THE MODERN CEMETERY. 
53 
The custom of uncovering heads in the open air 
had its origin in superstitious nations concerning 
the dead. It has ever been regarded simply as a 
reverential act, that could do nobody any particular 
good; but it must be evident to the thoughtful that 
it has been fruitful of much harm. The time has 
certainly come when this custom should go the way 
of many other things which have been discontinued 
when scientific examination has shown them to be 
both dangerous and useless. 
Common courtesy requires you to remain un- 
covered within doors, but a proper regard for your 
health demand that you wear your hat when with- 
out. For myself, the new rule is established. I 
will not so expose myself when there is no good 
reason to be given for so doing. 
The Cemeteries of Paris. 
Few Englishmen are aware of the large number 
of public cemeteries in and around Paris, says a 
French writer in Leisure Hour. Many know no 
other than the Pere la Chaise, or Cimetiere d’Est, 
chiefly because it is a show-place, on account of 
many monuments of notable persons, described in 
all guide-books. There are no fewer than nineteen 
cemeteries under the charge of the municipality of 
Paris One of these, at Pantin, near the Port of 
Aubervilliers, is upwards of 99 hectares; or about 
250 acres, of superficial measure; another, at Bag- 
neux, is about 220 acres. Pere la Chaise is little 
more than 100 acres, and the great majority of the 
intra-mural cemeteries are of far smaller dimensions. 
Montmartre, Bagtignolles, Belleville, Passy, Cren- 
elle, Vaugirard, La Villette, are altogether not 
equal to the size of Pere la Chaise. 
The surroundings of all the cemeteries and the 
approaches to them are in strange contrast with the 
solemnity of the scenes inside the enclosures. Rows 
of marble-cutters’ sheds, of makers of wreaths, 
crowns, and artificial flowers or immortelles, with 
various objects with which to tempt purchasers, 
mark the nearness of the cemetery. Taverns and 
drinking shops abound, as with us in London. At 
certain seasons, especially on “All Soul’s Day,” 
each cemetery of any size shows an activity as great 
as a fair, the sounds of competing vendors and ^the 
drink-shop touter destroying any general feeling of 
religious sorrow. In fact, the crowds of visitors on 
such occasions are the slaves of custom, and go for 
excitement more than from genuine feeling. Those 
who seek to inspect graves or to renew memorials 
will shun such noisy festivals, and take quieter 
times for their in memoriam visits. 
Associated with these busy scenes there are 
tales told of regularly organized “cemetery robber- 
ies,” which occupy not an inconsiderable portion of 
the Parisian criminal class. Each cemetery ha 
numerous guardians, that of Pere la Chaise having 
thirty at least. The robberies are, however, most 
frequent at this place, the numerous chapels and 
monuments aiding concealment on dark nights, and 
the objects worth stealing being of more value and 
more numerous. An everyday theft in all the ceme- 
teries is that of an apparent mourner who obtains 
entrance by carrying a wreath, which is exchanged 
for some object more valuable, and the thief leaves 
the cemetery by a different gate. Many anecdotes 
about this are recorded in the official reports. 
Of late years new regulations have been intro- 
duced to meet the new fashion of cremation, direc- 
tions being given for the various proceedings, and 
also the tariffs for different classes. But we must 
omit further reference to this, as well as the curious 
details given as to the contrivances of the clergy 
and chief officers to extract as much as possible from 
the distressed mourners. 
It is true that the expenses of the religious ser- 
vice may be entirely dispensed with, and the only 
charge may be for civil interment. But even in 
Paris, where it is thought that infidelity and mater- 
ialism so much prevail, the force of custom and re- 
gard for appearances prevent the neglect of the 
Church, save in comparatively few cases. Of the 
“enterrements civiles,” there were in all 10,581, of 
which 7,892 were of the pauper and gratuitous class. 
In the first class there was only one without religi- 
ous services, second class ten, and in other cases 
comparatively few, till we reach onvrier class, 
the seventh, which numbered 1,448. 
The vast proportion of the religious services 
were in the Roman Catholic Churches, which num- 
bered 39,570; of Protestants, including the Eglise 
Reformee and the Lutherans of the Confession of 
Augsburg, there were 1,068; of Israelites, 690; and 
“divers,” including the Greek Church, Mahometans, 
Buddhists, etc., 67. The religious services of the 
Israelites are not performed in their place of wor- 
ship, which would be defiled by the presence of the 
dead bodies. The civil interments without any re- 
ligious service in these statistics include those car- 
ried beyond the city of Paris, and also the large 
number of still-born children. 
If brevity be the soul of wit, then the following 
comes dangerously near being witty. It is to be 
found in one of the Parisian cemeteries, and forms 
an epitaph on husband and wife, the husband hav- 
ing died first : 
I am anxiously expecting you. a. d. 1827. 
Here I am. A. D. 1867. 
Evidently the good lady was determined to have 
the last word, says the F 7 meral Direetor's Jonrnal. 
