on, but is substantially equivalent to this)
without reference to manorial considerations. Epping Forest was saved by
the proof of this right. It is often said that the right was given, or
confirmed, to the inhabitants in consideration of the burden of
supporting the deer for the pleasure of the king or of the owner of the
chase. It seems more probable that the forest law prevented the growth
of the manorial system, and with it those rules which have tended to
restrict the class of persons entitled to enjoy the waste lands of the
district.

Prevention of inclosure.

We have seen that in the case of each kind of common there is a division
of interest. The soil belongs to one person; other persons are entitled
to take certain products of the soil. This division of interest
preserves the common as an open space. The commoners cannot inclose,
because the land does not belong to them. The owner of the soil cannot
inclose, because inclosure is inconsistent with the enjoyment of the
commoners' rights. At a very early date it was held that the right of a
commoner proceeded out of every part of the common, so that the owner of
the soil could not set aside part for the commoner and inclose the rest.
The Statutes of Merton and Westminster the Second were passed to get
over this difficulty. But under these statutes the burden of proving
that sufficient pasture was left was thrown upon the owner of the soil;
such proof can very seldom be given. Moreover, the statutes have never
enabled an inclosure to be made against commoners entitled to _estovers_
or _turbary_. It seems clear that the statutes had become obsolete in
the time of Edward VI., or they would not have been re-enacted. And we
know that the zealous advocates of inclosure in the 18th century
considered them worthless for their purposes. Practically it may be
taken that, save where the owner of the soil of a common acquires all
the lands in the township (generally coterminous with the parish) with
which the common is connected, an inclosure cannot legally be effected
by him. And even in the latter case it may be that rights of common are
enjoyed in respect of lands outside the parish, and that such rights
prevent an inclosure.

The modern Inclosure Act.

_Modern Inclosure._--When, therefore, the common-field system began to
fall out of gear, and the increase of population brought about a demand
for an increased production of corn, it was felt to be necessary to