1831.] Byron's Memoirs. 159 



Europe on her, and with, probably, a sincere zeal for her freedom, he 

 sailed. But he was either too late or too early in the struggle. He 

 also chose his position badly. By fixing himself in an obscure corner of 

 northern Greece, he lost all power of serving the public interests ; fell 

 into the hands of a knot of intriguers and beggars ; and between rash 

 exposure to the climate, and vexation at the discovery that he was doing 

 nothing, and could do nothing, was seized with a fatal illness, of which he 

 died on the 19th of April, 1824. He was born in London, on the 22nd 

 of January, 1788. 



We have now had, we must suppose, the last account which Byron 

 will supply to the gossiping world. The disclosures of these volumes 

 are unfortunate. It would have been better for his fame, if he had been 

 left to the impression naturally made by his poetry. His powers there 

 are unquestionable. He had great poetic talents, and by inventing a 

 style, all whose peculiarities belonged to his own character; and by 

 works, every line of which was a commentary upon his personal career, 

 he had earned for himself a distinguished place among the poets of En- 

 gland. Like the efforts of many celebrated writers, his first works were 

 his best. Of course we speak only of those written after his first residence 

 in Greece. In his later years he was either too idle, or too self-willed, to 

 take the trouble essential to eminence : and the longer he wrote, the 

 more his style degenerated. His Italian life was equally injurious to his 

 literary and his moral fame. But, attaining a high place in authorship, 

 he was unequal to obtain the highest prize. In tragedy he failed alto- 

 gether ; and from an evident and acknowledged consciousness of failure, 

 he at once laboured at dramatic writing, and reviled it. His tragedies, 

 heavy in the closet, are altogether intractable on the stage, and Shak- 

 speare still stands unapproached, if not unapproachable. 



PRESENT STATE OF SOCIETY POWEE AND PROSPECTS OF THE 



COUNTRY. 



THERE is nothing which has hitherto more eminently distinguished 

 the Constitution of Great Britain than its tendency and power to preserve 

 inviolate the different relations of society, and to establish amongst them 

 that mutual good understanding which is the surest source of peace and 

 good order, as well as of rational liberty. On all its institutions, this 

 character is impressed ; and the key-stone of all its written and implied 

 wisdom is the dependance of the poor man for support and protection 

 upon his richer neighbour ; and the dependence of the rich, for protec- 

 tion and security, upon the impartiality of the law, and the gratitude of 

 the poor who have experienced his bounty. Independently of the two 

 great classes of the community the aristocracy and the people it 

 recognizes three minor divisions 'amongst the latter ; and, in spirit, pro- 

 vides for their distinct preservation. Amongst the more distinguished 

 class, it chooses the members of its legislature, its magistracy, and its 

 sheriffs ; and to them it entrusts the protection of the two subordinate 

 classes. Amongst the second class its yeomen, its lesser gentry, and 

 its tradesmen it selects those who are to sit on juries, vote in elections, 

 and provide for the distribution of those funds set apart for the preser- 

 vation of the public tranquillity, and the maintenance of the infirm and 



