The daily gazette., 1875-06-30
A CURIOUS RELIC.
TIE END OF EARTHLY GRBATEEss--TUE
HEAD OF OLIVER CROMWELL ON Ex- 4
HrDITfoy-ITs VARYING FORTUNE.

|
A correspondent of the London Tine
| gives the following curious account o.
the varying fortunes of tho head o1
Lord Protector Cromwell: Several i'm
perfect statements having lately ap
peared on the above subject, let me ex
plain what became of the remains oi
Cromwell. Partly from printed records
and partly from what / heard from Mr.
Wilkinson, to whom some of the press
have alluded, Oliver Cromwell died at
i, Whitehall Palace, on the Sd of Septem
Der, 1903, after a protracted Illness
lie had been long suffering from ague,
and his case is cited in medical books
as one OF 4 man who died of ague when
our warehouses were groauing with
Peruvian bark, which we did not know
how to use. During this illness he be-
came so depressed and debilitated that
he would allow no barber to come near
him; and his beard, instead of being
cut in certain fashion, grew all over
his face. After his death the body lay
In state at Somerset House, having been
carfully embalmed, and was afterwards
buried with more than regal honOrs in
Henry Wis Chapel in Westminster
Abbey, where it lay until after the Re-
storatlon, it was taken out of his grave
as were also the bodies OF 1reton (Crom-
wells son.in-law) and Bradshaw; the
latter, as President of the High Court
OF Justice. having pronounced sentence
OF death on Charles l. The three bodies
were taken in carts to the Red Lyon,
in llolborn, and on the Both of January
the anniversary Of King Charles death,
they were removed on sledges TO Ty-
burn, where they were hanged until
sunset, and then taken down and be-
headed, their bodies buried in q deep
pit under the gallows, and their head
stuck upon the top of Westminster
Hall, where at the time sentintls walk
ed,
lfeton's head was in the middle, and
Cromwell's and Bradshaw's on either
side. Cromwell's head being embalm-
ed, remained exposed 10 the atmosphere
1or % years, and then one stormy night
1t was blown down, and picked up by
the sentry, who, hiding it under his
cloak, took it home and secreted il in
The chimney corner, and, as inquiries
were constantly being made about IL
by the Government, il was only on his
deathbci that he revealed where he
had hidden it, His family sold the
head 10 one of the Cambridgeshire
Russels, and, in the same box in which
It still is, it descended to certain |
Samuel Russell, who being needy
and careless man, exhibited il in'aplace
near Glare Market. There it was seen
by James Cox, who then owned IA |
nous museum. lie tIied in vain TO |
buy the head from Russell; for poor ~ |
he was, nothing would at first tempt |
him 10 part with the relic, but after a |
time Cox assisted him with some mon.
ey, and eventually, to clear himself |
from debt, he handed the head over 10
Cox. When Cos al last parted with |
his museum he sold The head OF Crom.
well for $3.50 to three men who bought |
1t about the time of the French Rcvo.
luton to exhibit in Mead court, Bond
street, AT half-a crown q head Curious.
ly enough, it happened that each of
these gentleman died sudden death, l.
the head came into the possession of
the three ncices of the last man who
died. These youn. ladies nervous mt
keeping it in the house asked Mr.. vii.
kinson, their medical man, to take
care of ii for them, and they suisse.
quently sold 1t to him. For the next
fifteen or twenty years Mr.. Wilkinson
was in the habit of showing it to all
the distinguished men Of that day and
The head, much treasured, yet remains
In his family.
The circumstantial evidence is very
curious. II is the only head in history
which is known to have been embalm-
ed and afterwards beheaded. On the
back of the neck, above the vertebre,
is the mark of the cut of an axe where
the executioner, having, perhaps, no
proper block, had struck too high, and
laying the head in its soft, embalmed
state on the block, flattened the nose |
ON one side, making it adhere to the
face. The hair grows promiscuously
about the face, and the beard, stained
10 exactly the same color by the en-
balming liquor, is tucked up under the
chin, with tn eoaken staff OF. the spear
with which the head was struck upon
n Westminster hall, which staff Is
perforated by worm that never at
lacks oak until it has been for many
years exposed to the weather.
The iron spearhead, where it pro.
trudes above the skull, is rusted away
by the action of the atmosphere. The
Jagged way in which the top of the
skull is removed throws US back to a
time when surgery was in its infancy,
while the cmbalming is so beautifully
done that the cellular process of the
gums and the membrane of the tongue
are still to be seen. Several teeth are
yet in the mouth; the membrane of the
cyelid remains; the piamater and the
thin membranes, which,
believe, lie over the brain, may be seen
to their inner and upper part
Of the skull. The brain was, of course,
but the compartments are ,
very distinct. When the great sculp-
tor, Flaxman went to see it, he said at
once, "You will not mind my express {
sing any disappointment ! may feel on
seeing the head?"- "Oh, no, said Mr..
"but will you tell me what
are the characteristics by which the
head might be.recognized." WELL"
ray,l;aI Iilovuno al lyn0xy q 0reot daa1