ibility I have thus assumed. Gentlemen, it is no ordinary
occasion on which we are assembled. We are here collected to carry into
execution the last wishes of one whose mortal career, prolonged far beyond
the usual limits of man's existence, has been devoted with almost
unexampled energy and perseverance to the establishment of those great
moral and political truths, on which the happiness and the enlightenment
of the human race are founded. Ill would it become me, however, to dwell
on the genius, the philanthropy, or the integrity of the illustrious
deceased. His eulogium has already been eloquently pronounced by one more
fitted to do justice to such an undertaking than the humble individual who
now addresses you. It would be more suitable to the object of the present
meeting that I should consider in what manner the intentions of the late
Mr. Bentham, regarding the disposition of his remains, can best be carried
into effect. But before I do this, it may be proper to inform some of my
auditors what those intentions were. This great man was an ardent admirer
of the science of medicine, and his penetrating mind was not slow in
perceiving that the safe and successful practice of the healing art
entirely rests on a thorough knowledge of the natural structure and
functions of the human body. He also perceived that there was but one
method of obtaining such knowledge, viz., dissection. In proceeding to
inquire how it came to happen that in a country like England, justly proud
of those numerous institutions in which science is so successfully
cultivated, so little encouragement, or more correctly speaking, so much
opposition, was offered to the advancement of so indispensable a branch of
knowledge, Mr. Bentham discovered that this repugnance to dissection
sprang from a feeling strongly implanted in the human breast--a feeling of
reverence towards the dead. Far be it from me to condemn such a sentiment,
for it has its source in some of the purest principles of our nature. But
if it can be shown that an undue indulgence in this feeling produces
incalculable mischief in society, it becomes the duty of all who are
interested in the happiness of mankind to oppose the progress of such
injurious opinions. Mr. Bentham, impressed with this idea, and thinking it
unjust that the humbler classes of the community should alone be called
upon to sacrifice those feelings which are cherished alike by the rich and
poor, determined to devote his o