Lincoln County advocate. (Canton, Dakota Territory, [S.D.]) 1876-1877, 1876-12-27
sHETJEY,s REM sINS,

UOTu, DuU VIC AOA1NAbS oON>AN~~ :, ~ ~
moved in the condition to which the
ouicklime and q months interment
had reduced them. It was then sug-
pested that they be burnt, and permits.
sion having been obtained from the
Government, the ceremony was per-
performed Aug. 18th, 1922. A furnace
was constructed at Leghorn, and sent
to the spot. Williams body was first
exhamed and burned, and on the day
following the party proceeded to
the SPOT near Via Reggie, where
Shelley's body was laid. We quote:
Three white wands had been stuck in
the sand to mark the poets grave, but
as they were at some distance from
each other we had to cut a trench
thirty yards in length, in the line OF
sticks, to ascertain the exact spot, and
it was nearly an hour before we came
upon grave. In the meantime, By
ron and Leigh Hunt arrived in the car
rage, attended by soldiers and the
health officer as before. The lonely
and grand scenery that surrounded us
so exactly harmonized with sheIley's
genius that I could imagine his spirit
soaring over us. The sea, with the isl
ands Of old Gorgona, Capraji and Eliza,
was before us; old battlemented watch
towers stretched along the coast, back.
ed by the marble crested Apprentices
glistening in the sun, picturesque from
their diversified outlines, and not q
human dwelling was in sight. AS l
thought Of the delight Shelley felt in
such scenes Of loneliness and grandeur
while living, I felt we were no better
than b herd Of wolves or q pack of
wild dogs, in tearing out his battered
and naked body from the pure yellow
sand that lay SO tightly over it, to drag
him back to the light of day; but the
dead have no voice, nor had power to
check the sacrilege; the work went on
silently and in the deep and unresting
sand; not word was spoken, for the
Italians have touch Of sentiment,
and their feelings are easily excited in.
to sympathy. Even Byron was silent
and thoughtful. We were startled and
drawn together by a dull, hollow sound
that followed the blow of mattock;
the iron had struck skull, and the
body was soon uncovered. Lime had
been strewn on it; this, or decomposi-
ton, had the effect of staining it of q
dark and CHASTITY indigo color. Byron
asked me to preserve the skull for him /;
but remembering that he had formerly
used one as a drinking cup, I was de-
termin~ d Shelley's should not be 30
profaned. The limbs did not separate
from the trunk, as in the case Of Will
liams' body, SO that the corpse was re.
moved entire into the furnace. | had
taken the precaution of having more
and larger pieces Of timber, in conse-
quence CT my experience the day be-
fore Of the difficulty of consuming a
corpse in the open air with our appa.
ratus. After the fire was we'll kindled
we repeated the ceremony Of the pre-
vious day; and more wine was poured
over Shelley's dead body than he had
consumed during his life. This with
the oil and salt, made the yellow flames
glisten and culver. The heat from the
sun and fire was so intense that the at,
mosphere was tremulous and wavy
The corpse fell open and the heart was
laid bare. The frontal bone of the
skull, where it had been struck with the
mattock, fell off, and, as the back OF
the head rested. on the red-hot bottom
bars of the'furnace, the brains literally
seethed, bubbled and boiled as in q
caldron, for very long time. Byron
could not face this scene; he withdrew
to the beach and swan off to the Boil.
var. Leigh Hunt remained in the car.
riage. The fire was so fierce as to pro.
duce white heat on the iron and tc
reduce its contents to gray ashes. The
only portions that were not consumed
were some fragments of bones, the law
and the skull, but what surprised us al
was that the heart remained entire
In snatching this relic from the iery
furnace ny hand vas severely burnt
and had any one seen me do the act
should have been put into quaran
tine. After cooling the iron machine
in the sea collected human ashes and
placed them in box, which I took or
board the Bolivar. Byron and Hun,
retraced their steps to their home, anc
the officers and soldiers returned tt
their quarters"