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MS . which Mr . Moore , in an evil hour for his own reputation for mental courage and fidelity , committed to the flames . It would have been something to know that such an unsparing self-analysis as it was said to be , such an exposed of the arcana of aristocratical life , such a contribution to the philosophy of the human
mind and character , had been still in existence , though its publication had been reserved for the third or fourth generation . But it is gone ; we must be thankful for what we can get ; and we have got here a book of deep interestan interest which , from the variety of its sources , cannot fail of being as universal as it is intense .
The bulk of the volume consists of the correspondence and memoranda of Lord Byron , —a treasure of philosophy , wit , and grace . The prose of poets is usually admirable , —witness Southey ' s histories aud Wordsworth ' s prefaces and essays , —to go no further back than our own time . The notes to Byron ' s poems are , l » y some , relished almost as much as the poems themselves ; but , graceful as they
are , they had little prepared us for the splendid display which this volume affords . A collection of 240 letters furnishes , of course , a great variety of subjects and of style ; but whatever their tone , whether they breathe despondency or reckless gaiety , whether addressed to a schoolboy , a literary acquaintance , or one that ' * sticketh closer than a brother , " the same vigour , originality , and beauty , are evident in all . VVe can give but a random
specimen . " To Mr . Dallas . " Newstead Abbey , Aug . 12 , 1911 . " Peace be with the dead ! Regret cannot awake them . With a sigh to the departed , let us resume the dull business of life , in the certainty that we also shall have our repose . Besides her who gave me being , I have lost more than one who
made that being tolerable . The best friend of my friend Hobhouse , Matthews , a man of the first talents , and also not the worst of my narrow circle , has perished miserably in the muddy waves of the Cam , always fatal to genius : —my poor school-fellow Wingfield , at Coimbra , —within a month : and whilst I had
heard from all three , but not seen one . Matthews wrote to me the very day before his death ; and though 1 feel for his fate , I am still more anxious for Hobhouse , who , 1 very much fear , will hardly retain his senses ; his letters to me since the event have been most incoherent . But let this paxs—we . shall all one day puss aloilt ! : with the rr » Ht—the world is
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too full of such things , and our very sorrow is selfish . " I received a letter from you which my late occupations prevented me from duly noticing , —I hope your friends and family will long hold together . I shall be glad to hear from you oo business , ou common place , on any thing , or nothing—but death . I am already too familiar with the dead . It is strange that I look on the skulls which stand beside
me ( I hare always had four in my study ) without emotion ; but I cannot strip the features of those 1 have known of their fleshy covering , even in idea , without a hideous sensation ; but the worms are less ceremonious . Surely the Romans did well when they burned the dead . —I shall be happy to hear from you , and am yours , " &c .
His "Detached Thoughts , " from which we are favoured with large extracts , are yet more valuable than his letters . They are thrown off with the utmost ease and carelessness ; and we are thus furnished with the pleasant employment of picking out his opinions aud ascertaining his
feelings on subjects of the deepest interest in the midst of graceful nonsense , and the most trivial details of every-day life . Take , for instance , the following sentences , mixed up with memoranda about biscuits and soda-water , and declarations of affection forjunius , because " he was a good hater . "
" I awoke from a dream—well ! and have not others dreamed ? — Such a dream !—but she did not overtake me . I wish the dead would rest , however . Ugh ! how my blood chilled 1 — and I could not wake—and—and—heigho \ " ' Shadows to-night Have struck more terror to the soul of
Richard Than could the substance of ten thousand Armed all in proof , and led by shallow ; " I do not like this dream , —I hate its ( foregone conclusion / And am I to be
shaken by shadows ? Aye , when they remind us of—no matter—but , if I dream thus again , 1 will try whether all sleep has the like visions . Since I rose , I ' ve been in considerable bodily pain also ; but it is gone , and now , like Lord Ogleby , I am wound up for the day . "—P * 447 .
Again , « ' AH are inclined to believe what they covet , from a lottery-ticket up to a passport to Paradise , —in which , from description , 1 see nothing very tempting .
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Critical Notices . —Miscellaneous . 125
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1830, page 125, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2581/page/53/
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