Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1888-11-12
CARRIED TO BURIAL.
coRPeEs BORNE IN ARMs AND ON
BEERS AND LlTTERS.

In very early times the dead were carried
10 burial ithout the aid Of hearse OF bier.
Men took the corpse up bodily and carried
upon their shoulders or in their hands
fter while they employed the bier in the
neral procession The natives Of India
bed TO suspend the dead body between two
Drsos or mules The American Indians
bro their dead upon filters, one end Of
hich was fastened 10 a horse. while tho
ysher end dragged upon the ground In by
gone ages dead knights and warriors were
ofton carried upon tho spears Of their living
colAGadoS Ia primitive regions rough carts
were usod, and ars still used today, to con-
vey tho denG to their final resting place
From tho rough cart TAT other times en-
ployed for all manner Of purposes TO the
hearsc. havisg but one sngla, melancholy
mission, was an easy transition, oompara-
lively speaking
And In all tkeso changes Il is 70 be observed
that tho mora lateliigent, the more enlight-
ened people become, tho simpler are their
burial ritos tho mott ostentntious funerals
Of today, even in our own cities, ars those
that occur aasoas tho poorer and supersti-
tious classes III England the lower middle
elassos and the grades below them still ad-
here to all mo llummery Of black plumea and
horses and ether depressing accomplishments
OF a ceromeEY that Is always solemn enough,
but should nee DO made painfully melancholy.
ANcguT EGYPTIANS BELIEF
Tho ancient Egyptians bore their dead In
barge across lake, as they held II vital
part Of their religious belief that tho departed
soul passed from this 10 the unsesn world
ever tho stream which they believed 20 sepa-
rate tho two oxistences. Transporting the
/ body serozs a lake was merely symbolical OF
/ this The ancient Greeks carried tho corpse
10 ths funeral without any support whatever,
except that 81 TIE hands and arms Of the men
who bore it The beliefs Of the Remains In
respect 10 dssth, and for the most part their
! funeral rites, were similar 70 those Of the
Greeks II dead body could not 10 found.
the sacred rites were performed at an empty
tomb, and il any one happened to sec dead
body ard did R0t threw earth upon IA. ba
wae Obliged - expdata the crime bv gaotifo-
ing hos W OsNoS Psr these reasons. aad
the belief tAat the spirit OF the departed
wandered huadrod years along the banEs OF
the StyK botoga bsing allowed to Gross II tho
body had nsb bees inferred, shipwreck was
tho aost drsadsd.of dsathA
Rome bad ihs puzzle and its private funer-
Ills, 70 the forrnsr Of whieh the people were
nyted by hsrEtA infants and young men
zero buried sOe0cr thAa grown persons,
md wish lsas peszD. The bodies Of the do
parted wers sarrlOd to the funeral pile on a
Souch covered with rich cloth. and commonly
imported en- tho shoulders OF heirs or nearest
relatives. Though sometimes on those Of freed
men. Julius CasaF was borne by nasfS-
trntea, Augustus By soAators. Gormanicus by
tribunOs ana centuriona. Poer citlEsns or
t. A.
plain bier or cofaR. aad ohfldrea who dad
before they vorS wsansd were carried by Tie
methar. AnoieatlT all Roman funerals vyero
celebrated BY niGhk, in order that the zaagis-
tratSa miSht net msst thu procession and b.
eorso dsllsd Later in Roman history pub
lao fansrais wars celebrated at an sarly hour
in tia forsaoo9. while private or ordinary
sunorals were slWays as night Torches wore
ased Al fuRsras as well al at MARRIAGE.
The funeral ritsa Of the 0oshs and Huns
wore efeea conducted en- a scale Of sxtrava-
Eanes, beth n regard to zlSnsy and cruelty.
hat seldom has been oaualad. Attila. for
Example, Who died IN A53, was buried in a
)ofin whioA was inoloaad In enc Of eold. in
another Of alyOr, and thess In a third 81 iron.
Wish she AsaE was inbaIrsd all ths spoils
OF the easmy-harnsssas, embroidered aad
studded with tswsls, ROB Slks ana precious
booty from ne kInSly palaces khsy had
piliassd; and thon, that thu plAes OF lntsr-
meat night forever remain concealed. the
Huns butsAsrsA all that assisted at the
burial
DAVrE0 Brad BODIES.
The hthiapiApS are aid t. dry the bodies
Of their dad, afins them 70 prevent putro-
faction, and thsn placing them In grave
covered with gfass, through which the BODY
Ia wfa Nf..t,-
into rivers. aud sometimes thar are kent In
the houses u the doaoassd's frisnds. Tho an
cient BaotTiARs suffered the bodies OF their
dead friends and relatives to be csvourod bV
dogs, and even bept large and savage animals
to devour such IS lived TO an extreme age. or
became enfeebied and useless through illness.
Tho ancient Christians testified their nbhor-
renee Of cremation by depositing the body Of
tho deceased in mo ground
In Brazil there Is today apparently little
use for the hearse. As soon as a person dies
tho doors and Windows OF tho house are closed
the only occasion, IL is said. Whsn the front
entrance Of Brazilian dwelling is shut, and
tho undertaken Ia sent for and told TO prspars
8 funeral which shall cost 60 many mflrois.
Everything ls then latt to him. The corpse
is always laid out in the best room IA tbe
house and rarely kept over thirty-six hours.
tw0nty-feur being the number required by
tho law. II the diseased was married, a fes,
bon Of black asd geld cloth Is hung ever the
treet door: II unmarried. ons Of hlao and
Hack; while II q chAd IL dead tho ooiers ore
Fhits, or blue and geld. The eoelns Ter mar
aod persons are always black. whSuA ls nsver
hs cass for ysung, unmarried persons, theirs
hasng red, Scarlss sF blua Tue ehisf use Of
kh0 celia IA ~ convey the body ts tbs csuas-
esry, and few persons are actually buried ia
collins
Within the past forty years great oAaaSs
has occurred In che external SaAttsrs rsiasiaz
to burial Ia this country. WAfs most Amer
leans Of half century ago had boiisf IN
God, iuH ortality and a LIE horoafer. vot
they seemed - hold their epinlsRs on these
subjects nct ~ real beliefs tkat SHARED ana
fashioned their daily life, but as matters to
which, in half slumhrous way, tkey save
assent. The grave, the tomb and doath wers
all locked uPon az matters Of tarrcF, from
the bh0ught Of which all, cid and Young.
wise and simple, seemed to draw back In
horror. In those days she country funeral
was a matter OF great solsmRity and slabor-
ate preparation. There was a dns whom the
hearso did not exist in this country. or. IL II
did exist, was not In general uEs. This was
tho case in tho latter part Of the Eighteenth
century, and the first part Of the Nine
teent, when the bodies Of tho dead wore borne
on biers 20 the cemetery. Necessity was.
doubtless, hcrs aS elsewhere the mother Of
invention. Sanitary principles, from time