the presence of a foreign object in that place. On
arriving at my destination, a small village in a remote part of Sussex,
I proceeded through the little orderly churchyard, where however the
monthly roses were blooming all their own way among the formal white
marble monuments of the wealthier people of the neighbourhood. At one
of these the masons were at work, picking and chipping in the otherwise
absolute stillness of the summer afternoon. They were in fact opening
the family burial-place of the people who summoned me hither; and the
workmen pointed out their abode, conspicuous on the slope beyond,
towards which I bent my steps accordingly. I was conducted to a large
upper [245] room or attic, set freely open to sun and air, and found
the body lying in a coffin, almost hidden under very rich-scented cut
flowers, after a manner I have never seen in this country, except in
the case of one or two Catholics laid out for burial. The mother of
the deceased was present, and actually assisted my operations, amid
such tokens of distress, though perfectly self-controlled, as I
fervently hope I may never witness again.

Deceased was in his twenty-seventh year, but looked many years younger;
had indeed scarcely yet reached the full condition of manhood. The
extreme purity of the outlines, both of the face and limbs, was such as
is usually found only in quite early youth; the brow especially, under
an abundance of fair hair, finely formed, not high, but arched and
full, as is said to be the way with those who have the imaginative
temper in excess. Sad to think that had he lived reason must have
deserted that so worthy abode of it! I was struck by the great beauty
of the organic developments, in the strictly anatomic sense; those of
the throat and diaphragm in particular might have been modelled for a
teacher of normal physiology, or a professor of design. The flesh was
still almost as firm as that of a living person; as happens when, as in
this case, death comes to all intents and purposes as gradually as in
old age.

This expression of health and life, under my seemingly merciless
doings, together with the mother's distress, touched me to a degree
very [246] unusual, I conceive, in persons of my years and profession.
Though I believed myself to be acting by his express wish, I felt like
a criminal. The ball, a small one, much corroded with blood, was at
length removed; and I was then directed to wrap it in a partly-pr