Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/387

 Ch. 10. nity: wherefore, although the true prince regain the overeignty, yet uch attempts againt the uurper (unles in defence or aid of the rightful king) have been afterwards punihed with death; becaue of the breach of that temporary allegiance, which was due to him as king de facto. And upon this footing, after Edward IV recovered the crown, which had been long detained from his houe by the line of Lancater, treaons committed againt Henry VI were capitally punihed, though Henry had been declared an uurper by parliament.

oath of allegiance, or rather the allegiance itelf, is held to be applicable not only to the political capacity of the king, or regal office, but to his natural peron, and blood-royal: and for the miapplication of their allegiance, viz. to the regal capacity or crown, excluive of the peron of the king, were the Spencers banihed in the reign of Edward II. And from hence aroe that principle of peronal attachment, and affectionate loyalty, which induced our forefathers (and, if occaion required, would doubtles induce their ons) to hazard all that was dear to them, life, fortune, and family, in defence and upport of their liege lord and overeign.

allegiance then, both expres and implied, is the duty of all the king's ubjects, under the ditinctions here laid down, of local and temporary, or univeral and perpetual. Their rights are alo ditinguihable by the ame criterions of time and locality; natural-born ubjects having a great variety of rights, which they acquire by being born within the king's ligeance, and can never forfeit by any ditance of place or time, but only by their own mibehaviour: the explanation of which rights is the principal ubject of the two firt books of thee commentaries. The ame is alo in ome degree the cae of aliens; though their rights are much more circumcribed, being acquired only by reidence here, and lot whenever they remove. I hall however here endeavour to chalk out ome of the principal lines, whereby they Rh