The New York herald., 1869-11-05

Il
Publishing Company we are enabled thi
morning to publish in advance and In fal
from their forthcoming reprint Of the Londol
| Quarterly the celebrated article on the Byrol
mystery. The article must be read by every
one who would come to proper conclusion
as TO the exact merits Of the case. 1t Is tht
latest examination of the question gratul-
tously, and If not maliciously at least for mean
and selfish purposes, raised by Mrs. Stowe In
her 'True Story Of Lady Byrons Life;
and as 1t Is the latest, 1t is also thu
fullest, most exhaustive and most satisfactory
discussion of the subject. lift does not white
wash Lord Byron it forbids US to believe thai
he was the monster Mrs. Stowe has attempted
to make him; and IL It does not absolutely
dlsprove all that Mrs. Stowe has written re-
gardng him 1t leaves the author Of the s'True
Story" In position, morally, not much better
than that in which she sought to place Lord
Byron and his sister, the Lady Augusta. II
was most meet that such an article should
appear in the Lon Ion Quarterly. The Quar-
ter'y is the property Of the Murrays, and John
Murray was the publisher Of Byron's works
and the friend and sometimes the conAden-
tial adviser Of the poet. The article
written by Mrs. Stowe and published In
worthless, though sensational, journal in
Boston, and simultaneously In q diIettantte
journal in England was not, from it's intrinsic
merits, entitled to the attention which 1t has
received both here and in Europe; but false
hood, misstatement, treachery, cruel selfish
ness and defamation Of the dead always
demand rebuke, and rebuke and refutation
have wisely been deemed necessary. 1t is
gratifying to be able to say that rebuke has
been skilfully and effectively administered,
and that refutation has been made so complete
that the vile charge is shown to rest on no
stronger foundation than that OF a woman of
diseased imagination-a woman whose words
at different times contradict each other, and
whose conduct at the crisis of her life was
strangely inconsistent with her alleged state
ments.
The Quarterly reviewer puts the case in a
new light and strips the controversy of great
deal Of unnecessary verbiage. Hitherto some
have been willing to believe that Mrs. Stowe
invented the s'True Story" or that she gave it
on some hearsay evidence. Selfish and un-
prinoipled as we believed Mrs. Stowe to be,
we cannot say that this was ever our opinion.
This was the view taken by Lord Lindsay,
who rested his case on the discrepancy be-
tween the Lady Byron writing to Lady Ann
Barnard and the Lady Byron debating the
''True Story" in years long subsequent to Mrs.
Beechsr Stowe. This ground the Quarterly
reviewer abandons at once. He tells us that
the story had been frequently told by
Lady Byron, and, quoting letters from
Mr.. Trench and Mr.. Robertson,
proves that she s'made no soruple of repeat
ing the charge"-of incest-''right and left to
almost anybody who chose to listen to it," II
is also admitted that certain facts withheld
from her father and mother were communi-
Gated to DR.. Lushington, that the same facts
were communicated to young military man,
that these facts amounted to definite charge ;
and it is added that the family of this ''con-
temporary conGdant, a man of the highest
honor, have uniformly stated that to the best of
their belief the charge was the specified one
that Of incest. This simpliaes the case con-
siderably. The story, though very incorrectly
told, is not on invention of Mrs. Stoves. 1t
is as little q delusion or illusion of Lady Byron
in the later years Of her life. Lady Byron did
make this charge in 1916, and did continue to
make IL in the later years of her
life. At this stage We are presented
with Lady Byron's letters to the Lady
Augusta-letters expressive of the warmest
friendship and written at the very time she
was charging her with one Of the most horri-
BILE crimes, and regarding her as the real cause
Of her separation from her husband. We refer
the reader to the letters themselves. They
speak volumes. More affectionate letters
were never penned. II they are genuine-and
we cannot for moment imagine that such a
journal as the Quarterly would give them
place II they were not-they turn
the tables against Lady Byron her.
SELF BY them, In fact the story Of Mrs.
Stowe is converted into an indictment against
Lady Byron's sounduess of mind. How a
sane woman would believe that the Lady
Augusta was guilty Of so great crime, a
crime so seriously affecting herself, and yet
write these letters, is certainly puzzle without
parallel. In the whole history of psychology
we do not believe that any similar case can
be found. II is certainly more easy to believe
that LADY Pvron was lahorino up5or ,nr,.
hallucination than that the charge she pre-
ferred was well founded. 1t will be
observed by the reader that all who knew the
Lady Augusta regarded her as woman inca
pable of such wickedness. With the exception
of Lady Byron herself and her advocate, Mrs.
Stowe, not a single voice has been raised
against her. BY all her friends she was highly
esteemed. Certainly, II Lady Byron's friends
do not bring forth some strong rebuttin0 fceti