Possibly the taunts of the
_Quarterly Review_, and the alienation of Keats from Hunt, had some
connexion as cause and effect. In a letter from John Keats to his
brother George and his sister-in-law occurs the following passage[16],
dated towards the end of 1818: 'Hunt has asked me to meet Tom Moore some
day--so you shall hear of him. The night we went to Novello's there was
a complete set-to of Mozart and punning. I was so completely tired of it
that, if I were to follow my own inclinations, I should never meet any
one of that set again; not even Hunt, who is certainly a pleasant fellow
in the main, when you are with him--but in reality he is vain,
egotistical, and disgusting in matters of taste, and in morals. He
understands many a beautiful thing; but then, instead of giving other
minds credit for the same degree of perception as he himself professes,
he begins an explanation in such a curious manner that our taste and
self-love are offended continually. Hunt does one harm by making fine
things petty, and beautiful things hateful. Through him I am indifferent
to Mozart, I care not for white busts; and many a glorious thing, when
associated with him, becomes a nothing.
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