31 — To the Hon. Augusta Byron

[Castle Howard, Malton, Yorkshire.]

Burgage Manor, August 6th, 1805.

Well, my dearest Augusta, here I am, once more situated at my mother's house, which together with its

inmate

is as

agreeable

as ever. I am at this moment

vis à vis

and Téte à téte with that amiable personage, who is, whilst I am writing, pouring forth complaints against your

ingratitude

, giving me many oblique hints that I ought not to correspond with you, and concluding with an interdiction that if you ever after the expiration of my minority are invited to my residence,

she

will no longer condescend to grace it with her

Imperial

presence. You may figure to yourself, for your amusement, my solemn countenance on the occasion, and the

meek Lamblike

demeanour of her Ladyship, which, contrasted with my

Saintlike visage

, forms a

striking family painting

, whilst in the back ground, the portraits of my Great Grandfather and Grandmother, suspended in their frames, seem to look with an eye of pity on their

unfortunate descendant

, whose

worth

and

accomplishments

deserve a milder fate.

I am to remain in this

Garden

of

Eden

one month, I do not indeed reside at Cambridge till October, but I set out for Hampshire in September where I shall be on a visit till the commencement of the term. In the mean time, Augusta, your

sympathetic

correspondence must be some alleviation to my sorrows, which however are too ludicrous for me to regard them very seriously; but they are

really

more

uncomfortable

than

amusing

I

presume you were rather surprised not to see my

consequential

name in the papers

amongst the orators of our 2nd speech day, but unfortunately some wit who had formerly been at Harrow, suppressed the merits of Long

, Farrer

and myself, who were always supposed to take the Lead in Harrow eloquence, and by way of a

hoax

thought proper to insert a panegyric on those speakers who were really and truly allowed to have rather disgraced than distinguished themselves, of course for the

wit

of the thing, the best were left out and the worst inserted, which accounts for the

Gothic omission

of my

superior talents.

Perhaps it was done with a view to weaken our vanity, which might be too much raised by the flattering paragraphs bestowed on our performance the 1st speechday; be that as it may, we were omitted in the account of the 2nd, to the astonishment of all Harrow. These are

disappointments

we

great men

are liable to, and we must learn to bear them with philosophy, especially when they arise from attempts at wit. I was indeed very ill at that time, and after I had finished my speech was so overcome by the exertion that I was obliged to quit the room. I had caught cold by sleeping in damp sheets which was the cause of my indisposition. However I am now perfectly recovered, and live in hopes of being emancipated from the slavery of Burgage manor. But Believe me, Dearest Augusta, whether well or ill,

I always am your affect. Brother,

Byron

Footnote 1:

See page 27,

note

1.

return to footnote mark

Footnote 2:

Edward Noel Long, son of E. B. Long of Hampton Lodge, Surrey, the "Cleon" of "Childish Recollections" (

Poems

, vol. i. pp. 101, 102), entered Harrow in April, 1801. He went with Byron to Trinity College, Cambridge, and till the end of the summer of 1806 was his most intimate friend.

"We were," says Byron, in his Diary (Life, p. 31), "rival swimmers, fond of riding, reading, and of conviviality. Our evenings we passed in music (he was musical, and played on more than one instrument — flute and violoncello), in which I was audience; and I think that our chief beverage was soda-water. In the day we rode, bathed, and lounged, reading occasionally. I remember our buying, with vast alacrity, Moore's new quarto (in 1806), and reading it together in the evenings. ... His friendship, and a violent though pure passion — which held me at the same period — were the then romance of the most romantic period of my life."

Long was Byron's companion at Littlehampton in August, 1806. In 1807 he entered the Guards, served with distinction in the expedition to Copenhagen, and was drowned early in 1809, "on his passage to Lisbon with his regiment in the

St. George

transport, which was run foul of in the night by another transport" (

Life

, p. 31. See also Byron's lines "To Edward Noel Long, Esq.,"

Poems

, vol. i. pp. 184-188).

cross-reference: return to Footnote 4 of Letter 84

Footnote 3:

Thomas Farrer entered Harrow in April, 1801. He played in Byron's XI against Eton, on the ground in Dorset Square, on August 2, 1805.

List of Letters
Contents