A TALK ABOUT PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS. 



157 



some and fatiguing- — and almost no parks, 

 pleasure grounds, or shaded avenues, to 

 tempt fair pedestrians to this most healthful 

 and natural exercise. 



Ed. Enough. I am fully satisfied of 

 the benefits of these places of healthful 

 public enjoyment, and of their being most 

 completely adapted to our institutions. But 

 how to achieve them ? What do we find 

 among us to warrant a belief that public 

 parks, for instance, are within the means 

 of our people ? 



Trav. Several things : but most of all, 

 the condition of our public cemeteries at 

 the present moment. Why, tVvrenty years 

 ago, such a thing as an embellished, rural 

 cemetery was unheard of in the United 

 States ; and, at the present moment, we 

 surpass all other nations in these beautiful 

 resting places for the dead. Green-wood, 

 Mount Auburn, and Laurel Hill, are as 

 much superior to the far famed P ere la Chaise 

 of Paris, in natural beauty, tasteful arrange- 

 ment, and all that constitutes the charm of 

 such a spot, as St. Peter's is to the Boston 

 State House. Indeed, these cemeteries are 

 the only places in the country that can give 

 an untravelled American any idea of the 

 beauty of many of the public parks and 

 gardens abroad. Judging from the crowds 

 of people in carriages, and on foot, which 

 I find constantly thronging Green-wood and 

 Mount Auburn, I think it is plain enough 

 how much our citizens, of all classes, would 

 enjoy public parks on a similar scale. 

 Indeed, the only drawback to these beautiful 

 and highly kept cemeteries, to my taste, is 

 the gala-day air of recreation they present. 

 People seem to go there to enjoy themselves, 

 and not to indulge in any serious recollec- 

 tions or regrets. Can you doubt that if our 

 large towns had suburban pleasure grounds, 

 like Green-wood, (excepting the monu- 

 ments,) where the best music could be 



heard daily, they would become the con- 

 stant resort of the citizens, or that, being so, 

 they would tend to soften and allay some 

 of the feverish unrest of business which 

 seems to have possession of most Ameri- 

 cans, body and soul ? 



Ed. But, the modus operandil Ceme- 

 teries are, in a measure, private specula- 

 tions ; hundreds are induced to buy lots in 

 them from fashion or personal pride, be- 

 sides those whose hearts are touched by the 

 beautiful sentiment which they involve ; and 

 thus a large fund is produced, which main- 

 tains every thing in the most perfect order. 



Trav. Appeal to the public liberality. 

 We subscribe hundreds of thousands of 

 dollars to give food to the Irish, or to assist 

 the needy inhabitants of a burnt-out city, 

 or to send missionaries to South Sea islands. 

 Are there no dollars in the same generous 

 pockets for a public park, which shall be 

 the great wholesome breathing zone, social 

 mass meeting, and grand out-of-door con- 

 cert room of all the inhabitants daily ? 

 Make it praiseworthy and laudable for 

 wealthy men to make bequests of land, 

 properly situated, for this public enjoyment, 

 and commemorate the public spirit of such 

 men by a statue or a beautiful marble vase, 

 with an inscription, telling all succeeding 

 generations to whom they are indebted for 

 the beauty and enjoyment that constitutes 

 the chief attraction of the town. Let the 

 ladies gather money from young and old by 

 fairs, and " tea parties," to aid in planting 

 and embellishing the grounds. Nay, I 

 would have life-members, who, on paying 

 a certain sum, should be the owners in 

 "fee simple" of certain fine trees, or groups 

 of trees; since there are some who will 

 never give money but for some tangible 

 and visible property. 



Ed. It is, perhaps, not so difficult to get 

 the public park or garden, as to meet all 



