OF ARTS AND SCIENCES : AUGUST 12, 1862. 29 



intent of the donor, be strictly complied with ; and that in consequence thereof 

 no premiums have been yet awarded, but the said fund has, by the addition 

 of the income thereof, accumulated to the sum of nearly twenty thousand 

 dollars ; and the income thereof for two years has become too large for a 

 proper premium for such discovery ; and that the same cannot longer be con- 

 veniently invested in the stocks of the United States. Therefore, that the 

 plaintiiTs may be authorized to dispose of the surplus income of said funds in 

 other modes adapted to promote the general intent of the donor, and to 

 invest said fund in more convenient securities. 



" Whereto, the defendants, by answer, admit the material facts set forth in 

 the Bill, but allege that, as residuary legatees of said Benjamin, Count Rum- 

 ford, they are entitled to have paid over to them, for the use of the Rumford 

 Professorship, founded by said Count Rumford, at said University, any por- 

 tion of said fund, and of the accumulation and interest thereof, which cannot 

 be applied in the hands of the complainants to the execution of the general 

 intent of said donor. 



" The cause having been argued by counsel, and fully considered, it ap- 

 peal's to the Court that the complainants have not done any act, or neglected 

 or omitted to do anything, whereby they have forfeited, waived, or renounced 

 the said donation, and that the President and Fellows of Harvard College 

 have no right, as residuary legatees of Count Rumford, or otherwise, to claim 

 the same, or any part thereof It further appears that the said donation was 

 made to the American Academy for a general purpose of charity, that, 

 namely, of promoting a useful branch of science for the benefit of mankind ; 

 that the Academy accepted the same, upon the terms stated, and for the 

 purposes contemplated by said donation, and are now under obligation to 

 carry the general intent of the donor into effect, as far as it is practicable to 

 do so. It further appears, that, in consequence of the impediments set forth 

 in the Bill, it is impracticable for the Academy to carry the general chari- 

 table intent of the donor into effect in the exact and precise mode specified 

 by him ; but, considering the general and primary intent of Count Rumford 

 to have been to awaken and stimulate the ingenuity, and encourage the re- 

 searches and experiments of individuals on the continent or the islands of 

 America to make important discoveries or useful improvements upon the 

 subjects of Light and Heat, and to cause them speedily to be published for 

 the good of mankind, it does appear to the Court, that it is quite practicable 

 for the Academy to accomplish and carry into effect the general charitable 

 intent and puqiose of Count Rumford by some slight alterations in the mode 

 particularly prescribed by him for carrying the same into effect. It also 

 appears to the Court that it would tend to promote the general charitable 

 intent of the donor to allow the complainants to invest the principal of the 

 said fund in some safe and productive securities other than the stocks of 

 the United States. 



