tioned period, illustrative of his mind and feelings, under very painful circumstances, will be subjoined in the Appendix, and will, it is hoped, not be perused without interest, when the reader has become better acquainted with his valuable character, as displayed in the present work.

"His death," says a brother officer of the Medical Department in a letter from Kingston, "caused a general feeling of sorrow. He was highly esteemed, and sincerely regretted by officers who had known him but a short time; they were astonished at the degree in which this feeling was excited, and they acknowledged that their regard was not mea sured by the time they had known him, but by his superior worth."

On this latter topic, deeply as it may be felt, it might not be becoming to dilate; nor is it necessary, since the general nature both of his talents and sentiments will, in the most natural manner, be developed in the succeeding pages. Let it only be said, that as the temper of his mind was ever candid and manly, so from the time when serious views of the truth and importance of religion took in which Dr. Kennedy felt the deepest interest, he regularly took notes, for his own satistion, of all that passed; but it was not till after Lord Byron's death, that he conceived the idea of giving them to the world; and so little had the thought crossed his mind before, that he kept no copies, either of some dissertations, which at his lordship's desire he had written on certain religious points discussed between them in the course of the Conversations, or of his own letters to Lord Byron after his arrival at Missolunghi. As the recovery of these papers seemed necessary to the satisfactory completion of his object, he addressed a letter, dated May 26th, 1824, to the Honourable Douglas Kinnaird, whom he conceived, though erroneously, to be one of his lordship's executors, in which he took the opportunity, whilst making the request that these documents might be returned to him, of explaining the nature and object of his proposed publication. In reply to a letter written by Mr. J. C. Hobhouse, Dr. Kennedy entered so fully into the circumstances which gave rise to these Conversations, the nature of the Conversations themselves, and his own motives in intending to bring them before the public, that little more will be required than to give this letter as it stands.

Mr. Hobhouse has, however, taken no notice of the application which was then, and has since been made.

SIR,

Ithaca, November 11th, 1824.

'I RECEIVED your letter a few days ago, * and thank you for your politeness and can'dour. It cannot be supposed that I ima'gined that I was about to do any thing pre'judicial to the character or fame of Lord

Byron, when, in my letter to Mr. Kinnaird, 'whom I addressed by mistake as an exe

* cutor, I stated that my reasons for resolving ' to publish an account of the Conversations ' with his lordship on religion were, that I be'lieve such an account would be interesting ' in itself; would tend to remove much of that 'obloquy which many Christians attach to 'his lordship; and would not be injurious nor 'offensive to any one, whilst it might possibly * be useful to many.

'My objects are still the same ; but as you ' are entitled from your long friendship with ' his lordship, as well as from your office, to

inquire into every thing that may affect 'his character, I shall more fully explain the ' nature of my intended publication, by which

' means you can judge whether my design 'be praiseworthy or not, and whether you 'can approve or condemn it. I shall cer

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tainly hesitate before I publish any thing ' derived from a private or confidential intercourse with Lord Byron, at least such an 'intercourse as implied no right to publish 'what took place, which can in any way

appear to you or his friends calculated to ' injure his reputation.

'A few days after his lordship's arrival in 'Cephalonia, I became acquainted with him

' in consequence of his having expressed a ' desire to be present at a meeting of some of my acquaintances, who wished to hear me explain, in a logical and demonstrative manner, the evidences and doctrines of Christianity. He attended the first meeting, but was not present at several others which were 'held, partly because he was busy in the country, and partly because he was not expressly invited. He took, however, an 'interest in the discussions carried on, and

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' repeatedly expressed his wish through the

' medium of a friend, that I would go out and

converse with him on these subjects. I

' therefore visited him several times, and had

very long conversations with him. The con'versation was chiefly on religion, but it ' turned occasionally on literature, authors,

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books, the character of living individuals, ' and sometimes on his own views and plans, 'works, and private concerns.

On religion

' his lordship was in general a hearer, pro'posing his difficulties and objections with 'more fairness than could have been ex

pected from one under similar circumstances,

' and with so much candour that they often ' seemed to be proposed more for the purpose ' of procuring information or satisfactory an

swers, than from any other motive. These ' difficulties and objections were neither ori'ginal nor new, and proved that his lordship, ' though tolerably well acquainted with the ' historical and poetical parts of Scripture, had ' no understanding of them as the means of 'salvation. On other topics, I was for the 'most part a hearer, and heard from him many anecdotes and opinions which, though ' interesting and expressed in his character'istic manner, I never intended to publish, ' not only from a consideration of the circum