Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-01-13
KEEPNG RELICS
Singular Erect 1t Has on 1Iankind
rTnnann En.rl.a--l

london Epsetator.l
While thus arguing that ia our dav
one of the chief feelings connected with
relics Of the great dead is the hunger
for a sense of reality In connection with
the men of the past, which can only be
satisfied by some material hnk-Of
which a portion of the actual body is
the the most perfect-Ws must not, Of
course, leave ont of sight the fact that
in ali probability the feeling that the
human body is in itself sacred has
good deal to do with the sense Of re-
hgion which attaches to relics of the
dead If we have an instructive feel
ing toward the preservation of the Eu-
man body generally, this feeling is no
doubt intensified IN the case Of those
whom We reverence from any cause;
and thus the desire to keep relics of the
great dead, which still at this day sur
wives much eynicism, is probably
dimly connected though IN a way not
recognized, with other religious feel
ings. The manner in which this in
stinct for preserving the body seems to
have grown up in the human mind is
curious In its most intense form we
find it among Egyptians 1t is not too
much to say that in the valley of the
Nile half the energy of the living was
devoted to the preservation OF the
dead. The Egyptians were possessed
of an active belief in the existence of the
soul after death. The ultimate pros
poets Of Immortality depended, how
ever, on whether or not the body could
be preserved. After death the soul
passed a vast period Of time in ex-
platOry journeys IN the neither world.
These journeys over it returned to oc-
cupy the body before abandoned An
imperative necessity was thus cast upon
all those who valued an after life
to prepare means of embalming so per
feet and tOmbs so secure, that when
the body was again required, the soul
might find it ready. To the Greeks
and Romans, to whom the neither world
was but q land of shadows, the preser-
walton Of the body was not a necessity;
and accordingly, like the Hindoos,
they burnt their dead. With Chris
tianity came the idea of the resurrec-
ton of the body, and so of its sacred
ness and the necessity Of its preserve
ton from destruction. Though the
spiritual application which the idea
soon receiVed-that of continuous ideu-
tlty IN q nOn-materiaI state-prevented
the notion from having the effect it had
t'eH ---S- g LlAA4 A1 ~ tAALLAL l-4-+L IL
the earlier centuries Of Christian his
tory it had much to do with the growth
of the worship and preservation of
relics. If we turn from the more re-
stricted theme of the relics OF the dead
to relics of the past IN general, it is
curious to notice how deeply they have
often affected mems minds. The First
Napoleon, who never neglected any
means by which he might influence hui
man nature, so as to make it more
plable for his purposes, recognized
very clearly the sentim entail influence
which could be exercised in this way.
For instance, before setting out for
BOulogne to arrange for the invasion of
England he had the Bayeux tapestry
brought to Paris and exposed to view
in the Palace Royal, IN order that the
people of Paris might be inspired by
the sight of the tapestry made to com
memOrate what he chose with a fine dis
regard of history and ethnOlOgy to re-
gard as q previous conquest of England
by France. Not content with this, he
professed, while encamped at BOuI-
Ogne, to have found a coin of J ulius
Caesar and the arms of one of William
the COnquerOr's followers. 1t is gro
tesque to read of, but Napoleon did
right not only to rely upon his soldiers
creduIity, but upon the effect Of touch
ing their imaginatiOns. 1t was the
best possible means of bringing home
to his men the lesson he desired to
teach them-that France had con-
quered England before and would con-
quer her again to show them the
arms which one of the conquerers had
left on the very spot from which a sue
cessful invasion had actually been
made The restoration of NapOleona
body to France helped to revive the
NapOleOnic cult as no other incident
did, and all Germany feels the stronger
and fuller of continuous life because
the Emperor addresses his Parliament
from the throne pressed by the feet Of
Charlemagne. Plenty of other in
stances might be give Of how great has
been the effects Of relics on mankind.