Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to Lord Holland, 10 September 1812
“Cheltenham, September 10th, 1812.
“MY DEAR LORD,
“The lines which I sketched off on your hint are still, or
rather were, in an unfinished state, for I have just committed
them to a flame more decisive than that of Drury. Under all the circumstances, I should
* For the first day or two, at Middleton, he did not join his
noble host’s party till after dinner, but took his scanty repast of biscuits
and soda water in his own room. Being told by somebody that the gentleman
above-mentioned had pronounced such habits to be “effeminate,” |
![]()
![]()
| 362 | NOTICES OF THE | A. D. 1812. |
![]()
hardly wish a contest with
Philo-drama—Philo-Drury—Asbestos, H * *, and all the anonymes and synonymes of the Committee
candidates. Seriously, I think you have a chance of something much better; for
prologuizing is not my forte, and, at all events, either my pride or my modesty
won’t let me incur the hazard of having my rhymes buried in next month’s
Magazine, under ‘Essays on the Murder of Mr.
Perceval,’ and ‘Cures for the Bite of a Mad Dog,’ as
poor Goldsmith complained of the fate of far
superior performances.
“I am still sufficiently interested to wish to know the
successful candidate; and, amongst so many, I have no doubt some will be excellent,
particularly in an age when writing verse is the easiest of all attainments.
“I cannot answer your intelligence with the ‘like
comfort,’ unless, as you are deeply theatrical, you may wish to hear of Mr. * *, whose acting is, I fear, utterly
inadequate to the London engagement into which the managers of Covent-garden have lately
entered. His figure is fat, his features flat, his voice unmanageable, his action
ungraceful, and, as Diggory says, ‘I defy
him to extort that d—d muffin face of his into madness.’ I was very sorry
to see him in the character of the ‘Elephant on the slack rope;’ for, when I
last saw him, I was in raptures with his performance. But then I was sixteen,—an age to
which all London then condescended to subside. After all, much better judges have
admired, and may again; but I venture to ‘prognosticate a prophecy’ (see the
Courier) that he will not succeed.
“So, poor dear Rogers
has stuck fast on ‘the brow of the mighty Helvellyn’—I hope not for
ever. My best respects to Lady H.—her departure,
with that of my other friends, was a sad event for me, now reduced to a state of the
most cynical solitude. ‘By the waters of Cheltenham I sat down and drank, when I remembered thee, oh Georgiana Cottage! As for our
harps, we hanged them up upon the willows that grew thereby.
Then they said, Sing us a song of Drury-lane,’ &c.—but I am dumb and dreary as
the Israelites. The waters
he resolved to show the
“fox-hunter” that he could be, on occasion, as good a bon-vivant as
himself, and, by his prowess at the claret next day, after dinner, drew forth from
Mr. C * * the eulogium here
recorded. |
![]()
![]()
| A. D. 1812. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 363 |
![]()
have disordered me to my heart’s content,—you were
right, as you always are.
“Believe me ever your obliged
“and affectionate servant,
“Byron.”
Chester [Cheeks] (1812 fl)
A foxhunting friend of the Earl of Jersey who Byron met at Middelton. Possibly Lt.-Gen.
John Chester (1779-1857) of Ashtead, Surrey.
Elizabeth Fox, Lady Holland [née Vassall] (1771 c.-1845)
In 1797 married Henry Richard Fox, Lord Holland, following her divorce from Sir Godfrey
Webster; as mistress of Holland House she became a pillar of Whig society.
Henry Richard Fox, third baron Holland (1773-1840)
Whig politician and literary patron; Holland House was for many years the meeting place
for reform-minded politicians and writers. He also published translations from the Spanish
and Italian;
Memoirs of the Whig Party was published in 1852.
Oliver Goldsmith (1728 c.-1774)
Irish miscellaneous writer; his works include
The Vicar of
Wakefield (1766),
The Deserted Village (1770), and
She Stoops to Conquer (1773).
Spencer Perceval (1762-1812)
English statesman; chancellor of the exchequer (1807), succeeded the Duke of Portland as
prime minister (1809); he was assassinated in the House of Commons.
Samuel Rogers (1763-1855)
English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular
Pleasures of Memory (1792),
Columbus (1810),
Jaqueline (1814), and
Italy (1822-28).
Horace Twiss (1787-1849)
Lawyer, poet, and biographer; he was MP for Wootton Basset (1820-30) and Newport
(1830-31) and author of
St Stephens Chapel: a Satirical Poem
(1807).
The Courier. (1792-1842). A London evening newspaper; the original proprietor was James Perry; Daniel Stuart, Peter
Street, and William Mudford were editors; among the contributors were Samuel Taylor
Coleridge and John Galt.
