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7th. The president, each director, cashier or treasurer, before he enters upon the duties of his
Office, shall take the following oath, or affirmation, as the case may be: "I ———— do swear, or
" affirm,, that I will faithfully, impartially, diligently and honestly, execute the duties of
" agreeably to the provisions of law, and the trusts reposed in me, to the best of my skill and judge-
" ment."
8th. The total amount of the debts which the said corporation shall at any time owe, whether by
bond, bill, note or other contract, shall not exceed double the amount of the capital actually paid
' into the said bank; provided, that the money deposited in the said bank for safe keeping shall not be
considered as the debts of the bank within the provision of this clause, (unless the contracting of
any greater debt shall have been previously authorised by a law of the state ;) in case of excess, the
directors under whose administration it shall happen, shall be liable for the same in their natural and
private capacities, and an action of debt may in such case be brought against them, or any of them,
or their heirs, executors or administrators, in any court of record in this state, by any creditor or
creditors of the said corporation, and may be prosecuted to judgment and execution, any condition,
covenant or agreement, to the contrary notwithstanding, but nothing herein contained shall be con-
strued to exempt the said corporation, or the lands, tenements, goods or chattels, of the same, from
being also liable for, and chargeable with, the said excess; and such of the said directors who may
have been absent when the said excess was created, or who may have dissented from the resolution
or act whereby the same was created, may respectively exonerate themselves from being so liable,
by forthwith giving notice of the fact, and of their absence or dissent, to the governor of the state,
and to the stockholders at a general meeting, which they shall have power to call for that purpose.
9th. The president and eight directors shall constitute a board for the transaction of business, but
ordinary discounts may be done by the president and five directors; in case of sickness, or necessa-
ry absence of the president, his place may be supplied by a director, whom he, by writing under his
hand, shall nominate for the purpose.
10th. In case of death, resignation, disqualification, or removal out of the state, of the presi-
dent, the directors shall meet as soon as can be thereafter, and elect another person for president
for the residue of the year.
11th. Half yearly dividends shall be made to the stockholders of so much of the net profits of the
bank as shall appear to the president and directors adviseable, and such dividends shall be declared,
in the months of June and December, and paid in, the months of July and January, in every year.
12th. No director shall be entitled to receive any emolument for his services, unless the same shall
have been allowed at a general meeting of the stockholders, and the stockholders shall make such
compensation to the president, for his. extraordinary attendance, at the bank, as shall appear to them
reasonable.
13th. That the president and directors may call a general meeting of the stockholders for any pur-
poses relative to the institution, giving at least six weeks notice in two or more news-papers in the
city, of Baltimore, one news-paper at Easton, in one at Frederick-town, and in one at Elizabeth-
town; any number of stockholders, not less than fifty, who together shall be proprietors of one
thousand shares, may at any time apply to the president and directors to call a general meeting of
'the stockholders for any purpose relative to the institution; and if the president and directors shall
refuse to call such meeting, the said number of stockholders, proprietors of not less than the afore-
said number of shares, shall have power to call a general meeting of the stockholders, giving at least
sixty days notice in two news-papers in the city of Baltimore, in one news-paper at Easton, in one
at Frederick-town, and in one at Elizabeth- town, and specifying in such notice the object or objects
of such meeting.
14th. Every cashier or treasurer, before he enters upon the duties of his office, shall be required
to give bond, with two or more sureties, to the satisfaction of the president and directors, in a sum
not less than fifty thousand dollars, with condition for his good behaviour.
15th. The lands, tenements and hereditaments, which it shall be lawful for the said corporation
to hold, shall be only such as shall be requisite for its. immediate accommodation, in relation to the
convenient transacting of its business, and such as shall have been bona fide mortgaged or conveyed
to it by way of security, or in satisfaction of debts contracted in the course of its dealings, or pur-
chased at sales upon judgments, which shall have been obtained for such debts.
16th. That the corporation shall not deal or trade in any thing except bills of exchange, promis-
sory notes and bullion, or in the sale of goods which shall be the produce of their lands, or of such
goods and effects as shall have been bond fide pledged or mortgaged to it by way of security, or con-
veyed to it in satisfaction of debts contracted in the course of its dealings, or purchased at sales up-
on judgments which shall have been obtained for such debts; neither shall the said corporation take
more than at the rate of six per centum per annum for or upon its loans or discounts; all bills or notes
which may be issued by order of the said corporation, signed by the president, and countersigned by
the principal cashier or treasurer thereof, promising the payment of money to any person or persons.
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CHAP.
XLVIII.
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