FUNERAL REFORM.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 144, 18 November 1874, Page 4

FUNERAL REFORM.

[From the Melbourne Argus.'] South Australia, which took the lead of the other colonies in abolishing the old cumbrous and costly system of land transfer, has once more come to the front as an advocate for funeral reform. The object sought to be attained is so excellent that the example of our neighbours to the west deserves to liud emulous imitation in Victoria, as it has already done in New South Wales. The dismal parade and wasteful expense which now attend the interment of a corpse cannot be thou slit of without a feeling of wonder that they should be tolerated by a practical people and in a Christian country. Nothing but the tyranny of custom could have reconciled us for so long a period to a practice which is not merely senseless and useless in itself, but is uttprly inconsistent with the religious sentiments of the greater part of the community. For if we sincerely believe that the immaterial portion of our nature—the " vital spark of heavenly flame," which animates the earthly tenement, passes into another world at death, and if we are encouraged to hope that it is translated to a condition of eternal happiness, then nothing can be more irrational than that prodigal display of grief which finds a kind of theatrical expression in black ostrich plumes, ponderous palls, hearses with plate-glass windows, horses that look as if they had been black-leaded, and a long cavalcade of mourning coaches and private carriages. Either our profession of belief in a future state of existence, and in a post-terrestrial heaven, must be insincere, or we regard the transference of our friends and relations to " mansions in the skies " as a deplorable calamity. Not otherwise can we explain, much less justify, the Customary suits of solemn black The windy suspiration of forced breath ; No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected 'haviour of the visage, Together with allforms, moods, showsof grief, which now accompany and deform our funeral rites. That which ought io be effected with decency, simplicity, and quietude, we convert into a gloomy show, a pompous spectacle, and an ostentatious exhibition of folly and extravagance. In the expressive language of the trade, funerals are '* performed;" all the benefits of the performance flowing to the professionally sedate and studiously solemn master of the ceremonies. When the empty tenement of a human being has to be put underground. Mr Mould is called in. Some general instructions are given to him, and he mentally takes stock of the survivor's position in life and circumstances. Then he arranges the ceremonial accordingly. He has a sliding scale of prices ranging from £lO to £IOO, and as much more as he thinks would be submitted to. If he thinks the executors will not object to Six horses, with black hearth brushes on their heads, and velvet trappings on their backs, that number of sable quadrupeds is attached to the,' hearse ; and the best silk velvet pall is brought out. Silk hatbands and the choicest Paris kid gloves, a?e distributed to the whole crowd of mourners, who are sipping sherry and munching biscuits in the dining-room of the deceased, before setting out for the cemetery, and nothing is omitted that can impart a sombre lustre to the dreary performance,, or add another item to the undertaker's bill. Mr Mould always keeps one eye on this, and another on the length of the cavalcade. Most middle-class funerals cost, we believe, from £3O to £6O or £6O. In nine cases out of ten the money can be ill spared, and in every instance ib ie inexcusably squandered. Fashion or convention prescribes shat the ridiculous display of obtrusive sorrow should be made, and when people's hearts are lacerated by affliction they are especially disqualified to rebel against a tyrannous usage. " What would the neighbours say ? Would it not be insinuated that we were mean, that we were destitute of affection for our dear mother or father, and that we begrudged him or her a respectable funeral?" These are the questions which present themselves to the minds of the survivors ; and they place themselves unreservedly in the hands of the serious and sympathetic undertaker, whose voice sounds as if it flowed over black satin, and who moves about the house with a ghostly silence of step and a gravity of demeanour that are quite impressive to witness. Where the deceased has been the breadwinner of the household, and his death has been preceded by a long illness, the undertaker's bill not infrequently swallows up the whole of the scanty funds which yet remain in the widow's hands. But the solemn performance has to be gone through, notwithstanding she and her children may be destitute of food on the morrow; and we are. assured, on very good authority, that minimum cost in this city of anything ab' JT e a pauper's funeral is from eight to ten pounds. But most of our readers hav e had some painful experiences of their own. in this matter, and can readily recall to m\.nd both the separate items and the aggregate amount of an undertaker's bill. And wheji saddened by a bereavement, few persons c,are to criticise the details of such an amoi\nt. Mr Mould is master of the situation, it is not in human nature to refrain fr.om making the most of it. It is his proud reflection that " he does the thing pleasantly and in a great variety of styles, and is generally considered to make it as agreeabje as possible to the feelings of the survivors." But in an age when the most venerable institutions are being placed upon their trial, and when all sorts of vested interests are compelled to substantiate their claims to be tolerated, even the undertakers must expect to be called upon to show cause why their bills should not be reformed, their performances simplified, and their authority curtailed. Our Adi.! Lie ■ hicspondent informs us that the Governor of. South Australia has signified his adhesion to the reform movement in that colony in a very decisive and j effectual manner. "His Excellency having had the misfortune to lose a daughter of three years of age, courageously broke through ancient usages, which favor the engagement of a ghastly hearse and the sombre equipages of the undertaker, and conveyed the corps'3 of his child to the cemetery in his ov/n carriage. There were no mutes, no scarfs, no hat-bands, no pageantry of any kind. The burial service was read at the grave by the dean—the leader in the reform agitation and the few mourners dispersed quite a s sad at heart, no doubt, as if they had beer i clad in black vestments, with long white streamers to indicate the youth of the deceased,. The success of a movement like this, whic h is so rapidly enlisting the sympathy and p; actical support of all classes of the communv ty, may be looked upon as assured." It only needs to be initiated in this colony to mee t with a corresponding degree of public ? ympatby and support.