SOCIETY. 163 



during thi* M-I \ iff. Thf lody was received at tin- entrance to the cemetery by the bishop 

 of riiiloe (temporarily visiting Santiago) himself, and the priests of La Merced, chanting as 

 they pivn-leil ii t. the chapel. His sons and near relative )>u-c tin- e.Hin on their shoulders, 

 the at voinpanying crowd ranging tli. -m>. -Ives on either Hide, and following as the corpse passed 

 thriii. The civic troops were drawn up on one side, and the (Juanlid del Orden (a battalion 

 of young gentlemen formed at the revolutionary epoch) occupied the east half of the open 

 >pai-e the two firing alternate volleys during the progress of the masses within the building. 

 At conclusion of this salute, the cofh'n was deposited in the house specially appropriate! l-r 

 the purpose, until the family vault was ready; and finally there were eulogistic discourses, 

 whose delivery occupied until nearly noon. The great crowd kept me at such a distance that I 

 only heard the concluding words of the first speaker's address, and these were pronounced in 

 a tone and with an energy that made no little stir among those around me. Turning his face to 

 the mass without the building, he exclaimed, "Pueblo, f****** ea muerto, y la libertad con el!" 

 (( 'itizens, F. is dead, and liberty with him!) a sentiment few dared publicly express, and suf- 

 ficiently significant, under the triumph which the government was believed to have obtained a 

 few days previously on the field of Loncoinilla. At the gate the sons and two nearest relative* 

 took leave of the parting crowd, thanking each one individually for his attention to the memory 

 of their parent. 



Ladies never attend funerals. Their duties cease with the departure of their relative's body 

 from the house on the night following the death. Nor are they seen when male friends assemble 

 early next morning, prior to the interment. As soon as the latter arrive at the panteon with 

 the priests who are to say the masses, a brief service is first recited over the body, lying in an, 

 ante-room to the chapel. The mass succeeds; and as each one said is supposed to help the soul 

 on its journey through purgatory, to say nothing of the ostentation which may be displayed even 

 in this particular, sometimes three priests, at as many altars, within ten feet of each other, are 

 performing the same service at the same time. On one occasion, when I was present, after 

 three masses had been said in this manner, a fourth priest began another, just as we left the 

 chapel with the body, and it is quite probable others succeeded him; but we were dismissed at 

 the front door, and did not again enter the building. 



Within ten days, all friends are expected to make the survivors a visit of pesame condo- 

 lence it can scarcely be called, for the visitors rarely have much sympathy in such ceremony. 

 Pay after day the mourners await these calls by their acquaintances, usually in the far corner 

 of a semi-obscure room, where individuals or objects are hardly distinguishable ; and" if one 

 does not stumble over a table, he is quite as likely to address any one else as the lady of the 

 house. On such occasions, you best show appreciation of their misfortune by appearing in as 

 deep a suit of black as the family themselves would wear ; by exhibiting in your countenance a 

 proper degree of sadness ; and by speaking only of the deceased or his survivors. Formerly, 

 chairs were never moved from their regular lines round the walls. The first visitor who came 

 took the seat by the mourner, those succeeding occupying the next vacant ones, in unbroken 

 order. Conversation respecting the defunct was carried on only by those near the survivor, the 

 others remaining solemnly silent, shifting one seat nearer the corner of the room as the first- 

 comers departed, until their turn came to make a eulogy. Curious must it have appeared to 

 see a score of persons shift their seats every few moments, as one of their number departed ! 

 Though one widow did cause the heart of her husband to be extracted, for preservation in a 

 crystal vase, and another directed the teeth of her departed "lord" to be set as a bracelet, now, 

 in accordance with the more recent rules of society, a sister or other near relative is deputed to 

 receive these visits for them. 



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