ABSTRACT
The very poor are often obliged, in order to save expense, or for other reasons, to bury their dead in the course of a few days after death. This is likened to a mandarin who proceeds to his official trust by the swiftest post, without the usual delays, receptions of honour, &c. en route. It is considered disreputable, and a mark of the very lowest poverty, or that the dead is destitute of friends and relatives who take an interest in the honour of the family.
