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The flowers strewed over graves by the Greeks were the
Amaranth, Myrtle, and Polyanthus. The pra^ice was
bv the primitive Christians; but in Prudentius’s time they had
adopted it, and it is expressly mentioned boto by Ambrose and
St. Terome. The flowers so used were deemed typical of the
dead: to the young were assigned the blossoms of Spring and
Summer: to middle-age, aromatic herbs and branches of primeva
^^^^\maranthus was employed by toe Thessalians to decorate the
grave of Achilles; and Electra J reprjented
complaint that the tomb of her father Agamenón had not been
adorned with Myrtle :—
“ With no libations, nor with Myrtle boughs,
Were my dear father’s manes gratified.
Virgil, when recounting the sorrow of Anchises at the loss of
Marcellus, causes him to exclaim :—
“ Full canisters of fragrant Lilies bring.
Mix’d with the purple Roses of the Spring.^
Let me with fun’ral flowers his body strew.
In Germany, and in the German Cantons of Switoerl j d , / h e
custom of decking graves is very common, / h e ^ ^
favourite flower for this purpose in Upper Germany. J
beautiful little churchyard at Schwytz, almost every grave
Père la Chaise, near Paris, exhibits proofs of
the extent to which the custom of decking graves is preserved
even by a metropolitan population and am j g persons of some
ronk. Numerous shops in the neighbomdmod of this cerne ery j e
filled with garlands of Immortelles or Everlasting Flowers, wliic c
purchased on fete days and anniversaries, and placed on the ja v e s .
The branches of Box, or Bois béni, which are used in the place of
Palms and Palm-leaves, are frequently stuck over graves m h ranee.
‘ ‘ Fair flowers in sweet succession should arise
Through the long, blooming yeaq above the grave ;
Spring breezes will breathe gentlier o’er the turf,
And summer glance with mildest, meekest beam,
To cherish piety’s dear offerings. There
Rich sounds of Autumn ever shall be heard,—
Mysterious, solemn music, waked by winds
To hymn the closing year ! And when the touch
Of sullen Winter blights the last, last gem,
That bloomed around the tomb—O ! there should be
The polished and enduring Laurel—there
The green and glittering Ivy, and all plants,
All hues and forms, delicious, that adorn
The brumal reign, and often waken hopes
Refreshing. Let eternal verdure clothe
The silent fields where rest the honoured dead,
While mute affection comes, and lingers round
With slow soft step, and pensive pause, and sigh.
All \xo\yA—CarHnglon.
In Egypt, Basil is scattered over the tombs by the women,
who repair to the sepulchres of the dead twice or thrice every
week, to pray and weep over the departed. In Italy, the Periwinkle,
called by the peasantry fior di morto, or Death’s flower,
is used to deck their children who die in infancy. In Norway,
branchlets of Juniper and F ir are used at funerals, and exhibited
in houses in order to protecit the inhabitants from the visitation
of evil spirits. The Freemasons of America scatter sprays of
Acacia [Kobinia) on the coffins of brethren. In Switzerland, a
funeral wreath for a young maiden is composed of Plawthorn,
Myrtle, and Orange-blossom. In the South of France, chaplets of
white Roses and Orange-blossom are placed in the coffins of the
young.
The Greeks and Romans crowned the dead with flowers, and
the mourners wore them at the funeral ceremonies. It should be
mentioned that the Romans did not generally bury their dead
before the time of the Antonines. The bodies of the dead were
burnt, and the ashes placed in an urn.
The funeral pyre of the ancients consisted of Cypress, Yew,
Fir, and other trees and shrubs. The friends of the deceased stood
by during the cremation, throwing incense on the fire and libations
of wine. The bones and ashes were afterwards colledted, cleansed,
mixed with precious ointments, and enclosed in funeral urns.
Agamemnon is described by Homer in the ‘ Odyssey,’ as informing
Achilles how this ceremony had been performed upon him :—
“ But when the flames your body had consumed,
With oils and odours we your bones perfumed,
And wash’d with unmixed wine.”
Virgil, in describing the self-sacrifice, by fire, of Dido, speaks thus
of the necessary preparations :—
“ The fatal pile they rear
Within the secret court, exposed in air.
The cloven Flolms and Pines are heaped on high ;
And garlands in the hollow spaces lie.
Sad Cypress, Vervain, Yew, compose the wreath,
And every baleful flower denoting death.”
The repast set apart by custom for the dead consisted of
Lettuces and Beans. It was customary among the ancients to
offer Poppies as a propitiation to the manes of the dead. The
Romans celebrated festivals in honour of the spirits of the departed,
called Lemuria, where Beans were cast into the fire on the altar.
The people also threw black Beans on the graves of the deceased,
or burnt them, as the smell was supposed to be disagreeable to the
manes. In Italy, at the present day, it is customary to eat Beans
and to distribute them among the poor on the anniversary of a
death.
The pracftice of embalming the bodies of their dead, which
was universal among the ancient Egyptians, had its origin, accordo—
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