ther could high-mindedness or
lofty principle be predicted of him. And in truth, Byron possessed
neither of these things. With this fiery Norman blood flowing in his
veins, restlessness was the habitual condition of his existence, such
restlessness as drove him to seek excitement at whatever cost,--quiet,
as he expressed it, to the quick bosom being hell. This restlessness led
him into all sorts of folly and excess, in the pursuit of new
excitements. Then he was cursed with an exaggerated sensibility, which,
while it gave him many rare delights in life, inflicted upon him also
the keenest tortures. His massive egotism was the cause, doubtless, of
many of his most marked eccentricities. He was so anxious to have the
world's gaze fixed upon him that he said and did things continually for
the mere purpose of holding its attention. In this way he frequently
made himself appear worse than he really was. Society was held willingly
in the thrall of his personality. A dull world likes to have laid bare
for its inspection the pulses of a vivid existence. Byron may have been
no worse than many other men of his day, for it was a time of general
immorality, but he never concealed even his worst vices. While hypocrisy
is a national vice in England, Byron, though essentially English in most
things, never possessed this marked characteristic of his countrymen. He
flaunted his vices in the light of day; and the world took a speedy
revenge upon him for his audacity. The little episode of his love for
Mary Chaworth occurred at so early an age that it seems scarcely
probable that it affected him as seriously as he claimed; yet he was a
very precocious child, and his account of the strength of his passion,
and its disappointment, may not be wholly an affectation. It is
difficult, too, to arrive at his real feeling toward Miss Milbank, there
was so much of contradiction both in his words and in his conduct. Miss
Milbank probably loved him but feared to marry him, having heard of the
irregularities of his life. And certainly the sort of life which Byron
had led was a very poor preparation for happiness at the fireside, and
if all other causes of unhappiness had been wanting would doubtless have
wrecked his union with Miss Milbank. But there were not wanting
numberless other sources of misery to this ill-mated couple, first among
which was the complete incompatibility of their tastes, feelings,
characters. That she was a noble, intelligent, and