The Portland daily press., 1877-03-06
The Eastern Cemetery.

find the following paragraph in Harper's
Weekly:
The late Admiral Alden. who was not only
one OF the braveSt in acton, but one of the
most courtly and accomplished men in the navy,
expressed wish that bis body should be brought
home to Portland, Me-. and buried beside his
fathers in the cemetery where Commodore
Preble and other distinguished naval command
ers were buried. His wish will be complied
With.
A similar sentiment was expressed by Jacob,
the patriarch of old, when he found his end was
approaching, He said to his son Joseph "bury
me not pray thee in Egypt; bury me with
my fathers" and he required of him an oath.
Joseph, under similar circumstances, required
an oath of his children, and said, rye shall
carry up my bones from home" And from
that time to the present, human natule has
been the same. When we come to contemplate
our end of earth we wish, if possible, to be
buried with our own people, amid the scenes OF
our earliest recollections appreciate the sem
timent of the brave Admiral in his dying re-
quest When sickness had come upon HIM, al.
though surrounded by affl uence in dist ant
state, he thought of the quiet and secluded
resting place of his good mother and father
overlooking tAe broad ocean on which he had
obtained fame and fortune, and there be wish
ed to be laid.
never enter that hallowed enclosure but I
feel an impulse to remove my hat, recolecting
the declaration of the voice from the burning
bush to the youthful Moses, "The place on
which thou standest is holy ground" Here
not only repose the rude fathers of the hamlet
but also the eminent men who for two centu-
ries have adorned the town, and those who have
built ships and sailed them, seeking fortune in
every clme-the honored dead of seven genera
tlons. 1t was small enclosure at its COM
mencement, with tall Norway pine in the
centre, relic of the "forest primeval'' All
will acknowledge the fitness CT the place chos-
en-. 1t was the only place of burial belonging
to the town until 1929, when it was estimated
that the dead here inferred outnumbered the
living within the corporate limits.
And here want to say word against the
removal of the dust of it's tenants. This was
tie chosen spot for their burial Its beauty is
marred in some places by partially filled graves,
where relatives have sought (often in yain) for
the bones of ancestors, and were com moelled to
be content with the removal of the head-stones
set up by their Immediate families. And these
stones are not permitted in most cases to be set
over the scanty dust in its new place of burial,
but they are left in stone cutters yards, monu-
ments of lack of veperation and good taste,
and perhaps to be used as flag st,ues.
The excuse for the removal of the tenants of
this ancient burial place is "it is liable to have
street cut through it at any time" but it
should be recollected that this is the very way
to hasten such desecration, and further the
ground is not needed for tina: purpose. If the
dust of ancestors is removed to another ceme-
terry, perhaps in few years another generation
may think that this dust is no. yet 10 its prop
er place, and then there will be another remov-
al without the respect shown by Edward 1st
to his beloved queen-on the several spots
when her body rested on its way to Westmin-
ster Abbey, be erected a stately cross-hence
"CharDg Cross Under ordinary circumstan-
ces think 10 one has any better right to re-
move the remains of a relative from their chos-
en- place of burial, and change the monument,
than they have to disObey his attested will and
change the disposition of his property. Several
times within few years movement has been
made to remove and place new monuments
over the remains of those gallant naval COM
manders who fell in the war of 1872. They
were buried by the fathers of the town, the
ulcers and crew of the enemies ship
were invited to assist at the obsequies, and
they alone placed durable monument over
their brave commander-shall we rot respect
their patriotism and generosity? ga passing
stranger or relative" erected that over our own
Burrows. OF course these monuments were
erected with the consent of the town authori-
tiles, and who has right TO remove them?
The dust of Columbus has been removed
from city to city until think it is not quite
certain where it now rests. 1t was Shake
speares malediction, said to have been written
BY himself, and which is inscribed over bis
grave, which has prevented the removal of his
dust from the bosom of his native valley of the
Avon, to enrich Westminster Abbey.
"Good friends for Jesus sake forbeare
10 dig the dust enclosed here.
BLESSED pe he VINO spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones. -
think it not unreasonable to suppose that
the disembodied. spirit, for time at least. re.
tains knowledge of its former mortal tene.
ment Ihls probability should be an incentive
to us to surround our places of burial with all
pleasant associations, and that they should be
we'll cared for as duty to the dead, and as
attractions to the living.
10 inspire his squares Of Infantry, when
about to be charged by the Mamelukes on the
banks OF the Nile, Napoleon cried out, "From
yonder pyramids twenty centuries observe
your actions" So, from this ancient cemetery
two centuries look down upon the people of the
city ana plead for its preservation and care
Windham, March 3. VIC.
Five bodies were washed up on Sonam Ro,cb