26
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
It might be said of him as Charles Kingsley said of his friend to whom
he dedicated his great prose idyll, "My Winter Garden"—"He played
the great game in his work and killed the great game in his play."
The second condition was that special facilities for camping should be
given to Essex Boy Scouts and Essex Girl Guides. There spoke the
lover of children and the firm believer in education. He believed that
children should be taught rationally to enjoy God's earth, God's trees
and flowers, God's beasts and birds, and above all God's pure air.
And the third condition was that he should nominate certain members
of the Committee of Management. This was to ensure a certain number
of young people who would take a life's interest in the Forest. He said
that personally I was too old, but that I should try and start the work,
for a few years. He was a great believer in getting young people to
take up public work and "carry on" when the older ones dropped
out.
My Lord, I now have on my father's behalf, to hand to you this
token of his dying gift to us all here with the hope and faith that it will-
be a source of enjoyment, recreation and health to us and to the genera-
tions to come, as he intended it to be, and with the knowledge that in
this case at any rate the giving of it gave intense satisfaction and plea-
sure to the giver in the last days of his strenuous life.
Lord Lambourne and the Countess of Warwick, in proposing and
seconding a vote of thanks, on behalf of the county of Essex, eulogised the
generosity and public spirit shown in so many different directions by the
deceased donor ; and both they and Lord Ullswater emphasized the neces-
sity of protecting the wild fauna and flora of the newly-acquired public
possession. In this connection it is good to learn that it is the intention
of the Trust to reserve one of the coppices as a special nature-reserve for
birds and other wild life.
The National Trust has set up a Local Committee to manage the Forest,
comprising the following :—
Major M. Barclay
Mr. Edward North Buxton
Mr. Gerald Buxton
Miss Teresa Buxton
Mrs. Calverley
Mr. C. H. W. Chubb
Mr. Geoffrey Dent
Dr. Dawtrey Drewitt
Miss G Lister
Mr. John Swire
with Mrs. Pennington, Gaunt Cottage, Theydon Bois, as Hon. Secretary.
Under such direction one may rest satisfied that the natural amenities
of the Forest will be maintained and fostered, in accordance with the
donor's expressed wish.
The Hon. Treasurer (Mr. J. Avery), Mr. S. J. Barns, and the Hon.
Secretary (Mr. Percy Thompson), attended the opening ceremony, by
invitation, as representatives of the Club.