To all whom these presents shall come,
Greeting:
Whereas his late Majesty George the Fourth was graciously pleased, by Letters Patent bearing date at Westminster, on the Thirty-first day of March, in the Second year of his Reign, to establish at Burnside, near the City of Montreal in the Province of Lower Canada, an University, the first College of which, by the said Charter, is called “McGill College,” which Charter is in the following words:
“George the Fourth, by the Grace of GOD, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith.
“To all to whom these presents shall come,
“Greeting:
“Whereas the Honourable James McGill, late of the City of Montreal in the Province of Lower Canada, now deceased, by his last Will and Testament, bearing date at Montreal the Eighth day of January, in the year of Our Lord One Thousand eight hundred and eleven, did give and bequeath a certain tract of Land near the said City of Montreal, with the dwelling-house and other buildings thereon erected, to Trustees, in trust, to convey and assure the same to the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, established by virtue of an Act of the Provincial Parliament of Lower Canada, made and passed in the Forty-first year of the Reign of his late Majesty, intituled 'An Act for the Establishment of Free Schools and the Advancement of Learning in the said Province,' upon condition that the said Institution should, within ten years from the decease of the said James McGill, erect and establish or cause to be erected and established upon the said land, an University or College for the purposes of Education and the Advancement of Learning in the said Province, with a competent number of Professors and Teachers to render such Establishment effectual and beneficial for the purposes intended; and also, upon condition that one of the Colleges, to be comprised in the said University, should be called McGill College; And whereas, the said James McGill, Esquire, by his said last Will, did further give and bequeath to the said Trustees the sum of Ten Thousand pounds, in trust, to pay the same with interest to accrue thereon from and after the expiration of three years from his decease, to the said Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, to be applied as soon as the said Institution should have erected an University or College on the said land towards defraying the expenses thereby incurred, and towards maintaining the said University or College so erected and established. And whereas, we have been humbly petitioned by the said Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, that we should be pleased to grant Our Royal Charter for the more perfect erection and establishment of the said College, and for incorporating the members thereof for the purposes aforesaid, and for such further endowment thereof as to us should seem meet. We, having taken the premises into Our Royal consideration, and being desirous that an University or College should be established for the Education of Youth in the principles of true religion and for their instruction in the different branches of science and literature, are willing to comply with the prayer of the said petition, and to afford every assistance towards carrying the intentions of the said James McGill into execution.
“Therefore, know ye that We of Our special grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, have willed, ordained and granted, and do by these presents for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, will, ordain and grant, that upon the said land and in the said buildings thereon erected or to be erected, there shall be established, from this time one College at the least for the Education of youth and students in the Arts and Faculties, to continue forever, and that the first College to be erected thereon shall be called McGill College; and that Our trusty and well-beloved the Governor of Lower Canada, Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, the Bishop of Quebec, the Chief Justice of Montreal, and the Chief Justice of Upper Canada, for the time being, shall be Governors of the said McGill College, and that the said McGill College shall consist of one Principal, to be elected in manner hereinafter mentioned, and who shall be, during his continuance in the said office, a Governor of the said College; of four Professors, to be also elected in manner hereinafter mentioned; and of Fellows, Tutors, and Scholars, in such numbers, and at such salaries, and subject to such provisions, rules and regulations, as shall hereafter be appointed by the Statutes, Rules and Ordinances of the said College; and We do by these presents for Us, Our Heirs, and Successors, will, ordain and grant, that the Principal and Professors of the said College shall be, from time to time, elected by the said Governors or the major part of them, as shall be present at any meeting to be holden for such election; and in case of an equality of votes, the officer present at such meeting, whose office is first described in order in these presents, shall have a double and easting vote: provided always, that the persons by whom such elections shall be made shall notify the same respectfully to Us, Our Heirs or Successors, through one of Our or Their principal Secretaries of State, by the first opportunity, and in case that WE, Our Heirs or Successors, shall disapprove of any person so elected, and shall cause such disapprobation to be notified to him under the Royal signet and sign manual, or through one of the principal Secretaries of State, the person so elected as aforesaid shall immediately, upon such notification, cease to hold the office of Principal or Professor to which he shall have been elected as aforesaid, and the said Governors shall thereupon proceed to the election of another person to fill the office of such Principal or Professor respectively, and so, from time to time, as often as the case shall happen.
“And we do by these presents for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, will, ordain and grant, that the said Governors, Principal and Fellows, and their Successors, forever shall be one distinct and separate body politic and corporate in deed and in word, by the name and style of 'The Governors, Principal and Fellows of McGill College, at Montreal, in the said Province of Lower Canada,' and that by the same name they shall have perpetual succession, and a common seal, and that they and their successors shall, from time to time, have full power to break, alter, make new, or change such common seal at their will and pleasure, and as shall be found expedient, and that by the same name the said Governors, Principal and Fellows, and their successors, from time to time, and at all times hereafter, shall be a body politic and corporate, in deed and in law, and be able and capable to have, take, receive, purchase, acquire, hold, possess, enjoy and retain.
“And we do hereby for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, give and grant full authority and free license to them and their successors, by the name aforesaid, to have, take, receive, purchase, acquire, hold, possess, enjoy, and retain, to and for the use of the said College, notwithstanding any statutes or statute of mortmain, any manors, rectories, advowsons, messuages, lands, tenements, rents, hereditaments of what kind, nature, or quality soever, so as that the same do not exceed, in yearly value, the sum of £6000 above all charges; and, moreover, to take, purchase, acquire, have, hold, enjoy, receive, possess and retain, notwithstanding any such statutes or statute to the contrary, all or any goods, chattels, charitable and other contributions, gifts and benefactions whatsoever; and that the said Governors, Principal and Fellows, and their successors, by the same name, shall and may be able and capable in law to sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, in all or any Court or Courts of record, or places of judicature within Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Our said Province of Lower Canada and other Our Dominions, and in all and singular actions, causes, pleas, suits, matters, and demands whatsoever, of what kind and nature or sort soever, in as large, ample, and beneficial a manner and form as any other body politic or corporate, or any other Our liege subjects being persons able and capable in law, may or can have, take, purchase, receive, hold, possess, enjoy, retain, sue, implead, or answer, in any manner whatsoever.