Dallas's Recollections Of...
The Times, 1824-11-22T00:00:00

This work conltains sdnle new anA some amuiganlec- dotes iesplectihi tord Byron ; but Mr. Dallas does note o ab a'nan cAPable Of doing justice eithier to the extraor- dinary dlefects or excellen;es of his.hero: he is an extremely rcebl.e tvriter. WVe subjojis one or two anecdotes: "Amnong the other marks of favour which the renown of C,dide ftorold btob-ht dowvn upon Its author, wias the notice of the Prince Regent, and the condescension of a la-dy, whose aniour with his Loi,dship seemsi to have been begun in admiration of his genius. "1I was now (says his biographer) to see Lord Byron in a now Point 'of vidsv~ The town was fifll of companvg as usual in the 10r!ng. 'B3eside" the speeiih he had made on the Frame-breakinog oil), nlt gZjb a'.ttra'cted notice on the Catholic quiegtion, which was fltfit1~ warmly by the Peers in the beginning of April. His name 'Was in. s'ery' mouth, and his pc)em iii every hand. He converted S4 crltici5ttito aduila,tion, and admiration to love. His stanzas abound- ed with passapes which impressed on the heart of his readerts pity for the miserable feelings of a youth whio could express so admirably what he f'elt andl this pitv, uniting with the dlelight proceud. ing from his poetry, genertetd , genera) tfl'ection of wvhich he knew ,not the value for while the fruits of' happiness' custer- eii drou~d hilm, tie neglected thlem, antd became.c absorlidl'iVIK FrAtilicaloi6tst that coulfl only tend to injure the reputation ise.hba.1.gled. I{- professedly despised the. society of women,'yo9t femnale adlulation became the,. meet captiVatihg chiarm. to his. fiert. He had not admnittedi the ladies of his owvn family to atw degree'f lhtlimacy: his aunts, his cousiiis, were kept at a tiistance, and even hisa sister had hitherto shared the like fate. Among the admiters 'who had paid their tribute in prose or verse to, the muse of the aze Ihave already mentione one who asked for an atcknow- tof the receipt of her letter. He hiad treated thiat letter llghty .nd said he would not an swer it.Hewsotaetokp his reoltion . and on finding hig correspondent to be a fine young wvoman, hand distinguished for eccentric notions, he became so en- raPtu'red, to inttoxu-ated, that hiis time antI thoughts were almost entirely dlevoted to reading her letters and answering them. One momn- Ing he wAs sio absorbed in the composition of a' letter to her, that he batrelyl nolticed me as I entered the roomn. I said, ' Pray go on;' anti sa d-ts at onie tidle of the table nt which he was writing, where I lool.td oversa newspapier for sometimne- Finding that he did not edo- dlude, I looked at him, and was astonished at the ecomplete abstrac-. tion of his mind, anti at the emanation of hMA sentiments on his counItenance, Ile had a peculiar smile on his lips; his eyes bearmed the p1ecisure hie felt fromi what wvas passing from his imagi.. niation to hin paper;, he looked at me, and thien at his wvriting, but I an persuaded be didi not see me, and thAt the thoughts with which lse seemed prevented his discerniing,any thing rabout him. I said, 'I -tee y,ou are deeply engaged.' iser was as little open to sound as his eye to vision. I got upr; on which he staid, I Pray sit.' I an- stwered that I wvould return. This roused him- a little, and he gaid, ' I wish you would.' I do not think he knew-. what passed, or ob- served my quitsing"blm. This scene gave me great pain. I began to fear that his fam'e would be dear-ly bought. Previotis to the ap- v'earance of (7/tilde Hrarold's Pilgrimage, hiis mnind( had gained somne inmportant conquests over his s%enscs ; and I also thought he lhad barredI his heart against the grosser attacks of the passion of vanity-. If these! avenues of destruction to the soul were again to be thrown ,open by the publicationi of the poem, it were better thant it had never been puiblished. I called upon hjim the next dlav, when I found him in his ustual good liumonr. 1-etoldI meto whom tehladl been writing,and sgaid liehoped I nevershiought him ruide. I to)okrmy usual liberty with himn, and honestly vwarned him agatnst hiis niew dangers While I wats with him the ladly's page- brought himi a new letter. He was a fair- faced delicaite bov' of 13 or 14 years old, wrhom one mnight have taken for tha- lady herself.' He. was; dressed in a scarlet hus-sar.jacket and( pentalooss, trimmied in-front in much the-samne manner, withi silver buittons and twisted silver lace, witha which thie ns.rrowv slit cuffia of 'hisi jacket were also embroidered. Ilie hail( light hair curling aboutt h is face;, and held aL feathiered faniey hat in his. hand, which' com-- .pleted the scenic apphsraiiqe 'of this urchini Pandarus. I could nit but suspect at the time that it was a disguise. If so, he never dis- cinsed it to nme; and, as he had hitherto bad no reossnee with me, the t'haught vanishedl with- thie ohecce of it, and 1-do net precisely recol- lect the miode of tbi!'exit. I' wished it otlserwise, but wishing Was in vain." The story of the Princee R.ezeng gracious notice, and the singular return it snot with, is lhot a little dharacteristic:-. " Lord By-roni (says !IIr. Dallas) was the wondler of gray-beardIs, and the showof fashioniable parties. At one of these,he haDpened togo early when the,re were very few persons assembled. the Regent went in -coon after;, Lord Byron 'was at some distance from hinm in the room; -On being informied who lie was, hisi Roynt-Flighnesseseat a' gentleman to himn to ilesire that he would be presented. The pre- setstation of course took place ; the Regent expressedI his admiration of Chtilde Hlarold's Pilgrimage, and continued a conversation,which eo fascinated ihe poet, that had it riot been for an accidental defer- ring of the next levee, he bade fair to become a visitor at Canlton-. housi, if not a comnplete courtier. " I called on him oni the morning for whiceh the leveehad been ap- pointed, andl found him- in a full-dress court-Fsuit of clothes, with his fine black hair in powtder, which by no mieanis suited his countenance. I was surprised, as he had not told me that he should go to Court, andi itseemed tomie as ifh tbetought it necessary to apologize forhbi?inten. tion, ~y his observing, that lie could not in decency but do it, as the Regent had done him the lioaour to say that he hoped to see him -oon at (3arlton-house. In spite of hiis assttimed philosophicsl con- tensist of Royalty, and ofhbit decidedI junction with the Opposition, he had' not been able to withstand the powerful operation of Royal praise; which, however, continued to influence him only till fattetyy of a mrore congenial kind dfivetted him from the enovaio en tof that wihieh for amomnent hewa,sdisposed to receive. The leve-ehad been suddenly put off, and lie was dlresse before he was informed of the alteration which liad 'takcen place. "1 It was thke first and the last time lie was ever so dressed, atleast for a British Court. A newly-mnade friendi of his Lord Byron was more than half prepared to yield to this influence; and the harsh verses that proceeded from hiis pen, Were, I believe, compoe more to humour his niew friend's passions than his owvn. Certainsl" iis, be gave up all ideas of appearing at Court, and fell into the he'jit of stpeaking disTcspectfitlly'of thie Prince."-Lffterary, Ga- TAKING HIS SEAT IN TIlE HOUSE OF LORDS. "c Passing down tit. Jamies's-street, but with no intention of call- ing, I saw his chariot at hiis dloor, andI went in. His countenance, paler thatn usual, showed that his mindl was agitated, and that-he was thinkingp oftlie nobleman to whom he had oncelookedl fora bend and countenance in his introdiuctioni tn the Ihouse. He said to mec, 'I ami glaLd you hap;pened to come in - I am. going' to take my seat . pehaps yu will go with ine.' I expressed my readiness to attend llhirn ; while, at the samne time, I concealed the shujck. I felt on tlhink.. ing that this young man, who, by birth, fortune; aind talent, stood high its life, should have livedI so unconnected and neglectedi by persons of his own rank that rttere was not a single member of -the Senate to which he be'longed" to whom he could or would apply to introtluce him in amanner becoming his birth. 1Isaw that he felt the situation, andrIful)typartook the indig:nation. If the neglect hehadI mnet with beemputed to-s.- untowvard or vicious dis,position-a cheese. ter which he gavebhimself, and whiichlIuniderstood was %also given to hilm by others-it is natural toaak bow he eame by that disp .osition, lor is got it tiot from nature ? Had he not been loft early to him- self, or rather to dangerous gutides and comnpantions, would he have .contracted that disposition ? Or, even lhad nature been cross, might it not have been rec-tified ? During his long mninorty, ought not his hecart and Isii intellect to hiavebeen trained to the situation he ivas tu fill ? Oug~ht he not to have been saved from money-lenders, and reienof'bu,siness? And ouh)t nota shield to have bten placed oyer a mind so opentroinipressions, to protect it from self-sufficient free.. thinkers arid witty sophists ? The wonder is, not that he sitould have erred, but that he should have broken through the clouid tltat -enveloped him, which wvas dispersed solely Isy the rays of his own genius.. :' "After some talk about thie. S'ahire, the last sheets of whichi wvere in the press, leccompanied Lord Byron 'to the House. He was received in one of the astedchanmbers by some of the officers in -attendance, with whom he seettled respecting the fe-es he had to ray. One of them went to apprise the Lord Ch4ancellor of his beiRg tkcere, and sqon returned for - himn. There- were very few per- sorp&; rhp, .foise; L-ord Eldlen was going through some 'ordinary b- thans W hen Lord Byron entered, I. thought lse'.looked ktihl pal'tt an before; and -he certainly wore a countenance in which mortification w9as mingled withi, but'stbdued' by; Indignt~aion. He, Passed Ithe wooTha& without lonkinig' round, And advanced to the table where the proper officer teas attending to.Adniinister the oathss. When he had gone through them, the Chancellor epsitted hils seat,. and' weint lowaids himn with a smnile, putting out bis-hand warmly to welcome him ; andi, though I did not catch his words, I saw that he Vaid him some comPlim6nt. Thiigwag all' thrown away ispon Lord byron, who m-ade a stiff boi7, 'and just the tilis of his fingers into a hand, the amiable offer of which 'desiasided the whole 'f. Ills. LI - was sorry to see this, for Lord's Eldon's character is great foir ~irtuc' swelas talent, anil, even inaplits point of vAite', itt would have $iven, me inexpressibla pIiaiure z'o' have seen hiM tin)ssnk heartily with him. The Chancellor.di'd.not.6ress a welcomp- to re. ccivedl but resumed his teat; while Lord Byron carelessly. smeate himsel~f fn a-few minsftes on 'one of the etmpty beaches' to the, left of the throne, 'usualily occupied pby(the' Lordo in tippositioni WVhen, on-bis joining trio, I expreSsed what 1. bed felt,' he! istai - f I had ahakehi hands heartily, he -would have. set me' downsv'for.. one. of,hl't *.parry, but I wvill have' no'shihg to do.'witlh anftf'blp- 0' eithe AiideT; I have'faken miy seat, and now. I .wil, ghigatt . Wer, ttirped' fo St.. T3rnc's.strieet, -but h&ddovcrvdhs siis "By -tie'delay of tlje isrinter,."IUrDyoi~ endi ~pec(i he lHouse of Ior'8) preeceded th 'pnsfi'ols eoech s((7in fBa7old),.' It produced a coissid rbiii~rs h 'os of. Lords and he receitved many complime d rm ti psstiopi IPeeRs. Ml eftth ji great ehamber, 'eial's~ ir~ th,e, p`a-ssage,Y he weaaflowing with sucecess,r and 'n'rela 1xliigthapi,no ecigta'swol'out bis hand' td' mhe usn mn blae ossewhnofrd'Ibiavnp 'my IeAi hnnd - 'givd. yasi 'frend, Lii'I fWuni4upon suho. and presse amy ewa' ,ltd n eetd DALLAs'St RECOLLECTeIcOyS OF LORD BrRONT.