Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That W. Ross, William Watson, Robert R. Green, Archibald H. Argyle, Robert Wills, and Ebenezer Abbott, and their successors, be and they are hereby created a body politic and corporate to be styled and known by the name of the Trustees of the Pittsfield Academy, and by that style and name to remain and have perpetual succession. The said Academy shall be and remain near the town of Pittsfield, in Pike county, and State of Illinois. The number of trustees shall not exceed seven, one of whom shall be president of the board, to be chosen by the trustees.

Sec. 2. The object of said corporation shall be the promotion of the general interests of education. The corporate powers hereby bestowed shall be such only as are essential or useful in the attainment of said object, and such as are usually conferred upon similar bodies corporate, to wit: To have perpetual succession; to

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make contracts; to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded; to grant and receive by its corporate name, and to do all other acts as natural persons may; to accept, acquire, purchase, or sell property, real, personal, or mixed, in all lawful ways; to use, employ, manage, and dispose of all such property and all money belonging to said corporation, in such manner as shall seem to the trustees best adapted to promote the objects before mentioned; to have a common seal, and to alter or change the same; to make such by-laws for its regulations as are not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States, or of this State; and to confer on such persons as may be considered worthy, such academical or honorary degrees as are usually conferred by similar institutions.

Sec. 3. The trustees of said corporation shall have authority, from time to time, to prescribe and regulate the courses of studies to be pursued in said academy; to fix the rates of tuition and other academical expenses; to appoint instructors, and such other officers and agents as may be necessary in managing the concerns of the institution; to define their duties, to fix their compensation, and displace or remove them; to erect necessary buildings; to purchase books, chemical and philosophical apparatus, and other suitable means of instruction; to make rules for the general management of the affairs of the institution, and for the regulation of the conduct of the students.

Sec. 4. The trustees for the time being, in order to have perpetual succession, shall have power to fill vacancies which may occur in the board from death, removal, resignation, or any other cause; a majority of the trustees for the time being shall be a quorum to do business.

Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of said trustees to appoint one of their number treasurer of the board, who shall be required to give bond with sufficient security in such penal sum as the board may prescribe, conditioned for the performance of such duties as the by-laws may require of him.

Sec. 6. The said institution shall be open to all denominations of christians, and the profession of any religious faith shall not be required of those whom become students. All persons, however, may be suspended or expelled from said intitution by the trustees thereof, whose habits are vicious, or whose moral character is bad.

Sec. 7. The lands, tenements, and hereditaments, to be held in perpetuity, by virtue of this act, by said corporation, shall not exceed one hundred and sixty acres: Provided, however, If any donations, grants, or devises in

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land shall from time to time be made to said corporation over and above one hundred and sixty acres, which may be held in perpetuity as aforesaid, the same may be received and held by said corporation for the period of five years from the date of any such donation, grant, or devise, at the end of which time, if the said land shall not have been sold by said corporation, then and in that case the said land, so donated, granted, or devised, shall revert to the donors, grantors, or the heirs of the devisors of the same.

Approved 24th February, 1837.