Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-09-15

THE RU GLAND HERALD
Our Rural Cemeteries.


airy naturally turns the attention to the
resting places of the dead of the past
generations. Rutland's returning chill
dreu will bend their footsteps to the
burial places of their ancestors as trl-
butte of affection and love, there to read
the brief record inscribed upon the tomb
stones, and in the silent city of the dead
review in memory the scenes of other
DAYS. when life invigorated those who
now lie slumbering beneath their feet.
This will he among the sacred duties that
will be performed by the sons and daugh-
ters of our town as they come hither to en-
Joy the present and revive the memories
Of the past. while they will wander amid
the groves and walks OF Evergreen Gene
terry with wonder and admiration at it's
beauty and adornment, the question will
be asked why have a people whose rever-
ence and taste led them 70 prepare and
ornament such beautiful burial place OF
posing grave yards to waste, their tablets
to be broken down and the shrubbery and
brush to cucumber the ground where
loved ones rest, and their surroundings to
bear the marks of decay, while thie people
avail themselves of the more cultivated
tastes of an advancing civilization. Is it
creditable to allow our reverence for the
elder dead to vanish and their resting
places to be neglected and encountered.
We trust that our citizens or the author
tiles of the town will enclose the older
grave yards throughout the town with
substantial fences, brush them up and re-
store to their former position the tomb
stones that may have fallen and renovate
them in order that they may be made in
yiting places to those who return to their
early home, and shall revisit the graves of
their kindred. This is one of the duties
that should suggest itself among the pre-
parations for the forthcoming anniversary,
and in calling attention to a matter
which may appear trivial to some, yet in
80 doing it is hoped we do not overstep
the bounds of propriety. The dead among
us are precious trust committed to our
hands by those who have gone forth to
other sections, and let us indicate to them
in this way that we honor that trust.
In Christian community on such an &C.
oasion as is about to be observed, we ex-
poet to find the sentiment of reverence
for the dead, deeper and stronger than
before; and it manifests itself in that
lion-like feeling which guards the aancti-
ty of the grave, feeling, rough and in
discriminate oftentimes, but showing by
its over whelming energy how deep is the
conviction from which it springs.
It is natural to ask why does not this
feeling induce us to take more care of the
older resting places Of the dead. To THE
it might be answered, that taste may be-
wanting where feeling is strong. The
feeling lays hold on circumstances which
seem more important, and passes by mere
ornament and beauty as unimportanf
things. The country church yard with
its leaning stones and its broken walls,
RlNeh over W AeroAatiou' may PSihaP9
show no want Of sympathy for the dead,
but only that the sympathy expresses it
self in another way az there is n sort OF
kindness to the living, which would not
show itself in delicate attentions and
graceful courtesies, but would manifest
itself in the more substantial way OF
guarding their rights and defending
them from wanton wrongs. Yet this feel
ing, though it thinks not of delicate at |
tentiops TO the dead. is always raaay +"I
welcome them when proposed. 1t sees
their appropriateness at once, and those
who have the true taste on this subject
always find it easy to awaken it in others.
1t is this taste so laudably manifested in
adorning Evergreen cemetery and has
given it its graceful and attractive appear
anoe.
The ciroumstanceof the general practice
in early New England of locating burial
grounds in the midst, or scattered among
the community is 40 cause L reproaoh to
the fathers, nor indeed 90 che sons, if they
use the means IL their power to give them
care. In all our country villages, these
sacred places must be obi cts of increasing
interest and of an improving taste. They
possess a moral attraction, which ought to
secure for them an adequate protection.
We doubt not these suggestions will
awaken a sentiment that will lead to the
consideration of the subject to which
attention has been called, Sacred
are the remains Of the dead
among all people. Touch but a
single grave with sacriligious hand
and you arouse feeling Of popular indig
nation scarcely less intense than if q high
crime had been committed. Such is the
feeling, whose germ is implanted in US BY
our Creator, not for the sake of the dead
but for the living soul, its peace and can
fort. We all receive a solace from the re
speot shown to the remains of deceased
friends and are strengthened in all oul
noblest aspirations and purposes by oul
sympathies for the dead. Can you imag
inc worthier object than this one TO
she appropriation of some portion Of GU
earthly treasures?
Who that passes his youth in tn
country ever forgets the lessons derived
from the ohurchyard of his native village
The sermons in stones" which he read
there, abide with, while those from th
pulpit, perhaps will escape him forever
Nor is the instruction he receives con
fined to the readings from stone or marble
The humblest grave is itself q monument o
human fraity, impressing upon every be
holder lesson of religious wisdom. LIE
these lessons be awakened in the heart
of the returning children of Rutland q
they may wander among the monument
to the dead, to contemplate the virtues c
their ancestors under circumstances tina
give fullest effect to the their moral in
SEPARATION, their minds will be softened b.
meditations and thus made susceptible c