The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-12-08
HISTORY OF BURIAL

speech of Colonel Ii. S. OLCoTT made at
the cremation OF Won PALM last We'd
nesday, Us indicating the authorities re-
he'd upon by eremaLionIsts for that mode
of sepulture:
In tracing the burial customs of the
race, most modern writers seem to re-
gard inhumation as the earliest form
practiced. Their researches appear to 90
no farther back than the comparatively
recent times of the Jews, the Greeks and
the Romans. Says one of the most IN
dustrlous of them, DR.. j. f. Adams,
OF Massachusetts,, 'that it (cremation)
was not the earliest mode OF disposing
OF the dead is conclusivelv shown. Our
first barharous pre-adamIte progenitors
either exposed their dead to be devoured
| by the beasts of the field, or did the eat
! ing themselves. The first method which
/ indicated any care of the dead was inhu-
nation, and this we find pract ced by
the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, Romans
| and PhGniCians."
! But let me ask who were our pre-
sdamite ancestors? How is it known
| that they treated their dead in the way
| described? and what was the custom
among The older peoples that inhabited
| the earth before there was either He
| brew, Greek, Roman or Pbmuician? II
is the province of the archaologist and
! philolOgiSt to answer, and they tell us
that thousands of years before Moses led
| his people out into the wilderness Egypt
was Il great nation, and that before
No sWarpnnl in tho
lgrther East This much has been
learned from accessible monuments and
records, and we may therefore say with
truth that our modern historians are
wrong in assuming that Inflammation is
only from the times of people named by
| Or. Adams. In the secret doctrine of
the Thibetans it is affirmed that crema-
ton was the practice from the very be-
| ginning. That it has been followed by
! the Indian descendants OF the Aryans
| ever since is an undoubted fact. In the
| institutes of Mann" u manuscript that
/ aI.tedatcs the "Aitareya Brahmanam'
ana that is at least some thousands OF
years older than the time of Moses
| ISL B.C.) burning is lncalcuated, as
/ Also il is in the "Big Veda." 1t should
! also be observed in this connection that
| Inc custom of S4ttee or window burning,
| Is not taught III those ancient authorities,
| but originated in fraudulent mis-quota-
/ tons and interpretations by the tricky
! Brahmans, and is not more than ZOOO
years old Max Muller says: "Now this is
pcrhaps the most fragrant instance OF
| what can be done by IN unscruplous
thgn.aDI and
| thousands of lives been sacrificed and a
! !unatlcsl rebellion been threatened on
the authority of passage which was
mancled, mis.ranslated and misaPplled.'
PRIEsTLY CRooKEDNEss.
The passage in question occurs IN the
directions for the funeral rites OF de-
| ceased husband. The wife Is to go up
10 the altar the funeral pyre was built
in this shape), without tears, without
| sorrow. but decked with hne Jewels.
! She is then addressed by the younger
hr,ther of the deceased, or, in his absence,
| h, the Ho.ri priest, and admonlshei to
| Ir.ve her husband and "come to the
world of life'-to return TO the word oil
| m. living. The Brahsms, whose object
was To obtain the valuable property OF
| "a, widows. converted the word dgrs
into og,leh ,dre), and so made the sacred
trxt not only tolerate, but command the
-.iEcrcmation of widows.
We do not know how long man has
e,,sted upon earth but whether 1t be a
LONGER or shorter time, cremation seems
~ have been the earliest form OF sepul-
lpre In 1928 NJ. Boue, a French geolo-
g,st discovered the skeleton OF man
buried eighty feet deep in the hardened
mpd of the Rhine. Wallace, who re-
cords the fact. says that the bones were
.crt 20 Cuvier. Boucher dc Perthes,
orotlr- Great French gcolosist, found
G,,t yeapons in the drift gravels OF the
yaIIov 81 Somme. In the several strata
or the esrth's crust we find the remains
Of nollusls, fishes, reptiles and manners
o,,badJ.d IN the rocks, or casts oil them
Ia"t wbcr, they died, and were covered
oyrr nv the tender hand OF nature.
Tns il ever occurred to YOU that one Of
,rn chief reasons why the bones OF man
49,. ,,r+ found along with his weapons OF
war and the chase and his domeStlc
in',,fr,p.pts may be that cremation was
.n5i,r.I,v nrsctiscd2 True, this Is Ou1
:. b,notbGsis. but we may at least say
t,aI it does not lack the clement Oh
ngsu,ibilty. l give it Tor what II Is