, p. 255),
"Even now the autumnal charms of Lady —— are remembered by me with
more than admiration. She resembled a landscape by Claude Lorraine,
with a setting sun, her beauties enhanced by the knowledge that they
were shedding their last dying beams, which threw a radiance around. A
woman... is only grateful for her first and last
conquest. The first of poor dear Lady ——'s was achieved before I
entered on this world of care; but the last, I do flatter
myself, was reserved for me, and a bonne bouche it was."
The following passage certainly relates to Lady Oxford:
"There was a lady at that time," said Byron (Medwin's
Conversations, pp. 93, 94), "double my own age, the mother of
several children who were perfect angels, with whom I had formed a
liaison that continued without interruption for eight months.
The autumn of a beauty like her's is preferable to the spring in
others. She told me she was never in love till she was thirty; and I
thought myself so with her when she was forty. I never felt a stronger
passion; which she returned with equal ardour.... She had been
sacrificed, almost before she was a woman, to one whose mind and body
were equally contemptible in the scale of creation; and on whom she
bestowed a numerous family, to which the law gave him the right to be
called father. Strange as it may seem, she gained (as all women do) an
influence over me so strong, that I had great difficulty in breaking
with her, even when I knew she had been inconstant to me: and once was
on the point of going abroad with her, and narrowly escaped this
folly."
To be near the Oxfords at Eywood, in Herefordshire, Byron took Kinsham
Court, a dower-house of the family, where Bishop Harley died in 1788. At
one time, as is evident from his correspondence with Hanson, he was bent
on going abroad with Lady Oxford. In the end he only accompanied her to
Portsmouth. Of Lady Oxford, Uvedale Price wrote thus to Rogers (Clayden,
Rogers and his Contemporaries
, vol. i. pp. 397, 398):
"This is a melancholy subject"—[the death, by consumption of Lord
Aberdeen's children]—"and I must go to another. Poor Lady Oxford! I
had heard with great concern of her dangerous illness, but hoped she
might get through it, and was much, very much grieved to hear that it
had ended fatally. I had, as you know, lived a great deal with her
from the time she came into this country, immediately after her
marriage; but for some years past, since she went abroad, had scarcely
had any correspondence or intercourse with her, till I met her in town
last spring. I then saw her twice, and both times she seemed so
overjoyed to see an old friend, and expressed her joy so naturally and
cordially, that I felt no less overjoyed at seeing her after so long
an absence. She talked, with great satisfaction, of our meeting for a
longer time this next spring, little thinking of an eternal
separation. There could not, in all respects, be a more ill-matched
pair than herself and Lord Oxford, or a stronger instance of the cruel
sports of Venus, or, rather, of Hymen:
'Cui placet impares
Formas atque animos sub juga ahenea
Sævo mittere cum joco.'
It has been said that she was, in some measure, forced into the match.
Had she been united to a man whom she had loved, esteemed, and
respected, she herself might have been generally respected and
esteemed, as well as loved; but in her situation, to keep clear of all
misconduct required a strong mind or a cold heart; perhaps both, and
she had neither. Her failings were in no small degree the effect of
circumstances; her amiable qualities all her own. There was something
about her, in spite of her errors, remarkably attaching, and that
something was not merely her beauty. 'Kindness has resistless charms,'
and she was full of affectionate kindness to those she loved, whether
as friends or as lovers. As a friend, I always found her the same,
never at all changeful or capricious. As I am not a very rigid
moralist, and am extremely open to kindness, 'I could have better
spared a better woman.'"
An account of the accident is given in the Chronicle of the
Annual Register
, September 21, 1812. The party consisted of ten
people, three of whom were saved. Among those rescued was Mr.
Rothery—not Rossoe, as Byron gives it.
The new Parliament met November 30, 1812. Wellington won
the battle of Salamanca on the previous July 22.
List of Letters
Contents
257—to Lord Holland
September 29, 1812.
certainly ceased to reign in
one
of his kingdoms, as
George III. did in America, and George IV.
may in Ireland? Now, we
have nothing to do out of our own realms, and when the monarchy was
gone, his majesty had but a barren sceptre. I have
cut away
, you
will see, and altered, but make it what you please;
I do implore,
for my
own
gratification, one lash on those accursed
quadrupeds—"a long shot, Sir Lucius, if you love me."
I have
altered "wave," etc., and the "fire," and so forth for the timid.
Let me hear from you when convenient, and believe me, etc.
P.S.—Do let
that
stand, and cut out elsewhere. I shall choke, if
we must overlook their damned menagerie.
Some objection, it appears, had been made to the passage,
"and Shakspeare
ceased to reign
."
Bob Acres, in
The Rivals
(act v. se. 3), says, "A
long shot, Sir Lucius, if you love me."
List of Letters
Contents
September 30, 1812.
I
you the most I can make of it; for I am not so well as I was, and
find I "pull in resolution."
I wish much to see you, and will be at Tetbury by twelve on Saturday;
and from thence I go on to Lord Jersey's. It is impossible not to allude
to the degraded state of the Stage, but I have lightened
it
, and
endeavoured to obviate your
other
objections.
is a new
couplet for Sheridan, allusive to his Monody
. All the alterations I
have marked thus ],—as you will see by comparison with the other copy.
I have cudgelled my brains with the greatest willingness, and only wish
I had more time to have done better.
will find a sort of clap-trap laudatory couplet inserted for the
quiet of the Committee
, and I have added, towards the end, the
couplet you were pleased to
like
. The whole Address is
seventy-three lines, still perhaps too long; and, if shortened, you will
save time, but, I fear, a little of what I meant for sense also.
With myriads of thanks, I am ever, etc.
My sixteenth edition of respects to Lady H.—How she must laugh at all
this!
I wish Murray, my publisher, to print off some copies as soon as your
Lordship returns to town—it will ensure correctness in the papers
afterwards.
Macbeth
, act v. sc. 5.
Sheridan's
Monody on Garrick
.
The Committee of Selection consisted, says the
Satirist
(November 1, 1812, p. 395),
"of one peer and two commoners, one poet and two prosers, one Lord and
two Brewers; and the only points in which they coincided were in being
all three parliament men, all three politicians, all three in
opposition to the Government of the country. Their names, as we
understand, were Vassal Holland, Samuel Whitbread, and Harvey
Christian Combe."
List of Letters
Contents
259—to Lord Holland
Far be from him that hour which asks in vain
Tears such as flow for Garrick in his strain;
or
,
Far be that hour that vainly asks in turn
Such verse for him as {crown'd his/wept o'er} Garrick's urn.
September 30, 1812.
Will you
between these added to the lines on Sheridan
?
I think they will wind up the panegyric, and agree with the train of
thought preceding them.
Now, one word as to the Committee—how could they resolve on a rough
copy of an
Address
never sent in, unless you had been good enough
to retain in memory, or on paper, the thing they have been good enough
to adopt? By the by, the circumstances of the case should make the
Committee less
avidus gloriæ
, for all praise of them would look
plaguy suspicious. If necessary to be stated at all, the simple facts
bear them out. They surely had a right to act as they pleased. My sole
object is one which, I trust, my whole conduct has shown; viz. that I
did nothing insidious—sent in no Address
whatever
—but, when
applied to, did my best for them and myself; but, above all, that there
was no undue partiality, which will be what the rejected will endeavour
to make out. Fortunately—most fortunately—I sent in no lines on the
occasion. For I am sure that had they, in that case, been preferred, it
would have been asserted that
I
was known, and owed the
preference to private friendship. This is what we shall probably have to
encounter; but, if once spoken and approved, we sha'n't be much
embarrassed by their brilliant conjectures; and, as to criticism, an
old
author, like an old bull, grows cooler (or ought) at every
baiting.
The only thing would be to avoid a party on the night of
delivery—afterwards, the more the better, and the whole transaction
inevitably tends to a good deal of discussion.
tells me there are
myriads of ironical Addresses
ready—
some
, in imitation of
what is called
my style
. If they are as good as the
Probationary Odes
, or Hawkins's
Pipe of Tobacco
,
it will not be bad fun for the imitated.
Ever, etc.
These added lines, as may be seen by reference to the
printed Address, were not retained.
Probably the reference is to
Rejected Addresses, or the
New Theatrum Poetarum
(1812), by James (1775-1839) and Horace
(1779-1849) Smith. "Cui Bono?" the parody on Byron, is the joint
composition of James and Horace. The manuscript was offered to Murray
for £20, but declined by him. It was afterwards published by John
Miller, of Bow Street, Covent Garden, who also published
Horace in
London
.
Probationary Odes
, which generally forms, with
Political Eclogues
, the third portion of the
Rolliad
, is
really distinct from that work. It is the result of an imaginary contest
for the laureate-ship. Each candidate was to deliver a "Probationary
Birthday Ode," and among the candidates are Dr. Pretyman, Archbishop
Markham, Thomas and Joseph Warton, Sir Cecil Wray, Sir Joseph Mawbey,
Henry Dundas, Lord Thurlow, and other Tories of the day. The plan of the
work is said to have been suggested by Joseph Richardson (1755-1803),
who wrote Odes iv. (Sir Richard Hill) and xix. (Lord Mountmorres).
In Praise of a Pipe of Tobacco
(1736), written by
Isaac Hawkins Browne (1705-1760), was an ode in imitation of Swift,
Pope, Thomson, and other contemporary poets. Browne represented Wenlock
in the Whig interest in the Parliaments of 1744 and 1747. Johnson spoke
of him (Boswell,
Johnson
, April 5, 1775) as "one of the first
wits of this country," who "got into Parliament, and never opened his
mouth."
List of Letters
Contents
October 2, 1812.
A copy of this
still altered
is sent by the post, but this will
arrive first. It must be "humbler"—"
yet aspiring
" does away the
modesty, and, after all,
truth is truth
. Besides, there is a puff
direct altered, to please your
plaguy renters
.
I shall be at Tetbury by 12 or 1—but send this for you to ponder over.
There are several little things marked thus / altered for your perusal.
I have dismounted the cavalry, and, I hope, arranged to your general
satisfaction.
Ever, etc.
At Tetbury by noon.—I hope, after it is sent, there will be no more
elisions. It is not now so long—73 lines—two less than allotted. I
will alter all Committee objections, but I hope you won't permit
Elliston
to have any
voice
whatever,—except in speaking
it.
List of Letters
Contents
Cheltenham, Oct. 12, 1812.
Dear Sir
,—I
a
very strong objection
to the engraving of the
portrait
, and request that it may, on no account, be prefixed; but
let
all
the proofs be burnt, and the plate broken. I will be at
the expense which has been incurred; it is but fair that
I
should, since I cannot permit the publication. I beg, as a particular
favour, that you will lose no time in having this done, for which I have
reasons that I will state when I see you. Forgive all the trouble I have
occasioned you.
I
received no account of the reception of the
Address
,
but see it is vituperated in the papers, which does not much embarrass
an
old author
. I leave it to your own judgment to add it, or not,
to your next edition when required. Pray comply
strictly
with my
wishes as to the engraving, and believe me, etc.
Yours very truly,
Byron
.
P.S.—Favour me with an answer, as I shall not be easy until I hear that
the
proofs
, etc., are destroyed. I
that the
Satirist
has reviewed
Childe Harold
, in what manner I need not ask;
but I wish to know if the old personalities are revived? I have a better
reason for asking this than any that merely concerns myself; but in
publications of that kind, others, particularly female names, are
sometimes introduced.
Byron
.
A miniature by Sanders. Besides this miniature, Sanders had
also painted a full-length of Byron, from which the portrait prefixed to
the quarto edition of Moore's
Life
is engraved. In reference to
the latter picture, Byron says, in a note to Rogers,
"If you think the picture you saw at Murray's worth your acceptance,
it is yours; and you may put a glove or mask on it, if you like"
(Moore).
On Saturday, October 10, Drury Lane reopened with
The
Devil to Pay
and
Hamlet
. Then, after the whole body of actors
had sung "God save the King" and "Rule, Britannia," Elliston delivered
Byron's address.
The Satirist, a Monthly Meteor
(see
Letters
,
vol. i. p. 321,
note
3 [Footnote 3 of Letter 159]), ran from October, 1807, to 1814. Up to
1812 it was the property of George Manners, who sold it in that year to
W. Jerdan. It reviewed
Childe Harold
in October, 1812 (pp.
344-358); and again in December of the same year (pp. 542-550). In the
first of the two notices, the
Satirist
quotes the "judgment of
our predecessors," that unless Byron "improved wonderfully, he could
never be a poet," and continues thus:
"It is with unaffected satisfaction we find that he has improved
wonderfully, and that he is a poet. Indeed, when we consider the
comparatively short interval which has elapsed, and contrast the
character of his recent with that of his early work, we confess
ourselves astonished at the intellectual progress which Lord Byron has
made, and are happy to hold him up as another example of the
extraordinary effects of study and cultivation, even on minds
apparently of the most unpromising description."
The reviewer severely condemns the morbid bitterness of the poet's
thought and feeling, but yet affirms that the poems
"abound with beautiful imagery, clothed in a diction free, forcible,
and various. Childe Harold, although avowedly a fragment,
contains many fragments which would do honour to any poet, of any
period, in any country."
List of Letters
Contents
Cheltenham, Oct. 14, 1812.