American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-12-05
Byr0n's Mother.

If Byron's ancestry was a dark one on
his fathers side, it was an evil one on his
mothers, who was an Incarnation of all
unreason. She was ignorant, she was
silly, she was passionate: in her RACES
she was uncomfortable. She would in
dulge him to excess one day, and the
next he was - u lame brat" When they
| were on good terms he would call her
Kitty Gordon" and when they were in
their theatrical RACES he would throw
open the door of the drawing loom, and
say: !" Enter the Honorable Kitty" She
| was fond of him, in her wild, foolish
way. and was generally at war with his
guardian and his teacher. He was al
lowed, while at school, to spend Sunday
with her; but that did not satisfy her,
for she frequently kept him week,
and would not send him back. When
his teacher refused to let him visit her
she went to the school and abused him
so loudly that the scholars and servants
could not help hearing her. byron,
your mother is fool" said one of his
schoolmates.. 81 know it," he answered,
glOOmily.
Whether Byron loved his mother may
be doubted, but it is certain that he
| treated her with respect and Difference.
| He repaired Newstead Abbey and placed
her in it when he went abroad, and he
| frequently wrote to her, addressing her
as the Hon. Mrs. Byron, a title to which
she had no claim. She was proud of his
genius and read with eagerness all that
she saw about him IN print. When he
returned to England after his two years
travel she was anxious to see him. He
wrote from his hotel in London that he
would soon see her, and in the psstcript
of his note said: You will consider
Newstead as your house and not NINE
and me only as a visitor" Superstitious,
at all times, she remarked to her waiting
woman when she read the note: "a If
should be dead before Byron comes
down what a strange thing it would ber'
The strange thing came to pass, and was
brought about by fit of rage into which
holsterer's bills. Byron received notice
of her illness and started instantly to her
but arrived too late. She had breathed
her last. My poor mother died yester-
day.! he wrote to his friend Pigot, and
l am on my way from town to attend
her to the family vault. heard one day
of her illness, the next of her death.
Thank God her moments were most
tranquil l am told she was in little
pain, and not aware of her situation.
now feel the truth of Mr.. Gray's observa-
ton, that we can only have one
mother"
Byron was deeply touched by his
mothers death, and the night after he
reached Newstead was heard by her
waiting-woman signing heavily in the
room where her body lay. Sheentered
and found him sitting in the dark beside
the bed. When she expostulated with
him on the weakness OF giving way to
grief he burst into tears and exclaimed /:
"Oh! Mrs. BY. l had but one friend in the
world. and she is gone" On the morn
ing of the funeral he would not follow
the body to the grave, but stood looking
from the Abbey door until the process
sion had moved off Then he turned to
his man, Rushton. who was the only per-
son remaining, and, asking him to fetch
the sparring gloves, he proceeded to take
his usual exercise with him. Silent and
distracted, he threw more violence into
his blows than was his habit, rs if to get
the better of his feelings. AT last the
struggle was too much for him; he flung
away the gloves and retired to his own
room--R Fl. !Stoddard, IN Scribner's
Monthly.