Byron: The Last Phase Part 39

'Notwithstanding the most urgent entreaties and representations of the imminent danger attending his complaint made to him from the onset of his illness, both by his private physician and the medical man sent by the Greek Committee, it was impossible to surmount the great aversion and prejudice he entertained against bleeding, although he lay under imperious want of it' (Vide _Telegrapho Greco_, il di 24 Aprile, 1824).

As to the a.s.sertion confidently made by Dr. Bruno, that, had his patient submitted at the onset of his malady to phlebotomy, he would have infallibly recovered, I believe every medical man who maturely considers the subject will be led to esteem this a.s.sertion as being founded rather on presumption than on reason. Positive language, which is in general so misplaced in medical science, becomes in the present case even ridiculous; for, if different authors be consulted, it will appear that the very remedy which is proclaimed by some as the anchor of salvation, is by others condemned as the instrument of ruin.

Bleeding (as many will be found to a.s.sert) favours metastasis in rheumatic fevers; and, in confirmation of this opinion, they will remark that in this case, as soon as the lancet was employed, the cerebral symptoms manifested themselves on the disappearance of the rheumatic; while those who incline to Dr. Reid's and Dr. Heberden's opinion will observe that, after each successive phlebotomy, the cerebral symptoms not only did not remain at the same degree, but that they hourly went on increasing. In this dilemmatic position it is evident that, whatever treatment might have been adopted, detractors could not fail to have some grounds for laying the blame on the medical attendants. The more I consider this difficult question, however, the more I feel convinced that, whatsoever method of cure had been adopted, there is every reason to believe that a fatal termination was inevitable; and here I may be permitted to observe, that it must have been the lot of every medical man to observe how frequently the fear of death produces it, and how seldom a patient, who persuades himself that he must die, is mistaken. The prediction of the Scotch fortune-teller was ever present to Lord Byron, and, like an insidious poison, destroyed that moral energy which is so useful to keep up the patient in dangerous complaints. 'Did I not tell you,'

said he repeatedly to me, 'that I should die at thirty-seven?'

There is an entry in Millingen's 'Memoirs of Greece' which has not received the attention it deserves--namely, a request made by Byron on the day before his death. It is given by Millingen in the following words:

'One request let me make to you. Let not my body be hacked, or be sent to England. Here let my bones moulder. Lay me in the first corner without pomp or nonsense.'

After Byron's death Millingen informed Gamba of this request, but it was thought that it would be a sacrilege to leave his remains in a place 'where they might some day become the sport of insulting barbarians.'

THE END

BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Medwin, in his book 'The Angler in Wales,' vol. ii., p. 211, says: 'The _right_ foot, as everyone knows, being twisted inwards, so as to amount to what is generally known as a club-foot.'

[2] Letter to Mr. Gisborne, January 12, 1822. Professor Dowden's 'Life of Sh.e.l.ley,' vol. ii., p. 447.

[3] 'Lord Byron.'

[4] 'Letters and Journals of Lord Byron,' edited by Rowland Prothero, vol.

vi., appendix iii.

[5] 'Life of Sh.e.l.ley,' vol. ii., p. 494.

[6] Henry Dunn kept a British shop at Leghorn.

[7] For Byron's opinion of Sh.e.l.ley's poetry, see appendix to 'The Two Foscari': 'I highly admire the poetry of "Queen Mab" and Sh.e.l.ley's other publications.'

[8] 'The Angler in Wales,' by Thomas Medwin, vol. ii., pp. 144-146.

[9] Lady Noel left by her will to the trustees a portrait of Byron, with directions that it was not to be shown to his daughter Ada till she attained the age of twenty-one; but that if her mother were still living, it was not to be so delivered without Lady Byron's consent.

[10] It was at this time that Byron endeavoured to suppress the fact that he had written 'The Age of Bronze.'

[11] Dr. Bruno.

[12] Byron's sobriquet for Walter Scott.

[13] 'Letters and Journals of Lord Byron,' edited by Rowland Prothero, vol. vi., p. 259.

[14] 'Memoir of Rev. F. Hodgson,' vol. ii., p. 150.

[15] 'Diary,' vol. iii., pp. 435, 436.

[16] Parry, p. 170.

[17] Byron wrote a review of Wordsworth's 'Poems' in _Monthly Literary Recreations_ for July, 1807, and a review of Gell's 'Geography of Ithaca'

in the _Monthly Review_ for August, 1811.

[18] General Sir Robert Wilson (1777-1849), commonly known as 'Jaffa Wilson,' entered Parliament in 1818. Having held Napoleon up to horror and execration for his cruelty at Jaffa, Wilson subsequently became one of his strongest eulogists. Being by nature a demagogue, he posed as a champion in the cause of freedom and civil government; he accused England of injustice and tyranny towards other nations, and prophesied her speedy fall. He warmly espoused the cause of Queen Caroline, and was present at the riot in Hyde Park on the occasion of her funeral, when there was a collision between the Horse Guards and the mob. For his conduct on that occasion, despite a long record of gallant service in the field, Wilson was dismissed the Army in 1821, but was reinstated on the accession of William IV. He appears to have been both foolish and vain, and fond of creating effect. He was constantly brooding over services which he conceived to have been overlooked, and merits which he fancied were neglected. He attached himself to the ultra-radicals, and puffed himself into notoriety by swimming against the stream. A writer in the _Quarterly Review_ (Vol. xix., July, 1818) says: 'The obliquity of his (Wilson's) perceptions make his talents worse than useless as a politician, and form, even in his own profession, a serious drawback to energy however great, and to bravery however distinguished.'

[19] High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands.

[20] Acting as Secretary to High Commissioner.

[21] Vol. vi., p. 326.

[22] One of the turbulent capitani who was playing for his own hand. He was at one time a member of the Executive Body, and was afterwards proclaimed by the Legislative a.s.sembly as an enemy of the State.

[23] A leader of Greek insurgents--Byron calls him Ulysses--who broke away from Government control to form an independent party in opposition to Mavrocordato, with whose views Byron sympathized. Trelawny and Colonel Stanhope believed in Odysseus, who after having acquired great influence in Eastern Greece was proclaimed by the Government, imprisoned, and murdered while in captivity.

[24] 'Life and Letters of Mary Wollstonecraft Sh.e.l.ley,' edited by Mrs.

Julian Marshall.

[25] For further evidence on this point, see 'Letters of Lord Byron,'

edited by Rowland Prothero, vol. i., pp. 9-11.

[26] It is difficult to reconcile this with Millingen's statement.

[27] _Edinburgh Review_, April, 1871, pp. 294-298.

[28] He succeeded Sir Thomas Maitland as High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands.

[29] This must be taken _c.u.m grano salis_.

[30] They appear to have met accidentally in Trinity Walks a few days earlier. Edleston did not at first recognize Byron, who had grown so thin.

[31] Edleston, who some time previously had given Byron a 'Cornelian' as a parting gift on leaving Cambridge for the vacation.

[32] Edleston had died five months before Byron heard the sad news.

[33] 'I think it proper to state to you that this stanza alludes to an event which has taken place since my arrival here, and not to the death of any _male_ friend.'--Lord Byron to Mr. Dallas.

[34] That this Thyrza was no pa.s.sing fancy is proved by Lord Lovelace's statement in 'Astarte' (p. 138): 'He had occasionally spoken of Thyrza to Lady Byron, at Seaham and afterwards in London, _always with strong but contained emotion_. He once showed his wife a beautiful tress of Thyrza's hair, _but never mentioned her real name_.'

[35] Captain (afterwards Commodore) Walter Bathurst was mortally wounded at the Battle of Navarino, on October 20, 1827.--'Battles of the British Navy,' Joseph Allen, vol. ii., p. 518.

[36] The last line was in the first draft.