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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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To the calm observer of the multifarious pursuits and opinions of life , innumerable cases will perpetually present themselves , which pass currently in general estimation as being innocent or even praise-worthy in their operations , but which will not bear the scrutiny of sober investigation , of correct principles , or of common sense . Folly is always eager to screen
itself behind the bulwark of precedent , and thus improvement is retarded or fettered in its progress by the clamours and influence of the dread of innovation . Under these delusions , of which the wisest are not always sufficiently aware , prejudices are established and perpetuated in endless variety and duration ; while truth and reason are elbowed out of notice , or silenced by ignorance and effrontery . Amongst these insidious delusions , perhaps , there is not one more dazzling in its application , more inconsistent in its
pretences , more eulogized by the world , more perverted in its intentions , and more faulty in its results than that of testamentary bequests to public charities . We have been accustomed from our earliest infancy to consider these works of supererogation as meritorious in the highest degree , as conferring everlasting honour on the donors , as the perfection of human excellence , and as a sure passport to the realms of endless bliss . But
how stands the account generally , in the sober estimation of moral worth or of religious purity ? And will not a critical examination acquit the inquirer of all breach of candour in saying , that it will most usually be found that those persons have been most bountiful at their decease who had been the most niggardly and uncharitable during their lives ? And even where this has not been the case , where is the merit of giving what can no longer be withheld , and what , in fact , is not the property of its previous
owner ? It may be called his own while making his will , but the moment his life ceases his claim to it is annihilated , and he is ostentatiously or unjustly taking it from the pockets of those who may from reason or consanguinity have perhaps a much stronger right than any public charity can be entitled to . If it should be said , that being his own , and perhaps acquired by his own assiduity , he has an unquestionable right to dispose of it as he pleases—even this requires some explanation on rational authority .
All property may , and perhaps must , be considered as belonging to the community , and it guarantees the secure possession of a part to each individual on the tacit admission that he holds it on trust for the general good , and subject to such conditions as the laws of his country or its customary usages have either confirmed or virtually understood and agreed . He has no right , therefore , to disinherit his kindred in favour of strangers . Perhaps his wife and children have performed their full share in the
acquisition of the property , and in such case neither law nor equity could justify his arbitrarily bequeathing it from them . In short , there is a sense of justice which seems paramount to all law , which dictates the terms of equity , and which , though not easily defined , is understood and felt by universal consent . So that whatever deductions he may make from the expectations of his
relatives , must in some degree be considere d by them , if not unjustifiable or arbitrary , yet as capricious or unkind ; or if these terms are hardly admissible , as subject to the fair scrutiny of disappointed hopes , or to the harsh judgment of a censorious world . Another important objection to such bequests , is the impossibility of tracing the utility of the gift , or its appro-
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ON TESTAMENTARY BfiQUESTS TO PUBLIC CHARITIES .
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( 676 )
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1828, page 676, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2565/page/20/
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