The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-24


playful and tender strain. Afterwards she |
requested Dr. Baillie and DIR. Lushington to
have an interview with the poet, for the pur-
pose of determining his state of mind. Byron's
account of their visit was as follows
81 had been smut up in dark street in London,
writing The Siege of CoTinth,' and had refused
myself to every one till it was finished. was sur
prsei one day by a doctor and lawyer almost
forcing themselves at the same time into my FoSmi
did not know till afterwards the real object of their
visit. thought their questions singular, frvolous
and somewhat mportunate II not impairment; put
what should have thought II had known that tney
were sent to provide proofs of my insanity? nave
no doubt that my answers TO these emssaries' in
terrOgatons were not very rational or consistent,
for my imagination was heated by other things; but
DIR Baillie could not conscentiousy make me OUT a
certificate for Bedlam, and perhaps the LAWYER gave
tor said afterwards he had been told that always
looked down when Lady Byron bent her eyes ,e5 on
particularly those that marked the late kings case
so strongly"
In Don Juan, canto j., stanza 27, he de-
scribes the affair again.
''For Inez called some druggists and physicians,
- And tried to prove her loving lord was """'
But as he had some lucid intermissons
She next decided he was only bad;
Yet when they ask'd her for her depOsitions,
No sort Of explanation could he had,
save that her duty both to man and COD
Required this COnduCt-whtch seemd very ouu''
Lady Byron continues the story in the fol-
lowing words, not quoted by Mrs Stowe;-
in perfect harmony; that feelings Incompatible win
any deep sense Of injury had dictated the letter
must have been changed by persuasion and interfe-
renee when / was under the roof of my parents
These assertions and nerences are wholly destltutc
OF foundation. The accounts given me after lett
Lord Byron by the persons i'm constant intercourse
with him added to those doubts which had before
| transienty occurred to my mind, as TO the reality
Of the alleged disease, and the reports of his med-
| cal attendant far from establishing the
! existence of anything like lunacy. Under
| |
| municate to my parents that If were to con
| slider Lord ByrOn's past conduct as that OF
! persorof sound mind, nothing could induce me to
return to him. 1t therefore appeared eXpedient both
to them and myself to consult the aslest advisers.
For that object, and also to obtain still further nOr
nation respecting appearances which seemed to in
| dicate mental arrangement, my mother determined
| legal opinions on written statement of mine, though
l had then reasons for reservng part of the case
| from the knowledge even OF my father and mother.
Being convinced by the result of these inquiries and
| by the tenor of Lord Byron's proceedings that the
| notion of insanity an Illusion, no longer hesi-
tated to authorize such measures as were necessary,
! in order to secure me from being ever again
| ton my Iather wrote to nm on the "a oil teDruary
| to propose an amicable separation. Lord Byron at
trstrejected this proposal; but when was distinctly
notified to him that If he persisted in his refusal re-
course must be had TO legal measures, he agreed to
| sign deed of separation. Upon applying to Dr.
Lushington, who was Intimately acquainted with all
the circumstances, to state in writing what he reCOl-
lected upon this subject, received from him the
my mother cannot have been aCuated by any hostile
or ungenerous motives toward Lord Byron:-
| 'My Dear Lady Byron Il can rely upon the accu-
racy Of my memory for the following statement:-I
was originally consulted by Lady Noel on your be-
| half while YOU were i'm the country The crcum-
stances detailed by her were such as justified a
separation, but they not of that aggravated de-
scrptOn as to render such measure Indispensable.
On Lady Noels representation, deemed recon-
| cationwith Lord Byron practicable, and felt, most
TB6rd sincerely wish to aid in @6ai e@eGtng it.
any eXaggeraton of the facts, nor so far as /
could perceive, any determination to pre-
vent return to Lord Byron; certainly none was
pressed when spoke of reconciliation. WhenyOu
came to townin about fortnight, or perhaps more,
| after my first interview with Lady Noel was for
the first time informed by you OF facts utterly un-
! known, as have no doubt, to Sir Ralph and Lady
| Noel On receiving this additional information my
opinion was entirely changed; considered recon-
citation impossible. / declared my opinion, and
added that, il such an idea should be entertained
could not, either professionally or otherwise, take
any part towards etlectng it, Believe me- very faith
| fully yours, STEPHEN LUsHINGTON.
"Gfeat George street, Jan. 81, 1880"
Whatever the secret charge brought for
ward at this interview may have been, it is
evident that DIR. Lushington was persuaded
of its truth and it's gravity. Lord Byron
always professed to be ignorant of the mo-
tives of his wife's conduct, and complained
that neither she nor her friends would make
any specific charge which would give him an
opportunity of self-vindication or atonement
He blamed himself severely for his general
behavior, praised his wife in the warmest
terms, and declared that for a year he
cherished the hope of reconciliation. But
later in life, when this hope had left him,
he manifested an extremely bitter
feeling towards his wife, and satirized her
with great coarseness in several of his poems.
If we are to suppose that he was sincere in
the expression of these various feelings-in
his hope of reconciliation and in his subse-
quent bitterness-it will be very hard to be-
lieve that he had really been guilty of the
awful crime of which he is accused. Still
more difficult will it be to reconcile with the
consciousness of such guilt the following
lines, written a few months after the separa
ton, "On hearing that Lady Byron was ILL.,
have had many foes, but none like thee;
For gainst the rest myself l could defend,
And be avenged, or turn them into friend;
But thou in safe implacabnity
Hast naught to dread-n thy own weakness shielded
And in my love which hath but too much yielded
And spared for thy sake some | should not spare
And thus upon the word-trust in thy truth,
And the wild fame of my ungOyemd youth
On things that were not and on things that are
| Even upon such basis hast thou but
a monument, whose cement hath been guilt!
The moral Clytemnestra of thy Lord,
And hew'd down with an unsupported sword,
Fame, peace, and hOpe-and all the better life
Which, but for this cold treason of thy heart.
Might still have risen from out the grave OF strife,
And found nobler duty than to part.
, MRS. LEIGH.
Mrs. Leigh, whose name is coupled witt
the poets in this horrible story, was his half
sister and some five or six years his senior.
His father had run off to the continent with
the wife of Lord Carmarthen, and married
the lady after the Marquis had obtained dl-
yorce from her. Augusta was the only fruit
of this union. The poet was the offspring OF
n second marriage. Brother and sister did
NOT know each other-indeed they rarely met