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THE duke's burial 249 



not suffered to add to nor detract from the sacredness 

 of these relics. Why he is not interred there, if it was 

 ever suggested, need not trouble the reader, who may- 

 or may not think the suggestion all but ridiculous. 

 Nevertheless, the late Duke's family or executors 

 seem to have thought his remains far too precious to 

 rest among ' commoner ' clay, and, in default of the 

 vaulted shrines of Edward the Confessor's pile, the 

 interior of his parish church, St.- James's, Piccadilly, 

 was selected. Here was interred, on December 

 31st, 1810, in a vault under the communion table, 

 the body of William Douglas, fourth Duke of 

 Queensberry. Let us hope his soul found as hallowed 

 a resting-place. 



Those of my readers not conversant with London 

 who expect to find, on visiting the Modern Babylon, 

 any trace of ' Old Q's ' famed balcony in Piccadilly 

 will be disappointed, as the Duke's domicile under- 

 went extensive alterations soon after his decease. The 

 house was first made into two — Nos. 138-139;^ for 

 this purpose it became necessary to remove the portico 

 and balcony, though a greater alteration since has 

 taken place — a whole or partial pulling down and re- 

 building of the property. 



^ At this house Lord Byron spent the London season of his brief 

 married life. 



