. Recollections of a lifetime : or men and things I have seen ; in a series of familiar letters to a friend ; historical, biographical, anecdotical, and descriptive . fromGreece, attended by five persons of his lordshipssuite. Ilaving been transferred to the coffin, it wasexliibited at the house of Sir Edward Knatchball,No. 20 Great George-street, on Friday and Saturday,the 9th and 10th of July, 1824. It caused a profoundsensation, and such were the crowds that rushed tobehold the spectacle, that it was necessary to defendthe cof&n with a stout wooden railing. When I ar-rived at the place the
. Recollections of a lifetime : or men and things I have seen ; in a series of familiar letters to a friend ; historical, biographical, anecdotical, and descriptive . fromGreece, attended by five persons of his lordshipssuite. Ilaving been transferred to the coffin, it wasexliibited at the house of Sir Edward Knatchball,No. 20 Great George-street, on Friday and Saturday,the 9th and 10th of July, 1824. It caused a profoundsensation, and such were the crowds that rushed tobehold the spectacle, that it was necessary to defendthe cof&n with a stout wooden railing. When I ar-rived at the place the lid was closed; I was told,however, that the countenance, though the finer lineshad collapsed, was so little changed as to be easilyrecognized by his acquaintances. The general mus-cular form of the body was perfectly preserved. The aspect of the scene, even as I witnessed it,was altogether very impressive. The coffin was cov-ered with a pall, enriched by escutcheons wrought ingold. On the top was a lid, set round with blackplumes. Upon it were these words— GEORGE GORDON NOEL BYRON. BoBN IN London, 22d January, 1788:Died at MiaeoLoNom, April IOtij, Byrons Coffix. Vol. 2. \i *2on HISTOKICAL, x\NECDOTICAL, ETC. 251 At the head of the coffin was an urn containing theashes of his brain and heart—this being also coveredwith a rich pall, wrought with figures in gold. Thewindows were closed, and the darkened room wasfeebly illumined by numerous wax-tapers. And this was all that remained of Byron! Whata lesson upon the pride of genius, the vanity of rank,the fatuity of fame—all leveled in the dust, and de-spite the garnished pall and magnificent coffin, theirpossessor was bound to pass through the same pro-cess of corruption as the body of a common the soul—the soul ? Ah, what questions rose in my mind as I stoodbeside that coffin ! Where art thou, Byron ? Whatart thou? I have never seen thee—I have neverknown thee, face to face: yet hast thou often spokento
Size: 1298px × 1926px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectgoodric, bookyear1856
