Believe me, yours, etc., etc.,

N. BN.

The fierce lawlessness of the Suliotes had now risen to such a height that it became necessary, for the safety of the European population, to get rid of them altogether; and, by some sacrifices on the part of Lord Byron, this object was at length effected.  The advance of a month’s pay by him, and the discharge of their arrears by the Government (the latter, too, with money lent for that purpose by the same universal paymaster), at length induced these rude warriors to depart from the town, and with them vanished all hopes of the expedition against Lepanto.

Byron died at Missolonghi on April 19, 1824, and when the body arrived in London, Murray, on behalf of Mr. Hobhouse, who was not personally acquainted with Dr. Ireland, the Dean of Westminster, wrote to him, conveying “the request of the executors and nearest relatives of the deceased for permission that his Lordship’s remains may be deposited in Westminster Abbey, in the most private manner, at an early hour in the morning.”

Dr. Ireland to John Murray.  ISLIP, OXFORD, July 8, 1824.

Dear Sir,

No doubt the family vault is the most proper place for the remains of Lord Byron.  It is to be wished, however, that nothing had been said publicly about Westminster Abbey before it was known whether the remains could be received there.  In the newspapers, unfortunately, it has been proclaimed by somebody that the Abbey was to be the spot, and, on the appearance of this article, I have been questioned as to the truth of it from Oxford.  My answer has been that the proposal has been made, but civilly declined.  I had also informed the members of the church at Westminster (after your first letter) that I could not grant the favour asked.  I cannot, therefore, answer now that the case will not be mentioned (as it has happened) by some person or other who knows it.  The best thing to be done, however, by the executors and relatives, is to carry away the body, and say as little about it as possible.  Unless the subject is provoked by some injudicious parade about the remains, perhaps the matter will draw little or no notice.

Yours very truly,

J. IRELAND,

The death of Byron brought into immediate prominence the question of his autobiographical memoirs, the MS. of which he had given to Moore, who was at that time his guest at La Mira, near Venice, in 1819.

“A short time before dinner,” wrote Moore, “he left the room, and in a minute or two returned carrying in his hand a white-leather bag.  ’Look here,’ he said, holding it up, ’this would be worth something to Murray, though you, I daresay, would not give sixpence for it.’  ‘What is it?’ I asked.  ‘My Life and Adventures,’ he answered.  On hearing this I raised my hands in a gesture of wonder.  ‘It is not a thing,’ he continued, ’that can be published during my lifetime, but you may have it if you like:  there, do whatever you please with it.’”