New-York tribune., 1910-12-25

from Missolonghi and had been denied
| permanent admission to or even tempo
rary shelter in Westminster Abbey. The
inn disappeared long ago, the shop mark
ing its site has also gone, and fresh ex-
cavations are now In progres, for a ne"
structure among Bridlesmith's ancient
| structures. The funeral procession had
| come from London with a large company
of mourners. and Lady Caroline Lamb,
accidentally meeting 1t near Brocket
Hall, had tainted in her husbands arms
when she was told whose ashes were
passing in silence; and a brief halt had
been made in the centre Of the oldest
quarter Of Nottingham before the final
stage OF the burial at Hucknall Torkard.
Spectators were admitted to this simple
living in state and with bowed heads
passed reverently into the open scurt CT
the inn. The mournful story VIC after
ward told in detail by Hobhouse. Byron's
most intimate friend, in "The Edinburgh
Review"
The Ambassador quoted impressively
last night a solemn passage in which
Byron seemed to turn to Westminster
Abbey as his last home, and the Bishop
CT SouthWeI in his appreciative speech
described his own emotion in conducting
confirmation service once a year over
the poets grave at Hucknau Torkard
Church, where a white floor tablet at
tested the gratitude Of Greece for disin-
tcrested, heroic service. Alas! the By
ronic pilgrim who struggles to renew
the ardor of youth at that wayside
shrine is chilled by the incongruous en-
vironment. Hucknall Torkard is now
cne of the ugliest of colliery towns, with
three grinny railways crawling through
it and with mining going on at every
turn. The venerable twelfth century
coal smudge, and the shrill voices Of
swarms of miners children are heard
outside the churchyard. Poignant is the
sensitive visitors regret over the mar
row minded obtuseness of two deans of
Westminster. Thorwaldsen's noble
statue of the poet seated on the ruins
Of a Greek column, with "Childe Har-
cid" in his hand, lay for twelve years in
the customs shed because the Abbey
1nartinets would not look at 1t; and
when the Louvre was begging for it. 1t
was finally rescued by DR.. Whewell for
the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Annesley is also polluted with the
foul breath of collieries and engirdled
with railways and dingy rows of miners
cottages The hall where Mary Cha
worth lived still stands among trees by
lake in the seclusion Of a large park.
With approaches so dismal and sur
roundings so prosaic, who can recall the
earliest Of ByrOn's numerous rOmances
or think seriously Of the poets hopeless
wooing Of the elder cousin, the fair lady
enshrined in '"rhe Dream? How NOR
bid now appears the fancy which for
bade the lover to sleep there, lest her
ancestors should descend from the por-
trait frames because the worst Of the
Byrons had killed one Of them In a
duel! With grim Gteralness his own
gloomy forecast Of his favorite haunt
has been fulfilled in Hills OF Annesley,
Bleak and Barren"
Even more melancholy has been the
decline Of Colwick Hail. the original seat
OF the Byrons and Mary Chaworth's
home after marriage. The church is
still to be found a few miles out of
Nottingham. with her alabaster tomb
and with monuments of the Byrons; but
the park is an athletic ground and a
racecourse and the hall has degenerated
into a ref-eshment bar for sportsmen
Holme Pierrepont near by. where Byron
was often a visitor has also suffered
from the ravages Of tine and shrtnks
from gaze behind a screen OF trees
beyond the Trent.
Newstead Abbey alone among the me-
MORALS Of the Byrons has retained its
beauty and romantic charm. The col
liery atmosphere is left behind when the
private road, lined with lines, is fol-
lowed from the Newstead and Annesiey
railway stations or when the estate Is
approached from Hucknall Torkard by
the Linby crosses and the mill at Popple-
wick. There are long avenues. broad
sweeps Of meadows. clumps of oaks, of
larches of elms and flashing glimpses of
rivulets and lakes: and beauteous is the
scene this week. with light fall of snow
ice. The ruinous old priory, which Byron
inherited at the age Of eleven. has been
by successive purchasers
and owners-Colonel Wildman, of the
Peninsular war. Livingstone's friend
Webb and Lady Chermside-into a
splendid residence. Not less than mill |
ION dollars has been expended on the
residence and the estate since he parted |
with his cherished possessions: and yet. !
with the Sussex tower and all the resto-
rations and improvements. virtually un-
are the ruins of the Abbey |
with its massive buttresses and |
delicate traceries; and the cloisters. with |
the ancient fountain. and the crypt, |
monks parlor abbot's dining room and |
refectory. and above the winding stair |