STATUTE OF MERTON. 355 



added -"Except in the neighbourhood of large towns, 

 all this cry about Commons preservation has a very 

 large element of bunkum in it." 



The Bill was defended on the second reading by 

 Lord Thring, Lord Hobhouse, Lord Ribblesdale, Lord 

 Selborne, and the Lord Chancellor ; and to the sur- 

 prise of everyone Lord Salisbury, who had moved its 

 rejection and who was supported by Lord Cross, was 

 defeated in the division. The measure was read a 

 second time by 32 votes to 23, and was ultimately 

 carried through the House of Lords without much 

 further difficulty. In the House of Commons it also 

 passed without opposition or even discussion.* 



It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this 

 Act. It is most significant of the change of public 

 opinion that it should have passed through the House 

 of Lords, in spite of the opposition of the leader of the 

 majority there, and through the House of Commons, 

 without a single protest. It has practically achieved 

 the object which those who have advocated the right of 

 the public over the Commons have aimed at since the 

 commencement of the movement thirty years ago, but 

 always hitherto in vain. Although it does not in terms 

 repeal the Statute of Merton, it completely takes the 

 sting out of that measure, and renders it quite in- 

 nocuous, and will prevent its being made use of in the 

 future by Lords of Manors for arbitrary inclosures, in 

 the manner so often described in this work. 



Henceforth, any Lord of the Manor desiring to 



* Commons Law Amendment Act, 56 & 57 Vict., c. 57. 

 x 2 



