138 EPPING FOREST. 
upon them, and had warned off the Crown officers from 
the land. He had done this with impunity. 
In 1866, in consequence of the pressure of public 
opinion, and the reports of the several Committees 
which had dealt with the subject, a measure was 
passed transferring the management of the Crown 
rights in the Forest from the Commissioners of Woods 
and Forests—who regarded the property of the Crown 
only from the point of view of income and profits, and 
who had been the instruments of the sale of the Crown 
rights over more than a half of the Forest—to the 
Office of Works, presumably with the object of en- 
forcing those rights, in the interest of the public, for 
the abatement of inclosures and for the preservation of 
the Forest. 
In the same session, the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
—Mr. Gladstone—in answer to a question on the sub- 
ject, stated that, with the entire sanction of the Queen, 
these rights would be enforced in accordance with the 
desire so often expressed by Parliament. Nothing, 
however, followed upon this, and the inclosures re- 
mained unabated, and continued to increase in number. 
In 1869, an influential deputation waited on the then 
Chancellor of the Exchequer—Mr. Lowe—with whom 
practically rested the question whether to risk the public 
money in vindication of these rights. They got little 
satisfaction, however, from him. He treated the whole 
subject with contempt and sarcasm, and declined to: 
take any step in the Courts of Law for the enforcement. 
of the Crown’s rights. 
