Bright, in his travels
in Lower Hungary, tells of monuments of marble, and recesses formed
for retirement, with seats placed among bowers of greenhouse plants;
and that the graves generally are covered with the gayest flowers of
the season. He gives a casual picture of filial piety, which I
cannot but transcribe; for I trust it is as useful as it is
delightful, to illustrate the amiable virtues of the sex. "When I
was at Berlin," says he, "I followed the celebrated Iffland to the
grave. Mingled with some pomp, you might trace much real feeling. In
the midst of the ceremony, my attention was attracted by a young
woman, who stood on a mound of earth, newly covered with turf, which
she anxiously protected from the feet of the passing crowd. It was the
tomb of her parent; and the figure of this affectionate daughter
presented a monument more striking than the most costly work of art."
I will barely add an instance of sepulchral decoration that I once
met with among the mountains of Switzerland. It was at the village
of Gersau, which stands on the borders of the Lake of Lucerne, at
the foot of Mount Rigi.
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