The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-10
RYron nfYenicn-

NJ
the London AtheRGum.-
VERSAILLES, May 1861 regret to learn
that Madame Guiccioh has made so free with
my name and opinions respecting Lord Byron.
] hope she does not also saw that I enioved
the advantage of her acquaintance at Venice.
for although l cannot absolutely saw never
saw her, can safely assert the next thing to
1t. Lord Byron was also very kind to me-.
and having three horses at the Lido Cthe lonq
island which separates the Laguna from the
sea-, offered me the use of one of them.
Sometimes he called for me on his way there
sometimes / went to his house to meet him
+ On one of these occasions, whileIhe was at his
breakfast. female crossed the room entering
ON one side and leaving it at the opposite
door, in whose appearance there was nothing
TO attract attention, and / actually took her
for one of the maids of the house. learning
only from him when she had passed that it
was Madame Guiccioh. If | had met her five
minutes later | should not have recognized
her. 50 little had / observed her. / certainly
did not approve the life Lord Byron led at
Venice and as far as felt myself warranted
in so doing never scruped to tell him so but
we were nearly of the same age, which, with
our different positions in life would have only
rendered me ridiculous if / had affected to
play the Mentor with him. In all my inter-
course with him l almost invariably found
him cheerful and good-natured; or if at mo-
ments he was less so, he accounted for it by
saying his foot caused him much pain. This
have no doubt was very often the case. In
previous letter Ihave said he led "a foolish,
disreputable life,' on which account L well
remember to have told him he made him
self ridiculous in the eyes of every
one, and l have little doubt it was his
disgust with the very life he was leading which
made him take dislike to Venice, and glad
of the opportunity the connection he about
this time formed with Madame Guiccioli
offered him to quit it altogether. 1t was
pretty evident to me that he at first cared little
for her, however much his vanity may have
been fattered on seeing the impression he had
made on young lady of rank in society so
different from the other women he had known
since his arrival in Nenice and it depended
on the toss up of halfpenny whether he
would follow her to Rayenna or return TO Eng
land. To this latter step l strongly advised
him; but the dread of the reception he might
meet with there and the encouragement he
received from Madame Guiccioli to follow her.
prevailed over his better genius mot meaning
mySeiD, and decided his fate. Allegra was
Il the daughter of young English girl, kind
II Of connection of Mrs. Shelley, whom
fhe met at Geneva, where Madame Guic-
NJ cioh wishes to represent his life
as pattern of morality. She was not
\ by any means an amiable child, nor was Mrs.
4 Hoppner or particularly fond of her; but we
had taken her to live with us, not thinking
Lord Byrons house Che living at the time
with another woman) very proper one either
for the infant or her nurse, young Swiss
girl, who, besides, had no kind of experience
as to the care of children. She died in con-
vent at Ravenna, in which Lord Byron placed
her when he followed Madame Guiccioli
there. Lord Byron occasionally annoyed
by the impertinence of English travellers,
who forced their way into his house. or fol
lowed him about; but he was far from show
ing any disgust with them in general fre-
quently coming to meet strangers of an even
ing at my house, though he well knew when
he came there that he would not find us alone.
! | don't believe that Lord Byron was natu-
rally of saturnine disposition, but think
the misanthropy that figures as part of his
character in his early writings was merely a
poetical fiction. His love of pleasure and the
! eagerness with which he pursued it certainly
seem to prove him to have been anything but
melancholy disposition. During the Carni
val at Venice he was a constant attendant a
the Ridotto a kind of masked ball, where h,
witnessed scenes which supplied him witt
materials for his Beppo.' He had always
box at the Fenice Theatre during the season
He passed his evenings at one or other of tn,
three houses occupied by Venetian ladies
where strangers had an opportunity of see
ing something of Venetian society, and h
readily took part in any amusement that wa
offered him, to which he was always willing t.
contribute his share. So far L am able t.
confirm Madame Guicciolis opinion, that h
was not of misanthropical disposition; bu
this has nothing to do with the lf
he led at Venice; and she is decidedly wron
in asserting that l was his constant CON
panion of an afternoon, unless she alludes t
our rides together on the Lido, as / onl
spent the evenings with him when he came t
my own house, or when 1 met him in tn
visits he paid to those of the Venetian ladie
have mentioned | visited him sometime
in his box at the theatre, but this is not whG
Madame Guiccioh would wish to infer.
Lady H, who saw Lord Byron fr'
quently at Genoa, and also Madame Guiccioi
assured me she was convinced he went
Greece to get away from her, which l ca
we'll believe, as he had lived four years wit
n her-three more than, according to his ow
account, it was in his nature to live with an
woman. II. BELGRAvE HoPPNER.
THE ECCENTRICITY OF WOMAN.