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BINNEY'S CASE.-2 BLAND. 121
bank of the said river, and following the same on the west and
south unto a certain place called Cinquack, situate near the mouth
of the said river," &c. Chart. Maryland, s. 3. To the full extent
of this call for the right bank of the Potomac, (l) Maryland has
always held; and under that holding, all the, islands in the river
have been granted by patents issuing from the land office or under
legislative enactments, or titles derived from this State; 1822, ch.
54; and the whole of the bed of the river, above tide, it is believed,
has always been admitted to be rightfully parcel of the territory
of Maryland. Whether the south, or the north branch should be
considered as the true boundary has long been, and still is, a matter
of controversy; but, before the Revolution, many patents for lands,
lying between the north, and south branches, were issued by the
Lord Proprietary of Maryland. Landhold. Ass. 173; Froce.
Conven. -Maryland, 30th October, 1776; Resolutions 1785, No. 1;
1795, Aro. 3; 1796, No. 5; 1801, No. 10; 1806, No. 141; Foster rind
.slam v. Neilson, 2 Peters, 307; 3 Jefferson's Correspondence, 347;
Votes and Proc. H Del. 24th Janitary, 1824.
Hence I feel perfectly satisfied, that the Potomac, above tide.
was originally a private innavigable river; that it is now,
in no other manner, and to no greater extent to be deemed
a navigable highway than it has been expressly so declared, or
than as it forms a part of the route of the navigation formed by
the Potomac Company, which alone. has been declared to be a
highway, common to iKaryland and Virginia; that the whole of
the river, to its right bank, forms a part of the territory of the
State of -,Nlaryland; that the whole of it above tide is entirely with-
in the bodies of the respective counties of i4laryland lying along
it; and, consequently, that its waters above tide may be taken and
used by any riparian holder of land, in any manner, without
prejudice to others.
The sole object of the Act incorporating The Potomac Company
was to open a line of boat navigation, from the tide of the Poto-
(l) This mode of designating the sides of our long and winding rivers is
much more generally accurate than that used in the Charter of Maryland,
or than that of north or south, east or west, and has for its sanction the
highest classical authority. The river is personified and supposed to be
looking and moving towards its outlet, when its banks are on its right and
left hand; and, in reference to that supposition, they are so designated ac-
cordingly. Thus Horace, speaking of the Tiber says:
"Iliae dum se nimium querenti
Jactat ultorem, vagus et sinistra
Labitur ripa, Jove non probante,
ugorius amnis. "-Carm. lib. 1 od. 2.
Gibbons says, " If we inquire into the present state of those countries,
we shall find, that on the left hand of the Danube," &c. 1 Gibbon Deel. of
Rom. Emp. 26 Phil. Ed. And again- he saps "ITe was deprived of the
country on the right of the Tiber." 5 Ib. 170.
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