THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 305 
sum of £18,503 16s. 3d. For this small sum those magnifi- 
cent lands were transferred to the complete private possession 
of the Lords of the Manor, and all right of the public to go 
upon them ceased. Mr. Gladstone assumed that Mr. Cowper- 
Temple’s motion would call for the expenditure of public 
money. But Mr. Vernon Harcourt pledged his knowledge, 
as a lawyer, to the statement that no money need be spent, 
and that if all the forestal rights of the Crown—rights 
described by Mr. Cowper-Temple as those of hunting, shoot- 
ing and recreation—are asserted and maintained, the whole 
3500 acres must be kept open. The real difficulty is, that 
the Lords of the Manor have learned to defy the Crown. 
Even now the trees at High Beech stand marked for the 
woodman’s axe; and nobody seems to have power to com- 
mand the woodman to spare those trees. All round the still 
remaining open space petty enclosures are going on; and those 
who are responsible for the rights of the Crown do nothing 
to stop the encroachments. Mr. Lushington, accompanying 
a deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer two years 
ago, said that if an action was taken to force the Lord 
of a Manor, who had made some encroachments, to disgorge 
the land, it would cost some £1500, and would probably 
succeed. If it did succeed, all who have made encroachments 
would at once have to resign them, and the Forest would be 
saved for the recreation of the Crown and of those whom the 
Crown represents. Why cannot this simple method of pro- 
tecting the land be tried? Mr. Beresford Hope reminded the 
House that hitherto nearly all that had been done in saving 
open spaces had benefited the population of the wealthy and 
open districts in the North and West. Wimbledon and 
Wandsworth Commons and Hampstead Heath are even now 
being set aside to popular recreation and enjoyment for ever, 
but all belong to the West and North. Epping Forest is the 
holiday haunt of the working population of the East. For 
generations the poor of London have spent their holidays 
among its trees and underwood and on its open glades. 
Surely the Crown cannot better do its duty to these vast 
populations than by throwing the shield of its unquestionable 
rights over the Forest. The House of Commons has earned 
their gratitude by once more resolving that the Forest shall 
be kept for the people; the Crown will share that gratitude, 
