The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-20 00:00:00

FUNERAL RITES OF THE ROMANS.

The following account of the rites and customs observed
by the ancient Romans, in the funerals of their great
men, may not be deemed uninteresting at this season,
when a " Prince of Israel" lies dead amongst us, and is
soon to be committed to the silent tomb. When it was
perceived that the cold hand of death was upon any person,
the nearest of kin was called to hang over the body, and
receive the last gasp of the dying man, and afterwards to
close his eyes. After death the body was kept seven days,
and during that time was daily washed with warm water,
and anointed with oil. The friends of the deceased also
assembled together and made a great outcry with their
voices, as desirous thereby to rouse the body in case
it had only fallen into a swoon or a sleep. This
was called the conclamatio and was done three
times, the third and last taking place on the seventh
day. The body was then dressed in a gown, being more
or less magnificent, according to the abilities, the office, and
rank of the deceased person. In this state it was delivered
to the pollinctores, or undertakers, to whom the dressing
and embalming of the body was entrusted. This ceremony
over, the lying in state, or corporis collocatio, followed. The
body was laid upon a bed, close by the gate of the dead man's
house, with the face and heels turned outwards, towards the
street. Near the bed an altar was erected, upon which the
friends of the deceased offered incense, daily, until the burn-
ing of the body. The gate outside was hung with cypress
branches, which slimed the riches of the deceased, for
that tree was too scarce to lie used in testimony of the
sorrow of the surviving relations of poor men. During the
before mentioned seven days, certain persons were ap-
pointed to prepare every thing for the burning, and
these things were uniformly bought in the Temple
of Libitina, from whence these providers were called
Libi-
tinarii. On the eighth day a crier was sent through the
city, who gave notice of the solemnization of the funeral
in this form :—Excquias Chremeti quibus est commodum
ire, jam tempus est. Oleus ex wdibus effertur. After
the people had assembled themselves together, the bed
being covered with purple or other rich covering, the last
acclamation being ended, the mournful procession moved
forward. A trumpeter went before the company, and wo-
men, called Preview, followed, singing songs in praise of the
deceased. The bed or pall bearers were the next of kin
of the deceased, so that it often chanced that the Senators
themselves bore the corpse. In the burial of a Senator
or Chief Officer, certain waxen images of his prede-
cessors were carried before him upon long poles or spears
together, with all the ensigns of honour which he deserved
in his lifetime. After the corpse, the deceased's children fol-
lowed, and then the next of kin, all clothed in black. In
this manner the corpse was brought to the Great Oratory,
from whence the next of kin made a funeral oration, which
being ended, the corpse was carried home again. On the
next day the body was burnt, one of the fingers haring been
previously cut off, the body laid upon the funeral pile, the
eyes opened, and a halfpenny, called the obolus Charonis,
put into its mouth, in order that the deceased might have
wherewithal to pay the old Charon his fare, for ferrying
him over the river Styx. The funeral pile was hung with
cypress boughs, and thus the smell arising from the
combustion of a dead body was prevented. All things,
being prepared, the next of kin with averted face set
fire to the pile. The bustuarii, or gladiators, were then
called in who fought till one or other of them was killed,
and the blood of the slain served instead of sacrifice
to the infernal gods. The body thus nearly consumed,
the remains were gathered togethered by the friends,
washed with milk and wine, and then committed to an
urn. The priest then sprinkled the company with clean
water thrice, and pronounced the word " Ilicet," (quasi
ire licet). The company then departed, each saying,
Vale! Vale! Vale! Nos to quo ordine natura permiserit
sequimur.—(Farewell, Farewell, Farewell ! we, each in his
appointed time will follow thee.) The urn containing the
ashes of the deceased was deposited in an arehed vault, the
sides of which were pierced with recesses. In one of
these recesses the urn was placed, and the recess was
afterwards hermetically sealed up.
The funeral concluded with a feast to which only the
old men were invited. It was eaten upon an altar of
stone, and so called silicernium (quasi (Yet:a supra silicent
liposita), and until the law of the 12 tables, abolished the
;same, there was the murrhata, or drinking of wine, and the
:lamentable cry of Lessus. The wearing of mourning for
deceased persons was regulated by law. Infants, under
three years old, were not to be mourned for at all;
elder persons were to be mourned for as many days as
they were years old; wives mourned for their husbands 10
months, and so also children for their fathers.

HAY MARKETS.--(THIS DAY. )
(At per Load of 36 Trusses.)
ST. JAMES'S.
Lowland Meadow Hay.f.3 15 to 4 15 Clover Hay /4 Mei 1
Upland Ditto
Rye-grass Hay
New Meadow Hay ..... 410 510
Supply very short, but trade sluggish, at Thursday'. route.
SMITHFIELD.
Lowland Meadow Hay £3 sto 4 5 Clover Hay generally /4 10 to 8 0
Upland Ditto
Rye-grass Hay
New Meadow Hay .... 4 5 5 5 Wheat Ditto lll 114
A short supply, and a brisk trade; prices as last quoted.

SCOTCH MARKETS.
EDINBURGH CORN MARKET.—Jan. 17.
We had a middling supply of all sorts of Grain to-day, which
went off freely. Healing Oats was Is. higher ; one parcel, far
seed, brought 31s. All other sorts of Grain remain without any
material alteration.
Wheat. Barley. Oats.
First
Second 2Bs Gd 28s 6d 29s Od
Third 26s 6d 26s Od 25s Od
There were 725 bolls of Wheat in market, whir
33 at... 325. Od. 80 at... 295. 6d. 111 at... 28s.
20 3l 6 71 29 0 169
112
Av 29 6 Unsold
erage, 28s. 4d

Beans.
294 6d
274 tid
23s Od
order
it Y 7.. Pd.
26 6

Pease.
2Os
Gd
'2ss Gd
•...h sold as u
Od. 85 at
I 8 45
L, 120. Gr

EDINBURGH CATTLE MARKET.—Jan. 17.
The supply of Sheep was much the same ae last week, 2600
White-faced wedders, 21s. to 255. Od. ; Black-faced, les. to
225. ; Ewes, 15s. to 18s. ; the quantity was fully equal to the
demand. In the Grassmarket Cattle were not so plenty (204) ;
best, 7s. Od. to is. 9d.; inferior, 6s. Od. to 7s. ; good cattle
fully maintained last week's prices ; inferior cattle met a dull sale

PRICES OF ritovisiows, &e.
Beef, per lb. Os. 3d. to Os. 7d. Fresh Butter, per /b. Od. to Is. Od.
Mutton 0 4 0 7 Salt 10 0 0
Veal 0 7 010 Ditto, per cwt..—Me. 0 0
Pork ,.. 0 4 0 6 Eggs, per dozen —1 2 0 0
I Lamb, per quarter 0 0 0 0 Oat Straw (kemp.)l9 6 19 0
Tallow, per 041 0 5 Wheat Ditto 19 6 18 0
Quartern Loaf 0 9 0 0 Barley Ditto 13 0 0, 0
Potatoes, per 141 b. 0 6 0 0 Good Hay, per st. El 0 1 4

MARKET.—Jan. 16.
,meal at this day's market, which

EDINBURGH MEA
We had a small supply of Oat
Isold readily, at last week's prices.
Per Sack of 2801 b. Imp. Per Stone of 141 b. Imp.
First Oatmeal £2 15 0 Oatmeal. £0 2 10
Second ditto
Barleymeal
IPeasemeal 1 IP 0

. „
HEATHS AND ROSES.—It is tolerably well ascer-
tained, that the two Americas do not produce a single heath, nor
thelsouthern hemisphere a rose.—Mirror.
THE FEMALE CHARACTER.—LedyarcI, the tra-
veller, who died at Cairo in 1788, on his way to accomplish the
task of traversing the widest part of the continent of Africa from
east to west, in the supposed latitude of the Niger, pays a just
and handsome tribute to the kind affections of the sex. "I have
always observed," says Ledyard, " that women in all eonntries
are c
and cheerful, timorous and modest;
tender and humane; that they are
ever roiel and o
inclined
d tobbleiging,
gay
and that they do not hesitate, like men, to perform a
generous action. Not haughty, not arrogant, not superci-
lout, they are full of courtesy, and fond of society ; more
liable, in general, to err than man, but, in genera/, also
more virtuous, and performing more good actions than
he. To a woman, whether civilized or savage, I never
addressed myself in the language of decency and friendship,
without receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man
it has often been otherwise. In wandering overthe barren plains
of inhospitable Denmark, through
honest Sweden, and froeen Lap-
land, rude and churlish Finland, unprincipled Russia,
f and the
wide-spread regions of the wandering Tartar; hungry, dry,
cold, wet, or sick, the women have ever been friendly to me, and
uniformly so; and to add to this virtue, (so worthy the appellation
of benevolence,) these actions have been performed in so free and
so kind a manner, that, if I WAS dry, I drank the sweetest draught ;
and if hungry, I ate the coarsest morsel with a double relish."—
Macclesfield Herald.