Lord Byron), they are often enabled at once to light upon the very conclusion to which man, through all the forms of reasoning, is, in the mean time, puzzling and, perhaps, losing his way :—

And strikes each point with native force of mind,

'While puzzled logic blunders far behind.'

How

Of the Scriptures, it is certain that Lord Byron was a frequent and almost daily reader, the small pocketbible which, on his leaving England, had been given him by his sister, being always near him. much, in addition to his natural solicitude on the subject of religion, the taste of the poet influenced him in this line of study, may be seen in his frequently expressed admiration of the ghost-scene,' as he called it, in Samuel, and his comparison of this supernatural appearance with the Mephistopheles of Goethe. In the same manner, his imagination appears to have been much struck by the notion of his lecturer, that the circumstance mentioned in Job of the Almighty summoning Satan into his presence was to be interpreted, not, as he thought, allegorically and poetically, but literally. More than once we find him expressing to Doctor Kennedy how much this belief ' of the real appearance of Satan to hear and obey the 'commands of God added to his views of the gran'deur and majesty of the Creator.'

On the whole, the interest of these Conversations, as far as regards Lord Byron, arises not so much from any new or certain lights they supply us with on the subject of his religious opinions, as from the evidence they afford of his amiable facility of intercourse, the total absence of bigotry or prejudice from even his most favourite notions, and-what may be accounted, perhaps, the next step in conversion to belief itself

his disposition to believe. As far, indeed, as a frank submission to the charge of being wrong may be supposed to imply an advance on the road to being right, few persons, it must be acknowledged, under a process of proselytism, ever showed more of this desired symptom of change than Lord Byron. I own,' I own,' says a witness to one of these conversations*, 'I felt asto'nished to hear Lord Byron submit to lectures on his ' life, his vanity, and the uselessness of his talents, ' which made me stare.'

As most persons will be tempted to refer to the work itself, there are but one or two other opinions of his lordship recorded in it which I shall think necessary to notice here. A frequent question of his to Doctor Kennedy was- What, then, you think me in a very bad way?-the usual answer to which being in the affirmative, he, on one occasion, replied,—' I am ' now, however, in a fairer way. I already believe in predestination, which I know you believe, and in the depravity of the human heart in general, and of my 'own in particular:-thus you see there are two points in which we agree. I shall get at the others by and by; but you cannot expect me to become a perfect Christian at once.' On the subject of Dr. Southwood's amiable and, it is to be hoped for the sake of Christianity and the human race, orthodox work on the Divine Government,' he thus spoke: 'I cannot decide the point; but to my present appre'hension it would be a most desirable thing could it 'be proved, that ultimately all created beings were to 'be happy. This would appear to be most consistent 'with God, whose power is omnipotent, and whose

* Mr. Finlay.

'chief attribute is Love. I cannot yield to your doc'trine of the eternal duration of punishment. This author's opinion is more humane, and I think he supports it very strongly from Scripture.'

I shall now insert, with such explanatory remarks as they may seem to require, some of the letters, official as well as private, which his lordship wrote while at Cephalonia; and from which the reader may collect, in a manner far more interesting than through the medium of any narrative, a knowledge both of the events now passing in Greece, and of the views and feelings with which they were regarded by Lord Byron.

To Madame Guiccioli he wrote frequently, but briefly, and, for the first time, in English; adding always a few lines in her brother Pietro's letters to her. The following are extracts.

• October 7th.

Pietro has told you all the gossip of the island,— ' our earthquakes, our politics, and present abode in a pretty village. As his opinions and mine on the 'Greeks are nearly similar, I need say little on that 'subject. I was a fool to come here; but, being here, I must see what is to be done.'

• October

We are still in Cephalonia, waiting for news of a more accurate description; for all is contradiction ' and division in the reports of the state of the Greeks. 'I shall fulfil the object of my mission from the Com'mittee, and then return into Italy; for it does not seem likely that, as an individual, I can be of use to 'them;—at least no other foreigner has yet appeared to be so, nor does it seem likely that any will be at present,