admit of no compromise-and well-authenticated facts, resting upon documents which cannot be denied. My present object is, moreover, to convey to you a copy of my letter of this date, addressed to the Secretaries of the Lancasterian Schools, and which I respectfully submit to you also, as the President of the same, in accordance with my usual practice at Gibraltar in early life, and ever since: and I beg leave at the same time to adopt the sentiments of a gallant officer, in command of the combined forces at the siege of that garrison, when addressing a courteous note to the equally gallant governor of that fortress, in the words following,—and assure you of the high esteem I have ever had of your person and friendship; of the sincere desire I feel of deserving yours, and of the pleasure with which I look forward of becoming your friend, after I shall have learned to render myself worthy of that honour, by facing you as an enemy"-I will not say, but as a much injured and maligned opponent. I remain, dear Sir, yours, very truly, Peter Murray, Esq., M.D. etc. etc. Belle Vue. GEORGE DAVIES. The passage marked with inverted commas was given from memory as the substance of the original occurrence, and with a slight verbal variation may be considered rather an accommodation, than an exact literal quotation of it. The letter sent to the Secretaries, referred to in the foregoing, follows: SIRS, Scarborough, 24th February, 1840. Your latest communications of the 27th and 28th ult. are now before me. The latter has had no acknowledgment, because, as you say,-and I choose rather to quote your own words," we are unable to state confidently when the Committee will again meet, but suppose it may be in the course of a few weeks," and you are pleased to add, that "as the Committee have come to a decided conclusion on your claim, which decision has been communicated to you, we must, pend ing their orders to the contrary, decline further correspondence on the subject." But as your first letter of the day preceding contains this assurance-"Your letter shall be laid before the next meeting"-and upon inquiring when that next meeting would take place, your answer is such as I have quoted above, I must again request to be informed whether any such meeting has since been held, and its direction to you in reference to my said letters, or if no such meeting has taken place, whether you are now able to state with certainty or probability when the same may be expected to be held for that purpose. And in addition to the foregoing request I have now to state my further desire to you as the Secretaries of the Institution, and to claim at your hands, and of the President and Committee, that being one of the surviving parties to whom the premises, Schools, etc. were conveyed by indentures of Lease and Release, bearing date respectively the 12th and 13th of July, 1813; and certain trusts of which were declared by a separate deed, which declaration was lately said to be in my hands, but which I have been given to understand has since been discovered in the possession of another person, and is now under the cognizance and control of the Committee. I am, therefore, desirous of inspecting such Trust Deed, as one of the parties interested, for the purpose of ascertaining precisely the nature of the Trusts, and of taking such extracts or copy as I may think necessary; and I have further to request that you will please make an early appointment for that purpose. Your answer will much oblige, Sirs, yours respectfully, Messrs. W. Rowntree and B. Collins, Secretaries of the Lancasterian Schools. GEORGE DAVIES. No reply from Dr. Murray was received at this time; but from the official Secretaries the following letter came to hand: :- SIR, extract from the minutes of the Committee of the Lancasterian Schools, dated yesterday.—“Three letters from Mr. George Davies having been read, ordered that the Secretaries inform him that he is at liberty to inspect the deeds referred to in his of the 24th instant, on applying to Messrs. Hesp and Uppleby." We remain, Sir, yours respectfully, To G. Davies, Esq. W. ROWNTREE, Secretaries. In consequence of this letter, the writer applied to Messrs. Hesp and Uppleby by a note, as under: DEAR SIRS, Scarborough, 2d March, 1840. Having received a note from Messrs. Rowntree and Collins, the Secretaries of the Lancasterian Schools, dated the 29th ult., purporting that the Committee had placed the Deeds of that Institution in your hands in order that I might be at liberty to inspect the same, and being unapprised whether such deposit is made in your private capacity of subscribers, or as the professional agents of the Committee, I must beg the favour of your saying by a note in answer, at what time or times it may be most convenient to you to allow me to have access to the Deeds in question, as well for inspection as to make any extracts or copies thereof, that I may think necessary, and which, as a Trustee, I have claimed at the hands of the Committee by my previous letter on that subject. I remain, dear Sirs, your very obedient servant, Messrs. Hesp and Uppleby. These gentlemen replied without delay, and with their usual courtesy, by stating that the Deeds were given to them in their professional capacity, and announcing their willingness to afford every facility in their power. In fact, the writer, upon calling on them by appointment, was shewn the deeds in question, which had been so placed in their hands, and was favoured with the use of one of their private offices, and also with every apparatus and convenience for several hours, during which time he availed himself of the opportunity to examine and make some extracts from them, which he considered most material, but could not, of course, in that short period, take any thing like a full and correct copy of the Trust Deed, which was engrossed on several large sheets of parchment, and as such a perfect copy was desired, the writer again addressed those gentlemen on the 16th of March upon that subject, and also asking for the inspection of the early Minute Books, and of the Accounts of the Institution from 1813. To this letter those gentlemen replied that my request should be handed to the Secretaries, to be communicated to the Committee, whose instructions they must await, and on the 21st a further answer was given, as under : DEAR SIR, Scarborough, March 21, 1840. We are instructed by the Committee of the Lancasterian School to furnish you with a copy of the Deed mentioned in your letter of the 16th instant, provided you will pay the cost of it; but the Committee decline under present circumstances to produce the accounts and minutes of proceedings since the year 1813 for the purposes named in your letter. We are, dear Sir, yours most respectfully, George Davies, Esq. With respect to the early minute books of the proceedings from the year 1813, it is very important here to observe, that no doubt or demur of any kind was at this time made as to their existence, because it will appear very shortly after this date, that Mr. John Rowntree, one of the Vice-Presidents, and an active member of the Institution from its origin, professes now to know not what has become of them. To the before-recited letter of Messrs. H. and U., the writer referring to it in detail, was on the 26th of March induced to reply to it, of which the following is an extract :-"That no misapprehension may arise from any ambiguity of expression on either side, I beg leave to explain and state, that the deed in question was originally provided and paid for out of the Trust funds, as an examination of the accounts will, I have no doubt, shew, and that I claim to have a fac-simile copy of it furnished to me upon the same principle; and as a Trustee of the Lancasterian Schools, I likewise claim the inspection of all Accounts and Minutes shewing the proceedings of the Committee and officers of the Society referred to or recognised by the Trust Deed, and forming the subject thereof; and I respectfully request, for my guidance, a distinct answer, whether I am to understand that the Committee still refuse to allow me to have a perfect of that Deed on the principle I have stated, or an inspection of the other documents in question." copy The foregoing application was promptly acknowledged by those gentlemen on 28th of March, advising of their having handed over the same to the Secretaries, who would probably either reply to it or instruct them to do so; and in consequence, the writer soon after received the following from the Secretaries: SIR, Scarborough, 1st April, 1840. We are directed by the Committee of the Lancasterian School to inform you that they have no further answer to give on the subject of your letter of the 26th ult. addressed to Messrs. Hesp and Uppleby. We are, Sir, your obedient servants, G. Davies, Esq. W. ROWNTREE,}, } Secretaries. B. COLLINS, Immediately after this date the writer was necessarily called up to London on his private affairs; and whilst there, having deliberately turned the subject over in his mind, he again thought it right to apply to Messrs. H. and U., in which he further urged his claim as follows: "I wish to be distinctly understood as claiming, in my capacity of Trustee, a copy of the Trust Deed at the expense of the Trust, in the same manner as it appears the original Trust Deed was paid for, by the Treasurer's account, |