[For the following graphic sketch, acknowledgment is due to the
last No. (5) of the _Foreign Quarterly Review_, where it is
stated to be copied from Pouqueville's Travels in Greece. There is
too much romance in it for out sober belief, and for the credit of
Pouqueville--who by his statements has misled thousands--we ought
to state that he gives it as the production of another pen.
However, a marvellous story never loses by travelling; but--
Vires acquirit eundo.
Of course, it is easy enough for any enthusiast to put such words
as the following into the mouth of a man who has been reviled and
attacked by thousands; but we hope, for the credit of the reading
world, that such stories as the following, seldom find implicit
credence. There may, however, be some foundation for the following
_romaunt_, and probably the incident, however slight, was too
tempting to be sent forth to the world unadorned. If Lord Byron
ever uttered such words as are here attributed to him--"_I am
still an Atheist_"--it must have been in a fit of the most
malignant obstinacy that ever distorted and disgraced the human
mind--or perhaps in that spirit of malicious banter with which he
was accustomed to torment his best and nearest friends.
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