The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-04 00:00:00

THE L.

rIVSEN.

On Saturday, the Ist inst.. the funeral took place
of his Excellency the late Baron de Bunsen, so
many years Minister Plenipotentiary from the
Court of Prussia to England, and previously Prus-
sian Minister in Rome, whose death we recorded as
having taken place at Bonn on the 28th inst. The-
funeral obsequies were performed between the
hours of 3 and half-past 5. At half-past 2 the
various companies of the students of the University
assembled in the square before the residence of the
late Baron, having previously sent a deputation to
express their desire to testify their respect to the
departed by bearing his body to the grave. The
coffin was of oak in the form of a sarcophagus, the•
lid much raised, and composed of a succession of
plain mouldings in the wood. It was covered with
wreaths of evergreens, intermingled with garlands
and flowers, most of them sent by friends. Near
the head was a bunch of flowers and a small wreath
which her },loyal Highness the Princess of Pru ssia
had herself sent from the station as she passed.

through Bonn, on her way to Berlin the preceding
week, as a mark of sympathy and remem-
brance, and which had been preserved till the
death of the Baron de Bunsen, and been buried
with him. A garland of evergreens in festoons
surrounded the sides of the coffin, on which
were six handles. The Lutheran clergy-
man having arrived entered the library, in the
centre of which the coffin stood, and where were
also the Baroness de Bunsen, with Mademoiselle
de Bunsen and Mademoiselle Amelia de Bunsen,
Lady Llanover, Madame Charles de Bunsen, and
Madame George de Bunsen. There were also pre-
sent his Excellency the Baron d'Usedom, Prussian
Minister at Frankfort; Count Goltz, Commandant
of the District ; Lord Llanover, and three sons of
the deceased, Mr. Ernest de Brnsen, Mr. Charles de
Bunsen (Secretary of Legation at Turin), and Mr.
George de Bunsen ; also the Baron d'Ungern Stern-
hers', son-in-law of the late Baron de Bunsen. The
Baroness d'Ungern Sternberg was prevented from
attending by indisposition. A favourite hymn of
the late Baron Bunsen was then played on the organ,
and the coffin was raised by his three sons, his son-
in-law, and his two secretaries. The coffin was
borne downstairs by the handles between the above-
named individuals, covered (as described) with
flowers and garlands, and followed by a cushion,
carried by his attached servant, on which was the
star and riband of the order of the Red Eagle, and
the star and riband and grand collar of the Order of
Saxe, &c. ; next to which walked his Excellency
Baron d'Usedom, with Lord Llanover and Count.
Goltz, followed by a numerous procession of stn-
dents of the different corps, in their striking cos-
tumes, with their chiefs, dressed in black velvet
with white gauntlets and red or white plumes,
carrying standards, followed by gentlemen,two and.
two; the whole was preceded by the military
band of the Royal Hussars, commanded by Count
Goltz, who took up the same hymn which had
been played on the organ until the coffin left the
house, and continued playing it in the most impres-
sive manner through the town, passing round
the Grande Place, through the Stern Gate to
the cemetery without the town, a distance of
nearly a mile. The Baroness de Bunsen and her
daughters, with Lady Llanover, met the procession at
the grave, where the band having ceased playing,
a hymn was sung, after which a funeral oration
was pronounced by the Lutheran minister, who
afterwards prayed ; and then on giving a signal, a
shovelful of earth was held at the foot of the coffin,
out of which each son of the deceased in succession
sprinkled a little with his hand on the coffin, fol-
lowed by Lord Llanover and other male friends
and connexions. The Lord's Prayer and a hymn
concluded the ceremony, which was most impres-
sive and must have been truly congenial to the
feelings of the nearest relations of the deceased
baron. There were no mutes, no hearse, no hired.
mourners, no noisy confusion of carriages and
horses, and although an immense concourse of the
lower classes attended, there was no indecorum
or confusion occasioned by any person ; all reveren-
tially uncovered when the minister took off his
black cap, and did not replace their hats until he
set the example. When the coffin had been borne
a certain distance by the sons of the deceased, their
places were taken in turns by the students of the
tln;versity, and at the grave the chiefs of the corps
stood in the foremost line holding their respective
standards. The coffin was left on the platform
over the grave, covered with flowers, and not
lowered to its last resting place till all the atten-
dants had departed. On the opposite side of the
same cemetery are the remains of Niebuhr, who
preceded the Baron de Bunsen as Prussian Minister
in Rome, who in his turn was succeeded there by
the Baron d'Usedom. The late Baron de Bunsen
has left besides his widow 10 children to lament his
loss, five sons and ;lye daughters, of whom six were
under his roof at the 011ie of his decease. Of those
absent his youngest son is attached to the Prussian
Embassy in Japan. Hie eldest son, the Rev.
Henry de Bunsen, is rector of Lilleshall, having en-
tered the Established Churcb. of Great Britain.
Of his daughters two are married—the Baroness
d'Ungern Sternberg and Mrs. Battersby
Harford ; three of his married children (in-
cluding Mr. Ernest de Bunsen, who married Miss
Gurney), reside altogether in England.