St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-08-28

ed with much taste and care. The
sides of the low hills OF fluctuations are
frequently selected for interment, and
flowers, shrubs, and trees are particu
larly affected. Some of the tombs and
their vicinity near Chung-zu are very
attractive, and it Is commonly remark
ed by travellers that the fairest spots in
the Flowery Kingdom are appropriated
to sepulture A Celestial thinks far
more of his grave than his house A; and
though he he wealthy, he will spend
his DAYS in ii miserable howell with n
view to securing an attractive couch
after death. If he can only he cOnVln-
ced that he will he inferred in the
midst of flowers and under Il delightful
grove, he will not care for the ScOurges
of circumstance or the blows of adver
sity. Buddhism is the prevailing reli-
gion among the Chinese, and as they
expect to lie long i'll the earth, it is
natural they should desire to he well
disposed. Their parental and tilial af-
lection is of the strongest, and the
greatest consolation fathers and moth
ers can have in their last moments is
that they will be buried in il coffin of
their own selection, and that their chill
dren or grandchildren will cherish and
honor their ashes. Not infrcqucntly
they keep their collins, of which they
are pretty fastidious in their purchase,
under their own roof, and no piece of
furniture receives more zcalnIs care.
They know that they shall want it some
time, and they believe, in Il very prar-
teal way, i'll preparation for the mys-
FERROUS future. They bear their burial
cases with them whenever they change
their residence very much us the an
cient Romans bore their larcs and pen
atcs. When they sell land tor building
purposes, the transfer is always accom-
panied with an explicit covenant to cX-
hume the numerous departed through
Il series of generations. The bones are
gathered, placed i'll carthcn vessels. and
labelcd-a process irrcverently styled
preserving ancestors, because they pre-
sent the appearance of druggists jars.
These are reburied elsewhere with the
greatest economy of space, though Il
house is never erected over them. ow-
ing to IL superstition that the outraged
ghosts would destroy the DISCERNING
residents, and torture them through all
eternity.
Outside the walls of Pckin are many
tomhs of prominent families. accom-
panied by immense though derlyed
marble sculptures of men and animals.
Such carved figures in limestone are
not uncommon throughout the empire,
and not Il few, as is evident from their
crumbling, are centuries upon centuries
old
Wherever Il Chinaman dies, il is the
earnest wish of his relatives and friends
to send home his remains for intcrmcnt.
reckless of convenience, time, and dis
lance. Some money is required to ac-
complish this. and if it cannot he had,
poverty becomes more giievous to bear
than under any other circumstances
Death Is 50 much more than life to IL
Celestial that, with all his rcpoSc and
clt-containmcnt. he beats his breast in
anticipation of an unlamcnted and un-
honOrcd grave. The San Fr;lnciScans
have greatly ridiculcd John because. he
has So much anxiety concerning his
body, and wonder that his remains are
shipped from the Pacific coast to his
native land over thousands of miles of
uncertain SEA. John is. in this respect.
no more obnoxious than Jonathan. who
approaching his end ut the antIpndes or
Ill Australasia, expresses an ardent de
sire To he cml,Ilmcd and Transmitted to
the distant Eden where the right of
every freeman Is to do as he proflnely
pleascS. -.j"njWs Henri Hr"rnr in Hnr-
ptT'S .NdJdciHf for September