272 Architecture in the United States. 
To THE Gops MANEs. 
Fuavia Hewpris.* 
‘The following is now preserved in the first gallery of the Vatican. 
— CinerA PELacia. 
May THE EARTH 
. PRE LIGHT ON YOU. 
These are pagan. There is on the opposite side of the same gal- 
lery in the Vatican, a large collection of inscriptions from the graves 
of the early christians. They are on rough fragments of marbles, and 
though very brief, carry us, at once, back to those times when the 
way to the peace of the grave was through torture, fire and blood. 
The following are some of them. 
-Fexicranvs awn ApErusa, ConsTANTIA, 
Iw Px AGED XXX Ys. XX Ds. 
i: In PEACE, 
. “To My HAPPY AND MUCH LOVED WIFE, 
WHO LIvED XXVIII Ys. 
. In PEACE. 
~ Without wishing to recommend any of these as models, 1 must still 
be allowed to express my admiration of the simplicity and strong 
power of the language. It is the language of deep feeling, short and 
touching ; and such should always be the language of a monument 
Where there is any attempt at sentiment. If we are incapable of 
such feeling, or of expressing it, we shall do best to confine our 10 
‘scription to name, title and date. I like to see a short verse from 
Scripture, if appropriate: poetry is almost uniformly an entire failure. 
A burying ground should be at first not very large, else there 
be much waste ground ; it will be neglected ; will become overgrow? 
with rank vegetation, and will be any thing else than the neat clean 
spot it ought to be. The plot should be divided into small family 
compartments, with very narrow passages between: alleys should 
pass through the whole, but these should also be narrow, for the sake 
of avoiding waste ground as much as possible. Trees should be 
planted, not in avenues but adjoining the graves. Avenues would be 
formal here and out of character : sorrow and affection bear rule 1m 
a grave yard, and we never expect them to make such provision for 
public as is shewn in an avenue. There is a kind of selfish 
character about them : and it is the only instance in which selfishness 
* Vide Montfaucon L’Antiquité Expliquée. 
