MOORE'S MEMOIRS, JOURNAL, AND CORRESPONDENCE. * THE third and fourth volumes

of this biographical work carry on the poet's life from the middle of 1819 to the close of 1825; and are wholly made up of the journal which was commenced in the second volume. Had we formed a correct notion of the length to which the work was likely to be extended according to the pre- sent sample, we should have spoken much more strongly than we did in reviewing the first two volumes, of the reckless manner in which the time and purses of the reading public were taxed by the bait of an eminent poet's life and the editorship of an illustrious statesman. We think it would. have been more creditable to those who are responsible for this publication, and in the long run more profitable to the publishers, that it should not have been extended beyond four volumes at half-a-guinea each. There is a decent limit in these matters, and if Mr. Moore's representatives have their claim, literature has also its proprieties, and editorship has its responsibilities. A little trouble on Lord John Russell's part would have converted the raw material pitch forkedout upon the heads of the public into an interesting biogra- phy ; and if he was not able or disposed to sacrifice his time and to expend that labour which the work demanded, numbers of compe- tent persons would, doubtless, have been willing to do it; and a real plebeian biographer would have answered the purpose better than a nominis umbra even though the name be that of John Russell.

.1. Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas Moore. Edited by the

Right Honourable Lord John Russell, M.F. Volumes III. and IV. Published by Longman and Co.

The journal goes over three years which Moore was compelled to spend abroad in consequence of the Bermuda embarrassment, and about the same time after his release from this trouble, spent for the most part at home in Wiltshire, or in visits to London. The principal literary labours of this period were the "Loves of the Angels," and the Fables of the Holy Alliance," in verse ; the "Memoirs of Captain Rock," and the "Life of Sheridan," in prose ; besides some numbers of the Melodies, and other occasional lyrics. The first few months of his exile were passed in a tour through the North of Italy as far as Rome ; the rest of it in Paris. The future biographer of the poet, should any one hereafter un- dertake to put the rough materials into shape, will notice that Italy, with its art and its historic memories, seems rather to have bored him than to have excited his imagination ; that his record of the "Juliet of the Nations" is totally devoid of enthusiasm real or pretended; and that his journal is little more than a tiresome enumeration of the places he slept at and the churches and pic- tures he glanced at. His resolution to " do " all the lions that came within his reach is a mark of praiseworthy diligence and energy; and, especially during his stay at Rome, he notes down interesting remarks made by Chantrey, Canova, and other eminent persons with whom he associated. But the genius loci seems never once to have visited him ; and it is not till he gets fairly across the Alps, back into Paris and his "society," that Tom Moore is himself again. Once there, he breakfasts, dines, sups, and dances, with the English grandees who form there a distinct set, and leads a most delectable life, if it were not somewhat tiring, and, we should think, rather expensive for a literary gentleman abroad because of pecuniary difficulties. But Tom and Tom's good wife " Bessy " seem always provided with the means of making a creditable appearance among the great folk, and of keeping up a comfortable menage of their own, and that without being indebted to any source but genius and industry. For it is a noticeable trait in Moore's character, and certainly one secret of his success, as it must be of that of all men who are men of pleasure without being mere idlers, that even amid continual gayeties and distractions he always had some work on the stocks to which he directed the reading of his leisure hours, and passed few days without adding fresh lines to his store. His genius, without being rapid or vehement, was always at his com- mand; and he could consequently turn to use odd half-hours and scraps of mornings, which to most students would have been wasted ; while the elegance, brilliance, and sentiment, which are the characteristics of his poetry, were fostered and cultivated by the so- ciety of gay, clever, and accomplished men and women among whom he passed so much of his time, though this same society would have starved the aspirations and stunted the powers of a poet of a more in- tellectual or passionate nature. It is one reason the less for publishing Moore's diary in extenso, that he was so perfectly in harmony with the fashionable society of his time. Their life was his ideal life, and he had no inner life of his own, no thoughts or feelings that sprang from communion with his own nature, with books, with grand natural scenery, or men of extraordinary character—not even a trait of humour unless vanity be one— to communicate to the world. He says of himself, " Few things set my imagination on the wing so much as spectacles at the opera" ; and a sentence more comprehensively cha- racteristic of his order of poetic genius it would be impossible for the severest critic to compose. For, the deepest and best thing about Moore was the healthy spring of natural affection that welled forth so charmingly and abundantly in the letters to his mother, published in the two previous volumes, and which

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bubbles up n the journal with delightful freshness every"now and then in gushes of tenderness for his "Bossy," his "Tom," and his " Stasy.' The man had a good heart, and it. preserved him uninjured in a life which would have acted injuriously on most men in his 'position ; and he had besides a noble spirit of independence, which enabled him to mix with the wealthy and the high-born without accepting from them any favours but such as he amply repaid by the brilliant con- versation and the exquisite singing he contributed to their entertainments. A more perfect equality of tone could not be than subsisted between Moore and the fine gentlemen and ladies with whom he lived, and we doubt not that both parties felt that if a balance of obligation lay with either it certainly was not with the poet and the singer. All this with his constant refusal to be released from his pecuniary difficulties by any hand but his own, is manifest on many pages of this journal, and a biographer could have made serviceable use of it to delineate Moore's character and his relations with society. But the iteration of passages which have no value but as they show these and other qualities, which might have been shown equally well in a selection, compels us to pronounce against these volumes as anything more than a bit-by- bit readable store of witty sayings and anecdotes. Considered as the journal of a man eminent in letters, of extensive if not deep reading, and habitually living in what we have been accustomed to hear called the "very best society" of the time, disappointment must be felt at the absence of material of literary interest—at the poverty of thought, or at the paucity of acute remarks. A few sayings of well-known political men have a personal interest from the speakers ; and some historical anec- dotes, if they were new, would possess value : but a most disproportionate number of the passages which will interest or amuse any readers are simply good jokes, or stories heard at din- ner-parties, and recorded, we presume for future use, in the jour- nal the next morning. The effect of the volumes on the whole is very much like standing behind a screen at a brilliant dinner- party and listening to the talk without seeing the faces or having any share beyond that of a listener in the animation and fun that are going on. Few things in this world are pleasanter than really good talk, few things duller than good talk put into a book ; not only because the voice and looks of the speaker are lost, and the subtile links of conversation scarcely ever given, so that we only get the disjeeta membm—the broken victuals—of the intel- lectual feast, but mainly because the mood and intention with which one reads is totally different from the tone of mind in which one talks and listens to talk. -A few specimens will suffice to show the character of the diary.

"The difference between the Italian women and the German in love : more of physique in the feelings of the former : the Italian would kill her- self for a living lover, whom she would forget if he died ; the German would pine away for a dead one. The senses of the latter are reached through her imagination, (as is the case very much with the English- woman); but the imagination of the Italian woman is kindled through her senses."

Dodwell looking beautiful. Her husband used to be a great favour- ite with the Pope, who always called him Caro Doodle.' His first addresses were paid to Vittoria Odescalchi, but he jilted her ; and she had six masses said to enable her soul to get over its love for him."

"The anecdote of the Cardinal, who being invited to a good dinner on christmaii-day, said he was sorry he could not attend, but there was such a mass at such an hour, such an office at another hour ; concluding that, in short, non sipuo far niente in questo glom di diavolo."

s'A person meeting a friend running through the rain with an umbrella over him, said, Where are you running to in such a hurry, like a mad mushroom?' "

The Queen (Caroline) has said she never committed adultery but once, and that WRB with Mrs. Fitzherbert's husband."

"Lord It. told a very good thing about Sir E. Nagle's coming to our present King (George IV.) when the news of Bonaparte's death had just arrived, and saying, 'I have the pleasure to tell your Majesty that your bitterest enemy is dead.' 'Ho! ! is she, by Gad !' said the King.'

"Luttrell mentioned somebody having said upon being asked what religion be was of, 'Me! I am of the religion of all sensible men.' 'And what is that?' 'Oh ! sensible men never tell.'" "Mentioned that on some one saying to Peel, about Lawrence's picture of Croker, 'You can see the very quiver of his lips." Yes,' said Peel, 'and the arrow coming out of it.' Croker himself was telling this to one of his countrymen ; who answered, 'He meant arrah coming out of it.'" "Mentioned Canning's having met Lord Stowell one day on the road with a turtle beside him in the carriage, which he was taking down to his country house: Canning, a day or two after, said to him, 'Wasn't that your son that was with you the other day ?' "

"My host (the Speaker of the House of Commons) mentioned an occasion on which he too had not been able to refrain from laughter. The Opposition (as he described it) had been, to his no small amusement, squabbling with one another, and firing into their own ranks, when, presently he perceived a large rat issue from under the Opposition benches, 'and walk gravely over to the Treasury side of the Heine."

We said that these volumes were wanting in materials of lite- rary interest ; but there is a solitary exception. A full account is given of the reasons that led to the destruction of the famous Byron Memoir; and as the transaction tells much to Moore's credit, who sacrificed two thousand pounds by it, and as the account is the sole contribution of Lord John's pen to the volumes, (except three foot-notes of five words each, absolutely needless and use- less,) we give the summary which the editor substitutes for the statement of Moore's own journal. "I have omitted in this place a long account of the destruction of Lord Byron's MS. Memoir of his Life. The reason for my doing so may be easily stated. Mr. Moore had consented, with too much ease and want of reflection, to become the depositary of Lord Byron's memoir, and had obtained from Mr. Murray two thousand guineas on the credit of this work. He speaks of this act of his, a few pages onward, as 'the greatest error I had committed, in putting such a document out of my power.' He afterwards endeavoured to repair this error by repaying the money to Mr. Murray, and securing the manuscript to be dealt with as should be thought most advisable by himself in concert with the representatives of Lord Byron. He believed this purpose was secured by a clause which Mr. Luttrel had advised should be inserted in a new agreement with Mr. Murray, by which Mr. Moore was to have the power of redeeming the MS. for three months after Lord Byron's death. But. neither Mr. Murray nor Mr. Turner, his solicitor, seems to have under- stood Mr. Moore's wish and intention in this respect. Mr. Murray, on his side, had confided the manuscript to Mr. Gifford ; who, on perusal, declared it too gross for publication. This opinion had become known to Lord Byron's friends and relations. Hence, when the news of Lord Byron's unexpected death arrived, all parties, with the most honourable wishes and consistent views, were thrown into perplexity and apparent discord. Mr. Moore wished to redeem the manuscript, and submit it to Mrs. Leigh, Lord Byron's sister, to be destroyed or published with erasures and omissions. Sir John Hob- house wished it to be immediately destroyed, and the representatives of Mrs. Leigh expressed the same wish. Mr. Murray was willing at once to give up the manuscript on repayment of his two thousand guineas with interest. "The result was, that after a very unpleasant scene at Mr. Murray's, the manuscript was destroyed by Mr. Wilmot Horton and Colonel Doyle as the re- presentatives of Mrs. Leigh, with the full consent of Mr. Moore, who repaid to Mr. Murray the sum he had advanced, with the interest then due. After the whole had been burnt, the agreement was found ; and it appeared that Mr. Moore's interest in this MS. had entirely ceased on the death of Lord Byron, by which event the property became absolutely vested in Mr. Murray.

• "As to the manuscript itself, having read the greater part, if not the whole, I should say that three or four pages of it were too gross and inde- licate for publication ; that the rest, with few exceptions, contained little traces of Lord Byron's genius, and no interesting details of his life. His early youth in Greece, and his sensibility to the scenes around, when resting on a rock in the swimming excursions he took from the Pincus, were striking- ly described. But, on the whole the world is no loser by the sacrifice made of the Memoirs of this great poet!.!'

So far Lord John. Russell. We feel it due to Moore to add, that he appears to have resisted the most pressing solicitations subse- quently made him to receive back the money thus given up. There can be no doubt that his refusal to allow himself to be reimbursed for what was simply a right action, was nothing more than was consistent with honour and highmindedness ; though, at the time, he was strongly urged to adopt a different course by men whose names would have guaranteed the propriety of any act they sanc- tioned. But the credit of the act is immensely increased by this consideration ; and had Moore been tainted with Skimpolism (to borrow a now familiar allusion) in the slightest degree, the sanc- tion of his literary and aristocratic friends, combined with his own comparative poverty, would certainly have prevailed over chivalric feeling and a sense of self-respect.