GREENWOOD, the oldest and most noted of all our rural cemeteries contains four hundred and thirteen acres of land, purchased of over sixty different owners. The grounds are situated in Brooklyn on Gowanus heights, about two and a half miles from South ferry, the higher portions of which were crimsoned with the blood of the slain at the noted battle of Long Island, fought August, 1776.

The surface, graded at immense expense, is beautifully undulating and diversified, producing constant and gratifying changes of scenery. Seventeen miles of broad carriage-roads constructed of stone, and covered with gravel, bordered with paved gutters, and fifteen miles of foot-paths, nearly all of which are covered with Scrimshaw concrete pavement, free from dust, mud, and weeds, conduct the visitor to every part of the grounds. The entrance-ways are all elegant, the northern, completed in 1863, being the most imposing. Its miter gate, closed only at night, opens on Fifth avenue, and is the principal way of access to the vast population of New York and Brooklyn. The gateway, reached by an approach, graded at great expense, is an elaborate Gothic edifice, massively constructed of the best New Jersey sandstone, is 132 feet long, 40 feet deep, terminating above in three pinnacles, the central of which is 106 feet high. The deep triangular recesses of the pediments above the gateways are filled on both sides with groups of sculpture formed of Nova Scotia sandstone, representing the Saviour's entombment and resurrection, the resurrection of the Widow's Son, and the raising of Lazarus. Still higher are figures in relief representing Faith, Hope, Memory, and Love. A bell tolls with each passing procession, and a clock marks the speed with which we are gliding to eternity. The grounds are being enclosed with an iron fence, and otherwise constantly improved. About six thousand are annnally interred here, and at the close of 1870 the whole number of interments amounted to 150,000. It is the most favorite resort outside of New York, its finely wrought vaults and over 2,000 monuments, some of which have cost large fortunes, attracting much attention. The monument of Charlotte Canda is perhaps the most noted of all, though those of D. H. Lewis, De Witt Clinton, Colonel Vosburgh, and others, are very imposing. Here clergymen, merchants, bankers, and common laborers find a space and think not of the amount of marble that marks their resting-place. Mr. Peter Cooper, Rev. H. W. Beecher, and many others, have selected the place for their final repose beneath the shades of he sighing willows. The receipts last year amounted to over $250,000, and the expenditures to $247,000. The permanent fund for the improvement of the cemetery, arising from the sale of lots, legacies, donations, etc., amounts to nearly three-quarters of a million, and is certain to be considerably increased.