Spanish Funeral Customs

Id all well-to-do families the house oí oath is dosertecl immediately after tbe uuoral. The stiickcn oues retire to orne other hubit ilion, atid thcre pasa jigbt duys in atrict aud inviolable secluion. On the ninth day the great masses ut the repose of tbe soul of tbe departd are mío in the parish ohuroh, and all ho friends of tbe fansily are expected o be preeent. These matees are the most important and ezpeosive incidom jf the funeral. Thej oost from two juudrt-J to one thousand dollars, acoordtig to tbe strength and fervor ot the irisous employed. Thejr are repeated overal years on the auuiversary of the locease, and afford a most ture aud lourisbing revenue to the Church. ïbey iré founded upoD those feelings inseparable from every humar, heart, vanity and ifiection. Our dead frieuds must be as vcll prayed for as those of othurs, and wbo knows but tliat they may bo in deadly need of prayers ! To shorton heir fiery penauce by one hour, wbo would not fatt for a week ? On these anNÍvemriesa black-bordered advertisement appear íq the newspapers, hcaded 3y the sign of tho cross and the Requicecat in Paec, aDoouncing tbat on bis day twelve montha Don Fulano de Tal passed from eartb garuished with the íoly Eacraments, that all the masses thig day colelirated in eueh and such uburohes wi'.l be applied to the benefit of his spirit's repose, and that el) Christiuu 'riecds are hereby requested to comincud lia ioul tbis day unto God. These united efforts at stated times are regarded as very efficaoious. A lus ury of grief, in those who can aflord it, consiíits in shutting up tho ousu wliere a deatli has takeu plaoe and uever suflering it to be opened again. I once saw a bctiutiful houee and wide ;arden tbus abnudoned iu one of the most fashionable streets of Madrid. I inquired abour hand found it wa9 for meily tbe refidenoe of the Duke of . His wife had died tbere maDy yean before, and since that day not a door nor a window had been rpened. The garden ates weru red and rough with rust. (i rasa grew tall and rauk in the graveled walks. A tbick lush under-growth liad over-run tho üowerbede and the lawns. The blinds were rotting over the darkened windows. Luxurianl vinea olatnbered over all the raossj doors. The stuoco was peeling trom tbe walls in great unwholesome blotehes. Wild birdo sang all dny in the safe solitudo. There was sometbingimpressive in thisspot oi mould aud eilenoe, layiug thero so green and implacable iu the very heart of a great and noisy city. The Duks lived in Paris, leadiiip the rattling life of a man of tbo world. He never would sell or let that Madrid house. Perhaps in bia heart also, that buttered thoroughfare irora by the paUering boot of Mabille and the Bois, and the quarter Breda, there was a green spot saorod to niemory and eileuce, where no footfall should ever iight, where no living voioe should ever be heard, shut out froin the world and its pleanureg, whoru through the gloom of dcad days he could catch a gliuipse of a white hand, a flash of a dark eyo, the rustle of a trniling robe, and feel sweeping over him the old magio of lore's jouug drtiam, oftening bis fanoy to tender regret and his eyes to a happy mist, "Liko {bat which kept the heirt of Eden green Befing the useful truable of tüe rin." - From the Ailaniiu Monthlï for Februari. Bayoneta have juet eleoted a Presa deut in Paraguay. That'g tbe Oouutrj 1 for Groot,