II, c. 36, as already stated, for exempting various bodies from the operation of that act. These acts chiefly ap- ply to the Established Church. The statute 58 George
III, c. 45, amended by 59 George III, c. 134, and 2 and 3 William IV, c. 61, is intended to promote the building of new churches in populous places in England and Wales. The law 43 George III, c. 107, was passed to ex- empt decrees and bequests to the governors of Queen Anne's Bounty. By 12 and 13 Victoria, c. 49, § 4, grants of land for sites of schools, not exceeding five acres, are voted ; and there are other more recent modifications.
In the United States the English mortmain laws have not in general been adopted or recognised, except in Pennsylvania ; and in tliat state, by an act passed in 1865, bequests, devises, or conveyances, for religious or charitable uses, may be valid if made by deed or will at least one calendar month before the death of the testa- tor or alienor. In New York, by a statute enacted in 1848, gifts to charitable corporations by will must be made two months before the testator's death; and by another enacted in 1860 any person having a husband, wife, child, or parent, is precluded from bequeathing more than one half of his clear estate to any society, association, or corporation. In Georgia, in like manner, a gift to charitable uses by will is made void if the tes- tator has a wife or issue living, unless made ninety days before his death. In other states the checks to the ac- quisition of real estate by corporate bodies are such as are imposed by their charters, or by the general laws under which they have become incorporated. These limit their property to an amount sufficient for their natural uses, and whenever corporations come into the possession of more than is thus demanded or authorized, a special act of legislation is- necessary to legalize such possessions ; excepting, however, the transfer of landed estate in liquidation of indebtedness by the grantor, yet such possessions can be held only until they can be properly disposed of by sale. Roman Catholics gen- erally evade the statues by holding their property in the bishop's name, thus constituting it his own estate, though they use it for ecclesiastical purposes. See Col- lier, Eccks. Hist, (see Index in vol, ix); Milman, Lat,
Christianity (see Index in vol. viii) ; Baxter, Ch, Hist. p. 283 ; Elliott, Delineation of Romanism, p, 173, 296 ; Cham- bers, Ctjclop. s. V. ; A mer. Cyclop, s, v. ; Eadie, Eccles. Cy- clop, s. v. ; Coke, First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (Phila. 1853, 2 vols. 8vo), i, 99, 112; Black- stone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (Phila, 1863, 2 vols, 8vo), bk. i, 479 ; bk. ii, 268 ; bk. iv, 108, 424, 426, 441,
Morton, Charles, an early New England divine, was born in Cornwall, England,'in 1626; was educated at Oxford University, of which he was a fellow; enter- ed holy orders, and was at first a Royalist, but becoming a Puritan, was ejected from Blislaiid for his noncon- formity in 1662. He had established an academy at Newington Green, and continued at its head for twenty years. Among his pupils was Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe. Being much annoyed by the bishop's court, ISIorton felt obliged to leave the country, and in 1686 emigrated to New England, and settled in Charles- town, Mass., where he held a position till his death, which occurred April 11, 1698. He was well esteemed by his contemporaries, and acknowledged to be a man of eminent learning. He wrote a number of religious works, among which is The Ark, its Loss and Recovery, See Drake, Diet, of A mer. Biogr. s. v,
Morton, James Douglas, Earl of a Scotch no- bleman, who figures quite notably in the secular as well as ecclesiastical history of his country, was the second son of Sir George Douglas of Pittendriech, and in 1553 succeeded, in right of his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the third earl, to the title and estates of the earldom. His father was a most ardent adherent to the cause of the Reformation, and very early he also favored the same cause, and was a friend of king Henry VIII in the designs of that monarch in reference to Scotland. His name, however, does not often appear in the public transactions of the period; and although in 1557 he was one of the original Lords of the Congregation, he seems yet to have been afraid of the consequences, in a per- sonal point of view, of casting off the queen-regent, from whom he had already received considerable favors, and therefore held a rather doubtful and irresolute course. It was for this reason that Sadler, the English envoy, describes Morton as '-a simple and fearful man." The death of the queen-regent, however, completely changed the man. He now boldly came Ibrward and avowed him- self unequivocally a Protestant. Sworn a privy coun- cillor in 1561, he was appointed lord high chancellor of Scotland, Jan. 7, 1563, in the place forfeited b}' the earl of Huntly, who had been tlie great head of the Roman Catholic party in Scotland. He had, however, only been in office a few years when lie was obliged to quit it ; for, having been one of the chief conspirators against Rizzio, the Italian secretary of queen Mary, on his as- sassination, March 9, 1566, he fled with his associates to England, and remained there until, through the interest of the earl of Bothwell, he obtained his pardon from the queen. Bothwell, unprincipled as he was, no doubt helped Morton because he hoped, in turn, to be obliged ; and no sooner was the earl reinstated in favor with the queen than Bothwell opened to him the plot which he meditated for the murder of Darnley, expecting, of course, IMorton's ready acquiescence. In this, however, Bothwell was mistaken ; Morton refused to concur. But neither did he inform Darnley of the plot, nor take any measures to prevent its being executed; and he was one of those who subscribed the famous bond to protect Bothwell against the charge of being concerned in the murder, and to use every endeavor to promote his mar- riage with the queen. Yet when this latter event took place, and when Bothwell became odious to the nation, Morton was the great leader in opposition to him ; and it was to the castle of his relative, the lady of Loch- leven, that Mary was conducted when she delivered herself up at Carbery Hill. When Mary was securely lodged in this place of confinement, the earl of Murray