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My dearest Tom,

"December 14. 1814.

"I will send the pattern to-morrow, and since you don't go to our friend (of the keeping part of the town') this evening, I shall e'en sulk at home over a solitary potation. My self-opinion rises much by your eulogy of my social qualities. As my friend Scrope is pleased to say, I believe I am very well for a holiday drinker.' Where the devil are you? With Woolriche, I conjecture for which you deserve another abscess. Hoping that the American war will last for many years, and that all the prizes may be registered at Bermoothes, believe me, &c.

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"A thousand thanks for Gibbon: all the additions are very great improvements.

"At last I must be most peremptory with you about the print from Phillips's picture; it is pronounced on all hands the most stupid and disagreeable possible: so do, pray, have a new engraving, and let me see it first; there really must be no more from the same plate. I don't much care, myself; but every one I honour torments me to death about it, and abuses it to a degree beyond repeating. Now, don't answer with excuses; but, for my sake, have it destroyed: I never shall have peace till it is. I write in the greatest haste.

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'P. S. I have written this most illegibly; but it is to beg you to destroy the print, and have another by particular desire.' It must be d-d bad, to be sure, since every body says so but the original; and he don't know what to say. But do do it: that is, burn the plate, and employ a new etcher from the other picture. This is stupid and sulky."

1 Dr. Woolriche, an old and valued friend of mine, to whose skill, on the occasion here alluded to, I was indebted for my life.

2 The Dream. [" It is hard to say, whether the cynical prose of the letters, or the bitter sadness of the poetry, augured the worst for the results of this rash union. It is sufficiently obvious, that Lord Byron did not solicit Miss Milbanke's hand under the influence of any thing which could deserve the name of love; and we fear it must also be admitted, that he entered on matrimonial

On his arrival in town, he had, upon inquiring into the state of his affairs, found them in so utterly embarrassed a condition as to fill him with some alarm, and even to suggest to his mind the prudence of deferring his marriage. The die was, however, cast, and he had now no alternative but to proceed. Accordingly, at the end of December, accompanied by his friend Mr. Hobhouse, he set out for Seaham, the seat of Sir Ralph Milbanke, the lady's father, in the county of Durham, and on the 2d of January, 1815, was married.

"I saw him stand
Before an altar with a gentle bride;
Her face was fair, but was not that which made
The Starlight of his Boyhood; -as he stood
Even at the altar, o'er his brow there came
That in the antique Oratory shook
The self-same aspect, and the quivering shock
His bosom in its solitude; and then —

As in that hour-a moment o'er his face,
The tablet of unutterable thoughts
Was traced, and then it faded as it came,
And he stood calm and quiet, and he spoke
The fitting vows, but heard not his own words,
And all things reel'd around him; he could see
Not that which was, nor that which should have been —
But the old mansion, and the accustom'd hall,
And the remember'd chambers, and the place,
The day, the hour, the sunshine, and the shade,
All things pertaining to that place and hour,
And her, who was his destiny, came back,
And thrust themselves between him and the light: -
What business had they there at such a time?" 2

many of its circumstances, with his own This touching picture agrees so closely, in prose account of the wedding in his Memoranda, that I feel justified in introducing it, historically, here. In that Memoir, he described himself as waking, on the morning of his marriage, with the most melancholy reflections, on seeing his wedding-suit spread out before him. In the same mood, he wandered about the grounds alone, till he was summoned for the ceremony, and joined, for the first time on that day, his bride and her family. He knelt down, he repeated the words after the clergyman; but a mist was before his eyes,—his thoughts were elsewhere; and he was but awakened by the congratulations of the bystanders, to find that he was— married.

life, not only without any serious consideration of the solemn and sacred obligations he was taking upon him, but in a mood and temper of mind very slightly tinged with those feelings and reflections which, even where it is too late for the high and delicate romance of an unwasted heart, spring up naturally on such occasions, and afford at least the prospect of a tender watchfulness and a generous protection to the woman who, in the freshness of youth and innocence, surrenders her all to a manly bosom."- Quart. Rev. 1831.]

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nounced it-and the Morning Post, also, under the head of Lord Byron's Marriage' as if it were a fabrication, or the puffdirect of a new stay-maker.

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Now for thine affairs. I have redde thee upon the Fathers, and it is excellent well. Positively, you must not leave off reviewing. You shine in it—you kill in it: and this article has been taken for Sydney Smith's (as I heard in town), which proves not only your proficiency in parsonology, but that you have all the airs of a veteran critic at your first onset. So, prithee, go on and prosper.

"Scott's Lord of the Isles' is out -'the mail-coach copy' I have, by special licence, of Murray.

"Now is your time; -you will come upon them newly and freshly. It is impossible to read what you have lately done (verse or prose) without seeing that you have trained on tenfold. ** has floundered; * * has foundered. I have tried the rascals (i. e. the public) with my Harrys and Larrys, Pilgrims and Pirates. Nobody but S****y [Southey] has done any thing worth a slice of bookseller's pudding, and he has not luck enough to be found out in doing a good thing. Now, Tom, is thy time

'Oh, joyful day!-I would not take a knighthood for thy fortune.' Let me hear from you soon, and believe me ever, &c.

"P.S.-Lady Byron is vastly well. How are Mrs. Moore and Joe Atkinson's 'Graces ?' We must present our women to one another."

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'Egad! I don't think he is down ;' and my prophecy-like most auguries, sacred and profane is not annulled, but inverted. 66 The To your question about the 'dog' Umph! my mother,' I won't say any thing

66 Halnaby, Darlington, January 10. 1815. "I was married this day week. parson has pronounced it-Perry has an

1 ["That Byron should have called his bride, the moment after marriage, 'Miss Milbanke,' was of ill omen; for it was cold as ice, when his looks should have been like that harmless lightning, that, without any noise, softly gleams through the twilight of the summer woods; and his words a blessing and a prayer prolonged in the spirit of the nuptial benediction, but confined now in its glowing sanctity to his own virgin's ear."- WILSON.] 2 The Hebrew Melodies which he had employed himself in writing, during his recent stay in London.

3 [A review, by Mr. Moore, of a work entitled" Select Passages from the Writings of St. Chrysostom, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and St. Basil, translated from the Greek by Hugh Stuart Boyd." See Edinb. Rev. vol. xxiv. p. 58.]

4 I had just been reading Mr. Southey's fine poem of "Roderick ;" and, with reference to an incident in it, had put the following question to Lord Byron-"I should

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against that is, about her: but how long a mistress' or friend may recollect paramours or competitors (lust and thirst being the two great and only bonds between the amatory or the amieable), I can't say, or, rather, you know, as well as I could tell you. But as for canine recollections, as far as I could judge by a cur of mine own, (always bating Boatswain, the dearest, and, alas! the maddest of dogs,) I had one (half a wolf by the she side) that doted on me at ten years old, and very nearly ate me at twenty. When I thought he was going to enact Argus, he bit away the backside of my breeches, and never would consent to any kind of recognition, in despite of all kinds of bones which I offered him. So, let Southey blush and Homer too, as far as I can decide upon quadruped memories.

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"I humbly take it, the mother knows the son that pays her jointure -a mistress her mate, till he✶✶ and refuses salary-a friend his fellow, till he loses cash and character -and a dog his master, till he changes him. So, you want to know about milady and me? But let me not, as Roderick Random says, 'profane the chaste mysteries of Hydamn the word, I had nearly spelt it with a small h. I like Bell as well as you do (or did, you villain!) Bessy- and that is (or was) saying a great deal.

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"Address your next to Seaham, Stocktonon-Tees, where we are going on Saturday (a bore, by the way,) to see father-in-law, Sir Jacob, and my lady's lady-mother. Write -and write more at length both to the public and yours ever most affectionately,

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"B."

"Seaham, Stockton-on-Tees, February 2. 1815. I have heard from London that you have left Chatsworth and all the women full of entusymusy' about you, personally and poetically; and, in particular, that When first I met thee' has been quite overwhelming in its effect. I told you it was one of the best things you ever wrote, though that dog Power wanted you to omit part of it. They are all regretting your absence at Chatsworth, according to my informant all the ladies quite,' &c. &c. &c. Stap my vitals!

["An honest gentleman at his return

May not have the good fortune of Ulysses;

Not all lone matrons for their husbands mourn,
Or show the same dislike to suitors' kisses;
The odds are, that he finds a handsome urn

To his memory -and two or three young misses, Born to some friend, who holds his wife and riches, And that his Argus bites him by the breeches." Don Juan, c. iii. st. 23.]

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Well, now you have got home again which I dare say is as agreeable as a draught of cool small beer to the scorched palate of a waking sot-now you have got home again, I say, probably I shall hear from you. Since I wrote last, I have been transferred to my father-in-law's, with my lady and my lady's maid, &c. &c. &c. and the treaclemoon is over, and I am awake, and find myself married. My spouse and I agree to and in — admiration. Swift says 'no wise man ever married;' but, for a fool, I think it the most ambrosial of all possible future states. I still think one ought to marry upon lease; but am very sure I should renew mine at the expiration, though next term were for ninety and nine years.

"I wish you would respond, for I am here 'oblitusque meorum obliviscendus et illis.' Pray tell me what is going on in the way of intriguery, and how the w―s and rogues of the upper Beggar's Opera go on-or rather go off-in or after marriage; or who are going to break any particular commandment. Upon this dreary coast, we have nothing but county meetings and shipwrecks: and I have this day dined upon fish, which probably dined upon the crews of several colliers lost in the late gales. But I saw the sea once more in all the glories of surf and foam, almost equal to the Bay of Biscay, and the interesting white squalls and short seas of Archipelago memory.

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"My papa, Sir Ralpho, hath recently made a speech at a Durham tax-meeting; and not only at Durham, but here, several times since after dinner. He is now, I believe, speaking it to himself (I left him in the middle) over various decanters, which can neither interrupt him nor fall asleep,- as might possibly have been the case with some of his audience. Ever thine, "B.

"I must go to tea- damn tea. I wish it was Kinnaird's brandy, and with you to lecture me about it."

LETTER 212. TO MR. MURRAY.

"Seaham, Stockton-upon-Tees, February 2. 1815. "You will oblige me very much by making an occasional inquiry in Albany, at my chambers, whether my books, &c. are kept in tolerable order, and how far my old woman + continues in health and industry as keeper of

2 The letter H. is blotted in the MS.

3 It was thus that, according to his account, a certain celebrated singer and actor used frequently to pronounce the word "enthusiasm."

4 Mrs. Mule.

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"February 4. 1815.

275

found out that you have a particular style of your own, which is as distinct from all other people, as Hafiz of Shiraz from Hafiz of the Morning Post?

"So you allowed B ** and such like to hum and haw you, or, rather, Lady Jersey out of her compliment, and me out of mine. Sun-burn me, but this was pitiful-hearted. However, I will tell her all about it when I see her.

"Bell desires me to say all kinds of civi"I enclose you half a letter from * *, lities, and assure you of her recognition and which will explain itself—at least the latter high consideration. I will tell you of our part the former refers to private business movements south, which may be in about of mine own. If Jeffrey will take such an three weeks from this present writing. By article, and you will undertake the revision, the way, don't engage yourself in any travelor, indeed, any portion of the article itself ling expedition, as I have a plan of travel (for unless you do, by Phoebus, I will have into Italy, which we will discuss. And then, nothing to do with it,) we can cook up, be- think of the poesy wherewithal we should tween us three, as pretty a dish of sour-overflow, from Venice to Vesuvius, to say crout as ever tipped over the tongue of a bookmaker.

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"February 10. 1815.

Jeffrey has been so very kind about me and my damnable works, that I would not be indirect or equivocal with him, even for a friend. So, it may be as well to tell him that it is not mine; but that if I did not firmly and truly believe it to be much better than I could offer, I would never have troubled him or you about it. You can judge between you how far it is admissible, and reject it, if not of the right sort. For my own part, I have no interest in the article one way or the other, further than to oblige ; and should the composition be a good one, it can hurt neither party,- nor, indeed, any one, saving and excepting Mr. ****.

**

"Curse catch me if I know what H ** means or meaned about the demonstrative pronoun, but I admire your fear of being inoculated with the same. Have you never

1 Some remark which he told me had been made with respect to the frequent use of the demonstrative pronoun both by himself and by Sir Walter Scott.

• Verses to Lady Jersey (containing an allusion to Lord

nothing of Greece, through all which-God willing-we might perambulate in one twelve months. If I take my wife, you can take yours; and if I leave mine, you may do the same. Mind you stand by me in either case, Brother Bruin.' 3

"And believe me inveterately yours,

LETTER 215. TO MR. MOORE

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"B."

"February 22. 1815. Yesterday I sent off the packet and letter to Edinburgh. It consisted of fortyone pages, so that I have not added a line; but in my letter, I mentioned what passed between you and me in autumn, as inmy ducement for presuming to trouble him either with my own or * *'s lucubrations. I am any thing but sure that it will do; but I have told Jeffrey that if there is any decent raw material in it, he may cut it into what shape he pleases, and warp it to his liking.

"So you won't go abroad, then, with me, but alone. I fully purpose starting much about the time you mention, and alone, too.

"I hope J. won't think me very impudent in sending ** only: there was not room for a syllable. I have avowed ** as the author, and said that you thought or said, when I met you last, that he (J.) would not be angry at the coalition, (though, alas! we have not coalesced,) and so, if I have got into a scrape, I must get out of it - Heaven knows how.

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"Not meet - pray don't say so. We must meet somewhere or somehow. Newstead is out of the question, being nearly sold again, or, if not, it is uninhabitable for my spouse. Pray write again. I will soon.

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"I am in such a state of sameness and stagnation, and so totally occupied in consuming the fruits and sauntering - and playing dull games at cards and yawning and trying to read old Annual Registers and the daily papers and gathering shells on the shore and watching the growth of stunted gooseberry bushes in the gardenthat I have neither time nor sense to say more than yours ever,

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"B.

"P. S.-Pray when do you come out? ever or never? I hope I have made no blunder; but I certainly think you said to me, (after W **th, whom I first pondered upon, was given up,) that ** and I might attempt ****. His length alone prevented "P. S.-I open my letter again to put a me from trying my part, though I should question to you. What would Lady Cork 5, have been less severe upon the Reviewée. or any other fashionable Pidcock, give to "Your seal is the best and prettiest of my collect you and Jeffrey and me to one party? set, and I thank you very much therefor. II have been answering his letter, which sughave just been or rather, ought to be-gested this dainty query. I can't help laughvery much shocked by the death of the Duke ing at the thoughts of your face and mine; of Dorset. We were at school together, and and our anxiety to keep the Aristarch in good there I was passionately attached to him. humour during the early part of a compoSince, we have never met-but once, I tation, till we got drunk enough to make him think, since 1805-and it would be a paltry a speech.' I think the critic would have affectation to pretend that I had any feeling much the best of us- - of one, at least - for for him worth the name. But there was a I don't think diffidence (I mean social) is a time in my life when this event would have disease of yours." broken my heart; and all I can say for it now is that- it is not worth breaking.

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'Adieu-it is all a farce."

TO MR. MOORE.

"March 2. 1815.

My dear Thom, "Jeffrey has sent me the most friendly of all possible letters, and has accepted **'s article. He says he has long liked not only, &c. &c. but my character. This must be your doing, you dog-ar'nt you ashamed of yourself, knowing me so well? This is what one gets for having you for a father confessor.

I had taken the liberty of laughing a little at the manner in which some of his Hebrew Melodies had been set to music.

2 The verses enclosed were those melancholy ones now printed in his works, "There's not a joy the world can give like those it takes away." [See Works, p. 560.] 3 The MS. was in the handwriting of Lady Byron. 4 These allusions to "a speech" are connected with a little incident, not worth mentioning, which had amused us both when I was in town. He was rather fond (and had been always so, as may be seen in his early letters) of thus harping on some conventional phrase or joke. 5 ["The Hon. Mary Monkton, daughter of the first Viscount Galway, born April, 1747; married, in 1786, to

LETTER 217.

"An event

TO MR. MOORE.

"March 8.1815.

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the death of poor Dorsetand the recollection of what I once felt, and ought to have felt now, but could not me pondering, and finally into the train of thought which you have in your hands. I am very glad you like them, for I flatter myself they will pass as an imitation of your style. If I could imitate it well, I should have no great ambition of originality — I wish I could make you exclaim with Dennis, 'That's my thunder, by G-d!' I wrote

Edmund, seventh Earl of Cork and Orrery. Lodge's Peerage dates her birth 1737, but this is a mistake, for an elder sister of the same name. Now (1838) in her ninetysecond year, Lady Cork still entertains and enjoys society with extraordinary health, spirits, and vivacity; and Boswell's description of her fifty-seven years ago as 'the lively Miss Monkton, who used always to have the finest bit of blue at her parties, is characteristic to this day."Croker on Boswell.]

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