Arkansas true Democrat., 1860-04-07
For the True Democrat Mr. Bentham and his Wife Discourse concerning the last sad offices to humanity"

,; x Mr. E. But I see no neces- sitv for it The idea of dressing upa dead body that, in few hours, will De forever ! hid from sight is a foolish one.
 Mrs B, Would you have human being buried like dog; huddled off to the grave and treated like the carcass of an animal?
 Mir. E. Of course not. omanlike, you fly to the other extreme. It is the mean between the two that wish to arrive at. The winding sheet and shroud have grown obsolete. Now days, when 6 per son dies, he is arrayed in lis best suit and the body dressed as if for ball or party, instead of the tomb.
 Mrs. B. And very right too. Itis show ing a becoming respect for the dead
 Mir. B. Becoming fiddlestirksl It is fashion--a snobbish imitation of arstocratic customs. In monarchies, death involv- ing the succession to a crown, a diadem, or coronet, is a matter of public concern ment. That there may be no mistake about the death of King, his body is exposed fer several days and this is called "lying in state" So with the corpses of princes or heirs to the crown. The body is shown that foul play may be detected and the fact of the death be made patent to all. This is done to prevent claims springing up, for history Is full of instances of persons sup posed to be dead appearing and claiming estates or thrones. Such was the case of Perkin Warbeck and others. There were and are many who believed and believe that Bourbon prince, reported to have died in prison was brought to this country and lived in the United States in the person of the Rsv Eleazar Williams Where large estates and titles pass, the fact of the death of the posseSsor or of an heir, cannot be too well certified to, or too widely known. Hence, among the nobility arose the custom of exhibiting the dead so that all interested might come and see for themselves. To enable the defurct to be more readily recog nlzed 1t was customary to dress him in his robes ot state, and if king to place a crown on his head or mace in his hand. Parties of a certain degree of consanguinity had the right to examine the body, to search for wounds or for evidences of violent death. The further right was granted of calling in an officer and having the manner of death inquired into. But the people of those days, more sensible than the people ! of ours, were careful to remove these robes and insignia of office, before consigning the body to the tomb. These were replaced by the shroud or winding sheet.
 Mrs 5. Have not all nations in all ages | respected their dead?
 NIr. B. Generally, but not always The Egyptians embalmed their great folks. | The Romans burnt theirs. The ashes of the dead body, being collected, were put in an urn and kept in the house. Hence the use of urns on our tombstones and monu- ments and the frequent employment of the word "ashes" to express the idea of the re- mains of deceased person. By the time man had gathered the ashes of several generations of his progenitors, he had quite row of urns, which must have been in the way. The modern chemist, who re- duces ton of cinchona bark to few grains of quinine, could reduce the ashes of dead man to very small compass, so that the residuum might be placed in ring and worn on the finger. Just think of a man carrying his father and his mother on his fingers, or widow with the remains of the dear departed sealed up in her breastpin.
 Mrs. B. How can you joke on so seri- ous a subject?