A POPULAR VERDICT. 551 



little that there was neither evidence nor shadow of evidence of the 

 charge : it was only necessary to link Dr. Knox's name with the atro- 

 cities, and reasons enough would be found for the belief that he was the 

 cause of them. If it appeared incredible, the reply was, that the vil- 

 lainies had actually been perpetrated by somebody, then why not in- 

 stigated by him who had the greatest interest in the result ? Besides, 

 he was none too good for it, as judged out of his own mouth. Had he 

 not rej)lied to a medical student, when asked how he came to have so 

 many Kaffre skulls in his museum : "Why, sir, there was no diflBculty 

 in Kaflraria ; I had but to walk out of my tent and shoot as many 

 Kaffres as I wanted for scientific and ethnological purposes." A pass- 

 ing joke was thus tortured into proof of a murderous disposition, and 

 had its numerous believers. Again, Dr. Knox had said that " he could 

 always command subjects." To which it was rejoined, " We now know 

 what he meant the West Port villains were in his pay." Thus by in- 

 sinuation, perversion, and hinted suspicion, on the part of those who 

 ought to have known better, and by a gaping credulity on the part of 

 the mass of the people, the charges against Dr. Knox came to be be- 

 lieved by bare force of reiteration and association of ideas. The fol- 

 lowing specimen of the literature of the time embodies the whole logic 



of the case : 



" Down the Close, and up the Stair, 

 But and Ben wi' Burke and Hare. 

 Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief, 

 Knox the man that buys the beef." 



On no better grounds than this Dr. Knox was condemned by the 

 press, slandered by his medical brethren, denounced by "the clergy, 

 and his life was sought by the mob. Relying upon his entire inno- 

 cence, abhorring the crime that had been done as much as anybody, 

 and deeply indignant at the charges that were brought against him, 

 Dr. Knox preserved silence. We can now appreciate the dignity and 

 self-respect which impelled him to this, but he calculated wrongly 

 for himself. Silence cannot be comprehended by a stupid public or a 

 clamorous mob. The people were infuriated that he had not been in- 

 dicted along with the West Port murderers, and Knox had to bear 

 the whole weight of the city's wrath, which was increased by covert 

 enemies in every quarter, and still further heightened by the escape 

 of Hare. " Two months after Burke's condemnation, and his confes- 

 sion exonerating Knox from all blame whatsoever had been given to 

 t\iewov\di, BlackicoocVs Magazine, m its 'Noctes Ambrosianre' (March, 

 1829), written by John Wilson, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the 

 University of Edinburgh, alias Christopher North, made every effort 

 to blast the character of the anatomist. Literary ruffianism is too 

 mild a term to apply to the foul words used by Wilson, who, not 

 content with holding up Knox to public execration, rushed with 

 the savagery of the war-whoop and tomahawk upon an unoffending 



