PREROGATIVE. 



parliament, and a bill is passed. This, it 

 is true, may be, partly, because it is 

 often necessary to borrow large sums of 

 money, and to purchase lands by com- 

 pulsion, &c. ; but we still may venture to 

 question this prerogative, although we 

 find it in books of great authority pre- 

 viously to the reigns of Charles the First 

 and Second. 



As to casual profits, the King is enti- 

 tled to all goods which have no owner, 

 as wreck, fiotsan, jetsan, and ligan, waifs, 

 stravs, goods of felons, deodands, trea- 

 sure-troves, escheats, and lands forfeited. 

 He is entitled also to royal mines, and the 

 fishery of every navigable river, as high 

 as the sea flows : but every one may fish 

 in the sea of a common right, although 

 foreign nations cannot fish in the British 

 Seas without the King's licence. There 

 are also certain fines, upon legal proceed- 

 ings, which the King' claims by his pre- 

 rogative ; and anciently, a fine was paid 

 for liberty to have right and justice, 

 which is now abolished by Magna Charta 

 29, mtlli vendewus, &c. So fines for beau 

 pleader, for grants of liberties, and for 

 misdemeanors, with all armerciaments, 

 which are levied by the Sheriff and es- 

 treated into the Exchequer. 



All the lands in the kingdom, it is said, 

 are holden mediately, or immediately, of 

 the King, who has no superior; and this 

 is the foundation of the law of forfeiture 

 and escheats : but this, however in prac- 

 tice it may be harmless, is a principle 

 rather derived from the divine right of 

 kings, than the spirit of the revolution, 

 which considers the King rather as deriv- 

 ing every thing from the people, and 

 holding the throne itself in trust. 



Whatsoever lands, or tenements, the 

 King has, belong to him in right of his 

 crown, and are called the sacred patri- 

 mony, or demesnes of the crown, says 

 Lord Coke ; and whether lands descend, 

 or are devised, or given to him and his 

 heirs by statute, or otherwise, they go as 

 parcel of the crown. The King, there- 

 fore, it seems, cannot divest himself of 

 his public character, but has all Ins real 

 possessions, for it does not seem to ex- 

 tend to money, merely as king. 



All conveyances to the King ought to 

 be by deed, enrolled ; and where a sub- 

 ject would not have possession without 

 entry, there the King has it not without 

 office found, or other record. But if the 

 King's title is so found upon an inquisi- 

 tion, he is in possession without seizure ; 

 and where a common person cannot en- 

 ter without an action, there the King- 



ought to have a scire facias. Pmt no officer 

 is necessary where the King's title ap- 

 pears by other matter of record, and 

 where he is so seized he can never be 

 ejected, or disseized ; but every one who 

 enters upon his possessions is called an 

 intruder; the remedy upon which is by 

 an information of intrusion. The remedy 

 against the King is by petition to the 

 King in Parliament, in Chancery, or some 

 other court, for there can be no writ, be- 

 cause the King cannot command himself, 

 as it is quaintly expressed. There is also 

 another proceeding by monstrance de 

 droit, which is, where the suitor's title 

 appears by the same record as that of the 

 King. Even upon an office found, there 

 may now be, by statute 34 Edward III. c, 

 14, a traverse, denial, or litigation of it. 



The King, by his prerogative, may sue 

 in what court he pleases, and shall not 

 be prejudiced by any neglect to pursue 

 his right, which is meant by the maxim 

 nullum te-mpus, Sec. or no time runs against, 

 the King. Though now, by statute 9 

 George III. c. 16, the King's suit, except 

 for liberties and franchises, is limited, un- 

 der certain conditionSjto 60 years for lands. 



As to the disposal of the personal reve- 

 nue of the King, this can only be by the 

 Great or Privy Seal ; and every one who 

 receives money out of the Exchequer, 

 without due warrant, is accountable for it. 

 He may, it is said, dispose of his lands 

 and other real revenues of inheritance, 

 by patent, to others, when he pleases. 

 And by statute 1 Anne 7, s. 5. all grunts 

 by the King, of any manors, lands, Sec. 

 advowsons of churches and vicarages 

 excepted, shall be void, except for 31 

 years or under, or for 3 lives, &c. sub- 

 ject to waste, and at the usual rent, 

 or more, or if no usual rent, then 

 a rent at least one-third of the an- 

 nual value. 1'y the same act, the here- 

 ditary excise, revenue of the post-of- 

 fice, first fruits and tenths, fines for 

 writs of covenant, and entry at the 

 alienation office, post fines, wine li- 

 cences, sheriff's prefers and compositions, 

 and seizures for unaccustomed and prohi- 

 bited goods,sh,'\ll not. be alienable for longer 

 than the life of the King who grants them. 



It is to be observed that much of the 

 King's prerogative, producing revenue, 

 has been from time to time granted oui 

 with various manors, and the article of 

 forfeitures^ which might in some cases be 

 somewhat profitable, is very little en- 

 forced. When a forfeiture is discover- 

 ed, the officers of the crown general! v 

 allow a portion to tbe informer; some.- 



* 



