Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/288

 272 the ame principle alo aries the prerogative of erecting and dipoing of offices: for honours and offices are in their nature convertible and ynonymous. All offices under the crown carry in the eye of the law an honour along with them; becaue they imply a uperiority of parts and abilities, being uppoed to be always filled with thoe that are mot able to execute them. And, on the other hand, all honours in their original had duties or offices annexed to them: an earl, comes, was the conervator or governor of a county; and a knight, miles, was bound to attend the king in his wars. For the ame reaon therefore that honours are in the dipoal of the king, offices ought to be o likewie; and as the king may create new titles, o may he create new offices: but with this retriction, that he cannot create new offices with new fees annexed to them, nor annex new fees to old offices; for this would be a tax upon the ubject, which cannot be impoed but by act of parliament. Wherefore, in 13 Hen. IV, a new office being created by the king's letters patent for meauring cloths, with a new fee for the ame, the letters patent were, on account of the new fee, revoked and declared void in parliament.

the ame, or a like reaon, the king has alo the prerogative of conferring privileges upon private perons. Such as granting place or precedence to any of his ubjects, as hall eem good to his royal widom : or uch as converting aliens, or perons born out of the king's dominions, into denizens; whereby ome very coniderable privileges of natural-born ubjects are conferred upon them. Such alo is the prerogative of erecting corporations; whereby a number of private perons are united and knit together, and enjoy many liberties, powers, and immunities in their politic capacity, which they were utterly incapable of in their natural. Of aliens, denizens, natural-born, and naturalized ubjects, I hall peak more largely in a ubequent chapter; as alo of corporations at the cloe of this book of our commentaries. Rh