Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/289

 Ch. 7. I now only mention them incidentally, in order to remark the king's prerogative of making them; which is grounded upon this foundation, that the king, having the ole adminitration of the government in his hands, is the bet and the only judge, in what capacities, with what privileges, and under what ditinctions, his people are the bet qualified to erve, and to act under him. A principle, which was carried o far by the imperial law, that it was determined to be the crime of acrilege, even to doubt whether the prince had appointed proper officers in the tate.

V. light in which the laws of England conider the king with regard to dometic concerns, is as the arbiter of commerce. By commerce, I at preent mean dometic commerce only. It would lead me into too large a field, if I were to attempt to enter upon the nature of foreign trade, it's privileges, regulations, and retrictions; and would be alo quite beide the purpoe of thee commentaries, which are confined to the laws of England. Whereas no municipal laws can be ufficient to order and determine the very extenive and complicated affairs of traffic and merchandize; neither can they have a proper authority for this purpoe. For as thee are tranactions carried on between ubjects of independent tates, the municipal laws of one will not be regarded by the other. For which reaon the affairs of commerce are regulated by a law of their own, called the law merchant or lex mercatoria, which all nations agree in and take notice of. And in particular it is held to be part of the law of England, which decides the caues of merchants by the general rules which obtain in all commercial countries; and that often even in matters relating to dometic trade, as for intance with regard to the drawing, the acceptance, and the transfer, of inland bills of exchange.

us in England, the king's prerogative, o far as it relates to mere dometic commerce, will fall principally under the following articles. Rh