The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1885-09-12
SOME IA iJUS FUNERALS.

Pins in the CHEST and AL Lung Affections. |
!r" - c"uis and 81. Samples Tree .,
SOME IA iJU5 FUNERALS.
Two long years were consumed in the |
;ornrdlbh. preparations for the funeral
Of Alexander the Great. Dying at Baby |
lnn, he directed that his body, which |
was Immediately cmblln"d with elahn-
rate care by Egyptian and ChaIdean
adopts. should be deposited i'll the Tenn lie
of Jupiter on an Egyptian oasis. Unhe-
tered by til" enormous dist .ncc, the
procession set forth, all army of workmcn
having been set forward to repair the
roads ana bridges. The funeral-cir was
drawn by sixty four horses, chosen for
their strength ana size, splcndialy carar
isoned. The car itself was Of surprising
magniliccnce, the spnkes and naves OF
the wheels and ends of the axlcs being
covered with GOLD. the platform uphold
ing royal pavilion in3rusted with gems,
supporting il throne and a cOiiin, the lat
ter of gold filled with costly spices. But
the body never reached It's destination.
PUolemy arrested its progress and buried
it at Alexandria, which city may be said
to have itself proved the enduring monu-
mcnt of the conqneror.
Very different was the funeral of Julius
C;r sar. The circumstances of his death
were so tragic, and such enormous crowds
gathered To the ceremony, that they
coul Id not be formed into Il process sion,
ard the different classes of people were
accordingly asked to come together under
their appropriate insignia i'll the Field Of
Mars. The body Of the great Roman
was cXposed lying upon gilded bed,
covered with scarlet and a cloth 81 gold,
in the form of temple.
After the funeral ceremonies were
over, question arose where they should
burn the body. Same suggested Il temple
Oh Capitoiinc hill, others suggested the
senate house where he had fallen. The
senate, less willing to pay him rXtra"Idi-
nary honurs, proposed a more retired
spot. The discussions WAS fast becoming
a dispute when two soldiers, with drawn
swords and blazing torches III their hands.
forced their way through the Cl"wd and
set fire to the bed. In All rloment thcle
was the wild, st excitement. The mul.
titude fell 20 work directly building the
funeral pyre upon the spot. First they
brought fasots and then benches from
the neighboring portieos, and next and
combuStibule material they could find,
and at length. AS the excitement grew,
the soldiers threw in their arms, the mu
sicians their Instruments, while others
stripped down and threw upon the
flames the ..trappings of tie funeral pro-
cession. SO fierce was the fire that it
spread to the neIshboriug houses, and
was only with the greatest difficulty ex-
tinguished. AS fitting monument, the
people erected to the "Miglty julius
lofty column sIrmountcd 10y a star.
Coming down to modern times, ac-
counts of the o5sequies OF the "Ircn
Duke" perhaps the greatest ever known
in England, and the funeral OF Napoleon
must still be born freshly in mind by
many n the veterans of today. The duke
of Wellington, after lying in state five
days in Chelesa hospital, was bolue to
his last resting place in st. Pants on a
car drawn by twelve horses. accompanied
by grand military and civic conc0urse.
the latter including Prince Albert, both
houses of parliament, judges. mobiles,
public BODIES, the mourning coaches of
the queen and royal family, and an in
Vulnerable throng of people.
Napoleon's funeral. as a parade, re-
mains unparalleled in our times. The
cherished remains of their hero, having
been received from the English nineteen
years after his death. 1t was not so
much a funeral as a vast triumphal pro-
Gessiop that followed, during which all
FRANCE feso.uded with blooming cannon,
toliing bells, and strains of martial music, |
while the excited people lined the banks |
of the Seine and filled the air with fien-
zicd shouts and cries and ,sobs of joy and |
gatulation. The resources of funeral art |
were exhausted upon the pageant, and |
the imagination is unable to distinguish |
the details of a procession in which the
catafHlco, the central object Of interest,
was borne on D moving mound of gold |
and velvet drawn by sixte ell black horses
and guarded and escorted, it is said, by
an army of $50, 600 soldiers
Compare with these splcndu,s the
quiet and simple funeral rites of our own
Washington, Sc. bei;tting republican sim
plicity and the character OF him who
says, nevertheless, 'tirst i'll the hearts
of his eountrymcn' A gathering of the
dignitaries 0f the nri ghb0ring town of
Alexandria with the militia aud Free
masons, his friends and neighbors, his
own war horse, duly comparisoned, led
in the midst, one vessel in the river hard
by, firing minute guns, and the whole
procession confined to his own priva'e
grounds where his tomb was made and
still is-~B0ston .1drcrtisfr.