"May 18. 1814.
"Thanks--and punctuality. _What_ has passed at * * * *s House? I
suppose that _I_ am to know, and 'pars fui' of the conference. I
regret that your * * * *s will detain you so late, but I suppose
you will be at Lady Jersey's. I am going earlier with Hobhouse. You
recollect that to-morrow we sup and see Kean.
"P.S. _Two_ to-morrow is the hour of pugilism."
* * * * *
The supper, to which he here looks forward, took place at Watier's, of
which club he had lately become a member; and, as it may convey some
idea of his irregular mode of diet, and thus account, in part, for the
frequent derangement of his health, I shall here attempt, from
recollection, a description of his supper on this occasion. We were to
have been joined by Lord R * *, who however did not arrive, and the
party accordingly consisted but of ourselves. Having taken upon me to
order the repast, and knowing that Lord Byron, for the last two days,
had done nothing towards sustenance, beyond eating a few biscuits and
(to appease appetite) chewing mastic, I desired that we should have a
good supply of, at least, two kinds of fish. My companion, however,
confined himself to lobsters, and of these finished two or three, to his
own share,--interposing, sometimes, a small liqueur-glass of strong
white brandy, sometimes a tumbler of very hot water, and then pure
brandy again, to the amount of near half a dozen small glasses of the
latter, without which, alternately with the hot water, he appeared to
think the lobster could not be digested. After this, we had claret, of
which having despatched two bottles between us, at about four o'clock in
the morning we parted.
As Pope has thought his "delicious lobster-nights" worth commemorating,
these particulars of one in which Lord Byron was concerned may also have
some interest.
Among other nights of the same description which I had the happiness of
passing with him, I remember once, in returning home from some assembly
at rather a late hour, we saw lights in the windows of his old haunt
Stevens's, in Bond Street, and agreed to stop there and sup. On
entering, we found an old friend of his, Sir G * * W* *, who joined our
party, and the lobsters and brandy and water being put in requisition,
it was (as usual on such occasions) broad daylight before we separated.
* * * * *