WHEREAS, the proper education of youth is essential to the happiness and Prosperity of every community, and is therefore an object well worthy the attention of this Legislature; and whereas, the incorporated Mount Sion Society have petitioned this House that a college may be erected and established by law at the village of Winnsborough, in this State, for the instruction of youth in the learned languages and the liberal arts and sciences, and that the said college may be committed to the management, direction, and government of trustees, to be chosen and appointed by the said society out of their number:

I. Be if therefore enacted, by the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives, and by the authority of the same, That there be erected and established, and hereby is erected and established, at the village of Winnsborough, in the district of Camden, in this State, a college for the education of youth in the learned and foreign languages, and in the liberal arts and sciences, under the style, name, and title, of the "Mount Sion College."

II. And whereas, it is much desired by many well disposed persons that a public seminary of learning for the education of youth should be established in or near Charleston, and it is not doubted but that many persons will contribute largely towards the same, if a proper piece of ground was appropriated for that purpose, and a law passed for empowering commissioners to receive such donations, and for erecting a college as soon as a sufficient sum shall be raised for that purpose; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That his Excellency the Governor for the time being, his honor the Lieutenant Governor for the time being, the honorable John Lloyd, Daniel Desaussure, Daniel Bourdeaux, David Olyphant, Amoldus Vanderhorst, Joseph Atkinson, John Rutledge, John Mathews, Richard Hutson, and Thomas Heyward, junior. Esquires, Thomas Bee, David Ramsay, Arthur Middleton, Gabriel Manigault, Ralph Izard, William Smith, Charles Pinckney, Richard Beresford, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Hugh Rutledge, Esquires, and the reverend Robert Smith, or a majority of them, and their successors to be elected in manner hereinafter directed, shall forever be one body politic and corporate, in deed and in name, by the style of the "Trustees of the College of Charleston;" and that by the same name they and their successors shall and may have perpetual succession, and be able and capable in law to have, receive, take, and enjoy, to them and their successors, lands, messuages, tenements, rents, liberties, franchises, and hereditaments, of any kind, nature, quality, or value, in fee and perpetuity, and also estates for lives and for years, and all sums of money, goods, chattels, and things whatsoever, of any nature, quality, or value, for buildnig, erecting, and supporting the said college in or near Charleston as aforesaid: provided, the same do not exceed in the whole the yearly value of twenty thousand pounds sterling; and that by the same name they and their successors shall and may be able to implead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended, in all courts and places, and before all judges and justices whatsoever, in all actions, pleas, plaints, and demands; and to grant, bargain, sell, set, or assign, any lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods, or chattels; and to act and do all things whatsoever for the use aforesaid, in as ample manner and form as any natural person or body politic or corporate, can or may by law; that they shall and may have a common seal for the business of them and their successors, with liberty to change, break, alter, or make new the same, from time to time, as they shall think proper; and that the land heretofore given and appropriated for a free school in Charleston, shall be, and the same is hereby, declared to be reserved for the use of the said college or seminary of learning in Charleston, and that the same shall not be applied to any other use or purpose.

III. And whereas, by the liberal subscriptions which have been made towards erecting and maintaining a seminary of learning at Ninety-Six, and the exertions of the trustees appointed by an Act of the General Assembly, passed the thirteenth day of August, in the eighth year of the Independence of the United States of America, to whom the government of the public school was committed, a very considerable fund hath already accumulated, and a prospect of still greater additions; and whereas, it is just and proper to give all possible encouragement to, and enlarge the foundations of, the said public school, in common with the others by this Act to be established; Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the honorable Benjamin Guerard, John Lewis Gervais, and Henry Pendleton, Esquires, and Leroy Hammond, Nicholas Eveleigh, Major Thomas Pinckney, Benjamin Tutt, Arthur Simkins, Joseph Adair, of Duncan's Creek, .John Thomas, senior, Robert Rutherford, Alexander Gillon, and John Purvis, Esquires, together with the trustees of the public school established at Ninety-Six, mentioned in the said recited Act, or a majority of them, shall be, and they are hereby appointed, trustees of a college to be erected at or near the town of Ninety-Six, which shall be called and known by the name of the "College of Cambridge;" which said trustees, or a majority of them, and their successors, to be elected in manner hereinafter directed, shall forever be one body politic and corporate, in deed and in name, by the style of the "Trustees of the College of Cambridge," and shall be vested with the same powers and authorities, and enjoy the same rights and privileges, to all intents and purposes, as are vested in, belonging to, or enjoyed by, the said colleges of Winnsborough and Charleston, or either of them.

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said trustees, or a majority of them, shall have full power and authority to meet at all times when they shall think proper, at the said town of Ninety-Six, or at any other place such trustees or a majority shall appoint, to deliberate, resolve upon, and carry into eftect, the laws and regulations to be by them made for the government of the said college, and shall have full power to fill up any vacancies which may happen in the said incorporated body of trustees, by the death, resignation, or removal out of this State of any of its members; and shall in all other respects have the same powers and authorities, and enjoy the same immunities, rights, and privileges, to which either of the said corporations of Winnsborough and Charleston colleges are entitled by this Act; anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

V. And be it farther enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the charters or constitutions of the said colleges respectively, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be, as is hereinafter mentioned and defined; that is to say:

1. The said college at Winnsborough shall be under the management, direction, and government of thirteen trustees, or a quorum or Board thereof, as hereinafter established, to be chosen, appointed, and perpetuated as hereinafter directed: and the said college at Charleston shall be under the management, direction, and government ot twenty-three trustees, or a quorum or Board thereof, to be chosen, appointed, and perpetuated as followeth; that the said trustees and their successors forever, shall meet on the first Monday of February in every year, at the State House in Charleston, until the said college shall be erected, and afterwards at the college hall, between the hours of nine and two, and that the major part of those so met shall choose a president, and such other officers, ministers, and servants, as they shall think necessary, for the year ensuing; that the said president and officers so chosen shall then and there take an oath for the due and faithful execution of their office, to be administered to them by any justice of the peace; that on the death, resignation, or removal of the said trustees or their successors, or any person chosen to any of the said offices, the president shall, within one month thereafter, cause the members thereof to be summoned to meet at the usual place, at such time as he shall think proper, not less than five nor more than ten days
after such notice, and the trustees meeting in pursuance of such summons, or a majority of them, shall choose another trustee or officer in the room of the person so dying, resigning, or removing, who shall be vested with the same powers and privileges which his predecessor or predecessors held, enjoyed, or was entitled to; and the said trustees shall also meet quarterly at the State House in Charleston, until the said college shall be erected, and afterwards in the college hall, between the hours of nine and two, to transact the business thereof, under the penalty of one pound for every neglect, unless he shall make a satisfactory excuse for such non-attendance at the next quarterly meeting.

2. The president and wardens of the Mount Sion Society shall, as soon as conveniently may be, after the passing of this Act, cause the members thereof to be summoned to meet at the usual place in Charleston, at such time as they shall think proper, not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days after such notice, for the purpose of choosing thirteen fit and proper persons out of their own body, to act as trustees of the said college, who shall thereafter be called and known by the name of the "Trustees of the Mount Sion College," and shall be invested with all the powers and authorities hereinafter mentioned and declared; which said trustees shall continue in office three years, and no longer; and shall in like manner be elected every three years forever,

3. No meeting of the trustees shall be valid or legal for the despatch of any business whatsoever, unless there shall be seven of the number present.

4. No meeting of the said trustees shall be valid or legal for deciding any new question which may arise, or for determining upon any matter or thing which shall appear to be out of the usual track or established course of business, unless the clerk or other officer of the trustees for that purpose to be appointed, shall have duly and legally notified each and every trustee of such meeting, and shall, before the entering upon any business, under his hand certify such notification.

5. The head or principal of the said college shall be called and styled "The President," and the masters thereof shall be called and styled "Professors;" but neither president nor professors, while they remain such, shall ever be capable of holding the office of trustee.

6. The trustees appointed as aforesaid shall have regular and stated meetings for the despatch of business, at such times and at such places as they, or a quorum of them, shall appoint.

7. Six or more of the said trustees shall have full power and authority to call occasional meetings of the Board whenever it shall appear to them necessary.

8. The said trustees, or a quorum of them, (according to the provision hereinbefore,) being regularly convened, shall be capable of doing and transacting all the business and concerns of the said colleges respectively, and particularly of electing and appointing the president and professors, of appointing a treasurer, secretary, stewards, managers, and all other necessary and customary officers, for the taking care of the estate and managing the concerns of the institution, of fixing and ascertaining their several salaries and stipends, and removing or displacing any or all of them for misconduct or malversation in office, of prescribing the course of studies to be pursued, and in general of framing, establishing, and enacting all such orders, rules, statutes, and ordinances, as shall appear to them necessary for the good government of the said colleges, not repugnant to the laws of this State.

9. The presidents and professors, or a majority of them, shall be styled and called the "Faculty of the Colleges," which faculty shall have the power of enforcing the rules and regulations adopted by the trustees for the government of the pupils, by rewarding or censuring them, and finally by suspending such of them as after repeated admonitions shall continue disobedient and refractory, until the determination of a quorum of trustees can be had.

10. No person shall be eligible as a trustee of the said colleges unless he shall profess the Christian protestant religion; but none shall be exeluded from any other liberty, privilege, or immunity, of the said colleges, whether as principal, professor, or pupil, on account of his religious persuasion; provided he shall demean himself in a sober, peaceable, and orderly manner, and shall conform to the rules and regulations of the said colleges respectively.

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said trustees, or the major part of them, shall have full power, by the presidents of the said colleges respectively, or any other of the faculty deputed by them to grant and confer such degree or degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, to any of the students of the said colleges, or to any others by them, thought worthy thereof, as are usually granted and conferred in other colleges in Europe or America, and to give diplomas or certificates thereof, signed by them, and sealed with the common seal of the society, to authenticate and perpetuate the memory of such graduation.

VII. And whereas, for the adequate maintenance and support of said college at Winnsborough, it is necessary that the power of the Mount Sion Society, with respect to property, should be enlarged; Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the passing of this Act, the said society, and their successors, shall be competent and capable, at law and in equity, for the use of the said college, to take, acquire, and possess any estate in messuages, lands, tenements, rents, goods, chattels, moneys, or other effects, by the gift, grant, bargain, sale, conveyance, assurance, will, devise, or bequest, of any person or persons whatsoever: provided the same do not exceed in the whole the yearly value of twenty thousand pounds sterling; and the same messuages, lands, tenements, hereditaments, and estate, real and personal, to grant, bargain, sell, convey, assure, demise, and to farm, let, and place out on interest, or otherwise dispose of, for the use of the said college, in such manner as to them shall seem most beneficial to the institution, and to receive the rents, issues, profits, income, and interest, of the same, and to apply the same to the proper use and support of the said college.

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no misnomer of the said colleges respectively, or of the said societies, shall defeat or annul any gift, grant, devise, or bequest, to or from them, or either of them: provided the intent of the parties shall sufficiently appear upon the face of the gift, grant, will, or other writing, whereby any estate or interest was intended to pass to or from them or either of them; nor shall any disuser or nonuser of the rights, liberties, privileges, jurisdictions, and authorities, hereby granted to the said colleges and the said societies, or either of them, create or cause a forfeiture thereof.

IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all legacies, gifts, and donations, of whatever kind or nature soever, which have been heretofore bequeathed, given, or granted, toward the establishment, endowment, or support of a college or colleges to be erected in this State, unless expressly limited and restricted by local situation or otherwise, shall be equally divided among the three colleges intended to be hereby established, share and share alike, and shall be vested in their respective trustees and their successors forever, for their several uses respectively.

X. And, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That this Act shall be deemed a public Act, and judicially taken notice of as such, without special pleading; that the same shall be liberally construed for the fully carrying into execution the beneficial purposes hereby intended; and if any person or persons shall be sued for any matter done in pursuance thereof, they may plead the general issue, give this Act and the special matter in evidence, and on a discontinuance, or judgment against the plaintiff, shall recover treble costs.

In the Senate House, the nineteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, and in the ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America.

JOHN LLOYD, President of the Senate.
JOHN FAUCHEREAUD GRIMKE, Speaker of the House of Representatives.