the crown were attainted of treaſon and felony, and afterwards the crown ſhould deſcend to him, this would purge the attainder ipſo facto[1]. And therefore when Henry VII, who as earl of Richmond ſtood attainted, came to the crown, it was not thought neceſſary to paſs an act of parliament to reverſe this attainder; becauſe, as lord Bacon in his hiſtory of that prince informs us, it was agreed that the aſſumption of the crown had at once purged all attainders. Neither can the king in judgment of law, as king, ever be a minor or under age; and therefore his royal grants and aſſents to acts of parliament are good, though he has not in his natural capacity attained the legal age of twenty one[2]. By a ſtatute indeed, 28 Hen. VIII. c. 17. power was given to future kings to reſcind and revoke all acts of parliament that ſhould be made while they were under the age of twenty four: but this was repealed by the ſtatute 1 Edw. VI. c. 11. ſo far as related to that prince; and both ſtatutes are declared to be determined by 24 Geo. II. c. 24. It hath alſo been uſually thought prudent, when the heir apparent has been very young, to appoint a protector, guardian, or regent, for a limited time: but the very neceſſity of ſuch extraordinary proviſion is ſufficient to demonſtrate the truth of that maxim of the common law, that in the king is no minority; and therefore he hath no legal guardian[3].
- ↑ Finch. L. 82.
- ↑ Co. Litt. 43.
- ↑ The methods of appointing this guardian or regent have been ſo various, and the duration of his power ſo uncertain, that from thence alone it may be collected that his office is unknown to the common law; and therefore (as ſir Edward Coke ſays, 4 Inſt. 58.) the ſureſt way is to have him made by authority of the great council in parliament. The earl of Pembroke by his own authority, aſſumed in very troubleſome times, the regency of Henry III, who was then only nine years old; but was declared of full age by the pope at ſeventeen, confirmed the great charter at eighteen, and took upon him the adminiſtration of the government at twenty. A guardian and council of regency were named for Edward III, by the parliament which depoſed his father; the young king being then fifteen, and not aſſuming the government till three years after. When Richard II ſucceeded at the age of eleven, the duke of Lancaſter took upon him the management of the kingdom, till the parliament met, which appointed a nominal council to aſſiſt him. Henry V on his death-bed named a regent and a guardian for his infant ſon Henry VI, then nine months old: but the parliament altered his diſpoſition, and appointed a protector and council, with a ſpecial limited authority. Both theſe princes remained in a ſtate of pupillage till the age
