diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/44379.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/44379.txt | 3288 |
1 files changed, 3288 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/44379.txt b/old/44379.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d2b952 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/44379.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3288 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A History of Mourning, by Richard Davey + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A History of Mourning + + +Author: Richard Davey + + + +Release Date: December 7, 2013 [eBook #44379] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF MOURNING*** + + +E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Eleni Christofaki, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images +generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 44379-h.htm or 44379-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44379/44379-h/44379-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/44379/44379-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + https://archive.org/details/historyofmournin00daveuoft + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + + + + +[Illustration: MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, +_As Widow of Francis II. of France, a facsimile of the original drawing +by Clouet, preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris._--Reproduced +expressly for this Publication.] + + +A HISTORY OF MOURNING. + +by + +RICHARD DAVEY. + + + + + + + +Jay's, +Regent Street, W. + +_Wreath composed of the flowers mentioned in Shakespeare's dirges._ + + +Entered at Stationers' Hall.] [Copyright. + +Published at Jay's, Regent Street, W. + +London +McCorquodale & Co., Limited +Cardington Street, N.W. + + + + +[Illustration: A HISTORY OF MOURNING. + +BY RICHARD DAVEY.] + + +ALTHOUGH tradition has not informed us whether our first parents made +any marked change in their scanty garments on the death of their near +relatives, it is certain that the fashion of wearing mourning and the +institution of funereal ceremonies and rites are of the most remote +antiquity. Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians over 3,000 years +ago selected yellow as the colour which denoted that a kinsman was +lately deceased. They, moreover, shaved their eyebrows when a relative +died; but the death of a dog or a cat, regarded as divinities by this +curious people, was a matter of much greater importance to them, for +then they not only shaved their eyebrows, but every hair on their +bodies was plucked out; and doubtless this explains the reason why so +many elaborate wigs are to be seen in the various museums devoted to +Egyptian antiquities. It would require a volume to give an idea of +the singular funereal ceremonials of this people, with whom death was +regarded, so to speak, as a "speciality;" for their religion was mainly +devoted to the _cultus_ of the departed, and consequently innumerable +monumental tombs still exist all over Egypt, the majority of which are +full of mummies, whose painted cases are most artistic. + +[Illustration: FIG. 1.--_An Egyptian Lady preparing to go into Mourning +for the death of her pet Cat._--From a picture by J. R. WEGUELIN.] + +The cat was worshipped as a divinity by the Egyptians. Magnificent +tombs were erected in its honour, sacrifices and devotions were offered +to it; and, as has already been said, it was customary for the +people of the house to shave their heads and eyebrows whenever Pussy +departed the family circle. Possibly it was their exalted position in +Egypt which eventually led to cats being considered the "familiars" +of witches in the Middle Ages, and even in our own time, for belief +in witchcraft is not extinct. The kindly Egyptians made mummies of +their cats and dogs, and it is presumable that, since Egypt is a corn +growing, and hence a rat and mouse producing country, both dogs and +cats, as killers of these vermin, were regarded with extreme veneration +on account of their exterminating qualities. Their mummies are often +both curious and comical, for the poor beast's quaint figure and face +are frequently preserved with an indescribably grim realism, after the +lapse of many ages. + +[Illustration: FIG. 2.--_Egyptian Maiden presenting Incense to the +new-made Mummy of a Cat._] + +The funeral processions of the Egyptians were magnificent; for with the +principal members of the family of the deceased, if he chanced to be +of royal or patrician rank, walked in stately file numerous priests, +priestesses, and officials wearing mourning robes, and, together with +professional mourners, filling the air with horrible howls and cries. +Their descendants still produce these strident and dismal lamentations +on similar occasions. + + + + +THE Egyptian Pyramids, which were included among the seven wonders of +the world, are seventy in number, and are masses of stone or brick, +with square bases and triangular sides. Although various opinions have +prevailed as to their use, as that they were erected for astronomical +purposes, for resisting the encroachment of the sand of the desert, for +granaries, reservoirs, or sepulchres, the last-mentioned hypothesis has +been proved to be correct, in recent times, by the excavations of Vyse, +who expended nearly L10,000 in investigating their object. They were +the tombs of monarchs of Egypt who flourished from the Fourth to the +Twelfth Dynasty, none having been constructed later than that time; the +subsequent kings being buried at Abydos, Thebes, and other places, in +tombs of a very different character. + +[Illustration: FIG. 3.--_The Pyramids and Great Sphinx._--From a +pen-and-ink sketch by HORACE VERNET.] + +The first, or Great Pyramid, was the sepulchre of the Cheops of +Herodotus, the Chembes, or Chemmis, of Diodorus, and the Suphis of +Manetho and Eratosthenes. Its height was 480 feet 9 inches, and its +base 764 feet square. In other words, it was higher than St. Paul's +Cathedral, and built on an area the size of Lincoln's Inn Fields. It +has been, however, much spoiled, and stripped of its exterior blocks +for the building of Cairo. The original sepulchral chamber, called +the Subterranean Apartment, 46 feet by 27 feet, and 11 feet 6 inches +high, has been hewn in the solid rock, and was reached by the original +passage of 320 feet long, which descended to it by an entrance at +the foot of the pyramid. A second chamber, with a triangular roof, +17 feet by 18 feet 9 inches, and 20 feet 3 inches high, was entered +by a passage rising to an inclination of 26 deg. 18', terminating in a +horizontal passage. It is called the Queen's Chamber, and occupies a +position nearly in the centre of the pyramid. The monument--probably +owing to the long life attained by the monarch--still progressing, +a third chamber, called the King's, was finally constructed, by +prolonging the ascending passage of the Queen's Chamber for 150 feet +farther into the very centre of the pyramid, and, after a short +horizontal passage, making a room 17 feet 1 inch by 34 feet 3 inches, +and 19 feet 1 inch high. The changes which took place in this pyramid +gave rise to various traditions, even in the days of Herodotus, Cheops +being reported to lie buried in a chamber surrounded by the waters of +the Nile. It took a long time for its construction--100,000 men being +employed on it probably for above half a century, the duration of the +reign of Cheops. The operations in this pyramid by General Vyse gave +rise to the discovery of marks scrawled in red ochre in a kind of +cursive hieroglyph, on the blocks brought from the quarries of Tourah. +These contained the name and titles of Khufu (the hieroglyphic form of +Cheops); numerals and directions for the position of materials, etc. + +[Illustration: FIG. 4.--_Mummies of Cats and Dogs._--British Museum and +Museum of the Louvre.] + +The second Pyramid was built by Suphis II., or Kephren, who reigned +66 years, according to Manethro, and who appears to have attained a +great age. It has two sepulchral chambers, and must have been broken +into by the Calif Alaziz Othman Ben-Yousouf, A.D. 1196. Subsequently +it was opened by Belzoni. The masonry is inferior to that of the first +Pyramid, but it was anciently cased below with red granite. + +The third Pyramid, built by Menkara, who reigned 63 years, is much +smaller than the other two, and has also two sepulchral chambers, both +in the solid rock. The lower chamber, which held a sarcophagus of +rectangular shape of whinstone, had a pointed roof, cut like an arch +inside; but the cedar coffin, in shape of a mummy, had been removed +to the upper or large apartment, and its contents there rifled. +Amongst the debris of the coffin and in the chambers were found the +legs and part of the trunk of a body with linen wrapper, supposed by +some to belong to the monarch, but by others to an Arab, on account +of the anchylosed right knee. This body and fragments of the coffin +were brought to the British Museum; but the stone sarcophagus was +unfortunately lost off Carthagena, by the sinking of the vessel in +which it was being transported to England. + +There are six other Pyramids of inferior size and interest at Gizeh; +one at Abou Rouash, which is ruined, but of large dimensions; another +at Zowyet El Arrian, still more ruined; another at Reegah, a spot in +the vicinity of Abooseer, also much dilapidated, and built for the +monarch User-en-Ra, by some supposed to be Busiris. There are five +of these monuments at Abooseer, one with a name supposed to be that +of a monarch of the Third Dynasty; and another with that of the king +Sahura. A group of eleven Pyramids remains at Sakkara, and five other +Pyramids are at Dashour, the northernmost of which, built of brick, is +supposed to be that of the king Asychis of Herodotus, and has a name of +a king apparently about the Twelfth Dynasty. Others are at Meydoon and +Illahoon, Biahmo and Medinat El Fyoum, apparently the sepulchres of the +last kings of the Twelfth Dynasty. + +In Nubia, the ancient Aethiopia, are several Pyramids, the tombs of the +monarchs of Meroe and of some of the Ethiopian conquerors of Egypt. +They are taller in proportion to their base than the Egyptian Pyramids, +and generally have a sepulchral hall, or propylon, with sculptures, +which faces the east. The principal groups of these Pyramids are at +Bege Rauie, or Begromi, 17 deg. N. lat., in one of which, gold rings +and other objects of late art, resembling that of the Ptolemaic period, +were found. + +The numerous Pyramids of Mexico are of vast size and importance, but +their purpose is not yet fully ascertained. Completely covered as they +are with dense vegetation, filled with venomous reptiles, they are +difficult to investigate, but they were evidently much the same in +shape and structure as the Egyptian, and their entrances were richly +sculptured. + +The art of preserving the body after death by embalming was invented +by the Egyptians, whose prepared bodies are known by the name of +mummies. This art seems to have derived its origin from the idea that +the preservation of the body was necessary for the return of the +soul to the human form after it had completed its cycle of existence +of three or ten thousand years. Physical and sanitary reasons may +also have induced the ancient Egyptians; and the legend of Osiris, +whose body, destroyed by Typhon, was found by Isis, and embalmed by +his son Anubis, gave a religious sanction to the rite, all deceased +persons being supposed to be embalmed after the model of Osiris in the +_abuton_ of Philae. One of the earliest embalmments on record is that +of the patriarch Jacob; and the body of Joseph was thus prepared, and +transported out of Egypt. The following seems to have been the usual +rule observed after death. The relations of the deceased went through +the city chanting a wail for the dead. The corpse of a male was at +once committed into the charge of undertakers; if a female, it was +detained at home until decomposition had begun. The _paraschistes_, +or flank-inciser of the district, a person of low class, conveyed +the corpse home. A scribe marked with a reed-pen a line on the left +side beneath the ribs, down which line the paraschistes made a deep +incision with a rude knife of stone, or probably flint. He was then +pelted by those around with stones, and pursued with curses. Then the +_taricheutes_, or preparer, proceeded to arrange the corpse for the +reception of the salts and spices necessary for its preservation, +and the future operations depended on the sum to be expended upon +the task. When Herodotus visited Egypt, three methods prevailed: the +first, accessible only to the wealthy, consisted in passing peculiar +drugs through the nostrils, into the cavities of the skull, rinsing +the body in palm wine, and filling it with resins, cassia, and other +substances, and stitching up the incision in the left flank. The +mummy was then steeped in natron for 70 days, and wrapped up in linen +cemented by gums, and set upright in a wooden coffin against the walls +of the house or tomb. This process cost what would now amount in our +money to about L725. The second process consisted in injecting into the +body cedar oil, soaking it in a solution of natron for 70 days, which +eventually destroyed everything but the skin and bones. The expense was +a _mina_, relatively, about L243. In the third process, used for the +poorer classes, the corpse was simply washed in myrrh, and salted for +70 days. When thus prepared the bodies were ready for sepulture, but +they were often kept some time before burial--often at home--and were +even produced at festive entertainments, to recall to the guests the +transient lot of humanity. All classes were embalmed, even malefactors; +and those who were drowned in the Nile or killed by crocodiles received +an embalmment from the city nearest to which the accident occurred. + +The Ethiopians used similar means of embalming to preserve the dead, +and other less successful means were used by nations of antiquity. +The Persians employed wax, the Assyrians, honey; the Jews embalmed +their monarchs with spices, with which the body of Our Lord was also +anointed; Alexander the Great was preserved in wax and honey, and +some Roman bodies have been found thus embalmed. The Guanches, or +ancient inhabitants of the Canary Isles, used an elaborate process +like the Egyptian; and dessicated bodies, preserved by atmospheric or +other circumstances for centuries, have been found in France, Sicily, +England, and America, especially in Central America, and Peru. The art +of embalming was probably never lost in Europe, and De Bils, Ruysch, +Swammerdam, and Clauderus boast of great success in it. During the +present century it has been almost entirely discarded, except under +very exceptional circumstances. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 5.--_Tomb of Runjeet Singh at Lahore._] + +LEAVING the Oriental and remotely ancient nations aside, we will now +consider the history of mourning as it was used by those peoples from +whom we immediately derive our funereal customs. In ancient times, +even amongst the Greeks and Romans, it was the custom to immolate +victims--either slaves or captives--on the tomb of the departed, in +order to appease the spirit, or that the soul might be accompanied by +spirits of inferior persons to the realms of eternal bliss; and in +India we have some difficulty even now in preventing the burning of a +widow on the funeral pyre of her husband, instances of this barbarous +custom occurring almost every year, notwithstanding the vigilance of +our Government. + +It would be extremely interesting to trace to their sources all the +various rites and ceremonies connected with our principal subject, +of every nation, savage or civilised, ancient or modern; but the +task would be quite beyond my limits. A thorough investigation of the +matter, assisted very materially by a systematic investigation of that +mine of curious information, Picard's famous "_Ceremonies et coutumes +religieuses de tous les peuples_", which contains so many original +letters from missionaries of the 16th and 17th Centuries, obliges me to +come to the conclusion that there is, after all, not so much variety +in the funereal ceremonies of the world as we imagine. Those of the +Chinese and Japanese resemble in many ways, very strikingly too, the +ceremonies which the Roman Catholics employ to this day: there are the +same long processions of priests and officials; and Picard shows us a +sketch of a very grand burial at Pekin, in 1675, in which we behold the +body of the Emperor of the Celestials stretched upon a bier covered +with deep violet satin, and surrounded by many lighted candles; prayers +were said for the repose of the soul; and, as all the world knows, +the costumes of the priests of Buddha are supposed to have undergone, +together with their creed and ritual, a great change in the early part +of the 17th Century, owing to the extraordinary influence of the Jesuit +missionaries who followed St. Francis Xavier into India and Japan. +The Japanese cremated their dead and preserved the ashes; the Chinese +buried theirs; but the Cingalese, after burning the body, scattered the +ashes to the winds; whilst a sect of Persians exposed their dead upon +the top of high towers, and permitted the birds of prey to perform the +duty which we assign to the gravedigger. + +Cemeteries existed in the East at a remote epoch, and were rendered +so beautiful with handsome mausoleums, groves of stately cypresses +and avenues of lovely rose bushes, that they are now used as public +promenades. On certain days of the year multitudes resort to them for +purposes of prayer, and the Armenian Christians illuminate theirs +with lamps and tapers on the annual feast of the commemoration of +the departed. Perhaps India possesses the most elegant tombs in the +world, mainly built by the sovereigns of the Mongol dynasty. None +among them is so sumptuous as the mausoleum of Taj Mahal, situated +about a mile outside the port of Agra. It was built by Shah Jehan for +himself and his wife Arjimand Banoo, surnamed Mumtaz Mahal; 20,000 +men were employed for 20 years erecting it. It is constructed of the +purest white marble, relieved with precious stones. In the interior +is the sepulchral apartment, which is chiefly decorated with lapis +lazuli. The tombs of the Emperor and Empress, which stand under the +dome, are covered with costly Indian shawls of green cashmere, heavily +embroidered with gold. + +Another most beautiful specimen of Mahometan sepulchral architecture is +the tomb of Runjeet Singh, near Lahore, which, though less known, is +externally as magnificent as the mausoleum above described. + +[Decoration] + + + + +MOSES prohibited the immolation of human victims on the tombs of the +dead, and decreed that relatives should signify their sorrow by the +manner in which they tore their garments. They rent them according +to the degrees of affinity and parentage. Sometimes the tears were +horizontal, and this indicated that a father, mother, wife, brother, +or sister had died; but if the tear was longitudinal, it signified +that some person had departed who was not a blood relation. An idea +can be formed of the appalling destruction of clothing which must +have occurred on certain occasions amongst the ancient Jews, when we +remember that on the death of a king everybody was expected to tear +their garments longitudinally, and to go about with them in tatters for +nine days. This curious custom possibly explains Solomon's proverb, +"There is a time to rend and a time to mend." + +The High Priest among the Jews was exempted from wearing mourning. The +French, when they embraced Christianity, added many Jewish customs +to their own: up to the time of the Revolution of 1789, their Grand +Chancellor, or Chief Magistrate, was not bound to wear mourning even +for his own father. + +The Greeks, doubtless, derived their funereal ceremonies from the +Egyptians, and it is from this ancient people that we obtain the +custom of wearing black as mourning. When a person in Greece was +dangerously ill and not expected to recover, branches of _laurestinus_ +and _achanthus_ were hung up over the door, and the relatives hurried +round the bed and prayed to Mercury, as the conductor of souls, to have +mercy upon the invalid, and either to cure him completely or else help +his soul to cross the river Styx. If the death really occurred, then +the house was filled with cries and lamentations. The body was washed +and perfumed, and covered with rich robes; a garland of flowers was +placed on its head, and in its hand a cake made of wheat and honey, +to appease Cerberus, the porter of Hell; and in the mouth a purse of +money, in order to defray the expenses of Charon, the ferryman of Styx. +In this state the deceased was exposed for two days in the vestibule of +the house. At the door was a vase full of water, destined to purify the +hands of those who touched the corpse. + +Visitors to Paris will remember how often they have seen a coffin +exhibited in the doorway of a house, elaborately covered with flowers, +having at its head a crucifix, and many lights surrounding it, +everybody as they passed saluting it--the men by taking off their +hats, and the women by making the sign of the cross, often using for +this purpose holy water offered to them on a brush by an acolyte. +Now, the Greeks used blessed water when they exposed their dead in +front of their dwellings; possibly the French custom is derived from +the Grecian. The funeral in Greece took place three days after the +exhibition of the remains, and usually occurred before sunrise, so +as to avoid ostentation. Many women surrounded the bier, weeping and +howling, and not a few, being professionals, were paid for their +trouble. The corpse was placed on a chariot, in a coffin made of +cypress wood. The male relatives walked behind, those who were of +close kinship having their heads shaved. They usually cast down their +eyes, and were invariably dressed in black. A choir of musicians came +next, singing doleful tunes. The procession, as a rule, had not far +to go, for the body of a wealthy person was usually buried in his +garden--if his city house did not possess one, in that of his villa +residence. + +[Illustration: FIG. 6.--_A Greek Tomb: the Monument of Themistocles, +Athens._] + +The Greeks, it will thus be seen, buried their dead, and did not +cremate them as did the Romans; but in the latter years of the Republic +both forms of disposing of the body were common. After the burial, +libations of wine were poured over the grave, and all objects of +clothing which had belonged to the deceased were solemnly burnt. The +ninth and fourteenth days after the funeral, the parents, dressed in +white, visited the grave, and a ceremony was gone through for the +repose of the soul. The anniversary of the death was also observed, +and the Greeks, moreover, had a general commemoration of the dead in +the month of March. And here let us make a digression to see how very +closely the Greeks must have influenced the early Christians, and +consequently their more immediate descendants, the Roman Catholics, in +the matter of religious ceremonies; for it is usual among Catholics to +hear a Mass for the Dead a week after the death, and also another on +the anniversary. The universal feast of the dead is observed by them, +however, not in the month of March, but in that of November. People +who have lived in Paris will know how very largely these funereal +ceremonies enter into the manners and customs of that gay city, so +that it is not unfrequent for foreign residents to observe that their +time is passed in perpetually going to funerals; for, if you have a +large acquaintance, you are sure to receive at least twenty or thirty +invitations to funerals and funereal commemorations in the course of +the year. Of course, everybody will remember how on the Continent +the first day of November is devoted to visiting the cemeteries and +decorating the tombs of relatives and friends. + +[Illustration: FIG. 7.--_Gallo-Roman bas-relief--found in Paris about +fifty years ago--representing a family surrounding the body of a woman +who has recently died._--Museum of the Louvre.] + +To return to the Greeks, it should be observed that their respect +for the dead was remarkable, even amongst the ancients. If a man +accidentally found a body on the high-road, he was obliged to turn +aside and bury it. When the people saw a funeral procession pass, they +uncovered their heads and murmured a prayer. The laws against the +violation of the sepulchres of the dead were most severe, and any one +who was caught damaging a tomb was usually flogged for his trouble, but +if he overthrew it and disturbed the body, he was burnt alive. + +If a person died at sea, all the people on board the ship assembled at +sunset, and cried out three times the name of the departed, who was +usually thrown overboard. In the morning they repeated these calls, and +so forth until the ship entered port. This was done in order to recall +the names of the deceased, or at any rate to keep them propitious. + +When an illustrious person died in Greece, the ceremonies were on a +most elaborate scale, and even accompanied by games, which lasted for +many days. Readers of Homer's "Iliad" will remember his magnificent +description of the death and funeral of Patroclus. + +Among the Romans the men were not obliged to wear mourning, but it was +the fashion for women to do so. Very wisely, children under three years +of age were not forced to put on black, even for their parents, and +after that age, only for as many months as they had lived years. + +The Roman ladies only wore mourning for their parents for one year. Men +were expected to wear it for the same period in the case of the death +of a father, mother, wife, sister, or brother. Numa fixed the period +of wearing deep mourning for the nearest of kin as ten months. People, +however, were not obliged to wear mourning for any of their relatives +who had been in prison, were bankrupt, or in any way outlawed. Numa +published a minute series of laws regulating the mourning of his +people. A very odd item in these included an order that women should +not scratch their faces, or make an exceptional fuss at a public +funeral. This was possibly decreed to put some stop to abuses which the +hired mourners had occasioned: scratching their faces, for instance, +so as to injure themselves, and making an over-dismal wail which was +offensive to the genuine mourners. + +For freedmen and slaves among the Romans, the greatest mark of respect +was the erection of a monument or inscription in the tomb reserved +for the family they had served. Thousands of these inscriptions to +slaves and faithful servants still exist, and lead us to hope that the +hardships of slavery in ancient Rome were often softened by mutual +kindness and respect. One of the most touching of these is in a tomb on +the Appian Road, which is supposed to have belonged to the attendants +of Livia, the illustrious consort of Augustus. It runs:-- + +"To my beloved Julia, my slave-woman, whose last illness I have watched +and attended as if it had been that of my own mother." + +Tombs of slaves who were martyrs to the Christian religion are very +frequent, and their inscriptions are usually of a most pathetic +description. + +The ashes of the dead, after the solemn burning of the body, were +carefully gathered together and placed in an often very beautifully +painted urn, and taken to the family tomb on the Appian Way, where +an appropriate inscription was affixed to the wall under the niche +containing the vase or urn. Little glass bottles, said to be filled +with the tears of the nearest relations, were likewise enclosed in the +urn, or else hung up beside it. Thousands of these, brilliant, after +ages, with iridescent colours, are still found in the Roman tombs. + +It was not imperative for a man in old Rome to wear mourning at all; +but it was considered very bad taste for a male not to show some +external sign of respect for his dead. With women, on the other hand, +it was obligatory. + +On great occasions, such as the death of an Emperor or a defeat of +the army in foreign parts, the Senate, the Knights, and the whole +Roman people assumed mourning; and the same ceremony was observed when +any general of the Roman army was slain in battle. When Manlius was +precipitated from the Tarpeian rock, half the people put on mourning. +The defeat at Cannae, the conspiracy of Catilina, and the death of +Julius Caesar were also events celebrated in Rome with public mourning; +but during the whole period of the Republic it was not compulsory for +people to notice death, either publicly or privately. + +The first public mourning recorded as being observed throughout the +entire Roman Empire was that for Augustus. It lasted for fifty days +for the men, and the whole year for women. The next public event which +called forth a decree commanding that the entire people of Rome and +the Empire should wear mourning, was the death of Livia, mother of +Tiberius. The same thing occurred at the death of Drusus; and Caligula +followed the example, and ordered general mourning on the death of +Drusilla. + +Private mourning, which was among the Romans, as we have already +intimated, not at all compulsory, could be broken by events such as the +birth of a son or daughter, the marriage of a child, and the return +of a prisoner of war. Men wore lighter mourning than women, but were +expected to absent themselves from places of public amusement. + +The usual colour adopted by women for mourning, under the Roman Empire, +was a peculiar blue-black serge, and an absolutely black veil. As with +us, occasionally, the wearing of mourning brought forth some sharp +remarks from the satirical poets. Thus, Macrobius tells us, in his +Saturnalia, that Croesus on one occasion went to the Senate wearing the +deepest mourning for the largest lamprey in his tank, which had died. + +Women were not allowed to remarry within the year of their husband's +death. Imperial permission, however, might smooth this difficulty. + + + + +AMONG the early Christians the sincerest respect for the memory of +their dead was paid; for most of them, in the first centuries of the +Church, were either martyrs or near connections of such as had suffered +for the faith. The Catacombs are covered with inscriptions recording +the deaths of martyrs; and many of these memorials are exceedingly +pathetic, testifying to the fortitude with which the first Christians +endured any manner of torture rather than deny the new faith which +had been imparted to them by Divine revelation. The remains of the +martyrs, however mangled they might be, were gathered together with the +greatest reverence, and their blood placed in little phials of glass, +which were considered relics of a most precious nature. The Catacombs, +which served the first Christians as churches as well as places of +burial, are called after the most distinguished martyrs who were buried +therein. In that of St. Calixtus, for instance--where that early and +martyred Pope was interred--about two centuries ago was found the body +of Saint Cecilia, "the sweet patroness of music." With such precaution +had her remains been transported to their place of interment, that +Bernini, the most eminent sculptor of the 17th Century, was able to +take a cast of them, which he subsequently worked into a lovely statue, +representing the saint in the graceful and modest attitude in which it +is said her body was found after the lapse of a thousand years. This +exquisite work of art is to be seen in the church which bears Saint +Cecilia's name, in the Trastevere; and a fine replica of it is in the +chapel of St. Cecilia, in the Oratory, Brompton. + +[Illustration: FIG. 8.--_Divine Service in the Catacombs of St. +Calixtus_, A.D. 50.] + +The Catacombs are subterraneous chambers and passages usually formed +in the rock, which is soft and easily excavated, and are to be found +in almost every country in which such rocks exist. In most cases, +probably, they originated in mere quarries, which afterwards came to be +used either as places of sepulchre for the dead, or as hiding-places +for the persecuted living. The most celebrated Catacombs in existence +are those on the Via Appia, at a short distance from Rome. To these +dreary crypts the early Christians were in the habit of retiring, in +order to celebrate Divine worship in times of persecution, and in them +were buried many of the saints, the early Popes, and martyrs. They +consist of long narrow galleries, usually about eight feet high and +five wide, which twist and turn in all directions. The graves were +constructed by hollowing out a portion of the rock, at the side of +the gallery, large enough to contain the body. The entrance was then +built up with stones, on which usually the letters D. M. (Deo Maximo), +or [CHR], the first two letters of the Greek name of Christ, were +inscribed. Though latterly devoted to purposes of Christian interment +exclusively, it is believed that the Catacombs were at one time used +as burying-places for Pagans also, and there are one or two which were +evidently entirely devoted to the Jews. At irregular intervals, these +galleries expand into wide and lofty vaulted chambers, in which the +service of the Church was no doubt celebrated, and which still have +the appearance of chapels. The original extent of the Catacombs is +uncertain, the guides maintaining that they have a length of twenty +miles, whereas about six only can now be ascertained to exist, and of +these, many portions have either fallen in or become dangerous. When +Rome was besieged by the Lombards in the 8th Century, several of the +Catacombs were destroyed, and the Popes afterwards caused the remains +of many of the saints and martyrs to be removed and buried in the +churches. The Catacombs at Naples, cut into the Capo di Monte, resemble +those at Rome, and evidently were used for the same purposes, being +partially covered with remarkable Christian symbols. At Palermo and +Syracuse, there are similar Catacombs, and they are also to be found +in Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Persia, and Egypt. At Milo, one of the +Cyclades, there is a hill which is honeycombed with a labyrinth of +tombs running in every direction. In these, bassorilievi and figures +in terra-cotta have been found, which prove them to be long anterior +to the Christian era. In Peru and other parts of South America, +ancient Catacombs still exist. The Catacombs of Paris are a species of +charnel-house, into which the contents of such burying-places as were +found to be pestilential, and the bodies of some of the victims of the +Revolution, were cast by a decree of the Government. The skulls are +arranged in curious forms, and a visit to these weird galleries is one +of the sights of Paris, which few strangers, however, are privileged +to study. The Capuchin monks have frequently attached to their +monasteries, a cloister filled with earth brought from the Holy Land. +In this the monks are buried for a time, until their bones are quite +fleshless, when they are arranged in surprising groups in the long +corridors of a series of galleries, and produce sometimes the reverse +of a solemn effect. + +[Illustration: FIG. 9.--_Crypt of a Chapel in the Catacomb of St. +Agnes, without the walls of Rome (restored), showing the manner in +which the bodies of the early Christians were arranged one above the +other. The front of each tomb was of course walled up._--From the work +on the Catacombs of Rome, by M. PERRET.] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 10.--_An Anglo-Saxon Widow Lady. The upper garment +is of black cloth, edged with fur, and a veil of black gauze hangs from +the head._--9th Century MS., National Library, Paris.] + +AS the Church emerged from the Catacombs, and was enabled to take her +position in the world, her funereal ceremonies became more elaborate +and costly. Masses for the dead were offered up in the churches, to +the accompaniment of music and singing; and the funereal ceremonies +which attended the burial of the Empress Theodolinda, A.D. 595, the +friend and correspondent of Pope St. Gregory the Great, lasted for +over a week. The Cathedral of Monza, where she was buried, was hung +with costly black stuff, and the body of the Empress was exhibited +under a magnificent catafalque, surrounded with lights, and was visited +by pilgrims from all parts of Lombardy. Many hundreds of masses were +said for her in all the churches, and all day the great bells of the +cathedral and of the various monastic establishments tolled dolefully. +At the end of the week the body of the illustrious Empress was placed +in the vault under the high altar, where it remains to this day; and +above it was a shrine filled with extraordinary relics, many of which +still subsist, as, for instance, her celebrated "Hen and Chickens"--a +plateau or tray of silver gilt with some gold chickens with ruby eyes +upon it--and the famous iron crown, which is, indeed, of gold, having +one of the nails said to have been used at the Crucifixion beaten in a +single band round the inside. Napoleon I. crowned himself, at Milan, +King of Italy, with this singular relic. + +[Illustration: FIG. 11.--_An Anglo-Saxon Priest wearing a black +Dalmatic, edged with fur, ready to say a Requiem Mass._--From an early +MS., 10th Century.] + +Our Catholic ancestors spent large sums of money upon their funerals. +The pious practice of praying for the dead, which they doubtless +derived from the Hebrews, induced them to secure the future exertions +of their friends, by building chanteries and special chapels in the +churches, with a view of reminding the survivors of their demise. +Guilds, which by the way, still exist, were created for the purpose of +binding people together in a holy league of prayer for the souls of the +faithful departed. We find in the laws established for the Guild of +Abbotsbury, the following regulations:--"If any one belonging to the +association chance to die, each member shall pay a penny for the good +of the soul, before the body be laid in the grave. If he die in the +neighbourhood, the steward (secretary) shall enquire when he is to be +interred, and shall summon as many members as he can, to assemble and +carry the corpse in as honourable a manner as possible to the grave or +minster, and there pray devoutly for his soul's rest." With the same +view, our ancestors were ever anxious to obtain a place of sepulchre in +the most frequented churches. The monuments raised over their remains, +whilst keeping them safe from profanation, recalled them to memory, +and solicited on their behalf the charity of the faithful. The usual +inscription on the earlier Christian tombs in this country was the +pathetic "Of your charity, pray for me." In the Guild of All Souls, +in London, when any member died, it was the custom of the survivors +to give the poor a loaf for the good of the soul; and the writer can +perfectly remember, that some thirty years since, in remote parts of +Norfolk, when anybody died, it was the fashion to distribute loaves +of bread in the church porch as a dole. The funeral of an Anglo-Saxon +was thus conducted:--The body of the deceased was placed on a bier or +in a hearse. On it lay the book of the gospels, the code of his or her +belief, and the cross, the signal of hope. A pall of silk or linen was +thrown over it till it reached the place of interment. The friends +were summoned, and strangers deemed it a duty to join the funeral +procession. The clergy walked before or on each side, bearing lighted +tapers in their hands, and chanting a portion of the psalter. If it +were in the evening, the night was passed in exercises of devotion. +In the morning, mass was sung and the body deposited with solemnity +in the grave, the sawlshot paid, and a liberal donation distributed +to the poor. Before the Reformation, it was the excellent custom for +all persons who met a funeral to uncover and stand reverentially +still until it had passed. The pious turned back, and accompanied the +mourners a part of the way to the grave. It is pleasant to notice +that this essentially humane habit of taking off the hat and behaving +gravely as a funeral goes by, which is universal upon the Continent, +is at last becoming more and more general here. The homage of the +living to the mortal remains of even the humblest is excellent, and +one which should be earnestly encouraged, being far more beneficial in +its results than the heaping of costly flowers upon a hearse, which no +one notices as it passes, laden with its ephemeral offerings, to the +cemetery. + +[Illustration: FIG. 12.--_Funeral of St. Edward the Confessor, January +5th, 1066. The body, covered with a silken pall adorned with crosses, +is carried by eight men, and followed by many priests, to Westminster +Abbey, which he had founded. Under the bier are seen two small +figures ringing bells._--From the Bayeux Tapestry, worked by Matilda +of Flanders, Queen of William the Conqueror, and preserved in the +Cathedral at Bayeux--11th Century.] + +The funeral of Edward the Confessor was exceedingly magnificent, and +the shrine built over his relics, behind the high altar of the glorious +abbey which he founded, is still an object of reverence with our Roman +Catholic fellow-citizens, who, on St. Edward's Day, are permitted by +a tolerant age to offer their devotions before the resting-place of +the last of our Saxon Kings. But our first Norman King was buried with +scant ceremony. He died 1087, at Hermentrude, a village near Rouen, +having been taken suddenly ill on his way to England. No sooner was +the illustrious king deceased, than his servants plundered the house +and even the corpse, flinging it naked upon the floor. Herleadin, a +peasant, undertook at last to convey the body to Caen, where it was to +be buried in the Abbey of St. Stephen, Prince Henry and the monks being +present. Scarcely, however, was the mass of requiem begun, when the +church took fire, and everybody fled, leaving William the Conqueror's +hearse neglected in the centre of the transept. At last the flames were +extinguished, the interrupted service finished, and the funeral sermon +preached. Just, however, as the coffin was about to be lowered into the +vault, Anselm Fitz-Arthur, a Norman gentleman, stood forth and forbade +the interment. "This spot," cried he, "is the site of my father's +house, which this dead man burnt to ashes. On the ground it occupied I +built this church, and William's body shall not desecrate it." After +much ado, however, Fitz-Arthur was prevailed upon by Prince Henry to +allow the body to be buried, on the payment of sixty shillings as the +price of the grave. In the 17th Century the Calvinists ravaged the tomb +and broke the monument. It was restored in 1642, but finally swept +away, together with that of Queen Matilda, in the Revolution of 1793. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 13.--_The Shrine of the Confessor, in Westminster +Abbey._] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 14.--_Funeral of an Abbess--10th Century._--From a +MS.] + +PERHAPS the most curious funeral on record occurred just at the dawn +of the Renaissance--that of the ill-fated Inez de Castro--"the Queen +crowned after death"--who was murdered in the 14th Century by three +assassins in her own apartment at Coimbra. "Being conveyed," says the +Chronicle of Fray Jao das Reglas, "to the chapel of the neighbouring +convent, her body was arrayed in spotless white and decked with roses. +The nuns surrounded the bier, and the Queen-mother of Portugal, +Brittes, sat in state--her crown upon her head and her royal robes +flowing around her--as chief mourner, having given an order that the +body should not be buried until after the return of her son Don Pedro. +When he did come back, he was transported with grief and anger at the +foul murder of his consort; and, throwing himself upon the corpse, +clasped it to his heart, covered its pale lips, its hands, its feet +with kisses, and, refusing all consolation, remained for thirty hours +with the body clasped in his embrace! At last, being overcome with +fatigue, the unhappy Prince was carried away senseless from the piteous +remains of his most dear Inez, and they were consigned to the grave. +It was his father who had instigated the murderers to commit their +foul deed, and this determined Pedro to take up arms against him; and +Portugal was desolated by civil war. Eventually the reasoning of the +Queen (Brittes) prevailed, and peace was restored. Pedro, however, +never spoke to his father again until the hour of his death, when he +forgave the great wrong he had done him. He now ascended the throne, +and his first act was to hunt down the three murderers, two of whom +were put to death, with tortures too awful to describe, and the other +escaped into France, where he died a beggar. After this retributive +act, Don Pedro assembled the Cortes at Cantandes, and, in the presence +of the Pope's Nuncio, solemnly swore that he had secretly married Inez +de Castro at Braganza, in the presence of the bishop and of other +witnesses." "Then occurred an event unique in history," continues this +naive contemporary chronicle. "The body of Inez was lifted from the +grave, placed on a magnificent throne, and crowned Queen of Portugal. +The clergy, the nobility, and the people did homage to her corpse, +and kissed the bones of her hands. There sat the dead Queen, with her +yellow hair hanging like a veil round her ghastly form. One fleshless +hand held the sceptre, and the other the orb of royalty. At night, +after the coronation ceremony, a procession was formed of all the +clergy and nobility, the religious orders and confraternities--which +extended over many miles--each person holding a flaring torch in his +hand, and thus walked from Coimbra to Alcobaca, escorting the crowned +corpse to that royal abbey for interment. The dead Queen lay in her +rich robes upon a chariot drawn by black mules and lighted up by +hundreds of lights." + +[Illustration: FIG. 15.--_Bird's-eye view of the Monument (restored) of +the Queen Inez of Castro, Abbey of Alcobaca, Portugal._] + +The scene must indeed have been a weird one. The sable costumes of the +bishops and priests, the incense issuing from innumerable censers, +the friars in their quaint garments, and the fantastically-attired +members of the various hermandades, or brotherhoods--some of whom were +dressed from head to foot entirely in scarlet, or blue, or black, or in +white--with their countenances masked and their eyes glittering through +small openings in their cowls; but above all, the spectre-like corpse +of the Queen, on its car, and the grief-stricken King, who led the +train--when seen by the flickering light of countless torches, with its +solemn dirge music, passing through many a mile of open country in the +midnight hours--was a vision so unreal that the chronicler describes it +as "rather a phantasmagoria than a reality." In the magnificent abbey +of Alcobaca the _requiem_ mass was sung, and the corpse finally laid to +rest. + +The monument still exists, with the statue, with its royal diadem and +mantle, lying thereon. The tomb of Don Pedro is placed foot to foot +with that of Inez, so--the legend runs--that at the Judgment Day they +may rise together and stand face to face. + +In 1810 the bodies of Don Pedro I. and Dona Inez de Castro were +disturbed by the French, at the sack of Alcobaca. The skeleton of Inez +was discovered to be in a singular state of preservation--the hair +exceedingly long and glossy, and the head bound with a golden crown +set with jewels of price. Singularly enough, this crown, although very +valuable, was kicked about by the men as a toy and thrown behind the +high altar, whence, as soon as the troops evacuated the monastery, it +was carefully taken and laid aside by the Abbot. Shortly afterwards it +again encircled the unhappy Queen's head, when, by order of the Duke +of Wellington, the remains were once more replaced in the tomb, with +military honours. + +[Illustration: FIG. 16.--_Funeral Service, in which are shown +the Candelabra and Incense Vessels which were deposited in the +coffin._--Drawing of the 14th Century--Collection of the Rev. Father +COCHET.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 17.--_Angels praying over a Skull._--Bas-relief of +16th Century.] + + + + +[Illustration: FIGS. 18 & 19.--_Death Criers_--_French costumes of 17th +Century. The English dress was almost identical._--From a rare print +in the collection of Mr. RICHARD DAVEY. Engraved expressly for this +publication.] + +FUNERAL services of great magnificence entered largely into the customs +of this pageantic epoch; and to this day, in Catholic countries, no +religious ceremonies are conducted with more pomp than those intended +to commemorate the departed. Besides the religious orders, there were +numerous confraternities, guilds, and brotherhoods devoted to the +burying and praying for the deceased. As no newspapers existed in those +days, when a person of distinction died, the "Death Crier,"--in some +parts of England called the "Death Watch,"--dressed in black, with a +death's-head and cross-bones painted on the back and front of his gown, +and armed with a bell, went the round of the town or village, as the +case might be, shouting "Of your charity, good people, pray for the +soul of our dear brother, [or sister] who departed this life at such +and such an hour." Upon this the windows and doors of the houses were +opened, and the "good people" said an ave or a pater for the "rest" +of the dead, and at the same time the passing bell was tolled. In +London, when the King or Queen died, the crier, or "Death Watch," who +paraded our principal thoroughfares was, of course, a very important +personage. Attended by the whole brotherhood, or guild, of the Holy +Souls, with cross-bearer, each carrying a lighted candle, he proceeded +processionally through the streets, notably up and down Cheapside and +the Strand, solemnly ringing his bell, and crying out in a lugubrious +voice his sad news. These criers, both in England and France, were +paid, as officials, by the civic corporation so much per day, and were +obliged, in addition to their usual mournful occupation, to inspect and +report on the condition of low taverns and places of ill-fame. In the +course of time they added to their "cry" news of a more miscellaneous +character, and after the Reformation, became, we may well imagine, +those rather musty folks the "Watch," who only disappeared from our +midst as late as the early half of this century. + +[Illustration: FIG. 20.--_Pall from the Church of Folleville, France, +now in the Museum at Amiens. It is of black velvet, with stripes of +white silk let in, embroidered with black and gold thread. It was +placed over the coffin. Similar palls existed in England, and one or +two are still preserved in our national collections._] + +[Illustration: FIG. 21.--_Scene from Richard III._--_The body of Henry +VI. being by chance met by Richard on its way to Chertsey, he orders +the bearers to set it down, and then pleads his cause to the Lady +Anne._] + +Shakespeare, whose knowledge of Catholicism of course came to him from +immediate tradition, possibly remembered a very ancient custom when, in +_Richard III._, he makes the Duke of Glo'ster command the attendants +who follow the body of Henry VI. to set it down,--an order which they +obey reluctantly enough,--thereby giving him an opportunity to make +love to Lady Anne in the presence of her murdered father-in-law's +remains. In Catholic times the streets were adorned not only by many +fine crosses, such as those at Charing and Cheapside, but also by +numerous chapels and wayside shrines. Funerals, when they passed +these, were in the habit of stopping, and the assistants, kneeling, +prayed for the dead person whom they were carrying to the grave. They +likewise stopped, also, and very frequently too, at certain well-known +public-houses or taverns, the members of the family of the deceased +being obliged by custom to "wet the lips" of the "thirsty souls" who +carried the corpse. Sometimes very disorderly scenes ensued. The hired +mourners and more unruly members of the guilds got drunk; and it is on +record that on more than one occasion the body was pulled out of its +coffin by these rascals and outraged, to the horror and indignation of +honest people. It has frequently occurred to the writer, that if the +attendants in the curious scene in the tragedy just mentioned, were to +convey the body of the dead King to the side or back of the stage, in +front of some shrine or cross, and occupy themselves with prayer, they +would render the astonishing dialogue between Glo'ster and Lady Anne +much more intelligible than when we hear it spoken, as is usually the +case, before a number of persons for whose ears it was certainly never +intended. + +[Illustration: FIG. 22.--_Funeral of King Richard II., showing his +waxen effigy._--From an early MS. of FROISSART.] + + + + +IMPORTANT personages in olden times in this country were usually +embalmed. The poor, on the contrary, were rarely furnished even with +a decent coffin, but were carried to the grave in a hired one, which, +in villages, often did duty for many successive years. Once the brief +service was said, the pauper's body, in its winding-sheet, was placed +reverently enough in the earth, and covered up--a fact which doubtless +accounts for the numerous village legends of ghosts wandering about in +winding-sheets. Charitable people paid for masses to be said by the +friars for their poorer brethren, and the guilds paid all expenses of +the funeral, which were naturally not very considerable. On the other +hand, the funeral of great personages, from king to squire, was a +function which sometimes lasted a week. The bell tolled--as it still +does--the moment the death became known to the bell-ringer. Then the +body was washed, embalmed with spices and sweet herbs, wrapped in a +winding-sheet of fine linen,--which, by the way, was often included +among the wedding presents--and taken down into the hall of the palace +or manor, which was hung with black, and lighted by many tapers, and +even by waxen torches--sometimes as many as 300 and 400 of them--an +immense expense, considering the cost of wax in those days. After three +days' exposition--if the body remained incorrupt so long--the corpse +was sealed up in a leaden coffin, and taken to the church, where solemn +masses were sung. The clothes--we may presume the old and well-worn +ones only--were then formally distributed to the poor of the parish. +Finally came the funeral banquet of "baked meats," to which all those, +including the clergy, who had taken part in the funeral service and +procession were invited. + +When the Sovereign or any person of royal rank deceased, a waxen +presentment was immediately made of him as he was seen in life under +the influence of sleep. This figure, dressed in the regal robes, +was exposed upon the catafalque in the church, instead of the real +body--a custom doubtless inspired originally by hygienic motives, for +frequently the funeral rites of a king or prince of the blood were +prolonged for many days. In Westminster Abbey there are still several +of these grim ancient waxen effigies to be seen, by special permission +of the Dean, very faded and ghastly, but interesting as likenesses, +and for the fragments which time has spared of their once gorgeous +attire. This custom lasted with us until the time of William and Mary. +In France it disappeared in the middle of the 17th Century, the last +mention of it being on the occasion of the death of Anne of Austria; +for we read in a curious letter from Guy Patin to his friend Falconet, +"The Queen-Mother died to-day [Jan. 21, 1666]. She was immediately +embalmed, and by noon her waxen effigy was on view at the Louvre. +Thousands are pressing in to see it." + +[Illustration: FIG. 23.--_Funeral Procession of King Henry V._, A.D. +1422.] + +In France, so long as the wax effigy was exposed in the church or +palace, sometimes for three weeks, the service of the royal person's +table took place as usual. His or her chair of state was drawn up to +the table, the napkin, knife and fork, spoon and glass, were in their +usual places, and at the appointed time the dinner was served to the +household, and "the meats, drinks, and all other goodly things" were +offered before the dead prince's chair, as if he were still seated +therein. When, however, the coffin took the place in the church +of the wax figure, and the body was put into the grave, then the +banqueting-hall was hung with black, and for eight days no meals were +served in it of any kind. + +[Illustration: FIG. 24.--_Queen Katherine de Valois in her Widow's +Dress, A.D. 1422. The costume is of black brocade elaborately trimmed +with black glass beads, and trimmed with white fur._--MS. of the +period.] + +We still possess some curious details concerning the funeral of Henry +V., who died at Vincennes in 1422. Juvenal des Usines tells us that +the body was boiled, so as to be converted into a perfect skeleton, +for better transportation into England. The bones were first taken +to Notre Dame, where a superb funeral service was said over them. +Just above the body they placed a figure made of boiled leather, +representing the king's person "as well as might be desired," clad in +purple, with the imperial diadem on its brow and the sceptre in its +hand. Thus adorned, the coffin and the effigy were placed on a gorgeous +chariot, covered with a "coverture" of red velvet beaten with gold. +In this manner, followed by the King of Scots, as chief mourner, and +by all the princes, lords, and knights of his house, was the body of +the illustrious hero of Agincourt conveyed from town to town, until it +reached Calais and was embarked for England, where it was finally laid +at rest in Westminster Abbey, under a new monument erected by Queen +Katherine de Valois, who eventually caused a silver-plated effigy of +her husband, with a solid silver gilt head, to be placed on the tomb, +which was unfortunately destroyed at the time of the Reformation. + +The funeral of Eleanor of Castile, the adored consort of Edward I., +was exceptionally sumptuous. This amiable Queen died at Hardbey, near +Grantham, of "autumnal" fever, on November 29, 1290. The pressing +affairs of Scotland were obliterated for the time from the mind of the +great Edward, and he refused to attend to any state duty until his +"loved ladye" was laid at rest at Westminster. The procession, followed +by the King in the bitterest woe, took thirteen days to reach London +from Grantham. At the end of every stage the royal bier surrounded by +its attendants, rested in some central place of a great town, till the +neighbouring ecclesiastics came to meet it in solemn procession, and +to place it upon the high altar of the principal church. A cross was +erected in memory of King Edward's _chere reine_ at every one of these +resting-places. Thirteen of these monuments once existed; now only +two of the originals remain, the crosses of Northampton and Waltham. +The fac-simile at Charing Cross, opposite the Railway Station, though +excellent, is of course modern, and does not occupy the right spot, +which was, it is said on good authority, exactly where now stands the +statue of Charles II. The Chronicler of Dunstable thus describes the +ceremony of marking the sites for these crosses: "Her body passed +through Dunstable and rested one night, and two precious cloths were +given us, and eighty pounds of wax. And when the body of Queen Eleanor +was departing from Dunstable, her bier rested in the centre of the +market-place till the King's Chancellor and the great men there present +had marked a fitting place where they might afterwards erect, at the +royal expense, a cross of wonderful size,--our prior being present, who +sprinkled the spot with holy water." + +Perhaps the most magnificent funeral which took place before the +Reformation was that of Elizabeth of York, consort of Henry VII. It +was one of the last great Roman Catholic state funerals in England, +for the obsequies of Henry VII. himself were conducted on a much +diminished scale; and those of the wives of Henry VIII., and of that +monster himself, were not accompanied by so much pomp, owing to the +religious troubles of the time. Queen Elizabeth of York was the last +English Queen who died at the Tower. Her obsequies took place in the +chapel of St. Mary, which was, until quite lately, the Rolls Office, +and which was magnificently hung on this occasion with black brocade. +The windows were veiled with crape. The Queen's body rested on a bed of +state, in a _chapelle ardente_, surrounded by over 5,000 wax candles. +High Mass was said during the earlier hours of the morning, and in the +afternoon solemn Vespers were sung. When the Queen's body was nailed up +in its coffin, the usual waxen effigy took its place. The procession +left St. Mary's, in the Tower, at noon, for Westminster Abbey, and was +of exceeding length. At every hundred yards it was met by the religious +corporations, fraternities, and guilds, and by the children attached +to sundry monastic and charitable foundations, some of them dressed as +angels, with golden wings, and all of them singing psalms. There were +over 8,000 wax tapers burning between Mark Lane and the Temple; and +the fronts of all the churches were hung with black, and brilliantly +illuminated. The people in the streets held candles, and repeated +prayers. At Temple Bar the body was received by the municipal officers +of the City of Westminster, who accompanied it to the Abbey, where the +Queen's effigy was exhibited with great state for two days, and on the +morning of the third she was buried in what is since known as "Henry +VII.'s Chapel." + +[Illustration: FIG. 25.--_Gentleman in Mourning, time of Henry VII. The +costume is entirely black, edged with black fur._--From a contemporary +MS.] + +The funeral of the unfortunate Katherine of Arragon took place, as all +the world knows, in Peterborough Cathedral. + +[Illustration: FIG. 26.--_Richard I. and his Queen attending the +Requiem Mass for the fallen Crusaders, in the Cathedral of Rhodes._] + +In a recently discovered contemporary Spanish chronicle, translated +by Mr. Martin Sharpe Hume, it seems that the servants of the "Blessed +lady" (Queen Katherine) were all dressed in mourning, and the funeral +was a fairly handsome one. More than three hundred masses were said +during the day at Peterborough, for all the clergy for fifteen miles +round came to the various services. Chapuy, the Spanish Ambassador to +the Court of King Henry, in a letter to his master Charles V., however, +informs him that the funeral of Queen Katherine was mean and shabby in +the extreme, quite unworthy even of an ordinary baroness. Jane Seymour +fared better after death than any other of the wives of Henry VIII., +and was buried with considerable solemnity at Windsor. The first royal +Protestant state funeral mentioned as taking place in this country +was that of Queen Catherine Parr, at Sudeley Castle. The ceremony was +of the simplest description: psalms were sung over the remains, and a +brief discourse pronounced. The Lady Jane Grey was chief mourner. + +[Illustration: FIG. 27.--_Lying in State of Queen Elizabeth of York, +Consort of Henry VII._] + +The author of the Spanish chronicle just mentioned, who evidently +witnessed the interment of Henry VIII., assures us that the waxen +effigy of the King was carried in a chair to Windsor, and was an +astonishing likeness. It was followed by 1,000 gentlemen on horseback, +the horses all being draped with black velvet. Many masses were said in +St. George's Chapel for the rest of the King's soul, but the obsequies +do not appear to have been exceptionally splendid. + +[Illustration: FIG. 28.--_Tomb of Henry V._] + +The funeral of Anne of Cleves, who had become a Catholic, took place +at Westminster, under the special supervision of Queen Mary. It was a +plain but handsome function, conducted with good taste, but without +ostentation. The unpopular Mary Tudor's funeral was the last Catholic +state ceremony of the kind which ever took place in Westminster Abbey. +Queen Elizabeth attended her sister's funeral, which was a simple one, +and listened attentively to the funeral oration preached by Dr. White +Bailey, of Winchester, who, when he spoke of poor Mary's sufferings, +wept bitterly, and exclaimed, looking significantly at her successor, +_Melior est canis vivis leone mortuo_. Elizabeth understood her Latin +too well not to be fired with indignation at this elegant simile, +which declared a "living dog better than a dead lion," and ordered the +bishop to be arrested as he descended from the pulpit, and a violent +scene occurred between him and the Queen, which, Her Majesty prudently +permitted him to have the best of, by withdrawing with her train from +the Abbey. + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 29.--_Departure of the body of Queen Elizabeth from +Greenwich Palace, for Interment at Westminster._] + +QUEEN ELIZABETH died in the seventieth year of her age and the +forty-fourth of her reign, March 24, on the eve of the festival of the +Annunciation, called Lady Day. Among the complimentary epitaphs which +were composed for her, and hung up in many churches, was one ending +with the following couplet:-- + + "She is, she was--what can there be more said? + On earth the first, in heaven the second maid." + +It is stated by Lady Southwell that directions were left by Elizabeth +that she should not be embalmed; but Cecil gave orders to her surgeon +to open her. "Now, the Queen's body being cered up," continues Lady +Southwell, "was brought by water to Whitehall, where, being watched +every night by six several ladies, myself that night watching as one +of them, and being all in our places about the corpse, which was fast +nailed up in a board coffin, with leaves of lead covered with velvet, +her body burst with such a crack that it splitted the wood, lead, and +cere-cloth; whereupon, the next day she was fain to be new trimmed up." + +Elizabeth was most royally interred in Westminster Abbey on the 28th of +April, 1603. We subjoin a rare contemporary engraving of the funeral +procession, by which it will be seen with what pomp and ceremony the +remains of the great Queen were escorted to their last resting-place. +"The city of Westminster," says Stow, "was surcharged with multitudes +of all sorts of people, in the streets, houses, windows, leads, and +gutters, who came to see the obsequy. And when they beheld her statue, +or effigy, lying on the coffin, set forth in royal robes, having a +crown upon the head thereof, and a ball and a sceptre in either hand, +there was such a general sighing, groaning, and weeping as the like +hath not been seen or known in the memory of man; neither doth any +history mention any people, time, or state to make such lamentation +for the death of a sovereign." The funereal effigy which, by its close +resemblance to their deceased sovereign, moved the sensibility of the +loyal and excitable portion of the spectators at her obsequies in this +powerful manner, was no other than the faded waxwork effigy of Queen +Elizabeth preserved in Westminster Abbey. + +[Illustration: FIG. 30.--_A memento mori, or death's-head timepiece, +in solid silver, lately exhibited at the Stuart Exhibition, 1888-9. +On the forehead is a figure of Death standing between a palace and a +cottage: around is this legend from Horace,_ "Pallida mors equo pulsat +pede pauperum tabernas Regum que turres." _On the hind part of the +skull is a figure of Time, with another legend from Ovid:_ "Tempus +Edax Rerum tuque Mirdiosa Vetustas." _The upper part of the skull +bears representations of Adam and Eve and the Crucifixion; between +these scenes is open work to let out the sound when the watch strikes +the hour upon a silver bell which fills the hollow of the skull and +receives the works within it when the watch is shut. On the edge is +inscribed:_ "Sicut meis sic et omnibus idem." _It bears the maker's +name, Moysart a Blois. Belonged formerly to Mary Queen of Scots, and by +her was given to the Seton family, and inherited thence by its actual +owner, Sir T. W. Dick Lauder._] + +Elizabeth was interred in the same grave with her sister and +predecessor in regal office, Mary Tudor. Her successor, James I., has +left a lasting evidence of his good feeling and good taste in the +noble monument he erected to her memory in the Abbey, and she was the +last sovereign of this country to whom a monument has been given. + +[Illustration: FIG. 31.--_Funeral of Queen Elizabeth, 18th of April, +1603._--From a very rare contemporary engraving, reproduced expressly, +and for the first time, for this work, by M. Badoureau, of Paris. No. 1 +represents the wax effigy of the Queen lying on her coffin; gentlemen +pensioners carrying the banners. The chariot is drawn by four horses. +2. Kings at Arms. 3. Noblemen. 4. The Archbishop of Canterbury. 5. +The French Ambassador and his train-bearer. 6. The great Standard +of England, carried by the Earl of Pembroke. 7. The Master of the +Horse. 8. The Lady Marchioness of Northampton, grand mourner, and the +ladies in attendance on the Queen. 9. Captain of the Guard. 10. Lord +Clanricarde carrying the Standard of Ireland. 11. Standard of Wales, +borne by Viscount Bindon, followed by the Lord Mayor. 12. Gentlemen +of the Chapels Royal; children of the Chapels. 13. Trumpeters. 14. +Standard of the Lion. 15. Standard of the Greyhound. 16. The Queens +Horse. 17. Poor Women to the number of 266. 18. The Banner of Cornwall. +The Aldermen, Recorders, Town Clerks, etc.] + +We have very minute details of how royal personages were buried in +France, in a curious book published in the 17th Century, from a MS. of +the time of Louis XI. In it we learn that King Louis XI. wore scarlet +for mourning on the death of his father, Charles VII. Up to the time of +Louis XIV. the Queens of France, if they became widowed, wore white; +and this is the reason that Mary Tudor was called "_La Reine Blanche_," +when she clandestinely married the Duke of Suffolk in the chapel of +that most interesting place, the Maison Cluny, now a museum, which +still retains its name of _La Reine Blanche_. The Queen had been but a +very short time the widow of Charles VIII., and still wore her weeds +when she gave her hand to the lusty English duke. Mary Stuart wore +white for her husband, Francis II. of France; and when she arrived in +Scotland she still retained, for some months, her white robes, and +was called the "White Queen" in consequence. But this illustrious and +ill-fated princess throughout the greater part of her life wore black, +and we have many minute details of her dresses, especially of the +stately one she wore on the day of her execution, which was of brocaded +satin, having a train of great length; a ruffle of white lawn, edged +with lace; and a veil (which still exists) made of drawn threads, in +a check-board pattern, and edged with Flemish lace. From her girdle +was suspended a rosary, and in her hand she carried a crucifix. Her +under garments, we know, were scarlet; for, when she removed her dress +upon the scaffold, the bodice at least, all contemporaries agree, +was flame-coloured. Queen Elizabeth ordered her Court to go into +mourning for the Queen of Scots, whose sad and "accidental" death she +hypocritically decreed should be regarded as a very great misfortune. + +[Illustration: FIG. 32.--_French Lady of the 16th Century in Widow's +Weeds. This costume is identical with that worn by Mary Stuart as +widow of the Dauphin, only her dress was perfectly white._--From +PIETRO VERCELLIO'S famous work on Costume, engraved expressly for this +publication.] + +King James ordered the deepest mourning to be worn for his royal +mother--a requisition with which all his nobles complied, except the +Earl of Sinclair, who appeared before him clad in steel. The King +frowned, and inquired if he had not seen the order for a general +mourning. "Yes," was the noble's reply; "this is the proper mourning +for the Queen of Scotland." James, however, whatever his inclinations +might have been, was unprovided with the means of levying war against +England, and his Ministers were entirely under the control of the +English faction, and, after maintaining a resentful attitude for a +time, he was at length obliged to accept Elizabeth's "explanation" of +the murder of his mother. + +Early in March, 1587, the obsequies of Mary Stuart were solemnised +by the King, nobles, and people of France, with great pomp, in the +Cathedral of Notre Dame at Paris, and a passionately eloquent funeral +oration was pronounced by Renauld de Beaulue, Archbishop of Bourges +and Patriarch of Acquitaine, which brought tears to the eyes of every +person in the congregation. + +After Mary's body had remained for nearly six months apparently +forgotten by her murderers, Elizabeth considered it necessary, in +consequence of the urgent and pathetic memorials of the afflicted +servants of the unfortunate princess and the remonstrances of her +royal son, to accord it not only Christian burial, but a pompous state +funeral. This she appointed to take place in Peterborough Cathedral, +and, three or four days before, sent some officials to make the +necessary arrangements for the solemnity. The place selected for the +interment was at the entrance of the choir from the south aisle. The +grave was dug by the centogenarian sexton, Scarlett. Heralds and +officers of the wardrobe were also sent to Fotheringay Castle to +make arrangements for the removal of the royal body, and to prepare +mourning for all the servants of the murdered Queen. Moreover, as +their head-dresses were not of the approved fashion for mourning in +England, Elizabeth sent a milliner on purpose to make others, in the +orthodox mode, proper to be worn at the funeral, and to be theirs +afterwards. However, these true mourners coldly, but firmly declined +availing themselves of these gifts and attentions, declaring "that they +would wear their own dresses, such as they had got made for mourning +immediately after the loss of their beloved Queen and mistress." + +On the evening of Sunday, July 30, Garter King of Arms arrived at +Fotheringay Castle, with five other heralds and forty horsemen, +to receive and escort the remains of Mary Stuart to Peterborough +Cathedral, having brought with them a royal funereal car for that +purpose, covered with black velvet, elaborately set forth with +escutcheons of the arms of Scotland, and little pennons round about +it, drawn by four richly-caparisoned horses. The body, being enclosed +in lead within an outer coffin, was reverently put into the car, and +the heralds, having assumed their coats and tabards, brought the same +forth from the castle, bare-headed, by torchlight, about ten o'clock at +night, followed by all her sorrowful servants. + +The procession arrived at Peterborough between one and two o'clock on +the morning of July 30, and was received ceremoniously at the minster +door by the bishop and clergy, where, in the presence of her faithful +Scotch attendants, she was laid in the vault prepared for her, without +singing or saying--the grand ceremonial being appointed for August 1. +The reason for depositing the royal body previously in the vault was, +because it was too heavy to be carried in the procession, weighing, +with the lead and outer coffin, nearly nine hundredweight. On Monday, +the 31st, arrived the ceremonial mourners from London, escorting the +Countess of Bedford, who was to represent Elizabeth in the mockery of +acting as chief mourner to the poor victim. At eight in the morning +of Tuesday the solemnities commenced. First, the Countess of Bedford +was escorted in state to the great hall of the bishop's palace, where +a representation of Mary's corpse lay on a royal bier. Thence she was +followed into the church by a great number of English peers, peeresses, +knights, ladies, and gentlemen, in mourning. All Mary's servants, +both male and female, walked in the procession, according to their +degree--among them her almoner, De Preau, bearing a large silver cross. +The representation of the corpse being received without the Cathedral +gate by the bishops and clergy, it was borne in solemn procession and +set down within the royal hearse, which had been prepared for it, over +the grave where the remains of the Queen had been silently deposited by +torchlight on the Monday morning. The hearse was 20 feet square, and +27 feet high. On the coffin--which was covered with a pall of black +velvet--lay a crown of gold, set with stones, resting on a purple +velvet cushion, fringed and tasselled with gold. + +All the Scotch Queen's train--both men and women, with the exception +of Sir Andrew Melville and the two Mowbrays, who were members of the +Reformed Church--departed, and would not tarry for sermon or prayers. +This greatly offended the English portion of the congregation, who +called after them and wanted to force them to remain. After the prayer +and a funeral service, every officer broke his staff over his head +and threw the pieces into the vault upon the coffin. The procession +returned in the same order to the bishop's palace, where Mary's +servants were invited to partake of the banquet which was provided for +all the mourners; but they declined doing so, saying that "their hearts +were too sad to feast." + +[Illustration: FIG. 33.--_Shakespeare's Tomb before the present +restoration._] + +But let us turn aside from the pageants of kings and queens, and direct +our attention for a few moments towards Stratford-upon-Avon, where, +on April 23, 1616, the greatest of all Englishmen breathed his last. +A vague tradition tells us that, being in the company of Drayton and +Ben Johnson, Shakespeare partook too freely of the cup, and expired +soon after. This may be a calumny; and, if it were not, it would not +diminish our gratitude and reverence for the highest intellect our +race has produced. It, however, leads us to think and hope, that at +the modest funeral of the "great Bard of Avon" the illustrious Ben +Johnson as well as Drayton were present with his sorrowing relatives +and fellow-citizens. His remains rest under the famous slab which bears +the inscription due, it is said, to his own immortal pen: + + "Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbeare + To digg T--E dust encloased here: + Blessed be T--E Man T/y spares T--ES Stones, + And curst be He T/y moves my bones." + +If his contemporaries have forgotten to give us details of that +memorable funeral, and if for nearly two centuries his modest grave was +almost neglected, ample reparation has been made to his memory in this +enlightened age, and Shakespeare's tomb has become a shrine visited +by countless pilgrims from all parts of the earth; and a glorious +monument, more beautiful than has been generally admitted, stands +not far from the church, erected to Shakespeare only last year by a +nobleman, Lord Ronald Gower, whose taste and culture would have done +honour to the epoch which produced not Shakespeare alone, but Sydney +and Raleigh. + +[Illustration: FIG. 34.--_Stratford-on-Avon Church._] + +If we could discover all the particulars respecting Shakespeare's +burial, we should possibly find that, being a "gentleman," he was +wrapped in his coffin in "wool," for which privilege his survivors +paid a tax of 10s. This curious habit, which we derived from our +Norman ancestors, endured until the first few years of this century. +By "wool" we should read flannel. Almost all the old parish registers +in the country make a point of informing us that "the body" was buried +in wool, and the "usual tax paid." The Normans, and their descendants +in Normandy to this day, had some curious superstitions connected with +"flannel," which even the industrious bibliophile Jacob has failed to +discover. This custom they introduced into England, and it lasted for +hundreds of years. I believe the coffin was also frequently filled up +with fine sheep's wool. Another curious custom, which is now obsolete, +was to put cloves, spikenard, fine herbs, and twigs of various aromatic +shrubs into the coffin, in memory of the embalming of our Lord. Young +girls and unmarried women were buried in white, and had their coffins +covered with white flowers. All the people who accompanied the funeral +wore white scarves, and before the Reformation, white dresses, and the +way was strewn with box leaves, grass, and flowers. The porch of the +deceased's house was decked with flowers and garlands, and especially +with dog-roses and daisies. + +[Illustration: FIG. 35.--_Seal of an imaginary Bull of Pope +Lucifer._--From the _Roi Modus_, a MS. of the 15th Century, Royal +Library, Brussels. The inscription is evidently cabalistic and +unintelligible.] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 36.--_The Funeral of Juliet_ ("Romeo and +Juliet").--This charming engraving from KNIGHT'S splendid edition of +Shakespeare gives a very fair idea of a grand funeral procession in the +16th Century.] + +THE funeral ceremonies of the French kings and princes of the blood +during the Middle Ages and the period of the Renaissance, were, as +may well be imagined, exceedingly magnificent. As already related, +the death criers announced the decease of the sovereign in the usual +manner, shouting out, "_Oyez! bonnes gens de Paris_--listen, good +people of Paris: the most high and mighty, excellent and powerful King, +our sovereign Master, by the grace of God King of France, the most +Christian of Princes, most clement and pious, died last night. Pray for +the repose of his soul." + +The first part of the ceremony took place at Notre Dame, where what is +known as the lying-in-state was conducted with appropriate splendour. +The procession, after a solemn mass, formed on the _Pavis_, or square, +round the Cathedral, and began to move slowly over the bridge and +through the Marais to St. Denis, some miles distant from Paris. There +was a halt, however, at the convent of St. Lazaire (now covered by the +railway station), and the gentlemen in attendance mounted their horses. +Before the Revolution of '93, fifteen beautiful wayside crosses, or +_montjoies_, as they were called, stood on the roadside between the +Porte St. Denis and the Abbey. At each of these prayers were said and +the coffin rested. Sometimes, as in the case of Charles VIII., the +coffin and its waxen effigy were carried on the shoulders of a number +of noblemen; but usually, since their feet were hidden by heavy black +velvet draperies, very common men were charged with the "honourable +burden." After the first half of the 16th Century, the royal body was +conducted to the grave in a chariot drawn sometimes by as many as +four-and-twenty black horses. If I err not, the last King of France +whose coffin was carried by men was Francis I., whose gentlemen of the +bedchamber performed this office, having each a halter round his neck, +and a cord or rope. + +At St. Denis the ceremonies were very imposing. High Mass of Requiem +being over, the body was removed from the catafalque and lowered into +the vaults under the altar. The Grand Almoner of France recited the _De +profundis_, all kneeling. Suddenly a voice, that of the Herald-at-Arms, +was heard, crying out from the vault below, "Kings-at-Arms, come +do your duty." The grand officers were now summoned by name, thus: +"Monsieur le duc de Bourbon, bring your staff of command over the +hundred Archers of the Guard, and break it and throw it into the +grave." "Monsieur le comte de Lorges, bring your staff of office as +commander of the Scotch Guard, and break it and throw it into the +grave," and so forth, until some fifty of the grand dignitaries of the +Court had in turn performed this lengthy ceremony. The last time it +occurred was in 1824, on the occasion of the funeral of Louis XVIII., +when each detail of the ancient ceremonial was punctually followed. +Every staff of office was broken and thrown into the King's grave, +except the banner of France, which was merely inclined three times to +the very edge of the crypt. + +At the conclusion of this rather tedious ceremony, everybody knelt +down, and the herald shouted, "The King is dead; pray for his soul." +A moment of silence ensued, which was eventually broken by a blast +of trumpets. Then the organ played a lively strain, and the Herald +proclaimed, "_Le roi est mort, vive le roi_--long live the King!" The +banners waved, the cannon boomed, the bells pealed forth joyously, and +the procession reformed, whilst the officiating clergy sang the _Te +Deum_. As almost all the Kings and Queens of France, with not more +than half a dozen exceptions, from the time of Clovis to that of Louis +XVIII., were buried at St. Denis, the funeral rites were rarely if ever +altered. But with us, although so many of our most illustrious princes +are interred at Westminster, still not a few were buried at St. Paul's; +many at Blackfriars and at Greyfriars, two glorious churches destroyed +in the 17th Century, at Windsor, and in various Cathedrals; so that our +royal funereal ceremonies were not always conducted with such punctual +etiquette as were those of our neighbours. + +[Decoration] + + + + +THE minute details of the funeral of Mary Stuart, at Westminster +Abbey, prove that it was conducted on the same scale and with the same +ceremonies as the one which preceded it by many years at Peterborough. +King James, her son, was present, and shortly afterwards the sumptuous +monument which we still admire marked the place where her mutilated +remains, translated from Peterborough, found a permanent place of rest. + +The great changes in religion which occurred at the time of the +Reformation, although they took much longer to permeate the habits +and customs of the people than is usually imagined, nevertheless were +so radical, that of the ancient ritual little soon remained, and the +beautiful funeral service of the Church of England, which is so full +of faith and hope, and mainly selected from passages of Holy Scripture +adapted to the requirements of a religion which abolished belief in +an intermediary state, and therefore in the necessity of prayers for +the dead, was introduced, and little by little the pompous ceremonies +of the Roman Church were forgotten. The lying-in-state of the corpse, +for instance, which up to the close of the reign of Mary was general, +even with poor people, was now only in use among those of the very +highest rank. The increase in the use of carriages, too, and of course +the abolition of the monastic orders and brotherhoods, diminished the +splendour of the street processions which used to follow the bier. +Still, much that was quaint remained in fashion, and it is only, as +already said, a few years since that ladies ceased wearing a scarf and +hood of black silk, and gentlemen "weepers" on their hats and arms, +which were black or white according to the sex of the deceased. In +Norfolk, until the end of the first quarter of the present century, +it was the custom to give the mourners at a funeral black gloves, +scarves, and bunches of herbs. Indeed, it is but a short time since a +very old lady told me that so rich, broad, and beautiful was the silk +of the scarves presented to each lady at a funeral, when she was a +girl, that ladies were wont to keep the pieces by them until they were +sufficient in number to form a dress. A bill of the funeral expenses of +a very rich gentleman who died at Brandon Hall, in Norfolk, early in +this century,--Mr. Denn, of Norwich,--and who left over half a million +of money, enables us to form some idea of the expense to which our +grandfathers of the upper class were put in order to be buried with +what they considered proper respect. It would seem that in those days +the hearse and funeral carriages had to be hired from London, and they +took three days to perform the journey from the metropolis--a distance +of about three hours by rail. No fewer than 40 persons figure as +accompanying these vehicles, and as they had to be put up at inns along +the road, going both to and from London to Brandon Hall, their expenses +were L180. The hire of horses and carriages was L106, and what with +the distribution of loaves to the poor at the grave, and the expense +of bringing relatives from far parts of the country, and of providing +them with silk scarves, gloves, etc., and the housing and entertaining +of them all, the worthy Mr. Denn's funeral cost his survivors not less +than L775. + +[Illustration: FIG. 37.--_Interment in a Church in the first quarter of +the 18th Century._--From PICARD'S great work on the Religions of all +Nations.] + +In Picard, there is a very beautiful engraving by Schley, representing +a funeral procession in 1735, entering the church of St. Paul's, Covent +Garden. It occurs by night, and a number of pages in black velvet walk +in it, carrying lighted three-branched silver candlesticks. It seems +that until 1775 women in England only attended the funerals of their +own sex, and that men in the same manner only followed men to the +grave. Possibly as a disinfectant against the plague, at all English +funerals a branch of rosemary was handed to all who attended, which +they threw into the open grave. This fashion endured, to the writer's +knowledge, in Norfolk up to 1856. + +The French Revolution cannot be described as an unmitigated +blessing--far from it; but it certainly did away with many +superstitious practices, and shed a flood of light upon civilisation. +Before that event it was the universal custom throughout Europe to +bury in churches, a practice which was most detrimental to health. By +one of the earliest decrees passed by the Convention of Paris, 1794, +intramural interments were abolished, although, to be sure, cemeteries +already existed of considerable extent, possibly suggested by those +which for ages the Mahometans have used in all the principal cities +of Asia and Asiatic Europe. That of Pere la Chaise, so called after +the confessor of Madame de Maintenon, who founded it, is one of the +earliest. With the counter-Reformation, as the movement is called in +history, the ceremonial of the Roman Church became, on the Continent, +even more elaborate than heretofore, and nothing can be imagined more +theatrically splendid than the church decorations on occasions of +funerals of eminent personages. + +[Illustration: FIG. 38.--_The Cemetery of Pere la Chaise, Paris._] + +[Illustration: FIG. 39.--_Funeral of the Grand Duke Albert VII., +surnamed "the Pious," Archduke of Austria, at Brussels, 11th March, +1622. The coffin, covered with a pall of cloth of gold, is carried +under a canopy by the Ambassador of his Catholic Majesty, by the Duke +d'Aumale, the Marquis of Baden, and other great nobles, followed +by the Archbishop of Patras and two Cardinals. The horse of the +deceased is seen led immediately behind, by grooms and officers of the +household._--From the exceedingly rare work by FRANCQUART, printed +at Antwerp in 1623. (From the collection of Mr. RICHARD DAVEY, and +engraved expressly for this publication.)] + +From the last half of the 16th Century down to the Revolution of 1789, +possibly the most extraordinary funeral recorded in history was that +of the Emperor Charles V. It was celebrated with almost identical pomp +simultaneously, at Madrid and at Brussels. The procession at Brussels +took six hours to pass any one point, and it is estimated that 80,000 +persons walked in it, the participants being supplied from every city +of Belgium and Holland. In this extraordinary function figured cars +on floats, representing certain striking events in the life of the +Emperor, and one of these we reproduce, since it will best afford an +idea of the supreme magnificence of the spectacle. It represents a +ship, and is intended to illustrate the maritime progress made in the +reign of this enterprising monarch. The float on which this clever +model of a vessel of the period was arranged was dragged through the +streets by 24 black horses, covered with black velvet, and followed by +representatives of the navies both of Belgium and Spain, and by some +300 lads dressed as sailors of all nations. + +[Illustration: FIG. 40.--_Float carried in the Funeral Procession of +Charles V. at Brussels, December 29, 1558, and intended to illustrate +his maritime greatness. The vessel was the size of a real ship, and the +persons who appear upon its deck were living._--From the "Magnificent +and Sumptuous Funeral of the Very Great Emperor Charles V." (Antwerp, +published by Plantin, 1559.) Collection of M. RUGGIERI, Paris.] + +We also reproduce a little sketch from the funeral procession of +Philip II., son of Charles V., which gives us an excellent idea of +the costumes worn on such an important occasion. The large full-page +engraving represents a portion of the funeral procession which took +place at Brussels, of the Archduke Albert VII. of Austria, surnamed +"the Pious." It was almost as sumptuous as that of Charles V., and, +fortunately a complete record of it has been preserved by Francovoart, +who published a book in the following year, containing no less than 49 +plates illustrating this pageantic procession, which was of enormous +length, and must have cost a great sum of money. The great engraver +Cochin has left us one of his most beautiful plates, representing the +interior of the Church of Notre Dame as arranged for the funeral of +the Infanta Theresa of Spain, Dauphiness of France, in 1746. It gives +us rather the idea of a scene in a court ball-room than of a grave +ceremony. Literally, thousands of lights blazed in all directions, +and there was nothing of a sombre character present, excepting the +catafalque, which was of black velvet, and in a certain sense produced +an admirable effect by showing off to still greater advantage the +illuminations. The funeral of Louis XIV., was fabulously gorgeous, and +so complete an apotheosis of that vain monarch, it brought about a sort +of reaction, and made most persons observe that it was of little use +praying for the soul of one who evidently must already be in glory. In +order to put some bounds to these extravagant services, many people of +a devout character have in all ages prayed in their wills that they +should be carried to the grave in the simplest manner, sometimes in the +habit of a Franciscan, or mendicant friar, and that only a few pounds +should be expended upon their burial. + +[Illustration: FIG. 41.--_Costumes worn by King Philip II. of Spain and +his attendants in the funeral procession of his father, Charles V. The +group consists of the King; the Herald of Spain, of the Order of the +Golden Fleece, who walks in front; of the Duke of Brunswick, the Duke +of Arcos, Don Ruy Gomez, Count of Milito, and finally the Duke Emmanuel +Philibert of Savoy. Mark that the hood was only worn by the heirs of +the deceased._--From the "Sumptuous Funeral of Charles V. at Brussels." +(Antwerp, 1559.) Collection of M. RUGGIERI, Paris.] + +The Italians, and especially the Venetians, spent enormous sums upon +their funeral services, which were exceedingly picturesque; but as the +members of the brotherhoods who walked in the procession wore pointed +hoods and masks, so that, by the glare of the torches, only their eyes +could be seen glittering, and as it was the custom, also, for the +funeral to take place at night, the body being exposed upon an open +bier, in full dress, the scene was sufficiently weird to attract the +attention of travellers, perhaps more so than anything else which they +saw in the land _par excellence_ of pageant. Horace Mann, in one of his +letters, thus amusingly describes the funeral of the daughter of Cosmo +III., Grand Duke of Tuscany:-- + +[Illustration: FIG. 42.--_Funeral of the Infanta Theresa of Spain, +Dauphiness of France, at Notre Dame, 1746._--From the original +engraving of COCHIN.] + +"There was nothing extraordinary in the funeral last night. All the +magnificence consisted in a prodigious number of torches carried by +the different orders of priests, the expense of which in lights, they +say, amounted to 12,000 crowns. The body was in a sort of a coach quite +open, with a canopy over her head; two other coaches followed with her +ladies. As soon as the procession was passed by Madame Suares's, I went +a back way to St. Laurence, where I had been invited by the master of +the ceremonies; here was nothing very particular but my being placed +next to Lady Walpole, who is so angry with me that she would not even +give me the opportunity of making her a bow, which for the future, +since I see it will be disagreeable to her, I will never offer to do +again." + +[Decoration] + + + + +NOTHING could be imagined more picturesque than a Venetian funeral in +bygone days. The state gondola of the family, containing the body, and +also the attendant priests and friars, was covered with black velvet, +and blazed with candelabra full of lighted candles; and from the stern +of the boat hung an immense train of black velvet, which was permitted +to touch the water, but prevented from sinking underneath it by golden +tassels, which were held by members of the family in the gondolas which +followed close behind. All those persons who took part in the funeral +of course carried lights in their hands. If the individual happened +to belong to one of the numerous confraternities, or _scuole_, which +existed in Venice up to the end of the last century, a grand musical +mass was celebrated in the chapel belonging to the order; and on these +occasions some of the finest music ever composed was heard for the +first time, such, for instance, as Paesiello's Requiem, an infinitely +beautiful one by Marcello, and the majestic mass for four voices, by +Lotti. + +[Illustration: FIG. 43.--_Tomb of Hamlet._] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 44.--_Death devouring Man and Beast. A singular, +illuminated document on parchment, of the 12th Century, measuring over +fifty feet by one yard wide. The figure above is intended to represent +the letter T._--From the Mortuary Roll of the Abbey of Savingy, +Avranches, France. The original is preserved among the French National +Archives.] + +THE funeral of a Pope is attended by many curious ceremonies, not the +least remarkable of which is, that so soon as His Holiness' death +is thoroughly assured, the eldest Cardinal goes up to the body, and +strikes it three times gently on the breast, saying in Latin, as he +does so, "The Holy Father has passed away." The body is then lowered +into the Church of St. Peter's, where it is exhibited--as was the case +when Pope Pius IX. died in '78--for three days to the veneration of +the faithful, after which it is conveyed in great state to the church +which the Pope has selected for his burial-place. As it passed along +the streets of Rome in the good old times, the members of the nobility +assembled at the entrance of their houses, each carrying a lighted +taper in his hand, and answering back the prayers of the friars and +clergy in the procession. It will be remembered that it was this sort +of spontaneous illumination which so offended a rabble of freethinkers, +on the occasion of the funeral of the late Pope, that they stoned the +coffin, and created a riot of a most disgraceful character. After the +Pope is buried, it is usual for his successor or his family to build +a stately monument over his remains, and this custom accounts for the +amazing number of fine Papal monuments in the Roman basilicas and +churches. + +[Illustration: FIG. 45.--_Lying-in-State of Pope Pius IX._] + +At a time when everybody is talking about the Stuart dynasty, owing to +the great success of the recent exhibition of their relics (1888-9), +the following curious account of the interment of the Old Pretender +will prove of interest:-- + +"On the 6th of January, 1756, the body of his 'Britannic Majesty' was +conveyed in great state to the said Church of the Twelve Apostles," +says a correspondent from Rome of that date, "preceded by four servants +carrying torches, two detachments of soldiers; and by the side of the +bier walked twenty-four grooms of the stable with wax candles; the +body of the deceased was dressed royally, and borne by nobles of his +household, with an ivory sceptre at its side, and the Orders of SS. +George and Andrew on the breast. + +"On the 7th, the first funeral service took place, in the Church of +the Twelve Apostles. The _facade_ of the church was hung with black +cloth, lace, and golden fringe, in the centre of which was a medallion, +supported by skeletons with cypress branches in their hands, and +bearing the following inscription: + + 'Clemens XIII. Pont. Max. + Jacobo III. + M. Britanniae, Franciae, et Hiberniae Regi. + Catholicae fidei Defensori, + Omnium urbis ordinum + Frequentia funere honestato. + Suprema pietatis officia + Solemni ritu Persolvit.' + +"On entering the church, another great inscription to the same purport +was to be seen; the building inside was draped in the deepest black, +and on the bier, covered with cloth of gold, lay the corpse, before +which was written in large letters: + + 'Jacobus III. Magnae Britanniae Rex. + Anno MDCCLXVI.' + +"On either side stood four silver skeletons on pedestals, draped in +black cloth, and holding large branch candlesticks, each with three +lights. At either corner stood a golden perfume box, decorated with +death's-heads, leaves and festoons of cypress. The steps to the +bier were painted in imitation marble, and had pictures upon them +representing the virtues of the deceased. Over the whole was a canopy +ornamented with crowns, banners, death's-heads, gilded lilies, etc.; +and behind, a great cloth of peacock colour with golden embroidery, +and ermine upon it, hung down to the ground. Over each of the heavily +draped arches down the nave of the church were medallions with +death's-head supporters, and crowns above them, representing the +various British orders and the three kingdoms of England, Ireland, and +Scotland; and on the pilasters were other medallions, supported by +cherubs, expressing virtues attributed to the deceased, each with an +inscription, of which the following is an instance: + + 'Rex Jacobus III. vere dignus imperio, quia natus ad imperandum: + dignus quia ipso regnante virtutes imperassent: dignissimus quia + sibi imperavit.' + +"On the top of the bier, in the nave, lay the body, dressed in royal +garb of gold brocade, with a mantle of crimson velvet, lined and edged +with ermine, a crown on his head, a sceptre in his right hand, an +orb in his left. The two Orders of SS. George and Andrew were fastened +to his breast. + +[Illustration: FIG. 46.--_Funeral of his late Holiness Pope Pius IX., +Feb._ 13, 1878. _The lowering of the body into St. Peter's._] + +"Pope Clement regretted his inability to attend the funeral, owing to +the coldness of the morning, but he sent twenty-two cardinals to sing +mass, besides numerous church dignitaries. + +"After the celebration of the mass, Monsignor Orazio Matteo recited +a funeral oration of great length, recapitulating the virtues of the +deceased, and the incidents of the life of exile and privation that +he had led. After which, the customary _requiem_ for the soul of the +departed was sung, and they then proceeded to convey his deceased +Majesty's body to the Basilica of St. Peter. + +"The procession which accompanied it was one of those gorgeous +spectacles in which the popes and their cardinals loved to indulge. +Every citizen came to see it, and crowds poured in to the Eternal City +from the neighbouring towns and villages, as they were wont to do for +the festivals at Easter, of Corpus Domini. + +"All the orders and confraternities to be found in Rome went in front, +carrying amongst them 500 torches. They marched in rows, four deep; and +after them came the pupils of the English, Scotch, and Irish College in +Rome, in their surplices, and with more torches. + +"Then followed the bier, around which were the gaudy Swiss Papal +Guards. The four corners of the pall were held up by four of the most +distinguished members of the Stuart household. + +"Then came singers, porters carrying two large umbrellas, such as the +Pope would have at his coronation, and all the servants of the royal +household, in deep mourning, and on foot. After them followed the papal +household; and twelve mourning coaches closed the procession. + +"The body was placed in the chapel of the choir of St. Peter's, and +after the absolution, which Monsignor Lascaris pronounced, it was put +into a cypress-wood case, in presence of the major-domo of the Vatican, +who made a formal consignment of it to the Chapter of St. Peter's, +in the presence of the notary of the 'Sacred Apostolic Palace,' who +witnessed the consignment, whilst the notary of the Chapter of St. +Peter's gave him a formal receipt. + +"The second funeral was fixed for the following day, when everything +was done to make the choir of St. Peter's look gorgeous. A large +catafalque was raised in the midst, on the top of which, on a cushion +of black velvet embroidered with gold, lay the royal crown and sceptre, +under a canopy adorned with ermine; 250 candles burnt around, and the +inscription over the catafalque ran as follows: + + 'Memoriae aeternae Jacobi III., Magnae Britanniae Franciae et Hyber, + regis Parentis optimii Henricus Card. Dux Eboracensis moerens justa + persolvit.' + +"Then the cardinals held service, thirteen of whom were then assembled; +after which, the Chapter of St. Peter's and the Vatican clergy, with +all the Court of the defunct king who had assisted at the mass, +accompanied the body to the subterranean vaults beneath St. Peter's, +where the bier was laid aside until such times and seasons as a fitting +memorial could be placed over it." + + + + +AMONG the Jews, according to Buxtorf (who published, in the 17th +Century, perhaps the most valuable work upon the Jewish ceremonies +which still existed in various parts of Europe in his time, many of +which have been modified or have entirely disappeared since), it was +the fashion when a person died, after having closed the eyes and +mouth, to twist the thumb of the right hand inward, and to tie it +with a string of the _taled_, or veil, which covered the face, and +was invariably buried with the corpse. The reason for this doubling +of the thumb was that, when it was thus turned inward, it represented +the figure Schaddai, which is one of the names of God. Otherwise, the +fingers were stretched out so as to show that the deceased had given +up all the goods of this world. The body was most carefully washed, +to indicate that the dead was purified by repentance. Buxtorf tells +us that in Holland, with the old-fashioned Jews, it was the custom to +break an egg into a glass of wine, and to wash the face therewith. The +more devout persons were dressed in the same garments that they wore on +the last feast of the Passover. When the body is placed in the coffin, +it is the habit even now, among the Polish and Oriental Jews, for ten +members of the family, or very old friends, to walk processionally +round it, saying prayers for the repose of the soul. In olden times, +for three days after the death, the family sat at home in a darkened +room and received their friends, who were indeed Job's comforters; +for they sought to afflict them in every way by recalling the virtues +of the dead person, and exaggerating the misery into which they were +thrown by his or her departure. Seven days afterwards, they were +employed in a less rigorous form of mourning, at the end of which the +family again went to the synagogue and offered up prayers, after which +they followed the customs of the country in which they lived, retaining +their mourning only so long as accorded with the prevailing fashion of +the day. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 47.--_The Knight of Death on a White Horse_--After +ALBERT DURER. From a fac-simile of the original engraving, dated 1513, +by one of the Wiericx (1564). This famous engraving, which so perfectly +characterises the weird genius of the Middle Ages, passing into the +Renaissance, represents a knight armed, going to the wars, accompanied +by terrible thoughts of Death and Sin, whose incarnations follow him on +his dismal journey.] + + + + +ONE of the saddest, and certainly the simplest of royal funerals, +was that of King Charles I. After his lamentable execution, his body +lay at Whitehall from January 28, 1649, to the following February 7, +when it was conveyed to Windsor, placed in the vault of St. George's +Chapel, near the coffins of Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour. The day had +been very snowy, and the snow rested thick on the coffin and on the +cloaks and hats of the mourners. The remains were deposited without any +service whatever, and left inscriptionless, save for the words "Charles +Rex, 1649," the letters of which were cut out of a band of lead by +the gentlemen present, with their penknives, and the lead fastened +round the coffin. In this state it remained until the year 1813, +when George IV. caused it to be more fittingly interred. In striking +contrast were the obsequies of the unfortunate King's great rival and +enemy, Cromwell, "who lay in glorious state" at Somerset House, all +the ceremonial being copied from that of the interment of Philip II. +of Spain. The rooms were hung with black cloth, and in the principal +saloon was an effigy of the Protector, with a royal crown upon his head +and a sceptre in his hand, stretched upon a bed of state erected over +his coffin. Crowds of people of all ranks went daily during eight weeks +to see it, the place being illuminated by hundreds of candles. The wax +cast of the face of Cromwell after death is still preserved in the +British Museum. His body, however, was carried away secretly, and at +night, and buried privately at Westminster, for fear of trouble. Later, +in 1660, the remains of the great Protector, and those of his friends +Ireton and Bradshaw, were sacrilegiously taken from their graves, +dragged with ignominy through the streets, and hanged at Tyburn, to the +apparent satisfaction of Mrs. Pepys and her friend Lady Batten, and all +and sundry in London, as is recorded in the "immortal diary." By the +way, Mr. Pepys himself, who died in 1703, was buried with much state +and circumstance in Crutched Friars Church, but at night, the service +being said by Dr. Hickes, the author of the _Thesaurus_. + +[Decoration] + + + + +PERHAPS the strangest funeral recorded in modern history was that of +the translation of the remains of Voltaire, popularly known as his +"apotheosis." The National Assembly in May, 1791, decreed that the +bones of the poet should be brought from the Abbey of Scellieres, and +carried in state to the Pantheon. In Voltaire's lifetime it was boasted +that he had buried the priests and the Christian religion, but now +the priests were going to bury him, having very little of Christian +religion left amongst them. The day of the procession was fixed for +July 10; but the 10th was a deluging, rainy day, and the ceremony was +postponed to the next day, or till the weather should be fine. The next +day was as wet, and the Assembly was about to renew the postponement, +when about two o'clock it cleared up. The coffin was placed on a car +of the classic form, and was borne first to the spot on which the +Bastille had stood, where it was placed on a platform, being covered +with myrtles, roses, and wild flowers, and bearing the following +inscriptions:--"If a man is born free, he ought to govern himself." "If +a man has tyrants placed over him, he ought to dethrone them." Besides +these, there were numerous other inscriptions in different parts of the +area, including one on a huge block of stone: "Receive, O Voltaire! on +this spot, where despotism once held thee in chains, the honours thy +country renders thee!" + +From the Bastille to the Pantheon all Paris seemed to be following the +procession, which consisted of soldiers, lawyers, doctors, municipal +bodies, a crowd of poets, literary men, and artists carrying a gilded +chest containing the seventy volumes of Voltaire's works; men who had +taken part in the demolition of the Bastille, bearing chains, fetters, +and cuirasses found in the prison; a bust of Voltaire, surrounded by +those of Rousseau, Mirabeau, and Montaigne, borne by the actors from +the different theatres, in ancient costume; and lastly came the funeral +car, now surmounted by a statue of the philosopher, which France was +crowning with a wreath of immortelles. The immense procession halted +at various places for the effigy to receive particular honours. At +the opera houses the actors and actresses were waiting to present +a laurel crown and to sing to Voltaire's glory; at the house of M. +Villette--where was yet deposited the heart of the great man, previous +to being sent to Fernay--four tall poplars were planted, and adorned +with wreaths and festoons of flowers, and on the front of the house +was written in large letters: "His genius is everywhere, and his +heart is here." Near this was raised a sort of amphitheatre, on which +were seated a crowd of young girls in white dresses with blue sashes, +crowned with roses, and holding wreaths in honour of the poet in their +hands. The names of all Voltaire's works were written on the front of +the Theatre Francais. The next halt was made on the site of the Comedie +Francaise, and a statue of the poet was there crowned by actors +costumed as Tragedy and Comedy. Thence the procession wended its way +to the Pantheon, where the mouldering remains of Voltaire were placed +beside those of Descartes and Mirabeau. All Paris that evening was one +festal scene; illuminations blazing on the busts and figures of the +patriot of equality. + +[Illustration: FIG. 48.--_Funeral Car of Nelson._--From a contemporary +engraving, reproduced expressly for this publication.] + +The obsequies in England of Lord Nelson, which took place on January +9, 1806, were extremely imposing. I transcribe from a contemporary and +inedited private letter the following account of it:--"I have just +returned from such a sight as will never be seen in London again. I +managed at an inconveniently early hour to get me down into the Strand, +and so down Norfolk Street to a house overlooking the river. Every +post of vantage wherever the procession could be seen was swarming +with living beings, all wearing mourning, the very beggars having a +bit of crape on their arms. The third barge, which contained the body, +was covered with black velvet and adorned with black feathers. In the +centre was a viscount's coronet, and three bannerols were affixed +to the outside of the barge. In the steerage were six lieutenants +of the navy and six trumpets. Clarencieux, King-at-Arms, sat at the +head of the coffin, bearing a viscount's coronet on a black velvet +cushion. The Royal Standard was at the head of the barge, which was +rowed by forty-six seamen from the 'Victory.' The other barges in the +cortege were rowed by Greenwich pensioners. The fourth barge contained +Admiral Sir Peter Parker, the chief mourner, and other admirals, +vice-admirals, and rear-admirals; whilst the Lords of the Admiralty, +the Lord Mayor of London, members of the various worshipful Companies, +and other distinguished mourners occupied the remaining barges, which +were seventeen in number, and were flanked by row-boats, with river +fencibles, harbour marines, etc., etc. All, of course, had their +colours half-mast high. On the following morning, the 9th, the land +procession, which I also contrived to see, started from the Admiralty +to pass through the streets of London to St. Paul's, between dense +crowds all along the route. This procession was of great length, and +included Greenwich pensioners, sailors of the 'Victory,' watermen, +judges and other dignitaries of the law, many members of the nobility, +public officers, and officers of the army and navy; whilst in it were +carried conspicuously the great banner, gauntlets, helmet, sword, +etc., of the deceased. The pall was supported by four admirals. Nearly +10,000 military were assembled on this occasion, and these consisted +chiefly of the regiments that had fought in Egypt, and participated +with the deceased in delivering that country from the power of France. +The car in which the body was conveyed was peculiarly magnificent. It +was decorated with a carved resemblance of the head and stern of the +'Victory,' surrounded with escutcheons of the arms of the deceased, and +adorned with appropriate mottoes and emblematical devices, under an +elevated canopy, in the form of the upper part of a sarcophagus, with +six sable plumes, and a viscount's coronet in the centre, supported +by four columns, representing palm trees, entwined with wreaths of +natural laurel and cypress. As it passed, all uncovered, and many wept. +I heard a great deal said among the people about 'poor Emma' (Emma, +Lady Hamilton), and some wonder whether she will get a pension or not. +On the whole, the processions were most imposing, and I am very glad I +saw it all, although I am much fatigued at it, from standing about so +much and pushing in the crowd, and faint from the difficulty of getting +food, every eating-place being so full of people; and surely, though a +nation must mourn, equally certain is it that it must also eat." + +[Illustration: FIG. 49.--_Funeral Car of Lord Nelson._--From a +contemporary engraving, reproduced expressly for this publication.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 50.--_An Old Market Cross, Rouen._] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 51.--_Funeral Procession of the Emperor +Napoleon I., December_ 15, 1840. _The Cortege descending the Champs +Elysees._--From a contemporary engraving.] + +LOUIS PHILLIPPE, who, by the way, had neglected no opportunity to +render justice to the genius of Napoleon, obtained, in 1840, the +permission of the British Government to remove his body from St. +Helena; and on December 15 it was solemnly interred in the gorgeous +chapel designed by Visconti, at the Invalides. The Prince de Joinville +had the honour of escorting the remains of the Emperor from the lonely +island in the Indian Ocean to Paris. Words cannot paint the emotion +of the inhabitants of the French capital, as the superb procession +descended the long avenue of the Champs Elysees, or that of the +privileged company which witnessed the striking scene in the chapel +itself, as the Prince de Joinville formally consigned the body to the +King, his father, saying, as he did so, "Sire, I deliver over into your +charge the corpse of Napoleon." To which the King replied, "I receive +it in the name of France," and then taking the sword of the victor of +Austerlitz, he handed it to General Bertrand, who, in his turn, laid +it on the coffin. Many years later, when another Napoleon reigned in +France, a Lady who had not yet reached the _mezzo camin di nostra +vita_, stood silently, with bowed head, before the grave of the mighty +enemy of the glorious empire over which she rules, and it was observed +that there were tears in the eyes of Queen Victoria when she quietly +left the chapel. + +[Illustration: FIG. 52.--_The Tomb of Napoleon I. at the Invalides, +Paris._] + +The earliest year of the last half of this century witnessed another +funeral of much magnificence, that of the great Duke of Wellington. +It was determined that a public funeral should mark the sense of the +people's reverence for the memory of the illustrious deceased, and +of their grief for his loss. The body was enclosed in a shell, and +remained for a time at Walmer Castle, where the Iron Duke died. A guard +of honour, composed of men of his own rifle regiment, did duty over it, +and the castle flag was hoisted daily half-mast high. On the evening +of the 10th of November, 1852, the body was placed upon a hearse and +conveyed, by torchlight, to the railway station, the batteries at +Walmer and Deal Castles firing minute-guns, whilst Sandown Castle +took up the melancholy salute as the train with its burden swept by. +Arrived at London, the procession re-formed, and by torchlight marched +through the silent streets, reaching Chelsea about three o'clock in the +morning, when the coffin containing the body was carried into the hall +of the Royal Military Hospital. Life Guardsmen, with arms reversed, +lined the apartment, which was hung with black and lighted by waxen +tapers. The coffin rested upon an elevated platform at the end of the +hall, over which was suspended a cloud-like canopy or veil. The coffin +itself was covered with red velvet; and at the foot stood a table on +which all the decorations of the deceased were laid out. Thither, +day by day, in a constant stream, crowds of men, women, and children +repaired, all dressed in deep mourning. The first of these visitors was +the Queen, accompanied by her children; but so deeply was she affected +that she never got beyond the centre of the hall, where her feelings +quite overcame her, and she was led, weeping bitterly, back to her +carriage. + +The public funeral took place on the 18th of November, and was attended +by the Prince Consort and all the chief officers of State. The body +was removed by torchlight, on the evening previous, to the Horse +Guards, under an escort of cavalry. At dawn on the 18th the solemn +ceremony began. From St. Paul's Cathedral, down Fleet Street, along the +Strand, by Charing Cross and Pall Mall, to St. James's Park, troops +lined both sides of the streets; while in the park itself, columns of +infantry, cavalry, and artillery were formed ready to fall into their +proper places in the procession, of which we publish two interesting +engravings. How it was conducted--with what respectful interest watched +by high and low--how solemn the notes of the bands, as one after +another they took up and entoned the "Dead March in Saul"--how grand, +yet how touching the scene in the interior of St. Paul's--none but +those who can remember it can realise. + +[Illustration: FIG. 53.--_Funeral of the Duke of Wellington, November_ +18, 1852. _The Procession passing Apsley House._--From an original +sketch, reproduced expressly for this publication.] + +[Illustration: FIG. 54.--_Funeral of the Duke of Wellington, November_ +18, 1852. _Scene inside St. Paul's._--Reproduced from an original +sketch, expressly for this publication.] + +A man of genius in France is rightly placed on a kind of throne, +and considered a "king of thought;" so the obsequies of so truly +illustrious a poet as Victor Hugo, which took place in Paris, June 1, +1885, assumed proportions rarely accorded even to the mightiest +sovereigns. Unfortunately, it was marred by the desecration of a noted +church, the Pantheon; for it pleased a political party in power to +make out that Hugo had denied even the existence of God, and this +notwithstanding the fact that every page of his works is a testimony +to his ardent creed in the Almighty and his hope in the life to +come. The lying-in-state took place under the Arch of Triumph, which +was decorated with much taste by a huge black veil draped across it. +Flaring torches lighted up the architectural features of the monument, +and also the tremendous throng of spectators. The arch looked solemn +enough, but the behaviour of the people who surrounded it was the +reverse, especially at night. On Thursday, June 1, early in the day, +which was intensely hot, the procession began to move from the Arc de +Triomphe to the Pantheon, and presented a scene never to be forgotten. +The coffin was a very simple one, in accordance with the poet's wishes +to be buried like a pauper; but what proved the chief charm of this +really poetical spectacle was the amazing number of huge wreaths +carried by the countless deputations from all parts of France, and +sent from every city of Europe and America. There were some 15,000 +wreaths of foliage and flowers carried in this strange procession, +many of which were of colossal dimensions, so that when one beheld the +cortege from the bottom of the Champs Elysees, for instance, it looked +like a huge floral snake meandering along. The bearers of the wreaths +were hidden beneath them, and these exquisite trophies of early summer +flowers, combined with the glittering helmets of the Guards, the bright +costumes of the students, and, above all, with the veritable walls of +human beings towering up on all sides, filling balconies and windows, +covering roofs and every spot wherever even a glimpse of the pageant +could be obtained, created a spectacle as unique as it was picturesque. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 55.--_Funeral of Victor Hugo, Paris, June_ 1, 1885.] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 56.--_Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Frederick of +Germany, Princess Royal of Great Britain._] + +THE solemn but exceedingly simple obsequies of that much regretted and +most able man His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, took place at +Windsor on the 23rd December, 1861. At his frequently expressed desire +it was of a private character; but all the chief men of the state +attended the obsequies in the Royal Chapel. The weather was cold and +damp, the sky dull and heavy. There was a procession of state carriages +to St. George's Chapel, at the door of which the Prince of Wales and +the other royal mourners were assembled to receive the corpse. The +grief of the poor children was very affecting, little Prince Arthur +especially, sobbing as if his heart were breaking. When all was over, +and the last of the long, lingering train of mourners had departed, +the attendants descended into the vault with lights, and moved the +bier and coffin along the narrow passage to the royal vault. The day +was observed throughout the realm as one of mourning. The bells of +all the churches were tolled, and in many of them special services +were held. In the towns the shops were closed, and the window blinds +of private residences were drawn down. No respectable people appeared +abroad except in mourning, and in seaport towns the flags were hoisted +half-mast high. The words of the Poet Laureate were scarcely too strong: + + "The shadow of his loss moved like eclipse, + Darkening the world. We have lost him; he is gone; + We know him now; all narrow jealousies + Are silent; and we see him as he moved, + How modest, kindly, all-accomplished, wise; + With what sublime repression of himself, + And in what limits, and how tenderly; + Not swaying to this faction or to that; + Not making his high place the lawless perch + Of wing'd ambitions, nor a vantage ground + For pleasure; but thro' all this tract of years + Wearing the white flower of a blameless life, + Before a thousand peering littlenesses, + In that fierce light which beats upon a throne, + And blackens every blot; for where is he + Who dares foreshadow for an only son + A lovelier life, a more unstained than his?" + +[Illustration: FIG. 57.--_Funeral of His Royal Highness the Prince +Consort, at Windsor, December_ 23, 1861.] + +When Her Majesty became a widow, she slightly modified the conventional +English widow's cap, by indenting it over the forehead _a la_ Marie +Stuart, thereby imparting to it a certain picturesqueness which was +quite lacking in the former head-dress. This coiffure has been not only +adopted by her subjects, but also by royal widows abroad. The etiquette +of the Imperial House of Germany obliges the Empress Frederick to +introduce into her costume two special features during the earlier +twelve months of her widowhood. The first concerns the cap, which is +black, having a Marie Stuart point over the centre of the forehead, and +a long veil of black crape falling like a mantle behind to the ground. +The second peculiarity of this stately costume is that the orthodox +white batiste collar has two narrow white bands falling straight from +head to foot. This costume has been very slightly modified from what it +was three centuries ago, when a Princess of the House of Hohenzollern +lost her husband. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 58.--HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN. _From a +Photograph by Messrs. W. & D. Downey._] + + + + +THE first general mourning ever proclaimed in America was on the +occasion of the death of Benjamin Franklin, in 1791, and the next on +that of Washington, in 1799. The deep and wide-spread grief occasioned +by the melancholy death of the first President, assembled a great +concourse of people for the purpose of paying him the last tribute of +respect, and on Wednesday, December 18, 1799, attended by military +honours and the simplest but grandest ceremonies of religion, his body +was deposited in the family vault at Mount Vernon. Never in the history +of America did a blow fall with more terrible earnestness than the +news of the assassination of President Lincoln on April 14, 1865. All +party feeling was forgotten, and sorrow was universal. The obsequies +were on an exceedingly elaborate scale, and a generous people paid +a grateful and sincere tribute to a humane and patriotic chieftain. +After an impressive service, the embalmed body was laid in state in +the Capitol at Washington, guarded by officers with drawn swords, and +afterwards the coffin was closed for removal to Springfield, the home +of the late President, a distance of about 1,700 miles. It took twelve +days to accomplish the journey. The car which conveyed the remains was +completely draped in black, the mourning outside being festooned in +two rows above and below the windows, while each window had a strip of +mourning connecting the upper with the lower row. Six other cars, all +draped in black, were attached to the train, and contained the escort, +whilst the engine was covered with crape and its flags draped. At +several cities _en route_ a halt was made, in order to permit people +to pay tributes of respect to the deceased, and several times the body +was removed from the train, so that funeral services might be held. At +last, on the 3rd of May, the train reached Springfield, and after a +brief delay the procession moved with befitting ceremony to Oak Ridge +Cemetery, President Lincoln's final resting-place. During the period +intervening between President Lincoln's death and his interment, every +city and town in the United States testified the greatest grief, and +public expressions of mourning were universal. To take New York, as an +instance, that city presented a singularly striking appearance. Scarce +a house in it but was not draped in the deepest mourning, long festoons +of black and white muslin drooped sadly everywhere, and even the gay +show-cases outside the shop doors were dressed with funereal rosettes. +The gloom which prevailed was intense. In many places, however, the +decorations, though sombre, were exceedingly picturesque, the dark +tones being relieved by the bright red and blue of the national +colours, entwined with crape. + +Scarcely less magnificent were the obsequies accorded by the people of +America to General Grant. Funeral services were observed in towns and +cities of every state and territory of the Union, amidst a display of +mourning emblems unparallelled. In New York, for two weeks previous to +the funeral ceremony, preparations of the most elaborate description +were going on, and the best part of the city was densely draped. +The route of the procession to the tomb was 9 miles long, and it is +estimated that three million persons saw the cortege, in which over +50,000 people joined, including 30,000 soldiers. Some further idea +of the magnitude of this solemn procession can be formed when it is +stated that its head reached the grave three hours and a half before +the funeral car arrived. This car was exceptionally imposing, inasmuch +as it was drawn by 24 black horses, each one led by a coloured servant, +and each covered with sable trappings which swept the street. + +Another imposing funeral, which many who are still young can remember, +was that of his Majesty Victor Emmanuel, the first King of United +Italy, who died in Rome early in 1878. His obsequies were conducted +with all the pomp of the Roman Catholic religion, and the catafalque, +erected in the centre of the Pantheon, was supremely imposing. We give +an engraving of it, which will afford an excellent idea of its great +magnificence. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 59.--_The Catafalque erected for the Funeral +Service of His Majesty King Victor Emmanuel, in the Pantheon, Rome._] + + + + +THE ingenious idea of the _Magasin de Deuil_, or establishment +exclusively devoted to the sale of mourning costumes and of the +paraphernalia necessary for a funeral, has long been held to be +exclusively French; but our quick-witted neighbours have, to speak the +truth, originated very few things; for was not the father of French +cookery a German physician in attendance on Francis I., assisted by an +Italian cardinal, Campeggio, who, by the way, came to England on the +occasion of the negotiations in connection with the divorce of Queen +Catherine of Arragon. The _Magasin de Deuil_ is but a brilliant and +elaborate adaptation of the old _Mercerie de lutto_ which has existed +for centuries, and still exists, in every Italian city, where people in +the haste of grief can obtain in a few hours all that the etiquette of +civilisation requires for mourning in a country whose climate renders +speedy interment absolutely necessary. Continental ideas are slow to +reach this country, but when they do find acceptance with us, they +rarely fail to attain that vast extension so characteristic of English +commerce. Such development could scarcely be exhibited in a more marked +manner than in Jay's London General Mourning Warehouse, Regent Street, +an establishment which dates from the year 1841, and which during that +period has never ceased to increase its resources and to complete its +organisation, until it has become, of its kind, a mart unique both +for the quality and the nature of its attributes. Of late years the +business and enterprise of this firm has enormously increased, and +it includes not only all that is necessary for mourning, but also +departments devoted to dresses of a more general description, although +the colours are confined to such as could be worn for either full or +half mourning. Black silks, however, are pre-eminently a speciality +of this house, and the Continental journals frequently announce that +"_la maison Jay de Londres a fait de forts achats_." Their system is +one from which they never swerve. It is to buy the commodity direct +from the manufacturers, and to supply it to their patrons at the very +smallest modicum of profit compatible with the legitimate course of +trade. The materials for mourning costumes must always virtually, +remain unchangeable, and few additions can be made to the list of +silks, crapes, paramattas, cashmeres, _grenadines_, and _tulles_ as +fabrics. They and their modifications must be ever in fashion so long +as it continues fashionable to wear mourning at all; but fashion in +design, construction, and embellishment may be said to change, not only +every month, but well-nigh every week. + +The fame of a great house of business like this rests more upon its +integrity and the expedition with which commands are executed than +anything else. To secure the very best goods, and to have them made up +in the best taste and in the latest fashion, is one of the principal +aims of the firm, which is not unmindful of legitimate economy. For +this purpose, every season competent buyers visit the principal silk +marts of Europe, such as Lyons, Genoa, and Milan, for the purpose +of purchasing all that is best in quality and pattern. Immediate +communication with the leading designers of fashions in Paris has +not been neglected; and it may be safely said of this great house of +business, that if it is modelled on a mediaeval Italian principle, +it has missed no opportunity to assimilate to itself every modern +improvement. + +[Illustration: FIG. 60.--_Funeral of Earl Palmerston, in Westminster +Abbey, Oct._ 27, 1865.] + +Private mourning in modern times, like everything else, has been +greatly altered and modified, to suit an age of rapid transit and +travel. Men no longer make a point of wearing full black for a fixed +number of months after the decease of a near relation, and even content +themselves with a black hat-band and dark-coloured garments. Funeral +ceremonies, too, are less elaborate, although during the past few +years a growing tendency to send flowers to the grave has increased in +every class of the community. The ceremonial which attends our State +funerals is so well known that it were needless to describe them. We, +however, give, as "records," illustrations of the funerals of Lord +Palmerston, Lord Beaconsfield, Mr. Darwin, and of the much-regretted +Emperor Frederick of Germany, a function which was extremely imposing, +as the etiquette of the German Court still retains many curious relics +of bygone times. + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 61.--_Funeral of the Right Honourable the Earl of +Beaconsfield, in Hughenden Church, April_ 26, 1881.] + + + + +GENERAL Court mourning in this country is regulated by the Duke of +Norfolk, as Earl Marshal, but exclusively Court mourning for the Royal +Family by the Lord Chamberlain. + +The order for Court mourning to be observed for the death of a foreign +sovereign is issued by the Foreign Office, and transmitted thence to +the Lord Chamberlain. + +Here is the form of the order for general mourning to be worn on the +occasion of the death of the Prince Consort: + + COLLEGE OF ARMS, Dec. 16, 1866. + + _Deputy Earl Marshal's Order for a General Mourning for His late + Royal Highness the Prince Consort._ + + In pursuance of Her Majesty's commands, this is to give public + notice that, upon the melancholy occasion of the death of His Royal + Highness the Prince Consort, it is expected that all persons do + forthwith put themselves into decent mourning. + + EDWARD C. F. HOWARD, D.E.M. + +The order to the army is published from the War Office: + + HORSE GUARDS, Dec. 18, 1861. + + _Orders for the Mourning of the Army for His late Royal Highness + the Prince Consort._ + + The General commanding-in-chief has received Her Majesty's commands + to direct, on the present melancholy occasion of the death of + H.R.H. the Prince Consort, that the officers of the army be + required to wear, when in uniform, black crape over the ornamental + part of the cap or hat, over the sword-knot, and on the left + arm;--with black gloves, and a black crape scarf over the sash. + The drums are to be covered with black, and black crape is to + hang from the head of the colour-staff of the infantry, and from + the standard-staff of cavalry. When officers appear at Court in + uniform, they are to wear black crape over the ornamental part of + the cap or hat, over the sword-knot, and on the left arm;--with + black gloves and a black crape scarf. + + +A like order was issued by the Admiralty, addressed to the officers and +men of the Royal Navy. + +FIRST NOTICE. + + LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, + December 16, 1861. + + _Orders for the Court to go into Mourning for His late Royal + Highness the Prince Consort._ + + The LADIES attending Court to wear black woollen Stuffs, trimmed + with Crape, plain Linen, black Shoes and Gloves, and Crape Fans. + + The GENTLEMEN attending Court to wear black Cloth, plain Linen, + Crape Hatbands, and black Swords and Buckles. + + The Mourning to commence from the date of this Order. + + +SECOND NOTICE. + + LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, + December 31, 1861. + + _Orders for the Court's change of Mourning, on Monday, the 27th + January next, for His late Royal Highness the Prince Consort, + viz._: + + The LADIES to wear black Silk Dresses, trimmed with Crape, and + black Shoes and Gloves, black Fans, Feathers, and Ornaments. + + The GENTLEMEN to wear black Court Dress, with black Swords and + Buckles, and plain Linen. + + _The Court further to change the Mourning on Monday the 17th of + February next, viz._: + + The LADIES to wear black Dresses, with white Gloves, black or white + Shoes, Fans, and Feathers, and Pearls, Diamonds, or plain Gold or + Silver Ornaments. + + The GENTLEMEN to wear black Court Dress, with black Swords and + Buckles. + + _And on Monday the 10th of March next, the Court to go out of + Mourning._ + + * * * * * + +FIRST NOTICE. + + LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, + November 7, 1817. + + _Orders for the Court's going into Mourning on Sunday next, the + 9th instant, for Her late Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte + Augusta, Daughter of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, and + Consort of His Serene Highness the Prince Leopold Saxe-Cobourg, + viz._: + + The LADIES to wear black Bombazines, plain Muslin, or long Lawn + Crape Hoods, Shamoy Shoes and Gloves, and Crape Fans. + + Undress:--Dark Norwich Crape. + + The GENTLEMEN to wear black cloth without buttons on the Sleeves + or Pockets, plain Muslin, or long Lawn Cravats and Weepers, Shamoy + Shoes and Gloves, Crape Hatbands and black Swords and Buckles. + + Undress:--Dark Grey Frocks. + + For LADIES, black Silk, fringed or plain Linen, white Gloves, black + Shoes, Fans, and Tippets, white Necklaces and Earrings. + + Undress:--White or grey Lustrings, Tabbies, or Damasks. + + For GENTLEMEN, to continue in black, full trimmed, fringed or plain + Linen, black Swords and Buckles. + + Undress:--Grey Coats. + + For LADIES, black silk or velvet coloured Ribbons, Fans, and + Tippets, or plain white, or white and gold, or white and silver + Stuffs, with black Ribbons. + + For GENTLEMEN, black Coats and black or plain white, or white and + gold, or white and silver stuffed Waistcoats, coloured Waistcoats + and Buckles. + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 62.--_Funeral of Charles Darwin, Esq., in +Westminster Abbey._] + + + + +THE Register of "Notices" preserved at the Lord Chamberlain's Offices +date back from 1773 to 1840. They are written in chronological order +from the first folio (9th March, 1773) to folio 16 (28th Nov., 1785). +After this date a number of papers are missing, and, curious to relate, +the next entry is Oct. 24, 1793, and orders the Court to go into +mourning for ten days for Her late Majesty Marie Antoinette, Queen of +France. + +On the margin of the one for mourning for Louis XVIII., is written +a note to the effect that the "King this day, Sep. 18, 1824, orders +three weeks' mourning for the late King of France." At about this time, +too, the word "the ladies to wear bombazine gowns" disappears, and is +replaced by "woolen stuffs." + +Our military etiquette connected with mourning was really modelled +on that in use in the army of Louis XIV., as is proved by a rather +singular fact. In 1737 George II. died, and an order was issued +commanding the officers and troopers in the British army to wear +black crape bands and black buttons and epaulettes. Very shortly +afterwards the French Government issued a decree to the effect that, +as the English army had "slavishly imitated the French in the matter +of wearing mourning, henceforth the officers of the French army should +make no change in their uniform, and only wear a black band round the +arm." Oddly enough, at the present moment both the French and the +English armies wear precisely the same "badge of grief," a black band +of crape on the left arm above the elbow. + +The Sovereign can prolong, out of marked respect for the person to be +mourned, the duration of the period for general and Court mourning. + +The following are regulations for Court mourning, according to the +register at the Lord Chamberlain's office:-- + +For the King or Queen--full mourning, eight weeks; mourning, two weeks; +and half-mourning, two weeks: in all, three full months. + +For the son or daughter of the Sovereign--Full mourning, four weeks; +mourning, one week; and half-mourning, one week: total, six weeks. + +For the brother or sister of the Sovereign--full mourning, two weeks; +mourning, four days; and half-mourning, two days: total, three weeks. + +Nephew or niece--full mourning, one week; half-mourning, one week: +total, two weeks. + +Uncle or aunt--same as above. + +Cousin, ten days; second cousin, seven days. + + + + +THE following are the accepted reasons for the selection of various +colours for mourning in different parts of the world:-- + +_Black_ expresses the privation of light and joy, the midnight gloom of +sorrow for the loss sustained. It is the prevailing colour of mourning +in Europe, and it was also the colour selected in ancient Greece and in +the Roman Empire. + +_Black and white striped_ expresses sorrow and hope, and is the +mourning of the South Sea Islanders. + +_Greyish brown_--the colour of the earth, to which the dead return. It +is the colour of mourning in Ethiopia and Abyssinia. + +_Pale brown_--the colour of withered leaves--is the mourning of Persia. + +_Sky-blue_ expresses the assured hope that the deceased is gone to +heaven, and is the colour of mourning in Syria, Cappadocia, and Armenia. + +_Deep-blue_ in Bokhara is the colour of mourning; whilst the Romans in +the days of the Republic also wore very dark blue for mourning. + +_Purple and violet_--to express royalty, "Kings and priests of God." It +is the colour of mourning of Cardinals and of the Kings of France. The +colour of mourning in Turkey is violet. + +_White_--emblem of "white-handed hope." The colour of mourning in +China. The ladies of ancient Rome and Sparta sometimes wore white +mourning, which was also the colour for mourning in Spain until 1498. +In England it is still customary, in several of the provinces, to wear +white silk hat-bands for the unmarried. + +_Yellow_--the sear and yellow leaf. The colour of mourning in Egypt and +Burmah. In Brittany widows' caps among the peasants are yellow. Anne +Boleyn wore yellow mourning for Catherine of Arragon, but as a sign of +joy. + +_Scarlet_ is also a mourning colour, and was occasionally worn by the +French Kings, notably so by Louis XI. + +[Decoration] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 63.--_Funeral of His Imperial Majesty Frederick +the Noble, Emperor of Germany. The Funeral Service in the Imperial +Chapel._] + + + + +[Illustration: FIG. 64.--_Funeral of His Majesty the Emperor of +Germany. The Procession leaving the Palace._] + + + + +NOTES. + + +(_a_) In the 18th Century, the undertaker issued his +handbills--gruesome things, with grinning skulls and shroud-clad +corpses, thigh bones, mattocks and pickaxes, hearses, etc.: + + "These are to notice that Mr. John Elphick, Woollen Draper, over + against St Michael's Church, in Lewes, hath a good Hearse, a Velvet + Pall, Mourning Cloaks, and Black Hangings for Rooms, to be lett at + Reasonable Rates. + + "He also sells all sorts of Mourning and Half Mourning, all sorts + of Black Cyprus for Scarfs and Hatbands, and White Silks for Scarfs + and Hoods at Funerals; Gloves of all sorts, and Burying Cloaths for + the Dead." + +Again:-- + + "Eleazar Malory, Joiner at the Coffin in White Chapel, near Red + Lion Street end, maketh Coffins, Shrouds, letteth Palls, Cloaks, + and Furnisheth with all the other things necessary for Funerals at + Reasonable Rates." + +(_b_) The dead were formerly buried in woollen, which was rendered +compulsory by the Acts 30 Car. ii. c. 3 and 36 Ejusdem c. i., the first +of which was for "lessening the importation of Linen from beyond the +seas, and the encouragement of the Woollen and Paper Manufactures of +the Kingdome." It prescribed that the curate of every parish shall keep +a register, to be provided at the charge of the parish, wherein to +enter all burials and affidavits of persons being buried in woollen. No +affidavit was necessary for a person dying of the plague, but for every +infringement a fine of L5 was imposed, one half to go to the informer, +and the other half to the poor of the parish. This Act was only +repealed in 1815. The material used was flannel, and such interments +are frequently mentioned in the literature of the time. + +(_c_) Misson throws some light on the custom of using flannel for +enveloping the dead, but I fancy that it is of much greater antiquity +than he imagined. However, he asserts:-- + + "There is an Act of Parliament which ordains, That the Dead shall + be bury'd in a Woollen Stuff, which is a kind of a thin Bays, which + they call Flannel; nor is it lawful to use the least Needleful of + Thread or Silk. This Shift is always White; but there are different + Sorts of it as to Fineness, and consequently of different Prices. + To make these dresses is a particular Trade, and there are many + that sell nothing else; so that these Habits for the Dead are + always to be had ready made, of what Size or Price you please, + for People of Every Age and Sex. After they had washed the Body + thoroughly clean, and shav'd it, if it be a Man, and his Beard be + grown during his Sickness, they put it on a Flannel Shirt, which + has commonly a sleeve purfled about the Wrists, and the Slit of the + Shirt down the Breast done in the same Manner. When these Ornaments + are not of Woollen Lace, they are at least edg'd, and sometimes + embroider'd with black Thread. The Shirt shou'd be at least half + a Foot longer than the Body, that the feet of the Deceas'd may be + wrapped in it as in a Bag. When they have thus folded the end of + the Shirt close to the Feet, they tye the Part that is folded down + with a piece of Woollen Thread, as we do our stockings; so that the + end of the Shirt is done into a kind of Tuft. Upon the Head they + put a Cap, which they fasten with a very broad Chin Cloth, with + Gloves on the Hands, and a Cravat round the Neck, all of Woollen. + That the Body may ly the softer, some put a Lay of Bran, about four + inches thick, at the Bottom of the Coffin. Instead of a Cap, the + Women have a kind of Head Dress, with a Forehead Cloth." + +Funeral invitations of a ghastly kind were sent out, and Elegies, +laudatory of the deceased, were sometimes printed and sent to friends. +These were got up in the same charnel-house style, and embellished with +skulls, human bones, and skeletons. Hat-bands were costly items. + + "For the encouragement of our English silk, called a la modes, + His Royal Highness the Prince of Denmark, the Nobility, and other + persons of quality, appear in Mourning Hatbands made of that silk, + to bring the same in fashion, in the place of Crapes, which are + made in the Pope's Country where we send our money for them." + +(_d_) The poor in Anne's time had already started Burial Clubs and +Societies, and very cheap they seem to have been. + + "This is to give notice that the office of Society for Burials, by + mutual contribution of a Halfpenny or Farthing towards a Burial, + erected upon Wapping Wall, is now removed into Katherine Wheel + Alley, in White Chappel, near Justice Smiths, where subscriptions + are taken to compleat the number, as also at the Ram in Crucifix + Lane in Barnaby Street, Southwark, to which places notice is to be + given of the death of any Member, and where any person may have the + printed Articles after Monday next. And this Thursday evening about + 7 o'clock will be Buried by the Undertakers, the Corpse of J. S., + a Glover, over against the Sun Brewhouse, in Golden Lane; as also + a child from the corner of Acorn Alley, in Bishopsgate Street, and + another child from the Great Maze Pond, Southwark." + +(_e_) Undertakers liked to arrange for a Funeral to take place on +an evening in winter, as the costs were thereby increased, for then +the Mourners were furnished with wax candles. These were heavy, and +sometimes were made of four tapers twisted at the stem and then +branching out. That these wax candles were expensive enough to excite +the thievish cupidity of a band of roughs, the following advertisement +will show:-- + + "Riots and Robberies--Committed in and about Stepney Church Yard, + at a Funeral Solemnity, on Wednesday, the 23rd day of September; + and whereas many persons, who being appointed to attend the same + Funeral with white wax lights of a considerable value, were + assaulted in a most violent manner, and the said white wax lights + taken from them. Whoever shall discover any of the Persons, guilty + of the said crimes, so as they may be convicted of the same, shall + receive of Mr. William Prince, Wax Chandler in the Poultry, London, + Ten Shillings for each Person so discovered." + +(_f_) We get a curious glimpse of the paraphernalia of a funeral in the +Life of a notorious cheat, "The German Princess," who lived, and was +hanged, in the latter part of the 17th Century, and the same funeral +customs therein described obtained in Queen Anne's time. She took a +lodging at a house, in a good position, and told the landlady that a +friend of hers, a stranger to London, had just died, and was lying at +"a pitiful Alehouse," and might she, for convenience sake, bring his +corpse there, ready for burial on the morrow. + + "The landlady consented, and that evening the Corps in a very + handsome Coffin was brought in a Coach, and placed in the Chamber, + which was the Room one pair of Stairs next the Street, and had + a Balcony. The Coffin being covered only with an ordinary black + Cloth, our Counterfeit seems much to dislike it; the Landlady tells + her that for 20s. she might have the use of a Velvet Pall, with + which being well pleas'd, she desir'd the Landlady to send for the + Pall, and withal accommodate the Room with her best Furniture, + for the next day but one he should be bury'd; thus the Landlady + performed, setting the Velvet Pall, and placing on a Side Board + Table 2 Silver Candlesticks, a Silver Flaggon, 2 Standing Gilt + Bowls, and several other pieces of Plate; but the Night before + the intended Burial, our Counterfeit Lady and her Maid within the + House, handed to their comrades without, all the Plate, Velvet + Pall, and other Furniture of the Chamber that was Portable and of + Value, leaving the Coffin and the supposed Corps, she and her Woman + descended from the Balcony by help of a Ladder, which her comrades + had brought her." + +It is needless to say that the coffin contained only brickbats and hay, +and a sad sequel to this story is that the undertaker sued the landlady +for the loss of his pall, which had lately cost him L40. + +According to a request in the will of one Mr. Benjamin Dodd, a Roman +Catholic, "Citizen and Linnen Draper, who fell from his horse and died +soon after," four and twenty persons were at his burial, to each of +whom he gave a pair of white gloves, a ring of 10s. value, a bottle +of wine, and half-a-crown to be spent on their return that night, "to +drink his Soul's Health, then on her Journey for Purification in order +to Eternal Rest." He also appointed his "Corps" to be carried in a +hearse drawn by six white horses, with white feathers, and followed +by six coaches, with six horses to each coach, and commanded that "no +Presbyterian, Moderate Low Churchmen, or Occasional Conformists, be at +or have anything to do with his Funeral." + +(_g_) Parisian funerals at the present day present many features common +to those celebrated in England in the last century. The church, for +instance, is elaborately decorated in black for a married man or woman, +but in white for a spinster, youth, or child. The costumes of the hired +attendants, and these are numerous--I counted one day, quite recently, +no less than twenty-four, two to each coach, all handsomely dressed +in black velvet--are of the time of Louis XV. I am assured that the +expenses of a first-class funeral in Paris, in this year of Grace 1889, +sometimes exceeds several hundred pounds. + +The _lettre de faire part_, as it is called, is also a curious feature +in the funeral rites of our neighbours. It is an elaborate document in +the form of a printed letter, deeply edged with black, and informs that +all the members, near and distant, of the deceased's family--they are +each mentioned by name and title--request you, not only to attend the +funeral, but to pray for his or her soul. + +The fashion of sending costly wreaths to cover the coffin is recent, +and was quite as unknown in Paris twenty years ago as it was in +this country until about the same period. Wreaths of _immortelles_, +sometimes dyed black, were, however, sent to funerals in France in +the Middle Ages. In Brittany, the "wake" is almost as common as it is +in Ireland, and quite as frequently degenerates into an unedifying +spectacle. Like the Irish custom, it originated in the early Christian +practice of keeping a light burning by the corpse, and in praying for +the repose of the soul, _coram_ the corpse prior to its final removal +to the church and grave, certain pagan customs, the distribution of +wine and bread, having been introduced, at first possibly from a sense +of hospitality, and finally as means of carousal. + + RICHARD DAVEY. + + + + +[Decoration] + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Variable spelling and hyphenation have been retained. + +Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently corrected. + +Some illustrations have been moved from their original position +so as not to interrupt the text. + + +Corrections. + +The first line indicates the original, the second the correction. + +p. 20: + + In these, bassirilievi and figures in terra-cotta have been found, + In these, bassorilievi and figures in terra-cotta have been found, + + +p. 27: + + at the dawn of the Rennaissance + at the dawn of the Renaissance + +p. 88: + + This coifure has + This coiffure has + +p. 91: + + of this solemn procession can be ormed + of this solemn procession can be formed + +p. 111: + + but in white for a spinister + but in white for a spinster + + +Errata. + +The first line indicates the original, the second how it should read. + +p. 66: + + "On the 6th of January, 1756, the body of his 'Britannic Majesty' was + conveyed in great state to the said Church of the Twelve Apostles," + + "On the 6th of January, 1766, the body of his 'Britannic Majesty' was + conveyed in great state to the said Church of the Twelve Apostles," + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HISTORY OF MOURNING*** + + +******* This file should be named 44379.txt or 44379.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/4/3/7/44379 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at + www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |