"had reviewed his book, and said he wrote 66 very well for a banker : They say he has no heart, and I deny it : He has a heart, and gets his speeches by it.' "I have been told," said he one Sunday evening during our ride, that you have got a par 66 son here of the name of N*tt.-N*tt? I "think I should know that name: was he not 66 66 66 one of the tutors of a late Princess? If I 6 am not mistaken, thereby hangs a tale,' that perhaps would have been forgotten, but for "his over-officious zeal,-or a worse motive. "The would-be Bishop having himself cracked 66 windows, should not throw stones. I respect "the pulpit as much as any man, but would not "have it made a forum for politics or persona 66 lity. The Puritans gave us quite enough of A person “ them.—But to come to the point. A "who was at his house to-day, where he has a 56 chapel, tells me that this dignitary of the "Church has in a very undignified way been 6 "preaching against my Cain.' He contends, "it seems, that the snake which tempted Eve "was not a snake, but the Devil in disguise; "and that Bishop Warburton's Legation of "Moses' is no authority. It may be so, and a poor unlearned man like me may be mistaken: "but as there are not three of his congregation ས "who have seen Cain,' and not one but will be "satisfied that the learned Doctor's object is to 66 preach against and vilify me, under the pre"text of clearing up these disputed points, sure❝ly his arguments are much misplaced. It is 66 66 66 strange that people will not let me alone. I am sure I lead a very quiet, moral life here." A fortnight after he said: "I hear that your Doctor, in company with some Russians, the other day, called Shelley a scelerato, and has been preaching two ser "mons, two following Sundays, against Athe"ism. It is pretty clear for whom he means "them; and Mrs. Shelley being there, it was "still more indecent. The Doctor is playing "with penknives when he handles poets." The next morning he gave us a song upon the Doctor, to the tune of "The Vicar and Moses." "I have often wished," said I to Lord Byron one day, "to know how you passed your time after your return from Greece in 1812." "There is little to be said about it," replied he. "Perhaps it would have been better had I "never returned! I had become so much at"tached to the Morea, its climate, and the life "I led there, that nothing but my mother's "death and my affairs would have brought me *In August 1811. "home. However, after an absence of three "years, behold! I was again in London. My 66 66 Second Canto of Childe Harold' was then 'just published; and the impersonation of my self, which, in spite of all I could say, the "world would discover in that poem, made 66 every one curious to know me, and to discover "the identity. I received every where a mark"ed attention, was courted in all societies, made "much of by Lady Jersey, had the entré at "Devonshire-house, was in favour with Brum"mell, (and that was alone enough to make a 66 man of fashion at that time;) in fact, I was a "lion-a ball-room bard-a hot-pressed darling! "The Corsair' put my reputation au comble, " and had a wonderful success, as you may suppose, by one edition being sold in a day. 66 66 "Polidori, who was rather vain, once asked me what there was he could not do as well as "I? I think I named four things-that I "could swim four miles write a book, of " which four thousand copies should be sold in 66 66 66 66 a day*-drink four bottles of wine and I forget what the other was, but it is not worth mentioning. However, as I told you before, my Corsair' was sufficient to captivate all the "ladies." 66 66 66 66 66 66 "I am accused of ingratitude to a certain personage. It is pretended that, after his civilities, I should not have spoken of him dis respectfully. Those epigrams were written long before my introduction to him; which was, after all, entirely accidental, and unsought-for on my part. I met him one evening at Colonel J's. As the "party was a small one, he could not help 66 observing me; and as I made a considerable * The fact is that nearly 10,000 of several of Lord Byron's productions have been sold on the first day of publication. |