15 NOVEMBER 1873, Page 3

Mr. H. A. Bright, of Liverpool, produced in last week's

Athenmum very curious evidence that Mr. Disraeli, when in his novel of " Venetia " he sketched Lord Cadurcis,—who is, of course, intended for Lord Byron,—had before him at least one unpublished letter, whether authentic or unauthentic, assuming to have been written by Lord Byron. The letter in ques- tion, was given to him twenty years ago by a friend, who believes that he bought it at a sale at Messrs. Sotheby's in or about the' year 1843. It is addressed to Sir Godfrey Web- ster, Upper Brook Street, and bears the postmarks of Pisa and Milan, and the broken seal is the Byron seal. The letter is dated Pisa, April 12, 1822 (about three months before Shelley's death, when Lord Byron was certainly still at Pisa,) and contains some sentences which are repeated word for word by Lord Cadurois in the fourth chapter of the sixth book of " Venetia :"—" When I once take you in hand, it will be difficult for me not to make sport for the Philistines.' Now we look upon ourselves as some- thing, oh fellows with some pith ; how we could lay it on ! think I see them wincing under the thong, the pompons pol- troons." And again :—" I made out a list the other day of all the things and persons I have been compared to. It begins well with Alcibiades, but ends with the Swiss giantess or the Polish dwarf, I forget which." It is impossible, of course, that such sentences as these could occur both in " Venetia" and a private letter written before " Venetia " appeared, by mere coin- cidence, and there can be little doubt that Mr. Disraeli had seen and copied from the letter, unless indeed, as Mr. Henry Bright suggests, the letter may be one of the clever Byron forgeries which attracted attention in 1852, and may have been taken from the novel (which was first published 'in 1837). In that case, however, Mr. Bright's friend mast surely be mistaken in supposing that he bought it in 1843, or thereabouts. We have very little doubt that it is a true Byron letter which Mr. Disraeli had seen and borrowed from. It has the true Byron swing and devil-may-carishness about it.