Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824 -- Last years; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography
'Lord Byron's mental and personal courage was unlike that of other
men. To the superficial observer his conduct seemed to be quite
unsettled; this was really the case to a certain extent. His genius
was boundless and excursive, and in conversation his tongue went
rioting on
'"From grave to gay, from lively to severe."
'Still, upon the whole, no man was more constant, and, I may almost
say, more obstinate in the pursuit of some great objects. For example,
in religion and politics he seemed firm as a rock, though like a rock
he was subjected to occasional rude shocks, the convulsions of
agitated nature.
'The assertions I have ventured to make of Lord Byron having fixed
opinions on certain material questions are not according to his own
judgment. From what fell from his own lips, I could draw no such
conclusions, for, in conversing with me on government and religion,
and after going wildly over these subjects, sometimes in a grave and
philosophical, and sometimes in a laughing and humorous strain, he
would say: "The more I think, the more I doubt; I am a perfect
sceptic." In contradiction to this assertion, I set Lord Byron's
recorded sentiments, and his actions from the period of his boyhood to
that of his death; and I contend that although he occasionally veered
about, yet he always returned to certain fixed opinions; and that he
felt a constant attachment to liberty, according to our notions of
liberty, and that, although no Christian, he was a firm believer in
the existence of a God. It is, therefore, equally remote from truth to
represent him as either an atheist or a Christian: he was, as he has
often told me, a confirmed deist.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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