ANECDOTE OF CURLL. 385 murder is perpetrated and judgment is pronounced, the fratricide sticks to his principles, taking consolation in the reflection, "That which I am, I am : I did not seek The refusal of the Chancellor to grant an injunction, has subjected his lordship to some rash censures; and it has been observed, that in consequence of the denial the copies of the work are multiplied. This may be true; but the evil, though great, would have been greater, had the first law authority in the land given the high sanction of his imprimatur to a book the direct object of which is to bring the religion of the country into contempt. The application to the Court of Chancery for the protection of this blasphemous play, is somewhat like the conduct of Curll, of libellous memory, who, when warned by the Bishop of London not to print Rochester's poems, sent his lordship a copy, and begged him to strike out the offensive passages. The worthy prelate, however, was not so easy to be duped; but returned the book to the crafty publisher, without any other remark than a CC verbal message,-that if he printed it, he must take the consequences. With regard to the present case, nothing can exceed the duplicity that marked the conduct of the parties; for if the bookseller really in his conscience thought the Mystery of Cain so objectionable as not to be fit for the press, why did he submit to the irksome task of ushering it into the world, merely because the author was obstinately bent upon the publication? That very resolution to make him a tool for so vile a purpose, ought to have stimulated him to reject the mandate as an unwarrantable act of tyrannous insult. But he submitted, and that without the plea of Romeo's apothecary; for he is far enough from standing in need of Lord Byron's assistance, though he knows full well the lucrative importance of their alliance. If any thing could increase the folly and inconsistency of this conduct, it was the direction given to the Counsel to disavow the preface, as forming no part of the work. By whom then was this preface written? or how came it into the hands of the printer, without the knowledge and consent of the publisher? Yet, in fact, there is no occasion for such a LORD BYRON'S LETTER. 387 question; the preface is Lord Byron's composition, and this the bookseller well knew at the time when Mr. Shadwell was instructed not to claim it. And why was the preface to be separated from the Mystery? Because the parties were aware that nobody cared a farthing for the former, or would miss it; since all the wickedness lay in the drama of Cain, and not in the foolish essay prefixed to it. Having failed in the attempt to obtain legal protection for his blasphemous poem, Lord Byron addressed a letter to his publisher; who committed another act of indiscretion, in causing it to be printed in the daily papers. The author of Cain, in this curious epistle, acknowledges that the publication of the piece was owing to his pertinacity, and then he goes on talking about the attempt to "bully the publisher;" offering, right manfully, to appear in person, and take the responsibility of the work upon himself in case of a prosecution. Now it happens, and this the noble lord knew, that no one had threatened a prosecution at all. His profession, therefore, to save the publisher harmless, was a mere piece of gasconade; and at all events could be considered as no atone ment for the offence which he had committed against the public morals, and private manners. In this letter his lordship reiterated what the Counsel had advanced, respecting Milton,-but to as littl epurpose, for the author of Paradise Lost was a believer in the Bible, which it is the object of the Mystery of Cain to turn into ridicule. Had the noble author acted upon the principles of the great poet, he would have ensured a very different kind of im mortality from that which now awaits him; for, as Milton observes in his Lycidas, "Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil, Set off to th' world, nor in broad rumour lies, Of so much fame in heaven expect thy meed." CHAPTER XX. Spanish Proverb.-Lord Byron's Attacks on Mr. Southey.-Reply of the latter in his "Vision of Judgment."-Term of the "Satanic School."Retort of Lord Byron.-His Opinions on the French Revolution-on Politics-and Religion. Mr. Southey's Letter.-Parody on the "Vision of Judgment." "El que THE Spaniards have a good proverb, tiéne piedras al de su vezino;" that is, "He that has his house covered with glass, should avoid throwing stones on the roof or his neighbour." Lord Byron had not this wholesome lesson in his mind when he attacked so many contemporaneous poets, and some of them without the slightest provocation. Among other objects of his satire, the Poet Laureate |