New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-18

to him. How long will Lord Byron persevere II
his present diet? He replied Just as long a.
! YOU continue tn notice it, and afterwarc
Rogers learned that Byron had left the house
| that night and gone straight to hearty mea
supper at a club in st. James'sst. Other in
| stances Of Byron's theatrical behavior might
| be cited yet we believe that If there were twice
as many they would leave undiminshed the con
yicton of what Matthew Arnold called Byrons
| splendid sincerity and strength. Arnold APP
piled his famous expression to Byron the poet
AS we turn the pages Of the present volume We
feel that We must apply it to Byron the letter
! writer. which is to say. to Byron the man. II
| he was the most self-conscOus man " his time
he was not for that reason the least genuine
On the contrary. his intense selfhood made al
| that he said and did extraordinarily poignant.
! II needs Mr. Protheros notes to make us re-
aZe that Byron was a dandy, Top, an as
siduous diner-Out a man Of nirtations and follies
lie seems to have weighed his cxtravagances
himself with justice and to have been eccentric
without being foolish. Even his cOcksure scepti-
cism when he writes To HOdgson. refusing TO be-
lcvc in religious matters as his friend believes.
contains "A certain force Of honesty and manli-
ness. And side by side with fragrant bump
tiousness about matrimony and paternity. in his
letters to his sister. there are he painest in
dica lions of the tcnderest feeling. His attitude
toward his mother may have been outrageous.
but there is no mistaking the deep feeling which
he had for Augusta Leigh. u don't know what
Scrope Davies meant" he says. by telling you
| | liked children: | abominatc the sight of them
so much that | have always had the greatest
| respect for the character of Herod" and in an
/ other letter. replying To one in which his sister
talks Of the possibility of his marrying, he OBJ
serves: AS to Lady r., when | discover one
rich enough to suit mo and foolish enough 10
have me- | will give her leave to make me mis-
cradle if she can. Money is the magnet as to
Women, is we'll as another, the Older the
/ better: we have then chance of getting her
to heaven" But in these same letters Byron
shows himself full Of sympathy for his sister
eager to advise and help her. and even wiling
in spite Of his hatred OF "brats' that she and
her children should come to him at Newstead
There is, indeed. abundant evidence i'll TINS
volume of Byron's innate goodness of heart lie
could he cruel but he could be kind. ana ne
could exercise a discretion and maghanimity
remarkable enough when his youth ana MS
fiery genius are considered. The point OF honor
meant much to him. and one expects MN 10 DE
jealous Of ii beyond most men. lie is jealous OIL
it, but he is also quick TO see where generosity
and common sense and modesty are To he oD-
served no matter how trying the case may De
Nothing could be finer than his early coh'ro'
yersy with Moore, to whom he seemed to have
given offence. to whom when the time came
he was perfectly willing to make reparation. but
to whom he addressed himself at last with SO
much dignity and good feeling that lifelong
friendship was the natural result or the quarrel
And how frank, how honorable IS the letter 10
Walter Scott which won over the great noveiiSt
from his just wrath, Scott had been deeply an
noyed by the attack upon him IN EnSlish baros
and Scotch Reviewers but his was the very
nature to appreciate this confession: "Ihe SATIRE
vas written when | was very young ana very
angry. and fully bent on displaying my wrath
and my wit. and now | am haunted by the
ghosts of my wholesale assertions In this
letter Byron repeats TO Scott the cordial words
uttered about the latter by the Prince Regent.
If he had been the man Of cheap character
come Of his actions momentariy force us to
consider him. he would inevitably, in thus con-
veying praise to his wounded correspondent,
have seemed a self-interested hatterer but
there is no hint Of either artiiice or nsincerityi
he is. instead. the man Of genius warmly and
with unaffected delight seeking to please an
other man of genius because he loves to do so.
or course. Scott. like Moore, was added to the
list Of his devoted friends. Before leave this
theme of Byron and his quarrels must cite
passage from his detached thoughts germane
10 the subject Il have been called i'm med-
atOr. or second, at least twenty times in vio-
lent quarrels and have always contrived to
settle the business without compromising the
honor of the parties. or leading them to mortal
consequences and this, too. sometimes in very
difficult and delicate circumstances, and having