The Egyptians carry this folly perhaps to the most
absurd degree; their catacombs and splendid tombs far outrivalling the
habitations of their princes, together with their expensive mode
of embalming, are with us matters of curiosity, and often induce a
sacrilegious transfer of some distinguished mummy to the museums of the
connoisseur. The Athenians, Greeks, and Romans, had each their peculiar
funeral ceremonies in the exhumation, ~28~~sacrifices, and orations
performed on such occasions; and much of the present customs of the
Romish church are, no doubt, derivable from and to be traced to these
last-mentioned nations. In the present times, no race of people are
more superstitious in their veneration for the ancient customs of their
country and funeral rites, than the lower orders of the Irish, and that
folly is often carried to a greater height during their domicile in this
country than when residing at home.
It was about nine o'clock at night when Eglantine, Transit, and myself
sallied forth to St. Giles's in search of the wake, or, as Bob called
it, on a crusade to the holy land. Formerly, such a visit would have
been attended with great danger to the parties making the attempt, from
the number of desperate characters who inhabited the back-slums lying
in the rear of Broad-street: where used to be congregated together,
the most notorious thieves, beggars, and bunters of the metropolis,
amalgamated with the poverty and wretchedness of every country, but more
particularly the lower classes of Irish, who still continue to exist
in great numbers in the neighbourhood.
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