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dren. On the firstpoint, theii Loidships have no difficulty
not
in coming to the conclusion that the gift u~s excessise in.
relation to the propcrty of the donm. It was about the hun-
dredth part of it. Whercver a gift of a part of a donoi's
propeity haa Lieeii discussed and tested with rcference to
its aniount, a proportion sosmall asthishaa never Lieen rr-
garded as excessive. It was contended that,, in, considering
this question, the va.lue of the gifts made to the othcr rcla-
tions should be estimated: but, thoiigh the faït of these
othei gifts cannot be excludcd, and for somi: purposes it
might be very materia.1 ta considei them, each gift., in the
end, must be decilied on its own merits. All these gifts,
however, if takcn toget,her, amount only to about one
tenth of the donor's wealth, a proportion less than any
share which French writers have regard~d as excessive.
As already stated, one sixth in the lalvest mentionned
by them. MI. Justice Ramsay, in his judgment, says
that hc had found no case, where the amount uSssinques-
tion, in which a donation of lessthanone-sixthwasset aside.
Then,it is to he considered whether this dana.tion woiild
have been made if the donor had contemplated the birth of
children. This question natiiially opens an inquiry into the
circumstances attending the gift. Ricard, in the passage
cited above, ailudcs to those deemed to ùe iiiaterial.
Thevalue is of course material; so also are the motives of
thegift,andtheii therelation of the donee~ to thedonor. The
circumstances in thi~ ca.se are, that for many years after her
mother's death, Lri hfarquise lived withher Aunt Luce,and
in the society of hcr cousins. It was nntural that she should
have become attached to theni,and, when on her fathei's
death, she succeeded to his largo wcalth,and to her iiiother's
not inconsiderable propeit,y, that she should desùe to rnake
somc prcaent ta them. Her gift is for personal objects,
being described to be "pour partiedeleursfraisdetoilette et
autres petits besoins pemonnels", and therefore is of a
kind which might weli spring from her own wish to gratfs
her cousins. It is evident that she believed that her mo-