FAMILY OF LORD BYRON.

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Byron, the Solicitor-General summed up the evidence; after which, Lord Byron, who declined examining any witnesses on his own behalf, told their lordships that what he had to offer in his own vindication, he had committed to writing; and begged that it might be read by the clerk, as he feared his own voice, considering his present situation, would not be heard. His speech was accordingly read by the clerk in a very audible and distinct manner, and contained an exact detail of all the particulars relating to the melancholy affair between him and Mr. Chaworth. He said he declined entering into the circumstances of Mr. Chaworth's behaviour further than was necessary for his own defence, expressed his deep and unfeigned sorrow for the event, and reposed himself with the utmost confidence on their lordships' justice and humanity, and would with cheerfulness acquiesce in the sentence of the noblest and most equitable judicature in the world, whether it were for life or for death. The peers, who amounted in number to two hundred and fifty, then adjourned to their own house; and, after some time, returned, when they unanimously found his lordship guilty of manslaughter; and, as by an old statute, peers are, in all cases where clergy is allowed, to be dismissed without burning in the hand, loss of inheritance, or corruption of blood, his lordship was immediately dismissed on paying his fees. The witnesses examined on behalf of the crown

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GENEALOGICAL SKETCH OF THE

were the several gentlemen in company at the Star and Garter Tavern when the accident happened; the master and waiters; Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Adair, the surgeons who attended Mr. Chaworth; his uncle, and the lawyer who made his will.

The counsel for his lordship were the Honourable Mr. Charles Yorke and Alexander Wedderburne, esq.; attorney, Mr. Potts. Against his lordship, the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, Mr. Serjeant Glyn, Mr. Stowe, Mr.Cornwall; attorney, Mr. Joynes.

The public curiosity was so great on this occasion, that tickets of admission were publicly sold for six guineas, and found eager purchasers.

This affair has been very frequently misrepresented, and much censure has been generally thrown upon Lord Byron, which he seems hardly to have deserved. The circumstances of the duel and its fatal termination are very much regretted; but the man must be possessed of extraordinary coolness and forbearance, indeed, who could feel his adversary's sword entangled in his own coat, and not avail himself of the opportunity which was thus presented to him of putting an end to the combat and of preserving his own life. The imputation of unfairnesss is evidently unfounded; from the statement of Mr. Chaworth, it appears that he made the first lunge.

It was, however, an event, which, as might have been expected, clouded the whole of the after-life

FAMILY OF LORD BYRON.

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of the unfortunate survivor. His lordship married Elizabeth, the daughter of Charles Shaw, Esq. of Besthorpe-Hall, in the county of Norfolk, by whom he had three sons, but all of them died without issue before their father, who departed this life at Newstead Abbey, May 17, 1798.

Among the many remarkable persons who are to be reckoned among the immediate ancestors of the late Lord Byron, was the Honourable Commodore John Byron, who was wrecked in the year 1740 on the coast of Patagonia. This gentleman was the second son of William, the fourth Lord Byron, by his third marriage. He was born at Newstead Abbey on the 8th of November, 1723, and was sent, while yet a boy, into the navy. In the year 1740, an expedition was fitted out for the purpose of annoying the Spaniards, who were then at war with England, in the South Seas, where an attack would be the least expected. The command of the five ships, of which this force was composed, was entrusted to Commodore, afterwards Lord Anson. In one of those ships (the Wager) Mr. Byron was rated as a midshipman, he being then seventeen years of age. The Wager was a ship in every respect unfitted for the service to which she was appointed. She had been an East Indiaman, and was now used as a store-ship. In consequence of her being heavily laden, and, moreover, a very bad sailer, she soon parted company with the rest of the squadron, after having

16

GENEALOGICAL SKETCH OF THE

lost her mizen-mast in a squall off Straits le Maire, and never again joined the other ships. The Island of Soccoro had been appointed as a rendezvous, and to this place the commander of the Wager, Captain Cheap, endeavoured to steer; but, owing to his obstinacy and to the difficulty of navigating in those unknown seas, he failed in this attempt. The storm continued, while the ship's distress increased, until at length she was blown upon a lee-shore, where she struck between two rocks.

The narrative, published by Mr. Byron after his return, is, perhaps, one of the most interesting books of the kind which the language contains. The late Lord Byron has made ample use of it in the course of his singular poem of "Don Juan,” as we shall hereafter take occasion to remark; and has alluded to it by saying that the hardships which his hero suffered, were

"Comparative

To those related in his grand-dad's narrative."

The description given by Mr. Byron of the wreck, has great power, and conveys with the least effort a striking picture of that appalling

"In this dreadful situation she (the ship) lay for some little time, every soul on board looking upon the present minute as his last, for there was nothing to be seen but breakers all around us.

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However, a mountainous sea hove her off from thence; but she presently struck again, and broke her tiller. In this terrifying and critical juncture, to have observed all the various modes of horror operating according to the several characters and complexions amongst us, it was necessary that the observer himself should have been free from all impressions of danger. Instances there were, however, of behaviour so very remarkable, they could not escape the notice of any one who was not entirely bereaved of his senses, for some were in this condition to all intents and purposes; particularly one, in the ravings despair brought upon him, was seen stalking about the deck, flourishing a cutlass over his head, and calling himself king of the country, and striking every body he came near, till his companions, seeing no other security against his tyranny, knocked him down. Some, reduced before by long sickness and the scurvy, became on this occasion as it were petrified, and bereaved of all sense, like inanimate logs, and were bandied to and fro by the jerks and rolls of the ship, without exerting any efforts to help themselves."

This happened in the middle of the night, and when day broke the people got the boats out; but Mr. Byron, who, with the Captain, went on shore, could not save a single article of his clothes, except what he had on his back. The

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