Karl Marx

O'Connor's Funeral

["Neue Oder-Zeitung" No. 430, September 15, 1855]

London, September 11. Yesterday afternoon the funeral of the late Chartist chief O'Connor took place. A procession of 20,000 persons, belonging almost exclusively to the working class, moved from Finsbury Square and Smithfield to Notting Hill, where the coffin was taken down and conveyed to Kensal Green Cemetery (one of the most magnificent burial-grounds of London).

Four-horse mourning coaches, decorated in the English fashion with enormous plumes, took the front of the procession. They were closely followed by banner- and standard-bearers. On the black banners there was, in white letters, the inscription “He lived and died for us”. On a gigantic red banner the inscription “Alliance des peuples” was emblazoned. On the top of the main standard a red liberty cap swayed. After the completion of the service in the beautiful chapel adorned with colonnades situated in the cemetery, William Jones delivered a funeral oration at the grave of the departed. The singing of a hymn concluded the ceremony. All the material for a great demonstration was present; the point was missing, because Ernest Jones was prevented from appearing and speaking by the fatal illness of his wife. When the procession returned towards the city at about half past five in the evening, it had the ironic satisfaction of encountering five detachments of marching constables, who were greeted one after another with a “too late”. As O'Connor died in the literal sense of the word a pauper, the burial took place at the expense of the London working class.