39 



To prove that the River Thames (at least 

 from its junction at Dorchester with the river 

 now -known as the Isis) for several years 

 past has been both public and navigable, 

 I shall offer the following authorities. 



To prove that it is so now would be to 

 waste the time, and insult the understanding 

 of the reader. 



To do this, it will only be necessary to 

 produce the Statute of the 11 Geo. III. (1771.) 

 for improving the said navigation, by which 

 it is acknowledged then to exist, and is di- 

 rected to be improved and completed. And 

 the books of the Navigation Company will 

 be further evidence, that, for many years 

 before the passing of that Act, and ever since, 

 more than 100,000 tons of goods have been 

 annually conveyed by barges on the said river, 

 to and from London. 



The above will, for the present, be sufficient 

 to prove that the river has been for several 

 years past navigable. 



I shall now endeavour to prove, that the 

 said River Thames hath been a public river 



