Star.
London, England, 1824-08-10 00:00:00

ti

..•TH4 LAST MOMENTS OF LORD BYRON.
1111031 Taa WitipliNSTNlt RZIIINW, NO. in.
The last moments of great men have always been a
rutiject of deep inter:at, and are thought to be preg.
nant with instuction. Surely, if the death-bed of any.,
man will flu attention, it is that of one upon whose
most trifling action the eyes. of all Europe: has been
fixed for ten years with an anxious and minute curio-
sity, of which the annals of literature, afford no pre-
vious example, We are enabled•td 'pre,ent our Readers
ith a very.detailed aeport .of Lord Byron's last illness :
it is collected from the mouth of Mr. Fletcher, who has
been for more than twenty years his faithful and cell&
dential attendant, It is very possible that the account
may contain inaccuracies; the agitation, of the scene
may have created some confusion in the mind of an
humble, but an affectionate friend; memory may,'it is
possible, in some trifling instances, have played him
false :and some of the thoughts may have been changed
either. in the sense or in the expression, br by passing
6E0,10 the mind of an uneducated man. But we are
convineed.of the general acCuracy of the whole, and
consider Ourselves very fortunate in being the means of
preserving so affecting and interesting a history of .the
last days of the greatest and the truest poet that Eng-
land has for sometime produced..
My master,",says Mr, f letcher ."continued his
usual custom of riding daily, when tie weather would
permitfuntil the 9th• of -April. But •on that ill-fated
day, he got very wet, ;and on his return home, his Lord-
ship changed the whole of his dfess, but be had been
too lung in his wet clothes, and the cold, of which he
had complained more or less ever since we left Cepha-
lonia, made this attack be more severely felt. Though
rather- feverish diming. the, night,- his Lordship slept
pretty well, but complained in the morning of a pain
in his bones and a head-ache t• this did Doti however,
prevent him from taking a ride in theafternoon, which
I grieve to say Was his last. On his return, my master
said that the saddle was not perfectly dry, from being
so wet the day before, and observed. that he thought it
had•made him worse. His Lordship was again visited
by the same slow fever, and I was sorry to perceive on
the next morning, that his illness, appeared to be in-
creasing. He was very low, and complained of not
having had any sleep during the night. His Lordship's
appetite was alto quite gone. I prepared a little arrow-
root, of which he took three or four spoonfuls, saying
it was very good, but could take no more. It was not
till the third day, the 12th, that I began to be alarmed
for my master. In all his former colds, be alWays slept
well, and was never affected by this' slow fever. I
therefore wept to Dr. Bruno and Mr. Millingen, the two
medical attendants, and inquired minutely into every
circumstance connected. with my master's present ill-
ness : bdtb replied that there was no danger, and I
might make myself perfectly easy on the subject, for
all would be well in a few days. This was on the 13th ;
on the following day, I found my master in such a
state, that I could not feel happy without supplicating
that he would send to Zante for Drt Thomas : after ex-
pressing my fears lest hit Lordship should get worse,
he desired me to consult the Doctors, which I did, and
was told there was no occasion for calling in any person,
as they hpOil all would be will iu a few days. Here I
should niMaik, 'that his Lordship. repeatedly, said in the
course of the day, he was sure the Doctors did not un-
derstand his disease; to which I. answered, then my
Lord have other advice by all-means. 4 They tell me,'
said Ms Lordship, that it is. only a common cold,
which you know I have had a thousand times? lam
sure my -.Ord,' said that you never had one of so
serious a nature.' g 1 think I never had,' was his Lord-
ship's answer: I mutated my supplications that Dr.
Thomas should be sent for on the 15th, and was
again assured that my master would be better in two
or three days. After these confident assurances, I did
not renew my entreaties until it was too late. With re-
spect to the medicines that were given to my master, I
could not persuade myself that those of a strong pur-
gative nature were the best adapted for his complaint,
concluding that, as he had nothing on his stomach, the
only effect would be to create pain: indeed this must
have been the case with a person in perfect health. The
whole nourishment taken by my master for the list
eight days, consisted of a small quantity of broth at
two or three different tirne, and two spoonfuls of
arrow-root swathe 18th, the day before his death. The
first time I heard of there being any intention of bleed-
ing his Lordship, was on the 15th, when it was pro-
posed by Dr. Bono, but objected to at first by my
master, who asked Mr. Millingen if there was any very
great reason for taking blood : the latter replied that it
might be of service, but added that it could be deferred
till the next day. And accordingly my master was
bled in the right arm, on the evening of the 16th, and
a pound of blood was taken. 1 observed at the time
that it had a most inflamed appearance. Dr. Bruno
now began to say he had frequently urged my master to
be bled, but that he always refused; a long dispute now
arose about the time that had been lost, and the neces-
sity of sending for medical assistance to Zante, upon
which I was informed for the first time that it would be
of no use, as my master would be better, or no more,
before the arrival of Dr. Thomas. His Lordship con-
tinued to get worse, but Dr. Bruno .said, he thought
- letting blood again would save his life, and I lost no
time in telling my master how necessary it was to
comply with the Doctor's wishes; to this he replied by
saying. he feared they knew nothing about his disorder,
and then stretching out his arm said, 6 here, take-my
arm, and do whatever you like.' His Lordship conti-
nued to get weaker, and on the 17th he was bled twice
in the morning, and at two o'clock in the afternoon ;
the bleeding at both times was followed by fainting fits,
and he would have fallen down more than once, had I
not caught him in my arms. In order to prevent such
an accident, I took care not to let his Lordship stir with-
out supporting him. On this day, my master said to
me twice—, I cannot sleep, and you well know 1 have
not been able to sleep for more than a week : I know,
added his Lordship, , that a man can only be a certain
time without sleep, and then he must go mad without
any' one being able to save him, and I would 'ten times
sooner shoat myself than be mad, for I am nothfraid of
dying, lam more fit to die than people think.' Idu
no:, however, believe that his Lordship had any appre-
hension of iliffate till the day after, the Bib, when he
said, . I fear you and Tita will be ill.by sitting up con-
stantly and-day: 1 answered, we shall never
leave yout Lord-hip till you ate better: As my master
had a qiglit tit of delirium ot: the 11th, I wok care to

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