rd of all the infamous depositions
made."

The article in "Blackwood's Magazine," which was so abominably libellous
as to force him out of the silence _he had adopted for his rule_, was
often present to his thought; for he dreaded lest his editor should for
the sake of lucre publish "Don Juan" with his name, and lest the Noels
and other enemies, out of revenge, should profit thereby to contest his
right of guardianship over his child, as had been the case with Shelley.

"Recollect, that if you put my name to 'Don Juan' in these canting days,
any lawyer might oppose my guardian-right of my daughter in chancery, on
the plea of its containing the parody. Such are the perils of a foolish
jest. I was not aware of this at the time, but you will find it correct,
I believe; and you may be sure that the Noels would not let it slip.
Now, I prefer my child to a poem at any time."

Moreover, amid all these pre-occupations, Hobhouse wrote him word that
he should be obliged to go to England for the queen's trial; and we know
how repugnant this necessity was to Lord Byron. His little Allegra had
just fallen rather dangerously ill; Countess G----, notwithstanding the
sentence pronounced by His Holiness, continued to be tormented by her
husband, who refused to accept the decision of Rome, because he did not
wish for a separation. The Papal Government, pushed on by the Austrian
police, had recourse to a thousand small vexatious measures, to make
Lord Byron quit Ravenna, where he had given offense by becoming too
popular with the liberal party.

Lastly, we may further add that, even in those days, he was suffering
from some jealous susceptibility, though knowing well how he was
beloved. For in the letter, dated 28th of September, where he says "his
soul is sick," he also complains of Madame G----'s having passed some
hours at Ravenna _without letting him know, and of her having thought
fit to hide from him certain steps taken_.

This autumn was followed by a winter still more disagreeably exceptional
than the preceding one. The most inclement weather prevailed during the
month of January, and generally throughout the winter.

"Bad weather, this 4th of January," he writes in his memoranda, "as bad
as in London itself."

The sirocco, a wind that depresses even people without nerves, was
blowing and melting the ice. The streets and roads were transformed into
pools of half-congealed mud. He was somewhat "_out of spirits_." But
still