly,

BYRON.

P.S.--Remember me to Mrs. H. in particular, and the family in general.

[Footnote 1: Joe Murray. (See page 21 [Letter 7], [Foot]note 3 [4].)]

84.--To John Murray. [1]

Ravenna, 9bre 19, 1820.

What you said of the late Charles Skinner Matthews [2] has set me to

my recollections; but I have not been able to turn up any thing which

would do for the purposed Memoir of his brother,--even if he had

previously done enough during his life to sanction the introduction of

anecdotes so merely personal. He was, however, a very extraordinary

man, and would have been a great one. No one ever succeeded in a more

surpassing degree than he did as far as he went. He was indolent, too;

but whenever he stripped, he overthrew all antagonists. His conquests

will be found registered at Cambridge, particularly his _Downing_ one,

which was hotly and highly contested, and yet easily _won_. Hobhouse

was his most intimate friend, and can tell you more of him than any

man. William Bankes [3] also a great deal. I myself recollect more of

his oddities than of his academical qualities, for we lived most

together at a very idle period of _my_ life. When I went up to

Trinity, in 1805, at the age of seventeen and a half, I was miserable

and untoward to a degree. I was wretched at leaving Harrow, to which I

had become attached during the two last years of my stay there;

wretched at going to Cambridge instead of Oxford (there were no rooms

vacant at Christchurch); wretched from some private domestic

circumstances of different kinds, and consequently about as unsocial

as a wolf taken from the troop. So that, although I knew Matthews, and

met him often _then_ at Bankes's, (who was my collegiate pastor, and

master, and patron,) and at Rhode's, Milnes's, Price's, Dick's,

Macnamara's, Farrell's, Gally Knight's, and others of that _set_ of

contemporaries, yet I was neither intimate with him nor with any one

else, except my old schoolfellow Edward Long [4] (with whom I used to

pass the day in riding and swimming), and William Bankes, who was

good-naturedly tolerant of my ferocities.

It was not till 1807, after I had been upwards of a year away from

Cambridge, to which I had returned again to _reside_ for my degree,

that I became one of Matthews's familiars, by means of Hobhouse, [5]

who, after hating me for two years, because I wore a _white hat_, and

a _grey_ coat, and rode a _grey_ horse (as he says himself), took me

into his good graces because I had written some poetry. I had always

lived a good deal, and got drunk occasionally, in their company--but

now we became really friends in a morning. Matthews, however, was not

at this period resident in College. I met _him_ chiefly in London, and

at uncertain periods at Cambridge. Hobhouse, in the mean time, did

great things: he founded the Cambridge "Whig Club" (which he seems to

have forgotten), and the "Amicable Society," which was dissolved in

consequence of the members constantly quarrelling, and made himself

very popular with "us youth," and no less formidable to all tutors,

professors, and heads of Colleges. William Bankes was gone; while he

stayed, he ruled the roast--or rather the _roasting_--and was father

of all mischiefs.

Matthews and I, meeting in London, and elsewhere, became great

cronies. He was not good tempered--nor am I--but with a little tact

his temper was manageable, and I thought him so superior a man, that I

was willing to sacrifice something to his humours, which were often,

at the same time, amusing and provoking. What became of his _papers_

(and he certainly had many), at the time of his death, was never

known. I mention this by the way, fearing to skip it over, and _as_ he

_wrote_ remarkably well, both in Latin and English. We went down to

Newstead together, [6] where I had got a famous cellar, and _Monks'_

dresses from a masquerade warehouse. We were a company of some seven

or eight, with an occasional neighbour or so for visiters, and used to

sit up late in our friars' dresses, drinking burgundy, claret,

champagne, and what not, out of the _skull-cup_, and all sorts of

glasses, and buffooning all round the house, in our conventual

garments. [7] Matthews always denominated me "the Abbot," and never

called me by any other name in his good humours, to the day of his

death. The harmony of these our symposia was somewhat interrupted, a

few days after our assembling, by Matthews's threatening to throw

Hobhouse out of a _window_, in consequence of I know not what commerce

of jokes ending in this epigram. Hobhouse came to me and said, that

"his respect and regard for me as host would not permit him to call

out any of my guests, and that he should go to town next morning." He

did. It was in vain that I represented to him that the window was not

high, and that the turf under it was particularly soft. Away he went.

Matthews and myself had travelled down from London together, talking

all the way incessantly upon one single topic. When we got to

Loughborough, I know not what chasm had made us diverge for a moment

to some other subject, at which he was indignant. "Come," said he,

"don't let us break through--let us go on as we began, to our

journey's end;" and so he continued, and was as entertaining as ever

to the very end. He had previously occupied, during my year's absence

from Cambridge, my rooms in Trinity, with the furniture; and Jones,

[8] the tutor, in his odd way, had said, on putting him in,

"Mr. Matthews, I recommend to your attention not to damage any of

the moveables, for Lord Byron, Sir, is a young man of _tumultuous

passions_."

Matthews was delighted with this; and whenever anybody came to visit

him, begged them to handle the very door with caution; and used to

repeat Jones's admonition in his tone and manner. There was a large

mirror in the room, on which he remarked, "that he thought his friends

were grown uncommonly assiduous in coming to _see him_, but he soon

discovered that they only came to _see themselves_." Jones's phrase of

"_tumultuous passions_" and the whole scene, had put him into such

good humour, that I verily believe that I owed to it a portion of his

good graces.

When at Newstead, somebody by accident rubbed against one of his white

silk stockings, one day before dinner; of course the gentleman

apologised.

"Sir," answered Matthews, "it may be all very well for you, who have

a great many silk stockings, to dirty other people's; but to me, who

have only this _one pair_, which I have put on in honour of the

Abbot here, no apology can compensate for such carelessness;

besides, the expense of washing."

He had the same sort of droll sardonic way about every thing. A wild

Irishman, named Farrell, one evening began to say something at a large

supper at Cambridge, Matthews roared out "Silence!" and then, pointing

to Farrell, cried out, in the words of the oracle, "Orson is endowed

with reason." You may easily suppose that Orson lost what reason he

had acquired, on hearing this compliment. When Hobhouse published his

volume of poems, the _Miscellany_ (which Matthews would call the

"_Miss-sell-any_"), all that could be drawn from him was, that the

preface was "extremely like _Walsh_." Hobhouse thought this at first a

compliment; but we never could make out what it was, [9] for all we

know of _Walsh_ is his Ode to King William, [10] and Pope's epithet of

"_knowing Walsh_." [11] When the Newstead party broke up for London,

Hobhouse and Matthews, who were the greatest friends possible, agreed,

for a whim, to _walk together_ to town. They quarrelled by the way,

and actually walked the latter half of the journey, occasionally

passing and repassing, without speaking. When Matthews had got to

Highgate, he had spent all his money but three-pence halfpenny, and

determined to spend that also in a pint of beer, which I believe he

was drinking before a public-house, as Hobhouse passed him (still

without speaking) for the last time on their route. They were

reconciled in London again.

One of Matthews's passions was "the fancy;" and he sparred uncommonly

well. But he always got beaten in rows, or combats with the bare fist.

In swimming, too, he swam well; but with _effort_ and _labour_, and

_too high_ out of the water; so that Scrope Davies [1] and myself, of

whom he was therein somewhat emulous, always told him that he would be

drowned if ever he came to a difficult pass in the water. He was so;

but surely Scrope and myself would have been most heartily glad that

"the Dean had lived,

And our prediction proved a lie."

His head was uncommonly handsome, very like what _Pope's_ was in his

youth.

His voice, and laugh, and features, are strongly resembled by his

brother Henry's, if Henry be _he_ of _King's College_. His passion for

boxing was so great, that he actually wanted me to match him with

Dogherty [13] (whom I had backed and made the match for against Tom

Belcher [14]), and I saw them spar together at my own lodgings with

the gloves on. As he was bent upon it, I would have backed Dogherty to

please him, but the match went off. It was of course to have been a

private fight, in a private room.

On one occasion, being too late to go home and dress, he was equipped

by a friend (Mr. Baillie, I believe,) in a magnificently fashionable

and somewhat exaggerated shirt and neckcloth. He proceeded to the

Opera, and took his station in Fop's Alley. During the interval

between the opera and the ballet, an acquaintance took his station by

him and saluted him:

"Come round," said Matthews, "come round."

"Why should I come round?" said the other; "you have only to turn

your head--I am close by you."

"That is exactly what I cannot do," said Matthews; "don't you see

the state I am in?"

pointing to his buckram shirt collar and inflexible cravat,--and there

he stood with his head always in the same perpendicular position

during the whole spectacle.

One evening, after dining together, as we were going to the Opera, I

happened to have a spare Opera ticket (as subscriber to a box), and

presented it to Matthews.

"Now, sir," said he to Hobhouse afterwards, "this I call _courteous_

in the Abbot--another man would never have thought that I might do

better with half a guinea than throw it to a door-keeper;--but here

is a man not only asks me to dinner, but gives me a ticket for the

theatre."

These were only his oddities, for no man was more liberal, or more

honourable in all his doings and dealings, than Matthews. He gave

Hobhouse and me, before we set out for Constantinople, a most splendid

entertainment, to which we did ample justice. One of his fancies was

dining at all sorts of out-of-the-way places. Somebody popped upon him

in I know not what coffee-house in the Strand--and what do you think

was the attraction? Why, that he paid a shilling (I think) to _dine

with his hat on_. This he called his "_hat_ house," and used to boast

of the comfort of being covered at meal times.

When Sir Henry Smith [15] was expelled from Cambridge for a row with a

tradesman named "Hiron," Matthews solaced himself with shouting under

Hiron's windows every evening,

"Ah me! what perils do environ

The man who meddles with _hot Hiron_."

He was also of that band of profane scoffers who, under the auspices

of----, used to rouse Lort Mansel (late Bishop of Bristol) from his

slumbers in the lodge of Trinity; and when he appeared at the window

foaming with wrath, and crying out, "I know you, gentlemen, I know

you!" were wont to reply, "We beseech thee to hear us, good

Lort!"--"Good Lort deliver us!" (Lort was his Christian name.) As he

was very free in his speculations upon all kinds of subjects, although

by no means either dissolute or intemperate in his conduct, and as I

was no less independent, our conversation and correspondence used to

alarm our friend Hobhouse to a considerable degree.

You must be almost tired of my packets, which will have cost a mint of

postage.

Salute Gifford and all my friends.

Yours, etc.

[Footnote 1: This letter, though written twelve years later, belongs to

the Cambridge period of Byron's life. It is therefore introduced here.

(For John Murray, see [Foot]note [1] to letter to R. C. Dallas [Letter

167] of August 21, 1811.)]

[Footnote 2: Charles Skinner Matthews was known at Eton as Matthews

'major', his 'minor' being his brother Henry, the author of 'The Diary

of an Invalid', afterwards a Judge in the Supreme Court of Ceylon, who

died in 1828. They were the sons of John Matthews of Belmont,

Herefordshire, M.P. for that county (1802-6). C. S. Matthews became a

Scholar of Trinity, Cambridge; Ninth Wrangler in 1805; First Members'

Prizeman in 1807; Fellow of Downing in 1808. He was drowned in the Cam

in August, 1811. He at the time contemplated standing as Member for the

University of Cambridge. For a description of the accident, see letter

from Henry Drury to Francis Hodgson ('Life of the Rev. Francis Hodgson',

vol. i. pp. 182-185). In the note to 'Childe Harold', Canto I. stanza

xci., Byron speaks of Matthews:

"I should have ventured a verse to the memory of the late Charles

Skinner Matthews, Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge, were he not

too much above all praise of mine. His powers of mind, shown in the

attainment of greater honours, against the ablest candidates, than

those of any graduate on record at Cambridge, have sufficiently

established his fame on the spot where it was acquired; while his

softer qualities live in the recollection of friends who loved him too

well to envy his superiority."]

[Footnote 3: See page 120 [Letter 67], [Foot]note 1.]

[Footnote 4: See page 73 [Letter 31], [Foot]note 2.]

[Footnote 5: See page 163 [Letter 83], note 1 [5].]

[Footnote 6: Of this visit to Newstead, Matthews wrote the following

account to his sister:--

"London, May 22, 1809.

"My Dear----,--I must begin with giving you a few particulars of the

singular place which I have lately quitted.

Newstead Abbey is situate 136 miles from London,--four on this side

Mansfield. It is so fine a piece of antiquity, that I should think

there must be a description, and, perhaps, a picture of it in Grose.

The ancestors of its present owner came into possession of it at the

time of the dissolution of the monasteries,--but the building itself

is of a much earlier date. Though sadly fallen to decay, it is still

completely an _abbey_, and most part of it is still standing in the

same state as when it was first built. There are two tiers of

cloisters, with a variety of cells and rooms about them, which, though

not inhabited, nor in an inhabitable state, might easily be made so;

and many of the original rooms, amongst which is a fine stone hall,

are still in use. Of the abbey church only one end remains; and the

old kitchen, with a long range of apartments, is reduced to a heap of

rubbish. Leading from the abbey to the modern part of the habitation

is a noble room, seventy feet in length, and twenty-three in breadth;

but every part of the house displays neglect and decay, save those

which the present Lord has lately fitted up.

The house and gardens are entirely surrounded by a wall with

battlements. In front is a large lake, bordered here and there with

castellated buildings, the chief of which stands on an eminence at the

further extremity of it. Fancy all this surrounded with bleak and

barren hills, with scarce a tree to be seen for miles, except a

solitary clump or two, and you will have some idea of Newstead. For

the late Lord, being at enmity with his son, to whom the estate was

secured by entail, resolved, out of spite to the same, that the estate

should descend to him in as miserable a plight as he could possibly

reduce it to; for which cause, he took no care of the mansion, and

fell to lopping of every tree he could lay his hands on, so furiously,

that he reduced immense tracts of woodland country to the desolate

state I have just described. However, his son died before him, so that

all his rage was thrown away.

So much for the place, concerning which I have thrown together these

few particulars, meaning my account to be, like the place itself,

without any order or connection. But if the place itself appear rather

strange to you, the ways of the inhabitants will not appear much less

so. Ascend, then, with me the hall steps, that I may introduce you to

my Lord and his visitants. But have a care how you proceed; be mindful

to go there in broad daylight, and with your eyes about you. For,

should you make any blunder,--should you go to the right of the hall

steps, you are laid hold of by a bear; and should you go to the left,

your case is still worse, for you run full against a wolf!--Nor, when

you have attained the door, is your danger over; for the hall being

decayed, and therefore standing in need of repair, a bevy of inmates

are very probably banging at one end of it with their pistols; so that

if you enter without giving loud notice of your approach, you have

only escaped the wolf and the bear to expire by the pistol-shots of

the merry monks of Newstead.

Our party consisted of Lord Byron and four others, and was, now and

then, increased by the presence of a neighbouring parson. As for our

way of living, the order of the day was generally this:--for

breakfast we had no set hour, but each suited his own convenience,

--everything remaining on the table till the whole party had done;

though had one wished to breakfast at the early hour of ten, one would

have been rather lucky to find any of the servants up. Our average

hour of rising was one. I, who generally got up between eleven and

twelve, was always,--even when an invalid,--the first of the party,

and was esteemed a prodigy of early rising. It was frequently past two

before the breakfast party broke up. Then, for the amusements of the

morning, there was reading, fencing, single-stick, or shuttle-cock, in

the great room; practising with pistols in the hall;

walking--riding--cricket--sailing on the lake, playing with the bear,

or teasing the wolf. Between seven and eight we dined; and our evening

lasted from that time till one, two, or three in the morning. The

evening diversions may be easily conceived.

I must not omit the custom of handing round, after dinner, on the

removal of the cloth, a human skull filled with burgundy. After

revelling on choice viands, and the finest wines of France, we

adjourned to tea, where we amused ourselves with reading, or improving

conversation,--each, according to his fancy,--and, after sandwiches,

etc., retired to rest. A set of monkish dresses, which had been

provided, with all the proper apparatus of crosses, beads, tonsures,

etc., often gave a variety to our appearance, and to our pursuits.

You may easily imagine how chagrined I was at being ill nearly the

first half of the time I was there. But I was led into a very

different reflection from that of Dr. Swift, who left Pope's house

without ceremony, and afterwards informed him, by letter, that it was

impossible for two sick friends to live together; for I found my

shivering and invalid frame so perpetually annoyed by the thoughtless

and tumultuous health of every one about me, that I heartily wished

every soul in the house to be as ill as myself.

"The journey back I performed on foot, together with another of the

guests. We walked about twenty-five miles a day; but were a week on

the road, from being detained by the rain. So here I close my account

of an expedition which has somewhat extended my knowledge of this

country. And where do you think I am going next? To

Constantinople!--at least, such an excursion has been proposed to me.

Lord B. and another friend of mine are going thither next month, and

have asked me to join the party; but it seems to be but a wild scheme,

and requires twice thinking upon.

"Addio, my dear I., yours very affectionately, C. S. MATTHEWS."]

[Footnote 7: A joke, related by Hobhouse, reminds us of the youth of the

party. In the Long Gallery at Newstead was placed a stone coffin,

from which, as he passed down the Gallery at night, he heard a

groan proceeding. On going nearer, a cowled figure rose from the

coffin and blew out the candle. It was Matthews.]

[Footnote 8: The Rev. Thomas Jones. (See page 79 [Letter 36], [Foot]note 1.)]

[Footnote 9: The only thing remarkable about Walsh's preface is that

Dr. Johnson praises it as "very judicious," but is, at the same time,

silent respecting the poems to which it is prefixed (Moore).]

[Footnote 10: No "Ode" under this title is to be found in Walsh's Poems.

Byron had, no doubt, in mind _The Golden Age Restored_--a composition in

which, says Dr. Johnson, "there was something of humour, while the facts

were recent; but it now strikes no longer."]

[Footnote 11:

"----Granville the polite,

And _knowing Walsh_, would tell me I could write."

"About fifteen," says Pope, "I got acquainted with Mr. Walsh. He used to

encourage me much, and tell me, that there was one way left of

excelling: for though we had several great poets, we never had any one

great poet that was correct; and he desired me to make that my study and

aim" (Spence's _Anecdotes_, edit. 1820, p. 280).]

[Footnote 12: See page 165 [Letter 86], [Foot]note 2.]

[Footnote 13: Dan Dogherty, Irish champion (1806-11), came into notice as

a pugilist in 1806. He was beaten by Belcher in April, 1808, near

the Rubbing House on Epsom Downs, and again on the Curragh

of Kildare, in 1813, in thirty-five minutes, after twenty-six rounds.]

[Footnote 14: Tom Belcher (1783-1854), younger brother of Jem Belcher

the champion, fought and won his first fight in London, in 1804, against

Warr. The fight took place in Tothill Fields, Westminster. Twice beaten

by Dutch Sam (Elias Samuel), in 1806 and 1807, he never held the

championship, which a man of his height (5 ft. 9 ins.) and weight (10

st. 12 lbs.) could scarcely hope to win. But he repeatedly established

the superiority of art over strength, and was one of the most popular

and respectable pugilists of the day. Under his management the Castle

Tavern at Holborn, in which he succeeded Gregson (page 207 [Letter 108],

[Foot]note 1 [2]), was the head-quarters of pugilism.]

[Footnote 15: Sir Henry Smyth, Baronet, of Trinity Hall, A.M. 1805, was

found between eleven and twelve at night, on May 11, 1805, "inciting to a

disturbance" at the shop of a Mrs. Thrower on Market Hill. Other members

of the University seem to have been equally guilty. The sentence of the

Vice-Chancellor and Heads was "that he be suspended from his degree and

banished from the University." The others were admonished only; so it

was clearly considered that Smyth was the ring-leader.]

85.--To Henry Drury. [1]

Dorant's Hotel, Jan. 13, 1808.

My Dear Sir,--Though the stupidity of my servants, or the porter of

the house, in not showing you up stairs (where I should have joined

you directly), prevented me the pleasure of seeing you yesterday, I

hoped to meet you at some public place in the evening. However, my

stars decreed otherwise, as they generally do, when I have any favour

to request of them. I think you would have been surprised at my

figure, for, since our last meeting, I am reduced four stone in

weight. I then weighed fourteen stone seven pound, and now only _ten

stone and a half_. I have disposed of my _superfluities_ by means of

hard exercise and abstinence.

Should your Harrow engagements allow you to visit town between this

and February, I shall be most happy to see you in Albemarle Street. If

I am not so fortunate, I shall endeavour to join you for an afternoon

at Harrow, though, I fear, your cellar will by no means contribute to

my cure. As for my worthy preceptor, Dr. B., [2] our encounter would

by no means prevent the _mutual endearments_ he and I were wont to

lavish on each other. We have only spoken once since my departure from

Harrow in 1805, and then he politely told Tatersall [3] I was not a

proper associate for his pupils. This was long before my strictures in

verse; but, in plain _prose_, had I been some years older, I should

have held my tongue on his perfections. But, being laid on my back,

when that schoolboy thing was written--or rather dictated--expecting

to rise no more, my physician having taken his sixteenth fee, and I

his prescription, I could not quit this earth without leaving a

memento of my constant attachment to Butler in gratitude for his

manifold good offices.

I meant to have been down in July; but thinking my appearance,

immediately after the publication, would be construed into an insult,

I directed my steps elsewhere. Besides, I heard that some of the boys

had got hold of my _Libellus_, contrary to my wishes certainly, for I

never transmitted a single copy till October, when I gave one to a

boy, since gone, after repeated importunities. You will, I trust,

pardon this egotism. As you had touched on the subject I thought some

explanation necessary. Defence I shall not attempt, _Hic murus aheneus

esto, nil conscire sibi_--and "so on" (as Lord Baltimore [4] said on

his trial for a rape)--I have been so long at Trinity as to forget the

conclusion of the line; but though I cannot finish my quotation, I

will my letter, and entreat you to believe me, gratefully and

affectionately, etc.

P.S.--I will not lay a tax on your time by requiring an answer, lest

you say, as Butler said to Tatersall (when I had written his reverence

an impudent epistle on the expression before mentioned), viz. "that I

wanted to draw him into a correspondence."

[Footnote 1: See page 12 [Letter 4], [Foot]note 1 [2]; and page 41

[Letter 14], [Foot] note 2 [1].]

[Footnote 2: Dr. Butler, Head-master of Harrow (see page 58 [Letter 22],

[Foot]note 1).]

[Footnote 3: See page 59 [Letter 22], [Foot]note 1 [2].]

[Footnote 4: Francis Calvert, seventh Lord Baltimore (1731-1771), was

charged with decoying a young milliner, named Sarah Woodcock, to his

house, and with rape. On February 12, 1768, he was committed for trial

at the Spring assizes, was tried at Kingston, March 26, 1768, and

acquitted. The story is the subject of a romance, 'Injured Innocence; or

the Rape of Sarah Woodcock;' A Tale, by S. J., Esq., of Magdalen

College, Oxford. New York (no date).

"I thank God," Lord Baltimore is reported to have said, "that I have

had firmness and resolution to meet my accusers face to face, and

provoke an enquiry into my conduct, 'Hic murus aheneus esto, nil

conscire sibi'"

('Ann. Register' for 1768, p. 234). His body lay in state at Exeter

Change, previous to its interment at Epsom (Leigh Hunt's 'The Town',

edit. 1893, p. 191).]

86.--To John Cam Hobhouse. [1]

Newstead Abbey, Notts, January 16, 1808.

My Dear Hobhouse,--I do not know how the _dens_-descended Davies [2]

came to mention his having received a copy of my epistle to you, but I

addressed him and you on the same evening, and being much incensed at

the account I had received from Wallace, I communicated the contents

to the Birdmore, though without any of that malice wherewith you

charge me. I shall leave my card at Batts, and hope to see you in your

progress to the North.

I have lately discovered Scrope's genealogy to be ennobled by a

collateral tie with the Beardmore, Chirurgeon and Dentist to Royalty,

and that the town of Southwell contains cousins of Scrope's, who

disowned them (I grieve to speak it) on visiting that city in my

society.

How I found this out I will disclose, the first time "we three meet

again." But why did he conceal his lineage? "Ah, my dear H., it was

_cruel_, it was _insulting_, it was _unnecessary_."

I have (notwithstanding your kind invitation to Wallace) been alone

since the 8th of December; nothing of moment has occurred since our

anniversary row. I shall be in London on the 19th; there are to be

oxen roasted and sheep boiled on the 22nd, with ale and uproar for the

mobility; a feast is also providing for the tenantry. For my own part,

I shall know as little of the matter as a corpse of the funeral

solemnized in its honour.

A letter addressed to Reddish's will find me. I still intend

publishing the _Bards_, but I have altered a good deal of the "Body of

the Book," added and interpolated, with some excisions; your lines

still stand, [3] and in all there will appear 624 lines.

I should like much to see your Essay upon Entrails: is there any

honorary token of silver gilt? any cups, or pounds sterling attached

to the prize, besides glory? I expect to see you with a medal

suspended from your button-hole, like a Croix de St. Louis.

Fletcher's father is deceased, and has left his son tway cottages,

value ten pounds per annum. I know not how it is, but Fletch., though

only the third brother, conceives himself entitled to all the estates

of the defunct, and I have recommended him to a lawyer, who, I fear,

will triumph in the spoils of this ancient family. A Birthday Ode has

been addressed to me by a country schoolmaster, in which I am likened

to the Sun, or Sol, as he classically saith; the people of Newstead

are compared to Laplanders. I am said to be a Baron, and a Byron, the

truth of which is indisputable. Feronia is again to reign (she must

have some woods to govern first), but it is altogether a very pleasant

performance, and the author is as superior to Pye, as George Gordon to

George Guelph. To be sure some of the lines are too short, but then,

to make amends, the Alexandrines have from fifteen to seventeen

syllables, so we may call them Alexandrines the great.

I shall be glad to hear from you, and beg you to believe me,

Yours very truly,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: John Cam Hobhouse (1786-1869), created in 1851 Baron

Broughton de Gyfford, was the eldest son of Mr. Benjamin Hobhouse,

created a baronet in 1812, and M.P. (from 1797 to 1818) successively for

Bletchingley, Grampound, and Hindon. From a school at Bristol, John Cam

Hobhouse was sent to Westminster, and thence to Trinity, Cambridge,

where he won (1808) the Hulsean Prize for an essay on "Sacrifices," and

made acquaintance with Byron, as related in Letter 84. In 1809 he

published a poetical miscellany, consisting of sixty-five pieces, under

the title of 'Imitations and Translations from the Ancient and Modern

Classics, together with original Poems never before published' (London,

1809, 8vo). (For Byron's nine contributions, see 'Poems', vol. i.,

Bibliographical Note.) In 1809-10 he was Byron's travelling companion

abroad (see 'A Journey through Albania, etc.' London, 1813, 4to).

In 1813 he travelled with Douglas Kinnaird in Sweden, Germany, Austria,

and Italy; in 1814 he was at Paris with the allied armies; and in April,

1815, was there again till the second Napoleonic war broke out,

returning to witness the second restoration of the Bourbons (see his

'Letters--written by an Englishman resident in Paris, etc.' Anon.,

London, 1816, 2 vols., 8vo). During 1814 he was much with Byron in

London. He notes going with him to Drury Lane, and being introduced with

him to Kean (May 19); dining with him at Lord Tavistock's (June 4);

dining with him at Douglas Kinnaird's, to meet Kean (December 14). He

was Byron's best man at his marriage at Seaham (January 2, 1815), and it

was to him that the bride said, "If I am not happy, it will be my own

fault." He was the last person who shook hands with Byron on Dover pier,

when the latter left England in 1816. Later in the same year he was with

him at the Villa Diodati, on the Lake of Geneva, and travelled with him

to Venice. To him Byron dedicated 'The Siege of Corinth', In the next

year he was again with Byron in the Villa La Mira on the banks of the

Brenta, and at Venice, where he prepared the commentary on the fourth

canto of 'Childe Harold', which Byron dedicated to him. Part of the

notes were published separately ('Historical Illustrations, etc.'

London, 1818, 8vo). In 1818 Hobhouse stood for Westminster, but was

defeated by George Lamb, the representative of the official Whigs. He

was an original member of "The Rota Club," afterwards known as

"Harrington's," to which Michael Bruce, Douglas Kinnaird, Scrope Davies,

and others belonged, and which Byron, writing from Italy, expressed a

wish to join. He had now embarked on political life. His pamphlet, 'A

Defence of the People' (1819), was followed in the same year by 'A

Trifling Mistake', which was declared by the House of Commons to be a

breach of privilege. In consequence, he was committed to Newgate. The

death of George III., and the dissolution of Parliament, set him free.

He contested Westminster, won the seat with Sir Francis Burdett as his

colleague, and represented it for thirteen years. He took the part of

Queen Caroline against the Government. At the Queen's funeral (August 7,

1821) he attended the procession which escorted her body (August 13)

from Brandenburg House to Harwich, and saw the coffin placed upon the

vessel.

His political career was long, independent, useful, and distinguished,

and he specially associated himself with such questions as the

shortening of the hours for infant labour, the opening up of

metropolitan vestries, and the subject of parliamentary reform. In 1832

he was made a Privy Councillor, and became Secretary at War in Lord

Grey's Ministry. This post, finding himself unable to effect essential

reforms at the War Office, he exchanged for that of Secretary for

Ireland (1833); but he resigned both his office and his seat a few weeks

later, being opposed to the Government on a question of taxation. In

1834 he joined Lord Melbourne's Government as First Commissioner of

Woods and Forests, with a seat in the Cabinet. In Lord Melbourne's

second administration, and again in Lord J. Russell's Government of

1846, he was President of the Board of Control. On his retirement from

public life, in 1852, he received high recognition of his official

services from the Queen, who conferred on him the Grand Cross of the

Bath and a peerage. Hobhouse was present at Her Majesty's first Council,

and is said to have originated the phrase, "Her Majesty's Opposition."

In 1822 he travelled in Italy (see 'Italy: Remarks made in Several

Visits from the Year 1816 to 1834', London, 1859, 2 vols., 8vo). There,

on September 20, at Pisa, he for the last time saw Byron, whose parting

words were, "Hobhouse, you should never have come, or you should never

go." In July, 1824, when Byron's body was brought home, he boarded the

'Florida' in Sandgate Creek, and took charge of the funeral ceremonies

from Westminster Stairs to the interment at Hucknall Torkard. He

prepared an article for the 'Quarterly Review', exposing the absurdities

of Medwin's 'Conversations' and of Dallas's 'Recollections'; but, owing

to difficulties with Southey, it was not published. It was the substance

of this article which afterwards appeared in the 'Westminster Review' in

1825. In 1830 he wrote, but, by Lord Holland's advice, withheld, a

refutation of the charges made against the dead poet as to his

separation from Lady Byron. He has, however, left on record that it was

not fear which induced Byron to agree to the separation, but that, on

the contrary, he was ready to "go into court."

The staunchest of Byron's friends, Hobhouse was also the most sensible

and candid. As such Byron valued him. Talking to Lady Blessington at

Genoa, in 1823, he said ('Conversations', p. 93) that Hobhouse was

"the most impartial, or perhaps," added he, "'unpartial', of my

friends; he always told me my faults, but I must do him the justice to

add, that he told them to 'me', and not to others."

On another occasion he said (p. 172),

"If friendship, as most people imagine, consists in telling one

truth--unvarnished, unadorned truth--he is indeed a friend: yet, hang

it, I must be candid, and say I have had many other, and more

agreeable, proofs of Hobhouse's friendship than the truths he always

told me; but the fact is, I wanted him to sugar them over a little

with flattery, as nurses do the physic given to children; and he never

would, and therefore I have never felt quite content with him, though,

'au fond', I respect him the more for his candour, while I respect

myself very much less for my weakness in disliking it."]

[Footnote 2: Scrope Berdmore Davies (1783-1852), born at Horsley, in

Gloucestershire, was educated at Eton, and King's College, Cambridge,

where he was admitted a Scholar in July, 1802, and a Fellow in July,

1805. In 1803 he was awarded by the Provost of Eton the Belham

Scholarship, given to those Scholars of King's who had behaved well at

Eton, and held it till 1816. A witty companion, with "a dry caustic

manner, and an irresistible stammer" ('Life of Rev, F. Hodgson', vol. i.

p. 204), Davies was, during the Regency and afterwards, a popular member

of fashionable society. A daring gambler and shrewd calculator, he at

one time won heavily at the gaming-tables. On June 10, 1814, as he told

Hobhouse, he won £6065 at Watier's Club at Macao. Captain Cronow, in his

'Reminiscences' (ed. 1860, vol. i. pp. 93-96), sketches him among

"Golden Ball" Hughes, "King" Allen, and other dandies. But luck turned

against him, and he retired, poverty-stricken and almost dependent upon

his Fellowship, to Paris, where he died, May 23, 1852. It was supposed

he had for many years occupied himself with writing his recollections of

his friends. But the notes, if they were ever written, have disappeared.

Byron, who hated obligations, as he himself says, counted Davies as a

friend, though not on the same plane as Hobhouse. He borrowed from

Davies £4800 before he left England in 1809, repaid him in 1814, and

dedicated to him his 'Parisina'. In his 'MS. Journal' ('Life', pp. 129,

130) he says,

"One of the cleverest men I ever knew, in conversation, was Scrope

Berdmore Davies. Hobhouse is also very good in that line, though it is

of less consequence to a man who has other ways of showing his talents

than in company. Scrope was always ready, and often witty--Hobhouse

was witty, but not always so ready, being more diffident."

Byron appointed him one of the executors of his will of 1811. In his

'Journal' for March 28, 1814 ('Life', p. 234), occurs this entry:

"Yesterday, dined tête à tête at the Cocoa with Scrope Davies--sat

from six till midnight--drank between us one bottle of champagne and

six of claret, neither of which wines ever affect me. Offered to take

Scrope home in my carriage; but he was tipsy and pious, and I was

obliged to leave him on his knees praying to I know not what purpose

or pagod. No headach, nor sickness, that night, nor to-day. Got up, if

anything, earlier than usual--sparred with Jackson 'ad sudorem', and

have been much better in health than for many days. I have heard

nothing more from Scrope."

Scrope Davies visited Byron at the Villa Diodati, in 1816, and brought

back with him 'Childe Harold', canto iii. On his return he gave evidence

in the case of 'Byron v. Johnson', before the Lord Chancellor, November

28, 1816, when an injunction was obtained to restrain Johnson from

publishing a volume containing 'Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

to the Holy Land', and other works, which he professed to have bought

from Byron for £500.

According to Gronow ('Reminiscences', vol. i. p. 153, 154), Scrope

Davies, asked to give his private opinion of Byron, said that he

considered him

"very agreeable and clever, but vain, overbearing, suspicious, and

jealous. Byron hated Palmerston, but liked Peel, and thought that the

whole world ought to be constantly employed in admiring his poetry and

himself."]

[Footnote 3: For Hobhouse's lines on Bowles, see 'English Bards, etc.',

line 384, and note.]

87.--To Robert Charles Dallas. [1]

Dorant's Hotel, Albemarle Street, Jan. 20, 1808.

Sir,--Your letter was not received till this morning, I presume from

being addressed to me in Notts., where I have not resided since last

June; and as the date is the 6th, you will excuse the delay of my

answer.

If the little volume you mention has given pleasure to the author of

_Percival_ and _Aubrey_, I am sufficiently repaid by his praise.

Though our periodical censors have been uncommonly lenient, I confess

a tribute from a man of acknowledged genius is still more flattering.

But I am afraid I should forfeit all claim to candour, if I did not

decline such praise as I do not deserve; and this is, I am sorry to

say, the case in the present instance.

My compositions speak for themselves, and must stand or fall by their

own worth or demerit: _thus far_ I feel highly gratified by your

favourable opinion. But my pretensions to virtue are unluckily so few,

that though I should be happy to merit, I cannot accept, your applause

in that respect. One passage in your letter struck me forcibly: you

mention the two Lords Lyttleton [2] in the manner they respectively

deserve, and will be surprised to hear the person who is now

addressing you has been frequently compared to the _latter_. I know I

am injuring myself in your esteem by this avowal, but the circumstance

was so remarkable from your observation, that I cannot help relating

the fact. The events of my short life have been of so singular a

nature, that, though the pride commonly called honour has, and I trust

ever will, prevent me from disgracing my name by a mean or cowardly

action, I have been already held up as the votary of licentiousness,

and the disciple of infidelity. How far justice may have dictated this

accusation, I cannot pretend to say; but, like the _gentleman_ to whom

my religious friends, in the warmth of their charity, have already

devoted me, I am made worse than I really am. However, to quit myself

(the worst theme I could pitch upon), and return to my poems, I cannot

sufficiently express my thanks, and I hope I shall some day have an

opportunity of rendering them in person. A second edition is now in

the press, with some additions and considerable omissions; you will

allow me to present you with a copy. The 'Critical', [3] 'Monthly',

[4] and 'Anti-Jacobin [5] Reviews' have been very indulgent; but the

'Eclectic' [6] has pronounced a furious Philippic, not against the

_book_ but the _author_, where you will find all I have mentioned

asserted by a reverend divine who wrote the critique.

Your name and connection with our family have been long known to me,

and I hope your person will be not less so: you will find me an

excellent compound of a "Brainless" and a "Stanhope." [7] I am afraid

you will hardly be able to read this, for my hand is almost as bad as

my character; but you will find me, as legibly as possible,

Your obliged and obedient servant,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Robert Charles Dallas (1754-1842), born in Jamaica and

educated in Scotland, read law at the Inner Temple. About 1775 he

returned to Jamaica to look after his property and take up a lucrative

appointment. Three years later he returned to England, married, and took

his wife back with him to the West Indies. His wife's health compelled

him to return to Europe, and he lived for some time in France. At the

outbreak of the Revolution he emigrated to America; but finally settled

down to literary work in England. His first publication (1797) was

_Miscellaneous Writings consisting of Poems; Lucretia, a Tragedy; and

Moral Essays, with a Vocabulary of the Passions_. He translated a number

of French books bearing on the French Revolution, by Bertrand de

Moleville, Mallet du Pan, Hue, and Joseph Weber; also a work on

Volcanoes by the Abbé Ordinaire, and an historical novel by Madame de

Genlis, _The Siege of Rochelle_. He wrote a number of novels, among them

_Percival, or Nature Vindicated_ (1801); _Aubrey: a Novel_ (1804); _The

Morlands; Tales illustrative of the Simple and Surprising_ (1805); _The

Knights; Tales illustrative of the Marvellous_ (1808). Later (1819 and

1823) he published two volumes of poems. He says (preface to _Percival_,

p. ix.) that his object is "to improve the heart, as well as to please

the fancy, and to be the auxiliary of the Divine and the Moralist." He

is one of the writers, others being "Gleaner" Pratt and Lord Carlisle,

"whose writings" (_Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Percival

Stockdale_, 1809, vol. i. Preface, p. xvi.) "dart through the general

fog of our literary dulness." Stockdale further says of him that he was

"a man of a most affectionate and virtuous mind. He has had the moral

honour, in several novels, to exert his talents, which were worthy of

their glorious cause, in the service of good conduct and religion."

Dallas's sister, Henrietta Charlotte, married George Anson Byron, the

son of Admiral the Hon. John Byron, and was therefore Byron's aunt by

marriage. On the score of this connection, Dallas introduced himself to

Byron by complimenting him, in a letter dated January 6, 1808, on his

_Hours of Idleness_. A well-meaning, self-satisfied, dull, industrious

man, he gave Byron excellent moral advice, to which the latter responded

as the _fanfaron de ses vices_, evidently with great amusement to

himself. _English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers_ was brought out under

Dallas's auspices, as well as _Childe Harold_ and _The Corsair_, the

profits of which Byron made over to him. Dallas distrusted his own

literary judgment in the matter of Byron's verse, and consulted Walter

Wright, the author of Horæ Ioniæ, about the prospects of 'Childe

Harold'.

"I have told him," said Wright, "that I have no doubt this will

succeed. Lord Byron had offered him before some translations from

Horace, which I told him would never sell, and he did not take them"

('Diary of H. Crabb Robinson', vol. i. pp. 29, 30).

The connection between Dallas and Byron practically ended in 1814. The

publication of Dallas's 'Recollections of the Life of Lord Byron from

the Year 1808 to the end of 1814' was stopped by a decree obtained by

Byron's executors, in the Court of Chancery, August 23, 1824. But the

book was published by the writer's son, the Rev. A. R. C. Dallas.]

[Footnote 2: Byron refers to the following passage in Dallas's letter of

January 6, 1808:

"A spirit that brings to my mind another noble author, who was not

only a fine poet, orator, and historian, but one of the closest

reasoners we have on the truth of that religion, of which forgiveness

is a prominent principle: the great and the good Lord Lyttelton, whose

fame will never die. His son, to whom he had transmitted genius but

not virtue, sparkled for a moment, and went out like a falling star,

and with him the title became extinct. He was the victim of inordinate

passions, and he will be heard of in this world only by those who read

the English Peerage"

('Correspondence of Lord Byron', p. 20, the suppressed edition).

Dallas was, of course, aware that Byron's predecessor in the title,

William, fifth Lord Byron, was known as the "wicked Lord Byron." George,

first Lord Lyttelton (1709-1773), to whom Pope refers ('Imitations of

Horace', bk. i. Ep. i. 1. 30) as

"Still true to virtue, and as warm as true,"

was a voluminous writer in prose and verse, but owed his political

importance to his family connection with Chatham, Temple, and George

Grenville. Horace Walpole calls him a "wise moppet" ('Letters', vol. ii.

p. 28, ed. Cunningham), and repeatedly sneers at his dulness. His son

Thomas, second Lord Lyttelton (1744-1779), the "wicked Lord Lyttelton,"

appears in W. Combe's 'Diaboliad' as the

"Peer of words,

Well known,--and honour'd in the House of Lords,--

Whose Eloquence all Parallel defies!"

who claims the throne of Hell as the worst of living men. His 'Poems by

a Young Nobleman lately deceased' (published in 1780, after his death)

may have helped Dallas in his allusion. He was the hero and the victim

of the famous ghost story which Dr. Johnson was "willing to believe."]

[Footnote 3: 'The Critical Review' (3rd series, vol. xii. pp. 47-53)

specially praises lines "On Leaving Newstead Abbey" and "Childish

Recollections."]

[Footnote 4: In 'Monthly Literary Recreations' (July, 1807, pp. 67-71),

"Childish Recollections" and "The Tear" are particularly commended.

"As friends to the cause of literature, we have thought proper not to

disguise our opinion of his powers, that we might alter his

determination, and lead him once more to the Castalian fount."]

[Footnote 5: 'The Anti-Jacobin Review' (December, 1807, pp. 407, 408)

says that the poems

"exhibit strong proofs of genius, accompanied by a lively but

chastened imagination, a classical taste, and a benevolent heart."]

[Footnote 6: _The Eclectic Review_ (vol. iii. part ii. pp. 989-993)

begins its review thus:

"The notice we take of this publication regards the author rather than

the book; the book is a collection of juvenile pieces, some of very

moderate merit, and others of very questionable morality; but the

author is a _nobleman_!"]

[Footnote 7: Characters in the novel called _Percival_.]

88.--To Robert Charles Dallas.

Dorant's, January 21, 1808.

Sir,--Whenever leisure and inclination permit me the pleasure of a

visit, I shall feel truly gratified in a personal acquaintance with

one whose mind has been long known to me in his writings.

You are so far correct in your conjecture, that I am a member of the

University of Cambridge, where I shall take my degree of A.M. this

term; but were reasoning, eloquence, or virtue, the objects of my

search, Granta is not their metropolis, nor is the place of her

situation an "El Dorado," far less an Utopia. The intellects of her

children are as stagnant as her Cam, and their pursuits limited to the

church--not of Christ, but of the nearest benefice.

As to my reading, I believe I may aver, without hyperbole, it has been

tolerably extensive in the historical department; so that few nations

exist, or have existed, with whose records I am not in some degree

acquainted, from Herodotus down to Gibbon. Of the classics, I know

about as much as most school-boys after a discipline of thirteen

years; of the law of the land as much as enables me to keep "within

the statute"--to use the poacher's vocabulary. I did study the "Spirit

of Laws" [1] and the Law of Nations; but when I saw the latter

violated every month, I gave up my attempts at so useless an

accomplishment:--of geography, I have seen more land on maps than I

should wish to traverse on foot;--of mathematics, enough to give me

the headach without clearing the part affected;--of philosophy,

astronomy, and metaphysics, more than I can comprehend; and of common

sense so little, that I mean to leave a Byronian prize at each of our

"Almæ Matres" for the first discovery,--though I rather fear that of

the longitude will precede it.

I once thought myself a philosopher, and talked nonsense with great

decorum: I defied pain, and preached up equanimity. For some time this

did very well, for no one was in _pain_ for me but my friends, and

none lost their patience but my hearers. At last, a fall from my horse

convinced me bodily suffering was an evil; and the worst of an

argument overset my maxims and my temper at the same moment: so I

quitted Zeno for Aristippus, and conceive that pleasure constitutes

the [Greek (transliterated): to kalon].

In morality, I prefer Confucius to the Ten Commandments, and Socrates

to St. Paul (though the two latter agree in their opinion of

marriage). In religion, I favour the Catholic emancipation, but do not

acknowledge the Pope; and I have refused to take the sacrament,

because I do not think eating bread or drinking wine from the hand of

an earthly vicar will make me an inheritor of heaven. I hold virtue,

in general, or the virtues severally, to be only in the disposition,

each a _feeling_, not a principle. I believe truth the prime attribute

of the Deity, and death an eternal sleep, at least of the body. You

have here a brief compendium of the sentiments of the _wicked_ George,

Lord Byron; and, till I get a new suit, you will perceive I am badly

cloathed.

I remain yours, etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: In Byron's "List of historical writers whose works I have

perused in different languages" ('Life', pp. 46, 47), occurs the name of

Montesquieu. It is to his 'Esprit des Lois' that Byron refers.]

89.--To John Hanson.

Dorant's, January 25th, 1808.

Sir,--The picture I have drawn of my finances is unfortunately a true

one, and I find the colours may be heightened but not improved by

time.--I have inclosed the receipt, and return my thanks for the loan,

which shall be repaid the first opportunity. In the concluding part of

my last I gave my reasons for not troubling you with my society at

present, but when I can either communicate or receive pleasure, I

shall not be long absent.

Yrs., etc.,

BYRON.

P.S.--I have received a letter from Whitehead, of course you know the

contents, and must act as you think proper.

90.--To John Hanson.

Dorant's, January 25th, 1808.

Dear Sir,--Some time ago I gave Mitchell the sadler [_sic_] a letter

for you, requesting his bill might be paid from the Balance of the

Quarter you obliged me by advancing. If he has received this you will

further oblige me by paying what remains, I believe somewhere about

five pounds, if so much.

You will confer a favour upon me by the loan of twenty. I will

endeavour to repay it next week, as I have immediate occasion for that

sum, and I should not require it of you could I obtain it elsewhere.

I am now in my one and twentieth year, and cannot command as many

pounds. To Cambridge I cannot go without paying my bills, and at

present I could as soon compass the National Debt; in London I must

not remain, nor shall I, when I can procure a trifle to take me out of

it. Home I have none; and if there was a possibility of getting out of

the Country, I would gladly avail myself of it. But even that is

denied me, my Debts amount to three thousand, three hundred to Jews,

eight hundred to Mrs. B. of Nottingham, to coachmaker and other

tradesmen a thousand more, and these must be much increased, before

they are lessened.

Such is the prospect before me, which is by no means brightened by

ill-health. I would have called on you, but I have neither spirits to

enliven myself or others, or inclination to bring a gloomy face to

spoil a group of happy ones. I remain,

Your obliged and obedt. sert.,

BYRON.

P.S.--Your answer to the former part will oblige, as I shall be

reduced to a most unpleasant dilemma if it does not arrive.

91.--To James De Bathe. [1]

Dorant's Hotel, February 2d, 1808.

My Dear De Bathe,--Last Night I saw your Father and Brother, the

former I have not the pleasure of knowing, but the latter informed me

_you_ came to Town on _Saturday_ and returned _yesterday_.

I have received a pressing Invitation from Henry Drury to pay him a

visit; in his Letter he mentions a very old _Friend_ of yours, who

told him he would join my party, if I could inform him on what day I

meant to go over. This Friend you will readily conclude to be a Lord

_B_.; but not the one who now addresses you. Shall I bring him to you?

and insure a welcome for myself which perhaps might not otherwise be

the case. This will not be for a Fortnight to come. I am waiting for

Long, who is now at Chatham, when he arrives we shall probably drive

down and dine with Drury.

I confess Harrow has lost most of its charms for me. I do not know if

Delawarr is still there; but, with the exception of yourself and the

Earl, I shall find myself among Strangers. Long has a Brother at

Butler's, and all his predilections remain in full force; mine are

weakened, if not destroyed, and though I can safely say, I never knew

a Friend out of Harrow, I question whether I have one left in it. You

leave Harrow in July; may I ask what is your future Destination?

In January _1809_ I shall be twenty one & in the Spring of the same

year proceed abroad, not on the usual Tour, but a route of a more

extensive Description. What say you? are you disposed for a view of

the Peloponnesus and a voyage through the Archipelago? I am merely in

jest with regard to you, but very serious with regard to my own

Intention which is fixed on the _Pilgrimage_, unless some political

view or accident induce me to postpone it. Adieu! if you have Leisure,

I shall be as happy to hear from you, as I would have been to have

_seen_ you. Believe me,

Yours very truly,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Sir James Wynne De Bathe (1792-1828) succeeded his father

as second baronet, February 22, 1808. "Clare, Dorset, Charles Gordon, De

Bathe, Claridge, and John Wingfield, were my juniors and favourites,

whom I spoilt by indulgence" ('Life', p. 21). De Bathe's name does not

appear in the Harrow School lists. A Captain De Bathe interested himself

in the case of Medora Leigh in 1843 (see Charles Mackay's 'Medora

Leigh', pp. 92, 93, and elsewhere in the volume).]

92.--To William Harness. [1]

Dorant's Hotel, Albemarle Street, Feb. II, 1808.

My Dear Harness,--As I had no opportunity of returning my verbal

thanks, I trust you will accept my written acknowledgments for the

compliment you were pleased to pay some production of my unlucky muse

last November,--I am induced to do this not less from the pleasure I

feel in the praise of an old schoolfellow, than from justice to you,

for I had heard the story with some slight variations. Indeed, when we

met this morning, Wingfield [2] had not undeceived me; but he will

tell you that I displayed no resentment in mentioning what I had

heard, though I was not sorry to discover the truth. Perhaps you

hardly recollect, some years ago, a short, though, for the time, a

warm friendship between us. Why it was not of longer duration I know

not. I have still a gift of yours in my possession, that must always

prevent me from forgetting it. I also remember being favoured with the

perusal of many of your compositions, and several other circumstances

very pleasant in their day, which I will not force upon your memory,

but entreat you to believe me, with much regret at their short

continuance, and a hope they are not irrevocable,

Yours very sincerely, etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: William Harness (1790-1869), son of Dr. J. Harness,

Commissioner of the Transport Board, was educated at Harrow and Christ's

College, Cambridge. Ordained in 1812, he was, from 1823 to 1826, Curate

at Hampstead.

"I could quiz you heartily," writes Mrs. Franklin to Miss Mitford

(September 6, 1824), "for having told me in three successive letters

of Mr. Harness's chapel at Hampstead. I understand he now lives a very

retired life"

('The Friendships of Mary Russell Mitford', vol. i. p. 61). From 1826 to

1844 he was Incumbent of Regent Square Chapel; Minister of Brompton

Chapel (1844-47); Perpetual Curate (1849-69) of All Saints',

Knightsbridge, which he built from subscriptions raised by himself. He

is described by Crabb Robinson ('Diary', vol. iii. p. 212) as

"a clergyman with Oxford propensities, and a worshipper of the heathen

Muses as well as of the Christian Graces;"

and again (iii. 326), as

"a man of taste, of High Church principles and liberal in spirit."

Miss Mitford ('The Friendships of Mary Russell Mitford', vol. ii. p.

289) writes that

"he has neither Catholic nor Puseyite tendencies,--only it is a large

and liberal mind like Bishop Stanley's, believing good men and good

Christians may exist among Papists, and will be as safe there as if

they were Protestants."

Again (vol. ii. p. 295) she says of him:

"Besides his varied accomplishments, and his admirable goodness and

kindness, he has all sorts of amusing peculiarities. With a temper

never known to fail, an indulgence the largest, a tenderness as of a

woman, he has the habit of talking like a cynic! and with more

learning, ancient and modern, and a wider grasp of literature than

almost any one I know, professes to read nothing and care for nothing

but 'Shakespeare and the Bible.' He is the finest reader of both that

I ever heard. His preaching, which has been so much admired, is too

rapid, but his reading the prayers is perfection. The best parish

priest in London, and the truest Christian."

Miss Mitford's praise may be exaggerated; but she had known Harness for

a lifetime.

Harness edited 'Shakespeare' (1825, 8 vols.), as well as 'Massinger'

(1830) and 'Ford' (1831); wrote for the 'Quarterly' and 'Blackwood'; and

published a number of sermons, including 'The Wrath of Cain', 'A Boyle

Lecture' (1822). He wrote 'The Life of Mary Russell Mitford' (1870), in

collaboration with the Rev. A. G. L'Estrange, whose 'Life of the Rev. W.

Harness' is the chief authority for his career.

His friendship with Byron began at Harrow ('Life', pp. 23, 24), where

Byron, who was older than Harness, took pity upon his lameness and

weakness, and protected him from the bullies of the school. At a later

period they became estranged, as is shown by the following letter from

Byron to Harness ('Life', pp. 24, 25):--

"We both seem perfectly to recollect, with a mixture of pleasure and

regret, the hours we once passed together, and I assure you, most

sincerely, they are numbered among the happiest of my brief chronicle

of enjoyment. I am now 'getting into years', that is to say, I was

'twenty' a month ago, and another year will send me into the world to

run my career of folly with the rest. I was then just fourteen,--you

were almost the first of my Harrow friends, certainly the 'first' in

my esteem, if not in date; but an absence from Harrow for some time,

shortly after, and new connections on your side, and the difference in

our conduct (an advantage decidedly in your favour) from that

turbulent and riotous disposition of mine, which impelled me into

every species of mischief,--all these circumstances combined to

destroy an intimacy, which affection urged me to continue, and memory

compels me to regret. But there is not a circumstance attending that

period, hardly a sentence we exchanged, which is not impressed on my

mind at this moment. I need not say more,--this assurance alone must

convince you, had I considered them as trivial, they would have been

less indelible. How well I recollect the perusal of your 'first

flights'! There is another circumstance you do not know;--the 'first

lines' I ever attempted at Harrow were addressed to 'you'. You were to

have seen them; but Sinclair had the copy in his possession when we

went home;--and, on our return, we were 'strangers'. They were

destroyed, and certainly no great loss; but you will perceive from

this circumstance my opinions at an age when we cannot be hypocrites.

I have dwelt longer on this theme than I intended, and I shall now

conclude with what I ought to have begun. We were once friends,--nay,

we have always been so, for our separation was the effect of chance,

not of dissension. I do not know how far our destinations in life may

throw us together, but if opportunity and inclination allow you to

waste a thought on such a hare-brained being as myself, you will find

me at least sincere, and not so bigoted to my faults as to involve

others in the consequences. Will you sometimes write to me? I do not

ask it often; and, if we meet, let us be what we 'should' be, and what

we 'were'."

The following is Harness's own account of the circumstances in which

Letter 92 was written:--

"A coolness afterwards arose, which Byron alludes to in the first of

the accompanying letters, and we never spoke during the last year of

his remaining at school, nor till after the publication of his 'Hours

of Idleness'. Lord Byron was then at Cambridge; I, in one of the upper

forms, at Harrow. In an English theme I happened to quote from the

volume, and mention it with praise. It was reported to Byron that I

had, on the contrary, spoken slightingly of his work and of himself,

for the purpose of conciliating the favour of Dr. Butler, the master,

who had been severely satirised in one of the poems. Wingfield, who

was afterwards Lord Powerscourt, a mutual friend of Byron and myself,

disabused him of the error into which he had been led, and this was

the occasion of the first letter of the collection. Our intimacy was

renewed, and continued from that time till his going abroad. Whatever

faults Lord Byron might have had towards others, to myself he was

always uniformly affectionate. I have many slights and neglects

towards him to reproach myself with; but I cannot call to mind a

single instance of caprice or unkindness, in the whole course of our

friendship, to allege against him."

In December, 1811, Harness paid Byron a visit at Newstead, the only

other guest being Francis Hodgson, who, like Harness, was not then

ordained. He thus describes the visit ('Life of the Rev. Francis

Hodgson', vol. i. pp. 219-221):--

"When Byron returned, with the MS. of the first two cantos of 'Childe

Harold' in his portmanteau, I paid him a visit at Newstead. It was

winter--dark, dreary weather--the snow upon the ground; and a

straggling, gloomy, depressive, partially inhabited place the Abbey

was. Those rooms, however, which had been fitted up for residence were

so comfortably appointed, glowing with crimson hangings, and cheerful

with capacious fires, that one soon lost the melancholy feeling of

being domiciled in the wing of an extensive ruin. Many tales are

related or fabled of the orgies which, in the poet's early youth, had

made clamorous these ancient halls of the Byrons. I can only say that

nothing in the shape of riot or excess occurred when I was there. The

only other visitor was Dr. Hodgson, the translator of 'Juvenal', and

nothing could be more quiet and regular than the course of our days.

Byron was retouching, as the sheets passed through the press, the

stanzas of 'Childe Harold'. Hodgson was at work in getting out the

ensuing number of the 'Monthly Review', of which he was principal

editor. I was reading for my degree. When we met, our general talk was

of poets and poetry--of who could or who could not write; but it

occasionally rose into very serious discussions on religion. Byron,

from his early education in Scotland, had been taught to identify the

principles of Christianity with the extreme dogmas of Calvinism. His

mind had thus imbibed a most miserable prejudice, which appeared to be

the only obstacle to his hearty acceptance of the Gospel. Of this

error we were most anxious to disabuse him. The chief weight of the

argument rested with Hodgson, who was older, a good deal, than myself.

I cannot even now--at a distance of more than fifty years--recall

those conversations without a deep feeling of admiration for the

judicious zeal and affectionate earnestness (often speaking with tears

in his eyes) which Dr. Hodgson evinced in his advocacy of the truth.

The only difference, except perhaps in the subjects talked about,

between our life at Newstead Abbey and that of the great families

around us, was the hours we kept. It was, as I have said, winter, and

the days were cold; and, as nothing tempted us to rise early, we got

up late. This flung the routine of the day rather backward, and we did

not go early to bed. My visit to Newstead lasted about three weeks,

when I returned to Cambridge to take my degree."

To Harness Byron intended to dedicate 'Childe Harold', but feared to do

so, "lest it should injure him in his profession."]

[Footnote 2: Three Wingfields, sons of Lord Powerscourt, entered Harrow

in February, 1801. The Hon. Richard Wingfield succeeded his father as

fifth Viscount Powerscourt in 1809, and died in 1823. Edward became a

clergyman and died of cholera in 1825; John, Byron's friend, the

"Alonzo" of "Childish Recollections" entered the Coldstream Guards, and

died of fever at Coimbra, May 14, 1811.

"Of all human beings, I was perhaps at one time most attached to poor

Wingfield, who died at Coimbra, 1811, before I returned to England"

('Life', p. 21). To his memory Byron wrote the lines in 'Childe Harold',

Canto I. stanza xci.]

93.--To J. Ridge.

[Mr. Ridge, Newark.]

Dorant's Hotel, February 21st, 1808.

Mr. Ridge,--Something has occurred which will make considerable

alteration in my new volume. You must _go back_ and _cut out_ the

whole _poem_ of 'Childish Recollections'. [1] Of course you will be

surprized at this, and perhaps displeased, but it must be _done_. I

cannot help its detaining you a _month_ longer, but there will be

enough in the volume without it, and as I am now reconciled to Dr.

Butler I cannot allow my satire to appear against him, nor can I alter

that part relating to him without spoiling the whole. You will

therefore omit the whole poem. Send me an _immediate_ answer to this

letter but _obey_ the directions. It is better that my reputation

should suffer as a poet by the omission than as a man of honour by the

insertion.

Etc., etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: For "Childish Recollections," see 'Poems', vol.i. p.101. A

previous letter, written to Ridge from Dorant's Hotel, January 9, 1808,

illustrates the rapidity with which Byron's moods changed. In this case,

the lines on "Euryalus" (Lord Delawarr: see page 41 [Letter 13],

[Foot]note 1 [5]) were to be omitted:--

"Mr. Ridge,--In Childish Recollections omit the whole character of

'Euryalus', and insert instead the lines to 'Florio' as a part of the

poem, and send me a proof in due course.

"Etc. etc.,

"BYRON.

"P.S.--The first line of the passage to be omitted begins 'Shall fair

Euryalus,' etc., and ends at 'Toil for more;' omit the _whole_."]