Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1858-04-30

Ucu, iicr Husbdnu, II lUuEc nero, tOOk OF
terribly; and ordered that tomb for her
Some of the stone was brought from Agra
some from Delhi but before it was put to-
gcther and properly erected he married again
and the work was stopped. | was present a
the funeral, There was no getting him ava,
after the service was over, and Mt last the,
bad to resort to force and violence, in fact, tC
carry him out OF the yard. But the shallow
est waters, as the proyerb says, sir, alway,
make the most noise, while those art tn,
the deepest that flow on silently. Ionder i,
II funny tomb, sir, continued the old man
again pointing with his stick "Thcre =
close to the tomb Of the lady which iirs
showed YOU"
" low do you mean, funny" asked
observing nothing particular in the struc.
! turc
" Well, sir, it is funny only on account o
the history of the two gentlemen whose re.
mains it covers, replied the old man lead
Inc to the tomb. Gone Of these Young rcn
tlcmcn. sir, was AN o!'iccr-a licutcnant-iu
the Bengal Horse Artillery; the other was
an ensign in Il Royal Regiment of the Line.
There was a ball and by some accident that
beautiful lady of our regiment had engaged
herself to both Of them for the same dance.-
W hen the time came, both went up and
claimed her hand. Neither of them would
give way; and the lady not wishing to offend
either. by showing preference, and finding
herself in dilemma, declined to dance with
either Not satisfied with this. they retired
to the verandah, where they had some high
words, and the next morning they met-bc-
hind the church there-and fought a duel. in
which both of them fell, mortally wounded
They had scarcely time to shake hands, when
they died. In those days matters of the kind
were very easily hushed up; and it was given
out-though everybody knew to the contrary
that one had died of fever, and the other
OF cholera , and they were buried side hy side
in one grave and this tomb was erected over
them at the joint expenses of the two regi-
ments to which they belonged. | get ten ru-
pces year for keeping this grave in order "
"Who pays you o.
"A gentleman in Calcutta Il relation of
one of them. I'll tell you what it is, sir,
this foolish affair, which ended So fatally,
sowed the seeds of the fever that carried off
that beautiful and good woman, yonder
She was maddened by the thought of being
the cause of the quarrel in which they lost
their lives | knew them both, sir, from
seeing them so often on the parade-ground
and at the band-stand very fine Young men
they were, sir. Yes; here they sleep in
peace.
"Whose tombs are those" asked, point
ing to some two or three hundred, which
We're all exactly alike, and in three straight
lines: in other words, three deep
"Those are the tombs of the men of the
Cameronians, sir These graves are all uni
form, as you observe. Fever made sad havoc
with that regiment. They lost some three
companies in all. Behind them are the
tombs of the men of the Bluffs, and behind
them the tombs OF the men Of other Royal
Regiments of Infantry all uniform, you see,
sir; but those of each regiment, rather dit
terently shaped To the right, ilanking the
infantry tombs, are the tombs of the men of
the Cavalry Eighth and Eleventh Dragons,
and Sixteenth Lancers. In the rear of the
Cavalry are the tombs Of the Horse and Foot
Artillery men,-all uniform, you see, sir
Egad! if they could rise just now, what a
pretty little army they would form--of all
ranks-some thousands of EN-, and well of
iccred, too, they would be; 3; and here man
to lead them This is the tomb of Major
General Cunsidine, one of the most distin-
guished men in the British army. lie was
the officer that the Duke of Wellington fixed
upon to bring the ilty-thrd Foot into good
order, when they ran riot in Gibralter, some
years ago. This is the tomb of General Con-
'iN''''N' iD'tiiiSS anu s-oihS W uctuN
though 1t was only built in the year eighteen
hundred and forty five. 4 great deal of
money is squandered in the churchyards in
India. Tombs are erected, and at great ex-
pense frequently. After they are once put
up it is very seldom that they are visited or
needed. Tens of thousands of pounds have
been thrown away on the vast piles of brick
and mortar and stone that YOU now see with
in this enclosure; and with the exception of
few, all are crumbling away. A Hindoo-
swceper-said to me the other day, in this
graveyard, why don't you English burn
your dead, as we do, ius cad Of leaving their
graves here, to tell us how much you can ne
glcct them, and how little you care for them?
What is the use of whitening a few sepulchres
amidst this mass of brick ruin y | had no
answer to give the fellow, sir. Indeed, the
same thought had often occurred to me,
while at work in this wilderness. Do you
not think, sir, that the government, through
It's own executive officers ought to expend u
few hundred pounds every year on these
yards, in order to avert such a scandal and
disgrace? do not speak interestedly.
have as much already on my hands as | can
perform, if not more; but | do often think
there is really some reason in the remarks of
that sweeper. All these graves that you see
the graves of men who have served their
country and died in its service Very little
money would keep the yard free from this
grass and these rank weeds, and very little
money would make all these tombs fit to be
seen for neither laoor nor whitewash is ex-
pensve in this part of the world. One
would hardly suppose, on looking about
him just now, that the sons and daughters OF
some of the best families in England are
| buried here, and that in a very short time
no one will be able to distinguish the spot
where each is lying so deiaced and 50 much
alike will all the ruins become. What, sir,
repeat, is the use of throwing away money
in building tombs, if they are not kept in re-
pair Instead of laying out fifty or hun
dred pounds on Il thing like this, why not
lay out only fifty pounds on a single head
stone, and put the rest out at interest to keep
it up?"
''Or Il small slab with an iron railing
around it?"
"Ah, sir; but then you would require an
European to remain here, and couple of
native watchmen to see that the ratings were
not carried off by the villagers. As it is,
they never allow an iron railing to remain
longer than week, OF so long as that They
watch for an opportunity, jump over this low
wall, and tear them down or wrench them of
and away with them"
" But, surely, there is some one here tc
watch the yard?"
"Ies, two sweepers-men of the lowest
caste of Hindoos. And, when it has beer
found out that grave has been plundered Of
its railings or that the little marble table
which some have, has ben taken away, they
deny all knowledge of the matter, and art
simply discharged, and two others of the same
caste are put into their places
Why, bless my soul" exclaimed the ole
man, STOPPING down and picking up some
thing, - if the old gentleman hasn't shed hi