made up of such things. The fashion lasted in England up to the

beginning of this century. In 1822 three men were still to be seen

hanging in front of Dover Castle. But, for that matter, the preserving

process was employed not only with smugglers. England turned robbers,

incendiaries, and murderers to the same account. Jack Painter, who set

fire to the government storehouses at Portsmouth, was hanged and tarred

in 1776. L'Abbé Coyer, who describes him as Jean le Peintre, saw him

again in 1777. Jack Painter was hanging above the ruin he had made, and

was re-tarred from time to time. His corpse lasted--I had almost said

lived--nearly fourteen years. It was still doing good service in 1788;

in 1790, however, they were obliged to replace it by another. The

Egyptians used to value the mummy of the king; a plebeian mummy can

also, it appears, be of service.

The wind, having great power on the hill, had swept it of all its snow.

Herbage reappeared on it, interspersed here and there with a few

thistles; the hill was covered by that close short grass which grows by

the sea, and causes the tops of cliffs to resemble green cloth. Under

the gibbet, on the very spot over which hung the feet of the executed

criminal, was a long and thick tuft, uncommon on such poor soil.

Corpses, crumbling there for centuries past, accounted for the beauty of

the grass. Earth feeds on man.

A dreary fascination held the child; he remained there open-mouthed. He

only dropped his head a moment when a nettle, which felt like an insect,

stung his leg; then he looked up again--he looked above him at the face

which looked down on him. It appeared to regard him the more steadfastly

The Man Who Laughs