Preface

"Valenciennes, Feb. 16, 1791. Have you never received any letters from me by way of Bologne? I have sent two. For God's sake send me some, as I have a great deal to pay. With regard to Mrs. Byron, I am glad she writes to you. She is very amiable at a distance; but I defy you and all the Apostles to live with her two months, for, if any body could live with her, it was me. Mais jeu de Mains, jeu de Vilains. For my son, I am happy to hear he is well; but for his walking, 'tis impossible, as he is club-footed.

Contents

Chapter 1 — Childhood and School

"When the heron leaves the tree, The laird of Gight shall landless be."

"I think myself much obliged to you for being so interested for George; you may be sure I would do anything I could for my son, but I really don't see what can be done for him in that case. You say you are afraid Lord B. will dispose of the estates that are left, if he can; if he has it in his power, nobody can prevent him from selling them; if he has not, no one will buy them from him. You know Lord Byron. Do you think he will do anything for George, or be at any expense to give him a proper education; or, if he wish to do it, is his present fortune such a one that he could spare anything out of it? You know how poor I am, not that I mean to ask him to do anything for him, that is to say, to be of any expense on his account."

Contents cross-reference: return to Footnote 1 of Letter 72

1. to Mrs. Parker1

List of Letters

2 — to his Mother

List of Letters

3 — to John Hanson1

"I left my entertaining companion with Mr. Glennie last Thursday week, and I have since learnt from him that he is very comfortable and likes the situation. His schoolfellows are very fine youths, and their deportment does very great credit to their Preceptor. I succeeded in getting Lord Byron a separate room, and I am persuaded the greatest attention will be paid to him. Mr. Glennie is a Scotchman, has travelled a great deal, and seems every way qualified for his present situation."

"I assure you, Madam, I should not have taken the liberty to have interfered in your domestic Arrangements, had I not thought it absolutely necessary to apprize you of the proceedings of your Servant, Mrs. Gray; her conduct towards your son while at Nottingham was shocking, and I was persuaded you needed but a hint of it to dismiss her. Mrs. Parkyns, when I saw her, said something to me about her; but when I found from dispassionate persons at Nottingham, it was the general Topic of conversation, it would have ill become me to have remained silent. My honourable little companion, tho' disposed to retain his feelings, could not refrain, from the harsh usage he had received at her hands, from complaining to me, and such is his dread of the Woman that I really believe he would forego the satisfaction of seeing you if he thought he was to meet her again. He told me that she was perpetually beating him, and that his bones sometimes ached from it; that she brought all sorts of Company of the very lowest Description into his apartments; that she was out late at nights, and he was frequently

left to put himself to bed; that she would take the Chaise-boys into the Chaise with her, and stopped at every little Ale-house to drink with them. But, Madam, this is not all; she has even — traduced yourself. I entertain a very great affection for Lord Byron, and I trust I shall not be considered solely in my professional character, but as his Friend. I introduced him to my Friends, Lord Grantley and his Brother General Norton, who were vastly taken with him, as indeed are every one. And I should be mortified in the highest degree to see the honourable feelings of my little fellow exposed to insult by the inordinate Indiscretions of any Servant. He has Ability and a quickness of Conception, and a correct Discrimination that is seldom seen in a youth, and he is a fit associate of men, and choice indeed must be the Company that is selected for him."

List of Letters

4 — to his Mother

"Agreeable to your desire, I waited on Lord Byron at Harrow, and I think it proper to inform you that I found his foot in a much worse state than when I last saw it, — the shoe entirely wet through and the brace round his ancle quite loose. I much fear his extreme inattention will counteract every exertion on my part to make him better. I have only to add that with proper care and bandaging, his foot may still be greatly recovered; but any delay further than the present vacation would render it folly to undertake it."

"I cannot help lamenting he has so little sense of the Benefit he has already received as to be so apparently neglectful."

"The reason why Lord Byron wishes for this change arises from the repeated complaints of Mr. Henry Drury respecting his Inattention to Business, and his propensity to make others laugh and disregard their Employments as much as himself. On this subject I have had many very serious conversations with him, and though Mr. H. D. had repeatedly requested me to withdraw him from his Tuition, yet, relying on my own remonstrances and arguments to rectify his Error, and on his own reflection to confirm him in what is right, I was unwilling to accede to my son's wishes. Lord Byron has now made the request himself; I am glad it has been made, as he thereby imposes on himself an additional responsibility, and encourages me to hope that by this change he intends to lay aside all that negligence and those Childish Practices which were the cause of former complaints."

"The Perusal of the inclosed has allowed me to inquire into the whole Matter, and to relieve your young friend's Mind from any uneasy impression it might have sustained from a hasty word I fairly confess. I am sorry it was ever uttered; but certainly it was never intended to make so deep a wound as his letter intimates. "I may truly say, without any parade of words, that I am deeply interested in Lord Byron's welfare. He possesses, as his letter proves, a mind that feels, and that can discriminate reasonably on points in which it conceives itself injured. When I look forward to the Possibility of the exercise of his Talents hereafter, and his supplying the Deficiencies of fortune by the exertion of his abilities and by application, I feel particularly hurt to see him idle, and negligent, and apparently indifferent to the great object to be pursued. This event, and the conversations which have passed between us relative to it, will probably awaken in his mind a greater degree of emulation, and make him studious of acquiring Distinction among his

Schoolfellows, as well as of securing to himself the affectionate regard of his Instructors."

List of Letters

5 — to his Mother

List of Letters

6 — to his Mother1

"You may well be surprized, and so may Dr. Drury, that Byron is not returned to Harrow. But the Truth is, I cannot get him to return to school, though I have done all in my power for six weeks past. He has no indisposition that I know of, but love, desperate love, the worst of all maladies in my opinion. In short, the Boy is distractedly in love with Miss Chaworth, and he has not been with me three weeks all the time he has been in this county, but spent all his time at Annesley. If my son was of a proper age and the lady disengaged, it is the last of all connexions that I would wish to take place; it has given me much uneasiness. To prevent all trouble in future, I am determined he shall not come here again till Easter; therefore I beg you will find some proper situation for him at the next Holydays. I don't care what I pay. I wish Dr. Drury would keep him. I shall go over to Newstead to-morrow and make a last effort to get him to Town."

"Byron is really so unhappy that I have agreed, much against my inclination, to let him remain in this County till after the next Holydays."

"and my M. A. C. Alas! why do I say MY? Our union would have healed feuds in which blood had been shed by our fathers, — it would have joined lands broad and rich, it would have joined at least one heart, and two persons not ill matched in years (she is two years my elder) and — and — and — what has been the result?"

List of Letters

7 — to the Hon. Augusta Byron1

"As I wish to bury what is past in oblivion, I shall avoid all reflections on a person now no more; my opinion of yourself I have suspended for some years; the time is now arrived when I shall form a very decided one. I take up my pen now, however, to condole with you on the melancholy event that has happened, to offer you every consolation in my power, to assure you of the inalterable regard and friendship of myself and son. We will be extremely happy if ever we can be of any service to you, now or at any future period. I take it upon me to answer for him; although he knows so little of you, he often mentions you to me in the most affectionate manner, indeed the goodness of his heart and amiable disposition is such that your being his sister, had he never seen you, would be a sufficient claim upon him and ensure you every attention in his power to bestow. Ah, Augusta, need I assure you that you will ever be dear to me as the Daughter of the man I tenderly loved, as the sister of my beloved, my darling Boy, and I take God to witness you once was dear to me on

your own account, and may be so again. I still recollect with a degree of horror the many sleepless nights, and days of agony, I have passed by your bedside drowned in tears, while you lay insensible and at the gates of death. Your recovery certainly was wonderful, and thank God I did my duty. These days you cannot remember, but I never will forget them ... Your brother is at Harrow School, and, if you wish to see him, I have now no desire to keep you asunder."

"Pray write me a line and mention all you hear of my dear Brother: he was a most delightful correspondent while he remained in Nottinghamshire: but I can't obtain a single line from Harrow. I was much struck with his general improvement; it was beyond the expectations raised by what you had told me, and his letters gave me the most excellent opinion of both his Head and Heart."

"To Augusta, my dearest sister, and my best friend, who has ever loved me much better than I deserved, this volume is presented by her father's son and most affectionate brother."

"In this at least, I am 'truth itself,' when I say that, whatever the situation may be, there is no one whose society is dearer to me, or can contribute more to my happiness."

"But one thing want these banks of Rhine, Thy gentle hand to clasp in mine."

"I have seen," she writesA , "a great deal of Mrs. Leigh (Augusta), having passed some days with her and Colonel Leigh, for my husband's shooting near Newmarket, when Lord Byron was in the house, and, as she told me, was writing The Corsair, to my great astonishment, for it was a wretched small house, full of her ill-trained children, who were always running up and down stairs, and going into 'uncle's' bedroom, where he remained all the morning."

"I saw poor Joseph Murray the other night," writes Augusta Byron to Hanson (June 17, 1804), "who wishes me particularly to apply to Col. Leigh, to get him into some City Charity which the Prince of Wales is at the head of. I cannot understand what he means, nor can any body else, and therefore, as he said he was advised by you, I think it better to apply to you on the subject. I'm sure Col. Leigh would be happy to oblige him; but in general he dislikes asking favours of the Prince, and this present moment is a bad one to chuse for the purpose, as H.R.H. is so much taken up with public affairs. I am very anxious about poor Joseph, and would almost do anything to serve him. I fear he is too old and infirm to go to service again."

"I have just had a pitiful note from poor old Murray, telling me of his dismissal from the Duchess of Leeds; but he says he does not leave her till June. I therefore hope something may in the mean time be done for him. He requests me to write word of it to my Brother. I shall certainly comply with his wishes, and send two lines on that subject to Southwell, where I conclude he is."

List of Letters

8 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron

"I am glad," writes Mrs. Byron to Hanson, March 10, 1803, "that Newstead is well let. I cannot find Lord Grey de Ruthin's Title in the Peerage of England, Ireland, or Scotland. I suppose he is a new Peer."

List of Letters

9 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron

List of Letters

10 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron

"I was informed by a Gentleman yesterday that he had been at Harrow and heard him speaking, and that he acquitted himself uncommonly well."

"My qualities," says Byron, in one of his note-books (quoted by Moore, Life, p. 20), "were much more oratorical and martial than poetical; and Dr. Drury, my grand patron (our head-master), had a great notion that I should turn out an orator, from my fluency, my turbulence, my voice, my copiousness of declamation, and my action. I remember that my first declamation astonished him into some unwonted (for he was economical of such) and sudden compliments before the declaimers at our first rehearsal."

"I forg'd the letter, and dispos'd the picture, I hated, I despis'd, and I destroy."

List of Letters

11 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron

List of Letters

12 — To Elizabeth Bridget Pigot1

"The first time I was introduced to him was at a party at his mother's, when he was so shy that she was forced to send for him three times before she could persuade him to come into the drawing-room, to play with the young people at a round game. He was then a fat, bashful boy, with his hair combed straight over his forehead, and extremely like a miniature picture that his mother had painted by M. de Chambruland. The next morning Mrs. Byron brought him to call at our house, when he still continued shy and formal in his manner. The conversation turned upon Cheltenham, where we had been staying, the amusements there, the plays, etc.; and I mentioned that I had seen the character of Gabriel Lackbrain very well performed. His mother getting up to go, he accompanied her, making a formal bow, and I, in allusion to the play, said, 'Good-by, Gaby.' His countenance lighted up, his handsome mouth displayed a broad grin, all his shyness vanished, never to return, and, upon his mother's saying, 'Come, Byron, are you ready?' — no, she might go by herself, he would stay and talk a little

longer; and from that moment he used to come in and go out at all hours, as it pleased him, and in our house considered himself perfectly at home."

"Indeed, my dear Mrs. Byron, you have given me a very great treat in sending me English Bards to look at; you know how very highly I thought of the first edition, and this is certainly much improved; indeed, I do not think anybody but Lord Byron could (in these our days) have produced such a work, for it has all the fire of ancient genius. I have always been accustomed to tell you my thoughts most sincerely, and I cannot say that I like that addition to the part where Bowles is mentioned; it wants that brilliant spirit which almost invariably accompanies Lord B.'s writings. Maurice, too, and his granite weight of leaves, is in truth a heavy comparison. But I turn with pleasure from these specks in the sun to notice 'Vice and folly, Greville and Argyle;' it is most admirable: the same pen may equal, but I think it is not in the power of human abilities to exceed it. As to Lord Carlisle, I think he well deserves the Note Lord B. has put in; I am very much pleased with it, and the little word Amen at the end, gives a point indescribably good. The whole

of the conclusion is excellent, and the Postscript I think must entertain everybody except Jeffrey. I hope the poor Bear is well; I wish you could make him understand that he is immortalized, for, if four-leg'd Bears have any vanity, it would certainly delight him. Walter Scott, too (I really do not mean to call him a Bear), will be highly gratified: the compliment to him is very elegant: in short, I look upon it as a most highly finished work, and Lord Byron has certainly taken the Palm from all our Poets ... A good account of yourself I assure you will always give the most sincere pleasure to my dear Mrs. Byron's very affectionate friend, Margt. Pigot. Elizabeth begs her compts."

"It is very odd," he said to Miss Pigot, "I sing much better to your playing than to any one else's." "That is," she answered, "because I play to your singing."

List of Letters

13 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron

"Is that your wish, to lose all sense In dull lethargic ease, And wrapt in cold indifference, But half be pleased or please? ... It never shall be my desire To bear a heart unmov'd, To feel by halves the gen'rous fire, Or be but half belov'd. Let me drink deep the dang'rous cup, In hopes the prize to gain, Nor tamely give the pleasure up For fear to share the pain. Give me, whatever I possess, To know and feel it all; When youth and love no more can bless, Let death obey my call."

"Sally, Sally, don't deny, But, for God's sake, tell me why You have flirted so, to spoil That once lively youth, Carlisle? He used to mount while it was dark; Now he lies in bed till noon, And, you not meeting in the park, Thinks that he gets up too soon," etc.

"Here, placid Carlisle breathes his gentle line, Or haply, gen'rous Hare, re-echoes thine. Soft flows the lay: as when, with tears, He paid The last sad honours to his — — — Spaniel's shade! And lo! he grasps the badge of wit, a wand; He waves it thrice and Storer is at hand."

"Fall'n though I am, I ne'er shall mourn, Like the dark Peer on Storer's urn,"

"Carlisle is lost with Gillies in surprize, As Lysias charms soft Jersey's classic eyes;"

"While lyric Carlisle purrs o'er love transformed,"

"I hear from Lady Gertrude Howard that Lord Carlisle was very much pleased with my brother, and I am sure, from what he said to me at Castle Howard, is disposed to show him all the kindness and attention in his power. I know you are so partial to Byron and so much interested in all that concerns him, that you will rejoice almost as much as I do that his acquaintance with Lord C. is renewed. In the mean time it is a great comfort for me to think that he has spent his Holydays so comfortably and so much to his wishes. You will easily believe that he is a very great favourite of mine, and I may add the more I see and hear of him, the more I must love and esteem him."

"I return you my Brother's poems with many Thanks. Mrs. B. has had the attention to send me 2 copies. I like some of them very much: but you will laugh when I tell you I have never had courage to shew them to Lord Carlisle for fear of his disapproving others."

"to make it up with Carlisle. I have refused every body else, but I can't deny her anything, though I had as leif 'drink up Eisel — eat a crocodile.'"

"what wonders Lord Byron is come home to do, for I see his arrival in the paper. His grandmother was my intimate friend, a Cornish lady, Sophia Trevanion, wife to the Admiral, pour ses péchés, and we called her Mrs. Biron always, after the French fashion"

List of Letters

14 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron

"After my retreat from Harrow, I received from him two very affectionate letters. In my occasional visits subsequently to London, when he had fascinated the public with his productions, I demanded of him, why, as in duty bound, he had sent none to me? 'Because,' said he, 'you are the only man I never wish to read them;' but in a few moments, he added, 'What do you think of the Corsair?'"

List of Letters

15 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron