hows so little indulgence
to Lord Byron, thus describes however the impression made on him, and
his conduct under the circumstances:--

"Nature had gifted Lord Byron with most benevolent sentiments, which I
had frequent opportunities of perceiving; and I sometimes saw them give
to his beautiful countenance an expression truly sublime. I paid him a
visit the day after Lord Faulkland's death; he had just seen the
lifeless body of one in whose society he had lately passed a pleasant
day. He was saying to himself aloud, from time to time--'Poor
Faulkland!' His look was more expressive than his words. 'But,' he
added, 'his wife! 'tis she that is to be pitied!' I read his soul full
of the kindest intentions, nor were they sterile. If ever there were a
pure action, it was the one he meditated then; and the man who conceived
and accomplished it was at that moment advancing through thorns and
briers toward the free but narrow path that leads to heaven."[166]

He was setting out then on a long journey. And at that period long
journeys were serious things. His first desire was to have a farewell
meeting at Newstead, of all his old school-fellows. And that not
sufficing, he even wished to carry their image away with him, so as to
enjoy a sensible means of recalling tender remembrances of the past. But
his heart found an aliment for misanthropy in the selfish answer given
by one of his comrades, who was alarmed at the expense of getting a
portrait taken. We see the impression made by this ungenerous reply, in
the letter he addressed to his friend Harness:--

"I am going abroad, if possible, in the spring, and before I depart I am
collecting the pictures of my most intimate school-fellows. I want
yours; I have commissioned one of the first miniature painters of the
day to take them, of course, at my own expense, as I never allow any to
incur the least expenditure to gratify a whim of mine. To mention this
may seem indelicate; but when I tell you a friend of ours first refused
to sit, under the idea that he was to _disburse_ on the occasion, you
will see that it is _necessary_ to state these preliminaries, to prevent
the recurrence of any similar mistake. It will be a tax on your patience
for a week, but pray excuse it, as it is possible the resemblance may be
the sole trace I shall be able to preserve of our past friendship. Just
now it seems foolish enough, but in a few years, when some of us are
dead, and others are separated by