Thomas Moore- Collected Poetical Works

by Thomas Moore

  My reply concluded thus:— “As your Lordship does not show any wish to proceed beyond the rigid formulary of explanation, it is not for me to make any further advances. We Irishmen, in businesses of this kind, seldom know any medium between decided hostility and decided friendship; — but, as any approaches towards the latter alternative must now depend entirely on your Lordship, I have only to repeat that I am satisfied with your letter, and that I have the honour to be,” &c. &c.

  On the following day I received the annexed rejoinder from Lord Byron: —

  LETTER 74. TO MR. MOORE.

  “8. St. James’s Street, October 29. 1811.

  “Sir,

  “Soon after my return to England, my friend, Mr. Hodgson, apprised me that a letter for me was in his possession; but a domestic event hurrying me from London, immediately after, the letter (which may most probably be your own) is still unopened in his keeping. If, on examination of the address, the similarity of the handwriting should lead to such a conclusion, it shall be opened in your presence, for the satisfaction of all parties. Mr. H. is at present out of town; — on Friday I shall see him, and request him to forward it to my address.

  “With regard to the latter part of both your letters, until the principal point was discussed between us, I felt myself at a loss in what manner to reply. Was I to anticipate friendship from one, who conceived me to have charged him with falsehood? Were not advances, under such circumstances, to be misconstrued, — not, perhaps, by the person to whom they were addressed, but by others? In my case, such a step was impracticable. If you, who conceived yourself to be the offended person, are satisfied that you had no cause for offence, it will not be difficult to convince me of it. My situation, as I have before stated, leaves me no choice. I should have felt proud of your acquaintance, had it commenced under other circumstances; but it must rest with you to determine how far it may proceed after so auspicious a beginning. I have the honour to be,” &c.

  Somewhat piqued, I own, at the manner in which my efforts towards a more friendly understanding, — ill-timed as I confess them to have been, — were received, I hastened to close our correspondence by a short note, saying, that his Lordship had made me feel the imprudence I was guilty of, in wandering from the point immediately in discussion between us; and I should now, therefore, only add, that if, in my last letter, I had correctly stated the substance of his explanation, our correspondence might, from this moment, cease for ever, as with that explanation I declared myself satisfied.

  This brief note drew immediately from Lord Byron the following frank and open-hearted reply: —

  LETTER 75. TO MR. MOORE.

  “8. St. James’s Street, October 30. 1811.

  “Sir,

  “You must excuse my troubling you once more upon this very unpleasant subject. It would be a satisfaction to me, and I should think, to yourself, that the unopened letter in Mr. Hodgson’s possession (supposing it to prove your own) should be returned ‘in statu quo’ to the writer; particularly as you expressed yourself ‘not quite easy under the manner in which I had dwelt on its miscarriage.’

  “A few words more, and I shall not trouble you further. I felt, and still feel, very much flattered by those parts of your correspondence, which held out the prospect of our becoming acquainted. If I did not meet them in the first instance as perhaps I ought, let the situation I was placed in be my defence. You have now declared yourself satisfied, and on that point we are no longer at issue. If, therefore, you still retain any wish to do me the honour you hinted at, I shall be most happy to meet you, when, where, and how you please, and I presume you will not attribute my saying thus much to any unworthy motive. I have the honour to remain,” &c.

  On receiving this letter, I went instantly to my friend, Mr. Rogers, who was, at that time, on a visit at Holland House, and, for the first time, informed him of the correspondence in which I had been engaged. With his usual readiness to oblige and serve, he proposed that the meeting between Lord Byron and myself should take place at his table, and requested of me to convey to the noble Lord his wish, that he would do him the honour of naming some day for that purpose. The following is Lord Byron’s answer to the note which I then wrote: —

  LETTER 76. TO MR. MOORE.

  “8. St. James’s Street, November 1, 1811.

  “Sir,

  “As I should be very sorry to interrupt your Sunday’s engagement, if Monday, or any other day of the ensuing week, would be equally convenient to yourself and friend, I will then have the honour of accepting his invitation. Of the professions of esteem with which Mr. Rogers has honoured me, I cannot but feel proud, though undeserving. I should be wanting to myself, if insensible to the praise of such a man; and, should my approaching interview with him and his friend lead to any degree of intimacy with both or either, I shall regard our past correspondence as one of the happiest events of my life. I have the honour to be,

  “Your very sincere and obedient servant,

  “BYRON.”

  It can hardly, I think, be necessary to call the reader’s attention to the good sense, self-possession, and frankness, of these letters of Lord Byron. I had placed him, — by the somewhat national confusion which I had made of the boundaries of peace and war, of hostility and friendship, — in a position which, ignorant as he was of the character of the person who addressed him, it required all the watchfulness of his sense of honour to guard from surprise or snare. Hence, the judicious reserve with which he abstained from noticing my advances towards acquaintance, till he should have ascertained exactly whether the explanation which he was willing to give would be such as his correspondent would be satisfied to receive. The moment he was set at rest on this point, the frankness of his nature displayed itself; and the disregard of all further mediation or etiquette with which he at once professed himself ready to meet me, “when, where, and how” I pleased, showed that he could be as pliant and confiding after such an understanding, as he had been judiciously reserved and punctilious before it.

  Such did I find Lord Byron, on my first experience of him; and such, — so open and manly-minded, — did I find him to the last.

  It was, at first, intended by Mr. Rogers that his company at dinner should not extend beyond Lord Byron and myself; but Mr. Thomas Campbell, having called upon our host that morning, was invited to join the party, and consented. Such a meeting could not be otherwise than interesting to us all. It was the first time that Lord Byron was ever seen by any of his three companions; while he, on his side, for the first time, found himself in the society of persons, whose names had been associated with his first literary dreams, and to two of whom he looked up with that tributary admiration which youthful genius is ever ready to pay its precursors.

  Among the impressions which this meeting left upon me, what I chiefly remember to have remarked was the nobleness of his air, his beauty, the gentleness of his voice and manners, and — what was, naturally, not the least attraction — his marked kindness to myself. Being in mourning for his mother, the colour, as well of his dress, as of his glossy, curling, and picturesque hair, gave more effect to the pure, spiritual paleness of his features, in the expression of which, when he spoke, there was a perpetual play of lively thought, though melancholy was their habitual character when in repose.

  As we had none of us been apprised of his peculiarities with respect to food, the embarrassment of our host was not a little, on discovering that there was nothing upon the table which his noble guest could eat or drink. Neither meat, fish, nor wine, would Lord Byron touch; and of biscuits and soda-water, which he asked for, there had been, unluckily, no provision. He professed, however, to be equally well pleased with potatoes and vinegar; and of these meagre materials contrived to make rather a hearty dinner.

  I shall now resume the series of his correspondence with other friends.

  LETTER 77. TO MR. HARNESS.

  “8. St. James’s Street, Dec. 6. 1811.

  “My dear Harness,

  “I write
again, but don’t suppose I mean to lay such a tax on your pen and patience as to expect regular replies. When you are inclined, write; when silent, I shall have the consolation of knowing that you are much better employed. Yesterday, Bland and I called on Mr. Miller, who, being then out, will call on Bland to-day or to-morrow. I shall certainly endeavour to bring them together. — You are censorious, child; when you are a little older, you will learn to dislike every body, but abuse nobody.

  “With regard to the person of whom you speak, your own good sense must direct you. I never pretend to advise, being an implicit believer in the old proverb. This present frost is detestable. It is the first I have felt for these three years, though I longed for one in the oriental summer, when no such thing is to be had, unless I had gone to the top of Hymettus for it.

  “I thank you most truly for the concluding part of your letter. I have been of late not much accustomed to kindness from any quarter, and am not the less pleased to meet with it again from one where I had known it earliest. I have not changed in all my ramblings, — Harrow, and, of course, yourself never left me, and the

  “‘Dulces reminiscitur Argos’

  attended me to the very spot to which that sentence alludes in the mind of the fallen Argive — Our intimacy began before we began to date at all, and it rests with you to continue it till the hour which must number it and me with the things that were.

  “Do read mathematics. — I should think X plus Y at least as amusing as the Curse of Kehama, and much more intelligible. Master S.’s poems are, in fact, what parallel lines might be — viz. prolonged ad infinitum without meeting any thing half so absurd as themselves.

  “What news, what news? Queen Oreaca, What news of scribblers five? S —— , W —— , C —— e, L —— d, and L —— e? — All damn’d, though yet alive.

  C —— e is lecturing. ‘Many an old fool,’ said Hannibal to some such lecturer, ‘but such as this, never.’

  “Ever yours, &c.”

  LETTER 78. TO MR. HARNESS.

  “St. James’s Street, Dec. 8. 1811.

  “Behold a most formidable sheet, without gilt or black edging, and consequently very vulgar and indecorous, particularly to one of your precision; but this being Sunday, I can procure no better, and will atone for its length by not filling it. Bland I have not seen since my last letter; but on Tuesday he dines with me, and will meet M * * e, the epitome of all that is exquisite in poetical or personal accomplishments. How Bland has settled with Miller, I know not. I have very little interest with either, and they must arrange their concerns according to their own gusto. I have done my endeavours, at your request, to bring them together, and hope they may agree to their mutual advantage.

  “Coleridge has been lecturing against Campbell. Rogers was present, and from him I derive the information. We are going to make a party to hear this Manichean of poesy. Pole is to marry Miss Long, and will be a very miserable dog for all that. The present ministers are to continue, and his Majesty does continue in the same state; so there’s folly and madness for you, both in a breath.

  “I never heard but of one man truly fortunate, and he was Beaumarchais, the author of Figaro, who buried two wives and gained three law-suits before he was thirty.

  “And now, child, what art thou doing? Reading, I trust. I want to see you take a degree. Remember, this is the most important period of your life; and don’t disappoint your papa and your aunt, and all your kin — besides myself. Don’t you know that all male children are begotten for the express purpose of being graduates? and that even I am an A.M., though how I became so, the Public Orator only can resolve. Besides, you are to be a priest: and to confute Sir William Drummond’s late book about the Bible, (printed, but not published,) and all other infidels whatever. Now leave Master H.’s gig, and Master S.’s Sapphics, and become as immortal as Cambridge can make you.

  “You see, Mio Carissimo, what a pestilent correspondent I am likely to become; but then you shall be as quiet at Newstead as you please, and I won’t disturb your studies as I do now. When do you fix the day, that I may take you up according to contract? Hodgson talks of making a third in our journey; but we can’t stow him, inside at least. Positively you shall go with me as was agreed, and don’t let me have any of your politesse to H. on the occasion. I shall manage to arrange for both with a little contrivance. I wish H. was not quite so fat, and we should pack better. You will want to know what I am doing — chewing tobacco.

  “You see nothing of my allies, Scrope Davies and Matthews — they don’t suit you; and how does it happen that I — who am a pipkin of the same pottery — continue in your good graces? Good night, — I will go on in the morning.

  “Dec. 9th. In a morning, I’m always sullen, and to-day is as sombre as myself. Rain and mist are worse than a sirocco, particularly in a beef-eating and beer-drinking country. My bookseller, Cawthorne, has just left me, and tells me, with a most important face, that he is in treaty for a novel of Madame D’Arblay’s, for which 1000 guineas are asked! He wants me to read the MS. (if he obtains it), which I shall do with pleasure; but I should be very cautious in venturing an opinion on her whose Cecilia Dr. Johnson superintended. If he lends it to me, I shall put it into the hands of Rogers and M * * e, who are truly men of taste. I have filled the sheet, and beg your pardon; I will not do it again. I shall, perhaps, write again, but if not, believe, silent or scribbling, that I am, my dearest William, ever,” &c.

  LETTER 79. TO MR. HODGSON.

  “London, Dec. 8. 1811.

  “I sent you a sad Tale of Three Friars the other day, and now take a dose in another style. I wrote it a day or two ago, on hearing a song of former days.

  “Away, away, ye notes of woe, &c. &c.

  “I have gotten a book by Sir W. Drummond, (printed, but not published,) entitled Oedipus Judaicus, in which he attempts to prove the greater part of the Old Testament an allegory, particularly Genesis and Joshua. He professes himself a theist in the preface, and handles the literal interpretation very roughly. I wish you could see it. Mr. W * * has lent it me, and I confess, to me it is worth fifty Watsons.

  “You and Harness must fix on the time for your visit to Newstead; I can command mine at your wish, unless any thing particular occurs in the interim. Bland dines with me on Tuesday to meet Moore. Coleridge has attacked the ‘Pleasures of Hope,’ and all other pleasures whatsoever. Mr. Rogers was present, and heard himself indirectly rowed by the lecturer. We are going in a party to hear the new Art of Poetry by this reformed schismatic; and were I one of these poetical luminaries, or of sufficient consequence to be noticed by the man of lectures, I should not hear him without an answer. For you know, ‘an’ a man will be beaten with brains, he shall never keep a clean doublet.’ C * * will be desperately annoyed. I never saw a man (and of him I have seen very little) so sensitive; — what a happy temperament! I am sorry for it; what can he fear from criticism? I don’t know if Bland has seen Miller, who was to call on him yesterday.

  “To-day is the Sabbath, — a day I never pass pleasantly, but at Cambridge; and, even there, the organ is a sad remembrancer. Things are stagnant enough in town, — as long as they don’t retrograde, ’tis all very well. H * * writes and writes and writes, and is an author. I do nothing but eschew tobacco. I wish parliament were assembled, that I may hear, and perhaps some day be heard; — but on this point I am not very sanguine. I have many plans; — sometimes I think of the East again, and dearly beloved Greece. I am well, but weakly. — Yesterday Kinnaird told me I looked very ill, and sent me home happy.

  * * * * * “Is Scrope still interesting and invalid? And how does Hinde with his cursed chemistry? To Harness I have written, and he has written, and we have all written, and have nothing now to do but write again, till death splits up the pen and the scribbler.

  “The Alfred has three hundred and fifty-four candidates for six vacancies. The cook has run away and left us liable, which makes our committee very plaintive. Master Brook, our head serving-man, has the
gout, and our new cook is none of the best. I speak from report, — for what is cookery to a leguminous-eating ascetic? So now you know as much of the matter as I do. Books and quiet are still there, and they may dress their dishes in their own way for me. Let me know your determination as to Newstead, and believe me,

  “Yours ever, Μπαιρῶν.”

  LETTER 80. TO MR. HODGSON.

  “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! My dear Sir Edgar, water disagrees with you, — drink sack and write. Bland did not come to his appointment, being unwell, but M * * e 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 Me. D’Arblay’s, and if he obtains it (at 1500 gs.!!) 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 M * * e, 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, &c.

  “P.S. — I only wait for your answer to fix our meeting.”