comparison with the parts of the human body; as the palm, the hand, the fpan, the foot, the cubit, the ell, (ulna, or arm) the pace, and the fathom. But, as thefe are of different dimensions in men of different proportions, our antient hiftorians inform us, that a new ftandard of longitudinal measure was afcertained by king Henry the first; who commanded that the ulna or antient ell, which answers to the modern yard, fhould be made of the exact length of his own arm. And, one standard of measures of length being gained, all others are easily derived from thence; thofe of greater length by multiplying, thofe of lefs by fubdividing, that original ftandard. Thus, by the ftatute called compofitio ulnarum et perticarum, five yards and a half make a perch; and the yard is fubdivided into three feet, and each foot into twelve inches; which inches will be each of the length of three grains of barley. Superficial measures are derived by fquaring thofe of length; and meafures of capacity by cubing them. The standard of weights was originally taken from corns of wheat, whence the lowest denomination of weights we have is ftill called a grain; thirty-two of which are directed, by the ftatute called compofitio menfurarum, to compofe a penny weight, whereof twenty make an ounce, twelve ounces a pound, and fo upwards. And upon thefe principles the first standards were made; which, being originally fo fixed by the crown, their fubfequent regulations have been generally made by the king in parliament. Thus, under king Richard I, in his parliament holden at Westmin fter, A. D. 1197, it was ordained that there fhould be only one weight and one meafure throughout the kingdom, and that the cuftody of the affife or standard of weights and meafures fhould be committed to certain perfons in every city and borough'; from whence the antient office of the king's aulnager feems to have been derived, whofe duty it was, for a certain fee, to measure all cloths made for fale, till the office was abolished by the ftatute 11 & 12 W. III. c. 20. In king John's time this ordinance of king Richard was fre n Will. Malmb. in vita Hen. I. Spelm. Hen. I. apud Wilkins. 299. • Hoved. Matth. Paris, $ 3. quently Book I. quently difpenfed with for money; which occafioned a provision to be made for inforcing it, in the great charters of king John and his fon These original standards were called pondus regis', and menfura domini regis'; and are directed by a variety of fubfequent ftatutes to be kept in the exchequer, and all weights and measures to be made conformable thereto. But, as fir Edward Coke obferves", though this hath fo often by authority of parliament been enacted, yet it could never be effected; fo forcible is custom with the multitude. THIRDLY, as money is the medium of commerce, it is the king's prerogative, as the arbiter of domestic commerce, to give it authority or make it current. Money is an universal medium, or common ftandard, by comparifon with which the value of all merchandize may be ascertained: or it is a fign, which reprefents the refpective values of all commodities. Metals are well calculated for this fign, because they are durable and are capable of many subdivisions: and a precious metal is ftill better calculated for this purpose, becaufe it is the most portable. A metal is alfo the moft proper for a common measure, because it can easily be reduced to the famo standard in all nations: and every particular nation fixes on it it's own impreffion, that the weight and standard (wherein confists the intrinsic value) may both be known by inspection only. As the quantity of precious metals increases, that is, the more of them there is extracted from the mine, this univerfal medium or common fign will fink in value, and grow lefs precious. Above a thousand millions of bullion are calculated to have been imported into Europe from America within lefs than three centuries; and the quantity is daily increasing. The confequence is, that more money must be given now for the fame commodity than was given an hundred years ago. And, if any accident were to diminish the quantity of gold and filver, their value would proportionably rife. A horse, that was formerly worth ten pounds, is now perhaps worth twenty; and, by any failure of current specie, the price may be reduced to what it was. Yet is the horse in reality neither dearer nor cheaper at one time than another : for, if the metal which conftitutes the coin was formerly twice as fcarce 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 fovereign power; for the reafon juft mentioned, that it's value may be known on infpection. And with refpect to coinage in general, there are three things to be confidered therein; the materials, the impreffion, and the denomination. WITH regard to the materials, fir Edward Coke lays it down", that the money of England must either be of gold or filver and none other was ever iffued by the royal authority till 1672, when copper farthings and half-pence were coined by king Charles the fecond, and ordered by proclamation to be current in all payments, under the value of fixpence, and not otherwife. But this copper coin is not upon the fame footing with the other in many respects, particularly with regard to the offence of counterfeiting it. And, as to the filver coin, it is enacted by ftatute 14 Geo. III. c. 42. that no tender of payment in filver money, exceeding twentyfive pounds at one time, fhall be a fufficient tender in law, for more than it's value by weight, at the rate of 5s. 2d. an ounce. As to the impreffion, the ftamping thereof is the unqueftionable prerogative of the crown: for, though divers bifhops and monafteries had formerly the privilege of coining money, yet, as fir Matthew Hale obferves, this was usually done by special grant from the king, or by prescription which w 2 Inft. 577. x 1 Hift. P. C. 191, $ 4 fuppofes fuppofes one; and therefore was derived from, and not in derogation of, the royal prerogative. Befides that they had ' only the profit of the coinage, and not the power of inftituting either the impreffion or denomination; but had ufually the stamp fent them from the exchequer. THE denomination, or the value for which the coin is to pafs current, is likewife in the breast of the king; and, if any unufual pieces are coined, that value must be afcertained by proclamation. In order to fix the value, the weight and the fineness of the metal are to be taken into confideration together. When a given weight of gold or filver is of a given fineness, it is then of the true ftandard, and called efterling or fterling metal; a name for which there are various reafons given, but none of them entirely fatisfactory. And of this fterling or efterling metal all the coin of the kingdom must be made, by the ftatute 25 Edw. III. c. 13. So that the king's prerogative feemeth not to extend to the debafing or inhancing the value of the coin, below or above the fterling value 2: though fir 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 fhall 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 neceffary. There is at prefent no fuch legitimated money; Portugal coin being only current by private confent, fo that This standard hath been frequently varied in former times; but hath for many years paft been thus invariably fettled. The pound troy of gold, confisting of twenty-two carats (or twenty fourth parts) fine, and two of alloy, is divided into forty-four guineas and an half of the prefent value of 215. each. And the pound troy of filver, confiiting of eleven ounces and two pennyweights pure, and eighteen pennyweights alloy, is divided into fixty-two fhillings. (Sea Folkes on English coins.) a y Spelm. Gloff. 203. Dufrefne, III. 165. The most plaufible opinion feems to be that adopted by those two etymologifts, that the name was derived from the Efterlingi, or Easterlings; as those Saxons were antiently called, who inhabited that diftrict of Germany, now occupied by the Hanfe-towns and their appendages; the earliest traders in modern Europe. z 2 Inft. 577. a 1 Hal. P. C. 194. any any one 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 fhall therefore only obferve that by ftatute 26 Hen. VIII. c. 1. (reciting that the king's majesty justly and rightfully is and ought to be the fupreme head of the church of England; and fo had been recognized by the clergy of this kingdom in their convocation) it is enacted, that the king fhall be reputed the only fupreme head in earth of the church of England, and fhall have, annexed to the imperial crown of this realm, as well the title and stile thereof, as all jurifdictions, authorities, and commodities, to the faid dignity of fupreme head of the church appertaining. And another ftatute to the fame purport was made, 1 Eliz. c. 1. In virtue of this authority the king convenes, prorogues, reftrains, regulates, and diffolves all ecclefiaftical fynods or convocations. This was an inherent prerogative of the crown, long before the time of Henry VIII, as appears by the ftatute 8 Hen. VI. c. 1. and the many authors, both lawyers and historians, vouched by fir Edward Coke. So that the ftatute 25 Hen. VIII. c. 19. which reftrains 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 affent actually neceffary to the validity of every canon. The convocation or ecclefiaftical fynod, in England, differs confiderably in it's conftitution from the fynods of other chriftian kingdoms: thofe confifting wholly of bishops; whereas with us the convocation is the miniature of a parliament, wherein the archbishop prefides with regal state; e 12 Rep. 72. the c: 1 Hal, P. C. 197. 4 d 4 Inft. 322, 323. |