p. 186 | On Making Wills by Jos. Clarke

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 29, 1870

On Making Wills.

By Jos. Clarke

I SEND a slip from a newspaper, showing what is being done for the Bible cause by bequests. These are often made by good men. Who is making his will as Mr. Wm. Devoe did? that is, remembering the cause of present truth, as he did the Bible cause.

A GREAT LEGACY.

About twelve years ago, Mr. William Devoe, of this city, died and left a property, chiefly in real estate. By will, he made ample and specific provisions for the support of his wife, and he left no children. By the terms of his will, the American Bible Society was made the residuary legatee. Since the death of the testator, the property has been rising in value, and it has been ably and faithfully administered by the executor, J. J. Cisco, Esq., a distinguished financial gentleman of this city. Last week, Mr. Cisco paid over to the American Bible Society the sum of $151,000, as part of the avails of this legacy, and on the death of the widow of the testator, something more, perhaps $75,000, will be coming to the same institution.

This legacy is a most timely and providential assistance to the society, when it is straining every nerve to meet the foreign as well as the domestic demand for the Holy Scriptures. Within the last three years, it has been obliged to expend more than $150,000, upon the single field of the Levant, and the printing of the Arabic Scriptures alone has consumed about $60,000. If another legacy as large as Devoe’s should suddenly fall into the society’s hands, the necessity would be no less urgent for all the help that individual Christians can render. The work is growing more rapidly than the advance of real estate. The calls are imperative. It would not be strange if Spain should ask for the bread of life before many days.

This great accession of funds at a season of such great need, should be the occasion of gratitude to God, while it should stimulate the friends of the Bible to put forth every energy to fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord.—N. Y. Observer.

The Report of the American Tract Society shows the receipt of over $5,000 in the year 1849, in twenty-six legacies, of from two dollars to one thousand dollars; and in 1852, the amount received in legacies was over $7,000, in thirty-four legacies, of from one dollar to two thousand dollars; there were, that year, eight legacies of one hundred dollars; fifteen, of less than one hundred dollars; seven, between one hundred and five hundred dollars.

Now brethren and sisters, shall we be wide awake on this point? shall wills be made with respect to the cause of God? or shall Satan get the whole of your property if you are suddenly called away? Perhaps some are suffering spiritual dearth for this very reason.

But, says one, I have nothing hardly to will to the cause. You must be poor indeed, if you cannot will to the cause from one to five dollars, of which there are quite a number in these lists; and from five to fifty, of which there are six to the American Tract Society in 1849.

There is a strange feeling of delicacy, on the part of most people, with regard to making their last will and testament. Many leave their relatives in a very embarrassing position, by leaving to the law the disposal of their property; for this, many think they have an apology, in the plea that the law makes as equal a distribution as it would be possible for them to do. Now let any man set himself fairly about this business of making his will, he will find it a difficult affair; and if it is difficult for him, how much more so for the general principles of law to do it. But for a Christian, who loves the cause of God more than he loves his life, there is a grand difficulty in the way; that is, the law makes no provision for the cause of God; therefore he is under moral obligations to make his will; for he would not, in his death, slight so good a friend as the cause of God has been to him.

We say it is a difficult thing to make a will—to make it just right. You cannot suit all, unless all are as devoted as you are. You must be above the influence of selfish motives, or selfish persons. You will need more than human wisdom, and much of the fear and love of God. Do not undertake it lightly; think over it; pray over it. If there is an act which God notices more particularly in your secular affairs than any other, it is the making of your will.

Should you live ever so devotedly attached to your son or daughter, and in your will deliberately leave that son or daughter without a dime, while the others were all well provided for, what would be the effect upon that child, after your death? Now let me ask, Can the suffering cause of God ever forgive such a slight as being neglected in your last will? Have you not a clause, in that important document, for the dear Saviour?

Would you, in your will, shut out all hope of Heaven by slighting such an heir? But let it be no niggardly gift; let it be proportionate to your ability. The clause devoting a part to God, let it be a noble, a liberal, portion.

Still better will it be to dispose of this matter, if possible, by distributing to the cause of God while you live, not waiting the summons of death to tear it from you by force. Jos. CLARKE.