Babes in the Bush

‘A family long resident near this rising town—say forty or fifty miles distant—have been compelled like you to offer their estate for sale. I will not enter into the circumstances or the causes of the step. The fact that we are concerned with is that a valuable property—as fair judges consider it—comprising a decent house and several thousand acres of good land may be bought for three or four thousand pounds.. ‘I do not hide from you that many people consider that the present bad times are likely to last even to become more pressing. I fully expect a reaction. If you can do better in any way I do not ask you for one moment to consider this matter much as I should like to see my old comrade and his family here.