The sun., 1891-05-03

from mo 90 large . sum-onered with no ref
ersnce to the marketable value Of the poems,
but out Of personal friendship and gratitude
sione--to cast u away on the wsnton and un-
generous interference OF those who cannot en-
ter into your lordshlp's feelings for me. upon
persons who have 20 little claim upon you. and
whom those who 30 Interested themselves
might more dacentiy and honestly enrich
from their own funds than By sndeavoring to
be liberal ~ the cost OF another. and By forcl-
bly, rssumins from me sum which you had %
generously and nobly resigned. I am sure
that you will do ne the justice to believe that
would strain every nerve In your service. but
It 10 actually heartbrcakinR to throw away my
earnings upon others. I am no rich man,
abouudine, like Mr.. Rogers. In superfuous
Thousands. but working hard for indepen-
denoe, and what would be the most grateful
pleasure to mo- II likely to be useful to you,
personally. becomes merely painful X II
causes me to work for others with whom can
have NO such feelings" In the end Byron was
compelled, By the increasing pressure OF his
debts. to ACCEPT the sum offered by Murray
and 10 use 1t for his own purposes.
Byron left England In April. 1916. and during
bis travels oorrssponded frequently with MUIR
ray-pArtly by the letters familiar to readers OF
Moore's Lie. partly BY others dictated to bis
secretary and now for the first time printed.
For tho third canio Of" Childe Harold" Murray
offered. in September OF the year Just mem
toned, the sum oftwo thousand pounds. which
Lord Byron's circumstances no longer per-
mitted him to decline. The publication Of this
famous canto brought . sheaf Of letters to
Murray from Byron's admirers. and among
them several from Lady Caroline Lamb.
Among the latter We hnd the following charao-
teristic spiste: There was . time when you
had not lot 80 many days pass without asking
me for letter OF Lord Byron's; indeed. the
absent and the present-the right hand and
left-are both alike forgotten. I must tell you
Of my adventures tonight. s6t out, stark
mad In white satin. IS did Tllburins, to eco
Don Juan seized BY the. Italian; and scarce
was my fatal name pronounced. Lady Caroline
Lamb" whom some jocose footman said sooner
Lady Caroline Wolf At these two Just criti-
clsms several warm defenders sailed forth
amongst the Same precious herd: whilst they
were all fighting. was very soon kidnapped
by two rack chairmen. who insisted on carry
ing me each into his respective chair. I being
all the time vainiy desirous Of getting In and
not ont OF the Opera House. It 80 chanced
that was very Hne. having dined out in dia-
monds and feathers. When l. therefore. got
mp with several Of the crowd Of pluned at
tendants. my unfortunate dog, that long cared
for dog. covered with mud like Lord Some-
things rat appeared entering tho vestibule
At this sight soldiers aud servants shouted
forth "A fox and began to hissi 1t down. Judge
OF my situation I was either Obliged to give
MP this dear shabby cur who had followed my
carriage and me. or own friend In such dis.
guiso that few would dare to do 3d." &c.. &c.
It viii be. remembered that the attractions Of
Venice proved psriously strong for Byron, as
they'fad two and one-halt centuries before for
arr{T Tn - hNr hA
made brief visit to Rome. which inspired him
to undertake the fourth can:o OF "Childe
Harold" The summer was employed in work.
Ing MP his Impressions: yet. by July. 1920. he
wrote to Murray that tho canto was completed
and only required to be copied and polished.
but. at tho same time. he began to barter for
tho price OF the poem. SO completely had his
old scruples on this score disappeared.
Lord Byron. in the midst Of his Venetian life.
seems to have forgotten his sister. Mrs Leigh.
who was much in want OF ready cash about
this time t1s17-1s). and frequently applied to
Murray. aud from him obtained what she
needed. In one Of her letters she writes: I
return tho Edinburgh Repie,o with thousand
It will surely please him tLord Byron, whom It
most concerns, enclose a stupid letter from
him. and I think you had better be silent on
the subject Of his silence to ma After all.
regrets are selfish. and that 10 disposition.
think. We cannot too much check II he 10
happy. why should disturb him BY my Ia
ments7 He knows full we'll all I could say"
In tho course OF September. 1918. Byron COM
municsted to Murray that he had finished the
flrst canto OF now and long poem In the style
and manner of "Beppo." 1T is called" he
snid. Don Juan and is meant to be little
quietly facetious upon everything: but" he
- ad vha n
80 far as 1t has vet gone too free for these very
modest ladies'" In January, 1919. Byron re-
quested Murray to prin. for, private distribu-
tion fifty copies OF Don Juan" Murray.
urged him to occupy himself with some gre at
work worthy OF his reputation. Byron. how
ever. continued to write out his Don Juan"
and sent the second canto in April. 1519 to-
gether with the Letter OF Julia" to be in.
serted in the first canto. Anything more
amusing than the correspondents which en-
sued between the publisher and his poet, It
would be dinlcult to find. We are not sur
prised to learn that Murray. in acknowledging
not SO cougratulatory as he had formerly been.
No doubt tne verses contained. lie said.
some OF the authors finest poetry: but
be had some objections to suggest Your
history" wrote Murray. "of the plan and the
progress OF Don Juan Is very entertaining.
but l am clear for sendinR him to hell. be-
cause he may favor us with u description OF
Bome OF the characters which he finds there"
Murray advised the removal Of some OF the
words In the second oanto. These Words"
he said. ladies may not read. The ship
wreck is . little too particular and out Of all
proportion to tile rest OF the picture: but II you
do anything. It must be done with extreme
raution: think Of the effects OF such seductive !!
poetry: 1t probably surpasses in talent any
thing you ever wrote. Tell me II you think
seriously OF completing this work. or II you
have sketched the story: am very sorry TO
have ocessioned you the trouble OF writing
again tho Letter Of julia but you are always
very forgivine In such casos." Tho lines In
which the Objectionable words appear we're
obliterated by Byron.
For "Mazeppa," which Byron had produced
Incidentally about this period. Murray save
C525. and he paid Byron El.575 for tho frst and |
second captos OF Don Juan" with the "Ode |
10 Venice thrown In. 1t is we'll known that |
the ilrst and second cantos OF =" Don Juan" ap-