CHARTIST RIOTS 
321 
windows shut and barricaded with the toughest 
matter they could think of — heaps of Blue-books. 
Meanwhile Mr. Pentland came in. He has been 
to the Deanery, where he says Dr. Buckland is 
very busy preparing for any demonstration on the 
part of the mob, enrolling special constables, &c. 
The Dean says (according to Mr. P.) that if they 
should attempt the Abbey by Poet’s Corner he 
himself will stand and knock down everyone as 
he enters with a crowbar. Now that the bear is 
gone, the eagle is the chief pet there. There are 
likewise tortoises in the yard, and they lead a sad 
life from the eagle, who is in the habit of testing 
the hardness of their shells with his beak and 
claws.’ 
In April, Owen wrote a long letter to his 
sister Eliza, descriptive of the progress of his 
Hunterian Lectures at the College. He says : — 
‘ I had imagined that the views were too 
general for the extent of subject embraced for an 
anatomical audience, and I was pleased to hear 
our President, who was complimenting me this 
morning, regret that he could not quite follow all 
the minute details which passed with me for the 
broad outlines of the sketch. It only shows how- 
differently the lecturer and audience are situated, 
and how necessary it is to address oneself to the 
least informed.’ He then refers to his sanitary 
Work, and says ; ‘ If I could bear to quit my dear 
<^nalo7ny, more profitable Commissionerships might 
VOL. I. Y 
