New Orleans daily crescent., 1866-09-28

CURIoUs WILLs.--Some who, in life, would not
have given cup of water to q beggar, by their
wills leave enormous sums to charities, to secure
for themselves q kind of posthumous admira-
tion, Others allow not their resentments to sleep
with them in the grave, but leave behind them
wills which excite the bitterest feelings and ami
mosites among their surviving relatives. Some
wills are remarkable for their coneiseness and
perspicuity; others for their unprecedented
shapes and curious contents, One man provides
for college, another for cat; one glvesa lagacy
| to provide bread and herrings for the poor IN
| Lent, and kid gloves to the minister: while others
provide for bull-bating, the welfare OF maid SER
! wants and the promotion of matrimony,
John Hodge has kept his name out OF OBLIVION
4 by giving twenty shilhngs year to poor man to
go about the parish church of Trystall during SER
4 mon time to keep the people awake and dogs out
4 of the church.
/ Henry Green, Of Melbourne, Derbyshire, gave
his property for providing green waistcoats for
| four poor women every year, sueh Walsteoats 10
1 be lined with galloon lace.
A Lancashire gentleman, in the last century,
I having given his body to the worms OF the fanny
vault, bequeathed an ounce Of modesty 70 the au=
thors of the London Journal and Free Brlten, CIV
ing as his reason for the sInaness OF the legacy,
/ that he was convinced that an ounce VIII De
/ found more than they'll ever make use off,
4 Another testator, after having stated at great
length ia his will the number OF opgatlohs ne was
! under, bequeathed to his benefactor ten thous.
and-here the leaf turned over, and the iegatee,
turning to the other side, found the legacy was ten
thousand thanks.
4 testator. who evidently intended to thwart his
relations and be benefaetor to the lawyers, gave
to certain persons as many acres of land as shall
he found equal to the area inelosed by the center
of the oscillation of the earth in reVoluton round
| the sun, supposing the mean distance of the sun
twenty one thousand SIX hundred semi dlameter
of the earth from it.n
An uncle left in his will eleven silver spoons to
his nephew, adding: /" If have not left the
dozen he knows the reason.n The fact was the
nephew had some time before stolen the twelfth
spoon from his relative.
Sir Joseph Jekyll left his fortune to pay the ma
tional debt. When Lord Mansfield heard of this
he said: Sir Joseph was good man aud a good
lawyer, but his bequestwas very foolish one
he might as well have attempted to stop the mid
die arch of BlaGkfriars bridge with his full
bottomed wig
Lord Pembroke gave e nothing to Lord Say,
! whiehlegaey gave him because know ne will
bestow il on the poor; y and then, after giving
| equally peculiar legacies he finished with
| 6 ltenl--l give up the ghost
4 Dean Swift's character isexemplifed in.his will
| Among other things, he bequeathed to Mr. John
1 Grattan. of Clommethan, a silver box, g in which
l desire the said John to keep the tobacco he
| usually cheweth, called pigtaiI.n
The celebrated Sarah, duchess of Marlborough,
left Pitt ten thousand pounds for noble defense
| he had made for the support of the laws of Eng
| land, and to prevent the ruin of his country" A
similar bequest was not long since made to Mr..
Disraeli
4 Bacomleft will appointing SIX executors, bu1
| no property except his name and memory, which
he bequeated to .'mens charitable speeches, to
4 foreign nations, and the next age"
i Others wrote their wills in verse; and as q
Especimen, we will give that of William Jacket, o.
the parish Of Islington, which was proved 1887
when no witnesses were required to will OF per
sonal estate:
Il ~ give and bequeath,
When I'm laid underneath,
To my two loving sisters So dear,
The whole OF my store.
Which Gods goodness has granted me here.
And that may prevent
This my will and intent,
Or occasion the least of law racket,
With solemn appeal, ..
4 confirm sign and seal
This is the act and dee1 of Will Jacket.
Some wills contain sort Of autobiography Of
the testator, as well as his thoughts and opinions
Such was the will Of Napoleon, which gave 8
handsome legacy to Ghautillion, who had aS
much right to assassinate that oligarchist, the
Duke Of Wellington, as the latter had to send me
I to perish on the rock at st. Helenan
Such, also, was Sir William Petty's, Whicl
states, with certain amount of selfpride, tina
"at the full age Of fifteen had obtained tAt
! Latin, French, as well as Greek tongues" ant
at twenty years of age had gotten up three
score pounds with as much mathematics as any o
my age were known to have. n-[Gourt Circular