VOL. XI 



PUBLISHED BY J. B. RUSSELL, NO. 52, NORTH M ARKET STREET, (at the Aoriculturai. Warkhouse.)— T. G. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



NO. 9. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 12, 1832. 



H o r t i c 



u 1 t u r a 1 • 



MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



Proceedings of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, at a meeting held at the Hall of the Institu- 

 tion, on Saturday, the Sth day of September, 1832. 



The fullnwiiig Ropoil waa made by II. A.S. Duriobn, Presi- 

 dent of the Socieiy. , 



Last autumn orders were sent to Paris and Lon- 

 don for sucli works as could be procured, in rela- 

 tion to cemeteries and funereal monuments. Re- 

 cently tlie fdllowing publicatious have been re- 

 ceived from France. 



1st. Les Mausolecs Francois, par F. C. T. Joli- 

 moDt, 1 vol. 4to. It contains an account of some of 

 the most rcniarliable monuments in the Cemetery 

 of Pere La Chaise, illustrated with fifty beautiful 

 engravings. 



2d. Becueil de Tombcaux des Q^uatre Cimetieres 

 de Paris, par C. P. Arnaud, 2 vols. 8vo. It gives 

 a description of the Cemeteries of Pere La Chaise, 

 Sous Montmartre, Vougirard and Sainte Cather- 

 ine, embellished with eightytwo plates. 



3d. Manuel et Itineraine du Curioux Dans la 

 Cimetieredu Pere La Chaise, par F. M. Marchant 

 de Beaumont, 1 vol. 12mo. 



This little volume contains a description of 

 Pere La Chaise and of three hundred and forty- 

 two sepulchres. It is ornamented with a plan of 

 the cemetery and engravings of several of the 

 moiuiments. ' 



I have translated portions of the historical and 

 (Icscrijjlive accounts of that celebrated burial place, 

 from a belief it would be interesting to the mem- 

 bers of the Society, and to all j.-ersons who have 

 visited or patronized a similar cstablishmentwhich 

 has been commenced at Mount Auburn. 



In a former report I alhide<l to the progress 

 which had been made in the work, that was be- 

 gun the last season for preparing that beautiful 

 site as the garden of the dead, and I aui now hap- 

 py to announce, that the whole*Df the laud will 

 soon be inclosed by a neat and substantial picket 

 fence, seven feet in height, and that a magnificent 

 Egyptian gate-way will be commenced immedi- 

 ately, as well as the consttuction of a Receiving 

 Tomb. 



It is very important that measures should be 

 taken without delay, for laying out and forming 

 the Garden of Experiment, and furnishing accom- 

 modations for a gardener. There is a building on 

 the ground which could be converted into a neat 

 cottage, at a small expense, and the garden could 

 be considerably advanced during the autumn by 

 making the avenues and paths, planting out forest 

 trees and ornamental shrubs on the external hold- 

 ers, preparing compartments for fruit trees, nur- 

 series, esculent vegetables, flowers, and other use- 

 ful plants. To accomplish this, some two or three 

 thousand dollars are re(piired, as the funds which 

 have been derived from the sale of cemetery lots, 

 have been appropriated to the purchase of land, 

 the construction of avenues and fences, and for 

 other indispensable expenses. The funds, which 

 will accrue in future, will be ample for all the pur- 

 poses connected with the Garden and Cemetery ; 



but the interests of the former would be much ad- 

 vanced by an immediate erection of the requisite 

 edifices, and in the preparation of the grounds 

 for commencing their extensive cultivation next 

 spring. 



Believing that there are numerous gentlemen 

 in Boston and its environs, who feel a deep solic- 

 itude for the advancement of horticulture, and 

 who would be disposed to aid the efibrts of our 

 Society in the establishment of an experimental 

 garden, it has been suggested, by many of our 

 most zealous colaborators, whether it would not 

 be expedient to raise a conuiiittee, authorized to 

 obtain funds by subscription, to enable us to pre- 

 cipitate our contemplated improvements, instead 

 of delaying them, for some few years, until the 

 proceeds of the Cemetery lots shall have supplied 

 the means, A comparatively small sum being 

 now placed at our disposal, woidd enable the So- 

 ciety to present an advanced and interesting garden 

 even during the next year, and to lay such a foun- 

 dation for its gradual extension, as would warrant 

 the speedy realization of all our expectations and 

 give great public satisfaction. As the monuments 

 are erected in the cemetery and the lots require to 

 be embellished with trees, shrubs, and flowers, the 

 latter will be in great demand, and the garden may 

 ultimately furnish many of them ; the sooner there- 

 fore it is begun, the better for both departments of 

 the establishment. The improvement of each 

 will act as alternate cause and eflTect, and we may 

 confidently anticipate the most successful results, 

 from a simultaneous cultivation and embellishment 

 of all the ground within the inclosure. 



It will be perceived Irom the accompanying ac- 

 count of Pere La Chaise, that many years had pass- 

 ed by before that magnificent cemetery claimed 

 public attention, and became the resort of the ad- 

 tnirers of the arts, the opulent and enlightened, 

 as well as the common place of sepulchre for the 

 most illustrious in letters, science and arms, and 

 of the humblest citizen of Paris. A year has not yet 

 elapsed since the consecration of Mount Auburn, 

 and over one hundred and seventy lots have been 

 purchased, which is more than were sold at Pere 

 La Chaise in eight years from its foundation. As 

 to the result of the undertaking there is therefore 

 no longer any doubt, and we should be encourag- 

 ed in tlie most active and liberal exertions for com- 

 pletely developing the eiuire plan in all its inter- 

 esting and important departments. The citizens 

 of our capital and country are never wanting in 

 ardor and munificence, when objects of moment 

 are presented, worthy of their consideration and 

 patronage ; and indulging a sanguine belief that 

 the Garden and Cemetery of Mount Auburn arc 

 deemed among the most valuable undertakings 

 which have been projected for the benefit and 

 gratification of the whole community, there can 

 be no hesitation in appealing with confidence to 

 public liberality. The affluent, the enlightened, 

 the virtuous, the patriotic, and the industrious and 

 enterprising among all cla.sses of society, will 

 cheerfully aid in the achieveujent of objects, which 

 are sanctioned by the beneficent precepts of our 

 religion, the dictates of an exalted morality, a holy 

 respect for the ashes of the dead, the kindest sym- 

 pathies of the heart, and that active spirit of im- 



provement, which pg'rvades every section of our 

 country. Respectfully submitted by 



H. A. S. Dearborn, 



Fres. Mass. Hoit. Society. 

 Brinley Place, ) 



Koibury, Sept. 7, 1833. i 



THE CEMETERY OF PERE LA CHAISE. 



The celebrated Cemetery of Pere La Chaise is 

 situated on the eastern side of the range of hills 

 which extend northeast of Paris, from Belleville to 

 Charonne, and coitunands a view of the faubourg 

 of Saint Antoine. This inclosure has been re- 

 nowned since the fourteenth century, for the 

 beauty of its position. 



During the early period of the monarchy the 

 place was called La Champ I'Eveque, and be- 

 longed to the Bishop of Paris. In the fourteenth 

 century a rich grocer, by the name of Regnault, 

 being pleased with the site, built there a mag- 

 nificent country seat, for the Bishop, to which 

 the people gave the name of La Folie Regnault. 

 There could not be found a more pleasant and 

 picturesque position, aflording a more varied and 

 fertile soil, a purer air, more extended and beauti- 

 ful prospects, a view of a richer country, or from 

 whence Paris could be so perfectly seen, in its 

 universality and in its least details. This delightful 

 retreat commanded the admiration of every age. 



But everything changes in this worhl ; no 

 happiness is permanent ; Regnault died and his 

 heirs sold his estate. A pious female believed she 

 should do a meritorious act in purchasing La Fo- 

 lie Regnault, as u <;ountry residence for the holy 

 fathers of an establishment of Jesuits, situated in 

 the street of Saint Antoine, and it became the 

 scene of their ambitious intrigues, at the time that 

 powerful religious and political association con- 

 trolled the sovereigns of Europe. 



During the battle between the illustrious Tu- 

 renne and the Great Conde, in the faubourg of 

 Saint Antoine, on the second of July, 1C52, the 

 Jesuits opened their establishment to Cardinal 

 Mazarin, to enable Louis XIV. then a child ten 

 years old, willi the court, to behold the conflict, 

 in which his loyal legions reduced to obedience 

 the battalions of his revolted subjects. Anxious to 

 change the biudesque name of their mansion, the 

 Jesuits requested, as a favor, that it might be cM- 

 e(] Mont Louis, ^vUich was granted by the King, 

 and who, towards the close of his reign, obtained 

 the consent of the order to convert it into a resi- 

 dence for his venerated confessor, the Pere La 

 Chaise ; but an inclosure of only six acres was 

 considered too small for the keeper of the king's 

 conscience, and it was increased to fiftytwo. The 

 ground;: were highly embellished by various splen- 

 did atlditions to the edifice, a chapel, ofiices of va- 

 rious kinds, extensive groves, shaded avenues, 

 orchards, lieuntiful gardens, fish ponds and foun- 

 tains. Here were held the secret conclaves of 

 that associalicm which decided the destinies of 

 princes and empires. The Pere La Chaise was 

 not only the confessor of the king, but a General 

 of the jesuils. He was of the noble family of 

 Forets, grand nephew of Pere Cotton, and after 

 controlling ;he domestic establishment of his sove- 

 reign for iliirtyfour years, he died on the 20th of 

 January, 1709, aged 85 years. 



