He declares, that
in addition to his other failings, avarice is now established. This new
vice, like all the others, he attributes to himself, he talks of as one
would name those of an acquaintance, in a sort of deprecating, yet half
mocking tone; as much as to say, you see I know all my faults better than
you do, though I don't choose to correct them: indeed, it has often
occurred to me, that he brings forward his defects, as if in anticipation
of some one else exposing them, which he would not like; as though he
affects the contrary, he is jealous of being found fault with, and shows
it in a thousand ways.
He affects to dislike hearing his works praised or referred to; I say
affects, because I am sure it is not real or natural; as he who loves
praise, as Byron evidently does, in other things, cannot dislike it for
that in which he must be conscious it is deserved. He refers to his feats
in horsemanship, shooting at a mark, and swimming, in a way that proves he
likes to be complimented on them; and nothing appears to give him more
satisfaction than being considered a man of fashion, who had great success
in fashionable society in London, when he resided there. He is peculiarly
compassionate to the poor; I remarked that he rarely, in our rides, passed
a mendicant without giving him charity, which was invariably bestowed with
gentleness and kindness; this was still more observable if the person was
deformed, as if he sympathized with the object.
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