Roman Catholic Burials.
'After the extraordinary demands that have been made upon the credulity of the public by Lhe wonder-working Prince Hohenlohe,and the account of smothering the poor chil(l by a priest in Ireland somne mnonths back, perhaps tbe following relationmay not astonish the world: it is coin- nunicated bya correspondent. It is sufficicitly notorious, that in former ages an absurd custom prevailed in Popish countries of clothing persons whose death seemed at hand, in the apparel or uniform of the variouts religious ortlers-" black, white, and gray"-thereby ensuring a passport to another worldl; to whichj that sturdy Protestant MIilton rethrs in the third book of his Paradise Lost,where, describing the himba of Vanity, lie speaks of some, -" Who, to be sure of Paradise, Dying,p,ut on the weeds of Doiniic; : Or In 'ranciscan think to pass disguised." But perhaps it may not be generally understood, that a practice somewhat similar to thiis still obtains, it is said, uniiversally in Spain; nor is there much probability that this irnportant ceremony will be disconitinued, from the circumstance of its being a most fruitful source of profit to the church, for the following reason. Every good Catho- lic is consigned to his long home, not clad in a shroud as with us, or in the garments which he wore when alive, as in some countries, but clothedl in the discardeil vest- ments of some holy Moiik, which vestments are the perquisites of the Generals of the several orders; and thus these revered persons, ludicrous as it may appear to us, are literally very extensive tlealers in old clothes. The General of the Franciscans, by far the most numerous order in Spain, is said to drive so lucrative a trade in this elegant commodity, that his income is asserted by soxNe to exceed that of the Archbishop of Toledlo, whose revenues were laid at 5O,oool. per annum. The intrinsie value of the worn-out garments of Friars cannlot be great ; but it must be understood that the price of a suit of grave- clothes is in proportion to the wealth or pious libera- lity of the friends of the deceased. In Cadiz, the custom is to place the deadl body in a coffin without a lid, and carry it,uncovcred, to the burial.ground. During its progress thi- ther, it is at intervals lowered by the bearers, and a short halt made, so that it may be viewed by those who are passing at the time: hence a stranger,unacquainted with this mode of sepulture, Raturally concludes that an extensive mor- tality has occurred in the ranks of the eceleriastics, from seeing every corpse thus arrayed. This is one among innu- merable superstitious absurdities that prevail in the oman Catholic church, and a proof of the gross state of mind of its members. ROMAN CATHOLIC BURIAL&.