return
Footnote 11:
Henry IV.
, Part II. act v. sc. 5.
return
Footnote 12:
James Wedderburn Webster (see p. 2,
note
1).
return
Footnote 13:
Probably John Cam Hobhouse, whose expenses on the tour of 1809-10 were paid by Byron, and repaid by Sir Benjamin Hobhouse.
return
List of Journal EntriesContents
"
Orange
Boven!"
1
So the bees have expelled the bear that broke open their hive. Well,—if we are to have new De Witts and De Ruyters, God speed the little republic! I should like to see the Hague and the village of Brock, where they have such primitive habits.
Yet
, I don't know,—their canals would cut a poor figure by the memory of the Bosphorus; and the Zuyder Zee look awkwardly after "Ak-Denizi"
2
. No matter,—the bluff burghers, puffing freedom out of their short tobacco-pipes, might be worth seeing; though I prefer a cigar or a hooka, with the rose-leaf mixed with the milder herb of the Levant. I don't know what liberty means,—never having seen it,—but wealth is power all over the world; and as a shilling performs the duty of a pound (besides sun and sky and beauty for nothing) in the East,—
that
is the country.
How
I envy Herodes Atticus
3
!—more than Pomponius. And yet a little
tumult
, now and then, is an agreeable quickener of sensation; such as a revolution, a battle, or an
aventure
of any lively description. I
think
I rather would have been Bonneval, Ripperda, Alberoni, Hayreddin, or Horuc Barbarossa, or even Wortley Montague, than Mahomet himself
4
.
Rogers will be in town soon?—the 23d is fixed for our Middleton visit. Shall I go? umph!—In this island, where one can't ride out without overtaking the sea, it don't much matter where one goes.
I remember the effect of the
first Edinburgh Review
on me. I heard of it six weeks before,—read it the day of its denunciation,—dined and drank three bottles of claret, (with S. B. Davies, I think,) neither ate nor slept the less, but, nevertheless, was not easy till I had vented my wrath and my rhyme, in the same pages, against every thing and every body.
Like
George, in the
Vicar of Wakefield
, -"the fate of my paradoxes"
5
would allow me to perceive no merit in another. I remembered only the maxim of my boxing-master, which, in my youth, was found useful in all general riots,—"Whoever is not for you is against you—
mill
away right and left," and so I did;—like Ishmael, my hand was against all men, and all men's anent me. I
did
wonder, to be sure, at my own success:
"And marvels so much wit is all his own,"6
as Hobhouse sarcastically says of somebody (not unlikely myself, as we are old friends);—but were it to come over again, I would
not
. I have since redde the cause of my couplets, and it is not adequate to the effect. C—— told me that it was believed I alluded to poor Lord Carlisle's nervous disorder in one of the lines. I thank Heaven I did not know it—and would not, could not, if I had. I must naturally be the last person to be pointed on defects or maladies.
Rogers is silent,—and, it is said, severe. When he does talk, he talks well; and, on all subjects of taste, his delicacy of expression is pure as his poetry. If you enter his house—his drawing-room—his library—you of yourself say, this is not the dwelling of a common mind. There is not a gem, a coin, a book thrown aside on his chimney-piece, his sofa, his table, that does not bespeak an almost fastidious elegance in the possessor. But this very delicacy must be the misery of his existence. Oh the jarrings his disposition must have encountered through life!
Southey
, I have not seen much of. His appearance is
Epic
; and he is the only existing entire man of letters. All the others have some pursuit annexed to their authorship. His manners are mild, but not those of a man of the world, and his talents of the first order. His prose is perfect. Of his poetry there are various opinions: there is, perhaps, too much of it for the present generation; posterity will probably select. He has
passages
equal to any thing. At present, he has
a party
, but no
public
—except for his prose writings. The life of Nelson is beautiful.
cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 210
Sotheby
7
is
a
Littérateur
, the Oracle of the Coteries, of the ——s
8
, Lydia White (Sydney Smith's "Tory Virgin")
9
, Mrs. Wilmot
10
(she, at least, is a swan, and might frequent a purer stream,) Lady Beaumont
11
, and all the Blues, with Lady Charlemont
12
at their head—but I say nothing of
her
—"look in her face and you forget them all," and every thing else. Oh that face!—by
te, Diva potens Cypri
, I would, to be beloved by that woman, build and burn another Troy.
Moore has a peculiarity of talent, or rather talents,—poetry, music, voice, all his own; and an expression in each, which never was, nor will be, possessed by another. But he is capable of still higher flights in poetry. By the by, what humour, what—every thing, in the "
Post-Bag!
" There is nothing Moore may not do, if he will but seriously set about it. In society, he is gentlemanly, gentle, and, altogether, more pleasing than any individual with whom I am acquainted. For his honour, principle, and independence, his conduct to —— speaks "trumpet-tongued." He has but one fault—and that one I daily regret—he is not
here
.
Footnote 1:
Holland, constituted a kingdom for Louis Napoleon (1806), was (1810) incorporated with the French Empire. On November 15, 1813, the people of Amsterdam raised the cry of "Orange Boven!", donned the Orange colours, and expelled the French from the city. Their example was followed in other provinces, and on November 21, deputies arrived in London, asking the Prince of Orange to place himself at the head of the movement. He landed in Holland, November 30, and entered Amsterdam the next day in state.
A play was announced at Drury Lane, December 8, 1813, under the title of
Orange Boven
, but it was suppressed because no licence had been obtained for its performance. It was produced December 10, 1813, and ran about ten nights.
return to footnote mark
Footnote 2:
The Lake of Ak-Deniz, north-east of Antioch, into and out of which flows the Nahr-Ifrin to join the Nahr-el-Asy or Orontes.
return
Footnote 3:
A typically wealthy Greek, as Pomponius Atticus was a typically wealthy Roman.
return
Footnote 4:
Bonneval (1675-1747) was a French soldier of fortune, who served successively in the Austrian, Russian, and Turkish armies. Ripperda (died 1737) a Dutch adventurer, became Prime Minister of Spain under Philip V., and after his fall turned Mohammedan. Alberoni (1664-1752) was an Italian adventurer, who became Prime Minister of Spain in 1714. Hayreddin (died 1547) and Horuc Barbarossa (died 1518) were Algerine pirates. Edward Wortley Montague (1713-1776), son of Lady Mary, saw the inside of several prisons, served at Fontenoy, sat in the British Parliament, was received into the Roman Catholic Church at Jerusalem (1764), lived at Rosetta as a Mohammedan with his mistress, Caroline Dormer, till 1772, and died at Padua, from swallowing a fish-bone.
return
Footnote 5:
Vicar of Wakefield
(chap. xx.). The Vicar's eldest son, George,
"resolved to write a book that should be wholly new. I therefore dressed up three paradoxes with some ingenuity.... 'Well,' asks the Vicar, 'and what did the learned world say to your paradoxes?' 'Sir,' replied my son, 'the learned world said nothing to my paradoxes, nothing at all.... I found that no genius in another could please me. My unfortunate paradoxes had entirely dried up that source of comfort. I could neither read nor write with satisfaction; for excellence in another was my aversion, and writing was my trade.'"
return
Footnote 6:
From Boileau (
Imitations, etc.
, by J.C. Hobhouse):
"With what delight rhymes on the scribbling dunce.He's ne'er perplex'd to choose, but right at once;With rapture hails each work as soon as done,And wonders so much wit was all his own."
return
Footnote 7:
At Sotheby's house, Miss Jane Porter, author of
The Scottish Chiefs
, etc., etc., met Byron. She made the following note of his appearance, and after his death sent it to his sister:
"I once had the gratification of Seeing Lord Byron. He was at Evening party at the Poet Sotheby's. I was not aware of his being in the room, or even that he had been invited, when I was arrested from listening to the person conversing with me by the Sounds of the most melodious Speaking Voice I had ever heard. It was gentle and beautifully modulated. I turned round to look for the Speaker, and then saw a Gentleman in black of an Elegant form (for nothing of his lameness could be discovered), and with a face I never shall forget. The features of the finest proportions. The Eye deep set, but mildly lustrous; and the Complexion what I at the time described to my Sister as a Sort of moonlight paleness. It was so pale, yet with all so Softly brilliant.I instantly asked my Companion who that Gentleman was. He replied, 'Lord Byron.' I was astonished, for there was no Scorn, no disdain, nothing in that noble Countenancethenof the proud Spirit which has since soared to Heaven, illuminating the Horizon far and wide."
return
Footnote 8:
Probably the Berrys.
return
Footnote 9:
Miss Lydia White, the "Miss Diddle" of Byron's
Blues
, of whom Ticknor speaks (
Life
, vol. i. p. 176) as "the fashionable blue-stocking," was a wealthy Irishwoman, well known for her dinners and conversaziones
"in all the capitals of Europe. At one of her dinners in Park Street (all the company except herself being Whigs), the desperate prospects of the Whig party were discussed. Yes,' said Sydney Smith, who was present, 'we are in a most deplorable condition; we must do something to help ourselves. I think,' said he, looking at Lydia White, 'we had better sacrifice a Tory Virgin'"
(Lady Morgan's
Memoirs
, vol. ii. p. 236). Miss Berry, in her
Journal
(vol. iii. p. 49, May 8, 1815), says,
"Lord and Lady Byron persuaded me to go with them to Miss White. Never have I seen a more imposing convocation of ladies arranged in a circle than when we entered, taking William Spencer with us. Lord Byron brought me home. He stayed to supper."
Miss White's last years were passed in bad health. Moore called upon Rogers, May 7, 1826:
"Found him in high good humour. In talking of Miss White, he said, 'How wonderfully she does hold out! They may say what they will, but Miss White andMissolongi are the most remarkable things going"
(
Memoirs, etc.
, vol. v. p. 62). Lydia White died in February, 1827.
return
Footnote 10:
Barberina Ogle (1768-1854), daughter of Sir Chaloner Ogle, widow of Valentia Wilmot, married, in 1819, Lord Dacre. Her tragedy,
Ina
, was produced at Drury Lane, April 22, 1815. Her literary work was, for the most part, privately printed:
Dramas, Translations, and Occasional Poems
(1821);
Translations from the Italian
(1836). She also edited her daughter's
Recollections of a Chaperon
(1831), and
Tales of the Peerage and Peasantry
(1835).
return
Footnote 11:
Margaret Willes, granddaughter of Chief Justice Willes, married, in 1778, Sir George Beaumont, Bart. (1753-1827), the landscape-painter, art critic, and picture-collector, who founded the National Gallery, was a friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds, of Dr. Johnson, and of Wordsworth, and is mentioned by Byron in the
Blues
:
"Sir George thinks exactly with Lady Bluebottle."
return
Footnote 12:
Francis William Caulfield, who succeeded his father, in 1799, as second Earl of Charlemont, married, in 1802, Anne, daughter of William Bermingham, of Ross Hill, co. Galway. She died in 1876. Of Lady Charlemont's beauty Byron was an enthusiastic admirer. In his
Letter on the Rev. W.L. Bowles's Strictures on Pope
(February 7, 1821) he says,
"The head of Lady Charlemont (when I first saw her, nine years ago) seemed to possess all that sculpture could require for its ideal."
Moore (
Journals, etc.
, vol. iii. p. 78) has the following entry in his Diary for November 21, 1819:
"Called upon Lady Charlemont, and sat with her some time. Lady Mansfield told me that the effect she produces here with her beauty is wonderful; last night, at the Comtesse d'Albany's, the Italians were ready to fall down and worship her."
For the two quotations, see Horace,
Odes
, I. iii. 1, and
The Rape of the Lock
, ii. 18.
return
List of Journal EntriesContents
Ward—I like Ward. By Mahomet! I begin to think I like every body;—a disposition not to be encouraged;— a sort of social gluttony that swallows every thing set before it. But I like Ward. He is
piquant
; and, in my opinion, will stand very
high
in the House, and every where else, if he applies
regularly
. By the by, I dine with him to-morrow, which may have some influence on my opinion. It is as well not to trust one's gratitude
after
dinner. I have heard many a host libelled by his guests, with his burgundy yet reeking on their rascally lips.
I have taken Lord Salisbury's box at Covent Garden for the season; and now I must go and prepare to join Lady Holland and party, in theirs, at Drury Lane,
questa sera
.
Holland doesn't think the man is
Junius
; but that the yet unpublished journal throws great light on the obscurities of that part of George the Second's reign.—What is this to George the Third's? I don't know what to think. Why should Junius be yet dead? If suddenly apoplexed, would he rest in his grave without sending his
Greek: eidolon
to shout in the ears of posterity, "Junius was X.Y.Z., Esq., buried in the parish of ——. Repair his monument, ye churchwardens! Print a new edition of his Letters, ye booksellers!" Impossible,—the man must be alive, and will never die without the disclosure. I like him;— he was a good hater.
Came home unwell and went to bed,—not so sleepy as might be desirable.
Tuesday morning. I awoke from a dream!—well! and have not others dreamed?—Such a dream!—but she did not overtake me. I wish the dead would rest, however. Ugh! how my blood chilled,—and I could not wake—and—and— heigho!
"Shadowsto-nightHave struck more terror to the soul of Richard,Than could the substance of ten thousand —— s,Arm'd all in proof, and led by shallow ——."1
I do not like this dream,—I hate its "foregone conclusion." And am I to be shaken by shadows? Ay, when they remind us of—no matter—but, if I dream thus again, I will try whether
all
sleep has the like visions.
Since
I rose, I've been in considerable bodily pain also; but it is gone, and now, like Lord Ogleby
2
, I am wound up for the day.
A
note
from Mountnorris
3
—I dine with Ward;—Canning is to be there, Frere
4
and Sharpe
5
, perhaps Gifford. I am to be one of "the five" (or rather six), as Lady —— said a little sneeringly yesterday. They are all good to meet, particularly Canning, and—Ward, when he likes. I wish I may be well enough to listen to these intellectuals.
No letters to-day;—so much the better,—there are no answers. I must not dream again;—it spoils even reality. I will go out of doors, and see what the fog will do for me.
Jackson
has been here: the boxing world much as usual;—but the club increases. I shall dine at Crib's
6
to-morrow. I like energy—even animal energy—of all kinds; and I have need of both mental and corporeal. I have not dined out, nor, indeed,
at all
, lately: have heard no music—have seen nobody. Now for a
plunge
—high life and low life.
Amant
alterna
Camoenæ!
7
.
I have burnt my
Roman
—as I did the first scenes and sketch of my comedy—and, for aught I see, the pleasure of burning is quite as great as that of printing. These two last would not have done. I ran into
realities
more than ever; and some would have been recognised and others guessed at.
Redde
the
Ruminator
—a collection of Essays, by a strange, but able, old man [Sir Egerton Brydges]
8
, and a half-wild young one, author of a poem on the Highlands, called
Childe Alarique
9
.
The word "sensibility" (always my aversion) occurs a thousand times in these Essays; and, it seems, is to be an excuse for all kinds of discontent. This young man can know nothing of life; and, if he cherishes the disposition which runs through his papers, will become useless, and, perhaps, not even a poet, after all, which he seems determined to be. God help him! no one should be a rhymer who could be any thing better. And this is what annoys one, to see Scott and Moore, and Campbell and Rogers, who might have all been agents and leaders, now mere spectators. For, though they may have other ostensible avocations, these last are reduced to a secondary consideration. ——, too, frittering away his time among dowagers and unmarried girls. If it advanced any
serious
affair, it were some excuse; but, with the unmarried, that is a hazardous speculation, and tiresome enough, too; and, with the veterans, it is not much worth trying, unless, perhaps, one in a thousand.
If I
had
any views in this country, they would probably be parliamentary
10
.
But I have no ambition; at least, if any, it would be
aut Cæsar aut nihil
. My hopes are limited to the arrangement of my affairs, and settling either in Italy or the East (rather the last), and drinking deep of the languages and literature of both. Past events have unnerved me; and all I can now do is to make life an amusement, and look on while others play. After all, even the highest game of crowns and sceptres, what is it?