Frederick Law Olmsted and His Work 
by a kind of imaginative sympathy which enables us 
to understand and appreciate the wonderful analogies 
that exist between the natural and the spiritual worlds. 
In this way scenery appears to give a sense of reality 
to life, to become a relief, a resource, and a never 
ending'source of joy. I'his last and most complete 
influence of nature finds its best expression, perhaps, 
in the poetry of Wordsworth, especially in such 
poems as “The Prelude,” “Ode on Intimations of 
Immortality,” “Expostulation and Reply,” and 
“The Tables I'urned.” In all such expressions and 
interpretations as these nature is “a window through 
which one may look into Infinitude itself.” 
Unquestionably people vary in their susceptibility 
to nature, in the degree in which nature affects and 
satisfies them. And yet it may he reasonably af¬ 
firmed that the appeal is universal and that practi¬ 
cally every human being responds in some measure to 
the influence of nature in one or more of the above 
mentioned ways. A wonderful adaptation appears 
to exist between the mind of man and the external 
world; these two phases of life answer to each other; 
both seem rooted in one intelligence which embraces 
and upholds nature and man. Furthermore the 
influence of nature is in nowise limited to the scenes 
or the visual compositions. To these we must add 
the “effects,” the fleeting impressions that painters 
paint and poets describe and all of us in the varying 
degree of our sensitiveness enjoy,—the effects of the 
dawn, the sunset, the clouds, the various and beauti¬ 
ful appearances that spring, summer, autumn and 
winter present, and innumerahle other out-door 
effects. 
The conclusions from this brief consideration of 
the ways in which scenery gives pleasure are: (i) 
That although the pleasure to be obtained from na¬ 
ture is intangible, it is nevertheless very real; (2) 
that although the pleasure varies with individuals 
(here, as elsewhere, what we get depends largely 
upon what we bring), the appeal is universal; (3) 
that the pleasure obtainable from such scenery as 
Franklin Park could furnish is of a kind to refresh 
city people and to fit them for their life and work. 
Therefore it would seem that the provision of rural 
scenery for the people of Boston is a proper and 
adequate purpose for the selection and creation of a 
“country park.” 
A'he main purpose of Franklin Park being agreed 
upon and the site selected, it became the respons¬ 
ibility of the landscape architect to fix the houndaries 
of the park, divide the ground for its various pur¬ 
poses, locate the roads and paths, outline the planting 
and the treatment of the existing vegetation, 
and make or secure satisfactory plans for the 
necessary huildings; in other words, to design 
the park. And the design if successful must mani- 
THE TENNIS COURTS IN ELLICOTT DALE 
7 
