d Italian
civilians, that an emperor could do many things which a king could
not, (as the creation of notaries and the like) and that all kings
were in some degree subordinate and subject to the emperor of Germany
or Rome. The meaning therefore of the legislature, when it uses these
terms of _empire_ and _imperial_, and applies them to the realm of
England, is only to assert that our king is equally sovereign and
independent within these his dominions, as any emperor is in his
empire; and owes no kind of subjection to any other potentate upon
earth. Hence it is, that no suit or action can be brought against the
king, even in civil matters, because no court can have jurisdiction
over him. For all jurisdiction implies superiority of power: authority
to try would be vain and idle, without an authority to redress; and
the sentence of a court would be contemptible, unless that court had
power to command the execution of it: but who, says Finch[n], shall
command the king? Hence it is likewise, that by law the person of the
king is sacred, even though the measures pursued in his reign be
completely tyrannical and arbitrary: for no jurisdiction upon earth
has power to try him in a criminal way; much less to condemn him to
punishment. If any foreign jurisdiction had this power, as was
formerly claimed by the pope, the independence of the kingdom would be
no more: and, if such a power were vested in any domestic tribunal,
there would soon be an end of the constitution, by destroying the free
agency of one of the constituent parts of the sovereign legislative
power.

[Footnote l: _l._ 1. _c._ 8.]

[Footnote m: Seld. tit. of hon. 1. 2.]

[Footnote n: Finch. L. 83.]

ARE then, it may be asked, the subjects of England totally destitute
of remedy, in case the crown should invade their rights, either by
private injuries, or public oppressions? To this we may answer, that
the law has provided a remedy in both cases.

AND, first, as to private injuries; if any person has, in point of
property, a just demand upon the king, he must petition him in his
court of chancery, where his chancellor will administer right as a
matter of grace, though not upon compulsion[o]. And this is entirely
consonant to what is laid down by the writers on natural law. "A
subject, says Puffendorf[p], so long as he continues a subject, hath
no way to _oblige_ his prince to give him his due, when he refuses it;
though no wise prince will ever refuse to stand