The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1872-07-18
Letter from Rev. {. Grand
Girard.

the following letter for publication
dated
PARIS, FRANCE, June %, 1872.
You will see by this that 1 re
NAMED longer in Paris than haC
anticipated, and this fact will pre-
vent my intended trip to Switzer
land; but l became so interested il
the discussion going on at the ses
sions of the Synod, that have put
off from day to day my return tc
Hericourt. l have made good use
of my time, and yet have not been
able to see much, or rather all l in.
tended to see. One reason that
remained was that [ was anxious to
hear NJ. Guizot and one or two 9th.
er members of Synod.
In the early morning 1 generally
go out to visit places. That is the
only time I have to do so. Some OF
these cannot be visited thoroughly
until IL o'clock, and therefore [ am
cut off from much pleasure.
| Wednesday morning L went to
"Pere la Chaise," as I knew the
"City of the Dead" could be entered
at any time during the day. From
the top of the hill and other portions
of the Cemetery it does resemble a
miniature city. The panorama is
truly interesting, as most of the
monuments are similar in architec-
ture, lying side by side with scarcely
room for person to pass between.
The large and small alleys and av-
enues are regularly or irregularly
laid out, as the ground permitted.
The large forest trees on the side of
the principal streets, with the small
evergreens which dot the Cemetery,
give the appearance of q city. The
beautiful and expensive mauso-
leums which are here and there,
would give the idea of cathedrals
and churches. If you look through
the glass door or grating, you will
see in some of these monuments, in
miniature, what you can see in
Catholic churches-an altar, with all
its Accomplishments Of crucifix, the
Virgin with the child Jesus in her
arms, and candles, to be lighted
when the relatives come and wish
to make their devotion at the sepul-
chre of the departed one.
will not attempt description of
any of these monuments, but 1 wish
TO describe for the chiIdren's sake,
how they are made, and how the
dead are buried therein. First a
deep pit is dug, some deeper than
Others, walled up and cemented
with hydraulic cement. It is gen.
orally wide enough to contain two
cof1ins side by side, and deep enough
to contain several layers of such.
AS the coffin is placed, or tier is
filed, they are covered with a slab
and cemented, and so on until the
vault is filled. On the top of this is
built the monument, more or less
large and costly. On the front end
looking on the street, is a door,
sometimes solid, of iron, sometimes
part of glass, which permits you to
see what it contains, and frequently
what I have described. At the
farther end there is a "prie dieu"
and a chair.
Inside and outside of these tombs
you may see flowers and ornaments in
quantity, which have been brought
and hung there by relatives and
friends, with inscriptions. These
are deposited at different tines and
mark different ages by the effect of
time and weather. On one tomb
stone hung Is crowns of yellow inn
mortelles, some mixed up with
black ones; the yellow was the pre-
dominant color. At this season
bouquets of all kinds of flowers are
brought and laid on the tombs.
Other parts Of the Cemetery have
monuments such as you see in Amer
lea, and others only crosses and
boards with inscriptions.
I had not time to hunt up any
special tomhs. I read some histori-
cal names, as on all the large mon
uments you may generally read,
"La Famille." But why seek any
one in the cemetery? 1t may be
truly said, "He is not here" Why
think of the dust, and so little of the
spirit ? Why looking down SO
much to the earth and so seldom up
to heaven? Why remembering al
ways the past, and forgetting SO of.
ten the future? Why conversing so
much of the consequences of sin,
and not with joy and gratitude of
the work of redemption? But such
is the way of man. He is affected
with his losses. He is looking too
much at the dark side and not
enough at the bright and glorious
side which the Savior reveals, and
which the thin veil of life hides
from his view. He is yet earthly.
L went also one morning to the
'Jardin deS PEantS," but could not
see the menagerie or museum, as
these are not open until II O'Clock.
1 walked through that part that was
opened and from there to the Pan
theon.
Yesterday 1 left early for Yer
sailles. 1 had the good fortune to
have as a travelling companion, a
gentleman from Paris, going to Men
don, who had been in, the National