Public Charities. 



351 



M. G. exhibits the results of his investigation under the three heads of 

 1. Gifts and bequests to the poor j 



2. . . to the clergy and religious establishments; 



3. . . to schools. 



His calculations are founded solely on the number of such donations, with- 

 out regard to their value, for reasons which he satisfactorily explains. 



1. Of the total number of gifts and bequests, more than half, or 52 in 

 100, are made in favour of the poor, hospitals, &c. ; and of these about 

 3-5 by men, 2-5 by women. Anonymous donors to the poor are in the 

 proportion of 1 to 16. Of donors to the clergy, only 1 in 49 conceals his 

 name. About double the amount is bequeathed to tlie poor, of that which 

 is legally transferred for their use, the donors still living ; and a curious 

 diversity occurs in the proportions in which charity is bestowed by women, 

 in different states of life, as shown by the table at foot.* 



There is a decided preponderance of charitable offerings in the south- 

 eastern departments of France, as compared with the others ; the smallest 

 number being shared by the central and western provinces. 



Witli a slight exception, it appears that in those departments where the 

 Catholic clergy are most numerous, and which at the same time present 

 the highest proportion of crimes against the person, and of illegitimate 

 births, the greatest benevolence is manifested towards the poor, both in 

 gifts and bequests. In this coincidence, M. G. traces the influence of the 

 peculiar manners and character, which distinguish in so many other res- 

 pects the inhabitants of the south of France. 



Those departments in which public instruction is least diffused, are also 

 the most scanty in their benefactions to the clergy, still more so to the poor. 



2. Benefactions to the clergy and religious establishments constitute 

 nearly a moiety of the total number. The larger proportion of these are 

 contributed by men, though the contrary has often been affirmed. M. G. 

 corrects a popular error, that the clergy receive more by legacies than ia 

 benefactions from the living, the fact being othervvise. 



The same rule obtains in respect to this as to the former class of bene- 

 factions, when made by women. By contributions during life, married 

 women give more than spinsters, and the latter than widows : ia their 

 bequests the order is reversed. (See table No. 7.) 



• No. 7. Benefactiont by Women. 



