conducted, on principles which absolutely excluded Mr. Murray from all such interference and influence as is implied in the Conversations." CAPT. MEDWIN, p. 168. "Because I gave Mr. Murray one of my poems, he wanted to make me believe that I had made him a present of two others, and hinted at some lines in English Bards' that were certainly to the point. But I have altered my mind considerably upon that subject: as I once hinted to him, I see no reason why a man should not profit by the sweat of his brain as well as that of his brow, &c.; besides, I was poor at that time, and have no idea of aggrandizing booksellers." "Dear Sir, LORD BYRON'S LETTER. "January 2, 1816. "Your offer is liberal in the extreme, and much more than the two poems can possibly be worth-but I cannot accept it, nor will not. You are most welcome to them, as additions to the collected volumes, without any demand or expectation on my part whatever. "BYRON. "P. S. I have enclosed your draft TORN, for fear of accidents by the way.-I wish you would not throw temptation in mine; it is not from a disdain of the universal idol-nor from a present superfluity of his treasures-I can assure you, that I refuse to worship him-but what is right is right, and must not yield to circumstances. "To J. Murray, Esq." NOTE. The above letter relates to a draft for 1000 guineas, offered by Mr. Murray for two poems, the Siege of Corinth and Parisina, which his lordship had previously, at a short interval, presented to Mr. Murray as donations.—— Lord Byron was afterwards induced, by Mr. Murray's earnest persuasion, to accept the 1000 guineas, and Mr. Murray has his lordship's assignment of the copyright of the two pieces accordingly. CAPT. MEDWIN, p. 166. "Murray pretends to have lost money by my writings, and pleads poverty; but if he is poor, which is somewhat problematical to me, pray who is to blame? "Mr. Murray is tender of my fame. How kind in him! He is afraid of my writing too fast. Why? because he has a tender regard for his own pocket, and does not like the look of any new acquaintance in the shape of a book of mine, till he has seen his old friends in a variety of new faces; ID EST, disposed of a vast many editions of the former works. I don't know what would become of me without Douglas Kinnaird, who has always been my best and kindest friend. It is not easy to deal with Mr. Murray." NOTE. In the numerous letters received by Mr. Murray yearly from Lord Byron (who, in writing them, was not accustomed to restrain the expression of his feelings), not one has any tendency towards the imputations here thrown out: the incongruity of which will be evident from the fact of Mr. Murray having paid, at various times, for the copyright of his lordship's poems, sums amounting to upwards of 15,000l., viz. CAPT. MEDWIN, p. 170. My differences with Murray are not over. When he purchased Cain,' The Two Foscari,' and ' Sardanapalus,' he sent me a deed, which you may remember witnessing. Well; after its return to England, it was discovered that But I shall take no notice of it." NOTE.-Mr. Murray of course cannot answer a statement which he does not see; but pledges himself to disprove any inculpation the suppressed passage may contain, whenever disclosed. He has written twice to Captain Medwin's publisher, desiring, as an act of justice, to have the passage printed entire in any new edition of the book, and in the mean time to be favoured with a copy of it. As this has not yet been obtained, and as the context seems to imply that it accuses him of endeavouring to take some pecuniary advantage of Lord Byron, he thinks he shall be forgiven for stating the following circumstances. Mr. Murray having accidentally heard that Lord Byron was in pecuniary difficulties, immediately forwarded 15002. to him, with an assurance that another such sum should be at his service in a few months; and that, if such assistance should not be sufficient, Mr. Murray would be ready to sell the copyright of all his lordship's works for his use. The following is Lord Byron's acknowledgment of this offer. "Dear Sir, "November 14th, 1815. "I return you your bills not accepted, but certainly not UNHONOURED. Your present offer is a favour which I would accept from you if I accepted such from any man. Had such been my intention, I can assure you I would have asked you fairly and as freely as you would give; and I cannot say more of my confidence or your conduct. The circumstances which induce me to part with my books, though sufficiently are not IMMEDIATELY pressing. I have made up my mind to them, and there is an end. Had I been disposed to trespass on your kindness in this way, it would have been before now; but I am not sorry to have an opportunity of declining it, as it sets my opinion of you, and indeed of human nature, in a different light from that in which I have been accustomed to consider it. "Believe me, very truly, "Your obliged and faithful servant, "To John Murray, Esq." "BYRON. NOTE. That nothing had occurred to subvert these friendly sentiments will appear from the three letters subjoined, the second of them written by Lord Byron a few weeks before his death, and the last addressed by his lordship's valet to Mr. Murray as one of his deceased master's most confidential friends. LORD BYRON'S LETTERS. "May 8th, 1819. "I have a great respect for your good and gentlemanly qualities, and return your personal friendship towards me. ******. You deserve and possess the esteem of those whose esteem is worth having, and of none more (however useless it may be) than "Yours, very truly, "BYRON." * Missolonghi, Feb. 25, 1824. "I have heard from Mr. Douglas Kinnaird that you state a report of a satire on Mr. Gifford having arrived from Italy, said to be written by ME, but that you do not believe it; I dare say you do not, nor any body else, I should think. Whoever asserts that I am the author or abettor of any thing of the kind on Gifford, lies in his throat; I always regarded him as my literary father, and myself as his prodigal son. If any such composition exists, it is none of mine. You know, as well as any body, upon wном I have or have not written, and you also know whether they do or did not deserve the same-and so much for such matters. "You will, perhaps, be anxious to hear some news from this part of Greece (which is most liable to invasion), but you will hear enough through public and private channels on that head. I will, however, give you the events of a week, mingling my own private peculiar with the public, for we are here jumbled a little together at present. "On Sunday (the 15th, I believe), I had a strong and sudden convulsive attack which left me speechless, though not motionless, for some strong men could not hold me; but whether it was epilepsy, catalepsy, cachexy, apoplexy, or what other exy or epsy, the doctors have not decided, or whether it was spasmodic, or nervous, &c., but it was very unpleasant, and nearly carried me off, and all that. On Monday, they put leeches to my temples, no difficult matter, but the blood could not be stopped till eleven at night (they had gone too near the temporal artery for my temporal safety), and neither styptic nor caustic would cauterize the orifice till after a hundred attempts. "On Tuesday, a Turkish brig of war ran on shore. On Wednesday, great preparations being made to attack her, though protected by her consorts, the Turks burned her, and retired to Patras. On Thursday, a quarrel ensued between the Suliotes and the Frank guard at the arsenal; a Swedish officer was killed, and a Suliote severely wounded, and a general fight expected, and with some difficulty prevented. On Friday, the officer buried, and Captain Parry's English artificers mutinied, under pretence that their lives were in danger, and are for quitting the country-they may. On Saturday we had the smartest shock of an earthquake which I remember (and I have felt thirty, slight or smart, at different periods; they are common in the Mediterranean), and the whole army discharged their arms, upon the same principle that savages beat drums, or howl, during an eclipse of the moon: it was a rare scene altogether. If you had but seen the English Johnnies, who had never been out of a Cockney workshop before, nor will again if they can help it! And on Sunday, we heard that the Vizier is come down to Larissa with one hundred and odd thousand men. "In coming here I had two escapes, from the Turks (one of my vessels was taken, but afterwards released), and the other from shipwreck; we drove twice on the rocks near the Scrophes (islands near the coast). "I have obtained from the Greeks the release of eight-and twenty Turkish prisoners, men, women, and children, and sent them to Patras and Prevesa at my own charges. One |