Page:Eight Friends of the Great - WP Courtney.djvu/130

 exile in 1828 descanting on her wondrous beauty. It was typical of the man's tastes, for it contained a quotation from Horace and references to the verses of Goldsmith.

Kaye, the learned and orthodox bishop of Lincoln, reminded Hodgson at the close of 1831 that their last meeting had been many years previously in the rooms of Scrope Davies. Byron and Dr. Clarke, the mineralogist and traveller, of Cambridge, were present. They were joined later on by Spencer Perceval, then engaged, says the bishop, in a "harder task than any imposed on Hercules, that of endeavouring to bring the house of commons to a sense of religion." Perceval was anxious for an introduction to Byron and they argued "the question determined by Locke in the negative, whether there is an innate notion of the deity." By 1831, such was the bishop's reflection, two of the party had gone to their account and Davies was in exile.

Parisina was dedicated to Davies by Byron in the follow- ing terms:— "To Scrope Beardmore (sic) Davies, Esq. The following poem Is inscribed By one who has long admired his Talents And valued his Friendship " and the dedication was dated January 22, 1816. The " Siege of Corinth " was published in the same volume with it and the dedication ran : — "To John Hobhouse, Esq. This poem is inscribed By his Friend." Byron thought this sublime, but Hobhouse "would have liked it better" if he had not dedicated the other poem to Davies, and he told Byron of his feelings.