avail himself of,' was as wrong as wrong could
be. Why should the Board of Works step in
to purchase rights which we copyholders say do
not exist? When Sir Thomas Wilson shall be
proved to be the owner of the Heath, it will be
time enough to talk about buying him off; but
at present, when all is, to say the least, uncertain,
it would be a wicked and disastrous waste
of the public money to do anything of the sort.
For if purchase is found necessary in our
Hampstead case, the expenditure will by no
means end with the sum put into Sir Thomas
Wilson's pocket. Some twelve thousand acres
of common land at various parts in the
immediate vicinity of London, and of which the
public have hitherto had undisturbed possession,
would probably become involved in litigation.
Lords of manors would open their mouths wider
and wider, and the purchase-system would
result in an enormous disbursement by the Board
of Works, and a heavy system of taxation to
meet it.

"When the outrages I've just shown you were
commenced, the copyholders held a meeting,
and asked for the co-operation of THE
COMMONS PRESERVATION SOCIETY. We discussed
with a deputation from this admirable society the
various courses open to us, such as an action
at law; proceedings under Mr. Cowper's
Commons Metropolis Act of last session; and
urging the Board of Works to purchase the
Heath. We subsequently took the best legal
advice as to the prospect of success in a court
of equity, and we determined to apply at once
to the Court of Chancery for an injunction to
restrain Sir Thomas Wilson from acts which
our lawyers described as ' contrary to the custom
of the manor and the interests of the
copyholders.' We subscribed a fund to meet the
expenses of the suit, some gentlemen copyholders
putting down a hundred pounds each, with a
promise of one hundred and fifty pounds more
if it should be required. We also appointed an
honorary secretary, Dr. Charles Hathaway, of
Hampstead, to receive subscriptions from the
public, and this gentleman will be very pleased to
hear from you, or any one interested in the
preservation of the Heath. But for this promptitude,
the house by the flagstaff, which you were so
shocked at seeing a few feet from the ground,
would have been, probably, roofed in by this
time, and the noble view shut out. As it was,
our side was all ready to have the case argued
before Christmas, only Sir Thomas Wilson asked
for time to get his arguments up, which was
granted on his pledging himself not to proceed
further with his building until judgment has
been obtained. This was the state of affairs
when we heard that the Metropolitan Board of
Works had passed a resolution authorising
their chairman to open negotiations with the
lord of the manor—and, speaking for myself,
I confess I didn't like this. I take it for
granted that Sir Thomas Wilson would not have
taken such a violent step as commencing a house
on the most beautiful spot on the Heath, without
legal advice, and that he supposes lapse of
time and the cessation of the ancient practice of
turning out cattle on the common to have
destroyed the copyholders' rights. But then,
you see, some of the most eminent lawyers at
the Chancery bar tell us that our rights are
just what they have always been, and that
without their consent the lord of the manor
can no more enclose any portion of the Heath
than he can confiscate my little garden at home
and hand it over to his agent as a reward for
activity. What I say is, let the Master of the
Rolls, before whom our cause is to be tried,
say which of these two views is correct. If we
are successful, it is certain that the only money
required will be in compensation for the rights
of digging sand and gravel, so far as they will
interfere with the public enjoyment. The
gentlemen from the Commons Preservation Society
made it very clear to us, that under Mr. Cowper's
act of last session a scheme for the regulation
of the Heath might be framed at very small
expense at the instance of the Board of Works
or of the copyholders themselves.

"The objects and powers of this measure cannot
be too widely known in these days of
attempted enclosure and usurpation. Mr. Cowper
prepared it, as we were told, in pursuance of
the recommendations of a select committee of
the House of Commons, who reported that it was
not necessary to purchase the freehold of any of
the metropolitan commons, on the ground that
lords of manors have not the extensive powers to
which they often pretend, and that, if commoners
and copyholders will only support their rights,
there is little fear of encroachment. Since this
report was made, the Commons Preservation
Society has inquired into the legal position of
several of the commons round London, and has
been consulted in many cases in which aggressive
proceedings have commenced. In all
instances, the views of the select committee has
been confirmed; and there is no reasonable doubt
that many lords of manors are pretending to
rights to which they have no claim. I've
naturally taken a good deal of interest in this
subject, knowing what had been tried on at
Hampstead, and suspecting what these petty charges
and exactions for drying linen and letting the
poor donkeys browse, were meant to lead up to.
I've been down to see some of the commons
about which there's been disputes between the
lord of the manor and the commoners; and I've
corresponded and talked with people living near
them, and I'm satisfied that the copyholders and
the public have only to act together to preserve
these places for the benefit of both. Yet it's
extraordinary to find how much illegal enclosure
has been going quietly on, and how the size and
beauty of many of our famous commons have
been curtailed. Here, at Hampstead, I can
remember one or two cases in which Sir Thomas's
father wanted a bit of land off the Heath, and
when he persuaded a copyholder to apply to the
Homage for it, backing the application by the
lord of the manor's influence. When granted by
the copyholders' court, the man applying made
it over to old Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson, and
in this way more than one plot has been secured
which is the present Sir Thomas's freehold now.