Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-03-08
OBJECTIONS TO CREMATION.
1t fnterferes With the Old Doctrine Of
Resurrection and Shields the Pofs-

Resurrection and Shields the Pofs-
Onpr.
What are the objections which rlilitate
against the great sanitary reform recon-
mended to us by such names as those of the
Duke of Bedford Mr.. Kinglake, the his
torian; Baron Huddleston and many 9TH
ers. the latest being Sir Samuel Baker?
Those which deserve respect and discussion
are twofold. says the London Telegraph
the trst thing being the religious. and the
next the jurisprudentiaI objeo tions. Many
excellent persons, interpreting too verbally
certain passages of Scripture. and clinging
too closely to the material side of a beau
iful belief. object to cremation as in,erfer-
ing with the doctrine of the resurrection of
the body but We do not think that the
truly pious, if they are also logical. can
maintain this demurrer against some OBJ
Tlous considerations. We leave aside with
reverence the problem of the rising again
of an individual and material body. We are
told that it will be raised in corruption. >,
and this should warn against a btyots "A ara
commonplace view. What will such ohiec-
tors, however, say to the case of men blown
10 pieces by an explosion or of others re-
duCed to lndiStiguiShable cinders in a great
confiagration, or of others devoured bv wild
animals? There have been DISTRESSING in
stances in which good and fearless men
preaching the Gospel to cannibals have
formed a meal for their intended converts
ana IN such a case the frame of that mis-
sionary has become identified physically
with the frames of those who deyoured him
According to that theory of the resurrec-
ton which some directors maintain What
is TO become of that worthy missionary ?
Even the Mahometans, who everywhere
Dury their dead and are so scrupulously
particular about the disposal of bodies do
not cherish any such inelastic tenets. They
one
Observation-Disclosures lowest of the yertebrae
which they call Luz" and from this the
ignorant MOslem believe the whole corpus
may be re-established. There is an old
Arab fable which says that Abraham, rea-
soning upon these things, asked God how
there could be resurrection for a body
whose component parts were scattered AL
ian, the legend says ordered him to cut a
white COCK into the smallest possible r,ieces
and, dividing these into seven TO place
the portions on seven different hill-tops
This being done. ISRAELI, the angel of the
trumpet, was ordered TO summon the bird
and in a moment it reappeared close to
Abraham. complete, living and loudly crow
ing. The story is grotesque. but indicates
the firm belief which even Islam has that
nothing is beyond the power of the AL
mighty to effect.
The other serious objection stands unon
the ground that to dispose of all corpses
by burning would furnish TO the poisoner a
dangerous mode of concealing his crime
NOW, III answer 10 IhlS, flfSt or ALL there
are many countries. like India and Japan,
where the custom of cremation does pre-
vail, and no increase in murders effected
by poison is automatically alleged. In the
next place, the risk, If ii exists, ought not
to have so much weight as to check and
suspend the enormous sanitary reforma ton
which would be brought about by The gen.
eral adoption of incineration. Thirdly
and this Is the strongest reply-a due recog-
milton of the danger indicated would lead
to what we very much want a more strict
and careful system of certifying the causes
OF death. In every case, to the great ad-
vantage of justice, medical men would be
more heedful as to giving true certificate;
while in any suspicious instance the fact
that cremation would do away with future
evidence would lead to the necessary autop-
sy and Investigations then and there. So
far from multiplying cases of undetected
poisoning, the example of Sir Samuel Baker
generally adopted would probably conduce
to new rules for death certificates. and
much more rigid guarantee against the
form of crime contemplated.