The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-03-14 00:00:00


A CURIOUS WILL.

The law of Mortmain has unquestionably, in its
time, done good service to England, but it did an evil
turn to society, says a contemporary, when, on Satur-
day, it compelled Mr. Justice Chitty to nip in the bud
a most promising scheme for training ladies in "the
important duties of wives' mistresses, and house-
keepers." The Rev. W. Wight, of Arab's Tent,
Chislehurst, for some time before his death, two years
ago, had reflected on the "world of discomfort and
misery consequent on the incompetency of the ladies
of England for the discharge of their duties."
Fixing his gaze on this blemish in our social
system, he was able to see that it sapped the
foundation whilst it hindered the progress and
" affected the whole framework" of soCiety.
"The incompetent mistress makes bad servants, and
bad servants make bad wives, and bad wives
through their ignorance, idleness, and extravagance
make bad homes, and bad homes drive men to ruin,
and taint national life." Since the story showing how
for want of a nail in a horse-shoe an Empire was lost,
no more convincing piece of cumulative argument has
been published. xiut Mr. Wight proposed, as far as
in him lay, to change all this. His means were not
great, but he had houses in Chiselburst and Cheltenham,
and he ordered in his will that the rents of these
should accumulate until they reached ten thousand
pounds. Then was to be built on a specified site
an ornamental And useful house, connected
by "a pretty glazed arcade" with that in
which he had dwelt, and the two were to be
the home of" Wight's College of Social and Domestic
Science for Ladies." At this institution women were
not to be brought up to be pretty dolls, butterflies, or
husbands' playthings. On the contrary, they would
be trainea in the stern though minor virtues of early
rising and cold tubbing, with the constant discipline
of no more than three meals each day, semi vegeta-
rianism, total abstinence from intoxicating drinks,
"elegant neatness" in dress; no cards, dancing, or
trashy novels; but lawn tennis, bagatelle, and chess.
In addition to other details, a tomb and an epitaph
were to be provided "To my noble Labrador dog,
'Friend.'" It must be confessed that if Mr. Wight
were not leaving behind him needy relatives who
might have a prior claim upon his benevolence, the
bequest, of which the above is a rough outline, was an
eminently sensible one, and very probably better cal-
culated to promote the general happiness than any dis-
tribution amongst his next-of-kin. But the English
Law of Mortmain is based upon a hard experience of
human nature when it requires the benefactor to
attest his benevolence by making the charitable dis-
position of his real property in his lifetime, and
refusing to recognise a testamentary bequest of it to
the "Dead Hand." There seems little doubt that
Mr. Wight erred through ignorance only, and Mr.
Justice Chitty while compelled to annul such portions
of the will as were statutably invalid, was fain to give
a broad hint to the heir-at law that it was "very hard"
to set aside at a blow all the testator's carefully pre-
pared declarations, and that he must "leave it to the
goodness of the heir to found a similar institution,"
It is to be feared that the heir-at-law will hardly see
the matter in the same light.