On reprinting the work, as I put my name to it, I omitted Mr. Hobhouse's lines, by which the work gained less than Mr. Bowles. I am grieved to say that, in reading over my lines, I repent of their having so far fallen short of what I meant to express upon the subject of his edition of Pope's works." The paragraph written by Mr. Hobhouse is here subjoined :- Stick to thy sonnets, man!-at least they sell; 44.-Page 164, line 35. Fresh fish from Helicon! who'll buy, who'll buy? ["Fresh fish from Helicon!"-"Helicon" is a mountain, and not a fish-pond. It should have been "Hippocrene."—B., 1816.] 45-Page 165, line 8. Had Cottle still adorn'd the counter's side, Mr. Cottle, Amos, Joseph, I don't know which, but one or both, once sellers of books they did not write, and now writers of books they do not sell, have published a pair of epics-" Alfred," (poor Alfred! Pye has been at him too!)-" Alfred," and the "Fall of Cambria." ["All right. I saw some letters of this fellow (Joseph Cottle) to an unfortunate poetess, whose productions, which the poor woman by no means thought vainly of, he attacked so roughly and bitterly, that I could hardly resist assailing him, even were it unjust, which it is not-for verily he is an ass."-B., 1816.] 46.-Page 165, line 16. Dull Maurice all his granite weight of leaves: Mr. Maurice hath manufactured the component parts of a ponderous quarto, upon the beauties of "Richmond Hill," and the like:-it also takes in a charming view of Turnham Green, Hammersmith, Brentford, Old and New, and the parts adjacent. [The Rev. Thomas Maurice wrote "Westminster Abbey," and other poems, the "History of Ancient and Modern Hindostan," &c., and his own "Memoirs;"-a very amusing autobiography. He died in 1824, at his apartments in the British Museum; where he had been for some years assistant keeper of MSS.] VOL. I. 47.-Page 165, line 27. May no rude hand disturb their early sleep! Poor Montgomery, though praised by every English Review, has been bitterly reviled by the Edinburgh. After all, the bard of Sheffield is a man of considerable genius. His "Wanderer of Switzerland" is worth a thousand "Lyrical Ballads," and at least fifty "degraded epics." 48.-Page 165, line 35. No mercy find-these harpies must be fed. [The late Rev. William Crowe, public orator at Oxford, noticed, in a MS. critique, the incongruity of these metaphors:-"Within the space of three or four couplets he transforms a man into as many different animals: allow him but the compass of three lines, and he will metamorphose him from a wolf into a harpy, and in three more he will make him a blood-hound." On seeing Mr. Crowe's remarks, Lord Byron desired Mr. Murray to substitute, in the copy in his possession, for "hellish instinct" brutal instinct," for "harpies" "felons," and for "blood-hounds' "hell-hounds."] 49.--Page 165, line 39. Nor hunt the blood-hounds back to Arthur's Seat? Arthur's Seat; the hill which overhangs Edinburgh, 50.-Page 166, line 16. And raise this Daniel to the judgment-seat? ["Too ferocious-this is mere insanity."-B., 1816.] 51.-Page 166, line 27. Can none remember that eventful day, ["All this is bad, because personal.”—B., 1816.] 52.-Page 166, line 29. When Little's leadless pistol met his eye, In 1806, Messrs. Jeffrey and Moore met at Chalk-Farm. The duel was prevented by the interference of the magistracy; and on examination, the balls of the pistols were found to have evaporated. This incident gave occasion to much waggery in the daily prints. [Mr. Moore challenged Lord Byron for the assertion in the note, and the challenge led to explanations and friendship instead of a duel. The note was then erased from the fifth edition, and another, approved by Mr. Moore, was put in its place.-"I am informed that Mr. Moore published at the time a disavowal of the statements in the newspapers, as far as regarded himself; and, in justice to him, I mention this circumstance. As I never heard of it before, I cannot state the particulars, and was only made acquainted with the fact very lately.-November 4, 1811."] 53. Page 166, line 36. The other half pursued its calm career; The Tweed here behaved with proper decorum; it would have been highly reprehensible in the English half of the river to have shown the smallest symptom of apprehension. 54.-Page 166, line 42. If Jeffrey did, except within her arms: This display of sympathy on the part of the Tolbooth (the principal prison in Edinburgh), which truly seems to have been most affected on this occasion, is much to be commended. It was to be apprehended, that the many unhappy criminals executed in the front might have rendered the edifice more callous. She is said to be of the softer sex, because her delicacy of feeling on this day was truly feminine, though, like most feminine impulses, perhaps a little selfish. 55.-Page 167, line 30. The travell'd thane, Athenian Aberdeen. His lordship has been much abroad, is a member of the Athenian Society, and reviewer of "Gell's Topography of Troy." [In 1822, the Earl of Aberdeen published an "Inquiry into the Principles of Beauty in Grecian Architecture."] 56.-Page 167, line 31. Herbert shall wield Thor's hammer, and sometimes, Mr. Herbert is a translator of Icelandic and other poetry. One of the principal pieces is a "Song on the Recovery of Thor's Hammer:" the translation is a pleasant chant in the vulgar tongue, and endeth thus: "Instead of money and rings, I wot, The hammer's bruises were her lot. [The Hon. William Herbert, brother to the Earl of Carnarvon. He also published, in 1811, "Helga," a poem in seven cantos.] 57.-Page 167, line 33. Smug Sydney too thy bitter page shall seek, The Rev. Sydney Smith, the reputed author of Peter Plymley's Letters, and sundry criticisms. 58.- Page 167, line 34. And classic Hallam, much renown'd for Greek; Mr. Hallam reviewed Payne Knight's "Taste," and was exceedingly severe on some Greek verses therein. It was not discovered that the lines were Pindar's till the press rendered it impossible to cancel the critique, which still stands an everlasting monument of Hallam's ingenuity.-Note added to second edition. The said Hallam is incensed because he is falsely accused, seeing that he never dineth at IIolland House. If this be true, I am sorry-not for having said so, but on his account, as I understand his lordship's feasts are preferable to his compositions. If he did not review Lord Holland's performance, I am glad; because it must have been painful to read, and irksome to praise it. If Mr. Hallam will tell me who did review it, the real name shall find a place in the text; provided, nevertheless, the said name be of two orthodox musical syllables, and will come into the verse: till then, Hallam must stand for want of a better. [Lord Byron later did justice to Mr. Hallam, whose history of the Middle Ages he greatly admired. He thought nobody else was capable of having written it, and selected for especial commendation the deep research, profound reflections, and perspicuous and impressive style.] 59.-Page 167, line 36. And paltry Pillans shall traduce his friend; Pillans is a tutor at Eton.-[Mr. Pillans became afterwards Rector of the High School of Edinburgh, There was not, it is believed, the slightest foundation for the charge in the text.] 60.-Page 167, line 37. While gay Thalia's luckless votary, Lambe, The Hon. George Lambe reviewed "Beresford's Miseries," and is moreover, author of a farce enacted with much applause at the Priory, Stanmore; and damned with great expedition at the late theatre, Covent Garden. It was entitled, "Whistle for it."-[The reviewer of "Beresford's Miseries " was Sir W. Scott, and Jeffrey added the Reviewer's Groans. In 1821, Mr. Lambe published a translation of Catullus; and, in 1832, was appointed Under Secretary of State for the Home Department, his chief being his brother, Lord Melbourne. Ha died in 1833.] 61.-Page 168, line 1. Beware lest blundering Brougham destroy the sale, Mr. Brougham, in No. XXV. of the Edinburgh Review, throughout the article concerning Don Pedro de Cevallos, has displayed more politics than policy; many of the worthy burgesses of Edinburgh being so incensed at the infamous principles it evinces, as to have withdrawn their subscriptions. [Here followed, in the first edition,-"The name of this personage is pronounced Broom in the south, but the truly northern and musical pronunciation is BROUGH-AM, in two syllables;" but for this, Lord B. substituted in the second edition:-"It seems that Mr. Brougham is not a Pict, as I supposed, but a Borderer, and his name is pronounced Broom, from Trent to Tay:-so be it." The Cevallos article was written by Jeffrey, who never had the manliness, while he lived, to relieve Brougham of the odium.] 62.-Page 168, line 4. Her son, and vanish'd in a Scottish mist. I ought to apologise to the worthy deities for introducing a new goddess with short petticoats to their notice: but, alas! what was to be done? I could not say Caledonia's genius, it being well known there is no such genius to be found from Clackmannan to Caithness; yet without supernatural agency, how was Jeffrey to be saved? The national "kelpics" are too unpoetical, and the "brownies " and "gude neighFours" (spirits of a good disposition) refused to extricate him. A goddess, therefore, has been called for the purpose; and great ought to be the gratitude of Jeffrey, seeing it is the only communication he ever held, or is likely to hold, with anything heavenly. 63.-Page 168, line 12. This scents its pages, and that gilds its rear. See the colour of the back binding of the Edinburgh Review. 64.-Page 168, line 18. His hirelings mention'd, and himself forgot! [Bad enough, and on mistaken grounds too."-B., 1816.] 65.-Page 168, line 19. Holland, with Henry Petty at his back. [Lord Henry Petty;-now Marquess of Lansdowne.] 66.-Page 168, line 21. Blest be the banquets spread at Holland House, [In 1813, Lord Byron dedicated the Bride of Abydos to Lord Holland; and we find in his Journal (Nov. 17th) this passage:-"I have had a most kind letter from Lord Holland on the Bride of Abydos, which he likes, and so does Lady H. This is very good natured in both, from whom I don't deserve any quarter. Yet I did think at the time that my cause of enmity proceeded from Holland House, and am glad I was wrong, and wish I had not been in such a hurry with that confounded Satire, of which I would suppress even the memory; but people, now they can't get it, make a fuss, I verily believe out of contradiction."] 67.-Page 168, line 28. Declare his landlord can at least translate! Lord Holland has translated some specimens of Lope de Vega, inserted in his life of the author. Both are bepraised by his disinterested guests.-[Lord Holland afterwards published a universally admired version of the 28th canto of the Orlando Furioso, in an appendix to one of the volumes of Mr. Stewart Rose.] 68.-Page 168, line 36. Reforms each error, and refines the whole. Certain it is, her ladyship is suspected of having displayed her matchless wit in the Edinburgh Review. However that may be, we know from good authority, that the manuscripts are submitted to her perusal no doubt, for correction. |