“I differ from you about the Dante, which I think should be published with the tragedy. But do as you please: you must be the best judge of your own craft. I agree with you about the title. The play may be good or bad, but I flatter myself that it is original as a picture of that kind of passion, which to my mind is so natural, that I am convinced that I should have done precisely what the Doge did on those provocations.
“I am glad of Foscolo’s approbation.
“Excuse haste. I believe I mentioned to you that—I forget what it was; but no matter.
“Thanks for your compliments of the year. I hope that it will be pleasanter than the last. I speak with reference to England only, as far as regards myself, where I had every kind of disappointment—lost an important lawsuit—and the trustees of Lady Byron refusing to allow of an advantageous loan to be made from my property to Lord Blessington, &c. &c., by way of closing the four seasons. These, and a hundred other such things, made a year of bitter business for me in England. Luckily, things were a little pleasanter for me here, else I should have taken the liberty of Hannibal’s ring.
444 | NOTICES OF THE | A. D. 1821. |
“Pray thank Gifford for all his goodnesses. The winter is as cold here as Parry’s polarities. I must now take a canter in the forest; my horses are waiting.