Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1825-02-25

Napoleon and the retreat from Moscow, which,
IN 1916, were not yet in every body's mouth.
That sort of merit procured me several walks
with him, tete-a tetes in the immense and soita-
~ green mof al Scala. Thegreat man made
his appearance for half an hour every evening,
and then it was the finest conversation ever
met with in my life; volcano of novel and gen
crous sentiments mingled together, that
fancied that | had never before felt them.
During the remaining part of the evening, he
wasso thoroughly the Engiisin,Gn and the .N0Jie
Lold that could never make up my mind 10 ac-
ccpt his in, itaions to dine with him, which he
repeated from time tn tune. He was then COM
posing Chiidc Harold: every morning he wrote
q hundred verses, which, in the evening" he re-
duced TO twenty or thirty. Between these PC
RODS OF labour he had need of relaxaton and
he found the necessary amusement in talking
after dinner, with his elbows on the table, in
the most easy and familiar manner possible
II remarked TINT III his moments OF mspira-
ton, Lord Byron admired Napoleon, as Naro-
leon himself admired Corneilc.-In h;s or,lin
AIRY moments, when Lor! Byron felt HIM
self, IN grand sc'gncur, he endcavuu.cd 10
throw ridIculc on the Exile of St IIcle-
ma. There is no doubt that he felt grca,
envy of tIe brilliant part of Napucon's
Character his sublime expressions veXed hun:
we pat hi,n quite out ut hunour by repeat
ing the famous proclamation To the army in
Egypt, Soldiers, remember That fio1i fhe sum
mats 81 These pyramids forty ceRt,Uies are iooh.-
ing do'cn upon yon.' Lord Byron would have
been more reconcilcd to Napoleon, If he had
had a little OF the tame appearance of w asling-
tom What is amusing enough is, that il was
not 1T all the Odious and despotic part of \ apo
Icons character which displeased the Enrlish
| Peer.
Zone evening, when Lord Byron did nc the
honour Of promenading with inc in tl,, green
room ot La Scala, some person came and told
nun that the Austrian Officer on guard nj the
thcaIr| had arrested his Secretary, Mr.. Pn.iuri,
physician, vino attended him. Lord Byrun's
councnancc instantly exhibited a striking re-
srnbiance TO that OF Napoleon, when he was in
l rage. Seven or eight persons accompanied
hnn 10 the Corps de Ga1ue; there lie was quite
u agnhccnt with compressed Indignation and
energy during whole hour that the officer on
guard was clustering with vulgar passion. On
our return 10 the box Of Siguor de Brcmc, we
began praIsing the ari~tocratic principles which
were generally great favuurites with Lord BY
ron; he felt the irony-aud quilted the box, IN
teI2Hl|y i'll Il rage. but erteymaLy displaying
nothing but the most perfect politcness. Next
day the Secretary was obliged to quit Milan.
I 'SIgnur de Brcmc prevailed upon me shortly
afterwards To accompany his Lorrlshp To the
.uU'co al BFerU; admired the depth of feeling
with which this great Poet entered into the
merits OF painters the most opposite in their
| stl lc: Raphael, Guercino, Luini. Titan. &c
! fii%c'' dismissed by .4b,uhaDi. bv Guercino.
! quite electrified him: from that moment admira-
ton kept us all sill M he improciScG lor a whole
/ II 'ur' much better, III my opinion, than ever did
| Madame de StaCl.
| Wv hat struch me the most in this extraorJ;n-
airy man, particularly whenhc was abusing Ma
polcon, was, that according 10 my opinion. he
mad no real knowledge of mankind; his pride
his rank, his renown, had prevented him from
treating with thein OF a footing of equally. His
haut"pt and distrust had always kept them at
| o. great distance to allow him TO observe
thetn properly; ne was too much accustomed f.
undertake nothing but what he could carr b
nam force. As some compensation, he dis
played multitude OF delicate and inst ;d,a
when we happened to talk of women whom he
knew, as he always had desire TO please and
to deceive them. He spoke with pity of the
women OF England, of Geneva, and of Ncufcba-
tel, &c. " hat Lord Byron's genius wanted
was 10 oe put under the necessity of negotiating
and discussing with bis equals. am convinced
tha' II he had lived TO return from Greece his
talents would lave appeared, all at once en-
! larged one-half. In his endeayour, to recon
CHE Mavroco:dato and Colocotroui. he wouId
nave acquired some positive knowledge of the
human heart; then, perhaps, Lord Byron mirht
have elevated himself TO the height of real ira
Scdy He would have had fewer fits of nissan
thropy; he would not have always thought that
| every one about Inn was solely occupied with
view to excite his envy, or to deceive him.
The fund of misanthropy of this great n,an had
been increased BY English society. His friends
remarked, that the more he lived with the ItaI-
Ians the more happy and cbliging he became.
1t we substitute bbtcit-LIc for fits of childish
amer We shall ind that Lord Byron's character
had the most striking resemblance TO that of
Noitairc.
"But must conclude, in order not to make
dissertation instead ola letter. You must ex
cuse me- Madam, for troubling YOU with these
general observations. ] could have wished ra
ther to have given you facts; but an interval of
seven or eight years has banished these from my
memory, IN which there now only remain the
conclusions which drew from them at the time.
! ball be very happy if YOU are satisfied with
tlilS KIND OF moral portrait and if you regard
these hastily-written pages as a proof of the pro
found respect with which, have the honour TO
De- &C. &C III. BEYLE.n
At the late session of the Legislature of Ken
lucky, resolutions were adopted by the two bran
ches OF the Legislature, and approved by the Co
vernon, Reconstruction General LArAY ErTE, that
he VIII sit for his Portrait forthe use of the State