The Cries of London: Exhibiting Several of the Itinerant Traders of Antient and Modern Times — John Shaqi
The Cries of London: Exhibiting Several of the Itinerant Traders of Antient and Modern TimesSmith, John Thomas
History
The Cries of London: Exhibiting Several of the Itinerant Traders of Antient and Modern Times
Smith, John Thomas
Cries -- England -- London; London (England) -- Social life and customs -- Illustrations; Peddling -- England -- London
In an obituary kept by Mr. Smith, secondary of one of the Compters, and
preserved among the Sloanian MSS. in the British Museum, No. 886, is the
following entry: "Jan. 2, 1671, Mr. Cornelius Bee, Bookseller in Little
Britain, died; buried Jan. 4, at Great St. Bartholomew's, without a
sermon, without wine or wafers, only gloves and _rosemary_." And Mr. Gay,
when describing Blowselinda's funeral, records that "Sprigg'd rosemary the
lads and lasses bore."
Suicides were buried on the north side of the church, in ground purposely
_unconsecrated_.
The custom of burial observed by that truly respectable class of the
community denominated Friends, commonly called Quakers, may be deemed the
most rational, as it is conducted with the utmost simplicity.
The corpse is kept the usual time; it is then put into a plain coffin
uncovered. Afterwards it is placed in a plain hearse, also uncovered, and
without feathers; the attendants accompanying the funeral in their family
carriages, or hackney coaches. The corpse is then placed by the side of
the grave where sometimes they offer a prayer, or deliver an exhortation,
after which the coffin is lowered, the earth put over it, and thus the
ceremony closes. Should the deceased have been a minister, then the corpse
on the day of its interment is carried into the meeting house, and remains
there in the midst of the congregation during their meditations.
The orthodox members of this society never wear any kind of mourning.
Relatives are never designedly placed by each other, but are buried
indiscriminately, as death may visit each member.
They begin at the left hand upper corner, placing them in rows till they
have filled the ground to the lower right hand corner, after which they
commence again as before. They make no distinction whatever between male
and female, nor young and old, nor have they even so much as a
coffin-plate.
The Jews bury their dead within four and twenty hours, adhering to the
custom of the East, where the body would putrify beyond that time. The
great burial-ground at Mile End was made at the sole expense of the famous
Moses Hart, who, after losing an immense sum in the South Sea bubble, died
worth 5000_l._ _per annum_. This munificent Jew also built the Dutch
Synagogue in Duke's-place. The squib prints of the day designate Moses
Hart by the introduction of the Knave of Hearts. The Knave of Clubs in the
same plate was meant for the ancestor of the Gideon family. The Jews bury
their poor by a collection made at the funerals of the better part of the
community. Several boys go about to the mourners and other Jews assembled
upon the occasion, with tin boxes padlocked up, at the top of which there
is a small slit to admit of the contributions, and every Jew present,
however humble his station, is eager to drop in his mite.
[Illustration: _"Hackney Coachman"_]
HACKNEY COACHMAN.
PLATE VI.
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