with the parts of the human body: As the palm, the hand, the pan, the foot, the cubit, the ell (ulna, or arm) the pace and the fathom. But, as thefe are of different dimenfions in men of different proportions, our ancient hiftorians "inform us, that a new standard of longitudinal measure was ascertained by King Henry I, who commanded, that the ulna, or ancient ell, which answers to the modern yard, should be made of the exact length of his own arm. And, one standard of meafures of length being gained, all others are easily deriv ed 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 an 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 those of length; and measures of capacity by cubing them. The ftandard of weights was originally taken from corns of wheat, whence the loweft denomination of weights we have is ftill called a grain; thirty two of which are directed, by the statute called compofitio menfurarum, to compofe a pennyweight; whereof twenty make an ounce, twelve ounces a pound, and io upwards. And upon these 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 Westminster, A. D. 1197, it was ordained that there fhould be only one weight and one measure throughout the kingdom, and that the custody of the affize or ftandard of weights and measures should be committed to certain perfons in every city and borough °; from whence the ancient 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 frequently n Will. Malmsb. in vita Hen. 1. Spelm. Hen. I. apud Wilkins. o Hoved. Matth. Paris. 299. U frequently difpenfed with for money ?; which occafioned a provifion to be made for enforcing it, in the great charters of King John and his fon 9. These original ftandards were called pondus regis, and menfura domini regis ; and are directed by a variety of fubfequent flatutes to be kept in the exchequer, and all weights and measures to be made conformable thereto . But, as Sir Edward Coke obferves ", though this hath so 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 domestick comMonmerce, to give it authority, or make it current. ey is an univerfal medium, or common ftandard, by comparison with which the value of all merchandile may be afcertained: Or, it is a fign, which represents the respective values of all commodities. Metals are well calculated for this fign, because they are durable and are capable of many fubdivifions: And a precious metal is still better calculated for this purpose, because it is the moft portable. A metal is also the most proper for a common measure, because it can easily be reduced to the fame ftandard in all nations: And every particular nation fixes on its own impreffion, that the weight and standard (wherein confift the intrinsick value) may both be known by infpection 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 thoufand millions of bull. ion are calculated to have been imported into Europe from America within less than three centuries; and the 'quantity is daily increafing. The confequence is, that more money must be given now for the fame commodity p Hoved. A. D. 1201. q 9 Hen. III. c. 25. s Flet. 2. 12. than t 14 Edw. III. ft. 1. c. 12. 25 Edw. III. ft. 5. c. 10. 16 Ric. II. 8 Hen. VI. c. 5. 11 Henry VI. c. 8. II Hen. VII. c. 22 Car. II. c. 8. u Inft. 41. c. 3. 4. than was given an hundred years ago. And if any accident was to diminish the quantity of gold and filver, their value would proportionably rise. A horfe that was formerly worth ten pounds, is now perhaps worth twenty; and, by any failure of current fpecie, 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 prefent, 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 just-mentioned, that its value may be known on inspection. 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, Sir Edward Coke lays it downw, that the money of England muft either be of gold or filver: And none other was ever iffued by the royal authority till 1672, when copper farthings and halfpence were coined by King Charles II, 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 refpects, particularly with regard to the offence of counterfeiting it. And, as to the filver coin, it is enact ed, by ftatute 14 Geo. III. c. 42. that no tender of ment in filver money, exceeding twenty five pounds at one time, fhall be a fufficient tender in law, for more than its value by weight, at the rate of 5s. 2d. an ounce. pay As to the impreffion, the ftamping thereof is the unquestionable prerogative of the crown: For, though divers bishops and monafteries had formerly the privilege. of coining money, yet, as Sir Matthew Hale obferves *, this was usually done by fpecial grant from the king, or w 2 Inft. 577. x Hift. P. C. 191. by by prescription, which supposes 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 pass current, is likewife in the breast of the king; and, if any unusual 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 y, 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 enhancing the value of the coin, below or above the fterling value 2: Though Sir Matthew Hale a appears to be of another opinion. The king may alfo, by his proclamation, legitimate foreign coin, and make it current here; declaring at what value it fhall be taken in payments b. But this, I apprehend, ought to be by comparison with the ftandard 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, x This ftandard hath been frequently varied in former times, but hath for many years paft been thus invariably fettled. The pound Troy of gold, confifting 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 21s. each. And the pound Troy of filver, confifting of eleven ounces and two pennyweights pure, and eighteen pennyweights alloy, is divided into fixty two fhillings. See Folkes on English coins. y Spelm. Gloff. 203. Dufresne, III. 165. The most plaufible opinion feems to be that adopted by thofe two etymologifts, that the name was derived from the Efterlingi, or Eafterlings; as thofe Saxons were anciently called, who inhabited that diftrict of Germany, now occupied by the Hanfe towns and their appendages; the earliest traders in modern Europe. b Ibid. 197. z 2 Inft. 577. a 1 Hal. P. C. 194. confent, fo that 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 c. V. The king is, laftly, confidered by the laws of England, as the head and supreme governor of the national church. To enter into the reafons upon which this prerogative is founded is matter rather of divinity than of law. I fhall therefore only observe, that by ftatute 26 Hen. VIII. c. 1. (reciting that the king's majefty juftly 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 style thereof, as all jurifdictions, authorities, and commodities, to the faid dignity of fupreme head of the church appertaining. And another ftatute to the same purport was made, 1 Eliz, c. 1. In virtue of this authority, the king convenes, prorogues, restrains, 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 Sir Edward Coked: 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, cuftoms, 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 its 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 ftate; the upper houfe of bishops reprefents d 4 Inft. 322, 323+ e 12 Rep. 72. Hal. P. C. 197. |