Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/494

 478 poration aggregate contituted without a head : as the collegiate church of Southwell in Nottinghamhire, which conits only of prebendaries; and the governors of the Charter-houe, London, who have no preident or uperior, but are all of equal authority. In aggregate corporations alo, the act of the major part is eteemed the act of the whole. By the civil law this major part mut have conited of two thirds of the whole; ele no act could be performed : which perhaps may be one reaon why they required three at leat to make a corporation. But, with us, any majority is ufficient to determine the act of the whole body. And whereas, notwithtanding the law tood thus, ome founders of corporations had made tatutes in derogation of the common law, making very frequently the unanimous aent of the ociety to be neceary to any corporate act; (which king Henry VIII found to be a great obtruction to his projected cheme of obtaining a urrender of the lands of eccleiatical corporations) it was therefore enacted by tatute 33 Hen. VIII. c. 27. that all private tatutes hall be utterly void, whereby any grant or election, made by the head, with the concurrence of the major part of the body, is liable to be obtructed by any one or more, being the minority: but this tatute extends not to any negative or neceary voice, given by the founder to the head of any uch fociety.

before oberved that it was incident to every corporation, to have a capacity to purchae lands for themelves and ucceors: and this is regularly true at the common law. But they are excepted out of the tatute of wills ; o that no devie of lands to a corporation by will is good: except for charitable ues, by tatute 43 Eliz. c. 4. And alo, by a great variety of tatutes, their privilege even of purchaing from any living grantor is greatly abridged; o that now a corporation, either eccleiatical or lay, Rh