cited, that at last it grew into a diseased crave, and to such a
degree, that were the figure allowable, it might be said, the mouth
being incapable of supplying adequate means to appease it--every pore
became another mouth greedy of nourishment. I am, however, hastening
on too fast. Lord Byron was, at that time, far indeed from being
ruled by any such inordinate passion; the fears, the timidity, and
bashfulness of young desire still clung to him, and he was throbbing
with doubt if he should be found worthy of the high prize for which
he was about to offer himself a candidate. The course he adopted on
the occasion, whether dictated by management, or the effect of
accident, was, however, well calculated to attract attention to his
debut as a public man.

When Childe Harold was ready for publication, he determined to make
his first appearance as an orator in the House of Lords: the
occasion was judiciously chosen, being a debate on the Nottingham
frame-breaking bill; a subject on which it was natural to suppose he
possessed some local knowledge that might bear upon a question
directed so exclusively against transactions in his own county. He
prepared himself as the best orators do in their first essays, not
only by composing, but writing down, the whole of his speech
beforehand. The reception he met with was flattering; he was
complimented warmly by some of the speakers on his own side; but it
must be confessed that his debut was more showy than promising. It
lacked weight in metal, as was observed at the time, and the mode of
delivery was more like a schoolboy's recital than a masculine grapple
with an argument. It was, moreover, full of rhetorical
exaggerations, and disfigured with conceits. Still it scintillated
with talent, and justified the opinion that he was an extraordinary
young man, probably destined to distinction, though he might not be a
statesman.

Mr Dallas gives a lively account of his elation on the occasion.
"When he left the great chamber," says that gentleman, "I went and
met him in the passage; he was glowing with success, and much
agitated. I had an umbrella in my right hand, not expecting that he
would put out his hand to me; in my haste to take it when offered, I
had advanced my left hand: 'What!' said he, 'give your friend your
left hand upon such an occasion?' I showed the cause, and
immediately changing the umbrella to the other, I gave him my right
hand, which he shook and presse