THE NEW FOREST. 243 
opposition, and became law under the title of the 
“New Forest Act, 1877.” The result was a victory 
both for the Commoners and the public. Under the 
Act of 1851, about 8,000 acres had been inclosed in 
addition to the 10,000 under the Act of 1698, and 
of these 18,000 acres 8,000 had been thrown open, 
and 10,000 remained inclosed. The Act of 1577 
provides that the power of inclosure enjoyed by the 
Crown should be confined to these 18,000 acres, which 
comprise the best land in the Forest, and which may 
be thrown out and re-inclosed at will, provided that 
not more than 16,000 acres are actually inclosed at 
one time. The Commoners are thus secured in the 
remainder of the 63,000 acres, or 45,000, of which about 
6,000 are partially covered with old timber. It is laid 
down by the Act as a matter of principle that the 
natural beauties of the Forest are to be preserved, and 
the right of the public to the enjoyment of it is fully 
recognised and perpetuated. 
At the first election of the Verderers, Mr. Briscoe 
Eyre, who had done so much to preserve the Forest, 
and to protect the interests of the Commoners, was 
returned at the head of the poll. Owing to his exer- 
tions u serious blot in the Act was remedied in 1879. 
A large number of owners and occupiers of land in 
the neighbourhood of the Forest, but not on the 
authorised Register of Commoners, through various 
causes, had been allowed by the Verderers to turn 
out cattle in the Forest; but on account of the fact 
that registered Commoners were taxed under the Act of 
Q 2 
