114 JUDGMENT OF THE COURT. discussion of the events of the late reign, they would then find a verdict of guilty. Let their verdict, however, be decided by their own opinion and their own conscience." The jury retired at five minutes before two o'clock, and at half past two returned a verdict of guilty. The judgment of the Court (pronounced in Trinity Term following) was, that the defendant, John Hunt, do pay to the King a fine of one hundred pounds, that he enter into sureties for five years, himself in one thousand pounds, and two sureties in five hundred pounds each; aud that he be imprisoned in the custody of the Marshal of the Marshalsea till such fine be paid, and such sureties be given. His present Majesty might well say, as another Prince said before him—" God deliver me from my friends, and I will defend myself against my enemies." If Poet Laureate Southey had not written his "Vision of Judgment," Lord Byron could never have parodied it, and the ashes of the late good old King might have slumbered in peace, in the tomb of the Capulets,' or rather of the Tudors and Plantagenets. Mr. Southey is a most unlucky bard to royalty; out of place, he pelts it with "Wat Tylers;" when in place, he pesters it with "Visions of Judgment ;" and the latter might, perhaps, have passed unnoticed (as waste paper for the palace), if he had not attacked a A WORD TO THE WISE. 115 much mightier bard than himself in the preface, and brought trouble upon his royal master, as well as disgrace upon his own laurelled head. "Verbum sapienti,”—to Mr. Southey, if he has sense enough to take it! Whatever the parties themselves may think of the matter, all men of sound understanding, of "mens sana in corpore sano," look upon controversial disputes merely as the vanity of coxcombs,* endeavouring to attract all eyes and admiration upon - THEMSELVES !! * Mr. Southey has just now published a new work, containing a gentle censure on the clergy; we shall leave the divines to take their own part. Mr. Southey and the Rev. Mr. Styles might not make a bad match together in the wordy war of pompous declamation— "A tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, SHAKESPEARE. The Doctor of Laws has thrown down the gauntlet to the Doctor in Divinity, and his last new publication of "The Book of the Church" may draw on a battle betwixt those orthodox game fowls. ( 116 ) CHAPTER IV. Lord Byron removes to Pisa.-Meets with friends there.-Attempts to form (in conjunction with them) a Literary Society. -Death of Mr. Shelley.-The commencement of "The Liberal," a joint periodical publication of the Society.—Account of Pisa.-Quarrel and final separation between Lord Byron and Mr. Leigh Hunt.-Liberal opinions not countenanced at Pisa.-Fracas between Lord Byron and friends, and some of the Tuscan military-The Blessings of the Holy Alliance.-Lord Byron removes from Pisa. LORD BYRON now takes up his residence at Pisa, where, in conjunction with Mr. Shelley and Mr. Leigh Hunt (the editor and proprietor of the "Examiner " newspaper in London, who had come to Italy on Lord Byron's invitation), they formed themselves into a Literary Society, whose joint labours issued from the press, under the title of "The Liberal," in the first number of which appeared Lord Byron's "Vision of Judgment,” already noticed. In the Preface, they state that their plan is to contribute their liberalities in the shape of poetry, essays, tales, translations, and other amenities, of which kings themselves might read and profit, if they are not afraid of seeing their own faces in every kind of inkstand. Italian literature, in particular, would be a favourite sub LORD BYRON AT PISA. 117 ject with them; and so was German and Spanish to have been, till they lost the accomplished scholar and friend, who was to have shared their task. In the numbers of the "Liberal" are a series of “Letters from Abroad," giving accounts of the places where they resided, from which, as written by, or under the immediate inspection of Lord Byron, such extracts will be made as may amuse the reader, and give him some idea of his Lordship's mode of passing his time at the various places which he visited. 66 Pisa, one of the oldest cities in Europe, and supposed to have originated in a colony from its Grecian namesake, was at one time the most flourishing city in Tuscany. But the sea has deserted it; and with the sea gradually departed all its modern importance. What it retained longest, and up to a late period, was its renown as a place of learning and education. and education. But even that has departed now. It has indeed an university, whose name is loth to abandon it; and the education, to those who are very much in earnest about it, is worth procuring, because private tuition, of a very attentive kind, is to be had for a trifle, and the university lectures may be attended gratui * Mr. Shelley, who, before the first number of the Liberal could be got ready for the press, was unfortunately drowned. He was an accomplished scholar, a good poet, of gentlemanly unassuming manners, an intelligent traveller, a pleasant companion, and a sincere friend. 118 PRINCE A. MAVROCORDATO. tously. The science most in request is medicine, or rather surgery. The name of Professor Vaccà (a man in the prime of life, with an intelligent and pleasing countenance) is known all over Europe. There is also another liberality, truly becoming the study of letters, and worth the imitation of countries that pique themselves on their advances beyond superstition: men of any sect or religion can take all the degrees in the university, except those in divinity or the canonical law. One of the most interesting sights now in Pisa is a venerable Greek archbishop, who takes his walk on the Lungarno every evening. It is understood that he is superintending the education of some Greek youths, and that he puts the receipts of his office to the noble purpose of assisting it. Prince Alexander Mavrocordato,* who joined his countrymen last year in their great struggle, and to whom Mr. Shelley has dedicated his " Hellas," was studying here when his glorious duty called him off. "What renders Pisa interesting now, and will continue to render it so as long as it exists, is its being left to a comparative solitude, and its containing one of the most singular, and many of the most ancient specimens of the arts in Italy. It now stands five miles from the sea, and so completely out of the ordinary roads of communica * The President of the Central Government of Greece. |