as at present, the commodity was then as dear at half the price as now it is at the whole. THE coining of money is in all states the act of the sovereign power; for the reason just mentioned, that its value may be known on inspection. And with respect to coinage in general, there are three things to be considered therein; the materials, the impression, and the denomination. : WITH regard to the materials, sir Edward Coke lays it down', that the money of England must either be of gold or silver and none other was ever issued by the royal authority till 1672, when copper farthings and halfpence were coined by king Charles the second, and ordered by proclamation to be current in all payments, under the value of sixpence, and not otherwise. But this copper coin is not upon the same footing with the other in many respects, particularly with regard to the offence of counterfeiting it. (10) And, as to the silver coin, it is enacted by statute 14 Geo. III. c.42. that no tender of payment in silver money, exceeding twentyfive pounds at one time, shall be a sufficient tender in law, for more than its value by weight, at the rate of 5s. 2d. an ounce. (11) As to the impression, the stamping thereof is the unquestionable prerogative of the crown: for, though divers bishops and monasteries had formerly the privilege of coining money, yet, as sir Matthew Hale observes ", this was usually done by special grant from the king, or by prescription, which [278] supposes one; and therefore was derived from, and not in derogation of, the royal prerogative. Besides that, they had only the profit of the coinage, and not the power of instituting either the impression or denomination; but had usually the stamp sent them from the exchequer. THE denomination, or the value for which the coin is to pass current, is likewise in the breast of the king; and, if any ▼ 2 Inst. 577. (10) See Vol. IV. p. 98-100. W1 Hist. P. C. 191. (11) By the 56 G. 3. c. 68. gold is made the only legal tender for pay. ments within the united kingdom exceeding 403. unusual pieces are coined, that value must be ascertained by proclamation. In order to fix the value, the weight and the fineness of the metal are to be taken into consideration together. When a given weight of gold or silver is of a given fineness, it is then of the true standard, and called esterling or sterling metal; a name for which there are various reasons given, but none of them entirely satisfactory. And of this sterling or esterling metal all the coin of the kingdom must be made, by the statute 25 Edw. III. st. 5. c. 13. So that the king's prerogative seemeth not to extend to the debasing or enhancing the value of the coin below or above the sterling value': though sir Matthew Hale appears to be of another opinion. The king may also, by his proclamation, legitimate foreign coin, and make it current here, declaring at what value it shall be taken in payments. But this, I apprehend, ought to be by comparison with the standard of our own coin; otherwise the consent of parliament will be necessary. There is at present no such legitimated money; Portugal coin being only current by private consent, so that any one [ 279 ] who pleases may refuse to take it in payment. The king may also at any time decry, or cry down, any coin of the kingdom, and make it no longer current ̊. V. THE king 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 by statute 26 Hen. VIII. c. 1. (recit * This standard hath been frequently varied in former times; but hath for many years past been thus invariably settled. The pound troy of gold, consisting of twenty two carats (or twentyfourth parts) fine, and two of alloy, is divided into forty-four guineas and an half of the present value of 21s. each. And the pound troy of silver, consist. ing of eleven ounces and two pennyweights pure, and eighteen pennyweights alloy, is divided into sixtytwo shillings. (See Folkes on English coins.) Spelm. Gloss. 203. Dufresne, III. 165. The most plausible opinion seems to be that adopted by those two etymologists, that the name was derived from the Esterlingi, or Esterlings; as those Saxons were antiently called, who inhabited that district of Germany now occupied by the Hansetowns and their appendages; the earliest traders in modern Europe. z 2 Inst. 577. 1 Hal. P. C.197. ing that the king's majesty justly and rightfully is and ought to be the supreme head of the church of England; and so had been recognised by the clergy of this kingdom in their convocation) it is enacted, that the king shall be reputed the only supreme head in earth of the church of England, and shall have annexed to the imperial crown of this realm, as well the title and style thereof, as all jurisdictions, authorities, and commodities, to the said dignity of supreme head of the church appertaining. And another statute to the same purport was made, 1 Eliz. c. I. In virtue of this authority, the king convenes, prorogues, restrains, regulates, and dissolves all ecclesiastical synods or convocations. This was an inherent prerogative of the crown, long before the time of Hen. VIII. as appears by the statute 8 Hen. VI. c. 1. and the many authors, both lawyers and historians, vouched by sir Edward Coke . So that the statute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19. which restrains the convocation from making, or putting in execution, any canons repugnant to the king's prerogative, or the laws, customs, and statutes of the realm, was merely declaratory of the old common law that part of it only being new, which makes the king's royal assent actually necessary to the validity of every canon. The convocation, or ecclesiastical synod, in England, differs considerably in its constitution from the synods of other christian kingdoms: those consisting wholly of bishops; whereas with us, the convocation [in each province] is the miniature of a parliament, wherein the archbishop presides with regal state: [ 280] the upper house of bishops represents the house of lords; and the lower house, composed of representatives of the several dioceses at large, and of each particular chapter therein, resembles the house of commons with it's knights of the shire and burgesses f. This constitution is said to be owing to the policy of Edward I.: who thereby, at one and the same time, let in the inferior clergy to the privileges of d 4 Inst. 322, 323. In the diet of Sweden, where the ecclesiastics form one of the branches of the legislature, the chamber of the clergy resembles the convocation of England. It is composed of the bishops and superintendants; and also of deputies, one of which is chosen by every ten parishes or rural deanery. Mod. Un. Hist. xxxiii. 18. forming ecclesiastical canons (which before they had not), and also introduced a method of taxing ecclesiastical benefices, by consent of convocation . FROM this prerogative also, of being the head of the church, arises the king's right of nomination to vacant bishopricks, and certain other ecclesiastical preferments; which will more properly be considered when we come to treat of the clergy. I shall only here observe, that this is now done in consequence of the statute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 20. As the head of the church, the king is likewise the dernier resort in all ecclesiastical causes; an appeal lying ultimately to him in chancery from the sentence of every ecclesiastical judge; which right was restored to the crown by statute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19. as will more fully be shewn hereafter. Gilb. Hist. of Exch. c. 4. CHAPTER THE EIghth. OF THE KING'S REVENUE. HAVING, in the preceding chapter, considered at large those branches of the king's prerogative, which contribute to his royal dignity, and constitute the executive power of the government, we proceed now to examine the king's fiscal prerogatives, or such as regard his revenue; which the British constitution hath vested in the royal person, in order to support his dignity and maintain his power: being a portion which each subject contributes of his property, in order to secure the remainder. THIS revenue is either ordinary or extraordinary. The king's 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 king's inherent hereditary revenues as were found inconvenient to the subject. WHEN I say that it has subsisted time out of mind in the crown, I do not mean that the king is at present in the actual 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 from time to time by the kings of England, which has rendered the crown in some measure dependent on the people for its ordinary support and subsistence. So that I must be obliged to recount, as part of the royal revenue, what lords of manors and other subjects frequently look upon to be their own absolute inherent rights; because they are and have been vested in them and their ancestors for ages, though in reality originally derived from the grants of our antient princes. |