Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-03-18
written for the Green Mountain Freeman.
Funeral Rites.

Funeral Rites.
lis natural and indeed, agreeably to the
spirit of Christianity to lament the death of
relatives and friends, to respect their remains,
and iondly cherish their memory. The last
tribute OF respect to the remains of the dead
though different among different nations and re-
liglous seets, is, in general, of solemn and
impressive character.
Among the Mohammedans, however. no signs
oi excessive grief, no tears or lamentations are
permitted on intering the dead. They were
commanded by their great law-giver to submit
With cheerfulness to the most affecting dispen-
sations of Providence In the north Of Eng-
land burial feasts are given on the day of inter-
ment. AT the funeral of chief of the Mac
aonnais, a few years since, g one hundred and
ffty gentlemen sat down to dinner, and fifteen
attendants were regaled with bread and cheese
and whiskey." In New York, among some of
the Dutch, revelry and drunkenness were not
uncommon at the funeral of priest.
Among the Spritualists, but little respect is
shown for the dead. 1t would seem that their
wild enthusiasm serves to harden the heart,
eradicate the tender affections. and dry up the
fountain OF tears. Not long since, respect
able man OF this vicinity died. A daughter of
the deceased, speakingand singing medium of
some notoriety, delivered the funeral discourse.
and brother-in-law of the deceased, conduct
ed the funeral. This was, indeed, q source of
regret and modification to many of the friends
OF the deceased, The cold and desultory dis
course OF the pretended medium was doubly re-
puslve on this occasion. How unlike Christi
anlty is Spiritualism. Our Savior wept at the
grave of Lazarus. lie mingled his tears with
those of the afflicted relatives But the Spir-
itualist is taught to believe that tears and lam
entatlons are proofs of human Weakness
Campbell calls the American Indian,
g A stole of the woods, man without tear"
A funeral ac'thom a tear, is Indicative of more
than stole apathy.
The Splritualists, like the Sadducees, deny
the resurrection of the body. They disbelieve
the declaration of Christ, that " am the res
direction and the Afe." They disbelieve that
t"is mortal must put on Immortality" as de-
clared by the inspired apostle Doctor Gard
ner says ga cannibal eats my flesh which by
law OF nature becomes part of his body
NOW this loss Of part of my body could not
be restored without taking from the cannibal a
part OF his body; therefore, the moral and alb
solute impossibility of the resurrection" This
argument is undoubtedly original 1t never,
perhaps, before occurred to the human mind.
that one person might eat another out of the
possibility of resurrection
Many believe that the discourse ut the funt.-
lal alluded to, was in fact delivered by an angel
through the daughter of the deceased. Angels,
or departed spirits, are considered by the lead
ing Splrltnallsts, as material and perfectly or
ganlzed beings, possessing remarkable physical
energy, and the power of speech Then why
speak through mediums? Why not address us
In proper person? This would remove all sus-
plclon OF fraud. But to hear dull and incoher-
ent lectures purportng to be by Socrates or
Plato, naturally excite a suspicion of fraud on
the part Of the medium Were we to hear lee
lures by the spirits of the philosophers, we
should hear something original and interesting
-somethng worthy of themselves 1t is said
thatspeaking mediums are passive and wholly
| cf+ +bn l.. IL
them g that the spirit has the exclusiee con-
troll of the vocal organs.' Hence we are to
consider the very language uttered by the me-
diun as the chosen language of the spirit, or
angel. 1t therefore follows, that the imperfec-
tion of the medium has nothing to do with the
character of thespiritual communication. The
mental imperfection of the medium could no
more effect the character of such communica-
tions, than the use of an imperfect pen effects
the ntentended meaning of written communi-
cation. According to the philosophy of Spirit
ualists, spirit might have spoken through the
speaking automaton of ABertus with the game
facility as through an Andrew jackson Davis.
That we are under the g ministration of an
gels" who preach funeral sermons; that they
afford us important and unimportant information
and are now more than usually interested in the
affairs of this world, is strange delusion
which, like the Salem witchcraft. and other
popular delusions, will pass away, and become
the marvel of future generations. The belief
that angels are induced by wry faces and manip-
ulatons, to reveal the grand mysteries of eter-
nifty, is monstrous chimera--a melancholy
proof of human Weakness and folly. A. SB.
Ludlow, Feb, 1853