Chapter 14 - Page 2

well enough in itself; but the napkin was deemed a superfluous
exhibition of ceremony, at the funeral of a man who had performed all
the menial offices in his own person.

The graveyard was an inclosure on the grounds of Mr. Wharton, which had
been fenced with stone and set apart for the purpose, by that
gentleman, some years before. It was not, however, intended as a burial
place for any of his own family. Until the fire, which raged as the
British troops took possession of New York, had laid Trinity in ashes, a
goodly gilded tablet on its walls proclaimed the virtues of his deceased
parents, and beneath a flag of marble, in one of the aisles of the
church, their bones were left to molder in aristocratical repose.
Captain Lawton made a movement as if he was disposed to follow the
procession, when it left the highway, to enter the field which contained
the graves of the humble dead, but he was recalled to recollection by a
hint from his companion that he was taking the wrong road.

"Of all the various methods which have been adopted by man for the
disposal of his earthly remains, which do you prefer, Captain Lawton?"
said the surgeon, as they separated from the little procession. "In some
countries the body is exposed to be devoured by wild beasts; in others
it is suspended in the air to exhale its substance in the manner of
decomposition; in other regions it is consumed on the funeral pile, and,
again, it is inhumed in the bowels of the earth; every people have their
own particular fashion, and to which do you give the preference?"

"All are agreeable," said the trooper, following the group they had left
with his eyes; "though the speediest interments give the cleanest
fields. Of which are you an admirer?"

"The last, as practiced by ourselves, for the other three are
destructive of all the opportunities for dissection; whereas, in the
last, the coffin can lie in peaceful decency, while the remains are made
to subserve the useful purposes of science. Ah! Captain Lawton, I enjoy
comparatively but few opportunities of such a nature, to what I expected
on entering the army."

"To what may these pleasures numerically amount in a year?" said the
captain, withdrawing his gaze from the graveyard.

"Within a dozen, upon my honor; my best picking is when the corps is
detached; for when we are with the main army, there are so many boys to
be satisfied, that I seldom get a good subject. Those youngsters are as
wasteful as prodigals, and as greedy as vultures."

"A dozen!" echoed the trooper, in surprise. "Why, I furnish you that
number with my own hands."

"Ah! Jack," returned the doctor,