destined to become so inimical, but who then accepted the dedication of the book. Moore was personally introduced to him on 4 Aug. 1800, probably through the instrumentality of Lord Moira, and had a most gracious reception. The secret of his social success was less his promise as a poet than his remarkable musical gifts. His playing and singing had already created a furore in Dublin, and speedily opened the mansions of the English aristocracy to him. He was a welcome guest at Donington, Lord Moira's seat, and soon became virtually domiciled in England, though always maintaining an affectionate correspondence with his family, especially his mother, his devotion to whom is one of the most amiable features of his character.
In 1801 Moore's original amorous poetry, exceptionable on the ground of morality, and with no conspicuous literary recommendation except its sprightliness, appeared under the title of 'Poems by the late Thomas Little.' In August 1803 he received the appointment of admiralty registrar at Bermuda, and proceeded thither in the following month in a vessel bound to Norfolk in Virginia, where he was detained for a long time before he could reach his ultimate destination. He soon determined that it was not worth his while to remain, and, leaving his office to a deputy, he made his way to New York in April 1804. After a short stay he set out on a tour through the States, visiting Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston. He then went to Canada, where he was enraptured by the Falls of Niagara, and arrived in England in November. He again took up his residence in London, and followed his former course of life, generally admired and caressed, but pursuing no profession, writing the 'Canadian Boat Song' and other pieces, and endeavouring to procure a better appointment for himself, or one for his father. In 1806 his 'Odes and Epistles' were published, the latter containing some severe attacks upon America. Jeffrey, making this comparatively innocent book pay for the sins of the late Thomas Little, indited a savage review in the 'Edinburgh,' which led, in July of that year, to a hostile meeting between author and critic. Great ridicule was brought upon both by the seasonable interruption of Bow Street officers before a shot had been fired, and the circumstance that no bullet was found in Jeffrey's pistol. An explanation ensued, and the combatants were firm friends for the remainder of their lives ; Moore became a frequent contributor to the 'Edinburgh,' and lived to refuse the editorship.
In the following year (1807) Moore entered upon the path in which he found his truest title to remembrance, and which at the same time procured him for many years a considerable income, by the publication of his 'Irish Melodies,' with music by Sir John Stevenson [q. v.] They were issued at irregular intervals in ten numbers, each containing twelve songs, except the last, which contained fourteen ; and the publication did not cease until 1834. For each of these songs Moore received a hundred guineas, 12,810l. in all, or at the rate of 500l. a year, and the undertaking was as satisfactory to the publisher as to himself. What was of still more importance, it provided him with a solid basis lyrist of Ireland, a character which, notwithstanding the numerous charges which may justly be brought against his 'Irish Melodies,' on the ground both of false poetry and false patriotism, he must retain until some one arises to deprive him of it. Better isolated pieces have no doubt been written by some of his successors, but he, and he alone, has produced an imposing body of national song ; nor have his fancy, melody, and pathos, on the whole, been yet equalled by any competitor. It is remarkable that while beginning to produce this airy music he should at the same time have been writing three heavy and ineffective satires 'Corruption' and 'Intolerance' (1808), and 'The Sceptic' (1809) which fell very flat. He had not yet discovered the proper vehicle for his satiric power, but he was soon to do so. In 1811 the Prince of Wales became regent, and it speedily appeared that he had no intention of fulfilling the hopes which his constant support of the opposition during his father's government had excited among the supporters of catholic emancipation. Moore himself was too deeply committed to the cause of Irish patriotism to accept any thing from a reactionary court, but his virtue was exposed to no trial, for Lord Moira, the only one of his patrons who had not utterly broken with the regent, accepted the governor-generalship of India, whither Moore could not accompany him. The hopes which had so long buoyed him up thus ended in his Bermuda sinecure and the post of barrack-master which Lord Moira had procured for his father ; and private disappointment conspired with public spirit to animate the little metrical lampoons on the regent and his favourites which began to buzz about society at the time, and which, when collected in 1813 into a volume under the title of 'The Twopenny Post Bag,' obtained an unmeasured success. Nor was this unmerited; the best are the perfection of
