gious and Christian history, to
find out the various meanings and uses of Christian charity; and yet,
with all their skill and all their research, they have not been able to
discover any thing which has ever been regarded as a Christian charity,
that sets such an opprobrium upon the forehead of all its ministers. If,
with all their endeavors, they can find any one thing which has been so
regarded, _they may have their college_, and make the most of it. But
the thing does not exist; it _never had a being_; history does not
record it, common sense revolts at it. It certainly is not necessary for
me to make an ecclesiastical argument in favor of this proposition. The
thing is so plain, that it must instantly commend itself to your honors.

It has been said that Mr. Girard was charitable. I am not now going to
controvert this. I hope he was. I hope he has found his reward. It has
also been asked, "Cannot Mr. Girard be allowed to have his own will, to
devise his property according to his own desire?" Certainly he can, in
any legal devise, and the law will sustain him therein. But it is not
for him to overturn the law of the land. The law cannot be altered to
please Mr. Girard. He found that out, I believe, in two or three
instances in his lifetime. Nor can the law be altered on account of the
magnitude and munificence of the bounty. What is the value of that
bounty, however great or munificent, which touches the very foundations
of human society, which touches the very foundations of Christian
charity, which touches the very foundations of public law, and the
Constitution, and the whole welfare of the state?

And now, let me ask, What is, in contemplation of law, "a charity"? The
word has various significations. In the larger and broader sense, it
means the kindly exercise of the social affections, all the good
feelings which man entertains towards man. Charity is love. This is that
charity of which St. Paul speaks, that charity which covereth the sins
of men, "that suffereth all things, hopeth all things." In a more
popular sense, charity is alms-giving or active benevolence.

But the question for your honors to decide here is, What is a charity,
or a charitable use, in contemplation of law? To answer this inquiry, we
are generally referred to the objects enumerated in the 43d of
Elizabeth. The objects enumerated in that statute, and others analogous
to them, are charities in the sense of equitable jurisprudence.

There