A subscription has been set on foot to defray the
expenses of the suit with Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson, to determine the 'rights of the Lord of the Manor and of the Copyholders respectively in Hampstead Heath, which deserves public support. Sir Thomas Maryou Wilson maintains that he " considers Hampstead Heath as his private property ;" that " the inhabitants in the neighbour- hood have no rights on the Heath ;" that " every one walking over it is a trespasser, and might be indicted as such ;" that " there is no one who can claim pasturage on it ;" that he "has the power of building on the Heath, either by granting or by taking the land forcibly ;" and that, so far from being willing to dedicate a certain portion to the public upon obtaining the right to build upon another part of the demesne, "he would make no compromise—no promise," his " wish being only to turn the Heath to account by building on it an Agar Town," or, in other words, " cottages for poor people on short leases." He admitted that, in doing so, " there would be a great outcry, of course," but denied the power of any one " to interfere or oppose him in anything he might do," and he is acting accordingly. He has followed his theory up " by commencing the erection of a large dwelling-house on the upper part of the Heath, near the flag-staff ; by stripping the turf off a. great portion of the lower Heath, on which the foundations of a block of small cottages are already laid ; by enclosing another large portion for a brickfield ; and by excavating and selling sand at the rate of thirty loads or more per diem." The copyholders, on the other hand, maintain that they have the right of pasturage for their cattle, of cutting heath and gorse for fodder and litter, the digging of sand and gravel for their own necessary garden repairs, and of using the Heath for enjoyment and recreation. These rights they hope to establish by the suit, before the question of purchase can be treated of, for they of course materially affect the value. The question is one of general interest to Londoners, and we hope that an ample " protection fund," subscriptions to which will be received by both Messrs. Barnetts' and Messrs. Rau- some's Banks, may be raised.
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