. wli iiiri i rvrffstisi'.fwf--. The Works OF LORD BYRON. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/worksoflordbyron05byro_0 The Works OF LORD BYRON. A NEW, REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. Letters and Journals. Vol. V. EDITED BY ROWLAND E. PROTHERO, M.A., ‘FORMERLY FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD. LONDON : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS. 1901. PREFACE. The period covered by Volume V. of Byron’s Letters and Journals (April, 1820 — October, 1821) includes the remainder of his residence in the Palazzo Guiccioli at Ravenna and the commencement of his stay in the Palazzo Lanfranchi at Pisa. Within these dates the Italian Revolution broke out and failed; Count and Countess Guiccioli were separated by Papal decree ; the Gambas were exiled from Ravenna, and Byron followed their fortunes. The excitement of these events stirred Byron’s literary activity. In poetry he wrote the Fifth Canto of Don Juan , Marino Faliero , Sardanapalus, The Two Foscari , Cain, Heaven and Earth , The Vision of Judgment , and The Blues . In prose, besides increasing his correspond- ence, he kept a Diary for January and February, 1821 (Chapter XXL), filled a “ paper-book ” with “ Detached “Thoughts” (Chapter XXIII.), and wrote the Two Letters to John Murray on Bowles's Strictures tcpon Pope (Appendix III.). Of the 183 letters, which belong to the period, and are printed in Volume V., 68 were unknown to Halleck, VI PREFACE. whose collection has hitherto been the most complete. The last letter in this volume, written to Moore from Pisa in December, 1821, is numbered in Moore’s Life y 474; in Halleck’s collection, 542 ; in this edition, 968. Apart from new letters, or from additions made to others which have hitherto been published in an in- complete form, the chief feature of fresh interest is the chapter (XXIII.) containing Byron’s “ Detached “ Thoughts.” Large extracts from this collection have been made in previous editions ; but the passages have been quoted in scattered fragments, without any indication of their order or connection. The original manuscript is now, for the first time, printed in its entirety. Attention has been kindly called by Mr. C. K. Shorter to a series of extracts from letters, published thirty years ago in a well-known magazine. With few exceptions, these extracts are taken from the genuine letters, written by Byron to Mrs. Leigh, which have been published in their entirety, from the original documents, in previous volumes of this collection. It is not known by whom the extracts were made, or by whose agency they reached the press : they are not only fragmentary in form, but, in many instances, when compared with the originals, they have evidently undergone considerable alterations. Two of these extracts purport to be taken from letters written in the autumn of 1820. In the circumstances, it has been decided not to include them in this collection. R. E. PROTHERO. November 16, 1900. LIST OF LETTERS. 1820. PAGE 786. April 3. To Lady Byron 1 787. April 6. „ ,, 2 788. April 6. To John Hanson . . . , 3 789. April 9. To John Murray 5 790. April 11. „ „ 7 791. April 16. ,, „ 8 792. April 18. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 10 793. April 22. „ „ „ .... 12 794. April 23. To John Murray 16 795. May 8. „ „ ........ 20 796. May 20. „ „ 25 797. May 20. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 26 798. May 20. To John Murray 27 799. May 24. To Thomas Moore 29 800. May 25. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 33 801. June 1. To Thomas Moore 34 802. June 7. To John Murray 36 803. June 8. „ „ 40 804. June 9. To Thomas Moore 41 805. June 12. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 43 806. June 15. To Charles Hanson 45 807. July 6. To John Murray 46 808. July 13. To Thomas Moore 48 809. July 17. To John Murray . . 52 810. July 20. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 55 81 1. July 22. To John Murray 57 812. July 24. ,, „ 62 Vlll LIST OF LETTERS. 813. July 27. To John Hanson 62 814. Aug. 2. To Charles Hanson 63 815. Aug. 7. To John Murray 63 816. Aug. 12. ,, ,, 64 817. Aug. 17. „ „ 65 818. Aug. 22. ,, ,, 66 819. Aug. 24. ,, „ ......... 66 820. Aug. 29. ,, 66 821. Aug. 31. „ 67 822. Aug. 31. To John Hanson 69 823. Aug. 31. To Thomas Moore 70 824. Sept. 7. To John Murray 71 825. Sept. 8. „ „ 73 826. Sept. 10. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 73 827. Sept. 11. To John Murray 75 828. Sept. 14. ,, „ 76 829. Sept. 21. ,, „ 76 830. Sept. 23. „ „ 77 831. Sept. 28. ,, „ 80 832. Sept. 28. ,, „ 81 833. Oct. 1. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 86 834. Oct. 6. To John Murray 86 835. Oct. 8. ,, ,, 89 836. Oct. 12. „ „ ......... 93 837. Oct. 12. To John Hanson 97 838. Oct. 13. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 98 839. Oct. 16. To John Murray 98 840. Oct. 17. „ „ 100 841. Oct. 17. Toj Thomas Moore 104 842. Oct. 25. To John Murray 106 843. Nov. 4. „ „ 107 844. Nov. 5. To Thomas Moore no 845. Nov. 9. To John Murray 113 846. Nov. 18. „ „ 1 18 847. Nov. 19. „ „ 121 848. Nov. 23. „ „ 128 849. Nov. 30. To John Hanson 13 ° 850. Dec. 9. To Thomas Moore 13 1 851. Dec. 9. ,, ,, *33 852. Dec. 9. To John Murray x 35 853. Dec. 10. „ ,, l 37 854. Dec. 14. ,, ,, *37 LIST OF LETTERS. ix PAGE 855. Dec. 22. To Francis Hodgson 14° 856. Dec. 25. To Thomas Moore 143 857. Dec. 28. To John Murray 145 1821. 858. Jan. 2. To Thomas Moore 212 859. Jan. 4. To John Murray 216 860. Jan. 6. ,, „ 219 861. Jan. II. ,, ,, 221 862. Jan. II. ,, ,, 222 863. Jan. 19. „ ,, 224 864. Jan. 20. ,, „ 226 865. Jan. 20. „ ,, 228 866. Jan. 22. To Thomas Moore 229 867. Jan. 27. To John Murray 231 868. Jan. 28. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 233 869. Feb. 2. To John Murray 234 870. Feb. 12. „ „ 237 871. Feb. 15. To Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire . . 237 872. Feb. 16. To John Murray 241 873. Feb. 21. „ „ 246 874. Feb. 22. To Thomas Moore 251 875. Feb. 26. To John Murray 253 876. March I. ,, ,, 254 877. March 2. „ ,, 256 878. March 9. ,, ,, 257 879. March 12. ,, ,, 258 880. March — ,, ,, 258 881. April 3. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 262 882. April 21. To John Murray 265 883. April 26. To Percy Bysshe Shelley 266 884. April 26. To John Murray 269 885. April 28. To Thomas Moore 271 886. May 3. „ ,, 273 887. May 8. To John Murray 275 888. May 10. ,, ,, 276 889. May 11. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 279 890. May 12. To Francis Hodgson 281 891. May 14. To John Murray 285 892. May 14. To Thomas Moore 286 893. May 17. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 288 894. May 19. To John Murray 289 X LIST OF LETTERS. PAGE 895. Undated. To Madame Guiccioli 294 896. May 20. To Thomas Moore 295 897. May 25. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 296 898. May 25. To John Murray 297 899. May 28. „ „ 300 900. May 30. „ „ 300 901. May 31. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 302 902. June 4. To Thomas Moore 303 903. June 12. To Giovanni Battista Missiaglia . . . . 307 904. June 14. To John Murray 3°^ 905. June 22. To Thomas Moore 3°9 906. June 29. To John Murray 3 11 907. July 5. To Thomas Moore 3*8 908. July 6. To John Murray 3 2 ° 909. July 7. „ ,, 321 910. July 9. „ „ 322 91 1. July 14. „ „ 322 912. July 22. „ „ 324 913. July 23. To Richard Belgrave Hoppner .... 327 914. July 30. To John Murray 3 2 9 915. Aug. 2. To Thomas Moore 33 2 916. Aug. 4. To John Murray 337 917. Aug. 7. „ 338 918. Aug. 7. „ „ 338 919. Aug. 10. „ „ 342 920. Aug. 13. „ „ 343 921. Aug. 16. „ 344 922. Aug. 23. „ „ 346 923. Aug. 24. To Thomas Moore 349 924. Aug. 31. To John Murray 35 1 925. Undated. ,, „ 354 926. Aug. 31. To J. Mawman 354 927. Sept. 3. To Thomas Moore 355 928. Sept. 4. To John Murray 357 929. Sept. 4. „ „ 357 930. Undated. ,, ,, 359 931. Sept. 9. ,, ,, 3 6 ° 932. Sept. 10. „ „ 360 933. Sept. 12. „ „ 3 61 934. Sept. 17. To Thomas Moore 3^4 935. Sept. 19. „ ,, 364 936. Sept. 20. ,, ,, 369 LIST OF LETTERS. XI PAGE 937. Sept. 20. To John Murray 369 938. Sept. 24. „ „ 373 939. Sept. 27. „ „ 376 940. Sept. 27. To Thomas Moore 377 941. Sept. 28. To John Murray 378 942. Sept. 29. To Thomas Moore 381 943. [Mar. 1.] To Lady Byron 382 944. Oct. 1. To Thomas Moore 384 945. Oct. 4. To John Murray 386 946. Oct. 6. To Thomas Moore 387 947. Oct. 9. To John Murray 388 948. Oct. 20. „ „ 392 949. Oct. 21. To Samuel Rogers 394 950. Oct. 26. To John Murray 396 951. Oct. 26. „ „ 397 952. Oct. 28. To Thomas Moore 397 953. Oct. 30. To John Murray 400 954. Nov. 3. „ „ 469 955. Nov. 9. „ ,, 472 956. Nov. 12. ,, „ 472 957. Nov. 14. „ „ 473 958. Undated. „ „ 475 959. Nov. 16. To Thomas Moore 475 960. Nov. 17. To Lady Byron 479 961. Nov. 20. To Douglas Kinnaird 481 962. Nov. 24. To John Murray 483 963. Dec. 4. „ ,, 486 964. Dec. 8. To John Sheppard 488 965. Dec. 10. To John Murray 491 966. Dec. 12. To Thomas Moore 493 967. Dec. 12. To Percy Bysshe Shelley 495 968. Undated. To Thomas Moore 495 CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE XX. Revolutionary Movement in Italy— Allegra and Jane Clairmont— Coun- tess Guiccioli separated from her Husband — The Trial of Queen Caro- line — Marino Faliero—Don J uan , Canto V. ... ... ... ... i XXI. Extracts from a Diary, January 4 to February 27, 1821 ... ... ... 147 XXII. Representation of Marino Faliero — Collapse of Revolutionary Move- ment in Italy — Letters against Bowles’s Criticism of Pope— Exile of the Gambas— Death of Keats — Sardanapalus , The Two Foscari, and Cain— Shelley’s Visit to Byron at Ravenna— “The Irish Avatar”— The Vision of Judgment ... ... 212 XXIII. “ My Dictionary,” May, 1821— Detached Thoughts, October 15, 1821, to May 18, 1822 ... ... ... ... 403 XXIV. Heaven and Earth — Opinions on Cain ... ... ... ... 469 XIV CONTENTS, Appendix I. II III IV. V. VI. PAGE Letters from Shelley to Byron, from Jane Clairmont to Byron, and from Shelley to Jane Clairmont ... ... 497 Goethe and Byron ... ... 503 Controversy between Byron and Bowles as to the Poetry and Character of Pope ... 522 Thomas Mulock’s Lines to Byron ... ... ... 593 Byron’s Address to the Nea- politan Insurgents ... 595 Bacon’s Apophthegms ... 597 VII. Reply of William Turner to Byron’s Letter ... ... 601 VIII. Some Account of the Life and Writings of the late George Russell of A. By Henry Fer- guson ... ... ... 604 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Byron, from a Sketch by Count D’Orsay, taken in May, 1823 ... The Countess of Blessington, from the Picture by Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A., in the Hertford House Col- lection The Palazzo Guiccioli, Ravenna, from a Drawing by Angelo Alessandri, in the Possession of John Murray, Esq. Shelley, from the Picture by Miss Amelia Curran, painted in Rome in 1819 ... The Palazzo Lanfranchi, Pisa, from a Drawing by O. F. M. Ward, in the Possession of John Murray, Esq. Byron, as he appeared after his Daily Ride at Pisa and Genoa, from a Sil- houette cut in Paper by Mrs. Leigh Hunt Frontispiece To face p. 4 ,, „ 156 it >t 266 .» .. 394 .. .. 494 THE LETTERS OF LORD BYRON. CHAPTER XX. The Palazzo Guiccioli, Ravenna, April — December, 1820. REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN ITALY — ALLEGRA AND JANE CLAIRMONT — COUNTESS GUICCIOLI SEPARATED FROM HER HUSBAND — THE TRIAL OF QUEEN CARO- LINE — MARINO FALIERO — DON JUAN , CANTO V. 786. — To Lady Byron. 1 Ravenna, April 3, 1820. I received yesterday your answer dated March 10. My offer was an honest one, and surely could be only I. Lady Byron’s answer to Byron’s letter of January I, 1820, was sent by him to Moore, in whose Diary it is published ( Memoirs , etc., vol. iii. pp. 1 14, 1 15) — “ Kirkby Mallory, March 10, 1820. “I received your letter of January 1, offering to my perusal a “ memoir of part of your life. I decline to inspect it. I consider “the publication or circulation of such a composition at any time “as prejudicial to Ada’s future happiness. For my own sake, I “have no reason to shrink from publication ; but, notwithstanding ‘‘the injuries which I have suffered, I should lament some of the “ consequences. “ A. Byron.” Byron’s reply, given above, was sent by him to Moore to forward to Lady Byron. VOL. V. E 2 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. construed as such even by the most malignant Casuistry. I could answer you ; but it is too late, and it is not worth while. To the mysterious menace of the last sentence — whatever its import may be — and I really cannot pretend to unriddle it, — I could hardly be very sensible, even if I understood it, as, before it could take place, I shall be where “ nothing can touch him farther.” 1 I advise you, however, to anticipate the period of your intention ; for be assured no power of figures can avail beyond the present; and, if it could, I would answer with the Florentine 2 — “ Ed io, che posto son con loro in croce e certo La fierct moglie , piu ch’altro, mi nuoce.” Byron. 787. — To Lady Byron. 3 Ravenna, April 6^ 1820. In February last, at the suggestion of Mr. Douglas Kinnaird, I wrote to you on the proposition of the 1. Macbeth , act iii. sc. 2. 2. Byron quotes from Dante’s Inferno , canto xvi. lines 43-45. In Round 3 of Circle vii. of Hell, Dante meets three Florentines — Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, and Jacopo Rusticucci — who have sinned against nature. The latter is the spokesman — “ Ed io, che posto son con loro in croce, Jacopo Rusticucci fui ; e certo La fiera moglie piii ch’altro mi nuoce.” Rusticucci held a distinguished place in the councils of Florence, representing her (1254) in her foreign affairs. He owed his place in Hell to the savage temper of his wife, and his story is told by Benvenuto Rambaldi da Imola to illustrate the consequences of ill-assorted marriages. “Vir popularis, sed tamen valde politicus “etmoralis. . . . qui poterat videri satis felix . . . nisi habuisset “uxorem pravam ; habuit enim mulierem ferocem, cum qua vivere “non poterat ; ideo dedit se turpitudini.” 3. Printed from a draft in the possession of Mr. Murray. 1820.] the blessington MORTGAGE. 3 Dublin investment, 1 2 and, to put you more in possession of his opinions, I enclosed his letter. I now enclose you a statement of Mr. Hanson’s, and, to say the truth, I am at a loss what to think or decide upon between such very opposite views of the question. Perhaps you will lay it before your trustees. I for my own part am ignorant of business, and am so little able to judge, that I should be disposed to think with them, whatever their ideas may be upon the subject. One thing is certain ; I cannot consent to sell out of the funds at a loss, and the Dublin House should be insured. Excuse all this trouble ; but as it is your affair as well as mine, you will pardon it. I have an innate distrust and detestation of the public funds and their precarious [ ? ] ; but still the sacrifice of the removal (at least at present) may be too great. I do not know what to think, nor does any body else, I believe. Yours, Byron. I rec d . yours of March i o t] \ and enclosed an answer (to Mr. Thomas Moore) to be forwarded to you. 788. — To John Hanson. Ravenna, April 6 U ? 1820. Dear Sir, — I have just received yours dated March 2 2 d . Your January packet only arrived last Sunday, so 1. Charles John Gardiner (1782-1829), who succeeded his father (1798) as second Viscount Mountjoy, and was created Earl of Blessington in 1816, had impaired his fortune by his taste for magnificence, passion for the stage, and reckless expenditure. He owned the Ormond Quays as well as Henrietta Street in Dublin, and it was on this property that Byron was advised to advance money. But the advance was in the end not made by Byron’s trustees. Lord Blessington married, (1) in 1812, Mary Campbell, widow of Major Browne ; (2) in 1818, Marguerite Power, second daughter of Edmund Power, of Curragheen, co. Waterford, and widow of Maurice St. Leger Farmer, Captain 47th Regiment. 4 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. that I shall put off replying to it for the present (as there is a witness wanting for the Scotch deed, etc.), and answer your March epistle, which, as you yourself say, is of much more importance. But how shall I answer ? Between the devil and deep Sea , 1 Between the Lawyer and Trustee — it is difficult to decide. Mr. Kinnaird writes that the Mortgage is the most advantageous thing possible ; you write that it is quite the contrary. You are both my old acquaintances, both men of business, and both give good reasons for both your opinions ; and the result is that I finish by having no opinion at all. I cannot see that it could any way be the interest of either to persuade me either one way or the other, unless you thought it for my advantage. In short, do settle it among you if you can, for I am at my wits' end betwixt your contrary opinions. One thing is positive. I will not agree to sell out of the ftmds at a loss , and the Dublin House property must be insured ; but you should not have waited till the Funds get low again, as you have done, so as to make the affair impracticable. I retain, however, my bad opinion of the funds, and must insist on the money being one day placed on better security somewhere. Of Irish Security, and Irish Law, I know nothing, and cannot take upon me to dispute your Statement ; but I prefer higher Interest for my Money (like everybody else I believe), and shall be glad to make as much as I can at the least risk possible. It is a pity that I am not upon the Spot, but I i. So Cuddie Headrigg, appealing to Claverhouse to save Morton from the Cameronians, found himself “atween the deil and “ the deep sea .” — Old Mortality , chap, xxxiii. wm BETWEEN LAWYER AND TRUSTEE. 1820.] 5 cannot make it at all convenient to come to England for the present. I am truly pleased to hear that there is a prospect of terminating the Rochdale Business, in one way or the other : pray see it oiit. It has been hitherto a dead loss of time and expences, but may I suppose pay in the long run ; and if you could for once be a little quicker about that , or anything else, it would be a great gain to me and no loss to you, as our final Settlement naturally will depend in some measure upon the result. If the claim could be adjusted, and the whole brought to the hammer, I could clear every thing, and know what I really possess. Pray write to me (direct to Ravenna). I do not feel justified in the present state of the funds, and on your statement, of urging the fulfilment of the Blessington Mortgage, and yet I feel sorry that it does not seem feasible. At any rate, see Mr. Kinnaird upon it and come to some decision. Let me hear about Rochdale. Yours ever truly, Byron. P.S . — Advance old Joe Murray whatever may be necessary a?id proper , and it will be deducted from my Bankers acc* 789. — To John Murray. Ravenna, April 9, 1820. D? S*, — In the name of all the devils in — the printing office, why don’t you write to acknowledge the receipt of the second, third, and fourth packets, viz. the Pulci — translation and original, the Danticles , the Observatio?is on, etc. ? You forget that you keep me in hot water till I know whether they are arrived, or if I must have the bore of recopying. 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. I send you “ a Song of Triumph ” by W. Botherby, Esq r f, price sixpence, on the Election of J. C. H. Esqre for Westminster {not for publication) ; Would you go to the House by the true gate, Much faster than ever Whig Charley went ; Let Parliament send you to Newgate, And Newgate will send you to Parliament. Have you gotten the cream of translations, Francesca of Rimini, from the Inferno ? Why, I have sent you a warehouse of trash within the last month, and you have no sort of feeling about you : a pastry-cook would have had twice the gratitude, and thanked me at least for the quantity. To make the letter heavier, I enclose you the Cardinal Legate’s (one Campeius) circular for his Conversazione this evening : it is the anniversary of the Pope’s tiaration, and all polite Christians, even of the Lutheran creed, must go and be civil. And there will be a Circle, and a Faro-table, (for shillings, that is — they don’t allow high play) and all the beauty, nobility, and Sanctity of Ravenna present. The Cardinal himself is a very good-natured little fellow, Bishop of Imola and Legate here, — a devout believer in all the doctrines of the Church. He has kept his housekeeper these forty years, for his carnal recreation ; but is reckoned a pious man, and a moral liver. I am not quite sure that I won’t be among you this autumn, for I find that business don’t go on — what with trustees and Lawyers — as it should do, “with all “ deliberate speed.” They differ about investments in Ireland. Between the devil and deep Sea, Between the Lawyer and Trustee, MARINO FALIERO BEGUN. 7 1820.] I am puzzled ; and so much time is lost by my not being upon the spot — what with answers, demurs, rejoinders, that it may be I must come and look to it. For one says do, and t’other don’t, so that I know not which way to turn. But perhaps they can manage without me. Yours ever, B. P.S. — I have begun a tragedy on the subject of Marino Faliero, 1 the Doge of Venice ; but you shan’t see it these six years, if you don’t acknowledge my packets with more quickness and precision. Always write , if but a line , by return of post, when anything arrives, which is not a mere letter. Address direct to Ravenna ; it saves a week’s time, and much postage. 790. — To John Murray. Ravenna, April 11^ 1820. Dear Murray, — Pray forward the enclosed letter to a fiddler. In Italy they are called “ Professors of the “ Violin.” You should establish one at each of the universities. Yours, B. P.S. — Pray forward it carefully with a frank : it is from a poor fellow to his musical Uncle, of whom nothing has been heard these three years (though what he can have been doing at Belfast, Belfast best knows), so that they are afraid of some mischief having befallen him or his fiddle. 1. Published with the Prophecy of Dante, April 21, 1821. 8 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. 791. — To John Murray. Ravenna, April 16, 1820. Dear Murray, — Post after post arrives without bringing any acknowledgement from you of the different packets (excepting the first) which I have sent within the last two months, all of which ought to be arrived long ere now ; and as they were announced in other letters, you ought at least to say whether they are come or not. You are not expected to write frequent or long letters, as your time is much occupied ; but when parcels that have cost some pains in the composition, and great trouble in the copying, are sent to you, I should at least be put out of Suspense by the immediate acknowledgement, per return of post, addressed directly to Ravenna . I am naturally — knowing what continental posts are — anxious to hear that they are arrived ; especially as I loathe the task of copying so much, that if there was a human being that could copy my blotted MSS. he should have all they can ever bring for his trouble. All I desire is two lines, to say, such a day I received such a packet : there are now at least six unacknowledged. This is neither kind nor courteous. I have, besides, another reason for desiring you to be speedy, which is, that there is that brewing in Italy which will speedily cut off all security of communication, and set all your Anglo-travellers flying in every direction, with their usual fortitude in foreign tumults. The Spanish and French affairs have set the Italians in a ferment; 1 and no wonder: they have been too long I. In France, after the fall of Decazes, who, as Chateaubriand said, “slipped in the blood” of the Due de Berri (assassinated February 13, 1820), the Due de Richelieu abandoned the attempt to reconcile revolutionary changes with Bourbon principles. The Government became reactionary. The franchise was restricted, liberty of the press attacked, education entrusted to the clergy, and ITALY IN A FERMENT. 9 1820.] trampled on. This will make a sad scene for your exquisite traveller, but not for the resident, who naturally the loyalty of the army alienated by the treatment of imperialist veterans. Discontent, fanned by the songs of Beranger, spread rapidly. The chevaliers de la liberte allied with the Carbonari, and in their Ventes , or lodges, were enrolled men like Lafayette and Lafitte. Plots were formed which led to insurrections at Befort, Marseilles, Saumur, and La Rochelle. The attempted risings were suppressed ; the despatch of a military force into Spain, April, 1823, relieved the discontent of the army, and the crisis was post- poned. In Spain and Italy the revolutionary movement was more formidable, and for the moment more successful. In Spain, March 9, 1820, Ferdinand VII. was forced, by the insurrection headed by Riego and Quiroga, to take the oath of fidelity to the free constitution sanctioned by the Cortes in 1812, and abolished by himself in 1814. A similar demand for representative government was made by the Neapolitans. Ferdinand IV. King of Naples, and afterwards Ferdinand I. of the Two Sicilies, on his restoration to the throne of Naples (1815), promised a government in which ‘ ‘ the people should be sovereign, and the monarchy only the de- positary of the laws.” But he afterwards bound himself by a secret treaty with Austria to introduce no principles of government opposed to those adopted in Austrian Italy. An insurrection, actively fostered by the Carbonari, broke out among the cavalry at Nola, July 2, 1820. The revolt spread with the utmost rapidity. Guglielmo Pepe, as Captain-general of the constitutional forces, entered Naples (July 6, 1820), and received a solemn oath, accepting the new Spanish Constitution, from Ferdinand, who declared his son, the Duke of Calabria, Vicar-General of the kingdom (July 13). In October, 1820, the sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, met at Troppau, and, on their invitation, Ferdinand went to their adjourned conference at Laybach in December. In February, 1821, the allied sovereigns issued a declaration against the revolutionary constitution, and sent an Austrian army to re-establish and maintain the old system of government. Early in 1821 the Austrian army, under Marshal Frimont, crossed the Po and marched on Naples. The Neapolitans, under Pepe and Carrascosa, made a short stand near Rieti (March 7), but were defeated, and attempted no further resistance. Pepe fled to Barce- lona. Carrascosa made terms for himself with the Austrians, who (March 23, 1821) entered Naples. In the following May Ferdinand returned to his capital. A widespread revolution was preparing in Italy ; but it had no organization, and was crushed without difficulty. In Piedmont — at Turin and Genoa — the Spanish constitution was established, and the king, Victor Emmanuel I., abdicated in favour of his brother, Charles Felix (March, 1821) ; but the Piedmontese constitution- alists were defeated by the Austrians near Novara (April 8), and io THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. wishes a people to redress itself. I shall, if permitted by the natives, remain to see what will come of it, and perhaps to take a turn with them, like Dugald Dalgetty and his horse, in case of business ; for I shall think it by far the most interesting spectacle and moment in existence, to see the Italians send the Barbarians of all nations back to their own dens. I have lived long enough among them to feel more for them as a nation than for any other people in existence ; but they want Union, and they want principle; and I doubt their success. However, they will try, probably ; and if they do, it will be a good cause. No Italian can hate an Austrian more than I do ; unless it be the English, the Austrians seem to me the most obnoxious race under the Sky. But I doubt, if anything be done, it won't be so quietly as in Spain. To be sure, Revolutions are not to be made with Rose-water, 1 where there are foreigners as Masters. Write while you can ; for it is but the toss up of a Paul that there will not be a row that will somewhat retard the Mail by and bye. Address right to Ravenna. Yours, B. 792. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, April 18, 1820. Dear Hoppner, — I have caused write to Siri and Willhalm to send with Vincenzo in a boat, the camp-beds submitted. At Modena, Milan, Ravenna, and Florence, risings were expected ; but they either came to nothing, or were immediately crushed. 1. “ Voulez-vous qu’on vous fasse des revolutions h l’eau rose ? ” — Marmontel, Memoires cPun Fire, etc., Livre xiv. ( (Euvres com- pletes, ed. 1818-19, tom. ii. p. 294). SIR H. DAVY AT RAVENNA. II 1820.] and swords left in their care when I quitted Venice. There are also several pounds of Man ton 1 s best powder in a Japan case ; but unless I felt sure of getting it away from V. without seizure, I won’t have it ventured. I can get it in here, by means of an acquaintance in the Customs, who has offered to get it ashore for me ; but should like to be certiorated of its safety in leaving Venice. I would not lose it for its weight in gold — there is none such in Italy, as I take it to be. I wrote to you a week or so ago, and hope you are in good plight and spirits. Sir Humphry Davy 1 is here, and was last night at the Cardinal’s. As I had been there last Sunday, and yesterday was warm, I did not go, which I should have done, if I had thought of meeting the Man of Chemistry. He called this morning, and I shall go in search of him at Corso time. I believe, to-day being Monday, there is no great conversazione, and only the family one at the Marchese Cavalli’s, where I go as a relation sometimes ; so that, unless he stays a day or two, we should hardly meet in public. The theatre is to open in May for the fair, if there is not a row in all Italy by that time, — the Spanish business has set them all a-constitutioning, and what will be the end, no one knows — it is also necessary thereunto to have a beginning. You see the blackguards have brought in Hobhouse for Westminster. Rochfoucault says that “ there is “something in the misfortunes of our best friends not “ unpleasing to us,” 2 and it is to this that I attribute my not being so sorry for his election as I ought to be, seeing that it will eventually be a millstone round his 1. See Letters , vol. ii. p. 226, fiote 2. 2. Maximes et Reflexions morales , ccxli. : “ Dans l’adversite de “ nos meilleurs amis, nous trouvons souvent quelque chose qui ne “ nous deplait pas.” 12 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. neck, for what can he do ? he can’t take place ; he can’t take power in any case ; if he succeeds in reforming, he will be stoned for his pains ; — and if he fails, there he is stationary as Lecturer for Westminster. Would you go to the House by the true gate, Much faster than ever Whig Charley went ; Let Parliament send you to Newgate, And Newgate will send you to Parliament. But Hobhouse is a man of real talent however, and will make the best of his situation as he has done hitherto. Yours ever and truly, Byron. P.S. — My benediction to Mrs. Hoppner. How is your little boy ? Allegra is growing, and has increased in good looks and obstinacy. 793. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, April 22? 1820. My dear Hoppner, — With regard to Gnoatto, I cannot relent in favour of Madame Mocenigo, who protects a rascal and retains him in her service. Suppose the case of your Servant or mine, you having the same claim upon F[letche]r or I upon your Tim, would either of us retain them an instant unless they paid the debt ? As “ there is no force in the decrees of Venice,” 1 no Justice to be obtained from the tribunals, — because even conviction does not compel payment, nor enforce punish- ment, — you must excuse me when I repeat that not one farthing of the rent shall be paid , till either Gnoatto pays me his debt, or quits Madame Mocenigo’s service. I 1. Merchant of Venice , act iv. sc. 1. 1 820 .] NO REDRESS, NO RENT. 1 3 will abide by the consequences ; but I could wish that no time was lost in apprizing her of the affair. You must not mind her relation Seranzo’s statement ; he may be a very good man, but he is but a Venetian, which I take to be in the present age the ne plus ultra of human abasement in all moral qualities whatsoever. I dislike differing from you in opinion ; but I have no other course to take, and either Gnoatto pays me, or quits her Service, or I will resist to the uttermost the liquidation of her rent. I have nothing against her, nor for her ; I owe her neither ill will, nor kindness; — but if she protects a Scoundrel, and there is no other redress, I will make some. It has been and always will be the case where there is no law . Individuals must then right themselves. They have set the example “ and it shall go hard but I “ will better the Instruction .” 1 Two words from her would suffice to make the villain do his duty ; if they are not said, or if they have no effect, let him be dismissed ; if not, as I have said, so will I do. I wrote last week to Siri to desire Vincenzo to be sent to take charge of the beds and Swords to this place by Sea. I am in no hurry for the books, — none whatever, — and don’t want them. Pray has not Mingaldo the Biography of living people ? 2 — it is not here, nor in your list. I am not at all sure that he has it either, but it may be possible. Let Castelli go on to the last. I am determined to see Merryweather out in this business, just to discover what is or is not to be done in their tribunals, and if ever I cross him, as I have tried the law in vain, (since 1. Merchant of Venice , act iii. sc. I. 2 . Probably Colburn’s Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain and Irela?id : comprisi?ig Literary Memoirs a?id A?iecdotes of their Lives, etc. London, 1816, 8vo. 14 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. it has but convicted him and then done nothing in consequence) — I will try a shorter process with that personage. About Allegra, I can only say to Claire 1 — that I so i. After Allegra returned in October, 1818, from her stay at Este with her mother, she remained with Byron, under the care of a maid chosen by Mrs. Hoppner. She had suffered from the unwhole- some climate of Venice, and, as Mrs. Hoppner wrote to Mary Shelley, January, 1819, “estdevenue tranquille et serieuse comme “ une petite vieille, ce qui nous peine beaucoup ” (Dowden’s Life of Shelley , vol. ii. p. 328). For several months no news of the child was heard by the Shelleys, except that Mrs. Vavassour’s offer to adopt her had been declined by Byron (Letters, vol. iv. p. 325, note 1). When Byron settled at Ravenna, in the house of Count Guiccioli, Miss Clairmont appealed to him through the Hoppners to be allowed to see Allegra. This appeal Byron answers in the following paragraph. The substance of his reply was communicated, April 30, by Mrs. Hoppner to Claire, who refers in her journal to the answer as “concerning green fruit and God” (Dowden’s Life of Shelley , vol. ii. p. 329, note). Professor Dowden prints, from a rough draft in Miss Clairmont’s handwriting (ibid., pp. 329, 330), the mother’s direct appeal to see her child, and her protest against the idea, here apparently for the first time expressed, of placing Allegra in a convent : — “ I beg from you the indulgence of a visit from my child, because “ that I am weaker every day, and more miserable. I have already “ proved in ten thousand ways that I have so loved her as to have “ commanded, nay, to have destroyed, such of my feelings as would c 1 have been injurious to her welfare. Y ou answer my request by “menacing, if I do not continue to suffer in silence, that you will “inflict the greatest of all evils on my child — you threaten to put “her in a convent, where she will be equally divided from us both. “ . . . This calls to my remembrance the story in the Bible, where “Solomon judges between the two women; the false parent was “willing the child should be divided, but the feelings of the real “one made her consent to any deprivation rather than her child “should be destroyed: so I am willing to undergo any affliction “rather than her whole life should be spoilt by a convent education.” Byron’s reply, though necessarily shown to Miss Clairmont, was written to Shelley, who in answer condemns its harsh tone, but admits the wisdom of Byron’s resolution to separate the mother and the child (May 26, 1820). The letters from Shelley to Byron, and from Shelley to Jane Clairmont, printed in Appendix I., dated respectively September 17, 1820, and March, 1822 (?), illustrate the writer’s sound judgment and good feeling. In the same Appendix will be found Jane Clairmont’s appeal to Byron against placing Allegra in the convent at Bagnacavallo. allegra’s education. 15 1820.] totally disapprove of the mode of Children’s treatment in their family, that I should look upon the Child as going into a hospital. Is it not so ? Have they reared one 1 ? Her health here has hitherto been excellent , and her temper not bad; she is sometimes vain and obstinate, but always clean and cheerful, and as, in a year or two, I shall either send her to England, or put her in a Convent for education, these defects will be remedied as far as they can in human nature. But the Child shall not quit me again to perish of Starvation, and green fruit, or be taught to believe that there is no Deity. Whenever there is convenience of vicinity and access, her Mother can always have her with her ; otherwise no. It was so stipulated from the beginning. The Girl is not so well off as with you, but far better than with them ; the fact is she is spoilt, being a great favourite with every body on account of the fairness of her Skin, which shines among their dusky children like the milky way, but there is no comparison of her situation now, and that under Elise, or with them. She has grown considerably, is very clean, and lively. She has plenty of air and exercise at home, and she goes out daily with M? Guiccioli in her carriage to the Corso. The paper is finished and so must the letter be. Yours ever, B. My best respects to Mrs. H. and the little boy — and Dorville. I. Shelley and his wife Mary had lost three children — an infant, born February 22, 1815, died March 6, 1815; Clara Everina, born September 2, 1817, died at Venice, September 24, 1818; William, born January 24, 1816, died at Rome, June 7, 1819. 1 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. 794. — To John Murray. Ravenna, April 23, 1820. Dear Murray, — The proofs don’t contain the last stanzas of Canto second, but end abruptly with the 105th Stanza. I told you long ago that the new Cantos 1 were ?iot good, and I also told you a reason : recollect, I do not oblige you to publish them ; you may suppress them, if you like, but I can alter nothing. I have erased the six stanzas about those two impostors, Southey and Wordsworth (which I suppose will give you great pleasure), but I can do no more. I can neither recast, nor replace ; but I give you leave to put it all into the fire, if you like, or not to publish, and I think that’s sufficient. I told you that I wrote on with no good will — that I had been, not frightened, but hurt by the outcry, and, besides that, when I wrote last November, I was ill in body, and in very great distress of mind about some private things of my own ; but you would have it : so I sent it to you, and to make it lighter, cut it in two — but I can’t piece it together again. I can’t cobble : I must “ either make a spoon or spoil a horn,” 2 — and there’s an end ; for there’s no remeid : but I leave you free will to suppress the whole , if you like it. 1. Don Juan , Cantos III., IV. 2. So the elder Mr. Fairford, when his son, Alan, made his suc- cessful debut in the case of “ Poor Peter Peebles versus Plainstanes,” answered the congratulations of his friends, “his voice faltering, as “ he replied, ‘ Ay, ay, I kend Alan was the lad to make a spoon or “ spoil a horn.’ ” Scott explains in a note the origin of the proverb : “ Said of an adventurous gipsy, who resolves at all risks to convert “a sheep’s horn into a spoon” ( Redgauntlet , chap. i. of the “ Narrative”). So also Baillie Nicol Jarvie ( Rob Roy, chap, xxii.) says, “Mr. Osbaldistone is a gude honest gentleman ; but I aye “ said he was ane o’ them wad make a spune or spoil a horn, as my “ father the worthy deacon used to say.” SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. 17 1820.] About the Morgcmte Maggiore , I won't have a line omitted ; it may circulate, or it may not; but all the Criticism on earth shan't touch a line, unless it be because it is badly translated. Now you say, and I say, and others say, that the translation is a good one ; and so it shall go to press as it is. Pulci must answer for his own irreligion : I answer for the translation only. I am glad you have got the Dante ; and there should be by this time a translation of his Francesca of Rimini arrived to append to it. I sent you a quantity of prose observations 1 in answer to Wilson, but I shall not publish them at present : keep them by you as documents . Pray let Mr. Hobhouse look to the Italian next time in the proofs : this time> while I am scribbling to you, they are corrected by one who passes for the prettiest woman in Romagna, and even the Marches, as far as Ancona — be the other who she may. I am glad you like my answer to your enquiries about Italian Society : it is fit you should like somethings and be damned to you. My love to Scott. I shall think higher of knighthood ever after for his being dubbed . 2 By the way, he is the first poet titled for his talent in Britain : it has happened abroad before now ; but on the continent titles are universal and worthless. Why don’t you send me Ivanhoe and the Monastery ? 3 I have never written to Sir Walter, for I know he has a thousand things, and I a thousand nothings, to do ; but I hope to see him at 1. See Letters , vol. iv. Appendix IX. 2. In the Gazette for April 1, 1820, appears the announcement : “The dignity of Baronet granted to Walter Scott, Esq. (the cele- brated poet), and his heirs male.” 3. Ivanhoe , The Monastery , and The Abbot , were all published in 1820. VOL. V. C 1 8 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. Abbotsford before very long, and I will sweat his Claret for him, though Italian abstemiousness has made my brain but a shilpit 1 concern for a Scotch sitting inter pocula. I love Scott and Moore, and all the better brethren ; but I hate and abhor that puddle of water- worms whom you have taken into your troop in the history line I see. I am obliged to end abruptly. Yours, B. P.S. — You say that one half 2 is very good : you are wrong ; for, if it were, it would be the finest poem in existence. Where is the poetry of which o?ie half is good ? is it the ALneid ? is it Milton's ? is it Drydeiis ? is it any one’s except Pope's and Goldsmith’s, of which all is good ? and yet these two last are the poets your pond poets would explode. But if one half of the two new Cantos be good in your opinion, what the devil would you have more ? No — no : no poetry is generally good — only by fits and starts — and you are lucky to get a sparkle here and there. You might as well want a Midnight all stars as rhyme all perfect. We are on the verge of a row here. Last night they have overwritten all the city walls with “ Up with the “ Republic ! ” and “ death to the Pope ! ” etc., etc. This would be nothing in London, where the walls are privileged, and where, when somebody went to Chancellor Thurlow to tell him, as an alarming sign, that he had seen “ Death to the king ” on the park wall, old Thurlow asked him if he had ever seen “ * ” chalked on the same place, to which the alarmist responding in the affirmative, 1. Balmawhapple, carousing at Luckie Macleary’s, and fortified by the Bear and the Hen, “pronounced the claret shilpit , and “ demanded brandy with great vociferation ” ( Waverley , chap. xi.). 2. Of Don Juan. MURAL INSCRIPTIONS. 19 1820.] Thurlow resumed “ and so have I for these last 30 years, “ and yet it never * * * *.” But here it is a different thing : they are not used to such fierce political inscrip- tions, and the police is all on the alert, and the Cardinal glares pale through all his purple. April 24, 1820, 8 o’clock, P.M. The police have been, all Noon and after, searching for the Inscribers, but have caught none as yet. They must have been all night about it, for the “ Live republics “ — death to popes and priests,” are innumerable, and plastered over all the palaces : ours has plenty. There is “down with the Nobility,” too — they are down enough already, for that matter. A very heavy rain and wind having come on, I did not get on horseback to go out and “ skirr the country ; ” but I shall mount tomorrow, and take a canter among the peasantry, who are a savage, resolute race, always riding with guns in their hands. I wonder they don’t suspect the Serenaders, for they play on the guitar all night, here as in Spain, to their Mistresses. Talking of politics, as Caleb Quotem 1 says, pray look at the Conclusion of my Ode on Waterloo , 2 written in the year 1815, and, comparing it with the Duke de Berri’s 1. In The Review, or the Wags of Windsor , by G. Colman the Younger. The phrase is, however, not used by his “Caleb “Quotem,” a character which he appropriated from Henry Lee (1765-1836), whose “Caleb Quotem” was played at the Hay- market, July 6, 1798, under the title of Throw Physic to the Dogs. 2. “ Even in this low world of care Freedom ne’er shall want an heir ; Millions breathe but to inherit Her for ever bounding spirit. When once more her hosts assemble, Tyrants shall believe and tremble ; Smile they at this idle threat ? Crimson tears will follow yet.” 20 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. catastrophe in 1820 : 1 tell me if I have not as good a right to the character of “ Fates” in both senses of the word, as Fitzgerald and Coleridge ? 2 “ Crimson tears will follow yet ” — and have not they ? I can’t pretend to foresee what will happen among you Englishers at this distance, but I vaticinate a row in Italy ; in whilk case, I don’t know that I won’t have a finger in it. I dislike the Austrians, and think the Italians infamously oppressed ; and if they begin, why, I will recommend “the erection of a Sconce upon “ Drumsnab,” 3 like Dugald Dalgetty. 795. — To John Murray. Ravenna, May 8, 1820. Dear Murray, — From your not having written again, an intention which your letter of y- 7 th Ult° indicated, I have to presume that “ The Prophecy of Dante ” has not been found more worthy than its immediate precursors in the eyes of your illustrious Synod. In that case, you will be in some perplexity; to end which, I repeat to you, that you are not to consider yourself as bound or pledged to publish any thing because it is mine, but always to act according to your own views, or opinions, or those of your friends ; and to be sure that you will in no degree offend me by “ declining the article,” to use 1. Pierre-Louis Louvel (1785-1820), by trade a saddler, murdered the Due de Berri, grandson of Louis XVIII., and second son of the Comte d’ Artois, afterwards Charles X., as he returned to the Opera, February 13, 1820. The murder and Louvel’s louche regard horri- fied Victor Hugo, who wrote an ode on “La Mort du Due de “ Berri” ( Odes et Ballades , Livre I. Ode vii.). 2. For W. T. Fitzgerald, see Letters , vol. iii. p. 10, note 1. For S. T. Coleridge, see ibid., vol. iii. p. 190, note 3. 3. The Legend of Montrose , chap. x. SUPPRESSION OF CHILDE HAROLD. 21 1820.] a technical phrase. The Prose observations on p Wilson’s attack, 1 I do not intend for publication at this time ; and I sent a copy of verses to Mr. Kinnaird (they were written last year, on crossing the Po 2 ) which must not be published either. I mention this, because it is probable he may give you a copy. Pray recollect this, as they are mere verses of Society, and written upon private feelings and passions. And, moreover, I cannot consent to any mutilations or omissions of Pulci : the original has been ever free from such in Italy, the Capital of Christianity, and the translation may be so in England ; though you will think it strange that they should have allowed such freedom for so many centuries to the Morgante , while the other day they confiscated the whole translation of the 4^ Canto of Childe H[arol]d , and have persecuted Leoni, 3 the translator — so he writes me, and so I could have told him, had he consulted me before his publication. This shows how much more politics interest men in these parts than religion. Half a dozen invectives against tyranny confiscate C IP in a month ; and eight and twenty cantos of quizzing Monks and Knights, and Church Government, are let loose for centuries. I copy Leoni’s account : — “ Non ignorera forse che la mia versione del 4 0 “ Canto del Childe Harold fu confiscata in ogni parte : “ ed io stesso ho dovuto soffrir vessazioni altrettanto “ ridicole quanto illiberali, ad arte che alcuni versi fossero “ esclusi dalla censura. Ma siccome il divieto non fa “ d’ordinario che accrescere la curiosita cost quel carme 1. See Letters , vol. iv. Appendix IX. 2. “ Stanzas to the Po,” written, it is said, when Byron was on his way to meet Countess Guiccioli at Ravenna. 3. H Italia. Canto IV. del Pellegrinaggio di Childe Harold . . . tradotto da Michele Leoni, Italia (London?), 1819, 8 ?. Leoni also translated the Lament of Tasso ( Lamento del Tasso . . . Recato in Italiano da M. Leoni, Pisa, 1818). 22 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. “ SUIT Italia h ricercato piu che mai, e penso di farlo “ ristampare in Inghilterra senza nulla escludere. Scia- “ gurata condizione di questa mia patria ! se patria si “ puo chiamare una terra cosi avvilita dalla fortuna, dagli “ uomini, da se medesima.” Rose will translate this to you. Has he had his letter ? I enclosed it to you months ago. This intended piece of publication I shall dissuade him from, or he may chance to see the inside of St. Angelo’s. The last Sentence of his letter is the common and pathetic sentiment of all his Countrymen, who execrate Castlereagh as the cause, by the conduct of the English at Genoa . 1 Surely that man will not die in his bed : there is no spot of the earth where his name is not a hissing, and a curse. Imagine what must be the man’s talent for Odium, who has contrived to spread his infamy like a pestilence from Ireland to Italy, and to make his name an execration in all languages. Talking of Ireland, Sir Humphry Davy 2 was here last 1. The Republic of Genoa, conquered by the French in 1797, lived a short life as the Ligurian Republic until, in 1805, it was absorbed by the French Empire. In 1814 Lord William Bentinck compelled the French troops to evacuate the city, proclaimed the restoration of the Genoese constitution as it existed before 1797, and pledged the honour of the Allied Powers that the independence of Genoa should be respected. But at the Congress of Vienna republics were unfashionable, and nationalities were sacrificed to political equilibrium. Genoa was annexed to Piedmont, its ancient rival, and the British troops were withdrawn, February, 1815. In making the decision of the Congress known to Colonel Dalrymple, the British commander, Castlereagh regretted his in- ability “to preserve to Genoa a separate existence,” insisted on the “generous disposition of the King of Sardinia, ” and hoped that the Genoese of every class would accept the new rule as “a benefit.” But it appears ( Castlereagh Correspondence , 3rd series, vol. ii. pp. 18, 221) that Bentinck made his promise with Castlereagh’s knowledge, though Castlereagh denied ( Wellington Supplementary Despatches, vol. ix. p. 64) that Bentinck had any authority from the British Government. The Genoese believed that they had been betrayed, and saw in Castlereagh the traitor. 2. “Davy,” writes Moore, in his Diary for May 19, 1820 UNROLLING PAPYRI. 23 1820.] fortnight, and I was in his company in the house of a very pretty Italian Lady of rank, who, by way of displaying her learning in presence of the great Chemist then describing his fourteenth ascension of Mount Vesuvius, asked “ if “there was not a similar Volcano in Ireland ?” My only notion of an Irish Volcano consisted of the Lake of Killarney, which I naturally conceived her to mean ; but, on second thoughts, I divined that she alluded to Ice - land and to Hecla — and so it proved, though she sustained her volcanic topography for some time with all the amiable pertinacity of “ the Feminie. J, She soon after turned to me and asked me various questions about Sir Humphry's philosophy, and I explained as well as an Oracle his skill in gases, safety lamps, and in ungluing the Pompeian MSS . 1 “ But what do you call him ? ” (Memoirs, etc., vol. iii. p. 118), “went to Ravenna to see Lord 44 Byron, who is now living domesticated with the Guiccioli and her 44 husband after all. He was rather anxious to get off with Davy to 44 Bologna, professedly for the purpose of seeing Lady Davy, but I “ have no doubt with a wish to give his Contessa the slip.” I. In the Philosophical Transactions (1821, pp. 191, 192) will be found a paper read by Sir Humphry Davy (March 15, 1821), on 44 Some Observations and Experiments on the Papyri found in the 44 Ruins of Herculaneum.” From this paper the following extract is taken : — 44 During the two months that I was actively employed in experi- “ments on the papyri at Naples, I had succeeded, with the assist - 44 ance of six of the persons attached to the Museum, and whom I had “engaged for the purpose, in partially unrolling 23 MSS., from “which fragments of writing were obtained, and in examining 44 about 1 20 others, which afforded no hopes of success ; and I should “gladly have gone on with the undertaking, from the mere pros- “ pect of a possibility of discovering some better results, had not the “ labour, in itself difficult and unpleasant, been made more so, by “ the conduct of the persons at the head of this department in the 4 4 Museum. At first every disposition was shown to promote my 4 4 researches ; for the papyri remaining unrolled were considered by “ them as incapable of affording anything legible by the former “methods, or, to use their own word, disperati ; and the efficacy 4 4 and use of the new processes were fully allowed by the Svolgatori, 4 4 or unrollers of the Museum ; and I was for some time permitted “ to choose and operate upon the specimens at my own pleasure. 24 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. said she. “ A great Chemist,” quoth I. “ What can he “ do ? ” repeated the lady. “ Almost any thing,” said I. “ Oh, then, mio Caro , do pray beg him to give me some- “ thing to dye my eyebrows black. I have tried a “thousand things, and the colours all come off; and “ besides, they don’t grow : can’t he invent something to “ make them grow ? ” All this with the greatest earnest- ness ; and what you will be surprized at, she is neither ignorant nor a fool, but really well educated and clever. But they speak like children, when first out of their convents; and, after all, this is better than an English blue-stocking. I did not tell Sir Humphry of this last piece of philosophy, not knowing how he might take it. He is gone on towards England. Sotheby has sent him a poem on his undoing the MSS., which Sir H. says is a bad one. Who the devil doubts it ? Davy was much taken with Ravenna, and the primitive Italianism of the people, who are unused to foreigners : but he only staid a day. Send me Scott’s novels and some news. P.S. — I have begun and advanced into the second Act of a tragedy on the subject of the Doge’s Conspiracy “ When, however, the Reverend Peter Elmsley, whose zeal for the “promotion of ancient literature brought him to Naples for the “ purpose of assisting in the undertaking, began to examine the frag- “ ments unrolled, a jealousy, with regard to his assistance, was “ immediately manifested ; and obstacles, which the kind interfer- ence of Sir William A’Court was not always capable of removing, “were soon opposed to the progress of our enquiries; and these “ obstacles were so multiplied, and made so vexatious towards the “ end of February, that we conceived it would be both a waste of “ the public money, and a compromise of our own characters, to “proceed.” For the improvements in Padre Piaggi’s method of unrolling the MSS. (described in the Annual Register for 1820, p. 504), which were suggested by Sir H. Davy, see Philosophical Transactions , 1821, p. 199. 1820.] THOMAS CAMPBELL CORRECTED. 25 (i.e. the story of Marino Faliero ) ; but my present feeling is so little encouraging on such matters, that I begin to think I have mined my talent out, and proceed in no great phantasy of finding a new vein. P.S. — I sometimes think (if the Italians don’t rise) of coming over to England in the Autumn after the coronation, (at which I would not appear, on account of my family Schism with “ the feminie ”) but as yet I can decide nothing. The place must be a great deal changed since I left it, now more than four years ago. May 9th, 1820. Address directly to Ravenna. 796. — To John Murray. Ravenna, May 20, 1820. Murray, my dear, make my respects to Thomas Campbell, and tell him from me, with faith and friend- ship, three things that he must right in his Poets : Firstly , he says Anstey’s Bath Guide Characters are taken from Smollett. ’Tis impossible : — the Guide was published in 1766 , and Humphrey Clinker in 1771 — dunque , ’tis Smollett who has taken from Anstey. 1 Secondly , he does not know to whom Cowper alludes, when he says that there was one who “ built a church to “ God , and then blasphemed his name : ” it was “ Deo “ erexit Voltaire ” to whom that maniacal Calvinist and coddled poet alludes. 2 Thirdly , he misquotes and spoils 1. Campbell’s Specimens of the British Poets , with biographical and critical notices, etc., was published in 1819 (7 vols., London). The corrections pointed out by Byron were not made in subsequent editions of the biographical portion of the work. In the Notice of Christopher Anstey ( Notices of the British Poets , ed. 1819, p. 439) ? Campbell says of The Nrcv Bath Guide , “The droll and ‘ ‘ familiar manner of the poem is original, but its leading characters “are evidently borrowed from Smollett.” 2. In his Notice of Cowper ( Notices , etc., ed. 1819, p. 358), Campbell lays stress on the impersonal character of his satires. “ I 2 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. a passage from Shakespeare, “to gild refined gold, to “ paint the lily,” etc. ; for lily he puts rose, and bedevils in more words than one the whole quotation . 1 Now, Tom is a fine fellow ; but he should be correct ; for the i ? 4 is an injustice (to Anstey), the 2 n ? an ignorance , and the third a blunder . Tell him all this, and let him take it in good part ; for I might have rammed it into a review and vexed him — instead of which, I act like a Christian. Yours, B. 79 7 . — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, May 20* l ? 1820. My dear Hoppner, — Let Merryweather be kept in for one week, and then let him out for a Scoundrel. Tell him that such is the lesson for the ungrateful, and let this be a warning; a little common feeling, and common honesty would have saved him from useless expence and utter ruin. “know not,” he adds in a note, “to whom he alludes in these “ lines : — 4 4 4 Nor he who, for the bane of thousands born, Built God a church, and laugh’d His word to scorn.’ ” The lines are from Cowper’s Retirement , and the allusion is, as Byron says, to Voltaire. 1. Campbell, in his Notice of Burns ( Notices , etc., ed. 1819, p. 245), says, “Every reader must recal abundance of thoughts in “his love-songs, to which any attempt to superadd a tone of 4 4 gallantry would not be “ 4 To gild refined gold, to paint the rose, Or add fresh perfume to the violet ; ’ 44 but to debase the metal, and to take the odour and colour from the “flower.” The quotation from King John (act iv. sc. 2) should be, as Byron points out — 4 4 To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet.” A MORAL LESSON. 27 1820.] Never would I pursue a man to Jail for a mere debt , and never will I forgive one for ingratitude such as this Villain’s. But let him go and be damned ( once in though first ) ; but I could much wish you to see him and inoculate him with a moral sense by shewing him the result of his rascality. As to Mother Mocenigo, we’ll battle with her, and her ragamuffin. Castelli must dungeon Merryweather, if it be but for a day, I don’t want to hurt, only to teach him. I write to you in such haste and such heat ; it seems to be under the dog (or bitch) Star that I can no more, but sottoscribble myself, Yours ever, B. P.S. — My best respects to the Consolessa and Compts. to Mr. Dorville. Hobhouse is angry with me for a ballad 1 and epigram I made upon him ; only think — how odd ! 798.— To John Murray. Ravenna, May 20 th , 1820. Dear Murray, — First and foremost, you must forward my letter to Moore dated 2d January, which I said you might open, but desired you to forward . Now, you should really not forget these little things, because they do mischief among friends. You are an excellent man, a great man, and live among great men, but do pray recollect your absent friends and authors. I return you the packets. The prose (the Edin . Mag . answer) looks better than I thought it would, and you 1. See Letters , vol. iv. p. 423, note 1, and Appendix XI. 28 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. may publish it: there will be a row, but I’ll fight it out one way or another. You are wrong : I never had those “ two ladies,” 1 upon my honour ! Never believe but half of such stories. Southey was a damned scoundrel to spread such a lie of a woman, whose mother he did his best to get and could not. So you and Hobhouse have squabbled about my ballad : you should not have circulated it ; but I am glad you are by the ears, you both deserve it — he for having been in Newgate, and you for not being there. Excuse haste : if you knew what I have on hand, you would. In the first place, your packets ; then a letter from Kinnaird, on the most urgent business : another from Moore, about a communication to Lady B[yron] of importance ; a fourth from the mother of Allegra ; and, fifthly, at Ravenna, the Contessa G. is on the eve of being divorced on account of our having been taken together qttasi in the fact, and, what is worse, that she did not deny it : but the Italian public are on our side, particularly the women, — and the men also, because they say that he had no business to take the business up now after a year of toleration. The law is against him, because he slept with his wife after her admission. All her relations (who are numerous, high in rank, and powerful) are furious against him for his conduct, and his not wishing to be cuckolded at threescore , when every one else is at one. I am warned to be on my guard, as he is very capable of employing Sicarii — this is Latin as well as Italian, so you can understand it ; but I have arms, and don’t mind them, thinking that I can pepper his ragamuffins if they don’t come unawares, and that, if i. See Letters , vol. iv. pp. 298, 482. 1820.] THE BEGGAR’S OPERA QUOTED. 29 they do, one may as well end that way as another ; and it would besides serve you as an advertisement : — “ Man may escape from rope or Gun, etc. But he who takes Woman, Woman, Woman,” etc. 1 Yours, B. P.S. — I have looked over the press, but Heaven knows how : think what I have on hand and the post going out tomorrow. Do you remember the epitaph on Voltaire ? 2 “ Cy git l’enfant gate,” etc. ‘ * Here lies the spoilt child Of the World which he spoil’d.” The original is in Grimm and Diderot, etc., etc., etc. 799 . — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, May 24, 1820. I wrote to you a few days ago. There is also a letter of January last for you at Murray’s, which will explain to you why I am here. Murray ought to have forwarded 1 . The Beggar's Opera , act ii. sc. 2 — Air. — Macheath. “Courtiers, courtiers, think it no harm.” Man may escape from rope and gun , Nay , some have outliv'd the doctor's pill ; Who takes a woman , must be undone , That basilisk is sure to kill. The fly , that sips treacle , is lost in the sweets , So he, that tastes woman, woman, woman, He, that tastes woman, ruin meets. 2. In the Correspondance Litteraire, Partie II 1 * * ? 6 tom. iv n . ie p. 355, ed. 1812, the epitaph is thus given — “ Epitaphe de Voltaire, faite par une dame de Lausanne — ‘ Ci git l’enfant gate du monde qu’il gata.’ ” 30 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. it long ago. I enclose you an epistle from a country- woman of yours at Paris, which has moved my entrails . 1 You will have the goodness, perhaps, to enquire into the truth of her story, and I will help her as far as I can, — though not in the useless way she proposes. Her letter is evidently unstudied, and so natural, that the ortho- graphy is also in a state of nature. Here is a poor creature, ill and solitary, who thinks, as a last resource, of translating you or me into French ! Was there ever such a notion? It seems to me the consummation of despair. Pray enquire, and let me know, and, if you could draw a bill on me here for a few hundred francs, at your banker’s, I will duly honour it, — that is, if she is not an impostor. If not, let me know, that I may get something remitted by my banker Longhi, of Bologna, for I have no correspondence myself at Paris : but tell her she must not translate ; — if she does, it will be the height of ingratitude. I had a letter (not of the same kind, but in French and flattery) from a Madame Sophie Gail, of Paris, whom I take to be the spouse of a Gallo-Greek of that name . 2 1. Moore, in his Diary for June, 1820 (Memoirs, etc., vol. iii. p. 123), writes, “Received a letter from Lord Byron about the 7* h or 4 4 8 11 ?, commissioning me to find out an Irishwoman of the name of “ Mahony, who had written to him to request he would let her “have the proof sheets of one of his new works, that she might “ translate it into French, and so make a little money by being first “ in the field with a translation, she being an orphan, etc. ... I 4 4 called upon the lady, and found her so respectably dressed and 44 lodged, that I felt delicate, at first, about mentioning the gift 4 4 Lord Byron intended for her ; and when, on my second visit, I 44 presented the fifteen Napoleons, the poor girl refused them, saying 4 4 it was not in that way she wished to be served ; having contrived “hitherto, though an orphan, to support herself without pecuniary 44 assistance from any one.” 2. Moore describes Jean Baptiste Gail (1755-1829), Professor of Greek Literature in the College de France at Paris, “whose edition 4 4 of Anacreon I remember my mother buying for me when I was “about nineteen, and busy with my own translations,” as “a THE BEST ADVICE. 31 1820.] Who is she ? and what is she ? and how came she to take an interest in my poeshie or its author? If you know her, tell her, with my compliments, that, as I only read French, I have not answered her letter ; but would have done so in Italian, if I had not thought it would look like an affectation. I have just been scolding my monkey for tearing the seal of her letter, and spoiling a mock book, in which I put rose leaves. I had a civet-cat the other day, too; but it ran away, after scratching my monkey’s cheek, and I am in search of it still. It was the fiercest beast I ever saw, and like * * in the face and manner. I have a world of things to say ; but, as they are not come to a denouement , I don’t care to begin their history till it is wound up. After you went, I had a fever, but got well again without bark. Sir Humphry Davy was here the other day, and liked Ravenna very much. He will tell you any thing you may wish to know about the place and your humble servitor. Your apprehensions (arising from Scott’s) were un- founded. There are no damages in this country, but there will probably be a separation between them, as her family, which is a principal one, by its connections, are very much against /«;;/, for the whole of his conduct ; — and he is old and obstinate, and she is young and a woman, determined to sacrifice every thing to her affec- tions. I have given her the best advice, viz. to stay with him, — pointing out the state of a separated woman, (for “convivial and rather weak old man” ( Memoirs , etc ., January 24, 1820, vol. iii. p. 100). He was, however, a very distinguished scholar, who had done good service to the study of Greek in France. His wife, nee Sophie Garre (1776-1819), was celebrated for her novels and her musical talents. Her opera, les Deux Jaloux y had gained a great success in 1813. She was dead at the time of Byron’s letter. Byron’s correspondent was really Madame Sophie Gay, mother of Delphine Gay afterwards Madame de Girardin. 32 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. the priests won’t let lovers live openly together, unless the husband sanctions it,) and making the most exquisite moral reflections, — but to no purpose. She says, “ I will “ stay with him, if he will let you remain with me. It is “ hard that I should be the only woman in Romagna who “ is not to have her Amico ; but, if not, I will not live with “ him ; and as for the consequences, love, etc., etc., etc.” — you know how females reason on such occasions. He says he has let it go on till he can do so no longer. But he wants her to stay, and dismiss me ; for he doesn’t like to pay back her dowry and to make an alimony. Her relations are rather for the separation, as they detest him, — indeed, so does every body. The populace and the women are, as usual, all for those who are in the wrong, viz. the lady and her lover. I should have retreated, but honour, and an erysipelas which has attacked her, prevent me, — to say nothing of love, for I love her most entirely, though not enough to persuade her to sacrifice every thing to a frenzy. “ I see how it “ will end ; she will be the sixteenth Mrs. Shuffleton.” 1 My paper is finished, and so must this letter. Yours ever, B. P.S. — I regret that you have not completed the Italian Fudges . 2 Pray, how come you to be still in Paris? Murray has four or five things of mine in hand — the new Don Juan , which his back-shop synod don’t admire ; — a 1. In John Bull , or the Englishman's Fireside , by George Colman the Younger (act ii. sc. 2), the Honourable Tom Shuffleton says, “Fine blue eyes, faith, and very like my Fanny’s. Yes, I “see how it will end ; — she’ll be the fifteenth Mrs. Shuffleton.” 2. Moore at one time proposed to continue his Fudge Family in Paris (1818), by a series of letters in verse from the Fudge family in Italy. He did not carry out the plan. The Fudges in England : being a sequel to the “ Fudge Family in Paris,” appeared in 1823. GOETHE ON MANFRED. 33 1820.] translation of the first canto of Pulci’s Morgante Maggiore , excellent; — a short ditto from Dante, not so much approved : the Prophecy of Dante , very grand and worthy, etc., etc., etc. : — a furious prose answer to Blackwood’s “ Observations on Don Juan ,” with a savage Defence of Pope — likely to make a row. The opinions above I quote from Murray and his Utican senate; — you will form your own, when you see the things. You will have no great chance of seeing me, for I begin to think I must finish in Italy. But, if you come my way, you shall have a tureen of macaroni. Pray tell me about yourself, and your intents. My trustees are going to lend Earl Blessington sixty thousand pounds (at six per cent.) on a Dublin mortgage. Only think of my becoming an Irish absentee ! 800. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, May 25, 1820. A German named Ruppsecht has sent me, heaven knows why, several Deutsche Gazettes, of all which I understand neither word nor letter. I have sent you the enclosed to beg you to translate to me some remarks, which appear to be Goethes tip on Manfred ,* — and if I may judge by two notes of admiration (generally put after something ridiculous by us) and the word “ hypocoti- “ drischf are any thing but favourable. I shall regret this, for I should have been proud of Goethe’s good word ; but I shan’t alter my opinion of him, even though he should be savage. Will you excuse this trouble, and do me this favour ? I. For Goethe’s criticism on Manfred > Hoppner’s translation, and a general note on Goethe and Byron, see Appendix II. VOL. V 0 D 34 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. — Never mind — soften nothing — I am literary proof — having had good and evil said in most modern languages. Believe me, etc. 801. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, June I, 1820. I have received a Parisian letter from W[edderburn] Wfebster], which I prefer answering through you, if that worthy be still at Paris, and, as he says, an occasional visitor of yours. In November last he wrote to me a well-meaning letter, stating, for some reasons of his own, his belief that a re-union might be effected between Lady B. and myself. To this I answered as usual ; and he sent me a second letter, repeating his notions, which letter I have never answered, having had a thousand other things to think of. He now writes as if he believed that he had offended me by touching on the topic ; and I wish you to assure him that I am not at all so, — but, on the contrary, obliged by his good nature. At the same time acquaint him the thing is impossible . You know this , as well as I, — and there let it end. I believe that I showed you his epistle in autumn last. He asks me if I have heard of my “ laureat ” at Paris, 1 — somebody who has written “ a most sanguinary I. Byron refers to Lamartine’s “L’Homme — k Lord Byron,” one of the poems in his Premieres Meditations Poetiques (1820). Lamar- tine was an ardent admirer of Byron. In the subsequent “Com- “ mentaire ” on the poem he thus describes its origin — “ J’entendis parler pour la premiere fois de lui [Byron] par un de “mes anciens amis qui revenait d’Angleterre en 1819. Le seul “ recit de quelques-uns de ses poemes m’ebranla l’imagination. . . . “ Je lus, dans un recueil periodique de Geneve, quelques fragments “ traduits du Corsaire , de Lara , de Ma 7 ifred. Je devins ivre de “cette poesie. J’avais enfin trouve la fibre sensible d’un poete k “l’unisson des mes voix interieures. . . . Je n’adressai point ces “vers a Lord Byron. . . . J’ai lu depuis, dans ses Memoires, qu’il “avait entendu parler de cette meditation d’un jeune Fra^ais, mais “qu’il ne l’avait pas lue. II ne savait pas notre langue.” 1 820.] COUNT GUICCIOLl’S SEPARATION. 35 “ Epitre” against me; but whether in French, or Dutch, or on what score, I know not, and he don’t say, — except that (for my satisfaction) he says it is the best thing in the fellow’s volume. If there is anything of the kind that I ought to know, you will doubtless tell me. I suppose it to be something of the usual sort ; — he says, he don’t remember the author’s name. I wrote to you some ten days ago, and expect an answer at your leisure. The separation business still continues, and all the world are implicated, including priests and cardinals. The public opinion is furious against him, because he ought to have cut the matter short at firsts and not waited twelve months to begin. He has been trying at evidence, but can get none sufficient ; for what would make fifty divorces in England won’t do here — there must be the most decided proofs. * * * It is the first cause of the kind attempted in Ravenna for these two hundred years; for, though they often separate, they assign a different motive. You know that the continental incontinent are more delicate than the English, and don’t like proclaiming their coronation in a court, even when nobody doubts it. All her relations are furious against him. The father has challenged him — a superfluous valour, for he don’t fight, though suspected of two assassinations — one of the famous Monzoni of Forli. Warning was given me not to take such long rides in the Pine Forest without being on my guard ; so I take my stiletto and a pair of pistols in my pocket during my daily rides. I won’t stir from this place till the matter is settled one way or the other. She is as femininely firm as possible ; and the opinion is so much against him, that the advocates decline to undertake his cause, because they 36 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. say that he is either a fool or a rogue — fool, if he did not discover the liaison till now ; and rogue, if he did know it, and waited for some bad end to divulge it. In short, there has been nothing like it since the days of Guido di Polenta’s family, 1 in these parts. If the man has me taken off, like Polonius “ say, he “ made a good end,” 2 — for a melodrame. The principal security is, that he has not the courage to spend twenty scudi — the average price of a clean-handed bravo — otherwise there is no want of opportunity, for I ride about the woods every evening, with one servant, and sometimes an acquaintance, who latterly looks a little queer in solitary bits of bushes. Good bye. — Write to yours ever, etc. 802. — To John Murray. Ravenna, June 7, 1820. Dear Murray, — Enclosed is something which will interest you, (to wit), the opinion of the Greatest man of Germany — perhaps of Europe — upon one of the great men of your advertisements, (all “famous hands,” as Jacob Tonson 3 used to say of his ragamuffins,) — in short, a critique of Goethe's upon Manfred. There is the original, Mr. Hoppner’s translation, and an Italian one ; keep them all in your archives, — for the opinions of such a man as Goethe, whether favourable or not, are always interesting, and this is moreover favourable. 1. Guido Vecchio da Polenta (d. 1310), whose “ eagle ” brooded over Ravenna in the days of Dante, was the father of Francesca da Rimini. 2. Hamlet , act iv. sc. 5. 3. “ Perhaps I should myself be much better pleased, if I were “ told you called me your little friend, than if you complimented “me with the title of a great genius or an eminent hand, as Jacob “does all his authors.” — Pope to Steele, November 29, 1712 (Courthope’s Pope , vol. vi. p. 396). BARRY CORNWALL. 37 1820.] His Faust I never read, for I don’t know German ; but Matthew Monk Lewis, in 1816, at Coligny, translated most of it to me viva voce , and I was naturally much struck with it ; but it was the Staubach and the Jungfrau , and something else, much more than Faustus, that made me write Manfred . . The first Scene, however, and that of Faustus are very similar. Acknowledge this letter. Yours ever, B. P.S. — I have received Ivanhoe; — good. Pray send me some tooth powder and tincture of Myrrh, by Waite , etc. Ricciardetto should have been translated literally , or not at all. As to puffing Whistlecraft , it won't do : 1 I’ll tell you why some day or other. Cornwall’s a poet, 2 1. Probably this alludes to an article on Whistlecraft , in the Quarterly Review , vol. xxi. ; in which the reviewer (p. 503) says, “ About a hundred years ago, a poem, bearing a certain degree of “ affinity to the 6 Specimen, ’ was produced by Monsignor Forteguerri, “ a writer who in genius and means was far inferior to the English “Poet,” etc., etc. Niccolo Forteguerri (1674-1735), a native of Pistoja, and a cardinal, wrote Ricciardetto (pub. 1738), a broad burlesque of Ariosto. The poem, already twice translated into French verse (Dumouriez, 1766; Due de Nivernais, 1796), may have helped to suggest to Frere his Prospectus and Specimen of a?i Intended National Work, by William and Robert Whistlecraft. 2. Bryan Waller Procter (1787-1874), father of Adelaide Procter (1825-1864), entered Harrow School in February, 1801. He became a solicitor, then a barrister, and finally (1832-61) a metropolitan commissioner in lunacy. But though the law was his profession, literature, especially before his marriage (1824) with Miss Skepper, was his passion. Under the disguise of “ Barry Cornwall,” a partial anagram of his real name, he published his Dramatic Scenes in 1819 ; his Marcian Colonna appeared in the next year, his Sicilian Story in 1821. In the two last-named works the influence of Leigh Hunt was conspicuous, as Byron remarks (p. 217) ; but Moore gratified his feeling against Hunt by omitting the name, now for the first time restored, at the expense of Byron’s critical insight. Procter’s Mirandola was produced at Covent Garden, January 9, 1821, with Macready as the “Duke of Mirandola;” Charles Kemble as his son, “Guido;” Miss Foote as “ Isidora ; ” and Mrs. Faucit as “Isabella.” Genest (. English Stage , vol. ix. pp. 102, 103) calls it 38 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. but spoilt by the detestable Schools of the day. Mrs. Hemans 1 is a poet also, but too stiltified and apostrophic, “ a pretty good play,” and says that it was acted sixteen times. Some of Procter’s best poetical work is contained in his English Songs and other Smaller Poems (1832). As an intimate friend of “ Elia,” he wrote a charming biography of Charles Lamb ( Charles Lamb : a Memoir , 1866-68). He made himself responsible for part of the expenses of the publication of Shelley’s posthumous poetry. The following is a letter from Procter to Byron : — “March 19, 1821, 25, Store Street, Bedford Square. “ My Lord, — It gave me much pleasure to learn that you had “ some recollection of a Harrow boy, as well as that you felt some “interest in my poetical progress. It has, in truth, been fortunate. “ Pray endeavour to believe that I am obliged by your remembering “me. I sent you hi January, thro’ Mr. Murray, who promised to ‘ 8 forward it, a copy of my play of Mirandola , which was very “ well received. I scarcely know how you will like it, but the style “ is after a better fashion, I think, than what has generally been “followed of late years. I shall try to do better some of these “ days, and in the mean time, if you have an idle five minutes, “ I need not say that I shall feel flattered by your devoting them to “me. I am induced to say thus much because you have already “ taken the trouble of thinking of me and my little literary ventures. “ There is little book-news at present. Scott’s Kenilworth has “been very well received, and there is a great deal of dramatic “power in the tale, tho’ it is too much like a fragment of history, “ and not altogether complete in itself, perhaps. Southey has tried * ‘ the English hexameter, and has written The Vision of Jtcdg- “ ment ; but it will not be popular, I apprehend. I have not read “ it. Thomas Moore has been in France, and has written nothing, “ as you know. I wish he would dispatch one of his little piquant “ duodecimos here. We want something to enliven us. Don Juan “is not out yet. Pray don’t keep him back ; he is rather wicked, “but very delightful. Have you seen Shelley’s Ce?icil It is a “very powerful performance, I think, tho’ I wish he would let those “disagreeable subjects alone. Poor Keats is at Rome, dying, I “ hear. Wordsworth and Coleridge are idle, as far as poetry is “ concerned. This is all the news in my possession. “ The Neapolitans have stirred our lazy blood a little. I hope, “however, that they will not (nor the Austrians) make your stay at “ Venice either perilous or uncomfortable. Do not allow the hot “sun of the South to beget indolence upon you, but pray write as “much as is consistent with your health; about this latter point I “ beg you to believe that I am interested, as well as most sincerely “ about every thing you do. “ I am, my dear lord, “ Your most obliged and sincere servt., “B. W. Procter. “ I do not send you my last book, Marcian Colonna , as Mr. COURAGE IN DEATH. 39 1820.] and quite wrong : men died calmly before the Christian sera, and since, without Christianity — witness the Romans, and, lately, Thistlewood , 2 Sandt , 3 and Louvel 4 — men who ought to have been weighed down with their crimes, even had they believed. A deathbed is a matter of nerves and constitution, and not of religion. Voltaire was frightened, Frederick of Prussia not : Christians the same, according to their strength rather than their creed. What does Helga Herbert 5 mean by his Statiza ? which “ Murray may perhaps have forwarded it to you among other new “ publications. It is rather a hasty affair.” 1. Mrs. Hemans, in The Sceptic (1820), based the truth of religion on the misery of man without it, — especially at the moment of death. 2. Arthur Thistlewood (1770-1820), son of a Lincolnshire farmer, had three times attempted to inaugurate a revolution in London (Spa Fields, December 2, 1816 ; Smithfield, September 6, 1817 ; and October 12, 1817). For the first attempt he was tried for high treason ; but the case was not proceeded with. From May, 1818, to May, 1819, he was imprisoned in Horsham Gaol for a threatened breach of the peace by a challenge which he sent to Lord Sidmouth. Despairing of revolution, he fell back on assassination. His plan was to assassinate the Ministers at a Cabinet dinner to be given at Lord Harrowby’s, February 23, 1820. On the evening of the 23rd the conspirators were arrested in a loft over a stable in Cato Street. Thistlewood escaped, but was taken next day in Moorfields. He was hanged in front of Newgate, defiant to the last, on May 1, 1820. 3. Charles Sandt (1795-1820) assassinated Kotzebue (1761-1819), whom he suspected of being a Russian spy, at Mannheim, March 23, 1819. After the murder he exclaimed, “God, I thank Thee, for “having permitted me to accomplish this act!” and plunged the knife in his own breast. He was executed at Mannheim, May 20, 1820, going to the scaffold as to a fHe, and his last words were, that he died “for the liberty of Germany.” 4. For Pierre-Louis Louvel, see p. 20, note 1. 5. The Hon. William Herbert (1778-1847), poet, linguist, botanist, ornithologist, and divine, was the third son of the first Earl of Carnarvon. He began life as a barrister, and became M.P. first for Hampshire (1806), then for Cricklade (1811). Ordained in 1814, he was made Dean of Manchester in 1840. As a boy at Eton, he had edited the Muscb Etonenses (1795). 1804-6 he published, in two parts, his Select Icelandic Poetry. Herbert was one of the earliest Edinburgh Reviewers, and hence Byron alludes to him in English Bards , and Scotch Reviewers , lines 510, 51 1 — “ Herbert shall wield Thor’s hammer, and sometimes In gratitude, thou’lt praise his rugged rhymes.” 40 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. is octave got drunk or gone mad. He ought to have his ears boxed with Thor’s hammer for rhyming so fantastically. 803. — To John Murray. Ravenna, June 8 tJ } 1 820. Dear Murray, — It is intimated to me that there is some demur and backwardness on your part to make propositions with regard to the MSS. transmitted to you at your own request. How or why this should occur, when you were in no respect limited to any terms, I know not, and do not care — contenting myself with repeating that the two cantos of Jttan were to reckon as one only, and that, even in that case you are not to consider yourself as bound by your former proposition, particularly as your people may have a bad opinion of the production, the whilk I am by no means prepared to dispute. With regard to the other MSS. (the prose will ?iot be published in any case), I named nothing, and left the matter to you and to my friends. If you are the least shy (I do not say you are wrong), you can put the whole of the MSS. in Mr. Hobhouse’s hands; and there the matter ends. Your declining to publish will not be any offence to me. Yours in haste, B. His Helga , a poem in seven cantos, appeared in 1815, and Hedin , or the Spectre of the Tomb , in 1820. The metre of Hedin is peculiar. Stanza lvii. runs as follows : — “ Strange signs upon the tomb her hands did trace ; Then to strong spells she did herself address, And in slow measure breathed that fatal strain, Whose awful harmony can wake the slain, Rive the cold grave, and work the charmer’s will. Thrice, as she called on Hedin, rang the plain ; Thrice echoed the dread name from hill to hill ; Thrice the dark wold sent back the sound, and all was still.” moore’s biographer. 41 1820.] 804. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, June 9, 1820. Galignani has just sent me the Paris edition of your works (which I wrote to order), and I am glad to see my old friends with a French face. I have been skim- ming and dipping, in and over them, like a swallow, and as pleased as one. It is the first time that I had seen the Melodies without music ; and, I don’t know how, but I can’t read in a music-book — the crotchets confound the words in my head, though I recollect them perfectly when sung . Music assists my memory through the ear, not through the eye ; I mean, that her quavers perplex me upon paper, but they are a help when heard. And thus I was glad to see the words without their borrowed robes ; — to my mind they look none the worse for their nudity. The biographer 1 has made a botch of your life — calling your father “a venerable old gentleman,” and prattling of “ Addison,” and “ dowager countesses.” If 1. In the “Sketch of Thomas Moore,” prefixed to the collected edition of his works published by Galignani, the biographer speaks of “ Mr. Moore, sen., a venerable old gentleman, the father of our “bard.” Alluding to Moore’s marriage with Miss Dyke, he says that “the fate of Addison with his Countess Dowager” held “out “no encouragement for the ambitious love of Mr. Moore.” In his report of Moore’s speech at Morrison’s Hotel, Dublin, on June 8, 1818, he represents Moore as saying, in response to Lord Charle- mont’s toast of “the living Poets of Great Britain,” “Can I “ name to you a Byron, without recalling to your hearts recollections “of all that his mighty genius has awakened there ; his energy, his “ burning words, his intense passion, that disposition of fine fancy “ to wander only among the ruins of the heart, to dwell in places “ which the fire of feeling has desolated, and, like the chestnut-tree, “ that grows best in volcanic soils, to luxuriate most where the “conflagration of passion has left its mark?” Other poets men- tioned by Moore were Scott, Southey, Rogers, Campbell, Words- worth, Crabbe, Maturin whose dramatic powers were “consecrated “by the applause of a Scott and a Byron,” Sheil, Phillips, and Lady Morgan. 42 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. that damned fellow was to write my life, I would certainly take his . And then, at the Dublin dinner, you have “made a speech” (do you recollect, at Douglas K.’s., “ Sir, he made me a speech ? ”) too complimentary to the “ living poets,” and somewhat redolent of universal praise. I am but too well off in it, but * * * You have not sent me any poetical or personal news of yourself. Why don’t you complete an Italian Tour of the Ftidges ? I have just been turning over Little , which I knew by heart in 1803, being then in my fifteenth summer. Heigho ! I believe all the mischief I have ever done, or sung, has been owing to that confounded book of yours. In my last I told you of a cargo of “ Poeshie,” which I had sent to M. at his own impatient desire ; — and, now he has got it, he don’t like it, and demurs. Perhaps he is right. I have no great opinion of any of my last ship- ment, except a translation from Pulci, which is word for word, and verse for verse. I am in the third act of a Tragedy; but whether it will be finished or not, I know not : I have, at this present, too many passions of my own on hand to do justice to those of the dead. Besides the vexations mentioned in my last, I have incurred a quarrel with the Pope’s carabiniers, or gens d'armerie , who have petitioned the Cardinal against my liveries, as resembling too nearly their own lousy uniform. They particularly object to the epaulettes, which all the world with us have on upon gala days. My liveries are of the colours conforming to my arms, and have been the family hue since the year 1066. I have sent a trenchant reply, as you may suppose ; and have given to understand that, if any soldados of that respectable corps insult my servants, I will do likewise 43 1820.] tiresome feuds for a quiet man. by their gallant commanders ; and I have directed my ragamuffins, six in number, who are tolerably savage, to defend themselves, in case of aggression; and, on holidays and gaudy days, I shall arm the whole set, including myself, in case of accidents or treachery. I used to play pretty well at the broad-sword, once upon a time, at Angelo's; but I should like the pistol, our national buccaneer weapon, better, though I am out of practice at present. However, I can “wink and hold “ out mine iron." 1 It makes me think (the whole thing does) of Romeo and Juliet — “ now, Gregory, remember “ thy swashing blow." 2 All these feuds, however, with the Cavalier for his wife, and the troopers for my liveries, are very tiresome to a quiet man, who does his best to please all the world, and longs for fellowship and good will. Pray write. I am yours, etc. 805. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, June 12 th . 1820. My dear Hoppner, — The accident is very disagree- able, but I do not see why you are to make up the loss, until it is quite clear that the money is lost ; nor even then, because I am not at all disposed to have you suffer for an act of trouble for another. If the money has been paid , and not accounted for (by Dorville’s illness), it rests with me to supply the deficit, and, even if not, I am not at all clear on the justice of your making up the money of another, because it has been stolen from your bureau. You will of course examine into the matter thoroughly, because otherwise you live in a state of 1. Henry V act ii. sc. 1. 2. Romeo and Juliet , act i. sc. 1. 44 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. perpetual suspicion. Are you sure that the whole sum came from the Bankers ? was it counted since it passed to you by Mr. Dorville or by yourself? or was it kept unmixed with any cash of your own expences? — in Venice and with Venetian servants any thing is possible and probable that savours of villainy. You may give up the house immediately and licentiate the Servitors, and pray, if it likes you not, sell the Gondola , and keep that produce and in (sic) the other balance in your hands till you can clear up this matter. Mother Mocenigo will probably try a bill for break- ables, to which I reckoned that the new Canal posts and pillars , and the new door at the other end, together with the year's rent, and the house given up without further occupation, are an ample compensation for any cracking of crockery of her’s in aflitto . Is it not so? how say you? the Canal posts and doors cost many hundred francs, and she may be content, or she may be damned ; it is no great matter which. Should I ever go to Venice again, I will betake me to the Hostel or Inn. I was greatly obliged by your translation from the German; but it is no time to plague you with such nonsense now, when in the full exasperation of this vexatious deficit. Make my best respects to Mrs. Hoppner, who doubt- less wishes me at the devil for all this trouble, and pray write. And believe me, yours ever and truly, Byron. P.S. — Allegra is well and obstinate, much grown and a favourite. My love to your little boy. 1 8 20.] A SUMMONS TO THE CORONATION. 45 806. — To Charles Hanson. Ravenna, June 15H 1 1820. My dear Charles, — After a mature consideration I decided to agree to the mortgage, and sent my consent addressed jointly to Mr. Kinnaird with your father, a few days ago. The contents of the January packet have not been returned, because I presume that both the witnesses must be Britons, and the only one here besides myself is my servant Fletcher. Upon this point let me be avised. It would have given me pleasure that the Rochdale suit could have been terminated amicably, and without further law, but by arbitration ; but since it must go before a Court, I resign myself to the decision, and wish to hear the result. I shall not return to England for the present, but I wish you to send me (obtain it) my summons as a Peer to the Coronation 1 (from curiosity), and let me know if we have any claims in our family (as connected with Sherwood Forest) to carry any part of the mummery, that they may not lapse, but, by being presented, be preserved to my Successors. It will give me great pleasure to hear further from you on these points ; and I beg you to believe me, with my best regards to your father and family, Yours ever and truly, Byron. i. The Coronation of George IV. was originally fixed for August i, 1820. But, owing to the proceedings against the Queen, the ceremony did not take place till July 19, 1821. 46 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. 807. — To John Murray. Ravenna, July 6 tl } 1820. Dear Murray, — My former letters will prove that I found no fault with your opinions nor with you for acting upon them — but I do protest against your keeping me four months in suspense — without any answer at all. As it is you will keep back the remaining trash till I have woven the tragedy of which I am in the 4 th act. With regard to terms I have already said that I named and name none. They are points which I leave between you and my friends, as I cannot judge upon the subject ; neither to you nor to them have I named any sum, nor have I thought of any, nor does it matter But if you don’t answer my letters I shall resort to the Row — where I shall not find probably good manners or liberality — but at least I shall have an answer of some kind. You must not treat a blood horse as you do your hacks, other- wise he’ll bolt out of the course. Keep back the stuff till I can send you the remainder — but recollect that I don’t promise that the tragedy will be a whit better than the rest. All I shall require then will be a positive answer but a speedy one — and not an awkward delay. Now you have spoken out are you any the worse for it? and could not you have done so five months ago ? Do you think I lay a stress on the merits of my “poeshie.” I assure you I have many other things to think of. At present I am eager to know the result of the Colliery question between the Rochdale people and myself. The cause has been heard — but as yet Judgement is not passed — at least if it is I have not heard of it. Here is one thing of importance to my private affairs. The next is that I have been the cause of a great conjugal scrape here — which is now before the Pope (seriously I assure VITTORIA CARAMBANA. 47 1820.] you) and what the decision of his Sanctity will be no one can predicate. It would be odd that having left England for one Woman (“ Vittoria Carambana the “ White Devil ” 1 to wit) I should have to quit Italy for another. The husband is the greatest man in these parts with 100000 Scudi a year — but he is a great Brunello 2 in 1. Byron refers to John Webster’s play of The White Devil, pub- lished in 1612 under the following title : The White Divel , or, the Tragedy of Paulo ! Giordano Ursini , Duke of Brachiano, With the Life and Death of Vittoria Corombona the famous Venetian Cur than. Acted by the Queenes Maiesties Seruants. Written by John Webster (London, 1612, 4*°). In the tragedy Brachiano, married to Isabella de Medici, loves Vittoria, wife to Camillo. Vittoria’s brother, Flamineo, promotes Brachiano’s intrigue, and contrives the murder of Camillo and Isabella. Tried before the Duke of Florence, Isabella’s brother, and the Cardinal Monticelso, Vittoria defends herself with such art that, though condemned, she wins the love of the Duke. He writes to her in the “ Convent of Convertites,” where she is confined, suggesting a plan for her escape. Brachiano gains possession of the letter, and uses the plan for his own purposes. The Duke kills Brachiano, and two of his friends kill Flamineo and Vittoria. From 1663 to 1682 the play was one of the stock pieces at the Theatre Royal (Genest’s English Stage, vol. i. pp. 334 and 346). Speaking of the fine trial scene, Charles Lamb says (. Specimens of Eng. Dram. Poets , p. 229) — “ This White Devil of Italy sets off a bad cause so speciously, “and pleads with such an innocence resembling boldness, that we “seem to see that matchless beauty of her face which inspires such “gay confidence into her : and are ready to expect, when she has “done her pleadings, that her very judges, her accusers, the grave “ambassadors who sit as spectators, and all the court, will rise and “ make proffer to defend her in spite of the utmost conviction of her “ guilt.” The story is founded on history. Vittoria Accoramboni (1557- 1585) married (1573) Francesco Peretti, nephew of Cardinal Mon- talto, afterwards Pope Sixtus V. Peretti was murdered (1581), and his widow, in the same year, was tried for the crime, and acquitted. She then married Paolo Giordano Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, himself suspected of the assassination. When Peretti’s uncle became (1585) Pope, Orsini and his wife fled to Venice. There he died, not without suspicion of poison, and at the close of the same year (December 22, 1585) Vittoria and her brother Flaminio were murdered at Padua. The story is told at length by J. A. Symonds, in his Renaissance in Italy , “The Catholic “ Reaction,” part i. pp. 381-399. 2. In Orlando Furioso “Brunello” is a leader in the Saracen 48 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. politics and private life — and is shrewdly suspected of more than one murder. The relatives are on my side because they dislike him. We wait the event. Yours truly, B. 808. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, July 13, 1820. To remove or increase your Irish anxiety about my being “ in a wisp /’ 1 I answer your letter forthwith ; premising that, as I am a “ Will of the wisp,” I may chance to flit out of it. But, first, a word on the Memoir ; 2 — I have no objection, nay, I would rather that one correct copy was taken and deposited in honourable hands, in case of accidents happening to the original ; for you know that I have none, and have never even re- read, nor, indeed, read at all what is there written ; I only know that I wrote it with the fullest intention to be army, the misshapen dwarf to whom the king gave the talismanic ring— “ Brunello is his name that hath the ring, Most leud and false, but politike and wise.” Sir John Harington’s translation of Orlando Fiirioso , bk. iii. stanza 58. 1. 66 An Irish phrase for being in a scrape ” (Moore). 2. In Moore’s Rhymes on the Road , Extract vii. (Works, ed. 1854, vol. vii. pp. 301-304), will be found a poem written at Venice when about to open the Memoirs for the first time — “ Let me a moment, — ere with fear and hope Of gloomy, glorious things, these leaves I ope — As one, in fairy tale, to whom the key Of some enchanter’s secret halls is given, Doubts, while he enters, slowly, tremblingly, If he shall meet with shapes from hell or heaven Let me, a moment, think what thousands live O’er the wide earth this instant, who would give, Gladly, whole sleepless nights to bend the brow Over these precious leaves, as I do now,” etc., etc. THE POPE S DECREE. 49 1820.] “ faithful and true " in my narrative, but not impartial — no, by the Lord ! I can't pretend to be that, while I feel. But I wish to give every body concerned the opportunity to contradict or correct me. I have no objection to any proper person seeing what is there written, — seeing it was written, like every thing else, for the purpose of being read, however much many writings may fail in arriving at that object. With regard to “ the wisp," the Pope has pronounced their separation . The decree came yesterday from Babylon, — it was she and her friends who demanded it, on the grounds of her husband's (the noble Count Cavalier's) extraordinary usage. He opposed it with all his might because of the alimony, which has been assigned, with all her goods, chattels, carriage, etc., to be restored by him . 1 In Italy they can’t divorce. He insisted on her giving me up, and he would forgive every thing, — even the adultery, which he swears that he can prove by “ famous witnesses." But, in this country, the very courts hold such proofs in abhorrence, the Italians being as much more delicate in public than the English, as they are more passionate in private. The friends and relatives, who are numerous and powerful, reply to him — “ You, yourself, are either fool “ or knave, — fool, if you did not see the consequences of “ the approximation of these two young persons, — knave, “if you connive at it. Take your choice, — but don't “ break out (after twelve months of the closest intimacy, “under your own eyes and positive sanction) with a “ scandal, which can only make you ridiculous and her “ unhappy." 1. On July 16 Madame Guiccioli left Ravenna, and retired to a villa belonging to her father, Count Gamba, about fifteen miles from the city. The alimony allowed by her husband was ^200 a year. VOL. V. E So THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. He swore that he thought our intercourse was purely amicable, and that I was more partial to him than to her, till melancholy testimony proved the contrary. To this they answer, that “Will of this wisp” was not an un- known person, and that “ clamosa Fama ” had not pro- claimed the purity of my morals ; — that her brother, a year ago, wrote from Rome to warn him that his wife would infallibly be led astray by this ignis fcituus , unless he took proper measures, all of which he neglected to take, etc., etc. Now he says that he encouraged my return to Ravenna, to see “ in quanti piedi di acqua siamo ,” and he has found enough to drown him in. In short, “ Ce ne fut pas le tout ; sa femme se plaignit — Proces — La parente se joint en excuse et dit Que du Docteur venoit tout le mauvais menage ; Que cet homme etoit fou, que sa femme etoit sage. On fit casser le mariage. ” 1 It is best to let the women alone, in the way of conflict, for they are sure to win against the field. She returns to her father's house, and I can only see her under great restrictions — such is the custom of the country. The relations behave very well : — I offered any settlement, but they refused to accept it, and swear she shan't live with G. (as he has tried to prove her faithless), but that he shall maintain her ; and, in fact, a judgment to this effect came yesterday. I am, of course, in an awkward situation enough. I have heard no more of the carabiniers who I. Byron quotes from La Fontaine’s “Le Roi Candaule et le “ Maitre en Droit.” The last lines are — “ Et puis la dame se rendit Belle et bonne religieuse A Saint-Croissant en Vavoureuse Un prelat lui donna l’habit.” \ 1820.] LAMARTINE ON BYRON. SI protested against my liveries. They are not popular, those same soldiers, and, in a small row, the other night, one was slain, another wounded, and divers put to flight, by some of the Romagnuole youth, who are dexterous, and somewhat liberal of the knife. The perpetrators are not discovered, but I hope and believe that none of my ragamuffins were in it, though they are somewhat savage, and secretly armed, like most of the inhabitants. It is their way, and saves sometimes a good deal of litigation. There is a revolution at Naples. If so, it will prob- ably leave a card at Ravenna in its way to Lombardy. Your publishers seem to have used you like mine. M. has shuffled, and almost insinuated that my last productions are dull . Dull, sir ! — damme, dull ! I believe he is right. He begs for the completion of my tragedy of Marino Faliero , none of which is yet gone to England. The fifth act is nearly completed, but it is dreadfully long — 40 sheets of long paper of 4 pages each — about 150 when printed; but “so full of pastime and “ prodigality ” that I think it will do. Pray send and publish your Pome upon me; and don’t be afraid of praising me too highly. I shall pocket my blushes. “ Not actionable ! ” — Chantre cPenfer ! 1 — by * * that’s “ a speech,” and I won’t put up with it. A pretty title to give a man for doubting if there be any such place ! So my Gail is gone — and Miss Mah thus explains the origin of the allusion : “ Tout le monde etoit dans la “defiance, et je puis dire sans exageration, que sans meme excepter 4 4 les conseillers, il n’y avoit pas vingt hommes dans le palais qui <4 ne fussent armes de poignards. Pour moi je n’en avois point 44 voulu porter ; M. de Brissac m’en fit prendre un par force, un jour “oil il paroissoit qu’on pourroit s’echauffer plus qu’a l’ordinaire. 44 De telles armes, qui me convenoient peu, me causerent un chagrin 44 qui me fut des plus sensibles. M. de Beaufort, qui etoit un peu 4 4 lourd et etourdi de son naturel, voyant la garde du stilet dont 44 le bout paroissoit un peu hors de ma poche, le montra a Arnaud, a 44 la Moussaye et a des Roches, Capitaine des gardes de M. le prince, 44 en leur disant : Voila le breviare de M. le Coadjuteur ; j’entendis 44 la raillerie, mais a dire vrai, je ne la soutins pas de bon coeur.” ITALIAN TESTIMONY. 79 1820.] Knight’s a fool, and could not understand this — Frere will : it is as pretty a conceit as you would wish to see upon a Summer’s day. Nobody here believes a word of the evidence against the Queen : the very mob cry shame against their countrymen, and say, that for half the money spent upon the trial, any testimony whatever may be brought out of Italy . 1 This you may rely upon as fact : I told you as much before. As to what travellers report, what are travellers ? Now I have lived among the Italians — not Florenced , and Routed, and Galleried, and Conversationed it for a few months, and then home again — but been of their families, and friendships, and feuds, and loves, and councils, and correspondence, in a part of Italy least known to foreigners; and have been amongst them of all classes, from the Conte to the Contadino ; and you may be sure of what I say to you. Yours, B. I. Among the Italian witnesses, collected by the “Milan Com- “ mission,” and examined for the Bill against the queen, were Teodoro Majocchi, a livery servant of the princess ; Gaetano Paturzo, a Neapolitan sailor ; Vincenzo Gargiulo, a sailor of Messina; Francesco Birollo, a Piedmontese cook; Pietro Cuchi, agent of the Albergo Grande at Trieste ; Giuseppe Bianchi, door- porter of the Grande Bretagne at Venice ; Paolo Raggazoni, a mason employed at the Villa d’Este ; Paolo Oggioni, an under- cook ; Girolamo Mejani, employed at the Villa d’Este as head- gardener; Luigi Galdini, Alessandro Finetti, Domenico Brusa, Giovanni Lucini, workmen employed at the Villa d’Este ; Carlo Rancatti and Giuseppe Restelli, respectively confectioner and groom in the princess’s service ; Giuseppe Sacchi, a courier. Other witnesses for the Bill were Barbara Kress (or Krantz), chambermaid of the post inn at Carlsruhe, and Louise Demont, a Swiss maid in the service of the princess. The only English witnesses examined for the Bill were Captain Pechell, R.N., who commanded the Clorinde , which conveyed the princess from Civita Vecchia to Genoa, and Captain Briggs, R.N., of the Leviathan . Neither witness gave any evidence directly in support of the case against the queen. 8o THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. 831. — To John Murray. Sept r 28^ 1820. Mr. J. Murray, — Can you keep a Secret? not you : you would rather keep a w e, I believe, of the two, although a moral man and “all that, Egad,” as Bayes says. However, I request and recommend to you to keep the enclosed one, 1 viz. to give ?io copies , to permit no publication — else you and I will be two. It was written nearly three years ago upon the doublefaced fellow : its argument — in consequence of a letter exposing some of his usual practices. You may show it to Gifford, Hobhouse, D. Kinnaird, and any two or three of your own Admiralty favourites; but don’t betray it or me; else you are the worst of men. Is it like ? if not, it has no merit. Does he deserve it? if not, burn it. He wrote to M. (so M. says) the other day, saying on some occasion, “ what a fortunate “ fellow you are ! surely you were born with a rose in “ your lips, and a Nightingale singing on the bed-top.” 2 M. sent me this extract as an instance of the old Serpent’s sentimental twaddle. I replied, that I believed that “he (the twaddler) was born with a Nettle in his *, “ and a Carrion Crow croaking on the bolster,” a parody somewhat ^delicate ; but such trash puts one stupid, besides the Cant of it in a fellow who hates every body. Is this good ? tell me, and I will send you one still better of that blackguard Brougham ; there is a batch of them. 1 . The lines enclosed were those on Rogers — “Nose and chin would shame a knocker, ” etc., etc., — first published in Ft'aser's Magazme for January, 1833, p. 82. See Letters , vol. iv. p. 202, note 4. 2. Moore, in his Diary for August 6, 1820, has noted this sentence ( Memoirs , etc ., etc., vol. iii. p. 136). 1820.] EQUAL TO MANFRED. 8l 832. — To John Murray. Ravenna, Sept. 28, 1820. D* MV , — I thought that I had told you long ago, that it never was intended nor written with any view to the Stage. 1 I have said so in the preface too. It is too long and too regular for your stage. The persons too few, and the unity too much observed. It is more like a play of Alfieri’s than of your stage (I say this humbly in speaking of that great Man); but there is poetry, and it is equal to Manfred , though I know not what esteem is held of Manfred . I have now been nearly as long out of England as I was there during the time when I saw you frequently. I came home July 14th, 1811, and left again April 25th, 1816 : so that Septf 28th, 1820, brings me within a very few months of the same duration of time of my stay and my absence. In course, I can know nothing of the public taste and feelings, but from what I glean from letters, etc. Both seem to be as bad as possible. I thought Anastasius excellent : did I not say so? Matthews’s Diary 2 most excellent : it, and Forsyth, 3 and parts of Hobhouse, are all we have of truth or sense upon Italy. The letter to Julia 4 very good indeed. I do not 1. Mrs. Piozzi heard at Penzance of Byron’s forthcoming play. Writing to Dr. Gray, September 1, 1820, she says, “ Lord Byron “is said to be bringing out a tragedy; unlucky, if Mr. Kean is “leaving England for America. They seem to be kindred souls, “delighting in distortion, and mistaking it for pathos” ( Autobio- graphy , Letters , etc., of Mrs. Piozzi , vol. ii. p. 275). 2. The Diary of an Invalid , by Henry Matthews, brother of Byron’s friend, C. S. Matthews. A second edition was published in 1820. 3. Remarks on Antiquities , Arts, and Letters, during an excursion in Italy, in the years 1802 and 1803, by Joseph Forsyth, was pub- lished in 1813. 4. Henry Luttrell (1765 ?— 185 1 ), a natural son of the second Lord Carhampton, and always a poor man, made himself a remark- able position in society by his brilliant wit. “ Mr. Luttrell,” wrote VOL. V. G 82 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. despise Mrs. Heman; but if she knit blue stockings instead of wearing them, it would be better. You are taken in by that false stilted trashy style, which is a mixture of all the styles of the day, which are all bom- bastic (I don’t except my own — no one has done more through negligence to corrupt the language); but it is neither English nor poetry. Time will show. I am sorry Gifford has made no further remarks beyond the first act : does he think all the English equally sterling, as he thought the first ? You did right to send the proofs : I was a fool ; but I do really detest the sight of proofs : it is an absurdity, but comes from laziness. You can steal the two Juans into the world quietly, tagged to the others. The play as you will — the Dante Lady Granville (Letters, vol. i. p. 26), in October, 1811, “I like 4 4 better every hour. He has that don du ciel of never being de trop , “and I never met with so independent a person.” “It is hardly “possible,” says Greville ( Memoirs , vol. i. p. 9), “to live with a “more agreeable man than Luttrell.” Both, however, thought that, in general society, he reserved himself for epigrammatic say- ings, and did not shine in unlaboured talk (see also Greville Memoirs , vol. jvi. pp. 433, 434). His Advice to Julia , a Letter in Rhyme, appeared in 1820. Of his Crockford House , and A Rhymer in Rome (1826), a brother-wit, Joseph Jekyll (Letters, p. 171), says, “My friend Luttrell, who is too good-natured for a satirist, has “ published a poem on the modern Greeks of Crockford’s gambling “club, and another on the modern Romans, II ecrit les vers de 4 4 societe assez joliment ; but neither of these is so good as his Letters “ to Julia.” “Of course,” said Byron to Lady Blessington ( Conversations , p. 121), “you know Luttrell. He is a most agreeable member of 4 4 society, the best sayer of good things, and the most epigrammatic 4 4 conversationist I ever met ; there is a terseness, and wit, mingled “with fancy, in his observations, that no one else possesses, and no 44 one so peculiarly understands the apropos. His Advice to Jtdia is “pointed, witty, and full of observation, showing in every line a “knowledge of society, and a tact rarely met with. Then, unlike 44 all, or most other wits, Luttrell is never obtrusive, even the “choicest bans mots are only brought forth when perfectly applic- “ able, and then are given in a tone of good breeding which enhances “their value.” A VOLUME OF NONSENSE. 83 1820.] too ; but the Pulci I am proud of : it is superb ; you have no such translation. It is the best thing I ever did in my life. I wrote the play, from beginning to end, and not a single scene without interruption , and being obliged to break off in the middle ; for I had my hands full, and my head, too, just then ; so it can be no great shakes — I mean the play, and the head too, if you like. Yours. P.S. — Send me proofs of “ the Hints : ” get them from Hobhouse. P.S. — Politics here still savage and uncertain : how- ever, we are all in our “ bandaliers,” to join the “ High- “ landers if they cross the Forth,” i.e. to crush the Austrians if they pass the Po. The rascals ! — and that Dog Liver- pool, to say their subjects were happy ! what a liar! If ever I come back, I’ll work some of these ministers. Dear Murray , — 1 You ask for a “ Volume of Nonsense” Have all of your authors exhausted their store ? I thought you had published a good deal not long since And doubtless the Squadron are ready with more. But on looking again, I perceive that the Species Of “ Nonsense” you want must be purely “facetious And, as that is the case, you had best put to press Mr. Sotheby’s tragedies now in M.S.S. Some Syrian Sally From common-place Gaily, Or, if you prefer the bookmaking of women, Take a spick and Span “ Sketch” of your feminine He-Man . Yours, B. 1. This note is scribbled on the back of the preceding. 84 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA* [CHAP. XX. Why do you ask me for opinions of your ragamuffins ? You see what you get by it ; but recollect, I never give opinions till required. Sept. 29 tl ? I open my letter to say, that on reading more of the 4 volumes on Italy, 1 where the Author says “ declined an “introduction,” I perceive ( horresco ref evens) that it is written by a WOMAN ! ! ! In that case you must sup- press my note and answer, and all I have said about the book and the writer. I never dreamed of it till now, in my extreme wrath at that precious note. I can only say that I am sorry that a Lady should say anything of the kind. What I would have said to [one of the other sex] you know already. Her book too (as a She book) is not a bad one ; but she evidently don’t know the Italians, or rather don’t like them, and forgets the causes of their misery and profligacy (. Matthews and Forsyth are your men for truth and tact), and has gone over Italy in company — ahvays a bad plan. You must be alone with people to know them well. Ask her, who was the “ descendant of Lady M. W. Montague, ” and by whom ? By Algarotti ? I suspect that, in Marino Faliero, you and yours won’t like the politics , which are perilous to you in these times; but recollect that it is not a political play, and that I was obliged to put into the mouths of the Cha- racters the sentiments upon which they acted. I hate all things written like Pizarrop to represent France, 1. Sketches descriptive of Italy , in the Years 1816, 1817, with a brief Account of Travels in various Parts of Fra?ice and Switzerland, by Miss Jane Waldie (afterwards Mrs. Watts), 4 vols. 1820. 2. Sheridan’s Pizarro was produced at Drury Lane, May 24, 1799. The scene is laid in Peru ; but the motive of the play, which is founded on Kotzebue’s Spaniards in Peril, is the prospect of a French invasion of England. WILD JUSTICE. 85 1820.] England, and so forth : all I have done is meant to be purely Venetian, even to the very prophecy of its present state. Your Angles in general know little of the Italians , who detest them for their numbers and their Genoa treachery. Besides, the English travellers have not been composed of the best Company : how could they ? — out of 100,000, how many gentlemen were there, or honest men ? Mitchell's Aristophanes is excellent : send me the rest of it. 1 I think very small beer of Mr. Goliffe, and his dull book. Here and there some good things though, which might have been better. These fools will force me to write a book about Italy myself, to give them “ the loud lie." They prate about assassination : what is it but the origin of duelling — and “ a wild Justice ,” as Lord Bacon calls it ? 2 It is the fount of the modern point of honour, in what the laws can't or worit reach. Every man is liable to it more or less, according to circumstances or place. For instance, I am living here exposed to it daily, for I have happened to make a powerful and unprincipled man my enemy ; and I never sleep the worse for it, or ride in less solitary places, because precaution is useless, and one thinks of it as of a disease which may or may not strike. It is 1, Thomas Mitchell (1783-1845) published the first volume of his translation of The Comedies of Aristophanes in 1820; the second volume appeared in 1822. Frere’s review of vol. i. in the Quarterly Review (vol. xxiii. pp. 474-505) is published in his Works , vol. ii. pp. 178-214). Mitchell dined with Hunt at Horsemonger Gaol, in company with Byron and Moore, in June, 1813. “Poor Lord “ Byron ! ” he wrote to Murray, in 1824 (. Memoir of JoJm Murray , vol. i. p. 449). “No person’s death has ever yet had the effect “upon me which his had.” 2. “ Revenge is a kind of wild justice.” Bacon’s Essays , Essay iv. “Of Revenge.” 86 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. true that there are those here, who, if he did, would “live to think on’t;” but that would not awake my bones : I should be sorry if it would, were they once at rest. 833. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, 8 bre - 1°* 1820. My dear Hoppner, — Your letters and papers came very safely, though slowly, missing one post. The Shiloh story is true no doubt, though Elise is but a sort of Queen's evidence . You remember how eager she was to return to them, and then she goes away and abuses them. Of the facts, however, there can be little doubt; it is just like them. You may be sure that I keep your counsel. I have not remitted the 30 Napoleons (or what was it?), till I hear that Missiaglia has received his safely, when I shall do so by the like channel. What you say of the Queen’s affair is very just and true ; but the event seems not very easy to anticipate. I enclose an epistle from Shiloh. 1 Yours ever and truly, Byron. 834. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 8bre 6°, 1820. Dear MY, — You will have now received all the acts, corrected, of the M\arino\ F\aliero\ What you say of the “Bet of 100 guineas,” made by some one who says that he saw me last week, reminds me of what happened in 1810. You can easily ascertain the fact, and it is an odd one. I. Probably the letter from Shelley printed in Appendix I. 87 1 820.] SHADOWS OF THE DEAD AND ABSENT. In the latter end of 1811, I met one evening at the Alfred my old School and form-fellow, (for we were within two of each other — he the higher, though both very near the top of our remove,) Peel, the Irish Secre- tary. He told me that, in 1810, he met me, as he thought, in St. James's Street, but we passed without speaking. He mentioned this, and it was denied as impossible, I being then in Turkey. A day or two after, he pointed out to his brother a person on the opposite side of the way ; “ there," said he, “ is the man whom “ I took for Byron : ” his brother instantly answered, “ why, it is Byron, and no one else." But this is not all : I was seen by somebody to write dow 7 i my name amongst the Enquirers after the King's health, then attacked by insanity. Now, at this very period, as nearly as I could make out, I was ill of a strong fever at Patras, caught in the marshes near Olympia, from the Malaria. If I had died there, this would have been a new Ghost Story for you. You can easily make out the accuracy of this from Peel himself, who told it in detail. I suppose you will be of the opinion of Lucretius, 1 who (denies the immortality of the Soul, but) asserts that from the “ flying “ off of the Surfaces of bodies perpetually, these surfaces “ or cases, like the Coats of an onion, are sometimes “ seen entire when they are separated from it, so that the “ shapes and shadows of both the dead and absent are “ frequently beheld.” i. “ Quae, quasi membranae summo de corpore rerum Dereptae, volitant ultro, citroque, per auras : Atque eadem, nobis vigilantibus obvia, mentes Terrificant, atque in somnis, quum saepe figuras Contuimur miras, simulacraque luce carentum, Quae nos horrifice languentes saepe sopore Excierunt : ne forte animas Acheronte reamur Effugere, aut umbras inter vivos volitare,” etc. Lucretius, De Reruvi Nalura , lib. iv. 35, seqq. 88 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. But if they are, are their coats and waistcoats also seen ? I do not disbelieve that we may be two by some unconscious process, to a certain sign ; but which of these two I happen at present to be, I leave you to decide. I only hope that t'other me behaves like a Gemman. I wish you would get Peel asked how far I am accurate in my recollection of what he told me ; for I don’t like to say such things without authority. I am not sure that I was not spoken with \ but this also you can ascertain. I have written to you such lots that I stop. Yours, B. P.S. — Send me the proofs of the “ Hints from H ., etcP P.S. — Last year (in June, 1819), I met at Count Mosti’s, at Ferrara, an Italian who asked me “if I knew “ Lord Byron ? ” I told him no (no one knows himself, you know) : “ then,” says he, “I do ; I met him at “ Naples the other day.” I pulled out my card and asked him if that was the way he spelt his name : and he answered, yes. I suspect that it was a blackguard Navy Surgeon, named Bury or Berry , who attended a young travelling Madman about, named Graham, and passed himself for a Lord at the Posthouses : he was a vulgar dog — quite of the Cockpit order — and a precious repre- sentative I must have had of him, if it was even so ; but I don’t know. He passed himself off as a Gentleman, and squired about a Countess Zinnani (of this place), then at Venice, an ugly battered woman, of bad morals even for Italy. 1 820.] GENUINE ENGLISH, RIGHT VENETIAN. 89 835. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 8bre 8°, 1820. Dear Moray, — Foscolo’s letter is exactly the thing wanted ; 1st, because he is a man of Genius; and, next, because he is an Italian, and therefore the best Judge of Italics. Besides, “ He’s more an antique Roman than a Dane ; ” 1 2 that is, he has more of the antient Greek than of the modern Italian. Though, “ somewhat,” as Dugald Dalgetty says, “ too wild and salvage ” (like “ Ronald of “the Mist”), 2 ? tis a wonderful man; and my friends Hobhouse and Rose both swear by him — and they are good Judges of men and of Italian humanity. “ Here are in all two worthy voices gained.” 3 Gifford says it is good “ sterling genuine English,” and Foscolo says that the characters are right Venetian. Shakespeare and Otway had a million of advantages over me, besides the incalculable one of being dead from one to two centuries, and having been both born black- guards (which are such attractions to the Gentle living reader) : let me then preserve the only one which I could possibly have — that of having been at Venice, and entered more into the local Spirit of it. I claim no more. I know what F. means about Calendaro’s spitting at Bertram : 4 that ’s national — the objection , I mean. 1. “ Horatio . Never believe it : I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.” Hamlet , act v. sc. 2. 2. Lege?id of Montrose , chap. xiii. 3.. “ Coriolanus. A match, sir. — There is in all two worthy i ‘voices begged ; I have your alms : adieu.” — Coriolanus , act ii. sc. 3. 4 . “ Calendaro (spitting at him). I die and scorn thee!”— Marino Faliero 9 act v. sc. 1. 90 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. The Italians and French, with those “ flags of Abomina- “ tion,” their pocket handkerchiefs, spit there, and here, and every where else — in your face almost, and therefore object to it on the Stage as too familiar . But we who spit nowhere — but in a man’s face when we grow savage — are not likely to feel this. Remember Massinge r, and Kean’s Sir Giles Overreach — “ Lord ! thus I spit at thee and thy Counsel ! ” 1 Besides, Calendaro does not spit in Bertram’s face : he spits at him, as I have seen the Mussulmans do upon the ground when they are in a rage. Again, he does not in fact despise Bertram, though he affects it — as we all do, when angry with one we think our inferior : he is angry at not beitig allowed to die in his own way (although not afraid of death); and recollect, that he suspected and hated Bertram from the first. Israel Bertuccio, on the other hand, is a cooler and more concentrated fellow : he acts upon prmciple and impulse; Calendaro upon impulse and example . So there’s argument for you. The Doge repeats ; — true , but it is from engrossing passion, and because he sees different persons, and is always obliged to recur to the cause uppermost in his mind. His speeches are long ; — true, but I wrote for the Closet , and on the French and Italian model rather than yours, which I think not very highly of, for all your old dramatists, who are long enough too, God knows : look into any of them. I wish you , too, to recollect one thing which is nothing to the reader. I never wrote nor copied an etitire Scene of that play , without being obliged to break oft I. “Sir Giles Overreach 99 says to “ Lord Lovel,” in A Neiv Way to pay Old Debts , act v. sc. I, “ Lord ! thus I spit at thee, and at thy “counsel.” 1820.] three friends in need. 91 — to break a commandment, to obey a woman's, and to forget God's. Remember the drain of this upon a man's heart and brain, to say nothing of his immortal soul. Fact , I assure you. The Lady always apologized for the interruption ; but you know the answer a man must make when and while he can. It happened to be the only hour I had in the four and twenty for composition, or reading, and I was obliged to divide even it. Such are the defined duties of a Cavalier ' Servente or Cavalier ' Schiavo. I return you F[oscolo]'s letter, because it alludes also to his private affairs. I am sorry to see such a man in straits, because I know what they are, or what they were. I never met but three men who would have held out a finger to me : one was yourself, the other W™ Bankes, and the third a Nobleman long ago dead. But of these the first was the only one who offered it while I really wanted it ; the second from good will — but I was not in need of Bankes’s aid, and would not have accepted it if I had (though I love and esteem him) ; and the third 1 So you see that I have seen some strange things in my time. As for your own offer, it was in 1815, when I was in actual uncertainty of five pounds. I rejected it ; but I have not forgotten it, although you probably have. You are to publish when and how you please ; but I thought you and Mr. Hobhouse had decided not to print the whole of “ Blackwood ” as being partly unproducible : do as ye please after consulting Hobhouse about it. P.S. — Foscolo's Ricciarda was lent, with the leaves uncut , to some Italians now in Villeggiatura, so that I I. The paragraph is left thus imperfect in the original, Byron having carefully erased three lines of writing. 92 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. have had no opportunity of hearing their opinion, or of reading it. They seized on it as Foscolo's, and on account of the beauty of the paper and printing, directly. If I find it takes, I will reprint it here. The Italians think as highly of Foscolo as they can of any man, divided and miserable as they are, and with neither leisure at present to read, nor head nor heart to judge of anything but extracts from French newspapers and the Lugano Gazette. We are all looking at one another, like wolves on their prey in pursuit, only waiting for the first faller on, to do unutterable things. They are a great world in Chaos, or Angels in Hell, which you please ; but out of Chaos came Paradise, and out of hell — I don't know what ; but the Devil went in there, and he was a fine fellow once, you know. You need never favour me with any periodical pub- lications, excepting the Edinfairgh, Quarterly , and an occasional Blackwood , or now and then a Monthly Review ; for the rest I do not feel curiosity enough to look beyond their covers. To be sure I took in the British Roberts finely; he fell precisely into the glaring trap laid for him : it was inconceivable how he could be so absurd as to think us serious with him. Recollect, that if you put my name to Don yuan in these canting days, any lawyer might oppose my Guardian right of my daughter in Chancery, on the plea of its containing the parody ; such are the perils of a foolish jest. I was not aware of this at the time, but you will find it correct, I believe ; and you may be sure that the Noels would not let it slip. Now I prefer my child to a poem at any time, and so should you, as having half a dozen. Let me know your notions. HIS DAUGHTER S NAME. 93 1820.] If you turn over the earlier pages of the Huntingdon] 1 peerage story, you will see how common a name Ada was in the early Plantagenet days. I found it in my own pedigree in the reign of John and Henry, and gave it to my daughter. It was also the name of Charlemagne's sister. It is in an early chapter of Genesis, as the name of the wife of Lameth (sic) : and I suppose Ada is the feminine of Adam . It is short, ancient, vocalic, and had been in my family ; for which reason I gave it to my daughter. 836. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 8bre 12 0 , 1820. D* Murray, — By land and Sea Carriage a consider- able quantity of books have arrived ; and I am obliged and grateful. But Medio de fonte leporum surgit amari aliquid , etc., etc . ; which, being interpreted, means, I'm thankful for your books, dear Murray ; But why not send Scott's Monastery ? the only book in four living volumes I would give a baiocco to see— abating the rest by the same author, and an occasional Edinburgh and Quarterly , as brief Chroniclers of the times. Instead of this, here are Johnny Keats’s p — ss a bed poetry, 2 and three novels by God knows whom, except that there is Peg Holford's name 3 to one of them — a Spinster whom I thought we 1. Henry Nugent Bell published his Huntingdo 7 i Peerage in 1820 — an account of the family, and of the revival of the title in Hans Francis Hastings, eleventh Earl of Huntingdon. Two ancestresses (p. 4) of the name of Ada are mentioned in the thirteenth century. 2. John Keats published Poems (1817), Endymion (1818), and in 1820 Lamia, Isabella , The Eve of St. Agnes, a?id other Poems. 3. Miss Margaret Holford (1778-1852) published, in 1820, War- beck of Wolf en stein. 94 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. had sent back to her spinning. Crayon 1 is very good ; Hogg’s Tales rough , 2 but racy, and welcome. Lord Huntingdon’s blackguard portrait may serve for a sign to his “ Ashby de la Zouche ” Alehouse : 3 is it to such a drunken, half-pay looking raff that the Chival- rous Moira is to yield a portion of his titles ? into what a puddle has stagnated the noble blood of the Hastings’ ? And the bog-trotting barrister’s advertisement of himself and causes ! ! Upon my word, the house and the courts have made a pair of precious acquisitions ? I have seen worse peers than this fellow, but then they were made, not begotten (these Lords are opposites to the Lord in all respects) ; but, however stupid, however idle and profligate, all the peers by inheritance had something of the gentleman look about them : only the lawyers and the bankers “ promoted into Silver fish” looked like ragamuffins till this new foundling came amongst them. Books of travels are expensive, and I don’t want them, having travelled already ; besides, they lie. Thank the Author of the Profligate , 4 a comedy, for his (or her) present. Pray send me no more poetry but what is rare and decidedly good. There is such a trash of Keats and the like upon my tables, that I am ashamed to look at them. I say nothing against your parsons, your Smedleys 5 1. Washington Irving published, in 1820, under the nom de plume of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent 1 ? , vol. i. of The Sketch-Book . Later in the same year Murray brought out the book in two volumes, vol. i. being a second edition, and vol. ii. a new volume. 2. Probably Hogg’s Winter Evening Tales (1820). For James Hogg, see Letters , vol. iii. p. 115, note 1. 3. The Huntingdon Arms, at Ashby-de-la-Zouche, was within a few paces of the Castle ( Hwitingdon Peerage , Investigation of the Claim , p. 263). 4. The Profligate , a Comedy (1820, 4to) was by George Watson, afterwards Taylor, the author of England Preserved , an Historical Play (in verse), 1795, and Equanimity in Death (a poem), 1813. 5. The Rev. Edward Smedley (1788-1836), editor from 1822 of the E?icyclopcedia Metropolitana , was a voluminous writer of prose BURIAL-PLACES OF THE DOGES. 95 1820.] and your Crolys : 1 it is all very fine ; but pray dispense me from the pleasure, as also from Mrs. Hemans. Instead of poetry if you will favour me with a few Soda powders, I shall be delighted; but all prose (bating travels and novels not by Scott) is welcome, especially Scott's tales of my Landlord^ and so on. In the notes to Marino Faliero , it may be as well to say that “ Benintende” was not really of the ten , but merely Gratid Chancellor , a separate office (although important) : it was an arbitrary alteration of mine. The Doges too were all buried in St . Mark's before Faliero : it is singular that when his immediate predecessor, Andrea Dandolo , died, the ten made a law that all the future doges should be buried with their families , in their own churches , — one would think by a kind of presentiment. So that all that is said of his Ancestral Doges , as buried at Saint John’s and Paul’s, is altered from the fact, they being in Saint Mark's . Make a Note of this, and put Editor as the subscription to it. As I make such pretensions to accuracy, I should not and poetry. He had recently published two volumes of verse, Religio Clerici , a Churchman's Epistle (1818), and A Churchman's Second Epistle (1819). The poem was published anonymously. In a letter to Byron, dated March 9 (1819), Lord Holland says, “The poem of Religio Clerici , falsely said to be Crabbe’s, is the “work of a Mr. Smedley. The despair produced by Methodists “ on a dying man, and the picture of the parish priest walking to “ church, are like Crabbe ; but everything else is much inferior, and “the principles are so narrow and intolerant that one would have “been sorry to have found that such a man as Crabbe was capable “either of holding or assuming them.” I. The Rev. George Croly (1780-1860) wrote largely for Black- woods Magazine and the Literary Gazette , besides publishing poems, two novels ( Salathiel , 1829, and Marston , 1846), theological works, a play, and the Life and Times of George the Fourth (1830). In his chief poems he imitated Byron ; Childe Harold is the model of Paris in 1815 (1817), and Don Jican of The Modern Orlando (1846). Byron preferred Croly’s vigour to the feebleness of many of his con- temporaries ; and Croly seems, according to Byron, to have held a still higher opinion of his own merits (see p. 1 1 7). g6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. like to be twitted even with such trifles on that score. Of the play they may say what they please, but not so of my costume and dram, pers., they having been real existences. I omitted Foscolo in my list of living Venetian worthies, in the Notes, considering him as an Italian in general, and not a mere provincial like the rest ; and as an Italian I have spoken of him in the preface to Canto 4th of Childe Harold . The French translation of us!!! Oime ! Oimel — and the German ; but I don’t understand the latter nor his long dissertation at the end about the Fausts. Excuse haste. Of politics it is not safe to speak, but nothing is decided as yet. I should recommend your not publishing the prose: it is too late for the letter to Roberts, and that to Black- wood is too egoistical; and Hobhouse don’t like it — except the part about Pope, which is truth and very good. I am in a very fierce humour at not having Scott’s Monastery } You are too liberal in quantity, and some- what careless of the quality, of your missives. All the Quarterlies (4 in number) I had had before from you, and two of the Edinburghs ; but no matter; we shall have new ones by and bye. No more Keats, I entreat : — flay him alive ; if some of you don’t, I must skin him myself : there is no bearing the drivelling idiotism of the Mankin. I don’t feel inclined to care further about Don Jttan . What do you think a very pretty Italian lady said to me the other day ? She had read it in the French, and paid me some compliments, with due drawbacks, upon it. I answered that what she said was true, but that I 1. Iva?ihoe , The Monastery, and The Abbot were all published in 1820. 1 820.] THE TINSEL OF SENTIMENT. 97 suspected it would live longer than Childe Harold . “ Ah “ but (said She) I would rather have the fame of Childe “ Harold for three years than an immortality of Don “Juan!” The truth is that it is too true, and the women hate every thing which strips off the tinsel of Sentiment; and they are right, as it would rob them of their weapons. I never knew a woman who did not hate De Grammonfs memoirs for the same reason. Even Lady Oxford used to abuse them. Thorwaldsen is in Poland, I believe : the bust is at Rome still, as it has been paid for these 4 years. It should have been sent, but I have no remedy till he returns. Rose’s work 1 I never received : it was seized at Venice. Such is the liberality of the Huns, with their two hundred thousand men, that they dare not let such a volume as his circulate. 837. — To John Hanson. Ravenna, 8 br . e 12? 1820. D* Sir, — I can enter into no appeal without Counsel’s opinion : this was promised and has not been sent. I would still much rather sell the Manor, at any price, than enter into a new and hopeless litigation. Your delay (which seems a purposed and unwarrant- able one) in completing the Irish Mortgage surprizes and distresses me ; you will finish by causing me to lose many thousand pounds. You may delay as you please, but the mortgage must be completed ; for I would rather sell out at any loss than trust to the infamous bubble of the British funds, into which (had I been upon the spot) I could never have entered. 1. William Stewart Rose’s Letters from the North of Italy (1819). VOL. V. H 98 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. It is also surprizing that you have never sent in your account to Mr. Kinnaird : if it is not sent, how can we ever come to any final settlement ? In expectation of an answer on these points, I remain, yours very truly, Byron. 838. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. 1 Ravenna, 8 bre I3 tb 1820. My dear Hoppner, — By the boat of a certain Bonaldo, bound for Venice, I forward to you certain Novels of Mrs. Opie and others, for Mrs. Hoppner and you as you desired. Amongst the rest there is a German translation of Manfred , with a plaguy long dissertation at the end of it ; it would be out of all measure and conscience to ask you to translate the whole ; but, if you could give me a short sketch of it, I should thank you, or if you would make somebody do the whole into Italian , it would do as well ; and I would willingly pay some poor Italian German Scholar for his trouble. My own papers are at last come from Galignani. With many thanks for yours, I am, yours very truly, Byron. P.S. — I remit by Missiaglia 30 Napoleons, is that the sum ? 839. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 8bre 16 0 , 1820. Dear Moray, — The Abbot has just arrived : many thanks ; as also for the Monastery — when you send it l ! ! 1. From The Archivist , April, 1889, where the letter is printed in facsimile to face p. 12. SCOTTISH ANCESTRY. 99 1820.] The Abbot will have a more than ordinary interest for me; for an ancestor of mine by the mother's side, Sir J. Gordon of Gight, the handsomest of his day, died on a Scaffold at Aberdeen for his loyalty to Mary, of whom he was an imputed paramour as well as her relation. 1 His fate was much commented on in the Chronicles of the times. If I mistake not, he had something to do with her escape from Loch Leven, or with her captivity there. But this you will know better than I. I recollect Loch Leven as it were but yesterday: I saw it in my way to England in 1798, being then ten years of age. My Mother (who was as haughty as Lucifer with her descent from the Stuarts, and her right line, from the old Gordons , not the Seyton Gordons, as she disdainfully termed the Ducal branch,) told me the Story, always reminding me how superior her Gordons were to the Southron Byrons, notwithstanding our Nor- man, and always direct masculine descent, 2 which has never lapsed into a female, as my mother's Gordons had done in her own person. I have written to you so often lately, that the brevity of this will be welcome. Yours ever and truly, Byron. 1. For Sir J. Gordon, see p. 106, note I. 2. It is possible that Mrs. Byron may have known the blot on the Byron pedigree, and the illegitimacy of the family through which her son claimed Norman descent. Sir John Byron “with the great “beard,” grandfather of the first Lord Byron, and grantee of the Priory of Newstead, had no legitimate heir. Plis natural son, John Byron, who succeeded to the property by deed of gift, was therefore the real founder of Byron’s family. Whether Byron knew this illegitimacy or not is uncertain. IOO THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. 840. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 8bre 17 0 , 1820. DV MV, — Enclosed is the dedication of Marino Faliero to Goethe . Query ? is his title Baron or not ? 1 I think yes. Let me know your opinion, and so forth. Yours, B. P.S. — Let me know what Mr. Hobhouse and you have decided about the two prose letters and their pub- lication. I enclose you an Italian abstract of the German translator of Manfred's appendix, in which you will per- ceive quoted what Goethe says of the whole body of English poetry (and not of one in particular). On this the dedication is founded, as you will perceive, though I had thought of it before, for I look upon him as a Great Man. For Marino Faliero . Dedication to Baron Goethe, etc., etc., etc. Sir, — In the Appendix to an English work lately translated into German and published at Leipsic, a judgment of yours upon English poetry is quoted as follows : “ That in English poetry, great genius, universal “ power, a feeling of profundity, with sufficient tenderness “ and force, are to be found ; but that altogether these do “ 71 ot constitute poets," etc., etc. I regret to see a great man falling into a great mistake. This opinion of yours only proves that the 1. Goethe was ennobled, having the Von prefixed to his name, but never received the title of Baron. A DEDICATION. IOI 1820.] “ Dictionary of Ten Thottsand living English Authors ” 1 has not been translated into German. You will have read, in your friend Schlegel’s version, the dialogue in Macbeth — “ There are ten thousand! Macbeth . Geese, villain ? Answer. Authors , sir.” 2 Now, of these “ten thousand authors,” there are actually nineteen hundred and eighty-seven poets, all alive at this moment, whatever their works may be, as their booksellers well know ; and amongst these there are several who possess a far greater reputation than mine, although considerably less than yours. It is owing to this neglect on the part of your German translators that you are not aware of the works of William Wordsworth, who has a baronet in London 3 who draws him frontis- pieces and leads him about to dinners and to the play ; and a Lord in the country , 4 who gave him a place in the Excise — and a cover at his table. You do not know perhaps that this Gentleman is the greatest of all poets past — present and to come — besides which he has written an “ Opus Magnum ” in prose — during the late election for Westmoreland . 5 His principal publication is entitled “ Peter Bell” which he had withheld from the public for “ one and twetity years ” — to the irreparable loss of all those who died in the interim, and will have no opportunity of 1. A Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland ', etc., London, 1816, 8vo. 2. “ Macbeth . Where gott’st thou that goose look ? Sei'vant. There is ten thousand — Macbeth . Geese, villain? Servant . Soldiers, sir.” Macbeth , act v. sc. 3. 3. Sir George Beaumont. See Professor W. Knight, Life of Wordsworth , vol. ii. {Works, vol. x.) p. 56. 4. Lord Lonsdale (ibid., p. 209). 5. Two Addresses to the Freeholders of Westmorela?id, 1818. 102 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. reading it before the resurrection. There is also another named Southey, who is more than a poet, being actually poet Laureate, — a post which corresponds with what we call in Italy Poeta Cessareo , and which you call in German — I know not what; but as you have a “ Caesar ” — pro- bably you have a name for it. In England there is no Caesar — only the Poet. I mention these poets by way of sample to enlighten you. They form but two bricks of our Babel, (Windsor bricks, by the way,) but may serve for a specimen of the building. It is, moreover, asserted that “ the predominant “character of the whole body of the present English “ poetry is a disgust and co?itempt for life.” But I rather suspect that by one single work of prose , you yourself, have excited a greater contempt for life than all the English volumes of poesy that ever were written. Madame de Stael says, that “Werther has occasioned “ more suicides than the most beautiful woman ; ” and I really believe that he has put more individuals out of this world than Napoleon himself, except in the way of his profession. Perhaps, Illustrious Sir, the acrimonious judgment passed by a celebrated northern journal 1 upon you in particular, and the Germans in general, has rather indisposed you towards English poetry as well as criti- cism. But you must not regard our critics, who are at bottom good-natured fellows, considering their two pro- fessions — taking up the law in court, and laying it down out of it. No one can more lament their hasty and unfair judgment, in your particular, than I do ; and I so expressed myself to your friend Schlegel, in 1816, at Coppet. i. See an article on Goethe’s Aus Meinem Leberi^ etc., in the Edinburgh Review for June, 1816, vol. xxvi. pp. 304-337. 1 820.] THE GREAT GOETHE. 103 In behalf of my “ ten thousand ” living brethren, and of myself, I have thus far taken notice of an opinion expressed with regard to “ English poetry ” in general, and which merited notice, because it was yours. My principal object in addressing you was to testify my sincere respect and admiration of a man, who, for half a century, has led the literature of a great nation, and will go down to posterity as the first literary Character of his Age. You have been fortunate, Sir, not only in the writings which have illustrated your name, but in the name itself, as being sufficiently musical for the articulation of pos- terity. In this you have the advantage of some of your countrymen, whose names would perhaps be immortal also — if any body could pronounce them. It may, perhaps, be supposed, by this apparent tone of levity, that I am wanting in intentional respect towards you ; but this will be a mistake : I am always flippant in prose. Considering you, as I really and warmly do, in common with all your own, and with most other nations, to be by far the first literary Character which has existed in Europe since the death of Voltaire, I felt, and feel, desirous to inscribe to you the following work , — not as being either a tragedy or a poem , (for I cannot pronounce upon its pretensions to be either one or the other, or both, or neither,) but as a mark of esteem and admiration from a foreigner to the man who has been hailed in Germany “ THE GREAT GOETHE.” I have the honour to be, With the truest respect, Your most obedient and Very humble servant, Byron. 104 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLIj RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. Ravenna, 8bre 14 0 , 1820. P.S. — I perceive that in Germany, as well as in Italy, there is a great struggle about what they call “ Classical ” and “Romantic ” — terms which were not subjects of classification in England, at least when I left it four or five years ago. Some of the English Scribblers, it is true, abused Pope and Swift, but the reason was that they themselves did not know how to write either prose or verse ; but nobody thought them worth making a sect of. Perhaps there may be something of the kind sprung up lately, but I have not heard much about it, and it would be such bad taste that I shall be very sorry to believe it. 841. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, October 17, 1820. You owe me two letters — pay them. I want to know what you are about. The summer is over, and you will be back to Paris. Apropos of Paris, it was not Sophia Gaily but Sophia Gay — the English word Gay — who was my correspondent . 1 Can you tell who she is, as you did of the defunct * * ? Have you gone on with your poem ? I have I. “I had mistaken the name of the lady he inquired after, and “reported her to him as dead. But, on the receipt of the above “letter, I discovered that his correspondent was Madame Sophie “Gay, mother of the celebrated poetess and beauty, Mademoiselle “Delphine Gay” (Moore). Sophie Nichault de la Valette (1776-1852), novelist, dramatist, musician, and verse-writer, married, in 1799, as her second husband, M. Gay. Her salo?i was the resort of all that was most brilliant in French society under the Empire. Among her novels, which began with Laui'e d'Estell (1802), the most successful was Leonie de Mont - breuse (1813). But, of all her numerous works, it was said that her daughter Delphine, afterwards Madame de Girardin (1804-1855), was the most brilliant. A SUSPECT. 1820.] 105 received the French of mine. Only think of being tra- duced into a foreign language in such an abominable travesty ! It is useless to rail, but one can’t help it. Have you got my Memoir copied ? 1 I have begun a continuation. Shall I send it you, as far as it is gone ? I can’t say any thing to you about Italy, for the Government here look upon me with a suspicious eye, as I am well informed. Pretty fellows ! — as if I, a solitary stranger, could do any mischief. It is because I am fond of rifle and pistol shooting, I believe ; for they took the alarm at the quantity of cartridges I consumed, — the wiseacres ! You don’t deserve a long letter — nor a letter at all — for your silence. You have got a new Bourbon , 2 it seems, whom they have christened Dieu-donne ; — perhaps the honour of the present may be disputed. Did you write the good lines on , the Laker ?***** The Queen has made a pretty theme for the journals. Was there ever such evidence published? Why it is worse than Little's Poems or Don Juan . If you don’t write soon, I will “ make you a speech.” Yours, etc. 1. Moore, in his Diary for May 7, 1820, writes, “ Williams dined “ with us ; he has begun copying out Lord B.’s ‘ Memoirs’ for me, “ as I fear the original papers may become worn out by passing “ through so many hands” ( Memoirs , etc ., of Thomas Moore, vol. iii. p. 1 16). 2. Henri Charles Marie Ferdinand Dieudonne d’ Artois, Due de Bordeaux and Comte de Chambord (1820-1883), was the posthumous son of the Due de Berri assassinated by Louvel. In 1830, when his grandfather Charles X. abdicated in his favour, he went into exile. In 1843 he claimed the throne of France, assuming the title of Henri V. After his marriage (1846) with Marie Therese Beatrix, daughter of the Duke of Modena, by whom he had no children, he settled at Frohsdorf, near Vienna. In 1873 the Comte de Paris recognized his right to the French crown, and thus united the legitimists. But his refusal to accept the tricolor in place of the white standard of the Bourbons destroyed the hopes of the royalist party. io 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. 842. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 8bre 25 0 , 1820. D* Moray, — Pray forward the enclosed to Lady Byron : it is on business. In thanking you for the Abbot , I made four grand mistakes. Sir John Gordon 1 was not of Gight, but of Bogagicht, and a Son of Huntley's. He suffered, not for his loyalty, but in an insurrection. He had nothing to do with Loch Leven, having been dead some time at the period of the Queen's confinement. And 4 th . ly I am not sure that he was the Queen's paramour or no ; for Robertson does not allude to this, though Waite r Scott does , in the list she gives of her admirers (as unfortunate) at the close of the Abbot . I. In The Abbot (chap, xxxvii.), Mary, standing by the dying George Douglas at the battle of Langside, says, “ Look — look at “him well, thus has it been with all who loved Mary Stuart ! — The “royalty of Francis, the wit of Chastelar, the power and gallantry “of the gay Gordon, the melody of Rizzio, the portly form and “youthful grace of Darnley, the bold address and courtly manners “of Bothwell — and now the deep-devoted passion of the noble 4 4 Douglas — nought could save them — they looked on the wretched “ Mary, and to have loved her was crime enough to deserve early 4 4 death !” In 1562, one year after Mary landed in Scotland, Sir John Gordon, a younger son of the Earl of Huntly, killed Lord Ogilvie in a fray. Mary refused to pardon Gordon, and her refusal caused Lord Huntly to march on Aberdeen. The Gordons were defeated ; Lord Huntly was killed ; Sir John Gordon beheaded ; and two of his brothers, condemned to death, were eventually pardoned. The younger, Adam, became the famous 44 Edom o’ “ Gordon.” There is no reason to suppose that Mary ever saw Sir John Gordon, much less that he was her favoured lover. The Gordons of Gight, though descended from the Earl of Huntly, were then in the third generation from the founder of their branch of the family. John Gordon, second son of the fourth Laird of Gight, and great-grandson of Huntly, was hanged in February, 1592, for the murder of the Earl of Moray; but his brother William, Laird of Gight from 1576 to 1605 (J. M. Bullock, Tragic AdventiLres of Byron's Ancestors, in the Aberdeen Free Press , November 11, 18, 25, 1898), though responsible for “at least five “ murders,” died in his bed. 1820.] a long line of ancestors. 107 I must have made all these mistakes in recollecting my Mother’s account of the matter, although she was more accurate than I am, being precise upon points of genealogy, like all the Aristocratical Scotch. She had a long list of ancestors, like Sir Lucius OTrigger’s, 1 most of whom are to be found in the old Scotch Chro- nicles, Spalding, etc., in arms and doing mischief. I remember well passing Loch Leven, as well as the Queen’s Ferry : we were on our way to England in 1798. Why do the papers call Hobhouse young ? he is a year and a half older than I am ; and I was thirty-two last January. Of Italy I can say nothing by the post : we are in instant expectation of the Barbarians passing the Po; and then there will be a war of fury and extermination. Pray write sometimes ; the communications will not long be open. Yours, B. P.S. — Send me the Monastery and some Soda powders. You had better not publish Blackwood and the Roberts prose , except what regards Pope ; — you have let the time slip by. 843. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 9bre 4 0 , 1820. I have received from Mr. Galignani the enclosed letters, duplicates and receipts, which will explain them- selves. 2 As the poems are your property by purchase, 1. In The Rivals , act iii. sc. 4, Sir Lucius O’Trigger says, “Ah, “ my little friend ! If I had Blunderbuss HallYizxQ, I could show “ you a range of ancestry, in the O’Trigger line, that would furnish “ the new room ; every one of whom had killed his man ! ” 2. Galignani had asked Byron to grant him such legal right over Xo8 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. right, and justice, all matters of publication , etc., etc., are for you to decide upon . I know not how far my compliance with Mr. G.’s request might be legal, and I doubt that it would not be honest. In case you choose to arrange with him, I enclose the permits to you , and in so doing I wash my hands of the business altogether. I sign them merely to enable you to exert the power you justly possess more properly. I will have nothing to do with it further, except, in my answer to Mr. Galignani, to state that the letters, etc., etc., are sent to you, and the causes thereof. If you can check those foreign Pirates, do; if not, put the permissive papers in the fire : I can have no view nor object whatever, but to secure to you your property. Yours, Byron. P.S. — There will be shortly “ the Devil to pay ” here ; and, as there is no saying that I may not form an Item in his bill , I shall not now write at greater length : you have not answered my late letters ; and you have acted foolishly, as you will find out some day. P.S. — I have read part of the Quarterly just arrived : Mr. Bowles 1 shall be answered ; he is not quite correct in his statement about D[nglish\ B\ards\ and S[cotch] those poems of which he had hitherto been the sole publisher in France, as would prevent piracy. I. Byron refers to Disraeli’s article on Pope, suggested by Spence’s Anecdotes of Books and Men , which appeared in the Quarterly Revieiv for July, 1820 (pp. 400-434). The reviewer quotes on p. 425 a passage from Bowles’s Invariable Principles of Poetry (1819), in which Bowles describes his correction of Byron’s mistake in English Bards , and Scotch Reviewers , line 360 — “ When first Madeira trembled to a kiss.” (See Poems , vol. i. p. 325, and Byron’s note . See also Appendix III. for Byron’s controversy with Bowles.) 1 820.] POETICAL MOUNTEBANKS. 109 R\eviewers\. They support Pope, I see, in the Quarterly , 1 Let them continue to do so : it is a Sin, and a Shame, and a damnatio?i to think that Pope ! ! should require it — but he does. Those miserable mountebanks of the day, the poets, disgrace themselves and deny God, in running down Pope, the most faultless of Poets, and almost of men. The Edinburgh praises Jack Keats or Ketch, or whatever his names are : why, his is the * of Poetry — something like the pleasure an Italian fiddler extracted out of being suspended daily by a Street Walker in Drury Lane. This went on for some weeks : at last the Girl went to get a pint of Gin — met another, chatted too long, and Cornelli was ha?iged outright befo7'e she returned . Such like is the trash they praise, and such will be the end of the * * poesy of this miser- able Self-polluter of the human Mind. W. Scott’s Monastery just arrived : many thanks for that Grand Desideratum of the last Six Months. P.S. — You have cut up old Edgeworth, 2 it seems, amongst you. You are right: he was a bore. I met the whole batch — Mr., Mrs., and Miss — at a blue break- fast of Lady Davy’s in Blue Square; and he proved but bad, in taste and tact and decent breeding. He began by saying that Parr (Dr. Parr) had attacked him, 1. “ It is with pain we have so long witnessed the attacks on the “ moral and poetical character of this great poet by the last two of his “editors. Warton, who first entered the list, though not unwilling ‘ ‘ to wound, exhibits occasionally some of the courtesy of the ancient “ chivalry ; but his successor, the Rev. Mr. Bowdes, pushes the con- “ test h Voutrance , with the appearance, though not with the reality, “of personal hostility. It had been more honourable in this gentle- “man, with his known prejudices against this class of poetry, in “ which Pope will always remain unrivalled, to have declined the ‘ ‘ office of editor, than to attempt to spread among new generations of “readers the most unfavourable and the most unjust impressions of “ the Poet and of the Man.” — Quarterly Review , vol. xxiii. p. 407. 2. In the Quarterly Review for July, 1820, pp. 510-549. no THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. and that he (the father of Miss E.) had cut him up in his answer. Now, Parr would have annihilated him; and if he had not, why tell us (a long story) who wanted to breakfast? I saw them different times in different parties, and I thought him a very tiresome coarse old Irish half-and-half Gentleman, and her a pleasant reserved 844. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, November 5, 1820. Thanks for your letter, which hath come somewhat costively ; but better late than never. Of it anon. Mr. Galignani, of the Press, hath, it seems, been sup- planted and sub-pirated by another Parisian publisher, who has audaciously printed an edition of L. B.'s works, at the ultra-liberal price of ten francs and (as Galignani piteously observes) eight francs only for booksellers ! horresco referens . Think of a man's whole works pro- ducing so little ! Galignani sends me, post haste, a permission for him , , from me> to publish, etc., etc., which permit I have signed and sent to Mr. Murray of Albemarle Street. Will you explain to G. that I have no right to dispose of Murray's works without his leave ? and therefore I must refer him to M. to get the permit out of his claws — no easy matter, I suspect. I have written to G. to say as much ; but a word of mouth from a “great brother author" would convince him that I could not honestly have complied with his wish, though I might legally. What I could do I have done, viz. signed the warrant and sent it to Murray. Let the dogs divide the carcass, if it is killed to their liking. I am glad of your epigram. It is odd that we should Ill 1820.] SPREAD OF THE SPANISH REVOLUTION. both let our wits run away with our sentiments; for I am sure that we are both Queen’s men at bottom . 1 But there is no resisting a clinch — it is so clever ! Apropos of that — we have a “ diphthong ” also in this part of the world — not a Greeks but a Spanish one — do you under- stand me ? — which is about to blow up the whole alpha- bet. It was first pronounced at Naples, and is spreading; but we are nearer the barbarians, who are in great force on the Po, and will pass it, with the first legitimate pretext. There will be the devil to pay, and there is no saying who will or who will not be set down in his bill. If “ honour should come unlooked for ” 2 to any of your acquaintance, make a Melody of it, that his ghost, like poor Yorick’s, may have the satisfaction of being plain- tively pitied — or still more nobly commemorated, like “ Oh breathe not his name.” 3 In case you should not think him worth it, here is a Chant for you instead — When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home, Let him combat for that of his neighbours ; Let him think of the glories of Greece and of Rome, And get knock’d on the head for his labours. 1. Moore was a supporter of the Queen. In his Diary for November 11, 1820 ( Memoirs , etc ., vol. iii. p. 168), he writes, “ The decision of the House of Lords against the Queen occupying “ every one’s mind and tongue. What a barefaced defiance of all “law and justice, and what precious scoundrels there are in the “ high places of the world ! ” 2. Henry IV., Part I. act v. sc. 3. Compare Pope’s Temple of Fame , line 513. 3. Moore’s song, of which the first stanza runs as follows : — “ O breathe not his name, let it sleep in the shade, Where cold and unhonour’d his relics are laid ; Sad, silent, and dark be the tears that we shed, As the night-dew that falls on the grass o’er his head ; ” appeared in No. i. of the Irish Melodies . 1 12 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan, And is always as nobly requited ; Then battle for freedom wherever you can, And, if not shot or hang’d, you’ll get knighted. So you have gotten the letter of “ Epigrams ” — I am glad of it. You will not be so, for I shall send you more. Here is one I wrote for the endorsement of “ the Deed “ of Separation” in 1816; but the lawyers objected to it, as superfluous. It was written as we were getting up the signing and sealing. * * has the original. Endorsement to the Deed of Separation , in the April of 1816. A year ago you swore, fond she ! “To love, to honour,” and so forth : Such was the vow you pledged to me, And here’s exactly what ’tis worth. For the anniversary of January 2, 1821, I have a small grateful anticipation, which, in case of accident, I add — To Penelope , January 2, 1821. This day, of all our days, has done The worst for me and you : — ’Tis just six years since we were one , And five since we were two . Pray excuse all this nonsense ; for I must talk non- sense just now, for fear of wandering to more serious topics, which, in the present state of things, is not safe by a foreign post. I told you in my last, that I had been going on with r82o.] goethe's husband-killing story. 113 the “ Memoirs," and have got as far as twelve more sheets. But I suspect they will be interrupted. In that case I will send them on by post, though I feel remorse at making a friend pay so much for postage, for we can't frank here beyond the frontier. I shall be glad to hear of the event of the Queen's concern. As to the ultimate effect, the most inevitable one to you and me (if they and we live so long) will be that the Miss Moores and Miss Byrons will present us with a great variety of grandchildren by different fathers. Pray, where did you get hold of Goethe's Florentine husband-killing story ? Upon such matters, in general, I may say, with Beau Clincher, in reply to Errand's wife — “ Oh the villain, he hath murdered my poor Timothy ! “ Clincher. Damn your Timothy ! — I tell you, woman, “ your husband has 7 nurdered me — he has carried away “ my fine jubilee clothes." 1 So Bowles has been telling a story, too ft is in the Quarterly ), about the woods of “ Madeira," and so forth. I shall be at Bowles again, if he is not quiet. He mis- states, or mistakes, in a point or two. The paper is finished, and so is the letter. Yours, etc. 845. — To John Murray. R[avenn]a, 9bre 9 0 , 1820. Dear Moray, — The talent you approve of is an amiable one, and as you say might prove “a national “ Service," but unfortunately I must be angry with a man before I draw his real portrait; and I can't deal in “generals” so that I trust never to have provocation I. Farquhar’s Constant Couple , or a Trip to the Jubilee, act iv. sc. 1. (For Goethe’s story, see his review of Manfred , Appendix II. p. 504.) VOL. V. I 1 14 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. enough to make a Gallery . If “ the person ” had not by many little dirty sneaking traits provoked it, I should have been silent, though I had observed him. Here follows an alteration. Put — Devil with such delight in damning, That if at the resurrection Unto him the free selection Of his future could be given, ’Twould be rather Hell than Heaven. That is to say, if these two new lines do not too much lengthen out and weaken the amiability of the original thought and expression. You have a discretionary power about showing : I should think that Croker and DTsraeli would not disrelish a sight of these light little humorous things, and may be indulged now and then. D’ Israeli wrote the article on Spence : I know him by the mark in his mouth. I am glad that the Quarterly has had so much Classical honesty as to insert it : it is good and true. Hobhouse writes me a facetious letter about my indolence and love of Slumber. It becomes him : he is in active life ; he writes pamphlets against Canning, to which he does not put his name ; he gets into Newgate and into Parliament — both honourable places of refuge ; and he “ greatly daring dines ” at all the taverns (why don’t he set up a tap room at once), and then writes to quiz my laziness. Why, I do like one or two vices, to be sure ; but I can back a horse and fire a pistol “ without winking or “ blinking ” like Major Sturgeon ; 1 I have fed at times for i . In Foote’s Mayor of Garratt , act i. sc. I, Major Sturgeon says, “Ina week I could shoulder, and rest, and poise, and turn to the “ right, and wheel to the left ; and in less than a month I could fire “ without winking or blinking.” 1 820.] A QUARREL BETWEEN FRIENDS. I 1 5 two months together on sheer biscuit and water (without metaphor) ; I can get over seventy or eighty miles a day riding post, and swim five at a Stretch, taking a piece before and after, as at Venice, in 1818, or at least I could do, and have done it once, and I never was ten minutes in my life over a solitary dinner. Now, my friend Hobhouse, when we were wayfaring men, used to complain grievously of hard beds and sharp insects, while I slept like a top, and to awaken me with his swearing at them : he used to damn his dinners daily, both quality and cookery and quantity, and reproach me for a sort of “brutal” indifference, as he called it, to these particulars; and now he writes me facetious sneerings because I do not get up early in a morning, when there is no occasion — if there were, he knows that I was always out of bed before him, though it is true that my ablutions detained me longer in dressing than his noble contempt of that “ oriental scrupulosity ” permitted. Then he is still sore about “ the ballad ” — he ! ! why, he lampooned me at Brighton, in 1808, about Jackson the boxer and bold Webster, etc. : in 1809, he turned the death of my friend E? Long into ridicule and rhyme, because his name was susceptible of a pun ; and, although he saw that I was distressed at it, before I left England in 1816, he wrote rhymes upon D . Kinnaird, you , and myself ; and at Venice he parodied the lines “ Though “ the day of my destiny’s over ” 1 in a comfortable quizzing way : and now he harps on my ballad about his election ! Pray tell him all this, for I will have no underhand work with my “ old Cronies.” If he can deny the facts, let him. I maintain that he is more carhivorously and carnally sensual than I am, though I am bad enough too 1. See Letters , vol. iv. p. 73, note 1. II 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. for that matter ; but not in eating and haranguing at the Crown and Anchor, where I never was but twice — and those were at “ Whore’s Hops ” when I was a younker in my teens ; and, Egad, I think them the most respectable meetings of the two. But he is a little wroth that I would not come over to the Queen's trial : lazy^ quotha ! it is so true that he should be ashamed of asserting it. He counsels me not to “get into a Scrape;” but, as Beau Clincher says, “How melancholy are Newgate “ reflections ! ” 1 To be sure, his advice is worth following ; for experience teacheth : he has been in a dozen within these last two years. I pronounce 7ne the more temperate of the two . Have you gotten The Hints yet ? I know Henry Matthews : he is the image, to the very voice, of his brother Charles, only darker : his laugh his in particular. The first time I ever met him was in Scrope Davies’s rooms after his brother’s death, and I nearly dropped, thinking that it was his Ghost. I have also dined with him in his rooms at King’s College. Hobhouse once purposed a similar memoir; but I am afraid that the letters of Charles’s correspondence with me (which are at Whitton with my other papers) would hardly do for the public : for our lives were not over strict, and our letters somewhat lax upon most subjects. His Superiority over all his cotemporaries was quite indisputable and acknowledged : none of us ever thought of being at all near Matthews; and yet there were some high men of his standing — Bankes, Bob Milnes, Hobhouse, Bailey, and many others — without numbering the mere Academical men, of whom we hear little out of the University, and whom he beat hollow on their oivn Ground. i . The Covsta?it Couple , act v. sc. 2 . THE POETRY OF KEATS. 1820.] 117 His gaining the Downing Fellowship was the com- pletes t thing of the kind ever known. He carried off both declamation prizes : in short, he did whatever he chose. He was three or four years my Senior, but I lived a good deal with him latterly, and with his friends. He wrote to me the very day of his death (I believe), or at least a day before, if not the very day. He meant to have stood for the University Membership. He was a very odd and humourous fellow besides, and spared nobody : for instance, walking out in Newstead Garden, he stopped at Boatswain’s monument inscribed “ Here “ lies Boatswain, a Dog,” etc., and then observing a blank marble tablet on the other side, “ So (says he) there is “ room for another friend, and I propose that the Inscrip- “ tion be c Here lies H — bh — se, a Pig,’ ” etc. You may as well not let this transpire to the worthy member, lest he regard neither his dead friend nor his living one, with his wonted Suavity. Rose’s lines must be at his own option : / can have no objection to their publication. Pray salute him from me. Mr. Keats, whose poetry you enquire after, appears to me what I have already said : such writing is a sort of mental * * * *— * ******* his Imagination. I don’t mean he is indecent , but viciously soliciting his own ideas into a state, which is neither poetry nor any thing else but a Bedlam vision produced by raw pork and opium. Barry Cornwall would write well, if he would let himself. Croly is superior to many, but seems to think himself inferior to Nobody. Last week I sent you a correspondence with Galig- nani, and some documents on your property. You have now, I think, an opportunity of checkings or at least limitmg , those French re-publications . You may let all your authors publish what they please against me or Il8 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. mine : a publisher is not, and cannot be, responsible for all the works that issue from his printer’s. The “ White Lady of Avenel ” is not quite so good as a real well-authenticated (“ Donna bianca ”) White Lady of Colalto j 1 or spectre in the Marca Trivigiana, who has been repeatedly seen : there is a man (a huntsman) now alive who saw her also. Hoppner could tell you all about her, and so can Rose perhaps. I myself have no doubt of the fact, historical and spectral. She always appeared on particular occasions, before the deaths of the family, etc., etc. I heard M- Benzoni say, that she knew a Gentleman who had seen her cross his room at Colalto Castle. Hoppner saw and spoke with the Huntsman who met her at the Chase, and never Minted afterwards. She was a Girl attendant, who, one day dressing the hair of a Countess Colalto, was seen by her mistress to smile upon her husband in the Glass. The Countess had her shut up in the wall at the Castle, like Constance de Beverley. Ever after, she haunted them and all the Colaltos. She is described as very beautiful and fair. It is well authenticated. Yours, B. 846. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 9b re 18 0 , 1820. Dear Moray,*— The death of Waite 2 is a shock to the — teeth, as well as to the feelings of all who knew 1. The White Lady of Avenel, in Scott’s Monastery , mixed much and capriciously in the affairs of the world. The “fair Christine,” the victim of a jealous mistress, whose story Rogers told in his Italy (“ Coll’alto ”), seems a more legitimate ghost. Like Constance de Beverley in Marmion (Canto II. stanzas xx.-xxxiii.), she was immured alive in the wall. 2. The fashionable dentist of 2, Old Burlington Street. “ Went,” says Lord Byron, “ to Waite’s. Teeth are all right and white ; but 1820.] DENTISTS, BARBERS, AND WELLINGTON. 119 him. Good God, he and Blake 1 both gone ! I left them both in the most robust health, and little thought of the national loss in so short a time as five years. They were both as much superior to Wellington in rational great- ness, as he who preserves the hair and the teeth is preferable to the “ bloody blustering booby ” who gains a name by breaking heads and knocking out grinders. Who succeeds him 2 where is tooth powder ? mild and yet efficacious — where is tincture 2 where are cleansing roots and brushes now to be obtained? Pray obtain what information you can upon these “ Tusa llan ques- “ tions : ” my jaws ache to think on’t. Poor fellows ! I anticipated seeing both again ; and yet they are gone to that place where both teeth and hair last longer than they do in this life. I have seen a thousand graves opened, and always perceived, that, whatever was gone, the teeth and hair remained of those who had died with them. Is not this odd ? they go the very first things in youth , and yet last the longest in the dust, if people will but die to preserve them ! It is a queer life, and a queer death, that of mortals. I knew that Waite had married, but little thought that the other decease was so soon to overtake him. Then he was such a delight, such a Coxcomb, such a Jewel of a Man ! There is a taylor at Bologna so like him, and also at the top of his profession. Do not neglect this commission : who or what can replace him ? what says the public ? “he says that I grind them in my sleep, and chip the edges.” — Journal, February 19, 1814 {Letters, vol. ii. p. 387). 1. “ Write but like Wordsworth — live beside a lake, And keep your bushy locks a year from Blake.” “As famous a tonsor as Licinus himself, and better paid, and “may, like him, be one day a senator, having a better qualifica- tion than one half of the heads he crops, viz. — Independence.” — Hints from Horace , 1 . 476, Byron’s note ; see Poems , vol. i. p. 422. 120 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. I remand you the preface. Doitt forget that the Italian extract from the Chronicle must be translated . With regard to what you say of retouching the Juans and the Hints , it is all very well ; but I can’t furbish . I am like the tyger (in poesy), if I miss my first Spring, I go growling back to my Jungle. There is no second. I can’t correct ; I can’t, and I won’t. Nobody ever succeeds in it, great or small. Tasso remade the whole of his Jerusalem ; but who ever reads that version ? All the world goes to the first. Pope added to the “ Rape of “ the Lock” but did not reduce it. You must take my things as they happen to be : if they are not likely to suit, reduce their estimate then accordingly. I would rather give them away than hack and hew them. I don’t say that you are not right : I merely assert that I cannot better them. I must either “ make a spoon, or spoil a “ horn.” And there’s an end. The parcel of the second of June, with the late Edge- worth and so forth, has never arrived : parcels of a later date have, of which I have given you my opinions in late letters. I remit you what I think a Catholic curi- osity — the Pope’s brief, authenticating the body of Saint Francis of Assisi, a town on the road to Rome. Yours ever, B. P.S. — Of the praises of that little dirty blackguard Keates in the Edinburgh , I shall observe as Johnson did when Sheridan the actor got a pension : “ What ! has he “ got a pension ? Then it is time that I should give up “ mine I ” 1 Nobody could be prouder of the praises of the I. “ Johnson, who thought slightingly of Sheridan’s art, upon “hearing that he was also pensioned, exclaimed, ‘What! have “they given him a pension? Then it is time for me to give up “mine ! ’ Whether this proceeded from a momentary indignation, A CRICKET MATCH WITH BOWLES. I 2 I l820.] Edinburgh than I was, or more alive to their censure, as I showed in E[nglish] B[ards\ and S[cotch] R\eviewers\ At present all the men they have ever praised are degraded by that insane article. Why don't they review and praise “ Solomon's Guide to Health " ? 1 it is better sense and as much poetry as Johnny Keates. Bowles must be bowled down : 'tis a sad match at Cricket, if that fellow can get any Notches at Pope's expence. If he once gets into “ Lord's ground," (to con- tinue the pun, because it is foolish,) I think I could beat him in one Innings. You did not know, perhaps, that I was once ( hot metaphorically , but really ) a good Cricketer, particularly in batting, and I played in the Harrow match against the Etonians in 1805, gaining more notches (as one of our chosen Eleven) than any, except L/? Ipswich and Brookman, on our side. 2 847. — To John Murray. 3 Ravenna, 9 bre 19, 1820. Dear Murray, — What you said of the late Charles Skinner Matthews has set me to my recollections ; but I have not been able to turn up any thing which would do for the purposed Memoir of his brother, — even if he had previously done enough during his life to sanction the introduction of anecdotes so merely personal. He was, “ as if it were an affront to his exalted merit that a player should be “ rewarded in the same manner with him, or was the sudden effect “of a fit of peevishness, it was unluckily said, and, indeed, can- not be justified.” — Boswell’s Johnson , 1763, ed. G. B. Hill, vol. i. PP- 385 , 386. 1. Samuel Solomon was notorious for his “Cordial Balm of “ Gilead.” His Guide to Health , or advice to both sexes, in twenty- two years (1795-1817) passed into its sixty-sixth edition. 2. See Letters , vol. i. p. 70. 3. This letter was, by an error of judgment, printed in Letters , vol. i. pp. 150-160. It is now reprinted in its chronological place ; but the notes there given have not been repeated. 122 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. however, a very extraordinary man, and would have been a great one. No one ever succeeded in a more surpassing degree than he did as far as he went. He was indolent, too; but whenever he stripped, he overthrew all an- tagonists. His conquests will be found registered at Cambridge, particularly his JDowjiing one, which was hotly and highly contested, and yet easily won. Hobhouse was his most intimate friend, and can tell you more of him than any man. William Bankes also a great deal. I my- self recollect more of his oddities than of his academical qualities, for we lived most together at a very idle period of my life. When I went up to Trinity, in 1805, at the age of seventeen and a half, I was miserable and untoward to a degree. I was wretched at leaving Harrow, to which I had become attached during the two last years of my stay there ; wretched at going to Cambridge instead of Oxford (there were no rooms vacant at Christchurch) ; wretched from some private domestic circumstances of different kinds, and consequently about as unsocial as a wolf taken from the troop. So that, although I knew Matthews, and met him often then at Bankers, (who was my collegiate pastor, and master, and patron,) and at Rhode's, Milnes’s, Price's, Dick's, Macnamara's, Farrell's, Gaily Knight's, and others of that set of contemporaries, yet I was neither intimate with him nor with any one else, except my old schoolfellow Edward Long (with whom I used to pass the day in riding and swimming), and William Bankes, who was good-naturedly tolerant of my ferocities. It was not till 1807, after I had been upwards of a year away from Cambridge, to which I had returned again to reside for my degree, that I became one of Matthews's familiars, by means of Hobhouse, who, after hating me for two years, because I wore a white hat , and 1820.] MATTHEWS AT NEWSTEAD. 1 23 a grey coat, and rode a grey horse (as he says himself), took me into his good graces because I had written some poetry. I had always lived a good deal, and got drunk occasionally, in their company — but now we became really friends in a morning. Matthews, however, was not at this period resident in College. I met him chiefly in London, and at uncertain periods at Cambridge. Hobhouse, in the mean time, did great things : he founded the Cambridge “ Whig Club ” (which he seems to have forgotten), and the “Amicable Society,” which was dissolved in consequence of the members constantly quarrelling, and made himself very popular with “ us “ youth,” and no less formidable to all tutors, professors, and heads of Colleges. William Bankes was gone ; while he stayed, he ruled the roast — or rather the roasting — and was father of all mischiefs. Matthews and I, meeting in London, and elsewhere, became great cronies. He was not good tempered — nor am I — but with a little tact his temper was manageable, and I thought him so superior a man, that I was willing to sacrifice something to his humours, which were often, at the same time, amusing and provoking. What became of his papers (and he certainly had many), at the time of his death, was never known. I mention this by the way, fearing to skip it over, and as he wrote remarkably well, both in Latin and English. We went down to Newstead together, where I had got a famous cellar, and Monks' dresses from a masquerade warehouse. We were a coni' pany of some seven or eight, with an occasional neighbour or so for visiters, and used to sit up late in our friars' dresses, drinking burgundy, claret, champagne, and what not, out of the skull-cup , and all sorts of glasses, and buffooning all round the house, in our conventual gar- ments. Matthews always denominated me “ the Abbot,” 124 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. and never called me by any other name in his good humours, to the day of his death. The harmony of these our symposia was somewhat interrupted, a few days after our assembling, by Matthews's threatening to throw Hobhouse out of a window , in consequence of I know not what commerce of jokes ending in this epigram. Hobhouse came to me and said, that “ his respect and “ regard for me as host would not permit him to call out “ any of my guests, and that he should go to town next “ morning." He did. It was in vain that I represented to him that the window was not high, and that the turf under it was particularly soft. Away he went. Matthews and myself had travelled down from London together, talking all the way incessantly upon one single topic. When we got to Loughborough, I know not what chasm had made us diverge for a moment to some other subject, at which he was indignant. “ Come," said he, “ don't let us break through — let us go on as we began, to “ our journey's end ; " and so he continued, and was as entertaining as ever to the very end. He had previously occupied, during my year's absence from Cambridge, my rooms in Trinity, with the furniture ; and Jones, the tutor, in his odd way, had said, on putting him in, “ Mr. “ Matthews, I recommend to your attention not to damage “ any of the moveables, for Lord Byron, Sir, is a young man “ of tumultuous passions ." Matthews was delighted with this ; and whenever anybody came to visit him, begged them to handle the very door with caution ; and used to repeat Jones's admonition in his tone and manner. There was a large mirror in the room, on which he remarked, “ that he thought his friends were grown un- “ commonly assiduous in coming to see him , but he soon “ discovered that they only came to see themselves ." Jones's phrase of “ tumultuous passions ," and the whole scene, MATTHEWS AND HOBHOUSE. 1820.] I2 5 had put him into such good humour, that I verily believe that I owed to it a portion of his good graces. When at Newstead, somebody by accident rubbed against one of his white silk stockings, one day before dinner ; of course the gentleman apologised. “ Sir,” answered Matthews, “it may be all very well for you, “ who have a great many silk stockings, to dirty other “ people’s ; but to me, who have only this one pair , which I “ have put on in honour of the Abbot here, no apology can “ compensate for such carelessness; besides, the expense of “ washing.” He had the same sort of droll sardonic way about every thing. A wild Irishman, named Farrell, one evening began to say something at a large supper at Cambridge, Matthews roared out “ Silence ! ” and then, pointing to Farrell, cried out, in the words of the oracle, “ Orson is endowed with reason .” You may easily suppose that Orson lost what reason he had acquired, on hearing this compliment. When Hobhouse published his volume of poems, the Miscella?iy (which Matthews would call the “ Miss-sell-any”), all that could be drawn from him was, that the preface was “extremely like Walsh.” Hob- house thought this at first a compliment ; but we never could make out what it was, for all we know of Walsh is his Ode to King William, and Pope’s epithet of “ k?iowi?ig Walsh.” When the Newstead party broke up for London, Hobhouse and Matthews, who were the greatest friends possible, agreed, for a whim, to walk together to town. They quarrelled by the way, and actually walked the latter half of the journey, occasionally passing and repassing, without speaking. When Matthews had got to Highgate, he had spent all his money but three-pence halfpenny, and determined to spend that also in a pint of beer, which I believe he was drinking before a public-house, as Hobhouse passed him (still without 126 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. speaking) for the last time on their route. They were reconciled in London again. One of Matthews’s passions was “ the fancy ; ” and he sparred uncommonly well. But he always got beaten in rows, or combats with the bare fist. In swimming, too, he swam well ; but with effort and labozir^ and too high out of the water ; so that Scrope Davies and myself, of whom he was therein somewhat emulous, always told him that he would be drowned if ever he came to a difficult pass in the water. He was so ; but surely Scrope and myself would have been most heartily glad that “ the Dean had lived, And our prediction proved a lie. ” His head was uncommonly handsome, very like what Pope's was in his youth. His voice, and laugh, and features, are strongly re- sembled by his brother Henry’s, if Henry be he of King's College . His passion for boxing was so great, that he actually wanted me to match him with Dogherty (whom I had backed and made the match for against Tom Belcher), and I saw them spar together at my own lodgings with the gloves on. As he was bent upon it, I would have backed Dogherty to please him, but the match went off. It was of course to have been a private fight, in a private room. On one occasion, being too late to go home and dress, he was equipped by a friend (Mr. Baillie, I believe,) in a magnificently fashionable and somewhat exaggerated shirt and neckcloth. He proceeded to the Opera, and took his station in Fop’s Alley. During the interval between the opera and the ballet, an acquaintance took his station by him and saluted him : “ Come round,” said Matthews, “ come round.” — “ Why should I come “ round? ” said the other \ “ you have only to turn your 1820.] MATTHEWS AT CAMBRIDGE. 1 27 “ head — I am close by you.” — “ That is exactly what I “ cannot do,” said Matthews ; “ don’t you see the state I am “ in ? ” pointing to his buckram shirt collar and inflexible cravat, — and there he stood with his head always in the same perpendicular position during the whole spectacle. One evening, after dining together, as we were going to the Opera, I happened to have a spare Opera ticket (as subscriber to a box), and presented it to Matthews. “ Now, sir,” said he to Hob house afterwards, “ this I call “ courteo2is in the Abbot — another man would never have “ thought that I might do better with half a guinea than “ throw it to a door-keeper ; — but here is a man not only “ asks me to dinner, but gives me a ticket for the theatre.” These were only his oddities, for no man was more liberal, or more honourable in all his doings and dealings, than Matthews. He gave Hobhouse and me, before we set out for Constantinople, a most splendid entertainment, to which we did ample justice. One of his fancies was dining at all sorts of out-of-the-way places. Somebody popped upon him in I know not what coffee-house in the Strand — and what do you think was the attraction ? Why, that he paid a shilling (I think) to dine with his hat on. This he called his “ hat house,” and used to boast of the comfort of being covered at meal times. When Sir Henry Smith was expelled from Cam- bridge for a row with a tradesman named “Hiron,” Matthews solaced himself with shouting under Hiron’s windows every evening, “ Ah me ! what perils do environ The man who meddles with hot Hiron .” He was also of that band of profane scoffers who, under the auspices 0 f * * * *, used to rouse Lort Mansel (late Bishop of Bristol) from his slumbers in the lodge of Trinity ; and when he appeared at the window foaming 128 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. with wrath, and crying out, “ I know you, gentlemen, I “ know you ! ” were wont to reply, “ We beseech thee to “ hear us, good Lort /” — “ Good Lort deliver us ! ” (Lort was his Christian name.) As he was very free in his speculations upon all kinds of subjects, although by no means either dissolute or intemperate in his conduct, and as I was no less independent, our conversation and cor- respondence used to alarm our friend Hobhouse to a considerable degree. You must be almost tired of my packets, which will have cost a mint of postage. Salute Gifford and all my friends. Yours, B. 848. — To John Murray. Ravenna, 9bre 23 0 , 1820. Dear Moray, — There have arrived the preface, the translation — the first sixteen pages, also from page sixty- five to ninety-six ; but no intermediate sheets from y® six- teenth to sixty-fifth page. I apprize you of this, in case any such should have been sent. I hope that the printer will perfectly understand where to insert some three or four additional lines, which Mr. Gifford has had the goodness to copy out in his own hand. The translation is extremely well done, and I beg to present my thanks and respects to Mr. Cohen for his time and trouble. The old Chronicle Style is far better done than I could have done it : some of the old words are past the understanding even of the present Italians. Perhaps if Foscolo was to cast a glance over it, he could rectify such, or confirm them. Your two volume won't do : the first is very well, but 1820.] not worth a chancery suit. 129 the second must be anonymous , and the first with the name , which would make a confusion or an identity , both of which ought to be avoided. You had better put the Doge, Dante, etc., into one volume, and bring out the other soon afterwards, but not on the same day. The Hints , Hobhouse says, will require a good deal of slashing, to suit the times, which will be a work of time, for I don't feel at all laborious just now. What- ever effect they are to have would perhaps be greater in a separate form, and they also must have my name to them. Now, if you publish them in the same volume with “ Don Juan” they identify Do?i Juan as mine, which I don't think worth a Chancery Suit about my daughter's guardianship ; as in your present code a face- tious poem is sufficient to take away a man's rights over his family. I regret to hear that the Queen has been so treated on the second reading of her bill. Of the state of things here it would be difficult and not very prudent to speak at large, the Huns opening all letters : I wonder if they can read them when they have opened them? if so, they may see, in my most legible hand, that I think them damned scoundrels and bar- barians, their emperor a fool, and themselves more fools than he ; all which they may send to Vienna, for anything I care. They have got themselves masters of the Papal police, and are bullying away ; but some day or other they will pay for it all. It may not be very soon, because these unhappy Italians have no union nor consistency among themselves ; but I suppose Providence will get tired of them at last, and show that God is not an Austrian. Ever yours truly, B. VOL. V. K 130 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. P.S. — I enclosed a letter to you for Lady B. on business some time ago : did you receive and forward it ? Adopt Mr. Gifford's alterations in the proofs. 849. — To John Hanson. Ravenna, 9 b f e 30°. 1820. Dear Sir, — I have received your letter with Coun- sel’s opinion upon the Appeal. 1 You had better then enter the Appeal immediately not to lose further time. Mr. Kinnaird acted by my directions about Col. Leigh’s bond. 2 Let me hope that the Blessington Mortgage will proceed without further delays. You have my full directions to proceed in making Mr. Claughton fulfil his payments. I do not know whether it will be best to send a Courier to Ravenna with the deeds, or to send them by the post. Constilt weight and security, and adopt the mode which will be most speedy. The Scotch deeds directions I do not understand, not- withstanding all the pencil marks ; but I will try to sign them correctly. My “ rough rebukes,” as you call them, have been excited by the not very smooth delays, which have inter- vened. What can a man say at such a distance to you gentlemen of the law? You best know how far they are deserved. I shall be very glad to hear any good news, and, with respects and remembrances to Charles and all your family, I am, yours very truly and faithfully, Byron. 1. I.e. in the Rochdale lawsuit. (See p. 62, note 2.) 2. Byron had advanced money to Colonel Leigh, and now made the loan a gift by directing the bond to be cancelled. DISCRETIONARY POWER. 1820.] 131 850.— To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, Dec. 9, 1820. Besides this letter, you will receive three packets, containing, in all, 18 more sheets of Memoranda, which, I fear, will cost you more in postage 1 than they will ever produce by being printed in the next century. Instead of waiting so long, if you could make any thing of them now in the way of reversion , (that is, after my death,) I should be very glad, — as, with all due regard to your progeny, I prefer you to your grandchildren. Would not Longman or Murray advance you a certain sum now, pledging themselves not to have them published till after my decease, think you ? — and what say you ? Over these latter sheets I would leave you a dis- cretionary power ; 2 because they contain, perhaps, a thing or two which is too sincere for the public. If I consent to your disposing of their reversion now , where would be the harm ? Tastes may change. I would, in your case, make my essay to dispose of them, not publish, now ; and if you (as is most likely) survive me, add what you please from your own knowledge; and, above all, contradict any thing, if I have mis- stated; for my first object is the truth, even at my own expense. I have some knowledge of your countryman Muley Moloch, 3 the lecturer. He wrote to me several letters 1. “ Forty-six francs and a half,” according to Moore’s Diary for December 22, 1820 ( Memoirs , etc ., vol. iii. p. 182). 2. “ The power here meant is that of omitting passages that might “ be thought objectionable. He afterwards gave me this, as well as “ every other right, over the whole of the manuscript ” (Moore). 3. See Letters , vol. iv. p. 416, note 1. Mulock was at this time lecturing on English literature in Paris. Moore attended three of the lectures. November 6, 1820 : “ Took Bessy in to attend “ Mulock’s first lecture on English literature ; jiumen verborum “ guttula mentis ” ( Memoirs , etc., vol. iii. p. 166). November 17, 1820 : “ Went in with Bessy to Mulock’s lecture. Absurd and “false from beginning to end. Dryden was no poet ; Butler had 1 3 2 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. upon Christianity, to convert me ; and, if I had not been a Christian already, I should probably have been now, in consequence. I thought there was something of wild talent in him, mixed with a due leaven of absurdity, — as there must be in all talent, let loose upon the world, without a martingale. The ministers seem still to persecute the Queen * * *; but they won't go out, the sons of b — es. Damn Reform — I want a place — what say you ? You must applaud the honesty of the declaration, whatever you may think of the intention. I have quantities of paper in England, original and translated — tragedy, etc., etc., and am now copying out a fifth canto of Don ytia?i y 149 stanzas. So that there will be near three thin Albemarle, or two thick volumes of all sorts of my Muses. I mean to plunge thick, too, into the contest upon Pope, and to lay about me like a dragon till I make manure of Bowles for the top of Parnassus. These rogues are right — we do laugh at f others — eh ? — don’t we? 1 You shall see — you shall see what things “no originality; and Locke was ‘of the school of the devil,’ both “in his philosophy, politics, and Christianity ” (ibid., p. 169). December 11, 1820 : “ Went into town to Mulock’s lecture. Find “ that he praised me in his discourse on the living poets, the other “day, exceedingly; set me at the head of them all, near Lord “ Byron, who, he says, is the only person in the worjd who seems “ to have any proper notion of religion ! In alluding to Lalla “ Rookh , he said, 4 As for his Persian poem (I forget the name of “it), I really never could read it.* The lecture to-day upon evan- “ gelical literature and religion in general ; mere verbiage ” (ibid., p. 178). Mulock’s faith in Byron’s religious feeling was not shaken by Cain. His letter to the Morning Post and “ Lines to Lord “ Byron ” therefore seem worth quoting. See Appendix IV. 1. “ He here alludes to a humorous article, of which I had told “ him, in Blackwood's Magazine , where the poets of the day were all “ grouped together in a variety of fantastic shapes, with ‘ Lord Byron “ and little Moore laughing behind, as if they would split,’ at the “ rest of the fraternity ” (Moore). The quotation is from “ Shuffle- “ botham’s Dream ” (Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazhie for October, 1820, pp. 3-7). MURDER OF DEL PINTO. 133 1820.] I’ll say, an’ it pleases Providence to leave us leisure. But in these parts they are all going to war ; and there is to be liberty, and a row, and a constitution — when they can get them. But I won’t talk politics — it is low. Let us talk of the Queen, and her bath, and her bottle — that’s the only motley nowadays. If there are any acquaintances of mine, salute them. The priests here are trying to persecute me, — but no matter. Yours, etc. 851. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, Dec. 9, 1820. I open my letter to tell you a fact, 1 which will show the state of this country better than I can. The com- mandant of the troops is now lying dead in my house. He was shot at a little past eight o’clock, about two hundred paces from my door. 2 I was putting on my great-coat to visit Madame la Contessa G. when I heard the shot. On coming into the hall, I found all my servants on the balcony, exclaiming that a man was murdered. I immediately ran down, calling on Tita (the bravest of them) to follow me. The rest wanted to 1. “ The other evening (’twas on Friday last) — This is a fact, and no poetic fable — Just as my great coat was about me cast, My hat and gloves still lying on the table, I heard a shot — ’twas eight o’clock scarce past — And running out as fast as I was able, I found the military commandant Stretch’d in the street, and able scarce to pant.” Do?i Juan , Canto V. stanza xxxiii. The commandant’s name was Del Pinto (Moore’s Life , p. 472). 2. From information given to Mr. Richard Edgcumbe by Sante Savini, who was living at Ravenna at the time, the murder took place at the corner of the street leading out of the present Via Cavour to the Church of San Vitale. 134 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. hinder us from going, as it is the custom for every body here, it seems, to run away from “ the stricken deer.” However, down we ran, and found him lying on his back, almost, if not quite, dead, with five wounds ; one in the heart, two in the stomach, one in the finger, and the other in the arm. Some soldiers cocked their guns, and wanted to hinder me from passing. However, we passed, and I found Diego, the adjutant, crying over him like a child — a surgeon, who said nothing of his pro- fession — a priest, sobbing a frightened prayer — and the commandant, all this time, on his back, on the hard, cold pavement, without light or assistance, or any thing around him but confusion and dismay. As nobody could, or would, do any thing but howl and pray, and as no one would stir a finger to move him, for fear of consequences, I lost my patience — made my servant and a couple of the mob take up the body — sent off two soldiers to the guard — despatched Diego to the Cardinal with the news, and had the commandant carried upstairs into my own quarter . 1 But it was too late, he was gone — not at all disfigured — bled inwardly — not above an ounce or two came out. I had him partly stripped — made the surgeon examine him, and examined him myself. He had been shot by cut balls or slugs. I felt one of the slugs, which had gone through him, all but the skin. Everybody con- jectures why he was killed, but no one knows how. The gun was found close by him — an old gun, half filed down. He only said, O Dio ! and Gesu ! two or three times, I. “ Poor fellow ! for some reason, surely bad, They had slain him with five slugs, and left him there To perish on the pavement : so I had Him borne into the house, and up the stair, And stripp’d and look’d to,” etc. Don Juan , Canto V. stanza xxxiv. A QUEER PEOPLE. 135 1820.] and appeared to have suffered very little. Poor fellow ! he was a brave officer, but had made himself much dis- liked by the people. I knew him personally, and had met with him often at conversazioni and elsewhere. My house is full of soldiers, dragoons, doctors, priests, and all kinds of persons, — though I have now cleared it, and clapt sentinels at the doors. To-morrow the body is to be moved. The town is in the greatest confusion, as you may suppose. You are to know that, if I had not had the body moved, they would have left him there till morning in the street, for fear of consequences. I would not choose to let even a dog die in such a manner, without succour : — and, as for consequences, I care for none in a duty. Yours, etc. P.S. — The lieutenant on duty by the body is smoking his pipe with great composure. — A queer people this. 852. — To John Murray. Ravenna, D ec . r 9^ 1820. Dear Murray, — I intended to have written to you at some length by this post, but as the Military Com- mandant is now lying dead in my house, on Fletcher’s bed, I have other things to think of. He was shot at 8 o’clock this evening about two hundred paces from our door. I was putting on my great Coat to pay a visit to the Countess G., when I heard a shot, and on going into the hall, found all my servants on the balcony exclaiming that “a Man was “murdered.” As it is the custom here to let people fight it through, they wanted to hinder me from going out ; but I ran down into the Street : Tita, the bravest of them, followed me ; and we made our way to the 136 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. Commandant, who was lying on his back, with five wounds, of which three in the body — one in the heart. There were about him Diego, his Adjutant, crying like a Child ; a priest howling ; a Surgeon who dared not touch him ; two or three confused and frightened Soldiers; one or two of the boldest of the mob ; and the Street dark as pitch, with the people flying in all directions. As Diego could only cry and wring his hands, and the Priest could only pray, and nobody seemed able or willing to do any- thing except exclaim, shake and stare, I made my Servant and one of the mob take up the body ; sent off Diego crying to the Cardinal, the Soldiers for the Guard ; and had the Commandant conveyed up Stairs to my own quarters. But he was quite gone. I made the Surgeon examine him, and examined him myself. He had bled inwardly, and very little external blood was apparent. One of the Slugs had gone quite through — all but the Skin : I felt it myself. Two more shots in the body, one in a finger, and another in the arm. His face not at all disfigured : he seems asleep, but is growing livid. The Assassin has not been taken ; but the gun was found — a gun filed down to half the barrel. He said nothing but O Dio ! and 0 Gesu two or three times. The house was filled at last with Soldiers, officers, police, and military ; but they are clearing away — all but the Sentinels, and the body is to be removed tomorrow. It seems that, if I had not had him taken into my house, he might have lain in the Streets till morning ; as here nobody meddles with such things, for fear of the con- sequences — either of public suspicion, or private revenge on the part of the Slayers. They may do as they please : I shall never be deterred from a duty of humanity by all the assassins of Italy, and that is a wide word. 1 820.] A LETTER FROM ROGERS. 137 He was a brave officer, but an unpopular man. The whole town is in confusion. You may judge better of things here by this detail, than by anything which I could add on the Subject : communicate this letter to Hobhouse and Douglas , and believe me Yours ever truly, B. P.S. — The poor Man’s wife is not yet aware of his death : they are to break it to her in the morning. The Lieutenant, who is watching the body, is smoak- ing with the greatest Sangfroid: a strange people. 853. — To John Murray. Ra I0 bre 1Q o j3 20 D* M., — I wrote to you by last post. Acknow- ledge that and this letter, which you are requested to forward immediately. Yours truly, B. P.S. — I have finished fifth Canto of D, J .; 1 143 Stanzas. So prepare. 854. — To John Murray. Ravenna, lo br ? 14? 1820. Dear Moray, — As it is a month since I have had any packets of proofs, I suppose some must have mis- carried. Today I had a letter from Rogers? 1. Canto V. of Don Juan, begun October 16, 1820, was published with Cantos III., IV., at the end of 1821, anonymously. 2. The following is the letter from Rogers. By his allusion to an “ Eastern Tale,” he refers to an unpublished portion of Vathek , 138 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. The fifth Canto of D. J \ is now under copy : it con- sists of 15 1 Stanzas. I want to know what the devil you mean to do ? which Beckford had read to him at Fonthill, and the loan of which Byron asked in his letter to Rogers of March 3, 1818 {Letters , vol. iv. p. 209, note 1). “Kalilah and his sister” are among the persons whom Vathek and Nouronihar meet in the Halls of Eblis, and the history of Kalilah and Zulkais, as Beckford told Redding, was among the episodes written for insertion in Vathek (see Dr. Garnett’s Introduction to Vathek , ed. 1893, p. v.) : — “ London, Nov r 23, 1820. “ My dear Byron, — In the 78 th year of the Hegyra — 1120 years e 4 and some odd months ago — I received a very delightful letter from “Venice to which I have written at least fifty answers, — answers “ regularly consigned with a Psha ! to that element to which Virgil “and Tasso condemned things of a little more value. Iam now “however (under the influence of a yellow fog) resolved to inflict “upon you whatever comes first. Moore might have told you of “still more serious designs against your peace last year. I had “ taken out my pass-book and said goodbye to my friends, when the “sea suddenly struck me as unnavigable, the Alps as impassable, “and a bilious fit came on that nothing could remove but calomel “and nitrous acid. Next year however I am determined to find “you out, coiite que coiite , and pour into your ear a thousand things “I cannot write. Your commission with regard to certain un- imaginable fancies in the shape of an Eastern Tale, the Loves of 4 4 Kalilah and Zulkais, I executed most faithfully — would I could “say successfully ; he hesitated, half consented and concluded with “saying that he hoped they would induce you to venture within the “ walls of his Abbey — the place of their birth, and from which they “had never wandered. His daughter is now on her way to the “ Rospigliosi Palace at Rome, and I have half promised to eat my “Christmas dinner with her there in the hall of the Aurora — but “alas! Last night I had a long conversation on a sofa with a “person you must remember well — Lady W m Russell. It was at “ the eleventh hour. How were you employed at that moment, for 4 4 she was speaking of you ? London saw all the Poets this year — “ but two, — Moore and another. Campbell is just now at Bonn on “the Rhine. Wordsworth returned last week from a journey up “that noble river to Switzerland and the Italian Lakes. Southey “ is printing a Poem and a Life ; Scott, his Kenilworth Castle . “ What Moore is about you may know better than I do ; I hope he “will soon be as free as air. Frere is gone by sea to Malta with a “sick wife. An article in the last Quarterly on Mitchell’s Aristo- “ pha?ies is his. Lord Holland is again on his crutches, but as gay 4 4 as ever. He desires to be most kindly remembered to you. “ What is to become of Naples ? of England ? Of the last you know “at least as much as we do. Whether the Ministers go out — whether RISK OF A MASSACRE. *39 1820.] By last post I wrote to you, detailing the murder of the Commandant here. I picked him up shot in the Street at 8 in the Evening; and perceiving that his adjutant and the Soldiers about him had lost their heads completely with rage and alarm, I carried him to my house, where he lay a corpse till next day, when they removed him. Did you receive this my letter? They thought a row was coming — and indeed it was likely — in which the Soldiers would have been massacred. As I am well with the Liberals of the Country, it was another reason for me to succour them; for I thought that, in case of a tumult, I could, by my personal influence with some of the popular Chiefs, protect these surrounded soldiers, who are but five or six hundred against five and twenty thousand : and you see, few as they are, that they keep picking them off daily. It is as dangerous for that, as ever it was in the middle ages. They are a fierce people, and at present roused ; and the end no one can tell. As you don't deserve a longer letter, nor any letter at all, I conclude. Yours, B. ‘ ‘ the Queen is to have a palace or a vote of censure — whether the “ King is ill or well — comfortable or miserable, dying or love-sick — I “know no more than old Ali blockaded in his tower. Farewell, “ my dear Byron ; very soon I shall write again, for I have no more “right to a letter from you than to the crown of Persia. Farewell, “ and believe me to be “ Ever yours very affectionately, “Samv Rogers. “ The report of your being seen in a curricle in Parliament Street “produced as great a sensation as her Majesty’s first appearance, “and I am very sure you would have been as warmly welcomed. “The world is on tiptoe to see you in any shape. In the mean “ time a forgery or two is issuing from the press to gratify the most “ impatient.” 140 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. P.S. — The Officers came in a body to thank me, etc., etc. ; but they might as well have let it alone ; for, in the first place, it was but for a common act of decency, and, in the next, their coming may put me in odium with the liberals ; and, in that case, it would do them no good, nor me either. The other night (since the assassination), Fletcher was stopped three times in the Street ; but, on perceiving who he was, they apologized and bade him pass on : the querists were probably on the look out for Somebody ; they are very indefatigable in such researches. Send me proofs of the Hints , that I may correct them or alter. You are losing (like a Goose) the best time for publishing the Dante and the Tragedy : now is the moment for Italian subjects. 855. — To Francis Hodgson. Ravenna, io b . re 22, 1820. My dear Hodgson, — My sister tells me that you desire to hear from me. I have not written to you since I left England, nearly five years ago. I have no excuse for this silence except laziness, which is none. Where I am my date will tell you ; what I have been doing would but little interest you, as it regards another country and another people, and would be almost speaking another language, for my own is not quite so familiar to me as it used to be. We have here the sepulchre of Dante and the forest of Dryden and Boccaccio, all in very poetical preserva- tion. I ride and write, and have here some Italian friends and connections of both sexes, horses and dogs, and the usual means and appliances of life, which passes chequered as usual (and with all) with good and evil. SOME OLD FRIENDS. 1820.] M 1 Few English pass by this place, and none remain, which renders it a much more eligible residence for a man who would rather see them in England than out of it ; they are best at home ; for out of it they but raise the price of the necessaries and vices of other countries, and carry little back to their own, except such things as you have lately seen and heard of in the Queen’s trial. Your friend Denman 1 is making a figure. I am glad of it ; he had all the auguries of a superior man about him before I left the country. Hobhouse is a Radical, and is doing great things in that somewhat violent line of politics. His intellect will bear him out ; but, though I do not disapprove of his cause, I by no means envy him his company. Our friend Scrope 2 is dished, diddled, and done up ; what he is our mutual friends have written to me somewhat more coldly than I think our former con- nections with him warrant : but where he is I know not, for neither they nor he have informed me. Remember me to Harry Drury. He wrote to me a year ago to subscribe to the Harrow New School erection ; 3 but my name has not now value enough to be placed among 1. Thomas Denman (1779-1854), created (1834) first Lord Denman, and Lord Chief Justice (1832), defended the queen as her solicitor- general, though his unfortunate peroration, alluding to the story of the woman taken in adultery, gave rise to the epigram — “ Most gracious queen, we thee implore To go away and sin no more ; Or, if that effort be too great, To go away at any rate.” A brilliant scholar, Denman had been a member of a “social club “or circle,” to which Hodgson, Drury, Bland, Merivale, and others belonged. 2. For Scrope Davies, see Letters , vol. i. p. 165, note 2. Ruined at play, he had escaped to the Continent. 3. In 1819 and 1820, at a cost of upwards of ^5000. a new wing, containing speech-room, class-rooms, and library, was added to the old School . — Harrow School (1898), edited by E. W. Howson and G. T. Warner, p, 33. 142 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. my old schoolfellows, and as to the trifle which can come from a solitary subscriber, that is not worth mentioning. Some zealous politicians wrote to me to come over to the Queen’s trial ; it was a business with which I should have been sorry to have had anything to do ; in which they who voted her guilty cut but a dirty figure. . . . Such a coroner’s inquest upon criminal conversation has nothing very alluring in it, and I was obliged to her for personal civilities (when in England), and would there- fore rather avoid sitting in judgment upon her, either for guilt or innocence, as it is an ungracious office. Murray sent me your Friends , which I thought very good and classical. The scoundrels of scribblers are trying to run down Pope , but I hope in vain. It is my intention to take up the cudgels in that controversy, and to do my best to keep the Swan of Thames in his true place. This comes of Southey and Wordsworth and such renegado rascals with their systems. I hope you will not be silent ; it is the common concern of all men of common sense, imagination, and a musical ear. I have already written somewhat thereto and shall do more, and will not strike soft blows in a battle. You will have seen that the Quarterly has had the sense and spirit to support Pope in an article upon Bowles; it is a good beginning. I do not know the author of that article, but I suspect Israeli , an indefatigable and an able writer. What are you about — poetry? I direct to Bake well, but I do not know for certain. To save you a double letter, I close this with the present sheet. Yours ever, B. A PROJECTED NEWSPAPER. M3 1820.] 856. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, Dec. 25, 1820. You will or ought to have received the packet and letters which I remitted to your address a fortnight ago (or it may be more days), and I shall be glad of an answer, as, in these times and places, packets per post are in some risk of not reaching their destination. I have been thinking of a project for you and me, in case we both get to London again, which (if a Neapolitan war don’t suscitate) may be calculated as possible for one of us about the spring of 1821. I presume that you, too, will be back by that time, or never ; but on that you will give me some index. The project, then, is for you and me to set up jointly a newspaper 1 — nothing more nor less — weekly, or so, with some improvement or modifications upon the plan of the present scoundrels, who degrade that department, — but a newspaper , which we will edite in due form, and, nevertheless, with some attention. There must always be in it a piece of poesy from one or other of us two, leaving room, however, for such dilettanti rhymers as may be deemed worthy of appearing in the same column : but this must be a sine qua non ; and also as much prose as we can compass. We will take an office — our names 7 iot announced, but suspected — and, by the blessing of Providence, give the age some new lights upon policy, poesy, biography, criticism, morality, theology, and all other ism, ality, and ology whatsoever. I. Moore, in his Diary, January 12, 1821, says, “A letter from “Lord Byron yesterday; in which he tells me of his intention to “ visit England next spring, and proposes (as a means of paying my “debts) that he and I should set up a newspaper together on his “arrival there” ( Memoirs , etc ., vol. iii. p. 189; see also ibid. , p. 285). In 1812 Moore had made the same proposal to Byron. 144 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. Why, man, if we were to take to this in good earnest, your debts would be paid off in a twelvemonth, and, by dint of a little diligence and practice, I doubt not that we could distance the common-place black- guards who have so long disgraced common sense and the common reader. They have no merit but practice and impudence, both of which we may acquire ; and, as for talent and culture, the devil’s in’t if such proofs as we have given of both can’t furnish out something better than the “ funeral baked meats” which have coldly set forth the breakfast table of all Great Britain for so many years. Now, what think you? Let me know; and recollect that, if we take to such an enterprise, we must do so in good earnest. Here is a hint, — do you make it a plan. We will modify it into as literary and classical a concern as you please, only let us put out our powers upon it, and it will most likely succeed. But you must live in London, and I also, to bring it to bear, and we must keep it a secret. As for the living in London, I would make that not difficult to you (if you would allow me), until we could see whether one means or other (the success of the plan, for instance) would not make it quite easy for you, as well as your family; and, in any case, we should have some fun, composing, correcting, supposing, inspecting, and supping together over our lucubrations. If you think this worth a thought, let me know, and I will begin to lay in a small literary capital of composition for the occasion. Yours ever affectionately, B. P.S. — If you thought of a middle plan between a Spec- tator and a newspaper, why not ? — only not on a Sunday, DON JUAN , CANTO V. 145 1820.] Not that Sunday is not an excellent day, but it is engaged already. We will call it the “ Tenda Rossa,” 1 the name Tassoni gave an answer of his in a controversy, in allusion to the delicate hint of Timour the Lame, to his enemies, by a “ Tenda ” of that colour, before he gave battle. Or we will call it Gli, or I Carbonari , if it so please you — or any other name full of “ pastime and prodigality,” which you may prefer. * * * Let me have an answer. I conclude poetically, with the bellman, “A “ merry Christmas to you ! ” 857.— To John Murray. R? io b i' e 28° 1820. D* M., — I have had no communication from you of any kind since the second reading of the Queen’s bill. I write merely to apprize you that, by this Post, I have transmitted to Mr. Douglas Kinnaird the fifth Canto of Don Juan ; and you will apply (if so disposed) to him for it. It consists of 155 Octave Stanzas, with a few notes. I wrote to you several times, and told you of the 1. Alessandro Tassoni (1565-1635), a native of Modena, published, in 1622, La Secchia Rapita , a mock-heroic poem, which was the forerunner of Boileau’s Lutrin and Pope’s Rape of the Lock. The allusion is explained by the following extract from the Vita di Alessandro Tassoni (p. xxiv.) of Muratori : — “Alveder questo nuovo assalto comincio il Tassoni a perder la “ pazienza, e montogli la senape al naso. II perche preso l’esempio “di Tamerlano, che nelle sue guerre, ed assedi esponeva prima una “ Tenda bia?ica in segno di general perdono; nell’ altro dl una “ Tenda rossa per indizio di morte a chi avesse preso l’armi contra “di lui, e nel terzo dl una Tenda nera per segno di un totale ester- “minio d’ ogni sesso, ed eta : pubblico anch’ egli nell’ anno 1613 “un Libro in Modena (benche nel Frontispizio si legga in Fran- 44 cofort) con questo titolo : Tenda Rossa , risposta di Girolamo “ Nomisenti a i Dialoghi di Falcidio MelampodioT VOL. V. L 146 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XX. various events, assassinations, etc., which have occurred here. War is certain. If you write, write soon. Yours, B. P.S. — Did you receive two letters, etc., from Galig- nani to me, which I enclosed to you long ago ? I sup- pose your answer must have been intercepted, as they were of importance to you, and you would naturally have acknowledged their arrival. A SUDDEN THOUGHT. 1 47 1821.] CHAPTER XXI. EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY, JANUARY 4 — FEBRUARY 27, 1821. Ravenna, January 4, 1821. “ A sudden thought strikes me.” Let me begin a Journal once more. The last I kept was in Switzerland, in record of a tour made in the Bernese Alps, which I made to send to my sister in 1816, and I suppose that she has it still, for she wrote to me that she was pleased with it. Another, and longer, I kept in 1813-1814, which I gave to Thomas Moore in the same year. This morning I gat me up late, as usual — weather bad — bad as England — worse. The snow of last week melting to the sirocco of to-day, so that there were two damned things at once. Could not even get to ride on horseback in the forest. Stayed at home all the morning — looked at the fire — wondered when the post would come. Post came at the Ave Maria, instead of half-past one o’clock, as it ought. Galignani’s Messengers , six in number — a letter from Faenza, but none from England. Very sulky in consequence (for there ought to have been letters), and ate in consequence a copious dinner; for when I am vexed, it makes me swallow quicker — but drank very little. I was out of spirits — read the papers — thought what fame was, on reading, in a case of murder, that “ Mr. 148 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. 44 Wych, grocer, at Tunbridge, sold some bacon, flour, 44 cheese, and, it is believed, some plums, to some gipsy 44 woman accused. He had on his counter (I quote faith- 44 fully) a book y the Life of Pamela, which he was tearing 44 for waste paper, etc., etc. In the cheese was found, etc.,. 44 and a leaf of Pamela wrapt round the bacon.” What would Richardson , 1 the vainest and luckiest of living 1. Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) used to say of Fielding that “had he not known who Fielding was, he should have believed he “was an ostler ” (Boswell’s Life of Johnson , ed. G. B. Hill, vol. ii. p. 174). In his Correspondence (vol. vi. p. 154) he says, “ Poor “Fielding! I could not help telling his sister that I was equally “surprised at and concerned for his continued lowness.” Again, writing to Mrs. Donnellan, February 22, 1752, Richardson says (ibid., vol. iv. p. 59), “ Mr. Fielding has over-written himself, or “rather under- written; and in his own journal seems ashamed of “his last piece ; and has promised that the same Muse shall write “ no more for him. The piece, in short, is as dead as if it had “ been published forty years ago, as to sale.” Speaking of Richardson’s vanity, Dr. Johnson told Mrs. Piozzi (Autobiography of Mrs. Piozzi, ed. Hayward, vol. i. p. 31 1) that Richardson “ died merely from want of change among his flatterers ; “he perished for want of more , like a man obliged to breathe the “ same air till it is exhausted.” Boswell illustrates the same feature in Richardson’s character in the following note (Life of Dr. Johnson , vol. iv. pp. 28, 29, note 7) : “ One day at his country house at Northend, where a large company “was assembled at dinner, a gentleman who was just returned from “ Paris, willing to please Mr. Richardson, mentioned to him a “ very flattering circumstance, — that he had seen his Clarissa lying on “ the King’s brother’s table. Richardson, observing that part of the “company were engaged in talking to each other, affected then not “ to attend to it. But by and by, when there was a general silence, “ and he thought that the flattery might be fully heard, he addressed “ himself to the gentleman, ‘ I think, sir, you were saying something “about ’ pausing in a high flutter of expectation. The gentle- “man, provoked at his inordinate vanity, resolved not to indulge it, “and with an exquisitely sly air of indifference, answered, ‘A mere “ trifle, sir, not worth repeating.’ ” Among Richardson’s flatterers was Aaron Hill (1685-1750), whose correspondence with Pope is published in Pope’s JVorhs, ed. Courthope, vol. x. pp. 1-78. He gratified Richardson, as well as his own feelings, by abusing Pope. Thus, writing, September 10, 1744, to Richardson, he says, “Mr. Pope, as you with equal keenness and “propriety express it, is go?ie out. I told a friend of his, who sent “ me the first news of it, that I was very sorry for his death, because 44 1 doubted whether he would live to recover the accident. Indeed, THE SEXTON OF AUTHORSHIP. 149 1821.] authors (i.e. while alive) — he who, with Aaron Hill, used to prophesy and chuckle over the presumed fall of Fielding 1 (the prose Homer of human nature) and of Pope (the most beautiful of poets) — what would he have said, could he have traced his pages from their place on the French prince’s toilets (see Boswell’s Johnson) to the grocer’s counter and the gipsy-murderess’s bacon ! ! ! What would he have said ? What can any body say, save what Solomon said long before us ? After all, it is but passing from one counter to another, from the book- seller’s to the other tradesman’s — grocer or pastry-cook. For my part, I have met with most poetry upon trunks ; so that I am apt to consider the trunk-maker as the sexton of authorship. Wrote five letters in about half an hour, short and savage, to all my rascally correspondents. Carriage came. Heard the news of three murders at Faenza and Forli — a carabinier, a smuggler, and an attorney — all last night. The two first in a quarrel, the latter by premeditation. Three weeks ago — almost a month — the 7th it was — I picked up the commandant, mortally wounded, out of “ it gives me no surprise, to find you thinking he was in the wane of “his popularity. It arose, originally, but from meditated little per- sonal assiduities, and a certain bladdery swell of management.” 1. Byron admired Fielding’s democratic spirit. See Detached Thoughts , No. 1 16. Johnson (Boswell’s Life, ed. G. B. Hill, vol. ii. p. 48), comparing Fielding with Richardson, says, “There is all ‘ £ the difference in the world between characters of nature and “ characters of manners ; and there is the difference between the “characters of Fielding and those of Richardson.” He disparaged Fielding as much as he admired Richardson. On the other hand, S. T. Coleridge exclaims, “What a “ master of composition Fielding was! Upon my word, I think “ the CEdipus Tyr annus, the Alchemist , and Tom Jones, the three “ most perfect plots ever planned. And how charming, how whole- some, Fielding always is! To take him up after Richardson is “like emerging from a sick-room, heated by stoves, into an open “ lawn, on a breezy day in May.” — Table Talk (July 5, 1834). ISO EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. the street ; he died in my house ; assassins unknown, but presumed political. His brethren wrote from Rome last night to thank me for having assisted him in his last moments. Poor fellow ! it was a pity ; he was a good soldier, but imprudent. It was eight in the evening when they killed him. We heard the shot ; my servants and I ran out, and found him expiring, with five wounds, two whereof mortal — by slugs they seemed. I examined him, but did not go to the dissection next morning. Carriage at 8 or so — went to visit La Contessa G. — found her playing on the piano-forte — talked till ten, when the Count, her father, and the no less Count, her brother, came in from the theatre. Play, they said, Alfieri’s Fileppo 1 — well received. Two days ago the King of Naples passed through Bologna on his way to congress. 2 My servant Luigi 1. Alfieri Fileppo appeared in 1783. The scene is laid at Madrid, in 1568. Philip II., Don Carlos, and Elizabeth daughter of Henry II. of France, once betrothed to Don Carlos, but afterwards the third wife of Philip II., are the principal characters. Ranieri de’ Calsabigi, writing to Alfieri, August 20, 1783, calls Philip “the Spanish Tiberius,” and quotes Tacitus’s description of the emperor. Alfieri, in his reply, September 6, 1783, accepts the parallel and the model. Possibly this correspondence may have suggested to Byron the choice of Tiberius (see p. 189) as a subject for a play. 2. That is, to the Congress at Laybach. After the outbreak of the Spanish Revolution of March, 1820, the Czar (April 18) proposed that the sovereigns of Europe should jointly intervene to uphold monarchical principles. The opposition of England prevented inter- vention ; but the project was revived after the Neapolitan Revolution in July, 1820. Though England again protested, a meeting of sovereigns was arranged at Troppau, in Bohemia, in October. There the Czar, the Emperor of Austria, and the Prince of Prussia sanctioned the principle of joint intervention by the three allied sovereigns to resist, and, if necessary, suppress, all popular changes. This principle was to be at once applied in the case of Naples. On the invitation of the allied sovereigns, King Ferdinand of Naples met them at Laybach, in Carniola, in January, 1821. By a letter, which reached Naples February 9, the Duke of Calabria, as viceroy, was informed that these Powers would not tolerate a constitution sprung from revolution, and that, as a pledge of order, the country ADDITION TO FAMILY OF VICES. 1821.] 151 brought the news. I had sent him to Bologna for a lamp. 'How will it end? Time will show. Came home at eleven, or rather before. If the road and weather are comfortable, mean to ride to-morrow. High time — almost a week at this work — snow, sirocco, one day — frost and snow the other — sad climate for Italy. But the two seasons, last and present, are extraordinary. Read a Life of Leonardo da Vinci by Rossi 1 — ruminated — wrote this much, and will go to bed. January 5, 1821. Rose late — dull and drooping — the weather dripping and dense. Snow on the ground, and sirocco above in the sky, like yesterday. Roads up to the horse’s belly, so that riding (at least for pleasure) is not very feasible. Added a postscript to my letter to Murray. Read the conclusion, for the fiftieth time (I have read all W. Scott’s novels at least fifty times), of the third series of Tales of my Landlord — grand work — Scotch Fielding, as well as great English poet — wonderful man ! I long to get drunk with him. Dined versus six o’ the clock. Forgot that there was a plum-pudding, (I have added, lately, eating to my “ family of vices,”) and had dined before I knew it. Drank half a bottle of some sort of spirits — probably spirits of wine; for what they call brandy, rum, etc., etc., here is nothing but spirits of wine, coloured accordingly. Did not eat two apples, which were placed by way of would be occupied by an Austrian army. Three days before the arrival of the letter, the Austrians had crossed the Po (February 6). For Byron’s address to the Neapolitan insurgents, see Appendix V. 1. Possibly Bossi should be read for Rossi. There are two books by Giuseppe Bossi, the painter, on Leonardo da Vinci : (1) Del Cenacolo di Leonardo da Vinci , Libri quattro, Milano, 1810 9 fol. (2) Delle Opinioni di Leonardo da Vinci intorno alia simmetria dd corpiumani , discorso , Milano, 18 11 ,fol. EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. dessert. Fed the two cats, the hawk, and the tame (but not tamed) crow. Read Mitford’s History of Greece 1 — Xenophon’s Retreat of the Te?i Thousand. . Up to this present moment writing, 6 minutes before eight o’ the clock — French hours, not Italian. Hear the carriage — order pistols and great coat, as usual — necessary articles. Weather cold — carriage open, and inhabitants somewhat savage — rather treacherous and highly inflamed by politics . 2 Fine fellows, though, — good materials for a nation. Out of chaos God made a world, and out of high passions comes a people. Clock strikes — going out to make love. Somewhat perilous, but not disagreeable. Memorandum — a new screen put up to-day. It is rather antique, but will do with a little repair. Thaw continues — hopeful that riding may be prac- ticable to-morrow. Sent the papers to All 1 . — grand events coming. 1 1 o’ the clock and nine minutes. Visited La Con- tessa G[uiccioli] nata G[hisleri] G[amba]. Found her beginning my letter of answer to the thanks of Alessio del Pinto of Rome for assisting his brother the late Commandant in his last moments, as I had begged her to pen my reply for the purer Italian, I being an ultra- montane, little skilled in the set phrase of Tuscany. Cut short the letter — finish it another day. Talked of Italy, 1. William Mitford (1744-1827) published his History of Greece in 1784-1810. For Byron’s opinion of the book, see Don Canto XII. stanza xix. note . 44 His great pleasure consists in praising 44 tyrants, abusing Plutarch, spelling oddly, and writing quaintly : 44 and, what is strange, after all, his is the best modern history of 44 Greece in any language, and he is the best, perhaps, of all modern “historians whatsoever,” etc., etc. 2. Antonio Canonico Tarlazzi (1801-1891), a native of Ravenna, who remembered Byron well, told Mr. Richard Edgcumbe that Byron used to meet the 44 Young Italy” party at night at the Osteria Bbracina , now pulled down, outside the Porta San Mamante. bacon's apophthegms. 153 1821.] patriotism, Alfieri, Madame Albany, 1 and other branches of learning. Also Sallust's Conspiracy of Catiline , and the War of Jugurtha. At 9 came in her brother, II Conte Pietro— at 10, her father, Conte Ruggiero. Talked of various modes of warfare — of the Hun- garian and Highland modes of broad-sword exercise, in both whereof I was once a moderate “ master of fence.” Settled that the R. will break out on the 7th or 8th of March, in which appointment I should trust, had it not been settled that it was to have broken out in October, 1820. But those Bolognese shirked the Romagnuoles. “ It is all one to Ranger.” 2 One must not be par- ticular, but take rebellion when it lies in the way. Come home — read the Ten Thousand again, and will go to bed. Mem. — Ordered Fletcher (at four o’clock this after- noon) to copy out seven or eight apophthegms of Bacon, 3 in which I have detected such blunders as a schoolboy might detect rather than commit. Such are the sages ! What must they be, when such as I can stumble on their mistakes or misstatements ? I will go to bed, for I find that I grow cynical. 1. The Comtesse d’Albany, 7 iee Stolberg (1753-1824), married in 1772 the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stuart, whom she left in 1780. She lived with Alfieri from about 1780, in Rome, at Paris, and, after the outbreak of the French Revolution, at Florence. It has been said that, on the death of Charles Edward, in 1788, she was married to Alfieri ; but of this there is little or no evidence. On the other hand, her influence on his literary work as a clever well-read woman, half French, half German, was undoubtedly great. After Alfieri’s death, in 1803, she attached herself to Francis Fabre, a French painter, to whom she left the library and manu- scripts of Alfieri. Of her salo?i at Florence an account is given in the Life of George Ticknor , vol. i. pp. 183, 184. 2. In The Suspicious Husband (1747) by Benjamin Hoadly, act v. sc. 2, “ Ranger” says, “Up mounted I; and up I should have “gone, if it had been in the garret — it’s all one to Ranger.” 3. See Appendix VI. i54 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. January 6, 1821. Mist — thaw — slop — rain. No stirring out on horse- back. Read Spence’s Anecdotes . Pope a fine fellow — always thought him so. Corrected blunders in nine apophthegms of Bacon — all historical — and read Mitford’s Greece . Wrote an epigram. Turned to a passage in Guinguene 1 — ditto in Lord Holland’s Lope de Vega? Wrote a note on Do?i Juan . At eight went out to visit. Heard a little music — like music. Talked with Count Pietro G. of the Italian comedian Vestris, who is now at Rome — have seen him often act in Venice — a good actor — very. Somewhat of a mannerist ; but excellent in broad comedy, as well as in the sentimental pathetic. He has made me frequently 1. Pierre Louis Ginguene (1748-1816), who under the Republic was French ambassador at Turin, began to publish his Histoire Litter aire de V Italie , in 1811. The work, completed by Salfi, occupies 14 volumes, 1811-35. 2. “ Till Voltaire appeared, there was no nation more ignorant of “its neighbours’ literature than the French. He first exposed, and “ then corrected, this neglect in his countrymen. There is no writer “to whom the authors of other nations, especially of England, are “ so indebted for the extension of their fame in France, and, through “France, in Europe. There is no critic who has employed more “ time, wit, ingenuity, and diligence in promoting the literary inter- “ course between country and country, and in celebrating in one “language the triumphs of another. Yet, by a strange fatality, he “ is constantly represented as the enemy of all literature but his “own; and Spaniards, Englishmen, and Italians vie with each “ other in inveighing against his occasional exaggeration of faulty “passages; the authors of which, till he pointed out their beauties, ‘ i were hardly known beyond the country in which their language “was spoken. Those who feel such indignation at his misrepre- sentations and oversights would find it difficult to produce a critic “ in any modern language, who, in speaking of foreign literature, is “better informed or more candid than Voltaire ; and they certainly ‘ { never would be able to discover one who to those qualities unites “so much sagacity and liveliness.” — Some Account of the Life and Writings of Lope Felix de Vega Carpio , ed. 1817 (published with Lord Holland’s name), vol. i. p. 216. (See Appendix VI. for Byron’s use of this passage at the end of his correction of Bacon’s Apophthegms.) CHRONIC ENNUI. 1821.] 155 laugh and cry, neither of which is now a very easy matter — at least, for a player to produce in me. Thought of the state of women under the ancient Greeks — convenient enough. Present state a remnant of the barbarism of the chivalric and feudal ages — artificial and unnatural. They ought to mind home — and be well fed and clothed — but not mixed in society. Well educated, too, in religion — but to read neither poetry nor politics — nothing but books of piety and cookery. Music — draw- ing — dancing — also a little gardening and ploughing now and then. I have seen them mending the roads in Epirus with good success. Why not, as well as haymaking and milking ? Came home, and read Mitford again, and played with my mastiff — gave him his supper. Made another reading to the epigram, but the turn the same. To-night at the theatre, there being a prince on his throne in the last scene of the comedy, — the audience laughed, and asked him for a Constitution. This shows the state of the public mind here, as well as the assassinations. It won’t do. There must be an universal republic, — and there ought to be. The crow is lame of a leg — wonder how it happened — some fool trod upon his toe, I suppose. The falcon pretty brisk — the cats large and noisy — the monkeys I have not looked to since the cold weather, as they suffer by being brought up. Horses must be gay — get a ride as soon as weather serves. Deuced muggy still — an Italian winter is a sad thing, but all the other seasons are charming. What is the reason that I have been, all my lifetime, more or less emmy'e ? and that, if any thing, I am rather less so now than I was at twenty, as far as my recollection serves ? I do not know how to answer this, but presume 156 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. that it is constitutional, — as well as the waking in low spirits, which I have invariably done for many years. Temperance and exercise, which I have practised at times, and for a long time together vigorously and violently, made little or no difference. Violent passions did; — when under their immediate influence — it is odd, but — I was in agitated, but not in depressed, spirits. A dose of salts has the effect of a temporary inebria- tion, like light champagne, upon me. But wine and spirits make me sullen and savage to ferocity — silent, however, and retiring, and not quarrelsome, if not spoken to. Swimming also raises my spirits, — but in general they are low, and get daily lower. That is hopeless : for I do not think I am so much e?muye as I was at nineteen. The proof is, that then I must game, or drink, or be in motion of some kind, or I was miserable. At present, I can mope in quietness; and like being alone better than any company — except the lady's whom I serve. But I feel a something, which makes me think that, if I ever reach near to old age, like Swift, “ I shall die at “top" first . 1 Only I do not dread idiotism or madness so much as he did. On the contrary, I think some quieter stages of both must be preferable to much of what men think the possession of their senses. January 7, 1821, Sunday. Still rain — mist — snow — drizzle — and all the incal- culable combinations of a climate where heat and cold struggle for mastery. Read Spence, and turned over I. “I remember as I and others were taking with Swift an even- 4 4 ing walk, about a mile out of Dublin, he stopped short : we passed 44 on ; but perceiving he did not follow us, I went back and found 4 4 him fixed as a statue, and earnestly gazing upwards at a noble elm, 44 which, in its uppermost branches, was much withered and decayed. “Pointing at it, he said, 4 1 shall be like that tree, I shall die at 44 top.’ ” — Dr. Young, in his Letter to Richardson. J?a,T/e7inO' t/. l82I.] conspiracy and counter-stroke. 157 Roscoe, 1 to find a passage I have not found. Read the fourth vol. of W. Scott’s second series of Tales of my Landlord. Dined. Read the Lugano Gazette . Read — I forget what. At eight went to conversazione. Found there the Countess Geltrude, 2 Betti V. and her husband, and others. Pretty black-eyed woman that — only nine- teen — same age as Teresa, who is prettier, though. The Count Pietro G[amba] took me aside to say that the Patriots have had notice from Forli (twenty miles off) that to-night the government and its party mean to strike a stroke — that the Cardinal here has had orders to make several arrests immediately, and that, in consequence, the Liberals are arming, and have posted patroles in the streets, to sound the alarm and give notice to fight for it. He asked me “ what should be done ? ” I answered, “ Fight for it, rather than be taken in detail ; ” and offered, if any of them are in immediate apprehension of arrest, to receive them in my house (which is defensible), and to defend them, with my servants and themselves (we have arms and ammunition), as long as we can, — or to try to get them away under cloud of night. On going home, I offered him the pistols which I had about me — but he refused, but said he would come off to me in case of accidents. It wants half an hour of midnight, and rains; — as Gibbet says, “ a fine night for their enterprise — dark as “ hell, and blows like the devil.” 3 If the row don’t happen now, it must soon. I thought that their system of shooting people would soon produce a re-action — and now it seems coming. I will do what I can in the way 1. William Roscoe (1753-1831) had already published his two historical works : The Life of Lorenzo dd Medici , called the Magnificetit ( 1 796), and The Life a 7 id Po?itificate of Leo the Tenth (1805). 2. Sic in Moore. 3. Beaux ’ Stratagem, act iv. sc. 2. 158 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. of combat, though a little out of exercise. The cause is a good one. Turned over and over half a score of books for the passage in question, and can't find it. Expect to hear the drum and the musquetry momently (for they swear to resist, and are right,) — but I hear nothing, as yet, save the plash of the rain and the gusts of the wind at intervals. Don't like to go to bed, because I hate to be waked, and would rather sit up for the row, if there is to be one. Mended the fire — have got the arms — and a book or two, which I shall turn over. I know little of their numbers, but think the Carbonari 1 strong enough to beat the troops, even here. With twenty men this house might be defended for twenty-four hours against any force to be brought against it, now in this place, for the same time ; and, in such a time, the country would have notice, and would rise, — if ever they will rise, of which there is some doubt. In the mean time, I may as well read as do any thing else, being alone. 1. The Italian Carbonari owed their origin, statutes, and ritual to the Freemasons (Saint-Edme, Constitution , etc., des Carbonari , pp. 7, 8). Much of their secret phraseology was, on the other hand, taken from the charcoal-burners ; thus a Carbonari lodge was a barraca (hut), and a meeting a vendita (sale). Founded as a political society by the “republican refugees, who fled from Joseph Buona- parte’s rule to the Abruzzi and Calabria” (Bolton King, History of Italia 7 i Unity , vol. i. p. 19), they spread over Italy, though Naples remained the centre of their organization. In the society were included royalists and republicans, papalists and anti-papalists, soldiers, men of letters, priests, and officials. It linked together Neapolitan Carbonari and Murattists, detesting Bourbon rule ; Pied- montese Adel ft, cherishing ideals of a free and united Italy ; Lombard Federali, inspired by the romantic movement to social and literary revolt ; and the “ American hunters” of the Romagna, whose Capo was Byron. But the bond was one of disaffection, not of principle. In want of cohesion and in diversity of political aims lay the fatal weakness of the society. The movement which it helped to prepare, neither popular nor national, collapsed (see p. 8, 7 iote 1), and Mazzini and the later Italian patriots set their faces against the association. THE CARBONARI. J S9 1821.] January 8, 1821, Monday. Rose, and found Count P. G. in my apartments. Sent away the servant. Told me that, according to the best information, the Government had not issued orders for the arrests apprehended; that the attack in Forli had not taken place (as expected) by the Sanfedisti — the opponents of the Carbo?iari or Liberals — and that, as yet, they are still in apprehension only. Asked me for some arms of a better sort, which I gave him. Settled that, in case of a row, the Liberals were to assemble here (with me), and that he had given the word to Vincenzo G. and others of the Chiefs for that purpose. He himself and father are going to the chase in the forest ; but V. G. is to come to me, and an express to be sent off to him, P. G., if any thing occurs. Concerted operations. They are to seize — but no matter. I advised them to attack in detail, and in different parties, in different places (though at the same time), so as to divide the attention of the troops, who, though few, yet being disciplined, would beat any body of people (not trained) in a regular fight — unless dispersed in small parties, and distracted with different assaults. Offered to let them assemble here if they choose. It is a strongish post — narrow street, commanded from within — and tenable walls. Dined. Tried on a new coat. Letter to Murray, with corrections of Bacon's Apophthegms and an epigram — the latter not for publication. At eight went to Teresa, Countess G. At nine and a half came in II Conte P. and Count P. G. Talked of a certain proclamation lately issued. Count R. G. had been with * * (the * *), to sound him about the arrests. He, * *, is a trimmer, and deals, at present, his cards with both hands. If he don’t mind, they’ll be full. * * pretends (/ doubt him l6o EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. — they don’t, — we shall see) that there is no such order, and seems staggered by the immense exertions of the Neapolitans, and the fierce spirit of the Liberals here. The truth is, that * * cares for little but his place (which is a good one), and wishes to play pretty with both parties. He has changed his mind thirty times these last three moons, to my knowledge, for he corresponds with me. But he is not a bloody fellow — only an avaricious one. It seems that, just at this moment (as Lydia Languish 1 says), “ there will be no elopement after all.” I wish that I had known as much last night — or, rather, this morning — I should have gone to bed two hours earlier. And yet I ought not to complain ; for, though it is a sirocco, and heavy rain, I have not yawned for these two days. Came home — read History of Greece — before dinner had read Walter Scott’s Rob Roy . Wrote address to the letter in answer to Alessio del Pinto, who has thanked me for helping his brother (the late Commandant, murdered here last month) in his last moments. Have told him I only did a duty of humanity — as is true. The brother lives at Rome. Mended the fire with some sgobole (a Romagnuole word), and gave the falcon some water. Drank some Seltzer-water. Mem. — received to-day a print, or etching, of the story of Ugolino, by an Italian painter — different, of course, from Sir Joshua Reynolds’s, and I think (as far as recollection goes) no worse, for Reynolds’s is not good in history . 2 Tore a button in my new coat. 1. “ Lyclia Languish” in The Rivals , act iv. sc. 2 — “ So ! — there will be no elopement after all ! ” ( sullenly ) 2. Med win ( Angler in Wales , vol. ii. pp. 178, 179), speaking of Byron’s palace at Pisa, says, “ I found him in his sanctum. The 1 82 I.] VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES . l6l I wonder what figure these Italians will make in a regular row. I sometimes think that, like the Irishman’s gun (somebody had sold him a crooked one), they will only do for “ shooting round a corner ; ” at least, this sort of shooting has been the late tenor of their exploits. And yet there are materials in this people, and a noble energy, if well directed. But who is to direct them? No matter. Out of such times heroes spring. Diffi- culties are the hotbeds of high spirits, and Freedom the mother of the few virtues incident to human nature. Tuesday, January 9, 1821. Rose — the day fine. Ordered the horses; but Lega (my secretary , an Italianism for steward or chief servant) coming to tell me that the painter had finished the work in L fresco for the room he has been employed on lately, I went to see it before I set out. The painter has not copied badly the prints from Titian, etc., considering all things. Dined. Read Johnson’s Vanity of Human Wishes , — all the examples and mode of giving them sublime, as well as the latter part, with the exception of an occasional couplet. I do not so much admire the opening. I remember an observation of Sharpe’s, (the Conversationist, as he was called in London, and a very clever man,) that the first line of this poem was super- fluous, and that Pope (the best of poets, /think,) would have begun at once, only changing the punctuation — “ Survey mankind from China to Peru.” 1 “walls of it were stained, and against them hung a picture of “ Ugolino, in the Torre Della fame , the work of one of the Guiccioli’s “ sisters, and a miniature of Ada.” I. For Richard Sharp, see Letters , vol. ii. p. 341, note 2. He had been a wholesale hatter, and was of a peculiarly dark com- plexion. “ Somebody said that he had transferred the colour of his VOL. V. M 162 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. The former line, “ Let observation,” etc., is certainly heavy and useless. But ’tis a grand poem — and so true ! — true as the ioth of Juvenal himself. The lapse of ages changes all things — time — language— the earth — the bounds of the sea — the stars of the sky, and every thing “ about, around, and underneath ” man, except man himself , who has always been, and always will be, an unlucky rascal. The infinite variety of lives conduct but to death, and the infinity of wishes lead but to disappointment . 1 “hats to his face, when Luttrell said that c it was darkness which “might be felt’” (Greville Memoirs , vol. i. p. 249). Byron refers to the following passage : — 6 ‘ There is another offence against simplicity which should be “ shunned ; though it occurs often in Johnson, and though the “abstract terms, affected by him, give a kind of false pomp to the “style, assuming the air of personification. He thus commences “ his imitation of the tenth satire of Juvenal — “ ‘ Let observation, with extensive view, Survey mankind from China to Peru. , “ Dryden and Pope would have been satisfied with the second line, “ and would have avoided both the tautology and pomposity of the “ first.” — Sharp’s Letters and Essays hi Prose and Verse> pp. 35, 36, ed. 1834. Johnson (Boswell’s Life> vol. i. p. 403) himself discussed this question of abrupt openings. Speaking of Gray, he says, “His “ Ode> which begins — “ ‘ Ruin seize thee, ruthless King, Confusion on thy banners wait ! ’ “has been celebrated for its abruptness, and plunging into the “ subject all at once. But such arts as these have no merit, unless “when they are original. We admire them only once; and this “abruptness has nothing new in it. We have had it often before. “Nay, we have it in the old song of Johnny Armstrong — “ * Is there ever a man in all Scotland From the highest estate to the lowest degree,’ etc. ‘ ‘ And then, sir, “ ‘ Yes, there is a man in Westmoreland, And Johnny Armstrong they do him call.’ ” I . “ Time hovers o’er, impatient to destroy, And shuts up all the passages of joy : In vain their gifts the bounteous seasons pour, The fruit autumnal, and the vernal flow’r ; With listless eyes the dotard views the store, He views, and wonders that they please no more.” Vanity of Human Wishes . 1821 .] war, or rumours of war. 163 All the discoveries which have yet been made have multiplied little but existence. An extirpated disease is succeeded by some new pestilence; and a discovered world has brought little to the old one, except the p — first and freedom afterwards — the latter a fine thing, particularly as they gave it to Europe in exchange for slavery. But it is doubtful whether “the Sovereigns ” would not think the first the best present of the two to their subjects. At eight went out — heard some news. They say the King of Naples has declared by couriers from Florence, to the Powers (as they call now those wretches with crowns), that his Constitution was compulsive, etc., etc., and that the Austrian barbarians are placed again on war pay, and will march. Let them — “ they come like “ sacrifices in their trim,” 1 the hounds of hell ! Let it still be a hope to see their bones piled like those of the human dogs at Morat, in Switzerland, which I have seen. Heard some music. At nine the usual visitors — news, wa?\ or rumours of war. Consulted with P. G., etc., etc. They mean to insurrect here, and are to honour me with a call thereupon. I shall not fall back ; though I don't think them in force or heart sufficient to make much of it. But, onward I — it is now the time to act, and what signifies self, if a single spark of that which would be worthy of the past can be bequeathed un- quenchedly to the future? It is not one man, nor a million, but the spirit of liberty which must be spread. The waves which dash upon the shore are, one by one, broken, but yet the ocean conquers, nevertheless. It I. u Let them come ; They come like sacrifices in their trim, And to the fire-ey’d maid of smoky war, All hot, and bleeding, will we offer them. ,, King Henry IV . , Part I. act iv. sc. I. 164 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. overwhelms the Armada, it wears the rock, and, if the Nephmians are to be believed, it has not only destroyed, but made a world. In like manner, whatever the sacrifice of individuals, the great cause will gather strength, sweep down what is rugged, and fertilise (for sea-weed is manure) what is cultivable. And so, the mere selfish calculation ought never to be made on such occasions; and, at present, it shall not be computed by me. I was never a good arithmetician of chances, and shall not commence now. January 10, 1821. Day fine — rained only in the morning. Looked over accounts. Read Campbell’s Poets — marked errors of Tom (the author) for correction. Dined — went out — music — Tyrolese air, with variations. Sustained the cause of the original simple air against the variations of the Italian school. Politics somewhat tempestuous, and cloudier daily. To-morrow being foreign post-day, probably something more will be known. Came home — read. Corrected Tom Campbell’s slips of the pen. A good work, though — style affected — but his defence of Pope is glorious . 1 To be sure, it is his own cause too, — but no matter, it is very good, and does him great credit. Midnight. I have been turning over different Lives of the Poets. I rarely read their works, unless an occasional flight over I. To Campbell’s Specimens of the British Poets (9 vols., 1819) is prefixed an Essay o?i English Poetry , which concludes with a defence of Pope. The Essay , and the Lives prefixed to the Specimens , were republished separately in 1848, edited by Peter Cunningham. In this edition the defence of Pope occupies pp. 108-117. THE TALE OF TROY. 1821.] 165 the classical ones, Pope, Dry den, Johnson, Gray, and those who approach them nearest (I leave the rant of the rest to the cant of the day), and — I had made several reflections, but I feel sleepy, and may as well go to bed. January 11, 1821. Read the letters. Corrected the tragedy and the Hints from Horace . Dined, and got into better spirits. Went out — returned — finished letters, five in number. Read Poets , and an anecdote in Spence. All 1 , writes to me that the Pope, and Duke of Tuscany, and King of Sardinia, have also been called to Congress ; but the Pope will only deal there by proxy. So the interests of millions are in the hands of about twenty coxcombs, at a place called Leibach ! 1 I should almost regret that my own affairs went well, when those of nations are in peril. If the interests of mankind could be essentially bettered (particularly of these oppressed Italians), I should not so much mind my own “ sma peculiar.” God grant us all better times, or more philosophy ! In reading, I have just chanced upon an expression of Tom Campbell’s ; — speaking of Collins, he says that “ no reader cares any more about the characteristic “ manners of his Eclogues than about the authenticity of “ the tale of Troy.” 2 ’Tis false — we do care about “ the “ authenticity of the tale of Troy.” I have stood upon that plain daily , for more than a month in 1810; and if any thing diminished my pleasure, it was that the blackguard 1. See p. 8, note 1. 2. In Campbell’s life of William Collins ( Essay o?i English Poetry, ed. 1848, p. 270), he says, speaking of Collins’s pastoral eclogues, “ It seems that he himself ultimately undervalued those “eclogues, as deficient in characteristic manners ; but surely no just “ reader of them cares any more about this circumstance than about “ the authenticity of the tale of Troy.” 1 66 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. Bryant 1 had impugned its veracity. It is true I read Home r Travestied 2 3 (the first twelve books), because Hob- house and others bored me with their learned localities, and I love quizzing. But I still venerated the grand original as the truth of history (in the material facts) and of place . Otherwise, it would have given me no delight. Who will persuade me, when I reclined upon a mighty tomb, that it did not contain a hero ? — its very magnitude proved this. Men do not labour over the ignoble and petty dead — and why should not the dead be Homer's dead? The secret of Tom Campbell's defence of inaccu- racy in costume and description is, that his Gertrude? etc., has no more locality in common with Pennsylvania than with Penmanmaur. It is notoriously full of grossly false scenery, as all Americans declare, though they praise parts of the poem. It is thus that self-love for ever creeps out, like a snake, to sting anything which happens, even accidentally, to stumble upon it. January 12, 1821. The weather still so humid and impracticable, that London, in its most oppressive fogs, were a summer- bower to this mist and sirocco, which has now lasted 1. “ Pve stood upon Achilles’ tomb, And heard Troy doubted ; — time will doubt of Rome.” Don Juan , Canto IV. stanza ci. The first edition of Jacob Bryant’s Dissertation concerning the war of Troy , a 7 id the expedition of the Grecians , as described by Homer ; showing that no such expedition was ever undertaken , a?id that 710 such city of Phrygia existed , appeared in 1796. 2. Ho 77 ier Travestie ; Being a new translatmi of that great poet , appeared anonymously in 1720. It contained a translation of three books. A second edition, with four books translated by Cotton, junior, was printed in 1762. The third edition of this work, greatly enlarged, was published in 1770, under the title of A Burlesque T 7 'anslatio 7 i of Homer (i.e. of Books I. -XII. of the Iliad), with the real name of the author, T. Bridges. 3. Gertrude of Wyoming appeared in 1809. A PLAY FOR THE STUDY. 167 1821.] (but with one day’s interval), chequered with snow or heavy rain only, since the 30th of December, 1820. It is so far lucky that I have a literary turn ; — but it is very tiresome not to be able to stir out, in comfort, on any horse but Pegasus, for so many days. The roads are even worse than the weather, by the long splashing, and the heavy soil, and the growth of the waters. Read the Poets — English, that is to say — out of Campbell’s edition. There is a good deal of taffeta in some of Tom’s prefatory phrases, but his work is good as a whole. I like him best, though, in his own poetry. Murray writes that they want to act the Tragedy of Marino Faliero — more fools they, it was written for the closet. I have protested against this piece of usurpation, (which, it seems, is legal for managers over any printed work, against the author’s will) and I hope they will not attempt it. Why don’t they bring out some of the num- berless aspirants for theatrical celebrity, now encumbering their shelves, instead of lugging me out of the library ? I have written a fierce protest against any such attempt ; but I still would hope that it will not be necessary, and that they will see, at once, that it is not intended for the stage. It is too regular — the time, twenty-four hours — the change of place not frequent — nothing ;/^/ vol. ii. p. 267. See also Letters , vol. ii. p. 391, note 1. 2. General Richard Fitzpatrick (1747-1813), second son of the first Earl of Ossory, was for forty years the intimate friend of Fox. He was Secretary at War to the coalition ministry of 1783 ; and again in 1806, during the Fox and Grenville administration. He wrote various poetical trifles ; among others, The Bath Picture^*]*] 2), Do?dnda (1775). To The Rolliad he contributed “ The Lyars,” a political eclogue between Prettyman (sic) and Banks. 1821.] MARIA EDGEWORTH'S FATHER. 179 experience — for I never should have presumed so far as to contend with him — but by hearing him with others, and 0/ others) that it is not so easy a matter to “ dress him,” thought Mr. Edgeworth an assertor of what was not true. He could not have stood before Parr for an instant. For the rest, he seemed intelligent, vehement, vivacious, and full of life. He bids fair for a hundred years. He was not much admired in London, and I re- member a “ ryghte merrie ” and conceited jest which was rife among the gallants of the day, — viz. a paper had \ been presented for the recall of Mrs. Siddons to the stage , (she having lately taken leave, to the loss of ages, — for nothing ever was, or can be, like her,) to which all men had been called to subscribe. Whereupon Thomas Moore, of profane and poetical memory, did propose that a similar paper should be Ascribed and transcribed “ for the recall of Mr. Edgeworth to Ireland.” 1 The fact was — every body cared more about her. She was a nice little unassuming “ Jeanie Deans-looking body,” as we Scotch say — and, if not handsome, certainly not ill-looking. Her conversation was as quiet as herself. One would never have guessed she could write her name ; whereas her father talked, not as if he could write nothing else, but as if nothing else was worth writing. As for Mrs. Edgeworth, I forget — except that I think she was the youngest of the party. Altogether, they were an excellent cage of the kind ; and succeeded for two months, till the landing of Madame de Stael. To turn from them to their works, I admire them ; but they excite no feeling, and they leave no love — except for some Irish steward or postillion. However, the I. “ In this I rather think Byron was misinformed ; whatever “ merit there may be in the jest, I have not, as far as I can recollect, “ the slightest claim to it” (Moore). l8o EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. impression of intellect and prudence is profound — and may be useful. 1 January 21 , 1821. Rode — fired pistols. Read from Grimm’s Corre- spondence, Dined — went out — heard music — returned — wrote a letter to the Lord Chamberlain to request him to prevent the theatres from representing the Doge, which the Italian papers say that they are going to act. This is pretty work — what ! without asking my consent, and even in opposition to it ! January 21, 1821. Fine, clear, frosty day — that is to say, an Italian frost, for their winters hardly get beyond snow; for which reason nobody knows how to skate (or skait) — a Dutch and English accomplishment. Rode out, as usual, and fired pistols. Good shooting — broke four common, and rather small, bottles, in four shots, at fourteen paces, with a common pair of pistols and indifferent powder. Almost as good wafermg or shooting — considering the difference of powder and pistol, — as when, in 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, it was my luck to split walking-sticks, wafers, half-crowns, shillings, and even the eye of a 1. “In my first enthusiasm of admiration, I thought that [Miss 4 4 Edgeworth] had first made fiction useful ; but every fiction since 44 Homer has taught friendship, patriotism, generosity, contempt of “ death. These are the highest virtues ; and the fictions which 44 taught them were therefore of the highest, though not of unmixed 44 utility. Miss Edgeworth inculcates prudence, and the many 4 4 virtues of that family. Are these excellent virtues higher or more “useful than those of fortitude and benevolence? Certainly not. “Where, then, is Miss Edgeworth’s merit? Her merit — her 4 4 extraordinary merit, both as a moralist and as a woman of genius 44 — consists in her having selected a class of virtues far more difficult 44 to treat as the subject of fiction than others, and which had there- 4 4 fore been left by former writers to her.” — Sir James Mackintosh, Life^ vol. ii. p. 42. 1821.] thirty and three years of age. 181 walking-stick, at twelve paces, with a single bullet — and all by eye and calculation; for my hand is not steady , 1 and apt to change with the very weather. To the prowess which I here note, Joe Manton and others can bear testimony ; for the former taught, and the latter has seen me do, these feats. Dined — visited — came home — read. Remarked on an anecdote in Grimm’s Correspondence , which says that “ Regnard et la plupart des poetes comiques etaient gens “bilieux et melancoliques ; et que M. de Voltaire, qui “ est tres gai, n’a jamais fait que des tragedies — et que la “ comedie gaie est le seul genre oil il n’ait point reussi. “ C’est que celui qui rit et celui qui fait rire sont deux “ hommes fort differens.” — Vol. VI. At this moment I feel as bilious as the best comic writer of them all, (even as Regnard 2 himself, the next to Molikre, who has written some of the best comedies in any language, and who is supposed to have committed suicide,) and am not in spirits to continue my proposed tragedy of Sardanapalus , which I have, for some days, ceased to compose. To-morrow is my birth-day — that is to say, at twelve o’ the clock, midnight, i.e. in twelve minutes, I shall have completed thirty and three years of age ! ! ! — and I go to my bed with a heaviness of heart at having lived so long, and to so little purpose. 1. Medwin ( The Angler in Wales, vol. ii. p. 183) says, 44 It was 4 4 always a matter of wonder to me how Byron ever struck the mark. 44 His aim was long and his hand trembled as though he had St. 44 Vitus’s dance.” 2. To Jean Francis Regnard (1655-1709) is generally assigned, as Byron says, the next place after Moliere as a writer of comedies. He wrote both for the Theatre Italien and the Theatre Fran$ais ; but his best pieces were written for the latter (1694-1708). Among them are Lejoueur (1696) ; Le Distrait (1697) ; Les Folies Amour eases (1704) ; Le Legataire Universel (1708). There seems no foundation for the charge of suicide. 182 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. It is three minutes past twelve. — “ ’Tis the middle of “ the night by the castle clock,” 1 and I am now thirty-three ! ‘ ‘ Eheu, fugaces, Posthume, Posthume, Labuntur anni ; ” 2 — but I don’t regret them so much for what I have done, as for what I might have done. Through life’s road, so dim and dirty, I have dragged to three-and-thirty. What have these years left to me ? Nothing — except thirty-three. January 22, 1821. 1821. Here lies interred in the Eternity of the Past, from whence there is no Resurrection for the Days — Whatever there may be for the Dust — the Thirty-Third Year of an ill-spent Life, Which, after a lingering disease of many months sunk into a lethargy, and expired, January 22d, 1821, a. d. Leaving a successor Inconsolable for the very loss which occasioned its Existence. 1. Coleridge’s Christabel , Part I. line I. 2. Horace, Carm . II. xiv. 1-2. NOTHING BUT WAR. 1821.] 183 January 23, 1821. Fine day. Read — rode — fired pistols, and returned. Dined — read. Went out at eight — made the usual visit. Heard of nothing but war, — “ the cry is still, They “ come.” 1 The Carbonari seem to have no plan — nothing fixed among themselves, how, when, or what to do. In that case, they will make nothing of this project, so often postponed, and never put in action. Came home, and gave some necessary orders, in case of circumstances requiring a change of place. I shall act according to what may seem proper, when I hear decidedly what the Barbarians mean to do. At present, they are building a bridge of boats over the Po, which looks very warlike. A few days will probably show. I think of retiring towards Ancona, nearer the northern frontier; that is to say, if Teresa and her father are obliged to retire, which is most likely, as all the family are Liberals. If not, I shall stay. But my movements will depend upon the lady’s wishes — for myself, it is much the same. I am somewhat puzzled what to do with my little daughter, and my effects, which are of some quantity and value, — and neither of them do in the seat of war, where I think of going. But there is an elderly lady who will take charge of her, and T. says that the Marchese C. will undertake to hold the chattels in safe keeping. Half the city are getting their affairs in marching trim. A pretty Carnival ! The blackguards might as well have waited till Lent. January 24, 1821. Returned — met some masques in the Corso — Vive la bagatelle ! — the Germans are on the Po, the Barbarians at 1. Macbeth , act v. sc. 5. 184 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. the gate, and their masters in council at Leybach (or whatever the eructation of the sound may syllable into a human pronunciation), and lo ! they dance and sing and make merry, “ for to-morrow they may die.” Who can say that the Arlequins are not right ? Like the Lady Baussiere, and my old friend Burton — I “ rode on.” 1 2 * Dined — (damn this pen !) — beef tough — there is no beef in Italy worth a curse ; unless a man could eat an old ox with the hide on, singed in the sun. The principal persons in the events which may occur in a few days are gone out on a shooting party . If it were like a “ highland hunting,” a pretext of the chase for a grand re-union of counsellors and chiefs, it would be all very well. But it is nothing more or less than a real snivelling, popping, small-shot, water-hen waste of powder, ammunition, and shot, for their own special amusement : a rare set of fellows for “ a man to risk his “ neck with,” as “ Marishall Wells ” says in the Black Dwarf? If they gather, — “ whilk is to be doubted,” — they will not muster a thousand men. The reason of this is, that the populace are not interested, — only the higher and middle orders. I wish that the peasantry were ; they are 1. “The Lady Baussiere had got into a wilderness of conceits, “ with moralizing too intricately upon La Fosseusis text She ‘ £ mounted her palfrey, her page followed her — the host passed by — 44 the Lady Baussiere rode on. 4 4 4 One denier/ cried the Order of Mercy — 4 one single denier, in 4 4 behalf of a thousand patient captives, whose eyes look towards 44 heaven and you for their redemption.’ 44 The Lady Baussiere rode on .” — Tristram Shandy, bk. v. chap. i. Byron was a devoted admirer of Burton’s Anatomy of Mela?icholy , and, like him in his part of 44 Democritus Junior,” and like the Italians, laughed at misfortunes. 2. 4 4 4 For my part, I won’t enter my horse for such a plate,’ said 44 Mareschal ; and added, betwixt his teeth, 4 A pretty pair of fellows 44 to trust a man’s neck with.’ ” — The Black Dwarf, chap. xiii. AN UNFORTUNATE YEAR. 1821.] 185 a fine savage race of two-legged leopards. But the Bolognese won't — the Romagnuoles can’t without them. Or, if they try — what then ? They will try, and man can do no more — and, if he would but try his utmost, much might be done. The Dutch, for instance, against the Spaniards — then the tyrants of Europe, since, the slaves, and, lately, the freedmen. The year 1820 was not a fortunate one for the indi- vidual me, whatever it may be for the nations. I lost a lawsuit, after two decisions in my favour. The project of lending money on an Irish mortgage was finally rejected by my wife’s trustee after a year’s hope and trouble. The Rochdale lawsuit had endured fifteen years, and always prospered till I married ; since which, every thing has gone wrong — with me at least. In the same year, 1820, the Countess T. G. nata G*. G 1 ., in despite of all I said and did to prevent it, would separate from her husband, II Cavalier Commen- datore G‘., etc., etc., etc., and all on the account of “ P. P. “ clerk of this parish.” 1 The other little petty vexations of the year — overturns in carriages — the murder of people before one’s door, and dying in one’s beds — the cramp in swimming — colics — indigestions and bilious attacks, etc., etc., etc. — “ Many small articles make up a sum, And hey ho for Caleb Quotem, oh ! ” 2 1. Alluding to Pope’s Memoirs of P.P. Clerk of this Parish , which were probably intended, though Pope denied it in his Prole- gomena to the Dnnciad , as a skit on Bishop Burnet’s History of my own Times . See Popds Works , ed. Elwin and Courthope, vol. x. P- 435- 2. u Many small articles make up a sum ; I dabble in all — I’m merry and rum ; And ’tis heigho ! for Caleb Quotem, O ! ” — The Review , or the Wags of Windsor (by George Colman the Younger), sc. 4. 1 86 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. January 25, 1821. Received a letter from Lord S. O ., 1 state secretary of the Seven Islands — a fine fellow — clever — dished in Eng- land five years ago, and came abroad to retrench and to renew. He wrote from Ancona, in his way back to Corfu, on some matters of our own. He is son of the late Duke of L[eeds] by a second marriage. He wants me to go to Corfu. Why not? — perhaps I may, next spring. Answered Murray’s letter — read — lounged. Scrawled this additional page of life’s log-book. One day more is over of it and of me : — but ct which is best, life or death, “ the gods only know,” as Socrates said to his judges, on the breaking up of the tribunal . 2 Two thousand years since that sage’s declaration of ignorance have not en- lightened us more upon this important point ; for, accord- ing to the Christian dispensation, no one can know whether he is sure of salvation — even the most righteous • — since a single slip of faith may throw him on his back, like a skaiter, while gliding smoothly to his paradise. Now, therefore, whatever the certainty of faith in the facts may be, the certainty of the individual as to his happiness or misery is no greater than it was under Jupiter. It has been said that the immortality of the soul is a 1. Sidney Godolphin Osborne (1789-1861), son of Francis Godolphin, fifth Duke of Leeds, by his second wife, Catherine, daughter of Thomas Anguish. He was therefore stepson to Lady Amelia d’Arcy, afterwards Baroness Conyers in her own right, who married (1) the Marquis of Carmarthen, afterwards fifth Duke of Leeds, from whom she was divorced in 1779; and (2) Captain Byron, father of the poet, by whom she was the mother of Augusta Leigh. 2. u Sed tempus est,” inquit, “jam hinc abire, me ut moriar, vos “ ut vitam agatis. Utrum autem sit melius, Dii immortales sciunt : “hominem quidem scire arbitror neminem.” — Cicero, Tusc. Qucest ., i. 41. TRE CROCI. l8 7 1821.] grand petit- A etre — but still it is a grand one. Every body clings to it — the stupidest, and dullest, and wickedest of human bipeds is still persuaded that he is immortal. January 26, 1821. Fine day — a few mares’ tails portending change, but the sky clear, upon the whole. Rode — fired pistols — good shooting. Coming back, met an old man. Charity — purchased a shilling’s worth of salvation. If that was to be bought, I have given more to my fellow-creatures in this life — sometimes for vice , but, if not more often , at least more considerably , for virtue — than I now possess. I never in my life gave a mistress so much as I have sometimes given a poor man in honest distress ; but no matter. The scoundrels who have all along persecuted me (with the help of * * who has crowned their efforts) will triumph ; — and, when justice is done to me, it will be when this hand that writes is as cold as the hearts which have stung me. Returning, on the bridge near the mill, met an old woman. I asked her age — she said “ Tre croci? 1 I asked my groom (though myself a decent Italian) what the devil her three crosses meant. He said, ninety years, and that she had five years more to boot ! ! I repeated the same three times — not to mistake — ninety-five years ! ! ! — and she was yet rather active — heard my question, for she answered it — saw me, for she advanced towards me ; and did not appear at all decrepit, though certainly touched with years. Told her to come to-morrow, and will examine her myself. I love phenomena. If she is I. A croce — ten years; therefore tre croci — thirty years (i.e. XXX.). “Probably,” said Signor Sabastiani Fusconi (himself exiled with the Gambas in 1821) to Mr. Richard Edgcumbe, “the “old woman replied, Tre tre croci,” i.e. ninety years. Byron gave her a pension during the rest of her life. i88 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. ninety-five years old, she must recollect the Cardinal Alberoni , 1 who was legate here. On dismounting, found Lieutenant E. just arrived from Faenza. Invited him to dine with me to-morrow. Did not invite him for to-day, because there was a small tiwbot) (Friday, fast regularly and religiously, 2 ) which I wanted to eat all myself. Ate it. Went out — found T. as usual — music. The gentle- men, who make revolutions and are gone on a shooting, are not yet returned. They don’t return till Sunday — that is to say, they have been out for five days, buffoon- ing, while the interests of a whole country are at stake, and even they themselves compromised. It is a difficult part to play amongst such a set of assassins and blockheads — but, when the scum is skimmed off, or has boiled over, good may come of it. If this country could but be freed, what would be too great for the accomplishment of that desire ? for the extinction of that Sigh of Ages ? Let us hope. They have hoped these thousand years. The very revolvement of the chances may bring it — it is upon the dice. If the Neapolitans have but a single Massaniello 3 1. Alberoni (1664-1752), the son of a gardener of Placentia, through the Duke of Parma and his niece, Elizabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain, rose to be the ruler of Spain from 1715 to 17 19, under Philip V. After his downfall he returned to Italy, his native country, suffered, at the hands of Pope Innocent III., a sort of imprisonment which lasted four years, was restored to his rights as cardinal in 1723, and made legate to the Romagna (1734-39). As legate, in 1739, he endeavoured to unite the republic of San Marino to the Papal dominions, representing to Clement XII. that it was a second Geneva. The attempt failed, and in 1740 Alberoni was removed by Benedict XIV. from the Romagna to Bologna. The story is told in Lady Morgan’s Italy (vol. iii. pp. 236, 237), where it was possibly read by Byron. 2. “Byron,” says Medwin {The Angler in Wales , vol. i. p. 118), “ who was a 4 virtuous man ’ in FalstafPs sense of the word, had great “faith in abstinence, for on Friday he would not touch beccaficasT 3. Tommaso Aniello (1623-1647), a fisherman of Amalfi, headed a 189 1821 .] subjects of four tragedies. amongst them, they will beat the bloody butchers of the crown and sabre. Holland, in worse circumstances, beat the Spains and Philips ; America beat the English ; Greece beat Xerxes; and France beat Europe, till she took a tyrant ; South America beats her old vultures out of their nest ; and, if these men are but firm in them- selves, there is nothing to shake them from without. January 28, 1821. Lugano Gazette did not come. Letters from Venice. It appears that the Austrian brutes have seized my three or four pounds of English powder. The scoundrels ! — I hope to pay them in ball for that powder. Rode out till twilight. Pondered the subjects of four tragedies to be written (life and circumstances permitting), to wit, Sardanapalus, already begun ; Cain, a metaphysical subject, something in the style of Manfred, but in five acts , perhaps, with the chorus; Francesca of Rimini, in five acts; and I am not sure that I would not try Tiberius. I think that I could extract a something, of my tragic, at least, out of the gloomy sequestration and old age of the tyrant — and even out of his sojourn at Caprea — by softening the details , and exhibiting the despair which must have led to those very vicious pleasures. For none but a powerful and gloomy mind overthrown would have had recourse to such solitary horrors, — being also, at the same time, old , and the master of the world. Memoranda . What is Poetry? — The feeling of a Former world and Future. rising of the Neapolitans in 1647, and compelled the Spanish Viceroy, Arcos, to abolish unpopular taxes, and to proclaim an amnesty. But his cruelty alienated his followers, and, after being master of Naples for seven days, he was assassinated by order of the viceroy. I QO EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. Thought Second . Why, at the very height of desire and human pleasure, — worldly, social, amorous, ambitious, or even avaricious, — does there mingle a certain sense of doubt and sorrow — a fear of what is to come — a doubt of what is — a retro- spect to the past, leading to a prognostication of the future ? (The best of Prophets of the future is the Past.) Why is this, or these? — I know not, except that on a pinnacle we are most susceptible of giddiness, and that we never fear falling except from a precipice — the higher, the more awful, and the more sublime ; and, therefore, I am not sure that Fear is not a pleasurable sensation ; at least, Hope is ; and what Hope is there without a deep leaven of Fear? and what sensation is so delightful as Hope ? and, if it were not for Hope, where would the Future be? — in hell. It is useless to say where the Present is, for most of us know; and as for the Past, what predominates in memory ? — Hope baffled. Ergo, in all human affairs, it is Hope — Hope — Hope. I allow sixteen minutes, though I never counted them, to any given or supposed possession. From whatever place we commence,; we know where it all must end. And yet, what good is there in knowing it? It does not make men better or wiser. During the greatest horrors of the greatest plagues, (Athens and Florence, for example — see Thucydides and Machiavelli,) men were more cruel and profligate than ever. It is all a mystery. I feel most things, but I know nothing, except i. “ Thus marked, with impatient strokes of the pen, by himself “ in the original ” (Moore). 1 82 1 .] schlegel’s history of literature. 191 Thought for a Speech of Lucifer , in the Tragedy of Cain : — Were Death an evil \ would I let thee live ? Fool ! live as I live — as thy father lives, And thy son’s sons shall live for evermore. Past Midnight. One o* the clock. I have been reading Frederick Schlegel 1 (brother to the other of the name) till now, and I can make out nothing. He evidently shows a great power of words, but there is nothing to be taken hold of. He is like Hazlitt, in English, who talks pimples — a red and white corruption rising up (in little imitation of mountains upon maps), but containing nothing, and discharging nothing, except their own humours. I dislike him the worse, (that is, Schlegel,) because he always seems upon the verge of meaning; and, lo, he goes down like sunset, or melts like a rainbow, leaving a rather rich confusion, — to which, however, the above comparisons do too much honour. Continuing to read Mr. Frederick Schlegel. He is not such a fool as I took him for, that is to say, when he speaks of the North. But still he speaks of things all over the world with a kind of authority that a philosopher would disdain, and a man of common sense, feeling, and knowledge of his own ignorance, would be ashamed of. The man is evidently wanting to make an impression, like his brother, — or like George in the Vicar of Wake- field, who found out that all the good things had been said already on the right side, and therefore “ dressed up I. Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829) began his lite- rary career with his novel Lucinde{ 1799). His Spi'ache und Weisheit der Indier (1808), chiefly composed in Paris, introduced Sanskrit to Europe. Byron was probably reading his History of Literature , lectures delivered at Vienna (1814) and translated at Edinburgh in 1818. 192 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. “ some paradoxes ” upon the wrong side — ingenious, but false, as he himself says — to which “ the learned world “ said nothing, nothing at all, sir.” 1 The “ learned “ world,” however, has said something to the brothers Schlegel. It is high time to think of something else. What they say of the antiquities of the North is best. January 29, 1821. Yesterday, the woman of ninety-five years of age was with me. She said her eldest son (if now alive) would have been seventy. She is thin — short, but active — hears, and sees, and talks incessantly. Several teeth left — all in the lower jaw, and single front teeth. She is very deeply wrinkled, and has a sort of scattered grey beard over her chin, at least as long as my mustachios. Her head, in fact, resembles the drawing in crayons of Pope the poet’s mother, which is in some editions of his works. I forgot to ask her if she remembered Alberoni (legate here), but will ask her next time. Gave her a louis — ordered her a new suit of clothes, and put her upon a weekly pension. Till now, she had worked at gathering wood and pine-nuts in the forest — pretty work at ninety-five years old ! She had a dozen children, of whom some are alive. Her name is Maria Montanari. Met a company of the sect (a kind of Liberal Club) called the Americani in the forest, all armed, and singing, with all their might, in Romagnuole — “ Sem tutti soldat’ “ per la liberta ” (“ we are all soldiers for liberty ”). They 1 . 44 4 Finding that the best things remained to be said on the wrong 44 side, I resolved to write a book that should be wholly new. I 44 therefore dressed up three paradoxes with ingenuity. They were 44 false indeed, but they were new.’ — 4 Well said, my boy,’ cried I, 44 4 and what did the learned world say to your paradoxes ? * — 4 Sir/ 44 replied my son, 4 the learned world said nothing to my paradoxes ; 44 nothing at all, Sir.’ ” — Vicar of Wakefield , chap. xx. ENTHUSIASM FOR DANTE. 193 1821.] cheered me as I passed — I returned their salute, and rode on. This may show the spirit of Italy at present. My to-day’s journal consists of what I omitted yester- day. To-day was much as usual. Have rather a better opinion of the writings of the Schlegels than I had four- and-twenty hours ago ; and will amend it still further, if possible. They say that the Piedmontese have at length arisen — fa ira ! Read Schlegel. Of Dante he says, “ that at no time “ has the greatest and most national of all Italian poets “ ever been much the favourite of his countrymen.” ’Tis false ! There have been more editors and commentators (and imitators, ultimately) of Dante than of all their poets put together. Not a favourite ! Why, they talk Dante — write Dante — and think and dream Dante at this moment (1821) to an excess, which would be ridicu- lous, but that he deserves it. 1 In the same style this German talks of gondolas on the Arno 2 — a precious fellow to dare to speak of Italy ! He says also that Dante’s chief defect is a want, in 1. In lecture ix. ( Lectures on the History of Literature , ed. 1841, p. 237) Schlegel says of Dante, “The truth is, that at no time has “ the greatest and most national of all Italian poets ever been much “ the favourite of his countrymen.” Again (id id., p. 238), he says, “ His chief defect is, in a word, a want of gentle feelings.” “I don’t wonder,” said Byron, “ at the enthusiasm of the Italians “about Dante. He is the poet of liberty. Persecution, exile, the “ dread of a foreign grave, could not shake his principles. There is “ no Italian gentleman, scarcely any well-educated girl, that has not “all the finer passages of Dante at the fingers’ ends ; particularly “the Ravennese. The Guiccioli, for instance, could almost repeat “ any part of the Divine Comedy ; and, I dare say, is well read in “the VitaJVuova, that prayer-book of love.” — Medwin, Conversations of Lord Byron , p. 242. 2. In lecture xi. (Lectures on the History of Literature ^ p. 297), speaking of Tasso, Schlegel says, “ Individual parts and episodes of !( p S £ oem are fluently sung in the gondolas of the Arno and the VOL. V. O i 9 4 EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY. [CHAP. XXI. a word, of gentle feelings. Of gentle feelings ! — and Francesca of Rimini — and the father’s feelings in Ugolino — and Beatrice — and “ La Pia ! ” Why, there is gentle- ness in Dante beyond all gentleness, when he is tender. It is true that, treating of the Christian Hades, or Hell, there is not much scope or site for gentleness — but who but Dante could have introduced any “ gentleness ” at all into HelU Is there any in Milton’s? No — and Dante’s Heaven is all love, and glory and majesty. One o’clock. I have found out, however, where the German is right • — it is about the Vicar of Wakefield . “ Of all romances “ in miniature (and, perhaps, this is the best shape in “ which Romance can appear) the Vicar of Wakefield is, I “ think, the most exquisite.” 1 He thmks ! — he might be sure. But it is very well for a Schlegel. I feel sleepy, and may as well get me to bed. To-morrow there will be fine weather. “ Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay.” 2 January 30, 1821. The Count P. G. this evening (by commission from the Ci.) transmitted to me the new words for the next six months. * * * and * * *. The new sacred word is * * * — the reply * * * — the rejoinder * * *. The former word (now changed) was * * * — there is also * * * — * * *. 3 Things seem fast coming to a crisis — ca ira l 1. History of Literature , lecture xiv. p. 367. 2. “ When I consider life, ’tis all a cheat. Yet fool’d with hope, men favour the deceit ; Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay ; To-morrow’s falser than the former day.” Dryden’s Aurengzebe , act iv. sc. I. 3. written at Diodati, July, 1816. 2. The combined French and Italian squadron, under Dubourdieu, consisting of six frigates and five smaller armed vessels, sailed from Ancona, with 500 troops on board, to fortify and garrison the island of Lissa on the Dalmatian Coast. On March 13, 1811, they were defeated off Lissa by an English squadron of three frigates and one 214 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. When he left his frigate, he left a parrot , which was taught by the crew the following sounds — (it must be remarked that Captain Whitby was the image of Fawcett 1 the actor, in voice, face, and figure, and that he squinted). The Parrot loquitur . “ Whitby ! Whitby ! funny eye ! funny eye ! two “ dozen, and let you off easy. Oh you ! ” Now, if Madame de B. has a parrot, it had better be taught a French parody of the same sounds. With regard to our purposed Journal, I will call it what you please, but it should be a newspaper, to make it pay . We can call it “ The Harp,” if you like — or any thing. I feel exactly as you do about our “ art ,” 2 but it corvette, under Commodore Hoste (Yonge’s History of the British Navy , vol. ii. p. 476). Byron alludes to the battle in Marino Faliero , 7 iote 5. Enumerat- ing the exceptions to the degeneracy of Venice, he says: * ‘There “ is Pasqualigo, the last, and alas ! posthumous son of the marriage “of the Doges with the Adriatic, who fought his frigate with far “greater gallantry than any of his French coadjutors in the memor- able action off Lissa. I came home in the squadron with the “prizes in 1811, and recollect to have heard Sir William Hoste, ‘ ‘ and the other officers engaged in that glorious conflict, speak in “the highest terms of Pasqualigo’s behaviour.” 1. John Fawcett (1768-1837), after acting at York in Tate Wil- kinson’s company, made his first appearance in London at Covent Garden, as “ Caleb ” in He would be a Soldier , September 21, 1791. In low comedy he was excellent. Leigh Hunt, in his “ Synopses ” (. Dramatic Essays , edited by William Archer and Robert W. Lowe, pp. xliv.-v.), speaks of him as one of the “ actors whom modern “ writers have spoiled.” The meaning of the remark probably is that Colman wrote pieces specially designed to suit his peculiarities. Fawcett made his last appearance on the stage May 30, 1830, as “ Captain Copp ” in Howard Payne’s Charles the Second. A list of his principal characters is given in Genest’s E?iglish Stage, vol. ix. pp. 521-525. 2. The following passage from Moore’s letter, to which the above was an answer, will best explain what follows : “With respect to “ the newspaper, it is odd enough that Lord [John Russell ?] and “ myself had been (about a week or two before I received your letter) THE JOURNAL SCHEME. 215 1821.] comes over me in a kind of rage every now and then, like * * * *, and then, if I don’t write to empty my mind, I go mad. As to that regular, uninterrupted love of writing, which you describe in your friend, I do not understand it. I feel it as a torture, which I must get rid of, but never as a pleasure. On the contrary, I think composition a great pain. I wish you to think seriously of the Journal scheme — for I am as serious as one can be, in this world, about any thing. As to matters here, they are high and mighty — but not for paper. It is much about the state of things betwixt Cain and Abel. There is, in fact, no law or government at all ; and it is wonderful how well things go on without them. Excepting a few occasional murders, (every body killing whomsoever he pleases, and being killed, in turn, by a friend, or relative, of the defunct,) there is as quiet a society and as merry a Carnival as can be met with in a tour through Europe. There is nothing like habit in these things. I shall remain here till May or June, and, unless “ honour comes unlooked for,” 1 we may perhaps meet, in France or England, within the year. Yours, etc. Of course, I cannot explain to you existing circum- stances, as they open all letters. “speculating upon your assistance in a plan somewhat similar, but “ more literary and less regularly periodical in its appearance. Lord “ [John], as you will see by his volume of Essays, if it reaches you, has “ a very sly, dry, and pithy way of putting sound truths upon politics “ and manners ; and whatever scheme we adopt, he will be a very “ useful and active ally in it, as he has a pleasure in writing quite “ inconceivable to a poor hack scribe like me, who always feel, about “ my art, as the French husband did when he found a man making “love to his (the Frenchman’s) wife : ‘Comment, Monsieur, — sans “ y etre oblige ! ’ When I say this, however, I mean it only of the “executive part of writing; for the imagining, the shadowing out “of the future work, is, I own, a delicious fool’s paradise.” 1. Henry IF, Part I. act v. sc. 3. 21 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Will you set me right about your curst Champs Elysees ? — are they "h” or “£es” for the adjective? I know nothing of French, being all Italian. Though I can read and understand French, I never attempt to speak it; for I hate it. From the second part of the Memoirs cut what you please. ^59- — To John Murray. Ravenna, Jy 4* h , 1821. D? MY, — I write to you in considerable surprise, that, since the first days of November, I have never had a line from you. It is so incomprehensible, that I can only account for it by supposing some accident. I have written to you at least ten letters, to none of which I have had a word of answer : one of them was on your own affairs — a proposal of Galignani, relative to your publications, which I referred to you (as was proper), for your own decision. Last week I sent (addressed to Mr. D. Kinnaird) two packets containing the 5 th Canto of DJ} I wish to know what you mean to do ? anything or nothing. Of the State of this country I can only say, that, besides the assassination of the Commandant of the 7*! 1 * * (of which I gave you an account, as I took him up, and he died in my house) that there have been I . Murray hesitated whether or not he should continue the publi- cation as an anonymous work, and without his own name as publisher. Croker ( Murray Memoirs , vol. i. pp. 413-416) had written to him, March 26, 1820, saying that Murray had done the poem “great “injustice.” “If you print and sell Toi?i Jones and Peregrine “ Pickle , why did you start at Do?i Juan ? Why smuggle it into the “world, and, as it were, pronounce it illegitimate in its birth, and “induce so many of the learned rabble, when they could find so ‘ 4 little specific offence in it, to refer to its supposed original state as “ one of original sin.” BARRY CORNWALL. 217 1821.] six murders committed within twenty miles — three last night. Yours very truly, B. P.S. — Have you gotten the Hints, that I may alter parts and portions ? I just see, by the papers of Galignani, that there is a new tragedy of great expectation, by Barry Cornwall : 1 of what I have read of his works I liked the Dramatic Sketches , but thought his Sicilian Story and Marcian Colonna, in rhyme, quite spoilt by I know not what affectation of Wordsworth, and Hunt, and Moore, and Myself, all mixed up into a kind of Chaos. I think him very likely to produce a good tragedy, if he keep to a natural style, and not play tricks to form Harlequinades for an audience. As he (B. C. is not his true name) was a school-fellow of mine, I take more than common interest in his success, and shall be glad to hear of it speedily. If I had been aware that he was in that line, I should have spoken of him in the preface to M[arino] F\aliero\ : he will do a World’s wonder if he produce a great tragedy. I am, however, persuaded, that this is not to be done by following the old dramatists, who are full of gross faults, pardoned only for the beauty of their language; but by writing naturally and regularly , and producing regular tragedies, like the Greeks ; but not in imitation , — merely the outline of their conduct, adapted 1. “ I told Lord Byron,” says Medwin {Conversations , ed. 1825, vol. i. p. 174), “ that I had had a letter from Procter, and that he “ had been jeered on the Duke of Mirandola not having been in- “ eluded in his (Lord B.’s) enumeration of the dramatic pieces of the “ day, and that he had added, he had been at Harrow with him. “ ‘ Ay,’ said Lord Byron, ‘ I remember the name : he was in the “ lower school, in such a class. They stood Farrer, Procter, “ Jocelyn ! * ” (see p. 37, note 2). 2 1 8 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA* [CHAP. XXII. to our own times and circumstances, and of course no chorus. You will laugh, and say, “ why don’t you do so?” I have, you see, tried a Sketch in Marino Faliero ; but many people think my talent “ essentially widramatic” and I am not at all clear that they are not right. If Marino Faliero don’t fall, in the perusal, I shall, perhaps, try again (but not for the Stage) ; and, as I think that love is not the principal passion for tragedy (and yet most of ours turn upon it), you will not find me a popular writer. Unless it is Love, furious , criminal , and hapless , it ought not to make a tragic subject : when it is melting and maudlin, it does , but it ought not to do ; it is then for the Gallery and second price boxes. If you want to have a notion of what I am trying, take up a translatio?i of any of the Greek tragedians. If I said the original, it would be an impudent presumption of mine ; but the translations are so inferior to the originals, that I think I may risk it. Then judge of the “ simplicity of plot, etc.,” and do not judge me by your mad old dramatists, which is like drinking Usquebaugh and then proving a fountain : yet after all, I suppose that you do not mean that spirits is a nobler element than a clear spring bubbling in the sun; and this I take to be the difference between the Greeks and those turbid mountebanks — always excepting B. Jonson, who was a Scholar and a Classic. Or, take up a translation of Alfieri, and try the interest, etc., of these my new attempts in the old line, by him in English . And then tell me fairly your opinion. But don’t measure me by your own old or ?iew tailor’s yards. Nothing so easy as intricate confusion of plot, and rant. Mrs. Centlivre, in comedy, has ten limes the bustle of Congreve ; but are they THE BRAZIERS’ ADDRESS. l 82 I.] 219 to be compared ? and yet she drove Congreve from the theatre. 1 860. — To John Murray. Ravenna, January 6 t . h 1821. On the “ Braziers’ Address to be presented in “ Armour by the Company, 2 etc., etc.,” as stated in the Newspapers : — 1 . See Letters , vol. iv. p. 426, note 2. 2. The allusion is explained in Rivington’s Annual Register , under the date October 30, 1820 (vol. lxii. pp. 114*, 115*). “Addresses to the Queen. — The Queen’s Chamberlain, Sir 44 William Gell, and the Hon. Keppel Craven, having notified to “the public that her Majesty had resolved . . . not to receive any “addresses by deputation after Monday, several of the most nume* “ rous and respectable trades of the metropolis and its vicinity . . . 4 4 determined to take advantage of the implied permission, and to “ convey to her Majesty, on Monday, the assurance of their loyalty “and esteem. The first procession that passed along the Strand 44 was that of the Youths of the Metropolis . . . the next . . . was “the Coopers . . . the third . . . the Spanish Leather-dressers . . . “the fourth . . . the Fellmongers . . . Then came the Sealskin “ Curriers. But the most splendid exhibition of the day was that of 4 4 the brass-founders and braziers. The procession was headed by a 4 4 man dressed in a suit of burnished plate armour of brass, and “mounted on a handsome black horse, the reins being held by 4 4 persons acting as pages, but wearing brass helmets. This figure “was followed immediately by a large party, bearing beautiful “pieces of fancy work in brass and copper, supported on brass “wands. The brilliancy, number, and variety of these works 4 4 excited much admiration. At regular intervals flags were borne, 44 with various devices and mottoes, 4 The Queen and her Rights,’ “‘Caroline, God and my Right,’ 4 Wood and Independence,’ 4 4 4 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour,’ 4 Lying “ lips are an abomination to the Lord,’ 4 As a roaring lion and a “raging bear; so is a wicked ruler over a poor people.’ Then “ came a man clothed in complete steel armour, followed by various 4 4 flags, on one of which were the crowns of the King and Queen, 44 with this motto, 4 As it should be,’ 4 The Queen’s Guard are men 4 4 of metal.’ A man in a complete suite of brass armour, mounted 44 and attended as the former, appeared, and was followed by two 44 persons, bearing on a cushion a most magnificent imitation of the 44 imperial Crown of England. A small number of the deputation 44 of brass-founders were admitted to the presence of her Majesty, 2 20 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. It seems that the Braziers propose soon to pass An Address and to bear it themselves all in brass ; A Superfluous Pageant, for by the Lord Harry ! They'll fijid , where they're going, much more than they carry. Or, The Braziers it seems are determined to pass An Address and present it themselves All in brass, A superfluous for by the Lord Harry ! They’ll find, where they're going, much more than they carry. R? Jy 8 fc . h 1821. Illustrious Sir, — I enclose you a long note 1 for the 5 k . h Canto of Don Juan ; you will find where it should be placed on referring to the MS., which I sent to Mr. Kinnaird. I had subscribed the authorities — Arrian, Plutarch, Hume, etc. — for the corrections of Bacon, but, thinking it pedantic to do so, have since erased them. I have had no letter from you since one dated the 3 r . d of Nov! You are a pretty fellow, but I will be even with you some day. Yours, etc., etc., Byron. P.S. — The enclosed epigram is not for publication, recollect. “ and one of the persons in armour advanced to the throne, and “ bending on one knee, presented the address, which was enclosed “in a brass case of excellent workmanship. A youth in the pro- “ cession afterwards presented to her Majesty an elegant gilt vase, “ which she seemed much to admire. Other deputations followed.” I. See Appendix VI. The note was intended for stanza cxlvii., to illustrate Byron’s existing note on Bacon’s inaccuracy. HINTS FROM HORACE. 221 1821.] 861. — To John Murray. R? jy ii l II. . h 1821. D* M\’, — Put this : — “ I am obliged for this excellent “ translation of the old Chronicle to Mr. Cohen, to whom “ the reader will find himself indebted for a version “ which I could not myself (though after so many years “ intercourse with Italians) have given by any means so “ purely and so faithfully .” 1 I have looked over The Hints (of which, by the way, you have not sent the whole), and see little to alter ; I do not see yet any name which would be offended, at least of my friends. As an advertisement, a short preface, say, as follows : (Let me have the rest though first.) “ However little this poem may resemble the annexed “ Latin, it has been submitted to one of the great rules “ of Horace, having been kept in the desk for more than “ nine years. It was composed at Athens in the Spring “of 1 8 1 1, and received some additions after the author’s “ return to England in the same year.” I protest, and desire you to protest stoutly and publicly (if it be necessary), against any attempt to bring the tragedy on any stage. It was written solely for the reader. It is too regular, and too simple, and of too remote an interest, for the Stage. I will not be exposed to the insolences of an audience, without a remonstrance. As thus, — “ The Author, having heard that, notwithstanding his “ request and remonstrance, it is the intention of one of “ the London Managers to attempt the introduction of “ the tragedy of M.F. upon the Stage, does hereby protest 1 . This note, with three trifling alterations, is added to Appendix II. to Mari?io Falief'o , after Cohen’s translation of the Cronica di Sanuto . 22 2 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. “ publicly that such a proceeding is as totally against his “ wishes, as it will prove against the interests of the “ theatre. That Composition was intended for the Closet “ only, as the reader will readily perceive. By no kind “ of adaptation can it be made fit for the present English “ Stage. If the Courtesy of the Manager is not sufficient “to withhold him from exercising his power over a “ published drama, which the Law has not sufficiently “ protected from such usurpation ” 1 862.— To John Murray. R? Jy n l . h 1821. Dear Murray, — I have read with attention the enclosed, of which you have not sent me, however, the whole (which pray send), and have made the few correc- tions I shall make — in what I have seen at least. I will omit nothing and alter little : the fact is (as I perceive), that I wrote a great deal better in 1811, than I have ever done since. I care not a sixpence whether the work is popular or not — that is your concern ; and, as I neither name price, nor care about terms, it can concern you little either, so that it pays its expence of printing. I leave all those matters to your magnanimity (which is some- thing like Lady Byron's), which will decide for itself. You have about — I know not what quantity of my stuff on hand just now (a 5 th Canto of Don Juan also by this time), and must cut according to your cloth. Is not one of the Seals meant for my Cranium ? and the other — who or what is he ? Yours ever truly, Byron. 1 . The rest of the letter is missing. NOT AN ACTING PLAY. 223 1821.] P.S. — What have you decided about Galignani ? I think you might at least have acknowledged my letter, which would have been civil ; also a letter on the late murders here : also, pray do not omit to protest and impede (as far as possible) any Stage-playing with the tragedy. I hope that the Histrions will see their own interest too well to attempt it. See my other letter. P.S. — You say, speaking of acting, “ let me know “ your pleasure in this.” I reply that there is no pleasure in it ; the play is not for acting: Kemble or Kean 1 could read it, but where are they ? Do not let me be sacrificed in such a manner : depend upon it, it is some party-work to run down you and your favourite horse. I know some- thing of Harris and Elliston personally ; and, if they are not Critics enough to see that it would not do, I think them Gentlemen enough to desist at my request. Why don’t they bring out some of the thousands of meritorious and neglected men, who cumber their shelves, instead of dragging me out of the library ? Will you excuse the severe postage, with which my late letters will have taxed you ? “ I had taken such strong resolutions against anything “ of that kind, from seeing how much every body that “ did write for the Stage, was obliged to subject them- “ selves to the players and the town.” — Spence’s Anecdotes, page 22. I. “Lord Byron, ” writes Mrs. Piozzi to Dr. Gray, September 1, 1820 ( Autobiography , etc., vol. ii. p. 275), “is said to be bringing “out a tragedy; unlucky, if Mr. Kean is leaving England for “America. They seem to be kindred souls, delighting in distortion, “and mistaking it for pathos.” 2 24 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 863. — To John Murray. Ravenna, January 19, 1821. Dear Moray, — Yours of yf 29th Ult m .° hath arrived. I must really and seriously request that you will beg of Messrs. Harris or Elliston to let the Doge alone : it is not an acting play ; it will not serve their purpose ; it will destroy yours (the Sale) ; and it will distress me. It is not courteous, it is hardly even gentlemanly, to persist in this appropriation of a man’s writings to their Mountebanks. I have already sent you by last post a short protest to the Public (against this proceeding) ; in case that they persist, which I trust that they will not, you must then publish it in the Newspapers. I shall not let them off with that only, if they go on ; but make a longer appeal on that subject, and state what I think the injustice of their mode of behaviour. It is hard that I should have all the buffoons in Britain to deal with — -pirates who will publish, and players who will act — when there are thou- sands of worthy and able men who can get neither bookseller nor manager for love nor money. You never answered me a word about Galignani : if you mean to use the two documents , do ; if not , burn them. I do not choose to leave them in any one’s possession : suppose some one found them without the letters, what would they think ? why, that /had been doing the opposite of what I have done , to wit, referred the whole thing to you — an act of civility at least, which required saying, “ I have received your letter.” I thought that you might have some hold upon those publications by this means : to me it can be no interest one way or the other. The third canto of Don Juan is dull \ but you must really put up with it : if the two first and the two following A CONFLICT OF CRITICS. 225 1821.] are tolerable, what do you expect? particularly as I neither dispute with you on it as a matter of criticism, or a matter of business. Besides, what am I to understand ? you and D. s Kin- naird, and others, write to me, that the two first published Cantos are among the best that I ever wrote, and are reckoned so : Mrs. Leigh writes that they are thought “ execrable ” (bitter word that for an author — Eh, Murray !) as a composition even, and that she had heard so much against them that she would never read the7n, and never has. Be that as it may, I can’t alter. That is not my forte. If you publish the three new ones without osten- tation, they may perhaps succeed. Pray publish the Dante and the Pulci (the Prophecy of Dante , I mean) : I look upon the Pulci as my grand performance. The remainder of The Hints, where be they? Now bring them all out about the same time, otherwise “ the variety ” you wot of will be less obvious. I am in bad humour : some obstructions in business with the damned trustees, who object to an advantageous loan which I was to furnish to a Nobleman on Mortgage, because his property is in Ireland, have shown me how a man is treated in his absence. Oh, if I do come back, I will make some of those, who little dream of it, spin — or they or I shall go down. The news here is, that Col. Brown 1 (the Witness- buyer) has been stabbed at Milan, but not mortally. I wonder that anybody should dirty their daggers in him. They should have beaten him with Sandbags — an old Spanish fashion. I. Colonel Brown was employed to prepare the case against Queen Caroline in Italy. He was attacked at Milan, December 9, 1820, by two persons as he was returning alone from the Opera. He received four wounds in the head and one in the chest, but recovered. VOL. V. Q 226 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. I sent you a line or two on the Braziers' Company last week, not for publication. Yours ever, B. The lines were even worthy Of — dsworth, the great Metaquizzical poet, A man of great merit amongst those who know it, Of whose works, as I told Moore last autumn at *Mestri I owe all I know to my passion for Pastry . * Mestri and Fusina are the ferry trajects to Venice : I believe, however, that it was at Fusina that Moore and I embarked in 1819, when Thomas came to Venice, like Coleridge’s Spring “ slowly up this way.” 1 Omit the dedication to Goethe. 864. — To John Murray. Ravenna, January 20, 1821. Dear Murray, — If Harris or Elliston persist, 2 after the remonstrance which I requested you and Mr. 1. Christabel , Part I. lines 20-22 — “The night is chill, the cloud is gray : ’Tis a month before the month of May, And the Spring comes slowly up this way.” 2. On Saturday, April 21, 1821, Murray published Marino Faliero. On Wednesday, April 25, the play was represented by Elliston, at Drury Lane. The drama, sheet by sheet from the compositors’ hands, was taken from the printing-office to the theatre, and the whole play, in fact, studied before publication. On Wednesday, April 25, Elliston received the formal licence from the Lord Chamberlain. Half an hour later he was served with a notice from Murray’s solicitor, announcing that the Lord Chancellor had granted an injunction against the acting of Marino Faliero , and that the play must be immediately withdrawn. “Elliston was now in his element — namely, a perplexity; and, “with his wonted activity in such cases, he sprang into a hackney - “ coach, with the view of driving to Hamilton Place, that he might 1 82 1.] REPRESENTATION OF MARINO FALIERO. 2 2J Kinnaird to make on my behalf, and which I hope will be sufficient — but if I say, they do persist , then I pray you to presetit in person the enclosed letter to the Lord Chamberlain : I have said in person ; otherwise I shall have neither answer nor knowledge that it has reached its address, owing to “ the insolence of office.” I wish you would speak to Lord Holland, and to all my friends and yours, to interest themselves in prevent- ing this cursed attempt at representation. God help me ! at this distance, I am treated like a “see Lord Eldon himself on the subject. He arrived in very time “ to catch his lordship by the skirts of his clothing as he was mount- “ ing the steps of his own door. Here the defendant at once entered 4 4 on the merits of his case, and his lordship declared the court 44 sitting — Lord Eldon on the upper step, and Elliston on the pave- 44 ment — the one all patience, the other all animation. The chan- 44 cellor hesitated as to his previous order — Lord Eldon doubted — 44 and Elliston redoubled the force of his argument. At length he 44 so far succeeded, that the judge suspended the injunction granted 44 against the acting of the play for that night ; but, 4 mind,’ observed 44 he, ‘you appear before me in the morning of to-morrow. ’ The “manager hereupon took his respectful leave, quitting the chan- “ cellor, after an interview more extraordinary than any, perhaps, 4 4 recorded in Mr. Twiss’s admirable Life of his lordship” ( Memoirs of Robert JV. Elliston (1845), pp. 268, 269). Elliston’s success with Lord Eldon was met by the following hand- bill issued by Murray : — 44 The Public are respectfully informed that the representation of 44 Lord Byron’s tragedy, The Doge of Venice (. Marino Faliero ), this “evening, takes place in defiance of an injunction of the Lord 44 Chancellor, which was not applied for until the remonstrance of 44 the publisher, at the earnest desire of the noble author, had failed 44 in protecting this drama from its intrusion on the stage, for which “ it was never intended” (ibid., p. 270). The play was acted on April 25, but it excited no enthusiasm, and the receipts amounted to only ^147 . Subsequently several hearings took place before the Chancellor, “and it was settled that the case should be sent to the Court of “King’s Bench, to see whether an action could be maintained. 44 The argument was to come on in the November following, when, “no counsel appearing on the part of the plaintiff, the case was 44 struck out. Marino Faliero was acted a second time on the 30th 44 of April, under the authority of the lord chancellor, to which all 4 4 parties had assented. The play was represented, on the whole, “seven times, the greatest receipt being ;£i6o ” (ibid., pp. 270, 271). 2 28 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. corpse or a fool by the few people whom I thought that I could rely upon ; and I was a fool to think any better of them than of the rest of mankind. Pray write. Yours ever, Byron. P.S. — I have nothing more at heart (that is, in literature) than to prevent this drama from going upon the Stage : in short, rather than permit it, it must be suppressed altogether , and only forty copies struck off privately for presents to my friends. What damned fools those speculating buffoons must be not to see that it is unfit for their Fair, or their booth ! 865. — To John Murray. January 20, 1821. D* Mf, — I did not think to have troubled you with the plague and postage of a double letter this time, but I have just read in an Italian paper , “That L c ! B. has a “ tragedy coming out,” etc., etc., etc. ; and that the Courier and Morning Chronicle , etc., etc., are pulling one another to pieces about it and him, etc. Now I do reiterate and desire, that every thing may be done to prevent it from coming out on any theatre , for which it never was designed, and on which (in the present state of the stage of London) it could never succeed. I have sent you my appeal by last post, which you must publish i?i case of need ; and I require you even in your own name (if my honour is dear to you) to declare that such representation would be contrary to my wish and my judgement. If you do not wish to drive me 229 1 82 1.] NOTHING EXCEPT THIRTY-THREE. mad altogether, you will hit upon some way to prevent this. Yours, B. P.S. — I cannot conceive how Harris or Elliston should be so insane as to think of acting Marino Faliero ; they might as well act the Prometheus of HCschylus. I speak of course humbly, and with the greatest sense of the distance of time and merit between the two per- formances ; but merely to show the absurdity of the attempt. The Italian paper speaks of a “ party against it ; ” to be sure there would be a party : can you imagine, that after having never flattered man, nor beast, nor opinion, nor politics, there would not be a party against a man, who is also a popular writer — at least a successful ? why, all parties would be a party against. 866. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, January 22, 1821. Pray get well. I do not like your complaint. So, let me have a line to say you are up and doing again. To-day I am thirty-three years of age. Through life's road, so dim and dirty, I have dragged to three-and-thirty. What have these years left to me ? Nothing — except thirty-three. Have you heard that the “ Braziers' Company " have, or mean to present an address at Brandenburgh House, 1 1. Brandenburgh House, Fulham, formerly called Crabtree Hall, was built by Captain Crispe, slave-trader and merchant-adventurer in the reign of Charles I. It passed through various hands — Prince 230 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. “ in armour,” and with all possible variety and splendour of brazen apparel ? The Braziers, it seems, are preparing to pass An address, and present it themselves all in brass — A superfluous pageant — for, by the Lord Harry, They’ll find where they’re going much more than they carry. There’s an Ode for you, is it not ? — worthy Of Wordsworth, the grand metaquizzical poet, A man of vast merit, though few people know it ; The perusal of whom (as I told you at Mestri) I owe, in great part, to my passion for pastry. Mestri and Fusina are the “trajects, or common “ ferries,” to Venice ; but it was from Fusina that you and I embarked, though “ the wicked necessity of rhyming ” has made me press Mestri into the voyage. So, you have had a book dedicated to you? I am glad of it, and shall be very happy to see the volume. I am in a peck of troubles about a tragedy of mine, which is fit only for the (* * * *) closet, and which it seems that the managers, assuming a right over published poetry, are determined to enact, whether I will or no, with their own alterations by Mr. Dibdin , 1 I presume. I have written to Murray, to the Lord Chamberlain, and to others, to interfere and preserve me from such an exhibition. I want neither the impertinence of their Rupert, Margaret Hughes, and Bubb Doddington, who changed the name to La Trappe. From Doddington it eventually passed to the Margrave of Brandenburgh. After Queen Caroline’s death, the house was pulled down, and the site is now occupied by a distillery. I. Dibdin {Autobiography , vol. ii. p. 199), in opening the Surrey Theatre for Easter, 1821, announced “a new melodrame founded “ on Lord Byron’s recent play of Marino Faliero , Doge of Venice He did not, however, bring out the piece. 1 82 1.] THE PROPHECY OF DANTE. 23 1 hisses, nor the insolence of their applause. I write only for the reader , and care for nothing but the silent appro- bation of those who close one's book with good humour and quiet contentment. Now, if you would also write to our friend Perry, to beg of him to mediate with Harris and Ellis ton to forbear this intent, you will greatly oblige me. The play is quite unfit for the stage, as a single glance will show them, and, I hope, has shown them ; and, if it were ever so fit, I will never have any thing to do willingly with the theatres. Yours ever, in haste, etc. 867. — To John Murray. Ravenna, JY 27, 1821. Dear Moray, — I have mentioned Mr. Cohen in a letter to you last week, from which the passage should be extracted and prefixed to his translation. You will also have received two or three letters upon the subject of the Managers: in one I enclosed an epistle for the Lord Chamberlain (in case of the worst), and I even prohibited the publicatmi of the Tragedy, limiting it to a few copies for my private friends. But this would be useless, after going so far; so you may publish as we intended — only, (if the Managers attempt to act), pray present my letter to the U. Chamberlain, and publish my appeal in the papers, adding that it has all along been against my wishes that it should be represented. I differ from you about the Datite ,* which I think should be published with the tragedy. But do as you please : you must be the best judge of your own craft. I agree with you about the title . The play may be good 1. The Prophecy of Dante was published with Mari?io Falicro , Doge of Venice , in April, 1821. 232 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. or bad, but I flatter myself that it is original as a picture of that kind of passion, which to my mind is so natural, that I am convinced that I should have done precisely what the Doge did on those provocations. I am glad of Foscolo’s approbation. I wish you would send me the remainder of The Hints — you only sent about half of them. As to the other volume, you should publish them about the same period, or else what becomes of the “ variety ” which you talk so much of? Excuse haste. I believe I mentioned to you that I forget what it was ; but no matter. Thanks for your compliments of the year : I hope that it will be pleasanter than the last. I speak with reference to England only, as far as regards myself, where I had every kind of disappointment — lost an important lawsuit — and the trustees of that evil Genius of a woman, L y . Byron (who was born for my desolation), refusing to allow of an advantageous loan to be made from my property to Lord Blessington, etc., etc., by way of closing the four seasons. These, and a hundred other such things, made a year of bitter business for me in England : luckily, things were a little pleasanter for me here, else I should have taken the liberty of Hannibal’s ring . 1 Pray thank Gifford for all his goodnesses : the winter is as cold here as Parry’s polarities . 2 I must now take a canter in the forest ; my horses are waiting. Yours ever and truly, B. 1. “Non gladii, non saxa dabunt, nec tela ; sed ille Cannarum vindex, ac tanti sanguinis ultor, Annulus.” Juvenal, Sat. x. 164. 2. Captain Parry (1790-1855) published, in 1821, his Journal of a ENGLISH GUNPOWDER. 233 1821.] P.S. — It is exceedingly strange that you have never acknowledged the receipt of Galignani's letters , which I enclosed to you three months ago : what the devil does that mean? 868.— To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, January 28^ 1821. My dear Hoppner, — I have not heard from you for a long time, and now I must trouble you — as usual. Messrs. Siri and Wi^ialm have given up business. They had three cases of mine. I desired them to consign these cases to Missiaglia. There were 4 Telescopes, a case of Watches and a tin case of English gunpowder, containing about five pounds of the same, which I have had for five years . Messrs. Siri and Wilhalm own to all three, and the telescopes and watches they have consigned to M., of the others (though they mention it in a letter of last week) they now say nothing — and M. pretends that it is not to be found. Will you make enquiry ? It is of importance to me, because I can find no other such in these countries, and can be of none to the Government because it is^so small a quantity. If it has in fact been seized by these fellows, I will present a slight memorial to the Governor of Venice ; which (though it may not get me back my three or four pounds of powder) will at least tell him some truths upon things in general, as I shall use pretty strong terms in expressing myself. I shall feel very much obliged by your making this enquiry. Voyage for the Discovery of a North - West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific , performed in the Years 1819-20, in H.M. Ships Hecla and Griper . ^ < uS yvc 1 Ka.’V 234 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Of course upon other topics I can say nothing at present, except that your Dutch friends will have their hands full one of these days probably. Pray let me know how you are. I am, yours very truly, Byron. My best respects to Madame Hoppner. Could not you and I contrive to meet somewhere this spring ? I should be solus. P.S. — I sent you all the romances and light reading which Murray has furnished — except the Monastery , which you told me that you had already seen. I wish the things which were at Siri and W.’s to remain with Missiaglia, and not to be sent here, at least for the present. Pray do what you can about the p r j it is 0 hard those rascals should seize the poor little miserable canister, after the m^ny I shot in relieving their wretched population at Venice. I did not trouble you with the things, because I thought that they would bore you. I never got the translation of the German translation , but ' ^ it don't signify as you said it was not worth while. They are printing some things of mine in England, and if any parcel comes from London addressed to me at Venice, pray take any work of mine out you like — and keep it, as well as any other books you choose. They are always addressed to Missiaglia. 869. — To John Murray. Ravenna, Febr^ 2, 1821. D? Moray, — Your letter of excuses has arrived. I receive the letter, but do not admit the excuses, except A MINISTER OF STATE. 235 1821.] in courtesy ; as when a man treads on your toes and begs your pardon, the pardon is granted, but the joint aches, especially if there be a corn upon it. However, I shall scold you presently. In the last speech of The Doge , 1 there occurs (I think, from memory) the phrase “ And Thou who makest and unmakest Suns ; ” Change this to “ And Thou who kindlest and who quenchest Suns ; ” that is to say, if the verse runs equally well, and Mr. Gifford thinks the expression improved. Pray have the bounty to attend to this. You are grown quite a minister of State : mind if some of these days you are not thrown out. God will not be always a Tory, though Johnson says the first Whig was the Devil. You have learnt one secret from Mr. Galignani’s (somewhat tardily acknowledged) correspondence. This is, that an English Author may dispose of his exclusive copyright in France — a fact of some consequence (in time of peace ) , in the case of a popular writer. Now I will tell you what you shall do, and take no advantage of you, though you were scurvy enough never to acknow- ledge my letter for three months. Offer Galignani the refusal of the copyright in France ; if he refuses, appoint any bookseller in France you please, and I will sign any assignment you please, and it shall never cost you a Sou on my account. Recollect that I will have nothing to do with it, except as far as it may secure the copyright to yourself. I will have no bargain but with English publishers, and I desire no interest out of that country. 1. Marino Faliero , act v. sc. 3. 236 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Now, that’s fair and open, and a little handsomer than your dodging silence, to see what would come of it. You are an excellent fellow, mio Caro Moray, but there is still a little leaven of Fleet-street about you now and then — a crumb of the old loaf. You have no right to act suspiciously with me, for I have given you no reasons. I shall always be frank with you ; as, for instance, whenever you talk with the votaries of Apollo arithme- tically, it should be in guineas, not pounds — to poets as well as physicians, and bidders at Auctions. I shall say no more at this present, save that I am, Yours very truly, Byron. P.S. — If you venture, as you say, to Ravenna this year, through guns, which (like the Irishman’s), “ shoot “ round a corner,” I will exercise the rites of hospitality while you live, and bury you handsomely (though not in holy ground), if you get “ shot or slashed in a creagh or “ splore,” 1 which are rather frequent here of late among the native parties. But perhaps your visit may be anti- cipated ; for Lady Medea’s trustees and my Attorneo do so thwart all business of mine, in despite of Mr. and myself, that I may probably come to your country ; in which case write to her Ladyship the duplicate of the epistle the King of France wrote to Prince John. 2 She and her Scoundrels shall find it so. 1. Evan Dhu Maccombich wished nothing better for his friend Donald Bean than to be hung on the “ kind gallows of Crieff . . . “ if he’s not shot, or slashed, in a creagh ” ( Waverley , chap, xviii.). 2. “ So soon as Philip heard of the King’s delivery from captivity, “ he wrote to his confederate John, in these terms : ‘ Take care of “ yourself : the Devil is broke loose ’ ” (Hume’s History of Tngland, ed. 1770, vol. ii. p. 32). 1 82 1.] ELIZABETH, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE. 237 870. — To John Murray. R? Fy i2^ h 1821. D R S R , — You are requested to take particular care that the enclosed note is printed with the drama. Fos- colo or Hobhouse will correct the Italian; but do not you delay : every one of your cursed proofs is a two months' delay, which you only employ to gain time, because you think it a bad speculation. Yours, Byron. P.S. — If the thing fails in the publication, you are not pinned even to your own terms : merely print and publish what I desire you, and if you don’t succeed, I will abate whatever you please. I care nothing about that ; but I wish what I desire to be printed, to be so. I have never had the remaining sheet of the Hints from H [or ace]. In the letter on Bowles, 1 after the words “ the long “ walls of Palestrina and Malamocco,” add “ i Murazzif which is their Venetian title. Mr. M. is requested to acknowledge receipt of this by return of post. 871. — To Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire. 2 Ravenna, February 15, 1821. Madam, — I am about to request a favor of your Grace without the smallest personal pretensions to obtain 1. For Byron’s controversy with Bowles, and his two Letters , see Appendix III. 2. For the Duchess of Devonshire, see Letters , vol. iv. p. 178, note I . Byron’s two letters are printed from copies in the possession of Mr. Murray. The first letter missed the .duchess, who had left 238 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. it. It is not however for myself, and yet I err — for surely what we solicit for our friends is, or ought to be, Rome for Spa. Byron’s second letter and the duchess’s answer are given below : — “To Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire. “Ravenna, July 30, 1821. “Madam, — T he inclosed letter (of Feb. 15, 1821) which I had 4 4 the honour of addressing to your Grace, unfortunately for the “ subject of it and for the writer, — arrived after your Grace’s de- “ parture. I venture to forward it to Spa in the hope that you may “ be perhaps tempted to interest yourself in favor of the persons “to whom it refers by writing a few lines to any of your Roman “acquaintances in power. Two words from your Grace I cannot “help thinking would be sufficient — even if the request were still “ more presumptuous. “ I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, “ Your most obedt very humble servant, “Byron.” “To Lord Byron. “ Spa, August 17, 1821. “ I regret very much that the letter which your Lordship directed “to Rome did not arrive before I left it, for it is always easier to ‘ 4 explain the subject which one is anxious about in conversation “ than by writing — unless, indeed, the pen is held by the author of “ Childe Harold . I will, however, certainly write to Rome about “ the persons who interest you so much, and shall be happy if I “can be of any use to them. I recollect Madame Martinetti’s 4 4 introducing to me a gentleman of the name of Gamba ; but it is 44 the warm interest which you express, my Lord, that will make me “ particularly anxious to succeed for them. Lady Melbourne had, “I know, the greatest regard and friendship for you; and I had 4 ‘ ever the sincerest affection for her. Whatever regrets subsequent “ occurrences might have occasioned her, I believe her friendship “ for you was unvaried. I have found no difficulty in decyphering “ your letter, without ever being indebted to Lady Bessborough’s 6 4 letters for that advantage ; and I have only to wish that I may be “ successful in my application, and be able to realize the hopes you * 4 have formed from any influence I may possess at Rome. I always 4 4 wish to do any good I can, and in that poor Gibbon and my other “ friends have but done me justice ; but believe me also, that there “ is a character of justice, goodness, and benevolence in the present 44 Government of Rome, which, if they are convinced of the just “ claim of the Comtes de Gamba, will make them grant their request. 44 Of Cardinal Gonsalve it is truly said, 4 II a etabli une nouvelle 4 4 politique formee sur la verite et la franchise; l’estime de toute “l’Europe le paye de ses fatigues ; ’ pray do not judge of the holy 1 82 1.] AN APPEAL FOR THE GAMBAS. 239 nearest to ourselves. If I fail in this application, my intrusion will be its own reward; if I succeed, your Grace's reward will consist in having done a good action, and mine in your pardon for my presumption. My reason for appealing to you is this — your Grace has been long in Rome, and could not be long any where without the influence and the inclination to do good. Among the list of exiles on account of the late suspicions — and the intrigues of the Austrian Govern- ment (the most infamous in history) there are many of my acquaintances in Romagna and some of my friends ; of these more particularly are the two Counts Gamba (father and son) of a noble and respected family in this city. In common with thirty or more of all ranks they have been hurried from their home without process — without hearing — without accusation. The father is universally respected and liked, his family is numerous and mostly young — and these are now left without pro- tection : the son is a very fine young man, with very little of the vices of his age or climate ; he has I believe the honor of an acquaintance with your Grace — having been presented by Madame Martinetti. He is but one and twenty and lately returned from his studies at Rome. Could your Grace, or would you — ask the repeal of both, or at least of one of these from those in power in the holy “ City from the reports of others ; your own observation would tell “ you more than all the reports of others, and, as no one has “ described its monuments with such beauty of poetry as yourself, so “no one, I am sure, would do more justice to the merits of its “inhabitants if you staid long enough to know them. I beg of you, fi ‘ my Lord, once more to be assured of the pleasure with which I “ shall undertake, and the satisfaction which I shall feel, if I obtain “ the recall of your friends to their native country. “E. Devonshire. “I give up the Austrian Government to all you chuse to say of “them.” 240 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. City ? They are not aware of my solicitation in their behalfs — but I will take it upon me to say that they shall neither dishonour your goodness nor my request. If only one can be obtained — let it be the father on account of his family. I can assure your Grace and the very pious Government in question that there can be no danger in this act of — clemency shall I call it ? It would be but justice with us — but here ! let them call it what they will. ... I cannot express the obligation which I should feel — I say feel only — because I do not see how I could repay it to your Grace — I have not the slightest claim upon you, unless perhaps through the memory of our late friend, Lady Melbourne — I say friend only — for my relationship with her family has not been fortunate for them, nor for me. If therefore you should be disposed to grant my request I shall set it down to your tenderness for her who is gone, and who was to me the best and kindest of friends. The persons for whom I solicit will (in case of success) neither be in ignorance of their protectress, nor indisposed to acknowledge their sense of her kindness by a strict observance of such con- duct as may justify her interference. If my acquaintance with your Grace’s character were even slighter than it is through the medium of some of our English friends, I had only to turn to the letters of Gibbon (now on my table) for a full testimony to its high and amiable qualities. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Your Grace’s most obedient very humble Servant, Byron. P.S. — Pray excuse my scrawl which perhaps you may be enabled to decypher from a long acquaintance with the handwriting of Lady Bessborough. I omitted TWO FRIENDS FROM ITALY. 241 1821.] to mention that the measures taken here have been as blind as impolitic — this I happen to know . Out of the list in Ravenna — there are at least ten not only innocent, but even opposite in principles to the liberals. It has been the work of some blundering Austrian spy or angry priest to gratify his private hatreds. Once more your pardon. 872. — To John Murray. Ravenna, February 16, 1821. Dear Moray, — In the month of March will arrive from Barcelona Signor Curioni, 1 engaged for the Opera. He is an acquaintance of mine, and a gentlemanly young man, high in his profession. I must request your personal kindness and patronage in his favour. Pray introduce him to such of the theatrical people, Editors of Papers, and others, as may be useful to him in his profession, publicly and privately. He is accompanied by the Signora Arpalice Taruscelli, a Venetian lady of great beauty and celebrity, and a particular friend of mine : your natural gallantry will I am sure induce you to pay her proper attention. Tell Israeli that, as he is fond of literary anecdotes, she can tell him some of your acquaintance abroad. I presume that he speaks Italian. Do not neglect this request, but do them and me this favour in their behalf. I shall write to some others to aid you in assisting them with your countenance. I agree to your request of leaving in abeyance the terms for the three D> J.s , till you can ascertain the effect 1. Alberico Curioni, born 1790, a tenor singer, sang in London 1821-32. In the Literary Gazette for May 5, 1821 (p. 285), he is described as “a handsome man,” with “a voice flexible, but not “fine.” See also Grove’s Dictionary of Music , vol. i. pp. 423, 424. VOL. V. R 242 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. of publication. If I refuse to alter, you have a claim to so much courtesy in return. I had let you off your proposal about the price of the Cantos, last year (the 3 r . d and 4 dl always to reckon as one only), and I do not call upon you to renew it. You have therefore no occasion to fight so shy of such subjects, as I am not conscious of having given you occasion. The 5 l . h is so far from being the last of D. J., that it is hardly the beginning. I meant to take him the tour of Europe, with a proper mixture of siege, battle, and adventure, and to make him finish as Anacharsis C loots 1 in the French revolution. To how many cantos this may extend, I know not, nor whether (even if I live) I shall complete it ; but this was my notion : I meant to have made him a Cavalier Servente in Italy, and a cause for a divorce in England, and a Sentimental “ Werther- “ faced man ” 2 in Germany, so as to show the different ridicules of the society in each of those countries, and to have displayed him gradually gate and blase as he grew older, as is natural. But I had not quite fixed whether to make him end in Hell, or in an unhappy marriage, not knowing which would be the severest. The Spanish 1 . Jean Baptiste Clootz (better known by the name of Anacharsis), a Prussian baron, born at Cleves, in 1755, was the nephew of Cornelius de Pauw, author of Recherches Philos ophiques sur les Americains , etc. In 1790, at the bar of the National Convention, he described himself as Porateur du genre humain . Falling under the suspicion of Robespierre, he was, in March, 1 794, condemned to death. On the scaffold, he begged the executioner to decapitate him the last, alleging that he wished to make some observations essential to the establishment of certain principles, while the heads of his companions were falling. The request was complied with. 2. In Moore’s Fudge Family in Paris (1818), Letter v., occur the lines — “ Then there came up — imagine, dear Doll, if you can — A fine, sallow, sublime, sort of Werther -faced man, With mustachios that gave (what we read of so oft) The dear Corsair expression, half savage, half soft.’’ A PLAY WITHOUT LOVE. 243 1821.] tradition says Hell : but it is probably only an Allegory of the other state . 1 You are now in possession of my notions on the subject. You say The Doge will not be popular: did I ever write for popularity ? I defy you to show a work of mine (except a tale or two) of a popular style or complexion. It appears to me that there is room for a different style of the drama; neither a servile following of the old drama, which is a grossly erroneous one, nor yet too French , like those who succeeded the older writers. It appears to me, that good English, and a severer approach to the rules, might combine something not dishonorable to our literature. I have also attempted to make a play without love. And there are neither rings, nor mistakes, nor starts, nor outrageous ranting villains, nor melodrame, in it. All this will prevent it's popularity, but does not persuade me that it is therefore faulty. Whatever faults 1. Don Juan Tenorio of Seville was the hero of the Spanish mystery-play, the Atheista Fulminato (see Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria , vol. ii. pp. 262, seqq. ). The mystery was dramatized by Gabriel Tellez, i.e. Tirso de Molina (1585-1648), as El Burlador de Sevilla y Combidado de Piedr a (1626). Moliere’s Don Juan; ou le Festin de Pierre (1665), versified by Thomas Corneille in 1677, was imitated from the Spanish play. In England Shadwell took Moliere’s version as the model of his Libertine , in 1676. Don Juan was the subject of a musical ballet by Gliick, and of Mozart’s famous opera Don Giovanni (1787). In Moliere’s Don Jua 7 i (act i. sc. 1) Sganarelle says of his master, “ Par precaution je t’apprends, inter nos , que tu vois en don Juan, “ mon maitre, le plus grand scelerat que la terre ait jamais porte, un “chien, un demon, un Turc, un heretique qui ne croit ni ciel, ni “ Saint, ni Dieu, ni loup-garou, qui passe cette vie en veritable bete “ brute, un pourceau d’Epicure, un vrai Sardanapale, qui ferme “ l’oreille a toutes les remontrances Chretiennes qu’on lui peut faire, “ et traite de billevesees tout ce que nous croyons.” In the old Spanish version of the story, Don Juan seduces the daughter of the governor, Don Gonsalvo de Ulloa, and then kills the father. Forcing his way into the family vault of the Ulloas, in the Church of St. Francis, he finds a marble statue raised to the memory of the murdered man. He invites the statue to a banquet. His invitation is accepted ; the guest delivers Don Juan to the devils to be tormented, and he is swallowed up in a cloud of fire. 244 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. it has will arise from deficiency in the conduct, rather than in the conception, which is simple and severe. So you epigrammatize upon my epigram ? I will pay you for that , mind if I don’t, some day. I never let any one off in the long run ( who first begins) : remember Sam, and see if I don’t do you as good a turn. You unnatural publisher ! what ! quiz your own authors ! You are a paper Cannibal. In the letter on Bowles (which I sent by Tuesday’s post) after the words “ attempts had been made ” (alluding to the republication of English Bards), add the words “ in Ireland for I believe that Cawthorn did not begin his attempts till after I had left England the second time. Pray attend to this. Let me know what you and your Squad think of the letter on Bowles . 1 I did not think the second Seal so bad : surely it is far better than the Saracen’s head with which you have sealed your last letter ; the larger, in profile, was surely much better than that. So Foscolo says he will get you a seal cut better in Italy : he means a throat — that is the only thing they do dexterously. The Arts — all but Canova’s, and Mor- ghen’s , 2 3 and Ovid's 3 (I don’t mean poetry), — are as low as need be : look at the Seal which I gave to W? Bankes, and own it. How came George Bankes to quote English 1. Gifford’s opinion of the letter in defence of Pope is quoted in the Memoir of John Murray , vol. i. p. 420: “It will be unsafe ‘ 4 to publish it as it stands. The letter is not very refined, but it is “vigorous and to the purpose. Bowles requires checking. I hope, “ however, that Lord B. will not continue to squander himself thus. “When will he resume his majestic march, and shake the earth “ again? ” 2. Raphael Morghen (1758-1835), born at Portici, near Naples, was the famous engraver. He settled at Florence in 1793, on the invitation of the Grand-Duke Ferdinand III,, and lived there the rest of his life. 3. The Ars Amatoria . BELZONI. 1821.] 245 Bards in the House of Commons ? 1 All the World keep flinging that poem in my face. Belzoni is a grand traveller, and his English is very prettily broken . 2 As for News, the Barbarians are marching on Naples, and if they lose a single battle, all Italy will be up. It will be like the Spanish war, if they have any bottom. Letters opened ! — to be sure they are, and that’s the reason why I always put in my opinion of the German Austrian Scoundrels : there is not an Italian who loathes them more than I do; and whatever I could do to scour Italy and the earth of their infamous oppression, would be done con amore . Yours, ever and truly, B. Recollect that the Hints must be printed with the Latin , otherwise there is no sense. 1. In moving the address at the opening of Parliament (January 23, 1821), speaking of the way in which “ the new springs of know- “ ledge were endeavoured to be poisoned at their source,” Bankes says that he was “ reminded of the lines of the poet, when he ex- “ pressed the keen pangs of the bird, wounded by the arrow feathered “ from his own wing — “ ‘ Keen was the pang — but keener far to feel He nurs’d the feather which had winged the steel ! ’ ” So The Traveller (January 24, 1821) gives the quotation from English Bards , etc ., lines 845, 846, which should have run thus — “ Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel He nursed the pinion which impelled the steel.” According to Hansard (New Series, vol. iv. p. 39), the quotation was correctly made. 2. Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823) died of dysentery at Gato, in Benin, 011 his way to Timbuctoo. Murray published, in 1820, Belzoni’s Narrative of the Operatio 7 is and Rece?it Discoveries within the Pyramids , Temples , Tombs ^ and Excavations i?i Egypt and Nubia. The book was written without any literary assistance beyond that of the individual employed to copy out his manuscript and correct the press. “ As I made my discoveries alone,” Belzoni (Preface, p. i.) says, “I have been anxious to write my book by 246 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 873. — To John Murray. Ravenna, February 21, 1821. Dear Sir, — In the 44^ page, vol. 1?, of Turner’s travels 1 (which you lately sent me), it is stated that “ Lord Byron, when he expressed such confidence of it’s “ practicability, seems to have forgotten that Leander “ swam both ways, with and against the tide ; whereas he “ (L? B.) only performed the easiest part of the task by “ swimming with it from Europe to Asia.” 2 I certainly could not have forgotten, what is known to every School- boy, that Leander crossed in the Night and returned towards the morning. My object was, to ascertain that the Hellespont could be crossed at all by swimming, and in this Mr. Ekenhead and myself both succeeded, the one in an hour and ten minutes, and the other in one hour and five minutes. The tide was ?iot in our favour : on the contrary, the great difficulty was to bear up against the current, which, so far from helping us to the Asiatic side, set us down right towards the Archipelago. Neither Mr. Ekenhead, myself, nor, I will venture to add, any person on board the frigate, from Captain (now Admiral) Bathurst downwards, had any notion of a difference of the current on the Asiatic side, of which Mr. Turner speaks. I never heard of it till this moment, “ myself, though in so doing the reader will consider me, and with “great propriety, guilty of temerity; but the public will perhaps “gain in the fidelity of my narrative what it loses in elegance. I “ am not an Englishman, but I prefer that my readers should receive “ from myself, as well as I am able to describe them, an account of “my proceedings in Egypt, in Nubia, on the coast of the Red Sea, ‘ £ and in the Oasis ; rather than run the risk of having my meaning “ misrepresented by another. If I am intelligible, it is all that I “ can expect.” 1. Jourtial of a Tour in the Levant , by William Turner, 3 vols., 1820. The book was published by Murray. 2. See Letters , vol. i. p. 263, note 1. MODERN LEANDERS. 247 1821.] or I would have taken the other course. Lieutenant Ekenhead’s sole motive, and mine also, for setting out from the European side was, that the little Cape above Sestos was a more prominent starting place, and the frigate, which lay below, close under the Asiatic castle, formed a better point of view for us to swim towards ; and, in fact, we landed immediately below it. Mr. Turner says, “Whatever is thrown into the “ Stream on this part of the European bank must arrive “at the Asiatic shore.” This is so far from being the case, that it must arrive in the Archipelago, if left to the Current, although a strong wind in the Asiatic direction might have such an effect occasionally. Mr. Turner attempted the passage from the Asiatic side, and failed. “After five and twenty minutes, in “ which he did not advance a hundred yards, he gave “ it up from complete exhaustion.” This is very pos- sible, and might have occurred to him just as readily on the European side. He should have set out a couple of miles higher, and could then have come out below the European castle. I particularly stated, and Mr. Hobhouse has done so also, that we were obliged to make the real passage of one mile extend to between three and fotir^ owing to the force of the stream. I can assure Mr. Turner, that his Success would have given me great pleasure, as it would have added one more instance to the proofs of the practicability. It is not quite fair in him to infer, that because he failed, Leander could not succeed. There are still four in- stances on record : a Neapolitan, a young Jew, Mr. Ekenhead, and myself ; the two last done in the presence of hundreds of English Witnesses. With regard to the difference of the current , I per- ceived none : it is favourable to the Swimmer on neither 248 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. side, but may be stemmed by plunging into the Sea, a considerable way above the opposite point of the coast which the Swimmer wishes to make, but still bearing up against it : it is strong, but if you calculate well, you may reach land. My own experience and that of others bids me pronounce the passage of Leander perfectly practi- cable : any young man, in good health and tolerable skill in swimming, might succeed in it from either side. I was three hours in swimming across the Tagus, which is much more hazardous, being two hours longer than the passage of the Hellespont. Of what may be done in swimming, I will mention one more instance. In 1818, 1 the Chevalier Mengaldo (a Gentleman of Bas- sano), a good Swimmer, wished to swim with my friend Mr. Alexander Scott and myself. As he seemed par- ticularly anxious on the subject, we indulged him. We all three started from the Island of the Lido and swam to Venice. At the entrance of the Grand Canal, Scott and I were a good way ahead, and we saw no more of our foreign friend, which, however, was of no con- sequence, as there was a Gondola to hold his cloathes and pick him up. Scott swum on till past the Rialto, where he got out, less from fatigue than from chilly having been fair hours in the water, without rest or stay, except what is to be obtained by floating on one's back — this being the co?iditio?i of our performance. I continued my course on to Santa Chiara, comprizing the whole of the Grand Canal (besides the distance from the Lido), and got out where the Laguna once more opens to Fusina. I had been in the water, by my watch, without help or rest, and never touching ground or boat, fotir hours and twenty minutes . To this Match, and during the greater part of it’s performance, Mr. Hoppner, 1. This was in June, 1818. 1 82 1 .] leander’s exploit disputed. 249 the Consul General, was witness ; and it is well known to many others. Mr. Turner can easily verify the fact, if he thinks it worth while, by referring to Mr. Hoppner. The distance we could not accurately ascertain; it was of course considerable. I crossed the Hellespont in one hour and ten minutes only. I am now ten years older in time, and twenty in constitution, than I was when I passed the Dardanelles ; and yet two years ago I was capable of swimming four hours and twenty minutes ; and I am sure that I could have continued two hours longer, though I had on a pair of trowsers, an accoutrement which by no means assists the performance. My two companions were also four hours in the water. Mengaldo might be about thirty years of age ; Scott about six and twenty. With this experience in swimming at different periods of life, not only upon the spot, but elsewhere, of various persons, what is there to make me doubt that Leander’s exploit was perfectly practicable ? If three individuals did more than the passage of the Hellespont, why should he have done less ? But Mr. Turner failed, and, naturally seeking a plausible reason for his failure, lays the blame on the Asiatic side of the Strait. To me the cause is evident. He tried to swim directly across, instead of going higher up to take the vantage. He might as well have tried to fly over Mount Athos. That a young Greek of the heroic times, in love, and with his limbs in full vigour, might have succeeded in such an attempt is neither wonderful nor doubtful . 1 Whether 1. Turner says ( Tour hi the Levant , vol. i. pp. 44, 45), “ Having “ been accustomed to swimming from my childhood, I have no “ hesitation in asserting that no man could have strength to swim a “ mile and a half (the breadth of the Strait in the narrowest spot, £ ‘ a little northerly of the castles) against such a current ; and higher “up or lower down, the Strait widens so considerably, that he 250 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. he attempted it or not is another question, because he might have had a small boat to save him the trouble. I am yours very truly, Byron. P.S. — Mr. Turner says that the swimming from Europe to Asia was “ the easiest part of the task.” I doubt whether Leander found it so, as it was the return : however, he had several hours between the intervals. The argument of Mr. T., “ that higher up or lower down, “ the strait widens so considerably that he would save “ little labour by his starting,” is only good for indifferent swimmers : a man of any practice or skill will always consider the distance less than the strength of the stream. If Ekenhead and myself had thought of crossing at the narrowest point , instead of going up to the Cape above it, we should have been swept down to Tenedos. The Strait is, however, not extremely wide, even where it broadens above and below the forts. As the frigate was stationed some time in the Dardanelles waiting for the firman, I bathed often in the strait subsequently to our traject, and generally on the Asiatic side, without perceiv- ing the greater Strength of the opposing Stream by which the diplomatic traveller palliates his own failure. An amusement in the small bay which opens immediately below the Asiatic fort was to dive for the land tortoises, which we flung in on purpose, as they amphibiously crawled along the bottom. This does not argue any vaster violence of current than on the European shore. With regard to the modest insinuation that we chose the European side as “easier,” I appeal to Mr. Hobhouse “ would save little labour by changing his place of starting. I ‘‘therefore treat the tale of Leander’ s swimming across both ways “ as one of those fables to which the Greeks were so ready to give “ the name of history. Quid quid Grcecia mendax audet in histori&T 1821.] swimming against the stream. 251 and Admiral Bathurst if it be true or no ? (poor Ekenhead being since dead) : had we been aware of any such difference of Current as is asserted, we would at least have proved it, and were not likely to have given it up in the twenty five minutes of Mr. T.’s own experiment. The secret of all this is, that Mr. Turner failed, and that we succeeded ; and he is consequently disappointed, and seems not unwilling to overshadow whatever little merit there might be in our Success. Why did he not try the European side ? If he had succeeded there, after failing on the Asiatic, his plea would have been more graceful and gracious. Mr. T. may find what fault he pleases with my poetry, or my politics ; but I recommend him to leave aquatic reflections, till he is able to swim “ five “ and twenty minutes ” without being “ exhausted ” though I believe he is the first modern Tory who ever swam “ against the Stream ” for half the time. 1 874. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, February 22, 1821. As I wish the soul of the late Antoine Galignani to rest in peace, (you will have read his death, published by himself, in his own newspaper,) you are requested parti- cularly to inform his children and heirs, that of their “ Literary Gazette” to which I subscribed more than two months ago, I have only received one number , notwith- standing I have written to them repeatedly. If they have no regard for me, a subscriber, they ought to have some for their deceased parent, who is undoubtedly no better off in his present residence for this total want of attention. I. The above letter was published in the Mo?ithly Magazhie for April, 1821 (pp. 363-365), and in the Traveller for April 3, 1821. Turner’s reply, published by Moore, in the Life> is given in Appendix VII. 252 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. If not, let me have my francs. They were paid by Missiaglia, the Venetian bookseller. You may also hint to them that when a gentleman writes a letter, it is usual to send an answer. If not, I shall make them “a t> u M t> e -/rfc^ abserhk. h* £# n f f*i — > / £ h 0 do) fi 1 tNt Ci ^l/t4 T* Up ■ tip . bsct/wj any woman at the head of his house cannot much attend to a nursery — I had no resource but to place her for a time (at a high pension too) in the convent of Bagna- Cavalli (twelve miles off), where the air is good, and where she will, at least, have her learning advanced, and her morals and religion inculcated. I had also another reason ; — things were and are in such a state here, that I had no reason to look upon my own personal safety as particularly insurable ; and I thought the infant best out of harm’s way, for the present. "(Jou kww ( r 1 It is also fit that I should add that I by no means intended, nor intend, to give a natural child an English education, because with the disadvantages of her birth, her after settlement would be doubly difficult. Abroad, with a fair foreign education and a portion of five or six thousand pounds, she might and may marry very respectably. In England such a dowry would be a pittance, while elsewhere it is a fortune. It is, besides, my wish that she should be a Roman Catholic, which \ Yai I look upon as the best religion, as it is assuredly the oldest of the various branches of Christianity. I have now explained my notions as to the place where she now is — it is the best I could find for the present ; but I have ~o prejudices in its favour. I do not speak of politics, because it seems a hopeless subject, as long as those scoundrels are to be permitted to bully states out of their independence. Relieve me/ ' Y^urs ever and truly/ “ the accustomed signal. Nobody scolded her for these scappature , “ so I suppose that she is well treated as far as temper is concerned. “ Her intellect is not much cultivated. She knows certain orazioni “by heart, and talks and dreams of Paradise and angels and all “sorts of things, and has a prodigious list of saints, and is always “ talking of the Bambino. This will do her no harm, but the idea “ of bringing up so sweet a creature in the midst of such trash till “sixteen ! ” — Dowden’s Life of Shelley , vol. ii. pp. 435, 436. i82I.] SECOND LETTER ON BOWLES. 265 P.S. — There is a report here of a change in France ; 1 but with what truth is not yet known. P.S. — My respects to Mrs. H. I have the “best “opinion” of her countrywomen; and at my time of life, (three and thirty, 2 2d January, 1821,) that is to say, after the life I have led, a good opinion is the only rational one which a man should entertain of the whole sex — up to thirty , the worst possible opinion a man can have of them in general \ the better for himself. After- wards, it is a matter of no importance to them , nor to him either, what opinion he entertains — his day is over, or, at least, should be. You see how sober I am become. 882. — To John Murray. Ravenna, April 21^ 1821. Illustrious Moray, — I enclose you another letter on “Bowles.” But I premise that it is not like the former, and that I am not at all sure how much , if any , of it should be published. 2 Upon this point you can consult with Mr. Gifford, and think twice before you publish it at all. Pray send me some more pounds weight of Soda powders : I drink them in Summer by dozens. Yours truly, B. P.S. — You may make my subscription for Mr. Scott's 1. After the murder of the Due de Berri (February 13, 1820), the Due de Richelieu succeeded Decazes as head of a moderate adminis- tration. The elections of 1821 resulted in a great accession of strength to the ultra-royalists and the Comte d’ Artois. Richelieu resigned, December, 1821, and the “Ultras” under Villele came into power. 2. See Appendix III. The second Letter, to which Byron here refers, was not published till 1835. 266 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. widow , 1 etc., thirty instead of the proposed ten pounds ; but do not put down my name ; put down N. N. only. The reason is, that, as I have mentioned him in the enclosed pamphlet , 2 it would look indelicate. I would give more, but my disappointments of last year, about Rochdale and the transfer from the funds, render me more economical for the present. P.S. 2 * — By next post I will send you the threatening Italian trash alluded to in the enclosed letter ; you can make a note of it for the page alluding to the subject : I had not room for it in this cover, nor time. Mr. M. is requested to acknowledge the receipt of this packet by return of post, by way of Calais, as quickest. 883. — To Percy Bysshe Shelley. Ravenna, April 26, 1821. The child continues doing well, and the accounts are regular and favourable. It is gratifying to me that you 1. John Scott (1783-1821) had been Byron’s schoolfellow at Aberdeen. He had been successively editor of the Censor , the Stamford News , Drakard's Newspaper (January io, 1813). The name of the last paper was changed, January, 1814, to the Champion, Scott continuing to be the editor. In the Champion , “ Fare thee “ Well ” and “ The Sketch ” were first published, and in the numbers for April 7, 14, 21, 1816, Byron and his defender, Leigh Hunt, were vehemently attacked at the time of the separation. Scott lived abroad from 1815 to 1819, meeting Byron at Venice (see the second letter on Bowles). In 1819 he became the first editor of the Londo?i Magazine (January, 1820). His attacks on Blackwood's Magazine, as the “Mohock Magazine,” led to a quarrel with Lockhart, which ended in a duel between Scott and J. H. Christie. The duel took place by moonlight at Chalk Farm, February 16, 1821. Christie did not fire the first time ; but on the second occasion his bullet, striking Scott above the right hip, inflicted a fatal wound. A subscription was raised for his widow and children, to which Byron, under the initials “ N. N.,” contributed ,£30, instead of the £10 suggested by Murray ( Memoir , vol. i. p. 420). The fragment given in Appendix VIII. may refer to Scott. 2. See Byron’s Second Letter on Bowles, Appendix III. p. 576. DEATH OF KEATS. 1821.] 267 and Mrs. Shelley do not disapprove of the step which I have taken, which is merely temporary. I am very sorry to hear what you say of Keats 1 — is it actually true ? I did not think criticism had been so killing. Though I differ from you essentially in your estimate of his performances, I so much abhor all un- necessary pain, that I would rather he had been seated on the highest peak of Parnassus than have perished in such a manner. Poor fellow ! though with such inordi- nate self-love he would probably have not been very happy. I read the review of Endymion in the Quarterly . It was severe,— but surely not so severe as many reviews in that and other journals upon others. I recollect the effect on me of the Edinburgh on my first poem; it was rage, and resistance, and redress — but not despondency nor despair. I grant that those are not amiable feelings ; but, in this world of bustle and broil, and especially in the career of writing, a man should calculate upon his powers of resistance before he goes into the arena. 44 Expect not life from pain nor danger free, Nor deem the doom of man reversed for thee.” 2 You know my opinion of that second-hand school of 1. The Quarterly article on Endymion (1818), written by Croker, appeared in September, 1818. Two years and a half later, February 23, 1821, John Keats (1795-1821) died at Rome of consumption. His unfortunate passion for Fanny Brawne, pecuniary troubles, and, in his enfeebled health, the injustice of the criticism that he had received, accelerated the progress of a disease which first declared itself in February, 1820. 44 A loose, slack, not well-dressed youth “met me,” says Coleridge, “in a lane near Highgate. It was “Keats. He was introduced to me, and staid a minute or so. “After he had left us a little way, he came back, and said, 4 Let “me carry away the memory, Coleridge, of having pressed your “hand ! ’ 4 There is death in that hand,’ I said, when Keats was “gone; yet this was, I believe, before the consumption showed 44 itself distinctly ’ ” ( Table Talk , vol. ii. pp. 89, 90). 2. Johnson’s Vanity of Human Wishes, lines 155, 156. 268 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. poetry. You also know my high opinion of your own poetry, — because it is of no school. I read Cenci 1 — but, besides that I think the subject essentially ^//dramatic, I am not an admirer of our old dramatists as models . I deny that the English have hitherto had a drama at all. Your Cenci, however, was a work of power, and poetry. As to my drama, pray revenge yourself upon it, by being as free as I have been with yours. I have not yet got your Prometheus , which I long to see. I have heard nothing of mine, and do not know that it is yet published. I have published a pamphlet on the Pope controversy, which you will not like. Had I known that Keats was dead — or that he was alive and so sensitive — I should have omitted some remarks upon his poetry, to which I was provoked by his attack upon Pope? and my disapprobation of his own style of writing. You want me to undertake a great poem — I have not the inclination nor the power. As I grow older, the 1. The Cenci , a Tragedy in Five Acts was published at Leghorn, in 1819. Prometheus Unbound , a Lyrical Drama in Four Acts , was published in 1820, in London. 2. Byron refers to the well-known passage in “Sleep and “ Poetry,” of which the following are lines 193-206 — “ But ye were dead To things ye knew not of, — were closely wed To musty laws lined out with wretched rule And compass vile ; so that ye taught a school Of dolts to smooth, inlay, and clip, and fit, Till, like the certain wands of Jacob’s wit, Their verses tallied. Easy was the task ; A thousand handicraftsmen wore the mask Of Poesy. Ill-fated, impious race ! That blasphemed the bright Lyrist to his face, And did not know it, — no, they went about, Holding a poor, decrepit standard out Marked with most flimsy mottos, and in large The name of one Boileau ! ” The allusion to Keats occurs at the end of the Second Letter to Joh?i Murray. A passage, formerly suppressed, is now restored in a note. (See Appendix III., pp. 588—9, note 3.) HEMLOCK TO SUCKING AUTHORS. 269 1821.] indifference — not to life, for we love it by instinct — but to the stimuli of life, increases. Besides, this late failure of the Italians has latterly disappointed me for many reasons, — some public, some personal. My respects to Mrs. S. Yours ever, B. P.S. — Could not you and I contrive to meet this summer ? Could not you take a run here alone ? 884. — To John Murray. R? April 26, 1821 . Dear Moray, — I sent you by last posits a large packet, which will not do for publication (I suspect), being, as the Apprentices say, “ damned low .” I put off also for a week or two sending the Italian Scrawl which will form a Note to it. The reason is that, letters being opened, I wish to “ bide a wee.” Well, have you published the Tragedy ? and does the Letter 1 take ? Is it true, what Shelley writes me, that poor John Keats died at Rome of the Quarterly Review? I am very sorry for it, though I think he took the wrong line as a poet, and was spoilt by Cockneyfying, and Sub- urbing, and versifying Tooke’s Pantheon and Lempriere’s Dictionary. I know, by experience, that a savage review is Hemlock to a sucking author ; and the one on me I. Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine for May, 1821 (pp. 227- 233), condemns the Letter to * * * * ****** ^, Hoti. Lord Byron (London, John Murray, 1821), as “ wholly unworthy of “the illustrious author of Childe Harold Bowles’s Two Letters to the Right Honourable Lord Byron are characterized “as a most ‘ ‘ satisfactory answer to Lord Byron’s paradoxes, and as evincing “ throughout the spirit of the scholar and the gentleman/’ 270 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. (which produced the English Bards, etc.) knocked me down — but I got up again. Instead of bursting a blood- vessel, I drank three bottles of Claret, and began an answer, finding that there was nothing in the Article for which I could lawfully knock Jeffrey on the head, in an honourable way. However, I would not be the person who wrote the homicidal article, for all the honour and glory in the World, though I by no means approve of that School of Scribbling which it treats upon. You see the Italians have made a sad business of it. All owing to treachery and disunion amongst themselves. It has given me great vexation. The Execrations heaped upon the Neapolitans by the other Italians are quite in unison with those of the rest of Europe. Mrs. Leigh writes that Lady No — ill is getting well again. See what it is to have luck in this world. I hear that Rogers is not pleased with being called “ venerable ” 1 — a pretty fellow : if I had thought that he would have been so absurd, I should have spoken of him as defunct — as he really is. Why, betwixt the years he really lived, and those he has been dead, Rogers has lived upon the Earth nearly seventy three years and upwards, as I have proved in a postscript of my letter, by this post, to Mr. Kinnaird. Let me hear from you, and send me some Soda- powders for the Summer dilution. Write soon. Yours ever and truly, B. P.S. — Your latest packet of books is on its way here, I. In the First Letter on Bowles, Byron speaks of meeting him “ in “ the house of our venerable host” Rogers, “the last Argonaut of “classic English poetry, and the Nestor of our inferior race of “ living poets.” (See Appendix III. p. 537-) 1 82 1.] COLLAPSE OF ITALIAN REVOLUTION. 27 1 but not arrived. Kenilworth 1 excellent. Thanks for the pocket-books, of whilk I have made presents to those ladies who like cuts, and landscapes, and all that. I have got an Italian book or two which I should like to send you if I had an opportunity. I am not at present in the very highest health. Spring probably ; so I have lowered my diet and taken to Epsom Salts. As you say my prose is good, why don’t you treat with Moore for the reversion of the Memoirs ? 2 — condi- tionally > recollect ; not to be published before decease. lie has the permission to dispose of them, and I advised him to do so. 885. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, April 28, 1821. You cannot have been more disappointed than myself, nor so much deceived. I have been so at some personal risk also, which is not yet done away with. However, no time nor circumstances shall alter my tone nor my feelings of indignation against tyranny triumphant. The present business has been as much a work of treachery as of cowardice, — though both may have done their part. If ever you and I meet again, I will have a talk with you upon the subject. At present, for obvious reasons, I can write but little, as all letters are opened. 1. Kenilworth was published in 1821. 2. Murray (. Memoir of John Murray , vol. i. p. 425) writes, September 6, 1821, “I forgot in my former letter to notice a hint “ in yours respecting an additional sum to Mr. Moore. The purchase “which I have made of the ‘Memoirs’ is perfectly con amore. “ As a matter of mere business, if I placed the ^2000 in the funds “ (supposing they did not break), in fourteen years (the least annuity “value of the author’s life) it would become £4000. Moore should “not show the ‘ Memoirs ’ to any one now, I think.” 272 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. In mine they shall always find my sentiments, but nothing that can lead to the oppression of others. You will please to recollect that the Neapolitans are now nowhere more execrated than in Italy, and not blame a whole people for the vices of a province. That would be like condemning Great Britain because they plunder wrecks in Cornwall. And now let us be literary ; — a sad falling off, but it is always a consolation. If “ Othello’s occupation be “ gone,” let us take to the next best ; and, if we cannot contribute to make mankind more free and wise, we may amuse ourselves and those who like it. What are you writing ? I have been scribbling at intervals, and Murray will be publishing about now. Lady Noel has, as you say, been dangerously ill \ but it may console you to learn that she is dangerously well again. I have written a sheet or two more of Memoranda for you ; and I kept a little Journal for about a month or two, till I had filled the paper-book. I then left it off, as things grew busy, and, afterwards, too gloomy to set down without a painful feeling. This I should be glad to send you, if I had an opportunity ; but a volume, however small, don’t go well by such posts as exist in this Inquisition of a country. I have no news. As a very pretty woman said to me a few nights ago, with the tears in her eyes, as she sat at the harpsichord, “ Alas ! the Italians must now return to “ making operas.” I fear that and maccaroni are their forte, and “motley their only wear.” However, there are some high spirits among them still. Pray write. And believe me, etc. moore’s “ lines; 273 1821.] 886. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, May 3, 1821. Though I wrote to you on the 28th ultimo, I must acknowledge yours of this day, with the lines. 1 They are sublime, as well as beautiful, and in your very best mood and manner. They are also but too true. However, do not confound the scoundrels at the heel of the boot with their betters at the top of it. I assure you that there are some loftier spirits. Nothing, however, can be better than your poem, or more deserved by the Lazzaroni. They are now abhorred and disclaimed nowhere more than here. We will talk over these things (if we meet) some day, and I will recount my own adventures, some of which have been a little hazardous, perhaps. So, you have got the Letter on Bowles ? I do not recollect to have said any thing of you that could offend, — certainly, nothing intentionally. As for * * [Rogers?], I meant him a compliment. I wrote the whole off-hand, without copy or correction, and expecting then every day to be called into the field. What have I said of you ? I am sure I forget. It must be something of regret for your approbation of Bowles. 2 And did you not approve, 1. Moore has the following notes in his Diary ( Memoirs , etc., vol. iii. p. 214) : — “ March 27, 1821. — Heard of the surrender of the Neapolitans, “ without a blow, to the Austrians. Can this be true ? Then there “is no virtue in Maccaroni. . . . “ 28th. The news but too true ; curse on the cowards ! . . . “ 30th. Wrote a few lines about the rascally Neapolitans.” These were the “ Lines written on hearing that the Austrians had “entered Naples,” beginning “Aye, down to the dust with them, “slaves as they are.” They were printed in the Traveller for April 9, 1821. 2. For the allusion, see the first Letter to John Murray , Esq., on the Rev. W. L. Bowles’s Strictures on the Life and Writings of Pope, Appendix III. p. 558. On this passage Moore has the two following notes : — VOL. V. T 274 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. as he says ? Would I had known that before ! I would have given him some more gruel. My intention was to make fun of all these fellows; but how I succeeded, I don’t know. As to Pope, I have always regarded him as the greatest name in our poetry. Depend upon it, the rest are bar- barians. He is a Greek Temple, with a Gothic Cathedral on one hand, and a Turkish Mosque and all sorts of fantastic pagodas and conventicles about him. You may call Shakspeare and Milton pyramids, if you please, but I prefer the Temple of Theseus or the Parthenon to a mountain of burnt brick-work. The Murray has written to me but once, the day of its publication, when it seemed prosperous. But I have heard of late from England but rarely. Of Murray’s other publications (of mine), I know nothing, — nor whether he has published. He was to have done so a month ago. I wish you would do something, — or that we were together. Ever yours and affectionately, B. 44 I had not, when I wrote, see?i this pamphlet, as he supposes, but 4 4 had merely heard from some friends, that his pen had 4 run a-muck ’ 44 in it, and that I myself had not escaped a slight graze in its career.” 44 It may be sufficient to say of the use to which both Lord Byron 44 and Mr. Bowles thought it worth their while to apply my name in 44 this controversy, that, as far as my own knowledge of the subject 44 extended, I was disposed to agree with neither of the extreme 4 4 opinions into which, as it appeared to me, my distinguished friends 44 had diverged ; — neither with Lord Byron in that spirit of partisan- ship which led him to place Pope above Shakspeare and Milton, 44 nor with Mr. Bowles in such an application of the 4 principles ’ of 4 4 poetry as could tend to sink Pope, on the scale of his art, to any “rank below the very first. Such being the middle state of my 44 opinion on the question, it will not be difficult to understand how 4 4 one of my controversial friends should be as mistaken in supposing 4 4 me to differ altogether from his views, as the other was in taking “for granted that I had ranged myself wholly on his side” ( Life . P- 503)- ANTI-CHRISTIAN ANTI-POPISTS. 275 1821.] 887. — To John Murray. Ravenna, May 8 l . h , 1821. Dear Moray, — Pray publish these additional notes. 1 It is of importance to the question in dispute, and even, if you can, print it on a separate page and distribute it to the purchasers of the former copies. I have had no letters from you for this month past. Acbiowledge this by post ; as this note is worth the whole pamphlet as an example of what we are to prove against the Anti-christian anti-popists. Yours, Byron. P.S. — I copy the following postscript from Moore’s latest letter to me of April 14 th 44 Since I wrote the 44 above, Lady E. F. sent me your letter, and I have run 44 through it. How the devil could Bowles say that I 44 agreed with his twaddling , and ( still more strange) how 44 could yott believe him ?” There ! what do you think of this? You may show this to the initiated, but ?iot publish it in print — yet at least — till I have M.’s permission. Get and send me, if possible, Tom Tyers’s amusing tracts upon Pope and Addison. 2 I had a copy in 1812 which was, I know not how, lost, and I could not obtain another. It is a scarce book, but has run through three editions I think. It is in the Boswell style, but more rapid ; very curious, and indeed necessary if you think of a new life of Pope. Why don’t Gifford undertake a Life and edition ? It is more necessary than that of Ben 1. These “notes” are now printed as an “additional note” to Byron’s first Letter to John Murray , etc. (See Appendix III., p. 563.) 2. Thomas Tyers (1726-1787), the “ Tom Restless” of Johnson’s Idler , wrote, among other pamphlets, An Historical Rhapsody on Mr. Pope (1781) and An Historical Essay o?i Mr. Addison (1782). 2 7 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Jonson. Nobody can do it but Gifford, both from his qualities and turn of mind. I have not sent you the Italian Scrap promised in my last letters, but will in a few posts. Do you recollect the air of “ How now, Madame “ Flirt ? ” in the Beggar's Opera ? 1 Bowles. “ Why how now, Saucy Tom, If you thus must ramble, I will publish some Remarks on Thomas Campbell. — Saucy Tom l ” Campbell. “ Why how now, Billy Bowles, Sure the parson’s maudlin. How can you (damn your souls) [To the public Listen to his twaddling ? Billy Bowles ! ” Thorwaldsen sent off the bust to be shipped from Leghorn last week. As it is addressed to your house and care you may be looking out for it, though I know not the probable time of the voyage in this Season of the year, which is one of light airs and breezes and calms in the Mediterranean. 888. — To John Murray. May io, 1821, Ravenna. Dear Murray, — I have just got your packet. I am obliged to Mr. Bowles, and Mr. B. is obliged to me, for having restored him to good humour. He is to write, I. See p. 252, note 1. OCTAVIUS GILCHRIST. 277 1821.] and you to publish, what you please, — motto and subject. I desire nothing but fair play for all parties. Of course, after the new tone of Mr. B., you will not publish my defence of Gilchrist : 1 it would be brutal to do so after his urbanity, for it is rather too rough, like his own attack upon G. You may tell him what I say there of his Missio 7 iary 2 (it is praised, as it deserves), however; and if there are any passages not personal to Bowles, and yet bearing upon the question, you may add them to the reprint (if it is reprinted) of my i st . letter to you. Upon this consult Gifford ; and, above all, don’t let any thing be added which can personally affect Mr. B. In the enclosed notes, of course what I say of the democracy of poetry cannot apply to Mr. Bowles, but to the Cockney-and-Water washing-tub Schools. Now, what are we to think of Bowles’s story, and Moore’s ! ! ! they are at issue : is it not odd ? I have copied M.’s postscript literally in my letter of the 8 th . 1. Le. the second Letter to John Murray . (See Appendix III. p- 567)- Octavius Graham Gilchrist (1779-1823), a grocer at Stamford, published, in 1805, a volume of Rhymes , edited (1807) the Poems of Richard Corbet, and wrote ( 181 1 ) A Letter to W. Giffard , Esq., on Weber’s edition of Ford’s Plays. He had plunged into the Pope controversy by reviewing Spence's Anecdotes in the London Magazine for February, 1820. For further details of his dispute with Bowles, see Appendix III. pp. 524, 525. Gifford (Introduction to Dramatic Works of John Ford, p. lii. note) says — “This gentleman, whom with Dr. Roscoe, I lament to call ‘the “late ingenious Mr. Gilchrist,’ had not reached the meridian of life “when he fell a sacrifice to some consumptive complaint, which “had long oppressed him. His last labour of love was an attempt “to rescue Pope from the rancorous persecution of his editor, the “ Rev. Mr. Bowles. I know not why this doughty personage gives ‘ ‘ himself such airs of superiority over Mr. Gilchrist ; nor why, “unless from pure taste, he clothes them in a diction not often “heard out of the purlieus of St. Giles. Mr. Gilchrist was a man ‘ ‘ of strict integrity ; and in the extent and accuracy of his critical “ knowledge, and the patient industry of his researches, as much “ superior to the Rev. Mr. Bowles, as in good manners.” 2. The Missionary of the Andes was published in 1815. 278 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. The anecdote of Mr. B. is as follows, and of course not for the public : After dinner at L? Lansdowne’s, they were talking, one evening, as Sir Robert Walpole used to talk always. Bowles said that, after all, love was the only thing worthy the risk of damnation. ***** ***** This is “ the tale as told to me ” by Moore, and at least as good a story as Cibber’s of Pope. You may tell it again to Mr. B., upon whom it reflects rather credit than otherwise, for the humour of it. I hope and trust that Elliston won't be permitted to act the drama . 1 Surely he might have the grace to wait for Kean’s return before he attempted it ; though, even then , / should be as much against the attempt as ever. I have got a small packet of books, but neither Waldegrave , 2 Orford, nor Scott’s Novels among them. Some Soda powders , pray ? Why don’t you republish Hodgson’s C. Harold's Monitor and Latino-Mastix ? 3 1. In opening the Surrey Theatre for Easter, 1821, Thomas Dibdin “announced a new melo-drame founded on Lord Byron’s “recent play of Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice” ( Autobiography of Thomas Dibdin , vol. ii. p. 199). He was immediately warned by Mr. Murray’s solicitor that an injunction had been obtained against Robert William Elliston, to restrain “the performance of “ that play or any part thereof,” and that similar proceedings would be taken against him. 2. Memoirs from 1754 to 1758, by James, Earl Waldegrave, K.G., and Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of George //., by Horace Walpole, Lord Orford, were published in 1822 by Murray. Both were edited by Lord Holland. Byron was indignant that Murray had given more for them than the ^2000 which he offered for Don Jican (Cantos III., IV., and V.), The Two Foscari , and Sardana - palus. As a matter of fact, Murray gave ^2500 for the Waldegrave and Walpole Memoirs {Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 90), and ^2710 (ibid., vol. i. p. 425) for the three tragedies of Sardanapalus, Foscari, and Cain . 3. Hodgson’s Childe Harold's Monitor, or Lmes occasioned by the Last Canto of Childe Harold, including Hints to other Contemporaries , was published in 1818. His Sceculo Mastix, or the Lash of the Age we live in, appeared in the same year. THE CONVENT AT BAGNACAVALLO. l82T.] they are excellent : Pope. 279 think of this — they are all for Yours truly, B. 88 9. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, May 11, 1821. If I had but known your notion about Switzerland before, I should have adopted it at once. As it is, I shall let the child remain in her convent , 1 where she seems healthy and happy, for the present ; but I shall feel much obliged if you will enquire , when you are in the cantons, about the usual and better modes of education there for females, and let me know the result of your opinions. It is some consolation that both Mr. and Mrs. Shelley have written to approve entirely my placing the child with the nuns for the present. I can refer to my whole conduct, as having neither spared care, kindness, 1. See p. 262, note 2. From 1336 to 1796 the conventual build- ings of St. John the Baptist at Bagnacavallo were occupied as a Camaldolese Monastery. When religious houses were suppressed by the French Revolutionary armies, the convent passed into the hands of Count Paolo Gaiani, who, in 1818, made it over to Sister Marianna delle Vergine Addolorata, known in the world as Cate- rina Fabbri (died 1849). This lady founded the Capuchin Convent of St. John as a place of education for girls of noble family. Allegra was brought to the convent (January 22, 1821), not by her father, but by a Ravennese named Ghigi {La Figlia di Lord Byron , Emilio Biondi, Faenza, 1899). It was a fashionable school. Sig. Biondi writes that Allegra had among her schoolfellows “una 4 4 marchesa Ghislieri di Bologna, una contessa Loreta di Ravenna, “ed una nostra concittadina, morta da non molti anni in avanzata “eta, la nobil donna Ippolita Rusconi — nata contessa Biancoli.” During her fatal illness the child was attended by two doctors, and had every possible care. But popular tradition, probably distorting medical orders that the invalid should be fed sparingly, asserted that she was starved to death. Allegra died April 20, 1822. Sig. Biondi thinks that he has discovered evidence that Byron, under an assumed name, visited the convent in August, 1823 (p. 26). Pro- bably the date is a misprint for 1822. 280 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. nor expense, since the child was sent to me. The people may say what they please, I must content myself with not deserving (in this instance) that they should speak ill. The place is a country town in a good air, where there is a large establishment for education, and many children, some of considerable rank, placed in it. As a country town, it is less liable to objections of every kind. It has always appeared to me, that the moral defect in Italy does not proceed from a conventual education, — because, to my certain knowledge, they come out of their convents innocent even to ignorance of moral evil, — but to the state of society into which they are directly plunged on coming out of it. It is like educating an infant on a mountain-top, and then taking him to the sea and throw- ing him into it and desiring him to swim. The evil, however, though still too general, is partly wearing away, as the women are more permitted to marry from attach- ment : this is, I believe, the case also in France. And after all, what is the higher society of England ? Accord- ing to my own experience, and to all that I have seen and heard (and I have lived there in the very highest and what is called the best), no way of life can be more corrupt. In Italy, however, it is, or rather was , more systematised ; but now , they themselves are ashamed of regular Serventism. In England, the only homage which they pay to virtue is hypocrisy. I speak of course of the tone of high life ; — the middle ranks may be very virtuous. I have not got any copy (nor have yet had) of the letter on Bowles ; of course I should be delighted to send it to you. How is Mrs. H. ? well again, I hope. Let me know when you set out. I regret that I cannot meet you in the Bernese Alps this summer, as I once hoped and intended. With my best respects to madam, I am ever, etc. CHILDE HAROLD'S MONITOR . 281 1821.] P.S. — I gave to a musicians a letter for you some time ago — has he presented himself? Perhaps you could introduce him to the Ingrams and other dilettanti. He is simple and unassuming — two strange things in his pro- fession — and he fiddles like Orpheus himself or Amphion : ’t is a pity that he can’t make Venice dance away from the brutal tyrant who tramples upon it. 890. — To Francis Hodgson. Ravenna, May 12, 1821. Dear Hodgson, — At length your two poems 1 have been sent. I have read them over (with the notes) with great pleasure. I receive your compliments kindly and your censures temperately, which I suppose is all that can be expected among poets. Your poem is, however, excellent, 2 and if not popular only proves that there is 1. Probably Childe HarolcC s Monitor and Sceculo Mastix , or the Lash of the Age we live in. 2. In Hodgson’s Childe Harold's Monitor (1818) occurs a passage in praise of Pope — “ What ! shall the bard majestically sweet, Who on the pallid walls of Paraclete Hung an undying wreath of softest green, While, sadly murmuring through the enchanted scene, Fell with new charm the solitary floods, And holier moonlight veiled the sleeping w^oods, — Shall he be summoned to the bar of shame, And slander fix false tinsel on his fame ? True, that the wealth of wit at times betrays The balanced numbers to too rich a blaze ; True that those numbers might, at times, have flown With Dryden’s notes o’er regions scarce their own ; Dared the contrasted pause, and streamed more free In soul-o’erflowing tides of harmony : But shall we vilify the morning star, Bright as he shines o’er earth’s dim clouds afar, Because unequal to the noonday sun, And doomed a humbler course in Heaven to run ? ” This praise, and some of the criticism on contemporary poets, 282 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. a fortune in fame as in every thing else in this world. Much, too, depends upon a publisher, and much upon luck ; and the number of writers is such, that as the mind of a reader can only contain a certain quantum of poetry and poet’s glories, he is sometimes saturated, and allows many good dishes to go away untouched (as happens at great dinners), and this not from fastidiousness but fulness. You will have seen from my pamphlet on Bowles that our opinions are not very different. Indeed, my modesty would naturally look at least bashfully on being termed the “ first of living minstrels ” 1 (by a brother of the art) if both our estimates of “ living minstrels ” in general did not leaven the praise to a sober compliment. It is something like the priority in a retreat. There is but one of your tests which is not infallible : Translation. There are three or four French translations, and several German and Italian which I have seen. Moore wrote to me from Paris months ago that “ the French had caught “the contagion of Byronism to the highest pitch” and has written since to say that nothing was ever like their “ entusymusy ” (you remember Braham) on the subject, pleased Byron, and made him forgive the severity with which his own poetry is criticized. In the notes Hodgson says that the third canto of Childe Harold is disfigured with “ violations of the true tone “of poetic diction,” and “rambling metaphysical sentences of “broken prose borrowed from the most worthless of his contem- poraries.” “ Manfred absolutely teems with them,” etc. (p. 69). “ That Harold’s occasional images, even in his idlest moments, are “as brilliant as ever, nobody can deny; but long indulgence, and “ the unaccountable imitation of inferior writers . . . have, assuredly, “deteriorated his style to a most lamentable degree. Concerning “ BeppO) the less that is said the better” (p. 74), etc. 1. Hodgson had written, towards the beginning of his Childe Harolds Monitor — “Yet, oh ! that, rising at some awful hour, The warning voice could breathe resistless power ; And touch at once, in Truth’s and Friendship’s key, The first of living minstrels — Harold, thee ! ” l 82 I.] NEAPOLITAN TREACHERY. 283 even through the “ slaver of a prose translation : ” these are his words. The Paris translation is also very inferior to the Geneva one, which is very fair, although in prose also, so you see that your test of “ translateable or not ” is not so sound as could be wished. It is no pleasure, however, you may suppose, to be criticised through such a translation, or indeed through any. I give up Beppo , though you know that it is no more than an imitation of Pulci and of a style common and esteemed in Italy. I have just published a drama, which is at least good English, I presume, for Gifford lays great stress on the purity of its diction. I have been latterly employed a good deal more on politics than on anything else, for the Neapolitan treachery and desertion have spoilt all our hopes here, as well as our preparations. The whole country was ready. Of course I should not have sate still with my hands in my breeches’ pockets. In fact they were full ; that is to say, the hands. I cannot explain further now, for obvious reasons, as all letters of all people are opened. Some day or other we may have a talk over that and other matters. In the mean time there did not want a great deal of my having to finish like Lara. Are you doing nothing? I have scribbled a good deal in the early part of last year, most of which scrawls will now be published, and part is, I believe, actually printed. Do you mean to sit still about Pope ? If you do, it will be the first time. I have got such a headache from a cold and swelled face, that I must take a gallop into the forest and jumble it into torpor. My horses are waiting. So good-bye to you. Yours ever, Byron. 284 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Two hours after the Ave Maria, the Italian date of twilight. Dear Hodgson, — I have taken my canter, and am better of my headache. I have also dined, and turned over your notes. In answer to your note of page 90 1 I must remark from Aristotle and JRymer , that the hero of tragedy and (I add meo periculo') a tragic poem must be guilty , to excite “ terror and pity ,” the end of tragic poetry. But hear not me y but my betters. “The pity “ which the poet is to labour for is for the criminal. The “terror is likewise in the punishment of the said criminal, “ who, if he be represented too great an offender, will 7 iot “ be pitied ; if altogether innocent his punishment will be “ unjust.” 2 In the Greek Tragedy innocence is unhappy often, and the offender escapes. I must also ask you is Achilles a good character? or is even ^Eneas anything but a successful runaway ? It is for Turnus men feel and not for the Trojan. Who is the hero of Paradise Lost ? Why Satan, — and Macbeth, and Richard, and Othello, Pierre, and Lothario, and Zanga ? If you talk so, I shall “ cut you up like a gourd,” as the Mamelukes say. But never mind, go on with it. 1. To the line in Childe Harolds Monitor — 44 In plundering heroes of the Marmion strain ” — Hodgson adds a note (p. 90), in which he says, 44 Charles Moor, in “the Robbers, is the worthy mirror and glass of fashion, in which “ the poetical heroes of the day have dressed themselves. . . . The ‘ 4 long series of depraved heroes : of profligates adorned with courage, “ and rendered interesting by all the warmth and tenderness of love ; “ who have formed the prominent object in our more popular litera- 4 4 ture for many years, cannot but have had the worst effect on the 44 minds of the young,” etc., etc. 2. 44 Dryden’s Life ” in Johnson’s Lives of the Poets , p. 203, etc. A FORCED REPRESENTATION. 285 l 82 I.] 891. — To John Murray. Ravenna, May 14^ 1821. Dear Murray, — A Milan paper states that the play has been represented and universally condemned. As remonstrance has been vain, complaint would be useless. I presume, however, for your own sake (if not for mine), that you and my other friends will have at least published my different protests against its being brought upon the stage at all ; and have shown that Elliston (in spite of the writer) forced it upon the theatre. It would be nonsense to say that this has not vexed me a good deal ; but I am not dejected, and I shall not take the usual resource of blaming the public (which was in the right), or my friends for not preventing — what they could not help, nor 1 neither — a forced representation by a Speculating Man- ager. It is a pity that you did not show them its unfit?iess for yf stage before the play was published, and exact a promise from the managers not to act it. 1 In case of their refusal, we would not have published it at all. But this is too late. Yours, B. P.S. — I enclose Mr. Bowles's letters : thank him in my name for their candour and kindness. Also a letter for Hodgson, which pray forward. The Milan paper states that “ I brought foi-ward the play ! ! ! ” This is I. Goethe (Conversations with Eckermann and Soret, translated by John Oxenford, vol. i. pp. 204, 205) said, Februa.^ 24, 1825, “ If I were still superintendent of the theatre, I would bring out “Byron’s Doge of Venice. The piece is, indeed, long, and would “ require shortening. Nothing, however, should be cut out, but the ‘ ‘ import of each scene should be taken, and expressed more con- ‘ 4 cisely. The piece would thus be brought closer together, without “ being damaged by alterations, and it would gain a powerful effect, “ without any essential loss of beauty.” 286 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. pleasanter still. But don’t let yourself be worried about it ; and if (as is likely) the folly of Elliston checks the sale, I am ready to make any deduction, or the entire cancel of your agreement. You will of course not publish my defence of Gilchrist, as, after Bowles’s good humour upon the subject, it would be too savage. Let me hear from you the particulars ; for, as yet, I have only the simple fact. If you knew what I have had to go through here, on account of the failure of these rascally Neapolitans, you would be amused. But it is now apparently over. They seemed disposed to throw the whole project and plans of these parts upon me chiefly. 892. — To Thomas Moore. May 14, 1821. If any part of the letter to Bowles has (unintentionally, as far as I remember the contents) vexed you, you are fully avenged; for I see by an Italian paper that, not- withstanding all my remonstrances through all my friends (and yourself among the rest), the managers persisted in attempting the tragedy, and that it has been “ unani- “ mously hissed ! ! ” This is the consolatory phrase of the Milan paper, (which detests me cordially, and abuses me, on all occasions, as a Liberal,) with the addition, that / “ brought the play out ” of my own good will. All this is vexatious enough, and seems a sort of dramatic Calvinism — predestined damnation, without a sinner’s own fault. I took all the pains poor mortal could to prevent this inevitable catastrophe — partly by appeals of all kinds, up to the Lord Chamberlain, and partly to the fellows themselves. But, as remonstrance 1821.] “ EIGHT- AND-TWENTY MISFORTUNES.” 287 was vain, complaint is useless. I do not understand it — for Murray’s letter of the 24th, and all his preceding ones, gave me the strongest hopes that there would be no representation. As yet, I know nothing but the fact, which I presume to be true, as the date is Paris, and the 30th. They must have been in a hell of a hurry for this damna- tion, since I did not even know that it was published ; and, without its being first published, the histrions could not have got hold of it. Any one might have seen, at a glance, that it was utterly impracticable for the stage ; and this little accident will by no means enhance its merit in the closet. Well, patience is a virtue, and, I suppose, practice will make it perfect. Since last year (spring, that is) I have lost a lawsuit, of great importance, on Rochdale collieries — have occasioned a divorce — -have had my poesy disparaged by Murray and the critics — my fortune refused to be placed on an advantageous settlement (in Ireland) by the trustees ; — my life threatened last month (they put about a paper here to excite an attempt at my assassina- tion, on account of politics, and a notion which the priests disseminated that I was in a league against the Germans,) — and, finally, my mother-in-law recovered last fortnight, and my play was damned last week ! These are like “ the eight-and-twenty misfortunes of Harlequin.” 1 But they must be borne. If I give in, it shall be after keeping up a spirit at least. I should not have cared so much about it, if our southern neighbours had not bungled us all out of freedom for these five hundred years to come. Did you know John Keats? They say that he was killed by a review of him in the Quarterly — if he be 1. See Le disgratie cP Arlec ckino : viz . Harlequin's Misfortunes. London, 1726, 8vo. 288 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. dead, which I really don’t know. I don’t understand that yielding sensitiveness. What I feel (as at this present) is an immense rage for eight-and-forty hours, and then, as usual — unless this time it should last longer. I must get on horseback to quiet me. Yours, etc. Francis I. wrote, after the battle of Pavia, “All is “ lost except our honour.” 1 A hissed author may reverse it — “ Nothing is lost, except our honour.” But the horses are waiting, and the paper full. I wrote last week to you. 893. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, May I7 l . h 1821. My dear Hoppner, — You will have seen a para- graph in the Italian papers stating that “ L C 1 B. had exposed “ his t[ragedy] of M[arino] F\aliero\ etc., and that it was “ universally hissed.” You will have also seen in Galignani (what is confirmed by my letters from London), that this is twice false ; for, in the first place, I opposed the repre- sentation at all, and in the next , it was not hissed, but is continued to be acted, in spite of Author, publisher, and the Lord Chancellor’s injunction. 1. The famous note of Francis I. to his mother after the Battle of Pavia, “ Tout est perdu fors Vho 7 ineurP is not historical. The real letter begins thus — “ Madame, — Pour vous advertir comment se porte le ressort “ de mon infortune, de toutes choses n’ m’est demcure que Y honneur “ et la vie qui est saulve, et pour ce que en nostre adversite cette “ nouvelle vous fera quelque resconfort, j’ay prie qu’on me laissast “ pour escrire ces lettres, ce qu’on m’a agreablement accorded’ The whole letter is printed by Fournier, LI Esprit dans V Histoire (ed. 1857, p. 90). Fournier suggests that the phrase may possibly be traced to the Spanish historian, Antonio de Vera, who translates the alleged billet : “ Madama , toto se ha perdido sino es la honra ” {Vida y hechos de Carlos V , p. 123). 1821.] APPEAL TO THE BRITISH CONSUL. 289 Now I wish you to obtain a statement of this short and simple truth in the Venetian and Milan papers, as a contradiction to their former lie. I say you , because your consular dignity will obtain this justice, which out of their hatred to me (as a liberal) they would not concede to an unofficial Individual. Will you take this trouble ? I think two words from you to those in power will do it, because I require nothing but the statement of what we both know to be the fact, and that a fact in no way political. Am I presuming too much upon your good nature ? I suppose that I have no other resource, and to whom can an Englishman apply, in a case of ignorant insult like this (where no personal redress is to be had), but to the person resident most nearly connected with his own government ? I wrote to you last week, and am now, in all haste, Yours ever and most truly, Byron. P.S. — Humble reverences to Madame. Pray favour me with a line in answer. If the play had been condemned, the injunction would be superfluous against the continuance of the representation. 894. — To John Murray. Ravenna, May 19^ 1821. Dear Murray, — Enclosed is a letter of Valpy’s, which it is for you to answer. I have nothing further to do with the mode of publication. By the papers of Thursday, and two letters from Mr. K?, I perceive that the Italian Gazette had lied most ItalicaMy , and that the drama had not been hissed, and that my friends had vol. v. u 290 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. interfered to prevent the representation. So it seems they continue to act it, in spite of us all. For this we must “ trouble them at 'Size : ” let it by all means be brought to a plea : I am determined to try the right, and will meet the expences. The reason of the Lombard lie was that the Austrians — who keep up an Inquisition throughout Italy, and a list of names of all who think or speak of any thing but in favour of their despotism — have for five years past abused me in every form in the Gazette of Milan, etc. I wrote to you a week ago upon the subject. Now, I should be glad to know what compensation Mr. Elliston could make me, not only for dragging my writings on the stage in five days, but for being the cause that I was kept for four days (from Sunday to Thursday morning, the only post days) in the belief that the tragedy had been acted and “ unanimously hissed ; ” and this with the addition that “ / had brought it upon the stage,” and consequently that none of my friends had attended to my request to the contrary. Suppose that I had burst a blood vessel, like John Keats, or blown [out] my brains in a fit of rage, — neither of which would have been unlikely a few years ago. At present I am, luckily, calmer than I used to be, and yet I would not pass those four days over again for — I know not what. I wrote to you to keep up your spirits, for reproach is useless always, and irritating ; but my feelings were very much hurt, to be dragged like a Gladiator to the fate of a Gladiator by that “ Retiarius” Mr. Elliston. As to his defence and offers of compensation, what is all this to the purpose? It is like Louis the 14 th , who insisted upon buying at any price Algernon Sydney’s horse, 1 and, on 1. Byron refers to a discredited anecdote of Sydney and Louis — “It is said that Louis, seeing Sydney mounted on a splendid 1 821.] A LETTER BY LIGHTNING-LIGHT. 291 refusal, on taking it by force, Sydney shot his horse. I could not shoot my tragedy, but I would have flung it into the fire rather than have had it represented. I have now written nearly three acts of another (in- tending to complete it in five), and am more anxious than ever to be preserved from such a breach of all literary courtesy and gentlemanly consideration. If we succeed, well : if not, previous to any future publication, we will request a promise not to be acted, which I would even pay for (as money is their object), or I will not publish — which, however, you will probably not much regret. The Chancellor 1 has behaved nobly. You have also conducted yourself in the most satisfactory manner ; and I have no fault to find with any body but the Stage-players and their proprietor. I was always so civil to Elliston personally, that he ought to have been the last to attempt to injure me. There is a most rattling thunder-storm pelting away at this present writing ; so that I write neither by day, nor by candle, nor torch light, but by lightning-light : the flashes are as brilliant as the most Gaseous glow of the Gas-light company. My chimney-board has just been thrown down by a gust of wind : I thought that it was ‘ ‘ English thorough-bred, was so enchanted with the animal that he ‘ ‘ immediately expressed a desire to become its purchaser. Sydney “declined to part with it, whereupon the haughty monarch gave “orders that money should be tendered and the horse seized. “ Sydney, burning with indignation and passion, when this command “ was brought to him, instantly took a pistol and shot the magnificent “ steed, saying that his horse was born a free creature, had served a “ free man, and should not be mastered by a king of slaves ” (Ewald, Life a?id Times of Algernon Sydney , vol. ii. p. 17). 1. “By the way,” writes Murray to Byron, March 20, 1821 (Memoir, vol. i. pp. 420, 421), “ Hobhouse spoke to Lord Grey “about the impropriety of allowing a play, not intended for per- “ formance, to be acted on the stage. Earl Grey spoke to the Lord “ Chancellor, who said that he would grant an injunction.” 292 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. the “ bold Thunder ” and ££ brisk Lightning ” in person — three of us would be too many. There it goes — -flash again ! but, I tax not you, ye elements, with unkindness ; I never gave ye franks , nor called upon you ; 1 as I have done by and upon Mr. Elliston. Why do not you write? You should have at least sent me a line of particulars : I know nothing yet but by Galignani and the honourable Douglas. Hobhouse has been paying back Mr. Canning’s assault . 2 1. “ I tax not you, ye elements, with unkindness, I never gave you kingdom, call’d you children, You owe me no subscription ; why then let fall Your horrible pleasure.” King Lear , act iii. sc. 2. 2. In the House of Commons, April 17, 1821, Mr. Lambton, seconded by Mr. S. C. Whitbread, proposed 4 ‘That this House do “ resolve itself into a Committee of the whole House to consider the “state of the representation of the people in Parliament.” The motion was supported by Hobhouse, who, in meeting the objection that the House would be inundated by demagogues, said, as reported in the Traveller , April 18, 1821 — “. . . If, however, the demagogue is but six months in finding “his level, in shrinking to his proper dimensions, there is a descrip- ‘ ‘ tion of persons that do not in six months, no, nor in thirty years, “ find their level, and sink to their proper dimensions here. These “ are the regular adventurers, the downright trading politicians. The “ House will'easily suggest to itself the sort of being, to which I allude ; “ but to prevent mistakes, I would presume to attempt a portrait, “ not finished, but not exaggerated. A smart sixth-form boy, the “ little hero of a little world, matures his precocious parts at college, “and sends before him his fame to the metropolis ; a Minister, or “ some Borough-holder of the day thinks him worth saving from his “ democratic associates, and from the unprofitable principles which “ the thoughtless enthusiasm of youth may have inclined him hitherto “ to adopt. The hopeful youth yields at once ; and, placed in the “true line of promotion, he takes his beat with the more veteran “prostitutes of Parliament. There he rounds his periods ; there he “balances his antitheses; there he adjusts his alliterations; and, “ plastering up the interstices of his piebald patchwork rhetoric with “froth and foam — this master of pompous nothings becomes first “ favourite of the great Council of the Nation. His very want of “ sincerity and virtue qualifies him for a corrupted audience, who HOBHOUSE ON CANNING. 293 1821.] He was right ; for Canning had been, like Addison, trying to “ cuff down new-fledged merit .” 1 Hobhouse has in him “ something dangerous ” 2 if not let alone. Well, and how does our Pope Controversy go on, and “ look upon his parts as an excuse for their degeneracy, and regard “ him, not only as the partner, but as the apologist of their common “ degradation. Such a man may have notoriously spurned at every “ principle of public morality and public honour ; he may have by “turns insulted, derided, betrayed, and crouched to every party, or “at least every politician, in the State. Sometimes he may have “ shown all the arrogance of success, at other times have dis- played the true tameness of an underling, and have submitted to “ serve under those in public whom he has conspired in private to “ ruin and destroy. Yet this man — with “ 6 Beauty that shocks you, parts that none can trust, Wit that can creep, and pride that licks the dust/ — “ this man, I say, shall be courted and caressed in Parliament, and “he shall never be so much admired, never so much applauded, as “ when playing off his buffoonery at the expense of public virtue — as “ when depreciating the understandings or mocking the sufferings of “the people. Such a man does not find his level ; he does not “ shrink to his proper dimensions in the unreformed House ; on the “ contrary, he is the true House of Commons hero. Despised and “detected as he maybe without doors, he finds a shelter in the “ bosom of the Senate : sunk as he may be in public opinion, he “ there attains to an eminence which raises him for the time above “ the scorn of his fellow-countrymen. True, his fame is not lasting, “ but for the moment he is the glory and the shame of Parliament : “ no one equals him on that stage. “ 6 Him, thus exalted, for a wit we own, And court him as top-fiddle of the town/ “ Such a man, I say, sir, would have no place in a reformed Parlia- ‘ i ment ; and if he be either useful or ornamental in a deliberative “ assembly, it is for him that should be reserved that nest of “ boroughs which it has been proposed to keep solely for the “demagogues. Talents without character would be banished from “ such an assembly, and the honest discharge of a sacred trust would “ be the first, instead of the last, requisite of a public man/’ 1. Byron probably alludes to Venice Preserved , act ii. sc. 2 — “. . . those baleful unclean birds, Those lazy owls, who, perch’d near fortune’s top, Sit only watchful with their heavy wings To cuff down new-fledg’d virtues, that would rise To nobler heights, and make the grove harmonious.” 2. Hamlet , act v. sc. 1. 294 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. the pamphlet ? It is impossible to write any news : the Austrian scoundrels rummage all letters. Yours, B. P.S. — I could have sent you a good deal of Gossip and some real information, were it not that all letters pass through the Barbarians' inspection, and I have no wish to inform them of any thing but my utter abhorrence of them and theirs. They have only conquered by treachery, however. Send me some Soda-powders, some of “ Acton's Corn- “ rubbers," and W. Scott's romances. And do pray write : when there is anything to interest, you are always silent. 895. — To Madame Guiccioli. 1 [Undated.] Ecco la veritk di cio che io vi dissi pochi giorni fa, come vengo sacrificato in tutte le maniere senza sapere il I. Of this extract Moore ( Life , p. 510) gives the following trans- lation, prefaced by Countess Guiccioli ’s account of Byron’s anxiety on the occasion : — 44 His quiet was, in spite of himself, often disturbed by public 44 events, and by the attacks which, principally in his character of 44 author, the journals levelled at him. In vain did he protest that 4 4 he was indifferent to these attacks. The impression was, it is 44 true, but momentary ; and he, from a feeling of noble pride, but 44 too much disdained to reply to his detractors. But, however brief 4 4 his annoyance was, it was sufficiently acute to occasion him much 44 pain, and to afflict those who loved him. Every occurrence rela- 44 tive to the bringing Marino Faliero on the stage caused him 44 excessive inquietude. On the occasion of an article in the Mila?i 44 Gazette , in which mention was made of this affair, he wrote to me 44 in the following manner : — 4 You will see here confirmation of what 4 4 I told you the other day ! I am sacrificed in every way, without 4 4 knowing the why or the wherefore. The tragedy in question is not 4 4 (nor ever was) written for, or adapted to, the stage ; nevertheless, 44 the plan is not romantic ; it is rather regular than otherwise ; — in SUSCEPTIBILITY. 295 1821.] perche e il come. La tragedia di cui si parla non e (e non era mai) nb scritta nb adatta al teatro ; ma non h pero romantico il disegno, e piuttosto regolare — regolaris- simo per V unitk del tempo, e mancando poco a quella del sito. Voi sapete bene se io aveva intenzione di farla rappresentare, poiche era scritta al vostro banco e nei momenti per certo piu tragici per me come uomo che come autore , — perche voi eravate in affanno ed in pericolo. Intanto sento dalla vostra Gazetta che sia nata una cabala, un partito, e senza ch’ io vi abbia presa la minima parte. Si dice che V autore ne fece la lettura ! ! / — qul forse ? a Ravenna? — ed a chi? forse a Fletcher!!! quel illustre litterato, etc., etc. 896. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, May 20, 1821. Since I wrote to you last week I have received English letters and papers, by which I perceive that what I took for an Italian truth is, after all, a French lie of the Gazette de France. It contains two ultra-falsehoods in as many lines. In the first place, Lord B. did not bring forward his play, but opposed the same ; and, secondly, it was not condemned, but is continued to be acted, in despite of publisher, author, Lord Chancellor, and (for aught I know to the contrary) of audience, up to the first of May, at least — the latest date of my letters. You will 44 point of unity of time, indeed, perfectly regular, and failing but 44 slightly in unity of place. You well know whether it was ever my 44 intention to have it acted, since it was written at your side, and at ‘ 4 a period assuredly rather more tragical to me as a 7itan than as an 44 author ; (ox you were in affliction and peril. In the mean time, I ‘ ‘ learn from your Gazette that a cabal and party has been formed, 44 while I myself have never taken the slightest step in the business. 4 4 It is said that the author read it aloud ! ! ! — here, probably, at 44 Ravenna ? — and to whom ? perhaps to Fletcher ! ! ! — that illustrious 44 literary character,” etc., etc. 296 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. oblige me, then, by causing Mr. Gazette of France to contradict himself, which, I suppose, he is used to. I never answer a foreign criticism ; but this is a mere matter of fact , and not of opinions . I presume that you have English and French interest enough to do this for me — though, to be sure, as it is nothing but the truth which we wish to state, the insertion may be more difficult. As I have written to you often lately at some length, I won’t bore you further now, than by begging you to comply with my request; and I presume the esprit du corps (is it “ du” or “ de” ? for this is more than I know) will sufficiently urge you, as one of “ ours,” to set this affair in its real aspect. Believe me always yours ever and most affectionately, Byron. 897. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, May 25, 1821. I am very much pleased with what you say of Switzer- land, and will ponder upon it. I would rather she married there than here for that matter. For fortune, I shall make all that I can spare (if I live and she is correct in her conduct) ; and if I die before she is settled, I have left her by will five thousand pounds, which is a fair provision out of England for a natural child. I shall increase it all I can, if circumstances permit me ; but, of course (like all other human things), this is very uncertain. You will oblige me very much by interfering to have the facts of the play-acting stated, as these scoundrels appear to be organising a system of abuse against me, because I am in their “list.” I care nothing for their criticis?n , but the matter of fact. I have written four acts of another tragedy, so you see they can't bully me. 1 8 2 1 .] THE CHIEF OF THE LIBERALS. 297 You know, I suppose, that they actually keep a list of all individuals in Italy who dislike them — it must be numerous. Their suspicions and actual alarms, about my conduct and presumed intentions in the late row, were truly ludicrous — though, not to bore you, I touched upon them lightly. They believed, and still believe here, or affect to believe it, that the whole plan and project of rising was settled by me, and the means furnished, etc., etc. All this was more fomented by the barbarian agents, who are numerous here (one of them was stabbed yester- day, by the way, but not dangerously) : — and although when the Commandant was shot here before my door in December, I took him into my house, where he had every assistance, till he died on Fletcher’s bed; and although not one of them dared to receive him into their houses but myself, they leaving him to perish in the night in the streets, they put up a paper about three months ago, denouncing me as the Chief of the Liberals, and stirring up persons to assassinate me. But this shall never silence nor bully my opinions. All this came from the German Barbarians. 898. — To John Murray. R* May 25^ 1821. Mr. Moray, — Since I wrote the enclosed a week ago, and for some weeks before, I have not had a line from you. Now I should be glad to know upon what principle of common or ^common feeling, you leave me without any infr mation but what I derive from garbled gazettes in English, and abusive ones in Italian (the Germans hating me as a Coal-heaver x ), while all this kick up has been going on about the play? You shabby I. I.e. a carbonaro. 298 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. fellow ! ! ! Were it not for two letters from Douglas Kinnaird, I should have been as ignorant as you are negligent. I send you an Elegy as follows : — Behold the blessings of a lucky lot ! My play is dam?ied , and Lady Noel not . So, I hear Bowles has been abusing Hobhouse : 1 if I. Hobhouse contributed to the first edition of English Bards , and Scotch Reviewers ( Poems , vol. i. p. 327, note I, and Appendix III. of this volume) some couplets on Bowles. These couplets were afterwards exchanged for Byron’s own lines, thus quoted by the Quarterly reviewer in his article on Spence’s Anecdotes of Books a?id Mm (Quarterly Review for July, 1820, p. 425) — “ If Pope, whose fame and genius from the first Have foil’d the best of critics, needs the worst. Do thou essay — Let all the scandal of a former age Perch on thy pen, and flutter o’er thy page ; Affect a candour which thou canst not feel, Clothe envy in the garb of honest zeal ; Write as if St. John’s soul could still inspire, And do from hate what Mallet did for hire.” In the second of his Two Letters to the Right Ho?iourable Lord Byro?i (1821), pp. 103, 104, Bowles, referring to the attack on him- self in E 7 iglish Bards and Scotch Reviewers , says, “The task of ‘ ‘ bestowing the ‘ heaviest * and heartiest lashes, I find devolved on “your friend the gallant and puissant Knight of Westminster. “Can I, then, pass over entirely this your coadjutor , now my lance “ is in its rest ? I do not know whether Hobhouse or your Lordship “wrote the lines quoted in the Qziarterly. If Hobhouse did not “ write these, I find he wrote others more severe , and therefore I “ take them as they stand.” He then quotes the lines given above, and adapts them thus — ‘ 4 If snow-white innocence, that from the first Has foil’d the best defenders, need the worst, Hobhouse, essay — Let all the pert 7 iess of palav’ring prose Froth on thy lips, and perch upon thy nose ; Affect a virtue that thou can’st not feel ; Clothe faction in the garb of patriot zeal ; Against King, Commons, Lords, — and Canning,— bray And do for hate what Santerre did for pay ! ” To this Hobhouse replied with the following lines, quoted in the Memoir of John Murray (vol. i. p. 421) — 1 82 1.] FOUR ACTS OF SARDANAPALUS. 299 that’s the case, he has broken the truce, like Morillo’s successor, and I will cut him out, as Cochrane did the Esmeralda . 1 Since I wrote the enclosed packet, I have completed (but not copied out) four acts of a new tragedy. When I have finished the fifth, I will copy it out. It is on the subject of Sardanapalus , 2 the last king of the Assyrians. The words Queen and pavilion occur, but it is not an allusion to his Britannic Majesty, as you may tremulously (for the admiralty custom) imagine. This you will one day see (if I finish it), as I have made Sardanapalus brave , (though voluptuous, as history represents him,) and also as amiable as my poor powers could render him. So that it could neither be truth nor satire on any living monarch. I have strictly preserved all the unities hitherto, and mean to continue them in the fifth, if possible ; but ?iot for the Stage . Yours, in haste and hatred, you scrubby corre- spondent ! B. “ Should Parson Bowles yourself or friend compare To some French cut-throat, if you please, Santerre — Or heap, malignant, on your living head The smut and trash he pour’d on Pope when dead, Say what reply — or how with him to deal- — Sot without shame and fool that cannot feel ? You would not parley with a printers’ hack — You cannot cane him, for his coat is black ; Reproof and chastisement are idly spent On one who calls a kick a compliment. Unwhipp’d, then, leave him to lampoon and lie Safe in his parson’s guise and infamy.” 1. Lord Cochrane, who, in 1817, had undertaken the command and organization of the Chilian navy, cut out the Spanish frigate Esitiercilda , which was lying under the batteries of Callao, on the night of November 5, 1820. 2. Between May and September 10, 1821, Byron sent to Murray the three dramas of Sardanapalus , The Two Foscari , and Cam. They were published together in December, 1821, Murray paying for them ^27 10. 300 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 899. — To John Murray. Ravenna, May 28^ 1821. Dear Moray, — Since my last of the 26th or 25th, I have dashed off my fifth act of the tragedy called Sarda- ?iapalus. But now comes the copying over, which may prove heavy work — heavy to the writer as to the reader. I have written to you at least 6 times sans answer, which proves you to be a — bookseller. I pray you to send me a copy of Mr. “ Wrangham's ” reformation of “ Langhornds “ Plutarch : 1 ” I have the Greek, which is somewhat small of print, and the Italian, which is too heavy in style, and as false as a Neapolitan patriot proclamation. I pray you also to send me a life, published some years ago, of the Magician Apollonius of T[yana], etc., etc. 2 It is in English, and I think edited or written by what “ Martin “ Marprelate ” calls “ a bouncing priest .” I shall trouble you no further with this sheet than y® postage. Yours, etc., B. P.S. — Since I wrote this, I determined to inclose it (as a half sheet) to Mr. K., who will have the goodness to forward it. Besides, it saves sealing wax. 900. — To John Murray. R a May 30^ 1821. Dear Moray, — You say you have written often : I have only received yours of the eleventh, which is very 1. The Rev. John Langhorne’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives (1770) was edited by the Rev. Francis Wrangham in 1810. 2. The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, of whom Gibbon wrote (. Decline and Fall , ed. 1854, vol. ii. p. 22, note), “ We are at a loss to “ discover whether he was a sage, an impostor, or a fanatic,” was translated into English, from the Greek of Philostratus, by Charles Blount in 1680, and by the Rev. Edward Berwick in 1810. SARDANAPALUS FINISHED. 3 01 1821.] short. By this post, in five packets, I send you the tragedy of Sardanapalus , which is written in a rough hand : perhaps Mrs. Leigh can help you to decypher it. You will please to acknowledge it by return of post. You will remark that the Unities are all strictly observed. The Scene passes in the same Hall always. The time, a Summer's night , about nine hours, or less, though it begins before Sunset and ends after Sunrise. In the third act, when Sardanapalus calls for a mirror to look at himself in his armour , recollect to quote the Latin passage from Juvenal upon Otho (a similar character, who did the same thing) : Gifford will help you to it . 1 The trait is perhaps too familiar, but it is historical (of Otho , at least,) and natural in an effeminate character. Preface, etc., etc., will be sent when I know of the arrival. For the historical account, I refer you to Dio- dorus Siculus, from which you must have the chapters of the Story translated, as an explanation and a note to the drama . 2 You write so seldom and so shortly, that you can hardly expect from me more than I receive. Yours truly, etc. P.S. — Remember me to Gifford, and say that I doubt that this MSS. will puzzle him to decypher it. The Characters are quite different from any I have hitherto attempted to delineate. 1. The quotation was not apparently made in the early edition (1821). It is from Juvenal, Sat . ii. lines 99-103 — “ Ille tenet speculum, pathici gestamen Othonis, Actoris Aurunci spolium, quo se ille videbat Armatum, cum jam tolli vexilla juberet. Res memoranda novis annalibus, atque recenti Historia, speculum civilis sarcina belli. ” 2. Instead of the chapters from Diodorus Siculus, the explanatory note gives a quotation from Mitford’s History of Greece , vol. ix. PP* 3 II- 3 I 3 - 302 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. You must have it copied out directly, as you best can, and printed off in proofs (more than one), as I have retained no copy in my hands. With regard to the publication, I can only protest as heretofore against its being acted, it being expressly written not for the theatre. 901. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, May 31, 1821. I enclose you another letter, which will only confirm what I have said to you. About Allegra — I will take some decisive step in the course of the year ; at present, she is so happy where she is, that perhaps she had better have her alphabet imparted in her convent. What you say of the Dante is the first I have heard of it — all seeming to be merged in the row about the tragedy. Continue it ! — Alas ! what could Dante himself now prophesy about Italy ? I am glad you like it, how- ever, but doubt that you will be singular in your opinion. My new tragedy is completed. The B[enzoni] is rights — I ought to have mentioned her humour and amiability , but I thought at her sixty, beauty would be most agreeable or least likely. How- ever, it shall be rectified in a new edition; and if any of the parties have either looks or qualities which they wish to be noticed, let me have a minute of them. I I. This refers to the following passage in Note V. appended to Marino Fa Hero : 44 From the present decay and degeneracy of 44 Venice under the Barbarians, there are some honourable individual 4 4 exceptions. . . . There is Alvise Querini, who, after a long and 4 ‘ honourable diplomatic career, finds some consolation for the 4 4 wrongs of his country, in the pursuits of literature with his nephew, “Vittor Benzon, the son of the celebrated beauty, the heroine of 44 4 La Biondina in Gondoletta,’ etc.” 1 82 1.] ELEGY ON LADY NOEL'S RECOVERY. 303 have no private nor personal dislike to Venice , rather the contrary : but I merely speak of what is the subject of all remarks and all writers upon her present state. Let me hear from you before you start. Believe me ever, etc. P.S. — Did you receive two letters of Douglas Kin- naird’s in an endorse from me? Remember me to Mengaldo, Seranzo, and all who care that I should remember them. The letter alluded to in the enclosed, “ to the Cardinal was in answer to some queries of the government, about a poor devil of a Neapolitan, arrested at Sinigaglia on suspicion, who came to beg of me here ; being without breeches, and consequently without pockets for halfpence, I relieved and forwarded him to his country, and they arrested him at Pesaro on suspicion, and have since interrogated me (civilly and politely, however,) about him. I sent them the poor man's petition, and such in- formation as I had about him, which I trust will get him out again, that is to say, if they give him a fair hearing. I am content with the article. Pray, did you receive, some posts ago, Moore's lines which I enclosed to you, written at Paris ? 1 902. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, June 4, 1821. You have not written lately, as is the usual custom with literary gentlemen, to console their friends with their observations in cases of magnitude. I do not know whether I sent you my “ Elegy on the recovery of Lady “ Noel : 1. Probably the “Lines written on hearing that the Austrians “ had entered Naples,” with the motto “ Carbone Notati ! ” 304 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Behold the blessings of a lucky lot — My play is damn'd, and Lady Noel not . The papers (and perhaps your letters) will have put you in possession of Muster Elliston’s dramatic behaviour. It is to be presumed that the play was fitted for the stage by Mr. Dibdin, who is the tailor upon such occasions, and will have taken measure with his usual accuracy. I hear that it is still continued to be performed — a piece of obstinacy for which it is some consolation to think that the discourteous histrio will be out of pocket. You will be surprised to hear that I have finished another tragedy in five acts, observing all the unities strictly. It is called Sardanapalus , and was sent by last post to England. It is not for the stage, any more than the other was intended for it — and I shall take better care this time that they don’t get hold on’t. I have also sent, two months ago, a further letter on Bowles, etc. ; but he seems to be so taken up with my “respect” (as he calls it) towards him in the former case, that I am not sure that it will be published, being some- what too full of “ pastime and prodigality.” I learn from some private letters of Bowles’s, that you were “the “ gentleman in asterisks.” Who would have dreamed it ? you see what mischief that clergyman has done by print- ing notes without names. How the deuce was I to suppose that the first four asterisks meant “ Campbell ” and not “ Pope ,” and that the blank signature meant Thomas Moore ? 1 You see what comes of being familiar I. “In their eagerness, like true controversialists, to avail them- “ selves of every passing advantage, and convert even straws into “ weapons on an emergency, my two friends, during their short war- fare, contrived to place me in that sort of embarrassing position, “ the most provoking feature of which is, that it excites more amuse- “ ment than sympathy. On the one side, Mr. Bowles chose to cite, “ as a support to his argument, a short fragment of a note, addressed “ to him, as he stated, by ‘ a gentleman of the highest literary,’ etc., 1 8 2 1 .] THE GENTLEMAN IN ASTERISKS. 305 with parsons. His answers have not yet reached me, but I understand from Hobhouse, that he (H.) is attacked in them. If that be the case, Bowles has broken the truce, (which he himself proclaimed, by the way,) and I must have at him again. Did you receive my letters with the two or three concluding sheets of Memoranda ? There are no news here to interest much. A German spy ( boasting himself such) was stabbed last week, but not “etc., and saying, in reference to Mr. Bowles’s former pamphlet, “‘You have hit the right nail on the head, and * * * * too.’ “ This short scrap was signed with four asterisks ; and when, on the “appearance of Mr. Bowles’s Letter, I met with it in his pages, not “ the slightest suspicion ever crossed my mind that I had been myself “ the writer of it ; — my communications with my reverend friend and “neighbour having been (for years, I am proud to say) sufficiently “frequent to allow of such a hasty compliment to his disputative “powers passing from my memory. When Lord Byron took the “ field against Mr. Bowles’s Letter, this unlucky scrap, so authorita- tively brought forward, was, of course, too tempting a mark for “his facetiousness to be resisted; more especially as the person “mentioned in it, as having suffered from the reverend critic’s “vigour, appeared, from the number of asterisks employed in de- signating him, to have been Pope himself, though, in reality, the “ name was that of Mr. Bowles’s former antagonist, Mr. Campbell. “ The noble assailant, it is needless to say, made the most of this “vulnerable point; and few readers could have been more diverted “ than I was with his happy ridicule of ‘ the gentleman in asterisks,’ “little thinking that I was myself, all the while, this veiled victim, “ — nor was it till about the time of the receipt of the above letter, “ that, by some communication on the subject from a friend in “ England, I was startled into the recollection of my own share in “ the transaction. “ While by one friend I was thus unconsciously, if not innocently, “ drawn into the scrape, the other was not slow in rendering me the “same friendly service; — for, on the appearance of Lord Byron’s “answer to Mr. Bowles, I had the mortification of finding that, “with a far less pardonable want of reserve, he had all but named “me as his authority for an anecdote of his reverend opponent’s “early days, which I had, in the course of an after-dinner conversa- “ tion, told him at Venice, and which, — pleasant in itself, and, “whether true or false, harmless, — derived its sole sting from the “manner in which the noble disputant triumphantly applied it. “ Such are the consequences of one’s near and dear friends taking to “ controversy.”— Moore. VOL. V. X 30 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. mortally. The moment I heard that he went about bullying and boasting, it was easy for me, or any one else, to foretell what would occur to him, which I did, and it came to pass in two days after. He has got off, however, for a slight incision. A row the other night, about a lady of the place, between her various lovers, occasioned a midnight dis- charge of pistols, but nobody wounded. Great scandal, however — planted by her lover — to be thrashed by her husband, for inconstancy to her regular Servente , who is coming home post about it, and she herself retired in confusion into the country, although it is the acme of the opera season. All the women furious against her (she herself having been censorious) for being found out . She is a pretty woman — a Countess Rasponi — a fine old Visigoth name, or Ostrogoth. The Greeks ! 1 what think you ? They are my old I. The Greek Revolution broke out in the provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, under the leadership of Alexander Hypsilantes (1782-1828), son of the Hospodar of Wallachia, whose deposition (1805-6) served Russia as an excuse for war with Turkey (Finlay, History of the Greek Revolution , ed. 1877, vol. vi. p. no). He was selected as leader of the movement by the Philike Hetairia, a secret society, founded at Odessa in 1814, which helped to prepare the Greek Revolution. He had served in the Russian army, become a major- general, and lost his right arm at the battle of Culm (1813). But in spite of military experience, he proved himself an incapable leader, irresolute, vain, treacherous, untrustworthy. Crossing the Pruth (February 22) March 6, 1821, he established himself at Jassy, whence he issued a proclamation, March 7, calling the Greeks “to arms for 44 our country and our religion,” and boasting of Russian support. (See the proclamation, dated February 23 (March 7) from Jassy, trans- lated in the Traveller for April 13, 1821.) At Bucharest, which he reached April 9, he remained inactive, distrusted by local leaders, and publicly repudiated by the Emperor Alexander. As the Turkish forces advanced, he crept back towards the Austrian frontier. When news of his defeat at Dragashan (June 20) reached him, nine miles in the rear of his army, he escaped (June 26) into Austrian territory, where he was treated as a Russian deserter, and imprisoned at Mongatz till 1827. He died at Vienna, January 31, 1828. In the Morea, where the rising broke out towards the end of THE GREEK REVOLUTION, 307 1821.] acquaintances — but what to think I know not. Let us hope howsomever. Yours, B. 903. — To Giovanni Battista Missiaglia. June 12, 1821. Dear Sir, — Tell Count V. Benzone (with my respects to him and to his Mother) that I have received his books — and that I shall write to thank him in a few days, Murray sends me books of travels — I do not know why; for I have travelled enough myself to know that such books are fall of lies. If you come here you will find me very glad to see you, and very ready to dispute with you. Yours ever, Byron. March, 1821, the Greeks were more successful. On April 5, at Kalamata, a solemn service of the Greek Church was held as a thanksgiving for victories, and, four days later (April 9), an appeal was issued to Christendom to aid the Greek Christians against the Mussulman. Spreading northwards, the whole country south of Thermopylae, by June, 1821, was in the hands of the Greeks, whose fleet, under Miaoulis and Kanaris, swept the seas. But patriotic efforts were too often defeated by the rivalries of leaders like Germanos, Primate of Patras, Demetrius Hypsilantes (1793-1832), younger brother of Alexander, who claimed to be viceroy, popular leaders like Kolokotrones, or politicians like Alexander Mavrocor- datos (1791-1865), the statesman of the movement, who had been Mary Shelley’s Greek teacher at Pisa. (For a description of Mavro- cordatos, see Millingen’s Memoirs of the Affairs of Greece , pp. 65, 66.) A government and constitution were needed. A National Assembly, summoned at Tripolitza, and removed to Piada, near Epidaurus, met in December, 1821, and framed a constitution, which was pro- claimed January 13, 1822, the New Year’s day of Eastern Christians. It consisted of a Legislative Assembly, and an executive body of five members, presided over by Mavrocordatos, with the title of President of Greece. (For Byron’s share in the subsequent history of the movement, see Letters , vol. vi.) 308 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 904. — To John Murray. Ravenna, June 14^ 1821. Dear Murray, — I have resumed my “majestic march ” (as Gifford is pleased to call it) in Sardanapalus , which by the favour of Providence and the Post Office should be arrived by this time, if not interrupted. It was sent on the 2" d June, 12 days ago. Let me know, because I had but that one copy. Can your printers make out the MS.? I suppose long acquaintance with my scrawl may help them ; if not, ask Mrs. Leigh, or Hobhouse, or D. K. : they know my writing. The whole five acts were sent in one cover, ensured to England, paying forty five scudi here for the insurance. I received some of your parcels : the Doge is longer than I expected : pray, why did you print the face of M[argarita] C[ogni] by way of frontispiece ? It has almost caused a row between the Countess G. and myself. And pray, why did you add the note about the Kelso woman’s Sketches ? Did I not request you to omit it, the instant I was aware that the writer was a female ? The whole volume looks very respectable, and suffi- ciently dear in price, but you do not tell me whether it succeeds : your first letter (before the performance) said that it was succeeding far beyond all anticipation; but this was before the piracy of Elliston, which (for anything I know, as I have had no news — your letter with papers not coming) may have affected the circulation. I have read Bowles’s answer : I could easily reply, but it would lead to a long discussion, in the course of which I should perhaps lose my temper, which I would rather not do with so civil and forbearing an antagonist. I suppose he will mistake being silent for silenced . 1 82 1.] A NEW JOURNAL OF TREVOUX. 309 I wish to know when you publish the remaining things in MS. ? I do not mean the prose , but the verse. I am truly sorry to hear of your domestic loss ; but (as I know by experience), all attempts at condolence in such cases are merely varieties of solemn impertinence. There is nothing in this world but Time. Yours ever and truly, B. P.S. — You have never answered me about Holmes , the Miniature painter : can he come or no ? I want him to paint the miniatures of my daughter and two other persons. In the i- fc pamphlet it is printed “ a Mr. J. S.” : it should be “ Mr. J. S.,” and not “ a ,” which is con- temptuous ; it is a printer’s error and was not thus written. 905. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, June 22, 1821. Your dwarf of a letter came yesterday. That is right ; — keep to your magnum opus — magnoperate away. Now, if we were but together a little to combine our Journal of Trevoux J 1 But it is useless to sigh, and yet very natural, — for I think you and I draw better together, in the social line, than any two other living authors. I forgot to ask you, if you had seen your own pane- gyric in the correspondence of Mrs. Waterhouse and i. At Trevoux, on the Saone in the Department of Ain, the Jesuits founded the literary journal, Memoires de Trevoux , which began to appear in 1701. By the same printing-press, established in 1695 by Louis Aug. de Bourbon, Prince de Dombes, was printed the Dictionnaire de Trevoux , the first edition of which, in three folio volumes, appeared in 1704. 310 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Colonel Berkeley ? 1 To be sure their moral is not quite exact ; but your passion is fully effective ; and all poetry of the Astatic kind — I mean Asiatic, as the Romans called “Asiatic oratory,” and not because the scenery is Oriental — must be tried by that test only. I am not quite sure that I shall allow the Miss Byrons (legitimate or illegitimate) to read Lalla Rookh — in the first place, on account of this said passion ; and, in the second, that they may’nt discover that there was a better poet than papa. You say nothing of politics — but, alas ! what can be said? The world is a bundle of hay, Mankind are the asses who pull, Each tugs it a different way, — And the greatest of all is John Bull ! How do you call your new project ? 2 I have sent Murray a new tragedy, ycleped Sardanapalus , writ according to Aristotle — all, save the chorus — I could not reconcile me to that. I have begun another, and am in the second act ; — so you see I saunter on as usual. Bowles’s answers have reached me; but I can’t go on disputing for ever, — particularly in a polite manner. I suppose he will take being silent for silenced . He has been so civil that I can’t find it in my liver to be facetious with him, — -else I had a savage joke or two at his service. I can’t send you the little journal, because it is in 1. The case of Waterhouse v. Berkeley was tried at Gloucester Assizes in April, 1821. It was an action for damages brought by John Waterhouse for the seduction of his wife by Colonel Berkeley. The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, to whom they awarded ^1000 damages. 2. The “project ” was probably Alciphron , which Moore planned in July, 1820, rewrote in prose as The Epicurean (1827), and did not publish till 1839. 1821.] ABHORRENCE OF ENGLISH TRAVELLERS. 3II boards, and I can’t trust it per post. Don’t suppose it is any thing particular ; but it will show the intentions of the natives at that time — and one or two other things, chiefly personal, like the former one. So, Longman don’t bite . — It was my wish to have made that work of use. Could you not raise a sum upon it (however small), reserving the power of redeeming it, on repayment ? Are you in Paris, or a villaging? If you are in the city, you will never resist the Anglo-invasion you speak of. I do not see an Englishman in half a year, and, when I do, I turn my horse’s head the other way. The fact, which you will find in the last note to the Doge, has given me a good excuse for quite dropping the least connection with travellers . 1 I do not recollect the speech you speak of, but suspect it is not the Doge’s, but one of Israel Bertuccio to Calendaro. I hope you think that Elliston behaved shamefully — it is my only consolation. I made the Milanese fellows contradict their lie, which they did with the grace of people used to it. Yours, etc., B. 906. — To John Murray. Ravenna, June 29^ 1821. Dear Murray, — From the last parcel of books, the two first volumes of Butler’s Catholics 2 are missing. As 1. “ The fact is,” says Byron, in the note to Marino Faliero here referred to, “ that I hold in utter abhorrence any contact with the “travelling English. ... I was persecuted by these tourists even to “my riding ground at Lido, and reduced to the most disagreeable “ circuits to avoid them. At Madame Benzoni’s I repeatedly refused “ to be introduced to them ; — of a thousand such presentations pressed “upon me, I accepted two, and both were to Irish women,” etc., etc. 2. Charles Butler (1750-1832), after practising as a conveyancer, 312 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. the book is “ from the author,” in thanking him for me, mention this circumstance. Waldegrave and Walpole are not arrived ; Scott's novels all safe. By the time you receive this letter, the Coronation 1 will be over, and you will be able to think of business. Long before this you ought to have received the MSS. of Sardanapa/us. It was sent on the 2? Inst. By the way, you must permit me to choose my own seasons of pub- lication. All that you have a right to on such occasions is the mere matter of barter : if you think you are likely to lose by such or such a time of printing, you will have full allowance made for it, on statement. It is now two years nearly that MSS. of mine have been in your hands was called to the Bar in 1791, the first Roman Catholic admitted to the profession since 1688. As a real property lawyer, he held a high position, and had frequently advised on Byron’s behalf. His Historical Memoirs respecting the English , Irish , a 7 id Scottish Catholics from the Reformation to the Present Time (4 vols.) was published in 1819-21. 1. The Coronation of George IV. was originally fixed for August I, 1820. But, owing to the proceedings against the Queen, the cere- mony did not take place till July 19, 1821. On the night before, the King slept at the Speaker’s house. Seats to view the procession sold from one guinea to twenty guineas ; stages rose as high as the chimneys of adjoining houses ; and sight-seers began to be in their places by one o’clock in the morning. Westminster Abbey was opened at 4 a.m. The procession passed out of Westminster Hall at 10.25, headed by the King’s herb-woman and her six maids, strewing the way with herbs. It proceeded along a raised platform from the north door of Westminster Hall to the west door of the Abbey, the King walking “ in the Royal Robes, wearing a Cap “of Estate adorned with jewels, under a Canopy of Cloth of Gold “ borne by sixteen Barons of the Cinque Ports.” The service ended at four o’clock, the King looking “ like one expiring when he returned “from the Abbey to the Hall” (. Letters of Joseph Jekyll , p. 115). After the service in the Abbey the banquet, with its attendant cere- monies, was held in Westminster Hall. A brig of war, lying off Norfolk Street, Strand, “ armed with guns of the heaviest calibre,” fired the salutes. An air-balloon in the Green Park, a boat race in Hyde Park, fireworks, and illuminations in the street, provided amusements for the sight-seers. The enormous expenses of the Coronation, which was modelled on that of James II., caused an outcry in and out of Parliament. The new crown was said to have cost £54,000, and the robes ,£24,000. 1 82 1.] SUCCESS OR FAILURE? 313 in statu quo . Whatever I may have thought (and, not being on the spot, nor having any exact means of ascer- taining the thermometer of success or failure, I have had no determinate opinion upon the subject), I have allowed you to go on in your own way, and acquiesced in all your arrangements hitherto. I pray you to forward the proofs of Sardanapalus as soon as you can, and let me know if it be deemed press- and print-worthy. I am quite ignorant how far the Doge did or did not succeed : your first letters seemed to say yes — your last say nothing. My own immediate friends are naturally partial: one review (Blackwood's) speaks highly of it , 1 another pamphlet calls it “ a failure.'’ It is proper that you should apprize me of this, because I am in the third act of a third drama ; and if I have nothing to expect but coldness from the public and hesi- tation from yourself, it were better to break off in time. I had proposed to myself to go on, as far as my Mind would carry me, and I have thought of plenty of subjects. But if I am trying an impracticable experiment, it is better to say so at once. So Canning and Burdett have been quarrelling : 2 if I 1. In Blackwood? s Magazine for April, 1821 (pp. 93-103), the reviewer praises the play vigorously : “ Without question, no such “ tragedy as this of Marino Faliero has appeared in English since “ the day when Otway also was inspired to his masterpiece by the “interests of a Venetian story and a Venetian conspiracy.” On the other hand, the Literary Gazette for April 28, 1821, speaks of the play as “a drawling story, stagnating through five boggy acts, “with hardly here and there an ignis fatutis or Jack-o-Lanthern to “relieve the level and dismal monotony.” 2. On May 2, 1807, Burdett fought a duel with James Pauli over the candidature for Westminster, and was wounded in the thigh. On September 21, 1809, Canning fought Lord Castlereagh, and was wounded in the thigh. But on the occasion to which Byron alludes, no duel took place. From the King’s Bench prison, in the spring of 1821, Burdett addressed a letter to a company of Reformers, who met at the City of London Tavern, April 4, to eat and drink in the cause of Parliamentary Reform. The letter contained the following 314 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. mistake not, the last time of their single combats, each was shot in the thigh by his Antagonist; and their Correspondence might be headed thus, by any wicked wag : — Brave Champions ! go on with the farce ! Reversing the spot where you bled ; Last time both were shot in the * ; Now (damn you) get knocked on the head ! I have not heard from you for some weeks ; but I can easily excuse the silence from it's occasion. Believe me, yours ever and truly, B. P.S. — Do you or do you not mean to print the MSS. Cantos — Pulci, etc. ? P.S. 2? — To save you the bore of writing yourself, when you are “ not i’ the vein,” make one of your Clerks send me a few lines to apprize me of arrivals, etc., of MSS., and matters of business. I shan’t take it ill ; and I know that a bookseller in large business must passage : “ Gentlemen, that Mr. Canning — I mention him as the “ champion of the party — a part for the whole — should defend, to “ the uttermost, a system, by the hocus pocus tricks of which he and “his family get so much public money, can cause neither me, nor “ any man, surprise or anger ; — “ ‘ For ’tis their duty, all the learned think, To espouse that cause by which they eat and drink.’ ” As soon as Burdett was released from prison, and Canning re- turned from the Continent, the latter demanded (June 7, 1821) an explanation or satisfaction. Burdett, in reply (June 8, 1821) wrote, “ The letter in question is now before me ; and I am at a loss for a “ form of words in which I could have more guardedly marked the “disqualification under which I conceive yourself and others to be “from giving authority to your opinions on Parliamentary Reform, “and at the same time have avoided making any allusion whatever “to personal character ” {The Courier ^ June 12, 1821). With this disclaimer Canning was satisfied. Lord W. Bentinck acted for Canning, and Douglas Kinnaird for Burdett. JOHN BULL'S LETTER. 1821.] 3IS have his time too over-occupied to answer every body himself. P.S. 3* 1 — I have just read “ John Bull's letter : " 1 it is I . Byron alludes to a Letter to the Right Hon. Lord Byron. By John Bull. The pamphlet (London, 1821, 8vo. 64 pp.), which was not by Peacock (see p. 317, note 1), was published by William Wright, and the second page contains this announcement : “ The Following “ Letter is the First of a Series to be continued occasionally. The “ Second Letter is addressed to Mr. Thomas Campbell. The Third “is to His Majesty the King. And the Fourth is also to Lord “Byron.” No copy is catalogued in the British Museum, but one is to be found in the Bodleian Library. The pamphlet is reviewed in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine , vol. ix. The pamphleteer agrees with Byron that “ cant,” or, as he prefers to call it, “humbug,” is the primum mobile of the present age, and thinks that Byron, himself the prince of humbugs, is in nothing a greater humbug than in his affectation of saying that he is not “a “great poet.” The whole of Byron’s misanthropy, again, is, he says, humbug. “You thought it would be a fine interesting thing “for a handsome young Lord to depict himself as a dark-souled, “melancholy, morbid being, and you have done so, it must be “ admitted, with exceeding cleverness. In spite of all your pranks “ ( Beppo , etc., Don Juan included), every boarding-school in the “ Empire still contains many devout believers in the amazing misery “of the black-haired, high-browed, blue-eyed, bare-throated Lord “Byron. How melancholy you look in the prints ! ” “Stick to “ Don Juan ,” he continues : “it is the only sincere thing you have “ever written; and it will live many years after all your humbug “ Harolds have ceased to be, in your own words, ‘ a schoolgirl’s tale “ — the wonder of an hour.’” The pamphleteer compares Don Juan and Whistlecraft : “Mr. Frere writes elegantly, playfully, ‘ ‘ very like a gentleman, and a scholar, and a respectable man, and “his poems never sold, nor ever will sell. Your Don Juan> again, “is written strongly, lasciviously, fiercely, laughingly — everybody ‘ ‘ sees in a moment that nobody could have written it but a man of “ the first order, both in genius and dissipation ; — a real master of “ all his tools — a profligate, pernicious, irresistible, charming Devil — “ and, accordingly, the Don sells, and will sell to the end of time, “whether our good friend Mr. John Murray honours it with his “ imprimatur , or doth not so honour it. ... I had really no idea “what a very clever fellow you were till I read Don Juan. In my “ humble opinion, there is very little in the literature of the present “day that will really stand the test of half a century, except the “ Scotch novels of Sir Walter Scott and Don Juan.” He advises Scott to stick to Scotland, and Byron to write in the key of Do?i Juan on England of the day. “ There is nobody but yourself who ‘ { has any chance of conveying to posterity a true idea of the spirit “ of England in the days of His Majesty George IV.” He concludes 316 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. diabolically well written, and full of fun and ferocity. I must forgive the dog, whoever he is. I suspect three with criticizing Byron’s conduct at the time of his divorce, con- demning it as an unsuccessful part of his humbug. “If,” he says, 44 I were to permit myself to hazard an opinion on a matter, with 44 which, I confess, I have so very little to do, I should certainly 44 say that I think it quite possible you were in the right in the “quarrel with Lady Byron, — nay, that I think the odds are very “ decidedly in favour of your having been so ; and that was the “opinion, I remember it very well, of by far the shrewdest person “ of my acquaintance (I need not say woman), at the time when the “story happened. But this is nothing. The world had nothing “whatever to do with a quarrel between you and Lady Byron, and “ you were the last man that should have set about persuading the “ world that the world had or could have anything to do with such “ a quarrel. What does a respectable English nobleman or gentle- “ man commonly do, when his wife and he become so disagreeable 44 to each other that they must separate ? Why did you not ask of “ yourself that plain question, the morning you found you and Lady 6 4 Byron could not get on together any longer ? I wish you had “ done so, and acted upon it, from my soul : for I think the whole “of what you did on that unhappy occasion was in the very worst “ possible taste, and that it is a great shame you have never been “ told so in print — I mean in a plain, sensible, anti-humbug manner “ — from that day to this. What did the world care whether you “ quarrelled with your wife or not? — at least, what business had you “ to suppose that the world cared a single farthing about any such “affair? It is surely a very good thing to be a clever poet : but “it is a much more essential thing to be a gentleman ; and why, 44 then, did you, who are both a gentleman and a nobleman, act “upon this, the most delicate occasion, in all probability, your life 44 was ever to present, as if you had been neither a nobleman nor a “gentleman, but some mere overweeningly conceited poet? To 44 quarrel with your wife overnight, and communicate all your 4 4 quarrel to the public the next morning, in a sentimental copy of “ verses ! To affect utter broken-heartedness, and yet be snatching “the happy occasion to make another good bargain with Mr. John 44 Murray ! To solicit the compassion of your private friends for a “most lugubrious calamity, and to solicit the consolation of the 4 4 public, in the shape of five shillings sterling per head — or, perhaps, “ I should rather say, per bottom l To pretend dismay and despair, “and get up for the nonce a dear pamphlet ! O, my Lord, I have “ heard of mean fellows making money of their wives (more particu- larly in the army of a certain noble duke), but I never heard even “of a commissary seeking to make money of his wife in a meaner 4 4 manner than this of yours ! And then consider, for a moment, 4 4 what beastliness it was of you to introduce her Ladyship in Don 44 Juan — indeed, if I be not much mistaken, you have said things 4 4 in that part of the poem for which, were I her brother, I should THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK. 317 1821.] people : one is Hobhouse , the other Mr. Peacock 1 (a very clever fellow), and lastly Israeli ; there are parts very like Israeli, and he has a present grudge with Bowles and Southey, etc. There is something too of the author of the Sketch-book 2 in the Style. Find him out. The packet or letter addressed under cov- to Mr. H. has never arrived, and never will. You should address directly to me here , and by the post. “be very well entitled to pull your nose, — which (don’t alarm ‘ ‘ yourself) I have not at present the smallest inclination or intention “ to do,” etc., etc. 1. Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866), poet, novelist, friend and at one time pensioner of Shelley, had, in 1819, obtained an appoint- ment in the East India House. He had already satirized Byron, without the good humour with which, in other instances, his powers were relieved. In Nightmare Abbey (1818) Byron appears as “Mr. Cypress;” and in the same novel Jane Clairmont probably appears, though the lover of “Stella” is not “Cypress,” but “ Scythrop.” Peacock had also dedicated to Byron his Sir Proteus (see Letters , vol. iii. p. 89, note 2), if, indeed, he was really the author of that very inferior poem. Byron told Shelley his suspicions about the pamphlet. W riting to Peacock from Ravenna, in August, 1821* Shelley says ( Prose Works of Shelley , ed. H. Buxton Forman, vol. iv. p. 222), “ Lord B. thinks you wrote a pamphlet signed John “Pull ; he says he knew it by the style resembling Melincourt , of “ which he is a great admirer.” Melincourt was published in 1817. To the quoted passage Peacock adds the following note : “ Most “ probably Shelley’s partiality for me and my book put too favour- able a construction on what Lord Byron may have said. Lord “ Byron told Captain Medwin that a friend of Shelley’s had written “ a novel, of which he had forgotten the name, founded on his bear. “ He described it sufficiently to identify it, and Captain Medwin “ supplied the title in a note : but assuredly, when I condensed Lord “ Monboddo’s views of the humanity of the Oran Outang into the ‘ ‘ character of Sir Oran Haut-ton , I thought neither of Lord Byron’s “bear nor of Caligula’s horse. But Lord Byron was much in the ‘ ‘ habit of fancying that all the world was spinning on his pivot. “ As to the pamphlet signed ‘John Bull,’ I certainly did not write it. “ I never even saw it, and do not know what it was about.” Byron may have liked Melincourt for the vigorous fashion in which Peacock assails Southey in that novel. 2. Washington Irving. 318 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 907. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, July 5, 1821. How could you suppose that I ever would allow any thing that could be said on your account to weigh with me ? I only regret that Bowles had not said that you were the writer of that note, until afterwards, when out he comes with it, in a private letter to Murray, which Murray sends to me. D — n the controversy ! “ D — n Twizzle, D — n the bell, And d — n the fool who rung it — Well ! From all such plagues I’ll quickly be delivered.” 1 I have had a friend of your Mr. Irving's — a very pretty lad — a Mr. Coolidge , 2 of Boston — only somewhat too full of poesy and “ entusymusy.” I was very civil to him during his few hours' stay, and talked with him much of Irving, whose writings are my delight. But I suspect that he did not take quite so much to me, from his having expected to meet a misanthropical gentleman, in wolf- skin breeches, and answering in fierce monosyllables, instead of a man of this world. I can never get people to understand that poetry is the expression of excited passion, and that there is no such thing as a life of passion any more than a continuous earthquake, or an eternal fever. Besides, who would ever shave themselves in such a state ? I have had a curious letter to-day from a girl in 1. Byron quotes from “The Elder Brother” in Broad Grins , by George Colman the Younger (1811) — “ Which Shove repeated warmly, tho’ he shiver’d : — c Damn Twizzle’s house ! and damn the Bell ! And damn the fool who rang it ! — Well, From all such plagues I’ll quickly be delivered.’ ” 2. See Detached Thoughts , p. 421, (25). 1 82 1.] A GRATIFYING TRIBUTE. 319 England (I never saw her), who says she is given over of a decline, but could not go out of the world without thanking me for the delight which my poesy for several years, etc., etc., etc. It is signed simply N. N. A. and has not a word of “cant” or preachment in it upon any opinions. She merely says that she is dying, and that as I had contributed so highly to her existing pleasure, she thought that she might say so, begging me to burn her letter — which, by the way, I can not do, as I look upon such a letter in such circumstances as better than a diploma from Gottingen. I once had a letter from Drontheim in Norway 1 (but not from a dying woman), in verse, on the same score of gratulation. These are the things which make one at times believe one's self a poet. But if I must believe that * * * * *, and such fellows, are poets also, it is better to be out of the corps. I am now in the fifth act of Foscari , being the third tragedy in twelve months, besides proses ; so you perceive that I am not at all idle. And are you, too, busy ? I doubt that your life at Paris draws too much upon your time, which is a pity. Can’t you divide your day, so as to combine both? I have had plenty of all sorts of worldly business on my hands last year, and yet it is not so difficult to give a few hours to the Muses . This sentence is so like * * * * that Ever, etc. If we were together, I should publish both my plays (periodically) in our joint journal. It should be our plan to publish all our best things in that way. i. See Detached Thoughts , p. 425, (34). 320 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 908. — To John Murray. R* July 6* 1821. Dear Sir, — In agreement with a wish expressed by Mr. Hobhouse, it is my determination to omit the Stanza upon the horse of Semiramis in the fifth Canto of Don Juan } I mention this in case you are, or intend to be, the publisher of the remaining Cantos. By yesterday’s post, I ought in point of time, to have had an acknowledgement of the arrival of the MSS. of Sardanapalus . If it has arrived, and you have delayed the few lines necessary for this, I can only say that you are keeping two people in hot water — the postmaster here, because the packet was insured, and myself, because I had but that one copy. I am in the fifth act of a play on the subject of the Foscaris, father and son : Foscolo can tell you their story. I am, yours, etc., B. P.S. — At the particular request of the Contessa G. I have promised not to continue Don Jtian . 2 You will 1. Don Jnan , Canto V. stanzas lx., lxi. 2. The following is the note from the Countess Guiccioli : — “ Cuor Mio, — Che fai del tuo dolore? Fammelo sapere per “ Lega, perche mi da molta pena. Papa e Pierino sono partiti che 66 sara un’ora, e non torneranno che Lunedl. “ Ricordati, mio Byron, della promessa che m’hai fatta. Non “ potrei mai dirti la soddisfazione ch’io ne provo ! Sono tanti i “ sentimenti di piacere e di confidenza che il tuo sacrificio m’inspira ! “ Perche mai le parole esprimano cost poco quello che passa dentro “ del l’anima ! Se tu potessi vedere pienamente lo stato della mia “ da jersera in qua sono certa che saresti in qualche modo ricompen- “ sato del tuo sacrificio ! “ Ti bacio, mio Byron, 1000 volte, u La tua amantissima in eterno, “ Teresa Guiccioli G. G. “ P.S. — Mi reveresce solo D . Giovanni non resti all’ Inferno.’’ 1821 .] DON JUAN TO BE DISCONTINUED. 321 therefore look upon these 3 cantos as the last of that poem. She had read the two first in the French translation, and never ceased beseeching me to write no more of it. The reason of this is not at first obvious to a superficial observer of foreign manners; but it arises from the wish of all women to exalt the sentiment of the passions, and to keep up the illusion which is their empire. Now Don Juan strips off this illusion, and laughs at that and most other things. I never knew a woman who did not protect Rousseau , nor one who did not dislike de Gram- mont, Gil Bias, and all the comedy of the passions, when brought out naturally. But “ King's blood must keep “ word," as Serjeant Bothwell says. 1 Write, you Scamp ! Your parcel of extracts never came and never will : you should have sent it by the post ; but you are growing a sad fellow, and some fine day we shall have to dissolve partnership. Send some Soda powders. 909. — To John Murray. R a . July 7 ‘I 1 1821. Dear Sir, — Enclosed are two letters from two of your professional brethren. By one of them you will per- ceive that, if you are disposed to “ buy justice ” it is to be sold (no doubt as “ Stationary ”) at his Shop. Thank him in my name for his good will, however, On the back of the note Byron has written as follows : — “July 4-to 1821. 4 £ This is the note of acknowledgment for the promise not to “ continue D. J. She says in the P.S. that she is only sorry that “ D. J. does not remain in Hell, (or go there). The dolore in the “ first sentence refers merely to a bilious attack which I had some 44 days ago, and of which I got better.” I. Old Mortality , chap. vi. VOL. V. Y 322 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. and good offices ; and say that I cart t afford to “ purchase “ justice,” as it is by far the dearest article in these very dear times. Yours ever, B. 910. — To John Murray. R? July 9^ 1821. Dear Sir, — The enclosed packet came quite open, so I suppose it is no breach of confidence to send it back to you , who must have seen it before. Return it to the Address, explaining in what state I received it. What is all this about Mitylene 1 (where I never was in my life), “ Manuscript Criticism on the Manchester “ business” (which I never wrote), “Day and Martin's “patent blacking,” and a “young lady who offered, etc.,” of whom I never heard. Are the people mad, or merely drunken ? I have at length received your packet, and have nearly completed the tragedy on the Foscaris. Believe me, yours very truly, B. 911.— To John Murray. July 14^, 1821. Dear Sir, — According to your wish, I have expedited by this post two packets addressed to J. Barrow, Esq^, Admiralty, etc. The one contains the returned proofs, with such corrections as time permits, of Sardanapalus . The other contains the tragedy of The Two Foscari in I. Probably a revival of the “ Extract of a Letter, containing “an account of Lord Byron’s residence in the Island of Mitylene,” which was printed with The Vampyre , a Tale (1819). 1 82 I.] THE TWO FOSCARr . 323 five acts, the argument of which Foscolo or Hobhouse can explain to you ; or you will find it at length in P. Darn’s history of Venice : also, more briefly, inSismondi’s /. R. An outline of it is in the Pleasures of Memory 1 also. The name is a dactyl, “ Foscari.” Have the goodness to write by return of Post, which is essential. I trust that Sardanapalus will not be mistaken for a political play, which was so far from my intention, that I thought of nothing but Asiatic history. The Venetian play, too, is rigidly historical. My object has been to dramatize, like the Greeks (a modest phrase !), striking passages of history, as they did of history and mythology. You will find all this very unlike Shakespeare ; and so much the better in one sense, for I look upon him to be the worst of models, though the most extraordinary of writers. It has been my object to be as simple and severe as Alfieri, and I have broken down the poetry as nearly as I could to common language. The hardship is, that in these times one can neither speak of kings nor Queens without suspicion of politics or personalities. I intended neither. I am not very well, and I write in the midst of un- pleasant scenes here : they have, without trial or process, I. “ Thus kindred objects kindred thoughts inspire, As summer-clouds flash forth electric fire. And hence this spot gives back the joys of youth, Warm as the life, and with the mirror’s truth. For this young Foscari, whose hapless fate Venice should blush to hear the Muse relate, When exile wore his blooming years away, To sorrow’s long soliloquies a prey, When reason, justice, vainly urged his cause, For this he roused her sanguinary laws ; Glad to return, tho’ Hope could grant no more, And chains and torture hailed him to the shore.” See also Rogers’ Italy . The story of the Foscari, as told in that poem, was published in 1821. Byron’s Two Foscari appeared with Cain and Sardanapalus in December, 1821. 324 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. banished several of the first inhabitants of the cities — here and all around the Roman States — amongst them many of my personal friends, so that every thing is in confusion and grief : it is a kind of thing which cannot be described without an equal pain as in beholding it. You are very niggardly in your letters. Yours truly, B. P.S. — In the first soliloquy of Salemenes, read “ at once his Chorus and his Council ; ” “ Chorus ” being in the higher dramatic sense, meaning his accompaniment, and not a mere musical train. 912. — To John Murray. R a , July 22 c ! 1821. Dear Murray, — By this post is expedited a parcel of notes, addressed to J. Barrow, Esq r ?, etc. Also, by y? former post, the returned proofs of S\ardanapalus\ and the MSS. of the Two Foscaris . Acknowledge these. The printer has done wonders ; he has read what I cannot — my own handwriting. I oppose the “ delay till Winter : ” I am particularly anxious to print while the Winter theatres are closed , to gain time, in case they try their former piece of politeness. Any loss shall be considered in our contract, whether occasioned by the season or other causes ; but print away, and publish. I think they must own that I have more styles than one. “ Sardanapalus ” is, however, almost a comic cha- racter : but, for that matter, so is Richard the third. Mind the Unities , which are my great object of research. ENGLISH BASENESS. 3 2 5 1821.] I am glad that Gifford likes it : as for “ the Million,” you see I have carefully consulted anything but the taste of the day for extravagant cotips de the&tre . Any probable loss, as I said before, will be allowed for in our accompts. The reviews (except one or two — Blackwood’s, for in- stance) are cold enough ; but never mind those fellows : I shall send them to the right about, if I take it into my head. Perhaps that in the Monthly 1 is written by Hodgson, as a reward for having paid his debts, and travelled all night to beg his mother-in-law (by his own desire) to let him marry her daughter ; though I had never seen her in my life, it succeeded. But such are mankind, and I have always found the English baser in some things than any other nation. You stare, but it’s true as to gratitude , — perhaps, because they are prouder, and proud people hate obligations. The tyranny of the government here is breaking out : they have exiled about a thousand people of the best families all over the Roman States. As many of my friends are amongst them, I think of moving too, but not till I have had your answers. Continue your address to me here, as usual, and quickly. What you will not be 1. The Monthly Review for May, 1821 (pp. 41-50), reviews Marino Faliero . The critic, after saying that the tragedy is “ con- structed on the French model, and therefore more properly to be “styled a poem than a play,” continues thus : “ We are sorry to “give our opinion that this piece manifests the faults without the 1 f beauties of its model. It has the nakedness of plot, the uniformity “ of character, the tedious declamation, and the lengthened mono- “logue, which belong to its archetype; unredeemed by that judi- “cious choice of fable, that heroic elevation of sentiment, and “those moving conflicts of passion, which characterize the French “school.” The Monthly Magazine for July, 1821, on the other hand, speaks of the play as a “work worthy of the genius of its author. It has “realized all the anticipations to which his previous efforts could “fairly give rise.” The final scene is characterized as one of “stormy majesty,” and the whole play as “a powerful and noble “work, built for fame and futurity.” 326 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. sorry to hear is, that the poor of the place, hearing that I meant to go, got together a petition to the Cardinal to request that he would request me to remain . I only heard of it a day or two ago, and it is no dishonour to them nor to me; but it will have displeased the higher powers, who look upon me as a Chief of the Coalheavers. They arrested a servant of mine for a Street quarrel with an Officer (they drew upon one another knives and pistols) ; but as the Officer was out of uniform, and in the wrong besides, on my protesting stoutly, he was released. I was not present at the affray, which happened by night near my stables. My man (an Italian), a very stout and not over patient personage, would have taken a fatal revenge afterwards, if I had not prevented him. As it was, he drew his stiletto, and, but for passengers, would have carbonadoed the Captain, who (I understand) made but a poor figure in the quarrel, except by beginning it. He applied to me, and I offered him any satisfaction, either by turning away the man, or otherwise, because he had drawn a knife. He answered that a reproof would be sufficient. I reproved him ; and yet, after this, the shabby dog complained to the Government , — after being quite satisfied, as he said. This roused me, and I gave them a remonstrance which had some effect. If he had not enough, he should have called me otit ; but that is not the Italian line of conduct : the Captain has been repri- manded, the servant released, and the business at present rests there. Write and let me know of the arrivals. Yours, B. P.S. — You will of course publish the two tragedies of Sardanapalus and the Foscaris together. You can EXILE OF THE GAMBAS. 1821.] 3 2 7 afterwards collect them with Manfred , and The Doge into the works. Inclosed is an additional note. 913. — To Richard Belgrave Hoppner. Ravenna, July 23, 1821. This country being in a state of proscription, and all my friends exiled or arrested — the whole family of Gamba obliged to go to Florence for the present — the father and son for politics — (and the Guiccioli, because menaced with a eonve7it , as her father is not here,) I have deter* mined to remove to Switzerland, and they also. Indeed, my life here is not supposed to be particularly safe — but that has been the case for this twelvemonth past, and is therefore not the primary consideration. I have written by this post to Mr. Hentsch, junior, the banker of Geneva, to provide (if possible) a house for me, and another for Gamba’s family, (the father, son, and daughter,) on the Jura side of the lake of Geneva, furnished, and with stabling (for me at least) for eight horses. I shall bring Allegra with me. Could you assist me or Hentsch in his researches ? The Gambas are at Florence, but have authorised me to treat for them. You know, or do not know, that they are great patriots — and both — but the son in particular — very fine fellows. This I know, for I have seen them lately in very awkward situations — not pecuniary, but personal — and they behaved like heroes, neither yielding nor retracting. You have no idea what a state of oppression this country is in — they arrested above a thousand of high and low throughout Romagna — banished some and con- fined others, without trials process , or even accusation ! ! Every body says they would have done the same by me if they dared proceed openly. My motive, however, for 328 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. remaining, is because every one of my acquaintance , 1 to the amount of hundreds almost, have been exiled. Will you do what you can in looking out for a couple of houses furnished , and conferring with Hentsch for us ? We care nothing about society, and are only anxious for a temporary and tranquil asylum and individual freedom. Believe me, etc. P.S. — Can you give me an idea of the comparative I. Countess Guiccioli, as quoted by Moore ( Life , p. 519), thus explains Byron’s stay at Ravenna after the banishment of his friends — “Lord Byron restava frattanto a Ravenna in un paese sconvolso “dai partiti, e dove aveva certamente dei nemici di opinioni fanatici “e perfidi, e la mia immaginazione me lo dipingeva circondato “sempre da mille pericoli. Si puo dunque pensare cosa dovesse ‘ 4 essere qual viaggio per me e cosa io dovessi soffrire nella sua lonta- “nanza. Le sue lettere avrebbero potuto essermi di conforto ; ma “ quando io le riceveva era gia trascorso lo spazio di due giorni dal “momento in cui furono scritte, e questo pensiero distruggeva tutto “ il bene che esse potevano farmi, e la mia anima era lacerata dai “piu crudeli timori. “ Frattanto era necessario per la di lui convenienza che egli “restasse ancora qualche tempo in Ravenna affinche non avesse a ‘ 4 dirsi che egli pure ne era esigliato ; ed oltrecio egli si era somma- “mente affezionato a qual soggiorno e voleva innanzi di partire “ vedere esausiti tutti i tentativi e tutte le speranze del ritorno dei “ miei parenti.” Moore gives the following version of the Italian : “ Lord Byron, “in the mean time, remained at Ravenna, in a town convulsed by “ party spirit, where he had certainly, on account of his opinions, “many fanatical and perfidious enemies; and my imagination “ always painted him surrounded by a thousand dangers. It may “be conceived, therefore, what that journey must have been t acte iv. sc. 2. See the conclusion of Byron’s corrections of Bacon’s Apophthegms , Appendix VI. 2. See letter to the Duchess of Devonshire, p. 237. keats’s hyperion. 1821.] 33i Are you aware that Shelley has written an elegy on Keats, and accuses the Quarterly of killing him ? “ Who killed John Keats? “ I,” says the Quarterly, So savage and Tartarly ; “ ’Twas one of my feats.” “ Who shot the arrow ? ” “ The poet-priest Milman (So ready to kill man), Or Southey or Barrow.” You know very well that I did not approve of Keats’s poetry, or principles of poetry, or of his abuse of Pope ; but, as he is dead, omit all that is said aboiit hwi in any MSS. of mine, or publication. His Hyperion 1 is a fine monument, and will keep his name. I do not envy the man who wrote the article : your review people have no more right to kill than any other foot pads. Plowever, he who would die of an article 2 in a review would probably have died of something else equally trivial. The same thing nearly happened to Kirke White , 3 who afterwards died of a consumption. 1 . Yet when Medwin urged Hyperion as a proof of Keats’s poetical genius ( Conversations , p. 360), Byron replied, “ ‘Hyperion ! ’ why, “ a man might as well pretend to be rich who had one diamond. “ ‘ Hyperion ’ indeed ! ‘ Hyperion ’ to a satyr.” 2. “ John Keats, who was killed off by one critique, Just as he really promised something great, If not intelligible, without Greek Contrived to talk about the gods of late, Much as they might have been supposed to speak. Poor fellow ! His was an untoward fate ; ’Tis strange the mind, that very fiery particle. Should let itself be snuff’d out by an article.” Don yuan. Canto XI. stanza lx. 3. See Poems , ed. 1898, vol. i. p. 363, English Sards, and Scotch Reviewers , lines 831-848. 332 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 915. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, August 2, 1821. I had certainly answered your last letter, though but briefly, to the part to which you refer merely saying, “damn the controversy ; ” and quoting some verses of George Colman’s, not as allusive to you, but to the dis- putants. Did you receive this letter ? It imports me to know that our letters are not intercepted or mislaid. Your Berlin drama 1 is an honour, unknown since the days of Elkanah Settle, whose Empress of Moivcco was represented by the Court ladies, which was, as Johnson says, “ the last blast of inflammation ” to poor Dryden, who could not bear it, and fell foul of Settle without mercy or moderation, on account of that and a frontis- piece, which he dared to put before his play. 2 Was not your showing the Memoranda to * * 3 1. “ There had been, a short time before, performed at the court “of Berlin a spectacle founded on the poem of Lalla Rookh , in “ which the present Emperor of Russia personated ‘ Feramorz,’ and “the Empress, ‘Lalla Rookh’” (Moore) — i.e. Nicholas I. (1796- 1855) and his wife, the Princess Charlotte of Prussia. 2. “ Rochester had interest enough to have Settle’s Empress of “ Morocco first acted at Whitehall by the lords and ladies of the “court; an honour which had never been paid to any of Dryden’s “ compositions, however more justly entitled to it, both from “ intrinsic merit, and by the author’s situation as poet laureat. “ Rochester contributed a prologue upon this brilliant occasion, to “ add still more grace to Settle’s triumph.” — Sir Walter Scott, Prose Works , ed. 1834, vol. i. pp. 158, 159. 3. Moore, as was reported to Byron, had lent the “ Memoranda ” to Lady Davy. Possibly her name may be represented by asterisks. But it is more probably Lady Holland. Moore, in his Diary for July 6, 1821 (. Memoirs , etc ., vol. iii. p. 251), notes, “By the bye, I “yesterday gave Lady Holland Lord Byron’s ‘ Memoirs’ to read ; “and on my telling her that I rather feared he had mentioned her “ name in an unfair manner somewhere, she said, ‘ Such things give ‘ ‘ me no uneasiness ; I know perfectly well my station in the world : ‘ ‘ and I know all that can be said of me. As long as the few friends “ that I really am sure of speak kindly of me (and I would not “believe the contrary if I saw it in black and white), all that the “ rest of the world can say is a matter of complete indifference to SCHLEGEL ON BYRON. 1821.] 333 somewhat perilous ? Is there not a facetious allusion or two which might as well be reserved for posterity ? I know Schlegel well — that is to say, I have met him occasionally at Copet. Is he not also touched lightly in the Memoranda ? In a review of Childe Harold , Canto 4th, three years ago, in Blackwood’s Magazine , they quote some stanzas of an elegy of Schlegel’s on Rome, from which they say that I might have taken some ideas. 1 I give you my honour that I never saw it except in that criticism, which gives, I think, three or four stanzas, sent “me.” Byron told Med win that Lady Burghersh, to whom the Memoir was lent, made a copy of it, which Moore obliged her to destroy. 1. Moore, who met Schlegel at Paris, May 21, 1821, notes in his Diary for that day ( Memoirs , etc,, vol. iii. p. 235), “ Had much talk “ with Schlegel in the evening, who appears to me full of literary “ coxcombry ; ... is evidently not well inclined towards Lord “ Byron ; thinks he will outlive himself, and get out of date long “before he dies. Asked me if I thought a regular critique of all “ Lord B.’s works, and the system on which they are written, would “ succeed in England, and seems inclined to undertake it.” Moore probably reported the substance of this conversation to Byron. The following is the passage in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine (vol. iii. p. 222, note) : “ We had lately sent to us a translation of an “ Elegy by William Augustus Schlegel, from which our corre- spondent supposes that Lord Byron has borrowed not a little of “ the spirit, and even of the expressions, of the Fourth Canto. We “ cannot, we must confess, observe any thing more than such coinci- dences as might very well be expected from two great poets “ contemplating the same scene. The opening of the German poem “appears to us to be very striking ; but the whole is pitched in an “ elegiac key. Lord Byron handles the same topics with the deeper “ power of a tragedian — “ 4 Trust not the smiling welcome Rome can give, With her green fields, and her unspotted sky ; Parthenope hath taught thee how to live, Let Rome, imperial Rome, now teach to die. ’T is true, the land is fair as land may be ; One radiant canopy of azure lies O’er the Seven Hills far downward to the sea, And upward where yon Sabine heights arise ; Yet sorrowful and sad, I wend my way Through this long ruined labyrinth, alone Each echo whispers of the elder day, I see a monument in every stone.” 334 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLIj RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. them (they say) for the nonce by a correspondent — per- haps himself. The fact is easily proved ; for I don't understand German, and there was, I believe, no transla- tion — at least, it was the first time that I ever heard of, or saw, either translation or original. I remember having some talk with Schlegel about Alfieri, whose merit he denies. He was also wroth about the Edinburgh Review of Goethe, which was sharp enough, to be sure. He went about saying, too, of the French — “ I meditate a terrible vengeance “ against the French — I will prove that Moliere is no “ poet.” 1 * * I don't see why you should talk of “ declining.” When I saw you, you looked thinner, and yet younger, than you did when we parted several years before. You may rely upon this as fact. If it were not, I should say nothing , for I would rather not say unpleasant personal things to any one — but, as it was the pleasant truths I tell it you. If you had led my life, indeed, changing climates and connections — thinning yourself with fasting and purgatives — besides the wear and tear of the vulture passions, and a very bad temper besides, you might talk in this way — but you ! I know no man who looks so well for his years, or who deserves to look better and I. Schlegel had already attempted to execute his threat. In his Lectures o?i Dramatic Art and Literatui'e (translated by John Black, 2 vols., 8vo, London, 1815 ; vol. ii. pp. 40, 41) occurs the following passage on Moliere : “ Born and educated in an inferior rank, he “enjoyed the advantage of becoming acquainted with the modes of “living of the industrious part of the community from his own “ experience, and of acquiring the talent of imitating low modes of “expression. . . . He was an actor, and it would appear of peculiar “strength in overcharged and farcical comic parts ; so little was he “prepossessed with prejudices of personal dignity that he . . . was ‘ 4 ever ready to deal out or to receive the blows which were then so “ frequent on the stage. . . . Louis XIV. . . . was very well con- sented with the buffoon whom he protected, and even exhibited “his own elevated person occasionally in dances in his ballets.” HELPING THE EXILES. 335 l 82 I.] to be better, in all respects. You are a * * *, and, what is perhaps better for your friends, a good fellow. So don't talk of decay, but put in for eighty, as you well may. I am, at present, occupied principally about these unhappy proscriptions and exiles, which have taken place here on account of politics . 1 It has been a miserable sight to see the general desolation in families. I am doing what I can for them, high and low, by such interest and means as I possess or can bring to bear. There have been thousands of these proscriptions within the last month in the Exarchate, or (to speak modernly) the Legations. Yesterday, too, a man got his back broken, in extricating a dog of mine from under a mill- wheel. The dog was killed, and the man is in the greatest danger . 2 I was not present — it happened before I was up, owing to a stupid boy taking the dog to bathe in a dangerous spot. I must, of course, provide for the poor fellow while he lives, and his family, if he dies. I would gladly have given a much greater sum than that 1 . One of the chief reasons for the exile of the Gambas was the hope that Byron would accompany them. Madame Guiccioli says (Moore’s Life , p. 518), “Una delle principali ragioni per cui si “erano esigliati i miei parenti era la speranza che Lord Byron pure 44 lascierebbe la Romagna quando i suoi amici fossero partiti. Gia “da qualche tempo la permanenza di Lord Byron in Ravenna era 4 ‘ mal gradita dal Governo conoscendosile sue opinione e temendosila 44 sua influenza ed essaggiandosi anche i suoi mezzi per esercitarla. “ Si credeva che egli somministrasse danaro per provvedere •armi, e “ che provvedesse ai bisogni della Societa. La verita era che nello “spargere le sue beneficenze egli non s’informava delle opinioni “politiche e religiosi di quello che aveva bisogno del suo soccorso : 4 4 ogni misero ed ogni infelice aveva un eguale diviso alia sua 4 4 generosita. Ma in ogni modo gli Anti-Liberali lo credevano il 44 principale sostegno del Liberalismo della Romagna, e desideravano “la sua partenza ; ma non osando provocarla in nessun modo “ diretto speravano di ottenerla indirettamente.” 2. The man, whose name was Balani, died eleven days after the accident. His widow was pensioned by Byron. (From information given by Signor Savini to Mr. Richard Eclgcumbe.) 336 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. will come to that he had never been hurt. Pray, let me hear from you, and excuse haste and hot weather. Yours, etc. # % s{: % You may have probably seen all sorts of attacks upon me in some gazettes in England some months ago . 1 I only saw them, by Murray’s bounty, the other day. They call me “ Plagiary,” and what not. I think I now, in my time, have been accused of every thing. I have not given you details of little events here ; but they have been trying to make me out to be the chief of a conspiracy, and nothing but their want of proofs for an English investigation has stopped them. Had it been a poor native, the suspicion were enough, as it has been for hundreds. Why don’t you write on Napoleon ? 2 I have no spirits, nor estro to do so. His overthrow, from the beginning, was a blow on the head to me. Since that period, we have been the slaves of fools. Excuse this long letter. Ecco a translation literal of a French epigram. Egle, beauty and poet, has two little crimes, She makes her own face, and does not make her rhymes. I am going to ride, having been warned not to ride in a particular part of the forest on account of the ultra- politicians. Is there no chance of your return to England, and of our Journal? I would have published the two plays in it — two or three scenes per number — and indeed all of mine in it. If you went to England, I would do so still. 1. Byron probably alludes to a series of articles on his alleged plagiarisms by A. A. Watts, which appeared in the Literary Gazette for 1821 (February 24, March 3, 10, 17, 31). 2. Napoleon died May 5 > 1821. SECOND LETTER ON BOWLES. 337 1821.] 916. — To John Murray. R a August 4 1 ! 1 1821. Dear Sir, — I return the proofs of the 2? pamphlet. 1 I leave it to your choice and Mr. Gifford's, to publish it or not, with such omissions as he likes. You must, however, omit the whole of the observations against the Suburban School : they are meant against Keats, and I cannot war with the dead — particularly those already killed by Criticism. Recollect to omit all that portion in any case . Lately I have sent you several packets, which require answer : you take a gentlemanly interval to answer them. Yours, etc., Byron. P.S. — They write from Paris that Schlegel is making a fierce book against me : what can I have done to the literary Col-captain of late Madame ? /, who am neither of his country nor his horde? Does this Hundsfott’s intention appal you ? if it does, say so. It don’t me; for, if he is insolent, I will go to Paris and thank him. There is a distinction between native Criticism, because it be- longs to the Nation to judge and pronounce on natives ; but what have / to do with Germany or Germans, neither my subjects nor my language having anything in common with that Country ? He took a dislike to me, because I refused to flatter him in Switzerland, though Madame de Broglie begged me to do so, “ because he is so fond of it. “ Voild les hommes ! ” 1. The Second Letter on Bowles was not published till 1835. For a portion of the criticism on Keats, which is now for the first time published, see Appendix III. pp. 588, 589, note 3. VOL. V. Z 33§ THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 917. — To John Murray. Ravenna, August 7*! 1 1821. Dear Sir, — I send you a thing which I scratched off lately, a mere buffoonery, to quiz The Blues } in two literary eclogues. If published, it must be anonymously : but it is too short for a separate publication; and you have no miscellany, that I know of, for the reception of such things. You may send me a proof, if you think it worth the trouble; but don’t let my name out for the present, or I shall have all the old women in London about my ears, since it sneers at the solace of their antient Spinsterstry. Acknowledge this, and the various packets lately sent. Yours, B? 918. — To John Murray. Ravenna, August 7*. h 1821. Dear Sir, — By last post I forwarded a packet to you : as usual, you are avised by this post. I should be loth to hurt Mr. Bowles’s feelings by publishing the second pamphlet; and, as he has shown considerable regard for mine, we had better suppress it altogether : at any rate I would not publish it without letting him see it first, and omitting all such matter as might be personally offensive to him. Also all the part about the Suburb School must be omitted, as it referred to poor Keats 2 now slain by the Quarterly Review . 1. The Blues , a Literary Eclogue was published in No. iii. of the Liberal (pp. I -24), with the motto — “ Nimium ne crede colori.” — Virgil. “ O trust not, ye beautiful creatures, to hue, Though your hair were as red as your stockings are blue .” 2. Shelley arrived (August 6, 1821) on a visit to Byron, and sat SHELLEY AT RAVENNA. 339 1821.] If I do not err, I mentioned to you that I had heard from Paris, that Schlegel announces a meditated abuse of up talking with him till five in the morning of the 7th. The reitera- tion of the charge to spare Keats may have been the result of talk with the writer of Adonais , who says himself that he had roused Byron to attack the Quarterly . In the Prose Works of Shelley (ed. H. Buxton Forman, vol. iv. pp. 21 1-233) are many interesting details of Byron’s life at Ravenna. Shelley found Byron restored to health and good looks, 4 4 immersed in politics and literature, greatly “improved in every respect, ... in genius, in temper, in moral “views, in health, in happiness,” and living in “splendid apart- 4 4 ments in the palace of his mistress’s husband, who is one of the “ richest men in Italy.” Fletcher, like his master, was improved in health ; Tita acted as Shelley’s valet. Byron’s establishment, writes Shelley to Peacock (pp. 222, 223), “ consists, besides servants, of ten “ horses, eight enormous dogs, three monkeys, five cats, an eagle, a “crow, and a falcon ; and all these, except the horses, walk about “ the house, which every now and then resounds with their unarbi- 44 trated quarrels, as if they were the masters of it.” In a postscript he adds, 44 I find that my enumeration of the animals in this Circsean “ Palace was defective, and that in a material point. I have just “met, on the grand staircase, five peacocks, two guinea-hens, and “ an Egyptian crane. I wonder who all these animals were before “ they were changed into these shapes.” To Byron’s mode of life Shelley adapted his own simpler habits as best he could. “ Lord Byron gets up at two. I get up — quite “contrary to my usual custom (but one must sleep or die, like 4 4 Southey’s sea-snake in Kehama ) at twelve. After breakfast, we “sit talking till six. From six till eight we gallop through the pine 44 forests which divide Ravenna from the sea. We then come home “and dine, and sit up gossipping till six in the morning.” Some- times the evening amusements were varied by pistol-shooting at a pumpkin. In their after-dinner talks they discussed politics — the hope of liberty for Italy and Greece ; Byron’s future place of resi- dence — whether Switzerland or Tuscany ; the charges made against Shelley by Elise Foggi ; and literature — whether poetry and criticism, matters on which they differed more than ever ; or their respective works — Byron silent as to Adonais , loud in praise of Prometheus and in censure of the Cenci ; Shelley cool towards Marino Faliero and the Letter on Pope, but enthusiastic over Don Juan . For Canto V. Shelley’s admiration was strong enough to satisfy even Byron. He speaks of it as “ transcendently fine;” 44 every word has the 44 stamp of immortality. I despair of rivalling Lord Byron, as well 44 1 may, and there is no other with whom it is worth contending. 44 This canto is in the style, but totally, and sustained with incredible 4 4 ease and power, like the end of the second canto. There is not a 44 word which the most rigid assertor of the dignity of human nature 44 could desire to be cancelled. It fulfils, in a certain degree, what 4 4 1 have long preached of producing — something wholly new and 340 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. me in a criticism. The disloyalty of such a proceeding towards a foreigner, who has uniformly spoken so well of M? de Stael in his writings, and who, moreover, has nothing to do with continental literature or Schlegel’s country and countrymen, is such, that I feel a strong inclination to bring the matter to a persotial arbitrament, provided it can be done without being ridiculous or unfair. His intention, however, must be first fully ascertained, before I can proceed ; and I have written for some information on the subject to Mr. Moore. The Man was also my personal acquaintance; and though I refused to flatter him grossly (as M® de B. requested me to do), yet I uniformly treated him with respect — with much more, indeed, than any one else : for his peculiarities are such, that they, one and all, laughed at him; and especially the Abbe Chevalier di Breme, who did nothing but make me laugh at him so much behind his back, that nothing but the politeness, on which I pique myself in society, “ relative to the age, and yet surpassingly beautiful ” (ibid., p. 219). On Shelley’s arguments Byron gave up Switzerland. Shelley thought it a place “ little fitted for him : the gossip and the cabals of “those anglicized coteries would torment him, as they did before, “and might exasperate him to a relapse of libertinism, which he “ says he plunged into not from taste, but despair ” (ibid., p. 218). Finally, Byron decided to remain in Italy, if Madame Guiccioli and the Gambas would consent. Shelley was made to write her a letter “in lame Italian,” urging the “strongest reasons” he could think of “against the Swiss emigration;” and at the same time (August 11, ibid., pp. 224, 225) he wrote to his wife, asking her to “ inquire if any of the large palaces are to be let” at Pisa. Con- vinced by Shelley, Madame Guiccioli gave up her project (August 15), adding at the end of her letter the words, “ Signore — la vostra “ bon id mi fa ardita di chiedemi un favor e — me lo accorderete voi ? “ Non partite da Ravenna senza Milord ” (ibid., p. 228). By Shelley the Palazzo Lanfranchi, on the Lung’ Arno at Pisa, was taken for Byron. Another result of the visit was the invitation to Leigh Hunt, conveyed in Shelley’s letter of August 26, 1821 (ibid., pp. 235-237), to come to Pisa, and “go shares,” with Byron and him- self, “ in a periodical work to be conducted here, in which each of “the contracting parties should publish all their original composi- “ tions, and share the profits.” 1821 .] native and foreign criticism. 341 could have prevented me from doing so to his face. He is just such a character as William the testy 1 in Irving’s New York . But I must have him out for all that, since his proceeding (supposing it to be true), is ungentlemanly in all its bearings — at least in my opinion ; but perhaps my partiality misleads me. It appears to me that there is a distinction between native and foreign criticism in the case of living authors, or at least should be ; I don’t speak of Journalists (who are the same all over the world), but where a man, with his name at length, sits down to an elaborate attempt to defame a foreigner of his acquaintance, without provoca- tion and without legitimate object : for what can I import to the Germans? What effect can I have upon their literature ? Do you think me in the wrong ? if so, say so. Yours ever, B. P.S. — I mentioned in my former letters, that it was my intention to have the two plays published immediately . Acknowledge the various packets. I am extremely angry with you , I beg leave to add, for several reasons too long for present explanation. Mr. D. K. is in possession of some of them. I have just been turning over the homicide review of I. Washington Irving’s History of New York , bk. iv., contains the Chronicles of William the Testy. Wilhelmus Kieft, by nature, and by the meaning of his name, a “ w?'angler or scolder ,” “ had not ‘ ‘ been a year in the government of the province, before he was “universally denominated William the Testy. His appearance “answered to his name. He was a brisk, wiry, waspish little old “ gentleman : ... his face was broad, but his features were sharp ; “ his cheeks were scorched into a dusky red by two fiery little grey “eyes; his nose turned up, and the corners of his mouth turned 4 4 down, pretty much like the muzzle of an irritable pug-dog. . . . “ He seldom got into an argument without getting into a passion “ with his adversary for not being convinced gratis” ( A History of New York , by Diedrich Knickerbocker, ed. 1864, pp. 240, 241). 342 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. J. Keats. It is harsh certainly and contemptuous, but not more so than what I recollect of the Edinburgh R. of “ the Hotcrs of Idleness” in 1808. The Reviewer allows him “ a degree of talent which deserves to be put in the “ right way,” “ rays of fancy,” “ gleams of Genius,” and “powers of language.” It is harder on L. Hunt than upon Keats, and professes fairly to review only one book of his poem. Altogether, though very provoking, it was hardly so bitter as to kill, unless there was a morbid feel- ing previously in his system. 919. — To John Murray. Ravenna, August 10, 1821. Dear Sir, — Your conduct to Mr. Moore is certainly very handsome ; 1 and I would not say so if I could help it, for you are not at present by any means in my good graces. With regard to additions, etc., there is a Journal which I kept in 1814 which you may ask him for ; also a Journal which you must get from Mrs. Leigh, of my journey in the Alps, which contains all the germs of Manfred . I have also kept a small Diary here for a few months last winter, which I would send you, and any continuation. You would easy find access to all my papers and letters, and do not neglect this (in case of accidents) on account of the mass of confusion in which they are ; for out of that chaos of papers you will find some curious ones of mine and others, if not lost or destroyed. If circumstances, however (which is almost impossible), made me ever consent to a publication in my lifetime, you would in that I. Moore notes in his Diary for July 27, 1821 (Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 260), “ Received also a letter from Murray, consenting to give me “ two thousand guineas for Lord Byron’s Memoirs , on condition that, “ in case of survivorship, I should consent to be the editor.” 1 82 1.] Murray’s purchase of the memoirs. 343 case, I suppose, make Moore some advance, in proportion to the likelihood or non-likelihood of success. You are both sure to survive me, however. You must also have from Mr. Moore the correspond- ence between me and Lady B., to whom I offered the sight of all which regards herself in these papers. This is important. He has her letter, and a copy of my answer. I would rather Moore edited me than another. I sent you Valpy’s letter to decide for yourself, and Stockdale’s to amuse you. I am always loyal with you, as I was in Galignani’s affair, and you with me — now and then. I return you Moore’s letter, which is very creditable to him, and you, and me. Yours ever, B. 920. — To John Murray. R a , August I3 1 ! 1 1821. Dear Sir, — I think it as well to remind you that, in “the Hints” all the part, which regards Jeffrey and the EH., must be omitted . Your late mistake about the Kelso-woman induces me to remind you of this, which I appended to your power of Attorney six years ago, viz., to omit all that could touch upon Jeffrey in that publica- tion, which was written a year before our reconciliation in 1812. Have you got the Bust ? I expect with anxiety the proofs of The Two Foscaris . Yours, B. P.S. — Acknowledge the various packets. 344 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 921. — To John Murray. R a . August 1 6** 1821. Dear Sir, — I regret that Holmes can’t or won’t come : it is rather shabby, as I was always very civil and punctual with him ; but he is but one rascal more — one meets with none else amongst the English. You may do what you will with my answer to Stock- dale, 1 2 * of whom I know nothing, but answered his letter civilly : you may open it, and burn it or not, as you please. It contains nothing of consequence to any-body. How should I, or, at least, was I then to know that he was a rogue ? I am not aware of the histories of London and its inhabitants. Your more recent parcels are not yet arrived, but are probably on their way. I sprained my knee the other day in swimming, and it hurts me still considerably. I wait the proofs of the MSS. with proper impatience. So you have published, or mean to publish, the new Juans ? an’t you afraid of the Constitutional Assassination of Bridge street ? 2 when first I saw the name of Murray , 1. John Joseph Stockdale (1770-1847), whose actions against Hansard (1836-40) led to the settlement of an important point of ‘ 4 privilege,” and who published (1826) the disgraceful Memoirs of Harriette Wilson. 2. The Constitutional Association was formed to prosecute, by means of a common fund, persons charged with offences against Church and State. One of the attorneys to the association was Charles Murray. Several attempts were made by members of the Opposition to suppress the society as mischievous, if not illegal. Brougham in the House of Commons, May 23, 1821 {Hansard, N.S., vol. v. pp. 891, 892), drew the attention of the House to the proceed- ings of the society, and on May 30 (ibid., p. 1046) to the circular “ to the Magistrates of England ” issued by the Bridge Street Com- mittee. On June 5 (ibid., p. 1114) Dr. Lushington presented a petition from Thomas Dolby, a bookseller in the Strand, who had been prosecuted by the society, and attacked the conduct of Charles Murray, one of its attorneys. Iiobhouse, June 14 (ibid., p. 1181), 345 1 82 1.] THE CONSTITUTIONAL ASSOCIATION. I thought it had been yours ; but was solaced by seeing that your Synonime is an Attorneo, and that you are not one of that atrocious crew . 1 I am in a great discomfort about the probable war, and with my damned trustees not getting me out of the funds. If the funds break, it is my intention to go upon the highway : all the other English professions are at present so ungentlemanly by the conduct of those who follow them, that open robbery is the only fair resource left to a man of any principles; it is even honest, in comparison, by being undisguised. I wrote to you by last post, to say that you had done the handsome thing by Moore and the Memoranda. You are very good as times go, and would probably be still better but for the “ March of events ” (as Napoleon called it), which won't permit any body to be better than they should be. Love to Gifford. Believe me, Yours ever and truly, B. presented a similar petition from a man named King. Finally Whitbread, July 3 {/bid., p. i486), proposed that an address be presented, praying His Majesty to direct the Attorney-General to enter a nolle prosequi against all indictments laid by the association ; but the motion was lost. On June 5, 1821, an application for warrants to apprehend the most active members of the society, was refused by the Lord Mayor. In Dolby’s petition to the House of Commons, as quoted in the Morning Chronicle for June 6, 1821, it is stated that Dolby “had “several interviews with Mr. Murray, during the last of which “terms were proposed by Mr. Murray, who, in consideration of “your Petitioner’s submitting to plead guilty, and enter “into an engagement not to sell any books which the Association ‘ ‘ might deem offensive for two years, offered to waive bringing up “your Petitioner for judgment.” Possibly Byron may make special reference to this provision. 1. “ Many persons besides you,” writes Murray ( Memoir , vol. i. p. 424), on September 6, 1821, .“ have at first supposed that I was “the person of the same name connected with the Constitutional “ Association, but without consideration ; for on what occasion have 346 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. P.S. — I restore Smith’s 1 letter, whom thank for his good opinion. Is the Bust by Thorwaldsen arrived ? 922. — To John Murray. R a . August 23 d 1821. Dear Sir, — Enclosed are the two acts corrected. With regard to the charges about the Shipwreck, 2 — I think that I told both you and Mr. Hobhouse, years ago, that [there] was not a single circumstance of it not taken from fact ; not, indeed, from any single shipwreck, but all from achial facts of different wrecks. Almost all Don Juan is real life, either my own, or from people I knew. By the way, much of the description of the furniture ^ in Canto 3? , is taken from Tullfs Tripoli 3 (pray “ I identified myself with a party? My connexions are, I believe, “ even more numerous amongst the Whigs than the Tories. Indeed, “the Whigs have nearly driven away the Tories from my house ; “ and Jeffrey said, ‘ If you wish to meet the most respectable of the “ Whigs, you must be introduced to Mr. Murray’s room.’ ” 1. James Smith, brother of Horace, and joint author of Rejected Addresses. 2. In the Monthly Magazine , vol. lii. (August, 1821, pp. 19-22, and September, 1821, pp. 105-109), Byron’s indebtedness to Sir J. G. Dalyell’s Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea (Edinburgh, 1812, 8vo) is pointed out. 3. Richard Tully, Consul at Tripoli 1783-93, wrote a Narrative of a Ten Year's 1 Residence at the Court of Tripoli. Published in 4I0 in 1816, the book reached a fourth edition in 1819. Byron, in Don Juan (Canto III. stanzas lxvii.-lxix.), made use of the following passage from Tully’s Narrative (2nd edit., p. 135) : — “ The hangings of the room were of tapestry, made in pannels of “ different coloured velvets, thickly inlaid with flowers of silk damask ; 4 4 a yellow border, of about a foot in depth, finished the tapestry at 44 top and bottom, the upper border being embroidered with Moorish 44 sentences from the Koran in lilac letters. The carpet was of 44 crimson satin, with a deep border of pale blue quilted : this is laid 44 over Indian mats and other carpets. In the best part of the room 4 6 the sofa is placed, which occupies three sides of an alcove, the 44 floor of which is raised. The sofa and the cushions that lay around “were of crimson velvet: the centre cushions being embroidered 4 4 with a sun in gold of ihighly embossed work, the rest were of gold 44 and silver tissue. The curtains for the alcove were made to match LITERARY COINCIDENCES. 347 1821.] note this ), and the rest from my own observation. Re- member, I never meant to conceal this at all, and have only not stated it, because Don Juan had no preface nor name to it. Jf you think it worth while to make this statement, do so, in your own way. / laugh at such charges, convinced that no writer ever borrowed less, or made his materials more his own. Much is coincidence : for instance, Lady Morgan (in a really excellent book, I assure you, on Italy 1 ) calls Venice an Ocean Rome; I have the very same expression in Foscari , 2 and yet you know that the play was written months ago, and sent to England. The Italy I received only on the 16th in ?t . Your friend, like the public, is not aware, that my dramatic simplicity is sttidiously Greek, and must con- tinue so : no reform ever succeeded at first. I admire the old English dramatists ; but this is quite another field, and has nothing to do with theirs. I want to make a regular English drama, no matter whether for the Stage or not, which is not my object, — but a mental theatre. Yours ever, B. “ those before the bed. A number of looking-glasses, and a profu- sion of fine china and chrystal completed the ornaments and furni- “ ture of the room, in which there were neither tables nor chairs. “ A small table, about six inches high, is brought in when refresh- “ ments are served: it is of ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl, “ tortoiseshell, ivory, gold and silver, of choice woods, or of plain “ mahogany, according to the circumstances of the proprietor.” 1. In Italy (vol. iii. pp. 263, 264 of Galignani’s 1821 edition), Lady Morgan writes, “ As the bark, however, glides on, as the shore “ recedes, and the city of the waves, the Rome of the ocean, rises on “the horizon,, the spirits rally,” etc., etc. (For Lady Morgan, see Letters , vol. iii. p. no, note 3.) 2. The Two Foscari was, as Byron’s MS. note records, “ begun “June the 12^, completed July the 9^, Ravenna, 1821.” The phrase occurs in act iii. sc. I — “ Their antique energy of mind, all that Remain’d of Rome for their inheritance, Created by degrees an ocean-Rome.” 348 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Is the bust arrived ? P.S. — Can't accept your courteous offer . 1 For Orford and for Waldegrave You give much more than me you gave ; Which is not fairly to behave, My Murray ! Because if a live dog, 'tis said, Be worth a Lion fairly sped, A live lord must be worth two dead, My Murray ! And if, as the opinion goes, Verse hath a better sale than prose — Certes, I should have more than those, My Murray ! But now this sheet is nearly crammed, So, if you will , I shan't be shammed, And if you won't , — you may be damned, My Murray ! These matters must be arranged with Mr. Douglas K. He is my trustee, and a man of honour. To him you can state all your mercantile reasons, which you might not like to state to me personally, such as “ heavy “season" — “flat public"' — “don't go off" — “Lordship “ writes too much " — “ won’t take advice " — “ declining “ popularity " — “ deductions for the trade " — “ make very “little" — “generally lose by him" — “pirated edition" — “ foreign edition " — “ severe criticisms," etc., with other hints and howls for an oration, which I leave Douglas, who is an orator, to answer. i. I.e % £2000 for three cantos of Don Sardanapalus , and The Two Foscari. SELLING A LIFE DEARLY. 349 l 82 I.] You can also state them more freely to a third person, as between you and me they could only produce some smart postscripts, which would not adorn our mutual archives. I am sorry for the Queen, 1 and that’s more than you are. 923. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, August 24, 1821. Yours of the 5 th only yesterday, while I had letters of the 8th from London. Doth the post dabble into our letters? Whatever agreement you make with Murray, if satisfactory to you , must be so to me. There need be no scruple, because, though I used sometimes to buffoon to myself, loving a quibble as well as the barbarian him- self (Shakspeare, to wit) — “ that, like a Spartan, I would “sell my life as dearly as possible” — it never was my intention to turn it to personal pecuniary account, but to bequeath it to a friend — yourself — in the event of sur- vivorship. I anticipated that period, because we happened to meet, and I urged you to make what was possible now by it, for reasons which are obvious. It has been no possible privation to me, and therefore does not require the acknowledgments you mention. So, for God’s sake, don’t consider it like * * * By the way, when you write to Lady Morgan, will you thank her for her handsome speeches in her book about my books? I do not know her address. Her work is fearless and excellent on the subject of Italy — pray tell her so — and I know the country. I wish she had fallen in with me> I could have told her a thing or two that would have confirmed her positions. I. Queen Caroline died August 7, 1821. 350 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. I am glad you are satisfied with Murray, who seems to value dead lords more than live ones. I have just sent him the following answer to a proposition of his, For Orford and for Waldegrave, etc . 1 The argument of the above is, that he wanted to “ stint me of my sizings, 1 ” 2 as Lear says, — that is to say ?iot to propose an extravagant price for an extravagant poem, as is becoming. Pray take his guineas, by all means — I taught him that. He made me a filthy offer of pounds once; but I told him that, like physicians, poets must be dealt with in guineas, as being the only advantage poets could have in the association with them y as votaries of Apollo. I write to you in hurry and bustle, which I will expound in my next. Yours ever, etc. P.S. — You mention something of an attorney on his way to me on legal business. I have had no warning of such an apparition. What can the fellow want ? I have some lawsuits and business, but have not heard of any thing to put me to the expense of a travelling lawyer. They do enough, in that way, at home. Ah, poor Queen ! But perhaps it is for the best, if Herodotus’s anecdote 3 is to be believed * * * Remember me to any friendly Angles of our mutual 1. Here follow the lines given in the previous letter. 2. “ ’Tis not in thee To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train, To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes, And, in conclusion, to oppose the bolt Against my coming in.” King Lear , act ii. sc. 4. 3. The goddess Hera taught her priestess Cydippe, mother of Cleobis and Biton, that death is a higher boon than life (ws d/ueivoi/ eft/ avQpooTrcj) reOydvcu /xu\\ ov ^ (deiv : Herodotus, i. 31). 1821.] liberties with his writings. 351 acquaintance. What are you doing ? Here I have had my hands full with tyrants and their victims. There never was such oppression, even in Ireland, scarcely ! 924. — To John Murray. R a . August 3 1 st 1821. Dear Sir, — I have received the Juans? which are printed so carelessly , especially the 5^ Canto, as to be disgraceful to me, and not creditable to you. It really must be gone over again with the Manuscript , the errors are so gross — words added — changed — so as to make cacophony and nonsense. You have been careless of this poem because some of your Synod don’t approve of it ; but I tell you, it will be long before you see any thing half so good as poetry or writing. Upon what principle have you omitted the note on Bacon and Voltaire ? and one of the concluding stanzas sent as an addition ? because it ended, I suppose, with — And do not link two virtuous souls for life Into that moral Centaur , man and wife ? Now, I must say, once for all, that I will not permit any human being to take such liberties with my writings because I am absent. I desire the omissions to be replaced (except the stanza on Semiramis) — particularly the stanza upon the Turkish marriages; and I request that the whole be carefully gone over with the MSS. I never saw such stuff as is printed : — Gulleyaz instead of Gulbeyaz, etc. Are you aware that GuDeyaz is a real I. Cantos III., IV., and V. of Don Juan were published together in August, 1821, without the name of author or publisher. The sale was enormous. “ The booksellers’ messengers filled the street “ in front of the house in Albemarle Street, and the parcels of books “were given out of the window in answer to their obstreperous “demands” (Memoir of Joh?i Murray , vol. i. p. 413). 352 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. name, and the other nonsense ? I copied the Cantos out carefully, so that there is no excuse, as the Printer reads, or at least prints , the MSS. of the plays without error. If you have no feeling for your own reputation, pray have some little for mine. I have read over the poem carefully, and I tell you, it is poetry . Your little envious knot of parson-poets may say what they please : time will show that I am not in this instance mistaken. Desire my friend Hobhouse to correct the press, especially of the last Canto, from the Manuscript as it is : it is enough to drive one out of one’s senses, to see the infernal torture of words from the original. For instance the line — And pair their rhymes as Venus yokes her doves — is printed — And praise their rhymes, etc. Also “ precarious ” for “ precocious and this line, stanza I 33* And this strong extreme effect to tire no longer . 1 Now do turn to the Manuscript and see if I ever wrote such a line : it is not verse. No wonder the poem should fail (which, however, it woiit , you will see) with such things allowed to creep about it. Replace what is omitted, and correct what is so shamefully misprinted, and let the poem have fair play ; and I fear nothing. I see in the last two Numbers of the Quarterly a strong itching to assail me (see the review of the “ Etonian ” 2 ) : let it, and see if they shan’t have enough 1 . “ And ” should be deleted . The line runs thus — “ This strong extreme effect (to tire no longer Your patience),” etc., etc. 2. “ Godiva/^says the Quarterly Review (vol. xxv. p. 106), “ is A REVIEWER REVIEWED. 353 1821.] of it. I don’t allude to Gifford, who has always been my friend, and whom I do not consider as responsible for the articles written by others. But if I do not give Mr. Milman, and others of the crew, something that shall occupy their dreams ! I have not begun with the Quarterers ; but let them look to it. As for Milman ( you well know I have not been unfair to his poetry ever), but I have lately had some information of his critical proceedings in the Quarterly , which may bring that on him which he will be sorry for. I happen to know that of him, which would annihilate him, when he pretends to preach morality — not that he is immoral, x- x- x- x x x x x x x x x x x * x X X X- X X x- X X You will publish the plays when ready. I am in such a humour about this printing of Don Juan so inaccurately, that I must close this. Yours ever, B. P.S. — I presume that you have not lost the stanza to which I allude ? it was sent afterwards ; look over my letters and find it. The Notes you can’t have lost — you acknowledged them : they included eight or nine corrections of Bacon’s mistakes in the apophthegms. And now I ask once more if such liberties, taken in a man’s absence, are fair or praise-worthy ? As for you, you “ a successful imitation of the new Whistlecraft style; we think, “however, that with much of the instinctive delicacy and native “gentility of the poet of ‘ Gyges,’ the author has not succeeded in “ handling his subject with the same dexterity and decorum ; and if ‘ ‘ our literature is to be disgraced (as is threatened) by the publication “ of an English Pucelle, we do not wish to see, in a work like The “ Etonian , any thing which may, in the most distant degree, remind “ us of such compositions.” VOL. V. 2 A 354 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. have no opinions of your own, and never had, but are blown about by the last thing said to you, no matter by whom. 925. — To John Murray. 1 [Undated.] Dear Sir, — The enclosed letter is written in bad humour, but not without provocation. However, let it (that is, the bad humour) go for little ; but I must request your serious attention to the abuses of the printer, which ought never to have been permitted. You forget that all the fools in London (the chief purchasers of your publica- tions) will condemn in me the stupidity of your printer. For instance, in the Notes to Canto fifth, “ the Adriatic “shore of the Bosphorus,” instead of the Asiatic! ! All this may seem little to you — so fine a gentleman with your ministerial connections ; but it is serious to me, who am thousands of miles off, and have no opportunity of not proving myself the fool your printer makes me, except your pleasure and leisure, forsooth. The Gods prosper you, and forgive you, for I won’t. B. 926. — To J. Mawman. 2 R? A? 31^ 1821. L c - Byron presents his Compliments to Mr. Mawman and would be particularly glad to see that Gentleman if 1. Written in the envelope of the preceding letter. 2. Byron gave Mawman a copy of the edition of Cantos III., IV., V. of Don Juajty and wrote the following inscription on the title- page : “ to J. Mawman, Esq? e “ from the Author. “Sept? I? 1 1821. “Mr. Mawman is requested to show this copy to the publisher “and to point out the gross printer’s blunders, some of which only TWO PAPER BOOKS. 1821.] 355 he can make it convenient to call at half past two to- morrow afternoon. L- B. takes the liberty of sending his Carriage and horses in case Mr. M. would like to make the round of the remarkable buildings of Ravenna. 92 7. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, September 3, 1821. By Mr. Mawman (a paymaster in the corps, in which you and I are privates) I yesterday expedited to your address, under cover one, two paper books , 1 containing “the author has had time to correct. They did not exist in the “MSS. but are owing to the carelessness of the printer, etc.” On the fly-leaf at the end of the volume Mawman has written, in pencil, the following note : — 44 Ld. B. shewed me a weather-beaten scrawl of paper which he 44 told me had been taken off the pillar in the market-place of 44 Ravenna, on which was offered a price for his head. Lord B. “committed to my care a small packet (of a small 4to. form and “appearing to contain about 200 pages) intended for Mr. Moore, “ the poet, at Paris. This parcel I took to Brussels, and sent it “thence thro’ the Spanish ambassador resident in that capital to “Paris. In October, Mr. Moore called at my house in London “ and enquired with great solicitude for this Parcel. I told him how “ I had caused it to be conveyed to Paris. He afterwards found it 4 4 to have been safely delivered . This packet I believe to have 4 4 been the memoirs of Lord Byron’s Life which were afterwards 44 destroyed.” The copy of Don Juan is now in the possession of Mr. Edward Pollock. I. “One of the ‘paper-books’ mentioned in this letter,” says Moore ( Life , p. 527), “as intrusted to Mr. Mawman for me, con- “ tained a portion, to the amount of nearly a hundred pages, of a 4 4 prose story, relating the adventures of a young Andalusian noble- “ man, which had been begun by him, at Venice, in 1817. The “ following : passage is all I shall extract from this amusing 44 Fragment : — “ 4 A few hours afterwards we were very good friends, and a few 44 days after she set out for Arragon, with my son, on a visit to her 44 father and mother. I did not accompany her immediately, having 44 been in Arragon before, but was to join the family in their Moorish 44 chateau within a few weeks. 4 4 4 During her journey I received a very affectionate letter from 44 Donna Josepha, apprising me of the welfare of herself and my son. 35 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. the Giaour- nal, and a thing or two. It won’t all do — even for the posthumous public — but extracts from it may. It is a brief and faithful chronicle of a month or so — parts of it not very discreet, but sufficiently sincere. Mr. Mawman saith that he will, in person or per friend, have it delivered to you in your Elysian fields. If you have got the new Juans , recollect that there are some very gross printer’s blunders, particularly in the fifth canto, — such as “ praise ” for “ pair ” — “ precarious ” for “ precocious ” — “ Adriatic ” for “ Asiatic “ case ” for “ chase” — besides gifts of additional words and “On her arrival at the chateau, I received another still more affec- tionate, pressing me, in very fond, and rather foolish, terms, to “join her immediately. As I was preparing to set out from Seville, “ I received a third — this was from her father, Don Jose di Cardozo, “ who requested me, in the politest manner, to dissolve my marriage. “ I answered him with equal politeness, that I would do no such “thing. A fourth letter arrived — it was from Donna Josepha, in “which she informed me that her father’s letter was written by her ‘ ‘ particular desire. I requested the reason by return of post — she “replied, by express, that as reason had nothing to do with the “ matter, it was unnecessary to give any — but that she was an injured “ and excellent woman. I then enquired why she had written to me “ the two preceding affectionate letters, requesting me to come to “ Arragon. She answered, that was because she believed me out of “my senses — that, being unfit to take care of myself, I had only “to set out on this journey alone, and making my way without “ difficulty to Don Jose di Cardozo’s, I should there have found the “ tender est of wives and — a strait waistcoat. “ ‘ I had nothing to reply to this piece of affection but a reiteration “of my request for some lights upon the subject. I was answered, “that they would only be related to the Inquisition. In the mean ‘ ‘ time, our domestic discrepancy had become a public topic of “discussion; and the world, which always decides justly, not only “ in Arragon but in Andalusia, determined that I was not only to ‘ ‘ blame, but that all Spain could produce nobody so blameable. “ My case was supposed to comprise all the crimes which could, and * ‘ several which could not, be committed, and little less than an “ auto-da-fe was anticipated as the result. But let no man say that “we are abandoned by our friends in adversity — it was just the “reverse. Mine thronged around me to condemn, advise, and “ console me with their disapprobation. — They told me all that was, “ would, or could be said on the subject. They shook their heads — “ they exhorted me — deplored me, with tears in their eyes, and — “went to dinner.’ ” A FIERCE LETTER. 357 1821.] syllables, which make but a cacophonous rhythmus. Put the pen through the said, as I would mine through Murray’s ears, if I were alongside him. As it is, I have sent him a rattling letter, as abusive as possible. Though he is publisher to the “ Board of Longitude” he is in no danger of discovering it. I am packing for Pisa — but direct your letters here , till further notice. Yours ever, etc. 928. — To John Murray. Sept r , 4*! 1 1821. Dear Sir, — Enclosed are some notes, etc. You will also have the goodness to hold yourself in readiness to publish the long delayed letter to Blackwoods , etc. ; but previously let me have a proof of it, as I mean it for a separate publication. The enclosed note 1 you will annex to the Foscaris ; also the dedication. Yours, B. 929. — To John Murray. R? September 4V 1 1821. Dear Sir, — By Saturday’s post, I sent you a fierce and furibond letter upon the subject of the printer’s blunders in Don Juan. I must solicit your attention to the topic, though my wrath hath subsided into sullenness. 1. This note probably contained Byron’s answer to Southey’s Preface to A Vision of Judgment. The Two Foscari (published December, 1821), which Byron had intended to dedicate to Scott, appeared, in consequence of the attack on Southey, without a dedi- cation. (For fresh proof of Byron’s dislike to Southey, for Southey’s Preface to A Vision of fudgment , Byron’s reply, Southey’s answer, and other references to the dispute, see Letters , vol. vi. Appendix I.) 358 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Yesterday I received Mr. Mawman, a friend of yours, and because he is a friend of yours ; and that's more than I would do in an English case, except for those whom I honour. I was as civil as I could be among packages, even to the very chairs and tables; for I am going to Pisa in a few weeks, and have sent and am sending off my chattels. It regretted me that, my books and every thing being packed, I could not send you a few things I meant for you ; but they were all sealed and baggaged, so as to have made it a Month's work to get at them again. I gave him an envelope, with the Italian Scrap in it , 1 alluded to in my Gilchrist defence. Hobhouse will make it out for you, and it will make you laugh, and him too, the spelling particularly. The “ Mericani ," of whom they call me the “ Capo " (or Chief), mean “ Americans," which is the name given in Romagna to a part of the Carbonari ; 2 that is to say, to the popular part, the troops of the Carbonari. They were originally a society of hunters in the forest, who took that name of Americans, but at present comprize some thousands, etc. ; but I shan't let you further into the secret, which may be participated with the postmasters. Why they thought me their Chief, I know not : their Chiefs are like “ Legion, £C being Many." However, it is a post of more honour than profit, for, now that they are persecuted, it is fit that I should aid them ; and so I have done, as far as my means will permit. They will rise again some day, for these fools of the Government are blundering : they actually seem to know nothing; for they have arrested and banished many of their own party, and let others escape who are not their friends. 1. An anonymous letter which Byron had received, threatening him with assassination. 2. See p. 158, note 1. 1821.] excellence of THE JUANS . 359 What thinkst thou of Greece ? Address to me here as usual, till you hear further from me. By Mawman I have sent a journal to Moore ; but it won't do for the public,' — at least a great deal of it won't ; — -parts may. I read over the Juans , which are excellent. Your Synod was quite wrong ; and so you will find by and bye. I regret that I do not go on with it, for I had all the plan for several cantos, and different countries and climes. You say nothing of the note I enclosed to you, which will explain why I agreed to discontinue it (at Madame G.'s request) ; but you are so grand, and sublime, and occupied, that one would think, instead of publishing for “the Board of Longitude ," that you were trying to discover it. Let me hear that Gifford is better . He can’t be spared either by you or me. Enclosed is a note, which I will thank you not to forget to acknowledge and to publish. Yours, B. 930. — To John Murray. [Post-mark dated Sept. 9, 1821.] Dear Sir, — Will you have the goodness to forward the enclosed to Mr. Gilchrist, whose address I do not exactly know ? If that Gentleman would like to see my second letter to you, on the attack upon himself, you can forward him a copy of the proof. Yours ever, B. 360 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 931. — To John Murray. Sept r , 9^ 1821. Dear Sir, — Please to forward the enclosed also to Mr. Gilchrist. I cut my finger, in diving yesterday, against a sharp shell, and can hardly write. Last week, I sent a long note (in English) to the play : let me have a proof of it; but, as I am in haste, you can publish the play with the whole of it, except the part referring to Southey, to which I wish to add something ; and we will then append the whole to a re-print. All the part, down to where it begins on that rascal, will do for publication without my reviewing it — that is to say, if your printer will take pains, and not be careless, as about the new Jtians . Let me hear that Mr. Gifford is better, and your family well. Yours, B. 932. — To John Murray. Ravenna, Sept r . 10^ 1821. Dear Sir, — By this post I send you three packets containing Cain, a Mystery (i.e. a tragedy on a sacred subject) in three acts . 1 I think that it contains some poetry, being in the style of “Manfred.” Send me a proof of the whole by return of post . If there is time, publish it with the other two : if not, print it separately, and as soon as you can. Of the dedications (sent lately), I wish to transfer that 1 . Cain , a Mystery , was published by Murray with Sardanapalus and The Two Foscari in December, 1821. CAIN, A MYSTERY. 1821.] 361 to Sir Walter Scott to this drama of Cain, reserving that of the “ Foscaris ” for another, for a particular reason, of which more by and bye. Write. Yours, B. 933. — To John Murray. Ravenna, September 12^ 1821. Dear Sir, — By Tuesday's post, I forwarded, in three packets, the drama of “ Cain” in three acts, of which I request the acknowledgement when arrived. To the last speech of Eve , in the last act (i.e. where she curses Cain), add these three lines to the concluding one — May the Grass wither from thy foot ! the Woods Deny thee shelter ! Earth a home ! the Dust A Grave ! the Sun his light ! and Heaven her God ! There’s as pretty a piece of Imprecation for you, when joined to the lines already sent, as you may wish to meet with in the course of your business. But don’t forget the addition of the above three lines, which are clinchers to Eve’s speech. Let me know what Gifford thinks (if the play arrives in safety) ; for I have a good opinion of the piece, as poetry : it is in my gay metaphysical style, and in the Manfred line. You must at least commend my facility and variety, when you consider what I have done within the last fifteen months, with my head, too, full of other and of mundane matters. But no doubt you will avoid saying any good of it, for fear I should raise the price upon you : that’s right — stick to business ! Let me know what your other ragamuffins are writing, for I suppose you don’t like 362 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. starting too many of your Vagabonds at once. You may give them the start, for any thing I care. If this arrives in time to be added to the other two dramas, publish them together : if not, publish it separately, in the same form, to tally for the purchasers. Let me have a proof of the whole speedily. It is longer than Manfred . Why don’t you publish my Pulci ? 1 the best thing I ever wrote, with the Italian to it. I wish I was alongside of you : nothing is ever done in a man’s absence ; every body runs counter, because they can . If ever I do return to England, (which I shan’t though,) I will write a poem to which English Bards , etc., shall be New Milk, in com- parison. Your present literary world of mountebanks stands in need of such an Avatar ; but I am not yet quite bilious enough : a season or two more, and a provocation or two, will wind me up to the point, and then, have at the whole set ! I have no patience with the sort of trash you send me out by way of books ; except Scott’s novels, and three or four other things, I never saw such work or works. Campbell is lecturing, Moore idling, Southey twaddling, Wordsworth driveling, Coleridge muddling, Joanna Baillie piddling, Bowles quibbling, squabbling, and sniveling. Milman will do, if he don’t cant too much, nor imitate Southey : the fellow has poesy in him ; but he is envious, and unhappy, as all the envious are. Still he is among the best of the day. Barry Cornwall will do better by and bye, I dare say, if he don’t get spoilt by green tea, and the praises of Pentonville and Paradise Row. The pity of these men is, that they never lived either in high 1 . Byron’s translation of the first Canto of Luigi Pulci’s Morgante Maggiore, with the Italian, was published in the Liberal, No. iv. pp. 193-249* 1 82 I.] FREE OF THE CORPORATION. 363 life , nor in solitude : there is no medium for the knowledge of the busy or the still world. If admitted into high life for a season, it is merely as spectators — they form no part of the Mechanism thereof. Now Moore and I, the one by circumstances, and the other by birth, happened to be free of the corporation, and to have entered into its pulses and passions, quarum partes fuimus . Both of us have learnt by this much which nothing else could have taught us. Yours, B. P.S. — I saw one of your brethren, another of the Allied Sovereigns of Grub-Street, the other day, viz. : Mawman the Great, by whom I sent due homage to your imperial self. Tomorrow's post may perhaps bring a letter from you; but you are the most ungrateful and ungracious of correspondents. But there is some excuse for you, with your perpetual levee of politicians, parson- scribblers, and loungers : some day I will give you a poetical Catalogue of them. The post is come : no letter, but never mind. How is Mrs. Murray, and Gifford ? Better ? Say well . My Compliments to Mr. Heber 1 upon his Election. I. Richard Heber (1773-1833) was elected M.P. for the University of Oxford, August 24, 1821. The vacancy was caused by the elevation of Sir William Scott to the peerage. At the end of the poll the candidates stood thus — Mr. Heber 612 Sir John Nicholl 519 Majority for Mr. Heber 93 364 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 934. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, September 17, 1821. The enclosed lines , 1 as you will directly perceive, are written by the Rev. W. L. B * *. Of course it is for him to deny them if they are not. Believe me, yours ever and most affectionately, B. P.S. — Can you forgive this? It is only a reply to your lines against my Italians. Of course I will stand by my lines against all men ; but it is heartbreaking to see such things in a people as the reception of that unre- deemed ****** in an oppressed country. Your apotheosis is now reduced to a level with his welcome, and their gratitude to Grattan is cancelled by their atrocious adulation of this, etc., etc., etc. 935. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, September 19, 1821. I am in all the sweat, dust, and blasphemy of an universal packing of all my things, furniture, etc., for 1 . 4 4 To the Irish Avatar ”• — 44 Ere the daughter of Brunswick is cold in her grave,” etc. The following sentence from a letter of Curran is prefixed as a motto : 44 And Ireland, like a bastinadoed elephant, kneeling to 44 receive the paltry rider ” (Life of Curran , vol. ii. p. 336). At the end of the verses are these words : 44 (Signed) W. L. B * *, M.A., “and written with a view to a Bishoprick.” Moore notes in his Diary for November 3, 1821 ( Memoirs , etc., vol. iii. pp. 297, 298), “ Received Lord B.’s tremendous verses against the King and the “Irish, for their late exhibition in Dublin; richly deserved by my 44 servile countrymen, but not, on this occasion, by the King, who, 44 as far as he was concerned, acted well and wisely.” Byron was indignant that George IV. should have made his triumphal entry into Dublin when his wife was lying dead in London. The king reached the Vice- Regal Lodge at Dublin, August 12; the queen’s funeral procession left London for Harwich, August 14. SWITZERLAND. 3 6 5 l 82 I.] Pisa, whither I go for the winter. The cause has been the exile of all my fellow Carbonics, and, amongst them, of the whole family of Madame G. ; who, you know, was divorced from her husband last week, “on account of “ P.P. clerk of this parish,” 1 * * * * and who is obliged to join her father and relatives, now in exile there, to avoid being shut up in a monastery, because the Pope's decree of separation required her to reside in casa paterna , or else, for decorum's sake, in a convent. As I could not say with Hamlet, “ Get thee to a nunnery,” I am pre- paring to follow them. It is awful work, this love, and prevents all a man’s projects of good or glory. I wanted to go to Greece lately (as every thing seems up here) with her brother, who is a very fine, brave fellow (I have seen him put to the proof), and wild about liberty. But the tears of a woman who has left her husband for a man, and the weakness of one's own heart, are paramount to these projects, and I can hardly indulge them. We were divided in choice between Switzerland and Tuscany, and I gave my vote for Pisa, as nearer the Mediterranean, which I love for the sake of the shores which it washes, and for my young recollections of 1809. Switzerland is a curst selfish, swinish country of brutes, placed in the most romantic region of the world. I never could bear the inhabitants, and still less their Eng- lish visitors ; for which reason, after writing for some information about houses, upon hearing that there was a I. An allusion to Pope’s Memoirs of P.P., Clerk of this Parish. These Memoirs, which begin thus : “In the Name of the Lord. “ Amen . I, P.P. by the grace of God Clerk of this Parish, writeth “ this History,” were supposed to be written in ridicule of Bishop Burnet’s History of my own Times. Pope, in the Prolegomena to The Dunciad , denied this ; but see Courthope’s edition of Pope’s Works , vol. x. p. 435, note 1. 366 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. colony of English all over the cantons of Geneva, etc., I immediately gave up the thought, and persuaded the Gambas to do the same. By the last post I sent you “ The Irish Avatar,”- — what think you ? The last line — “ a name never spoke “but with curses or jeers” — must run either “a name “only uttered with curses or jeers,” or, “ a wretch never “named but with curses or jeers.” B ecase as how y “ spoke ” is not grammar, except in the House of Com- mons ; and I doubt whether we can say “ a name spoken ,” for mentioned . I have some doubts, too, about “ repay,” — “and for murder repay with a shout and a smile.” Should it not be, “ and for murder repay him with shouts “ and a smile,” or “ reward him with shouts and a “ smile ? ” So, pray put your poetical pen through the MS. and take the least bad of the emendations. Also, if there be any further breaking of Priscian’s head, will you apply a plaster ? I wrote in the greatest hurry and fury, and sent it to you the day after ; so, doubtless, there will be some awful constructions, and a rather lawless conscription of rhythmus. With respect to what Anna Seward calls “ the liberty “ of transcript,” — when complaining of Miss Matilda Muggleton, the accomplished daughter of a choral vicar of Worcester Cathedral, who had abused the said “ liberty “ of transcript,” by inserting in the Malvern Mercury Miss Seward’s “ Elegy on the South Pole,” as her own production, with her own signature, two years after having taken a copy, by permission of the authoress — with re- gard, I say, to the “liberty of transcript,” I by no means oppose an occasional copy to the benevolent few, provided it does not degenerate into such licen- tiousness of Verb and Noun as may tend to “disparage THE IRISH AVATAR. 1821.] 3 6 7 “ my parts of speech ” 1 by the carelessness of the transcribblers. I do not think that there is much danger of the “ King’s Press being abused ” upon the occasion, if the publishers of journals have any regard for their remaining liberty of person. It is as pretty a piece of invective as ever put publisher in the way to “ Botany.” There- fore, if they meddle with it, it is at their peril. As for myself, I will answer any jontleman — though I by no means recognise a “ right of search ” into an unpublished production and unavowed poem. The same applies to things published sans consent. I hope you like, at least the concluding lines of the Pome ? What are you doing, and where are you ? in England ? Nail Murray — nail him to his own counter, till he shells out the thirteens. Since I wrote to you, I have sent him another tragedy — Cain 2, by name — making three in 1 . ‘ ‘ There, sir, an attack upon my language ! What do you “ think of that ? — an aspersion upon my parts of speech ! Was ever “such a brute ? ” (Mrs. Malaprop, in The Rivals, act iii. sc. 3). “Was it you that reflected on my parts of speech?” (ibid., act iv. sc. 2). 2. Byron, in a note to his Preface to Cain, says, “The reader “ will perceive that the author has partly adopted in this poem the “notion of Cuvier, that the world had been destroyed several times “before the creation of man.” The reference is to Cuvier’s Discours sur les revolutions de la surface du globe, translated in 1813 by Robert Kerr, under the title of “ Essay on the Theory of the Earth.” Cuvier’s words are (Dis- cours, etc., ed. 1825, p. 282) — “ Je pense done, avec MM. Deluc et Dolomieu, que, s’il y a quel- “que chose de constate en geologie, e’est que la surface de notre “globe a ete victime d’une grande et subite revolution, dont la * 4 date ne peut remonter beaucoup au dela de cinq ou six mille ans ; “que cette revolution a enfonce et fait disparaitre les pays qu’ “habitaient auparavant les hommes . . . qu’elle a, au contraire, “mis a sec le fond de la derniere mer, et en a forme les pays aujour- “d’hui habites . . . Mais ces pays aujourd’hui habites, et que la “derniere revolution a mis a sec, avaient deja ete habites aupara- “ vant, si non par des hommes, du moins par desanimaux terrestres : “par consequent une revolution precedente, au moins, les avait “ mis sous les eaux ; et, si l’on peut en juger par les differens ordres 368 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. MS. now in his hands, or in the printer’s. It is in the Manfred metaphysical style, and full of some Titanic declamation; — Lucifer being one of the dram, per s., who takes Cain a voyage among the stars, and afterwards to “ Hades,” where he shows him the phantoms of a former world, and its inhabitants. I have gone upon the notion of Cuvier, that the world has been destroyed three or four times, and was inhabited by mammoths, behemoths, and what not ; but not by man till the Mosaic period, as, indeed, is proved by the strata of bones found ; — those of all unknown animals, and known, being dug out, but none of mankind. I have, therefore, supposed Cain to be shown, in the rational Preadamites, beings endowed with a higher intelligence than man, but totally unlike him in form, and with much greater strength of mind and person. You may suppose the small talk which takes place between him and Lucifer upon these matters is not quite canonical. The consequence is, that Cain comes back and kills Abel in a fit of dissatisfaction, partly with the politics of Paradise, which had driven them all out of it, and partly because (as it is written in Genesis) Abel’s sacrifice was the more acceptable to the Deity. I trust that the Rhapsody has arrived — it is in three acts, and entitled “ A Mystery ,” according to the former Christian custom, and in honour of what it probably will remain to the reader. Yours, etc. “d’animaux dont on y trouve les depouilles, ils avaient peut-etre “subi jusqu’a deux ou trois irruptions de la mer.” In August, 1829, Goethe at Weimar told Crabb Robinson (Diary, vol. ii. p. 435, et seqq.) that “ ‘Byron should have lived to “ execute his vocation.’ ‘ And that was ? ’ I asked. ‘ To dramatize “the Old Testament. What a subject under his hands would the “Tower of Babel have been!’ He continued, ‘You must not “ take it ill ; but Byron was indebted for the profound views he took “of the Bible to the ennui he suffered from it at school’ (Goethe “ calls ennui (Langeweile) the Mother of the Muses).” A MERE BUFFOONERY. 369 1821.] 936. — To Thomas Moore. September 20, 1821. After the stanza on Grattan, concluding with “His “soul o'er the freedom implored and denied," will it please you to cause insert the following “Addenda," which I dreamed of during to-day's Siesta : — Ever glorious Grattan ! etc., etc., etc. I will tell you what to do. Get me twenty copies of the whole carefully and privately printed off, as your lines were on the Naples affair. Send me six, and distribute the rest according to your own pleasure. I am in a fine vein, “ so full of pastime and prodi- “ gality ! " — So here’s to your health, in a glass of grog. Pray write, that I may know by return of post — address to me at Pisa. The Gods give you joy ! Where are you? in Paris? Let us hear. You will take care that there be no printer's name, nor author’s, as in the Naples stanza, at least for the present. 93 7. — To John Murray. R a . Sept r . 20 t . h 1821. Dear Murray, — You need not send “ The Blues” 1 which is a mere buffoonery, never meant for publication. The papers to which I allude, in case of Survivorship, are collections of letters, etc., since I was sixteen years old, contained in the trunks in the care of Mr. Hobhouse. This collection is at least doubled by those I have now here ; all received since my last Ostracism. To these I should wish the Editor to have access, not for the purpose of abusing confidences , nor of hurting the feelings of I. The Blues : a Literary Eclogue was published in the Liberal , No. iii. pp. 1-21. VOL. V. 2 B 370 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. correspondents living, or the memories of the dead ; but there are things which would do neither, that I have left unnoticed or unexplained, and which (like all such things) Time only can permit to be noticed or explained, though some are to my credit. The task will, of course, require delicacy ; but that will not be wanting, if Moore and Hobhouse survive me, and, I may add, yourself; and that you may all three do so, is, I assure you, my very sincere wish. I am not sure that long life is desirable for one of my temper and constitutional depression of Spirits, which of course I suppress in society ; but which breaks out when alone, and in my writings, in spite of myself. It has been deepened, perhaps, by some long past events (I do not allude to my marriage, etc. — on the contrary, that raised them by the persecution giving a fillip to my Spirits) ; but I call it constitutional, as I have reason to think it. You know, or you do not know, that my maternal Grandfather 1 (a very clever man, and amiable, I am told) was strongly suspected of Suicide (he was found drowned in the Avon at Bath), and that another very near relative of the same branch took poison, and was merely saved by antidotes. For the first of these events there was no apparent cause, as he was rich, respected, and of considerable intellectual resources, hardly forty years of age, and not at all ad- dicted to any unhinging vice. It was, however, but a strong suspicion, owing to the manner of his death and to his melancholy temper. The second had a cause, but it does not become me to touch upon it ; it happened when I was far too young to be aware of it, and I never heard of it till after the death of that relative, many years i, Byron’s great-grandfather, Alexander Davidson Gordon, was drowned in the Ythan in 1760, and his grandfather, George Gordon, in the canal at Bath in 1779. In both cases there was suspicion of suicide. 1 32 1.] A VERY ODD FANCY. 371 afterwards. I think, then, that I may call this dejection constitutional . I had always been told that in temper I more resembled my maternal Grandfather than any of my father's family — that is, in the gloomier part of his temper, for he was what you call a good natured man, and I am not. The Journal here I sent by Mawman to Moore the other day ; but as it is a mere diary, only parts of it would ever do for publication. The other Journal, of the tour in 1816, I should think Augusta might let you have a copy of ; but her nerves have been in such a state since 1815, that there is no knowing. Lady Byron’s people, and JJ Caroline Lamb’s people, and a parcel of that set, got about her and frightened her with all sorts of hints and menaces, so that she has never since been able to write to me a clear common letter , and is so full of mysteries and miseries, that I can only sympathize, without always understanding her. All my loves, too, make a point of calling upon her, which puts her into a flutter (no diffi- cult matter) ; and, the year before last I think, Lady F. W. W. marched in upon her, and Lady O., a few years ago, spoke to her at a party ; and these and such like calamities have made her afraid of her shadow. It is a very odd fancy that they all take to her : it was only six months ago, that I had some difficulty in preventing the Countess G. from invading her with an Italian letter. I should like to have seen Augusta’s face, with an Etruscan Epistle, and all its Meridional style of issimas , and other superlatives, before her. I am much mortified that Gifford don’t take to my new dramas : to be sure, they are as opposite to the English drama as one thing can be to another; but I have a notion that, if understood, they will in time find favour (though not on the stage) with the reader. The Simplicity 372 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. of plot is intentional, and the avoidance of rant also, as also the compression of the Speeches in the more severe situations. What I seek to show in The Foscaris is the suppressed passion, rather than the rant of the present day. For that matter — i( Nay, if thou’lt mouth, I’ll rant as well as thou ” — would not be difficult, as I think I have shown in my younger productions — 7iot dramatic ones, to be sure. But, as I said before, I am mortified that Gifford don't like them ; but I see no remedy, our notions on the subject being so different. How is he? well, I hope: let me know. I regret his demur the more that he has been always my grand patron, and I know no praise which would compensate me in my own mind for his censure. I do not mind reviews , as I can work them at their own weapons. Yours ever and truly, B. P.S. — By the way, on our next settlement (which will take place with Mr. Kinnaird), you will please to deduct the various sums for books , packages received and sent, the bust, tooth-powder, etc., etc., expended by you on my account. Hobhouse, in his preface to “ Rimini ,” will probably be better able to explain my dramatic system, than I could do, as he is well acquainted with the whole thing. It is more upon the Alfieri School than the English. I hope that we shall not have Mr. Rogers here : there is a mean minuteness in his mind and tittle-tattle that I dislike, ever since I found him out (which was but slowly) ; besides he is not a good man : why don’t he go to bed ? What does he do travelling ? 1 821.] SIX conditions. 373 The Journal of 1814 I dare say Moore will give, or a copy. Has Cain (the dramatic third attempt), arrived yet ? Let me know. Address to me at Pisa, whither I am going. The reason is, that all my Italian friends here have been exiled, and are met there for the present ; and I go to join them, as agreed upon, for the Winter. 938. — To John Murray. Ravenna, September 24^ 1821. Dear Murray, — I have been thinking over our late correspondence, and wish to propose to you the following articles for our future : — i st ! y That you shall write to me of yourself, of the health, wealth, and welfare of all friends ; but of me {quoad me) little or nothing. 2 d ! y That you shall send me Soda powders, tooth- powder, tooth-brushes, or any such anti-odontalgic or chemical articles, as heretofore, ad libitum , upon being re-imbursed for the same. 3 d ! y That you shall not send me any modern, or (as they are called) new, publications in English whatsoever , save and excepting any writing, prose or verse, of (or reasonably presumed to be of) Walter Scott, Crabbe, Moore, Campbell, Rogers, Gifford, Joanna Baillie, Irving (the American), Hogg, Wilson {Isle of Palms Man), or any especial single work of fancy which is thought to be of considerable merit ; Voyages and travels , provided that they are neither i?i Greece , Spam, Asia Mmor , Albania, nor Italy, will be welcome : having travelled the countries mentioned, I know that what is said of them can convey nothing further which I desire to know about them. No other English works whatsoever. 374 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 4 t} l Iy That you send me no periodical works whatsoever — no Edinburgh^ Quarterly , Monthly , nor any Review, Maga- zine, Newspaper, English or foreign, of any description. 5 th J y That you send me no opinions whatsoever, either good) bad , or indifferent , of yourself, or your friends, or others, concerning any work, or works, of mine, past, present, or to come. 6 th jy That all negotiations in matters of business be- tween you and me pass through the medium of the Hon b . le Douglas Kinnaird, my friend and trustee, or Mr. Hobhouse, as Alter Ego , and tantamount to myself during my absence, or presence. Some of these propositions may at first seem strange, but they are founded. The quantity of trash I have received as books is incalculable, and neither amused nor instructed. Reviews and Magazines are at the best but ephemeral and superficial reading : who thinks of the grand article of last year in any given review ? in the next place, if they regard 7nyself \ they tend to increase Egotism ; if favourable, I do not deny that the praise elates , and if unfavourable, that the abuse irritates — the latter may conduct me to inflict a species of Satire, which would neither do good to you nor to your friends : they may smile now, and so may you ; but if I took you all in hand, it would not be difficult to cut you up like gourds. I did as much by as powerful people at nineteen years old, and I know little as yet, in three and thirty, which should prevent me from making all your ribs Gridirons for your hearts, if such were my propensity. But it is 7iot . Therefore let me hear none of your provocations. If any thing occurs so very gross as to require my notice, I shall hear of it from my personal friends. For the rest, I merely request to be left in ignorance. The same applies to opinions, good , bad , or indifferent , 375 1821.] praise or censure by reviewers. of persons in conversation or correspondence : these do not interrupt , but they soil the current of my Mind . I am sensitive enough, but not till I am touched ; and here I am beyond the touch of the short arms of literary England, except the few feelers of the Polypus that crawl over the Channel in the way of Extract. All these precautions in England would be useless : the libeller or the flatterer would there reach me in spite of all ; but in Italy we know little of literary England, and think less, except what reaches us through some garbled and brief extract in some miserable Gazette. For two years (excepting two or three articles cut out and sent to you, by the post) I never read a newspaper which was not forced upon me by some accident, and know, upon the whole, as little of England as you all do of Italy, and God knows that is little enough, with all your travels, etc., etc., etc. The English travellers blow Italy as you know Guernsey : how much is that ? If any thing occurs so violently gross or personal as to require notice, Mr. D s . Kinnaird will let me know ; but of praise I desire to hear nothing. You will say, “ to what tends all this ? ” I will answer that ; — to keep my mind free and unbiassed by all paltry and personal irritabilities of praise or censure; — to let my Genius take its natural direction, while my feelings are like the dead, who know nothing and feel nothing of all or aught that is said or done in their regard. If you can observe these conditions, you will spare yourself and others some pain : let me not be worked upon to rise up ; for if I do, it will not be for a little : if you can not observe these conditions, we shall cease to be correspondents, but not friends ; for I shall always be Yours ever and truly, Byron. 37 6 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. P.S. — I have taken these resolutions not from any irritation against you ox yours, but simply upon reflection that all reading, either praise or censure, of myself has done me harm. When I was in Switzerland and Greece, I was out of the way of hearing either, and how I wrote there! In Italy I am out of the way of it too; but latterly, partly through my fault, and partly through your kindness in wishing to send me the newest and most periodical publications, I have had a crowd of reviews, etc., thrust upon me, which have bored me with their jargon, of one kind or another, and taken off my attention from greater objects. You have also sent me a parcel of trash of poetry, for no reason that I can conceive, unless to provoke me to write a new English Bards . Now this I wish to avoid ; for if ever I do, it will be a strong production ; and I desire peace, as long as the fools will keep their nonsense out of my way. 939. — To John Murray. Sept r . 27^ 1821. Dear Murray, — Give the enclosed to Moore when he comes over, as he is about to do. It contains some- thing for you to look at, but not for publication. Address to Pisa . I thought Ricciardetto was Rose's , but pray thank Lord Glenbervie 1 therefor. He is an old and kind friend of 1. Lord Glenbervie’s translation, The First Canto of Ricciardetto, tra?islated from the Italian of Forteguerri , etc,, was privately printed in 1821. It was published with the translator’s name in 1822. By his wife, the Hon. Catherine Anne North, daughter of Lord North, the Prime Minister, he had one son, the Hon. Frederick Sylvester N orth Douglas (born 1791, died 1819). F rederick Douglas is called by Byron “ the modern Greek,” because of his Essay o?i Certam Points of Resemblance between the Ancient and Modern Greeks (1813). 1821.] the high roman fashion. 377 mine, if it be the old man you mean. Is the young one dead or alive? I mean the “modern Greek” — Frederick S. Douglas? Moore and you can settle between you about the “ Memoranda : ” I can only do what I can to accommo- date arrangements, as fixed between you, which I shall do readily and cheerfully. Yours in haste, B. P.S. — Is Cain arrived? He was sent on the n* in three packets. Did you get a new Italian account of M. Faliero’s Conspiracy for a note, sent two months ago by the post ? and printed for the first time ? 940. — To Thomas Moore. September 27, 1821. It was not Murray’s fault. I did not send the MS. overture , but I send it now, 1 and it may be restored; — or, at any rate, you may keep the original, and give any copies you please. I send it, as written, and as I read it to you — I have no other copy. By last week’s two posts, in two packets, I sent to your address, at fans, a longish poem upon the late Irishism of your countrymen in their reception of the King. Pray, have you received it ? It is in “ the high “ Roman fashion,” and full of ferocious phantasy. As you could not well take up the matter with Paddy (being of the same nest), I have ; — but I hope still that I have done justice to his great men and his good heart. As 1. “The lines 1 Oh Wellington,’ which I had missed in their “ original place at the opening of the Third Canto, and took for “ granted that they had been suppressed by his publisher” (Moore). 378 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. for Castlereagh you will find it laid on with a trowel. I delight in your “ fact historical ” 1 — is it a fact ? Yours, etc. P.S. — You have not answered me about Schlegel — why not ? Address to me at Pisa, whither I am going, to join the exiles — a pretty numerous body at present. Let me hear how you are, and what you mean to do. Is there no chance of your recrossing the Alps ? If the G. Rex marries again, let him not want an Epithalamium — suppose a joint concern of you and me, like Sternhold and Hopkins ! 941.— To John Murray. Sept' 28^ 1821. Dear Moray, — I add another cover to request you to ask Moore to obtain (if possible) my letters to the late Lady Melbourne from Lady Cowper. They are very numerous, and ought to have been restored long ago, as I was ready to give back Lady M/s in exchange : these latter are in Mr. Hobhouse’s custody with my other papers, and shall be punctually restored if required. I did not choose before to apply to Lady Cowper, as her mother’s death naturally kept me from intruding upon her feelings at the time of its occurrence. Some years have now elapsed, and it is essential that I should have my own epistles. They are essential as confirming that part of the “ Memoranda ” which refer to the two periods (1812 and 1814) when my marriage with her niece was I. Perhaps the “ fact historical ” is a story told by Moore, in his Diary for August 23, 1821 ( Memoirs , vol. iii. p. 270). Sir E. Nagle announced the death of Napoleon to George IV. by “ saying, ‘ 1 have “ the pleasure to tell your Majesty that your bitterest enemy is dead.* “‘No! is she, by God ? 1 said the King. Put this into verse “afterwards.” A HINT OR TWO. 379 1821.] in contemplation, and will tend to show what my real views and feelings were upon that subject, which have been so variously represented. You need not let this motive be stated to 1/ C r , as it in no degree concerns her particularly ; but if they refuse to give them up (or keep back any — recollect that they are in great quantity ), it would become the duty of the Editor and my Executors to refer to parts of Lady Melbourne’s letters — so that the thing is as broad as it is long. They involve also many other topics, which may or may not be referred to, according to the discretion of Moore, etc., when the time comes. You need not be alarmed : the “ fourteen years” 1 will hardly elapse without some mortality amongst us ; it is a long lease of life to speculate upon. So your Cent per Cent Shylock Calculation will not be in so much peril, as the “ Argosie ” will sink before that time, and “ the pound “ of flesh ” be withered previously to your being so long out of a return. I also wish to give you a hint or two (as you have really behaved very handsomely to M. in the business, and are a fine fellow in your line) for your advantage. If by your own management you can extract any of my epistles from U Caroline Lamb (mind she don’t give you forgeries in my hand : she has done as much you know before now) they might be of use in your collection (sinking of course the names and all such ciraimstances as might hurt living feelings, or those of survivors) ; they treat of more topics than love occasionally. As to those to other correspondents (female, etc.), there are plenty scattered about in the world ; but how to direct you to recover them, I know not : most of them have kept them — I hear at least that U O., and F. W. 1. See p. 271, note 2. 380 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. have kept theirs ; but these letters are of course inac- cessible (and perhaps not desirable), as well as those of some others. I will tell you who may happen to have some letters of mine in their possession : Lord Powerscourt, some to his late brother; Mr. Long of — (I forget his place) — but the father of Edward Long of the Guards, who was drowned in going to Lisbon early in 1809 ; Miss Elizabeth Pigot, of Southwell, Notts (she may be Mistress by this time, for she had more years than I) : they were not love- letters, so that you might have them without scruple. There are, or might be, some to the late Rev? J. C. Tattersall, in the hands of his brother (half-brother) Mr. Wheatley, who resides near Canterbury, I think. There are some to Charles Gordon, now of Dulwich ; and some few to Mrs. Chaworth; but these latter are probably destroyed or inaccessible. All my letters to Lady B., before and since her mar- riage, are in her possession, as well as her own which I sent to her : she had not the courtesy to restore me mine ; but never mind ; though they were too much to my credit for her to give them back, we can do without them. I mention these people and particulars merely as chances: most of them have probably destroyed the letters, which in fact were of little import, most of them written when very young, and several at School and College. Peel (the second brother of the Secretary) was a cor- respondent of mine, and also Porter, the son of the Bishop of Clogher ; Lord Clare a very voluminous one ; William Harness (a friend of Jew Milman’s) another; Charles Drummond (son of the Banker) ; William Bankes (the Voyager) ; your friend R. C. Dallas, Esq r ?. Hodgson, Henry Drury, Hobhouse, you were already aware of. 1 82 1.] A LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS. 38 1 I have gone through this long list 1 of “ The cold, the faithless, and the dead,” 2 because I know that, like “ the curious in fish sauce,” you are a researcher of such things. Besides these, there are other occasional ones to literary men and so forth, complimentary, etc., etc., etc., not worth much more than the rest. There are some hundreds, too, of Italian notes of mine, scribbled with a noble contempt of the grammar and dictionary, and in very English Etruscan ; for I speak Italian very fluently, but write it carelessly and incorrectly to a degree. 942. — To Thomas Moore. September 29, 1821. I send you two rough things, prose and verse, not much in themselves, but which will show, one of them, 1. “ To all the persons upon this list who were accessible, applica- “ tion has, of course, been made, — with what success it is in the “ reader’s power to judge from the communications that have been “ laid before him. Among the companions of the poet’s boyhood “there are (as I have already had occasion to mention and regret) “ but few traces of his youthful correspondence to be found ; and of “ all those who knew him at that period, his fair Southwell corre- spondent alone seems to have been sufficiently endowed with the * ‘ gift of second-sight to anticipate the Byron of a future day, and “ foresee the compound interest that Time and Fame would accumu- “ late on every precious scrap of the young bard which she hoarded. “ On the whole, however, it is not unsatisfactory to be able to state “ that, with the exception of a very small minority (only one of “ whom is possessed of any papers of much importance), every dis- “ tinguished associate and intimate of the noble poet, from the very “outset to the close of his extraordinary career, has come forward “ cordially to communicate whatever memorials they possessed of “him, — trusting, as I am willing to flatter myself, that he confided “ these treasures to one, who, if not able to do full justice to the “ memory of their common friend, would, at least, not willingly “ suffer it to be dishonoured in his hands ” (Moore). 2. “ They come, in dim procession led, The cold, the faithless, and the dead.” The Lady of the Lake , Canto I. stanza xxxiii. 382 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. the state of the country, and the other, of your friend's mind, when they were written. Neither of them were sent to the person concerned, but you will see, by the style of them, that they were sincere, as I am in signing myself Yours ever and truly, B. Of the two enclosures, one was a letter intended to be sent to Lady Byron, from which Moore ( Life , p. 534) made the following extracts : — 943. — To Lady Byron. Ravenna, Marza imo, 1821. I have received your message, through my sister's letter, about English security, etc., etc. It is considerate, (and true, even,) that such is to be found — but not that I shall find it. Mr. * *, for his own views and purposes, will thwart all such attempts till he has accomplished his own, viz. to make me lend my fortune to some client of his choosing. At this distance — after this absence, and with my utter ignorance of affairs and business — with my temper and impatience, I have neither the means nor the mind to resist * * * * Thinking of the funds as I do, and wishing to secure a reversion to my sister and her children, I should jump at most expedients. What I told you is come to pass — the Neapolitan war is declared. Your funds will fall, and I shall be in con- sequence ruined. That's nothing — but my blood relations will be so. You and your child are provided for. Live and prosper — I wish so much to both. Live and prosper — you have the means. I think but of my real kin and kindred, who may be the victims of this accursed bubble. A CHARITY BALL. 383 1821.] You neither know nor dream of the consequences of this war. It is a war of men with monarchs, and will spread like a spark on the dry, rank grass of the vegetable desert. What it is with you and your English, you do not know, for ye sleep. What it is with us here, I know, for it is before, and around, and within us. Judge of my detestation of England and of all that it inherits, when I avoid returning to your country at a time when not only my pecuniary interests, but, it may be, even my personal security, require it. I can say no more, for all letters are opened. A short time will decide upon what is to be done here, and then you will learn it with- out being more troubled with me or my correspondence. Whatever happens, an individual is little, so the cause is forwarded. I have no more to say to you on the score of affairs, or on any other subject. The second enclosure consisted of some verses, written by Byron, December 10, 1820, on seeing the following paragraph in a news- paper : — “ Lady Byron is this year the Lady Patroness of the Annual “ Charity Ball given in the Town Hall at Hinckley, in Leicestershire, “and Sir George Crewe, Bart., the principal Steward.” The para- graph will be found in the Morning Chronicle for Tuesday, Novem- ber 21, 1820. From these verses, Moore prints the following : — What matter the pangs of a husband and father, If his sorrows in exile be great or be small, So the Pharisee’s glories around her she gather, And the saint patronises her “ Charity Ball.” What matters — a heart, which though faulty was feeling, Be driven to excesses which once could appal — That the sinner should suffer is only fair dealing, As the saint keeps her charity back for “ the Ball,” etc., etc. 384 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. 944. — To Thomas Moore. September — no — October 1, 1821. I have written to you lately, both in prose and verse, at great length, to Paris and London. I presume that Mrs. Moore, or whoever is your Paris deputy, will forward my packets to you in London. I am setting off for Pisa, if a slight incipient inter- mittent fever do not prevent me. I fear it is not strong enough to give Murray much chance of realising his thirteens again. I hardly should regret it, I think, pro- vided you raised your price upon him — as what Lady Holderness 1 (my sister’s grandmother, a Dutchwoman) used to call Augusta, her Residee Legatoo — so as to pro- vide for us all : my bones with a splendid and larmoy- ante edition, and you with double what is extractable during my lifetime. I have a strong presentiment that (bating some out of the way accident) you will survive me. The difference of eight years, or whatever it is, between our ages, is nothing. I do not feel (nor am, indeed, anxious to feel) the principle of life in me tend to longevity. My father and mother died, the one at thirty-five or six, and the other at forty-five ; and Dr. Rush, or somebody else, says that nobody lives long, without having one parent , at least, an old stager. I should , to be sure, like to see out my eternal mother- in-law, not so much for her heritage, but from my natural antipathy. But the indulgence of this natural desire is too much to expect from the Providence who presides over old women. I bore you with all this about lives, because it has been put in my way by a calculation of 1. See Letters , vol. i. p. 18, note 1. Mary, daughter of Francis Doublet, Member of the States of Holland, married in 1743 Robert D’Arcy, fourth and last Earl of Holderness. 1 82 1 .] THE VISION OF JUDGMENT. 385 insurances which Murray has sent me. I really think you should have more, if I evaporate within a reasonable time. I wonder if my Cain has got safe to England. I have written since about sixty stanzas of a poem, in octave stanzas, (in the Pulci style, which the fools in England think was invented by Whistlecraft — it is as old as the hills in Italy,) called The Vision of Judgment } by Quevedo Redivivus, with this motto — “ A Daniel come to judgment , yea, a Daniel : I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.” In this it is my intent to put the said George's Apo- theosis in a Whig point of view, not forgetting the Poet Laureate for his preface and his other demerits. I am just got to the pass where Saint Peter, hearing that the royal defunct had opposed Catholic Emancipa- tion, rises up, and, interrupting Satan's oration, declares he will change places with Cerberus sooner than let him into heaven, while he has the keys thereof. I must go and ride, though rather feverish and chilly. It is the ague season ; but the agues do me rather good than harm. The feel after the fit is as if one had got rid of one's body for good and all. The gods go with you ! — Address to Pisa. Ever yours. I. The Vision of Judgment was published as Article I. in the first number of The Liberal: Verse and Prose from the South (London, 1822). Goethe (Crabb Robinson’s Diajy^ vol. ii. p. 437) delighted in the poem, and characterized the verses on George IV. as the “ sublime of hatred.” Francisco Gomez de Quevedo Villegas (1580- 1645), the Spanish satirist, “the scourge of silly poets,” published his five Suehos (Visions) in 1627. The first, El Sueho de las Cavalier as (the Vision of the Skulls), is a picture of the Last Judgment and a satire on human vice. Quevedo’s Visions were translated by, among others, Sir R. L’ Estrange in 1667 ; but the version printed in the Edinburgh edition (3 vols., 1798) of Quevedo’s Select Works is that of an anonymous translator. VOL. V. 2 C 386 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXIX. P.S. — Since I came back, I feel better, though I stayed out too late for this malaria season, under the thin crescent of a very young moon, and got off my horse to walk in an avenue with a Signora for an hour. I thought of you and “ When at eve thou rovest By the star thou lovest.” 1 But it was not in a romantic mood, as I should have been once ; and yet it was a new woman, (that is, new to me,) and, of course, expected to be made love to. But I merely made a few common-place speeches. I feel, as your poor friend Curran said, before his death, “ a moun- “ tain of lead upon my heart,” 2 which I believe to be constitutional, and that nothing will remove it but the same remedy. 945. — To John Murray. Oct r . 4 1 ! 1 1821. Dear Murray, — I send you in 8 sheets, and 106 stanzas (octave), a poem entitled a Vision of Judgement, etc., by Quevedo Redivivus, of which you will address the proof to me at Pisa , and an answer by return of post. Pray, let the Printer be as careful as he can to decypher it, which may be not so easy. It may happen that you will be afraid to publish it : in that case, find me a publisher, assuring him that, if he 1. These lines begin the second stanza of “Go where glory waits “ thee” (Moore’s Irish Melodies , No. I.). 2. Curran died October 14, 1817. “ His spirits were now in a state “of the most distressing depression. He complained of having ‘a * ‘ mountain of lead upon his heart.’ This despondency he increased “ by dwelling perpetually upon the condition of Ireland, which his “ imagination was for ever representing to him as doomed to endless “ divisions and degradation” {Life of the Right Hon . f P. Curran, ed. 1819, vol. ii. p. 381). GROWING DEPRESSION. 387 1821.] gets into a scrape, I will give up my name or person. I do not approve of your mode of not putting publisher’s names on title pages (which was unheard of, till you gave yourself that air ) : an author’s case is different, and from time immemorial have (sic) published anonymously. I wait to hear the arrival of various packets. Yours, B. Address to Pisa. 946. — To Thomas Moore. October 6, 1821. By this post I have sent my nightmare to balance the incubus of Southey’s impudent anticipation of the Apo- theosis of George the Third . 1 I should like you to take a look over it, as I think there are two or three things in it which might please “ our puir hill folk.” By the last two or three posts I have written to you at length. My ague bows to me every two or three days, but we are not as yet upon intimate speaking terms. I have an intermittent generally every two years, when the climate is favourable (as it is here), but it does me no harm. What I find worse, and cannot get rid of, is the growing depression of my spirits, without sufficient cause. I ride — I am not intemperate in eating or drinking — and my general health is as usual, except a slight ague, which rather does good than not. It must be constitutional ; for I know nothing more than usual to depress me to that degree. How do you manage ? I think you told me, at Venice, that your spirits did not keep up without a little claret. 1. Southey’s Vision of Judgment appeared in 1821. 388 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. I can drink, and bear a good deal of wine (as you may recollect in England) ; but it don’t exhilarate — it makes me savage and suspicious, and even quarrelsome. Lau- danum has a similar effect ; but I can take much of it without any effect at all. The thing that gives me the highest spirits (it seems absurd, but true) is a dose of salts — I mean in the afternoon, after their effect. But one can’t take them like champagne. Excuse this old woman’s letter; but my lemancholy don’t depend upon health, for it is just the same, well or ill, or here or there. Yours, etc. 947. — To John Murray. R a . Oct r . e 9 l . h 1821. Dear Moray, — You will please to present or convey the enclosed poem 1 to Mr. Moore : I sent him another copy to Paris, but he has probably left that city. It is doubtful whether the poem was written by Felicia Hemans for the prize of the Dartmoor Academy, or by the Rev d . W. L. Bowles with a view to a bishopric : your own great discernment will decide between them. By last post I sent the Vision of Judgement by Quevedo Redivivus. I just piddle a little with these trifles to keep my hand in for the new English Bards , etc., which I per- ceive some of your people are in want of, and which I only wait for a short visit to your country, to put me more in possession of the nonsense of some of your newer ragamufflns, to commence. I have not sought it ; but if I do begin, it shall go hard, as Shylock says, “ but “ I better the Instruction.” Yours ever, B. 1. 4 * The Irish Avatar/ 1821.] SHELLEY ON DON JUAN. 389 Address to Pisa , 1 and acknowledge all packets by name — else it makes confusion. I. Byron, however, lingered at Ravenna a fortnight longer. All was ready for him at Pisa, and, as the following letter (from Shelley shows, the Countess Guiccioli was beginning to despair of his ever leaving Ravenna : — “ Pisa, Oct r . 21, 1821. “My dear Lord Byron, — I should have written to you long “ since but that I have been led to expect you almost daily in Pisa, “ and that I imagined you would cross my letter on your road. “Many thanks for Don Juan. It is a poem totally of its own “ species, and my wonder and delight at the grace of the composition “ no less than the free and grand vigour of the conception of it per- “ petually increase. The few passages which any one might desire “ to be cancelled in the I s } and 2 nd Cants, are here reduced almost “ to nothing. This poem carries with it at once the stamp of “ originality and a defiance of imitation. Nothing has ever been “ written like it in English, nor, if I may venture to prophesy, will “ there be, without carrying upon it the mark of a secondary and “ borrowed light. You unveil and present in its true deformity what “ is worst in human nature, and this is what the witlings of the age “ murmur at, conscious of their want of power to endure the scrutiny “ of such a light. We are damned to the knowledge of good and “evil, and it is well for us to know what we should avoid no less 4 4 than what we should seek. “ The character of Lambro, his return, the merriment of his “ daughter’s guests, made, as it were, in celebration of his funeral, the “ meeting with the lovers, and the death of Haidee, are circumstances “ combined and developed in a manner that I seek elsewhere in vain. “ The fifth Canto, which some of your pet Zoili in Albemarle S*. “ said was dull , gathers instead of loses, splendour and energy : the “ language in which the whole is clothed — a sort of cameleon under “the changing sky of the spirit that kindles it — is such as these 4 4 lisping days could not have expected, and are, believe me, in spite “ of the approbation which you wrest from them, little pleased to “ hear. “ One can hardly judge from recitation, and it was not until I read “ it in print that I have been able to do it justice. This sort of “ writing only on a great plan, and perhaps in a more compact form, 4 4 is what I wished you to do when I made my vows for an epic. 44 But I am content. You are building up a drama, such as 44 England has not yet seen, and the task is sufficiently noble and 44 worthy of you. 44 When may we expect you ? The Countess G. is very patient, 44 though sometimes she seems apprehensive that you will never leave 44 Ravenna. 44 1 have suffered from my habitual disorder and from a tertian 44 fever since I returned, and my ill health has prevented me from 44 shewing her the attentions I could have desired in Pisa. 390 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. P.S. — If there is anything new of Israeli's , send it me. I like Israeli : i st . Iy he “ having done the handsome “ thing by me,” as Winifred Jenkins says, when you showed him (you shabby fellow !) my marginal notes in Athens upon his Essay — instead of being angry like a spoilt child of ink and paper; and 2 nc ! ly , because he is the Bayle of literary speculation, and puts together more amusing information than anybody; and 3 d ! y , he likes Pope. Don't forget to send me my first act of Werner (if Hobhouse can find it amongst my papers) — send it by the post (to Pisa) ; and also cut out Sophia Lee's “ Ger- “ man’s tale,” 1 from the Canterbury Tales , and send it in a letter also. 44 I have heard from Hunt, who tells me that he is coming out in 44 November, by sea I believe. 44 Your house is ready and all the furniture arranged. Lega, they 64 say, is to have set off yesterday. 44 The Countess tells me that you think of leaving Allegra for the 44 present at the convent. Do as you think best ; but I can pledge 44 myself to find a situation for her here such as you would approve, 44 in case you change your mind. 44 1 hear no political news but such as announces the slow victory 44 of the spirit of the past over that of the present. The other day, 44 a number of Heteristi, escaped from the defeat in Wallachia, past 44 through Pisa, to embark at Leghorn and join Ipsilanti in Livadia. 44 It is highly to the credit of the actual government of Tuscany, that 44 it allowed these poor fugitives 3 livres a day each, and free quarters 44 during their passage through these states. 44 Mrs. S. desires her best regards. 44 My dear Lord Byron, yours most faithfully, 46 P. B. Shelley.” I. 44 Kruitzner, or the German’s Tale,” by Harriet Lee, was published in vol. iv. of the second edition of the Canterbury Tales (1801) of Harriet and Sophia Lee. The parallel passages between the Tale and Werner are given in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine (vol. xii. pp. 713— 7 J 9)- The first act of Werner , which Byron wrote in 1815, and which could not be found in 1821, will be published in vol. v. of Byron’s Works {Poems) from the MS. in Mr. Murray’s possession. The play, as published in 1823, was printed from a MS. in Mrs. Shelley’s handwriting. The Hon. F. Leveson Gower {Nineteenth Century , August, 1899) 1821.] A GREAT READER OF THE BIBLE. 391 I began that tragedy in 1815, but Lady Byron’s farce put it out of my head for the time of her representation. By the way, you have a good deal of my prose tracts in MSS. Let me have proofs of them all again — I mean the controversial ones, including the last two or three years of time. Another question. The Epistle of St. Paul, which I translated from the Armenian — for what reason have you kept it back, though you published that stuff which gave rise to The Vampire ? Is it because you are afraid to print any thing in opposition to the Cant of the Quarterly about “ Manicheism ” ? Let me have a proof of that Epistle directly. I am a better Christian than those parsons of yours, though not paid for being so. Send — Faber’s Treatise on the “ Cabiri.” Sainte-Croix’s “ Mystbres du Paganisme ” (scarce, perhaps, but to be found, as Mitford refers to his work frequently). A common Bible, of a good legible print (bound in Russia). I have one ; but as it was the last gift of my Sister (whom I shall probably never see again), I can only use it carefully, and less frequently, because I like to keep it in good order. Don’t forget this, for I am a great reader and admirer of those books, and had read them through and through before I was eight years old, — that is to say, the Old Testament, for the New struck me as a task, but the other as a pleasure. I speak as a hoy, from the recollected impression of that period at Aberdeen in 1796. Any novels of Scott, or poetry of the same. Ditto of maintains that the play, which Murray published in 1823 as Byron’s, was really written by his grandmother, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and given by her to Lady Caroline Lamb, and by Lady Caroline to Byron. (See also Liter attire^ August 12, 19, 26, 1899.) The subject will be fully discussed in vol. v. of Byron’s Poems . 392 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Crabbe, Moore, and the Elect ; but none of your damned commonplace trash, — unless something starts up of actual merit, which may very well be, for 'tis time it should. “ Plutarch's Morals, etc.," in the 0/^ English translation. “ Gillies' Greece," and interval between Alexander and Augustus (I have Mitford), in Octavo, if possible — I can't read quartos. “ Life of Apollonius of Tyana," published (or trans- lated) 8 or nine (9) years ago. “ Leslie's Short and Easy Method with the Deists." I want a Bayle, but am afraid of the carriage and the weight, as also of folios in general. “ Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy." 1 948. — To John Murray. Oct r . 20^ 1821. Dear Moray, — If the errors are in the MSS., write me down an Ass : they are not , and I am content to undergo any penalty if they be. Besides, the omitted Stanza (last but one or two), sent afterwards , was that in the MSS. too? Have you received a printed sheet or two from an old MSS., as a note to The Doge? sent two months ago? I am anxious about that. As to “ honour ," I will trust no man's honour in affairs of barter. I will tell you why. A state of bargain is Hobbes's “ state of Nature — a state of war." 2 It is so with all men. If I come to a friend, and say, “ friend, 1. In a letter, dated November 14, Murray writes, “ I have now “ sent you all the books you wrote for, and amongst them your own ‘ ‘ copy of Burton, which I got at your sale. The bible I have sent ‘ ‘ you is one with a selection of the best commentaries.” 2. “Negari non potest, quin status hominum naturalis, antequam “ in societatem coiretur, bellum fuerit ” (Hobbes, De Cive , Libertas , cap. i. § 12). 1 82 I.] THE ETHICS OF BARGAINING. 393 “ lend me five hundred pounds ! ” — he either does it, or says that he can’t or won’t ; but if I come to Ditto, and say, “ Ditto, I have an excellent house, or horse, or carriage, “or MSS., or books, or pictures, or, etc., etc., etc., etc., “ etc., honestly worth a thousand pounds, you shall have “ them for five hundred,” what does Ditto say ? Why, he looks at them, he htims, he h<£ s, — he humbugs , if he can, to get a bargain as cheaply as he can, because it is a bargain : this is in the blood and bone of mankind ; and the same man who would lend another a thousand pounds without interest, would not buy a horse of him for half its value if he could help it. It is so : there’s no denying it ; and therefore I will have as much as I can, and you will give as little. And there’s an end. All men are intrinsical rascals, and I am only sorry that, not being a dog, I can’t bite them. So, Thomas M[oore] is in town incog . : love to him % I except him from my regretted morsures, for I have always found him the pink of honour and honesty : besides I liked his country till its late performance. By the way, did Mawman or Mawman’s friend deliver to him the two MSS. Books consigned for him? This is your concern, so anatomize Mawman about it. They belong to your posthumous adventure, that is to say, to mine. I am filling another 1 for you with little anecdotes, to my own knowledge, or well authenticated, of Sheridan, Curran, etc., and such other public men as I recollect to have been acquainted with, for I knew most of them more or less. I will do what I can to prevent your losing by my obsequies. Acknowledge packets. Yours, B. i. The contents of this book are printed in Chap. XXIII. 394 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. P.S. — Address to Pisa. P.S. — Acknowledge Vision of Judgement by Quevedo Redivivus, sent on the 9th; also “The Irish Avatar” (for Mr. Moore), put in the letter-bag afterwards, a day or two. 949. — To Samuel Rogers. 1 Ravenna, Oct. 2i s , t 1821. Dear Rogers, — I shall be (the Gods willing) in Bologna on Saturday next. This is a curious answer to your letter; but I have taken a house in Pisa for the I. Rogers, who left England in August, 1821, reached Venice in October. Thence he wrote to Byron, proposing to visit him at Ravenna (Clayden’s Rogers and his Contemporaries , vol. i. p. 319). They met at Bologna. On the road to Bologna from Ravenna Byron met Lord Clare. See Detached Thoughts , p. 455 (91) and p. 462 ( 1 13). “At Bologna,” writes Rogers from Florence to his sister, November 11, 1821 {ibid. , pp. 320, 323), “I waited a day “for Lord Byron, and crossed the Apennines with him. Our party “ consisted of a dog, a cat, a hawk, an old gondolier from Venice, “and other sundries. His Foscari is already printed, and will, I “fear, get the start of us. . . . Lord Byron is gone to live at Pisa. “ He spent only one day here. I wish you had seen him set off, “ every window of the inn was open to see him. ... I received a “visit from our old friend the poet, with his book. Lord Byron “ amused himself with writing a sonnet for him, in which he makes “ him describe himself as a bore ; whether he will shew it about I “don’t know.” The meeting is described by Rogers in his Italy (Bologna) — “ Much had pass’d Since last we parted ; and those five short years — Much had they told ! His clustering locks were turn’d Gray ; nor did aught recall the Youth that swam From Sestos to Abydos. Yet his voice, Still it was sweet ; still from his eye the thought Flashed lightning-like, nor lingered on the way, Waiting for words. Far, far into the night We sat, conversing — no unwelcome hour, The hour we met ; and, when Aurora rose, Rising, we climb’d the rugged Apennine.” For Byron’s journey across the Apennines and visit to Florence with Rogers, see Detached Thoughts , p. 464 (114, 115). l82I .] AN INVITATION TO ROGERS. 395 winter, to which all my chattels — furniture, horses, car- riages, and live stock — are already removed, and I am preparing to follow. The cause of this removal is, shortly, the exile or pro- scription of all my friends’ relations and connections here into Tuscany, on account of our late politics ; and where they go, I accompany them. I merely remained till now to settle some arrangements about my daughter, and to give time for my furniture, etc., to precede me. I have not here a seat or a bed hardly, except some jury chairs, and tables, and a mattrass for the week to come. If you will go on with me to Pisa, I can lodge you for as long as you like ; (they write that the house, the Palazzo Lanfranchi , 1 is spacious : it is on the Arno ;) and I have four carriages, and as many saddle-horses (such as they are in these parts), with all other conveniences at your command, as also their owner. If you can’t do this, we may, at least, cross the Apennines together ; or if you are going by another road, we shall meet at Bologna, I hope. I address this to the post-office (as you desire), and you will probably find me at the Albergo di San Marco . If you arrive first, wait till I come up, which will be (barring accidents) on Saturday or Sunday at farthest. I presume you are alone in your voyages. Moore is in London incog, according to my latest advices from those climates. It is better than a lustre (five years and six months 1. The Lanfranchi family, Ghibelline leaders at Pisa, are men- tioned by Count Ugolino (in Circle ix. of Hell), together with the Gualandi and Sismondi, as compassing his destruction. See I?iferno , Canto XXXIII. lines 31-33— “ Con cagne magre, studiose e conte, Gualandi con Sismondi e con Lanfranchi, S’avea messi dinanzi dalla fronte.” 396 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. and some days, more or less) since we met ; and like the man from Tadcaster in the farce Love Laughs at Lock- smiths 1 ), whose acquaintances, including the cat and the terrier, “ who caught a halfpenny in his mouth/’ were all “ gone dead,” but too many of our acquaintances have taken the same path. Lady Melbourne, Grattan, Sheri- dan, Curran, etc., etc. — without reckoning the oittoWoi — almost every body of much name of the old school. But “ so am not I, said the foolish fat scullion ; ” 2 therefore let us make the most of our remainder. Let me find two lines from you at “ the Hostel or Inn.” Yours ever, etc., B. 950. — To John Murray. R a . Oct*. 26^ 1821. Dear Moray, — I waited here another week to receive the proofs of Cain , which have not arrived, though your last letter announced them for next post. I must start for Pisa on Saturday, so by this means there is a fortnight lost ; for the proof must follow through cross posts. Upon 1. Love Laughs at Locksmiths , by G. Colman the Younger, act ii. Risk, disguised as Solomon Lob, in conversation with Totterton, who asks after their mutual friends, kills them all. 44 Totterton. And honest Mat Figgins, the grocer — is he hale and 44 hearty? 44 Risk. He be dead too. “ Totterton. He dead too ! Poor Mat ! his lump sugar was “ excellent. He had a dog, I remember, that chucked a halfpenny 44 off his nose into his mouth whenever you said 4 nine.’ Is the dog 44 alive ? 44 Risk. Noa ; he eat a halfpenny. “ Totterto?i. And did that kill him ? “ Risk. Ees ; ’Twere such a varry bad one.” 2. “We had a fat, foolish scullion — my father, I think, kept her “for her simplicity; — she had been all autumn struggling with a 44 dropsy. — 4 He is dead/ said Obadiah , — 4 he is certainly dead ! ’ — 4 4 4 So am not 1 / said the foolish scullion ” ( Tristram Shandy , Bk. V. c. 7). A FINE GENTLEMAN. 1821.] 397 my word, you will provoke me to play you some trick, one of these days, that you won’t like. By this post I send you a third corrected copy of Don Juan. I will thank you to be more careful in future. Yours, etc. Please to acknowledge the Vision of Judgement by Quevedo Redivivus, and other packets. 951. — To John Murray. R a , Oct r . 26 t . h 1821. Dear Moray, — You say the errors are in the MSS. : now, excuse me, but this is not true ; and I defy you to prove it to be true. The truth is you are a fine gentleman, and negligent as becomes a mighty man in his business. I send you a third copy corrected , with some alteration ; and, by this and the other corrected copies, I request you to print any future impression. Byron. P.S. — Collate this with the other two copies, both sent by the post. And, pray, when I send you a parcel or packet , do acknowledge it. I care nothing about my letters or your answers: I only want to know, when I have taken trouble about a thing, that it has arrived. You shall be the hero of my next poem : will you publish it ? 952. — To Thomas Moore. Ravenna, Oct. 28, 1821. “ Tis the middle of night by the castle clock,” 1 and in three hours more I have to set out on my way to Pisa — 1. Christabel , Part I. line 1. 398 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. sitting up all night to be sure of rising. I have just made them take off my bed-clothes — blankets inclusive — in case of temptation from the apparel of sheets to my eyelids. Samuel Rogers is— or is to be — at Bologna, as he writes from Venice. I thought our Magnifico would “pound you,” if possible. 1 He is trying to “pound” me, too; but I’ll specie the rogue— or at least, I’ll have the odd shillings out of him in keen iambics. Your approbation of Sardanapcilus 2 is agreeable, for more reasons than one. Hobhouse is pleased to think as you do of it, and so do some others — but the “ Arimas- “ pian ” whom, like “ a Gryphon in the wilderness,” 3 I will “follow for his gold” (as I exhorted you to do before), did or doth disparage it — “ stinting me in my “ sizings.” His notable opinions on the Foscari and Cain he hath not as yet forwarded ; or, at least, I have not yet received them, nor the proofs thereof, though promised by last post. I see the way that he and his Quarterly people are tending — they want a row with me, and they shall have 1. I.e. Murray would try to pay in pounds, not guineas, for the Memoirs. 2 . Moore, in his Diary for September 30, 1821 ( Memoirs , etc., vol. iii. p. 282), writes, “Read the proofs of Lord B.’s 1 Sardanapalus,’ “ with which I was delighted. Much originality in the character of “ Sardanapalus, but not a dramatic personage ; his sly, insinuating “ sarcasms too delicate for the broad sign-painting of the stage.” 3. The Arimaspians, a one-eyed people of Scythia, coveted gold for the adornment of their hair. Hence there is perpetual strife between them and the Gryphons, creatures in form half-eagle, half- lion, who guard the mines (Herodotus, iv. 13). Byron refers to Milton’s Paradise Lost (Bk. II. lines 943, etc.)— “ As when a gryphon thro’ the wilderness, With winged course, o’er hill or moory dale, Pursues the Arimaspian, who, by stealth, Had from his wakeful custody purloined The guarded gold.” BRUNSWICK BLARNEY. 399 1821.] it. I only regret that I am not in England for the nonce ; as, here, it is hardly fair ground for me, isolated and out of the way of prompt rejoinder and information as I am. But, though backed by all the corruption, and infamy, and patronage of their master rogues and slave renegadoes, if they do once rouse me up, “They had better gall the devil, Salisbury.” 1 I have that for two or three of them, which they had better not move me to put in motion ; — and yet, after all, what a fool I am to disquiet myself about such fellows ! It was all very well ten or twelve years ago, when I was a “ curled darling,” and minded such things. At present, I rate them at their true value ; but, from natural temper and bile, am not able to keep quiet. Let me hear from you on your return from Ireland, which ought to be ashamed to see you, after her Bruns- wick blarney . 2 I am of Longman's opinion, that you should allow your friends to liquidate the Bermuda claim . 3 1. “ Thou wert better gall the devil, Salisbury.” King John , act iv. sc. 3. 2. The Annual Register , 1821 (p. 220), quotes the following passage from the Dublin Evening Post : — “No King that ever reigned has rendered such a service as this to “ Ireland. If our factions, losing all their asperities, shall ultimately “ be melted into one feeling of Devotion to the Sovereign, and of “ rational attachment to the Country, posterity will attribute the “blessings to the Fourth King of the Brunswick Line, to the first “King that ever visited Ireland, in the pride, pomp, and circum- “ stance of glorious Peace.” Upon this passage Byron fastens in “ The Irish Avatar ” (Septem- ber 16, 1821) — “ But he comes ! the messiah of royalty comes ! Like a goodly Leviathan rolled from the waves ! Then receive him as best such an advent becomes, With a legion of cooks, and an army of slaves ! ” etc., etc. See also the address of the Corporation of Dublin to George IV., in the Annual Register , 1821 (p. 322*). 3. Moore, during his visit to London in September, 1821 ( Memoirs , vol. iii. p. 281), was told by Longman that Lord Lansdowne had 400 THE PALAZZO GUICCIOLI, RAVENNA. [CHAP. XXII. Why should you throw away the two thousand pounds (of the 7ion-guinea Murray) upon that cursed piece of treacherous inveiglement ? I think you carry the matter a little too far and scrupulously. When we see patriots begging publicly, and know that Grattan received a fortune from his country, I really do not see why a man, in no whit inferior to any or all of them, should shrink from accepting that assistance from his private friends which every tradesman receives from his connections upon much less occasions. For, after all, it was not your debt — it was a piece of swindling against you. As to * * * *, and the “what noble creatures ! 1 etc., etc.,” it is all very fine and very well, but, till you can persuade me that there is 7io credit , and no self-applause to be obtained by being of use to a celebrated man, I must retain the same opinion of the human species, which I do of our friend Mr. Spe