The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1867-03-29
The Funeral of Charles +. Browne.

The Funeral of Charles r. Browne.
The following account Of the funeral Of
Mr.. BROWNE, from the London Telegraph OF
the 18th inst, will be read with interest by
all the American friends Of the lamented
humorist:
The body Of Mr.. Charles F. Browne, the
closing year Of whose life had sutiiced to es-
tablish in England that popularity which his
pleasant quaintness Of tongue and pen had
founded for him in America, was on Satur-
day deposited in the catacombs Of Kensal-
green. The widely.lamented humorists re-
mains have not been committed to their last
earthly place Of rest, for, in fulflment OF his
express desire, confded to his friends and
executors short time before his death, he
will be borne across the Atlantic and en-
tombed in the cemetery Of his native village
in Maine. Captain John Britton, the Amer
lean Consul at Southampton, has taken this
charge upon himself, and has already made
full arrangements for the performance Of his
pious trust. The funeral in this country
though not designed with any purpose save
that Of marking the affection and honor in
which Mr.. Browne was held by q large circle
Of English and American friends, did not
pass over without many signs Of general re-
greet and IL may be said to have been in
effect public ceremony.
The procession started soon after o'clock,
from the house Of Mr.. Charles Millward, at
Haverstock Hill, that gentleman having, in
| kind remembrance OF an intercourse carried
TO the last solemn hour Of mortal friendship,
received the coffin OF ARENAS Ward when it
was brought to London from Southampton.
The windows Of nearly all the houses near to
Mr.. Millwards residence were darkened, and
a large crowd Of persons, many Of whom wore
emblems Of mourning, gathered in the neigh.
borhood, and silently waited to witness the
departure. After the hearse went four mourn.
ing coaches, each with four horses; and the
fifth carriage was that Of Mr.. Adams, the
American Minister, in which SGT the Chief
Secretary of Legation, Mr.. Benjamin Moran.
The United States Consul likewise followed
and long train of private carriages brought
up the rear.
The first of the four mourning coaches
contained the English pall-bearers, Mr.. f. p.
Kingston, secretary to Mr.. Browne, and one
Of his executors; Mr.. Milward; Dr. Croft
and the young attendant, George, who has
been generously provided for by the will Of
the deceased. In the second coach were Mr..
Tom Hood, Mr.. Andrew Halliday, Mr.. VIM.
Brunton. and Mr.. J. L. Toole. The third
bore Major Dix, q son of the General Of that
name Mr. Edward Curtis Of New York, Mr..
A. Chadbourne of California, and Mr.. Lau,
renee Barrett of New York-these four gen.
tlemen being the American pall-bearers and
the fourth carriage was occupied by literary
friends. As VIC have already remarked, the
United States Secretary followed next, in the
Minister'S carriage and with the long string
Of private equipages went many gentlemen
recognized by the public as foremost repre-
sentatives Of every humanizing art, whether
practiced in the library, in the studio, or on
the stage.
The ground at Kensal-green was reached
at quarter past two o'clock, and there the
number Of mourners in the funeral train wa'
increased fourfold, the cemetery gates being
J surrounded by well-known faces that haC
watched the coming Of the sad procession
Indeed, If all those contributors to the pleas
ure and instruction Of society who waited thu
arrival of the hearse had followed it instead
o the line must have stretched q mile from emf
a to end. The chapel was, OF course, filed t.
the farthest corner before the doors wer
closed; and then the crowd without wa
larger than that within. When the churcl
r service had reached that point at which tn
:. priests voice mingles with the sound Of cart
10 cast typically on the bier Of "man that
l.. born Of woman" the coffin of Charles +
j. Browne began to sink into vault or subter
ranean passage communicating between tn
4 basement of the chapel and the contiPuou
catacombs. The bystanders closing rounC
u could read, on the unadorned brass plate
: fixed upon the coffin lid, this short inscrip
ton, suggested by him whose breast L
covers;