BERKHAMSTED COMMON. 65 



skilled workmen, and gangers, armed with proper 

 implements and crowbars. The train reached Tring at 

 1 .30 a.m. At this point the operation nearly miscarried. 

 The contractor, it appeared, had sub-let his contract to 

 another person. The two met together at a public- 

 house near Euston Station the evening before the 

 intended raid, and drank so freely that neither of them 

 was in a condition to lead the force into action, and the 

 navvies arrived at Tring without a leader, and with no 

 instructions. Fortunately, Mr. Lawrence had sent a 

 confidential clerk to watch the proceedings from a 

 distance, and this gentleman, perceiving the difficulty, 

 took the lead of the force. 



A procession was formed at the station. A march 

 of three miles in the moonlight brought them to Berk- 

 hamsted Common, and the object of the expedition 

 was then first made known to the rank and file. The 

 men were told off in detachments of a dozen strong. 

 The substantial joints of the railings were then 

 loosened by hammers and chisels, and the crowbars 

 did the rest. Before six a.m. the whole of the fences, 

 two miles in length, were levelled to the ground, and 

 the railings were laid in a heap, with as little damage 

 as possible. It was seven o'clock before the alarm was 

 given, and when Lord Brownlow's agent appeared on 

 the scene, he found that Berkhamsted Common was 

 no longer inclosed. It was too late to do more than 

 make an energetic protest against the alleged trespass. 



Meanwhile, the news spread, and the inhabitants 

 of the district flocked to the scene. Gentlemen came in 



F 



