Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory; We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, But we left him alone with his glory. The feeling with which he recited these admirable stanzas, I shall never forget. After he had come to an end, he repeated the third, and said it was perfect, particularly the lines But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, "I should have taken the whole," said Shelley, "for a rough sketch of Campbell's." "No," replied Lord Byron: "Campbell "would have claimed it, if it had been his." I afterwards had reason to think that the ode was Lord Byron's; that he was piqued at none of his own being mentioned; and, after he had praised the verses so highly, could not own them *. No other reason can be assigned for his not acknowledging himself the author, particularly as he was a great admirer of General Moore. Talking after dinner, of swimming, he said: 66 Murray published a letter I wrote to "him from Venice, which might have seemed It *This conjecture seems to be erroneous. appears that the Ode is the production of the late Rev. C. Wolfe.-Ed. "an idle display of vanity; but the object "of my writing it was, to contradict what "Turner had asserted about the impossi 66 66 bility of crossing the Hellespont from the Abydos to the Sestos side, in consequence "of the tide. "One is as easy as the other; we did "both." Here he turned round to Fletcher, to whom he occasionally referred, and said, 66 Fletcher, how far was it Mr. Ekenhead " and I swam ?" Fletcher replied, “Three miles and a half, my Lord." (Of course he did not diminish the distance.) "The "real width of the Hellespont," resumed "Lord Byron, "is not much above a "mile; but the current is prodigiously 66 66 strong, and we were carried down not withstanding all our efforts. I don't "know how Leander contrived to stem the 66 66 stream, and steer straight across; but nothing is impossible in love or religion. "If I had had a Hero on the other side, 66 perhaps I should have worked harder. "We were to have undertaken this feat 66 66 some time before, but put it off in conse quence of the coldness of the water; and "it was chilly enough when we performed ❝ it. I know I should have made a bad "Leander, for it gave me an ague that I did "not so easily get rid of. There were some "sailors in the fleet who swam further than "I did-I do not say than I could have "done, for it is the only exercise I pride myself upon, being almost amphibious. 66 66 66 66 "I remember being at Brighton, many years ago, and having great difficulty in making the land,—the wind blowing off "the shore, and the tide setting out. "Crowds of people were collected on the "beach to see us. Mr. (I think he "said Hobhouse) was with me; and," he added, “I had great difficulty in saving "him-he nearly drowned me. When I was at Venice, there was an "Italian who knew no more of swimming "than a camel, but he had heard of my 66 66 prowess in the Dardanelles, and challenged Alex me. Not wishing that any foreigner at “least should beat me at my own arms, I "consented to engage in the contest. "ander Scott proposed to be of the party, "and we started from Lido. Our land"lubber was very soon in the rear, and "Scott saw him make for a gondola. He "rested himself first against one, and then 66 against another, and gave in before we 66 got half way to St. Mark's Place. We |