198 THE EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. 



The same letter contains another idea. It 

 is that of a book on " The History of the 

 English Squire." This seems a very good 

 subject for a competent person. Perhaps 

 someone will take up the idea and write 

 the history of the English squire before he 

 becomes extinct. One would like to see how, 

 first, the yeoman added acre to acre, ousting 

 his neighbour, and so became the squire ; then 

 how, gradually, all over the country, owing to 

 the action of forces too strong for him, the 

 yeoman began to disappear; how the squire 

 was able to add more acres, buying out yeoman 

 after yeoman, always on the look-out to buy 

 more land, and therefore always becoming 

 more important; and how, presently, he got 

 a title, which he now "enjoys," claiming 

 superiority of blood and descent, while the 

 ex -yeoman, once his equal, is now his tenant, 

 and humbly doffs his hat. Jefferies, one feels 

 convinced, ought to have written a most in- 

 teresting and instructive volume upon this 

 subject, if which he has never shown he 

 had the patience for historical research and 

 investigation. 



