Daily Kennebec journal., 1875-11-19
From the New York Times
GELRORD'.S BTRLfL.

4, tho entrance to the Catholic cemetery an
! ir,-,cnsc crowd Of men and some women were
eound collected, but as the hearse approached
they fell back hight and left, and II was then dis
covered that the massive iron gates OF the ccme-
tery had been removed by the authorities, thus
preventing any effort which might have been
made to obstruct the passage. The hearse en-
tered. accompanied by the police and carriages
only, the military remaining outside the Enclosure.
Arriving at the grave il was found guarded by n
company of policemen, and surrounded by an I'M
mensc hut silent crowd. The work of excavation
had been commenced carly in the day, the grave
being duo directly over the coffin Of Nine Guibord
and everything was in readiness when the hearse
arrived. Quickly and quietly the worn and worm
eaten coffin was lifted from its carnage ana de-
posted in the thick bed of Portland cement which
had been thrown into the bottom OF the grave
The police who had escorted the dreaiy process
sion from the city formed a hollow square and,
with rifles in their hands, kept back TIE crowd.
The bones Of Guibord were deposited without
ceremony. The burial was in every way civil
one. the first Of the kind that has ever occurred
in Roman Catholic cemetery in Canada As
soon as the coffin had been laid in the cement,
Father Roussellet, Cure Of the parish, in the gay
mcnts of his Office went to the foot OF the grave,
and, addressing NJ. Boisseau, as the representa-
tive OF the Institut Canadian, said IN French ;
"Ilaye veu identified this as the coffin containing
the remainsI of Joseph Guibord :" The answer
was, II have" "Has the grave been dug four
feet deep, according to the rule :" asked the
priest at has according to the regulation OF the
= .gn1t MT
the clergyman "l suppose | must permit the
burial to proceed" lie then turned away, and
the workucn began TO fill in the grave. Barrel
after barrel of cement prepared Tor the purpose
was poured upon the coffin. Then IRON clippings
and filings were thrown in to render the mass
solid and to prevent drilling. More cement was
then poured in. Through it strips oil IRON were
interlaced, forming a net work about the cothn
The whole mass covered by layer OF broken
stones and then by eight inches OF cement. Above
this the earth formed mound some Two leet
high.
During the time which it took TO do this work
the crowd stood about silent and almost motion
less but Just as the last shoyeful of earth was be-
ing thrown on the mound wild-eyed young man
forced his way through the line of police, and
going up to the grave, he uncovered his head and
in French said with great emotion "i1e was
my. master. am printer. He taught me my
| trade ami will make the sign of the cross Tor
him-for Joseph Guibord." lie then crossed
himself and quietly left the enclosure. lie wa:
not molesied as he passed through the crowd.
After this incident had occurred and the mound
had been packed down, the police were formed
! in line and marched away, the crowd OF curious
spectators lett the cemetery, and only a ie"
friends and members of the Institut Canadian re-
mained standing near the place where Josdph
Guibord was buried. Subsequently the Mayor
ordered detachment of police to guard the grave
through the night. During the evening the mill
tarv was ordered off duty, and tonight the city
quiet and the people calm and free from excite
ment.
| On Sunday next, according to the present ar
rangement, Bishop Bourgct will curse the grave
which was made with so much trouble and aitei
so much litigation No one doubts, however, tha
he will curse an empty sepulchrc, for, notwith
standing all the precautions which have apparent
ly been taken to prevent such an occurrence, 1t i
generally believed here that the body will be Sc
cretly removed by the priests. There seems t'
be an understanding that the members of th'
Institut Canadian will not object to this. They
have succeeded in having the body publicly buriee
in consecrated ground, and unless it is publicly
molested or removed they Will take no further
steps in the matter.