The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-06 00:00:00

MR-g.STOWE'S DETENCE.

The Pall 111a11 Gazette is commencing work well. It
publishes a full column from the United States—a tele-
gram " by English Atlantic Cable," giving a lucid abstract
of Mrs. Stowe's new work defending herself, and main-
taining her story as to Lord Byron. It is dated New
York, January 5, and tells us that the work is entitled
" Lady Byron Vindicated.' It is disappointing, in so far
as it contains no documentary evidence and few new
statements of fact. The author confines herself
very much to argument, rather forcibly stated, and
does her best to explain away the various objections that
have been made to the credibility of her story. In effect
what Mrs. Stowe says is this : that Lady Byron's charge of
incest against her husband was made on the authority of
his own confession. She avers also that when Lady
Byron made this statement to her she was of
sound mind ; and therefore maintains that, as
Lady Byron was totally incapable of inventing such a
story, it must be received as true. Mrs. Stowe relates
i all that she can remember of the now famous conversation
which passed between herself and Lady Byron in the year
185 G, declaring that the particular accusation which has
been so much debated and so stiffly denied was made in
terms that were quite unmistakable. It seems that the
precise words used by her ladyship were these :—" Mrs.
Stowe, he was guilty of incest with his sister:" and here,
adds the recipient of these confidences, " Lady Byron
became so deathly pale that I feared she would
faint, and hastened to say, 'Dear friend, I have
heard that before' She asked quickly, 'From
whom ?' and I answered, 'From Mrs. —;' when
she replied, ` Oh, yes!' as if recollecting herself. She
said that from the outset of their married life his conduct
towards her had been unaccountable. He seemed resolved
to shake and combat both her religious principles and her
views of the family state ; and told her that as he could
not be expected to confine himself to her neither
should he expect or wish that she should con-
fine herself to him. She could have her lovers, and
must allow him the same freedom. She said
she did not comprehend to what this was
tending till after she went to London, and his
sister came to stay with them. At what precise time the
idea of an improper connection between her husband and
his sister was first forced upon her she did not say; but
she told me how it was done. She said that one night, in

her presence, he treated his sister with a liberty which
both shocked and astonished her. Seeing her amaze-
ment and alarm, he came up to her and said in a
sneering tone, I suppose you perceive you are not
wanted here. Go to your own r,om and leave us alone.
We can amuse ourselves better without you.' She said,
I went to my room trembling. I fell down on my knees
and prayed to my Heavenly Father to have mercy on
them. I thought, What shall I do?' She did not tell
ma what followed immediately upon this, nor how soon
after she spoke on the subject with either of the
parties. Byron boldly avowed the connection as
having existed in time past, and as one that was
to continue in time to come, and implied that
she must submit to it. It was no sin; the world
was first peopled in that way. Afterwards he took
another turn, and said that the horror and crime were
the very attraction. He had worn out all ordinary forms
of sin, and longed for the stimulus of a new kind of vice.
She spoke of the danger of detection, and then he became
furious, swearing that she at any rate should never be the
m?ans of his detection. She should leave him—that he was
resolved upon ; but she should always bear all the blame of
the separation. In the sneering tone which was common
with him, he said, The world will believe me, and it will
not believe you. The world has made up its mind that
By is a glorious boy; and the world will go for By right or
wrong. Besides, I shall make it my life's object to dis-
credit you. I shall use all nay powers. Read Caleb
Williams,' and you will seo I shall do by you just as
Falk:and did by Caleb." Lady Byron said she at first
believed her husband to be insane, and pitied and excused
him. Mrs. Leigh was weak and wholly under his control.
She afterwards repented, and became a truly good woman,
and Lady Byron seemed to take comfort from the recollec-
tion:of her subsequent intercourse with her. Lady Byron said
in reply to a question, that she had letters and documents
in proof of her story, but Mrs. Stowe did not see them.
The memorandum to which she alluded in the article pub-
lished in Macmillan's Magazine was returned by her to
Lady Byron. It contained only an outline of the facts,
but without dates. Mrs. Stowe conjectures that Mrs.
Leigh persuaded Lady Byron at first that her brother
had only made insane attempts, which she re-
sisted, and that she alone could control his in-
sanity. It was in this belief that the letters
published in the Quarterly Review were written. Fuller
revelations were, however, made later. Mrs. Stowe has
no proof of this theory, but shews that Mrs. Leigh did
represent Byron to be insane. Lady Byron told Mrs.
Stowe that there was a daughter who gave her friends
much trouble. From other sources Mrs. Stowe
learned that the daughter escaped from her
friends to the Continent, and that Lady Byron
assisted the efforts that were made to recover her.
An English correspondent, it seems, has written to
Mrs. Stowe averring that the crime was first committed
and the child born shortly before Byron married. The
child, a daughter, must not be confounded with the natural
daughter of Lord Byron born about a year after his sepa-
ration. The history more or less of that child of incest is
known to many, for in Lady Byron's attempt to
watch over her and rescue her from ruin she was

compelled to employ various agents at different
times.' An allusion possibly to this child is made in
a letter to Moore, February 2,1818. Mrs. Stowe pronounces
the letter of Forbes Winslow fatal to the theory of hallu-
cination, and writes at length of Lady Byron's strength of
mind and high regard for truth. She also supports her
story by passages in the poems and diary and by what is
known of Byron's conduct at the time of the separation;
but she adds nothing to what has been said already
on those points in the Saturday Review and
Temple Bar. She treats the controversy as a
question of veracity betweeD Lord Byron and
his wife; and fills nearly half the book with a
review of the poet's efforts to make good his threat of
treating her as Falkland treated Caleb Williams. She
declares that her disclosure in Macmillan's Magazine and
the Atlantic Monthly was prompted by a sense of duty to
a slandered memory, and was made after it had been noti-
fied to her that trustees of Lady Byron had determined
that no memoir should be written, as the papers in their
hands could not be published in full.

In America (says the Pall .3fall Gazette) the public
indignation at Mrs Stove's conduct in this matter has
only been intensified by the publication of this so-called
defence.

A TESTIMONIAL FROM THE 'UNIVERSITY OF
LONDON.—The members of the senate of the University of
London have just now done a wise thing, and in a very
liberal way. The salary of the Registrar, Dr. Carpenter,
who has distinguished himself by his important researches
in deep-sea soundings, is advanced to £l,OOO per annum,
and an Assistant-Registrar is about to be appointed, with
a salary of £5OO per annum.

It is stated that in closing the Chatham paint-shop
the Government have in view not only the saving of the
wages of the master-painter, his assistants, and the
labourers connected with the establishment, but also the
material improvement in the quality of the paint supplied
by private manufacturer.; over that hitherto produced by
the Government. Against this, however, is to be placed
tha charges for superannuating the artificers who are now
no longer required.

A WOLF AT LARGE.—It is stated that great ex-
citement and alarm were caused in the neighbourhood of
Folkestone on Monday by the escape of a wolf. The
ferocious animal took advantage of the absence of its
owner, Major Ditmas, R.A., and absented itself from
his quarters at Shorncliffe. On being communicated
with, Major Ditmas kindly gave instructions that
if it could not be captured it should be shot.
If the account given of the wolf's proceedings is correct,
the gallant major was by no means premature in his in-
structions. It had, we are told, ravaged several hen-roosts
in the vicinity, and so severely injured six sheep that they
hadto be killed. Apparently, however, no time was lest
after its owner's permission to arrest its destructive career
had been received, for a hot pursuit was made, and after
considerable search the animal was found and shot in the
Kiln Wood.

THE WAY THEY WRITE ABOUT ROYALTY IN
Russu.—The following curious specimen of Russian
Jeakinsism is cut by the Pall Mall Gazette from the
2 tm1,017 Gazette, under the head of " Court News":—
" Yesterday his Imperial Majesty deigned to wake at 7
a.m., and after a frugal breakfast, ivas graciously pleased
to go for a bear-hunt. On entering the wood with his
suite, a hear, moved apparently by a happy instinct to
recreate the mind of the father of our holy Russia, imme-
diately came to the spot where his Majesty had
posted himself. Paralysed at the sight of the ruler of
millions of beings who idolize him, the bear stood still,
and it was observed that instead of the fierce aspect by
which this savage animal h usually characterised, his
countenance bore an eipresion of blissful anticipatfon, as
if he were looking forward, liko a loyal subject, to the
happiness of being put to death by his gracious sovereign.
On returning from the chase, his Majesty caught cold; but
the usual remedies having been applied to him, he
deigned to feel better. He then went to bed, and next
mornings cractio_nsil pleasedt9,ll (.1"4-49.Yull .