Chapter III (1)

1808-1809.

'ENGLISH BARDS, AND SCOTCH REVIEWERS.'

94.--To the Rev. John Becher. [1]

Dorant's Hotel, Feb. 26, 1808.

MY DEAR BECHER,--Now for Apollo. I am happy that you still retain your
predilection, and that the public allow me some share of praise. I am
of so much importance that a most violent attack is preparing for me
in the next number of the 'Edinburgh Review'. [2] This I had from the
authority of a friend who has seen the proof and manuscript of the
critique. You know the system of the Edinburgh gentlemen is universal
attack. They praise none; and neither the public nor the author
expects praise from them. It is, however, something to be noticed, as
they profess to pass judgment only on works requiring the public
attention. You will see this when it comes out;--it is, I understand,
of the most unmerciful description; but I am aware of it, and hope
'you' will not be hurt by its severity.

Tell Mrs. Byron not to be out of humour with them, and to prepare her
mind for the greatest hostility on their part. It will do no injury
whatever, and I trust her mind will not be ruffled. They defeat their
object by indiscriminate abuse, and they never praise except the
partisans of Lord Holland and Co. [3] It is nothing to be abused when
Southey, Moore, Lauderdale, Strangford, and Payne Knight, share the
same fate. [4]

I am sorry--but "Childish Recollections" must be suppressed during
this edition. I have altered, at your suggestion, the _obnoxious
allusions_ in the sixth stanza of my last ode.

And now, my dear Becher, I must return my best acknowledgments for the
interest you have taken in me and my poetical bantlings, and I shall
ever be proud to show how much I esteem the _advice_ and the
_adviser._

Believe me, most truly, etc.

[Footnote 1: The Rev. John Thomas Becher (1770-1848), educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford, was appointed Vicar of Rumpton, Notts., and Midsomer Norton, 1801; Prebendary of Southwell in 1818; and chairman of Newark Quarter Sessions in 1816. In all matters relating to the condition of the poor he made himself an acknowledged authority. He was the originator of a house of correction, a Friendly Society, and a workhouse at Southwell. He was one of the "supervisors" appointed to organize the Milbank Penitentiary, which was opened in June, 1816. On Friendly Societies he published three works (1824, 1825, and 1826), in which, 'inter alia', he sought to prove that labourers, paying sixpence a week from the time they were twenty, could secure not only sick-pay, but an annuity of five shillings a week at the age of sixty-five. His 'Anti-Pauper System' (1828) pointed to indoor relief as the true cure to pauperism. It was by Becher's advice that Byron destroyed his 'Fugitive Pieces'. No one who has read the silly verses which Becher condemned, can doubt that the counsel was wise (see Byron's Lines to Becher, 'Poems', vol. i. pp. 112-114, 114-116, 247-251). The following are the lines in which Becher expostulated with Byron on the mischievous tendency of his verses:--

"Say, Byron! why compel me to deplore
Talents designed for choice poetic lore,
Deigning to varnish scenes, that shun the day,
With guilty lustre, and with amorous lay?
Forbear to taint the Virgin's spotless mind,
In Power though mighty, be in Mercy kind,
Bid the chaste Muse diffuse her hallowed light,
So shall thy Page enkindle pure delight,
Enhance thy native worth, and proudly twine,
With Britain's Honors, those that are divine."

[Footnote 2: See, for the Review itself, Appendix II.

"As an author," writes Byron to Hobhouse, February 27, 1808, "I am cut
to atoms by the E-----'Review;' it is just out, and has completely
demolished my little fabric of fame. This is rather scurvy treatment
for a Whig Review; but politics and poetry are different things, and I
am no adept in either. I therefore submit in silence."

Among the less sentimental effects of this Review upon Byron's mind, he used to mention that, on the day he read it, he drank three bottles of claret to his own share after dinner; that nothing, however, relieved him till he had given vent to his indignation in rhyme, and that "after the first twenty lines, he felt himself considerably better" (Moore, 'Life', p. 69).

"I was sitting with Charles Lamb," H. Crabb Robinson told De Morgan,
"when Wordsworth came in, with fume in his countenance and the
'Edinburgh Review' in his hand.

'I have no patience with these Reviewers,' he said; 'here is a young
man, a lord, and a minor, it appears, who publishes a little volume
of poetry; and these fellows attack him, as if no one may write
poetry unless he lives in a garret. The young man will do something,
if he goes on.'

When I became acquainted with Lady Byron, I told her this story, and
she said,

'Ah! if Byron had known that, he would never have attacked
Wordsworth. He once went out to dinner where Wordsworth was to be;
when he came home, I said,

"Well, how did the young poet get on with the old one?"

"To tell you the truth," said he, "I had but one feeling from the
beginning of the visit to the end--'reverence!'"'"

('Diary,' iii. 488.)]

[Footnote 3: That is to say, the 'Edinburgh Review' praised only Whigs. Henry Richard Vassall Fox, third Lord Holland (1773-1840), the "nephew of Fox, and friend of Grey," married, in 1797, Elizabeth Vassall, the divorced wife of Sir Godfrey Webster. He held the office of Lord Privy Seal in the Ministry of All the Talents (October, 1806, to March, 1807). During the long exclusion of the Whigs from office (1807-32), when there seemed as little chance of a Whig Administration as of "a thaw in Nova Zembla," Holland, in the House of Lords, supported Catholic Emancipation, advocated the emancipation of slaves, opposed the detention of Napoleon as a prisoner of war, and moved the abolition of capital punishment for minor offences. From November, 1830, to his death, with brief intervals, he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, in the administrations of Lord Grey and of Lord Melbourne. Outside the House he kept the party together by his great social gifts. An admirable talker, 'raconteur', and mimic, with a wit's relish for wit, the charm of his good temper was irresistible.

"In my whole experience of our race," said Lord Brougham, "I never saw
such a temper, nor anything that at all resembled it"

('Statesmen of the Time of George III.', ed. 1843, 3rd series, p. 341). Greville speaks of

"his imperturbable temper, unflagging vivacity and spirit, his
inexhaustible fund of anecdote, extensive information, sprightly wit"

('Memoirs', iii. 446). Leslie, in his 'Autobiographical Recollections' (vol. i. p. 100), adds the tribute that

"he was, without any exception, the very best-tempered man I have ever
known."

Lord John Russell (preface to vol. vi. of the 'Life of Thomas Moore') says that

"he won without seeming to court, instructed without seeming to teach,
and he amused without labouring to be witty."

George Ticknor ('Life', vol. i. p. 264)

"never met a man who so disarms opposition in discussion, as I have
often seen him, without yielding an iota, merely by the unpretending
simplicity and sincerity of his manner."

Sydney Smith ('Memoir of the Rev. Sydney Smith', chap. x. p. 187) considered that his

"career was one great, incessant, and unrewarded effort to resist
oppression, promote justice, and restrain the abuse of power. He had
an invincible hatred of tyranny and oppression, and the most ardent
love of public happiness and attachment to public rights."

A lover of art, a scholar, a linguist, he wrote memoirs, satires, and verses, collected materials for a life of his uncle, Charles James Fox, and translated both from the Spanish and Italian. His 'Account of the Life and Writings of Lope Felix de Vega Carpio' (1806) was reviewed favourably by the 'Edinburgh Review' for October, 1806. Byron attacked him in 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers' (lines 540-559, and 'notes'), on the supposition that Lord Holland had instigated the article in the 'Edinburgh Review' on 'Hours of Idleness' (January, 1808). In 1812, learning his mistake, and hearing from Rogers that Lord and Lady Holland desired the satire to be withdrawn, he gave orders that the whole impression should be burned (see 'Introduction to English Sards, and Scotch Reviewers, Poems,' vol. i. p. 294). In his 'Journal' (November 17, 1813) he writes,

"I have had a most kind letter from Lord Holland on 'The Bride of
Abydos,' which he likes, and so does Lady H. This is very good-natured
in both, from whom I do not deserve any quarter. Yet I 'did' think at
the time, that my cause of enmity proceeded from Holland House, and am
glad I was wrong, and wish I had not been in such a hurry with that
confounded Satire, of which I would suppress even the memory; but
people, now they can't get it, make a fuss, I verily believe out of
contradiction."]

[Footnote 4: In the early numbers of the 'Edinburgh Review' reviews were published of Southey's 'Thalaba' and 'Madoc;' of Moore's 'Odes of Anacreon' and 'Poems;' of Lord Lauderdale's 'Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth;' of Lord Strangford's 'Translations from Camoëns;' of Payne Knight's 'Principles of Taste.']

95.--To the Rev. John Becher.

Dorant's, March 28, 1808.

I have lately received a copy of the new edition from Ridge, and it is
high time for me to return my best thanks to you for the trouble you
have taken in the superintendence. This I do most sincerely, and only
regret that Ridge has not seconded you as I could wish,--at least, in
the bindings, paper, etc., of the copy he sent to me. Perhaps those
for the public may be more respectable in such articles.

You have seen the 'Edinburgh Review', of course. I regret that Mrs.
Byron is so much annoyed. For my own part, these "paper bullets of the
brain" have only taught me to stand fire; and, as I have been lucky
enough upon the whole, my repose and appetite are not discomposed.
Pratt, [1] the gleaner, author, poet, etc., etc., addressed a long
rhyming epistle to me on the subject, by way of consolation; but it
was not well done, so I do not send it, though the name of the man
might make it go down. The E. Rs. have not performed their task well;
at least the literati tell me this; and I think _I_ could write a more
sarcastic critique on _myself_ than any yet published. For instance,
instead of the remark,--ill-natured enough, but not keen,--about
Macpherson, I (quoad reviewers) could have said, "Alas, this imitation
only proves the assertion of Dr. Johnson, that many men, women, and
_children_, could write such poetry as Ossian's." [2]

I am _thin_ and in exercise. During the spring or summer I trust we
shall meet. I hear Lord Ruthyn leaves Newstead in April. As soon as he
quits it for ever, I wish much you would take a ride over, survey the
mansion, and give me your candid opinion on the most advisable mode of
proceeding with regard to the _house_. _Entre nous_, I am cursedly
dipped; my debts, _every_ thing inclusive, will be nine or ten
thousand before I am twenty-one. But I have reason to think my
property will turn out better than general expectation may conceive.
Of Newstead I have little hope or care; but Hanson, my agent,
intimated my Lancashire property was worth three Newsteads. I believe
we have it hollow; though the defendants are protracting the
surrender, if possible, till after my majority, for the purpose of
forming some arrangement with me, thinking I shall probably prefer a
sum in hand to a reversion. Newstead I may _sell_;--perhaps I will
not,--though of that more anon. I will come down in May or June.

Yours most truly, etc.

[Footnote 1: Samuel Jackson Pratt (1749-1814), actor, itinerant lecturer, poet of the Cruscan school, tragedian, and novelist, published a large number of volumes. His 'Gleanings' in England, Holland, Wales, and Westphalia attained some reputation. His 'Sympathy, a Poem' (1788) passed through several editions. His stage-name, as well as his 'nom de plume', was Courtney Melmoth. He was the discoverer and patron of the cobbler-poet, Blacket (see also 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers', line 319, note 2).]

[Footnote 2: "Dr. Johnson's reply to the friend who asked him if any man 'living' could have written such a book, is well known: 'Yes, sir; many men, many women, and many children.' I inquired of him myself if this story was authentic, and he said it was" (Mrs. Piozzi, 'Johnsoniana', p. 84).--[Moore.]]

96.--To the Hon. Augusta Leigh.

[Six Mile Bottom, Newmarket, Cambridge.]

Dorant's, [Tuesday], April 26th, 1808.

My dear Augusta,--I regret being compelled to trouble you again, but
it is necessary I should request you will inform Col. Leigh, if the
P's consent is not obtained in a few days, it will be of little
service to Mr. Wallace, who is ordered to join the 17th in ten days,
the Regiment is stationed in the East Indies, and, as he has already
served there nine years, he is unwilling to return. I shall feel
particularly obliged by Col. Leigh's interference, as I think from his
influence the Prince's consent might be obtained. I am not much in the
habit of asking favours, or pressing exertion, but, on this occasion,
my wish to save Wallace must plead my excuse.

I have been introduced to Julia Byron [1] by Trevannion at the Opera;
she is pretty, but I do not admire her; there is too much Byron in her
countenance, I hear she is clever, a very great defect in a woman, who
becomes conceited in course; altogether I have not much inclination to
improve the acquaintance.

I have seen my old friend George, [1] who will prove the best of the
family, and will one day be Lord B. I do not much care how soon.

Pray name my nephew after his uncle; it must be a nephew, (I _won't_
have a _niece,_) I will make him my _heir,_ for I shall never marry,
unless I am ruined, and then his _inheritance_ would not be great.

George will have the title and his _laurels;_ my property, (if any is
left in five years time,) I can leave to whom I please, and your son
shall be the legatee. Adieu.

Yours ever,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: George Anson Byron, R.N. (1758-1793), second son of Admiral the Hon. John Byron, by his wife Sophia Trevanion, and brother of Byron's father, married Henrietta Charlotte Dallas, by whom he had a son, George, who was at this time in the Royal Navy, and in 1824 succeeded as seventh Lord Byron; and a daughter, Julia Byron, who married, in 1817, the Rev. Robert Heath. Of his cousin George, Byron writes in his 'Journal' for November 30, 1813 ('Life,' p. 209):

"I like George much more than most people like their heirs. He is a
fine fellow, and every inch a sailor."

Again on December 1, 1813, he says,

"I hope he will be an admiral, and, perhaps, Lord Byron into the
bargain. If he would but marry, I would engage never to marry myself,
or cut him out of the heirship."

George Anson Byron and his wife both died in 1793.]

97.--To the Rev. John Becher.

Newstead Abbey, Notts., Sept. 14, 1808.

My dear Becher,--I am much obliged to you for your inquiries, and
shall profit by them accordingly. I am going to get up a play here;
the hall will constitute a most admirable theatre. I have settled the
'dram. pers.,' and can do without ladies, as I have some young friends
who will make tolerable substitutes for females, and we only want
three male characters, beside Mr. Hobhouse and myself, for the play we
have fixed on, which will be the 'Revenge.' [1] Pray direct Nicholson
the carpenter to come over to me immediately, and inform me what day
you will dine and pass the night here.

Believe me, etc.

[Footnote 1: Young's tragedy (1721), from which one of Byron's Harrow speeches in the character of "Zanga" was taken (see page 27 [Letter 10], [Foot]note 1).]

98.--To John Jackson. [1]

N. A., Notts., September 18, 1808.

Dear Jack,--I wish you would inform me what has been done by Jekyll,
at No. 40, Sloane Square, concerning the pony I returned as unsound.

I have also to request you will call on Louch at Brompton, and inquire
what the devil he meant by sending such an insolent letter to me at
Brighton; and at the same time tell him I by no means can comply with
the charge he has made for things pretended to be damaged.

Ambrose behaved most scandalously about the pony. You may tell Jekyll
if he does not refund the money, I shall put the affair into my
lawyer's hands. Five and twenty guineas is a sound price for a pony,
and by God, if it costs me five hundred pounds, I will make an example
of Mr. Jekyll, and that immediately, unless the cash is returned.

Believe me, dear Jack, etc.

[Footnote 1: John Jackson (1769-1845), better known as "Gentleman" Jackson, was champion of England from 1795 to 1803. His three fights were against Fewterel (1788), George Ingleston (1789), and Mendoza (1795). In his fight at Ingatestone with "George the Brewer," he slipped on the wet stage, and, falling, dislocated his ankle and broke his leg. His fight with Mendoza at Hornchurch, Essex, was decided in nine rounds. At the end of the third round "the odds rose two to one on Mendoza." In the fifth, Jackson "seized hold of his opponent by the hair, and served him out in that defenceless state till he fell to the ground." The fight was practically over, and the odds at once turned in favour of Jackson, who thenceforward had matters all his own way. Even if Mendoza had worn a wig, he probably would have succumbed to Jackson, who was a more powerful man with a longer reach, and as scientific, though not so ornamental, a boxer. In 1803 Jackson retired from the ring.

"I can see him now" ('Pugilistica,' vol. i. 98), "as I saw him in '84,
walking down Holborn Hill towards Smithfield. He had on a scarlet coat
worked in gold at the button-holes, ruffles, and frill of fine lace, a
small white stock, no collar (they were not then invented), a looped
hat with a broad black band, buff knee-breeches, and long silk
strings, striped white silk stockings, pumps, and paste buckles; his
waistcoat was pale blue satin, sprigged with white. It was impossible
to look on his fine ample chest, his noble shoulders, his waist, (if
anything too small,) his large, but not too large hips, ... his limbs,
his balustrade calf and beautifully turned, but not over delicate
ankle, his firm foot, and peculiarly small hand, without thinking that
nature had sent him on earth as a model. On he went at a good five
miles and a half an hour, the envy of all men, and the admiration of
all women."

His rooms at 13, Bond Street, became the head-quarters of the Pugilistic Club, with whose initials, P.C., the ropes and stakes at prize-rings were marked (see page 99 [Letter 51], [Foot]note 1; and Pierce Egan's 'Life in London,' pp. 252-254). From 1803 to 1824, when he retired from the profession, he was, as Pierce Egan says of him (p. 254), unrivalled as "a teacher of the Art of 'self-defence.'" His character stood high. "From the highest to the lowest person in the Sporting World, his 'decision' is law."

"This gentleman," says Moore, in a note to 'Tom Crib's Memorial to
Congress' (p. 13), "as he well deserves to be called, from the
correctness of his conduct and the peculiar urbanity of his manners,
forms that useful link between the amateurs and the professors of
pugilism, which, when broken, it will be difficult, if not wholly
impossible, to replace."

He was Byron's guest at Cambridge, Newstead, and Brighton; received from him many letters; and is described by him, in a note to 'Don Juan' (Canto XI. stanza xix.), as "my old friend and corporeal pastor and master." Jackson's monument in Brompton Cemetery, a couchant lion and a mourning athlete, was subscribed for "by several noblemen and gentlemen, to record their admiration of one whose excellence of heart and incorruptible worth endeared him to all who knew him."]

99.--To John Jackson.

N. A., Notts., October 4, 1808.

You will make as good a bargain as possible with this Master Jekyll,
if he is not a gentleman. If he is a _gentleman_, inform me, for I
shall take very different steps. If he is not, you must get what you
can of the money, for I have too much business on hand at present to
commence an action. Besides, Ambrose is the man who ought to
refund,--but I have done with him. You can settle with L. out of the
balance, and dispose of the bidets, etc., as you best can.

I should be very glad to see you here; but the house is filled with
workmen, and undergoing a thorough repair. I hope, however, to be more
fortunate before many months have elapsed.

If you see Bold Webster, [1] remember me to him, and tell him I have
to regret Sydney, who has perished, I fear, in my rabbit warren, for
we have seen nothing of him for the last fortnight. Adieu. [2]

Believe me, etc.

[Footnote 1: Sir Godfrey Vassal Webster (1788-1836).]

[Footnote 2: A third letter to Jackson, written from Newstead, December 12, 1808, runs as follows:--

"My Dear Jack,--You will get the greyhound from the owner at any
price, and as many more of the same breed (male or female) as you can
collect.

"Tell D'Egville his dress shall be returned--I am obliged to him for
the pattern. I am sorry you should have so much trouble, but I was not
aware of the difficulty of procuring the animals in question. I
shall have finished part of my mansion in a few weeks, and, if you can
pay me a visit at Christmas, I shall be very glad to see you.

Believe me, etc."

In a bill, for 1808, sent in to Byron by Messrs. Finn and Johnson, tailors, of Nottingham, appears the following item: "Masquerade Jackett with belt and rich Turban, £11:9:6." This is probably the dress made from d'Egville's pattern.

James d'Egville learned dancing from Gaetano Vestris, well known at the Court of Frederick the Great, and from Gardel, the Court teacher of Marie Antoinette. He, his brother Louis, and his sister Madame Michau, were the most famous teachers of the day in England. The real name of the family was Hervey; that of d'Egville was assumed for professional purposes. James d'Egville enjoyed a great reputation, both as an actor and a dancer, in Paris and London. He was Acting-Manager and Director of the King's Theatre (October, 1807, to January, 1808), but was dismissed, owing to a disagreement between the managers, in the course of which he was accused of French proclivities and republican principles (see Waters's 'Opera-Glass', pp. 133-145). A man of taste and cultivation, he produced some musical extravaganzas and ballets; 'e.g. Don Quichotte ou les Noces de Gamache, L'Elèvement d'Adonis, The Rape of Dejanira', etc.

A coloured print, in the possession of his great-nephew, Mr. Louis d'Egville, represents him, with Deshayes, in one of his most successful appearances, the ballet-pantomime of 'Achille et Deidamie'. He was an enthusiastic sportsman.]

100.--To his Mother.

Newstead Abbey, Notts, October 7, 1808.

Dear Madam,--I have no beds for the Hansons or any body else at
present. The Hansons sleep at Mansfield. I do not know that I resemble
Jean Jacques Rousseau. [1] I have no ambition to be like so
illustrious a madman--but this I know, that I shall live in my own
manner, and as much alone as possible. When my rooms are ready I shall
be glad to see you: at present it would be improper, and uncomfortable
to both parties. You can hardly object to my rendering my mansion
habitable, notwithstanding my departure for Persia in March (or May at
farthest), since _you_ will be _tenant_ till my return; and in case of
any accident (for I have already arranged my will to be drawn up the
moment I am twenty-one), I have taken care you shall have the house
and manor for _life_, besides a sufficient income. So you see my
improvements are not entirely selfish. As I have a friend here, we
will go to the Infirmary Ball on the 12th; we will drink tea with Mrs.
Byron [2] at eight o'clock, and expect to see you at the ball. If that
lady will allow us a couple of rooms to dress in, we shall be highly
obliged:--if we are at the ball by ten or eleven, it will be time
enough, and we shall return to Newstead about three or four. Adieu.

Believe me, yours very truly,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: In Byron's 'Detached Thoughts', quoted by Moore ('Life', p. 72), he thus refers to the comparison with Rousseau:--

"My mother, before I was twenty, would have it that I was like
Rousseau, and Madame de Stael used to say so too in 1813, and the
'Edinburgh Review' has something of the sort in its critique on the
fourth canto of 'Childe Harold'. I can't see any point of
resemblance:--he wrote prose, I verse: he was of the people; I of the
aristocracy: he was a philosopher; I am none: he published his first
work at forty; I mine at eighteen: his first essay brought him
universal applause; mine the contrary: he married his housekeeper; I
could not keep house with my wife: he thought all the world in a plot
against him; my little world seems to think me in a plot against it,
if I may judge by their abuse in print and coterie: he liked botany; I
like flowers, herbs, and trees, but know nothing of their pedigrees:
he wrote music; I limit my knowledge of it to what I catch by _ear_--I
never could learn any thing by _study_, not even a _language_--it was
all by rote and ear, and memory: he had a _bad_ memory; I _had_, at
least, an excellent one (ask Hodgson the poet--a good judge, for he
has an astonishing one): he wrote with hesitation and care; I with
rapidity, and rarely with pains: _he_ could never ride, nor swim, nor
'was cunning of fence;' _I_ am an excellent swimmer, a decent, though
not at all a dashing, rider, (having staved in a rib at eighteen, in
the course of scampering,) and was sufficient of fence, particularly
of the Highland broadsword,--not a bad boxer, when I could keep my
temper, which was difficult, but which I strove to do ever since I
knocked down Mr. Purling, and put his knee-pan out (with the gloves
on), in Angelo's and Jackson's rooms in 1806, during the sparring,
--and I was, besides, a very fair cricketer,--one of the Harrow
eleven, when we played against Eton in 1805. Besides, Rousseau's way
of life, his country, his manners, his whole character, were so very
different, that I am at a loss to conceive how such a comparison could
have arisen, as it has done three several times, and all in rather a
remarkable manner. I forgot to say that _he_ was also short-sighted,
and that hitherto my eyes have been the contrary, to such a degree
that, in the largest theatre of Bologna, I distinguished and read some
busts and inscriptions, painted near the stage, from a box so distant
and so _darkly_ lighted, that none of the company (composed of young
and very bright-eyed people, some of them in the same box,) could make
out a letter, and thought it was a trick, though I had never been in
that theatre before.

"Altogether, I think myself justified in thinking the comparison not
well founded. I don't say this out of pique, for Rousseau was a great
man; and the thing, if true, were flattering enough;--but I have no
idea of being pleased with the chimera."]

[Footnote 2: The Hon. Mrs. George Byron, 'née' Frances Levett, Byron's great-aunt, widow of the Hon. George Byron, fourth brother of William, fifth Lord Byron.]

101.--To his Mother.

Newstead Abbey, November 2, 1808.

DEAR MOTHER,--If you please, we will forget the things you mention. I
have no desire to remember them. When my rooms are finished, I shall
be happy to see you; as I tell but the truth, you will not suspect me
of evasion. I am furnishing the house more for you than myself, and I
shall establish you in it before I sail for India, which I expect to
do in March, if nothing particularly obstructive occurs. I am now
fitting up the _green_ drawing-room; the red for a bed-room, and the
rooms over as sleeping-rooms. They will be soon completed;--at least
I hope so.

I wish you would inquire of Major Watson (who is an old Indian) what
things will be necessary to provide for my voyage. I have already
procured a friend to write to the Arabic Professor at Cambridge, [1]
for some information I am anxious to procure. I can easily get letters
from government to the ambassadors, consuls, etc., and also to the
governors at Calcutta and Madras. I shall place my property and my
will in the hands of trustees till my return, and I mean to appoint
you one. From Hanson I have heard nothing--when I do, you shall have
the particulars.

After all, you must own my project is not a bad one. If I do not
travel now, I never shall, and all men should one day or other. I have
at present no connections to keep me at home; no wife, or unprovided
sisters, brothers, etc. I shall take care of you, and when I return I
may possibly become a politician. A few years' knowledge of other
countries than our own will not incapacitate me for that part. If we
see no nation but our own, we do not give mankind a fair chance;--it
is from _experience_, not books, we ought to judge of them. There is
nothing like inspection, and trusting to our own senses.

Yours, etc.

[Footnote 1: The Rev. John Palmer, Fellow of St. John's, Adam's Professor of Arabic (1804-19).]

102.--To Francis Hodgson. [1]

Newstead Abbey, Notts., Nov. 3, 1808.

My Dear Hodgson,--I expected to have heard ere this the event of your
interview with the mysterious Mr. Haynes, my volunteer correspondent;
however, as I had no business to trouble you with the adjustment of my
concerns with that illustrious stranger, I have no right to complain
of your silence.

You have of course seen Drury, [2] in all the pleasing palpitations of
anticipated wedlock. Well! he has still something to look forward to,
and his present extacies are certainly enviable. "Peace be with him
and with his spirit," and his flesh also, at least just now ...

Hobhouse and your humble are still here. Hobhouse hunts, etc., and I
do nothing; we dined the other day with a neighbouring Esquire (not
Collet of Staines), and regretted your absence, as the Bouquet of
Staines was scarcely to be compared to our last "feast of reason." You
know, laughing is the sign of a rational animal; so says Dr. Smollett.
I think so, too, but unluckily my spirits don't always keep pace with
my opinions. I had not so much scope for risibility the other day as I
could have wished, for I was seated near a woman, to whom, when a boy,
I was as much attached as boys generally are, and more than a man
should be. [3] I knew this before I went, and was determined to be
valiant, and converse with _sang froid_; but instead I forgot my
valour and my nonchalance, and never opened my lips even to laugh, far
less to speak, and the lady was almost as absurd as myself, which made
both the object of more observation than if we had conducted ourselves
with easy indifference. You will think all this great nonsense; if you
had seen it, you would have thought it still more ridiculous. What
fools we are! We cry for a plaything, which, like children, we are
never satisfied with till we break open, though like them we cannot
get rid of it by putting it in the fire.

I have tried for Gifford's _Epistle to Pindar_,[4] and the bookseller
says the copies were cut up for _waste paper_; if you can procure me a
copy I shall be much obliged. Adieu!

Believe me, my dear Sir, yours ever sincerely,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Francis Hodgson (1781-1852), educated at Eton (1794-99) and at King's College, Cambridge, Scholar (1799), Fellow (1802), hesitated between literature and the bar as his profession. For three years he was a private tutor, for one (1806) a master at Eton. In 1807 he became a resident tutor at King's. It was not till 1812 that he decided to take orders. Two years later he married Miss Tayler, a sister of Mrs. Henry Drury, and took a country curacy. In 1816 he was given the Eton living of Bakewell, in Derbyshire, became Archdeacon of Derby in 1836, and in 1840 Provost of Eton. At Eton he died December 29, 1852.

Hodgson's literary facility was extraordinary. He rhymed with an ease which almost rivals that of Byron, and from 1807 to 1818 he poured out quantities of verse, English and Latin, original and translated, besides writing articles for the 'Quarterly', the 'Monthly', and the 'Critical' Reviews. He published his 'Translation of Juvenal' in 1807, in which he was assisted by Drury and Merivale; 'Lady Jane Grey', a Tale; and other Poems (1809); 'Sir Edgar, a Tale' (1810); 'Leaves of Laurel' (1812); 'Charlemagne, an Epic Poem' (1815), translated from the original of Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of Canino, by S. Butler and Francis Hodgson; 'The Friends, a Poem in Four Books; Mythology for Versification' (1831); 'A Charge, as Archdeacon of Derby' (1837); 'Sermons' (1846); and other works.

His acquaintance with Byron began in 1807, when Byron was meditating 'British Bards', and Hodgson, provoked by a review of his 'Juvenal' in the 'Edinburgh Review', was composing his 'Gentle Alterative prepared for the Reviewers', which appears on pp. 56, 57 of 'Lady Jane Grey'. There are some curious points of resemblance between the two poems, though Hodgson's lines can hardly be compared for force and sting to 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers'. Like Byron (see 'English Bards, etc'., line 513, note 7), he makes merry over the blunder of the 'Edinburgh' reviewer, who, in an article on Payne Knight's 'Principles of Taste', severely criticized some Greek lines which he attributed to Knight, but which, in fact, were by Pindar:--

"And when he frown'd on Kn--'s erroneous Greek,
Bad him in Pindar's page that error seek."

Like Byron also, he attributes the blunder to Hallam, and speaks of "Hallam's baffled art." The article was written by Lord Holland's physician, Dr. Allen, who, according to Sydney Smith, had "the creed of a philosopher and the legs of a clergyman." Like Byron also (see 'English Bards, etc'., line 820), he appeals to Gifford, who was an old family friend, to return to the fray:--

"Oh! for that voice, whose cadence loud and strong
Drove Delia Crusca from the field of song--
And with a force that guiltier fools should feel,
Rack'd a vain butterfly on Satire's wheel."

In a note appended to the words in his satire--"Like clowns detest nobility"--he refers to the 'Edinburgh's' treatment of Byron's verse.

The link thus established between Byron and Hodgson grew stronger for the next few years. Hodgson suppressed Moore's challenge to the author of 'English Bards'; was Byron's guest at Newstead (see page 179 [Letter 92], in [Foot]note [further down]); pleaded with him on the subject of religion; translated his lines, "I would I were a careless child," into Latin verse ('Lady Jane Grey', p. 94); addressed him in poetry, as, for instance, in the "Lines to a Friend going abroad" ('Sir Edgar', p. 173). Byron, on his side, seems to have been sincerely attached to Hodgson, to whom he left, by his first will (1811), one-third of his personal goods, and in 1813 gave £1000 to enable him to marry. Hodgson corresponded with Mrs. Leigh and with Miss Milbanke, afterwards Lady Byron, endeavoured to heal the breach between husband and wife, and was one of the mourners at Hucknall Torkard Church.

In Haydon's 'Table-Talk' (vol. ii. pp. 367-8) is recorded a conversation with Hobhouse on the subject of Hodgson. Haydon's account of Hobhouse's words is confused; but he definitely asserts that Hodgson's life was dissipated, and insinuates that he perverted Byron's character. Part of the explanation is probably this: Hodgson's friend, the Rev. Robert Bland, kept a mistress, described as a woman of great personal and mental attraction. He asked Hodgson, during his absence on the Continent, to visit the lady and send him frequent news of her. Hodgson did so, with the result that, at Bland's return, the lady refused to see him. When Byron came back from his Eastern tour, he received a frantic letter from Bland, telling him that Hodgson had stolen her love. To this Byron refers in his letter to Harness, December 15, 1811, and probably told an embellished story to Hobhouse. But Hodgson himself warmly repudiated the charge; and there is no reason to think that his version of the affair is not the truth.]

[Footnote 2: The Rev. Henry Drury married, December 20, 1808, Ann Caroline, daughter of Archdale Wilson Tayler, of Boreham Wood, Herts. Their five sons were all educated at Harrow: Henry, Archdeacon of Wilts and editor of 'Arundines Cami' (1841); Byron, Vice-Admiral R.N.; Benjamin Heath, Vice-President of Caius College, Cambridge; Heber, Colonel in the Madras Army; Charles Curtis, General of the Bengal Staff Corps (see also page 41 [Letter 14], [Foot]note 2 [1]).]

[Footnote 3: Mrs. Chaworth Musters (see Byron's lines, "Well! thou art happy," 'Poems', vol. i. pp. 277-279).]

[Footnote 4: William Gifford (1756-1826), a self-taught scholar, first a ploughboy, then boy on board a Brixham coaster, afterwards shoemaker's apprentice, was sent by friends to Exeter College, Oxford (1779-81). In the 'Baviad' (1794) and the 'Maeviad' (1795) he attacked many of the smaller writers of the day, who were either silly, like the Delia Cruscan school, or discreditable, like Williams, who wrote as "Anthony Pasquin." In his 'Epistle to Peter Pindar' (1800) he succeeds in laying bare the true character of John Wolcot. As editor of the 'Anti-Jacobin, or Weekly Examiner' (November, 1797, to July, 1798), he supported the political views of Canning and his friends. As editor of the 'Quarterly Review', from its foundation (February, 1809) to his resignation in September, 1824, he did yeoman's service to sound literature by his good sense and adherence to the best models. It was a period when all criticism was narrow, and, to some degree, warped by political prejudice. In these respects, Gifford's work may not have risen above--it certainly did not fall below--the highest standard of contemporary criticism. His editions of 'Massinger' (1805), which superseded that of Monck Mason and Davies (1765), of 'Ben Jonson' (1816), of 'Ford' (1827), are valuable. To his translation of 'Juvenal' (1802) is prefixed his autobiography. His translation of 'Persius' appeared in 1821. To Gifford, Byron usually paid the utmost deference.

"Any suggestion of yours, even if it were conveyed," he writes to him,
in 1813, "in the less tender text of the 'Baviad,' or a Monk Mason
note to Massinger, would be obeyed."

See also his letter (September 7, 1811), in which he calls Gifford his "Magnus Apollo," and values his praise above the gems of Samarcand.

"He was," says Sir Walter Scott ('Diary,' January 18, 1827), "a little
man, dumpled up together, and so ill-made as to seem almost deformed,
but with a singular expression of talent in his countenance."

Byron was attracted to Gifford, partly by his devotion to the classical models of literature, partly by the outspoken frankness of his literary criticism, partly also, perhaps, by his physical deformity.

103.--To John Hanson.

Newstead Abbey, Notts., November 18th, 1808.

Dear Sir,--I am truly glad to hear your health is reinstated. As for
my affairs I am sure you will do your best, and, though I should be
glad to get rid of my Lancashire property for an equivalent in money,
I shall not take any steps of that nature without good advice and
mature consideration.

I am (as I have already told you) going abroad in the spring; for this
I have many reasons. In the first place, I wish to study India and
Asiatic policy and manners. I am young, tolerably vigorous, abstemious
in my way of living; I have no pleasure in fashionable dissipation,
and I am determined to take a wider field than is customary with
travellers. If I return, my judgment will be more mature, and I shall
still be young enough for politics. With regard to expence, travelling
through the East is rather inconvenient than expensive: it is not like
the tour of Europe, you undergo hardship, but incur little hazard of
spending money. If I live here I must have my house in town, a
separate house for Mrs. Byron; I must keep horses, etc., etc. When I
go abroad I place Mrs. Byron at Newstead (there is one great expence
saved), I have no horses to keep. A voyage to India will take me six
months, and if I had a dozen attendants cannot cost me five hundred
pounds; and you will agree with me that a like term of months in
England would lead me into four times that expenditure. I have written
to Government for letters and permission of the Company, so you see I
am _serious._

You honour my debts; they amount to perhaps twelve thousand pounds,
and I shall require perhaps three or four thousand at setting out,
with credit on a Bengal agent. This you must manage for me. If my
resources are not adequate to the supply I must _sell_, but _not
Newstead._ I will at least transmit that to the next Lord. My debts
must be paid, if possible, in February. I shall leave my affairs to
the care of _trustees_, of whom, with your acquiescence, I shall _name
you_ one, Mr. Parker another, and two more, on whom I am not yet
determined.

Pray let me hear from you soon. Remember me to Mrs. Hanson, whom I
hope to see on her return. Present my best respects to the young lady,
and believe me, etc.,

BYRON.

104.--To Francis Hodgson.

Newstead Abbey, Notts., Nov. 27, 1808.

My Dear Sir,--Boatswain [1] is to be buried in a vault waiting for
myself. I have also written an epitaph, which I would send, were it
not for two reasons: one is, that it is too long for a letter; and the
other, that I hope you will some day read it on the spot where it will
be engraved.

You discomfort me with the intelligence of the real orthodoxy of the
Arch-fiend's name, [2] but alas! it must stand with me at present; if
ever I have an opportunity of correcting, I shall liken him to
Geoffrey of Monmouth, a noted liar in his way, and perhaps a more
correct prototype than the Carnifex of James II.

I do not think the composition of your poem "a sufficing reason" for
not keeping your promise of a Christmas visit. Why not come? I will
never disturb you in your moments of inspiration; and if you wish to
collect any materials for the _scenery_?,[3] Hardwicke (where Mary was
confined for several years) is not eight miles distant, and,
independent of the interest you must take in it as her vindicator, is
a most beautiful and venerable object of curiosity. I shall take it
very ill if you do not come; my mansion is improving in comfort, and,
when you require solitude, I shall have an apartment devoted to the
purpose of receiving your poetical reveries.

I have heard from our Drury; he says little of the Row, which I
regret: indeed I would have sacrificed much to have contributed in any
way (as a schoolboy) to its consummation; but Butler survives, and
thirteen boys have been expelled in vain. Davies is not here, but
Hobhouse hunts as usual, and your humble servant "drags at each remove
a lengthened chain." I have heard from his Grace of Portland [4] on
the subject of my expedition: he talks of difficulties; by the gods!
if he throws any in my way I will next session ring such a peal in his
ears,

That he shall wish the fiery
Dane Had rather been his guest again. [5]

You do not tell me if Gifford is really my commentator: it is too good
to be true, for I know nothing would gratify my vanity so much as the
reality; even the idea is too precious to part with.

I shall expect you here; let me have no more excuses. Hobhouse desires
his best remembrance. We are now lingering over our evening potations.
I have extended my letter further than I ought, and beg you will
excuse it; on the opposite page I send you some stanzas [6] I wrote
off on being questioned by a former flame as to my motives for
quitting this country. You are the first reader. Hobhouse hates
everything of the kind, therefore I do not show them to him. Adieu!

Believe me, yours very sincerely,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Boatswain, the Newfoundland dog, died November 18, 1808. (For Byron's inscriptions in prose and verse, see 'Poems', vol. i. p. 280.)]

[Footnote 2: Byron at first thought that Jeffrey, the editor of the 'Edinburgh Review', spelt his name in the same way as the Judge Jeffreys of the Bloody Assizes. He probably writes "orthodoxy" for "orthography" as a joke. (See the lines quoted from 'British Bards' in notes to 'English. Bards, etc.', line 439, note 2.)]

[Footnote 3: It is stated that Hodgson was writing a poem on Mary Queen of Scots ('Life of Rev. Francis Hodgson', vol. i. p. 107). No such poem was apparently ever published. In Hodgson's 'Lady Jane Grey', Queen Mary of England plays a part; hence, possibly, the mistake.]

[Footnote 4: Byron asked the Duke of Portland to procure him "permission from the E.I. Directors to pass through their settlements." The duke replied, in effect, that Byron trespassed on his time and patience. So Byron at least took his answer (see 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers,' line 1016 and note 2).]

[Footnote 5: 'Marmion', Canto II. stanza xxxi.]

[Footnote 6: See stanzas "To a Lady on being asked my Reason for Quitting England in the Spring" ('Poems', vol. i. p. 282).]

105.--To the Hon. Augusta Leigh.

[Ld. Chichester's, Stratton Street, London.]

Newstead Abbey, Notts., [Wednesday], Novr. 30th, 1808.

My Dearest Augusta,--I return you my best thanks for making me an
uncle, and forgive the sex this time; but the next _must_ be a nephew.
You will be happy to hear my Lancashire property is likely to prove
extremely valuable; indeed my pecuniary affairs are altogether far
superior to my expectations or any other person's. If I would _sell_,
my income would probably be six thousand per annum; but I will not
part at least with Newstead, or indeed with the other, which is of a
nature to increase in value yearly. I am living here _alone_, which
suits my inclinations better than society of any kind. Mrs. Byron I
have shaken off for two years, and I shall not resume her yoke in
future, I am afraid my disposition will suffer in your estimation; but
I never can forgive that woman, or breathe in comfort under the same
roof.

I am a very unlucky fellow, for I think I had naturally not a bad
heart; but it has been so bent, twisted, and trampled on, that it has
now become as hard as a Highlander's heelpiece.

I do not know that much alteration has taken place in my person,
except that I am grown much thinner, and somewhat taller! I saw Col.
Leigh at Brighton in July, where I should have been glad to have seen
you; I only know your husband by sight, though I am acquainted with
many of the Tenth. Indeed my relations are those whom I know the
least, and in most instances, I am not very anxious to improve the
acquaintance. I hope you are quite recovered, I shall be in town in
January to take my seat, and will call, if convenient; let me hear
from you before.

[Signature cut off, and over the page is, in Mrs. Leigh's writing,
this endorsement: "Sent to Miss Alderson to go to Germany, May 29th,
1843."]

106.--To the Hon. Augusta Leigh.

[Ld. Chichester's, Stratton Street, London.]

Newstead Abbey, Notts., Decr. 14th, 1808.

My Dearest Augusta,--When I stated in my last, that my intercourse
with the world had hardened my heart, I did not mean from any
matrimonial disappointment, no, I have been guilty of many
absurdities, but I hope in God I shall always escape that worst of
evils, Marriage. I have no doubt there are exceptions, and of course
include you amongst them, but you will recollect, that "_exceptions
only prove the Rule_."

I live here much in my own manner, that is, _alone_, for I could not
bear the company of my best friend, above a month; there is such a
sameness in mankind upon the whole, and they grow so much more
disgusting every day, that, were it not for a portion of Ambition, and
a conviction that in times like the present we ought to perform our
respective duties, I should live here all my life, in unvaried
Solitude. I have been visited by all our Nobility and Gentry; but I
return no visits. Joseph Murray is at the head of my household, poor
honest fellow! I should be a great Brute, if I had not provided for
him in the manner most congenial to his own feelings, and to mine. I
have several horses, and a considerable establishment, but I am not
addicted to hunting or shooting. I hate all field sports, though a few
years since I was a tolerable adept in the _polite_ arts of
Foxhunting, Hawking, Boxing, etc., etc. My Library is rather
extensive, (and as you perhaps know) I am a mighty Scribbler; I
flatter myself I have made some improvements in Newstead, and, as I am
independent, I am happy, as far as any person unfortunate enough to be
born into this world, can be said to be so.

I shall be glad to hear from you when convenient, and beg you to
believe me,

Very sincerely yours,

BYRON.

107.--To John Hanson.

Newstead Abbey, Notts., Dec. 17, 1808.

My Dear Sir,--I regret the contents of your letter as I think we shall
be thrown on our backs from the delay. I do not know if our best
method would not be to compromise if possible, as you know the state
of my affairs will not be much bettered by a protracted and possibly
unsuccessful litigation. However, I am and have been so much in the
dark during the whole transaction that I am not a competent judge of
the most expedient measures. I suppose it will end in my marrying a
_Golden Dolly_ [1] or blowing my brains out; it does not much matter
which, the remedies are nearly alike. I shall be glad to hear from you
further on the business. I suppose now it will be still more difficult
to come to any terms. Have you seen Mrs. Massingberd, and have you
arranged my Israelitish accounts? Pray remember me to Mrs. Hanson, to
Harriet, and all the family, female and male.

Believe me also, yours very sincerely,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Mrs. Byron also advised his marriage with an heiress. The following passage is taken from her letter to Hanson, January 30, 1809:--

"I was sorry I could not see you here. Byron told me he intended to
put his servants on Board Wages at Newstead. I was very sorry to hear
of the great expence the Newstead _fête_ would put him to. I can see
nothing but the Road to Ruin in all this, which grieves me to the
heart and makes me still worse than I would otherwise be (unless,
indeed, Coal Mines turn to Gold Mines), or that he mends his fortune
in the old and usual way by marrying a Woman with two or three hundred
thousand pounds. I have no doubt of his being a great speaker and a
celebrated public character, and _all_ that; but that _won't add_ to
his fortune, but bring on more expenses on him, and there is nothing
to be had in this country to make a man rich in his line of life."

In another letter to Hanson, dated March 4, 1809, she returns to the same subject:--