Esthetically and Ethically Considered. 323 



with the (lark Quincy granite. It is difficult to imagine what could 

 have induced the adoption of those streaked and variegated cheap 

 marbles wliich are sometimes seen in our older cemeteries, and which 

 so strongly reminds one of that soap which prevails in country 

 inns or of those ingenious monuments of soap which were common in 

 the Philadelphia exposition. The use of colored glazed tiles in out-door 

 monuments is of doubtful propriety, as well in point of durability as in 

 point of color. It is to be noted that the Quincy granite is unfit for re- 

 ceiving inscriptions, as its dark color renders them nearly illegible, and 

 necessitates the use of paint or gilding, both of which are perishable 

 and unpleasant to the eye. 



In regard to construction., it may be observed that in addition to 

 the evident necessity of a deep foundation, below the frost line, there 

 should be as few joints as possible, and these should be horizontal 

 rather than perpendicular, in order the better to resist the effect of 

 the elements. For the same reason, the joints should be overlapped as 

 much as possible. Owing to these laws, the use of tiles is objection- 

 able in point of durability ; the frost and the wet are quite apt to dis- 

 place them. 



It is evident from these limitations of material and color that the 

 main resource of the designer must be in form. The cardinal rule as 

 to form is that it shall be simple and severe. To my own taste, in- 

 tricate carving and tracery,the elaborate gothic forms, are out of place 

 in a burial-ground. This is not the place for the display of dexterity 

 in handling or skill in constructing. The forms should not be so at- 

 tractive as to engross the attention for the art's sake, nor so delicate 

 and slender as to become the prey of the elements. Probably the 

 Cande monument in Greenwood cemetery is popularly admired, but to 

 me it is one of the most repulsive of monuments, in respect to form, 

 saying nothing of durability. It is a sort of a sugar-candy order of 

 architecture that is more appropriate to a confectioner's window 

 than to a cemetery, but is not so much to be wondered at when we 

 remember that it was executed after a design by the young lady her- 

 self. 



I think it may be laid down as a rule of good taste that the princi- 

 pal lines of a monument should be few, straight and compact. As 

 durability is the chief requisite, it can best be attained by simplicity 

 and solidity. Of course there may be well rounded and curved sur- 

 faces, but they should be subordinate. Curved or concave lines in a 

 shaft, excepting as flutings of a column, are entirely wrong, just as 

 they are in a tower, or would be in the wall of a house. Any thing 

 like pagoda architecture should be avoided. The linei of a shaft may 



