Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/310

 294 of clergy. Latly, by the tatute 26 Geo. II. c. 19. plundering any veel either in ditres, or wrecked, and whether any living creature be on board or not, (for, whether wreck or otherwie, it is clearly not the property of the populace) uch plundering, I ay, or preventing the ecape of any peron that endeavors to ave his life, or wounding him with intent to detroy him, or putting out fale lights in order to bring any veel into danger, are all declared to be capital felonies; in like manner as the detroying trees, teeples, or other tated eamarks, is punihed by the tatute 8 Eliz, c. 13. with a forfeiture of 100𝑙. or outlawry. Moreover, by the tatute of George II, pilfering any goods cat ahore is declared to be petty larceny; and many other alutary regulations are made, for the more effectually preerving hips of any nation in ditres.

XII. A branch of the royal revenue, the right to mines, has it's original from the king's prerogative of coinage, in order to upply him with materials: and therefore thoe mines, which are properly royal, and to which the king is entitled when found, are only thoe of ilver and gold. By the old common law, if gold or ilver be found in mines of bae metal, according to the opinion of ome the whole was a royal mine, and belonged to the king; though others held that it only did o, if the quantity of gold or ilver was of greater value than the quantity of bafe metal. But now by the tatutes 1 W. & M. t. 1. c. 30. and 5 W. & M. c. 6. this difference is made immaterial; it being enacted, that no mines of copper, tin, iron, or lead, hall be looked upon as royal mines, notwithtanding gold or ilver may be extracted from them in any quantities: but that the king, or perons claiming royal mines under his authority, may have the Rh