A special privilege conferred by government upon an individual or corporation, and which does not belong to the citizens of the country generally, of common right It is essential to the character of a franchise that it should be a grant from the sovereign authority, and in this country no franchise can be held which is not derived from a law of the atate. In England, a franchise is defined to be a royal privilege in the hands of a subject. In this country, it is a privilege of a public nature, which cannot he exercised without a legislative grant.