. No one who has read the silly verses which Becher condemned, can doubt that the counsel was wise (see Byron's Lines to Becher,

Poems

, vol. i. pp. 112-114, 114-116, 247- 251). The following are the lines in which Becher expostulated with Byron on the mischievous tendency of his verses:—

"Say, Byron! why compel me to deplore
Talents designed for choice poetic lore,
Deigning to varnish scenes, that shun the day,
With guilty lustre, and with amorous lay?
Forbear to taint the Virgin's spotless mind,
In Power though mighty, be in Mercy kind,
Bid the chaste Muse diffuse her hallowed light,
So shall thy Page enkindle pure delight,
Enhance thy native worth, and proudly twine,
With Britain's Honors, those that are divine."

[return to footnote mark]

[Footnote 2:]

See, for the Review itself,

[Appendix II]

.

"As an author," writes Byron to Hobhouse, February 27, 1808, "I am cut to atoms by the E — — - Review; it is just out, and has completely demolished my little fabric of fame. This is rather scurvy treatment for a Whig Review; but politics and poetry are different things, and I am no adept in either. I therefore submit in silence."