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the dream of an enthusiast, or the invention of an impostor; and that the most spotless and sublime character, that ever appeared upon earth, is to be ranked under one or the other of these denominations. Nor is this all; for deism implies a belief, that the disciples of Jesus, whom he exposed during his life to the opposition of the world, exposed themselves, after his crucifixion, to persecution and death, in their most dreadful forms, to honour the memory and support the cause of a man who had deceived them. It would be endless to enumerate all the gross paradoxes and contradictions which the unbelievers in Christianity are reduced to believe. Let us turn our eye from the painful object, and while they prefer the perplexity of doubt to the consolations of hope, and the dark cloud with which their system covers futurity to the fair and smiling aspect of a blessed immortality which the gospel administers, let us, by a rational and salutary act of faith, place ourselves over-against the cross with the candid centurion, and say, Truly this man was the Son of God.'

The Christian's joy in the prospect of Immortality, from 1 John, i. 4. is the subject of the sixth discourse. The author observes in his introduction to this excellent sermon, that

The human heart is constantly sending forth this ardent wish, Who will show us any good? The world pretends to satisfy the demand; but both observation and experience shew, that its pretensions are delusive. Go to the opulent, the sensual, and the ambitious, and ask them if their joy be full? They will tell you, if they express with candour the feelings of their hearts, that many things are wanting to render their satisfaction pure, permanent and complete. Nay, go even to the virtuous man, who has, generally speaking, the fairest chance for happiness, even here, and ask him if his earthly connections and advantages are fully competent to his desires of felicity? He will answer you by an avowal of his wants and infirmities; by a detail of the discords, vices and disorders, that poison human society; and pointing also to the ruins of time, and the tombs of his friends, he will tell you, that the creature has been made subject to vanity.

Where then shall we seek for the source of a pure and permanent joy? Do not seek it in the imagined wisdom of the infidel, whose dismal philosophy exaggerates all your sufferings and extin guishes all your hopes; and if you have recourse to the less absurd dictates of Pagan wisdom, you will find, even there, but imperfect encouragement and comfort. It is true, the Athenian sage was wise enough to look into futurity for that complete happiness, which is the wish of nature; but painful doubts more or less clouded the prospect. Even after him, the gloomy fears of death continued to hold the world in bondage. Philosophers and poets lamented the lot of humanity, in the view of the grave, which terminates a short existence, mixed with sorrow, labour and pain. Factitious joys were invented to banish from reflection the fatal moment, or to intoxicate dejection at the thoughts of its approach. But such remedies were insufficient to remove the disorder, and often produce a more painful relapse. In this period of darkness and despondency, the son of God appeared upon earth.'

The

The viith discourse (Tim. iii. 1, 2.) is on Self-love: the viiith (John, iv. 18.) On the Love of God, as it dispels or modifies the Fears of the Christian: the ixth On the Mixture of Prosperity and Adversity in the State of Man; the xth On the Duties and true Enjoyment of Prosperity; and the xith On the proper Improvement of Adversity. These three discourses on Eccles. vii. 14. deserve particular attention. The xiith and xiiith discourses on Matthew, vii. 21. evince the respective Importance of Profession and Practice in Religion. The xivth, xvth, and xvith illustrate the Nature, Extent, and Importance of the Love of God, from Matthew, xxii. 37. The xviith discourse is a practical improvement of Psalm viii. 3, 4. The xviiith on John, vi. 68. states and applies the Gospel-Representations of Life eternal: the xixth on 1 Cor. xii. 18, 19, 20, 21. exhibits and vindicates the Diversity of Rank and Station in Civil Society s the subject of the xxth is Peter's Denial of his Master, from Luke, xxii. 61, 62; and the xxist on Jer. xiii. 16. displays the tendency of religion to excite a spirit of union and energy in the time of danger. This last discourse was delivered on the day of a general fast in 1793, immediately after the French had declared war against the Dutch in the person of their Stadtholder, and has many references to that event.

There are three plagues (says the preacher) which have for some time past been extending their fatal influence through a con siderable part of the continent; and they threaten the destruction of all social order, all personal security and domestic comfort, all public and national felicity. They have been formed and fostered, since the commencement of the present century, in the bosom of the most corrupt nation in Christendom, and have now issued forth with combined fury; carrying desolation and misery wherever they come, and exciting painful anxiety wherever their approach is apprehended.

These plagues derive their origin from the schools of a pretended philosophy, whose imperious pedagogues set themselves up as the law-givers and dictators of the human race. And what are the plagues which this philosophy has produced? Alas! the tree is known by its fruits; and its fruits are a spirit of irreligion, a spirit of popular commotion, and a spirit of war and dominion, exerted under the bloody mask of a fantastic and spurious liberty.'

By

In the sequel of the discourse, the author evinces the prevalence of these evils, the danger to be apprehended from them, and the duty of resisting and subduing them. persons of similar sentiments, this discourse, which is an animated composition, will be perused with peculiar satisfaction. It was printed separately, and we noticed it at the time of its publication. See M. R. N. S. vol. ii. p. 231.

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Re.s.

ART. VI. Juridical Arguments and Collections. By Francis Har grave Esq. Barrister at Law and Recorder of Liverpool. Vol. II. 4to. pp. 435. Is. Boards. Robinsons. 1799.

IN a former volume of our work (xxviii. N.S.) we examined. with pleasure, and mentioned with approbation, some juri-· dical arguments proceeding from the pen of Mr. Hargrave, to which the present publication is intended as a supplement. When a writer so well informed and diligent as Mr. H. undertakes to treat any legal subject, though his discussions possess not the force of judgments or decrees, yet it is impossible. for the professional reader to receive his labours without gratitude, or to rise from the perusal of them without considerable information. The edition of Coke upon Littleton, which is so greatly enriched by his notes, the volume of Law-Tracts, these Juridical Arguments, and his Edition of Lord Hale's Tract on the jurisdiction of the House of Lords, (a work to which we shall soon with pleasure direct our long protracted attention,) all incontestibly prove the truth of this remark.

In this publication, are contained three arguments delivered in the Court of Chancery against the will of the late Mr Thellusson, an opinion on Mr. Perry's commitment by the House of Lords for a Breach of Privilege, an opinion on the Effect of the King's Pardon of Perjury, an opinion in the Walpole Case on the subject of Mutual Wills, two opinions in the Case of Lady Dacre against the Dowager Lady Dacre on the Construction of a Will, and an opinion on the Petitions of the Nabob of the Carnatic.

As the will of Mr. Thellusson, both on account of the largeness of the property conveyed, and of the novelty of the trusts created by it, has excited no inconsiderable share of public curiosity, we shall present our readers with the short history of this gentleman, and with the testamentary clause in question, on which the whole contest arose, as given by Mr. Hargrave in an Appendix :

He

The late Mr. Thellusson was born at Paris in the year 1735; but may be considered legally as born a subject of the republic of Geneva, his father being at that time Minister from that republic to the court of France. He came over to England about the year 17, when he was in his year. He settled in London as a merchant, and was naturalized by Act of Parliament in 17. began here with a fortune supposed to be about 10,000l. Many things concurred, to distinguish him as a commercial person, and to insure his acquisition of great wealth. He had an understanding of compass, acuteness, quickness, and discrimination. His knowledge of commerce was deemed extensive and profound. His industry in the application of his talents and information to mercantile affairs was continual. He possessed and exhibited a spirit of enterprize in

his

his undertakings: but it was corrected by a penetrative caution and a solid judgment. His thirst for money was unquenchable; and appeared so to absorb his feelings, as to render them in great measure subservient to the acquisition of it. His economy therefore was severe and unceasing. But with all his avarice he did not quite answer the description of one, qui non possedit divitias, sed divitiis possessus est: for, though he was for many purposes rather a slave to wealth than the possessor of it; yet neither in his stile of living, nor in the management of his family and domeftic concerns, did he usually condescend to that coarse vulgar and ungentlemanly sordidness, which some misers practise. In truth his avarice for the most part was of the higher order, and in some respects assumed a dig nified mien. His constitution of body was naturally robust; and he was too temperate to injure it by any excess. The result of all this was a prosperity in the commercial line almost unexampled.

At the time of making his last will, which was in April 1796, the state of his family and fortune was to this effect:

Some time after having settled in England, he married Miss Ann Woodford. This Lady, of whose merits his will with all its faults bears ample testimony, was living. By her he had living three sons and three daughters. The three sons were settled together in partnership as merchants in the house in London, from which their father had recently retired; and were prosecuting the same extensive com. merce. All three of the sons had married most respectably, with the full approbation of their father. The eldest and second sons had issue; the former three sons and two daughters; the latter two daughters; and both had a prospect of more issue. The third son. was but recently married. All three of the sons, a little before the date of Mr. Thellusson's will, were become members of the British House of Commons; and there was reason to presume, that his pride was not a little gratified at a circumstance remarkable for any father, and much more so for a father of foreign birth and of a fo reign family, and only become a full subject of Great Britain by an act of naturalization. Of the three daughters of Mr. Thellusson, two were of age; and the eldest was married to the Honourable Mr. Augustus Phipps, a younger brother of Lord Mulgrave.

In respect to the fortune of Mr. Thellusson, it may be sufficient here to mention, that notwithstanding very considerable provisions advanced for his three sons, amounting according to the statement of his will to nearly 16,000 l. a piece, and notwithstanding the portion he had advanced to his eldest daughter on her marriage with Lord Mulgrave's brother, the aggregate of Mr. Thellusson's real and personal estate probably amounted in value to some sum about seven hundred thousand pounds. I say probably because so it hath been estimated since his death; and no circumstance appears to have occurred to cause any material increase between the date of his will and the time of his death, which was little more than the interval of a year.

Thus situate in family and fortune, and being above the age of sixty, and in the most perfect health, and at least seeming to be on terms of the most affectionate amity with all the near relatives 1 have described,

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described, the late Mr. Thellusson made the eccentric last will, which is now in question.'

After several small legacies, when compared with his great fortune, Mr. T. devises his estate of the value of 4000l. per annum, and the residue of his personal property, to trustees, on the following trusts:

"And I declare and direct that the said Matthew Woodford, James Stanley, and Emperor John Alexander Woodford, their heirs and assigns, shall stand and be seised of my said manors or lordships messuages lands tenements and hereditaments and real estate herein before to them devised, and of and in the said freehold and copyhold estates herein before by me directed to be purchased as aforesaid, upon the trusts and to and for the intents and purposes herein after-mentioned expressed and declared of and concerning the same, (that is to say,) upon trust that they the said Matthew Woodford James Stanley and Emperor John Alexander Woodford, and the survivors and survivor of them, and the heirs and assigns of such survivor, do and shall (from time to time during the natural lives, of my said sons Peter Isaac Thellusson, George Woodford Thellusson, and Charles Thellusson; and of my grandson John Thellusson son of my said son Peter Isaac Thellusson; and of such other sons as my said son Peter Isaac Thellusson now has or may have; and of such issue as my said grandson John Thellusson may have ; and of such issue, as any other sons of my said son Peter Isaac Thellusson may have; and of such sons as my said sons George Woodford Thellusson and Charles Thellusson may have; and of such issue, as such sons may have, As S LL BE LIVING AT THE TIME OF MY DECEASE OR BORN IN DUE TIME AFTERWARDS; and during the natural lives and life of the survivors and survivor of the several persons aforesaid) collect and receive the rents and profits of the manors or lordships messuages lands tenements and hereditaments herein before by me devised and so to be purchased as aforesaid: and do and shall from time to time lay cut and invest the money arising from such rents and profits, in such purchases as I have herein before directed to be made with my said personal estate and so from time to time do and shall collect and receive and lay out and invest the rents and profits of the manors or lordships messuages lands tenements, and hereditaments herein before by me devised and to be purchased as last aforesaid, in the manner herein before directed with respect to the rents and profits of the manors or lordships messuages lands tenements and hereditaments herein before by me devised and to be originally purchased as aforesaid."-

"And I do hereby direct that AFTER THE DECEASE OF THE SURVIVOR OF THE SAID SEVERAL PERSONS, DURING WHOSE LIVES THE RENTS AND PROFITS of the manors or lordships messuages lands tenements and hereditaments herein before by me devised and to be purchased as aforesaid ARE HEREBY DIRECTED TO ACCUMULATE as aforesaid, an equal partition shall be made by my said trustees, or the survivors or survivor of them and the trustees to be appointed as hereafter mentioned, of the manors or lordships messuages lands tenements and bereditaments herein before devised and so to be purchased from

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