The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1874-06-03

A BURNING BODY.

A BURNING BODY.
a Famous anatfOn-The Poet 6hel.
ley and his Unfortunate Death
How his Rody was Disposed oE-A
strange Reene Of Cremation ana
who Witnessed fs. 4sa4i
The New York Sun gives this in
teresting account Of the burning Of
the body Of the poet Shelley in 1872:
1t is rather singular that i'll the many
articles written recently on the subject
Of cremation no account has been CIV
en- of the most notable instance Of
burning the dead in modern times.
We refer to the burning of the body
Of the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, on
the shore Of the Mediterranean in the
summer of 1922, in the presence of
Lord Byron, Mr.. Leigh Hunt, and
Mr.. f. j. Trelawny. Shelley. like
Byron, was passionately fond OF the
sea, and loved to talk of ships and
sailors, and of the adventures Of the
early navigators in their small craft:
While in Leghorn he would visit the
vessels Of all nations, and take n0tes
of their shape, build, rigging, and dec
oration. His friend, Lieutenant E.
+. Williams, a half.pay officer Of
the eighth Dragons, recently returned
from India, was his constant compAn-
iona genial man, fond of books and
the sea. His family occupied the
same house with Shelley, on the Gulf
of Spezzia. After much talking and
planning, Williams, who had been
three years in the navy, assisted Shell
ley in building boat, according to
his own cherished model, which the
happy owner christened the Don Ju-
an. She was fast and strong. but it
took two tons of iron ballast to bring
1 her down to her bearings, and the
Genoesc sailors considered her tick
lish craft to manage. 1t was pleasant
to behold Shelley boyish eagerness at
the possession Of this new toy, antici-
pating never-failing pleasure in Gid
cloudless sky of an Italian summer.
Toward the end Of June. 1922, Leigh
Hunt and his family arrived hy sea
from England Hunt anticipated
great literary projects in conjunction
with Byron and Shelley. and the pleas
lure which surpassed all the rest was
Of meeting and communing with his
friend Shelley. Alas for the brevity
of their reunion!
+. LOST IN A SEA FOG.
| On the 9Th of July, 1922, Shelley
and his friend Williams left LeghorI
in the Don Juan. to go to Spezzia
where their families awaited them
Trelawny accompanied them to the
of6ng in the Bolivar. They were fret
ting and fuming to be off; it was get
ting. late. and there was very littl,
wind. Trelawny watched the progress,
Of his friends boat through a glass
while his Genoese mate observed
"They should have sailed this morn
ing; they are standing too much il
shore; the current will set in there.
But" said Trelawny, they viii! soor
have land breeze. = Their gaff top
sail, " continued the. mate, lis foolisl
in boat with no deck and no sailo
on board" Then pointing to tn,
southwest. Look at those black line
and the dirty rags hanging on then
out of the sky-they are a warning
Look at the smoke on the water-th,
devil is brewing mischief Shelley
boat was soon after envetOped in sea
fog and was never seen again. A flu
rious storm ensued; when it abate,
Trelawny watched every speck tina
loomed on the horizon, but in vain
the boat had gone down with it's pre-
cious freight. After three days Q
horrible suspense Trelawny rode t
Pisa and told his fears to Byron an
Hunt. On the third day two bodie
were found on the shore-one at vi
Reggie, the other three miles distan
The tall, slight figure, the jacket, tn
volume of Sorhocles in one pocke
and Keats poems in the other, dout
led back as if Just read. were suficier
to identify the body of the poet; tn
other was identified as the body {
Williams. They were immediatel
buried in the sand beyond the reac
of the waves.
It then became the melancholy dui
Of Trelawny to carry the sad news
the lone house on the seashore whe,
the widows Of his deceased compaI
ions lived. Mary, the wife Of Shelle
; was the daughter of William Godwi
and Mary Woolstonecraft, and herse
!. A WOMAN or GENIUS.
i Jane. the lovely widow OF Lieutel
, liant Williams, had just returned fro
India. These young mothers we
. left by their husbands on yeranda
} singing merry tunes to the guitar. Il
! happiest and most united of familie
I 1t was now determined by those mo
4 interested that Shelley's remain
e should be removed to Rome, and la
t beside his child and his friend keai
: while those Of Williams should
9 taken to England. To do this in the
:. then far advanced state Of decompo.
4 tion was almost impossible, and 4
!. ancient custom Of burning and redu
ing the body to ashes was resortedr I
3 The Lucchese and Florentine Cover
: ments having granted the reque
q made by the British legation ITO
e allowed to remove the mortal renal
: , of Mr.. Shelley and his companion ca
|, ashore by the waves Of the sea" n
e Trelawny caused furnace to be- ma
$ / in Leghorn Of strong sheet iron. wi
: iron bands around it, and also colle'
o ed such arteries as Shelley's mu
e loved Helencs used on their funel
= pyres. An officer Of the quarantil
is with squad Of soldiers, accompa nj
10 the expedition. armed with long hs
r. died tones, nippers. poles, with il
hooks and divers other implemen
. Lord Byron and Mr.. Hunt join
e them on the beech, with o health o.
T. Ger and some. dismouDted dragon
% There was also considerable gnth,
v ing Of spectators from the .neighb,
l. hood, and among them many lad
II frichly dressed. A morbid curios
m | drew most of fhasa hnf Il 10 aln,,