It is a splemtid gift which the King has made t" the nation. Osborne House and Park were his own p rsowal property, left to him by th" Qu-en, "ud were at his absolute disposal. Hod he choxwn to sell them he had a perfect right to do so; und apart from the intro-sic value of the estate, which has a circuit of eight miles and occupies one of the finest sites in the Kinudom, the sentimental interest which attaches to it, as Queen Victoria's favourite home xnd the scene of h-r death, would hav- enormously 1-cressed its selting price in the muket. Ne doubt his Majesty would have been severely criticised if he hal sold it t" an indivi ual—say ay American millionaire; but no one could have blamed him much if h" had suggested its purchase by the nation. If his finances were in as bad a condition as some pwwple would have us believe, he would hardly have given away an estate wort several hundred thousands.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.