66 depreciate a work, to give no quotations from it. This " is what" The Quarterly' shines in ;-the way Milman put “is "down Shelley, when he compared him to Pharaoh, and "his works to his chariot-wheels, by what contortion of images I forget;-but it reminds me of another person's comparing me in a poem to Jesus Christ, and telling me, "when I objected to its profanity, that he alluded to me in situation, not in person! 'What!' said I in reply, "❝would you have me crucified? We are not in Jerusalem, "are we?' But this is a long parenthesis. The Reviewers are like a counsellor, after an abusive speech, calling no witnesses to prove his assertions. 66 66 66 "There are people who read nothing but these trimestrials, and swear by the ipse dixit of these autocrats—these "Acteon hunters of literature. They are fond of raising "merit in my plays? It may be so; and Milman may be a great poet, if Heber is right and I am wrong. He has "the dramatic faculty, and I have not. So they pretended "to say of Milton. I am too happy in being coupled in 66 any way with Milton, and shall be glad if they find any "points of comparison between him and me. "But the praise or blame of Reviewers does not last long now-a-days. It is like straw thrown up in the air. * "I hope, notwithstanding all that has been said, to " write eight more plays this year, and to live long enough "to rival Lope de Vega, or Calderon. I have two subjects "that I think of writing on,-Miss Leigh's German tale 'Kruitzner,' and Pausanias. "What do you think of Pausanias? The unities can "be strictly preserved, almost without deviating from history. The temple where he took refuge, and from "whose sanctuary he was forced without profaning it, 66 will furnish complete unities of time and place. No event in ancient times ever struck me as more noble and dramatic than the death of Demosthenes. You remember his last words to Archias ?-But subjects are not wanting." *He seemed to think somewhat differently afterwards, when, after the review in The Quarterly' of his plays, he wrote to me, saying, "I am the most unpopular writer going!" I told Lord Byron, that I had had a letter from Procter*, and that he had been jeered on 'The Duke of Mirandola' not having been included in his (Lord B.'s) enumeration of the dramatic pieces of the day; and that he added, he had been at Harrow with him. 66 Ay," said Lord Byron, "I remember the name: he was in the lower school, in such a class. They stood "Farrer, Procter, Jocelyn." I have no doubt Lord Byron could have gone through all the names, such was his memory. He immediately sat down, and very good-naturedly gave me the following note to send to Barry Cornwall, which shews that the arguments of the Reviewers had not changed his Unitarian opinions, (as he called them): 66 Had I been aware of your tragedy when I wrote my note to 'Marino Faliero,' although it is a matter of no consequence to you, I should certainly not have omitted "to insert your name with those of the other writers who still do honour to the drama. 66 * Barry Cornwall. My own notions on the subject altogether are so dif"ferent from the popular ideas of the day, that we differ 66 66 66 66 essentially, as indeed I do from our whole English lite rati, upon that topic. But I do not contend that I am right-I merely say that such is my opinion; and as it " is a solitary one, it can do no great harm. But it does "not prevent me from doing justice to the powers of those "who adopt a different system." I introduced the subject of Cain :— When I was a boy," said he, "I studied German, " which I have now entirely forgotten. It was very little "I ever knew of it. Abel was one of the first books my "German master read to me; and whilst he was crying 66 his eyes out over its pages, I thought that any other "than Cain had hardly committed a crime in ridding "the world of so dull a fellow as Gessner made brother Abel. 66 "I always thought Cain a fine subject, and when I took " it up I determined to treat it strictly after the Mosaic 66 66 account. I therefore made the snake a snake, and took a Bishop for my interpreter. 66 "I had once an idea of following the Arminian Scrip tures, and making Cain's crime proceed from jealousy, "and love of his uterine sister; but, though a more pro"bable cause of dispute, I abandoned it as unorthodox. "One mistake crept in,-Abel's should have been made "the first sacrifice: and it is singular that the first form of religious worship should have induced the first murder. 66 66 66 66 Hobhouse has denounced ‘Cain' as irreligious, and has penned me a most furious epistle, urging me not to publish it, as I value my reputation or his friendship. He " contends that it is a work I should not have ventured to “have put my name to in the days of Pope, Churchill, "and Johnson, (a curious trio!) Hobhouse used to write good verses once himself, but he seems to have forgotten "what poetry is in others, when he says my 'Cain' reminds "him of the worst bombast of Dryden's. Shelley, who is 66 no bad judge of the compositions of others, however "he may fail in procuring success for his own, is most "sensitive and indignant at this critique, and says (what "is not the case) that 'Cain' is the finest thing I ever 66 wrote, calls it worthy of Milton, and backs it against "Hobhouse's poetical Trinity. |