Additional background relating to the history of Franklin's codicil can be found in an advisory opinion and several prior decisions of this court which addressed different aspects of the administration of the trust. See Opinion of the Justices, 374 Mass. 843 (1978); Franklin Found. v. Collector-Treasurer of Boston, 344 Mass. 573 (1962); Franklin Found. v. Attorney Gen., 340 Mass. 197 (1960); Franklin Found. v. Boston, 336 Mass. 39 (1957); Boston v. Curley, 276 Mass. 549 (1931); Boston v. Doyle, 184 Mass. 373 (1903); Madden v. Boston, 177 Mass. 350 (1901); Higginson v. Turner, 171 Mass. 586 (1898). "If this Plan is executed and succeeds as projected without interruption for one hundred Years, the Sum will then be one hundred and thirty-one thousand Pounds of which I would have the Managers of the Donation to the Town of Boston, then lay out at their discretion one hundred thousand Pounds in Public Works which may be judged of most general utility to the Inhabitants such as Fortifications, Bridges[,] Aqueducts, Public Building[s], Baths, Pavements or whatever may make living in the Town more convenient to its People and render it more agreeable to strangers, resorting thither for Health or a temporary residence.
The facts recited in this opinion are distilled from cases in which we have previously considered various aspects of the Franklin Institute and the Franklin Fund. See Franklin Foundation v. Collector-Treasurer of Boston, 344 Mass. 573 (1962); Franklin Foundation v. Attorney Gen., 340 Mass. 197 (1960); Franklin Foundation v. Boston, 336 Mass. 39 (1957); Boston v. Curley, 276 Mass. 549 (1931); Boston v. Doyle, 184 Mass. 373 (1903); Madden v. Boston, 177 Mass. 350 (1901); and Higginson v. Turner, 171 Mass. 586 (1898). The first hundred years of accumulation expired in 1891, and in 1894 the managers withdrew a portion of the Fund to establish a technical school.