§ MR. SEXTONasked the Secretary to the Treasury, With reference to his statement that £19,000 out of the estate of the late Mrs. Helen Blake had been paid away by the Treasury under the head of "intended legacies," to whom 616 these payments were made, what was the amount in each case, and what was the nature of the evidence by which the Treasury was satisfied of the intention of the deceased in regard to the legacies in question; and, whether a Copy of such evidence will be laid on the Table?
§ MR. HERBERT GLADSTONE,who replied, said: The legacies referred to were paid as being specified in an unexecuted and incomplete will, which, so far as it went, expressed Mrs. Blake's latest wishes. They comprise a gift of £0,400 to the National Lifeboat Institution; £3,000 to Trinity College, Dublin, for a Scholarship in Irish History; £2,000 for the benefit of Irish Railway employes; £1,000 each to a Society for the protection of life from fire and for shipwrecked fishermen; £2,000 each to The O'Conor Don and to the hon. Member for Swansea (Mr. Dillwyn), whose public conduct she admired; and various smaller legacies to old friends. There seems no reason for laying the documents in question on the Table.
§ MR. T. P. O'CONNORasked whether, as this unexecuted will had no legal authority, the Government thought it was right, or in accordance with justice, to distribute £19,000 of this lady's money in the way stated without placing a small portion of her funds at the disposal of persons who have a prima facie case for showing that they are her nearest relatives, and who, therefore, have a right to share in the inheritance?
§ MR. HERBERT GLADSTONEPerhaps the hon. Member will give Notice of the Question.