St. Mary's gazette., 1865-08-10
SoxrrE1se Apcur Wnl,-The E,


the word Amorg<t the Jews the de-
scent f property vas controlled hy fixed
laws, hut it wss. nevertheless. the eus,on
~ The head of',he family. on his d'ath-
bed. to 'sp-e.s his wishes in the prr.ence
OF witnesses ard ofhis heir. The practice
~ss ESQ universally tb~rved by the
Gretks .nd Romans. ssd other cotemrn-.
sry nations. Solsn INTRODUCED written Wills
into Athens, and ,he same vera reoni,ed
hy 'h" Roman law. To NJ. hamcd,ns
they are e'joiacd tv the Koran. They
were in u-e an ong he barbarian. o. the
North al verv errly period and it i. GER
isin tha, the Mrxicars ol.rvs the cus.
t"m p-io- to their sutjuea ion hy the Span.
isrds. Wills made hy the Brid.h kings
are recorded a. far hack q. the time Of
Edward The Confes Or. The law. relating
10 wills vary III diff rent countries A
writer On the sntject thus defines the
Law in England aud the United
States:
Bv the Ergli>h Law the tes,a'or mus. be
ever q years Of sc", and neither luna
tie nor an idiot. nor deaf nor dumb. nor
truhk At 'he time ~ signing. nor an ont.
Law nor an urpardonci frlon. ali 2ls
must he in writing. except those 2sol-
diers in actual aervire. and marines q.
ses-ahrh nsny b. nnncrps'i.e or oral -
All kinds Of property nay b" devised aud
the will must be .iehcd by the teststor. or
BY bis direction in the presence oetwo or
more witnesses who a'so must sign in his
presence, and 10 the presence Of each o'h-
er. A w'm,n cannot be an attesting Wit
uts>; all d. vises and gifts by will to a
wi,ncss are voi'; and a will is revoked hy
the marriage Of The ies,ator. A married
woman al. only h.queath her pin-money
or separate n,sibteLance, without the con.
sent Of her husband, and an Office Ia.
been opened f'r the reception and esfe-
kccIing Of the wills Of living per-
sons.
The CONN on law. a. we'll q. the bear
ings O. the English sta ics. are various
" mctii,d in the dlffrrnt States Of
America. A married woman cannot, ty
common law. max" any will wha'ever-s
remnan, Of 'he f-udal system which mer-
ged the rich's and almos, the existence Of
he wife in thnt of she husband. But this
rule has oflste years received much noli
fcarion in England. and much more in
may Of orr Ststes. 10 several, her
common l.: W d Stability remains unchanged;
in most. i, is diminished. BY permitting
her I" exert acme power Of di.p siion
over b property; in many the sss*nt of
the husband is necessary to the validity Of
her vi !; while IN Illinois and Connecticut
il would seem a. IL the rule Of The Roman
civil law we're adopted. and married wo-
man had The same power Of making a
will rs # she we're femme s1e. The laws
Of I.ouisaus. copied from thr French cole.
prohibit parent from disinheriting
his chill lren. but in oil the 9th
er States ho has the power to DO
so"
We may add that the laws Of Maryland.
which secure TO wife her seperate
property if h" 40 desire. q. matter Of
course slow ber 10 vii. it a. she
may think best. and without will i,
descends to her children. II .he have
any.
Some curious aud Interesting Wills are
to be found in the records Of the psst
The Countess Of N"rths npton left 70 The
Frisrs Church. "a cross made Of The We,
wood Of our Ssviour's cross" aud the Earl
Of Huntington directed that bis hear
should be preserved in spices. Dame
Alice Wycbe. widow Of the Lord Mayor
Of London. set 40 example Of sensible
charity. She bequea.hed "E200 to POOR
di'gent lsLorers in poor villages; to 100
poor hnuseholders COW. ard .3 shilli' 20
aud 4 pence each with 3 ew"s; aud for ,he
marriage of roor msidens of coed conver-
sstion. Ei00" Michael Angelo. the
great rair,er. made bis will 10
these words: "My soul I resign to
God; my body to the earth: aud ms world
iy possessions to my nesress rela-
tions."
Pore directed that his body should be
carried - The grave BY the six pc ores, men
in ,hc parish. each Of whom should re-
e.ive suit Of coarse gray clo'bing. Dcau
Swift gave ,be most Of his lr"per,y 10 en-
dow lupatic asylum 10 Dublin. and Dr..
johnson the bulk of bis to bis negro ser
want Francis Barber Wssbiug'on's will
was signed q, the bottom Of each page and
was prepared with that scrupulous care
AID exactitude which distinguished d every
act of his lie. The will Of Napoleon has
always been regarded o. . stigws 90 bis
character lie bequea,hed ten thousand
francs TO the man whn Vas suspected Of
design TO assastiuase The Duke Of yelling
ton. he express. the cpiuion ,h.. "he
had IS much right 10 sssassinste that
oiigsseb . the latter bad 70 eeDd me to
perish on The Islaud Of ST. H-lens." The
lesrnsd Dr.. John Collins Warren
ef Bostop, made . will (ls5S directing
tba':
AFTER lie funeral ,o'ennifies. 10 the
full and proper form Of the Episeorsl
Church. that bis body be removed TO The
Medical College for diss. .ei;on; bis skeleton
to be carefully preserved. wbiseDed. and
placed in the lecture room. near bis Bust;
sfFording lesson useful 10 morslity and
seiene' earnestly hoping tia. his family
wou'd lay ssids any natural feeling ot op-
position to this. bis last request, consider
ing thai il vas for the interest Of
humanity. aud fos his and their hos-
or" (Iiis whisbes we're faithfully carried