Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6: With His Letters and JournalsMoore, Thomas
General
Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 6: With His Letters and Journals
Moore, Thomas
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824; Poets, English -- 19th century -- Biography
We have seen how decidedly, while in Italy, Lord Byron expressed his
repugnance to the idea of his remains resting upon English ground;
and the injunctions he so frequently gave to Mr. Hoppner on this
point show his wishes to have been,--at least, during that
period,--sincere. With one so changing, however, in his impulses, it
was not too much to take for granted that the far more cordial
feeling entertained by him towards his countrymen at Cephalonia would
have been followed by a correspondent change in this antipathy to
England as a last resting-place. It is, at all events, fortunate that
by no such spleen of the moment has his native country been deprived
of her natural right to enshrine within her own bosom one of the
noblest of her dead, and to atone for any wrong she may have
inflicted upon him, while living, by making his tomb a place of
pilgrimage for her sons through all ages.
By Colonel Stanhope and others it was suggested that, as a tribute to
the land he celebrated and died for, his remains should be deposited
at Athens, in the Temple of Theseus; and the Chief Odysseus
despatched an express to Missolonghi to enforce this wish. On the
part of the town, too, in which he breathed his last, a similar
request had been made by the citizens; and it was thought advisable
so far to accede to their desires as to leave with them, for
interment, one of the vessels, in which his remains, after
embalmment, were enclosed.
The first step taken, before any decision as to its ultimate
disposal, was to have the body conveyed to Zante; and every facility
having been afforded by the Resident, Sir Frederick Stoven, in
providing and sending transports to Missolonghi for that purpose, on
the morning of the 2d of May the remains were embarked, under a
mournful salute from the guns of the fortress:--"How different," says
Count Gamba, "from that which had welcomed the arrival of Byron only
four months ago!"
At Zante, the determination was taken to send the body to England;
and the brig Florida, which had just arrived there with the first
instalment of the Loan, was engaged for the purpose. Mr. Blaquiere,
under whose care this first portion of the Loan had come, was also
the bearer of a Commission for the due management of its disposal in
Greece, in which Lord Byron was named as the principal Commissioner.
The same ship, however, that brought this honourable mark of
confidence was to return with him a corpse. To Colonel Stanhope, who
was then at Zante, on his way homeward, was intrusted the charge of
his illustrious colleague's remains; and on the 25th of May he
embarked with them on board the Florida for England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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