The sun., 1891-05-03

lOJls
mousiy. the oopyrieht wss infrinssd by other
publishers. and. curiously enough thers was
some doubt whether the Lord Chancellor would
Issue an Injunction aeAinst the pirates on &C.
count OF the Questionable psssakee In the
work Eventually. however. the Injunction WAS
sranted. tho Chsncsllor. holding that the pas
sases referred TO were not more blameworthy
than some In other books Of which the copy
right was never doubted. Sharon Turner. VINO
wrote an opinion on the subject. contendsd
that one great tendency Of the poem was en-
tlrsly legitimate. and even exemplary. twas.
he said. to show in Don Jusn's ultimate char
sctsr the I'll effect OF that iniudiolous maternal
education which he Is represented ~ having
received. and which operated injuriously on
his mind '-| - ,7"
Toward tho end OF 1919 Byron. II seems,
thought Of returning to England, and on Nov.
8 wrote to Murray ss follows: II she (the
Countess GuicololD and hsr husband mako IL
up, you may perhaps see mo In England sooner
than you expect: II not will retire either to
France or America. change my nape. and lead
a quiet provincial life. II she Rets through
this. and get over my tsrtisn ague will per-
haps look In at Albemarle strset on my way to
Bolivar" Byron's half-formed intention was
soon abandoned. and the Countess GuicciolPs
no remained for the next year and half
About the date Of the above quoted
letter Lady Caroline Lamb wrote to
Murray for detailed Information about
Byron. You have" she says, quite
disturbed my mind for want OF telling me
how no tByron) looks. what he says II he 10
grown fat. II he ID no uger than he used to
be. II he il good humored. or cross grained.
putting his brows down. II his hair curls or II
straight. as somebody said, II he 10 going to
stay LONG. and great deal moro which,. II you
had the smallest taos you would have written
long ago: for, as to me. shall certainly not
see him: neither do care that he should
know that have asked after him; It is from
moro curiosity that should like to hear all
you can tell mo about him." -
At tho end OF 1921 the third. fourth. and nth
cantos OF Don Juan" we're published togeth-
or. again without the name Of either author or
printer. There was great rush for tho work.
but, Notwithstanding its sslsble quality. Mur-.
ray hesitatsd about publishing anything moro
OF the poem. After the fifth oanto came out
Byron informed Murray that It was hardly the
beginning Of the work. that he intended to
take " Don Juan" through the tour Of Europe.
put him through the divorce court, and make
him finish as Anacharsis Olootz IN the French
revolution. A letter OF Crokers may have
confirmed Murray's determination to have
nothing further to do with the work: though
Croker objected rather TO- tho political than to
the moral character Of the composition. This
is made plain enough In the following extract:
As to tho principles, oil the world
and you. Mr.. Murray. first OF ALL have
done this poem great injustice. There
are levities here ana thero more than GOOD
taste approves, but nothing so bad Is Tom
Jones' nor within a hundred degrees Of Count
r. . Not O. S,,uff "A ~
ono fault to produce Q creator. neither am
Justifying Lord Byron. But direct my objec-
tions against you aud those whom you re-
fer Co. Ifyou print and soil Tom Jones' and
'Perigrine Pickle why did you start ct Don
Juaup Why smuegle It into the world. and. a.
It were. pronounce It illegihmHe at Its birth.
and induce 80 many Of tho learned rabble.
when they could nnd SO little specific offence
ID 1t. to refer to its supposed oriGinal state %
one Of original sin?" .r,
It is we'll known that Byrop's tragedy Of
Cain" which appeared In December. 1871.
gave rise to much controversy. The copyright
OF this poem also was violated by two book
sellers under tho impression that tho Court OF
Chanc ~ would not protect It Tho drama
was severely handled BY most Of the critical
journals: but Sir Walter Scott. to whom It was
dedicated. described It ~ . very grand and
composition" Scott wrote to
Murray: II do mot know that his Muse
has ever taken SO lofty , hight amid
her former soarings. He has certainly
matched Milton ON his own ground.
Some part OF the language is bold. and may
shook ono class Of readers. whose line may be
ad opted BY others out Of aHectation or envy.
But then they must condemn Paradise Lost
il they have mind to be consistent The ilns
reasoning ana able blssphemy OF the fiend and
Of his pupil lead exactly to tho point. which
was to be expected-the commission Of tho
first murder and the ruin and despair Of the
When Byron heard Of tho violent attacks
to which the drama had been subjected ne |
wrote to Murray: How. and in what manner, |
you can be considered responsible for what I |
publish am at Q loss to conceive. II Cain |
be blasphemous ParHdise Lost is basphem- !
Gus. and the very words Of the Oxford gen. |
tleman lone OF his critics signed himself "Ox- |
onIensis"l. evil lie thou my good. are from that |
very poem. from the mouth Of Satan. and Is \
there anything more in that Of Lucifer In the |
Cain is nothing moro than Q
drama. not an argument" NJ. W. h.