Speaking of which, what’s taking them so long to organize the State Funeral for WJC? Can’t locate enough blue dresses for the pallbearers?
For some reason I was reminded today of the fiasco surrounding Rene Descartes’ funeral.
First, there was the manner of his death. He should have known better. Sitting in a Parisian coffee house. The waiter came by and asked him if Descartes wanted a fresh cup. Descartes replied, “I think not” and immediately… was not.
But the funeral procession for this famous mathematician/philosopher… Oh. My. Heavens. What a fiasco. As the horse-drawn hearse proceeded down the narrow streets of Paris, some juvenile merrymakers thought it fun to spook the horse by throwing stones at it. The horse took off, running wildly, the hearse careening through the narrow streets until finally, on a sharp turn, it jacknifed and the horse went down in front of the hearse, the coffin went flying off, skidding and bumping on down the cobblestone streets… and Descartes’ body came tumbling out to roll, finally to a stop some yards beyond the knackered horse, the broken hearse and the smashed coffin.
Yes, the worst case of getting Descartes before the hearse known to this day.