The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1878-05-31
For The -Ibgis Dc MtelIigencer.
The Graves of Our Dead.

The graves of our dead are sacred. Re
ligion does not discountenance a tender re-
gard for our loved ones who have passed
away. Rather, it fosters and hall0ws the
sentiment which endears to us the graves
of our departed. 1t teaches the sacredness
Of the human body. The body, although,
the 'inferior part of nature, is not to be re-
garded as mean and contemplate. While
subject to humiliation, still it is a noble
organism-a masterpiece of Divine work
manship. The body sustains partnership
with the soul. While the soul can and does
exist separate from the body, yet, they are
partners on earth, and they will! be reunited
beyond this vale of tears. The blessed word
Of God teaches the value Of both. From
these considerations arises the tender re-
gard we cherish for that spot of earth
where reposes the dust of those we love-
Our dead we love them still and we con-
slider il melancholy pleasure to visit their
graves, bedew them with our tears, and scat
ter DER the same most beautiful aud love
ly flowers, as memcntoes of our affection.
i was holy, if not a Divine thought, that
first designated the 30th of May, in each
year, as Decoration Day, for the graves of
our dead slain in battle. What lovely
sight it is each year, when those who were
enemies but u few years ago, meet in the
same sacred enclosure, to pay tribute Of
respect TO the fallen braves of each army
May this day become more sacred each
year Christianity sanctions II spirit of
tender affection toward the ashes of the
departed.
The dead-how sacred Sacred is the
dust What art-throbbings does Heaven
witness around the silent graves What
deep unutterable spirit-yearnings struggle
for expression amid those holy solitudes !!
Nor does Religion condemn our tears
God formed us to weep. Our Saviour felt
the pang of bereavement, and wept. There
is blessedness in tears. They raise us
nearer to God.
What care is bestowed on burial places !
| The most inviting localities are sought for
| this purpose, and adorned with evergreens,
| shrubbery and flowers. Some of the most
beautiful spots of Gods earth have
been set apart, as the resting places for
those who have passed away. A cherries
and neglected graveyard is abhorrent to
our feelings The heart finds satisfaction
in knowing that its dead rest amid vernal
smiles and bloom. We wish the beauty of
| the cemetery to correspond with our
thoughts of the absent. When called upon
to select place of sepulchre, we naturally
desire to secure one which nature has sweet
| ly decorated; and when we have laid away
| the mortal remains of some loved one, how
dear that spot becomes! We lavish upon
it expense and pains. We gather the most
delicate and expensive flowers and plant
them there. We adorn it with marble. TO
| tive love to repair alone, and silently COM
mune with those gone before. How parti-
cular was Abraham about burial place
for Sarah Christianity can have but little
place in II heart which does not cherish the
dust of its kindred.
| The Bible lnculcates an affection for tue
burial places of our dead. The human
bouy is too sacred in the eye of God for
him to approve Of its ruthless treatment,
even after the spirit has fled. The desire
to be buried with our kindred is Il natural
instinct, and is in harmony with Religion.
So strong is the feeling that it is seldom
violated. When jacob was dying in Egypt,
his heart longcd TO lie with those, who were
| dear to him in his ancestral home There
is something very suggestive as well as
touching in this. They teach us how hal
lowed are the ties of kindred, how sacred
| is the place of the dead We cannot, IN
the light of such examples, think it wrong
to cherish the spot where they lie, and re-
pair thither to muse and weep, and to COM
mune with them amid the beauty and
| fragrance that surround their graves, nor is
it wrong to entertain the thought that by
and-by we shall rest by their side. H.