USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > The Monument Cemetery of Philadelphia (late Pere la chaise) : containing several scientific essays on the subject of rural cemeteries with a lithographic plan > Part 2
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Enough, however, is known to enable me to state that a circular line, with a radius of one-and-three-fourth mile, and having the Pere la Chaise Cemetery for the centre, will intersect "the most densely settled portions" of Kensington and the Northern Liberties ; the northern part of the city proper, and that section of Spring Garden comprehended between the Pennsylvania Rail Road on the north-east, Fair Mount Water Works on the north-west, and Vine street on the south.
Very respectfully, yours, &c. HENRY S. TANNER.
DR. J. A. ELKINTON.
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No. 7.
From the Pennsylvania Sentinel.
BROAD STREET CEMETERY.
We learn that many individuals, in consequence of absence from the city, were deprived of the opportunity to procure stock, in the new Cemetery on Broad street, of which the books were opened on Monday last, and from the impression that the books would remain open, for that object, for several successive days. We would suggest to the Commissioners, the propriety of re-opening their books to enable all to participate in the benefit of so laudable an undertaking. We trust that all attempts at speculation will be
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discouraged by the gentlemen, to whose management the furtherance of the plan has been committed.
We learn with pleasure that this project promises to prove fully successful ; indeed, enough lots have already been disposed of, to authorize this statement. The books for further subscription will be opened to-morrow, and remain open until Saturday evening, in order to accommodate such of our citizens as may feel disposed to avail themselves of the advantages of so admirable a spot for a Cemetery. We doubt not that the lots will greatly advance in price, immediately after the books are closed.
No. 8.
From Poulson's Daily Advertiser.
BROAD STREET CEMETERY.
This is the last day for procuring stock in the Pere la Chaise Cemetery. The books will remain open until 10 o'clock this evening, at the Merchants' Exchange. The proprietors of our large Hotels should not fail to secure a few shares. The Tremont House at Boston has a large vault at Mount Auburn, where travellers who die at the hotel are deposited, until sent for by relatives. It is a very benevolent provision, and the example ought to be followed here.
No. 9. From the Philadelphia Saturday Chronicle.
LINES
On viewing the spot of the proposed Pere la Chaise Cemetery on Broad Street.
BY REV. WILLIAM MANN. ,
Let me bury my dead out of my sight .- Gen. xxii. 4.
I want a spot, a sweet and charming place, Where flowers may bloom, and near a woodland dell, There from my fond, my much lov'd torn embrace,
To shroud in earth those forms I love so well.
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Yet not a solitude alone I prize, --
Far from the haunts of men, retir'd, alone, No, let me sleep beneath the sweet blue skies, And near my kindred, find a kindred home.
My humble grave, the hawthorn might adorn, Whose branches sweet, should o'er the green turf grow, The willow there might wave its boughs forlorn, When the young winds of summer first should blow.
And should a friend, my mouldering ashes love,- With some Memento wish to crown my dust, The storied urn, he there might raise above, Or let the chiseled marble show the well-known bust.
Sweet Pere la Chaise ! I see thy columns raised, Thy lofty cenotaph ! thy decent pile ! Thy sculptur'd shrine, by sweet affection grav'd, To tell of parent, wife, or only child.
How clean thy walks, no tangling grass to stray O'er pathways neat, with modest primrose crown'd. At early morn, or at the close of day :- The mourner oft shall tread thy hallowed ground.
There at the lingering hour of closing even, 'Mid thy loved scenes shall musing Beauty rove :- Talk of dear friends, and pensive, think of heaven, And thus prepare for brighter worlds above.
Sweet Pere la Chaise ! ah, who of us can tell, What numbers soon shall fill thy hallow'd mound ? Some who perhaps in battle bravely fell, And some with poet's laurelled honour crowned.
The tall, the wise, the reverend head, Shall find a lowly, friendly lodging here, And with the learned, revered, and mighty dead, Shall claim the tribute of a passing tear.
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No. 10.
From the Commonwealth and Independent Democrat, August 2, 1837.
COMMUNICATION.
Your attention is respectfully invited to the project of a new Cemetery on Broad street, which promises to be of more importance to the northern sections of Philadelphia, than any other enterprise, which has been undertaken for many years. Mr. Tanner's letter which is enclosed exhibits at once the central position which the Cemetery will occupy. And when it is recollected that the locality possesses an elevation of more than one hundred feet above tide water, it cannot fail to be the nucleus around which a new city must spring up. Some of your readers have been surprised that a subject of so much interest to the citizens of Kensington, Spring Garden and Germantown, has been unnoticed by the journals, representing more particularly those districts. By glancing at the report of the Executive Committee of Pere la Chaise, recently published, it will be seen, what extensive patronage the enterprise has met with. Can it be supposed that those who live in the northern environs of our metropolis, can be indifferent to the future importance of this American " Pere la Chaise." Visit Paris, pass along the Rue de la Roquette, see the thousand devotees, selling boquets of flowers blessed by wholesale by the priests, sold and strewed. over the graves of the departed. Take a ride out Broad street, turn down Camac street to Turner's lane, and as you return let the eye rest upon the two hundred thousand living beings immediately in front of the landscape, and the imagination will be solemnly impressed with the contrast of a city of the dead, lying near by the city of the living.
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No. 11.
From the American Sentinel.
This project has thus far been attended with complete success. We learn that more than five hundred citizens have already become interested in it, and a doubt cannot now be entertained as to its being immediately carried into operation. The public seem to be
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unanimous in the opinion that rural cemeteries of this description should be encouraged, and the dead buried in some spot beyond the immediate limits of the city, and where their remains might repose in security and peace. The stockholders will, as we understand, in addition to three hundred lots extra, also own several valuable buildings now on the premises. A meeting will be held at the Exchange this evening, with the object of making preliminary arrangements, with regard to the election of Directors, &c.
No. 12.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
A Boston paper objects, and we think justly, to the name of " Pere la Chaise," given to the new Cemetery in this city. It says that this name, which belongs to a Cemetery in Paris, is not creditable to the taste of the projectors, because it can have no meaning in its present application. It is certainly not a little remarkable that in a country where God has created every thing on a most magnificent scale, man does every thing in a spirit of servile imitation, and imitation of those who inhabit a country, which, in all natural works, is a pigmy to a giant in comparison with our own. Names should always be significant, and in our country, whose institutions are peculiar, and require the utmost vigilance to preserve them from corruption, they should be fitted to inspire some nationality. We would therefore suggest to the enterprising and intelligent projector of this new Cemetery, to change its name from one borrowed from a foreign country, to one original in our own.
No. 13. 1
From the National Gazette.
We agree with our facetious correspondent in his subjoined remarks on the particularly bad taste of calling the new Cemetery on Broad street, Pere la Chaise ; indeed, we had already sug- gested to the projector of the scheme, to alter the name to one possessing point and beauty. This mansion for the dead might be distinguished by a title replete with sentiment and poetry, As it
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now stands, it is a mere unmeaning imitation, a second hand of an existing original ; it is besides foreign in idiom, carries in our language no meaning, and will be generally mis-pronounced and mis-spelt except by French scholars.
We dissent, however, from the writer, in his disapprobation of the affectation displayed by our countrymen for high sounding names for places. We have no quarrel with the adoption of foreign names when drawn from ancient sources. A native Troy, Thebes, or Tyre, is to our taste ; but a London, Liverpool, or Lyons, is not. We will match the name of our poetical Philadelphia against that of prosaic Plymouth, or of our Nazareth or Bethlehem against New York and Boston. 'T'his preference for the great names of old, is a beautiful trait in the American character, it springs from a sound and elevated feeling peculiar to our country. One may travel in Great Britain and the Canadas and never encounter an embryo Corinth or Carthage. The assumption of such exotic names, the glories of whose originals have long since passed away, and the attempt to render them indigenous in a new world, and to restore their objects to vigorous life and beautiful maturity, may, to the casual observer, or the cynical traveller, border on the profane or ridiculous ; but one who looks to the origin of this predilection for the mighty past, sees in it either an index of the colossal grasp of a people who fancy in the erection of a village the nucleus of a future city, the rival of one of other times, or simply a wholesome regard and classical reverence for great names of old. It is at least a simple and appropriate acknowledgment of a debt of gratitude to those who have long since been beyond the pale of thanks or reciprocity.
COMMUNICATION.
Messrs. Editors .- The borrowing of European names without rhyme or reason, and their indiscriminate application to objects in this country, deserves both reprehension and ridicule.
We notice a subscription going on to a Cemetery on Broad street, which although certainly a very grave subject, is oddly called " Pere la Chaise," for no other reason than because some of the projectors have seen or heard of the fine spot with that name in the vicinity of Paris. Old Daddy la Chaise would smile (if he were alive), at having to father any more such establishments, and we think our good citizens would stare, if in walking through Paris
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they should stumble upon " L' Hopital Wills," or the " Sejour Preston," or the " College Girard," and would think the volatile Parisians had got a little kinckey.
This grandiloquence is common in our country. We recollect that even a gentleman of good taste in most matters, but who had been in France when Bonaparte was Consul, strongly advised that the hotel projected on the Walnut street prison lot, should be incorporated by the lofty title of " The Hotel of the Republic." We should hope that a more appropriate name will be bestowed on the new Cemetery. C.
No. 14. -
From the Philadelphia Ledger, of July 26, 1837.
PERE LA CHAISE CEMETERY.
We would again call the attention of the public to this project, as one which deserves encouragement from an enlightened com- munity. It is the second which has been projected by the citizens of this city and liberties, within a short period, and like the first, will be highly ornamental to the environs of the city, and a receptacle of the departed that shall be safe from violation by the ruthless spirit of money making. When the grave-yards in all of our cities were laid out, the projectors intended and supposed that they would for ever be secure from violation. But experience shows that in cities, nothing, however useful or ornamental, or however connected with hallowed recollections, is safe, where its destruction can be subservient to the " almighty dollar." We believe that New York set the example of violating grave-yards, But whichever was foremost in this work, it is certain that Boston, New York and Philadelphia, are alike obnoxious to the reproach.
To prevent such proceedings, which, among almost any other people, would be regarded as sacrilegious, and by the Mahometans particularly with horror, the practice of establishing these Cemeteries as private property, has been lately introduced among us, and, it is hoped, will be adopted by every city in the Union.
That of Pere . la Chaise, projected by an enterprising fellow- citizen, Dr. Elkinton, is about one mile and a half from the centre of the city, upon Broad street, in a north-westerly direction. It is
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bounded on one side by Broad street, on another by a lot of land situated between it and Camac street, on a third by Turner's lane, and on the fourth by a line drawn from the first to the last mentioned boundaries. It contains about twenty acres of land, and is situated upon an eminence which overlooks the whole city and liberties. The centre of the lot is the highest part of it, and the ascent to the centre is gradual from each of the four sides. According to the plan lately exhibited at the Exchange, it is very tastefully laid out. The entrances are two, one on Broad street, the other on Turner's lane. Four avenues, each fifty feet wide, lead to a square in the centre, which square is bounded by an avenue on each side of the same width. The lots are arranged in rectangular rows, the rows divided by avenues twenty feet in width. The avenues between the lots are, we believe, ten feet in width. The lots are, we believe, ten by twelve feet in size.
The square in the centre is to be called Monument Square, and will contain eleven hundred private lots, and a space for a monument to Washington and Lafayette. The whole property is divided into one thousand shares, each of which entitles the owner to one lot in Monument Square, and to an equal number with each of his associates, of the remaining lots. The whole twenty acres will contain about four thousand lots ; which will afford to each stock- holder three lots, certainly not less than two, in addition to his lot in Monument Square. The whole is offered by the projector, for a price less than that of land in the immediate vicinity ; the terms of payment are easy to the stockholders, and five dollars of the first payment upon each share, are to be applied to the monument to Washington and Lafayette in the centre square. Besides this fund, we learn that the Society of the Cincinnati will appropriate twelve thousand dollars to the same purpose, and thus make the fund immediately applicable to this monument, seventeen thousand dollars. With this ample provision, the monument and other ornaments of the centre square, will doubtless be in a style that will be creditable to the proprietors and to our city.
When we consider the ample extent of this Cemetery, its vicinity to the city, and its beautiful location, commanding a fine prospect on almost every side, and especially of the city and liberties, the tasteful manner in which it is laid out, and the ample provision made for ornament, we pronounce it highly .worthy of public patronage.
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The proprietors will apply for a charter at the ensuing session of the Legislature, and which they will doubtless obtain. This will effectually protect it against invasion for rail roads, canals, turnpikes, streets, or any other project of money making, to which every thing beautiful or good is sacrificed without scruple or remorse, in these days of improvement. These projects deserve protection, and we hope that Laurel Hill and Pere la Chaise are not the only ones of the kind of which our city and vicinity can boast, before many years have elapsed. We would renew our suggestion of substituting an original American for this borrowed French name, for this new Cemetery.
No. 15.
From the National Gazette.
The Committee on Articles of Association reported in favour of changing the name of Pere la Chaise Cemetery, and substituting " The Monument Cemetery," which was adopted by the stock- holders at their meeting on Monday evening. We congratulate the Company on this improvement. The monument to Washington and Lafayette will distinguish this from any other Cemetery, and in a short time we expect to see public bodies as well as private associations, follow up this laudable example and erect monuments to the memory of the great and good who have rendered blessings to mankind.
A monument to Professor Godman is already under consideration by some of the gentlemen who own stock in this Cemetery. All such undertakings will necessarily concentrate in the Monument Cemetery. The rate of assessment we learn was also fixed upon, and is not to exceed one dollar per annum on each lot for the first three years, and not to exceed sixty cents per annum on each lot thereafter. This low rate was considered ample, in connexion with the excess lots, which will become the property of the Association, and will be disposed of, when necessary, for the general improvement of the Cemetery. The time fixed for drawing lots is next Friday, September 1st, when certificates of stock will be issued ; and arrangements are making to be ready for interments next week.
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No. 16.
From the Pennsylvania Inquirer.
THE MONUMENT CEMETERY.
At a meeting of the Stockholders of Pere la Chaise Cemetery, held at the Exchange, on Monday evening last, the Articles of Association were read, and the above name for the new establish- ment decided upon. The propriety of this appellation will be recognized, when we state that according to the original division of stock, a fund will be created, to be appropriated exclusively to the erection of a monument in the middle of the Cemetery, to com- memorate the virtues and patriotism of Washington and Lafayette. We have also understood that a monument to Dr. Godman, on a liberal and appropriate scale, will be erected by a number of sub- scribers, at their own expense.
The second Article of Association provides for the creation of an improvement fund, and limits the sum to be paid by each subscriber at one dollar per annum for each lot, for the first three years, and not to exceed sixty cents per lot thereafter. This, together with the surplus lots, to be disposed of when necessary for the general improvement of the Cemetery, will be amply sufficient for all necessary ornaments. It is contemplated to plant a double row of cypress trees on the Broad street front, and, if possible, to reserve space for a cypress grove round the whole enclosure. The lots will be drawn for on Friday next, the first of September, at which time certificates of stock will be issued. Arrangements are pro- gressing so rapidly, that the Cemetery will, in all probability, be ready for interments in the course of next week. Of the success of. this establishment, there cannot be a doubt.
No. 17.
From the Herald and Sentinel.
THERE IS SOMETHING IN A NAME.
I was sorry to perceive by an advertisement in your paper, that the name of the new Cemetery was to be changed from " Pere la Chaise" to " the Monument Cemetery of Philadelphia."
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I regret it on every account; the euphony of sound, the associa- tion of ideas, almost every reason gives to the former name the preference.
The objections made to it are, I think, of little weight. The same objections lie against the original as this one, the chief one being that it is the name of an individual, and therefore is no indi- cation of its purpose.
To my mind, the name of " Pere la Chaise," is hallowed by the most sacred and pleasing associations that dwell in the soul, and should be perpetuated in every land.
When we recollect with what tenacity the heart clings to the memory of departed friends and relatives, how it delights to render tribute at the grave, and where the tombs and flowers perennial flourish, renewed and cherished by surviving affection, it manifests in a beautiful and attractive form the ineffaceable impressions of a holy love. It was a knowledge of all these pure and sacred feel- ings which cluster around the heart of the bereaved, and a desire to minister to them, which induced the pious Father to establish a Cemetery in a Catholic country, where those of every nation, clime and sect, might perform the last rites and duties, and render those pious offerings of the heart, and where forever might remain sacred the relics of departed worth. True to the instinct of nature, the friends of those excluded from Papal grounds, sought for them a resting place in this consecrated spot, and time after time as he witnessed the obsequies of the stranger, his heart was rejoiced with the stranger's blessing, which fell soft as dew upon his soul, while Charity enshrined his brow with her most verdant garland .--- Blessed be the emotions of that heart which provided that spot, and sweet the reflections which it caused. The name of Pere la Chaise ever brings to mind the image of a beautiful Cemetery, adorned with every variety of reminiscence in which the heart indulges, and laid out with a taste unequalled. Every thing that is delightful and agreeable in a Cemetery, is pictured in the mind by the simple phrase Pere la Chaise. There being but one in the world, the mind instantly reverts to it. A Cemetery by any other name is indefinite, it may be a Potter's Field, a splendid or an indifferent one.
We call ships, towns, counties, &c., by the names of various persons, to honour and perpetuate their memory. Who more entitled to such distinction than Pere la Chaise, and what more
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appropriate manner can be suggested. We name colleges after founders and sects also.
The human heart delights in thus evincing its feelings towards authors of the useful and ornamental, and the mind is pleased in exercising its ingenuity, in offering tribute in every novel, pleasing, and grateful form.
"The Monument Cemetery" has nothing distinctive, or certainly appropriate, for who can say it will ever have such splendid monu- ments as to make it a proper distinctive appellation.
I rather incline to the opinion that it will be the chosen spot of that class of persons who will evince their feelings rather by sim- plicity and expressiveness, than by the gorgeous exhibition of towering and sculptured monuments.
The Laurel Hill Cemetery has a much more appropriate appella- tion ; it is without pretension, and simply means, that the beautiful spot has been consecrated to that especial purpose.
In all probability it will be far more likely to deserve the name of the Monument Cemetery than the other, in which case it will be a standing jeer as a misnomer, an abortive attempt at prophecy by those who gave it, evincing rather the ostentation of grief than the. subduing simplicity characteristic of that feeling.
I think a more unlucky cognomen could not have been given, a name for such an object should be free from pretension and osten- tation, and should exhibit the touching pathos of grief rather than its pomp. Besides which it must be many years before it can earn its title. I incline to the opinion, that the popular name will con- tinue " Pere la Chaise"-the new christening to the contrary, notwithstanding.
No. 18.
From the National Gazette.
A correspondent of the Herald and Sentinel condemns the new name of the Cemetery on Broad street; we do not think the " Monument Cemetery" particularly happy, and agree with him partially in his opinion on this point : but as for a second hand foreign name of " Pere la Chaise," that is an inappropriate selec- tion, and here we differ. Unless there is a town-crier to give lessons in the latter name, it will not be recognized in most mouths ;
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besides being destitute of meaning to the mass in this community. In Illinois, which has a number of old French names, given by the early settlers, it is amusing to hear the sad work which is made with them according to the popular American pronunciation. If a sentimental name be desirable, some latitude might be allowable in distinguishing the Cemetery by such a title as " The Last Bourne ;" " The Final Repose ;" "The Mourner's Rest ;" "The Long Home ;" or something of that kind, which would have more meaning here than Pere la Chaise.
No. 19.
From the Baltimore American.
MONUMENTAL CEMETERY.
The stockholders of the new burial ground at Philadelphia, heretofore called Pere la Chaise, have come to the determination of changing the name to " the Monumental Cemetery." This alteration has induced, it is said, a great accession to the number of the stockholders. In erecting a monument from which this resting place of the dead may be designated, it is proposed that it shall be sacred to the memory of the late DR. GODMAN. In connexion with the gratification always felt by us at seeing distinguished talents and eminent worth meet with merited respect, we have the pride of knowing that the individual to whose memory the present testimony of respect is paid, was a native of our own state, and for the greater part of his useful life a resident among us. We have at this moment in our mind's eye some of the early patrons and valued friends of DR. GODMAN, to whom it will be a source of the deepest satisfaction thus to behold honour conferred in a distant city on one who enjoyed their friendship and possessed their warmest sympathies.
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