EPPING FOREST. 133 



personally suggested to the Lord Mayor, in an interview 

 on the subject, that the official City Solicitor, however 

 able as a man of business, would probably be at sea on 

 such a special subject, and that the wise course would 

 be to associate with him the Solicitor of the Commons 

 Society, Mr. Robert Hunter, who had been engaged in 

 all the great Commons cases, who had brought so many 

 of them to a successful conclusion, and who in the 

 Willingale case had already made himself acquainted 

 with much of the history and rights of the Forest. 

 Fortunately, my advice was followed, and the great suit 

 which was then initiated was practically conducted, on 

 behalf of the City Solicitor, by Mr. Eobert Hunter. 



The effect of ample funds for the prosecution of the 

 great cause of saving the Forest was soon visible. They 

 enabled a much more searching and complete investi- 

 gation of the records of the Forest to be made than 

 had hitherto been possible ; and this led to a discovery 

 of the utmost importance, which was the keystone to 

 the subsequent success of the Corporation suit. 



It had long been the contention of the Lords of 

 Manors that each of their Manors was entirely distinct 

 from all others in the Forest, that the Commoners of 

 each had rights of common only in the waste of their 

 particular Manor, and not generally over the whole 

 of the Forest. In this view, the process of inclosure 

 by a Lord of the Manor of the forest waste within the 

 boundaries of his own district was comparatively easy, 

 for it was only necessary for him to come to terms 

 with this limited number of Commoners ; and after 



