Dear Sir,--I shall be in town by Sunday next, and will call and have
some conversation on the subject of Westall's proposed designs. I am to
sit to him for a picture at the request of a friend of mine [1]; and as
Sanders's is not a good one, you will probably prefer the other. I wish
you to have Sanders's taken down and sent to my lodgings
immediately--before my arrival. I hear that a certain malicious
publication on Waltzing [2] is attributed to me. This report, I suppose,
you will take care to contradict, as the Author, I am sure, will not
like that I should wear his cap and bells. Mr. Hobhouse's quarto will be
out immediately; pray send to the author for an early copy which I wish
to take abroad with me.
Dear Sir, I am, yours very truly, B.
P.S.--I see the 'Examiner' [3] threatens some observations upon you next
week. What can you have done to share the wrath which has heretofore
been principally expended upon the Prince? I presume all your Scribleri
will be drawn up in battle array in defence of the modern Tonson--Mr.
Bucke [4], for instance. Send in my account to Bennet Street, as I wish
to settle it before sailing.
[Footnote 1: This picture, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1815, is
now in the possession of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.]
[Footnote 2: Byron's 'Waltz' was published anonymously in the spring of
1813, not, apparently, by Murray, but by Sherwood, Neely, and Jones,
Paternoster Row.]
[Footnote 3: In the 'Examiner' for April, 1813, occurs the paragraph: "A
word or two on Mr.
Pages:
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293