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<v Speaker 1>Chapter forty five of Philip Drew, Administrator by Edward House.

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<v Speaker 1>This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recorded by

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<v Speaker 1>the Progressing America Project, Chapter forty five Burial Reform. At

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<v Speaker 1>about this time, the wife of one of the cabinet

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<v Speaker 1>officers died, and Administrator Drew attended the funeral. There was

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<v Speaker 1>an unusually large gathering, but it was plain that most

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<v Speaker 1>of those who came did so from morbid curiosity. The

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<v Speaker 1>poignant grief of the bereaved husband and children wrung the

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<v Speaker 1>heartstrings of their many sympathetic friends. The lowering of the coffin,

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<v Speaker 1>the fall of the dirt upon its cover, and the

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<v Speaker 1>sobs of those around the grave was typical of such occasions.

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<v Speaker 1>Drew was deeply impressed and shocked, and he thought to

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<v Speaker 1>use his influence towards a reformation of such a cruel

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<v Speaker 1>and unnecessary form of burial when the opportunity presented itself.

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<v Speaker 1>He directed attention to the objections to this method of

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<v Speaker 1>disposing of the dead, and he suggested the formation in

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<v Speaker 1>every community of societies whose purpose should be to use

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<v Speaker 1>their influence towards making internments private and towards the substitution

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<v Speaker 1>of cremation for the unsanitary custom of burial in cemeteries.

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<v Speaker 1>These societies were urged to point out the almost prohibitive

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<v Speaker 1>expense the present method entailed upon the poor and those

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<v Speaker 1>of moderate means. The buying of the lot and casket,

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<v Speaker 1>the cost of the funeral itself, and the discarding of

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<v Speaker 1>useful clothing in order to robe in black, were alike unnecessary.

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<v Speaker 1>Some less dismal insignia of grief should be adopted. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>that need not include the entire garb grief, he pointed out,

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<v Speaker 1>and respect for the dead were in no way better

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<v Speaker 1>evidenced by such barbarous customs. Rumor had it that Scandal's

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<v Speaker 1>cruel tongue was responsible for this good woman's death. She

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<v Speaker 1>was one of the many victims that go to unhappy

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<v Speaker 1>graves in order that the monstrous appetite for gossip may

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<v Speaker 1>be appeased. If there be punishment after death, surely the

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<v Speaker 1>creator and disseminator of Scandal will come to know the

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<v Speaker 1>anger and contempt of a righteous God. The good and

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<v Speaker 1>the bad are all of a kind to them. Their

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<v Speaker 1>putrid minds see something vile in every action, and they

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<v Speaker 1>leave the drippings of their evil tongues wherever they go.

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<v Speaker 1>Some scandalmongers are merely stupid and vulgar, while others have

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<v Speaker 1>a biting wit that cause them to be feared and hated.

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<v Speaker 1>Rumors they repeat as facts, and to speculations they add

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<v Speaker 1>what corroborative evidence is needed. The dropping of the eyelids,

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<v Speaker 1>the smirk that is so full of insinuation is used

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<v Speaker 1>to advantage where it is more effective than the downright lie.

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<v Speaker 1>The burglar and the highwaymen go frankly abroad to gather

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<v Speaker 1>in the substance of others, and they stand ready to

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<v Speaker 1>forfeit both life and liberty while in pursuit of nefarious gain.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet it is a noble profession compared with that of

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<v Speaker 1>the scandalmonger, and the murderer himself is hardly a more

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<v Speaker 1>objectionable member of society than the character assassin end of

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter forty five.