APPENDIX. 



127 



every prudent and delicate mean by conversa 

 tion, epistolary correspondence, or otherwise, to 

 rouse the attention of those, especially in the 

 higher circles of life, who appear unconcerned 

 about &quot; the things which relate to their everlast 

 ing peace.&quot; 



The following lines, written by Lord Byron, 

 are said to have been found in his Bible : 



&quot; Within this awful volume lies 

 The mystery of mysteries. 

 Oh ! happiest they of human race, 

 I o whom our God has given grac:;, 

 To hear, to read, to fear, to pray, 

 To lift the latch, and force the way ; 

 But better had they ne er been born, 

 Who read to doubt, or read to scorn.&quot; 



With regard to Buonaparte, we have nothing 

 so satisfactory as in the case of Byron, that 

 might lead us to conclude that his moral and re 

 ligious sentiments were changed for the better. 

 In his solitude at St. Helena, however, it ap 

 pears that the subject of religion occasionally oc 

 cupied his auction. The following anecdote, 



extracted from I,a Casas Journal, will show the 

 opinion which he entertained of the morality of 

 the New Testament : 



In a conversation on the subject of religion, 

 which he had with his friends at St. Helena, he 

 saiu, among many other things, &quot; How is it 

 possible that conviction can find its way to our 

 hearts, when we hear the absurd language, and 

 witness the acts of iniquity of the greatest num 

 ber of those whose business it is to preach to 

 us ? I am surrounded with priests who preach 

 incessantly that their reign is not of this world, 

 and yet they lay hands upon every thing they 

 can get. The Pope is the head of that religion 

 from heaven, and he thinks only of this world, 

 &c. The Emperor ended the conversation by 

 desiring my son to bring him the New Testa 

 ment, and taking it from the beginning, he read 

 as far as the conclusion of the speech of Jesus on 

 the mountain. He expressed himself struck with 

 tne highest admiration at the purity, the sublimity, 

 the beauty of the morality it contained, and we all 

 experienced the same feeling.&quot; 



I 



