The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1869-09-29

appearance of q Life of Byron by
the Countess ,Guiccioli, once, his
mistress, who, as Mrs. s. alleges,
attacks Lady Byron. But the
Countess volume has been before
the public more than two years.
and it contains not one word cal.
culated or intended, to disparage
Lady Byron. Mrs. Stoves article
was wholly uncalled for. It is a
disgusting intrusion, It seems to
have been suggested by no, worth.
icr thought than that it would add
to the writer's own importance.
Mrs. Stowe tells the world that
Lady Byron loved her husband
devotedly throhghout all his life,
although separated from him, and
had no doubt, after his death, that
he was o purified angel in Heaven.
Ii such, were her thoughts of him,
if she revere3 his memory and be-
lieved that be was a dweller In the
abodes Of the blessed, how can it
be supposed that she would DELHI
erately furnish the materials for
the publication, after her death, of
| 81. en- sa:t;cla calculated and designed
TO blast his mighty fame, 60 fond
y and passionately cherished by
herself, throughout all the future
agesl How could she, clinging
almostwildly to bis memory, and
deeming him a shining star in'tbe
paradise of God, seek to make his
name, one Of the loftiest of all time,
a scorn, O by-word, and "a curse in
the mouths Of the generations !
Did she do these things3
eve find in Mrs. Stoves pub.
lication no explanation o fth @
means by which Lady Byron be-
came acquainted with the revolt.
ing secret of her husbands incest
with his sister. Certainly others
knew nothing about it, and she
was the very one from whom, of
all persons then living, he must
have been the most anxious to con-
ceal it., And yet we are expected
to believe that she was the only
one acquainted with it. 1fshe had
known it, others would probably
have known it by the sameor sim
liar means, or a thousand dissimi-
lar means, and it would have gone
abroad upon the eagle wings, up
on which immortal scandals fy.'
"There is another matter in re-
gard to which Lord Byron is GER
tainly calumniated most infamous
ly. We are told by Mrs. Stowe
that he made q regular and per.
sistent effort, to convince his wife
that both of them would best pro-
mote their own happiness by in
dulging in the pleasures of sensual
love wherever their tastes and fan
cies lured them. This is too mon
strous to be believed for an instant.
There is nothing in it in keeping
with the character of Byron. He
was proud man, as proud as the
Son of the Morning. He was ready
enough to indulge in unlawful
loves, but sooner than attempt to
persuade his aoife to do the same
thing, sooner than tolerate her in
q career of guilty voluptuousness,
sooner than let himself be pointed
at and sneered at as the dishonor.
ed husband of a libidinous woman,
he would have invoked all the
lightnings Of Heaven to rush into
his heart and explode there.
Mrs. Stowe, as if aware that
her extraordinary story in regard
to incest needs all sorts Of bolster
ling, looks through the poetical
works Of Byron, and, without the
least, authority, assumes that every
passage that. can be tortured into
seeming adaptation to her purpose
was intended by the poet to apply
to himself. This is preposterous.
It is contemplate. 4 Such evidence
would never be sought, except in a
case of q miserable dearth of evi.
dence. The immortality of Byron &
life, and a portion fthis writings,
unquestionably deserves the sever.
est condemnation but we are moi
willing that the name of the au
| thor Of much Of the most glorious
poetry in tbe English language
the author of poetry almost super
human in its beauty and sublimity
and power, shall be forever asso
ciated In our minds with q crime
from which the soul shrinks with
more horror than from the thought
of eternal DEATH" &c. ,,a ssra - .r
| Mrs. Stowe says that the story
of Byrons incest has been known
! for years in Great Britain, but tha
! no one there has cared to make i