MY DEAR MADAM,--I am only detained by Mr. Hanson to sign some copyhold
papers, and will give you timely notice of my approach. It is with
great reluctance I remain in town. [1] I shall pay a short visit as we
go on to Lancashire on Rochdale business. I shall attend to your
directions, of course, and am, with great respect, yours ever,
BYRON.
P.S.--You will consider Newstead as your house, not mine; and me only
as a visiter.
[Footnote 1: On his way to London, Byron paid a visit, at Sittingbourne,
to Hobhouse, who was with his Militia Regiment, and under orders for
Ireland. He also stayed with H. Drury, at Harrow, for two or three days.]
158.--To William Miller. [1]
Reddish's Hotel, July 30th, 1811.
SIR,--I am perfectly aware of the justice of your remarks, and am
convinced that, if ever the poem is published, the same objections
will be made in much stronger terms. But as it was intended to be a
poem on _Ariosto's plan,_ that _is_ to _say_ on _no plan_ at all, and,
as is usual in similar cases, having a predilection for the worst
passages, I shall retain those parts, though I cannot venture to
defend them. Under these circumstances I regret that you decline the
publication, on my own account, as I think the book would have done
better in your hands; the pecuniary part, you know, I have nothing to
do with. But I can perfectly conceive, and indeed _approve_ your
reasons, and assure you my sensations are not _Archiepiscopal_ [2]
enough as yet to regard the rejection of my Homilies.
I am, Sir, your very obed't humble serv't,
BYRON.
[Footnote 1: William Miller (1769-1844), son of Thomas Miller,
bookseller, of Bungay (see Beloe's 'Sexagenarian,' 2nd edit., vol. ii.
pp. 253, 254), served his apprenticeship in Hookham's publishing house.
In 1790 he set up for himself as a bookselling publisher in Bond Street.
From 1804 onwards his place of business was at 50, Albemarle Street. But
in September, 1812, he sold his stock, copyrights, good will, and lease
to John Murray, and retired to a country farm in Hertfordshire. He
declined to publish 'Childe Harold,' on the grounds that it contained
"sceptical stanzas," and attacked Lord Elgin as a plunderer. But on the
latter point, Byron, who was in serious earnest, was not likely to give
way. In Beloe's 'Sexagenarian' (vol. ii. pp. 270, 271), Miller is
described as "the splendid bookseller," who "was enabled to retire to
tranquillity and independence long before the decline of life, or
infirmities of age, rendered it necessary to do so. He was highly
respectable, but could drive a hard bargain with a poor author, as well
as any of his fraternity."
[Footnote 2: Alluding to Gil Blas and the Archbishop of Grenada (see
page 121 [Letter 67], [Foot]note 3 [4]).]
159.--To John M. B. Pigot.
Newport Pagnell, August 2, 1811.
MY DEAR DOCTOR,--My poor mother died yesterday! and I am on my way
from town to attend her to the family vault. I heard _one_ day of her
illness, the _next_ of her death. [1] Thank God her last moments were
most tranquil. I am told she was in little pain, and not aware of her
situation. I now feel the truth of Mr. Gray's observation, "That we
can only have _one_ mother." [2] Peace be with her! I have to thank
you for your expressions of regard; and as in six weeks I shall be in
Lancashire on business, I may extend to Liverpool and Chester,--at
least I shall endeavour.
If it will be any satisfaction, I have to inform you that in November
next the Editor of the _Scourge_ [3] will be tried for two different
libels on the late Mrs. B. and myself (the decease of Mrs. B. makes no
difference in the proceedings); and as he is guilty, by his very
foolish and unfounded assertion of a breach of privilege, he will be
prosecuted with the utmost rigour.
I inform you of this, as you seem interested in the affair, which is
now in the hands of the Attorney-general.
I shall remain at Newstead the greater part of this month, where I
shall be happy to hear from you, after my two years' absence in the
East.
I am, dear Pigot, yours very truly,
BYRON.
[Footnote 1: On the night after his arrival at Newstead, Mrs. Byron's
maid, passing the room where the body lay, heard a heavy sigh from
within. Entering the room, she found Byron sitting in the dark beside
the bed. When she spoke to him, he burst into tears, and exclaimed,
"Oh, Mrs. By, I had but one friend in the world, and she is gone!"
On the day of the funeral he refused to follow the corpse to the grave,
but watched the procession move away from the door of Newstead; then,
turning to Rushton, bade him bring the gloves, and began his usual
sparring exercise. Only his silence, abstraction, and unusual violence
betrayed to his antagonist, says Moore ('Life', p. 128), the state of
his feelings.]
[Footnote 2:
"I had discovered a thing very little known, which is, that in one's
whole life one can never have more than a single mother. You may think
this is obvious, and (what you call) a trite observation. You are a
green gosling! I was at the same age (very near) as wise as you, and
yet I never discovered this (with full evidence and conviction, I
mean) till it was too late. It is thirteen years ago, ... and every
day I live it sinks deeper into my heart."
Gray to Nicholls, 'Works', vol. i. p. 482.]
[Footnote 3: One of Byron's first acts on returning to England was to
buy a copy of the 'Scourge', In Ridgway's bill for books supplied from
Piccadilly to Byron on July 24, 1811, is a copy of the 'Scourge' at
2's'. 6'd'. Hewson Clarke (1787-1832) was entered at Emanuel College,
Cambridge, apparently as a sizar, in 1806. Obliged to leave the
University before he had taken his degree, he supported himself in
London by his pen. He wrote two historical works--a continuation of
Hume's 'History of England' (1832), and an 'Impartial History of the
Naval, etc., Events in Europe' from the French Revolution to the Peace
of 1815. It was, however, as a journalist that he came into collision
with Byron. In the 'Satirist', a monthly magazine, illustrated with
coloured cartoons, three attacks were made on Byron, which he attributed
to Clarke:
(1) October, 1807 (vol. i pp. 77-81), a review of 'Hours of Idleness';
(2) June, 1808 (vol. ii p. 368), verses on "Lord B--n to his Bear. To
the tune of 'Lo chin y gair;'"
(3) August, 1808 (vol. iii pp. 78-86), a review of 'Poems Original and
Translated'.
Byron's reply was the passage in 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers'
(lines 973-980; see also the notes), where Clarke is described as
"A would-be satirist, a hired Buffoon,
A monthly scribbler of some low Lampoon," etc.;
and also the Postscript to the second edition (see 'Poems', vol. i. p.
382). In the 'Scourge' for March, 1811 (vol. i. pp. 191, 'et seqq'.),
appeared an article headed "Lord Byron," in which the alleged libel
occurred.
"We are unacquainted," says the article, "with any act of cowardice
that can be compared with that of keeping a libel 'ready cut and
dried' till some favourable opportunity enable its author to disperse
it without the hazard of personal responsibility, and under
circumstances which deprive the injured party of every means of
reparation ... He confined the knowledge of his lampoon, therefore, to
the circle of his own immediate friends, and left it to be given to
the public as soon as he should have bid adieu to the shores of
Britain. Whether his voyage was in reality no further than to Paris,
in search of the proofs of his own legitimacy, or, as he asserts, to
'Afric's coasts, and Calpe's adverse height', was of little
consequence to Mr. Clarke, who felt that to recriminate during his
absence would be unworthy of his character ... Considering the two
parties not as writers, but as men, Mr. Clarke might confidently
appeal to the knowledge and opinion of the whole university; but a
character like his disdains comparison with that of his noble
calumniator; a temper unruffled by malignant passions, a mind superior
to vicissitude, are gifts for which the pride of doubtful birth, and
the temporary possession of Newstead Abbey are contemptible
equivalents ...
"It may be reasonably asked whether to be a denizen of
Berwick-upon-Tweed be more disgraceful than to be the illegitimate
descendant of a murderer; whether to labour in an honourable
profession for the peace and competence of maturer age be less worthy
of praise than to waste the property of others in vulgar debauchery;
whether to be the offspring of parents whose only crime is their want
of title, be not as honourable as to be the son of a profligate
father, and a mother whose days and nights are spent in the delirium
of drunkenness; and, finally, whether to deserve the kindness of his
own college, to obtain its prizes, and to prepare himself for any
examination that might entitle him to share the highest honours which
the university can bestow, be less indicative of talent and virtue
than to be held up to the derision and contempt of his
fellow-students, as a scribbler of doggerel and a bear-leader; to be
hated for malignity of temper and repulsiveness of manners, and
shunned by every man who did not want to be considered a profligate
without wit, and trifling without elegance. ... We ... shall neither
expose the infamy of his uncle, the indiscretions of his mother, nor
his personal follies and embarrassments. But let him not again obtrude
himself on our attention as a moralist, etc."
The Attorney-General, Sir Vicary Gibbs, gave his opinion against legal
proceedings, on the two grounds that a considerable time had elapsed
since the publication, and Byron himself had provoked the attack.]
160.--To John Hanson.
Newstead Abbey, August 4th, 1811.
MY DEAR SIR,--The _Earl_ of Huntley and the Lady _Jean_ Stewart,
daughter of James 1st, of Scotland were the progenitors of Mrs. Byron.
I think it would be as well to be correct in the statement. Every
thing is doing that can be done, plainly yet decently, for the
interment.
When you favour me with your company, be kind enough to bring down my
carriage from Messrs. Baxter's & Co., Long Acre. I have written to
them, and beg you will come down in it, as I cannot travel
conveniently or properly without it. I trust that the decease of Mrs.
B. will not interrupt the prosecution of the Editor of the Magazine,
less for the mere punishment of the rascal, than to set the question
at rest, which, with the ignorant & weak-minded, might leave a wrong
impression. I will have no stain on the Memory of my Mother; with a
very large portion of foibles and irritability, she was without a
_vice_ (and in these days that is much). The laws of my country shall
do her and me justice in the first instance; but, if they were
deficient, the laws of modern Honour should decide. Cost what it may,
Gold or blood, I will pursue to the last the cowardly calumniator of
an absent man and a defenceless woman.
The effects of the deceased are sealed and untouched. I have sent for
her agent, Mr. Bolton, to ascertain the proper steps and nothing shall
be done precipitately. I understand her jewels and clothes are of
considerable value. I shall write to you again soon, and in the
meantime, with my most particular remembrance to Mrs. Hanson, my
regards to Charles, and my _respects_ to the young ladies, I am, Dear
Sir,
Your very sincere and obliged servant,
BYRON.
161.--To Scrope Berdmore Davies.
Newstead Abbey, August 7, 1811.
MY DEAREST DAVIES,--Some curse hangs over me and mine. My mother lies
a corpse in this house; one of my best friends is drowned in a ditch.
[1] What can I say, or think, or do? I received a letter from him the
day before yesterday. My dear Scrope, if you can spare a moment, do
come down to me--I want a friend. Matthews's last letter was written
on _Friday._--on Saturday he was not. In ability, who was like
Matthews? How did we all shrink before him? You do me but justice in
saying, I would have risked my paltry existence to have preserved his.
This very evening did I mean to write, inviting him, as I invite you,
my very dear friend, to visit me. God forgive----for his apathy! What
will our poor Hobhouse feel? His letters breathe but of Matthews. Come
to me, Scrope, I am almost desolate--left almost alone in the world
[2]--I had but you, and H., and M., and let me enjoy the survivors
whilst I can. Poor M., in his letter of Friday, speaks of his intended
contest for Cambridge, and a speedy journey to London. Write or come,
but come if you can, or one or both.
Yours ever.
[Footnote 1: Charles Skinner Matthews (see page 150 [Letter 84],
[Foot]note 3 [2]).]
[Footnote 2: In 1811 Byron had lost, besides his mother and Matthews
(August), his Harrow friend Wingfield (see page 180, note 1), Hargreaves
Hanson (see page 54 [Letter 18], [Foot]note 1), and Edleston (see page
130 [Letter 74], [Foot]note 3 [2]).]
162.--To R. C. Dallas.
Newstead Abbey, Notts., August 12, 1811.
Peace be with the dead! Regret cannot wake them. With a sigh to the
departed, let us resume the dull business of life, in the certainty
that we also shall have our repose. Besides her who gave me being, I
have lost more than one who made that being tolerable.--The best
friend of my friend Hobhouse, Matthews, a man of the first talents,
and also not the worst of my narrow circle, has perished miserably in
the muddy waves of the Cam, always fatal to genius:--my poor
school-fellow, Wingfield, at Coimbra--within a month; and whilst I had
heard from _all three,_ but not seen _one._ Matthews wrote to me the
very day before his death; and though I feel for his fate, I am still
more anxious for Hobhouse, who, I very much fear, will hardly retain
his senses: his letters to me since the event have been most
incoherent. [1] But let this pass; we shall all one day pass along
with the rest--the world is too full of such things, and our very
sorrow is selfish.
I received a letter from you, which my late occupations prevented me
from duly noticing. [2]--I hope your friends and family will long hold
together. I shall be glad to hear from you, on business, on
commonplace, or any thing, or nothing--but death--I am already too
familiar with the dead. It is strange that I look on the skulls which
stand beside me (I have always had _four_ in my study) without
emotion, but I cannot strip the features of those I have known of
their fleshy covering, even in idea, without a hideous sensation; but
the worms are less ceremonious.--Surely, the Romans did well when they
burned the dead.--I shall be happy to hear from you, and am,
Yours, etc.
[Footnote 1:
"Just," writes Hobhouse to Byron, in an undated letter from Dover, "as
I was preparing to condole with you on your severe misfortune, an
event has taken place, the details of which you will find in the
enclosed letter from S. Davies. I am totally unable to say one word on
the subject. He was my oldest friend, and, though quite unworthy of
his attachment, I believe that I was an object of his regard.
"I now fear that I have not been sufficiently at all times just and
kind to him. Return me this fatal letter, and pray add, if it is but
one line, a few words of your own."
A second letter, dated August 8, 1811, is as follows:--
"MY DEAR BYRON,--To-morrow morning we sail for Cork. It is with
difficulty I bring myself to talk of my paltry concerns, but I cannot
refuse giving you such information as may enable me to hear from one
of the friends that I have still left. Pray do give me a line; nothing
is more selfish than sorrow. His great and unrivalled talents were
observable by all, his kindness was known to his friends. You
recollect how affectionately he shook my hand at parting. It was the
last time you ever saw him--did you think it would be the last? But
three days before his death he told me in a letter that he had heard
from you. On Friday he wrote to me again, and on Saturday--alas, alas!
we are not stocks or stones,--every word of our friend Davies' letter
still pierces me to the soul--such a man and such a death! I would
that he had not been so minute in his horrid details. Oh, my dear
Byron, do write to me; I am very, very sick at heart indeed, and,
after various efforts to write upon my own concerns, I still revert to
the same melancholy subject. I wrote to Cawthorn to-day, but knew not
what I said to him; half my incitement to finish that task is for ever
gone. I can neither have his assistance during my labour, his comfort
if I should fail, nor his congratulation if I should succeed. Forgive
me, I do not forget you--but I cannot but remember him.
Ever your obliged and faithful, JOHN C. HOBHOUSE."
Byron had apparently suggested that Hobhouse should write some brief
record of his friend. Hobhouse replies from Enniscorthy, September 13,
1811:--
"The melancholy subject of your last, in spite of every effort,
perpetually recurs to me. It is indeed a hard science to forget,
though I cannot but think that it is the wisest and indeed the only
remedy for grief. I should be quite incapable every way of doing what
you mention, and I could not even set about such a melancholy task
with spirit or prospect of success. The thing may be better done by a
person less interested than myself in so cruel a catastrophe. Whatever
you say in your book will be well said, and do credit both to your
heart and head; how much would it have gratified him who shall ne'er
hear it!"]
[Footnote 2: Dallas had written on July 29 to protest, on six grounds
which he gives ('Correspondence of Lord Byron', pp. 151-153), "against
the sceptical stanzas" of 'Childe Harold'.]
163.--To----Bolton.
Newstead Abbey, August 12, 1811.
Sir,--I enclose a rough draught of my intended will which I beg to
have drawn up as soon as possible, in the firmest manner. The
alterations are principally made in consequence of the death of Mrs.
Byron. I have only to request that it may be got ready in a short
time, and have the honour to be,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
BYRON.
163. To----Bolton.
Newstead Abbey, August 12, 1811.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE CONTENTS OF A WILL TO BE DRAWN UP IMMEDIATELY.
The estate of Newstead to be entailed (subject to certain deductions)
on George Anson Byron, heir-at-law, or whoever may be the heir-at-law
on the death of Lord B. The Rochdale property to be sold in part or
the whole, according to the debts and legacies of the present Lord B.
To Nicolo Giraud of Athens, subject of France, but born in Greece, the
sum of seven thousand pounds sterling, to be paid from the sale of
such parts of Rochdale, Newstead, or elsewhere, as may enable the said
Nicolo Giraud (resident at Athens and Malta in the year 1810) to
receive the above sum on his attaining the age of twenty-one years.
To William Fletcher, Joseph Murray, and Demetrius Zograffo [1] (native
of Greece), servants, the sum of fifty pounds pr. ann. each, for their
natural lives. To Wm. Fletcher, the Mill at Newstead, on condition
that he payeth rent, but not subject to the caprice of the landlord.
To Rt. Rushton the sum of fifty pounds per ann. for life, and a
further sum of one thousand pounds on attaining the age of twenty-five
years.
To Jn. Hanson, Esq. the sum of two thousand pounds sterling.
The claims of S. B. Davies, Esq. to be satisfied on proving the amount
of the same.
The body of Lord B. to be buried in the vault of the garden of
Newstead, without any ceremony or burial-service whatever, or any
inscription, save his name and age. His dog not to be removed from the
said vault.
My library and furniture of every description to my friends Jn. Cam
Hobhouse, Esq., and S. B. Davies, Esq., my executors. In case of their
decease, the Rev. J. Becher, of Southwell, Notts., and R. C. Dallas,
Esq., of Mortlake, Surrey, to be executors. [2]
The produce of the sale of Wymondham in Norfolk, and the late Mrs.
B.'s Scotch property, [3] to be appropriated in aid of the payment of
debts and legacies.
This is the last will and testament of me, the Rt. Honble George
Gordon, Lord Byron, Baron Byron of Rochdale, in the county of
Lancaster.--I desire that my body may be buried in the vault of the
garden of Newstead, without any ceremony or burial-service whatever,
and that no inscription, save my name and age, be written on the tomb
or tablet; and it is my will that my faithful dog may not be removed
from the said vault. To the performance of this my particular desire,
I rely on the attention of my executors hereinafter named.
==It is submitted to Lord Byron whether this clause relative to the
funeral had not better be omitted. The substance of it can be given
in a letter from his Lordship to the executors, and accompany the
will; and the will may state that the funeral shall be performed in
such manner as his Lordship may by letter direct, and, in default of
any such letter, then at the discretion of his executors== [4].
It must stand.
B.
I do hereby specifically order and direct that all the claims of the
said S. B. Davies upon me shall be fully paid and satisfied as soon as
conveniently may be after my decease, on his proving {by vouchers, or
otherwise, to the satisfaction of my executors hereinafter named} [5]
the amount thereof, and the correctness of the same.
==If Mr, Davies has any unsettled claims upon Lord Byron, that
circumstance is a reason for his not being appointed executor; each
executor having an opportunity of paying himself his own debt
without consulting his co-executors.==
So much the better--if possible, let him be an executor.
B.
[Footnote 1:
"If the papers lie not (which they generally do), Demetrius Zograffo
of Athens is at the head of the Athenian part of the Greek
insurrection. He was my servant in 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, at
different intervals of those years (for I left him in Greece when I
went to Constantinople), and accompanied me to England in 1811: he
returned to Greece, spring, 1812. He was a clever, but not
_apparently_ an enterprising man; but circumstances make men. His two
sons (_then_ infants) were named Miltiades and Alcibiades: may the
omen be happy!"
Byron's MS. Journal, quoted by Moore, 'Life', p. 131.]
[Footnote 2: In the clause enumerating the names and places of abode of
the executors, the solicitor had left blanks for the Christian names of
these gentlemen, and Lord Byron, having filled up all but that of
Dallas, writes in the margin, "I forget the Christian name of Dallas
--cut him out."]
[Footnote 3: On the death of Mrs. Byron, the sum of £4200, the remains
of the price of the estate of Gight were paid over to Byron by her
trustee.]
[Footnote 4: The passages printed ==thus== are suggestions made by the
solicitors.]
[Footnote 5: Over the words placed {between brackets}, Byron drew his pen.]
164.--To----Bolton.
Newstead Abbey, August 16, 1811.
SIR,--I have answered the queries on the margin. I wish Mr. Davies's
claims to be most fully allowed, and, further, that he be one of my
executors. I wish the will to be made in a manner to prevent all
discussion, if possible, after my decease; and this I leave to you as
a professional gentleman.
With regard to the few and simple directions for the disposal of my
_carcass_, I must have them implicitly fulfilled, as they will, at
least, prevent trouble and expense;--and (what would be of little
consequence to me, but may quiet the conscience of the survivors) the
garden is _consecrated_ ground. These directions are copied verbatim
from my former will; the alterations in other parts have arisen from
the death of Mrs. B. I have the honour to be,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
BYRON.
165.--To--Bolton.
Newstead Abbey, August 20, 1811.
Sir,--The witnesses shall be provided from amongst
my tenants, and I shall be happy to see you on any day
most convenient to yourself. I forgot to mention, that
it must be specified by codicil, or otherwise, that my
body is on no account to be removed from the vault
where I have directed it to be placed; and in case any
of my successors within the entail (from bigotry, or
otherwise) might think proper to remove the carcass,
such proceeding shall be attended by forfeiture of the
estate, which in such case shall go to my sister, the
Hon'ble Augusta Leigh and her heirs on similar conditions.
I have the honour to be, sir,
Your very obedient, humble servant,
BYRON.
166.--To the Hon. Augusta Leigh.
Newstead Abbey, August 21st, 1811.
My Dear Sister,--I ought to have answered your letter before, but when
did I ever do any-thing that I ought?
I am losing my relatives & you are adding to the number of yours; but
which is best, God knows;--besides poor Mrs. Byron, I have been
deprived by death of two most particular friends within little more
than a month; but as all observations on such subjects are superfluous
and unavailing, I leave the dead to their rest, and return to the dull
business of life, which however presents nothing very pleasant to me
either in prospect or retrospection.
I hear you have been increasing his Majesty's Subjects, which in these
times of War and tribulation is really patriotic. Notwithstanding
Malthus [1] tells us that, were it not for Battle, Murder, and Sudden
death, we should be overstocked, I think we have latterly had a
redundance of these national benefits, and therefore I give you all
credit for your matronly behaviour.
I believe you know that for upwards of two years I have been rambling
round the Archipelago, and am returned just in time to know that I
might as well have staid away for any good I ever have done, or am
likely to do at home, and so, as soon as I have somewhat _repaired_ my
_irreparable_ affairs I shall een go abroad again, for I am heartily
sick of your climate and every thing it _rains_ upon, always save and
except _yourself_ as in _duty bound_.
I should be glad to see you here (as I think you have never seen the
place) if you could make it convenient. Murray is still like a Rock,
and will probably outlast some six Lords Byron, though in his 75th
Autumn. I took him with me to Portugal & sent him round by sea to
Gibraltar whilst I rode through the Interior of Spain, which was then
(1809) accessible.
You say you have much to communicate to me, let us have it by all
means, as I am utterly at a loss to guess; whatever it may be it will
meet with due attention.
Your trusty and well beloved cousin F. Howard [2] is married to a Miss
Somebody, I wish him joy on your account, and on his own, though
speaking generally I do not affect that Brood.
By the bye, I shall marry, if I can find any thing inclined to barter
money for rank within six months; after which I shall return to my
friends the Turks.
In the interim I am, Dear Madam,
[Signature cut out.]
[Footnote 1: The Rev. T. R. Malthus (1766-1834) published, in 1798, his
'Essay on the Principle of Population'.]
[Footnote 2: The Hon. Frederick Howard (see page 55 [Letter 19],
[Foot]note 1) married, August 6, 1811, Frances Susan Lambton, only
daughter of William Lambton, formerly M.P. for Durham.]
167.--To R. C. Dallas.
Newstead, August 21, 1811.
Your letter gives me credit for more acute feelings than I possess;
for though I feel tolerably miserable, yet I am at the same time
subject to a kind of hysterical merriment, or rather laughter without
merriment, which I can neither account for nor conquer, and yet I do
not feel relieved by it; but an indifferent person would think me in
excellent spirits. "We must forget these things," and have recourse to
our old selfish comforts, or rather comfortable selfishness.
I do not think I shall return to London immediately, and shall
therefore accept freely what is offered courteously--your mediation
between me and Murray. [1] I don't think my name will answer the
purpose, and you must be aware that my plaguy Satire will bring the
north and south Grub Streets down upon the _Pilgrimage_;--but,
nevertheless, if Murray makes a point of it, and you coincide with
him, I will do it daringly; so let it be entitled "_By the author of
English Bards and Scotch Reviewers." My remarks on the Romaic, etc.,
once intended to accompany the _Hints from Horace_, shall go along
with the other, as being indeed more appropriate; also the smaller
poems now in my possession, with a few selected from those published
in Hobhouse's _Miscellany_. I have found amongst my poor mother's
papers all my letters from the East, and one in particular of some
length from Albania. From this, if necessary, I can work up a note or
two on that subject. As I kept no journal, the letters written on the
spot are the best. But of this anon, when we have definitively
arranged.
Has Murray shown the work to any one? He may--but I will have no
traps for applause. Of course there are little things I would wish to
alter, and perhaps the two stanzas of a buffooning cast on London's
Sunday are as well left out. I much wish to avoid identifying Childe
Harold's character with mine, and that, in sooth, is my second
objection to my name appearing in the title-page. When you have made
arrangements as to time, size, type, etc., favour me with a reply. I
am giving you an universe of trouble, which thanks cannot atone for. I
made a kind of prose apology for my scepticism at the head of the MS.,
which, on recollection, is so much more like an attack than a defence,
that, haply, it might better be omitted--perpend, pronounce. After
all, I fear Murray will be in a scrape with the orthodox; but I cannot
help it, though I wish him well through it. As for me, "I have supped
full of criticism," and I don't think that the "most dismal treatise"
will stir and rouse my "fell of hair" till "Birnam wood do come to
Dunsinane."
I shall continue to write at intervals, and hope you will pay me in
kind. How does Pratt get on, or rather get off, Joe Blackett's
posthumous stock? You killed that poor man amongst you, in spite of
your Ionian friend [2] and myself, who would have saved him from
Pratt, poetry, present poverty, and posthumous oblivion. Cruel
patronage! to ruin a man at his calling; but then he is a divine
subject for subscription and biography; and Pratt, who makes the most
of his dedications, has inscribed the volume to no less than five
families of distinction.
I am sorry you don't like Harry White: [3] with a great deal of cant,
which in him was sincere (indeed it killed him as you killed Joe
Blackett), certes there is poesy and genius. I don't say this on
account of my simile and rhymes; but surely he was beyond all the
Bloomfields [4] and Blacketts, and their collateral cobblers, whom
Lofft [5] and Pratt have or may kidnap from their calling into the
service of the trade. You must excuse my flippancy, for I am writing I
know not what, to escape from myself. Hobhouse is gone to Ireland. Mr.
Davies has been here on his way to Harrowgate.
You did not know Matthews: he was a man of the most astonishing
powers, as he sufficiently proved at Cambridge, by carrying off more
prizes and fellowships, against the ablest candidates, than any other
graduate on record; but a most decided atheist, indeed noxiously so,
for he proclaimed his principles in all societies. I knew him well,
and feel a loss not easily to be supplied to myself--to Hobhouse
never. Let me hear from you, and
Believe me, etc.
[Footnote 1: In 1793 John Murray the first (born 1745) died, leaving a
widow, two daughters, and one son, John Murray the second (1778-1843),
then a boy of fifteen. The bookselling and publishing business at 32,
Fleet Street, which the first John Murray had purchased in 1768 from
William Sandby, was for two years carried on by the chief assistant,
Samuel Highley. From 1795, when John Murray the second joined it, it was
conducted as a partnership, under the title of Murray and Highley. But
in 1803 John Murray cancelled the partnership, and started for himself
at 32, Fleet Street. Relieved from a timorous partner, he at once
displayed his shrewdness, energy, and literary enthusiasm. He rapidly
became, as Byron called him, "the [Greek (transliterated): Anax] of
Publishers," or, as he was nicknamed, "The Emperor of the West." In
February, 1809, he had launched the 'Quarterly Review'; in March, 1812,
he published 'Childe Harold'; in the following September, he moved to
50, Albemarle Street, the lease of which, with the stock, good will, and
copyrights, he purchased from William Miller (see page 319 [Letter 158],
[Foot]note 2 [1]). The remarkable position which the second John Murray
created for himself, has two aspects, one commercial, the other social.
He was not only the publisher, but the friend, of the most distinguished
men of the day; and he was both by reason, partly of his honourable
character, partly of his personal attractiveness. Sir Walter Scott,
writing, October 30, 1828, to Lockhart, speaks of Murray in words which
sum up his character:
"By all means do what the Emperor says. He is what Emperor Nap was
not, 'much a gentleman.'"
Murray was the first to divorce the business of publishing from that of
selling books; the first to see, as he wrote to Sir Walter Scott,
October 13, 1825 ('A Publisher and his Friends', vol. ii. p. 199), that
"the business of a publishing bookseller is not in his shop, or even
his connection, but in his brains."
Quick-tempered and warm-hearted, he was endowed with a strong sense of
humour, and a gift of felicitous expression, which made him at once an
admirable talker and an excellent letter-writer, and enabled him to hold
his own among the noted wits and brilliant men of letters whom he
gathered under his roof. A man of ideas more than a man of business, of
enterprise rather than of calculation, he was always on the watch for
new writers and new openings. But his imagination and impulsive
temperament were checked by his fine taste for sound literature, and
controlled by high principles in matters of trade. Thus he was saved
from those disastrous speculations which involved Scott in ruin, and
might otherwise have appealed with fatal force to his own sanguine
nature. His close relations with Byron, which began in 1811, and lasted
till the poet's death, are set forth in the numerous letters which
follow, and were never embittered even when he refused to continue the
publication of 'Don Juan'. Their names are inseparably associated in the
history of literature. A generous paymaster, he was also an hospitable
host. Round him gathers much of the literary history of a half-century
which includes such names as those of Scott, Byron, Southey, Coleridge,
Hallam, Milman, Mahon, Carlyle, Grote, Benjamin Disraeli, Sir Robert
Peel, Canning, and Mr. Gladstone. His literary dinners were famous, and
his drawing-room was the rallying-place of all that was witty and
agreeable in society. At the same time, he was the acknowledged head of
the publishing trade, unswerving in the rectitude of his commercial
dealings, and in the maintenance of the honourable traditions of his
most distinguished predecessors, as well as sincere in his enthusiasm
for English letters.]
[Footnote 2: Walter Rodwell Wright, author of 'Horae Ionicae, a Poem
descriptive of the Ionian Islands, and part of the adjacent coast of
Greece,' (1809), had been Consul-General of the Seven Islands. On his
return he became Recorder of Bury St. Edmund's. He was subsequently
President of the Court of Appeals in Malta, where he died in 1826. (See
Byron's address to him in 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers', lines
877-880.)]
[Footnote 3: Henry Kirke White (1785-1806) published 'Clifton Grove' and
other poems in 1803. He died at Cambridge in 1806. His 'Remains' were
published by Southey in 1807. (See 'English Bards', and Scotch
Reviewers', lines 831-848, and note 2.)]
[Footnote 4: The three brothers, George Bloomfield, a shoemaker,
Nathaniel, a tailor, and Robert, also a shoemaker, were the sons of a
tailor at Honington, in Suffolk, whose wife kept the village school.
(For further details as to George and Nathaniel, see 'English Bards, and
Scotch Reviewers', lines 765-798, and 'notes'.)
Robert Bloomfield (1766-1823) achieved a success with his 'Farmer's Boy'
(1800), of which thousands of copies were sold in England, and which was
translated into French and Italian. But however creditable the lines may
have been to the author, Byron's opinion of the merits of the poet was
the true one. Bloomfield's subsequent volumes, of which there were
seven, were inferior to 'The Farmer's Boy'. 'Good Tidings, or News from
the Farm' (1804), is perhaps the best known. A collected edition of
Bloomfield's 'Works' was published in 1824.]
[Footnote 5: Capel Lofft (1751-1824), educated at Eton and Cambridge,
was called to the Bar in 1775. Succeeding in 1781 to the family estates
near Bury St. Edmund's, he lived for some years at Troston Hall. Crabb
Robinson ('Diary', vol. i. p. 29) describes him, in 1795, as
"a gentleman of good family and estate--an author on an infinity of
subjects; his books were on Law, History, Poetry, Antiquities,
Divinity, and Politics. He was then an acting magistrate, having
abandoned the profession of the Bar. He was one of the numerous
answerers of Burke; and, in spite of a feeble voice and other
disadvantages, was an eloquent speaker."
His boyish figure, slovenly dress, and involved sentences were well
known on the platforms where he advocated parliamentary reform. On May
17, 1784, Johnson dined at Mr. Dilly's. Among the guests was
"Mr. Capel Lofft, who, though a most zealous Whig, has a mind so full
of learning and knowledge, and so much in exercise in various
exertions, and withal so much liberality, that the stupendous powers
of the literary Goliath, though they did not frighten this little
David of popular spirit, could not but excite his admiration."
Lofft held strong opinions in favour of the French Revolution, which he
admired. He, "Godwin, and Thelwall are the only three persons I know
(except Hazlitt) who grieve at the late events;" so writes Crabb
Robinson, after the battle of Waterloo ('Diary', vol. i. p. 491). He
published numerous works on law and politics, besides four volumes of
poetry: 'The Praises of Poetry, a Poem' (1775); 'Eudosia, or a Poem on
the Universe' (1781); 'The first and second Georgics of Virgil' (in
blank verse, 1803); 'Laura, or an Anthology of Sonnets' (1814). He also
edited Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. In November, 1798, Lofft read the
manuscript of 'The Farmer's Boy', written by Robert Bloomfield in a
London garret, where he worked as a shoemaker. Interested in the poem
and the Suffolk poet, Lofft had it published in 1800, with cuts by
Bewick, and a preface by himself.]
168.--To Francis Hodgson.
Newstead Abbey, August 22, 1811.
You may have heard of the sudden death of my mother, and poor
Matthews, which, with that of Wingfield (of which I was not fully
aware till just before I left town, and indeed hardly believed it,)
has made a sad chasm in my connections. Indeed the blows followed each
other so rapidly that I am yet stupid from the shock; and though I do
eat, and drink, and talk, and even laugh, at times, yet I can hardly
persuade myself that I am awake, did not every morning convince me
mournfully to the contrary.--I shall now wave the subject,--the dead
are at rest, and none but the dead can be so.
You will feel for poor Hobhouse,--Matthews was the "god of his
idolatry;" and if intellect could exalt a man above his fellows, no
one could refuse him preeminence. I knew him most intimately, and
valued him proportionably; but I am recurring--so let us talk of life
and the living.
If you should feel a disposition to come here, you will find "beef and
a sea-coal fire," and not ungenerous wine. Whether Otway's two other
requisites for an Englishman or not, I cannot tell, but probably one
of them [1].--Let me know when I may expect you, that I may tell you
when I go and when return. I have not yet been to Lancs. Davies has
been here, and has invited me to Cambridge for a week in October, so
that, peradventure, we may encounter glass to glass. His gaiety (death
cannot mar it) has done me service; but, after all, ours was a hollow
laughter.
You will write to me? I am solitary, and I never felt solitude irksome
before. Your anxiety about the critique on----'s book is amusing; as
it was anonymous, certes it was of little consequence: I wish it had
produced a little more confusion, being a lover of literary malice.
Are you doing nothing? writing nothing? printing nothing? why not your
Satire on Methodism? the subject (supposing the public to be blind to
merit) would do wonders. Besides, it would be as well for a destined
deacon to prove his orthodoxy.--It really would give me pleasure to
see you properly appreciated. I say _really_, as, being an author, my
humanity might be suspected.
Believe me, dear H., yours always.
[Footnote 1:
"Give but an Englishman his whore and ease,
Beef and a sea-coal fire, he's yours for ever."
'Venice Preserved', act ii. sc. 3]
APPENDIX I.
REVIEW OF WORDSWORTH'S POEMS,
2 VOLS. 1807.
(From 'Monthly Literary Recreations' for July, 1807.)
The volumes before us are by the author of Lyric Ballads, a collection
which has not undeservedly met with a considerable share of public
applause. The characteristics of Mr. Wordsworth's muse are simple and
flowing, though occasionally inharmonious verse; strong, and sometimes
irresistible appeals to the feelings, with unexceptionable sentiments.
Though the present work may not equal his former efforts, many of the
poems possess a native elegance, natural and unaffected, totally devoid
of the tinsel embellishments and abstract hyperboles of several
contemporary sonneteers. The last sonnet in the first volume, p. 152, is
perhaps the best, without any novelty in the sentiments, which we hope
are common to every Briton at the present crisis; the force and
expression is that of a genuine poet, feeling as he writes--
Another year! another deadly blow!
Another mighty empire overthrown!
And we are left, or shall be left, alone--
The last that dares to struggle with the foe.
'Tis well!--from this day forward we shall know
That in ourselves our safety must be sought,
That by our own right-hands it must be wrought;
That we must stand unprop'd, or be laid low.
O dastard! whom such foretaste doth not cheer!
We shall exult, if they who rule the land
Be men who hold its many blessings dear,
Wise, upright, valiant, not a venal band,
Who are to judge of danger which they fear,
And honour which they do not understand.
The song at the Feast of Brougham Castle, the Seven Sisters, the
Affliction of Margaret----of----, possess all the beauties, and few
of the defects, of the writer: the following lines from the last are in
his first style:--
"Ah! little doth the young one dream,
When full of play and childish cares,
What power hath e'en his wildest scream,
Heard by his mother unawares:
He knows it not, he cannot guess:
Years to a mother bring distress,
But do not make her love the less."
The pieces least worthy of the author are those entitled "Moods of my
own Mind." We certainly wish these "Moods" had been less frequent, or
not permitted to occupy a place near works which only make their
deformity more obvious; when Mr. W. ceases to please, it is by
"abandoning" his mind to the most commonplace ideas, at the same time
clothing them in language not simple, but puerile. What will any reader
or auditor, out of the nursery, say to such namby-pamby as "Lines
written at the Foot of Brother's Bridge"?
"The cock is crowing,
The stream is flowing,
The small birds twitter,
The lake doth glitter,
The green field sleeps in the sun;
The oldest and youngest,
Are at work with the strongest;
The cattle are grazing,
Their heads never raising,
There are forty feeding like one.
Like an army defeated,
The snow hath retreated,
And now doth fare ill,
On the top of the bare hill."
"The ploughboy is whooping anon, anon," etc., etc., is in the same
exquisite measure. This appears to us neither more nor less than an
imitation of such minstrelsy as soothed our cries in the cradle, with
the shrill ditty of
"Hey de diddle,
The cat and the fiddle:
The cow jump'd over the moon,
The little dog laugh'd to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon."
On the whole, however, with the exception of the above, and other
INNOCENT odes of the same cast, we think these volumes display a genius
worthy of higher pursuits, and regret that Mr. W. confines his muse to
such trifling subjects. We trust his motto will be in future "Paulo
majora canamus." Many, with inferior abilities, have acquired a loftier
seat on Parnassus, merely by attempting strains in which Wordsworth is
more qualified to excel.
APPENDIX II.
ARTICLE FROM THE EDINBURGH REVIEW,
FOR JANUARY, 1808.
'Hours of Idleness; a Series of Poems, original and translated.'
By George Gordon, Lord Byron, a Minor. 8vo, pp. 200. Newark, 1807.
The poesy of this young lord belongs to the class which neither gods nor
men are said to permit. Indeed, we do not recollect to have seen a
quantity of verse with so few deviations in either direction from that
exact standard. His effusions are spread over a dead flat, and can no
more get above or below the level, than if they were so much stagnant
water. As an extenuation of this offence, the noble author is peculiarly
forward in pleading minority. We have it in the title-page, and on the
very back of the volume; it follows his name like a favourite part of
his 'style'. Much stress is laid upon it in the preface; and the poems
are connected with this general statement of his case, by particular
dates, substantiating the age at which each was written. Now, the law
upon the point of minority we hold to be perfectly clear. It is a plea
available only to the defendant; no plaintiff can offer it as a
supplementary ground of action. Thus, if any suit could be brought
against Lord Byron, for the purpose of compelling him to put into court
a certain quantity of poetry, and if judgment were given against him, it
is highly probable that an exception would be taken, were he to deliver
'for poetry' the contents of this volume. To this he might plead
'minority'; but, as he now makes voluntary tender of the article, he
hath no right to sue, on that ground, for the price in good current
praise, should the goods be unmarketable.
This is our view of the law on the point; and, we dare to say, so will
it be ruled. Perhaps, however, in reality, all that he tells us about
his youth is rather with a view to increase our wonder than to soften
our censures. He possibly means to say, "See how a minor can write! This
poem was actually composed by a young man of eighteen, and this by one
of only sixteen!" But, alas! We all remember the poetry of Cowley at
ten, and Pope at twelve; and so far from hearing, with any degree of
surprise, that very poor verses were written by a youth from his leaving
school to his leaving college, inclusive, we really believe this to be
the most common of all occurrences; that it happens in the life of nine
men in ten who are educated in England; and that the tenth man writes
better verse than Lord Byron.
His other plea of privilege our author rather brings forward in order to
waive it. He certainly, however, does allude frequently to his family
and ancestry--sometimes in poetry, sometimes in notes; and, while giving
up his claim on the score of rank, he takes care to remember us of Dr.
Johnson's saying, that when a nobleman appears as an author, his merit
should be handsomely acknowledged. In truth, it is this consideration
only that induces us to give Lord Byron's poems a place in our review,
beside our desire to counsel him, that he do forthwith abandon poetry,
and turn his talents, which are considerable, and his opportunities,
which are great, to better account.
With this view, we must beg leave seriously to assure him, that the mere
rhyming of the final syllable, even when accompanied by the presence of
a certain number of feet,--nay, although (which does not always happen)
those feet should scan regularly, and have been all counted accurately
upon the fingers,--is not the whole art of poetry. We would entreat him
to believe, that a certain portion of liveliness, somewhat of fancy, is
necessary to constitute a poem, and that a poem in the present day, to
be read, must contain at least one thought, either in a little degree
different from the ideas of former writers, or differently expressed. We
put it to his candour, whether there is any thing so deserving the name
of poetry in verses like the following, written in 1806; and whether, if
a youth of eighteen could say any thing so uninteresting to his
ancestors, a youth of nineteen should publish it;--
"Shades of heroes, farewell! your descendant, departing
From the seat of his ancestors, bids you adieu!
Abroad or at home, your remembrance imparting
New courage, he'll think upon glory and you.
"Though a tear dim his eye at this sad separation,
'Tis nature, not fear, that excites his regret;
Far distant he goes, with the same emulation;
The fame of his fathers he ne'er can forget.
"That fame, and that memory, still will he cherish;
He vows that he ne'er will disgrace your renown;
Like you will he live, or like you will he perish;
When decay'd, may he mingle his dust with your own."
Now, we positively do assert, that there is nothing better than these
stanzas in the whole compass of the noble minor's volume.
Lord Byron should also have a care of attempting what the greatest poets
have done before him, for comparisons (as he must have had occasion to
see at his writing-master's) are odious. Gray's Ode on Eton College
should really have kept out the ten hobbling stanzas "On a distant View
of the Village and School of Harrow."
"Where fancy yet joys to retrace the resemblance
Of comrades, in friendship and mischief allied,
How welcome to me your ne'er-fading remembrance,
Which rests in the bosom, though hope is denied."
In like manner, the exquisite lines of Mr. Rogers, "On a Tear," might
have warned the noble author off those premises, and spared us a whole
dozen such stanzas as the following:--
"Mild Charity's glow, to us mortals below,
Shows the soul from barbarity clear;
Compassion will melt where this virtue is felt,
And its dew is diffused in a Tear.
"The man doom'd to sail with the blast of the gale,
Through billows Atlantic to steer,
As he bends o'er the wave, which may soon be his grave,
The green sparkles bright with a Tear."
And so of instances in which former poets have failed. Thus we do not
think Lord Byron was made for translating, during his nonage, "Adrian's
Address to his Soul," when Pope succeeded so indifferently in the
attempt. If our readers, however, are of another opinion, they may look
at it.
"Ah! gentle, fleeting, wavering sprite,
Friend and associate of this clay!
To what unknown region borne
Wilt thou now wing thy distant flight?
No more with wonted humour gay,
But pallid, cheerless, and forlorn."
However, be this as it may, we fear his translations and imitations are
great favourites with Lord Byron. We have them of all kinds, from
Anacreon to Ossian; and, viewing them as school exercises, they may
pass. Only, why print them after they have had their day and served
their turn? And why call the thing in p. 79 (see p. 380) a translation,
where 'two' words [Gr.]('thel_o legein') of the original are expanded
into four lines, and the other thing in p. 81 (see 'ibid'.) where [Gr.]
'mesonuktiais poth h_orais' is rendered by means of six hobbling verses?
As to his Ossianic poesy, we are not very good judges, being in truth,
so moderately skilled in that species of composition, that we should, in
all probability, be criticizing some bit of the genuine Macpherson
itself, were we to express our opinion of Lord Byron's rhapsodies. If,
then, the following beginning of a "Song of Bards" is by his lordship,
we venture to object to it, as far as we can comprehend it. "What form
rises on the roar of clouds? whose dark ghost gleams on the red stream
of tempests? His voice rolls on the thunder; 'tis Orla, the brown chief
of Oithona. He "was," etc. After detaining this "brown chief" some time,
the bards conclude by giving him their advice to "raise his fair locks;"
then to "spread them on the arch of the rainbow;" and to "smile through
the tears of the storm." Of this kind of thing there are no less than
_nine_ pages; and we can so far venture an opinion in their favour, that
they look very like Macpherson; and we are positive they are pretty
nearly as stupid and tiresome.
It is a sort of privilege of poets to be egotists; but they should "use
it as not abusing it;" and particularly one who piques himself (though
indeed at the ripe age of nineteen) on being "an infant bard,"--("The
artless Helicon I boast is youth")--should either not know, or should
seem not to know, so much about his own ancestry. Besides a poem above
cited, on the family seat of the Byrons, we have another of eleven
pages, on the self-same subject, introduced with an apology, "he
certainly had no intention of inserting it," but really "the particular
request of some friends," etc., etc. It concludes with five stanzas on
himself, "the last and youngest of a noble line." There is a good deal
also about his maternal ancestors, in a poem on Lachin y Gair, a
mountain where he spent part of his youth, and might have learnt that
pibroch is not a bagpipe, any more than duet means a fiddle.
As the author has dedicated so large a part of his volume to immortalise
his employments at school and college, we cannot possibly dismiss it
without presenting the reader with a specimen of these ingenious
effusions. In an ode with a Greek motto, called "Granta," we have the
following magnificent stanzas:--
There, in apartments small and damp,
The candidate for college prizes,
Sits poring by the midnight lamp,
Goes late to bed, yet early rises.
Who reads false quantities in Sele,
Or puzzles o'er the deep triangle,
Deprived of many a wholesome meal,
In barbarous Latin doom'd to wrangle:
Renouncing every pleasing page,
From authors of historic use;
Preferring to the letter'd sage,
The square of the hypothenuse.
Still harmless are these occupations,
That hurt none but the hapless student,
Compared with other recreations,
Which bring together the imprudent."
We are sorry to hear so bad an account of the college psalmody as is
contained in the following Attic stanzas:--
"Our choir would scarcely be excused
Even as a band of raw beginners;
All mercy now must be refused
To such a set of croaking sinners.
If David, when his toils were ended,
Had heard these blockheads sing before him,
To us his psalms had ne'er descended:
In furious mood he would have tore 'em!"
But, whatever judgment may be passed on the poems of this noble minor,
it seems we must take them as we find them, and be content; for they are
the last we shall ever have from him. He is, at best, he says, but an
intruder into the groves of Parnassus: he never lived in a garret, like
thorough-bred poets; and "though he once roved a careless mountaineer in
the Highlands of Scotland," he has not of late enjoyed this advantage.
Moreover, he expects no profit from his publication; and, whether it
succeeds or not, "it is highly improbable, from his situation and
pursuits hereafter," that he should again condescend to become an
author. Therefore, let us take what we get, and be thankful. What right
have we poor devils to be nice? We are well off to have got so much from
a man of this lord's station, who does not live in a garret, but "has
the sway" of Newstead Abbey. Again, we say, let us be thankful; and,
with honest Sancho, bid God bless the giver, nor look the gift horse in
the mouth.
APPENDIX III.
REVIEW OF GELL'S GEOGRAPHY OF ITHACA', AND 'ITINERARY OF GREECE'.
(From the Monthly Review for August, 1811.)
That laudable curiosity concerning the remains of classical antiquity,
which has of late years increased among our countrymen, is in no
traveller or author more conspicuous than in Mr. Gell. Whatever
difference of opinion may yet exist with regard to the success of the
several disputants in the famous Trojan controversy [1], or, indeed,
relating to the present author's merits as an inspector of the Troad, it
must universally be acknowledged that any work, which more forcibly
impresses on our imaginations the scenes of heroic action, and the
subjects of immortal song, possesses claims on the attention of every
scholar.
Of the two works which now demand our report, we conceive the former to
be by far the most interesting to the reader, as the latter is
indisputably the most serviceable to the traveller. Excepting, indeed,
the running commentary which it contains on a number of extracts from
Pausanias and Strabo, it is, as the title imports, a mere itinerary of
Greece, or rather of Argolis only, in its present circumstances. This
being the case, surely it would have answered every purpose of utility
much better by being printed as a pocket road-book of that part of the
Morea; for a quarto is a very unmanageable travelling companion. The
maps [2] and drawings, we shall be told, would not permit such an
arrangement; but as to the drawings, they are not in general to be
admired as specimens of the art; and several of them, as we have been
assured by eye-witnesses of the scenes which they describe, do not
compensate for their mediocrity in point of execution, by any
extraordinary fidelity of representation. Others, indeed, are more
faithful, according to our informants. The true reason, however, for
this costly mode of publication is in course to be found in a desire of
gratifying the public passion for large margins, and all the luxury of
typography; and we have before expressed our dissatisfaction with Mr.
Gell's aristocratical mode of communicating a species of knowledge,
which ought to be accessible to a much greater portion of classical
students than can at present acquire it by his means:--but, as such
expostulations are generally useless, we shall be thankful for what we
can obtain, and that in the manner in which Mr. Gell has chosen to
present it.
The former of these volumes, we have observed, is the most attractive in
the closet. It comprehends a very full survey of the far-famed island
which the hero of the 'Odyssey' has immortalized; for we really are
inclined to think that the author has established the identity of the
modern 'Theaki' with the 'Ithaca' of Homer. At all events, if it be an
illusion, it is a very agreeable deception, and is effected by an
ingenious interpretation of the passages in Homer that are supposed to
be descriptive of the scenes which our traveller has visited. We shall
extract some of these adaptations of the ancient picture to the modern
scene, marking the points of resemblance which appear to be strained and
forced, as well as those which are more easy and natural; but we must
first insert some preliminary matter from the opening chapter. The
following passage conveys a sort of general sketch of the book, which
may give our readers a tolerably adequate notion of its contents:--
"The present work may adduce, by a simple and correct survey of the
island, coincidences in its geography, in its natural productions, and
moral state, before unnoticed. Some will be directly pointed out; the
fancy or ingenuity of the reader may be employed in tracing others;
the mind familiar with the imagery of the 'Odyssey' will
recognise with satisfaction the scenes themselves; and this volume is
offered to the public, not entirely without hopes of vindicating the
poem of Homer from the scepticism of those critics who imagine that
the 'Odyssey' is a mere poetical composition, unsupported by
history, and unconnected with the localities of any particular
situation.
"Some have asserted that, in the comparison of places now existing
with the descriptions of Homer, we ought not to expect coincidence in
minute details; yet it seems only by these that the kingdom of
Ulysses, or any other, can be identified, as, if such an idea be
admitted, every small and rocky island in the Ionian Sea, containing a
good port, might, with equal plausibility, assume the appellation of
Ithaca.
"The Venetian geographers have in a great degree contributed to raise
those doubts which have existed on the identity of the modern with the
ancient Ithaca, by giving, in their charts, the name of Val di Compare
to the island. That name is, however, totally unknown in the country,
where the isle is invariably called Ithaca by the upper ranks, and
Theaki by the vulgar. The Venetians have equally corrupted the name of
almost every place in Greece; yet, as the natives of Epactos or
Naupactos never heard of Lepanto, those of Zacynthos of Zante, or the
Athenians of Settines, it would be as unfair to rob Ithaca of its
name, on such authority, as it would be to assert that no such island
existed, because no tolerable representation of its form can be found
in the Venetian surveys.
"The rare medals of the Island, of which three are represented in the
title-page, might be adduced as a proof that the name of Ithaca was
not lost during the reigns of the Roman emperors. They have the head
of Ulysses, recognised by the pileum, or pointed cap, while the
reverse of one presents the figure of a cock, the emblem of his
vigilance, with the legend [Greek:IThAK_ON]. A few of these medals are
preserved in the cabinets of the curious, and one also, with the cock,
found in the island, is in the possession of Signor Zavo, of Bathi.
The uppermost coin is in the collection of Dr. Hunter; the second is
copied from Newman; and the third is the property of R.P. Knight, Esq.
"Several inscriptions, which will be hereafter produced, will tend to
the confirmation of the idea that Ithaca was inhabited about the time
when the Romans were masters of Greece; yet there is every reason to
believe that few, if any, of the present proprietors of the soil are
descended from ancestors who had long resided successively in the
island. Even those who lived, at the time of Ulysses, in Ithaca, seem
to have been on the point of emigrating to Argos, and no chief
remained, after the second in descent from that hero, worthy of being
recorded in history. It appears that the isle has been twice colonised
from Cephalonia in modern times, and I was informed that a grant had
been made by the Venetians, entitling each settler in Ithaca to as
much land as his circumstances would enable him to cultivate."
Mr. Gell then proceeds to invalidate the authority of previous writers
on the subject of Ithaca. Sir George Wheeler and M. le Chevalier fall
under his severe animadversion; and, indeed, according to his account,
neither of these gentlemen had visited the island, and the description
of the latter is "absolutely too absurd for refutation." In another
place, he speaks of M. le C. "disgracing a work of such merit by the
introduction of such fabrications;" again, of the inaccuracy of the
author's maps; and, lastly, of his inserting an island at the southern
entry of the channel between Cephalonia and Ithaca, which has no
existence. This observation very nearly approaches to the use of that
monosyllable which Gibbon [3], without expressing it, so adroitly
applied to some assertion of his antagonist, Mr. Davies. In truth, our
traveller's words are rather bitter towards his brother tourist; but we
must conclude that their justice warrants their severity.
In the second chapter, the author describes his landing in Ithaca, and
arrival at the rock Korax and the fountain Arethusa, as he designates it
with sufficient positiveness.--This rock, now known by the name of
Korax, or Koraka Petra, he contends to be the same with that which Homer
mentions as contiguous to the habitation of Eumæus, the faithful
swineherd of Ulysses.--We shall take the liberty of adding to our
extracts from Mr. Gell some of the passages in Homer to which he
_refers_ only, conceiving this to be the fairest method of exhibiting
the strength or the weakness of his argument.
"Ulysses," he observes, "came to the extremity of the isle to visit
Eumæus, and that extremity was the most southern; for Telemachus,
coming from Pylos, touched at the first south-eastern part of Ithaca
with the same intention."
[Greek:
Kai tote dae r Odysaea kakos pothen aegage daim_on
Agrou ep eschatiaen, hothi d_omata naie sub_otaes
Enth aelthen philos uhios Odyssaeos theioio,
Ek Pylon aemathoentos i_on sun naei melainae.
Odyssei _O.
Autar epaen pr_otaen aktaen Ithakaes aphikaeai,
Naea men es polin otrunai kai pantas etairous
Autos de pr_otista sub_otaen eisaphikesthai, k.t.l.
Odyssei O.]
These citations, we think, appear to justify the author in his attempt
to identify the situation of his rock and fountain with the place of
those mentioned by Homer. But let us now follow him in the closer
description of the scene.--After some account of the subjects in the
plate affixed, Mr. Gell remarks:
"It is impossible to visit this sequestered spot without being struck
with the recollection of the Fount of Arethusa and the rock Korax,
which the poet mentions in the same line, adding, that there the swine
ate the _sweet_ [4] acorns, and drank the black water."
[Greek:
Daeeis ton ge suessi paraemenon ai de nemontai
Par Korakos petrae, epi te kraenae Arethousae,
Esthousai balanon menoeikea, kai melan hud_or
Pinousai.
Odyssei N.]
"Having passed some time at the fountain, taken a drawing, and made
the necessary observations on the situation of the place, we proceeded
to an examination of the precipice, climbing over the terraces above
the source among shady fig-trees, which, however, did not prevent us
from feeling the powerful effects of the mid-day sun. After a short
but fatiguing ascent, we arrived at the rock, which extends in a vast
perpendicular semicircle, beautifully fringed with trees, facing to
the south-east. Under the crag we found two caves of inconsiderable
extent, the entrance of one of which, not difficult of access, is seen
in the view of the fount. They are still the resort of sheep and
goats, and in one of them are small natural receptacles for the water,
covered by a stalagmatic incrustation.
"These caves, being at the extremity of the curve formed by the
precipice, open toward the south, and present us with another
accompaniment of the fount of Arethusa, mentioned by the poet, who
informs us that the swineherd Eumæus left his guests in the house,
whilst he, putting on a thick garment, went to sleep near the herd,
under the hollow of the rock, which sheltered him from the northern
blast. Now we know that the herd fed near the fount; for Minerva tells
Ulysses that he is to go first to Eumæus, whom he should find with
the swine, near the rock Korax and the fount of Arethusa. As the swine
then fed at the fountain, so it is necessary that a cavern should be
found in its vicinity; and this seems to coincide, in distance and
situation, with that of the poem. Near the fount also was the fold or
stathmos of Eumæus; for the goddess informs Ulysses that he should
find his faithful servant at or above the fount.
"Now the hero meets the swineherd close to the fold, which was
consequently very near that source. At the top of the rock, and just
above the spot where the waterfall shoots down the precipice, is at
this day a stagni, or pastoral dwelling, which the herdsmen of Ithaca
still inhabit, on account of the water necessary for their cattle. One
of these people walked on the verge of the precipice at the time of
our visit to the place, and seemed so anxious to know how we had been
conveyed to the spot, that his inquiries reminded us of a question
probably not uncommon in the days of Homer, who more than once
represents the Ithacences demanding of strangers what ship had brought
them to the island, it being evident they could not come on foot. He
told us that there was, on the summit where he stood, a small cistern
of water, and a kalybea, or shepherd's hut. There are also vestiges of
ancient habitations, and the place is now called Amarâthia.
"Convenience, as well as safety, seems to have pointed out the lofty
situation of Amarâthia as a fit place for the residence of the
herdsmen of this part of the island from the earliest ages. A small
source of water is a treasure in these climates; and if the
inhabitants of Ithaca now select a rugged and elevated spot, to secure
them from the robbers of the Echinades, it is to be recollected that
the Taphian pirates were not less formidable, even in the days of
Ulysses, and that a residence in a solitary part of the island, far
from the fortress, and close to a celebrated fountain, must at all
times have been dangerous, without some such security as the rocks of
Korax. Indeed, there can be no doubt that the house of Eumæus was on
the top of the precipice; for Ulysses, in order to evince the truth of
his story to the swineherd, desires to be thrown from the summit if
his narration does not prove correct.
"Near the bottom of the precipice is a curious natural gallery, about
seven feet high, which is expressed in the plate. It may be fairly
presumed, from the very remarkable coincidence between this place and
the Homeric account, that this was the scene designated by the poet as
the fountain of Arethusa, and the residence of Eumæus; and, perhaps,
it would be impossible to find another spot which bears, at this day,
so strong a resemblance to a poetic description composed at a period
so very remote. There is no other fountain in this part of the island,
nor any rock which bears the slightest resemblance to the Korax of
Homer.
"The stathmos of the good Eumæus appears to have been little
different, either in use or construction, from the stagni and kalybea
of the present day. The poet expressly mentions that other herdsmen
drove their flocks into the city at sunset,--a custom which still
prevails throughout Greece during the winter, and that was the season
in which Ulysses visited Eumæus. Yet Homer accounts for this deviation
from the prevailing custom, by observing that he had retired from the
city to avoid the suitors of Penelope. These trifling occurrences
afford a strong presumption that the Ithaca of Homer was something
more than the creature of his own fancy, as some have supposed it; for
though the grand outline of a fable may be easily imagined, yet the
consistent adaptation of minute incidents to a long and elaborate
falsehood is a task of the most arduous and complicated nature."
After this long extract, by which we have endeavoured to do justice to
Mr. Gell's argument, we cannot allow room for any farther quotations of
such extent; and we must offer a brief and imperfect analysis of the
remainder of the work. In the third chapter the traveller arrives at the
capital, and in the fourth he describes it in an agreeable manner. We
select his account of the mode of celebrating a Christian festival in
the Greek Church:--
"We were present at the celebration of the feast of the Ascension,
when the citizens appeared in their gayest dresses, and saluted each
other in the streets with demonstrations of pleasure. As we sate at
breakfast in the house of Signer Zavo, we were suddenly roused by the
discharge of a gun, succeeded by a tremendous crash of pottery, which
fell on the tiles, steps, and pavements, in every direction. The bells
of the numerous churches commenced a most discordant jingle; colours
were hoisted on every mast in the port, and a general shout of joy
announced some great event. Our host informed us that the feast of the
Ascension was annually commemorated in this manner at Bathi, the
populace exclaiming [Greek: anestae o Christos, alaethinos o Theos],
Christ is risen, the true God."
In another passage, he continues this account as follows:--
"In the evening of the festival, the inhabitants danced before their
houses; and at one we saw the figure which is said to have been first
used by the youths and virgins of Delos, at the happy return of
Theseus from the expedition of the Cretan Labyrinth. It has now lost
much of that intricacy which was supposed to allude to the windings of
the habitation of the Minotaur,"
etc., etc. This is rather too much for even the inflexible gravity of
our censorial muscles. When the author talks, with all the 'reality' (if
we may use the expression) of a Lemprière, on the stories of the
fabulous ages, we cannot refrain from indulging a momentary smile; nor
can we seriously accompany him in the learned architectural detail by
which he endeavours to give us, from the 'Odyssey', the ground-plot of
the house of Ulysses,--of which he actually offers a plan in drawing!
"showing how the description of the house of Ulysses in the 'Odyssey'
may be supposed to correspond with the foundations yet visible on the
hill of Aito!"--Oh, Foote! Foote! why are you lost to such inviting
subjects for your ludicrous pencil!--In his account of this celebrated
mansion, Mr. Gell says, one side of the court seems to have been
occupied by the Thalamos, or sleeping apartments of the men, etc., etc.;
and, in confirmation of this hypothesis, he refers to the 10th
'Odyssey', line 340. On examining his reference, we read--
[Greek: 'Es thalamon t' ienai, kai saes epibaemenai eunaes']
where Ulysses records an invitation which he received from Circe to take
a part of her bed. How this illustrates the above conjecture, we are at
a loss to divine: but we suppose that some numerical error has occurred
in the reference, as we have detected a trifling mistake or two of the
same nature.
Mr. G. labours hard to identify the cave of Dexia near Bathi (the
capital of the island), with the grotto of the Nymphs described in the
13th 'Odyssey'. We are disposed to grant that he has succeeded; but we
cannot here enter into the proofs by which he supports his opinion; and
we can only extract one of the concluding sentences of the chapter,
which appears to us candid and judicious:--
"Whatever opinion may be formed as to the identity of the cave of
Dexia with the grotto of the Nymphs, it is fair to state, that Strabo
positively asserts that no such cave as that described by Homer
existed in his time, and that geographer thought it better to assign a
physical change, rather than ignorance in Homer, to account for a
difference which he imagined to exist between the Ithaca of his time
and that of the poet. But Strabo, who was an uncommonly accurate
observer with respect to countries surveyed by himself, appears to
have been wretchedly misled by his informers on many occasions.
"That Strabo had never visited this country is evident, not only from
his inaccurate account of it, but from his citation of Apollodorus and
Scepsius, whose relations are in direct opposition to each other on
the subject of Ithaca, as will be demonstrated on a future
opportunity."
We must, however, observe that "demonstration" is a strong term.--In his
description of the Leucadian Promontory (of which we have a pleasing
representation in the plate), the author remarks that it is "celebrated
for the _leap_ of Sappho, and the _death_ of Artemisia." From this
variety in the expression, a reader would hardly conceive that both the
ladies perished in the same manner; in fact, the sentence is as proper
as it would be to talk of the decapitation of Russell, and the death of
Sidney. The view from this promontory includes the island of Corfu; and
the name suggests to Mr. Gell the following note, which, though rather
irrelevant, is of a curious nature, and we therefore conclude our
citations by transcribing it:--
"It has been generally supposed that Corfu, or Corcyra, was the
Phæacia of Homer; but Sir Henry Englefield thinks the position of that
island inconsistent with the voyage of Ulysses as described in the
'Odyssey'. That gentleman has also observed a number of such
remarkable coincidences between the courts of Alcinous and Solomon,
that they may be thought curious and interesting. Homer was familiar
with the names of Tyre, Sidon, and Egypt; and, as he lived about the
time of Solomon, it would not have been extraordinary if he had
introduced some account of the magnificence of that prince into his
poem. As Solomon was famous for wisdom, so the name of Alcinous
signifies strength of knowledge; as the gardens of Solomon were
celebrated, so are those of Alcinous ('Od'. 7. 112); as the kingdom of
Solomon was distinguished by twelve tribes under twelve princes (1
Kings ch. 4), so that of Alcinous ('Od'. 8. 390) was ruled by an equal
number: as the throne of Solomon was supported by lions of gold (1
Kings ch. 10), so that of Alcinous was placed on dogs of silver and
gold ('Od'. 7. 91); as the fleets of Solomon were famous, so were
those of Alcinous. It is perhaps worthy of remark, that Neptune sate
on the mountains of the SOLYMI, as he returned from Æthiopia to Ægæ,
while he raised the tempest which threw Ulysses on the coast of
Phæacia; and that the Solymi of Pamphylia are very considerably
distant from the route.--The suspicious character, also, which
Nausicaa attributes to her countryman agrees precisely with that which
the Greeks and Romans gave of the Jews."
The seventh chapter contains a description of the Monastery of Kathara,
and several adjacent places. The eighth, among other curiosities, fixes
on an imaginary site for the Farm of Laertes; but this is the agony of
conjecture indeed!--and the ninth chapter mentions another Monastery,
and a rock still called the School of Homer. Some sepulchral
inscriptions of a very simple nature are included.--The tenth and last
chapter brings us round to the Port of Schoenus, near Bathi; after we
have completed, seemingly in a very minute and accurate manner, the tour
of the island.
We can certainly recommend a perusal of this volume to every lover of
classical scene and story. If we may indulge the pleasing belief that
Homer sang of a real kingdom, and that Ulysses governed it, though we
discern many feeble links in Mr. Gell's chain of evidence, we are on the
whole induced to fancy that this is the Ithaca of the bard and of the
monarch. At all events, Mr. Gell has enabled every future traveller to
form a clearer judgment on the question than he could have established
without such a "Vade-mecum to Ithaca," or a "Have with you, to the House
of Ulysses," as the present. With Homer in his pocket, and Gell on his
sumpter-horse or mule, the Odyssean tourist may now make a very
classical and delightful excursion; and we doubt not that the advantages
accruing to the Ithacences, from the increased number of travellers who
will visit them in consequence of Mr. Gell's account of their country,
will induce them to confer on that gentleman any heraldic honours which
they may have to bestow, should he ever look in upon them again.--'Baron
Bathi' would be a pretty title:--
"'Hoc' Ithacus 'velit, et magno mercentur Atridae'."
VIRGIL.
For ourselves, we confess that all our old Grecian feelings would be
alive on approaching the fountain of Melainudros, where, as the
tradition runs, or as the priests relate, Homer was restored to sight.
We now come to the "Grecian Patterson," or "Cary," which Mr. Gell has
begun to publish; and really he has carried the epic rule of concealing
the person of the author to as great a length as either of the
above-mentioned heroes of itinerary writ. We hear nothing of his
"hair-breadth 'scapes" by sea or land; and we do not even know, for the
greater part of his journey through Argolis, whether he relates what he
has seen or what he has heard. From other parts of the book, we find the
former to be the case; but, though there have been tourists and
"strangers" in other countries, who have kindly permitted their readers
to learn rather too much of their sweet selves, yet it is possible to
carry delicacy, or cautious silence, or whatever it may be called, to
the contrary extreme. We think that Mr. Gell has fallen into this error,
so opposite to that of his numerous brethren. It is offensive, indeed,
to be told what a man has eaten for dinner, or how pathetic he was on
certain occasions; but we like to know that there is a being yet living
who describes the scenes to which he introduces us; and that it is not a
mere translation from Strabo or Pausanias which we are reading, or a
commentary on those authors. This reflection leads us to the concluding
remark in Mr. Gell's preface (by much the most interesting part of his
book) to his 'Itinerary of Greece', in which he thus expresses himself:--
"The confusion of the modern with the ancient names of places in this
volume is absolutely unavoidable; they are, however, mentioned in such
a manner, that the reader will soon be accustomed to the
indiscriminate use of them. The necessity of applying the ancient
appellations to the different routes, will be evident from the total
ignorance of the public on the subject of the modern names, which,
having never appeared in print, are only known to the few individuals
who have visited the country.
"What could appear less intelligible to the reader, or less useful to
the traveller, than a route from Chione and Zaracca to Kutchukmadi,
from thence by Krabata to Schoenochorio, and by the mills of Peali,
while every one is in some degree acquainted with the names of
Stymphalus, Nemea, Mycenæ, Lyrceia, Lerna, and Tegea?"
Although this may be very true inasmuch as it relates to the reader, yet
to the traveller we must observe, in opposition to Mr. Gell, that
nothing can be less useful than the designation of his route according
to the ancient names. We might as well, and with as much chance of
arriving at the place of our destination, talk to a Hounslow post-boy
about making haste to 'Augusta', as apply to our Turkish guide in modern
Greece for a direction to Stymphalus, Nemea, Mycenæ, etc., etc. This is
neither more nor less than classical affectation; and it renders Mr.
Gell's book of much more confined use than it would otherwise have
been:--but we have some other and more important remarks to make on his
general directions to Grecian tourists; and we beg leave to assure our
readers that they are derived from travellers who have lately visited
Greece. In the first place, Mr. Cell is absolutely incautious enough to
recommend an interference on the part of English travellers with the
Minister at the Porte, in behalf of the Greeks.
"The folly of such neglect (page 16, preface), in many instances,
where the emancipation of a district might often be obtained by the
present of a snuff-box or a watch, at Constantinople, _and without the
smallest danger of exciting the jealousy of such a court as that of
Turkey_, will be acknowledged when we are no longer able to rectify
the error."
We have every reason to believe, on the contrary, that the folly of half
a dozen travellers, taking this advice, might bring us into a war.
"Never interfere with any thing of the kind," is a much sounder and more
political suggestion to all English travellers in Greece.
Mr. Gell apologizes for the introduction of "his panoramic designs," as
he calls them, on the score of the great difficulty of giving any
tolerable idea of the face of a country in writing, and the ease with
which a very accurate knowledge of it may be acquired by maps and
panoramic designs. We are informed that this is not the case with many
of these designs. The small scale of the single map we have already
censured; and we have hinted that some of the drawings are not
remarkable for correct resemblance of their originals. The two nearer
views of the Gate of the Lions at Mycenæ are indeed good likenesses of
their subject, and the first of them is unusually well executed; but the
general view of Mycenæ is not more than tolerable in any respect; and
the prospect of Larissa, etc., is barely equal to the former. The view
_from_ this last place is also indifferent; and we are positively
assured that there are no windows at Nauplia which look like a box of
dominos,--the idea suggested by Mr. Gell's plate. We must not, however,
be too severe on these picturesque bagatelles, which, probably, were
very hasty sketches; and the circumstances of weather, etc., may have
occasioned some difference in the appearance of the same objects to
different spectators. We shall therefore return to Mr. Gell's preface;
endeavouring to set him right in his directions to travellers, where we
think that he is erroneous, and adding what appears to have been
omitted. In his first sentence, he makes an assertion which is by no
means correct. He says, "_We_ are at present as ignorant of Greece, as
of the interior of Africa." Surely not quite so ignorant; or several of
our Grecian _Mungo Parks_ have travelled in vain, and some very
sumptuous works have been published to no purpose! As we proceed, we
find the author observing that "Athens is 'now' the most polished
city of "Greece," when we believe it to be the most barbarous, even to a
proverb--
[Greek: _O Athaena, pr_otae ch_ora,
Ti gaidarous trepheis t_ora;] [5]
is a couplet of reproach _now_ applied to this once famous city; whose
inhabitants seem little worthy of the inspiring call which was addressed
to them within these twenty years, by the celebrated Riga:--
[Greek: Deute paides t_on Hellaen_on, k.t.l.]
Iannina, the capital of Epirus, and the seat of Ali Pacha's government,
'is' in truth deserving of the honours which Mr. Gell has improperly
bestowed on degraded Athens. As to the correctness of the remark
concerning the fashion of wearing the hair cropped in 'Molossia', as Mr.
Gell informs us, our authorities cannot depose; but why will he use the
classical term of Eleuthero-Lacones, when that people are so much better
known by their modern name of Mainotes? "The court of the Pacha of
Tripolizza" is said "to realise the splendid visions of the Arabian
Nights." This is true with regard to the 'court'; but surely the
traveller ought to have added that the city and palace are most
miserable, and form an extraordinary contrast to the splendour of the
court.--Mr. Gell mentions 'gold' mines in Greece: he should have
specified their situation, as it certainly is not universally known.
When, also, he remarks that "the first article of necessity 'in Greece'
is a firman, or order from the Sultan, permitting the traveller to pass
unmolested," we are much misinformed if he be right. On the contrary, we
believe this to be almost the only part of the Turkish dominions in
which a firman is not necessary; since the passport of the Pacha is
absolute within his territory (according to Mr. G.'s own admission), and
much more effectual than a firman.--
"Money," he remarks, "is easily procured at Salonica, or Patrass, where
the English have consuls." It is much better procured, we understand,
from the Turkish governors, who never charge discount. The consuls for
the English are not of the most magnanimous order of Greeks, and far
from being so liberal, generally speaking; although there are, in
course, some exceptions, and Strané of Patras has been more honourably
mentioned.--After having observed that "horses seem the best mode of
conveyance in Greece," Mr. Gell proceeds: "Some travellers would prefer
an English saddle; but a saddle of this sort is always objected to by
the owner of the horse, _and not without reason_," etc. This, we learn,
is far from being the case; and, indeed, for a very simple reason, an
English saddle must seem to be preferable to one of the country, because
it is much lighter. When, too, Mr. Gell calls the _postillion_
"Menzilgi," he mistakes him for his betters; _Serrugees_ are
postillions; _Menzilgis_ are postmasters.--Our traveller was fortunate
in his Turks, who are hired to walk by the side of the baggage-horses.
They "are certain," he says, "of performing their engagement without
grumbling." We apprehend that this is by no means certain:--but Mr. Gell
is perfectly right in preferring a Turk to a Greek for this purpose; and
in his general recommendation to take a Janissary on the tour: who, we
may add, should be suffered to act as he pleases, since nothing is to be
done by gentle means, or even by offers of money, at the places of
accommodation. A courier, to be sent on before to the place at which the
traveller intends to sleep, is indispensable to comfort; but no tourist
should be misled by the author's advice to suffer the Greeks to gratify
their curiosity, in permitting them to remain for some time about him on
his arrival at an inn. They should be removed as soon as possible; for,
as to the remark that "no stranger would think of intruding when a room
is pre-occupied," our informants were not so well convinced of that
fact.
Though we have made the above exceptions to the accuracy of Mr. Gell's
information, we are most ready to do justice to the general utility of
his directions, and can certainly concede the praise which he is
desirous of obtaining,--namely, "of having facilitated the researches of
future travellers, by affording that local information which it was
before impossible to obtain." This book, indeed, is absolutely necessary
to any person who wishes to explore the Morea advantageously; and we
hope that Mr. Gell will continue his Itinerary over that and over every
other part of Greece. He allows that his volume "is only calculated to
become a book of reference, and not of general entertainment;" but we do
not see any reason against the compatibility of both objects in a survey
of the most celebrated country of the ancient world. To that country, we
trust, the attention not only of our travellers, but of our legislators,
will hereafter be directed. The greatest caution will, indeed, be
required, as we have premised, in touching on so delicate a subject as
the amelioration of the possessions of an ally: but the field for the
exercise of political sagacity is wide and inviting in this portion of
the globe; and Mr. Gell, and all other writers who interest us, however
remotely, in its extraordinary _capabilities_, deserve well of the
British empire. We shall conclude by an extract from the author's work:
which, even if it fails of exciting that general interest which we hope
most earnestly it may attract towards its important subject, cannot, as
he justly observes, "be entirely uninteresting to the scholar;" since it
is a work "which gives him a faithful description of the remains of
cities, the very existence of which was doubtful, as they perished
before the æra of authentic history." The subjoined quotation is a good
specimen of the author's minuteness of research as a topographer; and we
trust that the credit which must accrue to him from the present
performance will ensure the completion of his _Itinerary_:--
"The inaccuracies of the maps of Anacharsis are in many respects very
glaring. The situation of Phlius is marked by Strabo as surrounded by
the territories of Sicyon, Argos, Cleonæ, and Stymphalus. Mr. Hawkins
observed, that Phlius, the ruins of which still exist near Agios
Giorgios, lies in a direct line between Cleonæ and Stymphalus, and
another from Sicyon to Argos; so that Strabo was correct in saying
that it lay between those four towns; yet we see Phlius, in the map of
Argolis by M. Barbie du Bocage, placed ten miles to the north of
Stymphalus, contradicting both history and fact. D'Anville is guilty
of the same error.
"M. du Bocage places a town named Phlius, and by him Phlionte, on the
point of land which forms the port of Drepano; there are not at
present any ruins there. The maps of D'Anville are generally more
correct than any others where ancient geography is concerned. A
mistake occurs on the subject of Tiryns, and a place named by him
Vathia, but of which nothing can be understood. It is possible that
Vathi, or the profound valley, may be a name sometimes used for the
valley of Barbitsa, and that the place named by D'Anville Claustra may
be the outlet of that valley called Kleisoura, which has a
corresponding signification.
"The city of Tiryns is also placed in two different positions, once by
its Greek name, and again as Tirynthus. The mistake between the
islands of Sphæria and Calaura has been noticed in page 135. The
Pontinus, which D'Anville represents as a river, and the Erasinus, are
equally ill placed in his map. There was a place called Creopolis,
somewhere toward Cynouria; but its situation is not easily fixed. The
ports called Bucephalium and Piræus seem to have been nothing more
than little bays in the country between Corinth and Epidaurus. The
town called Athenæ, in Cynouria, by Pausanias, is called Anthena by
'Thucydides', book 5. 41.
"In general, the map of D'Anville will be found more accurate than
those which have been published since his time; indeed, the mistakes
of that geographer are in general such as could not be avoided without
visiting the country. Two errors of D'Anville may be mentioned, lest
the opportunity of publishing the itinerary of Arcadia should never
occur. The first is, that the rivers Malætas and Mylaon, near
Methydrium, are represented as running toward the south, whereas they
flow northwards to the Ladon; and the second is, that the Aroanius,
which falls into the Erymanthus at Psophis, is represented as flowing
from the lake of Pheneos; a mistake which arises from the ignorance of
the ancients themselves who have written on the subject. The fact is
that the Ladon receives the waters of the lakes of Orchomenos and
Pheneos; but the Aroanius rises at a spot not two hours distant from
Psophis."
In furtherance of our principal object in this critique, we have only to
add a wish that some of our Grecian tourists, among the fresh articles
of information concerning Greece which they have lately imported, would
turn their minds to the language of the country. So strikingly similar
to the ancient Greek is the modern Romaic as a written language, and so
dissimilar in sound, that even a few general rules concerning
pronunciation would be of most extensive use.
END OF VOL. I.