"I shall have commentators enough by "and by," said he, " to dissect my thoughts, " and find owners for them!" "When I first saw the review of my "Hours of Idleness,* I was furious; in "such a rage as I never have been in since. "I dined that day with Scrope Davies, " and drank three bottles of claret to drown "it; but it only boiled the more. That critique was a masterpiece of low wit, a "tissue of scurrilous abuse. I remember "there was a great deal of vulgar trash in it "which was meant for humour, 'about people "being thankful for what they could get,'— * Written in 1808. "not looking a gift horse in the mouth,' "and such stable expressions. The severity "of "The Quarterly' killed poor Keats, and 66 neglect, Kirke White; but I was made of "different stuff, of tougher materials. So "far from their bullying me, or deterring "me from writing, I was bent on falsifying "their raven predictions, and determined to "shew them, croak as they would, that it 66 was not the last time they should hear from 66 me. I set to work immediately, and in "good earnest, and produced in a year The 66 6 English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.' "For the first four days after it was an 66 nounced, I was very nervous about its "fate. Generally speaking, the first fort 66 night decides the public opinion of a new "book. This made a prodigious impression, 66 more perhaps than any of my works, ex"cept The Corsair.' "In less than a year and a half it passed “through four editions, and rather large 66 ones. To some of them, contrary to the "advice of my friends, I affixed my name. "The thing was known to be mine, and I "could not have escaped any enemies in "not owning it; besides, it was more manly "not to deny it. There were many things which I was afterwards "in that satire 66 sorry for, and I wished to cancel it. If 66 Galignani chose to reprint it, it was no "fault of mine. I did my utmost to sup66 press the publication, not only in England, "but in Ireland. I will tell you my prin 66 66 66 66 cipal reason for doing so: I had good grounds to believe that Jeffrey (though perhaps really responsible for whatever ap 6 pears in The Edinburgh,' as Gifford is "for The Quarterly,' as its editor) was "not the author of that article,-was not 66 guilty of it. He disowned it; and though "he would not give up the aggressor, he "said he would convince me, if I ever 66 came to Scotland, who the person was. "I have every reason to believe it was a "certain lawyer, who hated me for some66 thing I once said of Mrs. The "technical language about 'minority pleas," 66 6 66 66 'plaintiffs,' 'grounds of action,' &c. a jargon only intelligible to a lawyer, leaves no doubt in my mind on the subject. "I bear no animosity to him now, though 66 independently of this lampoon, which does "him no credit, he gave me cause enough "of offence. "The occasion was this:-In my sepa"ration-cause, that went before the Chan"cellor as a matter of form, when the pro 66 ceedings came on, he took upon himself "to apply some expressions, or make some "allusions to me, which must have been "of a most unwarrantable nature, as my "friends consulted whether they should 66 acquaint me with the purport of them. "What they precisely were I never knew, "or should certainly have made him retract "them. I met him afterwards at Coppet, "but was not at that time acquainted with "this circumstance. He took on himself "the advocate also, in writing to Madame "de Staël, and advising her not to meddle "in the quarrel between Lady Byron and 66 66 myself. This was not kind; it was a gratuitous and unfee'd act of hostility. "But there was another reason that in"fluenced me even more than my cooled "resentment against Jeffrey, to suppress 66 6 'English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.' "In the duel-scene I had unconsciously |