The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-11 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPT. 11, 1869.

Two remarkable additions have just been made to
the collateral evidence now accumulating in the mat-
ter of this BYRON Controversy. LORD WENTWORTH,
the grandson of the great poet, writes to the Pall
Mall Gazette—and a correspondent of the Times
adduces the testimony of a venerable lady " the
Dowager Lady S—," whom he describes as " a
lady of great natural abilities and keen ob-
servation, unimpaired by advanced age (82),
and whose knowledge of the world—fashionable,
political, and literary—both of days long past and of
these is, perhaps, unsurpassed." Already we have
had remarkable communications from the hand of
Mr. WILLIAM liowrrr, and from the hand of Lord
LINDSAY, the son and heir of the Premier Earl of
Scotland. The latter, it will not soon be forgotten,
adduced the testimony of Lady ANNE BARNARD, the
Times correspondent of to-day (writing under the
initials " E. M. U.") adduces, as we have said, the
testimony of the Dowager Lady S—, a venerable
witness now more than au octagenarian. This itn.
portant witness as to the charge so recently and so
atrociously directed against her own personal friend
in the old days, the Hon. AUGUSTA LEIGH, writes as
follows :

' We have a great subject of interest in Mrs. STOWE'S
account of Lord BYRON. 1 want to know the truth. I
have seen a great deal of Mrs. LEIGH (AUGUSTA), having
passed some days with her and Colonel LEIGH, for my hus-
band's shooting near Newmarket, when Lord BYRON was in
the house, and, as she told me, was writing The Corsair,'
to my great astonishment, for it was a wretched small house,
full of her ill-trained children, who were always running up
and down stairs and going into ' uncle's' bedroom, where he
remained all the morning. Mrs. LEIGH was like a mother
to BYRON, being so much older, and not at all an attractive
person. I afterwards went with her, at her request, to pay
a wedding visit to Lady BYRON when she returned to town,
and she (Mrs. LEIGH) expressed the greatest anxiety that
his marriage should reform him. He opened the drawing-
room door himself, and received my congratulations as
savagely as I expected, looking (lemonlike, as he often
did. But my astonishment at the present accusation is
unbounded. She, a Dowdy-Goody, I being then, I sup-
pose, a fine young lady. SCROPE DAVIs used to come
to dinner, and talked to me a great deal about BYRON
afterwards, when he resided In the country, and I
never remember a hint at this unnatural and improbable
liaison when all London was at BYRON'S fest. I have hoard
from Lady A.- I-, relative to -, and to Mrs. LEIGH,
that my recollection of her was perfectly correct. She says
she was an amiable and devoted wife and mother of seven
children. tier husband was vary fond of her, and had a
high opinion of her. She must have been married (in 1807)
when BYRON was quite a boy (ho was 19). Sho had no taste
for poetry. She Lad sad tnis`ortunes in her later years.
Her excellent and only surviving daughter nursed her with
the tenderest affection in her last illness. How any ono
could have been so wicked as to write so horrible a story of
one too long dead to have friends left who could refute the
story seems I),,yond 1).1E0E2 "

The Times correspondent, who is the medium of con-
veying this important and most acc3ptable evidence
to us, speaks of it as negative in its character.
To ourselves, on the contrary, it appears
positive to the last degree, and certainly quite con-
clusive. And now, as materially affecting the horrible
question supposed to be in dispute, it will be worth
while giving here, in Lord WENTWORTH'S own words,
the emphatic contradiction of Mrs. STOWE'S Un-
true Story," as that contradiction has been most
cogently and succinctly set forth, thus, in the state-
ment of Lord BYRGW'S grandson :--
" About three years ago a manuscript in Lady
Noel Byron's handwriting was found among her papers,
giving an account of some circumstances connected with
her marriage, and apparently intended for publication
after her death, but as this seemed not quite certain, no
decision as to its publication was come to. In the event
of a memoir being written, this manuscript might, perhaps,
be included, but hitherto it has not been proposed to
publish any other matter about her separation.
This statement in Lady Byron's own handwriting
does not contain any accusation of so grave a
nature as that which Mrs. Stowe asserts was told
her, and Mrs. Stowe's story of the separation is inconsistent
with what I have seen in various letters, &c., of Lady
Byron's. Lady Byron says in her own statement that
before being published it ought to be submitted to some
person who had read through the consumed Byron memoirs,
so as to secure the correction of any misstatements. I
cannot see that Messrs. Wharton and Fords make no
charge of material inaccuracy against Mrs. Stowe ; I
believe they meant to assert the inaccuracy of the whole
article. I, fur one, cannot allow that Mrs. Stowe's state.
ment is substantially correct (according to your inference
and that of one or two other newspapers)."

Against the testimony of Lady ANNE BARNARD, as
given by Lord LINDSAY, of Mr. Howirr in hie own
person, of Lady as conveyed to us by E. M.
U., and of the poet's grandson, Lord WENTWORTH, to
say nothing of the letter penned by Lady BYRON'S
solicitors, the Messrs. WHARTON and FORDS, and of
which communication Lord WENTWORTH'S note is a
sort of postscript by way of emphatic endorsement—
against all this, what is there which has to be op-
posed? Merely Mrs. STOWE'S muddled recollections
of a conversation which, she says, took place thirteen
years ago, in regard to statements made to her in
confidence—a confidence which she [this unimpeach-
able witness, thisiperson of the noblest principles]
has, according to her own showing, thus monstrously
violated.

Affairs in Italy have of late ceased to attract much
attention ; but the politics of the eountry are not
the less surely tending to a crisis. That the Italian
Government has of late years lost its hold on the
affections of the people has long been sufficiently
obvious ; that its unpopularity is on the increase
many indications unite in confirming. A
remarkable defeat of the Government at
an election for the Chamber of Deputies
is one of these signs. The contest took
place in the little district of Corte Olona and
Belgiojoso, in the north of the country. At the
. .

first ballot the Opposition candidate polled a large
majority-320 against the 121 given to the repre-
sentative of the Government. These numbers did
not amount to the proportion of the constituency
which is required for the election of a deputy—for
in Italy no return can be valid unless at least one-
third of the voters record their suffrages. A s-cond
ballot accordingly took place with a result still more
unfavourable to the Government, The numbers were
100 for the Ministerialist and M 4 for his opponent.
True, this is only one contest ; but certain
circumstances give it an ereeptional impor-
tance. The district is very quiet and secluded,
far removed, one would third; from the in-

fluence of revolutionary passions. The franchise
in Italy is on very Conservative terms : no citizen
can be a voter unless he pay at least £1 12s. a year
in taxes, and thus the poorer population are
entirely shut out. Each party put forth its
utmost strength. The contest was one of a
strictly party character. At the last election a sup-
porter of the Govenment was returned ; but now
the successful candidate is a political prisoner in the
fortress of Alessandria. It is impossible to ignore
the significance of such an issue.
The truth is that the influence of the Italian
Government has declined, partly through its mis-
deeds, but mainly, perhaps, through a negative cause
—the lack of ability and integrity of purpose amongst
the Italian statesmen. The Government of VICTOR
EMAMNUEL has in many respects done ill ;
but its greatest offence is that it has
failed to do well. The political situation of the
country has, ever since the events of 1859, been
one of extreme difficulty, and the master mind which
might have been equal to the occasion is no more.
CAVOUR, whatever his faults may have been, was
undeniably the greatest Italian statesman of modern
times ; indeed, oneof the first men of the present cen-
tury; and he is gone. The KING himself is an excellent
huntsman ; but his capacity as a ruler falls grievously
short of his people's need. Behind him there is
only a series of statesmen who differ considerably in
degrees of mediocrity—but none of whom possess
any conspicuous ability—and a Parliament which has
hitherto distinguished itself chiefly for its matchless
laziness. During a most critical period there has been
no man and no policy equal to the occasion. The
Government has not had the courage to take any
definite course. It is afraid to break with the people
and afraid to break with NAPOLEON—the one or the
other being indispensable. It has humiliated the
former without gaining anything from the latter.
The events of October and November 1867,
the vacillation of the Government, its secret
encouragement of the Garibaldian invasion, and its
terrified disavowal of the Caprera hero are a speci-
men of Italian policy ever since the kingdom was
founded. Some allowance must no doubt be made
for the connection with France. It was difficult,
indeed, to act with a potentate who first set
up the Italian kingdom and then endeavoured
to prevent its completion. But this was a
difficulty to overcome, not to be overcome by.
In addition to the great failure of its general policy,
the Government has recently signalised itself by
various acts of small oppression : intervention with
the press, the arbitrary arrest of private individuals,
and the dismissal of judges—always the most dan-
gerous deed a Government can perpetrate. These
acts of injustice seem to have completed the work
which has been so long in progress; the Govern-
ment of VICTOR EMMANUEL is at war with the
nation. The united kingdom of Italy was the joint
work of NAPOLEON, GARIBALDI and CAVOUR; the
persons who are reaping the fruit of these three men's
achievements have distinguished themselves only by
indifferent government at home and bad policy
abroad.

LATEST INTELL EGENCE

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

NEW YORK, Sept. 9.
(Per French Atlantic Cable.)

A severe storm raged yesterday evening in the
New England States, severely injuring the tele-
graph lines and destroying and unroofing numerous
churches and other buildings in Boston, where the
damage is estimated at over $1,000,000.

Several towns of Massachusetts, Maine, and
New Hampshire have suffered much damage.
General Canby has ordered the Virginian Legis-
lature to be assembled on the sth of October. Mr,
Walker will be installed Governor on the 21st
inst.

The American Press comment at great length on
Canadian affairs, and generally predict an early
separation of the British American co!ouies fro n
the mother country.

The Europa (of the Anchor line) arrived out
to-day.

Sept. 10.
Mr. Nicholls, Democrat, has been elected Con-
gressional delegate for the Voyoming territory.
Mr. Rawlins, the late Secretary for War, was
buried to-day with imposing ceremonies.
The Erie shares registered to-day amount to
$70,000,000 common, and $8,500,000 preferred.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
CLOSING PRICES.

Gold closed at 135 i ; the highest quotation dur-
ing the day was 1351 ; the lowest, 1341.
Sterling Exchange on London lOBl.
5-20 U. S. Bonds, 1882 121.1
cc " 1885 l2oi.
44 " 1867 ll9l.
10-40

Illinois l3B.

Erie 34k.

Cotton—Mid. upland 34le.
Petroleum—Standard White 32lc.
Flour, extra state, $6.45e. to $7.5c. Corn, old
mixed, $1.20c.

According to Mr. Adam Moffatt's report the
week's receipts of cotton have been 12,000 bales ;
since the Ist September, and taken by American
spinners direct, 16,000 bales ; shipments to Eng-
land, 1,700 bales ; to France, none ; to the
Continent, 400 bales ; and since the Ist of
Sept., 4,000 bales. Stock, 13,000 bales. Market
flat and drooping.

QUEENSTOWN, Sept. 10.

The National Steamship Company's steamer
Pennsylvania, from Liverpool, arrived here to-day,
and having embarked passengers she proceeded for
New York ; all well.