USA > South Carolina > Charleston County > Charleston > Address delivered on the dedication of Magnolia Cemetery, on the 19th November, 1850 > Part 2
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Now, these references to history, if interesting on no other account, may be excused for one reflection that they suggest, which is, that the present age, boasting of its improvements, and resting, with conscious satisfaction, on its superior advan- tages in all that belongs to social comfort, should be falling back upon a custom of nations long gone by, and which sur- vive only in history, or in their own dilapidated monuments. What a tribute to the wisdom and policy of the past ! And yet so it is.
Having thus endeavored to show that extramural burial was a custom of high antiquity, we indulge the hope of being able to trace the progress of those circumstances which have recommended it to the adoption of modern times. It pre- vailed among the Romans until the introduction of Chris- tianity ; in the early ages of which it yielded, but gradually, to the influence of the new religion. For, prior to the fourth
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century, burials in cities were expressly forbidden, and this prohibition was repeated by the edicts of several successive emperors. The first exception to it, was in favor of martyrs and the relics of martyrs. They alone were deposited in churches. Bishops and other ecclesiastics, eminent for zeal and piety, were gradually permitted to share the honors of martyrs, and to repose with them in the sanctuary. This pri- vilege became afterwards so general, that the temples of the Most High, as has been said, became converted into so many receptacles of the dead. And hence, there is not a cathedral in Europe, of any antiquity, which has not its subterranean crypts or domitories.
In progress of time, the lands contiguous to churches were consecrated, and set apart as cemeteries, and the custom of burying within their limits, became extended, with the domi- nion of the parent church, to every part of Europe ; for, when the Reformation took place in England, it found ceme- teries or church-yards attached to every place of worship, both in and out of cities. We know that their introduction was of much earlier date than the reign of Edward I. ; yet, there is a statute of his recognizing their sacredness and providing against their violation. But the custom of burying within churches continued, notwithstanding, and has been practised even to the present day. Westminster Abbey has been called " a vast assemblage of sepulchres ;" and St. Paul's Cathedral-itself a monument-covers the ashes of a host of England's worthies. From their earliest use in England, there were, no doubt, many reasons in favor of cemeteries being made appendages to places of worship ; not only for the facilities they afforded for performing the funeral rites of the church, but on account of the solemn and serious reflec- tions to which their vicinity naturally disposed the mind in the hours of devotion. Besides, there was not a year added to their dates, that did not also add to their claims upon indi- vidual feeling, as the depositories of kindred and friends ; and this consideration, alone, gave to them a sacredness and value beyond calculation. Nor was this all ; for, in propor- tion to these, was the very natural desire which every one felt of sleeping with their fathers ; whilst the sanctity given
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by consecration to cemeteries in close proximity with the church, no doubt added weight to these considerations in minds piously disposed.
We thus endeavor to account for the earnest traditional attachment of the English people to church-yard interment ; an attachment very naturally transmitted to their American descendants. But, however proper the wish, or numerous the reasons, for a continuance of the custom, it may be car- ried to such an extent in cities, as to threaten dangerous consequences to public health. Evils of alarming magnitude have been found to proceed from it in London, with a popu- lation whose annual amount of deaths is fifty-two thousand.
If years ago, the remark was made, that "it was easier to provide for the living than the dead," in that great metropo- lis ; if years ago, pressing memorials were addressed to the government on the absuses growing out of intramural burials ; if cogent appeals were made to public opinion, on a practice even then pronounced "absurd and prejudicial ;" with what force must the whole subject have come before the English nation, since their government has, at length, responded to these appeals, and acted with a zeal suitable to the emergency. Proper means were taken to inquire into the extent of the evils complained of, when the most revolt- ing abuses were found to exist, in the interment of their dead ; abuses not only repugnant to every feeling of human- ity, but menacing the propagation of disease and mortality. Information was even sought on the continent, when it was ascertained that every city, both in France and Germany, visited with that view, had abolished intramural burials. And here, we cannot but wonder that a people so reasonable and enlightened, and so prominent in every project of social improvement, should have remained so long inactive on a subject of such vital importance. The only previous practi- cal step of the government that we are aware of, was the granting of corporate privileges to the Kensall Green Ceme- , tery Association about the year 1831.
The French, however, were greatly in advance of them, for the city of Paris, upwards of sixty years ago, became deeply impressed with the danger of having cemeteries in
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the midst of her crowded population, and determined to suppress them. It is said that that of the Innocents alone had existed for a thousand years ; and as pestilential fevers resulted from its continued use, an investigation was set on foot, the result of which was so alarming, and the need so pressing, that it was forthwith discontinued. The remain- ing cemeteries of Paris were also afterwards suppressed, and others substituted for them in the environs of the city ; one of which was the celebrated Pere la Chaise, so called from being situated on ground formerly occupied by the man- sion of the celebrated confessor and connsellor of Louis XIV.
Thus, the removal of cemeteries from the abodes of the living, appears to have proceeded altogether from sanitary considerations. More need not be said, of the importance attached to the subject in the great cities of the transatlantic world.
It must be evident to all present, that the subject is daily acquiring a deeper interest in every American community. And, although that interest is as yet but prospective and con- tingent, it is not, therefore, less important. Whilst we see an emigrant population filling up our cities, and a fatal epidemic, hitherto unknown in our favored country, carrying disease and mortality into its healthiest portions, we cannot be indif- ferent to the suggestions of a prudent foresight, or disregard any measure or policy whose object is to provide against future evil ; and particularly in a climate like ours, so differ- rent from that of either London or Paris.
With these remarks, we will now advert to the suburban cemeteries of our own country. But, before speaking of them, we would offer one general remark, not less obvious than gratifying, which is, that whilst in other countries their adop- tion has been compulsory and unavoidable, in our own they have been voluntarily established ; for no necessity has, as yet, occured for any legislative enactment in relation to them ; the evils of an overgrown population having scarce- ly yet begun to be realized in the largest American cities. They appear to have proceeded from a becoming sense of all the moral proprieties involved in the subject : the incongru- ity of grave-yards in the midst of the strife and turmoil of 2
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cities ; their effect, in impairing those solemn associations with which they ought always to impress the mind ; and, lastly, the evils growing out of an every-day familiarity with death-rendering the mind callous to its serious and impressive warnings :
" Death, when we meet the spectre in our walks, As we did yesterday, and shall to-morrow, Soon grows familiar, like most other things Seen-not observed."
Then, again, the opportunities they afford of selecting retired and peaceful situations, where the beauties of nature and the improvements of art may be united in promoting the moral purposes of their establishment.
If all the other cemeteries in this country are as happily suited to their object as Mount Auburn, near Boston, it would really seem that Providence, in designating the sites of our great cities, and combining every advantage of locality for the living, has also reserved a spot near each of them, as " a city of silence" for their dead ; for, in that cemetery, there is a prodigality of romantic and quiet beauty, that most strik- ingly adapts it to its purposes. Such a situation, so appro- priated, reminds one of a remark of the great Roman orator and philosopher, upon the stately sepulchres of some of his distinguished countrymen : "Can their tenants be otherwise than happy ?" miseros putas illos ?
The establishment of Mount Auburn was an era of taste in our country, at least, as applicable to such an object, for the cemeteries of earlier date were plain, and without any pretension to sylvan decoration. Since then, almost all our chief cities have introduced rural cemeteries into their neigh- borhood, recommended, as it is said, by similar advantages of situation and embellishment. Although the names given to many of these are attractive and romantic, there is none that yields in apt and pleasing associations to that selected for the one we are assembled to consecrate-" The Magnolia Cemetery"-suggesting at once to the imagination, and blend- ing, in happy union, the idea of decay on the one hand, and ever-verdant vitality on the other.
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Gentlemen :
Having endeavored, in the foregoing remarks, to · present to you some of the moral and prudential considera- tions involved in our subject, it is the hope of him who addresses you, that, neither singly, nor collectively, have any been urged, which might not justify the congratulations he now tenders to you for your successful efforts in an enter- prize so novel in our community, and so important in its objects. Although the necessity has not yet arisen for any prohibitory enactment, in relation to the long established grave-yards of our city, yet its population is a growing one ; and it is a mark of prudence to look forward to future inter- ests in our arrangements for the present. Therefore, you profess the desire, in establishing this cemetery, "to make more ample provision than now exists for the final disposi- tion of the remains of our own, and of coming generations." You further declare it to be your " aim to supply this want by the establishment of a rural cemetery, where the beauties of nature and the cultivation of taste and art will lend a soothing influence to the grave." In these declarations are emphatically condensed the whole scope of the preceding remarks.
You have been happy, in a section of country not remark- able for any variety of scenery, or for any striking features of landscape beauty, in having selected a site capable of every improvement required for the use to which it is to be appro- priated. Like the unsullied canvass, inviting the creations of fancy from the pencil of the artist, a wide field, in almost original simplicity, is here spread before you by the hand of nature, and requiring only the adornments of taste to carry out her design of beauty. Greater undulation of surface would scarcely be desirable, it being already sufficiently varied to favor the meandering course of the water, which flows beneath yon moss-hung oaks, even to the limits of your enclosure. There we behold a neat funeral chapel, lifting its gothic tower above the trees that embower it, with its deep- toned bell always ready to welcome the “ stranger and so- journer" to this mansion of rest.
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Nor can we be indifferent to the prospects which attract the eye on every side-Cooper river pursuing its quiet course towards the ocean, and the ocean blending its dim line with the mists of the horizon ; the harbor, with Sullivan's Island . and Forts Moultrie and Sumpter in the distance ; the ap- proach and departure of vessels ; and last, though not least, Charleston itself, with its lofty steeples and its forest of masts in beautiful perspective.
In the choice of this ground, you have given a pledge to the future, which the future only can enable you to redeem. But nature will surely favor your pious and liberal efforts, and each succeeding spring will add to their success. The time chosen is also favorable for your enterprize. For being voluntary, and undertaken at a season of prevailing healthiness, it is calculated to reconcile public opinion to the measure, in advance of any necessity that may hereafter arise to require the exclusion of burials from within our city ; a necessity which I hope and trust is yet far distant.
There is a result of no ordinary interest that awaits the success of your undertaking, which is, that upon the portals of this enclosure no token of exclusion is inscribed, no pre- ference of any religious tenet or position ; but adopting the charities of the grave, which levels all distinctions, natural or social, amongst men, and brings them, however diversified their conditions, or discordant their opinions, to one common rest, you offer the repose of this cemetery upon conditions irrespective of denominational distinctions, and free to all alike who may accept them. Those who have journied through life in different paths of belief, may meet here in peaceful oblivion of all discord and jealousy. Whilst to those who are unwilling to be separated from their brethren in faith, when the seed committed to this ground shall have been called into life by the "Lord of the harvest," of what little avail will have been the companionship of the grave.
There is a peculiar interest, both in this scene, and in the occasion of it. We have met here, my friends, to witness the dedication of the Magnolia Cemetery ; and it has been, accordingly, dedicated, in our presence, by appropriate ser- vices and ceremonies ; dedicated, not only to the peaceful
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repose of the dead, but to the memories that accompany them, and to the hopes and aspirations that linger over the tomb !- dedicated to the deepest emotions of the human heart, to all the sorrows and sensibilities that cluster around the grave, to the tears of the orphan, to the affliction of the widow, the bereavement of the parent, the pangs of severed love, and the cherished claims of remembered friendship. But what external rite can give greater sanctity to this place, than that with which nature and religious sentiment will always invest it. Whenever this little spot of earth shall claim its kindred tribute, if the sorrow with which that tri- bute is yielded be consecrated by prayer, although only two or three are present, He, who wept with the sisters of Laza- rus, will be with them to bless and to comfort.
Death can scarcely be said to have yet entered upon the soil thus formally surrendered to him. But how soon he will come to claim possession, and to exercise dominion over it, who can tell ? The tomb beneath that spreading oak was
It found here when the Company became proprietors. marks the resting place of a youthful soldier of the Palmetto Regiment, and will always be a valued trust in their posses- sion. If the solemn invocations in which we have this day united, are to impart a sanctity to these precincts, then is that spot doubly consecrated. Filial piety, parental affec- tion, devoted patriotism, are the moral elements of the atmos- phere that surrounds it. It has a history worthy of the most lasting honor and respect. For there were interchanged the last farewell words between a dutiful son and an affectionate mother. The regiment was quartered in this neighborhood, on the eve of its departure for Mexico. Under that tree, and on that secluded spot, unseen by human eye, the interview took place. How deeply it impressed him, may be learned from the fact, that he requested, should he fall in battle, that his remains might be brought home to his native soil, and deposited on a spot so endeared to his recollection. After being honorably engaged in every battle, with his regiment, and participated in every danger and hardship to which it was so gloriously exposed, he fell a victim to disease. His request was remembered, and complied with, and there, in a
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soldier's grave, he lies. Peace to his remains, and honor to his memory. That grave beyond, with its little dreamless slumberer, may be regarded as a token of the smiles of hea- ven upon this undertaking, as though it had been ordained that the first word inscribed on the first page of your history, should be INNOCENCE.
Many of you who hear me, are surrounded by the very clods that shall hereafter cover both you and yours. Let imagination look forward but a few years, to the scenes which these spreading lawns will exhibit. Amidst the luxu- riant evergreens that will then shade them, the rich shrubs, and vines, and rose trees, that shall embellish them, here and there will be seen an urn-an obelisk-a broken column, looking out from their drapery of verdure. But can imagi- nation discern the names inscribed on them? Can its keen- est glance penetrate that surface, and discover whose dust it is that lies underneath ? No ! For that is a mystery confined alone to the volume in which are recorded the issues of life and death.
Then let imagination extend its view still further into the future, and contemplate this scene, when time shall have tri- umphed over all its beauties, when the mourners shall them- selves have been mourned and forgotten; when grief, and sorrow, and bereavement, shall have passed away ; and those monuments shall have become a nameless, dateless, moul- dering heap. Will any corresponding change have come over the dust below ? Can time break the vigils of the soul over its former tenement of clay, to which it longs to be re-united in another existence ? No! Time may overthrow pyramids of Brass-it may trample upon perished annals-nations may fall before it, but it cannot destroy the slumbers of the grave-they are earth's sacred trust, and can only be surren- dered when time shall be swallowed up in eternity.
But if imagination should venture beyond this dread limit, what a vision might be unfolded to it. These graves, illu- mined by "the morning beam of life's eternal day," and rendering up their dead at the summons of the last trum- pet. Friends and kindred recognizing and greeting each other, with more than earthly rapture ; and Hope, the mes-
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senger of Heaven, beckoning to them with outspread wings, to transport them to mansions of everlasting happiness.
One reflection more and I have done. Death is not only the unavoidable condition of man's existence, but of that of every living animal. Yet man alone, of all beings upon earth, thinks of death; he alone is capable of the thought ; man alone cares for the body after death, and contemplates death as the passage to another state of existence. This forethought of death is the highest distinction of humanity. Man, therefore, is the only creature that can prepare for it. If then this frail earthly tabernacle is thought worthy of honor and respect, how much more does it become him to make it the business of his life to care for that intelligent spirit which gives it all its value.
If nature and reason prompt him to provide a mansion of rest for that which is to perish-oh, how sublime the power ; how vast the privilege to prepare that which is to endure forever ; to dwell " in a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens."
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