1830.] 



341 



MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 



Conversations on Religion with ' Lord 

 Byron, Ly the late Dr. Kennedy. The 

 late Dr. Kennedy was an army physi- 

 ciana man of serious sentiments, and 

 of course, among military men, bore the 

 appellation of a methodist, though very 

 for from being a mere sectarian. When 

 stationed at Cephalonia, he found, to 

 his surprise, several of his associates, 

 chiefly of the medical class, more or less 

 tinged with infidelity, and he, as any 

 man deeply impressed with the realities 

 of revelation would do, endeavoured, on 

 many occasions, in season, and perhaps 

 out of season, to combat the irreverent, 

 and, as they seemed to him, erroneous 

 notions of these, many of them, in other 

 respects, intelligent officers. As Dr. 

 Kennedy insisted frequently on the im- 

 pregnability of the Christian cause, a 

 kind of compact was made to discuss its 

 evidences ; he was to lecture they 

 were to listen ; no interruption was to 

 be made till he had gone through the 

 series, and then, being thus in posses- 

 sion of the necessary information, they 

 were to propose their further objec- 

 tions, and he was to refute of his own 

 competency for which he had no doubt. 

 Just before the first of these meetings 

 took place, Lord Byron arrived in Ce- 

 phalonia, and being detained longer than 

 he had expected from crossing to the 

 *ntinent of Greece, he was induced, 

 ''^rtly from curiosity, or in pursuit of 

 amuseme"ht, with some expectation too, 

 doubtless, of shewing off, to join the 

 party. He attended, accordingly, the 

 first meeting broke of course the con- 

 dition of silence, and did not repeat his 

 attendance. Soon afterwards, however, 

 opportunities occurred of farther con- 

 versation in a more private manner 

 the details of which furnish some part of 

 the volume before us. The impression 

 left upon the reader is one very favour- 

 able to Dr. Kennedy as to earnestness, 

 zealous exertion, and virtuous inten- 

 tion, but the details afford numerous 

 proofs of incompetency, sometimes from 

 want of knowledge, and often from lack 

 of tact and judgment. His own faith 

 was of too indiscriminating a cast ; he 

 had no notion that one point of doctrine 

 could be more revolting than another in 

 the mind of any inquiring person, and 

 he was, consequently, equally peremp- 

 tory upon all. Obviously he was inca- 

 pable of measuring impressions, and had 

 little suspicion that the same argument, 

 however distinctly and fervently stated, 

 might not produce the same effect upon 

 every mind ; but, above all, he could 

 not distinguish when Lord Byron was 

 mystifying, and when he was serious, 



which, for our own parts, we do not be- 

 lieve he was, for a moment, with Dr. 

 Kennedy, though he did not dislike to 

 have himself talked about ; and he saw 

 the doctor, dazzled by his " reputation, 

 and his rank, and his wealth," was the 

 very man to accomplish this for him. 



The tone Dr. Kennedy takes it was 

 no doubt in him a natural one is one 

 of the most perfect self-satisfaction ; he 

 has knowledge, faith, grace, while his 

 audience, and especially poor Lord By- 

 ron, he regards as altogether in sin and 

 unregenerate, and above all, ignorant in 

 spiritual matters. They must be treated 

 as babes fed with milk and not with 

 meat. They were to be crammed with 

 the husks and shells, while they were 

 themselves eager to seize at once upon 

 the kernel. They knew well enough 

 the general nature of the question; he 

 spoke as if they did not they supposed, 

 naturally enough, he had something 

 new to 'produce, and the novelty was 

 what they were solicitous to get at. Dr. 

 Kennedy talked of grace. " What do 

 you mean by grace," interrupted Lord 

 Byron, not irrationally. The answer 

 amounted to divine favour, and a self- 

 consciousness of it which of course re- 

 solved into personal testimony and per- 

 sonal judgment, both of which are fal- 

 lible matters, and not at all calculated 

 to carry instant conviction. But the 

 truth is, Dr. Kennedy wanted to have 

 all his own way not to discuss, but to 

 preach and detail, while Lord Byron 

 had obviously scarcely any other aim 

 than to amuse himself if possible to 

 baffle his teacher, and exhibit his own 

 dexterity. Dr. Kennedy talked again of 

 demonstration the evidences of Chris- 

 tianity were as susceptible of demon- 

 stration as any proposition of Eu- 

 clid. This is nonsense; we do not 

 judge of coincidence and equality as we 

 judge of testimony. Mere testimony 

 never can be demonstrative ; we act, to 

 be sure, every day upon it, but then it 

 is because we are confirmed repeatedly 

 and successively by things which do not 

 depend upon testimony the testimony 

 of others we mean but the evidence of 

 facts, or of our senses. 



Lord Byron did not like to be called 

 an infidel not, as Dr. Kennedy seems 

 to think, because the expression im- 

 plied a disbelief of revelation, but be- 

 cause the term has come to convey a 

 moral reprobation it is equivalent to 

 calling a person not a man of honour. 

 In one of his visits to Lord Byron, Dr. 

 Kennedy asks, " Does your lordship 

 read your bible?" "Oh yes, every 

 day." "Do you pray on your bended 



