bow manoeuvre were first
fully brought into action, and in their endeavours to seat themselves
more conveniently, my accursed freight jolted from one side to the other
till I thought my knees would have broken down under their burthen. One
would imagine that in such numerous society I should have been warmly
seated, yet no icehouse ever was colder. At every step that our bearers
took, the icy mass of putridity before me, shook together--my flesh
creeps even now at the recollection. The company, growing merry, began
to sing--and with organs similar to those I had already remarked in our
guides; but what airs! what tunes! The corpse before me seemed to be a
leading singer; his soul-moving, heart-rending treble, sounded something
like scraping slate pencil upon glass; the stave was of the following
joyous import:--

See, how glows the deadly wine,
Upon the bony lip,
And arranged in spectral line,
Our joyous numbers trip.
See--attentive at her side,
The ghastly lover woos his bride;
Whilst sepulchral music flowing,
Scares the dawning day from growing.

To the latest hour of my existence, I shall retain a vivid recollection
of this auricular martyrdom. After a ride of about half an hour, during
which, my situation was more horrible than I can depict, our conductors
stopped at another churchyard; the door was now opened, and as each
passed forward to escape, a terrific squabble ensued between the cargo
and my two attendants, probably about the fare. A third time I strained
every nerve to call out, but it was absolutely impossible; at length,
however, their quarrel seemed to have been adjusted; the chairman shut
the door, still grumbling, and I was again, thank God, alone--could once
more breathe freely--and by degrees became warmer. My conductors took
their way through the gate back again, and I became more easy in the
reflection that, in consonance with old habits of good order, they would
probably replace the chair in its original situation; but, to my
astonishment and terror, I now first became aware that the size of my
conductors was rapidly enlarging. Instantly their statures became more
exalted, their forms more aerial, and their strides more gigantic; and I
could see distinctly into the first floor of the houses of the street
through which we were passing. In the square where stands the monument
of our late lamented monarch, their forms became really terrific, and as
the foremost strode past, h