DESCENT OF LAND. 437 



nish a reason pertinent to this discussion, and moreover, the 

 rule has existed where this reason was wanting. But what 

 more natural, even at a period anterior to the Middle Ages in 

 Europe, than that the law should secure to each family a home ? 

 And is not this the enunciated theory of the reformers of this 

 day ? And in a country unequal in extent to a large and in- 

 creasing population, what so natural and reasonable as that 

 each family should be represented by one of its own members, 

 who, in a patriarchal sense, should hold the estate in trust for 

 the benefit of the whole line and name ? And if one was to be 

 selected, who so proper as the eldest son ? And at this day, 

 so does this reason live in the hearts of men, the public opinion 

 of Great Britain outlaws from social life the inheritor of titles 

 and estates who neglects the claims of his family and kindred. 

 Here, then, is a reason, not a satisfactory, but a plausible 

 reason, for the rule of primogeniture. 



Now, gentlemen, can as good a reason be offered in defence 

 of the policy of America which allows a corporation to take 

 land and use the income forever, subject only to the will of a 

 donor or testator who long since ceased to have an interest in 

 the affairs of men? I confess I think not. It is claimed that 

 these donations, bequests and foundations are usually for chari- 

 table purposes. Granted. But the charity which the law of 

 primogeniture contemplates falls upon one's own household, 

 and can there be any more sacred charity than that ? And 

 while you will not allow the man of to-day to furnish a home, 

 clothing and education, to his own descendants forever, why 

 should you permit him, to feed, clothe and educate the children 

 of other men ? It is the right of each generation to use the 

 bounties and blessings of nature and of God, whether they be of 

 the ocean or of the land, of houses, of goods, or of gold, so as to 

 reach the end which the civilization of that age seeks ; and it is 

 the corresponding duty of each generation to use its wealth, 

 whether it be of mind or of matter, for the greatest good of the 

 greatest number. And leaving, for a moment, the laws and 

 traditions of men, let us learn a lesson of faith from nature and 

 our profession. 



As the proper cultivation of the soil by one proprietor en- 

 riches and blesses every subsequent owner, so the right use of 



