your absence, or to forget our sad farewell. Parting is not to me what Shakspeare calls it, 'a sweet sorrow,' but a bitter one; for I look on every one, which has not a definite period fixed for its termination, as partaking, in some sort, of the bitterness of death; and taking leave of those I love afflicts me beyond the power of controlling my emotions. I wept your departure until sleep weighed my heavy eyelids down, and the first thought on waking was the painful one that the sea divided us. No one can live for weeks under the same roof with you, without feeling the loss of your presence as one regrets the last fine days of autumn; and this regret I experience every day. You have so much of the warmth and sunshine of your own bright land, that dear Italy which I so much love, that I miss you as much as I did it when I returned to England. "I inclose you Marguerite's verses on you. She is a young poetess, but truly feels what she writes, so that her lines have the merit of truth, if they have no other, and this is more than can be said of better poets. She begs of me to thank you for remembering her, and bids me say that she needed no flowers to remind her of one who possesses all the brightness and sweetness that belong to them. "Alfred charges me with his affectionate and cordial regards to you. He is not given to make professions, even when he most feels; but I do assure you that you have in him a true friend. Have you heard that the Parisian papers announced his arrival at Paris? And did you read the article on him in the Charivari? It was very droll. The Prince N― requested me to offer you his kindest wishes, and Mons. Thessily never comes to Gore House without asking for you, and praying to be recalled to your memory. "Mr. Reeve, too, and Mr. Chorley, speak of you with enthusiasm. In short, no day passes in which you are not fondly remembered. You have not told me if the Mr. is at Paris. I hope he is, for it will be some consolation for your absence to know that you have near you those who can truly appreciate you. "The Viscount de F. must have been charmed at your return, for I am sure he envied me the happiness of your society here. I feel disposed to like all who love you, and although this will lead to an extensive friendship, I nevertheless can not feel indifferent toward your friends. Remember me most kindly to my friend Henry Bulwer, and let me hear from you soon. Alfred and Marguerite desire their most affectionate regards to you. "M. BLESSINGTON." "Gore House, May 15, 1840. "MA TRES CHÈRE AMIE,-I fear that this letter will not find you at Paris, and I wish so much that before you set out for Italy you should receive the renewed impression of my unimpaired affection, and my vows that, ultimately, the late event in Italy may tend to lead to that happiness, which no one merits more than you do. I had seen the account in the newspaper, and since I read it I have not ceased to think of you, and the influence it may have on your happiness. "Let me hear from you, ma chère chère amie, as soon as you reach Ravenna, for I shall be most anxious to be assured that all is going on as you wish. I will send this letter under cover to Mr. Henry Bulwer, with a request to forward it to Ravenna in case you should have left Paris. Remember me most kindly to your brother, and tell your good father that, though we have never met, I have learned to esteem him. "Votre ami Alfred, et croyez moi, il est veritable ami pour vous, begs me to offer you his affectionate regards, as does Marguerite, and praying heaven M. BLESSINGTON. to guard and bless you, votre devouée, "P. S.-I do not believe that there is the least likelihood of Prince Montfort's daughter managing Prince Louis; about the other person I know not, but will inquire. "Monsieur Kinliff has left London, and is now attached to the embassy at Paris, where he will be greatly disappointed not to find you. We regret him very much, for he is good as well as agreeable, and has many good qualities, among which is a due appreciation of you. Adieu, encore adieu.” To Madame Guiccioli, in Paris: "Gore House, April 14, 1841. "MA CHÈRE, BONNE ET BELLE AMIE,-Mr. Hamilton Brown sent me your letter about a month ago, and long as it had been retarded, its receipt afforded me great pleasure. "I know you so well, and love you so truly, that I never could doubt your affection, even though months passed without your giving me any assurance of it by letter; for I judge your heart by my own, and that tells me I may you often safely confide in the stability of your attachment. I have thought of and fondly during the winter, and pictured you to my mind's eye surrounded by a family circle who must love you dearly, because they know how you deserve to be loved. "I keep your little box of cagea always on my table next my chair in the library, and its odor breathes of your dear country and dearer self, and brings back to me our long causeries by the fireside. I trembled on reading the danger to which you were exposed during the terrible voyage to France. Little did I imagine that the storm which I heard raging with such fury Absence and distance from those menaced the safety of one so dear to me. we love, always so painful and difficult to be borne, becomes doubly so when we reflect on the dangers to which they may be exposed. It grieves me to think that you will return to Italy without our meeting. How glad would it make me if you could pay me a visit before you depart. "I have suffered so heavily from the old malady in the trachea during the winter and spring, that even my doctors do not think it would be prudent for me to remain in England another winter. I should like to take up my abode VOL. II.-B somewhere near you, if you were likely to remain in Italy; but I fear you will settle in Paris. "You were wise not to waste years in a lawsuit, for well has it been said that he who commences a suit resembles him who plants a palm-tree which he will not live to see flourish. Your friend Alfred, and you have not a truer friend, charges me with a thousand kind regards to you. Marguerite sends her affectionate wishes. M. BLESSINGTON.” To Madame Guiccioli, in Paris: Gore House, June 7, 1841. "How I grieve to find that you are leaving France without being able to pay me even a short visit. I write now merely to request you will keep me au courant of your movements, that in case I should be able to leave England I may know where you are. May all happiness attend you. If only half what you merit falls to your share, you will be happier than most people. Marguerite desires to be affectionately remembered to you, and so does Alfred, who entertains for you a sincere and warm attachment. Heaven bless you, ma chère et belle amie, and be assured you have not a more affectionate or devoted friend than M. BLESSINGTON." To Madame Guiccioli, in Paris : "Gore House, January 8, 1845. "As I see by the newspapers that you are returned to Paris, I write to scold you for your long silence, and for leaving me to learn your movements only by the journalists! I have also a piece of intelligence to convey, which I am sure will give you pleasure. You have, I dare say, heard that your friend Count D'Orsay has within the last two years taken to painting, and such has been the rapidity of his progress, that he has left many competitors, who have been for fifteen years painters, far behind. "Dissatisfied with all the portraits that have been painted of Lord Byron, none of which render justice to the intellectual beauty of his noble head, Count D'Orsay, at my request, has made a portrait of our great poet, and it has been pronounced by Sir John Cam Hobhouse, and all who remember Lord Byron, to be the best likeness of him ever painted! The picture possesses all the noble intelligence and fine character of the poet's face, and will, I am sure, delight you when you see it. We have had it engraved, and when the plate is finished, a print will be sent to you. It will be interesting, chère et aimable amie, to have a portrait of our great poet from a painting by one who so truly esteems you; for you have not a truer friend than Count D'Orsay, unless it be me. How I wish you were here to see the picture! It is an age since we met, and I assure you we all feel this long separation as a great privation. I shall be greatly disappointed if you are not as delighted with the engraving as I am, for to me it seems the very image of Byron. "M. BLESSINGTON." To Madame Guiccioli, in Paris : "Gore House, July 16th, 1845. “Ma chère et aimable Amie,—Your approval of the engraving has given us all the greatest pleasure; I only wish you could see the picture, for that is infinitely more like than the engraving.* The portrait has all the refined and intellectual look of our great poet; color does so much for likeness. I really think you would be delighted to see the oil picture, which is a halflength, as large as life. "And so you are again returning to Italy, without finding time to come to England to see the friends so anxious once more to embrace you. Think how long a time it is since we met, and how delighted I should be again to welcome you beneath my roof. You know, or ought to know, chère amie, that your presence will always be welcome here, and whenever you have any time to spare, you should devote it to me. "I saw your Italian friend only once, but the fault was not mine. I invited him to return, but have not seen him since, nor has he left his address. Pray let me hear from you often, and tell me all that concerns you and those dear to you. I hope you will find your father better. Comte D'Orsay sends his most cordial regards, Marguerite her tender amitiés. Heaven bless you, chère, belle et aimable amie, prays M. BLESSINGTON." LETTERS FROM LA CONTESSA GUICCIOLI TO LADY BLESSINGTON. (No date.) "MY DEAR LADY BLESSINGTON,-I am just coming back from Harrow, where I have enjoyed many melancholy pleasures, and dined with Mrs. Drury's† family, and spent all the day, from one o'clock in the morning till ten in the evening, amid them. me. 'Indeed, it has been a fatiguing, melancholy, but very interesting day for "My dear Lady Blessington, believe me always, yours very affectionately, 'T. GUICCIOLI. "Wednesday night." "Saturday. "I send you back the lines of Mr. Barry, which I have read with great pleasure. "Fletcher's letter to Mr. Hobhouse is a very curious thing, and it has amused me a great deal. "You ask me for some documents, for some extracts of Lord Byron, and letters to me from Greece, to prove how his dévouement to me continued to be the same till his death. "But what shall I answer you on this subject? Perhaps you will blame * The portrait of Lord Byron, by Count D'Orsay. + The family of the Rev. H. Drury, of Harrow, the tutor of Lord Byron.-R. R. M. me, but I can not conceal from you that I have the greatest dislike to publish One day or other they will be pub- now any of Lord Byron's letters to me. lished, but the moment is not come yet. Lady Blessington, that if I were to give you extracts and names, don't you think that the malicious part, at least, of your readers would say you were influenced by your friendship toward me, or by my entreaties to speak in honorable terms of Lord Byron's affection for me? This is so much my own opinion, that I am convinced the world would give much more credit to every thing honorable you will say about Lord Byron, not only without my own extracts, &c., but still more, also, had you published it when you had no acquaintance with or friendship for me. But upon all that I will speak about with you the first time I shall have the pleasure to see you. And if you like to see all Lord Byron's letters to me, at every part of our acquaintance, I will show them to you with pleasure. "Good evening, my dear Lady Blessington, and many thanks for all your kindness toward me. "Believe me always your friend, T. GUICCIOLI." Thursday. "I am just returned from Mrs. Leigh, Lord Byron's sister. We passed three hours together, always speaking of him. You may then imagine, my dear Lady Blessington, in what way my feelings must be in this moment. Mrs. Leigh is the most good-natured, amiable person in the world; and, besides, poor Lord Byron was so fond of her, that she is a very interesting person for me. "I am quite well, though not able to accustom myself to the dreadful noise of Picadilly, and to the English songs, so that I have taken the resolution to go next week to an hotel. T. GUICCIOLI." (No date.) Je vous renvoye le Romance de Mr. Bulwer, et les deux numero du Monthly. Je trouve des idées si justes et si bien exprimés dans les extraits de votre Journal que je n'aurais pas desiré mieux. Seulement les passages relatifs à cette dame, et vos reflexions sur elle peuvent inspirer une sympathie pour elle qu'elle ne mérite pas, vû qu'elle a été la cause volontaire et obstinée de tous les malheurs de Lord B "Je trouve aussi que quelque une de vos reflexions sur le genre de vie que B- menait à Venise sont un peu trop severe et exagérent la verité. Comme il aimait à se calomnier, il étoit bien lui la cause principale des fausses opinions qu'on entretenait de lui. T. GUICCIOLI." "Brighton, August 27th, 1832. "I received a note from you before my departure from London, which, being a reply to the last of mine to you, I did not answer. I found your re |