Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-04-03

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accent earthly residence. Will tbo .,, a;, q
q piece OF marble to the dead Christ ~ wv
.ney might have given a soft inflow 70
. llvlng Christ? If they had mt half
the expense of that n,ausolenm in 't ~
making OF Christ's life on earth COM ,ras
lortaole the story would not have hnoN 60
SUI he wanted bread; thew gave Hin,
stone. Christ, like every other bonnl
factor OF the world, was better nnnrnci-
ated alter He was dead. Westministnr
Aooey and monumental Greenwood are
10 certain extent the worlds ATTEMPTS
ny mortuary honors to atone for neolccts
W Ine llVing. Poets Corner in West
minister n, Abbey is an attempt to nav for
.he ss1erlngs OF Grab street. 90 into
that Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey
anu mere l lind the grave of Handel. the
musician from whose music we hear to-
Jay as III goes down reverberating through
.he ages. While l stand at the COSTLY.
tomo OF Handel cannot forget the fact
yna' MS fellow musicians tried to DESTROY
MN with their discords. l go a little
iarther IN the Poets Corner of West
Minister Abbey and find the grave of
oohn Dryden, the great poet. Costly
monument, great mortuary honors, but
! cannot forget the fact that at seventy
years OF age he wrote about the oppres-
SONS OF misfortune, and that he made a
contract Tor thousand verses at six
pence line. l go little farther in the
Poets Corner and / find the grave of
Samuel Butler, the author of "Hudi-
bras" Wonderful monument, costly
mortuary honors. Where did he die? In
a garrett l move farther on in the
Poets Corner and ! find the grave of
poet OF whom Waller wrote: can old
schoolmaster by the name of John Milton
mas written tedious volume on the fall
OF man. If its length be no virtue it has
none. go little farther on in the
Poets Corner and find the grave of
Sheridan. Alas! for Sheridan. Poor
Sheridan. Magnificent mortuary hon
ors. What a pity it was he could not
have discounted that monument for
mouthful OF something to eat. Oh. un-
flllal children. give your old parents less
tombstoncs and more blankets, less fun
eral and more bedroom! Five per cent.
OF the money now expended at Burns
banqucts would have made the great
Scotch poet comfortable and kept him
from being almost harred to death by
the drudgery of an excise man. Horace
Greeley-outragcously abused while he
llved-going out to his tomb was followed
by the President of the United States
and the leading men of the army and the
navy. Some people could not say bitter
enough things about him while he lived;
all the world rose up to do him honor
when he died. Massachusetts at the
tomb OF Charles Sumner tried to atone
for the ignominiouS resolutions with
which her Legislature denounced the
living Senator 1t was too late. The
costly monument at Springfield, ILL.,,
cannot pay for Booths bullet. Costly
mortuary honors on the banks of Lake
Erie-honors that cost between 5000, 900
and $500, OOo-cannot pay for the assassi-
nation of James A. Garfield. 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 or see the polish ON the Aber-
deem granite or to read the words of
epitaphal commemoration. Costly mauso-
leum of the gentleman in the suburbs of
Jerusalem cannot atone for Bethlehem's
manger and Calvarean cross and Pilates
rut1ian judiciary.
Again! Standing in this place where
the Lord lay am impressed with the
fact that floral and scriptural ornamen-
tation are appropriate for the places of
the dead. We are all glad that in the
short time of the SaviOur'S inhumation
he lay amid flowers and sculpture. l
cannot quite understand what | see in
the newspapers where, amid the an
nouncements and obsequies, the friends
request "Scnd no flowers" Why there
is no place so appropriate for flowers
as the casket of the departed. If your
means allow repeat, if your means
allow-let there be flowers on the cas-
ket, flowers on the hearse, flowers on
the grave. Put them on the brow; it
means coronation. Put them in the
hand; it means victory. Christ was bur-
led in parterre. Christ was buried in
| a garden. Flowers are types of resur-
rection. Death is sad enough anyhow.
Let conservatory and arbortum do all
they can in the way of alienation. Your
little girl loved flowers while she was
alive. Put them in her hands, now that
she cannot go forth and pluck flowers
for herself. On sunshiny days twist
a garland for her still heart.
Brooklyn has no grander glory than
her Greenwood, nor Boston than her
Mount Auburn. nor Philadelphia than
her Laurel HILL nor Cincinnati than her
Spring Grove, nor San Francisco than
her Lone Mountain. What shall I say
of those country graveyards 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
sections cattle. Are your father and
mother of SO little account you have no
more respect than that for their bones?
Some day gather together and straightcn
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
slumber If you have no regard for the
bones of your ancestors, your children
| will have no Difference for you bones. Do
you say these relics are of no impor-
lance? You will see of how much i'm
portance they are when the archangel
takes out his trumpet. Turn all your
grave yards into gardens.
Standing in this place where the Lord
| lay am also impressed with the dignity
| of unpretending obsequics. Joseph that
day was mourner, sexton, liveryman-
had the entire charge of all the occasion.