in its glory, and incalculable in its consequences. Certain it is, tha 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 mos honour to her name.'

The following is a letter written by Sir Walter Scott, a few days. after the news of Lord Byron's death reached England:

Amidst the general calmness of the political atmosphere, we have been stunned from another quarter by one of those death-notes which are pealed at intervals, as from an archangel's trumpet, to awaken the soul of a whole people at once. Lord Byron, who has so long and so amply filled the highest place in the public eye, has shared the lot of humanity. His lordship died at Missolonghi on the 19th of April. That mighty genius which walked amongst meu as something superior to ordinary mortality, and whose powers were beheld with wonder, and something approaching to terror, as if we knew not whether they were of good or of evil, is laid as soundly to rest as the poor peasant whose ideas never went beyond his daily task. The voice of just blame and of malignant censure are at once silenced; and we feel almost as if the great luminary of heaven had suddenly disappeared from the sky, at the moment when every telescope was levelled for the examination of the spots which dimmed its brightness. It is not now the question what were Byron's faults, what his mistakes; but how is the blank which he has left in British literature to be filled up? Not, we fear, in one generation, which, among many highlygifted persons, has produced none who approach Byron in originality, the first attribute of genius. Only thirty-seven years old ;-so much already done for immortality-so much time remaining, as it seems to us short-sighted mortals, to maintain and to extend his fame, and to atone for errors in conduct and levities in composition;-who will not grieve that such a race has been shortened, though not always keeping the straight path-such a light extinguished, though sometimes flaming to dazzle and to bewilder? One word on this ungrateful subject ere we quit it for ever.

"The errors of Lord Byron arose neither from depravity of heart— for Nature had not committed the anomaly of uniting to such extraordinary talents an imperfect moral sense-nor from feelings dead to th admi ation of virtue. No man had ever a kinder heart for sympathy, or a more open hand for the relief of distress; and no mind was ever more formed for the enthusiastic admiration of noble actions, providing he was convinced that the actors had proceeded upon disin

terested principles. Lord Byron was totally free from the curse and degradation of literature-its jealousies, we mean, and its envy. But his wonderful genius was of a nature which disdained restraint, even when restraint was most wholesome. When at school, the tasks in which he excelled were those only which he undertook voluntarily; and his situation as a young man of rank, with strong passions, and in the uncontrolled enjoyment of a considerable fortune, added to that impatience of strictures or coercion which was natural to him. As an author, he refused to plead at the bar of criticism; as a man, he would not submit to be morally amenable to the tribunal of public opinion. Remonstrances from a friend, of whose intentions and kindness he was secure, had often great weight with him; but there were few who could venture on a task so difficult. Reproof he endured with impatience, and reproach hardened him in his error-so that he often resembled the gallant war-steed, who rushes forward on the steel that wounds him. In the most painful crisis of his private life he evinced this irritability and impatience of censure in such a degree as almost to resemble the noble victim of the bull-fight, which is more maddened by the squibs, darts, and petty annoyances of the unworthy crowds beyond the lists, than by the lance of his nobler, and, so to speak, his more legitimate antagonist. In a word, much of that in which he erred was in bravado and scorn of his censors, and was done with the motive of Dryden's despot, "to show his arbitrary power." It is needless to say that his was a false and prejudiced view of such a contest; and, if the noble bard gained a sort of triumph by compelling the world to read poetry, though mixed with baser matter, because it was his, he gave, in return, an unworthy triumph to the unworthy, besides deep sorrow to those whose applause, in his cooler moments, he most valued.

'It was the same with his politics, which on several occasions assumed a tone menacing and contemptuous to the constitution of his country; while, in fact, Lord Byron was in his own heart sufficiently sensible, not only of his privileges as a Briton, but of the distinction attending his high birth and rank, and was peculiarly sensitive of those shades which constitute what is termed the manners of a gentleman. Indeed, notwithstanding his having employed epigrams, and all the petty war of wit, when such would have been much better abstained from, he would have been found, had a collision taken place between the aristocratic parties in the state, exerting all his energies in defence of that to which he naturally belonged, His own feelings

on these subjects be has explained in the very last canto of Don Juan ;' and they are in entire harmony with the opinions which we have seen expressed in his correspondence, at a moment when matters appeared to approach a serious struggle in his native country :

none.

"He was as independent-ay, much more,

Than those who were not paid for independence;
As common soldiers, or a common-Shore,
Have in their several acts or parts ascendance
O'er the irregulars in lust or gore,

Who do not give professional attendance.
Thus on the mob all statesmen are as eager

To prove their pride as footmen to a beggar."

We are not, however, Byron's apologists, for now, alas! he needs His excellencies will now be universally acknowledged, and his faults (let us hope and believe) not be remembered in his epitaph. It will be recollected what a part he has sustained in British literature since the first appearance of " Childe Harold,"—a space of nearly sixteen years. There has been no reposing under the shade of his laurels; no living upon the resource of past reputation; none of that codling and petty precaution which little authors call "taking care of their fame." Byron let his fame take care of itself. His foot was always in the arena, his shield hung always in the lists; and, although his own gigantic renown increased the difficulty of the struggle, since he could produce nothing, however great, which exceeded the public estimates of his genius, yet he advanced to the honorable contest again and again and again, and came always off with distinction, almost always with complete triumph. As various in composition as Shakspeare himself (this will be admitted by all who are acquainted with his "Don Juan"), he has embraced every topic of human life, and sounded every string on the divine harp, from its slightest to its most powerful and heart-astounding tones. There is scarce a passion or a situation which has escaped his pen; and he might be drawn, like Garrick, between the weeping and the laughing Muse, although his most powerful efforts have certainly been dedicated to Melpomene. His genius seemed as prolific as various. The most prodigal use did not exhaust his powers, nay, seemed rather to increase their vigour. Neither "Childe Harold," nor any of the most beautiful of Byron's earlier tales, contain more exquisite morsels of poetry than are to be found scattered through the cantos of " Don Juan," amidst verses which

the author appears to have thrown off with an effort as spontaneous as that of a tree resigning its leaves to the wind. But that noble tree will never more bear fruit or blossom! It has been cut down in its strength, and the past is all that remains to us of Byron. We can scarce reconcile ourselves to the idea-scarce think that the voice is silent for ever, which, bursting so often on our ear, was often heard with rapturous admiration, sometimes with regret, but always with the deepest interest:

"All that's bright must fade,

The brightest still the fleetest."

With a strong feeling of awful sorrow we take leave of the subject. Death creeps upon our most serious as well as upon our most idle employments; and it is a reflection solemn and gratifying that he found our Byron in no moment of levity, but contributing his fortune, and hazarding his life, in behalf of a people only endeared to him by their past glories, and as fellow-creatures suffering under the yoke of a heathen oppressor. To have fallen in a crusade for freedom and humanity, as in olden times it would have been an atonement for the blackest crimes, may in the present be allowed to expiate greater follies than even exaggerated calumny has propagated against Byron.'

CHAPTER XIV.

LORD BYRON'S residence in Italy had become irksome from various causes. The censures which had been passed-some of them just and earnest, others marked only by the petty malignity which distinguishes a certain description of critics-gave him pain, and, by their frequent recurrence, irritated him to an astonishing degree. He felt that he was declining in reputation, and he resolved to do something which should convince the world that, although there were moments when circumstances might prevent the full blaze of his powers from showing itself in unobscured brilliancy, the flame burnt still,. and would never be extinguished. The political state of Italy had given him great disgust; and he even thought of going to the United States of America. Perhaps the necessity of a change of scene to so active a spirit as his was stronger than any other motive; but, whatever might have

induced the resolution, certain it is that, in the early part of 1828, he resolved to go to Greece:

In his

No one could accuse him of being a blind enthusiast. travels during his younger days he had imbibed a greater personal esteem for the character of the Turks than for that of their slaves. He may have persuaded himself that his personal endeavours and his pecuniary resources might possibly contribute to the liberation of Greece. No undertaking could interest him more strongly ; the object, the scene, the danger, were powerful incentives.

It appeared that no Christian power was likely to take part in the struggle of the Greeks. Most of the Europeans who went to their assistance had either perished, or, discontented, had abandoned them. It was generally believed that a powerful expedition was preparing on the part of the Turks; the eyes of all Europe were then turned, not towards the east, but the west. Spain alone occupied the public attention. Such a state of things would have made others desist: it stimulated Lord Byron.

In the mean time he received a letter from his friend Mr. Hobhouse, informing him of the interest that the English were beginning to take in favour of the Greeks; that a committee had been formed, many of whom were his friends; that Mr. Blaquiere had been sent into Greece to learn more exactly the state of affairs, and that he would touch at Genoa, to communicate with his lordship. In the middle of April Mr. Blaquiere arrived in company with Mr. Luriotti, afterwards Greek deputy in London.

They begged his lordship to concur with his other friends: he replied that he was fully disposed so to do, and to assist the cause not only with his means, but personally, if the Greeks would accept of his services, and if his going to Greece would be of any advantage to that country.

He then decided on as early a departure as possible.

Several accounts have already been made public respecting the few events which marked his lordship's residence in Greece. These accounts differ in some respects, but each of them contains some particulars in which the others are deficient. The principal ones are, a highly intelligent and able article which appeared in the Westminster Review,' and which was commonly attributed to Mr. Hobhouse; a narrative of Lord Byron's last journey into Greece, by Count Peter Gamba, the brother of the Countess Guiccioli; and a very interesting