USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Cambridge > History of the cemetery of Mount Auburn. > Part 7
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occupied by the wood. On such grounds a very few trees are all that can be wanted ; and the experience of the last three years has shown that trees twenty and thirty feet high may be transplanted at small expense, and with perfect safety; and such trees may always be had of the Superintendent. But, where trees are already growing on the avenues, a correct taste, and a regard to the future, will probably induce proprie- tors to introduce only low shrubs and herbaceous plants, and even these with a judicious frugality. As far as good appearance is concerned, the borders of a common lot may contain roses, laurels, and rhododendrons, in moderate num- bers, whereas one elm tree is often sufficient for an acre. The pyramidal fir trees which now in some places are cumbersome, from their thick- ness, should at least have their lower branches trimmed away above the height of the spectator's eye. Many of them ought to be wholly removed.
Common gravel is an article of indispensable use in an establishment like Mount Auburn. Great quantities are required for the making of roads, the grading of lots, and the filling of hollows and ponds. The Trustees, not foresceing the extraordinary growth and rapid occupation of
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the land in the Cemetery, have unfortunately sold to applicants, from time to time, the best hills and gravelly knolls within the enclosure. The necessity, therefore, becomes more imperative, that spots containing the remaining sources of supply should not be sold until the gravelly eminences have been first removed for use.
Mount Auburn has been increased at various times until it now covers a space nearly three times as large as Boston Common. This is quite as much as one Superintendent can properly take care of. For the convenient administration of the place hereafter, it may be hoped that future Boards of Trustees will resist the occasional temptation to annex indefinitely such pieces of adjacent land as may be offered to them. When- ever the Cemetery shall be filled, and its per- manent fund adequate to defray the expense of its annual support, it is better that new establishments should be created elsewhere, than that Mount Auburn should become unwieldy, and its care difficult, if not impracticable, from its overgrown size. There must be a line at which it will be necessary to stop, and that line has probably been attained already.
The permanent fund is a sacred deposit upon
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which alone the institution is to depend for its support after the land shall have been sold. Its only danger to be apprehended is from the cupidity of speculators who, at some future period, may so manage as to obtain temporary control of this fund for improper purposes, - an occurrence not unknown in the financial his- tory of various institutions in our country.
The present Board of Trustees have endeavored to protect this fund by a covenant, giving to every new purchaser a claim on the Corporation for the preservation of the fund entire. This security lasts until the amount of the fund shall have reached one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, when the income may be drawn out and the principal gradually re-invested under certain conditions. It is to be trusted that the Corporation will always elect Trustees who will respect the security, rather than an alleged increase in the productiveness of a fund which is essential and even vital to the support of the establishment after the revenue from the sale of land has ceased.
It has hitherto been the policy of the Trus- tees to keep on hand a considerable invested surplus, which can be drawn upon in case of
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emergency, and which, if not wanted, goes to swell by its interest the income of the Corpora- tion. The continual call for repairs, which increases as there are more miles of road to be kept in order, and more rods of fence to be painted or replaced, can only be met by a careful provision of this sort. The present yearly excess of the receipts over the expenditures, even after deducting the amount annually paid to the per- manent fund, is amply sufficient for the wants of the establishment. But a large reserve will hereafter be needed to complete the iron fence around the Stone Farm; to replace the western wooden fence when it shall have decayed ; to finish the drains and catacombs now in progress ; to excavate bogs and build stone borders to lakes, - together with unforeseen exigencies, which, if taken in hand now, would speedily exhaust the whole available capital of the insti- tution. Yet all these improvements will silently and gradually come to pass, without risk or inconvenience, if the Board adhere to their uniform previous policy of not making improve- ments faster than they are actually wanted and can certainly be paid for.
A good economy will obviously require that
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the various structures belonging to the Corpora- tion should be kept in thorough repair. Roofs, windows, paint and pointing of joints, require regular and prompt attention in this respect, for reasons which need no explanation.
The good appearance of buildings depends quite as much upon their site and aspect as upon their intrinsic structure. No edifice can appear to advantage which is covered up or interfered with by others of equal size in its immediate proximity. It is to be hoped that the open spaces now existing about the Tower, the Chapel, and the Gate, will never be en- croached on by any subordinate constructions in their immediate neighborhood. It seems not improbable that the Trustees will at some day see the propriety of conveying these spaces in trust, with the condition that they shall forever be kept open, and not occupied as places either for building or interment.
A few suggestions in regard to the occupation and improvement of individual lots will not be superfluous in this place. Mount Auburn was begun under the expectation that single inter- ments in the earth, in separate graves, would take the place of tombs or common receptacles,
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the tenants of which, it is well known, have but a temporary and precarious occupancy, as these things are usually managed by the remoter friends and successors of the deceased. The following short article, published early in the Daily Advertiser, conveys the sentiments on this subject of the founders of Mount Auburn : -
" It is a part of the original design of this establishment, though not an obligatory one, that interments shall be made in single or separate graves, rather than in tombs. The abundant space afforded by the extensiveness of the tract which has been purchased, precludes the necessity of constructing vaults for the promiscuous con- centration of numbers. It is believed that the common grave affords the most simple, natural, and secure method by which the body may return to the bosom of the earth, to be peace- fully blended with its original dust. Whatever consolation can be derived from the gathering together of members of the same families, is provided for by the appropriation of lots, each sufficient for a family, while the provision that the same spot or grave shall not be twice occupied for interment, secures to the buried an assurance of undisturbed rest, not always found in more costly constructions.
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On the same subject another consideration may be added. It is desired that the place may become beautiful, attractive, consoling, - not gloomy and repulsive, - that what the earth has once covered it shall not again reveal to light, - that the resources of art shall not be wasted in vain efforts to delay or modify the inevitable courses of nature. It is hoped, there- fore, that any sums which individuals may think it proper to devote to the improvement of the place of sepulture of themselves and their friends, may be expended above the surface of the .earth, - not under it. A beautiful monu- ment is interesting to every one. A simple bed of roses under the broad canopy of heaven, is a more approachable, a far more soothing object, than the most costly charnel-house."
Some of the first tombs constructed in the side hills at Mount Auburn became offensive from the escape of gas through their upright iron doors, the crevices of which are never made permanently tight. On this account, the Trustees for a time restricted them to the most distant or outside avenues. Afterwards they were permitted in places approved by the Trus- tees, provided they are made in a strong, tight,
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and durable manner, and every part, includ- ing the door, at least one foot underground. Finally, a vote was passed, Oct. 4th, 1858, " That lots for tombs on the hill sides, in such places as the Committee on Lots shall approve, may be sold at fifty cents per square foot, on the purchasers binding themselves to erect no tomb or repository which shall not be made air tight, to the satisfaction of the Committee on Lots."
The mode of interment now most common at Mount Auburn is that in simple graves, after- wards designated by headstones or some other mark. Where the most permanent security is desired, a separate inclosure of the grave is made of bricks and cement, and afterwards covered with a flat stone. When tombs are built, their best construction is found to be that which is in imitation of the ancient columbaria, in which a subterranean apartment is provided on one or more sides, with cavities like pigeon holes, the mouths of which are to be tightly closed with bricks and cement, or with a flat stone. The general name of catacombs is ap- plied to these at Mount Auburn and at some other places.
9
PART II.
ADDRESSES, REPORTS, REGULATIONS, DOCUMENTS, &c.
ADDRESSES, REPORTS, ETC.
" It having been considered important, that the public should be generally informed as.to the character of the two associated establishments, the HON. EDWARD EVERETT was requested to prepare an Address, explanatory of the objects which it was proposed to accomplish; and he furnished the following, which was published in the Boston papers." - Horticultural Proceed- ings, 1832.
THE PROPOSED RURAL CEMETERY.
AT the late session of the General Court, an Act was passed, enlarging the powers of the Horti- cultural Society in such a manner, as to enable it to establish a rural cemetery, in connection with the experimental. garden, which forms a part of the original plan of that Society. Preliminary steps have been taken to exercise the powers
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granted by this additional act of incorporation. The subject has been under the consideration of a large and highly respectable committee, selected for their known interest in the design ; and a plan of measures to be pursued, for carrying the object into effect, has been prepared and adopted.
The spot, which has been selected for this establishment, has not been chosen without great deliberation, and a reference to every other place in the vicinity of Boston, which has been named for the same purpose. In fact, the difficulty of finding a proper place has been for several years the chief obstacle to the execution of this project. The spot chosen is as near Boston as is consistent with perfect security from the approach of those establishments, usually found in the neighborhood of a large town, but not in harmony with the character of a place of burial. It stands near a fine sweep in Charles River. It presents every variety of surface, rising in one part into a beau- tiful elevation, level in others, with intermediate depressions, and a considerable part of the whole covered with the natural growth of wood. In fact, the place has long been noted for its rural beauty, its romantic seclusion, and its fine pros- pect ; and it is confidently believed, that there is
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not another to be named, possessing the same union of advantages.
It is propesed to set apart a considerable portion of this delightful spot, for the purpose of a burial place. Little will be required from the hand of art to fit it for that purpose. Nature has already done almost all that is required. Scarcely any thing is needed but a suitable enclosure, and such walks as will give access to the different parts of the enclosed space, and exhibits features to the greatest advantage. It is proposed, (as it appears from the report above cited,) to divide the parts of the tract, best adapted to that purpose, into lots, containing two hundred or more square feet, to be used by individuals becoming proprietors of them, for the purposes of burial. It will be at the option of those interested, to build tombs of the usual construction on these lots, or to make graves in them, when occasion may require ; identifying the lot by a single monument, or the graves by sepa- rate stones, or leaving the whole without any other ornament than the green turf and the over- shadowing trees.
By the act of the Legislature, authorizing the Horticultural Society to establish this Cemetery, it is placed under the protection of the laws, and
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consecrated to the perpetual occupancy of the dead. Being connected with the adjacent experi- mental garden, it will be under the constant inspection of the Society's Gardener, and thus possess advantages, in reference to the care and neatness with which it will be kept, not usually found in places of burial. A formal act of dedication, with religious solemnities, will impart to it a character of sanctity, and consecrate it to the sacred purposes for which it is destined.
It is a matter of obvious consideration, that, with the rapid increase of the city of Boston, many years cannot elapse, before the deposit of the dead within its limits must cease. It is already attended with considerable difficulty, and is open to serious objections. The establishment now contemplated, presents an opportunity for all, who wish to enjoy it, of providing a place of burial for those, for whom it is their duty to make such provision. The space is ample, affording room for as large a number of lots, as may be required for a considerable length of time ; and the price at which they are now to be purchased, it is believed, is considerably less than that of tombs, in the usual places of their construction.
Although no one, whose feelings and principles
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are sound, can regard, without tenderness and delicacy, the question, where he will deposit the remains of those, whom it is his duty to follow to their last home, yet it may be feared, that too little thought has been had for the decent aspect of our places of sepulture, or their highest adap- tation to their great object. Our burial places are, in the cities, crowded till they are full; nor, in general, does any other object, either in town or country, appear to have been had in view in them, than that of confining the remains of the departed to the smallest portion of earth that will hide them. Trees, whose inexpressible beauty has been provided by the hand of the Creator as the great ornament of the earth, have rarely been planted about our graveyards ; the enclosures are generally inadequate and neglected, the graves indecently crowded together, and often, after a few years, disturbed ; and the whole appearance as little calculated as possible to invite the visits of the seriously disposed, to tranquillize the feel- ings of surviving friends, and to gratify that dispo- sition which would lead us to pay respect to their ashes.
Nor has it hitherto been in the power even of those, who might be able and willing to do it, to
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remedy these evils, as far as they are themselves concerned. Great objections exist to a place of sepulture in a private field ; particularly this, that in a few years it is likely to pass into the hands of those, who will take no interest in pre- serving its sacred deposit from the plough. The mother of Washington lies buried in a field, the property of a person not related to her family, and in a spot which cannot now be identified. In the public graveyard it is not always in the power of an individual to appropriate to a single place of burial, space enough for the purposes of decent and respectful ornament.
The proposed establishment seems to furnish every facility for gratifying the desire, which must rank among the purest and strongest of the human heart, and which would have been much more frequently indicated, but for the very serious, and sometimes insuperable obstacles of which we have spoken. Here it will be in the power of every one, who may wish it, at an expense considerably less than that of a common tomb, or a vault beneath a church, to deposit the mortal remains of his friends, and to provide a place of burial for himself, which, while living, he may contemplate without dread or disgust; one which is secure
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from the danger of being encroached upon, as in the graveyards of the city ; secluded from every species of uncongenial intrusion ; surrounded with everything that can fill the heart with tender and respectful emotions ; beneath the shade of a vener- able tree, on the slope of the verdant lawn, and within the seclusion of the forest; removed from all the discordant scenes of life.
Such were the places of burial of the ancient nations. In a spot like this were laid the remains of the patriarchs of Israel. In the neighborhood of their great cities the ancient Egyptians estab- lished extensive cities of the dead ; and the Greeks and Romans erected the monuments of the departed by the road side, on the approach to their cities, or in pleasant groves in their suburbs. A part of the Grove of Academus, near Athens, famous for the school of Plato, was appropriated to the sepulchres of their men of renown; and it was the saying of Themistocles, that the monu- ments he beheld there would not permit him to sleep. The " Appian Way" was lined with the monuments of the heroes and sages of Rome. In modern times, the Turkish people are eminent for that respectful care of the places of sepulture, which forms an interesting trait of the oriental
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character. At the head and foot of each grave, a cypress tree is planted, so that the graveyard becomes, in a few years, a deep and shady grove. These sacred precincts are never violated ; they form the most beautiful suburbs to the cities, and, not unfrequently, when the city of the living has been swept away by the political vicissitudes, frequent under that government, the Grove of Cypress remains, spreading its sacred shelter over the city of the dead.
In the city of Boston, the inconveniences of the present modes of burial are severely felt ; and it is as a becoming appendage and interesting ornament of the town, that this Cemetery should be regarded. When it shall be laid out with suitable walks, and the appropriate spots shall begin to be adorned with the various memorials which affection and respect may erect to the departed, what object in or near Boston will be equally attractive ? What would sooner arrest the attention of the stranger ? Whither would a man of reflection and serious temper sooner direct his steps ? Had such a Cemetery, with prophetic forethought of posterity, been laid out in the first settlement of the country, and all our venerated dead, - the eminent in church and state, - been deposited side by side,
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with plain but enduring monuments, it would possess already an interest of the most elevated and affecting character. Such a place of deposit is Pere la Chaise, near Paris, which has already become a spot of the greatest interest and attrac- tion, furnishing the model to similar establishments in various parts of Europe, and well deserving to be had in view, in that which is in contemplation here.
The vicinity of our venerable University sug- gests an interesting train of associations, connected with this spot. It has ever been the favorite resort of the students. There are hundreds now living, who have passed some of the happiest hours of the happiest period of their lives, beneath the shade of the trees in this secluded forest. It will become the place of burial for the University. Here will the dust of the young men, who may be cut off before their academic course is run, be laid by their class-mates. Here will be deposited those who may die in the offices of instruction and government. Nor is it impossible, that the several class-associations, which form a beautiful feature of our college life, may each appropriate to them- selves a lot, where such of their brethren as may desire it, may be brought back to be deposited in
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the soil of the spot where they passed their early years.
The establishment contemplated will afford the means of paying a tribute of respect, by a monu- mental erection, to the names and memory of great and good men, whenever or wherever they have died. Its summit may be consecrated to Wash- ington, by a cenotaph inscribed with his name. Public sentiment will often delight in these tributes of respect, and the place may gradually become the honorary mausoleum for the distinguished sons of Massachusetts.
This design, though but recently made public, has been long in contemplation, and, as is believed, has been favored with unusual approbation. It has drawn forth much unsolicited and earnest concurrence. It has touched a chord of sym- pathy which vibrates in every heart. Let us take an affectionate and pious care of our dead ; let us turn to some good account, in softening and humanizing the public feeling, that sentiment of tenderness toward the departed, which is natural and ineradicable in man. Let us employ some of the superfluous wealth, now often expended in luxury worse than useless, in rendering the
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place where our beloved friends repose, decent, attractive, and grateful at once to the eye and the heart.
AN ADDRESS DELIVERED ON THE DEDICATION OF
THE CEMETERY AT MOUNT AUBURN, SEPTEM- BER 24TH, 1831. BY JOSEPH STORY.
MY FRIENDS, -
THE occasion which brings us together, has much in it calculated to awaken our sensibilities, and cast a solemnity over our thoughts.
We are met to consecrate these grounds exclu- sively to the service and repose of the dead.
The duty is not new ; for it has been performed for countless millions. The scenery is not new ; for the hill and the valley, the still, silent dell, and the deep forest, have often been devoted to the same pious purpose. But that, which must always give it a peculiar interest, is, that it can rarely occur except at distant intervals ; and, whenever it does, it must address itself to feelings intelligible to all nations, and common to all hearts.
The patriarchal language of four thousand years
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ago is precisely that, to which we would now give utterance. We are " strangers and sojourners" here. We have need of " a possession of a bury- ing-place, that we may bury our dead out of our sight." Let us have " the field, and the cave which is therein ; and all the trees, that are in the field, and that are in the borders round about ; " and let them " be made sure for a possession of a burying-place."
It is the duty of the living thus to provide for the dead. It is not a mere office of pious regard for others ; but it comes home to our own bosoms, as those who are soon to enter upon the common inheritance.
If there are any feelings of our nature, not bounded by earth, and yet stopping short of the skies, which are more strong and more universal than all others, they will be found in our solicitude as to the time and place and manner of our death ; in the desire to die in the arms of our friends ; to have the last sad offices to our remains performed by their affection ; to repose in the land of our nativity ; to be gathered to the sepulchres of our fathers. It is almost impossible for us to feel, nay, even to feign, indifference on such a subject.
Poetry has told us this truth in lines of trans-
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cendent beauty and force, which find a response in every breast : -
" For who, to dumb Forgetfulness a prey, This pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind ?
On some fond breast the parting soul relies; Some pious drops the closing eye requires; E'en from the tomb the voice of Nature cries; E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires."
It is in vain, that Philosophy has informed us, that the whole earth is but a point in the eyes of its Creator, - nay, of his own creation ; that, wherever we are, - abroad or at home, - on the restless ocean, or the solid land, - we are still under the protection of his providence, and safe, as it were, in the hollow of his hand. It is in vain that Religion has instructed us, that we are but dust, and to dust we shall return, - that whether our remains are scattered to the corners of the earth, or gathered in sacred urns, there is a sure and certain hope of a resurrection of the body and a life everlasting. These truths, sublime and glorious as they are, leave untouched the feelings, of which I have spoken, or, rather, they impart to them a more enduring reality. Dust as we are,
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