Regent’s Park North,
10th May, 1873.
Sir,
Mr. Gladstone desires me to inform you that your letter of the 10th inst. should have been addressed to the First Commissioner of Works.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
W. E. Gurdon.
10, Downing Street,
15th May, 1873.
This closes the correspondence, and upon reflection it will be apparent that a great nation can find no better and no more economical use for a little mite of surplus revenue than its judicious employment in providing space for healthy, innocent, and cheap out-door amusement. The money so spent on behalf of the population of this gigantic capital will double itself over and over again. It is the active and the healthy that make a nation progress. It is good sound sense, united with a vigorous frame, that enables the man, advantageously to himself, to augment the receipts of the British exchequer.
London: Printed by Shaw & Sons, Fetter Lane.