The Society of Friends Vindicated - 1832 Author:George Wood Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: if the devise of the legal estate should be inoperative, the trust would fasten upon the land in the hands of the heir. In the Attorney General vs. Pearson, thir... more »d Merivale, 409, Lord Eldon says, " that a devise (notwithstanding the statute of charitable uses,) for the purpose clearly expressed, of maintaining a society of protes- tant dissenters, would be enforced." A similar opinion was given in this court, by chancellor Williamson, in the case of the executors of Ackerman against the legatees. The statute of New Jersey incorporating trustees to hold property in trust for religious societies, recognizes the doctrine, that these religious societies are legitimate cestui que trusts in equity, for they are not incorporated by it; the trustees only are incorporated, for the better transmission of the legal estate, of which privilege a religious society may avail themselves if they think proper; but no law was necessary to incorporate the society, to enjoy the equitable beneficial interests to which they are entitled. We admit, therefore, the equity of the complainants' claim, if they are really and truly the preparative meeting in Crosswieks, for whose use this school fund was created. We do not place ourselves behind the ramparts of the common law, and say that Hendrickson is entitled to recover as the legal obligee of this fund; We admit the trust, and claim only, on the ground that he, and not Decow, is the true and legitimate trustee. It may be asked, why this effort to show that the claimant in this bill of interpleader, has a right to sue in the character of trustee, and to recover if his claim is supported ? I answer, that I feel anxious to place this case upon its true merits, and to leave no other ground upon either side, if possible, upon which a technical decision co...« less