accompanies the procession in which it is borne; all ecclesiastical, civil, and military honours attend it; all his fellow-citizens of Missolonghi and fellow-countrymen of Greece follow it, crowning it with their gratitude and bedewing it with their tears; it is blessed by the pious benedictions and prayers of our archbishop, bishop, and all our clergy. Learn, noble lady, learn that chieftains bore it on their shoulders, and carried it to the church; thousands of Greek soldiers lined the way through which it passed, with the muzzles of their muskets, which had destroyed so many tyrants, pointed towards the ground, as though they would war against that earth which was to deprive them for ever of the sight of their benefactor;-all this crowd of soldiers, ready at a moment to march against the implacable enemy of Christ and man, surrounded the funeral couch, and swore never to forget the sacrifices made by your father for us, and never to allow the spot where his heart is placed to be trampled upon by barbarous and tyrannical feet. Thousands of Christian voices were in a moment heard, and the temple of the Almighty resounded with supplications and prayers that his venerated remains might be safely conveyed to his native land, and that his soul might rest where the righteous alone find rest.' On May the 2d, the remains of Lord Byron were embarked, under a salute from the guns of the fortress. "How different," exclaims Count Gamba," from that which had welcomed the arrival of Byron, only four months ago!" After a passage of three days, the vessel reached Zante; and the precious deposit was placed in the quarantine --house. Here some additional precautions were taken, to ensure its safe arrival in England, by providing another case for the body. Colonel Stanhope was on his way back to England, and he therefore took charge of Lord Byron's remains, and embarked with them on board the Florida. On the 25th of May she sailed from Zante, and arrived in the Downs on June 29th. She afterwards went to Stangate Creek, to perform quarantine, where she arrived on Thurs. day, July 1st. John Cam Hobhouse, Esq. and John Hanson, Esq. Lord Byron's executors, after having proved his will, claimed the body from the Florida; and under their directions it was removed to the house of Sir Edward Knatchbull, No. 20, Great George Street, Westminster. Preparations were then made for the funeral. On Friday and Saturday, July 9th and 10th, the body lay in state, and was visited by a great number of noblemen and gentlemen. The crowd would probably have been too great, had every person been admitted; and therefore those only who could procure tickets, issued for the purpose, were allowed to pay the last tribute of their admiration to this illustrious man. By his friends, and those who knew him well, Lord Byron is described as not much altered in his appearance by death. He was thinner, more care-worn than formerly, but the lineaments of his face were unchanged; there was no mark of suffering in his countenance, and he appeared as if he were in a deep sleep. Some difference of opinion existed as to where he was to be buried; it having been suggested that he should be placed either in Westminster Abbey or in St. Paul's Cathedral; but the good taste of his sister, Mrs. Leigh, prevailed, and it was settled that he should be laid, agreeably to a wish expressed in his writings, in the family vault at Newstead, and near his mother. On Monday, July 12th, at eleven o'clock in the morning, the funeral procession, attended by a great number of noblemen's and gentlemen's carriages, and by crowds of people, who evinced a deep sympathy, left the house at Westminster, and traversed various streets of the metropolis, to reach the north road. At Pancras Gate the carriages returned; the procession was at an end, and the hearse proceeded by slow stages to Nottingham. One little incident is narrated in the public journals of the day, which seems worthy of receiving that trifling additional circulation I may hope this book will give to it. As the procession proceeded through the streets of London, a fine looking honest tar was observed to walk near the hearse uncovered throughout the morning; and on being asked by a stranger whether he formed part of the funeral cortege, he replied that he came there to pay his respects to the deceased, with whom he had served in the Levant, when he made the tour of the Grecian Islands. This poor fellow was kindly offered a place by some of the servants who were behind the carriage; but he said he was strong, and had rather walk near the hearse. It was not till Friday, July 16th, that the interment took place. Lord Byron was buried in the family vault at the village church of Huckuel, eight miles beyond Nottingham, and within two miles of Newstead Abbey, once the property of the Byron family. He was accompanied to the grave by crowds of persons eager to show this last testimony of respect to his memory. In one of his earlier poems he had expressed a wish that his dust might mingle with his mother's, and in compliance with this wish, his coffin was placed in the vault next to hers. It was twenty minutes past four o'clock on Friday, July 16th, 1824, when the ceremony was concluded, when the tomb closed. for ever on Byron, and when his friends were relieved from every care concerning him, save that of doing justice to his memory, and of cherishing his fame. The following inscription was placed on the coffin : "GEORGE GORDON NOEL BYRON, LORD BYRON, Of Rochdale. BORN IN LONDON, DIED AT MISSOLONGHI, IN WESTERN GREECE, APRIL 19TH, 1824." 'Au urn accompanied the coffin, and on it was inscribed, "Within this urn are deposited the heart, brain, &c. of the deceased Lord Byron." So much has been said on the subject of Lord Byron's religious opinions, and so many absurd and untrue tales have been fabricated, that we are glad of an opportunity of undeceiving our readers in this respect. The following extract shows that, although Lord Byron's mind was tainted with scepticism, he was neither an infidel, nor was he, as has been represented, in the habit of treating with profaneness subjects which every man of sense, whatever may be the infirmity of his own notions on them, knows are too important and too respectable to be approached with levity: This,' says Mr. Parry, is what Lord Byron frequently said to me on the subject of religion:-" I have both been annoyed and amused by numerous attacks on my religious opinions, and with the conversations about them. It is really astonishing how these Religionists persecute. No situation in life secures a man from their importunities. Under a pretence of being greatly apprehensive for our eternal welfare, if we do not follow their dictum they persecute us in every way possible. True religion teaches man humility, charity, kindness, and every good act. Professing religion is now become quite a trade. Thousands sally forth to escape from labour, without the least claim either by education, character, or station in society, and assume the character of teachers. They embrace different opinions, and are continually bellowing damnation against each other. All join to crush liberal sentiments; they have sworn a boud against that charity which thinketh no evil; and they will remain in this disposition until the bulk of mankind think for I am themselves. As long as they are so ignorant as to be credulous, there will always be impostors to profit by their credulity. It would fill a volume to record the manner in which I have been attacked. sure that no man reads the Bible with more pleasure than I do ; I read a chapter every day, and in a short time shall be able to beat the Canters with their own weapons. Most of them are like the Catholics, who place the Virgin Mary before Christ, and Christ before God; only they have substituted the Apostle Paul for the Virgin, and they place him above Jesus, and Jesus above the Almighty. "While at Cephalonia, a gentleman of the name of Kennedy was introduced to me; I have a respect for him, and believe him sincere in his professions. He endeavoured to convince me that his ideas of religion were correct. At that time my mind was taken up with many other matters, particularly with Greece. I like to be civil, and to give answers to questions which are put to me, although it is not pleasant to be questioned, particularly on abstruse subjects. They require a depth of thought, and such meu as I am think deeply. Our minds are filled with ten thousand ideas. I answered Mr. Kennedy, therefore, though without any intention of converting him or allowing myself to be converted. I believe even then, though unprepared, I had very often the best of the argument, and now I am sure I could defeat him. He was not a skilful disputant." Lord Byron, like every other man of exalted mind, had a belief in the influence of beings of another world. It is impossible that a man of quick imagination and of acute sensibility can live in a world like this, which cabins and confines' us, and feel his soul excited to a degree infinitely beyond the common habits and customs of the dull world, without wishing to believe that it is by some unseen hand the chords are struck which discourse such eloquent music.' Who sees the soft wind which steals over the strings of the Eolian harp, and seems to die upon the harmony it creates ? and yet who doubts its existence ? Who can feel the wild, the wonderful-the ecstacies of joy and sorrow, which have dominion in the heart where Genius has shed her light-and doubt that some breathings of another world wake up the powers of which he knows nothing but their effect? Mr. Parry says, in his homely way : 'Lord Byron had some superstitions clinging to him. He believed in presentiments, fatal and fortunate days, and in ghosts. On setting out from Italy for Greece a storm drove the vessel back; a circumstance which has occurred on numerous occasions, when the voyage has been afterwards happily accomplished, and followed by no disastrous results; but Lord Byron, though he is said to have quoted the proverb, that a bad beginning makes a good ending, was made melancholy by a foul wind. This circumstance was often mentioned among his friends at Missolonghi. On rallying Lord Byron on this subject, and observing that I thought it was very strange a man of his strength of mind should entertain such a vulgar belief as that of the existence of ghosts, he smiled, and replied, "I have from my childhood endeavoured to impress a belief of supernatural causes on my mind. [ cannot say why I had such a propensity, nor why it continued so long, but I derive great pleasure from the idea; even now, I actually believe such things may be." At this he sighed deeply, and said, “ I have had wonderful presentiments in my time. Hardly any unfortu nate circumstance has ever happened to me, of which I have not had some forerunning warning. We can't help these things, and can no more account for the existence of one sentiment than for another. I know not why, but I have a particular aversion either to begin or conclude any work on a Friday." 'His opinion concerning Count Gamba was another little superstition of Lord Byron's. He was very partial to the count, without placing much confidence in him, because he had got a notion that the count was an unfortunate man, and that whatever he undertook would fail. I was particularly enjoined by Lord Byron never to allow the count to undertake any piece of public service without first acquainting his lordship with it, and obtaining his approbation. He always expected that the count would get himself and others into scrapes: whether the count had or had not ever given Lord Byron any reason to form such an opinion, before I was acquainted with them, I know not; but I never saw any thing to justify it. I believe it was one of those prejudices or presentiments Lord Byron liked to indulge, or at least which he never made any effort to control or subdue.' We have now brought to a termination the task of describing the life and works of Lord Byron. In the course of our labours we have sometimes had occasion to disapprove of parts of his conduct as well as of his poetry; but the contemplation of the whole leaves upon our mind one sentiment of admiration and of respect, amounting almost to veneration. His faults few, and such as belong to the common lot of humanity, only serve to excite pity for the weakness of that nature which even the most Godlike attributes cannot wholly purify; while the afflictions which beset him, the lonely and almost desolate manner |