The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-04-23
THOUGHTS ON EASTER.
Tributes to the Ground In Which
's.'fs Christ Slept.

symbols Of Beauty Reminding Ia Of Loved
Ones Gone-The Master, Freed From
the Ciods, Ii Not to Desert
Us-Dr. Talmage's Ser
mon. ks
The subject of DR.. Talmage's sermon
was 'Machpelah; or, Easter Thoughts. !"
1t was based on words in Con. xiii;
II, Is: "And the field OF Ephron, which
was in Machpelah, which was before
Mamre, the field and cave which was
therein, and all the trees that were in
the field. that were in all the borders
round about, were made sure unto Abra-
iam."
Here is the first cemetery ever laid
out. Machpelah was its name. TWAS
an srborescent beauty, where the wound
Of death was bandaged with foliage.
Abraham, : rich man, not being able to
bride the King Of Tcrrors, proposes
here, as far as possible. to cover up his
ravages He had no doubt previously
noticed this region, and now. that Sa-
rah, his wife, had died-thatremarkable
person who at 80 years OF age had born
to her the son Isaac, and who now, after
she had reached 1877 years, had expired
Abraham is negotiating for a family plot
for her last slumbers. Ephron owned
this real estate, and after, in mock SYM
pathy for Abraham, refusing to take any
thing for 1t, now sticks on big price
400 shekels ofsilver. II e-ii@ ~ -
This cemetery lot is paid for, and
the transfer made, in the presence OF
witnesses in a public place, for there
we're no deeds and no halls of record In
those early timea Then in acavern OF
limestone rock Abraham put Sarah, and,
few years after, himself followed, and
then Isaac and Rebekah, and then Jacob
and Leah. EMPOWERED, picturesque and
memorable Machpelah! That Gods
acre" dedicated by Abraham has been
the mother OF innumerable mortuary
observances. The metropolis Of every
civilized land has We'd with its metropo-
lis. The most beautiful hills of Europe
outside the great cities are covered with
obelisk and funeral vase and arched gate
ways and columns and parterres in
honor Of the Illuminated. The Appian
Way OF Rome was bordcred by sepul.
chral commemOratiOns For this purpose
Pisa has its arcades Of marble sculptur-
ed into exquisite bas-rcliefs and the
features Of dear faces that have van
ished. Genoa has its terraces cut into
tombs; and Constantinople covers with
cypress the silent habitations; and Paris
has its Pere-la- Chaise, on whose heights
rest Balzag and David and Marshal Ncy
and Cuvier and La Place and Moliere,
and mighty group of warriors and poets
and painters and musicians. In all for.
eign nations utmost genius on all sides
is expended in the work Of intcrment,
mummiHcation and incineration,
Our own country consents to be second
to none in respect to the lifoless body.
Every city and neighborhood of any in.
telligcnce or virtue has, not many miles
away, its sacred Enclosure, where affcc'
tions has engaged sculptor's chisel and
florists spade and artiflccr in metals
Our own city has shown its religion as
we'll as its art, in the manner in which
1t holds the memory of those who have
forever passed away, by ltsCypress Hill,
and its Evergrcons and its Calvary and
Holy Cross and Friends Cemeteries
All the world knows of our Greenwood
with now about 100000 inhabitants
sleeping among hills that overlook thu
sea, and by lakes embosomed in an Elder
of flowers, our American Westminster
Abbey, an Acropolis of mortuary archi
lecture, Pantheon of mighty ones as
cended, elegies in stone, lllads in mar
BILE, whole generations in peace waitin.
Tor other generations TO join them. NJ
dormitory of brcathles slccpers in al
the world has so many mighty dead
Among preachers ofthe Gospel, Beth
une and Thomas Dewitt, and Bisho]
James and Tying, and Abeel the mission
airy, and Bccchcr and Buddington ant
McClintock and lnslSip and Bangs ant
Chaplin and Noah Schencl and Samue
Hanson Cox, Among musicians the re
nowned Gotlschalk and tho holy Thoma
Hastings. Among philanthropists, Pc
ter Cooper and Isaac Il. Hopper and Lu
cretia Mott and isabella Graham, an,
Henry Bergh, tho apostle of mercy t.
the brute creation. Among the literati
the Careys, Alice and Phoebe. James X
Paulding, and John q. SAKE. Anon,
journalists, Bennett and Raymond an,
Greeley. Among scientists, Ormsb
Mitchell, warrior as well as astronomer
and lovingly called by his soldiers sol,
STAR" the Diapers, splendid men. as
we'll know, one of them my teacher, tn
other my classmate. Among inventors
Elias Howe, who, through the sew
ing-machine, did more to alleviat
tho tolls of wamanhood than any ma
that ever lived, and Prof. Morse, VIII
gave us magnetic telcgrapby; the forme
doing his work with the needle, the lat
ter with the thunderbolt. Anon
physicians and surgeons, Joseph {
HuSshingson, and Marion Sims and Dr.
NalG&tinc NHtt, with the following cpl
taphtwhich+M ordered cut in honor q
the Christian religion: my implicit
faith and hope is in a merciful Redeem
er, who is the resurrection and the life
Amen and Amen" This is our Amer
lean Machpelah, as sacred to us as tn
Machpclah in Canaan, of which Jaco
uttered that pastoral poem in one verse
There they buried Abraham and Sarat
his wife; there they buried Isaac an