3. Another capacity, in which the sovereign is considered in domestic affairs, is as the fountain of justice and general conservator of the peace of the kingdom. The original power of judicature is lodged in the society at large; but as it would be impracticable to render justice to every individual, by the people in their collective capacity, every nation has committed that power to certain select magistrates; and in England this authority has immemorially been exercised by the sovereign or his substitutes, the judges, to whom, by the long and uniform usage of many ages, our sovereigns have delegated their whole judicial power. They, in their several courts, are the depositaries of the fundamental laws of the kingdom, and have therein a known and stated jurisdiction, regulated by certain and established rules, which the crown itself cannot now alter but by act of parliament.

In prosecutions for offences, the sovereign appears in another capacity, that of prosecutor. All offences are theoretically against either his peace, or crown and dignity. For though they generally seem to be rather offences against the kingdom than the crown, yet, as the public has delegated all its powers, with regard to the execution of the laws, to one visible magistrate, all affronts to that power are offences against him to whom they are so delegated. He is therefore the proper person to prosecute for all public offences, being the person injured in the eye of the law. And hence also arises another branch of the prerogative, that of pardoning offences; for it is reasonable that he only who is injured should have the power of forgiving.

Another consequence of this prerogative is the legal ubiquity of the sovereign. In law he is present in all his courts, though he cannot personally distribute justice. And from this ubiquity it follows, that the crown can never be nonsuit; for a nonsuit is the desertion of the suit or action by the non-appearance of the plaintiff

in court.

From the same origin, of the sovereign being the fountain of justice, we may also deduce the prerogative of issuing proclamations; which have a binding force only when they are grounded upon the laws of the realm. For though the making of laws is the work of the legislative branch of the sovereign power, yet the manner, time, and circumstances of putting those laws in execution are frequently left to the discretion of the executive magistrate.

so as to withdraw his person or property from the jurisdiction of the court. The legality of this application of the writ was settled in the time of King Charles II., and its use soon became so fully established, that the granting of it has long been considered a matter of right.

4. The sovereign is likewise the fountain of honour, of office, and of privilege; the constitution entrusting him with the sole power of conferring dignities and honours, in confidence that he will bestow them upon none but such as deserve them. And therefore all degrees of nobility, of knighthood, and other titles, are received by immediate grant from the crown: either expressed in writing, by writs or letters patent, as in the creation of peers and baronets; or by corporeal investiture, as in the creation of a simple knight. He has also the prerogative of conferring privileges upon private persons, such as granting precedence to any of his subjects, or converting aliens into denizens. He also can erect corporations, whereby a number of private persons are united together, and enjoy many powers and immunities in their political capacity, which they were utterly incapable of in their natural. Of these I shall speak more at large in a subsequent chapter.

5. Another light, in which the laws of England consider the sovereign with regard to domestic concerns, is as the arbiter of commerce, that is, domestic commerce only. It would lead me into too large a field, if I were to attempt to enter upon the nature of foreign trade, its privileges, regulations, and restrictions; and would also be quite beside the purpose of these commentaries, which are confined to the laws of England. The affairs of commerce generally are regulated by a law of their own, called the law merchant, or lex mercatoria, which all nations agree in and take notice of. And in particular it is held to be part of the law of England, which decides the cause of merchants by the general rules which obtain in all commercial countries; and that often even in matters relating to domestic trade, as for instance with regard to the drawing, the acceptance, and transfer of inland bills of exchange.

To this branch of the prerogative may be referred the important functions now exercised by the Board of Trade, which is specially charged to superintend all government measures brought before parliament relating to trade and commerce; and has several duties to perform, some of them of a ministerial and others of a judicial character. It has the general superintendence of all matters relating to merchant ships and seamen; lays down rules as to the examination and qualification of applicants for the posts of masters and mates of foreign-going as well as of home-trade passenger-ships; grants licenses to persons to engage or supply seamen or apprentices; inquires into and adjudicates on claims for wages; investigates cases of alleged incompetency and misconduct on the part of masters of sea-going vessels, and appoints officers to report on the condition and efficiency of steam-vessels and their machinery. It exercises a supervision over railways and railway companies, not only with

respect to their original formation, but also as to their subsequent working; inquires into the circumstances of accidents, and provides if need be, for the greater safety of the public.

The board, through the medium of its registrar, is charged with the registration of all joint-stock companies. A similar duty with respect to copyright in designs is imposed on it; and under its immediate control are placed all the schools of design now established in the large towns of the kingdom. One of its departments is charged with the collection and publication of tables, containing information with respect to the revenue, trade, commerce, wealth, population, and other statistics of the realm; and another department collects and prepares the tables of the prices of corn which regulate the rentcharges now paid in lieu of tithes.

Subject to these general observations, to the prerogative, so far as it relates to mere domestic commerce, fall the following articles:

First, the establishment of public marts, or places of buying and selling; such as markets and fairs, with the tolls thereunto belonging. These can only be set up by virtue of the grant of the crown, or by long and immemorial usage and prescription, which presupposes such a grant.

Secondly, the regulation of weights and measures; but this has so frequently formed the subject of parliamentary enactment that it can no longer with propriety be referred to the prerogative.

Thirdly, as money is the medium of commerce, it is said to be the royal prerogative, as the arbiter of domestic commerce, to give it authority, or make it current. But considering the frequent interference of parliament with reference to it, the regulation of the coinage cannot now, I apprehend, be referred simply to the prerogative.

6. The sovereign is, lastly, considered by the laws of England as the head and supreme governor of the national church.

To enter into the reasons upon which this prerogative is founded, is matter rather of divinity than of law. I shall therefore only observe, that it is in virtue of this authority that the crown convenes, prorogues, restrains, regulates, and dissolves all ecclesiastical synods or convocations ;-nominates to vacant bishoprics, and certain other ecclesiastical preferments; and is the dernier resort in all ecclesiastical causes, an appeal lying ultimately to him from the sentence of every ecclesiastical judge. In the sovereign in council is also vested the power of giving effect to any scheme or recommendation of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE ROYAL REVENUE.

I. Ordinary; as custody of temporalities of bishops—First-fruits and tenthsWine licenses-Mines-Treasure trove-Estrays-Forfeitures and Escheats -II. Extraordinary; as land-tax-Malt-tax-Property and income-tax -Customs-Excise-Post-office-Stamp duties-Succession duties-Inhabited house duty-Assessed taxes-Duty upon offices and pensions. HAVING considered those branches of the prerogative which contribute to the royal dignity and constitute the executive power of the government, we proceed now to examine the fiscal prerogatives of the sovereign, or such as regard his revenue; that portion which each subject contributes of his property in order to secure the remainder.

This is either ordinary or extraordinary. The ordinary revenue is such as has either subsisted time out of mind in the crown, or else has been granted by parliament by way of purchase or exchange for such of the sovereign's inherent hereditary revenues as were found inconvenient to the subject. Not that the crown is at present in possession of the whole of this revenue. Much (nay the greatest part) of it is at this day in the hands of subjects, to whom it has been granted out; so that I must be obliged to recount, as part of the royal revenue, what lords of manors and other subjects look upon to be their own absolute inherent rights; because they have been vested in them and their ancestors for ages, though in reality originally derived from the grants of our ancient princes.

I. The first of the ordinary revenues of the crown, which I shall take notice of, is the custody of the temporalities of bishops, by which are meant all the lay revenues, lands, and tenements which belong to an archbishop's or bishop's see; and which, upon the vacancy of the bishopric, are immediately the right of the sovereign, as a consequence of his prerogative in church matters.

This revenue, formerly very considerable, is now almost reduced to nothing: for as soon as the new bishop is consecrated and confirmed, he usually receives restitution of his temporalities entire and untouched.

II. The sovereign is entitled to a corody out of every bishopric; that is, to send one of his chaplains to be maintained by the bishop, or to have a pension allowed him till the bishop promotes him to a benefice. This, which was also in the nature of an acknowledgment to the king, as founder of the see, is now fallen into total disuse.

III. The sovereign is entitled to all the tithes arising in extraparochial places: though it may be doubted how far this article, as well as the last, can be reckoned part of his revenue: since a corody supports only his chaplains, and these extra-parochial tithes are held under an implied trust, that he will distribute them for the good of the clergy in general.

IV. The next branch consists in the first-fruits and tenths of all spiritual preferments in the kingdom. The first-fruits, primatæ or annates, were the first year's whole profits of the spiritual preferment; the tenths, or decima, were the tenth part of the annual profit of each living, which was originally claimed by the pope, under that precept of the Levitical law, which directs, that the Levites "should offer the tenth part of their tithes as a heave-offering "to the Lord, and give it to Aaron the high priest." But this claim of the holy see met with a vigorous resistance from parliament; and a variety of acts were passed to restrain it, particularly 6 Hen. IV. c. 1, which calls it a horrible mischief, and damnable custom. But the popish clergy still kept it on foot; and, as they thus expressed their willingness to contribute so much to the head of the church, it was thought proper (when the king was declared to be so) to annex this revenue to the crown: and so it remained till Queen' Anne restored to the church what had been thus indirectly taken from it; not by remitting the tenths and first-fruits entirely, but by applying these superfluities of the larger benefices to make up the deficiencies of the smaller. This is usually called Queen Anne's Bounty.

V. The next branch of the ordinary revenue of the sovereign consists in the rents and profits of the demesne lands of the crown. These demesne lands were anciently very extensive, comprising divers manors, honours, and lordships. But at present they are contracted within a very narrow compass, having been almost entirely granted away to private subjects; and the management of them is vested in the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues. The parks and places to which the public has access, are managed by the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works and Public Buildings.

VI. Hither might have been referred the advantages arising from the profits of military tenures, to which most lands in the kingdom were subject, till the statute 12 Car. II. c. 24, in great measure abolished them all. Hither also might have been referred the prerogative of purveyance and pre-emption: a right of buying up. provisions for the royal household, at an appraised valuation, in preference to all others and also of impressing the carriages and horses of the subject, to do the sovereign's business, in the conveyance of

: