ing to the apartment of her son, called him to witness the
shocking spectacle and to save her from the consequences of her
crime. It was at this moment, when he was lifting the body and
preparing to remove the bloody evidence of his mother's guilt,
that the soldier passed by and saw him in the performance of his
dreadful task. To the priest alone he acknowledged the truth, but
his last words to his mother were now explained.'

[Page Head: TOM MOORE]

November 20th, 1829

Roehampton. Only Moore and myself; Washington Irving and Maclane,
the American Minister, come to-morrow. Moore spoke in the highest
terms of Luttrell, of his wit and information, and of his
writings, to which he does not think the world does justice,
particularly the 'Advice to Julia,' but he says Luttrell is too
fearful of giving offence. Moore was very agreeable, told a story
of Sir ---- St. George in Ireland. He was to attend a meeting at
which a great many Catholics were to be present (I forget where),
got drunk and lost his hat, when he went into the room where they
were assembled and said, 'Damnation to you all; I came to
emancipate you, and you've stole my hat.' In the evening Moore
sang, but the pianoforte was horrid, and he was not in good
voice; still his singing 'va dritto al cuore,' for it produces an
exceeding sadness, and brings to mind a thousand melancholy
recollections, and generates many melancholy anticipations. He
told me as we came along that with him it required no thought to
write, but that there was no end to it; so many fancies on every
subject crowded on his brain; that he often read what he had
written as if it had been the composition of another, and was
amused; that it was the greatest pleasure to him to compose those
light and trifling pieces, humorous and satirical, which had been
so often successful. He holds Voltaire to have been the most
extraordinary genius that ever lived, on account of his
universality and fertility; talked of Scott and his wonderful
labour and power of composition, as well as the extent to which
he has carried the art of book-making; besides writing this
history of Scotland for Dr. Lardner's 'Encyclopaedia,' he is
working at the prefaces for the republication of the Waverley
Novels, the 'Tales of a Grandfather,' and has still found time to
review Tytler, which he has done out of the scraps and chips of
his other works. A little while ago he had to correct some of the
proofs of the history of