JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 383 



The Secretary gave an account of the circumstances connected 

 with the money left in England by Hon. Richard Rush, as the prin- 

 cipal of an annuity to the mother of the nephew of Smithson, and 

 presented the following communications from Fladgate, Clarke & 

 Finch, of London : 



40 Craven Street, Strand, 



London, W. C, May 16, 18G1. 



Sir : "We bad the honor, in the year 1838, of acting professionally for the Presi- 

 dent of the United States in the suit in the English court of chancery, under which the 

 funds for the foundation of the Institution (of which we address you as the manager) 

 were decreed to be paid over to him for the purpose of establishing the institution. 

 "We have now to make to you, as the manager thereof, the following communication : 



On referring to the papers connected with the institution you will find that a sum 

 of £5,015 three per cent, consols, part of the estate of Smithson, the founder, were 

 retained in the court of chancery to answer a claim of one Madame de la Batut. 

 That person was, in fact, entitled to a life interest in the fund, and at her death it 

 was to revert to the President as an additional fund for the purposes of the institution. 



Madame de la Batut is now dead, so that the fund has become transferable to the 

 President, and it will be requisite for him, or some person duly authorized by him, to 

 take the necessary steps to obtain a transfer. 



We have had some communication with the solicitor of the lady's family, who 

 writes as follows : 



" My client, Mr. La Batut, upon taking out administration to his late mother, 

 Madame La Batut, to whom Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lewis Dickinson, by his will 

 dated 17th July, 1819, gave half of the income of his property, for her life, will be 

 entitled to an apportioned .part of such income from the last payment, on the 22d 

 March, 1858, to 10th September, in the same year, which would amount to about £70. 



" The property originally consisted of French 5 per cent, rentes, payable 22d 

 March and 22d September, but by order of the court a sum of £5,015 three per cent, 

 consols was invested in the name of the accountant general in this suit, to the sepa- 

 rate account of Mary Ann de la Batut, the annuitant, to meet the payments of the 

 life income. By the law of France the life income is apportionable and payable up 

 to the time of death, and Lieutenant Colonel Dickinson having been domiciled in 

 France at the time of his death, that law will apply to this case. 



"Will you be good enough, under these circumstances, to obtain the consent of 

 your client in presenting a petition as to the £5,015 and the arrears of dividends due 

 thereon, to ask for the payment to my client of the apportioned sum out of such 

 arrears, without obliging him to go to the expense of proving the law of France upon 

 this subject. I will hand you the necessary proof of death, the expense of which can 

 be included in the necessary costs of the application." 



We should recommend that the request contained in this letter be complied with. 

 We have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servants, 



FLADGATE, CLAPvKE & FINCH. 



To the Smithsonian Institution, 



Washington, U. S. 



40 Craven Street, Strand, 



London, W. C, October 26, 1861. 



Sir : Tour letter of the 14th August reached us in the long vacation which has just 

 terminated, and we hasten to reply to it. 



All that will be requisite to be done in the first instance is, that we should have the 

 authority of the President of the United States to present a petition for an order to 

 have the fund paid to him. On our obtaining this order, a power of attorney will be 

 sent out to the President authorizing some person here to receive from the court of 

 chancery, and transmit to him, or to the managers of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 the fund in question. 



Having in the suit had the honor of acting for the President, it might be within 

 our functions to present the petition even without an express authority, but we did 

 not deem it right to do so without some communication with the President or with 

 the managers of the Institution. 



