The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-08-10
Lord ISyrOn's Daughter.

Lord IsyrOn's Daughter.
Few persons probably have ever read the
commencing and concluding stanzas Of the
third canto Of "Child Harold" without q
deep interest In the "Ada" he touchingly
apostrophizes. The story of her life, inti.
mately enough known in those rcpertorics
OF unwriten biographies of the aristocracy
the Paul Mall Cluhs-has not often been
told abroad. 1t will be remembered that
the first and only born of that unhappy
marriage OF Lord Byron to Miss Milbanis
was just five weeks old when the mother
anu wife, for reasons never satisfact.
orlly explained, returned to her fathers
mousse. Hero tho infant grew into girlhood
under the care Of her mother. and here, af.
ter Lady Byron's accession to her property,
where the foundations of August. Ada's
education laid. Inhcriting uncommon
genius, though, as we shall presently cx-
plain, wholly diverse from her fathers, she
was brought up with the most tender care.
and educated by the most thorough train.
ing. Her personal beauty DEVELOPED with
hor mind. Sho is;describcd by O person
who frequently saw her, when, at the. age
of twenty years, she was living with her
mother at Clifton Springs, as one of the
most queenly presence and graceful car.
riage, her complexion fresh, her features of
perfect contour, her eyes large and BRILL
ant, her head set upon her shoulders like
her fathers, her hair chcsnut, abundant
and wavy, and her person slightly embon.
point, but perfect in proportions. TO these
charms there were added voice of great
sweetness, ard a vivacity in conversation
that held in thrall all who approached her.
her tastes, however were for. pure mathe
mates. Whether owing to her education
for she read no poetry, and never saw q
work OF Byron TIL past her puberty-or to
inheritance from her mother, her under
standing Of the exact sciences was excellcd
ny no woman of her time, except Mrs. SOM
erville, and, indeed, by few of the other
sex. In proof OF her extraordinary attain
ments III this respect, it is mentioned by
the late Charles Babbage, in his ''Passagcs
from the Life ola Philosopher that she
informed him that she had translated for
amusement 'Nenabrca's Memoir of the
Analytical Engine" from the Bibliothcquc
Oniverselle." He proposed that she should
add notes of her own. This she did, on
tending them TO three times the length of
the original momolr. Babbagc says that
TO all persons capable of understanding the
reasoning 10 furnishes "a demonstration of
analysis are capable of being executed by
machinery" This translation with the
notes may be found in Vol. XNNI of the
transactions of the Royal Society,""
Ada Byron was married to the Earl of
Lovelace in March, 1886. The marriage
was not an unhappy one. Her husband,
respectable IN talents and domestic habits,
Lord Lieutenant of his county and high in
social position, suitable IN age, and possess
cd OF large estates, regarded his wife with
mingled feelings Of affection and admira-
tlon. Unwilling that she should be known
publicly as authoress, he, nevertheless, Of
tenerthan once gave permission that certain
OF her articles on various branches of
science, about which thinking men made
inquiry, might be acknowledged as hers,
Children were born to them, their tastes
were no more dissimilar than was consis-
tent with common if not promotive of un.
usual DarInony and their home was often
spoken of by those old enough to remember
the two, by furnishing a happy contrast to
that which her mother had abandoned
twenty years before. But Lady Lovclacc
craved excitement. Neither town life nor
country was sufficient to satisfy her inhcri-
ted desire for constant stimulus Neither
her study nor her pen, the care of her
children, nor the pleasures of society, her
rank among the aristocracy, nor tie ad-
mlration her beauty and gifts received
wherever she appeared, were sufficient. She
speculatcd in tho funds, bet at horse races,
bought and sold in the stock market, and
finally, during the railway mania, that un-
der the lead of Hudson, was second only
IN its universally among the rich and great
South Sea bubble of the early davs of tho
last century, partook largely in the ven
turc. All this could we'll enough DC with
out the knowledge, as it was, of her hus-
band. Beside the ample s'pin money"
allowed her III the marriage ge-settlcmcnt,
large returns came to her from trust
funds held for her in her own right. But
she went too deep. Her risks were unfort-
unate; and though sho might have recov-
cred from all this, most inopportuncly her
attorney became a bankrupt, and her opcr-
ations were exposed, in his assets before
the Courts, to the world. Terribly morti.
fled, she appealed to her husband, who, to
save the scandal of any legal process can
celed her liabilities by n very considerable
pecuniary sacrifice. The shock however,
was too great for her excitfble nature and
it has always been believed by those who
best knew what followed that the shame she
felt ut the exposure was the Promote, if not
the proximatc, cause Of her death.
. -~~S--
a Great Work.
Somewhere about 5000 workmcn, 600