me of Lord Byron_,
Mr. Murray shall be at full liberty to print and publish the said
Memoirs within Three Months [Footnote: The words "within Three Months "
were substituted for "immediately," at Mr. Moore's request--and they
appear in pencil, in his own handwriting, upon the original draft of the
deed, which is still in existence.] after the death of the said Lord
Byron." I need hardly call your particular attention to the words,
carefully inserted twice over in this agreement, which limited its
existence to the _lifetime of Lord Byron_; the reason of such limitation
was obvious and natural--namely that, although I consented to restore
the work, _while Lord Byron should be alive_ to direct the ulterior
disposal of it, I would by no means consent to place it _after his
death_ at the disposal of any other person.

I must now observe that I had never been able to obtain possession of
the original assignment, which was my sole lien on this property,
although I had made repeated applications to Mr. Moore to put me into
possession of the deed, which was stated to be in the hands of Lord
Byron's banker. Feeling, I confess, in some degree alarmed at the
withholding the deed, and dissatisfied at Mr. Moore's inattention to my
interests in this particular, I wrote urgently to him in March 1823, to
procure me the deed, and at the same time expressed my wish that the
second agreement should either be cancelled or _at once executed_.

Finding this application unavailing, and becoming, by the greater lapse
of time, still more doubtful as to what the intentions of the parties
might be, I, in March 1824, repeated my demand to Mr. Moore in a more
peremptory manner, and was in consequence at length put into possession
of the original deed. But, not being at all satisfied with the course
that had been pursued towards me, I repeated to Mr. Moore my uneasiness
at the terms on which I stood under the second agreement, and renewed my
request to him that he would either cancel it, or execute its provisions
by the immediate redemption of the work, in order that I might exactly
know what my rights in the property were. He requested time to consider
this proposition. In a day or two he called, and told me that he would
adopt the latter alternative--namely, the redemption of the Memoirs--as
he had found persons who were ready to advance the money on _his
injuring his life_; and he promised to conclude the business on the
first day of his return t