The Sun.
London, England, 1824-11-06 00:00:00

LORD BYRON'S LETTER.

" January 2, NM,
" Dear Sir,— Your o'er is liberal in the extreme and much
I
more than the two poems can possibly be worth—but cannot ac-
cept it, nor will not. You are most welcome to them, as additions
to the collected volumes, without any demand or expectation on my
part whatever.
" P.S. I
.hare enclosed your draft TORN, for fear of accidents
by the way.-1 wish you would not throw temptation in mine; it
is not from a disdain of the universal idol—nor from a present
superfluity of his treasures—l can assure you, that I refuse to
worship him—but what is right is right, and must not yield to cir-
cumstances."
NOTE.--The above letter relates to a draft for 1,000
guineas,
oil'ered by Mr. Murray for two poems, " the Siege of Corinth,"
and " Parisina," which his Lordship had previously, at a short
interval, presented to Mr. Murray as donations. Lord Byron
was afterwards induced, by Mr. Murray's earnest persuasion, to
accept the 1,000 guineas, and Mr. Murray has his Lordship's
assignment of the copyright of the two pieces accordingly.

_
CAPT. MEDWIN, p. 166.
" Murray pretends to have lost money by my writings, and
pleads poverty ; but if he is poor, which is somewhat problemati-
cal to me pray who is to blame ?
" Mr. Murray is tender of my fame. How kind in him ! He
is afraid of my writing too fast. Why ? because he has a tender
regard for his own pocket, and does not like the look of any new
acquaintance in the shape of a book of mine, till ho has seen old
friends in a variety
editions of the former works, dont't know what would become
of new faces ; id est, disposed of a vast many
of me without Douglas Kinnaird, who has always been my best
and kindest friend. It is not easy to deal with Mr. Murray."
NOTE.—ID the numerous letters rfceived by Mr. Murray yearly
from Lord Byron (who was not accustomed to restrain the expres-
sion of his feelings in writing them) not one has any tendency to-
wards the imputations here thrown out ; the incongruity of which
will be evident from the fact of Mr. Murray having paid, at va-
rious
times, for the copyright of his Lordship's Poems, sums
amounting to upwards of 15,0001.—viz.:—
Chtlde Harold 1, 11.
111. 1575

IV 5
'
Cie:our 25
Bride nf Abydos • 525
Corsair.
Zara 7OO
Siege of Corinth..... ..........., 525
Partsi na
Lament of Tasso 315
.
Manfred
Beppo
Don Juan I. IL . .
---- mar. V. 1525
Doge of Venice
Sardanapalus, Cain, and Foscari llOO
Mateppa ... .........
Chilton.. • ....,..... ....... .
Sundries 450

.R 15,455
" CAPT. MP.DWIN, p. 170.
My differences with Murray are not over. When he pur-
chased' ' Cain,' ' The Two Foscari,' and ' Sardanapalus,' he sent
me a deed, which
you may remember witnessing. Well, after
its return to England, it was discovered • a *
• •
• * • • • •
But I shall take no notice of it
NOTE.-Mr. Murray, of course, cannot answer a statement
which he does not see; but pledges himself to disprove any incul-
pation the suppressed passage may contain, whenever disclosed.—
He has written twice to
Captain Medwin's publisher, desiring, as
an act of justice, to have the passage printed entire in any new
edition of the book, and in the mean time to be favoured with a
copy of it. As this has not yet been obtained, and as the context
seems to imply that it accuses him of endeavouring to take some
ven for stating the following circumstances.
Byron, he thinks he shall be forgi-
pem.curn.ialvriyurardavva;t:
vgief
n lacl
c4idrdentally heard that Lord Byron was in
pecuniary difficulties, immediately forwarded 1,5001. to him; with
an assurance that another such sum should be at leis service iit a

few months ; and that, if such assistance should not be sufficient,
Mr. Murray would be ready to sell the copy-right of all his Lord-
shin's works for his use.

The following is Lord Byron's acknowledgment of this
offer :

" Nov. 14. 1815.
" Dear Sir,—l return you your bills, not accepted, but certainly
not UNHONOURED. Your offer is a favour- which I would accept
from you if I accepted such from any man. Had such been my In-
tention, I can assure you I would have asked you fairly, and as
freely, as you would give; and I cannot say more of my coultdenee
or your conduct. The circumstances which induce me to pari‘with
my books, though sufficiently are-not IMMEDIATELY pressing. I
have made up my mind to them, and there is an end. Had I been
disposed to trespass on your kindness in this way, it would here
been before now, but lam not sorry to have an opportunity of de-
clining it, as it sets my opinion of you, and indeed of human nature,
in a different light from that in which I have been accustomed to
consider it. . " Believe me, very truly,
" Your obliged and faitliful servant,
"To John Murray, Esq." • " BYRON:"

_ • _
NOTE.—That nothing had occurred to subvert these friendly sen-
timents will appear from the three letters subjoined, the second of
them written by Lord Byron a few weeks before his death, and
the last addressed by his Lordship's valet to Mr. Murray as one of
his deceased master's; most confidential friends.
LORD BYRON'S LETTERS.

" May Bth, 1819
" I hare a great respect for your good and gentlemanly qualities,
and return your personal friendship towards me. • • * • • •
You deserve and possess the esteem of those whose esteem is worth
having, and of none more ( however useless it may be) than
" Your's, very truly. " BYRON."

" Messolonghi, Feb. 25, 1821.
" I have heard from Mr. Douglas Kinnaird that you state a re-
port of a satire on Mr. Gifford having arrived from Italy, said to
be written by ME, but that YOU do not believe it : I dare say you do
not, nor any body else, I should think. Whoever asserts that lam
the author or abettor of any thing of the kind on Gifford lies in his
throat; I always regarded him as my literary father, and myself
as his prodigal son. If any such composition exists, it is none of I
mine. You know, as well as any body, upon WHOM I have or hare
not written, and YOU also know whether they do or did not deserve
the same—and so much for such matters.
You will, perhaps, he anxious to hear some news from this part
of Greece ( which is most liable to invasion), but you will hear
enough through public and private channels on that head. I will,
however, give you the events of a week, mingling my own private
peculiar with the public, for we are here jumbled a little together at
present.
" On Sunday, ( the 15th, I believe) I had a strong and sudden
convulsive attack which left me speechless, though not motionless,
for some strong men could not hold me; but whether it was epilespsy,
catalepsy, cachexy, apoplexy, or what other exy or epsy, ac doc-
tors have not decided, or whether it was spasmodic, or nervous, lee.
but it was very unpleasant, and nearly carried me off, and all that.
On Monday they put leeches to my temples, no difficult matter, but
the blood could not be stopped till eleven at night (they had gone too
near the temporal artery or my temporal safety), and neither styp-
tic nor eaustic would cauterize the orifice till after a hundred at-
tempts.
44 On Tuesday a Turkish brig of war ran on shore. On Wed-
nesday, great preparations being made to attack her, though pro-
tected by her consorts, the Turks burned her, and retired to Patens.
On Thursday a quarrel ensued between the Suliotes and the Frank
Guard at the arsenal: a Swedish officer was killed, and a Suliote
severely wounded, and a general fight expected, and with some
difficulty prevented. On Friday, the officer buried, and Captain
Parry's English artificers mutinied,under pretence that their lives
were in danger, and are for quitting the country—they may. On
Saturday we had the smartest shock of an earthquake which I re-
member (and I hare felt thirty, slight or smart, at different
periods; they are common in the Mediterranean), and the whole
army discharged their arms, upon the same principle that savages
beat drums, or howl, during an eclipse of the moon ' • it was a rare
scene altogether. If you had but seen the English Johnnies, who
had never been out of a Cockney workshop before, nor will main
they can help it! And on Sunday we heard that the Vizier is
come down to Larissa with one hundred and odd thousand men.
" In coming here khad two escapes, from the Turks, lone of my
vessels was taken, but afterwards released), and the other from
shipwreck; we drove twice on the rocks near the Scrophes (Islands
near the coast).
" I have obtained from the Greeks the release of eight-and-
' twenty Turkish prisoners, men, women, and children, and sent
them to Patras and Pevesa at my own charges. One little girl of
nine years old, who proposes remaining with me, I shall (if I live)
send with her mother, probably, to Italy, or to England, and adopt
her. Her name is Mato liatagee she is a very pretty lively
child. All her brothers were killed by the Greeks, and she herself
and her mother were spared by special favour,and owing to her ex•
treme youth, she being then but five or six years old.
"My health is rather better, and I can ride about again. My
office here is no sinecure—so many parties and difficulties of every
kind; but I will do what I can. Prince Mavrocordato is an ex-
cellent person, and does all in his power; but his situation is per-
plexing
oxutrue
ill eiat
ilvoeweh
vaev
re
,gmoreartehLyeps
uibnlitchen
ew successs
from
ofm
" B
plentycontest.eexingof
n 1
i
quarters,for I have little time to write.
one, Yours, Ire.
" N. B."

" To John Murray, Fig."
LETTER OF LORD BYRON'S VALIT.
" Messolonghi, April 21, 1824.
" Sir,—Forgive me far this intrusion which I am now under
the painful necessity of writing to you, to inform you of the
melancholy news of myl Lord Byron, who is no more. He de-
parted this miserable We on the 19th of April, after an illness
of only ten days. His Lordship began by a nervous fever, and
terminated with an inilanimation on the brain, for want of
being bled in time, which his Lordship refused till it was too
late. I have sent the Honourable Mrs. Leigh's letter enclosed in
your's, which I think would be better for you to open and explain
to Mrs. Leigh, for I fear the contents of the letter will be too
much .for her. And you will please to inform Lady Byron and
the Honourable Miss Byron, whom I am wished to see when I
return with my Lord's directs, and his dear and Noble remains ;
Sir, y
,you will please manage, in the mildest way possible, or I am
much afraid of the consequences. Sir, you will please give my duty
to Lady Byron. Hoping she will allow me to see her, by my Lord's
particular wish, and Miss Byron likewise. Please to excuse all
defects, for I scarcely either know what I say or do, for after twenty
years service with my Lard, he was more to me than a father, and
I am too much distressed to now give a correct account of every par-
ticular, which I hope to do at my arrival in England. ir, you will
likewise have the goodness toforward the letter to the Hon. Capt.
George Byron, who, us the representative of the family and title, I
thought it my duty to send him a line. But you, Sir, will please to
explain to him all the particulars, as 1 have not ime, as the express
t
isnowreamydoli
weltl
ricotinoulanr;
convinced
:jiohcsaei
trsdooryb,bo
oely
obedient
ig
ewe
n me e
its, andto enxiegehuttetialliihemayrrwivi,esheisn,
London. I must, Sir,:plrary
remain,
mn
ag
if
no
,rgst
Sir,
and hoping at the ,ame
ill
very humble Servant,
" W. FLETCHER.
wtimhiechthlaat
" Valet to the late L. B. for twenty years.
been(l7f forgive
rtla
houses, ulhienn
Ayoisbi
eint rie.rememberlesm.dnilitgnetelotyithetr.
odien:ailuvioaoennftity of times I taus
rt
P. 5, I mention my name and capacity that you may remember
" To John Murray, Esq."
If
so
rpNcreecksTiiidOt
titesilliaeetr
tnlieloetttsyeerpsar forrer
sicuetitoi
sbtteirelaent esaltidmnd same
hdte.enpolresrhaletnnidtt
ease, what has been demonstrated in many others, that desultory,
ex-parte conversations, even if accurately reported, will often
convey imperfect and erroneous notions of the speaker's real sen-
timents. JOHN MURRAY.
Albemarle-street, Oct. 30, MI.

P. S. CAPT. MEDWIN. Page 170.
"My differences with Murray are not over. When he pur.
chased Cain,' ' The Two Foscare and Sardanapalus,' he sent
me a deed, which you may remember witnessing. Well ; after
its return to England, it was discovered that it contained a clause
which had been introduced without my knowledge, clause by
which I bound myself to e'er Mr. Murray alt my futurei compo-
sitions. But I shall take no notice of it."

NOTE.—The words of Italic are those which were suppressed
in the two first editions of Captain Medwin's book, and which
Mr. Murray has received from the publisher after the foregoing
statement was. printed. He has only to observe upon the subject,
that, on referring to the Deed in question, no such clause is to be
found ; that this instrument was signed in London by the Hon.
Douglas Kinnaird, as Lord Byron's procurator, and witnessed
by Richard Williams, Esq., one of the partners in' Mr. Kinnaird's
banking•house ; and that ie signature of Captain Medwin is not
affixed.
2nd Nor. J. M.

TIIE LOGAN, oft ROCKING-STONE.—(EXIMCI from
a letter, dated Penzance, Nov. 2.)—This afternoon, about five
o'clock, Lieutenant Goldsmith succeeded in replacing the Logan
Stone in its ancient position, from which he had wantonly thurst it.
He began to move the rock last Thursday, and continued his efforts
daily (except on Sunday) till this evening. Thousands of perms as.
sembled to see the attempt to replace the rock, and every vehicle in
the neighbourhood has been from Thursday to this clay in a state of
requsitlon. The stone now moves or rocks as before, with the appli-
cation of the usual force. It is but justice to Lieutenant Goldsmith
to say, that he evinced the greatest care and intrepidity in this dif-
ficult and dangerous undertaking, though nothing can excuse his first
act—the attempt to destroy so interesting. a natural curiosity. Ills
success now will be hailed by every person to this neighbourhood, as
those who most lamented the removal of the rock despaired of its
being replaced.