138 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



deservedly high rank, and is held in great favor bj'^ the citizens of 

 Newton, who do not fail to encourage and support it. 



Few things connected with a town afford a better indication of 

 its general liberality and refinement, than these dormitories of the 

 dead. The more we think of the world to come, the better shall 

 ■we be in this ; and the more we live with our friends departed, 

 the more will their influence be felt ; the oftener we are drawn to 

 the spot where they repose, the nearer will they be to us ; we seem, 

 ■when there, to be watching, as it were, at their bedside, ■while they 

 sleep on in painless rest. There is an inexpressible satisfaction 

 in such vigils, and in keeping all our associations with them bright 

 "and green. These flow'ers of varied hue and leaf, and lawns of 

 spotless verdure, with the stillness of the grave, broken only by 

 the bird-chants in the foliage, must induce a serener mood ; and 

 the very tree-tops, as they wave their green palms over us, seem 

 to pronounce a kind of benediction to the spu'it. 



It is therefore well that suitable provision should be made at 

 the outset for the perpetual care of such depositories. Your Com- 

 mittee have heard, -with much satisfaction, that all lots sold by this 

 corporation since June last, and all that may hereafter be sold, 

 ■will be under its special care ; the purchasers being obliged to 

 leave a sufficient sum, in trust, to secure the same. In this way 

 only can there be any certainty of future beauty and a harmonious 

 •whole. It is to be hoped that this example may hereafter be fol- 

 lowed by other and older institutions of the kind. 



Feeling that Mr. Ross has done much to be commended in the 

 cause of landscape gardening, your Committee have awarded to 

 him a gratuity of twenty-five dollars. 



Respectfully submitted. 



For the Committee, 



H. W. FULLER, Chairman. 



