The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1876-06-30

,ty; with, little or 40 means, u ~
foolish TO use the little they posses, 49,
incur indebtedn In order 70 tf1ck
corpsc aud send II TO the cemetery ih q a,i-
ner they cannot afford, anu when ~.
can be OF no possible beneht 70 aim. by !.
s,,ch worse than useless extravaganza they
~ u1 his memory and themselves. and en-
COURAGE \ custom extremely nnwisc IN Its
self. and decidedly mischicyous in its re-
suits.
kinsfolk or friends sumptuou siy are less apt
10 do so than persons who cannot afford III.
II IL one of our. national weakn esses-ana q
miserable weakness 1t is-to struggle against
any and every appearance OF poverty Just
in proportion to the degree OF our.poverty.
| We seem to be unconscious that this consti-
tutes the real meanness which we Halter
ourselves that we are avoiding. we are
! wont TO speak of it as our pride, when any
true pride would blush at it, knowing IL 10
he nothing but the vulgarest vanity wearing
worthy name.
| II would be surprising to learn how COM
| mon II is for families in this and other large
cities to oyertay themselves to provide para
nbernalia for the tomb. Not infrequentiy
| they speud every dollar that has been LETT,
| even exceeding the amount sometimes. and
in many instances anticipating large share
oi II not all. the insurance upon the HE OF
the deceased. Not few instances might
he cited in which money has been borrowed
TO defray funeral expenses, when, II tne
funeral had been modestly ana properly
managed, there would have been no neea %
borrowing at all. What an unworthy re-
turn is this to the man who mas pfooaoiy
worked hard for years.a and given minister suu-
less anxiety to save sometmne lol Ms i" ~,
IL, in tbr event OF his sudden death! VI
What advantage is it to him, in his sheeted
sIcen. that there should be few more now
ers or carriages, that the coffin shouia De
roo, rosewood. or the handles genuine. sal
YER, An has ended; all is well with Nun
To him money is no longer essentlal; "nal-
ever he has gained beyond necessary eXpen.
aiturc should be devoted to the service OF
the living. q,
means in such post 7nortem parade are gem
orally influenced by good though mistaken
motives. They do not know-at least, they
do not think-how far such ostentation Is
removed from honest reverence, from vera
cious grief, for the loved and lost. II they
could see how hollow, how pitiable, Is this
sacrifice OF sensibility to mere display, this
proclamation Of affection for theatric effect,
Cney WOulu ueNtl NC SulipS va I've AaiioNhS"
by the spirit of imitation-by an isnoble
desire to do what others do, irrespective OF
ability or titness-they turn occasions which
are distressing, and which should be sacred,
to tawdry spectacles for idle comment and
vulgar gossip.
They who lead the best, the purest, the
noblest lives, care not for-indeed, they are
opposed to-gaudy obsequies. They prefer,
when they have acted their part and the
dark curtain has descended between them
and the world, that they shall be borne quiz
city to the grave without pomp or circum-
stance. 1t is only the vain, the shallow, the
undeserving-secretly conscious how TO-
tally unimportant their death must be, even
to their own circle-who want to emphasize
it with display and expenditure. 1t is well
to shear death OF the unnatural terrors with
which superstition and monasticism have
invested it; it is well to make it us little
solemn as it may be; to view the inevitable
with calmness and philosophy; but it is not
well to deprive the tragedy which we must
all undergo of its pathetic simpleness and
awful dignity.-Ne,o York Times.