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 50 Head of the Church. [Ch. V. out of the kingdom (a). But he cannot hinder the building of ships of war for an alien ami in this country {b). To finish this part of the subject, in the words of Lord Erskine {c " The King may relax from the utmost rights of war, and from its extreme severities. What is termed the war prerogative of the King is created by the perils and exigencies of war for the public safety, and by its perils and exigencies is therefore limited. The King may lay on a general embargo, and may do various acts growing out of sudden emergencies; but in all these cases the emergency is the avowed cause, and the act done is as temporary as the occasion. The King can- not change by his prerogative of war, either the law of na- tions or the law of the land, by general and unlimited regu- lations." CHAP. V. Of the King as the head of the National Church. The Supremacy of the Cr&wn, — Ecclesiastical Laivs and Pcruoers of the Crorwn respecting Convocations oir Synods, — Ecclesias- tical Laws undei' the King's Controuly Protection^ S)C. — Of the King as the dernier resort i7i Ecclesiastical Causes, — Fi'eroga- tives as to the disposal of Church Preferments^ Sfc, — Cus- tody of Temporalities, — Corodies, — Tithes, First Fruits and Tenths, Sfc, The supremacy of the Crown in all matters of an ecclesiastical nature is, as observed by Lord Hale {d), a most indubitable right, which may be proved by records of unquestionable truth and authority ; and though the Popes made great usurpations and encroachments on this right, they were ever complained of and resisted as illegal {e and were effectually destroyed in the reign of Hen. 8. (a) 12 Car. 2. c. 4. 29 Geo. 2. c. 16. liamentary Debates, 961. post. ch. 10. as to commerce. (</) Hale, Hist. P. C 75. 3 Co. S. ib) Fortescue, R. 388. 40. 1 Bla. Com. 279. (c) Speech, Mar. 8, 1808, on the {e) 2 Burn, Ecc. Law, tit. Courts, Orders in Council. 10 Cobbett, Par- 35, 36. Ld. Raym. 25. By