Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 With His Letters and Journals

I will request you to expunge that same, unless you please to add, 'by a person of quality,' or 'of wit and honour about town.' Merely say, 'written to be spoken at Drury Lane.'...

"To return to our business--your epistles are vastly agreeable. With regard to the observations on carelessness, &c. I think, with all humility, that the gentle reader has consi...

"Many and sincere thanks for your kind letter--the bet, or rather forfeit, was one hundred to Hawke, and fifty to Hay (nothing to Kelly), for a guinea received from each of the...

"I rejoice in your promotion as Chairman and Charitable Steward, &c. &c. These be dignities which await only the virtuous. But then, recollect you are _six_ and _thirty_, (I spe...

"It will give me great pleasure to comply with your request, though I hope there is still taste enough left amongst us to render it almost unnecessary, sordid and interested as,...

"If your present note is serious, and it really would be inconvenient, there is an end of the matter; tear my draft, and go on as usual: in that case, we will recur to our forme...

"Your letter, written before my departure from England, and addressed to me in London, only reached me recently. Since that period, I have been over a portion of that part of Eu...

"You are, it seems, in England again, as I am to hear from every body but yourself; and I suppose you punctilious, because I did not answer your last Irish letter. When did you...

"Your letter has arrived. Pray, in publishing the third Canto, have you _omitted_ any passages? I hope _not_; and indeed wrote to you on my way over the Alps to prevent such an...

"I have taken a fit of writing to you, which portends postage--once from Verona--once from Venice, and again from Venice--_thrice_ that is. For this you may thank yourself, for...

"I hope Mrs. M. is quite re-established. The little girl was born on the 10th of December last; her name is Augusta _Ada_ (the second a very antique family name,--I believe not...

"Your letter of the 8th is before me. The remedy for your plethora is simple--abstinence. I was obliged to have recourse to the like some years ago, I mean in point of _diet_, a...

"Viscount Althorp is about to be married, and I have gotten his spacious bachelor apartments in Albany, to which you will, I hope, address a speedy answer to this mine epistle.

"I have at last learned, in default of your own writing (or _not_ writing--which should it be? for I am not very clear as to the application of the word _default_) from Murray,...

"I have no guess at your author,--but it is a noble poem[27], and worth a thousand odes of anybody's. I suppose I may keep this copy;--after reading it, I really regret having w...

"The Courier of this evening accuses me of having 'received and pocketed' large sums for my works. I have never yet received, nor wish to receive, a farthing for any. Mr. Murray...

"Your letter and enclosure are safe; but 'English gentlemen' are very rare--at least in Venice. I doubt whether there are at present any, save, the consul and vice-consul, with...

"I have nothing to offer in behalf of my late silence, except the most inveterate and ineffable laziness; but I am too supine to invent a lie, or I _certainly_ should, being ash...

"You are one of the few persons with whom I have lived in what is called intimacy, and have heard me at times conversing on the untoward topic of my recent family disquietudes....

"I wrote to you from Verona the other day in my progress hither, which letter I hope you will receive. Some three years ago, or it may be more, I recollect your telling me that...

"I have not answered your letter for a time; and, at present, the reply to part of it might extend to such a length, that I shall delay it till it can be made in person, and the...

[Footnote 58: Milton's first wife, it is well known, ran away from him, within a month after their marriage, disgusted, says Phillips, "with his spare diet and hard study;" and...

"By the time this reaches your dwelling, I shall (God wot) be in town again probably. I have been here renewing my acquaintance with my old friend Ocean; and I find his bosom as...

"I hear that Mr. Davies has arrived in England,--but that of some letters, &c., committed to his care by Mr. H., only _half_ have been delivered. This intelligence naturally mak...

"You will begin to think my epistolary offerings (to whatever altar you please to devote them) rather prodigal. But until you answer, I shall not abate, because you deserve no b...

"As the demon of silence seems to have possessed you, I am determined to have my revenge in postage; this is my sixth or seventh letter since summer and Switzerland. My last was...

"In remitting the third Act of the sort of dramatic poem of which you will by this time have received the two first (at least I hope so), which were sent within the last three w...

"In acknowledging the arrival of the article from the 'Quarterly[129],' which I received two days ago, I cannot express myself better than in the words of my sister Augusta, who...

"I _could_ be very sentimental now, but I won't. The truth is, that I have been all my life trying to harden my heart, and have not yet quite succeeded--though there are great h...

"I have a great mind to tell you that I _am_ 'uncomfortable,' if only to make you come to town; where no one ever more delighted in seeing you, nor is there any one to whom I wo...

"You will, perhaps, complain as much of the frequency of my letters now, as you were wont to do of their rarity. I think this is the fourth within as many moons. I feel anxious...

"It is some months since I have heard from or of you--I think, not since I left Diodati. From Milan I wrote once or twice; but have been here some little time, and intend to pas...

"I meaned to write to you before on the subject of your loss[76]; but the recollection of the uselessness and worthlessness of any observations on such events prevented me. I sh...

"I have recently written to you rather frequently but without any late answer. Mr. Hobhouse and myself set out for Venice in a few days; but you had better still address to me a...

"As it would not be fair to press you into a dedication, without previous notice, I send you _two_, and I will tell you _why two_. The first, Mr. M., who sometimes takes upon hi...

"I sent you the whole of the Drama at _three several_ times, act by act, in separate covers. I hope that you have, or will receive, some or the whole of it.

"I have received your two letters, but not the parcel you mention. As the Waterloo spoils are arrived, I will make you a present of them, if you choose to accept of them; pray do.

"It doubtless gratifies me much that our _finale_ has pleased, and that the curtain drops gracefully.[12] _You_ deserve it should, for your promptitude and good nature in arrang...

"This is the fourth letter I have begun to you within the month. Whether I shall finish or not, or burn it like the rest, I know not. When we meet, I will explain _why_ I have n...

"It is a considerable time since I wrote to you last, and I hardly know why I should trouble you now, except that I think you will not be sorry to hear from me now and then. You...

"I return you your bills not accepted, but certainly not _unhonoured_. Your present offer is a favour which I would accept from you, if I accepted such from any man. Had such be...

"I was _not_ alone, nor will be while I can help it. Newstead is not yet decided. Claughton is to make a grand effort by Saturday week to complete,--if not, he must give up twen...

"The theatrical gentlemen have a confident hope of its success. I know not that any alterations for the stage will be necessary; if any, they will be trifling, and you shall be...

"You will be glad to hear of my safe arrival here. The time of my return will depend upon the weather, which is so impracticable, that this letter has to advance through more sn...

"I wrote to you a few weeks ago, and Dr. Polidori received your letter; but the packet has not made its appearance, nor the epistle, of which you gave notice therein. I enclose...

"'Grata superveniet,' &c. &c. I had written to you again, but burnt the letter, because I began to think you seriously hurt at my indolence, and did not know how the buffoonery...

"I quite forgot, in my answer of yesterday, to mention that I have no means of ascertaining whether the Newark _Pirate_ has been doing what you say.[13] If so, he is a rascal, a...

"Guess darkly, and you will seldom err. At present, I shall say no more, and, perhaps--but no matter. I hope we shall some day meet, and whatever years may precede or succeed it...

"An event--the death of poor Dorset--and the recollection of what I once felt, and ought to have felt now, but could not--set me pondering, and finally into the train of thought...

"Notwithstanding the contradictory paragraph in the Morning Chronicle, which must have been sent by * *, or perhaps--I know not why I should suspect Claughton of such a thing, a...

"I wrote to you the other day in answer to your letter; at present I would trouble you with a commission, if you would be kind enough to undertake it.

"I have written to you so frequently of late, that you will think me a bore; as I think you a very impolite person, for not answering my letters from Switzerland, Milan, Verona,...

"I must send you the Java government gazette of July 3d, 1813, just sent to me by Murray. Only think of _our_ (for it is you and I) setting paper warriors in array in the Indian...

"I arrived in town late yesterday evening, having been absent three weeks, which I passed in Notts. quietly and pleasantly. You can have no conception of the uproar the eight li...

"I _am_ very glad to hear that you are to be transient from Mayfield so very soon, and was taken in by the first part of your letter.[24] Indeed, for aught I know, you may be tr...

"I am obliged by what you have sent, but would rather not see any thing of the kind[47]; we have had enough of these things already, good and bad, and next month you need not tr...

"I am always obliged to trouble you with my awkwardnesses, and now I have a fresh one. Mr. W.[36] called on me several times, and I have missed the honour of making his acquaint...

"Yesterday I sent off the packet and letter to Edinburgh. It consisted of forty-one pages, so that I have not added a line; but in my letter, I mentioned what passed between you...

"You may be assured that the only prickles that sting from the Royal hedgehog are those which possess a torpedo property, and may benumb some of my friends. _I_ am quite silent,...

"Lord Wentworth died last week. The bulk of his property (from seven to eight thousand per ann.) is entailed on Lady Milbanke and Lady Byron. The first is gone to take possessio...

"I have been requested by the Countess Albrizzi here to present her with 'the Works;' and wish you therefore to send me a copy, that I may comply with her requisition. You may i...

--My dear Moore, I am going to be married--that is, I am accepted[49], and one usually hopes the rest will follow. My mother of the Gracchi (that _are_ to be) _you_ think too st...

"I have heard from London that you have left Chatsworth and all the women full of 'entusymusy'[66] about you, personally and poetically; and, in particular, that 'When first I m...

"You could not have made me a more acceptable present than Jacqueline,--she is all grace, and softness, and poetry; there is so much of the last, that we do not feel the want of...

"I am very much flattered by Mr. Gifford's good opinion of the MSS., and shall be still more so if it answers your expectations and justifies his kindness. I liked it myself, bu...

"I have got a devil of a long story in the press, entitled 'The Corsair,' in the regular heroic measure. It is a pirate's isle, peopled with my own creatures, and you may easily...

"In a letter from England, I am informed that a man named Johnson has taken upon himself to publish some poems called a 'Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a Tempest, and an Address to my...

"I wrote to you hastily this morning by Murray, to say that I was glad to do as Mackintosh and you suggested about Mr. * *. It occurs to me now, that as I have never seen Mr. *...

"To your question about the 'dog'[64]--Umph!--my 'mother,' I won't say any thing against--that is, about her: but how long a 'mistress' or friend may recollect paramours or comp...

"An' there were any thing in marriage that would make a difference between my friends and me, particularly in your case, I would 'none on't.' My agent sets off for Durham next w...

"This day have I received information from my man of law of the _non_--and never likely to be--performance of purchase by Mr. Claughton, of _im_pecuniary memory. He don't know w...

"Your offer is _liberal_ in the extreme, (you see I use the word _to_ you and _of_ you, though I would not consent to your using it of yourself to Mr. * * * *,) and much more th...

"Do you recollect a book, Mathieson's Letters, which you lent me, which I have still, and yet hope to return to your library? Well, I have encountered at Copet and elsewhere Gra...

"When you have been enabled to form an opinion on Mr. Coleridge's MS.[88] you will oblige me by returning it, as, in fact, I have no authority to let it out of my hands. I think...

"I wrote yesterday to Mayfield, and have just now enfranked your letter to mamma. My stay in town is so uncertain (not later than next week) that your packets for the north may...

"Jeffrey has been so very kind about me and my damnable works, that I would not be indirect or equivocal with him, even for a friend. So, it may be as well to tell him that it i...

"Had you not bewildered my head with the 'stocks,' your letter would have been answered directly. Hadn't I to go to the city? and hadn't I to remember what to ask when I got the...

"Jeffrey has sent me the most friendly of all possible letters, and has accepted * *'s article. He says he has long liked not only, &c. &c. but my 'character.' This must be _you...

"I have not been able to ascertain precisely the time of duration of the stock market; but I believe it is a good time for selling out, and I hope so. First, because I shall see...

"Do you want the last page _immediately_! I have doubts about the lines being worth printing; at any rate, I must see them again and alter some passages, before they go forth in...

"I wrote again to you lately, but I hope you won't be sorry to have another epistle. I have been unwell this last month, with a kind of slow and low fever, which fixes upon me a...

"Before any proof goes to Mr. Gifford, it may be as well to revise this, where there are _words omitted_, faults committed, and the devil knows what. As to the dedication, I cut...

"I have not time to read the whole MS. [23], but what I have seen seems very well written (both _prose_ and _verse_), and, though I am and can be no judge (at least a fair one o...

"I am sorry you should feel uneasy at what has by no means troubled me.[85] If your editor, his correspondents, and readers, are amused, I have no objection to be the theme of a...

"I sent to you to-day for this reason--the books you purchased are again seized, and, as matters stand, had much better be sold at once by public auction.[99] I wish to see you...

"I am thus far (kept by stress of weather) on my way back to Diodati (near Geneva) from a voyage in my boat round the Lake; and I enclose you a sprig of _Gibbons acacia_ and som...

"Your recollection and invitation do me great honour; but I am going to be 'married, and can't come.' My intended is two hundred miles off, and the moment my business here is ar...

"As I shall probably not see you here to-day, I write to request that, if not inconvenient to yourself, you will stay in town till _Sunday_; if not to gratify me, yet to please...

"It is certainly a little extraordinary that you have not sent the Edinburgh Review, as I requested, and hoped it would not require a note a day to remind you. I see _advertisem...

"I should think Mr. Hogg, for his own sake as well as yours, would be 'critical' as Iago himself in his editorial capacity; and that such a publication would answer his purpose,...

"I have written to you one letter to-night, but must send you this much more, as I have not franked my number, to say that I rejoice in my god-daughter, and will send her a cora...

"Thus far on my way to Italy. We have just passed the 'Fisse-Vache' (one of the first torrents in Switzerland) in time to view the iris which the sun flings along it before noon.

"I enclose a draft for the money; when paid, send the copyright. I release you from the thousand pounds agreed on for The Giaour and Bride, and there's an end.

"The 'Monody' is in too many paragraphs, which makes it unintelligible to me; if any one else understands it in the present form, they are wiser; however, as it cannot be rectif...

"I was married this day week. The parson has pronounced it--Perry has announced it--and the Morning Post, also, under the head of 'Lord Byron's Marriage'--as if it were a fabric...

"That's right and splendid, and becoming a publisher of high degree. Mr. Concanen (the translator) will be delighted, and pay his washerwoman; and, in reward for your bountiful...

"The minority must, in this case, carry it, so pray let it be so, for I don't care sixpence for any of the opinions you mention, on such a subject: and P * * must be a dunce to...

"When the sum offered by you, and even _pressed_ by you, was declined, it was with reference to a separate publication, as you know and I know. That it was large, I admitted and...

"I returned to town last night, and had some hopes of seeing you to-day, and would have called,--but I have been (though in exceeding distempered good health) a little head-achy...

"Many thanks for your hitherto unacknowledged 'Anecdotes.' Now for one of mine--I am going to be married, and have been engaged this month. It is a long story, and, therefore, I...

"All these news are very fine; but nevertheless I want my books, if you can find, or cause them to be found for me,--if only to lend them to Napoleon, in "the Island of Elba," d...

"I wrote to Lord Holland briefly, but I hope distinctly, on the subject which has lately occupied much of my conversation with him and you.[15] As things now stand, upon that to...

"The Edinburgh Review is arrived--thanks. I enclose Mr. Hobhouse's letter, from which you will perceive the work you have made. However, I have done: you must send my rhymes to...

"I have but a few moments to write to you. _Silence_ is the only answer to the things you mention; nor should I regard that man as my friend who said a word more on the subject....

"I am sorry to say that the print[42] is by no means approved of by those who have seen it, who are pretty conversant with the original, as well as the picture from whence it is...

"Thanks for the Edinburgh Review and the abolition of the print. Let the next be from the _other_ of Phillips--I mean (_not_ the Albanian, but) the original one in the exhibitio...

"As for any impression the public may receive from the revival of the lines on Lord Carlisle, let them keep it,--the more favourable for him, and the worse for me,--better for all.

"P.S. Perry hath a piece of compliment to-day; but I think the _name_ might have been as well omitted. No matter; they can but throw the old story of inconsistency in my teeth--...

"There is a youngster, and a clever one, named Reynolds, who has just published a poem called 'Safie,' published by Cawthorne. He is in the most natural and fearful apprehension...

"Before I left town yesterday, I wrote you a note, which I presume you received. I have heard so many different accounts of _your_ proceedings, or rather of those of others towa...

"I enclose you half a letter from * *, which will explain itself--at least the latter part--the former refers to private business of mine own. If Jeffrey will take such an artic...

"I sent for 'Marmion,' which I return, because it occurred to me, there might be a resemblance between part of 'Parisina' and a similar scene in Canto 2d of 'Marmion.' I fear th...

"You must have thought it very odd, not to say ungrateful, that I made no mention of the drawings[80], &c. when I had the pleasure of seeing you this morning. The fact is, that...

"I have been thinking that it might be as well to publish no more of the Ode separately, but incorporate it with any of the other things, and include the smaller poem too (in th...

"Not having received the slightest answer to my last three letters, nor the book (the last number of the Edinburgh Review) which they requested, I presume that you were the unfo...

"You will oblige me very much by making an occasional enquiry at Albany, at my chambers, whether my books, &c. are kept in tolerable order, and how far my old woman[67] continue...