90 HISTORY OF THE 



Boston have to iiiidcrgo the same unmerciful treatment 

 that I have expei'iencecl, by being the possessor of lands 

 wanted by the city for park purposes, they are to be 

 pitied as fellow victims. 



The story of my annoyances, the oppressions en- 

 dured, I will try briefly and graphically to nan-ate, show- 

 ing something of the thorny ]*oad I have been obliged 

 to travel in seeking partial justice from the city govern- 

 ment. In the first place, my charming estates, of very 

 great value to me, presently and prospectively^, are sum- 

 marily seized Avithout my consent, under the guise of 

 eminent domain, a gross wrong in its inception, and in 

 its unjust finality, sacrificing me, my exjDectations and 

 my fortune, for the puljlic indulgence, and personal 

 gratification. 



The act of seizing my property for this purpose was 

 an unscrupidous one, not rising even to the pretension 

 of a pu1)lic necessity. Nor do I believe that the framers 

 of this odious, unjust and arbitrary laAv, giving the right 

 to take private property for public, and especially for 

 luxurious uses, ever contemplated that lands so taken 

 unwillingly from the owner, should sul^ject him to the 

 grinding process now imposed by the city of Boston. 



You must bear in mind that these lovely estates w^ere 

 not wrenched from me as a public necessity, for the site 

 of a pul)lic building, or the location of a railroad for the 

 greater convenience of the citizens and the public, but 

 absolutely torn from me for luxurj, and then stinting to 

 the last sti"ain the compensation. 



Finding that there was no alternative but to part 

 with my estates, the very thought of which became such 

 a sore trial, I endeavored by every means in my power 



