Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/488

 472 thus marhalled the everal pecies of corporations, let us next proceed to conider, 1. How corporations, in general, may be created. 2. What are their powers, capacities, and incapacities. 3. How corporations are viited. And 4. How they may be diolved.

I., by the civil law, eem to have been created by the mere act, and voluntary aociation of their members; provided uch convention was not contrary to law, for then it was illicitum collegium. It does not appear that the prince's conent was neceary to be actually given to the foundation of them; but merely that the original founders of thee voluntary and friendly ocieties (for they were little more than uch) hould not etablih any meetings in oppoition to the laws of the tate.

, with us in England, the king's conent is abolutely neceary to the erection of any corporation, either impliedly or exprely given. The king's implied conent is to be found in corporations which exit by force of the common law, to which our former kings are uppoed to have given their concurrence; common law being nothing ele but cutom, ariing from the univeral agreement of the whole community. Of this ort are the king himelf, all bihops, parons, vicars, churchwardens, and ome others; who by common law have ever been held (as far as our books can hew us) to have been corporations, virtute officii: and this incorporation is o infeparably annexed to their offices, that we cannot frame a complete legal idea of any of thee perons, but we mut alo have an idea of a corporation, capable to tranmit his rights to his ucceors, at the ame time. Another method of implication, whereby the king's conent is preumed, is as to all corporations by precription, uch as the city of London, and many others, which have exited as corporations, time Rh