can, however, pardon his constant desire to shock the British public; and, taking account of his temperament, one can understand his varying moods of conciliatory tenderness and defiant scorn toward his implacable wife.

Byron first visited Belgium, traveling luxuriously. Then he went, by the Rhine, to Geneva, where he met the Shelleys and Claire Clairmont, who had made up her mind in London to be his mistress. She bore him in January 1817 a daughter, Allegra, with whom he charged himself and whose death in 1822 grieved him deeply. The intercourse with the Shelleys at Geneva was more beneficial to Byron than to Shelley. "The Prisoner of Chillon,' the most popular of his poems of the type, the third canto of Childe Harold' which, thanks to Shelley, showed the influence of Wordsworth, the stanzas To Augusta,' and other poems are memorials of the period and proofs that his experiences had ripened Byron's_poetic powers. After the Shelleys returned to England, Byron, with Hobhouse, crossed into Italy.

He was in Milan in October 1816 and then went for the winter to Venice, where he practically remained for three years. His excesses in the Palazzo Macenigo are unfortunately but too well known; yet, although his health and his character suffered from them, to say nothing of his reputation, he did not a little studying, and his poetical genius continued active. The fourth canto of 'Childe Harold' and 'Manfred,' which date, in part at least, from 1817 and reveal the effects of a visit to Rome, show his genius almost at its zenith, and 'Beppo, suggested by Frere's 'Whistlecraft,' preluded the greatest of his works perhaps the greatest of modern English poems — the incomparable medley 'Don Juan,' the first canto of which was finished in September 1818. The first two cantos, between which he wrote Mazeppa,' were published, without indication of either author or publisher, in July 1819.

Meanwhile Byron had met the Countess Teresa Guiccioli, the young, beautiful, and accomplished daughter of Count Gamba of Ravenna. They became passionately attached to one another, and, aided by the customs of the country, were constantly together at Ravenna and other places, Venetian society finally giving them up when she resided under his roof. After some extraordinary business negotiations with the lady's elderly husband, it looked as if the temporarily weary lover might regain his freedom; but finally the affection of the Countess prevailed, and Byron, yielding to an influence higher and better than any he had known of late, established himself near her at Ravenna at the end of 1819. Here for a time, at her request, he gave up 'Don Juan,' and, after some translating from the Italian poets, began to write dramas.

His first play was 'Marino Faliero,' in writing which Byron departed from English models and made a diligent study of authorities. It was finished in the summer of 1820 and played unsuccessfully at Drury Lane the next spring. The year 1821 saw the writing of the more effective Sardanapalus, The Two Foscari,' the powerful, though not stylistically adequate Cain: a Mystery, Heaven and Earth,' another 'Mystery,' and the inception of Werner, his best

acting play, taken largely from Harriet Lee's (q. v.) story Kruitzner.' That Byron had little dramatic genius is generally admitted; the literary power which he could not avoid putting into any composition is not, in the case of these experiments, sufficiently recognized.

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While writing his dramas, Byron had more trouble with Count Guiccioli, who was finally separated from his wife, and he was led by the Gambas to take a deep interest in the Carbonari conspiracies. He had already in his poetry given evidence of liberal political sentiments; now he subscribed for the patriotic cause, headed a section of the conspirators, and, but for his birth and fame, would have got into trouble with the Austrian authorities. The Gambas and the Countess were exiled from Ravenna, and Byron, after some lingering, joined them at Pisa in November 1821. Here he saw much of Shelley, Medwin, Trelawny, and other Englishmen, and here, sometime in 1822, he wrote an ineffective drama, 'The Deformed Transformed.' same year he made with Shelley and Leigh Hunt (q. v.) the unfortunate arrangements which induced the latter to come to Italy and begin the publication of the quarterly journal, 'The Liberal.' The details of this affair are too complicated to be entered upon without ample space. Shelley was imprudent, Byron rather brutal, Hunt exasperating. Shelley's death complicated matters still further, and The Liberal' expired after four numbers. Its most memo rable item was Byron's masterly satire upon Southey, A Vision of Judgment,' written in 1821. This Murray had been chary of publishing after the trouble he had had with the orthodox on account of 'Cain'—an episode which had a good deal to do with Byron's willingness to establish a journal the chief expense of which he knew would fall on himself.

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Meanwhile 'Don Juan' had been taken up once more, in a deeper vein, and the Gambas had been ordered to leave Tuscany. Byron, whose health and spirits were impaired, followed them to Genoa in the autumn of 1822. Here he wrote his satire The Age of Bronze,' upon the political reaction of the time, as well as his poor narrative poem 'The Island,' and the later cantos of Don Juan.' He was growing restless and feared that he was losing his powers; but, fortunately, for his fame at least, a new outlet for his energies was at hand. Whig and Liberal committee was formed in London to aid the Greek revolutionists and at Trelawny's suggestion Byron was made a member. He proposed to go in person to the Levant, and by midsummer of 1823 he completed his elaborate preparations for the expedition. Sailing from Genoa, with rising spirits, he reached Cephalonia early in August. Here he remained four months writing excellent letters of advice and sensibly waiting for a clear opportunity for action, not, in all likelihood, for an offer of the Greek crown. At the end of December 1823 he accepted the invitation of Prince Alexander Mavrocordatos to co-operate in the organization of Western Greece and sailed for Missolonghi, where he was cordially welcomed. He appears to have shown great tact in harmonizing opposing factions and considerable practical genius as an organizer. He had no chance to do any fighting with the wild troops over

whom he was placed as commander-in-chief, but he did hold out successfully against a mutiny, awing by his courage the Suliotes that broke into his tent while he was ill. He recovered somewhat, but exposure to fatigue and the constant rains told heavily upon him, and he took no care of himself. At last he was prostrated with ague and received only the crudest medical attention. After much delirium he passed into a long slumber, which ended in his death at six o'clock in the evening of 19 April 1824. The news was a shock to the world. His body was sent to England and was buried, not in Westminster Abbey, but at Hucknall Torkard, near Newstead Abbey. The Greeks would have liked, more appropriately, to bury him at Athens, and, fortunately, they did secure his heart for interment at Missolonghi. There is no incongruity, however, in thinking of him as reposing, after his stormy life, in company with his passionate mother and his long line of wild ancestors.

Byron's position in English literature is a much disputed matter. Foreigners, influenced by the spell cast by his genius upon the romantic writers of their own countries as well as by his devotion to freedom and by the fact that his work in translation does not offend by its slipshod features, almost unanimously—whether they be Frenchmen, or Germans, or Italians, or Spaniards, or Russians,-place him only below Shakespeare. The English-speaking world knows the work of Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton too well to admit such a high estimate of his genius; but it seems to have gone farther astray in depreciation than foreigners have in appreciation of his extraordinary gifts and achievements. With a few honorable exceptions like Matthew Arnold, English critics have magnified Byron's plain moral and artistic delinquencies and have minimized his powerful intelligence, his great range of work he is one of the best of letter writers and the most brilliant of satirists, as well as the arch-romantic and revolutionary poet, and a notable descriptive and lyric one-his copious creative power, and his great "sincerity and strength." They have judged him as somewhat finicky connoisseurs of verse instead of as impartial appraisers of literature. They have underestimated the hold he has kept upon youth and the attraction which his later work, especially 'Don Juan,' so frequently exercises upon intelligent men of mature years. Whether he will ever receive his due from the more cultured of his countrymen is problematical; but there have been indications of late that a less banal attitude is being taken toward both him and his works. He may not be the greatest English poet of modern times, but he is certainly the most effective of all the enemies of cant.

Bibliography-The bibliography of Byron is naturally immense. His memoirs, given to Moore, were burned, after many family complications, in 1824. Moore's 'Life, Letters, and Journals of Lord Byron' (1830) is the standard biography. It was included in Murray's edition of the collected 'Life and Works) (1832-5; 17 vols. 1837). The number of separate editions of the poems and of translations is enormous, all previous editions being superseded by Murray's edition of the works in 13 volumes (6 of

prose, edited by R. E. Prothero, 1898-1901; 7 of verse, edited by E. H. Coleridge, 1898-1904). The best I-vol. edition of the poems is that by Coleridge (1905); the [American] Cambridge edition by P. E. More (1905) is also good. The large list of memoirs and books of biographical value may be represented here by Karl Elze's 'Lord Byron (1870), J. C. Jeaffreson's 'The Real Lord Byron' (1883), and John Nichol's 'Byron' in the English Men of Letters) (1880). Reminiscences by Lady Blessington, Medwin, the Countess Guiccioli, E. J. Trelawny, Hobhouse, Leigh Hunt, and many others should also be consulted. Of critical essays, favorable and unfavorable, those by Matthew Arnold, Charles Kingsley, Macaulay, John Morley, J. A. Symonds, and Swinburne may be mentioned. The mass of continental criticism is very large and is steadily increasing.

WILLIAM P. TRENT, Professor of English Literature, Columbia University.

Byron, Harriett, a character in Richardson's novel, Sir Charles Grandison.' She was attached to the hero and was the writer of the greater part of the letters comprising the novel.

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Byron, Henry James, English dramatist and actor: b. Manchester, January 1834; d. London, II April 1884. He studied at first for the medical profession, and afterward for the bar, but his passion for the stage caused him to abandon them. He was the first editor of 'Fun, and also started another paper entitled the Comic Times,' which soon ceased to appear. Many of his chief plays were produced at various theatres with which he was nected as manager, but they were not financially successful. He wrote an imense number of pieces, including a great many farces, burlesques, and extravaganzas, besides comedies or domestic dramas, such as 'Fra Diavolo' (1858); 'Cyril's Success,' probably his best work; 'Dearer than Life'; Blow for Blow'; 'Old Sailors (1874); The Lady of Lyons'; Uncle Dick's Darling'; 'The Promoter's Box); Partner's for Life'; and Our Boys' (1878), which had a run of four years and three months, the longest on record. He also wrote the novel 'Paid in Full (3 vols., 1865).

Byron, John, English naval officer: b. Newstead, 8 Nov. 1723; d. 10 April 1786. At the age of 17 he sailed with Lord Anson on a voyage round the world, but was wrecked on the coast of the Pacific, north of the Straits of Magellan. Byron, with some of his unfortunate companions, was conducted by the Indians to Chile and remained there till 1744, when he embarked on board a ship of St. Malo and in 1745 returned to Europe. At a subsequent period he published a narrative of his adventures, which is extremely interesting. In 1758 he commanded three ships of the line and distinguished himself in the war against France. George III., who wished to explore the part of the Atlantic Ocean between the Cape of Good Hope and the southern part of America, gave Byron command of a frigate, with which he set sail in June 1764. After having circumnavigated the globe he returned at the end of two years to England, where he arrived in May 1766. Although Byron's voyage was not fruitful in discoveries, it still deserves an

honorable place in the history of voyages round the world, since he was the first of those renowned circumnavigators of the globe, including Wallis, Carteret, and Cook, whose enterprises were not merely mercantile, but were directed to scientific objects. In 1769 Commodore Byron was appointed to the government of Newfoundland, which he held till 1775. He was raised to the rank of vice-admiral of the white in 1779, and died in 1786. Such was his general ill fortune at sea, that he was called by the sailors "Foul-Weather Jack."

Byron Bay, a bay on the northeastern coast of Labrador, situated about lat. 55° N., and lon. 58° W., and north of Hamilton Inlet. The width of the bay is about 50 miles.

Byron Island, Micronesia, a small island of the Gilbert group, in the Pacific Ocean, about 12 miles in length, abounding in cocoanuts. It was discovered by Commodore Byron in 1765, and belongs to Great Britain.

Byssus, bis'sus, a kind of fine flax, and the linen made from it, used in India and Egypt at a very early date. In the latter country it was used in embalming, and mummies are still found wrapped in it. As an article of dress it was worn only by the rich. Dives, in Christ's parable (Luke xvi. 19), was clothed in byssus, and it is mentioned among the riches of fallen Babylon (Rev. xviii. 12). Byssus was formerly erroneously considered as a fine kind of cotton. The fine stuff manufactured from the byssus is called more particularly "sindon." Foster derives the word byssus from the Coptic. Byssus was also used by the ancients, and is still used, to signify the hairlike or threadlike substance (also called the beard), with which different kinds of sea-mussels fasten themselves to rocks. Pinna marina, particularly, is distinguished by the length and silky fineness of its beard, from which very durable cloths, gloves, and stockings are still manufactured (mainly as curiosities) in Sicily and Calabria.

Byström, Johan Niklas, Swedish sculptor: b. Filipstad, Wermland, Sweden, 18 Dec. 1783; d. Rome, II March 1848. He studied art in Stockholm, and in 1810 went to Rome. In 1815 he returned, and winning the favor of the crown prince by his statue of the latter, received several important commissions. Several years before his death he again took up his residence in Rome. Among his more important works are: 'Drunken Bacchante'; 'Nymph Going into the Bath'; 'Reclining Juno; Hygieia'; 'Dancing Girl'; a statue of Linnæus and colossal statues of several of the kings

of Sweden.

Byttneriaceæ, büt-ně-ri-a'sē-ē (or more properly BÜTTNERIACEAE), (after the botanist Büttner), a natural order of exogenous plants, with the following characteristics. Its members are trees or shrubs, with simple alternate leaves and opposite stipules; flowers disposed in clusters, which are axillar or opposite to the leaves; calyx and corolla with five divisions, but the latter sometimes wanting; stamens of the same number as the petals, or double or multiple, in general monadelphous; anthers always twocelled; carpels, from three to five in number, more or less completely united, each cell with two or three ascending ovules or a greater num

ber; styles free, or more or less united; fruit generally a globular capsule dehiscent or indehiscent. This order is distinguished from the Malvacea by its two-celled anthers and by the fact that its seeds are generally furnished with a fleshy endosperm. The order is divided into six sub-orders, one of which takes its name from the genus Byttneria, which gives its name to the whole order. The chief genus of this sub-order is Theobroma cacao, from the seeds of which cocoa is prepared. The genus Guazuma, a native of Brazil, belonging to the same which is edible and filled with a sweet and sub-order, is cultivated for the sake of its fruit, pleasant mucilage. Another genus of this suborder, Abroma, is valuable on account of its fibre, from which strong cordage is manufactured. The genus Astropaa is said to contain the most beautiful plants; all the species are remarkable for the mucilage they contain.

Byzantine Empire, called also the Roman empire of the East, the Eastern empire, and the Greek empire.

History. On the death of Theodosius the Great, 395 A.D., the division of the great Roman empire into East and West became permanent. The eastern portion, with Constantinople, the ancient Byzantium, for its capital, was bequeathed to the elder son Arcadius, with whom the line of Byzantine emperors properly commences. During his minority Rufinus was his guardian and minister, between whom and Stilicho, the minister of the Western empire, a fierce rivalry existed. The Goths laid waste Greece. Eutropius, the successor, and Gainas, the murderer of Rufinus, were ruined by their own crimes. The latter lost his life in a civil war excited by him (400). Arcadius and his empire were now ruled by his proud and covetous wife Eudoxia, till her death (404). The Isaurians and the Huns wasted the provinces of Asia and the country along the Danube. Theodosius the Younger succeeded his father (408), under the guardianship of his sister Pulcheria. had made him entirely imbecile and unfit for Naturally of an inferior mind, his education self-command. Pulcheria, who bore the title of the Western empire, which had been ceded to Augusta, administered the kingdom ably. Of Valentinian, Theodosius seized upon West Illyria (423). The Greeks fought with success against the king of the Persians, Varanes. The internal dissensions, and claimed at the same kingdom of Armenia, thrown into confusion by time by the Romans and the Persians, became now a bone of contention between the two nations (440). Attila laid waste the dominions of Theodosius, and obliged him to pay tribute (447). After the death of her brother Pulcheria was acknowledged empress (450). She was the first female who attained this dignity, and giving her hand to the senator Marcian, raised him to the throne. His wisdom and valor averted the attacks of the Huns from the frontiers, but he did not support the Western empire in its wars against the Huns and the Vandals with sufficient energy, and afforded shelter to a part of the Germans and Sarmatians who were driven to the Roman frontiers by the incursions of the Huns. Pulcheria died before him in 453. Leo I. (457), a prince praised by contemporary authors, was chosen successor of Marcian. His expeditions