Ch. VIII.] Franchises. — Corporations, 121 ject. A consolidation of interests tends to their advantage and preservation ; and ensures a degree of regularity, unanimity, and strength, which cannot be found in a disjointed and un- connected body. The peculiar properties of a corporation ; its political and indivisible character; and its capability of transmitting its rights and immunities to its successors to the remotest period, by operation of law and without any respect to the individual and personal capacities of its members ; are incompatible with the notion of an unconnected assembly of persons ; without the means of expressing their will, or a hand exclusively appointed to protect their united rights. Political governments and sovereign power originated from a common sense that their existence was necessary on these principles : and a subdivision of these artificial or political constitutions naturally and imperceptibly followed. A corporation may be defined to be a collection of many individuals, united into one body, under a special denomina- tion, having perpetual succession under an artificial form, and vested by the policy of the law, with the capacity of acting in several respects as an individual, particularly of taking and granting property, of contracting obligations, and of suing and being sued, of enjoying privileges and immunities in common, and of exercising a variety of political rights, more or less ex- tensive, according to the design of its institution or the powers conferred upon it, either at the time of its creation or at any subsequent period of its existence [a). Single persons cannot partake of many of the properties of a corporation, but as they may partake of a few, as for instance, the capacity of having perpetual succession; our law has divi- ded corporations into two classes, corporations aggregate and corporations sole {b). Corporations aggregate consist (c) of many persons united together into one society, and are kept up by a perpetual succession of members, so 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 sole consist of one person only and his successors, in some particular station, who are incorporated by law, in order to' give them some legal capa- (a) 1 Kyd. 13. (c) 1 Bla.Com. 469. (*^ Co. Lit. 250, a. 7 cities
