OF

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS

OF

Lord Byron.

BY GEORGE CLINTON, ESQ.

When to their airy hall my father's voice
Shall call my spirit, joyful in their choice;
When, poised upon the gale, my form shall ride,
Or, dark in mist, descend the mountain's side;
Oh! may my shade behold no sculptured urns
To mark the spot where earth to earth returns;
No lengthened scroll, no praise-encumbered stone;
My epitaph shall be-my name alone:

If that with honour fail to crown my clay,
Oh! may no other fame my deeds repay :
That, only that, shall single out the spot;
By that remembered, or with that forgot.

BYRON.

London:

JAMES ROBINS AND CO. IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW; AND JOSEPH ROBINS, JUN. AND CO. LOWER

ORMOND QUAY, DUBLIN.

MDCCCXXVIII.

6013

40-142

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

LORD BYRON'S general character. Character as a poet-as a British nobleman.

Objects of writing this memoir. Motives for destroying Lord Byron's ' Own

Memoirs.'

1

CHAPTER I.

Family descent. Newstead Abbey granted to Sir John Byron. The building

described. Inscription to the memory of Boatswain, a Newfoundland dog,

buried at Newstead. Clarendon's character of Sir Nicholas Byron. Some

account of Sir John Byron. His spirited conduct as Governor of the Tower.

Distinguishes himself, with three of his brothers, in the battle of Edge Hill,

for which he is created a baron. Commands the Irish forces during the civil

wars. After numerous successes, he is defeated by Sir Thomas Fairfax.—

Escapes to Holland with the Duke of York. Dies at Paris. His descendants.

Elegy on Newstead Abbey. William Lord Byron tried by his Peers for killing

Mr. Chaworth in a duel. The Honorable John Byron sails as a midshipman

in the Wager, with Commodore, afterwards Lord, Anson. The Wager parts

company with the squadron, and is wrecked on the coast of Patagonia. Suf-

ferings of Mr. Byron, Captain Cheap, and the crew. After a captivity of more

than five years, Mr. Byron returns to England. Arrives in London pennyless,

and finds his sister married to the Earl of Carlisle. Literary character of the

Countess. Satire on the present Earl of Carlisle. The Honorable John Byron

appointed commodore, and sails for North America. Circumnavigates the

globe. Promoted to the rank of admiral. Nicknamed Foul-weather Jack.'

Superstition of the sailors in consequence.
Domestic troubles. Captain

Byron, the Admiral's eldest son, a reprobate libertine. His amours with Lady

Carmarthen. Her Ladyship divorced in consequence. Married to Captain

Byron, and dies of a broken heart. Captain Byron marries Miss Gordon.

Dissipates her property, and abandons her, soon after the birth of George

Gordon Byron, the subject of these memoirs. Dies at Valenciennes.

CHAPTER II.

3

Birth of Lord Byron. Early infirmity of his constitution. His childhood spent
among the romantic scenery of Aberdeen. Inspiration derived therefrom,
illustrated by Beattie. Account of his early days, by a Schoolfellow. Sent to
the grammar school of Aberdeen. His extreme sensibility. The Brig o' Bal-
gownie prophecy. His contempt of titles when at school. Death of his
mother. The Earl of Carlisle becomes his guardian. Sent to Harrow school.