I write to request a favour of you: a little boy of eleven years,
the son of Mr. **, my particular friend, is about to become an Etonian,
and I should esteem any act of protection or kindness to him as an
obligation to myself: let me beg of you then to take some little notice
of him at first, till he is able to shift for himself.
I was happy to hear a very favourable account of you from a schoolfellow
a few weeks ago, and should be glad to learn that your family are as
well as I wish them to be. I presume you are in the upper school;--as an
_Etonian_, you will look down upon a _Harrow_ man; but I never, even in
my boyish days, disputed your superiority, which I once experienced in a
cricket match, where I had the honour of making one of eleven, who were
beaten to their hearts' content by your college in _one innings_. [2]
Believe me to be, with great truth, etc., etc.,
B.
[Footnote 1:
"Breakfasted with Mr. Cowell," writes Moore, in his Diary, June 11,
1828, "having made his acquaintance for the purpose of gaining
information about Lord Byron. Knew Byron for the first time when he
himself was a little boy, from being in the habit of playing with B.'s
dogs. Byron wrote to him to school to bid him mind his prosody. Gave
me two or three of his letters to him. Saw a good deal of B. at
Hastings; mentioned the anecdote about the ink-bottle striking one of
the lead Muses. These Muses had been brought from Holland; and there
were, I think, only eight of them arrived safe.
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