2 LONDON PARKS © GARDENS 
An Englishman must be almost without soul who 
can stand for the first time unmoved within the pre¬ 
cincts of Westminster Abbey or look without satisfaction 
at the faultless proportions of St. Paul’s. The sense of 
possession, the pride of inheritance, are the uppermost 
feelings in his mind. But he who loves not only 
London itself with a patriotic veneration, but also his 
fellow-men, will not rest with the inspection of the 
beautiful. He will journey eastward into the heart of 
the mighty city, and see its seething millions at work, 
its dismal poverty, its relentless hardness. The respon¬ 
sibility of heirship comes over him, the sadness, the 
pathos, the evil of it all depresses him, the hopelessness 
of the contrast overpowers him; but apart from all 
ideas of social reform, from legislative action or phil¬ 
anthropic theories, there is one thin line of colour 
running through the gloomy picture. The parks and 
gardens of London form bright spots in the landscape. 
They are beyond the pale of controversy; they appeal 
to all sections of the community, to the workers as 
well as to the idlers, to the rich as well as to the 
poor, to the thoughtful as well as to the careless. 
From the utilitarian point of view they are essential. 
They bring new supplies of oxygen, and allow the freer 
circulation of health-giving fresh air. They are not 
less useful as places of exercise and recreation. They 
waft a breath of nature where it is most needed, and 
the part they play in brightening the lives of countless 
thousands cannot be over-estimated. 
The parks and gardens of London have a past full 
of historical associations, and at the present time their 
full importance is slowly being realised. Much has 
been done to improve and beautify them, but much 
