New-York tribune., 1870-01-01
A NEW Byron STORY.

ain born with the curse upon her, VIII, Ne way
ward nature LADY Byron watched with mC ~lef
tenderness. 4, She was the orc wb9 could hN,o
patience when the patience of every one -e fahe.
and though the task was q difficult one from L.
strange abnormal propensites 10 evil in the subject
of it, yet Lady Byron never faltered and gave
over till death took the responsibility from her
hands, Many have supposed that this child, like
the crime of which the child was assumed to
be the fruit, was only the phantom of q disordered
BRAN; but the writer OF the article in the last
Qtarterly Rerier, in note on the passage We have
nnotedl made the following significant remark; As
the child was not what the context may suggest,
and has nothing to do with the story this paragraph
is TO the last degree wanton and cruel, erery one
WhO kROws What that child rGs must feel"
What that child was the book to which DR.. Charles
Mackay has lent his name processes to reveal Incl
dentally il also undertakes to show that Lady By
rons accusation against her husband was unfOunded,
and to explain how that accusation to be made.
We may warn our readers at the start, 1st, that,
supposing the narrative to be authentic. it prore'
nothing as TO the truth or untTuth Of the
charge in controversy, though it opens some
curious coniectures and Cd, that no evidence
Is offered of its authenticity. while several
circumstances connected with the publication are
suspicious. DIR. Mackay informs MS that he received
the autobiography from "a FRIEND" among whose
papers il had lain unheeded for % years. He does
not say who his friend is he docs not distinctly in
form us where that friend obtained the MS. For the
present. he says, we mast be content to know that
the friend is a Mr. s.. and that he came into pos
session OF the papers while he was endeavoring TO
bring about reconciliation between Lady Byron
and the unfortunate person whose story they
relate. This is about unsatisfactory as
anything could well be; and we might reject the
book at once were it not for two circum-
stances which indirectly and imperfectly vouch for
i. Il is clear for instance both from Mrs. Stoves
account and the comment of the wcll-nfOrmed
winter in The Quarterly, that there was a child of
Mrs Legh's upon whom sort of mystery rested !;
and in the narrative here presented correspondence
is mentioned or quoted with various members of the
Byron family and other well known persons-cor-
respondence which would be at once repudiated if
the story were a mere bOok-maker's fraud. Passing
over the shameful language which the editor per
mits himself to use toward Mrs Stowe in the in
troductory chapter; the calumnious and utterly
uncalled for remarks about American "nigger-wor-
shippers" Republicans, and grim Purtans, who
plotted 20 destroy the Union a means of getting
rid Of Slavery; and the Improbable resume of tho
whole Byron controversy which fills nearly third
of the literally padded book, come to the history
Of Medora Leigh, the fourth daughter of Lord By
rOn's sister.
IN the summer OF lSff, tWtuty-ScNcn years 8lltT
the separation Of Lord and Lady Byron and nine
teen years after the poets death, Medora Leigh then
twenty-cight years of age. from Paris to Lon
don accompanied by her child daughter of nine OF
ten. She is described gOOd-lOOking lively. and
agreeable but in bad health and without money.
Her expenses in travelling had been betrayed by a
retired English officer, Capt. De B lanothcr
anonymous witncssl. whose acquaintance she had
made az IIyeTcs in the South Of France. where she
lived for time before going TO Paris. He found
her destitute in the French capital; he heard her
story; be learned from her lips that she was the
daughter of Mrs Leigh by Lord Byron. and until re-
Gently had been treated with great kindness and lib
eIality by Lady Byron; and he urged her to go to
LONDON and plead her cause IN person with
her rich and powerful relatives, help
ing her ont of his slender purse, and even
supporting her for some time after her arrival in
England In London she had an interview with DR..
Mackays Mr.. s., one of the partners in law
finn with which Captain De b had dealings,
She wrqte out the painful story Of her life and COL
WINGED him Of the truth of all her assertions. He
had several interviews with Lady Byrons legal
advisers. DrI Washington and Sir George stephen,
with a view Of bringing about "A reconciliation. He
failed in that; lie failed also in an effort to induce
the family to refund what Capt De B had
advanced. But before pursue this part
Of the history any further 1t will be
convenient to disregard DR.. Mackay's order Of mar
ratiyc and look at the extraordinary autobiography
which this handsome woman of @S laid before
her counsel:
81 am the fourth child a family OF seven.
BY eldest sister, GeOrgisua, married Mr Henry Ire
yeats ola The marriage, which had met the approba-
~ 10 one except NY mother dd not turn out very
temper Of both parties Vas frequently called I'D
10 keep them company, sud in Ach, 1929 (aiter they
had been married three years. II was decided that
should ACCOMPANY them to a country mouse En]ch ] hau
been placed at their disposal By my aunt Auuabea,
Lady Byron duriug the time OF my sisters ar-
pto5chng confinement. The house was IN the
neghbouriood Of Canterbury.
my sisters illness. before her confinement was the oe-
csrOu Of ny pelug LEFT much aoc WIN Mr. ifcVahlOh
Indeed found ny self thrown ehireiy hm ior SO
by night and frequently sent by my sister INTO MS
bedroom oh 'IaI.s, ai'ei c,S'' .d U,e -, "a ~ ,,r
retired 10 r,st some months lasstd lh this mahheT
during which Nj IrcvaIuOI took advantage OF my youth
sud weakness and effected ruu aud found my sell
iiErIy 10 become a mother. by u had ever dsKed.
MI Trevaulou, when made aware OF my position, IN
plof,d Ia tell GtoTgI Iba the uuth ana tliOW MN alu
NY self upon her mercy. did bly, misery and my
repeBIaucc appeared 20 move her much ana sue blamed
Ieyauionj way was but fifteen years of age at TINS
nne-Iu the wear 1880"
Nj. and Mrs. Trcvanion carried the unfortunate
gir to Calais aud there she prematurcly deliy-
cred Of a child. which was left ia charge of medical
man. and died at the age OF three months She went
back To her mothers house. concealing what
had happened. and there ITeyauion seduccd her
again. Mrs Ieigh was taken INTO her conf
tence. aud treated her with great kindness Mrs.
Treyauion was also informed. aud took her sister of
20 the country where, three months alter
ward, that H. in June. 1881. she was
surprised by u visit from Col. Leigh. Georgiana and
Trcyan0u lad informed her that Col. Leigh Wds not
her aikey but she did not believe them, and Mr,
Leigh himself was - far from snspecting anything
Of the kind that be showed more affection Cor MedOIa
than for any Of The other children Of the family.