New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-05-10
4 'T'hs Romance a naalsiur wins.

tors Commons to look at the will Of n dead man
The hand that signed it was in the grave long
before-dust, perhaps; bat the record Of the
viii which animated that hand was there
amongst those dusty folios. engrossed in an all
most undecipherable hand, which tell how all
l the real property in the country has been dis
posed Of over and over again had no diffi-
Guilty in finding it, for had % note Of the pre-
else day the deceased died on. 1t Itisunnecessary
to say anything about the contents of that will,
however, for they have NO relationabs what am
writing. tisoniy the date which have any
business with. The will was dated the day be-
fore the man djea. j, eseourse, had often heard
OF men making their wills when they were Just
at desth's door, without any particular thought
Fbeing excited; bat this time was surprised, as
single fact very often does surprise us when
| We have passediby host Of similar ones unno-
| tlced l knew the man who made that will
He was shrewd, prudent, sharp lawyer, who
had risen from nothing to be a man Of immense
weaith IL he was distinguished for any quail
ties IN particular, it was for punctuality and
prornpttude. None Of the clerks Of his Office
/ we're ever hve minutes too late. That was an
offense not 70 be forgotten. No ezs ever knew
| him to be behind at an appointment, or 10 let
business go undsne. His hqnsekeeper, who man
aged his bachelor abode fof msny years, only
kept her place by being exact to time. Yet this
man had not made his viii till few hours be-
fore his death; and, therefore, the possession Of
his property formed the subject Of very Aour-
\ ishing lawsuit s.+as ~. F+ @
When vent out of that. dark, dismal cata-
comb of dead mems wills, went on thinking Of
| al the similar cases of procrastination which
knew or had heard Of and they were not 8 few
for this is piece of experience of one who
vas law clerk before he agarrelIed with red
Il tape, What curious catalogue they we're!
+ There was an old lady, a toothless old dowager,
i who had feprobate and discarded son, and
Ia
used to manage all her affairs, and it was pretty
4 well known in the office tfrat the 9 nice girl
/ with the long cugls was to be the old lady'a
/ hew. Our head clerk, a red whiskered dandy
4 who had no mean opinion Of himself, built,
could see, certain fspeeulations on shat basis
The old lady never came without Eliza and
when ysitwas expected Mr.. Gatchpole brushed
i his fiery hair in the most killing curis, and
4 changed the out-at the-elbows coat for the
4 smart oneh he wore out doers. and beautifed him
self as far as practicable. Well, message came
one day that the old lady was ill-very ill-=with
an urgent request that some ene should go at
i once and make her wilt OFF went our Adonis
as fast asa promise Of something liberal over
| the fare could urge the cabman.
When he arrived, the old lady was aliye-iust
alive enough t6 tell him that all her property
was td be left to Eliza. 4 She tqklrhm that in a
Kissing whisper which supplied the place Of tho
1 CT acked voice but when she came to the word
sall,' So fun was the poor old creature.uf love
for the niece, or, perhaps, Of determination
US hope net hate--against her. son, that she half
rose up in her beds and cIenched her withered
hand and shrieked out that word again 1t
| must have been terrible sight-that of life
struggling with death for q will! 1t was a
| short matter to write that will down; and
Catcbpole's pen flew over the paper, and the
old eyes that were glazing so fast stared sGx-
iously the while, and the thin finger actually
held the pen she had asked for beforehand ready
| to sign the paper.
In a few, moments all was ready; but what
difference that few moments had made The
cl ERIK had risen from his seat and. approached
the couch, when the surgeon, who stood on the
other side. said, with that GOODNESS that medical
practice brings, {" 1t is too latey And it was
TOO late, The dead fingers clenehed the unused
pen 50 tightly that they had to be unelaspsd
from it, The sen was heir of all, and Eliza a,
beggar! Death had translated that scream-out
I'saff' intenone. The sequel is soon told The
property was wasted by the sfeprobste sen, and
has long since passed into other hands, sazid
| Eliza, instead of passessing some thonsansis n
year, and being weced by Mr.. Catchpolss III 4
1 faded daily governess.
Every lawyers office has plenty such stories
as this. One / remember of a 'niser who had
ruined mere than one family, and in his last
moments wished to make such PREPARATION MS
Ebequeathed gold could, compass Poor wretch,
when the will was brought, catalepsy had seized
him, and he lay there a living corpse-dead in
Isall but mind: He could not move is+hand his
tongue refused its ofhce only his eyes were
free to move; aid Of those eyes have been told
la terrible tale He was, misers often are, a
man of strong mind and iron nerve Passive as
heswas in every other part, the eyes told all
that was passing within. You could have seen
in them intelligence when the will was read to
him; the powerful volition brought to bear. aud
preserved in, when the written word which was
to make il a testament was required, the terror
lfand horror which came over him when he found
THAT the right hand which had so often aided
him for evil would not help him for good the
l4lespair which burst the unseen bonds around
him, with convutsive motion, let out the last of
life: 1t must have been a spectacle of horror,
| when punishment came in the shape of prohi-
bition from the one act of mercy, which might
4 have made some amends for whole lifetime Of
wrong
4 Then there was another legend of a man
| whose daughter married against ifs will He
lived somewhere in a retired country houses far
off from any town. This man was subject to a
disease of the heart, and one night, feeling the
symptoms of an approaching attack, and that
strange presentiment which so often comes before
death, he reused his household and sent off a
messenger on horseback, not form surgeon, but
for AZ lawyer. He wanted his will made IT,
| 1hS AhOec0u5oi ooaid huS UC eA ptCtEu
back for at least two hours, and long before
that the spasmodie attack had come on. but stl
in the intervals ofsshis paroxyslhs, that deter.
mined man wrote as though against time.
When the lawyer did arrive. all that was
left Of the living will which had been so active
and energetic a few hours before, was that last
piece of writing. It expressed the aeceased s in
tention, in the strongest terms, utterly to dis
inherit his rebellous child, and to give his pro
| perty to some charitable institution. II was
| complete, even to the signature; only the -four
ish usually added to the name was wanting, as
, | though there the hand had failed But that
| writing was not q will it was not in proper
form, not attested. In the eye of the law it was
but an invalid piece of paper, and the daughter
took that which her birthright entitled her to
Wills generally afford a frighttuf temptation
J, to the worst part of our nature. Irea1ly be-
! | lieve that more cunning, more falsehoed. more
worldly anxiety, and more moral wrong ars
blended with the subject of wills than witt
the whole mass Of law parchnents extant A
will should not only be properly made, but
]; properly placed, and more than one should ht
cognizant of its whereabouts. / have knew
many cases Of gross turpitude in the. shape o
destroying wills, and can record one rather
curious anecdote, affording vivid illustration
| of unprineipled greed defeating itself, Two gen
/ tlemen in the city, close friends from their
school days, were in the decline of life. MIR,
Edmonds had a large family, with compare
lively small means, while Mr.. Raymond was