terest, to be then finally and for ever secured in lands, as soon as may be convenient, for the education of as many boys of the name of Mackintosh as it is adequate to, always observing that they are the descendants of the four families above named or their nearest of kin."

"The course of true love never did run smooth" is a Shaksperian adage, which our combustible Captain distressingly verified. In another codicil we find the following uncomfortable retractation of former sentiments :-" Mem.-From a correspondence that I have had with (no longer 66 my dear") Mrs Rae sometime past when she was at Brighton, I find I have been mistaken, and that the attachment she appeared to show for me, proceeded more from the wish of a convenient settlement, than from any very particular preference! (Naughty Rae!) I therefore revoke the whole of that part of my will relating to her; and hereby direct that the £10,000 of which she was to enjoy the interest during her life, shall, immediately after my decease, be appropriated for the education of boys, as before described."

With this little frustration of the tender passion terminate all tossings to and fro of the Mackintosh Fund. The will was written at sea in 1797-the last codicil was added in 1803-and in the month of June, in that year, we find that probate was obtained by the testator's executors.

The

Such are the precise specifications with which from time to time Captain Mackintosh accompanied, enlarged, and sought to secure his bequest to his relations, near and remote, (and by implication to his clan), in order to permanently provide for their education. There is not a particle of puzzle in the whole matter. mind of the testator evinces a growing liberality in the accomplishment of his objects; and this should be kept in recollection, to free us from the fallacies with which interested parties seek to narrow the scope of a beneficent bequest.

We have before exposed the misnomer Farr fund, and thrown out certain surmises which we believe to be well founded; and certainly our conjectures are strengthened by referring to the history of the properly proved will. "Brother James" of Farr having been, by a second thought left residuary legatee, this gentleman attempted, by means of proceedings in Chancery, to render void the trust confided to the Magistrates of Inverness. Thirteen years of discreet delay sweetly intervened; and it was not until 1816, that, under a decree of Chancery, a sum of principal and interest amounting to £22,857:5:10d. 3 per cent. consols was paid over to the Magistrates of Inverness, instead of flowing into more private pockets, and constituting a thoroughly domestic Farr fund. One would have thought that the extrication of this money out of the limbo of English Chancery would prove a quietus

K

as to law proceedings; and that the practical enforcement of the testator's intentions would now employ all the energies of the trustees. But not so, gentle and simple reader, "Soft--by regular degrees-not yet." Having escaped out of English Chancery, the poor Captain's will must now pass through the ordeal of the Scotch Court of Session-and O what pleasing processes of Multiplepoinding and Declarator now regaled the wigged and gowned gentry of the Parliament House! What fees !—what refreshers!—what speeches against time, to satisfy solicitors, while judges were somnolent or dinnerless!—to say nothing of the piles of pleadings, heaped like pigs of lead-direful to behold, and painful to peruse! At length, that is to say in about nine years, the grand question was decided by a Decreet of Declarator-declaring what? Why, that the accumulated interest actually belonged to the principal, and that both constituted the capital for investment-minus the enormous law expenses incurred in establishing what was as plain to any rational being as the light (physical we mean) which shone into the Court! This said Decreet is nothing more than an awfully verbose verification of all the points of the will affecting the trust-with this drawback, that the Judicial expositors "found and find" difficulties wholly of their own making-so that, as Puff says in the Critic, "the interpreter is the harder to be understood of the two." One good result, however, relieved the dullness of this judgment: the importunate residuary legatee was again baffled the accumulated interest evaded his grasp-for it was solemnly stated that "if it were to be paid to the claimant James Mackintosh, as he desires, it would be totally diverted from its destination." Quite true, most grave and reverend Seniors; and let us hope that no alliance of the same House with other speculative spoilers, will have power to pervert by legislation what was protected by ordinary operation of law.

The remaining history of the Mackintosh fund, is a chronicle of absurd efforts to administer the trust-not by the judicious exercise of the powers which the will plainly conferred-but by means of groundless doubts, shaped into nonsensical queries, endlessly propounded to sapient advocates, who always complain that they have no information furnished them whereon to found opinions; but opinions they nevertheless give, and of such an " uncertain sound," that they are frequently called upon to review their former dicta—which they of course did, upon payment of fresh fees. We have taken the trouble of reading over these opinions, and a tougher job we have not had for a long time—a headache in every page of them! We suspect that some Inverness lawyer must have been at the bottom of these quiddities, and that he must have acted as provincial purveyor for his hungry legal brethren in the

Scottish metropolis. We thus judge from the qualities of the queries transmitted for solution, as they happen to steer so wide of any real connection with Captain Mackintosh's will. On one point we cannot help thinking Messrs Rutherfurd and Macneill decidedly feeble. Being asked, in a very clumsy way, respecting the disposal of "surplus accumulations;" those gentlemen as clumsily intimate their opinion that, having been invested in land, "it should remain part of the permanent capital;" but they do not state distinctly the true point, viz., that the whole interest of investment should be annually disbursed according to the intents of the testator-otherwise the trust cannot be said to be fulfilled.

And thus we arrive in regular order at the condition of things which gives rise to our present discussion. Throwing therefore aside all litigation, and all the forensic fiddle-faddle in the shape of opinions with which the subject has been overlaid, we now come to the main question,-Is the trust properly administered? To which we reply, Certainly not-if it can be shewn that any parties entitled to the benefits of the trust are excluded therefrom. What are those benefits? Education and education to be specially imparted at the Inverness Academy-and in peculiar cases, a higher grade of instruction, to be attained through the medium of a Scottish University. We hold ourselves completely aloof from all the disputants now in the field; and we seek to occupy mentally the position of a member of a committee of the House of Lords or Commons before whom a bill should be laid, purporting to "alter, explain, and enlarge the powers and provisions" of Captain Mackintosh's will; to annul the trust which he created; and to amalgamate the funds derived under his bequest, with "the funds and property belonging to the directors and managers of the Inverness Academy." Before yielding a moment's consideration to the tenor and details of any such bill, a previous point must be satisfactorily explained. How comes it that the trustees appointed under a will, do not content themselves with the discharge of their proper duties, instead of appealing to the Legislature to abrogate the trust reposed in them? What brings them here, seeing that the will under which they have at least appeared to act, is clear in its intents, sufficient in its product, and perfect in its powers? Until these questions are explicitly answered, it seems to be impossible that any intelligent and impartial committee, could deign to notice a tittle of the proposed bill, which proceeds upon the silly presumption that wills are revocable upon pleas of alleged expediency.

Connected with an enquiry as to the proper fulfilment of the Trust, there would of course be a due investigation as to the efficiency of the Inverness Academy; not in the way of improper interference with the functions of the Directors, nor yet upon

grounds associated with the interests of the public at large; but simply with reference to the quantum of instruction which the institution was capable of affording to the pupils sent thither under the particular provision of the Mackintosh Trust. The Mackintosh trustees are, we conceive, entitled to remonstrate strongly and effectually with the Directors of the Academy, if they have suffered any defectiveness to creep into the practical working of their educational Establishment. Is the curriculum of study a judicious and adequate one ?* and if so, is it carried out by able and assiduous teachers, men who are sufficiently remunerated for their important, intellectual toils? In order to qualify ourselves for forming a tolerably correct judgment as to the powers of the Directors, we have closely examined the Charter and Bye-laws of this Incorporated Institution, and we notice no lack of proper power to accomplish every object aimed at by the projectors of the Academy. They have ample authority over the Rector and teachers, who have no vested interests in their situations, but who, on the contrary, are liable to be removed for inefficiency, the same shall be fully proved. As usual, considerable mystification has been thrown over this subject, by dint of prolix cases drawn up, we presume, by lawyers, and submitted for opinion, to certain other lawyers; amongst the latter, Mr Hope (the present President Hope) evincing his wonted talent for obscuring the most obvious certainties. But apart from professional perversion, the state of the case is plain to the most ordinary perception; and we recommend the directors to look simply to their own Charter, and they will find themselves armed with all lawful powers to rectify and retrieve the Academy, without labouring to upset the will of Captain Mackintosh, by virtue of which they enjoy a monopoly which would be deemed a valuable bonus to any institution.

if

THE MACKINTOSH BEQUEST-OMITTED WORDS OF THE WILL.

We have quite enough to do without re-perusing our own printed scribbling; but on glancing over our last publication, we instantly perceived that the words "to keep up a respectable though declining clan," which formed part of Captain Mackintosh's will, and which we saw safely in our own type, had unaccount ably disappeared. Here follows the explanction. We had attached so much importance to the words in question, that we annexed them to the heading of our article; but, on the judicious remark of a friend, that this prominence savoured, or would seem to savour of partisanship, we desired the words to be removed; *Here it may be proper to remark, that through a most blundering omission, there is no curriculum, which reduces the Academy to a state of anarchy.

anl the printer, misapprehending our intention, equally withdrew them from the body of the article. However, we seize the opportunity of correcting the omission, to notice the light which these words shed upon what is technically termed the mind of the testator. He was liberal to his family, but he loved his clan; which is just what we should expect from a Highland old bachelor, who had no bonny bairns conjugally assigned him. He naturally concluded that the four families whom he names had, by marriages, been interfused with the clan Mackintosh, and his will is so expressed as to give breadth to his bequest; whereas the parties who aim at quashing the defunct Captain's will and codicils, are evidently endeavouring to narrow his educational bequest into the smallest numerical limitation of recipients. The Captain wished to have as many boys educated as the income should be "adequate to;" but the Inverness legislation-mongers are for dwindling down the Mackintosh students in order that public scholarship may be extended, by means of a larger boon to the Academy. Now we do not yield to any of the Inverness illuminators in our cordial anxiety for the increased diffusion of useful knowledge; but we do not deem it necessary to break a will, so many years acted upon, in order to elevate the intellectual position of the Inverness Academy. If the funds of the Mackintosh Trust be properly applied, there must be an ample income flowing in upon the Academy in addition to their own resources derived from subscriptions and fees. Mere money, it should also be observed, will not sustain a scholastic institution, if that money is not employed in securing the most competent instructors, imparting the best system of instruction. Indeed large endowments sometimes prove injurious, by creating fat emoluments for idle or incapable incumbents, who are jobbed into offices which they supinely enjoy. There is no more necessity for a bill to regulate Captain Mackintosh's charitable bequest, than for a bill to revoke the other dispositions of his will; and we should as soon think, at this time of day, of setting aside the Farr residuary legateeship, as of altering one jot or tittle of the arrangements in favour of the Mackintosh boys. We are happy to find that we are not alone in our conclusions upon this subject. One of the ablest and soundest members of the Scottish bar-an excellent as well as an eminent man-writes to us as follows, and we do not feel justified in cancelling the compliment of our distinguished friend. "The article on the Mackintosh Bequest' has much interested me, and the views you have stated on this subject appear to me (like all your views on most subjects) to be remarkably judicious and correct."