Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-03-30
Easter Pictures Sketched by the
Word Painter, Dr. Talmage.
YIELD THE TRIBUTE OF FLOWERS,
But Withhold Not All Your Kindness
Until Death Takes Its Victim.
SCENES ON THE RESURRECTION MORN
xprctAr TELEGRAM TO THE p,spArcH,

were bright with a profusion of flowers,
Easter: lilies being conspicuous. The text
of the discourse was Matthew 2S: 6: Come,
see the place where the Lord lay
Visiting any great city we are not satisfied
until we have also looked at its cemetery.
Here lies buried statesman. yonder an orator,
here poet out there an inventor in some
other place a great philanthropist But with
how much greater interest we look upon our
family plot in the cemetery! But around the
grave at which we halt this morning there are
gathered all kinds of stupendous interest In
this sepulcher there was buried King, Con-
Queror, an Emancipator. a Friend, a Brother.
Christ. Monarch of the universe, but bone
of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. and sorrow
of our sorrow, and heart of our heart. "Come,
see the place where the Lord lay"
The Tomb of Jesus Christ.
1t has for surroundings the manor in the sub
urbs of Jerusalem, manor owned by wealthy
gentleman by the name of Joseph. He was one of
the court of 20 who had condemned Christ but
think he had voted in the negative, or being
timid man, had been absent at the time of the
casting of the vote. He had laid out the par
terre at great expense
walk little farther on in the parterre, and
come across cluster of rocks, and 1 see on
them the marks of a sculptor's chisel. come
still closer, and find that there is a subterra-
mean recess ard walk down the marble stairs
and come to a portico, over the doorway-an
architecture of fruits and flowers. go into
the portco, and on either side there rooms,
two, or tour, or six rooms of rock; in the walls
niches each niche large enough to hold a dead
body. One of these rooms of rock is especially
wealthy with sculpture. 1t was beautiful and
charming spot.
Why all thisP The fact was that Joseph, the
owner of the parUerre of that wealthy manor,
had recognized the fact that he could not al
ways walk those gardens, and he sought this as
his own last resting place.
The Funeral of a Great King.
Mark well the mausoleum in the rock 1t IS
to be the most celebrated tomb in all the ages
catacombs of Egypt. tomb of Napoleon. Tai
Mahal of India, nothing compared with it. Christ
had just been murdered and his body must be
thrown out TO the dogs and the ravens was
customary with crucifed bodies, unless there
be prompt and effective bindrance. Joseph, the
owner of the mausoleum, begs for the body of
Christ and he takes and washes the poor and
mutIlated frame from the blood and the dust.
and shrouds it and perfumes 1t.
think in this case emhalmment was omitted
lest there be more excitement and another riot.
The funeral advances. Present, Joseph, the
owner of the mausoleum; Nicodemus, who
brought the flowers and the two Marys. Heavy
burden on the shoulders of two men as they
carry the body OF Christ down the marble stairs
and into the portico and lift the dead weight to
the level of the niche in the rock and push the
body of Christ into the only pleasant resting
place it ever had These men coming forth
close the door of rock against the recess. The
government, afraid that the disciples would
steal the body of Christ and play resurrection,
put upon the door the seal of the Sanhedrim-
the violation of that seal, like the violation of
the seal of the United States Government. or of
the British Government, always followed with
severe penalties.
The Resurrection of Our Savior.
A regiment of soldiers from the Tower OF
Antonio is detailed to guard that mausoleum.
At the door OF that tomb fight took place
which decided the question for all graveyards
and cemeteries. Sword of lightning against
sword OF steel. Angel OF God against the mill
tary. The body in the crypt begins to move In
its shroud of tne linen and slides down upon
the pavement moves through the portico, ap-
pears in the doorway comes up the marble
steps. Christ comes forth in the garb of a
workman, as take it, from the fact that the
women mistook him for the gardener. There
and then was shattered the tomb SO that II can
never be rebuilt Forever and forever it is a
broken tomb.
0weep no more, your comforts slain,
While standing around the place where the
Lord lay, am impressed with the fact that
mOrtuary honors cannot atone for wrongs to
the living II they could have afforded Christ
such a costly sepulcher they could have
afforded Him decent earthly residence. Will
they give piece of marble to the dead Christ
when they might have gwen soft pillow to
the living Christ? If they had put half the ex-
pense of that mausoleum in the making of
Christs lie on earth comfortable the story
would not have been SO sad.
Atoning for Neglect to the Living.
Westminster Abbey and monumental Green
wood are to a certain extent the worlds at
temPts by mortuary honors to atone for neg
lect to the living. Oh, unfial children! give
your old parents less tombstone and more
blankets, less funeral and more bedroom. Do
justice to the living. All the justice you do
you will have to do this side the gates of the
metropolis The dead cannot wake up to count
the number of carriages in the procession.
Again! Standing in this place where the
Lord lay, am impressed with the fact that
floral and sculptural ornamentation is appro-
pirate for the places of the dead We are all
glad that in the short time of the Saviors in-
humation he lay amid flowers and sculpture.
l cannot quite understand what sea In the
newspapers. where amid the announcements of
obsequies, the friends request "send no how-
ers." Why, there Is no place SO appropriate
for flowers as the casket of the departed. II
your means allow-I repeat if your means al
lOw-let there be flowers on the casket. flowers
on the hearse, flowers on the grave. Putthem
on the brow it means coronation. Put them in
the hand; it means victory. Christ was buried
in parterre. Christ was buried in a garden. !
Flowers are types OF resurrection. Death is
sad enough anyhow. Let conservatory ana
arDoretum do all they can in the way OF allevia-
ton.
Honor the Buried Dead.
What shall l say of those country grave
yards where the vines have fallen down and
the slab is aslant and the mound is caved in,
and the grass is the pasture ground for the SEX
tons cattle? Are your father and mother of
so little account you have no more respect than
that for their bones? Some day gather togeth-
er and straighteu up the fence and lift the
slab, and bank up the mound and tear out the
weeds and plant the shrubs. After a while YOU
yourself will want to lie down to the last slum-
Der. II You have no regard for the bones of
your ancestors your children will have no def
erence for your bones.
Standing in this place where the Lord lay
am also impressed with the dignity of UMPIRE
tending obsequies. Joseph that day was
mourner, sexton, liveryman-had the entire
charge Of all the occasion. Four people only
at the burial of the King of the universe. Let
this be consolatory to those who through small
means, or lack of large acquaintance have but
little demonstration of grief at the grave of
their dead.
The Folly of Costly Burials.
The departed left enough property to have |
kept the family together until they could take
care of themselves but it is all absorbed in the
funeral rites. That went for Grape which |
ought TO have gone for bread. A man of small |
means can hardly afford to die in one of our |
great citiesi
Again: standing in this place where the Lord |
lay, L am impressed with the fact that you can |
not keep the dead down. The seal of the San |
hedrim, a regiment of soldiers Just as cer- |
tain as you and go down into the grave lust |
so certainly we viii come up again.
Various scriptural accounts say that the
work OF graVe-breaking will begin with the |
blasts Of trumpets and shOutings; whence I |
take it that the first intimation of the dav will
be a sound from heaven such as has never be-
fore been heard. 1t may not be so very loud,