[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> G. Stiff —> Next]
The extraordinary stranger proceeded to measure the corpse
G. Stiff
c. 1843
Wood engraving
Source: The Hathi Trust version of G. W. M. Reynolds’s The Mysteries of London 1.313
The illustration depicts a passage in Chapter 101.
Click on image to enlarge it and see passage illustrated below,
[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit Project Gutenberg and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one. — George P. Landow]
"Yes, ma'am, you may inquire anything you choose," said the stranger, with another solemn shake of his head—in consequence of which a great deal of wet was thrown over Mrs. Smith's furniture; "for I know you by name, Mrs. Smith—I know you well by reputation—as a respectable, kind-hearted, and pious widder; and I feel conwinced that your treatment to the poor lamented deceased—" here the stranger shook his head again, and groaned audibly—"was every thing that it ought to be in this blessed land of Christian comfort!" . . .
"I'll undertake the undertaking—out of respect to the poor dear deceased, ma'am," observed the stranger, in a tone of deep solemnity. "And now, ma'am," he continued, rising, "I must request you to command those feelings which is so nat'ral under such circumstances, and show me into the room where the blessed departed lays."
Mrs. Smith, thinking within herself that the visitor must have some legitimate authority for his present proceeding, and presuming that he would condescend to impart to her the nature of that authority ere he took his leave, conducted him with very little hesitation to the room where the deceased lay stretched upon the bed.
The corpse was covered with a clean white sheet; for every thing, though excessively homely, was still neat and decent in the widow's dwelling. "I see, ma'am," said the stranger, advancing solemnly up to the bed, and drawing the sheet away from the corpse, "I see that you know how to pay proper respect to the last remnants of mortality. Ah! ma'am, it's all wanity and wexation of spirit!"
With these words the extraordinary stranger drew a rule gravely from his pocket, and proceeded to measure the corpse, saying at the same time, "Ah! my dear madam, heaven will reward you for all your goodness towards our dear deceased friend!" . . .
"Ah! my dear madam," answered the stranger, with a shake of the head more solemn than any he had yet delivered himself of, "I exercise the profession of undertaker."
"Undertaker!" ejaculated the widow, a light breaking in upon her as she thought of the systematic measurement of the body.
"Undertaker and furnisher of funerals, ma'am, on the most genteel and economic principles." "Well—I raly took you for a minister," said Mrs. Smith, somewhat disappointed. . . . Mr. Banks saw the advantage he had gained, and hastened to clench the object of his visit.
"Yes, my dear madam, no man respected your dear husband more than me: in fact, I wenerated that man. Poor dear Thomas Smith——"
"Matthew, sir," said the widow mildly.
The undertaker engaged to inter the deceased lodger for five pounds, and pay all expenses. . . . From Mrs. Smith's humble abode, the respectable Mr. Banks proceeded to the dwelling of the Resurrection Man — Chapter 102, “The Widow” [1.314]
Banks, who has led the landlady to assume he is a minister, takes £5 from her to bury the deceased lodger, after which he hurries to the Resurrection Man with news that he has acquired another corpse.
Reynolds, George W. M. The Mysteries of London. vol 1. London: George Vickers, 1846. Hathi Trust Digital Library. Web. 6 October 2016.
Last modified 6 October 2016