MOURX
VOS'
MOUSE
The art of inourning is only to be acquired by long practice, and regular professors of it are usually hired on the occasion of a death by the wealthier classes (Mrs. Poole, Ent/lishir. in Kt/ypt, ii, 100). Dr. Wolft" mentions the wailing over the dead in Abyssinia (.1 utobiog. ii, 273). rietro della Valle mentions a practice among the Jews of burning perfumes at the site of Abraham's tomb at Hebron (see 2 Chron. xvi, 14; xxi, 19; Jer. xxxiv, 5 ; P. della Valle, Viiif/ffi, i, 30G).
The customs of the North American Indians also re- semble those which have been described in many par- ticulars, as the howling and wailing, and speeches to the dead ; among some tribes the practice of piercing the flesh with arrows or sharp stones, visits to the place of the dead (Carver, Travels, p. 401 ; Bancroft, 7/t»7. o/the United States, ii, 912; Catlin, N. A.Indians, i, 90). The former and present customs of the Welsh, Irish, and Highlanders at funerals may also be cited as similar in several respects, e. g. wailing and howling, watching with the corpse, funeral entertainments (" funeral baked meats"), flowers on tlie grave, days of visiting the grave (Brand, Pop. Antiq. ii, 128, etc.; Ilarmer, Ohs. iii, 40).
One of the most remarkable instances of traditional customary lamentation is found in the weekly waiUng of the Jews at Jerusalem at a spot as near to the Tem- ple as could be obtained. See Jercsalem. This cus- tom, noticed by St. Jerome, is alluded to by Benjamin of Tudela, and exists to the present day. (Jerome, A d Sophoi>.i,lo; ,4c/ /•(««/«»;, Ep. xxxLx; Early Trav.in Pal. p. 83 ; Paumer, Paldstina, p. 293 ; Martineau, East- ern Life, p. 471 ; Robinson, i, 237.) See Funeuau
MoruxiNG, CiiKiSTiAN. — Among the early Christians all immoderate grief for the dead was considered incon- sistent with Christian hope; and hence the custom which prevailed among the Jews and Romans of hiring women to make lamentation at funerals was severely reprobated. There was not, however, the indulgence of any stoical apathy, but a becoming sorrow was evinced by Christians. Strong disapprobation of the practice of wearing black is expressed by some of the fathers; nevertheless it became prevalent, especially in the East. Some Christians imitated the heathen cus- tom of repeating the mourning on the third, seventh, and ninth days, and some even added others. In the Apostolical Constitutions, the author takes notice of the repetition of this funeral-office on the third, ninth, antl fortieth days; he says: ''Let the third day be observed for the dead with psalms and lessons and prayers, be- cause Christ on the third day rose again from tlie dead ; and let the ninth be observed in remembrance of the living and the dead; and also the fortieth day, accord- ing to tlie ancient manner of the Israelites' mourning for Moses forty days." On the ainiiversary days of commemorating the dead they were accustomed to make a common feast or entertainment, inviting both clergy and people, but especially the poor, the widows and orphans, that it might be not only a memorial to the dead, but, according to Origen, " an odor of a sweet smell to God."— Farrar, Eccles. Diet. See Flneral.
MOUKNING-WEEDS, a particular dress worn dur- ing a certain period to express grief, especially for the decease of friends. The usages in this respect have va- ried much at different times and in different countries. Among the Jews, the duration of mourning for the dead was generally seven, but sometimes protracted to thirty days; and tlie garments were torn or sciualid, or con- sisted of sackcloth ((j. v.). The .Jews of our day ob- serve mourning ceremonies to a very considerable ex- tent prescribed by tiie traditions of the rabbins. On the loss of a very near relative they seclude them- selves from society for eight days, praying all waking hours for the .safety of the soul of the departed friend, and every year the day of decease is observed as a tlay on which prayer for the dejiarted must be observciL Among tlie Greeks, the period was thirty days, except ill Sparta, where it was limited to ten. The relatives of the deceased secluded themselves from the public
eye, wore a coarse black dress, and in ancient times cut off their hair as a sign of grief. Among the Romans, the color of mourning for both sexes was black or dark blue under the republic ; under the empire, the women wore white, black continuing to be the color for men, who did not cut off the hair or beard as in Greece. Men wore their mourning only a few days; women a year, when for a husband or parent. The time of mourn- ing was often shortened by a victory or other happy pub- lic event, the birth of a child, or the occurrence of a fam- ily festival. A public calamity, such as a defeat, or the death of an emperor or person of note, occasioned a pub- lic mourning, which involved a total cessation of business, called Justitium. In modern Europe, the ordinary col- or for mourning is black; in Turkey, violet; in China, white; in Egypt, yellow; in Ethiopia, brown. It was white in Spain until 1498. White is supposed to denote purity ; yellow, that death is the end of all human hopes, as leaves when they fall, and flowers when they fade, become yellow; brown denotes the earth, whither the dead return ; black, the privation of life, as being the privation of light ; blue expresses the happiness which it is hoped the deceased enjoys: and purple or violet, sorrow on the one side and hope on the other, as being a mixture of black and blue. Mourning is worn of dif- ferent depth, and for different periods of time, according to the nearness of relationship of the deceased. On the death of a sovereign or member of the reigning house, a court mourning is ordered ; and in many countries it is usual at the same time to recommend the adoption of a general mourning. In Scotch law, if a husband die, whether solvent or insolvent, the widow will be enti- tled to a preferred payment out of the assets for mourn- ings suitable to his rank. The same privilege applies to mournings for such of the children as arc to assist at the funeral (Chambers). The propriety of following the customs prevalent on this point has been of late very [ extensively called in question by Christians. IMany in- I dividuals and religious bodies have olyected against it : 1, that it is a useless ceremony ; 2, that it involves needless expense, especially to the poor; 3, that the bustle of preparing it interferes with the moral and re- ligious ])urposcs of aflliction. — Hend. Buck. See Grief. Mourners. See Flextes; Penitents. Mouse ("132^, a/char', according to Bochart, Ilieroz. i, 1017, a compound of the Chald. 52?, to devour, and ~l2, afield, from its ravages; but according to Gesenius, Thes. Ihb. p. .508, from the Arab, for sicijl digrjer ; Gr. fivi:), by which especially the field-mouse (Mishna, MoedKaton, i, 4) — a species, on account of its voracity and rapid increase, very injurious to crops (Aristotle, Anim. vi, 37; Strabo, iii, 165; /Elian, Anim. vi, 41; Pliny, X, 85 ; comp. Russell, A leppo, ii, 59) — appears to be designated in 1 Sam. vi, 4 sq. See II.emorriioid. It was an unclean animal (Lev. xi, 29), in which pas- sage, however, all the species of the genus mus are doubtless included (Bochart, Jlieroz. ii, 429 sq.). But in Isa. Ixvi, 77, a different creature seems to be denoted, apparently some esculent species of glis, or dormouse (see Varro, R. R. ii, 15) ; or perhaps the leaping variety of mouse, musjaculus, or jerboa, which is designated in Arabic by a name corresponding to the Heb. akl/ar, al- though this animal has often been identified with the Heb. shaphan, or "coney." — Winer, ii, 04. See also Moi.E.