till."

[Footnote 44: There had been, a short time before, performed at the
Court of Berlin a spectacle founded on the Poem of Lalla Rookh, in which
the present Emperor of Russia personated Feramorz, and the Empress,
Lalla Rookh.]

[Footnote 45: This threat has been since acted upon;--the critic in
question having, to the great horror of the French literati, pronounced
Moliere to be a "farceur."]

* * * * *

About this time Mr. Shelley, who had now fixed his residence at Pisa,
received a letter from Lord Byron, earnestly requesting to see him, in
consequence of which he immediately set out for Ravenna; and the
following extracts from letters, written during his stay with his noble
friend, will be read with that double feeling of interest which is
always sure to be excited in hearing one man of genius express his
opinions of another.

"Ravenna, August 7. 1821.

"I arrived last night at ten o'clock, and sat up talking with Lord
Byron until five this morning: I then went to sleep, and now awake
at eleven; and having despatched my breakfast as quick as possible,
mean to devote the interval until twelve, when the post departs, to
you.

"Lord Byron is very well, and was delighted, to see me. He has in
fact completely recovered his health, and lives a life totally the
reverse of that which he led at Venice. He has a permanent sort of
liaison with the Contessa Guiccioli, who is now at Florence, and
seems from her letters to be a very amiable woman. She is waiting
there until something shall be decided as to their emigration to
Switzerland or stay in Italy, which is yet undetermined on either
side. She was compelled to escape from the Papal territory in great
haste, as measures had already been taken to place her in a
convent, where she would have been unrelentingly confined for
life. The oppression of the marriage contract as existing in the
laws and opinions of Italy, though less frequently exercised, is
far severer than that of England.

"Lord Byron had almost destroyed himself at Venice. His state of
debility was such that he was unable to digest any food: he was
consumed by hectic fever, and would speedily have perished but for
this attachment, which reclaimed him from the excesses into which
he threw himself, from carelessness and pride, rather than taste.
Po