sulted, had read the First Canto, and had advised Murray to publish
the poem. Byron was, or pretended to be, furious; but the solid fact
that Gifford had commended his work acted like a charm, and his fury
subsided. On the fifth of September (_Letters_, 1898, ii. 24, note) he
received from Murray the first proof, and by December 14 "the Pilgrimage
was concluded," and all but the preface had been printed and seen
through the press.

The original draft of the poem, which Byron took out of "the little
trunk" and gave to Dallas, had undergone considerable alterations and
modifications before this date. Both Dallas and Murray took exception to
certain stanzas which, on personal, or patriotic, or religious
considerations, were provocative and objectionable. They were
apprehensive, not only for the sale of the book, but for the reputation
of its author. Byron fought his ground inch by inch, but finally
assented to a compromise. He was willing to cut out three stanzas on the
Convention of Cintra, which had ceased to be a burning question, and
four more stanzas at the end of the First Canto, which reflected on the
Duke of Wellington, Lord Holland, and other persons of less note. A
stanza on Beckford in the First Canto, and two stanzas in the second on
Lord Elgin, Thomas Hope, and the "Dilettanti crew," were also omitted.
Stanza ix. of the Second Canto, on the immortality of the soul, was
recast, and "sure and certain" hopelessness exchanged for a pious, if
hypothetical, aspiration. But with regard to the general tenor of his
politics and metaphysics, Byron stood firm, and awaited the issue.

There were additions as well as omissions. The first stanza of the First
Canto, stanzas xliii. and xc., which celebrate the battles of Albuera
and Talavera; the stanzas to the memory of Charles Skinner Matthews,
nos. xci., xcii.; and stanzas ix., xcv., xcvi. of the Second Canto, which
record Byron's grief for the death of an unknown lover or friend,
apparently (letter to Dallas, October 31, 1811) the mysterious Thyrza,
and others (_vide post_, note on the MSS. of the First and Second
Cantos of _Childe Harold_), were composed at Newstead, in the autumn of
1811. _Childe Harold's Pilgrimage_, quarto, was published on Tuesday,
March 10, 1812--Moore (_Life_, p. 157) implies that the date of issue
was Saturday, February 29; and Dallas (_Recollections_, p. 220) says
that he obtained a copy on Tuesday, March 3 (but see advertisements in
the _Times_