The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-08-08
BYRON'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 indulge him to
excess one day, and the next he was ga
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 room, and say: ENTER the Hon.
orable Kitty" She was fond of him, in
her wild, foolish way, and was generally at
war with his guardian and his teacher. He
was allowed, while at school, to spend Sun
day with her; but that did not satisfy her,
for she frequently kept him week, and
teacher refused to let him visit her she went
to the school, and abused him so loudly
that the scholars and the servants could not
help hearing her. byron, your mother
is fool,' said one of his schoolmates. 81
know it," he answered, gleomily.
Whether Byron loved his mother may be
doubted, but it is certain that he treated
here with respect and Difference. He re-
paired Newsstand Abbey and placed her in
it when he went abroad, and he frequently
wrote to her, addressing her as the Honora-
BILE 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 Eng
land after bis 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 postscript of his note said:
"You will consider Nswstead as your
house, and not mine, and me only as a
visitor" Superstitious at all times, she
remarked to her waiting woman when she
read the note: elf should be dead before
Byron comes down what a strange thing it
would be-" The strange thing came to
pass and was brought about by a fit Of
rage into which she was thrown by read
ing over her upholsterer's bills. Byron
received notice of her illness, and started
had breathed her last. My poor mother
died yesterday ~ he wrote to his friend
Pigot, "and l am on my way from town to
attend her to the family vault. l heard one
Thank God, her last moments were most
tranquil. l am told she was in little pain,
and not aware of her situation. l now
feel the truth of Mr.. Gray's observation,
that we can only have one MOTHER"
Byron was deeply touched by his moth
er's death, and the night after he reached
Newstead, was heard by her waiting
man, signing heavily in the room where
her body lay. She entered, 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, had but
one friend in the world, and she is gone ~
On the morning of the funeral he would
not follow the body to the grave, but stood
looking from the Abbey door until the pro-
cession had moved off. Then he turned to
his man, Rushton, who was the only person
remaining, and, asking him to fetch the
sparring gloves, he proceeded to take his
usual exercise with him. Silent and alb
stracted, he threw more violence into his
blows than was his habit, as 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.
N.,r,x,m,, Da,y, an -.