Page:Rural Hours.djvu/255

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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 public benches form, indeed, 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