Public Charity
Defined in 4 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910)
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
Any charity whose objects are undefined; one for the benefit of an indefinite number of unselected persons. See "Charitable Uses."
Ballentine's Law Dictionary
James A. Ballentine · 1916
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
A charity which is only, w’hich the tenant, holding land by this tenure, was to find for the king. Blount. so general and indefinite in its objects as to be of common and public benefit Salton-
Black's Law Dictionary
Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910
In this phrase the word "public" is used, not in the sense that it must be executed openly and in public, but in the sense of being so general and indefinite in its objects as to be deemed of common and public benefit. Each individual immediately benefited may be private, and the charity may be distributed in private and by a private band. It is public and general ia its scope and purpose, and becomes definite and private oniv after the individual objects have been selected. Saltonstall v. Sanders, 11 Alien (Mass.) 456.
Defined under Charity in Black's Law Dictionary.