PUBLIC WALKS. 
229 
munity who carries it out. Travellers in Switzerland remember 
with pleasure the seats placed at intervals along the road-side in 
that country for the weary and wayfaring ; near Berne these seats are 
very common indeed, and although they are often found in quiet, 
secluded spots, the fear of their being injured by the people seems 
never to have been suggested. Cannot we in this country, where 
schools, and books, and churches are so common, follow, in this 
respect, the pleasant, simple custom offered by the example of 
our fellow-republicans of Berne ? These pubhc benches form, in- 
deed, only a part of a general system, the first step toward the 
open green of the village, the public walks of the larger towns, 
and the noble gardens of great cities, so happily provided in most 
countries of Europe, for the health and innocent recreation of the 
people. Surely it would be very desirable to introduce all these 
into our own country, and here, where land is cheaper, they ought 
to be more easily carried out than in the Old World. A bench 
or two of this description beneath a cluster of trees on a little 
green in any hamlet, would have a good effect in bringing many 
a mother out into the open air, with her baby, at odd moments, 
when it would be good for both to be there , such a play-ground 
would be better than the dusty street for the children ; and if 
fathers and husbands were content to talk politics under the trees 
rather than in the smoky, drinking bar-room, it would certainly do 
them no harm. 
Besides this cotton factory at the Twin- Maples, there is another 
on the opposite side of the valley, upon the main stream ; several 
others are found in different parts of the county, but they are all 
on a moderate scale. 
Another large stone building is seen across the valley, on the 
