CHAP. XXII.

ON THE ADVANTAGE DERIVED FROM PUBLIC WALKS AND GARDENS.

THE formation of a public walk near a town, or any other undertaking whereby the salubrity and convenience of the neighbourhood is increased, is a beneficial direction of expendi

ture.

It seems somewhat extraordinary, that in this country, where the good of the whole is so much thought of, so little care has hitherto been taken to provide public walks and places of exercise.

Many large provincial towns have grown into wealth and greatness, and are almost destitute of any open space where the poorer classes may walk out. Every common and little bit by the way side has been inclosed, and a dense and increasing population are shut up in narrow courts and streets.

In Italy and France, where in general so much less attention is paid to the comforts of the poor,

there is scarcely a single town without a commodious public walk, shaded by trees, and furnished with benches. Throughout Switzerland the same remark applies; and there the situation chosen is frequently very picturesque, and the promenade is kept with that neatness for which the Swiss are remarkable. The most beautiful are the Cascinne on the banks of the Arno at Florence; the Chaia Walk at Naples, possessing one of the most magnificent views in the world; the promenade below the Strada del Po at Turin (whence the Alps, clothed in snow, are seen rising in a vast semicircle to the north and west); and the Terrace, commanding the lake, and the mountains of Savoy and Chablais, at Lausanne. But Zurich, Berne, Geneva, Basle, Milan, Parma, Modena, Lucca, Padua, and other Swiss and Italian towns have each their public walks or gardens. Many of these walks have been formed and dedicated to the public by the munificence of individuals; and it seems extraordinary that our wealthy and generous nation, where popularity is of value, and leads to power, should be excelled in these respects even by those who care little for the people, and have no part or lot with them.

Some place where the working classes may be amused, and induced to take exercise, is of much greater consequence than we may at first sight deem it; if they have none they are driven on Sundays and holidays to public-houses, where, brooding over real or imaginary grievances, they often read the worst publications, and listen to idle schemes of hasty or impracticable reform.

The vast population of London, amounting to above a million of persons, have no spot (except Hyde Park) where they can walk, free from the dust and heat of public thoroughfares* ; and almost the only place of exercise (Lord's Cricket Ground) unconnected with a liquorshop, is now so far removed, and so high priced, that very few can avail themselves of it.

Some places of exercise fitted for the amusement of the poorer classes, ought to be provided by government near our populous and increasing manufacturing towns. A trifling payment for admission would be enough to defray any

* The late Mr. Windham called the parks "The Lungs of the metropolis," an epithet which describes at once their use and their importance.

future expence arising, and the costs of such attendants as might be necessary to keep order, and enforce proper regulations. At all events, open spaces of ground, properly laid out and ornamented, should be secured as public walks, where all classes may enjoy air and exercise. No man, who considers the subject attentively, will suppose that the benefit derived to the people from such public walks, is confined to their health, which is improved by the free air they inhale, and the exercise they use. This is but the physical effect, and not to be compared to the moral advantage derived from the resort of the people to some public promenade, or proper place of amusement on Sundays and festivals. They will naturally be anxious to appear neatly dressed on such occasions, among their friends, equals, and superiors; and this wish will extend to their wives and children * they have then an object given for their industry and care, innocent in the end, and beneficial in the means.

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Among the other virtues," says Mr. Hume, we may also give cleanliness a place, since it naturally renders us agreeable to others, and is no inconsiderable source of love and affection."-Essays, sec. 8.

The feeling of artificial wants, which the people by their own efforts and forethought, are able to gratify, is one of the main causes of civilisation and improvement.

There can be little doubt that tradesmen, shopmen, and manufacturers are often stimulated to attention and exertion* by the prospect of a jaunt to Margate, an expedition to Richmond, or even a Sunday walk with their wives or sweethearts in Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens.

In a higher sphere, the merchant, banker, and ship-owner are acted upon in somewhat the same way. They are anxious that their sons and daughters should be able to vie with the children of peers and country gentlemen, that their equipages and liveries should be distinguished in Bond Street or the Park. "Dis"tinctions of this sort are subjects much more " of competition than enjoyment; and in that "competition their use consists. It is not, as "hath been rightly observed, by what the

* "The desire of distinction," says Sumner, " the hope of bettering our condition, the love of ease, are the universal motives to exertion, because it is understood that pleasure accompanies the attainment of ease and distinction."― Records of the Creation, part 3. ch. i.