APPENDIX. 



THE following fads and documents, in rela 

 tion to Lord Byron, lead us to indulge the hope, 

 that, prior to his dissolution, he was actuated by 

 sentiments and dispositions, different from those 

 which are stated at page 122. 



The lady of Mr. John Shepherd of Frome, 

 having died some time ago, leaving amongst 

 her papers, a prayer which her husband believ 

 ed to have been composed on behalf of the noble 

 poet, Mr. Shepherd addressed it to his Lord 

 ship, which called forth the reply which is here 

 subjoined. 



Frome, Somerset, Nov. 21s, 1821. 

 To the Right Honourable Lord Byron, Pisa. 



MY LORD, More than two years since, a 

 lovely and beloved wife was taken from me, by 

 lingering disease, after a very short union. She 

 possessed unvarying gentleness and fortitude, 

 and a piety so retiring, as rarely to disclose 

 itself in words, but so influential, as to produce 

 uniform benevolence of conduct. In the last 

 hour of life, after a farewell look on a lately born 

 and only infant, for whom she had evinced in 

 expressible affection, her last whispers were, 

 t( God s happiness ! God s happiness !&quot; Since 

 the second anniversary of her decease, I have 

 read some papers which no one had seen during 

 her life, and which contained her most secret 

 thoughts. I am induced to communicate to your 

 Lordship a passage from these papers, which, 

 there is no doubt, refers to yourself; as I have 

 more than once heard the writer mention your 

 agility on the rocks at Hastings : 



&quot; O my God, I take encouragement from the 

 assurance of thy word, to pray to Thee in behalf 

 of one for whom I have lately been much in 

 terested. May the person to whom I allude, 

 (and who is now, we fear, as much distinguished 

 for his neglect of Thee, as for the transcendent 

 talents Thou hast bestowed on him) be awaken 

 ed to a sense of his own danger, and led to seek 

 that peace of mind in a proper sense of religion, 

 which he has found this world s enjoyments 

 unable to procure. Do thou grant that his fu 

 ture example may be productive of far more ex 

 tensive benefit, than his past conduct and writings 

 have been of evil ; and may the Sun of Righte 

 ousness, which, we trust, will, at some future 

 period, arise upon him, be bright in proportion 

 to the darkness of those clouds which guilt has 

 raised, and soothing in proportion to the keen 

 ness of that agony which the punishment of his 

 rices has inflicted on him ! May the hope, that 



the sincerity of my own efforts for the attainment 

 of holiness, and the approval of my own love to 

 the great Author of religion, will render this 

 prayer, and every other for the welfare of man 

 kind, more efficacious cheer me in the path of 

 duty ; but let me not forget, that, while we are 

 permitted to animate ourselves to exertion, by 

 every innocent motive, these are but the lesser 

 streams which may serve to increase the current, 

 but which, deprived of the grand fountain of good, 

 (a deep conviction of inborn sin, and firm belief 

 in the efficacy of Christ s death, for the salvation 

 of those who trust in him, and really seek to 

 serve him) would soon dry up, and leave us as 

 barren of every virtue as before. Hastings, 

 July 3lst, 1814.&quot; 



There is nothing, my Lord, in this extract, 

 which, in a literary sense, can at all interest 

 you ; but it may, perhaps, appear to you worthy 

 of reflection, how deep and expansive a concern 

 for the happiness of others, a Christian faith can 

 awaken in the midst of youth and prosperity. 

 Here is nothing poetical and splendid, as in the 

 expostulatory homage of M. Delamartine ; but 

 here is the sublime, my Lord ; for this interces 

 sion was offered on your account, to the supreme 

 Source of happiness. It sprang from a faith 

 more confirmed than that of the French poet, 

 and from a charity, which, in combination with 

 faith, showed its power unimpaired amidst the 

 languors and pains of approaching dissolution. 

 I will hope, that a prayer, which, I am sure, was 

 deeply sincere, may not be always unavailing. 



It would add nothing, my Lord, to the fame 

 with which your genius has surrounded you, for 

 an unknown and obscure individual to express 

 his admiration of it. I had rather be numbered 

 with those who wish and pray, that &quot; wisdom 

 from. above,&quot; and &quot; peace,&quot; and &quot;joy,&quot; may 

 enter such a mind. 



THE ANSWER. 



Pisa, Dec. 8th, 1821. 



SIR, I have received your letter. I need 

 not say that the extract which it contains has 

 affected rne, because it would imply a want ol 

 all feeling to have read it with indifference. 

 Though I am not quite sure that it was intended 

 by the writer for me, yet the date, the place 

 where it was written, with some other circum 

 stances, which you mention, render the allusion 

 probable. But, for whomsoever it was meant, I 

 have read it with all the pleasure which can arise 



