The New York herald., 1875-07-18
The statue 10 Byron.

Some time since movement was made to-
ward erecting a statue to Lord Byron. We OBJ
serve that public meeting has been held to
subscribe funds for the purpose Mr.. Disraeli
was In the chair. Among the speakers we
note w-countryman, General Wilson
Inc telegraph is so vague that we are left in
doubt as to which of our distinguished
soldiers bearing that name was gallant
enough to represent u.s. But whoever he
was, we are sure that his assurance that the
United States would pay one-fourth Of the
ten thousand dollars necessary was not ill
judged The presence OF Disraeli at the meet
ing was becoming. Disraeli, the most sue
cessful literary man of the century, so far as
rising to power is concerned, is the
proper person to honor the most
celebrated English writer of the century.
Disraeli may be said to be liter
airy contemporary of Lord Byron. He was
thinking of ''yivian Grey" while the other
was writing "Don Juan" He came into
literature in some senses his pupil or follower.
One of his most charming novels is based
upon the life of Lord Byron and his daughter.
Disraeli has manliness and appreciation
enough to rise above the cant which has so
long clouded the fame Of Byron and to insist
that justice should be done to his genius in
the capital of the nation which cherishes that
genius among its glories.
One of the greatest of English critics,
shortly after Byron's death. in discussing his
genius, said:-''A few more years will destroy
whatever yet remains of the magical potency
which once belonged to the name of Byron.
To us be is still man, young, noble and un-
happy. To our children he will be merely a
writer and their impartial judgment will
appoint his place among writers without re-
gard to his rank or his private history
More than half century has passed since
Lord Byron died, but 'the magical potency
of his name" still remains. 1t is as fresh now
as it was in the time of our fathers. The sin
gular ancestral and personal history, the sad
domestic life, the sudden rise to q supreme
rank in the republic of letters, to-day the
darling of society, tomorrow its execration,
Prince and exile before he was thirty, the wild
lite in Italy and the glorious death in Greece
these are incidents that do not enter into all
literary lives Byron, like Chatterton, Burns
and Poe, has become romantic name in liter
ature. Young men and young ladies also have
their Byron fever, generally when turning
the corner Of their teens. The world grows
dark to them. No more no, never more, on
them the freshness of the heart will fall like
dew. If piracy were not capital offence and
no iciao Nf Eraaoa 1acc
of them would turn pirate like Conrad They
go through the fever with lacerated hearts
and scowling lips, and cynical smiles, and
not the most exalted idea of the Command
ments. But the fever goes and in time they
come to rightly estimate Byron. The ''magi-
cal potency" of his name rarely affects a cul-
tivated person over thirty. We see the faults
of Byron the mischief of much of his philos-
ophy, his wantonness, his egotism and selfish
ness. But we see also genius 80 daring, so
sweeping, sorich, so thoroughly masculine and
Saxon that we must go back to Shakespeare to
find its superior.
There are those who will place Milton and
Wordsworth and even Shelley on higher
plane tlan Byron. 1t would not be profitable
to enter into this controversy Wordsworth,
Milton and Shelley were men OF a purer genius
than Byron, and OF loftier soul Byron
comes near to the heart of England, Just as
Burns touches that CT Scotland and Goethe
that of Germany. He is the most English
poet since Shakespeare-the one who is ac-
cepted by foreign nations as the best type Of
Ta0 EnOliah fiC thOuoht T,
we find Lamartine as his commentator; in
Germany the illustrious Goethe performs the
same office; while in Spain his life has been
written by CASTELAR,. we question if any
writer since Shakespeare has made the same
impression upon American thought as Byron.
In many respects Byron is as much American
as English. Heapproaches more nearly to that
type of the Saxon character which has devel-
oped in America. Nor should We forget that
he never failed to do justice to our country,
and that from his pen came the most eloquent
tribute to Washington in the English tongue.
We are glad to see this tendency, even at
this late day, to do him honor We can say
for the American people that we shall be glad
to do our share toward the Byron monument
in London. We should hike also to see one in
our Central Park. That would be double
honor and one that Americans could gracefully
pay to the memory of the poet who died in
the service of freedom aud never hesitated TO
do honor to America.
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