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The last days of Percy Bysshe Shelley.Ne 
 
 3 1924 013 550 177 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis bool< is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013550177 
 
THE LAST DAYS OF P. B. SHELLEY. 
 
p. B. SHELLEY. 
 
 (From a crayon copy of Miss Curran's oil portrait 
 in the Bodleian Library). 
 
The last days of 
 percy bysshe shelley, 
 new details from un- 
 published documents. 
 
 BY d; GUIDO BIAGI. ^ 
 
 London - T. Fisher unwin, mdcccxcviii. 
 
 Edition Imported by 
 
 NEW AMSTERDAM BOOK COMPANY 
 
 156 FIFTH AVENUE, : NEW YORK 
 
The last days of 
 percy bysshe shelley, 
 new details from un- 
 published documents, 
 by d.^ guido biagi. ^ 
 
 London - T. Fisher unwin, mdcccj^cviii. 
 
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
TO 
 
 LADY SHELLEY 
 
 THE WORTHY GUARDIAN 
 
 OF AN IMMORTAL TRUST 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1. P. B. Shelley. — (From a crayon copy of Miss 
 
 Curran's oil portrait in the Bodleian Library) 
 To face p. i 
 
 2. P. B. Shelley. — (From a copy, by Reginald 
 
 Easton, of the Duke de Montpensier's miniature 
 of Shelley , in the Bodleian Library). To face p. 8 
 
 3. Edward Ellbrkkr Williams , Painted by 
 
 himself. — (From the water colour original, in 
 possession of Mr. J. W. Williams of West 
 Norwood) To face p. 15 
 
 4. Jane Williams, Painted by Clint. — (From the 
 
 original portrait, in possession of Mr. J. W. 
 Williams) To face p. 17 
 
 5. The Guitar given by Shelley to Jane 
 
 Williams. — (Bodleian Library). To face p. 18 
 
 6. Mary Wollstonecraft . — (From the 
 
 Miniature by Reginald Easton, in the Bodleian 
 Library) To face p. 21 
 
 7. Casa Magni, at San Terenzo . To face p. 26 
 
 8. Casa Magni and the wood . . To face p. 29 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 9. The two yachts " Bolivar " and " Don 
 Juan ". — (From a sketch by E. E. Williams, 
 in the British Museum) ... To face p. 33 
 
 10. Leigh Hunt. — (From the picture by B. R. 
 
 Haydon in the National Portrait Gallery. By 
 kind permission of Messrs Walker & Boutall, 
 London) To face p. 41 
 
 11. Monument to Keats at Rome . To face p. 72 
 
 12. The ' Sophocles ' taken from Shelley 's 
 
 DEAD hand. — (Bodleian Library). To face p. 81 
 
 13. Edward Wyndham Harrington Schenley. 
 
 (Born 1800, died 1878) To face p. 107 
 
 14. Edge of pine wood at Viareggio. — (From 
 
 Biagi 's photograph, reproduced in " Harper* s 
 Magazine", 1892) . . ... To face p. 120 
 
 15. Shelley's watch and chain and his signet 
 
 together with that of his wife. — (Bo- 
 dleian Library) To face p. 129 
 
 16. The eight witnesses of Shelley's cremation. 
 
 — (From Biagi 's photograph reproduced in 
 "Harper's Magazine" 1892) . . To face p. 156 
 
 17. Monument to Shelley at Viareggio. . . 
 
 To face p. 160 
 
 18. The tombs to Shelley and Trelawny at 
 
 Rome To face p. 165 
 
 19. Shelley 's tombstone at rome . To face p. 167 
 
The last days of P. B. Shelley 
 
 To those whose hearts have thril- 
 led over the pag^es of Trelawney 
 and the narratives of other witnesses 
 to these facts, as well as those of Pro- 
 fessor Dowden's masterly biography 
 of the poet, related, as it is with 
 the true insight of love ; it were 
 idle once more to recount the bare 
 details of that dark catastrophe which 
 closed, tragically as an antique drama 
 woven by inevitable Fate, the life of 
 Percy Bysshe Shelley. 
 
The last days 
 
 Who, in truth, can remember 
 without profound sympathy, I had 
 almost said, without tears, that sorrow- 
 ful letter which Mary Shelley, the 
 desolate widow, wrote on the 15*^ of 
 August, 1822, to Mrs. Gisborne tel- 
 ling the story of those days of agony ? 
 The terrible drama of which those 
 two women, Mrs. Shelley, and Mrs. 
 Williams foresaw the end, is narrated 
 with so true, so natural a crescendo 
 of horror and of pathos as might 
 move even the author of ' The Real 
 Shelley ', if certain critics conde- 
 scended to possess hearts. If no more 
 were known of Shelley's beloved com- 
 panion, this letter would be enough 
 to prove how worthy she was to be 
 invoked as "Mine own heart's home", 
 
of p. B. Shelley 
 
 as he calls her in the dedication of 
 the ' Revolt of Islam ', in which he 
 says : " through thine eyes, even in 
 thy soul I see, A Lamp of vestal fire, 
 burning" internally ". 
 
 " The days pass ", she writes after 
 the terrible event, " pass one after 
 another, and we still live. ' Adonais' 
 is not Keats' elegy, but his very own". 
 Who knows how often she read, and 
 re-read it in those twentynine long 
 years during which she outlived him, 
 widowed vestal of her one and only 
 love ? The proof is found in a copy 
 of the Pisan edition of this poem, that 
 she possessed, where after her death 
 a tiny silken sack was found among 
 the pages, containing ashes, taken by 
 her from his funeral urn. 
 
The last days 
 
 So is it in all which concerns 
 the poet of the " Liberated World ", 
 there breathes the true and simple 
 grandeur of the pathos of the days 
 of old. 
 
T T Thoever thinks over this sorrow- 
 * ^ ful story, to which we contri- 
 bute a few documents hitherto un- 
 known, wonders at the mysterious 
 omens which announce the imminent 
 catastrophe. Over Shelley' s life there 
 broods a strange fate, from which he 
 strives in vain to free himself: he 
 is the principal actor in an actual- 
 drama which unfolds itself according 
 to an occult plan. He was sadly con- 
 scious of it. " It seems " he says " as 
 
The last days 
 
 if I were consumed by destruction, 
 as if a fatal atmosphere enfolded and 
 infected all that belongs to me ".' 
 
 The death of the unfortunate 
 Harriet, his first wife, deserted by 
 him with truly Goethian indiflference, 
 weighed upon his soul; and the 
 image of the unhappy girl drowned 
 in the waters of the Serpentine shaded 
 with a mournful veil the years in 
 which he sought comfort in the love 
 and the embraces of Mary, and in 
 platonic devotion to other ideals. 
 Water had for him a sort of magic 
 attraction; he might have made his 
 own, in a literal sense, a line writ- 
 ten by another inconsolable poet, 
 
 ' Quoted by Dowden. II. 252. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 
 
 Leopardi: " And sweet it is to drown 
 in such a sea ". 
 
 The idea of such an ending" to his 
 life had for him no terrors ; one of his 
 favourite hobbies was to set afloat a 
 squadron of paper boats and to follow 
 their movements with his eyes, lost in 
 a sort of ecstasy. " Without doubt ", 
 says Dowden, " while he watched them 
 float from the shore, guided by the 
 wind, those paper toys became for 
 him objects of joy and wonder, like 
 the pearly chariot of Queen Mab, or 
 like the little boat which bore the 
 lonely dreamer far out to sea from 
 the Corasmian shore. It was strange 
 to see with what acute delight he 
 grew absorbed in this singular oc- 
 cupation. As long as the boats were 
 
The last days 
 
 visible, he remained rooted to the 
 spot, as if fascinated by this strange 
 amusement ".' 
 
 Once while he watched such 
 paper boats across the pond at the 
 Vale of Health, floating- before the 
 wind or sinking beneath the waves, 
 he said smiling : " How happy should 
 I be if I could get into one of those 
 boats and be shipwrecked, it must 
 be the most desirable of all forms of 
 death ". 
 
 With this fixed idea in his head 
 he was always rushing into danger, 
 and was often nearly drowned, be- 
 holding death close upon him. With 
 Mary Woolstonecraft Godwin, flying 
 
 Dowden, I. 477. 
 
p. B. SHELLEY. 
 
 (From a copy, by Reginald Easton, of the Duke de Mont- 
 pensier's miniature of Shelley, in the Bodleian Library). 
 
of p. B. Shelley 
 
 across the Channel, when he bore her 
 away from her father 's house, he was 
 nearly shipwrecked. The girl lay with 
 her head upon her lover's knees, 
 unwitting of the tempest. " I felt " he 
 says " that she was there. At that 
 moment I had time for reflection and 
 meditation upon death; and I felt 
 more discomfort and disillusion than 
 horror ". 
 
 On the lake of Geneva, while vi- 
 siting with Byron those scenes, so 
 full of memories of Rousseau, the}^ 
 were caught in a " fortunale " and 
 their fragile bark was nearly lost 
 through the want of skill of their boat- 
 man. - " My companion (Byron), an 
 excellent swimmer, took oflFhis coat; 
 I did the same, and we sat with fold- 
 
10 The last days 
 
 ed arms expecting every moment to 
 be upset. Seeing death so near, I 
 experienced a mixture of sensations, 
 among which fear held by no means 
 the first place. If I had been alone, my 
 sensations would have been less pain- 
 ful; but I knew that my companion 
 would have tried to rescue me, and I 
 felt humiliated at the thought that his 
 life might be vainly sacrificed to save 
 mine ". ' 
 
 Another time, scarcely a year be- 
 fore the fatal shipwreck, he was sail- 
 ing between Leghorn and Pisa in a 
 fragile craft, with Captain Williams 
 and Henry Reveley, Mrs. Gisborne' s 
 son, who was a sailor and an engi- 
 
 i Dowden, II, 17. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 11 
 
 neer. Williams took it into his head 
 to climb up the mast, and the boat 
 was upset. At that point the water 
 was very deep ; Reveley assisted Wil- 
 liams, who could swim a little, and 
 told Shelley not to move until he 
 came back for him. Shelley replied 
 with indomitable courage, " All right, 
 I never was better off in my life, do 
 what you like with me ". 
 
 Towards the last, this passion for 
 the water became absolutely morbid. 
 With boats which preoccupied him 
 constantly he had no luck. " I see 
 how it is, " he said, " they are femi- 
 nine ships and boats, and perfidious 
 like women ". 
 
 At San Terenzo he sailed about 
 thoughtlessly in a sort of canoe made 
 
12 The last days 
 
 of canvass and reeds. One evening he 
 persuaded Jane Williams, with her 
 children, to embark in this fragile 
 craft with him. She thought he meant 
 to keep close to the shore, but Shel- 
 ley started to round a cape which jut- 
 ted out into the open sea. 
 
 Not a soul was visible either at 
 sea or on shore. The boat went float- 
 ing out to sea and the poet seemed 
 wrapped in a dream. He would not an- 
 swer, would not listen to the poor wo- 
 man, who, half mad with terror, strove 
 to wake him from his lethargy. Sud- 
 denly Shelley, raising his head with 
 a radiant aspect, exclaimed " Now let 
 us go together to solve the great my- 
 stery ". But Jane, who felt no such cu- 
 riosity, replied: " No, thank you, not 
 
of p. B. Shelley 13 
 
 now. I prefer to go back to supper 
 with my children ". And by questions 
 and conversation she brought him 
 back to more mundane thoughts. 
 
 WilHams and Trelawney, (who 
 was then a guest at Casa Magni), 
 were waiting for them on the shore, 
 in no small anxiety. Jane, as they 
 drew near the beach, leaped out of 
 the boat which fell back with the 
 poet. When Williams remonstrated 
 with her, saying he would have drawn 
 the boat on shore if she had waited 
 a minute, " No thank you, " she cried, 
 still much agitated, " I have had 
 enough of it. He wanted to solve 
 the great mystery. But he is the 
 greatest mystery. Who can tell what 
 he will do next? ". 
 
14 The last days 
 
 Once more, the demon of the sea, 
 who was watching for his prey, had 
 spread his wings and flown. 
 
EDWARD ELLERKER WILLIAMS 
 Painted by himself. 
 
 (From the water colour original, in possessiori of Mr. J. 
 W. Williams of West Norwood). 
 
II 
 
 On the evening' of January 15*^ 
 1822, the Shelleys and the Wil- 
 liams ' were together in the small 
 apartment which they had taken on 
 •the upper floor of a house which 
 went by the name of the Tre Pa- 
 lassi di Chiesa (The Three Palaces 
 of the Chiesa family) situated on the 
 Lung'Arno at Pisa, opposite to the Pa- 
 lazzo Lanfranchi where Lord Byron 
 was residing. 
 
 The Shelleys and the Williams' 
 were very intimate and for nearly a 
 
16 The last days 
 
 year had been living together. Ed- 
 ward Williams, who had been Shel- 
 ley' s schoolfellow at Eton, had come 
 from Geneva into Italy, on purpose 
 to make the acquaintance of Byron 
 of whom Medwin had spoken to him 
 with the warmest enthusiasm. He had 
 served in the navy, but disgusted 
 with the discipline, then of an inexcu- 
 sably tyrannical character, had enter- 
 ed a dragoon regiment, remaining 
 several years in India. Frank, gener- 
 ous, loyal, intrepid, with a passion 
 for travelling and for the sea, an en- 
 thusiast for art, he could not fail to 
 please Shelley. 
 
 His wife, Jane Williams, posses- 
 sed a natural grace of her own, 
 which won everybody whom she met. 
 
JANE WILLIAMS, Painted by Clint. 
 (From the original portrait, in possession of Mr. J. W. WillTams). 
 
of p. B. Shelley 17 
 
 She was one of those sparkling little 
 women whose every act and move- 
 ment is full of fascination. An accom- 
 plished musician, she sang deliciously, 
 with a sweet, full, touching voice, ac- 
 companying herself on the harp. She 
 was not highly cultivated, but was 
 full of delicacy aud tact. An atmo- 
 sphere of happiness and comfort sur- 
 rounded her. To Shelley, who took to 
 her immediately, Jane, with her grace, 
 her suavity, the gentleness of her 
 movements and her ways of speak- 
 ing, seemed the bringer of the most 
 ideal sweetness, in which, after her 
 husband, friends such as he was, were 
 admitted to share. Poems of his, 
 written at that period, idealize her 
 under various names. She is Miran- 
 
18 The last days 
 
 da, whose gentleness, charity and 
 ineffable tenderness are celebrated by 
 Ariel. She seemed a spirit formed for 
 peace, in the midst of tempests. With 
 the gift of a guitar he writes to her: 
 
 " Teach it all the harmony 
 " In which thou canst, and only thou, 
 " Make the delighted spirit glow, 
 " Till joy denies itself again 
 " And, too intense, is turned to pain ". 
 
 The little apartment in the Tre 
 Palassi di Chiesa, with its southern 
 exposure looking towards the moun- 
 tains and the sea, which Shelley cal- 
 led his " pensile citadel " where grew 
 the flowers immortalized in " The 
 Zucca, " the " Sensitive plant " and 
 other poems, sheltered, that night, a 
 new guest, a new friend who had ar- 
 
If *. 
 
 ,/-'• 
 
 
 K-M.e^. cJrSi 
 
 THE GUITAR GIVEN BY SHELLEY 
 TO JANE WILLIAMS. 
 
 (Bodleian Library). 
 
of p. B. Shelley 19 
 
 rived the day before. Edward Tre- 
 lawney, who had conceived a strong- 
 affection for Shelley (of whom 
 Medwin had talked to him in Geneva 
 with his usual fanatical admiration) 
 had come to Pisa to meet him and to 
 carry off" Williams to hunt that win- 
 ter in the Maremma, with an old na- 
 val comrade, Captain Daniel Roberts. 
 Trelawney pleased Shelley, as Wil- 
 liams had done in the previous year; 
 but the new friend was an entirely 
 different type of man. Very tall, with 
 black hair, as curly as a moor's, 
 black expressive eyes and heavy 
 eyebrows, he looked like an oriental. 
 His smile, which was open and hon- 
 est, was a proof of sincerity and of 
 a superior mind. We find an idealized 
 
20 The last days 
 
 portrait of him in the " Fragments of 
 an unfinished Drama ". 
 
 " He was as is the sun in his fierce youth 
 " As terrible and lovely as a tempest ". 
 
 Shelley made an ineffaceable im- 
 pression on him. He was struck with 
 the poet 's eyes, of a vast, wonderful 
 brightness, drawn as it were from 
 the pages of Plato, of Spinoza, of 
 Calderon and of Goethe, in the read- 
 ing of which he loved to lose him- 
 self " Spirito di Titano entro virgi- 
 nee forme " one of our own (Ita- 
 lian) poets has called him " A Ti- 
 tan' s spirit in a Virgin's form". But 
 Trelawney did not look upon Shel- 
 ley in this light. " I often saw him 
 naked, " he says, " and he reminded 
 
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT. 
 
 (From the Miniature by Reginald Easton, in the Bodleian 
 Library). 
 
of p. B. Shelley 21 
 
 me of a young Indian, so muscular 
 and wiry was he. None of us could 
 outwalk him, he was the swiftest of 
 us all. He was brave, frank, simple 
 and direct in speech, courteous and 
 considerate of others, being entirely 
 free from selfishness or vanity. 
 
 As for Mary, the poet's gentle com- 
 panion, who shared his studies, who 
 loved and comforted him, confident 
 and trusting as an indulgent mother, 
 superior to all feminine distrust, it 
 is enough to say that she had never 
 descended from the pedestal on 
 which the first enthusiasm of love 
 had placed her, that from that ideal 
 height she smiled upon the lover, the 
 husband, with the serenity of a Ma- 
 donna and the tenderness of a mother. 
 
Ill 
 
 On that memorable evening- the 
 project, often before discussed by 
 Williams and Shelley, of passing the 
 summer together near Spezia, was 
 mentioned once more. But a boat 
 was needed, and Trelawney had been 
 written to, that he might induce 
 Captain Roberts to superintend its 
 construction. Trelawney had brought 
 with him the model of an American 
 schooner, and naturally this formed 
 the subject of their conversation. It 
 was decided that a sloop thirty feet 
 
of p. B. Shelley 23 
 
 long- should be built, and Captain Ro- 
 berts at Genoa was requested to have 
 it begun at once. " So on that night, 
 a night of thoughtless amusement, " 
 writes Mrs. Shelley, poor woman, 
 later on, " was my unhappy fate and 
 Jane's decided. We said laughingly: 
 ' Our husbands decide everything 
 without our advice or consent '. In 
 fact, for my part, I hated the idea 
 of the boat, though I said nothing to 
 them about it. Jane said she also did, 
 but it would be of no use talking 
 to them, it would only spoil their 
 pleasure. How well I remember that 
 nig-ht ! How short-sighted we are ! 
 The terrible anniversary is past 
 already, and I cannot believe in 
 my own wretchedness ". 
 
24 The last days 
 
 Soon after this, they began to look 
 for a villa for the summer. Byron was 
 to form part of the colony, as well as 
 Countess Guiccioli and Pietro Gamba, 
 Trelawney and Captain Roberts. The 
 early days of spring with their bright 
 sunshine, limpid sky and flowering 
 hedges, were well adapted for such 
 excursions. The two friends, Shelley 
 and Williams, explored the gulf of 
 Spezia, to very little purpose. 
 
 Meanwhile circumstances occurred 
 which modified the design of this vil- 
 leggiatuva in common. The quarrel 
 with Sergeant-Major Masi, in which 
 Shelley ran the risk of losing his 
 life, made it clear to Byron (whose 
 bravo Giovanni Battista Folcieri, called 
 Titta, was accused of having seriously 
 
of p. B. Shelley 25 
 
 wounded the dragoon) that it was wiser 
 to g-et out of the way. On the other 
 hand the long residence on intimate 
 terms with the other poet had shown 
 Shelley what kind of man Byron was. 
 His conduct to poor Claire Clair- 
 mont, who was a connection of the 
 Godwins, and whom he had seduced 
 and then abandoned ; the cruelty with 
 which he prevented her from seeing 
 her child, the little Allegra, who was 
 shut up in a poverty-stricken little 
 Capuchin Convent at Bagnacavallo, 
 in which prison she died; the faci- 
 lity with which he gave credit to the 
 calumnies invented by two discharged 
 servants regarding Shelley and Claire, 
 calumnies against which Mary Shelley 
 herself protested with proud sin- 
 
26 The last days 
 
 cerity; - (Byron, by the way, found 
 them very convenient when he wished 
 to justify the clausura of the child); 
 Shelley was disgusted and repelled 
 by all these unworthy proceedings. 
 Spend the summer with him ! Never ! 
 All he wished was to get as far away 
 from him as possible. 
 
 The search for the wished for sum- 
 mer residence was resumed, but now 
 only for the Williams and the Shel- 
 leys. They were at last compelled to 
 content themselves with Casa Magni 
 (now called Villa Maccarani) on the 
 gulf of Spezia. Hither they transpor- 
 ted their furniture by sea, and took 
 up their abode on May V 1822. 
 
 " No more splendid frame " writes 
 Mantegazza " could have been found 
 
o 
 
 H 
 H 
 
 <1 
 
 < 
 in 
 
of p. B. Shelley 27 
 
 for Shelley 's g-enius ; no dwelling- 
 more worthy of his transcendental 
 idealism, of his. 
 
 ' High spirit-winged heart '. 
 
 It is a rugged old house, standing 
 as it were, with its feet in the sea, 
 with a mountain behind it covered 
 with everg-reen ilex and pine trees. 
 Solitary it is, and strong as a fortress, 
 with a terrace and porch opening on 
 the sea. More like a ship than a 
 house, the sea enters the porch as if 
 by right, bathes the walls and often 
 sends a salt greeting even to the 
 inhabitants of the first floor and the 
 terrace. These sa\'age embraces have 
 g-iven to the house still called " Shel- 
 ley 's Villa " the rug-ged and wrinkled 
 
28 The last days 
 
 aspect of some ancient mariner. The 
 iron railings are eaten away like old 
 cheese with rust, and on the weather 
 beaten bricks the sea salt sparkles 
 and the nitre creeps in wavy lines ". 
 The poet raved of it : " I still dwell in 
 this divine bay ", he writes " reading 
 Spanish plays and listening to the 
 divinest music ". This was an allusion 
 to Jane Williams' singing, as she 
 accompanied herself on the guitar 
 that Ariel had given to Miranda, 
 
 But Mary, who was expecting her 
 confinement, and far from well, could 
 not bear the place; its glowing 
 beauty jarred on her strained and 
 delicate nerves. The house seemed to 
 her desolate, and a " presentiment of 
 coming misfortune weighed upon her 
 

of p. B. Shelley 29 
 
 soul ". " I have no words to tell 
 you how I hated that house and the 
 landscape around it. Shelley used to 
 scold me about it. His health was 
 g"ood, and the place suited him exactly. 
 What could I reply to him ? That the 
 people were savage and antipathetic, 
 that, notwithstanding the beauty of 
 the position, I should have preferred a 
 place more completely in the country, 
 that housekeeping was very diffi- 
 cult, that our Tuscan servants all 
 wanted to leave us, that the dialect 
 of those Genoese was rough and un- 
 pleasant. This was all I could say. I 
 had no words to describe what I felt. 
 The beauty of those woods made me 
 shiver, and feel as if I wanted to cry. 
 So strong was the sense of repulsion 
 
30 The last days 
 
 which I felt, that I was content only 
 when the wind and the waves per- 
 mitted me to sail out to sea, so that 
 I might not be forced to take my 
 usual walk amongf the trees over 
 which climbed the luxuriant vines. 
 Things which I once loved now op- 
 pressed me. My only peaceful mo- 
 ments were those passed on board 
 that unlucky boat, when, lying- with 
 my head upon his knees, I closed my 
 eyes and felt only the breath of the 
 wind and our swift motion ". 
 
 The " unlucky boat " had arrived: 
 from the terrace of Casa Magni there 
 was seen, on the afternoon of Sunday 
 the 12"^ of May, a sail, rounding 
 the point of Porto Venere. It was 
 the wished for boat, which Mr 
 
of p. B. Shelley 31 
 
 Heslop, with two English sailors, had 
 brought from Genoa to San Terenzo, 
 notwithstanding the rough weather 
 they had experienced, which the 
 boat had borne very well indeed. It 
 measured twenty one feet by eight but 
 looked as if it were twice as large. 
 It had been built after a model that 
 Williams had obtained from one of the 
 royal arsenals in England. It was not 
 covered in, was of solid construction, 
 schooner-rigged with large sails. " We 
 required " writes Trelawney, " two 
 tons of ballast to bring her to her 
 water line, and she bent decidedly 
 before the wind, although she was 
 quite broad enough in the beam ". 
 
 The whole crew consisted of an 
 English cabin boy of eighteen, Charles 
 
32 The last days 
 
 Vivian, who had come from Genoa 
 with the boat. Trelawney wished that 
 a Genoese sailor acquainted with the 
 coast, should be engaged; but Wil- 
 liams, who considered himself an 
 expert, would not hear of it. 
 
 The schooner, when ordered from 
 Captain Roberts at Genoa, was to have 
 been the joint property of Shelley, 
 Trelawney and Williams. Trelawney 
 at that time enthusiastic about Byron, 
 proposed that she should be named 
 " Don Juan " and Shelley did not 
 oppose him. But the idea of partner- 
 ship was given up before the boat 
 was launched, and she remained Shel- 
 ley 's exclusive property, at the price 
 of 80 pounds sterling (2000 francs). 
 Mary and her poet gave the boat 
 

 1' 
 
 / 
 
 
 / i 
 
 
 
 THE TWO YACHTS " BOLIVAR " 
 AND " DON JUAN ". 
 
 (From a sketch by E. E. Williams, in the British Museum). 
 
of p. B. Shelley 33 
 
 the name of Ariel: hut Byron nearly 
 flew into a rage about it, insisting" 
 that the boat should be called after 
 his hero; and ordering Roberts to 
 write the name upon the mainsail. 
 So it arrived, bearing' this novel dis- 
 tinction. " For twenty one days and 
 twenty one nig-hts ", writes Mrs. 
 Shelley, " Shelley and Edward dis- 
 cussed whether they should change 
 her name, and wash off" the original 
 mark. Turpentine, spirits of wine, 
 lye, all sorts of things were tried 
 for this purpose, but the painted name 
 only faded a little, and that was 
 all. At last we cut the piece out, 
 the boatman mended the sail, and 
 so it was left. I don't know what 
 Lord Byron will say ; but noble- 
 
34 The last days 
 
 man and poet though he be, we 
 can' t let him turn our craft into a 
 charcoal boat ". 
 
IV 
 
 'T^he days passed by at San Terenzo 
 -*- now sad, now g"ay. The poet 
 when not writing or conversing", was 
 always at sea. The old priest of the 
 place, a certain De Marchis, told Man- 
 tegazza that the sailors themselves 
 often tried to dissuade Shelley from 
 embarking when the sea was high, and 
 danger was imminent; but he disre- 
 garded all advice and continued to li^'e 
 in the element which was to prove 
 his tomb. In fine weather he would 
 leave the house, carrying under his 
 
36 The last days 
 
 arm the Sandalino (that in which 
 Jane embarked for that unique and 
 terrible excursion) made of the fine 
 wood used for the manufacture of 
 sieves and for Nuremburgh boxes, 
 and in this frail shell, more like 
 paper than wood, he dared the waves. 
 He did not compose much. Lord 
 Byron' s society had done him no 
 good. " I have lived too long with 
 Byron, the sun has extinguished the 
 firefly ". His tragedy ' Charles the 
 First ' did not get on; perhaps he 
 experienced the same disgust which 
 hindered Buonarroti from finishing the 
 bust of Brutus, now existing in the 
 ' Tribuna di Michelangelo ' at the 
 Academy of Fine Arts in Florence: 
 the " horror of treason " prevented 
 
of p. B. Shelley 37 
 
 him from painting' Cromwell as a 
 hero. Still, rocked in that fatal boat, 
 culled by the Tyrrhenian waves, 
 amid the mystic splendour of the 
 tranquil sea he wrote the ' Triumph 
 of Life ', the supreme efflorescence of 
 his genius, promising- a new manner 
 in his poetry, more serene, more 
 tranquil, more human. " Let us seek 
 truth wherever it may be found. 
 Man' s destiny cannot be fallen so 
 low as to believe that he is born 
 only to die ". So he wrote in those 
 last days while meditating the " great 
 mystery " and in the last line of that 
 poem, left, alas, unfinished, he asks: 
 
 " Then, what is life? I cried ". 
 
 Perhaps he experienced a strange 
 presentiment of his coming end. He 
 
38 The last days 
 
 asked Trelawney in a letter dated 
 18* June to procure for him some 
 prussic acid, adding: " I need not 
 say that I have no present idea of 
 killing myself, but I confess it would 
 be a comfort to hold in my hand the 
 golden key of the chamber of eternal 
 rest ". 
 
 Meantime Mary had fallen ill, a 
 dangerous miscarriage had brought 
 her almost to death' s door. Claire 
 Clairemont who had begun to recover 
 from the shock of Allegra' s death, 
 had come from Florence to nurse 
 her. Shelley was tormented by dreams 
 and frightful visions. He thought he 
 saw his own image approaching him 
 and asking him: "Are you satisfied? " 
 Other inhabitants of Casa Magni, 
 
of p. B. Shelley 39 
 
 also, had strange visions, not at night, 
 but in broad day, and wide awake. 
 Everybody was excited as if they 
 felt themselves on the eve of a ca- 
 tastrophe. 
 
 Shelley set off with Williams, on 
 board the Ariel, in the direction of 
 Leghorn, on the 1" of July to meet 
 Leigh Hunt. This beloved friend came 
 into Italy (provided by Shelley with 
 funds for the purpose), in order to 
 undertake with Byron the foundation 
 of a literary periodical. The poet had 
 written in dedicating to Hunt his 
 tragedy ' The Cenci ' : " Had I known 
 a person more highly endowed than 
 yourself with all that it becomes a 
 man to possess, I had solicited . for 
 this work the ornament of his name, 
 
40 The last days 
 
 One more gentle, honorable, innocent 
 and brave; one of more exalted tol- 
 eration for all who do and think evil, 
 and yet himself free from evil; one 
 who knows better how to receive 
 and how to confer a benefit, though 
 he must ever confer far more than 
 he can receive; one of simpler and, 
 in the highest sense of the word, of 
 purer life and manners I never knew; 
 and I had already been fortunate in 
 friendships when your name was 
 added to the list ". 
 
 " In that patient and irreconcilable 
 enmity with domestic and political 
 tyranny and imposture', which the 
 tenor of your life has illustrated, and 
 which, had I health and talents, should 
 illustrate mine, let us, comforting each 
 
LEIGH HUNT. 
 
 (From the picture by B. R. Haydon in the National 
 Portrait Gallery. By kind permission of Messrs. Walker 
 & Boutall, London). 
 
of p. B. Shelley 41 
 
 other in our taste, live and die". 
 Leigh Hunt was truly the friend of 
 his heart, animae dimidium: he 
 could hardly realize that he was 
 really to meet him so soon. On the 
 afternoon of their departure a fresh 
 breeze was blowing, which would soon 
 take them to Leghorn. Williams and 
 Shelley said Good-bye. Mary was 
 getting better, and was able to drag 
 herself as far as the terrace, but she 
 was terribly depressed, nor could she 
 reconcile herself to her husband's de- 
 parture. She was anxious about little 
 Percy' s health. She called Shelley 
 back two or three times to say that 
 if she did not see him very soon she 
 should take the boy to Pisa. She wept 
 bitterly when they at last started off. 
 
The last days 
 
 They set sail. At Lerici they met 
 Captain Roberts who boarded the 
 Ariel, and that same evening they 
 cast anchor at Leghorn close to 
 Byron's yacht, the Bolivar, which 
 had been built for him at the shipyard 
 at Leghorn. They could not get pra- 
 tique that night, so did not disembark 
 until the next morning. At last the 
 two friends met, and Shelley flung 
 himself upon Hunt' s neck " and they 
 embraced each other, " Shelley exclai- 
 ming " I am inexpressibly delighted - 
 you cannot think how inexpressibly 
 happy it makes me ". Thornton Hunt, 
 Leigh Hunt's eldest son, remembered, 
 many a year later, that greeting and 
 that rapturous cry. 
 
 From Leghorn, the Hunts pro- 
 
of p. B. Shelley 43 
 
 ceeded with Shelley to Pisa, where 
 they were the guests of Byron, who 
 had prepared for them the g-round- 
 floor of Palazzo Lanfranchi. Byron 
 was very much displeased at the ap- 
 pearance of Hunt' s family, consisting 
 of an invalid wife and seven unruly 
 children. But the incomparable friend 
 did his best to smoothe down the 
 unkindness of the host. He insisted 
 that Doctor Vacca, then one of the 
 ornaments of the Pisan University, 
 should visit the poor woman, to whom 
 he gave but a few months to live. 
 He also did his best to console Hunt 
 for this cruel sentence (which, by 
 the way, was proved not to be cor- 
 rect). He gave him hopes too of 
 Byron' s aid in the foundation of the 
 
44 The last days 
 
 journal; which certainly hung fire. 
 It was to have been called ' The 
 Liberal '. Byron' s enthusiasm for it 
 had greatly waned and he shrank for 
 the fulfilment of promises, which had 
 from the first been unwillingly given. 
 But at last he consented to abandon 
 the revenues derived from the ' Vi- 
 sion of Judgment ' for the expenses 
 of the first number of the periodical. 
 Shelley was divided between hope and 
 anxiety and wrote mournful letters 
 to Jane and Mary, lamenting the 
 bygone hours of the serene intimacy 
 of Casa Magni, as if he already felt 
 the presage of disaster. Jane replied 
 in a letter still more sad, in which 
 she lamented the delay in the return 
 of ' Neddy ' (her husband), and ending 
 
of p. B. Shelley 45 
 
 with the strange postscript : " Why 
 do you speak of not renewing the 
 bygone hours? Are you going to join 
 your friend Plato? ". 
 
 They visited the monuments of the 
 city, the Camposanto, the Duomo, 
 the " melancholy leaning Tower, " 
 all the glorious remains of the great 
 past of the Repubhc. Hunt mentions 
 a talk which they had together. " He 
 approved strongly a remark of mine 
 made in the Cathedral of Pisa while 
 the organ was sounding, namely that 
 there might be a divine religion if it 
 were founded on Charity instead of 
 Faith ". But the hour came for the 
 sad farewell. The truants must re- 
 turn. Williams would not wait, and 
 the two women were panting for their 
 
46 The last days 
 
 appearance. Leigh Hunt conjured his 
 friend not to venture to sea if the 
 weather were threatening, and gave 
 him, to read on the voyage, a copy 
 of Keat' s last volume of poems, 
 containing the sublime fragment 
 called ' Hyperion '. 
 
 " Keep it, " he said, " until you 
 can give it back to me with your own 
 hand ". They exchanged a last em- 
 brace, and Shelley's carriage disap- 
 peared into the shades of night on 
 the road to Leghorn. 
 
V 
 
 nphe days had been hot, stifling-, 
 -^ suffocating-: the sun had long 
 reigned triumphant in a sky of 
 brilliant blue, without the hope of 
 even the faintest shadow of a cloud. 
 It was truly the bright sun of Italy 
 with its " pitiless laugh ", so dear to 
 the Poet, but fatal to men, to animals 
 and to the harvest. At Parma the 
 peasants were obliged to break off 
 work in the fields because of the 
 excessive heat, from ten o' clock until 
 five. Water was failing everywhere. 
 
48 The last days 
 
 and the priests were imploring heaven 
 for rain with great pomp of pro- 
 cessions, uncovering of miraculous 
 images and carrying about of the 
 most highly venerated relics. 
 
 This could not last. On the 
 8"' July, the fatal monday, the long 
 desired rain seemed approaching. The 
 aspect of the sky was changed; a 
 tempest broke out, but it remained 
 distant, and the serenity of the sky 
 returned. Shelley spent the whole 
 morning in visiting the bank, and 
 laying in provisions for the colony at 
 Casa Magni, Then, always accompa- 
 nied by Trelawney, he returned to 
 the port. A light breeze was setting 
 in the direction of Lerici , and 
 Williams, who was in a hurry to get 
 
of p. B. Shelley 49 
 
 off, declared that in seven hours 
 they would arrive. Shelley had been, 
 that morning', in very high spirits, 
 as sometimes happens when some 
 obscure danger threatens. He would 
 not listen to the predictions of Captain 
 Roberts who continued to declare 
 that a violent hurricane was immi- 
 nent. 
 
 By noon or soon after, the two 
 friends, with Charles Vivian, were on 
 board the Ariel. Trelawney wished 
 to accompany them out to sea in the 
 Bolivar, of which he had the com- 
 mand, but was prevented by sanitary 
 formalities. Between one and two, 
 the Ariel left the harbour, almost in 
 the company of two feluccas, while 
 Trelawney, grim and frowning, un- 
 
50 The last days 
 
 willingly ordered the sails of the 
 Bolivar to be furled, and her anchor 
 to be let go. With a double spy- 
 glass he watched the boat with his two 
 friends, following its movements with 
 an anxious eye. " They should have 
 left earlier this morning, " said the 
 genoese pilot of the Bolivar, adding: 
 "They keep too close to the shore, the 
 current will catch them ". " They 
 will soon have a breeze off shore, " 
 answered Trelawney. " Perhaps, " 
 answered the pilot. "They will soon 
 have a fresh breeze. It is mad to 
 hoist that sail on an open boat, that 
 has no real sailor aboard of her ". 
 Then turning to the south east he 
 said: " Look at those black lines and 
 spots of cloud just there over them 
 
of p. B. Shelley 51 
 
 — look how the water smokes. — 
 The devil is putting his tail into 
 things ". Captain Roberts, too, from 
 the end of the wharf, was watching 
 the Ariel. He saw her, going at first 
 with a velocity of seven knots an 
 hour, then, mounting to the top of 
 the linghthouse, which dominated a 
 vast extent of sea, he saw with terror 
 the hurricane advancing from the 
 gulf and wrapping in its folds the 
 fragile bark, of which the mainsail 
 had been lowered, " In the darkness 
 of the hurricane, " he said, " it was 
 hidden from my gaze, I could distin- 
 guish it no longer. When the storm 
 had subsided a little, I looked for it 
 once more, looked again and again, 
 hoping that it might reappear; but 
 
52 The last days 
 
 on the whole expanse of sea, there 
 was not a single boat ". 
 
 Meanwhile Trelawney, over- 
 powered by the heat, had gone down 
 into the cabin a prey to irresistible 
 drowsiness. He was awakened by a 
 great noise on deck, the sailors were 
 letting down another anchor to en- 
 sure the Bolivar from bursting loose. 
 In the harbour there was a great 
 confusion. There were loud cries on 
 all sides, as if the end of the world 
 had come, everybody was seeking 
 shelter from the tempest. It was six 
 o' clock, or perhaps a little afte'r^ but 
 it was already dark: the sea being 
 of a dark leaden colour looked as if 
 covered by an oily scum. Furious gusts 
 of wind were succeeded by incessant 
 
of p. B. Shelley 53 
 
 thunder and lig-htning and it poured 
 in torrents. The full violence of the 
 storm lasted about twenty minutes. 
 When the sky began to lighten a 
 little , Trelawney looked towards 
 every point of the horizon, seeking 
 for the Ariel, hoping that in some 
 way or other she might have been 
 saved. At eight o'clock he went on 
 shore, but the storm continued all 
 night. At dawn he returned to the 
 Bolivar to see if there were any 
 news. Nobody knew anything. " My 
 Genoese, with his lynx eyes, had 
 caught sight on board one of the 
 fishing boats an English oar which 
 he believed that he had seen on 
 board Shelley's schooner, but the 
 whole crew swore by all the saints 
 
54 The last days 
 
 in the calendar that it was nothing 
 of the kind". 
 
 Agonizing hours passed and days 
 of agony: on the morning of the 
 third day, Trelawney went to Pisa, 
 and flew to Palazzo Lanfranchi, 
 hoping to find a letter with news 
 from Casa Magni. Nothing! " I told 
 my fears to Hunt, " he writes, " and 
 then went upstairs to Byron, When 
 I told him, his lips quivered and his 
 voice faltered as he questioned me. I 
 sent a Courier to Leghorn to despatch 
 the Bolivar to cruise along the coast, 
 while I mounted my horse and rode 
 in the same direction. I also despat- 
 ched a courier along the road, orde- 
 ring him to go as far as Nice ". 
 
VI 
 
 Duringf those days the two poor 
 widows at Casa Magni had been in 
 the most cruel anxiety. 
 
 Mary was slowly recovering, but 
 was oppressed by such invincible 
 melancholy that she was almost 
 always in tears. For her mother- 
 heart these summer days were full 
 of ag-onizing memories. Three years 
 before, on a hot day in June, she had 
 seen the shade of death creep over 
 the blue eyes of William, her beautiful 
 boy, who seemed to beckon to her 
 
56 The last days 
 
 from his green grave in the cemetery 
 beside the pyramid of Caius Cestus 
 at Rome. Now she trembled for her 
 little Percy, on whom she lavished 
 all her affection. Shelley' s return was 
 longed for as for a healing balsam. 
 He had written to Mary once or twice 
 describing the difficulties he had 
 encountered in the arrangement of 
 Hunt's affairs, adding that he could 
 not say when he should arrive. Thus 
 a week passed. On Monday the S."", 
 Jane received a letter from Edward 
 dated Saturday, saying" that he was 
 waiting at Leghorn for Shelley, who 
 had been detained at Pisa. Shelley 
 would be sure to return, but he wrote 
 that, if on Monday he had not arrived, 
 he should embark in a felucca and 
 
of p. B. Shelley T 
 
 would be with them by Tuesday at 
 the latest. 
 
 " This was Monday, the fatal 
 Monday, " writes the desolate widow 
 in her letter to Mrs. Gisborne. " But 
 with us it was stormy all day, and 
 we could not believe that they had 
 put to sea. At twelve at night we 
 had a thunder-storm. On Tuesday it 
 rained all day and the sea was calm ; 
 the sky wept over their graves. On 
 Wednesday the wind was fair from 
 Leghorn and several feluccas arrived 
 thence. One brought word that they 
 had sailed on Monday, but we did not 
 believe them. Thursday was another 
 day of fair wind, and when twelve 
 at night came, and we did not see 
 the tall sails of the little boat double 
 
58 The last days 
 
 the promontory before us, we began 
 to fear, not the truth, but some 
 illness, some unpleasant cause for 
 their detention ". Poor women ! They 
 still cherished illusions. 
 
 "Jane got so uneasy, that she 
 determined to proceed next day to 
 Leghorn in a boat, to see what was 
 the matter. Friday came, and with it 
 a heavy sea and adverse wind. Jane, 
 however, resolved to be rowed to 
 Leghorn, since no boat could sail, 
 and passed the day in preparations 
 for the voyage. I wished her to wait 
 for letters, since Friday was post 
 day. She did not wish to, but the 
 sea detained her; the swell rose so 
 that no boat would venture out. At 
 twelve at noon our letters came. There 
 
of p. B. Shelley 59 
 
 was one from Hunt to Shelley, 
 saying : " Pray , tell us how you 
 fared on Monday ", And " we are 
 anxious ". The paper fell from my 
 hands. I trembled all over. Jane read 
 it. " Then it is all over, " she said. 
 " No, my dear Jane, it is not all 
 over, " I cried, " but this suspense 
 is dreadful. Come with me; we will 
 go to Leghorn. We will post, and 
 be swift to learn our fate. We tried 
 to encourage each other, but death 
 was in our hearts. We crossed to 
 Lerici, despair in our hearts. They 
 raised our spirits there, by telling us 
 that no accident had been heard of, 
 that it must have been known, etc. 
 But still our fear was great, and 
 without resting we posted to Pisa. 
 
60 The last days 
 
 It must have been fearful to see us , 
 two poor , wild , aghast creatures, 
 driving towards the sea to learn if 
 we were to be for ever doomed 
 to misery ". Truly a sad and pitiful 
 sight! " I knew that Hunt was at 
 Pisa in Lord Byron's house, but I 
 thought that Byron was at Leghorn. 
 We settled to drive to Casa Lanfran- 
 chi, where I was to get out, and ask 
 of Hunt the terrible question: ' Do 
 you know anything of Shelley ? ' On 
 entering Pisa the idea of seeing 
 Hunt for the first time after four 
 years, and asking him such a question, 
 was so terrible to me that I could 
 hardly prevent myself from going 
 into convulsions. My efforts after 
 calm were immense. I knocked at the 
 
of p. B. Shelley 61 
 
 door, some one called out: " Who 's 
 there?" It was the Guiccioli's maid. 
 Byron was at Pisa. Hunt was in bed, 
 so I was to see Lord Byron instead 
 of him. This was a great relief to me. 
 I staggered upstairs ; the Guiccioli 
 came forward smiling to meet me, 
 while I could scarcely say : " Where 
 is he? Do you know anything of 
 Shelley? " She knew nothing; he had 
 left Pisa on Sunday; on Monday he 
 had sailed; there had been bad 
 weather on Monday afternoon; more 
 they knew not. " Both Lord Byron 
 and the Countess have told me since, 
 that on that terrible evening I looked 
 more like a ghost than a woman; 
 light seemed to emanate from my 
 features, my face was white as 
 
62 The last days 
 
 marble ". Ed ella era di pietra, and 
 she was of marble, like the Lady of 
 whom Leopard! sang-, who walks 
 alone to meet the storm and wind. 
 "Alas! " she goes on, " I had risen 
 from a bed of sickness for this 
 journey. I had travelled all day; it 
 was now twelve at night, and we, 
 refusing- rest, proceeded to Leghorn, 
 not in despair ; no, for then we must 
 have died, but with sufficient hope 
 to buoy up the agitation of spirits 
 which was all my life. It was past 
 two in the morning when we ar- 
 rived. They took us to the wrong 
 inn; neither Trelawney nor Captain 
 Roberts was there, so we were 
 oblig-ed to wait until daylight. We 
 threw ourselves dressed on our beds, 
 
of p. B. Shelley 63 
 
 and slept a little, but at six o' clock 
 we went out to ask at one or two 
 inns for one or the other of these 
 g^entleraen. We found Roberts at the 
 Globe. He came down to us with a 
 face which seemed to assure us of 
 the worst; and here we learned all 
 that had occurred during the week 
 they had been absent from us, and 
 under what circumstances they had 
 started on their return ". 
 
 There still remained a thread of 
 hope. The boat might have been 
 driven by the tempest on the coast 
 of Corsica or Elba. It had been seen, 
 it was said, in the gulf Who could 
 tell? " We resolved to return, " 
 continues Mrs Shelley , " with all 
 possible speed. We sent a courier, to 
 
64 The last days 
 
 go from tower to tower along the 
 coast, to learn if anything had been 
 seen or found; and at 9 a. m. we 
 quitted Leghorn, stopped but one 
 moment at Pisa and proceeded 
 towards Lerici. When two miles 
 from Viareggio, we rode down to 
 that town to hear if they knew 
 anything. Here our calamity first 
 began to break upon us. A little 
 boat and a water cask had been 
 found five miles off". (They had built 
 themselves a tiny canoe in " order to 
 land without getting wet, because our 
 boat drew four feet of water ".It was 
 the wellknown sandalino in which 
 Jane had heard Shelley's strange 
 question about the great mystery). 
 " The description, " writes Mary 
 
of p. B. Shelley 65 
 
 " tallies with that of the little boat 
 they had made, but then that boat 
 was very cumbersome, and in bad 
 weather they might easily be led 
 to throw it overboard. The cask 
 frightened me more, but the same 
 reason might in some sort be given 
 for that ". 
 
 Truly a sad, a horrible journey! 
 The two poor women sought every 
 pretext for delaying to give way to 
 the awful doubts which tormented 
 them. Certainly Trelawney, who was 
 with them, did his best to delude them 
 with pious falsehoods. 
 
 " We journeyed on, and reached 
 the Magra at about half past ten p. m. 
 I cannot describe to you what I felt 
 when, in fording the river, I first felt 
 
66 The last days 
 
 the water splash about the wheels. 
 I was suflFocated. I gasped for breath. 
 I thought I should have gone into 
 convulsions, and I struggled that 
 Jane might not perceive it. Looking 
 down the river, I saw two great 
 lights burning at the Foce. A voice 
 within me seemed to cry aloud: 
 " There is his grave ! " 
 
 " After passing the river, I 
 gradually recovered. Arriving at 
 Lerici, we were obliged to cross our 
 little bay in a boat, San Terenzo was 
 illuminated for a festa. What a scene ! 
 The rolling sea, the scirocco wind, 
 the lights of the town towards which 
 we rowed, and our desolate hearts 
 that shadowed all as if with a shroud. 
 We landed; nothing had been heard 
 
of p. B. Shelley 67 
 
 of them. This was Saturday July 13*, 
 and thus we waited until Thursday 
 July 18"", tossed about by hope and 
 fear. We sent messengers along the 
 coast towards Genoa and to Viaregf- 
 gio ; nothing had been found but the 
 skiff. Reports were brought us; we 
 hoped — and yet, to tell you all the 
 agony we endured during those six 
 days would be to make you conceive 
 a universe of pain, each moment 
 intolerable, and giving place to one 
 still worse. The people of the country, 
 too, added to our discomfort; they 
 were like wild savages. On festas 
 the men and women and children, in 
 bands, the sexes always separate, 
 pass the whole night in dancing on 
 the sands, close to our door, running 
 
68 The last days 
 
 into the sea, then back again, all the 
 time yelling- one detestable air at 
 the top of their voices — the most 
 detestable in the world. Then the 
 scirocco blew perpetually, and the 
 sea forever moaned their dirge. 
 
 "On Thursday, the 18* Trelawney 
 left us, to go to Leghorn to see what 
 was doing, or could be done. On 
 Friday 19* I was very ill: but as 
 evening came on, I said to Jane: 
 "If anything had been found on the 
 coast, Trelawney would have returned 
 to let us know. He has not returned, 
 so I still hope. At about 7 o' clock 
 p. m. he did return. All was over: 
 all was quiet now. They had been 
 found, washed on shore ". 
 
 Such is the unhappy Mary 's 
 
of p. B. Shelley 69 
 
 description of these days, written 
 who can tell with what pangs and 
 tears? Perhaps it was not altogether 
 painful to gather up the memories 
 of those hours, which had seemed to 
 her ages of martyrdom, and were 
 the beginning of her widowhood. For 
 her life had no more delight, no 
 more purpose. She had outlived the 
 best and dearest portion of herself 
 Resignation (^J^ was left. Sad con- 
 solation to those who have no other. 
 Upon Trelawney, the friend of 
 those terrible hours, to whom were 
 left the last sad offices of friendship, 
 devolved also the painful and difficult 
 duty of announcing to the two ladies 
 that their misfortune was certain 
 and irreparable. 
 
70 The last days 
 
 He returned to Casa Magni, once 
 more beholding those scenes which 
 had witnessed so many happy hours. 
 On the threshold of the sorrow-stricken 
 dwelling, he paused as if in a dream. 
 He started, as Caterina, the baby 's 
 nurse, came out to meet him. Scarcely 
 answering her, he passed up the stairs 
 and entered unannounced. " I spoke 
 not, nor did they question me. 
 Mrs. Shelley's large grey eyes were 
 fixed upon my face. I turned away. 
 Incapable of enduring this terrible 
 silence she exclaimed : ' Then there 
 is no longer any hope? ' I did not 
 answer but left the room and sent to 
 them the maid with the children ". 
 A gentle, a truly human thought. 
 It seems like the close of a tragedy. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 71 
 
 On the next day, July 20*^, he 
 himself accompanied to Pisa the two 
 women, that they might not be 
 tormented by the sight of the fatal 
 sea, that they might be consoled by 
 Hunt' s company, and that Trelawney 
 might hasten the completion of the 
 pious offices which he had undertaken. 
 Mary remembered that " slope of 
 green access, where, like an infant 's 
 smile over the dead , a light of 
 laughing flowers along the grass is 
 spread^ ". 
 
 She recalled the verdant cemetery 
 in Rome, near the Pyramid of Caius 
 Cestius, where little William had been 
 laid to rest, and where stood the 
 
 I Adonais. XLIX. 
 
72 The last days 
 
 tomb of Keats, It was decided that 
 Shelley 's body should be taken 
 to Rome, and that of Williams 
 transported to England. 
 
 Nothing was left to the two 
 widows but their tears. " To-day, " 
 writes Mrs. Shelley , " the sun is 
 shining brightly. Hunt, Lord Byron 
 and Trelawney have gone to that 
 desolate shore, to render the last 
 offices to their remains. The quar- 
 antine laws forbid that they should 
 be reburied, and exact that they shall 
 be burnt. I do not dislike the idea. 
 His ashes shall be placed in Rome 
 beside those of my boy, and one day 
 mine, too, shall join them there. 
 Adonais is not Keats' elegy, it is his 
 very own. In it he calls us to follow 
 
w 
 
 O 
 
 H 
 
 < 
 
 H 
 
 W 
 M 
 
 O 
 H 
 
 H 
 O 
 
of p. B. Shelley 73 
 
 him to Rome. I have seen the spot 
 where he lies, the pine trunks that 
 mark the place where the sand covers 
 him. But they will not burn him 
 there. It is too near Viareggio. 
 At this moment they are occupied 
 in this terrible office — and I still 
 live ". 
 
VII 
 
 Wrapped in the austere mantle of 
 their grief, the two victims 
 of the terrible drama which we here 
 recount, with the aid of documents 
 already published^ vanish from our 
 pag-es. Now follows the epilogue 
 for which we have obtained fresh 
 evidence, hitherto entirely unknown, 
 gathered from the archives of Flo- 
 rence, of Lucca, and of Leghorn, and 
 viva voce from certain old sailors at 
 Viareggio , who were present at 
 the discovery and the cremation of 
 
The last days of P. B. Shelley 75 
 
 Shelley' s remains, and at the recovery 
 of the Ariel. 
 
 Trelawney and Mary both write 
 that there had been found at Via- 
 reggio, two days later than that of 
 the disaster the well-known skiff, a 
 trunk or cask, and some bottles, 
 which had undoubtedly belonged to 
 the unhappy Ariel. 
 
 Trelawney, after accompanying 
 the two women to Casa Magni, 
 continued his researches in that 
 vicinity. He had interested the sani- 
 tary guards in his object, by the 
 promise of an important sum of 
 money in case of success. Every 
 morning, very early, two dragoons of 
 the Duke of Lucca 's Guard, were to 
 regularly patrol the shore, observing 
 
76 The last days 
 
 whatever was worthy of notice, and 
 making written reports to the Captain 
 in command of the Sanitary station 
 at the Foce. They were to register 
 everything, the direction of the wind, 
 the aspect of the sky and the sea. 
 Certainly they must have noted on 
 the 18* of July the event which was 
 announced to the Minister of Foreign 
 and Internal Affairs of Lucca by 
 the Governor of Viareggio, in the 
 letter which we give below; but 
 unfortunately we have been unable 
 to find these registers of the Sanitary 
 guard, either at the Capitaneria of 
 the port of Viareggio, or in the 
 Archives of Lucca. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 77 
 
 The letter is as follows: 
 {Royal Archives at Lucca. 
 Foreign Affairs. Year 1822). 
 
 381. 
 N.° 89. Duchy of Lucca. 
 
 Viareggio, Jnly iSth 1822. 
 
 The Counsellor of State. Governor of 
 the City of Viareggio. President 
 of the Sanitarj'- Committee. To his 
 Excellency the Minister for Home 
 and Foreign affairs. 
 
 Lucca. 
 
 " Your Excellency, 
 
 It is my duty to inform you that 
 to-day the sea which has been rather 
 rough has washed up a body in 
 an advanced state of decay, and 
 that the said body has, after due in- 
 spection by the Sanitary Tribunal been 
 
78 The last days 
 
 interred upon the beach, covered 
 according to the Sanitary regulations 
 now in force, with strong lime. 
 
 We have had no information 
 respecting the same, but it is 
 believed to be one of the young 
 Englishmen who were said to have 
 suffered shipwreck during a voyage 
 undertaken by a small boat shaped 
 like a brig, which left Leghorn for 
 the gulf of Spezia on the 8"" July, the 
 other having been cast by the heavy 
 sea on the Tuscan Coast. 
 
 Receive your Excellency the 
 expression etc. etc. 
 
 The Governor above mentioned 
 
 G. P. Frediani. 
 
 P. S. What leads me more 
 
of p. B. Shelley 79 
 
 especially to believe that it may be 
 one of the said two Englishmen, is 
 that an English book has been found 
 in the pocket of a double-breasted 
 jacket of mixed cloth, such as he 
 always wore. The rest of his attire 
 consisted of a pair of nankeen trowsers 
 from Malta, and a pair of boots with 
 white silk socks underneath , the 
 whole of which have been buried, 
 according to existing regulations ". 
 
 This document is not without 
 interest and importance. It proves to 
 us that the body of Shelley was 
 straccato, i. e. washed up, on the 
 beach at Viareggio, precisely on the 
 IS*"" July while that of Williams, since 
 Governor Frediani had already had 
 notice of it, must have been cast up 
 
The last days 
 
 earlier on the Tuscan coast. We also 
 learn what coat the poet was wearing-, 
 and there can be no doubt concerning- 
 the " English book, " it having been 
 the volume of Keats which Leigh 
 Hunt had lent to his friend, " turned 
 down " at the Eve of St Agnes " as 
 if the reader, in the act of reading 
 had hastily thrust it away ". 
 
 Trelawney stopped at Viareggio 
 in time to see the corpse before its 
 burial. " The face, the hands and such 
 parts of the body as were unprotected 
 by the dress, were fleshless. That 
 tall, slight figure, the jacket, the 
 volume of Sophocles in one pocket, 
 of Keats in the other, were things 
 too familiar to me to leave any doubt 
 tbat this mutilated corpse was that 
 
u: 
 
 Q 
 < 
 
 Q 
 < 
 W 
 
 
 >^ 
 W 
 
 W 
 K 
 
 O 
 
 w 
 
 CJ 
 
 o 
 
 K 
 
 Ph 
 
 o 
 
 
 ■0 
 
 o 
 
 P5 
 
of p. B. Shelley 81 
 
 of Shelley/ Williams' body had 
 washed up three miles further south, 
 on Tuscan territory, near to Tower 
 of Mig-liarino, at the mouth of the 
 Serchio. The faithful friend hastened 
 at once to identify it, proceeding" to 
 the place which he calls in his 
 Recollections " Bocca Lericcio, " 
 an inappropriate and unknown name. 
 " This corpse was even more muti- 
 lated; it had no other clothing than 
 the fragments of a shirt, partly pulled 
 over the head as if the wearer had 
 been in the act of taking it off, a 
 black silk scarf, knotted round the 
 neck as sailors wear them, socks, 
 
 ' It was a volume of Sophocles, and not 
 of Aeschylus, as Trelawney wrote erroneously 
 afterwards. The precious volume is now pre- 
 served in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford. 
 
S2 The last days 
 
 and one shoe; showing that he was 
 in the act of taking- off his clothes. 
 The flesh, sinews and muscles hung 
 in strips like the shirt, showing- the 
 bones, and the ribs. I had brought 
 with me from Casa Magni one of 
 Williams' shoes, which matched in 
 size exactly the one which the corpse 
 still had on. This shoe, and the 
 black scarf, assured me that the body- 
 was that of Shelley 's companion. 
 Williams was the only one of the 
 three who could swim and was 
 probably the last to perish. It is 
 also probable that as he was better 
 dressed than the others and had upon 
 him a watch and some money, that 
 his body may have been robbed 
 before it was discovered ", 
 
of p. B. Shelley 83 
 
 It is exceedingly probable that 
 Shelley had perished without an 
 attempt to save himself, in order not 
 to imperil the life of one who might 
 strive to save him. As to the sailor- 
 boy, Charles Vivian, we know from 
 a letter of Captain Domenico Simon- 
 cini. Sanitary officer at Viareggio, 
 published by Trelawney, that on 
 that same day, July 18*^ and not 
 " three weeks after the ship-wreck ", 
 as he writes, there was thrown up 
 on the shore at Massa a corpse, 
 without the head, which had been 
 eaten by fishes. It had on a cotton 
 jacket and a pair of blue and white 
 striped trowsers, and was barefooted. 
 This body was burnt on the spot 
 where it was found, and the ashes 
 
84 The last days 
 
 were buried in the sand. These were, 
 no doubt, the mortal remains of the 
 third victim of the shipwreck of the 
 Ariel. 
 
 The two bodies having- been 
 recognized, were temporarily buried 
 where they had been found; it 
 was now necessary to discover 
 some means of transferring them to 
 some place of honorable sepulture. 
 Trelawney applied to Mr. Dawkins, 
 then English Resident at Florence, 
 and Charge d'Afifaires near the Duke 
 of Lucca. Dawkins wrote from the. 
 Baths of Lucca (where he was then 
 staying) to Trelawney the letter 
 published by the latter , advising 
 him to ask only for permission to 
 convey Shelley's remains to Leghorn. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 85 
 
 Having obtained such a permission 
 and procured the necessary papers, 
 he would be able to convey the 
 body, by sea or land, wherever he 
 pleased. With regard to the other 
 body, that of Williams, an answer 
 from Florence was awaited. Dawkins 
 had despatched, without delay, to 
 Mansi, Home and Foreign Secre- 
 tary to the Duke of Lucca, the 
 following Memorandum (Written in 
 French). 
 
 {Royal State Archives of Lucca. 
 Foreign Affairs, 1822). 
 
 381. 
 " A small Brigantine the property 
 of Mr. Shelley, an English gentleman, 
 sank, near the mouth of the Serchio, 
 
86 The last days 
 
 last week. The crew consisted of 
 three individuals, namely: Mr. Shelley, 
 Captain Williams, of the British 
 Army, and an English sailor-boy. 
 The remains of the first two have 
 been washed up by the sea on the 
 coast of Lucca, the second on that 
 of Tuscany. Mr. Shelleys 's relations 
 and friends wish to remove his 
 remains from the spot where they 
 are now buried to the English 
 cemetery at Leghorn ". 
 
 Mansi, who thus annotates this 
 letter " This document I received 
 from the hand of Mr. Dawkins, 
 British Chargd d' Affaires, " writes 
 as follows, to the Governor of the 
 town of Viareggio. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 87 
 
 383. 
 
 To His Excellency the Governor 
 of the town of Viareggio. 
 
 Lucca, 27'li July 1822. 
 
 " Excellency, 
 
 The British Legation accredited 
 to this Court has apprised me that 
 a small Brigantine belonging to 
 Mr. Shelley an English gentleman, 
 was wrecked some days ago, near 
 the mouth of the Serchio. Three 
 persons were on board the said 
 vessel, namely, Mr. Shelley (the 
 owner) Captain Williams of H. B, M. 's 
 service, and a young English sailor, 
 and that the bodies of the first two 
 have been cast on shore, that of 
 Captain Williams on the coast of 
 
The last days 
 
 Tuscany, that of Mr. Shelley on the 
 coast of this Duchy. Further, the 
 above-mentioned Legation, having- 
 represented to me that the relatives 
 of the late Mr. Shelley desired to 
 remove his mortal remains from the 
 place where they were buried to 
 the English cemetery at Leghorn, 
 urgentty press me to obtain from 
 this Government the necessary orders 
 for the exhumation of the said body 
 and for its removal from this Duchy. 
 
 The above statements appear to 
 leave no doubt that the corpse before- 
 mentioned is the same which is 
 alluded to in your Excellency 's 
 esteemed Dispatch of the 18"" inst., 
 marked N.° 89. 
 
 His Majesty having granted the 
 
of p. B. Shelley 89 
 
 request preferred by the Eng-lish 
 Legation, it devolves upon me to 
 beg" your Excellency to be pleased 
 to grant the necessary dispen- 
 sations in order that the body of the 
 late Englishman, buried upon this 
 coast be given to the person duly 
 authorized, who shall present himself 
 to your Excellency for that purpose. 
 It is of course clearly understood 
 that the sanitary laws in force must 
 be duly observed in their entirety 
 by the persons in question. The 
 removal of the body will most 
 probably be effected by sea, and all 
 the expense incurred in the execution 
 of the transport, must be borne by the 
 Person charged with the reception 
 of the consignment of the body. 
 
90 The last days 
 
 I take this opportunity to assure 
 your Excellency that etc. etc. ". 
 
 Meantime negotiations were 
 proceeding-, at first confidentially, 
 with the Tuscan Government, for 
 the exhumation of the remains of 
 Williams. Dawkins, partly to oblige 
 a friend of Lord Byron's, but even 
 more for a zealous sense of duty, 
 which made him write — " Do not 
 mention trouble, I am here to take 
 as much as my countrymen see fit 
 to give me, " had written either on 
 the 25*"^ or 26*'^ July to Don Neri 
 Corsini, Minister of Foreign Affairs 
 to the Grand Duke; who sends the 
 following official communication to 
 the "President of Good Government, " 
 that is the Police Minister; 
 
of p. B. Shelley 91 
 
 {State Archives of Florence. 
 Foreign Affairs Prot. 95: N.° 63). 
 
 To the Hon. President 
 of Good Government. 
 
 27"' July 1822. 
 
 " Illustrious Sir, 
 
 The Royal Legation of Great 
 Britain informs me that Captain 
 Williams having been drowned last 
 week in the vicinity of the mouth of 
 the river Serchio, and buried in a 
 neighbouring field, which, we are 
 assured, is Tuscan territory, the Le- 
 gation earnestly requests that the body 
 of the said Officer may be exhumed 
 and conveyed to the English Cemetery 
 at Leghorn. The Imperial and Royal 
 Government not considering it de- 
 
92 The last days 
 
 sirable to refuse this request, it being 
 understood that the exhumation is 
 to be conducted according- to the 
 tenor of the regulations, I am charged 
 to entreat your Illustrious Lordship 
 to give such orders as you judge 
 expedient, either to the Magistrate 
 or the local Authorities in the juris- 
 diction where the aforesaid corpse 
 has been interred, as well as to the 
 Government of Leghorn ; and to 
 apprise me approximately when your 
 instructions and authorizations can 
 reach the above named magistrates 
 or authorities in order that through 
 the British Legation, the necessary 
 information may be conveyed to two 
 English Gentlemen who will proceed 
 to the place in question to be present 
 
of p. B. Shelley 93 
 
 at the disinterment, and will defray- 
 all expenses consequent thereupon. 
 I avail myself, etc. etc. ". 
 Everything" appeared to be g^oing- 
 smoothly, thanks to the g-oodwill of 
 the Tuscan Government. Dawkins' 
 request, we must remember, spoke 
 only of the disinterment of the 
 bodies, and their removal to the 
 English Cemetery at Leghorn. He 
 had preferred the same request at 
 Lucca and at Florence, and it had 
 seemed to be favourably received; 
 but there intervened a prolonged 
 interchang-e of documents between 
 the various offices concerned in the 
 affair. The " President of Good Go- 
 vernment " wrote, accordingly, to 
 Spannocchi Governor of Leghorn, 
 
94 The last days 
 
 apprising him that he had given 
 instructions to the Auditor of the 
 Government of Pisa to attend to 
 the disinterment of the corpse of 
 Captain WiUiams. And Spannocchi, 
 immediately warned the Auditor of 
 Pisa that he had made the necessary 
 arrangements with the Reverend Mr. 
 Hall, pastor of the English Church 
 at Leghorn. But the Auditor replied 
 that the Commander of the Fort at 
 the mouth of the Serchio would 
 not permit the disinterment of the 
 remains, still less their transportation, 
 since the then existing sanitary laws 
 which appear to have been so strict 
 as to be almost ridiculous, did not 
 allow of anything of the kind. " The 
 corpse in question was cast up from 
 
of p. B. Shelley 95 
 
 the sea, disfigured and in a state of 
 putrefaction, was not known, nor 
 recognized as that of WiUiams, nor 
 is it known whether Williams or 
 the person to whom the corpse 
 belonged had, in the sea, meeting 
 or communication, before or after 
 death. Consequently it does not seem 
 possible that we can allow from a 
 sanitary point of view, either the 
 exhumation or the removal of the 
 above-mentioned corpse ".^ 
 
 The Police Minister (or President 
 of Good Government) Aurelio Puc- 
 cini was apprised of these difficulties 
 by a letter from the Secretary 
 
 ' These documents exist in the Archives of 
 the R. Prefecture at Leghorn. 
 
96 The last days 
 
 of the Governor of Leghorn dated 
 Sptjuly. 
 
 It became necessary to apply to 
 His Excellency the Imperial and 
 Royal Secretary of State, Super- 
 intendent of the Sanitary Department, 
 who was precisely that same Prince 
 Neri Corsini, who was Minister of 
 Foreign Affairs, who had probably 
 sent for Dawkins in order to arrange 
 this affair. At this point and not 
 sooner, was broached the idea follow- 
 ing, " to avoid the obstacles in- 
 terposed by the sanitary laws, the 
 ancient custom of burning bodies of 
 the dead to ashes. " Certainly it was 
 at that period that the first request 
 was recalled and replaced by the 
 following one, bearing a date much 
 
of p. B. Shelley 97 
 
 ater than that of the negotiations 
 ilready entered into on the subject, 
 tvith the Tuscan Government. 
 
 {State Archives of Florence. 
 Foreign Affairs. Prot. 95, N." 63). 
 
 To His Excellency, 
 Prince Corsini, etc. etc. 
 
 " Prince^ 
 Two English gentlemen, Captain 
 Williams and Mr. Shelley embarked 
 on the 12"^ of last month at Leghorn 
 to rejoin their families at Spezia. 
 Surprised by the storm which took 
 place on the following day, their 
 vessel, the property of Mr. Shelley, 
 sank with all on board, consisting of 
 the above-mentioned gentlemen, and 
 a young English sailor. 
 
The last days 
 
 " The remains of the Captain were 
 cast on the 17"" July on Tuscan 
 territory, those of Mr. Shelley on 
 that of Lucca, near the mouth of the 
 Serchio. The relatives of Captain 
 Williams have requested me to 
 obtain permission from the Tuscan 
 Government to transport his corpse, 
 or at least his ashes, from the spot 
 where they have been interred to 
 the Cemetery at Leghorn, with a 
 view to their removal to England. 
 
 " I have had the honour of 
 addressing a similar request on the 
 part of the family^;^ of Mr. Shelley 
 to the Government '^f H. M, the 
 Duchess of Lucca, who has granted 
 the permission. 
 
 I avail myself, etc. etc. 
 
 G. Dawkins ". 
 
of p. B. Shelley 99 
 
 This application , where there 
 appear besides certain (french) or- 
 thographical errors, those mistakes 
 concerning- the place and the date 
 of the disaster, which have been 
 perpetuated in all, even the most 
 correct of the biographies of Shelley, 
 was dispatched to the Governor 
 of Leghorn , for the necessary 
 information. And he replied, in the 
 following official terms. 
 
 {Archives of State, Florence. 
 Foreign Affairs. Prot. 95. N.° 63). 
 
 To H. E. Counselor Corsini 
 Superintendent Sanitary 
 Department 
 
 Florence. 
 
 " Your Excellency, 
 The request preferred by this 
 British Legation to be allowed to 
 
100 The last days. 
 
 cause to be burned (with all sanitary 
 precautions) the body, known to be 
 that of Captain Williams, already 
 interred on the coast at Migliarino, 
 in order that the ashes may be 
 conveyed to this Protestant Cemetery, 
 can encounter no opposition, provided 
 the said operation, (which is pre- 
 scribed by our Regulations for such 
 tracts of shore as are composed not 
 of dry land but of rock, or shifting- 
 sand) be executed with all necessary 
 sanitary precautions. 
 
 " Having- consulted our Medical 
 Officer of Health, Cavaliere Palloni, 
 I am therefore of opinion that the 
 exhumation and succeeding- cremation 
 of the above-mentioned corpse, may 
 take place on the spot where it has 
 
of p. B. Shelley 101 
 
 already been interred; and, in order 
 that, on such an occasion all those 
 prescriptions contained in the existing 
 orders, shall be carefully observed, 
 I propose to send to the spot one of 
 our most skilful and trustworthy 
 health-officers , with all necessary 
 instructions, that the operation in 
 question may be carried out with the 
 utmost regularity. 
 
 " This much I have the honour to 
 submit to your Excellency, in reply 
 to your most esteemed Dispatch, 
 dated yesterday and, awaiting your 
 further pleasure on the subject, I have 
 the honour to inscribe myself etc. etc. 
 
 From the Imperial and Royal Sa- 
 nitary Secretariat, Leghorn.... August 
 1822, 
 
 Spannocchi ". 
 
102 The last days 
 
 Now that it had been decided to 
 cremate the body immediately upon 
 its exhumation, no further obstacle 
 remained. It was simply necessary 
 to inform the " Signori Inglesi " 
 
 that the expenses of the operation 
 would fall upon them, and that they 
 must make appropriate arrangements 
 with the Governor of Leghorn. 
 Prince Corsini apprised Mr. Dawkins 
 of these facts on the third of August 
 by means of the following letter 
 written in a Frencljj which really 
 should have been put in quarantine. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 103 
 
 {State Archives, Florence. Fo- 
 reign Affairs. Prot. 95. N.° 63. 
 
 To Mr. Dawkins. 
 
 3 August 1S33. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 The Sanitary Mag^istrate of 
 Leghorn puts no difficulty in the way 
 of the disinterment and burning- of 
 the body of the late Captain Williams 
 buried in a point on the coast of Mi- 
 gliarino, saving all the precautions 
 ordered by the laws {Loix) in such 
 cases, for the ashes to be afterwards 
 transported in the Cemetery of the 
 Protestants at Leghorn. 
 
 " While hastening to bring this 
 result to your knowledge, I have also 
 the honour to inform you that the 
 
104 The last days 
 
 English Gentlemen interested that 
 this operation should be effected, 
 and at whose charge all the relative 
 expenses will lie, will have to address 
 themselves to His Excellency the 
 Governor of Leghorn — charged to 
 give the necessary orders, in order 
 that all should be strictly executed 
 after Sanitary Regulations. 
 
 " I take the opportunity etc. etc. 
 
 In the same Protocol of the Mi- 
 nistry of Foreign Affairs whence we 
 take these letters, we find one more 
 document. It is a " Memorial for the 
 Royal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs" 
 in the handwriting of His Excel- 
 lency the Prince Don Neri Corsini, as 
 Head of the Department of State. In 
 it the Minister of Foreign -Affairs is 
 
of p. B. Shelley 105 
 
 recommended to notify to the English 
 Legation the result of the affair, 
 exhorting him to arrange for its 
 execution with the Governor of Le- 
 ghorn. But the Tuscan Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs , the Head of 
 the Department of State, and the 
 Sanitary Superintendent, were three 
 persons in one sole Prince Don Neri 
 Corsini! Nor was this all! The Me- 
 morial is dated August the 8"", while 
 the letter to Dawkins which we have 
 given, already written by the same 
 Corsini is dated the 3'"'*. Men worthy 
 of Plutarch 's Lives, these Tuscan 
 Ministers ! 
 
VIII 
 
 The necessary permission having 
 been, thanks to the effectual 
 intervention of Dawkins, obtained, both 
 at Lucca and at Florence, Trelawney 
 set about preparing for the completion 
 of the kindly office which had been 
 confided to him. He procured at 
 Leghorn a sheet-iron furnace of the 
 dimensions of a human body, and an 
 abundant provision of fuel. He took 
 with him, besides, two small oaken 
 cases which had been constructed 
 on purpose, lined inside with black 
 
EDWARD WYNDHAM HARRINGTON SCHENLEY. 
 (BORN 1800, DIED 1878). ■ 
 
The last days of P. B. Shelley 107 
 
 velvet, and bearing on each lid, a 
 metal shield on which was engraved 
 in Latin, the name, age and country 
 of the deceased. 
 
 On the W^ August, Trelawney 
 with an English friend of his, Captain 
 Shenley, set sail from Leghorn in 
 the Bolivar having promised Hunt 
 and Byron that they should be ap- 
 prised in time to arrive at the spot 
 as soon as everything was ready. 
 The breeze being light and uncertain, 
 they passed ten or eleven hours on 
 the journey. Casting anchor and dis- 
 embarking, they made arrangements 
 with the Commandant of the Fort at 
 Bocca del Serchio. ^ 
 
 ' This is the real name of the Fort which 
 Trelawney usually calls " The Tower of Miglia- 
 rino, at the Bocca Lericcio ". 
 
108 The last days 
 
 This ofificer had already received 
 the necessary instruction from the 
 Tuscan Government, and the cre- 
 mation was fixed for the day 
 following, at noon, Byron being 
 of it informed by a messenger. 
 
 On the morning after, Trelawney 
 as he writes in his Recollections, 
 received a letter from Byron , as- 
 suring him that he would come if 
 possible at a little before the hour 
 fixed. " At ten we went on board 
 the Commandant 's boat , with a 
 Squadron of soldiers in fatigue dress, 
 armed with spades and mattocks as 
 well as an officer of health with 
 several of his men ". 
 
 Owing to the prevailing terror 
 of contagion by which sanitary 
 
of p. B. Shelley 109 
 
 regulations were at that period 
 inspired, " they had certain toojfs so 
 fashioned that the necessary work 
 could be performed without requiring 
 any personal contact with objects 
 which might be infected — that is 
 to say, tongs with long handles, 
 pincers, poles with hooks, spikes of 
 iron and divers other implements 
 which gave one an idea of the in- 
 struments of torture used by the Holy 
 Inquisition. Thus armed, we set off, 
 followed by my boat with the furnace 
 and other things which I had brought 
 from Leghorn, " said to have been 
 such as were used by Shelley's 
 beloved Greeks, at their funereal 
 pyres. " We coasted along for some 
 distance landing where a line of 
 
110 The last days 
 
 strong- posts and railings pointed out 
 the boundary between the States of 
 Tuscany and of Lucca. We walked 
 along the beach to the grave, where 
 we were soon joined by Byron and 
 Hunt. They too, had with them an 
 officer with some soldiers from Mi- 
 gliarino, an officer from the Health 
 Office, and a few dismounted dragoons, 
 so that we were surrounded by 
 soldiers, who kept the ground clear 
 and spontaneously offered their 
 assistance. There was a considerable 
 assemblage of spectators collected 
 from the vicinity, among them some 
 ladies very richly dressed. The spot 
 where the body lay was marked by 
 the gnarled trunk of a pine tree ". 
 " A rough cabin, built of pine logs, 
 
of p. B. Shelley 111 
 
 covered with branches of the same 
 tree, to keep out the rain and sun, 
 and thatched with reeds, stood on the 
 beach as a shelter for the lookout 
 men on duty. A few yards from this 
 was the grave, which they began 
 to uncover, the gulfs of Spezia and 
 Leghorn being at about equal distances 
 from us. As to fuel, I might have 
 saved myself the trouble of bringing 
 any, for there was an ample supply 
 of broken spars and planks cast on 
 shore from wrecks, besides the fallen 
 and decaying timber in a stunted 
 pine forest close at hand. The 
 soldiers collected fuel whilst I erected 
 the furnace, and then the men of the 
 Health Office set to work shovelling 
 away the sand which covered the 
 
112 The last days 
 
 body, while we gathered round 
 watching anxiously. The first indi- 
 cation of their having found the body 
 was the appearance of the end of a 
 black silk kerchief I grubbed this 
 out with a stick, for we were not 
 allowed to touch anything with our 
 hands. Then some shreds of linen 
 were met with, and a boot with the 
 bone of the leg and the foot in 
 it. On the removal of a layer of 
 brushwood, all that now remained of 
 my lost friend was exposed — a 
 shapeless mass of bones and flesh. 
 The limbs separated from the trunk 
 on being touched ". 
 
 Here Byron stepped forward, with 
 a gesture which recalled that of 
 Hamlet when the grave-diggers 
 
of p. B. Shelley 113 
 
 Spade turns up the shining skull of 
 Yorick: 
 
 " Is that a human body ! " ex- 
 claimed Byron, " why it 's more like 
 the carcass of a sheep, or any other 
 animal, than a man: this is a satire 
 on our pride and folly ". 
 
 But it was an inopportune moment 
 for such reflexions. And Trelawney 
 who rather seems to enjoy describing 
 the lugubrious scene, with a certain 
 tinge of romance, goes on: "I 
 pointed to the letters E. E. W. on 
 the black silk handkerchief. Byron 
 looking on, muttered, ' The entrails 
 of a worm hold together longer 
 than the potter 's clay , of which 
 man is made. Hold! let me see the 
 jaw ', he added, as they were re- 
 
114 The lastldays 
 
 moving- the skull, ' I can recognize 
 any one by the teeth, with whom 
 I have talked. I always watch the 
 lips and mouth ; they tell what 
 tongue and eyes try to conceal '. 
 
 But Trelawney had a more practi- 
 cal notion of recognition. " I had 
 a boot of Williams' with me: it 
 exactly corresponded with the one 
 found in the grave. The remains 
 were removed piecemeal into the 
 furnace ". 
 
 "Don't repea:!|l' this with me," 
 said Lord Byron. " Let my carcass 
 rot where it falls ". 
 
 " The funeral pyre was now ready. 
 I appHed the fire, and the materials 
 being dry and resinous, the pine- 
 wood burnt furiously, and drove 
 
of p. B. Shelley 115 
 
 US back. It was hot enoug-h before, 
 there was no breath of air, and the 
 loose sand scorched our feet. As 
 soon as the flames became clear, 
 and allowed us to approach, we 
 threw frankincense and salt into the 
 furnace, and poured a flask of wine 
 and oil over the body. The Greek 
 oration was omitted, for we had 
 lost our Hellenic bard. It was now 
 so insufferably hot that the ofl&cers 
 and soldiers were all seeking 
 shade ". 
 
 Here Byron made an audacious 
 proposal. " Let us try the strength 
 of these waters that drowned our 
 friends. How far out do you think 
 they were when their boat sank ? " 
 
116 The last days 
 
 " If you don' t wish to be put into 
 the furnace, you had better not try. 
 You are not in condition, " said I. 
 
 Useless advice! He stripped and 
 plung-ed into the sea, followed by 
 Trelawney and by Shenley. However, 
 after swimming- out a mile, Byron 
 felt tired and turned back to land. 
 Shenley, siezed with cramp, did the 
 same with Trelawney 's assistance. 
 
 " At four o' clock, " Trelawney 
 continues, " the funeral pyre burnt 
 low, and when we uncovered the 
 furnace nothing remained in it but 
 dark-coloured ashes, with fragments 
 of the larger bones. Poles were now 
 put under the red-hot furnace, and 
 it was gradually cooled in the sea. 
 I gathered together the human ashes. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 117 
 
 and placed them in a small oak-box 
 bearing an inscription on a brass 
 plate, screwed it down and placed it 
 in Byron 's carriage ". 
 
 Byron and Hunt returned to Pisa 
 promising to be at Viareggio the 
 next day, while Trelawney, with his 
 escort, retraced the road over which 
 they had passed that morning, dining 
 and sleeping at the tavern at Bocca 
 di Serchio. 
 
 Next day, with the same imple- 
 ments (but certainly not " with the 
 same party " as he writes, since the 
 Tuscan health officers with their 
 soldiers and guards, had nothing to 
 do with the territory of Lucca), " we 
 rowed down the little river near 
 Viareggio, " (probably the canal of 
 
118 The last days 
 
 Burlamacca) " pulled along the coast 
 towards Massa , then landed and 
 began our preparations as before ". 
 
 " Three white wands had been 
 stuck in the sand to mark the 
 poet 's grave, but, as they were at 
 some distance from each other, we 
 had to cut a trench thirty yards in 
 length in the line of the sticks, to 
 ascertain the exact spot, and it was 
 nearly an hour before we came 
 upon the grave ". Meanwhile the 
 carriage arrived with Byron and 
 Hunt, accompanied by soldiers and 
 health officers. 
 
 The spot where Shelley was 
 buried and subsequently cremated 
 has not been accurately ascertained. 
 Trelawney as we have before had 
 
of p. B. Shelley 119 
 
 occasion to remark, is uncertain and 
 confused in his topography. Even 
 Dowden, the most careful of biogra- 
 phers, writes that it was " at a spot 
 three or four miles nearer the Gulf 
 of Spezia ". Great confusion also 
 appears in the documents of the 
 English Legation. It is not, therefore, 
 to be wondered at that those who 
 carelessly copied Trelawney fell 
 easily into errors, perpetuated in 
 dictionaries and encyclopedias, and 
 finally in the inscription on the 
 monument erected by Sir Percy, 
 son of the poet, and Lady Shelley 
 in Christchurch, Hants, whereon is 
 carven : 
 
120 The last days 
 
 Drowned by the upsetting of 
 his boat in the gulf of Spesia. 
 
 Shelley 's corpse, to put the fact 
 clearly once for all, was " cast up, " 
 as stated in the document signed by 
 Governor Frediani, on the beach at 
 Viareggio, and very near the town, 
 since Mary Shelley herself writes, 
 in her letter to Mrs. Gisborne, these 
 express words : — "I have seen 
 the spot where he lies, the pine 
 trunks that mark the place where 
 the sand covers him. But they will 
 not burn him there. It is too near 
 Viareggio ". 
 
 But it is in vain to strive after 
 exact identification of the spot at the 
 present day, from the traces found 
 
o 
 
 
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of p. B. Shelley 121 
 
 in the romantic description of the 
 romantic Captain, written as best he 
 could from the confused memories 
 surging- in his brain. Let us say 
 further ; in the twelfth chapter of the 
 " Recollections of the last days of 
 Shelley and Byron, " Trelawney 
 allows himself to be led away by 
 a desire to colour highly the de- 
 scription of these two sacrifices after 
 the antique fashion. Nor can we blame 
 him, since the fact itself, so strange 
 and so grand, lent itself to the poetic 
 embellishment of an artist's fancy, 
 and was worthy to be pictured on 
 the canvas of a painter or celebrated 
 in the numbers of a poet. " The 
 lonely and grand scenery which sur- 
 rounded us so exactly harmonised 
 
122 The last days 
 
 with Shelley's genius, that I could 
 imagine his spirit soaring over us. 
 The sea, with the islands of Gorgona, 
 Capraia and Elba, was before us : old 
 battlemented watch-towers stretched 
 along the coast, backed by the 
 marble-crested Apennines glistening 
 in the sun, picturesque from their 
 diversified outlines, and not 
 a human dwelling was in sight. 
 As I thought of the delight Shelley 
 felt in such scenes of loneliness and 
 grandeur whilst living, I felt we 
 were no better than a herd of 
 wolves or a pack of wild dogs, in 
 tearing out his battered and naked 
 body from the pure yellow sand 
 that lay so lightly over it, to drag 
 him back to the light of day ", 
 
of p. B. Shelley 123 
 
 Wishing to harmonize the poetic 
 idea with the scene in which the 
 last act of this drama was to 
 be acted, Trelawney here sacrifices 
 probability to theatrical effect. Only 
 in case the celebrated imprecation 
 of Dante against Pisa were partly 
 fulfilled, could Gorgona, (not to 
 mention Elba which is much further 
 away), have been seen from the 
 beach. Also, " the old battle- 
 ntented watch - towers stretched 
 along the coast, " form part of 
 th'e romantic scenery created by 
 Trelawnian fancy, which, at so short 
 a distance from Viareggio, (to give 
 the landscape that aspect of solitude 
 so dear to the Poet), could discern 
 " not a human dwelHng ", Another 
 
124 The last days 
 
 circumstance, a very singular one, 
 confirms our doubts as to the 
 sincerity of this description. Were 
 there no spectators there, no curious 
 lookers-on, present at this lugubrious 
 scene? Can it be believed that there 
 were none, when we remember that 
 at the cremation of Williams, on a 
 shore that was remote from human 
 habitation, there was gathered a con- 
 siderable number, among whom there 
 were even " ladies, richly dressed " ? 
 When we consider that the repetition 
 of the ceremony, at a short distance 
 from the town of Viareggio, must 
 have gathered together many more? 
 But let us take up another page 
 of the '^Recollections'" setting before 
 us this touching scene. " The work 
 
of p. B. Shelley 125 
 
 went on silently in the deep and 
 unresisting sand, not a word was 
 spoken, for the Italians have a touch 
 of sentiment, and their feelings are 
 easily excited into sympathy. We 
 were startled and drawn together by 
 a dull hollow sound that followed the 
 blow of a mattock; the iron had 
 struck a skull, and the body was soon 
 uncovered. Lime had been strewn 
 on it ; this, or decomposition, had the 
 effect of staining it of a dark and 
 ghastly indigo colour. Byron asked 
 me to preserve the skull for him ; but, 
 reniembering that he had formerly 
 used one as a drinking cup, I 
 was determined Shelley 's should 
 not be so profaned. The limbs did 
 not separate from the trunk, as 
 
126 The last days 
 
 in the case of Williams' body, so 
 that the corpse was removed entire 
 into the furnace. I had taken the 
 precaution of having more and larger 
 pieces of timber, in consequence of 
 my experience of the day before of 
 the difficulty of consuming a corpse 
 in the open air with our appa- 
 ratus ". 
 
 " After the fire was well kindled, 
 we repeated the ceremony of the 
 previous day, and more wine was 
 poured over Shelley 's dead body than 
 he had consumed during his life. 
 This, with the oil and salt, made the 
 yellow flames glisten and quiver. The 
 heat from the sun and fire was 
 so intense that the atmosphere was 
 tremulous and wavy. The corpse fell 
 
of p. B. Shelley 127 
 
 Open and the heart was laid bare. 
 The frontal bone of the skull, where 
 it had been struck with the mattock, 
 fell off; and as the back of the head 
 rested on the red-hot bottom bars 
 of the furnace, the brains literally 
 seethed, bubbled and boiled as in 
 a cauldron, for a very long time ". 
 This time Byron's feelings did 
 not allow him to remain present at 
 a scene that must certainly have 
 been repulsive to him. He withdrew 
 to the beach and swam off to the 
 Bolivar. Leigh Hunt remained in 
 the carriage. " The fire was so 
 fierce as to produce a white heat on 
 the iron, and to reduce its contents 
 to grey ashes. The only portions 
 that were not consumed were some 
 
128 The last days 
 
 fragments of bones, the jaw, and 
 the skull, but what surprised us all 
 was that the heart remained entire. 
 In snatching this relic from the 
 fiery furnace, my hand was severely 
 burnt; and had any one seen me 
 do the act I should have been 
 put into quarantine. After cooling 
 the iron machine in the sea, I col- 
 lected the human ashes and placed 
 them in a box, which I took on 
 board the Bolivar ". 
 
 " The Mediterranean ", writes 
 Leigh Hunt who never could forget 
 that day, " was soft and shining, 
 and kissed the beach as if to make 
 peace with it. The yellow sand 
 and the blue sky made between 
 
■<m 
 
 SHELLEY'S WATCH AND CHAIN AND HIS 
 SIGNET TOGETHER WITH THAT OF 
 HIS WIFE. 
 
 (Bodleian Library). 
 
of p. B. Shelley 129 
 
 them a singular contrast, the marble 
 mountains touched the air with 
 coolness, and the flame of the 
 fire bore away towards heaven 
 in vigorous amplitude, waving 
 and quivering with inconceivable 
 beauty ". 
 
 A proems verbal relating the 
 fact was drawn up and signed by 
 the Captain and the Marine Officer 
 of health at Viareggio, Domenico 
 Simoncini, by the Commandant of 
 the Royal Navy, Zibibbi, by 
 Trelawney, and by Byron. 
 
 Trelawney gives it, translated, in 
 his Recollections, omitting some 
 words and altering others. In the 
 document, which we give in the 
 
130 The last days 
 
 note/ we find: " after the recognition 
 (of the corpse) which was made, 
 according to the legal forms of the 
 Tribunal, we there caused it to be 
 exhumed and found only the bones 
 of the said corpse the flesh having 
 
 ' {Royhl State Archives of Lucca. Foreign 
 affairs. Year 1822). 
 
 381. 
 
 N.° 90. 
 
 " Your Excellency, 
 
 I have the honour to transmit to Your Excel- 
 lency a certified copy of the Procfes Verbal 
 regarding the consignment of the mortal remains 
 of Mr. Schelley (sic) made to Mr. Trelaconey 
 (sic) commanding the Scuner (sic) Bolivar, 
 charged by the English Legation to receive 
 them, which consignment was executed ac- 
 cording to the most scrupulous sanitary rules, on 
 the 16'" inst. in conformity with the orders re- 
 ceived from Your Excellency, through your most 
 esteemed favour af the 27"" July last past, marked 
 N.° 383. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 131 
 
 been consumed by the lime which 
 had been placed over it... according- 
 to the regulations now in force, which 
 bones were placed, with the usual 
 sanitary precautions, in a cast iron 
 furnace, and then burnt and reduced 
 
 Accept also on this occasion the assurance 
 etc. etc. 
 
 Viareggio 20"' Aug. 1822. 
 
 The Governor of Viareggio 
 
 President Health Service 
 
 G. P. Frediani. 
 
 To H. E. the Minister for 
 
 Foreign and Internal Affairs. Lucca. 
 
 {Enclosed). Copy. 
 
 This day the sixteenth August 1800 twenty- 
 two at the hour of four in the afternoon. 
 
 We Domenico Simoncini Captain and Officer 
 of the Maritime branch of the Sanitary Service 
 at Viareggio, in consequence of the orders com- 
 municated to us by His Excellency the Governor 
 of the said town, President of the Sanitary Com- 
 
132 The last days 
 
 to ashes ". Instead, in Trelawney 's 
 version, we read : " After recognition 
 made, according- to the legal forms 
 of the Tribunal, we caused the 
 ground to be opened and found 
 the remains of the above-mentioned 
 
 mission, by the document marked N." 90, together 
 with which he has remitted to us a copy of the 
 despatch of His Excellency the Minister, Secre- 
 tary of State for Foreign and Home Affairs of 
 the 27'" of the month last past, marked N.° 384, 
 by which he informs the Health OflSce that H. M. 
 our August Sovereign has acceded to the request 
 of the English Legation with regard to the re- 
 moval to the English cemetery at Leghorn of the 
 mortal remains of Mr. Shelley borne on shore 
 by the waves of the sea on the IS"" of July, 
 where they were buried according to the ex- 
 isting sanitary regulations; being present before 
 us Mr. E. J. Trelaconey (sic) Commander of 
 the Scuner (sic) Bolivar bearing the English 
 Flag, authorized by the Illustrious Gentleman, the 
 Consul of His Britannic Majesty in Tuscany by 
 a letter of the same over date of the IB"* inst. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 133 
 
 corpse. The said remains were placed 
 in an iron furnace, there burnt and 
 reduced to ashes ". 
 
 There is no doubt; the positive 
 statement of the procfes verbal 
 would have weakened the episode, 
 
 which he has shown to us, assisted by the 
 Illustrious Signore the Major in Command of 
 the Place and the Royal Marine of the Duchy 
 and by His Excellency Lord Noel Byron, Peer 
 of England, we repaired to the Western beach, 
 and having reached the spot where we had 
 interred the said corpse, after the recognition 
 which was made according to the legal forms 
 of the Tribunal, we there caused it to be exhumed, 
 and found only the bones of the said corpse, the 
 flesh having been consumed by the lime which 
 had been placed over it in the act of inhumation, 
 according to the regulations now in force, which 
 bones were placed, with the usual sanitary pre- 
 cautions, in a cast iron furnace and then burnt 
 and reduced to ashes. 
 
 After which, still in the presence of the above, 
 the said ashes were taken and placed in a case of 
 
134 The last days 
 
 the poetic episode of the heart saved 
 from the flames, which was given 
 by Trelawney to Hunt, and by 
 him, through the intervention of 
 Mrs. Williams to the desolate widow. 
 
 wood lined with black velvet, which was closed 
 with steel screws and this remained in the pos- 
 session of the said Mr. E. J. Trelaconey (sic) to 
 be taken to Leghorn. 
 
 Of all the above, a Proces Verbal was exe- 
 cuted in a double original, which has been signed 
 by me and by the said gentleman. 
 
 Signers of the Original. 
 
 E. J. Trelaconey 
 
 D." SiMONCINI 
 
 Noel Byron, Peer of England 
 ZiBiBBi, Commandant R. Marine. 
 
 Certified Copy. Captain, President Sanitary 
 Commission 
 
 Domenico Simoncini. 
 Seal of Sanitary 
 Commission 
 Lucca. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 135 
 
 Those relics, reduced to a handful 
 of ashes, were treasured by her in a 
 silken sack, between the leaves of 
 the Adonais. Of the fact we cannot 
 permit ourselves to doubt, precisely 
 because it is very poetical, like 
 everything which is connected with 
 the life of Shelley; and we believe 
 that not only should the proems 
 verbal have been silent on the 
 subject, but, with these positive 
 assertions, contradict it, according to 
 the never sufficiently to be lauded 
 sanitary regulations. Which rules, 
 if they tied the hands of Captain 
 Domenico Simoncini, did not prevent 
 him from closing one eye when it 
 was necessary, while applying to the 
 other the spyglass, which Trelawney 
 
-136 The last days 
 
 presented to him, in recognition of 
 all his kindness. 
 
 The last thing" which remained to 
 be done, was to attempt the salvage 
 of the Ariel, and Trelawney had 
 already thought of this. When he 
 left Leghorn in the Bolivar on the 
 14th August, he took with him two 
 feluccas to search for the unhappy 
 boat and to fish it up. The Captain 
 of one of these, on board of which 
 Captain Roberts had seen various 
 timbers belonging to the Ariel, 
 said that he had seen it when it 
 foundered in the sea. It was 4 o 'clock 
 in the afternoon, " the boy had 
 climbed the mainmast, when a violent 
 gust of wind took the sail crosswise ", 
 the man looked the other way for a 
 
of p. B. Shelley 137 
 
 moment, and when he looked back, 
 the boat had disappeared. " We 
 could not ", said the Captain, " get 
 near them, and when we passed the 
 spot three quarters of an hour later, 
 we saw no traces of a wreck ". For 
 six days Trelawney's men searched 
 the bottom, and at last succeeded 
 in discovering with certainty the 
 position of the foundered boat, which 
 lay about two miles from the beach 
 of Viareggio; but were unable to 
 get it to float. Trelawney, on leaving, 
 wrote to Genoa to Captain Roberts 
 begging him to complete the busi- 
 ness, and Roberts replied from Pisa, 
 in a letter (Sept. 1822) given in the 
 Recollections : " We have got fast 
 hold of Shelley 's boat , and she is 
 
138 The last days 
 
 now at anchor off Viareggio. Every 
 thing is in her, and clearly proves 
 that she was not capsized. I think 
 she must have been swamped by a 
 heavy sea; we found in her two 
 trunks, Williams containing money 
 and clothes , and Shelley 's filled 
 with books and clothes ". 
 
 Then in another letter, dated Sep- 
 tember 18"" he writes : "I consulted 
 Lord Byron on the subject of paying 
 the crews of the felucca employed 
 in getting up the boat. He advised 
 me to sell her by auction, and to 
 give them half the proceeds of 
 the sale. On Monday we had the 
 sale, and only realised a trifle more 
 than two hundred dollars. The two 
 masts were carried away just above 
 
of p. B. Shelley 139 
 
 board, the bowsprit broken off close 
 to the bows, the gunwale stove in, 
 and the hull half full of blue clay, 
 out of which we fished clothes, 
 books, spyg"lass and other articles. 
 A hamper of wine that Shelley 
 bought at Leghorn a present for 
 the harbour-master of Lerici, was 
 spoilt, the corks forced partly out 
 of the bottles and the wine mixed 
 with the salt-water. We found in 
 the boat two memorandum-books of 
 Shelley's, quite perfect, and another 
 damaged, a journal of Williams quite 
 perfect, written up to the 4"" of July. 
 I washed the printed books, some of 
 them were so glued together by the 
 slimy mud, that the leaves could 
 not be separated; most of these 
 
140 The last days 
 
 things are now in Lord Byron 's 
 custody. The letters, private papers, 
 and Williams' journal, I left in 
 charge of Hunt, as I saw there 
 were many severe remarks on Lord 
 Byron ". And he adds on his own 
 account that the noble Lord was 
 " a damned close calculating fellow ", 
 as indeed was proved by his conduct 
 towards Shelley's heirs, to whom he 
 owed money which they were never 
 able to get back from him. " God 
 defend me from ever having anything 
 more to do with him ". 
 
 As to what had happened to the 
 Ariel, he (Roberts) gives in a Post- 
 script this opinion : "On a close 
 examination of Shelley's boat, we 
 find many of the timbers on the 
 
of p. B. Shelley 141 
 
 starboard quarter broken, which 
 makes me think for certain, that 
 she must have been run down by 
 some of the feluccas in the squall ". 
 
 Such is the opinion now most in 
 favour, since no credit is now given 
 to the fable once in circulation, 
 according to which " the boat was 
 run down by a larger vessel with 
 the idea of plunder ''. 
 
 During the furious tempest which 
 broke out on that day, such a ma- 
 noeuvre would have been far from 
 easy, and the other boats, even the 
 larger ones, had enough to do in 
 looking after their own safety. We 
 must therefore conclude with our 
 illustrious colleague Richard Garnett, 
 that the collision, if any took place, 
 was purely accidental. 
 
142 The last days 
 
 Trelawney's account of the re- 
 covery of the Ariel does not fully 
 agree with the statements found in 
 the two official Documents which we 
 here pubhsh: 
 
 {R. State Archives of Lucca. 
 Home Affaires, 1822). 
 
 N.° 95. Duchy of Lucca. 
 
 Viareggio, September I2tli 1822. 
 
 The Counsellor of State 
 
 Governor of the City of Viareggio 
 
 President Sanitary Commission. 
 
 To H. E. the Minister 
 Secretary of State for Home and Foreign Affairs. 
 
 Lucca. 
 
 " Your Excellency, 
 
 I hasten to apprize your Excel- 
 lency that the two fishing- smacks 
 belonging to Sig. Stefano Baroni of 
 
of p. B. Shelley 143 
 
 Viareg-gio have, while fishing, dis- 
 covered, at the bottom of the sea, at 
 the distance of about 15 miles from 
 shore, a small vessel, schooner rigged, 
 and one of the masters of the same, 
 having warned the Captain of the 
 Sanitary Guard of this harbour of 
 the fact, the same Captain put a 
 Sanitary Guard on board to escort 
 the smacks into Viareggio in compa- 
 ny with the schooner which had 
 been found, where they arrived 
 towards noon this morning, and 
 have been placed with the crew, in 
 quarantine and watched with the 
 most scrupulous care according to 
 sanitary rules. 
 
 " We, however, having certain 
 evidence that this may be the same 
 
144 The last days 
 
 vessel which was wrecked in the 
 past month of July, on the occasion 
 on which Mr. Shelley, an English 
 gentleman, and Captain Williams of 
 H. B. M. 's Service left Leghorn for 
 the gulf of Spezia, on board of the 
 same, accompanied by one sailor 
 only, who unfortunately perished 
 with them; we advised H, E. the 
 Governor of Leghorn in order that 
 he might have the kindness to send 
 to Viareggio a Sanitary Agent of 
 that Port, to recognize it, that it 
 may be admitted to Pratique as 
 well as the fishing-smacks and their 
 crews, when the Governor shall have 
 not only recognized the above named 
 schooner, but assured us that she 
 had a clean bill of health. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 145 
 
 " A trunk, locked with a key, 
 containing" clothing", and 245 fran- 
 cesconi (dollars), some bottles, books 
 and other small objects used on 
 board have been found in the said 
 vessel, as appears from the careful 
 inventory inserted in the proems 
 verbal drawn up by the Illustrious 
 Signer Major in Command of the 
 Royal Marine of the Duchy, according 
 to the Marine Regulations approved 
 by H. M. our August Sovereign on 
 the 6* August 1821. 
 
 I have the honour to be etc. etc. 
 
 The Governor aforesaid 
 G. P. Frediani ". 
 
 10 
 
146 The last days 
 
 {R. State Archives of Lucca. 
 Home Affairs. Year 1822). 
 
 N." 95. Duchy of Lucca. 
 
 Viareggio, i8 September 1822. 
 
 The Counsellor of State 
 
 Governor of the City of Viareggio 
 
 President of Sanitary Commission. 
 
 To H. E. Minister Secretary of State 
 for Home and Foreign Affairs 
 Lucca. 
 
 " Your Excellency, 
 
 In sequence to what I had . the 
 honour to inform your Excellency 
 in my previous letter of the 12'^ inst. 
 under this same number, I have 
 now to apprize your Excellency that 
 the schooner recovered by the two 
 fishing - smacks of Signor Baroni, 
 having- been recognized by the 
 
of p. B. Shelley 147 
 
 sanitary guards of Leg-horn as the 
 same which left that Port on the 8"' 
 July with a clean bill of health, and 
 which was unfortunately wrecked 
 after a few hours' journey, has after 
 an observation of five days according 
 to Sanitary rules, on account of any 
 circumstances which might have 
 occurred at sea from her departure 
 from Leghorn until the moment of 
 shipwreck, been admitted to pratique ; 
 and then the whole was consigned 
 to the same Major commanding the 
 Fort and the Royal Marine, who, 
 together with Lord Daniel Roberts, 
 charged to receive her, has arranged 
 with the men who have recovered 
 her for the moneys due to them. 
 I remain, etc. etc. 
 The Governor, G. P. Frediani ". 
 
148 The last days 
 
 The salvage was therefore abso- 
 lutely accidental and was not effected 
 by the Livornese felucche, as Tre- 
 lawney would have us believe; but 
 by the two fishing - smacks of Signer 
 Stefano Baroni of Viareggio with 
 Viareggian sailors. Nor can it have 
 been very difficult, since Roberts 
 only writes : " We have got fast hold 
 of Shelley 's boat ". Nor was the spot 
 where the Ariel was found, two, but 
 fifteen miles from land. 
 
 We must conclude from this that 
 the Livornese Captain deceived Tre- 
 lawney as to the spot where the 
 vessel was found, as well as the 
 difficulty of recovering it; whence 
 we may also doubt whether his 
 story of having accompanied the 
 
of p. B. Shelley 149 
 
 Ariel during the perils of the tempest 
 and losing sight of her just at 
 the moment she sank, was not a 
 barefaced lie as well. 
 
IX 
 
 'T^he documents which we have 
 cited, sought out and collected 
 by us from the archives of Florence, 
 Leghorn and Lucca, have enabled 
 us to clear up various circumstances 
 which, according to the information 
 previously known to us, appeared 
 uncertain and confused. Meanwhile, 
 having clearly before our mind the 
 history of the last unfortunate days 
 of Shelley, it occurred to us when 
 we visited Viareggio in ^LUgust 1890, 
 to investigate the possibility of the 
 
The last days of P. B. Shelley 151 
 
 survival of eye-witnesses of the 
 burning of the corpse and of the 
 recovery of the Ariel, and whether 
 there were other relics of the 
 event. 
 
 After 68 years, all the spectators 
 of the scene could hardly be dead; 
 and among the old men who, pipe 
 in mouth, crouched on the benches 
 of the pier, or sat in front of those 
 low Viareggian houses which open 
 their poor interiors to the street, 
 there must certainly have been some 
 whose ages ran to ninety years. 
 But we ourselves must search, 
 must investigate, must not trust 
 to gossip, or to confessions, often 
 only too interesting, since to the 
 affectation of youth there succeeds, 
 
152 The last days 
 
 sometimes, that of wrinkles and 
 white hair. 
 
 Of the event there remained here 
 and there confused recollections, but 
 Shelley, as a name, was not familiar. 
 Of the burning- of the Englishman, 
 or of the Englishmen, since the 
 popular fancy tended to fuse the 
 two cremations into one, there was 
 a dim memory. And some of the 
 most knowing ones, those whom it 
 pleases to parade their information 
 in front of the drug--stores, or on 
 the galleries of the Bathing Es- 
 tablishments, said that the cremation 
 had taken place beyond the canal 
 of Burlamacca, that is to the East 
 where stands now the Station {Bali- 
 pedio) of the Royal Navy. But, the 
 proofs! Where were the proofs? 
 
of p. B. Shelley 153 
 
 The most educated persons in 
 Viareggio, and the Town Council, 
 knew but little of the event. The 
 Archives, which had shortly before 
 been arranged, if they contained any 
 of the documents we fruitlessly 
 sought to find, would have been 
 valueless to those who merely knew 
 the English Poet by name, by the 
 Carduccian phrase: " A Titan's spirit 
 in a Virgin's form ", and who were 
 ignorant of the date of his death, 
 and of much besides. 
 
 We then conceived the idea of 
 undertaking a serious and careful 
 inquiry into the subject, and of 
 seeking for aid from one, who more 
 than all others, was in a position to 
 assist us. 
 
154 The last days 
 
 The Captain of the Port ot Via- 
 reggio, an officer of the Italian 
 Navy, who exerts the authority of a 
 commander over all the sailors in 
 his jurisdiction, seemed to us the 
 proper person; and such was, in 
 fact. Captain Pietro Anselmi, who 
 possesses in the highest degree the 
 gifts proper to our Italian officers, 
 that is, great intelligence, endless 
 courtesy and patience. With his 
 vigorous assistance the investigation 
 proceeded with speed and facility. It 
 was needful only to consult the rolls 
 of the Naval Reserve to find the 
 names of the oldest seafaring men, 
 the probable witnesses of the act. 
 The courteous captain, well used 
 to similar examinations, and under- 
 
of p. B. Shelley 155 
 
 sta'ndig our desire to confront the 
 depositions of living witnesses with 
 the documents we had collected, sent 
 to some among them, and made all 
 arrangements for the examination to 
 be held that very day, 30*^ August, 
 at 3 p. m., in the hall of the Capi- 
 taneria of the Port. 
 
 At the hour appointed the inter- 
 rogatory began. The Captain, who 
 knew all these good, old, sunburnt 
 men very well, tried them with 
 questions on the subject; while we 
 applied ourselves conscientiously to 
 the office of clerk. But before 
 beginning his investigations, he asked 
 each man for his papers, which 
 contained his name, trade etc., which 
 he dictated to us one by one. 
 
156 The last days 
 
 The first who appeared was Raf- 
 faello Simonetti, son of Domenico, a 
 sea-captain, born ■^^ October 1817 at 
 Viareg-gio; a fine old man with a 
 longf white beard and eyes still bright 
 under their thick white eyebrows. He 
 was still upright and strong, a 
 prosperous- looking person, dressed 
 in a heavy cloth suit, with a certain 
 rustic elegance, wearing under the 
 collar of his checked linen shirt a 
 silk necktie knotted with an eye to 
 artistic effect. He spoke up frankly, 
 in a rough sailorly fashion. " Giu- 
 seppe Giampieri was the captain of 
 two fishing-smacks, the property of 
 the ship-owner Stefano Baroni of 
 Viareggio (father of Signor Antonio 
 who is now living near the Post 
 
BlSS^L 
 
 Raffaello Simonetti. 
 
 Antonio Canova. Giacomo Bandoni. 
 
 Raffaello Canova. Francesco Petrucci.' 
 
 Francesco and Carlo Simonettl 
 Maria di Giuraddua. 
 
 THE EIGHT WITNESSES OF SHELLEY'S CREMATION. 
 (From Biagi's photograph, reproduced in " Harper's Magazine „ 1892). 
 
of p. B. Shelley 157 
 
 Office). Was a child, but remembers 
 that in September 1822 the boats of 
 the said Giampieri hauled up the hull 
 of a small schooner which had been 
 wrecked in the vicinity of Viareg-g^io, 
 and which had caught in their nets. 
 The schooner had come from Leghorn, 
 and when it was wrecked it had on 
 board three persons who perished. 
 One of these three persons was 
 thrown on shore, and found, in the 
 tract between the Palazzo della 
 Paolina (Piazza Paolina) and the Due 
 Fosse.' This corpse was buried on 
 the same spot, with quick-lime, and 
 
 ' The sea then came to a very few metres 
 from the Piazza Paolina, as appears from the 
 inscription on a pilaster of bronze, which is 
 placed near the Church of St. Andrew. 
 
158 The last days 
 
 then after some days dug up ag-ain 
 and burned. Remembers that in the 
 carriage which came from Pisa there 
 were two gentlemen, relations or 
 friends. Knows that the corpse was 
 burned in a metal furnace, and 
 witnessed the cremation. Adds that, 
 being a boy, he rashly approached 
 the fire, and was sent back by 
 the quarantine officers during the 
 operation". 
 
 After Simonetti 's came the 
 interrogation of Giacomo Bandoni, 
 born on the P' September 1812 at 
 Viareggio, son of Giovanni, then 
 first Sanitary Guard. He was a poor 
 bare-footed old man, without even 
 a jacket, with a grim expression, a 
 wrinkled forehead and a rough white 
 
of p. B. Shelley 159 
 
 beard. His voice was hollow and 
 hoarse. " Remembers that his father 
 was present at the burning- ; he took 
 his dinner to the place. He could 
 point out the spot where the cre- 
 mation took place; it was between the 
 Palace of Paolina and the Due Fosse 
 (Two Dykes); offers to mark the spot, 
 if desired. The day was fine. There 
 were present Giovanni Bandoni the 
 said Sanitary Guard, Michele Orlandi 
 and Ottavio Baroni, called Comparini. 
 The work was superintended by 
 Captain Domenico Simoncini, and 
 Antonio Partiti, Health Officer ". 
 
 The third witness who appeared, 
 was Giovan-Francesco Simonetti, son 
 of Giovan Domenico, born at Via- 
 reggio the IS'** November 1813; a 
 
160 The last days 
 
 cleanly-looking little old man with 
 half closed eyes and a small white 
 fringe of beard. " Confirms the above, 
 and agrees as to the place of 
 cremation. Asked how it happened 
 that he and the other witnesses 
 concurred in stating that the act 
 had taken place on the shore west 
 of Viareggio, and how that shore 
 came to be now called west, he 
 declared that by western shore is 
 always known that to the left on 
 entering the Canal of Burlamacca, 
 that is, that towards Spezia ". 
 
 He was followed by Francesco 
 Petrucci, son of Cosimo, born at Via- 
 reggio the 18* February 1809. He 
 was a tall, old man with bright eyes, 
 hair not yet quite white, contrasting 
 
Tr**i 
 
 9r *■-- 
 
 MONUMENT TO SHELLEY AT VIAREGGIO. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 161 
 
 with his white beard, wearing- his 
 eighty-one years wonderfully well. 
 "He remembers, " says his deposition, 
 " having- seen the schooner gallare 
 (float) when it was brought in by 
 Giampieri captain of Baroni 's two 
 smacks, and knows that the burning- 
 took place before the gallamento 
 ( raising of the boat ). He also agrees 
 as to the locality of the burning. 
 Adds that it was said, that when the 
 ashes were taken to England the 
 dead men would come to life ". 
 
 Carlo Simonetti, son of Giovan- 
 Domenico, born at Viareggio in 1822, 
 remembers that when at the age of 
 four years he began to go out to 
 sea, it was a habit of the fishermen 
 to use as an asseveration the phrase : 
 
162 The last days 
 
 " May I be burnt like the Englishmen 
 at the Two Dykes; "^ and with this 
 witness ended the interrogatory for 
 that day at the Capitaneria of the Port. 
 But, we went with the Captain to 
 visit an old woman of ninety-three, 
 who lived in a clean little cottage in 
 Via del Riposo, near the old Campo 
 Santo. Maria Pietrini, wife of Andrea 
 Guidi , called Giuraddua , known 
 therefore as Maria di Giuraddua, was 
 a wrinkled old woman, nearly blind, 
 who , however , remembered the 
 circumstance quite well. " She agrees 
 that the locality is that called the 
 Two Dykes, " I read in her deposi- 
 tion ; " she was present but drew back, 
 and stood near the beach ". 
 
 - ^ Vorrei essere bruciato come gVIngresi alle 
 du' fosse. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 163 
 
 The next morning- at 10 a. m. 
 (August 3P') we examined, in 
 the Office of the Captain of the Port, 
 Antonio Canova, son of Giovanni, 
 born at Viareggio in 1803. He was 
 a fine type of an old sailor, quite 
 strong and well, with a full beard 
 and flowing hair and a frank, ready- 
 manner of speaking. " At the age 
 of 19 years he was a fisherman, 
 and belonged to the crew of Baroni's 
 paranselle, commanded by Giam- 
 pieri, who recovered the schooner 
 in the roads at Viareggio, precisely 
 five miles out, in the direction of the 
 Tower of Migliarino. The schooner 
 caught in their net. They towed her 
 westward, beached her, bailed her, 
 and found on board a trunk with 
 
164 The last days 
 
 clothes and cheques and other papers, 
 besides a hundred francs in silver; 
 sixteen sand-bags for ballast, some 
 iron spades, and several hampers full 
 of bottled beer. Canova and another 
 sailor, accompanied by two Leghor- 
 nese, afterwards towed the schooner 
 into the port of Leghorn. The amount 
 of salvage money was 25 scudi and 
 25 bolognini, for every man be- 
 longing to Giampieri 's two crews, the 
 value of the wreck and its effects 
 having been divided into thirty parts, 
 of which half went to the ship-owner. 
 He also, though not present at the 
 cremation, knows that it took place 
 near the "Du' fosse, " and remembers 
 having seen the smoke rising there. 
 Remembers how during the time 
 
of p. B. Shelley 165 
 
 they were in quarantine, at the festa 
 of the Holy Cross, (September W^) 
 Giampieri wore one of the suits 
 found in the chest ". 
 
 Lastly Raflfaello Canova, son of 
 Giovanni, aged eighty-two, a dried- 
 up, clean-shaven old man, confirmed 
 his brother's deposition. 
 
 It now only remained to determine 
 the exact spot where the cremation of 
 Shelley's body had taken place. We 
 repaired thither with the Captain of 
 the Port and such of the old men 
 as had been present at the scene, 
 and succeeded in identifying it with 
 tolerable accuracy.' 
 
 ' We also executed photographs of the spot, 
 and of the witnesses whence were executed the 
 two illustrations that accompany the text. 
 
166 The last days 
 
 Beside the Marine Asylum, 
 " Victor Emmanuel " there lies a 
 vast sandy expanse, bounded by the 
 line of the Pineta (pine wood). On 
 this beach, between the Asylum and 
 the wood^ about 250 metres from 
 the sea, lies the spot where was 
 burned with fire the philantropic 
 poet whose noble heart was open 
 to every exalted aspiration : of whom 
 we may say, with Lady Shelley 
 that " his wild spiritual character 
 seems to have prepared him for 
 being thus snatched from life under 
 circumstances of mingled terror and 
 beauty, while his powers were yet 
 in their spring freshness, and age 
 had not come to render decrepit 
 
SHELLEY'S TOMBSTONE AT ROME. 
 
of p. B. Shelley 167 
 
 that ethereal body, or to wither 
 the heart which would not be 
 consumed by fire. 
 
 Viareggio, August 1891. 
 
Printed by G. Camesecchi and Sons 
 Plore?ice.