Part 74 (1/2)

Colonel of the Royal Regt. of Horse Guards, Blue.

Colonel of the Rifle Brigade.

The Lord Lieutenant of Hamps.h.i.+re.--And

The Governor of Plymouth.

Field Marshal of Austria, --------------------Russia, --------------------Prussia, --------------------France, --------------------England, and --------------------The Netherlands.

A Grandee of the Highest Cla.s.s.

A Captain General of Spain.

Knights of the Orders of The Garter, in England.--St. Andrew, in Russia.--The Black Eagle, in Russia.--Charles III. in Spain.--St. Ferdinand and Merit, in Spain.--The Golden Fleece, in Spain.--Maximilian Joseph, in Bavaria.--St. Maria Theresa, in Austria.--The Sword, in Spain.--St. Esprit, in France.--St. George, in Russia.--The Tower and Sword, in Portugal.

And, (to bring up the rear,) A Doctor of Civil Laws!

”Mon Dieu!” exclaimed the host, in extacy, ”what a n.o.ble company!” He then began to tell them over;--”One Prince,”

he continued,--”Three Dukes--One Marquis--A Marshal General of France--An English Governor--An English Lord Lieutenant-- The Master General of the Ordnance, and Two English Colonels--Six Field Marshals--One Grandee of the Highest Cla.s.s--A Captain General of Spain--Twelve Knights, and a Doctor of Civil Laws!.'--_Mon Dieu!_ Thirty-two Great Personages!!”

All the provisions of the town, all the delicacies of the season and all the celebrated wines, were immediately put in requisition for the ill.u.s.trious company in expectancy.

At last the Duke of Wellington arrived, and was ushered into a s.p.a.cious dining-room, where a cloth was laid with thirty- two covers. The person of the Duke was unknown to the Innkeeper, who, full of important preparations for the Thirty-two Great Personages, thought not of any thing else.--”I ordered dinner here,” said his Grace.--”Mon Dieu!” responded the Innkeeper, ”are you one of the Thirty- two Great Personages?” presenting the list at same time. His Grace glanced his eye over it,--”they are all here!” said he, ”so send up the dinner immediately.” The Inn-keeper stood aghast with amazement; at last finding utterance, he ventured to express a hope that his Grace would be pleased to take into consideration, that he (the Innkeeper,) had, at great trouble and expence, provided a most sumptuous entertainment for Thirty-two Great Personages. ”D----n the Thirty-two Great Personages,” exclaimed the Duke, ”Send up the dinner, and your bill.--Thus I must pay the penalty,”

said he, ”for not having invited the old veteran to be of the party!!”

~125~~ The Squire observed, that the brilliant victories of his Grace, although acknowledged and rewarded by all the Potentates of Europe, had not procured him much popularity at home. The remark was confessed by Dashall to be correct, but whence the public indifference originated, he could not presume to explain.

Crossing Hyde Park, which a celebrated physician denominated _the lungs of the Metropolis_, our pedestrians made their egress into Oxford-road.

This fine street, with longitudinal reference the first in London, excited the admiration of the baronet; the long line of perspective indeterminable to the view, stretching from Hyde Park corner to St.

Giles's, the general uniformity of the buildings, the neatness, and in many instances the splendor of the tradesmen's shops, together with the comfortable manner of their perambulation, unjostled and unimpeded by the hurry, throng and bustle of pa.s.sengers, with which ~126~~ many other parts of the Town are annoyed, gave an additional zest of enjoyment to the trio in their excursion, while the Squire observed, that he felt in this part of the Town, always as if he had been suddenly removed to some other region of the world, far remote from the city of London, its dissonant uproar, and crowded inconveniences.

Turning into Blenheim street, Dashall apprized his companions, that if they felt inclined to take a peep into the Theatre of Anatomy, he could procure their admission.

The Squire seemed to recoil from so disgusting an exhibition; while on the other hand the baronet expressed a great desire to enter the theatre. ”I have been used to murder and mutilation!” said he.

”The devil you have!” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the Squire, ”where, how?”

”Where else should it be but in Ireland?” replied the baronet:--”and as to the how, was it not, sure, after the manner of my profession, while I was a member of a Corps of Yeoman Cavalry, during the rebellion, when we whipped, hanged, beheaded, and mutilated men, every day, by dozens! So you may guess, my good ~127~~friend, that cutting up a human carcase is nothing new to me. Only now, I should like to see if there is any difference in the mangling of human bodies by the anatomical artists of London from the ci-devant military professors, ”The Loyal Troop of Doneraile.”

The hesitation manifested by the Squire yielded, ultimately, to the importunity of the baronet, and they entered the human shambles, where the cutters up were at work upon a subject, securing to themselves the advantage of personal experience, in the process of dissection; the abdomen had been already cleared out, and the corpse was portioned out to the different students of anatomy for the purpose of ill.u.s.tration; the arms to one cla.s.s, the legs to another, the head to a third, &c. so that in less than a quarter of an hour, decapitation and dismemberment were completely effected; and the trunk was deserted, as an uninteresting object, from which there could not be derived any information of importance, further than that which the students had already obtained!!!

Sir Felix whispered his friends, that these adepts in human mutilation far exceeded in apathy of feeling and adroitness of execution, even the ci-devant Loyal Troop of Doneraile!--But when one of the young artists brought forward in his hands smeared with gore, a human heart for the operation of the dissecting knife, Tallyho declaring that he could bear it no longer, rushed out of the theatre, and was followed by his two companions, all disgusted with this spoliation of the dead, however conducive it might prove to the interests of the living.{1}

1 The human subjects for these Theatres of Anatomy and private dissection, are chiefly supplied by ”Resurrectionists;” a cla.s.s of depraved wretches whose only employment is that of body-s.n.a.t.c.hing, or robbing the graves of their dead; from which they derive a ready and lucrative emolument. The anatomists are ready at all hours to receive, without questions asked, and with prompt remuneration, the produce of these unsanctified depredations.--Dreadful must be the feelings of the fond relatives of a departed friend, to learn that the sanctuary of the grave has been violated, and the body of perhaps a beloved wife, sister, or other revered female, exposed to the gaze, and subjected to the scalping-knife, of these butchers.

Iron Coffins have been resorted to as a safe-guard, which once closed cannot be opened. For this improvement the artist obtained a patent; but he is not likely to derive much advantage from his invention, as the parish officers within the bills of mortality have generally refused the rites of sepulture to bodies cased in iron; alleging, that the almost imperishable material would shortly compel an enlargement of burying ground, at a vast expence, which it is the duty of the parish officers to prevent, by resisting the interment of bodies in iron coffins; and this resolution has lately had the sanction of legal authority.

~128~~

Proceeding along Oxford Street, Sir Felix enquired for the _Holy Land_, informing his friends, at same time, that his servant, whom he had entrusted the preceding day with a cheque on his banker, had not been at home all night, and the probability was, that he had got amongst his Munster friends in Palestine. Sir Felix was therefore desirous of ascertaining, if possible, the sanctuary of the fugitive; and with that view requested his friends to accompany him in a perambulation of discovery, through (to him) these hitherto unexplored regions.--This application was readily a.s.sented to, and the triumvirate pa.s.sed onwards to the place of destination.

They had now reached the Church of St. Giles in the Fields, situated in Broad Street, St. Giles's; and their attention was immediately directed to that fine piece of sculpture over the iron gateway, leading into the Church-yard, representing the Resurrection and Last Judgment. The figures are in _ba.s.so relievo_, and although diminutive, are admirably grouped, and the expression of each gives to the whole a finished and impressive effect.