Notes and Queries, Number 221, January 21, 1854: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. — John Shaqi
Notes and Queries, Number 221, January 21, 1854: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.Various
History
Notes and Queries, Number 221, January 21, 1854: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.
Various
Questions and answers -- Periodicals
And there was a stately monument of the first Lord Dartmouth, a magnanimous
hero, and Master of the Ordnance to Charles II. and his renegade brother.
We were informed that a gentlemen in the vestry had come for the
certificate of the burial of Viscount Lewisham, who died some thirty years
ago; that the Legge family were all buried here; that after having
dignified the aristocratic parish of St. George, Hanover Square, and the
_salons_ of May Fair, during life, they were content to lie quietly in the
Minories! Does not the _high blood_ of the "city merchant" of the present
clay, of the "gentleman" of the Stock Exchange, curdle at the thought? Yes,
there lie many a noble heart, many a once beautiful face but we must
now-a-days, forsooth, forget the City as soon as we have made our money in
its dirty alleys. To lie there after death! pooh, the thought is absurd.
(Thanks to Lord Palmerston, we have no option now.)
Well, we were then asked by the worthy Incumbent, "Would you not like to
see my head?" Did he take us for a Lavater or a Spurzheim? However, we were
not left in suspense long, for out of the muniment closet was produced a
tin box; we thought of Reading biscuits, but we were undeceived shortly.
Taken out carefully and gently, was produced a human head! No mere skull,
but a perfect human head! Alas! its wearer had lost it in an untimely hour.
Start not, fair reader! we often lose our heads and hearts too, but not, we
hope, in the mode our poor friend did. It was clear a choice had been given
to him, but it was a Hobson's choice. He had been _axed_ whether he would
or no! He had been decapitated! We were told that now ghastly head had once
been filled with many an anxious, and perhaps happy, thought. It had had
right royal ideas. It was said to be the head of Henry Grey, Duke of
Suffolk, the father of the sweet Lady Jane Grey. We could muse and
moralise; but Captain Cuttle cuts us short, "When found, make a Note of
it." We found it then there, Sir; will you make the Note? The good captain
does not like to be prolix. Has his esteemed old relative, Sylvanus Urban
(many happy new years to him!), made the note before?
We came away, shall we say better in mind? Yes, said we, a walk in the City
may be as instructive, and as good a cure for melancholy, as the charming
country. An old city church can tell its tale, and a good one too. We
thought of those quaint old monuments, handed down from older churches 'tis
true, but still over the slumbering ashes of our forefathers; and when the
thought of the destroying hand that hung over them arose amid many
associations, the Bard of Avon's fearful monumental denunciation came to
our aid:
"Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves these bones."
RICHARD HOOPER.
St. Stephen's, Westminster.
* * * * *
ECHO POETRY.
"_A Dialogue between a Glutton and Echo._
_Gl._ My belly I do deifie.
_Echo._ Fie.
_Gl._ Who curbs his appetite's a fool.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account