Morning journal and courier., 1893-11-22
Curious lid Epitaphs

Tothe Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER:
On pleasant Sunday not long since We
stood within the old burying ground that
surrounds the ancient church in which
George Washington was wont to worship
Christ church in Alexandria.
1t was fully half hour before the time
appointed for service, and We fingered
among the sunken graves aud busied our
selves in decipheTing the epltsphs On the
brown and weather stained hesds;ones,
most of which we're In fair state of pres
ervstion.
1t was bright October morning and the
illuminated world was fair to behold. The
very air was full of radiance with the
splendor of yellow leaves and the golden
sunshine, which flterIng through the
branches of the restless trees, danced and
hIckered IN great patches OF quivering
light on the rough stones over which we
were bsnding. Twittering swallows few
in and out among the bright foliage as the
ripensd leaves, detached from the parent
tree, circlsd slowly above cur heads, then
fell silently, covering the ground with
their exquisite colors.
A strange stiffness brooded over the
place, which impressed us with q feeling
of sadness, and involuutsrily our voices
grew subdued, aud We went softly from
grave to grave as If fearful of disturbing
the poor ashes at our feet. 1t had been
many years. century aud more-siDce
the fresh earth had been h.aped above
these narrow beds.
Many of the epitsphs, With a singular
disregard of the rules of orthography,
were both quaint and original. Here Is
one to the memory of Fanny McCus, who
died in 1892. From across the eyes 1t
speaks out its solemn warning:
'weep not for me, my parents dear,
/ am not dead but sleepiug here;
AS am you al must be:
Prepare yourselves to follow me-"
On another We read:
"AIl you that Gums my grave 10 see,
Prepare yourselves to follow me:
Repent and turn TO GOD in time,
You may be taken in your prime"
Here is the record of a long and wasting
illness:
''who AffIIctions sore long time he bore;
Physicians was in vain,
TIL God was pleased death should him seize
And ease HIM from bis pain"
Still another with an originality Of de-
tail quite unusual:
Sacred to the memory of BethAnath Nc
Lean, son of Daniel aud LucretIs Mclean, born
November Is I7a5, at Q O'Clock a. m, and depart
ed this life August IS, I7as, at II O'CLOCK p m"
Near the church q brown headstone
bears this inscription:
sIn memory Of dorothy harper, uxor OF John
w harper, dspsrted this life Sept, 1870, after
and in disposion OF years and months, aged
q years, months.
On long, elevated tomb Mrs. Elizabeth
Davis virtues are commemorated. Some
of the letters are obliterstsi, but we read
that ''she was related TO some of ths most
respectable families In Virginia and Mary
land, lived deseryedly," etc.
At the rear of the church, leaning
against its ivy covered walls, are several
tall tablets. The further one looks COM
paratively modern. 1t is
SACRED 70 the memory OF Colonel Charles
Slmms an officer In the Army OF independence,
and for many years an honored citizen Of Alex-
andria and mayor OF that c ~ In lsI4. BE died
ty of the Cincinnati and a friend Of General
Warrington"
Presently the bell rings out loudly and
startlingly on the still air. Its tones are
not meiodious; on the contrary, it has that
metallic clapgor peculiar to church bells
in remote rural districts. but IL is In keep
ing with the old-time solemnity of the
pl,ce- The narrow city streets, over
which the same Sabbath day stiffness had
brooded, now wake to life rs the people,
singly and in groups, come soberly 10 the
house of prayer.
warned BY the tolling bell, we, too, join