The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-04-08

feCOfub, III EdIlldmouIaIy o''"' -
Ecclesiastical cour's, and the grandest
were uttered for those who, while liVlng'
were cursed the bitterest Westminster
Abbey and Greenwood monuments are
the worlds attempts 10 atone by hohors
to the dead for wrongs to the living. By
Poets Corner, in Westminster Abbey,
England tries to pay for Grub street. The
sculp!ured organ and musical scroll
around Handel in Westminster Abbey
can not make us forget the dlscords with
which the fellow.musicians of his day
tried to destroy him. What sculpt@red
ado about Johp Dryden, though at sev,
enty years of age he described himself,
oppressed with fortune, contracting for
ten thousand verses at sxpence line
What a striking bust of Samuel Butler,
author of "Hudibras." But where did
he ditP In garrett. Behold here, also,
the bust and tablet of one Of whom the
celebrated Waller wrote: THE old blind
schoolmaster, John Milton, hath publish,
ed tedious poem on the fall OF man. II
it's length can not be- commenced as a
merit it hath no other" Oh, if Sheri.
dan could only have discounted the
value OF his own monument for mution
chop UDfilial children had better give
these old parents less tombstone and
more blankets. less funeral and more
bedroom. If five per cent. OF what we
spend in Burns dinners had been spent
in appreciation of the living Scotch poet
he would not have had to harry himself
to death with the drudgery Of an excise
man. Horace Greeley, outrageousIy
abused while living, has the President
of the United States and the Cabinet to
follow him to the grave. Massachusetts
tries to make up by Charles Summers
grave for the ignominious resolutions by
which her legislature denounced her
living Senator. Can Springdeld's tomb
pay for Booths pistoiP For Gods sake
do Justice to the living. What you do
for them you must do on this side the
gate to the Metropolis, they will not
wake up to count the carriages at their
own obsPquies nor notice the polish on
the Aberdeen granite, nor read the ep
taphal commemoration. Think you that
gentleman's mausoleum in the outskirts
of Jerusalem can pay for Bethlehem's
stable and Calvareau cross and Pilates
rufian judiciary Post mortem honors
can never atone for ante-mOrtem igno-
minies
Again, while standing in the garden,
with the new sepulCher, am impressed
with the appropriateness of floral and
arborescent decorations for the places OF
the dead How glad we are that among
flowers and castle sculpturing Christ
| 10, oh Of his iF,h IL q nj
What do those notices in the newspap pers
mean when among those notices Of the
obsequies they say "Send no flowers "
Nv idea would be, if means allow it, to
cover I'D the Casket with flowers, the
hearse with flowers, the grave with flow
ers. Put the ~ abo 1t the still forehead
suggestive of a crown, aud in the right
hand suggestive of a victory. Christ was
buried in garden. Flowers mean res.
direction. Death is sad enough anyhow;
let conservatory and arboreum contri
butte TO its alleviation. Every harebell
rings the victory. Every passion h)wer
is an expression of sympathy. Every
| daffodil is a lamp to light up the dark
ness. That cluster of asters is a constel.
lation. Your darling child loved flowers
Pat one in her right hand now she can
no longer pluck them for herself On
suushiny days go out wit a fresh wreath
aud put it right over the still heart New
York and Brook iyn has no glory greater
than Greenwood, nor Boston than Mt
Auburn. nor Philadelphia than Laurel
Hill, nor Cincinnati than its Spring
Grove, nor San Francisco than its Lone
Mountain.
But what shall say to those country
grave Yards, with fences broken down
and the tombs onts aslant and the
mounds fallen in and the grass pasture
ground for the sections cattle? Indeed !
We're your fathers and mothers of 80 lit.
tie worth that you cannot atfIrd TO take
better care of their ashes? Better turn
out some day, al hands, and straigten
the slab, bank up the graves, cut down
the weeds and plant shrubs and flowers.
After a while you, yourself, will want to
lie down for the last rest. You have no
right to expect Difference for your bones
if you have no respect for the bones of
your ancestors. You may think that
these relics are of no importance, but
you will see of how much Importance
they ere when the arChangel takes up
his trumpet, Turn all your cemeteries
into ga, dens.
Again, while standing in this garden
with the new sepulCher, | am impressed
with the dignity of private and unpre'
tentious obsequies. Joseph took the
part of mourner, undertaken, liveryman
and sexton. The Lord of earth and
heaven with only four persons at his
funeral. Let this be consolatOry to those
who, because of limited means or limit.
ed acquaintance, must have private and
unpretentious ceremony. Long line of
gittering equipage, two rows of silver
handles, Casket of richest wood, pail
bearers gloved and sCarfed, are not nee
essary. If there be only half dozen to
90 to the grave, Christ looks down and
remembers that that is two more than
attended at his obsequies. Not appreci.
Ciating this, hundreds of small estates
are ruined and widowhood and orphan
age turned out to cold charity. The
small amount of property left by the de-
parted might have Kept the family to.
gether until some other means could be
provided. But it is all taken up in bur.
ial expenses. That went for Grape which
ought to have went for bread. One can
hardly afford to die in our large cities.
By all possible means let us DO honor to
the departed. but let us understand that
funeral pageant is lot necessary. No one
was ever more gently or lovingly put in.
to sepulcher than Christ, and he had
only fouP naonle in the procession.
Again, standing in this garden with
the new sepulCher, learn that it is i'm.
possible to keep the dead down. Seal
Of Sanhedrim and company Of soldiers
from Tower of Antonio, floor OF rock and
roof OF rock and wall of rock and door Of
rock. all together can not keep Christ in
the crypts. Come up and come out he
.,,,,nt A IL Tho n.rnnika Of the rnnnnkaina