New-York tribune., 1895-07-28
ROYAL DUST.
rur MORBID THOUGHTS OF THE PRINCE
OF WALES.
-,,r prcAME OF THE HEART OF LOUIS XIV
A PRINCE BURIED IN AN ORANGE
SILK PETTICOAT.

SILK PETTICOAT.
~ all the up-to-dats utter ,nues Of the Prince
=, Wales. there is certainly that is more
,crated to shock the most cherished ideas
- Old World royalty than his recent public ex
reesion Of approval Of the Church Of England
nrral Reform Association. The latter, over
,h,ch Lord Grimthorpe rresides. has been or
.rized for the express purpose of abolishing all
tornos OF interment. such embalming. num-
,riecation and hermetically sealed caskets, which
re calculated to interfere with that process Of
rsture which is so eloquently described in the
.o,.nn words. earth to earth. dust to dust"
ucer since the days of the builders Of the Pyra-
ro,ds of Egypt. long centuries prior to the time
=, 1acob and Moses. monarchs nave been noted
,or their anxiety to perpetuate their terrestrial
,smains with the object presumably of i'm
rortaNzing their names by means of incontro-
,..r,ibe proofs that they had lived and reigned.
M matter to which country one turns the prin
o.rsI monuments of the land are as rule.
.hoso which contain i more or less success
f,nv preserved bodies of the "Anointed Of the
1ora." and while it is impossible to deny that so
Gar as art is concerned the world has derived
considerable benefit from this desire OF royalty
N keep in the flesh the bodies Of departed kings
end oueens. yet on the other hand, it must he
mi
detrimental to mankind from sanitary point
Of view.
THE PRINCE OF wALEs's REFLECTIONS
II is this latter view that seems to have COM
,oended itself 10 the Prince of Wales. who. no
longer young is we'll advanced on that down.
nard nath that terminates IN the tomb. Genial
and pleasure loving though he be- it is no secret
thot there are times wAen his thoughts assume
al 1ant fnf,r
"a more frequently in his conversation. and pre-
sumably. therefore. ir his mind. than most per-
CONS would be willing to believe 1t may be
taken for granted that his publicly announced
nreference for burial on the earth 10 earth
rrincinle IS not a mere hasty. passing remark.
hut rather the result of much discussion and
careful consideration. Not otherwise would this
princa co conservative in many resi- ects have
,.ertured to assume position in the matter
that diametrically opposes all the most ancient.
the most sacred and the most universal customs
and traditions of monarchy.
His utterances on this somewhat grewsome sub
iect are particularly orportune at moment
when the percgrinatons and the vicissitudes OF
the heart Of Louis XVII Of France are exciting
the interest Of people on both sides Of the At
Iantic Concealed in glass jar behind the BOOKS
q. a library. stolen by doctors assistant, en-
sh-irad in tho altar Of a Cardinals oratory,
robbed and desecrated by a riotous mob. recov-
cred from among heap Of offal and dirt. put up
for public auction. and now conveyed with much
ceremony across Europe. first to Venice and then
10 Frohsdorf in Austria the extraordinary ad-
ventures Of this poor little dried-up morsel OF
humanity are scarcely OF character 10 en-
courage royal personages In their attempts 70
obstruct natures process in the disposal Of their
NO ROYAL REMAINS SAFE.
With the eve.-increasing extension Of the doc
trnes Of equality, and with the constantly di-
roinishing regard or the part Of the masses for
the throne there are no tonlbs in existence that
can be considered as secure from PROCLAMATION. nor
anv roval remains that can be held safe from the
shocking treatment to which the Terrorsts OF
1893 subjected the embalmed bodies Of those of
the kings and queens of France, preserved at 81
Denis. The mummfed remains Of princes and
princesses Of the Pharaonc dynastes OF Egypt
have been usei 70 fertilize New-Jersey onion
beds after being ground into powder through
means Of a kind Of improved coffee grinding ma
chine while the embalmed corpses Of kings and
queens have been torn from their graves cruel
fed gibbeted dragged in the mud and burned, by
way Of demonstrating the popular execration In
which this memory was held. Only few snort
years ago the mausoeum Of the wife OF King VIC
tor Emanuel was the scene OF ghounsh out
rage the sarcophagus being blown open and the
BODY OF the once beautiful Rosna dragged out
and reduced almost to cinders by means OF pc
troleum. In fact there is no end to instances OF
this character which might be cited to show that
preservation OF the dead by artificial means in
the majority Of cases results in horrible profana-
ton.
Ncu irc emit all ha
ent age. most of us retain, perhaps uncoh-
sciously remnants OF ttat pathetic superstition
which leads the native woman of Algeria and OF
Tunis TO sew with needle and thread the heads
upon the corpses Of criminals who have been de-
capitated by the guillotine. We all OF us nave
to greater or less extent that sentiment
which led the native insurgents OF the great
East Indian mutiny of 1857 TO view with such
terror the terrible penalty OF being blown 70
minute fragments from the mouths OF the guns,
the dispersal Of the atoms Of their bodies TO the
four winds precludng in their eyes all possibil-
ty Of hereafter where they rightly belong
A GREwsOME ROYAL CUSTOM.
Nor is the danger Of proclamation the only
drawback TO the present system OF intermeh'
for royalty In several countries OF Europe ira
dition. pr .cedent and etiquette require that the
body Of A royal parsonage should be. so TO speak
divided up bet ween two and even three mauso-
kums Thus in France, formerly the hearts OF
the kings and queens were preserved IN one
church. the entrails in another and the rest OF
the poor mutilated corpse was inferred at the
Abbey Of S.. Denis. The ntestnes OF Louis III
and Of Louis XIV are deposited beneath the
sanctuary Of Notre-Dame at Paris their hearts
were in the vaults Of the Church Of st. Louis.
ann their bodies at st. Denis. Moreover. the
hearts Of all the members of the reigning house
Of Bavaria are preserved In the ancient chapel
Of Our Lady of Mercies at Alt-Otting. about
half an hours ride by rail from Munich The
walls Of the so-called "Castrum Doorosis' OF
s the. sacred cdifce are literally covered with
\ brackets and inches containing urns wherein