342 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



[SEPT. 



knees ?" " No ; I have not got so far ; 

 you expect too rapid an advance." 

 Another time " I am in a fair way," 

 cries Lord Byron ; " I believe in pre- 

 destination, and the depravity of the 

 human heart, and of my own in parti- 

 cular I shall get at the other points 

 by and by." " Do you know," said he, 

 on another occasion, " I am nearly re- 

 conciled to St. Paul, for he says, ' there 

 is no difference between the Jews and 

 the Greeks,' and I am exactly of the 

 same opinion, for the character of both 

 is equally vile." Is it possible Dr. Ken- 

 nedy could not see that the noble lord 

 was quizzing ? " I like the pope," says 

 Lord Byron, " for he has issued an or- 

 der that no more miracles shall be per- 

 formed." Dr. Kennedy speaks of one 

 of his converts relapsing. " I am sorry 

 to hear of this failure," says Lord By- 

 ron, " in one of your converts it will 

 throw me back ten years in my conver- 

 sion." Once he observed " If the 

 whole world were going to hell, I would 

 prefer going with tnem, than go alone to 

 heaven." Good Dr. Kennedy thought, 

 if it came to the test, his decision would 

 be different ; and gravely adds, the ob- 

 servation indicated equally the selfish- 

 ness of man, and an ignorance of the 

 true nature of the Christian religion. 

 In the course of conversation, Dr. Ken- 

 nedy remarked " If it depended on 

 me, judging by mere feelings of hu- 

 manity, I would have all saved, I would 

 have no hell at all, but pardon all, pu- 

 rify all, and send all to equal happi- 

 ness." " Nay," exclaimed some of the 

 party, "I would not save all." " / 

 would save," cried Lord Byron, " my 

 sister, and my daughter, and some of 

 my friends, and a few others, and let 

 the rest shift for themselves." " And 

 your wife also, " I exclaimed. " No," 

 said he. " But your wife, surely you 

 would save your wife?" "Well, I 

 would save her if you like." All this 

 badinage the good doctor takes and re- 

 peats with the gravest solemnity. 



The fact seems to be, Lord Byron 

 was full of flippancy one half of what 

 he uttered was for effect, and the other 

 without any definite object it was just 

 what came uppermost, with an utter 

 carelessness of who might suffer from 

 the remark. The Unitarians were 

 spoken of. " Their religion," said his 

 lordship, as if he cared, or really knew 

 any thing of the matter, " seems to be 

 spreading very much. Lady Byron is a 

 great orte among them, and much looked up 

 to. She and I used to have a great many 

 discussions on religion, and some of our 

 differences arose from this point ; but on 

 comparing all the points together, I 

 found that her religion was very similar to 

 mine." We do not doubt, this, almost 

 every word of it, is fudge. What fol- 



lows we know to be false. " Lady Byron 

 has just written to me to ask my pre- 

 sentation of a church to a person who is 

 not well fitted, in my opinion, for the 

 charge, as he is too much a man of the 

 world. The presentation, in fact, be- 

 longs to her, and not to me, although 

 she has politely asked me, as if it de- 

 pended on my will. I have written to 

 her that certainly the person might 

 have it if she pleased." Circumstantial 

 as this sounds, there is not one word of 

 truth in it. The calumniated lady has 

 had no such presentation to dispose of. 

 Is it not lamentable that her name 

 should be thus bandied on all sides 

 Ex uno disce omnes. 



Journal of a Tour made by Senor Juan 

 de Vega, the Spanish Minstrel of 1828-9, 

 through Great Britain and Ireland a 

 Character assumed by an English Gentle- 

 man. 2 vols. 8vo. This professes to be 

 a bona-fide tour made by an English 

 gentleman under the character of a 

 Spanish minstrel, and such we must 

 suppose it to be, though for any. thing 

 we know, the character and tour alike 

 may be all assumed. The incidents 

 recorded, however, exhibit no obvious 

 violation of probability. If it be all 

 invention, it is at least well invented ; 

 and if it be genuine, there is enough to 

 annoy numbers, while something will 

 remain to flatter and conciliate a few. 

 " The author had travelled," he tells 

 us, " in Columbia was well acquainted 

 with the habits and manners of Spani- 

 iards spoke the language with sonic 

 fluency had the dusky complexion oj 

 the natives, and knew some Spanish 

 emigrants personally, and many others 

 by name and so was tolerably well 

 qualified to play the part he had under- 

 taken." Equipped with a cloak and a gui- 

 tar, and throwing open his shirt-collar, 

 he cast himself recklessly upon the gui- 

 dance of chance, trusting solely to the 

 charms of his instrument for silver and 

 copper to pay the charges of his ven- 

 ture. No reason is given for risking 

 the chances of starvation, by starting 

 with only a shilling or two in his purse ; 

 for though first or last he gathered from 

 50. to 60., he was frequently ex- 

 posed to considerable difficulties. This 

 may throw some doubt upon the tale. 

 The tour, which lasted for ten months, 

 commenced on the Kent Road, was con- 

 tinued across the south through Hast- 

 ings, Salisbury, &c. to Bath andBristol ; 

 from thence along the Welsh coast to 

 Dublin, and finally closed at Glasgow 

 and Edinburgh. Every where he met 

 with civility, and often with the ten- 

 derest sympathy, under the supposition 

 of his being a Spanish exile, compelled 

 to abandon his country by the tyranny 

 of the government. Many he beguiled 



