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A POINT IN THE LAW OF FIRE INSURANCE.

THE Supreme Court of Iowa has been subjected

to some criticism for its decision in McClure v. Girard Insurance Company, 43 Iowa, 349; S. C., 22 Am. Rep. 249; but we incline to the opinion that the decision was sound in principle and reasonably well sustained by the authorities. In that case a policy of insurance was issued on a carriage described as "contained in a frame barn." The carriage was destroyed by fire while at a carriage shop undergoing repairs. The court held that the loss was covered by the policy.

It is true, as the court said, that any statement or description on the face of the policy which relates to the risk is a warranty, and that representations in regard to circumstances affecting the risk amount to a stipulation that no change will take place, whereby the risk will be increased; but when the property insured is ambulatory in its nature, words describing its location ought not to be construed as warranting a continuation of the same location, unless such was manifestly the intention of the parties.

The court said: "The words which are used must be construed with reference to the property to which they are applied. Carriages which are kept for sale and are insured as contained in a certain warehouse could not be removed to a different warehouse without avoiding the policy. There is nothing in the nature of the property to indicate that they will be removed, and the insurance is not made with reference to such fact. But where a person procures a policy upon his horse, harness, buggy and phæton, as contained in a certain barn, the presumption must be that they are in use, and that the policy is issued with reference to such use. This doctrine was held substantially not only by this court, in Peterson v. Miss. Valley Insurance Company, 24 Iowa, 494, but in Massachusetts, in Fitchburg R. R. Co. v. Charlestown Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 7 Gray, 64."

A different doctrine was apparently held in The Annapolis Railroad Company v. The Baltimore Insurance Company, 32 Md. 37; S. C., 3 Am. Rep. 112, where a policy on cars "contained in car-house No. 1," was held not to cover the cars while on the line of the road. But in that case the car-house was also insured, and the court said:

"The intention of the railroad company was evidently to insure their buildings and their contents against fire, there being much greater danger of fire to their buildings located in a city and surrounded by other buildings, than to their trains upon the road and in charge of conductors and brakemen. While some of the cars which were insured were in use, others were not; but each car in its turn took its place in the car-house, and while actually contained therein was covered by the policy, so that, by the terms of the contract, the appellee would have been liable for all damages by fire to any of the in

sured cars which might have occurred while they were actually in the car-house."

The words "contained in " being obviously used as words of limitation, the court so construed them in accordance with the well-known rule, that in construing contracts of insurance, the courts will give effect to the intention of the parties to be gathered from the terms of the contract, if not inconsistent with the established rules of law.

It is a reasonable rule, though one not universally followed, that the court must look at the nature of the property insured as well as the words of the contract to ascertain the intention of the parties. Fitchburg Railroad Co. v. Charlestown Insurance Co., 7 Gray, 64.

In Peterson v. Mississippi Valley Insurance Co., 24 Iowa, 494, a policy was issued on plaintiff's "dwelling-house, $400; grain in the stack or crib, $600; hay in stack, $320; seven horses, $750; cattle, $275; situate in section 22, town 99, range 7 west." While the insured was hauling his grain to market he stopped for the night at a hotel, the barn of which, with one of his horses, was burned. Held, that the contract did not limit the use of the property to section 22; but that the language used was intended to describe the location and not to limit the use of the horses to the land mentioned. So in Mills v. Farmers' Insurance Co., 37 Iowa, 400, the issuers of a policy on live-stock were held liable for a horse killed at a place not upon the premises specified, if it was being used in the ordinary course of

business.

In Everett v. Continental Insurance Co., 21 Minn. 76, the policy was on a threshing machine “stored in barn," etc. The machine was not in the barn when destroyed, but in a field where it had been in use. The policy provided that only such false or erroneous representations as were material should avoid it. The court held that the representation as to location was not material, but that its object was simply to identify the machine. The court continued: "but whatever might have been the purpose of the location of the machine in the application and policy, there is no ground whatever for contending that it was, in letter or spirit, a promissory stipulation on the part of the insured, or a condition of insurance on the part of the insurer, that this location should remain unchanged, or if changed, that while changed, the insurance should cease or be suspended." Citing Smith v. Mechanics & Traders' Ins. Co., 32 N. Y. 399; Blood v. Howard Fire Ins. Co., 12 Cush. 472; Flanders on Fire Ins. 241, 255, 269, 455.

An insurance on a house includes every thing accessory or appurtenant to the main building, as a rear building separated by a small yard and used as a kitchen. Workman v. Insurance Co., 2 La. (O. S.) 507; and see White v. Insurance Co., 8 Gray, 566;

Blake v. Insurance Co., 12 id. 265. So a policy on "stock contained in a chair factory," was held to cover stock, not only in the main building, but also in the engine-house appurtenant to, but ten feet distant from, the main building. Liebenstein v. Baltic Insurance Co., 45 Ill. 301. So a policy "on machinery, consisting of cards, mules, pickers, shafting and belting * * on the first story of a four story and basement building, situate," etc., was held to cover pickers, which were not in the first story of the building when the policy was issued, nor when they were burned, but were in the "picker house,' a one story extension. Meadowcraft v. Standard Insurance Co., 61 Penn. St. 91. So a policy on cars, etc., on the line of their road, and in actual use, covers cars on a branch road 440 feet from the line of the plaintiff's road. Fitchburg Railroad Co. v. Charlestown Insurance Co., supra.

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In Fair v. Manhattan Insurance Co., 112 Mass. 320, the policy was "on stock of dry goods * * contained in the frame building known as Hunt Building * * as per plan filed." The goods insured were at the time in one store in said Hunt Building, which the plan filed showed to be divided into several stores. At the time of the loss the goods were distributed through all the stores. Held, that the words of the policy did not restrict the insured to a particular part of the building, and that the policy covered the loss.

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In Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. v. Harmony Fire Insurance Co., 51 Barb. 33; affd., 41 N. Y. 619, the plaintiffs as trustees effected an insurance property belonging to the said trust company as trustees and lessees as aforesaid, and on any property for which they may be liable, it matters not of what the property may consist, nor where it may be, provided the property is on premises owned or occupied by the said trustees, and situate on their railroad premises in the city of Racine." The plaintiffs as such trustees owned and occupied a wharf to which the cars came, and which was used in transferring freight between boats and cars. Plaintiff's dredge boat was burned while fast to this wharf, and the court held that the loss was within the meaning of the policy. In Webb v. National Insurance Co., 2 Sandf. 497, the policy was on timber in a ship-yard, and the court admitted evidence that it was usual to keep such timber on the sidewalk, outside of, but in the vicinity of the ship-yard, and that, such usage being proved, the policy covered timber on the sidewalk. So, when a policy covered "furniture" generally in a house which was described, furniture stored in a garret and but rarely used was held to be included. Clark v. Firemen's Insurance Co., 18 La. (O. S.) 431.

On the other hand, in Eddy Street Foundry v. Camden Insurance Company, 1 Cliff. 300, the property to be insured was described as being in a build

ing in the rear of 82 Eddy street, used as a furnace house. The property was destroyed in a storehouse, which could not properly be described as being in the rear of 82 Eddy street, but as in the rear of 82 and 84 of that street. It was held that the insured could not recover because the property was not at the place described. So where goods were described as "in the store part" of a building, but when lost they were in the second and third stories of the building, whilst the store part was occupied by other parties, it was held that the insurers were not liable. Boynton v. Clinton Insurance Company, 16 Barb. 254.

A policy on a "new bark now being built at Butler's ship-yard at Baltimore," was not held not to cover material and other work prepared to be put on the bark and lying in the ship-yard and in said lofts therein. Mason v. Franklin Insurance Company, 12 Gill & J. 468. A policy on chair lumber contained in the two story frame building," etc., was held not to include chair lumber in the enginehouse, though connected by a platform with the building. Liebenstein v. Etna Insurance Company, 45 Ill. 303.

In Providence, etc., R. R. Company v. Yonkers Ins. Company, 10 R. I. 74, the plaintiffs, the P. & W. R. R. Co., procured insurance in the defendant insur ance company, the policy of insurance containing the following proviso: "Provided, all the property hereby insured is on premises owned or occupied by the Providence & Worcester Railroad Company, in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It mat

ters not whether the property is in motion on the road, at rest, or in buildings." Held, that by reason of this proviso the defendant insurance company was not liable for a loss occurring upon premises not used or occupied by the plaintiffs at the time of the issuing of the policy, although so used and occupied by them at the time of the loss.

In Bryce v. Lorillard Insurance Company, 55 N. Y. 240; S. C., 14 Am. Rep. 249, the policy was on merchandise "contained in letter C, Patterson stores." The "Patterson stores" constituted a warehouse divided into sections by fire-proof walls, and were designated by letters of the alphabet. The merchandise was in fact in "letter A" at the date of the policy and of the loss. In an action to reform the policy on the ground of mistake, and to recover the loss, it was held that the description of the locality of the insured goods was a warranty, and that the defendants were not liable.

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I beg you to accept my thanks for the copies which you have kindly sent to me of THE ALBANY LAW JOURNAL, containing your exceedingly interesting and timely articles illustrative of the life and character of Mr. Choate. I rejoice that your efforts to rescue so much valuable testimony to his worth and so many facts concerning his habits and history, before those, who, from their personal friendship or acquaintance, are best qualified to furnish such material, have quite passed off the stage, are so widely and gratefully appreciated. Though a native of Danvers, where he began the practice of the law, yet, while he was there, I was too young to see and hear him as many of the older residents were wont to do. But I recall how frequently he was a favorite theme of conversation with my father, who was associated with him not a little in political and town affairs, and who had the greatest respect and admiration for his talents and virtues. After he removed from Salem to Boston, the charm of the man and of his eloquence lingered long in the minds of all classes of people in Essex county, and stories of his early successes at the bar, and predictions of his brilliant future continued to be rife in and about the scenes of his opening professional career. I well remember how, on one occasion, when thirty or forty years ago he came from Boston to Danvers to try a case of local interest, a most eager desire to see him was manifested by the villagers, who assembled about the hotel to witness his arrival, and then crowded into the hall to listen to his argument. I was myself but a boy in the thronged apartment, and have no very distinct recollection of what he said at the time, but I shall never lose the impression which his look, manner and voice made upon me. In form, features and expression he was then the perfection of manly beauty, while he had already won an enviable fame as an orator and advocate. Long afterward it fell to me to go to the city to engage him for a lecture. I found him at home, seated in a soft, comfortable arm-chair and suffering severely from neuralgic pains in his head. The brief interview is precious to me in memory, as well because it was the only opportunity that was ever permitted me to exchange words with him, as because he seized the moment to pay a tender tribute of esteem and affection to one who had recently died and who was yet dearer to me than to himself. I always, however, sought to hear him whenever it was announced that he would speak in public, and whenever it was possible for me to be present. Some of his later political speeches found no response in one of my own antislavery convictions, but there was magic in his spell, and there was also truth in the man. For, however questionable his reasoning may now seem, in view especially of all that has since occurred national history, who can for a moment doubt

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that a soul so sensitive and conservative, yet so patriotic and unselfish as his, must have been deeply in earnest, as he foresaw and dreaded the conflict that was near at hand, and did all that he could to stay the storm. One of the ablest utterances I ever heard from him was, I think, his speech on the Judiciary question, July 14, 1853, in the Massachusetts Convention, held during that year in Boston, for revising and amending the State Constitution. It was an exceedingly powerful argument, and it was as captivating in style and delivery as it was lofty and irresistible in its logic. The hall of the House of Representatives was crowded in floor and in gallery, and the attention of all was riveted to the end. The peroration was a splendid tribute to the people of Massachusetts, and ended thus: "They have nothing timorous in them as touching the largest liberty. They rather like the exhilaration of crowding sail on the noble old ship, and giving her to scud away before a fourteen knot breeze; but they know, too, if the storm comes on to blow; and the masts go overboard; and the gun deck is rolled under water; and the lee shore, edged with foam, thunders under her stern, that the sheet anchor and best bower then are every thing! Give them good ground tackle, and they will carry her round the world and back again till there shall be no more sea." The effect of such a speech, with these concluding words, may be better imagined than described. Immediately as he finished it, he put on his wraps, even though it was summer, and like some mysterious personage walked out of the assembly, followed by the gaze of the impressed and admiring multitude.

His judgment respecting one of the notable men of the Convention is interesting. The towns and cities of the Commonwealth seemed to have vied with each other in electing as members their leading statesmen, politicians, lawyers, jurists, scholars, authors, editors, teachers, reformers, clergymen, merchants, or farmers. It was a very remarkable body of men, and among them were Rufus Choate, Charles Sumner, R. H. Dana, Jr., Marcus Morton, Otis P. Lord, Henry Wilson, Charles W. Upham, Benjamin F. Butler, William Appleton, J. Thomas Stevenson, John C. Gray, Sidney Bartlett, N. P. Banks, Anson Burlingame, Charles Allen, Samuel A. Elliot, George N. Briggs, George S. Boutwell, Henry L. Dawes, F. B. Crowninshield, George S. Hillard, and many others of State, if not National reputation. But Mr. Choate told a friend of mine, who was a member from Roxbury, that the man who was the ruling genius of the body, most powerfully controlling its deliberations and shaping its proceedings, having the most thorough knowledge of all his associates, and being most fertile of resources in adapting means to ends, always carrying the whole business of the Convention in his mind, ever watching his opportunity, and never failing to accomplish his purpose was Henry Wilson. Such testimony from such authority, with regard to the "Natick Cobbler," giving him so proud a pre-eminence amidst the assembled wisdom of the State, was a tribute indeed.

While spending my summer vacation at Beverly a few months ago, I took the cars one day for Essex in order to visit the spot where the great advocate was born. On reaching the village, I went with a friend to the head of the creek where the ship-builders launch their barks, and there joining two of Mr. Choate's nephews, Rufus and William, we rowed together down

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the winding stream for about a couple of miles until we came to the small bay whose waters inclose the island where he first saw the light and which is itself shut in by the enfolding arms of the white sand beaches that project from, or lie along the shore. The land on either side, as we had proceeded on our way, was mostly level and marshy, but about midway on our left it rose into a gentle swell, and was largely shaded by a noble growth of oaks, presenting a lovely site for a summer residence. It was long a cherished dream of Mr. Choate's - to which his biographer makes a passing allusion that he should one day build himself a house here, where he might each year come and rest awhile from his arduous professional toils, and refresh himself with the cool sea airs and the old familier scenes of his infancy and youth. Yet it was too lonely a spot for the younger members of the family, and the project was never realized. Also at the left, and within the little bay, is what is known as Dean's island. It is a small extent of land, covered with trees and entirely uninhabited. One could easily believe concerning it, that it was never the abode of any living creature. Mr. Choate was one day gliding past it, in company with the nephew who bears his name, and was hearing the latter tell how he had visited the silent and unfrequented spot. It was at a time when the cholera was raging in various parts of the country, and was the subject of general and anxious remark, and the uncle, affecting a great horror of the scourge, said with a touch of his subdued yet delicious humor, "And Rufus, did you find any cholera there?"

The island on which Mr. Choate was born is just opposite the mouth of the creek, and is separated from the mainland by a wide channel of water at high tide, but may with some difficulty be reached with a horse and wagon, when the tide is out. Its surface consists of about three hundred acres, and the whole rises into a well-rounded eminence whose summit must be about two hundred feet above the level of the water. Its bald, naked aspect is quite unrelieved by trees and vegetation, except as the more southern slopes are brought under some degree of cultivation by those who occupy the three farm houses which are situated there. In one of these houses Rufus Choate was born, but when he was only six months old the family removed to the village where he grew up to early manhood. The house is painted white, and has latterly received a piazza on the front, which faces the south. The island has been in the possession of the Choate family for seven generations. Its proper name is "Choate island"- a name to which the facts of its original and continued proprietorship well entitle it, and which is actually given to it in the maps of the Coast Survey. It is now the inheritance of the nephew Rufus, and was bequeathed to him by his illustrious namesake. The uncle always turned to his birthplace with fond affection, and was wont to go thither in the summers for a time, taking with him some books and friends. It is reasonable to suppose that the spot and its surroundings must have exercised more influence upon his mind and character than those who have written about him have been wont to trace. Who can tell how much of the marvelous beauty of his lost lecture on "The Romance of the Sea," or how much of the pathos, or witchery, or eloquence, of many another of his productions, must have been due to what, in youth as in maturer life, he thus often saw and felt there at his "native isle." From the brow of the hil' he could discern in clear weather, far away

at the north, the mountains of Maine and New Hampshire. Beyond the marshes and the village that lay immediately at the west, he could see not a few of the towns and villages of Essex county, numbering many a glittering spire, aud delight himself with a richly diversified and most pleasing landscape. Just at the south-east the great cape extended its lofty ridge far out toward the sea, while close along the nearer shore lay various larger or smaller islands or sand-bars, with their white cliffs and shining levels, washed on the one side by the waters of several rivers that poured down their currents from the interior, and on the other by the waves of the ocean, whose vast expanse, broadening to the view, specked with sails, and fascinating with its ever-changing hues, completed the circuit of the range. In all this scenery there was a breadth and a variety, a certain lonely grandeur and perpetual revelation, which, to one who was such an ardent lover of nature, and who was so susceptible and imaginative as Mr. Choate, could not have failed to possess for him an indescribable charm.

We drank at the well from the "old oaken bucket, the iron bound bucket," whose water was as cool and reviving as that which at Salisbury, N. H., once evoked from Mr. Webster, in his old age, the fervent ejaculation, "This water of my father's well; it is sweeter than the nectar of the Gods." And then we entered the house, saw the room where the infant Rufus made his advent, and the other apartments which have been so familiar to successive generations of his name, listening to many an interesting story of the lives of those

who have there had their home. A fresh breeze had sprung up as we returned to our boat, and we were borne gaily up the stream down which we had been rowed and took tea with the family of the late David Choate at the homestead to which Rufus was taken when an infant and which was from that time his abode until he went forth into the wider world. It was pleasant to talk with such of the nearest relatives of the departed as are still living in Essex, hear them speak of one of whom they are so justly proud, and see the memorials and keepsakes that tell of their love for him.

Some of the early letters of Mr. Choate have come to light since Prof. Brown published his Memoirs. These, in view of the fact that they were written, chiefly, in his school-day life, and in consideration of the paucity of such materials as illustrative of his history, may be regarded as of some interest and importance, though there is nothing in them of very remarkable significance. I was permitted to take them for a time and make such use of them as I might see fit, and a few extracts from them may prove welcome to the readers of these pages as showing more fully his habits of study, his tastes and predilections, and his peculiarities of mind, in that formative period of his life. It is possible that one or more of these letters may have been partly given in some form to the public before, but I am not aware that such has really been the case, and I am told by his nephew that, as a whole, they are quite unknown beyond the immediate circle of his friends or relatives. Some of them abound in fun and absurdities. Others are thoughtful and sad. Nearly all of them indicate

an original cast of mind, an earnest love of knowledge, and a strong determination to conquer, with a tender and ardent affection for his home and the dear ones who were there.

The first is dated June 17th, 1815, and was written to

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his brother David from Hampton, N. H., where he was fitting himself at an academy to enter college. Не refers at the outset to a charge which he had received from the "combined powers," or "the folks," at home' that he should write immediately a long, solid letter." Then he proceeded thus: "Did you ever see a definition of the word 'solid'? If not, I will give you one from Bailey's Dictionary. Solid (F. Solide, L. Solidus), massive, hard, firm, strong, real, substantial, sound, lasting.' How," he asks, can I build a 'solid letter,' then, with such materials as these, viz.: thin paper, no bigger than a 4% penny, shallow brain, and no life at all?" Instantly he dashes off into a strain of bombast, interspersed with quotations about the storms and desolations of winter and the sunshine and loveliness of the season that has succeeded, suggesting that it may all serve to " fill up " what he evidently means as a sort of burlesque of the thing his family have asked for. Toward the end of the letter he writes that he has begun the De Oratore, and hopes soon to be "fit." But he depends much on spending a month or two at home "before the Dartmouth Scrape' comes on." He is now in the sixteenth year of his age.

Then there is another of these letters from Hampton, dated July 20th, of the same year, and addressed also to his brother David, in which he debates the question, in lawyer-like fashion, whether he shall go home before the end of the quarter, the disputants being "Rufus & I." The reasons for his going prevail. "The die is cast." He says, "I want some time for relaxation and delivery from purgatory previous to besetting Dartmouth College."

He entered college in the summer of 1815, and in a letter written from Hanover and dated December 5, 1815, he gives an account of his expenses, which certainly were small enough, and arranges with his brother for a visit home early in January. He adds: 'Only about ten or twelve of my class remain. The rest have taken schools. How thankful ought I to be that I am not obliged to resort to this for assistance. We who remain have a chance to improve in the languages particularly."

Early in the following March he had returned to Dartmouth and writes to David, "Should I have my health, my acquirements ought to be great. Whether the measles are hanging about me or not is uncertain. I feel rather unwell, but a few days will decide. Respecting the affairs of the college, every thing is at present in dread uncertainty. A storm seems to be gathering, the sky lowers and ere long may burst on the present government of the college. What the event may be, time will discover. If the State (and there is no doubt of it) be Democratic, a revolution will take place. Probably President Brown will be dismissed. In that case the college will fall. However, say nothing-all may yet be well, and if not, we are not to blame." "The class is ambitious, and to be among the first, in one which is pronounced the best in college, will be an arduous undertaking. Good health will be absolutely necessary for a candidate."

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"These hints about health may make you uneasy, but you must not mind it. I sincerely hope to be able to study hard, but shall never injure myself in that way. I suppose Washington* is getting through with the Reader. He must attend closely to Latin and

*A younger brother who was born January 17, 1803, and died during his senior year at college.

Greek. Two years would make a thorough scholar out of any thing, and if this college should fail the more he must study to enter at Cambridge." He says he has paid Mrs. D. for his board, has "discharged all debts" and has some left," but, as certain, necessary expenses will soon absorb what little money remains to him, he half sportively adds, "I don't know what more to write, but suppose in about a month you send me a little money!" And again, "I will now close, requesting you to write immediately and pay the postage.

On November 3, 1816, he again writes from Hanover to David, who had evidently been very sick: "My dear brother: My feelings on receiving another letter from you I shall not pretend or attempt to describe. You can conceive with what anxiety I was waiting news from home and the joy I must have felt in recognizing your well-known hand-the hand indeed of one as you observe, almost literally raised from the dead." How grateful ought we both to feel. And if I know any thing of myself, I do feel so. These gloomy forebodings that distracted my waking hours, and the dreams that haunted my sleep, have now left me, and I can think of home without its appearing dreary and melancholy; but I will only add, 'My heart's desire is, that the cure may be perfected.'-Respecting my own situation, I would tell you that it is in the highest degree pleasant. My room is good and room-mate agreeable, and our fellow students in the house, seven in number, mostly seniors, friendly and familiar. Compared with last term, my eyes are well, though I do not attempt studying evenings, this circumstance rendering application in the day time necessary. have too much neglected exercise and my head suffers for it. Since conversing, however, with Dr. Mussey, I have altered my habits and regularly exercise once a day. The instruction we enjoy is most excellent. Pres. Brown hears us in Horace and Prof. Shurtleff in Algebra, and it is our own fault if we do not make suitable advances. By abridging hours of recreation, I have made myself master of the French grammar and read, without a translation, one or two pages in the original of Telemachus as an exercise every morning. We have a task assigned the class of rather a singular nature, and such a one as will, with difficulty, be well performed: it is the rendering into English poetry one of the Odes of Horace, and this, with two or three other exercises which fall upon us, will, I fear, oblige me to hurt my eyes by application in the evening. I forgot to observe, when speaking of instruction, that Prof. Adams corrects our compositions."

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Yet again he writes from Hanover to David, under date of Dec. 16, 1816: "I have been unavoidably prevented, till this moment, from answering your last, and expressing my joy at its contents. You will be sorry to hear what I have to tell you, respecting affairs of the college. Intelligence has just reached us, that another act has passed both branches of the Legislature and become a law, authorizing uine of the new trustees only to do business, a number which it is supposed can very easily at any time be assembled. That this body will convene immediately, perhaps before the end of the term, and remove the whole of the present government of the college, and supply their places with men of their own party, is what the best amongst us confidently expect. The situation of the institution is, you perceive, critical in the extreme: 'Consternation turns the good man pale.' You may judge better of the singular state of the college, and of the confusion

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