m Qass—., Book_- / I ti^' % ^ ■%: .^. ^^ ^u ^ ^*,<.*~x^ ^ '^ <2t»- ^ ^ ^ ►^ ' ""^^ V ^ > ^1 ~ ■ k 1 > V -^ --> s^ CONVERSATIONS OF LORD BYEjON^l.^ NOTED DURING A RESIDENCE WITH HIS LORDSHIP AT PISA, IN THE YEARS 1821 AND 1822. BY THOMAS MEDWIN, ESQ. OF THE 24th LIGHT DRAGOONS, AUTHOR or " AHASUEPUS THE WANDERER." A NEW EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 1824. PREFACE, " A great poet belongs to no country ; his works are public property, and his Memoirs the inheritance of the public." Such were the sentiments of Lord Byron ; and have they been attended to ? Has not a manifest injustice been done to the world, and an injury to his memory, by the destruction of his Memoirs ? These are questions which it is now late, perhaps needless, to ask ; but I will endeavour to lessen, if not to remedy, the evil. I am aware that in publishing these reminiscences I shall have to contend with much obloquy from some parts of his vm PREFACE. family, — that I shall incur the animosity of many of his friends. There are authors, too, who will not be pleased to find their names in print, — to hear his real opinion of themselves, or of their works. There are others But I have the satisfaction of feeling that I have set about executing the task I have undertaken, conscientious- ly : I mean neither to throw a veil over his errors, nor a gloss over his virtues. / My sketch will be an imperfect and a rough one, it is true, but it will be from the life; and slight as it is, may prove more valuable, perhaps, than a finished drawing from memory. It will be any thing but a panegyric : my aim is to paint him as he was. That his passions were violent and impetuous, cannot be denied ; but his feelings and affections were equally PREFACE. ix strong. Both demanded continual em- ployment; and he had an impatience of repose, a '' restlessness of rest," that kept them in constant activity. It is satisfactory too, at least it is some consolation, to reflect, that the last energies of his nature were consumed in the cause of hberty, and for the benefit of mankind. How I became acquainted with so many particulars of his history, so many incidents of his life, so many of his opinions, is easi- ly explained. They were communicated during a period of many months' familiar intercourse, without any injunctions to secrecy, and committed to paper for the sake of reference only. They have not been shewn to any one individual, and but for the fate of his MS. would never have appeared before the pubhc. X PREFACE. I despise mere writing for the sake of book-making, and have disdained to swell out my materials into volumes. 1 have given his ideas as I noted them down at the time, — in his own words, as far as my recollection served. They are however, in many cases, the substance without the form. The bril- liancy of his wit, the flow of his eloquence, the sallies of his imagination, who could do justice to? His voice, his manner, which gave a charm to the whole, who could forget ? " His subtle talk would cheer the winter night, And make me know myself ; and the fire-hght ^Vould flash upon our faces, till the day Might daAvn, and make me wonder at my stay." Shelley's Julia?! and Maddalo. Geneva, 1st August, 1824. CONTENTS. Page The Writer's arrival at Pisa. Lord Byron's live- stock and impediments. The Lanfranchi pa- lace; Ugolino; Lanfranchi's ghost. An English Cerberus. Lord B.'sLeporello; bas reliefs and mantel-pieces 1 — 4 Introduction to Lord Byron. His cordiality of manner. Description of his person ; his bust by Bertolini; the cloven foot; his Lordship's temperate habits, and regard for the brute cre- ation. Conversations on Switzerland and Ger- many; strong predilection for Turkey . . . 4 — 10 Residence at Geneva. Malicious intruders. Ma- dame de Stael. Dinner disaster. Excursions on the Lake ; Shelley and Hobhouse ; St. Preux and Julia ; classical drowning. Lord Byron's horsemanship ; pistol-firing ; remarks on duel- ling ; hir, own duels. Anecdote 10 — Mrt Sunset at Venice and Pisa. Routine of Lord By- ron's life. The Countess Guiccioli : Lord B.'s attachment to her; Sonnet, and Stanzas in honour of her. Cavalieri Serventi. Mode Xll COSITENTS. Page of bringing up Italian females; its conse- quences. Italian propensity to love. Inti- macy with the Countess : her rescue . . . 16 26 Lord Byron's preference for Ravenna. Female beauty in Italy and England compared. The Constitutionalists ; their proscription. Lord Byron's danger. Assassination of the military Commandant at Ravenna. Lord B.*s huma- nity 26—32 The Byron Memoirs: Mr. Moore, Lady Burg- hersh, and Lady Byron. Lord B.'s opinion of his own iMemoirs, his marriage and separation. Mrs. Williams, the English Sybil. An omen. Lord B.'s introduction to Miss Milbanke; his courtship and marriage 32 — 37 The wedding-ring. An uneasy ride. The honey- moon. Lord and Lady B.'s fashionable dissipa- tion ; consequent embarrassment ; final separa- tion. Lord B.'s prejudices respecting women. Family jars; Mrs. Charlement. Singular do- mestic scrutiny. Mrs. JMardyn. Statute of lunacy happily avoided. Lady Noel's hatred : anecdote 37 — 47 Lady Byron's abilities. Lord B.'s various counter- parts. " The Examiner," and Lady Jersey. Sale of Newstead Abbey; his Lordship's de- parture from England 48 — 52 Madame de Stael and Goethe. Lord B.'s parti- ality for America ; curious specimen of Ameri- can criticism. The ' Sketches of Italy.' Lord B.'s life at Venice ; further remarks on his Memoirs 53—56 CONTENTS. xm Page Anecdotes of himself and companions : Lord Falk- land. Lord B.'s presentiments; early horror of matrimony; anti-matrimonial wager. Anec- dotes of his father. Craniology. Anecdote of his uncle. Early love for Scotland: Mary C . Harrow School; Duke of Dorset; Lords Clare and Calthorpe ; school rebellion . 57—68 The *^ Hours of Idleness.' The skull goblet; a new order established at Newstead. Julia Al- pinula. Skulls from the field of Morat. Lord B.'s contempt for academic honours ; his bear ; the ourang-outang. A lady in masquerade. Mrs. L. G.'s depravity. Singular occurrence. Comparison of English and Italian profligacy . 69 — 75 Fashionable pastimes ; Hell in St. James's Street; chicken-hazard. Scrope Davies, and Lord B.'s pistols ; the deodand. Lord B. commences his travels. His opinion of Venice. His own and Napoleon's opinion of women. The new Fornarina; Harlowe the painter. Gallantry sometimes dangerous at Venice 75 — 83 Lord Byron's religious opinions; his scepticism only occasional. English Cathedral Service. Religion of Tasso and Milton. Missionary So- cietiesj and missions to the East. Te?itazione di Sani* Antonio. Tacitus ; Priestley and Wes- ley. Dying moments of Johnson^ Cowper, Hume, Voltaire, and Creech. Sale. Anything- arians ; Gibbon ; Plato's three principles. Lord B.'s correspondents ; ecstatic epistolary extract. Prayer for Lord B.'s conversion ; his Lordship's avowal of being a Christian 84 — ^95 Xiv CONTENTS. Page All Paclui's l)arbarity. Affecting tale. Real incident in ' The Giaour.* Albanian guards. The doctor in alarm. Lord Byron's ghost. He prophecies that he should die in Greece. Lord Byron and the Drury Lane Committee. Thea- tricals. Obstacles to writing for the stage. Keniblc; ^Irs. Siddons ; ]\Iunden ; Shakspeare ; Alfieri ; IMaturin ; IMiss Baillie. oModern sen- sitiveness. ' IMarino Faliero.' Ugo Foscolo . 86 — 113 Lord Byron's daughter Ada. Singular coincidence. Ideas on education. Ada's birth-day. Lord B.'s melancholy and superstition. Birth-day fatali- ties. Death of Polidori. ' The Vampyre' — foundation of the story Lord Byron's : ' Franken- stein, or the Modern Prometheus.' Query to Sir Humphrey Davy. Scott, Rousseau, and Goethe. Fidfilment of Mrs. Williams's prophecy. Un- lucky numbers 114 — 124 Lord Byron's epigrams. His hospitality. Ad- vances towards a reconciliation with Lady By- ron. Death of Lady Noel. Lord Byron's re- marks on lyric poetry; Coleridge, Moore, and Campbell. Ode on Sir John Moore's funeral . 125 — 135 Swimming across the Hellespont. Adventures at Brighton and Venice. * Marino Faliero' and ' The Two Foscari.' Hogg the Ettrick Shep- herd's predicticm. Failure of ' Marino Faliero:' Lord Byron's epigram on the occasion. Louis Dix-huit's translation : Jeffrey's critique. Quar- terly and Edinburgh Reviews. Subjects for tragedies 136 — 14; CONTENTS. XV Page Barry Cornwall. 'Cain.' Gessner's ' Death of Abel.' Hobhouse's opinion of ^ Cain.' Lord B.'s defence of that poem. Goethe's ' Faust.' Letter to Murray respecting ' Cain.' Baccha- nalian song. Private theatricals. The Defi- nite Article. A play proposed. The Guiccioli's Veto 148—162 Merits of actors. Dowton and Kean. Kean's Richard the Third and Sir Giles Overreach. Garrick's dressing of Othello. Kemble's cos- tume; his Coriolanus and Cato: his colloquial blank- verse. Improvisatori : Theodore Hook : Sgricci j his ' Iphigenia.' Mrs. Siddons and Miss O'Neill. The elephant's legs. Stage courtship. Lamb's Specimens. Plagiarisms. 'Faust' 162—171 Lord Byron's ' Hours of Idleness.' The ineffec- tual potation. Severity of reviewers. ' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.' Jeffrey and Moore. Moore's challenge to Lord Byron ; mis- • carriage of the letter; subsequent friendship. Character of Southey 171—186 Mr. Southey's letter in ' The Literary Gazette.' Lord Byron's anxiety and anger. ' Vision of Judgment.' Southey's critique on ' Foliage.' Shelley's AQeoq. ' The Deformed Transformed:' Shelley's opinion thereon. Southey's epitaph. " Heaven and Earth.' Murray's refusal to print. ' Cain/ and the Lord Chancellor. ' Loves of the Angels/ and Lalla Rookh.' Pro- jected completion of ' Heaven and Earth.' XVI CONTENTS. Page ' The Prophecy of Dante.' Italian enthusiasm in favour of Dante 18(i — 199 Shelley's opinion that tlie study of Dante is unfa- vourable to writing : the clilliculty of translating him : Taaffe and Cary. Lord Byron and ' The Prophecy of Dante.' Swedenborg's disciples. Translations of Lord Byron's works. The greatest compliment ever paid him. iNlilton and the cat's back. JMilton and Shakspeare re- diviv'i. Lord Byron's opinion of 'Childe Harold,' and the inequality of his own writings Epics. Southey's ^ Joan of Arc;' 'Curse of Kehama,' &c. ' Don Juan,' and the Iliad. Dr. Johnson's censorship defied. Intended ])lan of ' Don Juan :' adventures and death of the hero . . 199 — 203 Murray's plea: the Cookery-book his sheet-anchor: real cause of his anxiety for Lord Byron's fame. Douglas Kinnaird's friendship. ^Murray's oflfer for ' Don Juan/ per Canto. Piracy of ' Don Juan/ and its cause. The bishops. ^Murray's dislike to Shelley. Price given for Third Canto of ' Childe Harold/ ' Manfred/ and ' The Prisoner of Chillon' 203—207 ' The Quarterly Review' and its bullies. A lite- rary set-to. Murray and Galignani. Murray's purchase of ' Cain/ ' The Two Foscari/ and ' Sardanapalus.' The deed. Reconciliation with Murray. ' Cain/ and the Anti-constitu- tional Society. Murray, Lord Byron, and the ' Navy List.' Last book of Lord Byron's pub- lished by Murray. Expected opening fire of ' The CONTENTS. XVll Page Quarterly/ ' The Wanderer.' Coleridge's ' Chris- tabel/ and Scott's ' Metrical Tales.' Sir W. Scott's talents at recitation. An English Octo- ber day. Unconscious plagiarism. ' Kubla Khan.' Madame de Stael. Coleridge's Me- moirs. Grammont. Aliieri's Life^ and Lord B.'s Confe ssions. Coleridge's self-seeming want of identity. Poets in 1795 207-215 Intended Auto dafe. Priestly charity. Duchess of Lucca. Lord Guilford. Grand Duke of Tuscany. Intended rescue ; escape of the vic- tim. Madame de Stael and the Opposition leaders in England : her ultraisms. BrummeU. Reported double marriage; Baron Auguste and Miss Milbanke ; Lord B. and the Duchess of Broglie. Madame de Staei's conversational powers. ^ Glenarvon.' Madame de Staei's amiable heart. Women^ and Opera figurantes : pirouetting common to both. Napoleon and Ma- dame de Stael. Lord B.'s opinion of Napoleon and of his exit. Madame de Staei's historical omission. Rocca 215-225 Complaint against the East India Company. Lord B.'s liberality. Balloons and Horace. Steam. Philosophical systems. Romances. Lewis's 'Monk:' its groundwork. Secret of Walter Scott's inspiration. / The Bleeding Nun.' Ghost stories : the haunted room at Manheim ; Mina and the passing-bell. Lewis and Ma- thias. *^Abellino.' ' Pizarro' and Sheridan. 'The Castle Spectre' at Drury Lane. Lord B.'s sketch of Sheridan. The age of compa- b XVlll CONTENTS. niability. Monk Lewis and Lis brother's ghost. Madame de Stael, Lewis, and the Slave Trade. A fatal emetic 225-2:w; Imputed plagiarisms. A dose of Wordsworth physic. Shelley's admiration of Wordsworth. Peter Bell's ass, and the family circle. The Republican trio. Comparisons : the Botany Bay Eclogues, the Panegyric of Martin the Re- gicide, and ^ Wat Tyler,' versus the Laureate Odes and the Waterloo Eulogium. The par nobile mortally wounded. Hogg the Ettrick Shepherd's ' Poetic Mirror.' The ' Rejected Addresses.' Bowles : Coleridge's praise of him inexplicable. Bowles's good fellowship: his Madeira woods. Pope's Letters to Martha Blount. The evil attending a pjinnable name. Lord B.'s partiality to 'Johnson's Lives of the Poets.' No monument to Pope in Poet's Cor- ner : the reason. Milton's name in jeopardy. Voltaire's tomb locked up. Identity of a great poet and a religious man maintained .... 236-244 Walter Scott's Novels. Rarity of Novelty. Pla- giarisms. Claims of Shakspeare and Sheridan. A good memory sometimes a misfortune. Lord Byron's partiality to W. Scot's novels. Scott, the great Unknown : two anecdotes in proof. Scott's prose fatal to his poetry : his versatility. ' Halidon Hill.' Charlatanism in wTiting in- cognito. Junius. Sir Philip Francis: his conjugal felicity and marital affection. War- ren Hastings. ' Pursuits of Literature.' Monk Lewis and M'alter Scott. ' The Fire- King' and CONTENTS. XIX Page * Will Jones/ Walter Scott's obligation to Coleridge. His freedom from jealousy . . . 244-250 Rogers ycleped a Nestor and an Argonaut. Ro- gers and the Catacombs. Lady Morgan's ' Italy.' Immortality of ' The Pleasures of Memory.' '^ Jacqueline ' versus ' Lara.' Ro- gers too fastidious as to his fame. Grand end of all poetry. Lord Byron's 'Cors air.' Love and poets: Mrs. and Shelley; Miss Staf- ford and Crebillon. Rogers's dinners and Lady Holland. Elegant orientalisms. Poetical os- cillation. Rogers's sensitiveness. His faults compared to spots in the sun. His epigrammatic talent . , 251-258 Parson N*ttj the would-be Bishop. Warburton's ^ Legation of Moses ' no authority. Poets and penknives. Lord Byron's return from Greece in 1812; attachment to the Morea: Second Canto of ^ Childe Harold.' Lady Jersey. Brummell. A hot-pressed darling. ' The Cor- sair.' Polidori. The four trials 258-262 Imputed ingratitude towards a certain personage ; defence. The Irish Avatara. Lord Edward Fitzgerald ; his adventures ; Ca ira. The O'Connors. Fate of Lord Edward Fitzgerald . 262-272 Query on a line in ' Beppo :' answer. Remarks on a certain novel. ' The Giaour' and the gage reviewer. Shelley and the Booksel- ler. Sotheby, Edgeworth^, Galignani^ and Moore. Intended mystification. Baron Lutze- rode ; his heroic action. Lord Byron's distaste for princes and their satellites. De la Martine's XX CONTENTS. comparison ; his ' Meditations Poetiques.' Har- row a nursery for politicians. Lord Byron's indiiference to politics ; his detestation of Cas- tlereagh. Lord Byron's two speeches in the House ; universality of his views. Portugal and Spain. Greece. The Austrians in Venice. Ireland. Lord Cochrane and Mavrocordatos. Re- marks on Lambrino's ode. Lord Byron's opinion of affairs in the jMorea. The Turks ; their mode of warfare. Prophetic age of Voltaire, Alfieri, and Goldsmith. Shelley's observation on poets. Lord Byron's prospective plans. Greece. The Guiccioli. Lock of Napoleon's hair. Lord Carlisle's poem to Lady Holland respecting the snuff-box: Lord Byron's parody on it. Epigram on Lord Carlisle. Shelley's talent for poetry; comparison between his works and Chatterton's. Remarks on metres 272-292 The Reviews. Shelley and Keats. Milman's ' Fazio.' ' The Quarterly' and Shelley ; Lord Byron's eulogium on the latter. IVIilman's ' Siege of Jerusalem/ and his obligations to INIilton. The Quarterly Reviewers. Dryden's cutting couplet. Keats and the Cockneys. Keats's sentimentalism. ' Hyperion.' Lord Thurlow. ' Lalla Rookh.' IMoore and Captain Ellis ; instance of an Irishism in the forir.er. - ' The Lusiad' and Lord Strangford. The Ber- muda affair ; iVIoore's independence. ' The Fudge Family;' Letter to Big Ben. IMoore's immortality : the Irish ^Melodies 292-298 CONTENTS. XXI The author takes leave of Lord Byron for some time. The affray at Pisa ; French account of it ; the depositions. Banishment of the Counts Gamba and Lord Byron*s servants from Pisa. His Lordship's departure. The Gambas ordered to quit the Tuscan States. The Lanfranchi palace. Arrival of Leigh Hunt and his family. Shelley's death ; Memoir of him (in a note) : burning of his body ; descriptive account of the scene. Lord Byron's remedy for a fever. His attachment to the Countess Guiccioli- His first introduction to Leigh Hunt^ and his sense of gratitude. Object of Hunt's journey. His Lordship's intended translation of Ariosto. Ad- vice of Moore. The new Periodical. Lord Byron's opinion of Hunt. The Blue-coat foun- dation. Punning book-titles 298-322 Lord Byron's intention of a trip to America. Ci- vilities from the Americans ; different treatment by an English sloop of war. Lord Byron's naval ancestor. ' Werner.' Miss Lee's ' Canterbury Tales :' the German's Tale. ' Vathek.' The Cave of Eblis. ' Paul and Virginia.' ' The Man of Feeling :' La Roche. ^ Werner' written in twenty-eight days ; dedication of ^ Werner.' Lord Byron's curiosity respecting Goethe. ' Faust :' Coleridge declines translating it . . 323-330 Hobhouse ; commencement of his and Lord By- ron's friendship ; similarity of pursuits. Dedi- cation of ^ Childe Harold.' Lady Charlotte Harley, Lord Byron's lanthe. Hobhouse's dis- - XXll CONTENTS. gertation on Italian literature ; his antiquarian knowledge ; his sensibility- Lord Byron's time of and facility for writing ; his few corrections and surprising memory; his conversational ta- lent ; his unreserve and sincerity ; his impa- tience of prolixity and distaste for argument ; his tendency to extremes ; his inconsistency in pecuniary matters 331-335 Lord Byron's attack of indolence ; his impaired digestion ; his indulgence in wine and Hol- lands. Alleged source of his inspiration : the true Hippocrene. The Author takes leave of ' Lord Byron. Sketch of Lord Byron's charac- ter. Parallel between Altieri and Lord Byron. The latter's pride of ancestry, and independence of character ; his political sentiments : the Mi- chael Angelo of poetry. True poetical inspira- tion. The poetical merits of Lord Byron's works Lividious cognomen of the Satanic school of poetry. The real direction of his Lordship's satire ; his respect for moral liberty ; general tendency of his writings ; his defiance of party abuse. Applicability to Lord Byron of Raleigh's monumental inscription 335-343 The high admiration of the Germans for Lord Byron: Goethe's tribute to his genius and memory Appendix. — Copia del Rapporto fatto a sua Ec- cellenza il Sig. Governatore di Pisa. Secondo Rapporto. Goethe's Beitnig zum Andenken 343-351 CONTENTS. XXm Page Lord Byron's. Letter from Lord Byron to Monsieur Beyle^, chiefly relative to Sir Walter Scott. Some account of Lord Byron's residence in Greece. His last moments. Greek Pro- clamation on the death of his Lordship. Fune- ral oration, from the Greek. Greek Ode to the Memory of Lord Byron, with Translation. Last Verses of Lord Byron . ...... i-ciii. CONVERSATIONS OF LORD BYRON I WENT to Italy late in the Autumn of 1821, for the benefit of my health. Lord Byron, ac- companied by Mr. Rogers as far as Florence, had passed on a few days before me, and was already at Pisa when I arrived. His travelling equipage was rather a singular one, and afforded a strange catalogue for the T>ogana : seven servants, five carriages, nine horses, a monkey, a bull-dog and a mastiff, two cats, three pea-fowls and some hens, (I do not B 2 CONVERSATIONS OF know whether I have classed them in order of rank,) formed part of his Hve stock; and all his books, consisting of a very large library of modern works, (for he ])ought all the best that came out,) together with a vast quantity of furniture, might well be termed, with C^sar, " impediments." I had long formed a wish to see and be acquainted mth Lord Byron ; but his known refusal at that time to receive the visits of strangers, even of some who brought him letters of introduction from the most inti- mate friend he had, and a prejudice excited against his own countrymen by a late insult, would have deterred me from seeking an inter- view with him, had not the proposal come from himself, in consequence of his heaiing Shelley speak of me. 20th November. — "This is the Lung' Arno. He has hired the Lanfranchi palace for LORD BYRON. d a year: — ^it is one of those marble piles that seem built for eternity, whilst the family whose name it bears no longer exists," said Shelley, as we entered a hall that seemed built for giants. " I remember the lines in the ' Inferno,' " said I : " a Lanfranchi was one of the persecutors of Ugolino." — ^" The same," answered Shelley ; '* you will see a picture of Ugolino and his sons in his room. Fletcher, his valet, is as super- stitious as his master, and says the house is haunted, so that he cannot sleep for rumbling noises overhead, which he compares to the rolling of bowls. No wonder ; old Lanfranchi's ghost is unquiet, and walks at night." The palace was of such size, that Lord Byron only occupied the first floor ; and at the top of the staircase leading to it was the English bull- dog, whose chain was long enough to guard the door, and prevent the entrance of strangers ; he, however, knew Shelley, growled, and let us pass. In the anti-room we found several ser- b2 4 CONVEKSATIONS Ol' vants in livery, and Fletcher, (whom Shelley mentioned, and of wliom I shall have occasion to speak,) who had been in his service from the time he left HaiTow. "Like many old ser- vants, he is a privileged person," whispered Shelley. " Don Juan had not a better Lepo- rello, for imitating his master. He says that he is a Laurel struck by a Metre, and when in Greece remarked upon one of the bas-reliefs of the Parthenon, * La ! what mantel-pieces these would make, my Lord !' " When we were announced, we found his Lordship writing. His reception was frank and kind ; he took me cordially by the hand, and said : " You are a relation and schoolfellow of '* Shelley's — A\'e do not meet as strangers — you " must allow me to continue my letter on ac- " count of the post. Here 's something for " you to read, Shelley, (giving him part of his " MS. of * Heaven and Earth ;') tell me what " you think of it." LORD BYRON. 5 During the few minutes that Lord Byron was finishing his letter, I took an oppor- tunity of narrowly observing him, and drawing his portrait in my mind.* Thorwaldsen's bust is too thin-necked and young for Lord Byron. None of the engravings gave me the least idea of him. I saw a man about five feet seven or eight, apparently forty years of age : as was * Being with him, day after day, some time afterwards, whilst he was sitting to Bertolini, the Florentine sculptor, for his bust, I had an opportunity of analyzing his features more critically, but found nothing to alter in my portrait. Bertolini's is an admirable likeness, at least was so in the clay model. I have not seen it since it was copied in mar- ble, nor have I got a cast ; he promised Bertolini should send me one. Lord Byron prided himself on his neck; and it must be confessed that his head was worthy of being placed on it. Bertolini destroyed his ehauches more than once before he could please himself. When he had finished. Lord Byron said, '' It is the last time I sit to sculptor or painter." This was on the 4th of January, 1822. 6 CONVERSATIONS OF said of Milton, he barely escaped being short and thick. His face was fine, and the lower part symmetrically moulded ; foi- the lips and chin had that curved and definite outline which distinguishes Grecian beauty. His forehead was high, and his temples broad ; and he had a paleness in his complexion, almost to wan- ness. His hair thin and fine, had almost be- come grey, and waved in natural and graceful curls over his head, that was assimilating itself fast to the " bald first Caesar's." He allowed it to grow longer behind than it is accustomed to be worn, and at that time had mustachios, which were not sufficiently dark to be becoming. In criticising his features it might, perhaps, be said that his eyes were placed too near his nose, and that one was rather smaller than the other ; they were of a greyish brown, but of a pecidiar clearness, and when animated possessed a fire which seemed to look through and penetrate the thoughts of others, while they marked the inspiiations of his own. His teeth were small. LORD BYRON. 7 regular, and white ; these, I afterwards found, he took great pains to preserve.* I expected to discover that he had a club, perhaps a cloven foot ; but it would have been difficult to distinguish one from the other, either in size or in form. On the whole his figure was manly, and his countenance handsome and prepossessing, and very expressive ; and the familiar ease of his conversation soon made me perfectly at home in his society. Our first interview was marked with a cordiality and confidence that flattered while it dehghted me; and I felt anxious for the next day, in order that I might repeat my visit. * For this purpose he used tobacco when he first went into the open air ; and he told me he was in the habit of grinding his teeth in his sleep, to prevent which he was forced to put a napkin between them. 8 CONVERSATIONS OF When I called on his Lordship at two o'clock, he had just left his bed-room, and was at break- fast, if it could be called one. It consisted of a cup of strong green tea, without milk or sugar, and an egg, of which he ate the yolk raw. I observed the abstemiousness of his meal. " My digestion is weak ; I am too bilious," said he, " to eat more than once a-day, and " generally live on vegetables. To be sure I " drink two bottles of wine at dinner, but they " form only a vegetable diet. Just now I live *' on claret and soda-water. You are just come " from Geneva, Shelley tells me. I passed the " best part of the summer of 1816 at the Cam- " pagna Diodati, and was very nearly passing " this last there. I went so far as to write to •^ Hentsh the banker ; but Shelley, when he " came to visit me at Ravenna, gave me such a " flattering account of Pisa that I changed my " mind. Then it is troublesome to travel so " far with so much live and dead stock as I do ; LORD BYRON. 9 " and I don't like to leave behind me any of " my pets that have been accumulating since I " came on the Continent.* One cannot trust ** to strangers to take care of them. You will " see at the farmer's some of my pea-fowls en ^'pension, Fletcher tells me that they are *^ almost as bad fellow-travellers as the mon- " keyf, which I will shew you." Here he led the way to a room, where, after playing with and caressing the creature for some time, he proposed a game of billiards. I brought the conversation back on Switzer- land and his travels, and asked him if he had been in Germany ? * He says afterwards in " Don Juan/' Canto X, St. L. ; " He had a kind of inclination^ or Weakness, for what most people deem mere vermin. Live animals." t He afterwards bought another monkey in Pisa, in the street; because he saw it ill-used. rO CONVEKSATIONS OF " No,'' said he, " not even at Trieste. I " hate despotism and the Goths too much. I " have travelled httle on the Continent, at least " never gone out of my way. This is partly " owing to the indolence of my disposition, *' partly owing to iny incumbrances. I had " some idea, when at Rome, of visiting Naples, " but was at that time anxious to get back to " Venice. But Paestum cannot surpass the " ruins of Agrigentum, which I saw by moon- " light ; nor Naples, Constantinople. You " have no conception of the beauty of the " twelve islands where the Turks have their '^ country-houses, or of the blue Symplegades " against which the Bosphorus beats with such " restless violence. " Switzerland is a country I have been satis- " fied with seeing once ; Turkey I could live in " for ever. I never forget my predilections. I " was in a wretched state of health, and worse " spirits when I was at Geneva ; but quiet and LORD BYKON. 11 '' the lake, physicians better than Polidori, soon " set me up. 1 never led so moral a Hfe as " dming my residence in that country ; but I " gained no credit by it. Where there is a mor- " tification, there ought to be reward. On the " contrary, there is no story so absurd that they " did not invent at my cost. I was watched by " glasses on the opposite side of the Lake, and "by glasses too that must have had very dis- " torted optics. I was waylaid in my evening " drives — I was accused of corrupting aU the '' grisettes in the Rue Basse. I believe that " they looked upon me as a man-monster, worse " than the piqueur, " Somebody possessed Madame de Stael with " an opinion of my immorality. I used occa- " sionally to visit her at Coppet ; and once she " invited me to a family-dinner, and I found the "room full of strangers, who had come to stare " at me as at some outlandish beast in a raree- " show. One of the ladies fainted, and the rest 12 CONVERSATIONS OF ** looked as if his Satanic Majesty had been " among them. Madame de Stael took the " liberty to read me a lectm-e before this crowd ; " to which I only made her a low bow. " I knew very few of the Genevese. Hentsh " was very civil to me ; and I have a great re- " spect for Sismondi. I was forced to retmn the " civilities of one of their Professors by asking " him, and an old gentleman, a friend of Gray's, " to dine with me. I had gone out to sail " early in the morning, and the wind pre- " vented me from returning in time for dinner. " I understand that I offended them mortally. " Polidori did the honours. Among ovu* coun- " trymen I made no new acquaintances ; Shel- " ley. Monk Lewis, and Hobhouse were almost " the only English people I saw. No wonder " I shewed a distaste for society at that time, " and went little among the Genevese ; be- " sides, I could not si)eak French. AVliat is " become of my boatman and boat ? I suppose LORD BYUON. 13 " shp is rotten ; she was never worth much. " When I went the tour of the Lake in her " with Shelley and Hobhouse, she was nearly " wrecked near the very spot where St. Preux " and Julia were in danger of being drowned. ** It would have been classical to have been lost ^' there, but not so agreeable. Shelley was on " the Lake much oftener than I, at all hours " of the night and day : he almost lived on it ; " his great rage is a boat. We are both build- " ing now at Genoa, I a yacht, and he an " open boat." We played at billiards till the carriage was announced, and I accompanied him in his drive. Soon after we got off the stones, we mounted our horses, which were waiting for us. Lord Byron is an admirable horseman, combining grace with the security of his seat. He prides himself much on this exercise. He conducted us for some miles till we came to a farm-house, were he practises pistol-firing every 14 CONVERSATIONS OF evening. This is his favourite amusement, and may indeed be called almost a pursuit. He al- ways has pistols in his holster, and eight or Urn pair by the first makers in London earned by his courier. We had eacli twelve rounds of ammunition, and in a diameter of four inches he put eleven out of twelve shots. I observed his hand shook exceedingly. He said that when he first l^egan at Manton's he was the worst shot in the world, and Man ton was perhaps the best. The subject turned upon duelling, and he contended for its necessity, and quoted some strong arguments in favour of it. ** I have been concerned," said he, " in many *' duels as second, but only in two as principal ; " one was with Hobhouse before I became in- " timate with him. The best marksmen at a " target are not the surest in the field. Cecil's " and Stackpoole's affair proved this. They " fought after a quaiTel of three years, during '* which they were practising daily. Stack- LORD BYRON. 15 " poole was so good a shot that he used to cut " off the heads of the fowls for dinner as they " drank out of the coops about. He had every " wish to kill his antagonist, but he received " his death-blow from Cecil, who fired rather " first, or rather was the quickest shot of the " two. All he said when falling was, ' D n " it, have I missed him ?' Shelley is a much " better shot than I am, but he is thinking of " metaphysics rather than of firing." I understand that Lord Byron is always in better spirits after having culped (as he calls it) the targe often, or hit a five-paul piece, the counterpart of which is always given to the farmer, who is making a Httle fortune. All the pieces struck, Lord Byron keeps to put, as he says, in his museum. We now continued our ride, and returned to Pisa by the Lucca gate. 16 CONVERSATIONS OF " Pisa with its hanging tower and Sophia- "Hke dome reminds me," said Lord Byron, " of an eastern place." He then remarked the heavy smoke that rolled away from the city, spreading in the distance a vale of mist, through which the golden clouds of evening appeared. " It is fine," said Lord Byron, " but no sun- " sets are to be compared with those of Venice. " They are too gorgeous for any painter, and " defy any poet. My rides, indeed, would " have been nothing without the Venetian sun- " sets. Ask SheUey." " Stand on the marble bridge," said Shelley, " cast your eye, if you are not dazzled, on its river glowing as with fire, then follow the graceful curve of the palaces on the Lung' Amo till the arch is naved by the massy dungeon-tower (erroneously called l^golino's), LORD BYRON, 17 frowning in dark relief, and tell me if any thing can surpass a sunset at Pisa." The history of one, is that of almost every day. It is impossible to conceive a more un- varied life than Lord Byron led at this period, I continued to visit him at the same hour daily. Billiards, conversation, or reading, filled up the intervals till it was time to take our evening drive, ride, and pistol-practice. On our re- turn, which was always in the same direc- tion, we frequently met the Countess Guic- cioli, with whom he stopped to converse a few minutes. He dined at half an hour after sunset, (at twenty-four o'clock;) then drove ..to Count Gamba's, the Countess Guiccioli's father, passed several hours in her society, returned to his palace, and either read or wrote till two or three in the morning ; occasionally drinking 18 CONVERSATIONS OF spirits diluted with water as a medicine, from a dread of a nephritic complaint, to which he was, or fancied himself, subject. Such was his life at Pisa. The Countess Guiccioli is twenty-three years of age, though she appears no more than seventeen or eighteen. Unlike most of the Itahan women, her complexion is delicately fair. Her eyes, large, dark, and languishing, are shaded by the longest eye-lashes in the world ; and her hair, which is ungathered on her head, plays over her falling shoulders in a profusion of natural ringlets of the darkest auburn. Her figure is, perhaps, too much embonpoint for her height, but her bust is per- fect ; her features want little of possessing a Grecian regulaiity of outline ; and she has the most beautiful mouth and teeth imaginable. It is impossible to see without admiring — to hear the Guiccioli speak without being fasci- LORD BYRON. 19 iiated. Her amiability and gentleness shew themselves in every intonation of her voice, which, and the music of her perfect Italian, give a peculiar charm to every thing she utters. Grace and elegance seem component parts of her nature. Notwithstanding that she adores Lord Byron, it is evident that the exile and poverty of her aged father sometimes affect her spirits, and throw a shade of melancholy on her countenance, which adds to the deep in- terest this lovely girl creates. " Extraordinary pains," said Lord Byron one day, " were taken with the education of " Teresa. Her conversation is lively, with- " out being frivolous ; without being learned, " she has read all the best authors of her own " and the French language. She often con- *' ceals what she knows, from the fear of being " thought to know too much ; possibly because '* she knows I am not fond of blues. To use c 2 20 CONVKUSATIONS OF " an ex})i'ession of Jeffrey's, ' If she has blue *' stockings, she contrives that her petticoat " shaU hide them.' " Lord Byron is certainly very much attached to her, without being actually in love. His description of the Giorgione in the Manfnni palace at Venice is meant for the Countess. The beautiful sonnet prefixed to the ' Prophecy of Dante' was addressed to her ; and I cannot resist copying some stanzas written when he was about to quit Venice to join her at Ravenna, which will describe the state of his feelings at that time. River* that roUcst by the ancient walls Where dwells the lady of my love, when she Walks by the brink, and there perchance recalls A faint and fleeting memory of me : * The Po. LOUD BYRON. 21 What if thy deep and ample stream should be A mirror of my heart, where she may read The thousand thoughts I now betray to thee, Wild as thy wave, and headlong as thy speed ? What do I say— a mirror of my heart ? Are not thy waters sweeping, dark and strong ? Such as my feelings were and are, thou art ; And such as thou art, were my passions long. Time may have somewhat tamed them, not for ever ; Thou overflow'st thy banks, and not for aye ; Thy bosom overboils, congenial river ! Thy floods subside ; and mine have sunk away — But left long wrecks behind them, and again Borne on our old unchanged career, we move ; Thou tendest wildly onward to the main. And I to loving one I should not love. The current I behold will sweep beneath Her native walls, and murmur at her feet ; Her eyes will look on thee, when she shall breatlie The twilight air, unharmM by summer's heat. 22 CONVERSATIONS OF Slic will look on thee ; I have look'd on thee, Full of that thought, and from that moment ne'er Thy waters could I dream of, name or see, Without the inseparable sigh for her. Her bright eyes will be imaged in thy stream ; Yes, they will meet the wave I gaze on now : Mine cannot witness, even in a dream. That happy wave repass me in its flow. The wave that bears my tears returns no more : Will she return by whom that wave shall sweep ? Both tread thy banks, both wander on thy shore ; I near thy source, she by the dark-blue deep. But that which keepeth us apart is not Distance, nor depth of wave, nor space of earth. But the distraction of a various lot, As various as the climates of our birth. A stranger loves a lady of the land. Born far beyond the mountains, but his blood Is all meridian, as if never fann'd By the bleak wind that chills the polar flood. LOUD BYllON. 23 My blood is all meridian ; were it not, I had not left my clime ; — I shall not be, In spite of tortures ne'er to be forgot, A slave again of love, at least of thee. 'Tis vain to struggle — let me perish young — Live as I lived, and love as I have loved : To dust if I return, from dust I sprung. And then at least my heart can ne^er be moved. Calling on Lord Byron one evening after the opera, we happened to talk of Cavalieri Serventi, and Italian women ; and he contended that much was to be said in excuse for them, and in defence of the system. " We will put out of the question," said he, " a Cavalier Servefitecism ; that is only another " term for prostitution, where the women get " all the money they can, and have (as is the " case in all such contracts) no love to give in " exchange. — I speak of another, and of a dif- *' ferent service." 24 CONVERSATIONS OF " Do you know liow a girl is jjroiight up " here ? " continued he. " Almost from infancy " she is deprived of the endearments of home, " and shut up in a convent till she has attained ** a marriageable or marketable age. The father *' now looks out for a suitable son-in-law. As '* a certain portion of his fortune is fixed by law " for the dower of his children, his object is to " find some needy man of equal rank, or a very " rich one, the older the better, who will consent " to take his daughter off his hands, under the " market price. This, if she happen to ])e hand- " some, is not difficult of accomi)lishment. OI>- " jections are seldom made on the part of the young lady to the age, and personal or other defects of the intended, who perhaps visits her once in the parlour as a matter of form or curiosity. She is too hap]>y to get her liberty on any terms, and he her money or her person. " There is no love on eitlier side. What happi- •' ness is to be expected, or constancy, from such " a liaison ? Is it not natural, that in her inter- " course with a world, of which she knows and a i( C( LORD BYRON. 25 " has seen nothing, and unrestrained mistress " of her own time and actions, she should find " somebody to like better, and who likes her '* better, than her husband^ The Count Guic- " cioli, for instance, who is the richest man in " Romagna, was sixty when he married Teresa ; " she sixteen. From the first they had separate " apartments, and she always used to call him " Sir. What could be expected from such a " preposterous connexion ? For some time she " was an Angiolina, and he a Marino Faliero, a " good old man ; but young women, and your '* Italian ones too, are not satisfied with your " good old men. Love is not the same dull, " cold, calculating feeling here as in the North. " It is the business, the serious occupation of *' their lives ; it is a want, a necessity. Some- " body properly defines a woman, ' a creature '' that loves.' They die of love ; particularly *' the Romans : they begin to love earlier, and ** feel the passion later than the Northern people. "When I was at Venice, two dowagers of sixty "made love to me. — But to return to the 26 CON^^ERSATIONS OF " Guiccioli. The old Count did not object to " her availing herself of the privileges of her " country ; an Italian would have reconciled *' hini to the thing : indeed for some time he " winked at our intimacy, but at length made *' an exception against me, as a foreigner, a he- " retic, an Englishman, and, what was worse " than all, a liberal. " He insisted — the GuiccioU was as obstinate ; " her family took her part. Catholics cannot get " divorces. But, to the scandal of all Romagna, " the matter was at length referred to the Pope, " who ordered her a separate maintenance, on " condition that she should reside under her " father's roof All this was not agi-eeable, and " at length I was forced to smuggle her out of " Ravenna, having disclosed a plot laid with the " sanction of the Legate for shutting her up in " a convent for life, which she naiTOwly escaped. '' — Except Greece, I was never so attached to " any place in my life as to Ravenna, and but " for the failure of the Constitutionalists and LOED BYUON. 27 " this fracas, should probably never have left it. " The peasantry are the best people in the world, " and the beauty of their women is extraordi- " nary. Those at Tivoli and Frescati, who are " so much vaunted, are mere Sabines, coarse " creatures, compared to the Romagnese. You " may talk of your English women, and it is "true that out of one hundred Italians and *' English you will find thirty of the latter hand- «' some ; but then there will be one Italian on '* the other side of the scale, who will more '* than balance the deficit in numbers — one '* who, like the Florence Venus, has no rival, and ** can have none in the North. I have learnt '* more from the peasantry of the countries I " have travelled in than from any other source, " especially from the women*: they are more * .^<^ Female hearts are such a genial soil For kinder feeling, whatsoe'er their nation. They generally pour the wine and oil, Samaritans in every situation." Don Juan, Canto V. Stanza 122. 28 CONVERSATIONS OF *' intelligent, as well as communicative, than the " men. I found also at Ravenna much educa- " tion and liberality of thinking among the ** higher classes. The climate is delightful. I ** was unbroken in upon by society. Ra- *' venna lies out of the way of travellei-s. I " was never tired of my rides in the pine-fo- " rest : it breathes of the Decameron ; it is *' poetical ground. Francesca lived, and Dante '* was exiled and died at Ravenna. There is ** something inspiring in such an air.* * The following lines will shew the attachment Lord Byron had to the tranquil life he led at Ravenna : " Sweet hour of twilight, in the solitude Of the pine-forest and the silent shore Which bounds Ravenna's immemorial wood, Rooted where once the Adrian wave flow'd o'er To w.here the last Cajsarean fortress stood. Evergreen forest ! which Boccaccio's lore And Dryden's lay made haunted ground to me. How have I loved the twilight hour and thee ! The LORD BYRON. 29 " The people liked me, as much as they " hated the Government. It is not a little to " say, I was popular with all the leaders of the " Constitutional party. They knew that I ** came from a land of liberty, and wished well " to their cause. I would have espoused it too, '• and assisted them to shake off their fetters. " They knew my character, for I had been liv- " ing two years at Venice, where many of the " Ravennese have houses. I did not, however, '* take part in their intrigues, nor join in their " political coteries ; but I had a magazine of " ^ne hundred stand of arms in the house, " when every thing was ripe for revolt. A " €urse on Carignan's imbecility ! I could have " pardoned him that too, if he had not mi- «' peached his partisans. The proscription was The shrill cicalas, people of the pine. Making their summer lives one ceaseless song, Were the sole echoes save my steed's and mine. And vesper bell's that rose the boughs among." Don Juan, Canto III. Stanza 105. 30 CONVERSATIONS OF " immense in Romagna, and embraced many of " the first nobles ; almost all my friends, among *' the rest the Grambas, who took no part in " the affair, were included in it. They were " exiled, and their possessions confiscated. " They knew that tliis must eventually drive " me out of the countiy. I did not follow " them immediately ; I was not to be bullied. " I had myself fallen under the eye of the " Government. If they could have got suf- " ficient proof, they would have an'ested me : " but no one betrayed me ; indeed there was '* nothing to betray. I had received a very " high degree, without passing through the " intermediate ranks. In that corner you see " papers of one of their societies. Shortly after " the plot was discovered, I received several " anonymous letters, advising mc to discon- ** tinue my forest rides ; but I entertained no " apprehensions of treachery, and was more " on horseback than ever. I never stir out " without being well armed, and sleep with LORD BYRON. 31 " pistols. They knew that I never missed my *' aim ; perhaps this saved me. An event " occurred at this time at Ravenna' that made " a deep impression on me : I alluded to it " in ' Don Juan.' The military Commandant of " the place, who, though suspected of being se- '' cretly a Carbonaro, was too powerful a man '* to be arrested, was assassinated opposite to " my palace ; a spot perhaps selected by choice " for the commission of the crime. The mea- " sures which were adopted to screen the mur- " derer prove the assassination to have taken " place by order of the police. I had my foot " in the stirrup at my usual hour of exercise, " when my horse started at the report of a " gun. On looking up I perceived a man " throw down a carbine and run away at full " speed, and another stretched upon the pave- " ment, a few yards from me. On hastening " towards him, I found that it was the un- " happy Commandant. A crowd was soon " collected, but no one ventured to offer the 32 CONVKU^SATIONS OF *' least assistance. I soon directed my servant " to lift up the bleeding body and carry it into " my palace ; but it was represented to me that " by so doing I should confirm the suspicion " of being of his party, and incm' the displea- *' sure of the Government. However, it was " no time to calculate between humanity and " danger. I assisted in bearing him into the *• house, and putting him on a bed. He was " already dead from several wounds ; he ap- " peared to have breathed his last without " a struggle. I never saw a countenance so " calm. His adjutant followed the corpse " into the house. I remember his lamentation " over him : — * Povero diavolo ! non aveva fatto " male, anche ad un cane.' ' ** I am sorry," said he, " not to have a copy " of my Memoirs to shew you ; I gave them to " Moore, or rather to Moore's little boy, at Ve- " nice. I remember saying, ' Here are 2000/. ** for you, my young friend.' I made one re- « LORD BYRON. 33 servation in the gift, — ^that they were not to be published till after my death. " I have not the least objection to their *' being circulated ; in fact they have been ** read by some of mine, and several of Moore's ** friends and acquaintances ; among others, ^* they were lent to Lady Burghersh. On " returning the MS. her Ladyship told Moore " that she had transcribed the whole work. ^' This was un peu fort, and he suggested the " propriety of her destroying the copy. She " did so, by putting it into the fire in his pre- " sence. Ever since this happened, Douglas " Kinnaird has been recommending me to " resume possession of the MS., thinking to " frighten me by saying that a spurious or *' a real copy, surreptitiously obtained, may go " forth to the world. I am quite indifferent '' about the world knowing all that they con- " tain. There are very few licentious adven- " tures of my own, or scandalous anecdotes 34 CONVERSATIONS OF " that will affect others, in the book. It is ** taken up from my earliest recollections, al- " most from childhood, — very incoherent, writ- " ten in a very loose and familiar style. The ** second part will prove a good lesson to young " men ; for it treats of the iiTCgular life I led " at one period, and the fatal consequences of " dissipation. There are few parts that may " not, and none that will not, be read by Another time he said : " A very ftdl account of my marriage and " separation is contained in my Memoirs. After ** they were completed, I wrote to Lady Byi'on, " proposing to send them for her inspection, in " order that any mistatements or inacciu'acy (if " any such existed, which I was not aware of,) " might be pointed out and corrected. In her " answer she declined the offer, without assign - " ing any reason ; but desiring, if not on her " account, for the sake of her daughter, that LORD BYRON. 35 ^' they might never appear, and finishing with " a threat. My reply was the severest thing I " ever wrote, and contained two quotations, " one fi'om Shakspeare, and another from " Dante.* I told her that she knew all I had *' written was incontrovertible truth, and that '^ she did not wish to sanction the truth. I '^ ended by saying, that she might depend on " their being published. It was not till after " this correspondence that I made Moore the " depositary of the MS. " The first time of my seeing Miss Milbanke " was at Lady — • — 's. It was a fatal " day ; and I remember that in going upstairs " I stumbled, and remarked to Moore, who " accompanied me, that it was a bad omen. I " ought to have taken the warning. On enterr " ing the room I observed a young lady, more * I could not retain them. D 2 36 CONVERSATIONS OF " simply dressed than the rest of the assembly, " sitting alone upon a sofa. I took her for a ** humble companion, and asked if I was right " in my conjecture ? * She is a great heiress,' **' said he in a whisper that became lower as he " proceeded ; ' you had better marry her, and *' repair the old place, Newstead.' " There was something piquant, and what we " term pretty, in Miss Milbanke. Her features " were small and feminine, though not regular. " She had the fairest skin imaginable. Her " figure was perfect for her height, and there " was a simplicity, a retired modesty about her, " which was very characteristic, and formed a " happy contrast to the cold artificial formahty, " and studied stiffness, which is called fashion. *^ She interested me exceedingly. It is un- " necessary to detail the progress of our ac- " quaintance. I became daily more attached to " her, and it ended in my making her a pro- " posal that was rejected. Her refusal was LOUD BYRON. ^ 37 ** couched in terms that could not offend me. '^ I was besides persuaded that, in declining my " offer, she was governed by the influence of " her mother ; and was the more confirmed in " this opinion by her reviving our correspond- " ence herself twelve months after. The tenor " of her letter was, that although she could not " love me, she desired my friendship. Friend- " ship is a dangerous word for young ladies ; it " is Love full-fledged, and waiting for a fine *^ day to fly, " It had been predicted by Mrs. Williams, " that twenty-seven was to be a dangerous age " for me. The fortune-telling witch was right; *' it was destined to prove so. I shall never " forget the 2d of January ! Lady Byron " (Byrn, he pronounced it) was the only uncon- " cerned person present ; Lady Noel, her mo- " ther, cried ; I trembled like a leaf, made the " wrong responses, and after the ceremony called " her Miss Milbanke. 38 CONVERSATIONS OF " There is a singular history attached to the " ring. The very day the match was concluded, " a ring of my mother's, that had been lost, was " dug up by the gardener at Newstead. I " thought it was sent on purpose for the wed- " ding ; but my mother's marriage had not been ** a fortunate one, and this ring was doomed to " be the seal of an unhappier union stiU * " After the ordeal was over, we set off for a " country-seat of Sir Ralph's ; and I was sur- " prised at the arrangements for the journey, " and somewhat out of humour to find a lady's- " maid stuck between me and my bride. It " was rather too early to assume the husband ; " so I was forced to submit, but it was not with " a very good grace. Put yourself in a similar " situation, and tell me if I had not some rea- * " Save the rins;, Which, being the damned'st part of matrimony — " Do7i Juan, Canto IX. Stanza 70- LORD BYRON. 39 " son to be in the sulks. I have been accused " of saying, on getting into the carriage, that I " had married Lady Byron out of spite, and be- " cause she had refused me twice. Though I ** was for a moment vexed at her prudery, or " whatever you may choose to call it, if I had " made so uncavaHer, not to say brutal a speech, " I am convinced Lady Byron would instantly " have left the carriage to me and the maid (I " mean the lady's). She had spirit enough to " have done so, and would properly have re- " sented the affront. " Our honeymoon was not all sunshine ; it " had its clouds : and Hobhouse has some letters " which would serve to explain the rise and fall ** in the barometer,— but it was never down at " You tell me the world says I married Miss " Milbanke for her fortune, because she was a " great heiress. All I have ever received, or 40 CONVERSATIONS OF " am likely to receive, (and that has been twice ** paid back too,) was 1 0,000/. My own income " at this period was small, and somewhat be- " spoke. Newstead was a very unprofitable " estate, and brought me in a bare 1500/. " a-year; the Lancashire property was ham- " pered with a law-suit, which has cost me " 14,000/., and is not yet finished. " We had a house in town, gave dinner- " parties, had separate carriages, and launched " into every sort of extravagance. This could " not last long. My wife's 10,000/. soon melted ** away. I was beset by duns, and at length " an execution was levied, and the bailiffs put " in possession of the very beds we had to sleep " on. This was no very agreeable state of " affairs, no very pleasant scene for Lady Byron " to witness ; and it was agreed she should pay ** her father a visit till the storm had blown " over, and some aiTangements had been made " with my creditors. You may suppose on LOUD BYRON. 41 " what terms we parted, from the style of a " letter she wrote me on the road : you will " think it began ridiculously enough, — ' Dear «Duck!'* " Imagine my astonishment to receive, imme- " diately on her arrival in London, a few lines " from her father, of a very dry and unafFection- " ate nature, beginning ' Sir,' and ending with " saying that his daughter should never see me " again. " In my reply I disclaimed his authority, as " a parent, over my wife, and told him I was " convinced the sentiments expressed were his, ** not hers. Another post, however, brought " me a confirmation (under her own hand and " seal) of her father's sentence. I afterwards * Shelley, who knew this story, used to say these two Words would look odd in an Italian translation — Anitra carissima. 42 CONVERSATIONS 01< " learnt from Fletcher's (my valet's) wife, who " was at that time femme-de-chamhre to Lady " Byron, that after her definite resolution was " taken, and the fatal letter consigned to the " post-office, she sent to withdraw it, and was " in hysterics of joy that it was not too late. It " seems, however, that they did not last long, " or that she was afterwards over-persuaded to " forward it. There can be no doubt that the " influence of her enemies prevailed over her " affection for me. You ask me if no cause " was assigned for this sudden resolution ? — if " I formed no conjecture about the cause ? I " will tell you. " I have prejudices about women ; I do not " like to see them eat. Rousseau makes Julie " un peu gourmande ; but that is not at all ac- *•' cording to my taste. I do not like to be in- " terrupted when I am writing. Lady Byron " did not attend to these whims of mine. The LORD BYRON. 43 *' only harsh thing I ever remember saying to " her v/as one evening shortly before our part- " ing. I was standing before the fire, rumina- " ting upon the embarrassment of my afFairSj " and other annoyances, when Lady Byron '' came up to me and said, * Byron, am I in " your way ?' — to which I replied, * Damnably !* " I was afterwards sorry, and reproached myself " for the expression : but it escaped me uncon- " sciously — involuntarily ; I hardly knew what '' I said. •' I heard, afterwards that Mrs. Charlment " had been the means of poisoning Lady Noel's " mind against me ; — that she had employed " herself and others in watching me in London, " and had reported having traced me into a " house in Portland-place. There was one act " of which I might justly have complained, and " which was unworthy of any one but such " a confidante : I allude to the breaking open 44 CONVERSATIONS OF " my writing-desk. A hook was found in it " that did not do much credit to my taste in " literature, and some letters from a married " woman with whom I had been intimate be- " fore my marriage. The use that was made " of the latter was most unjustifiable, whatever " may be thought of the breach of confidence " that led to their discovery. Lady Byron " sent them to the husband of the lady, who *' had the good sense to take no notice of theii' " contents. The gravest accusation that has " been made against me is that of having in- " trigued with Mrs. Mardyn in my own house, " introduced her to my own table, &c. There " never was a more unfounded calumny. Being *' on the Committee of Drury-lane Theatre, " I have no doubt that several actresses called " on me ; but as to Mrs. Mardyn, who was " a beautiful woman, and might have been a " dangerous visitress, I was scarcely acquainted " (to speak) with lier. I might even make a " more serious charge against than em- LORD BYRON. 45 ^' ploying spies to watch suspected amours, * •* * * * * # ^ * * # * * * # * * * ■» " I had been shut up in a dark street in Lon- " don, writing (I think he said) ' The Siege of " Corinth,' and had refused myself to every one *' till it was finished. I was surprised one day " by a Doctor and a Lawyer almost forcing *^ themselves at the same time into my room. ** I did not know till afterwards the real object " of their visit. I thought their questions sin- " gular, frivolous, and somewhat importunate, " if not impertinent : but^what should I have " thought, if I had known that they were sent " to provide proofs of my insanity ? * ^ (t) (t) '' For Inez call'd some druggists and physicians. And tried to prove her loving lord was mad ; But as he had some lucid intermissions, She next decided he was only bad. ^ 46 CONVERSATIONS OF " I have no doubt that my answers to these " emissaries' interrogations were not very ra- " tional or consistent, for my imagination was " heated by other things. But Dr. Baillie " could not conscientiously make me out a cer- " tificate for Bedlam ; and perhaps the Lawyer " gave a more favourable report to his employ- " ers. The Doctor said afterwards, he had " been told that I always looked down when " Lady Byron bent her eyes on me, and exhi- ^' bited other symptoms equally infallible, par- ** ticularly those that marked the late King's Yet when they ask'd her for her depositions. No sort of explanation could be had. Save that her duty both to man and God Required this conduct, — which seem'd very odd. She kept a journal where his faults were noted. And open'd certain trunks of books and letters. All which might, if occasion served, be quoted : And then she had all Seville for abettors, Besides her good old grandmother " Don J nan, Canto I. Stanzas 27 and 28. LORD BYEON. 47 ** case so strongly. I do not, however, tax Lady " Byron with this transaction ; probably she " was not privy to it. She was the tool of " others. Her mother always detested me ; " she had not even the decency to conceal it '* in her own house. Dining one day at Sir " Ralph's, (who was a good sort of man, and of **' whom you may form some idea, when I tell " you that a leg of mutton was always served " at his table, that he might cut the same joke " upon it,) I broke a tooth, and was in great " pain, which I could not avoid shewing.* ' It ** will do you good,' said Lady Noel ; ' I am " glad of it !' I gave her a look ! " You ask if Lady Byron were ever in love " with me — I have answered that question " already — No ! I was the fashion when she " first came out : I had the character of being " a great rake, and was a great dandy— both "of which young ladies like. She married " me from vanity, and the hope of reforming 4