Thus, while the future dark and cheerless gleams, Ott does my heart indulge the rising thought, Matured by age, The next fifty-six lines, to "Here first remember'd be the joyous band," were added in the first edition of Hours of Idleness.] [Dr. Batler, then head-master of Harrow school. Had L Byron published another edition of these poems, it appears, from a loose sheet in his handwriting, to have been Es intention, mustead of the passage beginning-" Or, if my muse a pedant's portrait drew," to insert"If once my muse a harsher portrait drew, Warm with her wrongs, and deem'd the likeness true, By cooler judgment taught, her fauits she owns,With noble minds a fault confess'd, atones."] When Dr. Drury retired, in 1805, three candidates presented themselves for the vacant chair, Messrs. Drury, Evans, and Butler. "On the first movement to which this Cutest gave rise in the school, young Wildman," says Moore, was at the head of the party for Mark Drury, while Byron held himself aloof from any. Anxious, however, to ave him as an ally, one of the Drury faction said to Wild This Byron, I know, will not join, because he does not Close to act second to any one; but, by giving up the leadership to him, you may at once secure him." Wadman accordingly did, and Byron took the command.] [Instead of this couplet, the private volume has the following four lines: Away with themes like this! not mine the task But when that foe, from feeling or from shame, I never fear'd the young usurper's nod, And he who wields must sometimes feel the rod. Here first remember'd be the joyous band, Succeeded him, whom all unite to praise, With him, for years, we search'd the classic page, "Careless to soothe the pedant's furious frown, By which, in vain, he gain'd a borrow'd grace, Dr. Drury. This most able and excellent man retired from his situation in March, 1805, after having resided thirtyfive years at Harrow; the last twenty as head master: an office he held with equal honor to himself and advantage to the very extensive school over which he presided. Panegyric would here be superfluous: it would be useless to enumerate qualifications which were never doubted. A considerable contest took place between three rival candidates for his vacant chair: of this I can only say, Si mea cum vestris valuissent vota, Pelasgi! Non foret ambiguus tanti certaminis hæres. [Such was Byron's parting eulogy on Dr. Drury. It may be interesting to see by the side of it the Doctor's own account of his pupil, when first committed to his care:-"I took,' says the Doctor, "my young disciple into my study, and endeavored to bring him forward by inquiries as 'o his former amusements, employments, and associates but with little or no effect; and I soon found that a wild mountain colt had been submitted to my management. But there was mind in his eye. His manner and temper soon convinced me, that he might be led by a silken string to a point, rather than by a cable;-and on that principle I acted"] Retired at last, his small yet peaceful seat, From learning's labor is the bless'd retreat. POMPOSUS fills his magisterial chair; POMPOSUS governs,-but, my muse, forbear:1 Contempt, in silence, be the pedant's lot; His name and precepts be alike forgot! No more his mention shall my verse degrade,— To him my tribute is already paid. And here my name, and many an early friend's, High, through those elms, with hoary branches They pass the dreary winter's eve away crown'd, Fair IDA's bower adorns the landscape round; Some rough and thoughtless stranger placed in view, Here mingling view the names of sire and son-- [To this passage, had Lord Byron published another edition of Hours of Idleness, it was his intention to give the following turn: "Another fills his magisterial chair; Reluctant Ida owns a stranger's care; 2 [During a rebellion at Harrow, the poet prevented the schoolroom from being burnt down, by pointing out to the boys the names of their fathers and grandfathers on the walls.] [Lord Byron elsewhere thus describes his usual course of life while at Harrow-"always cricketing, rebelling, rowing, and in all manner of mischiefs." One day, in a fit of defiance, he tore down all the gratings from the window of the hall; and when called upon by Dr. Butler to say why he had committed this violence, answered, with stern coolness, "because they darkened the room."] 4 [This description of what the young poet felt in 1806, on encountering in the world any of his former schoolfellows, "And thus our former rulers stemm'd the tide, Dear honest race! though now we meet no more, One last long look on what we were beforeOur first kind greetings, and our last adienDrew tears from eyes unused to weep with you. Through splendid circles, fashion's gaudy world, Where folly's glaring standard waves unfurl'd, I plunged to drown in noise my fond regret, And all I sought or hoped was to forget. Vain wish! if chance some well-remember'd face, Some old companion of my early race, Advanced to claim his friend with honest joy, My eyes, my heart, proclaim'd me still a boy; The glittering scene, the fluttering groups around, Were quite forgotten when my friend was found: The smiles of beauty-(for, alas! I've known What 'tis to bend before Love's mighty throne)The smiles of beauty, though those smiles were dear, Could hardly charm me, when that friend was near: My thoughts bewilder'd in the fond surprise, The woods of IDA danced before my eyes; I saw the sprightly wand'rers pour along, I saw and join'd again the joyous throng; Panting, again I traced her lofty grove, And friendship's feelings triumphed over love.* Yet, why should I alone with such delight, Retrace the circuit of my former flight? Is there no cause beyond the common claim Endear'd to all in childhood's very name? falls far short of the page in which he records an accidental | meeting with Lord Clare, on the road between Imola on! Bologna in 1821. "This meeting," he says, “annulated for a moment all the years between the present time and the days of Harrow. It was a new and inexplicable feeling, st rising from the grave, to me. Clare too was much agitate -more in appearance than was myself; for I could teel t heart beat to his fingers' ends, unless, indeed, it was the pt se of my own which made me think so. We were but five nu utes together, and on the public road; but I hardly recellest an hour of my existence which could be weighed against them."-We inay also quote the following interesting se tences of Madame Guiccioli :-" In 1822, (says she,) a few days before leaving Pisa, we were one evening seated in** garden of the Palazzo Lanfranchi. At this moment a servolat announced Mr. Hobhouse. The slight shade of melancho y diffused over Lord Byron's face gave instant place to the liveliest joy; but it was so great, that it almost deprived Esta of strength. A fearful paleness came over his cheeks, and his eyes were filled with tears as he embraced his frienal. his emotion was so great that he was forced to sit down"] Ah! sure some stronger impulse vibrates here, Stern Death forbade my orphan youth to share ALONZO best and dearest of my friends, Some loftier bard shall sing thy glorious name, [It has been reserved for our own time to produce one distinguished example of the Muse having descended upon a bard of a wounded spirit, and lent her lyre to tell, and we trast to soothe, afflictions of no ordinary description; afflicbens originating probably in that singular combination of feling, which has been called the poetical temperament, and which has so often saddened the days of those on whom 1 has been conferred. If ever a man could lay claim to that character in all its strength and all its weakness, with its unbounded range of enjoyment, and its exquisite sensibility of pleasure and of pain, it must certainly be granted to Lord Byron. His own tale is partly told in two lines of Lara: "Left by his sire, too young such loss to know, Lord of himself-that heritage of wo!" SIR WALTER SCOTT.] The Hon. John Wingfield, of the Coldstream Guards, rother to Richard, fourth Viscount Powerscourt. He died of a fever, in his twentieth year, at Coimbra, May 14th, 1811. "Of all human beings," says Lord Byron, "I was, perhaps, at one time, the most attached to poor Wingfield. I had known him the better half of his life, and the happiest part of mine." On hearing of the death of his beloved schoolfellow, be added the following stanzas to the first canto of Childe Harold And thou, my friend-since unavailing wo Friend of my heart, and foremost of the list Nor LYCUS! on me thy claims are justly great: Thy milder virtues could my muse relate, [The Rev. John Cecil Tattersall, B.A., of Christ Church, Oxford; who died Dec. 8, 1812, at Hall's Place, Kent, aged twenty-four. "His mind," says a writer in the Gent. Mag., "was comprehensive and perspicuous; his affections warm and sincere. Through extreme aversion to hypocrisy, he was so far from assuming the false appearances of virtue, that much of his real excellence was unseen, whilst he was eager to acknowledge every fault into which he was led. He was an ardent friend, a stranger to feelings of enmity; he lived in good faith towards men, and died with hope in God."] [The "factious strife" here recorded, was accidentally brought on by the breaking up of school, and the dismissal of some volunteers from drill, both happening at the same hour. On this occasion, it appears, the butt-end of a musket was aimed at Byron's head, and would have felled him to the ground, but for the interposition of Tattersall.] 6 [In the private volume: "Thus did you save that life I scarcely prize- [John Fitzgibbon, second Earl of Clare, born June 2, 1792. His father, whom he succeeded Jan. 28, 1802, was for nearly twelve years Lord Chancellor of Ireland. See ante, p. 416, note. His Lordship is now (1832) Governor of Bombay. "I never," says Lord Byron, in 1821,"hear the word Clare,' without a beating of the heart even now; and I write it with feelings of 1803-4-5, ad infinitum." Of the tenaciousness with which he clung to all the kindly impressions of his youth, there can be no stronger proof than the interesting fact, that after his death almost all the notes and letters which his principal school favorites had ever addressed to him were found preserved carefully among his papers. The following is the endorsement upon one of them: This and another letter were written at Harrow, by my then and, I hope, ever beloved friend, Lord Clare, when we were both schoolboys; and sent to my study in consequence of some childish misunderstanding, the only one which To thee alone, unrivall'd, would belong Shall fair EURYALUS pass by unsung? From ancient lineage, not unworthy sprung: What though one sad dissension bade us part, That name is yet embalm'd within my heart; Yet at the mention does that heart rebound, And palpitate, responsive to the sound. Envy dissolved our ties, and not our will: We once were friends,-I'll think we are so still." A form unmatch'd in nature's partial mould, A heart untainted, we in thee behold: Yet not the senate's thunder thou shalt wield, Nor seek for glory in the tented field; To minds of ruder texture these be givenThy soul shall nearer soar its native heaven. Haply, in polish'd courts might be thy seat, But that thy tongue could never forge deceit : The courtier's supple bow and sneering smile, The flow of compliment, the slippery wile, Would make that breast with indignation burn, And all the glittering snares to tempt thee spurn. Domestic happiness will stamp thy fate; Sacred to love, unclouded e'er by hate; ever arose between us. It was of short duration, and I retain this note solely for the purpose of submitting it to his perusal, that we may smile over the recollection of the insignificance of our first and last quarrel."] 1 [In the private volume, the following lines conclude this character: "Forever to possess a friend in thee, Was bliss unhoped, though not unsought by me. 2 [George-John, fifth Earl Delawarr, born Oct. 26, 1791; succeeded his father, John-Richard, July 28, 1795. This ancient family have been barons by the male line from 1342; their ancestor, Sir Thomas West, having been summoned to parliament, as Lord West, the 16th Edw. II. We find the following notices in some hitherto unpublished letters of Lord Byron:-"Harrow, Oct. 25, 1804.-I am happy enough and comfortable here. My friends are not numerous, but select. Among the principal I rank Lord Delawarr, who is very amiable, and my particular friend." "Nov. 2, 1804.Lord Delawarr is considerably younger than me, but the most good-tempered, amiable, clever fellow in the universe. To all which he adds the quality (a good one in the eyes of women) of being remarkably handsome. Delawarr and myself are, in a manner, connected; for one of my forefathers, in Charles the First's time, married into their family."] $ [It is impossible to peruse the following extract of a letter addressed to Lord Clare, in February, 1807, without acknowledging the noble candor and conscientiousness of the writer, "You will be astonished to hear I have lately written to Delawarr, for the purpose of explaining (as far as possible, The world admire thee, and thy friends adore ;Ambition's slave alone would toil for more. Now last, but nearest, of the social band, See honest, open, generous CLEON* stand; With scarce one speck to cloud the pleasing scene, No vice degrades that purest soul serene. On the same day our studious race begun, On the same day our studious race was run; Thus side by side we pass'd our first career, Thus side by side we strove for many a year; At last concluded our scholastic life, We neither conquer'd in the classic strife: As speakers" each supports an equal name, And crowds allow to both a partial fame : To soothe a youthful rival's early pride, Though Cleon's candor would the palm divide, Yet candor's self compels me now to own, Justice awards it to my friend alone. Oh! friends regretted, scenes forever dear, Remembrance hails you with her warmest tear! Drooping, she bends o'er pensive Fancy's urn, To trace the hours which never can return; Yet with the retrospection loves to dwell, And soothe the sorrows of her last farewell! Yet greets the triumph of my boyish mind, As infant laurels round my head were twined, When PROBUS' praise repaid my lyric song," Or placed me higher in the studious throng; Or when my first harangue received applause, His sage instruction the primeval cause, What gratitude to him my soul possess'd While hope of dawning honors fill'd my breast! For all my humble fame, to him alone The praise is due, who made that fame my own. without involving some old friends of mine in the business, the cause of my behavior to him during my last residence at Harrow, which you will recollect was rather en cavalier. Since that period I have discovered he was treated with injustice, both by those who misrepresented his conduct, anxi by me in consequence of their suggestions. I have, therefore, made all the reparation in my power, by apologizing for my mistake, though with very faint hopes of success. However, I have eased my own conscience by the atonement, which is humiliating enough to one of my disposition, yet I could not have slept satisfied with the reflection of having, even unintentionally, injured any individual. I have done all that could be done to repair the injury."] 4 [Edward Noel Long, Esq.-to whom a subsequent poem is addressed. See p. 424.] [This alludes to the public speeches delivered at the school where the author was educated.] Thus in the private volume "Yet in the retrospection finds relief, 7 ["I remember that my first declamation astonished Dr. Drury into some unwonted (for he was economical of suchi and sudden compliments before the declaimers at our first rehearsal."-Byron Diary.] 8 ["I certainly was much pleased with Lord Byron's attitude, gesture, and delivery, as well as with his composition. All who spoke on that day adhered, as usual, to the letter of their composition, as in the earlier part of his delivery did Lord Byron. But, to my surprise, he suddenly diverged from the written composition, with a boldness and rapidity sufficient to alarm_me, lest he should fail an memory as to the conclusion. There was no failure-he came round to the close of his composition without discovering any impediment and irregularity on the whole. I queStioned him, why he had altered his declamation? He declared he had made no alteration, and did not know, in speaking, that he had deviated from it one letter. I believed him, and from a knowledge of his temperament am convinced, that, fully impressed with the sense and substance of the subject, he was hurried on to expressions and colorings more striking than what his pen had expressed."-DR. DRURY j 9 [In the private volume the poem concludes thus : Oh! could I soar above these feeble lays, IDA! not yet exhausted is the theme, And chase the phantom of what once was mine. IDA! still o'er thy hills in joy preside, Tell me, ye hoary few, who glide along, Whose friends, like autumn leaves by tempests whirl'd, "When, vet a novice in the mimic art, I feign'd the transports of a vengeful heart- "Ah! vain endeavor in this childish strain The silent shaft which goads the guilty wretch *I am not a Joseph," said Lord Byron, in 1821, “nor a Scipio, but I can safely affirm, that I never in my life seduced any woman."] Revolve the fleeting moments of your youth, ANSWER TO A BEAUTIFUL POEM, ENTITLED "THE COMMON LOT." MONTGOMERY! true, the common lot Of mortals lies in Lethe's wave; Yet some shall never be forgot- My bosom feeds no worm which ne'er can die :'t Not crimes I mourn, but happiness gone by. 1["To Dr. Drury," observes Moore, "Lord Byron has left on record a tribute of affection and respect, which, like the reverential regard of Dryden for Dr. Busby, will long associate together honorably the names of the poet and the mas- | ter." The above is not, however, the only one. In a note to the fourth Canto of Childe Harold, he says, "My preceptor was the best and worthiest friend I ever possessed, whose warnings I have remembered but too well, though too late -when I have erred, and whose counsels I have but followed when I have done well or wisely. If ever this imperfect record of my feelings towards him should reach his eyes, let it remind him of one who never thinks of him but with gratitude and veneration-of one who would more gladly boast of having been his pupil, if by more closely following his injunctions, he could reflect any honor upon his instructor." We extract the following from some unpublished letters of Lord Byron : "Harrow, Nov. 2, 1804. There is so much of the gentle- ! man, so much mildness and nothing of pedantry in his character, that I cannot help liking him, and will remember his instructions with gratitude as long as I live. He is the best master we ever had, and at the same time respected and feared." "Nov. 11, 1804. I revere Dr. Drury. He is never violent, never outrageous. I dread offending him ;--not however, through fear; but the respect I bear him makes me unhappy when I am under his displeasure."] L'Amitié est l'Amour sans ailes," is a French proverb. | [See a subsequent poem, under this title ] 3 Written by James Montgomery, author of "The Wanderer in Switzerland," &c. ["We know enough even of Lord Byron's private history to give our warrant that, though his youth may have shared somewhat too largely in the indiscretions of those left too early masters of their own actions and fortunes, falsehood and malice alone can impute to him any real cause for hopeless remorse, or gloomy melancholy."-SIR W. SCOTT.] |