The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-12-13
villa and Mill.MAkins.

" HIS ana W uteMaAAm&s
In the London Quarterly Rsvssr for October.
we have long artets upon two publications
watch have lately been made In England, one
OF them a collection Of Royal wills. by Jonn
NICHOLS, and the other a collection OF ase'snf
wills. by Slr HARaIs NICHOLAS. Both these
au thors are protested an,iq uarians, ana 'nese
publications were made with the asowed OBJ
iect Of assisting those genealogical researches
which are 40 freq uent In England, and are be.
eommr every year more difficult 10 conduct
with success, as we reeede irem the time III
which he Wills were made. The arst coafaes
himself to willis made by the Kings, Princes.
q ueeus, Processes, aud other sprigs of roy
any. commencing with that of ALSRkp the
Great, the oldest On record In England ihe
o Der deals with wills generally
TIE writer of he review under considera-
ton SAYS that "for the performance Oh oneoi
the xr. AZ functions OF history, the stripping
of the mask, ard discovering the real inten-
,,,n NJ men. the reading of wills affords SIN
~u,sr advantage" All men lay OF the mask
when they make their wills, and for tAis Tea-
soa nowhere else are the true characters OF
men read with 30 much exactness. 1t il sur
prtsing to see how often, In this the most
solemn of all earthly acts, the individual Is
governed by pique or resentment. when ,ifever
one would suppose that such feelings ought TO
b, laid aside. HAzLiTT. In his essay on will
Making. tells us that the disilheriting of re-
Iatious 10 mostly tor venial offences, not for
base actions" Thus, the poet COTTON was
d,sinherite,. by his grandmother, from whom
he. had large expectations, for speaking irrev-
eren tiy If her muf in his travestie OF VIRGIL.
He was warned. but he could not forego his
lest and SO lost his estate. The last OF irish
L rds. Fi7zwILLfAM, had made Will leaving
the whole of an immense estate To Lord
ONsLow. He revoked 1t, because the deVisee
one morning at breakfa brought the rim OF
his cup In contact with the rim OF the cream
Tug, and refused to admit that the action
was uncleaniy. Many persons suddenly lake
offence at something person, always before
q favori O. has said, shut him out OF their
wills, aud aiihoug afterwards reconciled, DIE
before they have time TO restore him. PAIN
full indeed, must be the position OF legacy
hunter No slave is more entirely the SUBJECT
of his masters caprces, and ii is always, Mt
last, an even chance whether he gets any thing.
Above all things, the execution Of will
made by a potentate of any kind. is uncertain.
ALErANDER gave his ring 10 PERDIcCAs, in =
timating thereby that he wished him 10 be his
successor. All that he succeeded 10, was a
bloody war and premature death. julius
CESAR made the people OF X me heirs to his
properly, bat he could not settle the Empire
on AUGUSTUS and that Prince afterwards
worked out his own destiny. CHARLEMAGNt
drew up a charter and made his children al
agree to it; but 1t not only did not operate, bu
its very existence is now disputed. GEoR9I
II. burnt the will of his father, GEORGE l.
aud the will Of LoUIs XIV, by which he en-
deavored to exalt his illegitimate children,
the expense of the Regent Duke OF Orleans
utterly failed to be carried into effect.
The longest will we ever saw Is that OF tht
Duke of Alagon, the we'll known commander G.
the Roy al Guard in the time of FERDINAND III
and chosen instrument of his tyranny. / il
on record In the Department of State at Wash
ington, where it was brought as evidence in
the great HACKLEY case. A whole page OF the
large book into which it is transcribed in a
most minute haud-tbe book is as large az the
largest ledger of q merchant-is taken up with
an enumeration of his titles. The will occu-
pies, we believe, about dozen pages. One Of
the most curious wills we ever saw, is that OF
the celebrated ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, once a
great lawyer in this city. Among other Gu
ri us requests. he desires that no tombstone
may be erected over his remains, for ths reason
that If every man who died had a tombstone,
the earth would soon become solid paw ament.
This will is recorded In the Hastings Court
There is ano' her in the County COURT, a much
greater curiosity, in which bequest is made
10 Il son of n shilling, to buy rope 10 hang
himself. Tom SHkRlDAN's answer to his
father, who threatened TO cut him off with q
shilling, PRAY, sir, couldn't you pay In ad
vance," seems borrowed from this Will. A
testator in Goochland county, many years
age, devised his whole estate, a pretty consid-
cradle ole, to The righteous poor" and an
other. in another county. ITO all free negroes
that feared the Lord"