27. 28. 30. Dec. - Walked into Paris. Early into Paris Early into Paris - In Paris 1.- [Not stated]. infrequent-and it seems reluctant. Illness | 1820, Nov. Morning. 1820, Jan.- Bessy very ill on the 13th and 14th. Asked to dine at the Flahaults on the 14th, but she could not go. I did. — iii. 97. 2. [Not stated] 3. 4. Evening. Dined at Very's. [No Dined at Lord John's . Dined at Very's. [No Bessy.] Dined at Mad. de Souza's. [No Bessy.] Party at home, sung. Dined at Lord Gra nard's, sung. [No Bessy.] Dined at Lord Ran cliff's, sung. [No [Probably at home.] [Probably at home] Dined at home. 5.-Into town at 4. . 6.-Walked for an hour by the Seine. . Dined at a restaura teur's, then went to the Forsters, sung, and dined by 12. [No Bessy.] Dined at Very's. [No Bessy.] Dined at home. So small an incident as a gentleman dining out, though his wife was not well enough to accompany him, would not be worth notice : Bessy and I went shopping; dined afterwards but we shall see that it was not an exception- at a wretched restaurant at the corner of the indeed, the exceptions were all the Rue de la Paix; and in the evening to the Variétés; four pieces, none of them very good. - lb. April 2nd. The Malceods wanted Bessy and me to join them at the Café Français. Bessy not liking to go, I did. 3rd. Bessy ill with a pain in her face, which prevented her going to one of the little theatres: I went alone to the Ambigu. ib. 888. This contrast between his professions and lis practice may, in the hurry and bustle of the Diary, escape a cursory reader- but will be exhibited in the following synopsis of Moore's movements and engagements for a fortnight at the Allée des Veuves - which we select, not as being peculiarly erratic, but only for the singularity of its concluding day having been dedicated to "Bessy": 15th. Went in [to Paris] for the purpose of | business he might have had in England with passing two or three days with the Storys. [No her visit, we are not told; but the Diary Bessy.] scraps look very like a mystification of something which there was some reason or other for not clearly explaining. 16th.-A ball at Story's in the evening, in honor of her [Mrs. Story's] birth day. A strange evening, from various reasons. Bessy did not appear, not feeling well enough, and fearing to bring on the erysipelas again by dancing. I danced quadrilles all night with Misses Drew, Pigot, Chichester, Arthur, &c. Supper very magnificent. Did not get to bed till five o'clock. - iii. 255. We pause to remark that there is no previous note of Bessy's illness," nor indeed had she The inhabitant of the Allée des Veuves finding been so much as mentioned for a fortnight be-silent repose" at the Trois Frères-the fore. The four days that followed this best perhaps, certainly the busiest, and there"strange evening" were spent as usual in fore not the quietest, café of the Palais Royal! dinners with the Storys and Villamils and but he proceeds in a still more serious visits to Tivoli, without the slightest allusion style: to "Bessy" since the 16th; so that we are 21. Went into town early in order to get Bessy's passports, take places, &c. Dined at Villamil's. [No Bessy.] quite startled at reading, without any pre-ill; my home uncomfortable; anxious to employ paratory hint: myself in the midst of distractions, and full of remorse in the utmost of my gayely. — iii. 315. One would be inclined to respect and pity his "remorse ;" and we can well understand his recording it in his Diary as a pledge of amendment. But mark what immediately follows: 22nd.-Drove into town with Bessy at three. Dined at Story's [No Bessy], and came out at eight in the evening. 23rd. All in a bustle preparing for Bessy's departure. Went in to provide money for the dear girl. Dined at Story's. Bessy arrived with her trunks in the evening. 24th. All up and ready in time. Saw Bessy comfortably off! at nine o'clock, with dear little Tom [their boy]. Heaven guard her! No hint is given of either the why or the whither of this sudden movement of one so generally quiescent as my darling Bessy,' till, on the 6th of August, she turns up in Wiltshire. On the 17th Moore is "in low spirits," and "cries bitterly" over the loss of the Liverpool packet, which he had " "just read in the newspaper;" but " a picnic with the Villamils and Mrs. S.," and "a letter, too, from Bessy," make a material "alteration in his spirits" (268). Then went on the usual routine-ices at Tortoni's-dining at taverns-singing with the Villamils supping with the Storys and we hear nothing more of the wife and child till the 3rd of September, when a letter announces," to his great delight," her approaching return; and on the 4th "he was right happy to see" alight, at the Messageries royales, "the dear girl and her little one" (p. 274). But short, alas! was his enjoyment of their loved society - for, at the end of one week. -on the 12th of the said September-we find that he embraced the "lucky" opportunity of accompanying Lord John Russell to England, where he remained two months. What sudden call after that "strange evening" the dear girl and her little boy had in Wiltshire, or why Moore could not have combined any (since it is clear that he has omitted some | Moore followed the "darling girl" on the things) should have published details so 4th August, and remained with her two worthless in themselves, and, we should sup- whole days (!), during which she was pose, so exceedingly disagreeable to the ami-wheeled about in a chair. On the 7th he able person in whom he has taken so much left" the dear girl "his charming Bess" interest. - for London. There he remained between eight and nine weeks, working no doubt in the morning at the Life of Sheridan, but spending his afternoons and nights in more than his usual whirl of dinners, suppers, concerts, theatres, without making, during all the time, the slightest allusion to the state of Cœlum non animum mutant qui trans mare cur-first we hear is that, when Moore returned to the poor lady at Cheltenham, of whom the His lordship expresses, as we have seen, some regret at having contributed to throw Moore into this Parisian vortex. But he may console himself: — it was the nature of the man, and not the influence of place, that produced these effects. runt. The same passion for exhibition and enjoy- His cottage in Wiltshire, fortunately for his tastes, but unluckily for his studies and his business, was within a short walk of the elegant and intellectual hospitality of Bowood, and surrounded by a circle of country neighbors less distinguished but not less joyous, kind and clever. The neighborhood of several little towns, and that great mart of idleness — Bath - afforded frequent occasions or excuses for escape from the monotony of home; and this sometimes even under circumstances similar to those at Paris, which might have been expected to keep a less devoted husband more at home. 1824, Nov. 21st.-Bessy by no means well. Walked over to Bowood, Sung in the evening. Slept there. 22nd. Walked home after breakfast to see how Bessy was. Found Bessy not much better. Got wet in returning to Bowood. Sung again. Slept there.- iv. 253. Sloperton, on the 27th September, he found 1825, Sept. 28th.- Dined at home. Company, &c. Sang in the evening, and slept there. Oct. 1st.- Bowles called at Bowood, while I 2d.-Dined at home. 3d.-Dined at Bowood, &c. &c. 4th and 5th.-[No entry. Still, it seems, at Bowood.] 6th.-[Breakfast, it seems, at Bowood.] Returned home. Dined at Money's [another neighbor], &c. &c. -iv. 321. Where he may have dined the following days is not noted; but enough is told. We lay no stress on the silence of the Diary about Bessy" while he was in London; he no doubt received frequent, perhaps daily, accounts of her. Our wonder is that, finding on his return that she was still so ill that it was impossible to leave her for a single day, it should turn out that of the nine succeeding A morning call to the sick wife-but break-days he spent but two at home, and all the fast, dinner, supper, singing, sleeping, at Bo- rest in the various gayeties of the neighbor wood. We could fill pages with similar extracts, but the following summary of occurrences in the autumn of 1825 will superabundantly suffice. It appears that in the summer of 1825 Mrs. Moore was really suffering under some pain hood. Even when at what he called home, it is surprising to count up how seldom he really was en famille, and his joy at his escapes. Take one sample: 1824, April 13.-Started at. 8 o'clock for ful, though we presume not serious, com- Farley Abbey (Colonel Houlton's place), in conplaint, for which she was ordered to Chelten-sequence of a promise made at the masquerade ham, where she arrived on the 22nd July. that Bessy and I would pay them a visit of a few days. Bessy, however, not well enough to go. | hearted, lively wife, and dear, promising chiliv. 179. dren, what more need I ask for? Prepared for iv. 288. my trip to town.. That, however, was so little a damper on his spirits, that on the second day of the visit he exclaims in rapture: And next day was off; but Bessy was this time on the alert also. She followed the truant (unbidden, it is pretty clear) two days The day very agreeable; could hardly be oth-after, and stayed six days in town-but erwise. A pretty house, beautiful girls, hospitable host and hostess, excellent cook, good Champagne and Moselle, charming music What more could a man want?-179. without seeing much more of her "bird" than if she had remained alone in the cage at Sloperton; for they were not lodged in the same house-and of the six days of her stay they dined together but twice, breakfasted not at all, and passed no evening together but one at the opera. But on the sixth morn 8th June. -Up at five. And saw my TREASURES safe in the couch!-iv. 284. The reader will observe how the cup is sweetened to Bessy's taste-when he was going off, he had hoped to reconcile her by a tribute to her "liveliness" and "excellence," and when he sends her back he consoles her with the record that she is a "treasure!" But though Mrs. Moore seems, like a pru-ingdent as well as an affectionate wife, to have in general submitted to these wanderings, and even (as Moore says in a preceding extract) sometimes encouraged them-seeing probably that she could not resist his restless disposition yet it is evident that she was not insensible to these derelictions. The first symptom of this is in a letter to Mr. Power, his music-publisher - who jobbed his songs from him at 5001. a-year; here we find a paragraph which is really a clue to much that would be else unintelligible in Moore's life; it confirms our former observation, that his existence was essentially one of theatrical exhibition, and adds - what we never suspected exhibition for profit: Having thus got rid of his treasures, he remained in London, in his usual round of amusements, for near two months, when at last he paid his invalid at Cheltenham that visit of two days which has been already mentioned. Such are the very unexpected details of Moore's domestic life which these volumes You will be glad to hear that Bessy has consented to my passing next May in town alone; reveal, and which, we think, with all deferto take her would be too expensive; and, indeed, ence to Lord John Russell, instead of being it was only on my representing to her that my thus blazoned to the world, might rather songs would all remain a dead letter [sic] with better have been suffered to "sleep in the you, if I did not go up in the gay time of the shade." year and give them life by singing them about, that she agreed to my leaving her. This is quite my object. I shall make it a whole month of company and exhibition [sic], which will do more service to the sale of the songs than a whole year's advertising.-i. 830. Little did the fashionable coteries whom he obliged and delighted with his songs imagine what was " quite his object"—that he was really going about as Mr. Power's advertising van. 1823, April 14th [in London]. - Received an impatient letter from Bess, which rather disturbed me, both on her account and my own. Perceive she is getting uncomfortable without - iv. 55. me. Yet still he lingered in town, "leading," he says, a restless and feverish life" (iv. 89), till the 24th June, when he returned home, but only for three weeks-for a proposal from Lord Lansdowne for a tour in Ireland was irresistible. One of these absences was marked by a peculiar incident. Some other circumstances no less surprise us. In the midst of all the gayety and brilliancy in which Moore figured, who could have suspected an extreme of penury at home? We find a pompously recorded visit to the High Sheriff of Leicestershire - with turtle, venison, and so forth wound up with a confession that he and his wife were forced to remain there longer than they had intended, from not possessing a few shillings to give to the servants at coming away. He writes to Mr. Power: [Langley Priory], Nov 12, 1812. MY DEAR SIR-I have only time to say that if you can let me have three or four pounds by return of post you will oblige me. I have foolishly run dry, without trying my other resources; and I have been this week past literally without a shilling.... You may laugh at my ridiculous distress in being kept to turtle-eating and claretdrinking longer than I wish, and merely because we have not a shilling in our pockets to give the servants in going away.-i. 315-16. From this novel mode of being in the custody of the sheriff, Mr. Power, by a remittance 1825, 28th May. With an excellent, warm-of 101., enabled the captives to redeem them selves and, indeed, throughout the whole of Moore's after-life, Mr. Power's highly-tried but always ready liberality enabled Moore to work through the "never ending still beginning" difficulties in which what appears to us a most reckless improvidence involved him. With receipts which to a poet who did not set up for a man of fashion would be thought enormous, he never had a penny in his pocket, and seems to have existed by loans, kite-flying, anticipations, and petty shifts, hardly reconcilable with integrity, or, at least, delicacy. What shall we say to such anecdotes as the following, which we are almost ashamed to repeat? In December, 1818, Lord Lansdowne stood godfather to Moore's second boy: After the ceremony he gave Bessy a paper which contained, he said, a present for the nurse. The paper contained two 51. notes, one of which Bessy gave the nurse, and reserved the other as a present for her mother. - ii. 239. and this strange misappropriation of Lord Lansdowne's bounty is followed up by a cool observation that "they" (Bessy's mother and sister) have latterly been very considerate indeed in their applications for assistance to me.- - ib. We hardly think that Moore was in this case sufficiently considerate as to the source from which he assisted them. A Mr. Branigan, with whom he had made some acquaintance in the country, announces to me by letter that he had ordered his partners in London to send me a Bank postbill to defray the expenses of his little girl, which have not yet come to half the sum, but it's very convenient just now. - ii. 381. When we recollect his appearance in society and now see the real misery of his position, we are struck at once with pity and wonder. We know not whether it inuy be thought more like praise or censure to say that in his personal deportment no one could trace anything of the constant anxiety and embarrass ment which such a condition of affairs would produce on most men's manners and temper. ile seemed always cheerful, always at ease, making no étalage of finery or foppery; and we believe we may say that none of his friends none but those with whom he had money dealings could have the slightest idea that he was not in easy circumstances, and on a footing of independence and equality with any other member of good society. He says on one occasion 1825: Shearer said that the Longmans had told his brother that I had the most generous contempt for money of any man they had ever met.iv. 262. LIVING AGE. VOL. II. 46 CCCCLXXXVII. -December 23d, That"contempt for money" which consists in throwing it away Moore may have had, but we must say that this is the only passage in the Diary that affords us the slightest hint of his liberality in money affairs. An author in the sale of his works is as fairly a tradesman as the bookseller with whom he deals, and we do not in the least cavil at the eagerness which Moore shows in his bargains, but we really cannot allow him thus to record his own easy liberality without showing from the same pages how little the praise was deserved. All that he tells of himself is of so different a character, so full of tricks, and what would be called sharp practice, that we can only rejoice that Messrs. Longman fared better than their neighbors; yet we have Moore's all, might have had some grounds of comown evidence that even they, had they known plaint. He had. as early as July, 1814, cominenced his negociation with Messrs. Longman for his poem of Lalla Rookh, which came (after a good deal of sharp bargaining on Moore's part) to an agreement for 3000 guineas. Mr. Longman, finding, it seems, some unexpected delay in the production of the poem, inquired in April, 1815, about its progress, and Moore answers on the 25th of that month 66 fairly copied for Mr. Longman's perusal;' that there was no possibility of the poem's being published at any period of that year; and that it can hardly be till this spring twelvemonth that it can be finished off fit for delivery" (ib. p. 76). It was not, in fact, published till two years later. Here is another private confession to his mother: There is so much call for the opera [M. P.], that I have made a present of it to little Power to publish; that is, nominally I have made a present of it to him, but I am to have the greater part of the profits notwithstanding. I do it in this way, however, for two reasons one that it looks more dignified, particularly after having made so light of the piece myself; and the second, that I do not mean to give anything |