placed, but if absent five shillings were set down. He placed five shillings against Lord Byron's name; but Mr. Fyumore observing to him that my lord was present, he corrected his mistake. In a few minutes after this, Mr. Chaworth, having paid his reckoning, went out, and was followed by Mr. Donston, who entered into discourse with him at the head of the stairs; and Mr. Chaworth asked him particularly if he had altended to the conversation between himself and Lord Byron; and if he thought he had been short in what he said on the subject. To which Mr. Donston said, "No; he had rather gone too far upon so trifling an occasion, but did not believe that Lord Byron or the company would think any more about it ;" and, after a little ordinary discourse had passed, they parted. Mr. Donston returned to the company, and Mr. Chaworth turned to go down stairs; but, just as Mr. Donston entered the door, he met Lord Byron coming out, and they passed, as there was a large screen that covered the door, without knowing each other. Lord Byron found Mr. Chaworth still on the stairs, and it now remains a doubt whether Lord Byron called upon Mr. Chaworth, or Mr. Chaworth upon Lord Byron; but both went to the first landing-place, having dined upon the second floor; and both called the waiter to show an empty room, which a waiter did; and having first opened the door himself, and placed a small tallow candle, which he had in his hand, on the table, he retired; when the gentlemen entered, and pulled the door after them.

In a few minutes the affair was decided; the bell was rung, but by whom is uncertain; the waiter went up, and, perceiving what had happened, ran down stairs frighted, told his master the catastrophe, who ran instantly up stairs, and found the two combatants standing close together: Mr. Chaworth had his sword in his left hand, and Lord Byron his in his right; Lord Byron's left hand was round Mr. Chaworth, as Mr. Chaworth's right hand was round Lord Byron's neck, and over his shoulders. He desired Mr. Fyumore to take his sword, and Lord Byron delivered up his at the same time: one, or both, called to him to get some help immediately; and in a few minutes Mr. Hawkins, the surgeon, was sent for, who came accordingly.

In the mean time Mr. Montagu, Mr. Hewett, Mr. Donston, Mr. Willoughby, Mr. Molineux, and Mr. Sherwin, had entered the room. The account Mr. Chaworth then gave was, "That he could not live many hours; that he forgave Lord Byron, and hoped the world would; that the affair had passed in the dark, only a small tallow candle burning in the room; that Lord Byron asked him if he meant

the conversation on the game to Sir Charles Sedley or to him. To which he replied, ' If you have any thing to say, we had better shut the door.' That, while he was doing this, Lord Byron bid him draw; and, in turning, he saw his lordship's sword half drawn : on which he whipped out his own, and made the first pass. The sword being through my lord's waistcoat, he thought he had killed him; and, asking whether he was not mortally wounded, Lord Byron, while he was speaking, shortened his sword, and stabbed him in the belly."

'When Mr. Hawkins, the surgeon, came in, he found Mr. Chaworth sitting by the fire, with the lower part of his waistcoat open, his shirt bloody, and his hand upon his belly. He was very earnest to know if he thought him in imminent danger; and, being answered in the affirmative, he desired his uncle Levinz might be sent for, that he might settle his private affairs; and in the mean time gave Mr. Hawkins a particular detail of what had passed. He said, "That Lord Byron and he entered the room together, Lord Byron leading the way; that his lordship, in walking forwards, said something relative to the former dispute, on which he proposed fastening the door; that, on turning himself round from this act, he perceived his lordship with his sword either drawn, or nearly so; on which he instantly drew his own, and made a thrust at him, which he thought had wounded or killed him; that then, perceiving his lordship shorten his sword to return the thrust, he thought to have parried it with his left hand, at which he looked twice, imagining he had cut it in the attempt; that he felt the sword enter his body, and go deep through his back; that he struggled, and, being the stronger man, disarmed his lordship, and expressed a concern as under an apprehension of having mortally wounded him; that Lord Byron replied by saying something to the like effect; adding, at the same time, that he hoped now he would allow him to be as brave a man as any in the kingdom." Mr. Hawkins adds, that pained and distressed as Mr. Chaworth then was, and under the immediate danger of death, he repeated what he had heard he had declared to his friends before, "That he had rather be in his present situation than live under the misfortune of having killed another person."

'After a little while he seemed to grow stronger, and he was then removed to his own house, where Mr. Adair, another surgeon, Mr. Man, an apothecary, and Dr. Addington, his physician, came to the assistance of Mr. Hawkins, but no relief could be given him: he continued sensible, however, till the time of his death; and Mr. Levinz being now come, Mr. Partington, an attorney, was sent for to make

his will, for which he gave very sensible and distinct instructions; and, while Mr. Partington was employed in his business, he gave Mr. Levinz, at his request, the same account which he had before given to Mr. Hawkins, lamenting, at the same time, his own folly in fighting in the dark—an expression that certainly conveyed no imputation on Lord Byron, and implied no more than this, that by fighting with a dim light he had given up the advantage of his own superiority in swordmanship, and had been led into the mistake that he was in the breast of his lordship, when he was only entangled in his waistcoat, for under that mistake he certainly was when Lord Byron shortened his sword, and ran him through the body. He added, to Mr. Levinz, that he died as a man of honour; and expressed a satisfaction that he was in his present situation, rather than in that of having the life of any man to answer for.

Mr. Partington, when he had finished the business he was sent for, and the will was properly executed, recollected the probability that he should one day be called upon to give testimony to the dying words of this unhappy client; and accordingly, with the caution that always accompanies a thorough knowledge of the law, he thought proper to commit to writing the last words he was heard to say on this occasion. This writing was put into the hands of Mr. Levinz, and gave rise to a report that a paper was written by the deceased, and sealed up, not to be opened till the time that Lord Byron should be tried; but no paper whatever was written by Mr. Chaworth, and that written by Mr. Partington was as follows:--

"Sunday morning, the twenty-seventh of January, about three of the clock, Mr. Chaworth said, That my lord's sword was half drawn; and that he, knowing the man, immediately, or as quick as he could, whipped out his sword and had the first thrust; that then my lord wounded him, and he disarmed my lord, who then said, By G-d, I have as much courage as any man in England.”

These are the particulars of this unfortunate affair; by which it should seem that neither Mr. Chaworth himself, nor any of his friends, could blame Lord Byron for the part he had in his death. Mr. Cha. worth, it is manifest, was under the apprehensions of having mortally wounded Lord Byron; and Lord Byron, being still engaged, had a right to avail himself of that mistake for the preservation of his own life. His lordship himself, no doubt, may wish that he had, in that situation, disabled him only; but in the heat of duelling who can always be collected?

'Some time after this unhappy affair Lord Byron surrendered hun. self to be tried by his peers; and on the 16th of April, 1765, about half an hour after nine in the morning, his Jordship, escorted by parties of the horse and foot guards, and attended by the lieutenantgovernor and constable of the Tower, and another gentleman, was brought for that purpose in a coach by the new road, Southwark, to Westminster-hall; and in the evening, between five and six, his lordship was conducted back the same way, and in the same manner, before all the witnesses for the prosecution could be examined.

‹ The trial being resumed the next day, as soon as their lordships had examined the rest of the witnesses in support of the charge against Lord 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, 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 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 council for his lordship were the Honorable Mr. Charles Yorke, and Alexander Wedderburn, Esq.; attorney, Mr. Potts. Against his

lordship, the attorney-general, the solicitor-general, Mr. Sergeant 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 pur

chasers.

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 to be 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 unfairness 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 of the unfortunate survivor. His lordship married Elizabeth, the daughter of Charles Shaw, Esq. of Besthorp-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 Honorable 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 intrusted to Commodore, afterwards Lord, Anson. On one of these 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 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 ren