Galt, Medwin, Sir Walter Scott, in a letter to Moore which he begins by a description of Byron's character and manners; besides many writers such as Lake, Elze, Eberty, Böttger, who did not know Byron personally. Even so late as 1878 the Revd. Francis Hodgson published some letters and communications which he possessed, having been a personal friend of his Lordship. Hunt, who had been helped and befriended by Byron, as he in no way merited has written in an unfavourable manner, of which the Quarterly Review justly remarks,,This is the miserable book of a misrerable man." Referring to the mother of Lord Cadurcis we may ask, if even the mind of the author, with all its fertility of invention, and readiness of expression, could have conceived such a remarkable individual as Mrs. Cadurcis, if he had not borne in mind the mother of Lord Byron. Her very strange habit of throwing anything which was at hand at her son, is seldom found even among the lower classes of society, and this is not as in some of Dickens' productions overdrawn. I propose to examine and comment upon the salient points in the narrative of ,,Venetia" dividing my observations into paragraphs referring to particular chapters of the novel, and having special reference to the similarity therein to the histories which we possess of Byron. § I. Disraeli has in the first place adroitly veiled the true source from which he gained his materials for laying the plan of his work, by choosing ,,Venetia" as a title, and bringing the heroine very prominently forward, while really the most interesting and striking points in the first part of the story are concentrated in the young Lord who is scarcely mentioned till the sixth chapter, introducing the reader not only to Venetia and Lady Annabel but to Dr. Masham who plays an important part to the end. § II. In Chapters II, III, IV, the circumstances of the birth and early life of Byron are gradually introduced into the story. The abbey,,having served for nearly two centuries and a half as the principal dwelling of an old baronial family" is literally true of Newstead Abbey; for in the reign of Henry VIII, the possessions of the Byron family became enlarged by the gift of the church and priory in consequence of the dissolution of the monasteries. The description of the old abbey is also taken from Newstead. Entering the large court the curious fountain is brought before our notice, the desolation all around. The title of Lord had first been granted to the family in the year 1643 in the person of Sir John Byron. And the fifth Lord Byron had in the manner described in our narrative suffered his property to fall into decay, being a very peculiar man, and taking little interest in his relations.*) The melancholy aspect of Newstead is therefore vividly delineated, and the appearance as of a haunted dwelling. That in the narrative the former owner did not live in the residence of his ancestors is a departure from the original, which adds an effect to the tale and avoids the introduction of too many unimportant personages. § III. We next consider the entrance of Mrs. Cadurcis and her son into the estate, and the character of this lady, as set forth in the V and VI Chapters. Here there is a remarkable correspondence between the position of Mrs. Cadurcis and the mother of Byron brought out in the conversation of the nurse with Lady Annabel, the latter replying,,Mrs. Cadurcis is a widow; with a very slender fortune. Her son will not enjoy his estate until he is of age, and its rental is small". Fortunately Mrs. Byron was a widow at the time of the death of the great uncle of her son. Her husband appears to have married her, only to pay off with her large fortune his many debts; which fortune he so reduced, that she was obliged to content herself with the annual income of 1. 150, and even this amount on his visit to her from France was still further reduced. Mrs. Byron did not as the subjects of our novel, inhabit the abbey till some time after; it being let to Lord Grey. § IV. In the sixth chapter we have brought before us a description of the personal appearance and peculiar character of Mrs. Byron under the name of Mrs. Cadurcis; the incidents of her visit to Lady Annabel and the remarkable conversation of the mother; with the peculiar conduct of the son supplied and dressed up, by *) Moore L. of B. (complete Edition: Murray 1860) P. 82. the ready inventive faculty of the author; all exactly portraying Mrs. Byron and her son. Compare the words of Moore," - Mrs. Byron who was a short and corpulent person, and rolled considerably in her gait, would in a rage endeavour to catch him",*) and a post-chaise drove up to the hall, whence issued a short and very stout woman with a rubicund countenance."**) The mediocrity of Mrs. Cadurcis, which is faithful to the original thrown into the narrative gives variation and elasticity to it, as in the tales of Charles Dickens the introduction of such personages, which is very frequent, produces a very appropriate play to the whole, and relieves it as a hamlet or a woodman in a landscape, or a hulk upon the strand. Besides, the author no doubt considered it a very natural thing that the mother of one, suddenly coming into the possession of the estates and title of his ancestors should very much resemble Mrs. Cadurcis as he has presented her. The language is sufficiently dignified for a book, and not too true to nature, as is the case in the account of the contention of the gladiators in the tavern in ,,the Last Days of Pompeii", which otherwise is certainly the best or one of the best of Bulwer Lytton's works. We have here admirably blended as in a picture the light and shade: exuberance of affection, combined with ungovernable temper where the strange qualities possessed by the mother of Byron. Most of the English novels have either for good or for evil some moral or religious tendency, and just as Dickens in his „Hard Times" has exhibited a kind but somewhat misguided father so Disraeli has selected this remarkable woman as model, and he has not failed in tracing the results of her eduction upon her son. Very few mothers act precisely in the way in which Mrs. Cadurcis is represented as doing, espesially in that station in life; but many are provoked to poroxysms of rage and affection; so that the whole proceeding is appropriately described, besides being similar to the course which Mrs. Byron pursued in training her son. Venetia's ,,Seven Champions" took the place, in the narrative of the poker, tongs, and other articles which in Byron's education***) were used as weapons for correction. Even before strangers there was the same curious behaviour, which we have portrayed by the pen of our novel-writer; for we read in Moore's account that, ,,Mrs. Byron whose paroxysms of passion were not like those of *) Moore's Life of B. Murray; 1860 P. 13. ***) Moore's Life of B. Murray 1860 P. 34. her son silent rages' would on all these occasions, break out into such audible fits of temper as it was impossible to keep from reaching the ears of the scholars and the servants;"*) The occasions referred to are when Dr. Glennie strove to prevent the repeated interruptions to the studies of the young nobleman (occasioned by Mrs. Byron taking him home for a few day,) by invoking the interposition of his guardian, Lord Carlisle. Dr. Glennie describes Mrs. Byron as a woman without anything prepossessing in her personal appearance, a total stranger to English manners, with an uncultivated mind, and not having the understanding and sagacity to learn from those around her, or in any way to compensate for this defect, being very ill-adapted to form the character and manners of a young nobleman. The words ,,you know you do it to provoke me, you little brat"; put into the mouth of Mrs. Cadurcis, are gathered from actual occurrence;**) for in the memoir of Byron we find him expressing his feelings when his mother in one of her violent outbursts of temper, called him,,a lame brat". Disraeli has wisely excluded the lameness, which interests the reader of the life of the illustrious Byron, as an actual fact and would be applicable to the description of a beggar or old soldier; but not suitable to the present story. Besides, this would have been too evident a copy and indeed a slavish imitation, from an author who possesses ample material as well as skill in treating his subject. S V. We have also in the sixth chapter some insight into the principal traits in the character of Byron, viewed in the person of the young Lord Cadurcis. Byron says of himself,,I differed not at all from other children, being neither tall nor short, dull nor witty of my age, but rather lively except in my sullen moods, and then I was always a Devil".***) In one of these sullen. moods the young Cadurcis is graphically described entering the room of Lady Annabel with a sulky nod, contradicting and opposing everything which his mother said and refusing to do anything which she desired. The repartee of the boy and the mode in which he receives the reproaches of his mother portrayed in this and especially in the ninth chapter are very entertaining to the *) Moore Life of B. (1860) P. 16. **) Medwin Jour. of the Conv. of L. B. P. 54. ***) Moore's Life of B. (1860) P. 34. reader. Byron, at a very early age showed this sullen temperament and on one occasion when very young being reprimanded by his nurse, who usually had more command over him than his mother, he tore a new frock in which he had been dressed and stood silently defying the anger and annoyance which such an act naturally occasioned. That nothing, even the cakes and Mountain could tempt her son to alter his conduct, but more forcibly brings out the way in which the youthful days of Byron were spent with his mother. We are reminded of the party of young friends when he refused to come down and play with the children, and also of his strange reticence when Mrs. Byron called on a friend the next morning with her son. And the change which came over Cadurcis in the story, well exhibits the way Lord Byron acted, when his mother getting up to go, one of the company alluding to the play which they had lately seen performed said,,Good by, Gaby. Then Byron turned, his countenance lighted up, he refused to go and talked without reserve".*) The mode in which the young lord received the reproaches of his mother is strikingly exemplified; the silence of the boy provoking Mrs. Cadurcis more and more, and when she at last cried out Plantagenet, do you hear me?" his answering,,Yes, everybody hears you, Mrs. Cadurcis", though not quite so bitterly scornful is suggested by the passive share which Lord Byron took in these unfortunate scenes of his childhood annoying by refraining from uttering a word, being perfectly persuaded that anything which he might say would be quite ineffectual in allaying the storm, and feeling that his only course was to avoid all words. At the same time he used to bow to her, whenever she thus acted and the more profoundly whenever in her ungovernable rage her voice sounded louder and louder.**) Our author has avoided such a revolting display of insult and contempt, and very properly brought forth in an entertaining manner, with an almost amusing adjunct of repartee on the part of the son the general traits in the characters of both. The boy experienced in such furies of his mother escaping in time to avoid being struck by the volume hurled at him,,,and pushing his chair before his infuriated mother"; being then chased round the room; his ,,suddenly seizing Lady Annabel's worktable, and whirling it before her", are all scenes vividly painted from colours derived from the history of the illustrious poet, enlivened *) Moore Life of B. (1860) P. 33. **) Moore's Life of B. (1860) P. 34. |