been asserted, and endeavoured to be proved, 

 " that the River Thames is not, nor ever was, 

 naturally navigable, but has been made so by 

 the locks and wears upon it. 9 ' 



To this it is answered, that all the autho- 

 rities already produced, prove the direct con- 

 trary of this ; for, from Magna Charta, to Ed- 

 ward IV, it is declared, that those locks and 

 wears impeded and hindered the navigation. The 

 fact seems to be, that these locks and wears 

 appear to have been built for the purpose of 

 penning a head of water to the mill contiguous, 

 there being a mill to every one of them ; and 

 it has been justly observed, that admitting the 

 fact, that they were erected for the navigation, 

 the argument is in favour of the public right, 

 and will lead to, and indeed affords, a more an~ 

 dent proof of navigation on the River Thames ; 

 for some of them are mentioned in Doomsday- 

 book, and are said to be as old as the adjacent 

 villages, and of course the River Thames was 

 then navigable. 



But in order still more satisfactorily to prove 

 this fact, we will notice the different statutes on 

 the subject from Magna Charta downwards. 



