of Mitylene; our imaginations all on the rack, guessing who this
rambler in Greece could be. He had money it was evident: he had
philanthropy of disposition, and all those eccentricities which mark
peculiar genius. Arrived at Palermo, all our doubts were dispelled.
Falling in company with Mr. FOSTER, the architect, a pupil of WYATT'S,
who had been travelling in Egypt and Greece, "The individual," said
he, "about whom you are so anxious, is Lord Byron; I met him in my
travels on the island of Tenedos, and I also visited him at Mitylene."
We had never then heard of his lordship's fame, as we had been some
years from home; but "Childe Harolde" being put into our hands we
recognized the recluse of Calcla in every page. Deeply did we regret
not having been more curious in our researches at the cottage, but we
consoled ourselves with the idea of returning to Mitylene on some
future day; but to me that day will never return. I make this
statement, believing it not quite uninteresting, and in justice to his
lordship's good name, which has been grossly slandered. He has been
described as of an unfeeling disposition, averse to associating with
human nature, or contributing in any way to sooth its sorrows, or add
to its pleasures. The fact is directly the reverse, as may be plainly
gathered from these little anecdotes. All the finer feelings of the
heart, so elegantly depicted in his lordship's poems, seem to have
their seat in his bosom. Tenderness, sympathy, and charity appear to
guide all his actions: and his courting the repose of solitude is an
additional reason for marking him as a being on whose heart Religion
hath set her seal, and over whose head Benevolence hath thrown her
mantle. No man can read the preceding pleasing "traits" without
feeling proud of him as a countryman. With respect to his loves or
pleasures, I do not assume a right to give an opinion. Reports are
ever to be received with caution, particularly when directed against
man's moral integrity; and he who dares justify himself before that
awful tribunal where all must appear, alone may censure the errors of
a fellow-mortal. Lord Byron's character is worthy of his genius. To do
good in secret, and shun the world's applause, is the surest testimony
of a virtuous heart and self-approving conscience.
THE END
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Gillet, Printer, Crown-court, Fleet-street.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Vampyre; A Tale, by John William Polidori