M !:!'. EHOIUI 



MORA, JOSfc JOAQUIN DE. 



Inieal port, Bums, but they aro nv*r. u be sometimes is, coarse 

 Uwy haw a uniform elegsnee, a lightoe**, a pathetic tenderness, a 

 pUv of wit, brilliance of lancy, and riohnoM of adornment, which, 

 though too often giving UM impresrioo of being artificial, are always 

 plssaiiH. In the MID* class may be included the songs written under 

 UM title of National Air*,' published in IS 15. We cannot however 

 plan the 'Sacred Sonet,' which he pobliahed in the lame year, in the 

 atne category. In them there u a (trained adaptation of scriptural 

 wocde and idea*, with a lack of earnertnes., that renders them distaste- 

 fuL In 1M" he published, anonymously, two poems, 'Intolerance' 

 and 'Corruption ; and in 1809 'The Sceptic.' They were not very 

 lurcusful lloore's mute was too sportive, his fancy too playful, his 

 heart too genial, for him to excel in severe satire which he here 

 attempted. 



In Ittll be married Visa Dewy Dyke, a truly estimable woman, to 

 whom be ever continued fondly attached, and who was the source of 

 all his purest happiness for the remainder of his life. In the autumn 

 of tie MOM year bis opera of ' M.1V or the Ulue Stocking,' was pro- 

 dooed on the stage. It was but moderately successful, ran a few 

 eights, and has never been repeated, though some of the songs, 

 pnblinhed separately in his collrcted work (from which the opera u 

 omitted), well maintained his lyrical reputation. Moore had now 

 made op bis mind to live by bis pen ; he quilted London, and went 

 to retide with his family at Mayfield Cottage, near Ashbonrne.ju 

 Derbyshire, where in 1813 he produced the 'Twopenny Post-Bag, by 

 Thomas Brown the Younger.' The wit, the variety, the ease, and tlie 

 playfulness of theie satires, directed against the Prince Regent and 

 his ministers, made them immediately popular, and fourteen editions 

 went through the press in a twelvemonth. 



As early as 1812 Moore had contemplated the writing of an oriental 

 poetical romance, and his friend Mr. Perry of the ' Morning Chronicle ' 

 stipulated for htm with Messrs. Longman, the publishers, that he 

 should receive for a quarto volume the sum of three thousand 

 guinea*: this was agreed to; but it was not till 1S17 that 'Lalla 

 llookh ' at length apppeared. It was eminently successful ; it has 

 passed through many edition*, and it has been frequently translated. 

 It may however be doubted whether it will contribute to his perma- 

 nent fame. It is brilliant, melodious, in the ' Fire Worshippers' it is 

 energetic, bat it wants dramatic consistency and characterisation ; it is 

 untrue to nature, it U cloying witli its sweetness, it is oppressive with 

 its imagery ; the feelings described are almost uniformly sensuous, 

 and the art of the composition is painfully apparent. Immediately 

 after the publication of ' Lalla Rookh,' he made a trip to Paris in com- 

 pany with Mr. Kogerr, and this enabled him to produce ' The Fudge 

 Family in Paris,' a series of poetical epistles, an entertaining collec- 

 tion of satirical remarks on character and political events, which was 

 C' liahed in 1818. While seeing ' Liilla Kookh ' through the press he 

 removed to Homsey near London, and here in September 1817 he 

 lost on* of hu children. Early in 1818 he learned that his deputy in 

 Bermuda, * after keeping back from me the proper receipts of my 

 office,' he writes in on* of his letters, "has now, it seems, made free 

 with the proceeds of a ship and cargo deposited in bis hands, and I 

 am called upon by a monition from Doctors' Commons, to be account- 

 able for it," The claim was for about 6000J, of which little was 

 hoped to be recovered from the deputy. On this occasion his friends 

 flocked round him with offers of assistance, but he declined receiv- 

 ing any, as be preferred paying the money, whatever it might !-, l.y 

 the earnings of bis pen. In 1819 be accompanied Lord John Kussell 

 to Paris, and extended his journey to Italy, visiting Home in company 

 with Cbantrey the tculptor, and Jack-on the painter. This expedi- 

 tion was recorded in ' Kbyme* on the Itoad,' published together with 

 Fables of the Holy Alliance,' the same year ; they were said to be 

 extracted from the Journal of a Travelling Member of the Poco- 

 curante Society; and are serious, political, artistical, and satirical by 

 turns. As the law proceeding* respecting the defalcations were still 

 pending, he did not return to England ; but, sending for his family, 

 took up bis abode at Paris, where he continued until 1822. He pur- 

 posed to work bard ; but the gaiety of the place, the interruption of 

 rMtors, and probably anxiety as to bis ultimate loss, prevented his 

 carrying his intentions into full effect lie had entered into an en- 

 gagement to write a life of Sheridan ; bat in Paris he found himself, or 

 thought himself, so unfurnished with materials, that he gave it up, 

 and "The Loves of the Angels,' a poem, issued in 1828, and the prose, 

 poetical romance of The Epicurean ' (not publiabed till 1827), were 

 the only additional works produced during his residence abroad. 



The claim with regard to the Bermuda defalcation had by this time 

 been settled by Mr. Moore's Meads in London, having been reduced 

 to 7101, which was paid by a cheque from Lord Lansdowne, and 

 repaid by Noore, chiefly from the proceed, of his Loves of the Angels' 

 and bis ' Fables of the Holy Alliance,' He now settled at Sloperton 

 Cottage, near Bowood, the residence of the Marquis of Lansdowne 

 and in 1824 issued the Memoirs of Captain Kock.' He at once began 

 i* "*??* */*** Sheridan,' which was published in 1828. In 

 The Ei.icurran ' was published, with some fragments of a poem 

 csJled'Akiphron,' on the .^materials. 



Before 1821 Lord Byron bad presented Moore with hit manuscript 

 autobiography, for hi* especial benefit, bat not to be published till 

 fter hi. demtk In this year, in order to raise money, Moore had sold 



it to Mr. Murray, with an engagement to edit it, for 2000 guineas ; 

 and the manuscript was assigned to, and deposited with him, in April 

 1824. In this month Byron died; and on the news reaching England, 

 Moore was anxious to redeem the manuscript, which he considered he 

 had a right to do : Lady Byron and the family were desirous that the 

 manuscript should be destroyed, as .they considered its publication 

 would be alike hurtful to their feelings and injurious to the character 

 of his lordship, and offered to repay Mr. Murray the sum he advanced. 

 Moore refused to accede to this ; he was willing to defer to their 

 feelings, to suppress or alter what was unfit to be made public, or 

 even to burn it if competent person* should decide that its publication 

 would be improper; but insisted that in auy case he alone shouM be 

 the loser. Alter a long and unpleasant altercation he repaid the 

 -lOOf. with interest to Mr. Murray, the manuscript was burnt, and 

 he engaged for the like sum to write a ' Life of Lord Byron ' for the 

 Messrs. Longman. This he did, but ultimately the copyright was 

 transferred to Mr. Murray, by whom it was published in 2 vols. 4 to in 

 1830. In 1831 he wrote 'The Life of Lord Edward FiUgrrald ;' and 

 ' The Summer Kite,' celebrating an entertainment given at Boyle Farm 

 .in 1827. To this followed ' The History of Ireland,' which appeared 

 in ' Lardner's Cyclopiodia ' in successive volumes. This was his last 

 work of importance. In 1835, during the administration of I .on I 

 Melbourne, a pension of 300?. a year was bestowed on him by the 

 Queen as a reward for his literary merits. It was bestowed in good 

 time : he had become unwilling or unable to labour as he had done, 

 aud family bereavements distressed him. Of bis two sons, one died 

 in Algeria in the service of the French ; the other died of consumption 

 in 1842. In 1841 he commenced an edition of bin collected poetical 

 works, including the scattered pieces with which he had enriched 

 almost every newspaper and magazine of the metropolis, and they wcro 

 issued in ten monthly volumes. For the last three years of bin life 

 he was afflicted with a softening of the brain, which reduced him to a 

 state of mental incapacity, though without pain, during which the 

 sedulous attention of his wife was most exemplary. He died on the 

 25th of February 1852, and was buried in the churchyard of Bromham, 

 near Devizes. 



Of Moore's poetical genius we have already spoken. To his proso 

 there U less praise to be given. His biographies, with many sparkling 

 passages, are all faulty, diffuse, and uncharacteristic. His ' History of 

 Ireland ' is his best work, as it U an interesting and careful production, 

 though not an impartial one. His character in many respects was 

 truly estimable. His affection for his parents was unfailing and 

 indelible : it carried him in early life safely through the seductions of 

 fashionable 'society, as he would commit no extravagance that might 

 require them to contribute to his expenses ; it induced him to post- 

 pone bis own hopes of official advancement to the provision of a small 

 place for his father ; and of the 30002. received for ' Lalla Itookb,' 

 20001. was left in the hands of the publisher to pay the interest to his 

 parents. To his wife and family he showed the fondest attachment, 

 and it was duly reciprocated. It has been urg d against him thut he 

 too often left his wife in solitude while he was fluttering in fashion- 

 able circles ; but it should be remembered that he believed much of 

 his fame, and consequently his fortune, depended on his kpejiinj; 

 himself well before that world which alone could become purchasers 

 of the expensive quartos in which shape his works first appeared ; nor 

 should it be forgotten that even in these circles he always avowed 

 himself proud of his wife, introduced her to all his aristocratical 

 friends, and frequently urged her to mix more with them, which her 

 native good sense made her decline as much as possible, while she ever 

 willingly submitted to those absences she considered useful to their 

 mutual interests. As a friend he was faithful, kind, aud generous ; 

 and he secured the esteem of many of the most eminent mcu of bin 

 day. As a politician he was consistent in bis principles, though not 

 ilways right or always unchanging in his opinions. He was vain ; 

 but few men have had so much pains taken to make them so, petted 

 as he was from his boyhood till old age withdrew him from the world, 

 aud his vanity was barmleas and never obtrusive. The strongest proof* 

 of it are given in his own private journal, published after his death in 

 the 'Memoirs, Journal, and Correspondence of Thomas Moore,' by 

 Lord John Uussell, in 1853-55, in 8 vols. 



MORA, JOSfi JOAQUIN DE, an eminent Spani-h poet and 

 miscellaneous author, was born at Cadiz in 1784, the son of an advo- 

 cate and magistrate of that city. He studied at the University of 

 Granada, and early became a professor at the college of San Miguel, 

 vhere one of his first pupils was Martinez de la Itosa, with whom he 

 ormed a friendship, which has now lasted for upwards of half a century. 

 At the great outbreak on the occasion of the French invasion, Mora took 

 up arms in the patriotic cause, and was at the battle of Day leu ; but 

 le bad soon afterwards the misfortune of falling into the bands of the 

 French, by whom he was sent to Autun, where he resided for some 

 yean as a prisoner of war, and married a French lady. In 1814 he 

 returned to Spain, and practised as an advocate at Madrid, where 

 is also edited the ' Cronies Cientifioa y Literaria,' afterwards ' El 

 Constitutional,' a periodical, some articles of which brought him in 

 communication with Jeremy Benthaui, whose address to the Spanish 

 'ort/ ho translated in 1820. Though looked upon with some favour 

 '-. Kinjj Ferdinand, who on one occasion sent him on a mission to 

 tome, he took a share in the constitutional movement, which was 



