Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-07-15
& RHPaIS APPEAL
IN PORTAL 10 LiPE.

We publish this morning an article upon
the Memphis cemetery at Elmwood that
cannot fail TO win the attention Of Memphis
citizens, especially OF those who have spent
ali or a considerable portion Of their life in
Memphis; who have seen the now ated
spot grow from its for st wildness 10 a place
beautihed by the loving attention of years,
and made holy by the earthly presence of
those who once trod our city streets. De-
PRAYED must be the heart that can pass
among the ranks of the departed, Is they
sleep beneath the grassy turf or repose under
the marble thatrecords their names, without a
touch OF solemn reverence for the memory of
fellow-mortals who have passed through the
trials and endured the notifications of life.
and now ave entered the silent land. Il
there not a hush in the silence around their
last homes such as is felt nowhere else? Is
there not a chord, that while il reveals cor
row sings Of rest, in the harmony of the
breeze that gives motion to the foliage and
sighs anoog the grass? And when in harsh
winter ruder blss's burst upon the lea dess
trees and the denuded shrubs, do not their
voices that echo among the wake, and
among the corridors of bereavsd branches,
speak for thought and wisdom with a weight
that commands our veneratios, and suggest
solemn sslf-communing az 10 the whence, the
why and the whittier OF human life? 10
Elmwood the ros, is az winning and the
lily as elegant as else where, bat here
they tell as another lesson than that they
whisper elsewhere. Tney tell us that
beauty can dwell even with the grave, and
that death car leave behind the perfume of
good deeds and the hue of kindly ~virtues.
But to the resident of Memphis there is
other than this IN Elmwood, and strongly
the article We publish this morning recalls
it-there ia the thought of those we once
knew, with whom we have mingled, con-
tended with, loved, honored or associated.
Here they lie, insensible 10 pain or
TO caress. As we catch sight of their nance,
how they start up 10 person before the
minds eyel Their voice, their smile, their
stepl Again and sgaiD, So we pass ai5ng
the Wake and glance al the tombstont
bearing well-renemberej names, Elmwood
ceases TO be the home OF the dead--alive
and as we knew them they crowd around az,
They ask, Do you remember what l said tc
you in our walk? Do you remember
what happened on our journey? Do you
remember the adventures, and business, and
tolls and pleasures in which we have been
connected together? Then comes the 81.
preme presence of all a name that is dear,
whose owner we loved more than life-gonei
Yes. But "if We nave kept our first faith
and held sleadisst to the truths learped at
our mothers knee"-not gone forever. We
recall a grave in an Eastern garden, and as
we do 20 a gracious presence mipgles with
thu other shades that are surrC undipe US,
and 10 clear tones, full Of sympathy for hu-
man sorrows, full of compassion for human
anguish, for His teas, too, have fallen be-
side a mortsPs grave, be assures US death il
the portal of life" The dark, unlovely grub
struggles with his death and emerges radiant
with The colors and the buoyancy Of the but
teEiy. The rough trunk and bare branches
Of the winters oak revivify and put GU
1heSbJ green ledNesT anu u lnOusant
roots lie black and motionlesi in the grouu,
that in the spring shall deck the hills will
sPlendor and adOrn the valleys with bloom.
The thought Of the dear and the loved mus
not always be one OF pain and gloom, the.
loved US and rejoiced to awaken our smilei
and cheer cur souls. Let their memory the
bring US no more paip, but fill us with hope
because, though tie loved will not come t
us, we .shall go to them, where are greene
pastures and brighter flowers than all that
the joy of Elmwood, ard love that shal
never be interrupted, for it shall know Z
tear sad no end forever, becaus, the gates Q
Eimrood are the portals to life.