[286] It was begun at Venice, September 6, 1818, and the first two cantos were published anonymously, July 15, 1819, by Murray. Despite much hostile comment, and the reluctance and eventual refusal of Murray to print the work, Byron continued with his project, entrusting the publication of the poem, after Canto V., to John Hunt. Canto XVI. was completed May 6, 1823, and appeared with Canto XV. on March 26, 1824. Fourteen stanzas of an unfinished Canto XVII. were among his papers at the time of his death.
[287] Beppo, 79.
[288] Don Juan, VIII., 135.
[289] Childe Harold, II., 74–76.
[290] Ode to the French, 91–104.
[291] Childe Harold, IV., 92.
[292] Don Juan, IX., 24.
[293] Don Juan, VIII., 50.
[294] Many details of Byron’s satire may be traced to corresponding passages in the works of Moore, whose Fudge Family in Paris (1818) was familiar to him, and whose Fables for the Holy Alliance (1823), many of which were written while the two poets were together in Venice, was dedicated to Byron. Moore denounced Castlereagh as a despot, a bigot, and a time-server, ridiculing him especially for the absurdity of his speeches, which were notorious for their mixed metaphors and poorly chosen phrasing.
[295] Shelley in many short squibs, and particularly in the Mask of Anarchy (1819), had assailed the ministry. He had compared Castlereagh and Sidmouth, the Home Secretary, to “two vultures, sick for battle” and “two vipers tangled into one” (Similes for Two Political Characters of 1819).