New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-10-07
FAMOUS FUNERALS.

FAMOUS FUNERALS.
Magnificent Pageants I'm Honor of De-
parted Heroes.
To the philosopher, of course, the
disposition of the lifeless human body
seems a matter of small moment; but
to the great body OF thepeople thefun-
eral rites and last resting place of one
of it's great heroes are matters of keen
est interest.
Two long years were consumed in
the formidable preparations OF the
funeral of Alexander the Great. Dying
at Babylon, he directed that his body,
which was Immediately embalmed,
with elaborate care by Egyptian and
Chaldean adopts, should be deposited
in the Temple Of Jupiter on an
Egyptian oasis. Undeterred by the
enormous distance, the procession set
forth, an army of workmen hav-
ing been sent forward to repair
the roads and bridges. The fun
eral car was drawn by sixty
four mules, chosen for their strength
and size, splendidly caparisoned. The
car was itself OF surprising magnif-
cence, the spokes and naves of the
wheels and ends of the axles beingcov-
cred with gold, the platform uphold
ing a royal pavilion incrusted with
gems, supporting a throne and coffin,
the latter Of solid gold and filled with
costly spices. But the body never
reached it's destination. Ptolemy ar
rested it's progress and buried it at
Alexandria, which city may be said to
have itself proved the enduring monu-
ment of the conqueror.
Very different was the funeral of
Julius Caesar. The circumstances of
his death were SO tragic, and such
enormous crowds gathered to the cere-
mony, that they could not be formed
into a procession, and the different
classes Of people were accordingly
asked to come together Under their
appropriate insignia in the field of
Mars. The body OF the great Roman
was exposed lying upon a gilded bed,
covered with scarlet and cloth ofgold,
and placed under a magnificent canopy
in the form OF a temple.
After the funeral ceremonies were
over a question arose where they
Should burn the body. Some suggest
ed a temple on Capitoline hill, others
suggested the Senate house, where he
had fallen. The Senate, less willing to
pay him extraordinary honors, pro-
posed more retired spot. The dis
cussion was fast becoming dispute
when two soldiers, with drawn swords
and blazing torches in their hands,
forced their way through the crowd
and set fire to the bed. In a moment
there was the widest excitement. The
multitude fell to work directly, build
ing the funeral pyre upon the spot.
First they brought fagots and then
benches from the neighboring porticos,.
and next any combustible material
they could find, and at length, as the
excitement grew, the soldiers threw in
their arms, and the musicians Their
instruments, while others stripped
down the trappings of the funeral pro-
cession. So fierce was the fire that it
spread to the neighboring houses, and
was with the greatest difficulty ex-
tinguished. AS a fitting monument
the people erected to the ''Mighty
julius alofty column surmounted by
star.
Coming down to modern times, The
accounts of the obsequies of the '1ron
Duke perhaps the greatest ever
known in England, and the second fll-
neral of Napoleon must still be borne
freshly in mind by many Of the vet
Grams of to-day. The Duke of Yelling
ton, after lying in state five days at
Chelsea Hospital, was borne to his last
resting place in ST. Paul's on a car
drawn by twelve horses, accompanied
by a vast military and civic concourse,
thelatter including Prince Albert, both
Houses of Parliament, judges, mobiles,
public bodies, the mourning coaches of
Of the Queen and royal family and an
innumerable throng of the people.
Napoleon's funeral, as a parade, re-
mains unparalleled in our times. The
cherished remains of their hero, hav-
ing been received by the French from
the English nineteen years after his
death, it was not so much funeral
e1o eO VeUoo OAAuIAplAt0 pAOCOooAOiA CAsOO
followed, during which all France
resounded with booming cannon, toll
ing bells and strains of martial music,
while the excited people lined the banks
OF the Seine and filled the air with
frenzied shout and cries and sobs of
Joy and graduation. The resources of
funeral art were exhausted upon the
pageant, and the Imagination is UNI
able to distinguish the details of a
procession in which the catafalco, the
central object of interest, was borne
on moving mound Of gold and velvet
drawn by sixteen black horses and
guarded and escorted, it is said, by an
army OF ] so, 900 soldiers.
Compare with these splendors the
quiet and simple funeral rites of our
own Washington, so befitting republic
can simplicity and the character of
him who was, nevertheless, E'first in
the hearts of his countrymen." A
gathering Of the dignitaries of the
neighboring town Of Alexandria, with
the militia and Free Masons, his
friends and neighbors, his own war
horse, duly compafisoned, led in the