64 



Supposing then the public right to be, such 

 as I conceive it to be, and that the gentlemen 

 who claim to be proprietors, should persist in 

 prosecuting their present claims, it may natu- 

 rally be asked, in what manner has the public 

 a power of establishing their claims to the right 

 in question ? 



The usual mode has been, that when a sup- 

 posed offence has been committed, for the ma- 

 gistrates to issue a summons for the appear- 

 ance of the party offending. 



The defence in such case should be, a justi- 

 fication, and a right so to fish : if this defence 

 is properly made, a much more than a colour- 

 able right would appear, and hence arises a 

 question of title, and from that moment the ju- 

 risdiction of the magistrate ceases. 



For in the case of Ashbrittle and Wyley, it is 

 distinctly laid down, (and I have frequently 

 known it acted upon at the Quarter Sessions,) 

 that in cases of title, the magistrates at those 

 Sessions have no jurisdiction. Vide 4 Burn. 

 428. 



" Persons aggrieved may appeal to the next 



