The Henson Journals

[1]

Byron's conduct when an unpopular officer was assassinated outside his door (Dec. 1820) was as courageous as it was humane.

"I shall never be deterred from a duty of humanity by all the assassins of Italy, and that is a wide word"

(To Murray, Dec 9th, 1820) v. 136.

"I abhor cruelty more than I abhor the Austrians – except on an impulse, and then I am savage – but not deliberately so".

cf. v. 10Diary, 1821. v. 172.

"The king–times are fast finishing. There will be blood shed like water, and tears like mist; but the peoples will conquer in the end. I shall not live to see it, but I forsee it".

Ibid. 173

Diary. Feb 19, 1821.

"The war approaches nearer & nearer. O those scoundrel sovereigns! Let us but see them beaten – let the Neapolitans but have the pluck of the Dutch of old, or the Spaniards of now, or of the German Protestants, the Scotch Presbyterians, the Swiss under Tell, or the Greeks under Themistocles – all small & solitary nations (except the Spaniards & German Lutherans), & there is yet a resurrection for Italy, & a hope for the world. Ibid. 206

Byron to Murray, Feb 2, 1821.

"God will not be always a Tory, though Johnson says the first Whig was the devil".

cf v. 129 "God is not an Austrian" Ibid. 235

[2]

Byron to Moore April 28th, 1821

"You will please to recollect that the Neapolitans are now nowhere more execrated than in Italy, and not blame a whole people for the vices of a province. That would be like condemning Great Britain because they plunder wrecks in Cornwall. v. 272

Byron to Murray. July 22, 1821

"I have always found the English baser in some things than any other nation. You stare, but it's true as to gratitude, – perhaps, because they are prouder, & proud people hate obligations. v. 325

Detached Thoughts 84. 1821.

"Two or three years ago, I thought of going to one of the Americas, English or Spanish. But the accounts sent from England, in consequence of my enquiries, discouraged me. After all, I believe most countries, properly balanced, are equal to a Stranger. (by no means to the native though). I remembered General Ludlow's domal inscription:–

"Omne solum forti patria" –

and sate down free in a country of Slavery for many centuries. But there is no freedom, even for Masters, in the midst of slaves: it makes my blood boil to see the thing. I sometimes wish that I was the Owner of Africa, to do at once, what Wilberforce will do in time, viz – sweep Slavery [3] from her desarts [sic], and look on upon the first dance of their Freedom.

As to political Slavery – so general – it is man's own fault; if they will be slaves, let them! Yet it is but "a word & a blow". See how England formerly, France, Spain, Portugal, America, Switzerland, freed themselves! There is no one instance of a long contest, in which men did not triumph over Systems. If Tyranny misses her first spring, she is cowardly as a tiger, & retires to be hunted. v. 451

To Murray. Nov: 3 1821

'I can never recast any thing. I am like the Tiger: if I miss the first spring, I go growling back to my jungle again: but if I do hit, it is crushing. v. 471

To the Count D'Orsay, April 22, 1823

"my mother was Scotch, & my name & my family are both Norman: and as for myself, I am of no country.vi. 195

To the Earl of Blessington April 23, 1823.

'I should prefer a grey Greek stone over me to Westminster Abbey: but I doubt if I shall have the luck to die so happily. vi. 196

To the Countess Guiccioli. Oct. 7. 1823.

'I was a fool to come here: but, being here, I must see what is to be done.

vi. 276

[4]

Byron to Mr Mayor undated 1824

"Coming to Greece, one of my principal objects was to alleviate as much as possible the miseries incident to a warfare so cruel as the present. When the dictates of humanity are in question, I know no difference between Turks & Greeks. It is enough that those who want assistance are men, in order to claim the pity & protection of the meanest pretender to humane feelings.

vi. 328

By what test ought any man's career to be judged? How shall its central motive be disclosed? and its true effect appraised? There are the estimates of his contemporaries: there is the more deliberate verdict of posterity. He may achieve definite results, or he may radiate a potent influence for good or ill, or he may bequeath a memory which beckons men for generations after his death to high endeavours. Apply these tests to the case of Byron and all will certify that in his shifting & shadowed course one factor was constant and waxing, his passion for liberty, the liberty of the individual which he asserted, often disastrously enough, against the tyranny of convention, & the liberty of the nation, which he championed even at the cost of his life, against the despotism of alien power.

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