POOR MOORLAND HOLDINGS. 133 



that "Nature has appointed neither him, nor 

 me, nor any one else as lord of this particular 

 land." 



On another occasion, when he was discussing 

 whether he should erect a statue in his park 

 close to the bowling-green, he groaned over 

 the thought that he ought not to spend the 

 money, because some of the labourers' cottages 

 wanted re-thatching. 



The other landowner was a wealthy man, 

 and the occasion on wiiich I met him was 

 when I, with the temerity of youth, asked 

 him to hand over a portion of his town 

 property to the people as a recreation ground. 

 Evidently my suggestion interested and 

 amused him greatly. He, an elderly gentleman, 

 brought his lawyers with him to meet me, then 

 a young man of twenty -two. Coffee and 

 cigars were produced, and he asked me with 

 courtly frankness to " Fire away." Having 

 heard my say, he blurted out, " Why don't 

 you ask these sweating millionaires who make 

 money on my land to shell out ? They get 

 off scot-free without any responsibility." This 

 gentleman was the late Squire Evelyn of 

 Wootton, and it was not many years after 

 our little discussion, which I am sure highly 



