Page:Calcutta, Past and Present.djvu/224

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TOLD BY THE TOMBS


"April 28th. Arose at five. W. and I rode on horseback to the west of the Fort, round by the eastward to Chowringhee, where we waited upwards of an hour to see the funeral of Sir William Jones pass by. All the European troops in garrison were there, with clubbed arms.

"April 30th, In conversation this day with R. about Sir William Jones, whose lamented death lies uppermost in my mind. He told me he had been ill for about a week or ten days (or rather complained of being ill about that period) before his death. Doctor Hare attended him, . . . and found on the right side a tumour as big as his fist. Inquiring when this came, he said it appeared about four or five months ago, but that, as it came of itself, he imagined it would go away in the same manner, and had taken no notice of it, only by way of exercise had walked every day before his carriage to and from the Garden, upwards of four miles. On being asked if it had not been very painful, he replied that it had been so very severe that he would not go through such another period for all the riches and honours in the world. On hearing this, one is tempted to call out, 'Oh! the weakness of a strong mind!' He said he thought it beneath him to let the mind bend to the pains of the body. He must have been delirious much longer than they think, as he would not let any one approach him, not even his favourite slave-boy Otho. R. said Sir

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