P R E F A C E . A great poet belongs to no country his works are public property, and his Memoirs the inheritance of the public. Such were the sentiments of Lord Byron and have they been attended to Has not a manifest injustice been done to the world, and an injury to his memory, by the destruction of his Memoirs These are questions which it is now late, perhaps needlem, to ask but I will endeavour to lessen, if not to remedy, the evil. I am aware that in publishing these reminiscences I shall have to contend with much obloquy from some parts of his family, -that I shall incur the animosity of many of his friends. There are authors, too, who will not be pleased to find their names in print, -to hear his real opinion of themselves, or of their works. There are others—But I have the satisfaction of feeling that I have set about executing the task I have undertaken, conscientiously I mean neither to throw a veil over his errors, nor a gloss over his virtues. My sketch will be an imperfect and a rough one, it is true, but it will he froin the life and slight as it is, may prove more valuable, perhaps, than a finished drawing from memory. It will be any thing hut a panegyric my aim is to paint him as he was. That his passions were violent and impetuous, cannot be denied but his feelings and affections were equally strong. Both demanded continual employment and he had an impatience of repose, a restlessness of rest, that kept them in constant acti14ty. . It is satisfactory too, at least it is some consolation, to reflect, hat the last energies of his nature were consumed in the cause of, liberty, and . for the benefit of man kind. How I became acquainted with so many yar ticulars of hishistory, so mally incidents of his life, so many of his opinions, is easily explained. They were communicated during a period of many months familiar intercourse, without any injunctions tb secrecy, and committed to paper for the sake of reference only. They have no1 been shewn to any one individual, and but for thh fke of his MS. would never have appeared before the public. I despise mere writing for the sake of book making, and have disdained to swell out my materials into volumes. I have given Lord By 1-ons a.. ideas as I noted them down at the time, -in hie own words, as far as my recollection served. They are however, in many cases, the substance without the form. Ihe brilliancy of his wit, the flow of his eloquence, the sallies of 1 is imagi nation, who could do justice to His voice, his manner, which gave a charm to the whole, who could forget His subtle talk would cheer the winter night, And make me know myself and the fire-light Would flash upon our faces, till the day Might dawn, and make me wonder at my stay. Shelleys Julian and Muddab. Geneva, 1st August, 1824. ADVERTISEMENT. THE Publisher of this Work thinks it proper to state, that he felt desirous of suggesting to the Author, who is abroad, the suppression of certain passages but, finding that these, among various others, had been extracted, with the Authors permission, from the original Manuscript before it came into his possession, and also that they have now appeared in print, he has no longer considered it necessary to urge their suppression in the present Volume. The Writers arrival at Pisa. Lord Byrons live stock and impedimenta. The Lanfranchi palace Ugolino Lanfranchis ghost. English Cerbe s. Lord B. s Leporellobas reliefs and mantel-pieces … … … … … … 9-1 1 Introduction to Lord Byron. His cordiality of manner…