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Rosemary, Use of at Funerals.

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The early Christians rejected the use of the cypress at funerals, as used by the heathen, and substituted rosemary. The heathen, having no thoughts of a future life, but believing that the bodies of the dead would lie forever in the grave, made use of cypress, which is a tree that, being once cut, never revives, but dies away. The Christians, having better hopes, and expecting the reunion of soul and body, use rosemary, which, being always green, and flourishing the more for being cut, is more proper to express this confidence and trust.