friends and their lineal descendants, the trust would not come within the designation of a charitable trust (Matter of Shattuck, 193 N. Y. 446; Kent v. Dunham, 142 Mass. 216), but if the purpose of the trust was public the mere fact that the testatrix intended to give a preference to certain relatives or friends and their descendants, who should be within the object of the trust, does not make it invalid or preclude it from possessing the character of a charitable trust. (Matter of Robinson, supra; Dexter v. Harvard College, supra; Darcy v. Kelley, supra.) The trust not being rendered invalid because of the preferential clause it remains to be determined whether the general purpose of the trust is public. It has often been held that a public charity need have no special reference to the poor. (Dexter v. Harvard College, supra, at page 194; Perin v. Carey, supra, at page 506; Jones v. Williams, supra.) In the case under consideration the object of the bounty of the testatrix was "refined, educated, Protestant gentlewomen," and the purpose of providing a home for such as should come within that designated class is a public charity. Such a charity is within the provisions of the law relating to gifts for charitable purposes (§ 12 of the Personal Property Law), when those provisions of law are construed in the broad and liberal spirit which Judge CHASE, in Matter of Robinson (supra, at page 385), pointed out should be exercised in construing these provisions of this law. It is in this broad and liberal spirit that the courts have sustained a trust for the establishment and maintenance of a clubroom for young men and boys in the city of New York (Starr v. Selleck, 145 App. Div. 869, affd., 205 N. Y. 545); a trust fund to any society that assists poor needlewomen, and if no such organization exists, for the benefit of incapacitated sailors and their families (Manley v. Fiske, 139 App. Div. 665, affd., 201 N. Y. 546); a trust for a Home for Industrious Girls and Women (Daly's Estate, 208 Pa. St. 58); a trust for a Rest Home for Worthy Working Girls (Sherman v. Cong.

Home Missionary Society, 176 Mass. 349); a trust for a Home for Old and Infirm Ladies (Eliot's Appeal, 74 Conn. 586); a trust for a Temporary Home for Poor and Invalid Women (Amory v. Atty.-Gen., 179 Mass. 89); a trust for a Home for bettering conditions of and comforting Unfortunate Widows and Orphans of a certain city (Gidley v. Lovenberg, 35 Tex. Civ. App. 203); a trust for " an Old Folks Home" (Norris v. Loomis, 215 Mass. 344; Matter of Cleven's Estate, 142 N. W. Rep. [Iowa] 986; Matter of Arrowsmith, 147 N. Y. Supp. 1016), and a trust for the creation of a Sailors' Home (Trustees of Sailors' Snug Harbor v. Carmody, supra.)

The trust attempted to be created by the testatrix seems to us, therefore, to be plainly within the benevolent spirit of the statute relating to charitable trusts and to be sanctioned by the adjudications of the courts which have upheld similar trusts. The charitable character of the trust is not impaired by the fact that the inmates of the home which the testatrix sought to create are required to pay board not exceeding seven dollars a week "toward paying the running expenses of the house." (Schloendorff v. Society of N. Y. Hospital, 211 N. Y. 125, at page 127; Starr v. Selleck, supra; Little v. City of Newburyport, 210 Mass. 414; Daly's Estate, supra, at page 64.) It is urged by the respondent that the trust attempted to be created cannot be carried out according to the intention of the testarix, because the fund provided is not sufficient for this purpose. It may be that the income of a fund of about $63,000 which the testatrix has attempted to donate to the creation of this trust will not be adequate to carry out the trust in the exact manner in which the testatrix contemplated that it would be carried out, but this fact would not justify declaring the trust invalid and permitting this fund to go to others whom it is clear the testatrix did not intend should receive it. The inadequacy of the trust fund cannot in any way affect the validity of the trust. (Gilman v. Hamilton, 16 Ill. 225; Morgan v. Grand Prairie

Seminary, 70 Ill. App. 575, affd., 171 Ill. 444.) It is suggested by the respondent that the attempt of the testatrix to create such a trust and the contemplation of so ambitious a project with so inadequate a fund was itself such an act of folly as should incline the court to resolve all doubts as to the construction of the will against its validity. Whether the purpose of the testatrix was wise or unwise is no concern of the court. The concern of the court is to determine whether the trust attempted to be created is valid or invalid and if it is susceptible of two interpretations, one of which renders it invalid and one of which renders it valid, the court must, under well-settled rules, give to it that interpretation which will uphold its validity. The trust created by the testatrix is a valid charitable trust. If circumstances render it impracticable to carry out the trust in the precise manner contemplated by the testatrix, the courts will so apply it as to accomplish the general charitable purpose which it was the design of the testatrix to carry out. The general charitable design of the testatrix was that "refined, educated, Protestant gentlewomen" should be the object of her bounty. The money that she directed to be devoted to this purpose may be inadequate to carry out her purpose in the precise manner contemplated, but that fact of itself furnishes no reason why the class that she intended to aid should not receive the benefit of the aid which it was her intention to give. (Jackson v. Phillips, 14 Allen [Mass.], 539, 586; Atty.-Gen. v. Ironmongers' Company, 2 Beav. 313; Norris v. Loomis, supra.)

No general rule can be enunciated as to the manner in which the cy pres doctrine will be applied. Each case must necessarily depend upon its own peculiar circumstances. Inadequacy

of the trust fund to accomplish the purpose of the testator in the manner originally intended may, however, justify the scheme of the charity being changed. If the Supreme Court cannot cause this trust to be carried out in the precise manner contemplated by the testatrix it will apply the trust fund to other

charities as nearly as possible like that specifically mentioned in the will. (Trustees of Sailors' Snug Harbor v. Carmody, supra, at page 300.)

It follows, therefore, that the final decree and order appealed from should be reversed, with costs and disbursements in this court, and the cause remitted to the Surrogate's Court for proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

WILLARD BARTLETT, Ch. J., CHASE, COLLIN, CUDDEBACH, CARDOZO and POUND, JJ., concur.

Ordered accordingly.