EPPING FOREST. 141 



with the Lords of Manors, and proceeded on the line of 

 admitting their past inclosures, and allowing them to 

 inclose the remainder of the Forest, on the con- 

 dition of their consenting to set apart an allotment 

 of it for the recreation of the public. It is difficult, 

 with our subsequent experience, to believe that such 

 a proposal could ever have been made to Parliament. 

 It was, in fact, a measure for the inclosure of what 

 remained of the Forest. Of the 3,000 acres still 

 uninclosed, it provided that 2,000 should be given up to 

 the Lords of Manors, free from the forestal rights of 

 the Crown; that of the 1,000 remaining, 400 acres 

 should be sold by Commissioners, to be appointed under 

 the Act, for the purpose of compensating the Commoners 

 for their rights over the whole, and that the residue of 

 600 acres only, or one-tenth of the present Forest, should 

 be secured and appropriated for the recreation and 

 enjoyment of the public. 



This proposal caused great dissatisfaction amongst 

 those who were chiefly interested in the preservation of 

 the Forest and other open spaces. It is, however, fair 

 to record the fact that, even among members of the 

 Commons Society, there was difference of opinion as to 

 whether this measure should be resisted and rejected in 

 toto, or whether it should be accepted as the basis of a 

 compromise with the Lords of Manors, with the hope of 

 improving upon it at a later stage. 



At a meeting of the Society held on July 23rd, 1870, 

 within a few days after the introduction of the Bill by 

 Mr. Ayrton, a long discussion took place upon it. Mr. 



