Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/376

 372 CORPORAL CORPORATION t6e on the edge between as many fleurs de lis ; but since the restoration it has been closed with one arch, adorned with pearls, and surmounted by a mound and cross. That of a duke is en- riched with precious stones and pearls, and adorned with eight large strawberry leaves. That of a marquis is set round with four straw- berry leaves interposed between as many pearls. That of an earl has eight pearls alternate with COBONETS. 1. Duke's. 2. Marquis's. 8. Earl's. 4. Baron's. as many strawberry leaves, but set on pyra- midal points much above them. That of a vis- count is surrounded only by an indefinite num- ber of pearls. The baron's coronet, which was first granted by Charles II., has six pearls set around it at equal distances. In England coro- nets are worn at the time of a coronation by peers and peeresses. On the continent of Eu- rope coronets are not worn, but are merely represented with other heraldic insignia, CORPORAL (Ital. caporale, from Lat. caput, a head), the lowest officer in a company of in- fantry, between a private and a sergeant. He does duty in the ranks as a private, but has charge of a squad at drill, and places and re- lieves the sentinels. CORPORALE (from Lat. corpus, a body), in the Roman Catholic and Greek churches, the fine linen cloth extended upon the altar, on which the priest deposits the elements in the sacrament of the eucharist. It is regarded as representing the shroud in which the body of Christ was enveloped after his death. From its sacredness it was sometimes touched by a person taking an oath, to give greater so- lemnity to the act ; whence the name of cor- poral oaths. CORPORATION, an artificial legal entity, es- tablished by law, composed of one or more persons, with certain powers and functions to 'be exercised in the corporate name, and con- tinued by a succession of members. Black- stone and most other writers attribute the honor of inventing these artificial beings en- tirely to the Romans, and refer their original to the time of Numa, who, according to Plu- tarch, finding upon his succession the city torn to pieces by the rival factions of Romans and Sabines, thought proper to subdivide the two into many smaller ones, by instituting separate societies of every trade and profession. But this, if not fabulous like most which has been reported of that period, would seem to be a mere classification of the people without any of the essential incidents of a corporation. The greater division into patricians and plebeians (which grew up by a natural course . rather than by any public enactment) had perhaps as much of the corporate character. The sacred orders (also supposed to have been instituted by Numa) of pontifices, augures, feciales, and others, might with more propriety be called corporations; yet these were all constituents of the municipal government, and were in no other sense corporate than was the senate. The universitates or collegia of the civil law were rather associations than corporations. (See COLLEGE.) The true original of corpora- tions is to be found in the middle ages, when cities, towns, fraternities of tradesmen, and the like, obtained charters from feudal sovereigns of certain privileges and immunities, sometimes for the protection of personal liberty, and some- times for the advantage of trade, the latter be- ing somewhat in the nature of a monopoly. Corporations are either aggregate, that is, com- posed of two or more persons at the same time ; or sole, when they consist of one member only at a time, as in the case of the English bishops. They are also divided into ecclesiastical, or those which are created for the furtherance of religion and perpetuating the privileges of the church ; lay, or those created for secular pur- poses ; and eleemosynary, or those created for charitable purposes, using that term in a broad sense, which will include means of instruction, &c. A further classification is into public, or those which are formed as instruments or con- veniences of government, as cities, villages, &c. ; and private, or those which are created for the benefit of the corporators, and in which the public have only an incidental interest. Under the civil law corporations appear to have been created by the voluntary association of members, but the consent of the government in some form is always essential. In England the prerogative of creating corporations was in the king, who granted a charter for the pur- pose ; but charters may be granted by parlia- ment also, and in modern times this is the ordinary course. Corporations may also be established by prescription, which supposes a charter to have once existed ; and there may be corporations by implication, where powers are conferred upon individuals to the exer- cise of which corporate capacity is essential. (Dyer's Rep., 400 ; 10 Barn well and Cresswell, 349.) In the United States corporations are created by special charter of the legislature, or formed by voluntary association of members under a general law. In some states special charters are forbidden "by the constitution. The incidents of a corporation are, to have a corporate name by which it is known in the law, and a corporate seal, under which in gen- eral its business is transacted ; to have capacity