Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-08-26
GRAVES OF LITTLE CHILDREN.
BIT THE REV. wM. Lrsx, JR.

Menander said. HE whom the gods
lore dies young" And S.phoc!es said
before him, lit is good not t0 De born, but
if once born, the second degree Of happi>
ness is to lie young" This is the way
the ancients spoke OF the death of little
children. They thought that the suffer
ing OF this lie was escaped by early death,
yet with regard To the future they used
the urn IN which they placed ashes rs the
symbol Of destruction. What would they
have said ii those who had lek them hac.
appeared upon the bosom Of the Savior
in a beatitudc and glory without ED?
In the Catacombs, In that great Christ ian
city OF death, the delicacies of the afiec>
tions Of earth, and the hope of rest and
resurrection, are radiant upon the graves
OF little children. How the first Christians
looked upon the death Of little children il
seen by the inscriptions on the childrens
graves in the Catacombs, the subterrauean
burial places of the early Christians and
their children. Not song of grief-not
q prayer OF sorrow-not q symbol Of death
Can be found the in Catacombs. And from
the many inscriptions ON the graves of
little children We select few :--.sFioren>
liola. peace to thee" The name used is
always the Christian name given in bap-
tism. BY the side OF the name is the
monogram OF Christ. The symbol is n
rose in the bud bursting into Immortal
bloom. She bloomei and was trans
planted no death. Liberty
dove flying away carrying an olive branch.
4 common inscription il the word .'Re>
deemed" One of the Oldest inscriptions
is this :-"Dionysius, newly Illuminated
one year and four months" the title
enlightened. illuminated. regenerated,
means baptized, .as it always does in the
early Christian writings. Angelic guar
dianship is presented in the following in
scripiiou :--"Severus lived four years,
eight months and five days, aud was call
ed by the angels ON the seventh Of Jan u
ary." There are many inscriptions OF the
following character: Lord Jesus take
our dear child "" Life -" Rest -
"Peace always With some Christian
symbol, as the cross, the palm, a dove, or
a lamb with the sign OF the cross. Some
have white doye drinking from cllaIicc
indicating th.i those buried beneath had
only slighted upon earth, made .heir first
and then spreading their
wings with JOY had departed in purity &c
Paradise.
In all this how striking the contrast be-
tween the Christian presentment of the
death of little children, aud the heather
presentment Death TO the heather mind
released child from the suffering IF this
world-this was their only consolation. |
They could only place the urn and the
ashes on the grave and say Farewell"
The Christians set aside the dark urn and
the ashes of forgctfulness, and wroie
Christian names, and carved Christian
symbols on the grave stones--and over all
the words--''Called of the Angels" The |
solemn ruins Of the atacombs are vocal
with praise fnr redeeming love in the re-
demption of little children, We preserve
little ofthe early Christian simplicity In |
the Inscriptions upon tombs, and the neg
lscled and solitary aspect of these almost |
forgotten resting places Of the dead con-
iradicts the inscriptions we do write over |
the graves. Yet IL we find in q cemciry |
n grave VT ich il preserved with love, in
vested with crowns, and dressed with |
fresh remembering Christian name. |
and some precious Christian symboi-We
can recognize the crave OF child, and
behold something of the affection and hope
10 beautifully presented in the Inscriptions
on the graves oflittle children in the firrt
burial place Of the early Chritisns.