LAND NATIONALIZATION 275 



in land is an injurious blasphemy. He is fettered to some 

 extent, of course, but he wields great influence, and we shall 

 hear from him before this thing is over." 



The lady above referred to, step-daughter of John Stuart 

 Mill, was an earnest land-nationalizer and a valued supporter 

 of our society. She was always ready to speak at our meet- 

 ings ; she supported us liberally by donations and subscrip- 

 tions, and she gave to our public proceedings that tone of 

 sympathy, humanity, and idealistic enthusiasm which was of 

 great importance to us. 



Among my early correspondents on the land question 

 were Mr. Jesse Collings and Mr. J. Boyd Kinnear, both after- 

 wards M.P's. The latter gentleman was so much interested 

 in my writings on this and allied questions, that he invited 

 me and my wife to visit him at Guernsey, where he was then 

 living. We spent a delightful week on that beautiful island, 

 either driving or walking over it. Mr. Boyd Kinnear was a 

 practical farmer and agricultural chemist, and had a small 

 farm close to the town of St. Pierre, with the usual large 

 vinery under glass. While here, we thoroughly discussed the 

 land and other questions, and though I could not quite con- 

 vert him, we agreed generally in our political and social 

 heresies. 



Among the most esteemed of the friends I owed to " Land 

 Nationalization," were two eminent Scotchmen, both poets, 

 and both ardent lovers of justice and humanity — Professor J. 

 Stuart Blackie and Charles Mackay. The former wrote to 

 me in July, 1882, saying that he had just finished the " care- 

 ful study " of my " Land Nationalization," and that he was 

 " happy to find it so much in accordance with my oldest 

 and most mature speculations, and — what is of more impor- 

 tance — observations on the subject." He sent me a copy of 

 his small volume, " Alteriora," with a chapter on the " Suther- 

 land Clearances," and he concluded, " As to your remedy for 

 the gigantic evils which our present system of land laws 

 entail, they recommend themselves strongly to every con- 

 sistent thinker." 



