Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1830-08-04


sacred and tender sympathies mocked by
SO burdensome and inconsistent fashion?
1t is true indeed that mourning, or rath-
er the sho,c ofmourning, is fashion COM
mon in some form or other, to almost all
the nations of the earth, and has been
from the remotest antiquity, and the term
instead of being used to signify the grief
we feel for the loss ofthosc near and dear
to us, has by common acccptation been
taken to denote some peculiar habit worn
on melancholy occasions. The habits
worn, the ceremonies performed and the
different colors made use of, for these Pur-
poses, have been dictated merely by the
whims or fancies of different nations, and
have been almost as contradictory and di-
vcrsifed as the opinions and practices of
the nations themselves. In most Euro.
pean countries the color chosen as best
suited to such occasions, is black. In
China, on the contrary, it is white. In
Turkey, it is blue or violet. In Egypt,
it is yellow. In Ethiopia, brown, &c
The ancient Sparta and Roman ladies'
mourncd in white, and the same color
was used formerly in CASTLE on the death
of their princes. Notwithstanding this
variety of colors made use of to signify
sorrow, yet every nation so far as we are
acquainted assigns some equally pertinent
reason for the particular color they adopt
in its symbolical reference to the changes
which death is supposed to produce in
those for whom it is worn. Thus white
is adopted as the Chinese mourning habit,
because it is supposed to indicate purity,
indicating that after death both our relics
and our memories are sacred. The Egyp-
tians select yellow, because they regard
death as the termination of all human
hopes, and because this is the color most
commonly assumed by falling leaves and
fading flowers. The Ethiopians arc said
to have selected brown on account of its
indicating the color of the earth, whence
the bodies of the deceased are deposited.
Black is chosen by most European ma
tons because it denotes absence of light,
signifyirg that in death there is no per-
ception, and consequently an utter dark
ness or absence oflight. Blue is chosen
because it is supposed to express the in
terrupted happiness which it is hoped
the departed arc enjoying in a future
state. Purple and violet are supposed
to represent the sorrow of the surviving
relatives and the hopes of the deceased
in another world this double allusion is
attached to them on account Of their
being combination of blue and black.
Besides particular manner of dressing
other practices indicative Of grief were
adopted by the ancients, such for exam
pie as tearing the hair, rending the gar
ments in pieces, wearing sackcloth, lay
ing aside crowns and sceptres, and ban
ishing for time every symbol of glad
ness and joy. Public grief was somc-
times expressed by general fast, and
Plutarch in his life of Cato tells us, that
from the time he left the city in company
with Pompey, he never shaved his head,
nor wore according to his usual custom,
the garland or the crown. Various 9TH
er practices and customs might be men,
toned, but already enough have been
enumerated for our present purpose; al
ready enough have been adduced to
show, that the practice of ofwearng mourn
ing apparel originated primarily in some
fancied connection between outward
show and what should naturally be our
inward sentiments and feelings, or in
some vague and incongruous notions that
were entertained concerning our future
prospects and destiny by the ignorant and
superstitious children of an almost barba-
rous age. These customs have been
cherished and adhered to by succeeding
generations, until they have became in
corporated as it were with our very Re-
ligion; until they have become in the
opinion of some, necessary part of our
moral obligations, and of so sacred ma
ture as not to be criticised or abandoned.
But for our own part we are disposed to
view them in n lillcrcnf Enhf nnd ,uL;Io