But it was not by words only that he gave proof of sympathy on this occasion.  The family of the unfortunate nobleman were left behind in circumstances which needed something more than the mere expression of compassion to alleviate them; and Lord Byron, notwithstanding the pressure of his own difficulties at the time, found means, seasonably and delicately, to assist the widow and children of his friend.  In the following letter to Mrs. Byron, he mentions this among other matters of interest,—­and in a tone of unostentatious sensibility highly honourable to him.

LETTER 32.

TO MRS. BYRON.

“8.  St. James’s Street, March 6. 1809.

“Dear Mother,

“My last letter was written under great depression of spirits from poor Falkland’s death, who has left without a shilling four children and his wife.  I have been endeavouring to assist them, which, God knows, I cannot do as I could wish, from my own embarrassments and the many claims upon me from other quarters.

“What you say is all very true:  come what may, Newstead and I stand or fall together.  I have now lived on the spot, I have fixed my heart upon it, and no pressure, present or future, shall induce me to barter the last vestige of our inheritance.  I have that pride within me which will enable me to support difficulties.  I can endure privations; but could I obtain in exchange for Newstead Abbey the first fortune in the country I would reject the proposition.  Set your mind at ease on that score; Mr. H——­ talks like a man of business on the subject,—­I feel like a man of honour, and I will not sell Newstead.

“I shall get my seat on the return of the affidavits from Carhais, in Cornwall, and will do something in the House soon:  I must dash, or it is all over.  My Satire must be kept secret for a month; after that you may say what you please on the subject.  Lord C. has used me infamously, and refused to state any particulars of my family to the Chancellor.  I have lashed him in my rhymes, and perhaps his Lordship may regret not being more conciliatory.  They tell me it will have a sale; I hope so, for the bookseller has behaved well, as far as publishing well goes.

“Believe me, &c.

“P.S.—­You shall have a mortgage on one of the farms.”

The affidavits which he here mentions, as expected from Cornwall, were those required in proof of the marriage of Admiral Byron with Miss Trevanion, the solemnisation of which having taken place, as it appears, in a private chapel at Carhais, no regular certificate of the ceremony could be produced.  The delay in procuring other evidence, coupled with the refusal of Lord Carlisle to afford any explanations respecting his family, interposed those difficulties which he alludes to in the way of his taking his seat.  At length, all the necessary proofs having been obtained, he, on the 13th of March, presented himself in the