The Jews still preserve some of the ancient ceremonies practised in the burial of their dead, when they were mas ters of Jerusalem. The thumb is bent into a particular po sition : the bearers of the corpse wear no sandals, lest the breaking of a latchet should interrupt the procession ; they rend their garments ; and theww dust on their heads. But they had a pomp and solemnity equal to those of the other nations, which they gradually rose to rival or excel. Jose phus relates, that the bier or Herod consisted of gold, orna mented with precious stones, and a purple couch, whereon the body lay, covered with purple ; there was a crown of gold on the head, and a sceptre in the t ight hand ; the army marched in solemn procession, and five hundred of the royal domestics and freedmen followed, bearing sweet spices in their hands.
Inhumation is practised universally in Europe, through out Africa, and in most parts of America ; while crema stion, though an unusual custom, is a common mode of dis posing of the dead in Asia. This has prevailed from re mote antiquity, for many years antecedent to the Christian era, and, as well as another ceremony closely connected with it, and to which we shall soon advert, has undergone little alteration. The ancient Greeks and Romans burnt their more illustrious dead. The body, clothed in its best attire, was deposited on a pile, formed of combustible wood, with a piece of money in the mouth, to pay, as before ob served, the freight to Charon. The whole pile was envi roned by boughs of the cypress tree, liquids fit to dissemi nate an agreeable odour were poured on it, and the near est relative applied a lighted torch. The arms of the de ceased, and other things most regarded by him, were thrown into the pile and consumed ; and to do him honour, the byestanders contributed their offerings in the same manner. But in order to preserve some remains of the body, it was enclosed in an envelope of incombustible cloth, and the ashes being collected along with the fragments of bones unconsumed, were washed with milk and wine, placed in an urn, and along with lachrymatories, containing the tears shed for the deceased, consigned to a tomb, wherein were frequently deposited sepulchral lamps. No custom has been more widely practised than that of burning the dead ; we find it among the most polished nations of antiquity, and among the rudest modern tribes. It was practised in Bri tain, in Gaul, and many other countries, whose names are transmitted to us by history. At this day, the Tshutchi, a na tion inhabiting a rigorous climate at the north-eastern extre mity of the Asiatic continent, burn their dead, and the spot where it is clone is marked by stones laid in such order, as to bear some resemblance to the figure of the human body. A large stone is placed at the head, which is anointed with marrow and fat, and a small pile of deer's horns, heaped up at a little distance, which receives a yearly accession when the place is visited by the relatives of the deceased, who recapitulate his feats and qualities. In the island of Japan, and in the kingdoms of Ava, Siam, Thibet, and throughout many parts of Hindostan, cremation is not uncommon. But
in the former countries it is chiefly the bodies of the weal thy which are treated with that distinction. What proves an affliction to other nations of the earth, is the source of rejoicing among the natives of Ava ; the dead seem to ex cite no regret, or, to use the words of a modern author, much ingenuity is shewn in the means of abating it. At the same time there is great semblance of grief, for the widow and her friends repair to the spot where the pile was erect ed, and with loud lamentations collect the half calcined bones and ashes ; some days being previously occupied in dancing and festivity. The Siamese display particular fu neral pomp in the cremation of their dead. The intestines are previously removed ; perfumes and wax lights are burnt around it, and it is carried forth on a gilt wooden bier. All the family and friends dressed in white, attend the pile, which is kindled amidst the sound of instruments. But the honour of cremation is not conferred on every one indiscri minately ; those who have suffered a capital sentence of the law ; all who have bot-n expmse 1 to a violent death ; and women who have died in partucition, ara consigned to the earth, which is regarded as disrespectful to the dead. The pile is composed of precious woods, generally erected near some temple ; and the ceremony is embellished by fetes and theatrical exhibitions. But we shall L.Iterwards speak of the remarkable ceremonies adopted on such occasions in further detail.
The Chinese do not always consign the coffin to the earth, nor do all those nations, which remove the body from view without destroying it, practise interment. The poor of Aracan, who have none to pay the expense of a funeral, are carried to the side of a river, to be washed away as it flows. Some tribes in the neighbourhood of Caffraria, sew up the corpse in skins, and carry it to a dis tant thicket. The Araucanians, on losing a relation, scat themselves on the ground around him, and weep during a lung time. The body, clothed in its best attire, is then ex posed on a high bier, remaining. there (luring the night, which is either employed in lamenting with those who come to offer consolation, or in eating with them; and this meeting is called cztricahuin, or the black enter tainment, from the symbol of mourning. One, two, or three days after death, the body is carried in procession to the cemetery, surrounded by women bewailing the deceas ed, and accompanied by another woman, who strews ashes on the road. It is now laid on the ground along with wea pons if it is the body of a man, or feminine implements if it is the body of a woman, and with a quantity of provi sions for subsistence during the passage to the other world. The spectators take leave of the deceased, and wishing him a prosperous journey, raise a pyramid of earth or stones above the body, on which a quantity of the country beverage is poured. Perhaps the Highland cairns, the carnedds of Wales, and tumuli of other regions, have all a similar origin, and may have originated without actual inhumation.