ty intended for the poor" (Tudor, p.
167). (3) _Religious Differences._--In the administration of charities
which are for the poor the broadest view is taken of religious
differences. (4) _Superstitious Uses._--The superstitious use is one
that has for its object the propagation of the rights of a religion
not tolerated by the law (Tudor, p. 4). Consequently, so far as
charities were held or left subject to such rights, they were illegal,
or became legal only as toleration was extended. Thus by degrees,
since the Toleration Act of 1688, all charities to dissenters have
become legal--that is, trusts for schools, places for religious
instruction, education and charitable purposes generally. But bequests
for masses for the soul of the donor, or for monastic orders, are
still void. (5) _Administration._--The duty of administering
charitable trusts falls upon trustees or corporations, and under the
term "eleemosynary corporations" are included endowed hospitals and
colleges. Under schemes of the Charity Commissioners, where charities
have been remodelled, besides trustees elected by corporations, there
are now usually appointed _ex-officio_ trustees who represent some
office or institution of importance in connexion with the charity. (6)
_Jurisdiction by Chancery and Charity Commission._--The Court of
Chancery has jurisdiction over charities, under the old principle that
"charities are trusts of a public nature, in regard to which no one is
entitled by an immediate and peculiar interest to prefer a complaint
for compelling the performance by the trustees of their obligations."
The court, accordingly, represents the crown as _parens patriae_. Now,
by the Charitable Trusts Act 1853, and subsequent acts, a charity
commission has been formed which is entrusted with large powers,
formerly enforced only by the Court of Chancery. (7) _Jurisdiction by
Visitor._--A further jurisdiction is by the "visitor," a right
inherent in the founder of any eleemosynary corporation, and his
heirs, or those whom he appoints, or in their default, the king. The
object of the visitor is "to prevent all perverting of the charity, or
to compose differences among members of the corporation." Formerly the
bishop's ordinary was the recognized visitor (2 Henry V. I, 1414) of
hospitals, apart from the founder. Subsequently his power was limited
(14 Eliz. c. 5, 1572) to hospitals for which t