as January 25, 1822, urged Hunt not to leave England without a regular income from that journal[355]--an injunction which Hunt unfairly disregarded. It is also likely that his connection with _The Examiner_ was one of Byron's reasons in extending the partnership to include Hunt. But it is practically certain that there was no contract nor even understanding as regards the cooeperation of _The Liberal_ and the London paper. The question does not therefore, involve Hunt's honor at all. If Byron expected to profit by the influence of _The Examiner_, his silence shows a manliness that Noble does not credit him with. Hunt, in accepting Byron's offer, was actuated by motives both selfish and unselfish. The fine of L1,000 imposed at the time of his conviction of libel was not all paid; _The Indicator_ had been abandoned; _The Examiner_ was on its last legs; his health was broken by overwork undertaken in the effort not to call upon his friends for aid;[356] an invalid wife and seven children were to be supported by his pen; his brother John was in prison. From January, 1821, to August of the same year he had been unable to write. In accepting Byron's offer he thought to recover his health in a southern climate, to regain his political influence which had been on the decrease during the last four or five years, and at the same time to aid aggressively the liberal movement.[357] Moreover, he was flattered immensely by the prospective public association with Lord Byron. He had little to lose and a prospect of large gain. Hunt should have weighed more gravely such a step before he embarked on such a hazardous venture with so large a family, but, with a buoyancy and irresponsibility in practical affairs peculiar to himself, he clutched at the new proposition as a way out of all difficulties and did not look beyond immediate necessities. He pictured himself and his family healthy and wealthy in a land he had always sighed for. If the skies lowered, he fancied Shelley always at hand. His description of preparations for the voyage is as airy as his pocketbook was light: "My family, therefore, packed up such goods and chattels as they had a regard for, my books in particular, and we took, with strange new thoughts and feelings, but in high expectation, our journey by sea."[358]