News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-01-26
CURIOUS BURIAL CUSTOMS.
FUNERAL oBsERvANCES AMONG
DIFFERENT NATIONS.

FUNERAL oBsERvANCES AMONG
DIFFERENT NATIONS.
Ancient Egyptian Ceremonies-Cus-
toms in Chinatown-Habits OF
Other Races.
The ancient Egyptians celebrated a
funeral by feasting and drinking while
the work of embalming-which took
seventy days was going on but through
out all they remembered that no one is
exempt from death, and to remind them
of the fact skeleton was placed in the
banqueting hall, where it remained dur
ing the feast Sacrifices were offered to
the gods, and the flesh used for food
among the priests and guests. In the
ease of Il great lord or rich person a
costly monument was erected, but the
poorer classes were laid in the ground
sometimes with no embalming, and at
times even without coffin.
The Hindoes burned their dead and
sometimes sacrificed human beings at the
funeral of any parsonage of note. The
suffice, or widow burning, among great
personages was a very repulsive feature
of the ceremony. The ceremonies were
conducted amid feasting, singing by der
wishes and dancing by girls. Sometimes
the mourners dashed themselves with
knotted cords and sticks until they fell
exhausted from eXertion and loss of
blood.
There are in Africa almost as many
different burial customs as there are
tribes Of negroes, each tribe having its
own peculiar ideas and manners. The
majority of tribes, however, bury the
dead and destroy all property belonging
to the deceased, even taking down the
house. If it lie chief of high rank, the
more barbarous tribes kill numbers of
slaves to serve him in the next world,
and bury his favorite wife alive in the
same grave with her deceased lord.
The natives of Peru placed their dead
in a sitting posture with the head be-
tween the knees and the arms crossed on
the breast. Ropes of bark were tightly
bound around the body, which was then
wrapped in cloth and again bound until
it resembled mass of cordage rather
than anything else. Bodies thus pre-
served, and from which the air was en-
entirely excluded, are constantly bell g
found among the ruins of the old cities
devastated by the Spaniards. The an
cient Mexicans observed much the same
custom, adding to it the sacrifice of
hundreds of human beings, il many cases
the victims freely giving their consent
to die, believing that by this means they
more surely reached the abode of their
gods and enjoyed everlasting peace.
Among our Indians the burial customs
differ somewhat, but all believe in a
Great Spirit, and in the main they are
alike The Indians of the eastern part
of the country east of the Mississippi
buried their dead in almost all cases in
a sitting posture, wrapped in blanket.
With the dead warrior were buried his
arms, ammunition and food for his
journey to the Happy Hunting Grounds,
and over his grave his favorite war horse
was slaughtered, and sometimes his dog,
in order that he might enter the land of
the Great Spirit in manner becoming a
chief of renown and of good repute.
The Indians of the West erect high scat
folds, on which they place their dead, in
order that they may be out of reach of
wild animals The dead braves arms,
cooking utensils and blanket are placed
with him for use in the next world.
The Hebrew manner of conducting a
funeral is very plain and simple. The
body is wrapped in a shroud and placed
in a plain pine coffin, with lighted
candle at its head. The candle is al
lowed to burn itself out and symbolizes
the dedication of the soul of the dead to
the Creator, who gave it. A simple
ceremony is held at the grave by the
rabbi, and it is very rare occurrence for
any portion of the service over the dead
to take place under a roof.
A most curious sight to the residents
of New York is Chinese funeral, which
is much the same when held here as
when the Chinaman is at home in the
Flowery Kingdom. 1t makes all the diff
ference in the world whether the dead
Chinaman is a member of the Order
Freemason or not, and whether or not
he is rich. Il he is a Mason his funeral
is the occasion of great spread and dis
play in Chinatown. A brass band is
hired to play in front of the dead mans
residence and also accompanies the body
to the grave. 1t would seem that noise,
and not the appropriateness of the tune,
is the object in view, for the friends of
the dead man are perfectly satisfied, no
matter whether the tune be some Ger
man waltz or the ROulanger March,"
and it is a fact that at recent Chinese
funeral in this city the band hired for
the occasion played Sunday Night
When the Parlor is Full" On the way
to the grave a prominent Chinaman sits
on the hearse and scatters pieces of col
ored paper along the route, the object of
this being to occupy the attention of the
evil spirits, which are suppo. ed to follow
the departed Chinaman until the grave
closes over him. In the coffin with the
body is placed pack of Chinese play
ing cards in order that the spirit of the
dead man may have an opportunity of
making little change during his long
and dark journey.
At the grave food is placed around
the coffin, but after the ceremony is con
Guided this is taken to the lodge rooms,
and the friends eat for themselves and
the dead also. No Chinaman is ever
buried in this country whose body is not
some time, usually after a lapse of two
or three years, taken up and carried
home to China by his friends This is
sacred custom among all Chinese, and
the body of Chinaman who has been
dead three or four years is no uncommon
freight on the steamers plying between
San Francisco and China.-Ne1o York
Teeg7dH