CONVERSATIONS OF LORD BYRON, AS RELATED BY THOMAS MEDWIN, ESQ., COMPARED WITH A PORTION OF HIS LORDSHIP'S CORRESPONDENCE. THE Volume of "Lord Byron's Conversations" with Mr. Medwin contains several statements relative to Mr. Murray, his lordship's publisher, against which, however exceptionable they might be, he was willing to trust his defence to the private testimony of persons acquainted with the real particulars, and to his general character, rather than resort to any kind of public appeal, to which he has ever been exceedingly averse. But friends, to whose judgment Mr. Murray is bound to defer, having decided that such an appeal upon the occasion is become a positive duty on his part, he hopes that he shall not be thought too obtrusive in opposing to those personal allegations extracts from Lord Byron's own letters, with the addition of a few brief notes of necessary explanation. CAPT. MEDWIN, p. 167. "Murray offered me, of his own accord, 1000. a canto for Don Juan, and afterwards reduced it to 500i. on the plea of piracy, and complained of my dividing one canto into two, because I happened to say something at the end of the third canto of having done so." "Dear Murray, LORD BYRON'S LETTER. "Ravenna, February 7, 1820. "I have copied and cut the third canto of Don Juan INTO TWO, because it was too long, and I tell you this beforehand, because, in case of any reckoning between you and me, these two are only to go for ONE, as this was the original form, and in fact the two together are not longer than one of the first; so remember, that I have not made this division to DOUBLE upon YOU, but merely to suppress some tediousness in the aspect of the thing. I should have served you a pretty trick if I had sent you, for example, cantos of fifty stanzas each.” CAPT. MEDWIN, p. 169. "I don't wish to quarrel with Murray, but it seems inevitable. I had no reason to be pleased with him the other day. Galignani wrote to me, offering to purchase the copyright of my works, in order to obtain an exclusive privilege of printing them in France. I might have made my own terms, and put the money in my own pocket; instead of which, I enclosed Galignani's letter to Murray, in order that he might conclude the matter as he pleased. He did so, very advantageously for his own interest; but never had the complaisance, the common politeness, to thank me, or acknowledge my letter." LORD BYRON'S LETTER. "Ravenna, 9bre 4, 1820. "I have received from Mr. Galignani the enclosed letters, duplicates, and receipts, which will explain themselves. As the poems are your property by purchase, right, and justice, ALL MATTERS OF PUBLICATION, &c. &c. ARE FOR YOU TO DECIDE UPON. I know not how far my compliance with Mr. G.'s request might be legal, and I doubt that it would not be honest. In case you choose to arrange with him I enclose the permits to you, and in so doing I wash my hands of the business altogether. I sign them merely to enable you to exert the power you justly possess more properly. I will have nothing to do with it further, except in my answer to Mr. Galignani, to state that the letters, &c. &c. are sent to you, and the causes thereof. If you can check these foreign pirates, do; if not, put the permissive papers in the fire. I can have no view nor object whatever but to secure to you your property." NOTE.-Mr. Murray derived no advantage from the proposed agreement, which was by no means of the importance here ascribed to it, and therefore was never attempted to be carried into effect: the documents alluded to are still in his possession. CAPT. MEDWIN, pp. 169-171. "Murray has long prevented The Quarterly' from abusing me. Some of their bullies have had their fingers itching to be at me; but they would get the worst of it in a set to. "Murray and I have dissolved all connexion: he had the choice of giving up me or the Navy List. There was no hesitation which way he should decide: the Admiralty carried the day. Now for the Quarterly: their batteries will be opened; but I can fire broadsides too. They have been letting off lots of squibs and crackers against me, but they only make a noise and ***." "Werner' was the last book Murray published for me, and three months after came out the Quarterly's article on my Plays, when Marino Faliero' was noticed for the first time." LORD BYRON'S LETTER. "Genoa, 10bre 25, 1822. "I had sent you back the Quarterly without perusal, having resolved to read no more reviews, good, bad, or indifferent; but who can control his fate? Galignani,' to whom my English studies are confined, has forwarded a copy of at least one half of it in his indefatigable weekly compilation, and as, like honour, it came unlooked for,' I have looked through it. I must say that upon the WHOLE- that is, the whole of the HALF which I have read (for the other half is to be the segment of Gal's next week's circular), it is certainly handsome, and any thing but unkind or unfair." NOTE. The passage about the Admiralty is unfounded in fact, and no otherwise deserving of notice than to mark its absurdity; and with regard to the " Quarterly Review," his lordship well knew that it was established, and constantly |