Brewster’s Millions · Chapter
IV: A Second explained
Montgomery Brewster learns from Mr.
What happens
Montgomery Brewster learns from Mr. Grant that he is the sole heir to his Uncle James T. Sedgwick's estate, valued at nearly seven million dollars, but with a proviso: he must be absolutely penniless on his 26th birthday, having spent or destroyed all of his grandfather Edwin Brewster's million-dollar inheritance, and must meet strict conditions of shrewdness, temperance, and no assets. Brewster initially embraces the challenge, but Mr. Grant warns of the difficulty of spending a million without violating the will's restrictions.
Themes in this chapter
- Wealth and Extravagance
The chapter introduces a seven-million-dollar fortune and the challenge of spending a million dollars in a year, highlighting the absurd scale of wealth.
- Family Legacy and Feuds
The will is driven by James Sedgwick's hatred of Edwin Peter Brewster, reflecting a deep family feud that dictates the terms of inheritance.
- Moral Dilemmas and Restrictions
Montgomery faces the dilemma of spending a million dollars without violating the will's conditions, which prohibit endowments, loans, or gifts that could be reclaimed.
Characters to notice
- Montgomery Brewster
Learns of his uncle's seven-million-dollar inheritance and the condition to be penniless by his 26th birthday; initially enthusiastic about spending his grandfather's million.
- James T. Sedgwick
Deceased uncle who left a fortune to Montgomery with strict conditions, driven by hatred of Edwin Peter Brewster.
- Grant & Ripley
Lawyers handling the Sedgwick estate; Mr. Grant explains the will's terms and warns Brewster of the challenges.
- Swearengen Jones
Executor of James Sedgwick's will; a wealthy friend of Sedgwick from Montana.
- Edwin Peter Brewster
Montgomery's grandfather, who left him one million dollars; the target of James Sedgwick's hatred.
- Barbara Drew
Mentioned as having charm for Montgomery the night before; he was thinking of her when he entered the lawyers' office.
Key passages
“man should give satisfactory evidence to the executor that he was capable of managing his affairs shrewdly and wisely—that he possessed the ability to add to the fortune through his own enterprise; that he should come to his twenty-sixth anniversary with a fair name and a record free from anything worse than mild forms of dissipation; that his habits be temperate; that he possess nothing at the end of the year which might be regarded as a 'visible or invisible asset'; that he make no endowments; that he give sparingly to charity; that he neither loan nor give away money, for fear that it might be restored to him later; that he live on the principle which inspires a man to 'get his money's worth,' be the expenditure great or small.”
The will requires Montgomery to prove he can manage money wisely, remain sober and respectable, end the year with no assets, avoid endowments, give little to charity, and never lend or give money that could be returned.
Mr. Grant reads the conditions of James Sedgwick's will to Montgomery.
“Wouldn't you exchange a million for seven millions, Mr. Grant?”
Montgomery asks Mr. Grant if he wouldn't trade one million for seven million, showing his eagerness to accept the challenge.
Montgomery's enthusiastic response to the inheritance offer.
