nothing. Mr. Dawkins, our minister, assures me that no suspicion is entertained of the man who wounded him having been instigated by me, or any of the party. I enclose you copies of the depositions of those with us, and Dr. Craufurd, a canny Scot (not an acquaintance), who saw the latter part of the affair. They are in Italian. These are the only literary matters in which I have been engaged since the publication and row about Cain ;'-but Mr. Murray has several things of mine in his obstetrical hands. Another Mystery- a Vision a Drama- and the like. But you won't tell me what you are doing - however, I shall find you out, write what you will. You say that I should like your son-in-law - it would be very difficult for me to dislike any one connected with you; but I have no doubt that his own qualities are all that you describe. "I am sorry you don't like Lord Orford's new work. My aristocracy, which is very fierce, makes him a favourite of mine. Recollect that those 'little factions' comprised Lord Chatham and Fox, the father; and that we live in gigantic and exaggerated times, which make all under Gog and Magog appear pigmean. After having seen Napoleon begin like Tamerlane and end like Bajazet in our own time, we have not the same interest in what would otherwise have appeared important history. But I must conclude. "Believe me ever and most truly yours, "NOEL BYRON." LETTER 492. TO MR. MURRAY. rages you. "Montenero 3, May 26. 1522. Near Leghorn. "The body is embarked, in what ship I know not, neither could I enter into the details; but the Countess G. G. has had the goodness to give the necessary orders to Mr. Dunn, who superintends the embarkation, and will write to you. I wish it to be buried Harrow church. "Pisa, May 17. 1822. "I hear that the Edinburgh has attacked the three dramas, which is a bad business for and I don't wonder that it discouyou; However, that volume may be trusted to time, depend upon it. I read it over with some attention since it was pub-in lished, and I think the time will come when it will be preferred to my other writings, though not immediately. I say this without irritation against the critics or criticism, whatever they may be (for I have not seen them); and nothing that has or may appear in Jeffrey's Review can make me forget that he 1 [His "Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of the Reign of George II."] 2 Here follows a repetition of the details given on this subject to Sir Walter Scott and others. 3 A hill, three or four miles from Leghorn, much resorted to as a place of residence during the summer months. ["Spot of my youth! whose hoary branches sigh, Swept by the breeze that fans thy cloudless sky; "There is a spot in the churchyard, near the footpath, on the brow of the hill looking towards Windsor, and a tomb under a large tree, (bearing the name of Peachie, or Peachey,) where I used to sit for hours and hours when a boy. This was my favourite spot; but, as I wish to erect a tablet to her memory, the body had better be deposited in the church. Near the door, on the left hand as you enter, there is a monument with a tablet containing these words :— "When Sorrow weeps o'er Virtue's sacred dust, I recollect them (after seventeen years), not from any thing remarkable in them, but be cause from my seat in the gallery I had generally my eyes turned towards that monument. As near it as convenient I could wish Allegra to be buried, and on the wall a marble tablet placed, with these words : "In Memory of Allegra, Daughter of G. G. Lord Byron, 'I shall go to her, but she shall not return to me.' 2d Samuel, xli. 23. "The funeral I wish to be as private as is consistent with decency; and I could hope that Henry Drury will, perhaps, read the service over her. If he should decline it, it can be done by the usual minister for the time being. I do not know that I need add more just now. "Since I came here, I have been invited by the Americans on board their squadron, where I was received with all the kindness which I could wish, and with more ceremony than I am fond of. I found them finer ships than your own of the same class, well manned and officered. A number of American gentlemen also were on board at the time, and some ladies. As I was taking leave, an American lady asked me for a rose which I wore, for the purpose, she said, of sending to America something which I had about me, as a memorial. I need not add, that I felt the compliment properly. Captain Chauncey showed me an American and very pretty edition of my poems, and offered me a passage to the United States, if I would go there. Commodore Jones was also not less kind and attentive. I have since received the enclosed letter, desiring me to sit for my picture for some Americans. It is singular that, in the same year that Lady Noel leaves by will an interdiction for my daughter to see her father's portrait for many years, the individuals of a nation, not remarkable for their liking to the English in particular, nor for flattering men in general, request me to [By the will of Lady Noel, proved in Doctors' Commons by Dr. Lushington and Nicholas Ridley Colbourne, Esq., the executors, a portrait of Lord Byron, described to be in a case at the house of Krkby Malory, is left to the trustees, with directions to keep it safely inclosed and "Montenero, near Leghorn, May 29. 1822. "I RETURN you the proofs revised. Your printer has made one odd mistake :-'poor shut up till Ada Augusta attains the age of twenty-one, when it is to be delivered to her; but should Lady Byron be then living, it is not to be so delivered until after her decease, unless with her Ladyship's assent.] 2 [See anté, p. 448.] as a mouse,' instead of 'poor as a miser. The expression may seem strange, but it is only a translation of 'semper avarus eget.' You will add the Mystery, and publish as soon as you can. I care nothing for your 'season,' nor the blue approbations or disapprobations. All that is to be considered by you on the subject is as a matter of business; and if I square that to your notions (even to the running the risk entirely myself), you may permit me to choose my own time and mode of publication. With regard to the late volume, the present run against it or me may impede it for a time, but it has the vital principle of permanency within it, as you may perhaps one day discover. I wrote to you on another subject a few days ago. Yours, N. B. "P. S.- Please to send me the Dedication of Sardanapalus to Goethe. I shall prefix it to Werner, unless you prefer my putting another, stating that the former had been omitted by the publisher. "On the title-page of the present volume, put Published for the Author, by J. M."" LETTER 496. TO MR. MURRAY. "Montenero, Leghorn, June 6. 1822. "I return you the revise of Werner, and expect the rest. With regard to the Lines to the Po, perhaps you had better put them quietly in a second edition (if you reach one, that is to say) than in the first; because, though they have been reckoned fine, and I wish them to be preserved, I do not wish them to attract IMMEDIATE observation, on account of the relationship of the lady to whom they are addressed with the first families in Romagna and the Marches. "The defender of Cain' may or may not be, as you term him, a tyro in literature:' however, I think both you and I are under great obligation to him. I have read the Edinburgh review in Galignani's Magazine, and have not yet decided whether to answer them or not; for, if I do, it will be difficult for me not to make sport for the Philistines' by pulling down a house or two; since, when I once take pen in hand, I must say what comes uppermost, or fling it away. I have not the hypocrisy to pretend impartiality, nor 1 ["Fritz. The man call'd Werner 's poor ! Iden. Poor as a miser." Werner, act ii. sc. 1.] ["It is nothing less than absurd to observe, that Lucifer cannot well be expected to talk like an orthodox divine, and that the conversation of the first rebel and the first murderer was not likely to be very unexceptionable; or to plead the authority of Milton, or the authors of the old mysteries, for such offensive colloquies. The the temper (as it is called) to keep always from saying what may not be pleasing to the hearer or reader. What do they mean by elaborate?' Why, you know that they were written as fast as I could put pen to paper. and printed from the original MSS., and never revised but in the proofs: look at the dates and the MSS. themselves. Whatever faults they have must spring from carelessness, and not from labour. They said the same of Lara,' which I wrote while undressing after coming home from balls and masquerades, in the year of revelry 1814. Yours. "* June 8. 1982. "You give me no explanation of your intention as to the Vision of Quevedo Redivivus,' one of my best things: indeed, you are altogether so abstruse and undecided lately, that I suppose you mean me to write 'John which would not displease the clergy nor the Murray, Esq., a Mystery,' - a composition trade. I by no means wish you to do what will do. The Vision must be published by you don't like, but merely to say what you some one. As to 'clamours,' the die is cast: and 'come one, come all,' we will fight it - at least one of us." out LETTER 497. TO MR. MOORE. "Montenero, Villa Dupoy, near Leghorn, June 8. 1822. "I have written to you twice through the medium of Murray, and on one subject, trite enough, the loss of poor little Allegra by a fever; on which topic I shall say no more - there is nothing but time. "A few days ago, my earliest and dearest friend, Lord Clare, came over from Geneva on purpose to see me before he returned to England. As I have always loved him (since I was thirteen, at Harrow) better than any (male) thing in the world, I need hardly say what a melancholy pleasure it was to see him for a day only; for he was obliged to resume his journey immediately. Do you recollect, in the year of revelry 1814, the pleasantest parties and balls all over London? and not the least so at **'s. Do you recollect your singing duets with Lady and my flirtation with Lady * *, and all the other fooleries of the time? while** was fact is, that here the whole argument- and a very cla borate and specious argument it is-is directed against the goodness or the power of the Deity, and against the reasonableness of religion in general; and there is no answer so much as attempted to the offensive doctrines that are so strenuously inculcated. The Devil and his pupil have the field entirely to themselves, and are c countered with nothing but feeble obtestations and unreasoning horrors."— Edinb. Rev. vol. xxxvi. p. 437.] sighing, and Lady * * ogling him with her clear hazel eyes. But eight years have passed, and, since that time, * has * * * ** has run away with ***** ; and mysen (as my Nottinghamshire friends call themselves) might as well have thrown myself out of the window while you were singing, as intermarried where I did. You and ** have come off the best of us. I speak merely of my marriage, and its consequences, distresses, and calumnies; for I have been much more happy, on the whole, since, than I ever could have been with * "I have read the recent article of Jeffrey in a faithful transcription of the impartial Galignani. I suppose the long and short of it is, that he wishes to provoke me to reply. But I won't, for I owe him a good turn still for his kindness by-gone. Indeed, I presume that the present opportunity of attacking me again was irresistible; and I can't blame him, knowing what human nature is. I shall make but one remark :—what does he mean by elaborate? The whole volume was written with the greatest rapidity, in the midst of evolutions, and revolutions, and persecutions, and proscriptions of all who interested me in Italy. They said the same of Lara,' which, you know, was written amidst balls and fooleries, and after coming home from masquerades and routs, in the summer of the sovereigns. Of all I have ever written, they are perhaps the most carelessly composed; and their faults, whatever they may be, are those of negligence, and not of labour. I do not think this a merit, but it is a fact. "Yours ever and truly, N. B. "P. S.-You see the great advantage of my new signature;-it may either stand for Nota Bene' or 'Noel Byron,' and, as such, will save much repetition, in writing either books or letters. Since I came here, I have been invited on board of the American squadron, and treated with all possible honour and ceremony. They have asked me to sit for my picture; and, as I was going away, an American lady took a rose from me (which had been given to me by a very pretty Italian lady that very morning), because, she said, 'She was determined to send or take something which I had about me to America.' There is a kind of Lalla Rookh incident for you! However, all these American honours 1 The answer which Mr. Ellice returned was, as might be expected, strongly dissuasive of this design. The wholly disorganised state of the country and its institututions, which it would take ages, perhaps, to restore even to the degree of industry and prosperity which it had enjoyed under the Spaniards, rendered Columbia, in his opinion, one of the last places in the world to which My dear Ellice, It is a long time since I have written to you, but I have not forgotten your kindness, and I am now going to tax it- I hope not too highly- but don't be alarmed; it is not a loan, but information, which I am about to solicit. By your extensive connections, no one can have better opportunities of hearing the real state of South America — I mean Bolivar's country. I have many years had transatlantic projects of settlement, and what I could wish from you would be some information of the best course to pursue, and some letters of recommendation in case I I am told that should sail for Angostura. land is very cheap there; but though I have no great disposable funds to vest in such purchases, yet my income, such as it is, would for all the comforts of life, and for most of be sufficient in any country (except England) its luxuries. The war there is now over; and as I do not go there to speculate, but to settle, without any views but those of independence and the enjoyment of the common civil rights, I should presume such an arrival would not be unwelcome. "All I request of you is, not to discourage nor encourage, but to give me such a statement as you think prudent and proper. I do not address my other friends upon this subject, who would only throw obstacles in my way, and bore me to return to England; which I never will do, unless compelled by some insuperable cause. I have a quantity of furniture, books, &c. &c. &c. which I could easily ship from Leghorn; but I wish to look before I leap' over the Atlantic. Is it true that for a few thousand dollars a large tract of land may be obtained? I speak of South America, recollect. I have read some publications on the subject, but they seemed violent and vulgar party productions. Please to address your answer to me at a man desirous of peace and quiet, or of security for his person and property, should resort to as an asylum. As long as Bolivar lived and maintained his authority, every reliance, Mr. Ellice added, might be placed on his integrity and firmness; but with his death a new æra of struggle and confusion would be sure to arise. this place, and believe me ever and truly yours, &c." About this time he sat for his picture to Mr. West, an American artist, who has himself given, in one of our periodical publications, the following account of his noble sitter: : "On the day appointed, I arrived at two o'clock, and began the picture. I found him a bad sitter. He talked all the time, and asked a multitude of questions about America - how I liked Italy, what I thought of the Italians, &c. When he was silent, he was a better sitter than before; for he assumed a countenance that did not belong to him, as though he were thinking of a frontispiece for Childe Harold. In about an hour our first sitting terminated, and I returned to Leghorn, scarcely able to persuade myself that this was the haughty misanthrope whose character had always appeared so enveloped in gloom and mystery; for I do not remember ever to have met with manners more gentle and attractive. "I was by this time sufficiently intimate with him to answer his question as to what I thought of him before I had seen him. He laughed much at the idea which I had formed of him, and said, Well, you find me like other people, do you not?" He often afterwards repeated, And so you thought me a finer fellow, did you?' I remember once telling him, that notwithstanding his vivacity, I thought myself correct in at least one estimate which I had made of him, for I still conceived that he was not a happy man. He enquired earnestly what reason I had for thinking so; and I asked him if he had never observed in little children, after a paroxysm of grief, that they had at intervals a convulsive or tremulous manner of drawing in a long breath. Wherever I had observed this, in persons of whatever age, I had always found that it came from sorrow. He said the thought was new to him, and that he would make use of it. 66 Lord Byron, and all the party, left Villa Rossa (the name of their house) in a few days, to pack up their things in their house "The next day I returned and had anat Pisa. He told me that he should remain a few days there, and desired me, if I could other sitting of an hour, during which he seemed anxious to know what I should make do any thing more to the pictures, to come of my undertaking. Whilst I was painting, and stay with him. He seemed at a loss the window from which I received my light where to go, and was, I thought, on the became suddenly darkened, and I heard a point of embarking for America. I was with voice exclaim'è troppo bello!' I turned, and him at Pisa for a few days; but he was so discovered a beautiful female stooping down annoyed by the police, and the weather was to look in, the ground on the outside being so hot, that I thought it doubtful whether I on a level with the bottom of the window. could improve the pictures, and, taking my Her long golden hair hung down about her departure one morning before he was up, I face and shoulders; her complexion was exwrote him an excuse from Leghorn. Upon quisite, and her smile completed one of the the whole, I left him with an impression that most romantic-looking heads, set off as it was he possessed an excellent heart, which had by the bright sun behind it, which I had ever been misconstrued on all hands from little beheld. Lord Byron invited her to come in,else than a reckless levity of manners, which and introduced her to me as the Countess he took a whimsical pride in opposing to Guiccioli. He seemed very fond of her, and those of other people." I was glad of her presence, for the playful manner which he assumed towards her made him a much better sitter. "The next day, I was pleased to find that the progress which I had made in his likeness had given satisfaction, for, when we were alone, he said that he had a particular favour to request of me would I grant it? I said I should be happy to oblige him; and he enjoined me to the flattering task of painting the Countess Guiccioli's portrait for him. On the following morning I began it, and, after, they sat alternately. He gave me the whole history of his connection with her, and said that he hoped it would last for ever; at any rate, it should not be his fault if it did not. His other attachments had been broken off by no fault of his. LETTER 499. TO MR. MURRAY. "Pisa, July 6. 1922. "I return you the revise. I have softened the part to which Gifford objected, and changed the name of Michael to Raphael, who was an angel of gentler sympathies. By the way, recollect to alter Michael to Raphael in the scene itself throughout, for I have only had time to do so in the list of the dramatis personæ, and scratch out all the pencil-marks, to avoid puzzling the printers. I have given the Vision of Quevedo Redivivus' to John Hunt, which will relieve you from a dilemma. He must publish it at his own risk, as it is at his own desire. Give him |