which induced Campbell to publish the poem. The two men, travelling in a
stage-coach alone, beguiled the way by repeating poetry. At last Scott
asked Campbell for something of his own. He replied that there was one
thing he had never printed, full of "drums and trumpets and
blunderbusses and thunder," and that he did not know if there was any
good in it. He then repeated
Hohenlinden
. When he had finished, Scott
broke out with,
"But, do you know, that's devilish fine! Why, it's the finest thing
you ever wrote, and it must be printed!"
See p. 31,
Douglas James William Kinnaird (1788-1830), fifth son of
the seventh Baron Kinnaird, was educated at Eton, Göttingen, and Trinity
College, Cambridge. He was an intimate friend of Hobhouse, with whom he
travelled on the Continent (1813-14), and was in political sympathy. He
represented Bishop's Castle from July, 1819, to March, 1820, but losing
his seat at the general election, did not again attempt to enter
Parliament. He was famous for his "mob dinners," to which Moore probably
refers when he writes to Byron, in an undated letter, of the
"Deipnosophist Kinnaird." He was a partner in the bank of Ransom and
Morland, a member of the committee for managing Drury Lane Theatre,
author of the acting version of
The Merchant of Bruges, or Beggar's
Bush
(acted at Drury Lane, December 14, 1815), and a member of the
Radical Rota Club.
Kinnaird was Byron's "trusty and trustworthy trustee and banker, and
crown and sheet anchor." It was at his suggestion that Byron wrote the
Hebrew Melodies
and the
Monody on the Death of Sheridan
.
Talking of Kinnaird to Lady Blessington (
Conversations
, p. 215),
Byron said,
"My friend Dug is a proof that a good heart cannot compensate for an
irritable temper; whenever he is named, people dwell on the last and
pass over the first; and yet he really has an excellent heart, and a
sound head, of which I, in common with many others of his friends,
have had various proofs. He is clever, too, and well informed, and I
do think would have made a figure in the world, were it not for his
temper, which gives a dictatorial tone to his manner, that is
offensive to the amour propre of those with whom he mixes."
The Alfred Club (1808-55), established at 23, Albemarle
Street, was the Savile of the day. Beloe, in his
Sexagenarian
(vol. ii. chaps, xx.-xxv.), describes among the members of the
Symposium, as he calls it, Sir James Mackintosh, George Ellis, William
Gifford, John Reeves, Sir W. Drummond, and himself. Byron, in his
Detached Thoughts
, says,
"I was a member of the Alfred. It was pleasant; a little too sober and
literary, and bored with Sotheby and Sir Francis d'Ivernois; but one
met Peel, and Ward, and Valentia, and many other pleasant or known
people; and it was, upon the whole, a decent resource in a rainy day,
in a dearth of parties, or parliament, or in an empty season."
It was, says Mr. Wheatley (
London Past and Present
), known as the
Half-read
.
In a manuscript note, now for the first time printed as written, on the
above passage from Byron's
Detached Thoughts
, Sir Walter Scott
writes,
"The Alfred, like all other clubs, was much haunted with boars, a
tusky monster which delights to range where men most do congregate. A
boar, or bore, is always remarkable for something respectable, such as
wealth, character, high birth, acknowledged talent, or, in short, for
something that forbids people to turn him out by the shoulders, or, in
other words, to cut him dead. Much of this respectability is supplied
by the mere circumstance of belonging to a certain society of
clubists, within whose districts the bore obtains free-warren, and may
wallow or grunt at pleasure. Old stagers in the club know and avoid
the fated corner and arm-chair which he haunts; but he often rushes
from his lair on the inexperienced."
List of Letters
Contents
December 11, 1811.
My Dear Moore,—If you please, we will drop our former monosyllables,
and adhere to the appellations sanctioned by our godfathers and
godmothers. If you make it a point, I will withdraw your name; at the
same time there is no occasion, as I have this day postponed your
election
sine die
, till it shall suit your wishes to be amongst
us. I do not say this from any awkwardness the erasure of your proposal
would occasion to
me
, but simply such is the state of the case;
and, indeed, the longer your name is up, the stronger will become your
probability of success, and your voters more numerous. Of course you
will decide—your wish shall be my law. If my zeal has already outrun
discretion, pardon me, and attribute my officiousness to an excusable
motive.
I wish you would go down with me to Newstead. Hodgson will be there, and
a young friend, named Harness, the earliest and dearest I ever had from
the third form at Harrow to this hour. I can promise you good wine, and,
if you like shooting, a manor of 4000 acres, fires, books, your own free
will, and my own very indifferent company.
.
Hodgson will plague you, I fear, with verse;—for
own part I will
conclude, with Martial,
nil recitabo tibi
; and surely the
last inducement, is not the least. Ponder on my proposition, and believe
me, my dear Moore,
Yours ever,
Byron
.
"Balnea, vina, Venus corrumpunt corpora nostra."
The words are thus given in Grüter (
Corpus Inscriptionum
(1603),
p. DCCCCXII. 10.
Martial (xi. lii. 16),
Ad Julium Cerealem
:
"Plus ego polliceor: nil recitabo tibi."
List of Letters
Contents
8, St. James's Street, Dec. 12, 1811.
Why, Hodgson! I fear you have left off wine and me at the same time,—I
have written and written and written, and no answer!
dear Sir Edgar
, water disagrees with you—drink sack and write. Bland did not come
to his appointment, being unwell, but Moore supplied all other vacancies
most delectably. I have hopes of his joining us at Newstead. I am sure
you would like him more and more as he developes,—at least I do.
How Miller and Bland go on, I don't know. Cawthorne talks of being in
treaty for a novel of Madame D'Arblay's, and if he obtains it (at 1500
guineas!!) wishes me to see the MS. This I should read with pleasure,—
not that I should ever dare to venture a criticism on her whose writings
Dr. Johnson once revised, but for the pleasure of the thing. If my
worthy publisher wanted a sound opinion, I should send the MS. to Rogers
and Moore, as men most alive to true taste. I have had frequent letters
from Wm. Harness, and
you
are silent; certes, you are not a
schoolboy. However, I have the consolation of knowing that you are
better employed, viz. reviewing. You don't deserve that I should add
another syllable, and I won't.
Yours, etc.
P.S.—I only wait for your answer to fix our meeting.
Hodgson published, in 1810,
Sir Edgar, a Tale
.
List of Letters
Contents
[
, Dec.? 1811]
Dear Sir
,—I have only this scrubby paper to write on—excuse it. I am
certain that I sent some more notes on Spain and Portugal, particularly
one on the latter. Pray rummage, and don't mind my
politics
. I
believe I leave town next week. Are you better? I hope so.
Yours ever,
B.
Dallas's answer is dated December 14, 1811
List of Letters
Contents
8, St. James's Street, Dec. 15, 1811.
I wrote you an answer to your last, which, on reflection, pleases me as
little as it probably has pleased yourself. I will not wait for your
rejoinder; but proceed to tell you, that I had just then been greeted
with an epistle of ——'s, full of his petty grievances, and this at the
moment when (from circumstances it is not necessary to enter upon) I was
bearing up against recollections to which
his
imaginary
sufferings are as a scratch to a cancer. These things combined, put me
out of humour with him and all mankind. The latter part of my life has
been a perpetual struggle against affections which embittered the
earliest portion; and though I flatter myself I have in a great measure
conquered them, yet there are moments (and this was one) when I am as
foolish as formerly. I never said so much before, nor had I said this
now, if I did not suspect myself of having been rather savage in my
letter, and wish to inform you this much of the cause. You know I am not
one of your dolorous gentlemen: so now let us laugh again.
I went with Moore to Sydenham to visit Campbell
. He was
not visible, so we jogged homeward merrily enough. To-morrow I dine with
Rogers, and am to hear Coleridge, who is a kind of rage at present.
night I saw Kemble in
Coriolanus
; —he
was glorious
, and
exerted himself wonderfully. By good luck I got an excellent place in
the best part of the house, which was more than overflowing. Clare
Delawarr
, who were there on the same speculation, were less
fortunate. I saw them by accident,—we were not together. I wished for
you, to gratify your love of Shakspeare and of fine acting to its
fullest extent. Last week I saw an exhibition of a different kind in a
. Coates
, at the Haymarket, who performed Lothario in a
damned
and damnable manner.
I told you the fate of B[land] and H[odgson] in my last. So much for
these sentimentalists, who console themselves in their stews for the
loss—the never to be recovered loss—the despair of the refined
attachment of a couple of drabs! You censure
my
life,
Harness,—when I compare myself with these men, my elders and my
betters, I really begin to conceive myself a monument of prudence —a
walking statue—without feeling or failing; and yet the world in general
hath given me a proud pre-eminence over them in profligacy. Yet I like
the men, and, God knows, ought not to condemn their aberrations. But I
own I feel provoked when they dignify all this by the name of
love
—romantic attachments for things marketable for a dollar!
Dec. 16th.—I have just received your letter;—I feel your kindness very
deeply. The foregoing part of my letter, written yesterday, will, I
hope, account for the tone of the former, though it cannot excuse it. I
do
like
to hear from you—more than
like
. Next to seeing
you, I have no greater satisfaction. But you have other duties, and
greater pleasures, and I should regret to take a moment from either. H——was to call to-day, but I have not seen him. The circumstances you
mention at the close of your letter is another proof in favour of my
opinion of mankind. Such you will always find them— selfish and
distrustful. I except none. The cause of this is the state of society.
In the world, every one is to stir for himself—it is useless, perhaps
selfish, to expect any thing from his neighbour. But I do not think we
are born of this disposition; for you find
friendship
as a
schoolboy, and
love
enough before twenty.
I went to see ——; he keeps me in town, where I don't wish to be at
present. He is a good man, but totally without conduct. And now, my
dearest William, I must wish you good morrow, and remain ever,
Most
sincerely and affectionately yours, etc.
Campbell lived at Sydenham from 1804 to 1820. Moore (
Life
,
p. 148) adds the following note:
"On this occasion, another of the noble poet's peculiarities was,
somewhat startlingly, introduced to my notice. When we were on the
point of setting out from his lodgings in St. James's Street, it being
then about midday, he said to the servant, who was shutting the door
of the vis-a-vis, 'Have you put in the pistols?' and was
answered in the affirmative. It was difficult,—more especially taking
into account the circumstances under which we had just become
acquainted,— to keep from smiling at this singular noonday
precaution."
On December 14, 1811, at Covent Garden, Kemble acted
"Coriolanus" with Mrs. Siddons as "Volumnia." It was Kemble's great
part, and in it he made his last appearance on the stage (June 23,
1817).
For Lord Clare, see
Letters
, vol. i. p. 116,
note
1. [Footnote 1 of Letter 65]
For Lord Delawarr, see
Letters
, vol. i. p. 41, note 1 [Footnote 5 of Letter 13].
Robert Coates, "the Amateur of Fashion," known as "Romeo"
Coates, sometimes as "Diamond" Coates, sometimes as "Cock-a-doodle-doo"
Coates (1772-1848), was the only surviving son of a wealthy West Indian
planter. He made his first appearance on the stage at Bath (February 9,
1810), as "Romeo." In the play-bill he was announced as "a Gentleman,
1st Appearance on any stage." Genest (
English Stage
, vol. viii.
p. 207) says,
"Many gentlemen have been weak enough to fancy themselves actors, but
no one ever persevered in obtruding himself for so long a time on the
notice of the public in spite of laughter, hissing, etc."
On December 9, 1811, he appeared at the Haymarket as "Lothario" in
Rowe's
Fair Penitent
. Mathews, at Covent Garden, imitated his
performance, in Bate Dudley's
At Home
, as "Mr. Romeo Rantall,"
appearing in the
"pink silk vest and cloak, white satin breeches and stockings, Spanish
hat, with a rich high plume of ostrich feathers,"
in which Coates had
played "Lothario".
Memoirs of Charles Mathews
, vol. ii. pp. 238, 239).
List of Letters
Contents
218—to Robert Rushton1
8, St. James's Street, Jan. 21, 1812.
Though I have no objection to your refusal to carry
letters
to
Mealey's, you will take care that the letters are taken by
Spero
at the proper time. I have also to observe, that Susan is to be treated
with civility, and not
insulted
by any person over whom I have
the smallest controul, or, indeed, by any one whatever, while I have the
power to protect her. I am truly sorry to have any subject of complaint
against
you
; I have too good an opinion of you to think I shall
have occasion to repeat it, after the care I have taken of you, and my
favourable intentions in your behalf. I see no occasion for any
communication whatever between
you
and the
women
, and wish
you to occupy yourself in preparing for the situation in which you will
be placed. If a common sense of decency cannot prevent you from
conducting yourself towards them with rudeness, I should at least hope
that your
own interest
, and regard for a master who has
never
treated you with unkindness, will have some weight.
Yours, etc.,
Byron
.
P.S.—I wish you to attend to your arithmetic, to occupy yourself in
surveying, measuring, and making yourself acquainted with every
particular relative to the
land
of Newstead, and you will
write
to me
one letter every week
, that I may know how you
go on.
The two following letters, and a suppressed passage in the
letter to Moore of January 29, 1812, refer to a quarrel among his
dependents, in which Rushton, the "little page" of Childe Harold (see
Letters
, vol. i. pp. 224, 242), played a part. The story is told
at considerable length in a letter to Hodgson, dated January 28, 1812.
To the same affair probably belong the following scrap and Byron's note:
"Pray don't forget me, as I shall never cease thinking of you, my
Dearest and only Friend, (signed) S. H. V."
To this Byron has added this note:
"This was written on the 11th of January, 1812; on the 28th I received
ample proof that the Girl had forgotten me and herself
too. Heigho! B."
The letters show, writes Moore (
Life
, p. 152),
"how gravely and coolly the young lord could arbitrate on such an
occasion, and with what considerate leaning towards the servant whose
fidelity he had proved, in preference to any new liking or fancy by
which it might be suspected he was actuated toward the other."
In a MS. book written by Mrs. Heath of Newstead (
née
Rebekah
Beardall), it is stated that the elder Rushton had as his farm-servant
Fletcher, afterwards Byron's valet. Byron watched Fletcher and young
Robert Rushton ploughing, took a fancy to both, and engaged them as his
servants. Rushton accompanied Byron to Geneva, but afterwards entered
the service of James Wedderburn Webster (see p. 2,
1). In
1827 he married a woman of the name of Bagnall, and with her help kept a
school at Arnold, near Nottingham. Subsequently he took a farm on the
Newstead estate, named Hazelford, and shortly afterwards died, leaving a
widow and three children.
List of Letters
Contents
219—to Robert Rushton
8, St. James's Street, January 25, 1812.
Your refusal to carry the letter was not a subject of remonstrance: it
was not a part of your business; but the language you used to the girl
was (as