The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-05-24 00:00:00

LORD BYRON.
Bit Castro Gordon has just published a pamphlet " Oe
the Life and Genius of Lord Byron." It is written main.
featly " rwrrente edam'," with all convenient expedition
for publication, and is the first of a series of painphkts
which the public may expect on a enbjs ct which few bare
discrimination rodisenas, or well-authenticated information
to communicate. It is to be regretted that the burning 0(
the auto-biographical memoirs of the Noble Bard has left
the public dependent for a knowledge of his life on the
015 flits of Isis admirers and his enemies, whose represen.
tations, acconliaig to their respective Isis. of opinion, will
not fail in extenuating match on one side, and " setting
down much in malice" on the other. We have had specimens
of both styles of writing even within the short ptTiod of
time since the melancholy intelligence of his death reached
this country. As his memoirs of himself are now beyond
the reach of recovery, it is idle to raise a question as
to the propriety with which those passages et which his
surviving relatives, it is presumed, might be wend-
ed or shocked, may have been withheld from puhlicatioo,
and the remainder given to the world. However, in
vain regret is a very dull anal profitless feeling to indulge
in, we must content ourselves with gleaning the par.
titulars of his life from those numerous productions tibial
follow fast upon the departure of a distinguished charm- •
ter, and which arc " but half made up, and that so
lamely and unfashionably," that they more generally de. 1
tract from the merits of the individuals whose charaquo
they undertake to discuss, than add to the celebrity ef
their fame. The pamphlet of Sir C. Gordon rank,
amongst the better sort of publications of this kind. If
not a very clever and discriminative estimate of the genius
of Lord Byron, it a pleasing and very readable Tittle
book. written in a tone and spirit of liberality not in
suited to the 1-101011 in which it appears, as a correcire
of some political acerbities we have lately met with,
which would, even deny to the great man who is no more
even the sacred sad immunities of the grave. We extract
the following from the narrative part of the publicatiou.
The anecdotes here recorded " have no relish" of Gam-
thropism in them:—
" A gentleman of the sister kingdom, one of those indunrious
persons who nn engage to do any thing, and who let nothing es-
cape them for the want of seeking, heard that Lord Byron was
about to set out few the Continent; and upon receiving the Intelli-
gence, it instantly gashed upon the mind of this umversal arador.
taker, that it would be a good raising of the wind to procure the ei.
ruatien of private secretary to his Lordship. Upon this be made
himself u spruce and as interesting as possible, and ott' he set for
the Albany, the place where Lord Byron then lodged. His Lied.
skip was at the door, in the act of stepping into his curricle, whsa
he was arrested by the candidate for the pnvate secretaryship. He
began by a long dissertation on his own powers; proceeded pass
equally long topography of the route which it might be the east elf.
pike to pursue; and ended by an inquiry as to the time at whist
they would set out. • My dear air,' said Byron, with much naivete,
• we set out this instant; but you see that I cannot aecommadme
you,—there are but two sesta in the curricle, and my servant, she
rogue, has got into one of them already.'"
" A young man from a distant part of the country. who had
quarrelled with his father, in consequence of having squandered
small sum of money, was friendless, and almost pennyleas, is the
metropolis ; and at last mune a little poem, or rather a soccesskia
of bad rhymes, which he offered to the booksellers. Most whim
rejected the proffered poem with scorn ; but at last the writw salt
with one, who said that if ten pounds were gives him, he maid
publish it, and give the writer half the profits. Elated with this,
he sallied into the streets, and had wandered as far as Piccadilly,
ere he knew what lie was about or whither he was going. Exhausts
ed at last, he stood still at the front entrance of the Albany. with
his manuscript in his hand. Byron happened to pass; and his no.
dee being drawn by something peculiar ui the young mares appear-
ance, he occosted him. The whole s:ory came out; and the ruck
rhymester was taken into the apartment of the bard. • And so_ you
say you have quarrelled with your father ?' said Byron. • Yes,'
said the young man, hanging down his head. • And you could
get a chance of half the profits of your peem fee tea pounds?
• Yes,' said the young man again, raising himself up. And foe
how much could you be reconciled to your father?' said Byres
again. • Tor ten pounds, also,' said the young man. ' Thou,'
said Byron, ' there is ten pounds; give it to him, and let him pub.
lisp the poem if he pleases ; and there are other live for yourself, to
hasten you on your way.' The young man was astonished; and
before he could turn round to thank his benefactor, that bondman
had disappeared."

It may net he uningreotittg to refresh our readies' minds
with the following particulars of the Noble Bard and his
father. They are not altogether new, but we have bees
of late so engaged with the more active part of Lord
Byron's brief career, that public attention has been little
directed towards the period of his boyhood, or those traits
of character which marked his early genius :
" Lord Byron's father, who was born in 1751, received an ex-
cellent education, and had held a commission in the Girard& tie
was so dissipated, that he was known by the name of • Mad Jack
Byron.' He was one of the handsomest men of the time; but
his character was so notorious, that bin father was obliged to desert
him ; and to be but seen in his company was eonsidated • stain. ,
There was no dissipation, and hardly a vice, except those coming
immediately within the penal stame' of the country, in which he
did not occasionally, or even habitually engage. In his twenty-
seventh year be found means to seduce Amelia, Marchioness of
Carmarthen. who had been but a few yearn married to a husband
with whom ate had lived in the most happy state until she formed
this most unfortunate connection. The noise which thisfintx pat
ocem oned was very great as well on account of its awn enormity,
as of the perfect happiness which had previously subsisted between
the husband and the wife, and of the great reluctance which the
husband had to believe in her guilt. That, however, was ultimately
proved in a manner but too cons ming c and alter one fruitless attempt
at reclaiming the lady, she was divorced by her husband, and aban-
doned to her fate. That fate was both hasty and hard. The friends
brought about a marriage between her and her seducer, which sif-
ter the most brutal conduct on his pan, and the greatest mieeryaad
keenest remorse on hem, was dissolved in two years by her sinking
to the grave of a broken heart. In about three years after, Cap-
Min Byron sought to patch up his broken fortunes by matrimony;
and having made a conquest of Hasa Gordon, an Aberdeenshne
heiress, het spent her fortune in a few years. and left her mod her
only child, the subject of this memoir, in a destitute and dadence-
lens state. He went to France to avoid his creditors, and died at
Valenciennes in 1791. little more than three years after the birth of
his son. to whom, in the meantime, was given his mother's nameof
Gordon."
" George Gordon, the late noble bard, was born on his miter's
estate in .1 berdeennhire, on the 22d day of January, 17311; an
his mother and himself were soon afterwards deserted by his prolL-
gate and dissipated father, the whole care of his infant years de-
volved upon the mother; and emnridering the state in which she
iras left, it is but natural to suppose that one treated the boy with
every indulgence within her power. Tenderness and indulgence in
his early yearn were rendered the more necessary, that, besides bar.
ing one of his fen deformed, he was of a very weakly constitution.
For these reasons, he was not so early sent to school as is sometimes
the case, but allowed to expand his Pules and wrengtben his limbs
upon the mountains of the North. This initiatory education was
evidently the best adapted for giving strength to his bodily frame;
and the sequel showed that it was far from the worst for giving tone
and vigour to his (mod. This period of his life palsied unheeded ;
but we find traces of its influence in many parts of his works. The
grandeur of nature around him; the idea that he was upon mous.
taios which had never been permanently trod by the foot of a con-
queror; the conversation of a people whose amusements at that time
consisted in a great measure of the recital of heroic expleite wieat
invaders ; feats of strength, and demonstrations at indepadence,
mingled with all the wild goblin stories, usual among such a people,
and In such a place; and, above aH, the being left at leieara and
without dictation, to contemplate those sesnes and hat, to those re.
Muds, afforded an initiatory education for Byron, fat MR poetical
than that which be could have obtained had he Wee nursed at the
Abbey of Nirmaganas and numared after die &aim of Its lords, in
the Oreadast those of thabigh•aphatid, but lotted, wad sad TW-
IN/it faisaly."

Lord G err Seymour and the Iron. Mr. Trefois, are
coming to this country, to have the management of the
I t ish Re ern ue.-I.inier ick Observer.

Mr. Bayly has withdrawn from the contest for the city
of Kilkenny election. The Corporation intend to appoitt
Mr. Staples, a northern barrister, as their candidate.—
frisk 06aer. err.

We understand that Messrs. Orlando and Luriottis, the
j Greek Deputies, have signified their intention of attending
the Westminster Anniversary Dinner this day.
We omitted to mention on 'Thursday last, Strong the
numerous presentments, the names of Sir John Sewell and
Lieut. Gets. Spencer.
The Paris papers of the 18th contain an extract of a
letter dated Barcelona, 9th instant, which states that Sir
Harry Burrard Neale bad arrived at Port Mahon (Mi-
norca), and that an arrangement had taken place with the
Dry of Algiers. Letters of the 9th from Barcelona, re-
ceived direct, do not mention this circumstance.
We are informed- that a Chinese lady, the first which
has come to this country, has lately arrived in London, WIJ
Batavia and the Mauritius. She is accompanied by her
husband, and will shortly permit the public to wanes-+
what we hare so often heard respecting the &maim ss and
shape of the women's feet of this most interesting and sin-
gular people. These natives of China have brought sill
them many rich dresses, and splendid specimens of the in-
genuity of their country. An apartment bas been fitted
up, in the Chinese fashion, or.iamented with their house-
hold deities, and on receiving their visitors next week, 05
hope to be able to give some particulars of the inhabitants
of the " cokrtial ewspti v."