The people of South Lambeth are most anxious to buy
a property which will make them a pleasant park. They can buy it for 245,000, and they have received grants in aid from public bodies and private persons to the amount of £40,000; but they have a difficulty in raising the odd 25,000 by January 31st, on which day the freeholder's promise to sell will ex- pire. The Prince of Wales accordingly attended a local meeting on Monday, and it is believed his presence will open many purses. The money would, we believe, be found in a minute, were it not for the terrible persecution which falls upon any millionaire who draws a large cheque for the public benefit. He is at once placed under the microscope by the even- ing papers--a process which to many men is torture—and so hunted by applicants for charity of all grades and descriptions, that his life is made a misery to him. There is no object for which the sensible rich are so ready to give, for not only is a park a lung and a playground to a great city, but its existence prevents that multiplication of houses which threatens to make all our great cities, and London especially, too big for safety. A philanthropic millionaire could do nothing better than pull down half a square mile of London, and dedicate the space at once to emptiness and the people.
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