It is mere than probable that at all times Charters were freely purchasable by those who could afford to pay for them, and, having served their particular purpose, were as easily lost or mislaid. For all practical purposes, however, until the sixteenth century at least, they offer no indication whatever of the antiquity of any Company, even where they seem to state in the preamble that there has been no previous Charter, a statement which should be taken only to indicate that the Sovereign granting the Charter wishes it to be supposed that he, and he alone, is the person to whom the Company is indebted for its privileges, privileges which often existed only in name. In many cases the Charters were really encroachments by the State on the ancient privileges which had been inherited from the earliest times, and which were supported by Municipal law, against which State law waged continuous warfare. [Sidenote: Previous Incorporations.] It is widely held by students who are not satisfied to be merely superficial that in very early days aggregate bodies were deemed to have perpetual succession without being “incorporated.” When the King granted to a set of men to be a mercantile community, assembly, or meeting, this was considered sufficient to incorporate them. As illustrating this virtual “incorporation” we may note the words of the eminent jurist, Dr. Williams, in his “Law of the Universities,” published only last year. He says:—“A corporation, the creature of the Crown, may exist by Charter or ‘prescription,’ which presumes a Charter, even in cases where historical evidence makes it morally certain that no Charters ever existed.” Consequently, in the Charters of Edward III (which meant little and were but a receipt for moneys loaned or given), there is no provision for a common seal, liberty to accept or buy land, or to sue and be sued, etc., all these being naturally taken for granted in the case of Gilds or similar organizations then existing. It is no doubt true that in the reign of Edward III Craft Gilds were generally chartered, _i.e._, had their privileges _confirmed_ by Letters Patent; yet, in still earlier days, as well as after the death of Edward III, it would seem that these bodies exercised their functions under special protection or on suffrance, probably always in return for their “fermes” or annual payment to the King. [Sidenote: Horners never an adulterine Gild.]