Page:Prerogatives of the Crown.djvu/182

1 62 Foreign Commerce. FCh. X. Sec. I. -o superstitious uses therein enumerated, are declared to vest in the Crown ; but other gifts, not included within that enumera- tion, neither vest in the Crown nor in the heir, but shall be appointed to such uses as- the King shall order (a). CHAP. X. Of the Prerogative as to Commerce. Sect. I. — Foreign Commerce ; Freedom of^ and how Jar under royal Controtd, — Consuls. — Dispehsations by Licences^ and Orders in Councily from the Effect of War on Commerce^ Sfc, — Prohibitions. — Embargoes. — Declarations of Contraband^ 8fc, — Sovereignty over the Seas, — Poits and Havens, — Beacons and Light-houses. The protection of foreign and domestic commerce was, even in the most antient times, a favorite object of the English laws; as is strongly instanced by the provisions in Magna Charta, c. 30., and subsequent enactments, respecting the freedom of alien merchants. And in the time of King Athel- stan we find a very remarkable law, which says, that any mer- chant who has made three voyages upon his own account, beyond the British channel, or narrow seas, shall be entitled to the privilege of a thane {b) : " et si mercator tamen sit, qiti per trans altum mare per facultates proprias abeat, ille postea jure thani sit dignus.** It would of course be irrelevant to enter into a detail or ex- planation of the lex mercatoria. Its objects, and the princi- ples and policy on which it is founded, are of a complicated nature ; and the numerous regulations respecting trade to be found in our statute books would fill volumes (c). Our foreign commerce is principally regulated by a variety of statutes; and chiefly by the Navigation Act 12 Car. 2. c. 18.; (a) 1 Salk. 16a. (c) See Pope's work j and Chitty, oiv (i) Wilkins, Angl. Sax. Leg. Judicia " Commerct" and " Law of Nations." Curtatis. Lond. p. 71. the