ia_, in the latter of which classes the
rights of the revenue are ranked. For, to use their own words,
"_majora regalia imperii praeeminentiam spectant; minora vero ad
commodum pecuniarium immediate attinent; et haec proprie fiscalia
sunt, et ad jus fisci pertinent_[k]."

[Footnote k: _Peregrin. de jure fisc._ _l._ 1. _c._ i. _num._ 9.]

FIRST, then, of the royal dignity. Under every monarchical
establishment, it is necessary to distinguish the prince from his
subjects, not only by the outward pomp and decorations of majesty, but
also by ascribing to him certain qualities, as inherent in his royal
capacity, distinct from and superior to those of any other individual
in the nation. For, though a philosophical mind will consider the
royal person merely as one man appointed by mutual consent to preside
over many others, and will pay him that reverence and duty which the
principles of society demand, yet the mass of mankind will be apt to
grow insolent and refractory, if taught to consider their prince as a
man of no greater perfection than themselves. The law therefore
ascribes to the king, in his high political character, not only large
powers and emoluments which form his prerogative and revenue, but
likewise certain attributes of a great and transcendent nature; by
which the people are led to consider him in the light of a superior
being, and to pay him that awful respect, which may enable him with
greater ease to carry on the business of government. This is what I
understand by the royal dignity, the several branches of which we will
now proceed to examine.

I. AND, first, the law ascribes to the king the attribute of
_sovereignty_, or pre-eminence. "_Rex est vicarius_," says Bracton[l],
"_et minister Dei in terra: omnis quidem sub eo est, et ipse sub
nullo, nisi tantum sub Deo._" He is said to have _imperial_ dignity,
and in charters before the conquest is frequently stiled _basileus_
and _imperator_, the titles respectively assumed by the emperors of
the east and west[m]. His realm is declared to be an _empire_, and his
crown imperial, by many acts of parliament, particularly the statutes
24 Hen. VIII. c. 12. and 25 Hen. VIII. c. 28; which at the same time
declare the king to be the supreme head of the realm in matters both
civil and ecclesiastical, and of consequence inferior to no man upon
earth, dependent on no man, accountable to no man. Formerly there
prevailed a ridiculous notion, propagated by the German an