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Show H FUNERAL. SERHONS. B The remarks of Elder J. G. Web- j ster at the meeting last Sunday night on the subject of funeral ser- B moiis were exceedingly appropriate h and timely. It has become the fl practice to laud the dear dc- 1 parted with praises so fulsome that instead of it being a credit to him or even a consolation to his re- B lations, it is rather a sarcastic com- 1 ment on his sins and short comings, and it is a healthy sign sectothiscus- torn, time honored though it maybe, 1 condemned by men of i.iflucncc. It H is all right to heed the advice to H "Speak of all the best we can," but H when it comes to such untruthful en- H coniums as are often uttered by spea- H kers on these occasions it is time H to draw the line. In some of H the lemarks that we hear on these B occasions, no regard seems to be H had for the well known character of fl the defunct, but it seems to be the H expectation of the speakers that his H future all depends on the testimony H that they are giving. Such speakers H of course know that the Almighty H ( cannot be misled by their disregard H of the facts, and they should also H remember that many of their hear- H crs arc as well informed in relation H to the subject as they arc them- j selves, and that when they ascribe H virtues to try: deceased that every- H body knows he did not possess, it H only brings into plainer view ' his H lack of them. The desire to com- H fort the relatives is often at the M bottom of such talk, but even rcla-H rcla-H , tives, blinded as they frequently arc H by their aflliction, are liable to dou- H bt the discernment, if not the sin- H cerity, of these speakers Of course H it is pleasing to relations to bear those M they have lost spoken well of, but M when the matter is over done, if the H friends and relatives believe all that H is said it only serves to make them m feel that they have lost more than fl they at first supposed. Comments M on the character, of the deceased .at M the time of the funeral services. B ought to be of a general character, M and strictly confined to the truth, M if made at all. In some ancient 11a- M ttons so strictly did the speak 1 crs confine themselves to this M rule that kings were influenced T" injthcir treatment of their subjects H by the fear they had of post mortem H criticism, knowing as they did that H then the truth would be told. If H this plan were followed, dishonest H drunken and "dissolute people would K-v. no longer be alleged to possess all H the virtues, while respectable honest H people listen to their praises with H disgust. It is no credit to a man to H be spoken well of at his funeral; who H is not spoken well of at that time? H It is of course done with the best of H intentions, but it is not attended H with the best of results. If you H have anything good to say of your H fellow citizen, say it while he is H v alive, when he can hear yon and H profit by it. A word or two of en- H CQuragcment will often be of great H service to him, but flattery over his B remains does him no good and dec- H cives no one. |