make rapid encroachments on, and gradually assume, the reins of government. The King is, therefore, very properly a constituent part of Parliament; in which capacity he possesses the means of preserving inviolate his rights and prerogatives, as supreme executive magistrate, by withholding his assent at pleasure, and without stating any reason, to the enactment of provisions tending to their prejudice. It is, however, only for the purpose of protecting the regal executive authority that the constitution has assigned to the King a share in legislation: this purpose is sufficiently ensured by placing in the Crown the negative power of rejecting suggested laws. The royal legislative right is not of the deliberative kind; the Crown has no power to propound laws; and it would have a dangerous tendency and influence, if the King were allowed to recommend from the throne what laws ought to be passed; as was done by some of our arbitrary Sovereigns, and by the Roman Emperors, whose orationes were the exact patterns to which the senatus consulta were to conform. Important, therefore, as this prerogative of rejection is as a shield against rebellious encroachments, as a preservative of the royal executive function, it is, in other points of view, of a limited and negative nature. Though the King is said to be the caput, principium, et finis of Parliament, he is but a part of it, and, per se, possesses no legislative power. Though his Majesty alone can call Parliament together, and dissolve its authority, these rights are purely of the executive kind. In a constitutional point of view, however, the legislative power is lodged in the King, subject to the assent of the Houses of Parliament. Laws are said to be enacted "by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled." As supreme executive magistrate, the King possesses, subject to the law of the land, exclusive, deliberative, and more decided, more extensive, and more discretionary rights and powers. These are wisely placed in a single hand by the British constitution, for the sake of unanimity, strength, and dispatch. Were they placed in many hands, they would be subject to many wills; many wills, if disunited, and drawing different ways, create weakness in a government; and, to unite those several wills, and reduce them to one, is a work of more time and delay than the exigencies of State will afford. The King of England is therefore not only the chief, but properly the sole, magistrate of the nation; all others acting by commission from, and in due subordination to him. (a) "By the word 'prerogative' we usually understand," observes Sir William Blackstone (b), "that special pre-eminence which the King hath over and above all other persons, and out of the ordinary course of the common law, in right of his royal dignity. It signifies, in its etymology, (from præ and rogo) something that is required or demanded before, or in preference to, all others. And hence it follows, that it must be in its nature singular and eccentrical; that it can only be applied to those rights and capacities which the King enjoys alone, in contradistinction to others; and not to those which he enjoys in common with any of his subjects; for if once any one prerogative of the Crown could be held in common with the subject, it would cease to be prerogative any longer. And therefore Finch (c) lays it down as a maxim, that the prerogative is that law in case of the King, which is law in no case of the subject." The splendour, rights, and powers of the Crown were attached to it for the benefit of the people (d), and not for the private gratification of the sovereign; they form part of, and are, generally speaking, as antient as the law itself, and the statute 17 Ed. 2. st. 1. de prerogativa regis is merely declaratory of the common law. (e) In every community, it is highly important that the greatest reverence towards their sovereign should be instilled into the minds of the governed,-unattended by respect, authority speedily diminishes; and without a due share of authority, it would be impossible for the King to enforce respect to the laws; on the observance of which depend the happiness and security of his subjects. Independently therefore, of the mere trappings and outward magnificence and title (ƒ) of royalty, and of the various substantial authorities and powers of the Crown, the constitution has attached to the wearer certain attributes forming his constitutional character and royal dignity. (a) 1 Bla. Com. 230. (b) Ibid. 239. (c) Finch, L. 85. (d) 3 Atk. 171. 4 T. R. 410. (e) 2 Inst. 496. 263. 10 Co. 64. Bendl. 117. (f) See Com. Dig. tit Roy. B. 1 Bla. C. 190. These These attributes are principally sovereignty or pre-eminence, perfection, "the King can do no wrong;" and perpetuity, “the King never dies." (a) By the attribute sovereignty or pre-eminence, and perfection, we are not to understand that the King is above the laws, in the unconfined sense of those words, and that every thing he does is lawful; but that his Majesty, individually and personally, and in his natural capacity is independent; and is not amenable to any other earthly power or jurisdiction. (b) The inviolability of the King is essential to the existence of his powers as supreme magistrate; and therefore his person is sacred. The law supposes it impossible that the King himself can act unlawfully or improperly. It cannot distrust him whom it has invested with the supreme power: and visits on his advisers and ministers the punishment due to the illegal measures of government. Hence the legal apophthegm that the King can do no wrong. As the law provides no redress against the sovereign, it properly attaches the blame of illicit proceedings to those only who are within the reach of punishment; for it would be absurd to suppose legal culpability which is dispunishable. The constitutional signification of the maxim was in former times misrepresented. It was pretended by some that it meant that every measure of the King was lawful, a doctrine subversive of all the principles of which the constitution is compounded. It is a fundamental general rule, that the King cannot sanction any act forbidden by law: it is in that point of view that his Majesty is under, and not above, the laws; that he is bound by them equally with his subjects. Ipse autem Rex non debet esse sub homine, sed sub Deo et sub lege, quia Lex facit Regem. Attribuat igitur Rex legi, quod Lex attribuat ei, videlicet dominationem et potestatem; non est enim Rex, ubi dominatur voluntas, et non Lex." (c) The perpetuity of the Crown is expressed by the quaint maxim that the King never dies; by which is meant that on the death of the King, the prerogatives and politic capacities of the supreme magistrate, instantly vest, without a moment's interregnum, in his successor, (d) 1 litic character and dignity of the King, it will be proper to take a view of his principal and transcendent prerogatives as executive magistrate. With respect to foreign states and affairs, the whole majesty and power of his dominions are placed in the hands of the King, who as representative of his subjects possesses discretionary and unlimited powers. In this capacity his Majesty has the sole right to send ambassadors and other foreign ministers and officers abroad, to dictate their instructions, and prescribe rules of conduct and negotiation. (a) His Majesty alone can legally make treaties, leagues and alliances with foreign states; grant letters of marque and reprisals, and safe conduct; declare war or make peace. As depository of the strength of his subjects, and as manager of their wars, the King is generalissimo of all land and naval forces: his Majesty alone can levy troops, equip fleets, and build fortresses. The King is also supreme head of the church: in which capacity he appoints the archbishops and bishops; convenes, prorogues, restrains, regulates, and dissolves all ecclesiastical synods or convocations; and is the dernier resort in all ecclesiastical causes, an appeal lying ultimately to him in chancery from the sentence of every ecclesiastical judge. (b) With regard to the Houses of Parliament, the right to assemble, prorogue, and dissolve them, belongs exclusively to the King as supreme executive magistrate. As the fountain of justice, and administrator of the laws, all judicial power is supposed to be derived from the Crown; and though the King himself possesses none, yet he appoints those by whom it is exercised, and constitutes courts and offices. The pardoning offenders and issuing proclamations, are also ranked among the prerogatives of the Crown. The King is also the fountain, parent, and distributor of ho nours, dignities, privileges and franchises. The superintendency and care of commerce, on the success of which so materially depend the wealth and prosperity of this nation, are also, in various cases, allotted to the King by the constitution. Though in the exercise of his lawful prerogatives, an unbounded discretion is, generally speaking, left to the King; (a) 1 Wooddn. 83. (b) Post. chap. 5. 1 Bla. Com. 279, 280. and, and, in using such discretion, his Majesty is irresistible and absolute; (a) yet there are certain duties pointed out, with a visible hand, for his observance: and various boundaries and restraints, on the tyrannical and oppressive use of the royal powers, are wisely interwoven into the texture of the constitution. The duties arising from the relation of sovereign and subject are reciprocal. Protection, that is, the security and governance of his dominions according to law, is the duty of the sovereign; and allegiance and subjection, with reference to the same criterion, the constitution and laws of the country, form, in return, the duty of the governed, as will be more fully noticed hereafter. We have already partially mentioned this duty of the sovereign, and have observed that the prerogatives are vested in him for the benefit of his subjects, and that his Majesty is under, and not above, the laws. This doctrine is laid down by several writers; (b) and is expressly ratified by the coronation oath, wherein the King swears to govern according to law, to execute judgment in mercy, and to maintain the established religion; and by the statute 12 and 13 W. 3. c. 2. which declares that "the laws of England are the birthright of the people thereof; and all the kings and queens who shall ascend the throne of this realm, ought to administer the government of the same, according to the said laws: and all their officers and ministers ought to serve them respectively according to the same: and therefore all the laws and statutes of this realm, for securing the established religion, and the rights and liberties of the people thereof, and all other laws and statutes of the same now in force, are ratified and confirmed accordingly." There are also various boundaries, which the constitution has set to the royal prerogative. (c) These consist in the actual and positive limitation of the powers of the Crown, in certain specified cases. Thus, though the King is supreme head of the church, he can neither legally alter his own, or establish any other, than the national religion; and must tolerate the dispassionate religious sentiments of others. His (a) 1 Bla. Com. 251,2. (b) Brac. lib. 1. c. 8. lib. 2. c. 16. s. 3. -Year Book, 19 Hen. 6. 63. Fortescue, c. 9. and 34. 1 Bla. Com. 235,4. Majesty |