Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to Thomas Moore, 23 April 1815
“Lord Wentworth died
last week. The bulk of his property (from seven to eight thousand per ann.) is entailed
on Lady Milbanke and Lady
Byron. The first is gone to take possession in Leicestershire, and attend
the funeral, &c. this day.
* * * * *
“I have mentioned the facts of the settlement of Lord W.’s property, because the newspapers, with
their usual accuracy, have been making all kinds of blunders in their statement. His
will is just as expected—the principal part settled on Lady
Milbanke (now Noel) and Bell, and a
separate estate left for sale to pay debts (which are not great) and legacies to his
natural son and daughter.
“Mrs. * *’s
tragedy was last night damned. They may bring it on again, and probably will; but damned
it was,—not a word of the last act audible. I went (malgré that I ought to have staid at home in sackcloth for unc.,
but I could not resist the first night of any thing) to a private
and quiet nook of my private box, and witnessed the whole process. The first three acts,
with transient gushes of applause, oozed patiently but heavily on. I must say it was
badly acted, particularly by * *, who was
groaned upon in the third act,—something about ‘horror—such a horror’ was
the cause. Well, the fourth act became as muddy and turbid as need be; but the
fifth—what Garrick used to call (like a fool) the
concoction of a play—the fifth act stuck fast at the
King’s prayer. You know he says ‘he never went to bed without saying
them, and did not like to omit them now.’ But he was no sooner upon his
knees, than the ![]()
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audience got upon their legs—the damnable
pit—and roared, and groaned, and hissed, and whistled. Well, that was choked a little;
but the ruffian-scene—the penitent peasantry—and killing the Bishop and the Princess—oh,
it was all over. The curtain fell upon unheard actors, and the announcement attempted by
Kean for Monday was equally ineffectual. Mrs. Bartley was so frightened, that, though the people
were tolerably quiet, the Epilogue was quite inaudible to half the house. In short,—you
know all. I clapped till my hands were skinless, and so did Sir James Mackintosh, who was with me in the box. All the world were in
the house, from the Jerseys, Greys, &c. &c. downwards. But it would not do. It is, after all,
not an acting play; good language, but no power.
* * * *
* *
* * * *
Women (saving Joanna Baillie) cannot write
tragedy; they have not seen enough nor felt enough of life for it. I think Semiramis or Catherine
II. might have written (could they have been unqueened) a rare play.
* * * *
“It is, however, a good warning not to risk or write
tragedies. I never had much bent that way; but, if I had, this would have cured me.
“Ever, carissime
Thom.,
“thine, B.”
Joanna Baillie (1762-1851)
Scottish poet and dramatist whose
Plays on the Passions
(1798-1812) were much admired, especially the gothic
De Montfort,
produced at Drury Lane in 1800.
Sarah Bartley [née Williamson] (1783-1850)
English tragic actress who made her London debut at Covent Garden in 1805; in 1814 she
married the actor George Bartley (1782?-1858).
Barbarina Brand, Lady Dacre [née Ogle] (1768-1854)
The daughter of Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle; she married in 1789 Valentine Henry Wilmot (d.
1819), and in 1819, Thomas Brand, twentieth Baron Dacre. She was the author of
Ina, a Tragedy (1815) and
Dramas, Translations,
and Occasional Poems (1821).
David Garrick (1717-1779)
English actor, friend of Samuel Johnson, and manager of Drury Lane Theater.
Charles Grey, second earl Grey (1764-1845)
Whig statesman and lover of the Duchess of Devonshire; the second son of the first earl
(d. 1807), he was prime minister (1831-34).
Edmund Kean (1787-1833)
English tragic actor famous for his Shakespearean roles.
Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832)
Scottish philosopher and man of letters who defended the French Revolution in
Vindiciae Gallicae (1791); he was Recorder of Bombay (1803-1812) and
MP for Knaresborough (1819-32).
Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
Irish poet and biographer, author of the
Irish Melodies (1807-34),
The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), and
Lalla
Rookh (1817); he was Byron's close friend and designated biographer.
Thomas Noel, second viscount Wentworth (1745-1815)
The son of Edward Noel, first viscount Wentworth of Wellesborough and only brother of
Judith Milbanke; upon his death his heirs took the name Noel.
