"
Lord Byron's opinion of the article forms so necessary a complement to
Walter Scott's sympathetic criticism of the man and the poet, that we
make no excuse for reproducing it, as conveyed in a letter to Mr. Murray
(March 3, 1817).
"In acknowledging the arrival of the article from the _Quarterly_, which
I received two days ago, I cannot express myself better than in the
words of my sister Augusta, who (speaking of it) says, that it is
written in a spirit 'of the most feeling and kind nature.'
"It is, however, something more. It seems to me (as far as the subject
of it may be permitted to judge) to be very well written as a
composition, and I think will do the journal no discredit, because even
those who condemn its partiality, must praise its generosity. The
temptations to take another and a less favourable view of the question
have been so great and numerous, that, what with public opinion,
politics, etc., he must be a gallant as well as a good man who has
ventured in that place, and at this time, to write such an article, even
anonymously. Such things, however, are their own reward; and I even
flatter myself that the writer, whoever he may be (and I have no guess),
will not regret that the perusal of this has given me as much
gratification as any composition of that nature could give, and more
than any has given--and I have had a good many in my time of one kind or
the other.
Pages:
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309