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[TIi:iE.I3 EI3ITI03Sr. 
 
 THE CENTRAL PARK 
 
 UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 
 
 -/ 
 
 REPRINTED FROM THE 
 
 NATIONAL QUARTERLY REVIEW, 
 
 fNo. XLIV., Marcli, 187L,) 
 
 Edited by Edw. I. Sears, LL.D. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 658 BROADWAY. 
 
 1871. 
 
 Price, 25 Cents per Copy. 
 
o 
 
 r 
 
THE CEKTEAL PAEK 
 
 UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 
 
 RErRINTED FKOM THE 
 
 NATIONAL QUARTERLY REVIEW, 
 
 CNo. XLIV., March, 1871,) 
 
 Edited by Edw. I. Sears, LL.D. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 E ID "W JL I^ ID I. S E ^ I?, S , 
 658 BROADWAY. 
 
 187L 
 

NOTE TO THE READER. 
 
 It is l)ut justice to the great Tammauy naturalist to admit that so 
 great is tbe confidence of tbe public in bis profound and learned re- 
 searches, especially in the vegetable kingdom, that the very imperfect 
 sketch we have given of his " works'" has pretty nearly exhausted even 
 the edition of the Review which we announced as affording a " full 
 
 supply." 
 
 But its due weight should be given to tbe fact that the etude has 
 had the honor of beiug recommended in a letter to the Herald — and 
 published as an advertisement in other joumals— even by so high an 
 authority as bis Serene Highness the Doge of New York, and ex-Kuow- 
 Nothing chieftain,* than whom no one is more fully acquainted with 
 the enviable merits of that famous savnnt. 
 
 True, other sketches by the quarterly Editor have been fumilarly 
 recommended by quack doctors, insurance quacks, quack pedagogues, 
 Bowery and " Black Crook " dramatists, poetasters, et hoc genm omne; 
 several' having kindly put themselves to the trouble and expense uf 
 issuing large pamphlets for his benefit ; but he confesses, with due grati- 
 tude, that tbe greatest honor yet conferred on him is that of his Serene 
 Highness, the renowned Know-Nothing Doge, and Protector-in-chief of 
 the Irish, in his very appropriate and admirably sustained role as the 
 miles gloriosus (Anglice Imlly), of our great Tammany naturalist. 
 
 Journals like the Transcript (Chambers street), are authorised to 
 insert this notice three times (provided the total cost does not exceed 
 one dollar), and send bill to Dr. Sears, National QuarUrly Office, who 
 can say, w^ithout fear of contradiction, that although he has never had or 
 sought any fat jobs to profit by at tbe expense of his fellow-citizens, he 
 has never defrauded printer or anybody else of as much as balf-a- dollar. 
 
 In order to i^lace the great result accomplished at the Central Park 
 within the reach of all who are interested in parks, gardens, quack 
 medicines, coaches-and-six, etc., etc., only 25 cents will be charged for 
 the pamphlet. 
 
 * See letter of thnuks to that illustrious personage in tbe Ucrald of April 7, 1871 • 
 
THE 
 
 CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 
 
 When Gustavus III. requested the great Liimseus to give 
 him some hints for his new park on the banks of the Dahl, the 
 philosopher sent him the following, among others : '' Your 
 majesty should commit your favorite horses to the care of 
 an ignorant groom, or place your choice cattle in charge of 
 an ignorant cow-boy, rather than entrust your trees and 
 shrubs to the manipulations of an ignorant gardener. But, 
 above all the candidates for the supervision of your park, 
 heivare of petty politidansP* 
 
 To many this may seem to exagerate the importance of 
 selecting for the management of parks and gardens only those 
 whose intelligence, tastes, and habits qualify them, at least to 
 some extent, for the duties which they are expected to per- 
 form. But we think that all willing to be convinced, who will 
 favor us with their attention for one hour, or even half an 
 hour, will admit that the philosopher was right. Although we 
 pretend to have gleaned some knowledge of botany — having 
 spent more than one decade among trees, and shrubs, and plants, 
 not altogether unmindful of the phenomena they present under 
 certain circumstances — we shall not ask the reader to accept 
 our views as to what may be expected from the present ' ' su- 
 pervision " of the Central Park further than we shall be found 
 able to sustain them by those of men whose authority cannot 
 be disputed. 
 
 * Collectio Epistolarum quas ad riros illustres et darissimos scripsit Carolua a 
 Linne. (Collection of Letters written to illustrious and celebrated men, etc.) 
 
4 THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RINGLEADER RULE, 
 
 The main facts require, indeed, no elaborate testimony j 
 they can be judged without any extensive knowledge of bot- 
 any or any other science. Common sense and ordinary in- 
 telligence, with a moderate use of one's eyes, are sufficient 
 qualifications for the task. We should be very stupid if we 
 did not know something, not only of the manner in which the 
 Park is managed, but also of the results and general tendency 
 of its management ; for none have visited it more frequently, 
 or more regularly, at all seasons, during the last ten years, than 
 we. Not content with riding or driving whithersoever a horse 
 may go, there is not a pedestrian walk with whose attractions 
 Ave are not familiar. That we do not make our almost daily 
 visits in any fault-finding spirit, however, may be inferred 
 from the fact that this is our first complaint against those 
 entrusted with the management of the Park ; although it 
 is not our first article on the subject. More than five years 
 ago* we wrote and published an elaborate article entitled '' Mu- 
 seums and Botanical Gardens," the design of which was to en- 
 courage those in charge of the Park at the time, and all who 
 were in favor of making it worthy of our great city, by show- 
 ing what had been accomplished in the chief capitals of the old 
 world. We found no fault with any of the commissioners ; 
 not that we regarded their work as by any means faultless, 
 but because, considering the disadvantages under which they 
 labored, in laying, as it were, the foundation of the first great 
 park in the United States, we thought they had acquitted 
 themselves quite as well upon the whole as the most sanguine 
 had a right to expect. 
 
 Perhaps it was their politics, some will say, that rendered 
 them so worthy of our sympathy : but all who know us are 
 aware that it is what a man is, and not what party he belongs 
 to, we take into account. Whether a public functionary be a 
 republican, a democrat, or a radical, does not influence us in 
 the slightest degree in estimating his qualifications for the of- 
 fice he holds, or in forming an opinion of the use which he 
 
 - December, 1865, No. XXIII. 
 
THE CENTHAL PARK UNDKR RING-LEADER RULE. 5 
 
 makes of such qualifications as he may happen to possess. 
 For aught we know, or care, the present commissioners are, 
 with one exception, of the same poHtical creed as the former 
 commissioners. In common with all wlio glance at the news- 
 papers, we are, indeed, aware that Mr. Peter B. Sweeny be- 
 longs to the democratic party ; we might as well pretend to be 
 ignorant of the existence of the illustrious James Fisk, Jr., or 
 of our equally illustrious quack doctors, as not to know, at 
 least, the avowed political dogmas of that distinguished person. 
 
 We are only sorry that he did not confine his attentions ta 
 the party work he had been used to, and let our beautiful Park 
 alone. Had he done so it is by no means certain that his name 
 would ever have found its way into these pages. This is the 
 first time we have ever printed it, although made aware years 
 ago that Mr. Sweeny boasts of being the manager of the dem- 
 ocratic party in New York, and one of our wealthiest politi- 
 cians. Assuming both facts to be true, we confess we could 
 never understand how he became manager, or how he ac- 
 quired his wealth. 
 
 It is true we have seen him styled in the Herald "Pe- 
 ter Bismarcl Sweeny " ; but it should be known by this time 
 that no editor uses the figure of speech called irony in a stvle 
 more amusing, to those who can look beyond the surface of 
 things, than Mr. Bennett ; nor is any one more fully aware that 
 nothing can render pygmies more ridiculous than to compare 
 them to giants. But let us assume that the countryman of 
 Bums and Smollett does not laugh in his sleeve when he uses 
 the term " Bismarck " in that sense, but does so in sober 
 earnest, which is assuming a good deal ; nay, assuming that 
 there is some resemblance between the two personages, what 
 then ? Be it remembered that it is not alone the faculty of 
 acting as the zealous, unscrupulous tool of the despot and 
 spoliator that Coimt Bismarck possesses in a high degree, for 
 he is equally cunning, greedy, and oblivious of prmciple in 
 smuggling the most stupid and good-for-nothing of his rela- 
 tives into positions where they alsa can fatten on the public 
 
6 THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 
 
 fodder, and become millionaires at the expense of the tax- 
 payers. 
 
 If the term '^ Bismarck " is used as a sly allusion to this, 
 then we admit that there is some force in it ; but we cannot 
 help thinking that there would be much more force, and more 
 justice, too, in comparing the present head (?) of the Department 
 of Public Parks to his friend. Colonel Fisk, Jr. If the former 
 claims to be a jurist, and the latter claims to be a military chief- 
 tain, we think tliat the legal attainments of the one are pretty 
 nearly on a par with the military attainments of the other ; in 
 other words, one is about as good a specimen of a iield- 
 officer as his friend is of a counsellor at law. We have no doubt 
 that the latter could defend one for obtaining money under 
 false pretences, or for conspiring with others for that purpose, as 
 ably and fearlessly as the former could command a target com- 
 pany in charging a battalion of fishmongers before ''the ene- 
 my " had time to arm. 
 
 By all means, then, let the middle name of our Park pre 
 sident be '' Bismarck ;" we shall be entirely satisfied. We are 
 bound to remember that other personages of somewhat similar 
 calibre, as lawgivers and statesmen, have been elevated to a 
 high pitch of glory by waggish writers. As an example, we 
 need not go beyond the famous Sancho Panza. Cervantes is so 
 anxious to do full justice to '' honest Sancho," especially as the 
 ruler of a certain island, that he prepares himself for the work 
 as follows : " To thee I address myself, O sun ! by whose as- 
 sistance man produces man ; thee I invoke to invigorate and 
 enlighten my imaginatim, so that my language mag Iceep pace 
 ivltli its subject and faithfully describe the government of the 
 great Sancho Pan^a.^^* 
 
 This it will be admitted is as full an " endorsement "' of the 
 pretensions of Sancho as ever Mr. Bennett has given of Sweeny 
 And if the head of the latter has been turned by comparing him 
 to his betters, so we are informed has been the head of the 
 former. But the subjects of Sancho required some qualifica- 
 
 «^- Adve?ittires of Don Quixote, chap. xlv. 
 
THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 7 
 
 tions, however trifling, from those who aspired to rule them ; 
 for they address him thus : '' It is an ancient custom here, my 
 lord governor, that he who is appointed to the command of this 
 far-famed island shall, on his first taking possession, give an- 
 swer to some intricate and difficult questions, by which the 
 people are enabled to judge of the capacity of their new gov- 
 ernor, and thereby determine whether to rejoice or grieve at 
 his arrival."* 
 
 We are informed that these people had heard compliments 
 enougli paid to ISancho ; as high compliments as ever have been 
 paid to Sweeny. The chief difference seems to be that, while 
 the inhabitants of the island of Barataria had the perception 
 to distinguish the language of irony and derision from that of 
 serious, sincere approbation, the inhabitants of the island of 
 Manhattan- — at least that portion of them that do most of the 
 voting — take for gospel everything they are told, in an ingen- 
 ious and lively manner. 
 
 This does not prove, however, that Mr. Sweeny is a fit and 
 proper person to have the chief control of the Central Park. 
 Had his rule been confined to the wild animals, then, with a few- 
 lessons from Barnum, he might have acquitted himself very 
 well, and might in time have aspired, with some show of justice, 
 to be styled Peter Barnum Sweeny. In the first place, we would 
 not object to give him charge of the whole genus vulpes, al- 
 though we understand that he is familiar with no nobler speci- 
 men of it than the vulpes vulgaris, so well known among hen- 
 wives as the red fox. Nor should we fear that the genus ursus, 
 especially i\\e ursus iiorrihilis (grizzly bear), would not receive 
 appropriate treatment at his hands, or under his supervision. 
 To these we should be willing to add the genus sus, including 
 the porous Hihernicus — as good a specimen of the domestic hog 
 as we know ; and the genus asinus, including the ^ebra Afri- 
 cana, together with the whole family of the simiadee, espe- 
 cially the baboon and green monkey species. 
 
 Some birds (aves) we would also place under his jurisdiction, 
 '^ Adventures of Don Quixote, chap, xlv. 
 
8 THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RINGLEADER RULE. 
 
 although not those that could be plucked, by throwing chaff in 
 their eyes, such as the anseres Hibernici, vulgarly called Irish 
 geese. This interesting but short-sighted species we should 
 rather keep out of his way ; but in their stead we would give 
 him some specimens of the genus qaUus, which might include 
 the gallina queeslura (chamberlain's hen), a bird whose chief 
 characteristic, according to Pliny and other naturalists, is to set 
 up an enormous cackle, wonderfully similar to the braying of 
 the donkey, when her maw is so well filled that she can afford 
 to give a few small crumbs to the bantams and goslings at whose 
 expense she fattens ; whereas, while stuffing herself and her 
 greedy brood, she is as dumb as an owl at mid-day. 
 
 As for plants, we should trust none with Sweeny, 
 except very few of the hardier species, such as the genus 
 gabdisdhe,* the genus prdta,^ and the genus tri-dhuilc.X 
 These and a few others might receive proper treatment under 
 the rule of ^^ President Sweeny ;" not indeed for love of the 
 people whose favored plants they are supposed to be, but for 
 love of their votes — that is, for love of the golden egg which, 
 hen or goose-like, he makes them lay for him and his friends. 
 
 But the question now is : How does Sweeny manage the 
 Central Park ? No intelligent person in the habit of visiting 
 it who makes any use of his eyes needs any reply to this. 
 But those who are shortsighted, as well as those who live too 
 far away to judge for themselves, may justly be told that 
 no Park involving half so much expense has ever been so 
 grossly mismanaged. We exaggerate nothing when we say 
 that an amount of damage has been done to the Park since 
 spring last, which it would take five years to remedy did the 
 work of the spoiler cease at this moment. We think we 
 hear our sagacious and accomplished naturalists exclaim, 
 with a derisive smile : "■ Why, he knows nothing about it ! 
 he means the pruning, and thinning, and transplanting — what 
 nonsense ! " It is very true that we partly mean what you 
 designate by these terms ; it is also true that we believe in 
 
 * Iiish for cabbage. f Irish for potato. % Irish for shamrock. 
 
THE CENTUAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 9 
 
 pruning, thinning, and transplanting ; but we believe in 
 them as we do in the use of the lancet; the scissors, and the 
 razor. Does it follow that, because these are useful instru- 
 ments in skilful, experienced hands, no mischief will be done 
 if almost anybody takes them up at random, and cuts and 
 hacks and mutilates whatever he imagines he can improve in 
 its health or appearance by his newly-acquired, art ? 
 
 Most of our New York readers are aware that almost 
 immediately after Master Sweeny became president of the de- 
 partment of Public Parks he sailed for Europe. He visited 
 several parks in England and on the Continent, and, in 
 taking a hurried glance at each (for Tammany might go to 
 ruin if he was long absent), he observed that some little 
 branches had been lopped off here and there, a few trees 
 transplanted, and a few diseased ones cut down. It is said 
 that a word for the wise is sufficient ; but Sweeny did not 
 require even a word. He returned as hastily as he went ; and 
 he was scarcely two days back in New York when he began 
 to prepare for a general onslaught on every grove, shrub- 
 bery, and tree in the Central Park ; his first attacks being 
 on those groups that had begun to afford a delightful shade — 
 one of the most fascinating attractions in a public park, 
 especially in a climate like ours, where everybody longs 
 for it in the summer, '' as the hart panteth for the water 
 brooks. 
 
 Most persons have heard of the pet-monkey, which, having 
 observed the barber shaving his master, availed himself of the 
 first opportunity to steal the razor and lather-box, in order to 
 practise on the cat and dog, and such other members of the 
 family as he thought might be improved by the operation ; 
 but Puss, Tray, etc., not relishing that sort of treatment, fought 
 to be let alone, or sought refuge in flight. In short, Master Simia 
 found that his friends did not care to be shaved ; and whether in- 
 fluenced by midue enthusiasm in the exercise of his new 
 accomplishment, or by chagrin at the lack of appreciation for 
 his good intentions evinced by his friends, the poor animal 
 
10 THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RTNG-LEADER RULE, 
 
 cut his own throat to such an extent that all the doctors in the 
 neighborhood were unable to save his life. 
 
 If we learn nothing else from this little incident, it shows us 
 the difference between animals and vegetables. Although the 
 animal is " dumb/' he is capable, in general, at least of seeking 
 'Safety from his enemy in flight, whereas the tree must stand 
 its ground and offer no resistance. Yet the tree, too, has life ; 
 it is capable of being wounded, and wounded fatally ; it is 
 capable of contracting disease from hnd, ignorant treatment / 
 and the disease so contracted map, and often docs, prove fatal. 
 
 The most stupid might understand this, if aware that plants 
 have a veritable circulation, and even respiration, correspond- 
 ing with those of animals ; and if Sweeny were aw^are of 
 the important effects of those processes on our atmosphere, 
 and consequently on the health of our citizens, we are willing 
 to believe that even he Avould have paused before carrying the 
 mutilating plan to the extreme extent he has. 
 
 We remarked at the beginning of this article, that we 
 should not ask our readers to accept our views on the vitality 
 and growth of plants any further than we might be found able 
 to sustain them by the testimony of acknowledged authorities. 
 First, we turn to "The Vegetable World " of Figuier, and 
 find the two kingdoms compared as follows : ''But the respi- 
 ration of plants is not always the same like that of animals, 
 in which carbonic acid gas, water, and vapor are exhaled 
 without cessation either by day or night. Plants possess two 
 modes of respiration / one diurnal, in which the leaves absorb 
 the carbonic acid of the air, decompose this ga^, and extract 
 the oxygen, while the carbon remains in their tissues ; the 
 other nocturnal, and the reverse, in which the plant absorbs 
 the oxygen and extracts the carbonic acid ; that is to say, 
 they breathe in the same manner that animals do. The carbon 
 which is used by plants during the day is indispensable to the 
 perfect development of their organs and the consolidation of 
 their tissues. By respiration plants live and grow." ^ 
 
 '-"' The Veg. WoiM: Being a Hist, of Plants, with their Botanical 
 Descriptions and Peculiar Properties, etc. By M. Louis Figuier, p. 198. 
 
THE CENTRAL PAUK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 11 
 
 It is needless to remark to our readers, that by " plants " 
 are meant trees and shrubs, as well as the common vegetables 
 more popularly known by that name. But another word on 
 this subject from M. Figuier : '' The diurnal respiration of 
 plants, which pours into the air considerable quantities of 
 oxygen gas, happily compensates for the effects of animal 
 respiration which produces carbonic gas injurious to the life 
 of man. Plants purify the air injured by the respiration of 
 men and animals. If animals transform the oxygen of the 
 air into carbonic acid, ji^d) its talce this carbonic acid hach again 
 hij their diurnal respiration. They fix the carbon in the depth 
 of their tissues, and return oxygen to the air in respiration.''''* 
 
 Now, as to the circulation corresponding to the circulation 
 of the blood in animals. This has been demonstrated in the 
 clearest manner by numerous experiments. " If a plant is 
 made to absorb colored liquid," says M. Figuier, ^' or if the 
 branches are plunged into the same liquid, it is easily seen that 
 it does not rise first either in the barJc or pith. It is in the 
 icood or ligneous body through which it manifestly takes its 
 passage. This passage takes place through all the ligneous 
 elements, — cells, fibres, and vessels. The anatomical structure 
 of tlcse vessels, their large number, their strength in the 
 prostrate filiform and slender stems, which often attain a very 
 considerable length, and which require to be traversed by 
 a large quantity of sap in order to supply what is necessary 
 for evaporation by the leaves — all these general facts leave 
 no doubt as to the part which the wood vessels play in the cir- 
 culation of the sap^f 
 
 Referring to the curious and beatiful apparatus of Dr. Hales, 
 an eminent English physiologist, by which these facts are 
 illustrated, Figuier says : " Hales calculated from this that 
 the force which impels the sap in. the vine i?, Jive times as 
 great as that which impels the blood through the large arteries 
 
 '~ Ibid, p. 109. See also Linnaeus' Systema Natures ; sire Ref/'ia Tria 
 Naturcv.. Didot, Paris, 1830, pp. 75-80. — De Jussieu, Genera Plantanim. 
 Introduction, p. 15 et seq. 
 
 t Vegetable Worhl, p. HI. 
 
13 THE CRXTHAL PAKK UNDER RING LEADER RULE. 
 
 of the horse. Having reached the leaves, the sap comes 
 in contact with the air by the innumerable openings, or 
 stomates, which communicate 'vith the air cells and hollow 
 meatus in the substance oi the parenchymal* 
 
 This sap is just as necessary for the noimshment of the 
 tree as the blood is for the nourishment of the animal ; and, as 
 whatever injures the blood, or its vessels, injures the animal, 
 so whatever injures the sap, or its vessels, injures the tree. 
 We do not say that the latter is in general as sensitive and 
 tender as the former; but we maintain that one as well as the 
 others sickens and dies from the treatment of ignorant quacks 
 of the Sangrado type. Before we do anything more, how- 
 ever, than allude, in passing, to the indignation we have felt 
 on different occasions, especially during the last three or 
 four months, on seing dozens of common laborers mutilat- 
 ing the finest trees in the Park, while others stubbed up, 
 or felled altogether, trees whose shade was becoming 
 charming — so gratefully cool and refreshing when the heat 
 is intolerable in every exposed place — we will briefly con- 
 sider the subject in another light. Let us see what are the 
 views of the best authorities on landscape gardening, and 
 glance, if only for variety's sake, at the views of some of 
 those regarded as the best judges of the beautiful in nature and 
 art. First, we will turn to Loudon, who is the best English 
 authority of the present day. Loudon is in favor of skilful 
 pruning for certain kinds of trees ; but for no trees would 
 he allow the Sweeny style. Speaking of close pruning judi- 
 diciously performed, he says : 
 
 " This mode of pruning is only adopted when the object is to pro- 
 duce stems or trunks clear of branches of any kind of protuberance, as 
 in the case of standard trees in gardens, especially fruit trees, and in 
 the case of forest trees grown for their timber. If the branch cut otf 
 is nnder an inch in diameter, the wound will generally heal over in two 
 seasons, and in this case the timber sustains no practical injury ; tut if it 
 ■is larger, it will prohably hegin to decay in the centre,"' etc.f 
 
 '•'■ Vegetable World, p. 112. t Loudon's Horticulture. 
 
THE CENTIJAL PARK UNDER RINGLEADER RULE. 13 
 
 Referring to the milder specimens of the Sweeny style, 
 Loudon proceeds: 
 
 " Close lopping, by which a large wound is produced, the surface of 
 which not only never can unite with the new wood which is Icinicd over 
 it, because, as we have seen, growing tissue own only unite to growing tis- 
 sue, but the wood iu the centre of the icoundwiW.in nil prohubilit//, hegin 
 to rot before it is covered over, and, consequently, the centre of the 
 trunk will be moi'e or less injured. Even if, by covering the wound with 
 composition to exclude the weather, the surface of the section should 
 be prevented from rotting, still there would be a blemish in the tim- 
 ber," etc.* 
 
 Thisj it will be admitted, is sufficiently clear ; it would 
 enable any of our readers in the habit of visiting the Park to 
 see whether our complaint is just or not. But we want to 
 satisfy the most sceptical — we desire to convince even those 
 wdio have the genius to make an empty, sack stand, at least 
 for a time, when they take it into their head. It is well 
 known, by all who have travelled, that there are no better 
 landscape gardeners at the present day than the Scotch. We 
 have before us an excellent Scotch Avork, iu several volumes, 
 entitled '' Rural Cyclopedia," and edited by the Rev. J. M. 
 Wilson, of Edinburgh. From the article on pruning we ex- 
 tract the following : 
 
 " Where pruning is not required to renovate the vigor of an enf celled 
 tree, or to regulate its shape, in other words, in the case of a healthy tree, 
 it may be considered worse than useless. * * Ignorant cultivators 
 frequently weal-en the energies of young trees, and cause them to grow 
 up with lean and slender stems by injudiciously />rw?Ji«<7 off the young 
 side shoots,''' etc.t 
 
 May we not ask, then, were all our fine trees at the Cen- 
 tral Park " enfeebled " when its present head ''cultivator" 
 took charge of it ? Or must it be admitted that he is an 
 " ignorant cultivator "? " But another word or two. Some 
 may pretend that because Figuier, Loudon, and Wilson are 
 men of our own day their authority may be questioned. In 
 order that no such subterfuge can avail iu this case, we will 
 turn to old Evelyn, wdiosc Silva et Terra has the classic 
 
 Loudon's Horticulture, p. 340. t Rur. Cyc, Edinburgh, 1853. 
 
14 THR CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 
 
 stamp, and who has elicited the praises of the greatest modern 
 naturalists, including Buffon and Cuvier, especially for his 
 admirable dissertations on the treatment of trees in public 
 parks and gardens. He, also, is in favor of judicious pruning 
 in those instances in which pruning seems to be required ; but 
 that he has as great a horror as we have ourselves of the 
 Sweeny style, may be inferred from the following : 
 
 '' It is a misery to see how our fairest trees are defaced and mangled by 
 unsMlful looodinen and miscliievous borderers, who go always armed 
 with short hand-bills, hacling and cliopping off all that comes in their 
 way ; by which our trees are made full of knot?, stubs, boils, cankers, and 
 deformed branches to their utter destruction.''''* 
 
 That ^'unskilful woodmen" are unsafe persons to entrust 
 Avith the care of a public park or garden, will be readily ad- 
 mitted ; but they can hardly be said to be more unsafe in that 
 position than a ward politician, even though the latter may 
 be led by satirically-inclined friends, amused by his vanity, 
 to fancy himself a statesman and lawgiver. Be this as it 
 may, we ask the reader to notice how " our fairest trees are 
 defaced and mangled," and how they are '' made full of 
 knots, stubs, boils, and cankers, etc., to their utter destruc- 
 tion." A little further on in the same page Evelyn laments 
 that those ignorant people '^ have no consideration how those 
 ghastly wounds mortally affect the whole body of the tree^''^ etc. 
 And that Evelyn understood vegetable physiology as well as 
 landscape gardening, is sufficiently proved by the reasons 
 which he assigns for the '' boils, cankers," etc. '^ It is," he 
 says, " abundantly evident that all trees inspire and expire, 
 from pores in their bark as well as their leaves, so that ivhat- 
 ever interrupts either of those processes must occasion disease J^i 
 
 Now we venture to say that no impartial reader, aware of 
 what has been done of late at the Park, who has accompanied 
 us thus far, will think that we have deviated from the lan- 
 guage of moderation and justice in asserting, at the beginning 
 
 * Evelyn's 8ilva et Terra, vol. ii. p. 17'S. 
 
 j Silva et Terra, edited by Hunter, vol. ii. p. 183. 
 
THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 15 
 
 of this paper, that more mischief has been done to the trees 
 under Sweeny rule during the last six months than can be 
 remedied in as many years. We now add, in the same calm 
 but earnest spirit, that he should be restrained from pursu- 
 ing- his ignorant and destructive course any further. The 
 British parliament has, at different times, enacted laws 
 for the purpose of restraining '' ignorant or ill-disposed 
 persons." Besides the well-known statutes 1 George I. and 
 6 George III., there is still on the statute book of England 
 what is called the Black Act, by which, " to cut down or de- 
 stroy any trees planted in an avenue, or growing in a gar- 
 den, orchard, or plantation for ornament, shelter, or profit, is 
 feloni/ ivlthout hencjit of clergy; and the hundred shall he charg- 
 ablefor the damages unless the offender he convicted." The 
 Sixth of George III. made the penalty for the same offence 
 transportation for seven years. These laws make no allow- 
 ance for ignorance or presumption ; and if those whose duty it 
 was to restrain the offender failed to do so, either because he 
 was a political ring-leader, or for any other motive, they had 
 to pay, themselves, for the damage he had done. 
 
 We shall not pause now to inquire what might be the effect 
 of such a law in the present case ; but referring to the Black 
 Act reminds us of an incident which may serve as an episode. 
 As we rode along one day, not far from the Ramble, we ob- 
 served about a dozen persons, all armed with weapons more 
 or less formidable, with which they were making an onslaught 
 on a beautiful group of trees, as if their object had been to 
 provide themselves with fire-wood, or with roofing for their 
 shanties, without any regard to consequences. Approaching 
 within a dozen yards or so, we addressed the nearest in as 
 good-humored a tone as the nature of the work going forward 
 would allow us : '' May I ask what are you destroying the 
 trees for ? •' There was a pause for a moment. The men 
 looked at each other, and after a moment one replied with an 
 expressive grin, ''Faith, an' it is that same, sir; but 'tis n't 
 our fault. It's th' ordhers of Misther Swiny himself." " Mis- 
 
16 THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADEK KULE. 
 
 ther Sweeny, the prasident, you mane/' interrupted another, 
 drawing his pipe somewhat abruptly from his mouth. Before 
 we had time to reply in the affirmative a third person, armed 
 with a weapon like a scythe, laughed, and said in Irish, " Tha 
 tJiissa karth a Vichael ; a ainm Jior hu Siviny.''^ (You are 
 right, Michael ; his true name was Swiny.) Another, equally 
 disposed to joke, said, in the same dialect, '' Shay shid 
 ainm Sassenach ; a ainm fior shay Mac FinsighJ^ (But that's 
 
 his English name ; his true name is .) Here there was a 
 
 general laugh ; but we prefer not to translate " Mac Finsigh " 
 for the present. " It isn't Mr. Sweeny's name I want to in- 
 quire about, but what you are doing to the trees.'^ '' If it was, 
 thin," says another, '' ' t wouldn't be Misther Sweeny, savin' 
 your presence, but Misther Beesmark Sweeny."' " By jabers, 
 Barney, isn't ould Bennett capital at makin' omadhanes (fools) 
 of those polititioners wid his dhroll names." ^' But what of 
 the trees, Mike ? " '^ Well, in ould Ireland the threes wouldn't 
 stand this sort o' prunin', but in the land o' liberty may be 
 'twill be good for them ! I'll hould a bet wid any body, that's 
 the iday ! for did n't Misther Swiny go all the way to Dublin, 
 the moment he was promoted, to see the threes in the Finix 
 Park and the Boar de Bulone, and all them other cilibrated 
 places ? " Despairing of receiving any more satisfactory in- 
 formation in that quarter, we thanked Mike, Larry, and 
 Barney, and proceeded to enjoy our ride in the best way we 
 could.* . 
 
 ■■' Revolving in our mind some of the expressions in the Irish language 
 we had just heard, it occurred to us that Barney knew something about ety- 
 mology, although there was no evidence that he had ever studied either 
 that or any other branch of learning. On a little reflection we remembered 
 that neither of the letters 'to and y, which occur in the name Sweeny, be- 
 long to the Erse language, and that the original Irish of Sweeny is Snibi/ie 
 ■with the prefix Mac (son of), which is identical with the Latin iSiiidce, the name 
 of a family which, though very ancient and highly interesting in some of its 
 characteristics, is held in abhorence alike by Jew and Mohammetan. (Vide 
 Molloy's Grammar of the Irish Language, p. 214.) Happening to see a good 
 deal of rooting just at the moment, and bearing in mind some of the more 
 salient points of Darwin's theory of natural selection in the struggle for 
 life, we had a great mind to return and thank Barney for so curious a lesson 
 in comparative pliilology, especially as he could possibly tell tis why the 
 prefix " Mac" has been omitted in the case of " the prasident ; " but lest we 
 might come in contact, by mistake, with some of the " pruning hooks," we 
 thought it best to piirsue our researches in some other direction. 
 
THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 17 
 
 Now, leaving the reader to judge for himself as to the 
 amount of injury done to the trees, we proceed to consider 
 what is the effect of the lopping, hacking, stubbing, and fell- 
 ing system on the scenery; and whetlicr sliadc is to be regarded 
 as essential to the attractiveness of a j)ublic park, or the re- 
 verse. That nature may be improved by art is admitted by 
 all who have any taste ; but the art must not be apparent. The 
 eye must not be offended by the rents and tears of weapons ; 
 nature must be kept in mind, and, to use the language of Lin- 
 nseus, Natnra )wnfacit saltus. In his essay on the Sublime and 
 Beautiful, Burke very justly says : '' No work of art can be 
 great but as it deceives ; to be otherwise is the prerogative of 
 nature only."* He was not a mere politician and trickster who 
 has given this opinion, but a statesman and a philosopher. 
 And Walpole, writing in the same spirit, tells us that under 
 the supervision of the intelligent superintendent, who had 
 some knowledge of botany, " The living landscape was chas- 
 tened or polisliedj not transformed. Freedom tons gircn to 
 the forms of trees ; they extended their branches unrestricted,^^ 
 etc. 
 
 But we need not have consulted any more recent or better 
 authority as to the proper care of trees, or what constitutes a 
 beautiful park or garden, than the author of the ^neid ; for 
 there is no finer essay on horticultui'e and landscape garden- 
 ing in any language than the second Georgic of Virgil. 
 Accordingly it is extensively cpioted by the best modem 
 writers on those subjects, including the great Linuaius himself. 
 As for Evelyn, his Sylva contains extracts at almost every 
 page from this truly scientific and admirable poem. Ikit it is 
 not alone in his second Georgic that the Mantuan bard cele- 
 brates the cool and grateful shade as one of the greatest bless- 
 ings which the inhabitants of a populous city can enjoy ; in 
 the very first line presented to us of his poems he makes Mel- 
 iboeus sing : 
 
 '" Part II. sec. 10. 
 
18 THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 
 
 Tityre, tu patuliE recubans sui tegminefagi 
 Sylvestrem tfinui Musam meditaris avena.* 
 
 Before proceeding further than the fourth line he presents 
 
 the delightful idea in another form — 
 
 Tu, Tityre, Jentus in umbra 
 Formosam resonare doces Amaryllida syTvas.\ 
 
 To extract what is appropriate and instructive in the 
 second Georgic Avere to extract nearly the whole poem. But 
 a line or two will suffice. First, the poet reminds the horti- 
 culturist that nature is various in producing trees — 
 Piincipio aiboril.us varia natura creandis.J 
 Virgil also Avarns the ignorant pruner [pntator) by re- 
 minding him that the branches of one tree may turn into 
 another without injury to either — 
 
 Et seepe alterius ramos impune videmus 
 Yertere in ohcrius.^ 
 
 Nor does the poet forget to show that trees, like animals, 
 should be treated according to their different kinds and con- 
 stitutions — not treated all alike after our Sangrado fashion — 
 Quare agite proprios generatim discite cultus.|| 
 
 Thus Virgil not only expresses the highest admiration for 
 the shady recesses of the groves as a feature of the land- 
 scape grateful to all, but he shows how those recesses may be 
 produced. Still greater, if possible, is the admiration of 
 Horace for the delightful gloom formed by the intertwining 
 trees with their luxuriant foliage. As an illustration of this, 
 we need only refer to his description of his own villa on the 
 banks of the Tiber, the munificent gift of Maecenas. It 
 charms him to see the vine and the elm embrace each other 
 so closely as to exclude the burning rays of the sun (an 
 amicta vitibus ulmo) ; it delights him to proclaim that the 
 breezy hills are separated only by umbrageous valleys. 
 
 '■' O Tityrus, recumbent beneath the shade of a spreading beech, etc. — 
 Bucolica, Eel. 1. 
 
 f O Tityrus, while reposing in the shade, teach the trees to resound 
 the name ot the fair Amaryllis. 
 
 iJV. 9. $V. 32, 33. IV. 35. 
 
THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RINQ-LEADEU RULE. 19 
 
 Contenui montes, nisi dissocientur opaca 
 Valle.* 
 Cicero, Varro, and riiny evince equal admiration for the 
 spreading branches, and equal indignation against the spoiler 
 who would lop them off and banish the Dryades with the 
 shades they love. But neither poet, nor botanist, nor horti- 
 culturist, ancient or modern, has more eloquently, or more 
 plainly shown what a public garden or park ought to be than 
 Milton. He delights to recur again and again in several 
 books of his Paradise Lost to the scenery of the garden of 
 Eden ; accordingly, the chief landscape gardeners of France, 
 Germany, and Italy, as well as England, who have treated the 
 subject since his time, have quoted him as an authority on 
 those subjects. The great English poet delights to tell that 
 even Satan pauses in his diabolical course when he reaches 
 the border where the delicious Garden 
 
 " Crowns witli her enclosure green, 
 As with a moral mound the champain head 
 Of a deep wilderness, whose hairy sides 
 With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild, 
 Access denied ; and overhead up grew 
 Insuperable height of loftiest shade 
 Cedar, and pine and fir and branching palm, 
 A sylvan scene ; and, as the ranks ascend 
 Shade above shade, a woody theatre 
 Of stateliest vieic.-f 
 
 Even the '^ sapphire fount," the " crisped brooks," the 
 <' orient pearl," and " sands of gold," are all enhanced in their 
 beauty by being viewed " under pendant shades." Then we 
 are told about the plants and flowers 
 
 " Which not nice art 
 In beds and curious knots, but nature boon 
 Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain 
 Both where the morning sun first warmly smote 
 The open field, and where the unpierced ihnde 
 Imhrowned the noon-tide bowersyX 
 
 " Epist., xvi., Ad Quinctium, lib. 1. 
 
 \ Par. Lost, B. iv. v. 133 et seq. X Ibid, v. 241 et seq. 
 
20 THE CENTRAL PARK tTNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 
 
 It is well knoAvn that Milton had made himself acquainted, 
 as far as he could do so by careful study and research, with the 
 most charming features of all the famous gardens both of the an- 
 cient and modern world, before he wrote a line of his description 
 of Eden. To him the sacred grove of Diana, the garden of Ep- 
 icurus, the paradise of Persia, the suspended gardens of 
 Babylon, the Villa Adriana, the floating gardens of Mex- 
 ico, and the villas of Netzahualoyotl and Montezuma, were 
 equally familiar. But it will be seen that to no features 
 essential to a park or garden does the great poet — whose ideas 
 of the beauties of nature and art are universally and justly 
 admired — attach more importance than to '' the thicket over- 
 grown," though " grotesque and wild," '^ the unpierced 
 shade," and "noon-tide bowers."* These are the beauties 
 which would cause even the arch-enemy of man to pause 
 before he attempted to destroy them, but whose destruc- 
 tion, as far as it is in his power, is the first care of Mr. 
 Peter B. Sweeny. 
 
 Several generations ago, from the time of Walpole to that 
 of Pope and Addison, the English had to complain as we have 
 now ; still more recently, Mr. Knight has very spiritedly and 
 justly protested against 
 
 " Each secret haunt and deep recess diaplay'd 
 And intricacy banished with its shadey 
 
 Nor does he conceal his indignation against the ignorant 
 spoiler, whom he addresses as follows : 
 
 '' Hence, hence ! thou haggard fiend, hoioever called, 
 Thou meagre genius of the bare and bald ; 
 Thy spade and mattock here at length lay down 
 And follow to the tomb your favorite Brown."t 
 
 Had our leading papers so addressed our Brown two or three 
 months since, much mischief might have been prevented. We 
 are convinced that had their principal editors been in the habit 
 of visiting the Park regularly, they would have done so. Surely 
 
 « See also v. 291, vii. 527, viii. 304, ix. 439. 
 X Ldndticape, p. 25, ed. 2. 
 
 I 
 
THE CENTUAL PARK UKDER EIN'G LEADER RULE. 21 
 
 the veteran who contributed at least as much as any one else to 
 establisli the Central Park, would not have looked on in silence 
 had he been aware of the treatment it has been receiving under 
 the Sweeny rule ; we are sure that '^ Bismarck " would have 
 given way to the much more appropriate name of Breun, or 
 Brofy, Bradly, Bradach,* Bunkum, etc., etc. Poor Mr. Ray- 
 mond, who used to visit the Park almost daily, and take great 
 delight in observing the luxurious growth of the trees — we can 
 well imagine how indignant he would have felt ; for he, too, 
 was entitled to a full share of the glory of securing for Noav 
 York so priceless a boon. Has the Times become indifferent 
 to what was so dear to its able and worthy founder ? Can 
 nothing excite the indignation of our other leading daily editors 
 but partisan politics ? Has Mr. Greeley no protest to make, 
 even as an agriculturist, against a more deplorable exhibition 
 than the bull in the china shop, and the bear, too — the verit- 
 able ursus Jiorrihilis f Must the World remain dumb because, 
 although aware that it is evidently as absurd, if not as cruel, 
 to entrust Sweeny with the care of the trees and shrubs at 
 the Central Park, as it woidd be to entrust the wolf with 
 the care of the sheep and lambs, still it is bound to remember 
 that that personage is a very smart fellow at election time, 
 Avhen he boasts that in spite of press or pulpit he carries the 
 Irish vote in his pocket 1 We would fain hope not ; and yet 
 the work of destruction still goes On. No one has less 
 excuse than the Express, for few visit the Park more fre- 
 quently than Mr. Brooks and his handsome cream- colored 
 ponies. He and Mr. Hastings would be much better occu- 
 pied in exclaiming " Ringman, spare that tree ! " than in 
 going to law with each other ; especially as the latter under- 
 stands Irish ethnology, including the interesting tribes of 
 the suidce and simiadce, better than most other American 
 editors, and ought to understand the dialects of both the 
 mixed and pure breeds. As to the Post, we fear it is too 
 busily occupied in eulogising all books and pamphlets bearing 
 
 ^ Yide Fo\ey'B Irish Dictionary. Dublin. Curry & Co. 1855. 
 
23 THE CENTKAL PARK UNDER RING -LEADER RULE. 
 
 the imprint of wealthy publishers, and watching the seething of 
 the political caldron to see what will turn up, to find time to 
 bestow any attention on such abstract subjects as horticulture 
 and botany. At all events, we are not sure but that its managers 
 regard the transformations recently undergone by the Park 
 as equal to certain recent translations which are said to surpass 
 all others ever made. Then our little luminary no longer 
 shines in that direction ; it seems that, unlike the orb from which 
 it borrows its name, it has its dark side, which it occasionally 
 uses as a cloak for its new friends. Hence it is, we suppose, that 
 what was all hliibher only a few months ago is now all " Brains ;" 
 a phenomenon which reminds us of a certain learned professor 
 who spent half his life in denouncing ^orA; as a very unwhole- 
 some and rather disgusting sort of food, but suddenly discov- 
 ered, in some mysterious way, that, after all, it was just the 
 thing — better than beef or mutton — especially for persons of 
 delicate constitution supposed to have the scrofulous taint. 
 True, the pork was pork still, and nobody but our philosopher 
 could see that its essential properties had undergone any 
 change. 
 
 That our Tammany naturalist has done some good, however, 
 far be it from us to deny. If his wish in doing it was only to 
 oblige two or three of his worthy friends, what of that I It 
 is proper to say, however, that in speaking of his " friends" 
 we do not mean those said to belong to '^ the ring." As we 
 know nothing very overbearing, arrogant, or pompous of the 
 latter, there is no reason why we, who have nothing to do with 
 partisan politics, should treat them as if we knew the reverse. 
 Thus, for example, we have never known Mr. Connolly to 
 make any offensive or parvenu-like display in the Park or 
 elsewhere *, on the contrary, we have always known him to 
 take his drive as quietly ^nd unobtrusively, though as spirit- 
 edly, as any private gentleman. If Mr. Tweed has pursued 
 any different course — if he has exhibited the least ostentation 
 that any one should take umbrage at — we have never wit- 
 nessed, or been made aware of, the fact. As for Mr. Brennan 
 
THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING LEADER RULE. 23 
 
 no one avails himself of the advantages of the Park more mod- 
 estly than he, with his plain one-horse wagon and his bow 
 and smile, in passing, for rich and poor alike. If, with this 
 experience, we should seek to cast slurs on those gentlemen, 
 merely because they are public functionaries, or because their 
 political opinions differ from ours, we should reproach our- 
 selves as unfair and unjust. 
 
 But everybody in the habit of visiting the Park during the 
 last six months is aware that "Cononel" Fisk and "Dr." 
 Helmbold have experienced considerable difficiUty in showing 
 oflf their coaches-and-six on that part of the eastern drive ex- 
 tending from Eighty-sixth to a Hundred and second street. 
 That citizens so illustrious, and to whom the public owe so 
 much, as the Erie Cononel and the Buchu Doctor should be 
 unable to turn their equipages in any part of the road, so that 
 they could drive up and down as often as they thought nec- 
 essary for a full exhibition, without running the risk of com- 
 ing in contact with vulgar one-horse, or, at most, two-horse 
 people, was a hardship which, of course, '^ Brains " Sweeny was 
 not slow to recognize. We are not aware whether the " doc- 
 tor " is, or has been, a colleague of his, hke the '^ colonel "; how- 
 ever, be this as it may, it is but fair to take into account that 
 it is exactly the same class, i.e., the most ignorant and most 
 credulous, who do the voting for Sweeny and buy the buchu 
 for Helmbold. Ignorance and imbecility are as much the basis 
 of the greatness of the one as they are that of the greatness of 
 the other. Besides, as one cures all trees and shrubs, San- 
 grado like, by lopping off their best branches, or felling them 
 altogether, so does the other cure all men and women, let their 
 maladies be what they may, by dosing them with buchu ; and 
 we all know that a fellow-feeling makes one wondrous kind. 
 Accordingly the decree has gone out, and in due time there 
 will be room enough for Fisk and Helmbold. Let no one com- 
 plain, when the bills are sent in, that it is dear work, for it will 
 be very cheap compared to the " pruning." Supposing the 
 work of destroying each tree costs $10 (which, it must be ad- 
 
24 THE CENTRAL PARK UNDER RING-LEADER RULE. 
 
 mitted, is a moderate estimate), without any regard to the con- 
 sequences of that destruction, and that the widening of the road 
 costs the same amount per square foot, should we not remem- 
 ber that it is better to pay even an exorbitant price for what 
 is useful and good, than to pay any price for what is injurious 
 and destructive ? 
 
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