A TALK ABOUT PUBLIC PARKS AND GARDENS. ^45 



popkets for a public park, .which shall be the great wholesome 

 breathing zone, social mass-meeting, and grand out-of-dpor p^ncei;^- 

 room. of all the iphabitants daily ? Make it praiseworthy ^jid, laud- 

 able for we3lthy men to make bequests of land, properly situated, 

 for this public enjoyment, and commemorate the i>ublic 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 cpnstitute the chief attjacfion 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 hfe-members, who on pajring 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. 



JEId. It is, perhaps, not so difficult to get the public park or gar- 

 den, as to meet all the annual expenses required to keep it in the re- 

 quisite condition. 



Trav. There is, to my mind, but one eifectual and rational 

 mode of doing this — ^by a voluntary taxation on the part of all the 

 inhabitants. A few shillings each person, or a small per centage on 

 the value of all the property in a town, would keep a park of a 

 hundred or two acres in admirable order, and defray all the inciden- 

 tal expenses. Did you ever m^k§ a calculation of the sum volun- 

 tarily paid in towns like this, of nine thousand inhabitants, for pew 

 rent, in churches and places of worship ? 



m. No. 



Trav. Very well ; I have had the curiosity lately to do so,, and 

 find that in a town of nine thousand souls, and with ten " meeting- 

 houses " of various sects, more than ten thousand dollars are volun- 

 tarily paid every year for the privilege of sitting in these churches. 

 Does it appeal to you impossible that half that sum (a few shillings 

 a yeaj each) would be* willingly paid every year for the privilege, of 

 a hundred acres of beautiful park or pleasure-grounds, where. every 

 man, woman, and child in the community could have,,fftr, a few 

 shillings, all the soft verdure, the umbrageous foliage, the lovely 

 flowers, the place for exercise, recreation, repose, that Victoriii has in 

 her Park of Windsor ? 

 10 



