Chapter XX: Canto XII: stanza xxxi., et seq

[223] {265} In Sir Thomas More, for instance, on the scaffold, and Anne Boleyn, in the Tower, when, grasping her neck, she remarked, that it "was too slender to trouble the headsman much." During one part of the French Revolution, it became a fashion to leave some "_mot_" as a legacy; and the quantity of facetious last words spoken during that period would form a melancholy jest-book of a considerable size.

[hv] {268}
_I breathe but in the hope--his altered breast_
_May seek another--and have mine at rest._
_Or if unwonted fondness now I feign_.{A}--[MS.]

{A}[The alteration was sent to the publishers on a separate quarto sheet, with a memorandum, "In Canto _first_--nearly the end," etc.--a rare instance of inaccuracy on the part of the author.]

[224] {270} The opening lines, as far as section ii., have, perhaps, little business here, and were annexed to an unpublished (though printed) poem [_The Curse of Minerva_]; but they were written on the spot, in the Spring of 1811, and--I scarce know why--the reader must excuse their appearance here--if he can. [See letter to Murray, October 23, 1812.]

[225] [See _Curse of Minerva_, line 7, _Poetical Works_, 1898, i. 457. For Hydra, see A. L. Castellan's _Lettres sur la Morée_, 1820, i. 155-176. He gives (p. 174) a striking description of a _sunrise_ off the Cape of Sunium.]

[226] {271} Socrates drank the hemlock a short time before sunset (the hour of execution), notwithstanding the entreaties of his disciples to wait till the sun went down.

[227] The twilight in Greece is much shorter than in our own country: the days in winter are longer, but in summer of shorter duration.

[228] {272} The Kiosk is a Turkish summer house: the palm is without the present walls of Athens, not far from the temple of Theseus, between which and the tree, the wall intervenes.--Cephisus' stream is indeed scanty, and Ilissus has no stream at all.

[E. Dodwell (_Classical Tour_, 1819, i. 371) speaks of "a magnificent palm tree, which shoots among the ruins of the Ptolemaion," a short distance to the east of the Theseion. There is an illustration in its honour. The Theseion--which was "within five minutes' walk" of Byron's lodgings (_Travels in Albania_, 1858, i. 259)--contains the remains of the scholar, John Tweddell, died 1793, "over which a stone was placed, owing to the exertions of Lord Byron" (Clarke's _Travels_, Part II. sect. i. p. 534). When Byron died, Colonel Stanhope proposed, and the chief Odysseus decreed, that he should be buried in the same spot.--_Life_, p. 640.]

[229] {273} [After the battle of Salamis, B.C. 480, Paros fell under the dominion of Athens.]

[hw] {274}
_They gather round and each his aid supplies_.--[MS.]

[hx] {275}
_Within that cave Debate waxed warm and strange_.--[_MS_.]
_Loud in the cave Debate waxed warm and strange_.--
[_January_ 6, 1814.]
_In that dark Council words waxed warm and strange_.--
[_January_ 13, 1814.]

[230] [Lines 1299-1375 were written after the completion of the poem. They were forwarded to the publisher in time for insertion in a revise dated January 6, 1814.]

[231] The comboloio, or Mahometan rosary; the beads are in number ninety-nine. [_Vide ante_, p. 181, _The Bride of Abydos_, Canto II. line 554.]

[hy] {276}
_Methinks a short release by ransom wrought_
_Of all his treasures not too cheaply bought_.--[MS. erased.]
_Methinks a short release for ransom--gold_.--[MS.]

[hz] {277}
_Of thine adds certainty to all I heard_.--[MS.]

[ia] {278}
_When every coming hour might view him dead_.--[MS.]

[232] ["By the way--I have a charge against you. As the great Mr. Dennis roared out on a similar occasion--'By G-d, _that_ is _my_ thunder!' so do I exclaim, '_This_ is _my_ lightning!' I allude to a speech of Ivan's, in the scene with Petrowna and the Empress, where the thought and almost expression are similar to Conrad's in the 3d canto of _The Corsair_. I, however, do not say this to accuse you, but to exempt myself from suspicion, as there is a priority of six months' publication, on my part, between the appearance of that composition and of your tragedies" (Letter to W. Sotheby, September 25, 1815, _Letters_, 1899, iii. 219). The following are the lines in question:--

"And I have leapt
In transport from my flinty couch, to welcome
The thunder as it burst upon my roof,
And beckon'd to the lightning, as it flash'd
And sparkled on these fetters."
Act iv. sc. 3 (_Ivan_, 1816, p. 64).

According to Moore, this passage in _The Corsair_, as Byron seemed to fear, was included by "some scribblers"--i.e. the "lumbering Goth" (see John Bull's Letter), A. A. Watts, in the _Literary Gazette_, February and March, 1821--among his supposed plagiarisms. Sotheby informed Moore that his lines had been written, though not published, before the appearance of the _Corsair_. The _Confession_, and _Orestes_, reappeared with three hitherto unpublished tragedies, _Ivan_, _The Death of Darnley_, and _Zamorin and Zama_, under the general title, _Five Unpublished Tragedies_, in 1814.

The story of the critic John Dennis (1657-1734) and the "thunder" is related in Cibber's _Lives_, iv. 234. Dennis was, or feigned to be, the inventor of a new method of producing stage-thunder, by troughs of wood and stops. Shortly after a play (_Appius and Virginia_) which he had put upon the stage had been withdrawn, he was present at a performance of _Macbeth_, at which the new "thunder" was inaugurated. "That is _my_ thunder, by God!" exclaimed Dennis. "The villains will play my thunder, but not my plays."--_Dict. Nat. Biog._, art. "Dennis."]

[ib] {282}
_But speak not now--on thine and on my head_
_O'erhangs the sabre_----.--[MS.]

[ic] {284}
_Night wears apace--and I have need of rest_.--[MS.]

[id] {286} A variant of lines 1596, 1597 first appeared in MS. in a revise numbering 1780 lines--

_Blood he had viewed, could view unmoved--but then_
_It reddened on the scarfs and swords of men._

In a later revise line 1597 was altered to--

_It flowed a token of the deeds of men._

[ie] {287} _His silent thoughts the present, past review._--[MS. erased.]

[if] _Fell quenched in tears of more than misery._--[MS.]

[ig] {288} _They count the Dragon-teeth around her tier_.--[MS.]

[233] ["Tier" must stand for "hold." The "cable-tier" is the place in the hold where the cable is stowed.]

[ih] {289} _Whom blood appalled not, their rude eyes perplex_.--[MS. erased.]

[234] [Compare--

"And I the cause--for whom were given
Her peace on earth, her hopes in heaven."
_Marmion_, Canto III. stanza xvii. lines 9, 10.]

[ii] {290}
_"Gulnare"--she answered not again--"Gulnare"_
_She raised her glance--her sole reply was there_.--[M.S.]

[ij]
_That sought from form so fair no more than this_
_That kiss--the first that Frailty wrung from Faith_
_That last--on lips so warm with rosy breath_.--[MS. erased.]

[ik] _As he had fanned them with his rosy wing_.--[MS.]

[il] {291}
_Oh! none so prophesy the joys of home_
_As they who hail it from the Ocean-foam_.--[MS.]
_Oh--what can sanctify the joys of home_
_Like the first glance from Ocean's troubled foam_.--[Revise.]

[235] {292} In the Levant it is the custom to strew flowers on the bodies of the dead, and in the hands of young persons to place a nosegay.

[Compare--"There shut it inside the sweet cold hand." _Evelyn Hope_, by Robert Browning.]

[236] {293} [Compare--"And--but for that sad shrouded eye," etc. and the whole of the famous passage in the _Giaour_ (line 68, sq., _vide ante_, p. 88), beginning--"He who hath bent him o'er the dead."]

[im] _Escaped the idle braid that could not bind_.--[MS.]

[in] _By the first glance on that cold soulless brow_.--[MS.]

[io] {294} _And the night cometh--'tis the same to him_.--[M.S.]

[237] [Stanza xxiii. is not in the MS. It was forwarded on a separate sheet, with the following directions:--(1814, January 10, 11.) "Let the following lines be sent immediately, and form the _last section_ (number it) _but one_ of the _3^rd^_ (last) Canto."]

[238] {295} [Byron had, perhaps, explored the famous stalactite cavern in the island of Anti-Paros, which is described by Tournefort, Clarke, Choiseul-Gouffier, and other travellers.]

[239] {296} That the point of honour which is represented in one instance of Conrad's character has not been carried beyond the bounds of probability, may perhaps be in some degree confirmed by the following anecdote of a brother buccaneer in the year 1814:--"Our readers have all seen the account of the enterprise against the pirates of Barataria; but few, we believe, were informed of the situation, history, or nature of that establishment. For the information of such as were unacquainted with it, we have procured from a friend the following interesting narrative of the main facts, of which he has personal knowledge, and which cannot fail to interest some of our readers:--Barataria is a bayou, or a narrow arm of the Gulf of Mexico; it runs through a rich but very flat country, until it reaches within a mile of the Mississippi river, fifteen miles below the city of New Orleans. This bayou has branches almost innumerable, in which persons can lie concealed from the severest scrutiny. It communicates with three lakes which lie on the south-west side, and these, with the lake of the same name, and which lies contiguous to the sea, where there is an island formed by the two arms of this lake and the sea. The east and west points of this island were fortified, in the year 1811, by a band of pirates, under the command of one Monsieur La Fitte. A large majority of these outlaws are of that class of the population of the state of Louisiana who fled from the island of St. Domingo during the troubles there, and took refuge in the island of Cuba; and when the last war between France and Spain commenced, they were compelled to leave that island with the short notice of a few days. Without ceremony they entered the United States, the most of them the state of Louisiana, with all the negroes they had possessed in Cuba. They were notified by the Governor of that State of the clause in the constitution which forbade the importation of slaves; but, at the same time, received the assurance of the Governor that he would obtain, if possible, the approbation of the General Government for their retaining this property.--The island of Barataria is situated about lat. 29 deg. 15 min., lon. 92. 30.; and is as remarkable for its health as for the superior scale and shell fish with which its waters abound. The chief of this horde, like Charles de Moor, had, mixed with his many vices, some transcendant virtues. In the year 1813, this party had, from its turpitude and boldness, claimed the attention of the Governor of Louisiana; and to break up the establishment he thought proper to strike at the head. He therefore, offered a reward of 500 dollars for the head of Monsieur La Fitte, who was well known to the inhabitants of the city of New Orleans, from his immediate connection, and his once having been a fencing-master in that city of great reputation, which art he learnt in Buonaparte's army, where he was a captain. The reward which was offered by the Governor for the head of La Fitte was answered by the offer of a reward from the latter of 15,000 for the head of the Governor. The Governor ordered out a company to march from the city to La Fitte's island, and to burn and destroy all the property, and to bring to the city of New Orleans all his banditti. This company, under the command of a man who had been the intimate associate of this bold Captain, approached very near to the fortified island, before he saw a man, or heard a sound, until he heard a whistle, not unlike a boatswain's call. Then it was he found himself surrounded by armed men who had emerged from the secret avenues which led to this bayou. Here it was that this modern Charles de Moor developed his few noble traits; for to this man, who had come to destroy his life and all that was dear to him, he not only spared his life, but offered him that which would have made the honest soldier easy for the remainder of his days, which was indignantly refused. He then, with the approbation of his captor, returned to the city. This circumstance, and some concomitant events, proved that this band of pirates was not to be taken by land. Our naval force having always been small in that quarter, exertions for the destruction of this illicit establishment could not be expected from them until augmented; for an officer of the navy, with most of the gun-boats on that station, had to retreat from an overwhelming force of La Fitte's. So soon as the augmentation of the navy authorised an attack, one was made; the overthrow of this banditti has been the result: and now this almost invulnerable point and key to New Orleans is clear of an enemy, it is to be hoped the government will hold it by a strong military force."--American Newspaper.

[The story of the "Pirates of Barataria," which an American print, the _National Intelligencer_, was the first to make public, is quoted _in extenso_ by the _Weekly Messenger_ (published at Boston) of November 4, 1814. It is remarkable that a tale which was destined to pass into the domain of historical romance should have been instantly seized upon and turned to account by Byron, whilst it was as yet half-told, while the legend was still in the making. Jean Lafitte, the Franco-American Conrad, was born either at Bayonne or Bordeaux, circ. 1780, emigrated with his elder brother Pierre, and settled at New Orleans, in 1809, as a blacksmith. Legitimate trade was flat, but the delta of the Mississippi, with its labyrinth of creeks and islands and _bayous_, teemed with pirates or merchant-smugglers. Accordingly, under the nominal sanction of letters of marque from the Republic of Cartagena, and as belligerents of Spain, the brothers, who had taken up their quarters on Grande Terre, an island to the east of the "Grand Pass," or channel of the Bay of Barataria, swept the Gulph of Mexico with an organised flotilla of privateers, and acquired vast booty in the way of specie and living cargoes of claves. Hence the proclamation of the Governor of Louisiana, W. C. C. Claiborne, in which (November 24, 1813) he offered a sum of $500 for the capture of Jean Lafitte. For the sequel of this first act of the drama the "American newspaper" is the sole authority. The facts, however, if facts they be, which are pieced together by Charles Étienne Arthur Gayarré, in the _History of Louisiana_ (1885, iv. 301, sq.), and in two articles contributed to the American _Magazine of History_, October and November, 1883, are as curious and romantic as the legend. It would appear that early in September, 1814, a British officer, Colonel E. Nicholls, made overtures to Jean Lafitte, offering him the rank of captain in the British army, a grant of lands, and a sum of $30,000 if he would join forces with the British squadron then engaged in an attack on the coast of Louisiana. Lafitte begged for time to consider Colonel Nicholls's proposal, but immediately put himself in communication with Claiborne, offering, on condition of immunity for past offences, to place his resources at the disposal of the United States. Claiborne's reply to this patriotic offer seems to have been to despatch a strong naval force, under Commander Daniel Patterson, with orders to exterminate the pirates, and seize their fort on Grande Terre; and, on this occasion, though the brothers escaped, the authorities were successful. A proclamation was issued by General Andrew Jackson, in which the pirates were denounced as "hellish banditti," and, to all appearances, their career was at an end. But circumstances were in their favour, and a few weeks later Jackson not only went back on his own mandate, but accepted the alliance and services of the brothers Lafitte and their captains at the siege of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. Finally, when peace with Great Britain was concluded, President Madison publicly acknowledged the "unequivocal traits of courage and fidelity" which had been displayed by the brothers Lafitte, and the once proscribed band of outlaws. Thenceforth Pierre Lafitte disappears from history; but Jean is believed to have settled first at Galveston, in Texas, and afterwards, in 1820, on the coast of Yucatan, whence "he continued his depredations on Spanish commerce." He died game, a pirate to the last, in 1826. See, for what purports to be documentary evidence of the correspondence between Colonel E. Nicholls and Jean Lafitte, _Historical Memoirs of the War in West Florida and Louisiana_, by Major A. La Carriére Latour, 1816, Appendix III. pp. vii.-xv. See, too, _Fernando de Lemos_ (an historical novel), by Charles Gayarré, 1872, pp. 347-361.]

In [the Rev. Mark] Noble's continuation of "Granger's _Biographical History_" [_of England_, 1806, iii. 68], there is a singular passage in his account of Archbishop Blackbourne [1658-1743]; and as in some measure connected with the profession of the hero of the foregoing poem, I cannot resist the temptation of extracting it.--"There is something mysterious in the history and character of Dr. Blackbourne. The former is but imperfectly known; and report has even asserted he was a buccaneer; and that one of his brethren in that profession having asked, on his arrival in England, what had become of his old chum, Blackbourne, was answered, he is Archbishop of York. We are informed, that Blackbourne was installed sub-dean of Exeter in 1694, which office he resigned in 1702; but after his successor Lewis Barnet's death, in 1704, he regained it. In the following year he became dean; and in 1714 held with it the archdeanery [i.e. archdeaconry] of Cornwall. He was consecrated Bishop of Exeter, February 24, 1716; and translated to York, November 28, 1724, as a reward, according to court scandal, for uniting George I. to the Duchess of Munster. This, however, appears to have been an unfounded calumny. As archbishop he behaved with great prudence, and was equally respectable as the guardian of the revenues of the see. Rumour whispered he retained the vices of his youth, and that a passion for the fair sex formed an item in the list of his weaknesses; but so far from being convicted by seventy witnesses, he does not appear to have been directly criminated by one. In short, I look upon these aspersions as the effects of mere malice. How is it possible a buccaneer should have been so good a scholar as Blackbourne certainly was? He who had so perfect a knowledge of the classics (particularly of the Greek tragedians), as to be able to read them with the same ease as he could Shakespeare, must have taken great pains to acquire the learned languages; and have had both leisure and good masters. But he was undoubtedly educated at Christ-church College, Oxford. He is allowed to have been a pleasant man; this, however, was turned against him, by its being said, 'he gained more hearts than souls.'"

[Walpole, in his _Memoirs of the Reign of King George II._, 1847, i. 87, who makes himself the mouthpiece of these calumnies, says that Hayter, Bishop of Norwich, was "a natural son of Blackbourne, the jolly old Archbishop of York, who had all the manners of a man of quality, though he had been a Buccaneer, and was a clergyman; but he retained nothing of his first profession except his seraglio."]

* * * * *

"The only voice that could soothe the passions of the savage (Alphonso III.) was that of an amiable and virtuous wife, the sole object of his love; the voice of Donna Isabella, the daughter of the Duke of Savoy, and the grand-daughter of Philip II. King of Spain. Her dying words sunk deep into his memory [A.D. 1626, August 22]; his fierce spirit melted into tears; and, after the last embrace, Alphonso retired into his chamber to bewail his irreparable loss, and to meditate on the vanity of human life."--Gibbon's _Miscellaneous Works_ [1837, p. 831].

[This final note was added to the Tenth Edition.]

ODE TO NAPOLEON

BUONAPARTE.[240]

"Expende Annibalem:--quot libras in duce summo Invenies?"
Juvenal, [Lib. iv.] _Sat._ x. line 147.[241]

"The Emperor Nepos was acknowledged by the _Senate_, by the _Italians_, and by the Provincials of _Gaul_; his moral virtues, and military talents, were loudly celebrated; and those who derived any private benefit from his government announced in prophetic strains the restoration of the public felicity. * * By this shameful abdication, he protracted his life about five years, in a very ambiguous state, between an Emperor and an Exile, till!!!"--Gibbon's _Decline and Fall_, two vols. notes by Milman, i. 979.[242]