The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-05-17
PRACTICAL CREMATION.

Lord Byron-The Corpses that were
Washed Up ON . Shore Of the Mediter
.ranean-A Heart that Trelawney
.Snatched from the Fire.
1t is rather singular that in the many
articles written recently on the subject OF
cremation, no account has been given 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 Shell
the summer of 1928, in the presence OF Lord
Byron, Mr.. Leigh Hunt, and Mr.. Z. J. Ire
lawny. Shelley, like Byron, was passion
ately 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 Legh0rn he would visit the vessels
of all nations and take notes Of their shape,
build, rigging and decoration. His friend,
Lieut.. E. 4. Williams, half-pay officer Of
the Eighth Dragons, recently returned from
India, was his constant cOmpanion-a genial
man, fond of books and the sea. His family
occupied the same house with Shelly, on the
Calf Of Spezzia.
After much talking and planning, Will
iiams, who had been three years in the navy,
assisted Shelley in building boat, accord
ing to his own cherished model, which the
happy owner christened the "Don juan"
She was fast and strong, but it took two
tons Of iron ballast to bring her down to her
bearings, and the GenOese sailors considered
her ticklish craft to manage. 1t was plea
SAINT to behold Shelley's boyish eagerness at
the possession of this new toy, anticipating
never failing pleasure in gliding over the
blue sea, beneath the clOudless sky of an
Italian summer. Shelley and Williams we're
in ecstacies over their boat, and were hardly
ever out Of her. Their only assistant was a
boy, quick and handy ard used to boats.
Trelawny advised them to add to their crew
q Genoese sailor accustomed to the coast,
such one as he had on Lord Byron's boat,
but thinking their seamanship scandalzed,
they repealed the suggestion. Toward the
end Of June, 1922, Leigh Hunt and his fami-
ly arrived by sea from England. HINT anti
cipated great literary projects in conjunction
with Byron and Shelley, and the pleasure
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 Legho.n in the Don
Juan, to 60 to spezzia, where their fam
They were fretting and tuning to be off; it
was getting late, and there was very little
wind. Trelawny watched the progress of
his friends boat through glass, while his
Eenoese mate observed, They should have
sailed this morning; they are standing too
much in shore; the current will set in there"
i" But" said Trelawny, they will soon have
a land breeze" "Their gait topsail," con-
tinued the mate, ais foolish in boat with
no deck, and no sailor on board" Then
pointing to the southwest Look at those
black lines, and the dirty rags hanging on
them out Of the sky-they are warning.
Look at the smoke on the water-the devil
is brewing mischief" Shelley's boat was
soon after enveloped in sea fog, and was
never seen again. A furious storm ensued
when it abated Trelawny watched every
speck that doomed on the horizon, but in
vain; the boat had gone down with its pre-
cious freight.
After three days of horrible suspense,
Byron and Hunt. On the third day two
bodies were found on the shOre-one at Via
Reggie, the other three miles distant. The
tall, slight figure, the jacket, the volume of
Sophocles in one pocket, and Keats's poems
in the other, doubled back as if Just read,
were sufficient to identify the body Of the
poet; the other was identified as the body
of Williams. They were Immediately buried
in the sand beyond the reach of the waves.
MARY wOOLsTONECRAFT's DAUGHTERS LOSS.
1t then became the melancholy duty Of
Trelawny to carry the sad news to the lone
house on the sea shore, where the widows
of his deceased companions lived. Mary, the
wife of Shelley, was the daughter Of William
GOlwin and Mary WoOlstonecraft, and her
self woman Of genius; Jane, the lovely
widow of Lieut.. Williams, had just returned
from India. These young mothers were left
by their husbands on a verandah, singing
merry tunes to the guitar, the happiest and
most united Of families. 1t was now deter
mined by those most interested that Shell
ley's ramains should be removed to Rome,
Keats, while those Of Williams should be
taken to England.
To do this in their then far advanced state
Of decomposition was almost impossible, |
and the ancient custom Of burning and re
ducing the bodies to ashes was resorted to. |
The Lucchese and FlOrentine Governments |
having granted the request made by the
British Legation Ito be allowed to remove the |
mortal remains of Mr.. Shelley and his com
panion, cast ashore by the waves of the
sea-" Mr.. Trelawny caused furnace to be |
made in the Leghorn of strong sheet iron,
with iron bands arOunds it, and also col
lected such articles as Shelley's much loved
Helenes used on their
FUNERAL PYRES.
An officer Of the quarantine, with squad
of soldiers, accompanied the expedition,
armed with long-handled tongs, nippers,
poles with iron hooks and divers other i'm
plements. Lord Byron and Mr.. Hunt joined
them on the beach, with health officer and
some dismounted dragons. There was also
a considerable gathering of spectators from
the neghborhood, and among them many
ladies richly dressed. A morbid curiosity
drew most of these but it is almost beyond
belief that the personal friends, men Of
birth, culture, and gentle breeding, could
have witnessed the scene which followed.
We copy Trelawny's account:
con the removal Of layer Of brushwood
all that remained of our friend Williams was
shapless mass; the head had fall
len from the trunk on being touched. Is
that a human body - exclaimed Byron.
Why, it's more like the carcase of sheep
or any other animal; this is a satire on hui
man pride and folly and he pointed to the
letters E. w. w. on the black handkerchief