Esthetically and Ethically Considered, 331 



not have them in pagan forms. For example, let us not construct a 

 vault in the form of an Egyptian tomb with the exterior sym- 

 bols of that religion. A Greek temple is not so incongruous, because 

 we have to some extent adopted Greek architecture in our religious 

 edifices ; but a Greek temple Avas not a place of sepulture, and we 

 have better resources than either of these anachronisms. Standing 

 the other day in Mt. Auburn, I saw a monument in the form of a 

 sphynx, commemorating the downfall of slavery and the suppression 

 of the rebellion. But why a sphynx ? It has no significance as a 

 memorial of those who perished in the war, for Christianity will not 

 admit that their fate involves any riddle. Possibly, however, it may 

 convey a hint of the riddle of political reconstruction, or the unvary- 

 ing silence of the great man Avho commanded our armies. 



It remains to speak of a matter only indirectly connected with my 

 subject, but of prime importance in any consideration of it, and that 

 is, the cost of graveyard memorials. The expense of modern funerals 

 has assumed such burdensome proportions as to call forth a protest 

 from the clergy of many places, and the same excessive luxury and dis- 

 play have been carried into our cemeteries. 



Some men are never content in life unless they lift the eaves of 

 their dwellings above their neighbors' houses; and among such there 

 seems to be a sort of posthumous contest for the tallest and most 

 costly monuments. I have said that all mortuary monuments should 

 be simple and severe. Ostentation is horribly vulgar, as mere matter 

 of esthetics in a cemetery, which ought to be the most democratic 

 and levelling place on earth. Do the best we may in point of plain- 

 ness and economy, such memorials will cost enough. A fashionable 

 gravestone designer can command his own prices. I have now in 

 mind a monument not very large, and by no means elaborate, which 

 is said to have cost $10,000, or as much as a good dwelling-house 

 with all the modern improvements." The profit on such an erection 

 must be enormous. How insignificant in every point of view is that 

 monument when compared with one erected by the same person at 

 half the expense, in the form of a bequest for a historical alcove in 

 a public library. Better to have reversed the application of the two 

 amounts. 



Now I suppose a single individual has a legal right to erect a 

 monument, costing $10,000 or $50,000, but I very much doubt 

 whether he has any moral right to do it. Expenditure beyond a 

 modest sum in this direction does no good. It does not educate like a 

 school or a college ; it does not cultivate like a gallery of art ; it does 

 not shelter like an asylum; it does not heal like a hospital ; it does 



