espects, as retarding the progress of Christianity at
present. I desire to see a lay ministry.

'I will not give you more of my heterodoxy at present: perhaps I need
your pardon, connected as you are with the Church, for having said so
much.

'There are causes of decay known to be at work in my frame, which lead
me to believe I may not have time to grow wiser; and I must therefore
leave it to others to correct the conclusions I have now formed from
my life's experience. I should feel happy to discuss them personally
with you; for it would be soul to soul. In that confidence I am yours
most truly,

'A. I. NOEL BYRON.'

It is not necessary to prove to the reader that this letter is not in the
style of a broken-down old woman subject to mental hallucinations. It
shows Lady Byron's habits of clear, searching analysis, her
thoughtfulness, and, above all, that peculiar reverence for truth and
sincerity which was a leading characteristic of her moral nature. {139}
It also shows her views of the probable shortness of her stay on earth,
derived from the opinion of physicians about her disease, which was a
gradual ossification of the lungs. It has been asserted that pulmonary
diseases, while they slowly and surely sap the physical life, often
appear to give added vigour to the play of the moral and intellectual
powers.

I parted from Lady Byron, feeling richer in that I had found one more
pearl of great price on the shore of life.

Three years after this, I visited England to obtain a copyright for the
issue of my novel of 'Dred.'

The hope of once more seeing Lady Byron was one of the brightest
anticipations held out to me in this journey. I found London quite
deserted; but, hearing that Lady Byron was still in town, I sent to her,
saying in my note, that, in case she was not well enough to call, I would
visit her. Her reply I give:--

'MY DEAR FRIEND,--I will be indebted to you for our meeting, as I am
barely able to leave my room. It is not a time for small
personalities, if they could ever exist with you; and, dressed or
undressed, I shall hope to see you after two o'clock.

'Yours very truly,

'A. I. NOEL BYRON.'

I found Lady Byron in her sick-room,--that place which she made so
different from the chamber of ordinary invalids. Her sick-room seemed
only a tele