The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1823-03-18
miscellaneous selections from Foreign Jour
nals

among mankind relative fo Mourning aud
Funeral ceremonies. All the world, saws
he, Is acquainted with the maguilicenee of
the Roman obsequies and funeral games.
The Greeks also burnt the corpses of dis
linguished individuals, with the funeral
ie'sls, aud the lamentations of hired weep
ers, though they generally display Il less
sumptuous glicf aud n better regulated III.
ETY., The Perslans buried the bodies of
the dead ; The Scyihians ale them the
indians en'eloped them, for reservations
sake IN sort of hacker the Egyptians
embalmed aud dried them, exhibited them
on festival days, placed them at table "a
mong their guests, guarded them az their
most precious possessions, and lent and
borrowed money upon these strange pledg-
rs. In our time, the custom of dancing ut
funerals IL only prartlsed at india aud a.
mong some savage nations; but funeral I'm
terIaInmcnis still prevail in many Europe.
AN countries. Among others. the ceremo-
ny Of intermen' IN solemn and silent, which
nevertheless does not interfere with the
wish that all may be forgotten as speedily
as possible. We observe more ostenia-
tiousrles for persons ol consequence: their
carriages follow them 10 the grave, and
sometimes their horse is parad.d, which,
having been made 10 East, seems 10 partalte
of the aillciion of the occasion. Thr orr
entails, from whom WE borrow this custom,
went further they made the horses in
funeral procession weep, by blowing par
tlcnlar powder up their nostrils
In Italy, the mourning WAS formerly
white for women and brown for men IN
China II Is white in Turkey, Syria, and
Armenia, II Is blue IN Egypt yellow in
Ethiopia grey. Each Of these colours had
originally lis mystical signiication.---
White is the emblem of purity celestial
blue indicates the space where the soul
ranges after death ; yellow, or the tingc of
dead len,cs, exhibits death ~ the end of al
human hope, and man falling like the leaf
Of Autumn grey presents the colour
OF the earth, our common mother aud
black, the funeral costume now adopted
throughout Europe, is an allusion to The e.
tcrnal night.
In England the King never wears black.
He is clothed in red, as mourning. Till the
reign Of Charles VII. white was the fu
neral garh IN France. The Emperor Leo.
pold, who died in 1908, used 10 suffer his
beard TO grow in disorder during the whole
| period OF mourning. In this he initiated
the jews. The dowaser Empresses ne
yer lcit off weeds, aud their apartments
were hung with black ill their death.
The Chancellor Of France is the only
person in the kingdom who never wears
mourning The brothers, nephews, and
cousins of Popes never wear il the hap
piness of having Pope IN the family is too
great TO allow them TO be afflicted by his
death
But the most remarkable of all these Il.
sages is perhaps that Of the people Of those
ancient nations who dress themselves ns
women when they lose their relations, in
order il is said, that the ridicule attached
to their vestments might make them a.
shamed Of their grief
Gavtck The following is a copy Of n
letter from this great actor TO a gentleman
named Sturz =
never liked Dido, though il bears
| good character upon the French stage
There are good lines, aud some little pa
thos. am spoiled by Shakespeare, and
hope you are very near spelled too. Now,
from your dissection of French actors,
Madame ClalIon has every thing that art
and good understanding, with natural spi-
| ut, can give her--but the heart bias none of
those Miscellaneous feengs--that Iile-blood,
that keen senslbility, that electrical fire,
which bursts al once from genius, aud
shoots through the veins, marrow, bones
and all, of every spectator. She is 30 con
scious Of what she can do, that she never
has the feelings Of the instant come upon
her Unexpectedly ; but pronounce that
The greatest strokes of genius have
been unknown To the actor HIMSELF the
circumstance, the warmth of the scene has
sprung the mine as it were, as much to his
own surprise AS to that Of the audience
That | make difference between a great
genius aud good actor the first will RED.
llzc the feelings of his character, and be
transported beyond himself; while the o.
thcr, powers aud sense, gives great plea
sure, but he newer
--pec,us inanier angt
Irritat, mnlcet, 1aisis ferroiblus implfi.
Your idea Of The French character most
exactly agrees with mine, their poHtesse has
reduced their characters TO such same
ness their hllnours are 50 curbed by ha-
bit, that when you have seen half dozen
French men and women, you have seen
the whole. In England every man is
distinct being, and requires distinct stu
dy to investigate him il is from this
great variety that our comedies are less
uniform than the French, and our charsc-
ter more strong and dramatic. Since you
left US | have played the character of
a young (ie for shame) jealous amoreoux, in
the comedy Of The Wonder, and it has
been followed IN the most extraordinary
manner. Should you ever return to us be-
fore drop my fools coat, | will treat you
with the best in my power, for have IN
deed shown you nothing"
! .Diadnme de StaeL.--This celebrated La
dy on visiting the metropolis of Great Bri-