“I feel particularly obliged by the kindness and
consideration with which you have fulfilled the wishes I took the liberty of
communicating to you, on the subject of my poem. It appears to me, however,
that it would be taking an advantage hardly fair, of the permission to publish
granted by the R. S. L., to leave the piece amongst those of the candidates for
the offered prize, after laying it before the public. I had indeed imagined
that the very request which the society have done me the favour to
| 156 | AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. |
“I have requested Mr. Murray to transmit you a copy of the little volume immediately on its publication. You will, I hope, receive, and favour me by accepting it, in the course of a few days. I have called it the ‘Last Constantine,’ having seen a poem advertised some time ago, by the title of the ‘Fall of Constantinople.’
“When you next see my old friend with a new name, Mr. Dare, be so kind as to offer him my congratulations on his recent acquisition of property. With much esteem, believe me, Dear Sir,
