On turning back to the note referred to, we find two things:  first, that the child there mentioned was not claimed by Lord Byron as his own, but that he asked his mother to care for it as belonging to a schoolmate now dead; second, that the infant died shortly after, and, consequently, could not be the child mentioned in this letter.

Now, besides this fact, that Lord Byron admitted a living illegitimate child born before Ada, we place this other fact, that there was a child in England which was believed to be his by those who had every opportunity of knowing.

On this subject we shall cite a passage from a letter recently received by us from England, and written by a person who appears well informed on the subject of his letter:—­

’The fact is, the incest was first committed, and the child of it born before, shortly before, the Byron marriage.  The child (a daughter) must not be confounded with the natural daughter of Lord Byron, born about a year after his separation.

   ’The history, more or less, of that child of incest, is known to many;
   for in Lady Byron’s attempts to watch over her, and rescue her from
   ruin, she was compelled to employ various agents at different times.’

This letter contains a full recognition, by an intelligent person in England, of a child corresponding well with Lord Byron’s declaration of an illegitimate, born before he left England.

Up to this point, we have, then, the circumstantial evidence against Lord Byron as follows:—­

A good and amiable woman, who had married him from love, determined to separate from him.

Two of the greatest lawyers of England confirmed her in this decision, and threatened Lord Byron, that, unless he consented to this, they would expose the evidence against him in a suit for divorce.  He fled from this exposure, and never afterwards sought public investigation.

He was angry with and malicious towards the counsel who supported his wife; he was angry at and afraid of a wife who did nothing to injure him, and he made it a special object to defame and degrade her.  He gave such evidence of remorse and fear in his writings as to lead eminent literary men to believe he had committed a great crime.  The public rumour of his day specified what the crime was.  His relations, by his own showing, joined against him.  The report was silenced by his wife’s efforts only.  Lord Byron subsequently declares the existence of an illegitimate child, born before he left England.  Corresponding to this, there is the history, known in England, of a child believed to be his, in whom his wife took an interest.

All these presumptions exist independently of any direct testimony from Lady Byron.  They are to be admitted as true, whether she says a word one way or the other.