Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/21

 MOURNING 13 after the funeral with a sacrifice called noven- diale. A widow who married again during her time of mourning for a husband (ten months or a year) was accounted infamous and debarred from inheriting of her late spouse. Persons in mourning kept within doors, and the custom of tearing the garments was some- times practised. Hired mourning women were employed at funerals by both Romans and Greeks. In the old tombs which have been opened in Palestine, Greece, and Italy are found lachrymatories or tear bottles, in which it was customary for mourners to preserve their tears. Among the modern Syrians mourning women play a very important part at fune- rals. It is not unusual for families in moder- ate circumstances to be ruined by the expen- sive feasts and other commemorations which are held for weeks after the funeral. In Ara- bia the men wear no mourning, and are si- lent in grief, but the women scream, tear their hair, and throw earth on their heads. The latter also stain their hands and feet with indigo, which they suffer to remain for eight days, and during this time they abstain from milk on the ground that its white color ill ac- cords with the gloom of their minds. The hired mourning women of Medina dance be- fore the house of the deceased, tearing their arms, faces, and hair. The Chinese mourn in white, and on the death of a near relative every article of dress must be of that color. Less intense affliction is indicated simply by caps and girdles of white linen, and a very moderate degree of grief by shoes and queue cords of blue. Mourning on occasion of the death of a parent or husband is enforced by the penalties of 60 blows and a year's banishment. The duration of mourning is fixed by law. For a father or mother it is three years, but in the case of government officers it has been re- duced to 27 months. During this period of mourning a Chinese cannot perform the duties of any public office. For 30 days after the demise the nearest kindred must not shave their heads nor change their dress, ^hen the emperor dies all his subjects let their hair grow for 100 days. At funerals the relatives of the deceased furnish all who take part in the procession with mourning dresses, just as gloves and scarfs are given at the present day in Europe and America. They employ mourning women, whose faculty of shedding tears is extraordinary. The Japanese mourn- ing color is also white, but relatives in the ascending line and seniors neither mourn for their junior kindred nor go to their funerals. Persons in mourning stay at home for 50 days, abstain from animal food and from the intoxi- cating liquor saki, and neither shave their heads nor pare their nails. This period of 50 days, called the imi, is succeeded by the bulcu, or 13 months of a sort of " second mourning," during which it is not allowed to wear bright colors or enter a Shinto temple. These long periods observed only on the death of parents ; for other relatives the imi and buku vary from 30 days and 13 months for a husband to 3 days and 7 days for cousins and their children. In the Feejee islands, after the death of a chief, a general fast until evening is observed for 10 or 20 days, the women burn their bodies, and 50 or 100 fingers are amputated to be hung above the dead man's tomb. The ceremonies of domestic mourning consist of abstinence from delicate dishes, and from the use of oil on the person ; the mourners sleep on the bare ground, and use only leaves for dress. These customs are optional; among those exacted by fashion are the "jumping of maggots," or a meeting of friends on the fourth day after the funeral to picture to themselves the corruption of the corpse, and the " causing to laugh " on the next night, when comic games are held. About the tenth day the women scourge all the men except the highest chiefs. Among the natives of New Caledonia there is a custom for women to burn parts of their bodies in time of mourn- ing. The Hawaiians denote grief by painting the lower part of their faces black and knock- ing out their fore teeth. The North American Indians howl and wail, make speeches to the dead, and pierce the flesh with arrows and sharp stones. Among all civilized modern na- tions there is a great similarity in mourning customs, and black is universally considered the proper color to be worn, although modern refinement has gone so far as to symbolize the gradual change from the depth of affliction to a state of cheerfulness by a gradual return from black to gay colors through the inter- mediate hues of purple and violet, which are recognized as " second mourning." The ma- terial of a mourning dress is also prescribed by fashion, being for ladies generally crape. The time varies, according to the degree of relationship of the deceased, from a week to a year, the latter being the period fixed by cus- tom for a widow. Hired mourners are retained by the English as attendants at funerals, but their oifice is one of mere show, and they are commonly called mutes. In some parts of Ireland, however, the Tceeners or professional mourners, generally old women, are famous for their extravagant lamentations. It was an- ciently the custom in England to give mourn- ing rings and suits at funerals. In Spain and France, of old, the color of grief was white. Certain forms of private as well as public mourning were prescribed by Napoleon I., but went out of use at the restoration. Court mourning in Europe for members of the reign- ing family, even in remote degrees, is pre- scribed by ceremonials which give the minutest directions as to dress. The sovereign wears violet, except in England, where the color is black ; but violet was formerly used there also. The courtiers appear in black. Court mourn- ing seldom lasts more than six months. Pub- lic mourning is not yet banished from the civilized world. It was witnessed in the Uni- ted States on the death of Franklin, Washing-