" I have adduced this instance to serve as an example of
what I condemn, and should, in any actual case, denounce as strongly
as Mr. Philip Neve or George Steevens. To expose a man's remains
after any interval for the purpose of treating his memory with
indignity, or of denouncing an unpopular cause which he espoused, or
(worst of all) "to fine his bones," or make money by the public
exhibition of his dust, deserves unmeasured and unqualified
reprobation, and every prudent measure should be taken to render
such an act impossible.
To take another example of the reprehensible practice of despoiling
the grave of a great enemy: Oliver Cromwell was, as is proved by
the most reliable evidence, namely, that of a trustworthy eye-
witness, buried on the scene of his greatest achievement, the Field
of Naseby. Some Royalist Philister is said to have discovered, and
stolen from its resting-place, the embalmed head of the great
Protector. It found its way to London towards the end of the last
century, where it was exhibited at No. 5, Mead Court, Old Bond
Street. {20} It is said to have been acquired by Sir Joshua
Reynolds in September, 1786, and to be now or late in the collection
of Mr. W. A. Wilkinson, of Beckenham. It is recorded in one of the
Additional Manuscripts in the British Museum, under date April 21,
1813, that "an offer was made this morning to bring it to Soho
Square, to show it to Sir Joseph Banks, but he desired to be excused
from seeing THE REMAINS OF THE OLD VILLANOUS REPUBLICAN, THE MENTION
OF WHOSE VERY NAME MAKES HIS BLOOD BOIL WITH INDIGNATION.
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