Travel and Society beyond the Atlantic" — a 

 satiric work in heroic verse. Moore shortly 

 afterwards made his first acquaintance with Byron 

 and Campbell. The long and affectionate in- 

 timacy between him and the author of " Childe 

 Harold," which resulted from the meeting, we 

 need not do more than allude to. The " Two- 

 penny Post Bag " was his next work, which 

 made a great hit, and attained a wide-spread no- 

 toriety. The " Irish Melodies " followed, and 

 in 1815, appeared his most successful poem, "Lalla 

 Rookh," for which the Messrs. Longman paid 

 no less than £3000 before a line of it was written. 

 The success of this work was immense ; the poem 

 ran rapidly through several editions, and Moore's 

 fame stood upon a higher and surer pedestal 

 than ever, of which indeed the best proof is the 

 fact, that the poem was translated into Persian, 

 and is now enjoying a permanent popularity on 

 the shores of the Caspian. After a continental 

 tour with Lord John Eussell, Moore wrote the 

 clever and popular "Fudge Family." In the 

 following year, he met Byron in Italy, when the 

 latter entrusted to him his Memoirs for publication. 

 These Moore sold to Murray for 2000 guineas , 

 but, as is well known, the purchase-money was 

 refunded, the papers re-obtained, and destroyed. 

 Pecuniary difficulties connected with the mis- 

 conduct of his Bermuda deputy about this time 

 compelled Moore to seek a temporary refuge in 

 Paris, where he led a pleasant social life, and 

 composed the " Loves of the Angels." Soon 

 after this period, he was established , by tne kind 

 offices of his staunch friend, the Marquis of 

 Lansdowne, in Sloperton Cottage, where he 

 passed the remainder of his days, and where he 

 ended them. It was here that he commenced his 

 career as a biographer, and produced successfully 

 the Memoirs of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, of Lord 

 Byron, of Sheridan, and of " Captain Rock," and 

 " The Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of 

 a Religion." His next prose work, and that 

 which has attained a greater sale than any of them, 

 was the Romance of " The Epicurean," and his 

 last work was the " History of Ireland," for the 

 Cabinet Cyclopaedia, the most serious and the 

 most elaborate of all his prose compositions. Of 

 late years, political and social squibs were the 

 only literary occupations to which Moore devoted 

 himself, until, gradually and fitfully, mental dark- 

 ness came upon him, and the quick and fanciful 

 brain throbbed with thick-coming fancies no 

 more. Though his latter days were thus clouded, 

 his life, as we have already remarked, was both 

 pleasant and prosperous. He fluttered from one 

 brilliant coterie to the other, and was always in 

 his most perfect element at the two great Whig 

 resorts — Lansdowne House and Holland House. 

 In every one of his characteristics he was formed 

 for society. A lover of pleasure, with a keen ap- 

 preciation of its every refinement, intellectual 

 and social, he must have enjoyed every gratifica- 

 tion which the greatest popularity in the most 

 brilliant circles could heap on him. His nature 

 was to enjoy, to amuse, to excite, and to be 

 amused, and to be excited. Successful in almost 

 every literary effort, accounted as brilliant a con- 

 versationalist as he was a poet, as charming a 

 singer as he was a song writer — a privileged 

 person in a sphere to which his mind, by its very 



nature, looked up with longing for notice and for 

 praise — few men have had a career so correspond- 

 ing with their wishes and their ambition as 

 Thomas Moore. The death of the poet coming 

 so shortly after the setting of the public life of 

 his good and constant friend, the Marquis of 

 Lansdowne, is a curious and touching coincid- 

 ence. Mrs. Moore, whose maiden name was 

 Dyke, survives her husband; but their four 

 children preceded him to the grave. He was 

 buried on Wednesday, March Crd, in the most 

 private manner, in the churchyard of Bromham, 

 four miles from Devizes, in the same vault with 

 two of his children. 



POOR RELATIONS. 



A Poor Relation is the most irrelevant 

 thing in nature — a piece of impertinent cor- 

 respondency — an odious approximation — a 

 haunting conscience — a preposterous shadow, 

 lengthening in the noontide of our pros- 

 perity — an unwelcome remembrancer — a per- 

 petually recurring mortification — a drain on 

 your purse, a most intolerable dun upon your 

 pride — a drawback upon success — a rebuke 

 to your rising — a stain in your blood — a blot 

 on your 'scutcheon — a rent in your garment 

 — a death's-head at your banquet — Agatho- 

 cles' pot — a Mordecai in your gate, Lazarus 

 at your door — a lion in your path — a frog in 

 your chamber — a fly in your ointment — a 

 mote in your eye — a triumph to your enemy, 

 an apology to your friends — the one thing 

 not needful — the hail in harvest — the ounce 

 of sour in the pound of sweet. 



He is known by his knock ; your heart 



telleth you " That is Mr. ." A rap 



between familiarity and respect, that de- 

 mands, and at the same time seems to despair 

 of entertainment. He entereth smiling, and 

 — embarrassed. He holdeth out his hand 

 to you to shake, and — draweth it back 

 again. He casually looketh in about dinner 

 time — when the table is full. He offereth 

 to go away, seeing you have company — 

 but is induced to stay. He fdleth a chair— 

 and your visitor's two children are accom- 

 modated at a side table. He never cometh 

 upon open days, when your wife says, 

 with some complacency, " My dear, perhaps 



Mr. will drop in to-day." He remem- 



bereth birthdays — and professeth he is 

 fortunate to have stumbled upon one. He 

 declareth against fish, the turbot being small 

 — yet suffereth himself to be importuned 

 into a slice against his first resolution. He 

 sticketh by the port — yet will be prevailed 

 upon to empty the remaining glass of claret, 

 if a stranger press him to it. He is a puzzle 

 to the servants, who are fearful of being too 

 obsequious, or not civil enough to him. The 

 guests think " they have seen him before." 

 Every one speculateth upon his condition ; 

 and the most part take him to be — a tide 



