Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-01-11
posrHUMoUs LEGAeIRs,

There is doubtless some Justice in the une,
uual apportionmeht Of wealth among men,
though it is Exceedingly difficult for DOOR
man to see 1t, The concentration ii wealth
. in the hands of such men as Francis and
Thorndike, whose lives, in Spite of their splen-
did opportunities, are rs sordid and as useless
as the lives of selfish men will average, is
quite likely to disturb ones faith in the justice
of the distribution. But these are exceptional
cases,-in violation of the universal law, that,
of those to whom much is given, much will be
required. They denied the requisition in the
basest spirit of ingratitude-the one to society
which protected his property, and the other to
both society and his own kindred.
There are exceptions on the other side of
the reasonable medium of gratitude and be-
hesolence. Human nature swings like PEN
dulum, as sure to touch one extreme of the
arc of life as the other. In those peculiar
states of mental sensation produced by ex-
IRENE old age or pain, its Motions are sure to
be the most radical and eccentric.
There was Joseph Hard, the eccentric sorg-
hum fancier of Malaeh who left his property,
at his death, partly to charitable institutions,
and partly to Harvard College, a wealthy and
powerful corporation, while his relatives were
left in reduced circumstances, to cultivate his
sorghum fields for the necessities of life. Leg
acies Of the same kind, but of much greater val
ne, have been made to Yale College by the late
henry w. Ellsworth. Some estimate them
49,
'ceive $4,000 each, which is enough, certainly,
to frighten starvation away from their doors.
But the wife-the companion of his long
life and heavy trials-is cut off with the mis-
cradle annuity of $500, while the immense
estate, with the further exception of few and
comparatively small charitable requests, is to
be poured into the treasury of an institution
which, however worthy, is about as rich as it
ought to be, if it is not designed to make the
revenues take the place of tuition, and to
dispense the means of education as Heaven
does the blessings of air and light
True charity discriminates and measures
its gifts The ostentatious generosity which
showers its useless abundance upon few OBJ
jects, is not charity any more than the DEATH
bed requests of the wicked barons of old, was
Great duties are imposed on fortunate men,
but they are not discharged by the magnif-
cent distribution of fortune among Institu-
tons which stand in the least need of eleemo-
synary aid. In the exercise of that charity
which is not pulled up, which is long suffering
nd nd ba fba
part who seeks out the humble almoners of
the worlds bounty for his encouragement.
How many fireless hearthstones might be
warmed, how many dark households filled
with the sunshine of prosperity and hope,
how many children, oppressed by poverty
and ignorance, with no more prospect of ever
seeing college, than the Arab had of reach
ing the heaven of which he dreamed, might be
raised from their low estate, and made, by
cultivation, the benefactors of the world, if a
larger share of our pompous charity could find
its way into the by-ways and alleys, where
they are compelled to hide
The legacy of Mr.. Ellsworth, since the pro-
visions of his will became publicly known,
has elected undisputed admiration. But the
estimation in which we are accustomed to
hold such acts, should be qualified by two
things. First, the property had become val
ueless to the testator; and, second, there were
before his eyes, objects without number, as
worthy of requests as that on which his leg
acies were almost exhausted. 1t was no
sacrifice to him, to have exercised discrim-
mating charity. 1t would have clothed his
memory with far greener, and more enduring
laurels, if he had shown for the wants of
Gods poor, little of that large regard which
he has chosen to box up in permanent fund,
for the good of an Institution which is able
to take care of itself, and for the benefit Of
our favored Sons of Fortune.