THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 805 



sum of £18,503 I6s. 3d. For this small sum those magnifi- 

 cent lands were transferred to the complete private possession 

 of the Lords of the Manor, and all right of the public to go 

 upon them ceased. Mr. Gladstone assumed that Mr. Cowper- 

 Temple's motion would call for the expenditure of public 

 money. But Mr. Vernon Harcourt pledged his knowledge, 

 as a lawyer, to the statement that no money need be spent, 

 and that if all the forestal rights of the Crown — rights 

 described by Mr. Cowper-Temple as those of hunting, shoot- 

 ing and recreation — are asserted and maintained, the whole 

 3500 acres must be kept open. The real difficulty is, that 

 the Lords of the Manor have learned to defy the Crown. 

 Even now the trees at High Beech stand marked for the 

 woodman's axe ; and nobody seems to have power to com- 

 mand the woodman to spare those trees. All round the still 

 remaining open space petty enclosures are going on ; and those 

 who are responsible for the rights of the Crown do nothing 

 to stop the encroachments. Mr. Lushington, accompanying 

 a deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer two years 

 ago, said that if an action was taken to force the Lord 

 of a Manor, who had made some encroachments, to disgorge 

 the land, it would cost some i;1500, and would probably 

 succeed. If it did succeed, all who have made encroachments 

 would at once have to resign them, and the Forest would be 

 saved for the recreation of the Crown and of those whom the 

 Crown represents. Why cannot this simple method of pro- 

 tecting the land be tried ? Mr. Beresford Hope reminded the 

 House that hitherto nearly all that had been done in saving 

 open spaces had benefited the population of the wealthy and 

 open districts in the North and West. Wimbledon and 

 Wandsworth Commons and Hampstead Heath are even now 

 being set aside to popular recreation and enjoyment for ever, 

 but all belong to the West and North. Epping Forest is the 

 holiday haunt of the working population of the East. For 

 generations the poor of London have spent their holidays 

 among its trees and underwood and on its open glades. 

 Surely the Crown cannot better do its duty to these vast 

 populations than by throwing the shield of its unquestionable 

 rights over the Forest. The House of Commons has earned 

 their gratitude by once more resolving that the Forest shall 

 be kept for the people j the Crown will share that gratitude. 



