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(7) BYRONIANA No. 4 ('The Courier', February 17, 1814).
"'Don Pedro.' What offence have these men done?
"'Dogberry.' Many, Sir; they have committed false reports; moreover
they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are
slanders; sixthly and lastly, they have belied a Lady;
thirdly, they have verified unjust things, and, to
conclude, they are lying knaves."
'Much Ado about Nothing.'
We have already seen how scurvily Lord Byron has treated _three_ of the
four persons to whom he has successively dedicated his Poems; but for
the fourth he reserved a species of contumely, which we are confident
our readers will think more degrading than all the rest. _He has
uniformly praised him! and him alone!!!_--The exalted rank, the gentle
manners, the polished taste of his guardian and relation, Lord Carlisle;
the considerations due to Lord Holland, from his family, his personal
character, and his love of letters; the amiability of Mr. Moore's
society, the sweetness of his versification, and the vivacity of his
imagination;--all these could not save their possessors from the
_brutality_ of Lord Byron's personal satire.
It was, then, for a person only, who should have _none_ of these titles
to his envy that his Lordship could be expected to reserve the fullness
and steadiness of his friendship; and if we had any respect or regard
for that small poet and very disagreeable person, Mr.
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