Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/517

BYRON 511 Byron and she appear to have fallen in love with each other at first sight. Byron broke up his harem and attached himself to her. Toward the close of the year 1819 the old count took his young wife to his home in Ra- venna. She fell sick,, and it was thought nothing could save her life but the presence of her lover. Her father, brother, and husband urged him to come. He went, and took up his residence in her husband's palace, where he remained for about two years, openly recog- nized as the lover of the countess. During this time he translated the first canto of the "Morgante Maggiore" of Pulci, the "Fran- cesca of Rimini" of Dante, wrote "Marino Faliero," "Sardanapalus," "TheTwoFoscari," "Cain," "The Vision of Judgment," "Heaven and Earth," "The Prophecy of Dante," the fifth canto of "Don Juan," and began "Wer- ner" and "The Deformed Transformed." Most of his poetry of this period, and that which was to follow, shows a great falling off in power. There are indeed passages equal to anything which he ever wrote ; but as a whole the verse is heavy and loose. While in Eng- land his excesses in drinking had been oc- casional ; toward the close of his life in Venice they had grown more and more constant ; now they wore habitual, and gin took the place of wine. After more than a year Count Guiccioli began to take umbrage at the relations between his wife and Byron, and demanded that she should give him up. She demurred, thought it hard that she must be the only woman in Eomagna who might not have an amico, and demanded a formal separation from her hus- band. This was granted by the pope, upon condition that she should reside at a castle be- longing to her father, 15 miles from Ravenna. She could not long endure the separation from Byron, and soon went back to her father's house at Ravenna. Toward the close of 1821 Italy was in a ferment of revolution. The two Gambas, father and son, were among the leaders of the carbonari; Byron joined with them, promising pecuniary aid. He was now a rich man. He had recovered the Rochdale estates, and sold Newstead Abbey for cash ; the mother of his wife had died, and she had come into possession of the Noel estate, a portion of the income from which had been settled upon Byron at his marriage. We now find him ne- gotiating to lend 100,000 to the earl of Bles- sington upon the security of property in Ire- land ; the negotiation fell through, because his agents were not satisfied with the security. Not long after we find him boasting that his surplus income exceeded the salary of the president of the United States. At this time, by the advice of his trustees, he formally as- sumed the name of Noel in addition to his own. The uprising in Italy proved a failure. The Gambas were obliged to leave the Romagna. Byron and the countess Guiccioli accompanied them, and in November, 1821, they took up their abode in Pisa, where they remained 136 VOL. m. 33 nine months, when they removed to Genoa. After leaving Ravenna Byron finished "Wer- ner" and "The Deformed Transformed," wrote "The Age of Bronze," "The Island," and "Don Juan," cantos vi. to xvi., which completed the work as far as ever published ; although the countess Guiccioli states that he subsequently wrote five more cantos, bring- ing the poem to an edifying conclusion. Sev- eral of his later poems were first published in "The Liberal," a periodical started by him in conjunction with Shelley and Leigh Hunt, of which only four numbers were issued. He had also written his " Memoirs," the manuscript of which he presented to Moore, who sold it to Murray the publisher for 2,000, with the condition that it should not be published until after Byron's death. This manuscript was repurchased, and finally burned ; but it is affirmed that several copies were made and are still in existence. Byron had now grown weary of the monotonous life which he was leading. He had years before said that if he lived he would some day do something besides writing poetry. Greece had now risen against the Turks, and Byron re- solved to join the Greek cause. He seems to have had in mind to place himself at its head, and perhaps to become king of Hellas. He advanced considerable money to the Greek committee, promised more, and on July 14 sailed from Genoa for the Greek islands. The two Gambas, father and son, accompanied him. The countess Guiccioli remained behind. After Byron's death she appears to have re- turned to her husband ; at all events, after his death she received an annuity from his estate. About 1833 she appeared in England and France. In 1851 she married the French mar- quis de Boissy, who died in 1866, and was wont to speak of her as "my wife, formerly mistress of Lord Byron." In 1868 she pub- lished in French a volume relating to Byron, which was translated into English under the title " My Recollections of Lord Byron." Byron remained for six months among the Grecian islands, and then sailed for Missolonghi, where he arrived Jan. 5, 1824. On the 22d he wrote the lines " On Completing my Thirty-sixth Year," his latest poem. On the 30th he was appointed commander of an expedition against Lepanto, which never sailed. On Feb. 15 he was seized with a convulsive fit, from which he partially recovered, but relapsed, and gradually failed till April 9, after which he never crossed his threshold. He died on the 19th, vainly endeavoring with his last breath to make his servant understand some message, of which the only intelligible words were the names of a few friends, his sister, wife, and daughter. His body was embalmed and sent to England ; the dean of Westminster refused permission for its interment in Westminster abbey, and it was buried in the family vault in the little church of Hucknall, near Newstead Abbey. By his will, executed a few months after his marriage,