Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/595

 THE PRESIDENT, ETC., OF YALE COLLEGE V. EUNKLB. 581 �Buch bequests. And yet it appears that after he made the second codicil, on the twelfth of January, 1875, and before bis death, be gave to eacb of the colleges, Hamilton and Yale, the sum of $10,000. These payments were made on the twenty-sixtb day of January, 1876. And notwithstanding this he left bia second codicil un- changed, and it so remained up to the time of bis deatb, in October, 1876. �The question may be fairly asked wbether, by obtaining the sub- Bcriptions in the way which bas been mentioned, the purpose of Mr. Knox was accomplished as prescribed in bis will. Application was not made to a few wealtby men of Knox county, as perhaps it might be claimed was contemplated by Mr. Knox, and the pledge and sub- scriptions made on their part to meet the condition of the will, but subscriptions amounting in number to more than 700 were ob- tained, many of these from men of small means; and it is clear from the evidence that mucb canvassing became necessary in order to obtain these subscriptions, and long time of payment had to be given. Many were not made by the subscribers themselves; that is to say, they did not sign their own names, by which they agreed to pay the respective amounts, but they were signed by other parties, as it is claimed, at their request and with their consent. Some sub- scriptions were made upon condition, and therefore were not absolute in their character, even within the terms of the subscription papers. These circumstances would undoubtedly give rise to numerous con- troversies if payment of these subscriptions were sought to be en- foreed. �While eeveral of the witnesses state in a general way that the sub- scribers were responsible, it is impossible for a court, in the light of the evidence, to disregard the general character of subscriptions of this kind, consisting of so many persons and of so many varying amounts. Undoubtedly, a large proportion of these subscriptions were by responsible parties; but, judging from the testimony and the experience which may be presumed to be part of the knowledge of every one, and so of the court, it may be asserted with great confi- dence that it would not be possible at any time to collect from these subscribers anything near the nominal amount of those subscriptions. The failure of some to pay, and the expense of eollecting these sub- scriptions, would prevent their reaching the amount which he desig- nated in bis will. �The subscription papers have stood, as is admitted, up to thic time in the same position that they were whe^» they were turned over to ��� �