View report page

14
and as much as possible, must be apparent to every one. Such
things are marks of selfishness and of "dog in the manger" action.
Let earth go to earth and dust to dust. We were formed out of earth
and dust, and they were lent to us when we needed them. Let us give
them back with a good grace when we want them no longer. At
most you can only keep them a few short years, and during that time
they will pay no interest. We were formed out of earth when we were
made "living souls," let earth go back to earth when we become
"dead men."
I will not trouble you with what appears to me a long list of
arguments against cremation, but I shall content myself with but
one, and until it be answered satisfactorily, the advocates of
cremation should hesitate in the course they are adopting. Very
frequently, after a person is dead, a suspicion of foul play is suggested,
and the question is raised whether the cause of death was natural
or unnatural. At this point an appeal is made to the chemist,
who, in many cases proving the absence of poison, removes
at once a terrible stigma which would otherwise attach itself to a
perfectly guiltless person, and might not improbably be the curse of
of a life. But, on the other hand, we know that such things as a
dose of strychnia may be administered intentionally. And we are
pretty sure that there are people who would not mind administering
the dose, but they would not like it to be known. What stops the
dose of strychnia being given? we may ask, Not the fear of doing
wrong, so much as the fear of the powers of chemistry and the
possible consequences. Burial unfortunately for the poisoner does
not finish the story, nor restore peace of mind where there is discomfort.
For a secretary of state may still order the body to be
exhumed, and the chemist may still hunt out the poison, and a judge
and jury may see fit why society should be rid of a poisoner. No
wonder cremation has its advocates. It is the very thing for men who
value their own comfort at a higher price than other peoples' lives.
After death the body would be burnt, and in many cases all trace of
the poison destroyed. The urn has no story to tell like the coffin,
and men think there is more chance of recovery from an uneasy
conscience than from the effects of the gallows. And a week, and it
may be less, would end the chances of the one, for once the fire has
done its work the guilty conscience, so long as it holds its tongue,