I had the pleasure of receiving your obliging letter, dated the 23rd October, but was unwilling to intrude an answer upon you until something important should cast up; and the occasion is now furnished by the tremendous ‘Critique upon Lord Byron’s Address,’ which I enclose under this and another cover. You declined writing the address originally, because “you would not contend with all Grub Street;” but you did not suspect, at that time, that success would induce all Grub Street to contend against you; but this is the present state of the case. You will have seen by the Chronicle of yesterday that it is in contemplation to collect and publish, in one volume, the whole of the Rejected Addresses, which would be an excellent subject of fun for an article in the Review, and Mr. Gifford would, I think, join forces with you.
I shall be careful to give you full notice of the new edition of ‘Childe Harold,’ which has been very much assisted in sale by the admiration forced from the ragamuffins who are abusing the Address. I would be delighted if you had a new poem ready for publication about the same time that Walter Scott is expected; but I will sacrifice my right arm (your Lordship’s friendship) rather than publish any poem not equal to ‘Childe Harold’ without a conscriptive command, like that which I lately executed in committing your portrait to the flames; but I had some consolation in seeing it ascend in sparkling brilliancy to Parnassus. Neither Mr. Gifford nor I, I can venture to assure you, upon honour, have any notion who the author of the admirable article on ‘Horne Tooke’ is.
P.S.—I do not mention ‘Waltzing,’ from the hope that it improves geometrically as to the time that it is retained.
