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BENTLEY, REAR 07 TUB COURT HOUSE, OR NO. 9, WEUINGTOK BUILDINGS, KINO STREET. 1851. 'W' 7/ A • J •o:?^: r t ^ 'h ■\ lU ■' I i -l U i ! '■>^*^i-^T"*^\Stt^ I REMARKS, &c. As some extreme and absurd notions have, within the last few months, been put forth on the subject of religious corporations, and some honest and good people have been disturbed by ihem, I availed myself of the opportunity, when in New York a few weeks since, to ascertain what has been the practice of the American peo- ple on this subject. Kindly aided by that ex- cellent man, and ill used but sincere and merito- rious friend of Canada, M. S. Bidwbll, Fisquire, I examined and caused to be transcribed a num- ber of Statutes incorporating religious bodies, re- lating to various denominations, and extending over a period of nearly half a century. I do not refer here to Acts of Incorporation relating to places of worship and burying-grounds. I have liefore me a collection, (printed in New York last year ) ot " The latcs of the State of New York relating to Religious Incorporations, and all acts amending the same." These relate entirely to places of worship and burying-grounds ; and among them I find acts or " titles" with the fol- lowing designations, and ample provisions for holding property by the religious bodies denomi- nated ; namely, "Episcopal Church — how incorpo- rated ;" " Dutch Church — how incorporated ;" " Methodists ;" " Presbyterian Church," Stc, Stc. Here we have "religious corporations" for all Churches ; but if the new cry, which has origi- nated with certain newspaper-writers, who are known to be individually hostile to the prin- cipal denominations ii Canada, should succeed, the very right to hold ;)Iaces of worship would be abolished — as one "pic .k" of their "platform" has been the "abolition of all religious corporations ;" and the legal Trustees of every place of worship constitute a " religious corporation." It is true that by some this " plank" has been modified ; and by others it has heen thrown away, or set aside for the time being -being so repugnant to the Christian principles and tolerant spirit of the country at large. The objection of these anti " religious corporation" gentlemen is now di- rected, not so much against corporations for holding places of religious worship, as against the incorportion of religious denominotions as such for missionary or educational purposes, or for the purposes of diflusing useful knowledge by rr.cans of book«, tracts, kc. Then ogam, special ob- jection has been made to incorportions of ecclesi- astics for any purpose whatever, though the resources of such incorporations should entirely depend upon voluntary contributions, and be limited to clearly-defined purposes — even the single purpose of personal support in old age. The illiberality and intolerance of such a spirit exceeds anything that the prescriptive spirit, ot ecclesiastical domination in former years avow- ed or contemplated in this province. It is in reference to denominational incorpora- tions that I wish to exhibit the tolerant and en- lightened spirit of our American neighbours, in contrast with the intolerant and prescriptive spirit of Canadian socialism. It is known that any religious denomination in the Stale of New York that is able to establish an academy or ucniver- sity college, can procure the desired charter for it without let or hindrance ; and it is only within the last year or so that the Now York Legislature granted some $20,000 or !ii«30,000 in aid of a Baptist College at Hamilton, besides annual grants to various denominational colleges and academies — knowing, as the American people do, that such institutions are among the most pow- erful, and to the State the least expensive, agen- cies for completing the educational instrumen- talities of a country, and promoting the sound ediicalion of an entire people. But the American people do not stop here. Instead of looking upon the religious denominations with jealousy, and their clergy with hatred, they know that religious denominations constitute the moral strength ot the country — the cement of its institutions and the preservative of society against decay and dissolution — and that the Clergy are the volun- tarily chosen and acknowledged teachers and mis- sionaries of religion, and of learning to a great extent, and therefore merit respect rather than contempt recognition rather than proscription. I will now present a few Acts of Religious In- corporation which have been passed from time to time by tiie Legislatures of Pennsylvania and New York, and which are now recognized, by moans of agencies, in the other States. The first of the following Act? was passed by the Legislature of Pennsylvauia in 1799. I adduce it because it is recognized in the State of New York and in other States ; and is tliu Act by 'f; ti meani of which the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States mana- ges til its Foreign and Domestic Missionary and Educational Society afiai.-s ; as the precise objects to which funds raised under the auspices of the General Assembly are not defined, and as there is no restriction in respect to laws of Mortmain, or as to the amount of Funds arising from Col- lections and Contributions. The only limitation relates to income from real estate — a resource on which it ia known that religious bodies in the United States do not depend. ^JV ACT for Incorporating the Tin$teet of the Mini$ters and Elders, constituting the General Jiuembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United Statet of America. [Paupiiaeth, March 1709.] Whereas the Ministers and aiders formins the Qe- neral Assembly of the I' riao Church of the United States of America , cunMisting of citizens of the Stale of Pennsylvania and of others of the United States of America aforesaid, have by their petition re- presented, that by donations, bequeeta or oihervviae, of charitably disposed personn, they are posROHsed of mo- nies for benevolent and pious purposes, and the said Ministers and Elders have reason to expect farther contributions for similar uses, but from the scattered situation of the said Ministers and Elders, and other causes, the said Ministers and Elders find it extremely difficult to manage the said funds, in the way best calculated to answer the intention of the donors : Therefore : Skc. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represenlalives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylva- nia, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that John Rogers, Alex- ander MuWhorler, Samuel Stanhope Smith, Ashbel Green, William M. Tenant, Patrick Allison, Nathan Irvin, Joseph Clark, Andrew Hunter, Jared Inzersoll, Robert Ralston, Jonathan fi. Smith, Andrew Bayard, Elias Boudinot, John Nelson, Ebenezer Hazard, David Jackson and Robert Smith, Merchant, and their suc- cessors, duly elected and oppointed in manner as is hereinafter directed, br, and they are hereby, made, declared and constituted a Corporation, and body politic and corporate, in law and in tact, to have continuance for ever, by the name, style and title of " Trustees of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America;" e.nd by the name, style and title aforesaid shall for ever hereafter, be persons able and capable in law as well to take, receive and hold all and all manner of lands, tenements, rents, annuities, franchises and other hereditaments whjch at any time or times heretofore have been granted, bar- gained, sold, enfeoffed, released, devised or otherwise conveyed to the said ministers and Elders of the Ge- neral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, or any other person or persons, to their use, or in trust for them, and the same lands, tenements, rent?, annuities, liberties, franchises and other heredi- taments are hereby vested and established in the said Corporation and their successors for ever, according to the original use and intent for which such devises, gifts and grants were respectively made ; and the said Corporation, and their successors, are hereby declared to be seized and possessed of such estate and estates therein, as in and by the respective grants, bargains, sales, enfeofTments releases, devises and other convey ances thereof is or are declared, limited and expressed ; also, that the said Corporation, and their successors, at all times hereafter, shall be capable and able to pur- chase, have, receive, take, hold and enjoy, in fee simple, or of lesser estate or estates, any lands, tenements, rents, annuities, franchises and other hercditament-i, by the gift, grant, bargain, sale, alienation, enfeoffment, release, coniirmaiionordeviseof any per»onor persons, bodies politic or corporate, capable and able to make the same : and further, that the said Ministers ond El- ders, under the corporate name aforesaid, and their successors, may take and receive any sum or sums of money, and any portion of goods and chattels, that have been given to the said Ministers and Elders, or that hereafter shall be given, sold, leased or bequeo- thed to the said Corporotion, by any person or persons, bodies politic and corporate, that is able or canable to make a eif>, sale, bequest, or other disposal of the same, such money, goods or chattels to be laid out and disposed of for the use and benefit o< the aforesaid Cor- poration, agreeably to the intention of the donors, and according to the objects, articles and conditions of this Aol. Sect. II. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That no m'snomer of the said Corporation, and Iheirsuccsssors shall defeat or annul any gift, grant, devise or bequest, to or from the said Corporation, pro- vided the intent of the party or parties shall sufliciently appear upon the face of the gift, will, grant or other writing, whereby any estate or interest was intended to pass to or from the said Corporation. Sect. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the said Corporation, and their succes- sors, shall have full power and authority to make, have and use, one common seal, with such devise and in- scription as they shall think fit ond proper, and the same to bresk, alter and renew, at their pleasure. Sect. IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the said Corporation, ana their success- sors, by the name, style and title aforesaid, shall be able and capable in law to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in any Court, or before any Judge or Justice, in all and all mannerof suits, complaints, pleas, matters and demands, of whatsoever nature, kind and form they may be ; and all and every matter and thing to do, in as full and efi'ectuHl a manner as any other person, bodies politic or corporote, within this com- monwealth, may or can do. Sect. V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. I'hat the said Corporation, and their succes- sors, shall be, and hereby are, authorized and empow- ered to make, ordain and establish by-laws and ordinances, and do everything incident and needful, for the support and due government of the said Corpo- ration, and managing the funds and revenues thereof; provided the said by-laws be not repugnant to the constitution and and laws of the United States, to the Constitution and laws of the commonwealth, or to thin Act. Skct. VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the said corporation shall not at any time consist of more than eighteen persons, whereof the said General Assembly may, at their discretion, an onenasthey shall hold tneir sessions in the State of Pennsylvania, change one third, in such manner as to the said General Assembly shall seem proper ; and the Corporation aforesaid shall have power and authority to manage and dispose of alt monies, goods, chattels, lands, tenements and hereditaments, and other estate whotsoever, committed to thv.ir care and trust by the said General Assembly ; but in cases where special instructions for the management and disposal thereof shall be given by the said General Assembly in writing, under the hand of their clerk, it shall be theduiy of the said Corporation to act pccording to such instructions, provided the said instructions shall not be repugnant to the constitution and laws of the United State, or to the constitution and laws of this commonwealth, or to the provisions and restrictions in this act contained. Sect. \ll. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That six members of tins corjtoratioii. whereof the President, or in his absence the Vice ^' ^~*-., Prfiiilent to be one, ilinll be a ' oiBcient number lo tranmct the buiiiies* thereof, and to iimke by-lawn, rules and regulntiona : proviaed, that previoua lo any meeting of the Hoard uF Corporation for iuch purpoaei. not appointed by ndiourninent, tun days notice ahall be previouely given tfiereof, in at Icam oneof the news- papert printed in tho City of Philadelphia; And tha said Corporation shall and may, as often as they shall see proper, and according to tiie rules by them lo be nrescribed. ohoose out oftheir number a President and Vice President, and shall have authority to appoint a Treasurer and such other ojllcers and servants, aa shall by them, the said corporation, be deemed nececary ; to which officers, the said Corpornlion may aAsi^n such a compensHtion for their services, and such duties to be performed by then) to continue in ollice tor such time, and to be succeeded by others in such way and manner, as the said Corportion shall direct. SiccT. Vill. And bfit further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That all iiuestiona before the said Corporation shall be decided by a plurality of votes, whereof each member oresenl shall have one, except the Prnsident, or Vice President when acting ns President, who shall have only the casting voire and vote, in case of an equality in the votes of the other members. Sect. IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Corporation shall keep regular and fair entries of their proceedings, and a just account ot their receipts and disnursemenls, in a book or hooka to be provided for that purpose: and their Treasurer shall, once in every year, exhibit to the Gsneral As- sembly of the Presbyterian (Church in the United States of America au exact state in the accounts of the Cor- poration. Skct. X. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the said Corporation may take, receive, purchase, pussesa and enjoy messuages, houses, lands, tenements, rents, annuities and other hereditaments, real and personal estate of any amount, not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars yearly value, but the said Urn.' ilations not to be cnns'uUred aa including the annual eolUctinna and voluntary contributions made in the Churches, under the care of the said General Assembly, The second Act which I will adduce was pas- sed by the New York Legislature in 1819, for the incorporation of Trustees under the direction of the General Assembly of the Dutch Reformed Church. JiJV ACT to Incorporate the General Synod of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. (Passed April 70i, 19 10. J I. Be it enacted by the People of the State of New York, represcntented in Sen ite and Assembly. That the General Synod oi tne Retormed Protestant Dutch Church, shall be and hereby is declared to be a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of *' The General Synod of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church;" with power to sue and be sued, de- fend and being defended, by that name, in all Courts of Law and Equity ; ana to have a Common Seal, and alter the same at pleasure ; and also lo take, purchase and hold real and personal Estate, and to sell and con- vey the same : Provided, The yearly value of such real and personal estate, shall not exceed the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ; and that the same shall not be ap- propriated to any other than religious and charitable uses and purposes. II. And be it further enacted. That it shall be lawful for the regular members of the said General Synod, at their annual meetings, to appoint a President, three Directors, and a Treasurer, ot the said Corporation ; and to make and ordain by-Iaw!- and regulations relating to the management and disposition of their real and personal testate, the duties of the said President, Direc- tors and the Treasurer, and the duration of iheir respec- tive ofTices ; Provided always, That such by-laws and rrftulaiMns shall not be inconsistent with the Conili- tutionandlawaufthis Slate, or of the United Hialsi. 111. And be it further unacted, That it shall at all times be lawiul fur the Legislature lu repeal or amend this Act. In respect to the foregoing Acts, It will be ob- served, that their provisions recognize the cnnsll- tions of the Churches for which they were Intended, and provide for the corporate management of their denominational affairs under the direction of their governing bodies, without any restriction as to the amount of income from annual contributions and collections. I will now give othor Acts of Religious Incor- poration, in the chronulogical order of their en- actment : AJV ACT relative to the Methodht Book Concern in the City of JVcw York. [I'niieil Aprtl, tilat. lOfH. | The people of the State of New York respretenied la Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows ; — Sect. I. It shall be lawful for Thomas Mason and George Lane, agents for the Methodist Hook Concern, appointed by the General Conterence of the Mcthodim Episcopal Church and their auccessors, as such agents, to take and hold real estate ia trust, for the purposes ol such agency and to devise and convey the same ; but the value of such real estate, so taken and held by them, shall not exceed two hundred thousand dollars. Skct. II. The real estate heretofore conveyed to Thomas Mason end George Lane, as agents as afore- said, shall be considered as part of the real estate to be held by them, and their Buccessors, as such agents, in trust 88 aforesaid. On this brief but comprehensive Act, it is im- portant to observe — 1. That the only restriction as to holding pro- perty is confined to real estate — authorizing the corporation to acquire any amount of funds, stock, Sic, It might think proper. From a recent legal decision in New York between two branches of the Methodist Episcopal Church respecting this Book Concern, it appears that it is now valued (including real estate, funds and stock) at from $750,000 to $1,000,000. 2. But two individuals constitute this Reli- gious Corporation, and they are oppointod and re- movable by the Conference of the Methodist Church. 3. The only restriction as to the expenditure of the funds of this Religious Corporation Is, that they shall be applied to "the purposes of such ogen- cy" — thepiirposes of such agency having been de- fined in the Book of Doctrines and Discipline of the Church, as is the case in regard to the pur- poses of the Wesleyan Book Room in Toronto. It will be observed that here is no attempt, (such as was made a few months since in the Canadian Legislature,) to attack ond alter the constitution of the Methodist Church through an Act of Parliairent ; no objection mado because 11 the persona named In the Act of Inrorporttlon were Clergymen, and •p|)oini<7di(id removed by the Confercnco alone ; no vUtrne tlint the Indlvlduala named in the Act of Incorporation wlalied to get the Church property Into their own handa ; no cry againit the Confenmce or particular mombora of it. The diaregard of the prlnclplvM of free guT- ernmcnt, and the illiberal and prrmcrlptive spirit which actuated certain partle* iluring the lato Seaaion of our Ijegialaturu In roforencu to the Wesleyan Act of Incorporation, haa no counter- part in the principlaa itiid apini of tho American people, aa attested by the ahovo Act, «• a'so by the following Act rolaling to the Miaaionary Hoclety of the Methodist Episcopal Church In the United States :— J,V ^CT to ineorporulit the. flttitlonarif Society of the Mttkiuliit Kpiiatiitil Church. IIWkI Aitiia, i»<9P.| The People of the Hlatf of Ni'w V»irl<, rfpreacntcd in Senate and Aasenibly, do eiiH'it «« IniUiwn — Sect. 1. Robert U. Kol)« Arines, John Valentine, Wil!mi;i (Jalc, Abraham Stagg, Eraatus Hyde, Henry Moofe. Jurnea Harper, Thomas Browne, Peter Macnaiiiara, VVilliatn IJ, Hhid- more, Stephen Dando, J, It, f)Hl4l<'y, Henry Morrell, George Sucltley, T. Darrell, M. Il,, ': (Joontant, J. L. Phelps, M. U., B. F. Uowe, Nrnrll), Diasoaway, G. P. Dissosway, Ueiijainin l)i»br«w, llnlph Mead, Jotham 8. Fountain, Hainuel Martin and all persona who now ore or hereafter may b«i!oin« n«*ociated with them, are hereby conatituieu a body corporate by the name of "The Miaaionary Hooif-ly of the Melhodiat Episcopal Church," and hy ilial natoa and style, be capable of purchasing, holding and ronveying such real estate as the purpuiiea of ihi* Corporation shall require, but the annual income of tho renl estate to be held by them ahall not exceed the aum of five ihou- aaad dollars. Sect. II. The obiect of ihw twid C'orpfirntion is to diffuse more generally the Minmiiu* of Kiliicalion, Civi- lization and Christianity throuKhoui the United States and elsewhere. Skct. III. The manaaenieiit and tlmposition of the aiTairs and property of iTie vaid ('orpornlion shall be vested in a Board of ManagetK, to hi> rleolrd annually on the third Monday in April, in th« v.ny of New York. Sect. IV. The pen^ma named In the first action of this Act shall be the'firnt Board of Manngnrs of such Corporation and shall hold ilinir oflires until the next nnnual election, or until othera ahall be elected in their places. Sect. V. The said Corporation shall possess the general powers, and be liubjeRt to ihn liabilities impos- ed in nnd by the third title of tlin Eighteenth Chapter of the first part of the Rfviked Hlntiites. Sect. Vi. The Legialuiurc tmiy at any lime alter or repeal this Act. Sect. VII. This Act shall lake (jUlrct immcdititely. Hero again, it will be rertiarkt'd that there is no restriction in the amount of funds arising from bequest?, subscriptions, and collections ; no pre- scription as to by whom tho successors to the persona named in the Act of Incorporation ahall be appointed — leaving every thing of that kind wholly to tho constitution of tho Miasionary Society concerned to determine. It will aUo be noted by those who know the persons whose namea are mentioned in tho above Act of Incorporation) that all the bishops and several clergy of the Melhodist Church are associated with a cgi>v1- ponding number of laymen aa the first inemben of the Corporation. The constitution of the Miu- alonary Society of the Wesleyan Methodiat Church in Canada expressly provides that one- half of tho Board of Managers shall consist of laymen, and the other half of clergymen. The contrast is aa striking as it U humiliating for Canada, between the spirit that manifested itself against the incorporation of the Wesleyan Mia- sionary Society in Canada, a few months since, and that which incorporated the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United Stales. The three acts which follow, relate to the American Bible, Tract, and Baptist Home Mis- sionary Society : .^A" JiCT to Incorporate the American Bible Society. (Passed, Mnrcli Uili, 18H, liy a two-tliinl vote.] W The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and AHsembly, do enact ns follows :— Sect. I. All such persons as now are, or may here- after become members of the American Bible Society, formed in the City of New York, in the year One thou- sand Eight hundred and Sixteen, shall be, and are hereby constituted a body corporate, by the riame of " The American Bible Society," for the purpose of publishing and promoting a general circulation ut the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment. Sect. II. The net income of said Society, arising from their real estate, shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars annually. Sect. III. This Corporation shall possess the gene- ral powers and be subject to the provisions contained in title third of chapter eighteenth of the first part of the revised statute, so far as the same are applicable, and have not been repealed. Sect. IV. This Act shall take effect immediately. Sect. V. The Legislature may at any time modify or repeal this Act. AJV ACT to Incorporate the American Tract Society. [Pnssei:, May 26, 1841, by a two-tlilrd vote.) The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Sec. 1. S. V. S. Wilder, Moses Allen, T. McAuley, John Knox, Charles G. Somers, James Milnor and William A. Hallock, and all such persons as now are, or may hereafter become members of the American Tract Society, formed in the City of New York in the year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, are constituted a body corporate, by the name of the Ame- rican Tract Society, for llie purpose of printing and circulating^religious publications. Sec 2. The nett income of said Society, arising from their real and personal estate, shall not exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars annually. ^,^^1 Sic. 3. This Corporation shall possess the general powers and be subject to the provisions contained in title third of chapter eighteen of the first part of the Revised Statutes, so far as the same are applicable and have not been repealed. Sic. 4. The Legislature may at any time alter or re- peal this Act. Sic. 5. This Act shall take effect immediately. Ajy ACT to Incorporate the Amtrican Baptitt Home Mitiion Society. [Passed, April 18, 1843, by a two-third vote.) The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Sic. 1. All such persons as now are, or may here- after become members of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, formed in the City of New York, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, shall be and hereby are constituted a body corporate, by the name of " The American Baptist Home Mis- sion Society,'* fortbe purpose of promoting the preach- ing of the Gospel in North America. Sec 2. The nett income of said Society arising from their real estate, shall not exceed the sum of ten thou- sand dollars annually. Sec. 3. This Corporation shall possess the general powers, and be subject to the provisions contamed in title third of chapter eighteenth of the first part of the Revised Statutes, so far as the same are applicable, and have not been repealed. Sic. 4. This Act shall take effect immediately. Sic 5. The Legislature may at any time modify or repeal this Act. It will have been obserreci, that in the last four of the preceding acts, reference is made to *< title third of chapter eighteenth of the first part of the revised statutes." This " title" expressly exempts the annual subscriptions or collections to any of the societies named from being reckoned as real or personal estate. I will add but one more Act> it being an Act of incorporation of Clergymen exclusively. An outcry was attempted to be raised a few months since, when it was proposed to incorporate Minis- ters of the Wesleyan Methpdist Church in Cana- da, — not indeed to hold a farthing of real estate, or to receive bequests of any kind, but simply to invest money that they themselves might be able to lay aside in time of vigour and health, to aid themselves in old age and to aid their widows and orphans. In contrast with such a spirit, I present the following Act, passed for a similar object, by a two-third vote of the New- York State Legisla- ture: AJ\r ACT to Incorporate the Trustees of the JVew York Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. [Passed, April U, l&U, by atwo-third vote.) The people of the State of New York, representsd in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : SicT. L Nathan Bangs, Peter P. Sanford, Phineas Rice, Laban Clark, Robert Siney, Heman Bangs, Fitch Reed, John C. Green, and Benjamin Griffin, and their successors to be appointed as hereinafter pro- vided for, shall be and hereby are constituted, a body corporate and politic, by the name oi the "Trustees of the New York Annual Conference," andjby that name shall have succession and be in law capable, ejicept by devise of real estate, of taking, purchasing, holding and conveying, both in law and equity, any estate, real and personal, provided however that the value of the real es- tate so held by them, shall not exceed the sum of Twenty Thousand Dollars, and that the clear yearly income of both the real and personal estate by the said Corpora- tion held and possessed shall not exceed the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars. Sect. H. There shall be nine Trustees of the aaid Corporation who shall be divided into three olassrs to be numbered one, two, and three; the said division to be made by the Trustees at the first meeting, the places of the first class or number one, shall become vacant iu one year from the next meeting of the New York Annual Conference, the places of the second class or number two, in two years from the said meeting, tlie places of the third class or number three, in three years from the said meeting, vacancies in the said several classes shall be from time to time filled as hereinafter provided for ; and the aforesaid Nathan Bangs, Peter P. Sanford, Phineas Rice, Laban Clark, Robert Seney, Heman Bangs, Fitch Reed, John C. Green, and Ben- jamin Onffia shall be the first Trustees of the said corporation. Sect. HL The said Trustees shall take charge of all funds, personal and real estate, whatsoever, now belonging or which shall hereafter belone to the said New York Annual Conference, so far as the said Con- ference'shall direct[and no farther, and the said Trustees shall appropriate said property and the avails of it for the benent of the itinerant supernumerary and super- annuated preachers, and the widows ar-. orphans of d**- ceased preachers in such manner as the laii Conferer ;e has directed, and shall from time to time direct, and no other. Sect. IV. All vacancies occasionediby death, resig- nation, expulsion or expiration.of office of said Trustees, or eitiier of them, according to the terms thereof, as above limited, shall be filled up by the New York Annual Conference, at their next session thereafter, who shall nominate and appoint the persons to fill such vacancies as aforesaid, of which nomination and ap- pointment sojmade, a certificatelshall be given, contain- ing the name ur names oi the person or persons so nominated and appointed, which certificate shall be signed by the president, and countersigned by the Secretary of the said Conference, and registered in the book of the said Corporation, whereupon the said person or persons therein named shall become to all intents andpurposes, a Trustee or Trustees of the said Corpo- ration, provided always such person or persons ao nominated and appointed shall nave been at least five years preceding thereto an itinerant preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, according to the rules and discipline thereof, and at least twenty-hve years of age, and provided also, that in all cases the Trustees in their respective classes shall continue in office until others shallbe regularly appointed '.d succeed them. Sect. V. The Trustees of said Corporation shall meet at least once, and ofiener if need be, in every year, at such* time and place as a majority of ilieni shall deem most co'nvenient, and at every such meeting the said Trustees shall provide, in the first place, to elect out of their own number, by a majority of votes, a President and A Secretary ; and at every annual meeting which shall be held during the session of said Conterence, they shall in the same manner elect a Treasurer, and if the office of Treasurer should become vacant during the intervals of the annual meetings, it may be filled at any regular meeting of said Trustees. The first meet- ing of the said Trustees shall be at or before the next session of the said Conference, at which mteting, and all subsequent meetings, the said Trustees, or a majority of them, shall have power to iimke such by- laws, rules, and regulations, for the governiiipnt of the said Corporation, designate the number oi Trustees who shall constitute a quorum for the tiansiiciioa of business, for the management of their concerns and distribution of their funds, and for all and every purpose . J,g;(,k»>»<"^ . .^fb...'. AttW^)-*^' h^^'- \ '^'■:rF:: 8 relating to the designs of the said Corporation, and carrying the same intoefieci, pureuaottothe intentions of the Act, as to the said Trustees, or of a majority of them, or of a quorum sliall seem fit, provided always, the same be not .nconsisrent with the laws and con- stitution of this State or of the United States, nor shall the appropriation or application of the funds of the said corporation be contrary to the purposes contemplated by this Act. Sect. VI. Whenever the said trustees or majority of them shall deem it for tlie interests of the said Corpora- tion to sell, or otherwise dispose of any part of the real Dr personal estate of the said Corporation, or charge or encumber the same, it shall be iheir duly to make a representation thereof, in writing, to the said Confe- rence, and if two-thirds of the members of the said Conference shall agree to the request in such represen- tation, or to any part thereof, a certificate, signed by the Fresitient, and countersigned by the Secretary of the ■aid Conference,expre8sing tlieir agreement thereto, and •pecifying the nature and value in amount of tlie estate of said Corporation, to the sale or disposition or charg- ing and encumbering whereof they agree, shall be transmitted to the said Trustees, and be by them record- ed in the book of the said Corporation, and thereupon the said Trustees of the New York Annual Conference shall be, and they are hereby authorized.to make such sale, disposition, charge, or encumbrances thereof, as shall be agreed to by the said Conference as aforesaid, and to make and execute the proper Deeds, Mortgages, or othar instruments in writing, to carry the same into effect, provided always that the proceeds, whether they bemoner or other property, bIibII be invested or settled and held, as'the case may require, to and for the uses and purposes for which.the above named Corporation is hereby created. SxcT. VII. The Legislature may at any time aAer amend or repeal this Act. coNCLunmo rbmarks. From tho preceding references and acts of the New York State Legislature, every reader wil 1 perceive the groundlessness and intolerance of the opposition which has been got up by certain persons in Canada against religious corporations, and against those public men who have advocated the right of religious bodies to such corporations. Equally misguided and unreasonable are the pro- ceedings of those persons who have objected to re - ligiouB bodies applying for such acts of incorpora- tion ; or who, in the true Procrustean spirit, would have all religious bodies hewn down to the exact fcrm and dimensions of one general act, instead of their having acts, after the above examples, adapted to their different constitutions and forms of church government. It may be very proper to have a general Interpretation Act for religious as well as civil Corporations ; but that should liot prec lude the right, any more than it supersedes the necessity) of special acts of incorporation for religious objects of difibrent kinds, and adapted to the peculiar polities of different religious bodies, any nrore than it should prohibit special acts of incorporation to Literary Associations, Tempor- ance Societies : i Mechanics' Institutes. 2. To o^/i the legal incorporation of reli- gious bodies ',. any purposes in harmony with their doctrines and the avowed objects of their existence, on account of objections to the polity of such bodies, or with the view of crippling their energies, is a mode of warfare and a species of persecution against such religious bodies at va- riance with the spirit of truthful fairness and the principlea of civil and religious liberty. It is the weapon of Liliputian littleness and conscious weakness ; it is a reproduction under a new form, and from the opposite point of the ecclesiastical compass, of the very spirit which denied to English non-conformists religious freedom and corporate rights in the times of the Stuarts, and refused in former years to certain religious bodies in Canada the social right of marriage by their own clergy and the corporate right of holding ground for Christian worship and burial. This anti-religious corporation spirit is, therefore^ alien to the spirit of conbtilutional liberty and social progress. 3. I will only further remark, that the reli- gious denominations of a country who demand no state endowment for their clergy, but support them by their own contributions, are not de- fierving of jealousy and suspicion from any goverment or any party ; are, of all voluntary associations, the most self-denying, the most efficient, and the most meritorious contributors to a country's Christian morals, religious happiness, and intellectual advancement — the basis of order, liberty, and prosperity. What a contrast between the works and merits of such religious communi- ties and those of their supercilious, not to say vicious assailants! Such communities have fol- lowed the influx'of emigration into the wiluemess, have assuaged the sorrows of many a new settler with the instructions and consolations of reli- gion — have sown the seeds of virtue and know- ledge throughout the land-^have erected many places of worship, and perhaps established semi- naries of lea'-ning, while their assailants have, I will not say what — I will leave the reader to say it. But I will say, that such commu- nities deserve not the hostility, but the respect, the confidence and the countenance of the Government and Legislature, and the gratitude and support of the country. Toronto, Decimber, 1831. -^*^;^^^, '«*«8S nfeiaji^^,^-- ■-^T^ >■*«