RetrosjJective Criticism. 185 



Art. II. Retrospective Criticism, 



Cemeteries. — I have perused your paper on cemeteries with very great 

 interest indeed. I clearly see how constant and deep has been your research 

 in this department. But I could wish (pardon me) that your pen had here 

 and there been guided by a Catholic hand. There are no midnight masses, 

 except on one single night in the year ; and that mass is celebrated at 

 Christmas. Pere de la Chaise was one of the best of men, and did not 

 deserve the abuse which the Calvinists heaped upon him. I have taken a 

 good deal of notice of cemeteries, both here and abroad ; but I should never 

 think of handling the subject, because my remarks would not suit a Pro- 

 testant eye. Till the Reformation, a universal belief in purgatory existed ; 

 that is, a place of punishment hereafter (not endless) for the expiation of 

 venial sins committed in this life, since nothing impure can enter heaven. The 

 Reformers, solely on their own authority, thought fit to teach otherwise ; and 

 this new doctrine of theirs quite changed the face of the churchyard, and 

 rendered it a dreary waste. Far different was the appearance of our English 

 churchyards in Catholic times. The cross over the grave was a noble and a 

 consoling sign. It at once put the visiting friends of the departed in mind of 

 what their Saviour had suffered for man's redemption ; and, before they went 

 away, they would kneel down and say the prayer " De profundis" for the 

 soul of him or of her whose remains lay there. Indeed, there is something 

 so cold and forbidding, and dreary and desolate, in the reformed churchyards, 

 that, when I am obliged to pass through them, I could fancy that Christianity 

 had left the land. In Catholic countries, there is something exquisitely sooth- 

 ing to the mind when one sees the living bowed down in humble and fervent 

 prayer before the cross at the head of the grave, to beg our dear Redeemer to 

 take to eternal glory the soul of one who now can no longer help himself. — 

 Charles Watertov. Walton Hall, March 8. 1843. 



Use of Charcoal in the Culture of Plants. — The following is the extract from 

 the 2d volume of the Biblioteca Agraiia of Professor Joseph Moretti and 

 Carlo Chiolini, respecting wood charcoal, which I mentioned in my letter of 

 the 7th of December, [p. 140.] 



" From numerous experiments made by the Abbe G. Piccone, this sub- 

 stance [charcoal] is considered as an efficacious manure. It consists principally 

 of oxide of carbon, the primary element of vegetable productions, and is, 

 therefore, undoubtedly calculated to be employed for the purpose specified. 

 According to the above author, every sort of charcoal, whether of oak, 

 chestnut, or of any other sort of wood, the refuse of the charcoal, the small 

 particles, or still better the dust, can be used as manure for every species of 

 plant and in every soil. The charcoal of close grained wood, therefore, should 

 be the richer in nutritious particles, as it contains less ashes and earth. The 

 effect is more speedy and vigorous according to the fineness of the pulve- 

 risation of the charcoal ,• if it is coarse the effect is weaker but more durable. 

 When the charcoal is intended to manure a field for several years, or the roots 

 of vines and fruit trees, it is not necessary to pulverise it very fine. It is suf- 

 ficient in such cases to triturate it so that the largest pieces may not exceed 

 the size of a vetch. The means used for triturating the charcoal are, the olive 

 presses, mallets, and large pestles of iron or heavy wood, suspended from a beam 

 of wood like that of turners' and many other machines. The dust which is 

 produced during trituration is easily laid by sprinkling it with water. When 

 the pulverised charcoal is to be used in flower-pots, in furrows, in seed 

 pans, or in seed beds, it is sprinkled on the surface and incorporated with 

 the spade or with the watering-pot. This may also be done after the plants 

 have germinated, and are 2 or 3 inches high, according to the nature of 

 the species. In sown fields the same method is followed in applying it as 

 with manure. Therefore, in treating ground burnt up by the siai, according 

 to the opinion of the Abbe Piccone, it is laid on the ground towards spring, 

 when French beans are to be sown, to preserve them from drought ; to these 



