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ORIGINALITY OF CHARACTER.

all; but let any unprejudiced man look at his works, and the fact will be evident, that he was not merely a student, but a student of the very highest class; that while these afford every evidence of a close and correct acquaintance with mere book-learning, they prove at the same time that, in the study of human nature, he was superior to most other men of his time; and if this excellence was the result of a neglect of the prescribed scholastic exercises, then the more they are neglected the better. Lord Byron was himself a copy of no man-an original genius; and, as such, it will be in vain to look for any exemplar; he studied within himself, without parade or ostentation; and the fruits of those studies have delighted mankind. Such was the youth who, as he himself afterwards tells his own story in Lara,' was.

"Left by his sire, too young such loss to know,
Lord of himself,-that heritage of woe."

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CHAPTER III.

Lord Byron takes up his residence at Newstead-Abbey, the seat of his paternal ancestors.-Description of the Abbey, and adjoining scenery.--Publication of Lord Byron's first work, "Hours of Idleness."- Severely handled by the Edinburgh Reviewers. The Author lashes the Reviewers in return.-His temper, rather soured by the severity of criticism, is put to a more severe trial by a disappointment in the tender passion.He quits England on his Voyages and Travels.

LORD BYRON now took up his residence at the seat of his paternal ancestors,* Newstead-Abbey, whose romantic views were at once calculated to remind him of the scenes of his early life in Aberdeenshire, and its dilapidated state to call forth his sympathy for the seat of his forefathers, beau

* His feelings were not much elevated on his unexpected succession to the family honours and estate. He explains them in Hours of Idleness; but he had been disappointed in a tender passion at the time of writing the following stanza:

'Fortune, take back these cultur'd lands,

Take back this name of splendid sound;

I hate the touch of servile hands

I hate the slaves that cringe around:

Place me among the rocks I love,
Which sound to Ocean's wildest roar,

I ask but this-again to rove

Through scenes my youth hath known before.'

tiful even in decay. He bestowed some few repairs upon it, and the state of his finances did not allow more. As the Elegy on Newstead Abbey' has rendered every thing relating to it worthy of notice, it may not be unacceptable to give a description of it, as it was, and as it is now; for it will be impossible to read it, and not to feel that his lordship, in delineating the halls of his ancestors, had imbibed that romantic sensi. bility and melancholy tone which pervaded his best works.

Newstead-Abbey (about seven miles from Nottingham) was founded by Henry II., in the beginning of his reign, as a priory of Black Canons, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Its revenues, at the time of the dissolution, were estimated at £200 per ann. The first possessor, Sir John Byron, immediately fitted up part of the edifice; but the church was suffered to go to decay, though the south aisle was actually incorporated with the dwelling-house, and now contains some of the most habitable apartments. It has remained the family seat ever since. It is situated in a vale, in the midst of an extensive park, finely planted. The front of the abbey stands at one end of the house, and has a noble and majestic appearance. On one side of the house is a very large winding lake, which is a noble water; on the other side is another very fine lake, which flows almost up to the house. The banks on one side are fine woods,

NEWSTEAD ABBEY.

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which spread over the edge of a hill down to the water; on the shore, scattered groves and bark ; on the banks are two castles, washed by the water of the lake, which are uncommonly picturesque, and throw an air of most pleasing cheerfulness over the whole scene. A path up the hill leads to a gothic building, from whence the view of the lakes, the abbey and its fine arch, the plantations and the park, are seen at once, and form a very noble landscape. The prospect from the house is exceedingly delightful, and the gardens are laid out with much taste and elegance. The park is extensive, and is enclosed with a stone wall in some parts, and in others by wooden pales, and contains great plenty of deer, and many other sorts of game. The following is the description of the house, as it appeared in 1812, and it has undergone no alterations since.

"The front of the abbey church has a most noble and majestic appearance, being built in the form of the west end of a cathedral, adorned with rich carvings and lofty pinnacles.

"The castellated stables and offices are still to be seen, as the visitor enters into a sombre, deserted court-yard, in the midst of which is a curious erection of red stone, in the form of an antique cross. In front is the west end of the ancient church; also the venerable front of the mansion, with its towers and battlements, and gothic windows; and on the right some additional buildings,

in the castellated style, originally intended for domestic offices, but now in a greater state of ruin than the older parts of the house, yet assimilating well with it, particularly as being overshadowed with the darkening foliage of some lofty elms.

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Ascending some steps, a heavy grated door and porch open into the great hall, quite in the antique style its only ornaments are two pictures, of a wolf-dog and another from Newfoundland, favourites of his lordship; to the latter, indeed, he once owed his life.

In

"The little drawing-room contains a few family pictures, still interesting from their locality. this apartment there is a very ancient carved wooden chimney-piece, in which are introduced four of the old monarchs of this kingdom, Henry VIII. and two of his concubines, and the family arms of Byron in the centre.

"The gallery over the cloisters is very antique, and from its windows we see the cloister court, with a basin in the centre, used as a stew for fish. It is impossible to contemplate this scene without a recurrence to past times; when we look down on the gothic arches, or up to the hoary battlements, midst all the sombre silence that reigns around, busy fancy peoples the scene with ideal beings, and the shadows of some small ash trees in the area may readily be mistaken by an enthusiastic imagination, for the shade of the passing religious devotee from his cell to the altar.