Year: 1866

heart which would render US insensible "a
the sacred voice Of patriotic and fraterual
affection, and from that pitiable Condition
of poverty which denies us the power 10
obey the high calls Of duty to these silent
sleepcrs. <H t thsG
That we are yet rich in feeling and IN
love for departed worth, and rich enough
still In material wealth, poor as we are, To
do what the circumstances require, we
yerily believe. We rejoice and are thauk-
fuI for the assurance that such Is the fact.
We appeal therefore to the hearts Of our
| fellow citizens and fellow sufferers Of each
sex and every age. We ask them to give
according to their ability. In such case
we may confidently argue that they should
DENY some Of the demands Of fashion and
luxury, that they may cheer our hearts
under this heavy burden, honor themselves,
honor their countrymen, and add another
chaplet TO the crown which adorns the
chastened brow Of their stricken but gl0.'
rious fatheriand. ;s,y 80 -


lfsome would say, why seek ye the voice
OF living duty among the mansions of the
silent dead If they would tell us that the
wants and the woes, the sins and the L.
norance of the thousands who curse the
walks of life, demand our labors and our
care more than the dust which Is past the .
power Of mental or moral improvement, We
beg them to consider the ennObling infiu-
ence of the work in which we now invite
them to participate. There Is power In
these graves and i'm the communion of our
affections and the concentration Of our en-.
ergics about them, that will elevate and
refine us. IL is well for US to visit the
house of mourning together, and in silence
and tears look upon all that is left TO re-
mind us of our common friends. Between
the weeping people Of these suffering
States, in which there are still so many
who mourn for their children, and refuse
| to be comforted we would establish bond
of sympathy that may alleviate the bitter
ness of individual grief; We would weave
ties of tenderness and love that will bind
us and band us together for future duty
and endurance by the noblest and purest
| feelings of our nature. We would, while
We plant flowers and make the grass grow
i'm this cemetery, keep in perpetual me-
mory the faith and the patience OF the dead,
and transmit the fragrance of their virtues
| to the living-to inspire the Respondent,
cheer the sorrowful, and quicken all to the
performance of our duties and the endu-
rance of our calamities in peace, with the
| heroism, energy, fortitude, and devotion
which characterized our comrades In war.
Above all, while we are reminded by these
funereal rites that


"The paths OF glory lead but to the grave"


aud that" "we all do fade as leaf"--we
would aim in the hour that so forcibly re-
minds us of our weakness and mortality to
cxalt the Sword of the Lord" which en-
durcth forever; to point our countrymen
to those pages where we find the true les
sons of individual happiness and national
prosperity; in the light Of which as 1t falls
upon the green sod about us, we learn to
be more tender to the living who may soon
slumber here, more watchful against the
hour when We must pass through these
portals TO the Masters's presence; more
eager to possess our souls in the patience
of those consultations by which


"W: live with comfort. and with comfort de-
more devoted to those revelations which
throw upon the deepest darkness Of dying
humanity the light and glory of immortal
scenes and unfading felicity as We sing:


And I Nature real all T glowing in Edens rst bloom,
| On the Gold cheek Of Death smiles and roses are


And Beauty immortal awakes from the tomb.


If the object to which the women Of
Richmond are now giving their time and
their strength, and about which they are
concerned by night and by day, is achieved
in the manner which they desire and at
which they aim, the solitary place of the
dead will be made glad, and the scenes
which now make even the stranger sor-
rowful will put on the livery Of at least
l Il l., To
we would wish that people Of other lands
might not look upon il; we would grieve
to see pilgrim there seeking the grave Of
relative or q friend. But when we have
raised the mounds, and given them green
covering, and adorned them with flowers,
and stamped the name Of each remem-
bered hero upon the most enduring tablet
that we can provide, and raised over all
such monumental stones as we may, we
will be able to lift up our heads and wipe
away some of our tears; we will not be
afraid lest the traveller wander to our
cemeteries, and will be ready to welcome
to these silent walks the footsteps Of be-
reaved parents, brothers, and sisters, and
widowed wives with their little throngs Of
orphans-for then we know that the Sc
verify of their grief will be aSsuaged by
the tOkcnS OI our patIiolic SoiO ouu Wa
sisterly affection.


1t will interest some who read this ap-
peal to know that the greater part OF those
who were buried ut lakewood were carried
forth from the wards Of ChiDbordzo, name
painfully familiar to thousands as that OF
the hospital whence they received the last
sad tidings Of their beloved.


Contributions may be sent to the Rev.
John f. Edwards, Rev. A. E. Dickinson,
Rev. William Norwood Rev. p. b. Price,
Rev. J. 4. Proctor, Richmond, Va, or to
Mrs. E. s. Turpin, treasurer of Oakwood
Memorial Association, box l0l, Richmond,
Va. Mrs. NJ. II. SMITH, President.


Mrs. A. r. COURTNEY, Secretary. a
Papers friendly to the cause will pleas
copy. .r q.a.