Newspaper Page Text
No. 5 Vou Vl.]
From a London paper.
lordlyron.
George Gordon (Lord Byron) was born
in 1788, he succeeded to his title and es
tates in 1798, when only ten years of age;
up to which period he lived in Aberdeen
shire, and towards the close of that year he
was removed to Harrow, his mother being
induced to leave Scotland by the demise of
the former Lord Byron. It is not our pur
pose to say any thing of the conduct of the
honourable Captain J. Byron, the deceased
poet and philanthropist, but that, soon after
his marriage, and the birth of his only son,
he died, leaving his widow in no very
flourishing circnmstauces, as regards pecu
niary matters. Her conduct, however, was
most exemplary, and if bis lordship intended
to depict his mother as Donna Inez, in his
Don J uao, as has been said by one of our
cotemporaries, and, indeed, generally un
derslood, to us it appears that he has dealt
with undue severity with his pareut. His
lordship was born on his mother’s estate,
about 30 miles from Aberdeen, to which
city both of them removed, on the death of
his father, when he was but two years old.
In Aberdeen his mother lived in almost per
fect seclusion, on account of the great de
terioration of her property by jffie extrava
gance of her deceased husband, for her
high spirit would not suffer her to apply to
bis family for the slightest allowance, al
though her r>Wn was scanty indeed. She
kept no company, but was regarded and es
teemed by all who knew her, and her amia
ble disposition and manners were particu
larly shown towards all those whom she
thought fit to associate in reading or in
sports with her darling son. He was her
darling son, for we have seen her, when he
has only been going out for an ordinary
walk, entreat him, with the tear glistening
in her eye, to take care of himself, as “ she
had nothing on earth but him to live for;”
a circumstance not at all pleasing to hi* ad
venturous spirit, the more especially as
some of his companions, who witnessed the
affecting 3ceoe, would, at school, or at their
sports, make light of it, and ridicule him
about it. The Hon. Mrs. Byron had a
beautiful countenance, but was rather a
petite figure, and had somewhat too much of
the embonpoint. She was naturally awo
man of spirit and of gaiety, but we never
understood that her genius lay chiefly in
the “ mathematical,’ 7 or that, *► her wit was
attick all,” which his lordship attributes to
that of Donna Inez.
George Byron Gordon was the appella
tion by which he was known to his school
fellows in Aberdeen, and if any of them, by
accident or design, reversed the latter
words, he was very indignant at it, on ac
count of the neglect with which his father’s
family had all along treated his mother.
At the age of seven years His Lordship,
whose previous instruction in the English
language had been his mother’s sole task,
was sent to the Grammar School at Aber
deen, where he continued till his removal
to Harrow, with the exception of some in
tervals of absence, which were deemed ne
cessary for the establishment of his health,
by a temporary removal to the Highlands
of Aberdeenshire ; his constitution being al
ways (while a boy) uncommonly delicate,
bis mind painfully sensitive, but bis heart
traoscendantly warm and kind. Here it was
he delighted in “ the mountain and the
flood,’’ and here it was that he imbibed that
spirit of freedom, and that love for rt the
land of his Scottish sires,” which nothing
could tear from his heart. Here it was
that he felt himself without restraint, even
in dress; and on his return to school, which,
by the bye, he always did with the utmost
willingness, it was with much difficulty that
his mother could induce him to quit the kilt
and the plaid, in compliance with the man
ners of the town; but the bonnet he would
sever leave o<T, until it could be no longer
worn.
At school his progress never was so dis
tinguished above that of (he general run of
bis class-fellows, as after those occasional
intervals of absence, when he would in a
few days run through (and well too) exer
cises, which, according to the school rou
tine, had taken weeks to accomplish. But
when he had overtaken the rest of his class,
he contented himself with being considered
a tolerable scholar, without making any vi
olent exertion to be placed at the head of
the first form. It was out of school that be
aspired to be the leader of every thing. In
all the boyish sports and amusements he
would be the first, if possible. For this he
was eminently calculated. Candid, sin
cere; a lover of stern and inflexible truth;
quick, enterprising, and daring, his mind was
capable of overcoming those impediments
which nature had thrown in his way, by
making bis constitotion and body weak, and
by a mal-conformation of one of his feet.
Nevertheless, no boy could, outstrip him in
the race, or in swimming. Even at that
early period (from eight to ten years of age)
all his sports were of a manly character;
fishing, shooting, swimming, and managing
a horse, or steering and trimming the sailg
of a boat, constituted bis chief delights; and
to the superficial observer, seemed his sole
occupation. Tbi* desire for supiemacy in
the school games, which we have alluded
to, led him into many combats, out of which
THE MISSIONARY.
bn always came with honour, almost always
victorious. Upon one occasion, a boy, pur
sued by another, took refuge in his moth
er’s bouse; the latter, who had been much
abused by the former, proceeded to take
vengeance on him, even ou the landing
place of the drawing-room stairs, when
young Byron came out at the noise, and in
sisted that the refugee should not be struck
in his house, or else be must fight for him.
The pursuer, “nothing Irfath,” accepted
the challenge, and they fought for nearly
an hour, when both were compelled to give
in, from absolute exhaustion.
The first time that Lord Byron had come
to school after his accession to bis title, the
Rector bad caused his name to be inserted
in the Censor’s book—Georgius Dominus de
Byron, instead of Georgius Bvron Gordon,
as formerly. The boys, unused to this ar
istocratick sound, set up a loud and involun
tary shout, which had such an effect on bis
mind, that be burst into tears, aod would
have fled from the school had he not beeo
restrained by the master. A school fellow
of Byron’s had a very small Shetland pony,
which his father had bought him, and one
day they were riding and walking by turns,
to the banks of the Don, to bathe. When
they came to the bridge, over that dark ro
mantick stream, Byron bethought him of
the prophecy which he incorrectly quotes
(from memory, it is true,) in one of bis lat
ter cantos of Don Juan:
“ Brig o’ Balgownie! wight’s thy wa’
Wi’ a wife’s ae son, and a mare’s ae foal,
Down shalt thou fa’.”
He immediately stopped his companion,*
who wa3 then riding, and asked him if be
remembered the prophecy, saying, that as
they were both only sons, and as the pony
might be “a mare’s ae foal,” he would ra
(her ride over first, because he had only a
mother to lament him should the prophecy
he fulfilled by the falling of the bridge,
whereas th* other had both a father and a
mother to grieve after him.
Lord Byron succeeded to the title , and
estates on the death of William, the fifth
Lord Byron, which, as we have already
stated, took place 1798, when he was only
ten years of age.
Up to that period he had lived in Aber
deenshire,and it appears that the wild scene
ry of the spot in which he passed his early
years remained always deeply engraved on
his memory. Irrhis first publication,‘‘The
Hours of Idleness,” there is a poem on
Lachin y Gair, to which he prefixes a short
introduction, in which he says, it is “one
ofthe most sublime and picturesque amongst
our Caledonian Alps. Its appearance is of
a dusky hue, but the summit is the seat of
eternal snows; near Lachin y Gair, F spent
some of the early part of my life.”
It has been said, indeed, that the liberty
he enjoyed of ranging the hills without con
trol, at that early period, that his frame,
which was delicate, might be invigorated
by air and exercise, made.him ever after
wards impatient of restraint.
Towards the close ofthe year 1798 he
was removed to Harrow. Speaking of his
studies there, his Lordship says in a note to
the fourth Canto of Childe Harold, “In
some parts of the Continent, young persons
are taught from mere common authors, &
do not read the best Classicks till their ma
turity. I certainly do not speak on this
point from any pique or aversion towards
the plan of my education. I was a slow,
though an idle boy; and I believe no one
could be more attached to Harrow than I
have been, and with reason:—a part ofthe
time passed there was the happiest of my
life; and my preceptor (the Rev. Dr. Jo
seph Drury,) was the best and worthiest
friend 1 ever possessed, whose warnings I
have remembered but too well, but too late
when I have erred,” &c.
At the age of little more than sixteen he
removed to the University of Cambridge,
where he became a student of Trinity Col
lege.
At the age of nineteen he left the Uni
versity for Newstead Abbey, and the same
year he gave to the world his “ Hours of
Idleness.”
Among the early amusements of his Lord
ship, were swimming and managing a boat,
in both of which he is said to have acquired
great dexterity eveo in bis childhood. In
his aquatick exercises near Newsted Abbey,
he had seldom any other companion than a
large Newfoundland dog, to try whose sa
gacity and fidelity, he would some
times fall out of the boat, as if by accident,
when the dog would seize him aod drag
him ashore.—On losing this dog, in the au
tnm of 1808, bis Lordship caused a moon
meat to he erected, commemorative of its
attachment, with an inscription, from which
we extract the followiog lines:
“Ye who, perchance, behold this simple urn
Pass on—it honours none you wish to mourn !
To mark a friend’s remains these stones arise—
I never knew bat one, and here he lies.”
On arriving at the age of manhood, Lord
Byron embarked at Falmouth for Lisbon,
and from thence proceeded across the Pen
insula to the Mediterranean, in company
with Mr. Hobhouse.
The travels of his Lordship are describ
ed in “ Childe Harold” and the Notes. It
is somewhat singular that his Lordship
should then have had a parrow escape from
o>,i o. r.” s 11 ,: l .s &7£i£££g , w^* t , m .
MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK COUNTY, GEORGIA,) MONDAY, JULY 19, 1824.
a lever in the vicinity of the place where
he has just ended his life:—
“ When, in 1810,” he says, “ after the
departure of my friend, Mr. Hobhouse, for
England, I was seized with a severe fever
in the Morea; these men (Albanians) saved
my life, hy Frightening away my physician,
whose throat they threatened to cut, if I
was not cured within a given time. To
this consolatory assurance of posthumous
retribution, and a resolute refusal of Dr.
Romanelli’s prescriptions, 1 attribute my
recovery. I had left my last remaining
English servant at Athens; my dragoman
or interpreter was ill as myself, aod my
poor arnaout* nursed me with an attention
which would have done honour to civiliza
tion.”
While the Salsette frigate, in which Lord
Byron was a passenger to Constantinople,
lay/in the Dardanelles, a discourse arose
among some of thrf officers respecting the
practicability of swimming across the Hel
lespont. Lord Byron and Lieut. Eker.-
head agreed to make the trial—they accor
dingly attempted this enterprize on the 3d
of May, 1710. The followiog is the ac
count given of it by bis Lordship :
“ The whole distance from Abydos, the
place whence we started, to our landing at
Sesto9 on the other side, including the
length we were carried by the current,was
computed by those on board the frigate at
upwards of four English miles; though the
actual breadth is barely one. The rapidi
ty of the current is such, that no boat can
row directly across; and it may in some
measure be estimated, from the circurn
staoce of the whole distance being accom
plished by one of the paitiesin an hour and
five, and by the other, jn an hour and teo
minutes. The water was extremely cold,
from the melting of the mountain snows.
About three weeks before, we had tmtde
an attempt, but having ridden all the way
from the Troad the same morning, and the
water being of an icy cbillness, we found it
necessary to postpone the completion till
i he frigate anchored below the castles,when
we swam the Straits, as just stated, entering
a con-iderable way above the Europeau,
aod landing below the Asiatick fort. Chev
alier says that a young Jew swam the same
distance for his mistress ; and Olivier men
tions its having been done by a Neapolitan -,
but our Consul at Tarragona remembered
neither of those circumstances, and tried to
dissuade us from the attempt. A number
ofthe Salsette’s crew were known to have
accomplished a greater distance; ami the
only thing that surprised me was, that as
doubts had beeo entertained of the truth
of Leaoder’s story, no traveller had ever
endeavoured to ascertaio its practicabili
ty.”
This notable adventure was, however,
followed by a fit of the ague.
He returned to England, after an absence
of nearly three years, and the first wo Can
tos of “Childe Harold” made their appear
ance a few months afterwards. To Ibis
poem in rapid succession followed “ The
Giaour” and “ The Bride of Abydos,” two
Turkish stories; and while the world was
as yet divided in opinion as to which of these
three pieces the palm was due, he produc
ed his beautiful poem of “ The Corsair.”
On the 2d of January, his lordship mar
ried, at Seham, in the county of Durham,
the only daughter of Sir Ralph Millbank
Noel, Baronet, and towards the close of the
same year his lady brought him a daogh
ter. Within a few weeks, however, after
that event, a separation took place, fnr
which various causes have beeo stated.
This difference excited a prodigious eema
lion at the time. His lordship, while the
pnblick anxiety as to the course he would
adopt, was at its height, suddenly left the
kingdom with the resolution never to re
turn.
He crossed over to France, through
which he passed rapidly to Brussels, taking
in his way a survey of the field of Waterloo.
He proceeded to Coblentz, and thence up
the Rhine as far as Basle. After visiting
some of the most remarkable scenes in
Switzerland, he proceeded to the north of
Italy. He took up his abode for some time
at Venice, where he was joined by Mr.
Hobhouse, who accompanied him in an ex
cursion to Rome, where be completed bis
“ Childe Harold.”
At Venice, Lord Byron avoided, as much
as possible, all intercourse with his country
men.—He qitted that city, and took up his
residence in other parts of the Austrian do
minions in Italy, which be quitted for Tus
cany. He was joined by the late Mr. Shel
ley, aod afterwards by Mr. Leigh Hunt.
His patrimonial estate received lately a
large increase by the death of lady Byron’s
mother, and a valuable coal mine, said to
be worth £60,000 bad been discovered on
his Rochdale estate before be left England,
so that at bis death he most have been jo
thepossession of a large income.
The journey of bis lordship to Greece,
and the part be has acted in that country,
will endear his memory to every friend of
liberty.
One production of his lordship will be
looked for with more anxiety than any of
his former publications. We allude to his
Life, written by himself, which be gave to
his friend Mr. Thomas Moore, and which
h* been some time in thin country. If re-
port is to be credited, Lord Byron bae, in
thie work, examined himself with an unspar
ing severity, of which few men are capable.
The following particulars will fill up all
that is known of the death of this noble
man :
On the 9th of April, Lord Byron, who
had been living very low, exposed himself
io a violent rain; the consequence of which
was a severe cold, and he was immediately
confined to bis bed. The low state to which
be had been reduced by his abstinence, and
probably by some of the remaining effects
of his previous illness, made him unwilling
—at any rate be refused to submit—to be
bled. It is to be lamented that no one was
near bis Lordship who bad sufficient influ
ence over his mind, or who was himself euf
ficieotly aware of the necessity of the case,
to induce him to submit to that remedy,
which, in all human probability, would have
saved a life so valuable to Greece. The
inflammatory action, unchecked, terminated
fatally on the 19tb of April.
There are no letters of His Lordship’s of
a date subsequent to the commencement of
his illness. The friends who were near
him at the time of his decease, in addition
to Prince Mavrocordato, were Mr. Parry,
who had organized the artillery and engi
neer corps for the Greeks at Missolonghi,
Mr. Bourke, and Count Gamba. The le
ters from the last named gentleman first
communicated the intelligence to LoTd Sid
ney Osoorne, who forwarded it wiih the
kiodest attention to the friends of Lord By
ron in England, and proceeded from Corfu
to Zaote, to make whatever arrangements
might be necessary respecting his remains.
Lord Byron had succeded, his friends are
informed, in stirring up among the people
of the part of Greece in which he had rei
ded, an almost inconceivable enthusiasm.
His exertions were incessant in their cause,
and the gratitude of the ppople was pro
portioned to them. His influence was not
lessened by being employed often to pro
cure humane, even kind treatment towards
the Turkish captives. On the day of Lord
Byron’s death, and when lie appeared in
imminent danger, the Prince Mavrocordato
wrote to His Lordship’s friend and compan
ion, Count Gamba, requesting that a Com
mittee might be immediately appointed to
take the necessary measures for the secu
rity of his property; m consequence of
which, four gentlemen have been nomina
ted to act until other arrangements can be
made.
One of the letters from Corfu, received
on Saturday, and dated April 23, states that
Lord Byron died possessed of considerable
property in Greece, having for some time
resolved to pass his life there, and received
considerable sntns from England for the
purpose of investment. The Honourable
Leicester Stanhope bad signified hi® inten
tion of quitting Greece for family affairs in
this country, but he had received a pressing
invitation from Prince Mavrocordato to re
main ; and Major Hasiings, a gentleman
who has been for some time there, has also
had inducements offered to him to remain
firm to the cause which be has so mainly
assisted. We understand that Colocotroni,
-one ot the bravest Greek General®, but who
had thrown great impediments in the way
of Greek independence, by his jealousy of
Ypsilanti and Mavrocordato, had endeav
oured for some time to prevent the employ
ment of foreign auxiliaries. This man,
however, being abandoned by his troops,
apd wandering, it is said, among the moun
tains, has no longer any influence, and our
countrymen in Greece are likely to feel the
effect of bis disgrace very beneficially for
their interests.
NATIONAL CHARACTER OF THE
MEXICANS.
From “ Notes on Mexico, made in 1822. By
the Hon. Joel R. Poinsett.”
Notwithstanding the little lime I have to
spare, I have employed part of the day in
leave taking, for nothing could induce me
to be wanting in respect to people, who
have treated me with so much kindness and
hospitality. The gentlemen with whom I
have associated are intelligent men: and
those who have had it in their power to
pursue liberal studies, are food of literature
and science. • The Creoles io general pos
sess good natural talents, and great facility
of acquiring knowledge. They are ex
tremely mild and courteous in their man
ners, kind sod benevolent towards each
other, and hospitable to strangers. Their
besetting sin is gambling. The married
women are very pleasing in their manners.
They are said to be faithful to the favour
ed lover, and a liaison of that nature does
not affect the lady’s reputation. The
young women are lively aod accomplished.
They sing and play agreeably, dance well,
and know all they have bad an opportunity
af learning. If they would leave off the
detestable practice of smoking, they would
be very pleasing and amiable. This it to
be understood as characterizing the society
generally. There are certainly some
young ladies (very few I am afraid) who do
oot smoke—some married women (many I
hope) who have no lover, or if this woold
be interpreted to derogate from their
charms, who consider him only as a conve
nient dangler, and are fondly and faithfully
attached to their husbands; and there are
[Price $3 50 per ann.
certainly many gentlemen who are not
gamesters.
It is difficult to describe accurately a na
tion composed of such various ranks, and of
so many different castes aa that of New-
Spain. The most important distinction,
civil and political, was founded on the col
our of the skin. Here, to be white, was to
be noble; and the rank of the different
castes is determined by their nearer or
more distant relation to the whites; the
last in the scale being the direct or unmix
ed descendants of the Africans or Indians.
The character of the Indian population,
which exceeds two millions and a half, re
mains very much the same as that of the
lower class of the natives is described to
have been at the time of the conquest.
The same indoleuce, (be same blind sub
mission to their superiours, and the same
abject misery are to be marked. The
forms aod ceremonies of their religion are
changed, and they are perhaps better pleas
ed with the magnificence of the Calholick
rites than with their former mode of wor
ship. They take a childish delight in form
ing precessions, in which they dress them
selves most fantastically, and the Priests in
many parts of the country have found it ne
cessary to permit them to mingle their dan
ces and their mummeries with the Catho
lick ceremonies. They were oppressed
and trodden under font by their Emperour
and caciques; and ever since the conquest,
they have been oppressed by laws intended
to protect them. For the most part, they
are distributed in villages, on the most bar
ren and unproductive lands, and are under
their own caciques, who Hre Charged with
the civil government, and with the collec
tion of the tribute, a tax of about two dol
lars on each mule from ten to fifty years of
age.
The castes, that is to say the mestizos,
descendants of whites and Indians; mulat
toesi de-cendants of the whites and negroes;
samboes , descendants of negroes and Indians
—are scattered over the country as labour
ers, or live in towns as artisans, workmen
or beggars. There are some Indians who
have accumulated property, and some few
of the castes may be seen living io comfort
and respectability in the cities and in the
country; but these instances lire rare.
From the cacique or Indian magistrate of
the village, to the most abject of his fellow
sufferers, they are indolent and poor. The
only difference between them is, that the
cacique does not work at all. By a law
passed since the revolution, they are de
clared, together with all the castes, to be
possessed of the same rights as the whites.
The tribute is abolished; hut they will be,
as a matter of course, subject to the alca
bala, or tax on the internal commerce, from
which they were heretofore exempt. This
declaration will produce no alteration in the
character of this class of the population.
Measures must be taken to educate tbemf
and lands distributed among them, before
they can be considered as forming a part of
the people of a free government.
The titled nobility are whiteCreoleß,who,
satisfied wiih the enjoyment of laijje es
tates, with the consideration which their
rank and wealth confer, seek no other dis
tinction. They are not remarkable for
their attainments, or for the strictness of
their morals. The lawyers who, in fact,
exercise much influence over the people,
rank next to the nobles. They are the
younger branches of noble houses, dr the
sons of Emopeans, and are remarkably
shrewd and intelligent. Next in impor
tance are the merchants, and shopkeepers,
for the farmer are not suffiriently numerous
to form a separate clas*. They are weal®
thy, and might possess influence, but have
hitherto taken little part in the politicks of
the country—most probably from the fear’
oflosing their property, which is in a tangi®
ble shape. The labouring class in the cit
ies and towns ioclndes all castes and colours
—they are industrious and orderly, and
view with interest what is passing around
them. Most of them read; and, in the large
cities papers and pamphlets are hawked
about the streets, and sold at a cheap rate
to the people. The labouring class in the
country is composed, in the same manner,
of different castes. They are sober, indus
trious, ignorant and superstitious; and may
he led by their priests, or masters, to good
or evil.—Their apathy has jo some mea
sure been overcome by the long struggle
for independence, in wbicb most of them
bore a part; but they are still under the
influence and direction of ibn priests. They
are merely labourers, without any proper
ty in the soil; and cannot be expected to
feel much interest in the preservation of
civil rights, which bo little concern them.
The last class, unknown as such io a well
regulated society, consists of beggars and
idlers, drones, that prey upon the commu
nity, and who, having nothing to lose, are
always ready to swell the cry of popular
clamour, or to lend tbeir aid ip favour of
imperial tyranny.
The influence of this class, where it i
numerous, upon the fine of revolutions, has
always been destructive to liberty. | a
France they were very nomeroos; and lh
atrocities which disgraced that revolution,
are, in a great measure, to be ascribed to
this cause. In Mexico these people hav
bead kept in subjection by tba strong arm