The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1891-04-09

standing beside him said, II know what
it means; that letter 'V' stands for vic
tory" gather up all these flowers
to-day, and | strew them over the
graves of your Christian dead in the
letter "V" for victory" "R" for
resurrection, 'T" for triumph"
III" for 4" eaven." 1.-The Lord is risen."
Hosanna
HoNoRs AFTER DEATH.
While standing around the place
where the Lord lay am impressed with
the fact that mortuary honors cannot
atone for wrongs to the living, If they
could have afforded Christ such cost
ly sepulcher they could have afforded
him decent earthly residence. Will
they give piece of marble to the dead
Christ when they might have given a
soft pillow to the living Christ. If they
had put half the expense of that maui
soleum in the making of ChTst's life
on earth comfortable the story would
not have been so sad He wanted
bread; they gave him stone, Christ,
like every other benefactor of the
world, was better appreciated after he
was dead Westminster Abbey and
monumental Greenwood are to a Ger
tain extent the worlds attempts by
mortuary honors to atone for neglects
| to the living. Poets Corner in West
minister Abbey an attempt to pay for
the sufferings of Grub street. go into
that Poets Corner of Westminster Alb
hey, and there l find the grave of Han
del, the musician from whose music
we hear today as it goes down rever-
berating through the ages. While /
stand at the costly tomb of Handel
cannot forget the fact that his fellow
musicians tried to destroy him with
their discords
| go little farther in the Poets Cor
ner of Westminster Abbey and find
the grave of John Dryden, the great
poet, Costly monument, great mortu-
airy honors; but | cannot forget the
fact that at seventy years of age he
wrote about the expressions of misfort-
! llllN, till llltht CoIUl etIb III q
thousand verses at siXpence a line.
60 little farther on in the Poets Cor
ner and | find the grave of Samuel
Butler, the author of "Hudibras.
Wonderful monument, costly mortuary
honorsl Where did he die2 In a gar
ret | move farther on in the Poets
Corner and l find the grave of poet
of whom Waller wrote: can old school
master by the name of John Milton
has written tedious volume on the
fall of man. If its length be no virtue,
it has none" l go little farther on
in the Poets Corner and l find the
grave of Sheridan. Alas for Sheri
dan Poor Sheridan! Magnificent
mortuary honors What pity it was
he could not have discounted that
monument for mouthful of something
to eat Oh, unflial children, give
your old parents less tombstone and
more blankets, less funeral and more
| bedroom.
| Five per cent. of the money now ex
pended at Burns banquets would have
made the great Scotch poet comfort
able and kept him from being almost
harried to death by the drudgery of an
cxcseman. Horace Greeley-outrage
ously abused while he lived-going out
to his tomb was followed by the presi-
dent of the United States and the lead
ing 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 resolu
lions with which her legislature de-
nounced the living senator 1t was too
late
The costly monument at Springfield.
Ills, cannot pay for Booths bullet.
Costly mortuary honors on the banks
of Lake Erie-honors that cost between
5000, 900 and $500, 00O-cannot pay for
the assassination 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 Aberdeen granite or to
read the words of epitaphal commem-
grafton. Costly mausoleum of the gen
tlelnan in the suburbs of Jerusalem
cannot atone for Bethlehem's manager
and Calvarean cross and Pilates ruff
fan Judiciary.
FLOWERS FOR THE DEAD.
Again. Standing in this place where
the Lord lay am impressed with the
fact that floral and sculptural 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 1 see in
the newspapers where, amid the an
nouncements of obsequies the friends
request 'send no flowers" Why, there
is no place so appropriate for flowers as
the casket of the departed. If your
means allow-I 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
buried in parterre Christ was buried
in a garden. Flowers are types of resur-
rection. Death is sad enough anyhow
Let conservatory and arboretum 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 garland for her still heart.
Brooklyn has no greater 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 Lones Mountain. What shall
| say of those country graveyards