Dr. Knox delivers a rousing lecture on the rapid advancement of the 19th century while a montage reveals the grim reality of Burke and Hare's body-snatching business. As Knox praises the 'enlightened times,' the duo struggles to keep up with his demand for fresh corpses, unaware that the militia is beginning to investigate the rising number of missing persons. The scene juxtaposes high-minded scientific ambition with the gritty, criminal labor that fuels it.
KNOX: Gentlemen. We live, thank God, in enlightened times. The watchword of our age is PROGRESS. Progress in the arts... Progress in the sciences... Progress in technology... Progress in transportation...
PATTERSON: A little worse for wear, don’t you think?
HARE: Bloody hit and run driver.
BURKE: Probably drunk.
KNOX: Never before have ordinary people had so much freedom and so much opportunity.
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