San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-02-08


Byron.
Az Esslish writer. in the course Of
q review Of new life Of Byron. says
His name did not appear on SUBJ
scrip.ion lists, though bis purse was
always open 70 the needy; he wrote
Hebrew melodies, which . living critic
has pronounced 10 DO ''lrsught with
the spirit Of Isaiah" but he did not
subscribe to the propagation Of the
Gospel Society" he abhorred slavery,
but he did not swell the train Of Mr..
Wilbsforce. He poured forth pro-
fusely, descriptions Of the gloriss Of
foreign lands. but he INDUCED 10 none
Of the sentiments which make Eng.
lishmen Justly proud Of their ooun.
try"
In bis opinions he was q kind Of
Hermit in London ono Of the
smooth and similar people whose vers'
es edify and whose after dinner speech
% delight al approving public. He
puzzled people quite Is much - he de.
lighted them; and unluokily for him
self, he delighted in pushing them.
But the hero of . season rides and
will ever ride with q slave in bis tri-
umphant chariot. The golden statue
has always = foot Of clay. Demus gets
tired of its handsome and accomplish.
ed Alcibiades, and next to the pleas.
ure Of seating him on the throne is the
pleasure Of dragging him of it.
Neither consent Of credible witness.
es nor zeal in his champion is able to
display Byron in q uniform light.
Those who were admitted to- his init
macy concur in their accounts Of bis
mutability. lie was at once silent and
self. conferred. free Of speech and alta.
bic of demeanor; at times sad and
speculative as Hamlet, at times as
knocking and gpotesaue as Soarron.
Highly generous and benevolent, he
deemed no sacrifice for others too
great; yet he delighted to tease his
friends, as children delight in teas
ing their pets; and bis correspondence
shows him parodying writer's whom he
highly esteemed, er peuuing lampoons
on those whom he had praised in
verse. and to whom he had dedicated
poems.
His literary tastes were not more
consistent than his personal likings.
He was among the foremost innoya.
tiers in English poetry, and yet wor-
shipper at the shrine of Pope. There
is one reason for thinking him indiff-
erent to Shakespeare, and though the
poem which made him famous between
bedtime and breakfast was written in
the Spencerian measure, he could not
endure the Faery Queen. Like Hor-
ace Walpole he revilsd kings, yet there
are few sympathies in his writings for
liking Mob" he often satirized his
his own order. and yet be was proud Of
his Norman blood. He was consist
ent in his love for Shelley and Moore.
aud the strokes he most severely felt
Tere those caused by the early deaths
Of his school and college friends. Shell
ley, by his scholarship. his imaginative
power, and his metaphysical specula-
tons, inspired him with kind of awe,
which did not, however, interfere with
true affection. Moore's society and
correspondence afforded him unmixed
and unfailing delight. Neither was
there any varia bleness in his demean-
or to dependents. He knew their
worth rs we'll as he knew that OF the
parasites who summed themselves in
his favor. To Fletcher and Tita he
was a kind and equable master; he
played with, according to their deserts.
the Medwips and Polidoris of his
retinue.