It has been asserted that it is not in the King’s power to resume a franchise that has been once granted: so that a fair once authorized by royal grant, is, by the common law of England, good against the King. I have found no case wherein this principle is declared; but there is an instance which points in a contrary direction: for in 1446-7 (25 Hen. VI.) it was enacted “that all grants of franchises, markets, fairs, and other liberties to buy or to sell within the towns of North Wales made to any Welshman before this time, shall be void and of no effect.” Here it was parliament, not the King, revoking the grants. For further legislation regarding Welsh Fairs, see Chapter V., anno 1534. Brady (in his famous work on “Boroughs”) seemed to be of opinion that every free borough had the privilege of a market and fair, with free right to come and go thereto and therefrom, as of course (p. 33, ed. 1777). But I discover no such inherent right, and where this privilege is sustained it has usually been included in one of its early charters. Certainly the converse is not the case: that is to say, it was in no way customary that fairs should be limited to boroughs free or otherwise. Many were, indeed, granted to small towns, frequently to lords of manors, and commonly to religious houses; and in various cases to individuals. In the next chapter I shall examine more in detail the regulations upon our statute rolls regarding fairs. [Illustration] CHAPTER III. EARLY REGULATIONS AFFECTING FAIRS—ENGLAND. It has been attributed to Alfred the Great that amongst the many wise and beneficial measures he took for the advancement of this kingdom, was the establishment of fairs and markets. I have already shown that this is not quite so; but certain it is that the first general measures for the regulation of commerce in England, are dated back to his reign. Hence it was then provided that alien merchants should come only to the “four fairs,” and should not remain in England more than forty days. This was in the latter half of the ninth century. But I have already shown that fairs were held in other parts of Europe, and in Asia, centuries earlier than this date. The point of importance in the regulation of Alfred is that foreign merchants were permitted by royal authority to attend these English fairs. King Ethelred II. (end of tenth and commencement of eleventh centuries) proclaimed that the _ships of merchants, or of enemies from the high seas, coming with goods into any port should be at peace_. The principle here enunciated, of commerce being deemed an act of peace, is believed to be of high antiquity in Great Britain; but whether it originated here is by no means clear, nor is it material to determine. At later periods the practice has not been continuously upheld.