The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-30
APPARENT DEATH.
From Al the Year Round.


who had died in the night between the Thurs
day and the Friday previous. On the com
pany assembling, the cure informed us that
the body would remain where it was for
awhile, but that the usual ceremonies Except
those at the cemetery would be proceeded
with all the same. We therefore followed
him to the church, and had funeral service
without burial. 1t transpired that the body
was still quite warm, and presented no signs
of decomposition.
In the ordinary course of things, this cir
cumstance might not have prevented the in
terment; but the poor lady herself had re-
Ouested not to be buried until decomposition
should have begun beyond the possibility of
mistake; and the family remembered, and re-
pretted. that her brother had been put into
the ground, three days after his death, while
still warm, and with his countenance un-
changed. They had occasionally felt uneasy
about the matter, fearing that they might
have been too precipitate in their proceed
inps SO in this case they resolved to take
no irrevocable step without the full assurance
of being justified in doing so. The corpse
was kept uninterred long after every doubt
was set at rest Certainly we manage some
things better in England than in France;
amongst them being the interval allowed to
elapse between death and interment. Still,
there are circumstances and cases which,
even here afford matter for serious reflection.
1t will easily be supposed that the dam
perous briefness of this interval has been
urged upon the attention of the French Legis-
lature, and been ably discussed by the French
medical press. In 1866, a petition was pre-
sented to the Senate from a person named
De Cornol, pointing out the danger OF hasty
interments and suggesting the measures he
thought requisite to avoid the terrible conse-
r,ct, a
that the space of twenty-fom hours between
the decease and the interment now prescribed
by the law should be extended to eight
and-forty hours. A long debate fol
lowed in which Cardinal Donnet,
Archbishop of Bordeaux, took a lead
ing part. He was decidedly of opinion
that the petition should not be set aside by
the ''order of the day, but that it should be
transmitted to the Minister of the Interior for
further consideration and inquiry. Some of
the venerable prelate's remarks produced so
great an effect on his auditors as to merit
particular mention. He said he had the very
best reasons for believing that the victims of
hasty interments were more numerous than
people supposed. He considered the regula-
tions on this head prescribed by the law as
very iudicious, but unfortunately they were
not always executed as they should be, nor
was sufficient importaIce attached to them.
In the village where he was ST., ,uonea as aSslS-
tant curate i'll the first period of hl,7 SaGeruo-
tai life, he saved two persons front r'9lnS
buried alive. The first was an aged man, who
lived twelve hours after the hour fixed for his
mterment by the municipal officer. The
second was a man who was quite restored to
sue. IN both these instances trance more
prolonged than usual was taken for actual
death.
The next case in his experience occurred
at Bordeaux. A young lady, who bore one
of the most distinguished names in the de-
partment, had passed through what was be-
heved to be her last agony, and as, apparently,
all was over, the father and mother were torn
away from the heartrending spectacle. At
that moment, as God willed 1t, the cardinal
happened to pass the door of the house, when
it occurred to him to call and inquire how
the young lady was going on. When he en-
tered the room, the nurse, finding the body
breathless, was in the act of covering the
face, and indeed there was every appearance
that life had departed Somehow or other,
it did not seem so certain to him as to the
bystanders. He resolved to try. He raised
his voice, called loudly upon the young
lady not to give up all hope, said that he was
come to cure her, and that he was about to
pray by her side. ''You do not see me. he
said, but you hear what l am saying.
Those singular presentiments were not un-
founded. The words Of hope reached her eal
and effected a marvellous change, or rather
called back the life that was departing. The
young girl survived, and in 1866 was a wife.
the mother of children, and the chief happi-
ness of two most respectable families.
The last instance related by the archbishop
is so interesting, and made such a sensation
that 1t deserves to be given in his own words
In the summer of 1926, on close and
sultry day, in a church that was excessively
crowded, young priest who was in the act Of
preaching was suddenly seized with giddinesl
in the pulpit. The words he was utterine
became indistinct; he soon lost the power ol
speech, and sank down upon the floor IL,
was taken out of the church, and carried
home. Everybody thought that all was over
Some hours afterwards the funeral bell wa
toled, and the usual preparations were mad
for the interment. His eyesight was gone
but if, like the young lady have mentioned
he could see nothing, he could nevertheless
hear; and need not say that what reache
his ears was not calculated to reassure him
The doctor came, examined him, and pro
nounced him dead; and after the usual in
quiries as to his age, the place of his birth
etc, gave permission for his interment mex
morning The venerable bishop, in who's
cathedral the young priest was preaching whe
he was seized with the fit came to his bedsid
to recite the De Profundis The body wa
measured for the coffin. Night came on, an
you will easily feel how inexpressible was til
anguish of the living being in such a situ
ton. At last, amid the voices murmurin
around him, he distinguished that of OIL
whom he had known from infancy Th
voice produced a marvellous effect, and e
cited him to make a superhuman effort
what followed 1 need say no more than tn
the seemingly dead man stood next day in Il
,,rlni Ill hn hnd tnlrn