STOWE-BYRON CONTROVERSY: A COMPLETE RÉSUMÉ OF ALL THAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN AND SAID UPON 99 66 RE-PRINTED FROM THE TIMES," SATURDAY REVIEW,' DAILY NEWS," "PALL THOMAS COOPER & CO., 81, FLEET STREET. 186 17495,450.10 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY 1885 June11 LONDON: STEVENS AND RICHARDSON, PRINTERS, 5, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, W.C. 47877 : INTRODUCTION. THE appearance of an article from the pen of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, published simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic in the United States in the Atlantic Monthly, and in this country in Macmillan's Magazine, has excited an almost unparalleled amount of discussion, and has completely aroused the literary world from the lethargy into which it commonly falls at this dull season of the year. Mrs. Stowe's article, which is in her very worst style, being throughout rambling and confused to a most unsatisfactory degree, is entitled the "True Story of Lady Byron's Life," and in it Mrs. Stowe states that during her second visit to this country in the year 1856, she was summoned by Lady Byron, and received from her lips the terrible narrative she now, after a silence of thirteen years, first puts before the world, which is purely and simply a charge against Lord Byron of incesuous intercourse with his own sister; and the person who brought that frightful accusation against one of the brightest stars amongst our national poets was his own wife, who, as Mrs. Stowe says, was in a position to support her allegation by the most convincing evidence, and did succeed in satisfying Mrs. Stowe's mind of its truth, and winning from her the most profound sympathy. It is not to be wondered at that the most remarkable sensation has been produced in England -and in only a slightly less degree in America-by the publication of this most extraordinary revelation; and like most other and similar questions, it has two distinct sides: there are those who believe Lord Byron to have been incapable of the conduct laid to his charge, and who ascribe Lady Byron's statement to Mrs. Stowe to the influence of a monomania; whilst others, and amongst them some of our most respectable journals, accept the account of the real cause of the separation of Lord and Lady Byron, given by the authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," as the whole truth of the matter. Considering the unequalled interest felt in this case, and in its adequate discussion, we have thought that we should be doing the public good service if we placed before them clearly the whole facts of the case; the substance of the important statements in Mrs. Stowe's sensational article in Macmillan, portions of which have already appeared in most of the daily or weekly journals; the opinions of the best writers in the newspapers and reviews; the letters from different noblemen and gentlemen more or less interested in the family history of the Byrons, which have appeared during the last fortnight; and to this we have thought fit to add what we believe to be a thoroughly impartial review of the merits of the case as it stands. In addition, we venture to prefix a few of the leading facts of Lord Byron's life; these, doubtless, are quite well known to most of our readers, but there may still be some few who will be glad of an opportunity of just refreshing their memories in the matter of dates and such points as are most easily forgotten. We therefore offer no apology for ✓ presenting here a short, succinct account of a few of the most prominent events of the poet's life, which may be considered to bear immediately upon the matter under consideration. Around the brilliant genius of Byron there has ever been a sentiment of regret, a feeling of sorrow for his unhappy differences with his wife, a genuine admiration for his splendid intellect, a sad regret at his early and lamentable death when in the very prime of life. Lord Byron was born on the 22nd of January, 1788, at Holles Street, London. He was shortly afterwards baptized, the Duke of Gordon and Colonel Duff, of Fetteresso, being his godfathers. He was, as is well known, the only child of his mother; his mother soon after removed to Aberdeen, and here his infancy was spent, and here he first went to school to a Mr. Bowers. He was subsequently educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where the rooms he occupied and a spout he climbed up on to the roof of the library are still shown. دو In 1798 his grand-uncle having died, the poet and his mother removed to Newstead, then much dilapidated. In 1799 he went to school to Dr. Glennie, at Dulwich, and thence removed to Harrow. In 1803 he fell desperately in love with Miss Chaworth, being his third affair of the heart. In 1807 he left the University of Cambridge without any. emotions of regret or gratitude. In 1808 he published "Hours of Idleness: by a Minor." His poems were so severely criticised that he solemnly forswore authorship, but through a friend's influence he was persuaded to publish the "Childe Harold," and "awoke one fine morning to find himself famous.' He proposed to Miss Milbanke in September, 1814, and was accepted; this was his second offer to her. Miss Milbanke and Lord Byron were married at Seaham, in the county of Durham, the seat of the lady's father, on the 2nd of January, 1815. Their married life lasted only for a year and a few days (although Mrs. Stowe in her article twice mentions two years as the period of the union; and further, she mis-spells Miss Milbanke's name throughout her narrative). Lord Byron, after the separation, left England, and lived for some time in Italy. Whilst there, one of his mistresses was the Countess Guiccioli, whose "Memoirs," recently published, called forth from Mrs. Stowe her defence of Lady Byron's character. Lord Byron lived at Ravenna; then at Pisa; afterwards at Genoa. He wanted excitement and change, and thought at one time of the South American continent, at another of Spain, but in the end went to Greece, where he behaved with bravery and prudence during the war of insurrection, and where he met his most untimely death. Lord Byron's short but brilliant career terminated at Missolonghi, in Greece, on the 19th of April, 1824. His |