USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Guide to Laurel Hill Cemetery near Philadelphia : with a list of lotholders > Part 5
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" In accosting Old Mortality, I did not fail to pay respect to his years and his principles, be- ginning my address by a respectful apology for interrupting his labors. The old man inter- mitted the operation of the chisel, took off his spectacles and wiped them, then replacing them on his nose, acknowledged my courtesy by a suitable return. Encouraged by his affability, I intruded upon him some questions concerning the sufferers on whose monuments he was now employed. To talk of the exploits of the Cove- nanters was the delight, as to repair their monu-
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ments was the business of his life. He was profuse in the communication of all the minute information which he had collected concerning them, their wars and their wanderings. One would almost have supposed he must have been their contemporary, and have actually beheld the passages which he related, so much had he iden- tified his feelings and opinions with theirs, and so much had his narratives the circumstantiality of an eye-witness.
" 'We,' he said, in a tone of exultation, 'we are the only true whigs. Carnal men have as- sumed that triumphant appellation, following him whose kingdom is of this world. Which of them would sit six hours on a wet hill-side to hear a godly sermon ? I trow an hour o't wad staw them. They are ne'er a hair better than them thats hame na to take upon themsells the persecuting name of blude-thirsty tories. Self- seekers all of them, strivers after wealth, power, and worldly ambition, and forgetters alike of what has been dree'd and done by the mighty men who stood in the gap in the great day of wrath. Nae wonder they dread the accomplish- ment of what was spoken by the mouth of the worthy Mr. Peden (that precious servant of the
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Lord, none of whose words fell to the ground), that the French monzies sall rise as fast in the glens of Ayr, and the kenns of Galloway, as ever the Highlandmen did in 1677. And now they are gripping to the bow and to the spear, when they suld be mourning for a sinfu' land and a broken covenant.'
" Soothing the old man by letting his peculiar opinions pass without contradiction, and anxious to prolong conversation with so singular a cha- racter, I prevailed upon him to accept that hos- pitality which Mr. Cleishbotham is always will- ing to extend to those who need it. In our way to the schoolmaster's house, we called at the Wallace Inn, where I was pretty certain I should find my patron about that hour of the evening. After a courteous interchange of civilities, Old Mortality was with difficulty prevailed upon to join his host in a single glass of liquor, and that, on condition that he should be permitted to name the pledge, which he prefaced with a grace of about five minutes, and then, with bonnet doffed and eyes uplifted, drank to the memory of those heroes of the Kirk, who had uplifted her banner upon the mountains. As no persuasion could prevail upon him to extend his conviviality to a
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second cup, my patron accompanied him home, and accommodated him in the prophet's cham- ber, as it is his pleasure to call the closet which holds a spare bed, and which is frequently a place of retreat for the poor traveller.
"The next day I took leave of Old Mortality, who seemed affected by the unusual attention with which I had cultivated his acquaintance and listened to his conversation. After he had mounted, not without difficulty, the old white pony, he took me by the hand and said, 'The blessing of our Master be with you, young man ! My hours are like the ears of the latter harvest, and your days are yet in the spring; and yet you may be gathered into the garner of mortality before me, for the sickle of death cuts down the green as oft as the ripe, and there is a color in your cheek, that, like the bud of the rose, serveth oft to hide the worm of corruption. Wherefore labor as one who knoweth not when his master calleth. And if it be my lot to return to this village after ye are gane hame to your ain place, these auld withered hands will frame a stane of memorial, that your name may not perish from among the people.'
"I thanked Old Mortality for his kind inten-
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tions in my behalf, and I heaved a sigh, not I think of regret so much as of resignation, to think of the chance that I might soon require his good offices. But though, in all human pro- bability, he did not err in supposing that my span of life may be abridged in youth, he had over-estimated the period of his own pilgrimage on earth. It is now some years since he has been missed in all his usual haunts, while moss, lichen, and deer-hair, are fast covering those stones, to cleanse which had been the business of his life. About the beginning of this cen- tury he closed his mortal toils, being found on the highway near Lockerby, in Dumfries-shire, exhausted, and just expiring. The old white pony, the companion of all his wanderings, was standing by the side of his dying master. There was found about his person a sum of money sufficient for his decent interment, which serves to show that his death was in no ways hastened by violence or by want. The common people still regard his memory with great respect; and many are of opinion, that the stones which he repaired will not again require the assistance of the chisel. They even assert, that on the tombs where the manner of the martyr's mur-
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der is recorded, their names have remained indelibly legible since the death of Old Mor- tality, while those of the persecutors, sculptured on the same monuments, have been entirely defaced."
Appendix.
MISCELLANIES,
SELECTED FROM VARIOUS PUBLICATIONS RESPECTING LAUREL HILL, INTERMENTS IN CITIES, ETC. ETC.
THE YOUNG.
When into dust, like dewy flowers departed From our dim paths the bright and lovely fade, The fair in form, the pure, the gentle-hearted, Whose looks within the breast a Sabbath made, How like a whisper on the inconstant wind The memory of their voices stirs the mind !
We hear the sigh, the song, the fitful laughter That from their lips, in balm, were wont to flow, When Hope's beguiling lips they hurried after, And drank her siren music long ago, While Joy's bright harp to sweetest lays was strung, And poured rich numbers for the loved and young. ALBANUS SMITH. HAVERFORD, Third mo. 8th, 1839.
TN ancient times, as is well known, it was the custom to bury the dead beyond the walls of
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towns and cities, and among the Greeks and Romans they were frequently interred by the waysides.
I could here pause with pleasure, and invite the reader to indulge with me in contemplation of the advantages which must have attended such a practice. We might ruminate upon the beauty which the monuments, thus placed, must have borrowed from the surrounding images of nature-from the trees, the wild flowers, from a stream running perhaps within sight or hearing, from the beaten road stretching its weary length hard by. [How descriptive of the Cemetery this is, let those testify who have frequently visited it.] Many tender similitudes must these objects have presented to the mind of the traveller lean- ing upon one of the tombs, or reposing in the coolness of its shade, whither he had halted from weariness, or in compliance with the invitation, " Pause, Traveller," so often found upon the monuments. And to its epitaph also must have been supplied strong appeals to visible appear- ances or immediate impressions, lively and affect- ing analogies of life as a journey, death as a sleep overcoming the tired wayfarer-of mis- fortune as a storm that falls suddenly upon him
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-of beauty as a flower that passeth away, or of innocent pleasure as one that may be gathered- of virtue that standeth firm as a rock against the beating waves-of hope undermined insensibly like the poplar by the side of the river that has fed it, or blasted in a moment like a pine tree by the stroke of lightning upon the mountain top- of admonitions and heart-stirring remembrances, like a refreshing breeze that comes without warning, or the taste of the waters of an unex- pected fountain. When death is in our thoughts, nothing can make amends for the want of the soothing influences of nature, and for the absence of those types of renovation and decay which the fields and woods offer to the serious and contemplative mind .- Wordsworth's Essay on Epitaphs.
CHRISTIAN BURIAL.
THERE is a very general predilection among men of almost every denomination of Christians among us, in favor of interments in graveyards 10*
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connected with churches; and the impression, almost universally, prevails, that this arrange- ment has generally been countenanced and ap- proved by the church as a body. To some who read this article even a doubt on the subject will be quite new ; and yet, strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless true, that the sanctions of the church, far from favoring such interments, have, for the most part been diametrically opposed to them.
Before the era of Christianity, the unvarying custom of the world, in every country where in- humation was practised at all, was to place the cemeteries beyond the bounds of the town and villages for whose use they were intended. Among the Greeks, who buried their dead more generally than any other ancient people, this rule was inviolable. The Romans incorporated it among the laws of the Twelve Tables, and generally placed their cemeteries along the pub- lic highways leading to the city. It was sedu- lously observed by the Jews also; and hence we are told that the saints who came out of their graves at the crucifixion of our Saviour, went into the Holy City and appeared unto many.
A system so evidently founded upon a wise
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and beneficent regard for the health and comfort of the living, could not fail of being approved and adopted in the discipline of the Christian Church, as soon as it became a distinct, recog- nised body; and accordingly, we find, from the writings of the ancient fathers-from the decrees of synods and councils of almost every age-in papal bulls, and in the encyclical letters of the metropolitan clergy-an unvarying series of tes- timony that such was the fact. Pope Julius caused public cemeteries to be constructed, in addition to those previously existing, without the walls. The names of more than forty such are preserved in ecclesiastical history. All ceme- teries (says Chrysostom) were placed without the gates. They were not permitted in cities, be- cause the presence or vicinity of the dead would not only contaminate pure air, but incommode the inhabitants by the stench they would occa- sion. Nullum in civitate sepulchrum struiter.
Burial in cities was also prohibited by the statutes of Constantine, by the code of Theodo- sius, and by the Justinian code; and as late as the sixth century, the Senate of Rome-then the metropolis of Christendom-had not yet per- mitted any cemetery in or near the city.
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It is true, that an exception was made at a very early period, in favor of martyrs, who were permitted to be buried near the altars of the faith for which they had bled; and that this privilege was afterwards extended to embrace founders of churches, and other great benefac- tors; then the higher clergy; and all such as died in the odor of sanctity; and there can be no doubt, that, by the continual increase of these exceptions, the privilege came, at last, to be very much abused-yet, "it is equally certain that THE CHURCH, always animated by the same spirit, never ceased its efforts to restrain the evil, and as much as possible to re-establish the ancient customs."*
From about the sixth century, when the abuses had become very prevalent, the declara- tions of synods and councils begin to make their frequent appearance. Some of these, indeed, were intended merely to define cases in which burials in and about churches might be allowed ; but even these show the existence of a general prohibition, as the rule is demonstrated by the statement of its exceptions. Generally the coun-
* Walker's Researches.
3.
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cils and synods of earlier date, appear to have been more specific in laying down the prohibi- tion, while those of a later period were chiefly anxious to define and regulate the exceptions ; all of them, however, concur equally in the exist- ence of a rule of discipline adverse to such inter- ments, and in the consistent maintenance of this rule, generally, by the primitive church.
In more modern times, when the evil arising from the violations of this wise and wholesome rule had accumulated to a frightful extent in some countries of Europe, we still find the clergy -particularly in France-persevering with a truly Christian zeal, in their endeavors to re- strain and correct them. In some dioceses ecclesiastical ordinances were passed; in others circulars were addressed by the bishops and archbishops, to engage public attention on the subject ; and among these, that of the Arch- bishop of Toulouse, by the eloquence with which it recapitulates the origin and progress of these evils, and the extremes to which they had been carried in that province, will justify us in mak- ing the following extract somewhat at length. "Such," said he, adverting to the facts above quoted, "was the primitive discipline in relation
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to interments, and what is most interesting in this statement is, that legitimate exceptions have been used, as precedents for its infringement ; so true it is that the slightest compromise of a law leads finally to its destruction or total violation."
"Those who by an exemplary life had ac- quired a reputation for holiness, were allowed to partake of the privilege of martyrs; but this holiness was not so easily substantiated as the heroism of those who sealed their faith with their blood, and as the number of Christians increased, proofs became still more difficult and obscure. Indulgence was then used, appearances soon assumed the place of reality, and equivocal signs of piety obtained prerogatives only due to genu- ine zeal."
"The clergy, on account of their sacred func- tions, and the nobility, whom their high rank made more desirous to shun the dishonor and scandal of vice, claimed to be interred within the temple. Founders of churches became invested with the same right, and transient benefactors required the same reward for their donations. The descendants of both claimed as a patrimony that which had only been granted to individual merit. When the privilege was thus general, a
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refusal was an exception that threw an odium on the unsuccessful applicant. Where the admis- sion of any one was a favor, none could be ex- cluded who had any pretext to offer. In the early ages, burial in churches had been expressly forbidden, or even inhumations in cities ; but, by the gradual increase of a fatal condescension, the evil has arrived at a height that demands at- tention. Cemeteriies, nstead of being beyond our walls, are among our habitations, and spread a fetid odor even into the neighboring houses. The very churches have become cemeteries. The burial of Christians in an open place, set apart for the purpose, is considered a disgrace ! and neither the interruption of the holy offices occa- sioned by the repeated interments, nor the smell of the earth imbued with putrescence, and so often moved -*-*- can check the vanity of the great, or of the commonalty who follow their example."
"The Gallican Church," he adds, "has shown much zeal in endeavoring to recall the ancient discipline upon this point; interment in churches is prohibited by almost every council held in the kingdom; almost all the rituals and synodal sta- tutes forbid it; and latterly many bishops have
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done their best to correct this abuse." Then follows in a note a long list of bishops and arch- bishops of the French Church, who, during the 17th and 18th centuries, promulgated ordinances against burial in towns or in churches.
This labor of Christian philanthropy, on the part of the French clergy, happily at length pro- duced its desired effect. The arm of the secular power was gradually united in the same effort, and in the year 1765, and subsequently, the Parliament of Paris lent its aid (we quote its own language) "to reinstate the ancient discipline of the Church." The French Government soon after adopted the enterprise as its own, and, in a preamble referring to "the recommendation of the archbishops, bishops, and other ecclesiastics, in council assembled,"-commenced the course of legislation which ended, finally, in the sup- pression of the parish cemeteries, and the sub- stitution of special localities, properly chosen on high ground apart from the dense population, and solemnly consecrated to this object. Such was the origin of the noble institutions of Pere La Chaise, Vaugirard, and Montmartre; and the remains of six millions of human beings, who had previously occupied the parochial burying
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grounds, in the heart of the city, now repose in the recesses of the catacombs.
By a very moderate calculation, from correct data, it is found that within the next three gene- rations-a period not longer than the occasional duration of a single life-there will be at least three and a half millions of human bodies wait- ing interment in the city of New York! Hu- manity is startled at the vastness of this num- ber; and the Christian philanthropist is equally alarmed, in considering the consequences of such a deposit in the heart of our city, and the utter inadequacy of all present means and appointments for that purpose. He may dismiss his fears, however, if he will but regard, rightly, the cus- tom of all ancient times-the discipline of the Church-the benevolent efforts of a long line of eminent bishops and fathers therein-or the re- cent and most instructive experience of the large cities and old countries of Europe; and he will then also be prepared to act, with zeal, in the duties which sound policy and true religion equally enjoin .- New York American.
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LAUREL HILL CEMETERY.
MR. EDITOR :- The following stanzas were suggested by a refreshing ride on a Saturday afternoon, during the recent sessions of the Gene- ral Assembly, in company with a few friends, to this burying ground. It is situated on a hill, which presents one of the finest prospects around Philadelphia. The Schuylkill rolls solemnly at its base; and on these grounds, now devoted to the departed, an ancient mansion stands, that once was the abode of domestic enjoyment. The air of mingled pensiveness and cheerfulness which the whole scenery wears, can be better understood by those who have felt its influence, than by those who read any description, however eloquent. I have sought in these lines, not to give a description of the spot, but to embody the vivid impressions which were derived from the visit :
Delightful spot ! sweet resting-place, Where weary ones may lay their head : Where Beauty lifts her rosy face Around the tomb, and o'er the dead !-
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Proclaiming that the gentle thoughts Of love and friendship here may thrill : That reverent memory here allots Her flowers a place to blossom still.
Ask ye why o'er the solemn tomb, Alone, the cypress should not wave ? And why in Nature's fairest bloom We thus array the silent grave ? We answer, Faith and Love have pass'd In radiant light through all the spot, And blooming flowers around them cast, Fit emblems of their children's lot.
Oh, if the living would but keep Their warning words and precepts well, How soon this place of final sleep Would all of peace and glory tell !- Would hang on all its noble groves The gathered fruits of paradise ; Till heaven, with all its joys and loves, O'er all the scene should seem to rise.
Then o'er thy hallowed soil how sweet To stray at will and muse alone, Or walk with friends, and smiling meet Around the lasting burial-stone ;
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To stand upon thy noble height, Amidst thine ancient forest trees, Communing with the stream in sight, And with thy life-restoring breeze.
There fancy how the spirit stands, Upon the glowing points of life, And gazes on those happy lands Which lie beyond this world of strife ; And then exult, in joyous hope Of that bright morning which shall break On every mountain height and slope, When all the dead in Christ shall wake.
Then in a brighter land of rest The holy men of earth shall roam, And on a fairer hill be blest, And find an everlasting home- Where neither fading flower nor leaf The bowers of life shall e'er deform- Where joy shall never change to grief, Nor zephyrs die before the storm.
O that thine aspect, soft, serene, With all its whispered lessons may Be in my heart and actions seen, Where'er my pilgrim feet may stray.
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Thy calm and gentle loveliness, Thine admonitions true and deep- These would my spirit ever bless, And long in grateful memory keep.
So may each vision of the tomb Be like the quickening touch of God, To save me from the sinner's doom, And lift me to his own abode ! And when the grave and wasting worm Shall riot on this frame of mine,
Give me, O God, an heavenly form, And in thine image let me shine !
N. E. J. New York Evangelist.
From Dunglison's Medical Intelligencer.
RURAL CEMETERIES.
WHATEVER truth there may be in the opin- ion, that animal putrefaction does not produce malarious disease, or any wide-spreading pesti- lence, there can be little doubt that air, charged with putrid miasmata, or with products of an animal decomposition arising from bodies con- 11*
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fined in a small space, as in the case of private vaults when first opened, may, especially, in impressible individuals, so affect the nervous system as to produce high nervous disorder, and that when such miasmata are absorbed by the lungs in a concentrated state, they may excite putrid disorders or expose the frame to unhealthy exanthematous affections. Experiment seems to have shown, that when putrid substances are in- jected into the blood they are extremely dele- terious, and that when exhaled from the dead body they have occasionally excited serious mis- chief in those exposed to their action. Accord- ing to Baron Percy-one of the eminent army surgeons of France, during the domination of Napoleon-a Dr. Chambon was required by the Dean of the Faculté de Médecine of Paris to demonstrate the liver and its appendages before the Faculte, on applying for his license. The decomposition of the subject, given him for de- monstration, was, however, so far advanced, that Chambon drew the attention of the Dean to it, but he was commanded to go on. One of the four candidates, Corion, struck by the emanations from the body as soon as it was opened, fainted, was carried home, and died in seventy hours ;
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another, the celebrated Fourcroy, was attacked with a burning exanthema; and two others, Laguerenne and Dufresnoy, remained a long time feeble, and the latter never completely re- covered .*
The possibility of such evils is highly favor- able to the view-now everywhere prevalent- that the cemeteries of large towns should be at some distance from the inhabited portions. Even were we to set aside hygienic considera- tions, there are others which come home forcibly to the minds of all. In every age it has been the custom, with mankind generally, to regard the depositories of the dead as objects of venera- tion. In ancient Rome, the place was held religious where a body or any portion of it had been buried; and the violation of the tomb was punished by fine, the loss of a hand, working in the mines, banishment, or death. Even in the savage Tonga Islands, the cemeteries are ac- counted so sacred, that if the deadliest enemies should meet there, they must refrain from attacks of hostility. Yet, occasionally, in a civilized age,
* Londe, Nouveaux Elemens d'Hygiene, Paris, 1827 ; and Elements of Hygiene, p. 110, Philadelphia, 1835.
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and in countries unquestionably enlightened, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, the sanc- tuary of the grave is decidedly violated, and political anarchy, religious bigotry, infidelity, or what is esteemed the spirit of improvement, but which is too often the thirst after lucre, have subverted sensibilities which are ordinarily held sacred. How often has it happened, in the pro- gress of our own city to its present population, that places of worship have been disposed of, their cemeteries desecrated, and ashes, which, at the period when they were deposited there, it was presumed, would ever remain free from vio- lation, been exhumed and scattered to the winds. These and other considerations have given rise to the beautiful cemeteries of Pere La Chaise, near Paris, of Mount Auburn, near Boston, and of Laurel Hill, near this city. The preceding remarks have, indeed, been suggested by a re- cent visit to the last of these. Situated at a convenient distance from the city of Philadelphia, yet so far from it as to almost preclude the pos- sibility of future molestation in the progressive improvement of the city or from other causes; on a sylvan eminence immediately skirting the Schuylkill, and commanding a beautiful view of
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