Chapter XXVIII: Letter 299: To Mr. Murray

"October 12. 1817.

"Mr. Kinnaird and his brother, Lord Kinnaird, have been here, and
are now gone again. All your missives came, except the
tooth-powder, of which I request further supplies, at all
convenient opportunities; as also of magnesia and soda-powders,
both great luxuries here, and neither to be had good, or indeed
hardly at all, of the natives. * * *

"In * *'s Life, I perceive an attack upon the then Committee of
D.L. Theatre for acting Bertram, and an attack upon Maturin's
Bertram for being acted. Considering all things, this is not very
grateful nor graceful on the part of the worthy autobiographer;
and I would answer, if I had _not_ obliged him. Putting my own
pains to forward the views of * * out of the question, I know that
there was every disposition, on the part of the Sub-Committee, to
bring forward any production of his, were it feasible. The play he
offered, though poetical, did not appear at all practicable, and
Bertram did;--and hence this long tirade, which is the last chapter
of his vagabond life.

"As for Bertram, Maturin may defend his own begotten, if he likes
it well enough; I leave the Irish clergyman and the new Orator
Henley to battle it out between them, satisfied to have done the
best I could for _both_. I may say this to _you_, who know it.

"Mr. * * may console himself with the fervour,--the almost
religious fervour of his and W * *'s disciples, as he calls it. If
he means that as any proof of their merits, I will find him as much
'fervour' in behalf of Richard Brothers and Joanna Southcote as
ever gathered over his pages or round his fire-side.

"My answer to your proposition about the fourth Canto you will have
received, and I await yours;--perhaps we may not agree. I have
since written a poem (of 84 octave stanzas), humorous, in or after
the excellent manner of Mr. Whistlecraft (whom I take to be Frere),
on a Venetian anecdote which amused me:--but till I have your
answer, I can say nothing more about it.

"Mr. Hobhouse does not return to England in November, as he
intended, but will winter here and as he is to convey the poem, or
poems,--for there may perhaps be more than the two mentioned,
(which, by the way, I shall not perhaps include in the same
publication or agreement,) I shall not be able to publish so soon
as expected; but I suppose there is no harm in the delay.

"I have _signed_ and sent your former _copyrights_ by Mr. Kinnaird,
but _not_ the _receipt_, because the money is not yet paid. Mr.
Kinnaird has a power of attorney to sign for me, and will, when
necessary.

"Many thanks for the Edinburgh Review, which is very kind about
Manfred, and defends its originality, which I did not know that any
body had attacked. I _never read_, and do not know that I ever saw,
the 'Faustus of Marlow,' and had, and have, no dramatic works by me
in English, except the recent things you sent me; but I heard Mr.
Lewis translate verbally some scenes of _Goethe's Faust_ (which
were, some good, and some bad) last summer;--which is all I know of
the history of that magical personage; and as to the germs of
Manfred, they may be found in the Journal which I sent to Mrs.
Leigh (part of which you saw) when I went over first the Dent de
Jaman, and then the Wengen or Wengeberg Alp and Sheideck, and made
the giro of the Jungfrau, Shreckhorn, &c. &c. shortly before I left
Switzerland. I have the whole scene of Manfred before me as if it
was but yesterday, and could point it out, spot by spot, torrent
and all.

"Of the Prometheus of AEschylus I was passionately fond as a boy (it
was one of the Greek plays we read thrice a year at
Harrow);--indeed that and the 'Medea' were the only ones, except
the 'Seven before Thebes,' which ever much pleased me. As to the
'Faustus of Marlow,' I never read, never saw, nor heard of it--at
least, thought of it, except that I think Mr. Gifford mentioned, in
a note of his which you sent me, something about the catastrophe;
but not as having any thing to do with mine, which may or may not
resemble it, for any thing I know.

"The Prometheus, if not exactly in my plan, has always been so much
in my head, that I can easily conceive its influence over all or
any thing that I have written;--but I deny Marlow and his progeny,
and beg that you will do the same.

"If you can send me the paper in question[10], which the Edinburgh
Review mentions, _do_. The review in the magazine you say was
written by Wilson? it had all the air of being a poet's, and was a
very good one. The Edinburgh Review I take to be Jeffrey's own by
its friendliness. I wonder they thought it worth while to do so, so
soon after the former; but it was evidently with a good motive.

"I saw Hoppner the other day, whose country-house at Este I have
taken for two years. If you come out next summer, let me know in
time. Love to Gifford.

"Yours ever truly.

"Crabbe, Malcolm, Hamilton, and Chantrey,
Are all partakers of my pantry.

These two lines are omitted in your letter to the doctor, after--

"All clever men who make their way."

[Footnote 10: A paper in the Edinburgh Magazine, in which it was suggested that the general conception of Manfred, and much of what is excellent in the manner of its execution, had been borrowed from "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus," of Marlow.]

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