The Sumter watchman. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1855-1881, 1870-01-19
Terms
fFr"ln tho New York Times. ]
,,;:s. STOVES SECOND NARRATIVE

fEr"ln tho New York Times.
u"s. STOVES SECOND NARRATIVE.
We regret to be compelled Mt the
outsct to state our opinion that tho rep
u,ation which will suffer most by this
nav "rcvclaliun" Mrs. Stoves vindica.
,iou Of her statement concerning Lord
Byron and Mrs. Lcigh] is that Of Mrs.
Stowe herself. Not only has she no new
evidence OF any kind to offer, but she
involve. herself in so strange mesh Of
Contradictions aud Inconsistencies that
-, last She stands hriorc u> like q prt,sr.
c,,or " I,u feels himself bound TO press
the charge even after he has discovered
,Lc innocence of ,hc accused. She
scixcs uppn every straw that comes in
her way She puts her own interprcta-
tion unon passages in Lord Byron's wri.
iings ior tic purpose Of identifying the
poct with the creatious of his fancy.
She contradicts her former "true story"
she contradicls the story which sho now
declares that Lady Byron told her; !;
mud lastly, she contralicts, in the last
rart Of her present volume, the accusa-
tinns which she makes in the FIRST part
We are far from entertaining uny desire
10 give pain to lady from whom the
whole civilized world has received sub
stantal benefits But we arc compelled
TO believe that Mrs. Stowe is as much
the victim Of morbid delusion as ever
Lady Byron herself was. and that on
this particular subject she has lost the
hover to discriminate between truth and
iction.
Wo invite the reader to form an Judo.
pcn'lcnt judgment upon Mrs. Stoves
second story by closly analyzing it aud
comparaing it with the first. In her
first story she distinctly and repeatedly
assured us that Lady Byron knew Of the
intimacy which existed between Lord
Byron and his sister from the time she
was married till the day when she could
support her ill.trcatment no longer, and
Quilted her husbands 8 roof. Everybody
who has read tho iirst "story" will re-
member the stress which Mrs. Stowe
lays upon this knowledge OF the guilty
secret" TO quote one passage only (:
"rhc two years (sic) in which lady by
ren was struggling to bring her husband
hack to his better sclfwere series Of
passionate convulsions." The astound.
ins fact has now to be told that Mrs.
Stowe ignores the Whole Of the state.
mcut, and. without word Of explana-
ton, substitutes totally different and
irrccuncilablc series Of alleged facts.
Iu an elaborate argument she shows that
Lady Byron lid not discover the "full
extent" OF the guilty connection until
slater period" No new circumstan.
ccs lave como to Ars. Stoves knowl-
edge to induce her to change her OPT.
nion thus suddenly on vital part of her
case. But icttcrs Of Lady Byron to
Mrs Leigh have been published by
third pcrsons-lcttcrs written after the
scparaiion-so full Of affcctionatc and
trnsttul expressions towards the "guil-
ty" sister that Mrs Stowe cannot quite
close her mind to the evidence they pre-.
sent. She feels herself obliged to ac.
count for those letters, aud US she in
stinc,ivcly disccrus that wife could
not write to her husbands mistress MS
Lady byron wrote to Mrs. Leigh, she
at once presents us with totally new
set Of conjccturcs. Wo are asked to
discard that picture presented in the
.fra story Of Lady Byron wrestling with
Lord Byron for hi, soul, and to believe
that not until after the ecpcration-h0w
long Mrs. Stowe il cautious enough not
to say-did the vile learn Of the hus-
bands guilt.
But now comes the most startling aud
incxplicablc part of this second narra-
tive. In putting forward the hypothc
sis just mentioned, Mrs Stove not only
con,radicts herself, but she fatty alters
orrepudiatcs the disclosure made to hel
by Lady Byron. In the extended rela
tion which she now gives Of her convcr.
sation on the day when the secret was
confdcd to her, wc are expressly tolc
that Lady Byron found out the inti-
macy soon after her marriage. Lady
Byron told Mrs. Stowe, MS the latter now
declares, that one day she saw Lord
Byron taking liberties with his sister
that she (thc wife) demonstrated, ana
that Lord Byron cxultcd in his crime
saying that the depth and horror Of il
'wcre The very attractions-that he hao
worn out all ordinary forms Of sin, and
that he lonsed for the stimulus Of a
new kind Of vice" These we're Lord
Byron's words to Lady Byron, as repor-
ted by the latter to Mrs. Stowe. But
now Mrs. Stowe secs plainly that Lady
Byron's letters to Mrs. Leigh alone dis
prove her charge, and she seeks to OK
plain away the Inconsistency by assign
ing the discovery Of the guilty secret
to vague and unknown period.
Nor is this all. Mrs. Stowe, having
first depicted Lord Byron as monster
of dcpravity, now submits to the world
singular medical argument to prove
that lie was nat IL his ,yht mind. Their
even supposing her charge to be true
what becomes Of tho criminals mora
accountability2 She says that tn.
poets cxccsscs, combined with "immcns.
draughts on the brain.powor Of rapit
anl brilliant composition" probably
"cndcd in that abnormal state in whicI
cravings for unnatural vice give in
1ioot;orn oc oi,;nr, br,,;n