With Barnes I oft my dinner took,
Nay, met e'en Horace Twiss to please him:
Yet Mister Barnes traduc'd my Book,
For which may his own devils seize him!
With Doctor Bowring I drank tea,
Nor of his cakes consumed a particle;
And yet th' ungrateful LL.D.
Let fly at me, next week, an article!
John Wilson gave me suppers hot,
With bards of fame, like Hogg and Packwood;
A dose of black-strap then I got,
And after a still worse of Blackwood.
Alas! and must I close the list
With thee, my Lockhart of the _Quarterly?_
So kind, with bumper in thy fist,--
With pen, so very gruff and tartarly.
Now in thy parlour feasting me,
Now scribbling at me from your garret,--
Till, 'twixt the two, in doubt I be,
Which sourest is, thy wit or claret?
Should you again see the Noble Scott before he goes, remember me most
affectionately to him. Ever yours,
Thomas Moore.
Mr. Murray now found himself at liberty to proceed with his cherished
scheme of a complete edition of Lord Byron's works.
_John Murray to Mr. Moore._
February 28, 1832.
When I commenced this complete edition of Byron's works I was so out of
heart by the loss upon the first edition of the "Life," and by the
simultaneous losses from the failure of three booksellers very largely
in my debt, that I had little if any hopes of its success, and I felt
myself under the necessity of declining your kind offer to edit it,
because I did not think that I should have had it in my power to offer
you an adequate remuneration.
Pages:
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628