But even in the case where nothing more is said upon the tomb-stone than
what Moses said of Seth, and of Enos, and of Cainan, and others, when he
reckoned up the genealogy of Adam, namely, that "they lived and that
they died," the Quakers do not approve of such memorials. For these
convey no merit of the deceased, by which his example should be
followed. They convey no lesson of morality: and in general they are not
particularly useful. They may serve perhaps to point out to surviving
relations, the place where the body of the deceased was buried, so that
they may know where to mark out the line for their own graves. But as
the Quakers in general have overcome the prejudice of "sleeping with
their fathers," such memorials cannot be so useful to them.
The Quakers, however, have no objection, if a man has conducted himself
particularly well in life, that a true statement should be made
concerning him, provided such a statement would operate as a lesson of
morality to others; but they think that the tomb-stone is not the best
medium of conveying it. They are persuaded that very little moral
advantage is derived to the cursory readers of epitaphs, or that they
can trace their improvement in morals to this source. Sensible, however,
that the memorials of good men may be made serviceable to the rising
generation, ("and there are no ideas, says Addison, which strike more
forcibly on our imaginations, than those which are raised from
reflections upon the exits of great and excellent men,") they are
willing to receive accounts of the lives, deaths, and remarkable dying
sayings, of those ministers in their own society, who have been eminent
for their labours.
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