RURAL CEMBTBRIBS. 



the ashes thrown to the winds, — or others, who 

 would have their remains exposed to the birds aud 

 beasts of prey, — they deem it a weakness to I'eel any 

 concern about the disposal of their bodies after 

 death. Yet even such persons, with all their pro- 

 fessed indifference concerning themselves, do not fail 

 to show a tender respect for the dust of their de- 

 ceased friends. Like other men, they wish to have 

 their remains suitably composed for the grave, and 

 the spot of their interment marked by some com- 

 memorative memorial. 



But where shall our bodies rest? Not in the 

 crowded city or town, amid the haunts of traffic, and 

 pleasure, and vice, where gain will ere long disturb 

 their repose and subject them to indignities; but in 

 the country, under the open sky, and amid all the 

 genial influences of nature. This has been the al- 

 most universal desire of mankind. In the earliest 

 records of our race, we read that Abraham bought 

 a field and the cave which was therein, and all the 

 trees that were in the field, for a permanent burial- 

 place for himself and his descendants. The ancient 

 Egyptians and Persians buried their dead in the 

 country. The former had a public cemetery on the 

 shores of the lake Acherusia. It was a large plain, 

 surrounded by trees, and intersected by canals. The 

 bodies of the dead were first embalmed, and then 

 buried in the sand or in tombs cut out of the rocks. 

 The custom of burning the remains of the dead, or- 

 iginated with the Greeks, from whom it was copied 

 by the Romans. After the ceremony of cremation, 

 the ashes were gathered into an urn, and the whole 

 was carried in procession and interred by the side of 

 the public roads without the city. Many of the 

 gardens around Jerusalem were used as family burial- 

 places. The early Christians interred their dead in 

 caverns, probaljly to conceal them from the malice 

 of their persecutors. The ancient Germans were 

 wont to Ijury in groves consecrated by their priests. 

 The Turks bury their dead amid groves of cypress, 

 which th»y style, very poetically, " cities of silence." 



The rural cemetery, however, as we now see it, is 

 of comparitively modern origin, and is the offspring, 

 in no small degree, of modern refinement and a 

 Christian civilization. 



The connection of such burial-places with the pub- 

 lic health, is a consideration not to be overlooked. 

 When a multitude of bodies are interred side by side, 

 and, as is sometimes the case, one above another, it 

 is impossible but that the surrounding air should be 

 tainted with a noxious effluvia. The atmosphere of 

 a church can hardly be wholesome when the soil 

 about it and beneath its floors is crowded with the 

 decaying relics of the dead. It can not be healthful 

 to visit such places often, nor to live in their imme- 

 diate neighborhood. Much better is it to commit 

 the remains of our dead to the fresh earth, where 

 the pure winds blow, and amid flowers and verdure. 



Rural cemeteries also exert an important influence 

 on the public taste. When properly laid out, they 

 present to the eye a pleasing landscape adorned witli 

 trees and shrubs and vines, with well kept roads and 

 walks, and tasteful monuments. All classes in socie- 

 ty can obtain easy access to them, and can learn by 

 their own inspection how beautiful is nature — how 

 beautiful in her own simplicity, and also when her 



charms are heightened by the hand of art. T 

 snch places will be visited by large numbers, all 

 perience shows. To say nothing of the multitu 

 who throng PSre la Chaise, near Paris, and ot 

 cemeteries in Europe, we are told that the princi 

 grounds of the kind in our own country are resor 

 to annually by thousands. Laurel Hill, near Ph 

 delphia, was visited in one year (1848) by upwa 

 of 30,000, and Greenwood and Mount Auburn b 

 still greater number. Nor do these thousands ei 

 the gates of our cemeteries to no good purpi 

 They are moved, it may be insensibly, with pure, i 

 tender, and lofty emotions, and they carry away w 

 them finer tastes and higher conceptions. The wc 

 of art here beheld, unlike those seen in some pul 

 resorts, present nothing to inflame the passions 

 corrupt the heart. 



And this suggests another advantage of rural C' 

 eteries — their influence on the moral feelings. ( 

 any good come from visiting the old-fashioned gn 

 yards, barbarously kept as many of them are ? \^ 

 laas not been shocked at seeing their rude hillo' 

 crowded together in dreary rows, perhaps grass! 

 or covered with rank weeds and briars, their h( 

 stones tilted over at all angles, or broken and p 

 trate ? Was any one ever made better by walk 

 through a burying-ground used as a sheep-past 

 or left open to the street by a broken fence, or all 

 ed to stand treeless and shrubless, exposed to 

 glaring sun and howling wind ? Such sights sad 

 us, indeed; but they do not mend our hearts. T 

 remind us that we must die; but they also mak( 

 dread to die — dread to think that our bodies n 

 be put into the same festering earth, and be trei 

 with the same neglect. 



But why clothe death with such unnecessary 

 rors? It is sad enough to turn away from lile ani 

 we hold dear, without adding to the sadness by 

 dering the grave an object of disgust and disr 

 Rather, let us make our burial-grounds pleasant 

 attractive ; places where we shall be inclined to 

 olten, to muse upon life and its grandest conce 

 and upon death and the glorious rewards awai 

 the good after death, — to reflect upon the virtuei 

 those whose dust sleeps around us, and to cons 

 how we may imitate those virtues. The spirii 

 Themistocles was fired by visiting the tombs of 

 illustrious dead. "The Romans buried their n 

 honored citizens along the Appian Way, that 

 youth as they entered the city might be moved 

 emulate their virtues and share their renown." ' 

 early Christians worshipped near the graves of 

 martyrs, that they might be filled with their sp 

 And so, may not we, while walking among the toi 

 of the good departed, catch something of their sp 

 and be filled with aspirations after a better life ? 



There should be nothing in the place or manne 

 their interment, to detract from our tender and 

 spectful veneration for the dead. But this can hi 

 ly be avoided, if their graves are dug in a dismal ; 

 unsightly spot. How much belter to choose sc 

 retired, sunny slope, the most beautiful in the reg 

 around us, and make it sacred as a burial-place foi 

 er. Here, let there bo trees with their grateful i 

 soul-subduing shade; there, let us see the open la 

 and cheerful sunshine; around us, on every hand, 



