Year: 1860

Tn thlS respect, most sensible people. and as we have plenty wood in this western country the practice of cremation miyht be revived among us with advantage. A French chemist once took it in his head to reduce body to dryness. He placed it in an oven and by the application of heat A,ove off the watery and volatile particles SO that he reduced it to seventeen pounds Now, if he had burnt or-calcined this, subl;mated the ashes and still further reduced.it, you see it would have been possible to pack the dead body in a very small space. some nations or tribes expose their dead either on the desert sands, or on the tree tops or platforms. The flesh is eaten by beasts or birds of prey and the bones are then col ected and buried One nation of islanders make the sea their great burial place. When one of them dies he Is swrapped in a. sheet or shroud, heavy stone is attached to his feet, the body is then placed in 8 boat and. carried out mile from the shore and quietly. dropped overheard

 Mrs. B. Do they not put tie bodies in collins?

 Mir. B. Oh no. Cofins are compara- lively moderp inventions, if we except the

 

 of two kinds: one to hold embnlmed bodies and the other, the real sarcophagus, as it's name imports, signifying flesh eater, was made of species of stone which destroyed the bodies placed in them iu the course ot a few weeks. One sarcophagus thus lasted for centuries and served for many persons. In olden times, the body, wrapped in linen, was laid in the sepulchrc. This vas a cave, 8 cavern or a place hollowed out of a rock which admitted of the entrance being closed. In this manner our Saviour was buried.-- Modern collins are useless things, great expense and of no benefit except when the body has to be transported to considera ble distance. Some nations buried their dead in a sitting posture; others, in q sand ing one. In Naples, they have 365 pits or vaults; one for each day in the year. The dead are carried to the cemetery and depo sited At sunset all the bodies brought during the day are thrown in the pit, some lime is thrown in on them and the pit is then closed not to be re-o 2ened for wear. At sea. the body is sewed up in hammock with shot at the feet and slid overboaId.- There is no need of coffin in such case

 Mrs. B. Would you bury body with out a cohi j?

 Mir. B. Why not?

 Mrs. B. Do you seriously mean that you would see corpse taken to the grave. wrapped up in an old sheet, thrown III the grave and dirt piled omit?

 MT. B. Mrs Bentham, no. Make for your corpse shroud, if you will with lace edging, if you insist on spending money fooIishly. Let it be handled reyerenuy, re- spectfully and with awe. Place 1t gently in its last resting place, say over 1t any ritual or prayers, or perform any of the beautiful ceremonies of churches or socie- ties. Cover it with earth, erect 9 monu- ment if you will and in any sensible way testify your respect.

 Mrs B. And if you want respect shown to the dead in that way why object to dres- sing the dead?

 NIr. B. Because it is foolish waste of money. A few weeks since, ii the State of Connecticut, some garments were stolen from an enclosure. Search being made they were found on corpse, whose rela tivcs, not having means to dress 1t, had stolen fine clothes. Perhaps the thelt was pious one. Let us hope it was forgiven. But simple shroud, or few yards of clean muslin would have engeloped the body and done just as we'll Net who cared nothing for dress in life are finely clothed at their death and very often the poor spend the last dollar for broaacloth coat and pants, silk vest and cravat, gloves and stockings, to be exhibited for an hour and then buried six feet under ground. The dead man is shaved, vet if you asl- why this is done. 1t would puzzle them to give a reasonable an swer. There is another reason, Mrs. Ben than.

 Mrs. B. Let us have it.

 Mr. B. It is undemocratic. Ii is fool ish imitation of the European custom of lying in state. It is robbing the living in order to make a senseless parade over the dead. It is anti scriptural for we are told that naked we came into the world and naked we shall go out of it. We laugh at the Indian who bulies with the warrior his tomahawk, bow and arrows and crock of maize or Indian corn. If these cannot be carried to the happy hunting ground neither can the fine clothes of our dead be taken to the spirit land We shudder when we are told that the dead King of Dahomey had hundreds of poor wretches murdered at his funeral Yet, if we do not believe that these will be his slaves in another world, neither can we believe that silk and broad cloth will enwrap us in the world to come When the great trumpet shall sound and the grave give up its dead, do you think these persons will rise in the habiliments in which they were buried?

 Mrs. B. I suppose not

 MT. B. Twas but yesterday, friend o mine told me he wished to be buried in his usual clothes, hat, boots and all. As be is fond of smoking why not insist upon SC. gar in his mouth?

 Mrs. B. What queer ideas you have.

 MT. B. They are common sense ones If it is right to bury men in full dress, why not women also? Think of modern belle buried in hoops! What a coffin 1t would take! If this appears absurd why not the other? Some people have queer ideas on the subject of burials. Not the least sin gular was that of friend of mine, the worthy Mayor of Batesville, who wants a } hole made in his coffin lid! l Mrs. B. Mir. Bentham, if l should die first would you see me buried without full dress or coffin?

 Mir. B. No Madam. In such a case, knowing your feelings and views 1 should leave it to others to carry out them and in- : sist that your wishes now should then be , gratifed. But, for myself, let me not be shaved or washed. If the clothes on me are worth preserving and can be made of use take them off. Take the sheet on which I may lay, roll me up in it, pin 1t up so it will not fall off, then without box or coffin lay me in my narrow bed and cover me up. Trust me, 1 shall sleep as soundly and as quietly as my neighbor in the next grave in his coat, vest and pants, and screwed down tight in his mahogany or velvet CO., vered coffin

 Mrs. B. Oh! Mr. BentVam.

 THE NEW LIME LGHT.-Ihe universal Lime Light company of London, state that ca single medium jet of the improved | lime Eobt ;s equivalent to 40 Arrand ar 30