the
author's friend, the Hon. D. Kinnaird, for a selection of Hebrew
Melodies, and have been published, with the music, arranged by Mr.
Braham and Mr. Nathan."

Byron's engagement to Miss Milbanke took place in September, 1814, and
the remainder of the year was passed in London, at his chambers in the
Albany. The so-called _Hebrew Melodies_ were, probably, begun in the
late autumn of that year, and were certainly finished at Seaham, after
his marriage had taken place, in January-February, 1815. It is a natural
and pardonable conjecture that Byron took to writing sacred or, at any
rate, scriptural verses by way of giving pleasure and doing honour to
his future wife, "the girl who gave to song What gold could never buy."
They were, so to speak, the first-fruits of a seemlier muse.

It is probable that the greater number of these poems were in MS. before
it occurred to Byron's friend and banker, the Honble. Douglas James
William Kinnaird (1788-1830), to make him known to Isaac Nathan
(1792-1864), a youthful composer of "musical farces and operatic works,"
who had been destined by his parents for the Hebrew priesthood, but had
broken away, and, after some struggles, succeeded in qualifying himself
as a musician.

Byron took a fancy to Nathan, and presented him with the copyright of
his "poetical effusions," on the understanding that they were to be set
to music and sung in public by John Braham. "Professional occupations"
prevented Braham from fulfilling his part of the engagement, but a
guinea folio (Part. I.) ("_Selections of Hebrew Melodies, Ancient and
Modern_, with appropriate symphonies and accompaniments, by I. Braham
and I. Nathan, the poetry written expressly for the work by the Right
Honourable Lord Byron")--with an ornamental title-page designed by the
architect Edward Blore (1789-1879), and dedicated to the Princess
Charlotte of Wales--was published in April, 1815. A second part was
issued in 1816.

The preface, part of which was reprinted (p. vi.) by Nathan, in his
_Fugitive Pieces and Reminiscences of Lord Byron_, London, 1829, is not
without interest--

"The Hebrew Melodies are a selection from the favourite airs which
are still sung in the religious ceremonies of the Jews. Some of
these have, in common with all their Sacred airs, been preserved by
memory and tradition alone, without the assistance of written
characters. Their age and originality, therefore, must be left to