Letters and Journals of Lord Byron
Journal Entry: 10 December 1813
“Friday, December 10th, 1813.
“I am ennuyé
beyond my usual tense of that yawning verb, which I am always conjugating; and I
don’t find that society much mends the matter. I am too lazy to shoot myself—and
it would annoy Augusta, and perhaps
* *; but it would be a good thing for George, on the other side, and no bad one for me; but I
won’t be tempted.
“I have had the kindest letter from M * * e. I do
think that man is the best-hearted, the only hearted being I ever
encountered; and then, his talents are equal to his feelings.
“Dined on Wednesday at Lord
H.’s—the Staffords, Staëls, Cowpers,
Ossulstones, Melbournes, Mackintoshes, &c.
&c.—and was introduced to the Marquis and Marchioness of
Stafford,—an unexpected event. My quarrel with Lord Carlisle (their or his brother-in-law) having rendered ![]()
| A. D. 1813. | LIFE OF LORD BYRON. | 467 |
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it improper, I suppose, brought it about. But, if it was to
happen at all, I wonder it did not occur before. She is handsome, and must have been
beautiful—and her manners are princessly. * * *
“The Staël was at the
other end of the table, and less loquacious than heretofore. We are now very good
friends; though she asked Lady Melbourne whether I
had really any bonhommie. She might as well
have asked that question before she told C. L.
‘c’est un démon.’ True enough, but rather
premature, for she could not have found it out, and so—she wants
me to dine there next Sunday.
“Murray prospers, as
far as circulation. For my part, I adhere (in liking) to my Fragment. It is no wonder
that I wrote one—my mind is a fragment.
“Saw Lord Gower,
Tierney, &c. in the square. Took leave of
Lord Gr. who is going to Holland and Germany. He tells me, that he carries with him a
parcel of ‘Harolds’ and
‘Giaours,’ &c. for the
readers of Berlin, who, it seems, read English, and have taken a caprice for mine.
Um!—have I been German all this time, when I thought myself oriental? * * *
“Lent Tierney my box
for to-morrow; and received a new Comedy sent by Lady C. A.—but not hers. I must read it, and endeavour not to displease the
author. I hate annoying them with cavil; but a comedy I take to be the most difficult of
compositions, more so than tragedy.
“G—t says there is a
coincidence between the first part of ‘the
Bride’ and some story of his—whether published or not, I know not, never
having seen it. He is almost the last person on whom any one would commit literary
larceny, and I am not conscious of any witting thefts on any of
the genus. As to originality, all pretensions are ludicrous,—‘there is nothing
new under the sun.’
“Went last night to the play. * *
* * Invited out to a party, but
did not go;—right. Refused to go to Lady
* *’s on Monday;—right again. If I must fritter away my life, I
would rather do it alone. I was much tempted;—C * * looked so Turkish with her red turban, and her regular
dark and clear features. Not that she and I ever were, or could be, any thing; but I love any aspect that reminds me of
the ‘children of the sun.’
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| 468 |
NOTICES OF THE |
A. D. 1813. |
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“To dine to-day with Rogers and Sharpe, for which I
have some appetite, not having tasted food for the preceding forty-eight hours. I wish I
could leave off eating altogether.
Charles Augustus Bennet, fifth earl of Tankerville (1776-1859)
Son of Charles Bennet, the fourth earl (d. 1822); educated at Eton, he was Whig MP for
Steyning (1803-06), Knaresborough (1806-18), and Berwick-on-Tweed) (1820-22); in 1806 he
married Armandine Sophie Leonie Corisande de Gramont.
George Anson Byron, seventh Baron Byron (1789-1868)
Naval officer and Byron's heir; the son of Captain John Byron (1758-93), he was lord of
the bedchamber (1830-1837) and lord-in-waiting (1837-1860) to Queen Victoria.
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.
John Galt (1779-1839)
Scottish novelist who met Byron during the first journey to Greece and was afterwards his
biographer; author of
Annals of the Parish (1821).
George Granville Leveson- Gower, first duke of Sutherland (1758-1833)
The son of the first marquess of Stafford (d. 1803); he was one of the wealthiest men in
Britain with an annual income of £200,000; his program for Scottish clearances and
resettlement was widely unpopular. He was created duke in 1833.
Granville Leveson- Gower, first earl Granville (1773-1846)
English diplomat and ally of George Canning; he was ambassador to St Petersburg (1804-06,
1807) and ambassador to Paris (1824-1828). The Duchess of Devonshire described him as “the
Adonis of his day.”
Frederick Howard, fifth earl of Carlisle (1748-1825)
The Earl of Carlisle was appointed Lord Byron's guardian in 1799; they did not get along.
He published a volume of
Poems (1773) that included a translation
from Dante.
Lady Caroline Lamb [née Ponsonby] (1785-1828)
Daughter of the third earl of Bessborough; she married the Hon. William Lamb (1779-1848)
and fictionalized her infatuation with Lord Byron in her first novel,
Glenarvon (1816).
Elizabeth Lamb, viscountess Melbourne [née Milbanke] (1751-1818)
Whig hostess married to Peniston Lamb, first Viscount Melbourne (1744-1828); she was the
confidant of Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire, the mother of William Lamb (1779-1848), and
mother-in-law of Lady Caroline Lamb.
Hon. Augusta Mary Leigh [née Byron] (1783-1851)
Byron's half-sister; the daughter of Amelia Darcy, Baroness Conyers, she married
Lieutenant-Colonel George Leigh on 17 August 1807.
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.
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
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).
Richard Sharp [Conversation Sharp] (1759-1835)
English merchant, Whig MP, and member of the Holland House set; he published
Letters and Essays in Poetry and Prose (1834).
Germaine de Staël (1766-1817)
French woman of letters; author of the novel
Corinne, ou L'Italie
(1807) and
De l'Allemagne (1811); banned from Paris by Napoleon, she
spent her later years living in Germany, Britain, and Switzerland.
George Tierney (1761-1830)
Whig MP and opposition leader whose political pragmatism made him suspect in the eyes of
his party; he fought a bloodless duel with Pitt in 1798. He is the “Friend of Humanity” in
Canning and Frere's “The Needy Knife-Grinder.”
