The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-24
Singular Specimens of Mortuary
Literature Picked Up in Cemeteries.

that are quaint and curious, and some that
to our later-day eyes seem to border on the
sacrlis ious.
At Royalton, VT, under date of 1911 one
can find this:
snow she is dead and cannot stir,
Her cheeks are like the fading rose;
Which of us next will follow her
The Lord Almighty only knows"
AT Pemaquid, Me-, under a crumbling
stone one can still decipher the following,
although it dates back to 1927:
Behold, my dad is gone
And left me here to mourn,
But hope in Christ have
Tcat he and will save"
The deadly work Of jealous lover Of
New Boston, n. H., in 1850, is thus re-
corded
80 fell this lovely blooming daughter
By the revengefu haCd of malicious Henry.
When on the way to school he met her
And with self six-cocSed pistol shot her."
Upon a moss-covered slate stone at Sa-
lem, Mass, the date of which is partly obs
liberated, II only appearing, one can still
decipher this tribute to one who might
have been q sister to the "Sweet Priscilla"
Here lies the body of Martha Gwinn,
Who was so very pure within,
She cracked the outer shell OF sin,
And Matched herself cheruoim."
Visitors to Newport, r. l., may remem-
Der the following quaint inscription upon
an old stone as much awry as justice seems
to have besn q century aud a half ago.
Here doth Simeon Parett lye
Whose wrongs did for justice cry,
But none could have;
And now the grave
Keeps him from inIvre-
Who departed this life
Tho 23d day of May, 17l6-
Aged 81 years"
Near by, and bear ing the marks of
century storms one reads upon dilap-
idated stone the following over the remains
of Capt. Corss, 1891, who, one can we'll i'm
agine, may have sailed with the captain OF
the Bon Homme Richard, or have patroled
the sea upon his own account:
Though Boreas and Neptune's waves
Have tossed me 10 and fro,
In spite of both, by Gods command
harbor here below.
Where do now at anchor lie
With many of our fleet
Yet by and by must set sail
My Admiral Christ 10 meet"
In the old swedish cemetery at Winning
ton, Del, one finds upon the head-stoue of
no doubt reputable citizen the following
oft-repeated stauZa:
Farewell, dear friends as you pass by.
AS you are now so once was /;
As om now so you must be,
Prepare for death and follow me-"
Below this inscription has been scratched
by some over-cautious individual the fol-
lowing:
ITO follow you is not my intent
Until know which way you went
One of the most original epitnphs known
to tire writer is that upon q tombstone ia
the hollywood cemetery. Richmond, Va,
TO Engineer James E. Valentine, killed in
collision Dec. "a, 1874.
amid the crash and fall he stood and sacri-
feed his life that he might fulfill his trust.
Until the brakes are turned on time,
Lies throttle valve shut down.
He wakes to pilot in the crew
That wear the martyrs crown.
ION schedule time, on upper grade.
Along the homeward section.
He lands his train at Gods round house,
The morn of resurrection.
His time all full. no wages locked,
His name on Gods payroll,
A transportation through TO heaven,
A free pass for his soul"
1t must be admitted that in these practical
modern days sentiment is becoming es-
chewed even in "God's acre, as witness the
| inscription upon q stone in country bury
! ing ground few miles from Lexington,
| KY. Notwithstanding the opportunity for
the ultrG-sentimental, the much-msrried
husband contents himself VITA inscribing
upon the four sides of square block OF
stone the following
| /. Sarah A., beloved wife of John Bell.
| 2. Sarah L., beloved wife of John Bell.
3. Sarah p. beloved wife of John Bell.
| 4. They were all good wives and hope TO
| meet them all in heaven.
1t is hardly necessary to recall to Wash
| ingtoniaus the inscription upon q nameIess
stone in a cemetery acr s. the Potomac at
Alexandria to woman whose history is
shrouded in mystery and romance, and
about which there has been more spscula-
ton and whose grave has been the object
Of wider interest than perhaps any other
in the land, it is as follows:
ITO the Memory