230 Agricultural Capabilities of the New Forest. 
the one is paramount, the other having simplj a lien on it, it 
would be sufficient for the former to satisfy the lien, and, the 
obligation being satisfied, to possess the property. The Forest 
can hardly be treated like other commons, where there are often 
three parties — viz., the lord of the manor, the copyholder, and 
the tenant. The commoner in the Forest cannot be like the 
copyholder. He has paid no fine, and he is not the owner 
of the soil subject to the right of the lord of the manor ; but he 
possesses rights which, as long as they are exercised, forbid the 
more beneficial occupation of the soil ; and, consequently, for 
removing these obstructions he ought to be, as Mr. Bone says, 
very liberally dealt with ; the more so, as these rights are not 
only extremely ancient, but, it is asserted, were attached to the land 
which gives the claim in many instances before the Forest was 
extended over private lands by the King's prerogative. The fact 
of rights having been claimed, and recognised, for lands beyond 
the utmost bounds of the Forest, even to the west of the Avon, will 
prove this ; and these claims are sufficient to show that all rights 
were not merely given in exchange for the injury inflicted on 
private lands by the exercise of the King's prerogative. All 
these matters will, no doubt, be fully debated and deliberately 
settled. Our object is simply to ventilate the subject, and to 
throw on it sufficient light to show the many difficulties with 
which it is enveloped. 
III. Legal Position of the Forest. 
The legal position of the Forest is very curious, and, we may also 
add, is involved in considerable intricacy and obscurity. Lawyers 
will, doubtless, be able to show on behalf of the Crown and the 
commoners likewise how much can be said, and well said, on either 
side ; and if the contending points were to be decided by the strict 
letter of the law, we should despair of any solution being arrived at. 
However, it is to be hoped that common sense will be called in 
to decide the matters on which the law breaks down, and, with 
such assistance, we do not despair of the result. The history of 
the Forest is exceedingly remote, and the origin of the claims 
of the commoners is equally ancient, and extends far back into 
Saxon history. It is fortunate, however, that within recent years 
a Commission has been appointed to determine who have rights 
and who have not, and the Record of the Commissioners is now 
accepted as a sort of Forest Charter. 
That the commoners do not lack either numbers or intelligence 
the following communication from a gentleman residing within 
the ancient boundaries of the Forest will sufficiently testify : — 
