61 



(if it be such) is so common ; it is a little singu- 

 lar that such should be the fact. 



The only ground then on which it is con- 

 ceived the parties who call themselves pro- 

 prietors can possibly pretend to or claim an 

 exclusive right to fisheries in a public navigable 

 river, such as the Thames, must be by Grant 

 from the Crown, or by Prescription ; and it has 

 been before shown that such grant must be 

 produced, for it shall not be presumed, and even 

 if produced it may be necessary for the grantee, 

 or those claiming under him, to consider how 

 far such grant may be affected by the many 

 statutes of resumption made from before Magna 

 Charta down to the time of Charles II., by 

 which Grants from the Crown of lauds ,Jis kings, 

 &c. are declared to be null and void, unless 

 the full annual value be reserved and paid by 

 way of annual rent,* or the matter excepted 

 by those statutes. Also, if the grant shall ap- 

 pear to have been made since the 1st year of 

 the reign of Richard I., if so, the charters be- 

 fore-mentioned render it entirely void. 



If they claim by Prescription, which is usage 



* Vide Cas6 of Duke of Portland and Lord Lowther. 



