neighbour's ignorance to detain from him his pro- it defrauds creditors; for, by a defect in our laws, perty. The will is so much waste paper, from the which has been long and strangely overlooked, defect of right in the person who made it. Nor is real estates are not subject to the payment of this catching at an expression of law to pervert the debts by simple contract, unless made so by will; substantial design of it: for I apprehend it to be although credit is, in fact, generally given to the the deliberate mind of the legislature, that no will possession of such estates: he, therefore, who`neshould take effect upon real estates, unless au- glects to make the necessary appointments for the thenticated in the precise manner which the sta-payment of his debts, as far as his effects extend, tute describes. Had testamentary dispositions sins, as it has been justly said, in his grave; and been founded in any natural right, independentif he omits this on purpose to defeat the demands of positive constitutions I should have thought of his creditors, he dies with a deliberate fraud in differently of this question: for then I should have his heart. considered the law rather as refusing its assistance to enforce the right of the devisee, than as extinguishing or working any alteration in the right itself.

And after all, I should choose to propose a case, where no consideration of pity to distress, of duty to a parent, or of gratitude to a benefactor, interfered with the general rule of justice.

Anciently, when any one died without a will, the bishop of the diocese took possession of his personal fortune, in order to dispose of it for the benefit of his soul, that is, to pious or charitable uses. It became necessary, therefore, that the bishop should be satisfied of the authenticity of the will, when there was any, before he resigned the right which he had to take possession of the dead man's fortune in case of intestacy. In this way wills and controversies relating to wills, came within the cognizance of ecclesiastical courts; under the jurisdiction of which, wills of personals (the only wills that were made formerly) still continue, though in truth, no more now-a-days connected with religion, than any other instruments of conveyance. This is a peculiarity in the English laws.

The regard due to kindred in the disposal of our fortune (except the case of lineal kindred, which is different) arises either from the respect we owe to the presumed intention of the ancestor from whom we received our fortunes, or from the expectations which we have encouraged. The intention of the ancestor is presumed with greater certainty, as well as entitled to more respect, the fewer degrees he is removed from us; which makes the difference in the different degrees of Succession to intestates must be regulated by kindred. For instance, it may be presumed to be positive rules of law, there being no principle of a father's intention and desire, that the inheritance natural justice whereby to ascertain the propor which he leaves, after it has served the turn and tion of the different claimants: not to mention generation of one son, should remain a provision that the claim itself, especially of collateral kinfor the families of his other children, equally re-dred, seems to have little foundation in the laws -lated and dear to him as the oldest. Whoever, of nature. therefore, without cause, gives away his patrimony from his brother's or sister's family, is guilty not so much of an injury to them, as of ingratitude to his parent. The deference due from the possessor of a fortune to the presumed desire of his ancestor, will also vary with this circumstance: whether the ancestor earned the fortune by his personal industry, acquired it by accidental successes, or only transmitted the inheritance which he received.

These regulations should be guided by the duty and presumed inclination of the deceased, so far as these considerations can be consulted by general rules. The statutes of Charles the Second, commonly called the Statutes of Distribution, which adopt the rules of the Roman law in the distribution of personals, are sufficiently equitable. They assign one-third to the widow, and twothirds to the children; in case of no children, one half to the widow, and the other half to the next of kin; where neither widow nor lineal descendants survive, the whole to the next of kin, and to be equally divided amongst kindred of equal degree, without distinction of whole blood and half blood, or of consanguinity by the father's or mother's side."

Where a man's fortune is acquired by himself, and he has done nothing to excite expectation, but rather has refrained from those particular attentions which tend to cherish expectation, he is perfectly disengaged from the force of the above reasons, and at liberty to leave his fortune to his friends, to charitable or public purposes, or to The descent of real estates, of houses, that is, whom he will: the same blood, proximity of and land, having been settled in more remote and blood, and the like, are merely modes of speech, in ruder times, is less reasonable. There never implying nothing real, nor any obligation of them-can be much to complain of in a rule which every selves.

There is always, however, a reason for providing for our poor relations, in preference to others who may be equally necessitous, which is, that if we do not, no one else will; mankind, by an established consent, leaving the reduced branches of good families to the bounty of their wealthy alliances.

The not making a will, is a very culpable omission, where it is attended with the following effects: where it leaves daughters, or younger children, at the mercy of the oldest son; where it distributes a personal fortune equally amongst the children, although there be no equality in their exigences or situations; where it leaves an opening for litigation; or lastly, and principally, where

person may avoid, by so easy a provision as that of making his will: otherwise, our law in this respect is chargeable with some flagrant absurdities; such as, that an estate shall in no wise go to the brother or sister of the half blood, though it came to the deceased from the common parent; that it shall go to the remotest relation the intestate has in the world, rather than to his own father or mother; or even be forfeited for want of an heir, though both parents survive; that the most distant paternal relation shall be preferred to an uncle, or own cousin, by the mother's side, notwithstanding the estate was purchased and acquired by the intestate himself.

Land not being so divisible as money, may be a reason for making a difference in the course of

inheritance: but there ought to be no difference but what is founded upon that reason. The Roman law made none.

BOOK III.

PART II.

former is, that our obligation to them is much greater than theirs to us. It is a mistake to suppose, that the rich man maintains his servants, tradesmen, tenants, and labourers: the truth is, they maintain him. It is their industry which supplies his table, furnishes his wardrobe, builds his houses, adorns his equipage, provides his amusements. It is not the estate, but the labour employed upon it, that pays his rent. All that he does, is to distribute what others produce; which is the least part of the business.

Nor do I perceive any foundation for an opinion, which is often handed round in genteel company, that good usage is thrown away upon low and

OF RELATIVE DUTIES WHICH ARE INDETER- ordinary minds; that they are insensible of kind

MINATE.

CHAPTER I.
Charity.

I USE the term Charity neither in the common sense of bounty to the poor, nor in St. Paul's sense of benevolence to all mankind: but I apply it at present, in a sense more commodious to my purpose, to signify the promoting the happiness of our inferiors.

Charity, in this sense, I take to be the principal province of virtue and religion: for, whilst worldly prudence will direct our behaviour towards our superiors, and politeness towards our equals, there is little beside the consideration of duty, or an habitual humanity which comes into the place of consideration, to produce a proper conduct towards those who are beneath us, and dependant upon us.

There are three principal methods of promoting the happiness of our inferiors.

1. By the treatment of our domestics and dependants.

2. By professional assistance,

3. By pecuniary bounty.

ness, and incapable of gratitude. If by "low and ordinary minds" are meant the minds of men in low and ordinary stations, they seem to be affected by benefits in the same way that all others are, and to be no less ready to requite them: and it would be a very unaccountable law of nature if it were otherwise.

Whatever uneasiness we occasion to our domes

tics, which neither promotes our service, nor answers the just ends of punishment, is manifestly wrong; were it only upon the general principle of diminishing the sum of human happiness.

By which rule we are forbidden,

ment from the mere love and wantonness of domi1. To enjoin unnecessary labour or confine

nation.

2. To insult our servants by harsh, scornful, or opprobrious language.

3. To refuse them any harmless pleasures. And, by the same principle, are also forbidden causeless or immoderate habitual peevishanger, ness, and groundless suspicion.

CHAPTER H.
Charity.

THE TREATMENT OF OUR DOMESTICS AND DE-
PENDANTS.

CHAPTER III.
Slavery.

THE prohibitions of the last chapter extend to the treatment of slaves, being founded upon a principle independent of the contract between masters and servants.

I define slavery to be "an obligation to labour for the benefit of the master, without the contract or consent of the servant."

This obligation may arise, consistently with the law of nature, from three causes: 1. From crimes.

2. From captivity.
3. From debt.

In the first case, the continuance of the slavery, as of any other punishment, ought to be proportioned to the crime; in the second and third cases, it ought to cease, as soon as the demand of the injured nation, or private creditor, is satisfied.

A PARTY of friends setting out together upon a journey, soon find it to be the best for all sides, that while they are upon the road, one of the company should wait upon the rest; another ride forward to seek out lodging and entertainment; a third carry the portmanteau; a fourth take charge of the horses; a fifth bear the purse, conduct and direct the route; not forgetting, however, that, as they were equal and independent when they set out, so they are all to return to a level again at The slave-trade upon the coast of Africa is not their journey's end. The same regard and re- excused by these principles. When slaves in that spect; the same forbearance, lenity, and reserve country are brought to market, no questions, I in using their service; the same mildness in de-believe, are asked about the origin or justice of the livering commands; the same study to make their journey comfortable and pleasant, which he whose lot it was to direct the rest, would in common decency think himself bound to observe towards them; ought we to show to those who, in the casting of the parts of human society, happen to be placed within our power, or to depend upon us. Another reflection of a like tendency with the

vendor's title. It may be presumed, therefore, that this title is not always, if it be ever, founded in any of the causes above assigned.

But defect of right in the first purchase, is the least crime with which this traffic is chargeable. The natives are excited to war and mutual depredation, for the sake of supplying their contracts, or furnishing the market with slaves. With this

CHARITY.

the wickedness begins. The slaves, torn away | man slavery, and since these, the feudal tyranny, from parents, wives, children, from their friends has declined before it. And we trust that, as the and companions, their fields and flocks, their knowledge and authority of the same religion adhome and country, are transported to the Eu- vance in the world, they will banish what remains ropean settlements in America, with no other ac- of this odious institution. commodation on shipboard than what is provided for brutes. This is the second stage of cruelty; from which the miserable exiles are delivered, only to be placed, and that for life, in subjection to a dominion and system of laws, the most merciless and tyrannical that ever were tolerated upon the face of the earth; and from all that can be learned by the accounts of the people upon the spot, the inordinate authority which the plantation-laws confer upon the slave-holder is exercised, by the English slave-holder especially, with rigour and brutality.

But necessity is pretended; the name under which every enormity is attempted to be justified. And, after all, what is the necessity? It has never been proved that the land could not be cultivated there, as it is here, by hired servants. It is said that it could not be cultivated with quite the same conveniency and cheapness, as by the labour of slaves: by which means, a pound of sugar, which the planter now sells for sixpence, could not be afforded under sixpence-halfpenny;-and this is the necessity.

The great revolution which has taken place in the Western world, may probably conduce (and who knows but that it was designed ?) to accelerate the fall of this abominable tyranny: and now that this contest, and the passions which attend it, are no more, there may succeed perhaps a season for reflecting, whether a legislature which had so long lent its assistance to the support of an institution replete with human misery, was fit to be trusted with an empire the most extensive that ever obtained in any age or quarter of the world. Slavery was a part of the civil constitution of most countries, when Christianity appeared; yet no passage is to be found in the Christian Scriptures, by which it is condemned or prohibited. This is true; for Christianity, soliciting admission into all nations of the world, abstained, as behoved it, from intermeddling with the civil institutions of any. But does it follow, from the silence of Scripture concerning them, that all the civil institutions which then prevailed were right? or that the bad should not be exchanged for-better?

Besides this, the discharging of slaves from all obligation to obey their masters, which is the consequence of pronouncing slavery to be unlawful, would have had no better effect than to let loose one half of mankind upon the other. Slaves would have been tempted to embrace a religion, which asserted their right to freedom; masters would hardly have been persuaded to consent to claims founded upon such authority; the most calamitous of all contests, a bellum servile, might probably have ensued, to the reproach, if not the extinction, of the Christian, nt.me.

The truth is, the emancipation of slaves should be gradual and be carried on by provisions of law, and under, the protection of civil government. Christianity can only operate as an alterative. By the mild diffusion of its light and influence, the minds of men are insensibly prepared to perceive and correct the enormities, which folly, or wickedness, or accident, have introduced into their public establishments. In this way the Greek and Ro

CHAPTER IV.
Charity.

PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE.

THIS kind of beneficence is chiefly to be expected from members of the legislature, magistrates, medical, legal, and sacerdotal professions.

1. The care of the poor ought to be the principal object of all laws; for this plain reason, that the rich are able to take care of themselves.

Much has been, and more might be, done by the laws of this country, towards the relief of the impotent, and the protection and encouragement of the industrious poor. Whoever applies himself to collect observations upon the state and operation of the poor laws, and to contrive remedies for the imperfections and abuses which he observes, and digests these remedies into acts of parliament; and conducts them, by argument or influence, through the two branches of the legislature, or communicates his ideas to those who are more likely to carry them into effect, deserves well of a class of the community so numerous, that their happiness forms a principal part of the whole. The study and activity thus employed, is charity, in the most meritorious sense of the word.

2. The application of parochial relief is intrusted, in the first instance, to overseers and contractors, who have an interest in opposition to that of the poor, inasmuch as whatever they allow them comes in part out of their own pocket. For this reason, the law has deposited with justices of the peace a power of superintendence and control; and the judicious interposition of this power is a most useful exertion of charity, and oft-times within the ability of those who have no other way of serving their generation. A country gentleman of very moderate education, and who has little to spare from his fortune, by learning so much of the poor-law as is to be found in Dr. Burn's Justice, and by furnishing himself with a knowledge of the prices of labour and provision, so as to be able to estimate the exigencies of a family, what is to be expected from their industry, may, in this way, place out the one talent committed to him, to great account.

and

3. Of all private professions, that of medicine puts it in a man's power to do the most good at the least expense. Health, which is precious to all, is to the poor invaluable: and their complaints, as agues, rheumatisms, &c. are often such as yield to medicine. And, with respect to the expense, drugs at first hand cost little, and advice costs nothing, where it is only bestowed upon those who could not afford to pay for it.

4. The rights of the poor are not so important or intricate, as their contentions are violent and ruinous. A lawyer or attorney, of tolerable knowledge in his profession, has commonly judgment enough to adjust these disputes, with all the effect, and without the expense, of a law-suit; and he may be said to give a poor man twenty pounds

St. Paul adds upon the subject an excellent direction, and which is practicable by all who Beside this, the poor have a claim founded in have any thing to give:-" Upon the first day of the law of nature, which may be thus explained:- the week (or any other stated time) let every one All things were originally common. No one be- of you lay by in store, as God hath prospered ing able to produce a charter from Heaven, had him." By which I understand St. Paul to reany better title to a particular possession than his commend what is the very thing wanting with next neighbour. There were reasons for man-most men, the being charitable upon a plan; that kind's agreeing upon a separation of this common is, upon a deliberate comparison of our fortunes fund; and God for these reasons is presumed to with the reasonable expenses and expectation of have ratified it. But this separation was made and our families, to compute what we can spare, and consented to, upon the expectation and condition that every one should have left a sufficiency for |

to lay by so much for charitable purposes in some mode or other. The mode will be a consideration afterwards.

within our private knowledge and observation, which does not happen to all, a second method of doing good, which is in every one's power who The effect which Christianity produced upon has the money to spare, is by subscription to pubsome of its first converts, was such as might be lie charities. Public charities admit of this arlooked for from a divine religion, coming with full gument in their favour, that your money goes force and miraculous evidence upon the con- farther towards attaining the end for which it is sciences of mankind. It overwhelmed all worldly given, than it can do by any private and separate considerations in the expectation of a more im-beneficence. A guinea, for example, contributed portant existence:—“ And the multitude of them that believed, were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.-Neither was there any among them that lacked; for as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet; and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need." Acts iv. 32.

Nevertheless, this community of goods, however it manifested the sincere zeal of the primitive Christians, is no precedent for our imitation. It was confined to the church at Jerusalem; continued not long there; was never enjoined upon any (Acts v. 4.;) and although it might suit with the particular circumstances of a small and select society, is altogether impracticable in a large and mixed community.

The conduct of the apostles upon the occasion, deserves to be noticed. Their followers laid down their fortunes at their feet: but so far were they from taking advantage of this unlimited confidence, to enrich themselves, or to establish their own authority, that they soon after got rid of this business, as inconsistent with the main object of their mission, and transferred the custody and management of the public fund to deacons elected to that office by the people at large. (Acts vi.)

II. The manner of bestowing bounty; or the different kinds of charity.

Every question between the different kinds of charity, supposes the sum bestowed to be the

same.

There are three kinds of charity which prefer a claim to attention.

to an infirmary, becomes the means of providing one patient at least with a physician, surgeon, apothecary, with medicine, diet, lodging, and suitable attendance; which is not the tenth part of what the same assistance, if it could be procured at all, would cost to a sick person or family in any other situation.

3. The last, and, compared with the former, the lowest exertion of benevolence, is in the relief of beggars. Nevertheless, I by no means approve the indiscriminate rejection of all who implore our alms in this way. Some may perish by such a conduct. Men are sometimes overtaken by distress, for which all other relief would come too late. Beside which, resolutions of this kind compel us to offer such violence to our humanity, as may go near, in a little while, to suffocate the principle itself; which is a very serious consideration. A good man, if he do not surrender himself to his feelings without reserve, will at least lend an ear to importunities which come accompanied with outward attestations of distress; and after a patient audience of the complaint, will direct himself, not so much by any previous resolution which he may have formed upon the subject, as by the circumstances and credibility of the account that he receives.

There are other species of charity well contrived to make the money expended go far: such as keeping down the price of fuel or provision, in case of monopoly or temporary scarcity, by purchasing the articles at the best market, and retailing them at prime cost, or at a small loss; or the adding of a bounty to particular species of labour, when the price is accidentally depressed.

The proprietors of large estates have it in their power to facilitate the maintenance, and thereby The first, and in my judgment one of the best, to encourage the establishment, of families, (which is to give stated and considerable sums, by way is one of the noblest purposes to which the rich of pension or annuity, to individuals or families, and great can convert their endeavours,) by buildwith whose behaviour and distress we ourselves ing cottages, splitting farms, erecting manufactoare acquainted. When I speak of considerable ries, cultivating wastes, embanking the sea, drainsums, I mean only that five pounds, or any other ing marshes, and other expedients, which the sum, given at once, or divided amongst five or situation of each estate points out. If the profits fewer families, will do more good than the same of these undertakings do not repay the expense, sum distributed amongst a greater number in shil- let the authors of them place the difference to the lings or half-crowns; and that, because it is more account of charity. It is true of almost all such likely to be properly applied by the persons who projects, that the public is a gainer by them, whatreceive it. A poor fellow, who can find no bet-ever the owner be. And where the loss can be ter use for a shilling than to drink his benefactor's spared, this consideration is sufficient. health, and purchase half an hour's recreation for It is become a question of some importance, himself, would hardly break into a guinea for any under what circumstances works of charity ought such a purpose, or be so improvident as not to lay to be done in private, and when they may be made it by for an occasion of importance, e. g. for his public without detracting from the merit of the rent, his clothing, fuel, or stock of winter's pro-action, if indeed they ever may; the Author of our vision. It is a still greater recommendation of this kind of charity, that pensions and annuities, which are paid regularly, and can be expected at the time, are the only way by which we can prevent one part of a poor man's sufferings,—the dread of want.

2. But as this kind of charity supposes that proper objects of such expensive benefactions fall

religion having delivered a rule upon this subject which seems to enjoin universal secrecy:"When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth; that thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father, which seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly." (Mat. vi. 3, 4.) From the preamble to this prohibition I think it, however, plain, that our Saviour's sole