d
way?"--the usual answer to which being in the affirmative, he, on one
occasion, replied,--"I am now, however, in a fairer way. I already
believe in predestination, which I know you believe, and in the
depravity of the human heart in general, and of my own in
particular:--thus you see there are two points in which we agree. I
shall get at the others by and by; but you cannot expect me to become
a perfect Christian at once." On the subject of Dr. Southwood's
amiable and, it is to be hoped for the sake of Christianity and the
human race, _orthodox_ work on "The Divine Government," he thus
spoke:--"I cannot decide the point; but to my present apprehension it
would be a most desirable thing could it be proved, that ultimately
all created beings were to be happy. This would appear to be most
consistent with God, whose power is omnipotent, and whose chief
attribute is Love. I cannot yield to your doctrine of the eternal
duration of punishment. This author's opinion is more humane, and I
think he supports it very strongly from Scripture."

I shall now insert, with such explanatory remarks as they may seem to
require, some of the letters, official as well as private, which his
Lordship wrote while at Cephalonia; and from which the reader may
collect, in a manner far more interesting than through the medium of
any narrative, a knowledge both of the events now passing in Greece,
and of the views and feelings with which they were regarded by Lord
Byron.

To Madame Guiccioli he wrote frequently, but briefly, and, for the
first time, in English; adding always a few lines in her brother
Pietro's letters to her. The following are extracts.

"October 7.

"Pietro has told you all the gossip of the island,--our earthquakes,
our politics, and present abode in a pretty village. As his opinions
and mine on the Greeks are nearly similar, I need say little on that
subject. I was a fool to come here; but, being here, I must see what
is to be done."

"October ----.

"We are still in Cephalonia, waiting for news of a more accurate
description; for all is contradiction and division in the reports of
the state of the Greeks. I shall fulfil the object of my mission from
the Committee, and then return into Italy; for it does not seem
likely that, as an individual, I can be of use to them;--at least no
other foreigner has yet appeared to be so, nor does it seem likely
that any will be at present.

"Pray be as cheerful and tranquil as