Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-03-14
GOING INTO MOURNING.

GOING INTO M0UNNiNl:.
The following is from Mrs, Moorc's
Life in the Clearings -
And then. this absurd fashion Of wear
lug black for months and years ior the
dead; let us calmly consider The plIiioSO-
Phy of the thing. its use and abuse. Does
it confer any benefit on the dead .? Does
it afford any consolation to the living .
Morally and Phy&cnIly, does it produce
the least good? Does it soften one re-
grctfuI pang. or dry one bitter tear, or
make the wearers wiser or better? If it
does not produce any ultimate benefit, it
should at once be discarded as IL supersli-
tious relic of more barbarous times, when
men could not gaze on the simple, unvei-
ed face of Truth, bu, obScured the clear
daylight Of her glance under thousand
fantastic masks
The ancients were more consistent in
their mourning than the civilized people
of the present day. They sat upon the
ground and tasted, with rent garments,
and ashes strewn upon their heads. This
modification of the flesh WAS II sort Of pen
auce inflicted by the seftortured mourn
or for his own sins and those Of the dead.
Ii this grief was not Of Il deep and lasting
nature. the mourner found relief for his
mental agonics in humiliation and person
al suffering. He did not array himself in
silk, and wool, and fine lincn, and gar
ments cut in tie most approved fashion Of
the day, like our modern beaux and bellies,
when they testify TO the public their grief
for the loss Of relation or friend, in the
most expensive and orcoming manner.
Verify, if We mus. Wear our Xorruw up.
on our sleeve. why not return to the sack
cloth and ashes, as the most consistent de-
monstration of that grief. which, hidden
in the heart, SulpaSNrs show.
But then, sackcI> t. il most unmana.c-
allie material. 4 handsome figure wouIi
be lost, buried. annihiIutcd, in a sackcloth
gown: it would he SO horribly rough; it
would wound the delicate skin of fine la
dy; it could not be confined III graceful
folds by clasps of jet, and pearl, and orr
noments in black and gold "SackcIoth |!
Faugh away with it. 1t smells Of the
knotted scOurge and the charnel-house."
! Wo, t3O, say "awaY with it j. True grief
! has no need Of such miserable pruvoca-
tiunS to woe.
their faces for the dead, showed noble
contempt Of the world by destroying those
personal attractions which the loss OF the
beloved had taught them to despise. But
who now would have the forEitude and
seIf-dcnial to initiate such an example p
! The mourners in Grape, and silk, and
French merino, would rather t2ie themselves
than sacrifice their beauty at the shrine Of
such monstrous sorrow.
How often have | heard knot Of gos-
sips eXclaim, as some widow OF a gen:Ie~
man in fallen circumstances gllded by in
her rusty weeds, "what shabby black that
woman wears for her husband should
be ashamed to appear in public in such
faded mourning" And yet the purchase
of that shabby Hack may Lave cost the
dcsolute mournerAnd her orphan children
the price Of many necessary meal. All.
| this putting of a poor famiy into black,
and all the funeral trappings for pal-bear-
ers and mOurners, what a terrible affair it
is what anxious thoughts what bitter
heart-nches it costs
But the usages of society demand the
sacrifice, and it must be made. The head
of the family has suddenly been removed
from his earthly tolls, at a most complica-
ted crisis in his affairs, which are so in
voIved that scarcely enough can be COL
lected to pay the expenses of the funeral
and put his family into decent mourning,
but every exertion must be made to DO
this. The money that might, after the
funeral was over, have paid the rent of a
small house, and secured the widow and
her young family from actual want. until
| she could look around and obtain some sit
uation in which she could earn living for
herself and them, must all be sunk in con
forming to a useless custom. upheld by
pride and vanity in the name of grief
elbow willathe funeral expenses ever be
paid ?'' exclaims the anxious, weeping mo,
ther. when it is all over, and the mourn
ling bought. there will not remain single
= coppet TO find as in bread" !" The sorrow