by Lord Byron
Quitting England in the Spring” (‘Poems’, vol. i. p. 282).]
105. — To the Hon. Augusta Leigh.
[Ld. Chichester’s, Stratton Street, London.]
Newstead Abbey, Notts., [Wednesday], Novr. 30th, 1808.
My Dearest Augusta, — I return you my best thanks for making me an uncle, and forgive the sex this time; but the next must be a nephew. You will be happy to hear my Lancashire property is likely to prove extremely valuable; indeed my pecuniary affairs are altogether far superior to my expectations or any other person’s. If I would sell, my income would probably be six thousand per annum; but I will not part at least with Newstead, or indeed with the other, which is of a nature to increase in value yearly. I am living here alone, which suits my inclinations better than society of any kind. Mrs. Byron I have shaken off for two years, and I shall not resume her yoke in future, I am afraid my disposition will suffer in your estimation; but I never can forgive that woman, or breathe in comfort under the same roof.
I am a very unlucky fellow, for I think I had naturally not a bad heart; but it has been so bent, twisted, and trampled on, that it has now become as hard as a Highlander’s heelpiece.
I do not know that much alteration has taken place in my person, except that I am grown much thinner, and somewhat taller! I saw Col. Leigh at Brighton in July, where I should have been glad to have seen you; I only know your husband by sight, though I am acquainted with many of the Tenth. Indeed my relations are those whom I know the least, and in most instances, I am not very anxious to improve the acquaintance. I hope you are quite recovered, I shall be in town in January to take my seat, and will call, if convenient; let me hear from you before.
[Signature cut off, and over the page is, in Mrs. Leigh’s writing, this endorsement: “Sent to Miss Alderson to go to Germany, May 29th, 1843.”]
106. — To the Hon. Augusta Leigh.
[Ld. Chichester’s, Stratton Street, London.]
Newstead Abbey, Notts., Decr. 14th, 1808.
My Dearest Augusta, — When I stated in my last, that my intercourse with the world had hardened my heart, I did not mean from any matrimonial disappointment, no, I have been guilty of many absurdities, but I hope in God I shall always escape that worst of evils, Marriage. I have no doubt there are exceptions, and of course include you amongst them, but you will recollect, that “exceptions only prove the Rule.”
I live here much in my own manner, that is, alone, for I could not bear the company of my best friend, above a month; there is such a sameness in mankind upon the whole, and they grow so much more disgusting every day, that, were it not for a portion of Ambition, and a conviction that in times like the present we ought to perform our respective duties, I should live here all my life, in unvaried Solitude. I have been visited by all our Nobility and Gentry; but I return no visits. Joseph Murray is at the head of my household, poor honest fellow! I should be a great Brute, if I had not provided for him in the manner most congenial to his own feelings, and to mine. I have several horses, and a considerable establishment, but I am not addicted to hunting or shooting. I hate all field sports, though a few years since I was a tolerable adept in the polite arts of Foxhunting, Hawking, Boxing, etc., etc. My Library is rather extensive, (and as you perhaps know) I am a mighty Scribbler; I flatter myself I have made some improvements in Newstead, and, as I am independent, I am happy, as far as any person unfortunate enough to be born into this world, can be said to be so.
I shall be glad to hear from you when convenient, and beg you to believe me,
Very sincerely yours,
BYRON.
107. — To John Hanson.
Newstead Abbey, Notts., Dec. 17, 1808.
My Dear Sir, — I regret the contents of your letter as I think we shall be thrown on our backs from the delay. I do not know if our best method would not be to compromise if possible, as you know the state of my affairs will not be much bettered by a protracted and possibly unsuccessful litigation. However, I am and have been so much in the dark during the whole transaction that I am not a competent judge of the most expedient measures. I suppose it will end in my marrying a Golden Dolly or blowing my brains out; it does not much matter which, the remedies are nearly alike. I shall be glad to hear from you further on the business. I suppose now it will be still more difficult to come to any terms. Have you seen Mrs. Massingberd, and have you arranged my Israelitish accounts? Pray remember me to Mrs. Hanson, to Harriet, and all the family, female and male.
Believe me also, yours very sincerely,
BYRON.
[Footnote 1: Mrs. Byron also advised his marriage with an heiress. The following passage is taken from her letter to Hanson, January 30, 1809: —
“I was sorry I could not see you here. Byron told me he intended to put his servants on Board Wages at Newstead. I was very sorry to hear of the great expence the Newstead fête would put him to. I can see nothing but the Road to Ruin in all this, which grieves me to the heart and makes me still worse than I would otherwise be (unless, indeed, Coal Mines turn to Gold Mines), or that he mends his fortune in the old and usual way by marrying a Woman with two or three hundred thousand pounds. I have no doubt of his being a great speaker and a celebrated public character, and all that; but that won’t add to his fortune, but bring on more expenses on him, and there is nothing to be had in this country to make a man rich in his line of life.”
In another letter to Hanson, dated March 4, 1809, she returns to the same subject: —
“I have had a very dismal letter from my son, informing me that he is ruined. He wishes to borrow my money. This I shall be very ready to oblige him in, on such security as you approve. As it is my all, this is very necessary, and I am sure he would not wish to have it on any other terms. It cannot be paid up, however, under six months’ notice. I wish he would take the debt of a thousand pounds, that I have been security for, on himself, and pay about eighty pounds he owes here.
I wish to God he would exert himself and retrieve his affairs. He must marry a Woman of fortune this spring; love matches is all nonsense. Let him make use of the Talents God has given him. He is an English Peer, and has all the privileges of that situation. What is this about proving his grandfather’s marriage? I thought it had been in Lancashire. If it was not, it surely easily can be proved. Is nothing going forward concerning the Rochdale Property? I am sure, if I was Lord Byron, I would sell no estates to pay Jews; I only would pay what was lawful. Pray answer the note immediately, and answer all my questions concerning lending the money, the Rochdale property, and why B. don’t or can’t take his seat, which is very hard, and very provoking.
I am, Dear Sir, yours sincerely,
C. G. BYRON.”]
108. — To Francis Hodgson.
Newstead Abbey, Notts., Dec. 17, 1808.
My Dear Hodgson, — I have just received your letter, and one from B. Drury, which I would send, were it not too bulky to despatch within a sheet of paper; but I must impart the contents and consign the answer to your care. In the first place, I cannot address the answer to him, because the epistle is without date or direction; and in the next, the contents are so singular that I can scarce believe my optics, “which are made the fools of the other senses, or else worth all the rest.”
A few weeks ago, I wrote to our friend Harry Drury of facetious memory, to request he would prevail on his brother at Eton to receive the son of a citizen in London well known unto me as a pupil; the family having been particularly polite during the short time I was with them, induced me to this application. “Now mark what follows,” as somebody or Southey sublimely saith: on this day, the 17th December, arrives an epistle signed B. Drury, containing not the smallest reference to tuition or intuition, but a petition for Robert Gregson, of pugilistic notoriety, now in bondage for certain paltry pounds sterling, and liable to take up his everlasting abode in Banco Regis. Had this letter been from any of my lay acquaintance, or, in short, from anyone but the gentlema
n whose signature it bears, I should have marvelled not. If Drury is serious, I congratulate pugilism on the acquisition of such a patron, and shall be happy to advance any sum necessary for the liberation of the captive Gregson; but I certainly hope to be certified from you or some reputable housekeeper of the fact, before I write to Drury on the subject. When I say the fact, I mean of the letter being written by Drury, not having any doubt as to the authenticity of the statement. The letter is now before me, and I keep it for your perusal. When I hear from you I shall address my answer to him, under your care; for as it is now the vacation at Eton, and the letter is without time or place, I cannot venture to consign my sentiments on so momentous a concern to chance.
To you, my dear Hodgson, I have not much to say. If you can make it
convenient or pleasant to trust yourself here, be assured it will be
both to me.
[Footnote 1: Benjamin Heath Drury (1782-1835), second son of the Headmaster of Harrow (see page 41 [Letter 14], [Foot]note 2 ), was a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, and Assistant-master at Eton. Gronow (‘Reminiscences’, vol. i. pp. 209 and 233) says that Drury was “passionately devoted to theatricals,” and, with his friend Knapp, frequently drove up to London after school-hours to sup with Edmund Kean and Arnold at Drury Lane or the Hummums in Covent Garden. On one occasion they took with them Lord Eldon’s son, then a school-boy at Eton. After supper the party were “run in” by the watchmen, and bailed out at Bow Street by the Lord Chancellor’s secretary.]
[Footnote 2: Bob Gregson (1778-1824), the big-boned, burly landlord of the Castle, Holborn, known as “Bob’s Chop-house,” was a familiar figure in the sporting world. When captain of the Liverpool and Wigan Packet, he established his reputation in Lancashire as a fighter. He stood 6 feet 1-1/2 inches in height, and weighed 15 stone 6 pounds. But, in spite of the eulogies of Pierce Egan — a low-caste Irishman, who was first a compositor, then a comedian, and afterwards a newspaper reporter (see Grantley Berkeley’s ‘My Life and Recollections’, vol. i. pp. 107, 108) — Gregson had no science, and depended only on his strength, courage, and endurance. He was beaten by Gully at Six Mile Bottom in 1807, and again in 1808 at Markyate Street; also by Tom Cribb at Moulsey Hurst in 1808 (‘Pugilistica’, vol. i. pp. 237-241). Failing as landlord of the Castle, he set up a school of boxing at Dublin, where he afterwards kept “the Punch House,” in Moor Street. He died at Liverpool in 1824. According to Egan (‘Boxiana’, vol. i. pp. 357, 358), Gregson “united Pugilism with Poetry.” On this claim he adopted the letters “P.P.” after his name. Egan gives some of his doggerel among “Prime Chaunts for the Fancy” (‘ibid’., p. 358). Moore, in ‘Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress’, attributes to him his “Lines to Miss Grace Maddox” (pp. 75-77); “Ya-Hip, my Hearties!” (pp. 80-83); and “The Annual Pill” (pp. 84-86).]
109. — To John Hanson.
Newstead Abbey, Jan. 15th, 1809.
My Dear Sir, — I am much obliged by your kind invitation, but I wish you, if possible, to be here on the 22nd. Your presence will be of great service, everything is prepared for your reception exactly as if I remained, and I think Hargreaves will be gratified by the appearance of the place, and the humours of the day. I shall on the first opportunity pay my respects to your family, and though I will not trespass on your hospitality on the 22nd, my obligation is not less for your agreeable offer, which on any other occasion would be immediately accepted, but I wish you much to be present at the festivities, and I hope you will add Charles to the party. Consider, as the Courtier says in the tragedy of Tom Thumb —
”This is a day; your Majesties may boast of it,
And since it never can come o’er, ‘tis fit you make the most of it.”
I shall take my seat as soon as circumstances will admit. I have not yet chosen my side in politics, nor shall I hastily commit myself with professions, or pledge my support to any men or measures, but though I shall not run headlong into opposition, I will studiously avoid a connection with ministry. I cannot say that my opinion is strongly in favour of either party; on the one side we have the late underlings of Pitt, possessing all his ill fortune, without his talents; this may render their failure more excusable, but will not diminish the public contempt; on the other, we have the ill-assorted fragments of a worn-out minority; Mr. Windham with his coat twice turned, and my Lord Grenville who perhaps has more sense than he can make good use of; between the two and the shuttlecock of both, a Sidmouth, and the general football Sir F. Burdett, kicked at by all, and owned by none.
I shall stand aloof, speak what I think, but not often, nor too soon. I will preserve my independence, if possible, but if involved with a party, I will take care not to be the last or least in the ranks. As to patriotism, the word is obsolete, perhaps improperly, so, for all men in the Country are patriots, knowing that their own existence must stand or fall with the Constitution, yet everybody thinks he could alter it for the better, and govern a people, who are in fact easily governed, but always claim the privilege of grumbling. So much for Politics, of which I at present know little and care less; bye and bye, I shall use the senatorial privilege of talking, and indeed in such times, and in such a crew, it must be difficult to hold one’s tongue.
Believe me, etc.,
BYRON.
[Footnote 1: Byron’s coming of age was celebrated at Newstead on January 22, 1809.]
[Footnote 2: See O’Hara’s acting version of Fielding’s Tom Thumb the
Great, act i. sc. I —
”Doodle. A Day we never saw before;
A Day of fun and drollery.
Noodle. That you may say,
Their Majesties may boast of it;
And since it never can come more,
’Tis fit they make the most of it.”]
[Footnote 3: Lord Grenville (1759-1834) became First Lord of the Treasury; Lord Sidmouth, Lord Privy Seal; and William Windham, Secretary for War, in February, 1806. They, with Fox and his friends, formed the administration of “All the Talents,” which in March, 1807, fell over the Roman Catholic question. They were succeeded by the Duke of Portland’s Ministry, which included the “late underlings of Pitt,” — Perceval, Canning, Dundas, etc. “Weathercock” Windham, in the Ministry of “All the Talents,” was responsible for the conduct of a war which, as leader of the so-called “New Opposition,” he had vigorously opposed. Sir Francis Burdett’s zeal for Parliamentary Reform involved him in hostility to both Whigs and Tories, who had combined to exclude him from Parliament after his election for Middlesex (1802-6). In 1807 he had been elected for Westminster.]
110. — To R. C. Dallas.
Reddish’s Hotel, Jan. 25, 1809.
My Dear Sir, — My only reason for not adopting your lines is because they are your lines. You will recollect that Lady Wortley Montague said to Pope: “No touching, for the good will be given to you, and the bad attributed to me.” I am determined it shall be all my own, except such alterations as may be absolutely required; but I am much obliged by the trouble you have taken, and your good opinion.
The couplet on Lord C. may be scratched out and the following
inserted:
Roscommon! Sheffield! with your spirits fled,
No future laurels deck a noble head.
Nor e’en a hackney’d Muse will deign to smile
On minor Byron, nor mature Carlisle.
This will answer the purpose of concealment. Now for some couplets on
Mr. Crabbe, which you may place after “Gifford, Sotheby, M’Niel:”
There be who say, in these enlightened days,
That splendid lies are all the Poet’s praise;
That strained invention, ever on the wing,
Alone impels the modern Bard to sing.
’Tis true that all who rhyme, nay, all who write,
Shrink from that fatal word to genius, trite:
Yet Truth will sometimes lend her noblest fires,
And decorate the
verse herself inspires.
This fact in Virtue’s name let Crabbe attest;
Though Nature’s sternest painter, yet the best.
I am sorry to differ with you with regard to the title, but I mean to retain it with this addition: The British [the word “British” is struck through] English Bards and Scotch Reviewers; and if we call it a Satire, it will obviate the objection, as the Bards also were Welch. Your title is too humorous; — and as I know a little of — — , I wish not to embroil myself with him, though I do not commend his treatment of — — . I shall be glad to hear from you or see you, and beg you to believe me,
Yours very sincerely,
BYRON.
[Footnote 1: Dallas (January 24, 1809) takes “the liberty of sending you some two dozen lines,” etc.]
[Footnote 2: The couplet on Lord Carlisle, as it stood in ‘British Bards’, was —
”On one alone Apollo deigns to smile,
And crowns a new Roscommon in Carlisle.”
(See ‘English Bards, etc.’, lines 723, ‘et seqq.’; see also line 927, note 2. For Lord Carlisle, see page 36, note 2.)]
[Footnote 3: For “Gifford, Sotheby, Macneil,” see ‘English Bards, etc’., line 818, and ‘notes’. Dallas had written (January 24, 1809),
“I am sorry you have not found a place among the genuine sons of Apollo for Crabbe, who, in spite of something bordering on servility in his dedication, may surely rank with some you have admitted to his temple”
(see ‘English Bards, etc’., lines 849-858).]
[Footnote 4: Dallas suggested as a title, ‘The Parish Poor of
Parnassus’.]
111. — To R. C. Dallas.
February 7, 1809.
My Dear Sir, — Suppose we have this couplet —
Though sweet the sound, disdain a borrow’d tone,
Resign Achaia’s lyre, and strike your own:
or,
Though soft the echo, scorn a borrow’d tone,
Resign Achaia’s lyre, and strike your own.
So much for your admonition; but my note of notes, my solitary pun,