Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6 (of 6) by Thomas Moore

T >> Thomas Moore >> Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6 (of 6)

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

"Believe me, my dear Sir, to be, &c.

"P.S. _Private_--I have written to our friend Douglas Kinnaird on my
own matters, desiring him to send me out all the' further credits I
can command,--and I have a year's income, and the sale of a manor
besides, he tells me, before me,--for till the Greeks get _their_
Loan, it is probable that I shall have to stand partly paymaster--as
far as I am 'good upon _Change_,' that is to say. I pray you to
repeat as much to _him_, and say that I must in the interim draw on
Messrs. Ransom most formidably. To say the truth, I do not grudge it
now the fellows have begun to fight _again_--and still more welcome
shall they be if they will go on. But they have had, or are to have,
some four thousand pounds (besides some private extraordinaries for
widows, orphans, refugees, and rascals of all descriptions,) of mine
at one 'swoop;' and it is to be expected the next will be at least as
much more. And how can I refuse it if they _will_ fight?--and
especially if I should happen ever to be in their company? I
therefore request and require that you should apprise my trusty and
trust-worthy trustee and banker, and crown and sheet-anchor, Douglas
Kinnaird the Honourable, that he prepare all monies of mine,
including the purchase money of Rochdale manor and mine income for
the year ensuing, A.D. 1824, to answer, or anticipate, any orders or
drafts of mine for the good cause, in good and lawful money of Great
Britain, &c. &c. May you live a thousand years I which is nine
hundred and ninety-nine longer than the Spanish Cortes'
Constitution."

LETTER 531.

TO THE HON. MR. DOUGLAS KINNAIRD.

"Cephalonia, December 23. 1823.

"I shall be as saving of my purse and person as you recommend; but
you know that it is as well to be in readiness with one or both, in
the event of either being required.

"I presume that some agreement has been concluded with Mr. Murray
about 'Werner.' Although the copyright should only be worth two or
three hundred pounds, I will tell you what can be done with them. For
three hundred pounds I can maintain in Greece, at more than the
_fullest pay_ of the Provisional Government, rations included, one
hundred armed men for _three months_. You may judge of this when I
tell you, that the four thousand pounds advanced by me to the Greeks
is likely to set a fleet and an army in motion for some months.

"A Greek vessel has arrived from the squadron to convey me to
Missolonghi, where Mavrocordato now is, and has assumed the command,
so that I expect to embark immediately. Still address, however, to
Cephalonia, through Messrs. Welch and Barry of Genoa, as usual; and
get together all the means and credit of mine you can, to face the
war establishment, for it is 'in for a penny, in for a pound,' and I
must do all that I can for the ancients.

"I have been labouring to reconcile these parties, and there is _now_
some hope of succeeding. Their public affairs go on well. The Turks
have retreated from Acarnania without a battle, after a few fruitless
attempts on Anatoliko. Corinth is taken, and the Greeks have gained a
battle in the Archipelago. The squadron here, too, has taken a
Turkish corvette with some money and a cargo. In short, if they can
obtain a Loan, I am of opinion that matters will assume and preserve
a steady and favourable aspect for their independence.

"In the mean time I stand paymaster, and what not; and lucky it is
that, from the nature of the warfare and of the country, the
resources even of an individual can be of a partial and temporary
service.

"Colonel Stanhope is at Missolonghi. Probably we shall attempt Patras
next. The Suliotes, who are friends of mine, seem anxious to have me
with them, and so is Mavrocordato. If I can but succeed in
reconciling the two parties (and I have left no stone unturned), it
will be something; and if not, we roust go over to the Morea with the
Western Greeks--who are the bravest, and at present the strongest,
having beaten back the Turks--and try the effect of a little
_physical_ advice, should they persist in rejecting _moral_
persuasion.

"Once more recommending to you the reinforcement of my strong box and
credit from all lawful sources and resources of mine to their
practicable extent--for, after all, it is better playing at nations
than gaming at Almack's or Newmarket--and requesting you to write to
me as often as you can,

"I remain ever," &c.

The squadron, so long looked for, having made its appearance at last
in the waters of Missolonghi, and Mavrocordato, the only leader of
the cause worthy the name of statesman, having been appointed, with
full powers, to organise Western Greece, the fit moment for Lord
Byron's presence on the scene of action seemed to have arrived. The
anxiety, indeed, with which he was expected at Missolonghi was
intense, and can be best judged from the impatient language of the
letters written to hasten him. "I need not tell you, my Lord," says
Mavrocordato, "how much I long for your arrival, to what a pitch your
presence is desired by every body, or what a prosperous direction it
will give to all our affairs. Your counsels will be listened to like
oracles." Colonel Stanhope, with the same urgency, writes from
Missolonghi,--"The Greek ship sent for your Lordship has returned;
your arrival was anticipated, and the disappointment has been great
indeed. The Prince is in a state of anxiety, the Admiral looks
gloomy, and the sailors grumble aloud." He adds at the end, "I walked
along the streets this evening, and the people asked me after Lord
Byron !!!" In a Letter to the London Committee of the same date,
Colonel Stanhope says, "All are looking forward to Lord Byron's
arrival, as they would to the coming of the Messiah."

Of this anxiety, no inconsiderable part is doubtless to be attributed
to their great impatience for the possession of the loan which he had
promised them, and on which they wholly depended for the payment of
the fleet--"Prince Mavrocordato and the Admiral (says the same
gentleman) are in a state of extreme perplexity: they, it seems,
relied on your loan for the payment of the fleet; that loan not
having been received, the sailors will depart immediately. This will
be a fatal event indeed, as it will place Missolonghi in a state of
blockade; and will prevent the Greek troops from acting against the
fortresses of Nepacto and Patras."

In the mean time Lord Byron was preparing busily for his departure,
the postponement of which latterly had been, in a great measure,
owing to that repugnance to any new change of place which had lately
so much grown upon him, and which neither love, as we have seen, nor
ambition, could entirely conquer. There had been also considerable
pains taken by some of his friends at Argostoli to prevent his fixing
upon a place of residence so unhealthy as Missolonghi; and Mr. Muir,
a very able medical officer, on whose talents he had much dependence,
endeavoured most earnestly to dissuade him from such an imprudent
step. His mind, however, was made up,--the proximity of that port, in
some degree, tempting him,--and having hired, for himself and suite,
a light, fast-sailing vessel, called the Mistico, with a boat for
part of his baggage, and a larger vessel for the remainder, the
horses, &c. he was, on the 26th of December, ready to sail. The wind,
however, being contrary, he was detained two days longer, and in this
interval the following letters were written.

LETTER 532. TO MR. BOWRING.

"10bre 26. 1823.

"Little need be added to the enclosed, which arrived this day, except
that I embark to-morrow for Missolonghi. The intended operations are
detailed in the annexed documents. I have only to request that the
Committee will use every exertion to forward our views by all its
influence and credit.

"I have also to request you _personally_ from myself to urge my
friend and trustee, Douglas Kinnaird (from whom I have not heard
these four months nearly), to forward to me all the resources of my
_own_ we can muster for the ensuing year; since it is no time to
menager _purse_, or, perhaps, _person_. I have advanced, and am
advancing, all that I have in hand, but I shall require all that can
be got together;--and (if Douglas has completed the sale of Rochdale,
_that _ and my year's income for next year ought to form a good round
sum,)--as you may perceive that there will be little cash of their
own amongst the Greeks (unless they get the Loan), it is the more
necessary that those of their friends who have any should risk it.

"The supplies of the Committee are, some, useful, and all excellent
in their kind, but occasionally hardly _practical_ enough, in the
present state of Greece; for instance, the mathematical instruments
are thrown away--none of the Greeks know a problem from a poker--we
must conquer first, and plan afterwards. The use of the trumpets,
too, may be doubted, unless Constantinople were Jericho, for the
Helenists have no ears for bugles, and you must send us somebody to
listen to them.

"We will do our best--and I pray you to stir your English hearts at
home to more _general_ exertion; for my part, I will stick by the
cause while a plank remains which can be _honourably_ clung to. If I
quit it, it will be by the Greeks' conduct, and not the Holy Allies
or holier Mussulmans--but let us hope better things.

"Ever yours, N. B.

"P.S. I am happy to say that Colonel Leicester Stanhope and myself
are acting in perfect harmony together--he is likely to be of great
service both to the cause and to the Committee, and is publicly as
well as personally a very valuable acquisition to our party on every
account. He came up (as they all do who have not been in the country
before) with some high-flown notions of the sixth form at Harrow or
Eton, &c.; but Col. Napier and I set him to rights on those points,
which is absolutely necessary to prevent disgust, or perhaps return;
but now we can set our shoulders _soberly_ to the _wheel_, without
quarrelling with the mud which may clog it occasionally.

"I can assure you that Col. Napier and myself are as decided for the
cause as any German student of them all; but like men who have seen
the country and human life, there and elsewhere, we must be permitted
to view it in its truth, with its defects as well as beauties,--more
especially as success will remove the former _gradually_. N. B.

"P.S. As much of this letter as you please is for the Committee, the
rest may be 'entre nous.'"

LETTER 533. TO MR. MOORE.

"Cephalonia, December 27. 1823.

"I received a letter from you some time ago. I have been too much
employed latterly to write as I could wish, and even now must write
in haste.

"I embark for Missolonghi to join Mavrocordato in four-and-twenty
hours. The state of parties (but it were a long story) has kept me
here till _now_; but now that Mavrocordato (their Washington, or
their Kosciusko) is employed again, I can act with a _safe
conscience._ I carry money to pay the squadron, &c., and I have
influence with the Suliotes, _supposed _ sufficient to keep them in
harmony with some of the dissentients;--for there are plenty of
differences, but trifling.

"It is imagined that we shall attempt either Patras or the castles on
the Straits; and it seems, by most accounts, that the Greeks, at any
rate, the Suliotes, who are in affinity with me of 'bread and
salt,'--expect that I should march with them, and--be it even so! If
any thing in the way of fever, fatigue, famine, or otherwise, should
cut short the middle age of a brother warbler,--like Garcilasso de la
Vega, Kleist, Korner, Joukoffsky[1] (a Russian nightingale--see
Bowring's Anthology), or Thersander, or,--or somebody else--but never
mind--I pray you to remember me in your 'smiles and wine.'

[Footnote 1: One of the most celebrated of the living poets of
Russia, who fought at Borodino, and has commemorated that battle in a
poem of much celebrity among his countrymen.]

"I have hopes that the cause will triumph; but whether it does or no,
still 'honour must be minded as strictly as milk diet,' I trust to
observe both,

"Ever," &c.

It is hardly necessary to direct the attention of the reader to the
sad, and but too true anticipation expressed in this letter--the last
but one I was ever to receive from my friend. Before we accompany him
to the closing scene of all his toils, I shall here, as briefly as
possible, give a selection from the many characteristic anecdotes
told of him, while at Cephalonia, where (to use the words of Colonel
Stanhope, in a letter from thence to the Greek committee,) he was
"beloved by Cephalonians, by English, and by Greeks;" and where,
approached as he was familiarly by persons of all classes and
countries, not an action, not a word is recorded of him that does not
bear honourable testimony to the benevolence and soundness of his
views, his ever ready but discriminating generosity, and the clear
insight, at once minute and comprehensive, which he had acquired into
the character and wants of the people and the cause he came to serve.
"Of all those who came to help the Greeks," says Colonel Napier, (a
person himself the most qualified to judge, as well from long local
knowledge, as from the acute, straightforward cast of his own mind,)
"I never knew one, except Lord Byron and Mr. Gordon, that seemed to
have justly estimated their character. All came expecting to find the
Peloponnesus filled with Plutarch's men, and all returned thinking
the inhabitants of Newgate more moral. Lord Byron judged them fairly:
he knew that half-civilised men are full of vices, and that great
allowance must be made for emancipated slaves. He, therefore,
proceeded, bridle in hand, not thinking them good, but hoping to make
them better."[1]

[Footnote 1: A similar tribute was paid to him by Count Delladecima,
a gentleman of some literary acquirements, of whom he saw a good deal
at Cephalonia, and to whom he was attracted by that sympathy which
never failed to incline him towards those who laboured, like himself,
under any personal defects. "Of all the men," said this gentleman,
"whom I have had an opportunity of conversing with, on the means of
establishing the independence of Greece, and regenerating the
character of the natives, Lord Byron appears to entertain the most
enlightened and correct views."]

In speaking of the foolish charge of avarice brought against Lord
Byron by some who resented thus his not suffering them to impose on
his generosity, Colonel Napier says, "I never knew a single instance
of it while he was here. I saw only a judicious generosity in all
that he did. He would not allow himself to be _robbed_, but he gave
profusely where he thought he was doing good. It was, indeed, because
he would not allow himself to be _fleeced_, that he was called stingy
by those who are always bent upon giving money from any purses but
their own. Lord Byron had no idea of this; and would turn sharply and
unexpectedly on those who thought their game sure. He gave a vast
deal of money to the Greeks in various ways."

Among the objects of his bounty in this way were many poor refugee
Greeks from the Continent and the Isles. He not only relieved their
present distresses, but allotted a certain sum monthly to the most
destitute. "A list of these poor pensioners," says Dr. Kennedy, "was
given me by the nephew of Professor Bambas."

One of the instances mentioned of his humanity while at Cephalonia
will show how prompt he was at the call of that feeling, and how
unworthy, sometimes, were the objects of it. A party of workmen
employed upon one of those fine roads projected by Colonel Napier
having imprudently excavated a high bank, the earth fell in, and
overwhelmed nearly a dozen persons; the news of which accident
instantly reaching Metaxata, Lord Byron despatched his physician
Bruno to the spot, and followed with Count Gamba, as soon as their
horses could be saddled. They found a crowd of women and children
wailing round the ruins; while the workmen, who had just dug out
three or four of their maimed companions, stood resting themselves
unconcernedly, as if nothing more was required of them; and to Lord
Byron's enquiry whether there were not still some other persons below
the earth, answered coolly that "they did not know, but believed that
there were." Enraged at this brutal indifference, he sprang from his
horse, and seizing a spade himself, began to dig with all his
strength; but it was not till after being threatened with the
horsewhip that any of the peasants could be brought to follow his
example. "I was not present at this scene myself," says Colonel
Napier, in the Notices with which he has favoured me, "but was told
that Lord Byron's attention seemed quite absorbed in the study of the
faces and gesticulations of those whose friends were missing. The
sorrow of the Greeks is, in appearance, very frantic, and they shriek
and howl, as in Ireland.

It was in alluding to the above incident that the noble poet is
stated to have said that he had come out to the Islands prejudiced
against Sir T. Maitland's government of the Greeks: "but," he added,
"I have now changed my opinion. They are such barbarians, that if I
had the government of them, I would pave these very roads with them."

While residing at Metaxata, he received an account of the illness of
his daughter Ada, which "made him anxious and melancholy (says Count
Gamba) for several days." Her indisposition he understood to have
been caused by a determination of blood to the head; and on his
remarking to Dr. Kennedy, as curious, that it was a complaint to
which he himself was subject, the physician replied, that he should
have been inclined to infer so, not only from his habits of intense
and irregular study, but from the present state of his eyes,--the
right eye appearing to be inflamed. I have mentioned this latter
circumstance as perhaps justifying the inference that there was in
Lord Byron's state of health at this moment a predisposition to the
complaint of which he afterwards died. To Dr. Kennedy he spoke
frequently of his wife and daughter, expressing the Strongest
affection for the latter, and respect towards the former, and while
declaring as usual his perfect ignorance of the causes of the
separation, professing himself fully disposed to welcome any prospect
of reconcilement.

The anxiety with which, at all periods of his life, but particularly
at the present, he sought to repel the notion that, except when under
the actual inspiration of writing, he was at all influenced by
poetical associations, very frequently displayed itself. "You must
have been highly gratified (said a gentleman to him) by the classical
remains and recollections which you met with in your visit to
Ithaca."--"You quite mistake me," answered Lord Byron--"I have no
poetical humbug about me; I am too old for that. Ideas of that sort
are confined to rhyme."

For the two days during which he was delayed by contrary winds, he
took up his abode at the house of Mr. Hancock, his banker, and passed
the greater part of the time in company with the English authorities
of the Island. At length the wind becoming fair, he prepared to
embark. "I called upon him to take leave," says Dr. Kennedy, "and
found him alone, reading Quentin Durward. He was, as usual, in good
spirits." In a few hours after the party set sail,--Lord Byron
himself on board the Mistico, and Count Gamba, with the horses and
heavy baggage, in the larger vessel, or Bombarda. After touching at
Zante, for the purpose of some pecuniary arrangements with Mr. Barff,
and taking on board a considerable sum of money in specie, they, on
the evening of the 29th, proceeded towards Missolonghi. Their last
accounts from that place having represented the Turkish fleet as
still in the Gulf of Lepanto, there appeared not the slightest
grounds for apprehending any interruption in their passage. Besides,
knowing that the Greek squadron was now at anchorage near the
entrance of the Gulf, they had little doubt of soon falling in with
some friendly vessel, either in search, or waiting for them.

"We sailed together," says Count Gamba, in a highly picturesque and
affecting passage, "till after ten at night; the wind favourable--a
clear sky, the air fresh but not sharp. Our sailors sang alternately
patriotic songs, monotonous indeed, but to persons in our situation
extremely touching, and we took part in them. We were all, but Lord
Byron particularly, in excellent spirits. The Mistico sailed the
fastest. When the waves divided us, and our voices could no longer
reach each other, we made signals by firing pistols and
carabines--'To-morrow we meet at Missolonghi--to-morrow.' Thus, full
of confidence and spirits, we sailed along. At twelve we were out of
sight of each other."

In waiting for the other vessel, having more than once shortened sail
for that purpose, the party on board the Mistico were upon the point
of being surprised into an encounter which might, in a moment, have
changed the future fortunes of Lord Byron. Two or three hours before
daybreak, while steering towards Missolonghi, they found themselves
close under the stern of a large vessel, which they at first took to
be Greek, but which, when within pistol shot, they discovered to be a
Turkish frigate. By good fortune, they were themselves, as it
appears, mistaken for a Greek brulot by the Turks, who therefore
feared to fire, but with loud shouts frequently hailed them, while
those on board Lord Byron's vessel maintained the most profound
silence; and even the dogs (as I have heard his Lordship's valet
mention), though they had never ceased to bark during the whole of
the night, did not utter, while within reach of the Turkish frigate,
a sound;--a no less lucky than a curious accident, as, from the
information the Turks had received of all the particulars of his
Lordship's departure from Zante, the harking of the dogs, at that
moment, would have been almost certain to betray him. Under the
favour of these circumstances, and the darkness, they were enabled to
bear away without further molestation, and took shelter among the
Scrofes, a cluster of rocks but a few hours' sail from Missolonghi.
From this place the following letter, remarkable, considering his
situation at the moment, for the light, careless tone that pervades
it, was despatched to Colonel Stanhope.

LETTER 534.

TO THE HONOURABLE COLONEL STANHOPE.

"Scrofer (or some such name), on board a
Cephaloniote Mistico, Dec. 31. 1823.

"My dear Stanhope,

"We are just arrived here, that is, part of my people and I, with
some things, &c., and which it may be as well not to specify in a
letter (which has a risk of being intercepted, perhaps);--but Gamba,
and my horses, negro, steward, and the press, and all the Committee
things, also some eight thousand dollars of mine, (but never mind, we
have more left, do you understand?) are taken by the Turkish
frigates, and my party and myself, in another boat, have had a narrow
escape last night, (being close under their stern and hailed, but we
would not answer, and bore away,) as well as this morning. Here we
are, with the sun and clearing weather, within a pretty little port
enough; but whether our Turkish friends may not send in their boats
and take us out (for we have no arms except two carbines and some
pistols, and, I suspect, not more than four fighting people on
board,) is another question, especially if we remain long here, since
we are blocked out of Missolonghi by the direct entrance.

"You had better send my friend George Drake (Draco), and a body of
Suliotes, to escort us by land or by the canals, with all convenient
speed. Gamba and our Bombard are taken into Patras, I suppose; and we
must take a turn at the Turks to get them out: but where the devil is
the fleet gone?--the Greek, I mean; leaving us to get in without the
least intimation to take heed that the Moslems were out again.

"Make my respects to Mavrocordato, and say that I am here at his
disposal. I am uneasy at being here: not so much on my own account as
on that of a Greek boy with me, for you know what his fate would be;
and I would sooner cut him in pieces, and myself too, than have him
taken out by those barbarians. We are all very well. N. B.

"The Bombard was twelve miles out when taken; at least, so it
appeared to us (if taken she actually be, for it is not certain); and
we had to escape from another vessel that stood right between us and
the port."

Finding that his position among the rocks of the Scrofes would be
untenable in the event of an attack by armed boats, he thought it
right to venture out again, and making all sail, got safe to
Dragomestri, a small sea-port town on the coast of Acarnania; from
whence the annexed letters to two of the most valued of his
Cephalonian friends were written.

LETTER 535. TO MR. MUIR.

"Dragomestri, January 2. 1824.

"My dear Muir,

"I wish you many returns of the season, and happiness therewithal.
Gamba and the Bombard (there is a strong reason to believe) are
carried into Patras by a Turkish frigate, which we saw chase them at
dawn on the 31st: we had been close under the stern in the night,
believing her a Greek till within pistol shot, and only escaped by a
miracle of all the Saints (our captain says), and truly I am of his
opinion, for we should never have got away of ourselves. They were
signalising their consort with lights, and had illuminated the ship
between decks, and were shouting like a mob;--but then why did they
not fire? Perhaps they took us for a Greek brulot, and were afraid of
kindling us--they had no colours flying even at dawn nor after.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30