My Dear Lord
,—I
that the papers, yea, even Perry's
, are
somewhat ruffled at the injudicious preference of the Committee. My
friend Perry has, indeed,
et tu, Brute
-d me rather scurvily, for
which I will send him, for the
Morning Chronicle
, the next
epigram I scribble, as a token of my full forgiveness.
Do the Committee mean to enter into no explanation of their proceedings?
You must see there is a leaning towards a charge of partiality. You
will, at least, acquit me of any great anxiety to push myself before so
many elder and better anonymous, to whom the twenty guineas (which I
take to be about two thousand pounds
Bank
currency) and the
honour would have been equally welcome. "Honour," I see, "hath skill in
paragraph-writing."
I wish to know how it went off at the second reading, and whether any
one has had the grace to give it a glance of approbation. I have seen no
paper but Perry's and two Sunday ones. Perry is severe, and the others
silent. If, however, you and your Committee are not now dissatisfied
with your own judgments, I shall not much embarrass myself about the
brilliant remarks of the journals. My own opinion upon it is what it
always was, perhaps pretty near that of the public.
Believe me, my dear Lord, etc., etc.
P.S.—My best respects to Lady H., whose smiles will be very
consolatory, even at this distance.
James Perry (1756-1821) purchased, in 1789, the
Morning
Chronicle
, originally established by Woodfall in 1769. In Perry's
hands the paper became the leading organ of the Whigs. He was the first
editor to introduce a succession of parliamentary reporters. He gathered
round him a remarkable staff of contributors, including Ricardo, Sir
James Mackintosh, Porson (who married his sister), Charles Lamb,
Sheridan, Coleridge, Hazlitt, Lord Campbell, Moore, Campbell, Byron, and
Burns. The
Morning Chronicle
(October 12, 1812) says:
"Mr. Elliston then came forward and delivered the following
Prize Address. We cannot boast of the eloquence of the
delivery. It was neither gracefully nor correctly recited. The merits
of the production itself we submit to the criticism of our readers. We
cannot suppose that it was selected as the most poetical composition
of all the scores that were submitted to the Committee. But, perhaps
by its tenor, by its allusions to the fire, to Garrick, to Siddons,
and to Sheridan, it was thought most applicable to the occasion,
notwithstanding its being in parts unmusical, and in general tame."
Again (October 14), in a notice of
Rejected Addresses
, the
Morning Chronicle
returns to the subject:
"A wag has already published a small volume of Addresses
rejected, in which, with admirable wit, all the poets of the day
are assembled, contesting for the Prize Address at Drury Lane. And
certainly he has assigned to the pen of Lord B. a superior poem
to that which has gained the prize."
The Address was also severely handled in
A Critique on the Address
written by Lord Byron, which was Spoken at the opening of the New
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, October
10, 1812. By Lord—— (London, no date). The author is "astonished at the glaring faults and
general insipidity" of the address, and, after a detailed criticism,
concludes that "public indignation" will sympathize with the rejected
poets, and "pursue the rival patrons and the rival bard."
Rogers, writing to Moore, October 22, 1812 (
Memoirs, etc., of Thomas
Moore
, vol. viii. p. 123), says,
"Poor Byron! what I hear and read
of his prologue makes me very angry. Of such value is public favour! So
a man is to be tried by a copy of verses thrown off perhaps at hazard,
and invitâ Minervâ!"
List of Letters
Contents
263—to John Hanson
Cheltenham, Octr. 18th, 1812.
Dear Sir,—With perfect confidence in you I sign the note; but is not
Claughton's delay very strange? let us take care what we are about. I
answered his letter, which I enclose to you, very
cautiously;
the
wines and China, etc., I will not demur much upon; but the
vase
and cup (not the
skull cup
) and some little coffee things brought
from the East, or made for the purpose of containing relics brought from
thence, I will not part with, and if he refuses to ratify, I will take
such steps as the Law will allow on the form of the contract for
compelling him to ratify it.
Pray write. I am invited to Lord O.'s and Lord H.'s; but if you wish
very much to meet me I can come to town.
I suppose the tythe purchase will be made in my name.
is to be done
with Deardon?
. M[assingberd]
is dead, and I would wish something settled for
the Daughter who is still responsible. Will you give a glance into that
business, and if possible first settle something about the Annuities.
I shall perhaps draw within a £100 next week, but I will delay for your
answer on C.'s business.
Ever yours, sincerely and affectionately,
Byron
.
My love to all the family.
I wish to do something for young Rushton, if practicable at
Rochdale
; if not, think of some situation where he might occupy
himself to avoid Idleness, in the mean time.
Deardon was the lessee of the Rochdale coal-pits.
"When Mr. France was here," writes Mrs. Byron to Hanson, July 13, 1811
(Kölbing's Englische Studien, vol. xxv. p. I53), "he told me
there had been an injunction procured to prevent Deardin from working
the Coal Pits that was in dispute between Lord Byron and him, but
since France was here, there has been a Man from Lancashire who says
they are worked by Deardin the same as ever. I also heard that the
Person you sent down to take an account of the Coals was bribed by
Deardin, and did not give an account of half of what was got."
For Mrs. Massingberd, see
Letters
, vol. i. p. 100,
at end of
note
3 [Footnote 1 of Letter 52]. Byron's pecuniary transactions, though not
unimportant in their influence on his career, are difficult to unravel.
The following statement, in his own handwriting, with regard to the
Annuities was apparently prepared for some legal proceedings, and is
dated January 16, 1812:
"Lord Byron, to the best of his knowledge and recollection, in Dec.,
1805-January, 1806 applied to King, in consequence of an
advertisement in the papers, who acquainted Lord Byron that his
minority prevented all money transactions without the security of
competent persons. Through Mr. K. he became acquainted with Mr.
Dellevelly, another of the tribe of Israel, and subsequently with a
Mr. Howard of Golden Square.
"After many delays, during which Lord B. had interviews with Howard,
once, he thinks, in Golden Square, but more frequently in Piccadilly,
Mrs. M[assingberd] agreed to become security jointly with her
daughter. Lord B. knows Howard's person perfectly well, has not seen
him subsequent to the transaction, but recollects Howard's mentioning
to him that he, Lord B., was acting imprudently, stating that he made
it a rule to advise young men against such proceedings. Lord B.
recollects, on the day on which the money was paid, that he remained
in the next room till the papers were signed, Mrs. M[assingberd]
having stated that the parties wished him to be kept out of sight
during the business, and wished to avoid even mentioning his name.
Mrs. M[assingberd] deducted the interest for two years and a half, and
£100 for Howard's papers."
Two other Annuities were effected, in both of which Mrs. Massingberd
figured as a security, and in one the manager of Dorant's Hotel. It was
the interest on these minority loans which crippled Byron. Two were
still unpaid in 1817.
List of Letters
Contents
Cheltenham, Oct. 18, 1812,
Dear Sir,—
you have the goodness to get this Parody of a peculiar
kind
(for all the first lines are
Busby's
entire), inserted
in several of the papers (
correctly
—and copied
correctly; my
hand
is difficult)—particularly the
Morning Chronicle
? Tell
Mr. Perry I forgive him all he has said, and may say against
my
address
, but he will allow me to deal with the Doctor—(
audi
alteram partem
)—and not
betray
me. I cannot think what has
befallen Mr. Perry, for of yore we were very good friends;—but no
matter, only get this inserted.
I have a poem on Waltzing for
you
, of which I make
you
a
present; but it must be anonymous. It is in the old style of
English
Bards, and Scotch Reviewers
.
Ever yours,
Byron
.
P. S.—
the next edition of
Childe Harold
you may print the
first fifty or a hundred opening lines of the
Curse of Minerva
down to the couplet beginning
Mortal ('twas thus she spake), etc.
Of course, the moment the Satire begins, there you will stop, and the
opening is the best part.
The
Parenthetical Address
, "By Dr. Plagiary," is a
parody by Byron of Dr, Busby's
Address
, the original of which
will be found in the
Genuine Rejected Addresses
, as well as
parodied in
Rejected Addresses
("Architectural Atoms"). On
October 14 young Busby forced his way on to the stage of Drury Lane,
attempted to recite his father's address, and was taken into custody. On
the next night, Dr. Busby, speaking from one of the boxes, obtained a
hearing for his son, who could not, however, make his voice heard in the
theatre. Then another "rejected" author tried to recite his composition,
but was hooted down. Order was restored by Raymond reminding the
audience that the Chamberlain's licence was necessary for all stage
speeches. To the failure of the younger Busby (himself a competitor and
the author of an "Unalogue" of fifty-six lines) to make himself heard,
Byron alludes in the stage direction to the
Parenthetical
Address
—"to be spoken in an inarticulate voice by Master P." The
Parenthetical Address
appeared in the
Morning Chronicle
for October 23, 1812. In the same issue was printed a long statement by
Dr. Busby, in which, after paying a compliment to Byron's "poetical
genius," he insisted that the Committee of Drury Lane had broken faith
by not choosing one of the addresses sent in by competitors. (See
references to Dr. Busby in
Poems
, vol. i. pp. 481 and 485,
note
1.) Dr. Thomas Busby (1755-1838) composed the music for
Holcroft's
Tale of Mystery
, the first musical melodrama produced
on the English stage (Covent Garden, November 13, 1802). He was for some
time assistant editor of the
Morning Post
, and Parliamentary
reporter for the
London Courant
; wrote on musical subjects,
taught languages and music, and translated Lucretius into rhymed verse
(1813).
The Curse of Minerva,
written at Athens, in 1811,
was not published as a whole till 1828. But the first fifty-four lines
appeared in Canto III of
The Corsair
(1814). (See
The Curse
of Minerva:
Introductory note,
Poems,
1898, vol. i. p. 453.)
List of Letters
Contents
Cheltenham, Oct. 18th, 1812.
Robert,—I hope you continue as much as possible to apply yourself to
Accounts
and Land-Measurement, etc. Whatever change may take
place about Newstead, there will be none as to you and Mr. Murray. It is
intended to place you in a situation in Rochdale for which your
pursuance of the Studies I recommend will best fit you. Let me hear from
you; is your health improved since I was last at the Abbey? In the mean
time, if any accident occur to me, you are provided for in my will, and
if not, you will always find in your Master a sincere Friend.
B.
List of Letters
Contents
Oct. 19, 1812.
Dear Sir,—Many thanks, but I
must
pay the
damage
, and
will thank you to tell me the amount for the engraving. I think the
Rejected Addresses
by far the best thing of the kind since the
Rolliad
, and wish
you
had published them. Tell the author
"I forgive him, were be twenty times our satirist;" and think his
imitations not at all inferior to the famous ones of Hawkins Browne. He
must be a man of very lively wit, and much less scurrilous than Wits
often are: altogether, I very much admire the performance, and wish it
all success. The
Satirist
has taken a
new
tone, as you
will see: we have now, I think, finished with
C. H.'s
critics. I
have in
hand
a
Satire
on
Waltzing
, which you must
publish anonymously: it is not long, not quite 200 lines, but will make
a very small boarded pamphlet. In a few days you shall have it.
Ever yours,
Byron
.
P.S.—The editor of the
Satirist
almost ought to be thanked for
his revocation; it is done handsomely, after five years' warfare.
List of Letters
Contents
267—to John Hanson
Octr. 22d, 1812.
Dear Sir
,—I enclose you Mr. C[laughton]'s letter, from which you
yourself will judge of my own. I insisted on the
contract
, and
said,
if
I gave up the wines, etc., it would be as a
gift
.
He admits the validity, as you perceive. I told him that
I
wished
to avoid raising difficulties and in all respects to fulfil the bargain.
I am going to Lord Oxford's,
Eywood, Presteigne, Hereford
. In my
way back I will take Farleigh, if you are not returned to London before.
I wish to take a small
house
for the winter any where not remote
from St. James's. Will you arrange this for me?—and think of young
Rushton, whom I promised to provide for, and must begin to think of it;
he might be a
sub
-Tythe
collector
, or a Bailiff to our
agent at Rochdale, or many other things. He has had a fair education and
was well disposed; at all events, he must no longer remain in idleness.
Let the Mule be sold and the dogs.
Pray let me hear from you when convenient, and
Believe me, ever yours truly,
Byron
.
My best remembrances to all.
I shall draw for
fifty
this week.
Is anything done about Miss M[assingberd]? You have not mentioned her.
List of Letters
Contents
Oct. 23, 1812.
Dear Sir
,—Thanks, as usual. You go on boldly; but have a care of
glutting
the public, who have by this time had enough of
C.
H.
Waltz
shall be prepared. It is rather above 200 lines,
with an introductory letter to the Publisher. I think of publishing,
with
C. H.
, the opening lines of the
Curse of Minerva
, as
far as the first speech of Pallas,—because some of the readers like
that part better than any I have ever written; and as it contains
nothing to affect the subject of the subsequent portion, it will find a
place as a
descriptive fragment
.
The
plate
is
broken
? between ourselves, it was unlike the
picture; and besides, upon the whole, the frontispiece of an author's
visage is but a paltry exhibition. At all events,
this
would have
been no recommendation to the book. I am sure Sanders would not have
survived
the engraving. By the by, the
picture
may remain
with
you
or
him
(which you please), till my return. The
one
of two remaining copies is at your service till I can give
you a
better
; the other must be
burned peremptorily
.
Again, do not forget that I have an account with you, and
that
this is
included
. I give you too much
Trouble
to allow you to
incur
Expense
also.
You best know how far this "Address Riot" will affect the future sale of
C. H.
I like the volume of "
rejected A.
" better and
better. The other parody which Perry has received is
mine
also (I
believe). It is Dr. Busby's speech versified. You are removing to
Albemarle Street, I find, and I rejoice that we shall be nearer
neighbours. I am going to Lord Oxford's, but letters here will be
forwarded. When at leisure, all communications from you will be
willingly received by the humblest of your scribes.
Mr. Ward write
the review of H. Tooke's Life
? It is excellent.