The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1880-05-19
MISCELLANY.
a MUCH NEEDED REBORN
By REV. NJ. y. DUNBAR, D. D.


debt, thus contracted, which the surviving
friends must pay" This remark has often
been made of late with more of truth than So
lemnity in it. Funerals are now SO conducted
as to incur heavy expense and, though
this may matter little to the rich, it is sell
ious thing to the poor. 1t is true, that there
is no compulsion in any case; friends may
bury their dead as cheaply as they choose ;
but affection in the cottage is quite as strong
as it is in the stately mansion and the desire
TO see loved ones buried with BETTING tokens
of respect, rules as imperiously in poor
mans. as it does in a rich mans heart. This
desire will lead to the most strenuous effort
to find expression in the funeral array. Debts
will be contracted for this purpose, even when
It Is foreseen that payment can be made only
through toll, economy and deprivation. And
this comes through the imperous rule OF fash
ion. for fashion rules quite as imperiousiy IN
funeral obsequies as anywhere else. AS DO
the rich 40 do the poor--the difference being
in quantity and not in quality. The same
forms must be gone through ; the same style
observed the like display of carriages made
and, when the reckoning day comes, the debt
incurred will be, to poor family, appalling.
This ought not to be. No such burden
should be laid upon the poor. Plain oosequies
will detract nothing from due respect 70 the
dead. Genuine grief does not lind It's true
expression in display and the costly part OF
funeral array is wholly for display. Its ohiy
result is to dazzle the eyes and excite the re-
L.t.o I oivpS intensity
to the sorrow over the loss of the departed It
adds nothing to the esteem in which is nelu
the memory of the dead it imparts no addi-
tional respect for the life of him who is being
buried it is merely display, for the passing
hour, in conformity to the demand OF fashion,
and instead of adding to- it takes from the So
lemnity of the occasion, the sacredness OF
loves tribute, and that deep expression OF
sincere sorrow which seeks for retirement and
solitude.
The power of fashion on funeral occasions,
will be seen by moments reflection. Why
are flowers strewn upon the coffin and arrayed
around it in costly designs? Is the answer
that flowers are befitting emblems of love and
affection, or beautiful symbols of the world to
which the departed spirit has taken its flight
Grant all this. But suppose fashion should
discard all flowers at the funeral service,
would any flowers find place there, however
significant they may be in and of themselves9
Why have a long array of carriages in the fu-
neral train, hired at much expenses Is the
answer that these are necessary to carry the
friends to the buralp Why need the friends
be carried to the cemetery? Why not pay
their last tribute of respect, esteem, or love-
at the house, and let the undertaken see to the
burial? If fashion should discard carriages
and funeral trains would not these be dis
pensed with2 If fashion should sanction the
paying of the last tribute of respect esteem,
and love at the house, leaving the body to be
buried by the undertaken, would it not be so
doneP And why is this not the order of bur-
ial: Plainly, because fashion makes the or
der otherwise. 1t determines where the
order they shall be arranged, how they shall
be dressed, how they are to conduct them
selves, and at what pace the funeral train
should move.
If, then, all this be a matter controlled by
fashion, the whole order Of obsequies may be
modified or changed without any loss of prop
or and beftting expression of respect for the
dead. All flowers, except those voluntarily
contributed by love and esteem, without ex-
pense, may be dispensed with all glttering
tinsel, which is without any real value, and
which only serves to make show, and give
opportunity to the undertaken to largely in
crease his bill, at profit to himself, may be
as are necessary to convey those whose SER
vices are actually required, need be employed
and thus large portion of expense at funer-
ais may be avoided. This would be great
relief to the poor, and would change the flu
neral of the rich from display, into a genu-
inely expressed tribute of respect toward the
one being buried.
More than this IL the friends would take
their farewell at the house, and remain there
while the body, under the care of the under
taker, is conveyed to the cemetery to be de-
posted in the grave, it would save the har-
rowing sight of seeing the body of the loved
one let down into the cold ground, aud would
tttNe tuc I'LL ptooStOu vi uchtu 10 ncch Ouiy III
the home. 1t would also prevent the expos
ure that comes to friends, especially in the
country, as they follow the remains to the
cemetery through chilling winds and pelting
storms, and that, too, at a time when, worn
out with watching, and PROSTATE with grief,
they are in no condition to withstand such
exposure AS 1t now is not unfrequently,
one funeral prepares the way for another, by
the severe colds taken on the slow march to
the cemetery, or by waiting at the grave fol
the performance of the closing burial service
All this is unnecessary, and ought TO be al
once corrected.
Is it not time, therefore, that the order oil
funeral customs should be recast Would il
not be better, more befitting the spirit of gen.
uine mourning, to simplify present practices
1t is all wrong that the loss of friends should
entail upon any burdensome debt, which
win deprive the having of comforts in the
payment, or make necessary to them months,
if not years. of excessive toll. 1t is equally
wrong that the health of the surviving friends
should be exposed and hazarded in compliance