PARK AND CEMETERY, 
95 
BACCHARIS HALIMIFOLIA.— Vick's Mag. 
toward the Pacific coast, which grow from two to 
fifteen feet high. 
Trenton, N. J. James MacPherson. 
THE INFLUENCE OF PARKS ON THE CHARACTER 
OF CHILDREN.* 
Ao the infirmities of age deprive me of the pleasure 
of taking an active part in the exercises of the conven- 
tion, I have been asked by my friend, Mr. Loring, to 
prepare a paper for the occasion, which he has kindly 
offere i to read. 
I recognize the propriety of the demand in consid- 
eration of the part I have taken in the construction of 
numerous parks in various cities of this country, but I 
feel a timidity in speaking on the subject for two 
reasons; first, that I have preached so long on the same 
theme that I fear I may tire you with a repetition of old 
sermons, and secondly, that I have been so long out of 
the world that I know nothing of the present state of 
the Art, the practice of which was my chief source of 
interest and pleasure during my active years. There- 
fore, if my words fall upon your ears like “a voice from 
the tomb" I can only promise it shall not utter a 
“doleful cry,” but rather a voice of glad thankfulness 
that I have been permitted to aid in the construction of 
works, here and elsewhere, whose value to the health 
and happiness of countless generations is beyond 
estimate. 
Whatever new devices may have been contrived to 
increase the attractive interest of the Parks of any City, 
the grand principle remains unchanged, that they must 
be founded on a love of nature, and their object is 
weakened or defeated by the introduction of artificial 
decorations which conflict with natural laws. Do not 
understand me as saying that I would exclude works of 
art in scenes where they are appropriate to the adjacent 
surroundings. On boulevards, for instance, which are 
lined with residences whose architectural elegance is 
enhanced by the presence of trees and shrubs, and 
flowers and grass, the introduction of statues and artistic 
fountains is appropriate, and it is equally so in those 
portions of the park which are expressly intended to 
afford entertainment to crowds of visitors. But the 
primary object of all parks is to give to the citizens, 
whose lives of necessity are passed in the din and throng 
‘Paper read at the Minneapolis Convention of the American Park 
and Outdoor Art Association. By H. W. S. Cleveland, Chicago. 
of the streets, the occasional relief of the quiet seclusion 
of rural scenes from which artificial decoration is 
excluded. And this to man becomes the more onerous 
from the modern tendency toward city life, and the 
excitement attendant upon the pursuit of wealth. 
It seems to me that few people fully realize the value 
of parks for children, and above all for the children of 
the poorer classes. The rich man may have his country 
seat, or his summer residence by the sea shore or in the 
mountain, but think of the great mass of the laboring 
population whose children are growing up to fill the 
places of the present population, and many of whom 
may be the rich men and the rulers of the future. We 
claim it is the chief blessing of our country that its 
highest offices are open to all classes alike, but does not 
that fact carry with it a responsibility we have no right 
to shirk? It is a sufficient answer to my question to 
point to our free schools and the obligation of every 
parent to send his children to them unless his means 
enable him to educate them by a more costly method. 
But it is needless to cite examples, our own history 
furnishes, to prove that the most important part of every 
man’s education is acquired out of school, and the 
inequality of the advantages of the different classes in 
the opportunities afforded them is too obvious to need 
pointing out. Can any one doubt the value of parks in 
the education of children who are born and bred in 
crowded tenement houses which are the (so-called) 
homes of thousands of the inhabitants of every city? 
I do not, of course, presume to say that the evil 
influences to which they are exposed can be wholly 
counteracted by the contrast afforded by scenes of 
natural beauty. But long and careful observation has 
served to convince me that the effect upon the mind of 
a child is such as can hardly be imagined by any one 
who has not carefully observed it. I was first led to 
reflect upon the subject many years ago by observing a 
man who was leading a cow in the streets of New York. 
He had brought her by steamboat from some point on 
the North River and, as he told me, was taking her 
across the city to ship her on one of the Sound boats 
She was a beast of rare blood and beauty and the atten- 
tion she excited led me to follow her. As she passed 
that classic locality known as Five Points a shout was 
raised by the host of little gutter snipes who swarmed 
tne street and trooped after her with wonder and 
delight. A casual observer would probably only have 
laughed at the spectacle, but it seemed to me to have a 
deep significance. “Here,” said I to myself, “are 
thousands of children whose lives are passed amid the 
scenes of squalor and vice. They have never seen any- 
thing more attractive, and the sight of a cow being led 
quietly through the sheets is to them an amazing novelty. 
What would be their emotions if taken into the country 
and allowed to compare the beauty of nature with those 
of their daily surroundings? How few of us realize that 
every one of those wretched little ragamuffins is growing 
up either to be a blessing or a curse to the community; 
he may prove a benefactor to his race, or he may 
become a thief or a murderer. Much depends upon 
the impressions he receives in the years of his childhood, 
and is it not a peremptory duty devolving upon us to let 
him see that life has something better to offer to him 
than such misery as is his daily lot? 
Need I say more? Is it not obvious that the parks 
of a city are as essential to its moral health and vigor 
as the vital organs of its inhabitants are to every 
individual? 
