The Works Of Lord Byron, Letters and Journals, Vol. 1 by Lord Byron, Edited by Rowland E. Prothero

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I arrived here today at 2 o'clock after a fatiguing Journey, I found
my Mother perfectly well. She desires to be kindly remembered to you;
as she is just now Gone out to an assembly, I have taken the first
opportunity to write to you, I hope she will not return immediately;
for if she was to take it into her head to peruse my epistle, there is
one part of it which would produce from her a panegyric on _a friend
of yours_, not at all agreeable to me, and I fancy, _not particularly
delightful to you_. If you see Lord Sidney Osborne [3] I beg you will
remember me to him; I fancy he has almost forgot me by this time, for
it is rather more than a year Since I had the pleasure of Seeing
him.--Also remember me to poor old Murray; [4] tell him we will see
that something is to be done for him, for _while I live he shall never
be abandoned In his old Age_. Write to me Soon, my Dear Augusta, And
do not forget to love me, In the meantime, I remain, more than words
can express, your ever sincere, affectionate

Brother and Friend,

BYRON.

P.S. Do not forget to knit the purse you promised me, Adieu my beloved
Sister.

[Footnote: 1. The Hon. Augusta Byron, Byron's half-sister (January,
1783-November, 1851), was the daughter of Captain John Byron by his
first wife, Amelia d'Arcy (died 1784), only child of the last Earl of
Holderness, Baroness Conyers in her own right, the divorced wife of
Francis, Marquis of Carmarthen, subsequently fifth Duke of Leeds. After
the return of Captain and Mrs. Byron to London early in 1788, she was
brought up by her grandmother, the Countess of Holderness. When the
latter died, Augusta Byron divided her time between her half-sister,
Lady Mary Osborne, who married, July 16, 1801, Lord Pelham, subsequently
(1805) Earl of Chichester; her half-brother George, who succeeded his
father as sixth Duke of Leeds in 1799; her cousin, the Earl of Carlisle;
and General and Mrs. Harcourt. From their houses her letters during the
period 1803-7 are written. In 1807 she married her first cousin, Colonel
George Leigh of the Tenth Dragoons, the son of General Charles Leigh, by
Frances, daughter of Admiral the Hon. John Byron. By her husband, who
was a friend of the Prince Regent and well known in society, she was the
mother of seven children. Their home was at Newmarket, till, in April,
1818, they were granted apartments in Flag Court, St. James's Palace,
where she died in November, 1851.

Augusta Byron seems scarcely to have seen her brother between his
infancy and 1802. Lady Holderness and Mrs. Byron were not on friendly
terms, and it was not till the former's death that any intimacy was
renewed between the brother and sister. Writing on October 18, 1801, to
Augusta Byron, Mrs. Byron says, in allusion to the death of Lady
Holderness,

"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."

From 1802 till Byron's death, Augusta took in him the interest of an
elder sister. Writing to Hanson (June 17, 1804), she says--

"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_."

In this tone the letters are continued (see extracts p. 39; p. 45,
note 1; and p. 97 [Letter 48], [Foot]note 1 [further down]).

From the end of 1805, with some interruptions, and less regularity, the
correspondence between brother and sister was maintained to the end of
Byron's life. To Augusta, then Mrs. Leigh, Byron sent a presentation
copy of 'Childe Harold', with the inscription:

"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."

She was the god-mother of Byron's daughter Augusta Ada, born December
10, 1815. In January, 1816, when Lady Byron was still with her husband,
she writes of and to Mrs. Leigh:

"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."

Lady Byron left Byron on January 15, 1816. Writing to Mrs. Leigh from
Kirby Mallory, she speaks of her as her "best comforter," notices her
absolute unselfishness, and says that Augusta's presence in Byron's
house in Piccadilly is her "great comfort" (Lady Byron's letters to Mrs.
Leigh, January 16 and January 23, 1816, quoted in the 'Quarterly Review'
for October, 1869, p. 414). Through Mrs. Leigh passed many
communications between Byron and Lady Byron after the separation. To
her, Byron, in 1816 and 1817, wrote the two sets of "Stanzas to
Augusta," the "Epistle to Augusta," and the Journal of his journey
through the Alps, "which contains all the germs of 'Manfred' (letter to
Murray, August, 1817). She was in his thoughts on the Rhine, and in the
third canto of 'Childe Harold':--

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

To her he was writing a letter at Missolonghi (February 23, 1824), which
he did not live to finish, "My dearest Augusta, I received a few days
ago your and Lady Byron's report of Ada's health." He carried with him
everywhere the pocket Bible which she had given him. "I have a Bible,"
he told Dr. Kennedy ('Conversations'), "which my sister gave me, who is
an excellent woman, and I read it very often." His last articulate words
were "My sister--my child."

Several volumes of Mrs. Leigh's commonplace books are in existence,
filled with extracts mostly on religious topics. She was, wrote the late
Earl Stanhope, in a letter quoted in the 'Quarterly Review' (October,
1869, p. 421), "very fond" of talking about Byron.

"She was," he continues, "extremely unprepossessing in her person and
appearance--more like a nun than anything, and never can have had the
least pretension to beauty. I thought her shy and sensitive to a fault
in her mind and character."

Frances, Lady Shelley, who died in January, 1873, and was intimately
acquainted with Byron and his contemporaries, speaks of her as a
"Dowdy-Goody."

"I have seen," she writes

(see 'Quarterly Review', October, 1869, p. 421, quoting from
a letter signed E. M. U., which appeared in the 'Times' for September
II, 1869),

"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."]

[Footnote 2: See preceding note.]

[Footnote 3: Francis, fifth Duke of Leeds, married, October 14, 1788, as
his second wife, Miss Catherine Anguish, by whom he had two children:
the eldest, a son, Sydney Godolphin Osborne, was born December 16,
1789.]

[Footnote 4: Joe Murray had been for many years in the employment of
William, fifth Lord Byron. At his master's death, in 1798, he was
taken into the service of the Duke of Leeds.

"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."

Three years later (March 19, 1807), Augusta Byron writes again
to Hanson:--

"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."

Byron made Murray an allowance of £20 a year (see Letter 83), took him,
as soon as he could, into his service, and was careful, as he promises,
to provide that he should not be "abandoned in his old age." His
affection for Murray is marked by the postscript to the letter to Mrs.
Byron of June 22, 1809 (see also 'Life', pp. 74, 121); as also by his
draft will of 1811, in which he leaves Murray £50 a year for life.

8.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[63, Portland Place, London.]

Southwell, March 26th, 1804.

I received your affectionate letter, my ever Dear Sister, yesterday
and I now hasten to comply with your injunction by answering it as
soon as possible. Not, my Dear Girl, that it can be in the least
irksome to me to write to you, on the Contrary it will always prove my
Greatest pleasure, but I am sorry that I am afraid my correspondence
will not prove the most entertaining, for I have nothing that I can
relate to you, except my affection for you, which I can never
sufficiently express, therefore I should tire you, before I had half
satisfied myself. Ah, How unhappy I have hitherto been in being so
long separated from so amiable a Sister! but fortune has now
sufficiently atoned by discovering to me a relation whom I love, a
Friend in whom I can confide. In both these lights, my Dear Augusta, I
shall ever look upon you, and I hope you will never find your Brother
unworthy of your affection and Friendship.

I am as you may imagine a little dull here; not being on terms of
intimacy with Lord Grey [1] I avoid Newstead, and my resources of
amusement are Books, and writing to my Augusta, which, wherever I am,
will always constitute my Greatest pleasure. I am not reconciled to
Lord Grey, _and I never will_. He was once my _Greatest Friend_, my
reasons for ceasing that Friendship are such as I cannot explain, not
even to you, my Dear Sister, (although were they to be made known to
any body, you would be the first,) but they will ever remain hidden in
my own breast.

They are Good ones, however, for although I am _violent_ I am not
_capricious_ in my _attachments_. My mother disapproves of my
quarrelling with him, but if she knew the cause (which she never will
know,) She would reproach me no more. He Has forfeited all _title to
my esteem_, but I hold him in too much _contempt_ ever _to hate him_.
My mother desires to be kindly remembered to you. I shall soon be in
town to resume my studies at Harrow; I will certainly call upon you in
my way up. Present my respects to Mrs. Harcourt; [2] I am Glad to hear
that I am in her Good Graces for I shall always esteem her on account
of her behaviour to you, my Dear Girl. Pray tell me If you see Lord S.
Osborne, and how he is; what little I know of him I like very much and
If we were better acquainted I doubt not I should like him still
better. Do not forget to tell me how Murray is. As to your Future
prospects, my Dear Girl, _may they be happy_! I am sure you deserve
Happiness and if _you_ do not meet with it I shall begin to think it
is "a bad world we live in." Write to me soon. I am impatient to hear
from you. God bless you, My amiable Augusta, I remain,

Your ever affectionate Brother and Friend,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Henry, third Earl of Sussex, died in 1799, when the earldom
lapsed. He was, however, succeeded in the ancient barony of Grey de
Ruthyn by his daughter's son, Henry Edward, twentieth Baron Grey de
Ruthyn (1780-1810), to whom Newstead was let.

"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."

Lord Grey de Ruthyn married, in 1809, Anna Maria, daughter of William
Kelham, of Ryton-upon-Dunsmore, Warwick. (See postscript to Byron's
Letter to his mother, August 11, 1809.) The lease of Newstead terminated
in April, 1808.]

[Footnote 2: Probably the wife of General the Hon. William Harcourt
(1742-1830), who distinguished himself in the War of American
Independence, succeeded his only brother in 1809 as third (and last)
Earl Harcourt, was created a field-marshal in 1821, and died in 1830. He
married, in 1778, Mary, daughter of the Rev. William Danby, and widow of
Thomas Lockhart. She died in 1833.]

9.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[At General Harcourt's, St. Leonard's Hill, Windsor, Berkshire.]

Burgage Manor, April 2d, 1804.

I received your present, my beloved Augusta, which was very
acceptable, not that it will be of any use as a token of remembrance,
No, my affection for you will never permit me to forget you.

I am afraid, my Dear Girl, that you will be absent when I am in town.
I cannot exactly say when I return to Harrow, but however it will be
in a very short time. I hope you were entertained by Sir Wm. Fawcet's
funeral on Saturday. [1] Though I should imagine such spectacles rather
calculated to excite Gloomy ideas. But I believe _your motive was not
quite of so mournful a cast_.

You tell me that you are tired of London. I am rather surprised to
hear that, for I thought the Gaieties of the Metropolis were
particularly pleasing to _young ladies_. For my part I detest it; the
smoke and the noise feel particularly unpleasant; but however it is
preferable to this horrid place, where I am oppressed with _ennui_,
and have no amusement of any kind, except the conversation of my
mother, which is sometimes very _edifying_, but not always very
_agreeable_. There are very few books of any kind that are either
instructive or amusing, no society but old parsons and old Maids;--I
shoot a Good deal; but, thank God, I have not so far lost my reason as
to make shooting my only amusement. There are indeed some of my
neighbours whose only pleasures consist in field sports, but in other
respects they are only one degree removed from the brute creation.

These however I endeavour not to imitate, but I sincerely wish for the
company of a few friends about my own age to soften the austerity of
the scene. I am an absolute Hermit; in a short time my Gravity which
is increased by my solitude will qualify me for an Archbishoprick; I
really begin to think that I should become a mitre amazingly well. You
tell me to write to you when I have nothing better to do; I am sure
writing to you, my Dear Sister, must ever form my Greatest pleasure,
but especially so, at this time. Your letters and those of one of my
Harrow friends form my only resources for driving away _dull care_.
For Godsake write me a letter as long as may fill _twenty sheets_ of
paper, recollect it is my only pleasure, if you won't Give me twenty
sheets, at least send me as long an epistle as you can and as soon as
possible; there will be time for me to receive one more Letter at
Southwell, and as soon as I Get to Harrow I will write to you. Excuse
my not writing more, my Dear Augusta, for I am sure you will be
sufficiently tired of reading this complaining narrative. God bless
you, my beloved Sister. Adieu.

I remain your sincere and affectionate

Friend and Brother,

BYRON.

Remember me kindly to Mrs. Harcourt.

[Footnote 1: General the Right Hon. Sir William Fawcett, K.B.
(1728-1804), Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, Adjutant-General
(1778-1797), and Governor of Chelsea Hospital (1796-1804), died at his
house in Great George Street, Westminster, March 22, 1804. He had served
during the rebellion of 1745, and distinguished himself during the Seven
Years' War, where he was aide-de-camp first to General Elliot, and
afterwards to the Marquis of Granby. An excellent linguist, he
translated from the French, 'Reveries: or Memoirs upon the Art of War,
by Field-Marshal Count Saxe' (1757); and from the German, 'Regulations
for the Prussian Cavalry' (1757), 'Regulations for the Prussian
Infantry', and 'The Prussian Tacticks' (1759). His military and
diplomatic services were commemorated by a magnificent funeral on
Saturday, March 31, 1804. The body was carried through the streets from
Westminster to the chapel of Chelsea Hospital, the Prince Regent, the
Duke of Clarence, and the Duke of Kent following the hearse, and eight
general officers acting as pall-bearers.]

10.--To the Hon. Augusta Byron.

[At General Harcourt's, St. Leonard's Hill, Windsor, Berkshire.]

Burgage Manor, April 9th, 1804.

A thousand thanks, my dear and Beloved Augusta, for your affectionate
Letter, and so ready compliance with the request of a peevish and
fretful Brother; it acted as a cordial on my drooping spirits and for
a while dispelled the Gloom which envelopes me in this uncomfortable
place. You see what power your letters have over me, so I hope you
will be liberal in your epistolary consolation.

You will address your next letter to Harrow as I set out from
Southwell on Wednesday, and am sorry that I cannot contrive to be with
you, as I must resume my studies at Harrow directly. If I speak in
public at all, it will not be till the latter end of June or the
beginning of July. You are right in your conjecture for I feel not a
little nervous in the anticipation _of my Debut_ [1] as _an orator_.
By the bye, I do not dislike Harrow. I find _ways_ and _means_ to
amuse _myself very pleasantly_ there; the friend, whose correspondence
I find so amusing, is an old sporting companion of mine, whose
recitals of Shooting and Hunting expeditions are amusing to me as
having often been his companion in them, and I hope to be so still
oftener.

My mother Gives a _party_ to night at which the principal _Southwell
Belles_ will be present, with one of which, although I don't as yet
know whom I shall so far _honour, having never seen them_, I intend to
_fall violently_ in love; it will serve as an amusement _pour passer
le temps_ and it will at least have the charm of novelty to recommend
it, then you know in the course of a few weeks I shall be quite _au
désespoir_, shoot myself and Go out of the world with _éclat_, and my
History will furnish materials for a pretty little Romance which shall
be entitled and denominated the loves of Lord B. and the cruel and
Inconstant Sigismunda Cunegunda Bridgetina, etc., etc., Princess of
Terra Incognita.

Don't you think that I have a very good Knack for _novel writing_? I
have Just this minute been called away from writing to you by two
Gentlemen who have given me an invitation to go over to Screveton, a
village a few miles off, and spend a few days; but however I shall not
accept it, so you will continue to address your letters to Harrow as
usual. Write to me as soon as possible and give me a long letter.
Remember me to Mrs. Harcourt and all who enquire after me. Continue to
love me and believe me,

Your truly affectionate Brother and Friend,

BYRON.

P.S.--My Mother's love to you, Adieu.

[Footnote 1: Mrs. Byron, writing to Hanson, July 24, 1804, says,

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

Byron's name occurs in three of the Harrow speech-bills--July 5, 1804;
June 6, 1805; and July 4, 1805. The three bills are printed below:--

HARROW SCHOOL PUBLIC SPEECHES.

1. JULY 5, 1804.

Erskine, Maj. Cæsar } Ex Sallustio.
Sinclair Cato }
Long C. Canuleius ad Pleb. Ex Livio.
Molloy, Sr. The Country Box Lloyd.
Lord Byron Latinus }
Leeke Drances } Ex Virgilio.
Peel, Sr. Turnus }
Chaplin Henry the Fifth to his Shakespear.
Soldiers
Clayton Micispa ad Jugurtham Ex Sallustio.
Rowley Germanicus moriens Ex Tacito.
Grenside, Sr. General Wolfe to his Enfield.
Soldiers
Morant, Sr. Dido Ex Virgilio.
Mr. Calthorpe, Sr. In Catilinam Ex Cicerone.
Lloyd, Sr. The Ghost Shakespear.
Mr. Powys Tiresias Ex Horatio.
Sir Thomas Acland The Boil'd Pig Wesley.
Leveson Gower Ad Antonium Ex Cicerone.
Drury, Max. Earl of Strafford Hume.

2. JUNE 6, 1805.

There were no Speeches for May, 1805. Dr. Butler came to Harrow this
year, after the Easter Holiday.--G.B. [1]

Doveton Canulcius Ex Livio.
Farrer, Sr. Medea Ex Ovidio.
Long Caractacus Mason.
Rogers Manlius Ex Sallustio.
Molloy Micipsa Ex Sallustio.
Lord Byron Zanga Young.
Drury, Sr. Memmius Ex Sallustio.
Hoare Ajax } Ex Ovidio.
East Ulysses }
Leeke The Passions: an Ode Collins.
Calvert, Sr. Galgacus Ex Tacito.
Bazett Catilina ad Consp. Ex Sallustio.
Franks, Sr. Antony Shakespeare.
Wildman, Majr. Sat. ix., Lib. i. Ex Horatio.
Lloyd, Sr. The Bard: an Ode Gray.

3. JULY 4, 1805.

Lyon Piso ad Milites Ex Tacito.
East Cato Addison.
Saumarez Drances } Ex Virgilio, _Æn._ xi
Annesley Turnus }
Calvert Lord Strafford's Hume.
Defence
Erskine, Sr. Achilles Ex Homero, _Il._ xvi
Bazett York Shakespeare.
Harrington Camillus Ex Livio.
Leeke Ode to the Passions Collins.
Sneyd Electra Ex Sophocle.
Long Satan's Soliloquy Milton, _P.L._, b. iv
Gibson Brutus } Ex Lucano.
Drury, Sr. Cato }
Lord Byron Lear Shakespeare.
Hoare Otho ad Milites Ex Livio.
Wildman Caractacus Mason.
Franks Wolsey Shakespeare.

Of Byron's oratorical powers, Dr. Drury, Head-master of Harrow, formed a
high opinion.

"The upper part of the school," he writes (see 'Life', p. 20), composed
declamations, which, after a revisal by the tutors, were submitted to
the master. To him the authors repeated them, that they might be
improved in manner and action, before their public delivery. I certainly
was much pleased with Lord Byron's attitude, gesture, and delivery, as
well as with his composition. All who spoke on that day adhered, as
usual, to the letter of their composition, as, in the earlier part of
his delivery, did Lord Byron; but, to my surprise, he suddenly diverged
from the written composition, with a boldness and rapidity sufficient to
alarm me, lest he should fail in memory as to the conclusion. There was
no failure; he came round to the close of his composition without
discovering any impediment and irregularity on the whole. I questioned
him why he had altered his declamation. He declared he had made no
alteration, and did not know, in speaking, that he had deviated from it
one letter. I believed him; and, from a knowledge of his temperament, am
convinced that, fully impressed with the sense and substance of the
subject, he was hurried on to expressions and colourings more striking
than what his pen had expressed."

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