27 



of the original purchase, laying out the grounds, enclosing them 

 with a fence, erecting an entrance gate and portal, and a cottage, 

 and other structures for the accommodation of the superintendent, 

 and defraying the incidental expenses. The expenditures have 

 already amounted, as appears by the Treasurer's Report, to up- 

 wards of twenty-five thousand dollars ; and the proceeds of the 

 sales have fallen short of this amount by about two thousand 

 dollars ; so that as yet the expenditures have exceeded the income. 

 It has always been the understanding of the Society, that all the 

 funds, which should be obtained by the sales of the lots, should, 

 after defraying the annual expenses of the establishment, be ap- 

 plied exclusively to the preservation, repair, ornament, and per- 

 manent improvement of the Garden and Cemetery ; and never to 

 the private emolument of any of the members — and, indeed, this 

 constituted the fundamental object of those, who have become the 

 proprietors of lots. It is due also to the gentlemen, whose public 

 spirit matured the design, to state, that it was their primary ob- 

 ject to exclude all private speculation and interests from the un- 

 dertaking, and, by a wise and fixed policy, to secure all the funds, 

 which should arise from its success, to public purposes of an en- 

 during and permanent character. The Society has sanctioned 

 these views. It was believed that a generous community would 

 foster the design, and, by a timely liberality, in the purchase of 

 lots, would enable the Society to make this beautiful Retreat for 

 the Dead at the same time the consolation and just pride of the 

 Living. The committee have great pleasure in stating that these 

 reasonable expectations have not been disappointed. Mount Au- 

 burn has already become a place of general resort and interest, 

 as well to strangers as to citizens ; and its shades and paths, 

 ornamented with monumental structures, of various beauty and 

 elegance, have already given solace and tranquilizing reflections 

 to many an afflicted heart, and awakened a deep moral sensibility 

 in many a pious bosom. The committee look forward, with in- 

 creasing confidence, to a steady public patronage, which shall 

 supply all the means necessary for the accomplishment of all the 

 interesting objects of the establishment. 



Relying on this patronage, the committee indulge the hope 

 that the period is not far distant, when, by the sale of lots, the 

 society will be enabled to enclose all the grounds with a perma- 

 nent wall ; to erect a Temple of simple and classical character, 

 in which the service over the dead may be performed by clergy- 

 men of every denomination ; to add extensively to the beauty and 

 productiveness of the Garden ; and, above all, to lay the founda- 

 tion of an accumulating fund, the income of which shall be per- 

 petually devoted to the preservation, embellishment, and improve- 

 ment of the grounds. This last object the committee deem of 

 the highest importance to the perpetuity of the establishment; 

 and it cannot be contemplated with too much care and earnest- 



