Star.
London, England, 1830-01-15 00:00:00

MOORE'S LIFE OF LORD BYROY.

This literary work, which, since its preparation for tLe
press was first announced, has excited an extraordinary
interest, is now published by Mr. MVRRA Y. Ale•:rande'r
is said to have envied Achilles his good fortune in having
a Homer to record his exploits. If the spirits of the de-
parted have any regard for what is passing in this little
world, which they adorned in their lives, the spirit of Lord
B Y Row will feel some satisfaction in having for his historian
an author every way qualified to do justice to his memory.
Who is so capable of estimating the beauties of the poet as
a kindred genius, the sweetest of all the children of the
Muse that survive him ? Who so capable of entering
into the feelings, and duly weighing all the actions, mo-
tives, and influences of the man, as the intimate
friend to whom his heart was ever open, and who enjoyed
his entire confidence? In these relations Mr. Moom:
stands to Lord BYRON, and hence he has brought to his
undertaking all the qualities and means essential to its
perfect execution : au intimate knowledge of his subject,
not only in its great principles and outlines, but its most
minute details ; an anxious desire, with talents of tLtt
first order, to correct error, to do justice to the memory of
an illustrious individual, and give to the world a correct
and faithful record of his life. The work is printed in
one volume quarto. We have only space, at present, for
the few following extracts.—The following account us.
Lord By RON'S private affairs, on his return to England
in 1811, will be new to most of our readers
We have seen from the letters written by him on his passage
homeward, how far front cheerful or happy was the state of mind in
which be returned. In truth, even for a disposition of the most sat,
pine cut, there was quite enough in the discomforts that now
awaited him in F.ngland to sadden its hopes and check its buoyancy.
'To be happy at home (says Johnson) is the ultimate result of
all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour tend '
But Lord Byron had on home—at least none that deserved this
endearing name. A fond family circle, to accompany him with
its prayers, while away, and draw rout.d him with listettirg
eagerness on his return, was what, unluckily, he n-ver knew.
though with a heart, as we have seen, by nature formed for i •
In the absence, too, of all that en;ght cheer and suitaits, he had
every thing to encounter that could distress and humiliate. T.,
the dreariness of a home without affection was added the burtheo
of an establishment without meara ; ard he had thus all the en, -
barrassmt Ins of domestic life without its charms. Ilia affairs hart.
during his absence, been suffered to fall into confusion, even greater
than their inherent tendency to such a state warranted. Thera
had been the preceding year an execution on Nrwstead, for a debt
of £1,500, owing to the Messrs. Brothers, upholsterers; and a air •
eumstance told of the veteran Joe Murray on this occasion well
deserves to be mentioned. To this faithful old servant, jealous of
the ancient honour of the Byrons, the sight of the notice of salt.,
posted upon the Abbey door, could rot be otherwise than an suns
sightly and intolerable nuisance. having enough, however, of the
fear of the law before his eyes, not to tear the writing down, be
was at last forced, as his only consolatory expedient, to paste a
large piece of brown paper on it."

Lord Byron thought very little of the merits of" Child, !lambi
but promised himself much fame front a " Paraphrase of the Arc
of Poetty," composed by him while abroad. " Though," say.
Mr. Moore, on every thing that after his arrival at the age of
manhood he produced, some mark in them of the master-h ind may
be traced, yet, to print, the whale of his' Paraphrase of Horace,'
which extends to nearly 1100 lines, would be at the best but a clue.-
tiooable compliment to his memory. That the reader, however,
may be enabled to form some opinion of a pet formance which. b)
an error or caprice of judgment, unexampled perhaps in the sr, -
nab of literature—its author for a time preferred to the sublime
reasonings of Child Harold,' I shall bete select a few such pas-
sages from the ' Paraphrase' as may seem calculated to give an
idea of its merits and its defects.

" The opening of the poem la, with reference to the origin4l, lu
genioue :

Who would not laugh, if Lawrence, hired to grace
Ills costly canvass with each flattered face,
Abused his sit, till Nature, with a blush,
Saw efts grow centaurs underneath his brush !
Or should some limner join, for show ur
A maid of honour to a mermaid's tail ?
Or low Dubost (As once the world has teen)
Degrade God's creature's in his graphic spleen !
Not all that forced politeness which defend.
Fouls in their faults, could gag his grinning friends,
Believe me hfoschus, like that picture seems
The book, which, sillier than a sick man's dreams,
Displays a crowd of figures incomplete,
Pectic nightmares without head or feet.'
The following is pointed, and felicitously expressed:
Then glide down Grub-street, fasting and forgot,
Laughed into Leib, by some quaint Review,
Whose wit is never troublesome till—true.' "
There is a melancholy letter from Lord Byron to M.
Dallas, dated 11th October, 1811; in which he says:

" It seems u though I were to experience in my youth the
greatest misery of age. bly friends fall around me. and I shall he
left a lonely man before I am withered. Other men can aivr.ys
take refuge in their families : I have no resource but my own re.
Sections, and they present no proapect here or hereafter. except the
selfish satisfaction of surviving my betters. I am, indeed,

P t:BLIC DisTRESS.—We are sorry to state that OA,
unusually protracted severity of the season has hone
with unprecedented hardship upon the lower classes ci
the community, who are least able to Lear it, man•.
hundreds of masons and other workmen and laboure's
having been thrown out of employ by the c3ntinuacce
of the frost.

THE WEATHER. -During the past week the weather
has been various ; frost for the most part recurring every
night, and thaw, sometimes accompanied with
.raiu,
taking place during the day. Upon the whole, however.
there has been a decided improvement in the temperature,
and we do not believe that the mercury in the thermo-
meter attained, at any period of the 24 hours, a de-
prenion at all approaching to the cold experienced before.
Flakes of snow have been occasionally flying in small
quantities through the air, and mark the approach, of a
more considerable quantity. The mercury in the Iwo-
meter, which had been progressively declining to 29.79.
(which it reached at 9 A.M. on Tuesday) made a Budd( ti
ascent on Tuesday night, accompanied with a smart fro?t,
bat yesterday it began to decline again, and had reached
29. 92. on its descent at 9 yesterday morning. In th
earlier part of the day, some scattered flakes of sn.
were observed, which in the afternoon changed into a
real full.—Plymueth Journal.

CORN—EXCHANGR, MARK—LANK Jae. IS.
Thi, lobed navigation being now *topped. ne sake were elected
this monde, ; and the pekes of Wheat, Barley. and Oats. moo be
neetinally "Doted men Monday.

Inroseactone SSW Z ationmr.
Wheat, English (qrs.) . 3,610 1 Barley. Foreign . --
Irish . . LSO j Oats. Rogliab . . 5.34)u
Foreign . 700 Fort Igo . --
Earley. English . 7,500 Irish . . 14.750
Irish . . 100 rhea (auks) . 0,03 U
COAL AIANKUT—Tro Dee.
b tonseqtwoce of the contrary triode only goer new ship, were
at market to-day ; but the supply et thiedeelie4 and Neweestke
WU abundant, wed greeter than the defused. lb. OW Rt•
change was Irell etteoded by aerehaete.
Ships arrived during the week 4i—Derby the Rooth. 254.
Best ItiOseed...Ceeh .... 30.. Od. Mt. 114.
Other met MN Od. 374 Od.