Benevolence

Good will; kindness; humanity. It is a broader word than "charity."

19 N. J. Eq. 307; 44 Conn. 60; 11 Mass. 267.

In Old English Law. A voluntary gratuity given by the subjects to the king.

Cowell.

Benevolences were first granted to Edward IV.; but under subsequent monarchs they became anything but voluntary gifts, and in the Petition of Rights (3 Car. I.) it is made an article that no benevolence shall be extorted without the consent of parliament. The illegal claim and collection of these benevolences was one of the prominently alleged causes of the rebellion of 1640.

1 Bl. Comm. 140; 4 Bl. Comm. 436; Cowell.