1812, a twelvemonth before he formed his
intention. It is, therefore, to be regretted,
as there is proof in print that the intention
to leave the country was in 1813, that Mr.
Hobhouse, in his affidavit concerning his
knowledge of the fact, did not mention or
allude to some of the tangible data, upon
which he doubtless established that know-
Ixxviii PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
ledge in his own mind, instead of resting
altogether upon the corroborative remem-
brance of Mrs. Leigh.
Mrs. Leigh, by her affidavit, further pre-
sents, upon oath, a debtor and creditor
account, similar to that which Mr. Hobhouse
had already exhibited respecting the fact
of Lord Byron's never having mentioned
either the delivery for safe custody, or the
gift of the disputed letters. This account
having been sufficiently audited in the for-
mer case, it is only necessary to state in the
present, that a similar examination of it
leads to a similar conclusion that the balance
is NOTHING.
This honourable lady, upon her oath, de-
clares also, that she " believes that such
letters were left or deposited, by Lord
Byron, in the care or keeping of R. C.
Dallas, for the use of him, the said Lord
Byron, in the same manner as his Lordship
left such other letters and papers with depo-
nent and others of his friends" — that is to
say, she swears that she does not believe
Mr. Dallas's assertion upon oath, which
she must have seen, as these affidavits
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. Ixxlx
were filed in answer to it. Mr. Dallas felt
it unnecessary to give himself the pain of
positively contradicting the belief sworn to
in this affidavit. But the Editor refers the
reader to the whole of the foregoing obser-
vations, that he may form his opinion as to
the grounds upon which the contradiction
might have been given.
The Editor's task is now drawing to a
close. After a considerable, though una-
voidable delay, arising from the mass of
business which peremptorily occupied the
attention of the Court of Chancery, on the
very last day of the Lord Chancellor's
public sittings, an attempt was made to
bring on the consideration of the cause,
Hobhouse v. Dallas, out of its proper rota-
tion. This was resisted ; but Lord Eldon
being informed of the pressing nature of
the business, kindly consented to take the
papers to his house, and without calling for
the arguments of counsel, gave his decision
at a private sitting.* Accordingly, on the
* It is owing to this circumstance that no report of
the cause has appeared in the public papers.
Ixxx PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
23d of August, 1824, the Lord Chancellor
delivered the following judgment in his
private room. It is copied literally from
the short-hand writer's notes.
" Lord Chancellor. — In the case of
Hobhouse and Dallas, I shall reserve my
judgment on one point till Wednesday,
because I think it an extremely difficult
point. But upon the point, whether this
gentleman can publish the letters that Lord
Byron wrote to himself, I cannot say that
it is possible for him to be allowed to do
that. I apprehend the law, as it has been
settled with respect to letters — the property
in letters is, (and whether that was a decision
that could very well have stood at first or
not, I will not undertake to say, but it is so
settled, therefore I do not think I ought to
trouble myself at all about it,) that if A.
writes a letter to B., B. has the property in
that letter, for the purpose of reading and
keeping it, but no property in it to publish
it ; and, therefore, the consequence of that
is, that unless the point which relates to
the letters that were written by Lord
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. Ixxxi
Byron to his mother is a point that can be
extended to the letters written by Lord
Byron to this gentleman himself, — unless
the point on the first case affect the point
on the second, it appears to me that the
letters written to himself clearly fall within
that rule which I am now alluding to.
" The other is a thing which, after
carefully reading the bill, and answers of
these gentlemen who propose to be the
publishers, I have formed an inclination of
opinion about it, but which I will not at
this moment express, because I think that
opinion must be \\Tong, unless it is founded
on every word that is to be found in all the
answer relative to the transaction of Lord
Byron's putting these letters into the hands
of Mr. Dallas. That is a point on which
I would rather reserve my opinion till
Wednesday morning, and then I will con-
clude it with respect to that question.
With respect to the letters written to him-
self, I confess I entertain no doubt at all
about it. And there is another circum-
stance too, I think, which is, that it is a
very different thing with respect to letters
written by Lord Byron to his mother— it is
Ixxxil PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
a very different thing, as it appears to
me, publishing as information what those
letters may have communicated as matters
of fact, and publishing the letters them-
selves. If you are here on Wednesday
morning, I will give you my judgment on
the point which I have reserved, and if you
are not here, I will give it on Saturday."
" Counsel. — Then of course the injunc-
tion continues as to the letters written to
Mr. Dallas himself?"
" Lord Chancellor. — Yes; and with
respect to the others that will stand over
till Wednesday. I don't see if an action
was brought against Mr, Dallas for pub-
lishing the other letters, I don't see how he
could defend that action ; for the question
about the other letters depends entirely,
I think, on what is supposed to have passed
between himself and Lord Byron alone ;
and, therefore, if an action was brought
against him, there could be no evidence at
all that would take his case out of the
reach of the law."
These are the words of the Lord Chan-
cellor's decision as far as it goes. Nothing
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. Ixxxlii
took place on the Wednesday with respect
to the reserved point ; but his Lordship left
town on the following Monday, and pre-
viously to so doing, he desired the Registrar
of the Court to inform Mr. Dallas's soli-
citor, that " the injunction must remain in
all its points."
That no step might be omitted which
could by possibility enable Mr. Dallas to
redeem the pledge which he had given to
the public, the following letter was sent to
the executors by the parties restrained, by
the injunction of the Court of Chancery,
from publishing the letters in question.
" To the Executors of the late Right Honourable
Lord Byron.
'« London, 24:th of September, 1824.
" Gentlemen,
" As the Lord Chancellor has given his opinion
that the Letters of the late Lord Byron, contained in
the work which we intended to publish, cannot be
made public without the permission of his Lordship's
executors, we beg to state to you, that the work in
question has been perused by the present Lord Byron,
who has expressed his approbation of it, and his desire
that it should appear ; and we now request the permis-
sion of the executors for its publication, declaring, at
g2
ixxxiv PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
the same time, our readiness to submit the work to the
inspection of any person to be mutually approved of
by both parties in this transaction ; and if any omissions
should be suggested to make all such as, upon a
fair examination, may be considered proper.
*' The favour of an immediate answer is requested,
addressed under cover to our solicitors, Messrs. S.
Turner and Son, Red Lion-square.
*♦ We remain, gentlemen,
" Your most obedient servants,
" Alex. R. C. Dallas, for R. C. Dallas,
" Charles Knight, for myself,
and Henry Colburn."
In consequence of this letter written by
the parties to the executors themselves,
Messrs. Turner and Son, the solicitors to
those parties, received the following letter,
without a date, from Mr. Charles Hanson,
the solicitor to the executors :—
*' Gentlemen,
*' Hobhouse and another v. Dallas and others.
" I AM directed by the executors of the late Lord
Byron, in answer to a letter addressed to them by your
clients, containing a proposal for the publication of the
late Lord Byron's letters in the work in question, to
inform you, that the executors do not deem it proper
to sanction the publication of any of Lord Byron's
letters ; and that they are advised to pursue legal mea-
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. Ixxxv
siires to compel the delivering up to them such of the
letters as they are entitled as his representatives to
possess. It has been represented to the executors that
a publication of the letters in question has been contem-
plated abroad. The executors do not vouch for the
truth of this report ; but I think it proper to mention,
that if such a thing should be done, it will be deemed
by the executors a contempt of the Injunction granted
in this cause.
" I am, &c.
" Chas. Hanson."
This letter having closed every possible
avenue by which the correspondence could
be given to the British public, as had been
promised, Mr. Dallas was placed in the
situation which was stated at the beginning
of this narrative ; and there was no alter-
native left to him but the step which has
now been taken. The following Recollec-
tions will, it is hoped, sufficiently establish
the propriety of the intended publication as
far as relates to the nature of its contents ;
this statement is now given to the pubhc
with a view to prove the propriety of Mr.
Dallas's intention and conduct in promising
its pubhcation ; and the existence of the
Ixxxvi PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
injunction relieves him from all blame in
not performing his promise.
After the full statement that has been
made, it will not be necessary to detain
the reader much longer from the perusal of
the Recollections themselves. There are,
however, three points to which the Editor
begs to draw attention :— The first is the
difference between the words " private''
and " confidential The parties who op-
pose the publication of the correspondence
made use of them as synonymous ; against
this use of them, the parties who intended
the publication distinctly protest. The
private letters of a public man are those in
which, unrestrained by the present inten-
tion of publication to the world, he naturally
and inartificially conveys his thoughts, sen-
timents, and opinions to a friend. Can it
be said that v/hen a man's celebrity has
raised him from his peculiar circle to belong
to the unlimited one of all mankind, and
when his death has made him the subject of
history, and rendered the development of his
character interesting to all the world, it is a
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. Ixxxvii
breach of confidence to give to the world
such private letters so written ? Confiden-
tial letters are those in which any man in-
trusts that which at the time he would not
make known, to the keeping and secrecy of
one in whom he confides. Such letters, it
is a breach of confidence, and highly dis-
honourable, to publish. The editor sub-
mits these definitions to the criticism of the
public ; and by them he wishes the matter
in question to be tried. Messrs. Hobhouse
and Hanson, without ever having read one
word of the letters proposed to be pub-
lished, swear, that they are confidential,
and that the publication of them would be
a breach of honour and confidence. Mr.
Dallas, Mr. Spearman, Mr. Knight, and the
present Editor, after having carefully read
over all the letters, swear, that they are
NOT confidential. Mr. Dallas not only ac-
knowledges that they are private, accordmg
to the above definition, but he publishes
them because they are so ; if they were not
they would not be worth publishing now.
But had they been confid^ential, no induce*
ment on earth would have i^revailed with
Ixxxviii PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
Mr. Dallas to submit them to the inspection
of any third person whatever, much less
to publish them.
The second point to be attended to is
the reluctance of Mr. Dallas to submit the
correspondence to the inspection of the
executors, with a viev/ to their decision on
its publication. This point has been al-
ready incidentally touched upon; but a few
more observations may, perhaps, be par-
donable. Mr. Dallas never denied the right
of an executor to prevent the posthumous
publication of letters which were either
libellous, or injurious to the deceased, or
otherwise improper for publication ; but,
without adverting to the legal question, he
did deny that persons differing from an
author in opinions respecting religion, mo-
rality, politics, and patriotism, ought to
have unhmited control, and the power of
an unalterable veto, over a work, in which
those subjects were more or less discussed.
For this reason he refused to submit the
work in question to Messrs. Hobhouse and
Hanson, because, as far as he knew, or
had heard of either, he had grounds for
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. Ixxxix
believing that he differed materially from
them both on one or other of those points.
But when a third person was mentioned,
to whom the book might be submitted,
the greatest readiness was shown to make
an amicable arrangement ; and the propo-
sition contained in the final letter to the
executors, is exactly the same as was made
in a previous stage of the business through
the present Lord Byron.
The third point to be mentioned is that,
after reading this narrative, it cannot but
be painful to be forced to the convic-
tion that the opposition of the executors
amounts, by their own confession in the
affidavits, to a matter of property only.
They cannot venture to say, in the face of
all the evidence adduced as to the nature
of the work, that they oppose its publica-
tion in tenderness to Lord Byron's cha-
racter; they know it is more likely to
exalt his character, as far as it may be
exalted, than any other work that can be
written; they know that those who most
desire to see Lord Byron's character placed,
if possible, in a better light than it stands
xc PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
at present, approve of the work, and wish
it to be made public. Neither can they
venture to say that they fear to allow this
correspondence to appear, lest it should be
taken as a precedent, and other letters less
proper should afterwards come forth; for
they have the power offered to them of
sanctioning the work in the title page by
their " permission," which would leave
them at liberty to resist any unsanctioned
publication. They, therefore, are forced to
acknowledge, as they do in the course of
these proceedings, that their opposition is
a matter of 'property, — that is to say, that
they want to make the most of these letters
for the benefit of the late Lord Byron's
legatee *.
* It is hardly possible to be believed that all these
oaths, as of knowledge upon surmisings, have for their
object to add a few hundreds to the hundred thousand
of pounds that Lord Byron has stripped from an ancient
and honourable title which they were meant to support —
not to give to his daughter, which would liave put the
silence of feeling upon the reproach of justice, but to
enrich his sister of the half blood, she being married, and
of course naturally bound only to expect and to follow
the fortunes of her husband.
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. xci
No one, under all the circumstances, can
doubt, morally speaking, that Lord Byron
made a free gift to Mr. Dallas of his mo-
ther's letters. Other proof than that which
can now be given might, perhaps, be ne-
cessary to satisfy the requirements of law ;
but, certainly, the oaths that have been
sworn are not calculated to remove the
moral conviction from the mind, that the
letters are the property of Mr. Dallas.
As it is not according to the rules of law
that matters of feeling are decided, there
is a circumstance, of no slight importance,
which should be taken into consideration
in forming an opinion upon this transaction.
For many years of his life Lord Byron
never saw Mrs. Leigh, and would have no
communication with her ; he was averse to
the society of the sex, and thought Hghtly
of family ties. This separation continued
from his boyhood up to the year 1812;
during the latter part of which period Mr.
Dallas, continually, but fruitlessly, endea-
voured to induce Lord Byron to take notice
of Mrs. Leigh. However, after his return
to England, when the publication of Childe
xcii PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
Harold was approaching, his arguments
were urged with more force, and Lord
Byron, at length, yielded to them. The
gift of an early copy of the Pilgrimage
was one of the first steps towTtrds a renewal
of intercourse; and the kind and affectionate
terms in which that gift was expressed, as
mentioned in the following Recollections,
were the result of feelings which Mr. Dallas
had endeavoured to excite. That gentle-
man, during his life time, never took merit
to himself for promoting this union, though
he has frequently mentioned the circum-
stances to the Editor, who now makes use
of them without having been entrusted to
do so ; but, impelled by the necessity of
vindicating his father under the unexpected
treatment he has experienced*.
* The result of this union, so produced, has been,
that Lord Byron, against all moral right, has applied
the money procured by the sale of Newstead Abbey, to
enrich his half sister, and left the family title without the
family estate which belonged to it. It may be said
against all moral right, because the grant of Newstead
was made by Henry VIII., to his ancestor, as the repre-
sentative, at that time, of a very ancient and honourable
family, which waa afterwards ennobled by James I.,
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. xchi
The Lord Chancellor's decision sets the
question of law at rest ; and the Editor is
anxious distinctly to state, that neither
Mr. Dallas nor himself have ever presumed
to call in question the soundness of an opi-
nion given by the venerable Lord Eldon.
Neither of them, indeed, had taken the
legal view of the subject, which his Lord-
ship appears to have entertained ; and they
were warranted in bringing the matter to
having the estate, as well as that of Rochdale, in pos
session, to support the title so given. Lord Byron re-
ceived this title and estate together in collateral descent,
he being the grand nephew only of his predecessor.
The law which destroyed the perpetuity of entails could
not destroy the feeling which makes a man morally
bound to transmit such honours and such an estate to-
gether to his successors ; and had Lord Byron's grand
uncle sold Newstead and Rochdale, because he had no
son, nor even brother, nor nephew, nor cousin, to suc-
ceed him, but only a grand nephew, his Lordship would
have been the first to have felt the moral injustice done
him. Lord Byron is succeeded in a nearer relationship
than that in which he stood to his predecessor ; yet he
leaves a title and a name distinguished in almost every
generation, from the conquest, without any of the re-
wards which were given to the successive bearers of that
name, to support its ancient honours.
xciv PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
an issue, by the opinion of one of the most
deservedly celebrated lawyers at the Chan-
cery Bar. Without such an opinion, they
certainly would not have added the heavy
expenses of a Chancery Suit, to the already
considerable loss occasioned by the nearly
completed preparations for publishing a
large edition of the work in quarto. It is
particularly necessary, thus publicly to de-
clare an humble submission to the au-
thority of the Court of Chancery, as the
appearance of the work in France may
induce a supposition that the Author and
Editor could be guilty of an intentional
contempt of that Court. To prevent such
a supposition, vv^hich would be very far from
the truth, the Editor has only to declare,
that the arrangements for publication with
Messrs. A. and W. Galignani, of Paris, were
made by Mr. Dallas, not only before the
matter was decided ; but that the founda-
tion of those arrangements was laid before
the work was offered to any bookseller in
London. To this fact the following letter
will bear testimony ;—
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. xcv
" To Messrs. A. and W. Galignani, Paris.
" Ste. Adresse, near Havre de Grace, May 31, 1824.
*' Gentlemen,
" You may, perhaps, remember my calling at
your house when I was in Paris some time ago. I write
^t present to inform you, that I have some very interest-
ing manuscripts of Lord Byron's, which I am going to
publish in London, where I purpose to send them as
soon as they are copied. I am not decided as to dis-
posing of the copyright ; but whether I do or not, I
mean to offer them to a Paris publisher for a transla-
tion, so that the French and English editions may
appear at the same time. I offer you the preference ;
but I beg an immediate answer, as I mean, if you de-
cline the offer, to write to a friend in Paris to treat with
another respectable bookseller.
" With regard to the interest of the work, you
cannot, it is true, judge of that without a more parti-
cular communication ; but all I wish at present to know
is, whether you would enter into this speculation, if the
manuscripts prove to possess great interest. I would
give you a sight of them, if the distance between us did
not prevent it, but in the course of this week they go to
London.
" When I was in Paris, I gave you a print of Lord
Byron. It was much soiled, but certainly the best
likeness I have seen of him. You purposed having a
reduced engraving made of it — did you get it done ?
" I am, gentlemen,
" Your humble servant,
" R. C, Dallas."
xcvi PRELIMINARY STATEMENT.
After arranging for the publication in
England, Mr. Dallas returned without loss
of time to France. At Paris, he entered
into a written agreement with Messrs.
Galignani, according to the terms of which
the sheets were transmitted to them, as
they were struck off in London. Mr.
Dallas himself remained in Paris to conduct
the work through the press ; and it had
nearly advanced as far as the edition in
England, when the progress of both was
arrested by the Injunction. Mr. Dallas
has been under the necessity of abiding by
the pecuniary loss to a large amount,
which the advanced state of the work,
when stopped, brings upon him in England ;
but this very fact is a reason why he should
be unable to meet a similar loss to nearly
a similar amount in France. And not only
were the actual expenses incurred to be
considered, but, by suppressing the work
in Paris, he would have been liable to the
consequences of a law-suit upon his formal
contract there also. Mr. Dallas, therefore,
was left without a reasonable alternative.
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. xcvii
and the arrangements with Messrs. GaUg-
nani have been allowed to proceed; and
this the more necessarily, as from the
number of hands through which the ma-
nuscript had passed, and the copies of it
which had been dispersed for translation
and other literary purposes, it was impos-
sible to guard against the almost certain
appearance of the work in part, or in the
whole, however unsanctioned by the ap-
probation of the Editor. In these arrange-
ments with Messrs. Galignani, Mr. Knight
and Mr. Colburn were not, and are not, in
any respect parties ; — the right of such
publication having been reserved to Mr.
Dallas in the original agreement.
NOTE.
As, in the first page of this work, it is asserted that
Lord Byron was born at Dover, and as the public news-
papers stated that, in the inscription on the urn which con-
tained his Lordship's relics it \vas said that he was born
in London, the Editor thinks it right to publish the ex-
tract of a letter to himself, from the Author of the fol-
lowing Recollections, in which his reasons for making the
assertion are stated: —
" I find in the newspapers that Lord Byron is stated
on the urn to have been born in London. The year
previous to the Januai-y when he was born, I was on a
visit to Captain Byron and my sister at Chantilly.
Lord Byron's father and mother, with Mrs. Leigh, then
Augusta Byron, a child then about four years old, were
in France. I returned to Boulogne, where I then had
a house, where I was visited by Mrs. Byron, in her way
to England ; she was pregnant, and stopped at Dover on
crossing the Channel. That Lord Byron was born
there I recollect being mentioned both by his uncle and
my sister, and I am so fully persuaded of it (Capt. Byron
and my sister soon followed, and staid some time at
Folkstone), that I cannot even now give full credit to