1830.] Lady Byron and Moore. 387 



manifest that my mother cannot have teen actuated by any hostile or ungene- 

 rous motives towards Lord Byron : 



" ' My dear Lady Byron, I can rely upon the accuracy of my memory for 

 the following statement. I was originally consulted by Lady Noel on your 

 behalf, whilst you were in the country ; the circumstances detailed by her were 

 such as justified a separation, but they were not of that aggravated descrip- 

 tion as to render such a measure indispensable. On Lady Noel's representa- 

 tion, I deemed a reconciliation with Lord Byron practicable, and felt most sin- 

 cerely a wish to aid in effecting it. There was not, on Lady Noel's part, any 

 exaggeration of the facts, nor, so far as I could perceive, any determination to 

 prevent a return to Lord Byron : certainly none was expressed when I spoke 

 of a reconciliation. When you came to town, in about a fortnight, or perhaps 

 more, after my first interview with Lady Noel, I was, for the first time, in- 

 formed by you of facts, utterly unknown, as I have no doubt, to Sir Ralph and 

 Lady Noel. On receiving this additional information, my opinion was entirely 

 changed : I considered a reconciliation impossible. I declared my opinion, 

 and added that if such an idea should be entertained, I could not, either pro- 

 fessionally or otherwise., take any part towards effecting it. Believe me, very 

 faithfully your's. 



f STEPH. LUSHINGTON/ 



' Great George Street, Jan. 31, 1830.' 



" I have only to observe, that, if the statements on which my legal advisers 

 (the late Sir Samuel Romilly and Dr. Lushington) formed their opinions, were 

 false, the responsibility and the odium should rest with me only. I trust that 

 the facts which I have here briefly recapitulated, will absolve my father and 

 mother from all accusations with regard to the part they took in the separation 

 between Lord Byron and myself. They neither originated, instigated, nor 

 advised that separation; and they cannot be condemned for having afforded to 

 their daughter the assistance and protection which she claimed. There is no 

 other near relative to vindicate their memory from insult. I am therefore com- 

 pelled to break the silence, which I had hoped always to observe, and to solicit 

 from the readers of Lord Byron's Life an impartial consideration of the testi- 

 mony extorted from me. 



" A- 1. NOEL BYRON.' 

 , " Hanger Hill, Feb. 19, 1830." 



ANCIENT AND MODERN SYSTEMS OF SLAVERY. 



THE existence of slavery in all countries of the world, from the earliest 

 periods to the present time, is one of those extraordinary and indefinable 

 results of the progress of human society, which at once confounds theo- 

 retical reasonings, and puts investigation and regular definition at de- 

 fiance. 



It is easy to conceive that even in the earliest ages, when mankind 

 first began to perceive the advantages of living in a state of community, 

 subject to conventional regulations or fixed laws, individuals may have 

 been induced to resign, for a time, their natural liberty, through the 

 pressure of some particular evil, or with the view of obtaining some 

 present or future good ; and there can be no doubt, but that as civili- 

 zation acquired influence, and humane ideas began to prevail, many 

 persons guilty, or supposed to be guilty, of crimes against the social 

 compact, or who had been taken taken prisoners during war, instead of 

 being made to suffer death, have, as a less cruel, and more expiatory 

 punishment, been reduced to a temporary or permanent state of 

 bondage. 



We find, for instance, that even the most civilized nations of the 



3 D 2 



