2 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



An Englishman must be almost without soul who 

 can stand for the first time unmoved within the pre- 

 cincts of Westminster Abbey or look without satisfaction 

 at the faultless proportions of St. Paul's. The sense of 

 possession, the pride of inheritance, are the uppermost 

 feelings in his mind. But he who loves not only 

 London itself with a patriotic veneration, but also his 

 fellow-men, will not rest with the inspection of the 

 beautiful. He will journey eastward into the heart of 

 the mighty city, and see its seething millions at work, 

 its dismal poverty, its relentless hardness. The respon- 

 sibility of heirship comes over him, the sadness, the 

 pathos, the evil of it all depresses him, the hopelessness 

 of the contrast overpowers him ; but apart from all 

 ideas of social reform, from legislative action or phil- 

 anthropic theories, there is one thin line of colour 

 running through the gloomy picture. The parks and 

 gardens of London form bright spots in the landscape. 

 They are beyond the pale of controversy ; they appeal 

 to all sections of the community, to the workers as 

 well as to the idlers, to the rich as well as to the 

 poor, to the thoughtful as well as to the careless. 

 From the utilitarian point of view they are essential. 

 They bring new supplies of oxygen, and allow the freer 

 circulation of health-giving fresh air. They are not 

 less useful as places of exercise and recreation. They 

 waft a breath of nature where it is most needed, and 

 the part they play in brightening the lives of countless 

 thousands cannot be over-estimated. 



The parks and gardens of London have a past full 

 of historical associations, and at the present time their 

 full importance is slowly being realised. Much has 

 been done to improve and beautify them, but much 



