HISTORICAL SKETCH. 73 



inducemcnl^ lor aiding in its accomplishment ? How consoling and pleas- 

 ing is the thought, that our memories shall be cherished after death ; and 

 that the spot Avhere our ashes shall repose shall be often visited by dear and 

 constant friends ; that they will there linger to call up the soothing, yet 

 melanchoUy reminiscences of by-gone days ; that the sod which covers us, 

 will be kept ever verdant ; that a magnificent forest will be reared to over- 

 shadow our graves, by those truly kind hands Avhich performed the last sad 

 office of affection ; that flowers will fringe the pathways leading to our 

 lowly resting place, and their fragrance, mingled with the liohest aspirations, 

 ascend towards the throne of the Eternal. 



" To those who mourn, what a consolation to visit the bower-sequestered 

 monument of a much loved friend, under circumstances, and with associa- 

 tions, so favorably calculated to revive agreeable recollections of the past ; 

 and where those revolting ideas are excluded which obtrude upon the mind 

 while standing in the usually dreary, desolate and ruinous repositories of 

 the dead. 



" In a Rural Cemetery the names and virtues of the departed would live 

 in perpetual freshness, and their souls seem to commune with those Avho 

 came to do honor to their manes. Thus would all like to repose in death ; 

 and who would not deem it a blessing to be able to confer that favor on a 

 parent, child, wife, husband, or friend ? How can this object be so 

 successfully accomplished as in connection Avilh an Experimental Garden ? 



" That part of the land which has been recommended for a Cemetery 

 may be circumvallated by a spacious avenue, bordered by trees, shrubbery, 

 and perennial flowers, — rather as a line of demarcation than of discon- 

 nection, for the ornamental ground of the Garden should be, apparently, 

 blended with those of the Cemetery, and the walks of each so intercom- 

 municate as to afford an uninterrupted range over both, as one common 

 domain. 



" Among the hills, glades and dales, which are now covered with ever- 

 green and deciduous trees and shrubs, may be selected sites for isolated 

 graves and tombs ; and these being surmounted by columns, obelisks and 

 other appropriate monuments of granite or marble, may be rendered inter- 

 esting specimens of art ; they will also vary and embellish the scenery 

 embraced within the scope of the numerous sinuous avenues which may be 

 felicitously opened in all directions, and to a vast extent, from the diver- 

 sified and picturesque features which the topography of the tract of land 

 presents. 



"Besides the great public advantages which will result from the horticul- 

 tural compartments, and that portion of the land which may be consecrated 

 to the dead, and rendered, like the Elysian Fields of the Egyptians, a holy 

 and pleasant resort for the living, the whole will present one of the most 

 instructive, magnificent and pleasant promenades in our country. From 



