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Conversations on Religion
with Lord Byron.
Every work that tends to throw light on but the trail of the serpent is over them all.
” And
in the present day especially, the successful writer has to suffer under the false verdict of
incompetent judges, or the still falser of interested ones; the feelings he avows are denied or
misconstrued, those he conceals brought forward for reproach or ridicule; and while we grudge,
hesitate, and refute, aught that is mentioned as praiseworthy, there is nothing too improbable
for belief when it requires blame. Edinburgh ReviewEnglish Bards and Scotch ReviewersDon Juan
These
Before
”
Indecision, rather than unbelief, is represented as the pervading feature of his
mind: witness a passage in one of
“In my opinion, the sentiments of his lordship on religion were not
fixed, that is, he was not held more to one religious and Christian sect than another; but
his profound sentiments were religious, and he professed a deep respect for the doctrines
of
”
Again, he observes: “‘Prayer does not consist in the act of
kneeling, nor in repeating certain words in a solemn manner. Devotion is the affection of
the heart, and this I feel; for when I view the wonders of creation, I bow to the Majesty
of heaven; and when I feel the enjoyments of life, health, and happiness, I feel grateful
to God for having bestowed these upon me.’
”
The following dialogue is interesting, though it has only reference to his private feelings:—
“‘
” I have had letters from England,
’ said which mention that
’ ‘This depends on various causes, and I could not pretend to
judge what the cause is in her case, unless I saw her.
’ ‘Do
you,
’ asked he, ‘think that such a complaint is habitual?
’
‘No, it is not necessarily so,
’ I replied. ‘It is
curious,
’ he answered, ‘that it is a complaint to which I myself am
subject.
’ ‘I could easily suppose so,
’ I said,
‘from your mode of life, and habits of study,—irregular, but intense;
and I think I could have inferred so from the state of your
’ ‘That is from having read a good
deal of late; but it will easily be removed, when I remove the cause.
’ he continued, ‘is, I understand, very
fond of reading. She lies on the sofa great part of the day reading, and displays,
perhaps, a premature strength of mind, and quickness of understanding.
’
‘I hope,
’ I rejoined, ‘that her inclination for acquiring
knowledge will not be pushed too far, to the injury of her health, or even to the
exhaustion of her intellectual powers, as is too often done by foolish and fond
parents.
’ ‘I hope not,
’ said and I am sure that I can rely on
’ ‘Do you know, my lord,
’ I said,
‘that I hope ere long to see the day when your lordship will again be united
to
’ ‘What makes you think so? Have you had any
private information?
’ asked No,
’ I replied; ‘I judge from circumstances, which I will
mention, if they are not likely to offend your lordship.
’ ‘By all
means, tell ma what they are.
’ ‘I judge from the style in which you
spoke of
’
‘Lady B.
, when we were talking of whom we would save, at a former
conversation, that your affection for her is not extinguished by absence, nor by all
that has happened; that, in fact, she is not indifferent to you.If I said any thing disrespectful of
’
‘With such sentiments, how is it possible that a separation has taken place,
or how is it that a reunion cannot be effected? Under such circumstances, neither you
nor she can be happy; and the cause must be singular which two persons of such rank and
under standing cannot find out and remove.
’ ‘I do not, indeed, know
the cause of separation,
’ said I know
that many falsehoods have been spread abroad—such as my bringing actresses to my
house—but they were all false.
’
An anecdote here shews how painful were his feelings on the subject of his
daughter. “One day
” I
cannot hear to look at an English child; I am so reminded of my own, whom I have not
seen for a long time.
’
Our next quotation depicts strongly the change front twenty to forty; but it is a change for the worse, when we learn to ridicule our own enthusiasm.
“‘
” You must have been highly gratified by the classical
remains, and the classical recollections of Ithaca during your visit there,
’
said You quite mistake
me,
’ said I have no
poetical humbug about me; I am too old for that. Ideas of that sort are confined to
rhyme. The people at home have very absurd notions of the Greeks, as if they were the
Greeks of
’ He
said he would do every thing for them, but would take no command. He added, ‘a
Turk's word could always be depended on, but not a Greek's, if his interest were in
ques-
’ Speaking of his intention to go to Constantinople to redeem
some Greek captives which he promised to their families when he came from Genoa,
Oh, the worst would be,
’ he said, ‘they will put me in the
Seven Towers, from which I do not think
’
Speaking of He is, like
all the fraternity, at present employed in writing heroic and patriotic songs in favour
of the Spaniards or Greeks; the last work he has dedicated to himself.
’ He
said he would give his travels in the Morea to the world; but laughing, added, it would
depend on the reception he met with, whether they should be written in the That will do very well for rhyme.
’ Whether
but we
poets must swear by him.
’ One night he was out at a gentleman's house; the
weather was very hot, and he said when he went on board, that he would bathe. Some one
expressed surprise that he should bathe at so late an hour. ‘Oh,
’ said
we were two hours in the
water late last night.
’ ‘Yes,
’ said by Shrewsbury clock.
’ You look incredulous, my lord,
’ said the doctor.
‘where is
’
“When they were disputing about the motto for the Pray,
my lord, what motto shail we have?
’ Foolishness to the Greeks.
’”
“Colonel D. took up a book, which was the English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. ‘You need not look at this,’ said D.; ‘it is your own.’ ‘This book did me a great deal of harm,’ replied his lordship; ‘I lost a great number of friends who have never forgiven me.’ ‘It is the best you ever wrote.’ ‘Why,’ said Lord B., ‘I published a few silly songs, written when I was young; and when the reviewers treated me so severely, I wished to shew them that I would not put up with their insolence so tamely as they expected. But one thing I regret very much in this book, is what I wrote of Lord Carlisle. I am sorry for it.’ Colonel D. mentioned the Quarterly Review on his Coin. ‘Oh, you should read the Edinburgh Quarterly—this gives it much sharper; for though on my own side, it is always hardest against me.’ One day, when talking of one of his aunts whom the colonel knew, he said, ‘We have been an unfortunate family; none of us have come to any good.’ The colonel said, ‘He hoped to see him a Methodist yet, though he regretted that in the interval much time was lost, as his lordship should now be writing some beautiful hymns.’ ‘When I do become one,’ he replied, ‘I shall not be a lukewarm Christian.’
Speaking of one was a Platonist, the other was not; and, after long arguments, they
converted each other.
”
We have not entered into the detail of the purely religious conversations:
one of the greatest
difficulties which he had met with, and which he could not overcome, was the existence of
so much pure and unmixed evil in the world as he had witnessed; and which he could not
reconcile to the idea of a benevolent Creator. He added, that wherever he had been, he had
found vice and misery predominant; and that real happiness and virtue were rarely, if ever,
to be seen. He had made it, he said, his business to converse with, and inquire into, the
history of many wretched and deformed creatures with whom he had met; and he generally
found their history a record of unvarying misery from their very birth. ‘
” How had
these offended their Creator, to be thus subjected to misery? and why do they live and
die in this wretched state, most of them without the Gospel being preached to them, and
apart from the happiness which it is said to produce? And of what use are they in this
world? Many are constantly suffering under bodily evils and pains; many are suffering
from the constant pressure of poverty; many are doomed to incessant toil and labour,
immersed in ignorance and superstition, and neither having time nor capacity to read
the Bible, even if it were presented to them.
’
We leave these pages, observing that there is matter for the most serious
meditation in their contents; and only pronounce judgment on the opinions they controvert, and
the extraordinary individual they bring forward, in the
“Oh, what are we, That we should sit in judgment man on man? And what were we, frail creatures an we are, If the All-merciful should mete to us With the same rigorous measure wherewithal Sinner to sinner metes?”