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 REV. FRANCIS HODGSON, B.D. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 I
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. FRANCIS HODGSON, B.D. 
 
 SCHOLAR, POET, AND DIVINE 
 iadlitb numerous betters from aforb imrou anb others 
 
 BY HIS SON, THE 
 
 REV. JAMES T. HODGSON, M.A. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Xonbon 
 
 MAC MIL LAN AND CO. 
 
 1878 
 
 flu' virht of translation and re-h-rnduetitin is resented
 
 Pf? 
 
 V7<? D 
 
 v I 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This MEMOIR has been compiled from a hetero- 
 geneous mass of letters and papers left, altogether 
 without arrangement, by my father at his death in 
 1852. 
 
 A wish had for many years been entertained that 
 some account should be placed on record of a life 
 which, though devoid of stirring incident, was yet, 
 from its connections and sympathies, full of varied 
 interest. It was thought that enough of genius and 
 culture were displayed by Francis Hodgson to en- 
 title him to some biographical memoir, while his 
 friendship with Lord Byron seemed to demand a 
 more detailed description than any which could be 
 derived from fragmentary allusions in the numerous 
 notices of that most interesting life. It is hoped that 
 a perusal of these pages may tend to remove several 
 

 
 VI 1 : PREFACE. 
 
 misconceptions, to clear away many clouds, which 
 have hitherto prevented a just appreciation of the 
 character of Byron. 
 
 At the outset of my undertaking I was met by 
 two unusual deficiencies. Modern biography depends 
 in the main uoon one or other of two sources of in- 
 formation, personal recollections or original letters. 
 Neither of these advantages could I command, and 
 I have therefore been obliged to depart considerably 
 from the method usually adopted. Acting on the 
 principle that a man may more accurately be known 
 by his friendships than in any other way, I have en- 
 deavoured to make the letters of friends, as far as 
 possible, illustrative of the life and character of their 
 correspondent ; while, by indicating mutual opinions 
 on matters of contemporary interest, I might contri- 
 bute to the development of some aspect of the period 
 social, political, or literary. 
 
 That such a novel mode of procedure is liable to 
 much adverse criticism I am well aware : whether the 
 end has in any measure justified the means must be 
 left to the consideration of the reader.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Family history— Vaughans — Cokes — Mother's influence- 
 Entrance at Eton ........ i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1 794- 1 807. 
 
 Eton — Cambridge — Choice of a profession — Early friend- 
 ships ..... 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 1 807-1 808. 
 
 Translation of Juvenal — Contemporary critiques . . 51
 
 X CONTENTS OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 1808. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Extracts from reviews — Letters from William Gifford and 
 Dr. Ireland — Tutorship at King's 69 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 1 808- 1 809. 
 
 Commencement of friendship with Lonsdale and Lord 
 Byron — Notes of the latter on Pope— His religious im- 
 pressions — Letters from Byron and Gifford — Institution 
 of the 'Quarterly' — Public oratorship — Political allu- 
 sions — Lines to Lonsdale ...... 94 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 1810. 
 
 Letters from his father— Political allusions — Imprisonment 
 of Sir Francis Burdett — Political squibs — Lines by 
 Denman — Epitaph for Windham — Father's death. . 125 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1811. 
 
 Contributions to reviews — Early poems — Lines to Byron . 149 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 1811. 
 
 Letters from Byron — Meeting in London, and lines written 
 on the same day — Death of Matthews — Byron's first
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. XI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 will, and a poem on ' Newstead Abbey,' hitherto un- 
 published 162 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1811. 
 
 Correspondence with Byron on religious subjects . . 191 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 1811-1812. 
 
 Letters from Byron — Meeting at Cambridge — Prevention 
 by Hodgson of duel between Byron and Moore — Visit 
 to Newstead — More letters 209 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 1812. 
 
 Origin of Bland's 'Anthology' — Hodgson's contributions to 
 it — Sketch of Bland's life and passages from his letters. 226 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 1812-1813. 
 
 Correspondence with Drury and Merivale — A Rugby 
 examination — Assassination of Perceval — Duke of 
 Gloucester, Chancellor of Cambridge — Letter from 
 Lonsdale — ' Leaves of Laurel' 251
 
 xii CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 1813-1814. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Intended marriage — Byron's generosity — Letters from 
 Byron, Rogers, Prince Lucien Buonaparte, Mrs. Leigh, 
 and Miss Milbanke 267
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REV. FRANCIS HODGSON, B.D. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FAMILY HISTORY — VAUGHANS — COKES — MOTHER'S 
 INFLUENCE — ENTRANCE AT ETON. 
 
 ABOUT the middle of the last century the rectory of 
 Humber, in Herefordshire, was held by the Rev. 
 James Hodgson. 
 
 Born towards the close of the reign of Queen 
 Anne, in the year 171 1, he received his early educa- 
 tion at the school of Hawkshead, in the Lake District, 
 in Lancashire, at that time a school of considerable 
 importance, at which the poet Wordsworth was sub- 
 sequently educated. Ordained to the curacy of 
 Humber, he served that parish for many years as 
 curate before he was presented to its rectory by King 
 George III. His sound theological learning, and the 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 earnest piety of his disposition, are amply attested by 
 the many sensible and practical sermons which he 
 left ; and for the twenty years during which he held 
 the living he appears to have led the useful, unob- 
 trusive life of a country clergyman, in the faithful 
 discharge of his parochial duties, and in quiet inter- 
 course with the families in the neighbourhood. About 
 the year 1735 he married Elizabeth, daughter of the 
 Rev. Henry Vaughan, vicar of the neighbouring parish 
 of Leominster. 
 
 The general question of hereditary influences is 
 perhaps more fitted for the discussion of the gene- 
 alogist than of the biographer ; but when characteristic 
 traits are distinctly noticeable in successive genera- 
 tions of a family, some mention of them in a biography 
 cannot be considered to be foreign to its subject and 
 purpose. The intense love of poetry which exercised 
 so strong an influence upon the character of Francis 
 Hodgson, the subject of the present memoir, does not 
 appear to have been inherited from his father or 
 grandfather, although both exhibited a fondness for 
 classical compositions in prose and verse. But there 
 is more reason to suppose that the poetic faculty may 
 have descended to him from the family of Vaughans 
 into which his grandfather married. It may not 
 therefore be considered altogether irrelevant or un-
 
 THE POET VAUGHAN. 3 
 
 interesting to mention briefly what is known of this 
 talented family. 
 
 In the short biographical sketch appended to the 
 poems of Henry Vaughan, the Silurist, 1 edited by the 
 Rev. H. F. Lyte, some account is given of its origin. 
 We there read that 
 
 The poet Vaughan was descended from one of the 
 most ancient and respectable families of the Princi- 
 pality, deducing its pedigree from the ancient kings 
 of that country. Two of his ancestors, Sir Roger 
 Vaughan and Sir David Gam, lost their lives at the 
 battle of Agincourt. His great-grandmother was 
 Lady Frances Somerset, daughter of Thomas 
 Somerset, third son of Henry, Earl of Worcester ; 
 and the possessions of the Vaughan family were 
 very extensive, both in Brecknockshire and other 
 parts of Wales. The chief family residence was 
 the castle of Tretower, in the parish of Cwmdu, 
 and when it was dismantled, Skethrock or Scethrog, 
 in the same neighbourhood. At this latter place 
 Shakspeare is said to have paid a visit to one of 
 the family, and his commentator, Malone, thinks 
 that it was perhaps there that he picked up the 
 
 1 That part of the Welsh border in which the Vaughans lived was 
 called Siluria. 
 
 B 2
 
 4 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 word ' Puck,' concerning the origin of which some 
 of his critics have been much puzzled. ' Pooky,' in 
 Welsh, signifies a goblin, and near Skethrog exists 
 a valley Cwm-Pooky, the goblin's vale, which 
 belonged to the Vaughans, and which a tradition, 
 still extant, states to have been a favourite resort 
 of some distinguished bard, who had once visited 
 that neighbourhood. From Tretower Henry 
 Vaughan's grandfather migrated to Newton in the 
 parish of Llansainfread, and there, in 1621, the poet 
 was born. 
 
 His life presents a pleasing picture of pious 
 learning and loyal devotion to the cause of his king ; 
 and his poetry which is much in the style of George 
 Herbert, although of a more refined character through- 
 out, is replete with original sentiments clothed in 
 quaint but vigorous language. 
 
 It appears probable that the property of the 
 Vaughans was confiscated at the period of the Common- 
 wealth, sharing the fate which was common to that 
 of many other adherents of the Royal Cause. Be 
 this as it may, we find as a fact that in the next gene- 
 ration but one, the vicarage of Leominster, in the 
 same county, was held by the Rev. Henry Vaughan. 
 The father of the vicar is known to have been Dr.
 
 VAUGHAN CONNECTIONS. 5 
 
 William Vaughan, probably the son or nephew of 
 the poet, a physician at Leyden, and subsequently in 
 practice in London and at the court of Queen Mary, 
 wife of William III., whom he appears to have pre- 
 viously attended and to have accompanied to England. 
 In 1676 he married Miss Newton, sister of Sir Henry 
 Newton, who was employed by Queen Anne as envoy- 
 extraordinary to the great Duke of Tuscany, and to 
 the republic of Genoa. Sir Henry Newton married 
 a Manning, and his two daughters, Mary and Cathe- 
 rine, married respectively Henry Rodney, the father 
 of the distinguished admiral Lord Rodney, and Lord 
 Aubrey Beauclerk, youngest son of the first Duke of 
 St. Albans. With the latter lady, who was his first 
 cousin, Henry Vaughan, vicar of Leominster, had 
 much interesting correspondence. In one of her 
 letters she begs him to write an epitaph on her father, 
 Sir Henry Newton, ' whose life,' she adds, ' a gentle- 
 man is writing at Gottingen ; who writes the life I know 
 not, nor where Gottingen is at this present.' The 
 MS. copy of this epitaph by Henry Vaughan is 
 extant, and is a curious specimen of the lapidary Latin 
 of the period. An English translation is appended 
 to it, at the close of which its readers are reminded 
 that 
 
 On his return from Genoa (having discharged his high
 
 6 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 trust with successful fidelity) he was, by Her Ma- 
 jesty's Royal munificence, appointed Master of St. 
 Catharine's Hospital. In the beginning of the reign 
 of King George I. he was made judge of the High 
 Court of Admiralty as a proof of the high esteem 
 that wise prince had of his knowledge and integrity. 
 A lover he was of good men and by them beloved, 
 but in an especial manner dear to the renowned 
 Lord Somers, Chancellor of England ; whose friend- 
 ship was an honour he worthily accounted among 
 the greatest which he enjoyed. In the execution 
 of his office whilst he was doing his duty, he 
 died. His most loving wife, mortally wounded 
 with the same stroke, scarcely surviving, sighed 
 away her breath, faithful companion of his life and 
 death. 
 
 Henry Vaughan was acquainted with Dean Swift, 
 and appears to have been a cultivated and agreeable 
 person. His sermons are sensible and pointed, and 
 his tenure of the vicarage was distinguished by energy 
 and prudence, to which ample testimony is borne by 
 the ' History of Leominster,' lately republished. He 
 was vicar nearly forty years. During his incumbency 
 many important improvements were made in the 
 beautiful parish church, now undergoing restoration by
 
 HIS GREAT-GRANDFATHER. J 
 
 Sir Gilbert Scott. The adorning of the altar by Mr. 
 Locke in 1725, the augmentation of the benefice in 
 1730 by the collection of ^400, half paid by the 
 parishioners and half by Queen Anne's Bounty ; the 
 grants given by the vestry for the daily reading of the 
 prayers ; the reflooring and levelling of the north 
 ■aisle in 1734; the erection of the first organ after 
 the fire in 1737; the increase and recasting of the 
 bells in 1756: all these various proceedings speak of 
 a good understanding between himself and his parish- 
 ioners, and are memorials of his work and usefulness. 
 They are, moreover, interesting as evidences of religious 
 earnestness at a period which it is the fashion of 
 the present day to decry as altogether barren of 
 ecclesiastical energy, and equally devoid of all zeal 
 and practical improvement in matters connected with 
 Church work and discipline. 
 
 The vicar died in 1762 aged 75, and was buried 
 by his son-in-law, the Rev. James Hodgson, rector of 
 Humber, in woollen, pursuant to the statute in that 
 case made and provided. This statute, which was 
 repealed in the reign of George III., was passed in 
 1678 for the encouragement of the woollen trades. 
 He had two sons, of one of which there remains a 
 copy of poems in manuscript under the title ' Poema- 
 tum Miscellaneorum Eruditissimi Domini Gulielmi
 
 8 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Vaughan ex oppido Leominstriae Editio novissima, 
 1737.' Their style is not unlike that of Henry 
 Vaughan, the Swan of the Usk, of whom mention has 
 been made above, and the poetry comprises a curious 
 combination of classical and religious subjects, pastoral 
 poems and love songs being strangely intermingled 
 with arguments against atheism such as, it is to be 
 feared, a modern sceptic would scarcely consider con- 
 vincing. Several of these poems are addressed to the 
 writer's sister, Mrs. Hodgson. 
 
 Henry Vaughan, the favourite physician of George 
 IV, who, on being created a baronet, assumed the 
 arms and surname of Sir Charles Halford, whose 
 widow he married ; Sir John Vaughan, judge of the 
 Common Pleas; Dr. Peter Vaughan, Dean of Chester; 
 and Sir Charles Vaughan, envoy-extraordinary to the 
 United States, were great-grandsons of the vicar of 
 Leominster ; and Dr. Vaughan, the present master of 
 the Temple, is his great-great-grandson. 
 
 James, the son of James and Elizabeth Hodgson 
 {nee Vaughan), was educated at Charterhouse under 
 Dr. Crusius, and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, 
 in 1766, where he took the usual degrees. The ex- 
 penses for taking an M.A. degree a hundred years ago 
 may be amusingly compared with those of the present 
 day.
 
 HIS FATHER. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 For a Liceat to do Ouodlibets . . .006 
 For Six Wall- Lectures . . . ..030 
 For a Liceat to do Augustines . . .0140 
 For Ditto to Declamations . . ..076 
 For Ditto to Examination . . . . o 10 o 
 For the use of Schools and Hoods . ..040 
 
 To Proctor's Men 020 
 
 To Dispensations — Regency Degree ..790 
 To the Xt. Ch: Library . . . .0180 
 
 To the Presenter o 10 6 
 
 To the Common Room . . . .068 
 
 To Gown 1 18 o 
 
 To Hood 1 10 o 
 
 To Cap 076 
 
 To Scout for Attendance . . . .050 
 
 &S 5 
 
 In 1771, James Hodgson the younger was 
 ordained deacon as curate to his father's church of 
 Humber, in the rectory of which he subsequently 
 succeeded his father. Two years later he took priest's 
 orders, and, being a sound scholar and noted for im- 
 pressive eloquence in the pulpit, he had not long to 
 wait for preferment. In 1774, through the influence of 
 the first Lord Liverpool, who was also a Carthusian, 
 he was appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 to the mastership of the school and hospital founded 
 by Archbishop Whitgift at Croydon, to which was
 
 IO MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 attached the neighbouring rectory of Keston. In the 
 following year he married Jane, daughter of the Rev. 
 Richard Coke of Lower Moor, in his native county of 
 Herefordshire, and on November 16, 1781, his second 
 son, Francis, was born at Croydon. 
 
 The tender affection which Francis Hodgson ever 
 entertained towards his mother and her family evi- 
 dently exercised a strong influence upon his dis- 
 position, and hereditary Coke characteristics were 
 manifested in many traits of his character. A 
 memoir of his life would therefore be incomplete 
 without some brief notice of this ancient, and, in the 
 case of several of its members, distinguished family. 
 Further particulars which had been written for this 
 memoir have been anticipated by the ' Life of Lord 
 Melbourne,' whose descent from the Cokes in the 
 female line was precisely similar to that of Francis 
 Hodgson. 
 
 Originally settled in Derbyshire, the Cokes were 
 located about its borders from the time of the Norman 
 Conquest. In the 'History of Melbourne' in that 
 county it is stated that the first member of the 
 family actually resident within the limits of Der- 
 byshire was one Robert Coke, who established himself 
 at Trusley in the reign of Edward II. His descend- 
 ants for some centuries after this were content to
 
 THE COKES. I I 
 
 enjoy their position as lords of the land, ambitious 
 only to add lustre to the good name which the family 
 had held from the remotest antiquity, and to pursue 
 the quiet yet useful lives of English country gentle- 
 men. It is probable that the Norfolk Cokes, to 
 which the Great Chief-Justice Sir Edward Coke 
 belonged (of whom, notwithstanding his many faults, 
 no less an authority than Lord Bacon has said that 
 ' Without him the law had been like a ship without 
 ballast '), and from whom the earls of Leicester are 
 lineally descended, were a branch of this family. 
 About 1570 Richard Coke of Trusley married Mary 
 Sacheverell, who inherited from her father considerable 
 possessions in Nottinghamshire. Their joint fortune 
 enabled them to acquire possession of Melbourne 
 Castle in South Derbyshire, originally part of the 
 royal demesne, and annexed by King John, by a 
 strange caprice of patronage, to the see of Carlisle, 
 as an episcopal residence. Their eldest son, Sir 
 Francis Coke, married a daughter of the celebrated 
 Denzil, Lord Holies ; Sir John Coke, his brother, 
 became Secretary of State to Charles I ; while a third 
 son, George, obtained the see of Bristol and after- 
 wards that of Hereford. Sir John Coke was a fellow 
 of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1584, and was 
 elected to the professorship of rhetoric in that Univer-
 
 I 2 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 sity, 1 in which employment he so distinguished 
 himself by his ingenious and critical lectures, that 
 rhetoric seemed to be not so much an art to him as his 
 nature. Then after travelling beyond the seas for 
 some time and returning rich in languages, remarks, 
 and experience, he retired into the country as a private 
 gentleman until he was more than fifty years of age, 
 when, ' upon some reputation he had for industry 
 and diligence, he was called to a painful employment 
 in the navy, which he discharged well, and was made 
 secretary thereof.' He was Secretary of State for 
 about twenty years, representing his University in 
 Parliament ; and Lord Clarendon, who had a strong 
 prejudice against him, is obliged to confess that the 
 secretary had gotten Latin learning enough,' and 
 there are evidences still extant to prove that he was 
 a statesman of no mean capabilities ; prudent, 
 thoughtful, honourable, and endowed with a cultivated 
 taste and polished mind. 
 
 The 'History of Melbourne' gives a picturesque 
 account of the ancient art of falconry, to which the 
 secretary and his son and daughter were particularly 
 attached. They kept several ' castes ' of falcons, and 
 in their quaint letters make many allusions to hawks 
 and hawking. Sir John the younger, who was 
 
 1 Clarendon's History of the Rebellion.
 
 BISHOP OF HEREFORD. I 3 
 
 knighted during his father's lifetime, sat in the Long 
 Parliament, and was one of the judges on Strafford's 
 trial, writes humorously : 
 
 Mr. Harpur, son of Sir John Harpur of Calke, comes 
 often hither (to Melbourne), pretending to see my 
 hawks fly, but in reality to see my sister. 
 
 George Coke, brother to the secretary, was made 
 Bishop of Bristol in 1632, and translated to Hereford 
 in 1636. He was one of those bishops who signed 
 the petition and protestation to Charles I. and the 
 House of Lords against any laws which had been 
 passed during their enforced and violent absence from 
 the House ; and upon the accusation of high treason 
 by the Commons, he was, with the other subscribers, 
 committed to the Tower of London, where they 
 remained until the bill for putting them into the 
 House was passed, which was not until many months 
 after. 1 The committee of Hereford confiscated his 
 estates in the parish of Eardisley, and he was depen- 
 dent upon his relations for maintenance. Walker, in 
 his ' Sufferings of the Clergy,' says that this hard 
 usage hastened his death, which happened in 1646 ; 
 though Lloyd says that he bore his sufferings with 
 admirable calmness and serenity, and adds that he 
 
 1 Burke's Commoners of England.
 
 14 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 was a pious and learned man. Lord Clarendon also 
 describes him as meek, grave, and quiet, and much 
 beloved by those who were subject to his jurisdiction. 
 
 The bishop died in 1646, and was buried in 
 Eardisley Church. In Hereford Cathedral a hand- 
 some cenotaph was raised to his memory, which has 
 lately been restored by some of his descendants. In 
 the inscription on this cenotaph we are told that he 
 ennobled his generous birth with every instance of 
 virtue worthy of his ancestors ; and though every 
 allowance must be made for the unchastened spirit of 
 the Restoration, in which, as has been justly observed, 
 the inscription was written, there can be but little 
 doubt that he was a person of distinguished learning, 
 of great firmness and discretion, and of a singular 
 piety. 
 
 From Secretary Coke was descended the Right 
 Honourable Thomas Coke, Vice-Chamberlain to 
 Queen Anne, who married, first, a daughter of Lord 
 Chesterfield ; afterwards, Miss Hale, a maid of honour 
 to the Queen, remarkable for her beauty and accom- 
 plishments. She appears to have been a favourite 
 with the Duchess of Marlborough, who describes her 
 as ' a verie pretty young woman, and of a verie good 
 family.' Swift says, in his Journal to Stella : 
 
 Mr. Coke, the Vice-Chamberlain, made me a long
 
 VICE-CHAMBERLAIN COKE. I 5 
 
 visit this morning, but the toast, his lady, was 
 unfortunately engaged to Lady Sutherland. She 
 was also en terms of friendship with the poet Gay. 
 Lord Chesterfield, writing to his daughter, Lady 
 Mary Coke, complains of his own son, Wootton 
 Stanhope, and wishes that he was like her husband, 
 Mr. Coke, and adds : ' If in his place I had a son 
 like your husband, I should have gone out of the 
 world with the satisfaction of believing that I had 
 left one behind me who would make one of the 
 greatest men in England.' Mr. Coke's society was 
 much sought by the wits and fine gentlemen of the 
 day. With Lord Bolingbroke, particularly, he was 
 on terms of the greatest intimacy ; with the great 
 Duke and Duchess of Marlborough he was well 
 acquainted, and is said to have been the original of 
 Pope's Sir Plume in the ' Rape of the Lock.' 
 
 Charlotte Coke, daughter of the Vice-Chamber- 
 lain, in 1755 married Sir Matthew Lamb, and (her 
 brother dying without issue) succeeded to Melbourne 
 Castle, which thus became the property of her hus- 
 band's family, and gave his title to her son, the first 
 Lord Melbourne, the father of the great Prime 
 Minister. 
 
 The wife of the Rev. James Hodgson was de-
 
 l6 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 scended in the direct male line from the Bishop of 
 Hereford. She died at the early age of thirty-six, 
 and her son, Francis, cherished her memory with 
 affectionate reverence to the last years of his life. 
 Her husband has left a touching tribute to her worth, 
 written soon after her death, which gives some idea 
 of the pure maternal influences which, doubtless, had 
 no slight share in developing the gentle and deeply 
 religious temperament of her son. 
 
 She was naturally disposed to be grave and serious 
 in her manners, and even in youth had none of 
 that trifling levity which is so common in the 
 generality of young people. . . . Ever to be honoured 
 as well as loved, she had such a gentleness, such 
 a graceful composure in all she said and did, such 
 a desire to oblige, such a modest attention to her 
 friends, as made her company more delightful than 
 I can now express. Fond of retirement, her sole 
 study was my happiness and welfare, and that of 
 her children and family. Her steady perseverance 
 in what her strong good sense showed her was 
 right, her scorn of whatever was extravagant, mean, 
 or base, her superiority to all that was vain or 
 frivolous, the decided preference which she gave to 
 what was solid and useful to all that was showy 
 and unnecessary, were excellencies that place her
 
 HIS MOTHER. I J 
 
 above most married women. But as a mother she 
 shone with still brighter lustre. It was with her a 
 most sacred duty to attend to every circumstance 
 that was nearly or remotely connected with the 
 health and improvement of her children ; she never, 
 in any one instance, nor in the most trying situa- 
 tions, remitted in the smallest degree that love and 
 anxious care she felt for them. Sleep, and food, 
 and friends, and health, all were sacrificed to them. 
 She lived for them, and her end was probably 
 accelerated by her unwearied solicitude for their 
 good. Her religious principles, formed by edu- 
 cation, were confirmed by reflection and the daily 
 practice of prayer and reading the Scriptures, 
 which were her chief delight. Her sincere faith in 
 the Gospel supported her alike in sorrows and 
 sickness, and, speaking peace at the last, enabled 
 her to meet her fate with the same composed 
 resignation which she possessed in all her life. 
 
 Francis Hodgson himself always attributed his 
 intense fondness for Holy Scripture to his early 
 religious training and to the daily reading of the 
 Psalms at his mother's knee. He felt her loss 
 keenly for many years after her death, which occurred 
 when he was quite young. His elementary classical 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 1 8 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 education was conducted by his father, of whom he 
 writes in terms of deep gratitude and affection ; and 
 in July 1794 he was sent to Eton, passed his 
 examination for college at that election, and so first 
 became a member of that great foundation, over 
 which, after the lapse of nearly half a century, he was 
 destined to preside as Provost.
 
 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ETON— CAMBRIDGE — CHOICE OF A PROFESSION — 
 EARLY FRIENDSHIPS. 
 
 1794— 1807. 
 
 Of Eton life at the end of the last and beginning of 
 the present century there is no very exact record. 
 Although the discomforts of Long Chamber, the 
 abuse of the fagging system, and the other various 
 defects of diet, discipline, and accommodation which 
 have so often and so feelingly been described by those 
 who were subjected to them, had not, perhaps, at 
 this period, reached their height, yet the condition of 
 the collegers was certainly not such as Henry VI. 
 intended it to be, and Hodgson, from boyhood until 
 the end of his life, always entertained earnest wishes 
 for its improvement. How these wishes were even- 
 tually fulfilled the account of his Provostship will show. 
 Mr. John Keate, afterwards the renowned Head 
 Master Dr. Keate, was Hodgson's tutor at Eton, and 
 
 maintained a cordial friendship with him throughout 
 
 c 2
 
 20 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 his life. When in 1840 it was suggested to Hodgson 
 that he should stand for the Provostship, he refused 
 to do so until he had ascertained that his old friend 
 and tutor had ceased to desire it. 
 
 Among his Eton contemporaries were many boys 
 who were subsequently distinguished in Church and 
 State. William Lamb, afterwards the great Lord 
 Melbourne, John Bird Sumner, Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, Lancelot Shadwell, the Vice-Chancellor, 
 George Thackeray, Provost of King's College, Cam- 
 bridge, Henry Drury, the distinguished Harrow 
 Master, were, by a few years, his seniors at Eton ; 
 while among his juniors were Scrope Davies and 
 Charles Skinner Matthews, of both of whom Byron has 
 left an interesting account, John Lonsdale, Bishop 
 of Lichfield, Benjamin Heath Drury, the witty and 
 original Eton Master, and Gaily Knight, the antiquary 
 and writer upon art. With all of these Hodgson was 
 more or less intimate in after years ; while with 
 Edward Craven Hawtrey, who was several years 
 younger, he subsequently formed a warm friendship 
 which he maintained until the end of his life. 
 
 At Eton his love of learning was fully indulged, 
 and he wandered widely over the fields of French and 
 English literature without, in any measure, sacrificing 
 that which, at the period of which we are speaking,
 
 KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 2 I 
 
 was considered the one essential of an Eton educa- 
 tion, classical scholarship, elegant as well as accurate. 
 A manuscript copy of his ' Ludi Juveniles,' written 
 in 1798, contains many Greek and Latin verses of a 
 very high order of merit, while the soundness and 
 solidity of his classical knowledge is amply attested 
 by several terse and vigorous Latin essays. In 1799 
 he was elected to a scholarship at King's College, 
 Cambridge, where he took the usual degrees, being 
 excluded from public classical competition by the 
 prejudicial restrictions then imposed upon Kingsmen 
 His own description of his college at this period 
 expresses forcibly how detrimental such restrictions 
 were to the best interests of University education. 
 
 Our having all been at the same school certainly 
 deadened emulation by placing us in that rank at 
 Cambridge in which we relatively stood at Eton. 
 Neither had we any public honours to contend for ; 
 and ambition thus too often expired in indolence. 
 
 The force of this observation is not materially 
 affected by the fact that King's is pre-eminent among 
 colleges for the number of its distinguished ' alumni.' 
 The excellence of the Eton education which all 
 Kingsmen had previously enjoyed was at all times 
 exceptional, and the impossibility of gaining Univer-
 
 2 2 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 sity distinction may have acted as an incentive to in- 
 creased exertion in the great contest of life, upon those 
 ardent spirits who did not accept the honours which 
 their Alma Mater can bestow as the highest summit 
 of human ambition. One of the necessary evils of 
 the competitive system is undoubtedly to be found in 
 the fact that in many cases it affixes too final and 
 conclusive an estimate of a young man's powers. If 
 in his own opinion, as well as in that of his contem- 
 poraries, a youth of twenty-two or twenty-three leaves 
 college with the brand of a second or third class 
 upon him, there is certainly danger, unless his temper- 
 ament is unusually sanguine, that he should accept 
 the examiner's decision as final. It may be argued 
 with undoubted truth that real merit will make its 
 way against all such temporary obstacles ; but when 
 we consider the many circumstances which may con- 
 tribute to unmerited failure -such, for instance, as 
 illness at the times of the examinations, the almost 
 irresistible influences of a fast and noisy college, 
 the want of pecuniary means to complete the full 
 University career, too often necessitating the work of 
 tuition in vacations in order to eke out a scanty 
 income — we cannot but feel the utter unfairness of 
 which many narrow-minded persons are guilty when 
 they accept that certificate as final which in reality
 
 EARLY STUDIES. 23 
 
 merely announces what a man has done at a certain 
 period of his life, and gives no conclusive clue 
 whatever to what he can do. 
 
 One special advantage may, moreover, be men- 
 tioned in connection with the absence of competitive 
 examinations. Not being required to be constantly 
 engaged in preparation of a special character, a na- 
 turally studious youth had leisure for far more exten- 
 sive reading than would otherwise have been possible, 
 and perhaps was sufficiently compensated for the loss 
 of University prizes by the acquirement of a wider 
 and more general stock of knowledge. 
 
 But notwithstanding the impossibility of public 
 competition, Francis Hodgson's abilities were not 
 overlooked, and by those of his contemporaries who 
 were most competent to judge he was considered as 
 one of the best classical scholars of his time at Cam- 
 bridge. 
 
 His vacations were spent chiefly at Croydon, and 
 at Lower Moor in Herefordshire, the home of his 
 mother's kindred, the Cokes ; and his home studies, 
 carried on under his father's supervision, were partici- 
 pated in by a young nobleman, who was destined 
 to attain to the highest eminence. Two of his 
 father's pupils at this time were sons of a brother- 
 Carthusian the first Lord Liverpool. The eldest of
 
 24 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 these brothers, then Lord Hawkesbury, became after- 
 wards, as second Lord Liverpool, one of the most 
 illustrious Prime Ministers who ever presided over the 
 destinies of this country. With him Mr. Hodgson 
 read, among other subjects, Locke's two great works 
 on ' The Conduct of the Understanding ' and ' The 
 Essay on the Human Understanding ; ' and it was, 
 doubtless, during these early holiday readings that 
 Francis Hodgson imbibed that taste for metaphysical 
 studies which subsequently led to his being appointed 
 to the lectureship on metaphysics in his college. 
 With the younger brother, 1 Cecil Jenkinson, who was 
 a few years his junior, Hodgson formed a warm 
 boyish friendship, and in their studies and amuse- 
 ments they appear to have derived mutual satisfaction 
 from one another's society. The following are some 
 of the authors which are recorded as having been 
 among those which they read together : — Plato, De- 
 mosthenes, Homer, Cicero (with ' Middleton's Life '), 
 Sir W. Raleigh's ' Persian History,' Bacon on ' The Ad- 
 vancement of Learning.' Lord Liverpool's views on his 
 son's education, though full of sound sense and judg- 
 ment, may, doubtless, be thought peculiar in the pre- 
 sent day. But they are interesting as an illustration 
 of the idea of a liberal education entertained by an 
 
 1 Afterwards third Lord Liverpool.
 
 CLASSICAL READING. 25 
 
 intelligent nobleman at the commencement of the 
 present century. 
 
 Greek. 
 
 To read Herodotus till Cecil appears tired of it. 
 Then to read Xenophon's ' Anabasis,' and then to 
 read Plato's ' Phaedo ' and some of his other dia- 
 logues. Whenever he has finished these, which will 
 probably be in the course of the year, then to 
 resume Homer, and to read about eight more 
 books, as Mr. Hall says the Westminster scholars 
 always read in the whole twelve books before they 
 come to Christ Church, and never more. 
 
 Latin. 
 To begin with reading the ' Third Decad of Livy,' 
 or some part of Cicero's works, or to take them 
 occasionally, one after the other. Of Cicero's 
 works Lord L. doubts whether Cecil had not better 
 read the ' Quaestiones Academical ; ' and he is of 
 opinion that he should continue to read one or 
 other of these books till the beginning of the 
 summer, when he may read two of the ' Satires ' of 
 Juvenal — that is, those translated by Johnson — and 
 one of the best ' Satires ' of Persius. These will 
 lead him to read with effect Horace's ' Epistles and
 
 26 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Satires ; ' his understanding will by that time pro- 
 bably be equal fully to comprehend the sense and 
 wit of Horace's writings, and he will be able to 
 compare the different characters of the three 
 Roman satirists. Lord Liverpool wishes that 
 Cecil's reading in Latin with Mr. Hodgson may 
 conclude with a book or two of Tacitus ; but this 
 should be his last business. Any intermediate 
 time may be filled up with reading again Virgil's 
 ' Georgics,' some of Martial's best ' Epigrams,' or 
 a play or two of Terence, or perhaps a book of 
 Claudian. 
 
 English. 
 
 Cecil has read so many English books that Lord 
 L. is at a loss to recommend what book he 
 should read after he has finished Sir Walter 
 Raleigh's History. He has lent him Lord Moles- 
 worth's account of ' The Revolution in Denmark,' 
 and an old ' History of the Czar Peter the First' 
 Lord Molesworth's book is an excellent one, and 
 he wishes him to read this soon, because he may 
 then read Vertot's ' Revolutions of Sweden,' which 
 contains a short but excellent account of the history 
 of that country to the death of the first Gustavus, 
 and this book is truly classical. He should then
 
 FRENCH LITERATURE. 2*] 
 
 read the life of Gustavus Adolphus, King of 
 Sweden, who, in conjunction with Cardinal Riche- 
 lieu, broke the power of the House of Austria. 
 He may then read Voltaire's ' Charles XII.,' who 
 destroyed the power of the Swedish monarchy by 
 his mad conceits. This is an amusing book, but 
 not a good one. He may also read Vertot's 
 ' Revolution of Portugal,' which is excellent, and 
 as amusing as any novel that ever was written. 
 Lord Liverpool will send him Cartesa's ' History 
 of Catharine II.,' which Lord H. 1 commends greatly, 
 and says it contains more information respecting 
 the Russian empire than any book he ever met 
 with. It is singular that Cecil hardly ever reads 
 either any English or French poetry. He has said 
 repeatedly to Lord L. that he ought to read these 
 books and that he is determined to read them, 
 though they give him no great pleasure ; and it is 
 observable that after he has begun any book of 
 this kind he generally lays it aside. It would not 
 be right to press him upon this point ; he will pro- 
 bably take these sorts of books up, at some future 
 period, when he can relish them ; but Lord L. 
 submits to Mr. Hodgson whether, when they are in 
 want of some English book to read together, they 
 
 1 Lord Holland (?).
 
 28 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 might not read Milton's ' Paradise Lost,' and per- 
 haps Shakespeare's play of ' Othello,' which in point 
 of composition is the most correct of all his 
 plays. 
 
 Mathematics. 
 
 Cecil, while he has been at home during these short 
 holidays, has applied himself to Algebra, and 
 appears to have made some progress in it and 
 begins to find it not difficult. He should be left to 
 proceed in this branch of knowledge as his inclina- 
 tion may direct him. — In the foregoing plan Lord 
 L. has endeavoured to trace his general ideas, as it 
 will be some time now before he returns to Addis- 
 combe. He does not mean, however, that these 
 ideas should be pursued either in contradiction to 
 the judgment of Mr. Hodgson, or to any particular 
 inclinations which Cecil may occasionally disclose. 
 He is certain that the best way of instructing a 
 young man, with a view to eminence, is to suffer 
 him to pursue those studies for which he shows the 
 greatest inclination, and to which his talents are 
 more particularly fitted. 
 
 This plan was supplemented by a letter written 
 soon afterwards.
 
 LORD LIVERPOOL ON EDUCATION. 29 
 
 London: January 4, 1800. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have thought much on the paper I gave 
 you respecting the future plan of Cecil's education. 
 I wrote it in a great hurry, and traced out in 
 general what occurred to me. I wish only that 
 such parts of it may be executed, as may appear to 
 you to be practicable, and may not, from its labour, 
 give any disgust to my son ; my great object, how- 
 ever, is that as long as he is under your tuition, he 
 should direct his principal attention to the Greek 
 and Latin languages. His general reading both in 
 English and French has been so very extensive, 
 and so far exceeds what has usually been read by a 
 person of his age, that any further progress therein 
 ought to give way to his improvement in the two 
 learned languages. These he can only learn at 
 present. The former he may resume at any time, 
 and I have no doubt that his natural disposition 
 will incline him to resume it. I have already 
 observed, in the paper I gave you, that as his pur- 
 suit in mathematics is a favourite object of his own 
 he should be left to proceed in that at leisure times 
 as his inclination may direct him. I am sorry to 
 give you this trouble, but I have thought it right in 
 this manner freely to explain myself, as you must 
 be sensible how much I have this object at heart,
 
 30 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 and how much I am interested in my son's future 
 
 welfare. I beg my best compliments to Mrs. 
 
 Hodgson, and I am, my dear sir, with great 
 
 regard, 
 
 Your faithful, humble servant, 
 
 Liverpool. 
 
 A boyish letter from the subject cf this anxious 
 father's solicitude to his friend Francis Hodgson, at 
 Cambridge, presents, in its light-hearted simplicity, 
 an amusing contrast. 
 
 My dear Frank, — I must make you a great many 
 apologies for not having written before, which I 
 assure you I have not had time to do. We have 
 gone on in the old way since I saw you, and have 
 finished the ' Life of Agricola ' and the third book 
 of Xenophon's 'Anabasis.' I was glad to hear you 
 were so fortunate as to meet with some of your 
 friends in the stage-coach in which you returned to 
 Cambridge. I hope you do not find the college 
 very empty and dull. I have, since you left Croy- 
 don, read that novel you were so much pleased 
 with, ' Castle St. Donats.' I like it very much, 
 except the last volume. Is Bacon returned to 
 college ? if he is, pray remember me to him. Your 
 father has begun to make preparations for his
 
 REMOVAL TO YORKSHIRE. 31 
 
 departure hence ; we next week remove to the 
 dining-room, and prosecute our studies there, as 
 the library is to be totally gutted. Pray write to 
 me soon and let me know how 'Josephus' goes on, 
 which Mr. H. informs me you have begun. I have 
 been but once, a-shooting since I saw you ; I shot 
 one snipe, the first I ever killed in my life. Have 
 you been after the hounds lately ? 
 
 I am, dear Frank, 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 C. Jenkinson. 
 
 The departure alluded to in this letter refers to 
 Mr. Hodgson's removal to Barvvick-in-Elmet, near 
 Leeds, a valuable Yorkshire living which Lord Liver- 
 pool's influence had procured for him from the Chan- 
 cellor. This removal, although it brought with it an 
 increase of fortune, must, for many reasons, have been 
 a source of regret. The neighbourhood of Croydon 
 at this period was by no means devoid of interest. 
 From 1793 to 1802 the vicarage was held by the 
 Rev. John Ireland, afterwards the distinguished Dean 
 of Westminster, and founder of the Greek scholarship 
 at Oxford which bears his name ; and his old friend 
 and schoolfellow William Gifford, author of the 
 ' Baviad ' and ' Maeviad,' and editor of the ' Quarterly
 
 32 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Review,' was a frequent visitor at the vicarage. Both 
 of these eminent scholars and men of letters were 
 acquainted with Francis Hodgson in his youth and 
 early manhood, and took a kindly and considerate 
 interest in his career. 
 
 About the year 1800 Louis Philippe paid a visit 
 to Addiscombe, and young Hodgson had the honour 
 of meeting him — an honour which was renewed under 
 somewhat different circumstances forty years after- 
 wards, at Windsor Castle. 
 
 At Cambridge several valuable friendships were 
 added to those already formed at Eton and Croydon. 
 Thomas Denman, the future Chief Justice, and John 
 Herman Merivale, were undergraduates at St. John's; 
 Robert Bland, editor of the 'Anthology,' was at 
 Pembroke ; Harry Drury was a fellow of King's. 
 With all of these Hodgson formed affectionate inti- 
 macies, which were only terminated by death. A 
 kind of club was founded for the promotion of good 
 fellowship and sociability ; letters were constantly 
 interchanged in prose and verse, on subjects of reli- 
 gion, politics, philosophy, classical and modern litera- 
 ture ; and the warmest interest was maintained by 
 these kindred spirits in their mutual advancement 
 and success. About the year 1801 Harry Drury was 
 appointed to a classical mastership at Harrow, and
 
 LETTER TO DRURY. 33 
 
 Hodgson writes to him from Hawtrey's ' rooms at 
 King's : — 
 
 Dear Drury, — I am heartily glad to hear that you 
 have recovered your health so far as to go into 
 school. Bethell 2 reports this, and your brother 3 
 tells me you hoped to do so when you last wrote 
 to him. I hope you are now in no danger of a 
 relapse, and have dismissed your glomy ideas as to 
 retaining an enemy within : 
 
 Musis amicus tristitiam et metus 
 Tradas severis in caput hostium 
 Portare curis. 
 
 I promised you last night the conclusion of my 
 long strain of nonsense. 
 
 Here follow some half-humorous, half-serious 
 lines on matters of mutual interest, a few of which 
 may be quoted as an amusing comment on public 
 school manners and customs of the period, and as 
 proving the writer's early desire for their amendment. 
 
 Yes, I could wish our rich and noble fools 
 Restrain'd in vices and curtail'd in dress ; 
 
 Much could I wish that all our public schools * 
 Were better managed or encouraged less. 
 
 1 Afterwards Vicar of Broad Chalke, Wilts, and uncle to Provost 
 Hawtrey. 2 Fellow of Eton. 
 
 3 Benjamin Drury, Master at Eton. 4 Except Harrow, of course. — F.II 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 If learning's stores were open to the mind, 
 
 If emulation woke the dormant flame, 
 If labour nerved us, ere we simply dined, 
 
 And weekly washings exercised my dame. 
 If holy worship claim'd respectful awe, 
 
 If good example taught the young to pray, 
 If Decency did not proceed from Law, 
 
 Nor discipline usurp the Sabbath Day. 
 
 You shall have no more original farrago for some 
 time. But now you have got into school again, I 
 shall hope to hear oftener from you ; perhaps you'll 
 say you are more engaged, but I know at night 
 you can find time to send me some poetry. I 
 mean to begin the study of history from the 
 Creation — old A. recommends Josephus. Is it 
 not better to read in English what is not well done 
 in Greek or Latin ? Prettyman and Prideaux are 
 surely preferable to Josephus and Dio Cassius. 
 Dr. A. has w r ritten a plan of study, and says from 
 Lipsius ' Triennii res est.' Now two years of my 
 scholarship are over, and I don't think ten would 
 suffice to get through the doctor's plan. It was 
 sent from Croydon to a young nobleman here 
 many years ago. He never looked into it, and I 
 must confess it frightens me. Enough of Mr. 
 Erskine's monosyllable here, you'll say. Is not 
 Wegotism a good name for that style, which, in-
 
 PRIVATE TUTORSHIP. 35 
 
 stead of ' Ego et mea,' pesters you with ' nos nos- 
 traque ' when used by only one author ? B. is very 
 correct, and as good-natured and stupid as ever. 
 Adieu, and believe me yours sincerely, 
 
 F. H. 
 
 P.S. Pray send me your translations from 
 Statius. I don't mind double or even treble letters. 
 
 When single letters cost a shilling this was a 
 stronger proof of friendship than it might be con- 
 sidered in the present day. 
 
 Having taken his degree, Hodgson obtained a 
 private tutorship to the sons of Lady Ann Lambton, 
 who had been married a second time to Mr. Wynd- 
 ham. The eldest of these pupils was afterwards 
 created Earl of Durham, and attained considerable 
 eminence as Governor-General of British North 
 America. His sister married Byron's relative, Major 
 Howard, who fell at Waterloo, and to whom so 
 touching an allusion is made in the Third Canto of 
 < Childe Harold.' 
 
 This charge continued three years, and Hodgson 
 appears to have felt the restraint extremely irksome, 
 and to have constantly chafed at the drudgery of 
 ' gerund-grinding,' although he speaks with gratitude 
 of the kindness and consideration which he experi- 
 
 D 2
 
 2,6 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 enced. His genial and affectionate nature longed for 
 the society of his friends, and found its chief consola- 
 tion in constant correspondence. It was about this 
 time that he conceived the idea of writing a translation 
 of 'Juvenal,' and this occupation also afforded consi- 
 derable relief to a mind which was daily growing more 
 and more melancholy while engaged in the tedious 
 pursuits which were necessarily imposed upon it. 
 
 During a vacation spent in Devonshire he paid a 
 visit to his friend's father, the former head master of 
 Harrow, of whom Byron used to speak as the dear 
 Drury, in contradistinction to his successor, whom he 
 maliciously designated the cheap Butler, but whom he 
 afterwards learned to estimate at his proper value. 
 To Dr. Drury's kindly appreciation of youthful talent 
 Hodgson bears testimony in a letter written from 
 Exmouth to his friend at Harrow. 
 
 I am sitting in a room which looks immediately 
 upon your father's house. There I have had a look 
 at it. We returned from Cockwood l yesterday 
 after a very pleasant stay of two days. It was to 
 me quite a delightful break. On the Thursday Sir 
 George Dallas, rather a quiz, but good-humoured 
 and entertaining ; Mr. Blencowe, a most clever and 
 gentlemanly old Etonian, who told many good 
 
 1 Dr. Drury's.
 
 LETTER TO DRURY. 7>7 
 
 stories which are for your future ear ; Mr. Hoarc, 
 an interesting deaf person (quite unlike the Pro- 
 vost of King's ! ), your father and mother, Charles 
 Nicholson, and I were of the party. On Friday 
 morning I got up early and transcribed some pa- 
 rallel passages from Boileau, and some illustrations 
 from Dio in the library. I have given your father 
 the conclusion of my tenth Satire. He has been 
 of considerable service to me with regard to accu- 
 racy in the former parts ; and he very kindly took 
 an interest in my notes, referred to Denon, Tacitus, 
 Pausanias, &c. (but you had stolen the Strabo), 
 and threw much light upon Ombites and Tentyrkes 
 and Memnon's statue. I congratulated him upon 
 your success at Harrow. He said he hoped you 
 would not build, and asked me if I did not think he 
 had built enough for you at Cockwood. Upon the 
 whole I had a most agreeable visit, and before I 
 leave Exmouth shall certainly take advantage of 
 his reinvitation and go and see him again. 
 
 This second visit elicited one of those rhyming 
 epistles in which Hodgson and his friends were wont 
 to communicate to one another their current fancies 
 and feelings on subjects of mutual interest, and from 
 
 1 Humphrey Sumner.
 
 38 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 which a few extracts may be found interesting, not 
 only from their natural ease and freshness but as 
 specimens of a style of correspondence which has now 
 long been obsolete. 
 
 The same to the same. 
 
 Clifton : Wednesday night. 
 Dear Drury, — We go to Chepstow to-morrow. On 
 Sunday Mr. Merivale very kindly took us tu Ford- 
 lands, &c, &c, a beautiful drive, and dined with us 
 at Cockwood, where I slept, and went, next morn- 
 ing, to Bishop's Teignton, to see my uicle and 
 aunt. On the road I made the following verses 
 for you : — 
 
 Alone, on horseback, from the wood of Cock, 
 
 To Uawlish town I took my early way, 
 View'd the mild ocean from the lofty rock, 
 
 And felt the cooling breath of pleasant May. 
 Now every field in smiling green array'd, 
 
 Puts forth the promise of the fruitful spring, 
 The rising hedgerows shoot a deeper shade, 
 
 And joyous birds in flowery meadows sing. 
 I too to friendship raise the glowing strain, 
 
 Warn'd by remembrance of my Father's home, 
 In careless dreams shake off my servile chain, 
 
 And far to Harrow's verdant upland roam. 
 Oh soon exulting o'er the much-loved hill, 
 
 By Freedom led thy happy friend shall run, 
 See the proud aspens lift their honours still, 
 
 And the vale glittering with the genial sun.
 
 LETTER TO DRURY. 39 
 
 And soon o'er Uxbridge' rabbit-cover'd moor 
 
 Shall stumbling Lightfoot \ show his speckled gray, 
 We'll haste delighted to our Osborne's door, 
 
 And spend with him a memorable day. 
 Haply at times, when eve remits your toil, 
 
 We'll range together o'er the dewy field, 
 And press with eager step the turfy soil, 
 
 On thy light down, O distant Harrow weald. 
 And then, should Fancy with seductive eye 
 
 Onward to Stanmore's environs allure, 
 Should Reservoir excite a tender sigh, 
 
 This faithful heart shall offer Friendship's cure. 
 Back to their cottage shall the brothers go, 
 
 And sit conversing o'er the social board, 
 Share equal portions of imparted woe, 
 
 And share the joy poetic dreams afford. 
 
 Lower Moor : 3 June 2. 
 Dear Drury, — All intermediate accounts must be 
 deferred till we meet. Suffice it to say now that 
 I have found, as ever from childhood, an affection- 
 ate reception here. We leave the place on Satur- 
 day, I believe, and before the end of the next week, 
 perhaps, we may meet. But now consider in secret 
 this important question, that you may be able to 
 decide upon your friend's future prospects in life. 
 Denman has offered me a private tutorship to the 
 son of a Mr. Oswald of Ayrshire, a very rich man, 
 
 1 A favourite horse. 2 The Rev. Francis Coke's.
 
 40 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 the boy going to Eton. But I cannot conquer my 
 aversion to private tutorships. The Law all my 
 friends set their faces against. Give me your 
 advice, when we meet. F. H. 
 
 Another letter written in a similar strain of 
 anxious uncertainty concludes with a few somewhat 
 desponding lines in anticipation of the flight of time. 
 
 Then age a gloom on all our club shall throw, 
 And sterner wisdom sit on Denman's brow ; 
 Vocal no more, shall Bland's high spirits fall, 
 And Walford's treble voice be none at all. 
 Then Nature's sons shall learn dishonest art, 
 And e'en my Merivale be hard of heart. 
 O long protracted be the fatal day, 
 That steals, unpitying, all our joys away,' 
 The joke, the gybe, the jeer, that only find 
 A moment's meaning in the kindred mind. 
 
 ■■=> 
 
 John Herman Merivale, alluded to in these lines, 
 fully deserved the implied compliment. A kinder- 
 hearted man, or one more unselfishly interested in 
 his friend's welfare, never breathed. Hearing that 
 Hodgson was dissatisfied and depressed by his present 
 circumstances, he wrote the following cheerful effu- 
 sion : — 
 
 Dear Hodgson, — In the letter which Bland and I, 
 desultorily as usual, composed at the half-way
 
 LINES FROM MERIVALE. 4 1 
 
 house last Saturday I said nothing on the subject 
 of yours which I had just then received — because 
 of course I said not a word to him about it. But 
 your melancholy strains gave me much room for 
 reflection both going and coming ; and reflection 
 presented itself in a poetical form. Such as my 
 thoughts were, take them. 
 
 Life is not made to flow in smooth delight, 
 
 Nor to be lost in unavailing sorrow ; 
 It is a chequer'd scene of dark and light, 
 
 The clouds scarce form'd to-day may burst to-morrow. 
 It is for action given, for mental force, 
 
 For deeds of energetic hardihood ; 
 There is no time for wailing and remorse, 
 
 There is no room for dreary solitude. 
 There is no day doth pass but teems with fate, 
 
 No fleeting hour but alteration brings ; 
 O'er this our perishable mortal state 
 
 Variety for ever waves her wings. 
 Vain is the lay, tho' couch'd in sacred writ, 
 
 That Israel's fastidious monarch sung, 
 Tho' since usurp'd by many an idle wit, 
 
 By many a melancholy sophist's tongue. 
 Let not my ' Narva' 1 then of change complain, 
 
 A change which governs our sublunar sphere ; 
 Nor waste in fond regret and listless pain 
 
 The hours assign'd to generous action here. 
 
 1 The name of a book which the friends had lately been reading, 
 and the title of which was transferred as a soubriquet to Hodgson.
 
 42 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 The dreams of lawless youth, 'tis true, are fled, 
 
 The glass brisk-circling and the jovial song, 
 The careless heart, the wild fantastic head 
 
 That to the early burst of life belong ; — 
 All these are past ; — perhaps with them are flown 
 
 Some cherished visions yet more closely twined, 
 Which soon Delusion fondly called her own, 
 
 And Fate, unpitying, claims to be resign'd. 
 Perhaps the parting pang was worse than all 
 
 That studious tyrants could invent of pain ; 
 Perhaps — but ah ! thy tortured thoughts recall, 
 
 Think what remains in life, — awake again ! 
 Has fickle Fancy fled ? Yet Friendship lives, 
 
 And breathes a balm into the wounded heart. 
 Firm, faithful Friendship, which survives 
 
 The storms of Hate, and never will depart. 
 Are youth's chimasras check'd ? Ambition glows 
 
 With fiercer heat in our maturer age, 
 Honour is left— the foe to dull repose — 
 
 And points a hard, but glorious pilgrimage. 
 And shall, my ' Narva,' such a soul as thine, 
 
 So bright with genius, and in vigour warm, 
 Now, at the very prime of life, decline, 
 
 Nor burst again through Fortune's partial storm ? 
 Perish the thought ! for nobler objects made — 
 
 Let nobler resolutions fire thy soul ; 
 Call Honour, Virtue, Courage, to thy aid, 
 
 And let warm Friendship still inspire the whole. 
 
 Did you write the review of Dermody ? l I was de- 
 
 1 Thomas Dermody, a young Irish bard, whose principal poems 
 were 'The Battle of the Bards' and 'The Reform.' The review was 
 by Hodgson.
 
 LIFE IN LONDON. 43 
 
 lighted with it. Edinburgh critics I have not read ; 
 but if they abuse the wretch Heaven have mercy 
 on their black souls, say I. Write to me from the 
 road, and Believe me 
 
 Ever your most affectionate friend, 
 
 J. H. Merivale. 
 
 The attractions of London life for a young man 
 appear not to have been lost upon Hodgson, from a 
 description written by him a few years later. 
 
 It is impossible that anyone, who has not expe- 
 rienced the first captivation of London, for ardent 
 spirits, high health, and lively fancy in youth, 
 should fairly appreciate so dangerous a charm. 
 It is not merely the more refined luxuries of the 
 idle bachelor's life ; not the new sights, nor even the 
 immense superiority of intellectual resources, in 
 which that wondrous city abounds, to a degree that 
 makes the University seem perfectly Baeotian to an 
 incompetent observer ; it is not all this together ; it 
 is the delightful society of intelligent young men, 
 on whom life has begun to open ; and to whose 
 knowledge of the world the school or college attain- 
 ments of their younger acquaintance seems utter 
 ignorance and stupidity. Alas ! that knozvledge of 
 the world.
 
 44 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 In 1806 he was appointed to a mastership at 
 Eton, which he held for one year, and it was about 
 this time that he first conceived the idea of trans- 
 lating Juvenal. Notwithstanding his innate dislike 
 for teaching, this period of his life appears to have 
 been sufficiently bright and joyous. He was ex- 
 tremely fond of all athletic exercises, for which by a 
 robust and active frame he was eminently fitted, and 
 was an excellent pedestrian. He more than once 
 walked from Cambridge to London in a day, and 
 thought nothing of a walk from London to Eton. 
 He fully appreciated his many delightful friendships, 
 and thoroughly enjoyed his holidays in Yorkshire, in 
 his father's society, or with his Coke relations in 
 Herefordshire. Of his father he speaks in terms of 
 grateful affection. 
 
 I acquired much from his clear command of his own 
 knowledge, and from a kindness of heart which one 
 could not approach without improvement ; I truly 
 honour his memory. 
 
 His own description of 1806-7, when he was first 
 set free from the restraints necessarily imposed by a 
 private tutorship, is an evidence of the happiness of 
 his life at that time.
 
 LITERARY PURSUITS. 45 
 
 How different now the paths of life appear'd, 
 
 Girt all the way with banks of varied flowers ; 
 Refresh'd by wit, by gay companions cheer'd, 
 
 How lightly flew the perishable hours ! 
 Musing, I sailed down Richmond's fabled stream ; 
 
 Musing, I roam'd to Harrow's verdant height ! 
 The great Aquinian fill'd my glowing dream, 
 
 And Fame's imagined temple rose in sight. 
 
 His translation of Juvenal was begun and com- 
 pleted in about a year, during these solitary rambles 
 and in a visit to Yorkshire. 
 
 The busy literary life which he was now leading 
 is vividly described by Bland, who was then staying 
 with him at Eton, in a letter l to Denman. 
 
 With the very little drop of ink remaining in the 
 horn after the two epic poems, the six periodical 
 papers, besides several epigrams, anagrams, and 
 other things ending in ' grams,' and an infinite 
 number of songs, sonnets, rebuses, pasquinades, 
 and some things ' unattempted yet in prose or 
 rhyme,' which Hodgson has written since breakfast 
 up to this hour — twelve o'clock (not forgetting 
 construing his boys and answering duns) — with 
 that very little drop of ink remaining, I have to 
 request of you, Denman, to order Merry's (Meri- 
 
 1 Quoted by Sir Joseph Arnould in his Memoir of Lord Denman.
 
 46 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 vale's) rooms to be opened, with sheets aired and a 
 fire, on next Tuesday. . . . Hodgson is writing 
 opposite to me in measured English, and has abso- 
 lutely distanced me, who write almost in a desul- 
 tory style. 
 
 It was about this time that the Bar was contem- 
 plated as a profession, and Denman's advice was 
 asked on the subject. Denman knew enough of his 
 friend's character to be convinced that such a friend 
 to the Muses must lay aside all prospect of forensic 
 preferment, and accordingly wrote the following cha- 
 racteristic letter of advice : — 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — You are mistaken in supposing 
 that my communication of Mr. Oswald's proposal 
 proceeded from a despair of your succeeding in the 
 Law ; on the contrary, I think that, if all other 
 mctlwds fail, the Law may offer the highest oppor- 
 tunities of honour and emolument to talents such 
 as yours. At the same time, if you ask my frank 
 opinion which course is the most advisable, I 
 cannot hesitate to recommend one trial more, even 
 of the loathsome task of tutorship, before you 
 enter on this hazardous profession. The expense 
 it imposes is enormous, the labour unremitting, the 
 advantages most doubtful and remote. . . .
 
 LETTER FROM DENMAN. 47 
 
 You mention reviewing as a means of procuring 
 money ; indeed it would be totally inconsistent 
 with that complete devotion and abandonment to 
 the Law which could alone give a probability of 
 success. It is the duty of friendship to state these 
 circumstances and offer this counsel, but if your 
 aversion is unconquerable, remember that even the 
 Law may be forced by labor improbus ; that 
 Vevers's x chambers are open to receive you, and 
 that it was his most ardent wish to have them 
 occupied by you ; that it may be in my power and 
 would be my delight to shorten your trouble and 
 elucidate your views on legal subjects ; and that 
 Merry and myself should rejoice to call you fellow- 
 labourer in the same vineyard. Occasions do cer- 
 tainly occur in which general abilities are called 
 into immediate action, and kept in constant em- 
 ployment ; if such occurred to you, no doubt your 
 fame and fortunes would be fixed at once ; but 
 that 'if is a talisman which hardly any power of 
 magic can command. 
 
 This letter seems much more calculated to per- 
 plex than enlighten you ; it is a picture of my own 
 wavering and unsteady mind (!), which has" poured 
 out all its thoughts upon the subject as they arose. 
 
 1 Denman's brother-in-law.
 
 48 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 You will be sure that they are dictated by the 
 warmest friendship and attachment, for God knows 
 that (after my domestic feelings) no wish is so near 
 my heart as that of seeing you independent and 
 happy. I repeat the word independent, though it 
 will not meet your ideas of tutorship, for I am sure 
 it is fully as applicable to that position as his who 
 lives on the smiles of attorneys. 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 THOS. DENMAN. 
 
 The wisdom of this advice was at once recognised 
 by its recipient, who henceforth abandoned all idea of 
 the legal profession. His intense love of literature, 
 and especially of poetry, would have, doubtless, con- 
 stantly acted as an inducement to seek relief and 
 mental relaxation in fresher fields than those which 
 environ Lincoln's Inn ; and the precarious prospect of 
 advancement which attends even unceasing and un- 
 divided industry at the Bar, would have become 
 proportionately smaller to one who looked upon it 
 less as a profession than as a means of subsistence, 
 and of more freely gratifying literary tastes and 
 inclinations. 
 
 Denman's kind and timely counsel determined his 
 future course, and from this year until the end of his
 
 REVIEWS. POEMS. FRESH FRIENDSHIPS. 49 
 
 life he devoted his time and thoughts exclusively to 
 religion, education, and literature. He had already 
 for some time been engaged in writing for reviews, a 
 pursuit which he continued unremittingly for the next 
 ten years, and during this period he also published 
 many original poems and translations from the 
 classics. Of the latter the most important was the 
 translation of Juvenal, which will presently engage 
 our attention, while the number and variety of the 
 former entirely preclude their reproduction in this 
 memoir. Even in the shape of samples or in the 
 more fragmentary form of extracts, they would 
 convey a most inadequate impression of their writer's 
 power and versatility ; and those few verses which are 
 quoted are merely intended to illustrate some passing 
 incident, or to indicate the mental tone at the time 
 of their composition. 
 
 The friendships already mentioned or implied in 
 the correspondence were cherished with undiminished 
 warmth, while fresh intimacies were formed of a no 
 less interesting character. One, in particular, will 
 demand a detailed description in several subsequent 
 chapters. It was not later than the following year to 
 that in which he returned to Eton as a master that 
 Hodgson became the honoured friend and associate 
 
 VOL. 1. E
 
 5<D MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 of that brilliant but hapless youth of whom one of 
 England's greatest historians has recorded that he 
 was the most celebrated Englishman of the nine- 
 teenth century.
 
 5i 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TRANSLATION OF JUVENAL— CONTEMPORARY 
 
 CRITIQUES. 
 
 1807-8. 
 
 The translation of Juvenal, to which reference has 
 already been made, appears to have been undertaken 
 partly from admiration of the force and grandeur of 
 the poetry, partly from a desire to make the great 
 satirist more accessible to the majority of English 
 readers, and thereby to apply his vigorous teaching to 
 the vices and follies of the age. 
 
 It must be admitted that there never was a time 
 when English morals more required the strong scourge 
 of satire than the first two decades of the present 
 century. The shameless intrigues of the Prince 
 Regent were but a type of the prevailing immorality, 
 and might well be compared to the excesses of those 
 Roman emperors whose examples were polluting 
 the Imperial city at the time when Juvenal wrote. 
 London at the beginning of the nineteenth century of 
 
 e 2
 
 52 MEMOIR OF REV F. HODGSON. 
 
 the Christian era was not much better than Rome in 
 the first. The comparison must often have suggested 
 itself to classical scholars. 
 
 The design and scope of this translation will most 
 readily be understood by an epitome of the Intro- 
 duction written by its author. 
 
 It is with the utmost diffidence (he writes) that I 
 offer to the notice of the public a new translation 
 of Juvenal. After the very spirited, although irre- 
 gular, performance of Dryden and his coadjutors 
 in the way of freer versions, and after the un- 
 commonly faithful and meritorious work of Mr. 
 Gifford, I am certainly called upon to say a few 
 words in explanation of my own plan ; and to 
 state in what particulars my judgment has, perhaps 
 erroneously, led me to believe that an improve- 
 ment might be made upon the plan of my prede- 
 cessors. That it is possible I still think, but am 
 far from fancying that the design is here carried into 
 execution. 
 
 After a few preliminary remarks upon the widely 
 different construction of the Latin and English lan- 
 guages, especially in what relates to their poetical 
 idiom, he goes on to say : — 
 
 It is a good fundamental maxim, that a translation
 
 POETICAL TRANSLATION. 53 
 
 should be a complete and accurate copy of the 
 original; that no addition or subtraction should 
 be made ; no image suppressed ; no sentiment 
 altered ; that the very turn of particular phrases, if 
 possible, but at any rate the style of thinking and 
 expression, should be most faithfully preserved. 
 There are three sets of readers : those who are 
 unacquainted with the Latin ; those who have when 
 young read and enjoyed it, but have now an 
 imperfect recollection ; and those who will be at 
 the pains of comparing original and translated 
 poems. Every translator must wish (' speret idem, 
 sudet multum frustraque laboret ') the first class to 
 rise from the perusal with a tolerably correct idea 
 of the manner of the original ; the second to have 
 all their impressions brought fully to their minds, 
 and often the very passages ; the third to be quite 
 astonished at finding that an imitation could be 
 made at once so close and so spirited. But let me 
 ask, has this fancied excellence been ever attained ? 
 has not one of the two contrary effects invariably 
 prevailed ? has not fidelity been sacrificed to versi- 
 fication, or poetry been excluded by a servile 
 adherence to correctness ? Pope and Cowper, in 
 their respective translations of Homer, sufficiently 
 answer the questions. But surely one must say,
 
 54 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 ' Mallem cum illo errare, quam cum hoc recte 
 sentire.' An English poem in rhyme, whether 
 translated or original, will never please, unless 
 the verse be flowing, sweet, and simple, varied 
 only by modifications of harmony, by dissimilar 
 pauses, and a composed or hurried rhythm. But 
 how are we to reconcile the sudden turns, the 
 strong points, and striking contrasts of Juvenal 
 with an equable, dignified, melodious cadence ? 
 Must we not lean more to another peculiarity of 
 his character, that sweeping grandeur of declama- 
 tion, that exalted style of poetical oratory, which 
 are the chief properties of this sonorous writer ? 
 The English language compels diffuseness ; a literal 
 version is impossible ; the Latin verse is nearly a 
 fifth longer than our own ; and the very nature of 
 rhyme, forbidding one line to run into another, 
 often obliges us to stretch phrases (for to contract 
 them is seldom possible) very capriciously, for the 
 benefit of the couplet. Then come the great curses 
 of Gothicism, crowds of auxiliary verbs, and the 
 the's, my's, thy's, em's, us's ; which make our bar- 
 barous jargons, with their inharmonious monosyl- 
 lables, bear the same resemblance to the ancient 
 languages that a modern-built church, dotted with 
 windows, bears to the graceful and commanding
 
 LATIN AND ENGLISH COMPARED. 55 
 
 simplicity of a Grecian temple supported by pillars. 
 Ad summam. The uniform imitation of language 
 or style is, I hold, impossible ; i.e. to write well in 
 English, a translator of Juvenal must be defective 
 in closeness of version, except where the author 
 himself is easy and flowing in his manner. This, I 
 contend, he generally is ; but to reconcile his occa- 
 sional abruptness with English rhyme (the only 
 species of our verse which can give effect to satire) 
 is, it appears to me, a problem which can never be 
 solved. The average of syllables in Latin hexa- 
 meters is perhaps about fifteen ; as many as three 
 dactyls usually occurring in a verse. 1 So that a 
 person who attempted to translate Latin hexa- 
 meters line for line into English heroic poetry, 
 would have five extra syllables to cram into every 
 verse ; which particular difficulty would be no slight 
 one, not to mention the general conciseness of the 
 Latin language (from the inflections of its nouns 
 and verbs and various others causes), compared 
 with the 'wild plenty' of the English. But the 
 critic will here say ' Quorsum hsec ? ' Nobody 
 expects a literal translation of a Latin poet. It 
 would be the attempt of a Procrustes ; fitting long 
 and short alike to one inconvenient receptacle. 
 
 1 Dryden rates the number as less ; Johnson rates it as above.
 
 56 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Well, but it was the attempt of Barten Holy day, 
 that most learned of all the commentators upon 
 Juvenal. The consequence of Holyday's passion 
 for literal translation was, that he neither wrote 
 sense nor poetry. As Dryden says, Holyday 
 obtained his pedantic end ; namely, that of ren- 
 dering his original line for line. Yet although such 
 a plan as that of Holyday is evidently absurd, and 
 both he, and the comparatively smooth Stapylton, 1 
 are obsolete as poetical translators of Juvenal, yet 
 at the same time there is an opposite extreme of 
 too great freedom in translation, of which, I own, I 
 think Dryden and his associates have been guilty. 
 It is perhaps needless to mention that Dryden 
 himself only translated five out of the sixteen 
 satires in the work that bears his name ; which 
 were the first, third, sixth, tenth, and sixteenth. 
 His assistants were numerous. . . . Charles Dryden, 
 the poet's son, himself a poet, rendered the seventh. 
 He had very good abilities ; but I think he betrays 
 
 1 Johnson calls Stapylton smoother than Holyday. Take one of 
 Stapylton's smooth lines : — 
 
 ' Overwrit 
 O' th' sides, indorsed too, and not finish'd yet.' (Sat. i.) 
 
 But Stapylton is, upon the whole, very smooth indeed for the time in 
 which he wrote. He is very nervous too ; and, I am sorry to say, 
 Dryden owes many good lines to him, which he has not acknowledged.
 
 PREVIOUS TRANSLATORS OF JUVENAL. 57 
 
 his father's helping hand. Harvey, who I really 
 think is the best of the band next to Dryden and 
 Congreve, paraphrased the ninth very poetically. 
 No one can doubt that Congreve would do anything 
 well which he undertook. The Eleventh Satire was 
 fortunate enough to engage his attention. His 
 translation, faulty as it is in point of rhymes, surely 
 does more than ' deserve forgiveness ' as Johnson 
 says of it. Mr. Power has done his utmost to 
 annihilate every shadow of merit in the twelfth. 
 Creech chose the thirteenth ; and performed his 
 task like himself, unequally, but upon the whole 
 with vigour. Johnson says, but he says it with a 
 perhaps, ' that Creech is the only one of these trans- 
 lators who has not lost sight of the dignity of 
 Juvenal ; although they all, more or less, have pre- 
 served his point.' This was a prudent ' perhaps.' John 
 Diyden, jun. translated the Fourteenth Satire very 
 creditably. But I fancy I see the father here again. 
 
 Children like tender osiers take the bow, 
 And as they first are fashion'd always grow. 
 
 I have given this general account of Dryden's 
 coadjutors, because I did not think the real merit 
 of some of them had ever been sufficiently appre- 
 ciated. They abound in beauties, although they 
 have many faults.
 
 58 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Further on, Hodgson states what he considers to 
 have been the object of his original. 
 
 An object, which I consider a very noble one, namely, 
 that of exposing vice in its true colours and natural 
 deformity. 
 
 With reference to his style he quotes Johnson. 
 
 Juvenal's peculiarity is a mixture of stateliness and 
 gaiety, of pointed sentences and declamatory gran- 
 deur. 
 
 And Gifford. 
 
 When the dignity of Juvenal is wanting, his wit will 
 be imperfectly preserved. Wit, indeed, he pos- 
 sesses in an eminent degree ; but it is tinctured 
 with his peculiarities : ' Raro jocos, saepius acerbos 
 sales miscet.' l Dignity is the predominant quality 
 of his mind ; he can and does relax with grace, 
 but he never forgets himself ; he smiles indeed, 
 but his smile is more terrible than his frown, for it 
 is never excited but when his indignation is min- 
 gled with contempt. ' Ridet et odit.' 
 
 Mr. Gifford, in another part of his very interesting 
 essay on the Roman satirists, observes that there is a 
 slovenliness in some of Juvenal's verses, for which he 
 
 1 Lipsius.
 
 POETIC HARMONY. 59 
 
 has been justly blamed, as it would have cost him so 
 little pains to improve them. But, generally speak- 
 ing (as Mr. Gifford, by the slight exception he has 
 made, I suppose allows), the poetry of Juvenal has a 
 remarkably equable and harmonious flow. To my 
 ears, I confess, there is hardly among the Latin poets 
 one whose versification sounds more musically, or 
 seems to have run with less labour from the author. 
 Surely, then, such a writer should appear in English 
 with as few discontinued and broken lines as possible. 
 Indeed, however allowable these interruptions may 
 be in Latin hexameters, in English rhymes they cer- 
 tainly are not, when the disjointed verse recurs fre- 
 quently. This may be a natural defect in the consti- 
 tution of rhyme, but so it is. Pope's regular couplets, 
 in which one complete part, at least, of the sense of 
 a passage is almost always expressed, have been 
 censured ; but are Dryden's verses so uniformly good 
 when considered as couplets ? and whom besides 
 Dryden, as a writer of rhyme, shall we venture to 
 oppose to Pope ? In the general effect of harmony, 
 indeed, Dryden is much superior. But of that else- 
 where. Goldsmith has been singularly accurate in 
 the terminations of his verses. They are almost 
 without exception perfectly symphonious. Johnson, 
 too, had a very correct ear. But they wrote little in
 
 60 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 verse compared to Pope. And I question whether 
 the English language (with all its unpruned luxu- 
 riance) affords a sufficient variety of teleutic music to 
 prevent the occasional recurrence of a faulty rhyme 
 in long compositions. Spenser has done wonders in 
 this way as well as in all others. Milton's contempt 
 for rhyme is well known. When Dryden called upon 
 him one day to ask his permission to introduce some 
 of his ' Paradise Lost ' into a piece (in rhyme) which 
 Dryden was preparing for the theatre, ' Aye,' said 
 the old bard, ' you may tag my verses if you will.' 
 
 With reference to the coarseness of many pas- 
 sages, the translator expresses his belief that the 
 aim of Juvenal in writing so grossly was to lay open 
 the native un sightliness of vice, to remove that fasci- 
 nating cloak which hides its horrors, and thereby to 
 render it an object too disgusting to be publicly 
 espoused, a guest too dangerous to be privately 
 admitted. The poet labours to awaken the con- 
 science, and to put the prosperous villain to the blush 
 by a daringly faithful picture of the corruptions of his 
 country. 
 
 After a further exposition of the plan of his 
 poem, and a grateful recognition of the great and 
 unexpected patronage accorded to it, Hodgson pro-
 
 CRITIQUE IN THE 'EDINBURGH.' 6l 
 
 ceeds to the Prologue, in which, after tracing the rise 
 and growth of satire, and drawing a pointed compa- 
 rison between Juvenal and other satirists, he declares 
 that if, by referring the picture of Rome's depravity 
 to the immorality then prevalent in England, he 
 could ensure the reformation of one of his country- 
 men, the labours of his youthful muse would be 
 amply rewarded. 
 
 Among the contemporary critiques of the trans- 
 lation, the most deserving of notice is that of the 
 'Edinburgh Review,' which had been inaugurated a 
 few years before, under the auspices of Sydney 
 Smith, Horner, Brougham, and last, but not least, 
 that ' literary anthropophagus,' Jeffrey. That Hodg- 
 son's talents as a scholar and a poet were now pretty 
 generally appreciated is evident, not only from the 
 many distinguished names which are found among 
 the list of subscribers to his Juvenal, but also from 
 the fact that ' the young gentlemen ' of ' the Edin- 
 burgh ' condescended to consider it worthy of their 
 censorship, and bestowed upon it their accustomed 
 • meed of praise and blame ; the latter, as was usual 
 with this periodical in the early years of its existence, 
 greatly exceeding the former in emphasis. The 
 critique commences with a studied attempt to depre- 
 ciate the genius of Juvenal himself, and, after a
 
 62 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 sufficiently shallow criticism of his character and 
 style, proceeds, with youthful wisdom, to lay down the 
 law upon the subject of translations in general and 
 translators in particular. Having expressed a pre- 
 ference for Johnson's imitations to any translation of 
 Juvenal, however spirited or accurate, the review 
 proceeds, after passing allusions to Holyday, Stapyl- 
 ton, and Dryden, to a comparison between the works 
 of Gifford and Hodgson. Upon both is bestowed an 
 almost equal share of censure and approbation. 
 
 Hodgson's extraordinary facility for versifying 
 was, doubtless, a snare to him, and led him some- 
 times into unnecessary diffuseness. His easy, well- 
 turned couplets are unfavourably criticised, and the 
 occasional roughnesses of Mr. Gifford's translation are 
 by the ' Edinburgh ' considered to be more in the 
 style of Juvenal, and therefore preferable to ' the 
 unbending stateliness of Mr. Hodgson's versification.' 
 The fact was, that the translator thought the Latin 
 and English languages so intrinsically different in 
 structure as to render a close imitation of style as 
 impracticable as it was undesirable. 
 
 The translator is also found guilty on a charge of 
 giving too frequent expression to his own originality 
 of thought. But this fault is partly condoned. 
 
 The sin that most easily besets a translator is that of
 
 ORIGINALITY AS A POET. 63 
 
 grafting his own sense on that of his original, and 
 the temptation is the stronger the more he is a 
 man of talent and imagination. Mr. Hodgson 
 transgresses in this respect oftener than his pre- 
 decessor, but it is a liberty which, if used sparingly 
 and neatly, we are not much disposed to censure, 
 Juvenal not being, in our eyes, so perfect a poet 
 that nothing can be added or taken away without 
 injury. Instances which do no discredit to the 
 original occur in Sat. xiv. 187, &c. 
 
 The ' Review ' continues its comparison by noticing 
 that the two translations are very seldom at variance 
 in the meaning of Juvenal, and in one or two of the 
 few passages when there is a difference, is ' disposed 
 to agree with Mr. Hodgson,' who, in the lines which 
 conclude the Fourth Satire, is pronounced to have 
 surpassed all his predecessors. 
 
 The Eleventh and Fourteenth Satires are selected 
 as the best in the translation, partly from their in- 
 trinsic excellence, and partly from superiority of exe- 
 cution. The Eighth and Tenth Satires would, the 
 ' Review ' thinks, have been better translated by Mr. 
 Hodgson than by the friends (Merivale and Drury) to 
 whom he assigned them ; and it goes on to admit 
 that he has great powers of easy and elegant versifi-
 
 64 . MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 cation, but thinks that he has directed his intellectual 
 labours to a department that was already overstocked, 
 and, although denying the right to interfere with any 
 man in the application he chooses to make of his 
 talents, yet expresses a regret that Mr. Hodgson's 
 had not been directed to a less hackneyed subject. 
 
 Many others might have been found more interesting 
 to the world, and better suited to his own powers. 
 The charm of his versification is chiefly perceptible 
 in the descriptive parts, where the poet dwells on 
 natural scenery, or the primitive simplicity of an- 
 cient manners. Hence the superiority we ascribed 
 to the Eleventh Satire, and the pleasure we derive 
 from such lines as the following : — 
 
 And Auster, resting in his silent cave, 
 
 Shakes from his wing the moisture of the wave. 
 
 Now, there are several poets of antiquity that 
 would have opened a wider field for the display of 
 this peculiar excellence of our author; a field where 
 he would have been less elbowed and jostled by com- 
 petitors. From the works of Statius, of whom he 
 speaks more than once in the highest terms, and to 
 whose merits no English translation has yet done 
 full justice ; and of Ovid, whom he denominates ' the 
 most beautiful of all descriptive poets,' Mr. Hodg-
 
 FRAGMENT FROM STATIUS. 65 
 
 son, we are confident, could make a selection that 
 would delight a much more extended circle of 
 readers than he can expect to peruse the present 
 volume. Our confidence is grounded on some 
 exquisite morsels he has given in the notes, as well 
 from the poets above mentioned, as from Catullus, 
 Claudian, Martial, &c. As we look upon these 
 translations to be not the least valuable part of the 
 book, we shall subjoin one or two. The beautiful 
 address to Sleep, in the ' Sylvae ' of Statius (v. 4), 
 which is translated at page 460, commences thus ; — 
 
 How have I wrong'd thee, Sleep, thou gentlest power 
 Of heav'n ! that I alone, at night's dread hour, 
 Still from thy soft embraces am repress'd, 
 Nor drink oblivion on thy balmy breast ? 
 Now every field and every flock is thine, 
 And seeming slumbers bend the mountain pine ; 
 Hush'd is the tempest's howl, the torrent's roar, 
 And the smooth wave lies pillow'd on the shore. 
 
 A humorous description of a parasite from Martial 
 follows, and then that fine passage in Lucretius 
 (v. 1 2 17). 
 
 The Review closes with a scathing criticism of the 
 notes, which it condemns in the most indiscriminate 
 manner as most unnecessarily diffuse and discon- 
 nected. It must be admitted that censure on this 
 point was to a certain degree justifiable. Hodgson's 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 reading had been very extensive, and his memory 
 swas marvellously retentive. To this latter quality 
 Byron bears testimony, in that passage of his journal 
 where lie refutes the assertions of his mother, Madame 
 de Stael, and the ' Edinburgh,' that his character bore 
 a resemblance to that of Rousseau : ' He (Rousseau) 
 had a bad memory ; I had, at least, an excellent one 
 (ask Hodgson, the poet — a good judge, for he has 
 an astonishing one).' This enviable faculty betrayed 
 its possessor into excessive copiousness of illustration, 
 but not to such an extent as to justify the unmiti- 
 gated censure bestowed upon it with the utmost 
 virulence by the ' Scotch Review.' Hodgson at 
 twenty-seven was not a man to rest tamely under an 
 attack which he felt to be unduly harsh. The depre- 
 ciation of the great Satirist himself, and the slighting 
 allusion to his friends and coadjutors, combined to 
 excite his utmost indignation ; and he immediately 
 replied to the ' Review ' in a spirited satire, written in 
 the same vigorous style which, a year later, astonished 
 the literary world in the ' English Bards and Scotch 
 Reviewers.' His old and warm-hearted friend, Wil- 
 liam Gifford, had published an edition of Massinger, 
 which had been 'damned with faint praise' in the 
 same number of the ' Edinburgh ' as that which con- 
 tained the above-mentioned critique. Byron, whose
 
 SATIRE ON REVIEWERS. 67 
 
 acquaintance he had lately made, and for whose 
 genius he had, from the first, entertained the warmest 
 admiration, had been cruelly maltreated in his first 
 attempt. The criticisms of several other periodicals 
 were equally ill-judging and unjust. Hodgson felt 
 irresistibly impelled to write, and he wrote, perhaps 
 with more justice than discretion, as far at least as 
 his own literary reputation was concerned. 
 
 The satirist begins by apostrophising the whole 
 chorus of ' irresponsible, indolent reviewers ' who pass 
 hasty judgments upon youthful talent. 
 
 But chiefly those anonymously wise, 
 Who skulk in darkness from Detection's eyes, 
 And high on Learning's chair affect to sit, 
 The self-raised arbiters of sense and wit. 
 
 And having illustrated his statements by several 
 
 recent instances which are introduced with mingled 
 
 humour and severity, he proceeds to give an allegorical 
 
 description of the birth, growth, and decline of the 
 
 Writer's art, founded partly on the account of the 
 
 Birth of Criticism in the ' Rambler,' partly on Fielding's 
 
 essay on the same subject. The concluding lines are 
 
 devoted to that magazine which Byron denominates 
 
 My Grandmother's Review, the ' British,' and a certain 
 
 book called the ' Eclectic Review,' of the existence of 
 
 which the satirist informs his readers that he has 
 
 F 2
 
 68 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 heard on very credible authority, although he has never 
 had the privilege of reading it. But as he is told that 
 it speaks charitably of his Juvenal as a whole, and 
 believes that its censure, if known, would rather 
 increase than diminish his reputation, he is not dis- 
 posed to resent its well-meant attempts at discri- 
 minating criticism.
 
 6 5 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS — LETTERS FROM WIL- 
 LIAM GIFFORD AND DR. IRELAND — TUTORSHIP 
 AT KING'S. 
 
 1807-8. 
 
 The Reviews which challenged the satire to which 
 reference is made in the last chapter were, as there 
 mentioned, the ' Edinburgh,' the ' British,' and the 
 ' Eclectic' There were others which spoke of the 
 translation in terms of the most enthusiastic praise, 
 tempered only by fair criticism. The ' Monthly,' while 
 echoing the ' Edinburgh's ' censure of the diffuseness 
 of the notes, bore ample testimony to the vigour arid 
 the spirit of the translation and to the beauty of its 
 poetry. The ' Critical ' was still more eulogistic, and 
 this Review was distinguished for discriminating 
 taste. In a note in Moore's ' Life of Byron ' allusion is 
 made to its critique on the ' Hours of Idleness,' written 
 in September 1807. This Review, in pronouncing 
 upon the young author's future career, showed itself
 
 70 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 more prophet-like than the great oracle of the North. 
 In noticing the elegy on Newstead Abbey, the writer 
 says : ' We could not but hail with something of pro- 
 phetic rapture the hope conveyed in the closing 
 stanza — 
 
 Haply thy sun, emerging, yet may shine, 
 Thee to irradiate with meridian ray. 
 
 Of Hodgson's Juvenal it writes in a similar 
 strain. It begins by expressing satisfaction at the 
 intellectual vigour of the age which had produced 
 Hodgson's Juvenal before Gifford's was properly 
 digested. By way of combating the assertion that 
 another translation was unnecessary, it mentions the 
 circumstance that Pope's Homer appeared before 
 Creech's was fairly finished. The ' Critical ' continues 
 with a comparison of Hodgson and Gifford. 
 
 The lists have been cleared of all the combatants of 
 inferior note, and are exclusively occupied by two 
 distinguished cavaliers ; one founded from expe- 
 rience and reputation in a long established fame ; 
 the other rejoicing in great though hitherto un- 
 tried powers, vigorous in youth, and inflamed 
 with the noble confidence of future glory. What 
 must inspire every generous spectator with some 
 degree of prejudice in favour of the young adven-
 
 REMARKS BY THE 'CRITICAL.' J I 
 
 turer, and with the hope, at least, that he may not 
 encounter an ignominious defeat, is the courtesy- 
 displayed by him towards his veteran adversary, 
 whom he treats with uncommon respect and defer- 
 ence, and whom he loads with the most profuse 
 and liberal praise. 
 
 After a detailed description of the style and 
 method of the rival translators, the ' Critical ' sums 
 up its comparison by saying : — 
 
 Mr. Gifford has made a very intelligible and enter-- 
 taining work ; Mr. Hodgson has enriched the 
 language of his native country by some of the 
 noblest poetry to be found in it. 
 
 It then proceeds to particular criticisms. 
 
 In the terrible Sixth Satire Mr. Hodgson's powers 
 appear both original and splendid, even when con- 
 trasted with one or two most signal triumphs 
 achieved by the genius of Dryden. Even the 
 description of Messalina, the most finished and 
 most spirited morceau that can perhaps be found 
 in the whole translated works of that mighty 
 master, appears to us to be rivalled by the same 
 passage as it is represented in the volume before 
 us. If our classical readers will compare these
 
 72 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 wonderful bursts of poetic fire, we are persuaded 
 that they will, at least, think it doubtful to which 
 the preference onght to be justly awarded. 
 
 A quotation from the Sixth Satire follows, and 
 the Review remarks upon it : ' Can anything exceed 
 the boldness, the spirit, the dramatic effect of this 
 domestic scene ? ' Another quotation from Satire xii. 
 101. elicits a just tribute to Hodgson's talents for 
 tender and interesting poetry, and picturesque de- 
 scription of natural objects. 
 
 This beautiful picture reminds one of all that is soft 
 and fresh and brilliant in the loveliest sea-pieces 
 of Claude, whose delicate and alluring style has 
 been less frequently attempted by the strong hand 
 of Juvenal than the coarser taste which suggested 
 a copy of vulgar but striking objects to the faithful 
 pencil of Teniers. The Third Satire proves Mr. 
 Hodgson to possess much of the skill, humour, and 
 correctness that distinguish the Flemish artists. 1 
 
 The sea-piece, which suggested a comparison with 
 Claude's painting may certainly be considered more 
 picturesque than its original ; only those who have 
 witnessed such a scene on the Italian coast can fully 
 appreciate its simple grace and fidelity. 
 
 1 Sat. xii. 69-82.
 
 BYRON S OPINION. 73 
 
 The ' Critical ' concludes by drawing attention to 
 Hodgson's extraordinary talent for satire, declaring 
 its sense of the duty of giving honour to whom 
 honour is due, not only in justice to the author himself, 
 but to the public, whose judgment was in danger of 
 being misdirected by that class of critics who made it 
 their constant practice to pass indiscriminate censure 
 upon young aspirants to literary fame, thereby too 
 often suppressing further endeavours. Of Mr. Hodgson 
 the Review thought it bare justice to declare that he 
 had displayed all the essential qualities of a poet to 
 be found in a translation, and added a hope that there 
 might soon be an opportunity of appreciating his 
 claims to the higher praise of invention and original 
 composition. Having already stated that it thought 
 him peculiarly gifted with poetical talents, the Review 
 is satisfied that he cannot be at a loss for proper 
 objects on which to employ them 
 
 while our Tartuffes are daily assuming a thousand 
 disguises, and while cold-blooded metaphysicians 
 pretend to regulate the public taste in regard to 
 Poetry and the Belles Lettres. 
 
 This complimentary critique was soon afterwards 
 endorsed by Lord Byron. In one of the last stanzas 
 of ' English Bards ' he apostrophises his Alma Mater —
 
 74 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 whom he elsewhere terms a harsh beldam — in four 
 forcible lines. 
 
 Oh, dark asylum of a Vandal race ! 
 At once the boast of learning and disgrace ! 
 So lost to Phoebus that not Hodgson's verse 
 Can make thee better, nor poor Hewson's worse. 
 
 And in his note on the words ' Hodgson's verse,' the 
 noble poet writes : — 
 
 This gentleman's name requires no praise : the 
 man who in translation displays unquestionable 
 genius, may be well expected to excel in original 
 composition, of which, it is to be hoped, we shall 
 soon see a splendid specimen. 
 
 Two letters from Gifford, one written before, and 
 the other after, the publication of the rival transla- 
 tions, are interesting, not only from their intrinsic 
 excellence and from the value which must naturally 
 belong to any composition from the pen of so eminent 
 a man, but from the insight which they give into the 
 literary sentiments of the great writer and critic, and 
 the evidence which they afford of his generous 
 sympathy with the youthful competitor for fame in 
 the same field of literature in which he himself had 
 so long been engaged. The first of these letters is 
 addressed to Mr. Henry Drury at Harrow in 1806.
 
 LETTER FROM GIFFORD. 75 
 
 My dear Sir, — I ought to have written long since, but 
 I may say to you in confidence what the beggar 
 said to Louis XIV. : ' O sir, if you did but know 
 how idle I am, you would pity me ! ' 
 
 I am delighted with your good opinion of 
 Massinger. l I take refuge in our old plays, from 
 the execrable trash of the present stage ; and 
 should, in my plodding way, have no objection to 
 revise the twin-writers of whom you speak, who 
 abound in beauties of every description : but I am 
 not rich enough to do it at my own expense, and 
 the booksellers engage with reluctance in whatever 
 does not promise an immediate sale. Peter 
 Whalley, who edited Ben Jonson, amassed, before 
 his last illness, a world of lumber preparatory to a 
 second edition. In his hands it must have grown 
 to fourteen volumes at least, for he had unfortu- 
 nately discovered with what ease a book might be 
 swelled out by parallel passages. This has been 
 put into my hands. His collections, I find, have 
 been plundered by Steevens and M alone, who 
 wisely kept their secret — to me they are useless : 
 yet I am not certain, if my sight does not totally 
 fail me, but that I may be tempted to reprint the 
 original with the additions of scenery, &c, some- 
 
 1 Gifford was then engaged in editing the dramas of Massinger.
 
 j6 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 what in the manner of Massinger, to facilitate the 
 understanding of him, which now requires more 
 attention than the general reader can or will 
 bestow. 
 
 Juvenal drags heavily. At one time, all 
 Bulwer's devils, arrant, passant, couchant, and ram- 
 pant, are at my heels, roaring for copy ; at another 
 I cannot get sight of them ; and if I make inquiries 
 — why they are gone for twelve days to get drunk 
 with the blameless Ethiopians. So we proceed. I 
 take it for granted that Mr. Hodgson is not more 
 fortunate. In this edition, I have added a little, 
 and but a little, to the notes, and attempted here 
 and there to squeeze the text a little together. I 
 have no idea of improving it, unless, as Sir J. 
 Cutler's maid — absit invidia — improved his stock- 
 ings. I want a poetical friend, for the gods have 
 not made the Dr. ' poetical, and most of my other 
 acquaintance are over ears in politicks (sic). 
 
 I have scarcely been out of doors since I wrote 
 last. You would therefore have found me in my 
 elbow chair, and I should have been truly proud 
 and happy to have seen you. I am now meditating 
 a south sea voyage to Newmarket for a fortnight or 
 three weeks, as I have some reliance on a change 
 
 1 Dean Ireland.
 
 GIFFORD ON JUVENAL. J J 
 
 of air. ' Pray make me happy,' as Scindiah says, 
 ' by your letters.' 
 
 Ever, my dear Sir, most sincerely yours, 
 
 Wm. Gifford. 
 
 The second letter, addressed to Hodgson himself, 
 gives pleasing proof of the generosity and true nobility 
 of mind of one of nature's gentlemen. 
 
 James Street : Monday Night. 
 
 Though the Dr. and I had respectively ordered 
 Juvenal to be sent to us the moment it appeared, 
 yet your active kindness has, with me, anticipated 
 the plodding industry of the bookseller. I accept 
 your present with the sincerest pleasure and shall 
 ever regard it among my choicest possessions. 
 
 I fell on it immediately, and, without removing 
 my eye for an instant from the page, read, shall I 
 say devoured ? the six first satires — more I could 
 not do — nor do I expect to be able to distinguish 
 an ' a ' from a ' b ' for the next twenty-four hours. 
 
 In simplicity and truth I am delighted with 
 you ; for the haste and imperfection of which you 
 speak, I see nothing but freedom, spirit, and 
 vigour : your anxiety I place to the score of 
 modesty ; it is surely not necessary, but I do not
 
 78 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 condemn it. Would you could impart a little of it, 
 where it is really needed ! ' But fools rush in,' you 
 know. Expect to hear nothing of the Introduction 
 and Notes, for I have not read a syllable of them 
 yet. 
 
 I am amazed at the facility (to say nothing of 
 the elegance) with which you compose ; though 
 Ireland, who regards you with great affection, had, 
 in some measure, prepared me for it. Your morn- 
 ing's amusement would occupy me seriously for a 
 week — and Jove only knows what it would be after 
 all. And have you the conscience, with all this 
 ease and spirit and learning and extensive reading, 
 to call upon me to improve your trial ? pro pudor ! 
 No, no ; you must look upon me as an old post- 
 horse : what with switching and spurring I might 
 perhaps perform a short stage ; but should be 
 mighty stiff after it, and not in a travelling condi- 
 tion for some time. Do you recollect that I once 
 said ' mox in reluct : ' &c. I had then no bad idea, 
 and, as I thought, not unproductive of useful fun. 
 It was a work on the plan of ' Le chef-d'oeuvre d'un 
 Inconnu,' that genuine piece of French humour. 
 I had written the life of my ' Hero,' containing, 
 with great pomposity, not one accident that does 
 not happen to every clown every day of his life ; I
 
 A FRIENDLY SUGGESTION. 79 
 
 had also composed a poem — oh such a poem ! I 
 do not think 'Jack Horner' came within a league 
 of it ; and amassed a vast quantity of illustrations 
 ' after the manner ' of all sorts of people, to render 
 every clear point incomprehensible ; and many 
 other pretty things. When I had done all this, 
 ' an exposition of idleness,' as Bottom says — not 
 your friend Flatbottom Urgius whose various read- 
 ing is very good — but an ' exposition of idleness ' 
 came upon me, and before I recovered my activity, 
 a storm or robbery, call it which you will, ' shook 
 down my mellow hangings.' To secure my pre- 
 cious arcana I wisely put them within an old chess- 
 board, taking care to secure them with a string 
 that, like Styx, went nine times round it. ' If you 
 have tears, prepare to shed them now.' In changing 
 houses, this casket, to which that of Alexander was 
 but a tin canister, was conveyed out of the cart that 
 bore the curta supellex. I consoled myself in my 
 distress by reflecting on the disappointment of the 
 miserable thief of a rascal Avhen he opened his 
 pnrcliase. But why do I tell you this cock and 
 bull story ? Firstly, that you may take up my 
 design — you have fifty times more talents for it 
 than I had in my best days ; and surely the harvest 
 is richer than ever — et quando uberior ? — O what
 
 8o MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 giggling might you have at the Germans ! to say 
 nothing of the home produce. 
 
 My valued friends in Gower Street told me of 
 your removal to Cambridge : on this I felicitate 
 you, and, let me add, the world, most sincerely ; 
 for you will certainly have more time at command. 
 I thank you for your congratulations ; presuming 
 that you allude to the lottery. Nothing is yet 
 settled, but I believe some good is en train. Down 
 on your knees and be thankful that you see land at 
 last. The watchman is now bellowing just two 
 o'clock. With the sincerest esteem, 
 
 I remain your obliged and faithful friend, 
 
 Wm. Gifford. 
 
 The removal to Cambridge, to which allusion is 
 
 made in this letter, refers to Hodgson's appointment 
 
 to a Resident Tutorship at King's College of which he 
 
 had already for five years been a fellow. Humphrey 
 
 Sumner, the then Provost, had asked him to lecture 
 
 upon Locke and Pearson. Hodgson replied in the 
 
 following letter, in which he sketches in outline 
 
 some of the views with which he entered upon his 
 
 new sphere of work. 
 
 Eton : October i, 1807. 
 
 Dear Sir,— I am greatly obliged by your keeping the 
 
 tutorship open for me so long ; and lament the
 
 BUTLER. LOCKE. PEARSON. 8 1 
 
 necessity of my absence from Cambridge till 
 Christmas. 
 
 Concerning the subject of my lectures I am 
 very glad to have the opportunity of some com- 
 munication with you. The books you mention 
 (Locke and Pearson) are as yet by no means 
 among my intimate acquaintance ; but I will take 
 the liberty of offering my general ideas of their 
 character to your consideration. Upon Butler, I 
 believe, we are agreed, that his 'Analogy' is too 
 profound a work for any but the severest student 
 to comprehend. At the lectures by Mr. Lloyd 
 which I attended at Cambridge, I gathered that 
 there was much in Locke controverted by subse- 
 quent reasoners ; but I did not perceive that any- 
 thing had been added to the explanation and argu- 
 ment of Pearson for a succession of years. Of the 
 effect which Mr. Lloyd's lectures had upon his 
 hearers, as all were at the same college with myself, 
 I can form some opinion. It is an assured truth 
 that not one pupil out of a dozen gained anything 
 from the Locke lecture when I was at college. But 
 Mr. Lloyd has made Locke the study of his life. 
 If then, with his excellent understanding and long 
 application, he could not render the lecture interest- 
 ing or useful, how is another person to do it ? It is 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 my belief that in the ' Essay on the Human Under- 
 standing ' Mr. Locke is often bewildered in the 
 subtlety of his own reasoning. Nothing is so dark 
 as metaphysical speculation, and nothing, therefore, 
 requires so plain a light to be thrown upon it. 
 That Mr. Locke's manner is popular, or likely to 
 catch the attention of young men, I cannot allow. 
 It is very different with Pearson. His reasoning is 
 clear, intelligible, and convincing. I do not, then, 
 despair of being able ' to tell the tale as 'tis told 
 me,' which is the chief thing required in a lec- 
 ture extracted from Pearson ; but I do despair of 
 forcibly recommending the fine-spun lucubrations 
 of Mr. Locke to the attention of my pupils. 
 
 I have written this letter very hastily, in the 
 midst of uncongenial employment, and of hard addi- 
 tional labour at my publication. You will therefore, 
 I trust, excuse any misstatement of opinion ex- 
 pressed upon the moment, though not formed with- 
 out previous consideration. The fact is, that ever 
 since your kind promise of appointing me to the 
 tutorship, I have found my thoughts naturally 
 engaged in my few leisure hours with the business 
 of my future work. And I will request your 
 permission to enter a little further into the result of 
 my reflections. Young men are but three years at
 
 METAPHYSICS. RELIGION. 83 
 
 King's, and any very accurate knowledge of a 
 philosophical work cannot be communicated to 
 them by an hour's explanation every day in the 
 half terms. That the generality of young men will 
 take much trouble to prepare themselves for lec- 
 tures is not to be expected. A few will really exa- 
 mine their work beforehand; a few more will just 
 run it over ; but the greater part will not look at it 
 till the moment. Still they may learn something, 
 they may all learn something, if the subject is 
 interesting, and if their instructor adapts his man- 
 ner to their prejudices and their turn of thought. 
 But I contend that a metaphysical subject is not 
 generally interesting, although a religious subject is 
 more so than any other ; and, as to manner, the 
 young are all impatient of delay. If a lecturer is 
 slow, they conceive that he is stupid, and then the 
 business is done. Now, I question whether any 
 but the most superficial knowledge of Locke could 
 be imparted without a very cautious slowness of 
 interpretation. . . . 
 
 Since I left college my reading has been very 
 miscellaneous. It has chiefly been devoted to Greek 
 and Latin authors, but has diverged a good deal 
 into French and English literature. Lectures upon 
 the Belles Lettres, in short, have been my principal 
 
 g 2
 
 84 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 study. I do not pretend to any deep knowledge 
 here ; neither my age nor rny other engagements 
 can have allowed much proficiency. But, having 
 read Rollin and Blair when a boy, a third set of 
 lectures upon the same subject was put into my 
 hands some years since by a lecturer of the name 
 of Barron. He has not, I think, supplied many of 
 the deficiencies of his predecessors, although in his 
 essay on Logic he has, I think, done more than they 
 had attempted. What I fancied worth remem- 
 bering in my own reading I always noted down, 
 and when I was requested, not long since, to give a 
 collected opinion of these writers, I interwove my 
 own observations with extracts and opinions from 
 their works. This employment, and the trans- 
 lation of Juvenal, have, with other occasional exer- 
 tions of the same kind, filled my time since I left 
 college ; and I mention these circumstances to 
 introduce a proposal which, had I not waited for 
 some previous intimation from you upon the sub- 
 ject, I should have submitted to your consideration 
 a month ago. Suppose a lecture upon Belles Lettres 
 — a general account of the sages, historians, orators, 
 and poets of Greece and Rome. For instance, 
 Demosthenes ; the character of his age, the state 
 of Greece, and of Athens particularly, when he
 
 PROPOSED LECTURE UPON LITERATURE. 85 
 
 flourished ; the history and effect of his orations ; 
 a comparison between his style and that of other 
 orators. Or, to make the lecture more general, it 
 might embrace a connected account of all the 
 principal Greek and Roman writers, the examina- 
 tion of their style, with extracts from their works ; 
 and a general comparison of ancient and modern 
 literature might be made both pleasant and useful. 
 Ouinctilian, Longinus, Diogenes Laertius, Macro- 
 bius, would open their stores to me, nor have I 
 mentioned the treasure of treasures, Aristotle. 
 Surely one could blend a spell from them all 
 enough to attract the Old Court. 
 
 I request your indulgence for this imperfect 
 exposition of a plan of lectures ; but, as I look 
 forward to Cambridge as my residence for many 
 years, and enter upon that residence under your 
 auspices (quod spiro et placeo, si placeo, tuum est), 
 I think it right to make you as much acquainted 
 as I am with my views and inclinations before 
 entering upon my employment. 
 
 Whether so extraordinary a development of the 
 customary curriculum at King's was allowed is doubt- 
 ful. But there can be no doubt that, in Hodgson's 
 hands, it would have been universally admitted to be
 
 86 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 a most refreshing novelty. All changes in those 
 clays were looked upon with suspicion. The provost, 
 Humphrey Sumner, was a person of staid conser- 
 vative principles. His naturally ponderous manner 
 and disposition were still further retarded by deaf- 
 ness ; an infirmity of which it is sad to reflect that 
 Ben Drury, the Eton master, should ever have taken 
 advantage, to the infinite amusement of those present, 
 by making most uncomplimentary observations to 
 him in the manner of a person conversing upon some 
 ordinary topic — observations which were invariably 
 received with the blandest courtesy. 
 
 Notwithstanding Hodgson's diffidence in the 
 matter of the Locke lecture, the Provost persisted in 
 his request, and Hodgson, accordingly, at once ap- 
 plied himself to the study of metaphysics. Some of 
 his written lectures which remain prove him to have 
 thoroughly mastered his subject, and to have pre- 
 sented it to his pupils in so pleasant and attractive a 
 form as must have met with ample appreciation from 
 undergraduate understandings. But, not content with 
 these masterly expositions, his poetical mind, as 
 usual, had recourse to verses for a fuller expression of 
 those deep imaginings which his metaphysical re- 
 search had naturally suggested to it, and in the 
 ' Ballad on Metaphysics,' written at this time, he
 
 DEAN IRELAND ON SOCRATES. 87 
 
 gives an epitome of the whole subject, inclusive of 
 the systems of Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, and Reid ; 
 contriving to invest even abstract reasoning with 
 poetical harmony, and concluding with some lines of 
 great power and beauty on the legitimate end and 
 consummation of all human studies — the adoration of 
 the Deity. 
 
 As in a measure appropriate to the subject of 
 metaphysics, some letters by the Rev. John Ireland, 
 then prebendary, afterwards the distinguished Dean of 
 Westminster, may here be given. His early acquaint- 
 ance with Hodgson has already been noticed, and the 
 high opinion which he had formed of his character 
 and abilities is plainly proved by the tone of these 
 letters. 
 
 In a note to the Second Satire of Juvenal Hodgson 
 had written with reference to the accusations some- 
 times brought against his original that he ridiculed 
 the idea of a future state. 
 
 Did not Socrates in his dying hours use the common 
 language of his countrymen with regard to the gods, 
 and yet we cannot suppose him to have intended 
 more than an example of conformity to established 
 usage when he enjoined the sacrifice of a cock 
 to Esculapius ; although we know he believed in
 
 88 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 an all-wise and all-powerful Creator and Supporter 
 of the Universe. 
 
 Hodgson's naturally reverent mind and early reli- 
 gious training here, no doubt, betrayed him into the 
 use of an expression similar to those commonly 
 current among Churchmen. He probably did not 
 mean to say more than that Socrates believed in the 
 Supreme Governor of the universe, which in its state 
 of order owed Him alone its existence ; and did not 
 intend to enter at all into the question of ancient 
 beliefs in pre-existent matter. With this point of 
 view, as far as it goes, the Scriptural doctrine is not 
 materially at variance, when it distinctly asserts that 
 the Creator brought Cosmos out of Chaos. 
 
 But the erudite Dr. Ireland, the author of 'Five 
 Discourses containing certain Arguments for and 
 against the Reception of Christianity by the ancient 
 Jews and Greeks,' of ' Paganism and Christianity 
 compared,' and many other profound theological 
 dissertations, was not likely to rest satisfied with any 
 mode of expression in the annotation of a classical 
 work which could possibly admit of misinterpret- 
 ation on such a point. He accordingly wrote in the 
 following strain, which if hypercritical must be con- 
 sidered to have been not the less complimentary to 
 a man who was twenty years younger than himself: —
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF 'A PROPER CREATION.' 89 
 
 Croydon : January 11, 1808. 
 Dear Sir, — I have begun to read your Juvenal ; and 
 you will judge from what I am about to say, how 
 strong is my remembrance of the esteem which I 
 felt for you several years ago, when my intercourse 
 with you and your family was nearer than it is at 
 present. 
 
 In one of the notes to the Second Satire, it is 
 said, in vindication of the character of Socrates, 
 that he believed in an all-powerful Creator of the 
 universe. I am persuaded, from the general com- 
 plexion of the assertion, that you cannot have 
 made a regular inquiry into this part of the Pagan 
 theology. I am persuaded, too, that, if you had, 
 your mind would have arrived at the same con- 
 viction which I feel. It has happened that, for a 
 theological purpose, I have looked with some atten- 
 tion into this point ; and of nothing am I more 
 firmly convinced, than that in no Pagan school 
 was ever taught the doctrine of a proper creation. 
 It happens, too, that, at this very time, I am engaged 
 in impressing this religious caution upon the King's 
 scholars at Westminster, to whom I read term lec- 
 tures. It is highly probable that your translation 
 may fall into the hands of such youths ; and I 
 should be extremely unwilling to hear that their
 
 90 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 belief in an essential and peculiar doctrine of Reve- 
 lation was likely to be unsettled by any contrary 
 observation of yours. If when you did me the 
 honour of calling here, I had been aware of this 
 circumstance I should have taken the liberty of a 
 friend, and requested that you would have placed 
 the passage in question at my disposal. However, 
 all this depends on the confidence which you might 
 have in my research or my judgment. The best 
 thing to be done is to look into this important 
 point yourself before another edition of your book 
 is called for. If I should be so fortunate as to 
 meet with you before that time comes, perhaps I 
 might be able to prove my assertion even by con- 
 versation. 
 
 I have troubled you with a long letter ; but I 
 believe that I know your heart, and that you 
 will take what I have said as a private mark of 
 friendship. 
 
 I beg you to believe me, dear Sir, 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 J. Ireland. 
 
 No. i Fludyer Street : March 28, 1808. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your letter has found me here, being 
 engaged in the duties of my residence, and re-
 
 CHRISTIANITY V. PAGANISM. 9 1 
 
 moved from the books which would have afforded 
 me the evidence proper for the point between us. 
 As it is, I have only the opportunity of saying that 
 in the conclusion of your letter you have seized 
 the word, under which lay the whole force of my 
 observation. I had talked to you of the igno- 
 rance of the Pagan schools in the doctrine of a 
 proper creation. By this I meant, that in all the 
 ancient cosmology which has descended to us, 
 the only doctrine taught is that of the form im- 
 pressed upon bodies, or the extraction of bodies 
 from pre-existing matter ; and that the primary 
 matter, or vK-q, is always supposed beforehand. 
 The more you examine the ancient evidence with 
 this view, the more persuaded you will be that 
 all these passages, in which there is an appearance 
 of creation, are to be popularly interpreted, and that 
 as the early Church teaches us through Eusebius, 
 ' It was peculiar to the Hebrew doctrines to con- 
 sider the God over all, the one maker of all things, 
 and of the substance which underlies bodies, which 
 the Greeks denominate matter.' I cannot refer to 
 the place, for I have not my Eusebius with me, 
 but am sure of the passage. I know that several 
 of the fathers talked of a creation, as really incul- 
 cated by the Pagan writers ; but I know that this
 
 92 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 untenable notion was advanced by them with no 
 other view than to win the later Greeks to the 
 Gospel through an approximation of the former 
 Grecian writings to the Scriptures. This was one 
 of those injudicious accommodations of which the 
 fathers were often guilty, upon motives of mere 
 Christian zeal. And you may be persuaded of the 
 futility of this doctrine, when you consider that the 
 fathers have adduced numbers of their proofs from 
 the poets and play-writers — Sophocles, Menander, 
 Philemon, &c. In short, I will only beg you to 
 read a short, but perfectly convincing treatise on 
 this subject. I mean that of Mosheim, ' De Crea- 
 tione Mundi ex nihilo ; ' you will find it among his 
 ' opuscula,' or in his edition of Cudworth's ' Intel- 
 lectual System,' which indeed ought never to be 
 read without it. 
 
 And now I must bid you farewell, for a thou- 
 sand things press upon me. I have given your 
 kind remembrance to Gifford, who is but just re- 
 covered from a fever which gave me, for a day or 
 two, some uneasiness about him. 
 
 Hodgson's Juvenal was dedicated to his father's 
 old friend and patron Lord Liverpool, whose gratify- 
 ing acknowledgment of the dedication may fitly 
 conclude the present chapter.
 
 NOTE FROM LORD LIVERPOOL. Q7 
 
 Hertford Street: Dec. 23, 1807 
 Dear Sir, — I received the evening before last the 
 present you sent me of your translation of 
 Juvenal. I have hitherto had time only to pe- 
 ruse the Preface : it is replete with good erudition, 
 and with many sagacious remarks. I have no 
 doubt that this work will do you great credit, and 
 that I shall also derive some credit from your 
 having done me the honour of dedicating it to me. 
 I am, with great truth, 
 
 Your faithful, humble servant, 
 
 Liverpool. 
 
 F. Hodgson, Esq.
 
 94 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF FRIENDSHIP WITH LONSDALE 
 AND LORD BYRON — NOTES OF THE LATTER ON 
 POPE— HIS RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS — LETTERS 
 FROM BYRON AND GIFFORD — INSTITUTION OF 
 THE ' QUARTERLY ' — PUBLIC ORATORSHIP — 
 POLITICAL ALLUSIONS— LINES TO LONSDALE. 
 
 1808-9. 
 
 Early in 1808 Hodgson commenced his residence at 
 Cambridge as a fellow and tutor of King's College. 
 This residence continued until his marriage in 18 14, 
 and, during this period, besides his duties and studies 
 at the university itself, he went each year to Rugby 
 as classical examiner, passed many of his vacations in 
 London, and was continually engaged in literary pur- 
 suits ; constantly contributing to the ' Critical ' and 
 ' Monthly ' Reviews, of which last periodical he was for 
 some time an editor, and publishing several volumes 
 of poetry.
 
 LONSDALE. BYRON. 
 
 95 
 
 It was at this time that two young men of re- 
 markable talent were added to the number of his 
 intimate friends, to each of whom Hodgson felt him- 
 self to be placed more or less in the position of 
 Mentor. One of them was John Lonsdale, afterwards 
 a rival candidate for the provostship of Eton, and 
 Bishop of Lichfield. The other was that brilliant, 
 wayward young poet who was destined to add 
 undying lustre to the literature of his country, and to 
 achieve for himself an endless fame. 
 
 The intimacy with Lord Byron, now firmly 
 cemented, had doubtless been formed previously 
 during Hodgson's visits to London and Cambridge 
 and to the Drurys at Harrow. The tone of the first 
 remaining letters denotes a degree of friendship which 
 must evidently have existed for some time before 
 they were written. But it is equally evident that the 
 two could not have been much thrown together with- 
 out becoming intimate. There were many points of 
 resemblance in their characters, and enough of differ- 
 ence to produce harmony. An early familiarity with 
 and earnest admiration for the inspired writings of 
 the Bible, and especially of the Psalms, a love of his- 
 tory, of philosophy and, above all, of poetry, were 
 common to both, and were enough in themselves to 
 provide endless subjects of mutual interest for discus-
 
 96 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 sion. Add to this that both were high-spirited and 
 warm-hearted, genial and animated in society, but 
 equally subject to periods of melancholy and depres- 
 sion when alone, and it is easy to understand the 
 cordial affection and regard which they mutually 
 entertained for one another throughout the period of 
 their friendship ; a friendship which continued unim- 
 paired until Byron's final departure from England 
 caused the partial severance of every social tie. Even 
 then they occasionally corresponded, and there was 
 no diminution in their mutual feelings of regard up to 
 the time of the premature death in 1824. 
 
 In March 1808 Byron came to Cambridge for the 
 purpose of availing himself of his privilege as a noble- 
 man and taking his M.A. degree, although he had 
 only matriculated in 1805. From this time, until 
 early in 18 16, the friends constantly met, and, when 
 absent, as constantly corresponded. On this occasion 
 of meeting there was one especial circumstance which 
 doubtless greatly contributed to mutual sympathy. 
 Both had been recently subjected to the fiery ordeal 
 of criticism in the ' Edinburgh Review.' Hodgson, 
 as we have seen, had already answered his critics in a 
 satire of no ordinary spirit and power. Byron's still 
 more caustic and comprehensive reply was now in 
 process of concoction. Much must have passed
 
 ADMIRATION OF DRYDEN AND POPE. 97 
 
 between them upon this subject, and manifold must 
 have been the notes which were compared, many and 
 various the living poets whose relative merits and 
 demerits must have been discussed. 
 
 Their early tastes in poetry were, moreover, 
 much alike. Both were zealous disciples of Dryden, 
 both entertained the deepest reverence for the genius 
 of Pope. Hodgson's allegiance to the muse of 
 Dryden was founded upon admiration for the inten- 
 sity of its power and vigour, while Byron's veneration 
 for Pope's style amounted almost to idolatry, and he 
 strove to emulate with slavish exactness that correct- 
 ness of form which distinguished the ' Bard of the 
 Thames.' But in spite of what he conceived to be his 
 better judgment, his native force and genius quickly 
 carried him beyond the limits thus assigned, and, 
 although in theory he ever remained loyal to his early 
 faith, in practice he was more revolutionary than 
 most of his predecessors and contemporaries, and 
 soon created a style which was essentially his own. 
 
 Some fragmentary opinions which Byron jotted 
 down as they occurred to him at this time, although 
 wholly without method or connection, may be found 
 interesting if inserted here. 
 
 In Ruff head's ' Life of Pope,' a book bearing the 
 autograph inscription 'Byron — Cambridge, A.D., 1808,' 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 which afterwards passed into Hodgson's possession, 
 there are a few short pointed notes in Byron's hand- 
 writing, the first of which, written hastily on a fly-leaf 
 at the beginning, are evidently intended as criticisms, 
 not less general than concise, of Pope's style and 
 character as a poet. They are as follows : — 
 
 Of Pope's pithy conciseness of style Swift — no diffuse 
 writer himself — has so emphatically said — 
 
 For Pope can in one couplet fix 
 More sense than I can do in six. 
 
 Imitators of Horace and Juvenal were Boileau 
 and Pope — of one as well as of the other of whom 
 it may be said — 
 
 Meme en imitant toujours original. 
 
 At the commencement of the biography Pope's 
 personal characteristics are summarily disposed of by 
 a short quotation scrawled in the margin. 
 
 Mr. Rawlinson of Sarsden House was a friend and 
 correspondent of Pope. Mr. R. said that Pope was 
 a troublesome friend and an implacable enemy — 
 who sometimes forgot favours, but never forgave 
 injuries. 
 
 Again, as a foot-note to the preface, and a propos
 
 BYRON S NOTES ON POPE. 99 
 
 of nothing in the text of the biography, Byron 
 writes : — 
 
 Pope's Nymph of the Grot bears so striking a re- 
 semblance to the delicacy of thought expressed in 
 the following lines that one is almost tempted to 
 suspect him of plagiarism. 
 
 Ad imaginem Nymphs dormientis. 
 
 Hujus nympha loci, sacri custodia fontis, 
 Dormio — dum blandae sentio murmur aquas ; 
 
 Parce meum, quisquis tangis cava marmora, Somnum 
 Rumpere, sive bibas sive lavere, tace. 
 
 This was formerly in the Villa Julia at Rome, and is 
 copied from the ' Variorum in Europa itinerum 
 deliciae,' edit, secund., 1599, by Nathan Chytiaeus ; 
 the book is very scarce. 
 
 On Mr. Ruffhead's favourable criticisms of the 
 ' Rape of the Lock ' Byron succinctly remarks : — 
 
 In the ' Rape of the Lock ' Pope was indebted for 
 his idea of the machinery to the ' Comte de Gabalis' 
 of the Abbe Villars, and for the account of their 
 various employments to Shakspeare's ' Tempest,' 
 and ' Midsummer Night's Dream.' The description 
 of the ' game of ombre ' is imitated from the ' Scac- 
 chia ' of Victor. In other parts of the poem he has 
 
 h 2
 
 
 lOO MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 introduced frequent parodies of Homer, Virgil, and 
 Milton. He has also judiciously employed the 
 celebrated fiction of Ariosto — that all things lost 
 on earth are treasured in the moon. In this recep- 
 tacle of the lunar sphere, says Ariosto, are to be 
 found 
 
 Le lachrime, e i sospiri de gli amanti, &c. &c. 
 
 Or/ando Furioso, canto 34. 
 
 Further on in the biography Mr. Ruffhead 
 
 writes : — 
 
 Our author having, by his translation of Homer and 
 other works, placed himself in circumstances of 
 affluence, he was now at liberty to follow the true 
 bent of his genius. The independence of his for- 
 tune did not make him negligent of his fame, nor 
 unmindful in the duty which he owed to society, in 
 the application of those talents which nature had 
 so bountifully bestowed upon him. His natural 
 benevolence suggested to him that he could not 
 better serve the interest of society, than, as himself 
 expresses it, by writing a book to bring mankind 
 to look upon this life with comfort and pleasure, 
 and put morality in good humour. 
 
 In this passage Byron underlines the word man- 
 kind, and writes in the margin, 'A malignant race
 
 byron's religious prepossessions. ioi 
 
 with Christianity in their mouths and Molochism in 
 their hearts.' An early evidence this of that gloomy 
 misanthropy into which the ' poet of pain,' as he has 
 been called, loved to chafe his troubled spirit, but 
 which was as alien from the daily practice of his life 
 as it was from his true nature. 
 
 But there was another subject of discussion which 
 was still more interesting to the friends, and which 
 excited greater differences of opinion. Byron's 
 acquaintance with Charles Skinner Matthews, a 
 young man of consummate ability and of brilliant 
 promise, whose sentiments on religious subjects were 
 avowedly sceptical, had, in the previous year, ripened 
 into intimacy, and had, doubtless, assisted consider- 
 ably in confirming those doubts and difficulties re- 
 specting revealed religion which Byron entertained, 
 and of which the seeds had been sown in early boy- 
 hood by the rigid doctrines of Calvinism. These 
 doctrines had been instilled into his infant mind with 
 uncompromising firmness, and as soon as his reason- 
 ing powers had full scope for their future develop- 
 ment they revolted from the tyranny under which 
 they had previously been held in check, and rejected 
 as illogical so narrow-minded and bigoted a system. 
 That the reaction had set in some years before is 
 proved by the religious poems contained in the boyish
 
 102 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 publication entitled ' Hours of Idleness.' In the 
 ' Prayer of Nature,' which breathes throughout a spirit 
 of deep devotion to the Deity, all systems are equally 
 repudiated. Temples cannot confine the Omnipotent 
 within their precincts, therefore they demand no 
 especial reverence ; to no one sect or religious body 
 are His mercies and His promises confined ; it is 
 therefore immaterial to which men belong. From 
 such a vague denial of the responsibilities of revealed 
 religion, the step to an actual rejection of such reli- 
 gion was not a long one. And in the case of Byron 
 the progress in the direction of absolute disbelief was 
 considerably accelerated by the fascinating friendship 
 of that clever and witty companion to whom we have 
 referred, and who made no secret of his profession of 
 atheism. 
 
 Hodgson, as we have seen, had recently renewed 
 his interest in the study of metaphysics ; but so sound 
 had been the religious training of his youth, so deep 
 and sincere was his natural piety, that he was neither 
 at this time nor at any other period of his life in any 
 danger of making shipwreck of the faith. Not that 
 his eyes were ever closed to the manifold difficulties 
 which beset the most perfect creed of an imperfect 
 race. But being fully persuaded in his own mind of 
 the validity of the main and vital truths of revealed
 
 Hodgson's friendly counsel. 103 
 
 religion, no vain imaginings, no shallow scepticisms or 
 fascinating fallacies of knowledge, falsely so called, 
 could shake his firm and unwavering faith in the 
 authenticity of Bible doctrine ; and with all the 
 earnestness of long-cherished conviction he strove to 
 bring back his young companion's wandering foot- 
 steps into the paths of everlasting peace. 
 
 How different might have been the short sad story 
 of Byron's life if only the wise and affectionate coun- 
 sel of his friend had received the attention and con- 
 sideration which it deserved ! That it had more 
 weight than its recipient cared to admit is proved by 
 the tone of some letters on religion which were 
 written in 181 1 in answer to Hodgson's arguments 
 in conversation and correspondence. Underneath 
 the reckless statements which these letters contain 
 there runs a current of deep religious conviction, and 
 belief in the goodness and mercy of God, which at 
 several subsequent periods came to the surface in acts 
 of really Christian forbearance and charity, and 
 which, towards the end of his life, found a vent in 
 constant perusal of the Scriptures and, at the last, in 
 submissive acquiescence in the Divine Will. 
 
 That Byron was his own worst enemy has often 
 been noticed by his biographers. His extraordinary 
 love of a bad reputation, of exhibiting himself in the
 
 104 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 most unfavourable aspect, amounted almost to in- 
 sanity, and was in nothing more conspicuous than in 
 his determination to represent his religious opinions 
 as far more sceptical than they really were. Many 
 of his friends, and in particular Hodgson and Scrope 
 Berdmore Davies, a fellow of King's at this time and 
 mutual friend of Byron and Hodgson, used constantly 
 to make fun of this idiosyncrasy. Byron, when ab- 
 sorbed in thought and indulging in reckless specula- 
 tions, used often, as he expressed it, to suffer from ' a 
 confusion of ideas,' and would sometimes exclaim in 
 his most melodramatic manner, ' I shall go mad.' 
 Scrope Davies, a true friend, and a charming viva- 
 cious companion, who had a quaint dry manner of 
 speaking and an irresistible stammer, used quietly to 
 remark in answer, ' Much more like silliness than 
 madness.' 
 
 In the autumn of 1S08, Byron having partially 
 repaired Newstead, was anxious to assemble his 
 friends around him with as little delay as possible. 
 With this intent he wrote many pressing invitations 
 to Hodgson, which do not appear to have been ac- 
 cepted until some months later. In the meantime 
 several letters passed between them, the first which 
 remains from Byron being dated Newstead Abbey, 
 Nov. 3, 1808.
 
 LETTER FROM BYRON. IO5 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — I expected to have heard ere 
 this the event of your interview with the mysterious 
 Mr. Hayne, my volunteer correspondent ; however, 
 as I had no business to trouble you with the ad- 
 justment of my concerns with that illustrious 
 stranger, I have no right to complain of your 
 silence. .Hobhouse and your humble are still here. 
 Hobhouse hunts, &c, and I do nothing. We dined 
 the other day with a neighbouring esquire (not 
 Collet of Staines), and regretted your absence, as 
 the banquet of Staines was scarcely to be com- 
 pared to our last ' feast of Reason.' You know 
 laughing is the sign of a rational animal, so says 
 Dr. Smollett ; I think so too, but unluckily my 
 spirits don't always keep pace with my opinions. 
 I had not so much scope for risibility the other day 
 as I could have wished, for I was seated near a 
 woman, to whom, when a boy, I was as much 
 attached as boys generally are, and more than a 
 man should be. I knew this before I went, and 
 was determined to be valiant, and converse with 
 sang froid, but, instead, I forgot my valour and 
 my nonchalance, and never opened my lips even to 
 laugh, far less .to speak, and the lady was almost as 
 absurd as myself, which made both the objects of 
 more observation than if we had conducted our-
 
 106 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 selves with easy indifference. You will think all 
 this great nonsense ; if you had seen it you would 
 have thought it still more ridiculous. 
 
 I have tried for Gifford's Epistle to Pindar, and 
 the bookseller says the copies were cut up for waste 
 paper: if you can procure me a copy I shall be 
 much obliged, Adieu ! 
 
 Believe me yours ever sincerely, 
 
 Byron. 
 
 It was about the middle of this month that the 
 faithful favourite ' Boatswain ' died, a dog whose 
 name is almost as famous as his master's. This sad 
 event was at once announced to Hodgson in a cha- 
 racteristically tragic letter, of which Moore quotes the 
 most important sentence. 
 
 Boatswain is dead ! he expired in a state of madness 
 on the 1 8th, after suffering much, yet retaining all 
 the gentleness of his nature to the last, never 
 attempting to do the least injury to anyone 
 near him. I have now lost everything except old 
 Murray. 
 
 The next letter begins in the same melancholy 
 strain.
 
 INVITATION TO NEWSTEAD. 107 
 
 Newstead Abbey, Notts : Nov. 27, 1808. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Boatswain is to be buried in a vault 
 waiting for myself. I have also written an epitaph, 
 which I would send, were it not for two reasons : 
 one is, that it is too long for a letter ; and the other, 
 that I hope you will some day read it on the spot 
 where it will be engraved. 
 
 You discomfit me with the intelligence of the 
 real orthodoxy of the ' Arch-fiend's ' name, but 
 alas ! it must stand with me at present ; if ever I 
 have an opportunity of correcting, I shall liken him 
 to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a noted liar in his way, 
 and perhaps a more correct prototype than the 
 Carnifex of James II. 
 
 I do not think the composition of your poem 
 'a sufficing reason ' for not keeping your promise of 
 a Christmas visit. Why not come ? I will never 
 disturb you in your moments of inspiration ; and if 
 you wish to collect any materials for the scenery, 
 Hardwicke (where Mary was confined for several 
 years) is not eight miles distant, and, independent 
 of the interest you must take in it as her vindicator, 1 
 is a most beautiful and venerable object of cu- 
 riosity. I shall take it very ill if you do not come ; 
 
 1 Hodgson was writing a poem at this time on Mary Queen of Scots.
 
 I08 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 my mansion is improving in comfort, and, when 
 you require solitude, I shall have an apartment 
 devoted to the purpose of receiving your poetical 
 reveries. 
 
 I have heard from our Drury ; he says little of the 
 Row, which I regret : indeed I would have sacrificed 
 much to have contributed in any way (as a school- 
 boy) to its consummation ; but Butler survives, and 
 thirteen boys have been expelled in vain. Davies 
 is not here, but Hobhouse hunts as usual, and your 
 humble servant ' drags at each remove a lengthened 
 chain.' I have heard from his Grace of Portland 
 on the subject of my expedition : he talks of diffi- 
 culties ; by the gods ! if he throws any in my 
 way I will next session ring such a peal in his 
 ears, 
 
 That he shall wish the fiery Dane 
 Had rather been his guest again. 
 
 You do not tell me if Gifford is really my com- 
 mentator : it is too good to be true, for I know 
 nothing would gratify my vanity so much as the 
 reality ; even the idea is too precious to part with. 
 
 I still expect you here ; let me have no more 
 excuses. Hobhouse desires his best remembrance. 
 We are now lingering over our evening potations.
 
 13YR0NS LAMENESS. 1CX) 
 
 I have extended my letter further than I ought, 
 and beg you will excuse it ; on the opposite page 
 I send you some stanzas I wrote off on being ques- 
 tioned by a former flame as to my motives for 
 quitting this country. You are the first reader. 
 Hobhouse hates everything of the kind, therefore I 
 do not show them to him. Adieu ! 
 
 Believe me yours very sincerely, 
 
 Byron. 
 
 Moore gives extracts from other letters written 
 about the same time as the preceding. In one of his 
 answers Hodgson had remarked, jestingly, that some 
 of the verses in ' Hours of Idleness ' were calculated to 
 make schoolboys rebellious. This suggested a com- 
 parison with Tyrtaeus, and an allusion to that lameness 
 of which the sensitive poet so often spoke with a sort 
 of good-humoured sarcasm. 
 
 If my songs have produced the glorious effects you 
 mention, I shall be a complete Tyrtaeus ; though 
 I am sorry to say that I resemble that interesting 
 harper more in his person than in his poesy. 
 
 Hodgson remembered an occasion, also mentioned 
 by Moore, when, in a large and mixed company, a 
 vulgar person asked Byron aloud, ' Pray, my Lord,
 
 IIO MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 how is that foot of yours ? ' ' Thank you, Sir,' answered 
 Lord Byron, with the utmost mildness, ' much the 
 same as usual.' 
 
 The next letter is written in so light and playful 
 a strain, and is such a remarkable contrast to the me- 
 lancholy style of those which precede it, that the 
 fragmentary form in which it appears in Moore's Life 
 can only be accounted for by supposing that some of 
 its allusions were considered likely to wound living 
 sensibilities. However this may have been, there can 
 be no possible reason for suppressing any of it, after 
 the lapse of nearly seventy years. 
 
 Newstead Abbey, Notts*. Dec. 17, 1808. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — I have just received your letter, 
 and one from B. Drury, which I would send, were 
 it not too bulky to despatch within a sheet of 
 paper ; but I must impart the contents and consign 
 the answer to your care. In the first place, I cannot 
 address the answer to him, because the epistle is 
 without date or direction ; and in the next, the 
 contents are so singular that I can scarce believe 
 my optics, ' which are made the fools of the other 
 senses, or else worth all the rest' 
 
 A few weeks ago, I wrote to our friend Harry 
 Drury of facetious memory, to request he would
 
 LETTER FROM BYRON. I I I 
 
 prevail on his brother at Eton to receive the son of 
 a citizen of London well known unto me as a 
 pupil ; the family having been particularly polite 
 during the short time I was with them, induced me 
 to this application. ' Now mark what follows,' as 
 somebody or Southey sublimely saith : on this day, 
 the 17th December, arrives an epistle signed B. 
 Drury, containing, not the smallest reference to 
 tuition or zV/tuition, but a petition for Robert 
 Gregson, of pugilistic notoriety, now in bondage for 
 certain paltry pounds sterling, and liable to take up 
 his everlasting abode in Banco Regis. Had this 
 letter been from any of my lay acquaintance, or, in 
 short, from any person but the gentleman whose 
 signature it bears, I should have marvelled not. If 
 Drury is serious I congratulate pugilism on the 
 acquisition of such a patron, and shall be happy to 
 advance any sum necessary for the liberation of the 
 captive Gregson ; but I certainly hope to be certified 
 from you or some reputable housekeeper of the 
 fact, before I write to Drury on the subject. When 
 I say the fact I mean of the letter being written by 
 Drury, not having any doubt as to the authenticity 
 of the statement. The letter is now before me, 
 and I keep it for your perusal. When I hear from 
 you I shall address my answer to him, under your
 
 I 1 2 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 care ; for as it is now the vacation at Eton,, and the 
 letter is without time or place, I cannot venture to 
 consign my sentiments on so momentous a concern 
 to chance. 
 
 To you, my dear Hodgson, I have not much to 
 say. If you can make it convenient or pleasant 
 to trust yourself here, be assured it will be both 
 to me. 
 
 Before this year (1808) came to an end Hodgson 
 went to Newstead ; but there is no record of this first 
 visit, except a copy, which he took at the time when 
 they were composed, of the celebrated lines inscribed 
 by Byron on the cup formed from a skull, together 
 with a rough sketch of the cup itself. 
 
 Early in the following year we find Hodgson in 
 correspondence with Gifford on literary subjects, and 
 actively engaged in writing for Reviews. On April 25, 
 1809, Gifford writes from James Street : — 
 
 My dear Sir, — Business and illness have conspired to 
 prevent me from noticing your obliging note before. 
 I have just been with Murray, and discovered that 
 your conjecture is well founded. I therefore, with 
 great pleasure, entrust the ' Four Slaves ' x to your 
 
 1 The 'Four Slaves of Cythera,' by the Rev. Robert Bland, editor 
 of the celebrated 'Anthology,' and author of 'Edwy and Elgiva,' and 
 other poems.
 
 GIFFORD ON BLAND. II3 
 
 care. ... I have read the poem with great satis- 
 faction. Is the plan of it original, or formed on 
 some legend ? It is wild enough for an Arabian 
 tale, but probability is not of much moment. 
 There are many beautiful flights of genuine poetry 
 of the good old English stamp. The light parts 
 are very pleasant, but a passage here and there is 
 too familiar. There are, besides, a few ungram- 
 matical terms ; things not improper to be noticed, 
 especially when the general merit is so great. I 
 hope that Mr. Bland is by this time recovered. 
 I puzzled him sorely the other day by sending him 
 a letter destined for a grave divine ; but it may be 
 some consolation to him to know that I puzzled 
 the said divine still more. 
 
 The translation of Hesiod, if you have leisure 
 and inclination, is very much at your service. I 
 have just looked into it. The poetry, I suppose, 
 is well enough for the subject, which is neither 
 very amusing nor very interesting. The notes are 
 stuffed out with corrections of Cooke ; about as 
 wise a process, as if we had employed ourselves in 
 the correction of Rhodes. There is also a vast 
 deal taken from Jacob Bryant's ' Mythology,' which, 
 I thought, no one at present ever looked at without 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 a smile. The Doctor 1 is much pleased with your 
 approbation of his book ; it cost him much pains — 
 whether they might have been better bestowed, 
 this deponent sayeth not ; but he has pleased the 
 Westminsters. Autant de gagne ! 
 Ever, my dear Sir, 
 
 Most sincerely yours, 
 
 Wm. Gifford. 
 
 P.S. You are right. I have no northern coad- 
 jutor but Scott ; 2 at least, at present. 
 
 From the same to the same. 
 
 James Street, Buckingham Gate : June 3, 1809. 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have been so busy in forwarding our 
 2nd No. 3 that I have not been able to look to the 
 right hand or the left. It is now out, and I am 
 running away for a short time to the seaside to re- 
 fresh my eyes and do nothing. I do not wonder 
 that some objectionable passages are found in the 
 first No. I see too many myself, but the allusion 
 to the holy-water of the Mexican converts is an 
 historical fact. But, in truth, there is vast room for 
 
 1 Dean Ireland. 2 Sir Walter. 
 
 3 The allusions to a Review in these two letters refer to the Quar- 
 terly, which had only just come into existence under Gifford's auspices, 
 and to the early numbers of which Hodgson contributed.
 
 GIFFORD ON CRITICISM. I I 5 
 
 improvement ; and for this I am very anxious. 
 Such articles as appear in some of the smaller 
 reviews might be got by loads, but we aim at, or at 
 least wish for, something better. That we shall 
 succeed is, indeed, problematical ; but without it, it 
 is quite certain that we might as well sit with our 
 hands before us, and do nothing. It is not by 
 common exertions that the ' Edinburgh Review ' 
 can be met, and the others are not objects of con- 
 tention. To write panegyrics and satires is easy 
 enough ; but this is not criticism : and I have 
 already been obliged to omit more than I have in- 
 serted. From you, my dear Sir, I look for valuable 
 assistance : for this, it will be necessary to put 
 friendship out of the question, and to judge from 
 established principles of the art. What has sunk 
 the British critic but a base dereliction of all inde- 
 pendence ? I know little of the other Reviews, but I 
 suspect they do not flourish greatly — and from the 
 same cause. 
 
 Lord Byron's poem 1 sales well I understand. 
 I have an angry review of it, which I shall not use ; 
 for though it is well written, it is manifestly unjust. 
 Unless works can be made to amuse or instruct the 
 reader, it is loss of time to dwell long on them or 
 
 1 ' English Bards.' 
 I 2
 
 Il6 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 indeed to dwell on them at all. ' Hesiod,' which is 
 gone to your cousin, 1 may afford a neat article, but 
 seems scarcely worth a long one. However, you 
 will judge. I think, indeed, that almost all our 
 articles are too long. 
 
 If success be a proof of merit (which it certainly 
 is not) we might be vain ; for our second number 
 is nearly out of print in the first three days. Yet 
 we must look forward to something better. 
 Ever, my dear, Sir, 
 
 Your very faithful friend and servant, 
 
 Wm. Gifford. 
 
 P.S. I leave town this morning for Ryde, in 
 the Isle of Wight, where I shall remain for about 
 six weeks, and where, as well as in every other 
 place, I shall be glad to hear from you. 
 
 In the autumn of this year (1809) the public 
 oratorship at Cambridge fell vacant, and Hodgson 
 unsuccessfully contested it. His residence at Cam- 
 bridge had hardly been long enough to entitle him to 
 success, and Mr. Tatham, of St. John's, the successful 
 candidate, had anticipated him in obtaining the votes 
 of the most influential members of the Senate. Never- 
 theless, that Hodgson's claims were fully recognised 
 
 1 John Hodgson, Esq., a barrister at Lincoln's Inn.
 
 PUBLIC ORATORSHir. DR. GOODALL. I I J 
 
 is proved by the complimentary letters which he 
 received from many men of eminent distinction. Sir 
 Vicary Gibbs, then Attorney-General, who had de- 
 feated Lord Palmerston in the preceding year in the 
 representation of Cambridge, considered him emi- 
 nently qualified for the office ; Lord Palmerston him- 
 self wrote very courteously regretting that he had 
 already promised to support Mr. Tatham, a member 
 of his own college ; Lords Euston, Clarendon, and 
 Althorp, and H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester wrote 
 in a similar strain. 
 
 After this disappointment Hodgson again turned 
 his thoughts to private tuition as an employment for 
 his vacations. The following letter from Dr. Goodall, 
 then head-master of Eton, is in answer to an applica- 
 tion on this subject, and is written with the easy 
 elegance which characterised that most dilettante of 
 Dominies, who probably had slight suspicion that the 
 young man whom he now addressed with such con- 
 descending kindliness, was destined to be his next 
 successor in that provostship of Eton to which he 
 himself was shortly to succeed. 
 
 Upper School, ex Cathedra : Nov. 14, 1809. 
 
 My dear Sir, — While half a hundred unwilling poets 
 are labouring with all their might to draw off the
 
 Il8 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 spirit of the 32nd chapter of Deuteronomy, which 
 they will most of them do very effectually in one 
 sense at least, I have full leisure to acknowledge 
 the receipt of your letter, and to say that I have 
 little doubt of having occasional opportunities of 
 assisting your views, which I shall most gladly 
 embrace, but must consider the parents of the boys 
 who may be fortunate enough to be your pupils as 
 the persons obliged. I have unwittingly transferred 
 the description of my own live stock to the sons of 
 Alma Mater : I should certainly have said the young 
 men. Would that I could have added my congra- 
 tulations ! I am induced to think that only a nomi- 
 nation 1 was wanting. 
 
 Many thanks for your kind greetings. My 
 Brethren must fully share with me whatever praise 
 accrues from the present order of things at Eton. 
 Believe me to be with the truest regard, 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 Yours ever most faithfully, 
 
 J. GOODALL. 
 
 Considering the state of stagnation then prevailing 
 at Eton Dr. Goodall's compliment to his colleagues 
 must be regarded as of doubtful value. 
 
 1 This, of course, refers to the public oratorship.
 
 POLITICAL ALLUSIONS. BONAPARTE. I 1 9 
 
 Among Hodgson's letters relating to this period 
 there is one addressed to his father by an old friend, 
 dated December 29, 1809, part of which is not without 
 interest as throwing the light of contemporary opinion 
 upon the state of public feeling on the war and its 
 great instigator Bonaparte : — 
 
 I hope that this mild winter has been propitious to 
 your health, as well as Mrs. Hodgson's. In this 
 part of the world we have hitherto had nothing 
 that deserves the name of winter. I wish I could 
 say that the political season was as mild as the 
 natural ; this, however, is by no means the case ; 
 the political almanack makers prognosticate great 
 changes : I fear that some of the Cabinet will fall 
 victims to the Walcheren typhus ; but I am not yet 
 convinced that it will kill the whole Cabinet : I 
 presume there must be an inquiry, and perhaps the 
 result of it may prove that our commanders adopted 
 the most prudent, though not the most glorious, 
 line of conduct. All sorts of changes are of course 
 rumoured, but my opinion is that the Government 
 will meet the question fairly. There is one diffi- 
 culty, however (I think the principal one), which 
 will unavoidably embarrass any administration, 
 even a new one : the war has spun out into great 
 length, and the expenses of it bear heavily on most
 
 120 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 people. I had flattered myself that somehow or 
 other matters would have jumbled into something 
 like peace, but in this expectation I have indeed 
 been disappointed. Bonaparte seems, however, 
 disposed to enter on a more peaceable career, and, 
 after having so long been the universal destroyer of 
 mankind, to endeavour to make amends for the 
 ravages of his sword by a life of matrimonial use- 
 fulness. Of course he is to do great things in thirty 
 years, but I sincerely trust that, at any rate, he may 
 be disappointed in his wishes to preserve the crown 
 of France to the Corsican Dynasty, and that if he ever 
 should have a son, it may be taken from him as he 
 took away the unfortunate Duke d'Enghien. The 
 sister of the Emperor of Russia, who has already 
 refused him twice, is again the object of his choice. 
 
 In May of this year Byron invited his most inti- 
 mate friends to Newstead for a last visit before his 
 departure from England, of which visit Charles 
 Skinner Matthews has given a graphic account ; and 
 in June he addressed a farewell letter to Hodgson 
 from Falmouth with a spirited copy of verses quoted 
 by Moore, some of which, however, might have been 
 well omitted, as the vivacity and verve with which 
 they are written hardly compensate for their coarse-
 
 BYRON'S LOVE OF MISCHIEF. 121 
 
 ness. This remark applies equally to several pas- 
 sages in letters which were carefully marked for 
 omission by Hodgson, before being forwarded to 
 Moore, who had previously promised scrupulously to 
 regard Hodgson's wishes in this matter, but who could 
 not resist the temptation to insert everything which 
 would, in his opinion, directly or indirectly contribute 
 to the success of his work. It will be perceived that 
 such a proceeding was equally unfair to the writer and 
 to the recipient of these letters. Byron was very 
 young, only twenty-one, when they were written, and 
 was full of animal life and spirits. His innate love of 
 mischief, of shocking people's prejudices, and of re- 
 presenting himself as far more reckless and irreligious 
 than he really was, doubtless contributed to suggest 
 sentiments and modes of expression which his better 
 judgment would have condemned, and which no one 
 more deeply deplored than the person to whom they 
 were addressed. 
 
 For the two years of Byron's first absence from 
 England he corresponded constantly with Hodgson ; 
 and some of this correspondence, hitherto unpub- 
 lished, but full of interest, will be found in the follow- 
 ing pages. 
 
 At the beginning of the present chapter reference 
 was made to John Lonsdale, as being a contemporary
 
 122 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 of Byron's at Cambridge, and as sharing with him 
 Hodgson's friendship at that time. How sincere that 
 friendship was is attested by the following lines, 
 written by Hodgson at night in the stage coach, on 
 his way to the Bury election. Lonsdale, in his youth, 
 wrote poetry, but had the generosity and good sense 
 to admire and appreciate at its proper value the 
 genius of his brilliant companion. 
 
 Multa fides Plectri Sociis, et cara Sorori 
 Multa Venus. 
 
 Let warlike chiefs with envious eye 
 
 Behold a brother's fame ; 
 Let close-leagued statesmen fairly vie 
 
 To win the noblest name. 
 But, Lonsdale ! let not gentler minds 
 
 Renounce their native pride, 
 That chain of love which firmly binds 
 
 Our rival to our side. 
 Oh, thou hast loved the high-soul'd youth, 
 
 Whose song transcended thine, 
 Nor heaved one sigh, to wrong the Truth 
 
 That praised his glowing line. 
 Thy heart has beat, when friends around 
 
 Rehearsed his rapturous lays, 
 True echoes to the noble sound 
 
 That spoke thy rival's praise. 
 Thus oft on David's heav'nly lyre 
 
 Hung Saul's enchanted son ; 
 Thus kindled, as the thrilling wire 
 
 Their tuneful contest won.
 
 FRIENDSHIP OF RIVALS. I 23 
 
 Thus oft in Ovid's wondering ear 
 
 Propertius' music flow'd ; 
 Thus o'er Tibullus' youthful bier 
 
 Their mutual pity glow'd. 
 Thus Horace raised his Virgil's fame ; 
 
 Thus, different far in mind, 
 Far humbler bards, in heart the same, 
 
 Still love the tuneful kind. 
 The Muse with a magnetic force 
 
 Attracts her genuine sons, 
 And each upon his crowded course 
 
 With blameless ardour runs. 
 I dream not of the vulgar crew 
 
 Who damn'd to deathless fame, 
 Their native dirt on Dryden threw, 
 
 Or envied Pope his name. 
 Dumb scorn be theirs ! The faintest ray 
 
 That Virtue darts within 
 Drives Envy's gathering clouds away, 
 
 And banishes the sin. 
 How to his Gray's exalted height 
 
 Did conscious Mason bend, 
 And, buried in that blaze of light, 
 
 Still feel the bard his friend. 
 Yes, Lonsdale, yes, the friendly glow 
 
 Is sweeter far than fame ; 
 Not only tuneful breasts below 
 
 That generous feeling claim : 
 Oft have I seen the beauteous maid 
 
 Admire a sister's grace, 
 And mark well-pleased the homage paid 
 
 To her triumphant face.
 
 124 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 And thus, methought, in realms above 
 
 Rejoicing saints may see 
 Some tribute of angelic love 
 
 To brighter purity. 
 Such thoughts be thine, my manly friend ! 
 
 Reject unworthy fear : 
 Some generous rival shall attend, 
 
 And urge thy own career. 
 But haste to Life ! no glorious scope 
 
 Can in these walls be found ; l 
 The grave of disappointed Hope 
 
 Ambition's early bound. 
 Here Indolence with baneful frost 
 
 Shall nip the vernal bloom ; 
 Here Shame shall mourn o'er glory lost, 
 
 And Vice await its doom. 
 Haste, haste to Life ! Thy heart be zeal, 
 
 Discretion be thy tongue ; 
 Grow old in honour quick, but feel 
 
 In friendship ever young. 
 
 Dear Lonsdale, — The jolting of the Bury coach must 
 palliate the roughness of the above. Think of 
 what I say. But do not only think — act ! act ! 
 
 Dum res, et aetas, et Sororum 
 Fila trium patiuntur atra. 
 
 If I am not at home (but I intend to be so at 
 
 present) by 9 o'clock to-morrow night, say there 
 
 will be no lectures on Tuesday. 
 
 Yours, F. H. 
 
 1 King's College.
 
 125 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LETTERS FROM HIS FATHER — POLITICAL ALLUSIONS 
 — IMPRISONMENT OF SIR FRANCIS BURDETT — 
 POLITICAL SQUIBS — LINES BY DENMAN — EPITAPH 
 FOR WINDHAM — FATHER'S DEATH. 
 
 1810. 
 
 In the spring of the following year some letters, 
 
 addressed to Hodgson at Cambridge by his father, 
 
 contain sensible criticisms of current literature and 
 
 politics. 
 
 Barwick : March 5, 18 10. 
 
 My dear Frank, — We had been for some time ex- 
 pecting to hear from you, and therefore your letter 
 by yesterday's post was received with much plea- 
 sure. Mr. Coke I should hope has some small 
 chance of getting Gladestry. But the Chancellor l 
 I understand is notorious both for making promises 
 and breaking them. 
 
 I do not think the Walcheren inquiry will 
 1 Lord Eld on.
 
 126 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 turn the ministry out. The expedition was set 
 about too late, as indeed all our military schemes 
 always are ; but, considering the circumstances, as 
 much was done as could be expected. The loss of 
 so many men by sickness is the only thing to be 
 regretted. Lord Chatham was not the fittest 
 person to execute it ; his subsequent conduct is not 
 to be defended. So I give him up. The epigram ' 
 is excellent. 
 
 I read the ' Monthly Review ' some days ago, 
 and immediately recognised your hand in two of 
 the articles — the ' Persius ' 2 and the ' Chatterton.' 
 They both are well done and do you credit. You 
 will say I am growing fastidious, for I do not admire 
 Dr. Ireland's learned book on Paganism, &c. At 
 this time of day such stale objections ought not to 
 be stirred. When Rome existed and was heathen 
 they might be proper, but not so now. They have 
 lost all their interest. The book, however, is a 
 proof of the various research and consummate judg- 
 ment of the writer. The Westminster boys when 
 they heard it must have been amused if not edified 
 
 1 ' The Earl of Chatham, with his sword drawn, 
 
 Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strahan ; 
 
 Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em, 
 
 Stood waiting for the Earl of Chatham.' 
 1 Stowes's Translation of Persius.
 
 LETTER FROM HTS FATHER. I2J 
 
 by the lecturer. It was impossible for them to 
 understand what he was about. I read it through 
 with some attention, and admire very much the 
 abstracts given from Austin and Cicero, and Varro, 
 cum multis aliis et Graecis et Latinis. His obser- 
 vations on your note respecting Socrates * came 
 from Mosheim and a sermon of Barrows ; and they 
 were well founded ; but his expression that So- 
 crates did not teach a proper creation, is a very 
 improper one. Any writer less affected would 
 have said, Socrates did not teach a creation pro- 
 perly so called ; but ohe, jam satis. 
 
 My time has been much engaged 2 of late in 
 pursuing a gang of villains who have long infested 
 Leeds and this neighbourhood. Eleven are already 
 in York Castle, where I purpose going on Monday 
 to be present at their trials, and to give some of 
 them a good word to the judge ; who I hope will 
 be my old friend and schoolfellow, Sir Simon Le 
 Blanc ; we have not met since we parted in the 
 year 1766 at the Charter House. We all join in 
 our love, and a wish to hear from you soon. 
 
 Yours always, 
 
 J. Hodgson. 
 
 1 Vide supra, p. 89. 
 
 2 Mr. Hodgson was a very active magistrate.
 
 128 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 From the same to the same. 
 
 Barwick: March 28, 1810. 
 My dear Son, — I have been for some days working 
 myself up to a resolution to answer several letters 
 of a much longer date than yours, but have taken 
 you first, as a proof that you stand before all others 
 in my thoughts and affection. Indeed you have put 
 a question to me that rather required an earlier 
 notice. Shall you go to Rugby this year, if the 
 same office ' is offered to you ? Not if you are a 
 loser by the honour. But I should think that 
 might be remedied by a candid statement of the 
 facts to your friend Dr. Wooll. The examiner ought 
 to have a remuneration clear of all expenses. 
 Then it would be an object worth seeking. This is 
 my opinion ; I leave you to judge if it is well 
 founded. It has struck me that if Sir J. Cotterell 
 could be prevailed on to apply to the Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer for the living of Gladestry, the 
 procrastinating Lord Eldon would be driven to a 
 decision. I am sorry to be obliged to believe all 
 the hard things you say of him ; but he has cer- 
 tainly committed himself to such censure in too 
 many instances. 
 
 1 That of Classical Examiner of the Upper Forms.
 
 POLITICAL COMMENTS. I 29 
 
 Turning out Mr. York, for a silly boy, I cer- 
 tainly do not approve of. If his being unshaken 
 in his attachment to the present Government be a 
 fault, it surely is a venial one ; and if his being 
 rewarded for it is blameable, I suspect there are 
 not many who would not gladly submit to the 
 same blame on the same account. Mr. York is a 
 man of character, of family, and of considerable 
 talents, and must be respectable, whether he is 
 your county member, or for any petty borough. 
 The epigram on ' Gratia gratiam parit ' is very fair. 
 Mr. Bull must be excused in all his absurdities for 
 the sake of his old Whig principles. But what 
 think you of Lord Erskine and Mr. Clifford, and 
 their wish to exclude from the bar all persons en- 
 gaged in periodical papers? Such an infamous 
 project was never heard of; but it may be forgiven, 
 if for no better reason, than from having been the 
 occasion of that noble burst of eloquence from Mr. 
 Stephens and Sheridan. The ' Battle of Falkirk ' I 
 have not yet seen, but my longing is increased both 
 by your remarks and those of the ' Critical Review.' 
 The translation ' of the ' Georgics,' which are noticed 
 in the last ' Monthly Review,' I have no sort of wish 
 
 1 Stawell and Deare's. 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 to know more of. I more than suspect I know the 
 critic. 
 
 I am glad to hear Mr. Bland is doing well at 
 Amsterdam. In these fearful times the ministers 
 of the Church have a difficult task to perform, in an 
 enemy's country, with an unsettled Government. 
 I augur favourably from the union between Bona- 
 parte and the Austrian princess. It may lead to 
 that which the sword could never bring to pass. 
 I saw my old schoolfellow Le Blanc at York, and 
 was cordially recognised by him at a large party 
 to whom he gave a dinner. We returned to our 
 boyish days, and he seemed pleased with the re- 
 collection of our former intimacy. As a judge he 
 is far above my praise. Such mildness in ex- 
 pounding the laws, and such firmness in enforcing 
 them, gave me a very high opinion of his head and 
 heart. My villains, at least six of them, are sen- 
 tenced to transportation for seven years ; but, in 
 order to convict them, it was found necessary to 
 admit four of them as evidence. 
 
 The Edinburgh severe tribunal has passed 
 sentence on our present Ministers with such diabo- 
 lical malice, and has given such an alarming picture 
 of the evils it supposes to be impending, that were 
 it to obtain credit it would be impossible to go to
 
 STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 131 
 
 our beds with any degree of comfort or security. 
 But are we to judge of the state of affairs from the 
 factious babbling of a Waithman or a Wardle, or 
 the intemperate and ill-informed opinions of young 
 partisans, or from the general demeanour of the 
 majority of the public ? They seem to be perfectly 
 satisfied that the State is not going to ruin ; nor 
 can they be otherwise when they see a disposition 
 in their rulers to reform all abuses, to correct all 
 unnecessary expenditure, to encourage commerce 
 and agriculture, and whatever tends to improve 
 and enrich the country ; above all, when they see 
 the laws so impartially and so promptly executed, 
 and even-handed justice protecting and punishing 
 all persons without favour or distinction, according- 
 to their merits. If dinner had not been announced I 
 could have improved the panegyric by entering on 
 a detail of the meritorious services of Mr. Perceval, 
 Lord Castlereagh, and Lord Chatham. 
 
 I am ever, dear Frank, yours, 
 
 James Hodgson. 
 
 From the same to the same. 
 
 Barwick : April 26, 1810. 
 My dear Son, — I have been so very unwell for the 
 last fortnight as to have been in some degree 
 
 k 2
 
 132 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 obliged to defer till now making an acknowledg- 
 ment of your last letter Thank you for the 
 
 epigrams ! Your pupil room, under the auspices of 
 two such demigods, 1 must be the ipsissimus locus 
 scientiae et sapientiae. In answer to your query 
 respecting Butler's 'Analogy,' I will transcribe a note 
 which I made many years ago, and which stands 
 now in the first blank page of Archbishop Seeker's 
 Sermons., vol. i. ' The merit of these sermons con- 
 sists in explaining, clearly and popularly, the prin- 
 ciples delivered by Butler in his famous book of 
 the "Analogy," &c, and in showing the important 
 use of them to religion.' Upon this I observed at 
 the time : ' This remark applies more particularly 
 to Seeker's first three sermons, vol. i.' 
 
 Dr. Burney of Greenwich has lately published 
 an abbreviated edition of ' Pearson on the Creed.' 
 Perhaps it may be more readable than the original. 
 After all, the book, the whole book, is aureum opus. 
 
 I lament your separation from the ' Quarterly 
 Review,' because the last two numbers have given 
 me a high opinion of the writers in it. Dr. Ireland 
 has shown his transcendent abilities in more than 
 one article if I am not mistaken. I have not seen 
 the last ' Monthly,' and therefore cannot say anything 
 
 1 Locke and Pearson.
 
 TERENCE AND PLAUTUS. I 33 
 
 of its merits. But I should imagine one Review 
 quite enough for one critic. It pleases me much to 
 hear you speak so handsomely of Mr. Griffiths. 1 
 
 I am happy to add your mother is getting 
 better. She has been out once in the carriage, 
 and we are going again to-day to call on the new 
 proprietors of Parlington, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver 
 Gascoigne. 
 
 We all join in love and best wishes, 
 
 Yours always, 
 
 J. Hodgson. 
 
 From the same to the same. 
 
 Barvvick : May 16, 1810. 
 My dear Frank, — Only six days you will please to 
 take notice from the* date of your last, for which 
 habeo gratias. Certainly Terence, if he did not 
 write better plays than Plautus, &c, wrote his own 
 language with greater purity and elegance. I 
 know he was called ' dimidiate Menander,' but a 
 nick-name may imply excellence as well as defect. 
 I have not, indeed, been engaged in reviewing 
 essays upon Plato, but I have been re- reviewing 
 certain manuscripts that once a week are submitted 
 to our village critics. This morning, indeed, I have 
 
 1 Editor of the Monthly.
 
 134 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 been deep in the ' Monthly,' and much pleased with 
 the first article, Maurice's translation of the ' Iliad.' 
 The critic ' seems to be no ordinary hand, and to 
 be well acquainted with the different merits of 
 rhyme and blank verse. I was glad to perceive he 
 had a good opinion of Cowper's talents in general, 
 though no admirer of his ' Homer.' But I do not 
 agree as to the pompous inanity of the author of 
 the ' Task.' Crabbe I have not read, and for the 
 present feel satisfied with the copious extracts in 
 the ' Review.' I had almost let slip Homer's astro- 
 nomical simile, of the correctness of which I once 
 was convinced by the remark of a countryman, a car- 
 penter I believe. ' Mrs. Plunkett ' I shall certainly 
 not cut, if uncut; and if cut, I shall not open. 
 Marsh's letter I have sent for. He cannot exercise 
 the lash too severely on a set of scoundrels who 
 set no bounds to their imposture. I agree with 
 you entirely as to the absurdity of our very learned 
 Doctors shooting over the heads of their readers and 
 hearers. But stripped of their fine dress, I suspect 
 they would lose some of their admirers. But what 
 is so useful or so attractive as plain sense in plain 
 language ! Warburton I have read, and thought 
 him, when intelligible, a very superior writer. 
 
 1 This was Francis Hodgson.
 
 THE FIRST RADICALS. 1 35 
 
 There was an excellent critique on the correspond- 
 ence between him and Bishop Hurd in one of the 
 last Quarterly Reviews. ' Hyloe ' was the name of 
 one of Bishop Berkeley's dialogues on the non- 
 existence of matter out of the mind. Such reason- 
 ings are not substantial enough for me. Dr. 
 Burney's edition of Pearson seems to be like spoil- 
 ing a pudding by taking the plums out of it. 
 
 The political ferment of the last month is, from 
 the proper firmness of the Ministry, beginning to 
 subside. The extreme party seem at last to be 
 aware of the mischief that must arise from indis- 
 criminate abuse. Wardle and Waithman would 
 never have taken such liberties, had not Windham 
 and Whitbread set them the example. Mr. Pon- 
 sonby, the vir pietate gravis ac mentis, hath amply 
 redeemed all past perverseness by his admirable 
 speech. As for Sir Francis, 1 yet a little while and 
 he will be forgotten. His tutor blames, it is said, 
 his late conduct. But this I much doubt. Deport- 
 ation will probably be the fate of some of these 
 worthies, if they renew their machinations. The 
 thieves I committed to York, and who are now 
 lying in the hulks, are to be sent off to South 
 Wales 2 by the first conveyance. This is the last 
 
 1 Burdett. 2 New South Wales.
 
 I36 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 favour I could show them for expressing publicly 
 their wish to return to Barwick, for no other pur- 
 pose than that of murdering me and two or three 
 others. But are these men so bad as Burdett and 
 Company ? 
 
 We all join in wishing you health and happiness. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 James Hodgson. 
 
 In the preceding month Francis Hodgson had re- 
 ceived a letter from his cousin, John Hodgson, of 
 Lincoln's Inn, which contains a vivid description of 
 the imprisonment of Sir Francis Burdett. 
 
 Lincoln's Inn : April 9, i3io. 
 My dear Frank, — The review of Anstey's works is at 
 length completed ; I hope it will make ten or 
 twelve pages, but it has been written piecemeal and 
 amidst many interruptions, and I cannot pride 
 myself much upon it However, such as it is, 
 Griffiths shall have it to-night or to-morrow. You 
 have, of course, seen how civil the ' Critical ' has 
 been to you. 
 
 Sir Francis Burdett was taken to the Tower 
 this morning. As he had repeatedly declared, 
 both publicly and privately, that he would not 
 surrender, it was necessary to resort to force.
 
 IMPRISONMENT OF BURDETT. 1 37 
 
 His house was accordingly invested this morning, 
 between nine and ten, by a large party of civil 
 officers, headed by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and 
 backed by a very strong military guard ; and, ad- 
 mission being refused, the door was broken open, 
 and the windows on the first floor scaled. He 
 made no personal resistance, and was therefore con- 
 veyed into a carriage, and, attended by a regiment 
 of Horse Guards, was safely lodged in the Tower. 
 As the Guards passed through Fenchurch Street 
 and that neighbourhood the mob grew so trouble- 
 some and insulting that they were obliged to fire, 
 and a sort of skirmishing took place, in which one 
 man was killed, and some others wounded. When 
 the service was performed the Guards left the City 
 by the way of London Bridge. I long very much 
 to see the Tower with its ditch filled, guns mounted, 
 drawbridge up, &c. ; I hear it looks quite grand. 
 
 I cannot quite agree in your opinions of this 
 business. With respect to the commitment of 
 Gale Jones, although I am rather surprised at the 
 existence of such a power, I cannot see any ground 
 to dispute it. All text writers of every age acknow- 
 ledge it, the most liberal and constitutional judges 
 have uniformly approved of it, and the precedents 
 are as old as there are journals of the House, and
 
 138 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 the earliest of them speak of the power as one of 
 the undoubted privileges of the House of Commons. 
 Nor do I see any indiscretion in the exercise of the 
 power in Jones's case : he was by his own confes- 
 sion guilty, and the publication was of a mischie- 
 vous tendency. His detention in prison is entirely 
 owing to his refusal to make a proper apology to 
 the House and to petition for his discharge. With 
 respect to Sir Francis himself, he had admitted 
 the power of the House to commit one of its own 
 members ; and surely when they had resolved that 
 his letter was a libel, it was too gross a one to merit 
 anything but the highest punishment they could 
 inflict. It would have been better in my opinion 
 if neither of these absurd publications had been 
 noticed at all ; but, as they were noticed, the House 
 was bound to maintain its dignity, and vindicate its 
 ancient and established rights and privileges. 
 
 The riots have been very considerable, especially 
 on Saturday night when the Horse Guards were 
 obliged to be very active, and some blood was cer- 
 tainly spilt, but I do not think it clear that any life 
 was lost till this morning. Cannon were planted in 
 Soho, Bloomsbury, and Lincoln's Inn Squares, and 
 quite a park of artillery opposite the offender's 
 house in Piccadilly. I understand there are
 
 POLITICAL SQUIBS. 139 
 
 fourteen thousand troops in London. Meantime 
 Bonaparte is getting happily married and settled 
 at Paris. 
 
 Let me hear from you soon ; and believe me 
 dear Frank, yours very affectionately, 
 
 John Hodgson. 
 
 On another occasion Sir Francis Burdett was con- 
 veyed by river to avoid the mob — an event which 
 suggested to Hodgson the following political squib, 
 to which are appended some lines on other political 
 agitators of the period. 
 
 THE PATRIOTS. A Cantata. 
 
 Recitative. 
 
 Her ladyship sits in Wimbledon bower 
 
 To see her dear lord return from the Tower, 
 
 With the merry merry cleavers' jocund tone, 
 
 And the merry merry sound of the marrow-bone. 
 
 But Sir Francis returns another way, 
 
 For thus to him Lord Moira did say : 
 
 Air — ' Begone, dull Care.' 
 
 ' Begone, Burdett ! I prithee begone from me ; 
 Begone, Burdett, as soon as you've paid your fee ! 
 
 (Aside with deep reflection.) 
 
 The Speaker may dance, and the Serjeant may sing, 
 
 So merrily pass the day ; 
 For I've held it always the wisest thing 
 
 To row Burdett away.'
 
 I4O MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Recitative. 
 Mrs. Waithman behind the counter doth sit 
 
 A-measuring out the linen so nice. 
 But where is her mate, ' the terror of Pitt ?' 
 
 He's giving the councilmen good advice. 
 
 Air — ' Oh, the joys beyond expression !' 
 
 1 Oh, the joys of speechifying ! 
 
 Oh, the rapture mouthing brings ! 
 Idly raving, basely lying, 
 
 Damning laws, insulting kings. 
 Oh, how blest the linendraper 
 
 Who all day makes speeches bright — 
 And in the " Statesman," moderate paper, 
 
 Reads them o'er again at night ! ' 
 
 Recitative. 
 Mrs. Jones is placed at the British Forum 
 To welcome her Gale with due decorum ; 
 For no longer in Newgate must he stay, 
 And they've turn'd him out of his lodging to-day : 
 They've turn'd him out ere his friends approach, 
 And whipp'd him off in a hackney coach. 
 
 Air — ' Strawberry Hill.' 
 
 1 Let others praise Mac'ullum, 
 
 And Dodd and Glennie tell ; 
 But little folks love John Gale Jones, 
 
 Love John Gale Jones as well. 
 With some men Hague and Hogan 
 
 May bear away the bell, 
 But not a patriot in the town 
 
 Doth John Gale Jones excel,' &c.
 
 LETTER FROM DENMAN. 141 
 
 Denman, writing about the same time, encloses 
 some characteristic lines on a recent election. 
 
 'Tis over ! This tool of contractors and knaves — 
 
 This hireling of hirelings — this servant of slaves — 
 
 Despised in our heart and condemn'd by our voice — 
 
 Must be sent to the House as the man of our choice. 
 
 The defender of all for which Britain should fight, 
 
 The gallant young champion of freedom and right, 
 
 Whom each eye greets with gladness, each bosom admires, 
 
 Overpower'd, not subdued, from the contest retires. 
 
 What heart so devoted to fortune can be, 
 
 What heart so abandoned, oh Glory, by thee, 
 
 As to hug the dishonour which vict'ry makes sweet, 
 
 And prefer such a triumph to such a defeat ? 
 
 The event for a moment let patriots deplore — 
 
 Let liberty droop for a moment — no more ! 
 
 Her rights basely ravish'd she soon shall reclaim, 
 
 Her force unabated, her spirit the same. 
 
 Thro' each generous bosom that spirit shall spread, 
 
 When all the vile arts that opposed it are dead, 
 
 When duty and shame at corruption shall spurn, 
 
 And insulting oppression make cowardice turn, &c. 
 
 A letter of yours came yesterday ; another this 
 morning, enclosing one which I immediately de- 
 spatched to Richmond. You may depend on my 
 going there as soon as the numberless little but 
 necessary things which the election has put out of 
 my head are tolerably got through. What a 
 strange, divided state the Hugonots are got into !
 
 I42 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 The great general denomination will, I fear, be 
 broken into a variety of sects, Paedobaptists, Inde- 
 pendents, Millenarians, &c. I am a good deal dis- 
 posed in my own mind to the scheme of the Fifth 
 Monarchy. But you, who talk of gloominess and 
 solitude and consequent despondency, how enviable 
 must your situation be, with Paley and Bland, 
 whom you will see before or soon after this letter, 
 in your immediate neighbourhood ! I hope there is 
 a half-way house, and shall picture to myself a 
 beautiful little cottage covered with straggling 
 vines, and surrounded with a large rambling sort of 
 garden, &c. 
 
 Just before the long vacation Hodgson wrote to 
 his father enclosing some verses on Windham. 
 
 Cambridge : June 15, 18 10. 
 My dear Father, — I am quite ashamed to see the dis- 
 tance between the date of your last letter and that 
 of the present. But I should have written much 
 sooner had I not wished to give you an account of 
 a visit which my uncle and cousins have been pay- 
 ing me at Cambridge. They came on Saturday 
 and went away on Wednesday last. The time 
 passed very pleasantly in examining halls, and 
 chapels, and libraries ; some of which sights were
 
 DEATH OF WINDHAM. 1 43 
 
 new even to myself. On the last day they had an 
 opportunity of hearing of a pretty severe display of 
 university discipline ; for the stern Calvinist of 
 Queen's, Dr. Milner, expelled four young men for 
 certain irregularities, which have passed for some 
 years with reprehension much less rigorous. The 
 party seemed much pleased with their visit ; and I 
 was very glad to have an opportunity of showing 
 them the lions. 
 
 What a strange mysterious business the attempt 
 to assassinate the Duke of Cumberland — but what 
 a loss the public have had in Windham ! Great 
 and good as he was, he would have been missed in 
 any times, but in the present his death is a general 
 calamity. Some of the attendants upon his funeral, 
 which took place at Felbrig, passed through this 
 town yesterday. Surely he should have been 
 buried in Westminster Abbey ! The thought struck 
 me so forcibly that I prepared an epitaph for him, 
 which I transcribe for you below. Tell me if you 
 think it is tolerable : worthy of its subject I am 
 aware it is not. 
 
 EPITAPH FOR WINDHAM. 
 
 Ye sacred stones, by English mourners prest, 
 Where Fox and Chatham's son in concord rest,
 
 144 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Open your vaults, and at their honour'd side 
 
 Place the third prop of England's falling pride. 
 
 What worthy claimant of this hallow'd tomb 
 
 Lives yet to check his country's awful doom ? 
 
 Close, close your vaults, ye stones, for ever close, 
 
 Where glory's last Triumvirate repose. 
 
 Oh ! timely call'd to share the patriot's grave, 
 
 Nor see the ruin'd State thou couldst not save. 
 
 Windham, adieu ! by all the good approved, 
 
 By Johnson honour'd, and by Burke beloved, 
 
 In Truth's decay to high-soul'd Virtue true, 
 
 Thou setting star of ancient Fame, adieu ! 
 
 What prescient terrors at thy loss arise ! 
 
 What tears of sorrow fill Reflection's eyes ! 
 
 Who now remains, with treasured Learning fraught, 
 
 To wake like thee the teeming world of thought ? 
 
 Who now remains in rival ardour strong, 
 
 To roll the tide of eloquence along ? 
 
 Prompt at thy call creative Fancy came, 
 
 And Reason bore thee on her wings of flame : 
 
 Fancy unfelt by Slavery's venal crew, 
 
 Reason too bright for Dulness' owlet view. 
 
 Rejoin, blest shade, the sons of Genius fled, 
 
 And swell the synod of the virtuous dead. 
 
 Revered companion of the good and wise, 
 
 Rejoin thy loved precursors in the skies. 
 
 I am glad you like the review of 'Maurice.' 
 That of the ' Minstrels of Acre,' and of ' Wallace,' in 
 the last month, were also mine. Look in future for 
 Christie's ' Etruscan Vases,' Girdlestone's ' Pindar,' 
 Butler's ' yEschylus,' and Drummond's ' Hercula-
 
 DEATH OF HIS FATHER. 1 45 
 
 nensia;' and Walter Scott's 'Lady of the Lake.' A 
 noble poem ! 
 
 My lectures are over, and my brother tutor has 
 arrived. But I shall stay here till commencement, 
 working at my reviews. This will be the first week 
 in July; and I shall then accompany a college 
 friend, who drives me across country to Harrow. 
 From thence I shall turn my face northwards, and, 
 getting into some ' leathern convenience ' at Barnet, 
 shall early in August, I hope, reach Barwick. 
 Friends in London are quite well again. May this 
 letter find you, my mother and sister, 1 in health 
 and spirits ! The blessing of the latter I begin to 
 feel more sensibly every day. Singula de nobis 
 anni praedantur euntes. Adieu, my dear father ! 
 
 With kindest love ever yours, 
 
 F. H. 
 
 The Latin quotation in the last sentence of this 
 letter was unconsciously prophetic. In accordance 
 with his intention, mentioned above. Francis Hodgson 
 spent the greater part of his vacation at Barwick, and 
 on the day of his departure for Cambridge his father, 
 having seen him off by the coach from Leeds, sat on 
 the bench as a magistrate, and, on his return to Bar- 
 
 1 Married to her cousin the Rev. G. F. Coke, and died young. 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 wick in the evening of the same day, died quite sud- 
 denly of heart disease. His character is sketched in 
 outline in a letter of condolence addressed by an old 
 and favourite pupil, Cecil Jenkinson, afterwards Lord 
 Liverpool, to his friend and former companion Francis 
 Hodgson. 
 
 pitchford Hall: October 20, 1810. 
 My dear Frank, — I received the melancholy news 
 conveyed to me by your letter the day before 
 yesterday, and should have expressed to you my 
 feelings sooner had not a particular engagement on 
 that day, and the circumstance of the post not going 
 out yesterday from Shrewsbury, prevented me from 
 so doing. It is impossible for me to express to 
 you how much I lament the event which has de- 
 prived you of a kind and affectionate father, and 
 myself of an old, sincere, and valued friend. My 
 obligations to your father are so well known to you 
 that, was it not for fear of the accusation of ingrati- 
 tude, it would be needless for me to mention them 
 in this place. From the period of time which was 
 passed by me at sea my education would have been 
 deplorable had I not received from him that foster- 
 ing aid and assistance which enabled me to appear 
 at the university little inferior in my classical 
 studies to those whose education had been con-
 
 PECUNIARY EMBARRASSMENT. 1 47 
 
 ducted by the more certain and regular process of 
 public education. His manner of instruction was 
 not the least part of the obligation I owe your 
 father; he inspired me with that desire of know- 
 ledge which alone enabled me to make the rapid 
 progress I did. I must beg that you will at a 
 proper moment convey to your mother those feel- 
 ings of sorrow which I have attempted but faintly 
 to express. It would be, I am sure, unnecessary 
 for me to tell you that my attachment to your 
 father will be remembered by me towards those 
 whom he has left behind. I hope, if your avoca- 
 tions call you at any time either towards this 
 county or London, that you will favour me with a 
 visit, and that you will believe that you can never 
 have a more sincere or affectionate friend than 
 
 Cecil Jenkinson. 
 
 This sudden and unexpected death involved 
 
 Francis Hodgson in serious pecuniary difficulties. 
 
 His father had held successively the livings of 
 
 Humber in Herefordshire, of Keston in Kent, of 
 
 South-Repps in Norfolk, and lastly of Barwick-in- 
 
 Elmet in Yorkshire, besides having been minister of 
 
 the Savoy Chapel in the Strand, and chaplain to 
 
 Lords Hawksbury and Dunmore. The frequent re- 
 
 l 2
 
 I48 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 movals which these several preferments entailed had 
 occasioned considerable expenses, and the rectory- 
 house and grounds at Barwick had recently under- 
 gone various important alterations and improvements. 
 The rector, moreover, had long been accustomed to 
 exercise open-handed liberality to his poorer par- 
 ishioners, and, in anticipation of his future ample 
 capabilities of repayment of loans, had left out of 
 sight the uncertainty of life. Francis Hodgson at 
 once determined to discharge all his father's debts — 
 an undertaking which for some years continued to 
 embarrass him, until the extraordinary generosity of 
 his friend, Lord Byron, placed him once more in a 
 position of independence.
 
 149 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO REVIEWS — EARLY POEMS — 
 LINES TO BYRON. 
 
 1811. 
 
 HAVING previously engaged to contribute to the 
 ' Monthly ' and ' Critical ' Reviews, Hodgson was 
 reluctantly compelled to terminate his connection 
 with the ' Quarterly ' after the publication of its first 
 few numbers. The similarity of the subjects dis- 
 cussed, and the arduousness of his other avocations, 
 rendered this step necessary, although the almost 
 immediate success of the ' Quarterly ' must have 
 made such a step doubly distasteful. But in the 
 ' Critical ' and ' Monthly ' Reviews of this period 
 nearly all the articles on classical subjects, and very 
 many others on English and French literature, were 
 written by Hodgson, and display impartial criticism, 
 an extensive and profound erudition, and a correct, 
 cultivated taste. Girdlestone's edition of the ' Odes ' 
 of Pindar, for instance ; Butler's ' yEschylus ' and
 
 150 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 ' Musae Cantabrigienses ' were thoroughly congenial 
 subjects, while two extremely learned and diffusely 
 interesting essays on recent discoveries at Hercu- 
 laneum and on Christie's ' Etruscan Vases ' prove the 
 minuteness of his archaeological and philological 
 researches. 
 
 In the article on the ' Musae Cantabrigienses ' 
 there are some curious criticisms of contemporary 
 scholarship at Cambridge. The early effusions of 
 the great Dr. Keate are there characterised by his 
 old pupil as ' boyish ; ' but it is also admitted that a 
 bold and original spirit pervades his poems, and that, 
 if they be not correctly classical in their flow, they 
 must be forgiven for their unborrowed harmony and 
 for that first of poetical virtues — 
 
 Wild Nature's vigour stirring at the root. 
 
 But while Dr. Keate is pronounced to possess 
 more fire than any other contributor, both he and 
 Dr. Butler are found guilty of a fault which, to 
 modern head-masters, will appear sufficiently asto- 
 nishing. Each of them, more than once, uses a final 
 vowel short before ' sp ' and ' sc ' ! The ode of 
 C. J. Blomfield (afterwards Bishop of London) on the 
 assassination of the Due d'Enghien, is declared to be 
 below criticism. ' Who but his French assassins,' it
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO REVIEWS. I 5 I 
 
 is asked, ' could have been guilty of such rudeness as 
 to put such language into the mouth of that un- 
 fortunate prince.' 
 
 But the Greek ode of this poet is said to redeem 
 his Latin peccadilloes, and he is understood to be a 
 very promising scholar of Trinity College. Other 
 contributors are commemorated as follows : J. Lons- 
 dale, of King's College, 1807, elegantly and forcibly 
 bewails the death of Pitt. Rennell's (King's College, 
 1808) Greek ode on 'Spring 'is a very spirited and 
 elegant production ; and Joseph Goodall, the present 
 Provost of Eton, commemorates the earthquake in 
 the West Indies, in an ode dated 1781, with much 
 poetic spirit ; while of the epigrams, the ' Bellus 
 Homo Academicus,' by the last-named author, both 
 in Latin and Greek, is tame mediocrity — one of those 
 cheap displays of wisdom which nobody values be- 
 cause everybody possesses it, yet, in point of expres- 
 sion, these are perhaps two of the best in the epi- 
 grammatic collection. Keate on a ' Donkey Race,' 
 varspov -npoTspov, is not bad. Frere on a ' Dumb 
 Beggar' is excellent. B. Drury on the 'Mutilated 
 Statue of Ceres' demands praise. Silence best de- 
 scribes the rest. 
 
 In his review on ' An Essay on Plato by M. Combe- 
 Dounous,' Hodgson writes a masterly vindication of
 
 152 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Christianity against the attacks of the French sceptic, 
 who professes a preference for Platonism, and who, 
 like other infidels, ' proudly limits the power of the 
 Creator by the creature's ignorance.' At the con- 
 clusion of his essay M. Dounous explains the extra- 
 ordinary influence of early Christianity by an asto- 
 nishing assertion, ' Le sage Hebreu s'etait attache des 
 disciples parmi les lettres de sa nation,' and is thus 
 answered by his reviewer : — 
 
 Arise in judgment against your false historian, ye 
 poor and humble propagators of the Gospel of 
 Christ, and bid him blush for that philosophy 
 which can condescend to advocate its cause by 
 unmanly misrepresentations. Who but St. Paul 
 was learned among you ? Who were the deep and 
 plotting philosophers, who, after the death of their 
 Master, met at Jerusalem to lay the doctrines of 
 Plato, and Pythagoras, and Zeno under contri- 
 bution ; and by this eclectic method to form a 
 syncretism of moral and religious opinions for the 
 learned, and of prodigies and miracles for the 
 vulgar ? Where is the record, the history, the hint 
 of such a proceeding ? Who were the actors in 
 this drama ? What secondary causes, in a word, 
 supposing all the unwarrantable assertions of this 
 fanatic Platonist (for in charity we must suppose
 
 CRITIQUE UPON SCOTT. 1 53 
 
 that he is an enthusiast) to be true, will account 
 for the promulgation of Christianity ? The speech 
 of Gamaliel has never been and can never be 
 answered : ' If this counsel or this work be of men, 
 it will come to nought ; but if it be of God, ye 
 cannot overthrow it.' It is melancholy, indeed, 
 that this clever and learned Frenchman, whose 
 style is so superior, should have perverted his 
 distinguished talents to so malignant an attempt 
 as the substitution of the wild chimeras of Pla- 
 tonism, the ignis fatuus of pagan philosophy, for 
 the clear and steady light of Christianity. 
 
 On English literature Hodgson's reviews are so 
 numerous and extensive as to render even the most 
 partial reproduction impossible ; but there are a few 
 concluding remarks in that one which treats of Scott's 
 ' Lady of the Lake,' which, from the world-wide 
 celebrity of the poem, and from the interest which 
 belongs to contemporary criticism, may well be quoted 
 here. The various imitators of Scott, who copied his 
 style without sharing his genius, are mentioned with 
 becoming severity. Numerous verbal and gramma- 
 tical lapses are pointed out, and are attributed to the 
 glowing haste with which the poem was composed ; 
 and then, after many eulogistic remarks expressive of
 
 I 54 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 enthusiastic admiration for the poet's genius, Hodgson 
 concludes his critique by saying : — 
 
 We may just observe that the notes contain some 
 amusing stories, with others that are dull, and shall 
 now take our leave of Mr. Scott, expressing a most 
 sincere wish that his farewell address to his harp 
 may not be more serious than the farewell ad- 
 dresses of poets usually are ; and adding that we 
 hope our specified objections to parts of his poem, 
 whether they be faults in the conduct of the plot, 
 or inaccuracies of diction, will induce his numerous 
 imitators at least to pause ere they contribute 
 further to the wide corruption of our taste which is 
 occasioned by such servility. We wish that we 
 might reasonably hope that their great original 
 himself, animated by the noble hope of livin'g in 
 the praises of posterity, would, even now, in the 
 full tide of his present fame, lend an ear to our 
 admonitions. Then might he soar like his own 
 eagle, 1 and silence all his contemporaries. 
 
 Hodgson's first original poems were published in 
 1S09, under the title 'Lady Jane Grey, a Tale in 
 Two Books, with Miscellaneous Poems in English 
 and Latin,' which were, on the whole, very favourably 
 
 1 Lady of the Lake, canto iii. 55-60.
 
 FOUR ORIGINAL POEMS. 1 55 
 
 received by the public and the press. After alluding 
 with some asperity to the satire on some of the 
 reviewers of the translation of Juvenal, mentioned in 
 a former chapter, the ' Critical ' with singular gene- 
 rosity declares : — 
 
 For ourselves, we have always been, and still are, 
 Mr. Hodgson's friends, however he may despise 
 our goodwill ; willingly, therefore, we dismiss his 
 satire from our recollection, and pass to a more 
 grateful subject, the gentle Lady Jane. 
 
 A comparison follows with the ' Force of Religion ; 
 or, Vanquished Love,' by Dr. Young. 
 
 The subject is indeed very differently treated by the 
 two poets. The plan adopted by Mr. Hodgson 
 has one great advantage over that of the earlier 
 author, since, by carrying back the scene to those 
 hours of peace and love which were passed by 
 Lady Jane in company with her books and her 
 beloved Dudley, before the fatal ambition of a 
 father had involved her in the final miseries of her 
 existence, he has not only gained the advantage of 
 much natural and pleasing description and many 
 moral reflections of a stamp less awfully affecting 
 than those to which the sad catastrophe of the tale
 
 I56 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 gives occasion, but has likewise obtained those more 
 technical benefits which the skilful artist knows 
 how to derive from the force of contrast and the 
 various emotions of the mind. The character, too, 
 of his principal personage is much more truly and 
 more beautifully represented by exhibiting it both 
 in the lights and shades of life. ... In the exe- 
 cution of his task it is safe to affirm that Mr. H. 
 has most decidedly surpassed his predecessor ; and 
 this not only in the superior ease and correctness 
 of his versification, but also in the grace of his 
 descriptions and the pathetic sentiments and re- 
 flections with which he has diversified and adorned 
 his narrative. 
 
 ' Dignified ' and ' elegant ' are the epithets applied 
 by the ' Monthly ' to ' Sir Edgar,' which it considers 
 to be remarkable for a pleasing solemnity both of 
 thought and cadence. 
 
 The rest of these volumes, which is made up of 
 short poems on various subjects, and translations of 
 the classics, is said to exhibit something not very 
 unlike the inside of the study of a statuary or painter, 
 which usually contains a whimsical collection of frag- 
 ments ^and sketches, of designs half executed and 
 then thrown aside, of forms just struggling for deli-
 
 OPINION OF THE 'MONTHLY.' 1 57 
 
 verance from the marble, or ready to start into life 
 from the darkness of the canvas. Songs, tales, rhap- 
 sodies, fragments of letters, elegies amorous and 
 moral, parodies, ballads, translations, burlesques, son- 
 nets, epitaphs, epigrams, imitations, all follow each 
 other in gay confusion. 
 
 But if [adds the reviewer] the severer order of critics 
 may condemn the total absence of arrangement 
 and connection apparent in the formation of this 
 motley group, those who are more indulgent may 
 pardon the author in consideration of the superior 
 amusement which the reader will derive from this 
 very want of order. " Mr. Hodgson literally appears 
 to think in verse, 1 and to set down every thought 
 in his book as fast as it occurs to his imagination. 
 But all whose minds are in any degree imbued 
 with the same love of rhyme and the same variety 
 of fancy which distinguished the author, will follow 
 him with infinitely more satisfaction than they 
 would the gravest and most methodical of his 
 lecturers. Many of these poems exhibit uncommon 
 powers of versification, and a fancy strongly occu- 
 pied by all those enchanting impossibilities which 
 
 1 Sponte sua carmen numeros veniebat ad aptos, 
 
 Et quod tentabam dicere versus erat. 
 
 Ovid, Trist. Eleg. x. 25, 26.
 
 158 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 are peculiarly the inheritance of the poet. The 
 forms of gaiety, and mirth, and love, of melan- 
 choly, and madness, and despair, are hastily sum- 
 moned and speedily dismissed ; they come like 
 shadows, so depart ; but there is something de- 
 sultory and impatient in Mr. Hodgson's poetical 
 temperament which must be corrected if he would 
 do himself justice, and would reach that high 
 degree of excellence for which he appears to be 
 destined. He has exercised himself long enough 
 in morsels and fragments. We hope to see him 
 engage in designs of greater magnitude, and try 
 his powers of invention on a larger scale and by 
 more continuous efforts. 
 
 Of ' An Answer to the Question of a Critic,' the 
 ' Critical Review ' writes : — 
 
 If any inducement were wanting to treat Mr. Hodgson 
 in the most liberal spirit of criticism, the follow- 
 ing excellent criticism of his own would supply 
 us with it : — 
 
 Where lies the charm ungovern'd Scott displays ? 
 In the wild vigour of his lawless lays — 
 And sudden bursts of tenderness are there, 
 And warlike valour's animating air ; 
 Castle and convent fill the glowing scene, 
 Rocks tow'r around, and rivers roll between ;
 
 VERSES TO BYRON. 1 59 
 
 The deeds of other days entranced we see, 
 
 Heraldic pomp, and pride of chivalry ; 
 
 The plundering inroad, the tumultuous fight, 
 
 Hail ! minstrel, feast, fair dame, and gallant knight. 
 
 Of the shorter poems in this collection two were 
 addressed to Lord Byron immediately before his first 
 departure from England. The concluding lines of 
 the former contain timely admonitions respecting 
 religion, elicited, doubtless, by previous conversations 
 and correspondence : the latter appeals to the poet's 
 sense of responsibility as an hereditary legislator. 
 After a comparison between England and various 
 foreign countries, and an allusion to the duties of 
 patriotism, the first poem continues : — 
 
 Yet if pleasing change allure thee 
 
 O'er the roughly swelling tide, 
 May the one great Guide secure thee — 
 
 Byron, ne'er forget thy Guide. • 
 
 Mark Him, in the whirlwind riding, 
 
 O'er the darken'd billows sweep ; 
 Mark Him, through the calm air gliding, 
 
 Bid th' obedient ocean sleep. 
 
 See Him fill yon arch of Heav'n, 
 
 Glitt'ring with the gems of night ; 
 See, nor hope to be forgiv'n 
 
 Doubtful of His sacred light.
 
 l6o MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON, 
 
 See Him spread, in bright profusion, 
 Varied wealth o'er ev'ry land ; 
 
 See, nor rest in blind delusion, 
 Doubtful of His bounteous hand. 
 
 But, if Nature fail to move thee 
 With her rich external charms, 
 
 Raise thy thoughts to Him above thee 
 From thy conscious soul's alarms. 
 
 Feel that soul's most deep recesses 
 Touch'd by inspiration's pen ; 
 
 Feel, nor trust in impious guesses 
 Of the thankless sons of men. 
 
 Then as o'er the midnight ocean 
 Moves thy steady bark along, 
 
 On the deck, in calm devotion, 
 
 Breathe to Heav'n thy secret song. 
 
 With the pure and holy feeling, 
 Friendship in thy breast shall rise ; 
 
 And Remembrance, o'er thee stealing, 
 Softly paint thy native skies. 
 
 ENERGY. 
 
 Byron ! since rank's discordant tone 
 
 Allows the friendly sound- 
 Byron ! in energy alone 
 
 Can genuine bliss be found. 
 
 He who exerts his native powers 
 
 Can ne'er be long deprest ;
 
 VERSES TO BYRON. l6l 
 
 Young hope shall chide his loit'ring hours, 
 
 Glad triumph cheer his breast ; 
 But hope, but triumph far have fled 
 
 From love's despondent slave, 
 Whose dream of rhapsody is dead 
 
 In disappointment's grave. 
 Oh ! then awake to glory's voice, 
 
 Last of thy noble line ! 
 Be eloquent renown thy choice, 
 
 Be tuneful sorrow mine. 
 'Mid listening senates boldly stand 
 
 Thy country's firm support — 
 Foe to rude faction's slavish band, 
 
 And flattery's slaves at court. 
 
 This appeal received a satisfactory answer in that 
 eloquent speech upon the Frame-Breaking Bill, of 
 which the speaker sent the first account to his no less 
 wise than considerate mentor, Francis Hodgson. 
 
 VOL. i. M
 
 1 62 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LETTERS FROM BYRON — MEETING IN LONDON, AND 
 LINES WRITTEN ON THE SAME DAY — DEATH OF 
 MATTHEWS — BYRON'S FIRST WILL, AND A POEM 
 ON ' NEWSTEAD ABBEY,' HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED. 
 
 l8ll. 
 
 The letters written by Byron during his first pilgrim- 
 age, to which reference has been already made, are not 
 less remarkable for keen observation and genial good- 
 humour, than for that morbid self-consciousness which 
 was their author's bane throughout his life. Some few 
 sentences in the first of these letters give the key- 
 note to many of the others, which are written with a 
 racy freshness strangely belying some of the melan- 
 choly and misanthropic sentiments expressed in them. 
 The date of this first letter is Lisbon, July 16, 1809. 
 
 Thus far have we pursued our route, and seen all 
 sorts of marvellous sights, palaces, convents, &c. ; 
 which, being to be heard of in my friend Hobhouse's
 
 LETTERS FROM BYRON. SPAIN. PORTUGAL. 1 63 
 
 forthcoming ' Book of Travels,' I shall not anti- 
 cipate by giving any account to you in a private 
 and clandestine manner. I must just observe that 
 the village of Cintra, in Estremadura, is the most 
 beautiful, perhaps, in the world — very far superior to 
 my expectation — and Portugal pleasant enough. 
 The inhabitants have few vices, &c. . . . The first 
 and sweetest spot in this kingdom is Montserrat, 
 lately the seat of the great Beckford. 1 
 
 Hodgson ! send me the news, and Hobby's Mis- 
 sellingany, and the deaths and defeats, and capital 
 crimes, and the misfortunes of one's friends, and the 
 controversies and criticisms. All this will be plea- 
 sant, suave mari magno, &c. Talking of that, I 
 have been sea-sick and sick of the sea. Adieu ! 
 
 Alluding to these Spanish letters, Byron writes to 
 Drury when on board the ' Salsette ' frigate on his 
 way from Smyrna to Constantinople. 
 
 Of Spain I sent some account to our Hodgson, but 
 have subsequently written to no one save notes to 
 relations and lawyers to keep them out of my pre- 
 mises. I mean to give up all connection, on my 
 return, with many of my best friends, as I supposed 
 them, and to snarl all my life. But I hope to have 
 
 ' The millionaire ; author of Vatkek, and other works. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 one good-humoured laugh with you, and to embrace 
 Dwyer and pledge Hodgson before I commence 
 cynicism Remember me to Claridge if not trans- 
 lated to college, and present to Hodgson assurances 
 of my high consideration. 
 
 On the same voyage, when in the Dardanelles off 
 Abydos, he writes to Hodgson a letter, extracts from 
 which, although already in part published by Moore, 
 will bear repetition. 
 
 I am on my way to Constantinople after a tour 
 through Greece, Epirus, &c, and part of Asia 
 Minor, some particulars of which I have just com- 
 municated to our friend and host H. Drury. With 
 these, then, I shall not trouble you ; but, as you 
 will perhaps be pleased to hear that I am well, &c, 
 I take the opportunity of our ambassador's return 
 to forward the few lines I have time to despatch. . . . 
 I have lived a good deal with the Greeks, whose 
 modern dialect I can converse in enough for my 
 purposes. With the Turks I have also some male 
 acquaintances; female society is out of the question. 
 I have been very well treated by the Pashas and 
 Governors, and have no complaint to make of 
 any kind. Hobhouse will one day inform you of 
 all our adventures. Were I to attempt the recital,
 
 GREECE. TURKEY. 1 65 
 
 neither my paper nor your patience would hold out 
 during the operation. Nobody save yourself has 
 written to me since I left England ; but, indeed, I 
 did not request it. I except my relations, who write 
 quite as often as I wish. Of Hobhouse's volume 
 I know nothing, except that it is out ; and of my 
 second edition I do not even know that, and cer- 
 tainly do not, at this distance, interest myself in 
 the matter. My friend H. is naturally anxious on 
 the head of his rhymes, which I think will succeed, 
 or at least deserve success; but he has not yet 
 acquired the ' calm indifference ' (as Sir Fretful has 
 it) of us old authors. I hope you and Bland roll 
 down the stream of sale with rapidity, and that 
 you have produced a new poem. 
 
 Of my return I cannot positively speak, but 
 think it probable Hobhouse will precede me in 
 that respect. We have been very nearly one year 
 abroad. I should wish to gaze away another at least 
 in these evergreen climates; but I fear business — 
 law business, the worst of employments — will recall 
 me previous to that period, if not very quickly. 
 If so, you shall have due notice. I am very serious 
 and cynical, and a good deal disposed to moralise ; 
 but, fortunately for you, the coming homily is cut 
 off by default of pen, and defection of paper.
 
 1 66 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Good morrow ! If you write, address to me at 
 
 Malta, whence your letters will be forwarded. You 
 
 need not remember me to anybody, but believe 
 
 me yours with all faith, 
 
 Byron. 
 
 The postscript to this letter, which has never 
 hitherto been published, was written on May 15, 18 10, 
 immediately after his arrival at Constantinople. 
 
 Constantinople : May 15, 1810. 
 P. S. — My dear H., — The date of my postscript will 
 ' prate to you of my whereabouts.' We anchored 
 between the Seven Towers and the Seraglio on the 
 1 3th, and yesterday settled ashore. The ambas- 
 sador is laid up ; but the secretary does the honours 
 of the palace, and we have a general invitation to 
 his table. In a short time he has his leave of 
 audience, and we accompany him in our uniforms 
 to the Sultan, &c, and in a few days I am to visit 
 the Captain Pasha with the commander of our 
 frigate. I have seen enough of their Pashas 
 already ; but I wish to have a view of the Sultan, 
 the last of the Ottoman race. Of Constantinople 
 you have Gibbon's description, very correct as far 
 as I have seen. The mosques I shall have a firman 
 to visit. I shall most probably (Deo volente),
 
 CONSTANTINOPLE. 1 6 7 
 
 after a full inspection of Stamboul, bend my course 
 homewards ; but this is uncertain. I have seen the 
 most interesting parts, particularly Albania, where 
 few Franks have ever been, and all the most cele- 
 brated ruins of Greece and Ionia. Of England I 
 know nothing, hear nothing, and can find no person 
 better informed on the subject than myself. I this 
 moment drink your health in a bumper of hock ; 
 Hobhouse fills and empties to the same ; do you 
 and Drury pledge us in a pint of any liquid you 
 please — vinegar will bear the nearest resemblance to 
 that which I have just swallowed to your name; but 
 when we meet again the draught shall be mended 
 
 and the wine also. 
 
 Yours ever, B. 
 
 In a letter to Drury, written on the 17th of the 
 next month, Byron writes : — 
 
 And Hodgson has been publishing more poesy. I 
 . wish he would send me his ' Sir Edgar ' and Bland's 
 'Anthology' to Malta, whence they will be for- 
 warded. ... I wish you would write. I have heard 
 from Hodgson frequently. 
 
 And on July 4, 18 10, he writes from Constanti- 
 nople as follows : —
 
 l68 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, 1 — Twice have I written — once in 
 answer to your last, and a former letter when I 
 arrived here in May. That I may have nothing to 
 reproach myself with, I will write once more — a 
 very superfluous task, seeing that Hobhouse is 
 bound for your parts full of talk and wonderment. 
 My first letter went by an ambassadorial express ; 
 my second by the ' Black John' lugger ; my third will 
 be conveyed by Cam, the miscellanist. I shall 
 begin by telling you, having only told it you twice 
 before, that I swam from Sestos to Abydos. I do 
 this that you may be impressed with proper 
 respect for me, the performer ; for I plume my- 
 self on this achievement more than I could pos- 
 sibly do on any kind of glory, political, poetical, or 
 rhetorical. Having told you this I will tell you 
 nothing more, because it would be cruel to curtail 
 Cam's narrative, which, by-the-bye, you must not 
 believe till confirmed by me, the eye-witness. I 
 promise myself much pleasure from contradicting 
 the greatest part of it. He has been plaguily 
 pleased by the intelligence contained in your last 
 to me respecting the reviews of his hymns. I re- 
 freshed him with that paragraph immediately, 
 together with the tidings of my own third edition, 
 
 1 This letter has never been published.
 
 ANTICIPATED RETURN. 1 69 
 
 which added to his recreation. But then he has had 
 a letter from a Lincoln's Inn Bencher full of praise 
 of his harpings, and vituperation of the other con- 
 
 • tributions to his Missellingany, which that sagacious 
 person is pleased to say must have been put in as 
 FOILS (horresco referens !) ; furthermore he adds 
 that Cam Ms a genuine pupil of Dryden,' con- 
 cluding with a comparison rather to the disad- 
 vantage of Pope. ... I have written to Drury by 
 Hobhouse ; a letter is also from me on its way to 
 England intended for that matrimonial man. Be- 
 fore it is very long I hope we shall again be 
 together ; the moment I set out for England you 
 shall have intelligence, that we may meet as soon 
 as possible. Next week the frigate sails with 
 Adair ; I am for Greece, Hobhouse for England. 
 A year together on the 2nd July since we sailed 
 from Falmouth. I have known a hundred instances 
 of men setting out in couples, but not one of a 
 similar return. Aberdeen's party split ; several 
 voyagers at present have done the same. I am 
 confident that twelve months of any given individual 
 is perfect ipecacuanha. 
 
 The Russians and Turks are at it, and the 
 Sultan in person is soon to head the army. The 
 Captain Pasha cuts off heads every day, and a
 
 I70 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Frenchman's ears ; the last is a serious affair. By- 
 the-bye I like the Pashas in general. Ali Pasha 
 called me his son, desired his compliments to my 
 mother, and said he was sure I was a man of birth, 
 because I had ' small ears and curling hair.' He is 
 Pasha of Albania six hundred miles off, where I 
 was in October — a fine portly person. His grandson 
 Mahmout, a little fellow ten years old, with large 
 black eyes as big as pigeon's eggs, and all the 
 gravity of sixty, asked me what I did travelling so 
 young without a Lala ? (tutor). 
 
 Good night, dear H. I have crammed my paper 
 and crave your indulgence. Write to me at Malta. 
 
 I am, with all sincerity, yours affectionately, 
 
 Byron. 
 
 During an excursion in the Morea, which occupied 
 the next few months, Lord Byron was attacked by a 
 fever, which nearly proved fatal, at Patras near Misso- 
 longhi, where, fourteen years afterwards, he died of a 
 similar complaint. On his partial recovery he wrote 
 to Hodgson a letter dated Patras, Morea, Oct. 3, 
 1 8 10, which is so illustrative of the intimacy then 
 existing between them, and in many ways so charac- 
 teristic of the writer, that its previous publication by 
 Moore does not preclude the interest which the inser- 
 tion of extracts from it here can hardly fail to excite.
 
 SERIOUS ILLNESS. 171 
 
 As I have just escaped from a physician and a fever, 
 which confined me five days to bed, you won't ex- 
 pect much ' allegrezza ' in the ensuing letter. In 
 this place there is an indigenous distemper, which, 
 when the wind blows from the Gulf of Corinth (as 
 it does five months out of six), attacks great and 
 small, and makes woful work with visiters (sic). 
 Here be also two physicians, one of whom trusts to 
 his genius (never having studied) ; the other to a 
 campaign of eighteen months against the sick of 
 Otranto, which he made in his youth with great 
 effect. When I was seized with my disorder, I 
 protested against both these assassins ; but what 
 can a helpless, feverish, toast-and-watered poor 
 wretch do ? ... In this state I made my epitaph 
 — take it : — 
 
 Youth, Nature, and relenting Jove, 
 To keep my lamp in strongly strove ; 
 But Romanelli was so stout, 
 He beat all three — and blew it out. 
 
 But nature, being piqued at my doubts, did, in fact, 
 beat Romanelli, and here I am well, but weakly, at 
 your service. 
 
 Since I left Constantinople I have made a tour 
 of the Morea, and visited Veley Pasha, who paid 
 me great honours, and gave me a pretty stallion.
 
 172 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 H. is doubtless in England before even the date of 
 this letter : he bears a despatch from me to your 
 bardship. . . . As for England, it is long since I 
 have heard from it. Every one at all connected 
 with my concerns is asleep, and you are my only 
 correspondent, agents excepted. I have really no 
 friends in the world ; though all my old school 
 companions are gone forth into that world, and 
 walk about there in monstrous disguises, in the 
 garb of guardsmen, lawyers, parsons, fine gentle- 
 men, and such other masquerade dresses. So, I 
 here shake hands and cut with all these busy 
 people, none of whom write to me. Indeed I ask 
 it not ; and here I am, a poor traveller and heathen- 
 ish philosopher, who hath perambulated the greatest 
 part of the Levant, and seen a great deal of very 
 improvable land and sea, and, after all, am no 
 better than when I set out — Lord help me ! 
 
 I have been out fifteen months this very day, 
 and I believe my concerns will draw me to England 
 very soon ; but of this I will apprise you regularly 
 from Malta. On all points Hobhouse will inform 
 you, if you are curious as to our adventures. I 
 have seen some old English papers up to the 15th 
 of May. I see the ' Lady of the Lake ' advertised. 
 Of course it is in his old ballad style, and pretty.
 
 EXPECTED MEETING. I 73 
 
 After all, Scott is the best of them. The end of 
 all scribblement is to amuse, and he certainly suc- 
 ceeds there. I long to read his new romance. 
 And how does ' Sir Edgar ' and your friend Bland ? 
 Dear H., remind Drury that I am his well- 
 wisher, and let Scrope Davies be well affected 
 towards me. I look forward to meeting you at 
 Newstead, and renewing our old champagne even- 
 ings with all the glee of anticipation. I have 
 written by every opportunity, and expect responses 
 as regular as those of the Liturgy, and somewhat 
 longer. As it is impossible for a man in his senses 
 to hope for happy days, let us at least look forward 
 to merry ones, which come nearest to the other in 
 appearance if not in reality ; and in such expect- 
 ations I remain, &c. 
 
 Having returned to his head-quarters at Athens, 
 where he lived in the Franciscan Monastery, as after- 
 wards at Venice with the Armenians, Byron wrote 
 again to his only English correspondent on November 
 14, 1 8 10. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, 1 — This will arrive with an English 
 servant whom I send homewards with some papers 
 
 1 This letter has not before been published.
 
 174 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 of consequence. I have been journeying in dif- 
 ferent parts of Greece for these last four months, 
 and you may expect me in England somewhere 
 about April ; but this is very dubious. Hobhouse 
 you have doubtless seen ; he went home in August 
 to look after his Miscellany and to arrange materials 
 for a tour he talks of publishing. You will find 
 him well and scribbling ; that is, scribbling if well, 
 and well if scribbling. I suppose you have a score 
 of new works, all of which I hope to see flourishing, 
 with a hecatomb of reviews. My works are likely 
 to have a powerful effect with a vengeance, as I 
 hear of divers angry people, whom it is proper I 
 should shoot at, by way of satisfaction. Be it so : 
 the same impulse which made ' Otho a warrior ' 
 will make me one also. My domestic affairs being, 
 moreover, considerably deranged, my appetite for 
 travelling pretty well satiated with my late peregri- 
 nations, my various hopes in this world almost 
 extinct, and not very brilliant in the next, I trust I 
 shall go through the process with a creditable 
 ' sang froid ' and not disgrace a line of cut-throat 
 ancestors. I regret in one of your letters to hear 
 you talk of domestic embarrassments ; indeed I am 
 at present very well calculated to sympathise with
 
 VARIOUS ADVENTURES IN THE EAST. 1 75 
 
 you on that point. I suppose I must take to dram- 
 drinking as a succedaneum for philosophy, though, 
 as I am happily not married, I have very little 
 occasion for either just yet. Talking of marriage 
 puts me in mind of Drury (who, I suppose, has a 
 dozen children by this time, all fine, fretful brats) ; 
 I will never forgive matrimony for having spoiled 
 such an excellent bachelor. 
 
 If anybody honours my name with an inquiry, 
 tell them of ' my whereabouts,' and write if you 
 like it. I am living alone in the Franciscan Monas- 
 tery with one Friar (a Capucin of course) and one 
 Frier (a bandy-legged Turkish cook), two Albanian 
 savages, a Tartar, and a Dragoman : my only 
 Englishman departs with this and other letters. 
 The day before yesterday, the Waynode (or Gover- 
 nor of Athens) with the Mufti of Thebes (a soit of 
 Mussulman Bishop) supped here with the Padre of 
 the Convent, and my Attic feast went off with 
 great eclat. I have had a present of a stallion from 
 the Pasha of the Morea. I caught a fever going to 
 Olympia. I was blown ashore on the Island of 
 Salamis, in my way to Corinth through the Gulf of 
 ^Egina. I have kicked an Athenian postmaster, I 
 have a friendship with the French Consul and an
 
 176 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Italian painter, and am on good terms with five 
 Teutones and Cimbri, Danes and Germans, who 
 are travelling for an academy. Vale ! 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 MnAIPflN. 
 
 From the ' Volage ' frigate, at sea, June 29, 181 1, 
 Byron writes his last letter before reaching England, 
 in a strain of sadness half real and half assumed. 
 
 In a week, with a fair wind, we shall be at Ports- 
 mouth, and on the 2nd of July I shall have com- 
 pleted (to a day) two years of peregrination, from 
 which I am returning with as little emotion as I 
 set out. I think, upon the whole, I was more 
 grieved at leaving Greece than England, which I 
 am impatient to see, simply because I am tired of a 
 long voyage. Indeed, my prospects are not very 
 pleasant. Embarrassed in my private affairs, 
 indifferent to public, solitary without the wish to 
 be social, with a body a little enfeebled by a 
 succession of fevers, but a spirit, I trust, yet 
 unbroken, I am returning home without a hope, 
 and almost without a desire. The first thing I 
 shall have to encounter will be a lawyer ; the next 
 a creditor ; then colliers, farmers, surveyors, and all 
 the agreeable attachments to estates out of repair,
 
 FRIENDLY INTEREST OF BYRON. 1 77 
 
 and contested coal-pits. In short, I am sick and 
 sorry ; and when I have a little repaired my 
 irreparable affairs, away I shall march, either to 
 campaign in Spain, or back again to the East, 
 where I can at least have cloudless skies and a 
 cessation from impertinence. 
 
 I trust to meet or see you, in town, or at 
 Newstead, whenever you can make it convenient. 
 I suppose you are in love and poetry as usual. 
 That husband, H. Drury, has never written to me, 
 albeit I have sent him more than one letter ; but I 
 daresay the poor man has a family, and of course 
 all his cares are confined to his circle. I regretted 
 very much in Greece having omitted to carry the 
 ' Anthology ' with me. What has ' Sir Edgar ' 
 done ? And the ' Imitations and Translations ; ' 
 where are they ? I suppose you don't mean to let 
 the public off so easily, but charge them home with 
 a quarto. For me, I am sick of ' fops, and poesy, 
 and prate,' and shall leave ' the whole Castalian 
 state ' to Bufo, or anybody else. But you are a 
 sentimental and sensibilitous person, and will 
 rhyme to the end of the chapter. Howbeit I have 
 written some 4,000 lines, of one kind or another, 
 on my travels. I need not repeat that I shall be 
 happy to see you. I shall be in town about the 
 VOL. 1. N
 
 178 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 8th, at Dorant's Hotel in Albemarle Street, and 
 proceed in a few days to Notts, and thence to 
 Rochdale on business. 
 
 I am, here and there, yours, &c. 
 
 In his last letter from the ' Volage ' frigate, off 
 Ushant, he writes to Drury, and at the end remarks : — 
 
 Hodgson, I suppose, is four deep by this time. 
 What would he have given to have seen, like me, 
 the real Parnassus, where I robbed the Bishop of 
 Chrissse of a book of geography ! But this I only 
 call plagiarism, as it was done within an hour's 
 ride of Delphi. 
 
 It was about this time that Hodgson wrote one of 
 those rhyming epistles to his friend, of which spe- 
 cimens have been already given. 
 
 While modern Greeks, the shadows of their sires, 
 Detain my Byron on that fabled shore, 
 
 And cull faint murmurs from those sacred lyres 
 That thrill'd the bosom of the world of yore ; 
 
 Home-keeping still on England's happier plains, 
 To native beauty sounds my faithful lay ; 
 
 While native beauty smiles upon my strains, 
 Why should I wish in Grecian woods to stray ?
 
 MEETING IN LONDON. [jg 
 
 For genius high and cultured taste are here, 
 And all that Athens in her pride could boast ; 
 
 The sage's eye that scans the glittering sphere, 
 The patriot's ardour in itself a host. 
 
 Return then, Byron, to this favour'd land, 
 For joy that flies thee cease in vain to roam ; 
 
 What joy can dwell with Turkey's slavish band ? 
 Thy own time-honour'd Newstead calls thee home. 
 
 Those mouldering walls where Phidias triumphs yet 
 (If safe from Elgin's sacrilegious guile), 
 
 Can e'en their beauty bid thy soul forget 
 Repentant Henry's consecrated pile? 
 
 Forget the scene, where loyal valour strove — 
 Forget the ranks where godlike Falkland died — 
 
 Forget the youthful scene of promised love, 
 Where love shall yet enjoy a fairer bride ? 
 
 Return, my Byron ; to Britannia's fair, 
 
 To that soft pow'r which shares the bliss it yields ; 
 
 Return to Freedom's pure and vigorous air, 
 To Love's own groves and Glory's native fields. 
 
 About three weeks after the last of these letters 
 was written the friends met in London ; but their first 
 meeting was interrupted by the arrival of other 
 visitors, and Hodgson gave expression to the warmth 
 of his feelings in the evening of the same day by the 
 following cordial effusion : — 
 
 N 2
 
 l8o MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 My dear B., — We were interrupted this morning in 
 our first interview ; I wish to prolong it, so con- 
 verse with me again. 
 
 Alone, my Byron, at Harrovian springs — 
 
 Yet not alone — thy joyous Hodgson sings ; 
 
 The welcome image of his friend's return 
 
 Fills his reviving heart, and bids it cease to mourn. 
 
 O flow along, all unrestrain'd by art, 
 
 Thou glad effusion of that grateful heart ; 
 
 Tell his recover'd Byron, that once more 
 
 It burns to see him on his native shore. 
 
 It has not seen him yet ! For who can know, 
 
 Disturb'd by common-place, that genuine glow 
 
 Uninterrupted friendship sweetly feels, 
 
 And wisdom from the world's vain commerce steals ? 
 
 First let inspiring Health, and patriot Pride, 
 
 Behold thee rank'd upon thy country's side ; 
 
 First let thy country's foes severely feel 
 
 Thy caustic ardour for the general weal. 
 
 Spread, like a flame, my Byron, through the land 
 
 That natural warmth no scoundrel can withstand ; 
 
 That blaze of light, which folly's dearest shade 
 
 Shall feel its inmost fastnesses invade. 
 
 O'erthrow the bulwarks that corruption rears, 
 
 And from proverbial dulness rescue half thy peers ! 
 
 Yet oh ! while Virtue fires let Prudence guide, 
 
 Nor argue, when she hints, but then decide. 
 
 Sage that advice immortal Horace gave, 
 
 ' Oft laughing wit excels reflection grave ;' 
 
 Nor less divine that second maxim flows, 
 
 ' He writes the best who most correctly knows!
 
 WISE COUNSEL. l8l 
 
 He then shall speak, with Nature's noblest force, 
 Who, free from parliamentary remorse, 
 Untried, and pure, unpledged, and all his own, 
 By patient labour to full knowledge grown, 
 Shall weigh his country's power by sea, by land, 
 Shall half the foe's resources understand ; 
 Shall smoothe advice with reconciling wit, 
 And prove a Pericles but not a Pitt. 
 Athens ! my Byron ! Athens be thy aim ! 
 Thy inspiration and thy guide to fame ! 
 Not modern Athens — languid and impure, 
 Body and soul unworthy of a cure — - 
 No, the fair land whose genius rose on high 
 Like yon Acropolis that mocks the sky ; 
 The sky where earlier suns more proudly shone, 
 On old Piraeus, and old Marathon ! 
 
 Adieu ! mon ami. 
 
 I am ever thine, 
 
 F. H. 
 
 That they met again after a few days is shown by 
 a note written next day to Drury, in which Hodgson 
 says : — 
 
 Byron prevented me from coming to you yesterday. 
 He kept me so late in conversation, that I could 
 get no farther than Kilburn in my walk, and then 
 really thought it safer to return. He will come to 
 you, if you can receive him, on Saturday next.
 
 1 82 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Send him word to Reddish's Hotel, St. James's 
 Street. Griffiths has sent me a pressing letter for 
 Don Roderick. 
 
 At the end of the month poor Byron, who had 
 been reluctantly compelled to remain in town for the 
 settlement of some legal and literary business, was 
 suddenly summoned to Newstead by the serious 
 illness of his mother, the news of whose death 
 reached him on the road. Almost simultaneously 
 with the announcement of this bereavement, he heard 
 also of the deaths of his old Harrow schoolfellow 
 Wingfield, and of one of his most cherished Cam- 
 bridge colleagues, Charles Skinner Matthews, who 
 was drowned while bathing in the Cam. Of this 
 most melancholy catastrophe Drury wrote a graphic 
 account immediately after its occurrence. Matthews 
 was, as has been remarked, a young man of the 
 greatest promise, and was a candidate for the repre- 
 sentation of his University in Parliament at the en- 
 suing election. 
 
 King's College, Cambridge. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — All the way from Puckeridge 
 to-day I was conning an extempore laughing 
 epistle ; but have been so shocked with the account 
 of poor Matthews's death, though I never saw him,
 
 DEATH OF MATTHEWS. 
 
 18 
 
 that I can only write plain prose now. The reason 
 I write is to request you not again to write to 
 Hart on the subject. He alone saw him die — saw 
 him in his very last agony — and but for him the 
 body might have been at this moment beneath the 
 waters. Not fifty of the strongest-bodied men in 
 England could, without ropes, have given the 
 slightest assistance. I am this moment returned 
 with Hart from the spot. There is literally a bed 
 of weeds, thick, more than eight feet deep. Poor 
 Hart, I see, is sadly cut down. 
 
 These are the facts. You know the fork above 
 the mills, thus — 
 
 1. Newnham mills. 
 
 2. Queen's mills. 
 
 3. Spot where Hart was 
 
 bathing. 
 
 — -**# 
 
 4. Spot where Matthews was 
 
 drowned. 
 
 5. Freshmen's pool. 
 
 6. Course of the river towards 
 
 Grandchester. 
 
 Matthews had gone to bathe solo. Two gowns- 
 men came, bathed, and left Freshmen's pool while 
 he was bathing. From the best computation he
 
 184 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 must have been in three-quarters of an hour. 
 These men (who did not know him) saw him (as in 
 bravado) stem down from points a and b what 
 seemed an inextricable mass of weeds ; these he 
 cleared, had got down to b, and was returning — 
 the last they saw of him, as they went homewards. 
 Hart was alone on the bank when he distinctly 
 heard the cry of ' Help, help ! ' He had seen no- 
 body in the water ; but, directed by the noise, he 
 came to the spot. Nothing was to be seen. He 
 looked up and down the river (he was at a measured 
 140 yards off when the apala <ficovi] first came to 
 him). He looked up and down the river some 
 time, as I said, and thought the person might have 
 escaped in the flags on the other side. Conceive 
 his horror when on a sudden there darted up in the 
 middle of the river a human form half-length out 
 of the water. He made an excessive struggle. 
 His arms were locked in weed ; so were his legs and 
 thighs. You never saw such a place. He looked 
 most wistfully at Hart as if he knew him. Hart, 
 who had been incessantly holloaing ' Help! ' (the two 
 men came back, but too late to see the last), called 
 to him, ' For Heaven's sake, Matthews, make no more 
 exertions ; try to keep still till a rope is procured ! ' 
 In a resistless struggle Matthews then disentangled
 
 byron's first will. 185 
 
 the weeds from his arms (I saw the very weeds), and 
 threw them from him. This effort was his last ; as 
 if exhausted in it, he fell back. He was under the 
 water in an instant, and no trace was left of him. 
 Hart succeeded in having him got out in twelve 
 minutes ; but all too late. Every one who has 
 been on the spot highly commends all Hart did. 
 I verily think he nearly killed himself in his en- 
 deavours. The part of the river is the very 
 broadest. The weeds go from one bank to the other ; 
 and were, as I said, eight feet perpendicularly deep. 
 Temerity little short of madness could have induced 
 Matthews to attempt them. More when we meet. 
 God bless you, my dear friend ! 
 
 Henry Drury. 
 
 Byron, as may well be imagined, was deeply 
 affected by these successive shocks ; and, becoming 
 impressed with the idea that he was himself destined to 
 die young, he made a will in which he bequeathed his 
 
 Household goods and furniture, library, pictures, 
 sabres, watches, plate, linen, trinkets, and other per- 
 sonal estate (except money and securities) to his 
 friends J. C. Hobhouse, S. B. Davies, and Francis 
 Hodgson, their executors, &c, to be equally divided 
 among them for their own use, requesting them to
 
 1 86 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 accept the bequest therein contained to them re- 
 spectively, as a token of his friendship. 
 
 On the 22nd of August he wrote a warm invi- 
 tation to Newstead. 
 
 You will write to me ? I am solitary, and I never 
 felt solitude irksome before. Your anxiety about the 
 critique on 's book is amusing; as it was ano- 
 nymous, certes it was of little consequence. I wish 
 it had produced a little more confusion, being a 
 lover of literary malice. Are you doing nothing ? 
 writing nothing ? printing nothing ? Why not your 
 ' Satire on Methodism ? ' The subject (supposing the 
 public to be blind to merit) would do wonders. 
 Besides, it would be as well for a destined deacon 
 to prove his orthodoxy. It really would give me 
 pleasure to see you properly appreciated. I say 
 really, as, being an author, my humanity might be 
 suspected. 
 
 Believe me, dear H., yours always, 
 
 Byron. 
 
 Four days later than the date of the above, the 
 following pathetic verses were despatched to Hodgson. 
 It is strange indeed that they should never have been 
 previously published, as they must be admitted to be
 
 byron's verses on newstead. 187 
 
 highly characteristic of their author, and vividly illus- 
 trative of that morbid melancholy which was now 
 settling fast upon him. 
 
 Newstead Abbey : August 26, 181 r. 
 
 1. 
 
 In the dome of my sires as the clear moonbeam falls 
 Through silence and shade o'er its desolate walls, 
 It shines from afar like the glories of old ; 
 It gilds, but it warms not — 'tis dazzling, but cold. 
 
 II. 
 Let the sunbeam be bright for the younger of days : 
 'Tis the light that should shine on a race that decays, 
 When the stars are on high and the dews on the ground, 
 And the long shadow lingers the ruin around. 
 
 III. 
 
 And the step that o'erechoes the gray floor of stone 
 Falls sullenly now, for 'tis only my own ; 
 And sunk are the voices that sounded in mirth, 
 And empty the goblet, and dreary the hearth. 
 
 IV. 
 And vain was each effort to raise and recall 
 The brightness of old to illumine our hall ; 
 And vain was the hope to avert our decline, 
 And the fate of my fathers has faded to mine. 
 
 v. 
 
 And theirs was the wealth and the fulness of fame, 
 And mine to inherit too haughty a name ; 
 And theirs were the times and the triumphs of yore, 
 And mine to regret, but renew them no more.
 
 1 88 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 VI. 
 And Ruin is fixed on my tower and my wall, 
 Too hoary to fade, and too massy to fall ; 
 It tells not of Time's or the tempest's decay, 
 But the wreck of the line that have held it in sway. 
 
 In answer to Drury's letter respecting the death 
 of Matthews, Hodgson writes from the house of his 
 uncle Mr. Coke, in Herefordshire, on September I, 
 1811. 
 
 My dear Drury, — I send this to Walkerne, as I con- 
 clude you will have returned ' domum atque dulces 
 liberos.' I have to thank you very much for your 
 circumstantial letter concerning poor Matthews. 
 It was unfortunate that I did not know Tom Hart 
 was present at his death ; as I fear, by expressing 
 what the wrong report in the newspapers suggested 
 to many readers, I ignorantly offended him. I am 
 truly sorry for the occasion, and trust he will as 
 soon recover his spirits as can be expected after 
 such an accident. He was sure to exert himself to 
 the utmost. 
 
 Your ' Fen Gazette ' also reached me and caused 
 a hearty laugh. I ought to have acknowledged 
 both these letters before. But our engagements in 
 this country are most numerous. So much so, 
 indeed, that I have been forced to neglect all my
 
 LETTER TO DRURY. 1 89 
 
 correspondents, and to write nothing for the Re- 
 view. . . . Thank Mrs. D. for sending me your frank 
 from Lord B. for the 28th of August and filling it 
 up with such a delightful melange. 
 
 How joyous is Bland's return ! I have just 
 heard from my cousin that he arrived (on the 20th 
 I think) at Deal, in a licensed vessel, with a French 
 passport. How he managed this I have yet to 
 learn ; but it is a most glorious escape. I hear he 
 is looking uncommonly well, and is in very good 
 spirits. 
 
 I have heard from Byron, who is at Newstead. 
 The deaths of his mother and of his friend Mat- 
 thews seemed to press heavily upon him. He tells 
 me that a prosecution for a libel, published against 
 him (in the ' Scourge '), is in the Attorney-General's 
 hands, and will be brought forward in November. 
 He begs me to come to Newstead — which I should 
 much like to do — but I must first attend my 
 mother to Bath or London, whichever she fixes 
 upon. In October Byron talks of coming to Cam- 
 bridge to see Davies ' — of course I should rejoice 
 to receive him there. You must tell me in your 
 next your fen party. The good news about poor 
 Hawtrey is delightful. 
 
 1 Scrope Davies.
 
 1 90 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 My best and kindest regards to Mrs. D. The 
 bell tolls for breakfast, and another will soon toll for 
 church. So adieu ! 
 
 Ever yours, 
 
 F. H.
 
 I9i 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH BYRON ON RELIGIOUS 
 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 1S11. 
 
 It will have been observed that in the short poems 
 addressed to Byron abroad, Hodgson more than once 
 evinces anxiety on the score of his friend's religious 
 difficulties. This anxiety was not likely to be 
 lessened by the avowed infidelity expressed in the 
 opening stanzas of the second canto of ' Childe 
 Harold,' which Hodgson was now helping to correct 
 for the press. The deep despondency into which the 
 pilgrim had fallen since the rapid succession of deaths 
 by which his return to Newstead had been saddened, 
 seemed, moreover, to point to the abiding sorrow of 
 one who mourned without hope. 
 
 Earnestly desirous of establishing sound religious 
 principles in the mind of the young and ardent poet 
 whose future was so full of bright promise for his
 
 192 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 country and for himself, while at the same time he 
 offered such permanent consolation as can alone be 
 afforded to the bereaved by the sure and certain hope 
 in the resurrection to eternal life, Hodgson, who had 
 already begun seriously to contemplate the obligations 
 which ordination involves, wrote, with the affectionate 
 zeal and well-timed consideration of true friendship, 
 directing his friend's thoughts to the glorious inherit- 
 ance which Christianity promises to its faithful ad- 
 herents, in the prospect of a reunion with the departed 
 in a blessed immortality. Byron was widely but not 
 deeply versed in philosophic and religious literature, 
 and had been taught from boyhood, as has before 
 been noticed, to identify Christianity with Calvinism. 
 The point of view from which, about this period of his 
 life, he regarded religious subjects may perhaps be 
 best understood by the perusal of an unfinished letter 
 to Gifford, written two years later, from which the 
 following is a passage : ' I am no bigot to infidelity, 
 and did not expect that, because I doubted the im- 
 mortality of man, I should be charged with denying 
 the existence of a God. It was the comparative in- 
 significance of ourselves and our world, when placed 
 in comparison with the mighty whole of which it is 
 an atom, that first led me to imagine that our preten- 
 sions to eternity might be overrated. This, and
 
 UNRECOGNISED INFLUENCE. 1 93 
 
 being early disgusted with a Calvinistic Scotch school 
 where I was cudgelled to church for the first ten years 
 of my life, afflicted me with this malady ; for, after 
 all, it is, I believe, a disease of the mind, as much as 
 other kinds of hypochondria.' 
 
 This frank avowal proves that Hodgson's remon- 
 strances, which have unfortunately been lost, but to 
 which the following letters are answers, had, in all 
 probability, a far greater effect upon their recipient 
 than he cared, at the time, to admit ; and that it was 
 their powerful, though perhaps unrecognised, influence 
 which induced him ever afterwards to speak in a far 
 more reverent tone of those great subjects, which, 
 whether a man believes, denies, or doubts, must be 
 admitted to be the most sacred of any which can 
 engage his thoughts. 
 
 In reading even these letters, deeply interesting 
 and instructive as they are, as throwing light upon 
 the history of such a mind, and as containing the 
 most explicit record extant of its religious sentiments, 
 if such they may be called, some allowance must 
 undoubtedly be made for the love of shocking pre- 
 judices, the fondness for making unprecedented state- 
 ments and startling antitheses, which were so curiously 
 characteristic of their writer. Nor would it be fair to 
 ignore the distinction, which he himself elsewhere lays 
 
 VOL. 1. O
 
 194 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 down, between a sneering and desponding scepticism. 
 But, when these reservations and explanations have 
 been duly made, it is impossible to condemn too 
 severely the levity of several passages, or to deplore 
 too deeply the pervading spirit of defiant lawlessness 
 which degraded his mighty genius and noble, generous 
 nature to the lowest depths of a despairing doubt. 
 
 It will, moreover, be remarked that the observa- 
 tions are sometimes strangely superficial, and that the 
 arguments, though plausible enough, are illogical and 
 inconclusive ; and too often proceed upon that un- 
 sound system of a priori reasoning, which (as Hodgson 
 frequently observed of scepticism) limits the wisdom 
 of an omnipotent Creator by the ignorance of the im- 
 perfect creature. 
 
 Newstead Abbey : September 3, 181 1. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — I will have nothing to do with 
 your immortality ; we are miserable enough in this 
 life, without the absurdity of speculating upon 
 another. If men are to live, why die at all ? and if 
 they die, why disturb the sweet and sound sleep 
 that ' knows no waking ' ? ' Post mortem nihil est, 
 ipsaque mors nihil ' — ' quaeris quo jaceas post 
 obitum loco ? ' ' Quo non nata jacent.' . . . As to 
 revealed religion, Christ came to save men ; but a
 
 BYRON ON REVEALED RELIGION. 1 95 
 
 good Pagan will go to heaven, and a bad Nazarene 
 to hell ; ' Argal ' (I argue like the gravedigger ' ) 
 why are not all men Christians ? or why are any ? 
 If mankind may be saved who never heard or 
 dreamt, at Timbuctoo, Otaheite, Terra Incognita, 
 &c., of Galilee and its Prophet, Christianity is of no 
 avail ; if they cannot be saved without, why are not 
 all orthodox ? It is a little hard to send a man 
 preaching to Judaea, and leave the rest of the world — 
 niggers and what not — dark as their complexions, 
 without a ray of light for so many years to lead 
 them on high ; and who will believe that God will 
 damn men for not knowing what they were never 
 taught ? I hope I am sincere; I was so at least on a 
 bed of sickness in a far distant country, when I had 
 neither friend, nor comforter, nor hope, to sustain 
 me. I looked to death as a relief from pain, with- 
 out a wish for an after-life, but a confidence that 
 the God who punishes in this existence had left 
 that last asylum for the weary. 
 
 bu 6 ®ebs aja7rdst a7toQvr\<JKS.t vsos. 2 
 
 I am no Platonist, I am nothing at all ; but I would 
 sooner be a Paulician, Manichean, Spinozist, 
 
 1 In Hamlet. - He whom God loves dies young. 
 
 o 2
 
 I96 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Gentile, Pyrrhonian, Zoroastian, than one of the 
 seventy-two villanous sects who are tearing each 
 other to pieces for the love of the Lord and hatred 
 of each other. Talk of Galileeism ? Show me the 
 effects — are you better, wiser, kinder by your pre- 
 cepts ? I will bring ten Mussulmen shall shame 
 you all in good will towards men, prayer to God, 
 and duty to .their neighbours. And is there a 
 
 ,' or a Bonze, who is not superior to a 
 
 fox-hunting curate ? But I will say no more on 
 this endless theme ; let me live, well if possible, 
 arid die without pain. The rest is with God, 
 who assuredly, had He come or sent, would have 
 made Himself manifest to nations, and intelligible 
 to all. 
 
 I shall rejoice to see you. My present intention 
 is to accept Scrope Davies's invitation ; and then, if 
 you accept mine, we shall meet Jure and there. 
 Did you know poor Matthews ? I shall miss him 
 much at Cambridge. 
 
 "& v 
 
 The conclusion of this letter is unfortunately lost. 
 Its first sentence seems to supply a most inadequate 
 reason for rejecting the hope of immortality. If, as 
 is implied, we are inevitably miserable in this life, 
 
 1 The word here is illegible.
 
 FALLACIOUS REASONING. 197 
 
 it is surely more consistent with God's justice and 
 mercy — both of which appear to be admitted — that 
 we should have further opportunities of attaining to 
 happiness. To the alleged improbability that life 
 should be renewed after death, it may be answered 
 with confidence that such a process is not at variance, 
 but quite in harmony, with the known method which 
 the Almighty undoubtedly does adopt in His govern- 
 ment of the universe. Purely poetical expressions 
 and allusions to an obsolete system of Pagan ethics 
 are hardly conclusive proofs to the contrary. 
 
 The fallacies contained in the succeeding state- 
 ments are apparent enough. In the first place, it is 
 unduly assumed that Christianity can never prevail 
 among men ; inasmuch as statistics plainly prove that 
 from the date of its foundation its influences have 
 been steadily, if slowly, increasing, and as there is 
 every reason to believe that they will continue to 
 increase until ' the earth shall be full of the know- 
 ledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' 
 Secondly, that is emphatically asserted, which no 
 reasonable person could seriously deny, that those to 
 whom the Gospel message has never been offered can- 
 not be considered responsible for its rejection. 
 
 What follows is so sadly and strangely prophetic, 
 and so obviously devoid of all logical consistency,
 
 198 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 that its only possible answer is a sorrowful and 
 sympathetic silence. 
 
 The scathing sarcasm of the next sentence was 
 surely not much more or less justifiable sixty years 
 ago than it is singularly appropriate to the con- 
 temptible disunions and controversies on non-essen- 
 tials which characterise more modern Christianity ; 
 but the unfairness of arguing generally against a 
 creed because it necessarily involves abuses, is too 
 manifest to demand serious comment. Of the con- 
 clusion it may be noticed that it certainly does not 
 follow from the premisses ; but that, even if it did so 
 follow, the premisses having been proved unsound, 
 the conclusion would fall with them. The last words 
 merely repeat the mistakes before pointed out, which 
 ignore the doctrine of the gradual development of 
 Christianity until to all is vouchsafed the opportunity 
 of refusing the evil and of choosing the good. 
 
 The only answer from the recipient of these 
 letters is the following fragment of verse, which may 
 be taken as a clue to the spirit of the advice which 
 elicited them : — 
 
 Alone, my Byron, on Shelfordian plains, 
 For thee I meditate my careless strains ; 
 Roam, undisturb'd, in free-born thought along, 
 And yield a day to friendship and to song.
 
 THE FOLLY OF SCEPTICISM. 1 99 
 
 Say, whence thy doubt of God's o'er-ruling pow'r, 
 
 Thou troubled dreamer of a darksome hour ? 
 
 Is it that, dimly through this veil of sin, 
 
 The ray of virtue glimmers from within ? 
 
 Is it that, soaring to sublimer things, 
 
 The flight of mind betrays her feeble wings ? 
 
 But whence thy right, ephemeral phantom whence, 
 
 To purer instinct or to loftier sense ? 
 
 Would Reason prompt thee louder to complain 
 
 If lower link'd in being's general chain? 
 
 She prompts not now thy discontented voice, 
 
 Nor bids thee choose where Heaven denies a choice. 
 
 What, if surrounded by a drearier shade, 
 
 Or by thy fate, or by thy folly made, 
 
 No beam of love illumed thy lonely path, 
 
 But, wandering on, an outcast child of wrath, 
 
 Without a guide, a father, or a friend, 
 
 Thy melancholy progress met its end, 
 
 Lost in the shoreless floods of silent space, 
 
 Thy time an instant,. and a speck thy place. 
 
 What, if imprison'd in this ruin'd earth, 
 
 All traces gone of thy diviner birth, 
 
 Scarce could thy shuddering nature bear its doom, 
 
 The painful cradle, and the hopeless tomb ! 
 
 What could'st thou more than blame thy Maker's 
 
 plan, 
 And call His Providence the foe of man? 
 But praise Him now who gives unbounded scope 
 For Reason's honour, and for Virtue's hope ; 
 Presents a world thy generous strength to try, 
 And spreads the prize of conquest in the sky. 
 What prize were that without an effort won ? 
 Or why reward the deed that must be done ?
 
 200 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 No ! to thy choice is offer'd good or ill, 
 
 And conscience owns thy liberty of will. 
 
 Where then begin, where end, our fruitless strife ? 
 
 Waive doubt awhile, and purify thy life. 
 
 Ask you what land contains the lustral fount ? 
 
 Behold it flowing from Judaea's mount ! 
 
 There weary pilgrims drink at Wisdom's shrine, 
 
 A water spotless from a source divine. 
 
 There pining cares and stormy passions rest, 
 
 And love dwells happy in the peaceful breast ; 
 
 There Mercy weeps o'er human faults forgiven, 
 
 And Heav'n-born friendship reascends to Heav'n. 
 
 Say, can obedience lose the promised bliss ? 
 
 Can Faith be groundless in a life like this ? 
 
 No ! the cleansed heart assures the doubting eyes, 
 
 And new-born hopes to new-born virtues rise. 
 
 Then, ranging boundless o'er the Almighty whole 
 
 In every part a God ! shall strike the soul — 
 
 From one vast temple shall a God ! be heard ; 
 
 A God from Judah's voice, a God ! from Nature's word. 
 
 » • » • • • • 
 
 As journeying darkly o'er the midnight heath, 
 The seeming reign of solitude and death, 
 Some fainting wretch pursues his fearful way ; 
 Till o'er yon lengthening ocean gleams the day — 
 Wide and more wide the growing gold expands, 
 A cloudless glory lightens seas and lands ! 
 Then lovely order through the prospect shines 
 
 The remainder of the verses is lost, but it is not 
 difficult to complete the simile.
 
 GLORIOUS POSSIBILITIES. 201 
 
 If the wise counsels of this truest of friends had 
 been allowed their legitimate force, and had exer- 
 cised a more immediate influence upon the mind of 
 the wayward poet, what a different future might, 
 from that moment, have been opened to him ! Un- 
 trammelled by the weaknesses of that lower nature 
 which bound him down to earth, his mighty genius 
 would have soared to loftier flights ; unfettered by 
 the chains of a morbid self-consciousness, his noble, 
 generous nature would have found scope for its 
 energies in the exercise of the purest philanthropy. 
 That marvellous combination of rank, and talent, and 
 beauty, which made him alternately the idol and the 
 scapegoat of his age, if tempered and guided by 
 religious discipline, would have enabled him to confer 
 incalculable benefits upon his fellow men. All that 
 is grandest and noblest in human nature would 
 henceforth have been inseparably associated with the 
 name of Byron. 
 
 It is melancholy, indeed, to turn from the con- 
 templation of such glorious possibilities to the strange 
 reality of mingled faith and doubt which bore such 
 bitter fruit ; lamentable, however deeply instructive, 
 to look back upon the perilous rocks and subtly- 
 shifting quicksands upon which so beautiful a bark 
 was wrecked almost at the outset of its voyage.
 
 202 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Newstead Abbey : September 13, 181 1. 
 My dear Hodgson, — I thank you for your song, or, 
 rather, your two songs — your new song on love, and 
 your old song on religion. I admire the first 
 sincerely, and in turn call upon you to admire the 
 following on Anacreon Moore's new operatic farce, 1 
 or farcical opera — call it which you will : — 
 
 Good plays are scarce, 
 So Moore writes farce ; 
 
 Is fame like his so brittle? 
 We knew before 
 That ' Little's ' Moore, 
 
 But now 'tis Moore that's Little. 
 
 I won't dispute with you on the arcana of your 
 new calling ; they are bagatelles, like the King of 
 Poland's rosary. One remark, and I have done : 
 the basis of your religion is injustice ; the Son of 
 God, the pure, the immaculate, the innocent, is 
 sacrificed for the guilty. This proves His heroism ; 
 but no more does away man's guilt than a school- 
 boy's volunteering to be flogged for another would 
 exculpate the dunce from negligence, or preserve 
 him from the rod. You degrade the Creator, in 
 the first place, by making Him a begetter of 
 
 1 The M.P. ; or, The Blue Stocking, which, after having been acted 
 for a few nights, disappeared finally from the stage.
 
 IMPERFECT ARGUMENTS. 203 
 
 children ; and in the next you convert Him into a 
 tyrant over an immaculate and injured Being, who 
 is sent into existence, to suffer death for the benefit 
 of some millions of scoundrels, who, after all, seem 
 as likely to be damned as ever. As to miracles, I 
 agree with Hume that it is more probable men 
 should lie or be deceived, than that things out of 
 the course of nature should so happen. Mahomet 
 wrought miracles, Brothers the prophet had prose- 
 lytes, and so would Breslau, the conjurer, had he 
 lived in the time of Tiberius. 
 
 Besides, I trust that God is not a Jew, but the 
 God of all mankind ; and, as you allow that a 
 virtuous Gentile may be saved, you do away the 
 necessity of being a Jew or a Christian. 
 
 I do not believe in any revealed religion, 
 because no religion is revealed ; and if it pleases 
 the Church to damn me for not allowing a non- 
 entity, I throw myself on the mercy of the ' Great 
 First Cause, least understood] who must do what is 
 most proper ; though I conceive He never made 
 anything to be tortured in another life, whatever it 
 may in this. I will neither read pro nor con. God 
 would have made His will known without books, 
 considering how very few could read them when 
 Jesus of Nazareth lived, had it been His pleasure to
 
 204 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 ratify any peculiar mode of worship. As to your 
 immortality, if people are to live, why die ? And 
 our carcases, which are to rise again, are they 
 worth raising ? I hope, if mine is, that I shall have 
 a better pair of legs than I have moved on these 
 two-and-twenty years, or I shall be sadly behind 
 in the squeeze into Paradise. Did you ever read 
 ' Malthus on Population ? ' If he be right, war and 
 pestilence are our best friends, to save us from 
 being eaten alive, in this ' best of all possible 
 worlds.' 
 
 I will write, read, and think no more ; indeed, 
 I do not wish to shock your prejudices by saying 
 all I do think. Let us make the most of life, and 
 leave dreams to Emanuel Swedenborg-. 
 
 Now to dreams of another genus — poesies. I 
 
 like your song much ; but I will say no more, for 
 
 fear you should think I wanted to coax you into 
 
 approbation of my past, present, or future acrostics. 
 
 I shall not be at Cambridge before the middle of 
 
 October ; but, when I go, I should certes like to see 
 
 you there before you are dubbed a deacon. Write 
 
 to me, and I will rejoin. 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 Byron. 
 In this second letter, the first point to be noticed
 
 HUMAN NOTIONS OF JUSTICE. MIRACLES. 205 
 
 is that the word ' injustice ' is here used simply from a 
 human point of view ; and in discussing subjects 
 which, from the very fact that they are still subjects 
 of discussion, are proved to be beyond the compre- 
 hension of man's finite intelligence, it is important 
 that we lose not sight of the evident probability that 
 God has fuller, wider notions of justice than man, by 
 the circumstances of his constitution, can possibly 
 entertain ; that His judgments are inscrutable, and 
 His ways past finding out. Again, the voluntary 
 character of the sacrifice of Him, who took upon 
 Him our nature, is virtually ignored ; while the 
 tangible and visible effects of Christianity through- 
 out the world are also completely set aside or for- 
 gotten. 
 
 The great subject of miracles is dismissed in so 
 summary a manner as to render a distinct refutation 
 of the opinion definitely expressed impossible, with- 
 out an exhaustive inquiry into the credibility of wit- 
 nesses such as is to be found in Paley's ' Evidences ; ' 
 or a comprehensive consideration of the whole sub- 
 ject of God's omnipotence, and consequent power to 
 change for a specific and unique purpose the laws 
 which He has made, such as is amply afforded by 
 Butler's ' Analogy.' 
 
 To the truism that God is the God of all man-
 
 206 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 kind, it may be answered that the doctrines of 
 Christianity are in no way really antagonistic to such 
 a notion ; but that, as was noticed in answer to a 
 similar statement in the former letter, only those are 
 condemned who persistently reject a religion which 
 not only promises present and future happiness, but 
 which is proved by constant experience to have a 
 power to guide and assist its faithful adherents to 
 happy and honourable lives, and to assure them of 
 calm and peaceful deaths. In the next place, when 
 it is asserted that no religion is revealed, it is neces- 
 sary to inquire what is the exact sense in which the 
 word is used, and to bear in mind the fact that the 
 natural processes, the results of which we daily see 
 and feel, are certainly not clearly revealed to us ; that 
 revelation, however applied, is a relative term, and 
 involves questions of degree. For that the world in 
 which we live and move and have our being is full of 
 hidden mysteries, will hardly be denied even by 
 those who are most sceptical on the subject of re- 
 vealed religion. And the positive fact that prayer is 
 constantly answered is not more miraculous or less 
 mysterious than many of the natural events by which 
 we are surrounded, but for which we cannot fully 
 account. Nor is it more consistent with the idea of 
 God's merciful justice to suppose that He would
 
 SUICIDAL SELF-DECEPTION. 20J 
 
 allow His creatures to be deceived into the false 
 belief that they will be punished hereafter, than to 
 imagine Him determined to punish hereafter those 
 who resolutely resist His will, and often go unpun- 
 ished here. But the words which follow may fairly 
 be considered to contain the clue to much which 
 precedes them. ' I will read neither pro nor con.' 
 Does not this plainly point to the predetermined 
 resolve of one whose wish was father to his thought, 
 and who preferred to make his principles tally with 
 his practice, rather than to adopt such religious tenets 
 as would inevitably lead to the necessity of an 
 unwelcome discipline of life. 
 
 That God did make His will known without 
 books, as well as through them, is proved by the 
 unprecedented and unparalleled effects of the Apos- 
 tles' teaching, and to the widespread influences of 
 oral instructions and traditions throughout the early 
 ages of the Church's history. 
 
 The painfully irreverent allusion to the doctrine 
 of the resurrection of the body is an instance of the 
 determination (so characteristic of its writer) to press 
 forcibly to their natural conclusion any opinions 
 which arrested his attention. But it is strange that 
 he should have altogether overlooked the Christian 
 belief that the natural body which dies is raised a 
 
 ;
 
 208 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 spiritual body ; that there are bodies terrestrial and 
 bodies celestial. 
 
 In these days of universal inquiry and rigid 
 criticism, the consideration of the religious sentiments 
 of so powerful a thinker as Byron, if conducted in a 
 conscientious spirit, cannot be devoid of useful inte- 
 rest. For the necessary conviction which such a 
 consideration will inculcate is obviously this : that if 
 stick a mind could find no stronger arguments than 
 these in favour of scepticism, Christianity, however it 
 might suffer temporarily from the insensibility of its 
 opponents, would be in no danger of ultimate sup- 
 pression even if it depended solely upon human 
 agencies for its support ; while the fatal influences of 
 such self-reliant speculations are strikingly exem- 
 plified in the hapless life and premature death of the 
 greatest poet of his age.
 
 209 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LETTERS FROM BYRON — MEETING AT CAMBRIDGE 
 — PREVENTION BY HODGSON OF DUEL BETWEEN 
 BYRON AND MOORE — VISIT TO NEWSTEAD — 
 MORE LETTERS. 
 
 1811-12. 
 
 A WEEK after the last of the letters in the last 
 chapter was written, Byron writes to Dallas : ' I have 
 brought you and my friend Juvenal Hodgson on my 
 back, on the score of revelation. You are fervent, but 
 he is quite glowing. I honour and thank you both 
 but am convinced by neither,' &c. ; and four days 
 later to Hodgson himself. 
 
 Newstead Abbey: September 25, 181 1. 
 My dear Hodgson, — I fear that before the latest of 
 October or the first of November, I shall hardly 
 be able to make Cambridge. My everlasting agent 
 puts off his coming like the accomplishment of a 
 prophecy. However, finding me growing serious 
 he hath promised to be here on Thursday, and 
 VOL. 1. P
 
 2IO MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 about Monday we shall remove to Rochdale. I 
 have only to give discharges to the tenantry here 
 (it seems the poor creatures must be raised, though 
 I wish it was not necessary) and arrange the receipt 
 of sums, and the liquidation of some debts, and I 
 shall be ready to enter upon new subjects of vex- 
 ation. I intend to visit you in Granta, and hope to 
 prevail on you to accompany me here or there or 
 anywhere. 
 
 My tortoises (all Athenians), my hedgehog, my 
 mastiff, are all purely. The tortoises lay eggs, and 
 I have hired a hen to hatch them. I am writing 
 notes for my quarto 1 (Murray would have it a 
 quarto), and Hobhouse is writing text for his 
 quarto ; if you call on Murray or Cawthorn you 
 will hear news of either. I have attacked De 
 Pauw, Thornton, Lord Elgin, Spain, Portugal, the 
 ' Edinburgh Review,' travellers, painters, antiqua- 
 rians and others, so you see what a dish of sour 
 crout controversy I shall prepare for myself. It 
 would not answer for me to give way, now ; as I 
 was forced into bitterness at the beginning, I will 
 go through to the last. ' Vae Victis.' If I fall, I 
 shall fall gloriously, fighting against a host. 
 
 Felicissima Notte a Voss. Signoria. 
 
 B. 
 
 1 Childe Harold.
 
 ' OH ! BANISH CARE.' 2 I I 
 
 Hodgson, deeply distressed at the tone of these 
 last letters — a tone which he knew to be partly real 
 and partly assumed, and earnestly desirous that his 
 friend should share the happiness which his own 
 kindly and contented disposition enabled him to 
 enjoy — wrote some verses in a cheerful and joyous 
 strain, exhorting Byron to look at the brighter side of 
 life, and to banish care. Byron immediately responded 
 in those eminently characteristic and now celebrated 
 lines ' in which he alludes to his early disappointment 
 in love as the source of all his subsequent sorrow. 
 When in 1829 Hodgson sent these verses to Moore, 
 for insertion in the ' Life,' which was then being com- 
 piled, he carefully drew his pen through the conclud- 
 ing lines, and wrote below them, ' From hence to the 
 end to be left out as agreed with Moore. F. H.' 
 This stipulation, however, Moore, as in many other 
 cases, entirely disregarded. The lines marked for 
 omission are these : — 
 
 But if, in some succeeding year, 
 
 When Britain's ' May is in the sere,' 
 
 Thou hear'st of one whose deepening crimes 
 
 Suit with the sablest of the times ; 
 
 Of one, whom love nor pity sways, 
 
 Nor hope of fame, nor good men's praise ; 
 
 1 Epistle to a Friend. 
 p 2
 
 2 1 2 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 One, who in stern ambition's pride, 
 Perchance not blood shall turn aside ; 
 One rank'd in some recording page 
 With the worst anarchs of the age ; 
 Him wilt thou know, and, knowing, pause, 
 Nor with the effect forget the cause. 
 
 In the margin of the original copy Hodgson writes : 
 — ' N.B. The poor dear soul meant nothing of this. 
 F. H.' 
 
 This note speaks volumes ; coming as it does 
 from one who knew the poet so intimately, and who 
 understood the strangely blended contrasts of his 
 character perhaps better than any other one of his 
 friends. It has often been remarked that Byron 
 loved to identify himself with ' the dark sublime he 
 drew.' There can be no stronger confirmation of the 
 fact than these few words, which go far to dispel the 
 many misunderstandings and illusions by which his 
 great name has so long been surrounded. 
 
 Two days later he sent a long letter to Hodgson, 
 published by Moore, in which he writes : ' I don't 
 know that I shan't end with insanity, for I want a 
 method in arranging my thoughts that perplexes me 
 strangely ; but this looks more like silliness than 
 madness, as Scrope Davies would facetiously remark 
 in his consoling manner. I must try the hartshorn of 
 your company.' And again at the end : ' Write and
 
 PEACE-MAKING. 213 
 
 send me your " Love Song " — but I want paulb majora 
 from you. Make a dash before you are a deacon, 
 and try a dry publisher. Yours always, B.' 
 
 The dry allusion is to Mr. Payne, of the firm of 
 Payne & Mackinlay, who had published Hodgson's 
 'Juvenal.' Payne had lately committed suicide by 
 drowning himself in the Paddington Canal. 
 
 It was at the end of this month (October) that 
 Byron paid his promised visit to Cambridge, where 
 many matters, religious and poetical, were doubtless 
 discussed in detail by the friends. During this visit a 
 letter from Moore (the first which Byron ever received 
 from him) was forwarded from Newstead, calling his 
 attention to a former letter written from Dublin 
 on January 1, 18 10, in which an explanation was 
 required of certain expressions used by Byron in 
 ' English Bards,' with reference to Moore's ' lead less ' 
 and therefore bloodless duel with Jeffrey at Chalk 
 Farm ; and, failing such explanation, satisfaction was 
 demanded. 
 
 This former letter, having been despatched soon 
 after Lord Byron's departure from England, was 
 placed by the friend to whom Moore had entrusted it, 
 in Hodgson's hands. Having been made aware, by 
 the manner of its delivery, of the nature of this letter, 
 and feeling sure that his friend's impetuous and fiery
 
 2 14 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSOX. 
 
 disposition would at once lead him to consider that it 
 constituted a direct challenge to fight a duel, Hodg- 
 son, on his own responsibility, determined to suppress 
 it until the feeling of irritation which occasioned it 
 should have been obliterated by time. But this 
 second letter of Moore's placed him in an apparently 
 inextricable dilemma. For he had already, as in 
 duty bound, reminded Byron in London on his return, 
 that he had such a letter in his possession ; of which 
 Byron's sudden summons to Newstead had enabled 
 him still further to postpone the delivery. Now they 
 were together again and Moore repeated his com- 
 plaints, though in a somewhat modified form, and re- 
 quested a further explanation of the delay which had 
 occurred in the reply to his first letter. Still Hodg- 
 son somehow contrived to keep it back until continued 
 correspondence with Moore turned enmity into friend- 
 ship ; its delivery became unnecessary ; and it was 
 returned in statu quo to the writer, at his own sugges- 
 tion. Thus England was spared the spectacle of a 
 duel between Moore and Byron. Thus a catastrophe 
 was averted which might have resulted fatally to one 
 or both of two of the greatest poets of their time ; a 
 disaster by which the world of literature would have 
 been robbed of some of its most priceless treasures. 
 It is impossible to overestimate the consummate tact
 
 LETTER FROM BYRON. 215 
 
 and firmness displayed by Hodgson in this most dif- 
 ficult and delicate episode of peacemaking diplomacy. 
 Moore's letter was written on the 30th October. 
 A fortnight later Byron wrote from London to Hodg- 
 son at Cambridge, laconically, but in a very large 
 hand underlined, ' Send a certain letter. B.' ; and 
 after two days, having received no answer, he wrote 
 again : — 
 
 8 St. James's Street: November 17, 181 1. 
 Dear Hodgson,- — I have been waiting for the letter, 
 which was to be sent by you immediately, and 
 must again jog your memory on the subject. I 
 have heard from Hobhouse, who has at last sent 
 more copy to Cawthorn for his ' Travels.' I franked 
 an enormous cover for you yesterday, seemingly to 
 convey at least twelve cantos on any given subject. 
 I fear the aspect of it was too epic for the post. 
 From this and other coincidences I augur a public- 
 ation on your part, but what or when, or how 
 much, you must disclose immediately. 
 
 I don't know what to say about coming down 
 to Cambridge at present, but live in hopes. I am 
 so completely superannuated there, and besides 
 feel it something brazen in me to wear my magis- 
 terial habit, after all my buffooneries, that I hardly 
 think I shall venture again. And being now an
 
 2l6 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 ' apcarov fisv vScop ' disciple I won't come within wine- 
 shot of such determined topers as your collegiates. 
 I have not yet subscribed to Bowen. I mean to 
 cut Harrow ' mint unquam ' as somebody classically 
 said for a farewell sentence. I am superannuated 
 there too, and, in short, as old at twenty-three as 
 many men at seventy. 
 
 Do write and send this letter that hath been so 
 long in your custody. It is of importance that M. 
 should be certain I never received it, if it be his. 
 Are you drowned that I have never heard from 
 you, or are you fallen into a fit of perplexity ? 
 Cawthorn has declined, and the MS. is returned to 
 him. This is all at present from yours in the faith, 
 
 MnAIPflN. 
 
 The conclusion of the next letter proves that 
 Hodgson's considerate counsel on religious subjects 
 had, at all events, greater influence with its recipient 
 than he was at present prepared to admit. The 
 words ' I deny nothing ' point to an altered frame of 
 mind ; and universal doubt, however unsatisfactory, is 
 a decided improvement upon absolute unbelief. 
 
 8 St. James's Street : December 4, 181 1. 
 My dear Hodgson, — I have seen Miller, who will see 
 Bland, but I have no great hopes of his obtaining
 
 LETTER FROM BYRON. 21 7 
 
 the translation l from the crowd of candidates. 
 Yesterday I wrote to Harness, who will probably 
 tell you what I said on the subject. Hobhouse 
 has sent me my Romaic MSS., and I shall require 
 your aid in correcting the press, as your Greek eye 
 is more correct than mine. But these will not 
 come to type this month, I dare say. I have put 
 some soft lines on ye Scotch in the ' Curse of 
 Minerva/ take them : 
 
 Yet Caledonia claims some native worth, &c. 
 
 If you are not content now, I must say with the 
 Irish drummer to the deserter who called out, 
 ' Flog high, flog low ' — ' The de'il burn ye, there's 
 no pleasing you, flog where one will.' 
 
 I have read Watson to Gibbon. He proves 
 nothing, so I am where I was, verging towards 
 Spinoza ; and yet it is a gloomy creed, and I want 
 a better, but there is something pagan in me that I 
 cannot shake off. In short, I deny nothing, but 
 doubt everything. The post brings me to a con- 
 clusion. Bland has just been here. 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 BN. 
 
 1 The translation of Charlemagne, an epic poem by Prince Lucien 
 Bonaparte, afterwards undertaken by Francis Hodgson conjointly with 
 Samuel Butler, Head-master of Shrewsbury, and subsequently Bishop 
 of Lichfield.
 
 2l8 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 In the next letter, dated London, December 8, 
 181 1, and partly published by Moore, Byron writes : — 
 
 I sent you a sad ' Tale of Three Friars ' the other 
 day, and now take a dose in another style. I 
 wrote it a day or two ago, on hearing a song of 
 former days : — 
 
 Away, away, ye notes of woe, etc. 
 
 I have gotten a book by Sir W. Drummond 
 (printed but not published) entitled ' CEdipus Ju- 
 daicus,' in which he attempts to prove the greater 
 part of the Old Testament an allegory, particularly 
 Genesis and Joshua. He professes himself a theist 
 in the preface, and handles the literal interpretation 
 very roughly. I wish you could see it. Mr. Ward 
 has lent it to me, and I confess to me it is worth 
 fifty Watsons. You and Harness must fix on the 
 time for your visit to Newstead. . . . Master 
 William Harness and I have recommenced a most 
 fiery correspondence ; I like him as Euripides 
 liked Agatho, or Darby admired Joan, as much 
 for the past as the present. 
 
 In the postscript of the next letter he adds : ' I 
 only wait for your answer to fix our meeting.' A 
 few days later this meeting took place at Newstead, 
 between Byron, Harness, and Hodgson. Moore, who
 
 VISIT TO NEWSTEAD. 219 
 
 had also been invited, was unable to come. Harness 
 left a most interesting sketch ' of his visit, in which 
 the allusions to Hodgson are so pointed that they 
 can hardly be omitted from, a memoir of his life. 
 
 When Byron returned, with the MS. of the first two 
 cantos of ' Childe Harold ' in his portmanteau, I 
 paid him a visit at Newstead. 2 It was winter — 
 dark, dreary weather — the snow upon the ground ; 
 and a straggling, gloomy, depressive, partially- 
 inhabited place the Abbey was. Those rooms, 
 however, which had been fitted up for residence 
 were so comfortably appointed, glowing with crim- 
 son hangings, and cheerful with capacious fires, 
 that one soon lost the melancholy feeling of being 
 domiciled in the wing of an extensive ruin. Many 
 tales are related or fabled of the orgies which, in 
 the poet's early youth, had made clamorous these 
 ancient halls of the Byrons. I can only say that 
 nothing in the shape of riot or excess occurred 
 when I was there. The only other visitor was 
 Dr. Hodgson, 3 the translator of 'Juvenal,' and 
 
 1 Quoted by Mr. L'Estrange in his Literary Life of the Rev. Wm. 
 Harness. 
 
 - It will be observed that this visit took place several months after 
 Byron's return. 
 
 3 This is a mistake. Hodgson, at this time, was not even ordained, 
 and never took the Doctor's degree, even when Provost of Eton.
 
 2 20 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 nothing could be more quiet and regular than the 
 course of our days. Byron was retouching, as the 
 sheets passed through the press, the stanzas of 
 1 Childe Harold.' Hodgson was at work in getting 
 out the ensuing number of the ' Monthly Review,' 
 of which he was principal editor. I was reading 
 for my degree. When we met, our general talk 
 was of poets and poetry — of who could or who 
 could not write ; but it occasionally rose into very 
 serious discussions on religion. Byron, from his 
 early education in Scotland, had been taught to 
 identify the principles of Christianity with the 
 extreme dogmas of Calvinism. His mind had 
 thus imbibed a most miserable prejudice, which 
 appeared to be the only ' obstacle to his hearty 
 acceptance of the Gospel. Of this error we were 
 most anxious to disabuse him. The chief weight 
 of the argument rested with Hodgson, who was 
 older, a good deal, than myself. I cannot even 
 now — at. a distance of more than fifty years — recall 
 those conversations without a deep feeling of 
 admiration for the judicious zeal and affectionate 
 earnestness (often speaking with tears in his eyes) 
 which Dr. Hodgson evinced in his advocacy of the 
 
 1 It will be seen from the foregoing letters that this is hardly a com- 
 plete statement of the case.
 
 BYRON'S DESPONDENCY. 22 1 
 
 truth. The only difference, except perhaps in the 
 subjects talked about, between our life at Newstead 
 Abbey and that of the great families around us, 
 was the hours we kept. It was, as I have said, 
 winter, and the days were cold ; and, as nothing 
 tempted us to rise early, we got up late. This 
 flung the routine of the day rather backward, and 
 we did not go early to bed. My visit to Newstead 
 lasted about three weeks, when I returned to 
 Cambridge to take my degree. 
 
 About the middle of the next month, January 
 1812, Hodgson also returned to Cambridge, and 
 Byron went to London to his old quarters in St. 
 James's Street. Several letters passed between them, 
 but not upon subjects of public interest. Byron was 
 again possessed by a feeling of the deepest melan- 
 choly, and seems to have recurred to his old sorrow, 
 the early disappointment in love, which he appears to 
 have attributed partly to that slight physical infirmity 
 on which he often dwelt so painfully. He writes to 
 Hodgson with reference to another object of affec- 
 tion : ' I do not blame her, but my own vanity in 
 fancying that such a thing as I am could ever be 
 beloved.' He also recurred to the numerous deaths 
 of friends which had rendered his return to England
 
 222 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 so melancholy, and especially that of Eddlestone, and 
 wrote : ' There is one consolation in Death— where he 
 sets his seal the impression can neither be melted nor 
 broken, but endureth for ever. I almost rejoice 
 when one I love dies young, for I could never bear to 
 see them old or altered.' He was, moreover, ha- 
 rassed with business and lawyers, whom he describes 
 as being in a 'pestilent hurry all about affidavits.' 
 Hodgson again endeavoured to cheer him, and to 
 divert his thoughts into a different channel by in- 
 ducing him to exert his powers in Parliament. This 
 advice was not disregarded, an ambition of oratorical 
 distinction was aroused, and efforts were made to- 
 wards its attainment by careful preparation. The 
 first intimation of the existence of this new interest 
 occurs in a letter to Hodgson dated 8 St. James's 
 Street, February i, 1812 : — 
 
 I am rather unwell with a vile cold, caught in the 
 House of Lords last night. Lord Sligo and myself, 
 being tired, paired off, being of opposite sides, so 
 that nothing was gained or lost by our votes. I 
 did not speak ; but I might as well, for nothing 
 could have been inferior to (those who did). The 
 Catholic Question comes on this month, and per-
 
 GOOD-NATURED CRITICISM. 223 
 
 haps I may then commence. I must ' screw my 
 
 courage to the sticking place, and we'll not fail.' 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 B. 
 
 While the preparation for the great speech on the 
 Frame-breaking Bill was going on, and with ' Childe 
 Harold ' in the press, Byron yet found time for the 
 following humorous and good-natured appeal in be- 
 half of a friend and aspiring author : — 
 
 London : February 21, 18 12. 
 My dear Hodgson, — There is a book entituled ' Gait, 
 his Travels in ye Archipelago,' daintily printed by 
 Cadell and Davies, ye which I could desiderate 
 might be criticised by you, inasmuch as ye author 
 is a well-respected esquire of mine acquaintance, 
 but I fear will meet with little mercy as a writer, 
 unless a friend passeth judgment. Truth to say, 
 ye boke is ye boke of a cock-brained man, and is 
 full of devices crude and conceitede, but per- 
 adventure for my sake this grace may be vouch- 
 safed unto him. Review him myself I can not, 
 will not, and if you are likewize hard of heart, woe 
 unto ye boke, ye which is a comely quarto. 
 
 Now then ! I have no objection to review if it
 
 2 24 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 pleases Griffiths to send books, or rather you, for 
 you know the sort of things I like to play with. 
 You will find what I say very serious as to my 
 intentions. I have every reason to induce me to 
 return to Ionia. Believe me, 
 
 Yours always, 
 
 B. 
 
 The earliest, and indeed the only original, account 
 of his first and most famous speech, was sent to 
 Hodgson, and is published by Moore, with the ex- 
 ception of this sentence, ' / hire myself unto Griffiths, 
 and my poesy comes out on Saturday.' Griffiths 
 was the editor of the ' Monthly,' but there is no 
 record of any contribution to it from Byron, and he 
 afterwards refused to review at all. 
 
 The poesy thus unostentatiously mentioned was 
 the immortal ' Childe Harold ; ' and immediately after 
 its publication, Byron, who, as he concisely puts it, 
 1 woke up one morning and found himself famous,' 
 now plunged into the vortex of London society, 
 which at once paid him that unprecedented homage, 
 amounting almost to idolatry, which was sustained 
 for a time through the combined influences of his 
 rank and genius, as well as by the irresistible charms 
 of his manner and appearance. Hodgson remained
 
 CAMBRIDGE AND LONDOX. 225 
 
 quietly at Cambridge, lecturing, reviewing, and main- 
 taining a constant correspondence with his numerous 
 friends. He occasionally went to London, and never 
 without visiting and conversing with Lord Byron. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 2 26 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON, 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ORIGIN OF BLAND'S 'ANTHOLOGY'— HODGSON'S CON- 
 TRIBUTIONS TO IT — SKETCH OF BLAND'S LIFE 
 AND PASSAGES FROM HIS LETTERS. 
 
 1812. 
 
 THE ' Anthology,' to which Hodgson made consider- 
 able contributions, was republished in a revised form 
 in the year 1 8 1 2. This celebrated work first appeared 
 in 1806, Bland and Merivale being its principal 
 editors, and was soon greeted with the admiration 
 which it so fully deserved. Byron, in one of his 
 letters to Hodgson, says that he ' always bewailed its 
 absence ' during his Grecian travels, and in his Satire 
 he thus apostrophises its authors : — 
 
 And you associate bards ! who snatch'd to light 
 Those gems too long withheld from modern sight ; 
 Whose mingling taste combined to cull the wreath, 
 Where Attic flowers Aonian odours breathe, 
 And all their renovated fragrance flung 
 To grace the beauties of your native tongue. 
 
 Some years after Bland's death a proposal was made
 
 SOCIABILITY. 22 7 
 
 by some of his friends to write a memoir of his life, 
 and Merivale then gave the following account of the 
 origin of their joint work : — 
 
 I can hardly say that my acquaintance with Bland 
 commenced so early as during our residence at 
 college, but I was accidentally thrown into his com- 
 pany two or three times in the course of that 
 period ; once, in particular, I well remember, in a 
 walking party to Wimpole, the seat of Lord Hard- 
 wicke, consisting, besides himself and myself, of 
 Harry Drury, Twiss (now Dr. Twiss), the present 
 Lord Chancellor (then Charles Pepys), and I forget 
 who else. I remember little respecting it except 
 that we were all very light-hearted and merry, and 
 poor Bland conspicuous for that peculiar species of 
 whim and extravaganza which procured for him in 
 after times, among the dramatis persona of a pro- 
 posed burletta by our friend (now Archdeacon) 
 Hodgson on the model of Fielding's Covent Garden 
 tragedy, the appropriate designation of ' Don 
 Hyperbolo.' But our intimacy must be referred 
 for its commencement to the time when, after leav- 
 ing college, he became settled as an assistant- 
 master at Harrow, where I was a frequent visitor, 
 and when (principally under Harry Drury's 
 
 q 2
 
 228 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 auspices) a social club, or circle, was early formed, 
 of which, besides us three, Denman (now Lord 
 Chief Justice), Hodgson (now Archdeacon of 
 Derby), Walford (solicitor to the Customs), Paley 
 (son of Archdeacon Paley, and a brother collegian 
 of Bland at Pembroke — long since, alas ! taken 
 from us), Pepys, and Shad well ', and a few more, 
 less closely united with us in youthful sport and 
 frolic, may be enumerated as members. Jn the 
 compass of a very few years marriage and the con- 
 sequent accession of domestic and professional 
 cares and pursuits, in a great degree operated as 
 the dissolution of our society, but not of our mutual 
 regard and friendship. Several bonds of union still 
 subsisted among us, and, with regard to some at 
 least of our fraternity, a similarity of taste in litera- 
 ture and poetry constituted by no means the 
 weakest of them. 
 
 It so happened that both Bland and myself, 
 while at college, though then unknown to each 
 other, had committed divers sins of the poetical 
 sort in attempted translations from the Greek 
 minor poets and epigrammatists. When our 
 friendship commenced at Harrow, we soon com- 
 pared notes — thence proceeded to mutual exten- 
 
 1 Launcelot Shadwell. Vice-Chancellor.
 
 ORIGIN OF THE 'ANTHOLOGY.' 2 29 
 
 sion of our collections — and finally decided to 
 launch on the perilous undertaking of joint author- 
 ship, under the liberal patronage of that great 
 Maecenas of literature, Richard Phillips (now Sir 
 Richard), publisher of the 'Monthly Magazine.' It 
 was, accordingly, in that very respectable miscel- 
 lany that we started on our career as ' brother 
 bards,' on the ist of March, 1805, in a paper headed 
 with the title ' Epigrams, Fragments, and Fugitive 
 Pieces from the Greek,' to which was subjoined the 
 signature ' Narva,' an appellative borrowed (as I 
 well remember) from a poem of Chatterton's, which, 
 euphonies gratia, for I think it possessed no other 
 merit, was just then constantly in the mouth of our 
 friend Hodgson, who graciously permitted the name 
 to be transferred to ourselves. This first and the 
 three or four succeeding numbers comprised the 
 greater part of the materials from which Bland 
 composed the preface to our subsequent volume, 
 published in 1806, entitled 'Translations, chiefly 
 from the Greek Anthology, with Tales and Miscel- 
 laneous Poems ' ; and it was not long before our 
 youthful senses were regaled with the tribute of 
 praise from unknown writers. 
 
 About this time Denman wrote to Hodgson 
 a propos of the ' Anthology ' : —
 
 23O MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 I am infinitely too much flattered by your re- 
 quest to hesitate a moment about complying 
 with it, though I sincerely think the composi- 
 tions will add no value to your publication, 
 and would do no credit to their author, if 
 he was known. I will beg, therefore, that you 
 will not mention his name to any but those who 
 already know it. The trouble of revising will, I fear, 
 be greater than you seem to anticipate ; but most 
 especially I desire that if your opinion of them 
 should change on a subsequent perusal, you will 
 not think it necessary to print them, in consequence 
 of your present application. Most sincerely do I 
 hope that you will keep your promise of being with 
 us more frequently when you are in town. 
 
 Two of the poems thus modestly referred to by 
 their author were two translations of the Ode on 
 the Athenian Patriots, Harmodius and Aristogiton, 
 by Callistratus (Scol. 7, 1, 155). The version be- 
 ginning with the words ' In myrtle my sword will 
 I wreathe,' is mentioned by Byron in a note ' to 
 ' Childe Harold,' as the best English translation. 
 
 Two very beautiful fragments by Hodgson, on a 
 pipe in the Temple of Venus, and on a laurel beside 
 
 1 Canto iii. stanza 20.
 
 ROBERT BLAND. 23 I 
 
 a fountain, are translated into Latin elegiacs by Dr. 
 ^Kennedy in the ' Sabrinse Corolla.' 
 
 It is strange that so exquisite a collection of 
 classical gems as the ' Anthology ' should have been 
 so long allowed to remain out of print. 
 
 Of its talented but eccentric editor, Robert Bland, 
 the surviving notices are scanty. He was appointed 
 to a chaplaincy at Amsterdam, whence he returned 
 to his native land in 181 1, after having travelled in 
 disguise through a considerable part of the Continent, 
 during the most perilous period of the French supre- 
 macy. On his return he obtained, through the influ- 
 ence of his friends, a desirable curacy at Kenilworth, 
 where he eked out a slender income by the precarious 
 occupation of taking pupils, and died from breaking 
 a blood-vessel in 1825, at the early age of 45. Besides 
 the ' Anthology ' he published several original poems, 
 the best of which were ' Edwy and Elgiva,' and the 
 ' Four Slaves of Cythera.' 
 
 Some extracts from his correspondence are not 
 without interest, both from the date at which they 
 were written, and for the humorous extravagances 
 with which they abound. They are addressed to 
 Merivale, and the first is dated August 9, 1805, St. 
 Alban's Street, 1 Wednesday, midnight. 
 
 1 The residence of his father, Dr. Bland, the eminent physician.
 
 232 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Many and the most sincere thanks for your very kind 
 letter. I really am obliged to you for being so 
 happy as you mention, although I think you might 
 have been so without endeavouring to make me 
 envious. And so you wish me to follow your 
 example. 1 If any person would accommodate me 
 with the trifling sum of a cool ^"10,000, I would 
 really do so. But if you only reflect on the trea- 
 sures contained in my table drawer, you might find 
 1,000 pounds worth of reasons for remaining as I 
 am — stupid, flat, dull and solitary. . . . You 
 will excuse the gloom of this letter, when you con- 
 sider the solemn hour at which I write, and the 
 more so as you know that I seldom, if ever, write 
 to entertain others, but only when I am a burthen 
 to myself, and wish to lay part of the load on some 
 one else. But, what is the best excuse of all, I have 
 
 this evening returned to London from , where 
 
 I have been leading the life of a god for these five 
 
 days. On Friday 's birthday, concert, fire 
 
 and water works, ball, supper ; so that Friday was cer- 
 tainly not so bad ; though, to my mind, all the squibs 
 and crackers and rockets and what-d'ye-call-'ems, 
 produced by gunpowder, together with set concerts, 
 suppers, balls, and nicknackeries, are not worth this 
 
 1 Merivale had lately married.
 
 AN AGREEABLE VISIT. 233 
 
 pinch of snuff. No, sir. It was Saturday, passed 
 on the lawn, with a soft, sick, languid, and amiable 
 headache, charmed away by a late breakfast and 
 vocal music (particularly by hearing myself sing), 1 
 dance on the green, dinner, music, dance again, 
 singing again till two in the morning, and all in a 
 private family party — it was this, continued for 
 three or four days, that did the business, and made 
 me what I am — gloomy, and discontented. Mrs. 
 
 recited several beautiful scraps of poems ; I 
 
 retaliated with your ' Clarissa,' your ' O'er the 
 Smooth Main,' and Hodgson's ' Moderate Wishes.' 
 The sensation was so great, that, drunk as I was 
 with pleasure at hearing my friends applauded, I 
 was on the verge of reciting something of my own 
 and should have done so — but (luckily) I forgot 
 everything, and so was saved the disgrace of being 
 hissed off the stage. The lines of my own which I 
 was near venturing, were the description of the 
 wood, and hags that haunted it, in ' Edwy and 
 Elgiva,' which are the best lines I have written. 
 Very luckily I forgot the second verse, and conse- 
 quently could not begin the first with any propriety. 
 There is a charm, my dear Merry, in that house, 
 which sets a man at ease in a moment. No vul- 
 
 1 All his contemporaries agreed in admiring his singing.
 
 234 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 garity, no quizzing, but the most elegant persons 
 with the most elegant manners — music the most 
 celestial, and, as one cannot get higher than celes- 
 tial, manners the most engaging. Had the whole 
 business of their lives been to please, and they had 
 studied their profession from their births, they 
 could not have succeeded better. And here I must 
 not omit mentioning that flattery is one source of 
 pleasure. None of your stiff, awkward compliments 
 that break the teeth of the speaker, and make the 
 hearer look like a fool ; but kind, good-natured 
 hints of approbation, that encourage people to talk, 
 to amuse and be amused. I really cannot fix my 
 eye upon any five days that have been so varied 
 with all manner of delights. I would change the 
 subject which, however interesting to myself, can 
 have no great share of interest to you, only, as you 
 talked of nothing but yourself (and I like you for 
 
 it), do let me talk of . Then we dined in a 
 
 wood — pretty thought ! — ' our seat the turf, our 
 canopy the sky.' All the oreads, dryads, and naiads 
 were delighted with our music. ' Satyrs and sylvan 
 boys were seen, peeping from out their alleys 
 green.' The evening passed in reading, recitation, 
 music, supping {pro forma — that is to say, as an 
 excuse for assembling round a table, rather than
 
 BLAND ON HOLLAND. 235 
 
 for the sake of gross eating and drinking). After 
 singing and all the etceteras, we went to our repose, 
 each highly satisfied with the day, and with the 
 quota of entertainment that each had contributed. 
 The poet sought his pillow, delighted and perfectly 
 satisfied with his own bad verses ; the rebus, riddle, 
 and conundrum-makers with their subtleties ; the 
 explainers of the same with their acuteness ; the 
 vocal performers with their voices ; the instrumental 
 
 with their fingers ; and, most of all, — by the 
 
 applauses (loud and frequent) which remunerated 
 him for making faces and playing the buffoon. At 
 breakfast this morning, a flash or two, a recitation, 
 and a remark or two, and the charm was to be dis- 
 solved, was to be exchanged for — London. 
 
 Amsterdam : June 6, 18 10. 
 Any other man, my dear Merivale, but myself would 
 have been in England many weeks ago. No pass- 
 port has arrived from Paris, and friends by the 
 dozen are lost in wonder that I should wish to 
 trust myself in the heart of our enemies when I 
 can so easily return to my own country. ... I have 
 a natural antipathy to Trade— to what is trading, 
 has been trading, or shall or will be trading. And 
 so, having said that the country of Batavia —
 
 236 MEMOIR CF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Hollow-land, Holland — is a land very extra- 
 ordinary — that to see a people give birth to their 
 country, instead of a country giving birth to the 
 people, is very odd and very creditable to the above 
 people — that the cities of Amsterdam, Hague, 
 Rotterdam, with many others, are the most this, 
 that, and t'other— that their inhabitants are respect- 
 able fair-dealing men, etc. — most gladly would I 
 bid them adieu for ever, go to some bastardly spot 
 of Provence, and vintage-think at my ease among 
 these modern Babylonians — for such, no doubt, 
 the whole French nation are — look at Faber else, 
 and the Prophecies which are literally fulfilling 
 before our faces. This being the case, as it really 
 is, I shall follow the advice of a French gentleman, 
 who has been my friend in everything, and through 
 whom I have refrained from trusting myself as far 
 as Brussels without my viaticum — by remaining 
 here about ten days longer, in the almost certainty 
 of getting my passport ; or, should it fail, with the 
 resolution to return among you — a resolution not 
 of my dictation, but that of necessity. 
 
 You have often scoffed and jeered and other- 
 wise maltreated me for my love of harmony — 
 witness that celestial poem, the ' Four Slaves 
 which I hold to be pure music ; that is, English
 
 FRENCH AND GERMANS. 
 
 ■37 
 
 music. Well, sir, this unfortunate love, with a 
 predilection for everything sunny and sweet, has 
 prevented me from learning one word of German ; 
 so that, although one half of the superior com- 
 monalty here are Germans, I have not even had 
 the curiosity to go once to their theatre. 
 
 .... The Germans are, doubtless, personally 
 speaking, what the French call fails d peindre. 
 Their regiments are really beautiful, and the young 
 men of that nation, who are to be found every- 
 where, are of an exterior superior to any I have 
 ever seen. They are generally accomplished in 
 some two or three living languages, which they 
 speak equally well with the natives. They are all 
 musicians — they ride with a grace and agility 
 which surprises— they are travellers — liberal in the 
 highest degree ; but are cursed with a jargon 
 which, when they speak it, does away with all their 
 excellencies. They are extremely loquacious and 
 lively. How comes it that the French, who lite- 
 rally take no pains with themselves, are so com- 
 pletely their superiors ? Sense, my friend ; plain, 
 natural, common understanding, unfettered by 
 schools and metaphysical jargon, and the balder- 
 dash of Gottingen and other places, where such 
 severe trials are made on weak human brains. The
 
 238 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 next superiority is that honest and lively prepossession 
 for their country which the former are too liberal 
 to entertain. A German with whom I am here 
 very intimate has been coaxing me to learn the 
 language, under the promise of surprisingly beau- 
 tiful thoughts in their poetry. May be so ; they 
 resemble a surprisingly beautiful female clad in 
 bear-skin. Besides having made a vow to read 
 nothing but v/hat is new, I have, in consequence, 
 determined to read no poetry but my own. Now 
 this is but natural ; and then, to say the truth, I 
 hate poetry (always excepting my own) to such a 
 point that I shall manage to take a course of 
 French literature without the nausea of Corneille 
 and Racine. No : little Historical pieces, with which 
 they abound ; Memoirs, in which they excel all 
 other nations for two reasons : first, because the 
 life of a French child is more chequered with 
 oddities than that of an English adventurer ; and 
 secondly, because what is wanted to make Truth 
 interesting is supplied to the life from a quarter 
 opposite to Truth. These reasons, I say, make 
 their biography delicious. 
 
 Do not talk about translations for the stage. 
 I write no more, except in my own calling as a 
 clergyman ; and, when I return, my whole aim will
 
 WORLDLY WISDOM. 239 
 
 be to gain something like an establishment in the 
 Church. My appointment here has done for me 
 great and unexpected things. The sinecure of 
 £100 per annum, Merivale, is great for a Bland, or 
 the son of a Bland. Besides, I have once been 
 taken by the hand by Mr. Henry Hope, and led 
 by him to a Bishop. Now had I taken Mr. H. H., 
 or the said Bishop, by the hand and done him 
 some service, I should have nothing to expect from 
 them, because, as Sterne says, we get on in the 
 world by receiving, not by doing, favours. You 
 plant a tree, and, because you planted it, you 
 water it. Thus, you see, I live in the frequent 
 hope of being watered by a Bishop and by the 
 greatest merchant in the world. In short, I shall 
 state to the Bishop that a chapel in London (the 
 word ' chapel ' read in any sense you will) would be 
 highly acceptable ; that I am utterly disengaged ; 
 that I have all the wills in the world, and can get a 
 character from my last place. Thus, between 
 ourselves, Merry, I shall not be again the outcast 
 that I have been. No ; no more writing. Our 
 'Anthology,' our dear 'Anthology,' shall receive 
 our united efforts. If you apply to William 
 Harness (Berkeley Street) you may get dozens of 
 my new pieces ; Yatman has one or two ; Mrs.
 
 24O MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Burnley has a great number ; my sister a few ; 
 Denman (to whom I wrote two months ago a very 
 long letter) a few ; Dr. Drury (to whom I wrote 
 an almost endless letter) has one or two. Have 
 you read my ' Origin of Snoring ' ? No, no more 
 reviewing for me, my friend. In short, no more 
 scribbling of any kind except in the way of a 
 clergyman, and conjointly with you a finish to the 
 ' Anthology,' and by myself a thorough revisal of 
 my last romance, and the lopping the buffooneries 
 as much as possible, expunging harsh words, and 
 substituting softer sounds, cutting off the accursed 
 s from every word when it is possible without 
 great damage to the sense ; nay, getting rid of it at 
 all events, and writing a long and learned preface 
 on tale-writing. No; on no consideration will I 
 write or translate. The drama is detestable, and, 
 after the French company, I shall despise our 
 stage more and more. No, they can do nothing. 
 The French are born actors. Who said that 
 Farce is unknown to the French ? I beg leave to 
 state that from genteel comedy (which, with us, 
 meant that jackdaw, old Palmer, by way of gentle- 
 man, and that rushlight, Miss Farren, by way of a 
 lady), that from genteel comedy in all its shades 
 to the broadest farce, I can institute not a moment's
 
 FRENCH AND ENGLISH ACTING. 24 1 
 
 comparison between the best of our actors and the 
 second best of theirs. Name me one single 
 woman who enjoys the combined advantages of 
 youth, beauty, exact proportions, grace, a sweet 
 voice, various expression, naivete, and aptness of 
 falling into her several characters, on the whole 
 English stage. Name me one single man (except 
 Dowton) who can make you laugh without an 
 effort either at grimacing with his voice or his face. 
 What was that pompous, strutting, motherly 
 woman, Mrs. Siddons, out of Lady Macbeth ? Was 
 she not always Lady Macbeth ? Mrs. Jordan was 
 a model of English elocution. Barring her singing 
 (which, to my ear, was execrable), the organs of 
 her voice were formerly the purest I ever heard, 
 and, were she now young, I should consider her 
 as the perfection of English utterance. Her act- 
 ing should be my school so far as regarded sound. 
 But, then, how totally deficient in grace, in all 
 sovereign grace ! True, she acted the country- 
 girl — and so does Mdlle. d'Angeville at this place. 
 Mercy ! what a difference between the Hoyden 
 rusticity of the one and the Air de Paysanne of 
 the other ! In everything the stage should present 
 ornament. A drunken man may stagger, but 
 grace should accompany him, even to the last 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 extremity. The rags of a beggar should not be 
 revolting. A deshabille — an everything — should 
 be raised in its value, and is raised by the French 
 to consequence by a certain style and tournure, of 
 which our actors and their chubby dumplings of 
 spouses are wholly unconscious. The French 
 possess another advantage — in face. Persons who 
 accidentally see a poor set of old abbes living in 
 contempt and exile in the alleys of London, fancy 
 them to be representatives of the French. You 
 have, in London, no conception of youth, when 
 attached to the word ' French.' On the Continent 
 they are now in high feather — well-dressed, with 
 good linen, and respected in every place. The 
 impressions here are, therefore, diametrically 
 opposite to those in London. Their face and figure 
 are completely theatrical, and adapt themselves 
 with ease to their several parts. 
 
 The next letter is written from London, after his 
 return, in the language of the country to which 
 he was so devotedly attached, and through which 
 he had recently been making so perilous a tour. 
 It contains some witty references to a recent 
 review of his own writings, and those of Hodgson 
 and Merivale, the latter of whom had just published
 
 TOWN AND COUNTRY. 243 
 
 a third canto in continuation of Beattie's 'Minstrel.' 1 
 The review considered that Merivale had improved 
 upon Beattie, and expressed a warm appreciation of 
 Hodgson's powers as a poet. The remaining ex- 
 tracts, which are from letters written at Kenilworth 
 between the years 18 16 and 1820, contain the writer's 
 sentiments on country life in general and his own in 
 particular, together with fragmentary references to 
 literary subjects of mutual interest. 
 
 Here (he writes) we have a famous garden, shady 
 lanes and walks in all their intricacies, and abound- 
 ing in little surprises of views, a very fair (it is even 
 reckoned capital) neighbourhood, i.e. in a circle 
 whose radius is five miles. Castles entire and in 
 ruins, good modern dwellings, fertility, Dr. Parr, 
 Denman's fame in all its odour at the Warwick 
 Assizes, Leamington the salubrious, Coventry the 
 manufacturing, disgusting, dishonest, Warwick the 
 gallant, etc., etc., etc. All which being the case, 
 I will come and settle myself in Baker Street, 
 Portman Square, with the first puff of wind that 
 blows me £15,000. And yet, for country, this is 
 really very good. Its only harm, or rather vice, is 
 that it is country. 
 
 1 Longmans, 1808. 
 R 2
 
 244 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 I have seldom left a house with such regret as 
 I did yours. At the mercy of respectable country 
 society whenever I sally from my own home (which 
 is rarely, and against my wish), I leave it to you to 
 judge how new, how surprising, how entertaining, 
 improving, nay, how impossible the resources seem 
 to me of a London party ; the anecdote, wit, good 
 taste, right feeling, politeness, good faith, confidence, 
 that form the elements of London societies, and, to 
 complete the panegyric, the total absence of all re- 
 spectability, are really my astonishment. I touched, 
 and only touched, on your coming to see me. I 
 have no prospect of any other mode of meeting. 
 Stay. Kenilworth, and indeed the tract from 
 Coventry to the Vale of Evesham, is so pretty that 
 it just touches on the beautiful without attaining 
 it. My house — would it were mine ! — is, with its 
 present improvements, a very comfortable and con- 
 venient sort of mansion. Add to this, I have been 
 gradually amassing from five to six hundred 
 volumes, my only, and my absolutely necessary 
 expense. I have much delight in contemplating 
 my shelves, and the utility of them I daily feel. 
 The walks around are good enough, the people 
 exorbitantly rich and poor to the most degrading 
 excess. Among the former, several good-doing
 
 TOWN AND COUNTRY. 245 
 
 busy-bodies, the heroes of vestries, givers of Bibles, 
 occasionally of soup, and tolerable be-praisers of 
 their own munificence. Among the latter, that 
 complete adscriptio glebce, that utter dependence 
 and want of all pride and possession, which are 
 totally incompatible with moral feeling. The great 
 say : ' Give them Bibles, and more Bibles.' I say : 
 ' Give each man the absolute proprietorship of his 
 home, and a couple of acres of land, and his pride 
 and its concomitant virtues will return.' In short, 
 will you come and see me at Easter ? 
 
 Ever and sincerely yours, 
 
 R. Bland. 
 
 Kenilworth : April 2, 1819. 
 . . . . The danger of our situation is in the necessity 
 of keeping a good house and equipment at all 
 times, and of living, when finances are low, in one 
 equable train, and with a household mounted to 
 correspond with far larger receipts. As for the 
 occupation itself — Me ego quern nosti — with all my 
 inequalities, have managed to forge as few dis- 
 agreeables to myself as any, the most cautious. 
 The uncertainty of a sequence of cleves is our 
 bitterest anxiety. If a man must live in the 
 country with a London soul, why he might even as
 
 246 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 well sit at home and talk of the darknesses of 
 Greek, as do anything else. But of country-people 
 — the very poor — I do say, ' My soul, turn from 
 them ! ' 
 
 By the way, has Lord Byron published since 
 ' Beppo ' ? Do desire the Murray, if you see him, 
 to send me his next work on its first coming out. 
 Thank you for talking of ' the ten,' and of maga- 
 zines and other puerilities, but non eadem est cetas, 
 non mens. I have said my say to my uttermost 
 idea, and lo ! it is as if it were unsaid. I have so all- 
 to-be-Greeked myself, that I am yet more stupid 
 than of old — an inconvenience somehow attached 
 to the study of the finest language in the world, and 
 from which none, without exception, who know 
 anything about it, can possibly escape. ... I was 
 egregiously mistaken in believing that I could 
 lounge about London and Harrow, in the absence 
 of my wife and family. The truth is, persons 
 whose existence are so monotonous, and arduous, 
 and so dreadfully precarious as ours, should not 
 separate. I felt this last year — I felt it again this 
 — but, somehow, forgot to put it into the form 
 of a new observation. Here then, ' what oft was 
 thought ' is at length expressed for the benefit of 
 the Universe. In a word, I will never leave home
 
 MERIVALE'S ' RICHARDETTO.' 247 
 
 'to go a pleasuring/ as the servants say, without 
 my wife, until I get so rich that these sicknesses of 
 the soul shall have subsided. 
 
 In 1820, Merivale published a burlesque entitled 
 ' Richardetto,' 1 and suggested by Hookham Frere's 
 whimsical production 'Whistlecraft.' Of this poetical 
 trifle Hodgson writes with appreciative warmth. 
 
 ' Richardetto ' I have received and read ; laughed 
 with and wondered at ; sighed over, and laid down 
 with mingled pleasure and vexation. This is the 
 exact truth, but I shall not at present venture to 
 interpret it. In this age of minute criticism, all 
 the little natural touches (as they are called) cannot 
 fail to be observed and extolled. Seriously, I 
 think you much funnier than Whistlecraft. Bland 
 is equally eulogistic. 
 
 Kenilworth : May 20, 1820. 
 
 My very dear Merivale, — Call me ' ungrateful, repro- 
 bate, degraded, spiritless outcast,' but never say I 
 am forgetful — for the fact is, I have done, and still 
 do, all in my power not to write to you or any one ; 
 and now, if I could be certain of sleeping if I left 
 
 1 From an original poem of Nicolo Fortiguerra.
 
 248 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 off, I would not add a word more. My opinion of 
 the state of things is this : you — et vos semblables, 
 if, per hasardy there exists a semblance in the 
 world — have too firmly convinced yourselves of the 
 excellence of Will Whistlecraft's performance, 
 which has a strong smack of that Italian cask, 
 always so palatable and pleasurable to yourself. 
 That is, you are a man of good present and future 
 fortunes. /, on the contrary, have much less than 
 no fortune at present, and see a further remove 
 from her favours in futurity. You are immersed 
 in the world, its gaieties, varieties, conversations, 
 contradictions, and acquaintances ; whereas, / never 
 clash with, or meet, any world at all, except myself 
 at toilette, and even that fascination begins to tire. 
 Again, Nature may have possibly instilled into 
 
 your . No, no ; that she has not, nor into any 
 
 one's veins, more milk of gentleness than into 
 mine. And so we will even keep to the difference 
 of fortunes, mixing in the world, admiration (even 
 to gloating) of Italian, and strong prepossession 
 for Will Whistlecraft ; and these said circumstances 
 and feelings procreated, and otherwise engen- 
 dered, a better thing than Will's — most probably a 
 better thing than Fortiguerra's — but not so good a 
 thing as your own brains had reel'd, spun, and
 
 DEATH OF ROBERT BLAND. 249 
 
 woven, had your own brains really been consulted ; 
 the language plain, easy, and of most accessible 
 construction — the stanza playful, and done evi- 
 dently while you were whistling — in a word, facile 
 to excess. Much fun ; but I vow you could, with- 
 out a particle more pains, do a better thing. I 
 mean you might invent a more amusing story ; and 
 then all would be as it should be. Have I wounded 
 my brother ? Say no ; for Heaven knows I have 
 so few brothers in this world, that to me it is 
 all a wilderness — even to this late day of my 
 existence. 
 
 A few months before poor Bland's death, Hodgson 
 wrote to Merivale about him with characteristic ten- 
 derness. 
 
 His weakness is extreme, and a return of his attack 
 would too probably be fatal. Who can guarantee 
 him against it while his mind is the prey and 
 sport of the most unhappy feelings ? Would to 
 Heaven we could, any or all of us, devise some 
 scheme to aid his retreating to a softer and more 
 congenial air, with any prospect of employment 
 and support ! 
 
 The kind intention was too late to be of use, but
 
 25O MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 a fund was raised for the bereaved family, by con- 
 tributing to which (some of them far beyond their 
 means) his friends paid a touching tribute to his 
 talents and to the kindly gentleness of his impulsive 
 nature.
 
 251 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE WITH DRURY AND MERIVALE — 
 A RUGBY EXAMINATION — ASSASSINATION OF 
 PERCEVAL — DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, CHANCELLOR 
 OF CAMBRIDGE — LETTER FROM LONSDALE — 
 'LEAVES OF LAUREL.' 
 
 1812-13. 
 
 The digression in the last chapter seemed to be 
 justified, if not demanded, by the intimacy which 
 long existed between Bland and Hodgson, and by 
 the similarity of their literary tastes. It is now time 
 to resume the thread of correspondence with other 
 friends. The first of the following letters quaintly 
 describes the exhibition of the predecessor of the 
 great Madame Tussaud ; the next (in verse), vividly 
 depicts a public school examination at the com- 
 mencement of the present century ; the third has 
 reference to a matter of national interest, the assas- 
 sination of the Prime Minister in the House of 
 Commons.
 
 252 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 To Mr. Henry Drury. 
 
 My dear Harry, — You have doubtless greatly enjoyed 
 your Devonshire visit, notwithstanding your seclu- 
 sion and most natural dislike to reviewing. I feel 
 the latter dislike as much as you can, but, as to 
 retirement, I confess a few friends and a cottage 
 would be my summum bonum, could I command 
 such blessings in the environs of London. It is not 
 solitude, but knowing that you cannot have society, 
 which is unpleasant. I will deliver your message 
 about a Fen Scheme to Hart when I return to 
 King's. Lonsdale is there at present, in very ill- 
 health. ... I write this from London, where I 
 have come to meet my sister ' from Kensington. 
 I have been rambling about with her all the 
 morning to see sights. Miss Linwood's worsted 
 pictures, in which I think she has worsted all our 
 painters, if you canvass her merits ever so severely. 
 Bullock's Museum, a farrago of birds, beasts, 
 snakes, shells, and butterflies ; and Mrs. Salmon's 
 original and royal waxworks, where, in addition to 
 the old curiosities (which I have not seen these 
 twenty years, but well remember) there is the 
 
 1 Afterwards married to her cousin the Rev. Geo. Coke, of Lemore, 
 in Herefordshire.
 
 MRS. SALMON'S WAXWORKS. 253 
 
 Duchess of Brunswick, lying in state in a room 
 lighted with wax tapers, with two waxen bishops 
 at her head, a waxen Princess of Wales weeping 
 over her, a wax waiting-woman, and a wax emblem 
 of Peace, strewing flowers at her feet. Two wax 
 mutes stand at the door of the chamber. Perhaps 
 you have forgotten the room upstairs. Werter and 
 Charlotte and the pistol were being cleaned ; so was 
 Buonaparte, and the lady who bled to death from 
 pricking her finger while working on a Sunday ; 
 these interesting groups, therefore, were lost to us. 
 But we saw Alexander, and the Queen of Darius 
 and her waiting-maid, and the nurse on her knees 
 begging the life of the prince, a fine chubby child, 
 beside her ; Alexander looks about sixty years of 
 age, but perhaps he has grown old apace since I 
 last saw him ; and Antony and Cleopatra certainly 
 have lost some of their youthful charms. But 
 Mrs. Siddons's sister still begs as piteously as in 
 life ; and Mother Shipton (saving her leg, which is 
 out of joint, and has ceased kicking) is as attractive 
 as ever. Henderson in Macbeth must have been 
 very grand. I took him at first for the beefeater 
 that used to stand at the door. But, as Mr. Puff 
 has it, ' I would not have you too sure he is a 
 beefeater.' The lady abbess and her nuns, who
 
 2 54 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 slit their noses and lips to disgust the marauding 
 Danes, and so preserve their virgin vows, are in 
 full perfection, only I observed that neither their 
 noses nor lips were slit ; and the Lady Margaret of 
 Holland is lying in bed as usual, just having 
 produced her 365th child, according to the prayer 
 of the beggar-woman whom her ladyship offended. 
 The nun, the priest, the waiting-woman, all wax 
 sorrowful at her side. But perhaps you will say I 
 am cerens in vitium, and so farewell for the present, 
 and 
 
 Believe me, my dear Harry, 
 
 Ever yours affectionately, 
 
 Francis Hodgson. 
 
 To Mrs. Coke. 
 
 To Rugby, dear aunt, I set out to go down, 
 
 At five on the evening of Friday from Town ; 
 
 From the Swan-with-two-Necks in Lad Lane I set out, 
 
 And a numerous party within and without. 
 
 I roof'd it myself, and it rain'd very hard, 
 
 But I laugh'd through the night at the jokes of the guard. 
 
 On my life, of all wits the completest and best 
 
 Is the guard of that coach for original jest; 
 
 For free illustration of easy remark, 
 
 And all that enlivens a drive in the dark. 
 
 By six in the morning to Dunchurch we came, 
 
 To the sign of ' The Cow ' with the terrible name ;
 
 'GREAT CRY AND LITTLE WOOLL.' 255 
 
 Here I hasten'd to bed, and slept soundly till four, 
 
 Seven hours of good rest, or perchance somewhat more. 
 
 Like the lark, or the nightingale rather, I rose, 
 
 And put on my best suit of examining clothes. 
 
 In my chariot and pair to the Doctor's I rode, 
 
 And was kindly received at his courteous abode. 
 
 That my story's detail may be thoroughly full, 
 
 I must tell you the name of the Doctor is Wooll. 1 
 
 Mrs. Wooll and her sister, the Doctor and I, — 
 
 But to business of greater importance I fly. 
 
 Our sermon on Sunday from good Mr. Heath 
 
 Might have come from the lips of the Bishop of Meath ; 
 
 But I thought it a custom exceedingly queer 
 
 That the boys in the church should cry out ' We are here.' 
 
 For the muster-roll's called, and I fancied, for one, 
 
 That it better had anywhere else have been done. 
 
 And the organ, though rightly to fiddles preferr'd, 
 
 Was the loudest and harshest I ever had heard. 
 
 But this I pass over— for, eager to praise, 
 
 I banish all satire and spleen from my lays. 
 
 Doctor Wooll and myself were in close tete-a-tete 
 
 How the Oxford Examiner could be so late, 
 
 When he came in his gig, just in time to prevent 
 
 My taking both places with perfect content. 
 
 On Monday at nine our proceedings began 
 
 (Mr. H., like myself, is a grave sort of man), 
 
 1 Dr. Wooll, a pedagogue of diminutive stature and pompous pre- 
 sence, was once showing an old gentleman over the school buildings, 
 when he came upon the room where his pupils underwent the extreme 
 penalty of the law. 'This,' exclaimed the doctor with great magni- 
 ficence, 'is my flogging-room.' 'Oh,' replied the irreverent senior, 
 ' then I suppose that here there must be great cry and little Wooll.'
 
 256 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 And till four the poor boys, with but small intermission, 
 
 Were compell'd to write verses with speed and precision. 
 
 On Tuesday again all the morning we sate, 
 
 Trustees and examiners deep in debate ; 
 
 The latter in gowns, like inquisitors drest, 
 
 In boots and in riding apparel the rest. 
 
 The boys answerd well every question we put, 
 
 Till their books and our own with like pleasure were shut. 
 
 Then we feasted on venison and capital fare, 
 
 Lord Ailsford, our president, sate in the chair, 
 
 And many of equal distinction were there. 
 
 Sir Theophilus Biddulph, and Skipwith Sir Grey, 
 
 (Lord Craven, for some proper cause, kept away), 
 
 Lord Wentworth, Grimes, Digby, and Holbeach, Esquires, 
 
 The last, Mr. Trevor's old friend, and my sire's ; 
 
 Dr. Berkeley, and others — a company staunch 
 
 As ever sate down to a pasty and haunch. 
 
 For myself I was glad that our business was done, 
 
 And some moments allowed to good humour and fun ; 
 
 But still better pleased, that the boys, by their knowledge, 
 
 Had three of them gained exhibitions at college ; 
 
 And beginning their race with some marks of renown, 
 
 Might perchance to the goal with like honour go down. 
 
 From Mr. Merivale. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — Thank you for being the first to 
 break the inhuman silence of which you so justly 
 complain. Ever since you wrote, I have been very 
 uncomfortable at home in consequence of another 
 illness of my wife. With this, and a good deal of
 
 ASSASSINATION OF PERCEVAL. 257 
 
 business at chambers, I have had as little time as 
 spirits to write, though, on Tuesday, I should 
 certainly have done so, in order to communicate 
 the bloody business l of the preceding evening, if I 
 had not been interrupted by Ben Drury's arrival, 
 and gone down with him to the House of Com- 
 mons, where we were both highly gratified by the 
 conduct of the whole House on this unexampled 
 occasion. Whitbread did himself immortal honour 
 by his manly and generous speech. Ponsonby's 
 totally unaffected feelings so overcame him as 
 greatly to interrupt and cut short his rhetoric ; but 
 the effect was, of course, so much the more impres- 
 sive. Even Lord Castlereagh, aye, the Castlereagh 
 of Walcheren, the Castlereagh of Ireland, I adored 
 at the moment. Canning was the only man that 
 spoke who had sufficient command of himself to 
 attempt turning a sentence prettily; and his speech, 
 accordingly, was very pretty indeed. As for 
 Burdett, poor miserable creature as he is, his 
 silence now has, I think, sunk him lower than his 
 noise heretofore, Suppose for a moment that Pitt 
 had been assassinated like Perceval, and that the 
 savage mob had mingled the cry of ' Fox for ever ' 
 
 1 The assassination of Perceval, then Prime Minister, by Belling- 
 ham, within the walls of the House. 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 with their brutal exultations, would he not have 
 made all Westminster ring — 
 
 and more, 
 From Tothill Fields to Lambeth's Surrey shore, 
 
 with the vehemence of his generous execrations of 
 the deed ? As for his pitiful successor, he is too 
 mean-spirited for a decided villain ; and accordingly 
 I do not believe that he exulted, like his own 
 miserable electors, in the deed. But that he did 
 not rush forward at the instant to disavow it and 
 declare his abhorrence of the wretches who could 
 use his name on such an occasion, and his deep 
 sorrow that in the discharge of his public duty he 
 should ever have used expressions capable of such 
 inflammatory interpretation, such horrible mis- 
 construction ; this, I think, is enough to rank him 
 with Philippe Egalite himself. 
 
 And now that we are able to take breath, and 
 ask ourselves, what will be the probable result of 
 this ' knavish piece of work,' I am greatly afraid, 
 for my own part, that there is little room for hope 
 of ultimate good. ' The Church was cemented by 
 the blood of its martyrs,' and, unfortunately, 
 whether a cause is good or bad, these violent acts 
 of revenge and desperation against its supporters
 
 POLITICAL RESULTS OF PERCEVAL S DEATH. 259 
 
 are, I believe, uniformly found rather to benefit 
 than to injure it. If I am not mistaken, the 
 universal feeling of pity and horror for the deed, 
 and of apprehension for its consequences, will 
 strengthen the hands of the present Government, 
 notwithstanding the loss of its chief, even more 
 than the most rigorous exertions of Perceval, when 
 alive, could have done it. I anticipate no speedy 
 change, either of men or measures, as its conse- 
 quence ; and, if there is none, what have we to do 
 but deplore, without any mixture of hope or satis- 
 faction, the loss of a man, who, however erroneous 
 his principles, was a man of business, of firmness, 
 and integrity, far superior to any of those with 
 whom he was associated in power ? 
 
 I have not a moment's time to write any 
 further. You have heard of the birth of Drury's 
 son. When do you leave Cambridge ? I wish to 
 my soul that we could meet. Write directly if you 
 can furnish me with any plan of your operations. 
 Yours ever affectionately, 
 
 J. H. Merivale. 
 
 In the election of the Duke of Gloucester in 181 1 
 to the Chancellorship of the University of Cambridge 
 Hodgson took an active part, as is proved by two 
 
 S 2
 
 26o MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 letters — one from that Edward Dwyer, upon whom 
 Byron elsewhere begs Drury to execute summary 
 punishment ' for frightening his horses with his flame- 
 coloured whiskers,' the other from the Duke's private 
 secretary. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — Ten thousand thanks for your 
 very kind letter, which I have transmitted to the 
 Duke, who, I am sure, will consider himself under 
 no small obligation, not only for the very hand- 
 some manner in which you support him, but also 
 for the valuable intelligence of the state of parties 
 which it conveys. I officiate to-morrow at Lincoln's 
 Inn, both morning and evening, but intend, if I 
 have time, to see the Duke, and the moment I 
 have anything to communicate I shall transmit it 
 to you, whom we may regard as one of our main 
 pillars. I saw our friend Drury on Thursday, and 
 am chagrined to find that the report of his prefer- 
 ment is without foundation. 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 Edward Dwyer. 
 
 Sir, — I am honoured with the commands of His 
 Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester to return 
 to you his best thanks, with an assurance His
 
 ELECTION TO THE CHANCELLORSHIP. 26 1 
 
 Royal Highness entertains of your attention to 
 him in the election to the Chancellorship. 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 Your very obedient and humble servant, 
 
 Edmund Currey. 
 
 The interest which Hodgson took in this election, 
 like all other subjects which interested him, found an 
 utterance in verses. In an irregular ode for the 
 installation of the Duke of Gloucester, a sketch is 
 given of all the most illustrious Cambridge students 
 who had passed the lamp of genius on from one 
 generation to another. 
 
 The youthful characteristics of a future Bishop of 
 Lichfield of such eminence as Lonsdale, and his views 
 on various subjects, are pro tanto instructive. 
 
 Harrow: March 12. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — Requested or rather commanded 
 by the great, I write to request your ' vote and 
 interest ' for the Duke of Rutland and Lord Pal- 
 merston. The latter I conceive you will oppose 
 from principle. .... Lonsdale has just left me : 
 he is a most excellent, clever, and affable fellow. 
 I am highly delighted with him. You will see him
 
 262 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 at Cambridge in a day or two ; when, I hope, he 
 will be able to arrange something with you touch- 
 ing the Easter holidays. My plans are not yet 
 made up ; but my wavering is in consequence of 
 your delay in settling. Lonsdale is my agent to 
 treat with you : he and I will meet you anywhere. 
 In haste. 
 
 Most truly yours, 
 
 H. Drury. 
 
 Dear Hodgson, — I must allow the justice of the com- 
 plaints of your third letter against me for not 
 having sooner thanked you for the pleasure which 
 I received from your two first, poetical as they 
 were ; and for so long omitting to acknowledge the 
 receipt of the enclosed unpoetical scraps of paper, 
 which by reunion to one another have been some- 
 time restored to that consequence in the world of 
 which their separation deprived them. But I hope 
 that you will not suffer your anger to proceed so 
 far against me as to forbid your muse to address 
 any more of her effusions to me : still less am I 
 disposed to think that, when you say that you 
 ' must not sing again at all,' your declaration is any 
 other than merely poetical.
 
 LINES FROM LONSDALE. 263 
 
 Oh, never check thy flowing strain, 
 Nor say, ' I must not sing again.' 
 Whate'er the tenour of thy lay, 
 Serenely sad, or wildly gay ; 
 Whether 'tis Love that wakes to fire 
 The slumb'ring raptures of thy lyre ; 
 Or Reason bids the moral song 
 In sober cadence roll along ; 
 Believe me, still to Friendship's ear 
 Thy strain is sweet, thy muse is dear. 
 Oh ! better far one verse of thine, 
 One artless bold, impassion'd line, 
 Than all the frigid rant, that e'er 
 Fitzgerald bawls or Tories hear, 
 What time to Bigotry's blest pow'r 
 They dedicate the festal hour 
 And raise their heads in triumph high 
 O'er baffled Liberality ; 
 Who weeps the while at Fox's tomb, 
 And thinks on happier days to come. 
 
 You see how I, albeit unused to the rhyming 
 mood, have been infected by the contagion of your 
 example. But ' ohe jam satis est ' — ' neque enim 
 concludere versum Dixeris esse satis.' — You ask me 
 what I am doing here. Truth compels me to answer 
 next to nothing ; for the fact is that I find that 
 unless I am actually tied down to some employ- 
 ment it is impossible to prefer dry reading to social 
 pleasure. When I return to town after the summer,
 
 264 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 if I do return, I am determined to go immediately 
 to a special pleader, by which I shall be put into a 
 train of doing something, and fall into the habit of 
 business, if anything can counteract the effects of 
 the desultory manner in which everything is done 
 at Eton and King's. Since we parted I have been 
 present at some Harrow speeches, which are far 
 superior to those at Eton, even if the entertainment 
 after them be not considered. I have also been 
 spending a day or two with B. Drury at Eton, who 
 brought me back in his curricle by way of Rich- 
 mond on Saturday. The day was fine, and con- 
 sequently I cannot say how beautiful I thought that 
 place. Eton looks all lovely, always excepting 
 Carter's chamber, which is more beastly than 
 ever. 
 
 Believe me, dear Hodgson, very sincerely yours, 
 
 Jno. Lonsdale. 
 
 In the spring of this year, the Laureateship having 
 fallen vacant by the death of poet Pye, Hodgson pub- 
 lished a series of imitations of living poets, in the 
 style of the 'Rejected Addresses' which had appeared 
 in the previous autumn. They are entitled ' Leaves of 
 Laurel,' or ' New Probationary Odes for the vacant 
 Laureateship,' and are prefaced by the Miltonian
 
 'LEAVES OF LAUREL.' 265 
 
 motto, ' Yet once more, oh ye laurels,' &c. The judge 
 of the rival performances is supposed to be the cele- 
 brated clown Grimaldi, whose successive criticisms 
 are singularly appropriate. Campbell and Rogers 
 commence the competition, and the ' Pleasures of Hope ' 
 are aptly contrasted with the ' Pleasures of Memory.' 
 By a sudden transition Scott supplants the rivals, and 
 full justice is done to the extreme beauty of his de- 
 scriptive powers, while the rapidity of his execution is 
 very cleverly parodied. Byron follows, and in a 
 mournful monologue bewails the nothingness of all 
 earthly existence, where ' dust is all in all, and all in 
 all is dust' His inordinate fondness for that poetical 
 device which he used himself to term ' alliteration's 
 apt and artful aid,' and his habit of introducing obso- 
 lete words and phrases, were often the subjects of good- 
 humoured banter among his friends, and are here 
 amusingly ridiculed. Moore continues the contest 
 with an eulogy of Dryden in the metre of ' Love's 
 Young Dream,' and is followed by Crabbe, whom the 
 judge pronounces to be Nature itself, and by Words- 
 worth, whose simplicity is declared to exceed even 
 that of Nature. After the introduction of several 
 minor poets, the Resurrection Tragedy by Coleridge, 
 and Southey's 'Blessings of a Sinecure' conclude the 
 series
 
 266 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 The ' Leaves of Laurel ' were much discussed and 
 admired in literary society at the time of their public- 
 ation, and, as in the case of the ' Rejected Addresses,' 
 the poets whose style they imitated were not the last 
 to appreciate their spirit and humour.
 
 26- 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 INTENDED MARRIAGE — BYRON'S GENEROSITY — 
 LETTERS FROM BYRON, ROGERS, PRINCE LUC1EN 
 BUONAPARTE, MRS. LEIGH, AND MISS MILBANKE. 
 
 1813-14. 
 
 In this and the following year (1813-14) Hodgson 
 spent the greater part of his Cambridge vacations in 
 London, where he was pretty constantly in the com- 
 pany of Lord Byron, and was cordially admitted into 
 that brilliant society, of which those who had oppor- 
 tunities of contemporary observation have declared 
 that it has never been surpassed. Holland House 
 opened its hospitable doors to him, and he was 
 brought into close contact with many of those 
 stars of the literary firmament whose brightness 
 shed undying lustre upon the age in which they 
 shone. 
 
 There is unfortunately no detailed record of this 
 most interesting period of his life ; but the ensuing 
 letters testify sufficiently to the high estimation in
 
 268 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 which his character and talents were held by two at 
 least of his associates, whose praise was fame. 
 
 It was most unfortunate that at this very time 
 those pecuniary embarrassments, to which allusion 
 has previously been made, were pressing most heavily 
 upon him — embarrassments from which he was sud- 
 denly relieved in a manner equally unsolicited and 
 unexpected. It was in the autumn of the first of 
 these years that Byron gave proof of the depth of his 
 regard for his friend, no less than of the natural 
 nobility of his disposition, by his generous gift of 
 1,000/. Hodgson had become attached to a Miss 
 Tayler, a young lady of great beauty and refinement, 
 whose sister was married to his old friend and school- 
 fellow, Hemy Drury. The mother refused her con- 
 sent to the marriage unless all previous liabilities 
 were completely cleared. Byron at once offered to 
 discharge his friend's debts — an offer which Hodgson, 
 after repeated refusals, ultimately accepted, although 
 he resolved to consider the assistance as merely tem- 
 porary, as a loan rather than a gift. 
 
 In a letter to his uncle, the Rev. Francis Coke, 
 written in November of this year, Hodgson thus com- 
 ments upon this signal instance of true friendship : — 
 
 My noble-hearted friend Lord Byron, after many
 
 byron's generosity. 269 
 
 offers of a similar kind, which I felt bound to re- 
 fuse, has irresistibly in my present circumstances 
 (as I will soon explain to you) volunteered to pay 
 all my debts, and within a few pounds it is done ! 
 Oh, if you knew (but you do know) the exaltation 
 of heart, aye and of head too, I feel, at being free 
 from these depressing embarrassments, you would, 
 as I do, bless my dearest friend and brother Byron. 
 And what has made me now accept what I have 
 before frequently declined ? 
 
 Then he goes on to declare his engagement, to 
 which reference has been made above. The friends 
 went together in Lord Byron's carriage to Hammers- 
 ley's in Pall Mall, where the money was transferred 
 from one account to the other. ' On our way back 
 to his lodgings ' (in Bennet Street), Hodgson writes, 
 ' I expressed as well as I could (and it was not very 
 easy), my overwhelming gratitude ; and he replied, 
 with the strongest marks of feeling, and disinclination 
 to hear the thing mentioned, " Don't speak of it, I 
 always intended to do it." ' He seems only to have 
 waited for the opportunity when the gift would be of 
 greatest service. Nothing can exceed the delicacy of 
 feeling, the tender consideration displayed by Byron 
 on this occasion. But, notwithstanding the repeated
 
 \s 
 
 270 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 assurances of the donor, the sense of obligation ap- 
 pears to have continued to weigh heavily upon the 
 recipient for many months, during which he more than 
 once offered bonds and promissory notes bearing 
 interest, all of which Byron resolutely refused, with 
 such words as these : ' What is the use of a bond ? I 
 should only destroy or cancel it, or leave you the 
 same by will.' 
 
 Some years afterwards Bland wrote on this 
 subject : — 
 
 I remember distinctly, and as if it were yesterday, 
 sitting with Byron one day, at his lodgings in the 
 street going into St. James's Street, when, in one 
 of his lighter moods, he was talking you over. 
 Among other pleasantries he spoke with great glee 
 upon the idea of your ever refunding ; with some 
 tenderness on his ever re-accepting what he had 
 given ; and then glee again upon your having put 
 or thrust or shoved (for this was his style) a paper 
 into his hands which he destroyed, saying : ' As if I 
 ought to have given it him on such terms, as if I 
 would ever listen to such nonsense, as if anyone 
 knowing Hodgson's finances could dream of such a 
 thing.' 
 
 At the end of November 1813, it became known
 
 DELICACY OF FEELING. 27 1 
 
 to Byron that Hodgson, in the fulness of his gratitude, 
 had mentioned the present to mutual friends ; and on 
 December 1, Byron writes, apologising for the fact 
 of his assistance being known to a person whom he 
 mentions, or to anyone save Drury and Hodgson 
 himself, who, he is sure, ' cannot be more hurt at it 
 than he is himself;' and adds : ' If you ever considered 
 it in the least an obligation, this must give you a full 
 and fair release from it,' finishing jocosely, as was his 
 wont, but not the less feelingly, 
 
 To John I owe some obligation, 
 
 But John unluckily thinks fit 
 To publish it to all the nation, 
 
 So John and I are more than quit. 
 
 In his diary, written the same night, we read : — 
 
 Wrote to H. He has been telling that I . 
 
 I am sure, at least, I did not mention it, and I wish 
 he had not. He is a good fellow, and I obliged 
 myself ten times more by being of use than I did 
 him, — and there's an end on't. 
 
 Curiously enough, notwithstanding Byron's im- 
 pression that he had destroyed them all, one of 
 Hodgson's promissory notes did slip into the memo- 
 randa and letters left by the noble poet at his death,
 
 272 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 and upon this unexpectedly discovered document 
 the executors set up a claim for repayment, which, 
 however, as soon as the real nature of the transaction 
 became apparent, was at once relinquished. 
 
 In October 18 13, Byron, Drury, and Hodgson 
 went together in a postchaise to Oxford, where 
 Byron had an interview with Mrs. Tayler, who was 
 then on a visit to her brother, the Dean of Christ 
 Church. The result of this interview was the removal 
 of all objections to the intended marriage, which, 
 however, did not take place until the beginning of 
 the next year but one. Hodgson waited in the ex- 
 pectation of a college living ; but, as none appeared 
 likely to fall vacant, he married on a curacy, and soon 
 afterwards obtained a living through private interest. 
 These successive events will be duly chronicled in the 
 order of their occurrence. In the meantime, the 
 correspondence of the current year demands inser- 
 tion. The first letter refers to a previous proposal by 
 Hodgson that the intended gift should be a loan. 
 
 February 3, 18 13. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — I will join you in any bond for 
 
 the money you require, be it that or a larger sum. 
 
 With regard to security, as Newstead is in a sort 
 
 of abeyance between sale and purchase, and my
 
 LETTER FROM BYRON. 273 
 
 Lancashire property very unsettled, I do not know 
 how far I can give more than personal security, but 
 what I can I will. I hear nothing of my own con- 
 cerns, but expect a letter daily. Let me hear from 
 you where you are and will be this month. I am 
 a great admirer of the R. A. (' Rejected Addresses '), 
 though I have had so great a share in the cause of 
 their publication, and I like the C. H. (' Childe 
 Harold ') imitation one of the best. Lady O. 
 (Oxford) has heard me talk much of you as a 
 relative of the Cokes, etc., and desires me to say 
 she would be happy to have the pleasure of your 
 acquaintance. You must come and see me at 
 
 K . I am sure you would like all here if you 
 
 knew them. 
 
 The 'Agnus' 1 is furious. You can have no 
 idea of the horrible and absurd things she has said 
 and done since (really from the best motives) I 
 withdrew my homage. ' Great pleasure ' is, certes, 
 my object, but ' Why brief, Mr. Wild ?' I cannot 
 answer for the future, but the past is pretty secure ; 
 and in it I can number the last two months as 
 worthy of the gods in Lucretius. I cannot review 
 in the ' Monthly ; ' in fact I can just now do nothing, 
 
 1 Lady Caroline Lamb. 
 VOL. I. T
 
 2 74 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 at least with a pen ; and I really think the days of 
 
 authorship are over with me altogether. I hear 
 
 and rejoice in Bland's and Merivale's intentions. 1 
 
 Murray has grown great, and has got him new 
 
 premises in the fashionable part of town. We live 
 
 here so shut out of the monde that I have nothing 
 
 of general import to communicate, and fill this up 
 
 with a ' happy new year,' and drink to you and 
 
 Drury. 
 
 Ever yours, dear H., 
 
 B. 
 
 I have no intention of continuing ' Childe Harold.' 
 There are a few additions in the ' body of the book ' 
 of description, Avhich will merely add to the num- 
 ber of pages in the next edition. I have taken 
 Thyrnham Court. The business of last summer I 
 broke off, and now the amusement of the gentle 
 fair is writing letters literally threatening my life, 
 and much in the style of Miss Matthews in 
 'Amelia,' or Lucy in the ' Beggar's Opera.' Such 
 is the reward of restoring a woman to her family, 
 who are treating her with the greatest kindness, 
 and with whom I am on good terms. I am still in 
 ' palatia Circes,' and, being no Ulysses, cannot tell 
 
 1 The republication of the Anthology.
 
 BYRON S SENSTTIVENESS ABOUT CRITICISM. 275 
 
 into what animal I may be converted She 
 
 has had her share of the denunciations of the 
 brilliant Phryne, and regards them as much as I 
 do. I hope you will visit me at Th., which will not 
 be ready before spring, and I am very sure you 
 would like my neighbours if you knew them. If 
 you come down now to Kington, 1 pray come and 
 see me. 
 
 June 6, 18 1 3. 
 
 My dear Hodgson, — I write to you a few lines on 
 business. Murray has thought proper at his own 
 risk, and peril, and profit (if there be any) to 
 publish the ' Giaour ' ; and it may possibly come 
 under your ordeal in the 'Monthly.' I merely wish 
 to state that in the published copies there are 
 additions to the amount of ten pages, text and 
 margin {chiefly the last), which render it a little less 
 unfinished (but more unintelligible) than before. 
 If, therefore, you review it, let it be from the pub- 
 lished copies and not from the first sketch. I shall 
 not sail for this month, and shall be in town again 
 next week, when I shall be happy to hear from 
 but more glad to see you. You know I have no 
 
 1 Near Lower Moor, the residence of his relatives, the Cokes. 
 
 r 2
 
 276 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 time or turn for correspondence (!). But you also 
 know, I hope, that I am not the less 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 MriAIPilN. 
 
 The first of the two following letters from Mr. 
 Samuel Rogers was written in acknowledgment of a 
 letter expressing admiration of his last poem ' Co- 
 lumbus ; ' the second has reference to Merivale's 
 ' Richardetto,' which has been noticed in a former 
 chapter : — 
 
 My dear Sir, — What shall I say to you for your very 
 kind and encouraging letter ? I can assure you I 
 opened it at a moment when it would affect me 
 the most ; and, whatever the critics may say, I 
 shall always regard it as a much higher reward. 
 Praise such as yours is what I have always wished 
 for above all things, though I fear I never shall 
 deserve it. 
 
 With the greatest respect, 
 
 I am yours most sincerely, 
 
 Saml. Rogers. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Many, many thanks for your kindness, 
 and pray express my grateful acknowledgments to 
 Mr. Merivale for his very elegant present. I make
 
 LETTER FROM ROGERS. HOLLAND HOUSE. 277 
 
 no doubt that it will fulfill {sic) your promise — that 
 I shall read it with my first feelings — and that it 
 will bring back to my mind that delicious evening 
 (an evening in July) when I first discovered the 
 ' Minstrel ' ' among some loose pamphlets in my 
 father's library. Alas ! alas ! Five and thirty 
 years have fled, and yet it seems but yesterday. 
 
 Yours most sincerely, 
 
 Saml. Rogers. 
 
 From Lord Byron. 
 
 October 1, 181 3. 
 My dear H., — I leave town again for Aston 2 on 
 Sunday, but have messages for you. Lord Holland 
 desired me repeatedly to bring you ; he wants to 
 know you much, and begged me to say so ; you 
 will like him. I had an invitation for you to 
 dinner there this last Sunday, and Rogers is per- 
 petually screaming because you don't call, and 
 wanted you also to dine with him on Wednesday 
 last. Yesterday we had Curran there — who is 
 beyond all conception ! — and Mackintosh and the 
 wits are to be seen at H. H. constantly, so that I 
 
 1 By Beattie. 
 
 2 Aston Hall, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, now the property of 
 Harry Verelst, Esq., brother-in-law to the writer of this mernoir.
 
 278 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 think you would like their society. I will be a 
 judge between you and the attorned. So B. 1 may 
 mention me to Lucien if he still adheres to his 
 opinion. Pray let Rogers be one ; he has the best 
 taste extant. Bland's nuptials delight me ; if I had 
 the least hand in bringing them about it will be a 
 subject of selfish satisfaction to me these three 
 weeks. Desire Drury — if he loves me — to kick 
 Dwyer thrice for frightenmg my horses with his 
 flame-coloured whiskers last July. Let the kicks 
 be hard, etc. 
 
 On his return from Aston a fortnight later he adds 
 a hurried apology for the brevity of his letters at this 
 time. 
 
 Excuse haste and laconism. I am in town but for a 
 few days, and hurried with a thousand things. 
 Believe me ever yours most truly, 
 
 Byron. 
 
 The Lucien referred to above is Prince Lucien 
 Buonaparte, who had recently published an epic 
 poem, in twenty-four books, entitled ' Charlemagne ; 
 or, the Church Delivered,' the translation of which 
 
 1 Butler.
 
 LETTER FROM PRINCE LUCIEN BUONAPARTE. 279 
 
 was undertaken by the Rev. Samuel Butler, Head- 
 Master of Shrewsbury, and Francis Hodgson. Of 
 part of the latter's share in the work, the • Critical ' 
 remarks that it combines closeness with luminous 
 force. 
 
 The following letter proves that the appreciation 
 of his talents as a translator was not confined to Eng- 
 lish readers : — 
 
 20 octobre 18 13. 
 
 Monsieur, — Je recois avec reconnaissance le bel exem- 
 plaire de votre traduction de Juvenal : je ne suis 
 pas en etat de juger de la poesie anglaise, mais 
 l'opinion publique sur votre ouvrage est la garantie 
 de ce que vous ferez pour Charlemagne : j'ai recu 
 des lettres de M. le docteur Parr et du chevalier 
 (Boothby ?), qui parlent tous de vous comme M. 
 Butler, et, comme j'en pense, d'apres notre prome- 
 nade en enfer : a propos d'enfer, je viens de faire 
 un changement a la decoration du bouclier d'lr- 
 mensul 1 dans le iome Chant. Au lieu d'un Leopard 
 farouche lisez d'un Dragon furieux : le leopard est 
 sur les armes d'une nation trop civilisee et trop 
 respectee par moi, quoique momentairement 2 
 
 1 Under the character of Irmensul, the god of the Saxons and 
 northern hordes, the miraculous agency of Satan is introduced into the 
 poem. 
 
 - Illegible.
 
 280 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 pour que nous le laissions sur le bouclier d'lr- 
 
 mensul. Agreez mes compliments affect. Votre 
 
 tres, etc. 
 
 Lucien Buonaparte. 
 
 The poem of ' Charlemagne ' was begun on the 
 mountains of Tusculum, near Rome, where the 
 Prince had retired after having quitted public affairs ; 
 it was continued at Malta, and finished during its 
 author's captivity in England. The dedication to 
 Pope Pius VII. was written at Rome in May 1814, 
 in grateful recognition of the kindnesses with which 
 His Holiness had loaded the Prince and his family 
 for ten years. 
 
 In Byron's journal and letters of this year there 
 are some general remarks on several characteristic 
 traits of Hodgson's disposition, which bear interesting 
 testimony to the value attached to his opinion on 
 literary subjects, and to the warm affection which 
 existed between them. For instance, in a letter to 
 Murray, after a complaint of the unexpected length 
 to which the 'Giaour' had been extended, the poet 
 observes : — 
 
 The last lines Hodgson likes. It is not often he does, 
 and when he don't he tells me with great energy, 
 and I fret and alter.
 
 BYRON ON HIS FRIENDS' CHARACTERISTICS. 28 1 
 To Moore he writes : — 
 
 I hope you are going on with your grand coup} Pray 
 
 do ; or that Lucien Buonaparte will beat 
 
 us all. I have seen much of his poem in MS., and 
 he really surpasses everything beneath Tasso. 
 Hodgson is translating him against another bard. 
 You (and I believe Rogers), Scott, Gifford, and 
 myself are to be referred to as judges between the 
 twain. 
 
 In the journal for November 1813, we read : — 
 
 Hodgson, too, came. He is going to be married, and 
 he is the kind of man who will be happier. He 
 has talent, cheerfulness, everything that can make 
 him a pleasing companion ; and his intended is 
 handsome and young and all that. 
 
 Again, of the ' Bride of Abydos,' he says : — 
 
 Hodgson likes it better than the ' Giaour,' but no- 
 body else will ; and he never liked the ' Fragment.' 
 
 And, again, in the same month, in a letter to 
 Murray : — 
 
 Mr. Hodgson has looked over and stopped (or, rather, 
 
 1 Lalla Rookh.
 
 282 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 pointed) this revise, which must be the one to print 
 from. He has also made some suggestions, with 
 most of which I have complied, as he has always, 
 for these ten years, been a very sincere and by no 
 means (at times) flattering critic of mine. He likes 
 it (you will think flatteringly in this instance) better 
 than the ' Giaour,' but doubts (and so do I) its 
 being so popular ; but, contrary to some others, 
 advises a separate publication. On this we can 
 easily decide. I confess I like the double form 
 better. Hodgson says it is better versified than 
 any of the others, which is odd, if true, as it has 
 cost me less time (though more hours at a time) 
 than any attempt I ever made. 
 
 Hodgson was among those favoured few to whom 
 Murray received special instructions to send the 
 earliest copies. His opinion of the ' Bride ' was soon 
 endorsed by no less a personage than Canning, who 
 pronounced it to be ' very, very beautiful' Six thou- 
 sand copies were sold in one month. As a striking 
 instance of the retentiveness of its author's memory, 
 it may here be mentioned that he once recited it from 
 beginning to end whilst travelling with Hodgson in 
 a post-chaise by night from Newstead to London. 
 
 In February of the following year the Journal 
 continues : —
 
 KINDNESS OF HEART. 283 
 
 Hodgson just called and gone. He has much bon- 
 hommie with his other good qualities, and more 
 talent than he has yet had credit for beyond his 
 circle. 
 
 And again : — ■ 
 
 I wish that I had a talent for the drama ; I would 
 write a tragedy now. But no, it is gone. Hodgson 
 talks of one — he will do it well; and I think Moore 
 should try it. 
 
 The next letter from Byron, and the next from 
 T. Rennell, a King's man of some reputation in his 
 day, who was at this time a candidate for the Provost- 
 ship of his College, 1 caused by the death of Hum- 
 phrey Sumner, bear evidence to the feeling enter- 
 tained by friends of the kindliness of Hodgson's 
 nature. 
 
 Feb. 28, 1814. 
 
 There is a youngster, and a clever one, named 
 Reynolds, who has just published a poem called 
 ' Safia,' published by Cawthorne. He is in the most 
 natural and fearful apprehension of the reviewers ; 
 
 1 Hodgson's support had already been given to his more intimate 
 friend Geo. Thackeray, who was ultimately elected.
 
 284 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 and as you and I both know by experience the 
 effect of such things upon a young mind, I wish 
 yon would take his production into dissection, and 
 do it gently. I cannot, because it is inscribed to 
 me ; but I assure you this is not my motive for 
 wishing him to be tenderly entreated, but because 
 I know the misery, at his time of life, of untoward 
 remarks upon first appearance. Now for self. 
 Pray thank your cousin ; it is just as it should be, 
 to my liking, and probably more than will suit 
 anyone else's. I hope and trust you are well and 
 well-doing. 
 
 Peace be with you ! 
 
 Ever yours, my dear friend, 
 
 Byron. 
 
 Deanery, Winton : March 26, 1814. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I fear you will think me very pre- 
 sumptuous, in placing myself before you as candi- 
 date for the succession to the Provostship of 
 King's in the present vacancy. But as I thought 
 I discerned, when I had the happiness of seeing 
 you, that the ' elements were mixed in you,' and 
 that a large portion of the milk of human kindness 
 was combined with your other high talents and 
 attainments, I trust that whatever may be the part
 
 FRIENDSHIP WITH MRS. LEIGH. 285 
 
 you take in this contest you will receive with 
 candour my application for your support. Believe 
 me, sir, that I neither vapour nor flatter when I 
 say that I have both a mind to feel and gratitude 
 to appreciate the value of such support. I can 
 only add that if by the kindness of my friends I 
 should succeed, my residence upon my post should 
 be constant, and that, in conjunction with yourself 
 and others animated by the same views, I should, 
 according to the best of my powers, endeavour to 
 encourage and promote a spirit of honourable 
 emulation and industry among the young men of 
 the College. 
 
 I beg you to believe me, 
 
 Yours with great esteem, 
 
 T. Rennell. 
 
 It was in this year that Hodgson commenced a 
 correspondence with Lord Byron's sister, the Hon. 
 Mrs. Leigh, with whom he had for some time been 
 acquainted ; a correspondence which was continued 
 at frequent intervals for nearly forty years, and 
 which contains many most interesting references to 
 the object of their mutual regard. The first of these 
 letters remaining refers to a house which Byron had 
 taken at Hastings, where Hodgson was also staying,
 
 286 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 and where the friends had passed many happy hours 
 in one another's society. 
 
 My brother desires me to send you the enclosed, and 
 thinks the house was taken from the 13th of July 
 for a month, and therefore that Mr. Barry must 
 have made a mistake in saying the time will have 
 expired next Wednesday. You probably can 
 explain this. Pray excuse my being so troublesome. 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Augusta Leigh. 
 
 The next letter is dated Newstead Abbey, Sept. 
 14, 1814. 
 
 B. being very lazy, I have requested and obtained 
 permission to write to you, and can only plead in 
 excuse for proposing myself as his substitute, that 
 I have something to say about pupils, and a letter 
 to enclose on the same interesting subject. I have 
 mentioned your wish to several of my friends. 1 I 
 shall hope very soon to hear that you are as happy 
 as I wish you and yours to be. B. desires to be 
 most kindly remembered. Newstead is quite his 
 own again, and Mr. Claughton has forfeited 
 £25,000. Of future plans I really can say nothing, 
 
 1 This refers to his intended marriage.
 
 LAST DAYS AT CAMBRIDGE. 287 
 
 they are in such a glorious state of uncertainty. I 
 hope he will write to you of them himself; in the 
 meantime 
 
 Believe me yours most sincerely, 
 
 Augusta Leigh. 
 
 From Hastings Hodgson writes in high spirits to 
 Harry Drury, and again from Cambridge, where he 
 had gone into residence for the last time. 
 
 King's: Sunday. 
 My dear old Friend, — Is it impossible for you to 
 come here before the term ends ? We could then 
 pass our last days at King's together, and shed a 
 tear on Haslingfield's green baulks, if baulks be 
 there still green ? Think of this, Master Brooks. 
 I have a letter from Merivale this morning, can- 
 vassing for a history of John Sobieski, and accusing 
 me of excessive ' melancholy, gravity, and refine- 
 ment ! ' I was greatly amused with the charges, 
 having just cut myself shaving from a sudden laugh 
 when the letter came. Lonsdale was with me 
 yesterday and amused me very much by his ac- 
 count of l the springs rising' when you were fishing 
 
 at Walkerne. Adieu. 
 
 Ever yours, 
 
 F. H.
 
 288 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Merivale's charge of ' melancholy,' &c, was en- 
 dorsed by Byron in a letter to Drury of about the 
 same date ; but it was Only true at times. After 
 alluding to the near approach of his own marriage, 
 Byron writes : — 
 
 I hope Hodgson is in a fair way on the same voyage. 
 I saw him and his idol at Hastings. I wish he 
 would be married at the same time. I should like 
 to make a party, like people electrified in a row, 
 by (or rather through) the same chain, holding one 
 another's hands, and all feeling the shock at once. 
 I have not yet apprised him of this. He makes 
 such a serious matter of all these things, and is so 
 'melancholy and gentlemanlike' that it is quite 
 overcoming to us choice spirits. 
 
 In October of this year Byron met Hodgson in 
 town, where he stayed only a few days, ' hurried,' as 
 he says, ' with a thousand things,' and begging to be 
 excused for ' his haste and laconism ; ' and again at 
 Cambridge, whence Hodgson wrote to his future wife 
 an account of their meeting. A fragment of this 
 letter remains, and is of great interest as containing 
 contemporary comment upon an event of such vital 
 importance to those most immediately concerned in 
 it, and of such world-wide celebrity as the marriage
 
 MEETING WITH BYRON AT CAMBRIDGE. 289 
 
 of Lord and Lady Byron. This fragment also proves 
 the high opinion entertained by Hodgson of his 
 friend's bride, an opinion which remained unaltered 
 until her resolute determination to resist all attempts 
 at reconciliation rendered sympathy with her impos- 
 sible for anyone who retained his friendship for her 
 husband. 
 
 It is most natural that Byron should be absorbed by 
 the thought even, much more by the society, of one 
 of the most divine beings upon earth. He was on 
 his way to Seaham, Sir Ralph Milbanke's seat. 
 His sister, in her last sweet letter, says, ' I have not 
 heard from him for some time, and am uneasy about 
 it ; but it is very selfish to be so, for I know he is 
 happy, and what more can I wish.' Well, on 
 Friday evening, after I had put my letter to you in 
 the post, and one to Harry Drury, and one to my 
 cousin, I was tired with writing, and thought I 
 would go to the coffee-room and read the papers. 
 With nothing then, for the moment, but Colonel 
 Quintin and Hanoverianism in my head, I was 
 passing by the Sun Inn, literally passing by it, and 
 at a quick pace, when a carriage and four drove up 
 to the door. A sudden thought struck me ; I 
 cried out ■ Byron ! ' and was answered by a hearty 
 VOL. I. U
 
 2C)0 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 ' Hodgson ! ' He was about to send to me at 
 King's. He would not have found me there, as I 
 should have been detained for an hour at least with 
 Colonel Quintin. Consequently, he would have 
 crone on to his sister's, and I should not have seen 
 him. As it was, we supped together and sate till a 
 late hour over our claret, talking of many and 
 delightful things. He told me all that could be tola 
 of his visit to Seaham, and, in a word, for I can say 
 no more if I talk for ever on the subject, he is 
 likely to be as happy as I am. Oh ! how I glowed 
 with indignation at the base reporters of his For- 
 tune-hunting. I will tell you the particulars when 
 we meet. Meanwhile, cntre nous, he is sacrificing 
 a great deal too much. Not to Miss M. — that is 
 impossible — because nothing is too much for her, 
 and (as is usual in these cases) she would require 
 nothing. But her parents (although B. speaks of 
 them with the most beautiful respect) certainly to 
 me appear to be most royally selfish persons. 
 Her fortune is not large at present, but he settles 
 ^60,000 upon her. This he cannot do without sell- 
 ing Newstead again ; and with a look and manner 
 that I cannot easily forget he said : ' You know we 
 must think of these things as little as possible.' 
 ' But,' I replied, ' I am certain, if she saw Newstead
 
 CONVERSATION WITH BYRON. 29 1 
 
 she would not let you part with it.' ' Bless her ! 
 she has nothing to do with it. Nor would I excite 
 a feeling in her mind that may be prejudicial to 
 her interests.' Now where, where are the hearts of 
 those who can under-value, who can depreciate 
 this man ? Besides this, Miss M.'s principal expec- 
 tations are from Lord Wentworth, her uncle, an 
 old and very infirm man, whom I have often met 
 at Rugby. Perfectly disposed to pay him every 
 respect, B. would not go out of his road to visit 
 him. To meet him he would have been very glad, 
 but he went straight to Miss M. He is returning 
 to town for the purpose of settling all legal affairs, 
 and returns to the North in a fortnight, straight to 
 be married. He fully explained to Miss M. his 
 feeling about Lord W. She was satisfied, and 
 that is enough. As to Jicrself, I have much indeed 
 to tell you. The whole story is an interesting one. 
 B. knows that the lawyers will not be ready for 
 him for this day or two, and therefore, although he 
 was going immediately to London, he means to 
 stay in the neighbourhood till Wednesday to vote 
 for his friend Clark, 1 of Trinity, at the election for 
 the Anatomical Professor. He promised .... 
 
 1 The Traveller, 
 u 2
 
 292 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 P.S. — I open my letter to say that when Lord 
 Byron went to give his vote just now in the Senate 
 House, the young men burst out into the most 
 rapturous applause. 
 Mine of yesterday mentioned in the postscript the 
 flattering manner in which Lord Byron was re- 
 ceived in the Senate House. I should add that as 
 •I was going to vote I met him coming away, and 
 presently saw that something had happened, by his 
 extreme paleness and agitation. Dr. Clark, who 
 was with him, told me the cause, and I returned 
 with B. to my room. There I begged him to sit 
 down and write a letter and communicate this event, 
 which he did not feel up to, but wished I would. 
 So down I sate and commenced my acquaintance 
 with Miss Milbanke by writing her an account of 
 this most pleasing event, which, although nothing 
 at Oxford, is here very unusual indeed ; and, as I 
 told you. had occasioned the dismissal of the young 
 men from the Senate House only a few days ago. 
 I also wrote to his sister, and thus I have two more 
 female friends, or one at least, to introduce. 
 
 We dined with Dr. Clark and saw a very sweet 
 woman in his wife ; himself the most natural, pleas- 
 ing, and kind of men. But more upon this subject 
 when we meet. This morning Lord B. and Mr.
 
 FRIENDSHIP. AN EPITAPH. 293 
 
 Hobhouse departed. B. is to send me word about 
 as a pupil. 
 
 A few other remarks occurring in letters of this 
 date are illustrative of the writer's sentiments on the 
 different subjects to which they refer. 
 
 The first speaks of a change in a friend : — 
 
 You can have no conception now, what a very sweet 
 and engaging manner my friend once had. Illness 
 and affliction will destroy everything, will even turn 
 the gentle into the tart and severe : the most 
 horrible of all changes in my mind. But I. have a 
 female friend whom I long indeed to introduce to 
 you. A Herefordshire lady, still called Miss Hill, 
 although now waning into the denomination of 
 Airs. Of her more hereafter. This earth does not 
 hold a better being. 
 
 The sweetest line I ever met with (as we are on 
 the subject — i.e., of epitaphs) is that in Hendon 
 Churchyard — 
 
 Now my good angel, once my virtuous wife. 
 
 The next three letters, written in the year before 
 Lord Byron's ill-fated marriage, which at first pro- 
 mised such happy results, are full of melancholy 
 interest.
 
 294 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 Sunday, November 13. 
 Dear Mr. Hodgson, — Thank you a thousand times 
 for your kind congratulations on the approaching 
 marriage, which I hope will secure my dearest B.'s 
 happiness. I had a letter from him on Friday last, 
 in which he says it cannot take place this month or 
 three weeks, and that consequently he shall visit 
 London again in his unmarried state, and bids me 
 expect to hear again from him soon or, perhaps, 
 see him. You probably are aware that he passed 
 through Cambridge 1 a fortnight ago to-day, and I 
 was much surprised to hear slept that night at 
 Wandsford, as when he left me his intention was to 
 do so at Cambridge, and for the purpose of seeing 
 you. Believe me, that it would gratify me sin- 
 cerely to be of use to you in your present dilemma, 2 
 for I can enter into the feelings of you and yours 
 most entirely. Byron arrived here late on Saturday 
 night, and set out again soon after he had left his 
 room on Sunday, so that you may imagine I had 
 but a short time to hear and say a thousand things. 
 In answer to an enquiry of mine about you, he 
 
 1 This was before the visit mentioned above. 
 
 2 This refers to the difficulty experienced by Hodgson in finding a 
 suitable curacy, after giving up his fellowship at King's. He was just 
 at this time contemplating a chaplaincy.
 
 LETTERS FROM MRS. LEIGH. 295 
 
 answered that your marriage was still delayed, but 
 nothing more. Mr. Hanson has been at Seaham, 
 and I rather think must now be again in town. 
 Would it be of any use to you if / was to write to 
 him on the subject of the chaplaincy ? The post 
 between this and Seaham is so dreadfully tedious, 
 and, moreover, you know that B. does not always 
 reply to written enquiries. In spite of this I will 
 write, and also to Mr. H. if you think it better than 
 your writing yourself. I only wish I could hit 
 upon any way of being useful to you. If any- 
 thing strikes you, pray let me know it im- 
 mediately, and 
 
 Believe me very truly yours, 
 
 Augusta Leigh. 
 
 B.'s address is Seaham, Stockton-upon-Tees, 
 Durham. 
 
 Six Mile Bottom : November 24. 
 
 Dear Mr. Hodgson, — Many thanks for your welcome 
 intelligence, which it was kind of you to commu- 
 nicate. Poor B. ! he must, I think, have been 
 disturbed. I think I see him — and it gives me 
 quite a nervous sensation. I would not have you 
 think that I have forgot your concerns, but not one
 
 296 MEMOIR OF REV. F. HODGSON. 
 
 syllable of answer have I got from Mr. H. As 
 
 far as regards myself this does not signify, but I am 
 
 rather angry with him for keeping you in suspense. 
 
 I suppose B. is gone, so I dare not enclose to him. 
 
 I trust, indeed, there is everything to hope for his 
 
 happiness, and, as you say, Newstead is the only 
 
 drop of bitter in the cup. I try to banish it from 
 
 my thoughts, but I cannot from my dreams, where 
 
 it haunts me eternally. Alas ! I see no remedy, 
 
 but I never like to despair, and you would smile at 
 
 my irrational hopes. Col. Leigh appears to think 
 
 it not impossible we may have the pleasure of 
 
 seeing you here by-and-bye. I need not say 
 
 what pleasure it would give me. In the mean 
 
 time 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 A. L. 
 
 Seaham : November 25, 18 14. 
 
 Dear Sir, — It will be easier for you to imagine than 
 for me to express the pleasure which your very 
 kind letter has given me. Not only on account of 
 its gratifying intelligence, but also as introductory 
 to an acquaintance which I have been taught to
 
 LETTER FROM LADY BYRON. 297 
 
 value, and have sincerely desired. Allow me to 
 consider Lord Byron's friend as not ' a stranger,' 
 and accept, with my sincerest thanks, my best 
 wishes for your own happiness. 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your faithful servant, 
 
 A. I. MlLBANKE. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
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 July 6th, 1875. Ity J- F. Campbell, Author of "Frost and 
 Fire." 2 vols. Crown Svo. 25^. 
 " We have read numbers of books of travel, but we can call to mind 
 few that have given us more genuine pleasure than this. A more agree- 
 able style of narrative than his it is hardly possible to conceive. We seem 
 to be accompanying him in his trip round the "world, so life-like is his 
 description of the countries he visited." — Land and Water. 
 
 Campbell. — TURKS AND GREEKS. Notes of a recent Ex- 
 cursion. By the lion. Dudley Campbell, M.A. With Coloured 
 Map. Crown 8vo. 31. 6d. 
 
 CarstareS. — WILLIAM CARSTARES : a Character and Career 
 of the Revolutionary Epoch (1649— 1 715). By Robert Story, 
 Minister of Rosneath. Svo. 12s.
 
 6 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Chatterton : A BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY. By Daniel 
 Wilson, LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature in 
 University College, Toronto. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 
 The Examiner thinks this "the most complete and the purest bio- 
 graphy of the poet which has yet appeared." 
 
 Chatterton: A STORY OF THE YEAR 1770. By Professor 
 Masson, LL.D. Crown 8vo. $s. 
 
 Combe. — THE LIFE OF GEORGE COMBE, Author of "The 
 Constitution of Man." By Charles Gibbon. With Three 
 Portraits engraved by Jeens. Two Vols. Svo. 32J. 
 
 "A graphic and interesting account of the long life and indefatigable 
 labours of a very remarkable man." — Scotsman. 
 
 Cooper. — ATHENE CANTABRIGIENSES. By Charles 
 Henry Cooper, F. S.A., and Thompson Cooper, F.S.A. 
 Vol. I. 8vo., 1500—85, i8j. ; Vol. II., 1586— 1609, i8j. 
 
 Correggio. — ANTONIO ALLEGRI DA CORREGGIO. From 
 the German of Dr. Julius Meyer, Director of the Royal Gallery, 
 Berlin. Edited, with an Introduction, by Mrs. Heaton. Con- 
 taining Twenty Woodbury-type Illustrations. Royal Svo. Cloth 
 elegant. 31 s. 6d. 
 " The best and most readable biography of the master at present to be 
 
 found in the English language." — ACADEMY. "By its pictures alone 
 
 the book forms a "worthy tribute to the painter s genius." — Pall Mall 
 
 Gazette. 
 
 C.OX (G. V.)— RECOLLECTIONS OF OXFORD. By G. 
 V. Cox, M.A., New College, late Esquire Bedel and Coroner 
 in the University of Oxford. Cheaper Edition. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 "An amusing farrago of anecdote, and will pleasantly recall in many 
 a country parsonage the memory of youthful days." — Times. 
 
 "Daily News." — the daily news' correspond- 
 ence of the War between Germany and France, 1870 — 1. Edited 
 with Notes and Comments. New Edition. Complete in One 
 Volume. With Maps and Plans. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 THE DAILY NEWS' CORRESPONDENCE of the War between 
 Russia and Turkey, to the fall of Ears. Including the letters of 
 Mr. Archibald Forbes, Mr. J. E. McGahan, and other Special 
 Correspondents in Europe and Asia, Second Edition, enlarged. 
 Crown 8vo. ior. 6d. 
 
 FROM THE FALL OF KARS TO THE CONCLUSION OF 
 PEACE. Crown 8vo. \os. 6d.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 7 
 
 Davidson.— THE LIFE OF A SCOTTISH PROBATIONER ; 
 being a Memoir of Thomas Davidson, with his Poems and 
 Letters. By James Brown, Minister of St. James's Street 
 Church, Paisley. Second Edition, revised and enlarged, with 
 Portrait. Crown Svo. Js. 6d. 
 
 Deas. — THE RIVER CLYDE. An Historical Description of the 
 Rise and Progress of the Harbour of Glasgow, and of the Im- 
 provement of the River from Glasgow to Port Glasgow. By J. 
 Deas, M. Inst. C.E. Svo. iar. 6d. 
 
 Denison. — A HISTORY OF CAVALRY FROM THE EAR- 
 LIEST TIMES. With Lessons for the Future. By Lieut. -Col. 
 George Denison, Commanding the Governor-General's Body 
 Guard, Canada, Author of " Modern Cavalry." With Maps and 
 Plans. 8vo. I&r. 
 
 Dilke. — GREATER BRITAIN. A Record of Travel in English- 
 speaking Countries during 1866-7. (America, Australia, India.) 
 By Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, M.P. Sixth Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 "Many of the subjects discussed in these pages" savs the Daily News, 
 " are of the widest interest, and such as no man who cares for the future 
 of his race and of the world can afford to treat with indifference." 
 
 Doyle. — HISTORY OF AMERICA. By J. A. Doyle. With 
 Maps. i8mo. 45-. 6d. 
 "Mr. Doyle's style is clear and simple, his facts are accurately stated, 
 and his book is meritoriously free from prejudice on questions where 
 partisanship runs high amongst us." — Saturday Review. 
 
 Drummond of Hawthornden : the STORY OF HIS 
 LIFE AND WRITINGS. By Professor Masson. With Por- 
 trait and Vignette engraved by C. H. Jeens. Crown Svo. ioj. 6d. 
 " Around his hero, Professor Masson groups national and individual 
 episodes and sketches of character, which are of the greatest interest, and 
 which add to the value of a biographical work which we warmly recom- 
 mend to the lovers of thoroughly healthy <WZ\r."— Notes AND QUERIES. 
 
 Duff. — NOTES OF AN INDIAN JOURNEY. By M. E. Grant- 
 Duff, M.P., late Under Secretary of State for India. With Map. 
 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 " These nous are full of pleasant remarks and illustrations, borrowed 
 from roerykind of source.''' 1 — Saturday Review. 
 
 Eadie.— LIFE OF JOHN EADIE, D.D., LL.D. By James 
 Brown, D.D., Author of "The Life of a Scottish Probationer." 
 With Toi'trait. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. ys. 6d. 
 "An ably written and characteristic biography." — Times.
 
 8 MACMILLAATS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Elliott.— LIFE OF HENRY VENN ELLIOTT, of Brighton. 
 ByJosiAH Bateman, M.A., Author of " Life of Daniel Wilson, 
 Bishop of Calcutta," &c. With Portrait, engraved by Jeens. 
 Extra fcap. 8vo. Third and Cheaper Edition, with Appendix. 6s. 
 
 Elze.— ESSAYS ON SHAKESPEARE. By Dr. Karl Elze. 
 Translated with the Author's sanction by L. Dora Schmitz. 
 8vo. 12S. 
 "A more desirable contribution to criticism has not recently been made." 
 
 — Athenaeum. 
 
 English Men of Letters. Edited by John Morley. a 
 Series of Short Books to tell people what is best worth knowing 
 as to the Life, Character, and Works of some of the great 
 English Writers. In crown 8vo. Price 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 I. DR JOHNSON. By Leslie Stephen. 
 
 ' ' The new series opens well with Mr. Leslie Stephen's sketch of Dr. 
 Johnson. Lt could hardly have been done better ; and it will convey to 
 the readers for whom it is intended a juster estimate of Johnson than 
 either of the two essays of Lord Macaulay" — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 II. SIR WALTER SCOTT. By R. H. Hutton. 
 
 " The tone of the volume is excellent throughout." — AtheN/EUM. 
 " We could not wish for a more suggestive introduction to Scott and 
 his poems and novels." — Examiner. 
 
 III. GIBBON. By J. C. Morison. 
 
 " As a clear, thoughtful, and attractive record of the life and works of 
 the greatest among the world's historians, it deserves the highest praise." — 
 Examiner. 
 
 SHELLEY. By J. A. Symonds. [In the press. 
 
 HUME. By Professor Huxley. [In the press. 
 
 GOLDSMITH. By William Black. [In the press. 
 
 Others in preparation. 
 
 Eton College, History of. By II. C. Maxwell Lyte, 
 M.A. With numerous Illustrations by Professor Delamotte, 
 Coloured Plates, and a Steel Portrait of the Founder, engraved 
 by C. H. Jeens. New and cheaper Issue, with Corrections. 
 Medium 8vo. Cloth elegant. 2\s. 
 " Hitherto no account of the College, with all its associations, has 
 
 appeared which can compare either in completeness or in interest with 
 
 this. . . . It is indeed a book worthy of the ancient renown of King 
 
 Henry s College." — Daily News. 
 
 " We are at length presented with a work on England's greatest public 
 
 school, worthy of the subject of which it treats. . . . A really valuable and 
 
 authentic history of Eton College." — Guardian.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 9 
 
 European History, Narrated in a Series of Historical 
 
 Selections from the best Authorities. Edited and arranged by 
 
 E. M. Sewell and C. M. Yonge. First Series, crown 8vo. 6s. ; 
 
 Second Series, 1088-1228, crown Svo. 6s. Third Edition. 
 
 " We know of scarcely anything" says the Guardian, of this volume, 
 
 "which is so likely to raise to a higher level the average standard of 
 
 English education.'''' 
 
 Faraday. — MICHAEL FARADAY. By J. H. Gladstone, 
 Ph.D., F.R.S. Second Edition, with Portrait engraved by Jeens 
 from a photograph by J. Watkins. Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. 
 PORTRAIT. Artist's Proof. 5 . 
 
 Contents: — I. The Story of his Life. IL. Study of his Character. 
 III. Fruits of his Experience. IV. His Method of Writing. V. The 
 Value of his Discoveries. — Supplementary Portrait 's. Appendices : — List 
 of Honorary Fellowships, etc. 
 
 Forbes. — life and letters of james david 
 
 FORBES, F.R.S., late Principal of the United College in the 
 University of St. Andrews. By J. C. Shairp, LL.D., Principal 
 of the United College in the University of St. Andrews ; P. G. 
 Tait, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University 
 of Edinburgh; and A. Adams-Reilly, F.R.G.S. 8vo. with 
 Portraits, Map, and Illustrations, 16s. 
 "Not only a biography that all should read, but a scientific treatise, 
 zvithout which the shelves of no physicist's library can be deemed com- 
 plete." — Standard. 
 
 Freeman. — Works by Edward A. Freeman, D.C.L.,LL.D. :-= 
 HISTORICAL ESSAYS. Third Edition. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 Contents: — /. "The Mythical and Romantic Elements in Early 
 English History," IL "The Continuity of English History;" III. 
 "The Relations between the Crowns of England and Scotland ;" IV. 
 "St. Thomas of Canterbury and his Biographers ;" V. " The Reign op 
 Edward the Third:" VI. "The Holy Roman Empire;" VII. "The 
 Franks and the Gauls;" VIII. "The Early Sieges of Paris;" IX. 
 "Frederick the hirst, King of Italy ;" X. "The Emperor Frederick the 
 Second;" XL "Charles the Bold ;" XII. " Presidential Government." 
 
 A SECOND SERIES OF HISTORICAL ESSAYS. 8vo. 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 The principal Essays are : — "Ancient Greece and Medhrval Italy:" 
 "Mr. Gladstone's Homer and the Homeric Ages:" "The Historians 
 of Athens:" "The Athenian Democracy:" "Alexander the Great:" 
 "Greece dining the Macedonian Period:" ' 'Mommsen's History of Rome :" 
 "Lucius Cornelius Sulla :" " The Flavian Ccesars." 
 
 COMPARATIVE POLITICS.— Lectures at the Royal Institution. 
 To which is added the "Unity of History," the Rede Lecture at 
 Cambridge, 1872. 8vo. 14J.
 
 io MACMILLAISTS CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Freeman — continued. 
 
 THE HISTORY AND CONQUESTS OF THE SARACENS. 
 Six Lectures. Third Edition, with New Preface. Crown 8vo. 
 3* 6d. 
 "Mr. Freeman opportunely reprints his erudite and valuable lec- 
 hires." — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL SKETCHES : 
 chiefly Italian. With Illustrations by the Author. Crown 8vo. 
 10s. 6d. 
 "Mr. Freeman may here be said to give us a series oj 'notes on the 
 spot ' in illustration oj the intimate relations of History and Architecture, 
 and this is done in so masterly a manner — there is so much freshness, so 
 fnuch knowledge so admirably condensed, that we are almost tempted to 
 say that we prefer these sketches to his more elaborate studies." — Noncon- 
 formist. 
 
 HISTORY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, from the Foun- 
 dation of the Achaian League to the Disruption of the United 
 States. Vol. I. General Introduction, History of the Greek 
 Federations. 8vo. 21s. 
 
 OLD ENGLISH HISTORY. With Five Coloured Maps. Fourth 
 Edition. Extra fcap. 8vo., half-bound. 6s. 
 
 " The book indeed is full of instruction and interest to students of all 
 ages, and he must be a well-informed man indeed who will not rise 
 front its perusal with clearer and more accurate ideas of a too much 
 neglected portion of English history." — SPECTATOR. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF WELLS, 
 
 as illustrating the History of the Cathedral Churches of the Old 
 
 Foundation. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 " The history assumes in Mr. Freeman's hands a significance,* and, we 
 may add, a practical value as suggestive oj what a cathedral ought to be, 
 which make it well worthy of mention." — Spectator. 
 
 THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION 
 FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES. Crown Svo. $s. Third 
 Edition, revised. 
 
 GENERAL SKETCH OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. Being 
 Vol. I. of a Historical Course for Schools edited by E. A. 
 Freeman. New Edition, enlarged with Maps, Chronological 
 Table, Index, &c. i8mo. 35. 6d. 
 "It supplies the great want of a good foundation for historical teach- 
 ing. The scheme is an excellent one, and this instalment has been 
 accepted in a way that promises much for the volumes that are yet 
 io appear" — Educational Times. 
 
 THE OTTOMAN POWER IN EUROPE : its Nature, its Growth, 
 and its Decline. With Three Coloured Maps. Crown Svo. 
 75. bd.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. n 
 
 Galileo.— THE PRIVATE LIFE OF GALILEO. Compiled 
 principally from his Correspondence and that of his eldest 
 daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, Nun in the Franciscan Convent of 
 S. Matthew in Arcetri. With Portrait. Crown 8vo. >js. 6d. 
 
 Geddes. — THE PROBLEM OF THE HOMERIC POEMS. 
 By W. D. Geddes, LL.D., Professor of Greek in the University 
 of Aberdeen. 8vo. 14^-. 
 
 Gladstone — Works by the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, 
 M.P. :— 
 
 JUVENTUS MUNDI. The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age. 
 Crown 8vo. cloth. With Map. io.r. 6d. Second Edition. 
 
 " Seldom," says the Athen^UM, " out of the great poems themselves, 
 have these Divinities looked so majestic and respectable. To read these 
 brilliant details is like standing on the Olympian threshold and gazing at 
 the ineffable brightness within." 
 
 HOMERIC SYNCHRONISM. An inquiry into the Time and 
 Place of Homer. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 "It is impossible not to admire the immense range of thought and 
 inquiry which the author has displayed." — British Quarterly 
 Review. 
 
 Goethe and Mendelssohn (1821— 1S31). Translated from the 
 German of Dr. Karl Mendelssohn, Son of the Composer, by 
 M. E. Von Glehn. From the Private Diaries and Home 
 I Letters of Mendelssohn, with Poems and Letters of Goethe never 
 before printed. Also with two New and Original Portraits, Fac- 
 similes, and Appendix of Twenty Letters hitherto unpublished. 
 Crown 8vo. $s. Second Edition, enlarged. 
 " . . . Every page is full of interest, not merely to the musi- 
 cian, but to the general reader. The book is a very charming one, on 
 a topic of deep and lasting interest." — Standard. 
 
 Goldsmid. — TELEGRAPH AND TRAVEL. A Narrative of 
 the Formation and Development of Telegraphic Communication 
 between England and India, under the orders of Her Majesty's 
 Government, with incidental Notices of the Countries traversed by 
 the Lines. By Colonel Sir Frederic Goldsmid, C.B., K.C.S.I., 
 late Director of the Government Indo-European Telegraph. With 
 numerous Illustrations and Maps. 8vo. 21s. 
 " The merit of the zvork is a total absence of exaggeration, which does 
 not, hotuever, preclude a vividness and vigour of style not always character- 
 istic op similar narratives." — Standard. 
 
 Gordon.— LAST LETTERS FROM EGYPT, to which are added 
 Letters from the Cape. By Lady Duff Gordon. With a 
 Memoir by her Daughter, Mrs. Ross, and Portrait engraved by 
 Jeens. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. oj-.
 
 12 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 " The intending tourist who wishes to acquaint himself with the country 
 he is about to visit, stands embarrassed amidst the riches presented for his 
 choice, and in the end probably rests contented with the sober usefulness of 
 Murray. He will not, hmuever, if he is well advised, grudge a place in 
 his portmanteau to this book." — Times. 
 
 Gray. — CHINA. A History of the Laws, Manners, and Customs 
 of the People. By the Venerable John Henry Gray. LL.D., 
 Archdeacon of Hong Kong, formerly H.B.M. Consular Chaplain 
 at Canton. Edited by W. Gow Gregor. With 150 Full-page Illustra- 
 tions, being Facsimiles of Drawings by a Chinese Artist. 2 Vols. 
 Demy 8vo. 32s. 
 
 <l Its pages contain the most truthful and vivid picture of Chinese life 
 which has ever been published." — Athejmeum. 
 
 ' ' The only elaborate and valuable book we have had for many years 
 treating generally of the people of the Celestial Empire." — ACADEMY. 
 
 Green. — Works by John Richard Green:— 
 
 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE. Vol. I.— Early 
 England — Foreign Kings — The Charter — The Parliament. With 
 8 Coloured Maps. 8vo. 16s. Vol. II. — The Monarchy, 
 1461 — 1540 ; the Restoration, 1540 — 1603. 8vo. 16s. 
 
 [To be completed in 5 Vols. 
 ' ' Mr. Green has done a work which probably no one but himself could 
 have done. He has read and assimilated the results of all the labours of 
 students during the last half century in the field of English history, and 
 has given them a fresh meaning by his own independent study. He has 
 fused together by the force of sympathetic imagination all that he has so 
 collected, and has %iven us a vivid and forcible sketch of the march of 
 English histoiy. His book, both in its aims and its accomplishments, 
 rises far beyond any of a similar kind, and it will give the colouring to the 
 popular viexv to English history for some time to come." — Examiner. 
 
 A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE. With 
 Coloured Maps, Genealogical Tables, and Chronological Annals. 
 Crown Svo. 8.?. 6d. Fifty-fifth Thousand. 
 " To say that Mr. Grceris book is belter than those which have pre- 
 ceded it, would be to convey a very inadequate impression of its merits. ]l 
 stands alone as the one general history of the country, for the sake of 
 which all others, if young and old are wise, will be speedily and surely set 
 aside." 
 
 STRAY STUDIES FROM ENGLAND AND ITALY. Crown 
 8vo. • 8s. 6d. Containing : Lambeth and the Archbishops — The 
 Florence of Dante — Venice and Rome — Early History of Oxford 
 — The District Visitor — Capri — Hotels in the Clouds — Sketches 
 in Sunshine, &c. 
 
 " One and all of the papers are eminently readable" — Athen^um.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 13 
 
 Hamerton. — Works by P. G. Hamerton:— 
 
 THE INTELLECTUAL LIFE. With a Portrait of Leonardo da 
 Vinci, etched by Leopold Flameng. Second Edition. Crown 
 ioj-. 6d. Svo. 
 " We have read the whole book with great pleasure, and we can re- 
 commend it strongly to all who can appreciate grave reflections on a very 
 important subject, excellently illustrated from the resources of a mind 
 stored with much reading and much keen obsei~vation of real life." — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 THOUGHTS ABOUT ART. New Edition, revised, with an 
 Introduction. Crown Svo. 8s. 6d. 
 
 "A manual of sound and thorough criticism on art." — Standard. 
 " The book is full of thought, and worthy of attentive consideration." — 
 Daily News. 
 
 Hill. — WHAT WE SAW IN AUSTRALIA. By Rosamond 
 and Florence Hill. Crown Svo. ioj. 6d. 
 "May be recommended as an interesting and truthful picture of the 
 condition of those lands which are so distant and yet so much like home.'' 1 
 — Saturday Review. 
 
 Hodgson.— MEMOIR OF REV. FRANCIS HODGSON, 
 B. D., Scholar, Poet, and Divine. By his Son, the Rev. James 
 T. Hodgson, M.A. With Portrait engraved byjEENS. Crown 
 S V0- [Immediately. 
 
 Hole.— A GENEALOGICAL STEMMA OF THE KINGS 
 OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE. By the Rev. C. Hole, 
 M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge. On Sheet, Is. 
 
 A BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. Compiled and 
 Arranged by the Rev. Charles Hole, M.A. Second Edition. 
 i8mo. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Hooker and Ball. — MAROCCO : Journal of a Tour in. By 
 Sir Joseph D. Hooker, K.C.S.I., C.B., P.R.S., &c, and John 
 Ball, F.R.S. With Illustrations and Map. Svo. [Immediately. 
 
 Hozier (H. M.) — Works by Captain Henry M. Hozier, 
 late Assistant Military Secretary to Lord Napier of Magdala :— 
 
 THE SEVEN WEEKS' WAR ; Its Antecedents and Incidents. 
 
 New and Cheaper Edition. With New Preface, Maps, and Plans. 
 
 Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 " All that Mr. Hozier saw of the great events of the war— and he sa?v 
 
 a large share of them — he describes in clear and vivid language." — 
 
 Saturday Review.
 
 UMACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Kozier (H. M.)— continued. 
 
 THE INVASIONS OF ENGLAND : a History of the Past, with 
 Lessons for the Future. Two Vols. 8vo. 28.J. 
 
 The Pall Mall Gazette says :— "As to all invasions executed, or 
 deliberately projected but not carried out, from the landing 0/ Julius 
 Casar to the raising of the Boulogne camp, Captain Hozier furnishes 
 copious and most ifiteresling particulars. " 
 
 Hiibner.— A RAMBLE ROUND THE WORLD IN 1871. By 
 
 M. Le Baron Hubner, formerly Ambassador and Minister. 
 
 Translated by Lady Herbert. New and Cheaper Edition. 
 
 With numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " It is difficult to do ample justice to this pleasant narrative of travel 
 
 . ... it does not contain a single dull paragraphs — Morning Post. 
 
 Hughes. — Works by Thomas Hughes, Q.C., Author of "Tom 
 Brown's School Days." 
 
 MEMOIR OF A BROTHER. With Portrait of George Hughes, 
 after Watts. Engraved by Jeens. Crown 8vo. $s. Sixth 
 Edition. 
 _ " The boy who can read this book without deriving from it some addi- 
 tional impulse towards honourable, manly, and independent conduct, has 
 no good stuff in him." — Daily News. 
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Hunt.— HISTORY OF ITALY. By the Rev. W. Hunt, M.A. 
 
 Being the Fourth Volume of the Historical Course for Schools. 
 
 Edited by Edward A. Freeman, D. C. L. iSmo. 3s. 
 11 Mr. Hunt gives us a most compact but very readable little book, con- 
 taining in small compass a very complete outline of a complicated and 
 perplexing subject. It is a book which may be safely reco?nmended to 
 others besides schoolboys." — John Bull. 
 
 Irving.— THE ANNALS OF OUR TIME. A Diurnal of Events, 
 Social and Political, Home and Foreign, from the Accession of 
 Queen Victoria to the Peace of Versailles. By Joseph Irving. 
 Fourth Edition. 8vo. half-bound. 16s. 
 
 ANNALS OF OUR TIME. Supplement. From Feb. 28, 1871, 
 
 to March 19, 1874. 8vo. 4s. 6d. 
 " We have before us a trusty and ready guide to the events of the 
 past thirty years, available equally for the statesman, the politician, the 
 public writer, and the general reader." — Times. 
 
 James. — Works by Henry James, Jun. FRENCH POETS AND 
 NOVELISTS. Crown Svo. 8s. 6d. 
 
 Contents -.—Alfred de Alusset ; Theophile Gautier ; Baudelaire; 
 Honor e de Balzac ; George Sand ; The Two Amperes ; Turgenieff, &>c. 
 
 THE EUROPEANS. A Novel. Two Vols. Crown Svo. ' 21s.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 15 
 
 Johnson's Lives of the Poets. — The Six Chief 
 
 Lives — Milton, Dryden, Swift, Addison, Pope, Gray. With 
 Macaulay's " Life of Johnson." Edited, with Preface, by 
 Matthew Arnold. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Killen.— ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF IRELAND, from 
 the Earliest Date to the Present Time. By W. D. Killen, D.D., 
 President of Assembly's College, Belfast, and Professor of Eccle- 
 siastical History. Two Vols. 8vo. 2$s. 
 " Those who have the leisure will do well to read these two volumes. 
 
 They are full of interest, and are the result of great research. . . . We 
 
 have no hesitation in recommending the work to all who wish to improve 
 
 their acquaintance rvith Irish history."— Spectator. 
 
 Kingsley (Charles). — Works by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, 
 M.A., Rector of Eversley and Canon of Westminster. (For 
 other Works by the same Author, see Theological and Belles 
 Lettres Catalogues. ) 
 ON THE ANCIEN REGIME as it existed on the Continent before 
 the French Revolution. Three Lectures delivered at the 
 Royal Institution. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 AT LAST : A CHRISTMAS in the WEST INDIES. With neaily 
 
 Fifty Illustrations. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Mr. Kingsley' s dream of forty years was at last fulfilled, when he 
 
 started on a Christmas expedition to the West Indies, for the purpose oj 
 
 becoming personally acquainted with the scenes which he has so vividly 
 
 described in " Westward Ho !" These two volumes are the journal of his 
 
 voyage. Records of natural history, sketches of tropical landscape, chapters 
 
 on education, views of society, all find their place. " We can only say 
 
 that Mr. Kingsley s account of a ' Christmas in the West Indies ' is in 
 
 every way worthy to be classed among his happiest productions." — 
 
 Standard. 
 
 THE ROMAN AND THE TEUTON. A Series of Lectures 
 
 delivered before the University of Cambridge. New and Cheaper 
 
 Edition, with Preface by Professor Max Muller. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 PLAYS AND PURITANS, and other Historical Essays. With 
 
 Portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 
 
 5 s - 
 In addition to the Essay mentioned in the title, this volume cojitams 
 
 other huo — one on "Sir Walter Raleigh and his Time," and one on 
 
 Fronde's "History of England." 
 
 Kingsley (Henry). — TALES OF OLD TRAVEL. Re- 
 narrated by Henry Kingsley, F.R.G.S. With Eight Illus- 
 trations by Huard. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. $s. 
 " We know no better book for those tvho want knmvledge or seek to 
 refresh it. As for the ''sensational,' most novels are tame compared with 
 these narratives." — Athenaeum.
 
 16 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Lang. — CYPRUS: Its History, its Present Resources and Future 
 Prospects. By R. Hamilton Lang, late H.M. Consul for the 
 Island of Cyprus. With Two Illustrations and Four Maps. 8vo. 14J. 
 
 LaOCOOIl. — Translated from the Text of Lessing, with Preface and 
 Notes by the Right Hon. Sir Robert J. Phillimore, D.C.L. 
 With Photographs. 8vo. 12s. 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci and his Works. — Consisting of a 
 
 Life of Leonardo Da Vinci, by Mrs. Charles W. Heaton, 
 Author of " Albrecht Diirer of Niirnberg," &c., an Essay on his 
 Scientific and Literary Works by Charles Christopher 
 Black, M.A., and an account of his more important Paintings 
 and Drawings. Illustrated with Permanent Photographs. Royal 
 8vo. cloth, extra gilt. 31J. 6d. 
 " A beautiful volume, both without and -within. Messrs. Macmillan 
 are conspicuous among publishers for the choice binding and printing of 
 their books, and this is got up in their best style. . . . No English 
 publication that we know of has so thoroughly and attractively collected 
 together all that is known of Leonardo." — Times. 
 
 Liechtenstein, — HOLLAND HOUSE. By Princess Marie 
 Liechtenstein. With Five Steel Engravings by C. H. Jeens, 
 after Paintings by Watts and other celebrated Artists, and 
 numerous Illustrations drawn by Professor P. H. Delamotte, and 
 engraved on Wood by J. D. Cooper, W. Palmer, andjEWTTT & 
 Co. Third and Cheaper Edition. Medium 8vo. cloth elegant. 
 16s. 
 Also, an Edition containing, in addition to the above, about 40 
 Illustrations by the Woodbusy-type process, and India Proofs of 
 the Steel Engravings. Two vols, medium 4-to. half morocco 
 elegant. 4/. 4-f- 
 " When every strictly just exception shall have been taken, she may be 
 conscientiously congratulated by the most scrupulous o-ilic on the produc- 
 tion of a useful, agreeable, beautifully -illustrated, and attractive book." — 
 Times. " It would take up more room than we can spare to enumerate 
 all the interesting suggestions and notes which are to be found in these 
 
 volumes The woodcuts are admirable, and some of the autographs 
 
 are very interesting."— Fall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Lloyd.— THE AGE OF PERICLES. A History of the Arts and 
 Politics of Greece from the Persian to the Peloponnesian War. 
 By W. Wat kiss Lloyd. Two Vols. Svo. 21s 
 " No such account of Greek art 0/ the best period has yet been brought 
 
 together in an English work Mr. Lloyd has pi oduced a book of 
 
 unusual excellence and interest."— Fall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Macarthur. — HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, By Margaret 
 Macarthur. Being the Third Volume of the Historical Course 
 for Schools, Edited by Edward A. Freeman, D.C.L. Second 
 Edition. iSmo. 2s.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 17 
 
 "It is an excellent summary, unimpeachable as io facts, and putting 
 them in the clearest and most impartial light attainable." — Guardian. 
 " No previous History oj Scotland of the same bulk is anything- like so 
 trustworthy, or deserves to be so extensively used as a text-book.'" — GLOBE. 
 
 Macmillan (Rev. Hugh). — For other Works by same Author, 
 see Theological and Scientific Catalogues. 
 
 HOLIDAYS ON HIGH LANDS ; or, Rambles and Incidents in 
 search of Alpine Plants. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 
 Globe Svo. cloth. 6s. 
 ' ' Botanical knowledge is blended with a love of nature, a pious en- 
 thusiasm, and a rich felicity of diction not to be met with hi any works 
 of kindred character, if we except those of Hugh Miller." — Telegraph. 
 " Mr. Macmillan s glenving pictures of Scandinavian scenery." — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 Macready. — MACREADY'S REMINISCENCES AND SE- 
 LECTIONS FROM HIS DIARIES AND LETTERS. Edited 
 by Sir F. Pollock, Bart., one of his Executors. With Four 
 Portraits engraved by Jeens. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 
 Svo. ys. 6d. 
 " As a careful and for the most part just estimate of the stage during 
 a very brilliant petiod, the attraction of these volumes can scarcely be 
 surpassed. .... Readers who have no special interest in theatrical 
 matters, but enjoy miscellaneous gossip, will be allured from page to page, 
 attracted by familiar names and by observations upon popular actors and 
 authors. " — Spectator. 
 
 Mahaffy. — Works by the Rev. J. P. Mahaffy, M.A., "Fellow of 
 Trinity College, Dublin : — 
 
 SOCIAL LIFE IN GREECE FROM HOMER TO MENAN- 
 DER. Third Edition, revised and enlarged, with a new chapter 
 on Greek Art. Crown Svo. 9^. 
 
 " It should be in the hands of all who desire thoroughly to understand 
 and to enjoy Greek literature, and to get an intelligent idea of the old Greek 
 life, political, social, and religious." — Guardian. 
 
 RAMBLFS AND STUDIES IN GREECE. With Illustrations. 
 
 Crown Svo. \os. 6d. New and enlarged Edition, with Map and 
 
 Illustrations 
 "A singularly instructive and agreeable volume." — Athen.eum. 
 
 " Maori." — SPORT AND WORK ON THE NEPAUL FRON- 
 TIER ; or, Twelve Years' Sporting Reminiscences of an Indigo 
 Planter. By "Maori." With Map and Illustrations. 8vo. 
 
 [Immediately , 
 
 Margary.— THE TOURNEY OF AUGUSTUS RAYMOND 
 MARGARY FROM SHANGHAE TO BHAMO AND BACK 
 TO MANWYNE. From his Journals and Letters, with a brief 
 
 B
 
 18 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Biographical Preface, a concluding chapter by Sir Rutherford 
 
 Alcock, K.C.B. , and a Steel Portrait engraved by Jeens, and 
 
 Map. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 " There is a manliness, a cheerful spirit, an inherent vigour which 
 
 was never overcome by sickness or debility, a tact -which co?iquered the 
 
 prejudices of a strange and suspicious population, a quiet self-reliance, 
 
 always combined with deep religious feeling, unalloyed by either priggish- 
 
 ness, cant, or superstition, that ought to commend this volume to readers 
 
 sitting quietly at home who feel any pride in the high estimation accorded 
 
 to men of their race at Yarkand or at Khiva, in the heart of Africa, or 
 
 on the shores of Lake Seri-kul." — Saturday Review. 
 
 Martin.— THE HISTORY OF LLOYD'S, AND OF MARINE 
 INSURANCE IN GREAT BRITAIN. With an Appendix 
 containing Statistics relating to Marine Insurance. By Frederick 
 Martin, Author of "The Statesman's Year Book." 8vo. 14s. 
 " We have in the editor of the 'Statesman's Year Book' an in- 
 dustrious and conscientious guide, and we can certijy that in his ' History 
 of Lloyd's' he has produced a work of more than passing interest." — 
 Times. 
 
 Martineau. — BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, 1852— 1875. 
 By Harriet Martineau. With Additional Sketches, and Auto- 
 biographical Sketch. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " Miss Martineau' s large literary powers and her fine intellectual 
 
 training mahe these little sketches 7)iore instructive, and constitute them 
 
 more genuinely works of art, than many more ambitious and diffuse 
 
 biographies. "— Fortnightly Review. 
 
 Masson (David).— For other Works by same Author, see Philo- 
 sophical and Belles Lettres Catalogues. 
 
 CHATTERTON : A Story of the Year 1770. By David Masson, 
 LL.D., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in the Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh. Crown Svo. $s. 
 " One of this popular writer's best essays on the English poets." — 
 Standard. 
 
 THE THREE DEVILS : Luther's, Goethe's, and Milton's ; and 
 other Essays. Crown Svo. $s. 
 
 WORDSWORTH, SHELLEY, AND KEATS; and other 
 Essays. Crown Svo. $s. 
 
 Maurice. — THE FRIENDSHIP OF BOOKS j AND OTHER 
 LECTURES. By the Rev. F. D. Maurice. Edited with Pre- 
 face, by Thomas Hughes, Q.C. Crown Svo. 10s. 6d. 
 " The high, pure, sympathetic, and truly charitable nature of Mr. 
 Maurice is delightfully visible throughout these lectures, which are ex- 
 cellently adaptea to spread a love of literature amongst the people" — 
 Daily News.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 19 
 
 Mayor (J. E. B.)— WORKS edited by John E. B. Mayor, 
 M.A., Kennedy Professor of Latin at Cambridge :— 
 
 CAMBRIDGE IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Part II. 
 Autobiography of Matthew Robinson. Fcap. 8vo. $s. 6d. 
 
 LIFE OF BISHOP BEDELL. By his Son. Fcap. 8vo. 3* 6d. 
 
 Melbourne. — MEMOIRS OF THE RT. HON WILLIAM, 
 
 SECOND VISCOUNT MELBOURNE. By W. M. Torrens, 
 
 M.P. With Portrait after Sir. T. Lawrence. Second Edition. 
 
 2 Vols. 8vo. 325. 
 
 " As might be expected, he has produced a book which will command 
 
 and rnvard attention. It contains a great deal of valuable 7natter and 
 
 a great deal of animated, elegant writing."— Quarterly Review. 
 
 Mendelssohn.— LETTERS AND RECOLLECTIONS. By 
 Ferdinand Hiller. Translated by M. E. Von Glehn. With 
 Portrait from a Drawing by Karl Muller, never before pub- 
 lished. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. 
 " This is a very interesting addition to our kn end edge of the great 
 German composer. It reveals him to us under a ?iezv light, as the warm- 
 hearted comrade, the musician whose soul was in his work, and the home- 
 loving, domestic man." — Standard. 
 
 Merewether. — BY SEA AND BY LAND. Being a Trip 
 
 through Egypt, India, Ceylon, Australia, New Zealand, and 
 America— all Round the World. By Henry Alworth Mere- 
 wether, one of Her Majesty's Counsel. Crown 8vo. 8.r. 6d. 
 
 Michael Angelo Buonarotti ; Sculptor, Painter, Architect. 
 
 The Story of his Life and Labours. By C. C. Black, M.A. 
 
 Illustrated by 20 Permanent Photographs. Royal Svo. cloth 
 
 elegant, 31J. 6d. 
 " The story of Michael Angelo s life remains interesting whatever be the 
 manner of telling it, and supported as it is by this beautiful series of photo- 
 graphs, the volume must take rank among the most splendid of Christmas 
 books, fitted to serve and to outlive the season ." — Pall Mall Gazette; 
 
 Michelet— A SUMMARY OF MODERN HISTORY. Trans- 
 lated from the French of M. Michelet, and continued to the 
 present time by M. C. M. Simpson. Globe Svo. 4^. 6a. 
 " We are glad to see one of the ablest and most useful summaries of 
 
 European history put into the hands of English readers. The tj-ansla- 
 
 tion is excellent." — Standard. 
 
 Milton. — LIFE OF JOHN MILTON. Narrated in connection 
 
 with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of his Time. 
 By David Masson, M.A., LL.D., Professor of Rhetoric and 
 English Literature in the University of Edinburgh. With Portraits. 
 Vol. I. iSs. Vol. II., 1638— 1643. 8vo. i6i-. Vol. III. 
 1643— 1649. Svo. iSs. Vols. IV. and V. 1649— 1660. 32J. 
 
 B 2
 
 2o MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 This -work is not only a Biography, but also a continuous Political, Eccle- 
 siastical, and Litei-ary History of England through Milton's whole time. 
 
 Mitfbrd (A. B.)— TALES OF OLD JAPAN. By A. B. 
 Mitford, Second Secretary to the British Legation in Japan. 
 With upwards of 30 Illustrations, drawn and cut on Wood by 
 Japanese Artists. New and Cheaper Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " These very original volumes will always be interesting as memorials 
 of a most exceptional society, while regarded simply as tales, they are 
 sparkling, sensational, and dramatic, and the originality of their idea 
 and the quainlness of their language give them a most captivating 
 piquancy. The illustrations are extremely interesting, and for the 
 curious in such matters have a special and particular value." — Pall 
 Mall Gazette. 
 
 Monteiro. — ANGOLA AND THE RIVER CONGO. By 
 Joachim Monteiro. With numerous Illustrations from Sketches 
 taken on the spot, and a Map. Two Vols, crown 8vo z\s. 
 " Gives the first detailed account of a part of tropical Africa which is 
 
 little knownto Englishmen The remarks on the geography aud 
 
 zoology of the country and the manners and customs of the various races 
 inhabiting it, are extremely curious and interesting.'''' — SATURDAY Re- 
 view. ' ' Full of valuable information and much picturesque description. " 
 Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Morison. — THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SAINT BERNARD, 
 Abbot of Clairvaux. By Jaihtes jotter Morison, M.A. New 
 Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 The Pall Mall Gazette calls this " A delightful and instructive 
 
 volume, and one of the best products of the modern historic spirit."" 
 
 Murray. — ROUND ABOUT FRANCE. By E. C. Grenville 
 Murray. Crown 8vo. "js. 6d. 
 '' These short essays area perfect mine of information as to the present 
 condition and future prospects of political parties in France. . . . It is 
 at once extremely interesting and exceptionally instructive on a subject on 
 which few English people are well informed." — SCOTSMAN. 
 
 Napoleon. — THE HISTORY OF NAPOLEON L By P. 
 
 Lanfrey. A Translation with the sanction of the Author. Vols. 
 
 I. II. and III. 8vo. price \zs. each. 
 
 The Pall Mall Gazette says it is " one of the most striking 
 
 pieces of historical composition of which France has to boast," and the 
 
 Saturday Review calls it "an excellent translation of a work on every 
 
 ground deserving to be translated. It is unquestionably and immeasurably 
 
 the best that has been produced. It is in fact the only work to which we 
 
 can turn for an accurate and trustworthy narrative of that extraordinary 
 
 career. . . . The book is the best and indeed the only trustworthy history 
 
 of Napoleon which has been written."
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 21 
 
 Nash. — OREGON ; There and Back in 1877. By Wallis Nash. 
 With Map and Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 7-r. 6d. 
 " This unpretentious little volume is a bright and very clever record of 
 a journey which the author made to Oregon . . . which will tell any one 
 ?vho reads it a very great deal worth knowing about Oregon .... Alto- 
 gether, he has written an interesting and amusing book." — SPECTATOR. 
 
 Nichol. — TABLES OF EUROPEAN LITERATURE AND 
 HISTORY, a.d. 200—1876. By J. Nichol, LL.D., 
 Professor of English Language and Literature, Glasgow. 4to. 
 6s. 6d. 
 
 TABLES OF ANCIENT LITERATURE AND HISTORY, 
 B.C. 1500 — a.d. 200. By the same Author. 4to. ^s. 6d. 
 
 Oliphant (Mrs.). — THE MAKERS OF FLORENCE : Dante 
 Giotto, Savonarola, and their City. By Mrs. Oliphant. With 
 numerous Illustrations from drawings by Professor Delamotte, 
 and portrait of Savonarola, engraved by Jeens. Second Edition. 
 Medium 8vo. Cloth extra. 21 s. 
 " Mrs. Oliphant has made a beautiful addition to the mass of literature 
 already piled round the records of the Tuscan capital." — TIMES 
 
 " We are grateful to Mrs. Oliphant for her eloquent and beautiful 
 sketches of Dante, Fra Angelico, and Savonarola. They are picturesque, 
 full of life, and rich in detail, and they are charmingly illustrated by the 
 art of the engraver." —Spectator. 
 
 Oliphant. — THE DUKE AND THE SCHOLAR; and othe 
 Essays. By T. L. Kington Oliphant. 8vo. Js. 6d. 
 " This volume contains one of the most beautiful biographical essays we 
 have seen since Macaulay's days." — Standard. 
 
 Otte. — SCANDINAVIAN HISTORY. By E. C. Otte. With 
 Maps. Extra fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 " We have peculiar pleasure in recommending this intelligent resume 
 of Northern history as a book essential to ruery Englishman who interests 
 himself in Scandinavia."— SPECTATOR. 
 
 Owens College Essays and Addresses. — By Pro- 
 
 FESSORS AND LECTURERS OF OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER. 
 
 Published in Commemoration of the Opening of the New College 
 Buildings, October 7th, 1873. 8vo. 14J. 
 
 Palgrave (R. F. D.)— THE HOUSE OF COMMONS; 
 Illustrations of its History and Practice. By REGINALD F. D. 
 Palgrave, Clerk Assistant of the House of Commons. New 
 and Revised Edition. Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.
 
 22 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Palgrave (Sir F.)— HISTORY OF NORMANDY AND 
 OF ENGLAND. By Sir Francis Palgrave, Deputy Keeper 
 of Her Majesty's Public Records. Completing the History to the 
 Death of William Rufus. Vols. I. — IV. 21s. each. 
 
 Palgrave (W. G.) — A NARRATIVE OF A YEAR'S 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH CENTRAL AND EASTERN 
 
 ARABIA, 1862-3. By William Gifford Palgrave, late of 
 
 the Eighth Regiment Bombay N. I. Sixth Edition. With Maps, 
 
 Plans, and Portrait of Author, engraved on steel by Jeens. Crown 
 
 8vo. 6s. 
 
 " He has not only 'written one of the best books on the Arabs and one 
 
 of the best books on Arabia, but he has done so in a manner that must 
 
 command the respect no less than the admiration of his fellow-comilry- 
 
 men."— Fortnightly Review. 
 
 ESSAYS ON EASTERN QUESTIONS. By W. Gifford 
 
 Palgrave. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 " These essays are full of anecdote and interest. The book is decidedly 
 a valuable addition to the stock of literature on which men must 
 base their opinion of the difficult social and political problems sug- 
 gested by the designs of Russia, the capacity of Mahometans for 
 sovereignty, and the good government and retention of India." — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 DUTCH GUIANA. With Maps and Plans. Svo. gs. 
 "His pages are nearly exhaustive as far as facts and statistics go, 
 while they are lightened by graphic social sketches as -well as sparkling 
 descriptions of scenery."— Saturday Review. 
 
 Patteson.— LIFE AND LETTERS OF JOHN COLERIDGE 
 
 PATTESON, D.D., Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands. 
 
 By Charlotte M. Yonge, Author of " The Heir of Redclyffe." 
 
 With Portraits after Richmond and from Photograph, engraved by 
 
 Jeens. With Map. Fifth Edition. Two Vols. Crown Svo. I2j. 
 
 ' ' Miss Yonge 's work is in one respect a model biography. It is made 
 
 up almost entirely of Patteson' s own letters. Aware that he had left his 
 
 home once and for all, Ids correspondence took the for m of a diary, and 
 
 as we read on we come to know the man, and to love him almost as if we 
 
 had seen him." — Athen.-eum. "Such a life, with its grand lessons of 
 
 unselfishness, is a blessing and an honour to the age in which it is Uvea ; 
 
 the biography cannot be studied without pleasure and profit, and indeed 
 
 we should think little of the man who did not rise from the study of it 
 
 better and wiser. Neither the Church nor the nation which produces 
 
 such sons need ever despair of its future."— -Saturday Review. 
 
 Pauli. — PICTURES OF OLD ENGLAND. By Dr. Reinhold 
 Pauli. Translated, with the approval of the Author, by E. C. 
 Otte. Cheaper Edition. Crown Svo. 6s.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 23 
 
 Payne. — A HISTORY OF EUROPEAN COLONIES. By 
 E. T. Payne, M.A. With Maps. i8mo. 45. 6d. 
 
 The Times says: — " We have seldom met with a historian capable oj 
 forming a more comprehensive, jar-seeing, and unprejudiced estimate of 
 events and peoples, and we can commend this little work as one certain to 
 prove of the highest interest to all thoughtful readers." 
 
 Persia. — EASTERN PERSIA. An Account of the Journeys of 
 the Persian Boundary Commission, 1870-1-2. — Vol. I. The Geo- 
 graphy, with Narratives by Majors St. John, Lovett, and Euan 
 Smith, and an Introduction by Major-General Sir Frederic 
 Goldsmid, C.B., K.C.S.I., British Commissioner and Arbitrator. 
 With Maps and Illustrations. — Vol. II. The Zoology and Geology. 
 By W. T. Blantord, A.R.S.M., F.R.S. With Coloured Illus- 
 trations. Two Vols. 8vo. 42J. 
 " The volumes largely increase our store of information about 
 countries with 'which Englishmen ought to be familiar. .... 
 They throw into the shade all that hitherto has appeared in our tongue 
 respecting the local features of Persia, its scenery, its resources, even its 
 social condition. They contain also abundant evidence of English 
 endurance, daring, and spirit." — Times. 
 
 Prichard. — THE ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. From 
 1859 to 1868. The First Ten Years of Administration under the 
 Crown. By I. T. Prichard, Barrister-at-Law. Two Vols* 
 Demy 8vo. With Map. 2 is. 
 
 Raphael.— RAPHAEL OF URBINO AND HIS FATHER 
 GIOVANNI SANTI. By J. D. Passavant, formerly Director 
 of the Museum at Frankfort. With Twenty Permanent Photo- 
 graphs. Royal 8vo. Handsomely bound. 3U. 6<£ 
 The Saturday Review says of them, " We have seen not a few 
 
 elegant specimens of Air. Woodbury 's neiu process, but we have seen 
 
 none thai eqtial these." 
 
 Reynolds.— SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS AS A PORTRAIT 
 PAINTER. AN ESSAY. By J. Churton Collins, B.A. 
 Balliol College, Oxford. Illustrated by a Series of Portraits of 
 distinguished Beauties of the Court of George III. ; reproduced 
 in Autotype from Proof Impressions of the celebrated Engravings, 
 by Valentine Green, Thomas Watson, F. R. Smith, E. 
 Fisher, and others. Folio half-morocco. £$ $s. 
 
 Rogers (James E. Thorold).— HISTORICAL GLEAN- 
 INGS : A Series of Sketches. Montague, Walpole, Adam Smith, 
 Cobbett. By Prof. Rogers. Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. Second Series. 
 Wiklif, Laud, Wilkes, and Home Tooke. Crown 8vo. 6s.
 
 24 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS f/V 
 
 Routledge. — chapters in the history of popular 
 
 PROGRESS IN ENGLAND, chiefly in Relation to the Freedom 
 of the Press and Trial by Jury, 1660 — 1820. With application to 
 later years. By J. Routledge. 8vo. 16s. 
 " The volume abounds in facts and information, almost always useful 
 and often curious." — Times. 
 
 Rumford. — COUNT RUMFORD'S COMPLETE WORKS, 
 with Memoir, and Notices of his Daughter. By George Ellis. 
 Five Vols. 8vo. 4/. 14J. 6d. 
 
 Seeley (Professor). — LECTURES and ESSAYS. By 
 
 J. R. Seeley, M.A. Professor of Modern History in the 
 University of Cambridge. 8vo. iar. 6d. 
 Contents: — Roman Imperialism: 1. The Great Roinan Revolu- 
 tion ; 2. The Proxi?nate Cause of the Fall of the Roman Empire ; 
 The Later Empire. — Milton's Political Opinions — Milton's Poetry 
 — Elementary Principles in Art — Liberal Education in Universities 
 — English in Schools — The Church as a Teacher of Morality — The 
 Teaching of Politics : an Inaugural Lecture delivered at Cambridge. 
 
 Shelburne.— LIFE OF WILLIAM, EARL OF SHELBURNE, 
 
 AFTERWARDS FIRST MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE. 
 
 With Extracts from his Papers and Correspondence. By Lord 
 
 Edmond Fitzmaurice. In Three Vols. Svo. Vol. I. 1737 — 
 
 1766, 12s. ; Vol. II. 1766— 1776, 12s. ; Vol. III. 1776— 1805. 
 
 16s. 
 
 "Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice has succeeded in placing before us a 
 
 •wealth of new matter, which, while casting valuable and much-needed 
 
 light on several obscure passages in the political history of a hundred 
 
 years ago, has enabled us for the first time to form a clear and consistent 
 
 idea of his ancestor." — SPECTATOR. 
 
 Sime. — HISTORY OF GERMANY. By James Sime, M.A. 
 
 i8mo. 3.V. Being Vol. V. of the Historical Course for Schools, 
 
 Edited by Edward A. Freeman, D.C.L. 
 
 " This is a remai kably clear and impressive History of Germany. Its 
 
 great ez'ents are wisely kept as central figures, and the smaller events are 
 
 carefully kept not only subordinate and subservient, but most skilfully 
 
 woven into the texture of the historical tapestry presented to the eye." — 
 
 Standard. 
 
 Squier. — PERU : INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL AND EX- 
 PLORATION IN THE LAND OF THE INCAS. By E. G. 
 
 Squier, M.A., F.S.A., late U.S. Commissioner to Peru. With 
 300 Illustrations. Second Edition. Svo. 2ls. 
 The Times says: — " No more solid and trustworthy contribution had 
 been made to an accurate knowledge of what are among the most wonderful 
 ruins in the world. .... The work is really what its title implies.
 
 HIS TOR Y, BIO GRA PH V, TRA VELS, ETC. 25 
 
 While of the greatest importance as a contribution to Peruvian arclicEology, 
 it is also a thoroughly entertaining and instructive na)-rative of travel. 
 .... Not the least important feature must be considered the numerous 
 well executed illustrations." 
 
 Strangford.— EGYPTIAN SHRINES AND SYRIAN SEPUL- 
 CHRES, including a Visit to Palmyra. By Emily A. Beaufort 
 (Viscountess Strangford), Author of "The Eastern Shores of 
 the Adriatic." New Edition. Crown 8vo. "]s. 6d. 
 
 Tait.— AN ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY, based upon 
 Green's " Short History of the English People." By C. W. A. 
 Tait, M.A., Assistant Master, Clifton College. Crownj 8vo. 
 35. 6d. 
 
 Thomas. — THE LIFE OF JOHN THOMAS, Surgeon of the 
 "Earl of Oxford" East Indiaman, and First Baptist Missionary to 
 Bengal. By C. B. Lewis, Baptist Missionary. 8vo. ioj-. 6d. 
 
 Thompson. — HISTORY OF ENGLAND. By Edith Thomp- 
 son. Being Vol. II. of the Historical Course for Schools, Edited 
 by Edward A. Freeman, D. C. L. New Edition, revised and 
 enlarged, with Maps. i8mo. is. 6d. 
 " Freedom from prejudice, simplicity of style, and accuracy of state- 
 ment, are the characteristics of this volume. It is a trustworthy text-booh, 
 and likely to be generally serviceable in schools." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 " In its great accuracy and correctness of detail it stands far ahead of the 
 general run of school manuals. Its arratigement, too, is clear, and its 
 style simple and straight/orzvard."SATVRT>AY Review. 
 
 Todhunter. — THE CONFLICT OF STUDIES ; AND 
 OTHER ESSAYS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH 
 EDUCATION. By Isaac Todhunter, M.A., F.R.S., late 
 Fellow and Principal Mathematical Lecturer of St. John's College, 
 Cambridge. 8vo. ioj. 6d. 
 Contents : — /. The Conft 'ict of Studies. II. Competitive Exa- 
 minations. III. Private Study of Mathematics. IV. Academical 
 Reform. V. Elementary Geometry. VI. The Mathematical Tripos. 
 
 Trench (Archbishop). — For other Works by the same Author, 
 
 see Theological and Belles Lettres Catalogues, and 
 
 page 30 of this Catalogue. 
 GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS IN GERMANY, and other Lectures 
 
 on the Thirty Years' War. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 
 PLUTARCH, HIS LIFE, HIS LIVES. AND HIS MORALS. 
 
 Five Lectures. Second Edition, enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. 3-r. 6d. 
 LECTURES ON MEDIEVAL CHURCH HISTORY. Being 
 
 the substance of Lectures delivered in Queen's College, London. 
 
 Svo. 12s.
 
 26 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF WORKS IN 
 
 Trench (Maria). — THE LIFE OF ST. TERESA. By Maria 
 Trench. With Portrait engraved by Jeens. Crown 8vo. cloth 
 extra. Ss. 6d. 
 "A book of rare interest" — John Bull. 
 
 Trench (Mrs. R.)— REMAINS OF THE LATE MRS. 
 RICHARD TRENCH. Being Selections from her Journals, 
 Letters, and other Papers. Edited by Archbishop Trench. 
 New and Cheaper Issue, with Portrait. 8vo. 6s. 
 
 Trollope. — A HISTORY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF 
 FLORENCE FROM THE EARLIEST INDEPENDENCE 
 OF THE COMMUNE TO THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC 
 IN 1S3L By T. Adolphus Trollope. 4 Vols. Svo. Half 
 morocco. 21 s. 
 
 Uppingham by the Sea. — a narrative OF THE 
 
 YEAR AT BORTH. By J. H. S. Crown Svo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 Wallace.— THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO: the Land of the 
 
 Orang Utan and the Bird of Paradise. By Alfred Russel 
 
 Wallace. A Narrative of Travel with Studies of Man and 
 
 Nature. With Maps and numerous Illustrations. Fifth Edition. 
 
 Crown 8vo. "Js. 6d. 
 
 ' ' The result is a vivid picture of tropical life, -which may be read with 
 
 unflagging interest, and a sufficient account of his scientific conclusions to 
 
 stimulate otir appetite without wearying us by detail. In short, we may 
 
 safely say that we have never read a more agreeable book of its kind." — 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 Ward.— A HISTORY OF ENGLISH DRAMATIC LITERA- 
 TURE TO THE DEATH OF QUEEN ANNE. By A. W. 
 Ward, M.A., Professor of History and English Literature in 
 Owens College, Manchester. Two Vols. Svo. 32s. 
 " As full of interest as of information. To students of aramatic 
 
 literature invaluable, and may be equally recommended to readers for 
 
 mere pastime.'" — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Ward (J.) — EXPERIENCES OF A DIPLOMATIST. Being 
 recollections of Germany founded on Diaries kept during the years 
 1S40— 1870. By John Ward, C.B., late H.M. Minister- 
 Resident to the Hanse Towns. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 WedgWOOd. — JOHN WESLEY AND THE EVANGELICAL 
 REACTION of" the Eighteenth Century. By Julia Wedgwood. 
 Crown Svo. 8j. 6d. 
 " In style and intellectual power, in breadth of viau and clearness oj 
 
 insight, Miss Wedgwood's book far surpasses all rivals" — Athenaeum.
 
 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVELS, ETC. 27 
 
 Whewell.— WILLIAM WHEWELL, D.D., late Master of 
 Trinity College, Cambridge. An Account of his Writings, with 
 Selections from his Literary and Scientific Correspondence. By 
 I. Todhunter, M.A., F.R.S. Two Vols. 8vo. 25J. 
 
 White. — THE NATURAL HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES 
 OF SELBORNE. By Gilbert White. Edited, with Memoir 
 and Notes, by Frank Buckland, A Chapter on Antiquities by 
 Lord Selborne, Map, &c, and numerous Illustrations by 
 P. H. Delamotte. Royal 8vo. Cloth, extra gilt. Cheaper 
 Issue. 2 1 s. 
 Also a Large Paper Edition, containing, in addition to the above, 
 upwards of Thirty Woodburytype Illustrations from Drawings by 
 Prof. Delamotte. Two Vols. 4to. Half morocco, elegant. 4I. 4s. 
 " Mr. Delamotte s charming illustrations are a worthy decoration of so 
 
 aainty a book. They bring Selborne before us, and really help us to 
 
 understand why White's love for his native place never grew cold." — 
 
 Times. 
 
 Wilson. — A MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON, M. D., 
 F.R.S.E., Regius Professor of Technology in the University of 
 Edinburgh. By his Sister. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " An exquisite and touching portrait of a rare and beautiful spirit." — 
 Guardian. 
 
 Wilson (Daniel, LL.D.) — Works by Daniel Wilson, 
 LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature in University 
 College, Toronto : — 
 
 PREHISTORIC ANNALS OF SCOTLAND. New Edition, 
 
 with numerous Illustrations. Two Vols, demy 8vo. 36^. 
 " One of the most interesting, learned, and elegant works we have 
 seen for a long time." — Westminster Review. 
 
 PREHISTORIC MAN : Researches into the Origin of Civilization 
 in the Old and New World. New Edition, revised and enlarged 
 throughout, with numerous Illustrations and two Coloured Plates. 
 Two Vols. 8vo. 36.C 
 
 ' ' A valuable work pleasantly tvritten and well worthy of attention 
 both by students and general readers." — Academy. 
 
 CIIATTERTON : A Biographical Study. By Daniel Wilson, 
 LL.D., Professor of History and English Literature in University 
 College, Toronto. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 
 Wyatt (Sir M. Digby). — FINE ART: a Sketch of its 
 History, Theory, Practice, and application to Industry. A Course 
 of Lectures delivered before the University of Cambridge. By 
 Sir M. Digby Wyatt, M.A. Slade Professor of Fine Art. 
 Cheaper Issue. 8vo. $s.
 
 2& MACAf/LLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 "An excellent handbook for the student of art." — GRAPHIC. " The 
 book abounds in valuable matter, and will therefore be read with 
 pleasure and profit by lovers of art." — Daily News. 
 
 Yonge (Charlotte M.) — Works by Charlotte M. Yonge, 
 Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe," &c. &c. :— 
 
 A PARALLEL HISTORY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND : 
 
 consisting of Outlines and Dates. Oblong 4to. 3-r. 6d. 
 
 CAMEOS FROM ENGLISH HISTORY. From Rollo to Edward 
 II. Extra fcap. 8vo. Third Edition. 5^. 
 
 A Second Series, THE WARS IN FRANCE. Extra fcap. 
 8vo. Third Edition. 5J. 
 
 A Third Series, THE WARS OF THE ROSES. Extra 
 fcap. 8vo. $s. 
 " Instead of dry details" says the Nonconformist, " we have living 
 pictures, faithful, vivid, and striking." 
 
 Young (Julian Charles, M.A.)— a MEMOIR OF 
 
 CHARLES MAYNE YOUNG, Tragedian, with Extracts 
 
 from his Son's Journal. By Julian Charles Young, M.A. 
 
 Rector of Ilmington. With Portraits and Sketches. New and 
 
 Cheaper Edition, Crown 8vo. Js. 6d. 
 "In this budget of anecdotes, fables, and gossip, old and new, relative to 
 Scott, Moore, Chalmers, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Croker, Mathews, the 
 third a?id fourth Georges, Bowles, Beck ford, lockhart, Wellington, Peel, 
 Louis Napoleon, L> 'Or say, Dickens, Thackeray, Louis Blanc, Gibson, 
 Constable, and Stanfield, etc. etc., the reader must be hard indeed to please 
 who cannot find entertainment." — I 'all Mall Gazette.
 
 WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 29 
 
 POLITICS, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL 
 ECONOMY, LAW, AND KINDRED 
 SUBJECTS. 
 
 Anglo Saxon Law. — ESSAYS IN. Contents : Law Courts 
 — Land and Family Laws and Legal Procedure generally. With 
 Select cases. Medium 8vo. \Zs. 
 
 Ball. — THE STUDENT'S GUIDE TO THE BAR. By 
 Walter W. Ball, M.A., of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at- 
 Law. Crown Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 " The student will here find a clear statement of the several steps by 
 
 which the degree of barrister is obtained, and also useful advice about 
 
 the advantages of a prolonged course of ' reading in Chambers. ' " — 
 
 Academy. 
 
 Bernard. — FOUR LECTURES ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED 
 WITH DIPLOMACY. By Montague Bernard, M.A., 
 Chichele Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, Oxford. 
 Svo. 9s. 
 
 " Singularly interesting lectures, so able, clear, and attractive." — Spec- 
 tator. 
 
 Eright (John, M. P.)— SPEECHES ON QUESTIONS OF 
 PUBLIC POLICY. By the Right Hon. John Bright, M.P. 
 Edited by Professor Thorold Rogers. Author's Popular Edition. 
 Globe 8vo. 3-r. 6d. 
 "Mr. B right's speeches zaill always deserve to be studied, as an 
 apprenticeship to popular and parliamentary oratory ; they will form 
 materials for the history of our time, and many brilliant passages, 
 perhaps some entire speeches, will really become a part of the living litera- 
 ture of England." — Daily News. 
 
 LIBRARY EDITION. Two Vols. 8vo. With Portrait. 2$s. 
 
 Bucknill. — HABITUAL DRUNKENNESS AND INSANE 
 DRUNKARDS. By J. C. Bucknill, M.D., F.R.S., late 
 Lord Chancellor's Visitor of Lunatics. Crown Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Caimes. — Works by J. E. Cairnes, M.A., Emeritus Professor of 
 Political Economy in University College, London. 
 
 ESSAYS IN POLITICAL ECONOMY, THEORETICAL 
 and APPLIED. By J. E. Cairnes, M.A., Professor of Political 
 Economy in University College, London. 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 " The production of one of the ablest of living economists." — Athe- 
 n/eum.
 
 3 o MACMILLAJSPS CATALOGUE OF 
 
 CaimeS. — continued. 
 
 POLITICAL ESSAYS. 8vo. iar. 6d. 
 
 The Saturday Review says; — " We recently expressed our high 
 admiration of the former volume ; and the present one is no less remark- 
 able for the qualities of clear statement, sound logic, and candid treat- 
 ment of opponents which were conspicuous in its predecessor. . . . We 
 may safely say that nojte of Mr. Mill's many disciples is a worthier repre- 
 sentative of the best qualities of their master than Professor Cairnes." 
 
 SOME LEADING PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 
 NEWLY EXPOUNDED. 8vo. 14s. 
 
 Contents : — Tart I. Value. Part II. Labour and Capital. Part 
 III. International Trade. 
 
 "A work which is perhaps the most valuable contribution to the science 
 viade since the publication, a quarter of a century since, of Mr. Mill's 
 1 Trinciples of Political Economy.' 1 " — Daily News. 
 
 THE CHARACTER AND LOGICAL METHOD OF POLI- 
 TICAL ECONOMY. New Edition, enlarged. 8vo. -js. 6d. 
 
 " These lectures are admirably fitted to correct the slipshod generaliza- 
 tions which pass current as the science of Political Economy." — Times. 
 
 Clarke.— EARLY ROMAN LAW. THE REGAL PERIOD. 
 By E. C. Clarke, M.A., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, 
 Lecturer in Law and Regius Professor of Civil Law at Cam- 
 bridge. Crown 8vo. $s. 
 "Mr. Clarke+has brought together a great mass of valuable niatter in 
 
 an accessible form." — Saturday Review. 
 
 Cobden (Richard). — SPEECHES ON QUESTIONS OF 
 PUBLIC POLICY. By Richard Cobden. Edited by the 
 Right Hon. John Bright, M.P., and J. E. Thorold Rogers. 
 Popular Edition. Svo. 35. 6d. 
 
 Fawcett. — Works by Henry Fawcett, M.A., M.P., Fellow of 
 Trinity Hall, and Professor of Political Economy in the University 
 of Cambridge : — 
 THE ECONOMIC POSITION OF THE BRITISH 
 
 LABOURER. Extra fcap. Svo. $s. 
 MANUAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. Fifth Edition, with 
 New Chapters on the Depreciation of Silver, etc. Crown Svo. 
 1 is. 
 The Daily News says: "It forms one of the best introductions to the 
 trinciples of the science, and to its practical applications in the problems 
 of modern, and especially of English, government and society." 
 
 PAUPERISM : ITS CAUSES AND REMEDIES. Crown 8vo. 
 
 5*. 6d. 
 The Athenaeum calls the work "a repertory of interesting and well 
 digested information."
 
 WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 31 
 
 Fawcett. — continued. 
 
 SPEECHES ON SOME CURRENT POLITICAL QUES- 
 TIONS. 8vo. 1 cm. 6d. 
 
 ' ' They "will help to educate, not perhaps, parties, but the educators of 
 parties. ' ' — D Al LY News. 
 
 ESSAYS ON POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SUBJECTS. By 
 Professor Fawcett, M.P., and Millicent Garrett 
 Fawcett. 8vo. ioj. 6d. 
 " They will all repay the perusal of the thinking reader." — Daily 
 News. 
 
 FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION : an Inquiry into the 
 Causes which have retarded the general adoption of Free Trade 
 since its introduction into England. Svo. "js. 6d. 
 ' ' No greater service can be rendered to the cause of Free Trade than a 
 clear explanation of the principles on which Free Trade rests. Pro- 
 fessor Fawcett has done this in the volume before us with all his habitual 
 clearness op thought and expression." — Economist. 
 
 Fawcett (Mrs.) — Works by Millicent Garrett Fawcett. 
 
 POLITICAL ECONOMY FOR BEGINNERS. WITH QUES- 
 TIONS. New Edition. i8mo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 TJie Daily News calls it "clear, compact, and comprehensive ;" and 
 the Spectator says, "Mrs. Fawcett 's treatise is perfectly suited to its 
 purpose." , 
 
 TALES IN POLITICAL ECONOMY. Crown Svo. 3*. 
 
 " The idea is a good one, and it is quite wonderful what a mass of 
 economic teaching the author manages to compress into a small space. . . The 
 true doctrines of International Trade, Currency, and the ratio between 
 Production and Population, are set before us and illustrated in a masterly 
 manner '." — ATHENAEUM . 
 
 Freeman (E. A.), M.A., D.C.L.— comparative 
 
 POLITICS. Lectures at the Royal Institution, to which is 
 
 added " The Unity of History," being the Rede Lecture delivered 
 
 at Cambridge in 1872. 8vo. 14s. 
 
 " We find in Mr. Freeman's new volume the same sound, careful, 
 
 comprehensive qualities which have long ago raised him to so high a place 
 
 amongst historical writers. For historical discipline, then, as well as 
 
 historical information, Mr. Freeman's book is full of value." — Pall 
 
 Mall Gazette. 
 
 Goschetl.— REPORTS AND SPEECHES ON LOCAL TAXA- 
 TION. By George J. Goschen, M.P. Royal Svo. 5.-. 
 " The volume contains a vast mass of information of the highest value." 
 — ATHENiEUM.
 
 32 MACMILLAJSPS CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Guide to the Unprotected, in Every Day Matters Re- 
 lating to Property and Income. By a Banker's Daughter. 
 Fourth Edition, Revised. Extra fcap. Svo. ^s. 6d. 
 "Many an unprotected female will bless the head which planned and 
 
 the hand which compiled this admirable little manual. . . . This book 
 
 was very much -wanted, and it could not have been better done." — 
 
 Morning Star. 
 
 Hamilton. — MONEY AND VALUE: "an Inquiry into the 
 
 Means and Ends of Economic Production, with an Appendix 
 
 on the Depreciation of Silver and Indian Currency. By Rowland 
 
 Hamilton. Svo. \zs. 
 
 " The subject is here dealt with in a luminous style, and by presenting 
 
 it from a new point of view in connection with the nature and functions 
 
 of money, a genuine service has been rendered to commercial science." — 
 
 British Quarterly Review. 
 
 Harwood. — DISESTABLISHMENT : a Defence of the Principle 
 of a National Church. By George Harwood, M. A. Svo. 12c 
 
 Hill. — Works by Octavia Hii.l :— 
 
 HOMES OF THE LONDON POOR. Extra fcap. Svo. 3*. 6J. 
 ' ' She is clear, practical, and definite." — Globe. 
 
 OUR COMMON LAND; and other Short Essays. Extra fcap. 
 Svo. "\s. 6d. 
 
 Contents : — Our Common Land. District Visiting. A More 
 Excellent Way of Charity. A J lord on Good Citizenship. Open Spaces. 
 Effectual Chanty. The Future of our Commons. 
 
 Historicus. — LETTERS ON SOME QUESTIONS OF 
 INTERNATIONAL LAW. Reprinted from the Times, with 
 considerable Additions. Svo. 7J-. 6d. Also, ADDITIONAL 
 LETTERS. Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Holland.— THE TREATY RELATIONS OF RUSSIA AND 
 TURKEY FROM 1774 TO 1S53. A Lecture delivered at Oxford, 
 April 1S77. By T. E. Holland, D.C.L., Professor of Inter- 
 national Law and Diplomacy, Oxford. Crown Svo. 2s. 
 
 Hughes (Th0S.)— THE OLD CHURCH: WHAT SHALL 
 WE DO WITH IT? By Thomas Hughes, Q.C. Crown 
 Svo. 6s. 
 
 JevonS. — Works by W. Stanley Jevons, M.A., Professor of 
 Political Economy in University College, London. (For other 
 Works by the same Author, see Educational and Philo- 
 sophical Catalogues.)
 
 WORKS IN POLITICS, ETC. 3.3 
 
 J e VO n S. — continued. 
 
 THE COAL QUESTION : An Inquiry Concerning the Progress 
 of the Nation, and the Probable Exhaustion of our Coal Mines. 
 Second Edition, revised. 8vo. iar. 6d. 
 
 THE THEORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 8m gs. 
 
 "Professor fevons has done invaluable service by courageously claiming 
 political ecojioTny to be strictly a branch of Applied Mathematics." 
 — Westminster Review. 
 
 PRIMER OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. i8mo. is. 
 
 Laveleye. — PRIMITIVE PROPERTY. By Emile de 
 Laveleye. Translated by G. R. L.Marriott, LL. B., with an 
 Introduction by T. E. Cliffe Leslie, LL.B. Svo. 12s. 
 " It is almost impossible to over-esii?nate the value of the -well-digested 
 
 knowledge which it contains ; it is one of the most learned books that 
 
 have been contributed to the historical department of the literature of 
 
 economic science. " — Athenaeum. 
 
 Leading Cases done into English. By an Apprentice 
 of Lincoln's Inn. Third Edition. Crown 8vo. zs. 6d. 
 
 "Here is a,rare treat for the lovers of quaint conceits, who in reading 
 this charming little book will find enjoyment in the varied metre and 
 graphic language in which the several tales are told, no less than in the 
 accurate and pithy rendering of some of mir most jamiliar ' Leading 
 Cases.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 Macdonell.— the land ouestion, with special 
 
 REFERENCE TO ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. By 
 John Macdonell, Barrister-at- Law. 8vo. ios.GJ. 
 
 Martin.— THE STATESMAN'S YEAR-BOOK: A Statistical 
 
 and Historical Annual of the States of the Civilized World, 
 
 for the year 1878. By Frederick Martin. Fifteenth Annual 
 
 Publication. Revised after Official Returns. Crown Svo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 The Statesman's Year-Book is the only work in the English language 
 
 'which furnishes a clear and concise account of the actual condition of all 
 
 the States of Europe, the civilized countries of America, Asia, and 
 
 Africa, and the British Colonies and Dependencies in all parts of the 
 
 world. The nezu issue of the work has been rrdsed and corrected, on the 
 
 basis of official reports received direct from the heads of the leading Govei n - 
 
 ments of the world, ifi reply to letters sent to them by the Editor. Through 
 
 the valuable assistance thus given, it has been possible to collect an amount 
 
 of information, political, statistical, and commercial, of the latest date, and 
 
 of unimpeachable trustworthiness, such as no publication of the same 
 
 kind has rvcr been able to furnish. "As indispensable as Sradshaw." — 
 
 Times.
 
 34 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Monahan. — THE METHOD OF LAW: an Essay on the 
 Statement and Arrangement of the Legal Standard of Conduct. 
 By J. H. Monahan, Q.C. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 " Will be found valuable by careful law students who have felt the 
 
 imp07-tance of gaining clear ideas regarding the relations between the parts 
 
 of the complex organism they have to study." — British Quarterly 
 
 Review. 
 
 Paterson. — THE LIBERTY OF THE SUBJECT AND THE 
 LAWS OF ENGLAND RELATING TO THE SECURITY 
 OF THE PERSON. Commentaries on. By James Paterson, 
 M.A. , Barrister at Law, sometime Commissioner for English and 
 Irish Fisheries, etc. Two Vols Crown 8vo. 2ls. 
 " Two or three hours' dipping into these volumes, not to say reading them 
 through, will give legislators and stump orators a knowledge of the liberty 
 of a citizen of their country, in its principles, its fulness, and its modi- 
 fication, such as they probably in nine cases 02tt of ten never Jiad before" 
 — Scotsman. 
 
 Phillimore. — PRIVATE LAW AMONG THE ROMANS, 
 from the Pandects. By John George Phillimore, Q.C. 8vo. 
 \6s. 
 
 Rogers.— COBDEN AND POLITICAL OPINION. By J. E. 
 Thorold Rogers. 8vo. ioj. 6d. 
 " Will be pound most useful by politicians of every school, as it forms a 
 sort of handbook to Cobdeu's leaching." — Athenaeum. 
 
 Stephen (C. E.)— THE SERVICE OF THE POOR; 
 Being an Inquiry into the Reasons for and against the Establish- 
 ment of Religious Sisterhoods for Charitable Purposes. By 
 Caroline Emilia Stephen. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 " The ablest advocate of a better line of work in this direction that we 
 
 have ever seen." — Examiner. 
 
 Stephen.— Works by Sir James F. Stephen, K.C.S.I., Q.C. 
 A DIGEST OF THE LAW OF EVIDENCE. Third Edition 
 with New Preface. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 A DIGEST OF THE CRIMINAL LAW. (Crimes and 
 Punishments.) Svo. i6s. 
 
 " We feel sure that any person of ordinary intelligence who had never 
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 a more perfect conception of its different bearings a more thorough 
 and intelligent insight into its snares and pitfalls, than an ordinary 
 practitioner can boast of after years of study of the ordinary text- 
 books and practical experience of the Courts unassisted by any competent 
 guide." — Saturday Review.
 
 WORKS ON LA NG UA GE. 3 5 
 
 Stubbs. — VILLAGE POLITICS. Addresses and Sermons on 
 the Labour Question. By C. W. Stubbs, M.A., Vicar of 
 Granborough, Bucks. Extra fcap. 8vo. 3-r. 6d. 
 
 Thornton. — Works by W. T. Thornton, C.B., Secretary for 
 Public Works in the India Office : — 
 
 ON LABOUR: Its Wrongful Claims and Rightful Dues; Its 
 Actual Present and Possible Future. Second Edition, revised, 
 8vo. 14?. 
 
 A PLEA FOR PEASANT PROPRIETORS : With the Outlines 
 of a Plan for their Establishment in Ireland. New Edition, 
 revised. Crown 8vo. "js. 6d. 
 
 INDIAN PUBLIC WORKS AND COGNATE INDIAN 
 TOPICS. With Map of Indian Railways. Crown 8vo. 8s. 6d. 
 
 Walker. — Works by F. A. Walker, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of 
 
 Political Economy and History, Yale College : — 
 
 THE WAGES QUESTION. A Treatise on Wages and the 
 Wages Class. 8vo. 14J. 
 
 MONEY. 8vo. \6s. 
 
 " It is painstaking, laborious, and states the question in a clear and 
 very intelligible form. . . . The volume possesses a great value as a sort 
 of encyclopaedia of knowledge on the subject." — ECONOMIST. 
 
 Work about the Five Dials. With an Introductory 
 Note by Thomas Carlyle. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 "A book which abounds with wise and practical suggestions." — Pall 
 Mall Gazette. 
 
 WORKSCONNECTED WITH THE SCIENCE 
 OR THE HISTORY OF LANGUAGE. 
 
 Abbott.— A SIIAKESPERIAN GRAMMAR : An Attempt to 
 illustrate some of the Differences between Elizabethan and Modern 
 English. By the Rev. E, A. Abbott, D. D., Head Master of the 
 City of London School. New and Enlarged Edition. Extra 
 fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 "Valuable not only as an aid to the critical study of Shakespeare, 
 
 but as tending to familiarize the reader with Elizabethan English in 
 
 general. " — Athenaeum. 
 
 Besant.— STUDIES IN EARLY FRENCH POETRY. By 
 
 Walter Besant, M.A. Crown 8vo. 8.r. 6d.
 
 36 MACMILLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Breymann. — a FRENCH GRAMMAR BASED ON PHILO- 
 LOGICAL PRINCIPLES. By Hermann Breymann, Ph.D., 
 Professor of Philology in the University of Munich late Lecturer 
 on French Language and Literature at Owens College, Man. 
 Chester. Extra fcap. 8vo. 4J. 6d: 
 " We dismiss the work with every feeling of satisfaction. It cannot 
 fail to be taken into use by all schools 'which endeavour to make the study 
 of French a means towards the higher culture." — Educational Times. 
 
 Ellis. — PRACTICAL HINTS ON THE QUANTITATIVE 
 PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN, FOR THE USE OF 
 CLASSICAL TEACHERS AND LINGUISTS. By A. J. 
 Ellis, B.A., F.R.S., &c. Extra fcap. 8vo. ^s. 6d. 
 
 Fleay.— A SHAKESPEARE MANUAL. By the Rev. F. G. 
 Fleay, M.A., Head Master of Skipton Grammar School. Extra 
 fcap. 8vo. 4-r. 6d, 
 
 Goodwin.— SYNTAX OF THE GREEK MOODS AND 
 TENSES. By W. W. Goodwin, Professor of Greek Literature 
 in Harvard University. New Edition. Crown 8vo. 65. 6d. 
 
 Hadley.— ESSAYS PHILOLOGICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 Selected from the Papers of James Hadley, LL.D., Professor of 
 Greek in Yale College, &c. 8vo. 16s. 
 
 Hales.— LONGER ENGLISH POEMS. With Notes, Philo- 
 logical and Explanatory, and an Introduction on the Teaching ol 
 English. Chiefly for use in Schools. Edited by J. \V. Hales, 
 M.A., Professor of English Literature at King's College, London, 
 &c. &c. Fifth Edition. Extra fcap. Svo. 4s. 6d. 
 
 Helfenstein (James). — a COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR 
 OF THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES : Being at the same 
 ' time a Historical Grammar of the English Language, and com- 
 prising Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, Early English, Modern English, 
 Icelandic (Old Norse), Danish, Swedish, Old High German, 
 Middle High German, Modem German, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, 
 and Dutch. By James Helfenstein, Ph.D. 8vo. i&s. 
 
 Masson (Gustave).— A COMPENDIOUS DICTIONARY 
 OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE (French-English and English- 
 French). Followed by a List of the Principal Diverging Deriva- 
 tions, and preceded by Chronological and Historical. Tables. By 
 Gustave Masson, Assistant-Master and Librarian, Harrow 
 School. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. Half-bound. 6s. 
 "A book which any student, whatever may be the degree of his ad- 
 vancement in the language, would do well to have on the table close at 
 hand while he is reading."- Saturday Review.
 
 WORKS ON LANGUAGE. 37 
 
 Mayor. — A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CLUE TO LATIN LITE- 
 RATURE. Edited after Dr. E. Hubner. With large Additions 
 by John E. B. Mayor, M.A., Professor of Latin in the Univer- 
 sity of Cambridge. Crown 8vo. 6s. 6d. 
 
 " An extremely useful volume that should be in the hands of all 
 scholars. — Athen^um. 
 
 Morris. — Works by the Rev. Richard Morris, LL.D., Member 
 of the Council of the Philol. Soc., Lecturer on English Language 
 and Literature in King's College School, Editor of "Specimens 
 of Early English," etc., etc. : — 
 
 HISTORICAL OUTLINES OF ENGLISH ACCIDENCE, 
 
 comprising Chapters on ' the History ' and Development of 
 the Language, and on Word-formation. Sixth Edition. Fcap. 
 8vo. 6s. 
 
 ELEMENTARY LESSONS IN HISTORICAL ENGLISH 
 GRAMMAR, containing Accidence and Word-formation. Third 
 Edition. iSmo. 2s. 6di 
 
 Oliphant. — THE OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH. By 
 T. L. Kington Oliphant, M.A.,' of Balliol College, Oxford. 
 A New Edition, revised and greatly enlarged, of "The Sources 
 of Standard English. Extra fcap. 8vo. gs. 
 
 "Mr. Oliphant' s book is, to our mind, one of the ablest and most 
 scholarly contributions to our standard English we have seen for many 
 years."— School Board Chronicle. "The book comes nearer to a 
 history of the English language than anything we have seen since such a 
 history could be written, without ccnjusion and contradictions^ — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 Peile (John, M.A.)— an introduction to greek 
 
 AND LATIN ETYMOLOGY. By John Peile, M.A., 
 Fellow and Tutor of Christ's College, Cambridge. Third 
 and revised Edition. Crown 8vo. ioj. 6d. 
 
 "The book may be accepted as a very valuable contribution to the 
 science of language.'" — Saturday Review. 
 
 Philology. — THE JOURNAL OF SACRED AND CLAS- 
 SICAL PHILOLOGY. Four Vols. 8vo. \2s. 6d. each. 
 
 THE JOURNAL OF PHILOLOGY. New Series. Edited by W. 
 G. Clark, M.A., John E. B. Mayor, M.A., and W. Aldis 
 Wright, M.A. 45-. 6d. (Half-yearly.)
 
 3S MACMiLLAN'S CATALOGUE OF 
 
 Roby (H. J.)— A GRAMMAR OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE, 
 FROM PLAUTUS TO SUETONIUS. By Henry John 
 Roby, M.A., late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. 
 In Two Parts. Second Edition. Part I. containing : — Book I. 
 Sounds. Book II. Inflexions. Book III. Word Formation. Ap- 
 pendices. Crown 8vo. Ss. 6d. Part II. — Syntax, Prepositions, 
 &c. Crown Svo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 "The book is marked by the dear and practical insight of a master in 
 his art. It is a book which would do honour to any country." — 
 Athenaeum, " Brings before the student in a methodical form the best 
 results of modern ph ilology bearing on the Latin language. " — S coi'SM AN. 
 
 Taylor. — Works by the Rev. Isaac Taylor, M.A.:— 
 ETRUSCAN RESEARCHES. With Woodcuts. Svo. 145-. 
 
 The Times says: — " The learning and industry displayed in this 
 volume deserve the most cordial recognition. The ultimate verdict of 
 science we shall not attempt to anticipate ; but we can sajely say this, that 
 it is a learned book which the unlearned can enjoy, and that in the de- 
 scriptions of the tomb-builders, as well as in the marvellous coincidences 
 and unexpected analogies brouglU toget/ier by the author, readers of every 
 grade may take delight as well as philosophers and scholars." 
 
 WORDS AND PLACES ; or, Etymological Illustrations of 
 History, Ethnology, and Geography. By the Rev. Isaac Taylor. 
 Third Edition, revised and compressed. With Maps. Globe 
 Svo. 6s. 
 
 Trench. — Works by R. Chenevix Trench, D.D., Archbishop of 
 Dublin. (For other Works by the same Author, see Theological 
 Catalogue.) 
 
 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Eighth Edition, 
 
 enlarged. 8vo. cloth. 12s. 
 "He is," the Athenaeum says, "a guide in this department of 
 knowledge to whom his readers may entrust themselves with confidence." 
 
 ON THE STUDY OF WORDS. Lectures Addressed (originally) 
 to the Pupils at the Diocesan Training Scnool, Winchester. 
 Seventeenth Edition, enlarged. Fcap. Svo. $s. 
 
 ENGLISH PAST AND PRESENT. Tenth Edition, revised 
 and improved. Fcap. Svo. 5s. 
 
 A SELECT GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH WORDS USED 
 FORMERLY IN SENSES DIFFERENT FROM THEIR 
 PRESENT. Fourth Edition, enlarged. Fcap. Svo. 4^.
 
 WORKS ON LANGUAGE. 39 
 
 Whitney. — A COMPENDIOUS GERMAN GRAMMAR. By 
 W. D. Whitney, Professor of Sanskrit and Instructor in Modern 
 Languages in Yale College. Crown Svo. 6s. 
 
 " After careful examination -we are inclined to pronounce it the best 
 grammar of modern language we have ever seen." — Scotsman. 
 
 Whitney and Edgren. — a compendious GERMAN 
 
 AND ENGLISH DICTIONARY, with Notation of Correspon- 
 dences and Brief Etymologies. By Professor \V. D. Whitney, 
 assisted by A. H. Edgren. Crown 8vo. "js. 6d. 
 
 The GERMAN-ENGLISH Part may be had separately. Price 5*. 
 
 Yonge — HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN NAMES. By Char- 
 lotte M. Yonge, Author of "The Heir of Redclyffe." 
 Cheaper Edition. Two Vols. Crown Svo. 12s. 
 
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