on,
relying upon certain decisions of the courts of England recognizing
the right of the Crown to those metals. The principal case on the
subject was that of The Queen vs. The Earl of Northumberland, reported
in Plowden. The counsel of the Queen in that case gave, according to
our present notions, some very fanciful reasons for the conclusion
reached, though none were stated in the judgment of the court. There
were three reasons, said the counsel, why the King should have the
mines and ores of gold and silver within the realm, in whatsoever land
they were found: "The first was, in respect to the excellency of the
thing, for of all things which the soil within this realm produces or
yields, gold and silver are the most excellent, and of all persons in
the realm, the King is, in the eye of the law, most excellent. And the
common law, which is founded upon reason, appropriates everything to
the person whom it best suits, as common and trivial things to the
common people, things of more worth to persons in a higher and superior
class, and things most excellent to those persons who excel all others;
and because gold and silver are the most excellent things which the
soil contains, the law has appointed them (as in reason it ought) to
the person who is most excellent, and that is the King.--The second
reason was, in respect of the necessity of the thing. For the King
is the head of the Weal-public and the subjects are his members;
and the office of the King, to which the law has appointed him,
is to preserve his subjects; and their preservation consisted
in two things, viz., in an army to defend them against hostilities,
and in good laws. And an army cannot be had and maintained without
treasure, for which reason some authors, in their books, call
treasure the sinews of war; and, therefore, inasmuch as God has
created mines within this realm, as a natural provision of treasure
for the defence of the realm, it is reasonable that he who has the
government and care of the people, whom he cannot defend without
treasure, should have the treasure wherewith to defend them.--The
third reason was, in respect of its convenience to the subjects
in the way of mutual commerce and traffic. For the subjects of
the realm must, of necessity, have intercourse or dealing with
one another, for no individual is furnished with all necessary
commodities, but one has need of the things which another has, and
they cannot sell or buy together without