gent, as well as communicative, than the men. I found also at Ravenna much education and liberality of thinking among the higher classes. The climate is delightful. I was unbroken in upon by society. It lies out of the way of travellers. I was never tired of my rides in the pine-forest: it breathes of the Decameron: it is poetical ground. Francesca lived, and Dante was exiled and died at Ravenna. is something inspiring in such an air.* There "The people liked me as much as they hated the Government. It is not a little to say, I was popular with all the leaders of the Constitutional party. They knew that I came from a land of liberty, and wished well to their cause. I would have espoused it too, and assisted them to shake off their fetters. They knew my character, for I had been living two years at Venice, where many of the Ravennese have houses. I did not, however, take part in their intrigues, nor join in their political coteries; but I had a magazine of one hundred stand of arms in the *The following lines will show the attachment Lord Byron had to the tranquil life he led at Ravenna. "Sweet hour of twilight, in the solitude "Of the pine forest and the silent shore "Which bounds Ravenna's immemorial wood, "Rooted where once the Adrian wave flow'd o'er "To where the last Cæsarean fortress stood, "Evergreen forest! which Boccacio's lore "And Dryden's lay made haunted ground to me, 66 Making their summer lives one ceaseless song, Don Juan, Canto III. Stanza 105. house, when every thing was ripe for revolt. A curse on Carignan's imbecility! I could have pardoned him that too, if he had not impeached his partisans. The proscription was immense in Romagna, and embraced many of the first nobles; almost all my friends, among the rest the Gambas, were included in it. They were exiled, and their possessions confiscated. They knew that this must eventually drive me out of the country. 1 did not follow them immediately; I was not to be bullied. I had myself fallen under the eye of the Government. If they could have got sufficient proof, they would have arrested me ; but no one betrayed me; indeed there was nothing to betray. I had received a very high degree, without passing through the intermediate ranks. In that corner you see papers of one of their societies. Shortly after the plot was discovered, I received several anonymous letters, advising me to discontinue my forest rides; but I entertained no apprehensions of treachery, and was more on horseback than ever. I never stir out without being well armed, and sleep with pistols. They knew that I never missed my aim; perhaps this saved me. An event occurred at this time at Ravenna that made a deep impression on me; I alluded to it in Don Juan.' The military Commandant of the place, who, though suspected of being secretly a Carbonaro, was too powerful a man to be arrested, was assassinated opposite to my palace; a spot perhaps selected by choice for the commission of the crime. The meaşures which were adopted to screen the murderer prove the assassination to have taken place by order of the police. I had my foot in the stirrup at my usual hour of exercise, when my horse started at the report of a gun. On looking up, I perceived a man throw down a carbine and run away at full speed, and another stretched upon the pavement a few yards from me. On hastening towards him, I found that it was the unhappy Commandant. A crowd was soon collected, but no one ventured to offer the least assistance. I soon directed my servant to lift up the bleeding body and carry it into my palace; but it was represented to me that by so doing I should confirm the suspicion of being of his party, and incur the displeasure of the Government. However, it was no time to calculate between humanity and danger. I assisted in bearing him into the house, and putting him on a bed. He was already dead from several wounds; he appeared to have breathed his last without a struggle. I never saw a countenance so calm. His adjutant followed the corpse into the house. I remember his lamentation over him:-'Povero diavolo! non aveva fatto male, anchè ad un cane'.” "I am sorry," said he, not to have a copy of my Memoirs to show you; I gave them to Moore, or rather to Moore's little boy, at Venice. I remember saying, 'Here are 2000l. for you, my young friend.' I made one reservation in the gift-that they were not to be published till after my death. "I have not the least objection to their being circulated; in fact they have been read by some of mine, and several of Moore's friends and acquaintances; among others, they were lent to Lady Burghersh. On returning the MS. her Ladyship told Moore that she had transcribed the whole work. This was un peu fort, and he suggested the propriety of her destroying the copy. She did so, by putting it into the fire in his presence. Ever since this happened, Douglas Kinnaird has been recommending me to resume possession of the MS., thinking to frighten me by saying that a spurious or a real copy, surreptitiously obtained, may go forth to the world. I am quite indifferent about the world knowing all that they contain. There are very few licentious adventures of my own, or scandalous anecdotes that will affect others, in the book. It is taken up from my earliest recollections, almost from childhood-very incoherent, written in a very loose and familiar style. The second part will prove a good lesson to young men; for it treats of the irregular life I led at one period, and the fatal consequences of dissipation. There are few parts that may not, and none that will not, be read by women.' Another time he said : "A very full account of my marriage and separation is contained in my Memoirs. After they were completed, I wrote to Lady Byron, proposing to send them for her inspection, in order that any misstatements or inaccuracy (if any such existed, which I was not aware of) might be pointed out and corrected. In her answer she declined the offer, without assigning any reason; but desiring, if not on her account, for the sake of her daughter, that they might never appear, and finishing with a threat. My reply was the severest thing I ever wrote, and contained two quotations, one from Shakspeare, and another from Dante.* I told her that she knew all I had *I could not retain them. written was incontrovertible truth, and that she did not wish to sanction the truth. I ended by saying, that she might depend on their being published. It was not till after this correspondence that I made Moore the depositary of the MS. "The first time of my seeing Miss Millbank was at Lady's. It was a fatal day; and I remember that in going up stairs I stumbled, and remarked to Moore, who accompanied me, that it was a bad omen. I ought to have taken the warning. On entering the room I observed a young lady, more simply dressed than the rest of the assembly, sitting alone ́ upon a sofa. I took her for a humble companion, and asked if I was right in my conjecture? She is a great heiress,' said he in a whisper, that became lower as he proceeded; 'you had better marry her, and repair the old place, Newstead.' "There was something piquant, and what we terin pretty, in Miss Millbank. Her features were small and feminine, though not regular. She had the fairest skin imaginable. Her figure was perfect for her height, and there was a simplicity, a retired modesty about her, which was very characteristic, and formed a happy contrast to the cold artificial formality, and studied stiffness, which is called fashion. She interested me exceedingly. It is unnecessary to detail the progress of our acquaintance. I became daily more attached to her, and it ended in my making a proposal that was rejected. Her refusal was couched in terms that could not offend me. I was besides persuaded that, in declining my offer, she was governed by the influence of her mother, and was the more confirmed in this opinion by her reviving our |