"
Whether Mrs. Stowe was far enough away from the time and people she
attempts to describe to "make (her) mind as still and passive as a
looking-glass or a mountain lake, and to give merely the images
reflected there," is something that will in great part determine the
permanent value of this work. Its interest as a story merely is of
course ephemeral.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE BYRON CONTROVERSY, 1869-1870.
MRS. STOWE'S STATEMENT OF HER OWN CASE.--THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH
SHE FIRST MET LADY BYRON.--LETTERS TO LADY BYRON.--LETTER TO DR.
HOLMES WHEN ABOUT TO PUBLISH "THE TRUE STORY OF LADY BYRON'S LIFE" IN
THE "ATLANTIC."--DR. HOLMES'S REPLY.--THE CONCLUSION OF THE MATTER.
It seems impossible to avoid the unpleasant episode in Mrs. Stowe's
life known as the "Byron Controversy." It will be our effort to deal
with the matter as colorlessly as is consistent with an adequate
setting forth of the motives which moved Mrs. Stowe to awaken this
unsavory discussion. In justification of her action in this matter,
Mrs. Stowe says:--
"What interest have you and I, my brother and my sister, in this short
life of ours, to utter anything but the truth? Is not truth between
man and man, and between man and woman, the foundation on which all
things rest? Have you not, every individual of you, who must hereafter
give an account yourself alone to God, an interest to know the exact
truth in this matter, and a duty to perform as respects that truth?
Hear me, then, while I tell you the position in which I stood, and
what was my course in relation to it.
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