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Chapter V—Childe Harold, Cantos I, II


August, 1811-March, 1812



Letter No. 169—to John Murray1


Newstead Abbey, Notts., August 23, 1811.



Sir,—
A
domestic calamity in the death of a near relation
2
has hitherto prevented my addressing you on the subject of this letter.
My
friend, Mr. Dallas
3
, has placed in your hands a manuscript poem written by me in Greece, which he tells me you do not object to publishing.
But
he also informed me in London that you wished to send the MS. to Mr. Gifford
4
. Now, though no one would feel more gratified by the chance of obtaining his observations on a work than myself, there is in such a proceeding a kind of petition for praise, that neither my pride—or whatever you please to call it—will admit.


Mr. G. is not only the first satirist of the day, but editor of one of the principal reviews. As such, he is the last man whose censure (however eager to avoid it) I would deprecate by clandestine means. You will therefore retain the manuscript in your own care, or, if it must needs be shown, send it to another. Though not very patient of censure, I would fain obtain fairly any little praise my rhymes might deserve, at all events not by extortion, and the humble solicitations of a bandied-about MS. I am sure a little consideration will convince you it would be wrong.


If you determine on publication, I have some smaller poems (never published), a few notes, and a short dissertation on the literature of the modern Greeks (written at Athens), which will come in at the end of the volume.— And, if the present poem should succeed, it is my intention, at some subsequent period, to publish some selections from my first work,—my Satire,—another nearly the same length, and a few other things, with the MS. now in your hands, in two volumes.—But of these hereafter. You will apprize me of your determination.


I am, Sir, your very obedient, humble servant,


Byron
.




Footnote 1:
  For John Murray, see
Letters
, vol. i. p. 334,
note
1. [Footnote 1 to Letter 167]

return to footnote mark



Footnote 2:
  Mrs. Byron died August I, 1811.

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Footnote 3:
  For R. C. Dallas, see
Letters
, vol. i. p. 168,
note
I. [Footnote 1 to Letter 87.]

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Footnote 4:
  For Gifford, the editor of the
Quarterly Review
, see
Letters
, vol. i. p. 198,
note
2. [Footnote 4 of Letter 102.]

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170—to James Wedderburn Webster1


Newstead Abbey, August 24th, 1811.



My Dear W.
,—
Conceiving
your wrath to be somewhat evaporated, and your Dignity recovered from the
Hysterics
into which my innocent note from London had thrown it, I should feel happy to be informed how you have determined on the disposal of this accursed Coach
2
, which has driven us out of our Good humour and Good manners to a complete Standstill, from which I begin to apprehend that I am to lose altogether your valuable correspondence.
Your
angry letter arrived at a moment, to which I shall not allude further, as my happiness is best consulted in forgetting it
3
.


You have perhaps heard also of the death of poor Matthews, whom you recollect to have met at Newstead. He was one whom his friends will find it difficult to replace, nor will Cambridge ever see his equal.


I trust you are on the point of adding to your relatives instead of losing them, and of
friends
a man of fortune will always have a plentiful stock—at his Table.


I dare say now you are gay, and connubial, and popular, so that in the next parliament we shall be having you a County Member. But beware your Tutor, for I am sure he Germanized that sanguinary letter; you must not write such another to your Constituents; for myself (as the mildest of men) I shall say no more about it.


Seriously,
mio Caro W.
, if you can spare a moment from Matrimony, I shall be glad to hear that you have recovered from the pucker into which this
Vis
(one would think it had been a
Sulky
) has thrown you; you know I wish you well, and if I have not inflicted my society upon you according to your own Invitation, it is only because I am not a social animal, and should feel sadly at a loss amongst Countesses and Maids of Honour, particularly being just come from a far Country, where Ladies are neither carved for, or fought for, or danced after, or mixed at all (publicly) with the Men-folks, so that you must make allowances for my natural
diffidence
and two years travel.


But (God and yourself willing) I shall certes pay my promised visit, as I shall be in town, if Parliament meets, in October.


In the mean time let me hear from you (without a privy Council), and believe me in sober sadness,


Yours very sincerely,


Byron
.





Footnote 1:
  James Wedderburn Webster (1789-1840), grandson of Sir A. Wedderburn, Bart., whose third son, David, assumed the additional name of Webster, was the author of
Waterloo, and other Poems
(1816), and
A Genealogical Account of the Wedderburn Family
(privately printed, 1819). He was with Byron, possibly at Cambridge, certainly at Athens in 1810. He married, in 1810, Lady Frances Caroline Annesley, daughter of Arthur, first Earl of Mountnorris and eighth Viscount Valencia. He was knighted in 1822. Byron, in 1813, lent him £1000. Lady Frances died in 1837, and her husband in 1840.


Moore (
Memoirs, Journals, etc.
, vol. iii. p. 112) mentions dining with Webster at Paris in 1820.
"He told me," writes Moore, "that, one day, travelling from Newstead to town with Lord Byron in his vis-a-vis, the latter kept his pistols beside him, and continued silent for hours, with the most ferocious expression possible on his countenance.

'For God's sake, my dear B.,' said W—— at last, 'what are you thinking of? Are you about to commit murder? or what other dreadful thing are you meditating?'

To which Byron answered that he always had a sort of presentiment that his own life would be attacked some time or other; and that this was the reason of his always going armed, as it was also the subject of his thoughts at that moment."
Moore also adds (
ibid
., p. 292),
"W. W. owes Lord Byron, he says, £1000, and does not seem to have the slightest intention of paying him."
Lady Frances was the lady to whom Byron seriously devoted himself in 1813-4. Subsequently she was practically separated from her husband, and Byron, in 1823, endeavoured to reconcile them. Moore (
Memoirs, Journals, etc
., vol. ii. p. 249) writes,
"To the Devizes ball in the evening; Lady Frances W. there; introduced to her, and had much conversation, chiefly about our friend Lord B. Several of those beautiful things, published (if I remember right) with the Bride, were addressed to her. She must have been very pretty when she had more of the freshness of youth, though she is still but five or six and twenty; but she looks faded already" (1819).
In the Court of Common Pleas, February 16, 1816, the libel action of
Webster v. Baldwin
was heard. The plaintiff obtained £2000 in damages for a libel charging Lady Frances and the Duke of Wellington with adultery.

return to footnote mark

cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 218

cross-reference: return to Footnote 12 of Journal entry for November 17th, 1813



Footnote 2:
  On his return to London in July, 1811, Byron ordered a
vis-a-vis
to be built by Goodall. This he exchanged for a carriage belonging to Webster, who, within a few weeks, resold the
vis-a-vis
to Byron. The two following letters from Byron to Webster explain the transaction:
"Reddish's Hotel, 29th July, 1811.

"My Dear Webster,—As this eternal vis-a-vis seems to sit heavy on your soul, I beg leave to apprize you that I have arranged with Goodall: you are to give me the promised Wheels, and the lining, with 'the Box at Brighton,' and I am to pay the stipulated sum.

"I am obliged to you for your favourable opinion, and trust that the happiness you talk so much of will be stationary, and not take those freaks to which the felicity of common mortals is subject. I do very sincerely wish you well, and am so convinced of the justice of your matrimonial arguments, that I shall follow your example as soon as I can get a sufficient price for my coronet. In the mean time I should be happy to drill for my new situation under your auspices; but business, inexorable business, keeps me here. Your letters are forwarded. If I can serve you in any way, command me. I will endeavour to fulfil your requests as awkwardly as another. I shall pay you a visit, perhaps, in the autumn. Believe me, dear W.,

Yours unintelligibly,

B."



"Reddish's Hotel, July 31st, 1811.

My Dear W. W.,—I always understood that the lining was to accompany the carriage; if not, the carriage may accompany the lining, for I will have neither the one nor the other. In short, to prevent squabbling, this is my determination, so decide;—if you leave it to my feelings (as you say) they are very strongly in favour of the said lining. Two hundred guineas for a carriage with ancient lining!!! Rags and rubbish! You must write another pamphlet, my dear W., before; but pray do not waste your time and eloquence in expostulation, because it will do neither of us any good, but decide—content or not content. The best thing you can do for the Tutor you speak of will be to send him in your Vis (with the lining) to 'the U-Niversity of Göttingen.' How can you suppose (now that my own Bear is dead) that I have any situation for a German genius of this kind, till I get another, or some children? I am infinitely obliged by your invitations, but I can't pay so high for a second-hand chaise to make my friends a visit. The coronet will not grace the 'pretty Vis,' till your tattered lining ceases to disgrace it. Pray favour me with an answer, as we must finish the affair one way or another immediately,—before next week.

Believe me, yours truly,

Byron."
"Byron," says Webster, in a note, "was more than strict about "trifles."

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Footnote 3:
  The death of Mrs. Byron, August 1, 1811.

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Contents



171—to R. C. Dallas


Newstead Abbey, August 25, 1811.



Being fortunately enabled to frank, I do not spare scribbling, having sent you packets within the last ten days.
I
am passing solitary, and do not expect my agent to accompany me to Rochdale
1
before the second week in September; a delay which perplexes me, as I wish the business over, and should at present welcome employment. I sent you exordiums, annotations, etc., for the forthcoming quarto, if quarto it is to be: and
I
also have written to Mr. Murray my objection to sending the MS. to Juvenal
2
, but allowing him to show it to any others of the calling. Hobhouse
3
is
amongst
the types already: so, between his prose and my verse, the world will be decently drawn upon for its paper-money and patience.
Besides
all this, my
Imitation of Horace
4
is gasping for the press at Cawthorn's, but I am hesitating as to the how and the when, the single or the double, the present or the future. You must excuse all this, for I have nothing to say in this lone mansion but of myself, and yet I would willingly talk or think of aught else.


What are you about to do? Do you think of perching in Cumberland, as you opined when I was in the metropolis?
If
you mean to retire, why not occupy Miss Milbanke's "Cottage of Friendship," late the seat of Cobbler Joe
5
, for whose death you and others are answerable? His "Orphan Daughter" (pathetic Pratt!) will, certes, turn out a shoemaking Sappho. Have you no remorse? I think that elegant address to Miss Dallas should be inscribed on the cenotaph which Miss Milbanke means to stitch to his memory.


The
newspapers seem much disappointed at his Majesty's not dying, or doing something better
6
. I presume it is almost over. If parliament meets in October, I shall be in town to attend. I am also invited to Cambridge for the beginning of that month, but am first to jaunt to Rochdale.
Now
Matthews
7
is gone, and Hobhouse in Ireland, I have hardly one left there to bid me welcome, except my inviter. At three-and-twenty I am left alone, and what more can we be at seventy? It is true I am young enough to begin again, but with whom can I retrace the laughing part of life? It is odd how few of my friends have died a quiet death,—I mean, in their beds. But a quiet life is of more consequence. Yet one loves squabbling and jostling better than yawning. This
last word
admonishes me to relieve you from


Yours very truly, etc.