Late in the same year _Lara_
was published, in the same volume with Mr. Rogers's _Jacqueline_, which it
threw completely into the shade. Thus closed one distinct period of his
life and of his authorship. A change came over the spirit of his dream.
UNHAPPY MARRIAGE.--In 1815, urged by his friends, and thinking it due to
his position, he married Miss Milbanke; but the union was without
affection on either side, and both were unhappy. One child, a daughter,
was born to them; and a year had hardly passed when they were separated,
by mutual consent and for reasons never truly divulged; and which, in
spite of modern investigations, must remain mysterious. He was licentious,
extravagant, of a violent temper: his wife was of severe morals, cold, and
unsympathetic. We need not advance farther into the horrors recently
suggested to the world. The blame has rested on Byron; and, at the time,
the popular feeling was so strong, that it may be said to have driven him
from England. It awoke in him a dark misanthropy which returned English
scorn with an unnatural hatred.
Pages:
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643