the passing of the Dart. The conductor of that engine immediately
stopped it, but before that could be effected, both wheels of the
engine passed over the leg of the unfortunate gentleman, which was
placed over the rail, his head and body being under the engine.
The right leg was frightfully shattered, the muscles being torn to
pieces. The Earl of Wilton, Mr. Holmes, and Mr. Parkes, solicitor,
of Birmingham, raised Mr. Huskisson from the ground. The only
words he uttered were: "I have met my death--God forgive me!" A
tourniquet was immediately applied by the Earl of Wilton; and Dr.
Brandreth was quickly in attendance. He was then removed to a car,
and carried to Eccles, a village within four miles of Manchester;
and after his arrival there, was removed to the house of the Rev.
Mr. Blackburn, the rector of that place, where the Right Hon.
Gentleman expired between nine and ten o'clock the same evening.
After the above melancholy accident a question arose as to what
ought to be done with regard to the further progress of the
business of the day. The Duke of Wellington refused to proceed
further. Some of the proprietors and directors insisted that they
had a public duty to perform in carrying the day's proceedings to
an end, and that the success of the project, on which they had
expended so much capital, might depend on their being regularly
finished. They contended, moreover, that the procession _must
go on_ to Manchester, if they wished to avoid a breach of the
public tranquillity. The Duke's scruples ultimately gave way, and
the order was issued to move on to Manchester. On its return the
Duke of Wellington quitted the rail-road about three miles before
the cortege reached Liverpool, and posted off to the Marquis of
Salisbury's seat at Childwell. The splendid corporation dinner
which had been prepared at Liverpool was suspended; and nothing
was heard spoken of but the above melancholy event. Mr. Huskisson
was interred on the 24th at the public cemetery at Liverpool. The
funeral was a public one.
ON THE USE OF CLOSE BOROUGHS (1831).
=Source.=--_The Life of the Duke of Wellington_, by J. R. Gleig.
_Letter from the Duke of Wellington to J. R. Gleig, Esq._
"London, 11th April, 1831.
"I have received your letters of the 8th and 9th. It is curious
enough that I, who have been the greatest reformer on earth, should
be held up as an enemy to all reform. This assertion is neither
more or less than one of the lying cries of the day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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