Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/49

 Ch. 3. office, will by bribery, extortion, or other unlawful means, make his purchae good, to the manifet detriment of the public.

VI. bear a near relation to offices. Of the nature of thee we treated at large in the former book : it will therefore be here ufficient to mention them as a pecies of incorporeal hereditaments, wherein a man may have a property or etate.

VII. are a eventh pecies. Franchie and liberty are ued as ynonymous terms: and their definition is, a royal privilege, or branch of the king's prerogative, ubiting in the hands of a ubject. Being therefore derived from the crown, they mut arie from the king's grant; or, in ome caes, may be held by precription, which, as has been frequently aid, preuppoes a grant. The kinds of them are various, and almot infinite: I will here briefly touch upon ome of the principal; premiing only, that they may be veted in either natural perons or bodies politic; in one man, or in many: but the ame identical franchie, that has before been granted to one, cannot be betowed on another; for that would prejudice the former grant.

be a county palatine is a franchie, veted in a number of perons. It is likewie a franchie for a number of perons to be incorporated, and ubit as a body politic, with a power to maintain perpetual ucceion and do other corporate acts: and each individual member of uch corporation is alo aid to have a franchie or freedom. Other franchies are, to hold a court leet: to have a manor or lordhip; or, at leat, to have a lordhip paramount: to have waifs, wrecks, etrays, treaure-trove, royal-fih, forfeitures, and deodands: to have a court of one's own, or liberty of holding pleas, and trying caues: to have the cognizance of pleas; which is a till greater liberty, being an excluive right, o that no other court hall try caues ariing within that juridiction: to have a bailiwick, or liberty exempt from the heriff of the county, wherein the grantee only, and his officers, are to Rh