The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-01 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—That 45 years after an early death in a
foreign country the memory of one of our greatest
poets should be at the mercy of Mrs. Beecher Stowe,
writing in a monthly magazine, is surely—be the
facts what they may—a hard and ungenerous fate.

Lord Byron has been dead nearly half a century.
His wife, against whom no graver charge than that
of hardness or narrowness was ever attempted to be
brought, is no longer living to modify or corrobo-
rate a narrative which she herself always with-
he'd.

Is it fair, is it dignified, in a woman of consider-
able mark to disturb the slumber of reconciliation
in which the public would have gladly acquiesced,
and to brand a great defenceless name in the
interest of one whose only interest now could be
peace? Only the other day our greatest Latin
scholar did what in him lay to remove or palliate
an old standing blot on the memory of Julius Cmsar.
That was a nobler and a better task than this
latest disturbance of an unquiet grave—a distur-
bance not called for by justice ; for none capable
of judging ever doubted that Lady Byron's provo-
cations were great and grievous—and sure not to
be successful, forßyron's memory will remain where
it was.
That a man should in 1816 have been the villain
which we are asked to believe that Byron was, and
should then have lived on till 1824, producing what
Byron produced between those dates, involves a
psychological miracle which it will take a greater
than Mrs. Beecher Stowe to confirm. Why can't
we say our Requiescant once for all, without fidget-
ting over the troubles of the wife and trying to bring
matters right by blasting the poet's name ?

Your obedient servant,
It M. M.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—ln her article on the " True Story of Lady
Byron's Life," Mrs. Stowe alleges that for two years
after the discovery of his incestuous intrigue Lady
Byron did not separate from her husband.
It follows that the married life of Lord and Lady
Byron lasted more than two years.
Now, in the letter which Mrs.lStowe quotes, Lady
Byron herself states that she left London on the
15th of January, 1816. This was the date of her
final separation from Lord Byron.
The marriage between Lord Byron and Miss
Milbanke was solemnized on the 2d of January,
1815.

I leave Mrs. Stowe to explain the system of com-
putation by which she has arrived at the conclusion
that the interval between the 2d of January,
1815, and 15th of January, 1816, consisted of more
than four-and-twenty months.—Your obedient
servant., 1-1. F.
London, Aug. 31.

On Monday the finding and sentence of a district
court-martial, which had assembled at Aldershott
for the trial of Private Charles Hill, 2d battalion
2d (Queen's) Royal Regiment, were promulgated.
The prisoner was charged with loading his rifle
and using threatening expressions towards a com-
rade named John Keen. It appears that about
the middle of last month some words passed between
Hill and Keen in the barrack-room, Hill clubbed
his rifle, and was about to strike Keen with the
butt end, but was prevented by a comrade.
He then swore that he would "die for" °Keen.
Subsequently Hill's rifle was found loaded, and on
examination of his ammunition it was ascertained
that ten rounds of ball cartridge were in his pouch
and nine rounds in his fatigue trousers pocket, thus
showing that he had abstracted a round. He was
immediately confined, and but for this seasonable
watchfulness probably another murder would have
been added to the already black list of military
offences. The Court found the prisoner guilty,
and sentenced him to undergo an imprisonment,
with hard labour, for a period of 672 days, but in
consequence of the absence of former convictions
against him, and the general good character he had
previously borne, half the term of the sentence was
remitted.

Yesterday 56 men, volunteers from the 4th Bat-
talion 60th Rifles, marched from Aldershot en route
to Winchester, there to join the depot of the regi-
ment, and remain with it until required to join the
Ist, 2d, and 3d Battalions, for which they volun-
teered. These men were supernumerary men in the
4th Batalion, and were about to be discharged ; but
the War-office authorities decided otherwise by
permitting them to volunteer for the other battalions
of the same regiment,

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