New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-31

lovely bEildlng,-part a residence and part
ruin. To ME it is the home of honorcd friends
and hesitate 10 write Of il. yet Of its associa-
ton with Byron any writer may speak and
those are of the deepest interest The present
owner Col. w. +. Webb who bought New
stead after the ath Of Col. Wildman, has
restored ii, in revorent spirit. and with ex-
quisite taste The rooms that Byron occupied
are adjacent to the west end Of the ruined
church. on the second story Of the dwelling, and
accessible by circular stone staircase from the
cloister; and these kept In the same condi-
ton when he left them The visitor sees
the old square bedstead ornamcnted with coro-
nets. the mirror, the table. the prints the oricl
window and especially the three-quarter por-
trait-lfeke and excellent,-which hangs in
the dressing room. Of old Joe Murray. who had
been butler to Byron's predecessor and who
served the poet. in the s3me Office. That por-
trait impress u me as The most significant Of all
the relics in those rooms. Moore relates that
Byron. when at dinner. would often fill out a
tumbler Of Madeira and pass it, with a Kind
word to old Joe Murray, standing behind MS
chair
Next to Byrons bedroom is a smaller room.
in former times connected with the church 10
which the monks tof St Augustine. for tina,
said TO be haunted now.-and well it may be
A bed in that room is covered with handsome
quilt, richly and finely embroidered with en-
bems Of the sants-a soace for perturbtd spr
its Of this world if not of the other Opening
from the cloister is a vault now sort Of store
house, which Byron uscl i bath. His study.
in which he wrote English Bards' is on the
lower floor. a low room. containing many coll
umns TO support a vauted roof and this. in Colo
mel Webbs time has long been used school
room for his children. The great hall. seventy
feet by twenty-five. in which Byron and his
gay comrades monks they called themselves.
and the young poet was their Abbot practised
with the pistol and drank burgundy from a
human skull is now suTptuous drawing
ROOM adorned With many paintings and filed
with objects Of beauty. one Of thu pictures is
the Phillips portrait Of BYRON marvellous for
life and color to which no engraving has ever
done justice. He had the face II a god If h.
resembled that picture and {, look upon il with
intuitive eyes is readily 10 understand the
havoc that he made Of happiness and life. An
other portrait shows that afflicted Earl of Arun-
del who destroyed his boys reason by striking
him upon the head with a cane and " no caused
the dreadful incident t. be thus imperishably
recorded, in expation OF his sinful act Mat
ure Still another represents The Wicked Lord
Byron" whose ghost il is whispered. still walks.
in a midnight hour. the long Corridors and shad-
owy chambers Of his gaunt. mysterious ro-
mantle, and solemn house The monks skull
that Byron used a goblet fit mad. ~ course.
been scraped. polished. and mounted in silverl.
has been rcverently buried and the place 81 its
sepuichre is known only to two persons Among
the relics is the picc" ~ the tr,c-irunk the +
tree decayed with age and was out down !. =
on which Byron carved his name and hat OF
his beloved half-sst"r. 60 cruelty maligned in
our day. Augusta, Mrs Leigh. Ia OF the
corridors is jacket that Byron wore, when in
Greece II had been made for Trelawney, but, .
proving small for that giant it taken 10y .
the poet, The son OF Byrons valet Fletcher !
iilched it from his father and carried it to the /
Cape ~ Good Hope, wh.refrom. after some
adventures il found its way. perfectly authent- 7
Gated into the hands Of Colonel Webb, and thus
to the early home OF its old owner
In one of the many sumptuous chambers Of
this imperial mansion j. bed that was used by .
Oliver Cromwell. Several Of the rooms are as
sociated with great Princes Of the past. In front
Of the Abbey, beyond wide lawn. lies the Lake" .
well described in Don Juan" Back Of the
Abbey extends a gorgeous garden, behind which .
dense and lofty rs, tho old trees - the stately /
park. Writing Of IT IN 1911 Byron said. The +
ghosts and the gothcs and the waters and the ,
desolation make it lovely still' The same words .
might truly be said Of ii to-day looked .
at the leaden satyrs in tho grove, and at the .
tarn over which. even at noon day, the bats
are fitting. and | paused at the Wishing Well .
and fingered at the massive monument over
Boatswan the dog The monument stands
precisely where the chancel of the Abbey church |
nlusi onoe haXe sinnl I'M nnA is nnIA