Mountain Democrat., 1857-06-13
CO., CALIFORNIA SATURDAY, JUNE 49, 1857
An Inamoraaa.

Lady p, an English woman Ofgrcat ego
and wealth, recently died in Paris, where
she had lived almost from time immesnO-
rial, and had very large whiting: &C.
quaintancc. She resided in the FaubOuEK
St HOBOre, and one large room Of her no
tel was devoted to . collection Of relics ol
Lord Byron, which, from its extent and
value might truly be called ByrOnian
Museum. The aged pOssessOr OF these
TREASURES, . woman of much intelligence
and originality Of character, pretended
that Lord Byron had once entertained sn
ardent passion for her, which seemed tht
more astonishing to her friends 81 It was
very apparent that Lady p. could never
have been beautiful, or even pretty. Her
figure Was short and ill.IoTsned, and her
features were decidedly and hOpcleSsly ug-
". Nothing could have been -hsIsh1r
than the sound of her voice, except when
she spoke Of Byron, with . languishine
glance through pair Of gold spectxcles
poised upon nose ofimmense size. The
sentimental old lady did not deny having
shared the passion of the poet, but added
that this love had always been platonic
on her side, and that she had driven By
ron to despair by the ipRexibility Of her
virtue. Her friends delighted to draw
her out on this subject, which she nlus
trnted with interesting details, curious
traits, and piquant anecdotes. She had
casket, which she opened with cOmpIa-
cent pride, containing several letters from
Lord Byron, and unpublished verses
which he had dedicated to hCF.- No one
dared to suggest the slightest doubt Of
their gcnuincness, rs this was sin which
she never parioncd. -.----4-=
A portrait Of Byron, painted on the
medallion Of bracelet, never lclt her
arm. The poet himself had given hcr
this portrait, and accompanied the pres
cnt with an enamOurCd diStitch. Lady
p. possessed Ave or six other pOstt1its Of
Lord ByrOr, all very beautiful ThegO is
one particularly remarkable, . full length
by Lawrence. Another was painted ct
Venice, and represents Byron on horse
back on the banks Of the Lido. Aftsr
the death Of the poet, Lady p. collected,
with piOus zeal, every object she could
find which had once belonged TO him.
This hero worshOp is invested with awel.
ancholy and touching charm. To acCom-
plish her sclf-imposed mission, the inttop-
id lady undertook long pilgrimage, and
travcrsed all the places Byron had inlzab-
tied from his birth to his death She Wis
ited Aberdeen, in Scotland, the Gothic
Manor Of Newstcad, the UnivCrAity Of
Cambridge, London, Brighton, Epain; POr-
tugal, Belgium, Switzerland, LombaBdy,
Milan, Venice, and at last, Greece; t6e
tomb Of the poet. EverywhkTe skS; 7SSUiid
something, and devoted 70 shsss pssciUnz
acquisitions q considerable kFtane II
was thus she formed large collection OI
furniture, manuscripts, arms and clothes.
Among them are the dressing ease ol
Lord Byron, from fift3cn 10 twonty books
containing rOngh sketches Of his poems.
his pocket-boOk, his writing-desk .1is 9un.
his pistols, his dagger, his robes u pees
Of England, his purse, his rings, lcckol
his hair, his letters and those addressed
to him, his dressing gown, TIE harness d
his horse, the bed on which he died. and
the cloak which covered him when he
gave up his spirit at Missolonghi. on Eas.
ter Monday, 1924. II
Lady p. was never married; she was q
mNiden when she first met Lord Byron,
and she always remained fhithGhl % the
Platonic love which hss occupied her HE.
Her heirs are distant relatiOnH who, not
having the same interest In this Byron
Museum, will probably put Il up at auc-
tion, and the GmeteurS Of curiositics will
reap the benefit.