Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-03-14
and his sister Is 50 vex5ell that she bought

ID ts-sE ~. sla A. 6s.t. 81 ~ tlz. MI l.
f and his sister is so vexed chat she bough
f such expensive mourning, and all for nj
, purpose" Ha liags
The brother Of this pEoYident lady j
i alive TO this day, the husband of very
7 pretty wife, and the father of family
willis she, poor body, has beenfeonsigned
to the grave for more than three years.
During herown dying illness, little
girl greatly disturbed her sick, mother
with the noise she made. Her husband,
as an indictment to keep the child quiet.
said, ''Mary. you do not quit that, I'll
whip you y but if you keep still, like n
good girl. you may go to mas funeral" :"
An artist cousin of mine, was invited
with many others Of the Royal Academy.
to attend the funeral of the celebrated
Nollekens, the sculptor. The party filled
twelve mourning couches. and were fur
nished with silk gloves, scarfsa and hat
bands. and dinner was provided after
B.! the funeral5was over, at one of the large
! hotels. 'A 4 merrisr set than we were on
that day" said my cousin. Il never saw.
We all got jovial, and it was midnight be-
fore any Of US reached our respective
homes. The whole affair vividly brought
to my mind that description of the Con
dola, given SO graphically by Byron. that
Ii:
HHr'. 'Contain'd much fun,
Like mourning coaches whcntho funerals done.'
Some years ago, 1 Witnessed the fune.
raj OF 4. young lady, the only child Of We
ry wealthy parents, who resided in Bed
ford-square. The heiress Of their enviable
riches, was very delicate, fragie-look
ing, girl, and on the day she attained her
majority her parents gave large dinner
party, followed by ball in the evening
to celebrate the event. It was during
the winter the night was very cold, the
crowded room overheated and the young
lady thinly but magni6centIy clad. She
took chill in leaving the close ballroom
for the large, ilL-warmed suPperroom,
and three days after, the hopes of these
rich people lay insensibe on her bier.
heard from every one that called upon
Mrs. L-, the relative and friend
with whom l was staying, Of the magnifi.
cent funeral that would be given to Miss
c.. All, little needed that pale. crush
ed flower Of yesterday, the pomp that was
to convey her from the hot bed of luxury
to the cold, damp vault OF st. Gilcs's mel
ancholy looking church l stood at Mrs.
lis window, which commanded a
view of the whole square. to watch the
procession pass up Russell street to the
place of iaterment. The morning was
intensely cold, and large snOwhakes fell
laziIy and heavily to the earth. The
poor dingy sParrows, with their feathers
ruffled up. hoped mournfully along the
pavement in search of food; they, ~.
%: In spite of all their feathers, were a-coId.''
The mutes that attended the long line Of
mourning coaches stood motionless, lean
ing on their long slaves wrcathed with
white, like SO many figures that the FROST
king had slitfened into stone. The hearse,
with its snowy plume, drawn by six milk
white horses, might have served for tbe
regal car Of his northern majesty, SO ghost
like aud chilly welc its scpuIchral trapp-
ings. AT length coffin covered with black
velvet, and a pail lined with white silk
and fringed with silver, was born from
the house and deposited in the gloomy
depths Of the stately hearsc. The hired
mOurners, 10 their sable dresses and long
white hat bands and scarfs, rode slowly
forward mounted on W te horses, TO AZ
tend this bride of death TO her last rest
ing place. The first three carriages that
followed conta ned the family physician
and surgeon, clergyman and the male
servants of the house iii deep sables.
The family carriage, too. was there, but
empty, and Of procession in which 145
Z private carriages made a conspicuous
show, all but those enumerated above
were empty. Strangers drove strange
horses To that vast funeral, and hired ser
rants were the only members of the fam
lily that conducted the last scion Of that
family to the grave. Truly, it was the
most dismal spectacle we ever witnessed,
and We turned from it sick at heart and
with eyes moist with tears-not shed for
tIEc dead, for she had escaped from this
Vexatious vanity, but from the heartless
mockery Of all this fictitious woe.
The expense Of such funeral proba-
bly, involved many hundred pounds, and
which had better been bestowed on char
F table purposes.
Another evil arising out Of this absurd
custom, is the high price attached to
black clothing, on account of the necessi
: ty that compels people TO wear it for so
long period after the death OF near
relation, making the matter of still
greater difficulty for the poorer classes to
comply with the usages of society.
But who cares about the poor, wheth-
er they go into mourning for their friends
, or not ? it's matter OF no consequence
, All. here it is. And this is not the
: least forcible argument we have to ad>
| vance against this useless custom. II it
, becomes moral duty for the rich to put
on black for the death of a friend. it must
= be morally necessary for the poor to do
S the same. We see no difference in the
:. denrees of nnral Eaaiinn Lhn soul Of