Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/467

Rh other of their art auct mystery, it is very probable, if not absolutely certain, that the Court of Chancery would restrain the same, as being ultra vires.&quot;

Municipal Corporations.—The introduction of corpora tions into cities and towns does not appear to date farther back than the reign of Henry VI., although they had long possessed what may be called a quasi-corporate character. By that time the corporate character of ecclesiastical and educational societies and even of guilds had been recog nized, and the great convenience of corporate powers was, no doubt, the reason why they were demanded by the com monalties of towns. The inhabitants of Plymouth appear to have petitioned for a corporation in 13 Henry IV., and the charter of Kingston-ou-Hull in L8 Henry VI. is said to be the first charter of municipal incorporation in England. The ultimate effect of these charters was in general to re duce the boroughs into close corporations, the members of which engrossed tbe municipal and political powers to the exclusion of the general body of the inhabitants. The legal dependence of such corporations on the charter of the king suggested the measures above referred to by which the Crown attempted to get the control of the corpora tions. The reversal of the judgments obtained in the pro ceedings against corporations formed one of the first acts of the people after the Revolution of 1688, and thereafter corporations shared with private persons the advantages of freedom from arbitrary interference on the part of the Crown. Freedom from state control, however, means in the case of corporations the growth of abuses. The Cor porations Act of the reign of Charles II., one of the measures forced on the king by the jealousy of his Parlia ment for the rights of the church, provided that no person should be elected to office in any corporate town, who should not within one year previously have taken the sacrament of the Lord s Supper according to the rites of the church, and this enactment, although after a time sus pended by temporary statutes, was not finally abolished till 9 Geo. IV. c. 17, which substituted for the test a declara tion not to injure or weaken the Church of England. The important powers, municipal, political, and judicial, possessed by town corporations, the large ascertained amount of property in their hands, their exclusiveness, secrecy, and almost total freedom from responsibility, all these abuses were acquiesced in till the reform of the House of Commons in 1832 enabled Parliament to turn its atten tion to the reform of other public institutions. The royal commissioners appointed in 1834 reported that &quot; there prevails among the inhabitants of a great majority of the incorporated towns a general and in our opinion a just dis satisfaction with the municipal institutions a distrust of the self-elected municipal councils, whose powers are subject to no popular control, and whose acts and proceedings, being secret, are not checked by the influence of public opinion ; a distrust of the municipal magistracy, tainting with sus picion the local administration of justice; a discontent under the burthen of local taxation, while revenues are diverted from their legitimate use.&quot; The publication of this report was followed by the Municipal Corporations Act, 5 and G Will. IV. c. 26, by which, in all the boroughs named in the schedules to the Act, the laws, customs, charters, thereto fore in force, are repealed where inconsistent with the pro visions of the Act. Section 2 reserves all rights of property and beneficial exemptions to freemen, their wives and children; but freedom is not in future to be acquired by gift or purchase. The body corporate in such borough shall be called the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of such borough, and by that name shall have perpetual succession, and shall be capable in law by the council hereinafter mentioned to-do and suffer all things which now lawfully they and their successors respectively may do and suffer by any name or title of incorporation. It has been held that this Act does not create new corporations, although it alters the name, title, and constitution of the governing body. All corporate funds, after payment of delts, salaries, &c., as specified in the Act, are expressly appro priated to public purposes. Advowsons in the possession of the body corporate are to be sold under the direction of the ecclesiastical commissioners, and the proceeds invested in securities for the use of the corporation. The general regulations of municipalities under this and subsequent Acts not affecting them in their character as corporations, belong to the subject of Municipal Government. This beneficial Act was unfortunately limited in its operation. London and all its corporations were left out, and the municipal government of the metropolis is at this moment a medley of independent jurisdictions in striking contrast with the orderly corporations of other large towns. And on the other hand, many small boroughs were omitted in the original Act, which still exhibit in the mismanage ment of the*ir property and powers the abuses against which that Act was directed. In 1875 and 1876 resolutions ou the subject were laid before the Parliament, and from a return procured by Government, it appeared that the number of unreformed corporations was 102. Many of these were places of some importance, and in possession of considerable property. Government yielded to the general feeling that inquiry was desirable, and a royal commission was appointed to consider the subject.  CORPULENCE, or, is a condition of the body characterized by the over-accumulation of fat under the skin and around certain of the internal organs. In all healthy persons a greater or less amount of fat is present in these parts, and serves important physiological ends, besides contributing to the proper configuration of the body. Even a considerable measure of corpulence, how ever inconvenient, is not inconsistent with a high degree of health and activity, and it is only when in great excess or rapidly increasing that it can be regarded as a morbid state. The extent to which obesity may proceed is illustrated by numerous well-authenticated examples recorded in medical works, of which only a few can be here mentioned. Thus Bright, a grocer of Maldou, in Essex, who died in 1750, in his twenty-ninth year, weighed 616 R). Dr F. Dancel records the case of a young man of twenty-two, who died from excessive obesity, weighing 643 K). In the 1 hilosopliical Transactions for 1813 a case is recorded of a girl of four years of age who weighed 256 B). But the most celebrated case is that of Daniel Lambert of Leicester, who died in 1809 in his fortieth year. He is said to have been the heaviest man that ever lived, his weight being 739 Bb (52 st. 11 lb). Lambert had publicly exhibited himself for some years prior to his death, vhich occurred suddenly at Stamford. At the inn where he died two suits of his clothes were preserved, from which sorns idea of his enormous dimensions may be obtained, when it is stated that his waistcoat could easily inclose seven persons of ordinary size. Lambert ate moderately, drank only water, and slept less than most persons. He is said to have had an excellent tenor voice. Health cannot be long maintained under excessive obesity, fur the increase in bulk of the body, rendering exercise more difficult, leads to relaxation and defective nutrition of muscle, while the accumulations of fat in the chest and abdomen occasion serious embarrassment to the functions of the various organs in those cavities. In general the mental activity of the highly corpulent becomes impaired, although there have always been many notable exceptions to this rule. Various causes are assigned for the production of corpulence, but it must be admitted that in many cases it cannot 