1 
 
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 DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
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 EXLIBRIS 
 
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 http://archive.org/details/remarksoccasione01byro 
 
REMARKS 
 
 OCCASIONED BY 
 
 Mr. MOORE'S NOTICES 
 
 LORD BYRON'S LIFE. 
 
m 
 
 490£35 
 
 RICHARD TAYLOR, PRINTER, 
 RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 
 
1 have disregarded various publications 
 in which facts within my own knowledge 
 have been grossly misrepresented; but I 
 am called upon to notice some of the er- 
 roneous statements proceeding from one 
 who claims to be considered as Lord 
 Byron's confidential and authorized friend. 
 — Domestic details ought not to be intru- 
 ded on the public attention ; if, however, 
 they are so intruded, the persons affected 
 by them have a right to refute injurious 
 charges. Mr. Moore has promulgated his 
 own impressions of private events in which 
 I was most nearly concerned, as if he pos- 
 
 b 2 
 
 
sessed a competent knowledge of the sub- 
 ject. Having survived Lord Byron, I feel 
 increased reluctance to advert to any cir- 
 cumstances connected with the period of 
 my marriage ; nor is it now my intention 
 to disclose them, further than may be in- 
 dispensably requisite for the end I have in 
 view. Self-vindication is not the motive 
 which actuates me to make this appeal, 
 and the spirit of accusation is unmingled 
 with it : but when the conduct of my Pa- 
 rents is brought forward in a disgraceful 
 light, by the passages selected from Lord 
 Byron's letters, and by the remarks of his 
 Biographer, — I feel bound to justify their 
 characters from imputations which I know 
 to be false. The passages from Lord 
 Byron's letters to which I refer, are, — 
 
 The aspersion on my mother's charac- 
 ter, p. 648, /. 4. — "My child is very well 
 and flourishing I hear ; but I must see also. 
 I feel no disposition to resign it to the con- 
 tagion of its grandmother's society/' 
 
The assertion of her dishonourable con- 
 duct in employing a spy, p. 645, /. 7, &c. 
 "A Mrs. C. (now a kind of housekeeper 
 andrtrspy of Lady N's.) who, in her better 
 days, was a washer-woman, is supposed to 
 be — by the learned — very much the occult 
 cause of our domestic discrepancies/' 
 
 The seeming exculpation of myself in 
 the extract, p. 646, with the words imme- 
 diately following it, — " Her nearest rela- 
 tives are ft ; * where the blank clearly 
 
 implies something too offensive for pub- 
 lication. 
 
 These passages tend to throw suspicion 
 on my parents, and give reason to ascribe 
 the separation either to their direct agency, 
 or to that of " officious spies " employed 
 by them.* 
 
 From the following part of the narra- 
 
 * " The officious spies of his privacy." — p. 650. 
 
tive, p. 642, it must also be inferred that 
 an undue influence was exercised by them 
 for the accomplishment of this purpose. 
 " It was in a few weeks after the latter 
 communication between us, (Lord Byron 
 and Mr. Moore) that Lady Byron adopted 
 the determination of parting from him. 
 She had left London at the latter end of 
 January on a visit to her father's house, in 
 Leicestershire, and Lord Byron was in a 
 short time to follow her. They had parted 
 in the utmost kindness, — she wrote him a 
 letter full of playfulness and affection, on 
 the road, and immediately on her arrival 
 at Kirkby Mallory, her father wrote to ac- 
 quaint Lord Byron that she would return 
 to him no more." 
 
 In my observations upon this statement, 
 I shall, as far as possible, avoid touching 
 on any matters relating personally to Lord 
 Byron and myself. The facts are, — I left 
 London for Kirkby Mallory, the residence 
 
of my father and mother, on the 15th of 
 January, 1816. Lord Byron had signified 
 to me in writing (Jan. 6th.) his absolute 
 desire that I should leave London on the 
 earliest day that I could conveniently fix. 
 It was not safe for me to undertake the 
 fatigue of a journey sooner than the 15th. 
 
 Previously to my departure, it had been 
 strongly impressed on my mind, that Lord 
 Byron was under the influence of insanity. 
 This opinion was derived in a great mea- 
 sure from the communications made to me 
 by his nearest relatives and personal at- 
 tendant, who had more opportunities than 
 myself of observing him during the latter 
 part of my stay in town. It was even 
 represented to me that he was in danger 
 of destroying himself. With the concurrence 
 of his family I had consulted Dr. Baillie 
 as a friend (Jan. 8th.) respecting this sup- 
 posed malady. On acquainting him with 
 the state of the case, and with Lord Byron's 
 
8 
 
 desire that I should leave London, Dr. 
 Baillie thought that my absence might be 
 advisable as an experiment, assuming the 
 fact of mental derangement; for Dr. Bail- 
 lie, not having had access to Lord Byron, 
 could not pronounce a positive opinion on 
 that point. He enjoined that in corre- 
 spondence with Lord Byron I should avoid 
 all but light and soothing topics. Under 
 these impressions, I left London deter- 
 mined to follow the advice given by Dr. 
 Baillie. Whatever might have been the 
 nature of Lord Byron's conduct towards 
 me from the time of my marriage, yet, 
 supposing him to be in a state of mental 
 alienation, it was not for me, nor for any 
 person of common humanity, to manifest, 
 at that moment, a sense of injury. On the 
 day of my departure, and again on my 
 arrival at Kirkby, Jan. 16th, I wrote to 
 Lord Byron in a kind and cheerful tone, 
 according to those medical directions. — 
 The last letter was circulated, and em- 
 
9 
 
 ployed as a pretext for the charge of my 
 having been subsequently influenced to 
 " desert* " my husband. It has been argued 
 that I parted from Lord Byron in perfect 
 harmony ; that feelings, incompatible with 
 any deep sense of injury had dictated the 
 letter which I addressed to him ; and that 
 my sentiments must have been changed 
 by persuasion and interference, when I 
 was under the roof of my parents. These 
 assertions and inferences are wholly desti- 
 tute of foundation. 
 
 When I arrived at Kirkby Mallory, my 
 parents were unacquainted with the exist- 
 ence of any causes likely to destroy my 
 prospects of happiness ; and when I com- 
 municated to them the opinion which had 
 been formed concerning Lord Byron's 
 state of mind, they were most anxious 
 to promote his restoration by every means 
 in their power. They assured those rela- 
 
 # — " the deserted husband." p. 651. 
 
10 
 
 tions who were with him in London, that 
 "they would devote their whole care and 
 attention to the alleviation of his malady/' 
 and hoped to make the best arrangements 
 for his comfort, if he could be induced to 
 visit them. With these intentions my 
 mother wrote on the 17th. to Lord Byron, 
 inviting him to Kirkby Mallory. She had 
 always treated him with an affectionate 
 consideration and indulgence, which ex- 
 tended to every little peculiarity of his 
 feelings. Never did an irritating word 
 escape her lips in her whole intercourse 
 with him. 
 
 The accounts given me after I left Lord 
 Byron by the persons in constant inter- 
 course with him, added to those doubts 
 which had before transiently occurred to 
 my mind, as to the reality of the alleged 
 disease ; and the reports of his medical at- 
 tendant were far from establishing the ex- 
 istence of any thing like lunacy. Under 
 this uncertainty, I deemed it right to com- 
 
11 
 
 municate to my parents, that if I were to 
 consider Lord Byron's past conduct as 
 that of a person of sound mind, nothing 
 could induce me to return to him. It 
 therefore appeared expedient both to them 
 and myself, to consult the ablest advisers. 
 For that object, and also to obtain still 
 further information respecting the appear- 
 ances which seemed to indicate mental 
 derangement, my mother determined to 
 go to London. She was empowered by 
 me to take legal opinions on a written 
 statement of mine, though I had then rea- 
 sons for reserving a part of the case from 
 the knowledge even of nry father and 
 mother. 
 
 Being convinced by the result of these 
 inquiries, and by the tenor of Lord Byron's 
 proceedings, that the notion of insanity was 
 an illusion, I no longer hesitated to autho- 
 rize such measures as were necessary, in 
 order to secure me from being ever again 
 placed in his power. Conformably with 
 
12 
 
 this resolution my father wrote to him on 
 the 2nd of February to propose an amicable 
 separation. Lord Byron at first rejected 
 this proposal; but when it was distinctly 
 notified to him, that if he persisted in his 
 refusal, recourse must be had to legal 
 measures, he agreed to sign a deed 
 of separation. — Upon applying to Dr. 
 Lushington, who was intimately acquaint- 
 ed with all the circumstances, to state 
 in writing what he recollected upon this 
 subject, I received from him the follow- 
 ing letter, by which it will be manifest 
 that my mother cannot have been ac- 
 tuated by any hostile or ungenerous mo- 
 tives towards Lord Byron. 
 
 " My dear Lady Byron, 
 
 " I can rely upon the accuracy of my 
 memory for the following statement. 
 
 " I was originally consulted by Lady 
 Noel on your behalf whilst you were in the 
 country ; the circumstances detailed by 
 
13 
 
 her were such as justified a separation, 
 but they were not of that aggravated de- 
 scription as to render such a measure in- 
 dispensable. On Lady Noel's representa- 
 tion, I deemed a reconciliation with Lord 
 Byron practicable, and felt, most sincerely, 
 a wish to aid in effecting it. There was 
 not on Lady Noel's part any exaggeration 
 of the facts, nor, so far as I could perceive, 
 any determination to prevent a return to 
 Lord Byron : certainly none was expressed 
 when I spoke of a reconciliation. When 
 you came to town in about a fortnight, or 
 perhaps more, after my first interview with 
 Lady Noel, I was for the first time in- 
 formed by you of facts utterly unknown, 
 as I have no doubt, to Sir Ralph and Lady 
 Noel. On receiving this additional infor- 
 mation my opinion was entirely changed ; 
 I considered a reconciliation impossible. 
 I declared my opinion, and added, that if 
 such an idea should be entertained, I 
 could not, either professionally or other- 
 
14 
 
 wise take any part towards effecting it. 
 Believe me, 
 
 "Very faithfully yours, 
 " Stephen Lushington." 
 
 " Great George Street, 
 ''Jan. 31, 1830. 
 
 I have only to observe, that if the state- 
 ments on which my legal advisers (the 
 late Sir Samuel Romiliy and Dr. Lushing- 
 ton,) formed their opinions, were false, the 
 responsibility and the odium should rest 
 with me only. 
 
 I trust that the facts which I have here 
 briefly recapitulated, will absolve my father 
 and mother from all accusations with re- 
 gard to the part they took in the separation 
 between Lord Byron and myself. They 
 neither originated, instigated, nor advised 
 that separation ; and they cannot be con- 
 demned for having afforded to their daugh- 
 
15 
 
 ter the assistance and protection which she 
 claimed. There is no other near relative 
 to vindicate their memory from insult. I 
 am therefore compelled to break the si- 
 lence which I had hoped always to observe, 
 and to solicit from the readers of Lord 
 Byron's life an impartial consideration of 
 the testimony extorted from me. 
 
 A. I. NOEL BYRON. 
 
 Hanger Hill, 
 Feb. 19, 1830. 
 
 RICHARD TAYLOR, PRINTER, 
 RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. 
 
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