'choral vicar of Worcester Cathedral, who had abused "the said "liberty of transcript," by inserting in the 'Malvern Mercury Miss Seward's "Elegy on the 'South Pole," as her own production, with her own 'signature, two years after having taken a copy, by 'permission of the authoress-with regard, I say, to "the"liberty of transcript," I by no means oppose an 'occasional copy to the benevolent few, provided it ' does not degenerate into such licentiousness of Verb 'and Noun as may tend to "disparage my parts of 'speech" by the carelessness of the transcribblers. I do not think that there is much danger of the "King's Press being abused" upon the occasion, if 'the publishers of journals have any regard for their ' remaining liberty of person. It is as pretty a piece ' of invective as ever put publisher in the way to ""Botany." Therefore, if they meddle with it, it is at their peril. As for myself, I will answer any jon'tleman-though I by no means recognise a "right of search" into an unpublished production and un'avowed poem. The same applies to things published sans consent. I hope you like, at least, the conclud'ing lines of the Pome? What are you doing, and where are you? in England? Nail Murray-nail him to his own counter, 'till he shells out the thirteens. Since I wrote to you, I have sent him another tragedy-" Cain" by 'name-making three in MS. now in his hands, or in 'the printer's. It is in the Manfred, metaphysical style, and full of some Titanic declamation ;-Lucifer being one of the dram. pers., who takes Cain a voyage among the stars, and afterwards to "Hades," 'where he shows him the phantoms of a former world, ' and its inhabitants. I have gone upon the notion of VOL. III. S 'Cuvier, that the world has been destroyed three or four times, and was inhabited by mammoths, behe ' moths, and what not; but not by man till the Mosaic I period, as, indeed, is proved by the strata of bones 'found;-those of all unknown animals, and known, being dug out, but none of mankind. I have, there'fore, supposed Cain to be shown, in the rational 'Preadamites, beings endowed with a higher intelligence than man, but totally unlike him in form, and 'with much greater strength of mind and person. You may suppose the small talk which takes place 'between him and Lucifer upon these matters, is not quite canonical. The consequence is, that Cain comes back and 'kills Abel in a fit of dissatisfaction, partly with the politics of Paradise, which had driven them all out ' of it, and partly because (as it is written in Genesis) 'Abel's sacrifice was the more acceptable to the Deity. I trust that the Rhapsody has arrived-it is in three acts, and entitled "A Mystery," according to the former Christian custom, and in honour of ' what it probably will remain to the reader. 'Yours, &c.' LETTER 454. TO MR. MOORE. 'September 20th, 1821. 'After the stanza on Grattan, concluding with "His soul o'er the freedom implored and denied," will it 'please you to cause insert the following "Addenda,” ' which I dreamed of during to-day's Siesta: Ever glorious Grattan! &c. &c. &c. 'I will tell you what to do. Get me twenty copies of 'the whole carefully and privately printed off, as your lines were on the Naples affair. Send me six, ' and distribute the rest according to your own plea 'sure. 'I am in a fine vein, "so full of pastime and prodigality !"-So here's to your health in a glass of grog. Pray write, that I may know by return of 'post-address to me at Pisa. The gods give you 'joy! 'Where are you? in Paris? Let us hear. You 'will take care that there be no printer's name, nor 'author's, as in the Naples stanza, at least for the 'present.' Ravenna, September 20th, 1821. 'You need not send "the Blues," which is a mere 'buffoonery, never meant for publication *. The papers to which I allude, in case of survivor'ship, are collections of letters, &c., since I was six'teen years old, contained in the trunks in the care of 'Mr. Hobhouse. This collection is at least doubled by those I have now here, all received since my last 'ostracism. To these I should wish the editor to 'have access, not for the purpose of abusing confidences, nor of hurting the feelings of correspondents living, 'nor the memories of the dead; but there are things ' which would do neither, that I have left unnoticed ' or unexplained, and which (like all such things) time only can permit to be noticed or explained, though some are to my credit. The task will of course require delicacy; but that will not be wanting, if 'Moore and Hobhouse survive me, and, I may add, This short satire, which is wholly unworthy of his pen, appeared afterwards in the Liberal. 'yourself; and that you may all three do so, is, I assure you, my very sincere wish. I am not sure that long 'life is desirable for one of my temper and constitu⚫tional depression of spirits, which of course I suppress in society; but which breaks out when alone, ' and in my writings, in spite of myself. It has been 'deepened, perhaps, by some long-past events (I do 'not allude to my marriage, &c.-on the contrary, that raised them by the persecution giving a fillip to my spirits); but I call it constitutional, as I have 'reason to think it. You know, or you do not know, 'that my maternal grandfather (a very clever man, and amiable, I am told) was strongly suspected of 'suicide (he was found drowned in the Avon at Bath), ' and that another very near relative of the same 'branch took poison, and was merely saved by antidotes. For the first of these events there was no apparent cause, as he was rich, respected, and of 'considerable intellectual resources, hardly forty years of age, and not at all addicted to any unhinging vice. 'It was, however, but a strong suspicion, owing to the manner of his death and his melancholy temper. 'The second had a cause, but it does not become me to ' touch upon it: it happened when I was far too young 'to be aware of it, and I never heard of it till after the 'death of that relative, many years afterwards. I 'think, then, that I may call this dejection constitutional. I had always been told that I resembled 6 more my maternal grandfather than any of my father's family—that is, in the gloomier part of his temper, for he was what you call a good-natured C man, and I am not. The Journal here I sent to Moore the other day; 6 'but as it is a mere diary, only parts of it would ever 'do for publication. The other Journal of the Tour in 1816, I should think Augusta might let you have 'a copy of. I am much mortified that Gifford don't take to my 'new dramas. To be sure, they are as opposite to the English drama as one thing can be to another; but I 'have a notion that, if understood, they will in time 'find favour (though not on the stage) with the reader. 'The simplicity of plot is intentional, and the avoidance of rant also, as also the compression of the speeches in the more severe situations. What I 'seek to show in "the Foscaris" is the suppressed pas'sions, rather than the rant of the present day. For 'that matter 'Nay, if thou 'lt mouth, I'll rant as well as thou 'would not be difficult, as I think I have shown in my younger productions-not dramatic ones, to be sure. But, as I said before, I am mortified that Gif'ford don't like them; but I see no remedy, our notions on that subject being so different. How is he?-well, I hope? let me know. I regret his demur the more that he has been always my grand 'patron, and I know no praise which would compensate me in my own mind for his censure. I do not 'mind Reviews, as I can work them at their own ' weapons. Yours, &c. . Address to me at Pisa, whither I am going. The 'reason is, that all my Italian friends here have been exiled, and are met there for the present, and I go to 'join them, as agreed upon, for the winter.' |