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Page 37
During our stay in Leeds, we had the good fortune to become acquainted
with Wilson Armistead, Esq. This gentleman is well known as an able
writer against Slavery. His most elaborate work is "A Tribute for the
Negro." This is a volume of 560 pages, and is replete with facts
refuting the charges of inferiority brought against the Negro race. Few
English gentlemen have done more to hasten the day of the American
slave's liberation, than Wilson Armistead.
* * * * *
We have just paid a visit to Newstead Abbey, the far-famed residence of
Lord Byron. I posted from Hucknall over to Newstead one pleasant
morning, and, being provided with a letter of introduction to Colonel
Wildman, I lost no time in presenting myself at the door of the Abbey.
But, unfortunately for me, the Colonel was at Mansfield, in attendance
at the Assizes--he being one of the County Magistrates. I did not
however lose the object of my visit, as every attention was paid in
showing me about the premises. I felt as every one must, who gazes for
the first time upon these walls, and remembers that it was here, even
amid the comparative ruins of a building once dedicated to the sacred
cause of Religion and her twin sister, Charity, that the genius of Byron
was first developed. Here that he paced with youthful melancholy the
halls of his illustrious ancestors, and trode the walks of the
long-banished monks. The housekeeper--a remarkably good looking and
polite woman--showed us through the different apartments, and explained
in the most minute manner every object of interest connected with the
interior of the building. We first visited the Monks' Parlour, which
seemed to contain nothing of note, except a very fine stained
window--one of the figures representing St. Paul, surmounted by a cross.
We passed through Lord Byron's Bedroom, the Haunted Chamber, the
Library, and the Eastern Corridor, and halted in the Tapestry Bedroom,
which is truly a magnificent apartment, formed by the Byrons for the use
of King Charles II. The ceiling is richly decorated with the Byron arms.
We next visited the grand Drawing-room, probably the finest in the
building. This saloon contains a large number of splendid portraits,
among which is the celebrated portrait of Lord Byron, by Phillips. In
this room we took into our hand the Skull-cup, of which so much has been
written, and that has on it a short inscription, commencing with--"Start
not--nor deem my spirit fled." Leaving this noble room, we descended by
a few polished oak steps into the West Corridor, from which we entered
the grand Dining Hall, and through several other rooms, until we reached
the Chapel. Here we were shown a stone coffin which had been found near
the high altar, when the workmen were excavating the vault, intended by
Lord Byron for himself and his dog. The coffin contained the skeleton of
an Abbot, and also the identical skull from which the cup, of which I
have made mention, was made. We then left the building, and took a
stroll through the grounds. After passing a pond of cold crystal water,
we came to a dark wood in which are two leaden statues of Pan, and a
female satyr--very fine specimens as works of art. We here inspected the
tree whereon Byron carved his own name and that of his sister, with the
date, all of which are still legible. However, the tree is now dead, and
we were informed that Colonel Wildman intended to have it cut down so as
to preserve the part containing the inscription. After crossing an
interesting and picturesque part of the gardens, we arrived within the
precincts of the ancient Chapel, near which we observed a neat marble
monument, and which we supposed to have been erected to the memory of
some of the Byrons; but, on drawing near to it, we read the following
inscription:--
"Near this spot
are deposited the remains of one
who possessed beauty without vanity,
strength without insolence,
courage without ferocity,
and all the virtues of man without his vices.
This praise, which would be unmeaning flattery,
if inscribed over human ashes,
is but a just tribute to the memory of
BOATSWAIN, a dog,
Who was born at Newfoundland, May, 1803,
and died at Newstead Abbey, November 18, 1808."
By a will which his Lordship executed in 1811, he directed that his own
body should be buried in a vault in the garden, near his faithful dog.
This feeling of affection to his dumb and faithful follower, commendable
in itself, seems here to have been carried beyond the bounds of reason
and propriety.
In another part of the grounds we saw the oak tree planted by the poet
himself. It has now attained a goodly size, considering the growth of
the oak, and bids fair to become a lasting memento to the Noble Bard,
and to be a shrine to which thousands of pilgrims will resort in future
ages, to do homage to his mighty genius. This tree promises to share in
after times the celebrity of Shakspere's mulberry, and Pope's willow.
Near by, and in the tall trees, the rooks were keeping up a tremendous
noise. After seeing everything of interest connected with the great
poet, we entered our chaise, and left the premises. As we were leaving,
I turned to take a farewell look at the Abbey, standing in solemn
grandeur, the long ivy clinging fondly to the rich tracery of a former
age. Proceeding to the little town of Hucknall, we entered the old grey
Parish Church, which has for ages been the last resting-place of the
Byrons, and where repose the ashes of the Poet, marked only by a neat
marble slab, bearing the date of the poet's birth, death, and the fact
that the tablet was placed there by his sister. This closed my visit to
the interesting scenes associated with Byron's strange eventful
history--scenes that ever acquire a growing charm as the lapse of years
softens the errors of the man, and confirms the genius of the poet.
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