having recourse to such shifts to extort praise
or deprecate censure, ... and all without my wish, and contrary to my
express desire....[131]

"I am angry with Murray: it was a bookselling, back-shop, paltry
proceeding.... I have written to him as he never was written to before
by an author, I'll be sworn."

Why, then, accuse a man of vanity when he never complained of criticism
and never solicited praise? Was it on account of some of his tastes,
particularly the importance he attached to his superiority in boyish
games, in bodily exercises, on those which showed dexterity in swimming,
fencing, shooting? But all these tastes were as manly as they were
innocent. The really trifling tastes common to the youth of his rank and
country Lord Byron did not share.

It has also been said that he attached far too much importance to his
noble birth. _Much_, perhaps; _too much_, by no means. His ancestors
were all illustrious. They were illustrious for their military exploits,
and were already nobles in France when they shared the dangers and
successes of William the Conqueror; they had followed their kings to
Palestine; seven brothers bearing the name of Byron had fought on the
same battle-field, and four fell there in defense of their true
sovereign and their new country. By his mother he was descended from the
kings of Scotland. "Nothing is nobler," says a moralist of our day,
"than to add lustre to a great name by our own deeds."

Many of his early compositions testify to the desire he felt of
increasing the fame that belonged to his family. For instance, in the
poem written at fourteen, and which is entitled "Verses composed on
leaving Newstead Abbey," after having sung the valor of his ancestors
displayed on the plains of Palestine, in the valley of Crecy, and at
Marston, where four brothers moistened the field with their blood, he
exclaims:--

"Shades of heroes, farewell! your descendant, departing
From the seat of his ancestors, bids you adieu!
Abroad, or at home, your remembrance imparting
New courage, he'll think upon glory and you.
* * * * * * *
Far distant he goes, with the same emulation,
The fame of his fathers he ne'er can forget.

"That fame and that memory still will he cherish;
He vows that he ne'er will disgrace your renown:
Like you will he live, or like you will he perish." 1803.

The same sentiments appear in other poems, and particu