OUR CITY GARDENS 



hand and not so splendid, are quite as topical. Carry back 

 your mind to some little Dutch town, with its canals bordered 

 by giant espaliered lime-trees and little red houses, gleaming 

 with mirrors and brass. Think also of the Beguinage at 

 Bruges, whose simple triangular lawn, planted with a few 

 trees, or of the Petit Beguinage at Ghent, whose wide rectangu- 

 lar grassy spaces, lined with old elms and intersected at right 

 angles by paths that lead to the church, oflPer the most per- 

 suasive examples of gardens in strict keeping with the appear- 

 ance of the surrounding houses. At Ghent, in particular, the 

 proof is the more striking inasmuch as the counter-proof is 

 easily made. Go to the other end of the town, to what was 

 once the Beguinage de Sainte-filisabeth : it is now used for 

 other purposes, but its general architecture has remained al- 

 most untouched. Though all the indented gables, all the 

 little green doors of the convents, all those pleasant little pink- 

 brick walls have remained faithful to their posts, the poor 

 Beguinage is without soul, without features, without at- 

 mosphere, without style. Is this because of the departure 

 of the beguines? Not at all: the little streets in this dying 

 quarter are almost as deserted now as in the days when the 

 pious sisters alone gave life to them with their long black 



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