WEST KOXRURY PARK. 75 



able property. I grant tliat the aniomit as a wliole 

 looked formidable, and so does the handling of every 

 large thing, bnt when the thing can be so easil}^ divided, 

 and a valne set upon each part, the claims are at once 

 simplified. 



Now I am to be dragged through a court of law, 

 with all its perplexities and discomforts, simply to ex- 

 tract justice from the right of doing wrong; hoping that 

 if my life and health are spared, the proceeds of this 

 suit may do others some good. 



The exercise of the right of eminent domain may in 

 some cases be an absolute necessity, as the location of a 

 railroad, a site for a state house, city hall, court house, 

 or other public buildings ; but iu my case, I am sacri- 

 ficed to indulge the citizeus of a great municipality in a 

 luxury. In all cases of legal seizure, the owners of the 

 land should be treated fairly at least, if not liberall}', 

 aud especially if the property is endeared to them, as 

 mine is to me, for these estates are the real gems of all 

 the park grounds, and their beauty cannot be excelled 

 in the vicinity of Boston. 



But wheu the property is ruthlessl}^ taken aud the 

 taker has the power of making his own piices, regai-d- 

 less of the owners' private rights, Avith a craving, unjust 

 spirit, then the right of eminent domain becomes an 



egregious wrong. 



Then again, why should this arbitrary power to seize 

 subject the owner forcil:)l3^ to give u\) his property, at 

 the prices of a bankrupt sale, assuming, in order to get 

 the property for a song, that auction prices are market 

 values? This is another egregious wrong. 



