Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1853-10-27
For the Spy.


sacred TO the MemOry OF tho Past.
MEssRs. EDIToRs:-Passing over the common
to-day, my attention was arrested by a coupe of
men engaged in levellingsM it'll the earth some relics
nf the past that have wiihstood the storms of hun.
bred years, and which a Goth or IA VandaI would
have he'll sacred. feeling akin to that which
filled the poets soul, when he exclaimed, "Wood
man, spare that tree, rose in my breast, to pre-.
serve these sad remembranCes and save them from
outrage aud dissertation.
| know, in this progressive, go.ahead age, 10
stand still for moment To contemplate these use
less relics OF the past, is regarded, by soine as little
better than a crime, and, by the majority, as weak.
ness and folly, perhaps It is, and if il is, most hum
bly, plead guilty; but 10 me, from each of those sad
and silent monitors around, there arose mute an
peal, that found an answering echo in INV heat
crying, do not eXInguish US forever. / stood by
the grave OF old patriarch ,over whose vhitened
hairs more than century had rolled; who if he
had emigraed from his father land in the flush and
pride OF his manhood, might have offered PRAYER
on the MayAower's deck, or guided the bark of The
pilgrims. Over hundred years had passed since his
aged limbs had been consigned to the mound whose
memory they consecrated. Beside him lay his son,
almost as aged, and whose spirit had passed away
when our stricken country one vast field of car.
nage-an altar on which Liberty lay imoated and
bleeding at every pore. Perhaps he had mngle in the
STRIFE. Perhaps IN the holy cause he had sacrificed
his all, and, borne down by age, at last had crept
from the battle field, lay his homes hy those of has
venefable lather. l stood beside that grave: the
destroyer was proceeding with his work Of destruc.
ton, and could not help asking myself, where are
the sad ones that stood beside This sepuchre hose
tears fell like spring rain upon the grass, hundred
and tweny years ago? where the goodman delver''
that Tossed up the earth; where ne who made the
rude coffin, where the simple and pious pastor that
read the last prayer? and the answer was gone
gone! The psalms Of the son of Jesse had been
chanted over their graves, and those who consigned
them 10 the dust, in turn have passed away. In a
country like ours, around whose haIlowed associa
tions neither The moss grows, nor the ivy twines
with holy care, and religious zeal, We should
treasure the relics Ol the past.
Ii the wants OF this unitarian age demand that
the bones Of Our sires be removed let the work
be done with decency and feeling. Beneath those
weather beaten tablets repose the ashes oi heroes
that have stood foremost in the battles font in Inc
darkest hour OF nations life. There TOO lie the
dust OF matrons, who, in the dread hour of our ga
'aInlty grded their for the struggle for freedom
and babe them God speed TO the batlle 6eId-their
sturdy forms and honest hearts are mingling with
soil they so calamity defended. The voices that
raised the battle cry Of Liberty are hushed in The
stiffness OF the grave; but st their sepulchres re-
man among US, and let them be preserved sacred
and indebted.
We are reposing beneath the shadow of ,bat
mighty tree whose germ they nurured in darkness
aud sorrow, and if necessity demands their removal
VI lbtIT memories forever, let
their ashes be borne TO some sweet and quiet nook
within our Cemetey's walls, the stones re erected.
and the graves made green. There let them rest in
honorable repose, far from the roal and umu of the
city, I'LL the archangeI's trump, breaking the awful
stiffness Of the Judgment morn, shall summon them
to the presence Of their Maker.
OBSERVER.
NoTE The remarks of observer are very much 10
the point, ut he is probably aware of the fact that
before the City Government decided upon what no con-
siders to be an act Of desecraon they had made every
exerion to induce the descendants of those who lie
buried upon the old Common permit the removal or
the ashes Of their ancestors more pleasant and
inviting resting place in Of the Cemeteries. The
present WORK of leveng the ground is done under the
authority OF the City Government, with the sanction of
all paiies interested being the best thing that could
be done short of removal of the remains As we un-
dersand the arrangement, accurate survey of The
whole graveyard is made and drawing tai en- show
ing the location Of every grave The gravesones are
then taken up and placed horizontally over each grave
with the inscription uppeImost and then covered with
earth BY this means, it will be easy at any future ne
rod to ascertain the Location of airy grave ard the
descendants of those who bnred there NAV thus he
enabled to remove the Gust of their departed kindred
when aud where their veneration and regard NAV
dictate. Ems