116 THE PARKS AND GARDENS OP PARIS. [Chap. VIII. 



are usually disjecta memhra, not of importance enough to be pre- 

 served indoors, in sufficient abundance, and if arranged somewhat 

 as they are here, the result will prove satisfactory. The grounds 

 of the museum at York afford an admirable example of good taste 

 in this kind of garden. 



Although so far in advance of our own squares in every way, it 

 may be noted that the idea was first taken from London ; but 

 while we Londoners still persist in keeping the squares exclusively 

 for the few overlooking residents, and usually without a trace of 

 any but the poorest plant ornament, the French make them as 

 open as our parks, and decorate them with a charming variety of 

 trees and plants. 



" It has been often remarked," says M. Eobert Mitchell of 

 Paris, "and with great reason, that the English have carried 

 their material civilization further than we have. Comparisons 

 have frequently been made between Paris and London that were 

 not at all to our advantage, and we are obliged to allow that the 

 sort of accusation brought against us was not wanting in justice. 

 It is not many years since the boundaries of Paris inclosed an old 

 city that was a disgrace to our civilization; streets, or rather 

 fissures, without ventilation, and unhealthy districts where an 

 entire population of poor people were languishing and dying. 

 Now, however — thanks to the useful and important works that 

 have been lately carried out — the sun shines everywhere ; streets 

 have been enlarged, and every one has sufficient air to breathe. 

 Paris contains but few unhealthy alleys, whilst in London the 

 existence of such localities as Bermondsey, Soho, St. Giles's, 

 Spitalfields, Whitechapel, &c., &c., is still to be deplored. 



" We are far from forgetting the immense development of 

 material civilization in England. We simply mean to say that 

 our neighbours frequently invent for the sake of privilege, and 

 that when their ideas are good we take advantage of them and 

 popularize them. We will take a single example : every one 

 knows how justly the English pride themselves on their gardens 

 called squares, which are the admiration of every foreigner. Our 

 unfortunate public places that the pedestrian cannot cross in 

 summer without being grilled by the sun or blinded by the dust, 

 only serve as examples of our inferiority in this respect. The 

 square, that is to say, a garden surrounded by a railing, is at 



