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PREE aAEDEJ^S FOR THE POOR OP GREAT TOWIS^S. 



(Abridged from tue City Press of October 6tli and 19th.) 



We have had innumerable proposals for 

 measures of relief to the poor of London, 

 many of them tending to the destruction of 

 their independence and their thrift. But 

 what an ennobling work it would be to 

 establish free gardens for the poor, where 

 they might see the blue heaven that has 

 been hidden from tliem all their lives, by 

 the grim walls of their O'.vn tenements and 

 the clothes hung out to dry across the 

 chink of a lane or alley, where they hide 

 themselves and their poverty from cynical 

 observers. Would they refase the boon ? 

 No ! The masses were never freely ad- 

 mitted to the view of beautiful objects, but 

 they have shown by their demeanour that 

 they know how to respect the benefit con- 

 ferred, and protect a privilege conceded lo 

 all. The "mob" of Paris is a far more 

 turbulent and uncontrollable body than 

 the "mob " of London ; but there no diffi- 

 culty has been found in preserving intact 

 the beauty of out-door scenes to which the 

 people have been freely admitted. Eut let 

 lis be rid of the unsavoury word we have 

 used ; only the industrious, sober, and 

 thoughtful of the masses of the people 

 would care to enjoy the pleasures of a 

 public garden, and the nature of the exhi- 

 bition would opei-ate as a means of selec- 

 tion between the sheep and the goats. Ou 

 the inauguration of the park at Monceaux, 

 all the gates were thrown open to the crowd, 

 and no surveillance was exercised over 

 the fifty thousand persons Avho thronged 

 the walks and alleys. " But," says the 

 Constitutioniiel, in its account of the pro- 

 ceedings, " at the end of the day, the 

 damage amounted to only forty-five francs, 

 for the turf trampled down along the 

 edges ;" a proof that perfect freedom begets 

 respect, and that the silly fears once en- 

 tertained of the destruction that would be 

 inflicted on trees and shrubs by the work- 

 ing classes have no foundation in fact now, 

 whatever may have been the case in times 

 past. Give them to understand that these 

 trees, shrubs, ilowers, and grass-plots are 

 their own propert}^ and self-interest com- 

 bines with self-respect for their conserva- 

 tion. 



As to the facilities that exist in London, 

 they are equal any way to those of Paris. 

 We have a moister atmosphere, and could 

 grow the ailanthus better than the Pari- 

 sians, who knov;- nothing of its true beau- 

 ties yet. Elms die in London through 



exhaustion of the dr^' srjil, and so they do 

 in Paris. The Platanus acerifolia thrives 

 amazingly in both cities, and the lime is 

 not so unmanageable as it is sometimes 

 described ; and it shows a blink of green 

 earlier in the year than any other City 

 tree. The horse-chesnuts that ai'e dying 

 in the Champs Elysees and the Tuileries 

 would make a much better figure in the 

 grounds ofLincoln's-inn, though its gummy 

 exudations are fatal to its e.Ktensive use as 

 a town tree. The robinias in Paris are 

 generally fine, and pity we have not a few 

 in some of the larger graveyards of the 

 City, where they would grow magnificently, 

 bloom profusely, and shed their leaves all 

 the summer long, without harm to any 

 one. This would be a capital City tree, 

 because of the litter it makes on the 

 ground underneath it. We should not be 

 able to bear the sight of a daily strewing 

 of dead leaves, and the broom would be 

 put to use where it is an unknown imple- 

 ment at present. Equal facilities, larger 

 means, and a greater need, place London 

 far behind Paris in this respect, and give 

 us cause for shame that, in the cultivation 

 of art, we have neglected the true basis of 

 art — the observation of Nature. Let there 

 be no more hewailings that the French out- 

 strip us in artistic and fancy productions. 

 French goods take the lead in the market, 

 because French artizans are educated in a 

 truer school; they are familiar with the 

 forms of flowers and foliage traceries ; and 

 there is a truth and excellence about their 

 fimcy works that thrusts English produc- 

 tions in the shade. We have but to esta- 

 blish gardens in the midst of our cities to 

 enable British industry to compete success- 

 fully with the foreign workman ; and, 

 while raising the tone of productive occu- 

 pations, we shall also improve the health 

 and morals of the people. 



Those of our fellow-citizens who have 

 been in Paris lately will better appreciate 

 the need of gardens in London, than those 

 who drone on from year to year, under the 

 shadow of grimy walls, and sufter a decay 

 of all their old s^'mpathies with natural 

 scenes in the pursuits of business. Paris 

 is fast becoming as famous for its gardens 

 as for its architecture, its gas-light gaieties, 

 and its military fi'tes. The Boulevard de 

 Sebastopol, with its clieerful lines of trees, 

 is an example of what the Exhibition-road, 

 at Kensington, nuight become } and even 



