420 AS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT -VIII 



fact that, like most of its kind in the State of New York, 

 it restricted the amount of property which the university 

 could hold, and reminding him that we had already ex 

 ceeded the limit thus allowed. To this he answered that 

 the restriction was intended simply to prevent the endow 

 ment of corporations beyond what the legislature might 

 think best for the commonwealth; that if the attorney- 

 general did not begin proceedings against us to prevent 

 our taking the property, no one else could; and that he 

 would certainly never trouble us. 



In view of the fact that Judge Boardman had long ex 

 perience and was at the time judge of the Supreme Court 

 of the State, I banished all thought of difficulty; though 

 I could not but regret that, as he drew Mrs. Fiske s will, 

 and at the same time knew the restrictions of our charter, 

 he had not given us a hint, so that we could have had our 

 powers of holding property enlarged. It would have been 

 perfectly easy to have the restrictions removed, and, as 

 a matter of fact, the legislature shortly afterward removed 

 them entirely, without the slightest objection ; but this ac 

 tion was too late to enable us to take the McGraw-Fiske 

 bequest. 



About a fortnight after these assurances that we were 

 perfectly safe, Judge Boardman sent for me, and on meet 

 ing him I found that he had discovered a decision of the 

 Court of Appeals rendered a few years before which 

 might prevent our accepting the bequest. 



But there was still much hope of inducing the main heirs 

 to allow the purpose of Mrs. Fiske to be carried out. With 

 out imputing any evil intentions to any person, I fully be 

 lieveindeed, I may say I know that, had the matter 

 been placed in my hands, this vast endowment would have 

 been saved to us ; but it was not so to be. Personal com 

 plications had arisen between the main heir and two of 

 our trustees which increased the embarrassments of the 

 situation. It is needless to go into them now ; let all that 

 be buried ; but it may at least be said that day and night I 

 labored to make some sort of arrangement between the 



