1894.] ESSAYS. 57 



Our lives, not exempt from public haunts, but familiar with them, 

 especially in beautiful public parks, of which our Elm Park is one, 

 should find tongues in trees, books in the flowers, and lessons in every- 

 thing. A man takes his wife and children for a stroll through beauti- 

 ful grounds on a Sunday afternoon ; the little ones drink in and 

 enjoy the beauty of their surroundings ; the mother sees a rare plant 

 and in a few weeks one of the same kind is found in her window or 

 garden ; the father gets a hint from what he sees, which bears fruit 

 in his garden. 



The good done by the comparatively small sum of money our Parks- 

 Commission is able to spend from year to year can not be measured 

 by dollars and cents. But suppose we take one item, the trees that 

 have been set by them in our highways, and let each man who has 

 one before his door, state the sum for which he would consent to its 

 removal, and doubtless we should be astonished at the result. Could 

 much larger sums be used annually on our parks, and could each be 

 developed in the next ten years as much as it is likely to be in the 

 next fifty years, the real estate owners of tlie city could afford to pay 

 the entire expense and be sure of a handsome profit should the}' desire 

 to sell. May the time soon come when our Parks-Commission will 

 have abundant means at its command. 



