The Works of Lord Byron: Letters and Journals Volume II Part 121

HORATIO.

Fitzroy-square, Feb. 13.

[Footnote 1: Supposing LORD BYRON to have a daughter.]

(7) To LORD BYRON ('Morning Post', February 16, 1814).

"Bard of the pallid front, and curling hair, To London taste, and northern critics dear, Friend of the dog, companion of the bear, APOLLO drest in trimmest Turkish gear.

"'Tis thine to eulogize the fell Corsair, Scorning all laws that G.o.d or man can frame; And yet so form'd to please the gentle fair, That reading misses wish their Loves the same.

"Thou prov'st that laws are made to aid the strong, That murderers and thieves alone are brave, That all religion is an idle song, Which troubles life, and leaves us at the grave.

"That men and dogs have equal claims on Heav'n, Though dogs but bark, and men more wisely prate, That to thyself one friend alone was giv'n, That Friend a Dog, now s.n.a.t.c.h'd away by Fate.

"And last can tell how daughters best may shew Their love and duty to their fathers dear, By reckoning up what stream of filial woe Will give to every crime a cleansing tear.

"Long may'st thou please this wonder-seeking age, By MURRAY purchas'd, and by MOORE admir'd; May fas.h.i.+on never quit thy cla.s.sic page, Nor e'er be with thy Turkomania tir'd."

UNUS MULTORUM.

(8) VERSES ADDRESSED TO LORD BYRON ('Morning Post', February 16, 1814).

"Lord _Byron_! Lord _Byron_!

Your heart's made of iron, As hard and unfeeling as cold.

Half human, half bird, From _Virgil_ we've heard, Were form'd the fam'd harpies of old.

"Like those monsters you chatter, Friends and foes you bespatter, And dirty, like them, what you eat: The _Hollands_, your muse Does most grossly abuse, Tho' you feed on their wine and their meat.

"Your friend, little _Moore_, You have dirtied before, But you know that in safety you write: You've declared in your lines, That revenge he declines, For the poor little man will not fight.

"At _Carlisle_ you sneer, That worthy old Peer, Though united by every tie; But you act as you preach, And do what you teach, And your _G.o.d_ and your duty defy.

"As long as your aim Was alone to defame, The nearest relation you own; At your malice he smil'd, But he won't see defil'd, By your harpy bespatt'rings, the Throne."

(9) PATRONAGE EXTRAORDINARY ('Morning Post', February 17, 1814).

"Procul este profani--!"

"A friends.h.i.+p subsisted, no friends.h.i.+p was closer, 'Twixt the heir of a Peer and the son of a Grocer; 'Tis _true_, though so wide was their difference of station, For, we _always_ find _truth_ in a _long dedication_.

Atheistical doctrines in verse we are told, The former sold _wholesale_, was daring and bold; While the latter (whatever _he_ offer'd for sale) Like papa, he disposed of--of course by _retail!_ First--_sc.r.a.ps_ of _indecency_, next _disaffection_, Disguised by the knave from his fear of detection; To court _party favour_, then, sonnets he wrote; Set political squibs to the harpsichord's note.

One, as _patron_ was chosen by his brother Poet, The Peer, to be sure, from his rank we may know it; Not the low and indecent composer of jigs-- Yes! yes! 'twas the son of the seller of Figs!!

Did the Peer then possess _no respectable friend_ To add weight to his name, and his works recommend?!

Atheistical writings we well may believe, None of _worth_ from the Author would deign to receive; So--to cover the faults of his friend he essays, By _daubing_ him _thickly all over with praise_.

But, _parents_, attend! if your _daughters_ you _love_, The works of _these serpents_ take _care_ to remove: Their _infernal attacks_ from your _mansions_ repel, Where _filial affection_ and _modesty_ dwell."

VERAX.

(10) LORD BYRON ('Morning Post', February 18, 1814).

If it was the object of Lord BYRON to stamp his character, and to bring his name forward by a single act of his life into general notoriety, it must be confessed that he has completely succeeded. We do not recollect any former instance in which a Peer has stood forth as the libeller of his Sovereign. If he disapproves the measures of his Ministers, the House of Parliament, in which he has an hereditary right to sit, is the place where his opinions may with propriety be uttered. If he thinks he can avert any danger to his country by a personal conference with his Sovereign, he has a right to demand it. The Peers are the natural advisers of the Crown, but the Const.i.tution which has granted them such extraordinary privileges, makes it doubly criminal in them to attack the authority from which it is derived, and to insult the power which it is their peculiar province to uphold and protect. What then must we think of the foolish vanity, or the bad taste of a t.i.tled Poet, who is the first to proclaim himself the Author of a Libel, because he is fearful it will not be sufficiently read without his avowal. We perfectly remember having read the verses in question a year ago; but we could not then suppose them the offspring of patrician bile, nor should we now believe it without the Author's special authority. It seems by some late quotations from his Lords.h.i.+p's works, which have been rescued from that oblivion to which they were hastening with a rapid step, by one of our co-equals, that this peerless Peer has already gone through a complete course of private ingrat.i.tude. The inimitable Hogarth has traced the gradual workings of an unfeeling heart in his progress of cruelty. He has shewn, that malevolence is progressive in its operation, and that a man who begins life by impaling flies, will find a delight in torturing his fellow creatures before he closes it. We have heard that even at school these poetical propensities were strongly manifested in Lord BYRON, and that he began his satirical career against those persons to whom the formation of his mind was entrusted. From his schoolmaster he turned the oestrum of his opening genius to his guardian and uncle, the Earl of CARLISLE. We cannot believe that the n.o.ble Person's conduct has in this instance been a perfect contrast to the general tenor of his life. We have heard, that during his guardians.h.i.+p he tripled the amount of his nephew's fortune. If the Earl of CARLISLE was satisfied with his own 'conscia mens recti', if he wanted no thanks, he must at least have been much surprised to find such attentions and services rewarded with a libel, in which not only his literary accomplishments, but his bodily infirmities, were made the subject of public ridicule. The n.o.ble Earl was certainly at liberty to treat such personal attacks with the contempt which they deserve, but since his Sovereign is become the object of a vile and unprovoked libel, he will no doubt draw the attention of his Peers to a new case of outrage to good order and government, which has been unfortunately furnished by his own nephew.