“2. _And be it further enacted_, That the said corporation shall have power to make such constitution, by-laws and regulations, as they shall judge proper, for the appointment of officers, for the admission of new members, for the government of the officers and members thereof, for collecting annual contributions from the members towards the funds thereof, for regulating the times and places of meeting of the said Society, for suspending or expelling such members as shall neglect or refuse to comply with the by-laws or regulations, and for the managing and directing the property, affairs and concerns of said Society: _Provided_, That such constitution, by-laws and regulations be not inconsistent with the Laws or Constitution of this State, or of the United States: _Provided further_, that the said corporation shall not engage in any banking business, nor dispose of any of its funds for any other purpose than the relief of such members of the said Society, natives of Ireland, and children and grandchildren of natives of Ireland, or of a member of said Society, as may become indigent and poor. “3. _And be it further enacted_, That the present officers of said Society shall hold their respective offices until others shall be chosen in their places. “4. _And be it further enacted_, That this Act be, and hereby is declared to be, a public act, and that the same shall be construed in all courts and places, benignly and favourably for every beneficial purpose therein intended, and that no misnomer of the said corporation in any deed, gift, grant, devise or other instrument of contract or conveyance, shall vitiate or defeat the same: _Provided_, The Corporation shall be sufficiently described to ascertain the intention of the parties. “5. _And be it further enacted_, That the Legislature may at any time hereafter amend, alter, modify or repeal this act.” [Laws of New York, 1827; chapter 42.] Owing to the loss of the Society’s books in 1835, the list of its early members is necessarily incomplete, but a partial list of the earliest members is: