The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

The Hospital of Inverness. 599
exception being in recent years, where a member of the
Session had contended that the money was intended for.
immediate distribution ; consequently they considered it
incompetent, illegal, and that it would be a breach of trust
to alienate any part of the monies under their charge.
They further pointed out that the debts in question were
with
not debts of the Kirk-Session but of the parish ; and
regard to the proposal to provide a poorshouse, suggested
that it should be furnished at the expense of the Board of
Administration. They assented, however, to a proposed
amendment, which was also before them, that the Kirk-
Session should provide ^,50, to be placed at the disposal of
the Committee for the use of the poor. Apparently nothing
came of this. Further negotiations took place ; a new
proposal was made to submit to the Kirk-Session certain
queries, drawn up by the said Committee with a view to
obtain an opinion of counsel ; but the Session declined to
assent to the terms of the memorial ;
and
very naturally,
as they believed, and they were justified in believing, that
the statements made in it were incorrect.
The next step was a meeting of the Legal Admin-
istrators of the Poor, viz.. Magistrates, landward heritors,
and Kirk-Session, at which the attendance seems to have
been small. A motion and two amendments were put, and
one of the latter was carried to the following effect :
" That as the Session claims the exclusive administration
of the funds, the)- should also have the exclusive management
of the poor." The funds, of course, were the Hospital
funds, left to the Session as Trustees. It is difficult to
believe that such an unreasonable proposal, and one so
contrary to the then existing law, could have been seriously
made, much less carried. The Session repudiated it.
Another statutory meeting of the Legal Administrators
took place on ist August, 1842, when more reasonable
counsels prevailed. Totally different proposals were made
to the Kirk-Session relative to the animal proceeds and
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