Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/644

520 The Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal. [Feb., here, among the silent dead. In the hurried passing view of his city struc- ture, much that would not bear criticism is passed unseen. But, in the place of burial, the mind of the visitor is calmly resting on every object in its turn ; and is in a mood just suited to the study. The architect's design then must be such, as shall convey a pleasing thought, in terms so distinct, as not to admit of any interpretation, foreign to his inten- tion. Those, who desire to honor the mem- ory of the departed, should be cautious how they seek to do so. Nothing makes a more unpleasant jar upon the feelings, than to see an inappropriate memorial raised above the dead. It at once de- prives the moment of its sweet solem- nity ; and reacts upon the living, who have thus sinned against the proprieties of taste. We too often see, in our most delight- ful cemeteries, a want not alone of taste, but of common sense, in the monuments erected, often at a great outlay, to the memory of those, whose feelings, when living, would have been outraged by the very proposition of such a design. Repetition of emblems, and even of monuments,~~Ts tiresome to a degree. There appears a total want of origin- ality of thought, or else a sameness of conception, either of which is unaccount- able, when we consider the inspiration, which such occasions so naturally pre- sent to the mind of a true artist. The broken pillar, which has become so common, had its origin in the em- blematic memorial to a deceased states- man, the pillar of the land. IS'ow it stands over all sorts of people. Urns are so frequent, that their absence would be remarkable. Yet urns were originally used, by heathen nations, to hold the ashes of the deceased, whose whole body, or sometimes only his heart, was consumed by the pyre, or funeral pile. Whether such an emblem is in or out of place, over a Christian grave, in this advanced day of ours, may be a question more classic than profit- able. We are of opinion, that Christian faith presents a sufficient number of emblems, to place as memorials, without borrowing from heathen usages. Pere la Chaise, in Paris, was for a long period the model cemetery of the world. But a better taste has asserted itself, both in Europe and this country. The stiffness of plan of that burial ground has long since given place to the free lines of curvilinear beauty, which make the walks, parterres, terraces, and plats, of our modern cemeteries, so en- dearing to the taste. The monumental architecture of Pere la Chaise is, for the most part, so rigidly classic in outline, and so extravagantly decorated, that the effect becomes positively puerile, and privative of pleasure to the observer. The onby feeling produced being one of wonder, at the intense labor of the arti- san, and the affluence that afforded such an outlay. These observations might, in the main, appby with equal force to some of the designs in the most beauti- ful cemeteries in this country, especially Greenwood, the just pride of New York Now, let us calmly consider the ques- tion, as to the policy, as well as the taste, of such florid productions. Are not these quiet Gardens of Repose truly Republics op the Dead ? Why, then, give an aristocratic prominence to that wealth, which belongs no more to the impoverished worm beneath the pile ? If a nation, or a community, desires to honor the memory of departed worth, let the monument arise in the busy haunts of men. But, in the green soli- tudes of the thoughtful cemetery, such flaunting pride, as that we too often see, is most decidedly out of place. The graceful tribute of affection is as fully rendered in the faded flowers, as in the pyramid of art. And moreover, the spirit of that equality, which la3'S the beggar on a level with the prince, is more impartially preserved. There is something very touching in the tribute,