"Whereas sundry inhabitants of the City of St. John and its vicinity, being of the Protestant profession of worship, approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, have, by voluntary subscription, aided by a grant[E] of money out of the Province (1814), erected a large and handsome building for a place of public worship, which shall be in connection with the said Church of Scotland: And whereas, the title of the lots on which the said church has been erected, situated in Queen's Ward in the said city, and fronting on Germain Street, is now in the possession of the inhabitants of the said city, who hold the same in trust: Be it enacted, that the minister and elders of the said church, commonly called by the name of Kirk, whenever such ministers shall be chosen and appointed, the said lots shall be vested in them, they being known by the name of the minister and elders of the Church of Scotland in the City of St. John." In 1818, Act 58 was passed, and this statute authorized the Kirk's ministers and elders to have full power to purchase, receive, hold, and enjoy lands, and tenements, and to improve and use the same for the purpose of supporting and maintaining the building erected in St. John for a place of public worship, and of its minister for the time being; but such rents, with the rents of pews, shall not exceed annually the sum of £500. An important discovery was made in 1832, when it was found that the legislation that had been had was entirely at variance with Presbyterian usage, which separated the spiritual from the temporal affairs of the church, leaving the spiritual department in the hands of the minister and his elders, and vesting the management of the temporalities in a body of trustees to be named. A new bill was prepared, and accordingly the following was speedily enacted by 2 William IV. cap. 18, "that according to the form and usage of the Church of Scotland the spiritual and temporal affairs of the said church are kept separate, and that the present acts of incorporation vesting the temporal affairs of the St. Andrew's Church, in the City of St. John, in the minister and elders is at variance with the form and usage of the said Church of Scotland." All previous acts were repealed, and the following gentlemen, who were the committee of management then: Thos. Walker, Robert Rankin, John Wishart, John Robertson, James Kirk, Robert Keltie, James Burns, Henry Hood, William Parks, William Walker, James Robertson and Daniel Leavitt, with the elders, John Paul, Robert Robertson, Thomas Nisbet, William Hutchinson, Angus McKenzie and John Gillis, were appointed interim trustees until the election of twelve other trustees as provided by the Act, could be had. This Act is still in operation, and it fixes the annual rents at not more than £500, and prescribes the proceedings as to the election and choice of trustees, ministers, and elders, the sales and leases of pews, lands, &c.