The Romance of Madame Tussaud'sTussaud, John Theodore
History
The Romance of Madame Tussaud's
Tussaud, John Theodore
Madame Tussaud and Sons' Exhibition; Tussaud, Marie, 1761-1850; Waxworks
As she passed through the Chamber of Horrors, with its guillotine and
gallows, she said, with some degree of satisfaction, “We do not execute
in Bhopal.”
“I thank you,” she said, as she departed in state; and her retainers
added an official word of praise: “The Begum has found Madame Tussaud’s
extremely interesting.”
* * * * *
Lord Rosebery has more than once visited Madame Tussaud’s, and made a
fairly long stay on each occasion.
Only very recently he and Lord Annaly, Lord-in-Waiting to the King, came
to the Exhibition together. Our lecturer happened to notice them among
the visitors in the building, and observed the two noblemen makes a
careful inspection of the exhibits, conversing in a lively manner, and
occasionally calling each other’s attention to models which struck them
as being specially interesting.
It is, of course, difficult to judge whether they were prompted by any
particular motive, or paid the visit merely to enjoy a few minutes’
respite from the more serious affairs of life; but they both minutely
examined the relics of the French Revolution and, curiously enough, the
figures of the criminals in the Chamber of Horrors, where they spent some
considerable time.
Lord Rosebery, as a citizen of Edinburgh, called his friend’s attention
to the striking figures of Burke and Hare, with the story of whose crimes
Lord Rosebery must, of course, have been familiar. These ghoulish men
perpetrated a series of murders in the Scottish capital in the year 1828
for the purpose of obtaining money by selling the bodies to anatomical
schools as subjects for dissection.
It may not be generally known that the verb “to burke” is derived from
the villainous miscreant of that name.
One would like to have heard what passed between Lord Rosebery and Lord
Annaly as, having left the abode of criminals, they stopped in front of
the former’s portrait in the main hall of the Exhibition.
As they were leaving the building our representative, as an act of
courtesy, opened the middle gate to let them pass with greater freedom,
and, in doing so, said, “Good-night, my lord.” Lord Rosebery smiled in
response like one who is pleased at being recognised. It was evident from
their demeanour that both the peers had enjoyed their experience.
Lord Randolph Churchill once said that the two proudest moments in
his life were neither his first election to Parliament nor his first
appearance on the Treasury Bench, but the publication of a speech of his
in leaflet form and the appearance of his effigy at Madame Tussaud’s. He
added that he had long wished to see how he looked there, but had never
dared to go. Notwithstanding this remark he was seen in the flesh on more
than one occasion at a later date sauntering through the Exhibition rooms.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account