Life of Lord Byron Volume II Part 32

"Nov. 14. 1813.

"Let the revise which I sent just now (and _not_ the proof in Mr.

Gifford's possession) be returned to the printer, as there are several additional corrections, and two new lines in it. Yours,"

&c.

LETTER 146. TO MR. MURRAY.

"November 15. 1813.

"Mr. Hodgson has looked over and _stopped_, or rather _pointed_, this revise, which must be the one to print from. He has also made some suggestions, with most of which I have complied, as he has always, for these ten years, been a very sincere, and by no means (at times) flattering intimate of mine. _He_ likes it (you will think _fatteringly_, in this instance) better than The Giaour, but doubts (and so do I) its being so popular; but, contrary to some others, advises a separate publication. On this we can easily decide. I confess I like the _double_ form better. Hodgson says, it is _better versified_ than any of the others; which is odd, if true, as it has cost me less time (though more hours at a time) than any attempt I ever made.

"P.S. Do attend to the punctuation: I can't, for I don't know a comma--at least where to place one.

"That Tory of a printer has omitted two lines of the opening, and _perhaps more_, which were in the MS. Will you, pray, give him a hint of accuracy? I have reinserted the _two_, but they were in the ma.n.u.script, I can swear."

LETTER 147. TO MR. MURRAY.

"November 17. 1813.

"That you and I may distinctly understand each other on a subject, which, like 'the dreadful reckoning when men smile no more,' makes conversation not very pleasant, I think it as well to _write_ a few lines on the topic.--Before I left town for Yorkshire, you said that you were ready and willing to give five hundred guineas for the copyright of 'The Giaour;' and my answer was--from which I do not mean to recede--that we would discuss the point at Christmas.

The new story may or may not succeed; the probability, under present circ.u.mstances, seems to be, that it may at least pay its expenses--but even that remains to be proved, and till it is proved one way or another, we will say nothing about it. Thus then be it: I will postpone all arrangement about it, and The Giaour also, till Easter, 1814; and you shall then, according to your own notions of fairness, make your own offer for the two. At the same time, I do not rate the last in my own estimation at half The Giaour; and according to your own notions of its worth and its success within the time mentioned, be the addition or deduction to or from whatever sum may be your proposal for the first, which has already had its success.

"The pictures of Phillips I consider as _mine_, all three; and the one (not the Arnaout) of the two best is much at _your service_, if you will accept it as a present.

"P.S. The expense of engraving from the miniature send me in my account, as it was destroyed by my desire; and have the goodness to burn that detestable print from it immediately.

"To make you some amends for eternally pestering you with alterations, I send you Cobbett to confirm your orthodoxy.

"One more alteration of _a_ into _the_ in the MS.; it must be--'The _heart whose softness_,' &c.

"Remember--and in the inscription, 'To the Right Honourable Lord Holland,' _without_ the previous names, Henry," &c.

TO MR. MURRAY.

"November 20. 1813.

"More work for the _Row_. I am doing my best to beat 'The Giaour'--_no_ difficult task for any one but the author."

TO MR. MURRAY.

"November 22. 1813.

"I have no time to _cross_-investigate, but I believe and hope all is right. I care less than you will believe about its success, but I can't survive a single _misprint_: it _chokes_ me to see words misused by the printers. Pray look over, in case of some eyesore escaping me.

"P.S. Send the earliest copies to Mr. Frere, Mr. Canning, Mr. Heber, Mr. Gifford, Lord Holland, Lord Melbourne (Whitehall), Lady Caroline Lamb, (Brocket), Mr. Hodgson (Cambridge), Mr. Merivale, Mr. Ward, from the author."

TO MR. MURRAY.

"November 23. 1813.

"You wanted some reflections, and I send you _per Selim_ (see his speech in Canto 2d, page 46.), eighteen lines in decent couplets, of a pensive, if not an _ethical_ tendency. One more revise--positively the last, if decently done--at any rate the _pen_ultimate. Mr. Canning's approbation (_if_ he did approve) I need not say makes me proud.[110] As to printing, print as you will and how you will--by itself, if you like; but let me have a few copies in _sheets_.

"November 24. 1813.

"You must pardon me once more, as it is all for your good: it must be thus--

"He makes a solitude, and calls it peace.

'_Makes_' is closer to the pa.s.sage of Tacitus, from which the line is taken, and is, besides, a stronger word than '_leaves_'

"Mark where his carnage and his conquests cease-- He makes a solitude, and calls it--peace."

[Footnote 110: Mr. Canning's note was as follows:--"I received the books, and, among them, The Bride of Abydos. It is very, very beautiful.

Lord Byron (when I met him, one day, at dinner at Mr. Ward's) was so kind as to promise to give me a copy of it. I mention this, not to save my purchase, but because I should be really flattered by the present."]

LETTER 148. TO MR. MURRAY.

"November 27. 1813.

"If you look over this carefully by the _last proof_ with my corrections, it is probably right; this _you_ can do as well or better;--I have not now time. The copies I mentioned to be sent to different friends last night, I should wish to be made up with the new Giaours, if it also is ready. If not, send The Giaour afterwards.

"The Morning Post says _I_ am the author of Nourjahad!! This comes of lending the drawings for their dresses; but it is not worth a _formal contradiction_. Besides, the criticisms on the _supposition_ will, some of them, be quite amusing and furious. The _Orientalism_--which I hear is very splendid--of the melodrame (whosever it is, and I am sure I don't know) is as good as an advertis.e.m.e.nt for your Eastern Stories, by filling their heads with glitter.

"P.S. You will of course _say_ the truth, that I am _not_ the melodramist--if any one charges me in your presence with the performance."

LETTER 149. TO MR. MURRAY.

"November 28. 1813.

"Send another copy (if not too much of a request) to Lady Holland of the _Journal_[111], in my name, when you receive this; it is for _Earl Grey_--and I will relinquish my _own_. Also to Mr. Sharpe, and Lady Holland, and Lady Caroline Lamb, copies of 'The Bride' as soon as convenient.

"P.S. Mr. Ward and myself still continue our purpose; but I shall not trouble you on any arrangement on the score of The Giaour and The Bride till our return,--or, at any rate, before _May_, 1814,--that is, six months from hence: and before that time you will be able to ascertain how far your offer may be a losing one; if so, you can deduct proportionably; and if not, I shall not at any rate allow you to go higher than your present proposal, which is very handsome, and more than fair.[112]