Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Lord Byron to Mrs. Byron, 14 January 1811
“Athens, January 14, 1811.
“MY DEAR MADAM
“I seize an occasion to write as usual, shortly, but
frequently, as the arrival of letters, where there exists no regular communication, is,
of course, very precarious. * * *
I have lately made several small tours of some hundred or two miles about the Morea,
Attica, &c, as I have finished my grand giro by the Troad, Constantinople, &c.
and am returned down again to Athens. I believe I have mentioned to you more than once,
that I swam (in imitation of Leander, though without
his lady) ![]()
| A. D. 1811. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 245 |
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across the Hellespont, from Sestos to Abydos. Of
this, and all other particulars, F., whom I have
sent home with papers, &c. will apprize you. I cannot find, that he is any loss;
being tolerably master of the Italian and modern Greek languages, which last I am also
studying with a master, I can order and discourse more than enough for a reasonable man.
Besides, the perpetual lamentations after beef and beer, the stupid bigoted contempt for
every thing foreign, and insurmountable incapacity of acquiring even a few words of any
language, rendered him, like all other English servants, an incumbrance. I do assure
you, the plague of speaking for him the comforts he required (more than myself by far),
the pilaws (a Turkish dish of rice and meat) which he could not eat, the wines which he
could not drink, the beds where he could not sleep, and the long list of calamities,
such as stumbling horses, want of tea!!! &c., which assailed
him, would have made a lasting source of laughter to a spectator, and inconvenience to a
master. After all, the man is honest enough, and, in Christendom, capable enough; but in
Turkey, Lord forgive me! my Albanian soldiers, my Tartars and Janizary, worked for him
and us too, as my friend Hobhouse can testify.
“It is probable I may steer homewards in spring; but, to
enable me to do that, I must have remittances. My own funds would have lasted me very
well; but I was obliged to assist a friend, who, I know, will pay me; but, in the mean
time, I am out of pocket. At present I do not care to venture a winter’s voyage,
even if I were otherwise tired of travelling; but I am so convinced of the advantages of
looking at mankind instead of reading about them, and the bitter effects of staying at
home with all the narrow prejudices of an islander, that I think there should be a law
amongst to set our young men abroad, for a term, among the few allies our wars have left
us.
“Here I see and have conversed with French, Italians,
Germans, Danes, Greeks, Turks, Americans &c. &c. and without losing sight of my
own, I can judge of the countries and manners of others. Where I see the superiority of
England (which, by the by, we are a good deal mistaken about in many things, I am
pleased, and where I find her inferior, I am at least enlightened. Now, I might have
staid, smoked in ![]()
| 246 | NOTICES OF THE | A. D. 1811. |
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your towns, or fogged in your country, a
century, without being sure of this, and without acquiring any thing more useful or
amusing at home. I keep no journal, nor have I any intention of scribbling my travels. I
have done with authorship; and if, in my last production, I have convinced the critics
or the world I was something more than they took me for, I am satisfied; nor will I
hazard that reputation by a future effort. It is true I have some
others in manuscript, but I leave them for those who come after me; and, if deemed worth
publishing, they may serve to prolong my memory when I myself shall cease to remember. I
have a famous Bavarian artist taking some views of Athens, &c. &c. for me. This
will be better than scribbling, a disease I hope myself cured of. I hope, on my return,
to lead a quiet, recluse life, but God knows and does best for us all; at least, so they
say, and I have nothing to object, as, on the whole, I have no reason to complain of my
lot. I am convinced, however, that men do more harm to themselves than ever the devil
could do to them. I trust this will find you well, and as happy as we can be; you will,
at least, be pleased to hear I am so, and yours ever.”
William Fletcher (1831 fl.)
Byron's valet, the son of a Newstead tenant; he continued in service to the end of the
poet's life, after which he was pensioned by the family. He married Anne Rood, formerly
maid to Augusta Leigh, and was living in London in 1831.
