Speaker 1: Chapter forty five of Philip Drew, Administrator by Edward House.
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recorded by
Speaker 1: the Progressing America Project, Chapter forty five Burial Reform. At
Speaker 1: about this time, the wife of one of the cabinet
Speaker 1: officers died, and Administrator Drew attended the funeral. There was
Speaker 1: an unusually large gathering, but it was plain that most
Speaker 1: of those who came did so from morbid curiosity. The
Speaker 1: poignant grief of the bereaved husband and children wrung the
Speaker 1: heartstrings of their many sympathetic friends. The lowering of the coffin,
Speaker 1: the fall of the dirt upon its cover, and the
Speaker 1: sobs of those around the grave was typical of such occasions.
Speaker 1: Drew was deeply impressed and shocked, and he thought to
Speaker 1: use his influence towards a reformation of such a cruel
Speaker 1: and unnecessary form of burial when the opportunity presented itself.
Speaker 1: He directed attention to the objections to this method of
Speaker 1: disposing of the dead, and he suggested the formation in
Speaker 1: every community of societies whose purpose should be to use
Speaker 1: their influence towards making internments private and towards the substitution
Speaker 1: of cremation for the unsanitary custom of burial in cemeteries.
Speaker 1: These societies were urged to point out the almost prohibitive
Speaker 1: expense the present method entailed upon the poor and those
Speaker 1: of moderate means. The buying of the lot and casket,
Speaker 1: the cost of the funeral itself, and the discarding of
Speaker 1: useful clothing in order to robe in black, were alike unnecessary.
Speaker 1: Some less dismal insignia of grief should be adopted. He said,
Speaker 1: that need not include the entire garb grief, he pointed out,
Speaker 1: and respect for the dead were in no way better
Speaker 1: evidenced by such barbarous customs. Rumor had it that Scandal's
Speaker 1: cruel tongue was responsible for this good woman's death. She
Speaker 1: was one of the many victims that go to unhappy
Speaker 1: graves in order that the monstrous appetite for gossip may
Speaker 1: be appeased. If there be punishment after death, surely the
Speaker 1: creator and disseminator of Scandal will come to know the
Speaker 1: anger and contempt of a righteous God. The good and
Speaker 1: the bad are all of a kind to them. Their
Speaker 1: putrid minds see something vile in every action, and they
Speaker 1: leave the drippings of their evil tongues wherever they go.
Speaker 1: Some scandalmongers are merely stupid and vulgar, while others have
Speaker 1: a biting wit that cause them to be feared and hated.
Speaker 1: Rumors they repeat as facts, and to speculations they add
Speaker 1: what corroborative evidence is needed. The dropping of the eyelids,
Speaker 1: the smirk that is so full of insinuation is used
Speaker 1: to advantage where it is more effective than the downright lie.
Speaker 1: The burglar and the highwaymen go frankly abroad to gather
Speaker 1: in the substance of others, and they stand ready to
Speaker 1: forfeit both life and liberty while in pursuit of nefarious gain.
Speaker 1: Yet it is a noble profession compared with that of
Speaker 1: the scandalmonger, and the murderer himself is hardly a more
Speaker 1: objectionable member of society than the character assassin end of
Speaker 1: Chapter forty five.