d be
appointed to each object, and consequently it was possible in the
popular phrase to be "cut off with a shilling," but now by the Powers
Amendment Act 1874 the appointor is no longer obliged to appoint a share
to each object of the power.

It is a general rule that every circumstance required by the instrument
creating the power to accompany the execution of it must be strictly
observed. Thus it might be required that the appointment should be by an
instrument witnessed by four witnesses, or that the consent in writing
of some third party should be signified. The general rule, however, has
been modified both by statute and by the rules of equity. By the Wills
Act 1837 a will made pursuant to the requirements of that statute shall
be a valid execution of a power of appointment by will, notwithstanding
that some additional form or solemnity shall have been required by the
instrument creating the power, and by the Wills Act 1861 a will made out
of the United Kingdom by a British subject according to the forms
required by the law of the place where the will was made shall, as
regards personal estate, be held to be well executed and admitted to
probate; consequently it has been held that an appointment made by such
a will is a valid exercise of the power. As regards appointments by deed
the Law of Property Amendment Act 1859 enacts that a deed attested by
two witnesses shall, so far as execution and attestation go, be a valid
exercise of a power to appoint by deed. The courts of equity also will
interfere in some cases of defective execution in order to carry out the
intentions of the settlor. The principle upon which the court acts is
obscure, but the rule has been thus stated:--"Whenever a man having
power over an estate, whether ownership or not, in discharge of moral or
natural relations, shows an intention to execute such power, the court
will operate upon the conscience of the heir (or of the persons entitled
in default) to make him perfect this intention." Equity, however, only
relieves against defects not of the essence of the power, such as the
absence of seal or execution by will instead of deed, but where the
defect is of the essence of the power, as where a consent is not
obtained, equity will not assist, nor will it relieve where a power to
appoint by will is purported to be exercised by deed. A power of
appointment if exercised must be exercised bona fide, otherwise it will
be void as fraudulent; thus it ha