No. XVII. LADY BLESSINGTON's DEATH. A rumour has prevailed, that Lady Blessington met her death by her own hand. That rumour has, indeed, been extensively, and, I may add, industriously circulated. It has been said—and believed too, by many—that she poisoned herself. To the best of my belief, there is no foundation whatever for the statement. My belief is grounded on the accounts of her death I have received from four persons, who were present at the moment of her death, and in attendance on her. The two Miss Powers, Count D'Orsay, and her servant woman. From all these persons I have received very detailed accounts of all the circumstances attending the last sudden seizure, which terminated in Lady Blessington's death; and they all concur that she was carried off by some disease of the heart, accompanied by great difficulty of breathing, proceeding from apparent constriction of the windpipe. From Miss Power, I had a long letter, detailing all the particulars of the closing scene, dated the 12th February, 1850; and having experience in the way of offering a judgment on statements purporting to be of facts, and sifting the evidence adduced in relation to them, I have no hesitation in saying, that there are all the intrinsic marks and signs of authenticity in the plain, comprehensive, and simple narrative of all the particulars given me by Miss Power, of that melancholy and awfully sudden event. The first symptoms were thought to be of an apoplectic character; but, although there may have been congestion of the brain to some extent, either before or after the spasmodic attack of the trachea (and most probably consequent on it), there was no regular fit of apoplexy, in my opinion. The autopsy shewed enormous enlargement of the heart. For many years before her death, I believed she had some disease of the heart; her pulse was habitually small, threadlike, slow, often difficult to be felt. The circulation was, in short, habitually sluggish and languid. I often thought she required stimulants, when she was trifling with her health, taking homoeopathic medicines, abstaining from generous diet and wine, except in very small quantities. To my certain knowledge, she laboured under some spasmodic affection of the trachea, and chronic inflammation of the bronchia, at various intervals, for a great many years before her death. In 1838, she complained of those affections to W. S. Landor, and was evidently frightened by them. On this subject, Mr. Landor writes:— "March, 1838. "Dear Lady Blessington, "Your letters quite afflict me, the recurrence of the ailment in the trachea must affect your spirits, yet ought not to alarm you. As we advance in life, these attacks in the throat become less violent every year, and finally cease. At your age, I myself was very subject to them; they subsided, and then left me totally. I have had nothing of the kind for many years. "W. S. Landob." Lastly, let me observe, Lady Blessington was not a likely person to commit suicide: she had a horror of death, and her temperament was not one that has a tendency to induce violence of that description. The account given of her death, at page 217, Vol. 1. of this work, I believe to be true and faithful, and the vague rumour above referred to, destitute of all foundation. INDEX TO THE THREE VOLUMES. A. Abell. Mrs., Napoleon's pet English child at St. Helena, "Betsy Balcomb," ii. 334 Letters of, iii. 51 Aguilar, Colonel, letter with a lock of Mrs. Hemans' hair, iii. 279 Alpinula, Julia, remarkable sepulchral inscription, ii. 365 Reference to his ascent of Mjnt Blanc, ii. 91 B. Barings, the, at Florence in 1828, ii. 56 Bathurst, Miss, account of her death by drowning at Rome, ii. 27 Gell's account, ii. 39 Other references to same occurrence, ii. 126, 405 Remarks of Sir Egerton Brydges, i. 5 of a German writer, i. 7 References to Goldsmith's Life, i. 9 Blkssinoton, L\dy. account of her early life and family, i. 12 Persecution of Father N. Sheehy and Edmond Sheehy, i. 15 Separation from Captain Farmer: residence at Cahir, i. 35 Removal of, from Manchester Square to St. James's Square, i. 70 The eclat of her beauty, and graces of her conversation, ib. Reference to her by Moore, visits her with W. Irving in 1822, ib. Protestantism," i. 79 Joined by Count D'Orsay, and sets out for Italy, i. 80 Byron's epigram, "II diavolo e entrato in Paradiso," u 86 Bi.essixgton, Lady, continued. Byron's farewell letter to, i. 89 Second visit to Genoa, visits his former abode, i. 181 • Observations on Byron's death, ib. Refers to "consequences resulting from the violation of lies, never severed without retribution," i. 132 Visits to Pompeii, Herculaneum, with Gell, i. 104 Visits to ancient monumtnts, with eminent savans and artists, ib. Celebrities who frequented the Palazzo Belvidere, i. 110 Returns to Rome, December, 1827, rents the Palazzo Negrone, Enormous expenditure there, ib. The soods of the Encumbered Estates Court sown in Italy, ib. Editor, on return from Egypt, visits the Blessingtons in Rome, ib. Saw there the first time the young Countess D'Orsay, then three Preparations for departure from Rome, May 7th, 1828, i. 126 Parting entertainment given to her by Mr. Mills, ib. Among the guests, Sir William Gell, Mr. and Mrs. Dodwell, ib. Gell and Count Esterhazy see her take her departure, i. 126 Gell's fears expressed that they should meet no more, ib. Refers to her visit that day to Sir W. Drummond's grave, ib. Visits the shrine of the Santa Casa at Loretto, i. 127 Philosophizes a VAnglaise on superstitious mummerie", ih. Witnesses the execution of three men at Ravenna, ib. Renews her acquaintance at Venice with W. S. Landor, i. 128 Visits the Ambrosian library at Milan, i. 129 Her account of a lock of the golden hair of Lucretia Borgia, an |