BERKHAMSTED COMMON. 67 



the action, from its nature, could not be revived, at 

 the instance of the defendant, against the brother who 

 had succeeded in the title and property. Mr. Smith, 

 therefore, found himself saddled with the costs already 

 incurred, without the means of recovering them, and 

 without a decision of the case ; but at least the fences 

 no longer existed. 



Meanwhile Mr. Smith had been advised to bring 

 a cross suit in the Court of Chancery against the 

 Brownlow Trustees, claiming on behalf of himself and 

 the Commoners that their rights should be ascertained, 

 and that the Lord of the Manor should be restrained 

 from interfering with them or from inclosing the Com- 

 mon. This suit did not terminate with the death of 

 the late Earl, but continued against his successor, who 

 had the misfortune to inherit this lawsuit together 

 with the family estate. 



The case thus commenced led to a complete examina- 

 tion of the Court Rolls of the Manor, and of the history 

 of the Common from the earliest times. From these it 

 appeared that the rights of common had always been 

 esteemed of great value by the freehold and copyhold 

 tenants of the Manor. So far back as the death 

 of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, in 1300, there was 

 an inquisition, in which the rights of the Commoners 

 were clearly defined. In 1607 there was another 

 survey of the Common by Mr. John Dodderidge. A 

 jury on this occasion presented 



" That the inhabitants and tenantes of this manor dwelling 

 in Berkhamsted and Northchurch have used by ancient 

 F 2 



