27 



Certificate of Election still in use, a copy of which 

 will be found in the appendix. 



At this meeting it was announced that Captain 

 Roberts, of the Steamship " British Queen," had 

 presented to the Society the flag of the Steamship 

 '• Sirius," the first vessel that had steamed across 

 the Atlantic, which gift was accepted with the 

 hearty thanks of the members. A question having 

 been raised as to whether applicants who were resi- 

 dents of Brooklyn were entitled to relief under the 

 rules, it was decided that they were proper benefici- 

 ciaries, under the second Article of the Constitu- 

 tion. It was further held, on the question being 

 raised, that those entitled to assistance were " natives 

 of England, or their wives, widows or children (but 

 without reference to the wife or widow being a native 

 of any other country) resident in the cities of New 

 York and Brooklyn." 



Up to the year 1842 the work of inquiring into 

 the worthiness or unworthiness of the numerous 

 applicants for relief devolved entirely upon the in- 

 dividual members of the Charitable Committee, but 

 at the January meeting of that year notice was given 

 of a motion " That the President ex-officio shall be 

 a member of the Charitable Committee in addition 

 to the number of which the committee at present 

 consists, and that he shall have the same power to 

 dispense money in charity, as is now allowed by the 

 rules to members of the Charitable Committee. 



