Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 July 1909 — TOO CONSCIENTIOUS HEIRS [ARTICLE]

TOO CONSCIENTIOUS HEIRS

Pecple Who Hsye Refused to Aetspt Fortunes Left to Than. It Is safe to assume, notwithstand* lng the fact that human nature is probably less black than generally painted, that the world contains very few men who would refuse the request of a fortune for conscience sake —fewer by far than men who have turned away from wealth in order to espouse women of their own choice. Herr,,!. Brengwin, a young German bank clerk, is one of the few who have set conscience before cash In this manner, says the London TitBits. For some years Herr Brengwin has been employed at a modest salary in a branch bank in Berlin, and recently he became entitled to a fortune of very nearly £IOO,OOO under the will of an uncle of whom he had scarcely ever heard, and who had 1 made him his sole heir. Naturally enough, the young man was delighted with his unexpected stroke of good luck and, resigning his clerkship, he repaired to Vienna, where his uncle had lived and died, to take over the estate, the bulk of which was personal property. Becoming aware that his uncle had amassed his fortune by usury and thht his name had become a byword in Austria, the conscientious heir aDsolutely refused to accept a penny of the estate, resolutely returning to Berlin and getting himself reinstated on his old stool at the bank. What was perhaps the largest fortune ever refused for conscience sake was that from which Frederick N. Charrington, the famous temperance advocate and religious worker in the East End of London, turned aside. Mr. Charrington was entitled to a share in his father’s great brewery business —one of the largest in London; and it is estimated that the share he refused was worth £1,250,000 when he made up his mind that he would not accept it. The story is told .of how he was led to make this momentous resolve. He chanced to be standing outside a public house in the East End when he saw a drunken man shot through the doors into the arms of a wretched looking woman, who was patiently awaiting him. The drunkard struck the woman and heaped the vilest abuse on her without any apparent provocation; and as they slouched away Mr. Charrington, chancing 10 glance up, he saw his own name in large gilt letters on the public house sign. It was one of the brewery’s tied houses. Such was the impression left by the incident upon Mr. Charrington’s mind that he vowed thenceforth to have no share in the trade which was productive of such resu’ts, but instead to devote himself to the cause of temperance and rescuing the outcasts of East Loudon, a work he has at the utmost self- sacrifice pursued ever since. . “How much do they pay you for wearing that bit of blue ribbon?” sneeringly inquired an Impertinent young man of Mr. Charrington on one occasio'n. “As nearly as I can make out,” answered Mr. Charrington, with a bland smile, “it costs me £20,000 a year.” Some eight or nine years ago a well known West End physician died, leaving a fortune of rather more than £40,000. The whole of this amount was bequeathed to a nephew with contingent remainder to certain charities should the beneficiary refuse the bequest, the object of the testator being to deprive a daughter, who had married contrary to his wishes, of the estate. The nephew, however, although the fortune must have been a sore temptation to him, objected to being made an instrument of his uncle's posthumous spite, and announced his intention of refusing the fortune directly he was made aware of the terms of the will. Upon being pointed out to him that his refusal would only create the contingency provided for and not benefit him or his cousin, he formally accepted the fortune and then transferred it by deed of gift to the young lady who had been so unfairly dealt with by her father. Unhappily, her husband more than justified the deceased physician’s prejudice against him, and promptly gave up his practice and began to dissipate the fortune. He died, however, before he had made away with half the estate, and in due course his widow married the cousin who had so conscientiously refused the fortune for her sake.