AN ACT

TO INCORPORATE THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECT. I.

John Pickering, William Jenks, John J. Dixwell, their associates and successors, are hereby made a corporation, by the name of the AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY, for the purpose of the cultivation of learning in the Asiatic, African, and Polynesian languages.

SECT. II.

The said corporation is authorized to hold real or personal estate, the clear annual income of which shall not exceed the sum of three thousand dollars. (Approved by the Governor, March 22, 1843.)

CONSTITUTION

OF THE

AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY;

ADOPTED APRIL 7, 1843.

ARTICLE I.

This Society shall be called the AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY.

ARTICLE II.

The objects contemplated by this Society shall be: 1. The cultivation of learning in the Asiatic, African, and Polynesian Languages. 2. The publication of Memoirs, Translations, Vocabularies, and other works relating to the Asiatic, African, and Polynesian languages. 3. The collection of a Library.

ARTICLE III.

To become a member of the Society, a candidate must be proposed by the Directors, and must receive the votes of three-fourths of the members present at a meeting.

ARTICLE IV.

Foreigners shall be eligible as Honorary Members, on being proposed by the Directors. The votes of three-fourths of the members present, at an annual or stated meeting, shall be necessary to their election. Foreigners, however, having a permanent residence in the United States, shall be eligible as members.

ARTICLE V.

The Government of the Society shall consist of a President, three Vice Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, a Librarian, and five Directors, who shall be annually elected, and such elections shall be made at the annual meeting.

ARTICLE VI

The President and Vice Presidents shall perform the customary duties of such officers, and shall be ex officio members of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE VII.

The Secretaries and Librarian shall perform their duties under the superintendence of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE VIII.

It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to regulate the financial concerns of the Society, to superintend its publications, to carry into effect the resolutions and orders of the Society, and to exercise a general superintendence over its affairs. Three Directors at any regular meeting shall be a quorum for doing business.

ARTICLE IX.

The annual meeting of the Society shall be held in Boston, during the last week in May, at such time and place as shall be determined by the Directors.

ARTICLE X.

The Constitution may be amended on recommendation of the Directors, by a vote of three-fourths of the members present at an annual meeting.

ARTICLE XI.

The election of officers and members shall be in all cases by ballot.

BY-LAWS.

I. The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Society; and it shall be his duty to keep, in a book provided for the purpose, a copy of his letters.

II. The Recording Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings in a book provided for the purpose, and shall notify the meetings in such manner as the President or the Board of Directors shall direct.

III. The Treasurer shall have charge of the funds of the Society; and his investments, deposits, and payments, shall be made under the superintendence of the Board of Directors. At the annual meeting he shall report the state of the finances, with a brief summary of the receipts and payments of the previous year.

IV. The Librarian shall keep a catalogue of all books belonging to the Society, and shall be governed in the discharge of his duties by such rules as the Directors shall prescribe.