Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-08
LONDON FUNERALS.
SOME WILD EYTRAvAGANCE,
,s,erri.e she onesn OF the ces'enmonsers--
The Lac. sA,ne IN Cefiss.

bht nhppii1 iOI mhnhibu tuc SiBuS v
the sorrowing are not carried far, anC
the world goes on unheedful. indeed
for the most part unconscious that eacl
minute that passes adds to the Ions
list Of the bereaved. Il is true tina
all men do not suffer to the sam,
extent by the loss Of those who hay,
been nearest and should be dearest &
them. In fact, there are some natures
so poor that they have no affection tC
give, but these in all countries are the
exceptions. The cynic is ever ready
10 doubt the probability Of conjuga
happiness and to exercise his wit at the
expense Of those who have entered
upon married life. lie jests az scars
who never felt wound" aud we may
safely conclude that he who is most
sceptical Of lasting affection is he who
is least capable Of feeling 1t. Doubt
less those persons who are daily in at
tendance at the large cemeteries, which
for many years past have formed sub
stituie for the church-yards Of London,
could tell many sad tale Of the scenes
they have witnessed at new-made
graves. Familiarity with outbreaks OF
grief from the bereaved dulls the edge
Of sympathy, and both sexton aud
graye-digger learn in time to regard with
as little emotion the mourners who com }
and so in the eyer-changing groups as
do the members of an orchestra the
mighty woes Of the actor or actress in
some pathetic drama. But the dis
coyery made a few weeks since at
Hampstead cemetery must have startled
even those who are accustomed to wit
ness all forms Of grief for the loss Of
loved ones. Some one drew the atten-
ton Of the officials to the figure of a
man lying across one Of the graves,
and on examination it was found that
the mourner was no longer living. He
had entered the cemetery, it was then
remembered, on the previous day, and
it is believed that he spent the night
upon the grave of his wife. At all
events, it was there that his faithful
heart beat its last.
Illuminating on the subject of grief
for the dead leads to reflections as to
the manner Of burying the dead. In
nothing pertaining to public ceremo-
mails has the London world made so
little progress as in the matter and man
ner Of funerals. Until within a few
years, when the funeral reform set in
by which funerals are not only con-
Quoted less extensively but less osten-
tatiously, the funeral observanees in
England we're marked by most objec-
tionable features. The sombre hollow
mockery would have been comic had ii
been less pathetic in its hidden senti-
ment. In considering the latter-name-
ly, Funeral reforms 1T is but fair
TO treat somewhat OF the abuses which
led to reform.
To begin with q recent instance. a
few months since was celebrated the
funeral of
"THE QUEEN OF THE CosTERMON-
GERS"
She was an old woman named Mary
Robinson, and was we'll known
throughout London by her singular
title. She was buried at Finchley
cemetery. At one time this "Queen
Mary" had a stall in SOmerstown, but
for many years prior to her death she
was vendor Of cats meat. She
amassed fortune Of 100000,
or 100000. She was a truly eccen-
trio character. With her costermonger-
ing business she combined a money
lending system to her fellow-costers.
On Fridays and Saturdays she loaned
them money to 60 to market with,
charging them a shilling in the pound
for the accommodation. Although
seemingly a female Shylock, she was
often generous, and, outside Of money
transactions, gave many poor creature
a helping hand. Especially in cases Of
illness and death was she generous. In
short, she was an humble financier at
the worst, and had she been born in
better circles, doubtless would have
turned her speculative talents to loftier
account.
About twenty years ago she fell i'll,
and for some weeks lay in critical
condition. On her recovery she
brooded much on death and funerals
and the short-sightedness of people
who in health make no practical burial
provisions in case they are suddenly
called hence. Finally she paid visit
to an undertaken, and deposited with
him the sum of 600, or 800, to defray
her funeral expenses when the inevita-
BILE occasion arose for such expendi-
ture. This she took regular receipt
for, and the money remained intact
for twenty years. When at last she
died the story Of her oddities. gain
ing each year in the telling of them,
became Baron Munchausen romances
at her decease. All sorts of requests
have been accredited to her, as her will
was known to have been made at the
time she provided her undertaker's fee.
One of these wild rumors, which proved
true, was that she had ordered that her
remains should be carried to the grave
by four men wearing white smOcks.
But another, that twenty-four young
women should follow, wearing violet or
purple dresses, Paisley shawls, hats
with white feathers in them, and white
aprons, did not transpire in fact. Agsin,
it was rumored that large sum of
money was to be spent in drink
for costermongers at certain public
houses she named, and that there
was to be a band Of music in
attendance. These extrayagant tales
led to the congregation Of thousands of
persons in Bemerton street, where she
lived, along the Caledonisn road and
along the route TO Finchley cemetery.
The crowd blocked the streets for a
time, and in some cases people paid for
windows to see the procession. The
coffin, which was Of handsome polished
oak, bore q brass plate, with the in
scription, "Mary Robinson, aged H."
followed by the date Of her death. The
stories Of the fantastic ceremonials to
be enacted were Of course marvellously
exaggerated, but, on the other hand,
much was done OF an elaborate charac-