67 — To William Bankes 1
Southwell, March 6, 1807.
Dear Bankes, — Your critique is valuable for many reasons: in the first place, it is the only one in which flattery has borne so slight a part; in the
next
, I am
cloyed
with insipid compliments. I have a better opinion of your judgment and ability than your
feelings
. Accept my most sincere thanks for your kind decision, not less welcome, because totally unexpected. With regard to a more exact estimate, I need not remind you how few of the
best poems
, in our language, will stand the test of
minute
or
verbal
criticism: it can, therefore, hardly be expected the effusions of a boy (and most of these pieces have been produced at an early period) can derive much merit either from the subject or composition. Many of them were written under great depression of spirits, and during severe indisposition:— hence the gloomy turn of the ideas. We coincide in opinion that the "
poësies érotiques
" are the most exceptionable; they were, however, grateful to the
deities
, on whose altars they were offered — more I seek not.
The
portrait of Pomposus
was drawn at Harrow, after a
long sitting
; this accounts for the resemblance, or rather the
caricatura
. He is
your
friend, he
never was mine
— for both our sakes I shall be silent on this head.
The
collegiate
rhymes
are not personal — one of the notes may appear so, but could not be omitted. I have little doubt they will be deservedly abused — a just punishment for my unfilial treatment of so excellent an Alma Mater.
I
sent you no copy, lest
we
should be placed in the situation of
Gil Blas
and the
Archbishop
of Grenada
; though running some hazard from the experiment, I wished your
verdict
to be unbiassed. Had my "
Libellus
" been presented previous to your letter, it would have appeared a species of bribe to purchase compliment. I feel no hesitation in saying, I was more anxious to hear your critique, however severe, than the praises of the
million
.
On
the same day I was honoured with the encomiums of
Mackenzie
, the celebrated author of the
Man of Feeling
Whether
his
approbation or
yours
elated me most, I cannot decide.
You will receive my
Juvenilia
, — at least all yet published. I have a large volume in manuscript, which may in part appear hereafter; at present I have neither time nor inclination to prepare it for the press. In the spring I shall return to Trinity, to dismantle my rooms, and bid you a final adieu. The
Cam
will not be much increased by my
tears
on the occasion. Your further remarks, however
caustic
or bitter, to a palate vitiated with the
sweets of adulation
, will be of service. Johnson has shown us
that no poetry
is perfect; but to correct mine would be an Herculean labour. In fact I never looked beyond the moment of composition, and published merely at the request of my friends. Notwithstanding so much has been said concerning the "Genus irritabile vatum," we shall never quarrel on the subject — poetic fame is by no means the "acme" of my wishes. — Adieu. Yours ever,
Byron
.
Footnote 1:
William John Bankes, of Kingston Lacy, Dorsetshire, was Byron's friend, possibly at Harrow, though his name does not occur in the school lists, certainly at Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A. 1808). He represented Truro from 1810 to 1812, when he left England on his Eastern travels. At Philæ he discovered an obelisk, the geometrical elevation and inscriptions of which he published in 1820. In Mesopotamia he encountered John Silk Buckingham, whom he afterwards charged with making use of his notes in his
Travels
, a statement, found to be libellous, which (October 19, 1826) cost Bankes £400 in damages. He also travelled with Giovanni Finati, a native of Ferrara, who, under the assumed name of Mahomet, made the campaigns against the Wahabees for the recovery of Mecca and Medina. Finati's Italian
Narrative
was translated by Bankes, to whom it is dedicated by his "attached and faithful servant Hadjee Mahomet," and published in 1830. In 1822 Bankes was elected M.P. for Cambridge University, but lost his seat to Sir J. Copley in 1826. At a bye-election in 1827, he was again unsuccessful. His candidature gave occasion to Macaulay's squib, which appeared in the
Times
for May 14, 1827,
A Country Clergyman's Trip to Cambridge
.
"A letter — and free — bring it here:
I have no correspondent who franks.
No! Yes! Can it be? Why, my dear,
'Tis our glorious, our Protestant Bankes.
'Dear Sir as I know your desire
That the Church should receive due protection,
I humbly presume to require
Your aid at the Cambridge election,'"etc., etc.
Bankes subsequently represented Marlborough (1829-1832) and Dorsetshire (1833-1834). He was Byron's "collegiate pastor, and master and patron," "ruled the roast" at Trinity, "or, rather, the
roasting
, and was father of all mischief" (Byron to Murray, October 12, 1820). "William Bankes," Byron told Lady Blessington (
Conversations
, p. 172), "is another of my early friends. He is very clever, very original, and has a fund of information: he is also very good-natured, but he is not much of a flatterer." Bankes died at Venice in 1855.
cross-reference: return to Footnote 3 of Letter 84
Footnote 2:
Dr. Butler, Head-master of Harrow. (See page 58,
1.)
Footnote 3:
"Thoughts suggested by a College Examination" (
Poems
, vol. i. pp. 28-31); and "Granta, A Medley" (
Poems
, vol. i. pp. 56-62).
Footnote 4:
Alluding to
Gil Blas
, bk. vii. chap, iv., where Gil Blas ventures to criticize the Archbishop's work, and is dismissed for his candour.
"Adieu, monsieur Gil Blas; Je vous souhaite toutes sortes de prosperités, avec un peu plus de goût."
cross-reference: return to Footnote 2 of Letter 158
Footnote 5:
The praise was worth having. Henry Mackenzie (1745-1831) was not only the author of the lackadaisical
Man of Feeling
, but in real life a shrewd, hard-headed man. As a novelist, he wrote
The Man of Feeling
(1771),
The Man of Honour
(1773), and
Julia de Roubigne
(1777). As a playwright, he produced four plays, none of which succeeded. As an essayist, he contributed to the
Mirror
(1779-80) and the
Lounger
(1785-86). As a political writer, he supported Pitt, and was rewarded by the comptrollership of taxes. An original member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, many of his papers appear in its
Transactions
. In Edinburgh society he was "the life of the company," a connecting link on the literary side between David Hume, Walter Scott, and Lord Cockburn, and in all matters of sport a fund of anecdotes and reminiscences.
