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delight to call it — in pursuance of the plan which was 

 laid down in the Special Report of our landscape archi- 

 tects, and appended to the last Annual Report of the 

 Board, is now so far advanced that is it expected to he 

 opened for public use early next Summer. 



In concluding this statement of their operations for the 

 year eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, the Park Commis- 

 sioners take occasion to congratulate their fellow citizens 

 upon the fact, that we at length have a Park worthy of 

 the name, and in some degree commensurate with the 

 magnitude and the requirements of a great city ; where our 

 eyes may be refreshed by resting upon something else 

 than mere interminable rows of brick and mortar ; and 

 where refining meditative influences will ever teach us 

 that trade is not the whole end and aim of life. That we 

 have a Park richly garnished with natural beauty, whose 

 quiet repose, luxuriant foliage and fragrant ocean breeze 

 may tempt us from those engrossing mercenary pursuits 

 by which we are too apt to be absorbed, and lead us to 

 better things. A broad precinct — free of access ; permanent 

 in duration ; guarded well from rude intrusion — where 

 genius may bring its offerings, and nature and art blend 

 together to work out images of serene and placid beauty : 

 open equally to rich and to poor ; and contributing alike 

 to the pleasure and improvement of the sick and the well ; 

 the man of business and the man of work. 



Dated January 28, 1869. 



J. S. T. STRANAHAN, 



President. 

 W. S. GRIFFITH, 



Secretary. 

 JOHN N. TAYLOR, 



Comptroller. 



