20 The Rice Institute Pamphlet
What is purposed here is to indicate, by references to
pertinent incidents in his career and to significant passages
in his works, that love of Hberty was a primary motivating
force in his life and poetry, and that he constantly exerted
himself on behalf of the oppressed. The opportunity of de-
voting himself to the cause of freedom came in the last few
years of his career, during the Itahan and Greek struggles
for independence; but throughout his life he seemed to be
seeking some cause on which to expend his energy. Had the
opportimity presented itself earher, there is little doubt that
he would have flung himself into the fight then as whole-
heartedly as he did in 1823.
The record opens with a letter to John Hanson, dated
January 15, 1809, seven days before Byron’s twenty-first
birthday. Byron was looking forward to taking his seat in the
House of Lords. He had not chosen sides as yet, not from
any lack of knowledge of the political principles of Wliig and
Tory, but because he did not want to identify himself with
either. He planned to stand aloof, speak what he thought,
and above all maintain his independence.3
On December 8, 1811, he expressed a desire to speak in
Parliament although he had not yet chosen his subject.4 He
did not have to wait long, however, and when the subject
presented itself, he chose his side in the debate and spoke
with characteristic fervor.
Late in 1811 a group of hosiers, employing weavers in
their stocking-weaving establishments in Nottingham, saw
fit to curtail expenses, and in order to do so they brought into
use a wide frame for the manufacture of stockings and
gaiters. This action had the desired result in that many weav-
ers were dismissed and were thereby deprived of their liveli-
hood. In December these weavers began to riot, entering
houses and breaking frames. They were called Luddites after