CKEMATION. 35 



indeed which especially require to be dealt with in the manner 

 proposed. Perhaps it will be desirable, at first at any rate, to limit 

 cremation to such cases. Much would certainly be f^ained to the 

 public health. The permanent extinction of any one of such diseases 

 as are admitted to be preventable, would alone confer inestimable 

 advanta,i,'es on the human race. 



Of course many will e.xclaim, " Oh ! the idea of bein^ burnt after 

 death is horrible ! " Is not a dead body a horrible mystery, and the 

 disposal of it by any method a horrible duty ? 



Suppose for a moment that burial in the earth were a new custom, 

 previous to which the dead were collected and deposited in the sea — 

 which would have much to recommend it from a sanitary point of 

 view — how horrified would many be at the proposal to dig a hole in 

 the ground, iu which to place their friends, with the knowledge that 

 those first buried would in time be disturbed by the sexton's spade, 

 and mixed up in inextricable confusion to make room for later comers. 

 And though the proposal would be opposed to the teachings of true 

 science, that would not be the cause of the opposition it would meet 

 with, any more than the approval of cremation by science convinces 

 those guided by sentiment rather than knowledge. 



It is only a question of time. As the pages of the book of 

 knowledge are unfolded, our stupendous ignorance is reduced, in spite 

 of sentiment — sentiment which is unfortunately so rarely allied to truth. 



Far be it from me, however, to despise sentiment. Life would 

 indeed be dull without it. It may indeed be said that fact and fiction, 

 truth and falsehood, are necessary to each other's existence. Truth 

 shines brightest in a setting of fiction. But whilst disclaiming any 

 inclination to repress sentiment or the healthy exercise of that 

 imaginative power with which mankind is blessed, and by the aid of 

 which so many of the burdens ai:d toils of life are lessened, I make a 

 clear distinction between it and prejudice, the child of ignorance and 

 superstition, prolific parents, from whom it behoves us, to the best of 

 our ability, to free ourselves and our children. 



Civilisation is ever calling for and initiating measures intended to 

 prolong human life. More, a nation's desire to extend the average 

 life of its subjects is undoubtedly a measure of its civilisation, and is 

 one of the first duties of statesmanship. The increasing density of 

 our population is prompting us to adopt measures of a sanitary nature 

 which have been too long delayed. The results so far, are such as 

 ought to encourage us to the adoption of more general and consistent 

 fulfilment of recognised sanitary principles. Hitherto legislation in 

 sanitary, as in other matters, has been the result of a desire to cure 

 rather than to prevent. Only when a nuisance has become so great 

 as to be no longer bearable, are steps taken to alleviate if not remove 

 it altogether. 



Universal education will doubtless develop a more logical public 

 opinion, which must insist upon a policy of prevention, as superior to 

 cure, not only in matters of bodily health, but of crime also. It is 



