one morning, and, putting a letter into my hands, which he
had just received, requested that I would undertake to manage for him
whatever proceedings it might render necessary. This letter, I found,
had been delivered to him by Mr. Leckie (a gentleman well known by a
work on Sicilian affairs), and came from a once active and popular
member of the fashionable world, Colonel Greville,--its purport being to
require of his Lordship, as author of "English Bards," &c., such
reparation as it was in his power to make for the injury which, as
Colonel Greville conceived, certain passages in that satire, reflecting
upon his conduct as manager of the Argyle Institution, were calculated
to inflict upon his character. In the appeal of the gallant Colonel,
there were some expressions of rather an angry cast, which Lord Byron,
though fully conscious of the length to which he himself had gone, was
but little inclined to brook, and, on my returning the letter into his
hands, he said, "To such a letter as that there can be but one sort of
answer." He agreed, however, to trust the matter entirely to my
discretion, and I had, shortly after, an interview with the friend of
Colonel Greville. By this gentleman, who was then an utter stranger to
me, I was received with much courtesy, and with every disposition to
bring the affair intrusted to us to an amicable issue. On my premising
that the tone of his friend's letter stood in the way of negotiation,
and that some obnoxious expressions which it contained must be removed
before I could proceed a single step towards explanation, he most
readily consented to remove this obstacle. At his request I drew a pen
across the parts I considered objectionable, and he undertook to send me
the letter re-written, next morning. In the mean time I received from
Lord Byron the following paper for my guidance:--

"With regard to the passage on Mr. Way's loss, no unfair play was
hinted at, as may be seen by referring to the book; and it is
expressly added that the _managers were ignorant_ of that
transaction. As to the prevalence of play at the Argyle, it cannot
be denied that there were _billiards_ and _dice_;--Lord B. has been
a witness to the use of both at the Argyle Rooms. These, it is
presumed, come under the denomination of play. If play be allowed,
the President of the Institution can hardly complain of being
termed the 'Arbiter of Play,'--or what becomes of hi