The penalty of a refusal to comply with the terms thus briefly specified, was a minority, which reached to her twenty-fifth year; and in case she married any other man, save the aforesaid Philip Flint, without the consent of Mr. Flamall, the whole of the Jamaica property was tied up for her children’s benefit; and in case of no issue, devolved to his two sons. He further enjoins his daughter’s obedience to this _his representative_, even as it regards her place of residence: stipulating, however, that he has conditioned for her remaining in England, not only while she bears the name of Cowley, but also under that of Mrs. Flint, having received the most satisfactory assurances that Philip Flint will not live in Jamaica. In a word, Mr. Cowley’s will firmly makes Mr. Flamall the sovereign arbitor of Miss Cowley’s fate till she becomes his niece; and the harsh and dictatorial language of the law was exhausted to sanction and confirm this excess of parental authority. Miss Cowley, with indignation, pronounced the will a forgery; and she produced as evidence for this opinion her father’s character, his unlimited affection for her, his confidence in Mr. Hardcastle, and his letters, in which Philip Flint had been named. Her friends admitted her reasoning, but the will was legally executed and witnessed by Oliver Flint, Mr. Cowley’s _valet de chambre_, and two of the most respectable gentlemen in the island. Juba, the faithful Juba, had carried Rachel Cowley in his arms. He had long been a free man, and he had written the first letter to England of his beloved master’s death; in which he dwelt with comfort on the calmness and clearness of the deceased man’s faculties till the last moment. She persisted in her opinion, and with great firmness said, she would seek redress in a court of Chancery, ordering the counsellor to enter a caveat to the will immediately. The dignity which she assumed, the acuteness of her observations, and the absence of those fears which the gentlemen were prepared to expect, gave them at once to understand that the client was not a minor in good sense. The counsellor was struck with a character so superior to what he expected in a girl not much more than eighteen; and he told her candidly, that his opinion and Mr. Hardcastle’s entirely agreed with her own. “I have gained,” continued he, “some information respecting this Flamall. He was, I find, one of those men who in the practice of the law are its disgrace; he is expert in all the tricks and chicanery of his tribe; and your property is too valuable a trust to be wrested from him without a struggle on his part. The means of justice are slow, and we must contrive to counteract his villainy, not to dispute his right to be _a villain_. Have patience, my dear Miss Cowley, I have more than once caught a rascal in his own toils. A false will cannot easily be produced without confederates; something may transpire, for rogues are rarely faithful to each other.