Year: 1875

THE tendency of men and women to
extremes and to run everything into the
ground has its most interesting illustra-
tion in the superabundance of floral dec
orations with which the dead are now
honored, an excess which is to be avoided
both on the score of expense and of good
taste. And such is the force of custom
(now called fashion) that those who can
ill afford the cost are often constrained
by pride, or fear of being thought mean
or poor, to go to degree of expense
that is really wrong, in embellishing the
funeral with floral tributes. These are
sometimes the gifts of friends. Often
they are not. When they do not come in
voluntarily they must be bought. And
this expense is incurred at time when
the necessary extra expenditure is very
considerable and therefore economy is
to be studied as virtue and duty. l
reject as scandal the current report that
florists and undertakers furnish them
for the occasion only, transferring them
Immediately from one funeral to another,
or taking them back to the conservatory,
awaiting other customers.


And this is only one of the many
funeral customs more honOred in the
breach of them than in the observance.
luuS, NuCh VIC NClt ucSGlnUlCu dI luC
funeral of one of our distinguished citi-
zens, q few weeks ago Ia man whose gifts
to works of charity and benevolence
were counted by hundreds of thousands
of dollars, and whose property amounted
to millions), no sign of floral decoration
appeared, no costly badges of mourning
distinguished the pall-bearers, but the
service was marked with such simplicity,
purity and modesty as became the char
acter of the rich man who did not glory
in his riches.


some years ago I attended the funeral
in this city. There was no display.
Without scarfs or other tokens the clergy
and bearers attended, and the immediate
friends only followed the remains to the
grave. But l happened to know that
whatever was thus saved in expense by
this example of simple funeral was
freely bestowed in gifts to those who
had need of it, and thus double good
was done.


One of the most venerable and wealthy
of our citizens, man who does not stop
at one or two or three hundred thousand
dollars when he wishes to help a good
cause, said to me few days ago;


~ want to write you letter."


81 wish you would write me two," l
replied.


IL want 10 write," he said, "on the
subject of expensive funerals, that are
now becoming so common; it is great
evil; it is an example which imposes a
heavy burden on those who cannot af-
ford it, and it is positive wrong, a
wicked waste"


encouraged him to write, and he did
his letter, if were at liberty to use it
here, would be more powerful, because
of its source, than anything / can say.
And was glad to know that when the
time comes-may it be long way Off
when this city shall attend his funeral,
and pay the respect that is due to the
character of one of its most honored,
useful, munificent and prospered inhab-
itants, the funeral will be as simple as
his modest, unostentatious, Christian life.


have Just been reading of the
progress of civilization under Christian
missions in Africa. Among the customs
of savage life which the Gospel has abol-
| ished is that of human sacrifices at the
grave of chief. When one of them
died il was not uncommon for women to
flee away into the wilderness to escape
being slain with the dead. But another
custom survived after this was over
thrown: the practice of burying the mos
precious treasures of the deceased in the
grave with his remains. This practice
was not confined to the head men of the
tribes, but was general, and the more
treasures thus buried the more respecta
BILE was the funeral. When the more en-
lightened men came to see the absurdity
and wrong of this custom they wrote |
pledge and signed it, and circulated i
among the people, that they would no
do so any more, and calling upon thei
brethren to pledge themselves to assls
in breaking up the practice.


Wherein is our custom of costly coffins
with costly flowers, and costly scarf
and badges, and costly equipages, NOR
sensible or less censurable than tn
Africans idea ofrespectability. We bur
all this money, or throw it away on tina
which dses the dead no good, and Gel
tainly none to the living. 1t has no elC
ment of Christianity in it; for we knoN
that the body is not the friend we haV
lost, and that we are putting honors o
that which is already putting on co
ruption. The dust is justly precious i
our eyes, for it has just been the earthl
vase, the shell of clay in which dwel
the soul of one we loved. 1t is well thI
such shrine should be treated with II
spectful tenderness. But the loved on


is not there. While we are weeping owe
the dissolving form, and calling II b
tender names il knew, but does not nov
the spirit may be in another house an


land, where the flowers of our consery,


tories have no beauty, and the scarfs W
put ON our friends at the funeral are ver


mean compared with the raiment {
saints in light.-IreR@us, IN NeW Y0l
/, Observer,