788 ST. MARY'S COUNTY. [ART. 18.

for the purpose of building rail roads within the limits of said
county, and shall be desirous to acquire and enjoy the powers and
immunities of a corporation, they may prepare and execute, under
their hands and seals, an instrument of writing specifying the
object, articles, conditions and name or style under which they
have associated or intend to associate.

80. The said instrument of writing shall be presented to, ac-
knowledged before, and certified by the judge of the Circuit
Court for said county, in the same manner as conveyances of
real estate, and the said judge shall direct said instrument to
be recorded in the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court for said
county.

81. The said instrument of writing being recorded as aforesaid,
the persons so associated or intending to associate, shall, accord-
ing to the objects, articles, conditions and provisions in said in-
strument set forth and contained, become and be a corporation
in law and in fact, by the name, style and title set forth in said
instrument, and by that name shall have succession, and be able
to sue and be sued, and shall have power to make, have and use
a common seal, and the same to break, alter and renew at plea-
sure, and to make and establish all proper by-laws and regula-
tions for the government of said corporation and the manage-
ment of its affairs, not contrary to law, and the instrument under
which said corporation is formed.

82. Every corporation thus established shall be capable, accord-
ing to the terms and conditions of the instrument upon which it
may be formed, to purchase and hold any kind of property, real and
personal, and the same to employ, use and dispose of according
to the objects, articles and conditions of its charter; but no cor-
poration formed under the preceding sections shall, in any man-
ner or in any capacity, hold or possess at one time property to
an amount or value exceeding in the aggregate the sum of fifty
thousand dollars.

83. If any change, alteration or amendment of the articles,
conditions or provisions of the instrument on which said corpo-
ration is established, shall be made by the authority of said cor-
poration, it shall be made known, acknowledged and recorded
in the same manner as the original instrument, and shall, after
being recorded, be deemed and taken to be a part of the
charter or instrument upon which said corporation was formed,