Excerpt from An Address Delivered on the Consecration of the Worcester Rural Cemetery: September 8, 1838 It has been the care of all ages of the world and of all nations of men, to mark with tokens of affection and respect, the disposition of the re mains of the dead. The funeral pile has been erected, that their ashes might be gathered to the sacred urn. The process of embalming has been applied to preserve the body from decay. The Sarcophagus and the Tomb have kept precious relics long in the remembrance of the bereaved. The Cenotaph, the monumental Column, and the broken Shaft point to the repose of Heroes, and Patriots, and public Benefactors, while the simple head-stone marks the spot, where unobtrusive merit and humble worth find a burial place. Garlands and flowers have strewed the Bier of Youth and Beauty and Innocence, and the Willow and the Cypress are the recognized emblems of the tenderness of wounded affection, and the fidel ity of unsolaced grief; and where there was naught but the new raised earth to denote the place of interment, the tear of the Mourner has made fresh the sod of the Grave. Here, then, we pause, to ponder upon the purpose of our meeting together to contemplate the solemn still ness of the scene to summons to this now couse crated spot the hallowed associations of the living with the dead for here, in future, shall be traced the inevitable connexion of the one with the other. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.