lived too long to be surprised at any instance
of human caprice, but still it vexes me. Now, one would
suppose Lady Byron, young, beautiful, with birth, and rank,
and fortune, and taste, and high accomplishments, and
admirable good sense, qualified to have made happy one whose
talents are so high as Lord Byron's, and whose marked
{p.192} propensity it is to like those who are qualified to
admire and understand his talents; and yet it has proved
otherwise. I can safely say my heart ached for her all the
time we were together; there was so much patience and decent
resignation to a situation which must have pressed on her
thoughts, that she was to me one of the most interesting
creatures I had seen for a score of years. I am sure I
should not have felt such strong kindness towards her had
she been at the height of her fortune, and in the full
enjoyment of all the brilliant prospects to which she seemed
destined.--You will wish to hear of my complaint. I think,
thank God, that it is leaving me--not suddenly, however, for
I have had some repetitions, but they have become fainter
and fainter, and I have not been disturbed by one for these
three weeks. I trust, by care and attention, my stomach will
return to its usual tone, and I am as careful as I can. I
have taken hard exercise with good effect, and am often six
hours on foot without stopping or sitting down, to which my
plantations and enclosures contribute not a little. I have,
however, given up the gun this season, finding myself unable
to walk up to the dogs; but Walter has taken it in hand, and
promises to be a first-rate shot; he brought us in about
seven or eight brace of birds the evening Lady Byron came to
us, which papa was of course a little proud of. The
blackcocks are getting very plenty on our moor-ground at
Abbotsford, but I associate them so much with your beautiful
poem,[76] that I have not the pleasure I used to have in
knocking them down. I wish I knew how to send you a brace. I
get on with my labors here; my house is about to be roofed
in, and a comical concern it is.

Yours truly,

W. S.

[Footnote 76:
"Good-morrow to thy sable beak,
And glossy plumage dark and sleek,