tions of the said act; and that an alteration in the same cannot be effected unless the said corporation are legalty authorised to convey to the several proprietors of the lands adjoining the same, parts or parcels of the said premises, which by virtue of their titles to the same they are incapacitated from doing; and it appearing reasonable to the legislature that relief in the premises ought to be granted: Therefore, with the con may convey for certain purposes. Be it enacted by the people of the state of New-York, represented Corporation in Senate and Assembly, That it shall be lawful for the rector, sent of the church wardens and vestryof the Protestant Episcopal Church of chancellor, St. Marks, in the Bowery in the city of New-York, with the con- certain estate sent of the chancellor of this state, to grant and convey to the proprietor or proprietors of the adjoining lands, such part or parts of the ground belonging to them on which the said church is erected, in the ninth ward of the city of New-York; and also part or parcel of the piece of ground belonging to and used by them for a cemetery, situate in the said ninth ward of the said city; and also part or parcels of the ground belonging to them and on which their parsonage house is erected in the tenth ward of the said city, as may be necessary for carrying into effect the purposes mentioned in the recital to this act; and that any lands received by the said corporation in lieu of such grants and conveyances, shall be held by them for the specific purposes and uses for which they now hold their lands that they may so grant and convey and no other. [Note. The recital sufficiently explains the nature of the evil and the remedy to be applied. The 4th section of the act "to provide for the incorporation of religious societies," 2 vol. V. N. & W. 215, permitting only a religious incorporation" to demise, lease and improve" its real estate, renders applications to the legislature for authority to grant and convey" upon other conditions necessary.] CHAP. VIII. An ACT altering the time and place of holding the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace of the county of Niagara, and for other purposes, Passed February 4, 1814. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That the next term of the court of common pleas for the county of Niagara, shall be held on the third Tuesday of March next, at the school house near Asa P. Harris's, in the town of Clarence, and thereafter at such placeas the judges of the said court shall direct; the clerk of the county 'giving public notice thereof, at least six weeks previous to the sitting of the said court. II. And be it further enacted, That all writs returnable on the third Tuesday of February, at which time the court of common pleas of said county of Niagara was to have been held, shall be returnable on the third Tuesday of March next, and be as valid as if the same had been returned on the said third Tuesday of February. Objects of this in the case of sickness, or temporary absence from the city of NewYork, his seat shall become vacated. VI. And be it further enacted, That the objects and purposes act limited. of this incorporation, shall be those which are stated in the preamble of this act, and no other, and that the powers of the corporation hereby created, shall not extend to the transaction of any other business than such as may be necessary and proper to carry into effect the said purposes of this incorporation. Declared a public act. VII. And be it further enacted, That this act shall be and hereby is declared a public act, and shall be construed in all courts and places benignly and favorably for every bencficial purpose herein intended. [Note.-This is the first institution of the kind in this state, which has for its avowed object, the relief of imprisoned debtors. A society of a similar title in the city of Albany has been instituted for the resuscitation of drowned persons, &c. but it is not blended with the other humane object of relieving imprisoned debtors. The city of New-York can now boast of having 58 incorporated institutions of a religious, humane, manufacturing or literary nature, within its limits, besides 7 banking associations.] СНАР. Х. An ACT to continue the Treasurer of this State in office. Passed February 4, 1814. Be it enacted by the People of the state of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That Charles Z. Platt be, and is hereby continued in office, as Treasurer of this state, until the twelfth day of February, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen. [Note. The Constitution requires the Treasurer to be annually chosen, Mr. Platt, the present incumbent, was first appointed at the last session, and has been continued without opposition.] Expense of advertising how appor tioned. CHAP. XI. An ACT altering the mode prescribed by law for apportioning the charges of advertising lands for sale for arrears of taxes. Passed February 11, 1814.. Be it enacted by the People of the state of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That the comptroller, instead of charging the expenses incurred or to be incurred, for giving notices for the sale of lands, charged with arrears of taxes, as prescribed by the forty-third section of the act for the assessment and collection of taxes, shall charge each lot, tract, piece or parcel of land advertised for sale, with an equal proportion of the said expenses. [Note.--The act "for the assessment and collection of taxes," passed April 5, 1813, section 43, vol. 2. V. N. & W. 522-Provided, That the expense of advertising lands for sale for non-payment of taxes," should be "added to such taxes respectively, in proportion to the amount of each tax."-This mode being found inconvenient and unequal, the present was adopted.] CHAP. XII. An ACT to alter the time of holding Town-Meetings in the town of Passed February 11, 1814. Ann, when, Be it enacted by the People of the state of New-York, represented Town-meetin Senate and Assembly, That the annual town-meeting of the ings in Fort freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Fort Ann, in the coun- held. ty of Washington, shall, in future, be held on the first Tuesday of March in each year, instead of the first Tuesday of April; and that the next town-meeting in said town, shall be held on the first Tuesday of March next. CHAP. XIII. An ACT to vest the title to certain Lands in the City of New-York, in the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the said city. Passed February 11, 1814. WHEREAS the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city Recital of New-York, in common council convened, have by their memorial to the legislature, represented, that for various reasons set forth in the said memorial, they are desirous to become possessed of the lands now in the possession of the United States, which are bounded easterly by Whitehall-street, southerly by Bridge-street, westerly by State-street, and northerly by the grounds adjoining the government house, lately sold by the people of this state to the said memorialists; and that the said memorialists have offered to grant to the United States, certain other property in the said city, in exchange for the said lands, which offer the memorialists believe the United States would accept, but that inasmuch as the said lands were granted to the United States by this state, for the purpose of providing for the safety and defence of the city and port of New-York, and under a condition that they should revert to the people of this state in case they should cease to be applied to the purposes for which they were granted, the said exchange cannot be effected without legislative aid; and the said memorialists have prayed that the legislature will grant the said lands to them, in case they should revert to the people of this state, under the above mentioned condition, or by grant or relinquishment of the said United States: AND WHEREAS the prayer of the said me morial appears proper to be granted: Therefore, land office to issue letters 1. Be it enacted by the People of the state of New-York, repre- commissionsented in Senate and Assembly, That it shall and may be lawful ers of the for the commissioners of the land office, and they are hereby directed, to issue letters patent granting to the mayor, aldermen patent. and commonalty of the city of New-York, and their successors forever, all the right, title and interest of the people of this state of, in and to the above mentioend lands, now in possession of the United States, whenever and as soon as the above mentioned exchange shall be effected, and the said United States shall, by some proper act, declare that they no longer require those lands for the purposes for which they were granted. The consent II. And be it further enacted, That the consent of the legisla ture be, and the same hereby is given, to such grant as may be tain exchange made by the mayor, aldermen and commonálty of the city of of this state given to a cer Proviso. Further proviso. New-York to the United States, in exchange for the above mentioned lands, now in the possession of the United States; and that the jurisdiction over the lands to be conveyed by the said grant to the United States, shall be and the same is hereby ceded to, and vested in, the United States: Provided, That this cession shall not prevent the execution of any process, civil or criminal, issuing under the authority of this state, in and upon such lands so to be conveyed; nor shall prevent, or be construed to prevent, the operation of the laws of this state, nor the ordinances of the common council of the city of New-York, upon such lands, so far as the same may not be incompatible with the free use and enjoyment of the said lands by the United States: And provided also, That the lands so to be granted by the mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city of New-York, to the United States, shall be so granted, expressly for the purpose of providing for the safety and defence of the city and port of New-York; and that the said lands shall pass to, and become vested in, the people of this state, in case they shall cease to be applied to the purpose aforesaid. [Note. The recital to this act is sufficiently explicit, without requiring any fur ther explanation.] Recital CHAP. XIV. ` An ACT for the relief of the settlers on the Puliney Estalc. Passed February 11, 1814. WHEREAS it appears to the legislature, that Sir John L. Johnstone, late of Westerhall in the county of Dumfries, in that part of the United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Ireland, called Scotland, deceased, succeeded on the fifteenth day of July, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eight as heir at law of Lady Bath, who was the only child and heiress of Sir William Pulteney, late of London, in the said United Kingdom, deceased, to a large real estate in different parts of the western district of this state, and commonly called the Pulteney estate; that the said Sir John, after his succession to the said estate, appointed Robert Troup of the city of New-York, Esquire, his agent with full and regular powers for the management and sale of the said estate; that the said Robert Troup acting under his said powers, has disposed of large parcels of the said estate, in gradual sales of farms to actual settlers, the purchase monies of which in the aggregate, amount to a very considerable sum; that the said Sir John died on or about the twenty third day of December in the year one thousand eight hundred and eleven, and the said Robert Troup reéeived notice of his death on the tenth day of March next following; that the powers of the said Robert Troup being revoked by operation of law on his receiving notice of the death of Sir John, the said Robert Troup deputed Joseph Fellows, Esquire, one of his assistant agents, to Great Britain, to make the needful representations to Sir John's family respecting the estate, and to obtain a renewal of the powers necessary for the orderly prosecution of the agency; that the said Joseph Fellows sailed for Great Britain in the month of May in the year one thousand eight hundred and twelve, and arrived in London in the month of July thereafter, when he learnt that Sir John had left a widow and three small children, and also a last will, whereby he had devised his American estate to four trustees in Great Britian, in trust to sell the same for the benefit of his family; that upon the application of the said Joseph Fellows to the trustees for a renewal of powers to the said Robert Troup, they took the advice of counsél learned in the law on the construction of the trusts created by the will and on the nature and extent of the powers to be delegated by them to the said Robert Troup, for continuing the agency; that the said counsel advised the trustees to submit the construction of the trusts, and the nature and extent of the powers to be delegated to the said Robert Troup, to the opinion of the court of chancery in England; that the said Joseph Fellows remained several months in England after the trustees received the said advice, during which time he zealously devoted himself to the procuring of new powers, notwithstanding which he returned to America without bringing them, and without knowing at the time of his departure from England that any application had been made to the court of chancery; that tedious delays are apt to attend proceedings in the English court of chancery; and in case the trustees should resort to that court for its directions much time may elapse before they are given; that the trustees have not been induced to withhold powers from the said Robert Troup, by the smallest degree of dissatisfaction with his conduct, but solely by an appréhension of incurring personal responsibility by the grant of the necssary powers, for the proper management of the agency; that letters of administration with the will annexed upon the personal estate of the said Sir John in this state, have been granted to the said Robert Troup in due form of law, by the judge of probates, but such letters, although they entitle the said Robert Troup to receive from the settlers on the Pulteney estate all the purchase monies due, and to become due, on their contracts, yet they do not authorise him to execute deeds to convey the lands to the purchasers: That the settlers are likely to suffer much anxiety and damage, from the want of their deeds which cannot fail to produce injurious effects on the settlement of the country and that the present war with Great Britain throws obstacles in the way of every kind of intercourse between the two countries, in relation to matters of private business: Whereupon, execute cer I. BE it enacted by the people of the State of New-York, represent- R. Troup; ed in Senate and Assembly, That it shall and may be lawful for the authorised to said Robert Troup, as administrator with the will annexed, of the tain deeds. personal estate of the said sir John L. Johnstone, to carry into effect by executing good and sufficient deeds, containing covenants of warranty, and for quiet enjoyment, in his own name, as administrator as aforesaid, to the purchasers of the lands, their heirs and assigns, all existing contracts for the sale of lands, |