a seaport town of the hundred of Blything, in the county of Suffolk, 105 miles from London. It is situated on the river Blythe. It is connected with the port of Yarmouth, but has a corporation of its own. The herring-fishery is extensively carried on in it, and of late years it has been resorted to for sea-bathing. The inhabitants amounted in 1821 to 1676, and in 1831 to 1875.

SOVEREIGN, in matters of government, is applied to the supreme magistrate or magistrates of an independent government or state; because their authority is only bound by the laws of God and the laws of the state: such are kings, princes, &c.

SOVEREIGN POWER, or Sovereignty, is the power of making or sanctioning laws; for wherever that power resides, all others must conform to it, and be directed by it, whatever appearance the outward form and administration of the government may assume. For it is at any time in the option of the legislature to alter that form and administration by a new edict or rule, and to put the execution of the laws into whatever hands it pleases; and all the other powers of the state must obey the legislative power in the execution of their several functions; or else the constitution is at an end. In our constitution the law ascribes to the king the attribute of sovereignty; but that is to be understood in a qualified sense; that is, he is supreme magistrate, not sole legislator, as the legislative power is vested in the king, lords, and commons, not in any of the three estates alone.