The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-16
MILLIONS GRAVE Is UNKNOWN.
story of the Alleged Dissertation az
His Tomb Recalled.
From the London Mai.

fomithe London Mail.
AZ the present time, when the propoaeg
Druce exhumatlon looms go largely amonr
she topics of the day. IT may not be OUT of
place TO unearth, SO 20 speak. the Iittia
known story of the supposed discovery ~
the remains Of Milton. on Aug. 17ao
the neighborhood OF ST. Giles, crlppleaate
was thrown into state Of excitement ana
indssnation by the news that the body Of
N'i,oh' buried Just 1l6 years before. had
during some repairs to the church been
round beneath desk IN the chancal
The corpse was In ieaden coffin which
was broken open by disturbing ghouls and
the remains were exposed 10 view hun-
dreds OF curious visitors crowding ~ see
the CHASTITY sight. Two vestrymnn sofia
locks OF the hair and some of the teeth az
tne Venerated poet, dispoging also of bIs
loWer Jaw, his right hand and his RIBS.
ohe OF THESE ofiieeholders, whose names
are mentioned In an account Of the shoclr-
ius transaction given In the London Re-
view Of the day, was a gin-seler ana The
other a pawnbroker.
Inc ubiquitous Journalist stepped for
ward ana forthwith wrote a namn,Ias
upon the subject describing the eornsa
ana aus treatment, and at once--aa d
THESE days-the Inevitable Newspaper con-
eloVeIsy arose Sides were taken, and the
~. James Chronicle OF the period boldly
dlsputea mat i was Milton's corpse at ali.
ana tabulated a number OF reasona n
bear out that contention.
me time at which a poet becomes "a
nous after his demise may reasonably y.
computed at hundred years ghaxa-
speare was thought little Of until thar ne.
riod had elapsed and was nearly 4 cen
10y peiore Burns fame may be said to
nave fipened, and here 1t Is clear that NIL
.oh mao nor been much IN mems minds
.toni ms oeatn 70 this dislnterment, for
MS place of sepulture was actuaIlv mn
known Forty years before Bfshon New.
ION had endeayored to discover ii. bur
conld obtain no Information whatever al
70 us whereabouts. and so II would seen,
certain that the unfortunate "old mar
eloquent had died almost '.unwent I'M
honored and unsung"
one o. the reasons against ii being the
pody Of Inc poet, as given by the above
paper was that he was very poor and
much emaclated at the time OF his death
and that 1t was most unlikely that his ~.
pacsous wife. who oppressed her husbands
children while he was living and cheated
them after his DEATH" would or could aava
provided an expensive leaden coffin n
which to inter him
From this and more cogent reasons low
SIs OF the GLORIOUS Milton may rest pretty
sure that his bones were only disturbaa
by proxy, and that 1t was another.s which
thus received the veneration Of some ana
the dissertation Of others.
Tine body disinterred was that of a small
person with dark brown hair, whereas Mil
ton, being s. al his death. had gray hair.
the brow, too, was small and low. while
that of the poet was broad and high. The
teeth again were small, white and even.
which could not have been the case with
Millions doctor too gave II as his
opinion that the corps was that Of a young
female, although by reason Of the ravayes
Of decay he could not be certain
One other argument cited by the oppon-
ent paper which has a touch of pathos
In II reduces the matter to a certainty that
the remains were not those Of our great
singer Poor Milton. Ia addition to his
blindness and his wife's neglect suffered
agonies Of govt. and his fingers were full
of chalk-stones. while the disinterred slSel-
eton had small smooth finger bones with
no vestge Of such Disagreement
SO that lovers Of the nleraory of Para
disc Lost" may be assured chat Milton's
remains lie still undisturhed in-~what viii
be news TO the vast majority Of his adj
mirers-some unknown gra e within the
erecincts OF the old church "a ST. Giles.