Rural Cemeteries. 489 



tance of producing such a state of the mind, in order to in- 

 crease its susceptibility to the influence of the divine services, 

 must be evident to all. The eloquence of the preacher, 

 unless his performance be so low as to displease by contrast, 

 is thereby greatly heightened : and I have no doubt that the 

 picturesque expression of the interior of these churches has 

 preserved in many a mind its original attachment to the ser- 

 vices of religion, after it had become skeptical in regard to 

 its divine origin. 



I have seen no evidence that these effects were studied in 

 designing most of the objects introduced into our rural cem- 

 eteries. The prevailing expression of the objects contained 

 in these grounds is a passion for display and the ostentation 

 of wealth. Probably a majority of them are mere copies of 

 some that were first introduced. But where imitation has 

 guided the designer, he has usually carried the defects of the 

 model to an extreme, and has succeeded in producing no 

 better effects than a vulgar admiration of the cost of his 

 work, and the gratification of his own vanity. 



Even at the theatre this expression of solemnity is not 

 overlooked in the management of the scenery, whenever it 

 is desirable to prepare the minds of the audience to be deeply 

 moved. But we can learn this lesson without resorting to 

 the theatre, for nature teaches it in her own wilds. The 

 notes of birds attract comparatively but little attention, when 

 they are singing on the trees in our unromantic yards and 

 gardens. But when we are walking in a dark and majestic 

 pine grove, where there is nothing to interrupt the silence 

 except the murmurs of the wind among the branches, should 

 the song of the hermit thrush break the general stillness, the 

 effect is indescribable. More or less of the same influence of 

 scenery is felt, when we compare the pleasure with which 

 we listen to a sparrow singing upon a thorn, near a little 

 romantic cottage in the fields, with that we experience from' 

 the notes of the same bird in a cage, or amongst the rubbish 

 of a fashionable flower garden. 



If we desire to heighten the religious influence of the 

 objects in a cemetery, wc must lay out tho ground-s. and build 



VOL. XIX. NO. XI. 62 



