The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1869-09-07 00:00:00

SHERBURNE.

THE BigMITER fl—eattt--o—ett --Tilted:KT led wee the
day fixed for the renewal of licensee marl granting new ones.
Them was cumequently • large attendance of the innkeeper. of
the town ; and the general public also metered otrusagty, as
some interest WY felt with regard to the question whether the
new hotel (the thgby Hotel) and Old Bell (aidels war to be
se.opeted) would each, or either, or neither, receive licermea
Kr. tiowerd. of Weymouth, mpponed the application of Mrs.
Moen, of the King's Anne (which le to be pulled down), who Is
dextrine of re-opening her old home, the Bell ; and Mr. nooks
appeared In sullen of the application of Mr. James Lane, late
of the White Lion, Bath, who is to be the landlord of the Digby
lioteL
There um a preliminuy encounter between the learned gentle-
men on either side upon the question of who had the right to
be heard first. Mr. nooko claimed it uten the ground that he
em, the medir solicitor prevent, and that It ought not to be
expected of him that he atiould make way for • younger man
who had come from • distan,e, mad did not belong, m he did,
to the town in a Math the court n.e held. •
Mr. Howard, Judging from Mr. Rooks' looks, would admit
that he war all older nuln than Mmself, although Mr. 'looks
had not brought the certiflote of hlsbirth • but he maintained
that it was the practice at all courts- end Mr. rooks knew it as
well an he did that the courtesy of Wins the find to be heard
War always catenated to a stranger. in addition to ehich they
bad first reeled their notice of applicstion.
Mr. Meluedh advised the Bench that Mr. 'lnward had the
I stronger claim, and they accordingly &s-Idled to hear him firs.,
but mid they should reserve their decision until both appiim.
thew had been heard.
Mr It. Sees war then morn, and proved that the meas."
notices had Nen eben. Hu was then asked by Mr. Bowan!
!lave you any toitinediled no to character ! Ile said he had a
small one, and produced a &evinced several fret In length,
signed by 1.2 i repremntatives of biwinem firm., In all part. of
England, bearing witness to the manner In which Mrs. Meee had
always conducted her house, and contending:that web a one as
she intended to open - the Bell --war highly nutibiite.
The Chairman mid there ••• Strait lila nomad-
ability. There we, In. necessity for that.
There War no opeewition, Mr. nook. remarking that they
left the caw in the bands of the Bench.
Mr. Ileormal then made • few remarks in behalf of his apple..
tie. Tn. Bell, if a licence were granted, would he found to
prem. every requireloctit. and to dem that such A ham
would be requisite he mid that two licensed how.. had of
late sears been 'lint up, and Oka Wan liteltai Ina ',Ulla.'
In addition to which the rapid proem.. the two was caking
ralriarall increase,l acoommodatlon nerewery.
Mr. rfooks then applied fora license for the Ifigliy Hotel on
behalf of James Lana Mr. Langdon proved the service of the
notice.
On behalf of his client Mr. Rooke argued men the highly
rinewedul manner in which Mr. Lane had arolltillatali 1,1. houee
at Bath, which he had now brought to he the first in the city.
The King'. Anne ea. now M a ruinous condition, anal if it hail
barn pulled down end rebuilt great latralValllelloo would have
10001 to the puMk. In its place. however. Mr. highy had
erected an hotel which woe absolutely and essentially It, every
oat fitted to the Wallin of the neighbotiriesal ; and he coked
that the licutem of On "hi king's Anne 41. Mill he transferred.
With raven! to I ..... ses that had of late years been shut up. be
woukl mention that when the Bell was inexistence the Britannia
Wan alai in, NZ.W that the klennaid was being rebuilt on •
large and any extra actn/rllllllollatioll thos remind noel,!

be amply met.
In reply to Captain Falwamer, who asked whether the new
hotel liml ever limn offeresl to Mr, Nees. Mr. nooks it
been openly adecrtised,but Mr.. Mees had never thought proper
Initn first to last to apply for it.
Mr. [toward mid because she did not feel instilled it. takin4
large a building, on.. no ramein why she should bonrodnel.
Mr. Hook, Credits' !
In reply to the Chairman, Mr. Ffisoks further mid : There
was 'dente of room for vomit/clad gentlemen in the new hotel;
their wants had hem specially studied.
The Bench retired, and on their return,
The Chairman said they had taken some little time to con-
si,kw applimtion.., but In the decision they had arrived
at Hwy wets incantm.ists . They hail put Mr. Ihitha% name out
of the question. Their only thought bad been whether it \VIM
necessary for the town to taie two hotels close together. The
King's Arms was gone and was renewed by the New Hotel.
, They suhseribed to all that hail been said in favour if Mr..
Mem. Toey should he glad to find her mistier anrwhere. hot
an inn was not kept for the benefit of nit itidichlusl, but of a
town. They had determined to BOMA, the New Hotel and not
Meiees house.
it. the isiunie of 1.01,1 e remarks be made upon hearing the
Mr. Howard expressed& hope that, if therecoil phould
he to bring ruhc upon Mr.. Mono, the thought !hey had
done it would haunt (limo who were Its muse like Hamlet's
ghost.

THR BYRON SCANDAL.
Mn. Stowe's article in Macwainass, of which we pre
a summery in oar last issue, has been the sensation of
the week.
The Standard has published MI elaborate "vindication"
of Lord Byron. The writer says that Mrs. Stowe's
story is • cumulative improbability so enormous that no
person, unless the most eredulous creature in the world,
could think of believing it at all. We are invited to
believe-
-Ist. That Lord Byron conceived an ineestuons
passion for his half-alster, Augusta, the wile of Colonel
Leigh.

foil. That heldeetared A to her.
3rd. That she cronoeived a similar passion for him.
4th. That they indulged it; she, too, being e marriod
WOOlllll

sth. That Lord Byron married & third person, to
whom be was profoundly indifferent, in order to elonk
a crime which, ox oonfriso, was known only to the two
guilty parties.
6th, That he then gratuitously informed his wife of
h.

.71t. That he tried to persuade her firers was so harm

•
in it.
Stb. That she did not lnit him in eoneequense of the
oonfession and Ilia etrenge pleading.
9th. That be (milted her, or drove her from him
because she tried to oppose Iris yin, though he had
married her in order the more conveniently to commit

it.
10th. That, having driven heir from him out of
infatuation for his sister, he permitted himself to
h. sopa ra 1.1 from the latter for the remainder of his
We. . .

It Ii surely enough to erray these stetements side by
side to discredit them.

What erideneo have we of the terrible eharge now
made, for the first time, against Lord Bryon and hi,
sister? None whatever, but Mrs. Stowe's aasettion of
Laty Byron's assertlou, made 32 years after the death
of the former, and several years after the death of the
tenet. What is the evidence against ii? Let us see ;
for it happens to be very considerable.
In 1812, as all the world knows, the first two cantos
of " Child. Harold° were published, and It was by
virtue of their sumer. that Byron woke up one morn-
ing, as he said, and found himself famous. This was
three years before his marriage, and two, accord-
ing to Mrs. Beecher Stowe's account, before
he commenced the inceetuona Intrigue with his
aster, who had already been married five yaw*,
and was the Honourable Mrs. Leigh. To her
one of the first presentation copies of "Child. Harold"
was sent, and in it, if the volume has not been des-
troyed by the accusers of the fair faine of each, may to
this day be read the following inscription in Byron's
hand writing
" To Augusta. my dearest raster and my best friend, who has
Imes! me much better than I downed, tDds volume Is presented
by her father's am, and moat affectionate brother."
In a letter written to a contemporary, it has been
said that the gellantries of Augusta's mother, Baroness
Conyers, were la notorious, and the &bermes from
home of her husband, Contain Byron. so frequent, that
probably Lord Byron and the Hon Mrs. Leigh did not
regard each other as brother and sister at all. This
may be taken as • fair sample of the inexact eomineuta
that have been made on the subject during the last few
days. For nothing CSC be made more clear, as will be
seen, than Byron regarded Mrs. Leigh as peculiarly
his sister from her goodness to him, and loved to call
her by that title, which he regarded as the highest and
purest of all. We have just seen one instance. Let
us now look at the test. In his journal, dated the 28th
of Marsh, 1814, occurs the following entry, :ouong •
number of other,.: -

u---
Augtuda uantol me to ntakc it up trith Carliule. I lutse
rchuod c‘cryt.od)d.e. It I can't deny her au)thinft. "" I
must c'en do it, though I had au he 'drink up 1.:hu:1, cAt
crocodile "

It. • letter written about • month earlier, from New
-
stead to Mr. Murray, be say, incidentally, "Mu. Leigh
I. with me—much pleased with the lases. sad lee. "
with me for parting with it, to which not even the
price can resound. her. Your parcel has not yet arrived
—at least the magszinen ha." No reference mold well
be more natural, yet the letter was penned long about
the time that Mrs. Stowe intimates that tbe incestuous
passion commeneed, tit., shortly after Ledy Byron
refused ibis Irak offer. and be himself had entered in hit
ouruel, 'A Ohl would be elle melvetlon of ale,"
1

The next testimony of his affection fir his wilier
that we may cite wm his desire that he danebirt
should be called after her. She is beet knows W
the name of Ada, to consequence of tie famous line—
" Ada, mle daughter 4 my home and Wort r
but her complete name was Augusta Ads; and while
we are thus promoted with the astounding feet that
Lady Byron allowed her Own Auld to be celled after
the name of her Inubend's lecestuous paramour. we
discern another proof of Byron's loving attachment.
even Co the very name of his sister.
Augusta Ad! Byron wee born on the letb of
Member. 181 The little girl," Byron wiit
to Moore, "was and is very flourishing and fat, and
reckoned very large for het days— Attalla and sucks
incites? tly. Her mother is doing very well, and up

*geld."
By the middle of January it was all over. Lady
Byron refused even to see her husband again, or, "
Mrs. Stowe puts it, bad been purposely driven away by
him. On the 25tb of April—not till more than three
months later -Byron quitted England. Conoerning
Mrs. Btowe's assertion that Lady Byron made it • con-
dition - u we have observed, she does not say • **edition
of what—that the partner of his guilt should not assom
pany him to the Continent, are shall have • word more
to say anon. But on the 16th Of April, or nine days
before his departure, we find Byron writing this short
note to Rogers :
•. My Alder is now with me, and lesiva town to-morrow We
shall not mod iambi for mune time at all grants, If over; and
under thed .tircurnstanem I trod to stand excused to you and
Mr. Shcridno tot being unaLle to wait upon him this evening.'
Moore adds, in the" Life" :—"This was his last in-
terview with his sister--alsoet the only person with
whom be now parted with regret; it being, as he said,
doubtful which had given him most pale, the enemies
who attacked or the friends who condoled with biol."
We put it to anybody if there I. in the foregoing note,
written at such a crisis, anything to bear oat the shock-
ing story told by Mrs. Stowe. and not, on the oontrary,
swerytning to make belief in it impossible. Where are
the secret guilt, the agony of soul, the remorse, the
I "Insane fear of detection," which she says marked all
his words and action.' in this matter? His sister does
i not frantically stay with him to the last moment; his
parting with her takes place nine days before he sails,
and his allusion to this last inteiview is precirely what
one would expect from &singularly affectionate brothir,
and nothing more.
He went abroad; and what are henceforward the
recorded tneetions that ha made of this eherish..l eletert
Writing to Mr. Murray from Venice, on the 3rd of March
1817, he says, quite Meidentally, "Eve? since the eon-
elusion of the Carnival I have been unwell (do not
mention this on any seriount to Augusta, for if I grow
worse she will know it too soon, and 111 get better there
is no ooeasion that she should know it at all)." The
on no aosiont," seems, however, to have been • mere
taco* de peeler, such an we all of us employ so often.
and to have beets disregarded; for in another letter
shortly afterwards, to the same correspondent, we find
him writing, " I have had another letter from my poor
dear Augusta, who is in• sad fuss about my late Illness;
do pray tell her (the truth) that I am better than ever,
and is importunate health, growing (if not grown) lark;
arid ruddy, and congratulated by impertinent persons
on my robturtious appearance, when I ought to be pal
and iateresting." The person who can make anything
out of thaw passages but easy and beautiful brotherly
love must be deteraiined to believe an unpleasant story
at all wets, the cost of evidence included.
So much for prose testimony on this head. Let as
now turn to verge. since Mrs. Stowe lass availed herself
of "Manfred" and "Cain" to support her story, and has
done it in • way that does little credit to the purity of
her imagination. Were we not speaking of • woman
we should express ourselves more strongly. She quotes
a peerage from "Cain,' with the object of showing that
its author strove to argue that incest is no sin. We
cannot spare space to reproduce it here, or we would
gladly do so. Neither con we reproduce all that WSJ
said for and modest "Cain" when it first appeared. Bat
Byron himecll wrote pages on pages In vindication of it,
and one brief extract from them most content us. It
occurs in a letter to Mr. Murray :
A. to 'alarms,' do you really think such things ever led
anybody astray?, Are them imryde more imploce than Milton's
Satan, or the P them. of No hylus ? Are not Am, Eve.
Adel, and Abel as pious as the catechism? I beg leave te
observe that there is no creed nor personal hyysdhesis of SISMI
In all this, but I was (•bligesi to make Cain and Lucifer talk
condstently, and surely this hs,, always been permitted to

poetry.
When we add that "Cain" mu dedicated to Sir
Walter /Scott, who pronounced it the best of Byron's
work., and the dedication the greatest honour ever
bestowed on him, we think we may dismiss Mrs.
Stowe's nasty charge that it contains • defence of
ineest.
The way in which she tries to turn " Manfred " to
account deeetvea, if possible, to be still more warmly
stigmatised. She would lead the ignorant reader to
suppose that Byron, quitting England.with the cherished
guilt and heavy punishment of ingest uppermost in his
thoughts, forthwith composed "Manfred," the mystery
of which, she avers, plainly turns upon that crime and
with an audacity to which we In vain seek for a pandled
she affirms that "anybody who reads the tragedy of
' Manfred' with this story." i. e.. her true story of Lady
Ityron's life, "in his mind, will see that it is true."
I If an allusion to incest can be construed out of any
passage of "Manfred," es an argument, that Mrs.
Stove's story is true, Hit also good to show that Byron
cAninitted murder as well. She cite. passages utterly
irrevelent to her particular accusation. but strongly
calculated to impress upon the reader the conviction that
the Manfred represented was capable of any and every
crime, and that Lord Byron and Manfred are one. She
abstains (coin quoting the particular passage to which
we refer, and which runs as follows :
Manfred. - loy'd hor and dc.troved her.
fr,ret,. With.th. hoot?
ItatkfretL--Not. inb my hand, but heart, which broke her
hrart I
It peed on mine and withered. I haw shed
bet net hers—and yet her blood woe shod;
/ sae sod amid not asnA IL"
Did Mrs. Stowe abstain from reproducing this dialogue
beeau-e it proved too much?
So far as to the use 'shish Mrs. Stowe has thought
proper to make of Lord Byron's poetical compositions,
in the strenuous attempt to convict him and his
"descent sister and best friend" of incept. We think
, that every one will acknowledge they recoil upon herself.
The Tiffla, wh!oh at once swallowed "The True
Story," whole, without the faintest attempt at criticism
or consideration, concluded its observations by saying
that a black mark muet henceforward be affixed to
certain of Byron's compositions, if indeed we are ever
I to look at the man's works again. If, instead of penning
, such hasty language the Tines had taken the pains to
read over the three poems addressed by Byron to
Augusta, and which are the ones evidently alluded to,
we cannot think the language would ever have appeared
in it. columns. Fyn' if there were no other reasons to
disbelieve this dreadful story—and thank Heaven I
they are legion ; while the reasons on the other aide
are monstrous and contradictory to the last degree--we
should fearlessly appeal to these poems in order to rebut
the abominable accusation. How does one begin?
"dlp mu sweet sister! i. a name
Benny a nit purer ewe,if siondd he Misr ;
Mountains and seas divide tol, but I claim
No tate, but tenderneas to answer mine.
Go • here I will, to me thou art the same -
A lo,cd regret which I wanld ind resign,
There yet are two things In my destiny- •
A world to roam through and • home with thee.
The first vivre nothing; had I still the last
It sere the haven of my happiness;
But other donna and other ties Own east,
And mine is not !As avian to make (hems lose
A strange doom Is thy father's son's, and past,
Recalling, so it lies beyond redress.
Berened for him our gnunlaire's fate of yoro—
lie had no roast era nor I on shore."
Is not thla the same hand. induented by the same
heart, which in the flash of its first trlumph wrote the
Inscription in one of the earliest tattoo copies of
the first two cantos of "Child. fired Inur It is always
the strong tie and the deep hob,/ of blaod and kinship,
the only one be San trust. Agiun he write., in another
of these poems to which a black mark is to be hence-
forth attached :

" When all around e droner •ndidark,
And reason beff withheld her ray.
And lupe but sh,l • dylnu spark,
Vadeh wore ridded my kinely way;
" When fortune slanged and love fled far,
And hatred's shafts flew thick sail hats
Thou wen the solitary Aar
hat ruse and net not to the Yet I
Ohl Meet be thine unbroken light
That watched me as • seraph'. eye.
And .too I between me and the night,
For ever diinlng sweetly nigh.
" But thou and thine shall know no blight,
Whatever fate on me May foil;
For heaven in sunshine will requite
The kind—and thee the moat of all..
The third poem remains, and Ito tone is precisely

•imil.r 1 -

"From the wreck of the past, which bath perished,
Thai mach I at least may recall.
It both taught me that what I most cherished
Inuervod to be dearest of all.
In the desert • fountain ie vpringumt,
In the wide waste there mill is • tree,
And a lord in the solitude singing,
which speak to my spirit of thee."
Then to "Child. Harold? that third canto, as we
said, which was the first thing he wrote after
quitting England for aver, and
but
be deeplywhichalone would make
us not only amply forgive thankful to
those who drove him from it. Who does not know the
lines consmencing :
"Tin male crag of Ilimehenfela r
They too are addressed to " sister, my sweet
sister,' and he bare speaks of her as "The one soft
breast'
" N'hate law was pure aad far *base diaguiec."
Hark, how he addresses her :
" I umil the lilies given to me;
1111 l gii I.la before thy hand they touch
I linos that they must withered be;
Hot yet rejoet them not as such,
F, I hac cherished them as dear
Ikvattur they )et may MOL4 thine eye,
Anil ;node thy soul to mine even here,
When it. beholirst them dreoplitg nigh,
And lows's% them 01.110 fell by the WM!,
And °tiered from My heart to thin.,
I. that the language of incestuous passion? Is that
the utterance of one degraded soul to another: Shame
on the man or woman who for a moment should think
no! It lithe voice of one love, and one only—the love
in which there is no constraint, no inequality, no fear,
no tumult, no jealousy, no dread—the love of brother to
sister, and idle' are its emblem. This was the sole
sweet oasis in the life of one who, as has bele said of
him," was inspired by the Genius of Pain."
[Another writer remarks Byron appears to have loved
his hall-doter with considerable warmth' and it is
noticeable that in third canto of "Childs Harold,"
written only three months after Lady Byron had
separated herself from bin, fur ever, there is • direct
allusion to Augusta of the tenderest kind :
Aol wie...ne soft lomat, 1. haUt h,Oll
NIHON nod° tin wits 110111141 ID) stronger tier
Than the tliurch links withal ; and though unwed
Thal love was pure, and far mimic d
Ilairst.ssi the tart of mortal einuitasti.
And then follows that aplendjnj song "The castled crag
°ltpossiheDrachlasblet ttuhwnaoftellihiewmephasjahavesqme.sall:
paddllageduort:47lbryettettrerhedpteisiattlo;tztrliowsoull
slander which even then wail taking shape? and is it
possible that Lady Byron, brooding over undoubted
wrens', permitted a terrible suspicion to overshadow
his life, and at length assume the shelve at kn ayinl
terility° ii toj l „,1