Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1874-06-11
From the shenandoah Valley
Koimaterion, - G. the Last Bed Chamber.


When the domestic cat or dog the horse
OF the OK comes to die, men seek out some
private corner, whtIerth the body may be
dragged, and left to decay. When the
father or mother Of an Indian wigwam
grew feeble with decrepitude, and unable
longer TO discharge the active duties of
life, some friend Or relative would gracious
ly knock the declining creature on the
head dsposit the body far off amid the
forest. and heap over it an obscure mound
OF dust. As civilization advances, the
heart beeem mes softeneu and refined, the
gentIer affections are cultivated, the
tender emotions are warmed into life, the
sweeter sympathies are kindled into
pleasing vitality, the memory begins to
revert and dwell upon by-gone affinities,
and delicious hours ofreciprocal sentiment.
Men begin to talk about ties that were
dear, and friendships that death. has in
vaded. Bards-gifted bards-begin to
speak about The joy Of grief" begin to
slug their dirges and elegies; hang their
llarps on the willows, and muse their
lonely II Penseroso, while all the interests
of mortality, in their eyes; become greatly
multiplied. intensified. Communities be-
gin to form for themselves character.
One becomes distinguished for its fidelity
to the past ;.anethel for, its fillal
piety. The afectionate Eneas carries
upon his shoulder his trembling grand
father from the flames of Troy. Men
dedicate a tielq:-the Fled. Of the Pious'
as a sacred memorial to the. young men
who so nobly rescued their aged parents
from the fires of Etna. A thousand little
traits and lineaments Of character begin to
develop and display themselves, indicating
people of growing refinement. Men no
longer endure to cast away the dear
objects of affection under mounds of the
wilderness. Hamlets, towns, cities, states,
governments, vic with each other in pay
ing hoirbr to the dead. The more costly,
be, the more pleasing assurance do they
feel that they have discharged most
pious and imperative duty. They talk of
them with generous satisfaction. They
to the divine Kora. Pyramids arise for
the sepulchres Of stngs: Splendid
sarcophagi mark the epochs Of history.
Vaults are hewn In stone; and immense
catacombs, covering extensive plains, are
! the only remaining indications of magniti-
cent cities,--eitjes now of the dead, read
ing us 4 solemn lesson OF venerable
ancestors, and of pious descendants.
I Wonder is d pile of golden ard silver urns
which once contained the ashes of the old
lawgivers of pompeii and Herculaneum!
| Ne expense w;ls rcgarded,proviled some
| dear memorial might be secured, of hearts
not found scattered and segregated abroad
at every mans orchard, OF the corner OF
| his garden, but covering entire plains, EN-
| boWellcd IL mountain sides, where whole
populations associated in death, sleep in
friendly proximity.-the young, tip. old,
/ the rich, the poor, the renowned, the OBJ
! scure,- teaching man that death sure
enough is the great i.egeler.n
! We mostly find these memorials of ma
| tons, OF CONN unities which we are aocus-
toned, to call Pagan Heather, lntidcl
! And had these Pagans such vener9.ion for
their dead While We've Who boastfully
! call ourselves Cbr;stians. amid all the re-
tinement anls cultivation of this ninteenth
century-a century Of Christianity, net Of
Paganism think We have exhibited a
wonderful degree of filial piety and veneer
alton, if we app opriate little corner OF
| the land which We have inherited, to our
| poor old father and mother. when they
! have died. And then in the heat of our
| sectarian zeal, We must lot off a little
graveyard contiguous-tO our oten church
| tea ring no donbt, that our rival bigotres
| will disturb the repose of the dead, If they
happen to lie too close together. Oh
Christianity, ,look at It Gospel of peace
what consistency do you discern in this ?
| People of New Market. all ye six miles
around. Let lis have general Cemetery.
| Let us appropriate it from the lands we
| inherit. Let us ornament it. Let rs be
pious and grateful. Let us be social and
intelligent. Let us be wise and unpre-
JUDGED. Let us fear no collision in the
grave. Nay strangers will come with
veneration to view our happy chambers of
death; bards OF the future. will write ele-
gies among our tombstones, and another
Hervey will pen his pathetic Meditations
over eur quiet slumbers.
| June l, 1874. Us.