The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-10-01
A FUNERAL IN AUSTRALIA.
The Burial Service Read Over tho Body of q
Minel=An Impressive ScAna

The Burial Service Read Over tho Body of
MinerAn Impressive Scene.
We had been settled about fortnight
in this lead on tho Shootover. when one
day one of our party fell over preciplce
and was killed. Previous to this our
whereabouts had become known, and we
were now surrounded by large number
of miners, who, when they heard of the
accident, came in to sympathizc with us,
and to offer us any assistance that we
might need. <tsil
Our first sad duty was to obtain a cof-
fin, if that was possible; there was no
timber within ten miles, and no tools in
the camp, except knives and tomahawks.
With these, Tom Sandcrson and myself
set out to the timber hills; we felled a
tree, cut it off the proper length, and
then set about finding means to split it.
We made wedges out of hard wood,
cut hardwood wood branches for ham
mers, and after much labor succeed
ed in splitting the tree into rough, heavy
planks. Notwithstanding the difficulties
which confronted us in the absence of
tools, we managed to form the materials
for coffin. Of course having no nails,
we could not put it together; there were
no nails within two hundred miles. Hav-
ing made the coffin, we brought as much
of it back to camp as we could carry, and
sent party out for the remainder, for the
materials were very heavy. So. ',"@
The only spot where we could find
earth enough to form a grave was at a
point about two miles from camp, on the
side of hill. Thither the coffin was car.
ried, and afterward, the body wrapped in
tent-cloth, the grave was dug aud the
coffin placed within it. piece by piece;
then the body was placed in the coffin,
and the rough, heavy lid placed over it.
Men of every nationality and of every
shade of religious opinion stood around
the grave. 1t was a weird and solemn
scene; the crowd OF Withholding men
with uncovered heads surrounding the
grave on the hillside; the wild scenery,
rough, rocky ridges, deep, yawning gorges
and lonely peaks rising one above the
other, standing like sentinels guarding
the treasures of the lonely regions around
them. ." .as :5.Dt.s r.
inquired it any one had a prayer
book; the inquiry was passed around the
crowd, and it found an affirmative re-
spouse. It was an Episcopalian prayer
book. scarcely knew how to conduct
the service, but, having found the place,
I knew there could be no harm in asking
all to kneel. They did so, and the scene
grew even more impressive than before.
Englishmen, Scotchmen, Irishmen, Amer
leans, and men from every nation OF Con-
tinental Europe, Negroes, Cinnamon,
Maories, Catholics, Protestants and Dis
senters, of every hue and shade ofop1nion,
together with intidels and pagans, knelt
rev erently and listened in solemn silence
to the grand language of the burial-ser-
vice of the Church Of England:
"Forasmuch as it hath pleased the
Almighty God, in His wise providence,
to take out of this world the soul of our
deceased brother, we therefore commit
his body to the ground, earth to earth,
ashes to ashes, dust to dust"
Then, when came to the Lord s
Prayer, 1 asked them to repeat it with
me; they did so, all who could. shall
never forget the scene. It was the most
impressive in which I had ever been, or
have since been, a participation. The
ceremony over, we filed up the grave,
and left our dead mate to his everlasting
sleep on the lonely hillside. rNl-