Chapter the seventh.
Of the King’s Perogative.
It was obſerved in a former chapter[1], that one of the principal bulwarks of civil liberty, or (in other words) of the Britiſh conſtitution, was the limitation of the king’s prerogative by bounds ſo certain and notorious, that it is impoſſible he ſhould ever exceed them, without the conſent of the people, on the one hand; or without, on the other, a violation of that original contract, which in all ſtates impliedly, and in ours moſt expreſſly, ſubſiſts between the prince and the ſubject. It will now be our buſineſs to conſider this prerogative minutely; to demonſtrate it’s neceſſity in general; and to mark out in the moſt important inſtances it’s particular extent and reſtrictions: from which conſiderations this concluſion will evidently follow, that the powers which are veſted in the crown by the laws of England, are neceſſary for the ſupport of ſociety; and do not intrench any farther on our natural liberties, than is expedient for the maintenance of our civil.
There cannot be a ſtronger proof of that genuine freedom, which is the boaſt of this age and country, than the power of diſcuſſing and examining, with decency and reſpect, the limits of the king’s prerogative. A topic, that in ſome former ages was thought too delicate and ſacred to be profaned by the pen of a ſubject. It was ranked among the arcana imperii; and, like the
- ↑ chap. 1. page 141.
