Benevolence

The doing a kind action to another, from mere good will, without any legal obligation. It is a moral duty only, and it cannot be enforced by law. A good man is benevolent to the poor, but no law can compel him to be so.

English Law. An aid given by the subjects to the king under a pretended gratuity, but in realty it was an extortion and imposition.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.