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come to treat more particularly of those matters; but this may be faid in general, that an infant fhall lofe nothing by non-claim or neglect of demanding his right; nor fhall any other laches or negligence be imputed to an infant, except in fome very particular cafes.

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Ir is generally true, that an infant can neither aliene his lands, nor do any legal act, nor make a deed, nor indeed any manner of contract, that will bind him. But ftill to all these rules there are some exceptions: part of which were just now mentioned in reckoning up the different capacities which they affume at different ages and there are others, a few of which may not be improper to recite, as a general specimen of the whole. And, firft, it is true, that infants cannot aliene their eftates: but infant trustees, or mortgagees, are enabled to convey, under the direction of the court of chancery or exchequer, or other courts of equity, the eftates they hold in truft or mortgage, to fuch perfon as the court fhall appoint. Alfo it is generally true, that an infant can do no legal act : yet an infant, who has an advowson, may present to the bencfice when it becomes void a. For the law in this cafe difpenfes with one rule, in order to maintain others of far [466] greater confequence: it permits an infant to prefent a clerk (who, if unfit, may be rejected by the bishop), rather than either fuffer the church to be unferved till he comes of age, or permit the infant to be debarred of his right by lapse to the bishop. An infant may also purchase lands, but his purchase is incomplete: for when he comes to age, he may either agree or disagree to it, as he thinks prudent or proper, without alleging any reafon ; and fo may his heirs after him, if he dies without having completed his agreement. It is, farther, generally true, that an infant, under twenty-one, can make no deed but what is afterwards voidable; yet in some cases © he may bind himself apprentice by deed indented or indentures for seven years; and he may by deed or will appoint c Stat. 5 Eliz. c. 4. 43 Eliz. C.20 Cro. Car. 179.

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z Stat. 7 Ann. c. 19. 4 Geo, III. c.16.

a Co. Litt. 172.

b Ibid. 2.

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a guardian to his children, if he has any. Laftly, it is generally true, that an infant can make no other contract that will bind him: yet he may bind himself to pay for his neceffary meat, drink, apparel, phyfic, and such other neceffaries (7); and likewife for his good teaching and inftruction, whereby he may profit himself afterwards. And thus much, at prefent, for the privileges and disabilities of infants.

e Co. Litt. 172.

(7) It has been held, that an infant is not liable to repay money lent to him, although he should lay it out in necessaries. I Salk. 386. Nor is he bound to pay for goods bought to trade with. Bull. N. P. 154. But debts contracted curing infancy are a good confideration to fupport a promise made to pay them when a perfon is of full age. Infancy may be given in evidence upon the general iffue, or it may be pleaded.` Bull. 152.

And where the defendant pleads infancy, and the plaintiff replies that the defendant confirmed the promise or contract when he was of age, the plaintiff need only prove the promise, and the defendant must discharge himself by proof of the infancy. IT. R. 648.

CHAPTER THE EIGHTEENTH.

OF CORPORATIONS.

WE

E have hitherto confidered perfons in their natural capacities, and have treated of their rights and duties. But, as all personal rights die with the person; and, as the neceffary forms of investing a series of individuals, one after another, with the fame identical rights, would be very inconvenient, if not impracticable; it has been found neceffary, when it is for the advantage of the public to have any particular rights kept on foot and continued, to constitute artificial perfons, who may maintain a perpetual fucceffion, and enjoy a kind of legal immortality.

THESE artificial perfons are called bodies politic, bodies corporate, (corpora corporata) or corporations; of which there is a great variety subfifting, for the advancement of religion, of learning, and of commerce; in order to preserve entire and for ever those rights and immunities, which, if they were granted only to thofe individuals of which the body corporate is compofed, would upon their death be utterly loft and extinct. To fhew the advantages of thefe incorporations, let us confider the cafe of a college in either of our univerfities, founded ad ftudendum et orandum, for the encouragement and support of religion and learning. If this were a mere voluntary affembly, the individuals which compofe it might indeed read, pray, ftudy, and perform fcholaftic exercifes together, fo long as they could agree to do fo; but they

could

could neither frame, nor receive any laws or rules of their conduct; none at least, which would have any binding force, for want of a coercive power to create a fufficient obligation. Neither could they be capable of retaining any privileges or immunities: for if such privileges be attacked, which of all this unconnected affembly has the right, or ability, to defend them? And, when they are dispersed by death or otherwife, how shall they transfer these advantages to another fet of students, equally unconnected as themselves? So alfo with regard to holding eftates or other property, if land be granted for the purposes of religion or learning to twenty individuals not incorporated, there is no legal way of continuing the property to any other persons for the fame purposes, but by endless conveyances from one to the other, as often as the hands are changed. But when they are confolidated and united into a corporation, they and their fucceffors are then confidered as one person in law: as one person, they have one will, which is collected from the sense of the majority of the individuals: this one will may establish rules and orders for the regulation of the whole, which are a fort of municipal laws of this little republic; or rules and ftatutes may be prescribed to it at it's creation, which are then in the place of natural laws: the privileges and immunities, the estates and poffeffions of the corporation, when once vested in them, will be for ever vefted, without any new conveyance, to new fucceffions; for all the individual members that have exifted from the foundation to the prefent time, or that shall ever hereafter exift, are but one perfon in law, a perfon that never dies; in like manner as the river Thames is ftill the fame river, though the parts which compofe it are changing every inftant.

THE honour of originally inventing these political conftitutions entirely belongs to the Romans. They were introduced, as Plutarch fays, by Numa; who finding, upon his acceffion, the city torn to pieces by the two rival factions of Sabines and Romans, thought it a prudent and politic meafure to fubdivide these two into many fmaller ones, by infti

tuting feparate focieties of every manual trade and profeffion. They were afterwards much confidered by the civil law ", in which they were called univerfitates, as forming one whole out of many individuals; or collegia, from being gathered together; they were adopted alfo by the canon law, for the maintenance of ecclefiaftical discipline; and from them our fpiritual corporations are derived. But our laws have confiderably refined and improved upon the invention, according to the ufual genius of the English nation; particularly with regard to fole corporations, confifting of one person only, of which the Roman lawyers had no notion; their maxim being, that "tres faciunt collegium b." Though they held, that if a corporation, originally confifting of three persons, be reduced to one, "fi univerfitas ad unum redit," it may still fubfift as a corporation, " et flet nomen univerfitatis." c

BEFORE we proceed to treat of the feveral incidents of corporations, as regarded by the laws of England, let us first take a view of the feveral forts of them; and then we shall be better enabled to apprehend their refpective qualities.

THE first divifion of corporation is into aggregate and fole. Corporations aggregate confist of many persons united together into one society, and are kept up by a perpetual fucceffion of members, fo as to continue for ever; of which kind are the mayor and commonalty of a city, the head and fellows of a college, the dean and chapter of a cathedral church. Corporations fole confift of one perfon only and his fucceffors, in some particular station, who are incorporated by law, in order to give them fome legal capacities and advantages, particularly that of perpetuity, which in their natural perfons they could not have had. In this sense the king is a fole corporation; fo is a bishop; fo are some deans, and prebendaries, diftinct from their several chapters; and fo is every parfon and vicar. And the neceflity, or at least use, of this institution will be very apparent, if we confider the case of

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