n that followed.
In answer to the Desrivieres claim, the Board contended that, as
required by the testator, McGill College had now been, to all intents
and purposes, erected and established by Letters Patent under the Great
Seal, and by the appointment of Professors. All the conditions of the
will had therefore, they said, been fulfilled. Accordingly on November
8th, 1821, they made a formal demand upon the executors, the Hon. John
Richardson and the Hon. Justice Reid, for the transfer of the legacy of
L10,000 with interest due since the death of the testator. Francis
Desrivieres was in possession of this money, and on December 4th, 1821,
the executors called on him for its payment. He replied that it would
not be paid until the college had been built and established, as the
case connected with property only had not yet been decided, and he did
not regard the mere obtaining of a Charter as fulfilling the conditions
of the will. As a result the executors and the Board issued instructions
on December 26th, 1821, for the instituting of a second suit to obtain
possession of the endowment fund, and the two suits proceeded.

The settlement of the first case was long delayed, and was attended with
numerous discouragements. It involved, too, great expense, which the
Board was not always able to meet. The judgment of the Court of King's
Bench in Montreal was in favour of the Royal Institution. Mr.
Desrivieres then appealed from this judgment to the Privy Council, and
again an irritating delay ensued before the appeal was heard. In July,
1823, the Board asked the Governor-General for a further loan of L300
from the revenues of the Jesuits' Estates as they were again in
financial straits. The advance was made, but it was soon expended, and
when forwarding a payment on account to Mr. Sewell on April 15th, 1824,
the Secretary of the Board wrote, "this payment exhausts within a few
pounds all the money of the Royal Institution. We are therefore in no
very enviable situation as to funds." Four more years passed before the
first suit was finally settled; they were years during which in the face
of obstacles that threatened the very existence of the College, the
Board frequently despaired of success. On August 17th, 1824, the
Secretary wrote to the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, Sir F. N.
Burton, pleading for his assistance and co-operation in bringing the
case to a speedy conclusion, and asking for further financial
assistance. T