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diff --git a/41809-8.txt b/41809-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 23537a5..0000000 --- a/41809-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14816 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Byron, by Richard Edgcumbe - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Byron - The Last Phase - -Author: Richard Edgcumbe - -Release Date: January 10, 2013 [EBook #41809] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYRON *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive.) - - - - - - - - - -BYRON: THE LAST PHASE - - - - - BYRON: THE LAST PHASE - - - BY RICHARD EDGCUMBE - - - NEW YORK - CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS - 153-157 FIFTH AVENUE - 1909 - - - - - TO - MRS. CHARLES CALL, - DAUGHTER OF EDWARD TRELAWNY, BYRON'S - COMPANION IN GREECE, - I DEDICATE THIS WORK AS A MARK OF AFFECTION - AND ESTEEM - - - - -PREFACE - - -This book has no pretensions; it is merely a record of events and -impressions which nearly forty years of close study have accumulated. -There seems to be a general agreement that the closing scenes of Byron's -short life have not been adequately depicted by his biographers. From the -time of Byron's departure from Ravenna, in the autumn of 1821, his -disposition and conduct underwent a transformation so complete that it -would have been difficult to recognize, in the genial, unselfish -personality who played so effective a rōle at Missolonghi, the gloomy -misanthrope of 1811, or the reckless libertine of the following decade. - -The conduct of Byron in Greece seems to have come as a revelation to his -contemporaries, and his direction of complex affairs, in peculiarly trying -circumstances, certainly deserves more attention than it has received. -Records made on the spot by men whose works are now, for the most part, -out of print have greatly simplified my task, and I hope that the -following pages may be acceptable to those who have not had an opportunity -of studying that picturesque phase of Byron's career. I should have much -preferred to preserve silence on the subject of his separation from his -wife. Unfortunately, the late Lord Lovelace, in giving his sanction to the -baseless and forgotten slanders of a bygone age, has recently assailed -the memory of Byron's half-sister, and has set a mark of infamy upon her -which cannot be erased without referring to matters which ought never to -have been mentioned. - -In order to traverse statements made in 'Astarte,' it was necessary to -reveal an incident which, during Byron's lifetime, was known only by those -who were pledged to silence. With fuller knowledge of things hidden from -Byron's contemporaries, we may realize the cruelty of those futile -persecutions to which Mrs. Leigh was subjected by Lady Byron and her -advisers, under the impression that they could extract the confession of a -crime which existed only in their prurient imaginations. Mrs. Leigh, in -one of her letters to Hobhouse, says, 'I have made it a rule to be -silent--that is to say, AS LONG AS I CAN.' Although the strain must have -been almost insupportable she died with her secret unrevealed, and the -mystery which Byron declared 'too simple to be easily found out' has -hitherto remained unsolved. I regret being unable more precisely to -indicate the source of information embodied in the concluding portions of -this work. The reader may test the value of my statements by the light of -citations which seem amply to confirm them. At all events, I claim to have -shown by analogy that Lord Lovelace's accusation against Mrs. Leigh is -groundless, and therefore his contention, that Byron's memoirs were -destroyed _because they implicated Mrs. Leigh_, is absolutely untenable. -Those memoirs were destroyed, as we now know, because both Hobhouse and -Mrs. Leigh feared possible revelations concerning another person, whose -feelings and interests formed the paramount consideration of those who -were parties to the deed. Lord John Russell, who had read the memoirs, -stated in 1869 that Mrs. Leigh was _not_ implicated in them, a fact which -proves that they were not burned for the purpose of shielding _her_. - -Lord Lovelace tells us that Sir Walter Scott, who had heard full -particulars from Thomas Moore, remarked, 'It is a pity, but there _was_ a -reason--_premat nox alta_.' Facts which they hoped deep oblivion would -hide have come to the surface at last, and I deeply regret that -circumstances should have imposed upon me a duty which is repugnant both -to my inclination and instincts. After all is said, the blame rightly -belongs to Lady Byron's grandson, who, heedless of consequences, stirred -the depths of a muddy pool. He tells us, in 'Astarte,' (1) that the papers -concerning Byron's marriage have been carefully preserved; (2) that they -form _a complete record of all the causes of separation_; and (3) that -they contain _full information on every part of the subject_. - -In those circumstances it is strange that, with the whole of Lady Byron's -papers before him, Lord Lovelace should have published only documents of -secondary importance which do not prove his case. After saying, 'It should -be distinctly understood that no misfortunes, blunders, or malpractices, -have swept away Lady Byron's papers, or those belonging to the executors -of Lord Byron,' he leaves the essential records to the imagination of his -readers, and feeds us on hints and suggestions which are not borne out by -extracts provided as samples of the rest. It is impossible not to suspect -that Lord Lovelace, in arranging the papers committed to his charge, -discarded some that would have told in favour of Mrs. Leigh, and selected -others which colourably supported his peculiar views. - -In matters of this kind everything depends upon the qualifications of the -accuser and the reliability of the witness. Lord Lovelace in a dual -capacity certainly evinced an active imagination. - -As an example, 'Astarte,' which was designed to blast the fair fame of -Mrs. Leigh, was used by him to insult the memory of the late Mr. Murray -(who he admits showed him many acts of kindness), and to repudiate -promises which he undoubtedly made, to edit his grandfather's works. -Rambling statements are made with design to discredit both Mr. Gifford, -the editor of the _Quarterly_, and Mr. Murray, the friend of Lord Byron. -Even personal defects are dragged in to prejudice the reader and embitter -the venom of irrelevant abuse. It was as if Plutarch, in order to enhance -the glory of Antony, had named 'the Last of the Romans' Cassius the -Short-sighted. Fortunately, written proofs were in existence to controvert -Lord Lovelace's assertions--proofs which were used with crushing -effect--otherwise Mr. Murray might have found himself in a position quite -as helpless as that of poor Mrs. Leigh herself. So unscrupulous a use of -documents in that case suggests the possibility that a similar process may -have been adopted in reference to Mrs. Leigh. It is indeed unfortunate -that Lady Byron's papers cannot be inspected by some unprejudiced person, -for we have nothing at present beyond Lord Lovelace's vague assertions. -Were those papers thoroughly sifted they would surely acquit Mrs. Leigh of -the crime that has been so cruelly laid to her charge. Meanwhile I venture -to think that the following pages help to clear the air of much of that -mystery which surrounds the lives of Lord Byron and his sister. - -In conclusion, I desire to record my personal obligation to the latest -edition of the 'Poems,' edited by Mr. Ernest Hartley Coleridge; and of the -'Letters and Journals,' edited by Mr. Rowland Prothero, volumes which -together form the most comprehensive and scholarly record of Byron's life -and poetry that has ever been issued. - -R. E. - -_August, 1909._ - - - - -BYRON: THE LAST PHASE - - - - -PART I - - '... Le cose ti fien conte, - Quando noi fermerem li nostri passi - Sulla trista riviera d' Acheronte.' - _Inferno_, Canto III., 76-78. - - - - -CHAPTER I - - -'A large disagreeable city, almost without inhabitants'--such was the poet -Shelley's description of Pisa in 1821. The Arno was yellow and muddy, the -streets were empty, and there was altogether an air of poverty and -wretchedness in the town. The convicts, who were very numerous, worked in -the streets in gangs, cleaning and sweeping them. They were dressed in -red, and were chained together by the leg in pairs. All day long one heard -the slow clanking of their chains, and the rumbling of the carts they were -forced to drag from place to place like so many beasts of burden. A -spectator could not but be struck by the appearance of helpless misery -stamped on their yellow cheeks and emaciated forms. - -On the Lung' Arno Mediceo, east of the Ponte di Mezzo, stands the Palazzo -Lanfranchi, which is supposed to have been built by Michael Angelo. Here, -on November 2, 1821, Lord Byron arrived, with his servants, his horses, -his monkey, bulldog, mastiff, cats, peafowl, hens, and other live stock, -which he had brought with him from Ravenna. In another quarter of the city -resided Count Rugiero Gamba, his son Pietro, and his daughter Countess -Teresa Guiccioli. On the other side of the Arno, nearly opposite to -Byron's residence, lived the poet Shelley, with his wife and their friends -Edward and Jane Williams. - -In the middle of November, Captain Thomas Medwin, a relative of Shelley's, -arrived at Pisa; and on January 14, 1822, came Edward John Trelawny, who -was destined to play so important a part in the last scenes of the lives -of both Shelley and Byron. - -Byron was at this time in his thirty-third year. Medwin thus describes his -personal appearance: - - 'I saw a man of about five feet seven or eight, apparently forty years - of age. As was said of Milton, Lord Byron barely escaped being short - and thick. His face was fine, and the lower part symmetrically - moulded; for the lips and chin had that curved and definite outline - that distinguishes Grecian beauty. His forehead was high, and his - temples broad; and he had a paleness in his complexion almost to - wanness. His hair, thin and fine, had almost become grey, and waved in - natural and graceful curls over his head, that was assimilating itself - fast to the "bald first Cęsar's." He allowed it to grow longer behind - than it is accustomed to be worn, and at that time had mustachios - which were not sufficiently dark to be becoming. In criticizing his - features, it might, perhaps, be said that his eyes were placed too - near his nose, and that one was rather smaller than the other. They - were of a greyish-brown, but of a peculiar clearness, and when - animated possessed a fire which seemed to look through and penetrate - the thoughts of others, while they marked the inspirations of his own. - His teeth were small, regular, and white. I expected to discover that - he had a club-foot; but it would have been difficult to have - distinguished one from the other, either in size or in form. On the - whole, his figure was manly, and his countenance handsome and - prepossessing, and very expressive. The familiar ease of his - conversation soon made me perfectly at home in his society.' - -Trelawny's description is as follows: - - 'In external appearance Byron realized that ideal standard with which - imagination adorns genius. He was in the prime of life, thirty-four; - of middle height, five feet eight and a half inches; regular features, - without a stain or furrow on his pallid skin; his shoulders broad, - chest open, body and limbs finely proportioned. His small - highly-finished head and curly hair had an airy and graceful - appearance from the massiveness and length of his throat; you saw his - genius in his eyes and lips.' - -Trelawny could find no peculiarity in his dress, which was adapted to the -climate. Byron wore: - - 'a tartan jacket braided--he said it was the Gordon pattern, and that - his mother was of that race--a blue velvet cap with a gold band, and - very loose nankin trousers, strapped down so as to cover his feet. His - throat was not bare, as represented in drawings.' - -Lady Blessington, who first saw Byron in April of the following year, thus -describes him: - - 'The impression of the first few minutes disappointed me, as I had, - both from the portraits and descriptions given, conceived a different - idea of him. I had fancied him taller, with a more dignified and - commanding air; and I looked in vain for the hero-looking sort of - person, with whom I had so long identified him in imagination. His - appearance is, however, highly prepossessing. His head is finely - shaped, and his forehead open, high, and noble; his eyes are grey and - full of expression, but one is visibly larger than the other. The nose - is large and well shaped, but, from being a little _too thick_, it - looks better in profile than in front-face; his mouth is the most - remarkable feature in his face, the upper lip of Grecian shortness, - and the corners descending; the lips full, and finely cut. - - 'In speaking, he shows his teeth very much, and they are white and - even; but I observed that even in his smile--and he smiles - frequently--there is something of a scornful expression in his mouth, - that is evidently natural, and not, as many suppose, affected. This - particularly struck me. His chin is large and well shaped, and - finishes well the oval of his face. He is extremely thin--indeed, so - much so that his figure has almost a boyish air. His face is - peculiarly pale, but not the paleness of ill-health, as its character - is that of fairness, the fairness of a dark-haired person; and his - hair (which is getting rapidly grey) is of a very dark brown, and - curls naturally: he uses a good deal of oil in it, which makes it look - still darker. His countenance is full of expression, and changes with - the subject of conversation; it gains on the beholder the more it is - seen, and leaves an agreeable impression.... His whole appearance is - remarkably gentlemanlike, and he owes nothing of this to his toilet, - as his coat appears to have been many years made, is much too - large--and all his garments convey the idea of having been purchased - ready-made, so ill do they fit him. There is a _gaucherie_ in his - movements, which evidently proceeds from the perpetual consciousness - of his lameness, that appears to haunt him; for he tries to conceal - his foot when seated, and when walking has a nervous rapidity in his - manner. He is very slightly lame, and the deformity of his foot is so - little remarkable, that I am not now aware which foot it is. - - 'His voice and accent are peculiarly agreeable, but effeminate--clear, - harmonious, and so distinct, that though his general tone in speaking - is rather low than high, not a word is lost. His manners are as unlike - my preconceived notions of them as is his appearance. I had expected - to find him a dignified, cold, reserved, and haughty person, but - nothing can be more different; for were I to point out the prominent - defect of Lord Byron, I should say it was flippancy, and a total want - of that natural self-possession and dignity, which ought to - characterize a man of birth and education.' - -Medwin tells us, in his 'Journal of the Conversations of Lord Byron,' that -Byron's voice had a flexibility, a variety in its tones, a power and -pathos, beyond any he ever heard; and his countenance was capable of -expressing the tenderest as well as the strongest emotions, which would -perhaps have made him the finest actor in the world. - -The Countess Guiccioli, who had a longer acquaintance with Byron than any -of those who have attempted to portray him, says: - - 'Lord Byron's eyes, though of a light grey, were capable of all - extremes of expression, from the most joyous hilarity to the deepest - sadness, from the very sunshine of benevolence to the most - concentrated scorn or rage. But it was in the mouth and chin that the - great beauty as well as expression of his fine countenance lay. His - head was remarkably small, so much so as to be rather out of - proportion to his face. The forehead, though a little too narrow, was - high, and appeared more so from his having his hair (to preserve it, - as he said) shaved over the temples. Still, the glossy dark brown - curls, clustering over his head, gave the finish to its beauty. When - to this is added that his nose, though handsomely, was rather thickly - shaped, that his teeth were white and regular, and his complexion - colourless, as good an idea, perhaps, as it is in the power of mere - words to convey may be conceived of his features. In height he was - five feet eight inches and a half. His hands were very white, and, - according to his own notions of the size of hands as indicating birth, - aristocratically small.... No defect existed in the formation of his - limbs; his slight infirmity was nothing but the result of weakness of - one of his ankles. His habit of ever being on horseback had brought on - the emaciation of his legs, as evinced by the post-mortem examination; - the best proof of this is the testimony of William Swift, bootmaker at - Southwell, who had the honour of working for Lord Byron from 1805 to - 1807.' - -It appears that Mrs. Wildman (the widow of the Colonel who had bought -Newstead from Byron) not long before her death presented to the Naturalist -Society of Nottingham several objects which had belonged to Lord Byron, -and amongst others his boot and shoe trees. These trees are about nine -inches long, narrow, and generally of a symmetrical form. They were -accompanied by the following statement: - - 'William Swift, bootmaker at Southwell, Nottinghamshire, having had - the honour of working for Lord Byron when residing at Southwell from - 1805 to 1807, asserts that these were the trees upon which his - lordship's boots and shoes were made, and that the last pair delivered - was on the 10th May, 1807. He moreover affirms that his lordship had - not a club foot, as has been said, but that both his feet were equally - well formed, one, however, being an inch and a half shorter than the - other.[1] The defect was not in the foot, but in the ankle, which, - being weak, caused the foot to turn out too much. To remedy this, his - lordship wore a very light and thin boot, which was tightly laced just - under the sole, and, when a boy, he was made to wear a piece of iron - with a joint at the ankle, which passed behind the leg and was tied - behind the shoe. The calf of this leg was weaker than the other, and - it was the left leg. - - '(Signed) WILLIAM SWIFT.' - - 'This, then,' says Countess Guiccioli, 'is the extent of the defect of - which so much has been said, and which has been called a deformity. As - to its being visible, all those who knew him assert that it was so - little evident, that it was even impossible to discover in which of - the legs or feet the fault existed.' - -Byron's alleged sensitiveness on the subject of his lameness seems to have -been exaggerated. - - 'When he did show it,' continues Countess Guiccioli, 'which was never - but to a very modest extent, it was only because, physically speaking, - he suffered from it. Under the sole of the weak foot he at times - experienced a painful sensation, especially after long walks. Once, - at Genoa, Byron walked down the hill from Albaro to the seashore with - me by a rugged and rough path. When we had reached the shore he was - very well and lively. But it was an exceedingly hot day, and the - return home fatigued him greatly. When home, I told him that I thought - he looked ill. "Yes," said he, "I suffer greatly from my foot; it can - hardly be conceived how much I suffer at times from that pain;" and he - continued to speak to me about this defect with great simplicity and - indifference.' - -We have been particular to set before the reader the impression which -Byron's personal appearance made upon those who saw him at this time, -because none of the busts or portraits seem to convey anything like an -accurate semblance of this extraordinary personality. Had the reader seen -Byron in his various moods, he would doubtless have exclaimed, with Sir -Walter Scott, that 'no picture is like him.' - -The portrait by Saunders represents Byron with thick lips, whereas 'his -lips were harmoniously perfect,' says Countess Guiccioli. Holmes almost -gives him a large instead of his well-proportioned head. In Phillips's -picture the expression is one of haughtiness and affected dignity, which -Countess Guiccioli assures us was never visible to those who saw him in -life. The worst portrait of Lord Byron, according to Countess Guiccioli, -and which surpasses all others in ugliness, was done by Mr. West, an -American, 'an excellent man, but a very bad painter.' This portrait, which -some of Byron's American admirers requested to have taken, and which Byron -consented to sit for, was begun at Montenero, near Leghorn. Byron seems -only to have sat two or three times for it, and it was finished from -memory. Countess Guiccioli describes it as 'a frightful caricature, which -his family or friends ought to destroy.' As regards busts, she says: - - 'Thorwaldsen alone has, in his marble bust of Byron, been able to - blend the regular beauty of his features with the sublime expression - of his countenance.' - -On January 22, 1822, Byron's mother-in-law, Lady Noel, died at the age of -seventy. - - 'I am distressed for poor Lady Byron,' said the poet to Medwin: 'she - must be in great affliction, for she adored her mother! The world will - think that I am pleased at this event, but they are much mistaken. I - never wished for an accession of fortune; I have enough without the - Wentworth property. I have written a letter of condolence to Lady - Byron--you may suppose in the kindest terms. If we are not reconciled, - it is not my fault.' - -There is no trace of this letter, and it is ignored by Lord Lovelace in -'Astarte.' It may be well here to point out how erroneous was the belief -that Miss Milbanke was an heiress. Byron on his marriage settled £60,000 -on his wife, and Miss Milbanke was to have brought £20,000 into -settlement; but the money was not paid. Sir Ralph Milbanke's property was -at that time heavily encumbered. Miss Milbanke had some expectations -through her mother and her uncle, Lord Wentworth; but those prospects were -not mentioned in the settlements. Both Lord Wentworth and Sir Ralph -Milbanke were free to leave their money as they chose. When Lord Wentworth -died, in April 1815, he left his property to Lady Milbanke for her life, -and at her death to her daughter, Lady Byron. Therefore, at Lady Noel's -death Byron inherited the whole property by right of his wife. But one of -the terms of the separation provided that this property should be divided -by arbitrators. Lord Dacre was arbitrator for Lady Byron, and Sir F. -Burdett for Byron. Under this arrangement half the income was allotted to -the wife and half to the husband. In the _London Gazette_ dated -'Whitehall, March 2, 1822,' royal licence is given to Lord Byron and his -wife that they may 'take and use the surname of Noel only, and also bear -the arms of Noel only; and that the said George Gordon, Baron Byron, may -subscribe the said surname of Noel before all titles of honour.' -Henceforward the poet signed all his letters either with the initials N. -B. or with 'Noel Byron' in full. - -Byron was at this time in excellent health and spirits, and the society of -the Shelleys made life unusually pleasant to him. Ravenna, with its gloomy -forebodings, its limited social intercourse, to say nothing of its -proscriptions--for nearly all Byron's friends had been exiled--was a thing -of the past. The last phase had dawned, and Byron was about to show -another side of his character. Medwin tells us that Byron's disposition -was eminently sociable, however great the pains which he took to hide it -from the world. On Wednesdays there was always a dinner at the Palazzo -Lanfranchi, to which the _convives_ were cordially welcomed. When alone -Byron's table was frugal, not to say abstemious. But on these occasions -every sort of wine, every luxury of the season, and every English -delicacy, were displayed. Medwin says he never knew any man do the honours -of his house with greater kindness and hospitality. On one occasion, after -dinner, the conversation turned on the lyrical poetry of the day, and a -question arose as to which was the most perfect ode that had been -produced. Shelley contended for Coleridge's on Switzerland beginning, 'Ye -clouds,' etc.; others named some of Moore's 'Irish Melodies' and -Campbell's 'Hohenlinden'; and, had Lord Byron not been present, his own -Invocation to Manfred, or Ode to Napoleon, or on Prometheus, might have -been cited. 'Like Gray,' said Byron, 'Campbell smells too much of the oil: -he is never satisfied with what he does; his finest things have been -spoiled by over-polish--the sharpness of the outline is worn off. Like -paintings, poems may be too highly finished. The great art is effect, no -matter how produced.' - -And then, rising from the table, he left the room, and presently returned -with a magazine, from which he read 'The Burial of Sir John Moore' with -the deepest feeling. It was at that time generally believed that Byron was -the author of these admirable stanzas; and Medwin says: 'I am corroborated -in this opinion lately (1824) by a lady, whose brother received them many -years ago from Lord Byron, in his lordship's own handwriting.' - -These festive gatherings were not pleasing to Shelley, who, with his -abstemious tastes and modest, retiring disposition, disliked the glare and -surfeit of it all. But Shelley's unselfish nature overcame his antipathy, -and for the sake of others he sacrificed himself. In writing to his friend -Horace Smith, he marks his repugnance for these dinners, 'when my nerves -are generally shaken to pieces by sitting up, contemplating the rest of -the company making themselves vats of claret, etc., till three o'clock in -the morning.' Nevertheless, companionship with Byron seemed for a time, to -Shelley and Mary, to be like 'companionship with a demiurge who could -create rolling worlds at pleasure in the void of space.' Shelley's -admiration for the poetic achievements of Byron is well known: - - 'Space wondered less at the swift and fair creations of God when he - grew weary of vacancy, than I at the late works of this spirit of an - angel in the mortal paradise of a decaying body. So I think--let the - world envy, while it admires as it may.'[2] - - And again: 'What think you of Lord Byron's last volume? In my opinion - it contains finer poetry than has appeared in England since the - publication of "Paradise Regained." "Cain" is apocalyptic; it is a - revelation not before communicated to man.' - -Byron recognized Shelley's frankness, courage, and hardihood of opinion, -but was not influenced by him so much as was at that time supposed by his -friends in England. In writing to Horace Smith (April 11, 1822), Shelley -begs him to assure Moore that he had not the smallest influence over -Byron's religious opinions. - - 'If I had, I certainly should employ it to eradicate from his great - mind the delusions of Christianity, which, in spite of his reason, - seem perpetually to recur, and to lay in ambush for the hours of - sickness and distress. "Cain" was _conceived_ many years ago, and - begun before I saw him last year at Ravenna. How happy should I not be - to attribute to myself, however indirectly, any participation in that - immortal work!' - -'Byron,' says Professor Dowden in his 'Life of Shelley,' 'on his own part -protested that his _dramatis personę_ uttered their own opinions and -sentiments, not his.' - -Byron undoubtedly had a deep-seated reverence for religion, and had a -strong leaning towards the Roman Catholic doctrines. Writing to Moore -(March 4, 1822), he says: - - 'I am no enemy to religion, but the contrary. As a proof, I am - educating my natural daughter a strict Catholic in a convent of - Romagna; for I think people can never have _enough_ of religion, if - they are to have any.... As to poor Shelley, who is another bug-bear - to you and the world, he is, to my knowledge, the _least_ selfish and - the mildest of men--a man who has made more sacrifices of his fortune - and feelings for others than any I ever heard of. With his speculative - opinions I have nothing in common, nor desire to have.' - -Countess Guiccioli, a woman of no ordinary intuitive perceptions, with -ample opportunities for judging the characters of both Shelley and Byron, -makes a clear statement on this point: - - 'In Shelley's heart the dominant wish was to see society entirely - reorganized. The sight of human miseries and infirmities distressed - him to the greatest degree; but, too modest himself to believe that he - was called upon to take the initiative, and inaugurate a new era of - good government and fresh laws for the benefit of humanity, he would - have been pleased to see such a genius as Byron take the initiative in - this undertaking. Shelley therefore did his best to influence Byron. - But the latter hated discussions. He could not bear entering into - philosophical speculation at times when his soul craved the - consolations of friendship, and his mind a little rest. He was quite - insensible to reasonings, which often appear sublime because they are - clothed in words incomprehensible to those who have not sought to - understand their meaning. But he made an exception in favour of - Shelley. He knew that he could not shake his faith in a doctrine - founded upon illusions, by his incredulity; but he listened to him - with pleasure, not only on account of Shelley's good faith and - sincerity, but also because he argued upon false data, with such - talent and originality, that he was both interested and amused. Lord - Byron had examined every form of philosophy by the light of common - sense, and by the instinct of his genius. Pantheism in particular was - odious to him. He drew no distinction between absolute Pantheism which - mixes up that which is infinite with that which is finite, and that - form of Pantheism which struggles in vain to keep clear of Atheism. - Shelley's views, clothed in a veil of spiritualism, were the most - likely to interest Byron, but they did not fix him. Byron could never - consent to lose his individuality, deny his own freedom of will, or - abandon the hope of a future existence. As a matter of fact, Byron - attributed all Shelley's views to the aberrations of a mind which is - happier when it dreams than when it denies.' - -'Shelley appears to me to be mad with his metaphysics,' said Byron on one -occasion to Count Gamba. 'What trash in all these systems! say what they -will, mystery for mystery, I still find that of the Creation the most -reasonable of any.' - -Thus it will be seen that the opinions of Lord Byron on matters of -religion were far more catholic than those of his friend Shelley, who -could not have influenced Byron in the manner generally supposed. That a -change came over the spirit of Byron's poetry after meeting Shelley on the -Lake of Geneva is unquestionable; but the surface of the waters may be -roughened by a breeze without disturbing the depths below. Like all true -poets, Byron was highly susceptible to passing influences, and there can -be no doubt that Shelley impressed him deeply. - -The evident sincerity in the life and doctrines of Shelley--his -unworldliness; the manner in which he had been treated by the world, and -even by his own family, aroused the sympathy of Byron, at a time when he -himself was for a different cause smarting under somewhat similar -treatment. Although Byron and Shelley differed fundamentally on some -subjects they concurred in the principles of others. Byron had no fixed -religious opinions--that was the string upon which Shelley played--but -there is a wide difference between doubt and denial. Gamba, after Byron's -death, wrote thus to Dr. Kennedy: - - 'My belief is that Byron's religious opinions were not fixed. I mean - that he was not more inclined towards one than towards another of the - Christian sects; but that his feelings were thoroughly religious, and - that he entertained the highest respect for the doctrines of Christ, - which he considered to be the source of virtue and of goodness. As for - the incomprehensible mysteries of religion, his mind floated in doubts - which he wished most earnestly to dispel, as they oppressed him, and - that is why he never avoided a conversation on the subject, as you are - well aware. I have often had an opportunity of observing him at times - when the soul involuntarily expresses its most sincere convictions; in - the midst of dangers, both at sea and on land; in the quiet - contemplation of a calm and beautiful night, in the deepest solitude. - On these occasions I remarked that Lord Byron's thoughts were always - imbued with a religious sentiment. The first time I ever had a - conversation with him on that subject was at Ravenna, my native place, - a little more than four years ago. We were riding together in the - Pineta on a beautiful spring day. "How," said Byron, "when we raise - our eyes to heaven, or direct them to the earth, can we doubt of the - existence of God? or how, turning them inwards, can we doubt that - there is something within us, more noble and more durable than the - clay of which we are formed? Those who do not hear, or are unwilling - to listen to these feelings, must necessarily be of a vile nature." I - answered him with all those reasons which the superficial philosophy - of Helvetius, his disciples and his masters, have taught. Byron - replied with very strong arguments and profound eloquence, and I - perceived that obstinate contradiction on this subject, which forced - him to reason upon it, gave him pain. This incident made a deep - impression upon me.... Last year, at Genoa, when we were preparing for - our journey to Greece, Byron used to converse with me alone for two or - three hours every evening, seated on the terrace of his residence at - Albaro in the fine evenings of spring, whence there opened a - magnificent view of the superb city and the adjoining sea. Our - conversation turned almost always on Greece, for which we were so soon - to depart, or on religious subjects. In various ways I heard him - confirm the sentiments which I have already mentioned to you. "Why, - then," said I to him, "have you earned for yourself the name of - impious, and enemy of all religious belief, from your writings?" He - answered, "They are not understood, and are wrongly interpreted by the - malevolent. My object is only to combat hypocrisy, which I abhor in - everything, and particularly in religion, and which now unfortunately - appears to me to be prevalent, and for this alone do those to whom you - allude wish to render me odious, and make me out worse than I am.'" - -We have quoted only a portion of Pietro Gamba's letter, but sufficient to -show that Byron has been, like his friend Shelley, 'brutally -misunderstood.' There was no one better qualified than Count Gamba to -express an opinion on the subject, for he was in the closest intimacy with -Byron up to the time of the latter's death. There was no attempt on -Byron's part to mystify his young friend, who had no epistolary -intercourse with those credulous people in England whom Byron so loved to -'gull.' The desire to blacken his own character was reserved for those -occasions when, as he well knew, there would be most publicity. Trelawny -says: - - 'Byron's intimates smiled at his vaunting of his vices, but - comparative strangers stared, and noted his sayings to retail to their - friends, and that is the way many scandals got abroad.' - -According to the same authority, George IV. made the sport known as -'equivocation' the fashion; the men about town were ashamed of being -thought virtuous, and bragged of their profligacy. 'In company,' says -Trelawny, 'Byron talked in Don Juan's vein; with a companion with whom he -was familiar, he thought aloud.' - -Among the accusations made against Byron by those who knew him least was -that of intemperance--intemperance not in meat and drink only, but in -everything. It must be admitted that Byron was to blame for this; he -vaunted his propensity for the bottle, and even attributed his poetic -inspirations to its aid. Trelawny, who had observed him closely, says: - - 'Of all his vauntings, it was, luckily for him, the emptiest. From all - that I heard or witnessed of his habits abroad, he was and had been - exceedingly abstemious in eating and drinking. When alone, he drank a - glass or two of small claret or hock, and when utterly exhausted at - night, a single glass of grog; which, when I mixed it for him, I - lowered to what sailors call "water bewitched," and he never made any - remark. I once, to try him, omitted the alcohol; he then said, "Tre, - have you not forgotten the creature comfort?" I then put in two - spoonfuls, and he was satisfied. This does not look like an habitual - toper. Byron had not damaged his body by strong drinks, but his terror - of getting fat was so great that he reduced his diet to the point of - absolute starvation. He was the only human being I ever met with who - had sufficient self-restraint and resolution to resist this proneness - to fatten. He did so; and at Genoa, where he was last weighed, he was - ten stone and nine pounds, and looked much less. This was not from - vanity of his personal appearance, but from a better motive, and, as - he was always hungry, his merit was the greater. Whenever he relaxed - his vigilance he swelled apace. He would exist on biscuits and - soda-water for days together; then, to allay the eternal hunger - gnawing at his vitals, he would make up a horrid mess of cold - potatoes, rice, fish, or greens, deluged in vinegar, and swallow it - like a famished dog. Either of these unsavoury dishes, with a biscuit - and a glass or two of Rhine wine, he cared not how sour, he called - feasting sumptuously. Byron was of that soft, lymphatic temperament - which it is almost impossible to keep within a moderate compass, - particularly as in his case his lameness prevented his taking - exercise. When he added to his weight, even standing was painful, so - he resolved to keep down to eleven stone.' - -While on this subject, it is not uninteresting to contrast the effects of -Byron's regimen of abstinence by the light of a record kept by the -celebrated wine-merchants, Messrs. Berry, of St. James's Street. This -register of weights has been kept on their premises for the convenience of -their customers since 1765, and contains over twenty thousand names. The -following extract was made by the present writer on November 2, 1897:[3] - - Date. Stone. lbs. Age. - January 4, 1806 (boots, no hat) 13 12 18 - July 8, 1807 (shoes) 10 13 19 - July 23, 1807 (shoes, no hat) 11 0 19 - August 13, 1807 (shoes, no hat) 10 11-1/2 19 - January 13, 1808 (see Moore's 'Life') 10 7 20 - May 27, 1808 (Messrs. Berry) 11 1 -- - June 10, 1809 (Messrs. Berry) 11 5-3/4 21 - July 15, 1811 (Messrs. Berry) 9 11-1/2 23 - (_Circa_) June, 1823 (see Trelawny) 10 9 35 - -It will be seen at a glance that between the ages of eighteen and -thirty-five Byron had reduced his weight by three stone and three pounds. -The fluctuations between the ages of nineteen and thirty-five are not -remarkable. This record marks the consistency of a heroic self-denial -under what must often have been a strong temptation to appease the pangs -of hunger. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - -Byron's life at Pisa, as afterwards at Genoa, was what most people would -call a humdrum, dull existence. He rose late. - - 'Billiards, conversation, or reading, filled up the intervals,' says - Medwin, 'till it was time to take our evening drive, ride, and - pistol-practice. On our return, which was always in the same - direction, we frequently met the Countess Guiccioli, with whom he - stopped to converse a few minutes. He dined at half an hour after - sunset, then drove to Count Gamba's, the Countess Guiccioli's father, - passed several hours in their society, returned to his palace, and - either read or wrote till two or three in the morning; occasionally - drinking spirits diluted with water as a medicine, from a dread of a - nephritic complaint, to which he was, or fancied himself, subject.' - -On Sunday, March 24, 1822, while Byron, Shelley, Trelawny, Captain Hay, -Count Pietro Gamba, and an Irish gentleman named Taaffe, were returning -from their evening ride, and had nearly reached the Porta alle Piagge at -the eastern end of the Lung' Arno, Sergeant-Major Masi, belonging to a -dragoon regiment, being apparently in a great hurry to get back to -barracks, pushed his way unceremoniously through the group of riders in -front of him, and somewhat severely jostled Mr. Taaffe. This gentleman -appealed to Byron, and the latter demanded an apology from the sergeant, -whom he at first mistook for an officer. The sergeant lost his temper, and -called out the guard at the gateway. Byron and Gamba dashed through, -however, and before the others could follow there was some 'dom'd cutting -and slashing'; Shelley was knocked off his horse, and Captain Hay received -a wound in his face. Masi in alarm fled, and on the Lung' Arno met Byron -returning to the scene of the fray: an altercation took place, and one of -Byron's servants, who thought that Masi had wounded his master, struck at -him with a pitchfork, and tumbled the poor fellow off his horse. There was -a tremendous hubbub about this, and the legal proceedings which followed -occupied two months, with much bluster, false swearing, and injustice, as -a natural consequence. The court eventually came to the conclusion that -there was no evidence for criminal proceedings against any of Byron's -domestics, but, in consideration of Giovanni Battista Falcieri--one of -Byron's servants--having a black beard, he was condemned to be escorted by -the police to the frontier and banished from the grand-duchy of Tuscany. - -At the same time the Gambas (who had nothing whatever to do with the -affair) were told that their presence at Pisa was disagreeable to the -Government. In consequence of the hint, Byron and the Gambas hired the -Villa Dupuy, at Montenero, near Leghorn. Here, on June 28, 1822, a scuffle -took place in the gardens of the villa between the servants of Count Gamba -and of Byron, in which Byron's coachman and his cook took part. Knives -were drawn as usual. Byron appeared on the balcony with his pistols, and -threatened to shoot the whole party if they did not drop their knives, -and the police had to be called in to quell the disturbance. The -Government, who were anxious to be rid of Byron, took advantage of this -riot at the Villa Dupuy. Byron's courier and Gamba's valet were sent over -the frontier of the grand-duchy under police escort, and the Gambas were -warned that, unless they left the country within three days, formal -sentence of banishment would be passed upon them. As soon as Byron heard -the news, he wrote a letter to the Governor of Leghorn, and asked for a -respite for his friends. A few days grace were granted to the Gambas, and -on July 8 they took passports for Genoa, intending to go first to the -Baths of Lucca, where they hoped to obtain permission to return to Pisa. -While negotiations were proceeding Byron returned to the Palazzo -Lanfranchi.[4] - -On April 20, 1822, there died at Bagnacavallo, not far from Ravenna, -Byron's natural daughter Allegra, whose mother, Claire Clairmont, had -joined the Shelleys at Pisa five days previously. The whole story is a sad -one, and shall be impartially given in these pages. - -When Shelley left Ravenna in August, 1821, he understood that Byron had -determined that Allegra should not be left behind, alone and friendless, -in the Convent of Bagnacavallo, and Shelley hoped that an arrangement -would be made by which Claire might have the happiness of seeing her child -once more. When Byron arrived at Pisa in November, and Allegra was not -with him, Claire Clairmont's anxiety was so great that she wrote twice to -Byron, protesting against leaving her child in so unhealthy a place, and -entreated him to place Allegra with some respectable family in Pisa, or -Florance, or Lucca. She promised not to go near the child, if such was his -wish, nor should Mary or Shelley do so without Byron's consent. Byron, it -appears, took no notice of these letters. The Shelleys, while strongly of -opinion that Allegra should in some way be taken out of Byron's hands, -thought it prudent to temporize and watch for a favourable opportunity. -Claire held wild schemes for carrying off the child, schemes which were -under the circumstances impolitic, even if practicable. Both Mary and -Shelley did their utmost to dissuade Claire from any violent attempts, and -Mary, in a letter written at this time, assures Claire that her anxiety -for Allegra's health was to a great degree unfounded. After carefully -considering the affair she had come to the conclusion that Allegra was -well taken care of by the nuns in the convent, that she was in good -health, and would in all probability continue so. - -On April 15 Claire Clairmont arrived at Pisa on a visit to the Shelleys, -and a few days later started with the Williamses for Spezzia, to search -for houses on the bay. Professor Dowden says:[5] - - 'They cannot have been many hours on their journey, when Shelley and - Mary received tidings of sorrowful import, which Mary chronicles in - her journal with the words "Evil news." Allegra was dead. Typhus fever - had raged in the Romagna, but no one wrote to inform her parents with - the fact.' - -Lord Byron felt the loss bitterly at first. - - 'His conduct towards this child,' says Countess Guiccioli, 'was always - that of a fond father. He was dreadfully agitated by the first - intelligence of her illness; and when afterwards that of her death - arrived, I was obliged to fulfil the melancholy task of communicating - it to him. The memory of that frightful moment is stamped indelibly on - my mind. A mortal paleness spread itself over his face, his strength - failed him, and he sank into a seat. His look was fixed, and the - expression such that I began to fear for his reason; he did not shed a - tear; and his countenance manifested so hopeless, so profound, so - sublime a sorrow, that at the moment he appeared a being of a nature - superior to humanity. He remained immovable in the same attitude for - an hour, and no consolation which I endeavoured to afford him seemed - to reach his ears, far less his heart.' - -Writing to Shelley on April 23, 1822, Byron says: - - 'I do not know that I have anything to reproach in my conduct, and - certainly nothing in my feelings and intentions towards the dead. But - it is a moment when we are apt to think that, if this or that had been - done, such events might have been prevented, though every day and hour - shows us that they are the most natural and inevitable. I suppose that - Time will do his usual work. Death has done his.' - -Whatever may be thought of Byron's conduct in the matter of Miss Claire -Clairmont--conduct which Allegra's mother invariably painted in the -darkest colours--the fact remains as clear as day, that Byron always -behaved well and kindly towards the poor little child whose death gave him -such intense pain. The evidence of the Hoppners at Venice, of Countess -Guiccioli at Ravenna, and of the Shelleys, all point in the same -direction; and if any doubt existed, a close study of the wild and wayward -character of Claire Clairmont would show where the truth in the matter -lay. Byron was pestered by appeals from Allegra's mother, indirectly on -her own behalf, and directly on behalf of the child. Claire never -understood that, by reason of Byron's antipathy to her, the surest way of -not getting what she wanted was to ask for it; and, with appalling -persistency, she even persuaded Shelley to risk his undoubted influence -over Byron by intercessions on her behalf, until Byron's opinion of -Shelley's judgment was shaken. After making full allowance for the -maternal feeling, so strong in all women, it was exceedingly foolish of -Claire not to perceive that Byron, by taking upon himself the adoption of -the child, had shielded her from scandal; and that, having surrendered -Allegra to his care, Claire could not pretend to any claim or -responsibility in the matter. It should also be pointed out that, in -sending Allegra to the convent at Bagnacavallo, Byron had no intention of -leaving her there for any length of time. It was merely a provisional -step, and, at Hoppner's suggestion, Byron thought of sending the child to -a good institution in Switzerland. In his will he had bequeathed to the -child the sum of £5,000, which was to be paid to her either on her -marriage or on her attaining the age of twenty-one years (according as the -one or the other should happen first), with the proviso that she should -not marry with a native of Great Britain. Byron was anxious to keep her -out of England, because he thought that his natural daughter would be -under great disadvantage in that country, and would have a far better -chance abroad. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - -On April 26, 1822, the Shelleys left Pisa for Lerici, and on May 1 they -took up their abode in the Casa Magni, situated near the fishing-village -of San Terenzo. Towards the close of May, Byron moved to his new residence -at Montenero, near Leghorn. - -Leigh Hunt's arrival, at the end of June, added considerably to Byron's -perplexities. The poet had not seen Hunt since they parted in England six -years before, and many things had happened to both of them since then. -Byron, never satisfied that his promise to contribute poetry to a joint -stock literary periodical was wise, disliked the idea more and more as -time went on, and Shelley foresaw considerable difficulties in the way of -keeping Byron up to the mark in this respect. Hunt had brought over by sea -a sick wife and several children, and opened the ball by asking Byron for -a loan of money to meet current expenses. Byron now discovered that Leigh -Hunt had ceased to be editor of the _Examiner_, and, being absolutely -without any source of income, had no prospect save the money he hoped to -get from a journal not yet in existence. He ought, of course, to have told -both Byron and Shelley that in coming to Italy with his family--a wife and -six children--he would naturally expect one or both of his friends to -provide the necessary funds. This information Hunt withheld, and although -both Byron and Shelley knew him to be in pecuniary embarrassment, and had -every wish to assist him, they were both under the impression that Hunt -had some small income from the _Examiner_. Byron was astonished to hear -that his proposed coadjutor in a literary venture had not enough money in -his pockets even for one month's current expenses. He was not inclined to -submit tamely to Hunt's arrangements for sucking money out of him. - -Beginning as he meant to go on, Byron from the first showed Hunt that he -had no intention of being imposed upon, and the social intercourse between -them was, to say the least of it, somewhat strained. Byron and Shelley -between them had furnished the ground-floor of the Palazzo Lanfranchi for -the Hunt family, and had Shelley lived he would, presumably, have -impoverished himself by disbursements in their favour; but his death -placed the Hunts in a false position. Had Shelley lived, his influence -over Byron would have diminished the friction between Byron and his -tactless guest. The amount of money spent by Byron on the Hunt family was -not great, but, considering the comparative cheapness of living in Italy -at that time, and the difference in the value of money, Byron's -contribution was not niggardly. After paying for the furniture of their -rooms in his palace, and sending £200 for the cost of their voyage to -Italy, Byron gave Leigh Hunt £70 while he was at Pisa, defrayed the cost -of their journey from Pisa to Genoa, and supplied them with another £30 to -enable them to travel to Florence. There was really no occasion for Byron -to make Hunt a present of £500, which he seems to have done, except Hunt's -absolute incapacity to make both ends meet, which was his perpetual -weakness. From the manner in which Hunt treats his pecuniary transactions -with the wide-awake Byron, it is evident that the sum would have risen to -thousands if Byron had not turned a deaf ear to the 'insatiable applicant' -at his elbow. - -On the first visit which Trelawny paid to Byron at the Palazzo Lanfranchi -after Hunt's arrival, he found Mrs. Hunt was confined to her room, as she -generally was, from bad health. Trelawny says: - - 'Hunt, too, was in delicate health--a hypochondriac; and the seven - children, untamed, the eldest a little more than ten, and the youngest - a yearling, were scattered about playing on the large marble staircase - and in the hall. Hunt's theory and practice were that children should - be unrestrained until they were of an age to be reasoned with. If they - kept out of his way he was satisfied. On my entering the poet's study, - I said to him, "The Hunts have effected a lodgment in your palace;" - and I was thinking how different must have been his emotion on the - arrival of the Hunts from that triumphant morning after the - publication of "Childe Harold" when he "awoke and found himself - famous."' - -Truth told, the Hunts' lodgment in his palace must have been a terrible -infliction to the sensitive Byron. His letters to friends in England at -this time are full of allusions to the prevailing discomfort. Trelawny -tells us that - - 'Byron could not realize, till the actual experiment was tried, the - nuisance of having a man with a sick wife and seven disorderly - children interrupting his solitude and his ordinary - customs--especially as Hunt did not conceal that his estimate of - Byron's poetry was not exalted. At that time Hunt thought highly of - his own poetry and underestimated all other. Leigh Hunt thought that - Shelley would have made a great poet if he had written on intelligible - subjects. Shelley soared too high for him, and Byron flew too near the - ground. There was not a single subject on which Byron and Hunt could - agree.' - -After Shelley and his friend Williams had established the Hunts in Lord -Byron's palace at Pisa, they returned to Leghorn, Shelley 'in a mournful -mood, depressed by a recent interview with Byron,' says Trelawny. - -It was evident to all who knew Byron that he bitterly repented having -pledged himself to embark on the literary venture which, unfortunately, he -himself had initiated. At their last interview Shelley found Byron -irritable whilst talking with him on the fulfilment of his promises with -regard to Leigh Hunt. Byron, like a lion caught in a trap, could only -grind his teeth and bear it. Unfortunately, it was not in Byron's nature -to bear things becomingly; he could not restrain the exhibition of his -inner mind. On these occasions he was not at his best, and forgot the -courtesy due even to the most unwelcome guest. Williams appears to have -been much impressed by Byron's reception of Mrs. Hunt, and, writing to his -wife from Leghorn, says: - - 'Lord Byron's reception of Mrs. Hunt was most shameful. She came into - his house sick and exhausted, and he scarcely deigned to notice her; - was silent, and scarcely bowed. This conduct cut Hunt to the soul. But - the way in which he received our friend Roberts, at Dunn's door,[6] - shall be described when we meet: it must be acted.' - -Shelley and Edward Williams, two days after that letter had been -written--on Monday, July 8, 1822, at three o'clock in the afternoon--set -sail on the _Ariel_ for their home on the Gulf of Spezzia. The story is -well known, thanks to the graphic pen of Edward Trelawny, and we need only -allude to the deaths of Shelley and Williams, and the sailor lad Charles -Vivian, in so far as it comes into our picture of Byron at this period. - -Byron attended the cremation of the bodies of Shelley and Williams, and -showed his deep sympathy with Mary Shelley and Jane Williams in various -ways. - -Writing to John Murray from Pisa on August 3, 1822, he says: - - 'I presume you have heard that Mr. Shelley and Captain Williams were - lost on the 7th ultimo in their passage from Leghorn to Spezzia, in - their own open boat. You may imagine the state of their families: I - never saw such a scene, nor wish to see another. You were all brutally - mistaken about Shelley, who was, without exception, the _best_ and - least selfish man I ever knew. I never knew one who was not a beast in - comparison.'[7] - -Writing August 8, 1822, to Thomas Moore, Byron says in allusion to -Shelley's death: - - 'There is thus another man gone, about whom the world was - ill-naturedly, and ignorantly, and brutally mistaken. It will, - perhaps, do him justice _now_, when he can be no better for it.' - -In another letter, written December 25, 1822, Byron says: - - 'You are all mistaken about Shelley. You do not know how mild, how - tolerant, how good he was in society; and as perfect a gentleman as - ever crossed a drawing-room, when he liked, and where he liked.' - -Byron's opinion of Leigh Hunt, and his own connection with that ill-fated -venture known as _The Liberal_, is concisely given by Byron himself in a -letter to Murray. _The Liberal_, published October 15, 1822, was fiercely -attacked in the _Literary Gazette_ and other periodicals. The _Courier_ -for October 26, 1822, calls it a 'scoundrel-like publication.' Byron -writes: - - 'I am afraid the journal is a _bad_ business, and won't do; but in it - I am sacrificing _myself_ for others--I can have no advantage in it. I - believe the brothers Hunt to be honest men; I am sure they are poor - ones. They have not a rap: they pressed me to engage in this work, and - in an evil hour I consented; still, I shall not repent, if I can do - them the least service. I have done all I can for Leigh Hunt since he - came here; but it is almost useless. His wife is ill, his six children - not very tractable, and in the affairs of the world he himself is a - child. The death of Shelley left them totally aground; and I could not - see them in such a state without using the common feelings of - humanity, and what means were in my power to set them afloat again.' - -In another letter to Murray (December 25, 1822) Byron says: - - 'Had their [the Hunts'] journal gone on well, and I could have aided - to make it better for them, I should then have left them, after my - safe pilotage off a lee-shore, to make a prosperous voyage by - themselves. As it is, I can't, and would not if I could, leave them - amidst the breakers. As to any community of feeling, thought, or - opinion between Leigh Hunt and me, there is little or none. We meet - rarely, hardly ever; but I think him a good-principled and able man, - and must do as I would be done by. I do not know what world he has - lived in, but I have lived in three or four; and none of them like his - Keats and Kangaroo _terra incognita_. Alas! poor Shelley! how he would - have laughed had he lived, and how we used to laugh now and then, at - various things, which are grave in the Suburbs!' - -It is perhaps not generally known that Shelley bequeathed a legacy of -£2,000 to Byron. Byron's renunciation of this token of friendship is -ignored by Professor Dowden in his life of Shelley. Writing to Leigh Hunt -on June 28, 1823, Byron says: - - 'There was something about a legacy of two thousand pounds which he - [Shelley] has left me. This, of course, I declined, and the more so - that I hear that his will is admitted valid; and I state this - distinctly that, in case of anything happening to me, my heirs may be - instructed not to claim it.' - -Towards the end of September, 1822, Byron and the Countess Guiccioli left -the Palazzo Lanfranchi, and moved from Pisa to Albaro, a suburb of Genoa. -At the Villa Saluzzo, where the poet resided until his departure for -Greece, dwelt also Count Gamba and his son Pietro, who occupied one part -of that large house, while Byron occupied another part, and their -establishments were quite separate. The first number of _The Liberal_ -which had been printed in London, reached Byron's hands at this time. The -birth of that unlucky publication was soon followed by its death, as -anyone knowing the circumstances attending its conception might have -foreseen. Shelley's death may be said to have destroyed the enterprise and -energy of the survivors of that small coterie, who, in the absence of that -vital force, the fine spirit that had animated and held them together, -'degenerated apace,' as Trelawny tells us. Byron 'exhausted himself in -planning, projecting, beginning, wishing, intending, postponing, -regretting, and doing nothing. The unready are fertile in excuses, and his -were inexhaustible.' - -In December, 1822, Trelawny laid up Byron's yacht, _The Bolivar_, paid off -the crew, and started on horseback for Rome. _The Bolivar_ was eventually -sold by Byron to Lord Blessington for 400 guineas. Four or five years -after Byron's death this excellent little sea-boat, with Captain Roberts -(who planned her for Byron) on board, struck on the iron-bound coast of -the Adriatic and foundered. Not a plank of her was saved. - - 'Never,' said Captain Roberts in narrating the circumstance many years - afterwards, 'was there a better sea-boat, or one that made less - lee-way than the dear little _Bolivar_, but she could not walk in the - wind's eye. I dared not venture to put her about in that gale for fear - of getting into the trough of the sea and being swamped. To take in - sail was impossible, so all we had left for it was to luff her up in - the lulls, and trust to Providence for the rest. Night came on dark - and cold, for it was November, and as the sea boiled and foamed in her - wake, it shone through the pitchy darkness with a phosphoric - efflorescence. The last thing I heard was my companion's exclamation, - "Breakers ahead!" and almost at the same instant _The Bolivar_ struck: - the crash was awful; a watery column fell upon her bodily like an - avalanche, and all that I remember was, that I was struggling with the - waves. I am a strong swimmer, and have often contested with Byron in - his own element, so after battling long with the billows, covered with - bruises, and more dead than alive, I succeeded in scrambling up the - rocks, and found myself in the evergreen pine-forest of Ravenna, some - miles from any house. But at last I sheltered myself in a forester's - hut. Death and I had a hard struggle that bout.'[8] - -On April 1, 1823, Lord and Lady Blessington called on Byron at the Casa -Saluzzo. Lady Blessington assures us that, in speaking of his wife, Byron -declared that he was totally unconscious of the cause of her leaving him. -He said that he left no means untried to effect a reconciliation, and -added with bitterness: 'A day will arrive when I shall be avenged. I feel -that I shall not live long, and when the grave has closed over me, what -must she feel!' - -In speaking of his sister, Byron always spoke with strong affection, and -said that she was the most faultless person he had ever known, and that -she was his only source of consolation in his troubles during the -separation business. - - 'Byron,' says Lady Blessington, 'has remarkable penetration in - discovering the characters of those around him, and piques himself on - it. He also thinks that he has fathomed the recesses of his own mind; - but he is mistaken. With much that is _little_ (which he suspects) in - his character, there is much that is _great_ that he does not give - himself credit for. His first impulses are always good, but his - temper, which is impatient, prevents his acting on the cool dictates - of reason. He mistakes temper for character, and takes the ebullitions - of the first for the indications of the nature of the second.' - -Lady Blessington seems to have made a most searching examination of -Byron's character, and very little escaped her vigilance during the two -months of their intimate intercourse. She tells us that Byron talked for -effect, and liked to excite astonishment. It was difficult to know when he -was serious, or when he was merely 'bamming' his aquaintances. He admitted -that he liked to _hoax_ people, in order that they might give -contradictory accounts of him and of his opinions. He spoke very highly of -Countess Guiccioli, whom he had passionately loved and deeply respected. -Lady Blessington says: 'In his praises of Madame Guiccioli it is quite -evident that he is sincere.' - -Byron confessed that he was not happy, but admitted that it was his own -fault, as the Countess Guiccioli, the only object of his love, had all the -qualities to render a reasonable being happy. In speaking of Allegra, -Byron said that while she lived her existence never seemed necessary to -his happiness; but no sooner did he lose her than it appeared to him as -though he could not exist without her. It is noteworthy that, one evening, -while Byron was speaking to Lady Blessington at her hotel at Genoa, he -pointed out to her a boat at anchor in the harbour, and said: 'That is the -boat in which my friend Shelley went down--the sight of it makes me ill. -You should have known Shelley to feel how much I must regret him. He was -the most gentle, most amiable, and _least_ worldly-minded person I ever -met; full of delicacy, disinterested beyond all other men, and possessing -a degree of genius, joined to a simplicity, as rare as it is admirable. He -had formed to himself a _beau-idéal_ of all that is fine, high-minded, and -noble, and he acted up to this ideal even to the very letter. He had a -most brilliant imagination, but a total want of worldly wisdom. I have -seen nothing like him, and never shall again, I am certain.' - -We may, upon the evidence before us, take it for certain that Byron only -admired two of his contemporaries--Sir Walter Scott and Shelley. He liked -Hobhouse, and they had travelled together without a serious quarrel, which -is a proof of friendship; but he felt that Hobhouse undervalued him, and, -as Byron had a good deal of the spoiled child about him, he resented the -friendly admonitions which, it seems, Hobhouse unsparingly administered -whenever they were together. Tom Moore was a 'croney'--a man to laugh and -sit through the night with--but there was nothing, either in his genius or -his conduct, which Byron could fall down and worship, as he seemed capable -of doing in the case of Shelley and Scott. - -It is evident that Lady Byron occupied his thoughts continually; he -constantly mentioned her in conversation, and often spoke of the brief -period during which they lived together. He told Lady Blessington that, -though not regularly handsome, he liked her looks. He said that when he -reflected on the whole tenor of her conduct--the refusing any explanation, -never answering his letters, or holding out any hopes that in future years -their child might form a bond of union between them--he felt exasperated -against her, and vented this feeling in his writings. The mystery of Lady -Byron's silence piqued him and kept alive his interest in her. It was -evident to those who knew Byron during the last year of his life that he -anxiously desired a reconciliation with her. He seemed to think that, had -his pecuniary affairs been in a less ruinous state, his temper would not -have been excited as it constantly was, during the brief period of their -union, by demands of insolent creditors whom he was unable to satisfy, and -who drove him nearly out of his senses, until he lost all command of -himself, and so forfeited his wife's affection. Byron felt himself to -blame for such conduct, and bitterly repented of it. But he never could -divest himself of the idea that his wife still took a deep interest in -him, and said that Ada must always be a bond of union between them, though -perchance they were parted for ever. - - 'I am sure,' said Lady Blessington, 'that if ten individuals undertook - the task of describing Byron, no two of the ten would agree in their - verdict respecting him, or convey any portrait that resembled the - other, and yet the description of each might be correct, according to - individual opinion. The truth is, that the chameleon-like character or - manner of Byron renders it difficult to portray him; and the pleasure - he seems to take in misleading his associates in their estimation of - him increases the difficulty of the task.' - -On one occasion Byron lifted the veil, and showed his inmost thoughts by -words which were carefully noted at the time. He spoke on this occasion -from the depth of his heart as follows: - - 'Can I reflect on my present position without bitter feelings? Exiled - from my country by a species of ostracism--the most humiliating to a - proud mind, when _daggers_ and not shells were used to ballot, - inflicting mental wounds more deadly and difficult to be healed than - all that the body could suffer. Then the notoriety that follows me - precludes the privacy I desire, and renders me an object of curiosity, - which is a continual source of irritation to my feelings. I am bound - by the indissoluble ties of marriage to _one_ who will _not_ live with - me, and live with one to whom I cannot give a legal right to be my - companion, and who, wanting that right, is placed in a position - humiliating to her and most painful to me. Were the Countess Guiccioli - and I married, we should, I am sure, be cited as an example of - conjugal happiness, and the domestic and retired life we lead would - entitle us to respect. But our union, wanting the legal and religious - part of the ceremony of marriage, draws on us both censure and blame. - She is formed to make a good wife to any man to whom she attaches - herself. She is fond of retirement, is of a most affectionate - disposition, and noble-minded and disinterested to the highest degree. - Judge then how mortifying it must be to me to be the cause of placing - her in a false position. All this is not thought of when people are - blinded by passion, but when passion is replaced by better - feelings--those of affection, friendship, and confidence--when, in - short, the _liaison_ has all of marriage but its forms, then it is - that we wish to give it the respectability of wedlock. I feel this - keenly, reckless as I appear, though there are few to whom I would - avow it, and certainly not to a man.' - -There is much in this statement which it is necessary for those who wish -to understand Byron's position at the close of his life to bear in mind. -We may accept it unreservedly, for it coincides in every particular with -conclusions independently arrived at by the present writer, after a long -and patient study of all circumstances relating to the life of this -extraordinary man. At the period of which we write--the last phase in -Byron's brief career--the poet was, morally, ascending. - -His character, through the fire of suffering, had been purified. Even his -pride--so assertive in public--had been humbled, and he was gradually and -insensibly preparing himself for a higher destiny, unconscious of the fact -that the hand of Death was upon him. 'Wait,' he said, 'and you will see me -one day become all that I ought to be. I have reflected seriously on all -my faults, and that is the first step towards amendment.' - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - -Certain it is, that in proportion to the admiration which Byron's poetic -genius excited, was the severity of the censure which his -fellow-countrymen bestowed on his defects as a man. The humour of the -situation no doubt appealed to Byron's acute sense of proportion, and -induced him to feed the calumnies against himself, by painting his own -portrait in the darkest colours. Unfortunately, the effects of such -conduct long survived him; for the world is prone to take a man at his own -valuation, and 'hypocrisy reversed' does not enter into human -calculations. It is unfortunate for the fame of Byron that his whole -conduct after the separation was a glaring blunder, for which no -subsequent act of his, no proof of his genius, could by any possibility -atone. - -Truth told, the obloquy which Byron had to endure, after Lady Byron left -him, was such as might well have changed his whole nature. It must indeed -have been galling to that proud spirit, after having been humbly asked -everywhere, to be ostentatiously asked nowhere. The injustice he suffered -at the hands of those who were fed on baseless calumnies raised in his -breast a feeling of profound contempt for his fellow-creatures--a contempt -which led him into many follies; thus, instead of standing up against the -storm and meeting his detractors face to face, as he was both capable of -and justified in doing, he chose to leave England under a cloud, and, by a -system of mystification, to encourage the belief that he thoroughly -deserved the humiliation which had been cast upon him. As a consequence, -to employ the words of Macaulay, - - 'all those creeping things that riot in the decay of nobler natures - hastened to their repast; and they were right; they did after their - kind. It is not every day that the savage envy of aspiring dunces is - gratified by the agonies of such a spirit, and the degradation of such - a name.' - -Lady Blessington tells us that Byron had an excellent heart, but that it -was running to waste for want of being allowed to expend itself on his -fellow-creatures. His heart teemed with affection, but his past -experiences had checked its course, and left it to prey on the aching void -in his breast. He could never forget his sorrows, which in a certain sense -had unhinged his mind, and caused him to deny to others the justice that -had been denied to himself. He affected to disbelieve in either love or -friendship, and yet was capable of making great sacrifices for both. - - 'He has an unaccountable passion for misrepresenting his own feelings - and motives, and exaggerates his defects more than an enemy could do; - and is often angry because we do not believe all he says against - himself. If Byron were not a great poet, the charlatanism of affecting - to be a Satanic character, in this our matter-of-fact nineteenth - century, would be very amusing: but when the genius of the man is - taken into account, it appears too ridiculous, and one feels mortified - that he should attempt to pass for something that all who know him - rejoice that he is not. If Byron knew his own power, he would disdain - such unworthy means of attracting attention, and trust to his merit - for commanding it.' - -As Lady Blessington remarks in her 'Conversations of Lord Byron,' from -which we have largely quoted, Byron's pre-eminence as a poet gives an -interest to details which otherwise would not be worth mentioning. She -tells us, for instance, that one of the strongest anomalies in Byron was -the exquisite taste displayed in his descriptive poetry, and the total -want of it that was so apparent in his modes of life. - - 'Fine scenery seemed to have no effect upon him, though his - descriptions are so glowing, and the elegancies and comforts of - refined life Byron appeared to as little understand as value.' - -Byron appeared to be wholly ignorant of what in his class of life -constituted its ordinary luxuries. - - 'I have seen him,' says Lady Blessington, 'apparently delighted with - the luxurious inventions in furniture, equipages, plate, etc., common - to all persons of a certain station or fortune, and yet after an - inquiry as to their prices--an inquiry so seldom made by persons of - his rank--shrink back alarmed at the thought of the expense, though - there was nothing alarming in it, and congratulate himself that he had - no such luxuries, or did not require them. I should say that a bad and - vulgar taste predominated in all Byron's equipments, whether in dress - or in furniture. I saw his bed at Genoa, when I passed through in - 1826, and it certainly was the most vulgarly gaudy thing I ever saw; - the curtains in the worst taste, and the cornice having his family - motto of "Crede Byron" surmounted by baronial coronets. His carriages - and his liveries were in the same bad taste, having an affectation of - finery, but _mesquin_ in the details, and tawdry in the _ensemble_. It - was evident that he piqued himself on them, by the complacency with - which they were referred to.' - -In one of Byron's expansive moods--and these were rare with men, though -frequent in the society of Lady Blessington--Byron, speaking of his wife, -said: - - 'I am certain that Lady Byron's first idea is, what is due to herself; - I mean that it is the undeviating rule of her conduct. I wish she had - thought a little more of what is due to others. Now, my besetting sin - is a want of that self-respect which she has in _excess_; and that - want has produced much unhappiness to us both. But though I accuse - Lady Byron of an excess of self-respect, I must in candour admit, that - if any person ever had an excuse for an extraordinary portion of it, - she has; as in all her thoughts, words, and deeds, she is the most - decorous woman that ever existed, and must appear a perfect and - refined gentlewoman even to her _femme-de-chambre_. This extraordinary - degree of self-command in Lady Byron produced an opposite effect on - me. When I have broken out, on slight provocations, into one of my - ungovernable fits of rage, her calmness piqued, and seemed to reproach - me; it gave her an air of superiority, that vexed and increased my - wrath. I am now older and wiser, and should know how to appreciate her - conduct as it deserved, as I look on self-command as a positive - virtue, though it is one I have not the courage to adopt.' - -In speaking of his sister, shortly before his departure for Greece, Byron -maintained that he owed the little good which he could boast, to her -influence over his wayward nature. He regretted that he had not known her -earlier, as it might have influenced his destiny. - - 'To me she was, in the hour of need, as a tower of strength. Her - affection was my last rallying point, and is now the only bright spot - that the horizon of England offers to my view.' 'Augusta,' said Byron, - 'knew all my weaknesses, but she had love enough to bear with them. - She has given me such good advice, and yet, finding me incapable of - following it, loved and pitied me the more, because I was erring. - This is true affection, and, above all, true Christian feeling.' - -But we should not be writing about Byron and his foibles eighty-four years -after his death, if he had not been wholly different to other men in his -views of life. Shortly after his marriage, for no sufficient, or at least -for no apparent reason, Byron chose to immolate himself, and took a sort -of Tarpeian leap, passing the remainder of his existence in bemoaning his -bruises, and reviling the spectators who were not responsible for his -fall. One of the main results of this conduct was his separation from his -child, for whom he seems to have felt the deepest affection. We find him, -at the close of his life, constantly speaking of Ada, 'sole daughter of -his heart and house,' and prophesying the advent of a love whose -consolations he could never feel. - - 'I often, in imagination, pass over a long lapse of years,' said - Byron, 'and console myself for present privations, in anticipating the - time when my daughter will know me by reading my works; for, though - the hand of prejudice may conceal my portrait from her eyes,[9] it - cannot hereafter conceal my thoughts and feelings, which will talk to - her when he to whom they belonged has ceased to exist. The triumph - will then be mine; and the tears that my child will drop over - expressions wrung from me by mental agony--the certainty that she will - enter into the sentiments which dictated the various allusions to her - and to myself in my works--consoles me in many a gloomy hour.' - -This prophecy was amply fulfilled. It appears that, after Ada's marriage -to Lord King, Colonel Wildman met her in London, and invited her to pay -him a visit at Newstead Abbey. One morning, while Ada was in the library, -Colonel Wildman took down a book of poems. Ada asked the name of the -author of these poems, and when shown the portrait of her -father--Phillips's well-known portrait--which hung upon the wall, Ada -remained for a moment spell-bound, and then remarked ingenuously: 'Please -do not think that it is affectation on my part when I declare to you that -I have been brought up in complete ignorance of all that concerns my -father.' Never until that moment had Ada seen the handwriting of her -father, and, as we know, even his portrait had been hidden from her. When -Byron's genius was revealed to his daughter, an enthusiasm for his memory -filled her soul. She shut herself up for hours in the rooms which Byron -had used, absorbed in all the glory of one whose tenderness for her had -been so sedulously concealed by her mother. On her death-bed she dictated -a letter to Colonel Wildman, begging that she might be buried at -Hucknall-Torkard, in the same vault as her illustrious father. And there -they sleep the long sleep side by side--separated during life, united in -death--the prophecy of 1816 fulfilled in 1852: - - 'Yet, though dull Hate as duty should be taught, - I know that thou wilt love me; though my name - Should be shut from thee, as a spell still fraught - With desolation, and a broken claim: - Though the grave closed between us,--'twere the same, - I know that thou wilt love me; though to drain - _My_ blood from out thy being were an aim - And an attainment,--all would be in vain,-- - Still thou wouldst love me, still that more than life retain.' - - - - -CHAPTER V - - -There is no doubt that Byron had a craving for celebrity in one form or -another. In the last year of his life his thoughts turned with something -like apathy from the fame which his pen had brought him[10] towards that -wider and nobler fame which might be attained by the sword. In the spirit -of an exalted poet who has lately passed from us, if such prescience were -possible, Byron might have applied these stirring lines to himself: - - 'Up, then, and act! Rise up and undertake - The duties of to-day. Thy courage wake! - Spend not life's strength in idleness, for life - Should not be wasted in Care's useless strife. - No slothful doubt let work's place occupy, - But labour! Labour for posterity! - - 'Up, then, and sing! Rise up and bare the sword - With which to combat suffering and wrong. - Console all those that suffer with thy word, - Defend Man's heritage with sword and song! - Combat intrigue, injustice, tyranny, - And in thine efforts God will be with thee.' - - 'I have made as many sacrifices to liberty,' said Byron, 'as most - people of my age; and the one I am about to undertake is not the - least, though probably it will be the last; for with my broken - health, and the chances of war, Greece will most likely terminate my - career. I like Italy, its climate, its customs, and, above all, its - freedom from cant of every kind; therefore it is no slight sacrifice - of comfort to give up the tranquil life I lead here, and break through - the ties I have formed, to engage in a cause, for the successful - result of which I have no very sanguine hopes. I have a presentiment - that I shall die in Greece. I hope it may be in action, for that would - be a good finish to a very _triste_ existence, and I have a horror of - death-bed scenes; but as I have not been famous for my luck in life, - most probably I shall not have more in the manner of my death.' - -It was towards the close of May, 1823, that Byron received a letter -telling him that he had been elected a member of the Committee which sat -in London to further the Greek cause. Byron willingly accepted the -appointment, and from that moment turned his thoughts towards Greece, -without exactly knowing in what manner he could best serve her cause. He -experienced alternations of confidence and despondency certainly, but he -never abandoned the notion that he might be of use, if only he could see -his way clearly through the conflicting opinions and advice which reached -him from all sides. - -The presentiment that he would end his days in Greece, weighed so heavily -on his mind, that he felt a most intense desire to revisit his native -country before finally throwing in his lot with the Greeks. He seems to -have vaguely felt that all chances of reconciliation with Lady Byron were -not dead. He would have liked to say farewell to her without bitterness, -and he longed to embrace his child. But the objections to a return to -England were so formidable that he was compelled to abandon the idea. His -proud nature could not face the chance of a cold reception, and a revival -of that roar of calumny which had driven him from our shores. He told Lady -Blessington that he could laugh at those attacks with the sea between him -and his traducers; but that on the spot, and feeling the effect which each -libel produced upon the minds of his too sensitive friends, he could not -stand the strain. Byron felt sure that his enemies would misinterpret his -motives, and that no good would come of it. - -After Byron had made up his mind to visit Greece in person, he does not -appear ever to have seriously thought of drawing back. On June 15, 1823, -he informed Trelawny, who was at Rome, that he was determined to go to -Greece, and asked him to join the expedition. Seven days later Byron had -hired a vessel to transport himself, his companions, his servants, and his -horses, to Cephalonia. - -On July 13, Byron, with Edward Trelawny, Count Pietro Gamba, and a young -medical student,[11] with eight servants, embarked at Genoa on the English -brig _Hercules_, commanded by Captain Scott. At the last moment a passage -was offered to a Greek named Schilitzy, and to Mr. Hamilton Browne. Gamba -tells us that five horses were shipped, besides arms, ammunition, and two -one-pounder guns which had belonged to _The Bolivar_. Byron carried with -him 10,000 Spanish dollars in ready-money, with bills of exchange for -40,000 more. - -Passing within sight of Elba, Corsica, the Lipari Islands (including -Stromboli,) Sicily, Italy, etc., on August 2, the _Hercules_ lay between -Zante and Cephalonia; and the next day she cast anchor in Argostoli, the -principal port of Cephalonia. The Resident, Colonel Napier, was at that -time absent from the island. Shortly after Byron's arrival, Captain -Kennedy, Colonel Napier's secretary, came on board, and informed him that -little was known of the internal affairs of Greece. The Turks appeared to -have been in force at sea, while the Greeks remained inactive at Hydra, -Spezia, and Ipsara. It was supposed that Mr. Blaquičre had gone to Corfu, -while the famous Marco Botzari, to whom Byron had been especially -recommended, was at Missolonghi. Before taking any definite step, Byron -judged it best to send messengers to Corfu and Missolonghi, to collect -information as to the state of affairs in the Morea. To pass the time, -Byron and some of his companions made an excursion to Ithaca. The first -opportunity of showing his sympathy towards the victims of barbarism and -tyranny occurred at this period. Many poor families had taken refuge at -Ithaca, from Scio, Patras, and other parts of Greece. Byron handed 3,000 -piastres to the Commandant for their relief, and transported a family, in -absolute poverty, to Cephalonia, where he provided them with a house and -gave them a monthly allowance. - -The following narrative, written by a gentleman who was travelling in -Ithaca at that time, seems to be worthy of reproduction in these pages: - - 'It was in the island of Ithaca, in the month of August, 1823, that I - was shown into the dining-room of the Resident Governor, where Lord - Byron, Count Gamba, Dr. Bruno, Mr. Trelawny, and Mr. Hamilton Browne, - were seated after dinner, with some of the English officers and - principal inhabitants of the place. I had been informed of Lord - Byron's presence, but had no means of finding him out, except by - recollection of his portraits; and I am not ashamed to confess that I - was puzzled, in my examination of the various countenances before me, - where to fix upon "the man." I at one time almost settled upon - Trelawny, from the interest which he seemed to take in the schooner in - which I had just arrived; but on ascending to the drawing-room I was - most agreeably undeceived by finding myself close to the side of the - great object of my curiosity, and engaged in easy conversation with - him, without presentation or introduction of any kind. - - 'He was handling and remarking upon the books in some small open - shelves, and fairly spoke to me in such a manner that not to have - replied would have been boorish. "'Pope's Homer's Odyssey'--hum!--that - is well placed here, undoubtedly; 'Hume's Essays,'--'Tales of my - Landlord;' there you are, Watty! Are you recently from England, sir?" - I answered that I had not been there for two years. "Then you can - bring us no news of the Greek Committee? Here we are all waiting - orders, and no orders seem likely to come. Ha! ha!" "I have not - changed my opinion of the Greeks," he said. "I know them as well as - most people" (a favourite phrase), "but we must not look always too - closely at the men who are to benefit by our exertions in a good - cause, or God knows we shall seldom do much good in this world. There - is Trelawny thinks he has fallen in with an angel in Prince - Mavrocordato, and little Bruno would willingly sacrifice his life for - the _cause_, as he calls it. I must say he has shown some sincerity in - his devotion, in consenting to join it for the little matter he makes - of me." I ventured to say that, in all probability, the being joined - with him in any cause was inducement enough for any man of moderate - pretensions. He noticed the compliment only by an indifferent smile. - "I find but one opinion," he continued, "among all people whom I have - met since I came here, that no good is to be done for these rascally - Greeks; that I am sure to be deceived, disgusted, and all the rest of - it. It may be so; but it is chiefly to satisfy myself upon these very - points that I am going. I go prepared for anything, expecting a deal - of roguery and imposition, but hoping to do some good." - - '"Have you read any of the late publications on Greece?" I asked. - - '"I never read any accounts of a country to which I can myself go," - said he. "The Committee have sent me some of their 'Crown and Anchor' - reports, but I can make nothing of them." - - 'The conversation continued in the same familiar flow. To my increased - amazement, he led it to his works, to Lady Byron, and to his daughter. - The former was suggested by a volume of "Childe Harold" which was on - the table; it was the ugly square little German edition, and I made - free to characterize it as execrable. He turned over the leaves, and - said: - - 'Yes, it was very bad; but it was better than one that he had seen in - French prose in Switzerland. "I know not what my friend Mr. Murray - will say to it all. Kinnaird writes to me that he is wroth about many - things; let them do what they like with the book--they have been - abusive enough of the author. The _Quarterly_ is trying to make - amends, however, and _Blackwood's_ people will suffer none to attack - me but themselves. Milman was, I believe, at the bottom of the - personalities, but they all sink before an American reviewer, who - describes me as a kind of fiend, and says that the deformities of my - mind are only to be equalled by those of my body; it is well that - anyone can see them, at least." Our hostess, Mrs. Knox, advanced to us - about this moment, and his lordship continued, smiling: "Does not your - Gordon blood rise at such abuse of a clansman? The gallant Gordons - 'bruik nae slight.' Are you true to your name, Mrs. Knox?" The lady - was loud in her reprobation of the atrocious abuse that had recently - been heaped upon the noble lord, and joined in his assumed clannish - regard for their mutual name. "Lady Byron and you would agree," he - said, laughing, "though I could not, you are thinking; you may say so, - I assure you. I dare say it will turn out that I have been terribly in - the wrong, _but I always want to know what I did_." I had not courage - to touch upon this delicate topic, and Mrs. Knox seemed to wish it - passed over till a less public occasion. He spoke of Ada exactly as - any parent might have done of a beloved absent child, and betrayed not - the slightest confusion, or consciousness of a sore subject, - throughout the whole conversation. - - 'I now learnt from him that he had arrived in the island from - Cephalonia only that morning, and that it was his purpose (as it was - mine) to visit its antiquities and localities. A ride to the Fountain - of Arethusa had been planned for the next day, and I had the happiness - of being invited to join it. Pope's "Homer" was taken up for a - description of the place, and it led to the following remarks: - - "Yes, the very best translation that ever was, or ever will be; there - is nothing like it in the world, be assured. It is quite delightful to - find Pope's character coming round again; I forgive Gifford everything - for that. Puritan as he is, he has too much good sense not to know - that, even if all the lies about Pope were truths, his character is - one of the best among literary men. There is nobody now like him, - except Watty,[12] and he is as nearly faultless as ever human being - was." - - 'The remainder of the evening was passed in arranging the plan of - proceeding on the morrow's excursion, in the course of which his - lordship occasionally interjected a facetious remark of some general - nature; but in such fascinating tones, and with such a degree of - amiability and familiarity, that, of all the libels of which I well - knew the public press to be guilty, that of describing Lord Byron as - inaccessible, morose, and repulsive in manner and language, seemed to - me the most false and atrocious. I found I was to be accommodated for - the night under the same roof with his lordship, and I retired, - satisfied in my own mind that favouring chance had that day made me - the intimate (almost confidential) friend of the greatest literary man - of modern times. - - 'The next morning, about nine o'clock, the party for the Fountain of - Arethusa assembled in the parlour of Captain Knox; but Lord Byron was - missing. Trelawny, who had slept in the room adjoining his lordship's, - told us that he feared he had been ill during the night, but that he - had gone out in a boat very early in the morning. At this moment I - happened to be standing at the window, and saw the object of our - anxiety in the act of landing on the beach, about ten or a dozen - yards from the house, to which he walked slowly up. I never saw and - could not conceive the possibility of such a change in the appearance - of a human being as had taken place since the previous night. He - looked like a man under sentence of death, or returning from the - funeral of all that he held dear on earth. His person seemed shrunk, - his face was pale, and his eyes languid and fixed on the ground. He - was leaning upon a stick, and had changed his dark camlet-caped - surtout of the preceding evening for a nankeen jacket embroidered like - a hussar's--an attempt at dandyism, or dash, to which the look and - demeanour of the wearer formed a sad contrast. On entering the room, - his lordship made the usual salutations; and, after some preliminary - arrangements, the party moved off, on horses and mules, to the place - of destination for the day. - - 'I was so struck with the difference of appearance in Lord Byron that - the determination to which I had come, to try to monopolize him, if - possible, to myself, without regard to appearances or _bienséance_, - almost entirely gave way under the terror of a freezing repulse. I - advanced to him under the influence of this feeling, but I had - scarcely received his answer when all uneasiness about my reception - vanished, and I stuck as close to him as the road permitted our - animals to go. His voice sounded timidly and quiveringly at first; but - as the conversation proceeded, it became steady and firm. The - beautiful country in which we were travelling naturally formed a - prominent topic, as well as the character of the people and of the - Government. Of the latter, I found him (to my amazement) an admirer. - "There is a deal of fine stuff about that old Maitland," he said; "he - knows the Greeks well. Do you know if it be true that he ordered one - of their brigs to be blown out of the water if she stayed ten minutes - longer in Corfu Roads?" I happened to know, and told him that it was - true. "Well, of all follies, that of daring to say what one cannot - dare to do is the least to be pitied. Do you think Sir Tom would have - really executed his threat?" I told his lordship that I believed he - certainly would, and that this knowledge of his being in earnest in - everything he said was the cause, not only of the quiet termination of - that affair, but of the order and subordination in the whole of the - countries under his government. - - 'The conversation again insensibly reverted to Sir Walter Scott, and - Lord Byron repeated to me the anecdote of the interview in Murray's - shop, as conclusive evidence of his being the author of the "Waverley - Novels." He was a little but not durably staggered by the equally - well-known anecdote of Sir Walter having, with some solemnity, denied - the authorship to Mr. Wilson Croker, in the presence of George IV., - the Duke of York, and the late Lord Canterbury. He agreed that an - author wishing to conceal his authorship had a right to give _any - answer whatever_ that succeeded in convincing an inquirer that he was - wrong in his suppositions. - - 'When we came within sight of the object of our excursion, there - happened to be an old shepherd in the act of coming down from the - fountain. His lordship at once fixed upon him for Eumęus, and invited - him back with us to "fill up the picture." Having drunk of the - fountain, and eaten of our less classical repast of cold fowls, etc., - his lordship again became lively, and full of pleasant conceits. To - detail the conversation (which was general and varied as the - individuals that partook of it) is now impossible, and certainly not - desirable if it were possible. I wish to observe, however, that on - this and one very similar occasion, it was very unlike the kind of - conversation which Lord Byron is described as holding with various - individuals who have written about him. Still more unlike was it to - what one would have _supposed_ his conversation to be; it was exactly - that of nine-tenths of the cultivated class of English gentlemen, - careless and unconscious of everything but the present moment. Lord - Byron ceased to be more than one of the party, and stood some sharp - jokes, practical and verbal, with more good nature than would have - done many of the ciphers whom one is doomed to tolerate in society. - - 'We returned as we went, but no opportunity presented itself of - introducing any subject of interest beyond that of the place and time. - His lordship seemed quite restored by the excursion, and in the - evening came to the Resident's, bearing himself towards everybody in - the same easy, gentlemanly way that rendered him the delight and - ornament of every society in which he chose to unbend himself. - - 'The Resident was as absolute a monarch as Ulysses, and I dare say - much more hospitable and obliging. He found quarters for the whole - Anglo-Italian party, in the best houses of the town, and received them - on the following morning at the most luxurious of breakfasts, - consisting, among other native productions, of fresh-gathered grapes, - just ripened, but which were pronounced of some danger to be eaten, as - not having had the "first rain." This is worthy of note, as having - been apparently a ground of their being taken by Lord Byron in - preference to the riper and safer figs and nectarines; but he deemed - it a fair reason for an apology to the worthy doctor of the 8th - Regiment (Dr. Scott), who had cautioned the company against the fruit. - - '"I take them, doctor," said his lordship, "as I take other prohibited - things--in order to accustom myself to any and all things that a man - may be compelled to take where I am going--in the same way that I - abstain from all superfluities, even salt to my eggs or butter to my - bread; and I take tea, Mrs. Knox, without sugar or cream. But tea - itself is, really, the most superfluous of superfluities, though I am - never without it." - - 'I heard these observations as they were made to Dr. Scott, next to - whom I was sitting, towards the end of the table; but I could not hear - the animated conversation that was going on between his lordship and - Mrs. Knox, beyond the occasional mention of "Penelope," and, when one - of her children came in to her, "Telemachus"--names too obviously _ą - propos_ of the place and persons to be omitted in any incidental - conversation in Ithaca. - - 'The excursion to the "School of Homer" (why so called nobody seemed - to know) was to be made by water; and the party of the preceding day, - except the lady, embarked in an elegant country boat with four rowers, - and sundry packages and jars of eatables and drinkables. As soon as we - were seated under the awning--Lord Byron in the centre seat, with his - face to the stern--Trelawny took charge of the tiller. The other - passengers being seated on the side, the usual small flying general - conversation began. Lord Byron seemed in a mood calculated to make the - company think he meant something more formal than ordinary talk. Of - course there could not be anything said in the nature of a dialogue, - which, to be honest, was the kind of conversation that I had at heart. - He began by informing us that he had just been reading, with renewed - pleasure, David Hume's Essays. He considered Hume to be by far the - most profound thinker and clearest reasoner of the many philosophers - and metaphysicians of the last century. "There is," said he, "no - refuting him, and for simplicity and clearness of style he is - unmatched, and is utterly unanswerable." He referred particularly to - the Essay on Miracles. It was remarked to him, that it had - nevertheless been specifically answered, and, some people thought, - refuted, by a Presbyterian divine, Dr. Campbell of Aberdeen. I could - not hear whether his lordship knew of the author, but the remark did - not affect his opinion; it merely turned the conversation to Aberdeen - and "poor John Scott," the most promising and most unfortunate - literary man of the day, whom he knew well, and who, said he, knew him - (Lord Byron) as a schoolboy. Scotland, Walter Scott (or, as his - lordship always called him, "Watty"), the "Waverley Novels," the - "Rejected Addresses," and the English aristocracy (which he reviled - most bitterly), were the prominent objects of nearly an hour's - conversation. It was varied, towards the end of the voyage, in this - original fashion: "But come, gentlemen, we must have some inspiration. - Here, Tita, l'Hippocrena!" - - 'This brought from the bows of the boat a huge Venetian gondolier, - with a musket slung diagonally across his back, a stone jar of two - gallons of what turned out to be English gin, another porous one of - water, and a quart pitcher, into which the gondolier poured the - spirit, and laid the whole, with two or three large tumblers, at the - feet of his expectant lord, who quickly uncorked the jar, and began to - pour its contents into the smaller vessel. - - '"Now, gentlemen, drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring; it is - the true poetic source. I'm a rogue if I have drunk to-day. Come" - (handing tumblers round to us), "this is the way;" and he nearly half - filled a tumbler, and then poured from the height of his arm out of - the water-jar, till the tumbler sparkled in the sun like soda-water, - and drunk it off while effervescing, glorious gin-swizzle, a most - tempting beverage, of which everyone on board took his share, munching - after it a biscuit out of a huge tin case of them. This certainly - exhilarated us, till we landed within some fifty or sixty yards of the - house to which we were directed. - - 'On our way we learned that the Regent of the island--that is, the - native Governor, as Captain Knox was the protecting Power's Governor - (Viceroy over the King!)--had forwarded the materials of a substantial - feast to the occupant (his brother); for the _nobili Inglesi_, who - were to honour his premises. In mentioning this act of the Regent to - Lord Byron, his remark was a repetition of the satirical line in the - imitation address of the poet Fitzgerald, "God bless the Regent!" and - as I mentioned the relationship to our approaching host, he added, - with a laugh, "and the Duke of York!" - - 'On entering the mansion, we were received by the whole family, - commencing with the mother of the Princes--a venerable lady of at - least seventy, dressed in pure Greek costume, to whom Lord Byron went - up with some formality, and, with a slight bend of the knee, took her - hand, and kissed it reverently. We then moved into the adjoining - _sala_, or saloon, where there was a profusion of English comestibles, - in the shape of cold sirloin of beef, fowls, ham, etc., to which we - did such honour as a sea appetite generally produces. It was rather - distressing that not one of the entertainers touched any of these - luxuries, it being the Greek Second or Panagia Lent, but fed entirely - on some cold fish fried in oil, and green salad, of which last Lord - Byron, in adherence to his rule of accustoming himself to eat anything - eatable, partook, though with an obvious effort--as well as of the - various wines that were on the table, particularly Ithaca, which is - exactly port as made and drunk in the country of its growth. - - 'I was not antiquary enough to know to what object of antiquity our - visit was made, but I saw Lord Byron in earnest conversation with a - very antique old Greek monk in full clerical habit. He was a Bishop, - sitting oil a stone of the ruined wall close by, and he turned out to - be the _Esprit fort_ mentioned in a note at the end of the second - canto of "Childe Harold"--a freethinker, at least a freespeaker, when - he called the sacrifice of the Maso _una Coglioneria_. - - 'When we embarked on our return to Vathi, Lord Byron seemed moody and - sullen, but brightened up as he saw a ripple on the water, a mast and - sail raised in the cutter, and Trelawny seated in the stern with the - tiller in hand. In a few minutes we were scudding, gunwale under, in a - position infinitely more beautiful than agreeable to landsmen, and - Lord Byron obviously enjoying the not improbable idea of a swim for - life. His motions, as he sat, tended to increase the impulse of the - breeze, and tended also to sway the boat to leeward. "I don't know," - he said, "if you all swim, gentlemen; but if you do, you will have - fifty fathoms of blue water to support you; and if you do not, you - will have it over you. But as you may not all be prepared, starboard, - Trelawny--bring her up. There! she is trim; and now let us have a - glass of grog after the gale. _Tita, i fiaschi!_" This was followed by - a reproduction of the gin-and-water jars, and a round of the immortal - swizzle. To my very great surprise, it was new to the company that the - liquor which they were enjoying was the product of Scotland, in the - shape of what is called "low-wines," or semi-distilled whisky--chiefly - from the distillery of mine ancient friend, James Haig of Lochrin; but - the communication seemed to gratify the noble drinker, and led to the - recitation by one of the company, in pure lowland Scotch, of Burns's - Petition to the House of Commons in behalf of the national liquor. The - last stanza, beginning - - '"Scotland, my auld respeckit mither," - - very much pleased Lord Byron, who said that he too was more than half - a Scotchman. - - 'The conversation again turned on the "Waverley Novels," and on this - occasion Lord Byron spoke of "The Bride of Lammermoor," and cited the - passage where the mother of the cooper's wife tells her husband (the - cooper) that she "kent naething aboot what he might do to his wife; - but the deil a finger shall ye lay on my dochter, and _that ye may - foond upon_." Shortly afterwards, the conversation having turned upon - poetry, his lordship mentioned the famous ode on the death of Sir John - Moore as the finest piece of poetry in any language. He recited some - lines of it. One of the company, with more presumption than wisdom, - took him up, as his memory seemed to lag, by filling in the line: - - '"And he looked like a warrior taking his rest, - With his martial cloak around him." - - 'Lord Byron, with a look at the interloper that spoke as if death were - in it, and no death was sufficiently cruel for him, shouted, "He - _lay_--he _lay_ like a warrior, not he _looked_." The pretender was - struck dumb, but, with reference to his lordship's laudation of the - piece, he ventured half to whisper that the "Gladiator" was superior - to it, as it is to any poetical picture ever painted in words. The - reply was a benign look, and a flattering recognition, by a little - applausive tapping of his tobacco-box on the board on which he sat. - - 'On arriving at Vathi, we repaired to our several rooms in the worthy - citizens' houses where we were billeted, to read and meditate, and - write and converse, as we might meet, indoors or out; and much - profound lucubration took place among us, on the characteristics and - disposition of the very eminent personage with whom we were for the - time associated. Dr. Scott, the assistant-surgeon of the 8th Foot, who - had heard of, though he may not have witnessed, any of the - peculiarities of the great poet, accounted for them, and even for the - sublimities of his poetry, by an abnormal construction or chronic - derangement of the digestive organs--a theory which experience and - observation of other people than poets afford many reasons to support: - - '"Is it not strange now--ten times strange--to think, - And is it not enough one's faith to shatter, - That right or wrong direction of a drink, - A _plus_ or _minus_ of a yellow matter, - One half the world should elevate or sink - To bliss or woe (most commonly the latter)-- - That human happiness is well-formed chyle, - And human misery redundant bile!" - - 'The next morning the accounts we heard of Lord Byron were - contradictory: Trelawny, who slept in the next room to him, stating - that he had been writing the greater part of the night, and he alleged - it was the sixteenth canto of "Don Juan"; and Dr. Bruno, who visited - him at intervals, and was many hours in personal attendance at his - bedside, asserting that he had been seriously ill, and had been saved - only by those _benedette pillule_ which so often had had that effect. - His lordship again appeared rowing in from his bath at the Lazzaretto, - a course of proceeding (bathing and boating) which caused Dr. Bruno to - wring his hands and tear his hair with alarm and vexation. - - 'It was, however, the day fixed for our return to Cephalonia, and, - having gladly assented to the proposition to join the suite, we all - mounted ponies to cross the island to a small harbour on the south - side, where a boat was waiting to bear us to Santa Eufemia, a - Custom-house station on the coast of Cephalonia, about half an hour's - passage from Ithaca, which we accordingly passed, and arrived at the - collector's mansion about two o'clock. - - 'During the journey across the smaller island, I made a bold push, and - succeeded in securing, with my small pony, the side-berth of Lord - Byron's large brown steed, and held by him in the narrow path, to the - exclusion of companions better entitled to the post. His conversation - was not merely free--it was familiar and intimate, as if we were - schoolboys meeting after a long separation. I happened to be "up" in - the "Waverley Novels," had seen several letters of Sir Walter Scott's - about his pedigree for his baronetage, could repeat almost every one - of the "Rejected Addresses," and knew something of the _London - Magazine_ contributors, who were then in the zenith of their - reputation--Hazlitt, Charles Lamb, Talfourd, Browning, Allan - Cunningham, Reynolds, Darley, etc. But his lordship pointed at the - higher game of Southey, Gifford (whom he all but worshipped), Jeffrey - of the _Edinburgh Review_, John Wilson, and other Blackwoodites. He - said they were all infidels, as every man has a right to be; that - Edinburgh was understood to be the seat of all infidelity, and he - mentioned names (Dr. Chalmers and Andrew Thomson, for examples) among - the clergy as being of the category. This I never could admit. He was - particularly bitter against Southey, sneered at Wordsworth, admired - Thomas Campbell, classing his "Battle of the Baltic" with the very - highest of lyric productions. "Nothing finer," he said, "was ever - written than-- - - '"There was silence deep as death, - And the boldest held his breath - For a time." - - 'We arrived at one of the beautiful bays that encircle the island, - like a wavy wreath of silver sand studded with gold and emerald in a - field of liquid pearl, and embarked in the collector's boat for the - opposite shore of Santa Eufemia, where, on arrival, we were received - by its courteous chief, Mr. Toole, in a sort of state--with his whole - establishment, French and English, uncovered and bowing. He had had - notice of the illustrious poet's expected arrival, and had prepared - one of the usual luxurious feasts in his honour--feasts which Lord - Byron said "played the devil" with him, for he could not abstain when - good eating was within his reach. The apartment assigned to us was - small, and the table could not accommodate the whole party. There - were, accordingly, small side or "children's tables," for such guests - as might choose to be willing to take seats at them. "Ha!" said Lord - Byron, "England all over--places for Tommy and Billy, and Lizzie and - Molly, if there were any. Mr. ----" (addressing me), "will you be my - Tommy?"--pointing to the two vacant seats at a small side-table, close - to the chair of our host. Down I sat, delighted, opposite to my - companion, and had a _tźte-ą-tźte_ dinner apart from the head-table, - from which, as usual, we were profusely helped to the most recherché - portions. "Verily," said his lordship, "I cannot abstain." His - conversation, however, was directed chiefly to his host, from whom he - received much local information, and had his admiration of Sir Thomas - Maitland increased by some particulars of his system of government. - There were no vacant apartments within the station, but we learned - that quarters had been provided for us at a monastery on the hill of - Samos, across the bay. Thither we were all transported at twilight, - and ascended to the large venerable abode of some dozen of friars, who - were prepared for our arrival and accommodation. Outside the walls of - the building there were some open sarcophagi and some pieces of carved - frieze and fragments of pottery. - - 'I walked with his lordship and Count Gamba to examine them, - speculating philosophically on their quondam contents. Something to - our surprise, Lord Byron clambered over into the deepest, and lay in - the bottom at full length on his back, muttering some English lines. I - may have been wrong, or idly and unjustifiably curious, but I leaned - over to hear what the lines might be. I found they were unconnected - fragments of the scene in "Hamlet," where he moralizes with Horatio on - the skull: - - '"Imperious Cęsar, dead and turned to clay, - Might stop a hole to keep the wind away; - O, that that earth, which held the world in awe, - Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw!" - - 'As he sprang out and rejoined us, he said: "Hamlet, as a whole, is - original; but I do not admire him to the extent of the common opinion. - More than all, he requires the very best acting. Kean did not - understand the part, and one could not look at him after having seen - John Kemble, whose squeaking voice was lost in his noble carriage and - thorough right conception of the character. Rogers told me that Kemble - used to be almost always hissed in the beginning of his career. 'The - best actor on the stage,' he said, 'is Charles Young. His Pierre was - never equalled, and never will be.'" Amid such flying desultory - conversation we entered the monastery, and took coffee for lack of - anything else, while our servants were preparing our beds. Lord Byron - retired almost immediately from the _sala_. Shortly afterwards we - were astonished and alarmed by the entry of Dr. Bruno, wringing his - hands and tearing his hair--a practice much too frequent with him--and - ejaculating: "_O Maria, santissima Maria, se non č gią morto--cielo, - perchč non son morto io!_" It appeared that Lord Byron was seized with - violent spasms in the stomach and liver, and his brain was excited to - dangerous excess, so that he would not tolerate the presence of any - person in his room. He refused all medicine, and stamped and tore all - his clothes and bedding like a maniac. We could hear him rattling and - ejaculating. Poor Dr. Bruno stood lamenting in agony of mind, in - anticipation of the most dire results if immediate relief were not - obtained by powerful cathartics, but Lord Byron had expelled him from - the room by main force. He now implored one or more of the company to - go to his lordship and induce him, if possible, to save his life by - taking the necessary medicine. Trelawny at once proceeded to the room, - but soon returned, saying that it would require ten such as he to hold - his lordship for a minute, adding that Lord Byron would not leave an - unbroken article in the room. The doctor again essayed an entrance, - but without success. The monks were becoming alarmed, and so, in - truth, were all present. The doctor asked me to try to bring his - lordship to reason; "he will thank you when he is well," he said, "but - get him to take this one pill, and he will be safe." It seemed a very - easy undertaking, and I went. There being no lock on the door, entry - was obtained in spite of a barricade of chairs and a table within. His - lordship was half undressed, standing in a far corner like a hunted - animal at bay. As I looked determined to advance in spite of his - imprecations of "Back! out, out of my sight! fiends, can I have no - peace, no relief from this hell! Leave me, I say!" and he lifted the - chair nearest to him, and hurled it direct at my head; I escaped as I - best could, and returned to the _sala_. The matter was obviously - serious, and we all counselled force and such coercive measures as - might be necessary to make him swallow the curative medicine. Mr. - Hamilton Browne, one of our party, now volunteered an attempt, and the - silence that succeeded his entrance augured well for his success. He - returned much sooner than expected, telling the doctor that he might - go to sleep; Lord Byron had taken both the pills, and had lain down on - my mattress and bedding, prepared for him by my servant, the only - regular bed in the company, the others being trunks and portable - tressels, with such softening as might be procured for the occasion. - Lord Byron's beautiful and most commodious patent portmanteau bed, - with every appliance that profusion of money could provide, was mine - for the night. - - 'On the following morning Lord Byron was all dejection and penitence, - not expressed in words, but amply in looks and movements, till - something tending to the jocular occurred to enliven him and us. - Wandering from room to room, from porch to balcony, it so happened - that Lord Byron stumbled upon their occupants in the act of writing - accounts, journals, private letters, or memoranda. He thus came upon - me on an outer roof of a part of the building, while writing, as far - as I recollect, these very notes of his conversation and conduct. What - occurred, however, was not of much consequence--or none--and turned - upon the fact that so many people were writing, when he, the great - voluminous writer, so supposed, was not writing at all. The journey of - the day was to be over the Black Mountain to Argostoli, the capital of - Cephalonia. We set out about noon, struggling as we best could over - moor, marsh ground, and water wastes. Lord Byron revived; and, lively - on horseback, sang, at the pitch of his voice, many of Moore's - melodies and stray snatches of popular songs of the time in the common - style of the streets. There was nothing remarkable in the - conversation. On arrival at Argostoli, the party separated--Lord Byron - and Trelawny to the brig of the former, lying in the offing, the rest - to their several quarters in the town.' - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - -After an absence of eight days the party returned to Argostoli, and went -on board the _Hercules_. The messenger whom Byron had sent to Corfu -brought the unwelcome intelligence that Mr. Blaquičre had sailed for -England, without leaving any letters for Byron's guidance. News also -reached him that the Greeks were split up into factions, and more intent -on persecuting and calumniating each other than on securing the -independence of their country. This was depressing news for a man who had -sacrificed so much, and would have damped the enthusiasm of most people in -Byron's position; but it neither deceived nor disheartened him. He was, -and had always been, prepared for the worst. He made up his mind not to -enter personally into the arena of contending factions, but to await -further developments at Cephalonia, hoping to acquire an influence which -might eventually be employed in settling their internal discords. As he -himself remarked, 'I came not here to join a faction, but a nation. I must -be circumspect.' Trelawny, in his valuable record of events at this time, -is hard on Byron. He mistook Byron's motives, and thought that he was -'shilly-shallying and doing nothing.' But Trelawny, though mistaken, was -sincere. He was in every sense of the word a man of action, and full of a -wild enthusiasm for the Greek cause. It was not in his nature to await -events, but rather to create them, and Byron's wise decision made him -restive. He determined to proceed to the Morea, and induced Hamilton -Browne to go with him. Byron gave them letters to the Greek Government, if -they could find any such authority, expressing his readiness to serve them -when they had satisfied him how he could do so. - -Gamba takes a calmer view of Byron's hesitation. He says that Byron well -knew that prudence had never been in the catalogue of his virtues; that he -knew the necessity of such a virtue in his present situation, and was -determined to attain it. He carefully avoided every appearance of -ostentation, and dreaded being suspected of being a mere hunter after -adventures. - - 'By perseverance and discernment,' says Gamba, 'Byron hoped to assist - in the liberation of Greece. To know and to be known was consequently, - from the outset, his principal object.' - -How far he succeeded we shall see later. From the time of Byron's arrival -at Argostoli until September 6 he lived on board the _Hercules_. Colonel -Napier had frequently begged him to take up his quarters with him, but -Byron declined the hospitality; mainly because he feared that he might -thereby embroil the British authorities on the island with their own -Government, whose dispositions were yet unknown. Early in September Byron -removed with Gamba to a village named Metaxata, in a healthy situation and -amidst magnificent scenery. A month later letters arrived from Edward -Trelawny, saying that things were not so bad as had been reported. It was -evident that great apathy and total disorganization prevailed among those -who had got the upper hand, but that the mass of the people--well disposed -towards the revolution--was beginning to take an interest in the war. A -general determination of never again submitting to the Turkish yoke had -taken deep root. The existing Greek Government sent pressing letters to -Byron inviting him to set out immediately, but Byron still thought it -wiser not to move; for the reasons which had governed his conduct hitherto -still prevailed. He was determined neither to waste his services nor his -money on furthering the greed of some particular chieftain, or at best of -some faction. Letters arrived from the Greek Committee in London, -informing Byron that arrangements had been made for the floating of a -Greek loan. Meanwhile Mavrocordato wrote to Byron from Hydra, whither he -had fled, inviting him to that island. Lord Byron replied that so long as -the dissensions between the factions continued he would remain a mere -spectator, as he was resolved not to be mixed up in quarrels whose effects -were so disastrous to the cause. He at the same time begged Mavrocordato -to expedite the departure of the fleet, and to send the Greek deputies to -London. The Turkish fleet meanwhile had sailed for the Dardanelles, -leaving a squadron of fourteen vessels for the blockade of Missolonghi, -and for the protection of a fortress in the gulf, which was still in the -hands of the Turks. - -The gallant Marco Botzari had been killed in action, and Missolonghi was -in a state of siege. Its Governor wrote and implored Byron to come there; -but as the place was in no danger, either from famine or from assault, he -declined the proposal. - -In the middle of November, 1823, Mr. Hamilton Browne and the deputies -arrived at Cephalonia. They brought letters from the Greek Government -asking Byron to advance £6,000 (30,000 dollars) for the payment of the -Greek fleet. An assurance was offered by the legislative body that, upon -payment of this money, a Greek squadron would immediately put to sea. -Byron consented to advance £4,000, and gave the deputies letters for -London. In allusion to the loan about to be raised in England, he thus -addressed them: - - 'Everyone believes that a loan will be the salvation of Greece, both - as to its internal disunion and external enemies. But I shall refrain - from insisting much on this point, for fear that I should be suspected - of interested views, and of wishing to repay myself the loan of money - which I have advanced to your Government.' - -On December 17, 1823, while Byron was at Metaxata, awaiting definite -information as to the progress of events, he resumed his journal, which -had been abruptly discontinued in consequence of news having reached him -that his daughter was ill. - - 'I know not,' he wrote, 'why I resume it even now, except that, - standing at the window of my apartment in this beautiful village, the - calm though cool serenity of a beautiful and transparent moonlight, - showing the islands, the mountains, the sea, with a distant outline of - the Morea traced between the double azure of the waves and skies, has - quieted me enough to be able to write, which (however difficult it may - seem for one who has written so much publicly to refrain) is, and - always has been, to me a task, and a painful one. I could summon - testimonies were it necessary; but my handwriting is sufficient. It is - that of one who thinks much, rapidly, perhaps deeply, but rarely with - pleasure.' - -The Greeks were still quarrelling among themselves, and Byron almost -despaired of being able to unite the factions in one common interest. -Mavrocordato and the squadron from Hydra, for whose coming Byron had -bargained when he advanced £4,000, had at length arrived after the -inglorious capture of a small Turkish vessel with 50,000 dollars on board. -This prize having been captured within the bounds of neutrality, on the -coast of Ithaca, Byron naturally foresaw that it would bring the Greeks -into trouble with the British authorities. Meanwhile, news from London -confirmed the accounts of an increasing interest in the Greek cause, and -gave good promise of a successful floating of the loan. - -In the middle of November Colonel Leicester Stanhope arrived at -Cephalonia. He had been deputed by the London Committee to act with Lord -Byron. News also came from Greece that the Pasha of Scutari had abandoned -Anatolico, and that the Turkish army had been put to flight. But the Greek -factions, whose jealous dissensions promised to wreck the cause of Greek -independence, had come to blows in the Morea. - -As Byron had been recognized as a representative of the English and German -Committees interested in the Greek cause, he was advised to write a public -remonstrance to the general Government of Greece, pointing out that their -dissensions would be fatal to the cause which it was presumed they all had -at heart. Byron disliked to take so prominent a step, but he was -eventually persuaded that such a letter might do a great deal of good. -Gamba cites the following extract from Byron's appeal to the executive and -legislative bodies of the Greek nation: - - 'CEPHALONIA, - '_November 30, 1823_. - - 'The affair of the loan, the expectation so long and vainly indulged - of the arrival of the Greek fleet, and the danger to which Missolonghi - is still exposed, have detained me here, and will still detain me till - some of them are removed. But when the money shall be advanced for the - fleet, I will start for the Morea, not knowing, however, of what use - my presence can be in the present state of things. We have heard some - rumours of new dissensions--nay, of the existence of a civil war. With - all my heart, I pray that these reports may be false or exaggerated, - for I can imagine no calamity more serious than this; and I must - frankly confess, that unless union and order are established, all - hopes of a loan will be vain. All the assistance which the Greeks - could expect from abroad--an assistance neither trifling nor - worthless--will be suspended or destroyed. And, what is worse, the - Great Powers of Europe, of whom no one is an enemy to Greece, but - seems to favour her establishment of an independent power, will be - persuaded that the Greeks are unable to govern themselves, and will, - perhaps, themselves undertake to settle your disorders in such a way - as to blast the hopes of yourselves and of your friends. - - 'And allow me to add once for all--I desire the well-being of Greece, - and nothing else, I will do all I can to secure it. But I cannot - consent, I never will consent, that the English public or English - individuals should be deceived as to the real state of Greek affairs. - The rest, gentlemen, depends on you. You have fought gloriously; act - honourably towards your fellow-citizens and towards the world. Then it - will no more be said, as it has been said for two thousand years, with - the Roman historian, that Philopoemen was the last of the Grecians. - Let not calumny itself (and it is difficult, I own, to guard against - it in so arduous a struggle) compare the patriot Greek, when resting - from his labours, to the Turkish Pacha, whom his victories have - exterminated. - - 'I pray you to accept these my sentiments as a sincere proof of my - attachment to your real interests; and to believe that I am, and - always shall be, - - 'Your, etc., - 'NOEL BYRON.' - -Byron at the same time wrote to Prince Mavrocordato, and sent the letter -by Colonel Leicester Stanhope. He tells the Prince that he is very uneasy -at the news about the dissensions among the Greek chieftains, and warns -him that Greece must prepare herself for three alternatives. She must -either reconquer her liberty by united action, or become a Dependence of -the Sovereigns of Europe; or, failing in either direction, she would -revert to her position as a mere province of Turkey. There was no other -choice open to her. Civil war was nothing short of ruin. - - 'If Greece desires the fate of Walachia and the Crimea,' says Byron, - 'she may obtain it to-morrow; if that of Italy, the day after; but if - she wishes to become truly Greece, free and independent, she must - resolve to-day, or she will never again have the opportunity.' - -Byron, in his journal dated December 17, 1823, says: - - 'The Turks have retired from before Missolonghi--nobody knows - why--since they left provisions and ammunition behind them in - quantities, and the garrison made no sallies, or none to any purpose. - They never invested Missolonghi this year, but bombarded Anatoliko, - near the Achelous.' - -Finlay, in his 'History of Greece,' states that the Turks made no effort -to capture the place, and after a harmless bombardment the siege was -raised, and the Turkish forces retired into Epirus. - -The following extract from a letter, which Byron wrote to his sister[13] -conveys an unimpeachable record of his feelings and motives in coming to -Greece: - - 'You ask me why I came up amongst the Greeks. It was stated to me that - my doing so might tend to their advantage in some measure, in their - present struggle for independence, both as an individual and as a - member for the Committee now in England. How far this may be realized - I cannot pretend to anticipate, but I am willing to do what I can. - They have at length found leisure to quarrel amongst themselves, after - repelling their other enemies, and it is no very easy part that I may - have to play to avoid appearing partial to one or other of their - factions.... I have written to their Government at Tripolizza and - Salamis, and am waiting for instructions _where_ to proceed, for - things are in such a state amongst them, that it is difficult to - conjecture where one could be useful to them, if at all. However, I - have some hopes that they will see their own interest sufficiently not - to quarrel till they have received their national independence, and - then they can fight it out among them in a domestic manner--and - welcome. You may suppose that I have something to _think_ of at least, - for you can have no idea what an intriguing, cunning, unquiet - generation they are; and as emissaries of all parties come to me at - present, and I must act impartially, it makes me exclaim, as Julian - did at his military exercises, "Oh! Plato, what a task for a - Philosopher!'" - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - -It was during the time that Byron was in the neighbourhood of Cephalonia -that Dr. Kennedy, a Scottish medical man, methodistically inclined, -undertook the so-called 'conversion' of the poet. Gamba tells us that -their disputes on religious matters sometimes lasted five or six hours. -'The Bible was so familiar to Byron that he frequently corrected the -citations of the theological doctor.' - -Byron, in the letter from which we have quoted, says: - - 'There is a clever but eccentric man here, a Dr. Kennedy, who is very - pious and tries in good earnest to make converts; but his Christianity - is a queer one, for he says that the priesthood of the Church of - England are no more Christians than "Mahound or Termagant" are.... I - like what I have seen of him. He says that the dozen shocks of an - earthquake we had the other day are a sign of his doctrine, or a - judgment on his audience, but this opinion has not acquired - proselytes.' - -As disputants, Byron and Kennedy stood far as the poles asunder. The -former, while believing firmly in the existence and supreme attributes of -God, doubted, but never denied, manifestations that could not be tested or -demonstrated by positive proof. The latter, through blind unquestioning -faith, believed in everything which an inspired Bible had revealed to -mankind. Thus both were believers up to a certain point, and both were -equally well-meaning and sincere. The intensity of their faith had its -limitations. They did not agree, and never could have agreed, in their -views of religion. They moved on parallel lines that might have been -extended indefinitely, but could never meet. Kennedy discouraged the -unlimited use of reason, and preferred an absolute reliance on the -traditional teaching of his Church. To Byron the exercise of reason was an -absolute necessity. He would not admit that God had given us minds, and -had denied us the right to use them intelligently; or that the Almighty -desired us to sacrifice reason to faith. 'It is useless,' said Byron, 'to -tell me that I am to believe, and not to reason; you might as well say to -a man: "Wake not, but sleep."' While Byron profoundly disbelieved in -eternal punishments, Kennedy would have mankind kept straight by fear of -them. Kennedy, though versed in the Bible, was, as events proved, hardly a -match for Byron. - -Hodgson, an old friend of Byron's, has left a record that a Bible -presented to him 'by that better angel of his life,' his beloved sister, -was among the books which Byron always kept near him. The following lines, -taken from Scott, were inserted by Byron on the fly-leaf: - - 'Within this awful volume lies - The Mystery of Mysteries. - Oh! happiest they of human race - To whom our God has given grace - To hear, to read, to fear, to pray, - To lift the latch, and force the way; - But better had he ne'er been born - Who reads to doubt, or reads to scorn!'[14] - -During the discussions which took place, Kennedy was forced to admit that -Byron was well versed in the Bible; but he maintained that prayer was -necessary in order to understand its message. Byron said that, in his -opinion, prayer does not consist in the act of kneeling, or of repeating -certain words in a solemn manner, as devotion is the affection of the -heart. - -'When I look at the marvels of the creation,' said he, 'I bow before the -Majesty of Heaven; and when I experience the delights of life, health, and -happiness, then my heart dilates in gratitude towards God for all His -blessings.' - -Kennedy maintained that this was not sufficient; it must be an earnest -supplication for grace and humility. In Kennedy's opinion Byron had not -sufficient humility to understand the truths of the Gospel. At this time, -certainly, Byron was not prepared to believe implicitly in the Divinity of -Christ. He lacked the necessary faith to do so, but he did not reject the -doctrine. - -'I have not the slightest desire,' he said, 'to reject a doctrine without -having investigated it. Quite the contrary; I wish to believe, because I -feel extremely unhappy in a state of uncertainty as to what I am to -believe.' - -He wanted proofs--as so many others have before and since--and without it -conviction was impossible. - - 'Byron,' said Countess Guiccioli, 'would never have contested - absolutely the truth of any mystery, but have merely stated that, so - long as the testimony of its truth was hidden in obscurity, such a - mystery must be liable to be questioned.' - -Byron had been brought up by his mother in very strict religious -principles, and in his youth had read many theological works. He told Dr. -Kennedy that he was in no sense an unbeliever who denied the Scriptures, -or was content to grope in atheism, but, on the contrary, that it was his -earnest wish to increase his belief, as half-convictions made him -wretched. He declared that, with the best will in the world, he could not -understand the Scriptures. Kennedy, on the other hand, took the Bible to -be the salvation of mankind, and was strong in his condemnation of the -Catholic Church. He objected to the Roman Communion as strongly as he -repudiated and despised Deism and Socinianism. - -Byron had at this time a decided leaning towards the Roman Communion, and, -while deploring hypocrisies and superstitions, deeply respected those who -believed conscientiously, whatever that belief might be. He loathed -hypocrites of all kinds, and especially hypocrites in religion. - -'I do not reject the doctrines of Christianity,' he said; 'I only ask a -few more proofs to profess them sincerely. I do not believe myself to be -the vile Christian which so many assert that I am.' - -Kennedy advised Byron to put aside all difficult subjects--such as the -origin of sin, the fall of man, the nature of the Trinity, the doctrine of -predestination, and kindred mysteries--and to study Christianity by the -light of the Bible alone, which contains the only means of salvation. We -give Byron's answer in full on Dr. Kennedy's authority: - - 'You recommend what is very difficult; for how is it possible for one - who is acquainted with ecclesiastical history, as well as with the - writings of the most renowned theologians, with all the difficult - questions which have agitated the minds of the most learned, and who - sees the divisions and sects which abound in Christianity, and the - bitter language which is often used by the one against the other; how - is it possible, I ask, for such a one not to inquire into the nature - of the doctrines which have given rise to so much discussion? One - Council has pronounced against another; Popes have belied their - predecessors, books have been written against other books, and sects - have risen to replace other sects. The Pope has opposed the - Protestants, and the Protestants the Pope. We have heard of Arianism, - Socinianism, Methodism, Quakerism, and numberless other sects. Why - have these existed? It is a puzzle for the brain; and does it not, - after all, seem safer to say: "Let us be neutral: let those fight who - will, and when they have settled which is the best religion, then - shall we also begin to study it." I like your way of thinking, in many - respects; you make short work of decrees and Councils, you reject all - which is not in harmony with the Scriptures. You do not admit of - theological works filled with Latin and Greek, of both High and Low - Church; you would even suppress many abuses which have crept into the - Church, and you are right; but I question whether the Archbishop of - Canterbury or the Scotch Presbyterians would consider you their ally.' - -Kennedy, in reply, alluded to the differences which existed in religious -opinions, and expressed regret at this, but pleaded indulgence for those -sects which do not attack the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. He -strongly condemned Arianism, Socinianism, and Swedenborgianism, which were -anathema to him. - -'You seem to hate the Socinians greatly,' said Byron, 'but is this -charitable? Why exclude a Socinian, who believes honestly, from any hope -of salvation? Does he not also found his belief upon the Bible? It is a -religion which gains ground daily. Lady Byron is much in favour with its -followers. We were wont to discuss religious matters together, and many of -our misunderstandings have arisen from that. Yet, on the whole, I think -her religion and mine were much alike.' - -Whether Byron was justified in this opinion or not may be seen from a -letter which Lady Byron wrote to Mr. Crabb Robinson[15] in reference to -Dr. Kennedy's book: - - 'Strange as it may seem, Dr. Kennedy is most faithful where you doubt - his being so. Not merely from casual expressions, but from the whole - tenor of Lord Byron's feelings, I could not but conclude he was a - believer in the inspiration of the Bible, and had the gloomiest - Calvinistic tenets. To that unhappy view of the relation of the - creature to the Creator, I have always ascribed the misery of his - life.... It is enough for me to remember, that he who thinks his - transgressions beyond _forgiveness_ (and such was his own deepest - feeling) _has_ righteousness beyond that of the self-satisfied sinner; - or, perhaps, of the half awakened. It was impossible for me to doubt, - that, could he have been at once assured of pardon, his living faith - in a moral duty and love of virtue ("I love the virtues which I cannot - claim") would have conquered every temptation. Judge, then, how I must - hate the Creed which made him see God as an Avenger, not a Father. My - own impressions were just the reverse, but could have little weight, - and it was in vain to seek to turn his thoughts for long from that - _idée fixe_, with which he connected his physical peculiarity as a - stamp. Instead of being made happier by any apparent good, he felt - convinced that every blessing would be "turned into a curse" for him. - Who, possessed of such ideas, could lead a life of love and service to - God or man? They must in a measure realize themselves. "The worst of - it is I _do_ believe," he said. I, like all connected with him, was - broken against the rock of Predestination.' - -Lady Byron writes from her own personal experience of a time when tender -affection or sympathy formed no part of Byron's nature; of a time when he -had no regard for the interests or the happiness of others; when he lived -according to his own humours, and when his will was his law. Byron's -earlier poetry amply supports Lady Byron's view of so miserable a state of -mind. But there is reason to hope--nay, we might say to believe--that, in -the last years of his life, Byron began to realize that a merciful God -would be wholly incapable of such manifest injustice as to condemn His -creatures to suffer for crimes which they were powerless to resist and -predestined to commit. He believed in God and in the immortality of the -soul, and has publicly declared that all punishment which is to revenge, -rather than to correct, must be morally wrong. 'Human passions,' wrote -Byron, 'have probably disfigured the Divine doctrines here: but the whole -thing is inscrutable.' - -Countess Guiccioli tells us that, whatever may have been Byron's opinions -with regard to certain points of religious doctrine, sects, and modes of -worship, in essential matters his mind never seriously doubted. Matthews -in his Cambridge days, and Shelley towards the close of life, moved him -not at all. Between the commencement of Byron's career and its close, his -mind passed successively through different phases before arriving at the -last result. Leicester Stanhope, who was at Missolonghi with Byron, and -who knew him well latterly, says: - - 'Most persons assume a virtuous character. Lord Byron's ambition, on - the contrary, was to make the world imagine that he was a sort of - Satan, though occasionally influenced by lofty sentiments to the - performance of great actions. Fortunately for his fame, he possessed - another quality, by which he stood completely unmasked. He was the - most ingenuous of men, and his nature, in the main good, always - triumphed over his acting.' - -Parry, who stood at Byron's bedside when he died at Missolonghi, tells us -that Byron died fearless and resigned. Could there be a better proof than -these words, spoken by Byron a few hours before he passed away?-- - - 'Eternity and space are before me; but on this subject, thank God, I - am happy and at ease. The thought of living eternally, of again - reviving, is a great pleasure. Christianity is the purest and most - liberal religion in the world; but the numerous teachers who are - eternally worrying mankind with their denunciations and their - doctrines are the greatest enemies of religion. I have read, with more - attention than half of them, the Book of Christianity, and I admire - the liberal and truly charitable principles which Christ has laid - down. There are questions connected with this subject which none but - Almighty God can solve. Time and Space, who can conceive? None but - God: on Him I rely.' - -During the time that Byron lived at Metaxata, in Cephalonia, he seldom saw -anyone in the evening except Dr. Stravolemo, one of the most estimable men -in the island, who lived in that village. He had been first physician to -Ali Pacha. He was an entertaining man, and afforded Byron much amusement -by disputing with Dr. Bruno on medical questions. - - 'Lord Byron,' says Gamba, 'had generally three or four books lying - before him, of which he read first one, then the other, and used to - contrive to foment those friendly contentions, which, however, never - exceeded the proper bounds. Lord Byron's favourite reading consisted - of Greek history, of memoirs, and of romances. Never a day passed - without his reading some pages of Scott's novels. His admiration of - Walter Scott, both as a writer and as a companion, was unbounded. - Speaking of him to his English friends, he used to say: "You should - know Scott; you would like him so much; he is the most delightful man - in a room; no affectation, no nonsense; and, what I like above all - things, nothing of the author about him."' - -One evening Colonel Napier, the British Resident, arrived at Byron's house -at a gallop, and asked for Drs. Bruno and Stravolemo. He said that a party -of peasants who were road-making had, in excavating a high bank, fallen -under a landslide and were in danger of their lives. There were at least a -dozen persons entombed. Colonel Napier happened to be passing at the -moment when the catastrophe occurred; help was urgently needed. Byron sent -Dr. Bruno to their assistance, while he and Gamba followed as soon as -their horses could be saddled. - - 'When we came to the place,' says Gamba, 'we saw a lamentable - spectacle indeed. A crowd of women and children were assembled round - the ruins, and filled the air with their cries. Three or four of the - peasants who had been extricated were carried before us half dead to - the neighbouring cottages; and we found Mr. Hill, a friend of Lord - Byron, and the superintendent of the works, in a state of the utmost - consternation. Although an immense crowd continued flocking to the - place, and it was thought that there were still some other workmen - under the fallen mass of earth, no one would make any further efforts. - The Greeks stood looking on without moving, as if totally indifferent - to the catastrophe, and despaired of doing any good. This enraged Lord - Byron; he seized a spade, and began to work as hard as he could; but - it was not until the peasants had been threatened with the horsewhip - that they followed his example. Some shoes and hats were found, but no - human beings. Lord Byron never could be an idle spectator of any - calamity. He was peculiarly alive to the distress of others, and was - perhaps a little too easily imposed upon by every tale of woe, however - clumsily contrived. The slightest appearance of injustice or cruelty, - not only to his own species, but to animals, roused his indignation - and compelled his interference, and personal consequences never for - one moment entered into his calculations.' - -In the month of December the Greek squadron anchored off Missolonghi, -where Prince Mavrocordato was received with enthusiasm. He was given full -powers to organize Western Greece. The Turkish squadron was at this time -shut up in the Gulf of Lepanto. - -Byron sent to inform Mavrocordato that the loan which he had promised to -the Government was ready, and that he was prepared either to go on board -some vessel belonging to the Greek fleet, or to come to Missolonghi and -confer with him. Mavrocordato and Colonel Leicester Stanhope wrote to beg -Byron to come as soon as possible to Missolonghi, where his presence would -be of great service to the cause. In the first place money to pay the -fleet was much wanted; the sailors were on the verge of mutiny. -Mavrocordato was in a state of anxiety, the Greek Admiral looked gloomy, -and the sailors grumbled aloud. - - 'It is right and necessary to tell you,' wrote Stanhope, 'that a great - deal is expected of you, both in the way of counsel and money. If the - money does not arrive soon, I expect that the remaining five ships - (the others are off) will soon make sail for Spezia. All are eager to - see you. They calculate on your aiding them with resources for their - expedition against Lepanto, and hope that you will take about 1,500 - Suliotes into your pay for two or three months. Missolonghi is - swarming with soldiers, and the Government has neither quarters nor - provisions for them. I walked along the street this evening, and the - people asked me after Lord Byron. Your further delay in coming will be - attended with serious consequences.' - -Byron at the same time received a letter from the Legislative Council, -begging him to co-operate with Mavrocordato in the organization of -Western Greece. It was now December 26, 1823. Byron chartered a vessel for -part of the baggage; a mistico, or light fast-sailing vessel, for himself -and his suite; and a larger vessel for the horses, baggage, and munitions -of war. The weather was unfavourable and squally, the vessels could not -get under-weigh, and the whole party were detained for two days, during -which time Byron lodged with his banker, Mr. Charles Hancock, and passed -the greater part of the day in the society of the British authorities of -the island. - -We are able, through the courtesy of General Skey Muir, the son of Byron's -friend at Cephalonia, to give extracts from a letter which Mr. Charles -Hancock wrote to Dr. Muir on June 1, 1824. During Byron's residence at -Metaxata, Dr. Muir was the principal medical officer at Cephalonia, and it -was in his house that some of the conversations on religion between Dr. -Kennedy and Byron were held. Mr. Charles Hancock writes: - - 'The day before Byron left the island I happened to receive a copy of - "Quentin Durward," which I put into his hands, knowing that he had not - seen it, and that he wished to obtain the perusal of it. Lord Byron - was very fond of Scott's novels--you will have observed they were - always scattered about his rooms at Metaxata. He immediately shut - himself in his room, and, in his eagerness to indulge in it, refused - to dine with the officers of the 8th Regiment at their mess, or even - to join us at table, but merely came out once or twice to say how much - he was entertained, returning to his chamber with a plate of figs in - his hand. He was exceedingly delighted with "Quentin Durward"--said it - was excellent, especially the first volume and part of the second, but - that it fell off towards the conclusion, like all the more recent of - these novels: it might be, he added, owing to the extreme rapidity - with which they were written--admirably conceived, and as well - executed at the outset, but hastily finished off.... - - 'I will close these remarks with the mention of the period when we - took our final leave of him. It was on the 29th December last that, - after a slight repast, you and I accompanied him in a boat, gay and - animated at finding himself embarked once more on the element he - loved; and we put him on board the little vessel that conveyed him to - Zante and Missolonghi. He mentioned the poetic feeling with which the - sea always inspired him, rallied you on your grave and thoughtful - looks, me on my bad steering; quizzed Dr. Bruno, but added in English - (which the doctor did not understand), "He is the most sincere Italian - I ever met with"; and laughed at Fletcher, who was getting well ducked - by the spray that broke over the bows of the boat. The vessel was - lying sheltered from the wind in the little creek that is surmounted - by the Convent of San Constantino, but it was not till she had stood - out and caught the breeze that we parted from him, to see him no - more.' - -The wind becoming fair, on December 28, at 3 p.m., the vessels got under -way, Byron in the mistico, Pietro Gamba in the larger vessel. On the -morning of the 29th they were at Zante, and spent the day in transacting -business with Mr. Barff and shipping a considerable sum of money. Byron -declined the Commandant's invitation to his residence, as his time was -fully occupied with the business in hand. At about six in the evening they -sailed for Missolonghi, without the slightest suspicion that the Turkish -fleet was on the lookout for prizes. They knew that the Greek fleet was -lying before Missolonghi, and they expected to sight a convoy sent out to -meet them. Gamba says: - - 'We sailed together till after ten at night, with a fair wind and a - clear sky; the air was fresh but not sharp. Our sailors sang patriotic - songs, monotonous indeed, but to persons in our situation extremely - touching. We were all, Lord Byron particularly, in excellent spirits. - His vessel sailed the fastest. Then the waves parted us, and our - voices could no longer reach each other. We made signals by firing - pistols and carabines, and shouted, "To morrow we meet at - Missolonghi--to morrow!" - - 'Thus, full of confidence and spirit, we sailed along. At midnight we - were out of sight.' - -At 6.30 a.m. the vessel which bore Gamba along gaily approached the rocks -which border the shallows of Missolonghi. They saw a large vessel bearing -down upon them, which they at first took for one of the Greek fleet; in -appearance it seemed superior to a Turkish man-of-war. But as Gamba's -vessel hoisted the Ionian flag, to their dismay the stranger hoisted the -Ottoman ensign. The Turkish commander ordered Gamba's captain to come on -board, and the poor fellow gave himself up for lost. They could think of -no excuse which would have any weight with their captors, and were in some -trepidation as to Byron's fate, he having money, arms, and some Greeks, -with him. - -Writing from Missolonghi on January 5, 1824, Colonel Stanhope says: - - 'Count Gamba has just arrived here, with all the articles belonging to - the Committee. He was taken early in the morning by a Turkish ship. - The captain thereof ordered the master on board. The moment he came on - deck, the captain drew his dazzling sabre and placed himself in an - attitude as if to cut his head off, and at the same time asked him - where he was bound. The frightened Greek said, to Missolonghi. They - gazed at each other, and all at once the Turk recognized in his - prisoner one who, on a former occasion, had saved his life. They - embraced. Next came Count Gamba's turn. He declared--swore that he was - bound to Calamata, and that the master had told a lie through fear, - and that his bill of lading would bear him out. They were both taken - to the castle of the Morea, were well treated, and after three days - released.' - -On January 5, 1824, Byron arrived at Missolonghi. He was received with -military honours and popular applause. - - 'He landed,' says Gamba, 'in a Speziot boat, dressed in a red uniform. - He was in excellent health, and appeared moved by the scene. I met him - as he disembarked, and in a few minutes we entered the house prepared - for him--the same in which Colonel Stanhope resided. The Colonel and - Prince Mavrocordato, with a long suite of Greek and European officers, - received him at the door. I cannot describe the emotions which such a - scene excited. Crowds of soldiery and citizens of every rank, sex, and - age, were assembled to testify their delight. Hope and content were - pictured on every countenance.' - -Byron seems to have escaped from perils quite as great, though differing -in nature, from those through which Gamba had passed. His vessel passed -close to the Turkish frigate, but under favour of the night, and by -preserving complete silence, the master ran her close under the rocks of -the Scrofes, whither the Turk dared not follow her. Byron saw Gamba's -vessel taken and conducted to Patras. Byron, thinking it wiser not to make -straight for Missolonghi steered for Petala; but finding that port open -and unsafe, his vessel was taken to Dragomestri, a small town on the coast -of Acarnania. On his arrival there, Byron was visited by the Primates and -officers of the place, who offered him their good offices. From this place -Byron sent messengers both to Zante and Missolonghi. On receipt of Byron's -letter, Mavrocordato sent five gunboats and a brig-of-war to escort him to -Missolonghi. On January 4, the flotilla was caught in a violent storm, -which threw Byron's vessel in dangerous proximity to the rocks on that -inhospitable coast. The sailors at first behaved remarkably well, and got -the vessel off the rocks; but a second squall burst upon them with great -violence, and drove the Mistico into dangerous waters, causing the sailors -to lose all hope of saving her. They abandoned the vessel to her fate, and -thought only of their own safety. But Byron persuaded them to remain; and -by his firmness, and no small share of nautical skill, not only got the -crew out of danger, but also saved the vessel, several lives, and 25,000 -dollars, the greater part of which was in hard cash. Byron does not seem -to have pulled off his clothes since leaving Cephalonia. - -It was an adventurous voyage--appropriately so--for it was his last -journey in this world. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - -At the beginning of the war, Missolonghi consisted of about 800 scattered -houses, built close to the seaside on a muddy and most unhealthy site, -scarcely above the level of the waters, 'which a few centuries ago must -have covered the spot, as may be judged from the nature of the soil, -consisting of decomposed seaweed and dried mud.' The population was -exceedingly poor, and amounted to nearly 3,000 souls. The town had a most -uninviting appearance; the streets were narrow and badly paved. But, says -Millingen, what most revolted a stranger was the practice of having the -buildings so constructed that the most loathsome substances were emptied -into the streets. The inhabitants were so accustomed to this abominable -state of things that they ridiculed the complaints of strangers, and even -swore at people who ventured to suggest reform. Missolonghi must indeed -have been a wretched place even for a strong man in his full powers and -vitality--for Byron it was nothing short of Death! Trelawny tells us that -this place is situated on the verge of a dismal swamp. The marvel to him -was that Byron, who was always liable to fevers, should have consented to -live three months on this mud-bank, shut in by a circle of stagnant pools -'which might be called the belt of death.' When Trelawny arrived in the -early spring, he found most of the strangers suffering from gastric -fevers. He waded through the streets, 'between wind and water,' to the -house where Byron had lived--a detached building on the margin of the -shallow, slimy sea-waters. - -Such, then, was the residence which was destined to be the last home of -the author of 'Childe Harold!' - -Byron had scarcely reached the modest apartment which had been assigned to -him, when he was greeted by the tumultuous visits of the Primates and -chiefs. All the chieftains of Western Greece--that is to say, the -mountainous districts occupied by the Greeks--were now collected at -Missolonghi in a general assembly, together with many of the Primates of -the same districts. Mavrocordato, at that time Governor-General of the -province, was President of the Assembly, with a bodyguard of 5,000 armed -men. The first object of this assembly, says Gamba, was to organize the -military forces, the assignment of the soldiers' pay, and the -establishment of the national constitution and some regular form of -government for Western Greece. The chieftains were not all of them well -disposed towards Mavrocordato; the soldiers were badly paid--in fact, -hardly paid at all; and so great was the fear of disturbances, quarrels, -and even of a civil war, that without the influence of Prince -Mavrocordato, and the presence of Byron with his money, there could have -been no harmony. - -After the departure of the Turks, who had blockaded Missolonghi, there was -a general feeling of security, and no one expected them to return before -the spring. The Peloponnesus, with exception of the castles of the Morea -and of Patras, of Modon and of Covon, was in the hands of the Greeks. The -northern shore of the Gulf of Lepanto, with the exception of the two -castles, were also in Greek hands. They swayed Boeotia and Attica, -together with the whole isthmus of Corinth. - -Such was the state of affairs when Byron arrived on that dismal swamp. The -position in which he found himself required much skill and tact; for the -dissension among the various leaders in other parts of Greece was in its -bitterest phase, and public opinion everywhere was dead against the -executive body. It would have been fatal to the prestige of Byron if, in a -moment of impetuosity, he had cast in his lot with some particular -faction. It was his fixed intention, as it was clearly his best policy, to -reconcile differences, and to bring the contending factions closer -together. His influence amongst all parties was daily increasing, and -everyone believed that Byron would eventually be able to bring discordant -voices into harmony, and pave the way for the formation of a strong, -patriotic Government. He faced the situation bravely, and closed his ears -to the unworthy squabbles of ambitious cliques. He made arrangements, with -the best assistance at hand, to turn the expected loan from England to the -best account, in order to insure the freedom and independence of Greece. - -The first day of his arrival at Missolonghi was signalized by an act of -grace. A Turk, who had fallen into the hands of some Greek sailors, was -released by Byron's orders, and, having been clothed and fed at his own -expense, was given quarters at Byron's house until an opportunity occurred -of sending him in freedom to Patras. About a fortnight later, hearing -that four Turkish prisoners were at Missolonghi in a state of destitution, -Byron caused them to be set at liberty, and sent them to Usouff Pacha at -Patras, with a letter which, though it has been often printed, deserves a -place in this narrative: - - 'HIGHNESS! - - 'A vessel, in which a friend and some domestics of mine were embarked, - was detained a few days ago, and released by order of your Highness. I - have now to thank you, not for liberating the vessel, which as - carrying a neutral flag, and being under British protection, no one - had a right to detain, but for having treated my friends with so much - kindness while they were in your hands. - - 'In the hope that it may not be altogether displeasing to your - Highness, I have requested the Governor of this place to release four - Turkish prisoners, and he has humanely consented to do so. I lose no - time, therefore, in sending them back, in order to make as early a - return as I could, for your courtesy on the late occasion. These - prisoners are liberated without any conditions; but should the - circumstance find a place in your recollection, I venture to beg that - your Highness will treat such Greeks as may henceforth fall into your - hands, with humanity; more especially as the horrors of war are - sufficiently great in themselves, without being aggravated by wanton - cruelties on either side. - - 'NOEL BYRON. - - 'MISSOLONGHI, - '_January 23, 1824_.' - -This letter was the keynote of Byron's policy during the remainder of his -life. The horrors of war were sufficient in themselves without that -unnecessary cruelty so often exhibited by Eastern nations in their -treatment of prisoners of war. - -The following account of an incident connected with Byron's clemency to a -prisoner pictures the state of things at Missolonghi. - - 'This evening,' says Gamba, 'whilst Mavrocordato was with Lord Byron, - two sailors belonging to the privateer which had taken the Turk came - into the room, demanding in an insolent tone that their prisoner - should be delivered up to them. Lord Byron refused; their importunity - became more violent, and they refused to leave the room without their - Turk (such was their expression) on which Lord Byron, presenting a - pistol at the intruders, threatened to proceed to extremities unless - they instantly retired. The sailors withdrew, but Byron complained to - Mavrocordato of his want of authority, and said to him: "If your - Government cannot protect me in my own house, I will find means to - protect myself." From that time Lord Byron retained a Suliote guard in - his house.' - -During the winter preparations were being made for an expedition against -Lepanto, a fortress which, if captured by the Greeks, would facilitate the -siege of Patras. Its fortifications were constructed on the slope of a -hill, forming a triangle, the base of which was close to the sea. Its -walls were of Venetian construction, but without ditches. As portions of -its walls were commanded by a neighbouring hill, its siege would have -proved a very arduous undertaking even with regular troops; but with raw -Greek levies its reduction, except by famine, would have been almost -impossible. On January 14, 1824, Colonel Stanhope writes to Mr. Bowring in -the following terms: 'Lord Byron has taken 500 Suliotes into pay. He burns -with military ardour and chivalry, and will proceed with the expedition to -Lepanto.' Circumstances were, however, against this expedition from the -very beginning. Great hopes had been entertained by Lord Byron and by -Colonel Stanhope that the Suliotes would conform to discipline, and that -Mr. Parry, who had been sent out by the Greek Committee with stores and -ammunition, would on his arrival organize the artillery, and manufacture -Congreve rockets--a projectile of which the Turks were said to be in great -awe. - -Parry arrived at Missolonghi early in February, on board the brig _Anna_, -which had been chartered by the London Greek Committee. He brought -cannons, ammunition, printing-presses, medicines, and all the apparatus -necessary for the establishment of a military laboratory. Several English -mechanics came with him, and some English, German, and Swedish gentlemen, -who wished to serve the Greek cause. - -Mr. (or, as he was afterwards called) Major, Parry was a peculiar person -in every way. He had at one time served as a shipwright, then as -Firemaster in the King's service, and won favour with Byron through his -buffoonery and plain speaking--two very useful qualifications in -environments of stress and duplicity. When Byron appointed him Major in -the Artillery Brigade, the best officers in the brigade tendered their -resignations, stating that, while they would be proud to serve under Lord -Byron, neither their honour nor the interests of the service would allow -them to serve under a man who had no practical experience of military -evolutions. The German officers also, who had previously served in the -Prussian army, appealed against Parry's appointment, and offered proofs of -his ignorance of artillery. But Byron would not listen to complaints, -which he attributed partly to jealousy and partly to German notions of -etiquette, which seemed to him to be wholly out of place in a country -where merit rather than former titles should regulate such appointments. - -In supporting Parry against these officers, Byron was in a measure -influenced by the recommendations of both the Greek Committee who sent him -out, and of Colonel Leicester Stanhope, who at that time considered Parry -to be an exceedingly capable officer. Perhaps, if Parry had not appeared -on parade in an apron, brandishing a hammer, and if he had not asserted -himself so extravagantly, he might possibly have passed muster. But tact -and modesty were not in Parry's line; and having boasted to the London -Committee that he was acquainted with almost every branch of military -mechanics, he bullied its members into a belief that his pretentions were -well founded. As a matter of fact, Parry proved to be unsuited for high -command, although it must be admitted that he worked indefatigably. He -made plans for the erection of a laboratory, and presided over the works. -He paved the yard of the Seraglio, repaired the batteries, instructed the -troops in musketry and gunnery; he gave lessons with the broadsword, -inspected the fortifications, and directed the operations of Cocchini, the -chief engineer. He repaired gun-carriages, and put his hand to anything -wanted, so that it appeared as if really nothing could be done without -him. In one thing only did Parry seem to fall short of general -expectation. He had boasted that he knew the composition of 'Congreve -rockets.' With this mighty instrument of mischief he prophesied that the -Greeks would be able to paralyze all the efforts of their enemy, both by -land and sea. The Turkish cavalry, the only arm against which the Greeks -were impotent, would be rendered useless, and the Turkish vessels, by the -same means, would be easily destroyed. - -Unfortunately, the manufacture of these rockets was impossible without the -assistance of the English mechanics whom he had brought with him, and -these men were unable to work without materials, which were not -obtainable. Thus the principal part of Parry's 'stock-in-trade'--his -rockets, incendiary kites, and improved Grecian fires--were not -forthcoming. - -For a long time the roads in the neighbourhood of Missolonghi were so -broken up by incessant rain that Byron could not ride or take any outdoor -exercise. This affected his health. His only means of getting a little -fresh air was by paddling through the murky waters in a sort of canoe. -During these expeditions, says Gamba, who always accompanied him, he spoke -often of his anxiety to begin the campaign. He had not much hope of -success, but felt that something must be done during these tedious months, -if only to employ the troops and keep them from creating disturbances in -the town. - - 'I am not come here in search of adventures,' said Byron, 'but to - assist the regeneration of a nation, whose very debasement makes it - more honourable to become their friend. Regular troops are certainly - necessary, but not in great numbers: regular troops alone would not - succeed in a country like Greece; and irregular troops alone are only - just better than nothing. Only let the loan be raised; and in the - meantime let us try to form a strong national Government, ready to - apply our pecuniary resources, when they arrive, to the organization - of troops, the establishment of internal civilization, and the - preparations for acting defensively now, and on the offensive next - winter. Nothing is so insupportable to me as all these minute details - and these repeated delays. But patience is indispensable, and that I - find the most difficult of all attainments.' - -It was Byron's custom to spend his evenings in Colonel Stanhope's room, -with his English comrades. Sometimes the Germans would join the party, -play on their flutes, and sing their national airs to the accompaniment -of a guitar. Byron was fond of music in general, and was especially -partial to German music, particularly to their national songs. - -Millingen tells us that in the evening all the English who had not, with -Colonel Stanhope, turned Odysseans assembled at Byron's house, and enjoyed -the charm of his conversation till late at night. Byron's character, says -Millingen, - - 'differed so much from what I had been induced to imagine from the - relations of travellers, that either their reports must have been - inaccurate, or his character must have totally changed after his - departure from Genoa. It would be difficult, indeed impossible, to - convey an idea of the pleasure his conversation afforded. Among his - works, that which may perhaps be more particularly regarded as - exhibiting the mirror of his conversation, and the spirit which - animated it, is "Don Juan." He was indeed too open, and too indiscreet - in respect to the reminiscences of his early days. Sometimes, when his - vein of humour flowed more copiously than usual, he would play tricks - on individuals. Fletcher's boundless credulity afforded him an - ever-ready fund of amusement, and he one evening planned a farce, - which was as well executed and as laughable as any ever exhibited on - the stage. Having observed how nervous Parry had been, a few days - before, during an earthquake, he felt desirous of renewing the - ludicrous sight which the fat, horror-struck figure of the Major had - exhibited on that occasion. He placed, therefore, fifty of his - Suliotes in the room above that where Parry slept, and towards - midnight ordered them to shake the house, so as to imitate that - phenomenon. He himself at the same time banged the doors, and rushed - downstairs, delighted to see the almost distracted Major imploring - tremblingly the mercy of heaven.' - -Lord Byron was very much taken with Parry, whose drolleries relieved the -tedium and constant vexations incidental to the situation at Missolonghi. -The Major appears to have been an excellent mimic, and possessed a fund of -quaint expressions that made up for the deficiency of real wit. Millingen -says that he could tell, in his coarse language, a good story, and could -play Falstaff's, or the part of a clown very naturally. He ranted Richard -III.'s or Hamlet's soliloquies in a mock-tragic manner like a player at -Bartholomew Fair, which made everyone laugh, and beguiled the length of -many a rainy evening. - -On January 21, 1824, Missolonghi was blockaded by the Turkish fleet. There -were neither guns nor even sailors fit to man the gunboats; the only -chance was to make a night attack upon the Turks in boats manned by the -European volunteers then residing at Missolonghi. Byron took the matter in -hand, and insisted on joining personally in the expedition. He was so -determined on this project that Mavrocordato and others, realizing the -folly of exposing so valuable a life on so desperate an enterprise, -dissuaded Byron from risking his valuable life in a business for which -there were already sufficient volunteers. As things turned out, it did not -much matter, for the Turkish fleet suddenly abandoned the blockade and -returned to the gulf. - -On January 22, while Colonel Stanhope and some friends were assembled, -Byron came from his bedroom and said, with a smile: 'You were complaining -the other day that I never write any poetry now: this is my birthday, and -I have just finished something, which, I think, is better than what I -usually write.' He then produced those affecting verses on his own -birthday which were afterwards found written in his journal, with the -following introduction: 'January 22: on this day I complete my -thirty-sixth year.' - - 'We perceived from these lines,' says Gamba, 'as well as from his - daily conversations, that his ambition and his hope were irrevocably - fixed upon the glorious objects of his expedition to Greece, and that - he had made up his mind to "return victorious, or return no more." - Indeed, he often said to me, "Others may do as they please--they may - go--but I stay here, _that is certain_."' - -This resolution was accompanied with the natural presentiment that he -should never leave Greece alive. He one day asked his faithful servant -Tita whether he thought of returning to Italy. 'Yes,' said Tita; 'if your -lordship goes, I go.' Lord Byron smiled, and said: 'No, Tita, I shall -never go back from Greece; either the Turks, or the Greeks, or the -climate, will prevent that.' - -Parry tells us that Byron's mind on this point was irrevocably fixed. - - 'My future intentions,' he said, 'may be explained in a few words. I - will remain here in Greece till she is secure against the Turks, or - till she has fallen under her power. All my income shall be spent in - her service; but, unless driven by some great necessity, I will not - touch a farthing of the sum intended for my sister's children. - Whatever I can accomplish with my income, and my personal exertions, - shall be cheerfully done. When Greece is secure against external - enemies, I will leave the Greeks to settle their government as they - like. One service more, and an eminent service it will be, I think I - may perform for them. You shall have a schooner built for me, or I - will buy a vessel; the Greeks shall invest me with the character of - their Ambassador or agent; I will go to the United States, and procure - that free and enlightened Government, to set the example of - recognizing the Federation of Greece, as an independent State. This - done, England must follow the example, and then the fate of Greece - will be permanently fixed, and she will enter into all her rights, as - a member of the great commonwealth of Christian Europe.... - - 'The cause of Greece naturally excites our sympathy. Her people are - Christians contending against Turks, and slaves struggling to be free. - There never was a cause which had such strong claims on the sympathy - of the people of Europe, and particularly of the people of - England.'[16] - -The following extract from a letter written by Mr. George Finlay in June, -1824, seems worthy of production in this place: - - 'I arrived at Missolonghi at the latter end of February. During my - stay there, in the forenoon I rode out with Lord Byron; and generally - Mr. Fowke and myself spent the evenings in his room. - - 'In our rides, the state of Greece was the usual subject of our - conversation; and at times he expressed a strong wish to revisit - Athens. I mentioned the great cheapness of property in Attica, and the - possibility of my purchasing some of the villas near the city. He said - that, if I could find any eligible property, he would have no - objections to purchase likewise, as he wished to have some real - property in Greece; and he authorized me to treat for him. I always - urged him to make Corinth his headquarters. Sometimes he appeared - inclined to do so, and remarked, that it would be a strange - coincidence if, after writing an unsuccessful defence of Corinth, he - should himself make a successful one. An event so fortunate, I said, - would leave him no more to ask from fortune, and reminded him how very - much of fame depends on mere accident. Cęsar's conquests and his works - would not have raised his fame so high, but for the manner of his - death. - - 'In the evenings Lord Byron was generally extremely communicative, and - talked much of his youthful scenes at Cambridge, Brighton, and London; - spoke very often of his friends, Mr. Hobhouse and Mr. Scrope B. - Davies--told many anecdotes of himself which are well known, and many - which were amusing from his narration, but which would lose their - interest from another; but what astonished me the most was the ease - with which he spoke of all those reports which were spread by his - enemies--he gave his denials and explanations with the frankness of an - unconcerned person. - - 'I often spoke to him about Newstead Abbey, which I had visited in - 1821, a few months before leaving England. On informing him of the - repairs and improvements which were then going on, he said, if he had - been rich enough, he should have liked to have kept it as the old - abbey; but he enjoyed the excellent bargain he had made at the sale. A - solicitor sent him a very long bill, and, on his grumbling at the - amount, he said he was silenced by a letter, reminding him that he had - received £20,000 forfeit-money from the first purchaser. I mentioned - the picture of his bear in the cottage near the lodge--the - Newfoundland dog and the verses on its tomb. He said, Newfoundland - dogs had twice saved his life, and that he could not live without one. - - 'He spoke frequently of the time he lived at Aberdeen. Their house was - near the college. He described the place, but I have forgotten it. He - said his mother's "lassack" used to put him to bed at a very early - hour, and then go to converse with her lover; he had heard the house - was haunted, and sometimes used to get out of bed and run along the - lobby in his shirt, till he saw a light, and there remain standing - till he was so cold he was forced to go to bed again. One night the - servant returning, he grew frightened and ran towards his room; the - maid saw him, and fled more frightened than he; she declared she had - seen a ghost. Lord Byron said, he was so frightened at the maid, he - kept the secret till she was turned away; and, he added, he never - since kept a secret half so long. The first passion he ever felt was - for a young lady who was on a visit to his mother while they lived in - Scotland; he was at the time about six years old, and the young lady - about nine, yet he was almost ill on her leaving his mother's house to - return home. He told me, if I should ever meet the lady (giving me her - address), to ask her if she remembers him. On some conversation about - the "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," he gave as a reason for his - attacking many of the persons included, that he was informed, some - time before the publication of the review, that the next number was to - contain an article on his poems which had been read at Holland House. - "Judge of my fever; was it not a pleasant situation for a young - author?" - - 'In conversation he used to deliver very different opinions on many - authors from those contained in his works; in the one case he might be - guided more by his judgment, and in the other submit entirely to his - own particular taste. I have quoted his writings in opposition to his - words, and he replied, "Never mind what I print; that is not what I - think." He certainly did not consider much of the poetry of the - present day as "possessing buoyancy enough to float down the stream of - time." I remarked, he ought really to alter the passage in the preface - of "Marino Faliero," on living dramatic talent; he exclaimed, - laughing, "Do you mean me to erase the name of _moral me_?" In this - manner he constantly distinguished Milman, alluding to some nonsense - in the _Quarterly Review_. He was extremely amused with _Blackwood's - Magazine_, and read it whenever he could get a number; he has - frequently repeated to me passages of Ensign O'Doherty's poetry, which - I had not read, and expressed great astonishment at the ability - displayed by the author. - - 'On a gentleman present once asking his opinion of the works of a - female author of some note, he said, "A bad imitation of me--all pause - and start." - - 'On my borrowing Mitford's "History of Greece" from him, and saying I - had read it once, and intended commencing it again in Greece, he said, - "I hate the book; it makes you too well acquainted with the ancient - Greeks, and robs antiquity of all its charms. History in his hands, - has no poetry." - - 'I was in the habit of praising Sir William Gell's Itineraries to Lord - B., and he, on the other hand, took every opportunity of attacking his - Argolis though his attacks were chiefly directed against the drawings, - and particularly the view of the bay. He told me he was the author of - the article on Sir W. Gell's Argolis in the _Monthly Review_, and said - he had written two other articles in this work; but I have forgotten - them.[17] - - 'Whenever the drama was mentioned, he defended the unities most - eagerly, and usually attacked Shakspeare. A gentleman present, on - hearing his anti-Shakspearean opinions, rushed out of the room, and - afterwards entered his protest most anxiously against such doctrines. - Lord B. was quite delighted with this, and redoubled the severity of - his criticism. I had heard that Shelley once said to Lord B. in his - extraordinary way, "B., you are a most wonderful man." "How?" "You are - envious of Shakspeare." I, therefore, never expressed the smallest - astonishment at hearing Shakspeare abused; but remarked, it was - curious that Lord B. was so strangely conversant in an author of such - inferior merit, and that he should so continually have the most - melodious lines of Shakspeare in his mouth as examples of blank verse. - He said once, when we were alone, "I like to astonish Englishmen: they - come abroad full of Shakspeare, and contempt for the dramatic - literature of other nations; they think it blasphemy to find a fault - in his writings, which are full of them. People talk of the tendency - of my writings, and yet read the sonnets to Master Hughes." Lord B. - certainly did not admire the French tragedians enthusiastically. I - said to him, "There is a subject for the Drama which, I believe, has - never been touched, and which, I think, affords the greatest possible - scope for the representation of all that is sublime in human - character--but then it would require an abandonment of the - unities--the attack of Maurice of Saxony on Charles V., which saved - the Protestant religion; it is a subject of more than national - interest." He said it was certainly a fine subject; but he held that - the drama could not exist without a strict adherence to the unities; - and besides, he knew well he had failed in his dramatic attempts, and - that he intended to make no more. He said he thought "Sardanapalus" - his best tragedy. - - 'The memory of Lord B. was very extraordinary; it was not the mere - mechanical memory which can repeat the advertisements of a newspaper - and such nonsense; but of all the innumerable novels which he had - read, he seemed to recollect perfectly the story and every scene of - merit. - - 'Once I had a bet with Mr. Fowke that Maurice of Orange was not the - grandson of Maurice of Saxony, as it ran in my head that Maurice was a - son of Count Horn's sister. On applying for a decision of our bet to - Lord B., he immediately told me I was wrong, that William of Orange - was thrice married, and that he had Maurice by a daughter of Maurice - of Saxony: he repeated the names of all the children. I said, "This is - the most extraordinary instance of your memory I ever heard." He - replied, "It's not very extraordinary--I read it all a few days ago in - Watson's "Philip II.," and you will find it in a note at the bottom of - the last page but one" (I think he said) "of the second volume." He - went to his bedroom and brought the book, in which we found the note - he had repeated. It seemed to me wonderful enough that such a man - could recollect the names of William of Orange's children and their - families even for ten minutes. - - 'Once, on receiving some newspapers, in reading the advertisements of - new publications aloud, I read the name of Sir Aubrey de Vere Hunt; - Lord B. instantly said, "Sir Aubrey was at Harrow, I remember, but he - was younger than me. He was an excellent swimmer, and once saved a - boy's life; nobody would venture in, and the boy was nearly drowned, - when Sir Aubrey was called. The boy's name was M'Kinnon, and he went - afterwards to India." I think B. said he died there. - - '"It is strange," I replied; "I heard this very circumstance from Sir - Aubrey de Vere Hunt, who inquired if I knew the boy, who must now be a - man, but said, I think, that his name was Mackenzie." "Depend upon it, - I am right," said Byron. - - 'Lord B. said he had kept a very exact journal of every circumstance - of his life, and many of his thoughts while young, that he had let Mr. - Hobhouse see it in Albania, and that he at last persuaded him to burn - it. He said Hobhouse had robbed the world of a treat. He used to say - that many of his acquaintances, particularly his female ones, while - he was in London, did not like Mr. Hobhouse, "for they thought he - kept me within bounds." - - 'When he was asked for a motto for the _Greek Telegraph_, by Gamba, - during the time he felt averse to the publication of a European - newspaper in Greece, he gave, "To the Greeks foolishness"--in allusion - to the publication in languages which the natives generally do not - understand. - - 'On a discussion in his presence concerning the resemblance of - character between the ancient and modern Greeks, he said: "At least we - have St. Paul's authority that they had their present character in his - time; for he says there is no difference between the Jew and the - Greek." - - 'A few days before I left Missolonghi, riding out together, he told me - that he had received a letter from his sister, in which she mentioned - that one of the family had displayed some poetical talent, but that - she would not tell him who, as she hoped she should hear no more of - it. I said "That is a strange wish from the sister of such a poet." He - replied that he believed the poetical talent was always a source of - pain, and that he certainly would have been happier had he never - written a line. - - 'Those only who were personally acquainted with him can be aware of - the influence which every passing event had over his mind, or know the - innumerable modifications under which his character was daily - presenting itself; even his writings took a shade of colouring from - those around him. His passions and feelings were so lively that each - occurrence made a strong impression, and his conduct became so - entirely governed by impulse that he immediately and vehemently - declared his sentiments. It is not wonderful, therefore, that - instances of his inconsistency should be found; though in the most - important actions of his life he has acted with no common consistency, - and his death attests his sincerity. To attempt by scattered facts to - illustrate his character is really useless. A hundred could be - immediately told to prove him a miser; as many to prove him the most - generous of men; an equal number, perhaps, to show he was nervously - alive to the distresses of others, or heartlessly unfeeling; at times - that he indulged in every desire; at others, that he pursued the most - determined system of self-denial; that he ridiculed his friends, or - defended them with the greatest anxiety. At one time he was all - enthusiasm; at another perfect indifference on the very same subject. - All this would be true, and yet our inference most probably incorrect. - Such hearts as Lord B.'s must become old at an early age, from the - continual excitement to which they are exposed, and those only can - judge fairly of him, even from his personal acquaintance, who knew him - from his youth, when his feelings were warmer than they could be - latterly. From some of those who have seen the whole course of his - wonderful existence, we may, indeed, expect information; and it is - information, not scandal, that will be sought for.' - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - -Millingen tells us that Byron, even before his arrival in Greece, was a -favourite among the people and soldiers. Popular imagination had been -kindled by reports of his genius, his wealth, and his rank. Everything -that a man could perform was expected of him; and many a hardship and -grievance was borne patiently, in hope that on Byron's arrival everything -would be set right. The people were not disappointed; his conduct towards -them after he had landed soon made him a popular idol. It was perceived -that Byron was not a theoretical, but a practical, friend to Greece; and -his repeated acts of kindness and charity in relieving the poor and -distressed, the heavy expenses he daily incurred for the furtherance of -every plan, and every institution which he deemed worthy of support, -showed the people of Missolonghi that Byron was not less alive to their -private than he was to their public interests. But there were some people, -of course, who felt a slight attack of that pernicious malady known -euphuistically as 'the green-eyed monster'. Mavrocordato, the -Governor-General of Western Greece, was, according to Millingen, slightly -afflicted with envy. He had imagined, when using every means during -Byron's stay at Cephalonia to induce him to come to Missolonghi, that he -was preparing for himself a powerful instrument to execute his own -designs, and that, by placing Byron in a prominent position which would -require far more knowledge of the state of things than Byron could -possibly possess, he would helplessly drift, and eventually fall entirely -under his own guidance. But in this Mavrocordato was entirely mistaken, -for Byron had long made up his mind as to the course which he meant to -steer, and by sheer honesty of purpose and by the glamour of his fame his -authority daily increased, while that of Mavrocordato fell in proportion, -until his high-sounding title was little better than an empty phrase. The -people of Missolonghi were fascinated by the personality of a man who had -practically thrown his whole fortune at their feet. They openly spoke of -the advantages that would be derived by Western Greece were Byron to be -appointed its Governor-General. - - 'Ambitious and suspicious by nature,' says Millingen, 'Mavrocordato - felt his authority aimed at. He began by seconding his supposed - rival's measures in a luke-warm manner, whilst he endeavoured in - secret to thwart them. He was looked upon as the cause of the rupture - between the Suliotes and Lord Byron, fearing that the latter might, - with such soldiers, become too powerful.' - -Byron perceived the change in Mavrocordato's conduct, and from that moment -lost much of the confidence which he had at first felt in him. - - 'The plain, undisguised manner in which Byron expressed himself on - this subject, and the haughty manner in which he received - Mavrocordato, tended to confirm the latter's opinion that Byron sought - to supplant him.' - -Mavrocordato thus laboured under a delusion. Far from having ambitious -views, Byron would, in Millingen's opinion, have refused, if the offer had -been made to him, ever to take a part in civil administration. He knew too -well how little his impetuous character fitted him for the tedious and -intricate details of Greek affairs. 'He had come to Greece to assist her -sacred cause with his wealth, his talents, his courage; and the only -reward he sought was a soldier's grave.' - -Had Lord Byron lived, says Millingen, the misunderstanding between these -two distinguished individuals would have been merely temporary. Their -principles and love of order were the same, as also the ends they proposed -to attain. However different were the roads upon which they marched, they -would have been sure to meet at last. - - 'Lord Byron,' wrote Colonel Stanhope, 'possesses all the means of - playing a great part in the glorious revolution of Greece. He has - talent; he professes liberal principles; he has money; and is inspired - with fervent and chivalrous feelings.' - -Colonel Leicester Stanhope was himself deserving of the praise which he -thus bestows on Byron, the item 'money' being equally discarded. Colonel -Stanhope was a chivalrous gentleman, and devoted himself heart and soul to -the regeneration of Greece. But his views were not those of Byron. He was -all for printing-presses, freedom of the press, and schools. Byron was all -for fighting and organization in a military sense. Their aims were the -same, but their methods entirely different. Byron recognized the virtues -of Stanhope, and never seriously opposed any of his schemes. Stanhope was -absolutely boiling over with enthusiasm regarding the advantages of -publishing a newspaper. His paramount policy, as he states himself in a -letter to Mr. Bowring, was 'to strive to offend no one, but, on the -contrary, to make all friendly to the press.' He contended for the -absolute liberty of the press, and for publicity in every shape! It would -be difficult to match such a contention applied to such a period and such -a people. In forwarding the third number of the _Greek Chronicle_ to Mr. -Bowring, Stanhope writes: 'The last article in the _Chronicle_ is on Mr. -Bentham. Its object is to dispose the people to read and contemplate his -works. Conviction follows.' - -Byron had a peculiar antipathy to Mr. Bentham and all his works, but he -provided money to support the _Chronicle_. On January 24 Colonel Stanhope -wrote to Mr. Bowring a letter which explains the position exactly; and a -very peculiar position it was. After asking Byron whether he will -subscribe £50 for the support of the _Greek Chronicle_, which Byron -cheerfully agreed to do, Colonel Stanhope proceeds to 'heckle' him. The -conversation is well worth transcribing: - - 'Stanhope (_loquitur_): "Your lordship stated yesterday evening that - you had said to Prince Mavrocordato that, 'were you in his place (as - Governor-General of Western Greece), you would have placed the press - under a censor,' and that he replied, 'No; the liberty of the press is - guaranteed by the Constitution.' Now, I wish to know whether your - lordship was serious when you made the observation, or whether you - only said so to provoke me? If your lordship was serious, I shall - consider it my duty to communicate this affair to the Committee in - England, in order to show them how difficult a task I have to fulfil - in promoting the liberties of Greece, if your lordship is to throw the - weight of your vast talents into the opposite scale on a question of - such vital importance." - - 'Byron, in reply, said that he was an ardent friend of publicity and - the press; but he feared that it was not applicable to this society in - its present combustible state. Stanhope replied that he thought it - applicable to all countries, and essential in Greece, in order to put - an end to the state of anarchy which then prevailed. Byron said that - he was afraid of libels and licentiousness. Stanhope maintained that - the object of a free press was to check public licentiousness and to - expose libellers to odium.' - -In a subsequent letter to Mr. Bowring, Colonel Stanhope repeats a -conversation with Byron on the subject of Mr. Bentham. One does not know -whether to laugh or cry; there is both humour and pathos in the incident. - - 'His lordship,' writes Stanhope, 'began, according to custom, to - attack Mr. Bentham. I said that it was highly illiberal to make - personal attacks on Mr. Bentham before a friend who held him in high - estimation. He said that he only attacked his public principles, which - were mere theories, but dangerous--injurious to Spain and calculated - to do great mischief in Greece. I did not object to his lordship's - attacking Mr. Bentham's principles; what I objected to were his - personalities. His lordship never reasoned on any of Mr. Bentham's - writings, but merely made sport of them. I therefore asked him what it - was that he objected to. Lord Byron mentioned his "Panopticon" as - visionary. I said that experience in Pennsylvania, at Milbank, etc., - had proved it otherwise. I said that Bentham had a truly British - heart; but that Lord Byron, after professing liberal principles from - his boyhood, had, when called upon to act, proved himself a Turk. - - 'Lord Byron asked what proofs I had of this. - - 'I replied: "Your conduct in endeavouring to crush the press, by - declaiming against it to Mavrocordato, and your general abuse of - Liberal principles." Lord Byron said that if he had held up his finger - he could have crushed the press. I replied: "With all this power, - which, by the way, you never possessed, you went to the Prince and - poisoned his ear." - - 'Lord Byron declaimed against the Liberals whom he knew. - - '"But what Liberals?" I asked. Did he borrow his notions of free men - from the Italians? Lord Byron said: "No; from the Hunts, Cartwrights, - etc." "And still," said I, "you presented Cartwright's Reform Bill, - and aided Hunt by praising his poetry and giving him the sale of your - works." - - 'Lord Byron exclaimed: "You are worse than Wilson,[18] and should quit - the army." I replied that I was a mere soldier, but never would - abandon my principles. Our principles,' continues Stanhope, 'are - diametrically opposite. If Lord Byron acts up to his professions, he - will be the greatest--if not, the meanest--of mankind. He said he - hoped his character did not depend on my assertions. "No," said I, - "your genius has immortalized you. The worst could not deprive you of - fame." - - 'Lord Byron replied: "Well, you shall see; judge me by my acts." - - 'When he wished me good-night, I took up the light to conduct him to - the passage, but he said: "What! hold up a light to a Turk!"' - -It would be difficult indeed to find anything in the wide range of -literature dealing with that period which would throw a stronger light -upon both these men. Imagine the agent appointed by the London Committee -wasting his precious time in writing such a letter as this for the -information of its chairman. Stanhope meant no harm, we feel sure of that; -but such a letter was little calculated to advance either his own -reputation or Byron's, and it was above all things necessary for the -London Committee to have a good opinion of both. But Stanhope was -decidedly impetuous, and lacked all sense of humour. - -Millingen tells us that it soon became evident that little co-operation -could be expected between Byron and Colonel Stanhope. Byron was fully -persuaded that, in the degraded state of the Greek nation, a republican -form of Government was totally unsuited, as well as incompatible with her -situation, in respect to the neighbouring States of Europe. Colonel -Stanhope, whose enthusiasm for the cause was extreme, supposed the Greeks -to be endowed with the same virtue which their ancestors displayed. We, -who live in the twentieth century, are able by the light of subsequent -events to decide which of these two men held the sounder view; and we can -honestly deplore that a mere matter of opinion should have caused any -disagreements between two men who had sacrificed so much in a common -cause. - -Gamba, who seems to have been present during the altercation above alluded -to, says that Colonel Stanhope, in accusing Lord Byron of being an enemy -to the press, laid himself open to a rejoinder which is not recorded in -the report of these proceedings. Byron's reply was to the point: 'And yet, -without my money, where would your Greek newspaper be?' And he concluded -the sentence, 'Judge me by my actions,' cited by Stanhope, with, '_not by -my words_.' - -Colonel Stanhope could not understand Byron's bantering moods. They seemed -to him to be entirely out of place. The more Byron laughed and joked, the -more serious Stanhope became, and their discussions seldom ended without a -strong reproof, which irritated Byron for the moment. But so far from -leaving any unfavourable impression on Byron's mind, it increased his -regard for an antagonist of such evident sincerity: - - 'When parting from him one evening, after a discussion of this nature, - Lord Byron went up to him, and exclaimed: "Give me that honest right - hand." Two such men were worthy of being friends, and it is to be - regretted that an injudicious champion of the one should, by a partial - detail of their trifling differences, try to raise him at the expense - of the other.' - -With the money provided by Byron, Colonel Stanhope's pet scheme, the -_Greek Chronicle_, printed in Greek type, came into being. Its editor, 'a -hot-headed republican' named Jean Jacques Meyer, who had been a Swiss -doctor, was particularly unfitted for the post, and soon came to -loggerheads with Byron for publishing a violent attack on the Austrian -Government. In a letter to Samuel Barff, Byron says: - - 'From the very first I foretold to Colonel Stanhope and to Prince - Mavrocordato that a Greek newspaper (as indeed any other), in _the - present state_ of Greece, might and probably _would_ lead to much - mischief and misconstruction, unless under _some_ restrictions; nor - have I ever had anything to do with it, as a writer or otherwise, - except as a pecuniary contributor to its support in the outset, which - I could not refuse to the earnest request of the projectors. Colonel - Stanhope and myself had considerable differences of opinion on this - subject, and (what will appear laughable enough) to such a degree that - he charged me with _despotic_ principles, and I _him_ with - _ultra-radicalism_. Dr. Meyer, the Editor, with his unrestrained - freedom of the press, and who has the freedom to exercise an unlimited - discretion--not allowing any articles but his own and those like them - to appear--and in declaiming against restrictions, cuts, carves, and - restricts, at his own will and pleasure. He is the author of an - article against Monarchy, of which he may have the advantage and - fame--but they (the Editors) will get themselves into a scrape, if - they do not take care. Of all petty tyrants, he (Meyer) is one of the - pettiest, as are most demagogues that ever I knew. He is a Swiss by - birth, and a Greek by assumption, having married a wife and changed - his religion.' - -On the appearance of Meyer's stupid attack on monarchy, Byron immediately -suppressed the whole edition. - -Early in March the prospectus of a polyglot newspaper, entitled the _Greek -Telegraph_, was published at Missolonghi. Millingen says: - - 'The sentiments imprudently advocated in this prospectus induced the - British authorities in the Ionian Islands to entertain so unfavourable - an impression of the spirit which would guide its conductors, that its - admission into the heptarchy was interdicted under severe penalties. - The same took place in the Austrian States, where they began to look - upon Greece as "the city of refuge," as it were, for the Carbonari and - discontented English reformers. The first number appeared on 20th - March; but it was written in a tone so opposite to what had been - expected, that it might, in some degree, be considered as a protest - against its prospectus. Lord Byron was the cause of this change. More - than ever convinced that nothing could be more useless, and even more - dangerous, to the interests of Greece, both at home and abroad, than - an unlimited freedom of the press, he insisted on Count Gamba becoming - Editor. Byron cautioned him to restrict the paper to a simple - narrative of events as they occurred, and an unprejudiced statement of - opinions in respect to political relations and wants, so as to make - them subjects of interest to the friends of Greece in the western - parts of Europe.' - -Gamba says: - - 'Lord Byron's view of the politics of Greece was, that this revolution - had little or nothing in common with the great struggles with which - Europe had been for thirty years distracted, and that it would be most - foolish for the friends of Greece to mix up their cause with that of - other nations, who had attempted to change their form of government, - and by so doing to draw down the hatred and opposition of one of the - two great parties that at present divide the civilized world. Lord - Byron's wish was to show that the contest was simply one between - barbarism and civilization--between Christianity and Islamism--and - that the struggle was on behalf of the descendants of those to whom we - are indebted for the first principles of science and the most perfect - models of literature and art. For such a cause he hoped that all - politicians of all parties, in every European State, might fairly be - expected to unite.' - -Byron believed that the moment had arrived for uniting the Greeks; the -approach of danger and the chance of succour seemed favourable to his -designs. - - 'To be in time to defend ourselves,' said Byron, 'we have only to put - in action and unite all the means the Greeks possess; with money we - have experienced the facility of raising troops. I cannot calculate to - what a height Greece may rise. - - 'Hitherto it has been a subject for the hymns and elegies of fanatics - and enthusiasts; but now it will draw the attention of the - politician.' - -Early in February, 1824, Colonel Stanhope proposed to go into the Morea, -in order to co-operate in the great work of appeasing the discords of that -country. Prince Mavrocordato wrote privately to Sir Thomas Maitland[19] in -the hope of averting trouble consequent upon the infraction of the -neutrality of the Ionian territory at Ithaca. Lord Byron forwarded his -letter to Lord Sidney Osborne.[20] with the following explanation: - - 'Enclosed is a private communication from Prince Mavrocordato to Sir - Thomas Maitland, which you will oblige me much by delivering. Sir - Thomas can take as much or as little of it as he pleases; but I hope - and believe that it is rather calculated to conciliate than to - irritate on the subject of the late event near Ithaca and Sta Mauro, - which there is every disposition on the part of the Government here to - disavow; and they are also disposed to give every satisfaction in - their power. You must all be persuaded how difficult it is, under - existing circumstances, for the Greeks to keep up discipline, however - they may all be disposed to do so. I am doing all I can to convince - them of the necessity of the strictest observance of the regulations - of the island, and, I trust, with some effect. I was received here - with every possible public and private mark of respect. If you write - to any of our friends, you can say that I am in good health and - spirits; and that I shall _stick_ by the cause as long as a man of - honour can, without sparing purse, and (I hope, if need be) _person_.' - -This letter is dated from Missolonghi, February 9, 1824. On February 11 -Byron heard the news of the death of Sir Thomas Maitland. Parry says: - - 'The news certainly caused considerable satisfaction among the Greeks, - and among some of the English. He was generally looked on by them as - the great enemy of their cause; but there is no proof of this. I know - that his government has been very much censured in England, and far be - it from me to approve of the arbitrary or despotic measures of any - man; but those who know anything of the people he had to deal with - will find, in their character, an excuse for his conduct. I believe, - in general, his government was well calculated for his subjects.' - -Parry throws light upon Byron's attitude towards Mavrocordato, to which we -alluded in a previous chapter. - - 'I took an opportunity, one evening, of asking Lord Byron what he - thought of Prince Mavrocordato. He replied he considered him an honest - man and a man of talent. He had shown his devotion to his country's - service by expending his private fortune in its cause, and was - probably the most capable and trustworthy of all the Greek chieftains. - Lord Byron said that he agreed with Mavrocordato, that Missolonghi and - its dependencies were of the greatest importance to Greece; and as - long as the Prince acted as he had done, he would give him all the - support in his power. Lord Byron seemed, at the same time, to suppose - that a little more energy and industry in the Prince, with a - disposition to make fewer promises, would tend much to his advantage.' - -The following incident, related by Parry, seems to fall naturally into -this part of our narrative: - - 'When the Turkish fleet was blockading Missolonghi, I was one day - ordered by Lord Byron to accompany him to the mouth of the harbour to - inspect the fortifications, in order to make a report of the state - they were in. He and I were in his own punt, a little boat which he - had, rowed by a boy; and in a large boat, accompanying us, were Prince - Mavrocordato and his attendants. As I was viewing, on one hand, the - Turkish fleet attentively, and reflecting on its powers, and our means - of defence; and looking, on the other, at Prince Mavrocordato and his - attendants, perfectly unconcerned, smoking their pipes and gossiping, - as if Greece were liberated and at peace, and Missolonghi in a state - of perfect security, I could not help giving vent to a feeling of - contempt and indignation. - - '"What is the matter?" said Lord Byron, appearing to be very serious; - "what makes you so angry, Parry?" - - '"I am not angry, my lord," I replied, "but somewhat indignant. The - Turks, if they were not the most stupid wretches breathing, might take - the fort of Vasaladi, by means of two pinnaces, any night they - pleased; they have only to approach it with muffled oars, they would - not be heard, I will answer for their not being seen, and they may - storm it in a few minutes. With eight gunboats properly armed with - 24-pounders, they might batter both Missolonghi and Anatolica to the - ground. And there sits the old gentlewoman, Prince Mavrocordato and - his troop, to whom I applied an epithet I will not here repeat, as if - they were all perfectly safe. They know that their means of defence - are inadequate, and they have no means of improving them. If I were in - their place, I should be in a fever at the thought of my own - incapacity and ignorance, and I should burn with impatience to attempt - the destruction of those stupid Turkish rascals. The Greeks and the - Turks are opponents, worthy by their imbecility of each other." - - 'I had scarcely explained myself fully, when Lord Byron ordered our - boat to be placed alongside the other, and actually related our whole - conversation to the Prince. In doing it, however, he took upon himself - the task of pacifying both the Prince and me, and though I was at - first very angry, and the Prince, I believe, very much annoyed, he - succeeded. It was, in fact, only Lord Byron's manner of reproving us - both. It taught me to be prudent and discreet. To the Prince and the - Greeks it probably conveyed a lesson, which Lord Byron could have - found no better means of giving them.' - -Byron was remarkably sincere and frank in all his words and actions. Parry -says that he never harboured a thought concerning another man that he did -not express to his face; neither could he bear duplicity in others. If one -person were to speak against a third party, in Byron's presence, he would -be sure to repeat it the first time the two opponents were in presence of -one another. This was a habit, says Parry, of which his acquaintance were -well aware, and it spared Byron the trouble of listening to many idle and -degrading calumnies. He probably expected thereby to teach others a -sincerity which he so highly prized; but it must be added that he derived -pleasure from witnessing the confusion of the person thus exposed. We -recognize Byron in this trait, as none of his biographers have omitted to -mention the extraordinary indiscretion of his confidences; but never -before was his habit of 'blabbing' turned to a better use. - -It is generally admitted that the Greeks were supine to the last degree. -Little or nothing had been done to repair the losses resulting from the -late campaign, nor had adequate preparations been made for the struggle in -prospect. Through their improvidence, the Greeks had neither money nor -materials. Neither in the Morea nor in Western Greece had any steps been -taken to meet an assault by the enemy. The fortifications, that had -suffered in the previous campaign, were left _in statu quo_. The Greek -fleet was practically non-existent, owing to the insufficiency of money -wherewith to pay the crews. In addition to internal dissensions, which -might at any moment give rise to a civil war, the French and English -Governments were continually demanding satisfaction for breaches of -neutrality, or for acts of piracy committed by vessels of the Greek fleet, -under a singular misapprehension of the game of war. In the midst of all -these depressing conditions Byron kept his intense enthusiasm for the -cause, and whatever may have been the errors in his policy, everyone -acknowledged the purity of his motives and the intensity of his zeal. - -Prince Mavrocordato and Colonel Stanhope were not on very good terms. The -Colonel had no confidence in the Prince, and, indeed, openly defied and -opposed him. His hostility to Mavrocordato became so marked that both -Greeks and English were persuaded that he was endeavouring to break up the -establishment at Missolonghi, and to remove all the stores, belonging to -the Committee, to Athens. - - 'This report,' says Parry, 'was conveyed to Lord Byron, who had not - parted with Colonel Stanhope on very good terms, and caused him much - annoyance. He had before attributed both neglect and deceit to the - Greek Committee or some of its agents; and this report of the - proceedings of their special and chosen messenger made him, in the - irritation of the moment, regard them as acting even treacherously - towards himself. "By the cant of religious pretenders," he said, "I - have already deeply suffered, and now I know what the cant of - pretended reformers and philanthropists amounts to."' - -Byron was much displeased by the neglect which he had experienced at the -hands of the London Committee, who, instead of sending supplies that would -have been of some use, sent printing-presses, maps, and bugles. Books and -Bibles were sent to a people who wanted guns, and when they asked for a -sword they sent the lever of a printing-press. The only wonder was that -they did not send out a pack of beagles. Colonel Stanhope, who might -perhaps have been of some use in a military capacity, began organizing the -whole country in accordance with Mr. Bentham's views of morality and -justice. In this he acted entirely on his own responsibility, and rarely -consulted Byron or Mavrocordato before carrying his wild schemes into -execution. Byron said of him, in a moment of exasperation: - - 'He is a mere schemer and talker, more of a saint than a soldier; and, - with a great deal of pretended plainness, a mere politician, and no - patriot. I thought Colonel Stanhope, being a soldier, would have shown - himself differently. He ought to know what a nation like Greece needs - for its defence; and should have told the Committee that arms, and the - materials for carrying on war, were what the Greeks required.' - -Byron placed practice before precept, and was content to wait until the -Turks had been driven out of Greece before entering upon any scheme for -the cultivation of the soil and the development of commerce. He always -maintained that Colonel Stanhope began at the wrong end, and was foolish -to expect, by introducing some signs of wealth and knowledge, to make the -people of Greece both rich and intelligent. - - 'I hear,' said Byron, in a conversation with Parry, 'that missionaries - are to be introduced before the country is cleared of the enemy, and - religious disputes are to be added to the other sources of discord. - How very improper are such proceedings! nothing could be more - impolitic; it will cause ill blood throughout the country, and very - possibly be the means of again bringing Greece under the Turkish yoke. - Can it be supposed that the Greek Priesthood, who have great - influence, and even power, will tamely submit to see interested - self-opinionated foreigners interfere with their flocks? I say again, - clear the country, teach the people to read and write, and the - labouring people will judge for themselves.' - -The vexations to which Byron was daily subjected during his stay at -Missolonghi, and the insufficiency of the diet which he prescribed for -himself against the advice of his medical attendant, so affected his -nervous system, which by nature was highly irritable, that at last he -broke down. Count Gamba says: - - 'Lord Byron was exceedingly vexed at the necessary abandonment of his - project against Lepanto, at a time when success seemed so probable. He - had not been able to ride that day, nor for some days, on account of - the rain. He had been extremely annoyed at the vexations caused by the - Suliotes, as also with the various other interruptions from petitions, - demands, and remonstrances, which never left him a moment's peace at - any hour of the day. At seven in the evening I went into his room on - some business, and found him lying on the sofa: he was not asleep, - and, seeing me enter, called out, "I am not asleep--come in--I am not - well." At eight o'clock he went downstairs to visit Colonel Stanhope. - The conversation turned upon our newspaper. We agreed that it was not - calculated to give foreigners the necessary intelligence of what was - passing in Greece; because, being written in Romaic, it was not - intelligible, except to a few strangers. We resolved to publish - another, in several languages, and Lord Byron promised to furnish some - articles himself. When I left the room, he was laughing and joking - with Parry and the Colonel; he was drinking some cider.' - -As Gamba is no longer a witness of what actually happened, we refer the -reader to the statement of Parry himself: - - 'Lord Byron's quarters were on the second-floor of the house, and - Colonel Stanhope lived on the first-floor. In the evening, about eight - o'clock, Lord Byron came downstairs into the Colonel's room where I - was. He seated himself on a cane settee, and began talking with me on - various subjects. Colonel Stanhope, who was employed in a neighbouring - apartment, fitting up printing-presses, and Count Gamba, both came - into the room for a short time, and some conversation ensued about the - newspaper, which was never to Lord Byron a pleasant topic, as he - disagreed with his friends about it. After a little time they went - their several ways, and more agreeable subjects were introduced. Lord - Byron began joking with me about Colonel Stanhope's occupations, and - said he thought the author would have his brigade of artillery ready - before the soldier got his printing-press fixed. There was then nobody - in the room but his lordship, Mr. Hesketh, and myself. There was - evidently a constrained manner about Lord Byron, and he complained of - thirst. He ordered his servant to bring him some cider, which I - entreated him not to drink in that state. There was a flush in his - countenance, which seemed to indicate great nervous agitation; and as - I thought Lord Byron had been much agitated and harassed for several - days past, I recommended him, at least, to qualify his cider with some - brandy. He said he had frequently drunk cider, and felt no bad - consequences from it, and he accordingly drank it off. He had scarcely - drunk the cider, when he complained of a very strange sensation, and I - noticed a great change in his countenance. He rose from his seat, but - could not walk, staggered a step or two, and fell into my arms. - - 'I had no other stimulant than brandy at hand, and having before seen - it administered in similar cases with considerable benefit, I - succeeded in making him swallow a small quantity. In another minute - his teeth were closed, his speech and senses gone, and he was in - strong convulsions. I laid him down on the settee, and with the - assistance of his servant kept him quiet. - - 'When he fell into my arms, his countenance was very much distorted, - his mouth being drawn on one side. After a short time his medical - attendant came, and he speedily recovered his senses and his speech. - He asked for Colonel Stanhope, as he had something particular to say - to him, should there be a probability of his not recovering. Colonel - Stanhope came from the next room. On recovering his senses, Lord - Byron's countenance assumed its ordinary appearance, except that it - was pale and haggard. No other effect remained visible except great - weakness.' - -According to Gamba: - - 'Lord Byron was carried upstairs to his own bed, and complained only - of weakness. He asked whether his attack was likely to prove fatal. - "Let me know," he said. "Do not think I am afraid to die--I am not." - He told me that when he lost his speech he did not lose his senses; - that he had suffered great pain, and that he believed, if the - convulsion had lasted a minute longer, he must have died.' - -The attack had been brought on by the vexations which he had long suffered -in silence, and borne heroically. But his mode of living was a -contributory cause. He ate nothing but fish, cheese, and -vegetables--having regulated his table, says Gamba, so as not to cost more -than 45 paras. This he did to show that he could live on fare as simple as -that of the Greek soldiers. - -Byron had scarcely recovered consciousness, when a false alarm was brought -to him that the Suliotes had risen, and were about to attack the building -where the arms were stored. - - 'We ran to our arsenal,' says Gamba, 'Parry ordered the artillerymen - under arms: our cannon were loaded and pointed on the approaches to - the gates; the sentries were doubled. This alarm had originated with - two Germans, who, having taken too much wine, and seeing a body of - soldiers with their guns in their hands proceeding towards the - Seraglio, thought that a revolution had broken out, and spread an - alarm over the whole town. As a matter of fact, these troops were - merely changing their quarters. These Germans were so inconsiderate, - that during our absence at the arsenal they forced their way into - Byron's bedroom, swearing that they had come to defend him and his - house. Fortunately, we were not present, for, as this was only half an - hour after Byron's attack, we should have been tempted to fling the - intruders out of the window. On the following day Byron was better, - and got up at noon; but he was very pale and weak, and complained of a - sensation of weight in his head. The doctor applied eight leeches to - his temples, and the blood flowed copiously; it was stopped with - difficulty, and he fainted.' - -Dr. Millingen says that Dr. Bruno had at first proposed opening a vein; -but finding it impossible to obtain Byron's consent, he applied leeches to -the temples, which bled so copiously as almost to bring on syncope. Byron, -alarmed to see the difficulty Dr. Bruno had in stopping the hęmorrhage, -sent for Millingen, who, by the application of lunar caustic, succeeded in -stopping the flow of blood. - -In Millingen's opinion, Byron was never the same man after this; a change -took place in his mental and bodily functions. - - 'That wonderful elasticity of disposition, that continual flow of wit, - that facility of jest by which his conversation had been so - distinguished, returned only at distant intervals,' says Millingen: - 'from this time Byron fell into a state of melancholy from which none - of our arguments could relieve him. He felt certain that his - constitution had been ruined; that he was a worn-out man; and that his - muscular power was gone. Flashes before his eyes, palpitations and - anxieties, hourly afflicted him; and at times such a sense of - faintness would overpower him, that, fearing to be attacked by similar - convulsions, he would send in great haste for medical assistance. His - nervous system was, in fact, in a continual state of erethism, which - was certainly augmented by the low, debilitating diet which Dr. Bruno - had recommended.' - -On one occasion Byron said to Dr. Millingen that he did not wish for life; -it had ceased to have any attraction for him. - - 'But,' said Byron, 'the fear of two things now haunt me. I picture - myself slowly expiring on a bed of torture, or ending my days like - Swift--a grinning idiot! Would to Heaven the day were arrived in - which, rushing, sword in hand, on a body of Turks, and fighting like - one weary of existence, I shall meet immediate, painless death--the - object of my wishes.' - -Two days after this seizure Byron made the following entry in his journal: - - 'With regard to the presumed causes of this attack, so far as I know, - there might be several. The state of the place and the weather permit - little exercise at present. I have been violently agitated with more - than one passion recently, and amidst conflicting parties, politics, - and (as far as regards public matters) circumstances. I have also been - in an anxious state with regard to things which may be only - interesting to my own private feelings, and, perhaps, not uniformly so - temperate as I may generally affirm that I was wont to be. How far any - or all of these may have acted on the mind or body of one who had - already undergone many previous changes of place and passion during a - life of thirty-six years, I cannot tell.' - -The following note, which is entered by Mr. Rowland Prothero in the new -edition of Lord Byron's 'Letters and Journals,'[21] was dashed off by -Byron in pencil, on the day of his seizure, February 15, 1824: - - 'Having tried in vain at great expense, considerable trouble, and some - danger, to unite the Suliotes for the good of Greece--and their own--I - have come to the following resolution: - - 'I will have nothing more to do with the Suliotes. They may go to the - Turks, or the Devil,--they may cut me into more pieces than they have - dissensions among themselves,--sooner than change my resolution. - - 'For the rest, I hold my means and person at the disposal of the Greek - nation and Government the same as before.' - -No better proof could be given of the perplexities which worried him at -that particular time. But the surrounding gloom was lightened now and then -by some of Parry's stories. The following anecdote about Jeremy Bentham -was an especial favourite with Byron; Parry's sea-terms and drollery -doubtless heightened its effect: - - 'Shortly before I left London for Greece, Mr. Bowring, the honorary - secretary to the Greek Committee, informed me that Mr. Jeremy Bentham - wished to see the stores and materials, preparing for the Greeks, and - that he had done me the honour of asking me to breakfast with him some - day, that I might afterwards conduct him to see the guns, etc. - - '"Who the devil is Mr. Bentham?" was my rough reply; "I never heard of - him before." Many of my readers may still be in the same state of - ignorance, and it will be acceptable to them, I hope, to hear of the - philosopher. - - '"Mr. Bentham," said Mr. Bowring, "is one of the greatest men of the - age, and for the honour now offered to you, I waited impatiently many - a long day--I believe for more than two years." - - '"Great or little, I never heard of him before; but if he wants to see - me, why I'll go." - - 'It was accordingly arranged that I should visit Mr. Bentham, and that - Mr. Bowring should see him to fix the time, and then inform me. In a - day or two afterwards, I received a note from the honorary secretary - to say I was to breakfast with Mr. Bentham on Saturday. It happened - that I lived at a distance from town, and having heard something of - the primitive manner of living and early hours of philosophers, I - arranged with my wife overnight that I would get up very early on the - Saturday morning, that I might not keep Mr. Bentham waiting. - Accordingly, I rose with the dawn, dressed myself in haste, and - brushed off for Queen's Square, Westminster, as hard as my legs could - carry me. On reaching the Strand, fearing I might be late, being - rather corpulent, and not being willing to go into the presence of so - very great a man, as I understood Mr. Jeremy Bentham to be, puffing - and blowing, I took a hackney-coach and drove up to his door about - eight o'clock. I found a servant girl afoot, and told her I came to - breakfast with Mr. Bentham by appointment. - - 'She ushered me in, and introduced me to two young men, who looked no - more like philosophers, however, than my own children. I thought they - might be Mr. Bentham's sons, but this, I understood, was a mistake. I - showed them the note I had received from Mr. Bowring, and they told me - Mr. Bentham did not breakfast till three o'clock. This surprised me - much, but they told me I might breakfast with them, which I did, - though I was not much flattered by the honour of sitting down with Mr. - Bentham's clerks, when I was invited by their master. Poor Mr. - Bowring! thought I, he must be a meek-spirited young man if it was for - this he waited so impatiently. I supposed the philosopher himself did - not get up till noon, as he did not breakfast till so late, but in - this I was also mistaken. About ten o'clock I was summoned to his - presence, and mustered up all my courage and all my ideas for the - meeting. His appearance struck me forcibly. His thin white locks, cut - straight in the fashion of the Quakers, and hanging, or rather - floating, on his shoulders; his garments something of Quaker colour - and cut, and his frame rather square and muscular, with no exuberance - of flesh, made up a singular-looking and not an inelegant old man. He - welcomed me with a few hurried words, but without any ceremony, and - then conducted me into several rooms to show me _his_ ammunition and - materials of war. One very large room was nearly filled with books, - and another with unbound works, which, I understood, were the - philosopher's own composition. The former, he said, furnished him his - supplies; and there was a great deal of labour required to read so - many volumes. I said inadvertently, "I suppose you have quite - forgotten what is said in the first before you read the last." Mr. - Bentham, however, took this in good part, and, taking hold of my arm, - said we would proceed on our journey. Accordingly, off we set, - accompanied by one of his young men carrying a portfolio, to keep, I - suppose, a log of our proceedings. - - 'We went through a small garden, and, passing out of a gate, I found - we were in St. James's Park. Here I noticed that Mr. Bentham had a - very snug dwelling, with many accommodations, and such a garden as - belongs in London only to the first nobility. But for his neighbours, - I thought--for he has a barrack of soldiers on one side of his - premises--I should envy him his garden more than his great - reputation. On looking at him, I could but admire his hale, and even - venerable, appearance. I understood he was seventy-three years of age, - and therefore I concluded we should have a quiet, comfortable walk. - Very much to my surprise, however, we had scarcely got into the Park, - when he let go my arm, and set off trotting like a Highland messenger. - The Park was crowded, and the people one and all seemed to stare at - the old man; but, heedless of all this, he trotted on, his white locks - floating in the wind, as if he were not seen by a single human being. - - 'As soon as I could recover from my surprise, I asked the young man, - "Is Mr. Bentham flighty?" pointing to my head. "Oh no, it's his way," - was the hurried answer; "he thinks it good for his health. But I must - run after him;" and off set the youth in chase of the philosopher. I - must not lose my companions, thought I, and off I set also. Of course - the eyes of every human being in the Park were fixed on the running - veteran and his pursuers. There was Jerry ahead, then came his clerk - and his portfolio, and I, being a heavier sailer than either, was - bringing up the rear. - - 'What the people might think, I don't know; but it seemed to me a very - strange scene, and I was not much delighted at being made such an - object of attraction. Mr. Bentham's activity surprised me, and I never - overtook him or came near him till we reached the Horse Guards, where - his speed was checked by the Blues drawn up in array. Here we threaded - in amongst horses and men till we escaped at the other gate into - Whitehall. I now thought the crowded streets would prevent any more - racing; but several times he escaped from us, and trotted off, - compelling us to trot after him till we reached Mr. Galloway's - manufactory in Smithfield. Here he exulted in his activity, and - inquired particularly if I had ever seen a man at his time of life so - active. I could not possibly answer no, while I was almost breathless - with the exertion of following him through the crowded streets. After - seeing at Mr. Galloway's manufactory, not only the things which had - been prepared for the Greeks, but his other engines and machines, we - proceeded to another manufactory at the foot of Southwark Bridge, - where our brigade of guns stood ready mounted. When Mr. Bentham had - satisfied his curiosity here also, and I had given him every - information in my power, we set off to return to his house, that he - might breakfast; I endeavoured to persuade him to take a - hackney-coach, but in vain. We got on tolerably well, and without any - adventures, tragical or comical, till we arrived at Fleet Street. We - crossed from Fleet Market over towards Mr. Waithman's shop, and here, - letting go my arm, he quitted the foot pavement, and set off again in - one of his vagaries up Fleet Street. His clerk again set off after - him, and I again followed. The race here excited universal attention. - The perambulating ladies, who are always in great numbers about that - part of the town, and ready to laugh at any kind of oddity, and catch - hold of every simpleton, stood and stared at or followed the venerable - philosopher. One of them, well known to all the neighbourhood by the - appellation of the _City Barge_, given to her on account of her - extraordinary bulk, was coming with a consort full sail down Fleet - Street, but whenever they saw the flight of Mr. Jeremy Bentham they - hove to, tacked, and followed to witness the fun or share the prize. I - was heartily ashamed of participating in this scene, and supposed that - everybody would take me for a mad doctor, the young man for my - assistant, and Mr. Bentham for my patient, just broke adrift from his - keepers. - - 'Fortunately the chase did not continue long. Mr. Bentham hove to - abreast of Carlisle's shop, and stood for a little time to admire the - books and portraits hanging in the window. At length one of them - arrested his attention more particularly. "Ah, ah," said he, in a - hurried indistinct tone, "there it is, there it is!" pointing to a - portrait which I afterwards found was that of the illustrious Jeremy - himself. - - 'Soon after this, I invented an excuse to quit Mr. Bentham and his - man, promising to go to Queen's Square to dine. I was not, however, to - be again taken in by the philosopher's meal hours; so, laying in a - stock of provisions, I went at his dining hour, half-past ten o'clock, - and supped with him. We had a great deal of conversation, particularly - about mechanical subjects and the art of war. I found the old - gentleman as lively with his tongue as with his feet, and passed a - very pleasant evening; which ended by my pointing out, at his request, - a plan for playing his organ by the steam of his tea-kettle. - - 'This little story,' says Parry, 'gave Byron a great deal of pleasure. - He very often laughed as I told it; he laughed much at its conclusion. - He declared, when he had fished out every little circumstance, that he - would not have lost it for 1,000 guineas. Lord Byron frequently asked - me to repeat what he called: _Jerry Bentham's Cruise_.' - -Parry tells us that Byron took a great interest in all that concerned the -welfare of the working classes, and particularly of the artisans. - - 'I have lately read,' said Byron on one occasion, 'of an institution - lately established in London for the instruction of mechanics. I - highly approve of this, and intend to subscribe £50 to it; but I shall - at the same time write and give my opinion on the subject. I am always - afraid that schemes of this kind are intended to deceive people; and, - unless all the offices in such an institution are filled with real - practical mechanics, the working classes will soon find themselves - deceived. If they permit any but mechanics to have the direction of - their affairs, they will only become the tools of others. The real - working man will soon be ousted, and his more cunning pretended - friends will take possession and reap all the benefits. It gives me - pleasure to think what a mass of natural intellect this will call into - action. If the plan succeeds, and I hope it may, the ancient - aristocracy of England will be secure for ages to come. The most - useful and numerous body of people in the nation will then judge for - themselves, and, when properly informed, will judge correctly. There - is not on earth a more honourable body of men than the English - nobility; and there is no system of government under which life and - property are better secured than under the British constitution. - - 'The mechanics and working classes who can maintain their families - are, in my opinion, the happiest body of men. Poverty is - wretchedness; but it is perhaps to be preferred to the heartless, - unmeaning dissipation of the higher orders. I am thankful that I am - now entirely clear of this, and my resolution to remain clear of it - for the rest of my life is immutable.' - -Parry remarks that it would be folly to attribute to Byron any love for -democracy, as the term was then understood. Although the bent of his mind -was more Liberal than Conservative, he was not a party man in its narrow -sense. He was a sworn foe to injustice, cruelty, and oppression; such was -the alpha and omega of his political prejudices. He would be an inveterate -enemy to any Government which oppressed one class for the benefit of -another class, and which did not allow its subjects to be free and happy. - -In speaking of America, Byron said: - - 'I have always thought the mode in which the Americans separated from - Great Britain was unfortunate for them. It made them despise or regret - everything English. They disinherited themselves of all the historical - glory of England; there was nothing left for them to admire or - venerate but their own immediate success, and they became egotists, - like savages, from wanting a history. The spirit of jealousy and - animosity excited by the contests between England and America is now - subsiding. Should peace continue, prejudices on both sides will - gradually decrease. Already the Americans are beginning, I think, to - cultivate the antiquities of England, and, as they extend their - inquiries, they will find other objects of admiration besides - themselves. It was of some importance, both for them and for us, that - they did not reject our language with our government. Time, I should - hope, will approximate the institutions of both countries to one - another; and the use of the same language will do more to unite the - two nations than if they both had only one King.' - - - - -CHAPTER X - - -According to Gamba's journal, on the day following the seizure to which we -have referred, Byron followed up his former efforts to inculcate the -principles and practice of humanity into both the nations engaged in the -war. There were twenty-four Turks, including women and children, who had -suffered all the rigours of captivity at Missolonghi since the beginning -of the revolution. Byron caused them to be released, and sent at his own -cost to Prevesa. The following letter, which he addressed to the English -Consul at that port, deserves a place in this record: - - 'SIR, - - 'Coming to Greece, one of my principal objects was to alleviate as - much as possible the miseries incident to a warfare so cruel as the - present. When the dictates of humanity are in question, I know no - difference between Turks and Greeks. It is enough that those who want - assistance are men, in order to claim the pity and protection of the - meanest pretender to humane feelings. I have found here twenty-four - Turks, including women and children, who have long pined in distress, - far from the means of support and the consolations of their home. The - Government has consigned them to me: I transmit them to Prevesa, - whither they desire to be sent. I hope you will not object to take - care that they may be restored to a place of safety, and that the - Governor of your town may accept of my present. The best recompense I - can hope for would be to find that I had inspired the Ottoman - commanders with the same sentiments towards those unhappy Greeks who - may hereafter fall into their hands. - - 'I beg you to believe me, etc., - 'NOEL BYRON.' - -The details of this incident have hitherto passed almost unnoticed. The -whole story is full of pathos, and affords a view of Byron's real -character. - -In June, 1821, when Missolonghi and Anatolico proclaimed themselves parts -of independent Greece, all Turkish residents were arrested. The males were -cruelly put to death, and their wives and families were handed over to the -Greek householders as slaves. The miseries these defenceless people -endured while Death stared them daily in the face are indescribable. -Millingen says: - - 'One day, as I entered the dispensary, I found the wife of one of the - Turkish inhabitants of Missolonghi who had fled to Patras. The poor - woman came to implore my pity, and begged me to allow her to take - shelter under my roof from the brutality and cruelty of the Greeks. - They had murdered all her relations, and two of her boys; and the - marks remained on the angle of the wall against which, a few weeks - previously, they had dashed the brains of the youngest, only five - years of age. A little girl, nine years old, remained to be the only - companion of her misery. Like a timid lamb, she stood by her mother, - naked and shivering, drawing closer and closer to her side. Her little - hands were folded like a suppliant's, and her large, beautiful - eyes--so accustomed to see acts of horror and cruelty--looked at me - now and then, hardly daring to implore pity. "Take us," said the - mother; "we will serve you and be your slaves; or you will be - responsible before God for whatever may happen to us." - - 'I could not see so eloquent a picture of distress unmoved, and from - that day I treated them as relatives. Some weeks after, I happened to - mention before Lord Byron some circumstances relative to these - individuals, and spoke with so much admiration of the noble fortitude - displayed by the mother in the midst of her calamities; of the courage - with which maternal love inspired her on several occasions; of the - dignified manner in which she replied to the insults of her - persecutors, that he expressed a wish to see the mother and child. On - doing so, he became so struck by Hatajč's beauty, the naļveté of her - answers, and the spiritedness of her observations on the murderers of - her brethren, that he decided on adopting her. "Banish fear for ever - from your mind," said he to the mother; "your child shall henceforth - be mine. I have a daughter in England. To her I will send the child. - They are both of the same age; and as she is alone, she will, no - doubt, like a companion who may, at times, talk to her of her father. - Do not shudder at the idea of changing your religion, for I insist on - your professing none other but the Musulman." - - 'She seized his hand, kissed it with energy, and raising her eyes to - heaven, eyes now filled with tears, she repeated the familiar words: - "Allah is great!" Byron ordered costly dresses to be made for them, - and sent to Hatajč a necklace of sequins. He desired me to send them - twice a week to his house. He would then take the little child on his - knees, and caress her with all the fondness of a father. - - 'From the moment I received the mother and child into my house, the - other unfortunate Turkish women, who had miraculously escaped the - general slaughter, seeing how different were the feelings and - treatment of the English towards their nation and sex from those of - the Greeks, began to feel more hopeful of their lot in life. They - daily called at my lodgings, and by means of my servant, a Suliote who - spoke Turkish fluently, narrated their misfortunes, and the numberless - horrors of which they had been spectators. One woman said: "Our fears - are not yet over; we are kept as victims for future sacrifices, hourly - expecting our doom. An unpleasant piece of news, a drunken party, a - fit of ill-humour or of caprice, may decide our fate. We are then - hunted down the streets like wild beasts, till some one of us, or of - our children, is immolated to their insatiable cruelty. Our only hope - centres in you. One word of yours to Lord Byron can save many lives. - Can you refuse to speak for us. Let Lord Byron send us to any part of - Turkey. We are women and children; can the Greeks fear us?" - - 'I hastened to give Lord Byron a faithful picture of the position of - these wretched people. Knowing and relieving the distressed were, with - him, simultaneous actions. A few days later notice was given to every - Turkish woman to prepare for departure. All, a few excepted, embarked - and were conveyed at Byron's expense to Prevesa. They amounted to - twenty-two. A few days previously four Turkish prisoners had been sent - by him to Patras. Repeated examples of humanity like these were for - the Greeks more useful and appropriate lessons than the finest - compositions which all the printing-presses could have spread amongst - them.' - -Hatajč! and what became of little Hatajč? On February 23 Byron wrote to -his sister: - - 'I have been obtaining the release of about nine-and-twenty Turkish - prisoners--men, women, and children--and have sent them home to their - friends; but one, a pretty little girl of nine years of age named Hato - or Hatagče, has expressed a strong wish to remain with me, or under my - care, and I have nearly determined to adopt her. If I thought that - Lady B. would let her come to England as a companion to Ada (they are - about the same age), and we could easily provide for her; if not, I - can send her to Italy for education. She is very lively and quick, and - with great black Oriental eyes and Asiatic features. All her brothers - were killed in the Revolution; her mother wishes to return to her - husband, but says that she would rather entrust the child to me, in - the present state of the country. Her extreme youth and sex have - hitherto saved her life, but there is no saying what might occur in - the course of the war (and of _such_ a war), and I shall probably - commit her to the charge of some English lady in the islands for the - present. The child herself has the same wish, and seems to have a - decided character for her age. You can mention this matter if you - think it worth while. I merely wish her to be respectably educated and - treated, and, if my years and all things be considered, I presume it - would be difficult to conceive me to have any other views.' - -Meanwhile, Byron, wishing to remove the child from Missolonghi, seems to -have proposed to Dr. Kennedy at Cephalonia that Mrs. Kennedy should take -temporary charge of her. Writing to Kennedy on March 4, 1824, Byron says: - - 'Your future convert Hato, or Hatagče, appears to me lively, - intelligent, and promising; she possesses an interesting countenance. - With regard to her disposition I can say little, but Millingen speaks - well of both mother and daughter, and he is to be relied on. As far as - I know, I have only seen the child a few times with her mother, and - what I have seen is favourable, or I should not take so much interest - in her behalf. If she turns out well, my idea would be to send her to - my daughter in England (if not to respectable persons in Italy), and - so to provide for her as to enable her to live with reputation either - singly or in marriage, if she arrive at maturity. I will make proper - arrangements about her expenses through Messrs. Barff and Hancock, and - the rest I leave to your discretion, and to Mrs. K.'s, with a great - sense of obligation for your kindness in undertaking her temporary - superintendence.' - -This arrangement fell through, and was never carried out. The child -remained at Missolonghi with her mother until Byron's death. Then, by the -irony of fate, they departed in the _Florida_--the vessel that bore the -dead body of their protector to the inhospitable lazaretto at Zante. With -wonderful prophetic instinct, Byron, long before his voyage to Greece, -gave to the world the vision of another Hatajč, rescued from death on the -field of battle: - - 'The Moslem orphan went with her protector, - For she was homeless, houseless, helpless; all - Her friends, like the sad family of Hector, - Had perished in the field or by the wall: - Her very place of birth was but a spectre - Of what it had been: there the Muezzin's call - To prayer was heard no more--and Juan wept, - And made a vow to shield her, which he kept.' - -Blaquičre, who was at Zante when the _Florida_ was placed in quarantine, -says: - - 'The child, whom I have frequently seen in the lazaretto, is extremely - interesting, and about eight years of age. She came over with Byron's - body, under her mother's care. They had not been here many days, - before an application came from Usouff Pacha, to give them up. It - being customary, whenever claims of this kind are made, to consult the - parties themselves, both the mother and her child were questioned as - to their wishes on the subject. The latter, with tears in her eyes, - said that, had his lordship lived, she would always have considered - him as a father; but as he was no more, she preferred going back to - her own country. The mother having expressed the same wish, they were - sent to Patras.' - -According to Millingen, when Hatajč and her mother arrived at Patras, the -child's father received them in a transport of joy. 'I thought you -slaves,' said the father in embracing them, 'and, lo! you return to me -decked like brides.' - -And that is all that we know--all, we suppose, that _can_ be known--of -little Hatajč! She may still be alive, the last survivor of those who had -spoken to Byron! If, in her ninety-third year, she still recalls the -events of 1824, she will hold up the torch with modest pride, while the -present writer commemorates one, out of many, of the noble actions -performed by the poet Byron. - - 'This special honour was conferred, because - He had behaved with courage and humanity-- - Which _last_ men like, when they have time to pause - From their ferocities produced by vanity. - His little captive gained him some applause - For saving her amidst the wild insanity - Of carnage--and I think he was more glad in her - Safety, than his new order of St. Vladimir.' - _Don Juan_, Canto VIII., CXL. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - -On February 17 there was great excitement at Missolonghi on account of a -Turkish brig-of-war, which had run ashore on a sand-bank about seven miles -from the city. - -Byron sent for Parry, and accosted him in his liveliest manner: - -'Now's the day, Parry, and now's the hour; now for your rockets, your -fire-kites, and red-hot shots; now, Parry, for your Grecian fires. Onward, -death or victory!' - -Byron was still so weak that he could not rise from the sofa; but all the -available soldiers manned the Greek boats, and set off in the hope of -plunder. Parry and some other European officers went out to reconnoitre -the brig, and discovered a broad and long neck of land, which separated -the shallows from the sea, upon which it would be easy to plant a couple -of guns and make an attack upon the brig. Parry says that he had only two -guns fit for immediate service--a long three-pounder and a howitzer. The -attack was to be made on the following day, and Byron gave orders that, in -the event of any prisoners being taken, their lives were, if possible, to -be spared. He offered to pay two dollars a head for each prisoner saved, -to pay something more for officers, and have them cared for at Missolonghi -at his own expense. He also gave strict orders that the artillery brigade -should be kept in reserve, so as to relieve and protect the Turkish -prisoners. Early on the following day the guns were shipped, but, -unfortunately, the boats ran aground, and much valuable time was lost. -Meanwhile three Turkish brigs came to the rescue, and got into position so -as to enfilade the beach. They manned their boats and tried to haul the -brig into deep water, but without success; and seeing the Greeks preparing -to attack, they thought it better to sheer off. But before doing so they -managed to remove all the men, and as many of the brig's stores as they -could save, and then set the vessel on fire. Although Byron was -disappointed in not having captured a prize, he was glad to hear that the -brig had been burnt to the water's edge. It was estimated that the loss of -that vessel to the enemy would amount to nearly 20,000 dollars, and the -little garrison of Missolonghi was highly elated at so important an -achievement. - -On February 19 a serious event occurred, which caused something like a -revolution at Missolonghi, and might have been attended with more serious -consequences if Byron had not shown a firm hand. It is thus related by -Millingen: - - 'A sentry had been placed at the gate of the Seraglio to prevent - anyone who did not belong to the laboratory from entering. A Suliote - named Toti, presented himself, and, without paying the slightest - attention to the prohibition, boldly walked in. Lieutenant Sass, a - Swede, informed of this, came up to the Suliote, and, pushing him - roughly, ordered him to go out. On his refusal the officer drew his - sword and struck him with its flat side. Incensed at this, the - Suliote, who was of Herculean strength, cut the Swede's left arm - almost entirely off with one stroke of his yataghan, and immediately - after shot him through the head. The soldiers belonging to the - artillery brigade shut the gate, and after inflicting several wounds - on Toti, who continued to defend himself, succeeded in securing him. - His countrymen, with whom he was a favourite, being informed of the - accident, hastened to the Seraglio, and would have proceeded to acts - of violence, had not their comrade been delivered into their hands. - The next morning Lieutenant Sass was buried with military honours. The - Suliotes attended the funeral; and thus terminated the temporary - misunderstanding between them and the Franks.' - -It appears, from Gamba's account of this unfortunate affair, that -Lieutenant Sass was universally esteemed as one of the best and bravest of -the foreigners in the service of Greece. The Suliote chiefs laid all the -blame of this affray on Sass himself, whose imprudence in striking one of -the proud and warlike race cannot be justified. - -The Suliotes had already given many proofs of lawless insubordination, and -several skirmishes had previously taken place between them and the people -of Missolonghi. This last affair brought matters to a head, and Byron -agreed, with the Primates and Mavrocordato, that these lawless troops -must, at any cost, be got rid of. - -Not only did their presence at Missolonghi alarm its inhabitants, but -their fighting value had diminished, owing to their determination not to -take any part in the projected siege of Lepanto, alleging as a reason that -they were not disposed to fight against stone walls. Their dismissal was, -however, not an easy matter, for they were practically masters of the -city, and claimed 3,000 dollars as arrears of pay. The Primates, being -applied to by Byron, declared that they had no money. Under these -circumstances it became absolutely necessary for Byron to find the money -himself, which he did on the understanding that the Primates bound -themselves to clear the town of this turbulent band. Upon payment of this -money the Suliotes packed up their effects, and departed for Arta, thus -putting an end to all Byron's hopes of capturing the fortress of Lepanto. -A report was at this time circulated in Missolonghi that the Turkish -authorities had set a price on the lives of all Europeans engaged in the -Greek service. This rumour added enormously to the difficulties of the -situation; for the artificers, whom Parry had brought out from England to -work in the arsenal, struck work, and applied to Byron for permission to -return home. They said that they had bargained to be conducted into a -place of safety. Byron tried, says Gamba, to persuade them that the affray -had been accidental, that, after the departure of the Suliotes, nothing of -the kind would happen again, and so long as he himself remained there -could not be any serious danger. But all arguments were useless; the men -were thoroughly demoralized, and went from Byron's presence unshaken in -their resolve to return to their native land. - -Byron, writing to Kennedy on March 10, says with his usual good-nature: - - 'The mechanics were all pretty much of the same mind. Perhaps they are - less to blame than is imagined, since Colonel Stanhope is said to have - told them _that he could not positively say their lives were safe_. I - should like to know _where_ our life _is_ safe, either here or - anywhere else? With regard to a place of safety, at least such - hermetically sealed safety as these persons appeared to desiderate, it - is not to be found in Greece, at any rate; but Missolonghi was - supposed to be the place where they would be useful, and their risk - was no greater than that of others.' - -In a letter to Barff, some days later, Byron once more alludes to these -artificers, whose absence began to be seriously felt at the arsenal: - - 'Captain Parry will write to you himself on the subject of the - artificers' wages, but, with all due allowance for their situation, I - cannot see a great deal to pity in their circumstances. They were well - paid, housed and fed, expenses granted of every kind, and they marched - off at the first alarm. Were _they_ more exposed than the rest? or _so - much_? Neither are they very much embarrassed, for Captain Parry says - that _he knows_ all of them have money, and one in particular a - considerable sum.' - -These are the men in whose interests Byron had written to Barff: - - 'Six Englishmen will soon be in quarantine at Zante; they are - artificers, and have had enough of Greece in fourteen days; if you - could recommend them to a passage home, I would thank you; they are - good men enough, but do not quite understand the little discrepancies - in these countries, and are not used to see shooting and slashing in a - domestic quiet way, or (as it forms here) a part of housekeeping. If - they should want anything during their quarantine, you can advance - them _not more_ than a dollar a day (amongst them) for that period, to - purchase them some little extras as comforts (as they are quite out of - their element). I cannot afford them more at present. The Committee - pays their passage.' - -Byron was exceedingly vexed by these proceedings, and began to lose all -hope of being of any real service to the Greeks. He told Gamba that he had -lost time, money, patience, and even health, only to meet with deception, -calumny, and ingratitude. Gamba begged Byron to visit Athens, partly for -the benefit of his health, and partly to be quit for a time from the daily -annoyances to which he was subjected. But he refused, and determined to -remain in that dismal swamp until he saw what turn things would take in -the Morea, and until he received news of the success of the loan from -London. He resolved meanwhile to fortify Missolonghi and Anatolico, and to -drill the Greek troops into something like discipline. - -In order to reorganize the artillery brigade, Byron agreed to furnish -money which would encourage the Greeks to enlist. Artillery was the only -arm that it was possible to form, as there were no muskets with bayonets -suitable for infantry regiments, and the artillery was deficient both in -officers and men. With great difficulty Parry succeeded in collecting some -Greek artificers, and made some slight progress with his laboratory. - -The weather improved, and Byron was able to take long rides, which had an -excellent effect on his health and spirits. Artillery recruits came in -faster than was expected, and were regularly trained for efficient -service. It seemed as though the tide had turned. At about this time Byron -received a letter from Mr. Barff, strongly urging his return to Zante for -the purpose of regaining his usual health, which it was feared he would -not attain at Missolonghi. Byron was touched by this mark of friendship, -but would not grasp the hand that might have saved his life. - - 'I am extremely obliged by your offer of your country house (as for - all other kindness), in case that my health should require any - removal; but I cannot quit Greece while there is a chance of my being - of (even _supposed_) utility. There is a stake worth millions such as - I am, and while I can stand at all, I must stand by the cause. While - I say this, I am aware of the difficulties, dissensions, and defects - of the Greeks themselves; but allowances must be made for them by all - reasonable people.' - -It may seem strange, but it is nevertheless certain, that Byron found more -pleasure in the society of Parry, that 'rough, burly fellow,' than he did -in the companionship of anyone else at Missolonghi. He thoroughly trusted -the man, and even confided in him without reserve. Parry appreciated the -honour of Byron's intimacy, and his evidence of what passed during the -last few weeks of Byron's life is, so far as we are able to judge, quite -reliable. He tells us that Byron had taken a small body of Suliotes into -his own pay, and kept them about his person as a bodyguard. They consisted -altogether of fifty-six men, and of these a certain number were always on -duty. A large outer room in Byron's house was used by them, and their -carbines were hung upon its walls. - - 'In this room,' says Parry, 'and among these rude soldiers, Lord Byron - was accustomed to walk a great deal, especially in wet weather. On - these occasions he was almost always accompanied by his favourite dog, - Lion, who was perhaps his dearest and most affectionate friend. They - were, indeed, very seldom separated. Riding or walking, sitting or - standing, Lion was his constant attendant. He can scarcely be said to - have forsaken him even in sleep. Every evening Lion went to see that - his master was safe before he lay down himself, and then he took his - station close to his door, a guard certainly as faithful as Lord - Byron's Suliotes. - - 'With Lion Lord Byron was accustomed, not only to associate, but to - commune very much. His most usual phrase was, "Lion, you are no rogue, - Lion"; or, "Lion, thou art an honest fellow, Lion." The dog's eyes - sparkled, and his tail swept the floor, as he sat with haunches on the - ground. "Thou art more faithful than men, Lion; I trust thee more." - Lion sprang up, and barked, and bounded round his master, as much as - to say, "You may trust me; I will watch actively on every side." Then - Byron would fondle the dog, and say, "Lion, I love thee; thou art my - faithful dog!" and Lion jumped and kissed his master's hand, by way of - acknowledgment. In this manner, when in the dog's company, Byron - passed a good deal of time, and seemed more contented and happy than - at any other hour during the day. This valuable and affectionate - animal was, after Byron's death, brought to England and placed under - the care of Mrs. Leigh, his lordship's sister.' - -Parry gives a graphic description of the state of Missolonghi during this -period, which compelled Byron to take a circuitous route whenever the -state of the weather permitted him to ride. The pavements and condition of -the streets were so bad that it was impossible to ride through them -without the risk of breaking one's neck. - - 'Lord Byron's horses were therefore generally led to the gate of the - town, while his lordship, in a small punt, was rowed along the - harbour, and up what is called the Military Canal. This terminates not - far from the gate; here he would land, and mount his horse.' - -The Suliote guard always attended Byron during his rides; and, though on -foot, it was surprising to see their swiftness, says Parry. With carbines -carried at the trail in their right hands, these agile mountaineers kept -pace with the horses, even when Byron went at a gallop. It was a matter of -honour with these Suliotes never to desert their chief; for they -considered themselves responsible both to Greece and to England for his -safety. Parry says: - - 'They were tall men, and remarkably well formed. Perhaps, taken all - together, no Sovereign in Europe could boast of having a finer set of - men for his bodyguard.' - -Byron while in Greece abandoned his habit of spending the whole morning in -bed, as was his custom in Italy. He rose at nine o'clock, and breakfasted -at ten. This meal consisted of tea without either milk or sugar, dry -toast, and water-cresses. - - 'During his breakfast,' says Parry, 'I generally waited on him to make - the necessary reports, and to take his orders for the work of the day. - When this business was settled, I retired to give the orders which I - had received, and returned to Lord Byron by eleven o'clock at latest. - His lordship would then inspect the accounts, and, with the assistance - of his secretary, checked every item in a business-like manner. If the - weather permitted, he afterwards rode out; if it did not, he used to - amuse himself by shooting at a mark with pistols. Though his hand - trembled much, his aim was sure, and he could hit an egg four times - out of five at a distance of ten or twelve yards.' - -After an early dinner, composed of dried toast, vegetables, and cheese, -with a very small quantity of wine or cider (Parry assures us that he -never drank any spirituous liquors during any part of the day or night), -Byron would attend the drilling of the officers of his corps, in an outer -apartment of his own dwelling, and went through all the exercises which it -was proper for them to learn. When this was finished he very often played -a bout of singlestick, or underwent some other severe muscular exertion. -He then retired for the evening, to spin yarns with his friends or to -study military tactics. Parry says: - - 'At eleven o'clock I left him, and I was generally the last person he - saw, except his servants. He then retired, not to sleep, but to study. - Till nearly four o'clock every morning Byron was continually engaged - reading or writing, and rarely slept more than five hours. In this - manner did he pass nearly every day of the time I had the pleasure of - knowing him.' - -It was at the end of February that Mr. George Finlay, who afterwards wrote -a 'History of Greece,' arrived at Missolonghi. He brought a message from -Odysseus, and also from Edward Trelawny, inviting both Byron and -Mavrocordato to a Conference at Salona. Gamba, writing on February 28, -1824, says: - - 'We had news from the Morea that their discords were almost at an end. - The Government was daily acquiring credit.... On the whole, Greek - affairs appeared to take as favourable an aspect as we could well - desire.... My Lord and Prince Mavrocordato have settled to go to - Salona in a fortnight.' - -On the following day Gamba wrote in his journal these ominous words: - - 'Lord Byron is indisposed. He complained to me that he was often - attacked by vertigoes, which made him feel as if intoxicated. He had - also very disagreeable nervous sensations, which he said resembled the - feeling of fear, although he knew there was no cause for alarm. The - weather got worse, and he could not ride on horseback.' - -On March 13 all the shops in the town of Missolonghi were shut, owing to a -report that there was a case of the plague there. It seems that a Greek -merchant who came from Gastuni was attacked with violent sickness and died -within a few hours. After death several black pustules appeared on his -face, arms, and back. The doctors were undecided as to whether it was a -case of poisoning or of plague. It was ascertained that great mortality -prevailed at Gastuni, but whether the plague or a fever was not known. -Every possible precaution was taken to prevent infection, and the greatest -alarm prevailed in the town. Everyone walked with a stick, to keep off the -passer-by. It was realized by the doctors that, in a country so devoid of -cleanliness, the plague would make alarming strides. Byron sent an express -to Zante to communicate the intelligence to the Resident, and began to -make plans for going into the mountains if the plague broke out. On the -following day news arrived from Gastuni that there were no cases of the -plague there. This intelligence restored a general confidence, and -business was resumed as usual. Meanwhile, says Gamba, - - 'the drilling of our company made great progress, and in three or four - weeks we should have been ready to take the field. We exercised the - brigade in all sorts of movements. Lord Byron joined us, and practised - with us at the sabre and foil: notwithstanding his lameness, he was - very adroit.' - -The following anecdote, which is given on the authority of Parry, will -show the respect in which Byron was held by the peasants in Greece: - - 'Byron one day returned from his ride more than usually pleased. An - interesting country-woman, with a fine family, had come out of her - cottage and presented him with a curd cheese and some honey, and could - not be persuaded to accept payment for it. - - '"I have felt," he said, "more pleasure this day, and at this - circumstance, than for a long time past." Then, describing to me where - he had seen her, he ordered me to find her out, and make her a present - in return. "The peasantry," he said, "are by far the most kind, - humane, and honest part of the population; they redeem the character - of their countrymen. The other classes are so debased by - slavery--accustomed, like all slaves, never to speak truth, but only - what will please their masters--that they cannot be trusted. Greece - would not be worth saving but for the peasantry." - - 'Lord Byron then sat down to his cheese, and insisted on our partaking - of his fare. A bottle of porter was sent for and broached, that we - might join Byron in drinking health and happiness to the kind family, - which had procured him so great a pleasure.' - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - -It has been suggested by Byron's enemies that he flattered himself with -the notion of some day becoming King of Greece, and that his conduct -during the latter part of his life was influenced by ambition. The idea -is, of course, absurd. No one knew better than Byron that the Greek -_leaders_ were not disposed to accept a King at that time. He also knew -that, in order to attain that position, it would have been necessary to -have recourse to measures which were utterly repugnant to his deep sense -of humanity and justice. That Byron may have been sounded by some of the -intriguing chieftains with some such suggestion is more than probable, but -he was far too honest to walk into the snare. One day he said to Parry: - - 'I have experienced, since my arrival at Missolonghi, offers that - would surprise you, were I to tell you of them, and which would turn - the head of any man less satiated than I am, and more desirous of - possessing power than of contributing to freedom and happiness. To all - these offers, and to every application made to me, which had a - tendency to provoke disputes or increase discord, I have always - replied: "I came here to serve Greece; agree among yourselves for the - good of your country, and whatever is your _united_ resolve, and - whatever the Government commands, I shall be ready to support with my - fortune and my sword." We who came here to fight for Greece have no - right to meddle with its internal affairs, or dictate to the people or - Government.' - -That Byron, if he had lived, and if he had chosen to _usurp_ power, could -have made himself a Dictator admits of no doubt. In the then state of that -distracted country, and the well-known mercenary disposition of the -Greeks, he might with his dollars have raised an army which would have -made him supreme in Greece. - - 'No single chieftain,' Parry says, '_could_ have resisted; and all of - them would have been compelled--because they would not trust one - another--to join their forces with Byron's. The whole of the Suliotes - were at his beck and call. He could have procured the assassination of - any man in Greece for a sum too trifling to mention.' - -But Byron had no such views; he never wished to possess political power in -Greece. He had come to serve the Greeks on their own conditions, and -nothing could have made him swerve from that intention. - -Byron's talk with Trelawny at Cephalonia on this subject was not serious, -and it took place before he had mastered all the perplexing problems -connected with Greece. - -It is to Byron's lasting credit that, with so many opportunities for -self-aggrandizement, he should have proved himself so unselfish and -high-minded. - -What might have happened if he had been able to attend the Congress at -Salona we shall never know. But we feel confident, from a long and close -study of Byron's character, that, even if the Government and the -chieftains had offered him the throne of Greece, he would have refused it. -Not only would such a throne have been, figuratively, poised in air, -swayed by every breath which the rival chieftains would have blown upon -it, but Byron himself would have been accused, throughout the length and -breadth of Europe, of exploiting the sufferings of Greece for his own -personal aggrandizement. While we are discussing this question, it is well -to understand the position of affairs at the time when the proposal to -hold a Congress at Salona was made. - -The ostensible object of the Congress was to shake hands all round, to let -bygones be bygones, and to unite all available forces in a spirit of -amity. It was high time. The Morea was troubled by the hostilities between -Colocotroni's men and Government factions. Colocotroni[22] himself was -shut up in Tripolitza, and his son Pano in Napoli di Romagna. Eastern -Greece was more or less tranquil. Odysseus[23] was at Negropont, from -whence seven hundred Albanians had lately absconded. The passes of -Thermopylę were insecure. Although Western Greece was for the moment -tranquil, life in Missolonghi was not worth an hour's purchase; and there -was a serious split between the so-called Odysseans and the party of -Mavrocordato, skilfully fostered by both Colonel Stanhope and Odysseus. -Though Candia was subdued, the peasantry threatened a rising in the -mountains; the Albanians were discontented; and, finally, the Government -itself was not sleeping on a bed of roses, for it had most of the great -military chiefs dead against it. - -There were, in fact, at that time two Governments--one at Argos and one at -Tripolitza--and both hostile to each other. The Primates were in favour -of a Turkish form of government, and they had great influence in the -Morea. The chiefs, on the contrary, while professing democratic -principles, were really in favour of frank terrorism and plunder. Some of -them were personally brave; others were the offspring of heroes, whom the -Turks had never been able to subdue, and who held a sort of feudal tenure -over lands which they had kept by the sword. The people of the -Peloponnesus were under the influence of the civil and military oligarchs; -those of Eastern and Western Greece were chiefly under the captains. Of -these, Odysseus and Mavrocordato were the most influential. The islands -Hydra and Spezzia were under the influence of some rich oligarchs; while -Ipsara was purely democratic. The only virtue to be found in Greece was -monopolized by the peasantry, who had passed through a long period of -Turkish oppression without being tainted by that corruption which was so -prevalent in the towns. Indeed, the peasants and some of the islanders -were the finest examples of the 'national' party, which had never been -subdued by military or civil tyrants. When we consider the mercenary -character of the Greeks, their real or assumed poverty, their insatiable -demands for Byron's money; when one realizes the hopeless tangle into -which greed and ambition had thrown the affairs of Greece (the open -hostility of the capitanis to any settled form of government), it is -evident that the supreme management of such a circus would have been no -sinecure. No one believed that Greece, under the conditions then -prevailing, would have found repose under a foreign King. Nothing short of -a cruel, unflinching despotism would have quieted the country. - -It is, of course, possible that the chiefs assembled at Salona would have -offered to Byron the general direction of affairs in the western -continent. Gamba says that he had heard rumours to the effect that in a -short time the general government of Greece would have been placed in -Byron's hands. 'Considering,' he says, 'the vast addition to his authority -which the arrival of the moneys from England would have insured to Byron, -such an idea is by no means chimerical.' - -Writing to Barff on March 22, Byron says: - - 'In a few days Prince Mavrocordato and myself intend to proceed to - Salona at the request of Odysseus and the chiefs of Eastern Greece, to - concert, if possible, a plan of union between Western and Eastern - Greece, and to take measures, offensive and defensive, for the ensuing - campaign. Mavrocordato is _almost_ recalled by the _new_ Government to - the Morea (to take the lead, I rather think), and they have written to - propose to me to go either to the Morea with him, or to take the - general direction of affairs in this quarter with General Londos, and - any other I may choose, to form a Council. Andrea Londos is my old - friend and acquaintance, since we were lads in Greece together. It - would be difficult to give a positive answer till the Salona meeting - is over; but I am willing to serve them in any capacity they please, - either commanding or commanded--it is much the same to me, as long as - I can be of any presumed use to them.' - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - -On March 22 news reached Missolonghi that the Greek loan had been -successfully raised in London. Byron sent this welcome intelligence to the -Greek Government, with a request that no time should be lost in fitting -out the fleet at the different islands. The artillery corps at Missolonghi -was augmented by one hundred regular troops under the command of Lambro, a -brave Suliote chief, for the better protection of the guns stationed in -the mountains. Unfortunately, the weather, upon which Byron so much -depended for exercise, could not possibly have been worse. Incessant rain -and impassable roads confined him to the house until his health was -seriously affected. He constantly complained of oppression on his chest, -and was altogether in a depressed condition of mind. - -On the day fixed for his departure for Salona, the River Phidari was so -swollen as not to be fordable, and the roads in every direction were -impassable. For many days the rain poured down in torrents, until, to -employ Byron's quaint phrase, 'The dykes of Holland, when broken down, -would be the deserts of Arabia for dryness, in comparison.' - -On March 28 an event occurred to which Byron has alluded in his published -correspondence. It was a trifling matter enough, but might have had -serious consequences if Byron had not shown great firmness. One of the -artillerymen, an Italian, had robbed a poor peasant in the market-place of -25 piastres. The man was in due course arrested, tried by court-martial, -and convicted. There was no doubt as to his guilt, but a serious dispute -arose among the officers as to his punishment. The Germans were for the -bastinado; but that was contrary to the French military code, under which -the man was tried, and Byron strongly opposed its infliction. He declared -that, so far as he was concerned, no barbarous usages should be introduced -into Greece, especially as such a mode of punishment would disgust rather -than reform. He proposed that, instead of corporal punishment, the -offender should have his uniform stripped off his back, and be marched -through the streets, bearing a label describing the nature of his offence. -He was then to be handed over to the regular police and imprisoned for a -time. This example of severity, tempered by humanity, produced an -excellent effect upon the soldiers and the citizens of Missolonghi. In the -course of the evening some high words passed on the subject between three -Englishmen, two of them being officers of the brigade, cards were -exchanged, and two duels were to be fought the next morning. Byron did not -hear of this until late at night. He then ordered Gamba to arrest the -whole party. When they were afterwards brought before Byron, he with some -difficulty prevailed upon them to shake hands, and thus averted a serious -scandal. Gamba, writing on March 30, says that the Primates of Missolonghi -on that day presented Byron with the freedom of their town. - - 'This new honour,' he says, 'did but entail upon Lord Byron the - necessity for greater sacrifices. The poverty of the Government and - the town became daily more apparent. They could not furnish the - soldiers' rations nor pay their arrears; nor was there forthcoming a - single piastre of the 1,500 dollars which the Primates had agreed to - furnish for the fortifications. Thus the whole charge fell upon Lord - Byron.' - -On the following night a Greek came with tears rolling down his cheeks, -and complained that one of Byron's soldiers had, in a drunken frenzy, -broken open his door and with drawn sword alarmed his whole family. He -appealed to Byron for protection. Without a moment's hesitation Byron sent -an officer with a file of men to arrest the delinquent. He was a Russian -who had lately arrived and enlisted in the artillery brigade. The man -vowed that the charge was false; that he had lodged in that house for -several days, and that he only broke the door open because the Greek would -not admit him, and kept him outside in the rain. He moreover complained of -the time and manner of his arrest, and sent a letter to Byron accusing the -officer who had arrested him. Byron's reply was as follows: - - '_April 1, 1824._ - - 'SIR, - - 'I have the honour to reply to your letter of this day. In consequence - of an urgent and, to all appearances, a well-founded complaint, made - to me yesterday evening, I gave orders to Mr. Hesketh to proceed to - your quarters with the soldiers of his guard, and to remove you from - your house to the Seraglio, because the owner of your house declared - himself and his family to be in immediate danger from your conduct; - and added that that was not the first time that you had placed them in - similar circumstances. Neither Mr. Hesketh nor myself could imagine - that you were in bed, as we had been assured to the contrary; and - certainly such a situation was not contemplated. But Mr. Hesketh had - positive orders to conduct you from your quarters to those of the - artillery brigade; at the same time being desired to use no violence; - nor does it appear that any was had recourse to. This measure was - adopted because your landlord assured me, when I proposed to put off - the inquiry until the next day, that he could not return to his house - without a guard for his protection, and that he had left his wife and - daughter, and family, in the greatest alarm; on that account putting - them under our immediate protection; the case admitted of no delay. As - I am not aware that Mr. Hesketh exceeded his orders, I cannot take any - measures to punish him; but I have no objection to examine minutely - into his conduct. You ought to recollect that entering into the - auxiliary Greek Corps, now under my orders, at your own sole request - and positive desire, you incurred the obligation of obeying the laws - of the country, as well as those of the service. - - 'I have the honour to be, etc., - 'N. B.' - -It is doubtful whether any other commanding officer would, in similar -circumstances, have taken the trouble to write such a letter to a private -in his regiment. We merely allude to the incident in order to show that -even in trivial matters Byron performed his duty towards those under his -command, taking especial interest in each case, so that breaches of -discipline might not be too harshly treated by his subordinates. - -On April 3 the whole town of Missolonghi was thrown into a panic of alarm. -A rumour quickly spread that a body of troops had disembarked at Chioneri, -a village on the southern shore of the city. At two o'clock in the -afternoon about one hundred and fifty men, belonging to the chief -Cariascachi, landed, and demanded reparation for an injury which had been -inflicted on his nephew by some boatmen belonging to Missolonghi. -Meanwhile the man who wounded the young man had absconded; and the -soldiers, unable to wreak their vengeance upon them, arrested two of the -Primates, and sent them to Cariascachi as hostages. They then seized the -fort at Vasiladi, a small mud island commanding the flats, which on the -sea side afford an impenetrable defence to the town. Cariascachi further -declared that he would neither give up the Primates nor Vasiladi until the -men who had wounded his nephew were delivered into his hands. On the same -day seven Turkish vessels anchored off Vasiladi. Cariascachi had long been -suspected of a treasonable correspondence with the Turks, and Mavrocordato -was quick to perceive that his conduct on this occasion, coinciding as it -did with the movements of the enemy, was part of a conspiracy against his -authority in Western Greece. He expected every moment to hear that the -Turks had taken possession of Vasiladi, and guessed that the soldiers sent -by Cariascachi, ostensibly to avenge a private injury, had really come to -open the gates to the Turks. It was a critical moment indeed. All the -disposable troops were in the provinces; the Suliotes were marching to -Arta, and some of them had already accepted service under Cariascachi -himself. - -Byron, with wonderful self-command, concealed his indignation at such -evidence of treason, and urged Mavrocordato to dismiss his fears, and to -display all possible energy in order to defeat Cariascachi's designs. He -offered his own services, that of the artillery brigade, and of the three -hundred Suliotes who formed his guard. Gunboats were sent to Vasiladi with -orders to dislodge the rebels, and Byron resolved that the suspected -treason of this Greek chieftain should be severely punished. The batteries -of Missolonghi were immediately secured by the artillerymen, and several -of their guns were pointed towards the town, so as to prevent a surprise. - -At the approach of the gunboats the rebels precipitately fled, and, -perceiving the resolute bearing assumed by Byron's troops, they -immediately surrendered the Primates, and humbly asked permission to -retire unmolested. This was of course granted, but Cariascachi was -subsequently tried by court-martial, and found guilty of holding -treasonable communications with the enemy. - -According to Millingen, who was at Missolonghi at that time, it was not -proved against Cariascachi that he had ever proposed to deliver up -Vasiladi and Missolonghi to the Turks; but appearances were certainly -against him, and his subsequent flight to Agraffa seems to have given -evidence of a guilty conscience. Byron was deeply mortified by this -example of treason on the part of a Greek chieftain. He had not been -prepared to meet with black-hearted treachery, or to see Greeks conspiring -against their own country, courting the chains of their former masters, -and bargaining the liberties and very existence of their own -fellow-countrymen. - - 'Ignorant at first,' says Millingen, 'how far the ramifications of - this conspiracy might extend, he trembled to think of the - consequences. Personal fear never entered his mind, although most of - the Suliotes who composed his guard, as soon as they heard that their - compatriots at Anatolico sided with Cariascachi, declared openly that - they would not act against their countrymen. The hopes that Byron had - formed for the future of Greece were for a moment obscured. He feared - lest the news of a civil war in the Peloponnesus, and of a conspiracy - to introduce the Turks into Western Greece, would, on reaching - England, ruin the Greek credit, and preclude all hope of obtaining a - loan, which to him appeared indispensable to the salvation of her - liberty.' - -While absorbed by the gloomy reflections to which this incident gave rise, -a spy was discovered under Byron's own roof. A man named Constantine -Volpiotti, it was asserted, had had several conferences with Cariascachi -at Anatolico. Letters found upon him confirmed the worst suspicions, and -he was handed over by Byron's orders to the tender mercies of the town -guard. A military commission subsequently examined minutely into the whole -affair. It appears that the incriminating letters found in Volpiotti's -clothes were those written by Mavrocordato and other patriots to -Cariascachi, reproaching him for his treachery and connivance with the -enemy. These Volpiotti was to show to Omer Pacha as certificates to prove -how faithful Cariascachi had ever been to his engagements with him. - - 'It resulted, from the examination which Volpiotti underwent, that he - had been charged to ask Omer Pacha for a _Bouyourtč_, appointing - Cariascachi Capitano of the province of Agraffa. Cariascachi engaged - in return to co-operate with Vernakiotti in the reduction of Western - Greece, and to draw over to his party several of the chiefs who had - hitherto most faithfully adhered to the Greek Government.' - -Under these circumstances it was not wise, even if it were politic, to -allow Cariascachi to escape. Byron felt this keenly, and foresaw what -actually happened. Cariascachi was no sooner clear of Anatolico than he -placed himself at the head of his followers, and, assisted by Andrea Isco, -of Macrinoro, he again made Agraffa and its adjoining provinces the scene -of his depredations and daily sanguinary encounters. - - 'At no time in his life,' says Millingen, 'did Lord Byron find himself - in circumstances more calculated to render him unhappy. The cup of - health had dropped from his lips, and constant anxiety and suffering - operated powerfully on his mind, already a prey to melancholy - apprehensions, and disappointment, increased by disgust. Continually - haunted by a dread of epilepsy or palsy, he fell into the lowest state - of hypochondriasis, and vented his sorrows in language which, though - sometimes sublime, was at others as peevish and capricious as that of - an unruly and quarrelsome child.' - -Gamba tells us that Byron, after the events above mentioned, became -nervous and irritable. He had not been on horseback for some days on -account of the weather, but on April 9, though the weather was -threatening, he determined to ride. Three miles from the town he and Gamba -were caught in a heavy downpour of rain, and they returned to the town -walls wet through and in a violent perspiration. Gamba says: - - 'I have before mentioned that it was our practice to dismount at the - walls, and return to our house in a boat. This day, however, I - entreated Byron to return home on horseback the whole way, as it would - be dangerous, hot as he was, to remain exposed to the rain in a boat - for half an hour. But he would not listen to me, and said: "I should - make a pretty soldier indeed, if I were to care for such a trifle." - Accordingly we dismounted, and got into the boat as usual. Two hours - after his return home, he was seized with a shuddering: he complained - of fever and rheumatic pains. At eight in the evening I entered his - rooms; he was lying on a sofa, restless and melancholy.' - -Byron said that he suffered a great deal of pain, and in consequence Dr. -Bruno proposed to bleed him. Bruno seems to have considered the lancet as -a sovereign remedy for all the ills of life. - -'Have you no other remedy than bleeding? There are many more die of the -lancet than the lance,' said Byron, as he declined his doctor's proposal. -On the following day he was perpetually shuddering, but he got up at his -usual hour and transacted business. He did not, however, leave the house. -On April 11 Byron resolved to ride out an hour before his usual time, -fearing that, if he waited, he would be prevented by the rain. - - 'We rode for a long time in the olive woods,' says Gamba. 'Lambro, a - Suliote officer, accompanied by a numerous suite, attended Byron, who - spoke much and appeared to be in good spirits. - - 'The next day he kept his bed with an attack of rheumatic fever. It - was thought that his saddle was wet; but it is more probable that he - was really suffering from his previous exposure to the rain, which - perhaps affected him the more readily on account of his - over-abstemious mode of life.' - -The dates to which Gamba refers in the statement we have quoted were April -11 and 12. It is important to remark that in Fletcher's account, published -in the _Westminster Review_, it is stated that the last time Byron rode -out was on April 10. According to Parry, who supports Fletcher's opinion, -Byron was very unwell on April 11, and did not leave his house. He had -shivering fits, and complained of pains, particularly in his bones and -head. - - 'He talked a great deal,' says Parry, 'and I thought in rather a - wandering manner. I became alarmed for his safety, and earnestly - begged him to try a change of air and scene at Zante.' - -Gamba, in his journal, says that Byron rose from his bed on April 13, but -did not leave the house. The fever appeared to be diminished, but the -pains in his head and bones continued. He was melancholy and irritable. He -had not slept since his attack, and could take no other nourishment than a -little broth and a spoonful or two of arrowroot. On the 14th he got out -of bed at noon; he was calmer. The fever had apparently diminished, but he -was very weak, and still complained of pains in his head. It was with the -greatest difficulty, says Gamba, that the physicians dissuaded him from -going out riding, which, in spite of the threatening weather, he desired -to do. There seems at that time to have been no suspicion of danger, and -it was even supposed by his doctors that the malady was under control. -Byron himself said that he was rather glad of his fever, as it might cure -him of his tendency to epilepsy. He attended to his correspondence as -usual. Gamba says: - - 'I think it was on this day that, as I was sitting near him on his - sofa, he said to me, "I was afraid I was losing my memory, and, in - order to try, I attempted to repeat some Latin verses with the English - translation, which I have not tried to recollect since I was at - school. I remembered them all except the last word of one of the - hexameters."' - -On April 15 the fever was still upon him, says Gamba, but all pain had -ceased. He was easier, and expressed a wish to ride out, but the weather -would not permit. He transacted business, and received, among others, a -letter from the Turkish Governor to whom he had sent the prisoners he had -liberated. The Turk thanked Byron for his courtesy, and asked for a -repetition of this favour. 'The letter pleased him much,' says Gamba. - -According to Fletcher, it appears that both on that day and the day -previous Byron had a suspicion that his complaint was not understood by -his doctors. - -Parry says that on April 15 the doctors thought there was no danger, and -said so, openly. He paid Byron a visit, and remained at his bedside from -7 p.m. until 10 o'clock. - - 'Lord Byron spoke of death with great composure,' says Parry; 'and - though he did not think that his end was so very near, there was - something about him so serious and so firm, so resigned and composed, - so different from anything I had ever before seen in him, that my mind - misgave me.' - -Byron then spoke of the sadness of being ill in such a place as -Missolonghi, and seemed to have imagined the possibility of a -reconciliation with his wife. - - 'When I left Italy,' said Byron, 'I had time on board the brig to give - full scope to memory and reflection. I am convinced of the happiness - of domestic life. No man on earth respects a virtuous woman more than - I do, and the prospect of retirement in England with my wife and - daughter gives me an idea of happiness I have never before - experienced. Retirement will be everything for me, for heretofore my - life has been like the ocean in a storm.' - -Byron then spoke of Tita (and Fletcher also, doubtless, though Parry does -not mention that honest and faithful servant), and said that Bruno was an -excellent young man and very skilful, but too much agitated. He hoped that -Parry would come to him as often as possible, as he was jaded to death by -the worrying of his doctors, and the evident anxiety of all those who -wished him well. On a wretched fever-stricken swamp, in a house barely -weather-tight, in a miserable room, far from all those whom he loved on -earth, lay the 'pilgrim of eternity,' his life, so full of promise, slowly -flickering out. The pestilent sirocco was blowing a hurricane, and the -rain was falling with almost tropical violence. Gamba had met with an -accident which confined him to his quarters in another part of the town, -a circumstance which deprived Byron of a loyal friend in the hour of his -direst need. Under these circumstances, Parry was a godsend to Byron, and -he seems to have done everything possible to cheer him in his moments of -depression. - -On April 16 Byron was alarmingly ill, and, according to Parry, almost -constantly delirious. He spoke alternately in English and Italian, and his -thoughts wandered. The doctors were not alarmed, and told Parry that Byron -would certainly recover. According to Millingen's account, Dr. Bruno -called him in for a consultation on the 15th, and we shall see what -Millingen thought of his patient's condition when we lay his narrative -before the reader. - -When Parry visited Byron on the morning of the 17th, he was at times -delirious. He appeared to be much worse than on the day before. The -doctors succeeded in bleeding him twice, and both times he fainted. - - 'His debility was excessive. He complained bitterly of the want of - sleep, as delirious patients do complain, in a wild, rambling manner. - He said he had not slept for more than a week, when, in fact, he had - repeatedly slept at short intervals, disturbedly indeed, but still it - was sleep. He had now ceased to think or talk of death; he had - probably no idea that death was so near at hand, for his senses were - in such a state that they rarely allowed him to form a correct idea of - anything.' - -On the 17th Gamba managed to get to Byron's room, and was struck by the -change in his appearance. - - 'He was very calm,' says Gamba, 'and talked to me in the kindest - manner about my having sprained my ankle. In a hollow, sepulchral - tone, he said: "Take care of your foot. I know by experience how - painful it must be." I could not stay near his bed: a flood of tears - rushed into my eyes, and I was obliged to withdraw. This was the - first day that the medical men seemed to entertain serious - apprehensions.' - -On this day Gamba heard that Dr. Thomas, of Zante, had been sent for. It -is unfortunate that this was not done sooner; but Byron had forbidden -Fletcher to send for that excellent medical man, when he proposed it two -days previously. During the night of the 17th Byron became delirious, and -wandered in his speech; he fancied himself at the head of his Suliotes, -assailing the walls of Lepanto--a wish that had lain very close to his -heart for many and many a day. It was his dream of a soldier's glory, to -die fighting, sword in hand. On the morning of the 18th Drs. Millingen and -Bruno were alarmed by symptoms of an inflammation of the brain, and -proposed another bleeding, to which Byron consented, but soon ordered the -vein to be closed. - - 'At noon,' says Gamba, 'I came to his bedside. He asked me if there - were any letters for him. There was one from the Archbishop Ignatius - to him, which told Byron that the Sultan had proclaimed him, in full - divan, an enemy of the Porte. I thought it best not to let him know of - the arrival of that letter. A few hours afterwards other letters - arrived from England from his most intimate friends, full of good - news, and most consolatory in every way, particularly one from Mr. - Hobhouse, and another from Douglas Kinnaird; but he had then become - unconscious--it was too late!' - -April 18, 1824, was Easter Day, a holiday throughout the length and -breadth of Greece, and a noisy one, too. It is the day on which the Greeks -at Missolonghi were accustomed to discharge their firearms and great guns. -Prince Mavrocordato gave orders that Parry should march his artillery -brigade and Suliotes to some distance from the town, in order to attract -the populace from the vicinity of Byron's house. At the same time the town -guard patrolled the streets, and informed people of Byron's danger, -begging them to make as little noise as possible. The plan succeeded -admirably; Byron was not disturbed, and at three o'clock in the afternoon -he rose, and, leaning on the arm of Tita, went into the next room. When -seated, he told Tita to bring him a book, mentioning it by name. About -this time Dr. Bruno entreated him, with tears in his eyes, to be again -bled. - -'No,' said Byron; 'if my hour is come, I shall die whether I lose my blood -or keep it.' - -After reading a few minutes he became faint, and, leaning on Tita's arm, -he tottered into the next room and returned to bed. - -At half-past three, Dr. Bruno and Dr. Millingen, becoming more alarmed, -wished to call in two other physicians, a Dr. Freiber, a German, and a -Greek named Luca Vaya, the most distinguished of his profession in the -town, and physician to Mavrocordato. Lord Byron at first refused to see -them; but being told that Mavrocordato advised it, he said: 'Very well, -let them come; but let them look at me and say nothing.' They promised -this, and were admitted. When about him and feeling his pulse, one of them -wished to speak. 'Recollect your promise,' said Byron, 'and go away.' - -In order to form some idea of the state of things while Byron's life was -slowly ebbing away, we will quote a passage from Parry's book, which was -published soon after the poet's death: - - 'Dr. Bruno I believe to be a very good young man, but he was certainly - inadequate to his situation. I do not allude to his medical knowledge, - of which I cannot pretend to be a judge; but he lacked firmness, and - was so much agitated that he was incapable of bringing whatever - knowledge he might possess into use. Tita was kind and attentive, and - by far the most teachable and useful of all the persons about Lord - Byron. As there was nobody invested with any authority over his - household after he fell ill, there was neither method, order, nor - quiet, in his apartments. A clever, skilful English surgeon, - possessing the confidence of his patient, would have put all this in - train; but Dr. Bruno had no idea of doing any such thing. There was - also a want of many comforts which, to the sick, may be called - necessaries, and there was a dreadful confusion of tongues. In his - agitation Dr. Bruno's English, and he spoke but imperfectly, was - unintellegible; Fletcher's Italian was equally bad. I speak nothing - but English; Tita then spoke nothing but Italian; and the ordinary - Greek domestics were incomprehensible to us all. In all the attendants - there was the officiousness of zeal; but, owing to their ignorance of - each other's language, their zeal only added to the confusion. This - circumstance, and the absence of common necessaries, made Lord Byron's - apartment such a picture of distress, and even anguish, during the two - or three last days of his life, as I never before beheld, and wish - never again to witness.' - -At four o'clock on April 18, according to Gamba, Byron seemed to be aware -of his approaching end. Dr. Millingen, Fletcher, and Tita, were at his -bedside. Strange though it may seem to us in these far-off days, with our -experience of medical men, Dr. Millingen, unable to restrain his tears, -walked out of the room. Tita also wept profusely, and would have retired -if Byron had not held his hand. Byron looked at him steadily, and said, -half smiling, in Italian: 'Oh, questa č una bella scena.' He then seemed -to reflect a moment, and exclaimed, 'Call Parry.' - - 'Almost immediately afterwards,' says Gamba, 'a fit of delirium - ensued, and he began to talk wildly, as if he were mounting a breach - in an assault. He called out, half in English, half in Italian: - "Forwards--forwards--courage--follow my example--don't be afraid!"' - -When he came to himself Fletcher was with him. He then knew that he was -dying, and seemed very anxious to make his servant understand his wishes. -He was very considerate about his servants, and said that he was afraid -they would suffer from sitting up so long in attendance upon him. Byron -said, 'I wish to do something for Tita and Luca.' 'My lord,' said -Fletcher, 'for God's sake never mind that now, but talk of something of -more importance.' But he returned to the same topic, and, taking Fletcher -by the hand, continued: 'You will be provided for--and now hear my last -wishes.' - -Fletcher begged that he might bring pen and paper to take down his words. -'No,' replied Lord Byron, 'there is no time--mind you execute my orders. -Go to my sister--tell her--go to Lady Byron--you will see her, and -say----' Here his voice faltered, and gradually became indistinct; but -still he continued muttering something in a very earnest manner for nearly -twenty minutes, though in such a tone that only a few words could be -distinguished. These were only names: 'Augusta,' 'Ada,' 'Hobhouse,' -'Kinnaird.' He then said: 'Now I have told you all.' - -'My lord,' replied Fletcher, 'I have not understood a word your lordship -has been saying.' Byron looked most distressed at this, and said, 'Not -understand me? What a pity! Then it is too late--all is over.' 'I hope -not,' answered Fletcher; 'but the Lord's will be done.' Byron continued, -'Yes, not mine.' He then tried to utter a few words, of which none were -intelligible except, 'My sister--my child.' The doctors began to concur -in an opinion which one might have thought sufficiently obvious from the -first, namely, that the principal danger to the patient was his extreme -weakness, and now agreed to administer restoratives. Dr. Bruno, however, -thought otherwise, but agreed to administer a dose of claret, bark, and -opium, and to apply blisters to the soles of Byron's feet. He took the -draught readily, but for some time refused the blisters. At last they were -applied, and Byron fell asleep. - -Gamba says: 'He awoke in half an hour. I wished to go to him, but I had -not the heart. Parry went; Byron knew him, and squeezed his hand.' - -Parry says: - - 'When Lord Byron took my hand, I found his hands were deadly cold. - With Tita's assistance, I endeavoured gently to create a little warmth - in them, and I also loosened the bandage which was tied round his - head. Till this was done, he seemed in great pain--clenched his hands - at times, and gnashed his teeth. He bore the loosening of the band - passively; and after it was loosened, he shed tears. I encouraged him - to weep, and said: "My lord, I thank God, I hope you will now be - better; shed as many tears as you can; you will sleep and find ease." - He replied faintly, "Yes, the pain is gone; I shall sleep now." He - took my hand, uttered a faint "Good-night," and dropped to sleep. My - heart ached, but I thought then his sufferings were over, and that he - would wake no more. He did wake again, however, and I went to him; he - knew me, though scarcely. He was less distracted than I had seen him - for some time before; there was the calmness of resignation, but there - was also the stupor of death. He tried to utter his wishes, but he was - not able to do so. He said something about rewarding Tita, and uttered - several incoherent words. There was either no meaning in what he said, - or it was such a meaning as we could not expect at that moment. His - eyes continued open only a short time, and then, at about six o'clock - in the evening of the 18th April, he sank into a slumber, or rather, I - should say, a stupor, and woke and knew no more.' - -It must be borne in mind that the details given above were written by a -man who asserts that he was present during the period of which he gives an -account. Gamba, as we have seen, was not present, and the details which he -gives are avowedly gathered from those who happened to be in the room. - - 'From those about him,' says Gamba, 'I collected that, either at this - time or in his former interval of reason, Byron could be understood to - say, "Poor Greece! Poor town! My poor servants!" Also, "Why was I not - aware of this sooner?" and, "My hour is come! I do not care for death. - But why did I not go home before I came here?" At another time he - said: "There are things which make the world dear to me."' - -He said this in Italian, and Parry may of course not have understood him. -'Io lascio qualche cosa di caro nel mondo.' He also said: 'I am content to -die.' In speaking of Greece, he said: 'I have given her my time, my means, -my health, and now I give her my life! What could I do more?' - -Byron remained insensible, immovable, for twenty-four hours. There were -occasional symptoms of suffocation, and a rattling in the throat, which -induced his servants occasionally to raise his head. Gamba says: - - 'Means were taken to rouse him from his lethargy, but in vain. A great - many leeches were applied to his temples, and the blood flowed - copiously all night. It was exactly a quarter past six on the next - day, the 19th April, that he was seen to open his eyes, and - immediately close them again. The doctors felt his pulse--he was - gone!' - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - -It matters little what we now think of Byron as a man. After eighty-four -years, his personality is of less public interest than his achievements, -while our capacity for forming an adequate judgment of his character is -necessarily dependent on second-hand evidence, some of which is false, and -much tainted by prejudice. But what did those hard men of action who stood -at his side in those terrible days in Greece--Stanhope, Parry, Finlay, -Blaquičre, Millingen, Trelawny--what did they think of Byron? - -Stanhope, who was at Salona, wrote to Bowring on April 30: - - 'A courier has just arrived from the chief Scalza. Alas! all our fears - are realized. The soul of Byron has taken its last flight. England has - lost her brightest genius--Greece her noblest friend. To console them - for the loss, he has left behind the emanations of his splendid mind. - If Byron had faults, he had redeeming virtues too--he sacrificed his - comfort, fortune, health, and life, to the cause of an oppressed - nation. Honoured be his memory! Had I the disposal of his ashes, I - would place them in the Temple of Theseus, or in the Parthenon at - Athens.' - -Three days later Stanhope wrote again to Bowring: - - 'Byron would not refuse to an entire people the benefit of his - virtues; he condescended to display them wherever Humanity beckoned - him to her aid. This single object of devotion to the well-being of a - people has raised him to a distinguished pitch of glory among - characters dignified by their virtues, of which the illustrious - British nation can make so ample a display, and of whom Greece hopes - to behold many co-operating in her regeneration. Having here paid the - tribute of admiration due to the virtues of Lord Byron, eternal may - his memory remain with the world!' - -Parry says: - - 'Thus died the truest and greatest poet England has lately given birth - to, the warmest-hearted of her philanthropists, the least selfish of - her patriots. That the disappointment of his ardent hopes was the - primary cause of his illness and death cannot, I think, be doubted. - The weight of that disappointment was augmented by the numerous - difficulties he met with. He was fretted and annoyed, but he disdained - to complain. As soon as it was known that Lord Byron was dead, sorrow - and grief were generally felt in Greece. They spread from his own - apartments over the town of Missolonghi, through the whole of Greece, - and over every part of civilized Europe. No persons, perhaps, after - his domestics and personal friends, felt his loss more acutely than - the poor citizens of Missolonghi. His residence among them procured - them food, and insured their protection. But for him they would have - been first plundered by the unpaid Suliotes, and then left a prey to - the Turks. Not only were the Primates and Mavrocordato affected on the - occasion, but the poorest citizen felt that he had lost a friend. - Mavrocordato spoke of Lord Byron as the best friend of Greece, and - said that his conduct was admirable. "Nobody knows," he was heard to - say, "except perhaps myself, the loss Greece has suffered. Her safety - even depended on his life. His presence at Missolonghi has checked - intrigues which will now have uncontrolled sway. By his aid alone have - I been able to preserve this city; and now I know that every - assistance I derived from and through him will be withdrawn." - - 'At other cities and places of Greece--at Salona, where the Congress - had just assembled; at Athens--the grief was equally sincere. Lord - Byron was mourned as the best benefactor to Greece. Orations were - pronounced by the priests, and the same honours were paid to his - memory as to the memory of one of their own revered chiefs.' - -After Byron's death Finlay wrote these words: - - 'Lord Byron's death has shed a lustre on both his writings and his - actions; they are in accordance. His life was sacrificed in the cause - for which he had early written, and which he constantly supported. His - merit would not have been greater had he breathed his last on the - isthmus of Corinth at the conclusion of a baffled siege. Yet such a - death would certainly have been more fortunate; for it would have - recalled his name oftener to the memory, at least, of those who have - no souls. Time will put an end to all undue admiration and malicious - cant, and the world will ultimately form an estimate of Byron's - character from his writings and his public conduct. It will then be - possible to form a just estimate of the greatness of his genius and - his mind, and the real extent of his faults. The ridiculous calumnies - which have found a moment's credit will then be utterly forgotten. Nor - will it be from the cursory memoirs or anecdotes of his contemporaries - that his character can be drawn.' - -Blaquičre, who had brought out the first instalment of the Greek loan, -arrived at Zante on April 24, and was there informed of Byron's death. He -had been among the first to urge Byron to hasten his projected visit to -Greece, and had held a long conversation with him at Genoa on the state of -affairs in the Morea. The following extract is taken from a letter which -he wrote to a friend in England: - - 'Thus terminated the life of Lord Byron, at a moment the most glorious - for his own fame, but the most unfortunate for Greece; since there is - no doubt but, had he lived, many calamities would have been avoided, - while his personal credit and guarantee would have prevented the - ruinous delay which has taken place with regard to transferring the - loan. In thus devoting his life and fortune to the cause of religion - and humanity, when he might have continued to enjoy the enthusiastic - praises of his contemporaries, he has raised the best monument to his - own fame, and has furnished the most conclusive reply to calumny and - detraction. When all he had done, and was about to do for the cause, - is considered, no wonder that Lord Byron's death should have produced - such an effect. It was, in fact, regarded not only as a national - calamity, but as an irreparable loss to every individual in the town - of Missolonghi, and the English volunteers state that hundreds of the - Greeks were seen to shed tears when the event was announced. - - 'With respect to Prince Mavrocordato, to whom Lord Byron had rendered - the most important services, both as a personal friend and in his - capacity of Governor-General of Western Greece, it is unnecessary to - say that he could not have received a severer blow. When I saw Lord - Byron at Genoa last year, I well remember with what enthusiasm he - spoke of his intended visit, and how much he regretted not having - joined the standard of freedom long before. When once in Greece, he - espoused her most sacred cause with zeal. Up to the time of his fatal - illness he had not advanced less than fifty thousand dollars, and - there is no doubt but he intended to devote the whole of his private - income to the service of the confederation.' - -Millingen says: - - 'The most dreadful public calamity could not have spread more general - consternation, or more profound and sincere grief, than the unexpected - news of Lord Byron's death. During the few months he had lived among - the people of Missolonghi, he had given so many proofs of the - sincerity and extent of his zeal for the advancement of their best - interests. He had, with so much generosity, sacrificed considerable - sums to that purpose; he had relieved the distress of so many - unfortunate persons, that everyone looked upon him as a father and - public benefactor. These titles were not, as they mostly are, the - incense of adulation, but the spontaneous tribute of overflowing - gratitude. He had succeeded in inspiring the soldiers with the - brightest and most sanguine expectations. Full of confidence in a - chief they loved, they would have followed him in the boldest - enterprises. To-day they must follow the corpse of him whom they - received but yesterday with the liveliest acclamations.' - -Trelawny, who arrived at Missolonghi four days after Byron's death, thus -writes to Stanhope at Salona: - - 'Lord Byron is dead. With all his faults, I loved him truly; he is - connected with every event of the most interesting years of my - wandering life. His everyday companion, we lived in ships, boats, and - in houses, together; we had no secrets, no reserve, and though we - often differed in opinion, we never quarrelled. It gave me pain - witnessing his frailties; he only wanted a little excitement to awaken - and put forth virtues that redeemed them all.... This is no private - grief; the world has lost its greatest man, I my best friend.' - -On April 28 Trelawny wrote again to Stanhope: - - 'I think Byron's name was the great means of getting the loan. A Mr. - Marshall with £8,000 per annum was as far as Corfu, and turned back on - hearing of Byron's death.... The greatest man in the world has - resigned his mortality in favour of this sublime cause; for had he - remained in Italy he had lived!' - -Such was Trelawny's opinion of Byron in April, 1824. From all that the -present writer has been able to gather, both from Trelawny's lips and from -his 'Recollections,' published thirty-four years after Byron's death, such -was his real opinion to the last. - -Mrs. Julian Marshall, having called attention[24] to the fact that, four -months after Byron's death, Trelawny, in a letter to Mary Shelley, spoke -in contemptuous terms of Byron, we feel bound to refer to it here. It -must be remembered that the letter in question was of a strictly private -nature. In making it public, Mrs. Marshall _unintentionally_ dealt a -severe blow at Trelawny, which, in justice to his memory, we will -endeavour to soften. - -To anyone acquainted with the character of this remarkable man--the -fearless soul of honour--such a _volte-face_ seems absurd, except on the -hypothesis that something had transpired, since Byron's death, sufficient -to destroy a long-tried friendship. The fact is that during those four -months the whole situation had changed. Trelawny, no longer a free-lance, -was practically a prisoner in a cave on Mount Parnassus. His friend -Odysseus went about in daily fear of assassination, and was persecuted by -the active hostility of a Government which both Odysseus and Trelawny -thought was inspired by Mavrocordato. Trelawny's opinion of the latter, -whose cause Byron had espoused, may be gathered from his letter to Mary -Shelley: - - 'A word as to your wooden god Mavrocordato. He is a miserable Jew, and - I hope ere long to see his head removed from his worthless and - heartless body. He is a mere shuffling soldier, an aristocratic - brute--wants Kings and Congresses--a poor, weak, shuffling, - intriguing, cowardly fellow; so no more about him.' - -It will be seen that Trelawny, when fairly warmed up, did not mince his -words. It is indeed a pity that these heated adjectives were served up to -the public. It was only because Byron had consistently supported -Mavrocordato as the Governor of Western Greece that Trelawny, in his -indiscriminative manner, assailed his memory. But his letter was evidently -only the peevish outburst of an angry man, and closed with these words: - -'I would do much to see and talk to you, but, as I am now too much -irritated to disclose the real state of things, I will not mislead you by -false statements.' - -The state of things at the time may be gathered from a letter addressed to -Colonel Stanhope by Captain Humphreys, who was then serving the Greek -cause as a volunteer. - - 'I write, not from a land of liberty and freedom, but from a country - at present a prey to anarchy and confusion, with the dismal prospect - of future tyranny.... Odysseus is at his fortress of Parnassus; - bribery, assassination, and every provocation, have been employed - against him. An English officer, Captain Fenton, who is with Odysseus, - as well as Trelawny, has been twice attempted to be assassinated, - after refusing to accept a bribe of 10,000 dollars, to deliver up the - fortress. _Mavrocordato's agents principally influence the Government; - the executive body remains stationary; and part of the loan has been - employed to secure their re-election._' - -There is enough in this letter to account for Trelawny's irritation; but -he was entirely wrong in thinking that Byron was in any sense subservient -to the man whom he then regarded as the real author of his misfortunes. -Trelawny had made the mistake of joining the faction of Odysseus, but -Byron was never connected with any faction whatever. Odysseus seems to -have persuaded Trelawny that Byron had become a mere tool of Mavrocordato, -and it was under that erroneous impression that his letter to Mary Shelley -was written. - -If, as Mrs. Julian Marshall says, 'Trelawny's mercurial and impulsive -temperament--ever in extremes--was liable to the most sudden revulsion of -feeling,' it would surely have been wiser, and certainly fairer, to have -withheld the publication of opinions which were not intended for -publication, and which he had, in later life, openly disavowed. In his -estimate of the character and policy of Mavrocordato, he was also -mistaken. It would be quite easy to show that Mavrocordato was perhaps the -only man of his nation, then in Greece, who united in an eminent degree -unadulterated patriotism with the talents which form a statesman. -Millingen, who knew him well, tells us that it was fortunate for Greece -that Mavrocordato was so well acquainted with the character of those with -whom he had to deal. That knowledge preserved Missolonghi, until the -arrival of reinforcements enabled it to hold out against Omer Pacha's -assault. Mavrocordato, he tells us, never pursued any other object than -the good of his country, and never sacrificed her interests to his own -ambition. He alone was capable of organizing a civil administration; in -fact, he created a stable form of government from the ashes of chaos. So -far from his having been a coward, as Trelawny asserts, Mavrocordato, in -his intense desire to serve his country, often placed himself at the head -of troops and fought bravely. Having held the position of Governor-General -of Western Greece in very trying times, he relinquished his command in -1825, in compliance with the orders of his Government, which recalled him -to Anapli, there to fill the post of Secretary of State. He sacrificed the -whole of his fortune in the service of Greece. According to Millingen, he -was occasionally so distressed for money as to be unable to provide for -his daily expenses. - -Enough has been said to show that Trelawny's abuse of Byron must not be -taken too seriously, and that his opinion of Mavrocordato was not -endorsed by those whose opportunities for judging the Prince's conduct -were far greater than Trelawny's. - -Let us dismiss from our minds the recollection of hasty words written in -anger, and let us remember those truer and deeper sentiments which -Trelawny expressed in his old age: - - 'I withdrew the black pall and the white shroud, and beheld the body - of the Pilgrim--more beautiful in death than in life. The contraction - of the muscles and skin had effaced every line that Time or Passion - had ever traced upon it. Few marble busts would have matched its - stainless white, the harmony of its proportions, and perfect finish. - And yet he had been dissatisfied with that body, and longed to cast - its slough! He was jealous of the genius of Shakespeare--that might - well be--but where had he seen the face or the form worthy to excite - his envy?' - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - -The news of Byron's death spread like wildfire through the streets and -bazaars of Missolonghi. The whole city seemed stunned by the unexpected -blow. Byron's illness had been known, but no one dreamed that it would end -so fatally. As Gamba has well said: 'He died in a strange land, and -amongst strangers; but more loved, more sincerely wept, he could never -have been wherever he had breathed his last.' - -On the day of Byron's death, Mavrocordato issued the following -proclamation, which forms a real and enduring tribute to the memory of one -who, in the prime of life, died in a great cause: - - PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF WESTERN GREECE. - - The present day of festivity and rejoicing is turned into one of - sorrow and mourning. - - The Lord Noel Byron departed this life at eleven o'clock last night, - after an illness of ten days, his death being caused by an - inflammatory fever. Such was the effect of his lordship's illness on - the public mind, that all classes had forgotten their usual - recreations of Easter, even before the afflicting end was apprehended. - - The loss of this illustrious individual is undoubtedly to be deplored - by all Greece; but it must be more especially a subject of lamentation - at Missolonghi, where his generosity has been so conspicuously - displayed, and of which he had even become a citizen, with the - ulterior determination of participating in all the dangers of the - war. - - Everybody is acquainted with the beneficent acts of his lordship, and - none can cease to hail his name as that of a real benefactor. - - Until, therefore, the final determination of the National Government - be known, and by virtue of the powers with which it has been pleased - to invest me, I hereby decree: - - 1st. To-morrow morning at daylight, 37 minute-guns shall be fired from - the grand battery, being the number which corresponds with the age of - the illustrious deceased. - - 2nd. All the public offices, even to the tribunals, are to remain - closed for three successive days. - - 3rd. All the shops, except those in which provisions or medicines are - sold, will also be shut; and it is strictly enjoined, that every - species of public amusement and other demonstrations of festivity at - Easter may be suspended. - - 4th. A general mourning will be observed for twenty-one days. - - 5th. Prayers and a funeral service are to be offered up in all the - churches. - - (_Signed_) A. MAVROCORDATO. - GIORGIUS PRAIDIS, - _Secretary_. - - Given at Missolonghi, - this 19th day of April, 1824. - -At sunrise, on the day following Byron's death, thirty-seven minute-guns -were fired from the principal battery; and one of the batteries belonging -to the corps immediately under his orders fired a gun every half-hour -during the day. We take the following from Gamba's journal: - - '_April 21._--For the remainder of this day and the next, a silence, - like that of the grave, prevailed over the city. We had intended to - perform the funeral ceremony on the 21st, but the continued rain - prevented us. On the 22nd, however, we acquitted ourselves of that sad - duty, so far as our humble means would permit. In the midst of his own - brigade, of the Government troops, and of the whole population, on - the shoulders of his own officers, the most precious portion of his - honoured remains was carried to the church, where lie the bodies of - Marco Bozzari and of General Normann. There we laid them down. The - coffin was a rude, ill-constructed chest of wood; a black mantle - served for a pall; and over it we placed a helmet and sword, with a - crown of laurels. No funeral pomp could have left the impression, nor - spoken the feelings, of this simple ceremony. The wretchedness and - desolation of the place itself; the wild, half-civilized warriors - around us; their deep, unaffected grief; the fond recollections and - disappointed hopes; the anxieties and sad presentiments depicted on - every countenance, contributed to form a scene more moving, more truly - affecting, than perhaps was ever before witnessed round the coffin of - a great man.' - -Spiridion Tricoupi, a son of one of the Primates of Missolonghi, -pronounced the funeral oration in the following words, translated from the -modern Greek by an inhabitant of Missolonghi: - - 'Unlooked-for event! Deplorable misfortune! But a short time has - elapsed since the people of this deeply suffering country welcomed, - with unfeigned joy and open arms, this celebrated individual to their - bosoms. To-day, overwhelmed with grief and despair, they bathe his - funeral couch with tears of bitterness, and mourn over it with - inconsolable affliction. On Easter Sunday, the happy salutation of the - day, "Christ is risen," remained but half spoken on the lips of every - Greek; and as they met, before even congratulating one another on the - return of that joyous day, the universal question was, "How is Lord - Byron?" Thousands assembled in the spacious plain outside the city, to - commemorate the sacred day, appeared as if they had assembled for the - sole purpose of imploring the Saviour of the world to restore to - health him who was a partaker with us in our present struggle for the - deliverance of our native land. And how is it possible that any heart - should remain unmoved, any lip closed, upon the present occasion? Was - ever Greece in greater want of assistance than when Lord Byron, at - the peril of his life, crossed over to Missolonghi? Then, and ever - since he has been with us, his liberal hand has been opened to our - necessities--necessities which our own poverty would have otherwise - rendered irremediable. How many and much greater benefits did we not - expect from him! And to-day, alas! to-day, the unrelenting grave - closes over him and all our hopes. - - 'Residing out of Greece, and enjoying all the pleasures and luxuries - of Europe, he might have contributed materially to the success of our - cause without coming personally amongst us; and this would have been - sufficient for us, for the well-proved ability and profound judgment - of our Governor, the President of the Senate, would have insured our - safety with the means so supplied. But if this was sufficient for us, - it was not so for Lord Byron. Destined by Nature to uphold the rights - of man whenever he saw them trampled upon; born in a free and - enlightened country; early taught, by reading the works of our - ancestors, which teach all who can read them, not only what man is, - but what he ought to be, and what he may be, he saw the persecuted and - enslaved Greek determined to break the heavy chains with which he was - bound, and to convert the iron into sharp-edged swords, that he might - regain by force what force had torn from him. He came to share our - sufferings; assisting us, not only with his wealth, of which he was - profuse; not only with his judgment, of which he has given us so many - salutary examples; but with his sword, which he was preparing to - unsheath against our barbarous and tyrannical oppressors. He - came--according to the testimony of those who were intimate with - him--with a determination to die in Greece and for Greece. How, - therefore, can we do otherwise than lament with deep sorrow the loss - of such a man! How can we do otherwise than bewail it as the loss of - the whole Greek nation! Thus far, my friends, you have seen him - liberal, generous, courageous, a true Philhellenist; and you have seen - him as your benefactor. This is indeed a sufficient cause for your - tears, but it is not sufficient for his honour. It is not sufficient - for the greatness of the undertaking in which he had engaged. He, - whose death we are now so deeply deploring, was a man who, in one - great branch of literature, gave his name to the age in which we live: - the vastness of his genius and the richness of his fancy did not - permit him to follow the splendid though beaten track of the literary - fame of the ancients; he chose a new road--a road which ancient - prejudice had endeavoured, and was still endeavouring, to shut against - the learned of Europe: but as long as his writings live, and they must - live as long as the world exists, this road will remain always open; - for it is, as well as the other, a sure road to true knowledge. I will - not detain you at the present time by expressing all the respect and - enthusiasm with which the perusal of his writings has always inspired - me, and which, indeed, I feel much more powerfully now than at any - other period. The learned men of all Europe celebrate him, and have - celebrated him; and all ages will celebrate the poet of our age, for - he was born for all Europe and for all ages. - - 'One consideration occurs to me, as striking and true as it is - applicable to the present state of our country: listen to it, my - friends, with attention, that you may make it your own, and that it - may become a generally acknowledged truth. There have been many great - and splendid nations in the world, but few have been the epochs of - their true glory: one phenomenon, I am inclined to believe, is wanting - in the history of these nations, and one the possibility of the - appearance of which the all-considering mind of the philosopher has - much doubted. Almost all the nations of the world have fallen from the - hands of one master into those of another; some have been benefited, - others have been injured by the change; but the eye of the historian - has not yet seen a nation enslaved by barbarians, and more - particularly by barbarians rooted for ages in their soil--has not yet - seen, I say, such a people throw off their slavery unassisted and - alone. This is the phenomenon; and now, for the first time in the - history of the world, we witness it in Greece--yes, in Greece alone! - The philosopher beholds it from afar, and his doubts are dissipated; - the historian sees it, and prepares his citation of it as a new event - in the fortunes of nations; the statesman sees it, and becomes more - observant and more on his guard. Such is the extraordinary time in - which we live. My friends, the insurrection of Greece is not an epoch - of our nation alone; it is an epoch of all nations: for, as I before - observed, it is a phenomenon which stands alone in the political - history of nations. - - 'The great mind of the highly gifted and much lamented Byron observed - this phenomenon, and he wished to unite his name with our glory. Other - revolutions have happened in his time, but he did not enter into any - of them--he did not assist any of them; for their character and nature - were totally different: the cause of Greece alone was a cause worthy - of him whom all the learned men of Europe celebrate. Consider then, my - friends, consider the time in which you live--in what a struggle you - are engaged; consider that the glory of past ages admits not of - comparison with yours: the friends of liberty, the philanthropists, - the philosophers of all nations, and especially of the enlightened and - generous English nation, congratulate you, and from afar rejoice with - you; all animate you; and the poet of our age, already crowned with - immortality, emulous of your glory, came personally to your shores, - that he might, together with yourselves, wash out with his blood the - marks of tyranny from our polluted soil. - - 'Born in the great capital of England, his descent noble on the side - of both his father and his mother, what unfeigned joy did his - Philhellenic heart feel when our poor city, in token of our gratitude, - inscribed his name among the number of her citizens! In the agonies of - death--yes, at the moment when eternity appeared before him; as he was - lingering on the brink of mortal and immortal life; when all the - material world appeared but as a speck in the great works of the - Divine Omnipotence; in that awful hour, but two names dwelt upon the - lips of this illustrious individual, leaving all the world - besides--the names of his only and much-beloved daughter, and of - Greece: these two names, deeply engraven on his heart, even the moment - of death could not efface. "My daughter!" he said; "Greece!" he - exclaimed; and his spirit passed away. What Grecian heart will not be - deeply affected as often as it recalls this moment? - - 'Our tears, my friends, will be grateful, very grateful, to his shade, - for they are the tears of sincere affection; but much more grateful - will be our deeds in the cause of our country, which, though removed - from us, he will observe from the heavens, of which his virtues have - doubtless opened to him the gates. This return alone does he require - from us for all his munificence; this reward for his love towards us; - this consolation for his sufferings in our cause; and this inheritance - for the loss of his invaluable life. When your exertions, my friends, - shall have liberated us from the hands which have so long held us down - in chains; from the hands which have torn from our arms, our property, - our brothers, our children--then will his spirit rejoice, then will - his shade be satisfied. Yes, in that blessed hour of our freedom the - Archbishop will extend his sacred and free hand, and pronounce a - blessing over his venerated tomb; the young warrior sheathing his - sword, red with the blood of his tyrannical oppressors, will strew it - with laurel; the statesman will consecrate it with his oratory; and - the poet, resting upon the marble, will become doubly inspired; the - virgins of Greece (whose beauty our illustrious fellow-citizen Byron - has celebrated in many of his poems), without any longer fearing - contamination from the rapacious hands of our oppressors, crowning - their heads with garlands, will dance round it, and sing of the beauty - of our land, which the poet of our age has already commemorated with - such grace and truth. But what sorrowful thought now presses upon my - mind! My fancy has carried me away; I had pictured to myself all that - my heart could have desired; I had imagined the blessing of our - Bishops, the hymns, and laurel crowns, and the dance of the virgins of - Greece round the tomb of the benefactor of Greece;--but this tomb will - not contain his precious remains; the tomb will remain void; but a few - days more will his body remain on the face of our land--of his new - chosen country; it cannot be given over to our arms; it must be borne - to his own native land, which is honoured by his birth. - - 'Oh daughter! most dearly beloved by him, your arms will receive him; - your tears will bathe the tomb which shall contain his body; and the - tears of the orphans of Greece will be shed over the urn containing - his precious heart, and over all the land of Greece, for all the land - of Greece is his tomb. As in the last moments of his life you and - Greece were alone in his heart and upon his lips, it was but just that - she (Greece) should retain a share of the precious remains. - Missolonghi, his country, will ever watch over and protect with all - her strength the urn containing his venerated heart, as a symbol of - his love towards us. All Greece, clothed in mourning and inconsolable, - accompanies the procession in which it is borne; all ecclesiastical, - civil, and military honours attend it; all his fellow-citizens of - Missolonghi and fellow-countrymen of Greece follow it, crowning it - with their gratitude and bedewing it with their tears; it is blessed - by the pious benedictions and prayers of our Archbishop, Bishop, and - all our clergy. Learn, noble lady, learn that chieftains bore it on - their shoulders, and carried it to the church; thousands of Greek - soldiers lined the way through which it passed, with the muzzles of - their muskets, which had destroyed so many tyrants, pointed towards - the ground, as though they would war against that earth which was to - deprive them for ever of the sight of their benefactor;--all this - crowd of soldiers, ready at a moment to march against the implacable - enemy of Christ and man, surrounded the funeral couch, and swore never - to forget the sacrifices made by your father for us, and never to - allow the spot where his heart is placed to be trampled upon by - barbarous and tyrannical feet. Thousands of Christian voices were in a - moment heard, and the temple of the Almighty resounded with - supplications and prayers that his venerated remains might be safely - conveyed to his native land, and that his soul might repose where the - righteous alone find rest.' - - * * * * * - - 'When the funeral service was over,' says Gamba, 'we left the bier in - the middle of the church, where it remained until the evening of the - next day, guarded by a detachment of his own brigade. The church was - crowded without cessation by those who came to honour and to regret - the benefactor of Greece. - - 'On the evening of the 23rd the bier was privately carried back by - Byron's officers to his own house. The coffin was not closed until the - 29th April. - - 'Immediately after death Byron's countenance had an air of calmness, - mingled with a severity that seemed gradually to soften. When I took a - last look at him, the expression, at least to my eyes, was truly - sublime.' - -Soon after death, Byron's body was embalmed, and a report of the autopsy -will be found in the Appendix. - -Millingen says: - - 'Before we proceeded to embalm the body, we could not refrain from - pausing to contemplate the lifeless clay of one who, but a few days - before, was the hope of a whole nation, and the admiration of the - civilized world. We could not but admire the perfect symmetry of his - body. Nothing could surpass the beauty of his forehead; its height was - extraordinary, and the protuberances under which the nobler - intellectual faculties are supposed to reside were strongly - pronounced. His hair, which curled naturally, was quite grey; the - mustachios light-coloured. His physiognomy had suffered little - alteration, and still preserved the sarcastic, haughty expression - which habitually characterized it. The chest was broad, high-vaulted; - the waist very small; the muscular system well pronounced; the skin - delicate and white; and the habit of the body plump. The only blemish - of his body, which might otherwise have vied with that of Apollo - himself, was the congenital malconformation of his _left_ foot and - leg. The foot was deformed and turned inwards, and the leg was smaller - and shorter than the sound one.'[25] - -Trelawny arrived at Missolonghi on April 24, after the body had been -embalmed. He states that Byron's right leg was shorter than the other, and -the _right_ foot was the most distorted, being twisted inwards, so that -only the edge could have touched the ground. The discrepancy between -Trelawny's statement and that of Millingen is probably due to the fact -that nearly thirty-four years had passed before Trelawny's book was -written. - -Trelawny wrote, from Fletcher's dictation, full particulars of Byron's -last illness and death. It is presumably from these notes that Trelawny -drafted his letter to Colonel Stanhope, dated April 28, 1814. In reference -to that letter, Gamba says: - - 'The details there given of Lord Byron's last illness and death are - not quite correct. But where Mr. Trelawny speaks of the general - impression produced by that lamentable event, he pathetically - describes what is recognized for truth by all those who were witnesses - of the melancholy scene.' - -As Trelawny was not present during the illness and death of Byron, he -cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies that may appear in his -'Records.' He merely wrote from Fletcher's dictation, without adding one -word of his own. - -On Fletcher's return to England, he gave the following evidence: - - 'My master continued his usual custom of riding daily, when the - weather would permit, until the 9th of April. But on that ill-fated - day he got very wet, and on his return home his lordship changed the - whole of his dress; but he had been too long in his wet clothes, and - the cold, of which he had complained more or less ever since we left - Cephalonia, made this attack be more severely felt. Though rather - feverish during the night, his lordship slept pretty well, but - complained in the morning of a pain in his bones and a headache: this - did not, however, prevent him from taking a ride in the afternoon, - which, I grieve to say, was his last. On his return, my master said - that the saddle was not perfectly dry, from being so wet the day - before, and observed that he thought it had made him worse. His - lordship was again visited by the same slow fever, and I was sorry to - perceive, on the next morning, that his illness appeared to be - increasing. He was very low, and complained of not having had any - sleep during the night. His lordship's appetite was also quite gone. I - prepared a little arrowroot, of which he took three or four spoonfuls, - saying it was very good, but could take no more. It was not till the - third day, the 12th, that I began to be alarmed for my master. In all - his former colds he always slept well, and was never affected by this - slow fever. I therefore went to Dr. Bruno and Mr. Millingen, the two - medical attendants, and inquired minutely into every circumstance - connected with my master's present illness: both replied that there - was no danger, and I might make myself perfectly easy on the subject, - for all would be well in a few days. This was on the 13th. On the - following day I found my master in such a state, that I could not feel - happy without supplicating that he would send to Zante for Dr. Thomas. - After expressing my fears lest his lordship should get worse, he - desired me to consult the doctors; which I did, and was told there was - no occasion for calling in any person, as they hoped all would be well - in a few days. Here I should remark that his lordship repeatedly said, - in the course of the day, he was sure the doctors did not understand - his disease; to which I answered, "Then, my lord, have other advice, - by all means." "They tell me," said his lordship, "that it is only a - common cold, which, you know, I have had a thousand times." "I am - sure, my lord," said I, "that you never had one of so serious a - nature." "I think I never had," was his lordship's answer. I repeated - my supplications that Dr. Thomas should be sent for on the 15th, and - was again assured that my master would be better in two or three days. - After these confident assurances, I did not renew my entreaties until - it was too late. - - 'With respect to the medicines that were given to my master, I could - not persuade myself that those of a strong purgative nature were the - best adapted for his complaint, concluding that, as he had nothing on - his stomach, the only effect would be to create pain: indeed, this - must have been the case with a person in perfect health. The whole - nourishment taken by my master, for the last eight days, consisted of - a small quantity of broth at two or three different times, and two - spoonfuls of arrowroot on the 18th, the day before his death. The - first time I heard of there being any intention of bleeding his - lordship was on the 15th, when it was proposed by Dr. Bruno, but - objected to at first by my master, who asked Mr. Millingen if there - was any very great reason for taking blood. The latter replied that it - might be of service, but added that it could be deferred till the next - day; and accordingly my master was bled in the right arm on the - evening of the 16th, and a pound of blood was taken. I observed at the - time that it had a most inflamed appearance. Dr. Bruno now began to - say he had frequently urged my master to be bled, but that he always - refused. A long dispute now arose about the time that had been lost, - and the necessity of sending for medical assistance to Zante; upon - which I was informed, for the first time, that it would be of no use, - as my master would be better, or no more, before the arrival of Dr. - Thomas. His lordship continued to get worse: but Dr. Bruno said he - thought letting blood again would save his life; and I lost no time in - telling my master how necessary it was to comply with the doctor's - wishes. To this he replied by saying he feared they knew nothing about - his disorder; and then, stretching out his arm, said, "Here, take my - arm, and do whatever you like." His lordship continued to get weaker; - and on the 17th he was bled twice in the morning, and at two o'clock - in the afternoon. The bleeding at both times was followed by fainting - fits, and he would have fallen down more than once had I not caught - him in my arms. In order to prevent such an accident, I took care not - to let his lordship stir without supporting him. On this day my master - said to me twice, "I cannot sleep, and you well know I have not been - able to sleep for more than a week: I know," added his lordship, "that - a man can only be a certain time without sleep, and then he must go - mad, without anyone being able to save him; and I would ten times - sooner shoot myself than be mad, for I am not afraid of dying--I am - more fit to die than people think." I do not, however, believe that - his lordship had any apprehension of his fate till the day after, the - 18th, when he said, "I fear you and Tita will be ill by sitting up - constantly night and day." I answered, "We shall never leave your - lordship till you are better." As my master had a slight fit of - delirium on the 16th, I took care to remove the pistols and stiletto - which had hitherto been kept at his bedside in the night. On the 18th - his lordship addressed me frequently, and seemed to be very much - dissatisfied with his medical treatment. I then said, "Do allow me to - send for Dr. Thomas," to which he answered, "Do so, but be quick. I am - sorry I did not let you do so before, as I am sure they have mistaken - my disease. Write yourself, for I know they would not like to see - other doctors here." - - 'I did not lose a moment in obeying my master's orders; and on - informing Dr. Bruno and Mr. Millingen of it, they said it was very - right, as they now began to be afraid themselves. On returning to my - master's room, his first words were, "Have you sent?" "I have, my - lord," was my answer; upon which he said, "You have done right, for I - should like to know what is the matter with me." Although his lordship - did not appear to think his dissolution was so near, I could perceive - he was getting weaker every hour, and he even began to have occasional - fits of delirium. He afterwards said, "I now begin to think I am - seriously ill; and, in case I should be taken off suddenly, I wish to - give you several directions, which I hope you will be particular in - seeing executed." I answered I would, in case such an event came to - pass, but expressed a hope that he would live many years to execute - them much better himself than I could. To this my master replied, "No, - it is now nearly over," and then added, "I must tell you all without - losing a moment." I then said, "Shall I go, my lord, and fetch pen, - ink, and paper?" "Oh, my God! no, you will lose too much time; and I - have it not to spare, for my time is now short," said his Lordship; - and immediately after, "Now, pay attention." His lordship commenced by - saying, "You will be provided for." I begged him, however, to proceed - with things of more consequence. He then continued, "Oh, my poor dear - child!--my dear Ada! My God! could I but have seen her! Give her my - blessing--and my dear sister Augusta and her children;--and you will - go to Lady Byron, and say--tell her everything;--you are friends with - her." His lordship appeared to be greatly affected at this moment. - Here my master's voice failed him, so that I could only catch a word - at intervals; but he kept muttering something very seriously for some - time, and would often raise his voice and say, "Fletcher, now, if you - do not execute every order which I have given you, I will torment you - hereafter if possible." Here I told his lordship, in a state of the - greatest perplexity, that I had not understood a word of what he said; - to which he replied, "Oh, my God! then all is lost, for it is now too - late! Can it be possible you have not understood me?" "No, my lord," - said I, "but I pray you to try and inform me once more." "How can I?" - rejoined my master; "it is now too late, and all is over!" I said, - "Not our will, but God's be done!" and he answered, "Yes, not mine be - done--but I will try." His lordship did indeed make several efforts to - speak, but could only repeat two or three words at a time, such as "My - wife! my child! my sister! You know all--you must say all--you know my - wishes." The rest was quite unintelligible. - - 'A consultation was now held about noon, when it was determined to - administer some Peruvian bark and wine. My master had now been nine - days without any sustenance whatever, except what I have already - mentioned. With the exception of a few words which can only interest - those to whom they were addressed, and which, if required, I shall - communicate to themselves, it was impossible to understand anything - his lordship said after taking the bark. He expressed a wish to sleep. - I at one time asked whether I should call Mr. Parry; to which he - replied, "Yes, you may call him." Mr. Parry desired him to compose - himself. He shed tears, and apparently sunk into a slumber. Mr. Parry - went away, expecting to find him refreshed on his return; but it was - the commencement of the lethargy preceding his death. The last words I - heard my master utter were at six o'clock on the evening of the 18th, - when he said, "I must sleep now"; upon which he laid down never to - rise again!--for he did not move hand or foot during the following - twenty-four hours. His lordship appeared, however, to be in a state of - suffocation at intervals, and had a frequent rattling in the throat. - On these occasions I called Tita to assist me in raising his head, - and I thought he seemed to get quite stiff. The rattling and choking - in the throat took place every half-hour; and we continued to raise - his head whenever the fit came on, till six o'clock in the evening of - the 19th, when I saw my master open his eyes and then shut them, but - without showing any symptom of pain, or moving hand or foot. "Oh, my - God!" I exclaimed, "I fear his lordship is gone." The doctors then - felt his pulse, and said, "You are right--he is gone."' - -Dr. Bruno's answer to the above statement will be found in the Appendix. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - -Several days passed after the requiem service held in the Church of S. -Spiridion. Meanwhile the necessary preparations were made for transporting -the body to Zante. On May 2 the coffin was carried down to the seaside on -the shoulders of four military chiefs, and attended in the same order as -before. The guns of the fortress saluted until the moment of embarkation. -The vessel which bore the body reached the island of Zante on the third -day after leaving Missolonghi, having, as Gamba says, taken the same -course exactly as on the voyage out. The vessel, owing to head-winds, was -brought to anchor close to the same rocks where Byron had sought shelter -from the Turkish frigate. - - 'On the evening of the 4th May,' says Gamba, 'we made the port of - Zante, and heard that Lord Sidney Osborne had arrived, but, not - finding us in that island, had sailed for Missolonghi.' - -Blaquičre, who was at Zante at the time, says: - - 'The vessel was recognized at a considerable distance, owing to her - flag being at half-mast. She entered the mole towards sunset. The body - was accompanied by the whole of his lordship's attendants, who - conveyed it to the lazaretto on the following morning.' - -During the time that the body of Lord Byron was detained at the lazaretto, -a discussion arose as to the final disposal of the remains, Colonel -Stanhope and others being of opinion that they should be interred in the -Parthenon at Athens. It would seem that such a course would have met with -Byron's approval; but, in deference to what were then supposed to have -been the wishes of the poet's family, it was finally arranged to charter -the brig _Florida_, which had lately arrived at Zante with the first -instalment of the Greek loan. In this connection, the last entry in -Gamba's journal may be quoted in full: - - 'A few days after our arrival at Zante, Colonel Stanhope came from the - Morea. He had already written to inform us that the Greek chieftains - of Athens had expressed their desire that Lord Byron should be buried - in the Temple of Theseus. The citizens of Missolonghi had made a - similar request for their town; and we thought it advisable to accede - to their wishes so far as to leave with them, for interment, one of - the vessels containing a portion of the honoured remains. As he had - not expressed any wishes on the subject,[26] we thought the most - becoming course was to convey him to his native country. Accordingly, - the ship that had brought us the specie was engaged for that purpose. - Colonel Stanhope kindly took charge; and on the 25th May the - _Florida_, having on board the remains of Lord Byron, set sail for - England from the port of Zante.' - -The following tribute to Byron from the pen of Blaquičre, written on May -24, 1824, must here be given: - - 'Every letter of Byron's, in which any allusion was made to the Greek - cause, proved how judiciously he viewed that great question, while it - displayed a thorough knowledge of the people he had come to assist. - This latter circumstance, which made him more cautious in avoiding - every interference calculated to wound the self-love of the Greeks, - who, though fallen, are still remarkable for their pride, accounts for - the great popularity he had acquired. - - 'It may be truly said that no foreigner who has hitherto espoused the - cause made greater allowance for the errors inseparable from it than - did Lord Byron. - - 'With respect to his opinion as to the best mode of bringing the - contest to a triumphant close, and healing those differences which - have been created by party spirit or faction, there is reason to - believe that the subject occupied his particular attention, and he was - even more than once heard to say that "no person had as yet hit upon - the right plan for securing the independence of Greece." - - 'While sedulously employed in reconciling jarring interests and - promoting a spirit of union, the grand maxim which he laboured to - instil into the Greeks was that of making every other object secondary - and subservient to the paramount one of driving out the Turks.' - -At six o'clock on the evening of that day, Blaquičre added the following -words: - - 'I have this instant returned on shore, after having performed the - melancholy duty of towing the remains of Lord Byron alongside the - _Florida_. - - 'I should add that, in consequence of there being no means of - procuring lead for the coffin at Zante, it was arranged that the tin - case prepared at Missolonghi should be enclosed in wood; so that there - is now no fear that the body will not reach England in perfect - preservation. The only mark of respect shown to-day was displayed by - the merchant vessels in the bay and mole. The whole of these, whether - English or foreign, had their flags at half-mast, and many of them - fired guns. The _Florida_ fired minute-guns from the time of our - leaving the lazaretto until we got alongside, when the body was taken - on board, and placed in a space prepared for that purpose. The whole - is painted black, and, thanks to the foresight of my friend Robinson, - an escutcheon very well executed designates the mournful receptacle. - Although no honours have been paid to the remains of our immortal - poet here, we look forward with melancholy satisfaction to those which - await him in the land of his birth. - - 'However bitterly his pen may have lashed the vices and follies of his - day, it is not the least honourable trait in our national character - that neither personal dislike nor those prejudices which arise from - literary jealousy and political animosity prevent us from duly - appreciating departed worth, and even forgetting those aberrations to - which all are more or less liable in this state of imperfection and - fallibility.' - -The following extracts are taken from Lord Broughton's 'Recollections of a -Long Life,' a work that was printed, but not published, in 1865. As the -opinions of Byron's life-long friend, John Cam Hobhouse, they cannot fail -to interest the reader:[27] - - 'How much soever the Greeks of that day may have differed on other - topics, there was no difference of opinion in regard to the loss they - had sustained by the death of Byron. Those who have read Colonel - Leicester Stanhope's interesting volume, "Greece in 1823 and 1824," - and more particularly Colonel Stanhope's "Sketch" and Mr. Finlay's - "Reminiscences" of Byron, will have seen him just as he appeared to me - during our long intimacy. I liked him a great deal too well to be an - impartial judge of his character; but I can confidently appeal to the - impressions he made upon the two above-mentioned witnesses of his - conduct, under very trying circumstances, for a justification of my - strong affection for him--an affection not weakened by the forty years - of a busy and chequered life that have passed over me since I saw him - laid in his grave. - - 'The influence he had acquired in Greece was unbounded, and he had - exerted it in a manner most useful to her cause. Lord Sidney Osborne, - writing to Mrs. Leigh, said that, if Byron had never written a line in - his life, he had done enough, during the last six months in Greece, to - immortalize his name. He added that no one unacquainted with the - circumstances of the case could have any idea of the difficulties he - had overcome. He had reconciled the contending parties, and had given - a character of humanity and civilization to the warfare in which they - were engaged, besides contriving to prevent them from offending their - powerful neighbours in the Ionian Islands. - - 'I heard that Sir F. Adam,[28] in a despatch to Lord Bathurst, bore - testimony to his great qualities, and lamented his death as depriving - the Ionian Government of the only man with whom they could act with - safety. Mavrocordato, in his letter to Dr. Bowring, called him "a - great man," and confessed that he was almost ignorant how to act when - deprived of such a coadjutor.... On Thursday, July 1, I heard that the - _Florida_, with the remains of Byron, had arrived in the Downs, and I - went the same evening to Rochester. The next morning I went to - Standgate Creek, and, taking a boat, went on board the vessel. There I - found Colonel Leicester Stanhope, Dr. Bruno, Fletcher, Byron's valet, - with three others of his servants. Three dogs that had belonged to my - friend were playing about the deck. I could hardly bring myself to - look at them. The vessel had got under-weigh, and we beat up the river - to Gravesend. I cannot describe what I felt during the five or six - hours of our passage. I was the last person who shook hands with Byron - when he left England in 1816. I recollected his waving his cap to me - as the packet bounded off on a curling wave from the pier-head at - Dover, and here I was now coming back to England with his corpse. - - 'Poor Fletcher burst into tears when he first saw me, and wept - bitterly when he told me the particulars of my friend's last illness. - These have been frequently made public, and need not be repeated here. - I heard, however, on undoubted authority, that until he became - delirious he was perfectly calm; and I called to mind how often I had - heard him say that he was not apprehensive as to death itself, but as - to how, from physical infirmity, he might behave at that inevitable - hour. On one occasion he said to me, "Let no one come near me when I - am dying, if you can help it, and we happen to be together at the - time." - - 'The _Florida_ anchored at Gravesend, and I returned to London; - Colonel Stanhope accompanied me. This was on Friday, July 2. On the - following Monday I went to Doctors' Commons and proved Byron's will. - Mr. Hanson did so likewise. Thence I went to London Bridge, got into a - boat, and went to London Docks Buoy, where the _Florida_ was anchored. - I found Mr. Woodeson, the undertaker, on board, employed in emptying - the spirit from the large barrel containing the box that held the - corpse. This box was removed, and placed on deck by the side of a - leaden coffin. I stayed whilst the iron hoops were knocked off the - box; but I could not bear to see the remainder of the operation, and - went into the cabin. Whilst there I looked over the sealed packet of - papers belonging to Byron, which he had deposited at Cephalonia, and - which had not been opened since he left them there. Captain Hodgson of - the _Florida_, the captain's father, and Fletcher, were with me; we - examined every paper, and did not find any will. Those present signed - a document to that effect. - - 'After the removal of the corpse into the coffin, and the arrival of - the order from the Custom-house, I accompanied the undertaker in the - barge with the coffin. There were many boats round the ship at the - time, and the shore was crowded with spectators. We passed quietly up - the river, and landed at Palace Yard stairs. Thence the coffin and the - small chest containing the heart were carried to the house in George - Street, and deposited in the room prepared for their reception. The - room was decently hung with black, but there was no other decoration - than an escutcheon of the Byron arms, roughly daubed on a deal board. - - 'On reaching my rooms at the Albany, I found a note from Mr. Murray, - telling me that he had received a letter from Dr. Ireland, politely - declining to allow the burial of Byron in Westminster Abbey; but it - was not until the next day that, to my great surprise, I learnt, on - reading the doctor's note, that Mr. Murray had made the request to the - Dean in my name. I thought that it had been settled that Mr. Gifford - should sound the Dean of Westminster previously to any formal request - being made. I wrote to Mr. Murray, asking him to inform the Dean that - I had not made the request. Whether he did so, I never inquired. - - 'I ascertained from Mrs. Leigh that it was wished the interment should - take place at the family vault at Hucknall in Nottinghamshire. The - utmost eagerness was shown, both publicly and privately, to get sight - of anything connected with Byron. Lafayette was at that time on his - way to America, and a young Frenchman came over from the General at - Havre, and wrote me a note requesting a sight of the deceased poet. - The coffin had been closed, and his wishes could not be complied with. - A young man came on board the _Florida_, and in very moving terms - besought me to allow him to take one look at him. I was sorry to be - obliged to refuse, as I did not know the young man, and there were - many round the vessel who would have made the same request. He was - bitterly disappointed; and when I gave him a piece of the cotton in - which the corpse had been wrapped, he took it with much devotion, and - placed it in his pocket-book. Mr. Phillips, the Academician, applied - for permission to take a likeness, but I heard from Mrs. Leigh that - the features of her brother had been so disfigured by the means used - to preserve his remains, that she scarcely recognized them. This was - the fact; for I had summoned courage enough to look at my dead friend; - so completely was he altered, that the sight did not affect me so much - as looking at his handwriting, or anything that I knew had belonged to - him.' - -The following account by Colonel Leicester Stanhope, probably outlined -during his voyage home with Byron's body, is well worth reading. It -unveils the personality of Byron as he appeared during those trying times -at Missolonghi, when, tortured by illness and worried by dissensions among -his coadjutors, he gave his life to Greece. Stanhope's sketch conveys the -honest opinion of a man whose political views, differing fundamentally -from those of Byron, brought them often in collision. But for this reason, -perhaps, this record is the more valuable. It is written without -prejudice, with considerable perspicuity, and with unquestionable -sincerity. Its peculiar value lies in the approval which, as we have seen, -it received from Mr. Hobhouse, who undoubtedly was better acquainted with -the character of Byron than any of his contemporaries. - - 'In much of what certain authors have lately said in praise of Lord - Byron I concur. The public are indebted to them for useful information - concerning that extraordinary man's biography. I do not, however, - think that any of them have given of him a full and masterly - description. It would require a person of his own wonderful capacity - to draw his character, and even he could not perform this task - otherwise than by continuing the history of what passed in his mind; - for his character was as versatile as his genius. From his writings, - therefore, he must be judged, and from them can he alone be - understood. His character was, indeed, poetic, like his works, and he - partook of the virtues and vices of the heroes of his imagination. - Lord Byron was original and eccentric in all things, and his conduct - and his writings were unlike those of other men. He might have said - with Rousseau: "Moi seul. Je sens mon coeur et je connois les hommes. - Je ne suis fait comme aucun de ceux qui existent. Si je ne vaux pas - mieux, au moins, je suis autre. Si la nature a bien ou mal fait de - briser le moule dans lequel elle m'a jetté, c'est dont on ne peut - juger qu'aprčs m'avoir lu." All that can be hoped is, that, after a - number of the ephemeral sketches of Lord Byron have been published, - and ample information concerning him obtained, some master-hand will - undertake the task of drawing his portrait. If anything like justice - be done to Lord Byron, his character will appear far more - extraordinary than any his imagination has produced, and not less - wonderful than those sublime and inimitable sketches created and - painted by the fanciful pen of Shakespeare. - - 'There were two circumstances which appear to me to have had a - powerful influence on Byron's conduct. I allude to his lameness and - his marriage. The deformity of his foot constantly preyed on his - spirits and soured his temper. It is extraordinary, however, and - contrary, I believe, to the conduct of the generality of lame persons, - that he pitied, sympathized, and befriended, those who laboured under - similar defects. - - 'With respect to Lady Byron, her image appeared to be rooted in his - mind. She had wounded Lord Byron's pride by having refused his first - offer of marriage; by having separated herself from him whom others - assiduously courted; and by having resisted all the efforts of his - genius to compel her again to yield to his dominion. Had Lady Byron - been submissive, could she have stooped to become a caressing slave, - like other ingenious slaves, she might have governed her lord and - master. But no, she had a mind too great, and was too much of an - Englishwoman to bow so low. These contrarieties set Lord Byron's heart - on fire, roused all his passions, gave birth, no doubt, to many of his - sublimest thoughts, and impelled him impetuously forward in his zigzag - career. When angry or humorous, she became the subject of his wild - sport; at other times she seemed, though he loved her not, to be the - mistress of his feelings, and one whom he in vain attempted to cast - from his thoughts. Thus, in a frolicsome tone, I have heard him sketch - characters, and, speaking of a certain acquaintance, say, "With the - exception of Southey and Lady Byron, there is no one I hate so much." - This was a noisy shot--a sort of a _feu de joie_, that inflicted no - wound, and left no scar behind. Lord Byron was in reality a - good-natured man, and it was a violence to his nature, which he seldom - practised, either to conceal what he thought or to harbour revenge. In - one conversation which I had with Lord Byron, he dwelt much upon the - acquirements and virtues of Lady Byron, and even said she had - committed no fault but that of having married him. The truth is, that - he was not formed for marriage. His riotous genius could not bear - restraint. No woman could have lived with him but one devoid of, or of - subdued, feelings--an Asiatic slave. Lord Byron, it is well known, was - passionately fond of his child; of this he gave me the following - proof. He showed me a miniature of Ada, as also a clever description - of her character, drawn by her mother, and forwarded to him by the - person he most esteemed, his amiable sister. After I had examined the - letter, while reflecting on its contents, I gazed intently on the - picture; Lord Byron, observing me in deep meditation, impatiently - said, "Well, well, what do you think of Ada?" I replied, "If these are - true representations of Ada, and are not drawn to flatter your vanity, - you have engrafted on her your virtues and your failings. She is in - mind and feature the very image of her father." Never did I see man - feel more pleasure than Lord Byron felt at this remark; his eyes - lightened with ecstasy. - - 'Lord Byron's mental and personal courage was unlike that of other - men. To the superficial observer his conduct seemed to be quite - unsettled; this was really the case to a certain extent. His genius - was boundless and excursive, and in conversation his tongue went - rioting on - - '"From grave to gay, from lively to severe." - - 'Still, upon the whole, no man was more constant, and, I may almost - say, more obstinate in the pursuit of some great objects. For example, - in religion and politics he seemed firm as a rock, though like a rock - he was subjected to occasional rude shocks, the convulsions of - agitated nature. - - 'The assertions I have ventured to make of Lord Byron having fixed - opinions on certain material questions are not according to his own - judgment. From what fell from his own lips, I could draw no such - conclusions, for, in conversing with me on government and religion, - and after going wildly over these subjects, sometimes in a grave and - philosophical, and sometimes in a laughing and humorous strain, he - would say: "The more I think, the more I doubt; I am a perfect - sceptic." In contradiction to this assertion, I set Lord Byron's - recorded sentiments, and his actions from the period of his boyhood to - that of his death; and I contend that although he occasionally veered - about, yet he always returned to certain fixed opinions; and that he - felt a constant attachment to liberty, according to our notions of - liberty, and that, although no Christian, he was a firm believer in - the existence of a God. It is, therefore, equally remote from truth to - represent him as either an atheist or a Christian: he was, as he has - often told me, a confirmed deist. - - 'Lord Byron was no party politician. Lord Clare was the person whom he - liked best, because he was his old school acquaintance. Mr. John Cam - Hobhouse was his long-tried, his esteemed, and valued literary and - personal friend. Death has severed these, but there is a soul in - friendship that can never die. No man ever chose a nobler friend. Mr. - Hobhouse has given many proofs of this, and among others, I saw him, - from motives of high honour, destroy a beautiful poem of Lord Byron's, - and, perhaps, the last he ever composed. The same reason that induced - Mr. H. to tear this fine manuscript will, of course, prevent him or me - from ever divulging its contents. Mr. Douglas Kinnaird was another for - whom Lord Byron entertained the sincerest esteem: no less on account - of his high social qualities, than as a clear-sighted man of business, - on whose discretion he could implicitly rely. Sir Francis Burdett was - the politician whom he most admired. He used to say, "Burdett is an - Englishman of the old school." He compared the Baronet to the - statesmen of Charles I.'s time, whom he considered the sternest and - loftiest spirits that Britain had produced. Lord Byron entertained - high aristocratic notions, and had much family pride. He admired, - notwithstanding, the American institutions, but did not consider them - of so democratic a nature as is generally imagined. He found, he said, - many Englishmen and English writers more imbued with liberal notions - than those Americans and American authors with whom he was acquainted. - - 'Lord Byron was chivalrous even to Quixotism. This might have lowered - him in the estimation of the wise, had he not given some extraordinary - proofs of the noblest courage. For example, the moment he recovered - from that alarming fit which took place in my room, he inquired again - and again, with the utmost composure, whether he was in danger. If in - danger, he desired the physician honestly to apprise him of it, for he - feared not death. Soon after this dreadful paroxysm, when Lord Byron, - faint with overbleeding, was lying on his sick-bed, with his whole - nervous system completely shaken, the mutinous Suliotes, covered with - dirt and splendid attires, broke into his apartment, brandishing their - costly arms, and loudly demanding their wild rights. Lord Byron, - electrified by this unexpected act, seemed to recover from his - sickness; and the more the Suliotes raged, the more his calm courage - triumphed. The scene was truly sublime. - - 'At times Lord Byron would become disgusted with the Greeks, on - account of their horrid cruelties, their delays, their importuning him - for money, and their not fulfilling their promises. That he should - feel thus was very natural, although all this is just what might be - anticipated from a people breaking loose from ages of bondage. We are - too apt to expect the same conduct from men educated as slaves (and - here be it remembered that the Greeks were the Helots of slaves) that - we find in those who have, from their infancy, breathed the wholesome - atmosphere of liberty. - - 'Most persons assume a virtuous character. Lord Byron's ambition, on - the contrary, was to make the world imagine that he was a sort of - "Satan," though occasionally influenced by lofty sentiments to the - performance of great actions. Fortunately for his fame, he possessed - another quality, by which he stood completely unmasked. He was the - most ingenuous of men, and his nature, in the main good, always - triumphed over his acting. - - 'There was nothing that he detested more than to be thought merely a - great poet, though he did not wish to be esteemed inferior as a - dramatist to Shakspeare. Like Voltaire, he was unconsciously jealous - of, and for that reason abused, our immortal bard. His mind was - absorbed in detecting Shakspeare's glaring defects, instead of being - overpowered by his wonderful creative and redeeming genius. He assured - me that he was so far from being a "heaven-born poet" that he was not - conscious of possessing any talent in that way when a boy. This gift - had burst upon his mind unexpectedly, as if by inspiration, and had - excited his wonder. He also declared that he had no love or enthusiasm - for poetry. I shook my head doubtingly, and said to him that, although - he had displayed a piercing sagacity in reading and developing the - characters of others, he knew but little of his own. He replied: - "Often have I told you that I am a perfect sceptic. I have no fixed - opinions; that is my character. Like others, I am not in love with - what I possess, but with that which I do not possess, and which is - difficult to obtain." Lord Byron was for shining as a hero of the - first order. He wished to take an active part in the civil and - military government of Greece.[29] On this subject he consulted me; I - condemned the direct assumption of command by a foreigner, fearing - that it would expose him to envy and danger without promoting the - cause. I wished him, by a career of perfect disinterestedness, to - preserve a commanding influence over the Greeks, and to act as their - great mediator. Lord Byron listened to me with unusual and courteous - politeness, for he suspected my motives--he thought me - envious--jealous of his increasing power; and though he did not - disregard, did not altogether follow my advice. I was not, however, to - be disarmed either by politeness or suspicions; they touched me not, - for my mind was occupied with loftier thoughts. The attack was renewed - the next day in a mild tone. The collision, however, of Lord Byron's - arguments, sparkling with jests, and mine, regardless of his - brilliancy and satire, all earnestness, ended as usual in a storm. - Though most anxious to assume high power, Lord Byron was still modest. - He said to me, laughing, that if Napier came, he would _supersede - himself_, as Governor and Commander of Western Greece, in favour of - that distinguished officer. I laughed at this whimsical expression - till I made Lord Byron laugh, too, and repeat over again that he would - "supersede himself." - - 'The mind of Lord Byron was like a volcano, full of fire and wealth, - sometimes calm, often dazzling and playful, but ever threatening. It - ran swift as the lightning from one subject to another, and - occasionally burst forth in passionate throes of intellect, nearly - allied to madness. A striking instance of this sort of eruption I - shall mention. Lord Byron's apartments were immediately over mine at - Missolonghi. In the dead of the night I was frequently startled from - my sleep by the thunders of his lordship's voice, either raging with - anger or roaring with laughter, and rousing friends, servants, and, - indeed, all the inmates of the dwelling, from their repose. Even when - in the utmost danger, Lord Byron contemplated death with calm - philosophy. He was, however, superstitious, and dreadfully alarmed at - the idea of going mad, which he predicted would be his sad destiny. - - 'As a companion, no one could be more amusing; he had neither pedantry - nor affectation about him, but was natural and playful as a boy. His - conversation resembled a stream, sometimes smooth, sometimes rapid, - and sometimes rushing down in cataracts; it was a mixture of - philosophy and slang--of everything--like his "Don Juan." He was a - patient and, in general, a very attentive listener. When, however, he - did engage with earnestness in conversation, his ideas succeeded each - other with such uncommon rapidity that he could not control them. They - burst from him impetuously; and although he both attended to and - noticed the remarks of others, yet he did not allow these to check his - discourse for an instant. - - 'Lord Byron professed a deep-rooted antipathy to the English, though - he was always surrounded by Englishmen, and, in reality, preferred - them (as he did Italian women) to all others. I one day accused him of - ingratitude to his countrymen. For many years, I observed, he had - been, in spite of his faults, and although he had shocked all her - prejudices, the pride, and I might almost say the idol, of Britain. He - said they must be a stupid race to worship such an idol, but he had at - last cured their superstition, as far as his divinity was concerned, - by the publication of his "Cain." It was true, I replied, that he had - now lost their favour. This remark stung him to the soul, for he - wished not only to occupy the public mind, but to command, by his - genius, public esteem. - - 'This extraordinary person, whom everybody was as anxious to see, and - to know, as if he had been a Napoleon, the conqueror of the world, had - a notion that he was hated, and avoided like one who had broken - quarantine. He used often to mention to me the kindness of this or - that insignificant individual, for having given him a good and - friendly reception. In this particular Lord Byron was capricious, for - at Genoa he would scarcely see anyone but those who lived in his own - family; whereas at Cephalonia he was to everyone and at all times - accessible. At Genoa he acted the misanthropist; at Cephalonia he - appeared in his genuine character, doing good, and rather courting - than shunning society. - - 'Lord Byron conceived that he possessed a profound knowledge of - mankind, and of the working of their passions. In this he judged - right. He could fathom every mind and heart but his own, the extreme - depths of which none ever reached. On my arrival from England at - Cephalonia, his lordship asked me what new publications I had brought - out. Among others I mentioned "The Springs of Action." "Springs of - Action!" said Lord Byron, stamping with rage with his lame foot, and - then turning sharply on his heel, "I don't require to be taught on - this head. I know well what are the springs of action." Some time - afterwards, while speaking on another subject, he desired me to lend - him "The Springs of Action." He then suddenly changed the conversation - to some humorous remarks for the purpose of diverting my attention. I - could not, however, forbear reminding him of his former observations - and his furious stamp. - - 'Avarice and great generosity were among Lord Byron's qualities; these - contrarieties are said not unfrequently to be united in the same - person. As an instance of Lord Byron's parsimony, he was constantly - attacking Count Gamba, sometimes, indeed, playfully, but more often - with the bitterest satire, for having purchased for the use of his - family, while in Greece, 500 dollars' worth of cloth. This he used to - mention as an instance of the Count's imprudence and extravagance. - Lord Byron told me one day, with a tone of great gravity, that this - 500 dollars would have been most serviceable in promoting the siege of - Lepanto; and that he never would, to the last moment of his existence, - forgive Gamba for having squandered away his money in the purchase of - cloth. No one will suppose that Lord Byron could be serious in such a - denunciation; he entertained, in reality, the highest opinion of Count - Gamba, who both on account of his talents and devotedness to his - friend merited his lordship's esteem. - - 'Lord Byron's generosity is before the world; he promised to devote - his large income to the cause of Greece, and he honestly acted up to - his pledge. It was impossible for Lord Byron to have made a more - useful, and therefore a more noble, sacrifice of his wealth, than by - devoting it, _with discretion_, to the Greek cause. He set a bright - example to the millionaires of his own country, who certainly show but - little public spirit. Most of them expend their fortunes in acts of - ostentation or selfishness. Few there are of this class who will - devote, perchance, the hundredth part of their large incomes to acts - of benevolence or bettering the condition of their fellow-men. None of - our millionaires, with all their pride and their boasting have had the - public virtue, like Lord Byron, to sacrifice their incomes or their - lives in aid of a people struggling for liberty. - - 'Lord Byron's reading was desultory, but extensive; his memory was - retentive to an extraordinary extent. He was partial to the Italian - poets, and is said to have borrowed from them. Their fine thoughts he - certainly associated with his own, but with such skill that he could - not be accused of plagiarism. Lord Byron possessed, indeed, a genius - absolutely boundless, and could create with such facility that it - would have been irksome to him to have become a servile imitator. He - was original in all things, but especially as a poet. - - 'The study of voyages and travels was that in which he most delighted; - their details he seemed actually to devour. He would sit up all night - reading them. His whole soul was absorbed in these adventures, and he - appeared to personify the traveller. Lord Byron had a particular - aversion to business; his familiar letters were scrawled out at a - great rate, and resembled his conversations. Rapid as were his tongue - and his pen, neither could keep pace with the quick succession of - ideas that flashed across his mind. He hated nothing more than writing - formal official letters; this drudgery he would generally put off from - day to day, and finish by desiring Count Gamba, or some other friend, - to perform the task. No wonder that Lord Byron should dislike this - dry antipoetic work, and which he, in reality, performed with so much - difficulty. Lord Byron's arduous yet unsuccessful labours in this - barren field put me in mind of the difficulty which one of the - biographers of Addison describes this politician to have experienced, - when attempting to compose an official paragraph for the _Gazette_ - announcing the death of the Queen. This duty, after a long and - ineffectual attempt, the Minister, in despair, handed over to a clerk, - who (not being a genius, but a man of business) performed it in an - instant. - - 'Not less was Lord Byron's aversion to reading than to writing - official documents; these he used to hand over to me, pretending, - spite of all my protestations to the contrary, that I had a passion - for documents. When once Lord Byron had taken any whim into his head, - he listened not to contradiction, but went on laughing and satirizing - till his joke had triumphed over argument and fact. Thus I, for the - sake of peace, was sometimes silent, and suffered him to - good-naturedly bully me into reading over, or, rather, yawning over, a - mass of documents dull and uninteresting. - - 'Lord Byron once told me, in a humorous tone, but apparently quite in - earnest, that he never could acquire a competent knowledge of - arithmetic. Addition and subtraction he said he could, though with - some difficulty, accomplish. The mechanism of the rule of three - pleased him, but then division was a puzzle he could not muster up - sufficient courage to unravel. I mention this to show of how low a - cast Lord Byron's capacity was in some commonplace matters, where he - could not command attention. The reverse was the case on subjects of a - higher order, and in those trifling ones, too, that pleased his fancy. - Moved by such themes, the impulses of his genius shot forth, by day - and night, from his troubled brain, electric sparks or streams of - light, like blazing meteors. - - 'Lord Byron loved Greece. Her climate and her scenery, her history, - her struggles, her great men and her antiquities, he admired. He - declared that he had no mastery over his own thoughts. In early youth - he was no poet, nor was he now, except when the fit was upon him, and - he felt his mind agitated and feverish. These attacks, he continued, - scarcely ever visited him anywhere but in Greece; there he felt - himself exhilarated--metamorphosed into another person, and with - another soul--in short, never had he, but in Greece, written one good - line of poetry. This is a fact exaggerated, as facts often are, by the - impulses of strong feelings. It is not on that account less calculated - to convey to others the character of Lord Byron's mind, or to impress - it the less upon their recollections. - - 'Once established at Missolonghi, it required some great impetus to - move Lord Byron from that unhealthy swamp. On one occasion, when - irritated by the Suliotes and the constant applications for money, he - intimated his intention to depart. The citizens of Missolonghi and the - soldiers grumbled, and communicated to me, through Dr. Meyer, their - discontent. I repeated what I had heard to Lord Byron. He replied, - calmly, that he would rather be cut to pieces than imprisoned, for he - came to aid the Greeks in their struggle for liberty, and not to be - their slave. No wonder that the "Hellenists" endeavoured to impede - Lord Byron's departure, for even I, a mere soldier, could not escape - from Missolonghi, Athens, Corinth, or Salona, without considerable - difficulty. Some time previous to Lord Byron's death, he began to feel - a restlessness and a wish to remove to Athens or to Zante.' - -On Monday, July 12, at eleven o'clock in the morning, the funeral -procession, attended by a great number of carriages and by crowds of -people, left No. 20, Great George Street, Westminster, and, passing the -Abbey, moved slowly to St. Pancras Gate. Here a halt was made; the -carriages returned, and the hearse proceeded by slow stages to Nottingham. - -The Mayor and Corporation of Nottingham now joined the funeral procession. -Mr. Hobhouse, who attended, tells us that the cortčge extended about a -quarter of a mile, and, moving very slowly, was five hours on the road to -Hucknall-Torkard. - - 'The view of it as it wound through the villages of Papplewick and - Lindlay excited sensations in me which will never be forgotten. As we - passed under the Hill of Annesley, "crowned with the peculiar diadem - of trees" immortalized by Byron, I called to mind a thousand - particulars of my first visit to Newstead. It was dining at Annesley - Park that I saw the first interview of Byron, after a long interval, - with his early love, Mary Anne Chaworth. - - 'The churchyard and the little church of Hucknall were so crowded that - it was with difficulty we could follow the coffin up the aisle. The - contrast between the gorgeous decorations of the coffin and the urn, - and the humble village church, was very striking. I was told - afterwards that the place was crowded until a late hour in the - evening, and that the vault was not closed until the next morning. - - 'I should mention that I thought Lady Byron ought to be consulted - respecting the funeral of her husband; and I advised Mrs. Leigh to - write to her, and ask what her wishes might be. Her answer was, if the - deceased had left no instructions, she thought the matter might be - left to the judgment of Mr. Hobhouse. There was a postscript, saying, - "If you like you may show this."' - -Hobhouse concludes his account with these words: - - 'I was present at the marriage of this lady with my friend, and handed - her into the carriage which took the bride and bridegroom away. - Shaking hands with Lady Byron, I wished her all happiness. Her answer - was: "If I am _not_ happy, it will be my own fault."' - - - - -PART II - -WHAT THE POEMS REVEAL - - 'Intesi, che a cosi fatto tormento - Enno dannati i peccator carnali - Che la ragion sommettono al talento.' - _Inferno_, Canto V., 37-39. - - - - -WHAT THE POEMS REVEAL - - 'Every author in some degree portrays himself in his works, even be it - against his will.'--GOETHE. - - -Lady Byron has expressed her opinion that almost every incident in Byron's -poems was drawn from his personal experience. In a letter to Lady Anne -Barnard, written two years after the separation, she says: - - 'In regard to [Byron's] poetry, egotism is the vital principle of his - imagination, which it is difficult for him to kindle on any subject - with which his own character and interests are not identified; but by - the introduction of fictitious incidents, by change of scene or time, - he has enveloped his poetical disclosures in a system impenetrable - except to a very few.' - -Byron himself has told us in 'Don Juan' that his music 'has some mystic -diapasons, with much which could not be appreciated in any manner by the -_uninitiated_.' In a letter to John Murray (August 23, 1821), he says: -'Almost all "Don Juan" is _real_ life, either my own or from people I -knew.' - -It is no exaggeration to say that in Byron's poems some of the mysterious -incidents in his life are plainly revealed. For example, 'Childe Harold,' -'The Giaour,' 'The Bride of Abydos,' 'The Corsair,' 'Lara,' 'The Dream,' -'Manfred,' 'Don Juan,' and several of the smaller pieces, all disclose -episodes connected with his own personal experience. In the so-called -'Fugitive Pieces' we get a glimpse of his school life and friendships; -his pursuits during the time that he resided with his mother at Southwell; -and his introduction to Cambridge. In the 'Hours of Idleness' we are -introduced to Mary Chaworth, after her marriage and the ruin of his hopes. - -In the verse 'Remembrance' we realize that the dawn of his life is -overcast. We see, from some verses written in 1808, how, three years after -that marriage, he was still the victim of a fatal infatuation: - - 'I deem'd that Time, I deem'd that Pride, - Had quench'd at length my boyish flame; - Nor knew, till seated by thy side, - My heart in all--save hope--the same.' - -After lingering for three months in the neighbourhood of the woman whom he -so unwisely loved, he finally resolved to break the chain: - - 'In flight I shall be surely wise, - Escaping from temptation's snare; - I cannot view my Paradise - Without the wish of dwelling there.' - -When about to leave England, in vain pursuit of the happiness he had lost, -he addresses passionate verses to Mary Chaworth: - - 'And I must from this land be gone, - Because I cannot love but one.' - -He tells her that he has had love passages with another woman, in the vain -hope of destroying the love of his life: - - 'But some unconquerable spell - Forbade my bleeding breast to own - A kindred care for aught but one.' - -He wished to say farewell, but dared not trust himself. In the cantos of -'Childe Harold,' written during his absence, he recurs to the subject -nearest to his heart. He says that before leaving Newstead-- - - 'Oft-times in his maddest mirthful mood - Strange pangs would flash along Childe Harold's brow, - As if the memory of some _deadly feud_ - Or _disappointed passion_ lurked below: - But this none knew, nor haply cared to know.' - -He mentions his mother, from whom he dreaded to part, and his sister -Augusta, whom he loved, but had not seen for some time. After his return -to England in 1811, he wrote the 'Thyrza' poems, and added some stanzas to -'Childe Harold,' wherein he expresses a hope that the separation between -himself and Mary Chaworth may not be eternal. He then pours out the -sorrows of his heart to Francis Hodgson. We cannot doubt that the 'Lines -written beneath a Picture,' composed at Athens in January, 1811, - - 'Dear object of defeated care! - Though now of Love and thee bereft,' - -referred to Mary Chaworth, for he mentions the deathblow of his hope. In -the 'Epistle to a Friend,' Byron mentions the effect which a chance -meeting with Mary had upon him, causing him to realize that 'Time had not -made him love the less.' - -The poems that have puzzled the commentator most were those which Byron -addressed to 'Thyrza'--a mysterious personage, whose identity has not -hitherto been discovered. The present writer proposes to enter fully, and, -he hopes, impartially, into the subject, trusting that the conclusions at -which he has arrived may ultimately be endorsed by others who have given -their serious attention to the question at issue. - -In any attempt to unravel the mystery of the 'Thyrza' poems, it will be -necessary to consider, not only the circumstances in which they were -written, but also those associations of Byron's youth which inspired a -love that endured throughout his life. - -Byron's attachment to his distant cousin, Mary Anne Chaworth, is well -known. We know that his boyish love was not returned, and that the young -heiress of Annesley married, in 1805, Mr. John Musters, of Colwick, in the -neighbourhood of Nottingham. In order to account for these love-poems, it -has been suggested that, subsequent to this marriage, Byron fell in love -with some incognita, whose identity has never been established, and who -died soon after his return to England in 1811. - -We are unable to concur with so simple a solution of the mystery, for the -following reasons: It will be remembered that shortly after Mary -Chaworth's marriage Byron entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he -formed a romantic attachment to a young chorister, named Edleston, whose -life he had saved from drowning. Writing to Miss Elizabeth Pigot on June -30, 1807, Byron says: - - 'I quit Cambridge with very little regret, because our _set_ are - vanished, and my musical _protégé_ (Edleston), before mentioned, has - left the choir, and is stationed in a mercantile house of considerable - eminence in the Metropolis. You may have heard me observe he is, - exactly to an hour, two years younger than myself. I found him grown - considerably, and, as you may suppose, very glad to see his former - _Patron_.[30] He is nearly my height, very _thin_, very fair - complexion, dark eyes, and light locks. - - 'My opinion of his mind you already know; I hope I shall never have - occasion to change it.' - -On July 5, 1807, Byron again wrote to Miss Pigot: - - 'At this moment I write with a bottle of claret in my _head_ and - _tears_ in my _eyes_; for I have just parted with my "Cornelian,"[31] - who spent the evening with me. As it was our last interview, I - postponed my engagement to devote the hours of the _Sabbath_ to - friendship: Edleston and I have separated for the present, and my mind - is a chaos of hope and sorrow.... I rejoice to hear you are interested - in my _protégé_; he has been my _almost constant_ associate since - October, 1805, when I entered Trinity College. His _voice_ first - attracted my attention, his _countenance_ fixed it, and his _manner_ - attached me to him for ever. He departs for a mercantile house in Town - in October, and we shall probably not meet till the expiration of my - minority, when I shall leave to his decision, either entering as a - _partner_ through my interest, or residing with me altogether. Of - course he would, in his present frame of mind, prefer the latter, but - he may alter his opinion previous to that period; however, he shall - have his choice. I certainly love him more than any human being, and - neither time nor distance have had the least effect on my (in general) - changeable disposition. In short, we shall put Lady E. Butler and Miss - Ponsonby (the "Ladies of Llangollen," as they were called) to the - blush, Pylades and Orestes out of countenance, and want nothing but a - catastrophe like Nisus and Euryalus, to give Jonathan and David the - "go by." He certainly is perhaps more attached to me than even I am in - return. During the whole of my residence at Cambridge we met every - day, summer and winter, without passing one tiresome moment, and - separated each time with increasing reluctance. I hope you will one - day see us together. He is the only being I esteem, though I _like_ - many.' - -This letter shows the depth of the boyish affection that had sprung up -between two lads with little experience of life. The attachment on both -sides was sincere, but not more so than many similar boy friendships, -which, alas! fade away under the chilling influences of time and -circumstance. In this case the 'Cornelian Heart' that had sparkled with -the tears of Edleston, and which, in the fervour of his feelings, Byron -had suspended round his neck, was, not long afterwards, transferred to -Miss Elizabeth Pigot. - -A vague notion seems to prevail that the inspiration of these 'Thyrza' -poems is in some way connected with Edleston. This idea seems to have -arisen from Byron's allusion to a pledge of affection given in better -days: - - 'Thou bitter pledge! thou mournful token!' - -We cannot accept this theory, being of opinion, not lightly formed, that -the 'bitter pledge' referred to had a far deeper and a more lasting -significance than ever could have belonged to 'the Cornelian heart that -was broken.' - -In later years, it will be remembered, Byron told Medwin that, shortly -after his arrival at Cambridge, he fell into habits of dissipation, in -order to drown the remembrance of a hopeless passion for Mary Chaworth. -That Mary Chaworth held his affections at that time is beyond question. -She also had given Byron 'a token,' which was still in his possession when -the 'Thyrza' poems were written; whereas Edleston's gift had passed to -other hands. The following anecdote, related by the Countess Guiccioli, -may be accepted on Byron's authority: - - 'One day (while Byron and Musters were bathing in the Trent--a river - that runs through the grounds of Colwick) Mr. Musters perceived a ring - among Lord Byron's clothes, left on the bank. To see and take - possession of it was the affair of a moment. Musters had recognized it - as having belonged to Miss Chaworth. Lord Byron claimed it, but - Musters would not restore the ring. High words were exchanged. On - returning to the house, Musters jumped on a horse, and galloped off - to ask an explanation from Miss Chaworth, who, being forced to confess - that Lord Byron wore the ring with her consent, felt obliged to make - amends to Musters, by promising to declare immediately her engagement - with him.' - -It is therefore probable that the 'dear simple gift,' of the first draft, -was the ring which Mary Chaworth had given to her boy lover in 1804, and -that the words we have quoted had no connection whatever with young -Edleston. - -Assuming that the 'Thyrza' poems were addressed to a woman--and there is -abundant proof of this--it is remarkable that, neither in the whole course -of his correspondence with his friends, nor from any source whatever, can -any traces be found of any other serious attachment which would account -for the poems in question. Between the date of the marriage, in 1805, and -the autumn of 1808, Byron and Mary Chaworth had not met. It will be -remembered that in the autumn--only eight months before he left England -with Hobhouse--Byron met Mary Chaworth at dinner in her own home. The -effect of that meeting, which he has himself described, shows the depth of -his feelings, and precludes the idea that he could at that time have been -deeply interested in anyone else. After that meeting Byron remained three -months in the neighbourhood of Annesley; and it may be inferred that an -intimacy sprang up between them, which was broken off somewhat abruptly by -Mary's husband. There are traces of this in 'Lara.' - -At the end of November, 1808, Byron writes from Newstead to his sister: - - 'I am living here alone, which suits my inclination better than - society of any kind.... I am a very unlucky fellow, for I think I had - naturally not a bad heart; but it has been so bent, twisted, and - trampled on, that it has now become as hard as a Highlander's - heelpiece.' - -A fortnight later he writes to Hanson, his agent, and talks of either -marrying for money or blowing his brains out. It was then that he wrote -those verses addressed to Mary Chaworth: - - 'When man, expell'd from Eden's bowers, - A moment linger'd near the gate, - Each scene recall'd the vanish'd hours, - And bade him curse his future fate. - - 'In flight I shall be surely wise, - Escaping from temptation's snare; - I cannot view my Paradise - Without the wish of dwelling there.' - -On January 25, 1809, Byron returned to London. It is hard to believe that -during those three months Byron did not often meet the lady of his love. -It is more than probable that the old friendship between them had been -renewed, since there is evidence to prove that, after Byron had taken his -seat in the House of Lords on March 13, 1809, he confided his -Parliamentary robes to Mary Chaworth's safe-keeping, a circumstance which -suggests a certain amount of neighbourly friendship. - -In May, Byron again visited Newstead, where he entertained Matthews and -some of his college friends. That _sérénade indiscrčte_, - - ''Tis done--and shivering in the gale,' - -which was addressed to Mary Chaworth from Falmouth on, or about, June 22, -shows the state of his feelings towards her; but she does not seem to have -given him any encouragement, and there was no correspondence between them -during Byron's absence from England. Between July 2, 1809, and July 15, -1811, Byron's thoughts were fully occupied in other directions. His -distractions, which may be traced in his writings, were, however, not -sufficient to crush out the remembrance of that fatal infatuation. When, -in 1811, he returned to England, it was without pleasure, and without the -faintest hope of any renewal of an intimacy which Mary Chaworth had broken -off for both their sakes. He was in no hurry to visit Newstead, where his -mother anxiously awaited him, and dawdled about town, under various -pretexts, until the first week in August, when he heard of his mother's -serious illness. Before Byron reached Newstead his mother had died. He -seems to have heard of her illness one day, and of her death on the day -following. Although there had long been a certain estrangement between -them, all was now forgotten, and Byron felt his mother's death acutely. - -It was at this time that he wrote to his friend Scrope Davies: - - 'Some curse hangs over me and mine. My mother lies a corpse in this - house; one of my best friends (Charles Skinner Matthews) is drowned in - a ditch. What can I say, or think, or do? I received a letter from him - the day before yesterday.... Come to me, Scrope; I am almost - desolate--left almost alone in the world.' - -In that gloomy frame of mind, in the solitude of a ruin--for Newstead at -that time was but little better than a ruin--Byron, on August 12, drew up -some directions for his will, in which he desired to be buried in the -garden at Newstead, by the side of his favourite dog Boatswain. - -On the same day he wrote to Dallas, who was superintending the printing -of the first and second cantos of 'Childe Harold': - - 'Peace be with the dead! Regret cannot wake them. With a sigh to the - departed, let us resume the dull business of life, in the certainty - that we also shall have our repose. Besides her who gave me being, I - have lost more than one who made that being tolerable. Matthews, a man - of the first talents, and also not the worst of my narrow circle, has - perished miserably in the muddy waves of the Cam, always fatal to - genius; my poor schoolfellow, Wingfield, at Coimbra--within a month; - and whilst I had heard from _all three_, but not seen _one_.... But - let this pass; we shall all one day pass along with the rest. The - world is too full of such things, and our very sorrow is selfish.... I - am already too familiar with the dead. It is strange that I look on - the skulls which stand beside me (I have always had _four_ in my - study) without emotion, but I cannot strip the features of those I - have known of their fleshy covering, even in idea, without a hideous - sensation; but the worms are less ceremonious. Surely, the Romans did - well when they burned the dead.' - -The writer of this letter was in his twenty-fourth year! - -Ten days later Byron writes to Hodgson: - - 'Indeed the blows followed each other so rapidly that I am yet stupid - from the shock; and though I do eat, and drink, and talk, and even - laugh at times, yet I can hardly persuade myself that I am awake, did - not every morning convince me mournfully to the contrary. I shall now - waive the subject, the dead are at rest, and none but the dead can be - so.... I am solitary, and I never felt solitude irksome before.' - -At about the same date, in a letter to Dallas, Byron writes: - - 'At three-and-twenty I am left alone, and what more can we be at - seventy? It is true I am young enough to begin again, but with whom - can I retrace the laughing part of my life? It is odd how few of my - friends have died a quiet death--I mean, in their beds! - - 'I cannot settle to anything, and my days pass, with the exception of - bodily exercise to some extent, with uniform indolence and idle - insipidity.' - -The verses, 'Oh! banish care,' etc., were written at this time. - -In the following lines we see that his grief at the losses he had -sustained was deepened by the haunting memory of Mary Chaworth: - - 'I've seen my bride another's bride-- - Have seen her seated by his side-- - Have seen the infant which she bore - Wear the sweet smile the mother wore, - When she and I in youth have smiled - As fond and faultless as her child; - Have seen her eyes, in cold disdain, - Ask if I felt no secret pain. - And I have acted well my part, - And made my cheek belie my heart, - Returned the freezing glance she gave, - Yet felt the while _that_ woman's slave; - Have kissed, as if without design, - The babe which ought to have been mine, - And showed, alas! in each caress - Time had not made me love the less.' - -Moore, who knew more of the inner workings of Byron's mind in later years -than anyone else, has told us that the poems addressed to 'Thyrza' were -merely 'the abstract spirit of many griefs,' and that the pseudonym was -given to an 'object of affection' to whom he poured out the sorrows of his -heart. - - 'All these recollections,' says Moore, 'of the young and dead now came - to mingle themselves in his mind with the image of her who, _though - living_, was for him as much lost as they, and diffused that general - feeling of sadness and fondness through his soul, which found a vent - in these poems. No friendship, however warm, could have inspired - sorrow so passionate; as no love, however pure, could have kept - passion so chastened. - - 'It was the blending of the two affections in his memory and - imagination that thus gave birth to an ideal object combining the best - features of both, and drew from him these saddest and tenderest of - love-poems, in which we find all the depth and intensity of real - feeling, touched over with such a light as no reality ever wore.' - -Moore here expresses himself guardedly. He was one of the very few who -knew the whole story of Mary Chaworth's associations with Byron. He could -not, of course, betray his full knowledge; but he has made it sufficiently -clear that Byron, in writing the 'Thyrza' group of poems, was merely -strewing the flowers of poetry on the grave of his love for Mary Chaworth. - -The first of these poems was written on the day on which he heard of the -death of Edleston. In a letter to Dallas he says: - - 'I have been again shocked by a _death_, and have lost one very dear - to me in happier times. I have become callous, nor have I a tear left - for an event which, five years ago, would have bowed down my head to - the earth. It seems as though I were to experience in my youth the - greatest misery of age. My friends fall around me, and I shall be left - a lonely tree before I am withered. Other men can always take refuge - in their families; I have no resource but my own reflections, and they - present no prospect here or hereafter, except the selfish satisfaction - of surviving my betters. I am indeed very wretched, and you will - excuse my saying so, as you know I am not apt to cant of - sensibility.'[32] - -Shortly after this letter was written Byron visited Cambridge, where, -among the many memories which that place awakened, a remembrance of the -young chorister and their ardent friendship was most vivid. Byron -recollected the Cornelian that Edleston gave him as a token of friendship, -and, now that the giver had passed away for ever, he regretted that he had -parted with it. The following letter to Mrs. Pigot explains itself: - - 'CAMBRIDGE, - '_October 28, 1811_. - - 'DEAR MADAM, - - 'I am about to write to you on a silly subject, and yet I cannot well - do otherwise. You may remember a _cornelian_ which some years ago I - consigned to Miss Pigot--indeed I _gave_ to her--and now I am going to - make the most selfish and rude of requests. The person who gave it to - me, when I was very young, is _dead_, and though a long time has - elapsed since we met, as it was the only memorial I possessed of that - person (in whom I was very much interested), it has acquired a value - by this event I could have wished it never to have borne in my eyes. - If, therefore, Miss Pigot should have preserved it, I must, under - these circumstances, beg her to excuse my requesting it to be - transmitted to me at No. 8, St. James' Street, London, and I will - replace it by something she may remember me by equally well. As she - was always so kind as to feel interested in the fate of him that - formed the subject of our conversation, you may tell her that the - giver of that cornelian died in May last of a consumption at the age - of twenty-one, making the sixth, within four months, of friends and - relatives that I have lost between May and the end of August. - - 'Believe me, dear madam, - 'Yours very sincerely, - 'BYRON.' - -The cornelian when found, was returned to Byron, but apparently in a -broken condition. - - 'Ill-fated Heart! and can it be, - That thou shouldst thus be rent in twain?' - -It was through the depressing influence of solitude that the idea entered -Byron's mind to depict his (possibly eternal) separation from Mary -Chaworth in terms synonymous with death. With a deep feeling of desolation -he recalled every incident of his boyish love. We have seen how the image -of his lost Mary, now the wife of his rival, deepened the gloom caused by -the sudden death of his mother, and of some of his college friends. It was -to Mary, whom he dared not name, that he cried in his agony: - - 'By many a shore and many a sea - Divided, yet beloved in vain; - The Past, the Future fled to thee, - To bid us meet--no, ne'er again!' - -Her absence from Annesley, where he had hoped to find her on his return -home, was a great disappointment to him. - - 'Thou too art gone, thou loved and lovely one! - Whom Youth and Youth's affections bound to me; - Who did for me what none beside have done, - Nor shrank from one albeit unworthy thee. - What is my Being! thou hast ceased to be! - Nor staid to welcome here thy wanderer home, - Who mourns o'er hours which we no more shall see-- - Would they had never been, or were to come! - Would he had ne'er returned to find fresh cause to roam! - - 'Oh I ever loving, lovely, and beloved! - How selfish Sorrow ponders on the past, - And clings to thoughts now better far removed! - But Time shall tear thy shadow from me last. - All thou couldst have of mine, stern Death! thou hast; - The Parent, Friend, and now the more than Friend: - Ne'er yet for one thine arrows flew so fast, - And grief with grief continuing still to blend, - Hath snatch'd the little joy that Life hath yet to lend. - - * * * * * - - 'What is the worst of woes that wait on Age? - What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow? - To view each loved one blotted from Life's page, - And be alone on earth, as I am now. - Before the Chastener humbly let me bow, - O'er Hearts divided and o'er Hopes destroyed: - Roll on, vain days! full reckless may ye flow, - Since Time hath reft whate'er my soul enjoyed, - And with the ills of Eld mine earlier years alloyed.' - -These stanzas were attached to the second canto of 'Childe Harold,' after -that poem was in the press. Mr. Ernest Hartley Coleridge, who so ably -edited the latest edition of the poetry of Byron, states that they were -sent to Dallas on the same day that Byron composed the poem 'To Thyrza.' -This is significant, as also his attempt to mystify Dallas by telling him -that he had again (October 11, 1811) been shocked by a death. This was -true enough, for he had on that day heard of the death of Edleston; but it -was _not_ true that the stanzas we have quoted had any connection with -that event. Mr. Coleridge in a note says: - - 'In connection with this subject, it may be noted that the lines 6 and - 7 of Stanza XCV., - - '"Nor staid to welcome here thy wanderer home, - Who mourns o'er hours which we no more shall see," - - do not bear out Byron's contention to Dallas (Letters, October 14 and - 31, 1811) that in these three _in memoriam_ stanzas (IX., XCV., XCVI.) - he is bewailing an event which took place _after_ he returned to - Newstead.[33] The "more than friend" had "ceased to be" before the - "wanderer" returned. It is evident that Byron did not take Dallas into - his confidence.' - -Assuredly he did not. The 'more than friend' was not _dead_; she had -merely absented herself, and did not stay to welcome the 'wanderer' on -his return from his travels. She was, however, _dead to him_ in a sense -far deeper than mere absence at such a time. - - 'The absent are the dead--for they are cold, - And ne'er can be what once we did behold.'[34] - -Mary Chaworth's presence would have consoled him at a time when he felt -alone in the world. He feared that she was lost to him for ever. He knew -her too well to suppose that she could ever be more to him than a friend; -and yet it was just that female sympathy and friendship for which he so -ardently yearned. In his unreasonableness, he was both hurt and -disappointed that this companion of his earlier days should have kept away -from her home at that particular time, and of course misconstrued the -cause. With the feeling that this parting must be eternal, he wished that -they could have met once more. - - 'Could this have been--a word, a look, - That softly said, "We part in peace," - Had taught my bosom how to brook, - With fainter sighs, thy soul's release.' - -In the bitterness of his desolation he recalled the days when they were at -Newstead together--probably stolen interviews, which find no place in -history--when - - 'many a day - In these, to me, deserted towers, - Ere called but for a time away, - Affection's mingling tears were ours? - Ours, too, the glance none saw beside; - The smile none else might understand; - The whispered thought: the walks aside; - The pressure of the thrilling hand; - The kiss so guiltless and relined, - That Love each warmer wish forbore; - Those eyes proclaimed so pure a mind, - Ev'n Passion blushed to plead for more. - The tone that taught me to rejoice, - When prone, unlike thee, to repine; - _The song, celestial from thy voice, - But sweet to me from none but thine_; - The pledge we wore--_I_ wear it still, - But where is thine? Ah! where art thou? - Oft have I borne the weight of ill, - But never bent beneath till now!' - -Six days after these lines were written Byron left Newstead. Writing to -Hodgson from his lodgings in St. James's Street, he enclosed some stanzas -which he had written a day or two before, 'on hearing a song of former -days.' The lady, whose singing now so deeply impressed Byron, was the Hon. -Mrs. George Lamb, whom he had met at Melbourne House. - -In this, the second of the 'Thyrza' poems, the allusions to Mary Chaworth -are even more marked. Byron says the songs of Mrs. George Lamb 'speak to -him of brighter days,' and that he hopes to hear those strains no more: - - 'For now, alas! - I must not think, I may not gaze, - On what I _am_--on what I _was_. - - The voice that made those sounds more sweet - Is hush'd, and all their charms are fled. - - * * * * * - - 'On my ear - The well-remembered echoes thrill; - I hear a voice I would not hear, - A voice that now might well be still. - - * * * * * - - 'Sweet Thyrza! waking as in sleep, - Thou art but now a lovely dream; - _A Star_ that trembled o'er the deep, - Then turned from earth its tender beam. - But he who through Life's dreary way - Must pass, when Heaven is veiled in wrath, - Will long lament the vanished ray - That scattered gladness o'er his path.' - -In Byron's imagination Mary Chaworth was always hovering over him like a -star. She was the 'starlight of his boyhood,' the 'star of his destiny,' -and three years later the poet, in his unpublished fragment 'Harmodia,' -speaks of Mary as his - - 'melancholy star - Whose tearful beam shoots trembling from afar.' - -The third and last of the 'Thyrza' poems must have been written at about -the same time as the other two. It appeared with 'Childe Harold' in 1812. -Byron, weary of the gloom of solitude, and tortured by 'pangs that rent -his heart in twain,' now determined to break away and seek inspiration for -that mental energy which formed part of his nature. Man, he says, was not -made to live alone. - - 'I'll be that light unmeaning thing - That smiles with all, and weeps with none. - It was not thus in days more dear, - It never would have been, _but thou - Hast fled, and left me lonely here_.' - -Byron's thoughts went back to the days when he was sailing over the bright -waters of the blue Ęgean, in the _Salsette_ frigate, commanded by 'good -old Bathurst'[35]--those halcyon days when he was weaving his visions into -stanzas for 'Childe Harold.' - - 'On many a lone and lovely night - It soothed to gaze upon the sky; - For then I deemed the heavenly light - Shone sweetly on thy pensive eye: - And oft I thought at Cynthia's noon, - When sailing o'er the Ęgean wave, - "Now Thyrza gazes on that moon"-- - Alas! it gleamed upon her grave! - - 'When stretched on Fever's sleepless bed, - And sickness shrunk my throbbing veins, - "'Tis comfort still," I faintly said, - "That Thyrza cannot know my pains." - Like freedom to the timeworn slave-- - A boon 'tis idle then to give-- - Relenting Nature vainly gave - My life, when Thyrza ceased to live! - - 'My Thyrza's pledge in better days, - _When Love and Life alike were new_! - How different now thou meet'st my gaze! - How tinged by time with Sorrow's hue! - The heart that gave itself with thee - Is silent--ah, were mine as still! - Though cold as e'en the dead can be, - It feels, it sickens with the chill.' - -Byron here suggests that the pledge in question was given with the giver's -heart. Lovers are apt to interpret such gifts as 'love-tokens,' without -suspicion that they may possibly have been due to a feeling far less -flattering to their hopes. - - 'Thou bitter pledge! thou mournful token! - Though painful, welcome to my breast! - Still, still, preserve that love unbroken, - Or break the heart to which thou'rt pressed. - Time tempers Love, but not removes, - More hallowed when its Hope is fled.' - -These three pieces comprise the so-called 'Thyrza' poems, and, in the -absence of proof to the contrary, we may reasonably suppose that their -subject was Mary Chaworth. This is the more likely because the original -manuscripts were the property of Byron's sister, to whom they were -probably given by Mary Chaworth, when, in later years, she destroyed or -parted with all the letters and documents which she had received from -Byron since the days of their childhood. - -Byron did not give up the hope of winning Mary Chaworth's love until her -marriage in 1805. Two months later he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, -and from that time, until his departure with Hobhouse on his first foreign -tour, those who were in constant intercourse with him never mentioned any -other object of adoration who might fit in with the Thyrza of the poems. -If such a person had really existed, Byron would certainly, either in -conversation or in writing, have disclosed her identity. Moore makes it -clear that the one passion of Byron's life was Mary Chaworth. He tells us -that there were many fleeting love-episodes, but only one passion strong -enough to have inspired the poems in question. If Byron's heart, during -the two years that he passed abroad, had been overflowing with love for -some incognita, it was not in his nature to have kept silence. From his -well-known effusiveness, reticence under such circumstances is -inconceivable. - -Finally, as there were no poems, no letters, and no allusion to any such -person in the _first_ draft of 'Childe Harold,' we may confidently assume -that the poet, in the loneliness of his heart, appealed to the only woman -whom he ever really loved, and that the legendary Thyrza was a myth. - -It will be remembered that the ninth stanza in the second canto of 'Childe -Harold' was interpolated long after the manuscript had been given to -Dallas. It was forwarded for that purpose, three days after the date of -the poem 'To Thyrza,' and essentially belongs to that period of desolation -which inspired those poems: - - 'There, Thou! _whose Love and Life, together fled, - Have left me here to love and live in vain_-- - Twined with my heart, and can I deem thee dead, - When busy Memory flashes on my brain? - Well--_I will dream that we may meet again_, - And woo the vision to my vacant breast: - If aught of young Remembrance then remain, - Be as it may Futurity's behest, - _Or seeing thee no more, to sink to sullen rest_.'[36] - -It is difficult to believe that this stanza was inspired by a memory of -the dead. Are we not told that 'Love and Life _together_ fled'--in other -words, when Mary withdrew her love, she was dead to him? - -He tells her that in abandoning him she has left him to love and live in -vain. And yet he will not give up the hope of meeting her again some day; -this is now his sole consolation. Memory of the past (possibly those -meetings which took place by stealth, shortly before his departure from -England in 1809) feeds the hope that now sustains him. But he will leave -everything to chance, and if fate decides that they shall be parted for -ever, then will he sink to sullen apathy. - -We may remind the reader that at this period (1811) Byron had no belief in -any existence after death. - - 'I will have nothing to do with your immortality,' he writes to - Hodgson in September; 'we are miserable enough in this life, without - the absurdity of speculating upon another. If men are to live, why die - at all? and if they die, why disturb the sweet and sound sleep that - "knows no waking"? - - '"Post mortem nihil est, ipsaque Mors nihil ... quęris quo jaceas post - obitum loco? Quo _non_ Nata jacent."' - -Even when, in later years, Byron somewhat modified the views of his youth, -he expressed an opinion that - - 'A material resurrection seems strange, and even absurd, except for - purposes of punishment, and all punishment which is to _revenge_ - rather than _correct_ must be _morally wrong_.' - -It is therefore tolerably certain that, on the day when he expressed a -hope that he might meet his lady-love again, the meeting was to have been -in _this_ world, and not in that 'land of souls beyond the sable shore.' -It must also be remembered that the eighth stanza in the second canto of -'Childe Harold' was substituted for one in which Byron deliberately stated -that he did not look for Life, where life may never be. The revise was -written to please Dallas, and does not pretend to be a confession of -belief in immortality, but merely an admission that, on a subject where -'nothing can be known,' no final decision is possible. - -In the summer of 1813 Byron underwent grave vicissitudes, mental, moral, -and financial. His letters and journals teem with allusions to some -catastrophe. It seemed as though he were threatened with impending ruin. -In his depressed state of mind he found relief only, as he tells us, in -the composition of poetry. It was at this time that he wrote in swift -succession 'The Giaour,' 'The Bride of Abydos,' and 'The Corsair.' It is -clear that Byron's dejection was the result of a hopeless attachment. Mr. -Hartley Coleridge assumes that Byron's _innamorata_ was Lady Frances -Wedderburn Webster. But that bright star did not long shine in Byron's -orbit--certainly not after October, 1813--and it is doubtful whether they -were ever on terms of close intimacy. Her husband had long been Byron's -friend. Byron had lent him money, and had given him advice, which he -seems to have sorely needed. It is difficult to understand why Lady -Frances Webster should have been especially regarded as Byron's Calypso. -There is nothing to show that she ever seriously occupied his thoughts. -Writing to Moore on September 27, 1813, Byron says: - - 'I stayed a week with the Websters, and behaved very well, though the - lady of the house is young, religious, and pretty, and the master is - my particular friend. I felt no wish for anything but a poodle dog, - which they kindly gave me.' - -So little does Byron seem to have been attracted by Lady Frances, that he -only once more visited the Websters, and then only for a few days, on his -way to Newstead, between October 3 and 10, 1813. - -On June 3 of that year Byron wrote to Mr. John Hanson, his solicitor, a -letter which shows the state of his mind at that time. He tells Hanson -that he is about to visit Salt Hill, near Maidenhead, and that he will be -absent for one week. He is determined to go abroad. The prospective -lawsuit with Mr. Claughton (about the sale of Newstead) is to be dropped, -if it cannot be carried on in Byron's absence. At all hazards, at all -losses, he is determined that nothing shall prevent him from leaving the -country. - -'If utter ruin _were_ or _is_ before me on the one hand, and wealth at -home on the other, I have made my choice, and go I will.' - -The pictures, and every movable that could be converted into cash, were, -by Byron's orders, to be sold. 'All I want is a few thousand pounds, and -then, Adieu. You shan't be troubled with me these ten years, if ever.' -Clearly, there must have been something more than a passing fancy which -could have induced Byron to sacrifice his chances of selling Newstead, -for the sake of a few thousand pounds of ready-money. It _had been_ his -intention to accompany Lord and Lady Oxford on their travels, but this -project was abandoned. After three weeks--spent in running backwards and -forwards between Salt Hill and London--Byron confided his troubles to -Augusta. She was always his rock of refuge in all his deeper troubles. -Augusta Leigh thought that absence might mend matters, and tried hard to -keep her brother up to his resolve of going abroad; she even volunteered -to accompany him. But Lady Melbourne--who must have had a prurient -mind--persuaded Byron that the gossips about town would not consider it -'proper' for him and his sister to travel alone! As Byron was at that time -under the influence of an irresistible infatuation, Lady Melbourne's -warning turned the scale, and the project fell through. Meanwhile the plot -thickened. Something--he told Moore--had ruined all his prospects of -matrimony. His financial circumstances, he said, were mending; 'and were -not my other prospects blackening, I would take a wife.' - -In July he still wishes to get out of England. 'They had better let me -go,' he says; 'one can die anywhere.' - -On August 22, after another visit to Salt Hill, Byron writes to Moore: - - 'I have said nothing of the brilliant sex; but the fact is, I am at - this moment in a far more serious, and entirely new, scrape, than any - of the last twelve months, and that is saying a good deal. It is - unlucky we can neither live with nor without these women.' - -A week later he wrote again to Moore: - - 'I would incorporate with any woman of decent demeanour - to-morrow--that is, I would a month ago, but at present....' - -Moore suggested that Byron's case was similar to that of the youth -apostrophized by Horace in his twenty-seventh ode, and invited his -confidence: - - 'Come, whisper it--the tender truth-- - To safe and friendly ears! - What! Her? O miserable youth! - Oh! doomed to grief and tears! - In what a whirlpool are you tost, - Your rudder broke, your pilot lost!' - -Recent research has convinced the present writer that the incident which -affected Byron so profoundly at this time--about eighteen months before -his marriage--indirectly brought about the separation between Lord and -Lady Byron in 1816. A careful student of Byron's character could not fail -to notice, among all the contradictions and inconsistencies of his life, -one point upon which he was resolute--namely, a consistent reticence on -the subject of the intimacy which sprang up between himself and Mary -Chaworth in the summer of 1813. The strongest impulse of his life--even to -the last--was a steadfast, unwavering, hopeless attachment to that lady. -Throughout his turbulent youth, in his early as in his later days, the -same theme floats through the chords of his melodious verse, a deathless -love and a deep remorse. Even at the last, when the shadow of Death was -creeping slowly over the flats at Missolonghi, the same wild, despairing -note found involuntary expression, and the last words that Byron ever -wrote tell the sad story with a distinctness which might well open the -eyes even of the blind. - -When he first met his fate, he was a schoolboy of sixteen--precocious, -pugnacious, probably a prig, and by no means handsome. He must have -appeared to Mary much as we see him in his portrait by Sanders. Mary was -two years older, and already in love with a fox-hunting squire of good -family. 'Love dwells not in our will,' and a nature like Byron's, once -under its spell, was sure to feel its force acutely. There was romance, -too, in the situation; and the poetic temperament--always -precocious--responded to an impulse on the gossamer chance of achieving -the impossible. Mary was probably half amused and half flattered by the -adoration of a boy of whose destiny she divined nothing. - -There is no reason to suppose that there was any meeting between Byron and -Mary Chaworth after the spring of 1809, until the summer of 1813. Their -separation seemed destined to be final. Although Byron, in after-years, -wished it to be believed that they had not met since 1808, it is certain -that a meeting took place in the summer of 1813. Although Byron took, as -we shall see presently, great pains to conceal that fact from the public, -he did not attempt to deceive either Moore, Hobhouse, or Hodgson. In his -letter to Monsieur Coulmann, written in July, 1823, we have the version -which Byron wished the public to believe. - - 'I had not seen her [Mary Chaworth] for many years. When an occasion - offered, I was upon the point, with her consent, of paying her a - visit, when my sister, who has always had more influence over me than - anyone else, persuaded me not to do it. "For," said she, "if you go, - you will fall in love again, and then there will be a scene; one step - will lead to another, _et cela fera un éclat_," etc. I was guided by - these reasons, and shortly after I married.... Mrs. Chaworth some time - after, being separated from her husband, became insane; but she has - since recovered her reason, and is, I believe, reconciled to her - husband.' - -At about the same time Byron told Medwin that, _after_ Mary's separation -from her husband, she proposed an interview with him--a suggestion which -Byron, by the advice of Mrs. Leigh, declined. He also said to Medwin: - - 'She [Mary Chaworth] was the _beau-idéal_ of all that my youthful - fancy could paint of beautiful; and I have taken all my fables about - the celestial nature of women from the perfection my imagination - created in her--I say _created_, for I found her, _like the rest of - her sex, anything but angelic_.' - -It is difficult to see how Byron could have arrived at so unflattering an -estimate of a woman whom he had only _once_ seen since her marriage--at a -dinner-party, when, as he has told us, he was overcome by shyness and a -feeling of awkwardness! But let that pass. Byron wished the world to -believe (1) that Mary Chaworth, after the separation from her husband in -1813, proposed a meeting with Byron; (2) that he declined to meet her; (3) -that, after his unfortunate marriage, Mary became insane; and (4) that he -found her, 'like the rest of her sex, anything but angelic.' - -It is quite possible, of course, that Byron may have _at first_ refused to -meet the only woman on earth whom he sincerely loved, and more than likely -that Mrs. Leigh did her utmost to dissuade him from so rash a proceeding. -But it is on record that Byron incautiously admitted to Medwin that he -_did_ meet Mary Chaworth _after his return from Greece_.[37] It will be -remembered that he returned from Greece in 1811. Their intimacy had long -before been broken off by Mr. John Musters; and, as we have seen, Mary, -faithful to a promise which she had made to her husband, kept away from -Annesley during the period (1811) when the 'Thyrza' poems were written. It -is doubtful whether they would ever again have met if her husband had -shown any consideration for her feelings. But he showed her none. When, -nearly forty years ago, the present writer visited Annesley, there were -several people living who remembered both Mary Chaworth and her husband. -These people stated that their married life, so full of grief and -bitterness, was a constant source of comment both at Annesley and -Newstead. The trouble was attributed to the harsh and capricious conduct, -and the well-known infidelities, of one to whose kindness and affection -Mary had a sacred claim. She seems to have been left for long periods at -Annesley with only one companion, Miss Anne Radford, who had been brought -up with her from childhood. This state of things eventually broke down, -and when, in the early part of 1813, Mary could stand the strain no -longer, a separation took place by mutual consent. - -In the summer of that year Byron and this unhappy woman were thrown -together by the merest accident, and, unfortunately for both, renewed -their dangerous friendship. - -Byron's friend and biographer, Thomas Moore, took great pains to suppress -every allusion to Mary Chaworth in Byron's memoranda and letters. He -faithfully kept the secret. There is nothing in Byron's letters or -journals, as revised by Moore, to show that they ever met after 1808, and -yet they undoubtedly did meet in 1813, _after_ Mary's estrangement from -her husband. That they were in constant correspondence in November of that -year may be gathered from Byron's journal, where Mary's name is veiled by -asterisks. - -On November 24 he writes: - - 'I am tremendously in arrear with my letters, except to * * * *, and - to her my thoughts overpower me: my words never compass them.' - - 'I have been pondering,' he writes on the 26th, 'on the miseries of - separation, that--oh! how seldom we see those we love! Yet we live - ages in moments _when met_.' - -Then follows, on the 27th, a clue: - - 'I believe, with Clym o' the Clow, or Robin Hood, - - '"By our Mary (dear name!) thou art both Mother and May, - I think it never was a man's lot to die before his day."' - -It is attested, by all those who were acquainted with Mary Chaworth, that -she always bore an exemplary character. It was well known that her -marriage was an unhappy one, and that she had been for some time deserted -by her husband. In June, 1813, when she fell under the fatal spell of -Byron, then the most fascinating man in society,[38] she was living in -deep dejection, parted from her lawful protector, with whom she had a -serious disagreement. He had neglected her, and she well knew that she had -a rival in his affections at that time. - -It was in these distressing circumstances that Byron, with the world at -his feet, came to worship her in great humility. As he looked back upon -the past, he realized that this neglected woman had always been the light -of his life, the lodestar of his destiny. And now that he beheld his -'Morning Star of Annesley' shedding ineffectual rays upon the dead embers -of a lost love, the old feeling returned to him with resistless force. - - 'We met--we gazed--I saw, and sighed; - She did not speak, and yet replied; - There are ten thousand tones and signs - We hear and see, but none defines-- - Involuntary sparks of thought, - Which strike from out the heart o'erwrought, - And form a strange intelligence, - Alike mysterious and intense, - Which link the burning chain that binds, - Without their will, young hearts and minds. - I saw, and sighed--in silence wept, - And still reluctant distance kept, - Until I was made known to her, - And we might then and there confer - Without suspicion--then, even then, - I longed, and was resolved to speak; - But on my lips they died again, - The accents tremulous and weak, - Until one hour... - - * * * * * - - 'I would have given - My life but to have called her mine - In the full view of Earth and Heaven; - For I did oft and long repine - That we could only meet by stealth.' - -In the remorseful words of Manfred, - - 'Her faults were mine--her virtues were her own-- - I loved her, and destroyed her!... - Not with my hand, but heart--which broke _her_ heart-- - It gazed on mine and withered.' - -Without attempting to excuse Byron's conduct--indeed, that were -useless--it must be remembered that he was only twenty-five years of age, -and Mary was very unhappy. After all hope of meeting her again had been -abandoned, the force of destiny, so to speak, had unexpectedly restored -his lost Thyrza--the _Theresa_ of 'Mazeppa.' - - 'I loved her then, I love her still; - And such as I am, love indeed - In fierce extremes--in good and ill-- - But still we love... - Haunted to our very age - With the vain shadow of the past.' - -Byron's punishment was in this world. The remorse which followed endured -throughout the remaining portion of his life. It wrecked what might have -proved a happy marriage, and drove him, from stone to stone, along life's -causeway, to that 'Sea Sodom' where, for many months, he tried to destroy -the memory of his crime by reckless profligacy. - -Mary Chaworth no sooner realized her awful danger--the madness of an -impulse which not even love could excuse--than she recoiled from the -precipice which yawned before her. She had been momentarily blinded by the -irresistible fascination of one who, after all, really and truly loved -her. But she was a good woman in spite of this one episode, and to the -last hour of her existence she never swerved from that narrow path which -led to an honoured grave. - -Although it was too late for happiness, too late to evade the consequences -of her weakness, there was still time for repentance. The secret was kept -inviolate by the very few to whom it was confided, and the present writer -deeply regrets that circumstances have compelled him to break the seal. - -If 'Astarte' had not been written, there would have been no need to lift -the veil. Lord Lovelace has besmirched the good name of Mrs. Leigh, and it -is but an act of simple justice to defend her. - -When Mary Chaworth escaped from Byron's fatal influence, he reproached her -for leaving him, and tried to shake her resolution with heart-rending -appeals. Happily for both, they fell upon deaf ears. - - 'Astarte! my beloved! speak to me; - Say that thou loath'st me not--that I do bear - This punishment for both.' - -The depth and sincerity of Byron's love for Mary Chaworth cannot be -questioned. Moore, who knew him well, says: - - 'The all-absorbing and unsuccessful (unsatisfied) love for Mary - Chaworth was the agony, without being the death, of an unsated desire - which lived on through life, filled his poetry with the very soul of - tenderness, lent the colouring of its light to even those unworthy - ties which vanity or passion led him afterwards to form, and was the - last aspiration of his fervid spirit, in those stanzas written but a - few months before his death.' - -It was, in fact, a love of such unreasonableness and persistence as might -be termed, without exaggeration, a madness of the heart. - -Although Mary escaped for ever from that baneful infatuation, which in an -unguarded moment had destroyed her peace of mind, her separation from -Byron was not complete until he married. Not only did they correspond -frequently, but they also met occasionally. In the following January -(1814) Byron introduced Mary to Augusta Leigh. From that eventful meeting, -_when probable contingencies were provided for_, until Mary's death in -1832, these two women, who had suffered so much through Byron, continued -in the closest intimacy; and in November, 1819, Augusta stood sponsor for -Mary's youngest daughter. - -In a poem which must have been written in 1813, an apostrophe 'To Time,' -Byron refers to Mary's resolutions. - - 'In Joy I've sighed to think thy flight - Would soon subside from swift to slow; - Thy cloud could overcast the light, - But could not add a night to Woe; - For then, however drear and dark, - My soul was suited to thy sky; - _One star alone_ shot forth a spark - To prove thee--not Eternity. - _That beam hath sunk._' - -It is of course true that matters were not, and could never again be, on -the same footing as in July of that year; but Mary Chaworth was constancy -itself, in a higher and a nobler sense than Byron attached to it, when he -reproached her for broken vows. - - 'Thy vows are all broken, - And light is thy fame: - I hear thy name spoken, - And share in its shame.' - -During the remainder of Byron's life, Mary took a deep interest in -everything that affected him. In 1814, believing that marriage would be -his salvation, she used her influence in that direction. We know that she -did not approve of the choice which Byron so recklessly made, and she -certainly had ample cause to deplore its results. Through her close -intimacy with Augusta Leigh--an intimacy which has not hitherto been -suspected--she became acquainted with every phase in Byron's subsequent -career. She could read 'between the lines,' and solve the mysteries to be -found in such poems as 'Lara,' 'Mazeppa,' 'Manfred,' and 'Don Juan.' - -We believe that Byron's love for Mary was the main cause of the -indifference he felt towards his wife. In order to shield Mary from the -possible consequences of a public investigation into conduct prior to his -marriage, Byron, in 1816, consented to a separation from his wife. - -After Byron had left England Mary broke down under the strain she had -borne so bravely, and her mind gave way. When at last, in April, 1817, a -reconciliation took place between Mary and her husband, it was apparent to -everyone that she had, during those four anxious years, become a changed -woman. She never entirely regained either health or spirits. Her mind -'had acquired a tinge of religious melancholy, which never afterwards left -it.' Sorrow and disappointment had subdued a naturally buoyant nature, and -'melancholy marked her for its own.' Shortly before her death, in 1832, -she destroyed every letter she had received from Byron since those distant -fateful years when, as boy and girl, they had wandered on the Hills of -Annesley. For eight sad years Mary Chaworth survived the lover of her -youth. Shortly before her death, in a letter to one of her daughters, she -drew her own character which might fitly form her epitaph: 'Soon led, -easily pleased, very hasty, and very relenting, with a heart moulded in a -warm and affectionate fashion.' - -Such was the woman who, though parted by fate, maintained through sunshine -and storm an ascendancy over the heart of Byron which neither time nor -absence could impair, and which endured to the end of his earthly -existence. We may well believe that those inarticulate words which the -dying poet murmured to the bewildered Fletcher--those broken sentences -which ended with, 'Tell her everything; you are friends with her'--may -have referred, not to Lady Byron, as policy suggested, but to Mary -Chaworth, with whom Fletcher had been acquainted since his youth. - -We have incontestable proof that, only two months before he died, Byron's -thoughts were occupied with one whom he had named 'the starlight of his -boyhood.' How deeply Byron thought about Mary Chaworth at the last is -proved by the poem which was found among his papers at Missolonghi. In six -stanzas the poet revealed the story that he would fain have hidden. A -note in his handwriting states that they were addressed 'to no one in -particular,' and that they were merely 'a poetical scherzo.' There is, -however, no room for doubt that the poem bears a deep significance. - - I. - - 'I watched thee when the foe was at our side, - Ready to strike at him--or thee and me - Were safety hopeless--rather than divide - Aught with one loved, save love and liberty.' - -We have here a glimpse of that turbulent scene when Mary's husband, in a -fit of jealousy, put an end to their dangerous intimacy. - - II. - - 'I watched thee on the breakers, when the rock - Received our prow, and all was storm and fear, - And bade thee cling to me through every shock; - This arm would be thy bark, or breast thy bier.' - -This brings us to that period of suspense and fear, in 1814, which -preceded the birth of Medora. In a letter which Byron at that time wrote -to Miss Milbanke, we find these words: - - 'I am at present a little feverish--I mean mentally--and, as usual, - _on the brink of something or other, which will probably crush me at - last, and cut our correspondence short, with everything else_.' - -Twelve days later (March 3, 1814), Byron tells Moore that he is -'uncomfortable,' and that he has 'no lack of argument to ponder upon of -the most gloomy description.' - - 'Some day or other,' he writes, 'when we are _veterans_, I may tell - you a tale of present and past times; and it is not from want of - confidence that I do not now.... _All this would be very well if I had - no heart_; but, unluckily, I have found that there is such a thing - still about me, though in no very good repair, and also that it has a - habit of attaching itself to _one_, whether I will or no. _Divide et - impera_, I begin to think, will only do for politics.' - -When Moore, who was puzzled, asked Byron to explain himself more clearly, -he replied: 'Guess darkly, and you will seldom err.' - -Thirty-four days later Medora was born, April 15, 1814. - - III. - - 'I watched thee when the fever glazed thine eyes, - Yielding my couch, and stretched me on the ground, - When overworn with watching, ne'er to rise - From thence if thou an early grave had found.' - -Here we see Byron's agony of remorse. Like Herod, he lamented for -Mariamne: - - 'And mine's the guilt, and mine the hell, - This bosom's desolation dooming; - And I have earned those tortures well - Which unconsumed are still consuming!' - -In 'Manfred' we find a note of remembrance in the deprecating words: - - 'Oh! no, no, no! - My injuries came down on those who loved me-- - On those whom I best loved: I never quelled - An enemy, save in my just defence-- - But my embrace was fatal.' - - IV. - - 'The earthquake came, and rocked the quivering wall, - And men and Nature reeled as if with wine: - Whom did I seek around the tottering hall? - For thee. Whose safety first provide for? Thine.' - -We now see Byron, at the supreme crisis of his life, standing in solitude -on his hearth, with all his household gods shivered around him. We -perceive that not least among his troubles at that time was the -ever-haunting fear lest the secret of Medora's birth should be disclosed. -His greatest anxiety was for Mary's safety, and this could only be secured -by keeping his matrimonial squabbles out of a court of law. It was, in -fact, by agreeing to sign the deed of separation that the whole situation -was saved. The loyalty of Augusta Leigh on this occasion was never -forgotten: - - 'There was soft Remembrance and sweet Trust - In one fond breast.' - - '_That_ love was pure--and, far above disguise, - Had stood the test of mortal enmities - Still undivided, and cemented more - By peril, dreaded most in female eyes, - But this was firm.' - -In the fifth stanza we see Byron, eight years later, at Missolonghi, -struck down by that attack of epilepsy which preceded his death by only -two months: - - V. - - 'And when convulsive throes denied my breath - The faintest utterance to my fading thought, - To thee--to thee--e'en in the gasp of death - My spirit turned, oh! oftener than it ought.' - -In the sixth and final stanza, probably the last lines that Byron ever -wrote, we find him reiterating, with all a lover's persistency, a belief -that Mary could never have loved him, otherwise she would not have left -him. - - VI. - - 'Thus much and more; and yet thou lov'st me not, - And never will! Love dwells not in our will. - Nor can I blame thee, though it be my lot - To strongly, wrongly, vainly love thee still.' - -The reproaches of lovers are often unjust. Byron either could not, or -perhaps _would not_, see that in abandoning him Mary had been actuated by -the highest, the purest motives, and that the renunciation must have -afforded her deep pain--a sacrifice, not lightly made, for Byron's sake -quite as much as for her own. That Byron for a time resented her conduct -in this respect is evident from a remark made in a letter to Miss -Milbanke, dated November 29, 1813. After saying that he once thought that -Mary Chaworth could have made him happy, he added, 'but _subsequent events -have proved_ that my expectations might not have been fulfilled had I ever -proposed to and received my idol.'[39] - -What those 'subsequent events' were may be guessed from reproaches which -at this period appear among his poems: - - 'The wholly false the _heart_ despises, - And spurns deceiver and deceit; - But she who not a thought disguises, - Whose love is as sincere as sweet-- - When _she_ can change, who loved so truly, - It _feels_ what mine has _felt_ so newly.' - -In the letter written five years after their final separation, Byron again -reproaches Mary Chaworth, but this time without a tinge of bitterness: - - 'My own, we may have been very wrong, but I repent of nothing except - that cursed marriage, and your refusing to continue to love me as you - had loved me. I can neither forget nor _quite forgive_ you for that - precious piece of reformation. But I can never be other than I have - been, and whenever I love anything, it is because it reminds me in - some way or other of yourself.' - -'The Giaour' was begun in May and finished in November, 1813. Those parts -which relate to Mary Chaworth were added to that poem in July and August: - - 'She was a form of Life and Light, - That, seen, became a part of sight; - And rose, where'er I turned mine eye, - The Morning-Star of Memory!' - -Byron says that, like the bird that sings within the brake, like the swan -that swims upon the waters, he can only have one mate. He despises those -who sneer at constancy. He does not envy them their fickleness, and -regards such heartless men as lower in the scale of creation than the -solitary swan. - - 'Such shame at least was never mine-- - Leila! each thought was only thine! - My good, _my guilt_, my weal, my woe, - My hope on high--my all below. - Earth holds no other like to thee, - Or, if it doth, in vain for me: - ... Thou wert, thou art, - The cherished madness of my heart!' - - 'Yes, Love indeed is light from heaven; - A spark of that immortal fire - With angels shared, by Alla given, - To lift from earth our low desire. - I grant _my_ love imperfect, all - That mortals by the name miscall; - Then deem it evil, what thou wilt; - But say, oh say, _hers_ was not Guilt! - And she was lost--and yet I breathed, - But not the breath of human life: - A serpent round my heart was wreathed, - And stung my every thought to strife.' - -Who can doubt that the friend 'of earlier days,' whose memory the Giaour -wishes to bless before he dies, but whom he dares not bless lest Heaven -should 'mark the vain attempt' of guilt praying for the guiltless, was -Mary Chaworth. He bids the friar tell that friend - - 'What thou didst behold: - The withered frame--the ruined mind, - The wreck that Passion leaves behind-- - The shrivelled and discoloured leaf, - Seared by the Autumn blast of Grief.' - -He wonders whether that friend is still his friend, as in those earlier -days, when hearts were blended in that sweet land where bloom his native -valley's bowers. To that friend he sends a ring, which was the memorial of -a youthful vow: - - 'Tell him--unheeding as I was, - Through many a busy bitter scene - Of all our golden youth hath been, - In pain, my faltering tongue had tried - To bless his memory--ere I died; - I do not ask him not to blame, - Too gentle he to wound my name; - I do not ask him not to mourn, - Such cold request might sound like scorn. - But bear this ring, his own of old, - And tell him what thou dost behold!' - -The motto chosen by Byron for 'The Giaour' is in itself suggestive: - - 'One fatal remembrance--one sorrow that throws - Its bleak shade alike o'er our Joys and our Woes-- - To which Life nothing darker nor brighter can bring, - For which Joy hath no balm--and affliction no sting.' - -On October 10, 1813, Byron arrived at Newstead, where he stayed for a -month. Mary Chaworth was at Annesley during that time. On his return to -town he wrote (November 8) to his sister: - - 'MY DEAREST AUGUSTA, - - 'I have only time to say that my long silence has been occasioned by a - thousand things (with which _you_ are not concerned). It is not Lady - Caroline, nor Lady Oxford; _but perhaps you may guess_, and if you do, - do not tell. You do not know what mischief your being with me might - have prevented. You shall hear from me to-morrow; in the meantime - don't be alarmed. I am in _no immediate_ peril. - - 'Believe me, ever yours, - 'B.' - -On November 30 Byron wrote to Moore: - - 'We were once very near neighbours this autumn;[40] and a good and - bad neighbourhood it has proved to me. Suffice it to say that your - French quotation (Si je récommenēais ma carričre, je ferais tout ce - que j'ai fait) was confoundedly to the purpose,--though very - _unexpectedly_ pertinent, as you may imagine by what I _said_ before, - and my silence since. However, "Richard's himself again," and, except - all night and some part of the morning, I don't think very much about - the matter. All convulsions end with me in rhyme; and to solace my - midnights I have scribbled another Turkish story ['The Bride of - Abydos'] which you will receive soon after this.... I have written - this, and published it, for the sake of _employment_--to wring my - thoughts from reality, and take refuge in "imaginings," however - "horrible."... This is the work of a week....' - -In order the more effectually to dispose of the theory that Lady Frances -Wedderburn Webster was the cause of Byron's disquietude, we insert an -extract from his journal, dated a fortnight earlier (November 14, 1813): - - 'Last night I finished "Zuleika" [the name was afterwards changed to - 'The Bride of Abydos'], my second Turkish tale. I believe the - composition of it kept me alive--for it was written to drive my - thoughts from the recollection of * * * * "Dear sacred name, rest ever - unrevealed." At least, even here, my hand would tremble to write - it.... I have some idea of expectorating a romance, but what romance - could equal the events - - '"... quęque ipse ... vidi, - Et quorum pars magna fui"?' - -Surely the name that Byron dared not write, even in his own journal, was -not that of Lady Frances Webster, whose name appears often in his -correspondence. The 'sacred name' was that of one of whom he afterwards -wrote, 'Thou art both Mother and May.' - -During October, November, and December, 1813, Byron's mind was in a -perturbed condition. We gather, from a letter which he wrote to Moore on -November 30, that his thoughts were centred on a lady living in -Nottinghamshire[41], and that the scrape, which he mentions in his letter -to Augusta on November 8, referred to that lady and the dreaded prospects -of maternity. - -Mr. Coleridge believes that the verses, 'Remember him, whom Passion's -power,' were addressed to Lady Frances Wedderburn Webster. There is -nothing, so far as the present writer knows, to support that opinion. -There is no evidence to show the month in which they were written; and, in -view of the statement that the lady in question had lived in comparative -retirement, 'Thy soul from long seclusion pure,' and that she had, because -of his presumption, banished the poet in 1813, it could not well have been -Lady Frances Webster, who in September of that year had asked Byron to be -godfather to her child, and in October had invited him to her house. It is -noteworthy that Byron expressly forbade Murray to publish those verses -with 'The Corsair,' where, it must be owned, they would have been sadly -out of place. 'Farewell, if ever fondest prayer,' was decidedly more -appropriate to the state of things existing at that time. - -The motto chosen for his 'Bride of Abydos' is taken from Burns: - - 'Had we never loved sae kindly, - Had we never loved sae blindly, - Never met--or never parted, - We had ne'er been broken-hearted.' - -The poem was written early in November, 1813. - -Byron has told us that it was written to divert his mind,[42] 'to wring -his thoughts from reality to imagination, from selfish regrets to vivid -recollections'; to 'distract his thoughts from the recollection of * * * * -"Dear sacred name, rest ever unrevealed,"' and in a letter to John Galt -(December 11, 1813) he says that parts of the poem were drawn 'from -existence.' He had been staying at Newstead, in close proximity to -Annesley, from October 10 to November 8, during which time, as he says, he -regretted the absence of his sister Augusta, 'who might have saved him -much trouble.' He says, 'All convulsions end with me in rhyme,' and that -'The Bride of Abydos' was 'the work of a week.' In speaking of a 'dear -sacred name, rest ever unrevealed,' he says: 'At least even here my hand -would tremble to write it'; and on November 30 he writes to Moore: 'Since -I last wrote' (October 2), 'much has happened to me.' On November 27 he -writes in his journal: 'Mary--dear name--thou art both Mother and -May.'[43] At the end of November, after he had returned to town, he writes -in his journal: - - '* * * * is distant, and will be at * * * *, still more distant, till - the spring. No one else, except Augusta, cares for me.... I am - tremendously in arrears with my letters, except to * * * *, and to her - my thoughts overpower me--my words never compass them.' - -On November 14 Byron sends a device for the seals of himself and * * * *; -the seal in question is at present in the possession of the -Chaworth-Musters family. On December 10, we find from one of Byron's -letters that he had thoughts of committing suicide, and was deterred by -the idea that 'it would annoy Augusta, and perhaps * * * *.' - -Byron seems to have put into the mouth of Zuleika words which conveyed his -own thoughts: - - 'Think'st thou that I could bear to part - With thee, and learn to halve my heart? - Ah! were I severed from thy side, - Where were thy friend--and who my guide? - Years have not seen, Time shall not see, - The hour that tears my soul from thee: - Ev'n Azrael, from his deadly quiver - When flies that shaft, and fly it must, - That parts all else, shall doom for ever - Our hearts to undivided dust! - - * * * * * - - What other can she seek to see - Than thee, companion of her bower, - The partner of her infancy? - These cherished thoughts with life begun, - Say, why must I no more avow?' - -Selim suggests that Zuleika should brave the world and fly with him: - - 'But be the Star that guides the wanderer, Thou! - Thou, my Zuleika, share and bless my bark; - The Dove of peace and promise to mine ark! - Or, since that hope denied in worlds of strife, - Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life! - The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, - And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray! - - * * * * * - - Not blind to Fate, I see, where'er I rove, - Unnumbered perils,--but one only love! - Yet well my toils shall that fond breast repay, - Though Fortune frown, or falser friends betray.' - -Zuleika, we are told, was the 'last of Giaffir's race.'[44] Selim tells -her that 'life is hazard at the best,' and there is much to fear: - - 'Yes, fear! the doubt, the dread of losing thee. - That dread shall vanish with the favouring gale; - Which Love to-night has promised to my sail. - No danger daunts the pair his smile hath blest, - Their steps still roving, but their hearts at rest. - With thee all toils are sweet, each clime hath charms; - Earth--Sea alike--our world within our arms!' - -'The Corsair' was written between December 18, 1813, and January 11, 1814. -While it was passing through the press, Byron was at Newstead. He gives a -little of his own spirit to Conrad, and all Mary's virtues to Medora--a -name which was afterwards given to his child. Conrad - - 'Knew himself a villain--but he deemed - The rest no better than the thing he seemed; - And scorned the best as hypocrites who hid - Those deeds the bolder spirit plainly did. - Lone, wild, and strange, he stood alike exempt - From all affection and from all contempt. - None are all evil--quickening round his heart, - One softer feeling would not yet depart. - Yet 'gainst that passion vainly still he strove, - And even in him it asks the name of Love! - Yes, it was Love--unchangeable--unchanged, - Felt but for one from whom he never ranged. - Yes--it was Love--if thoughts of tenderness, - Tried in temptation, strengthened by distress, - Unmoved by absence, firm in every clime, - And yet--oh! more than all! untired by Time. - If there be Love in mortals--this was Love! - He was a villain--aye, reproaches shower - On him--but not the Passion, nor its power, - Which only proved--all other virtues gone-- - Not Guilt itself could quench this _earliest_ one!' - -The following verses are full of meaning for the initiated: - - I. - - 'Deep in my soul that tender secret dwells, - Lonely and lost to light for evermore, - Save when to thine my heart responsive swells, - Then trembles into silence as before. - - II. - - 'There, in its centre, a sepulchral lamp - Burns the slow flame, eternal--but unseen; - Which not the darkness of Despair can damp, - Though vain its ray as it had never been. - - III. - - 'Remember me--oh! pass not thou my grave - Without one thought whose relics there recline: - The only pang my bosom dare not brave - Must be to find forgetfulness in thine. - - IV. - - 'My fondest--faintest--latest accents hear-- - Grief for the dead not Virtue can reprove; - Then give me all I ever asked--a tear, - The first--last--sole reward of so much love!' - -Conrad and Medora part, to meet no more in life - - 'But she is nothing--wherefore is he here?... - By the first glance on that still, marble brow-- - It was enough--she died--what recked it how? - _The love of youth, the hope of better years_, - The source of softest wishes, tenderest fears, - The only living thing he could not hate, - Was reft at once--_and he deserved his fate_, - But did not feel it less.' - -The blow he feared the most had fallen at last. The only woman whom he -loved had withdrawn her society from him, and his heart, - - 'Formed for softness--warped to wrong, - Betrayed too early, and beguiled too long,' - -was petrified at last! - - 'Yet tempests wear, and lightning cleaves the rock; - If such his heart, so shattered it the shock. - There grew one flower beneath its rugged brow, - Though dark the shade--it sheltered--saved till now. - The thunder came--that bolt hath blasted both, - The Granite's firmness, and the Lily's growth: - The gentle plant hath left no leaf to tell - Its tale, but shrunk and withered where it fell; - And of its cold protector, blacken round - But shivered fragments on the barren ground!' - -In moments of deep emotion, even the most reticent of men may sometimes -reveal themselves. 'The Giaour,' 'The Bride of Abydos,' and 'The Corsair,' -formed a trilogy, through which the tragedy of Byron's life swept like a -musical theme. Those poems acted like a recording instrument which, by -registering his transient moods, was destined ultimately to betray a -secret which he had been at so much pains to hide. In 'The Giaour' we see -remorse for a crime, which he was at first willing to expiate in sorrow -and repentance. In 'The Bride of Abydos' we find him, in an access of -madness and passion, proposing to share the fate of his victim, if she -will but consent to fly with him. Happily for both, Mary would never have -consented to an act of social suicide. In 'The Corsair' we behold his -dreams dispelled by the death of his Love and the hope of better years. - - 'He asked no question--all were answered now!' - -With the dramatic fate of Medora the curtain falls, and the poet, in whom - - 'I suoi pensieri in lui dormir non ponno,' - -crosses the threshold of a new life. He reappears later on the scene of -all his woes, a broken, friendless stranger, in the person of Lara--that -last phase, in which the poet discloses his identity with characteristic -insouciance, brings the tragedy abruptly to a close.[45] - -On January 6, 1814, Byron wrote a remarkable letter to Moore, at that time -in Nottinghamshire: - - '... I have a confidence for you--a perplexing one to me, and just at - present in a state of abeyance in itself.... [Here probably follows - the disclosure.] However, we shall see. In the meantime you may amuse - yourself with my suspense, and put all the justices of peace in - requisition, in case I come into your county [Nottinghamshire] with - hackbut bent.[46] Seriously, whether I am to hear from her or him, it - is a pause, which I can fill up with as few thoughts of my own as I - can borrow from other people. Anything is better than stagnation; and - now, in the interregnum of my autumn and a strange summer adventure, - which I don't like to think of.... Of course you will keep my secret, - and don't even talk in your sleep of it. Happen what may, your - dedication is ensured, being already written; and I shall copy it out - fair to-night, in case business or amusement--_Amant alterna - Camoenę_.' - -Byron here refers to 'The Corsair,' which he dedicated to Thomas Moore. In -order to understand this letter, it may be inferred that one of the -letters he had written to his lady-love had remained so long unanswered -that Byron feared it might have fallen into her husband's hands. Writing -to Moore on the following day, Byron says: - - 'My last epistle would probably put you in a fidget. But the devil, - who _ought_ to be civil on such occasions, proved so, and took my - letter to the right place.... Is it not odd? the very fate I said she - had escaped from * * * * she has now undergone from the worthy * * * - *.' - -An undated letter from Mary Chaworth, preserved among the Byron letters in -Mr. Murray's possession, seems to belong to this period: - - 'Your kind letter, my dear friend, relieved me much, and came - yesterday, when I was by no means well, and was a most agreeable - remedy, for I fancied a thousand things.... I shall set great value by - your _seal_, and, if you come down to Newstead before we leave - Annesley, see no reason why you should not call on us and bring - it....[47] I have lately suffered from a pain in my side, which has - alarmed me; but I will not, in return for your charming epistle, fill - mine with complaints.... I am surprised you have not seen Mr. - Chaworth, as I hear of him going about a good deal. We [herself and - Miss Radford] are now visiting very near Nottingham, but return to - Annesley to-morrow, I _trust_, where I have left all my little dears - except the eldest, whom _you_ saw, and who is with me. We are very - anxious to see you, and yet know not how we shall feel on the - occasion--_formal_, I dare say, at the _first_; but our meeting must - be confined to our trio, and then I think we shall be more at our - ease. _Do write_ me, and make a _sacrifice_ to _friendship_, which I - shall consider your visit. You _may_ always address your letters to - Annesley perfectly safe. - - 'Your sincere friend, - 'MARY ----' - -On or about January 7, 1814, Byron writes to his sister Augusta in -reference to Mary Chaworth: - - 'I shall write to-morrow, but did _not_ go to Lady M.'s [Melbourne] - twelfth cake banquet. M. [Mary] has written again--_all - friendship_--and really very simple and pathetic--_bad - usage_--_paleness_--_ill-health_--old _friendship_--_once_--_good - motive_--virtue--and so forth.' - -Five days later Byron again writes to Augusta Leigh: - - 'On Sunday or Monday next, with leave of your lord and president, you - will be _well_ and ready to accompany me to Newstead, which you - _should_ see, and I will endeavour to render as comfortable as I can, - for both our sakes.... Claughton is, I believe, inclined to settle.... - More news from Mrs. [Chaworth], _all friendship_; you shall see her.' - -Medora was born on or about April 15, 1814. 'Lara' was written between May -4 and 14. The opening lines, which would have set every tongue wagging, -were withheld from publication until January, 1887. They were written in -London early in May, and were addressed to the mother of Medora: - - 'When thou art gone--the loved, the lost--the one - Whose smile hath gladdened, though perchance undone-- - _Whose name too dearly cherished to impart_ - Dies on the lip, but trembles in the heart; - Whose sudden mention can almost convulse, - And lightens through the ungovernable pulse-- - Till the heart leaps so keenly to the word - We fear that throb can hardly beat unheard--[48] - Then sinks at once beneath that sickly chill - That follows when we find her absent still. - When thou art gone--too far again to bless-- - Oh! God--how slowly comes Forgetfulness! - Let none complain how faithless and how brief - The brain's remembrance, or the bosom's grief, - Or ere they thus forbid us to forget - Let Mercy strip the memory of regret; - Yet--selfish still--we would not be forgot, - What lip dare say--"My Love--remember not"? - Oh! best--and dearest! Thou whose thrilling name - My heart adores too deeply to proclaim-- - My memory, almost ceasing to repine, - Would mount to Hope if once secure of thine. - Meantime the tale I weave must mournful be-- - As absence to the heart that lives on thee!' - -Lord Lovelace has told us that 'nothing is too stupid for belief.' We are -disposed to agree with him, especially as he produces these lines in -support of his accusation against Augusta Leigh. The absurdity of -supposing that they were addressed to Byron's sister appears to us to be -so evident that it seems unnecessary to waste words in disputation. There -is abundant proof that during this period Mrs. Leigh and Byron were in -constant correspondence, and that he visited her almost daily during her -simulated confinement and convalescence. When Murray sent her some books -to while away the time, Byron wrote (April 9) on her behalf to thank him. -And finally, as Augusta Leigh had no intention whatever of leaving London, -she could in no sense have been 'the lost one' whose prospective departure -filled Byron with despair. The poet and his sister--whom he was accustomed -to address as 'Goose'[49]--were then, and always, on most familiar terms. -The 'mention of her name' (which was often on his lips) would certainly -not have convulsed him, nor have caused his heart to beat so loudly that -he feared lest others should hear it! The woman to whom those lines were -addressed was Mary Chaworth, whose condition induced him, on April 18, to -begin a fragment entitled 'Magdalen'--she of whom he wrote on May 4: - - 'I speak not--I trace not--I breathe not thy name-- - There is Love in the sound--there is Guilt in the fame.' - -Lord Lovelace, in his impetuosity, and with very imperfect knowledge of -Byron's life-story, ties every doubtful scrap of his grandfather's poetry -into his bundle of proofs against Augusta Leigh, without perceiving any -discrepancy in the nature of his evidence. A moment's reflection might -have convinced him that the lines we have quoted could not, by any -possibility, have applied to one whom he subsequently addressed as: - - 'My sister! my sweet sister! if a name - Dearer and purer were, it should be thine; - - * * * * * - - Had I but sooner learnt the crowd to shun, - I had been better than I now can be; - The passions which have torn me would have slept; - _I_ had not suffered, and _thou_ hadst not wept.' - -It must be admitted that Byron, through indiscreet confidences and -reckless mystifications, was partly the cause of the suspicions which -afterwards fell upon his sister. Lady Byron has left it on record that -Byron early in 1814--before the birth of Medora--told Lady Caroline Lamb -that a woman he passionately loved was with child by him, and that if a -daughter was born it should be called Medora.[50] At about the same time -'he advanced, at Holland House, the most extraordinary theories about the -relations of brother and sister, which originated the reports about Mrs. -Leigh.' - -That, after ninety years, such nonsense should be regarded as evidence -against a woman so well known in the society of her day as was Mrs. Leigh, -justifies our concurrence with Lord Lovelace's opinion that 'nothing is -too stupid for belief.' - -It appears that one day Lady Byron was talking to her husband about -'Lara,' which seemed to her to be 'like the darkness in which one fears to -behold spectres.' This bait was evidently too tempting for Byron to -resist. He replied: '"Lara"--there's more in _that_ than in any of them.' -As he spoke he shuddered, and turned his eyes to the ground. - -Before we examine that poem to see how much it may contain of illuminating -matter, we will touch upon a remark Byron made to his wife, which Lord -Lovelace quotes without perceiving its depth and meaning. We will quote -'Astarte': - - 'He told Lady Byron that if she had married him when he first - proposed, he should not have written any of the poems which followed - [the first and second Cantos] "Childe Harold."' - -This is perfectly true. Byron proposed to Miss Milbanke in 1812. If she -had married him then, he would not have renewed his intimacy with Mary -Chaworth in June, 1813. There would have been no heart-hunger, no misery, -no remorse, and, in short, no inspiration for 'The Giaour,' 'The Bride,' -'The Corsair,' and 'Lara.' Miss Milbanke's refusal of his offer of -marriage in 1812 rankled long in Byron's mind, and provoked those -ungenerous reproaches which have been, with more or less exaggeration, -reported by persons in Lady Byron's confidence. The mischief was done -between the date of Miss Milbanke's refusal and her acceptance of his -offer, which occurred after the fury of his passion for Mary Chaworth had -burnt itself out. No blame attaches to Lady Byron for this misfortune. -When Byron first proposed, her affections were elsewhere engaged; she -could not, therefore, dispose of her heart to him. When she at last -accepted him, it was too late for happiness. - -In a letter which Byron wrote to Miss Milbanke previous to his -marriage,[51] he unconsciously prophesied the worst: - - 'The truth is that could I have foreseen that your life was to be - linked to mine--had I even possessed a distinct hope, however - distant--I would have been a different and better being. As it is, I - have sometimes doubts, even if I should not disappoint the future, nor - act hereafter unworthily of you, whether the past ought not to make - you still regret me--even that portion of it with which you are not - unacquainted. I did not believe such a woman existed--at least for - me--_and I sometimes fear I ought to wish that she had not_.' - -When Byron said that he had doubts whether the past would not eventually -reflect injuriously upon his future wife, he referred, not to Augusta -Leigh, but to his fatal intercourse with Mary Chaworth. The following -sentences taken from Mrs. Leigh's letters to Francis Hodgson, who knew the -truth, prove that the mystery only incidentally affected Augusta. The -letters were written February, 1816. - - 'From what passed [between Captain Byron and Mrs. Clermont] _now_, if - _they_ choose it, it must come into court! God alone knows the - consequences.' - - 'It strikes me that, if their pecuniary proposals are favourable, - Byron will be too happy to escape the exposure. _He must_ be anxious. - It is impossible he should not in some degree.' - -These are the expressions, not of a person connected with a tragedy, but -rather of one who was a spectator of it. Every impartial person must see -that. When, on another occasion, Byron told his wife that he wished he -had gone abroad--as he had intended--in June, 1813, he undoubtedly implied -that the fatal intimacy with Mary Chaworth would have been avoided. This -seems so clear to us that we are surprised that Byron's statement on the -subject of his poems should have made no impression on the mind of Lord -Lovelace, and should have elicited nothing from him in 'Astarte,' except -the _banale_ suggestion that Byron's literary activity _must have been -accidental_! - -Lara, like Conrad, is a portion of Byron himself, and the poem opens with -his return to Newstead after some bitter experiences, at which he darkly -hints: - - 'Short was the course his restlessness had run, - But long enough to leave him half undone.' - -He tells us that 'Another chief consoled his destined bride.' 'One is -absent that most might decorate that gloomy pile.' - - 'Why slept he not when others were at rest? - Why heard no music, and received no guest? - All was not well, they deemed--but where the wrong? - Some knew perchance.' - -In stanzas 17, 18, and 19, Byron draws a picture of himself, so like that -his sister remarked upon it in a letter to Hodgson. After telling us that -'his heart was not by nature hard,' he says that - - 'His blood in temperate seeming now would flow: - Ah! happier if it ne'er with guilt had glowed, - But ever in that icy smoothness flowed!' - -The poet tells us that after Lara's death he was mourned by one whose -quiet grief endured for long. - - 'Vain was all question asked her of the past, - And vain e'en menace--silent to the last.' - - 'Why did she love him? Curious fool!--be still-- - Is human love the growth of human will? - To her he might be gentleness; the stern - Have deeper thoughts than your dull eyes discern, - And when they love, your smilers guess not how - Beats the strong heart, though less the lips avow. - They were not common links, that formed the chain - That bound to Lara Kaled's heart and brain; - But that wild tale she brooked not to unfold, - _And sealed is now each lip that could have told_. - - * * * * * - - 'The tempest of his heart in scorn had gazed - On that the feebler Elements hath raised. - The Rapture of his Heart had looked on high, - And asked if greater dwelt beyond the sky: - Chained to excess, the slave of each extreme, - How woke he from the wildness of that dream! - Alas! he told not--_but he did awake - To curse the withered heart that would not break_.' - -On September 8, 1814, four months after Byron had finished 'Lara,' while -he was at Newstead with his sister and her children--the little Medora -among them--he wrote his fragment 'Harmodia.' The rough draft was given -after his marriage to Lady Byron, who had no idea to what it could -possibly refer. When the scandal about Augusta was at its height, this -fragment was impounded among other incriminating documents, and eventually -saw the light in 'Astarte.' Lord Lovelace was firmly convinced that it was -addressed to Augusta Leigh! - -Between September 7 and 15 Byron and Mary Chaworth were considering the -desirability of marriage for Byron, and letters were passing between the -distracted poet and two young ladies--Miss Milbanke and another--with that -object in view. Although Byron was still in love with Mary Chaworth, he -had come to understand that her determination to break the dangerous -intimacy was irrevocable, so he resolved to follow her advice and marry. -The tone of his letter to Moore, written on September 15, shows that he -was not very keen about wedlock. He was making plans for a journey to -Italy in the event of his proposal being rejected. - -It is possible that, in a conversation between Mary and himself, the -former may have spoken of the risks they had incurred in the past, and of -her resolve never to transgress again. To which Byron replied: - - HARMODIA. - - 'The things that were--and what and whence are they? - Those clouds and rainbows of thy yesterday? - Their path has vanish'd from th' eternal sky, - And now its hues are of a different dye. - Thus speeds from day to day, and Pole to Pole, - The change of parts, the sameness of the whole; - And all we snatch, amidst the breathing strife, - But gives to Memory what it takes from Life: - Despoils a substance to adorn a shade-- - And that frail shadow lengthens but to fade. - Sun of the sleepless! Melancholy Star! - Whose tearful beam shoots trembling from afar-- - _That chang'st_ the darkness thou canst not dispel-- - How like art thou to Joy, remembered well! - Such is the past--the light of other days - That shines, but warms not with its powerless rays-- - A moonbeam _Sorrow_ watcheth to behold, - Distinct, but distant--clear, but _death-like_ cold. - - 'Oh! as full thought comes rushing o'er the Mind - Of all we saw before--to leave behind-- - Of all!--but words, what are they? Can they give - A trace of truth to thoughts while yet they live? - No--Passion--Feeling speak not--or in vain-- - The tear for Grief--the Groan must speak for Pain-- - Joy hath its smile--and Love its blush and sigh-- - Despair her silence--Hate her lip and eye-- - These their interpreters, where deeply lurk-- - The Soul's despoilers warring as they work-- - The strife once o'er--then words may find their way, - Yet how enfeebled from the forced delay! - - 'But who could paint the progress of the wreck-- - Himself still clinging to the dangerous deck? - Safe on the shore the artist first must stand, - And then the pencil trembles in his hand.' - -When, four years later, Byron was writing the first canto of 'Don Juan,' -with feelings chastened by suffering and time, he recurred to that -period--never effaced from his memory--the time when he wrote: - - 'When thou art gone--the loved--the lost--the one - Whose smile hath gladdened--though, perchance, undone!' - -Time could not change the feelings of his youth, nor keep his thoughts for -long from the object of his early love. - - 'They tell me 'tis decided you depart: - 'Tis wise--'tis well, but not the less a pain; - I have no further claim on your young heart, - Mine is the victim, and would be again: - To love too much has been the only art - I used.' - - 'I loved, I love you, for this love have lost - State, station, Heaven, Mankind's, my own esteem, - And yet can not regret what it hath cost, - _So dear is still the memory of that dream_; - Yet, if I name my guilt, 'tis not to boast, - None can deem harshlier of me than I deem.' - - 'All is o'er - For me on earth, except some years to hide - My shame and sorrow deep in my heart's core: - These I could bear, but cannot cast aside - The passion which still rages as before-- - And so farewell--forgive me, love me--No, - That word is idle now--but let it go.' - - * * * * * - - 'My heart is feminine, nor can forget-- - To all, except one image, madly blind; - So shakes the needle, and so stands the pole, - As vibrates my fond heart to my fixed soul.' - -It was early in 1814 that Byron also wrote his farewell verses to Mary -Chaworth, which appeared in the second edition of 'The Corsair': - - I. - - 'Farewell! if ever fondest prayer - For other's weal availed on high, - Mine will not all be lost in air, - But waft thy name beyond the sky. - 'Twere vain to speak--to weep--to sigh: - Oh! more than tears of blood can tell, - _When wrung from Guilt's expiring eye_, - Are in that word--Farewell! Farewell! - - II. - - 'These lips are mute, these eyes are dry; - But in my breast, and in my brain, - Awake the pangs that pass not by, - _The thought that ne'er shall sleep again_. - My soul nor deigns nor dares complain, - Though Grief and Passion there rebel: - I only know we loved in vain-- - I only feel--Farewell! Farewell!' - -Even in the 'Hebrew Melodies,' which were probably begun in the autumn of -1814, and finished after Byron's marriage in January, 1815, there are -traces of that deathless remorse and love, whose expression could not be -altogether repressed. We select some examples at random. In the poem 'Oh, -snatched away in Beauty's bloom,' the poet had added two verses which were -subsequently suppressed: - - 'Nor need I write to tell the tale, - My pen were doubly weak. - Oh! what can idle words avail, - Unless my heart could speak? - - 'By day or night, in weal or woe, - That heart, no longer free, - Must bear the love it cannot show, - And silent turn for thee.' - -In 'Herod's Lament for Mariamne' we find: - - 'She's gone, who shared my diadem; - She sunk, with her my joys entombing; - I swept that flower from Judah's stem, - Whose leaves for me alone were blooming; - And mine's the guilt, and mine the Hell, - This bosom's desolation dooming; - And I have earned those tortures well, - Which unconsumed are still consuming!' - -While admitting that Byron's avowed object was to portray the remorse of -Herod, we suspect that the haunting image of one so dear to him--one who -had suffered through guilt which he so frequently deplored in verse--must -have been in the poet's mind when these lines were written. - -On January 17, 1814, Byron went to Newstead with Augusta Leigh, and stayed -there one month. - - 'A busy month and pleasant, at least three weeks of it.... "The - Corsair" has been conceived, written, published, etc., since I took up - this journal. They tell me it has great success; it was written _con - amore_, and much from _existence_.' - -On the following day Byron wrote to his friend Wedderburn Webster: - - 'I am on my way to the country on rather a melancholy expedition. A - very old and early connexion [Mary Chaworth], or rather friend of - mine, has desired to see me; and, as now we can never be more than - friends, I have no objection. She is certainly unhappy and, I fear, - ill; and the length and circumstances attending our acquaintance - render her request and my visit neither singular nor improper.' - -This strange apology for what might have been considered a very natural -act of neighbourly friendship, inevitably reminds us of a French proverb, -_Qui s'excuse s'accuse_. It is worthy of note that, after Byron had been -ten days at Newstead with his sister, he wrote to his lawyer--who must -have been surprised at the irrelevant information--to say that Augusta -Leigh was 'in the family way.' The significance of this communication has -hitherto passed unnoticed. We gather from Byron's letters that he was much -depressed by Mary Chaworth's state of health, involving all the risks of -discovery. - - 'My rhyming propensity is quite gone,' he writes, 'and I feel much as - I did at Patras on recovering from my fever--weak, but in health, and - only afraid of a relapse.' - -Soon after his return to London Byron wrote to Moore: 'Seriously, I am in -what the learned call a dilemma, and the vulgar, a scrape....' - -Moore took care, with his asterisks, that we should not know the nature of -that scrape, which certainly had nothing to do with his 'Lines to a Lady -Weeping' which appeared in the first edition of 'The Corsair.' If the -reader has any doubts on this point, let him refer to Byron's letters to -Murray, notably to that one in which the angry poet protests against the -suppression of those lines in the second edition of 'The Corsair': - - 'You have played the devil by that injudicious _suppression_, which - you did totally without my consent.... Now, I _do not_, and _will_ not - be supposed to shrink, although myself and everything belonging to me - were to perish with my memory.' - -Moore's asterisks veiled the record of a deeper scrape, as Byron's letter -to him, written three weeks later, plainly show. - -On April 10, 1814, Byron wrote in his journal: - - 'I do not know that I am happiest when alone; but this I am sure of, - that I am never long in the society even of _her_ I love (God knows - too well, and the Devil probably too), without a yearning for the - company of my lamp, and my utterly confused and tumbled-over library.' - -The latter portion of the journal at this period is much mutilated. There -is a gap between April 10 and 19, when, four days after the birth of -Medora, he writes in deep dejection: - - 'There is ice at both poles, north and south--all extremes are the - same--misery belongs to the highest and the lowest, only.... I will - keep no further journal ... and, to prevent me from returning, like a - dog, to the vomit of memory, I tear out the remaining leaves of this - volume.... "O! fool! I shall go mad."' - -It was at this time that Byron wrote the following lines, in which he -tells Mary Chaworth that all danger of the discovery of their secret is -over: - - 'There is no more for _me_ to hope, - _There is no more for thee to fear_; - And, if I give my sorrow scope, - That sorrow _thou_ shalt never hear. - Why did I hold thy love so dear? - Why shed for such a heart one tear? - Let deep and dreary silence be - My only memory of thee! - When all are fled who flatter now, - Save thoughts which will not flatter then; - And thou recall'st the broken vow - To him who must not love again-- - _Each hour of now forgotten years_ - Thou, then, shalt number with thy tears; - And every drop of grief shall be - A vain remembrancer of me!' - -On May 4, 1814, Byron sent to Moore the following verses. We quote from -Lady Byron's manuscript: - - 'I speak not--I trace not--I breathe not thy name-- - There is love in the sound--there is Guilt in the fame-- - But the tear which now burns on my cheek may impart - The deep thoughts that dwell in that silence of heart. - - 'Too brief for our passion--too long for our peace-- - Was that hour--can its hope--can its memory cease? - We repent--we abjure--we will break from our chain: - We must part--we must fly to--unite it again! - - 'Oh! thine be the gladness--and mine be the Guilt! - Forgive me--adored one--forsake if thou wilt-- - But the heart which is thine shall expire undebased, - And Man shall not break it whatever _thou_ mayst. - - 'Oh! proud to the mighty--but humble to thee - This soul in its bitterest moment shall be, - And our days glide as swift--and our moments more sweet - With thee at my side--than the world at my feet. - - 'One tear of thy sorrow--one smile of thy love-- - Shall turn me or fix--shall reward or reprove-- - And the heartless may wonder at all I resign: - Thy lip shall reply--not to them--but to mine.' - -These verses were not published until Byron had been five years in his -grave. They tell the story plainly, and the manuscript in Mr. Murray's -possession speaks plainer still. Before Byron gave the manuscript to his -wife, he erased the following lines: - - 'We have loved--and oh! still, my adored one, we love!' - - 'Oh! the moment is past when that passion might cease.' - - 'But I cannot repent what we ne'er can recall.' - -After Medora's birth Byron became more and more dejected, and on April 29 -he wrote a remarkable letter to Murray, enclosing a draft to redeem the -copyrights of his poems, and releasing Murray from his engagement to pay -£1,000, agreed on for 'The Giaour' and 'The Bride of Abydos.' Byron was -evidently afraid that Mr. Chaworth Musters would discover the truth, and -that a duel and disgrace would be the inevitable consequence. - - '_If any accident occurs to me_, you may do then as you please; but, - with the exception of two copies of each for _yourself_ only, I expect - and request that the advertisements be withdrawn, and the remaining - copies of _all_ destroyed; and any expense so incurred I will be glad - to defray. For all this it may be well to assign some reason. I have - none to give except my own caprice, and I do not consider the - circumstance of consequence enough to require explanation. Of course, - I need hardly assure you that they never shall be published with my - consent, directly or indirectly, by any other person whatsoever, and - that I am perfectly satisfied, and have every reason so to be, with - your conduct in all transactions between us, as publisher and author. - It will give me great pleasure to preserve your acquaintance, and to - consider you as my friend.' - -Two days later Byron seems to have conquered his immediate apprehensions, -and, in reply to an appeal from Murray, writes: - - 'If your present note is serious, and it really would be inconvenient, - there is an end of the matter; tear my draft, and go on as usual: in - that case we will recur to our former basis. That _I_ was perfectly - _serious_ in wishing to suppress all future publication is true; but - certainly not to interfere with the convenience of others, and more - particularly your own. _Some day I will tell you the reason of this - apparently strange resolution._' - -It had evidently dawned on Byron's mind that a sudden suppression of his -poems would have aroused public curiosity, and that a motive for his -action would either have been found or invented. This would have been -fatal to all concerned. If trouble were to come, it would be wiser not to -meet it halfway. Happily, the birth of Medora passed unnoticed. - -As time wore on, Byron's hopes that Mary would relent grew apace. But he -was doomed to disappointment. Mary Chaworth had the courage and the -wisdom to crush a love so disastrous to both. Byron in his blindness -reproached her: - - 'Thou art not false, but thou art fickle.' - -He tells her that he would despise her if she were false; but he knows -that her love is sincere: - - 'When _she_ can change who loved so truly!' - - 'Ah! sure such grief is _Fancy's_ scheming, - And all the Change can be but dreaming!' - -He could not believe that her resolve was serious. Time taught him better. -Love died, and friendship took its place. The same love that tempted her -to sin was that true love that works out its redemption. - -Between April 15 and 21, 1816, before signing the deed of separation, -Byron went into the country to take leave of Mary Chaworth. It was their -last meeting, and the parting must have been a sad one. The hopes that -Mary had formed for his peace and happiness in marriage had suddenly been -dashed to the ground. And now he was about to leave England under a cloud, -which threatened for a time to overwhelm them both. A terrible anxiety as -to the issue of investigations, which were being made into his conduct -previous to and during his marriage, oppressed her with the gravest -apprehension. Everything seemed to depend upon the silence both of Byron -and Augusta. Under this awful strain the mind of Mary Chaworth was -flickering towards collapse. By the following verses, which must have been -written soon after their final meeting, we find Byron, - - 'Seared in heart--and lone--and blighted,' - -reproaching, with a lover's injustice, the woman he adored, for that act -of renunciation which, under happier auspices, might have proved his own -salvation: - - I. - - 'When we two parted - In silence and tears, - Half broken-hearted - To sever for years, - Pale grew thy cheek and cold, - Colder thy kiss; - Truly that hour foretold - Sorrow to this. - - II. - - 'The dew of the morning - Sunk chill on my brow-- - It felt like the warning - Of what I feel now. - Thy vows are all broken, - And light is thy fame: - I hear thy name spoken, - And share in its shame. - - III. - - 'They name thee before me, - A knell to mine ear; - A shudder comes o'er me-- - Why wert thou so dear? - They know not I knew thee, - Who knew thee too well: - Long, long shall I rue thee, - Too deeply to tell. - - IV. - - 'In secret we met-- - In silence I grieve, - _That thy heart could forget, - Thy spirit deceive_. - If I should meet thee - After long years, - How should I greet thee? - With silence and tears.' - -In the first draft Byron had written, after the second verse, the -following words: - - '_Our secret lies hidden, - But never forgot._' - -In 'Fare Thee Well,' written on March 17, 1816, there are only four lines -which have any bearing on the point under consideration. - -Byron tells his wife that if she really knew the truth, if every inmost -thought of his breast were bared before her, she would _not_ have forsaken -him. - -That is true. Lady Byron might, in time, have forgiven everything if the -doctors had been able to declare that her husband was not wholly -accountable for his actions. But when they pronounced him to be of sound -mind, and, as will be seen presently, she subsequently convinced herself -that he had committed, and might even then be committing adultery with his -sister under her own roof, she resolved never again to place herself in -his power. If, in the early stages of disagreement, without betraying Mary -Chaworth, it could have been avowed that Mrs. Leigh _was not the mother of -Medora_, Lady Byron might not have seen in her husband's strange conduct -towards herself 'signs of a deep remorse.' She would certainly have been -far more patient under suffering, and the separation might have been -avoided. But this avowal was impracticable. Augusta had committed herself -too far for that, and the idle gossip of her servants _subsequently_ -convinced Lady Byron that Byron was the father of Augusta's child. It is -clear that neither Augusta nor Byron made any attempts to remove those -suspicions; in fact, they acted in a manner most certain to confirm them. -Whether the secret, which they had pledged themselves to keep, could long -have been withheld from Lady Byron, if matters had been patched up, is -doubtful. Meanwhile, as everything depended on _premat nox alta_, they -dared not risk even a partial avowal of the truth. - -The separation was inevitable, and in this case it was eternal. It is hard -to believe that there had ever been any real love on either side. Under -these circumstances we feel sure that any attempts at reconciliation would -have ended disastrously for both. Byron's love for Mary Chaworth was -strong as death. Many waters could not have quenched it, 'neither could -the floods drown it.' - -The last verses written by Byron before he left England for ever were -addressed to his sister. The deed of separation had been signed, and -Augusta Leigh, who had stood at his side in those dark hours when all the -world had forsaken him, was about to leave London. - - 'When all around grew drear and dark, - And Reason half withheld her ray-- - And Hope but shed a dying spark - Which more misled my lonely way; - When Fortune changed, and Love fled far, - And Hatred's shafts flew thick and fast, - Thou wert the solitary star - Which rose, and set not to the last. - And when the cloud upon us came - _Which strove to blacken o'er thy ray_-- - Then purer spread its gentle flame - And dashed the darkness all away. - Still may thy Spirit dwell on mine, - _And teach it what to brave or brook_-- - There's more in one soft word of thine - Than in the world's defied rebuke. - - * * * * * - - _Then let the ties of baffled love - Be broken_--thine will never break; - Thy heart can feel.' - -These ingenuous words show that Byron's affection for his sister, and his -gratitude for her loyalty, were both deep and sincere. If, as Lord -Lovelace asserts, Byron had been her lover, we know enough of his -character to be certain that he would never have written these lines. He -was not a hypocrite--far from it--and it was foreign to his naturally -combative nature to attempt to conciliate public opinion. These lines were -written _currente calamo_, and are only interesting to us on account of -the light they cast upon the situation at the time of the separation. -Evidently Byron had heard a rumour of the baseless charge that was -afterwards openly made. He reminds Augusta that a cloud threatened to -darken her existence, but the bright rays of her purity dispelled it. He -hopes that even in absence she will guide and direct him as in the past; -and he compliments her by saying that one word from her had more influence -over him than the whole world's censure. Although his love-episode with -Mary was over, yet so long as Augusta loves him he will still have -something to live for, as she alone can feel for him and understand his -position. - -In speaking of his sister, in the third canto of 'Childe Harold,' he says: - - 'For there was soft Remembrance, _and sweet Trust_ - In one fond breast, to which his own would melt.' - - '_And he had learned to love_--I know not why, - For this in such as him seems strange of mood-- - _The helpless looks of blooming Infancy_, - Even in its earliest nurture; what subdued, - To change like this, a mind so far imbued - With scorn of man, it little boots to know; - But thus it was; and though in solitude - Small power the nipped affections have to grow, - In him this glowed when all beside had ceased to glow.' - -If these words bear any significance, Byron must mean that, since the -preceding canto of 'Childe Harold' was written, he had formed (learned to -love) a strong attachment to some child, and, in spite of absence, this -affection still glowed. That child may possibly have been Ada, as the -opening lines seem to suggest. But this is not quite certain. According to -Lord Lovelace, Byron never saw his child after January 3, 1816, when the -babe was only twenty-four days old. Byron himself states that it was not -granted to him 'to watch her dawn of little joys, or hold her lightly on -his knee, and print on her soft cheek a parent's kiss.' All this, he tells -us, 'was in his nature,' but was denied to him. His sole consolation was -the hope that some day Ada would learn to love him. On the other hand, the -child mentioned in 'Childe Harold' had won his love by means which 'it -little boots to know.' If Byron had alluded to his daughter Ada, there -need have been no ambiguity. Possibly the child here indicated may have -been little Medora, then three years old, with whom he had often played, -and who was then living with that sister of 'Soft Remembrance and sweet -Trust.' - -If that conjecture be correct, this is the only allusion to Medora in -Byron's poetry. But she is indicated in prose. In reference to the death -of one of Moore's children, Byron wrote (February 2, 1818): - - 'I know how to feel with you, because I am quite wrapped up in my own - children. Besides my little legitimate, I have made unto myself an - illegitimate since, _to say nothing of one before_; and I look forward - to one of them as the pillar of my old age, supposing that I ever - reach, as I hope I never shall, that desolating period.' - -In the _one before_ Moore will have recognized Medora. In spite of the -'scarlet cloak and double figure,' Moore had no belief in the story that -Byron became a father while at Harrow School! - -'The Dream,' which was written in July, 1816, is perhaps more widely known -than any of Byron's poems. Its theme is the remembrance of a hopeless -passion, which neither Time nor Reason could extinguish. Similar notes of -lamentation permeate most of his poems, but in 'The Dream' Byron, for the -first time, takes the world into his confidence, and tells his tale of woe -with such distinctness that we realize its truth, its passion, and its -calamity. The publication of that poem was an indiscretion which must have -been very disconcerting to his sister. Fortunately, it had no disastrous -consequences. It apparently awakened no suspicions, and its sole effect -was to incense Mary Chaworth's husband, who, in order to stop all prattle, -caused the 'peculiar diadem of trees' to be cut down. In Byron's early -poems we see how deeply Mary Chaworth's marriage affected him; but this -was known only to a small circle of Southwell friends. In 'The Dream' we -realize that she was in fact a portion of his life, and that his own -marriage had not in the least affected his feelings towards her. He had -tried hard to forget her, but in vain; she was his destiny. Whether Byron, -when he wrote this poem, had any idea of publishing it to the world is not -known. It may possibly have been written to relieve his overburdened mind, -and would not have seen the light but for Lady Byron's treatment of Mrs. -Leigh on the memorable occasion when she extracted, under promise of -secrecy, the so-called 'Confession,' to which we shall allude presently. -In any case, Byron became aware of what had happened in September, 1816. -In some lines addressed to his wife, he tells her that she bought others' -grief at any price, adding: - - 'The means were worthy, and the end is won; - I would not do by thee as _thou_ hast done.' - -Possibly, Byron may have thought that the publication of this poem would -act as a barb, and would wound Lady Byron's stubborn pride. Its appearance -in the circumstances was certainly _contra bonos mores_, but we must -remember that 'men in rage often strike those who wish them best.' -Whatever may have been Byron's intention, 'The Dream' affords a proof that -Mary Chaworth was never long absent from his thoughts. At this time, when -he felt a deep remorse for his conduct towards Mary Chaworth, he asks -himself: - - 'What is this Death? a quiet of the heart? - The whole of that of which we are a part? - For Life is but a vision--what I see - Of all which lives alone is Life to me, - And being so--the absent are the dead - Who haunt us from tranquillity, and spread - A dreary shroud around us, and invest - With sad remembrancers our hours of rest. - The absent are the dead--for they are cold, - And ne'er can be what once we did behold; - And they are changed, and cheerless,--or if yet - _The unforgotten do not all forget, - Since thus divided_--equal must it be - _If the deep barrier be of earth, or sea_; - _It may be both_--but one day end it must - In the dark union of insensate dust.' - -It was at this time also that Byron wrote his 'Stanzas to Augusta,' which -show his complete confidence in her loyalty: - - 'Though human, thou didst not deceive me, - Though woman, thou didst not forsake, - Though loved, thou forborest to grieve me, - Though tempted, thou never couldst shake; - _Though trusted, thou didst not betray me_, - Though parted, it was not to fly, - Though watchful, 'twas not to defame me, - _Nor, mute, that the world might belie_.' - -Byron's remorse also found expression in 'Manfred,' where contrition is -but slightly veiled by words of mysterious import, breathed in an -atmosphere of mountains, magic, and ghost-lore. People in society, whose -ears had been poisoned by insinuations against Mrs. Leigh, and who knew -nothing of Byron's intercourse with Mary Chaworth, came to the conclusion -that 'Manfred' revealed a criminal attachment between Byron and his -sister. Byron was aware of this, and, conscious of his innocence, held his -head in proud defiance, and laughed his enemies to scorn. He did not deign -to defend himself; and the public--forgetful of the maxim that where there -is a sense of guilt there is a jealousy of drawing attention to -it--believed the worst. When a critique of 'Manfred,' giving an account of -the supposed origin of the story, was sent to Byron, he wrote to Murray: - -'The conjecturer is out, and knows nothing of the matter. I had a better -origin than he can devise or divine for the soul of him.' - -That was the simple truth. The cruel allegation against Mrs. Leigh seemed -to be beneath contempt. As Sir Egerton Brydges pointed out at the time, -Byron, being of a strong temperament, did not reply to the injuries heaped -upon him by whining complaints and cowardly protestations of innocence; he -became desperate, and broke out into indignation, sarcasm, and exposure of -his opponents, in a manner so severe as to seem inexcusably cruel to those -who did not realize the provocation. It was 'war to the knife,' and Byron -had the best of it. - -We propose to examine 'Manfred' closely, to see whether Astarte in any -degree resembles the description which Lord Lovelace has given of Augusta -Leigh. - -Manfred tells us that his slumbers are 'a continuance of enduring -thought,' since that 'all-nameless hour' when he committed the crime for -which he suffers. He asks 'Forgetfulness of that which is within him--a -crime which he cannot utter.' When told by the Seven Spirits that he -cannot have self-oblivion, Manfred asks if Death would give it to him; and -receives the sad reply that, being immortal, the spirit after death cannot -forget the past. - -Eventually the Seventh Spirit--typifying, possibly, a Magdalen--appears -before Manfred, in the shape of a beautiful woman. - - 'MANFRED. Oh God! if it be thus, and _thou_ - Art not a madness and a mockery, - I yet might be most happy.' - -When the figure vanishes, Manfred falls senseless. In the second act, -Manfred, in reply to the chamois-hunter, who offers him a cup of wine, -says: - - 'Away, away! there's blood upon the brim! - Will it then never--never sink in the earth? - 'Tis blood--my blood! the pure warm stream - Which ran in the veins of my fathers, and in ours - When we were in our youth, and had one heart, - And loved each other as we should not love, - And _this_ was shed: but still it rises up. - Colouring the clouds that shut me out from Heaven.' - -One may well wonder what all this has to do with Augusta. The blood that -ran in Byron's veins also ran in the veins of Mary Chaworth, and that -blood, shed by Byron's kinsman, had caused a feud, which was not broken -until Byron came upon the scene, and fell hopelessly in love with 'the -last of a time-honoured race.' Byron from his boyhood always believed -that there was a blood-curse upon him. - -When, two years later, he wrote 'The Duel' (December, 1818), he again -alludes to the subject: - - 'I loved thee--I will not say _how_, - Since things like these are best forgot: - Perhaps thou mayst imagine now - Who loved thee and who loved thee not. - And thou wert wedded to another, - And I at last another wedded: - I am a father, thou a mother, - To strangers vowed, with strangers bedded. - - * * * * * - - 'Many a bar, and many a feud, - Though never told, well understood, - Rolled like a river wide between-- - _And then there was the curse of blood_, - Which even my Heart's can not remove. - - * * * * * - - 'I've seen the sword that slew him; he, - The slain, stood in a like degree - To thee, as he, the Slayer stood - (Oh, had it been but other blood!) - In Kin and Chieftainship to me. - Thus came the Heritage to thee.' - -Clearly, then, the Spirit, which appeared to Manfred in the form of a -beautiful female figure, was Mary Chaworth; the crime for which he -suffered was his conduct towards her; and the blood, which his fancy -beheld on the cup's brim, was the blood of William Chaworth, which his -predecessor, Lord Byron, had shed. When asked by the chamois-hunter -whether he had wreaked revenge upon his enemies, Manfred replies: - - 'No, no, no! - My injuries came down on those who loved me-- - On those whom I best loved: I never quelled - An enemy, save in my just defence-- - But my embrace was fatal.' - -In speaking of the 'core of his heart's grief,' Manfred says: - - 'Yet there was One-- - She was like me in lineaments--her eyes-- - Her hair--her features--all, to the very tone - Even of her voice, they said were like to mine; - But softened all, and tempered into beauty: - She had the same lone thoughts and wanderings,[52] - The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind - To comprehend the Universe: nor these - Alone, but with them gentler powers than mine, - Pity, and smiles, and tears--which I had not; - And tenderness--but that I had for her; - Humility--and that I never had. - Her faults were mine--her virtues were her own-- - I loved her, and destroyed her! - Not with my hand, but heart, _which broke her heart_; - _It gazed on mine, and withered_.' - -In order to appreciate the absurdity of connecting this description with -Augusta, we will quote her noble accuser, Lord Lovelace: - - 'The character of Augusta is seen in her letters and actions. She was - a woman of that great family which is vague about facts, unconscious - of duties, impulsive in conduct. The course of her life could not be - otherwise explained, by those who had looked into it with close - intimacy, than by a kind of moral idiotcy from birth. She was of a - sanguine and buoyant disposition, childishly fond and playful, ready - to laugh at anything, loving to talk nonsense.' - -In fact, - - '_She had the same lone thoughts and wanderings, - The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind - To comprehend the Universe._' - -Lord Lovelace further tells us that Augusta Leigh 'had a refined species -of comic talent'; that she was 'strangely insensible to the nature and -magnitude of the offence in question [incest] even as an imputation;' and -that 'there was apparently an absence of all deep feeling in her mind, of -everything on which a strong impression could be made.' We are also told -that 'Byron, after his marriage, generally spoke of Augusta as "a fool," -with equal contempt of her understanding and principles.' - -In short, Byron's description of the woman, whom he had 'destroyed,' -resembles Augusta Leigh about as much as a mountain resembles a haystack. -How closely Manfred's description resembles Mary Chaworth will be seen -presently. Augusta Leigh had told Byron that, in consequence of his -conduct, Mary Chaworth was out of her mind. - -Manfred says that if he had never lived, that which he loved had still -been living: - - '... Had I never loved, - That which I love would still be beautiful, - Happy, and giving happiness. What is she? - What is she now? _A sufferer for my sins_-- - _A thing I dare not think upon_--or nothing.' - -When Nemesis asks Manfred whom he would 'uncharnel,' he replies: - - 'One without a tomb-- - Call up Astarte.' - -The name, of course, suggests a star. As we have seen, Byron often -employed that metaphor in allusion to Mary Chaworth. - -When the phantom of Astarte rises, Manfred exclaims: - - 'Can this be death? there's bloom upon her cheek; - But now I see it is no living hue, - But a strange hectic.' - -He is afraid to look upon her; he cannot speak to her, and implores -Nemesis to intercede: - - 'Bid her speak-- - Forgive me, or condemn me.' - -Nemesis tells him that she has no authority over Astarte: - - 'She is not of our order, but belongs - To the other powers.'[53] - -The fine appeal of Manfred cannot have been addressed by Byron to his -sister: - - 'Hear me, hear me-- - Astarte! my belovéd! speak to me: - I have so much endured--so much endure-- - Look on me! the grave hath not changed thee more - Than I am changed for thee. Thou lovedst me - Too much, as I loved thee: we were not made - To torture thus each other--though it were - The deadliest sin to love as we have loved. - Say that thou loath'st me not--that I do bear - This punishment for both--that thou wilt be - One of the blesséd--and that I shall die. - - * * * * * - - 'I cannot rest. - I know not what I ask, nor what I seek: - _I feel but what thou art_, and what I am; - And I would hear yet once before I perish - The voice which was my music[54]--speak to me! - - * * * * * - - Speak to me! I have wandered o'er the earth, - And never found thy likeness.' - -When Manfred implores Astarte to forgive him, she is silent. It is not a -matter for forgiveness. He entreats her to speak to him, so that he may -once more hear that sweet voice, even though it be for the last time. The -silence is broken by the word 'Farewell!' Manfred, whose doom is sealed, -cries in agony: - - 'What I have done is done; I bear within - A torture which could nothing gain (from others). - The Mind, which is immortal, makes itself - Requital for its good or evil thoughts,-- - Is its own origin of ill and end-- - And its own place and time: - I was my own destroyer, and will be - My own hereafter... - The hand of Death is on me... - All things swim around me, and the Earth - Heaves, as it were, beneath me. Fare thee well!' - -So far as we know, there is nothing in the whole length of this poem to -suggest anything abnormal; and it is hard to understand what resemblance -Byron's contemporaries could have discovered between the Astarte of -'Manfred' and Augusta Leigh! Enough has been quoted to show that Byron was -not thinking of his sister when he wrote 'Manfred,' but of her whose life -he had blasted, and whose 'sacred name' he trembled to reveal. - -In April, 1817, Byron was informed by Mrs. Leigh that Mary Chaworth and -her husband had made up their differences. The 'Lament of Tasso' was -written in that month, and Byron's thoughts were occupied, as usual, with -the theme of all his misery. - - 'That thou wert beautiful, and I not blind, - Hath been the sin that shuts me from mankind; - But let them go, or torture as they will, - My heart can multiply thine image still; - Successful Love may sate itself away; - The wretched are the faithful; 'tis their fate - To have all feeling, save the one, decay, - And every passion into one dilate, - As rapid rivers into Ocean pour; - But ours is fathomless, and hath no shore.' - -In 'Mazeppa' Byron tells how he met 'Theresa' in that month of June, and -how 'through his brain the thought did pass that there was something in -her air which would not doom him to despair.' This incident is again -referred to in 'Don Juan.' The Count Palatine is, probably, intended as a -sketch of Mary's husband. - -'The Duel,' which was written in December, 1818, is addressed to Mary -Chaworth: - - 'I loved thee--I will not say _how_, - Since things like these are best forgot.' - -Byron alludes to 'the curse of blood,' with, 'many a bar and many a feud,' -which 'rolled like a wide river between them': - - 'Alas! how many things have been - Since we were friends; for I alone - Feel more for thee than can be shown.' - -In the so-called 'Stanzas to the Po,' we find the same prolonged note of -suffering. Writing to Murray (May 8, 1820), Byron says: - - 'I sent a copy of verses to Mr. Kinnaird (they were written last year - on crossing the Po) which must _not_ be published. Pray recollect - this, as they were mere verses of society, and written from private - feelings and passions.' - -In view of the secrecy which Byron consistently observed, respecting his -later intimacy with Mary Chaworth, the publication of these verses would -have been highly indiscreet. They were written in June, 1819, after Mary -had for some time been reconciled to her husband. She was then living with -him at Colwick Hall, near Nottingham. - -Ostensibly these stanzas form an apostrophe to the River Po, and the 'lady -of the land' was, of course, the Guiccioli. Medwin, to whom Byron gave the -poem, believed that the river apostrophized by the poet was the River Po, -whose 'deep and ample stream' was 'the mirror of his heart.' But it seems -perfectly clear that, if this poem referred only to the Countess -Guiccioli, there could have been no objection to its publication in -England. The reading public in those days knew nothing of Byron's liaisons -abroad, and his mystic allusion to foreign rivers and foreign ladies would -have left the British public cold. - -A scrutiny of these perplexing stanzas suggests that they were adapted, -from a fragment written in early life, to meet the conditions of 1819. -Evidently Mary Chaworth was once more 'the ocean to the river of his -thoughts,' and the stream indicated in the opening stanza was not the Po, -but the River Trent, which flows close to the ancient walls of Colwick, -where 'the lady of his love' was then residing. To assist the reader, we -insert the poem, having merely transposed three stanzas to make its -purport clearer - - I. - - 'River, that rollest by the ancient walls, - Where dwells the Lady of my love, when she - Walks by the brink, _and there perchance recalls - A faint and fleeting memory of me_: - - II. - - 'She will look on thee--I have looked on thee, - Full of that thought: and from that moment ne'er - Thy waters could I dream of, name, or see - Without the inseparable sigh for her! - - III. - - 'But that which keepeth us apart is not - Distance, nor depth of wave, nor space of earth, - But the distraction of a various lot, - As various the climates of our birth. - - IV. - - 'What if thy deep and ample stream should be - A mirror of my heart, where she may read - The thousand thoughts _I now betray to thee_, - Wild as thy wave, and headlong as thy speed! - - V. - - 'What do I say--a mirror of my heart? - Are not thy waters sweeping, dark, and strong? - Such as my feelings were and are, thou art; - And such as thou art were my passions long. - - VI. - - 'Time may have somewhat tamed them--not for ever; - Thou overflowest thy banks, and not for aye - Thy bosom overboils, congenial river! - Thy floods subside, and mine have sunk away: - - VII. - - 'But left long wrecks behind, and now again, - Borne on our old unchanged career, we move: - Thou tendest wildly onwards to the main, - And I,--to loving _one_ I should not love. - - VIII. - - 'My blood is all meridian; were it not, - I had not left my clime, nor should I be, - In spite of tortures, ne'er to be forgot, - A slave again to Love--at least of thee. - - IX. - - 'The current I behold will sweep beneath - Her native walls,[55] and murmur at her feet; - Her eyes will look on thee, when she shall breathe - The twilight air, unharmed by summer's heat. - - X. - - 'Her bright eyes will be imaged in thy stream. - Yes, they will meet the wave I gaze on now: - Mine cannot witness, even in a dream, - That happy wave repass me in its flow! - - XI. - - 'The wave that bears my tears returns no more: - Will she return by whom that wave shall sweep? - Both tread thy banks, both wander on thy shore, - I near thy source, she by the dark-blue deep.[56] - - XII. - - 'A stranger loves the Lady of the land, - Born far beyond the mountains, but his blood - Is all meridian, as if never fanned - By the bleak wind that chills the polar flood. - - XIII. - - ''Tis vain to struggle--let me perish young-- - Live as I lived, and love as I have loved; - To dust if I return, from dust I sprung, - And then, at least, my heart can ne'er be moved.' - -In the first stanza, Byron says that when his lady-love walks by the -river's brink 'she may perchance recall a faint and fleeting memory' of -him. Those words, which might have been applicable to Mary Chaworth, whom -he had not seen for at least three years, could not possibly refer to a -woman from whom he had been parted but two short months, and with whom he -had since been in constant correspondence. Only a few days before these -verses were written, Countess Guiccioli had told him by letter that she -had prepared all her relatives and friends to expect him at Ravenna. There -must surely have been something more than 'a faint and fleeting' memory of -Byron in the mind of the ardent Guiccioli. In the second stanza, Byron, -in allusion to the river he had in his thoughts, says: - - 'She will look on thee--_I have looked on thee_, full of that thought: - _and from that moment_ ne'er thy waters could I dream of, _name, or - see_, without the inseparable sigh for her.' - -Now, while there was nothing whatever to connect the River Po with tender -recollections, there was Byron's association in childhood with the River -Trent, a memory inseparable from his boyish love for Mary Chaworth. - - 'But in his native stream, the Guadalquivir, - Juan to lave his youthful limbs was wont; - And having learnt to swim in that sweet river - Had often turned the art to some account.' - -In the fourth stanza we perceive that the poet, while thinking of the -Trent, 'betrays his thoughts' to the Po, a river as wild and as swift as -his native stream. - -The ninth stanza has puzzled commentators exceedingly. It has been pointed -out that the River Po does not sweep beneath the walls of Ravenna. That -is, of course, indisputable. But Byron, in all probability, did not then -know the exact course of that river, and blindly followed Dante's -geographical description, and almost used his very words: - - 'Siede la terra, _dove nata fui, - Su la marina dove il Po discende_, - Per aver pace co' seguaci sui.' - -It is, of course, well known that the Po branches off into two streams to -the north-west of Ferrara, and flows both northward and southward of that -city. The southern portion--the Po di Primaro--is fed by four -affluents--the Rheno, the Savena, the Santerno, and the Lamone--and flows -into the Adriatic south of Comachio, about midway between that place and -Ravenna. It was obviously to the _Po di Primaro_ that Dante referred when -he wrote _seguaci sui_. - -Unless Francesca was born close to the mouth of the Po, which is not -impossible, Byron erred in good company. In any case, we may fairly plead -poetic licence. That Byron crossed the Po di Primaro as well as the main -river admits of no doubt. - -In the eleventh stanza Byron is wondering what will be the result of his -journey? Will the Guiccioli return to him? Will all be well with the -lovers, or will he return to Venice alone? In his fancy they are both -wandering on the banks of that river. He is near its source, where the Po -di Primaro branches off near Pontelagascuro, while she was on the shore of -the Adriatic. - -The twelfth stanza would perhaps have been clearer if the first and second -lines had been, - - 'A stranger, born far beyond the mountains, - Loves the Lady of the land,' - -which was Byron's meaning. The poet excuses himself for his fickleness on -the plea that 'his blood is all meridian'--in short, that he cannot help -loving someone. But we plainly see that his love for Mary Chaworth was -still paramount. 'In spite of tortures ne'er to be forgot'--tortures of -which we had a glimpse in 'Manfred'--he was still her slave. Finally, -Byron tells us that it was useless to struggle against the misery his -heart endured, and that all his hopes were centred on an early death. - -The episode of Francesca and Paolo had made a deep impression on Byron. He -likened it to his unfortunate adventure with Mary Chaworth in June and -July, 1813. In 'The Corsair'--written after their intimacy had been -broken off--Byron prefixes to each canto a motto from 'The Inferno' which -seemed to be appropriate to his own case. In the first canto we find: - - 'Nessun maggior dolore, - Che ricordarsi del tempo felice - Nella miseria.' - -In the second canto: - - 'Conoscesti i dubbiosi desire?' - -In the third canto: - - 'Come vedi--ancor non m' abbandona.' - -That Byron had Francesca in his mind when he wrote the stanzas to the Po -seems likely; and in the letter which he wrote to Mary from Venice, in the -previous month, he compares their misfortunes with those of Paolo and -Francesca in plain words.[57] - -'Don Juan' was begun in the autumn of 1818. That poem, Byron tells us, was -inspired almost entirely by his own personal experience. Perhaps he drew a -portrait of Mary Chaworth when he described Julia: - - 'And she - Was married, charming, chaste, and twenty-three.' - -When they parted in 1809, that was exactly Mary's age. - - 'Her eye was large and dark, suppressing half its fire until she - spoke. Her glossy hair was clustered over a brow bright with - intelligence. Her cheek was purple with the beam of youth, mounting at - times to a transparent glow; and she had an uncommon grace of manner. - She was tall of stature. Her husband was a good-looking man, neither - much loved nor disliked. He was of a jealous nature, though he did not - show it. They lived together, as most people do, suffering each - other's foibles.' - -On a summer's eve in the month of June, Juan and Julia met: - - 'How beautiful she looked! her conscious heart - Glowed in her cheek, and yet she felt no wrong.' - -For her husband she had honour, virtue, truth, and love. The sun had set, -and the yellow moon arose high in the heavens: - - 'There is a dangerous silence in that hour, - A stillness which leaves room for the full soul.' - -Several weeks had passed away: - - 'Julia, in fact, had tolerable grounds,-- - Alfonso's loves with Inez were well known.' - -Then came the parting note: - - 'They tell me 'tis decided you depart: - 'Tis wise--'tis well, but not the less a pain; - I have no further claim on your young heart, - Mine is the victim, and would be again: - To love too much has been the only art - I used.' - -Julia tells Juan that she loved him, and still loves him tenderly: - - 'I loved, I love you, for this love have lost - State, station, Heaven, mankind's, my own esteem, - And yet cannot regret what it hath cost, - So dear is still the memory of that dream.' - - 'All is o'er - For me on earth, except some years to hide - My shame and sorrow deep in my heart's core.' - -The seal to this letter was a sunflower--_Elle vous suit partout_. It may -be mentioned here that Byron had a seal bearing this motto. - -When Juan realized that the parting was final, he exclaims: - - 'No more--no more--oh! never more, my heart, - Canst thou be my sole world, my universe! - Once all in all, but now a thing apart, - Thou canst not be my blessing or my curse: - The illusion's gone for ever.' - -In the third canto we have a hint of Byron's feelings after his wife had -left him: - - 'He entered in the house no more his home, - A thing to human feelings the most trying, - And harder for the heart to overcome, - Perhaps, than even the mental pangs of dying; - To find our hearthstone turned into a tomb, - And round its once warm precincts palely lying - The ashes of our hopes.' - - 'But whatsoe'er he had of love reposed - On that beloved daughter; she had been - The only thing which kept his heart unclosed - Amidst the savage deeds he had done and seen, - A lonely pure affection unopposed: - There wanted but the loss of this to wean - His feelings from all milk of human kindness, - And turn him like the Cyclops mad with blindness.' - -In the fourth canto we are introduced to Haidée, who resembled Lambro in -features and stature, even to the delicacy of their hands. We are told -that owing to the violence of emotion and the agitation of her mind she -broke a bloodvessel, and lay unconscious on her couch for days. Like -Astarte in 'Manfred,' 'her blood was shed: I saw, but could not stanch -it': - - 'She looked on many a face with vacant eye, - On many a token without knowing what: - She saw them watch her without asking why, - And recked not who around her pillow sat. - - * * * * * - - 'Anon her thin wan fingers beat the wall - In time to the harper's tune: he changed the theme - And sang of Love; the fierce name struck through all - Her recollection; on her flashed the dream - Of what she was, and is, if ye could call - To be so being; in a gushing stream - The tears rushed forth from her o'erclouded brain, - Like mountain mists at length dissolved in rain.' - - 'Short solace, vain relief! Thought came too quick, - And whirled her brain to madness.' - - 'She died, but not alone; she held within, - A second principle of Life, which might - Have dawned a fair and sinless child of sin; - But closed its little being without light.' - - 'Thus lived--thus died she; never more on her - Shall Sorrow light, or Shame.' - -In the fifth canto, written in 1820, after the 'Stanzas to the Po,' we -find Byron once more in a confidential mood: - - 'I have a passion for the name of "Mary," - For once it was a magic sound to me; - And still it half calls up the realms of Fairy, - Where I beheld what never was to be; - All feelings changed, but this was last to vary - A spell from which even yet I am not quite free.' - -And there is a sigh for Mary Chaworth in the following lines: - - 'To pay my court, I - Gave what I had--a heart; as the world went, I - Gave what was worth a world; for worlds could never - Restore me those pure feelings, gone for ever. - 'Twas the boy's mite, and like the widow's may - Perhaps be weighed hereafter, if not now; - But whether such things do or do not weigh, - All who have loved, or love, will still allow - Life has naught like it.' - -Early in 1823, little more than a year before his death, Byron refers to -'the fair most fatal Juan ever met.' Under the name of the Lady Adeline, -this most fatal fair one is introduced to the reader: - - 'Although she was not evil nor meant ill, - Both Destiny and Passion spread the net - And caught them.' - - 'Chaste she was, to Detraction's desperation, - And wedded unto one she had loved well.' - - 'The World could tell - Nought against either, and both seemed secure-- - She in her virtue, he in his hauteur.' - -Here we have a minute description of Newstead Abbey, the home of the -'noble pair,' where Juan came as a visitor: - - 'What I throw off is ideal-- - Lowered, leavened, like a history of Freemasons, - Which bears the same relation to the real - As Captain Parry's Voyage may do to Jason's. - The grand _Arcanum's_ not for men to see all; - My music has some mystic diapasons; - And there is much which could not be appreciated - In any manner by the uninitiated.' - -Adeline, we are told, came out at sixteen: - - 'At eighteen, though below her feet still panted - A Hecatomb of suitors with devotion, - She had consented to create again - That Adam called "The happiest of Men."' - -It will be remembered that when Mary Chaworth married she was exactly -eighteen. Her husband was: - - 'Tall, stately, formed to lead the courtly van - On birthdays. The model of a chamberlain.' - - 'But there was something wanting on the whole-- - don't know what, and therefore cannot tell-- - Which pretty women--the sweet souls!--call _Soul_. - _Certes_ it was not body; he was well - Proportioned, as a poplar or a pole, - A handsome man.' - -This description would answer equally well for 'handsome Jack Musters,' -who married Mary Chaworth. Adeline, we are told, took Juan in hand when -she was about seven-and-twenty. That was Mary's age in 1813. But this may -have been a mere coincidence. - - 'She had one defect,' says Byron, in speaking of Adeline: 'her heart - was vacant. Her conduct had been perfectly correct. She loved her - lord, or thought so; but _that_ love cost her an effort. She had - nothing to complain of--no bickerings, no connubial turmoil. Their - union was a model to behold--serene and noble, conjugal, but cold. - There was no great disparity in years, though much in temper. But they - never clashed. They moved, so to speak, apart.' - -Now, when once Adeline had taken an interest in anything, her impressions -grew, and gathered as they ran, like growing water, upon her mind. The -more so, perhaps, because she was not at first too readily impressed. She -did not know her own heart: - - 'I think not she was _then_ in love with Juan: - If so, she would have had the strength to fly - The wild sensation, unto her a new one: - She merely felt a common sympathy - In him.' - - 'She was, or thought she was, his friend--and this - Without the farce of Friendship, or romance - Of Platonism.' - -'Few of the soft sex,' says Byron, 'are very stable in their resolves.' -She had heard some parts of Juan's history; 'but women hear with more good -humour such aberrations than we men of rigour': - - 'Adeline, in all her growing sense - Of Juan's merits and his situation, - Felt on the whole an interest intense-- - Partly perhaps because a fresh sensation, - Or that he had an air of innocence, - Which is for Innocence a sad temptation-- - As Women hate half-measures, on the whole, - She 'gan to ponder how to save his soul.' - -After a deal of thought, 'she seriously advised him to get married.' - - 'There was Miss Millpond, smooth as summer's sea, - That usual paragon, an only daughter, - Who seemed the cream of Equanimity, - Till skimmed--and then there was some milk and water, - With a slight shade of blue too, it might be - Beneath the surface.' - -The mention of Aurora Raby, to whom Juan in the first instance proposed, -and by whom he was refused, suggests an incident in his life which is well -known. Aurora was very young, and knew but little of the world's ways. In -her indifference she confounded him with the crowd of flatterers by whom -she was surrounded. Her mind appears to have been of a serious caste; with -poetic vision she 'saw worlds beyond this world's perplexing waste,' and - - 'those worlds - Had more of her existence; for in her - There was a depth of feeling to embrace - Thoughts, boundless, deep, but silent too as Space.' - -She had 'a pure and placid mien'; her colour was 'never high,' - - 'Though sometimes faintly flushed--and always clear - As deep seas in a sunny atmosphere.' - -We cannot be positive, but perhaps Byron had Aurora Raby in his mind when -he wrote: - - 'I've seen some balls and revels in my time, - And stayed them over for some silly reason, - And then I looked (I hope it was no crime) - To see what lady best stood out the season; - And though I've seen some thousands in their prime - Lovely and pleasing, and who still may please on, - I never saw but one (the stars withdrawn) - Whose bloom could after dancing dare the Dawn.'[58] - -Perhaps Aurora Raby may have been drawn from his recollection of Miss -Mercer Elphinstone, who afterwards married Auguste Charles Joseph, Comte -de Flahaut de la Billarderie, one of Napoleon's Aides-de-Camp, then an -exile in England. This young lady was particularly gracious to Byron at -Lady Jersey's party, when others gave him a cold reception. We wonder how -matters would have shaped themselves if she had accepted the proposal of -marriage which Byron made to her in 1814! But it was not to be. That -charming woman passed out of his orbit, and as he waited upon the shore, -gazing at the dim outline of the coast of France, the curtain fell upon -the first phase of Byron's existence. The Pilgrim of Eternity stood on the -threshold of a new life: - - 'Between two worlds life hovers like a star, - 'Twixt Night and Morn, upon the horizon's verge. - How little do we know that which we are! - How less what we may be! The eternal surge - Of Time and Tide rolls on and bears afar - Our bubbles; as the old burst, new emerge, - Lashed from the foam of Ages.' - -And after eight years of exile, in his 'Last Words on Greece,' written in -those closing days at Missolonghi, with the shadow of Death upon him, his -mind reverts to one whom, in 1816, he had called 'Soul of my thought': - - 'What are to me those honours or renown - Past or to come, a new-born people's cry? - Albeit for such I could despise a crown - Of aught save laurel, or for such could die. - I am a fool of passion, and a frown - Of thine to me is as an adder's eye-- - To the poor bird whose pinion fluttering down - Wafts unto death the breast it bore so high-- - Such is this maddening fascination grown, - So strong thy magic or so weak am I.' - - 'The flowers and fruits of Love are gone; the worm, - The canker, and the grief, are mine alone!' - - - - -PART III - -'ASTARTE' - - 'The evil that men do lives after them; - The good is oft interred with their bones.' - SHAKESPEARE: _Julius Cęsar_. - - - - -CHAPTER I - - -From the moment when Lord Byron left England until the hour of his death, -the question of his separation from his wife was never long out of his -thoughts. He was remarkably communicative on the subject, and spoke of it -constantly, not only to Madame de Staėl, Hobhouse, Lady Blessington, and -Trelawny, but, as we have seen, even in casual conversation with -comparative strangers. There is no doubt that he felt himself aggrieved, -and bitterly resented a verdict which he knew to be unjust. In a pamphlet -which was subsequently suppressed, written while he was at Ravenna, Byron -sums up his own case. In justice to one who can no longer plead his own -cause, we feel bound to transcribe a portion of his reply to strictures on -his matrimonial conduct, which appeared in _Blackwood's Magazine_: - - 'The man who is exiled by a faction has the consolation of thinking - that he is a martyr; he is upheld by hope and the dignity of his - cause, real or imaginary: he who withdraws from the pressure of debt - may indulge in the thought that time and prudence will retrieve his - circumstances: he who is condemned by the law has a term to his - banishment, or a dream of its abbreviation; or, it may be, the - knowledge or the belief of some injustice of the law, or of its - administration in his own particular: but he who is outlawed by - general opinion, without the intervention of hostile politics, - illegal judgment, or embarrassed circumstances, whether he be innocent - or guilty, must undergo all the bitterness of exile, without hope, - without pride, without alleviation. This case was mine. Upon what - grounds the public founded their opinion, I am not aware; but it was - general, and it was decisive. Of me or of mine they knew little, - except that I had written what is called poetry, was a nobleman, had - married, become a father, and was involved in differences with my wife - and her relatives, no one knew why, because the persons complaining - refused to state their grievances. The fashionable world was divided - into parties, mine consisting of a very small minority: the reasonable - world was naturally on the stronger side, which happened to be the - lady's, as was most proper and polite. The press was active and - scurrilous; and such was the rage of the day, that the unfortunate - publication of two copies of verses, rather complimentary than - otherwise to the subjects of both, was tortured into a species of - crime, or constructive petty treason. I was accused of every monstrous - vice by public rumour and private rancour; my name, which had been a - knightly or a noble one since my fathers helped to conquer the kingdom - for William the Norman, was tainted. I felt that, if what was - whispered, and muttered, and murmured, was true, I was unfit for - England; if false, England was unfit for me. I withdrew; but this was - not enough. In other countries, in Switzerland, in the shadow of the - Alps, and by the blue depths of the lakes, I was pursued and breathed - upon by the same blight. I crossed the mountains, but it was the same: - so I went a little farther, and settled myself by the waves of the - Adriatic, like the stag at bay, who betakes him to the waters.... I - have heard of, and believe, that there are human beings so constituted - as to be insensible to injuries; but I believe that the best mode to - avoid taking vengeance is to get out of the way of temptation. I do - not in this allude to the party, who might be right or wrong; but to - many who made her cause the pretext of their own bitterness. She, - indeed, must have long avenged me in her own feelings, for whatever - her reasons may have been (and she never adduced them, to me at - least), she probably neither contemplated nor conceived to what she - became the means of conducting the father of her child, and the - husband of her choice.' - -Byron knew of the charge that had been whispered against his sister and -himself, and, knowing it to be false, it stung him to the heart. And yet -he dared not speak, because a solution of the mystery that surrounded the -separation from his wife would have involved the betrayal of one whom he -designated as the soul of his thought: - - 'Invisible but gazing, as I glow - Mixed with thy spirit, blended with thy birth, - And feeling still with thee in my crush'd feelings dearth.' - -Augusta Leigh, the selfless martyr, the most loyal friend that Byron ever -possessed, his 'tower of strength in the hour of need,' assisted her -brother, so to speak, to place the pack on a false scent, and the whole -field blindly followed. There never was a nobler example of -self-immolation than that of the sister who bravely endured the odium of a -scandal in which she had no part. For Byron's sake she was content to -suffer intensely during her lifetime; and after she had ceased to feel, -her name was branded by Lady Byron and her descendants with the mark of -infamy. - -A curious feature in the case is that, with few exceptions, those who knew -Byron and Mrs. Leigh intimately came gradually to accept the story which -Lady Caroline Lamb had insidiously whispered, a libel which flourished -exceedingly in the noxious vapours of a scandal-loving age. As Nature is -said to abhor a vacuum, so falsehood rushed in to fill the void which -silence caused. - -It is with a deep searching of heart and with great reluctance that we -re-open this painful subject. - -The entire responsibility must rest with the late Lord Lovelace, whose -loud accusation against Byron's devoted sister deprives us of any choice -in the matter. - -In order to understand the full absurdity of the accusation brought -against Augusta Leigh, we have but to contrast the evidence brought -against her in 'Astarte' with allusions to her in Byron's poems, and with -the esteem in which she was held by men and women well known in society at -the time of the separation. - -Lord Stanhope, the historian, in a private letter written at the time of -the Beecher Stowe scandals, says: - - 'I was very well acquainted with Mrs. Leigh about forty years ago, and - used to call upon her at St. James's Palace to hear her speak about - Lord Byron, as she was very fond of doing. That fact itself is a - presumption against what is alleged, since, on such a supposition, the - subject would surely be felt as painful and avoided. She was extremely - unprepossessing in her person and appearance--more like a nun than - anything--and never can have had the least pretension to beauty. I - thought her shy and sensitive to a fault in her mind and character, - and, from what I saw and knew of her, I hold her to have been utterly - incapable of such a crime as Mrs. Beecher Stowe is so unwarrantably - seeking to cast upon her memory.' - -Frances, Lady Shelley, a woman of large experience, penetration, and -sagacity, whose husband was a personal friend of the Prince Regent, stated -in a letter to the _Times_ that Mrs. Leigh was like a mother to Byron, and -when she knew her intimately--at the time of the separation--was 'not at -all an attractive person.' Her husband was very fond of her, and had a -high opinion of her. - -These impressions are confirmed by all those friends and acquaintances of -Mrs. Leigh who were still living in 1869. - -In 1816 Augusta Leigh was a married woman of thirty-two years of age, and -the mother of four children. She had long been attached to the Court, -moved in good society, and was much liked by those who knew her -intimately. Since her marriage in 1807 she had been more of a mother than -a sister to Byron, and her affection for him was deep and sincere. She -made allowances for his frailties, bore his uncertain temper with -patience, and was never afraid of giving him good advice. In June, 1813, -she tried to save him from the catastrophe which she foresaw; and having -failed, she made the supreme sacrifice of her life, by adopting his -natural child, thus saving the reputation of a woman whom her brother -sincerely loved. Henceforward, under suspicions which must have been -galling to her pride, she faced the world's 'speechless obloquy,' heedless -of consequences. In the after-years, when great trouble fell upon her -through the misconduct of that adopted child, she bore her sorrows in -silence. Among those who were connected with Byron's life, Hobhouse, -Hodgson, and Harness--three men of unimpeachable character--respected and -admired her to the last. - -Such, then, was the woman who was persecuted during her lifetime and -slandered in her grave. Her traducers at first whispered, and afterwards -openly stated, not only that she had committed incest with her brother, -but that she had employed her influence over him to make a reconciliation -with his wife impossible. - -If that were so, it is simply inconceivable that Hobhouse should have -remained her lifelong friend. His character is well known. Not only his -public but much of his private life is an open book. As a gentleman and a -man of honour he was above suspicion. From his long and close intimacy -with Byron, there were but few secrets between them; and Hobhouse -undoubtedly knew the whole truth of the matter between Byron and his -sister. He was Byron's most trusted friend during life, and executor at -his death. - -It has never been disputed that, at the time of the separation, Hobhouse -demanded from Lady Byron's representative a formal disavowal of that -monstrous charge; otherwise the whole matter would be taken into a court -of law. He would allow no equivocation. The charge must either be -withdrawn, then and there, or substantiated in open court. When Lady -Byron, through her representative, _unreservedly_ disavowed the -imputation, Byron was satisfied, and consented to sign the deed of -separation. - -Six months after Byron left England, Hobhouse visited him in Switzerland; -and on September 9, 1816, he wrote as follows to Augusta Leigh: - - 'It would be a great injustice to suppose that [Byron] has dismissed - the subject from his thoughts, or indeed from his conversation, _upon - any other motive than that which the most bitter of his enemies would - commend_. The uniformly tranquil and guarded manner shows the effect - which it is meant to hide.... I trust the news from your Lowestoft - correspondent [Lady Byron] will not be so bad as it was when I last - saw you. Pardon me, dear Mrs. Leigh, if I venture to advise the - strictest confinement to very _common_ topics in all you say in that - quarter. _Repay kindness in any other way than by confidence._ I say - this, not in reference to the lady's character, but as a maxim to - serve for all cases. - - 'Ever most faithfully yours, - 'J. C. HOBHOUSE.' - -This letter shows, not only that the writer was firmly convinced of Mrs. -Leigh's innocence, but that he was afraid lest Lady Byron would worm the -real secret out of Byron's sister, by appealing, through acts of kindness, -to her sense of gratitude. He knew that Mrs. Leigh had a very difficult -part to perform. Her loyalty to Byron and Mary Chaworth had already borne -a severe test, and he wished her to realize how much depended on her -discretion. - -The task of keeping in touch with Lady Byron, without dispelling her -illusions, was so trying to Augusta Leigh's naturally frank nature as -almost to drive her to despair. Lady Byron, knowing that Byron was in -constant correspondence with his sister, asked permission to read his -letters, and it was difficult, without plausible excuse, to withhold them. -Byron's correspondence was never characterized by reticence. He invariably -unburdened his mind, heedless of the effect which his words might have -upon those to whom his letters were shown. In these circumstances Mrs. -Leigh was kept in a fever of apprehension as to what Lady Byron might -glean, even from the winnowed portions which, from time to time, were -submitted for her perusal. - -It has since transpired that, without Augusta's knowledge, Lady Byron kept -a copy of everything that was shown to her. - -It appears from 'Astarte' that, in the early part of September, 1816, -Augusta Leigh underwent a rigorous cross-examination--not only from Lady -Byron, but from inquisitive acquaintances, who were determined to extract -from her replies proofs of her guilt. - -Lord Lovelace, on Lady Byron's authority, states that between August 31 -and September 14 (the precise date is not given) Augusta confessed to -Lady Byron that she had committed incest with her brother _previous to his -marriage_. This strange admission, which we are told had been long -expected, seems to have completely satisfied Lady Byron. _After having -promised to keep her secret inviolate_, she wrote to several of her -friends, and told them that Augusta had made 'a full confession of her -guilt.' There had been no witnesses at the meeting between these two -ladies, and the incriminating letters, which Lord Lovelace says Mrs. Leigh -wrote to Lady Byron, are not given in 'Astarte'! But in 1817 Lady Byron, -referring to these meetings, says: 'She acknowledged that the verses, "I -speak not, I trace not, I breathe not thy name,"' were addressed to her.' - -Augusta was certainly in an awkward predicament. By adopting Medora she -had, at considerable personal risk, saved the reputation of Mary Chaworth. -If she had now told the whole truth--namely, that Medora was merely her -daughter by adoption--she would have been pressed to prove it by divulging -the identity of that child's mother. This was of course impossible. Not -only would she have mortally offended Byron, and have betrayed his trust -in her, but the fortune which by his will would devolve upon her children -must have passed into other hands. For those reasons it was indispensable -that the truth should be veiled. As to Mrs. Leigh's alleged statement that -the lines, 'I speak not, I trace not, I breathe not thy name,'--were -addressed to her, we say nothing. By that portion of her so-called -'confession' we may gauge the value of the rest. That Lady Byron should -have been thus deceived affords a strong proof of her gullibility. There -is nothing to show exactly what passed at these remarkable interviews. We -know that Augusta's statements, made orally, were subsequently written -down from memory; because Lady Byron told one of her friends that she had -sent the said 'confession' to the Lord Chancellor (Eldon), 'as a bar to -any future proceedings that might be taken by Lord Byron to obtain the -custody of Ada.' - -It is clear that Mrs. Leigh's communication would never have been made -except under a promise of secrecy. She did not suspect the treachery which -Lady Byron contemplated, and thought that she might safely encourage her -delusions. Perhaps she divined that Lady Byron had already convinced -herself that Medora was Byron's child. At any rate, she knew enough of -Lady Byron to be certain that there would be no peace until that lady had -satisfied herself that her suspicions were well founded. Unhappily for -Mrs. Leigh, Hobhouse's warning arrived too late; her ruse failed, and her -reputation suffered during life. Although she was destined to bear the -stigma of a crime of which she was innocent, she never wavered, and died -with her secret unrevealed. Lady Byron, with all her ingenuity, never -divined the truth. Towards the close of her life she became uneasy in her -mind, and died under the impression that 'Augusta had made a fool of her.' - -Immediately after Mrs. Leigh's interviews with Lady Byron she wrote to -Byron, and revealed the state of affairs. That, at the same time, she -reproached him for the troubles he had brought upon her is evident from -Byron's journal of September 29: - - 'I am past reproaches, and there is a time for all things. I am past - the wish of vengeance, and I know of none like what I have suffered; - but the hour will come when what I feel must be felt, and the [truth - will out?]--but enough.' - -It was at this time, also, that Byron thought that the 'Epistle to -Augusta'--sent to Murray on August 28--had better not be published. It did -not, in fact, see the light until 1830. Lady Byron's conduct in this -business affected him profoundly, and his feelings towards her changed -completely. He was also angry with Augusta for a time, and told her that -it was - - 'on her account principally that he had given way at all and signed - the separation, for he thought they would endeavour to drag her into - it, although they had no business with anything previous to his - marriage with that infernal fiend, whose destruction he should yet - see.'[59] - -In spite of Lady Byron's prejudice against Mrs. Leigh, as time went on she -gradually realized that her sister-in-law's so-called 'confession' was not -consistent either with her known disposition, her reputation in society, -or with her general conduct. In order to satisfy her conscience, Lady -Byron, in April, 1851, arranged a meeting with Mrs. Leigh at Reigate. -Clearly, it was Lady Byron's purpose to obtain a full confession from Mrs. -Leigh of the crime which she had long suspected. Lady Byron came to -Reigate accompanied by the Rev. Frederick Robertson of Brighton, who -happened then to be her spiritual adviser. This time Augusta Leigh's -'confession' was to be made before an unimpeachable witness, who would -keep a record of what passed. It deeply mortified Lady Byron to find that -Mrs. Leigh--far from making any 'confession'--appeared before her in 'all -the pride of innocence,' and, after saying that she had always been loyal -to Byron and his wife, and had never tried to keep them apart, told Lady -Byron that Hobhouse--who was still living--had expressed his opinion that -Lady Byron had every reason to be grateful to Mrs. Leigh; for she not only -risked the loss of property, but what was much dearer to her, Byron's -affection.[60] - -Alas, the bubble had burst! The _confession_, upon which the peace of Lady -Byron's conscience depended, was transformed into an avowal of innocence, -which no threats could shake, no arguments could weaken, and no reproaches -divert. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - -It is because 'Astarte' is a pretentious and plausible record of fallacies -that the present writer feels bound to take note of its arguments. - -In order to avoid circumlocution and tedious excursions over debatable -ground, we will assume that the reader is tolerably well acquainted with -literature relating to the separation of Lord and Lady Byron. - -It would certainly have been better if the details of Byron's quarrel with -his wife had been ignored. Prior to the publication of Mrs. Beecher -Stowe's articles, in 1869, the greatest tenderness had been shown towards -Lady Byron by all writers upon Byron's career and poetry, and by all those -who alluded to his unhappy marriage. Everyone respected Lady Byron's -excellent qualities, and no one accused her of any breach of faith in her -conduct towards either her husband or his sister. Lady Byron was generally -regarded as a virtuous and high-minded woman, with a hard and cold -disposition, but nothing worse was said or thought of her, and the world -really sympathized with her sorrows. - -But when her self-imposed silence was broken by Mrs. Beecher Stowe, and -Byron stood publicly accused on Lady Byron's authority of an odious crime -which she had never attempted to prove during the poet's lifetime, there -arose a revulsion of feeling against her memory. It was generally felt, -after the suffering and the patience of a lifetime, that Lady Byron might -well have evinced a deeper Christian spirit at its close. - -As time went on, the memory of this untoward incident gradually faded -away, and the present generation thought little of the rights or wrongs of -a controversy which had moved their forefathers so deeply. The dead, so to -speak, had buried their dead, and all would soon have been forgotten. -Unfortunately, the late Lord Lovelace, a grandson of Lady Byron, goaded by -perusal of the attacks made upon Lady Byron's memory, after Mrs. Beecher -Stowe's revelations in 1869, was induced in 1905 to circulate among 'those -who, for special reasons, ought to have the means of acquainting -themselves with the true position of Lord and Lady Byron,' a work entitled -'Astarte,' which is mainly a compilation of letters and data, skilfully -selected for the purpose of defaming his grandfather. - -After informing the reader that 'the public of this age would do well to -pay no attention to voluminous complications and caricatures of Lord -Byron,' Lord Lovelace gaily proceeds, on the flimsiest of evidence, to -blast, not only Byron's name, but also the reputation of the poet's -half-sister, Augusta Leigh. - -After telling the world that Byron 'after his death was less honoured than -an outcast,' Lord Lovelace endeavours to justify the public neglect to -honour the remains of a great national poet by accusing Byron of incest. -Lord Lovelace's claim to have been the sole depositary of so damning a -secret is really comical, because, as a matter of fact, he never knew the -truth at all. He thought that he had only, like Pandora, to open his box -for all the evil to fly out, forgetting that Truth has an awkward habit -of lying at the bottom. He seems, however, to have had some inkling of -this, for he is careful to remind us that 'Truth comes in the last, and -very late, limping along on the arm of Time.' - -In support of a theory which is supposed to be revealed by his papers, -Lord Lovelace declares that a solution of Byron's mystery may be found in -his poems, and he fixes on 'Manfred' for the key. The haunting remorse of -Manfred is once more trotted out to prove that Byron committed incest. -There is nothing new in this 'nightmare of folly,' for Byron himself was -well aware of the interpretation placed upon that poem by his -contemporaries. - -Manfred is certainly the revelation of deep remorse, but the crime for -which he suffers had no connection with Augusta Leigh. Lord Lovelace says -that 'the germ of this nightmare in blank verse _was in the actual letters -of the living Astarte_.' The statement may be true; but he was certainly -not in a position to prove it, for he knew not, to the last hour of his -life, who the living Astarte was. - -It is a sad story that should never have been told, and the present writer -regrets that circumstances should have compelled him to save the -reputation of one good woman by revealing matters affecting the -misfortunes of another. But the blame must lie with those inconsiderate, -ignorant, and prejudiced persons who, in an attempt to justify Lady -Byron's conduct, cruelly assailed the memory of one who - - 'When fortune changed--and love fled far, - And hatred's shafts flew thick and fast,' - -was the solitary star which rose, and set not to the last. - -On January 2, 1815, Lord and Lady Byron were married at Seaham. The little -that is known of their married life may be found in letters and memoranda -of people who were in actual correspondence with them, and the details -which we now give from various sources are necessary to a better -understanding of the causes which led to a separation between husband and -wife in January, 1816. - -According to a statement made by Lady Byron to her friend Lady Anne -Barnard, shortly after a rumour of the separation spread in London, there -never was any real love on either side. The following passages are taken -from some private family memoirs written by Lady Anne herself: - - 'I heard of Lady Byron's distress, and entreated her to come and let - me see and hear her, if she conceived my sympathy or counsel could be - any comfort to her. She came, but what a tale was unfolded by this - interesting young creature, who had so fondly hoped to have made - [Byron] happy! They had not been an hour in the carriage ... when - Byron, breaking into a malignant sneer, said: "Oh, what a dupe you - have been to your imagination! How is it possible a woman of your - sense could form the wild hope of reforming _me_? Many are the tears - you will have to shed ere that plan is accomplished. It is enough for - me that you are my wife for me to hate you; if you were the wife of - any other man, I own you might have charms," etc. - - 'I listened in astonishment,' writes Lady Anne. '"How could you go on - after this, my dear!" said I. "Why did you not return to your - father's?" - - '"Because I had not a conception he was in earnest; because I reckoned - it a bad jest, and told him so--that my opinion of him was very - different from his of himself, otherwise he would not find me by his - side. He laughed it over when he saw me appear hurt, and I forgot what - had passed till forced to remember it. I believe he was pleased with - me, too, for a little while. I suppose it had escaped his memory that - I was his wife." - - 'But,' says Lady Anne, 'she described the happiness they enjoyed to - have been unequal and perturbed. Her situation in a short time might - have entitled her to some tenderness, but she made no claim on him for - any. He sometimes reproached her for the motives that had induced her - to marry him--"all was vanity, the vanity of Miss Milbanke carrying - the point of reforming Lord Byron! He always knew _her_ inducements; - her pride shut her eyes to _his_; _he_ wished to build up his - character and his fortunes; both were somewhat deranged; she had a - high name, and would have a fortune worth his attention--let her look - to that for _his_ motives!" - - '"Oh, Byron, Byron," she said, "how you desolate me!" He would then - accuse himself of being mad, and throw himself on the ground in a - frenzy, which Lady Byron believed was affected to conceal the coldness - and malignity of his heart--an affectation which at that time never - failed to meet with the tenderest commiseration.... Lady Byron saw the - precipice on which she stood, and kept his sister with her as much as - possible. He returned in the evenings from the haunts of vice, where - he made her understand he had been, with manners so profligate. - - '"Oh, wretch!" said I. "And had he no moments of remorse?" "Sometimes - he appeared to have them," replied Lady Byron. "One night, coming home - from one of his lawless parties, he saw me so indignantly collected, - bearing all with such determined calmness, that a rush of remorse - seemed to come over him; he called himself a monster, though his - sister was present, and threw himself in agony at my feet. He said - that I could not--no, I could not forgive him such injuries. He was - sure that he had lost me for ever! Astonished at the return of virtue, - my tears, I believe, flowed over his face, and I said: 'Byron, all is - forgotten; never, never shall you hear of it more!' He started up, - and, folding his arms while he looked at me, burst into laughter. - 'What do you mean?' said I. 'Only a philosophical experiment, that's - all,' said he. 'I wished to ascertain the value of your - resolutions.'" - - 'I need not say more of this prince of duplicity,' continues Lady Anne - Barnard, 'except that varied were his methods of rendering her - wretched, even to the last.' - -There is enough evidence in the above statement to show that a separation -between Lord and Lady Byron was inevitable. Byron's temper, always -capricious, became ungovernable under the vexatious exigencies of his -financial affairs. Several executions had taken place in their house -during the year, and it is said that even the beds upon which they slept -were in the possession of the bailiffs. - -It has been shown by those who knew Byron well that he was never suited to -the married state. His temperament was an obstacle to happiness in -marriage. He lacked the power of self-command, and the irritation produced -by the shattered state of his fortune drove him at times to explosions, -which were very like madness. We have an example of this in his conduct -one night in Ithaca, when his companions were afraid to enter his room. -Lady Byron could not meet these explosions in any effectual manner. The -more fiercely he vented his exasperation, the colder she became. Lady -Byron, like her husband, was a spoilt child who set her own self-will -against his. If she had possessed more tact and deeper affections, she -might possibly have managed him. We frankly admit that Byron's conduct -during this period was not calculated to win the love and respect of any -woman. During his mad moods he did his utmost to blacken his own -character, and it is not surprising that Lady Byron, who had heard much of -his conduct before marriage, implicitly believed him. His so-called -'mystifications' were all taken seriously. She was, moreover, of a -jealous nature, and Byron delighted to torment her by suggestions of -immorality which had no foundation in fact. In such a character as Lady -Byron's, a hint was enough to awaken the darkest suspicions, and when an -impression had been stamped on her mind it was impossible to remove it. -Byron, of course, fanned the flame, for he was bored to death in the bonds -of wedlock, and we are inclined to believe that he did many outrageous -things in order to drive his wife on the road to a separation. When the -moment came he was sorry, but he certainly brought matters designedly to a -crisis. His sister Augusta was much in favour of his marriage, and had -strong hopes that happiness was in store for them, as the following letter -will show: - - 'SIX MILE BOTTOM, - '_February 15, 1815_. - - 'MY DEAR MR. HODGSON, - - 'You could not have gratified me more than by giving me an opportunity - of writing on my favourite subject to one so truly worthy of it as you - are; indeed, I have repeatedly wished of late that I could communicate - with you. Most thankful do I feel that I have so much to say that will - delight you. I have every reason to think that my beloved B. is very - happy and comfortable. I hear constantly from him and _his Rib_. They - are now at Seaham, and not inclined to return to Halnaby, _because_ - all the world were preparing to visit them there, and at Seaham they - are free from this torment, no trifling one in B.'s estimation, as you - know. From my own observations on their epistles, and knowledge of - B.'s disposition and ways, I really hope _most_ confidently that all - will turn out very happily. It appears to me that Lady Byron _sets - about_ making him happy quite in the right way. It is true I judge at - a distance, and we generally _hope_ as we _wish_; but I assure you I - don't conclude hastily on this subject, and will own to you, what I - would not scarcely to any other person, that I had _many fears_ and - much anxiety _founded upon many causes and circumstances_ of which I - cannot _write_. Thank God! that they do not appear likely to be - realized. In short, there seems to me to be but one drawback to _all - our_ felicity, and that, alas! is the disposal of dear Newstead, which - I am afraid is irrevocably decreed. I received the fatal communication - from Lady Byron ten days ago, and will own to you that it was not only - grief, but disappointment; for I flattered myself such a sacrifice - would not be made. From my representations she had said and urged all - she could in favour of keeping it. Mr. Hobhouse the same, and I - _believe_ that he was deputed to make inquiries and researches, and I - knew that he wrote to B. suggesting the propriety and expediency of at - least _delaying_ the sale. This most excellent advice created so much - disturbance in Byron's mind that Lady B. wrote me word, "He had such a - fit of vexation he could not appear at dinner, or leave his room...." - B.'s spirits had improved at the prospect of a release from the - embarrassments which interfered so much with his comfort, and I - suppose I _ought_ to be satisfied with this.... May the future bring - peace and comfort to my dearest B.! that is always one of my first - wishes; and I am convinced it is my duty to _endeavour_ to be resigned - to the loss of this dear Abbey from our family, as well as all other - griefs which are sent by Him who knows what is good for us.... I do - not know what are B.'s plans. Lady Byron says nothing can be decided - upon till their affairs are in some degree arranged. They have been - anxious to procure a temporary habitation in my neighbourhood, which - would be convenient to him and delightful to me, if his presence is - required in Town upon this sad Newstead business. But I am sorry to - say I cannot hear of any likely to suit them; and our house is so - _very_ small, I could scarcely contrive to take them in. Lady B. is - extremely kind to me, for which I am most grateful, and to my dearest - B., for I am well aware how much I am indebted to his partiality and - affection for her good opinion. I will not give up the hope of seeing - them on their way to Town, whenever they do go, as for a few nights - they would, perhaps, tolerate the innumerable inconveniences attending - the best arrangements I could make for them.... My babes are all quite - well; Medora more beautiful than ever.... Lady B. writes me word she - never saw her father and mother so happy: that she believes the latter - would go to the bottom of the sea herself to find fish for B.'s - dinner, and that Byron owns at last that he is very happy and - comfortable at Seaham, though he had _predetermined_ to be very - miserable. In some of her letters she mentions his health not being - very good, though he seldom complains, but says that his spirits have - been improved by some daily walks she had prevailed on him to take; - and attributes much of his languor in the morning and _feverish feels_ - at night to his _long fasts_, succeeded by _too_ hearty meals for any - weak and empty stomach to bear at one time, waking by night and - sleeping by day. I flatter myself her influence will prevail over - these bad habits.' - -On March 18, 1815, Augusta Leigh again writes to Byron's friend, the Rev. -Francis Hodgson, from Six Mile Bottom: - - 'B. and Lady Byron arrived here last Sunday on their way from the - North to London, where they have taken a very good house of the Duke - of Devonshire in Piccadilly. I hope they will stay some days longer - with me, and I shall regret their departure, whenever it takes place, - as much as I now delight in their society. Byron is looking remarkably - well, and of Lady B. I scarcely know how to write, for I have a sad - trick of being struck dumb when I am most happy and pleased. The - expectations I had formed could not be _exceeded_, but at least they - are fully answered. - - 'I think I never saw or heard or read of a more perfect being in - mortal mould than she appears to be, and scarcely dared flatter myself - such a one would fall to the lot of my dear B. He seems quite sensible - of her value, and as happy as the present alarming state of _public_ - and the tormenting uncertainties of his own private affairs will admit - of. Colonel Leigh is in the North.' - -On March 31, 1815, Mrs. Leigh again writes to Hodgson: - - 'Byron and Lady B. left me on Tuesday for London. B. will probably - write to you immediately. He talked of it while here after I received - your last letter, which was the cause of _my_ being silent.... I am - sorry to say his nerves and spirits are very far from what I wish - them, but don't speak of this to him on any account. - - 'I think the uncomfortable state of his affairs is the cause; at - least, I can discern no other. He has every outward blessing this - world can bestow. I trust that the Almighty will be graciously pleased - to grant him those _inward_ feelings of peace and calm which are now - unfortunately wanting. This is a subject which I cannot dwell upon, - but in which I feel and have felt all you express. I think Lady Byron - very judiciously abstains from pressing the consideration of it upon - him at the present moment. In short, the more I see of her the more I - love and esteem her, and feel how grateful I am, and ought to be, for - the blessing of such a wife for my dear, darling Byron.' - -Augusta's next letter is written from 13, Piccadilly Terrace, on April 29, -1815, about three weeks after her arrival there on a visit to the Byrons. -It also is addressed to Hodgson, and conveys the following message from -Byron: - - 'I am desired to add: Lady B. is ----, and that Lord Wentworth has - left all to her mother, and then to Lady Byron and children; but Byron - is, _he says_, "a very miserable dog for all that."' - -At the end of June, 1815, Augusta Leigh ended her visit, and returned to -Six Mile Bottom. There seems to have been some unpleasantness between -Augusta and Lady Byron during those ten weeks. - -Two months later, on September 4, 1815, Augusta Leigh writes again to -Hodgson: - - 'Your letter reached me at a time of much hurry and confusion, which - has been succeeded by many events of an afflicting nature, and - compelled me often to neglect those to whom I feel most pleasure in - writing.... My brother has just left me, having been here since last - Wednesday, when he arrived very unexpectedly. I never saw him _so_ - well, and he is in the best spirits, and desired me to add his - congratulations to mine upon your marriage.' - -On November 15, 1815, Augusta Leigh arrived at 13, Piccadilly Terrace, on -a long visit. - -It cannot have been a pleasant experience for Augusta Leigh, this wretched -period which culminated in a dire catastrophe for all concerned. Lord -Lovelace tells us that, when Mrs. Leigh came to stay with them in -November, Byron 'seemed much alienated from his sister, and was entirely -occupied with women at the theatre.' And yet - - '_the impressions of Mrs. Leigh's guilt had been forced into Lady - Byron's mind chiefly by incidents and conversations which occurred - while they were all under one roof._' - -What may have given rise to these suspicions is not recorded--probably -Byron's mystifications, which were all taken seriously. But there is no -attempt to deny the fact that, during this painful time, Lady Byron owed -deep gratitude to Mrs. Leigh, who had faithfully striven to protect her -when ill and in need of sympathy. It was during this period that Lady -Byron wrote the following cryptic note to Byron's sister: - - 'You will think me very foolish, but I have tried two or three times, - and cannot _talk_ to you of your departure with a decent visage; so - let me say one word in this way to spare my philosophy. With the - expectations which I have, I never will nor can ask you to stay one - moment longer than you are inclined to do. It would be the worst - return for all I ever received from you. But, in this at least, I _am_ - "truth itself" when I say that, whatever the situation may be, there - is no one whose society is dearer to me, or can contribute more to my - happiness. These feelings will not change under any circumstances, and - I should be grieved it you did not understand them. - - 'Should you hereafter condemn me, I shall not love you less. I will - say no more. Judge for yourself about going or staying. I wish you to - consider _yourself_, if you could be wise enough to do that for the - first time in your life.' - -On December 10, 1815, Lady Byron gave birth to a daughter. Lord Lovelace -says: - - 'About three weeks after Lady Byron's confinement, the aversion Byron - had already at times displayed towards her struck everyone in the - house as more formidable than ever. Augusta, George Byron, and Mrs. - Clermont, were then all staying in the house, and were very uneasy at - his unaccountable manner and talk. He assumed a more threatening - aspect towards Lady Byron. There were paroxysms of frenzy, but a still - stronger impression was created by the frequent hints he gave of some - suppressed and bitter determination. He often spoke of his conduct and - intentions about women of the theatre, particularly on January 3, - 1816, when he came to Lady Byron's room and talked on that subject - with considerable violence. After that he did not go any more to see - her or the child, but three days later sent her the following note: - - - '"_January 6, 1816._ - - '"When you are disposed to leave London, it would be convenient that a - day should be fixed--and (if possible) not a very remote one for that - purpose. Of my opinion upon that subject you are sufficiently in - possession, and of the circumstances which have led to it, as also to - my plans--or, rather, intentions--for the future. When in the country - I will write to you more fully--as Lady Noel has asked you to Kirkby; - there you can be for the present, unless you prefer Seaham. - - '"As the dismissal of the present establishment is of importance to - me, the sooner you can fix on the day the better--though, of course, - your convenience and inclination shall be first consulted. - - '"The child will, of course, accompany you: there is a more easy and - safer carriage than the chariot (unless you prefer it) which I - mentioned before--on that you can do as you please."' - -The next day Lady Byron replied in writing as follows: 'I shall obey your -wishes, and fix the earliest day that circumstances will admit for leaving -London.' - -Consequently she quitted London on January 15, 1816. Soon after Lady -Byron's arrival at Kirkby, her mother drew from her some of the -circumstances of her misery. Lady Byron then told her mother that she -believed her life would be endangered by a return to her husband. She -expressed an opinion that Byron was out of his mind, although he seemed -competent to transact matters connected with his business affairs. Lady -Noel, naturally, took her daughter's part entirely, and went to London to -seek legal advice. During her stay in London, Lady Noel saw Augusta Leigh -and George Byron, who agreed with her that every endeavour should be made -to induce Byron to agree to a separation. She also consulted Sir Samuel -Romilly, Sergeant Heywood, Dr. Lushington, and Colonel Francis Doyle, an -old friend of the Milbanke family. They all agreed that a separation was -necessary. It was perhaps a very natural view to take of a marriage which -had run its short course so tempestuously, but there were no grounds other -than incompatibility of temperament upon which to base that conclusion. - - 'Nothing had been said at this time,' says Lord Lovelace, 'by Lady - Byron of her suspicions about Augusta, except, apparently, a few - incoherent words to Lady Noel, when telling her that Lord Byron had - threatened to take the child away from her and commit it to Augusta's - charge.' - -Byron, says Lord Lovelace,[61] 'was very changeable at this time, -sometimes speaking kindly of his wife--though never appearing to wish her -to return--and the next hour he would say that the sooner Lady Byron's -friends arranged a separation, the better.' - -This statement is a fair example of the manner in which Lord Lovelace -handles his facts and documents. Mr. Hobhouse, who was in a position to -know the truth, has recently shown that Byron was very anxious for his -wife's return, was indeed prepared to make great sacrifices to attain that -object, and resolutely opposed the wishes of those persons who tried to -arrange a legal separation. It was not until Lady Byron herself reminded -him of a promise which he had once made to her that, 'when convinced her -conduct had not been influenced by others, he should not oppose her -wishes,' that he consented to sign the deed of separation. He had done -enough to show that he was not afraid of any exposure which might have -affected his honour, and was willing, if necessary, to go into a court of -law, but he could not resist the petition of his wife.[62] It is also -extremely improbable that Byron should, 'towards the end of January, have -spoken of proposing a separation himself,' in view of the letters which he -wrote to his wife on February 5, and February 8 following.[63] - -On February 2 Sir Ralph Noel, under legal advice, wrote a stiff letter -requiring a separation. Byron at that time positively refused to accept -these terms. The whole affair then became publicly known. Every kind of -report was spread about him, and especially the scandal about Augusta was -noised abroad by Lady Caroline Lamb and Mr. Brougham. There can be no -doubt whatever that Byron heard of this report, and paid very little -attention to it. He found out then, or soon afterwards, how the scandal -arose. - -Lady Byron's relations were bent on arranging an amicable separation. -Should Byron persist in his refusal, it was intended to institute a suit -in the Ecclesiastical Court to obtain a divorce on the plea of adultery -and cruelty. There is reason to believe that a charge of adultery could -_not_ have been substantiated at that time. - -Meanwhile, Lady Byron, who had lately acquired some documents, which were -unknown to her when she left her husband on January 15,[64] came to London -on February 22, and had a long private conversation with Dr. Lushington. -She then showed him two packets of letters which Mrs. Clermont had -abstracted from Byron's writing-desk. Lady Byron received those letters -some time between February 14 and 22, 1816. One packet contained missives -from a married lady, with whom Byron had been intimate previous to his -marriage. It appears that Lady Byron--whose notions of the ordinary code -of honour were peculiar--sent those letters to that lady's husband, who, -like a sensible man, threw them into the fire. Of the other packet we -cannot speak so positively. It probably comprised letters from Augusta -Leigh, referring to the child Medora.[65] Such expressions as 'our child' -or 'your child' would have fallen quite naturally from her pen under the -circumstances. It is easy to imagine the effect of some such words upon -the suspicious mind of Lady Byron. By Mrs. Clermont's masterful stroke of -treachery, strong presumptive evidence was thus brought against Augusta -Leigh. The letters undoubtedly convinced Dr. Lushington that incest had -taken place, and he warned Lady Byron against any personal intercourse -with Mrs. Leigh. He at the same time advised her to keep her lips closed -until Augusta had of her own free will confessed; and pointed out to Lady -Byron that, 'while proofs and impressions were such as left no doubt on -_her_ mind, _they were decidedly not such as could have been brought -forward to establish a charge of incest, in the event of Lady Byron being -challenged to bring forward the grounds of her imputation_.'[66] - -From that moment all Lady Byron's wiles were employed to extract a -confession from Augusta Leigh, which would have gone far to justify Lady -Byron's conduct in leaving her husband. Soon after this momentous -interview with Dr. Lushington, an ugly rumour was spread about town -affecting Mrs. Leigh's character. - -Lord Lovelace says: - - 'When Augusta's friends vehemently and indignantly resented such a - calumny, they were met with the argument that _Lady Byron's refusal to - assign a reason for her separation confirmed the report_, and that no - one but Augusta could deny it with any effect.' - -This, by the nature of her agreement with Byron, was impossible, and Mrs. -Clermont's treachery held her in a vice. - -During January and February, 1816, Lady Byron, who strongly suspected Mrs. -Leigh's conduct to have been disloyal to herself, wrote the most -affectionate letters to that lady. - - 'KIRKBY MALLORY. - - 'MY DEAREST A., - - 'It is my great comfort that you are in Piccadilly.' - - - 'KIRKBY MALLORY, - '_January 23, 1816_. - - 'DEAREST A., - - 'I know you feel for me as I do for you, and perhaps I am better - understood than I think. You have been, ever since I knew you, my best - comforter, and will so remain, unless you grow tired of the office, - which may well be.' - - - '_January 25, 1816._ - - 'MY DEAREST AUGUSTA, - - 'Shall I still be your sister? I must resign my rights to be so - considered; but I don't think that will make any difference in the - kindness I have so uniformly experienced from you.' - - - 'KIRKBY MALLORY, - '_February 3, 1816_. - - 'MY DEAREST AUGUSTA, - - 'You are desired by your brother to ask if my father has acted with my - concurrence in proposing a separation. He has. It cannot be supposed - that, in my present distressing situation, I am capable of stating, in - a detailed manner, the reasons which will not only justify this - measure, but compel me to take it; and it never can be my wish to - remember unnecessarily those injuries for which, however deep, I feel - no resentment. I will now only recall to Lord Byron's mind his avowed - and insurmountable aversion to the married state, and the desire and - determination he has expressed ever since its commencement to free - himself from that bondage, as finding it quite insupportable, though - candidly acknowledging that no effort of duty or affection has been - wanting on my part. He has too painfully convinced me that all these - attempts to contribute towards his happiness were wholly useless, and - most unwelcome to him. I enclose this letter to my father, wishing it - to receive his sanction. - - 'Ever yours most affectionately, - 'A. I. BYRON.' - - - '_February 4, 1816._ - - 'I hope, my dear A., that you would on no account withhold from your - brother the letter which I sent yesterday, in answer to yours written - by his desire; particularly as one which I have received from himself - to-day renders it still more important that he should know the - contents of that addressed to you. I am, in haste and not very well, - - 'Yours most affectionately, - 'A. I. BYRON.' - - - 'KIRKBY MALLORY, - '_February 14, 1816_. - - 'The present sufferings of all may yet be repaid in blessings. Do not - despair absolutely, dearest; and leave me but enough of your interest - to afford you any consolation, by partaking of that sorrow which I am - most unhappy to cause thus unintentionally. - - '_You will_ be of my opinion hereafter, and at present your bitterest - reproach would be forgiven; though Heaven knows you have considered me - more than a thousand would have done--more than anything but my - affection for B., one most dear to you, could deserve. I must not - remember these feelings. Farewell! God bless you, from the bottom of - my heart. - - 'A. I. B.' - -It is only fair to remind the reader that, when these letters were -written, Lady Byron had not consulted Dr. Lushington. We are inclined to -think that the last letter was written on the day when she received Mrs. -Clermont's 'proofs.' Meanwhile, Augusta, unconscious that an avalanche of -scandal threatened to sweep her reputation into an abyss, was catching at -every straw that might avert a catastrophe. Her thoughts turned to -Hodgson, whose noble character, sound common-sense, and affection for -Byron, were undoubted. It was possible, she thought, that the ruin and -destruction which she dreaded for her brother might be averted through the -advice and assistance of an honourable man of the world. In that wild hope -the following letters were written: - - '13, PICCADILLY TERRACE, - '_Wednesday, February 7, 1816_. - - 'DEAR MR. HODGSON, - - 'Can you by _any means_ contrive to come up to Town? Were it only for - _a day_, it might be of the most essential service to a friend I know - you love and value. There is too much fear of a separation between him - and his wife. No time is to be lost, but even if you are _too late_ to - prevent that happening _decidedly_, yet it would be the greatest - comfort and relief to me to confide other circumstances to you, and - consult you; and so if _possible_ oblige me, if only for _twenty-four_ - hours. Say not _a word_ of my summons, but attribute your coming, if - you come, to business of your own or chance. Excuse brevity; I am so - perfectly wretched I can only say, - - 'Ever yours most truly, - 'AUGUSTA LEIGH. - - 'It is probable I may be obliged to go home next week. If my scheme - appears wild, pray attribute it to the state of mind I am in. Alas! I - see only _ruin_ and _destruction_ in _every_ shape to one most dear to - me.' - -Hodgson at once responded to this appeal by taking the first stage-coach -to London, where the next letter was addressed to him at his lodgings near -Piccadilly: - - 'How very good of you, dear Mr. Hodgson! I intend showing the letter - to B., as I _think_ he will jump at seeing you just now, but I _must_ - see you first; and how? I am now going to Mr. Hanson's from B. I'm - afraid of your meeting people here who _do no good_, and would - counteract yours; but will you call about two, or after that, and ask - for _me_ first? I shall be home, I hope, and _must_ see you. If I'm - out ask for Capt. B. - - 'Yours sincerely, - 'A. L.' - - - '_Friday evening, 9 o'clock._ - - 'DEAR MR. HODGSON, - - 'I've been unable to write to you till this moment. Mr. H.[67] stayed - till a late hour, and is now here again. B. dined with me, and after I - left the room I sent your note in, thinking him in better spirits and - more free from irritations. He has only just mentioned it to me: "Oh, - by-the-by, I've had a note from H., Augusta, whom you must write to, - and say I'm so full of domestic calamities that I can't see anybody." - Still, I think he _will_ see you if he hears you are here, or that - even it would be better, if the worst came to the worst, to let the - servant announce you and walk in. Can you call here about eleven - to-morrow morning, when he will not be up, or scarcely awake, and - Capt. B., you, and I, can hold a council on what is best to be done? - The fact is, he is now _afraid_ of everybody who would tell him the - truth. It is a most dreadful situation, dear Mr. H.! The worst is, - that _if_ you said you have done so-and-so, etc., he would deny it; - and I see he is afraid of _your despair_, as he terms it, when you - hear of his situation, and, in short, of your telling him the truth. - He can only bear to see those who flatter him and encourage him to all - that is wrong. I've not mentioned having seen you, because I wish him - to suppose your opinions unprejudiced. You _must_ see him; and pray - see me and George B. to-morrow morning, when we will consult upon the - best means. You are the only comfort I've had this long time. I'm - quite of your opinion on all that is to be feared. - - 'Ever yours truly, - 'A. L.' - - - 'PICCADILLY TERRACE. - - 'DEAR MR. H., - - 'About three you will be sure of finding me, if not sooner. I've sent - in your letter; he said in return I was to do what I pleased about it. - I _think_ and _hope_ he will find comfort in seeing you. - - 'Yours truly, - 'A. L.' - - - '_Saturday._ - - 'DEAR MR. H., - - 'B. will see you. I saw him open your note, and said I had given his - message this morning, when I had seen you and talked generally on the - subject of his present situation, of which you had before heard. He - replied, "Oh, then, tell him I will see him, certainly; my reason for - _not_ was the fear of distressing him." You had better call towards - three, and wait if he is not yet out of his room. Mr. Hanson has sent - for me in consequence (probably) of your interview. I'm going to him - about three with Capt. B., but have said nothing to B. of this. - - 'Ever yours, - 'A. L.' - -Immediately after the interview, which took place on the day after the -last note was written, Hodgson, feeling that nothing could be lost and -that much might be gained by judicious remonstrance, resolved to hazard an -appeal to Lady Byron's feelings--with what success will be seen from her -ladyship's reply. It is impossible to over-estimate the combined tact and -zeal displayed by Hodgson in this most delicate and difficult matter. - - 'Whether I am outstepping the bounds of prudence in this address to - your ladyship I cannot feel assured; and yet there is so much at stake - in a quarter so loved and valuable that I cannot forbear running the - risk, and making one effort more to plead a cause which your - ladyship's own heart must plead with a power so superior to all other - voices. If, then, a word that is here said only adds to the pain of - this unhappy conflict between affection and views of duty, without - lending any weight of reason to the object it seeks, I would earnestly - implore that it may be forgiven; and, above all, the interference - itself, which nothing but its obvious motive and the present awful - circumstance could in any way justify. - - 'After a long and most confidential conversation with my friend (whom - I have known thoroughly, I believe, for many trying years), I am - convinced that the deep and rooted feeling in his heart is regret and - sorrow for the occurrences which have so deeply wounded you; and the - most unmixed admiration of your conduct in all its particulars, and - the warmest affection. But may I be allowed to state to Lady Byron - that Lord B., after his general acknowledgment of having frequently - been very wrong, and, from various causes, in a painful state of - irritation, yet declares himself ignorant of the specific things which - have given the principal offence, and that he wishes to hear of them; - that he may, if extenuation or atonement be possible, endeavour to - make some reply; or, at all events, may understand the fulness of - those reasons which have now, and as unexpectedly as afflictingly, - driven your ladyship to the step you have taken? - - 'It would be waste of words and idle presumption for me, however your - ladyship's goodness might be led to excuse it, to observe how very - extreme, how decidedly irreconcilable, such a case should be, before - the last measure is resorted to. But it may not be quite so improper - to urge, from my deep conviction of their truth and importance, the - following reflections. I entreat your ladyship's indulgence to them. - What can be the consequence, to a man so peculiarly constituted, of - such an event? If I may give vent to my fear, my thorough certainty, - nothing short of absolute and utter destruction. I turn from the idea; - but _no_ being except your ladyship can prevent this. _None_, I am - thoroughly convinced, ever could have done so, notwithstanding the - unhappy appearances to the contrary. Whatever, then, may be against - it, whatever restraining remembrances or anticipations, to a person - who was not already qualified by sad experience to teach this very - truth, I would say that there _is_ a claim paramount to all - others--that of attempting to save the human beings nearest and - dearest to us from the most comprehensive ruin that can be suffered by - them, at the expense of any suffering to ourselves. - - 'If I have not gone too far, I would add that so suddenly and at once - to shut every avenue to returning comfort must, when looked back upon, - appear a strong measure; and, if it proceeds (pray pardon the - suggestion) from the unfortunate notion of the very person to whom my - friend now looks for consolation being unable to administer it, that - notion I would combat with all the energy of conviction; and assert, - that whatever unguarded and unjustifiable words, and even actions, may - have inculcated this idea, it is the very rock on which the peace of - both would, as unnecessarily as wretchedly, be sacrificed. But God - Almighty forbid that there should be any sacrifice. Be all that is - right called out into action, all that is wrong suppressed (and by - your only instrumentality, Lady Byron, as by yours only it can be) in - my dear friend. May you both yet be what God intended you for: the - support, the watchful correction, and improvement, of each other! Of - yourself, Lord B. from his heart declares that he would wish nothing - altered--nothing but that sudden, surely sudden, determination which - must _for ever_ destroy one of you, and perhaps even both. God bless - both! - - 'I am, with deep regard, - 'Your ladyship's faithful servant, - 'FRANCIS HODGSON.' - -Lady Byron's answer was as follows: - - 'KIRKBY, - '_February 15, 1816_. - - 'DEAR SIR, - - 'I feel most sensibly the kindness of a remonstrance which equally - proves your friendship for Lord Byron and consideration for me. I have - declined all discussion of this subject with others, but my knowledge - of your principles induces me to justify my own; and yet I would - forbear to accuse as much as possible. - - 'I married Lord B. determined to endure everything whilst there was - _any_ chance of my contributing to his welfare. I remained with him - under trials of the severest nature. In leaving him, which, however, I - can scarcely call a _voluntary_ measure, I probably saved him from the - bitterest remorse. I may give you a general idea of what I have - experienced by saying that he married me with the deepest - determination of Revenge, avowed on the day of my marriage, and - executed ever since with systematic and increasing cruelty, which no - affection could change.... My security depended on the total - abandonment of every moral and religious principle, against which - (though I trust they were never obtruded) his hatred and endeavours - were uniformly directed.... The circumstances, which are of too - convincing a nature, shall not be generally known whilst Lord B. - allows me to spare him. It is not unkindness that can always change - affection. - - 'With you I may consider this subject in a less worldly point of view. - Is the present injury to his reputation to be put in competition with - the danger of unchecked success to this wicked pride? and may not his - actual sufferings (in which, be assured, that affection for me has - very little share) expiate a future account? I know him too well to - dread the fatal event which he so often mysteriously threatens. I have - acquired my knowledge of him bitterly indeed, and it was long before I - learned to mistrust the apparent candour by which he deceives all but - himself. He _does_ know--too well--what he affects to inquire. You - reason with me as I have reasoned with myself, and I therefore derive - from your letter an additional and melancholy confidence in the - rectitude of this determination, which has been deliberated on the - grounds that you would approve. It was not suggested, and has not been - enforced, by others; though it is sanctioned by my parents. - - 'You will continue Lord Byron's friend, and the time may yet come when - he will receive from that friendship such benefits as he now rejects. - I will even indulge the consolatory thought that the remembrance of - me, when time has softened the irritation created by my presence, may - contribute to the same end. May I hope that you will still retain any - value for the regard with which I am, - - 'Your most obliged and faithful servant, - 'A. I. BYRON.' - - 'I must add that Lord Byron had been fully, earnestly, and - affectionately warned of the unhappy consequences of his conduct.' - -It is most unfortunate that the second letter which Hodgson wrote on this -most distressing occasion is lost, but some clue to its contents may be -gathered from Lady Byron's reply: - - '_February 24, 1816._ - - 'DEAR SIR, - - 'I have received your second letter. First let me thank you for the - charity with which you consider my motives; and now of the principal - subject. - - 'I eagerly adopted the belief on insanity as a consolation; and though - such malady has been found insufficient to prevent his responsibility - with man, I will still trust that it may latently exist, so as to - acquit him towards God. This no human being can judge. It certainly - does not destroy the powers of self-control, or impair the knowledge - of moral good and evil. Considering the case upon the supposition of - derangement, you may have heard, what every medical adviser would - confirm, that it is in the nature of such malady to reverse the - affections, and to make those who would naturally be dearest, the - greatest objects of aversion, the most exposed to acts of violence, - and the least capable of alleviating the malady. Upon such grounds my - absence from Lord B. was medically advised before I left Town. But the - advisers had not then seen him, and since Mr. Le Mann has had - opportunities of personal observation, it has been found that the - supposed physical causes do not exist so as to render him not an - accountable agent. - - 'I believe the nature of Lord B.'s mind to be most benevolent. But - there may have been circumstances (I would hope the _consequences_, - not the _causes_, of mental disorder) which would render an original - tenderness of conscience the motive of desperation--even of - guilt--when self-esteem had been forfeited _too far_. No _external_ - motive can be so strong. Goodness of heart--when there are impetuous - passions and no principles--is a frail security. - - 'Every possible means have been employed to effect a private and - amicable arrangement; and I would sacrifice such advantages in terms - as, I believe, the law would insure to me, to avoid this dreadful - necessity. Yet I must have some _security_, and Lord B. refuses to - afford any. If you could persuade him to the agreement, you would save - me from what I most deprecate. I have now applied to Lord Holland for - that end. - - 'If you wish to answer--and I shall always be happy to hear from - you--I must request you to enclose your letter to my father, Sir Ralph - Noel, Mivart's Hotel, Lower Brook Street, London, as I am not sure - where I may be at that time. My considerations of duty are of a very - complicated nature; for my duty as a mother seems to point out the - same conduct as I pursue upon other principles that I have partly - explained. - - 'I must observe upon one passage of your letter that I _had_ (_sic_) - expectations of personal violence, though I was too miserable to have - _feelings_ of fear, and those expectations would now be still - stronger. - - 'In regard to any change which the future state of Lord B.'s mind - might justify in my intentions, an amicable arrangement would not - destroy the opening for reconciliation. Pray endeavour to promote the - dispositions to such an arrangement; there is every reason to desire - it. - - 'Yours very truly, - 'A. I. BYRON.' - -It is worthy of note that Lady Byron, _two days after her interview with -Lushington_, here states that, in the event of 'an amicable arrangement' -(an amicable separation) being arrived at, it would not destroy the -opening for reconciliation. This is an extraordinary statement, because, -as we have seen, Dr. Lushington absolutely declined to be a party to any -such step. On March 14 Lady Byron signed a declaration, giving her reasons -for the separation, as will be seen presently. - -On March 16 Augusta Leigh returned to her apartments in St. James's -Palace, and on the following day Byron consented to a separation from his -wife. On April 8 Lady Jersey gave a party in honour of Byron, and to show -her sympathy for him in his matrimonial troubles. Both Byron and Augusta -were present, but it was a cold and spiritless affair, and nothing came of -this attempt to stem the tide of prejudice. - -On April 14 Augusta parted for ever from her brother, and retired into the -country, her health broken down by the worry and anxiety of the past three -months. On April 21 and 22, 1816, the deed of separation was signed by -both Lord and Lady Byron. On April 23 Byron left London, and travelled to -Dover accompanied by his friends Hobhouse and Scrope-Davies. On the 25th -he embarked for Ostend, unable to face the consequences of his quarrel -with his wife. - - 'To his susceptible temperament and generous feelings,' says his - schoolfellow Harness, 'the reproach of having ill-used a woman must - have been poignant in the extreme. It was repulsive to his chivalrous - character as a gentleman; it belied all he had written of the devoted - fervour of his attachments; and rather than meet the frowns and sneers - which awaited him in the world, as many a less sensitive man might - have done, he turned his back on them and fled.' - - - - -CHAPTER III - - -The publication of 'Astarte' has had one good result; it has placed beyond -question the precise nature of Lady Byron's complaints against her -husband. On March 14, 1816, Lady Byron was induced by Dr. Lushington to -draw up and sign a statement which would be useful if her conduct should -at any future time be criticized. - -We place the entire document before the reader, just as it appears in Lord -Lovelace's book: - - 'STATEMENT.--A. L. - - 'In case of my death to be given to Colonel Doyle. - - A. I. BYRON, - Thursday, March 14, 1816.' - - 'During the year that Lady Byron lived under the same roof with Lord - B. certain circumstances occurred, and some intimations were made, - which excited a suspicion in Lady B.'s mind that an improper - connection had at one time, and might even still, subsist between Lord - B. and Mrs. L----.[68] The causes, however, of this suspicion did not - amount to proof, and Lady Byron did not consider herself justified in - acting upon these suspicions by immediately quitting Lord B.'s house, - for the following reasons: - - 'First and principally, because the causes of suspicion, though they - made a strong impression upon her mind, did not amount to positive - proof, and Lady B. considered, that whilst a possibility of innocence - existed, every principle of duty and humanity forbad her to act as if - Mrs. Leigh was actually guilty, more especially as any intimation of - so heinous a crime, even if not distinctly proved, must have seriously - affected Mrs. L.'s character and happiness. - - 'Secondly, Lady B. had it not in her power to pursue a middle course; - it was utterly impossible for her to remove Mrs. L. from the society - and roof of Lord B. except by a direct accusation. - - 'Thirdly, because Mrs. L. had from her first acquaintance with Lady B. - always manifested towards her the utmost kindness and attention, - endeavouring as far as laid in her power to mitigate the violence and - cruelty of Lord B. - - 'Fourthly, because Mrs. L. at times exhibited signs of a deep remorse; - at least so Lady B. interpreted them to be, though she does not mean - to aver that the feelings Mrs. L. then showed were signs of remorse - for the commission of the crime alluded to, or any other of so dark a - description. - - 'And, lastly, because Lady B. conceived it possible that the crime, if - committed, might not only be deeply repented of, but never have been - perpetrated since her marriage with Lord B. - - 'It was from these motives, and strongly inclining to a charitable - interpretation of all that passed, that Lady B. never during her - living with Lord B. intimated a suspicion of this nature. Since Lady - B.'s separation from Lord B. the report has become current in the - world of such a connection having subsisted. This report was not - spread nor sanctioned by Lady B. Mrs. L.'s character has, however, - been to some extent affected thereby. Lady B. cannot divest her mind - of the impressions before stated; but anxious to avoid all possibility - of doing injury to Mrs. L., and not by any conduct of her own to throw - any suspicion upon Mrs. L., and it being intimated that Mrs. L.'s - character can never be so effectually preserved as by a renewal of - intercourse with Lady B., she does for the motives and reasons before - mentioned consent to renew that intercourse. - - 'Now, this statement is made in order to justify Lady B. in the line - of conduct she has now determined to adopt, and in order to prevent - all misconstruction of her motives in case Mrs. L. should be proved - hereafter to be guilty; and, if any circumstances should compel or - render it necessary for Lady B. to prefer the charge, in order that - Lady B. may be at full liberty so to do without being prejudiced by - her present conduct. - - 'It is to be observed that this paper does not contain nor pretends to - contain any of the grounds which gave rise to the suspicion which has - existed and still continues to exist in Lady B.'s mind. - - 'We whose names are hereunto subscribed are of opinion, that under all - the circumstances above stated, and also from our knowledge of what - has passed respecting the conduct of all parties mentioned, that the - line now adopted by Lady B. is strictly right and honourable, as well - as just towards Mrs. L., and Lady B. ought not, whatever may hereafter - occur, to be prejudiced thereby. - - 'ROBT. JOHN WILMOT. - F. H. DOYLE. - STEPHEN LUSHINGTON. - (_Signed by each._) - - 'LONDON, - _March 14, 1816_.' - -One month later, on April 14, Byron writes a letter to his wife, who was -staying at an hotel in London, in which he says that he has just parted -from Augusta: - - 'Almost the last being you had left me to part with, and the only - unshattered tie of my existence.... If any accident occurs to me--be - kind to _her_,--if she is then nothing--to her children. Some time ago - I informed you that, with the knowledge that any child of ours was - already provided for by other and better means, I had made my will in - favour of her and her children--as prior to my marriage; this was not - done in prejudice to you, for we had not then differed--and even this - is useless during your life by the settlements. I say, therefore, be - kind to her and hers, for never has she acted or spoken otherwise - towards you. She has ever been your friend; this may seem valueless - to one who has now so many. Be kind to her, however, and recollect - that, though it may be an advantage to you to have lost your husband, - it is sorrow to her to have the waters now, or the earth hereafter, - between her and her brother. She is gone. I need hardly add that of - this request she knows nothing.' - -There are two points in this letter which deserve notice. In the first -place Byron intimates that he has made a will in favour of Augusta and -_her children, as prior to his marriage_. This would insure that Medora -would be amply provided for. In addition to this, Byron had already given -his sister £3,000 in May, 1814, within one month of Medora's birth. In -reply to her scruples, Byron writes: 'Consider the children, and my -Georgina in particular--in short, I need say no more.' - -In the second place, we appeal to any unprejudiced person whether it is -likely that Byron would have made to his wife an especial appeal on behalf -of Augusta, if he had not had a clear conscience as to his relations with -her? That he had a clear conscience cannot be doubted, and Augusta never -hesitated in private intercourse with Lady Byron to speak on that painful -subject. To quote Lord Lovelace: - - 'On all these occasions, one subject, uppermost in the thoughts of - both, had been virtually ignored, except that Augusta had had the - audacity to name the reports about herself "with the pride of - innocence," as it is called.' - -Augusta tried to make Lady Byron speak out, and say that she did not -believe the reports against her, but in vain. Lady Byron, having once -conceived a notion of Augusta's guilt, would not change her opinion, and -was far too honest to dissemble. She found refuge in flight, not daring -to show to Augusta the letters which had been abstracted from Byron's desk -by Mrs. Clermont. In vain Mrs. Villiers and Wilmot urged Lady Byron to -avow to Augusta the information of which they were in possession. Lady -Byron would not produce her so-called 'proofs,' and said that 'she would -experience pain in throwing off a person she had loved, and from whom she -had received kindness.' - -But Lady Byron, conscious of her false position, had recourse to her pen, -and wrote a letter to Augusta telling her all that she knew. We are told -that Augusta did not attempt to deny the accusation, and admitted -everything in her letters of June, July, and August, 1816. - -Lord Lovelace coolly says: - - 'It is unnecessary to produce these letters here, as their contents - are confirmed and made sufficiently clear by the correspondence of - 1819, given in another chapter.' - -We are further told in a footnote (p. 155) that the late Sir Leslie -Stephen said it made him quite uncomfortable to read Mrs. Leigh's letters -of humiliation dated 1816. One would have supposed, after such a flourish -of trumpets, that Lord Lovelace would have produced those letters! He does -nothing of the kind, and expects posterity to accept his _ex-parte_ -statements without reserve. Lord Lovelace bids us to believe that it was -'from the best and kindest motives, and long habit of silence, that Dr. -Lushington's influence was exerted in 1869, to prevent, or at least -postpone, revelation.' The fact is, of course, he kept silence because he -well knew that there was nothing in those letters (1813 and 1814) to fix -guilt upon Mrs. Leigh. Lady Byron herself has told us that 'the causes of -her suspicion _did not amount to proof_, and Lady Byron did not consider -herself justified in acting upon these suspicions.' She further states -that '_the possibility of innocence existed_,' but that - - 'Mrs. Leigh, at times, exhibited signs of deep remorse; _at least so - Lady Byron interpreted them to be_, though she does not mean to aver - that the feelings Mrs. Leigh then showed were signs of remorse for the - commission of the crime alluded to, or any other of so dark a - description.' - -But Lady Byron, under Lushington's skilful hand, protects herself against -the possibility of legal proceedings for defamation of character by these -words: - - 'This paper does not contain, nor pretend to contain, any of the - grounds which give rise _to the suspicion_ which has existed, and - still continues to exist, in Lady Byron's mind. Her statement is made - in order to justify Lady Byron ... _in case Mrs. Leigh should be - proved hereafter to be guilty_.' - -As this statement was made after Lady Byron's interview with Dr. -Lushington (when he decided to take no part in any attempt at -reconciliation), it is perfectly clear that the alleged incriminating -letters were not considered as conclusive evidence against Mrs. Leigh. -Although they were sufficient to detach Lushington from the party of -reconciliation, it was not considered wise to produce them as evidence in -1869, at a time when a strong revulsion of feeling had set in against Lady -Byron. - -The clear legal brain of Sir Alexander Cockburn, trained to appraise -evidence, saw through the flimsy pretext which had deceived an equally -great lawyer. Time instructs us, and much has come to light in this -so-called 'Byron mystery,' since Lady Byron beguiled Lushington. Among -other things, we now know, on Lord Lovelace's authority, that Lady Byron -was afraid that her child would be taken from her by Byron, and placed -under the care of Mrs. Leigh. We also know, on the authority of -Hobhouse,[69] that Lady Byron's representatives distinctly disavowed, on -Lady Byron's behalf, having spread any rumours injurious to Lord Byron's -character in that respect, and also stated that a charge of incest would -not have been made part of her allegations if she had come into court. -This disavowal was signed by Lady Byron herself, and was witnessed by Mr. -Wilmot. It is certain that Lord Byron would have gone into a court of law -to meet that charge, and that he refused to agree to a separation until -that assurance had been given. This grave charge was still in abeyance in -1816; it was not safe to speak of it until after Byron's death, and then -only under the seal of secrecy. - - 'Upon one contingency only,' wrote Sir Francis Doyle in 1830--'namely, - the taking from Lady Byron of her child, and placing her under the - care of Mrs. Leigh--would the disclosure have been made of Lady - Byron's grounds for _suspecting_ Mrs. Leigh's guilt.' - -It was evident that Lady Byron was clutching at straws to save her child -from Mrs. Leigh, and to prevent this it was essential to prove Mrs. -Leigh's unworthiness. In her maternal anxiety she stuck at nothing, and -for a time she triumphed. Her private correspondence was drenched with the -theme that had impressed Lushington so strongly. - -A fortnight after signing her 'statement,' Lady Byron writes to Mrs. -George Lamb, in reference to Mrs. Leigh: - - 'I am glad that you think of _her_ with the feelings of pity which - prevail in my mind, and surely if in _mine_ there must be some cause - for them. I never was, nor ever can be, so _mercilessly_ virtuous as - to admit _no_ excuse for even the worst of errors.' - -Such letters go perilously near that charge which Lady Byron's -representatives had repudiated in the presence of Hobhouse. But Lady Byron -was desperate, and her whole case depended on a general belief in that -foul accusation. What could not be done openly could be done secretly, and -she poisoned the air to save her child. - -Colonel Doyle, who seems to have been one of the few on Lady Byron's side -who kept his head, wrote to her on July 9, 1816: - - 'I see the possibility of a contingency under which the fullest - explanation of the motives and grounds of your conduct may be - necessary; I therefore implore of you to suffer no delicacy to - interfere with your endeavouring to obtain the fullest _admission_ of - the fact. If you obtain an acknowledgment of the facts and that your - motives be, as you seem to think, properly appreciated, I think on the - whole we shall have reason to rejoice that you have acted as you have - done, but I shall be very anxious to have a more detailed knowledge of - what has passed, and particularly of the state in which you leave it. - The step you have taken was attended with great risk, and I could not, - contemplating the danger to which it might have exposed you, have - originally advised it. - - 'If, however, your correspondence has produced an acknowledgment of - the fact even previous to your marriage, I shall be most happy that it - has taken place.' - -Colonel Doyle, by no means easy in his own mind, again writes to Lady -Byron on July 18, 1816: - - 'I must recommend you to act as if a time might possibly arise when it - would be necessary for you to justify yourself, though nothing short - of an absolute necessity so imperative as to be irresistible could - ever authorize your advertence to your present communications. Still, - I cannot dismiss from my mind the experience we have had, nor so far - forget the very serious embarrassment we were under from the effects - of your too confiding disposition, as not to implore you to bear in - mind the importance of securing yourself from eventual danger. - - 'This is my first object, and if that be attained, I shall approve and - applaud all the kindness you can show [to Mrs. Leigh].' - -Here, then, we have a picture of the state of affairs limned by a man who -was an accomplice of Lady Byron's, and who was fully awake to the danger -of their position in the event of Byron turning round upon them. The -husband might insist upon Lady Byron explaining the grounds of her -conduct. In order to make their position secure, it would be, above all -things, necessary to obtain a full confession from Mrs. Leigh of her -criminal intercourse with Byron. With this end in view, Lady Byron opened -a correspondence with Augusta Leigh, and tried to inveigle her into making -an admission of her guilt. It was not an easy matter to open the subject, -but Lady Byron was not abashed, and, under cover of sundry acts of -kindness, tried hard to gain her point. In this game of foils Augusta -showed remarkable skill, and seems to have eventually fooled Lady Byron to -the top of her bent. No wonder, then, that Mrs. Leigh, accused of an -abominable crime by her sister-in-law, should have written to a friend: - - 'None can know _how much_ I have suffered from this unhappy - business--and, indeed, I have never known a moment's peace, and begin - to despair for the future.' - -Lady Byron and her friends plied Mrs. Leigh with questions, hoping to gain -a confession which would justify their conduct. Lady Noel strongly and -repeatedly warned Lady Byron against Mrs. Leigh, who, like a wounded -animal, was dangerous. 'Take care of Augusta,' she wrote September 7, -1816. 'If I know anything of human nature, she _does_ and must _hate -you_.' - -As a matter of fact, Augusta, while pretending contrition for imaginary -sins, revenged herself upon Lady Byron by heightening her jealousy, and -encouraging her in the belief that Byron had not only been her lover, but -was still appealing to her from abroad. She even went so far as to pretend -that she was going to join him, which nearly frightened Mrs. Villiers out -of her wits. They lied to Augusta profusely, these immaculate people, and -had the meanness to tell her that Byron had betrayed her in writing to two -or three women. They probably wished to cause a breach between brother and -sister, but Augusta, who pretended to be alarmed by this intelligence, -laughed in her sleeve. She knew the truth, and saw through these -manoeuvres; it was part of her plan to keep Lady Byron on a false scent. -'I cannot believe my brother to have been so dishonourable,' was her meek -rejoinder, meaning, of course, that it would have been dishonourable for -Byron to have defamed one who, having taken his child under her -protection, had saved the honour of the woman whom he loved. But Lady -Byron regarded Mrs. Leigh's answer as an admission of guilt, and trumpeted -the news to all her friends. Lord Lovelace tells us that Augusta, on -August 5, 1816, wrote to Lady Byron a letter, in which she asserted most -solemnly that Byron had not been her friend, and that, though there were -difficulties in writing to him, she was determined never to see him again -in the way she had done. It is remarkable that the letter to which Lord -Lovelace refers is not given in 'Astarte,' where one would naturally -expect to find it. In order to gauge the impression made upon Augusta's -mind, the reader will do well to consult the letters which she wrote a -little later to the Rev. Francis Hodgson, in which she speaks of Byron -with the greatest affection. - - 'And now for our old subject, dear B. I wonder whether you have heard - from him? The last to me was from Geneva, sending me a short but most - interesting journal of an excursion to the Bernese Alps. He speaks of - his health as _very_ good, but, alas! his spirits appear wofully the - contrary. I believe, however, that he does not write in that strain to - others. Sometimes I venture to indulge a hope that what I wish most - earnestly for him may be working its way in his mind. Heaven grant - it!' - -In another letter to Hodgson she speaks of Ada, and says: - - 'The bulletins of the poor child's health, by Byron's desire, pass - through me, and I'm very sorry for it, and that I ever had any concern - in this most wretched business. I can't, however, explain all my - reasons at this distance, and must console myself by the consciousness - of having done my duty, and, to the best of my judgment, all I could - for the happiness of _both_.' - -At a time when Byron was accused of having 'betrayed his sister in writing -to two or three women,' he was writing that well-known stanza in 'Childe -Harold': - - 'But there was one soft breast, as hath been said, - Which unto his was bound by stronger ties - Than the Church links withal; and though unwed, - Yet it was pure--and, far above disguise, - Had stood the test of mortal enmities - Still undivided, and cemented more - By peril, dreaded most in female eyes; - But this was firm, and from a foreign shore - Well to that heart might his these absent greetings pour.' - -And it was in July, 1816, that Augusta's loyalty to him and to Mary -Chaworth moved Byron to write his celebrated 'Stanzas to Augusta': - - '_Though thy soul with my grief was acquainted_, - It shrunk not to share it with me, - And the Love which my spirit hath painted - It never hath found but in _Thee_.' - - 'Though human, thou didst not _betray_ me; - Though tempted, thou never couldst shake.' - -Lord Lovelace claims to have found the key of the Byron mystery in -'Manfred,' and employs it as a damning proof against Augusta, with what -justice we have seen. - -At the time when 'Manfred' was begun Mary Chaworth was temporarily insane. -The anxiety which she had undergone at the time of Byron's matrimonial -quarrels, when she feared that a public inquiry might disclose her own -secret, affected her health. She bore up bravely until after Byron's -departure from England; then, the strain relieved, her mind gave way, and -she lived for some time in London, under the care of a doctor. Her illness -was kept as secret as possible, but Augusta, who was constantly at her -side, informed Byron of her condition. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - -There has of late years been a disposition on the part of Byron's -biographers unduly to disparage Moore's 'Life of Byron.' Tastes have -changed, and Moore's patronizing style of reference to 'his noble friend -the noble poet' does not appeal to the democratic sentiment now -prevailing. But, after allowance has been made for Moore's manner, it -cannot be denied that, in consequence of his personal intimacy with Byron, -his work must always have a peculiar value and authority. There are, for -instance, portions of Moore's 'Life' which are indispensable to those who -seek to fathom the depths of Byron's mind. Moore says that Byron was born -with strong affections and ardent passions, and that his life was - - 'one continued struggle between that instinct of genius, which was for - ever drawing him back into the lonely laboratory of self, and those - impulses of passion, ambition, and vanity, which again hurried him off - into the crowd, and entangled him in its interests.' - -Moore assures us that most of Byron's so-called love-affairs were as -transitory as the imaginings that gave them birth. - - 'It may be questioned,' says Moore, 'whether his heart had ever much - share in such passions. Actual objects there were, in but too great - number, who, as long as the illusion continued, kindled up his - thoughts and were the themes of his song. But they were little more - than mere dreams of the hour. _There was but one love that lived - unquenched through all_'--Byron's love for Mary Chaworth. - -Every other attachment faded away, but that endured to the end of his -stormy life. - -In speaking of Byron's affection for his sister, Moore, who knew all that -had been said against Augusta Leigh and Byron, and had read the 'Memoirs,' -remarked: - - 'In a mind sensitive and versatile as [Byron's], long habits of family - intercourse might have estranged, or at least dulled, his natural - affection for his sister; but their separation during youth left this - feeling fresh and untired. That he was himself fully aware of this - appears from a passage in one of his letters: "My sister is in Town, - which is a great comfort; for, never having been much together, we are - naturally more attached to each other." His very inexperience in such - ties made the smile of a sister no less a novelty than a charm to him; - and before the first gloss of this newly awakened sentiment had time - to wear off, they were again separated, and for ever.' - -When the parting came it was bitter indeed, for she was, says Moore, - - 'almost the only person from whom he then parted with regret. Those - beautiful and tender verses, "Though the day of my destiny's over," - were now his parting tribute to her who, through all this bitter - trial, had been his sole consolation.' - -Enough has been said to show what kind of woman Augusta was, and it is -difficult to understand by what process of reasoning Lord Lovelace -persuaded himself that she could have been guilty of the atrocious crime -which he lays to her charge. We entirely concur with Mrs. Villiers, when -she wrote to Augusta Leigh (in September, 1816): 'I consider you the -victim to the most infernal plot that has ever entered the heart of man to -conceive.' - -We must at the same time frankly admit that Augusta, in order to screen -Mary Chaworth, did all she could do to keep Lady Byron under a false -impression. She seems to have felt so secure in the knowledge of her own -innocence that she might afford to allow Lady Byron to think as ill of her -as she pleased. - -Unfortunately, Augusta, having once entered upon a course of duplicity, -was obliged to keep it up by equivocations of all kinds. She went so far -as even to show portions of letters addressed to her care, and pretended -that they had been written to herself. She seems to have felt no -compunction for the sufferings of Lady Byron. She may even have exulted in -the pain she inflicted upon that credulous lady, having herself suffered -intensely through the false suspicions, and the studied insults heaped -upon her by many of Lady Byron's adherents. - -Byron, who was informed of what had been said against his sister by Lady -Byron and others, told the world in 'Marino Faliero' that he 'had only one -fount of quiet left, and _that_ they poisoned.' But he was powerless to -interfere. - -Writing to Moore (September 19, 1818) he said: - - 'I could have forgiven the dagger or the bowl--anything but the - deliberate desolation piled upon me, when I stood alone upon my - hearth, with my household gods shivered around me. Do you suppose I - have forgotten it? It has, comparatively, swallowed up in me every - other feeling, and I am only a spectator upon earth till a tenfold - opportunity offers.' - -It may be that Augusta avenged her brother tenfold without his knowledge. -But she suffered in the process. Lord Lovelace lays great stress upon what -he calls 'the correspondence of 1819,' in order to show us that Augusta -had confessed to the crime of incest. That correspondence is very -interesting, not as showing the guilt of Augusta Leigh, but as an example -of feminine duplicity in which she was an adept. Augusta was hard pressed -indeed for some weapon of offence when she pretended, on June 25, 1819, -that she had received the following letter from her brother. She must have -been some time in making up her mind to send it, as the letter in question -had been in her hands three weeks, having arrived in London on June 4. It -may be as well to state that all letters written by Byron to Mary Chaworth -passed through Mrs. Leigh's hands, and were delivered with circumspection. - - 'VENICE, - '_May 17, 1819_.[70] - - 'MY DEAREST LOVE, - - 'I have been negligent in not writing, but what can I say? Three - years' absence--and the total change of scene and habit make such a - difference that we have never nothing in common but our affections and - our relationship. But I have never ceased nor can cease to feel for a - moment that perfect and boundless attachment which bound and binds me - to you--which renders me utterly incapable of _real_ love for any - other human being--for what could they be to me after _you_? My own - ...[71] we may have been very wrong--but I repent of nothing except - that cursed marriage--and your refusing to continue to love me as you - had loved me. I can neither forget nor _quite forgive_ you for that - precious piece of reformation, but I can never be other than I have - been--and whenever I love anything it is because it reminds me in - some way or other of yourself. For instance, I not long ago attached - myself to a Venetian for no earthly reason (although a pretty woman) - but because she was called ...[72] and she often remarked (without - knowing the reason) how fond I was of the name.[73] It is - heart-breaking to think of our long separation--and I am sure more - than punishment enough for all our sins. Dante is more humane in his - "Hell," for he places his unfortunate lovers (Francesca of Rimini and - Paolo--whose case fell a good deal short of _ours_, though - sufficiently naughty) in company; and though they suffer, it is at - least together. If ever I return to England it will be to see you; and - recollect that in all time, and place, and feelings, I have never - ceased to be the same to you in heart. Circumstances may have ruffled - my manner and hardened my spirit; you may have seen me harsh and - exasperated with all things around me; grieved and tortured with _your - new resolution_, and the soon after persecution of that infamous - fiend[74] who drove me from my country, and conspired against my - life--by endeavouring to deprive me of all that could render it - precious[75]--but remember that even then _you_ were the sole object - that cost me a tear; and _what tears_! Do you remember our parting? I - have not spirits now to write to you upon other subjects. I am well in - health, and have no cause of grief but the reflection that we are not - together. When you write to me speak to me of yourself, and say that - you love me; never mind common-place people and topics which can be in - no degree interesting to me who see nothing in England but the country - which holds _you_, or around it but the sea which divides us. They say - absence destroys weak passions, and confirms strong ones. Alas! _mine_ - for you is the union of all passions and of all affections--has - strengthened itself, but will destroy me; I do not speak of physical - destruction, for I have endured, and can endure, much; but the - annihilation of all thoughts, feelings, or hopes, which have not more - or less a reference, to you and to _our recollections_. - - 'Ever, dearest,' - [Signature erased]. - -The terms of this letter, which Lord Lovelace produces as conclusive -evidence against Augusta Leigh, deserve attention. At first sight they -seem to confirm Lady Byron's belief that a criminal intercourse had -existed between her husband and his sister. But close examination shows -that the letter was not written to Mrs. Leigh at all, but to Mary -Chaworth. - -On the day it was written Byron was at Venice, where he had recently made -the acquaintance of the Countess Guiccioli, whom, as 'Lady of the land,' -he followed to Ravenna a fortnight later. It will be noticed that the date -synchronizes with the period when the 'Stanzas to the Po' were written. -Both letter and poem dwell upon the memory of an unsatisfied passion. The -letter bears neither superscription nor signature, both having been erased -by Mrs. Leigh before the document reached Lady Byron's hands. The writer -excuses himself for not having written to his correspondent (_a_) because -three years' absence, (_b_) total change of scene, and (_c_) _because -there is nothing in common between them_, except mutual affections and -their relationship. Byron could not have excused himself in that manner to -a sister, who had much in common with him, and to whom he had written, on -an average, twice in every month since he left England. His letters to -Augusta entered minutely into all his feelings and actions, and the common -bond between them was Ada, whose disposition, appearance, and health, -occupied a considerable space in their correspondence. - -Nor would Byron have written in that amatory strain to his dear 'Goose.' -In the letter which preceded the one we have quoted, Byron begins, -'Dearest Augusta,' and ends, 'I am in health, and yours, B.' In that which -followed it there is nothing in the least effusive. It begins, 'Dearest -Augusta,' and ends, 'Yours ever, and very truly, B.' There are not many of -Byron's letters to Augusta extant. All those which mentioned Medora were -either mutilated or suppressed. - -For Byron to have given 'three years' absence, and a total change of -scene,' as reasons for not having written to his sister for a month or so -would have been absurd. But when he said that he had nothing in common -with Mary Chaworth, except 'our affections and our relationship,' his -meaning was--their mutual affections, their kinship, and their common -relationship to Medora. - -We invite any unprejudiced person to say whether Byron would have been -likely to write to a sister, who knew his mind thoroughly, 'I have never -ceased--nor can cease to feel for a moment that perfect and boundless -attachment which bound and binds me to you.' Did not Augusta know very -well that he loved and admired her, and that Byron was under the strongest -obligations to her for her loyalty at a trying time? - -Then, there was the erasure of 'a short name of three or four letters,' -which might have opened Lady Byron's eyes to the trick that was being -played upon her. Those four letters spelt the name of Mary, and the -'pretty woman' to whom Byron had 'not long ago' attached himself was the -Venetian Marianna (Anglice: Mary Anne) Segati, with whom he formed a -liaison from November, 1816, to February 1818. Augusta would certainly -not have understood the allusion. - -In this illuminating letter Byron reproaches Mary Chaworth for breaking -off her fatal intimacy with him, and for having persuaded him to -marry--'that infamous fiend who drove me from my country, and conspired -against my life--by _endeavouring to deprive me of all that could render -it precious_.' As the person here referred to was, obviously, Augusta -herself, this remark could not have been made to her. In speaking of their -long separation as a punishment for their sins, he tells Mary Chaworth -that, if he ever returns to England, it will be to see _her_, and that his -feelings have undergone no change. It will be observed that Byron begs his -correspondent _to speak to him only of herself and to say that she loves -him_! It is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that Augusta was the -intermediary between Byron and his wife--his confidential agent in purely -private affairs. It was to her that he wrote on all matters relating to -business transactions with his wife, and from whom he received -intelligence of the health and happiness of his daughter. Under those -circumstances how could Byron ask Augusta to speak to him of nothing but -her love for him? - -To show the absurdity of Lord Lovelace's contention, we insert the letter -which Byron wrote to his sister seven months later. Many letters had -passed between them during the interval, but we have not been allowed to -see them: - - 'BOLOGNA, - '_December 23, 1819_. - - 'DEAREST AUGUSTA, - - 'The health of my daughter Allegra, the cold season, and the length of - the journey, induce me to postpone for some time a purpose (never - very willing on my part) to revisit Great Britain. - - 'You can address to me at Venice as usual. Wherever I may be in Italy, - the letter will be forwarded. I enclose to you all that long hair on - account of which you would not go to see my picture. You will see that - it was not so very long. I curtailed it yesterday, my head and hair - being weakly after my tertian. - - 'I wrote to you not very long ago, and, as I do not know that I could - add anything satisfactory to that letter, I may as well finish this. - In a letter to Murray I requested him to apprise you that my journey - was postponed; but here, there, and everywhere, know me - - 'Yours ever and very truly, - 'B.' - -It is ridiculous to suppose that these two letters were addressed to the -same person. In the one we find the expression of an imperishable -attachment, in the other merely commonplace statements. In the first -letter Byron says, if ever he returns to England, it will be to see the -person to whom he is writing, and that absence has the more deeply -confirmed his passion. In the second he tells the lady that he has had his -hair cut, and that he was never very willing to revisit Great Britain! And -yet, in spite of these inconsistencies, Lady Byron walked into the snare -which Augusta had so artfully prepared. In forwarding the amatory epistle -to Lady Byron, Augusta tells her to burn it, and says that her brother -'must surely be considered a maniac' for having written it, adding, with -adroit mystification: - - '_I_ do not believe any feelings expressed are by any means - permanent--only occasioned by the passing and present reflection and - occupation of writing _to the unfortunate Being to whom they are - addressed_.' - -Augusta did not tell Lady Byron that 'the unfortunate Being' was Mary -Chaworth, now reconciled to her husband, and that she had withheld Byron's -letter from her, lest her mind should be unsettled by its perusal. - -Mrs. Leigh had two excellent reasons for this betrayal of trust. In the -first place, she wished Lady Byron to believe that her brother was still -making love to her, and that she was keeping her promise in not -encouraging his advances. In the second place, she knew that the terms of -Byron's letter would deeply wound Lady Byron's pride--and revenge is -sometimes sweet! - -Lady Byron, who was no match for her sister-in-law, had failed to realize -the wisdom of her mother's warning: 'Beware of Augusta, for she _must_ -hate you.' She received this proof of Augusta's return to virtue with -gratitude, thanked her sincerely, and acknowledged that the terms of -Byron's letter 'afforded ample testimony that she had not encouraged his -tenderness.' Poor Lady Byron! She deserves the pity of posterity. But she -was possessed of common sense, and knew how to play her own hand fairly -well. She wrote to Augusta in the following terms: - - 'This letter is a proof of the prior "reformation," which was - sufficiently evidenced to _me_ by your own assertion, and the - agreement of circumstances with it. _But, in case of a more - unequivocal disclosure on his part than has yet been made_, this - letter would confute those false accusations to which you would - undoubtedly be subjected from others.' - -In suggesting a more open disclosure on Byron's part, Lady Byron angled -for further confidences, so that her evidence against her husband might be -overwhelming. She hoped that his repentant sister might be able to show -incriminating letters, which would support the clue found in those -missives which Mrs. Clermont had 'conveyed.' How little did she understand -Augusta Leigh! Never would she have assisted Lady Byron to prejudice the -world against her brother, nor would she have furnished Lady Byron with a -weapon which might at any moment have been turned against herself. - -With the object of proving Augusta's guilt, the whole correspondence -between her and Lady Byron from June 27, 1819, to the end of the following -January has been printed in 'Astarte.' - -We have carefully examined it without finding anything that could convict -Augusta and Byron. It seems clear that Mrs. Leigh began this -correspondence with an ulterior object in view. She wished to win back -Lady Byron's confidence, and to induce her to make some arrangement by -which the Leigh children would benefit at Lady Byron's death, in the event -of Byron altering the will he had already made in their favour. She began -by asking Lady Byron's advice as to how she was to answer the 'Dearest -Love' letter. Lady Byron gave her two alternatives. Either she must tell -her brother that, so long as his idea of her was associated with the most -guilty feelings, it was her duty to break off all communication; or, if -Augusta did not approve of that plan, then it was her duty to treat -Byron's letter with the silence of contempt. To this excellent advice -Augusta humbly replied that, if she were to reprove her brother for the -warmth of his letter, he might be mortally offended, in which case her -children, otherwise unprovided for, would fare badly. But Mrs. Leigh was -too diplomatic to convey that meaning in plain language. Writing June 28, -1819, she says: - - 'I will tell you what _now_ passes in my mind. As to the _gentler_ - expedient you propose, I certainly lean to it, as the least offensive; - but, supposing he suspects the motive, and is piqued to answer: "I - wrote you such a letter of such a date: did you receive it?" What then - is to be done? I could not reply falsely--and might not that line of - conduct, acknowledged, irritate? This consideration would lead me, - perhaps preferably, to adopt the other, as most open and honest - (certainly to any other character but his), but query whether it might - not be most judicious as to its effects; _and_ at the same time - acknowledging that his victim was wholly in his power, as to temporal - good,[76] and leaving it to his generosity whether to use that power - or not. There seem so many reasons why he should for his own sake - abstain _for the present_ from _gratifying_ his revenge, that one can - scarcely think he would do so--unless _insane_. It would surely be - ruin to all his prospects, and those of a pecuniary nature are not - indifferent if others are become so. - - 'If really and truly he feels, or fancies he feels, that passion he - professes, I have constantly imagined he might suppose, from his - experience of the _weakness_ of disposition of the unfortunate object, - that, driven from every other hope or earthly prospect, she might fly - to _him_! and that as long as he was impressed with that idea he would - persevere in his projects. But, if he considered _that_ hopeless, he - might desist, for otherwise he must lose everything _but his revenge_, - and what good would _that_ do him? - - 'After all, my dearest A., if you cannot calculate the probable - consequences, how should I presume to do so! To be sure, the gentler - expedient might be the safest, with so violent and irritable a - disposition, and at least _for a time_ act as a _palliative_--and who - knows what changes a little time might produce or how Providence might - graciously interpose! With so many reasons to wish to avoid - extremities (I mean for the sake of others), one leans to what - appears the _safest_, and one is a coward. - - 'But the other at the same time has something gratifying to one's - feelings--and I think might be said and done--so that, if he showed - the letters, it would be no evidence against _the_ person; and worded - with that kindness, and appearance of real affectionate concern for - _him_ as well as the other person concerned, that it _might_ possibly - touch him. Pray think of what I have _thought_, and write me a line, - not to decide, for that I cannot expect, but to tell me if I deceived - myself in the ideas I have expressed to you. I shall not, _cannot_ - answer till the _latest_ post-day this week. - - 'I know you will forgive me for this infliction, and may God bless you - for that, and every other kindness.' - -We do not remember ever to have read a letter more frankly disingenuous -than this. The duplicity lurking in every line shows why the cause of the -separation between Lord and Lady Byron has been for so long a mystery. -Lady Byron herself was mystified by Augusta Leigh. It certainly was not -easy for Lady Byron to gauge the deep deception practised upon her by both -her husband and Mrs. Leigh; and yet it is surprising that Lady Byron -should not have suspected, in Augusta's self-depreciation, an element of -fraud. Was it likely that Augusta, who had good reason to hate Lady Byron, -would have provided her with such damning proofs against her brother and -herself, if she had not possessed a clear conscience in the matter? She -relied implicitly upon Byron's letter being destroyed, and so worded her -own that it would be extremely difficult for anyone but Lady Byron to -understand what she was writing about. It will be noticed that no names -are mentioned in any of her missives. People are referred to either as -'maniacs,' 'victims,' 'unfortunate objects,' or as 'that most detestable -woman, your relation by marriage,' which, in a confidential communication -to a sister-in-law, would be superfluous caution were she really sincere. -But, after the separation period, Mrs. Leigh was never sincere in her -intercourse with Lady Byron. Through that lady's unflattering suspicions, -Augusta had suffered 'too much to be forgiven.' Lady Byron, on the other -hand, with very imperfect understanding of her sister-in-law's character, -was entirely at her mercy. To employ a colloquialism, the whole thing was -a 'blind,' devised to support Augusta's rōle as a repentant Magdalen; to -attract compassion, perhaps even pecuniary assistance; and, above all, to -shield the mother of Medora. The _ruse_ was successful. Lady Byron saw a -chance of eventually procuring, in the handwriting of her husband, -conclusive evidence of his crime. In her letter of June 27, 1819, to Mrs. -Leigh, she conveyed a hint that Byron might be lured to make 'a more -unequivocal disclosure than has yet been made.' - -Lady Byron, it must be remembered, craved incessantly for documentary -proofs, which might be produced, if necessary, to justify her conduct. It -is significant that at the time of writing she possessed no evidence, -except the letters which Mrs. Clermont had purloined from Byron's -writing-desk, and these were pronounced by Lushington to be far from -conclusive. - -Mrs. Leigh seems to have enjoyed the wrigglings of her victim on the hook. -'Decision was never my forte,' she writes to Lady Byron: 'one ought to act -_right_, and leave the issue to Providence.' - -The whole episode would be intensely comical were it not so pathetic. As -might have been expected, Lady Byron eventually suffered far more than the -woman she had so cruelly wounded. Augusta seems coolly to suggest that -her brother might 'out of revenge' (because his sister acted virtuously?) -publish to the world his incestuous intercourse with her! Could anyone in -his senses believe such nonsense? Augusta hints that then Lady Byron would -be able to procure a divorce; and, as Lady Noel was still alive, Byron -would not be able to participate in that lady's fortune at her death. - -The words, 'There seem so many reasons why he should for his own sake -abstain _for the present_ from gratifying his revenge ... it would surely -be ruin to all his prospects,' are plain enough. Even if there had been -anything to disclose, Byron would never have wounded that sister who stood -at his side at the darkest hour of his life, who had sacrificed herself in -order to screen his love for Mary Chaworth, and who was his sole rock of -refuge in this stormy world. But it was necessary to show Lady Byron that -she was standing on the brink 'of a precipice.' - - 'On the subject of the mortgage,' writes Augusta, 'I mean to decline - that wholly; and pray do me the justice to believe that one thought of - the interests of my children, as far as _that_ channel is concerned, - never crosses my mind. I have entreated--I believe more than - once--that the will might be altered. [Oh, Augusta!] But if it is - not--as far as I understand the matter--there is not the slightest - probability of their ever deriving any benefit. Whatever my feelings, - dear A., I assure you, never in my life have I looked to advantage of - _that_ sort. I do not mean that I have any merit in not doing it--but - that I have no inclination, therefore nothing to struggle with. I - trust my babes to Providence, and, provided they are _good_, I think, - perhaps, _too little_ of the rest.' - -It is plain that Augusta was getting nervous about her brother's -attachment to the Guiccioli, a liaison which might end in trouble; and if -that lady was avaricious (which she was not) Byron might be induced to -alter his will (made in 1815), by which he left all _his_ share in the -property to Augusta's children. With a mother's keen eye to their ultimate -advantage, she tried hard to make their position secure, so that, in the -event of Byron changing his mind, Lady Byron might make suitable provision -for them. It was a prize worth playing for, and she played the game for -all it was worth. 'Leaving her babes to Providence' was just the kind of -sentiment most likely to appeal to Lady Byron who did, in a measure, -respond to Augusta's hints. In a letter (December 23, 1819) Lady Byron -writes: - - 'With regard to your pecuniary interests ... I am aware that the - interests of your children may _rightly_ influence your conduct when - guilt is not incurred by consulting them. However, your children - cannot, I trust, under any circumstances, be left destitute, for - reasons which I will hereafter communicate.' - -There was at this time a strong probability of Byron's return to England. -Lady Byron tried to extract from Augusta a promise that she would not see -him. Augusta fenced with the question, until, when driven into a corner, -she was compelled to admit that it would be unnatural to close the door -against her brother. Lady Byron was furious: - - 'I do not consider you bound to me in any way,' she writes. 'I told - you what I knew, because I thought that measure would enable me to - befriend you--and chiefly by representing the objections to a renewal - of personal communication between you and him.... We must, _according - to your present intentions_, act independently of each other. On my - part it will still be with every possible consideration for you and - your children, and should I, by your reception of him, be obliged to - relinquish my intercourse with you, I will do so in such manner as - shall be least prejudicial to your interests. I shall most earnestly - wish that the results of your conduct may tend to establish your - peace, instead of aggravating your remorse. But, entertaining these - views of your duty and my own, could I in honesty, or in friendship, - suppress them?' - -It might have been supposed that Lady Byron, in 1816, after Augusta's -so-called 'confession,' would have kept her secret inviolate. That had -been a condition precedent; without it Augusta would not have ventured to -deceive even Lady Byron. It appears from the following note, written by -Lady Byron to Mrs. Villiers, that Augusta's secret had been confided to -the tender mercies of that lady. On January 26, 1820, Lady Byron writes: - - 'I am reluctant to give you _my_ impression of what has passed between - Augusta and me, respecting her conduct in case of his return; but I - should like to know whether your unbiassed opinion, _formed from the - statement of facts_, coincided with it.' - -Verily, Augusta had been playing with fire! - - - - -CHAPTER V - - -On December 31, 1819, Byron wrote a letter to his wife. The following is -an extract: - - 'Augusta can tell you all about me and mine, if you think either worth - the inquiry. The object of my writing is to come. It is this: I saw - Moore three months ago, and gave to his care a long Memoir, written up - to the summer of 1816, of my life, which I had been writing since I - left England. It will not be published till after my death; and, in - fact, it is a Memoir, and not "Confessions." I have omitted the most - important and decisive events and passions of my existence, not to - compromise others. But it is not so with the part you occupy, which is - long and minute; and I could wish you to see, read, and mark any part - or parts that do not appear to coincide with the truth. The truth I - have always stated--but there are two ways of looking at it, and your - way may be not mine. I have never revised the papers since they were - written. You may read them and mark what you please. I wish you to - know what I think and say of you and yours. You will find nothing to - flatter you; nothing to lead you to the most remote supposition that - we could ever have been--or be happy together. But I do not choose to - give to another generation statements which we cannot arise from the - dust to prove or disprove, without letting you see fairly and fully - what I look upon you to have been, and what I depict you as being. If, - seeing this, you can detect what is false, or answer what is charged, - do so; _your mark_ shall not be erased. You will perhaps say, _Why_ - write my life? Alas! I say so too. But they who have traduced it, and - blasted it, and branded me, should know that it is they, and not I, - are the cause. It is no great pleasure to have lived, and less to live - over again the details of existence; but the last becomes sometimes a - necessity, and even a duty. If you choose to see this, you may; if you - do not, you have at least had the option.' - -The receipt of this letter gave Lady Byron the deepest concern, and, in -the impulse of a moment, she drafted a reply full of bitterness and -defiance. But Dr. Lushington persuaded her--not without a deal of -trouble--to send an answer the terms of which, after considerable delay, -were arranged between them. The letter in question has already appeared in -Mr. Prothero's 'Letters and Journals of Lord Byron,'[77] together with -Byron's spirited rejoinder of April 3, 1820. - -Lord Lovelace throws much light upon the inner workings of Lady Byron's -mind at this period. That she should have objected to the publication of -Byron's memoirs was natural; but, instead of saying this in a few -dignified sentences, Lady Byron parades her wrongs, and utters dark hints -as to the possible complicity of Augusta Leigh in Byron's mysterious -scheme of revenge. Dr. Lushington at first thought that it would be wiser -and more diplomatic to beg Byron's sister to dissuade him from publishing -his memoirs, but Lady Byron scented danger in that course. - - 'I foresee,' she wrote to Colonel Doyle, 'from the transmission of - such a letter ... this consequence: that an unreserved disclosure from - Mrs. Leigh to him being necessitated, they would combine together - against me, he being actuated by revenge, she by fear; whereas, from - her never having dared to inform him that she has already admitted his - guilt to me with her own, they have hitherto been prevented from - acting in concert.' - -Byron was, of course, well acquainted with what had passed between his -wife and Augusta Leigh. It could not have been kept from him, even if -there had been any reason for secrecy. He knew that his sister had been -driven to admit that Medora was his child, thus _implying_ the crime of -which she had been suspected. There was nothing, therefore, for Augusta to -fear from _him_. She dreaded a public scandal, not so much on her own -account as 'for the sake of others.' For that reason she tried to dissuade -her brother from inviting a public discussion on family matters. There was -no reason why Augusta should 'combine' with Byron against his hapless -wife! - -The weakness of Lady Byron's position is admitted by herself in a letter -dated January 29, 1820: - - 'My information previous to my separation was derived either directly - from Lord Byron, or from my observations on that part of his conduct - which he exposed to my view. The infatuation of pride may have blinded - him to the conclusions which must inevitably be established by a long - series of circumstantial evidences.' - -Oh, the pity of it all! There was something demoniacal in Byron's -treatment of this excellent woman. Perhaps it was all very natural under -the circumstances. Lady Byron seemed to invite attack at every conceivable -moment, and did not realize that a wounded tiger is always dangerous. This -is the way in which she spoke of Augusta to Colonel Doyle: - - 'Reluctant as I have ever been to bring my domestic concerns before - the public, and anxious as I have felt _to save from ruin a near - connection of his_, I shall feel myself compelled by duties of primary - importance, if he perseveres in accumulating injuries upon me, to make - a disclosure of the past in the _most_ authentic form.' - -Lady Byron's grandiloquent phrase had no deeper meaning than this: that -she was willing to accuse Augusta Leigh on the strength of 'a long series -of circumstantial evidences.' We leave it for lawyers to say whether that -charge could have been substantiated in the event of Mrs. Leigh's absolute -denial, and her disclosure of all the circumstances relating to the birth -of Medora. - -In the course of the same year (1820) Augusta, having failed to induce -Lady Byron to make a definite statement as to her intentions with regard -to the Leigh children, urged Byron to intercede with his wife in their -interests. He accordingly wrote several times to Lady Byron, asking her to -be kind to Augusta--in other words, to make some provision for her -children. It seemed, under all circumstances, a strange request to make, -but Byron's reasons were sound. In accordance with the restrictions -imposed by his marriage settlement, the available portion of the funds -would revert to Lady Byron in the event of his predeceasing her. Lady -Byron at first made no promise to befriend Augusta's children; but later -she wrote to say that the past would not prevent her from befriending -Augusta Leigh and her children 'in any future circumstances which may call -for my assistance.' - -In thanking Lady Byron for this promise, Byron writes: - - 'As to Augusta * * * *, whatever she is, or may have been, _you_ have - never had reason to complain of her; on the contrary, you are not - aware of the obligations under which you have been to her. Her life - and mine--and yours and mine--were two things perfectly distinct from - each other; when one ceased the other began, and now both are closed.' - -Lord Lovelace seeks to make much out of that statement, and says in -'Astarte': - - 'It is evident, from the allusion in this letter, that Byron had - become thoroughly aware of the extent of Lady Byron's information, and - did not wish that she should be misled. He probably may have heard - from Augusta herself that she had admitted her own guilt, together - with his, to Lady Byron.' - -What _naļveté_! Byron's meaning is perfectly clear. Whatever she was, or -may have been--whatever her virtues or her sins--she had never wronged -Lady Byron. On the contrary, she had, at considerable risk to herself, -interceded for her with her brother, when the crisis came into their -married life. Byron's intercourse with his sister had never borne any -connection with his relations towards his wife--it was a thing apart--and -at the time of writing was closed perhaps for ever. He plainly repudiates -Lady Byron's cruel suspicions of a criminal intercourse having taken place -during the brief period of their married existence. He could not have -spoken in plainer language without indelicacy, and yet, so persistent was -Lady Byron in her evil opinion of both, these simple straightforward words -were wholly misconstrued. Malignant casuistry could of course find a dark -hint in the sentence, 'When one ceased, the other began'; but the mind -must indeed be prurient that could place the worst construction upon the -expression of so palpable a fact. It was not Lady Byron's intention to -complain of things that had taken place _previous_ to her marriage; her -contention had always been that she separated from her husband in -consequence of his conduct while under her own roof. When, in 1869, all -the documentary evidence upon which she relied was shown to Lord Chief -Justice Cockburn, that great lawyer thus expressed his opinion of their -value: - - 'Lady Byron had an ill-conditioned mind, preying upon itself, till - morbid delusion was the result. If not, she was an accomplished - hypocrite, regardless of truth, and to whose statements no credit - whatever ought to be attached.' - -Lord Lovelace tells us that all the charges made against Lady Byron in -1869 (when the Beecher Stowe 'Revelations' were published) would have -collapsed 'if all her papers had then been accessible and available'; and -that Dr. Lushington, who was then alive, 'from the best and kindest -motives, and long habit of silence,' exerted his influence over the other -trustees to suppress them! Why, we may ask, was this? The answer suggests -itself. It was because he well knew that there was nothing in those papers -to fix guilt upon Mrs. Leigh. It must not be forgotten that Dr. -Lushington, in 1816, expressed his deliberate opinion that the proofs were -wholly insufficient to sustain a charge of incest. In this connection Lady -Byron's written statement, dated March 14, 1816, is most valuable. - - 'The causes of this suspicion,' she writes, 'did not amount to proof - ... and I considered that, whilst a possibility of innocence existed, - every principle of duty and humanity forbade me to act as if Mrs. - Leigh was actually guilty, more especially as any intimation of so - heinous a crime, even if not distinctly proved, must have seriously - affected Mrs. Leigh's character and happiness.' - -Exactly one month after Lady Byron had written those words, her husband -addressed her in the following terms: - - 'I have just parted from Augusta--almost the last being you had left - me to part with, and the only unshattered tie of my existence. - Wherever I may go, and I am going far, you and I can never meet again - in this world, nor in the next. Let this content or atone. If any - accident occurs to me, be kind to _her_; if she is then nothing, to - her children.' - -It was, as we have seen, five years before Lady Byron could bring herself -to make any reply to this appeal. How far she fulfilled the promise then -made, 'to befriend Augusta Leigh and her children in any future -circumstances which might call for her assistance,' may be left to the -imagination of the reader. We can find no evidence of it in 'Astarte' or -in the 'Revelations' of Mrs. Beecher Stowe. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - -In order to meet the charges which the late Lord Lovelace brought against -Mrs. Leigh in 'Astarte,' we have been compelled to quote rather -extensively from its pages. In the chapter entitled 'Manfred' will be -found selections from a mass of correspondence which, without -qualification or comment, might go far to convince the reader. Lord -Lovelace was evidently 'a good hater,' and he detested the very name of -Augusta Leigh with all his heart and soul. There was some reason for this. -She had, in Lord Lovelace's opinion, '_substituted herself for Lord -Byron's right heirs_' ('Astarte,' p. 125). It was evidently a sore point -that Augusta should have benefited by Lord Byron's will. Lord Lovelace -forgot that Lady Byron had approved of the terms of her husband's will, -and that Lady Byron's conduct had not been such as to deserve any -pecuniary consideration at Lord Byron's death. But impartiality does not -seem to have been Lord Lovelace's forte. Having made up his mind that Mrs. -Leigh was guilty, he selected from his papers whatever might appear most -likely to convict her. But the violence of his antagonism has impaired the -value of his contention; and the effect of his arguments is very different -from that which he intended. Having satisfied himself that Mrs. Leigh -(though liked and respected by her contemporaries) was an abandoned -woman, Lord Lovelace says: - - 'A real reformation, according to Christian ideals, would not merely - have driven Byron and Augusta apart from each other, but expelled them - from the world of wickedness, consigned them for the rest of their - lives to strict expiation and holiness. But this could never be; and - in the long-run her flight to an outcast life would have been a lesser - evil than the consequences of preventing it. The fall of Mrs. Leigh - would have been a definite catastrophe, affecting a small number of - people for a time in a startling manner. The disaster would have been - obvious, but partial, immediately over and ended.... She would have - lived in open revolt against the Christian standard, not in secret - disobedience and unrepentant hypocrisy.' - -Poor Mrs. Leigh! and was it so bad as all that? Had she committed incest -with her brother after the separation of 1816? Did she follow Byron abroad -'in the dress of a page,' as stated by some lying chronicler from the -banks of the Lake of Geneva? Did Byron come to England in secret at some -period between 1816 and 1824? If not, what on earth is the meaning of this -mysterious homily? Does Lord Lovelace, in the book that survives him, wish -the world to believe that Lady Byron prevented Augusta from deserting her -husband and children, and flying into Byron's arms in a 'far countree'? If -that was the author's intention, he has signally failed. There never was a -moment, since the trip abroad was abandoned in 1813, when Augusta had the -mind to join her brother in his travels. There is not a hint of any such -wish in any document published up to the present time. Augusta, who was -undoubtedly innocent, had suffered enough from the lying reports that had -been spread about town by Lady Caroline Lamb, ever to wish for another -dose of scandal. If the Lovelace papers contain any hint of that nature, -the author of 'Astarte' would most assuredly have set it forth in Double -Pica. It is a baseless calumny. - -In Lord Lovelace's opinion, - - 'judged by the light of nature, a heroism and sincerity of united - fates and doom would have seemed, beyond all comparison, purer and - nobler than what they actually drifted into. By the social code, sin - between man and woman can never be blotted out, as assuredly it is the - most irreversible of facts. Nevertheless, societies secretly respect, - though they excommunicate, those rebel lovers who sacrifice everything - else, but observe a law of their own, and make a religion out of sin - itself, by living it through with constancy.' - -These be perilous doctrines, surely! But how do those reflections apply to -the case of Byron and his sister? The hypothesis may be something like -this: Byron and his sister commit a deadly sin. They are found out, but -their secret is kept by a select circle of their friends. They part, and -never meet again in this world. The sin might have been forgiven, or at -least condoned, if they had 'observed a law of their own'--in other words, -'gone on sinning.' Why? because 'societies secretly respect rebel lovers.' -But these wretches had not the courage of their profligacy; they parted -and sinned no more, therefore they were 'unrepentant hypocrites.' The -'heroism and sincerity of united fates and doom' was denied to them, and -no one would ever have suspected them of such a crime, if Lady Byron and -Lord Lovelace had not betrayed them. What pestilential rubbish! One -wonders how a man of Lord Lovelace's undoubted ability could have sunk to -bathos of that kind. - - 'Byron,' he tells us, 'was ready to sacrifice everything for Augusta, - and to defy the world with her. If this _had not been prevented_ [the - italics are ours], _he would have been a more poetical figure in - history_ than as the author of "Manfred."' - -It is clear, then, that in Lord Lovelace's opinion Byron and Augusta were -prevented by someone from becoming poetical figures. Who was that guardian -angel? Lady Byron, of course! - -Now, what are the facts? Byron parted from his sister on April 14, 1816, -_nine days prior to his own departure from London_. They never met again. -There was nothing to 'prevent' them from being together up to the last -moment if they had felt so disposed. Byron never disguised his deep and -lasting affection for Augusta, whom in private he called his 'Dear Goose,' -and in public his 'Sweet Sister.' There was no hypocrisy on either -side--nothing, in short, except the prurient imagination of a distracted -wife, aided and abetted by a circle of fawning gossips. - -It is a lamentable example of how public opinion may be misdirected by -evidence, which Horace would have called _Parthis mendacior_. - -Lord Lovelace comforts himself by the reflection that Augusta - - 'was not spared misery or degradation by being preserved from flagrant - acts; for nothing could be more wretched than her subsequent - existence; and far from growing virtuous, she went farther down - without end temporally and spiritually.' - -Now, that is very strange! How could Augusta have gone farther down -spiritually after Byron's departure? According to Lord Lovelace, -'Character regained was the consummation of Mrs. Leigh's ruin!' - -Mrs. Leigh must have been totally unlike anyone else, if character -regained proved her ruin. There must be some mistake. No, there it is in -black and white. 'Her return to outward respectability was an unmixed -misfortune to the third person through whose protection it was possible.' - -This cryptic utterance implies that Mrs. Leigh's respectability was -injurious to Lady Byron. Why? - - 'If Augusta had fled to Byron in exile, and was seen with him as _et - soror et conjux_, the victory remained with Lady Byron, solid and - final. _This was the solution hoped for by Lady Byron's friends_, - Lushington and Doyle, as well as Lady Noel.' - -So the cat is out of the bag at last! It having been impossible for Lady -Byron to bring any proof against Byron and his sister which would have -held water in a law-court, her friends and her legal adviser hoped that -Augusta would desert her husband and children, and thus furnish them with -evidence which would justify their conduct before the world. But Augusta -was sorry not to be able to oblige them. This was a pity, because, -according to Lord Lovelace, who was the most ingenuous of men: 'Their -triumph and Lady Byron's justification would have been complete, and great -would have been their rejoicing.' - -Well, they made up for it afterwards, when Byron and Augusta were dead; -after those memoirs had been destroyed which, in Byron's words, 'will be a -kind of guide-post in case of death, and prevent some of the lies which -would otherwise be told, and destroy some which have been told already.' - -In allusion to the meetings between Lady Byron and Augusta immediately -after the separation, we are told in 'Astarte' that - - 'on all these occasions, one subject--uppermost in the thoughts of - both--had been virtually ignored, except that Augusta _had had the - audacity_ to name the reports about herself with all the pride of - innocence. _Intercourse could not continue on that footing_, for - Augusta probably aimed at a positive guarantee of her innocence, and - at committing Lady Byron irretrievably to that.' - -This was great presumption on Mrs. Leigh's part, after all the pains they -had taken to make her uncomfortable. Lady Byron, we are told by Lord -Lovelace, could no longer bear the false position, and 'before leaving -London she went to the Hon. Mrs. Villiers--a most intimate friend of -Augusta's'--and deliberately poisoned her mind. That which she told Mrs. -Villiers is not stated; but we infer that Lady Byron retailed some of the -gossip that had reached her through one of Mrs. Leigh's servants who had -overheard part of a conversation between Augusta and Byron shortly after -Medora's birth. After the child had been taken to St. James's Palace, -Byron often went there. It is likely that Augusta had been overheard -jesting with Byron about his child. We cannot be sure of this; but, at any -rate, some such expression, if whispered in Lady Byron's ears, would be -sufficient to confirm her erroneous belief. - -Mrs. Villiers, we are told, began from this time to be slightly prejudiced -against Augusta. She believed her to be absolutely pure, but with lax -notions of morality. This sounds like a contradiction in terms, but so it -was; and through the wilful misrepresentation of Lady Byron and her -coterie, Augusta's best friend was lured from her allegiance. Mrs. -Villiers was also informed of something else by Wilmot-Horton, another -friend of Lady Byron's. The plot thickened, and, without any attempt being -made to arrive at the truth, Augusta's life became almost unbearable. No -wonder the poor woman said in her agony: 'None can know _how much_ I have -suffered from this unhappy business, and, indeed, I have never known a -moment's peace, and begin to despair for the future.' - -The 'unhappy business' was, of course, her unwise adoption of Medora. -Through that error of judgment she was doomed to plod her way to the -grave, suspected by even her dearest friend, and persecuted by the Byron -family. Mrs. Villiers was a good woman and scented treason. She boldly -urged Lady Byron to avow to Augusta the information of which she was in -possession. But Lady Byron was at first afraid to run the risk. She knew -very well the value of servants' gossip, and feared the open hostility of -Augusta if she made common cause with Byron. This much she ingenuously -avowed in a letter to Dr. Lushington. But, upon being further pressed, she -consented to _write_ to Augusta and announce what she had been told. We -have no doubt that the letter was written with great care, after -consultation with Colonel Doyle and Lushington, and that the gossip was -retailed with every outward consideration for Augusta's feelings. Whatever -was said, and there is no evidence of it in 'Astarte,' we are there told -that 'Augusta did not attempt to deny it, and, in fact, admitted -everything in subsequent letters to Lady Byron during the summer of 1816.' -Lord Lovelace ingenuously adds: 'It is unnecessary to produce them here, -as their contents are confirmed and made sufficiently clear by the -correspondence of 1819, in another chapter.' - -It is very strange that Lord Lovelace, who is not thrifty in his -selections, should have withheld the only positive proof of Augusta's -confession known to be in existence. His reference to the letters of 1819, -which he publishes, is a poor substitute for the letters themselves. The -only letter which affords any clue to the mystery is the 'Dearest Love' -letter, dated May 17, 1819, which we have quoted in a previous chapter. -The value of that letter, as evidence against Augusta, we have already -shown. When compared with the letter which Byron wrote to his sister on -June 3, 1817--a year after he had parted from her--the conclusion that the -incriminating letter is not addressed to Augusta at all, forces itself -irresistibly upon the mind. As an example of varying moods, it is worth -quoting: - - 'For the life of me I can't make out whether your disorder is a broken - heart or ear-ache--or whether it is you that have been ill or the - children--or what your melancholy and mysterious apprehensions tend - to--or refer to--whether to Caroline Lamb's novels--Mrs. Clermont's - evidence--Lady Byron's magnanimity, or any other piece of imposture.' - -It is really laughable to suppose that the writer of the above extract -could have written to the same lady two years later in the following -strain: - - 'My dearest love, I have never ceased, nor can cease, to feel for a - moment that perfect and boundless attachment which bound and binds me - to you--which renders me utterly incapable of _real_ love for any - other human being--for what could they be to me after _you_? My own - * * * * we may have been very wrong,' etc. - -But Lord Lovelace found no difficulty in believing that the letter in -question sealed the fate of Augusta Leigh. In the face of such a -document, Lord Lovelace thought that a direct confession in Augusta's -handwriting would be superfluous, and Sir Leslie Stephen had warned him -against superfluity! - -Colonel Doyle, an intimate friend of Lady Byron, seems to have been the -only man on her side of the question--not even excepting Lushington--who -showed anything approaching to common sense. He perceived that Lady Byron, -by avowing the grounds of her suspicions to Mrs. Leigh, had placed herself -in an awkward position. He foresaw that this avowal would turn Mrs. Leigh -into an enemy, who must sooner or later avenge the insults heaped upon -her. On July 9, 1816, Colonel Doyle wrote to Lady Byron: - - 'Your feelings I perfectly understand; I will even _whisper_ to you I - approve. But you must remember that your position is very - extraordinary, and though, when we have sufficiently deliberated and - _decided_, we should pursue our course without embarrassing ourselves - with the consequences; yet we should _not neglect the means of fully - justifying ourselves_ if the necessity be ever imposed upon us.' - -We have quoted enough to show that, _five months after the separation was -formally proposed to Lord Byron_, they had not sufficient evidence to -bring into a court of law. Under those depressing circumstances Lady Byron -was urged to induce Augusta to 'confess'; the conspirators would have been -grateful even for an admission of guilt as _prior to Lord Byron's -marriage_! - -Colonel Doyle, as a man of honour, did not wish Lady Byron to rely upon -'confessions' made under the seal of secrecy. They had, apparently, been -duped on a previous occasion; and, in case Mrs. Leigh were to bring an -action against Lady Byron for defamation of character, it would not be -advisable to rely, for her defence, upon letters which were strictly -private and confidential. As to Augusta's 'admissions,' made orally and -without witnesses, they were absolutely valueless--especially as the -conditions under which they were made could not in honour be broken. - -Augusta through all this worry fell into a state of deep dejection. She -had been accused of a crime which (though innocent) she had tacitly -admitted. Her friends were beginning to look coldly upon her, and -consequently her position became tenfold more difficult and -'extraordinary' than that of her accuser. Perhaps she came to realize the -truth of Dryden's lines: - - 'Smooth the descent and easy is the way; - But to return, and view the cheerful skies, - In this the task and mighty labour lies.' - -Equivocation is a dangerous game. - -Lord Lovelace tells us that all the papers concerning the marriage of Lord -and Lady Byron have been carefully preserved. 'They are a complete record -of all the causes of separation, and contain full information on every -part of the subject.' - -We can only say that it is a pity Lord Lovelace should have withheld those -which were most likely to prove his case--for example, the letters which -Mrs. Leigh wrote to Lady Byron in the summer of 1816. The public have a -right to demand from an accuser the grounds of his accusation. Lord -Lovelace gives us none. He bids us listen to what he deigns to tell us, -and to ask for nothing more. That his case is built upon Lady Byron's -surmises, and upon no more solid foundation, is shown by the following -illuminating extract from 'Astarte': - - 'When a woman is placed as Lady Byron was, her mind works - involuntarily, almost unconsciously, and conclusions force their way - into it. She has not meant to think so and so, and she has thought it; - the dreadful idea is repelled then, and to the last, with the whole - force of her will, but when once conceived it cannot be banished. The - distinctive features of a true hypothesis, when once in the mind, are - a precise conformity to facts already known, and an adaptability to - fresh developments, which allow us not to throw it aside at pleasure. - Lady Byron's agony of doubt could only end in the still greater agony - of certainty; but this was no result of ingenuity or inquiry, as she - sought not for information.' - -If Lady Byron did not seek for information when she plied Augusta with -questions, and encouraged her friends to do the same, she must have -derived pleasure from torturing her supposed rival. But that is absurd. - - 'Women,' says Lord Lovelace, 'are said to excel in piecing together - scattered insignificant fragments of conversations and circumstances, - and fitting them all into their right places amongst what they know - already, and thus reconstruct a whole that is very close to the - complete truth. But Lady Byron's whole effort was to resist the light, - or rather the darkness, that would flow into her mind.' - -In her effort to resist the light, Lady Byron seems to have admirably -succeeded. But, in spite of her grandson's statement, that she employed -any great effort to resist the darkness that flowed into her mind we -entirely disbelieve. We are rather inclined to think that, in her search -for evidence to convict Mrs. Leigh, she would have been very grateful for -a farthing rushlight. - -We now leave 'Astarte' to the judgment of posterity, for whom, in a -peculiarly cruel sense, it was originally intended. If in a court of law -counsel for the prosecution were to declaim loudly and frequently about -evidence which he does not--perhaps dares not--produce, his harangues -would make an unfavourable impression on a British jury. We have no wish -to speak ill of the dead, but, in justice to Mrs. Leigh, we feel bound to -say that the author of 'Astarte,' with all his talk about evidence against -Byron and Augusta Leigh, has not produced a scrap of evidence which would -have any weight with an impartial jury of their countrymen. - -But we will not end upon a jarring note. Let us remember that Lord -Lovelace, as Ada's son, felt an affectionate regard for the memory of Lady -Byron. It was his misfortune to imbibe a false tradition, and, while -groping his way through the darkness, his sole guide was a packet of -collected papers by which his grandmother hoped to justify her conduct in -leaving her husband. If Lady Byron had deigned to read Byron's 'Memoirs,' -she might have been spared those painful delusions by which her mind was -obsessed in later years. That she had ample grounds, in Byron's -extraordinary conduct during the brief period of their intercourse, to -separate herself from him is not disputed; but her premises were wrong, -and her vain attempt to justify herself by unsupported accusations against -Mrs. Leigh has failed. - -Her daughter Ada, the mother of Lord Lovelace, had learnt enough of the -family history to come to the conclusion (which she decidedly expressed to -Mr. Fonblanque) that the sole cause of the separation was incompatibility. -There let it rest. The Byron of the last phase was a very different man -from the poet of 'The Dream.' - -On the day that Byron was buried at Hucknall-Torkard the great Goethe, in -allusion to a letter which Byron, on the eve of his departure for Greece, -had written to him, says: - - 'What emotions of joy and hope did not that paper once excite! But now - it has become, by the premature death of its noble writer, an - inestimable relic and a source of unspeakable regret; for it - aggravates, to a peculiar degree in me, the mourning and melancholy - that pervade the moral and poetic world. In me, who looked forward - (after the success of his great efforts) to the prospect of being - blessed with the sight of this master-spirit of the age, this friend - so fortunately acquired; and of having to welcome on his return the - most humane of conquerors. - - 'But I am consoled by the conviction that his country will at once - _awake_, and shake off, like a troubled dream, the partialities, the - prejudices, the injuries, and the calumnies, with which he has been - assailed; and that these will subside and sink into oblivion; and that - she will at length acknowledge that his frailties, whether the effect - of temperament, or the defect of the times in which he lived (against - which even the best of mortals wrestle painfully), were only - momentary, fleeting, and transitory; whilst the imperishable greatness - to which he has raised her, now and for ever remains, and will remain, - illimitable in its glory and incalculable in its consequences. Certain - it is that a nation, who may well pride herself on so many great sons, - will place Byron, all radiant as he is, by the side of those who have - done most honour to her name.' - -With these just words it is fitting to draw our subject to a close. The -poetic fame of Byron has passed through several phases, and will probably -pass through another before his exact position in the poetical hierarchy -is determined. But the world's interest in the man who cheerfully gave his -life to the cause of Greek Independence has not declined. Eighty-five -years have passed, and Time has gradually fulfilled the prophecy which -inspiration wrung from the anguish of his heart: - - 'But I have lived, and have not lived in vain: - My mind may lose its force, my blood its fire, - And my frame perish even in conquering pain; - But there is that within me which shall tire - Torture and Time, and breathe when I expire; - Something unearthly, which they deem not of, - Like the remembered tone of a mute lyre, - Shall on their softened spirits sink, and move - In hearts all rocky now the late remorse of Love.' - - - - -APPENDIX - -DR. BRUNO'S REPLY TO FLETCHER'S STATEMENT - - -The following remarks appeared in the _Westminster Review_, and gave great -annoyance to Dr. Millingen, who thought that he had been accused of having -caused the death of Byron by putting off, during four successive days, the -operation of bleeding: - - Mr. Fletcher has omitted to state that on the second day of Lord - Byron's illness his physician, Dr. Bruno, seeing the sudorific - medicines had no effect, proposed blood-letting, and that his lordship - refused to allow it, and caused Mr. Millingen to be sent for in order - to consult with his physician, and see if the rheumatic fever could - not be cured without the loss of blood. - - Mr. Millingen approved of the medicines previously prescribed by Dr. - Bruno, and was not opposed to the opinion that bleeding was necessary; - but he said to his lordship that it might be deferred till the next - day. He held this language for three successive days, while the other - physician (Dr. Bruno) every day threatened Lord Byron that he would - die by his obstinacy in not allowing himself to be bled. His lordship - always answered: 'You wish to get the reputation of curing my disease, - that is why you tell me it is so serious; but I will not permit you to - bleed me.' - - After the first consultation with Mr. Millingen, the domestic Fletcher - asked Dr. Bruno how his lordship's complaint was going on. The - physician replied that, if he would allow the bleeding, he would be - cured in a few days. But the surgeon Mr. Millingen, assured Lord Byron - from day to day that it could wait till to-morrow; and thus four days - slipped away, during which the disease, for want of blood-letting, - grew much worse. At length Mr. Millingen, seeing that the - prognostications which Dr. Bruno had made respecting Lord Byron's - malady were more and more confirmed, urged the necessity of bleeding, - and of no longer delaying it a moment. This caused Lord Byron, - disgusted at finding that he could not be cured without loss of blood, - to say that it seemed to him that the doctors did not understand his - malady. He then had a man sent to Zante to fetch Dr. Thomas. Mr. - Fletcher having mentioned this to Dr. Bruno, the latter observed that, - if his lordship would consent to lose as much blood as was necessary, - he would answer for his cure; but that if he delayed any longer, or - did not entirely follow his advice, Dr. Thomas would not arrive in - time: in fact, when Dr. Thomas was ready to set out from Zante, Lord - Byron was dead. - - The pistols and stiletto were removed from his lordship's bed--not by - Fletcher, but by the servant Tita, who was the only person that - constantly waited on Lord Byron in his illness, and who had been - advised to take this precaution by Dr. Bruno, the latter having - perceived that my lord had moments of delirium. - - Two days before the death a consultation was held with three other - doctors, who appeared to think that his lordship's disease was - changing from inflammatory diathesis to languid, and they ordered - china,[78] opium, and ammonia. - - Dr. Bruno opposed this with the greatest warmth, and pointed out to - them that the symptoms were those, not of an alteration in the - disease, but of a fever flying to the brain, which was violently - attacked by it; and that the wine, the china, and the stimulants, - would kill Lord Byron more speedily than the complaint itself could; - while, on the other hand, by copious bleedings and the medicines that - had been taken before he might yet be saved. The other physicians, - however, were of a different opinion; and it was then that Dr. Bruno - declared to his colleagues that he would have no further - responsibility for the loss of Lord Byron, which he pronounced - inevitable if the china were given him. In effect, after my lord had - taken the tincture, with some grains of carbonate of ammonia, he was - seized by convulsions. Soon afterwards they gave him a cup of very - strong decoction of china, with some drops of laudanum. He instantly - fell into a deep lethargic sleep, from which he never rose. - - The opening of the body discovered the brain in a state of the highest - inflammation; and all the six physicians who were present at that - opening were convinced that my lord would have been saved by the - bleeding, which his physician, Dr. Bruno, had advised from the - beginning with the most pressing urgency and the greatest firmness. - - F. B. - - -DR. MILLINGEN'S ACCOUNT - - Mr. Finlay and myself called upon him in the evening, when we found - him lying on a sofa, complaining of a slight fever and of pains in the - articulations. He was at first more gay than usual; but on a sudden he - became pensive, and, after remaining some few minutes in silence, he - said that during the whole day he had reflected a great deal on a - prediction which had been made to him, when a boy, by a famed - fortune-teller in Scotland. His mother, who firmly believed in - cheiromancy and astrology, had sent for this person, and desired him - to inform her what would be the future destiny of her son. Having - examined attentively the palm of his hand, the man looked at him for a - while steadfastly, and then with a solemn voice exclaimed: 'Beware of - your thirty-seventh year, my young lord--beware!' - - He had entered on his thirty-seventh year on the 22nd of January; and - it was evident, from the emotion with which he related this - circumstance, that the caution of the palmist had produced a deep - impression on his mind, which in many respects was so superstitious - that we thought proper to accuse him of superstition. 'To say the - truth,' answered his lordship, 'I find it equally difficult to know - what to believe in this world and what not to believe. There are as - many plausible reasons for inducing me to die a bigot as there have - been to make me hitherto live a freethinker. You will, I know, - ridicule my belief in lucky and unlucky days; but no consideration can - now induce me to undertake anything either on a Friday or a Sunday. I - am positive it would terminate unfortunately. Every one of my - misfortunes--and God knows I have had my share--have happened to me on - one of those days.' - - Considering myself on this occasion, not a medical man, but a visitor, - and being questioned neither by his physician nor himself, I did not - even feel Lord Byron's pulse. I was informed next morning that during - the night he had taken diaphoretic infusions, and that he felt himself - better. The next day Dr. Bruno administered a purgative, and kept up - its effects by a solution of cream of tartar, which the Italians call - 'imperial lemonade.' In the evening the fever augmented, and as on the - 14th, although the pains in the articulations had diminished, the - feverish symptoms were equally strong, Dr. Bruno strongly recommended - him to be blooded; but as the patient entertained a deep-rooted - prejudice against bleeding, his physician could obtain no influence - whatever over him, and his lordship obstinately persevered in refusing - to submit to the operation. - - On the 15th, towards noon, Fletcher called upon me and informed me - that his master desired to see me, in order to consult with Dr. Bruno - on the state of his health. Dr. Bruno informed me that his patient - laboured under a rheumatic fever--that, as at first the symptoms had - been of a mild character, he had trusted chiefly to sudorifics; but - during the last two days the fever had so much increased that he had - repeatedly proposed bleeding, but that he could not overcome his - lordship's antipathy to that mode of treatment. Convinced, by an - examination of the patient, that bleeding was absolutely necessary, I - endeavoured, as mildly and as gently as possible, to persuade him; - but, in spite of all my caution, his temper was so morbidly irritable - that he refused in a manner excessively peevish. He observed that, of - all his prejudices, the strongest was against phlebotomy. 'Besides,' - said his lordship, 'does not Dr. Reid observe in his Essays that less - slaughter has been effected by the warrior's lance than by the - physician's lancet? It is, in fact, a minute instrument of mighty - mischief.' On my observing that this remark related to the treatment - of nervous disorders, not of inflammatory ones, he angrily replied: - 'Who is nervous, if I am not? Do not these words, besides, apply to my - case? Drawing blood from a nervous patient is like loosening the - chords of a musical instrument, the tones of which are already - defective for want of sufficient tension. Before I became ill, you - know yourself how weak and irritable I had become. Bleeding, by - increasing this state, will inevitably kill me. Do with me whatever - else you please, but bleed me you shall not. I have had several - inflammatory fevers during my life, and at an age when I was much more - robust and plethoric than I am now; yet I got through them without - bleeding. This time also I will take my chance.' - - After much reasoning and entreaty, however, I at length succeeded in - obtaining a promise that, should his fever increase at night, he would - allow Bruno to bleed him. Happy to inform the doctor of this partial - victory, I left the room, and, with a view of lowering the impetus of - the circulatory system, and determining to the skin, I recommended the - administration of an ounce of a solution of half a grain of tartarized - antimony and two drachms of nitre in twelve ounces of water. - - Early the next morning I called on the patient, who told me that, - having passed a better night than he had expected, he had not - requested Dr. Bruno to bleed him. Chagrined at this, I laid aside all - consideration for his feelings, and solemnly assured him how deeply I - lamented to see him trifle with his life in this manner. I told him - that his pertinacious refusal to be bled had caused a precious - opportunity to be lost; that a few hours of hope yet remained; but - that, unless he would submit immediately to be bled, neither Dr. Bruno - nor myself could answer for the consequences. He might not care for - life, it was true; but who could assure him, unless he changed his - resolution, the disease might not operate such disorganization in his - cerebral and nervous system as entirely to deprive him of his reason? - I had now touched the sensible chord, for, partly annoyed by our - unceasing importunities, and partly convinced, casting at us both the - fiercest glance of vexation, he threw out his arm, and said in the - most angry tone: 'Come; you are, I see, a d----d set of butchers. Take - away as much blood as you will, but have done with it.' - - We seized the moment, and drew about twenty ounces. On coagulating, - the blood presented a strong buffy coat. Yet the relief obtained did - not correspond to the hopes we had anticipated, and during the night - the fever became stronger than it had been hitherto. The restlessness - and agitation increased, and the patient spoke several times in an - incoherent manner. The next morning (17th) the bleeding was repeated; - for, although the rheumatic symptoms had completely disappeared, the - cerebral ones were hourly increasing, and this continuing all day, we - opened the vein for the third time in the afternoon. Cold applications - were from the beginning constantly kept on the head; blisters were - also proposed. When on the point of applying them, Lord Byron asked me - whether it would answer the same purpose to apply both on the same - leg. Guessing the motive that led him to ask this question, I told him - I would place them above the knees, on the inside of the thighs. 'Do - so,' said he; 'for as long as I live I will not allow anyone to see my - lame foot.' - - In spite of our endeavours, the danger hourly increased; the different - signs of strong nervous affection succeeded each other with surprising - rapidity; twitchings and involuntary motions of the tendons began to - manifest themselves in the night; and, more frequently than before, - the patient muttered to himself and talked incoherently. - - In the morning (18th) a consultation was proposed, to which Dr. Lucca - Vaga and Dr. Freiber, my assistant, were invited. Our opinions were - divided. Bruno and Lucca proposed having recourse to antispasmodics - and other remedies employed in the last stage of typhus. Freiber and I - maintained that such remedies could only hasten the fatal termination; - that nothing could be more empirical than flying from one extreme to - the other; that if, as we all thought, the complaint was owing to the - metastasis of rheumatic inflammation, the existing symptoms only - depended on the rapid and extensive progress it had made in an organ - previously so weakened and irritable. Antiphlogistic means could never - prove hurtful in this case; they would become useless only if - disorganization were already operated; but then, when all hopes were - fled, what means would not prove superfluous? - - We recommended the application of numerous leeches to the temples, - behind the ears, and along the course of the jugular vein, a large - blister between the shoulders, and sinapisms to the feet. These we - considered to be the only means likely to succeed. Dr. Bruno, however, - being the patient's physician, had, of course, the casting vote, and - he prepared, in consequence, the antispasmodic potion which he and Dr. - Lucca had agreed upon. It was a strong infusion of valerian with - ether, etc. After its administration the convulsive movements and the - delirium increased; yet, notwithstanding my earnest representations, a - second dose was administered half an hour after; when, after - articulating confusedly a few broken phrases, our patient sank into a - comatose sleep, which the next day terminated in death. - - Lord Byron expired on the 19th of April, at six o'clock in the - afternoon. Interesting as every circumstance relative to the death of - so celebrated a person may prove to some, I should, nevertheless, have - hesitated in obtruding so much medical detail on the patience of the - reader, had not the accounts published by Dr. Bruno in the - _Westminster Review_, and many of the newspapers, rendered it - necessary that I should disabuse the friends of the deceased; and at - the same time vindicate my own professional character, on which the - imputation has been laid of my having been the cause of Lord Byron's - death by putting off, during four successive days, the operation of - bleeding. - - I must first observe that, not knowing a syllable of English, although - present at the conversation I had with Lord Byron, Dr. Bruno could - neither understand the force of the language I employed to surmount - his lordship's deep-rooted prejudice and aversion for bleeding, nor - the positive refusals he repeatedly made before I could obtain his - promise to consent to the operation. Yet he boldly states that I spoke - to Lord Byron in a very undecided manner of the benefits of such an - operation, and that I even ventured to recommend procrastination; and - these, he says, are the reasons that induced him to consent to the - delay--as if he were himself indifferent to such treatment, or as if a - few words from me were sufficient to determine him! Conduct like this - it is not difficult to appreciate: I shall therefore forbear - abandoning myself to the indignation such a falsehood might naturally - excite; nor shall I repel his unwarrantable accusation by relating the - causes of that deep-rooted jealousy which Dr. Bruno entertained - against me from the day he perceived the preference which Lord Byron - indicated in favour of English physicians. This narrow-minded, envious - feeling, as I could prove, prevented him from insisting on immediately - calling me, or other medical men at Missolonghi, to a consultation. - Had he done so, he would have exonerated himself from every - responsibility; but his vanity made him forget the duty he owed to his - patient, and even to himself. For I did not see Lord Byron (medically) - till I was sent for by his lordship himself, without any participation - on the part of Dr. Bruno. I can refute Dr. Bruno's calumnies, not only - from the testimony of others, but even from his own. For the following - extract from the article published in the _Telegrapho Greco_, - announcing the death of Lord Byron, was at the request of Count Gamba - (himself a witness of whatever took place during the fatal illness of - his friend) composed by the doctor: - - 'Notwithstanding the most urgent entreaties and representations of the - imminent danger attending his complaint made to him from the onset of - his illness, both by his private physician and the medical man sent by - the Greek Committee, it was impossible to surmount the great aversion - and prejudice he entertained against bleeding, although he lay under - imperious want of it' (Vide _Telegrapho Greco_, il di 24 Aprile, - 1824). - - As to the assertion confidently made by Dr. Bruno, that, had his - patient submitted at the onset of his malady to phlebotomy, he would - have infallibly recovered, I believe every medical man who maturely - considers the subject will be led to esteem this assertion as being - founded rather on presumption than on reason. Positive language, which - is in general so misplaced in medical science, becomes in the present - case even ridiculous; for, if different authors be consulted, it will - appear that the very remedy which is proclaimed by some as the anchor - of salvation, is by others condemned as the instrument of ruin. - Bleeding (as many will be found to assert) favours metastasis in - rheumatic fevers; and, in confirmation of this opinion, they will - remark that in this case, as soon as the lancet was employed, the - cerebral symptoms manifested themselves on the disappearance of the - rheumatic; while those who incline to Dr. Reid's and Dr. Heberden's - opinion will observe that, after each successive phlebotomy, the - cerebral symptoms not only did not remain at the same degree, but - that they hourly went on increasing. In this dilemmatic position it is - evident that, whatever treatment might have been adopted, detractors - could not fail to have some grounds for laying the blame on the - medical attendants. The more I consider this difficult question, - however, the more I feel convinced that, whatsoever method of cure had - been adopted, there is every reason to believe that a fatal - termination was inevitable; and here I may be permitted to observe, - that it must have been the lot of every medical man to observe how - frequently the fear of death produces it, and how seldom a patient, - who persuades himself that he must die, is mistaken. The prediction of - the Scotch fortune-teller was ever present to Lord Byron, and, like an - insidious poison, destroyed that moral energy which is so useful to - keep up the patient in dangerous complaints. 'Did I not tell you,' - said he repeatedly to me, 'that I should die at thirty-seven?' - -There is an entry in Millingen's 'Memoirs of Greece' which has not -received the attention it deserves--namely, a request made by Byron on the -day before his death. It is given by Millingen in the following words: - -'One request let me make to you. Let not my body be hacked, or be sent to -England. Here let my bones moulder. Lay me in the first corner without -pomp or nonsense.' - -After Byron's death Millingen informed Gamba of this request, but it was -thought that it would be a sacrilege to leave his remains in a place -'where they might some day become the sport of insulting barbarians.' - - - - -INDEX - - - Adam, Sir F., High Commissioner of the Ionian islands: - his tribute to Byron's character, 202 - - Agraffa, the scene of Cariascachi's depredations, 162 - - Allegra, Byron's natural daughter: - her life and death, 22; - Byron's feelings for, 35 - - Americans, Byron on, 131 - - Anatoliko, Turkish abandonment of, 68 - - Argostoli, Byron arrives at, 63 - - _Astarte_, by Earl of Lovelace. See Lovelace - - _Augusta, Stanzas and Epistle to_, 290, 324, 364 - - - Barnard, Lady Anne, on Byron's married life, 329 _et seq._ - - Beecher Stowe scandals, 318, 326 - - Bentham, Jeremy, and Byron, 108 _et seq._, 119; - amusing anecdote about, 126 _et seq._ - - Berry, Messrs., Byron's wine merchants: - register of Byron's weight, 19 - - _Bible, The_, Scott's lines on, 73 - - _Blackwood's Magazine_ on Byron, 50, 100, 315, 316 - - Blaquičre, Captain, 48; - sails for England, 64; - describes the return of Hatajč to her parents, 137; - eulogy on Byron, 176, 177, 199 _et seq._ - - Blessington, Lady, _Conversations of Lord Byron_: - describes Byron, 5, 6; - character and reminiscences of Byron, 34 _et seq._, 40, 41 - - _Bolivar, The_, Byron's yacht, sold to Lord Blessington, 32; - her end, 33 - - Botzari, Marco, 48; - his death, 66 - - Bowring, Mr., hon. secretary to the Greek Committee, 126 - - _Bride of Abydos, The_: - what the poem reveals, 240, 259, 260, 262, 265 - - Brougham, Mr., spreads the scandal, 340 - - Broughton, Lord (see Hobhouse, John Cam), _Recollections of a Long - Life_, 201, 247 n., 339 n., 340 n., 359 n. - - Browne, Hamilton, goes with Byron to Greece, 47, 48; - Byron's illness, 62; - arrives at Cephalonia, 67 - - Bruno, Dr., travels with Byron to Greece, 47, 48; - Byron's illness, 59, 62; - medical discussions with Dr. Stravolemo, 79; - his medical treatment of Byron, 124, 163, 166, 168, 169, 193 _et - seq._; - accompanies Byron's body to England, 202; - reply to Fletcher's statement, 403 _et seq._; - Dr. Millingen on, 405 _et seq._ - - Brydges, Sir Egerton, 291 - - Burdett, Sir Francis, 11, 208 - - Byron, George Gordon (sixth Lord): - arrival and habits of life at Pisa, 3, 11, 20-22; - personal appearance, 4-7; - evidence as to his lameness, 7, 8, 191; - portraits of, 9, 10; - inherits the Noel property on death of Lady Noel, 10, 11; - the society and influence of the Shelleys, 11 _et seq._; - discussion on the most perfect ode produced, 11, 12, 58; - religion, 13 _et seq._; - habit of vaunting his vices, 17, 18, 78; - abstinence, 18; - weight register, 19; - fracas at Pisa and Montenero, 21, 22; - his natural daughter Allegra, 22 _et seq._; - effect of Allegra's death on, 24; - dealings with Leigh Hunt, 26 _et seq._; - death of Shelley and Williams, 29, 30; - refuses Shelley's legacy of £2,000, 32; - leaves Pisa with Countess Guiccioli and goes to Albaro, 32; - sells his yacht _The Bolivar_, 33; - feelings on his own position, and desire for reconciliation with his - wife, 33 _et seq._; - admiration for Sir Walter Scott and Shelley, 35; - liaison with Countess Guiccioli, 37, 379, 380; - conduct after separation from his wife, 39 _et seq._; - Lady Blessington on, 40; - anomalies, 41; - opinion of his wife, 42; - admiration for his sister, 42; - affection for his child Ada, 43; - craving for celebrity, 45; - takes up the Greek cause, 46; - travels to Greece with money, arms, and retinue, 47; - arrives at Argostoli, 47, 65; - practical sympathy, 48, 67; - an interesting interview with, 48 _et seq._; - visits the _Fountain of Arethusa_, 51-53; - attacks of illness, 51, 52, 59, 62, 63; - excursion to the _School of Homer_, 54-57; - on the _Waverley Novels_, 57; - at Vathi, 58; - admiration for Southey, Gifford, and others, 59, 60; - reception at Santa Eufemia, 60; - on actors, 61; - journey over the Black Mountain to Argostoli, 63; - action with regard to dissensions in Greece, 64 _et seq._; - resides at Metaxata, 67; - advances £4,000 to the Greeks, 67 _et seq._; - appeal to the Greek nation, 69; - motives in coming to Greece, 70, 71, 94; - discussions with Dr. Kennedy on religion, 72 _et seq._; - favourite books, 79, 82, 100; - helps to rescue workmen, 80; - sails with money from Zante for Missolonghi to join and help the - Greek fleet, 81, 82; - adventurous voyage, 83-86; - reception at Missolonghi, 88; - releases Turkish prisoners, 89, 90, 132; - preparations against Lepanto, 91; - takes 500 Suliotes into his pay, 91; - and Major Parry, 92 _et seq._, 143; - Turks blockade Missolonghi, 96; - verses on his birthday, 96; - presentiment that he would never leave Greece, and his intentions, 97; - some reminiscences of, 98 _et seq._; - wonderful memory, 102; - a popular idol in Greece, 105; - relations with Mavrocordato, 106, 116; - and Colonel Stanhope, 107 _et seq._, 120, 121, 122; - Jeremy Bentham, 108; - dealings with the press, 112, 113; - views of the politics of Greece, 114; - effective mode of reproof, 117; - on the useless supplies sent by the London Committee, 119; - abandonment of the Lepanto project, 121; - illness and feelings as to death, 122-125; - dismisses the Suliotes, 125, 142; - anecdote of _Jerry Bentham's Cruise_, 126 _et seq._; - interest in the working classes, 130; - his politics, 131; - on America, 131; - the story of Hatajč, 133 _et seq._; - Turkish brig ashore, 139; - firmness and tact in difficulties, 140, 156 _et seq._; - desertion of the English artificers, 142, 143; - improvement in his health, 144; - favourite dogs, 145, 227; - daily life, 145, 147; - the unhealthy state of Missolonghi, 146; - bodyguard, 146; - indisposition of, 148; - peasants' respect for, 149; - no desire for self-aggrandizement in Greece, 151 _et seq._; - Greek loan raised in London, 156; - receives the freedom of Missolonghi, 157; - Cariascachi's treachery, 159 _et seq._; - detailed accounts of his last illness, and death, 163 _et seq._, 192 - _et seq._, 403 _et seq._; - eulogies on, 174 _et seq._, 201, 205; - Trelawny's opinion of, 178 _et seq._; - effect of his death on Greece, 183 _et seq._, 201; - the funeral oration, 185; - body conveyed to Zante, and thence to England, 198 _et seq._; - arrival of the body in England, 202-204; - character sketch by Colonel Stanhope, 205 _et seq._; - funeral procession and burial at Hucknall-Torkard, 215, 216; - what the poems reveal, 219 _et seq._; - infatuation for Mary Chaworth, 220 _et seq._; - mystery of the _Thyrza_ poems, 221 _et seq._; - romantic attachment to Edleston, 222, 223, 230, 231; - anecdote of Mary Chaworth's gift, 224; - his mother's death, 227; - on death of his friends, 227, 228; - _Childe Harold_, 233, 236, 238, 287, 363; - and the Hon. Mrs. George Lamb, 235; - disbelief in existence after death, 239, 240; - in great dejection writes _The Giaour_, _The Bride of Abydos_, and - _The Corsair_, 240, 256 _et seq._, 277, 278, 281, 303; - and Lady Webster, 240, 241, 259; - persuaded to give up going abroad, 241, 242; - what he wishes the world to believe about Mary Chaworth, 244, 245; - their meetings after her separation from her husband, 246, 258 _et - seq._; - remorse and parting, 249; - suspense and fear preceding the birth of Medora, 253, 260; - reason of separation from his wife, 255; - reproaches Mary Chaworth, 256, 257; - device for a seal, 261, 267; - remarkable letter to Moore, 266; - birth of Medora, 268; - _Lara_, 268, 271, 273; - partly the cause of the scandal about Mrs. Leigh, 270; - effect of Miss Milbanke's first refusal, 271 _et seq._; - _Harmodia_, 274, 275; - _Don Juan_, 276, 304 _et seq._; - _Hebrew Melodies_, 277; - _Herod's Lament for Mariamne_, 278; - his significant communication to his lawyer, 279; - verses to Mary Chaworth, 280, 281; - fear of disgrace, 281; - important correspondence with Murray, 282, 283; - last meeting with Mary Chaworth, 283; - how the secret was kept, 285; - verses to his sister, 286, 287; - _The Dream_, 289, 290; - _Stanzas to Augusta_, 290, 364; - _Manfred_, 291 _et seq._, 328, 364; - his treatment of the scandal, 291, 317, 320; - _The Duel_, 293, 298; - _The Lament of Tasso_, 297; - _Stanzas to the Po_, 298 _et seq._, 370; - _Last Words on Greece_, 311; - on his separation from his wife, 315 _et seq._; - Mrs. Leigh's so-called confession, 319 _et seq._, 356 _et seq._, 368; - _Epistle to Augusta_, 324; - story of his married life, 329 _et seq._; - Sir Ralph Noel requires a separation, 339; - Lady Jersey's party, 352; - parts for the last time from his sister, 352, 366, 392; - consents to separation from his wife, 352; - Lady Byron's written statement of complaints, 353; - letter to Lady Byron as to his will, 355; - Moore's life of, 365 _et seq._; - writes to Moore about the scandal, 367; - letter supposed to be written to Mary Chaworth, 368 _et seq._; - letter compared with one to his sister, 372; - writes to Lady Byron as to the memoir of his life, 382; - asks Lady Byron to make provision for Mrs. Leigh's children, 385, 388; - Goethe on, 400, 401 - - _Byron, Lord: Letters and Journals of_, by Rowland Prothero, 70 n., 256 - n., 260 n.; - _Life of_, by Tom Moore, 365; - _Reminiscences of_, by G. Finlay, 201; - _Sketch of_, by Colonel Stanhope, 201 - - Byron, Captain George (afterwards seventh Lord), 337, 338 - - Byron, Hon. Augusta. See Leigh, Hon. Mrs. Augusta - - Byron, Hon. Augusta Ada (afterwards Lady King and Countess of Lovelace), - Byron's daughter: - separation from her father, 43, 44, 288; - Hobhouse's opinion of, 206, 207; - her health, 363 - - Byron, Lady (formerly Miss Milbanke): - property and settlements on marriage, 10; - married life, 36, 329 _et seq._; - her husband's desire for reconciliation, 36, 46, 206; - on Byron's religion, 77, 78; - the result of first refusal of Byron, 206, 272; - _If I am not happy, it will be my own fault_, 216; - on Byron's poetry, 219; - on his indiscreet confidences, 270; - her conduct after the birth of Medora, 285, 289, 321 _et seq._; - interview with Mrs. Leigh at Reigate, 324; - Mrs. Leigh's long visit to, 336; - birth of a daughter, and her husband's treatment, 337; - steps for a separation taken, 338, 341, 351, 352, 357, 358; - her treatment of the abstracted letters, 340, 357; - attempts to extract a confession from Mrs. Leigh, 322, 324, 341, 357, - 361 _et seq._; - letters to Mrs. Leigh, 342, 343, 357; - Hodgson's appeal to, 346 _et seq._; - text of the signed statement of her conduct, 353 _et seq._; - Colonel Doyle's advice, 360; - her husband's letter to Mary Chaworth, 368 _et seq._; - and the prospects of Mrs. Leigh's children, 380, 385; - confides in Mrs. Villiers, 381; - letter from Byron, 382; - the weakness of her position, 383, 384; - Cockburn's opinion of, 387; - Lord Lovelace on, 389 _et seq._ - - - Campbell, Dr., Presbyterian divine, 55 - - Campbell, Thomas, _Battle of the Baltic_, 60 - - Cariascachi, a Greek chieftain, his treachery, 159 _et seq._ - - Chaworth, Mary (afterwards Mrs. John Musters): - Byron's infatuation for, and references in his poems to, 220 _et seq._; - unhappy married life and separation, 243 _et seq._; - weakness and repentance, 245 _et seq._; - breakdown of health, and reconciliation with her husband, 251; - describes her own character, 252; - birth of Medora, 254, 268; - how the secret was kept by Mrs. Leigh, 255, 285, 287, 317, 321, 362 - _et seq._; - letters to Byron, 267, 368 _et seq._; - last parting with Byron, 283 - - _Childe Harold_, what the poem reveals, 228, 229, 232 _et seq._, 287, 363 - - Clairmont, Claire: - her anxiety about her daughter Allegra, 22, 23; - her conduct to Byron, 24, 25 - - Clare, Lord, and Byron, 208 - - Clermont, Mrs., 337; - her abstraction of Byron's letters, 340 _et seq._, 378 - - Cockburn, Sir Alexander, Lord Chief Justice, and the Byron mystery, 358; - his opinion of Lady Byron, 387 - - Coleridge, Ernest Hartley, on identity of Byron's infatuation, 233, 240, - 260 - - Colocotroni, one of the turbulent capitani, 153 - - _Congreve rockets_, 92, 93 - - _Corsair, The_, what the poem reveals, 240, 262 _et seq._, 277, 279 - - - Dacre, Lord, 11 - - Davies, Scrope B., 98, 352; - Byron's letter to, 227 - - _Don Juan_, what the poem reveals, 219, 276, 304 _et seq._ - - Dowden, Professor, _Life of Shelley_: on Byron, 13; - the death of Allegra, 23 - - Doyle, Colonel Francis: - consulted by Lady Byron as to a separation, 338; - signs Lady Byron's statement of her conduct, 355; - advises Lady Byron to obtain a confession from Mrs. Leigh, 360, 361, - 397 - - Dragomestri, Byron's visit to, 85 - - _Dream, The_, what the poem reveals, 289, 290 - - _Duel, The_, the poem's application to Mary Chaworth, 298 - - - Edleston, a chorister at Cambridge: - Byron saves his life and forms a romantic attachment to, 222; - his death, 230, 231 - - Elphinstone, Miss Mercer, and Byron, 311 - - - Fenton, Captain, 180 - - Finlay, George, _History of Greece_: - the siege of Missolonghi, 70; - Byron's mode of life at Missolonghi, 98 _et seq._, 148; - on Byron, 176; - _Reminiscences of Byron_, 201; - Byron's last illness, 405 - - Fletcher, Byron's valet: - Byron's last ride, 164; - ignorance of the doctors, 165, 166; - Byron's last illness and death, 170, 171, 252; - his statement, 192 _et seq._; - accompanies Byron's body to England, 202; - Dr. Bruno's reply to the statement, 403 _et seq._; - Dr. Millingen's account of Byron's last illness, 405 _et seq._ - - _Florida_, the brig, brings the loan to Greece, and conveys back Byron's - body, 199 _et seq._ - - Freiber, Dr., German physician, attends Byron, 169 - - - Gamba, Count Pietro: - on Byron's religious opinions, 16, 17; - fracas at Pisa, 20; - goes to Albaro, 32; - travels with Byron to Greece, 47, 48; - on Byron's perseverance and discernment, 65; - on Byron's favourite reading, 79; - Byron's practical sympathy, 80; - accompanies Byron to Missolonghi, 83; - taken prisoner by the Turks, 84; - release and arrival at Missolonghi, 85; - the General Assembly at Missolonghi, 88; - Byron's interview with the two privateer sailors, 91; - becomes editor of the _Greek Telegraph_, 114; - Byron's illness, 121, 143, 148, 163 _et seq._; - arrest of English officers, 157; - Byron's funeral, 184; - conveys Byron's body to Zante, 198 - - Gamba, Count Ruggiero, Byron's neighbour at Pisa, 3; - leaves Pisa and goes to Montenero, 21; - ordered to leave Montenero, 22; - goes to Albaro, 32; - and Byron, 212 - - Gamba, Teresa. See Guiccioli, Countess - - Gell, Sir William, his writings, 100, 101 n. - - George IV. makes 'equivocation' the fashion, 17, 18; - and Sir Walter Scott, 53 - - _Giaour, The_, what the poem reveals, 240, 256, 257, 265 - - Gifford, William, Byron's opinion of, 51, 60 - - Greece: - Byron sails for, 47; - state of the country and army, 64, 87 _et seq._, 118, 180; - Byron advances £4,000, 67; - Byron's appeal to the nation, 69, 70; - preparations against Lepanto, 91; - honours offered to Byron, 151, 152; - Congress at Salona, 153; - Greek loan raised in London, 156; - effect of Byron's death on, 175 _et seq._ - - _Greece, History of_, by G. Finlay, 70; - by Mitford, 100 - - _Greek Chronicle_: - Byron's support, 108; - suppression of, 112, 113 - - _Greek Telegraph_, 103, 113 - - Guiccioli, Countess, daughter of Count Ruggiero Gamba: - Byron's neighbour at Pisa, 3, 4, 20; - describes Byron, 7 _et seq._; - on the characters of Shelley and Byron, 14, 15; - on Byron's conduct towards Allegra, 23; - on Byron's religion, 74, 78; - anecdote about Mary Chaworth's ring, 224; - _Lady of the Land_, 298, 301, 370; - and Mrs. Leigh, 379 - - - Hancock, Charles, Byron's banker, 82 - - Hanson, John, Byron's solicitor, 241, 345, 346 - - _Harmodia_, 274, 275 - - Hatajč, Byron's kindness to, 133 _et seq._ - - Hay, Captain, fracas at Pisa, 20, 21 - - _Hebrew Melodies_, 277 - - _Hercules_, the, an English brig: - Byron and his suite sail to Greece in it, 47; - Byron lives on board, 64, 65 - - _Herod's Lament for Mariamne_, 278 - - Hesketh, Mr., 158, 159 - - Heywood, Sergeant, consulted by Lady Byron, 338 - - Hobhouse, John Cam (afterwards Lord Broughton): - and Byron, 35; - persuades Byron to burn his journal, 102; - destroys one of Byron's poems, 208; - Byron's funeral, 215, 216; - and Lady Byron, 216, 320; - life-long friend of Mrs. Leigh, 319. - See also Broughton, Lord - - Hodgson, captain of the _Florida_, 203 - - Hodgson, Rev. Francis: - consulted by Mrs. Leigh, 344 _et seq._; - appeals to Lady Byron, 346 _et seq._ - - _Hodgson, Rev. F., Memoir of_, 73 n. - - Holmes, Mr. James, his portrait of Byron, 9 - - _Hours of Idleness_, what the poem reveals, 220 - - Hucknall-Torkard, Byron's burial place, 44 - - Humphreys, Captain, on state of Greece, 180 - - Hunt, Sir Aubrey de Vere, 102 - - Hunt, Leigh: - the story of his literary and money relations with Byron, 26 _et seq._; - Byron's opinion of, 31 - - - Ireland, Dr., Dean of Westminster, refuses burial of Byron in - Westminster Abbey, 203 - - - Jersey, Countess of, her party in honour of Byron, 352 - - - Kean, Edmund, actor, Byron's opinion of, 61 - - Kemble, John, actor, Byron's opinion of, 61 - - Kennedy, Dr., Scottish medical man: - tries to 'convert' Byron, 72 _et seq._; - and Hatajč, 136; - Lady Byron on, 77 - - King, Lady. See Byron, Hon. Augusta Ada - - Kinnaird, the Hon. Douglas, Byron's opinion of, 208 - - Knox, Captain, 51 - - Knox, Mrs., 50, 54 - - - Lamb, Hon. Mrs. George, and Byron, 235 - - Lamb, Lady Caroline, spreads the Byron scandal, 270, 317, 340, 390 - - Lambro, a Suliote chief, 156, 164 - - _Lara_, what the poem reveals, 268, 271, 273 - - Leigh, Hon. Mrs. Augusta, half-sister of Lord Byron: - influence over her brother, 42, 73, 245, 261; - and his poetry, 103; - wishes him to go abroad, 242; - first introduction to, and close intimacy with, Mary Chaworth, 250; - loyalty to her brother and Mary Chaworth, 255, 287, 317, 321; - letters from her brother about Mary Chaworth, 258, 267, 268; - simulated confinement and convalescence, 269; - her brother's conduct gives colour to the scandal, 270, 279, 285; - letters to Hodgson on the secret, 272, 344 _et seq._; - spends a month at Newstead with her brother, 279; - the difficulties of keeping the secret, 285, 317, 362 _et seq._; - lines in _Childe Harold_ referring to, 287; - the so-called confession, 289, 322, 324, 325, 341, 357, 361 _et seq._; - _Stanzas to Augusta_, 290, 364; - Lord Lovelace's opinion of her character, 294, 295; - the accusation dealt with in detail, 318 _et seq._; - Lord Stanhope and Frances, Lady Shelley on, 318; - the story of her life, 319; - Hobhouse's advice to, 320; - difficult position with Lady Byron, 321, 341, 362, 367; - her predicament owing to the adoption of Medora, 322; - _Epistle to Augusta_, 324; - letters to Hodgson on her brother's marriage, 332 _et seq._; - a long visit to her brother and Lady Byron, 336; - Lady Byron's feelings towards her, 336, 337, 342, 343, 360; - Lady Byron's confinement, 337; - Mrs. Clermont's treachery, 341; - Lady Jersey's party, 352; - parts for ever from her brother, 352; - Lady Byron's written statement, 353 _et seq._; - letters to Hodgson on her brother, 362; - her line of conduct to Lady Byron, 362 _et seq._; - Moore on Byron's feelings towards her, 366; - pretends that her brother's letter to Mary Chaworth was written to - herself, 368 _et seq._; - a genuine letter, 372; - reply to Lady Byron's advice, 375 _et seq._; - her children's prospects discussed with Lady Byron, 380, 385; - Lady Byron's request, 380; - Lord Lovelace on, 389 _et seq._ - - Lepanto, preparations against, 91 - - _Liberal, The_, its unsuccessful career, 31, 32 - - _Lion_, Byron's favourite dog, 145, 146 - - Londos, General Andrea, and Byron, 155 - - Lovelace, Earl of, _Astarte_: - Byron's _Thyrza_, 234 n.; - accusations against Mrs. Leigh, 249, 269 _et seq._, 287, 288, 318, - 321, 322, 338, 341, 362, 366 _et seq._, 368 _et seq._, 385 _et - seq._, 390; - describes Mrs. Leigh's character, 294; - _Manfred_, the key of the mystery, 326 _et seq._, 364; - Byron's mutability, 339; - Lady Byron's written statement, 353 _et seq._; - important letters from Byron, 368 _et seq._, 385, 386; - and Lady Byron, 387 - - Lushington, Dr.: - advises Lady Byron, 338, 351, 352, 357, 358, 383, 387; - his opinion on Byron's letters abstracted by Mrs. Clermont, 341; - signs Lady Byron's statement, 353 _et seq._ - - - _Magdalen_, a fragment, 269 - - Maitland, Sir Thomas, High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, 52, 61; - character and death, 115, 116 - - _Manfred_, the supposed key to the mystery, 291 _et seq._, 328, 364 - - _Marino Faliero_, 100 - - Marshall, Mrs. Julian, _Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft - Shelley_, 178, 180 - - Masi, Sergeant-Major, fracas at Pisa, 20, 21 - - Matthews, Charles Skinner, one of Byron's best friends, his death, 227 - - Mavrocordato, Prince, Governor-General of Western Greece: - and Byron, 66, 68, 70, 202; - brings the Greek fleet to Missolonghi, 81; - Byron's arrival at Missolonghi, 85; - Byron's interview with two privateer sailors, 91; - his jealousy, 105, 106; - infraction of neutrality in Ithaca, 115; - Byron's opinion of, 116; - opposition by Colonel Stanhope, 119, 153; - and Odysseus, 153 _et seq._; - Byron's last illness and death, 164 _et seq._; - effect of Byron's death on, 177, 202; - Trelawny's opinion of, 179, 180; - his efforts for Greece, 181; - issues a proclamation on Byron's death, 183, 184 - - Medora, birth of, 254, 268; - _Childe Harold_, 288; - adoption by Mrs. Leigh, 322 - - Medwin, Captain Thomas: - his description of Byron, 4, 6, 11; - on Byron's life at Pisa, 20; - _The Angler in Wales_, 33 n. - - Melbourne, Lady, persuades Byron not to go abroad, 242 - - Metaxata, Byron's residence at, 65, 79 - - Meyer, Jean Jacques, editor of the _Greek Chronicle_, 112 - - Milbanke, Miss. See Byron, Lady - - Milbanke, Sir Ralph, his property, 10 - - Millingen, Dr.: - on Byron's character, 95; - on Parry, 96; - Byron a favourite in Greece, 105, 177; - on the Greek press, 113; - Byron's illness, 124; - Byron's kind treatment of Hatajč, 133 _et seq._; - on Cariascachi's treachery, 161; - on Byron's unhappiness and anxieties, 162; - attends Byron in his last illness and death, 167 _et seq._, 190, 193 - _et seq._, 403 _et seq._; - on Mavrocordato, 181 - - Missolonghi: - blockade of, 66, 96; - Turks retire from, 70; - Greek squadron at, 81; - description of, 87; - Byron's arrival and life at, 88, 99; - release of Turkish prisoners, 133; - Turkish brig-of-war runs ashore off, 139; - effect of Byron's death, 175, 183 _et seq._ - - Mitford, William, _History of Greece_, 100 - - _Monthly Literary Recreations_, 101 n. - - _Monthly Review_, Byron's reviews in, 100, 101 n. - - Moore, Thomas: - letters from Shelley and Byron, 13, 14, 266; - and Byron, 36; - on the _Thyrza_ poems, 229; - Byron's love for Mary Chaworth, 238, 246, 266, 279; - criticism on his _Life of Byron_, 365 - - Moore, Sir John, ode on the death of, 58 - - Muir, Dr., principal medical officer at Cephalonia, 82 - - Muir, General Skey, 82 - - Murray, John, Byron's publisher: - Byron's letters to, 30, 31; - _Childe Harold_, 50; - asks for Byron to be buried in Westminster Abbey, 203; - and Mrs. Leigh, 269; - Byron's copyrights, 281; - _Epistle to Augusta_, 324 - - Musters, John, husband of Mary Chaworth: - the ring incident and engagement, 224, 225; - separation from his wife, 245; - behaviour to his wife, 246; - reconciliation, 251; - cuts down the _peculiar diadem of trees_, 289 - - - Napier, Colonel, British Resident Governor of Argostoli, 48, 80 - - Newstead Abbey: sale of, 99; - Byron's visits, 226, 227 - - Noel, Lady, Byron's mother-in-law: - Byron inherits the Noel property on her death, 10; - her bequest of Byron's portrait, 43 n.; - advice as to her daughter's separation from Byron, 338; - and Mrs. Leigh, 362 - - Noel, Sir Ralph, writes to Byron requiring a separation, 339 - - - O'Doherty, Ensign, Byron's opinion of his poetry, 100 - - Odysseus, Greek insurgent leader: - his opposition to Mavrocordato, 153; - and Trelawny, 179, 180 - - Osborne, Lord Sidney, and Sir Thomas Maitland, 115; - goes to Missolonghi, 198; - eulogy of Byron's conduct in Greece, 201 - - - Parry, Major: - his arrival at Missolonghi, 91, 92; - his peculiarities, 92 _et seq._; - practical joke on, 95; - on Byron's intentions in Greece, 97, 98; - on the relationship between Mavrocordato and Byron, 116; - on Byron's mode of reproof, 117; - account of Byron's illness, 121; - anecdote of _Jerry Bentham's Cruise_, 126; - Turkish brig-of-war ashore, 139; - artillery at Missolonghi, 144; - on Byron's mode of life, 145; - on Byron's power in Greece, 151, 152; - Byron's last illness and death, 164 _et seq._, 196; - his opinion of Byron, 175 - - Phillips, Thomas, his portrait of Byron, 9 - - Pigot, Elizabeth, Byron's letters to, 222, 223 - - Pisa: Shelley's description of, 3; - Byron's life at, 20 - - _Po, Stanzas to the_, what they reveal, 298 _et seq._, 370 - - Pope, Alexander, Homer, 51 - - Prothero, Rowland E.: - _Letters and Journals of Lord Byron_, 70 n., 125, 256 n., 260 n., 383 - - - _Quarterly Review_, the, 50, 100 - - - _Recollections of a Long Life._ See Broughton, Lord - - Roberts, Captain, describes the wreck of _The Bolivar_, 33 - - Robertson, Rev. Frederick, Lady Byron's spiritual adviser, 324 - - Robinson, Crabb, 77 - - Romilly, Sir Samuel, consulted by Lady Byron, 338 - - - Salona, Congress at, 152, 153 - - Sanders, Mr. George, painter, his portrait of Byron, 9 - - _Sardanapalus_, a tragedy, 101 - - Sass, Lieutenant, death of, 141 - - Schilitzy, a Greek, accompanies Byron to Greece, 47 - - Scott, Captain, commands the _Hercules_, in which Byron travels to - Greece, 47 - - Scott, Dr., surgeon, and Byron, 54, 58 - - Scott, Sir Walter: - Byron's opinion of, 35, 51, 55, 79; - his denial of the authorship of the _Waverley Novels_, 53 - - Segati, Marianna, Byron's liaison with, 371 - - Shakespeare, William, Byron's opinion of, 101 - - Shelley, Percy Bysshe: - describes Pisa, 3; - and Byron, 11 _et seq._; - fracas at Pisa, 20, 21; - and Allegra, 22; - leaves Pisa for Lerici, 26; - and Leigh Hunt, 26 _et seq._; - his death, 30; - Byron's opinion of, 30, 35; - his legacy to Byron, 32 - - _Shelley, Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft_, by Mrs. Julian - Marshall, 178 - - Stanhope, Col. the Hon. Leicester: - arrives in Cephalonia to co-operate with Byron, 68; - on Byron's character, 78, 174; - begs Byron to come to Missolonghi, 81; - on Byron's conduct in Greece, 91, 107; - interviews and misunderstandings with Byron, 108 _et seq._; - his conduct in Greece, 119, 153; - accompanies Byron's body to England, 199, 202; - _Greece in 1823 and 1824_, and _Sketch of Byron_, 201; - character sketch of Byron, 205 _et seq._ - - Stanhope, Earl, historian, opinion of Mrs. Leigh, 318 - - Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Mrs. Leigh's letters, 357 - - Stowe. See Beecher Stowe - - Stravolemo, Dr., physician, and Dr. Bruno, 79 - - Suliotes: - Byron takes 500 into his pay, 91; - false alarm, 123; - serious fracas, 140; - their dismissal, 142 - - Swift, William, bootmaker at Southwell, his evidence of Byron's - lameness, 8 - - - Taaffe, Mr., fracas at Pisa, 20, 21 - - Thomas, Dr., invited to attend Byron in his last illness, 168, 193 _et - seq._ - - Thorwaldsen, his marble bust of Byron, 10 - - _Thyrza_ poems, what they reveal, 221, 232, 235 - - Tita, Giovanni Battista Falcieri, Byron's faithful servant, 97, 166, 169 - _et seq._ - - Toole, Mr., receives Byron at Santa Eufemia, 60 - - Trelawny, Edward John: - arrives at Pisa, 4; - describes Byron and his peculiarities, 5, 17, 18; - on Leigh Hunt and Byron, 28; - effect of Shelley's death, 32; - lays up _The Bolivar_, 32; - travels with Byron to Greece, 47, 48; - and Byron's seizure, 62; - mistaken views of Byron's motives, 64, 65; - unhealthiness of Missolonghi, 87; - his opinion of Byron, 178 _et seq._; - and Mavrocordato, 179; - on Byron's deformity, 191, 192 - - Tricoupi, Spiridion, pronounces funeral oration over Byron, 185 - - - Vaga, Dr. Lucca, Greek physician, attends Byron in his last illness, - 169, 408 - - Vathi, Byron at, 58 - - Villiers, Hon. Mrs., and Mrs. Leigh, 357, 362, 367; - Lady Byron confides the secret to, 381, 394 - - Vivian, Charles, his death, 30 - - Volpiotti, Constantine, spy under Byron's roof, 162 - - - Watson's _Philip II._, 102 - - Webster, Lady Frances Wedderburn, and Byron, 240, 241, 259 - - Wentworth, Lord, Byron inherits his property, 10 - - West, William Edward, American painter, his portrait of Byron, 9 - - Wildman, Colonel Thomas, 44 - - Wildman, Mrs., owner of Byron's boot-trees and the bootmaker's statement - as to Byron's deformity, 7, 8 - - Williams, Edward, and Leigh Hunt, 29; - on Byron's treatment of Mrs. Hunt, 29; - his death, 30 - - Wilmot, Robert John, signs Lady Byron's statement, 355, 357, 359 - - Wilson, John, 60 - - Wilson, General Sir Robert, known as 'Jaffa Wilson,' 110 - - Wordsworth, William, 60; - Byron reviews his poems, 101 n. - - - York, Duke of, and Sir Walter Scott, 53 - - Young, Charles, actor, Byron's opinion of, 61 - - - Zante, Byron at, 83, 198 - - -THE END - - -BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Medwin, in his book 'The Angler in Wales,' vol. ii., p. 211, says: -'The _right_ foot, as everyone knows, being twisted inwards, so as to -amount to what is generally known as a club-foot.' - -[2] Letter to Mr. Gisborne, January 12, 1822. Professor Dowden's 'Life of -Shelley,' vol. ii., p. 447. - -[3] 'Lord Byron.' - -[4] 'Letters and Journals of Lord Byron,' edited by Rowland Prothero, vol. -vi., appendix iii. - -[5] 'Life of Shelley,' vol. ii., p. 494. - -[6] Henry Dunn kept a British shop at Leghorn. - -[7] For Byron's opinion of Shelley's poetry, see appendix to 'The Two -Foscari': 'I highly admire the poetry of "Queen Mab" and Shelley's other -publications.' - -[8] 'The Angler in Wales,' by Thomas Medwin, vol. ii., pp. 144-146. - -[9] Lady Noel left by her will to the trustees a portrait of Byron, with -directions that it was not to be shown to his daughter Ada till she -attained the age of twenty-one; but that if her mother were still living, -it was not to be so delivered without Lady Byron's consent. - -[10] It was at this time that Byron endeavoured to suppress the fact that -he had written 'The Age of Bronze.' - -[11] Dr. Bruno. - -[12] Byron's sobriquet for Walter Scott. - -[13] 'Letters and Journals of Lord Byron,' edited by Rowland Prothero, -vol. vi., p. 259. - -[14] 'Memoir of Rev. F. Hodgson,' vol. ii., p. 150. - -[15] 'Diary,' vol. iii., pp. 435, 436. - -[16] Parry, p. 170. - -[17] Byron wrote a review of Wordsworth's 'Poems' in _Monthly Literary -Recreations_ for July, 1807, and a review of Gell's 'Geography of Ithaca' -in the _Monthly Review_ for August, 1811. - -[18] General Sir Robert Wilson (1777-1849), commonly known as 'Jaffa -Wilson,' entered Parliament in 1818. Having held Napoleon up to horror and -execration for his cruelty at Jaffa, Wilson subsequently became one of his -strongest eulogists. Being by nature a demagogue, he posed as a champion -in the cause of freedom and civil government; he accused England of -injustice and tyranny towards other nations, and prophesied her speedy -fall. He warmly espoused the cause of Queen Caroline, and was present at -the riot in Hyde Park on the occasion of her funeral, when there was a -collision between the Horse Guards and the mob. For his conduct on that -occasion, despite a long record of gallant service in the field, Wilson -was dismissed the Army in 1821, but was reinstated on the accession of -William IV. He appears to have been both foolish and vain, and fond of -creating effect. He was constantly brooding over services which he -conceived to have been overlooked, and merits which he fancied were -neglected. He attached himself to the ultra-radicals, and puffed himself -into notoriety by swimming against the stream. A writer in the _Quarterly -Review_ (Vol. xix., July, 1818) says: 'The obliquity of his (Wilson's) -perceptions make his talents worse than useless as a politician, and form, -even in his own profession, a serious drawback to energy however great, -and to bravery however distinguished.' - -[19] High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. - -[20] Acting as Secretary to High Commissioner. - -[21] Vol. vi., p. 326. - -[22] One of the turbulent capitani who was playing for his own hand. He -was at one time a member of the Executive Body, and was afterwards -proclaimed by the Legislative Assembly as an enemy of the State. - -[23] A leader of Greek insurgents--Byron calls him Ulysses--who broke away -from Government control to form an independent party in opposition to -Mavrocordato, with whose views Byron sympathized. Trelawny and Colonel -Stanhope believed in Odysseus, who after having acquired great influence -in Eastern Greece was proclaimed by the Government, imprisoned, and -murdered while in captivity. - -[24] 'Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley,' edited by Mrs. -Julian Marshall. - -[25] For further evidence on this point, see 'Letters of Lord Byron,' -edited by Rowland Prothero, vol. i., pp. 9-11. - -[26] It is difficult to reconcile this with Millingen's statement. - -[27] _Edinburgh Review_, April, 1871, pp. 294-298. - -[28] He succeeded Sir Thomas Maitland as High Commissioner of the Ionian -Islands. - -[29] This must be taken _cum grano salis_. - -[30] They appear to have met accidentally in Trinity Walks a few days -earlier. Edleston did not at first recognize Byron, who had grown so thin. - -[31] Edleston, who some time previously had given Byron a 'Cornelian' as a -parting gift on leaving Cambridge for the vacation. - -[32] Edleston had died five months before Byron heard the sad news. - -[33] 'I think it proper to state to you that this stanza alludes to an -event which has taken place since my arrival here, and not to the death of -any _male_ friend.'--Lord Byron to Mr. Dallas. - -[34] That this Thyrza was no passing fancy is proved by Lord Lovelace's -statement in 'Astarte' (p. 138): 'He had occasionally spoken of Thyrza to -Lady Byron, at Seaham and afterwards in London, _always with strong but -contained emotion_. He once showed his wife a beautiful tress of Thyrza's -hair, _but never mentioned her real name_.' - -[35] Captain (afterwards Commodore) Walter Bathurst was mortally wounded -at the Battle of Navarino, on October 20, 1827.--'Battles of the British -Navy,' Joseph Allen, vol. ii., p. 518. - -[36] The last line was in the first draft. - -[37] Medwin (edition of 1824), p. 63. - -[38] 'A power of fascination rarely, if ever, possessed by any man of his -age' ('Recollections of a Long Life,' by Lord Broughton, vol. ii., p. -196). - -[39] 'Letters and Journals of Byron,' vol. iii., p. 406, edited by Rowland -E. Prothero. - -[40] Moore had rented a cottage in Nottinghamshire, not very remote from -Newstead Abbey. - -[41] See 'Letters and Journals of Lord Byron,' edited by Rowland Prothero, -vol. ii., pp. 267, 269, 278, 292. - -[42] 'Had I not written "The Bride" (in four nights), I must have gone mad -by eating my own heart--bitter diet.'--'Journals and Letters,' vol. ii., -p. 321. - -[43] - - 'Hail be you, Mary, mother and May, - Mild, and meek, and merciable!' - _An Ancient Hymn to the Virgin._ - -[44] Mary was 'the last of a time-honoured race.' The line of the -Chaworths ended with her. - -[45] It will be remembered that Byron had announced 'The Corsair' as 'the -last production with which he should trespass on public patience for some -years.' With the loss of Mary's love his inspiration was gone. - -[46] - - 'With hackbut bent, my secret stand, - Dark as the purposed deed, I chose, - And mark'd where, mingling in his band, - Trooped Scottish pikes and English bows.' - SIR WALTER SCOTT: _Cadyow Castle_. - -[47] Mary's allusion to the seal is explained by an entry in Byron's -journal, November 14, 1813. The seal is treasured as a memento of Byron by -the Musters family. - -[48] No one, we presume, will question the identity of the person -mentioned in 'The Dream': - - 'Upon a tone, - A touch of hers, his blood would ebb and flow, - And his cheek change tempestuously--his heart - Unknowing of its cause of agony.' - -[49] 'Astarte,' p. 134. - -[50] Lady Caroline Lamb also asserted that Byron showed her some letters -which contained some such expression as this: "Oh! B----, if we loved one -another as we did in childhood--_then_ it was innocent." The reader may -judge whether such a remark would be more natural from Augusta, or from -Mary Chaworth. - -[51] October 14, 1814. - -[52] See the poem 'Remember Him': 'Thy soul from long seclusion pure.' - -[53] - - 'OPHELIA. O heavenly powers, restore him!' - _Hamlet_, Act III., Scene i. - -[54] - - 'The song, celestial from thy voice, - But sweet to me from none but thine.' - _Poetry of Byron_, vol. iv.: 'To Thyrza.' - -[55] - - 'Siede la terra, dove nata fui, - Su la marina dove il Po discende.' - _Inferno_, Canto V., 97, 98. - -[56] Although not near the source of the Po itself, Byron, at Ferrara, was -not very far from the point where the Po di Primaro breaks away from the -Po, and, becoming an independent river, flows into the dark blue Adriatic, -about midway between Comachio and Ravenna. - -[57] Shortly afterwards he translated 'The Episode of Francesca,' line for -line, into English verse. - -[58] 'Beppo,' stanza 83. - -[59] 'Astarte,' p. 166. - -[60] Lady Byron and Rev. F. Robertson drew up a memorandum of this -conversation, April 8, 1851. - -[61] 'Astarte,' p. 137. - -[62] 'Recollections of a Long Life,' by Lord Broughton, vol. ii., p. 297. - -[63] _Ibid._, vol. ii., pp. 219, 239. - -[64] 'Lady Byron said that she founded her determination [to part from her -husband] on some communication from London.'--'Recollections of a Long -Life,' vol. ii., p. 255. - -[65] 'There is reason to believe that Lord Chief Justice Cockburn -privately saw letters [in 1869] of 1813 and 1814 which proved the fact of -incest, and the overwhelming effect of the evidence therein -contained.'--'Astarte,' p. 54. - -[66] 'Astarte,' p. 77. - -[67] Hanson. - -[68] Leigh. - -[69] 'Recollections of a Long Life,' vol. ii., p. 303. - -[70] A fortnight before writing 'Stanzas to the Po.' - -[71] 'Short name of three or four letters obliterated.'--'Astarte,' p. -180. - -[72] Short name of three or four letters obliterated. - -[73] Marianna (Anglice: Mary Anne). - -[74] Lady Byron (see 'Astarte,' p. 166). - -[75] His sister's society. - -[76] In case Byron altered his will. - -[77] Vol. v., p. 1. - -[78] Tinct. chinę corticis; tinct. cinchonę. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Byron, by Richard Edgcumbe - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYRON *** - -***** This file should be named 41809-8.txt or 41809-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/8/0/41809/ - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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