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Published: 2015-07-09

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9781331029274

Excerpt from The Oxford English Prize Essays, Vol. 3 Antiquity and universality of the custom - its apparent inconsistency - its origin - not from positive institution, but the natural feelings of mankind. Principles on which men wish for honours after death. Early and habitual associations. Men unable to despise, under any circumstances, what they have long been accustomed to prize highly. Tokens of honour - of love - and of remembrance from others. Regard for our bodies. Tendency of the mind to wander into futurity. Principles on which men confer honours on the dead. State of mind accompanying the loss of friends. Sympathy for the condition of the dead. Moderated grief not destitute of pleasure. Awe accompanying the contemplation of death. Causes cooperating partially. The impulse of nature a sufficient spring of action - and not opposed to reason, but distinct from it. Public honours - probably originating in the same causes - but continued from policy. Advantages flowing from mortuary honours. Monuments of illustrious men excite emulation among the few - and generous sentiment among the many. Monuments of private merit lead to universal imitation. Local attachment strengthened. Advantages involved in the practice itself. Refinement of sentiment. Alleviation of grief. Absurdities which have mingled with the funeral rites, have given a colour to the objections against them. The custom not degraded in itself - and, even thus encumbered, beneficial on the whole - divested of these absurdities by the introduction of Christianity. Imperfections still attending it. Its honours capable of a more equal distribution. Conclusion. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.