CEMETERY PROPOSED IN MR. COOK'S ADDRESS. 75 



Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans, the Eastern Chris- 

 tians, and the Turks, and from the times of the patri- 

 archs down to our own day. 



Dr. Bigelow first communicated Mr. Brimmer's prop- 

 osition to the officers of the Horticultural Society, and 

 engaged their co-operation as private individuals in his 

 efforts. The proposition, says Gen. Dearborn, became 

 a favorite theme of conversation among the members, 

 and at the close of the address delivered before the 

 Society on its second anniversary (September 10, 1830), 

 by Z. Cook, jun., was commended to the attention of 

 the public in the following words : 



' ' The improvement and embellishment of grounds devoted to 

 public uses is deserving of especial consideration, and should 

 interest the ingenious, the liberal, and tasteful in devising ways 

 and means for the accomplishment of so desirable an object ; and 

 I deem this a suitable occasion to direct the attention of our 

 citizens to a subject I have long wished to see presented to their 

 consideration, with an eloquence that could not fail to awaken, 

 and with arguments that will not fail to insure the influence of all 

 in its execution. I refer to the establishment of a public cemetery 

 similar in its design to that of Pere La Chaise in the environs of 

 Paris, to be located in the suburbs of this metropolis. . . . 



' ' I would render such scenes more alluring, more familiar, and 

 imposing, by the aid of rural embellishments. The skill and taste 

 of the architect should be exerted in the construction of the requi- 

 site departments and avenues ; and appropriate trees and plants 

 should decorate its borders ; the weeping- willow, waving its grace- 

 ful drapery over the monumental marble, and the sombre foliage 

 of the c}-press, should shade it; and the undying daisy should 

 mingle its bright and glowing tints with the native laurel of our 

 forests." 

 ' 



From the first establishment of the Horticultural 

 Society, an experimental garden had been considered 

 indispensable to the full development of its purposes. It 



