long and troubled years of baffling difficulty
and bitter discouragement, and at times, despair.

CHAPTER III

DELAY AND DIFFICULTY

Less than three years after he had made his bequest, James McGill died,
in December, 1813. Soon after his death the executors of his will sought
to fulfil his desire with reference to the establishment of a College,
and to ensure that the conditions imposed with regard to time would be
complied with as speedily as possible. But they were confronted by
obstacles over which they had no control. The will bequeathed the
Burnside Estate and the Endowment Fund to the executors in trust, on the
understanding that they should as soon as convenient after the
testator's death convey it to the Royal Institution for the Advancement
of Learning, to be used by them as provided under the Act of 1801. But,
as we have seen, the organization of the Royal Institution was bitterly
opposed by one section of the community. Every effort to have trustees
appointed and to have the Institution put in actual operation was
frustrated. The authorities feared to cause friction or discord, and
they preferred postponement. There was therefore no Royal Institution,
other than in name only, to which the McGill bequest could be conveyed.
There were no trustees. It was necessary first for the executors and
those interested in the establishment of the College to effect the
actual organization of the Royal Institution by securing the
appointment of trustees as called for by the Act. They continued, with
vigour, to impress this necessity upon the authorities in order that the
McGill bequest should not lapse, and they were promised prompt action.
But in that troubled period of warfare the Home Government was involved
in too many difficulties to devote time to the problem. Action was for
these various reasons consequently long delayed and it was not until
1818 that the promise was fulfilled and that the authorities at last
appointed Trustees and established in fact the Royal Institution. Were
it not for the fear of losing the legacy,--a misfortune which after all
was narrowly averted,--and the persistent efforts of the executors, the
appointment would have been doubtless longer delayed. The Provincial
Legislature could not appoint trustees without orders and they were
unwilling to make any grant of money without authority from the Colonial
Office.

But as a result of the hopeful promise made to the executors by the
a