“You must excuse my troubling you once more upon this very unpleasant subject.  It would be a satisfaction to me, and I should think to yourself, that the unopened letter in Mr Hodgson’s possession (supposing it to prove your own) should be returned in statu quo to the writer, particularly as you expressed yourself ’not quite easy under the manner in which I had dwelt on its miscarriage.’

“A few words more and I shall not trouble you further.  I felt, and still feel, very much flattered by those parts of your correspondence which held out the prospect of our becoming acquainted.  If I did not meet them, in the first instance, as perhaps I ought, let the situation in which I was placed be my defence.  You have now declared yourself satisfied, and on that point we are no longer at issue.  If, therefore, you still retain any wish to do me the honour you hinted at, I shall be most happy to meet you when, where, and how you please, and I presume you will not attribute my saying thus much to any unworthy motive.”

The result was a dinner at the house of Mr Rogers, the amiable and celebrated author of The Pleasures of Memory, and the only guest besides the two adversaries was Mr Campbell, author of The Pleasures of Hope:  a poetical group of four not easily to be matched, among contemporaries in any age or country.

The meeting could not but be interesting, and Mr Moore has described the effect it had on himself with a felicitous warmth, which showed how much he enjoyed the party, and was pleased with the friendship that ensued.

“Among the impressions,” says he, “which this meeting left on me, what I chiefly remember to have remarked was, the nobleness of his air, his beauty, the gentleness of his voice and manners, and—­what was naturally not the least attraction—­his marked kindness for myself.  Being in mourning for his mother, the colour as well of his dress as of his glossy, curling, and picturesque hair, gave more effect to the pure spiritual paleness of his features, in the expression of which, when he spoke, there was a perpetual play of lively thought, though melancholy was their habitual character when in repose.”

CHAPTER XXVI

The Libel in “The Scourge”—­The general Impression of his Character—­
Improvement in his Manners, as his Merit was acknowledgement by the
Public—­His Address in Management—­His first Speech in Parliament—­
The Publication of “Childe Harold”—­Its Reception and Effect

During the first winter after Lord Byron had returned to England, I was frequently with him.  Childe Harold was not then published; and although the impression of his satire, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers, was still strong upon the public, he could not well be said to have been then a celebrated character.  At that time the strongest feeling by which he appeared to be actuated was indignation against a writer in