were coupled
together
for abuse as the 'two Roberts'?
Byron
In the course of
the next year some one told Byron that a rumour had reached England that
he and Shelley "had formed a league of incest with two sisters," and
that Southey and Coleridge were the authors of the scandal. There is
nothing to show through what channel the report of the rumour reached
Byron's ears, but it may be inferred that it was in his mind (see Letter
to Murray, November 24, 1818, _Letters_, 1900, iv. 272) when he assailed
Southey in the "Dedication" ("in good, simple, savage verse") to the
First Canto of _Don Juan_, which was begun September 6, 1818. Shelley,
who was already embittered against Southey (see the account of a dinner
at Godwin's, November 6, 1817, _Diary of H. C. Robinson_, 1869, ii. 67),
heard Byron read this "Dedication," and, in a letter to Peacock (October
8, 1818), describes it as being "more like a mixture of wormwood and
verdigrease than satire. "
When _Don Juan_ appeared (July 15, 1819), the "Dedication" was not
forthcoming, but of its existence and character Southey had been
informed. "Have you heard," he asks (Letter to the Rev. H. Hill,
_Selections from the Letters, etc. _, 1856, iii. 142), "that _Don Juan_
came over with a Dedication to me, in which Lord Castlereagh and I . . .
were coupled together for abuse as the 'two Roberts'? A fear of
persecution (_sic_) from the _one_ Robert is supposed to be the reason
why it has been suppressed. Lord Byron might have done well to remember
that the other can write dedications also; and make his own cause good,
if it were needful, in prose or rhyme, against a villain, as well as
against a slanderer. "
When George III. died (January 29, 1820), it became the duty of the
"laurel-honouring laureate" to write a funeral ode, and in composing a
Preface, in vindication of the English hexameter, he took occasion
"incidentally to repay some of his obligations to Lord Byron by a few
comments on _Don Juan_" (Letter to the Rev. H. Hill, January 8, 1821,
_Selections, etc. _, iii. 225). He was, no doubt, impelled by other and
higher motives to constitute himself a _censor morum_, and take up his
parable against the spirit of the age as displayed and fostered in _Don
Juan_ (see a letter to Wynne, March 23, 1821, _Selections, etc. _, iii.
238), but the suppressed "Dedication" and certain gibes, which had been
suffered to appear, may be reckoned as the immediate causes of his
anathema.
Southey's _Vision of Judgement_ was published April 11, 1821--an
undivine comedy, in which the apotheosis of George III. , the
beatification of the virtuous, and the bale and damnation of such
egregious spirits as Robespierre, Wilkes, and Junius, are "thrown upon
the screen" of the showman or lecturer. Southey said that the "Vision"
ought to be read aloud, and, if the subject could be forgotten and
ignored, the hexameters might not sound amiss, but the subject and its
treatment are impossible and intolerable. The "Vision" would have "made
sport" for Byron in any case, but, in the Preface, Southey went out of
his way to attack and denounce the anonymous author of _Don Juan_.
the next year some one told Byron that a rumour had reached England that
he and Shelley "had formed a league of incest with two sisters," and
that Southey and Coleridge were the authors of the scandal. There is
nothing to show through what channel the report of the rumour reached
Byron's ears, but it may be inferred that it was in his mind (see Letter
to Murray, November 24, 1818, _Letters_, 1900, iv. 272) when he assailed
Southey in the "Dedication" ("in good, simple, savage verse") to the
First Canto of _Don Juan_, which was begun September 6, 1818. Shelley,
who was already embittered against Southey (see the account of a dinner
at Godwin's, November 6, 1817, _Diary of H. C. Robinson_, 1869, ii. 67),
heard Byron read this "Dedication," and, in a letter to Peacock (October
8, 1818), describes it as being "more like a mixture of wormwood and
verdigrease than satire. "
When _Don Juan_ appeared (July 15, 1819), the "Dedication" was not
forthcoming, but of its existence and character Southey had been
informed. "Have you heard," he asks (Letter to the Rev. H. Hill,
_Selections from the Letters, etc. _, 1856, iii. 142), "that _Don Juan_
came over with a Dedication to me, in which Lord Castlereagh and I . . .
were coupled together for abuse as the 'two Roberts'? A fear of
persecution (_sic_) from the _one_ Robert is supposed to be the reason
why it has been suppressed. Lord Byron might have done well to remember
that the other can write dedications also; and make his own cause good,
if it were needful, in prose or rhyme, against a villain, as well as
against a slanderer. "
When George III. died (January 29, 1820), it became the duty of the
"laurel-honouring laureate" to write a funeral ode, and in composing a
Preface, in vindication of the English hexameter, he took occasion
"incidentally to repay some of his obligations to Lord Byron by a few
comments on _Don Juan_" (Letter to the Rev. H. Hill, January 8, 1821,
_Selections, etc. _, iii. 225). He was, no doubt, impelled by other and
higher motives to constitute himself a _censor morum_, and take up his
parable against the spirit of the age as displayed and fostered in _Don
Juan_ (see a letter to Wynne, March 23, 1821, _Selections, etc. _, iii.
238), but the suppressed "Dedication" and certain gibes, which had been
suffered to appear, may be reckoned as the immediate causes of his
anathema.
Southey's _Vision of Judgement_ was published April 11, 1821--an
undivine comedy, in which the apotheosis of George III. , the
beatification of the virtuous, and the bale and damnation of such
egregious spirits as Robespierre, Wilkes, and Junius, are "thrown upon
the screen" of the showman or lecturer. Southey said that the "Vision"
ought to be read aloud, and, if the subject could be forgotten and
ignored, the hexameters might not sound amiss, but the subject and its
treatment are impossible and intolerable. The "Vision" would have "made
sport" for Byron in any case, but, in the Preface, Southey went out of
his way to attack and denounce the anonymous author of _Don Juan_.
