dead. The green hillocks and the grave-stones are fit objects for an old man to regard; and sin and death, and time and eternity, are suitable subjects for his reflections.

Sin and sorrow may be called twins, for they both appear to have entered the world together; and if they are not always seen walking side by side, the latter is continually found to be treading on the heels of the for.mer. No sooner did our first parents sin, than they hid themselves, through fear, from the presence of the Lord. No sooner did they forfeit paradise by transgression, than the sentence of death was passed upon them; "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," Gen. iii. 19. Truly, indeed, it is said in Holy Writ, "The wages of sin is death," Rom. vi. 23.

And ever since those earlier days, have feebleness and strength, age and youth, gone down to the grave: we hear not only, but see, the humiliation of mortal man. "One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet; another dieth in the bitterness of his soul," Job xxi. 23, 25. And thus will it be with the goodliest and greatest, the mightiest and the meanest, until death shall be swallowed up in victory. "They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them," Job xxi. 26.

Under this general sentence of death, the committal of the lifeless body to the ground becomes a matter of importance. Where the inhabitants of the world are few, the burial of the dead is attended with little difficulty. The wilderness and solitary place of the savage, and the retired villages of civilized life, are differently situated, in this respect, to the populous town and crowded city. In the latter, sad spectacles are often

seen, and fearful consequences frequently follow the unhealthy accumulation of the remains of the dead. From these evils, the establishment of cemeteries, somewhat remote from the busy haunts of men, appears to be the simplest, if not the only cure.

A brief sketch of the cemeteries of modern London may not be unwelcome; but as part of them are as yet but imperfectly formed, it would be time thrown away to dwell upon them. The crowded graves, the grassless ground, the reposeless publicity, the noxious vapours and objectionable sights of city churchyards, have long cried aloud for a more decorous and desirable interment of the dead.

The cemetery at Stoke Newington is regarded by many with much interest, from the circumstance of its being formed in Abney Park, where Dr. Watts so often strolled, while residing, for thirty-six years, in the hospitable mansion of sir Thomas Abney and his excellent family.

I was walking slowly from grave to grave, in this cemetery, a short time ago, meditating somewhat mournfully on the past. All at once joyous sounds burst upon me. I had approached the large cedar tree, which lifts its head so high, and spreads so widely its dark and gloomy branches, in the upper part of the cemetery; and, judging from the fluttering among the boughs in every part, as well as from the goodly chorus that regaled my ears, at least a hundred of the feathered race were holding a jubilee of joy among the shadowy recesses of that aged tree.

There are few things, when the heart is sad, more afflictive to the spirit, than the sound of mirth and revelry from human beings. Music, and songs, and laughter,

make the sad heart sadder than ever; but this is not the case with the music and songs of the feathered creation. In sorrow, we are rather soothed than afflicted by the warbling of birds.. I found it so. From the graves my

eyes were raised to the branches of the old cedar tree, and thence to the clear, blue, bright sky, and my thoughts went upwards to that heaven where neither sin nor sorrow are allowed to enter.

When I walked slowly among the graves, my reflections were mournful. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return:" "We spend our years as a tale that is told." "We must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again.' "Man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" But after I had heard the happy birds in the cedar tree, my thoughts took a contented, a hopeful, and a joyous turn. "It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good." "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." " I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." "God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me." Mourner, whoever thou art, He who can make the shadowy branches of the darkest tree in a burial-ground vocal with joy and gladness, can animate thy spirit in the darkest hour, filling thy heart with thanksgiving, and thy mouth with praise.

At last I have arrived at Old Brompton. This West of London and Westminster Cemetery differs considerably from all the modern burial-places around the metropolis. Solidity, strength, and durability are the most striking features of the building, which occupies, with

its dome and extended architecture, the central front of the southern end of the enclosure.

As I entered the cemetery by the lodge on the north, an attendant, in his official costume, followed me, respectfully proffering me a ground plan of the place, with a neat little book, ornamented on the outside with a gilt urn and weeping willow. The ground plan furnishes me with the regulations of burial, together with a table of charges and fees; and the little book tells me that Mr. Baud is the architect; that "the ground is laid out in the Italian style ;" that "the architecture of the building is Roman Doric ;" and that the enclosure " contains about forty acres." Altogether, this is an imposing place; and as I musingly pace along its different walks, the same reflection which has been called forth by other cemeteries presses itself on my mind,

"Who would lay

Ilis body in the city burial-place,

To be thrown up again by some rude sexton,
And yield its narrow house another tenant,"

who could avail himself of a more decorous restingplace? That it matters but little-nay, that it will matter nothing to us after death, what may become of our poor perishing bodies, must be at once conceded; but the consideration of it matters something to us while we are alive, and may be a point not altogether unimportant to our friends, when we shall be numbered with the dead. I love the solemnity of a common churchyard better than I do the more attractive appearance of a cemetery; but an overcrowded, unsightly, and is gusting churchyard is shocking even to contemplatc.

The enclosure around me at present depends more an its buildings, and less on its ground, than any cer: ~.

tery I have seen. It has neither eminences nor trees of any magnitude. In the latter respect, a little time may produce a great change. The broad walk over the catacombs on the west, and the promenade on the eastern terrace, afford some little relief, by their slight elevation, to the generally flat appearance of the ground.

I must not tarry to muse on the monuments, and ponder on the humbler memorials of the dead, though solemn thoughts are gathering around me. Enough, that here reposes the dust of my fellow-beings, awaiting the grave-rending blast of the archangel's trumpet.

There are those who, on comparing the different cemeteries of London, give this the preference; thinking that its elegant entrance-lodge, its grand avenue of limes and sycamores, though the trees are yet small, its chaste and beautiful Protestant chapel, its great circle, three hundred feet in diameter, of arcades and catacombs, with its mausoleums, and other attractions and advantages, constitute it the most beautiful cemetery of the metropolis, and the best adapted to the purpose for which it was designed.

*

The General Cemetery at Kensal Green, on the Harrow-road, is a mile and a half from Paddington. I have just passed through its archway entrance. The forty-six acres now lying before me, form, for the most past, a gentle slope; the south part, bounded by the canal, being lower than the north. The ground is un

equally divided; and the eastern, or four or five acres, is not consecrated.

lesser division, of There are two

chapels, one in each division; that in the western, with its colonnades and catacombs, is on a larger scale than the other.