The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-23

In May, 1884, duties having led ME to Rome,
l employed leisure morning in going to the
| so-caled grave of Shelley. | accompanied
| by an English lady. who had informed me that
| there was a new-made grave adjoining the Cor
! Cordlum OF Shelly. 1t was one OF those ideal
| mornings and the whole atmosphere was redo
| lent of flowers The birds warbled overhead,
and the dew sparked in the grass beneath the
| pinkish-wh daisies, and the sweet-smell1ng
| violets, which we cultivate with such pains IN
| the United States, here grow in the most wanton
| and wild abundance. My lady friend narrated
in low voice, betting the time and place. how
| the fresh-made grave that OF old faithful,
brawney. eccentric Trelawney, Shelly's loving
! friend. More than sixty years after witnessing
| the funeral pyre of the poet at Via Reggla,
| Trelawnev's boiy cremated according to
provisions left in his willy in Germany. ana his
| ashes were brought to Rome and placed by the
side of what remained of Shelley. was so IN
spired by my visit on that May morning in
| Rome that returned to Naples sought every
book that threw light or: the last days OF Shelley
| | got Photographic copies OF Dwight Bentons
| beautiful paintings of the beach at Via keggla'
| and of the quiet English cemetery al Rome-ln
| short studied up the whole thing and wrote
| long, and | thought interesting
and poetica letter on the subject to a
| London journal. The letter published
| entire copies were sought for by many, and my
| friends thought had broken out in new spot
| thought that 1 was renewing my youth, and
was going into the line of poetry. For more
| than year | had sweet thoughts about that
| letter. But. alas. how some DryasduSt hlStO
rian often knocks Into cooked hat" fellows
fine feelings-how often sentimentaity is taken
out of a thing by some practical chemist having
the audacity TO analyze a tear, and showing It's
relation TO common table-salt and vulgar every
day water. Now here comes the iconOclast who
has shattered the poetry OF that pre-
vious letter Shelley and Trelawneys graves.
and hence the terrible shock l feel A Mr. A s.
Bicknell. of London, apropos of a new work en-
titled ''The Real Shelley writes letter to the
hat rhap Troll
shortly after the poets death and cremation, re-
ported that his (She.leys) heart remained en-
tire his statement has been unhesitatngy &C
cepted. l have, however, reason for thinking
that the story does not rest on trustworthy evil
dence." Mr.. Bick nell who has a great taste for
cremations, thus shows that with the exception
of ''the base of the skull, and one two of the
most solid portions of the bone, the part which
longest resists the actions of the res the liver
The heart, being small, is quickly consumed,
land is easily destroyed, but the liver, large,
moist and solid mass, repels intense heat, and
| ultimately deposits ash of pure carbon
| which makes it difficult to burn by ordinary
| fires. MIR. Bcknell says he has witnessed many
| cremations In Vernis's reverberating furnace at
| Milan, which consumes a body III sixty
| five minutes, and there 1.-The liver, perhaps.
| from containing this element of CARBON can en-
| dure for a considerable time even this concen-
| trated whirlwind of fire and remain intact even
| after .the heart has totally disappeared" He
| says that in Shellevs case the liver would
| be rendered still more incom bustible because
| it was saturated with water. Moreover,
Mr.. Bicknell says that it is extremely improba-
| bic that Byron Leigh Hunt and Trelawney
knew enough anatomy to Identify accurately
the charred substance they took to be the
| heart, land that it is more than likely that
| the thin edge of the liver being
| consumed, they mistook one organ for the
| other" [ hardly think that ignorance of
anatomy would account for it altogether. In
| tracing up the history of the cremation Of Shelley
! / learned several facts which astonished me,
viz: First, it was no poetic fancy that caused
| his friends to burn Shelleys body, but it
| because 'the acquisitions of the quarantine
| laws Of Tuscany exacted the burning of bodies
| thrown upon the sea beach. Williams (Sheleys
companion in the boat, who was also
drowned) was burned at the same time,
but his ashes were sent to England;
second, the body having to be burned,
| Byron. Hunt Treawney and others, determined
| to make regular heather lark" of it. although
| the stencil of the burning body made the poet
| of ''Childe Harold" desperately sick for portion
of the time and third, the whole company went
to hotel that night and had something more
than ii feast of baked meats, for they got
''gloriously drunk" No wonder that their
anatomical and all other knowledge became
| obfuscated.
| Now, it is mean enough in Mr. Bicknell to
show that thousands Of poetic and
| unpoetic Americans and Englishmen have
| been going pilgrimage to Shelleys liver IN
stead of to Cor Cordum but ne does meaner
| thing still. He actually makes believe that
! we maven I peen even SGeUulng tears over smell
| ley's liver Listen to him: Mr.. j. A. Symonds
asserts that Shell ey's neart was given by Leigh
| Hunt TO Mrs. Shelley, and it is now at Bias
combe the seat of the present baronet (Sir
Somebody Shelieeyl" and he codly, concludes
| his sentence with. land it would be easy
| for competent anatomist to de-
termine the question have raised"
Question! Why, there two three.
| What a dilemma what horns of dilemma.
Just look at the thing; ~ if any part of Shell
ley is in that burial place it is his liver; but (2
! it is very doubtful if there is shred Of the poet
| in the English cemetery at Rome-for whether
| heart or iverl it lis at Bascombe" How mock
| ing the lines from Shakespeare about
| Nothing of him that DOTH fade
| But doth suffer sea-change"
| Instead of "sea-change' the word should be
exchange that is the heart of hearts swap
ped for. even doubtful liver. l wish
| whole transaction. 1t would be full of pictur
sequences. and at the same time, as master
Squeers said. full of richness. boys. richness
| Riley could do it justice.
| So now it can be seen how, after spreading
myself in that London newspaper to have all
that | wrote about Cor Co1dium sent cmmerng
it is Just too mean for anything" |
have, however, the consolation that 1
| these revelations. Mr.. Blcknel cruelty winds
up the whole matter thus ''In any case H. e.
| liver or no liver. J. c. F. the hero worshiping
| and sentimental tourists who 90 in crowds to
| that lovely spot beneath the pyramid of Caius
Cestius to mourn over Sheey's untimey fate.
have been strangely deceived for more than
sixty years in believing that beneath the marble
grave with Cor Cordum lies the flame proof
heart of their favorite poet" Did you ever see
such cruelty2 1t is not the only marble that
lies This one at Rome lies" with a ven
seance, and this reminds me of a
! little story which old Indianapo!itans will
remember was rife about the days when the
bloody three hundred" went to the Black
| Hawk war from Marion, Hancock, and other
counties of central Indiana. About the end of
| the first quarter of this century rotund and
| broad backed Englishman travelled in the wilds
west of the Mississippi His natural capillary
substance was wanting, and he made up for it by
wearing a wig. When in the region where
to- day is the fourshing State of Kansas. the