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, 2 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 7 
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. 
