The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-04-04
AsHEs TO ASHES.
cronon4ion nisrnssed bv UnlversaIlst.

at the Second Universalist church. Ro-
 chester.
 "Whatever is of benefit to man here" !"
 Mir. Kirkpatrick said, according to the
 Herald, "should not be beyond our con- sideration as a church. The church is
 becoming more and more humanitarian
 in its mission. It Is gradually ceasing
 to lay emphasis on what man is to be,
 and realizing that man is, wherever he came from and wherever he is going; and the more hells that can be changed | into heavens here, the better is the out l look for a future condition.
 "rhe object we have in view in the discussion of this subject is to excite the public mind to a sense of responsi- bility in physical health, because upon
 this hinges the question of morals and religion. It must be understood first
 that there Is really vital relation be- tween the physical man and the moral
 man. If we could have a perfectly healthy world, physically, we would have to find other work for our preach- CTS as well as our doctors; and indeed
 doctors, when they do their duty, are the best preachers the world has.
 'I assume, then, that the present way of disposing of our dead is not condu- cive to health, and that a better state of things would be ours if cremation in- stead of burial, were adopted. This will have its enemies from different quarters. But one of the greatest him drances the advocates of cremation will meet will come from the church, be- cause of its established forms of reli- zion and its theological conception of mans future condition. The church has in every instance opposed science in her onward march to give light and life to man.
 "Let me mention some of the obJec- tions raised against cremation; First, the church in the past has taught that the natural body will again be raised and reunited to the soul at the resur- rection. Of course cremation would be In direct conflict with this doctrine; but how about burials at sea, where the bodies are devoured after being cast into the water? How about the burn ing of the early Christians and the de- struction of persons by wild beasts?
 Secondly, people who have given thought to the subject say that crema- tion is unnatural. Burial was the cus- tom of the Jews, in contradistinction to that of the Romans The Jews followed the custom of the Egyptians in regard to the burial of their dead. Had they adopted cremation we would have fol- lowed it. The Egyptians, from whom many of the Jewish rites sprang, be- lieved that at death the soul had gone on a journey and at some future time would return to the body. This led to the embalming process and burial in sepulchers, which was the plan of the Israelites and even practised by the early Christians.
 Among the Romans and Greeks cre- nation was the only natural way of disposing of the dead, and burying the body was not only sacrilegious, but sa- vored of uncleanliness and 1aziness.
 Among the first questions that peo- pie ask of a new movement Is, What do people think of 1t? Is 1t meeting with success?' This movement has been indorsed by many of the leading men and women of the country doctors of medicine and ciergymen of every faith"
 Among some of those mentioned by MT. Kirkpatrick as being in favor of the movement were William Waldorf Astor, Andrew Carnegie, Charles A. Dana, Kate Field Mrs. Grace Green wood hppincott and Marshall P. Wild CT. MT. Kirkpatrick also gave num- Der of statistics showing that the move ment is steadily growing In popular fa- vor. He said that since 1876, 3670 bod ies had been cremated in the United States and 19,700 in Europe.
 Another argument in favor of ere mation," said MT. Kirkpatrick, lis that it is less expensive. This may seem a cold and selfish argument, but when we think of the need of reform In funerals as they are and the amount spent very foolishly for the sake of society and when we think that so many thousands afterward need the money spent in this way to pay honest debts, the question becomes worthy of our 
 Nov the average cost of cremation is .thirty-fve dollars for adults and twenty-five dollars for children, while the average cost of burial, outside of
 
 ments, is one hundred and fifty dollars.
 "The strongest argument in favor of | is that 1t secures the safety | of the bodies. All over the country we | are reading daily of bodies being dug | up by workmen. Very recently work | men uncovering a water main for re- | pairs, found parts of half a dozen hu- | man skeletons, including two skulls, in | an excavation in front of the Baptist | Memorial church in South Washington | Square, in New York city.
 Again it prevents dishonesty. What | 10 I mean by this? Last December six students and one professor of the med cal class of Cotner university were ar 'ested on the charge of grave robbery l Cotner is a college of the Christian church. Who can say that this thing s not going on to a certain extent all | lver the country?
 "If cremation were adopted such evils would be impossible and people would | est at peace with the knowledge that | he bodies of their loved ones were be- yond the reach of grave robbers. It | would also prevent the horrors and suf- 'erings of those who are buried alive.
 Furthermore, cremation is the sur lst way of preventing the sDread of dis