Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/51

 Ch. 3. but upon the introduction of the foret laws at the Norman conquet, as will be hewn hereafter, thee animals being looked upon as royal game and the ole property of our avage monarchs, this franchie of free-warren was invented to protect them; by giving the grantee a ole and excluive power of killing uch game, o far as his warren extended, on condition of his preventing other perons. A man therefore that has the franchie of warren, is in reality no more than a royal game-keeper: but no man, not even a lord of a manor, could by common law jutify porting on another's oil, or even on his own, unles he had the liberty of free-warren. This franchie is almot fallen into diregard, ince the new tatutes for preerving the game; the name being now chiefly preerved in grounds that are et apart for breeding hares and rabbets. There are many intances of keen portmen in antient times, who have old their etates, and reerved the free-warren, or right of killing game, to themelves; by which means it comes to pas that a man and his heirs have ometimes free-warren over another's ground. A free fihery, or excluive right of fihing in a public river, is alo a royal franchie; and is conidered as uch in all countries where the feodal polity has prevailed : though the making uch grants, and by that means appropriating what eems to be unnatural to retrain, the ue of running water, was prohibited for the future by king John's great charter, and the rivers that were fenced in his time were directed to be laid open, as well as the forets to be diafforeted. This opening was extended, by the econd and third charters of Henry III, to thoe alo that were fenced under Richard I; o that a franchie of free fihery ought now to be at leat as old as the reign of Henry II. This differs from a everal fihery; becaue he that has a everal fihery mut alo be the owner of the oil, which in a free fihery is not requiite. It differs alo from a common of picary before-mentioned, in that Rh