The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-10
GrucsOme Relics.

In the process of widening the strand,
London, workrnen have been digging up
some old graveyards around the
churches of St Clement Danes and St.
Mary Ie Strand. IN the course Of their
work they came across trenches con
tanning victims o; the great London
plague. huddled together just as they
were tumbled into the ground in those
days of terror.
Such CHASTITY findings have d tenden-
| cy To excite in the thoughtful observer
questi0nings as To the common sense of
! burial as compared with cremation.
The cemeteries Of the present are GER
! tainIy placed more sensibIy than those
Z! of the past. being situated for the most
part outside large cities. where they
! will be IL little danger Of being sur
rounded With Tricky settled streets.
and eventually excavated to make room
! for more buildings. But even in that
/ case there Is q gruesomeness and horror
/ about a graveyard which most people
! feel fnstinctvely. And when it IS con
( sidered that The bodies of the victims
! of contagious, diseases are If dug I'D.
| likely to spread new contag ion. it seems
as if future generations would be likely
to regard the burial custom as a relic
of superstitious barbarism.
The custom Of burial probably gained
its strong hold on Western nations part
" from the fact that all through the
Middle Ages the preservation Of the
body was deemed a matter worth
serious attention. The bones of dead
saints were held to nave the power Of
healing diseases; the fact of burial in
consecrated ground was thought TO in
aucnce the future state of the dead per
sons sui: the worst criminals were
punished by burning at the stake. either
alive or after being executed in some
less horrible way, largely because IN
this way the body was wholly destroyed
and prevented from ever receiving
Christian burial. In short. IN an ase Of
naterIalistic superstition the body, even
OF dead person, received an amount
,f exaggerated attention only warrant
ed by firm belief that upon its condi-
ton depended the fate Of the owners
immortal soul.
The cemetery of today holds its place
in our civilization not 50 much Tor
serious as for sentimental reasons Il
Is satisfactory To most people TO feel
that their mortal remains a=e placed in
some spot where a monument can -
erected. and their memory preserved at
least for short space Of time. But
this could he done quite as easily with
the ashes which remain after creU1a ton
as with The body itself Moreover, IN
der the cremation system, the horrors
OF premature burial could be absolutely
avoided, since precautions could easily
be taken T. secure indisputable evidence
Of death before the final rites were per
formed. There is no real reason why
the health Of the community should be
endangered by q custom which certain
~ is not IN any way sanitary, merely
through the persistence of q sentimen-
tai tradition.
The custom. which at one time pre-
vailed in rural neigh3orhoCds. Of having
family burial grounds, was not so bad
in its way as the collection OF all the
dead in one huge tract devoted To the
purpose Of burial. But this plan is nat
urally impossible in any community
larger thar a small village Cremation
is the only sensible solution Of a prob
lem which has hitherto been looked at
from q sentimental instead Gr a sensible
point of view. which vitality affects The
health OF The living. and which cannot.
in any way, concern the state Of The
dead