St. Mary's beacon., 1858-08-12
Burning the Dead.

a treatise ou, burning the DeaO, recent
ly published in London, is both interesting and
eloquent, though am well convinced that its
author bas been putting firth labor in vain.
remember the CONSERVATION with which
read the advertisements announcing its pubh-
cation. made sure that it must be the pro-
dnction Of one of those wrong-headed individ-
uals who are always proposing preposteTous
things, without ehd or meaning. Why ON
earth should we take to burning the dead?
What is t0 be gained by recurring To heather
rite. repudiated by the carly Christians, who.
~ Sir Thomas Browne tells us, 'sticket not to
i've their dies to be aAnt in tEeir lives, but
detested that mode alter death 2" And where
FIRE sln anything so horrible, and sn suggestive
VI cruelty And sacrilege, is to cnnsign 70 de-
vouring flames even the unconscious remains
of departed friend ? Eut after reading the
ggbsh l gshaHGGh G aas neElsTeT dIa ees
author hari great deal to say in defence OF his
views. am Obliged to acknowledge that ia
many cases important benefits wnuid follow
the adoption of urn sePulture. The author
treats his subject with considerable display,
both of science and Uf logic. The question
which he proposes to discuss is, what is the
best way to dispose Of the mortal part Of man
when the soul has left it A first sugges-
ton might be to endeavor to preserve it ia the
form and features Of life; and, accordingly,
in many countries and ages. enbalming in
its various notifications has been resorteti to.
But al attempts "a prevent the human frame
fro1i Obeyipg the Creators law nf returning
10 the elements have miserably failed. Aud
surely it Is better a thousand times TO "bury
the dead from our sight, than to preserve q
hiieous and revolting mOckery of the beloved
form. The Egyptian mummies every one has
heard Of; but the most remarkable instance Of
embalming III recent times is that Of the
wife Of QUE Martin Van Butcheli, who, by
her husbands desire, was embamod IN the
the year 1715, by DR.. William Hunter and
Mr.. Carpenter, and who may be seen in the
museum Of the Royal College Of Surgeons in
London. She was o beautiful woman, and
all that skill and science cuuld 10 were done
to preserve her in the appearance Of life; but
the result is nothing short of shocking and
awful. Taking it, then. as admitted, that the
bsNy must return 20 the dust from whence
was taken, the next question is, How
shall dissolution take place with due re-
spect 10 the dead, and with least harm to the
health and the feelings Of the living?
The two fashions which have been univer-
sally used are burial and burning. 1t has
so happened that burial has been associated
with christianity, and burning with heath
enisln but shall admit ut once that the
association is not essential, though il would
be hard, without very weighty reason indeed,
to deviate from the l0ng-remembered "earth B.,
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust" But
such weighty reason the author Of this tFca-
tise declares TO exist. The system Of burial,
he says, 10 productive Of fearful and number
less evils and dangers to the living. In the
OF any large burying-place, the
air which the living breathe, and the water
which they drink, are impregnated with
pUisUEs the ns%t destructive Cf health and life
Even where the damage dine TO air and wa
ter is inappreciahle by our senses, it Is pre-
aispUSing cause OF headache, dysenfery. s,re
thrSat, aud low fever :" and it keeps all the
population arOund in condition I'm which they
are tie ready prey of all fjfnls of disease. /
shall nat shock my readers by quoting host
Of horrible facts. proved by indisputable evi-
dence. which are adduced by the author 90
show the evils Of burial; and AL these evils.
he maintains, may Be escaped by The revival
of burnings. Four Thousand human beings
die every hour; and only by that swift and
certain method can the vast mass OF decayins
matter which, while decaying, gives of the
must subtle and searching pOisnns, he re-
solved with the elements without injury or
risk % any one. -1 49, -
So convinced has the French government
become Of tlre evils of burial. that il has pa
trunised and encouraged ore H. Bsnneau, who
pr"Pses that, instead Of great city having ifs
cemeteries, il should Be provided
with n building called 'sThe Sarcophagtls,1 .
occupying N el-vated situation, 10 which the
bali8 of Tich anal par sasusild be c0nycyed,
md tAsre Psaneea % szhes BY powesfhl hs-