Literary cadet, and Saturday evening bulletin. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1826-1827, 1826-11-18

contest Give US presses that Will, when called up
on fearessy front the battle and the storm press
es, that will not, after having received and se
cured the patronage Of the Government, desert its
patrons, and treacherously fly to the camp Of the
enemy. We have already said more than we orig-
nally intended TO say, and we now close these re-
marks, by Observing that the people Of the United
States, ought to retain undmnished confidence in
the purity Of the South American Liberator.
FUNERALs.-We have received communica-
tion from person who signs himself" An enemy 10
the tyranny of CUSTOM" on the subject Of Funerals,
to which, as we do not think the subject is treated
with that delicacy it demands, we must omit giving
publicity. We agree with the writer, however,
that it is too often the case that money uselessly
wasted, in making pompous funerals which can
neither call back the dead, console the living
mourner and that the custom OF wearing weeds for
the dead is one that it we'll to dispense with
1t is custom, and a custom only, that nantles the
mourner in black, and the putting Of il on, cannot
in the least tend to soothe the Affections Of wound
ed heart.
That respe cabe and pious portion of our COM
munity, the Friends, conduct their funeral eeremo
nies in manner which tells bat too plainly, that
they mourn in sincerity and in truth. over the
graves of the departed. Silently they move along
TO the prison house, the last resting place for
frail mortality-no costly garb decorate their per-
sons. to tell their gries. or to bespeak the sorIow
ings of their afflicted hearts. Mute they stand
around the gloomy sepulchre, and as the earth
rattles upon the cofn-lid, sigh may indeed escape
them, but trusting 10 the promises Of their God,
they subdue their troubled souls, and breathe in Sc
cret, their mournful aspirations to the Lord of
hosts.
We remember of once witnessing the ceremonies
Of the grave, as performed by these pous people,
a .rto. at.,,o lot
will be forgotten.
II was at the burial of young man, just entering
on the busy scenes oflife-but who, by pestilen-
tia climate, had been laid low and too early fell
victim to the King of Terrors The world he will
lingly would have let-his fortune, his prospects,
and his hopes he could have cheerfully resigned;
but there was one, whose loveliness, and whose
excellence attached him to the world, and till the
last moment he clung to her his last hope. Their
vows had been plighted-they were sealed in Hea-
Long had she waited, in patient anxiety, for
his return /; he came not-a messenger informed
her Of his illness in distant city, and with alacrity
she flew to smooth the dying pillow Of him." with
out whom the world were nothing" She arrived,
just in time to close his eyes-to receive the warm
pressure Of his hand and 10 follow him to the grave.
The day arrived-the corpse was carried to the
place of interment, and the mute group moved
slowly on, the convulsons which struggled in the
bosom of the fair Isabella for utterance, were pal
pable. Yet she spoke not nor did q tear moisten
her soft blue eye, till the form Of the sleeper, was
lowered into the grave. No longer could she sup.
press the workings Of her soul--but bursting into
tears, she knelt upon the margin Of the grave and
Rreathed prayer to God, which seemed rather the
ferven aspiration Of angel than the articulations
of mortal. She complained not. but impIored
the aid of heaven, to assist her in supporting her
sorrows. When the earth had closed upon the
last remains Of fra mortality, the group pensivey
returned to the dwelling from whence they came,
nor did the least show Of parade or circumstance
mark the burial. No monumental slab marks the
spot, 10 tell where reposes the sleeper; no pageant
ry or useless weeds employed, TO tell the
world, that they who had separated forever from
one they loved, wept for his loss, mourned his
fate. But the pensive countenance, the secluded
life, and humble demeanor, bore witness TO what
they felt-it told that they mourned, without the
aid of weeds specious gar, fashioned 10 suit the
folly ofthe times.
How widely do the funeral ceremonies Of the
Friends differ from those Of other sects they are
free from os!entation-they partake Of their feel
ings, and Of those feelings only which fill the bos
oms Of those, who pay in sincerity the last sad tr-
butte 10 the names of those beloved
What can be more absurd, what can be more re-
pugpant TO the feelings Of the truly intelligent, than
the idea Of Transforming the house Of sorrow into
the house of riot And do we not often witness
these absurd transformaaions IN these degenerate
days, when Fashion is allowed to govern the
QOtat ONCE, anu 10 ODtruue tselI upon tle Solemn
rites Of the tomb FASHION has said that we shall
mantle ourselves in black, when those love, do
not love, but who are connected with us by the
ties of consanguinty, descend to the tomb And why
is TN, done? Merely 10 suit the whims Of fashion,
the caprice of the times!
Funerals. conducted as they now are, impose
grievous taxatons upon those who are the least
able to support them, spd not unfrequently involve
families in distress. The poor will always follow
the examples Of the rich and hence, hundreds of
families are involved in actual pecuniary distress,
whenever disease takes from them a member ofthe
fold.
In obedience to the pjunctions Of fashion, car
riages must be employed, black must be worn, din
ners must be given, and the afflicted family con-
sequently involved in still deeper Distress by
of pecuniary embarrassments, incurred, accord
ing to the dictates Of fashion, in buryng the dead.
But Of all the evils, introduced by funerals, that
Of making the occasion Of feasting and hi
arity is the most ridiculous and repugnant to every
principle Of humanity. The corpse laid in the
grave, the afflicted mourners return to the mansion
Of the buried dead, and there parake OF q sumptu-
Gus repast prepared for the occasion the wine cir
cuates freely, and too often, the afflicted relations,
by Offering deep potations "a. the shr inc of name
less god, laid almost low the ifeess tenant
Of the tomb--and the scene closes, with the dis
play Of acts, from which humanity revolts, and
at which decency turns in disgust.
Let il not be supposed that we would say, that
scenes like these are always practiced at modern
funerals, but that they do too often occur, we most
L. Ill. h0t